What to do, what to do...
My free time at work just started to accumulate, so why not
create a page for daily observations and ponderings on life so I can occupy said
free time! What a great a idea, I think I just will...
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this column are those of the writer and the writer only, and do not necessarily reflect those of HSU. If something offends you then read the rules of this site. Regardless, just sit and enjoy these ramblings and realize that the writer is only digging himself deeper and deeper into a hole...
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May 7 - June 9, 2002 - It's all a blur
May 6, 2002 - Good lord, what a week it has been.
Hopefully this will be my last week of sparse postings since as of Thursday I am
officially out of school for the summer! I am anticipating it right now,
but I am sure in about 3 weeks I will want to be back at school again. I
mean, what is there to do at home? Sure I can play games and practice, but
socially all of my friends are going to their respective homes too. It
will be just me and my family for three months, with an occasional friend from
Texas here and there. But enough foreshadowing, you want to know what I
did this week...
Monday- This was my last night to work on my screen prints for
class, so I spent most of the night down in the labs printing off various
pictures for my final project. I also ended up taking the College Algebra
take-home final, which is weird since I'm not even in the class. But
when someone is in need and I feel like procrastinating, I'll do anything.
I also took two exams in my Sociology class since I, um, accidentally slept
through one of the tests earlier in the year.
Tuesday - I took two tests today, each one easier than I thought. The first test really didn't count because it was in an imaging class so all I had to do was create a webpage highlighting the projects I completed in the class. This didn't take too long since I have to make webpages from scratch all the time at work. At least this time I could claim everything as my own work on each page instead of hiding it in the background... Later that day I had my computer science test which just took a while to complete. Our class was interspersed with the foundations 2 class and we each took our respective tests together. I found an old co-worker sitting in the back row and talked to her during before the test to see what it would be like. Again the test was easier than I expected and I knew I earned a B for the class (I don't think anyone made an A, it was a rather tough class overall). As for the rest of the day, I didn't do too much. I went to Kenpo as usual, and then crammed for my final test on Wednesday until about 4 AM. Well, there was also the slaughtering I committed in both Starcraft and Unreal LAN games but that is nothing new...
Wednesday- Even though I was busy today taking tests and writing papers I still had the change to take a few pictures for "picture Wednesday". First, I took my huge philosophy test, and I did average on it. The essays killed me because we had to answer 4 of 7 and I only knew sure answers to 2 of them. Once it was all over I went to my room and spent 4 hours writing a 10 page paper for my art history class. I now know more about the Sagrada Familia and it's allusions than I ever needed to know, I can now die a happy man.... or not. Afterwards, my dorm had a farewell tie dying. ( 1 2 ) We all ate outside and dyed white shirts some cool colors. Our RA's for next year also showed up and started talking and trying to get to know us, except someone forgot to inform me of the fact. Moronically, I ended up quoting another person by saying how "difficult" one of the new RAs was suppose to be (among other negative things), but little did I realize that the girl I was talking to was the "difficult" RA I was talking about. What a great way to make a first impression! Luckily, she just assumed I was joking and I played along all the while trying to hide my crimson face. Well to add a little more humor to the event, I discovered that if you throw some food at people in my dorm, most will just look at it instead of retaliating...
April 29, 2002 - Well its official, I had my first random
act of vacation this past weekend. After Kenpo class on Thursday (which I
learned some pretty incredible wrist snags) one of my friends (and the Campus
DJ) came up to me and asked "Hey do you want to go to Chicago?" Of course
this came out of no where and I wasn't expecting it, but nonetheless I was
intrigued. As it turned out, another Art major was going to Chicago over
the weekend to catch an underground concert and he wanted some people to ride
with him to keep him company. He already paid for the hotel and all of the
gas so all I would have to pay for was my food. An opportunity like this
does not come by very often so I jumped at the chance, especially when there was
so much to do in Chicago that applied to my Graphic Design classes (art museums,
digital studios etc.). Next thing I know, I am getting up at 5 AM on Friday and
traveling the 700 miles to Chicago!
The drive to Chicago took around 12 hours, and yet it
didn't nearly seem that long, unlike Europe. The jet ride from Europe took
8 hours and it seemed like forever. I think the major difference was on
the jet I couldn't lay down to sleep and was in a state of discomfort the whole
time. In the car, I had the entire backseat to myself and tons of stuff to
work on. We reached Chicago at about 6 PM on Friday and immediately I was
amazed. Never before had I seen a lake that you couldn't see the land
across from it. Of course Lake Michigan looked just like the ocean would,
nothing spectacular, but the idea that it was actually a lake made it
fascinating. After driving in circles a few times we finally reached our
hotel. My friend spared no expense it seems, for we were in a four star
hotel which sat directly on the Chicago river and was just 2 blocks from the
Magnificent Mile. We moved in to the room, checked out the surroundings,
and were then off to explore.
We mostly hung out on the Magnificent Mile checking out all
of the shops. I stayed in the Virgin music store for about an hour looking
at "rare" books, CDs, and DVDs that would usually be impossible to find
anywhere in Arkansas. After a few hours of shop hopping (and refusing to
actually spend any money) I decided to go up to the Hancock observatory to get
some good picture of Chicago at sunset. What I didn't expect was 1) you
actually have to pay to look at Chicago from that view; and 2) there is a
good 30 minute wait just to get on the elevator. By the time I
reached the top the sun had already set and I had the "informational movie" of
the Hancock building memorized after watching it loop a few dozen times. I
did get a few pictures from the observatory, but it was too dark to get anything
good. And of course, the pictures that I wanted to take never turned out
correctly due to the lack of light. While I missed the sunset over the
city, I did catch a moonrise over Lake Michigan. The pictures of this of
course didn't turn out, only a round dot over surrounded by total darkness.
I was hoping to get the many reflections of the moon cascading over the lake,
but I guess the digital camera isn't that sensitive. Afterwards I
headed over to a 5 story Borders bookstore and check out much of the thing I saw
at Virgin, no biggie. Finally I walked over to the Hard Rock cafe to
get a good meal and buy some proof of my venture to Chicago (I knew my parents
would never believe me, that is not until I got a shirt!). I avoided the
45 minute wait at HRC by eating at the bar and trying my luck on the women
sitting there. Ah, the memories... Um, anyways, where was I?
After some good times at HRC I walked back to the Hotel and had a good night's
rest in a large bed.
Saturday we got up and packed our belongings so we
could check out before 12. We packed our luggage in the car and then went
out to explore the city one final time. We left the car in the garage
since finding any place to park was nearly impossible in Chicago (it was said
that parking in Chicago costs $60,000 a year). What I didn't expect to
find outside was a drastic change in the weather outside. No longer was it
60 degrees and sunny, instead it was 40 degrees with a nice cold rain.
Living in the South, one does not expect to find any weather colder than 60 this
late in April so I was ill-prepared for the pain to come. I had my
coat and not much else, but I was too stubborn to let a little rain (and a lot
of WIND) kill my enjoyment of Chicago. We basically went to
the same places I had gone to the night before, except we avoided the Hancock
tower since it was obvious that we wouldn't see anything from the observatory
(mainly because we couldn't see the top of the building from the ground).
I led the pack to HRC again, but this time I couldn't sneak 3 people over to the
bar so we were required to wait 45 minutes to eat. Since we were in a
hurry we went across the street to a nice hamburger joint and were quite
satisfied. For the final leg of our tour we searched out the Contemporary Art
Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago. Both were fun, and whenever I saw
the Art Institute I was immediately reminded of Ferris Bueller and the mid-80s
techno music that played during that scene. After our art appetites were
satisfied we headed back to the Hotel to pick up the car and then we departed
Chicago. Or tried to at least... I won't go into what happened next (re:
lost) but we did see more of Chicago than we anticipated (re: China Town).
Nonetheless, we safely found our way out of the city and soon we were on our way
back to Arkadelphia. And that, my friends, was my 48 hour vacation.
April 25, 2002 - Last night was a killer night. After work I ran across a friend who invited me to the lake for the BCM gathering. When the notion of free food came up I was on my feet ready to go (no more Caddo!). The party was great, we played with Frisbees and hackie sacks, played music, and just overall enjoyed ourselves. The sunset on the lake was beautiful and I felt bad that I didn't have my camera for it. Afterwards, I dropped my friends off and went home to return the Gaudi materials I borrowed for my report on Tuesday. Next I came back to RFA and worked on my CD case I had to turn in today, or at least I tried to. Instead I ended up helping one of my gal-friends who was in the Mac-lab with her project for Digital Skills. She was trying to recreate a picture using only text, and the way she was going about it would have taken hours to complete just one picture. Instead I showed her some techniques to churn out better pictures quicker and more complex. And yet, suddenly I feel like I was used since I basically finished a major portion of her final project for her instead of letting her figuring it out for herself. Oh well, at least she's cute, maybe I'll benefit from this random act of kindness later on. After she left I finished my CD project and ended up getting in a conversation with one of my friends about possible summer vacations. From what we talked about I have alot to look forward to, now I just have to wait to see if everything falls into place... As for tonight, I have Kenpo practice which I need to get ready for soon, who knows what we'll learn tonight...
April 24, 2002 - Well everyone, I'm back! Sorry about that two week break, but I had alot of stuff due in a short period of time. I actually posted a week ago just in my hurry I forgot publish. Now that I am back I need to get into the swing of things, I have alot to talk about and many activities to bring you up to date. I will try to post every important incident that occurred these past 2 weeks over the next two days, but since today is a Wednesday I need to post the pictures I've taken for all to see.
Spring Fling 02
NuFusion Concert
"Hmmm, which prank to pull
today..."
These bushes must be sick, they have
funny growths on
them
When puppies
attack!
1
Thanks for saving us from the
evil pine tree,
Lassie!
Camera does not =
food
Even people who
graduated show up for
no reason
When people say "Hey pose for a funny picture", only
one person will
actually do it
Expect more throughout your day!
J- who doesn't know where to start
April 17, 2002 -
Yea, yea, I know I am WAY behind the game here. I haven't written
in nearly a week, and I missed my J-Cap and my picture Wednesday this week.
So why did I do this? What could have possessed me to miss all my updates?
Well a number of things actually... Like I've said many times, I have many
projects to do over the course of the next couple of weeks. In fact, it
seem I have even more than I thought I did. Hopefully I'll be able to get back
into the swing of things once everything is finished next Tuesday.
J- who is quickly on his way to a nervous breakdown
April 11, 2002 -
"A
backwards poet writes in verse."
In case you were wondering about my test it went pretty well. I
don't know if it was hard or easy though. The test itself consisted
of one quote, and we had to answer the quote with an opinion. Basically
the quote said Classical art was better than Contemporary art and we had to
offer an opinion on why that is not true and in the process describe each art
movement and how it was affected by Classical art. I think I did pretty well, I
wrote for about 1 hour and filled up two full pages, plus I elaborated on most
of the art movements. I guess I will just have to wait until next Tuesday to see
what I made.
As for today, I've been really busy... well, I've been busy doing
nothing. I went to all my classes as usual and learned very little as
usual. My Screen-printing class didn't go over so well this morning.
I spent half the class lining up my paper with the screen so the final color
prints precisely where I want it, and when I printed my first test page it
printed perfectly aligned. Next a place my final under the screen
and line it up exactly like the previous but when I print the color it print's
off-center by 2 picas! I ruined my best print and suddenly I was
back where I started and class was over. I ended up going back to the art
annex around 9:00 tonight and lined up the screen with another print I made
instead of a test print. That way it printed exactly where I wanted on a
print that I was willing to turn in as opposed to printing perfectly on a test
print which we can't turn in.
My Sociology class was even more interesting this morning. I really
wasn't paying attention to what the teacher said but he made a comment about the
difference between race and ethnic groups and gave an example of a Jewish
person. Well this severely offended one student, who as it turns out isn't
even Jewish, and he argues with the professor that Jews are a race of people and
not an ethnic group. This goes on for about twenty minutes and the
professor basically tells the student he has the wrong definitions of race and
ethnic groups, but the student keeps trying to argue and tells the professor
that HE has no idea what he is talking about. Most of the class was just
embarrassed for the student and snickered with each other every time the student
said something stupid. The student made it sound like he was about to
start a religious war and said things like "Well you just offended every Jew on
the planet by saying..." and the professor would retort that everything he said
was in the book. It finally ended when the professor told the student he
needed to learn the correct definitions of what he is arguing about before
trying to start a debate. I was actually glad the student kept trying to
argue because he was delaying class and giving me time to work on some other
projects in class.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful: I went to work, ate
dinner at Caddo, talked to friends in the dorm, tossed a football around, and
watched a movie with my roommates. I am really enjoying the Spring
weather, especially now that we turned the clocks back to the correct time. Now
when I get off work at 5 there is actually still enough daylight outside for me
to partake in some extracurricular activities. Speaking of which, today's
activities actually wore me out so I'll be signing off a little early tonight.
J- eagerly anticipating tomorrow's Kenpo class
April 9, 2002 - Able was I
ere I saw Elba
Realism begat impressionism begat post-impressionism begat
fauvism begat cubism and then expressionism somehow showed up. Right
now all I have in my head is a bunch of Art History terms and facts that I
have been cramming in my head for a "pop" test tonight. The study guide
given to us seemed easy enough, it had no more than 12 lines on it which gave
the impression of an easy test. Unfortunately that is not the case.
Here is an example quote from our study guide:
Define the following terms, and supply;
1. The major characteristics of each of the styles. How can one tell them
apart?
2. The names and brief history of two of the most important artists for
each style
3. Titles of two stylistically representative work for each style
4. The major differences between them
Supposedly this test shouldn't take more than 20-30
minutes which I find that a hard estimate to follow considering the excerpt is
just one fourth of the entire study guide. You could spend weeks on the
above topics! In fact, my class has spent weeks on the above topics, this
is our first test of the semester and he expects us to summarize twelve weeks
worth of information in 20-30 minutes? Oh boy...
Surprisingly, I am actually relatively calm about this exam. I have
studied for a few hours and am ready to take it, for better or for worse.
Hopefully some miracle will happen and he'll end up postponing it or helping us
with it. Time can only tell...
Well I'm off to dinner now, hopefully I won't forget everything I've learned. If all goes well I'll probably update again tonight since I had other things happen to me other than this test.
J - who never understood palindromes
April 8, 2002 - Desserts I
desire not, so long as no lost one rise distressed.
Does anyone else realize we only have three weeks left before
finals? This semester is coming to a close quicker than I thought it ever
would. Maybe now would be a good time to start all those projects given to
me over the past semester which are due at the end of it...
Since I have many other things to work on right now, I won't be writing much to
the J-Cap, so take what you can get. ;)
Archeological excavation discovers long lost "floor" in
dorm room
Arkadelphia- A recent excavation in a local dorm room turned up evidence of
a long lost "floor" residing in the dorm room. During the weekend a team
of students sorted through layers of dirt and garbage which accumulated over the
months only to find what was once thought to be a legend - a dorm room floor.
The floor had not seen the light of day in numerous months, during that time a
fine layer of dust and soot had collected over the entire floor. Each
student moved carefully across the floor trying not to disturb any of the
remains left residing in the dust layer. "I heard legends about such a thing
existing" stated one awe-stricken student, "but I never thought I would see it
with my own eyes. It was amazing". Many hours were put
in the excavation, and many tools were required to break through each layer.
A vacuum was used to remove multiple layers of dust that separated each
solid layer of clothes and paper, and a washing machine was used to clean any
wearable items found hidden under piles of books and paper. During the
excavation numerous unexplainable artifacts where found hidden in the multiple
layers of dust and soot. Some of the artifacts include: 9 socks - with
only 2 pairs between them, Valentine's day candy, old books from previous
classes, and study guides to tests from September. After sorting
through each artifact and placing them in their proper storage facilities, the
students celebrated by watching some TV and playing some games. Unfortunately
their celebration ended prematurely when it was soon discovered that the floor
had disappeared once again. Without any desire to resume the excavation,
the students returned to their normal way of life with only short memories of
seeing the fabled "dorm floor".
IN BRIEF
New car's MPG rate adds to driver's boast
After driving his new car over the weekend, a local student discovered a new
quality to boast about. The student filled up his small car with gas
before departing on a trip to Benton to see a movie. After returning from the 90
mile round trip he noticed the gas meter still registered a little below "full",
a feat accomplished by the car's 45 miles per gallon rate. Upon realizing
this the driver immediately had something to boast about to his friends who
drove "gas guzzlers" that require to be filled every week. The student
then learned he should have kept his mouth shut instead of boasting as he was
suddenly volunteered to chauffeur his friends against his will.
Pool table sits untouched
A pool table residing in a local college dorm sat untouched the entire
weekend, an event which has not happened since the table was moved into the
dorm. No one can figure out exactly why such an event happened, but many
have theories. Some factors thought to be involved include: lack of
participants due to concerts, movies, or Everquest. One can only wonder if the
usual pool junkies will ever return from their *real* lives to enjoy the
luxuries the pool table has to offer.
April 5, 2002 - "I
inherited a painting and a violin which turned out to be a Rembrandt and a
Stradivarius. Unfortunately, Rembrandt made lousy violins and Stradivarius was a
terrible painter." (Tommy Cooper)
Prepare for a double dose of entries since my update yesterday
failed to publish! Wow, it's Friday again and I am ready to relax. My body
is still recuperating from Spring Break and it seems like I haven't had a chance
to slow down in 3 weeks. I was so worn out yesterday I ended up falling
asleep at 9:30, something I haven't done since I was a wee child.
I went to my first Kenpo class last night in Curtis and it wore me
out. A few of my friends invited me to go this past week to learn Kenpo (a
martial art) from a black belt living in Curtis who teaches for free. Last
night was the first class I was able to attend and I was amazed. From the
very beginning we started learn the basics and everything I needed to know to
catch up. All of the other attendees were college age and most of them had
been going for a while but they were very friendly and a lot of help. I am
still sore from all the wrestling we did last night to practice our balance.
I always ended up paired up with guys who outweighed me by 60-80 pounds yet I
held my own quite well. At one point I ever manage to do a pushup with a
guy on top of me trying to hold me down. Of course today my back is
telling me never to do that again... After talking to the rest of the guys
when the class was over I found out the teacher (who refuses to ever be
called master or sensei) has worked in many places in his lifetime as a martial
artist. He even sparred with Chuck Norris in his early years but he
doesn't talk much about that. All I know is he is very well trained and knows
exactly what he is talking about. Hopefully with some practice I will be
able to achieve a higher skill level.
As for today I haven't done much. I started my spring
cleaning today because lord knows my room needs it. I saw a roach in my
room for the first time since I moved in last year and decided it was time to
clean things up. But then again compared to the other rooms in my dorm,
one roach should be nothing to worry about. We once had a contest last
year to see who could find the most roaches in their rooms and someone found 14!
Luckily my room is on the second floor and out of the way so I find very few
living things in my room. Regardless, seeing just one is as good of a
reason as any to clean up the entire place. Looks like my weekend is
pretty much set now. Then again, this is my first weekend to
actually own a car since I was in high school, I might want to put that new fact
into use. Now I can go wherever I want without having to call up my house
for a ride, whoopee! And on that note, I better sign off so I can ponder all the
new possibilities owning a car brings me...
J- who needs to raid Wal-Mart for it's remaining selection of Cadbury Eggs
April 4, 2002 - "The art
galleries of Paris contain the finest collection of frames I ever saw."
(Humphrey Davy)
Whew, today sure was a doozey. I woke up early again and
actually had time to read before I went to work. After working on the
usual things at work I went to class and had to come up with 3 CD covers off of
the top of my head before class started. I ran some nice Photoshop filters
on previous works and was able to get not 3 but 8 CD covers by the time everyone
showed up. Class went well except I left early since my computer shut my
project down mid-way through completion and I didn't feel like doing it again.
Next I went and talked to my sociology professor and took a test I missed a few
weeks ago, something I was ill-prepared for. Luckily sociology can be
easily thought of on the spot and I think many of my answers were close
enough to what he wanted. Afterwards I finished reading the second book of
the Wheel of Time series and started the third before I left for work.
Speaking of which, if anyone is bored and needs something to read,
I highly recommend the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. Like I said
yesterday, I rarely read anymore since I am usually too busy doing other
activities but these books are like an addiction. The instant I picked up
the first one I couldn't put it down. I actually chose to read rather than
play video games or work on the Internet last night, something which has never
happened before. Anyone who was with me in Europe will tell you that I
always carried a book with me everywhere I went. I originally brought the
books to read on the long trip across seas but I ended up being immersed within
the story throughout most of the trip. There were probably time when I should
have gone out and explored when instead I stayed and read. If these
books can cause someone so against reading as me to spend hours at a time behind
a book, think of what they can do to those of you whoa re avid readers...
If you're interested try picking up the first book- Eye of the World by Robert
Jordan and tell me what you think.
On another note, I still haven't gotten back into the full swing of
things since coming back from Europe. I missed my entire J-cap and photo
Wed. this week and I have no material in store for next week like I should. I
need to get back on top of everything and quick too...
J- who know he should be doing something right now...
April 3, 2002 - "In the beginning the Universe was
created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a
bad move." (Douglas Adams)
As you can see it has been a while since I posted, and for good
reason too. My entire Sprig Break plus some was spent in Europe and even
now I have not fully recuperated from such an adventure. My body still
tells me it's 8 hours later than what it really is, and for some odd reason I am
actually waking up at least 1 hour before my first class begins as opposed to
the usual 5 minutes. For the next couple days don't expect much on this
page as I am quite busy with all the work I was suppose to do over the break,
plus I am setting up a few pages on this site to describe my adventure in
Europe. Until everything is caught up I am going to try and keep my
entries short and to the point, something my teachers always wish I would do in
their classes. And now to prove my point, I shall end this.
J, who read 1500 pages over Spring Break, 3 times more than he's read in the past 3 years combined.