Happy Birthday to Me

Summer all year round

I've been told the first step to recovery is to admit that I cannot control my addiction, so here it goes:

Over the course of the semester I've gone through, at the very least, thousands of sunflower seeds. That was my very first cupful of seeds. Not sure why I took the picture at the time, but I'm glad I did because since then I have gone through about one cupful every week. As I type I'm topping off another cup.

I started this one on Sunday.

Heck, as far as addictions gained in the first semester of college go, I'm right on par with being addicted to crayons in 1st grade.

Why seeds rock:

• With the constant packages of sugary goods floating north from the nati (thanks, Mom) a little salty snack always sounds good.
• Raining outside? Cold? Too lazy to get off my butt and make some REAL food? Seeds are always there for me. Kinda like cigs to some people, but like, 5000% cheaper.
• I think its probably in the same catagory as celery in that "you actually lose weight by eating them." Suck it freshman 15.
• It feels like spring training in December.

So, if anyone needs any early Christmas ideas for me, look no further than your local Sam's Club -->>>

Getting Closer

I'm kind of ADD when it comes to page design, I know. 
This is very close to what I want, minus the whole thing where the colors I'm using seem to clash terribly. 

It is a work in progress, and as always any suggestions are appreciated so let me know.

Black Light Special

I can say with a great deal of confidence that this past Friday was the first time I have ever woken up before the crack of dawn while on a "vacation" of any sort when fish weren't involved. Ever since I could recognize a good sale in the newspaper (and had the money to actually make a few purchases) I've had a sick desire to experience the "BLACK FRIDAY" (spooky sounding, eh?) rush.


So, this year, Dad and I (yes, I'm pretty sure we were the only two white males together I saw all day) woke up bright and early at 5:00, grabbed a coffee, and headed out to Staples to get in line for those thumb drives and DVDs. A couple observations I made throughout the day...

1.) DVDs are dirt cheap this year. You can get full seasons of anything that didn't air on HBO for $15 bucks or less if you look around (see: Target, Circut City).
2.) America really can be a sick, sick, place if you just stop and look around. I'm not trying to say, "BOO CAPITALISM!!!!!1!1!" or anything, I was there right along with everybody (see: below). Just the pure numbers of people everywhere from Target to friggin' Pep Boys (yes, Pep Boys, they had some great car-GPS prices) had a crowd.
3.) The downfall of the guitar is imminent. And don't think that it will stop there.
4.) Tickle Me Elmo EXTREME! is hilarious on four hours of sleep.

Our prize purchase of the day, you ask? Office Max, of all places, had some crazy deals on monitors of all types, computer, TV, and projections. For the past year or so we have been contemplating converting the basement into our own common-man-home-theatre (if there is such a thing), and when there is an HD projector with a free 80-inch screen included (which costs only a hundred less than the actual projector), we caved.

The conversion should probably have been a weekend project, but I kind of blew my load when I got home, and by 8:00 that night we were watching a life-size Will Ferrell in Elf.


Mom will kill me for showing the interweb the mess, and honestly the picture doesn't quite do it justice, but this is the best photo-evidence I have.

Note to self: 2,000 lumens is really, REALLY freaking bright when directly shined into cornea.

That was fun while it lasted

Sorry (kinda) for the long pause during break, there was much time spent with family and friends, and that ranks slightly higher on the scale. The good news is that there is a lot to talk about now! YAY!

It was good seeing everyone from P-town again. This break seemed like just a tease for winter break though. I feel like its Christmas already, but I still have finals and papers galore. Sweet. It doesn't help that all the Bobcats are already done until January. Their finals were in mid-November. Hooooly crap.

Fam Damily is good. That's about how much everyone cares so I'll leave it at that.

Just a small teaser right now, there will be more later today on the fun stuff (see: Black(?) Friday, snow!, lights, and excessive purchases)

Whew.

Cold, gloomy day: Check.

Moderate short-term sleep-depression: Check.

Last test before Thanksgiving Break (stupid chemistry teachers... I never did like their kind): Check.

Next in line: Lots of sleep.

Happy Turkey Break (I know I am)

Wow.

I hate using such a hyperbolous (is that even a real word??) title as I did here with "Wow," but nothing else really seemed to fit. That was all that came to my mind. Apparently, right under everyones nose, someone Potentially (with a capital P) could have had the most monumental scientific discovery since that whole E=mc^2 thing.

And this guy surfs. But only in the summer. Because well, in the winter he likes to snowboard.

A little background from someone who admittedly knows less than other people reading this may. Basically, ever since scientists discovered they could split atoms (circa post WWII) there has been an effort to unify every "theory" of the universe into one simple (heh, relatively speaking) equation. The first person to really attempt this head on and get anywhere close is Einstein. But even he just cracked the surface before his death.

Blah, blah, blah, years pass by, and String Theory becomes the most accepted (or at least the most talked about) "theory of everything." The problem is, String Theory proposes that there are ten dimensions to the universe, and we are living in one.

Seriously, ten. Even George Lucas would have to say, "Let's be real guys." And there is that whole thing were String Theory divides particles into such infintesimally small "strings" (hence the name) that even in this modern age there is no possible way to collect any data to prove or disprove it. The term theory was used very liberally here.

So, November 6th, 2007 rolls around and a dude called Garrett Lisi (remember the name) releases his paper, "An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything." (If you want to read it, and good luck, click the PDF button on the right of the page-linked). After reading it you may think that he forgot to add the whole "Simple" part into the equation. Basically, rather than ten dimensions, Lisi was able to use the slightly-less-acid-trip-induced idea of just using this one space-time dimension we humans call home.

Pretty outrageous stuff. If it really works. I mean, on the scientific timeline, this thing isn't even in the second trimester yet, so who knows.

Just throwin' some knowledge out there for yalls.

Oh, and Berry is juiced...btw.

Not gonna lie....

I do this. And I do it a lot... More than I should probably...

It's that time of year

Coming from the guy that sings Jingle Bells in April, I guess that doesn't hold much weight. The fact is, Halloween is over, and since the PC-Police are making Thanksgiving go the way of Columbus Day,

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

...I state in a very generic blue and family friendly, unoffensive way. Eff that.

MERRY FREAKIN' CHRISTMAS(time)!!!

I got the "Smoky Mountain Christmas" tunes blazin' right now as "Old Ridge Boys Christmas" downloads (seriously... it's sick how that whole Pavlov thing works and crap music sounds good in the right mindset). Now all I need is a little eggnog and, uh, cold weather. Oh, and leaves off trees.

And finals to be over.

And money....

Christmas time sucks......

Fun professor word of the moment

Amalgam - A combination of diverse elements; a mixture: an amalgam of strength, reputation, and commitment to ethical principles.

Rumor is just saying it raises your IQ by two points.

Oh and also, "Morality is the will of the powerful"

!!!! deep.

I should really listen in philosophy more often...

Top Everything

I love lists. I love rankings. Putting the two together just makes me want to channel my inner Dane Cook (heheh.)

Top Five Artists who probably should never have picked up a microphone

1.) Bob Dylan - Made famous for his horribly awesome voice.

2.) Johnny Cash - Hey, I like him too. Probably because I can sing his songs better than he can.

3.) Macy Gray - Should probably be number one, but she should not be number one in anything. Ever.

4.) William Shatner.

5.) The Green Hat Guy in Old School - Seriously, I hope for his sake that he just keeps making his money off Snoop-a-loop and never tries to go solo.

This picture has absolutely nothing to do with anything. But YOU try finding a picture of GreenHatMan, not so easy. And this makes me smile. So there.

Back home, observations

1.) South Bend is actually in northern Indiana. Toopit Indians.
2.) Why do dead tress look prettier than living ones? Am I really just that morbid?
3.) Football is a great sport.
4.) Notre Dame is not good at that sport.
5.) I can't wait for next year. Addition by subtraction hopefully (Cause we all know how that worked out this year.... )
6.) Masochism is a great way to describe my feelings about this season.

Before I hit the road...

I wanted to do this for a while and now is the perfect time. A little parting gift. The "first 10 songs on shuffle" game. However, instead of an iPod, just my Windows Media Player (5,638 songs ( all legally aquired, of course!!))

1.) Never Enough - Eminem; Eh, filler song on his "Encore" album. This album probably is a case study for those who argue that Em only got big "beacuse of Dre's beats." Can't argue with that here...

(3 stars out of 5)

2.) Me and My Shadow - Frank Sinatra; Ahh thats more like it. Frankie S. in a duet with Sammie Davis Jr. Vintage recording and all, very quality stuff from the Crooner era

(4 out of 5).

3.) Mistakes We Knew We Were Making - Mae; Talk about a band you have to be in the right mood to listen to. Good "happy music," for like, homework, or folding clothes, or something. Not soft enough to really fall asleep too but not loud enough to really wake up with. Also, one of many songs I generically file under "indie".

(3 out of 5)

4.) Cool Kids - Screeching Weasel; A little guilty pleasure punk rock. Cute song too.

(4 out of 5)

5.) The Sounds of Silence - Simon and Garfunkel; One of the songs I aquired legally for Stinky (aka the "pale chick"). Great song to go along with one of my more favorite old movies. Art Garfunkel will always have a special place in my heart, too, as we both tried to bring the white-boy fro to popular acceptance. We both failed, too.

(4 out of 5)

6.) Really the Blues - Artie Shaw; I was wondering when some jazz was going to come up. I have a solid 15 hours worth and all, so it was only a matter of time (no pun intended). Artie Shaw is one of the good ones, right up there with Louis Armstrong and (dare I say) Wynton Marsalis. Yes, Marsalis is that good.

(4 out of 5)

7.) I'll Back You Up (Live) - Dave Matthews; Heh, I just checked out of curiosity, and I have the same amount of music from one artists as I do from an entire genre (Dave Mattews : Jazz, both 15hrs.) Yeesh, I didn't know it was that bad. This song leans heavily toward the instrumental aspect of Dave, similar to the recently released Radio City Concert (which is OUTSTANDING by the way... yea... like my opinion on Dave holds a lot of weight now...)

(4 out of 5)

8.) I'd Wait a Million Years - The Grass Roots; HOLY CRAP THAT KEYBOARD HURTS THE EARRSSS!!! File this song under "songs I aquired legally many a moon ago and forgot about until it just came on." Not terrible, but far from good. And it's never a good sign when the sound of an instrument causes physical pain. Probably an EQ issue on my end, but hooolllleeee crap.

(2 out of 5)

9.) Amazed - Lonestar; Nothing like a little good ole' generic 90s country. It pulls at the heartstrings

(3 out of 5)

10.) Let it Out - Pillar; Huh? I think this one was sort of a package deal with the whole CD, because I seriously do not recognize this. The band is definitely one of the top three Christian rock bands out there (third smartest kid with downs syndrome!) . (2 out of 5)

Overall, quite the lucky shuffle. I aim for a gaussian curve in relation to my ratings (lots of threes, 2 and 4 are within the 1st-ish standard deviation, 1 and 5 are the "rest), so pretty good on the whole here. And yes, seriously, I am that big of a nerd. I'm in engineering, what did you expect?!

On the road again (Pt. 1)

Good news and bad news.

The bad news is that I will be departing from the interweb for the weekend.
The good news is that I therefore won't be allowed to emotapost this coming Saturday! WOOHOO!

The family is making the annual football trip this weekend.

I <3 choppy sentence structure.

Too early....

Old Dog Learning New Tricks

Old is such a relative word, I love it (for now at least). I've dabbled in Photoshop (R) for about (holy crap...) six years now but have stuck to the photo-editing side of it for most of that time. It wasn't until last year that I really dove head first into the design aspect of it. Well, tonight I had a heaping chuck of free time for the first time in a week or two, so I decided it was high time to take my tablet PC to the max and give free-hand a little try.

Disclaimer: I am in no way an artist. Really the only exercise my right-side gets is through Photoshop. If you want to see an artist, look elsewhere. And yes, chemguy, I did find out about that through your blog. I'm a grade A creeper.

Without futher adieu:

The Blueprint.

My ultra-300-esque back, with what could potentially be inked on me in the coming year. Nothing definite yet, but I think I have a place at least. And before the "don't get a tattoo" talk comes, I know, I know.

EDIT: Here is a larger image. And for the record, I did draw it on, and it shows once you see it a little bigger. Here is what I was thinking of, and here is where it came from. Like always, every tattoo has a story, but that story will be for another day/if/when I actually get it.

Dayton local news is awesome

Currently, news reporter is radar gunning drivers on a residential road.

SHOCK! THEY ARE SPEEDING!!!

and on cell phones. the nerve.

Polishing crap

Obviously, it has been a horrible year for one of the two football teams that I really care about (well, I guess you could make an argument for both). Waking up this morning I found this article, which is probably the most sane explanation that I have seen for an otherwise crappy situation (with links added to help those of you that have no idea what the dude is talking about).

In the beginning, Charlie made the most out of a bad situation. He hired assistants quickly and without a lot of time for vetting, because he had made a commitment to his then-employer and he had to keep it.

Then he made the most out of a bad situation again. His chosen QB coach resigned unexpectedly after a heart attack. Weis hired a pretty good replacement, but he had lost a former head coach who knew his stuff (and who really could have helped this year).

Then he did it again. He started 2005 spring practice with a team that had been poorly coached and repeatedly humiliated, and he coached them into a BCS berth. That season was no gimmick -- ND beat the crap out of some teams that year. Save two last-second plays, that team would have played Texas for the national title. (editorial comment: I don't necessarily agree with the premise here, obviously from anyone who watched the not-so-Fiesta Bowl, there was no reason for ND to be anywhere near a national championship game that year. The games fell right, and the team made the best of the situation.)

Last year, though, that defensive coordinator he hired over the phone, the one Holtz recommended, was coaching his way out of a job. At the same time, Weis's predecessor's recruiting failures started to peek through to the surface. The offensive line was thin and the defense was thinner (and more confused). Fortunately, the QB was built like a linebacker and stayed (relatively) healthy all year.

But this year, the bad situations finally got the best of Weis. He entered August with one pedestrian QB, one injured blue-chipper (edit: yes, I think it is EXTREMELY sad that this dude has a .org dedicated to him.), and one guy who scared him to death and excited the hell out of him at the same time. He rolled the dice with the last guy, and crapped out in a hurry. That offensive line the recruitniks had been fearing for three years turned out to be worse than advertised. Things unravelled in a hurry, and Weis tried to cute his way out of it. It didn't work.

Should Weis have made sure the line was fundamentally better than they have been? Absolutely. Then again, the 2007 ND coaching job is like the first day of work for the new mayor of Detroit -- do you deal with the unemployment or the murder rate? QB's or line? New defensive scheme or three new starting wide receivers? Special teams or new starting running back? Oh, and no one better get hurt, because we barely go two-deep at every position.

Weis failed this year in the sense that the team is awful. That, I suppose, could be the end of the inquiry. Everyone faces tough problems -- the difference between the great ones and the others is what they make of those problems. Then again, this year was in many respects a formula for disaster, and it's tough to fault Charlie for failing to win a title that was never in the cards in the first place. That he has recruited so well in spite of these challenges is a testament to his optimism and work ethic.

Can Charlie win a title at Notre Dame? Or will he outsmart himself out of a job?

I agree with the recruits -- the book on Charlie Weis remains just interesting enough for me to want to turn the page.

Obviously, there are some things the guy mentioned that I don't necessarily agree with, but the overall point stands. There has been a Good-Brett, Bad-Brett situation going on here but with the man-children that could arrive in less than a year, I want to see where this takes us.

Oh, and this is all not mentioning that whole blood contract thing Tweedle-Dee presented to him. But that's a whole other issue...

Hilarious

If this doesn't just perfectly describe nearly every (not all, but nearly all) organization, I don't know what does.

My personal favorite is "big talking" Jerome. "Let's do it!"

Epiphany

Finally, after a season of soul searching, it has come to me. I now am sure of why I watch the team-that-shall-not-be-named.

Alex Flanagan.

A special shout-out

Well kinda...

I've been meaning to get a picture of this up here like all year, but have never really remembered to grab a camera when needed. Well, lucky me now finally has a camera phone, so I was able to snap an admittedly low-quality shot.

I hope [person#91858327] doesn't mind the back of his head being displayed to the masses.

In the "mine's bigger" dept. I present to you, the periodic table.

Happy (late) Halloween!

How did I celebrate you ask? I did not turn on the alarm for my morning calc class (granted, it was a review session over a test next week, but it still felt good).

Sleeping in does the body good.






Look at me! I'm festive!
































(Seriously though.... Halloween is right up there with Valentines Day on the scale of stupid holidays for me. Yes, coming from someone in college.... think about what that means for a second.... still stupid.)