Cibus Muto Sententia

2004-01-07T16:45:00.000-05:00

I am in the process of moving my blog to The Shadow Council page. With Ardith's help that should be done within a week or so. Thus, I will probably stop posting to this site, and once I get things transferred, I will make this site forward to that one. At least, that's the idea. Right now, you need to go to that site and comment on how cool it is. Hmm, guess I ought to get the template figured out and make it orange, as it ought to be.

2004-01-02T23:43:00.000-05:00

My possible papers:
The Female Seducing The Proletariat: C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves and Culture
C. S. Lewis Unlocking Pathology: The Four Loves and the Tolerance of Feminism
C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves, and The Oppressed: Troubling Homosocial Re-vision
Exploited Supplement and the Epistemology of Monologic Womanhood in C. S. Lewis's The Four Loves

I think I'll redo my Inklings paper...

2004-01-02T23:36:00.000-05:00

Today was a good day.
I got to work on a nice laptop, and then I got nifty things for my laptop. And then...
I got to make DVD's!
It is very fun to take a blue bottomed DVD and make it purple by writing to all of it. It's a very satisfying feeling. To write all one's ISO's onto one disc, ahhh, so enjoyable. Yeah, so that's what I've been doing. And playing a little bit of games. Hmmm, so good.
Now were was I? I'm not sure. Oh well, bye everyone.

2003-12-31T08:57:00.000-05:00

Often as I write this blog I save the text I have just written to the clipboard before hitting post. Thus, if the connection should, for some reason, go awry, I have not lost my investment of time. If, however, I type ctrl+a, ctrl+v, the text is lost and gone forever.
'Doh.
Thus you will not have the pleasure of reading the enchanting post I have just created. It was overwritten with the blank contents of the clip board.
Henceforth be admonished.
CTRL+C - Copy currently selected text to the clipboard.
CTRL+V - Replace currently selected text with the contents of the clipboard
Learn and obey, and great shall be your rewards. Fail in these things and yours shall be everlasting LeTourneau. Amen.

2003-12-23T01:06:00.000-05:00

I was browsing about, waiting for Half-Life to download. I drifted to the Bittorrent Download page, via Google, and discovered it is written by a single person. He appears to be, at first glance, a math and problem loving hacker. I browsed his blog and he writes on logic and physics problems. He even discussed ways in which Ebay can be exploited and how they could fix it. If you have some time and like interesting mathematical ideas, its a good read. I also ran across Click Mazes, a collection of online mazes and maze games. I spent a very deep half hour going through the swamp and plank mazes. I miss the logic games I used to get out of books. If you run across The Chicken from Minsk be sure to page through it. It assumes an ideal environment for all the physics based problems, and explains things like lack of friction as the "fruit of comradeship." Oh, and for you fps junkies out there...
Half-Life is now free, and can be downloaded legally. Valve decided to build anticipation with this move, I guess. Also, I ran across an amazing Half-Life mod, The Specialists, that combines standard fps action with matrix style rolls, dives, and flips. A massive array of weapons combined with bullet-time powerups contribute to a truly amazing multi-player experience. Just imagine diving through a window, hitting bullet-time, rolling over in the air and placing three neat holes in your opponents head. Then you land and slide down the stairs. Its great fun for the whole family.

2003-12-18T23:07:00.000-05:00

Monday afternoon I sat up suddenly in my bed. I had just experienced a little piece of heaven. I had fallen asleep sometime after midnight, and I had not set my alarm clock. I had slept, uninterrupted, for nearly twelve hours. Moreover, I knew where a cup of blueberry yogurt was waiting for me. Additionally, I had a bin of chocolate chip cookies under my bed. Life was good.
So good, in fact, that I was fairly convince it couldn't get any better. I was wrong. Tuesday morning I worked at HCJB, my Dad's primary location of occupation. I sorted surface mount capacitors, resistors, inductors, and IC's. I was feeling down. Surely this boring day would never compare the the food-filled joy of Monday. But, in my darkest moment, my Dad and I went to Taco Bell. I ate a Grilled Stuffed Burrito of the "Fajita" variety. It was good, but not quite up to normal Burrito quality. This rising point was soon followed by the greatest moment of that day (aside from a phone-call that night.) We went to O's. Now Oh is a nice guy. In fact, he's so nice that he sold me a beautiful laptop, a 21" monitor, and a like-new black 15" monitor, all dirt cheap. When I entered the shop that wonderful day I saw Oh standing there, smiling at me like an angel sent from God. Behind lay a table spread with pure computer goodness. PCI and AGP cards spilled over the edges, each sending shimmering glimmers of heavenly green light from the PCB. My jaw dropped, and Oh smiled and stepped aside, my ready butler. "This way, sir, to the four dollar assorted cards table," he said (or words to that effect). I began to sort through the green goodness, each card caressed my hand like a silken handkerchief.

I'll cut the repertoire and give you the juicy details.
The Haul:
1 3Com 3C595-TX (PCI version of 509, 10/100)
4 3Com 3C905-B (Industry standard, PCI, 10/100) These cards work in every OS ever made
1 ATI All-In-Wonder with a TV-tuner (PCI, 16mb I think)

Each card, only four dollars!
Lalalala, (I'm dancing).
Now I can have a triple monitor system!!!
Lalalalala!

Needless to say, I'm quite happy.

(Oh, and to Ardith, HA. You can keep your Titan Hoody for all I care!)

2003-12-18T22:40:00.000-05:00

I want a fun, exciting job. Sorting and ordering surface mount electrical components just isn't my idea of a good break. Maybe I should look into the 'shroom growing business.

2003-12-15T00:22:00.000-05:00

In my wanderings, I happened across a jive translator. Now we all know that Paul, the apostle, was a fisherman. Thus he would fit in very well with today's back-alley hoods. Then King James Version, however, hardly does justice to Paul's certainly... localized speech. I have restored his words to their original format.
Here are some brief excerpts,
"While Paul wuz waitin' fo them in Athens, he wuz great-like distressed t' spot dat da damn hood wuz full o' idols."
"In da past da damn Lord overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all sucka's everywhere t' repent"
It gets better in context, read on!
The Jive Yo!

2003-12-12T00:15:00.000-05:00

By popular demand, I am now reposting the link to my ever-popular...
Why is the Rum Gone? Quiz.

Oh, and go ahead and bypass the blocking. They don't care. Really.

2003-12-12T00:11:00.000-05:00

Congratulations! You're Faramir!

Which Lord of the Rings character and personality problem are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Wow, that's very complimentary.

2003-12-10T00:16:00.000-05:00

I present for your perusal, a Brief History of the Internet.

Tonight I am happy and hurried.
I have discovered ultimate truth about several important Things. Read on, brave pilgrim.

Exams are good and horribly evil:
They mean the end of fun for good classes,
The end of my brain for bad classes,
The beginning of break for me,
And then end of being around my friends for a while.

Saga has its place:
It makes me appreciate break all the more.

Physics II is good:
If one studies and understands.

I hate Differential Equations:
Because it is evil and satanic.

Calculus III will one day rule the world:
I hope it remembers how good I've been to it.

Reading the Bible as Literature is a push-over:
If one enjoys reading, writing, and thinking in strange ways.

Baptists:
They're just wierd. Take the name, for example. Would you call a restaurant Food Makers?

Computers:
A perfect creation of God...
Until the fall. (Microsoft)

Trees:
Why do they grow straight up? If I were a tree I'd grow sideways!

Counterstrike:
Yet more proof you can't have too much of a good thing.

AOL Instant Messanger:
Technology provides a new and better way for people to interrupt eachother!

Sleep:
Thank God!

2003-11-25T01:10:00.000-05:00

David's thoughts for the night:
1. I love cake, especially chocolate cheesecake that I don't have to pay for.
2. I hate Randy!
3. My paper needs lots of work, but there's hope for everyone.
4. I love Midnight Club II. Not much beats wheelie-ing through busy downtown streets at 190 mph! The Adrenaline!!!
5. Tests are death.
6. I want break to come so I can eat and play and not think about anything else.
7. I don't want break to come because I'm going to Pennsylvania and Sharon is staying here.
8. I want three meters of snow.
9. I wish I had more time to write programs. I love programming.
0. Whose idea was it to make lists ten items when there are only nine?

So goodnight, everyone!

2003-11-21T03:17:00.000-05:00

Do you ever feel that you can't sleep, but you don't know why? That's how I feel right now. I'm not really tired, but I've had a big day. I guess I think it can't be over already. I had a fun essay about Demon Birds and madness finishing CAPA by midnight... Reading the Bible as Literature with Dr. Watson was fun. I got work done and did lots of stuff. Yet I don't feel my day can quite be over. I guess its all part of feeling the year is almost over.
I've now been 20 for one month, pretty strange. Its one week off two months of dating. I've never dated anyone before really... In a week I'll be in Pennsylvania relaxing after a big, home-cooked Thanksgiving dinner. In three weeks I'll be done with exams. Then there will be JP's wedding. I have a good friend whose getting married! Why is that?
So the year is almost over. One more Circuits, Physics, and DiffyQ test. One more revision of my Inklings Paper. No more BibasLit Essays. No more CAPA or Physics homework. Ever. Life as I know it is going to change. I have a brother in Alaska, a brother in Argentina, and a brother at Purdue. I'll only see two of them during break... It'll be the first Christmas without the whole family there. My family is growing up, getting old. There are four of us in college, FOUR. It seems only last week that I wanted to be in fourth grade because they had a better teacher then I did.
I miss running by the river in Ox Bow Park after school, and the early morning runs where mist rose off the river and little rabbits scurried off the path when I crossed the big field. I miss the Zip Line we made between islands in the river. I haven't been on monkey bars in far too long. I need to sled, I need to play with legos for fun, I need to play soccer in the mud. I need to build a fort in the woods. I need to play make-believe with my little sister. I need to play hide-and-go-seek with all the neighborhood kids so I can hide close to base and fool whoever is It. I need to help Mom make cookies. I need to crawl around our living room trying to figure out the network topology. I need to go to Blockbuster with Enoch and rent something, anything, and then watch it at one in the morning, because we can. I need to pick my buddy Tim up from the theater when he gets off and both of us play games until five and then crash, and only wake up when there are pancakes.

I need to do the things I am, and stop doing so much to be somebody new.
I need to forget what I'm expected to be by "society" and be who I was created to be.
Less rules, more heart. Less order, more conscience.
I've got to start waking up because I want to do things, not because my alarm clock is going off.
I need to go to bed because I need sleep for tomorrow, not because I can't keep my eyes open.

I need to figure out why I get wierd and pseudo-philosophical late at night.
I need to blog more.

Hmmm, now I feel like sleeping because in the morning I need to get up and see Sharon at breakfast.
Goodnight, World!

2003-11-09T02:21:00.000-05:00

Today was a great day.
To tell the story we must return to the events of Friday night. Having returned from various and sundry adventures, I wandered my floor in search of entertainment during the wee hours of the morning. I found a group watching Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, and joined in the merriment for the sake of the Yoda fight scene. I braved nearly a half hour of "entertainment" and had nearly reached my goal when I lost consciousness. I was overwhelmed by the sheer stupidity of... but I digress. I awoke at 5:45 in the morning on some else's loft, and realized that I was in a bad situation. My adventure for Saturday was slated to begin at 8:00 am, and sleeping in another room without an alarm clock was a sure-fire way to avoid the fun I had planned. I went to my own bed and slept until 7:15, dreaming many strange dreams...

The notable events of the day can be categorized into to areas: Food and Frolic.
The Food consisted of a "cow-pattie" sized cinnamon roll, a delicious Whataburger Bacon and Cheese burger, a roast beef Subway sandwich, and a respectable chunk of fudge. I was very, very pleased.
The Frolic consisted of a 2.5 hour car ride to and from Dallas with a variety of individuals with whom conversation was generally pleasant. This was in order that I might experience the focal point of the trip: a Display of Special Magnificence. The Display consisted of, among other things, the Egyptian Book of the Dead. I read it. I am a Mummy now. Im-ho-tep, Im-ho-tep. I also inspected several fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls. I had, however, seen all the Dead Sea Scrolls eleven years ago at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. What I found most interesting was the display of early Bibles. Beginning with Latin Vulgates, the display continued through to final editions of the Authorized Version. I was particularly impressed at the complete Bibles on display. Starting with Tyndale's hand-written New Testament I was able to follow the text and read writing that was over five centuries old! I continued on around the room, and the reading became easier. I was particularly pleased to see a Bible which, after its first 100 years, passed into the possession of a Richard Hunne. Right next to this Bible was a first edition Foxe's Book of Martyrs. It was open to a section on Hunne's martyrdom. The Bible I saw had been with him during the night of his death. I am still in awe of the courage and faith of such a man. So often we, as American Christians, forget the price so many paid for the faith we openly profess. As I read from the same book that had been poured through and prayed over by men of faith in ages past I was struck by the magnitude of the grace that we have. It is beyond my words to express the honor I have to follow such men.

Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling,
And to present you before his presence without fault and with exceeding great joy,
To the only wise God our Savior,
Be glory and honor, dominion and power, both now and forever.
Amen.

2003-11-05T14:32:00.000-05:00

I have discovered the Meaning of Life.
I particulary enjoyed Proving My Intellectual Prowess.
Yes!
Now I can die in peace.

Honestly, there are many great things on this site, I strongly suggest you look it up and follow the basic links.

2003-11-03T00:54:00.000-05:00

Look, I can blog because I have so much free time.

This sucks. I'll have to figure out a better way to get this done.

2003-10-29T15:41:00.000-05:00

Wow. I haven't posted in ages. Maybe no one reads this anymore. Oh bother.
Point being, I have been so busy that I feel I don't have any thoughts, much less time, to write. Yeah, life is full of thoughts, but I seem to get so busy that when a little bit of free time rolls around all I want to do is sleep. Class to class, homework to homework, meal to meal: life rushes on and I barely have time to live it. It's been said before, but it bears repeating: we often forsake the important for the urgent.
So with that in mind, I am going to take the rest of this free time to nap. I'm tired. And hurrah for Ardith, the rightful Fallfest Queen!

2003-10-18T05:11:00.000-04:00

Here I am, at four o'clock in the morning. I should be in bed right now, and my room-mate is probably much angsted by my typing. Thus I will keep this short. I am going to Flooder Island for the weekend, and will not return until Tuesday evening. Tuesday being my birthday, upon which I become 20 years old. That is really crazy/scary! I must now go to bed, as I will get up in 2 and 1/2 hours. Goodnight all, especially special one(s).

2003-10-17T13:21:00.000-04:00

Wench - A female
Winch - A device for lifting objects
Which - Indicative of a particular
Witch - An evil wench
Watch - To observe
Wretch - Pitiable person
With - By means of
After examining these words, we reached the following contusions.

Wench winch winches wenches.
Witch wench winch winches witch wenches.
Watch wench winch winch wench.
Watch witch wench wench winch wench.
Watch witch wench watch which wench winch winch which wench.
Watch wench winch witch, which witch winch wont winch.
Watch witch wench winch wretch wench which wench winch wont winch.
Watch witch wench, which winches, wench winch wretch wench, which wenches, with witch wench wench winch.
Watch wench winch winch wench which watch witch wench winch wench winch which winch wench won't winch!
Winch wench whinch!

And now for something completely different.
Food.

2003-10-16T02:13:00.000-04:00

Check out the bridges I have built. They are quite fun.
Bridges Page
Must go now!

2003-10-15T15:23:00.000-04:00

I just finished a most entertaining Quiz in Differential Equations. We were in the midst of copying a worksheet (that was the quiz) in the computer labs. Suddenly 12 computers lost power. Soon everyone had problems too. The main network server had died. Hah! Miss Knouse's computer was one that died, so we all got out early. Yahoo.
Keep an eye out for screenshots of my mighty bridge creations. They will soon be posted and all shall see how fun building and destroying is! (Sorry Morgan, I played for 1.5 hours instead of posting screenshots last night.)

2003-10-13T01:24:00.000-04:00

The Dante's Inferno Test has sent you to Purgatory!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very High
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Low
Level 2 (Lustful)	Very Low
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	High
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	High
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Very Low
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very Low
Level 7 (Violent)	Low
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Moderate
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Low

Take the Dante Inferno Hell Test

And now I am going to bed.

2003-10-11T15:54:00.000-04:00

This just unabashedly stolen from Gallagher.

Children's books that never made it:
1. You Are Different and That's Bad
2. The Boy Who Died From Eating All His Vegetables
3. Dad's New Wife Robert
4. Fun Four-letter Words to Know and Share
5. Hammers, Screwdrivers and Scissors: An I-Can-Do Book
6. The Kid's Guide to Hitchhiking
8. Kathy Was So Bad Her Mom Stopped Loving Her
8. Curious George and the High-Voltage Fence
9. All Cats go to Hell
11. Some Kittens Can Fly
12. That's it, I'm Putting You up for Adoption
13. Grandpa Gets a Casket
14. The Magic World Inside the Abandoned Refrigerator
16. The Pop-up Book of Human Anatomy
17. Strangers Have the Best Candy
19. You Were an Accident
21. Pop! Goes the Hamster...And Other Great Microwave Games
22. The Man in the Moon is Actually Satan
23. Your Nightmares Are Real
23. Where Would You Like to be Buried?
25. Eggs, Toilet Paper and Your School
26. Why Can't Mr. Fork and Mrs. Electrical Outlet be Friends?
27. Daddy Drinks Because You Cry

I think its time for someone to get writing. There's a lot of money to be made out there.

2003-10-11T15:43:00.000-04:00

Yet more evidence that fuzzy studies majors shouldn't be allowed to interface with computer engineers. When Aaron sent in an RMA for his busted hard-drive, they carefully instructed him as follows.
"Before sending your defective drive, please review the information
listed below. Only products and quantities authorized and within
attached packaging guidelines will be accepted. If this packing list
is in error, reply to this email prior to shipment.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO PUT THE RMA# ON ALL 3 SIDES OF THE BOX."
As an engineer myself, I have great interest in the construction of a three-sided box which has volume. Perhaps they are sending him a two dimensional hard-drive!
Incidentally, my own 2D computer is nearly complete. Unfortunately, I have dropped the RAM and can't seem to find it anywhere. Oh bother.

2003-10-10T02:03:00.000-04:00

Today there was some utter madness.
I have been putting together a system for server, actually got it almost all done hardware-wise. Yeah!
I wrote three (tolerable decent) essays for Dr. Watson in two hours. Each was 500ish words. I even took a midterm today. That, combined with some Bodacious, makes today a good day. I like Bodacious. Chopped beef is incredible. The barbeque sauce is so good.
And now, some brief thoughts on snow.
Snow reminds me of driving through Elkhart late at night during Christmas break. Everything is white, and the snow crunches under the tires. Things like to slide, but its a still, silent kind of sliding. Everything is quiet, and the stillness and beauty are overwhelming. The moon seems whiter than ever, and the city seems slow and sleepy. I think of cookies and family and a warm toasty house, and the joy of smoothly shifting the car.
Yep, definitely getting near break time.
So goodnight to y'all out there. You'll never make a Texist out of me. Not a chance. I like snow too much.

2003-10-07T01:49:00.000-04:00

I need sleep. I really need sleep. Lots of sleep.

2003-10-06T15:19:00.000-04:00

*static and various strange noises*
Hello, and thank you for lis... the only station still broadcasting live from Differential Equations. Today we are experi... culties due to a large fuzz flare ealier today. We are broadcasting live from the Longview Hall labs, and with less than two hallways seperating us from the English and History Department, it is no wonder the computers are acting up. Today has been a day of much tiredness, and perhaps by speaking to you now I can maintain my consciousness. Fortunately, I have slept in happiness this morning. Test results were good for EEGR 2053-02 (that's Circuits I to non-twisted people) and this "class". Wait, we seem to have some competition. WEEL seems to be on as well. In any case, I hope his dry reporting will give you a second perspective on today's events.
Our first news item is the picture retakes. Being a lazy guy, I stayed up very late the night before the first pictures, planning to go to retakes. Today is retakes, and so when I wandered into MSC-1 on my way out of Saga, I found myself arrayed like a circus monkey. I was pushed, pulled, and photographed. Seeing as I was not technically awake, I'm sure the photograph will be very entertaining. I fear the chocolate Saga cookie I ate will be on my mouth. It was chocolatey.
Folks, this just in. Miss Knouse says "Sorry about my cynicism." It seems we are all in danger, even Miss Knouse is cynical.
Wait, here comes another handout. Ahhhhh. If I had five minutes sleep for every handout Miss Knouse gave out... Wait, I do!
The commercial break is coming up here, but before it does, I shall leave you all with a message from our sponsor.
"As engineers you will spend much of your time designing frictionless components, because friction causes heat, and heat is deadly in a computer system."
So make sure to keep up with frictionless transistors folks, its the wave of the future.

2003-09-30T23:13:00.000-04:00

My friend Kenton was kind enough to send me this story on Texas and its strange albeit yummy ways.
Texas-fried Oreos are the way to go.

Today was crazy. Fortunately, I didn't fall asleep in any imortant classes. I really need sleep. In fact, I've decided that from now on I'm going to sleep every night. I figure, with time, I can build on this healthy habit until it becomes second nature. Don't worry, I'm not going to rush into this. I'll start slow, 1-2 hours 3-4 days a week. If all goes well, I'll begin sleeping daily, except for Friday and Saturday, of course. Eventually I hope to sleep during the night-time, but I'm not sure if I have the will-power to handle such a foreign sleeping time. I'm going to start this weekend, and I'm looking for a group of guys who can start with me. If you want to make a change in your life for the better, let me know in the comments and I'll work out a time when we can all sleep together (in totally seperate rooms.) It's not to late to pick up a good habit that can last for the rest of your life.

2003-09-30T02:35:00.000-04:00

Hurrah for Dr. Woodring.
And food.
Hurrah.

2003-09-29T01:27:00.000-04:00

Emotions, feelings. Strange to have "thoughts" that I don't understand. What is most important? Not to me, not to the University, but in life, in living itself. I wish I could sing, or better yet, play music. It seems to say what I can't.
We watched 1776 tonight. It wasn't about this, but the songs really caught me. They don't usually.
I guess I'm thinking too much, because life just seems to get more and more complicated.
Perhaps that's just it. It was a lot easier when I just did things. Now I wonder who and what I am. It's awfully more time consuming.
Thus, having waxed somewhat pensive, I will now go to rest and keep my further distracted musings to myself.

2003-09-28T04:16:00.000-04:00

Sharon has provided me with something that Texas should consider. All I can say is pass the salt, please.
We watched a movie tonight, American History X. Don't want to explain now, but the yield on this movie was outweighed by its violence/language/sex. It would have taken a better thesis for me to find it wholly passable. For comparison, Shawshank Redemption's yield is greater than its undesirable qualities, while Fight Club is borderline.
I really ought to get some sleep, so I will close shortly. Chai parties are a good place to obtain good food and decent Chai. Not much else. Allergies are nasty, particulary the kind that keep you from sleeping at night. Knives are good. Anything can happen to anyone.

2003-09-26T02:10:00.000-04:00

Today was a good day. Although I got up early (9:30) to help Sharon out with some Manufacturing Processes Lab stuff that didn't happen, I did get breakfast and some time with her. Then I started to write my essay on Jacob(the Biblical Jacob.) I've always known about his swindling ways, but hadn't picked up on how his sons had joined the fun. Go read Genesis 23 and following for details. Physics was crazy charge fields, then there was... EEGR 2053-02 homework. Then more essay writing, and then the class of much entertainment.

I had much fun and learning in Life and Fatness and Issues last semester. But compared to the fun of Inklings and Bib as Lit, they were small tomatoes. Inklings is great, but in Bib as Lit I can actually say most of the things I want to say. Dr. Watson is entertaining, and so is another member of the class. Yeah. Additionally, Wilson provides humorous quotes for my annals nearly every week. The quote for this week taken from a "discussion" on whether Song of Solomon was part of the epic literature that is the Bible:
"There's something vaguely epic about marriage"

I think I enjoy the class almost as much as he does. Which scares me deeply.
This weekend is looking crazy, there is a Flooders/G3 lake party on Saturday (at 10 am) that it appears I will attend. Should be fun, but I'll lose mucho experience. Oh well. It is getting late, and although I have no Calc III homework to do in the morning, I will need extra sleep as I won't get it Saturday. Arrrg.

2003-09-25T03:05:00.000-04:00

It has been much time since the last posting. Nevertheless, I have not forgotten my love of run-on sentences and the power I feel when I write to a (in my mind) captive audience, not without some pity, but even that is funny because this run-on sentence is just lame so yeah.

I had a long rest today, and had a good time talking with a friend. I was listening to Skillet as I lay on my couch earlier, and I had a song playing. Normally I laugh at the girls who post song lyrics, but I thought these very deep and I only wish I could share some of the peace and rest I had with you all. However, I shall have to settle with sharing some of the words.

Will You Be There

As I fall to sleep
Will you comfort me
When my heart is weak
Will you rescue me

Will you be there
As I grow cold
Will you be there when I'm falling down
Will you be there

When I'm in retreat
Can I run to you
Will my pain release
At your mercy seat

CHORUS:
Will you be there
As I grow cold
Will you be there when I'm falling down
Will you be there
My heart grows cold
Will you be there when I'm falling down
Are you saying yes
I gotta believe it
Are you saying yeah
When your love comes down I can rest my eyes
Feel your grace and power flood into my life
As my brokenness and your strength collide
When your love comes down
Falling Down

Sounds kinda emotional and maybe goofy, but it is some amazing worship. They have some other songs I really like as well. Anna will remember the ones I played in her car the evening we all drove for two hours. Other notes of interestingness, check out these pictures from Jedi Knight III. The dual-wielding Storm Trooper is of special interest. I wil now go to sleep, for if I begin writing more I could easily be up all night, and I must get up early. Oh bother.

2003-09-10T16:32:00.000-04:00

Long time no blog. And this is just a small update. And I am not using complete. Sentences.
So there's alot of stuff in my life right now, and I haven't blogged in a while. If I am going to keep blogging, this is going to get a lot more personal, cause my thoughts are getting more personal (that's kinda funny.) I guess I'm trying to decide if I can blog here, and if so, in what capacity. Yeah, its because I'm in a really neat relationship. I'm trying to figure out if my thoughts should be spread across the world now. Cause they're not just about me anymore. Wow, now I'm scared. So yeah, that's today's brief spiel. Can I blog my life when its not only mine?

2003-09-02T09:30:00.000-04:00

I awoke this morning at 8:30, ready to help out with Fundamentals of Engineering Design, the Lego class.
Then I threw up in the shower, and then other stuff.
And here it comes again. If you guys read this today, please pray I can make my classes this afternoon alright.
Hurrah for Saga.

2003-09-02T00:45:00.000-04:00

Inklings Only has turned out to be the best class of the year so far. We had good old-school discussion, only slightly limited by hand-raising. We had deep discussions on myths and discoursed on feminism and Freudianism. We read Little RED Riding Hood. Why do I put RED in all capitals, you ask. Here is my little literary criticism of that great faerie tale as written in class in my small group. Wilson, please excuse my numerous grammatical and spelling errors. "lrrh" is an abbreviation for the title character.

Little RED Riding Hood
The common nobility of lrrh is shown in her willingness to share that which she produces with others. From each according to his ability, to each according to her need. Through the great Mother lrrh is able to share the bounty produced by the work of many. However there exist those who ravenously disrupt symbiosis of the proletariat. The wolf, the quintessential capitalist pig, is eager to profit at the expense of others. He does not produce for the common good, rather he uses his abilities to subvert and deprive those less powerful than himself. However, the proletariat indeed triumphs as yet another humble member of the working class removes the menace. Yet no explicity praise is given, he too is only doing his noble duty, that of keeping the proletariat safe. In the end, all are able to partake of the work of eachother. The mother's production, the child's transportation services, and the wood-cutter's protection are all representative of the common work that produces uncommon victory, while selfishness, competition, and ruthlessness lead only to cruelty and death.

I thoroughly enjoyed the class and, despite the work, I am looking forward heartily to next week.
Goodnight All.

2003-09-01T00:29:00.000-04:00

Mythopoeia

I began reading this without noting the author, and I am glad I did not for upon ending I was filled with the sense that it was quite Tolkienesque. Then, upon scrolling back to the top, I discovered I had felt so for reason. That said, read it. You'll be glad you did.

2003-08-31T03:32:00.000-04:00

My weekend is so crazy. I must be crazy. No suprise there.
Well, I really enjoyed Les Mis, and the freshman seemed to stay awake during it and pay attention. My only fear is that we have no slackers in the group. I'm sure its unfounded. I got to hang with Sharon some, crazy girl. It's good to have someone around who listens to all the crazy stuff you did as a kid, and shares their crazy stuff too. Its been many years (sadly) since I've been able to do so with someone in a real give-take conversation.

I'm staying up too late. I should go to bed. But my mind still feels awake. The only problem is that my left elbow feels funny from typing while lying on my couch. Oh, and I'm too lazy to sit up. So, I guess I'll end this section, roll over, and go to sleep. Goodnight All.

2003-08-28T14:17:00.000-04:00

My hard drive is in my computer, but still undergoing some setup. Mozilla now works dandily on the laptop, I just needed some windows updates. Oh, and check out my brother Enoch's blog. He's in Alaska for a while, I hope I get to hear some bear stories!

2003-08-28T02:24:00.000-04:00

I am back in the game. After a fairly nasty run-in with a broken copy of partition magic, I have successfully restored my laptop to full health. Well, mostly full. I still need to train it to shut down properly and run Mozilla without problems. But I am sure in good time all things will happen.

My hard-drive for my main system finally arrived today, however I was unable to pick it up because the post office was closed. I will have lots of fun tomorrow. Oh, and I really need that diffyQ book from you, Anna.
Here's a synopsis of classes and my read on them.

University Physics II - More of last year's fun, with less people screwing around during lecture. I am really looking forward to this class and enjoying my time of learning that in which I have great interest.
Circuits I - Although an admittedly tough course, I am looking forward to learning, and Dr. Graff is great fun. I have already learned stuff and enjoyed my first lab thoroughly. I will once again learn things I'm interested in.
Calculus III - I have Dr. Anderson, and although he looked introverted, he isn't. "I will enjoy messing with your minds" he said today, and I can't wait to have mine messed with. Sounds like a fun, instructive math class taught well.
Differential Equations - Miss Knouse, the strange one. I will learn some, have some fun, and probably get some sleep. 'Nuff said.
Honors Evening Courses - Don't know yet. I haven't had Inklings or Bible as Lit yet, so all judgement is postponed.

Other notes, a small, touch-screen laptop makes a great TI 92+. Thank God for that and friends who have real ones I can borrow for the tests.
May you all sleep well, I have no class 'till 1:30 pm!

2003-08-28T01:12:00.000-04:00

I like bananas.

2003-08-26T01:58:00.000-04:00

My last day of true freedom is past. Today, at 1:30 pm, Central Time, I will begin my first class of my Sophomore year. Scary.

That terror aside, I have had some time to think about how friendships have been developing over the summer and here in the last few weeks. I'm no longer sure where everything stands, and it all seems kinda topsy-turvy. That, combined with the wave of Freshman that sweeps around me has led to introspection, and, I hope, some solutions. This we will see in time. Let it suffice to say that I am as unsure of stuff as ever, but ready to figure out what is going on/has gone on. Oh, and bananas.

As I sit in my nearly setup room (I use "nearly" very generously) I wander in my thoughts. How are my brothers and friends back home doing? I've been getting emails from home, and today I got a card from most of my high school class. There was a reunion that I missed because I came down here the day before it, and I guess they all decided to send out notes to those of us who couldn't make it. It was very nice, and a welcome reminder that there is more to the world than LeTourneau. Sometimes I wonder how I could forget, and sometimes I wonder of ways I can make myself forget.

As to the whole honors thing, as important as it is, I wonder to myself what all that effort is worth in the long run. I see a better education for myself and those who come after me, but that is admittedly a very few. I guess right now I am wondering what is worth doing and what is not.

So what are the thoughts on life you all have? Specifically, what is worth doing today, and why. I'm really wondering that sort of stuff right now.

2003-08-24T11:22:00.000-04:00

Ahhhhhh yes, its good to see old friends again. Yesterday I saw Ardith, Jess, and Wisher again. I don't have much time now, but let it suffice to say that Scholl, Anna, Ardith, and I had a great time driving around Longview, eating ice cream, and just talking. Oh, and this little laptop held up a good bit more than an hour of music playing off the battery.

The ice cream was Breyers, the best type, and it had Reese's in it, not a bad thing at all. It was chocolately and peanut-buttery. And good. It was extra creamy too, so the flavor was full and beautiful. It had a delicate amount of vanilla in it, and the rich smoothness of peanut butter was spread throughout. The chocolate was found it yummy chunks that appeared in one's spoon in spectacular glory. All in all, it is a awesome ice cream flavor.

Just not as good as Mint Chocolate Chip. I've memorized its ingredients.
Milk, Cream, Sugar, Mint Leaves, Pure Chocolate
Ahhh yes, the wonder.

2003-08-22T02:57:00.000-04:00

Hurrah for my first Linux hit! Thanks to Ardith for this momentous occasion.
Microsoft, incidentally, has switched over to Linux-based servers to avoid Denial-Of-Service attacks. Although, of course, said Linux is not a commercially viable business solution for anyone.

2003-08-22T02:27:00.000-04:00

Ahhhhhh. Great Woe has befallen me. I am struck down, from high places even to the depths of the earth. Or something like that.

I came in late from an 11 o'clock Themelios meeting. Wiggled my mouse to wake my computer up. It did't. Tried ctrl-alt-del, no dice. Hit reset, no boot. Booted a handy floppy. Fdisk says no fixed disks. Checked BIOS, "What 40 gig with everything you've ever done?" Yelled ahhhh. Said hmmm, repeated. No dice.

So here I am sitting in front of my dandy little laptop. And my drive is fried. Sucks, don't know how, i'm UPS-ed and all, I guess it was just its time to go.

Fortunately all is not lost. About a month ago, my brother Josh's computer was fried by lightning through a UPS, and he lost a 120 gig. So I made a backup of stuff I didn't want to lose, programs I've written, papers I've made up, drivers I need. Those cds are now a beautiful thing. If you all have any good cheap fast drives that aren't in use, I'd love to buy it off you. Hmmm, didn't think so. Oh well, goodnight all, and may your hardrives always spin happily.

2003-08-21T02:35:00.000-04:00

Well, tonight I am blogging from my laptop, because it is fun. We have been working on a huge flag for G3, and it is almost done. I ate a wonderful Extreme Bacon Cheeseburger. The wonderful Jonboy hooked me up with this delectable creation, and it has a truly amazing flavor. I have also been thinking about making a list about a certain whipped individual. We’ll see what develops. I also had a blast making stuff for the freshman. I taped candy to the posters we put up, the girls used their handwriting skills to communicate deeper ideas. I like food.

That said, I must soon go to bed because there is so much that must be done tomorrow. Hasta bananas todos!

2003-08-18T02:27:00.000-04:00

It seems I have been very busy recently. Between indoctrination and crazy food opportunities, I don't know what I have time for. Hopefully I'll start to get things organized soon....
Neal arrived today and we got the basic goods into the room. The tv input via vcr/dvd player and VIVO card works dandily. Now I must watch Dark Angel that Neal brought me on VHS. Yet something else to waste time on. Perhaps I'll find something worth commenting on in there. I now have ahead of me the dandy job of setting up a managed hub. Its a 36 port Gateway, and the manual assumes a Unix system. I've found some software for win2k, but I have no experience in this area whatsoever, it may be fun, and it may be incomprehensible. I'll see soon enough.
In other news, McBride is engaged. Yeah, you read right. I think I'll leave it at that.
Hmmm, not much else to put out right now. I'm hopefully going to get to help out with LSM, specifically with the Spring Break missions trips. I enjoyed Tamazunchale and the whole Mexico experience very much last year, I really want to help others become involved. If any of you have thought of doing it and haven't... do it! You won't regret it. It could very well have been the best week of my Freshman year, and that's not counting food. Must sleep now, evil toothpaste gnomes are surrounding me. Live with honor, die with glory.

2003-08-14T02:40:00.000-04:00

Here I am. I have arrived in Texas only slightly tired out. Long day of driving fun! I began my time here (after brief unpacking/moving up) with a trip to Starbucks. There I learned the destructive power of Expresso. I have never had any before, and I must say it is most effective. I am still wide awake. So, I will do some reading and hopefully drift off to sleep before dawn.
Goodnight All.

2003-08-13T02:17:00.000-04:00

The time has come to say farewell to Indiana, with all its goods and bads. I am leaving in three hours, and still must pack my clothes. So goodnight to all, and please pray we have a safe trip. With any luck I will arrive very late tomorrow night, in which case I will be bothering Scholl or someone to get me in. Hasta luego.

2003-08-12T09:54:00.000-04:00

I don't have alot of time, but I will say a few things. I am very sunburnt, and have that stuffed and satisfied feeling often associated with food. Reason, I had a great (if short) vacation. Much canoing, much portaging, and much eating while very hungry. Now I have a day of much packing followed by one of much driving. Oh well, life is full and doing alright for now.
I've finally caught up on some pertinent blogs. I think Jonathan is almost ready to turn in a term paper on international law. Or, you could go with Ardith's hobo rendition. So now I must pack and wash many clothes. Ta-tah!

2003-08-07T01:46:00.000-04:00

People, people, today I am a happy man. No, it is not the fleeting happiness born of disregard for the reality of life's dissappointments, but rather it is the well-grounded happiness of one who has been of late fortunate.

For starters, I am leaving today (Thursday) around noon for Canada, where I will camp, hike, and otherwise enjoy myself for five days. It will be mad fun, and I will get some time with the family before returning to LU. Also, I am quite happy to have come upon the full version of Midnight Club 2, that excellent racing game of insane multiplayer fun. Incidentally I also grabbed the demo of Bloodrayne, recomended to me by Damian, and found it a fun, albeit graphic, game.

My chief joy on this late night, however, is my most recent computer related acquisition. It is none other than a Fujitsu Lifeseries B Notebook. It's about the size of that infamous book, "How to think like Leonardo Da Vinci" (my apologies to all offended by that book) and is used. However, it has a 500 Mhz processor, 128 mb of RAM, and a 14 gb hard drive. It also has a touch screen and stylus, and all necesary stuff built in. It came with two batteries and a floppy drive. With its small size, good battery life, and decent processor, it should make a welcome aid in many projects. Hopefully I will benefit in CS classes, honors meetings, and other times when a digital companion is expeditious. So hurrah, I am a happy person tonight.

Incidentally, it was under 300 bucks. So I guess there's another hurrah for good friends who have connections. Here's to Kent, my boss and friend from Micro-Source.

2003-08-04T00:43:00.000-04:00

A quick note, I love the main page for Quizilla because it harkens back to the days of yore. Just check out these lines copied off.

Quizilla! - A huge green fierce dragon bars the way!
You are standing in front of a house. There is a mailbox with a FAQ and Documentation here. To the north is a list of Popular Quizzes and to the south is a list of Recent Quizzes. To the west there is a sign indicating the Login and Registration Page.
Your Command?

How can you not love someone who knows the classics?
Hurrah for Adventure.

2003-08-04T00:10:00.000-04:00

Hmm, feeling thoughtful so here's some thoughts.
I'd think with all the times I'd moved, I'd be used to this by now. But here I sit, with most of the people I really know far away. After taking my freshman year of highschool in NY, I didn't get so much into the group thing at school. Instead, I had five or six guys I knew really well (there at school that is.) I never got into the major gatherings of many people, instead going mostly to things with few, tighter friends. It was the same way with my friends I met at church. I've gotten to know about six guys really well, but I was never involved with the youth group as a whole. As I sat in the college *thing* at church tonight, it hit me even more. I didn't really know anyone there. Sure, I could have named 15 or so of them and told you what they were like. But I couldn't tell you their projects and aspirations. They are only faces and names to me. It seems that when the guys/gals I've known before aren't around, I can feel lonely even in a room with 100 people who are no more than smiles and eyes. Maybe its because many of them go to local colleges, and thus have been together all year. Maybe I'm just a real oddball. Oh well, one thing's for sure, I won't miss sitting by myself.

The more I think about it, the more I realize I've always been kinda like that, even at boarding school. I have to wonder, are there people who really associate with everyone who happens to fall in their social circles? No, I don't mean associate in the accept meaning. What I mean is, are there people who spend time with such a large group of people that they never really know anyone, yet they always know someone? I think its better to be the way that I am, as if I had a choice. What good is it sharing life with someone if they don't care about you or even think of you except when you're standing right in front of them. That said, I really need to talk to some buddies I've been thinking about before I head back to Texas. There are few eternal things on this earth. You, I, and those people we call humans.

New Friends and Old Friends

Make new friends, but keep the old;
Those are silver, these are gold.
New-made friendships, like new wine,
Age will mellow and refine.
Friendships that have stood the test-
Time and change-are surely best;
Brow may wrinkle, hair grow gray;
Friendship never knows decay.
For 'mid old friends, tried and true,
Once more we our youth renew.
But old friends, alas! may die;
New friends must their place supply.
Cherish friendship in your breast-
New is good, but old is best;
Make new friends, but keep the old;
Those are silver, these are gold.

Joseph Parry
1841-1903

2003-08-02T04:02:00.000-04:00

Doh! I just discovered Vash is the green and black Power Ranger. All respect is now lost.

2003-08-02T03:54:00.000-04:00

Ahh, another day spent in pure freedom. Today I was introduced to the art of Capture the Flag racing. It involves tight turns, straight drags, devastating lightning, and head-on collisions. In a word, Thrill!
I also saw the beginning of another anime series, but the name doesn't come to mind right now. Of greater note, however, was my viewing of Akira, a "classic" anime film from about 1988. It involved some very strange eastern ideas of power and life, not to mention really wierd hallucinations. It kinda made my head hurt, it was quite disjointed. Maybe that's because I'm an American. Regardless, it made an impression. Also of important note is the voice talent of the two main characters. They were voices I knew well. Vash the Stampede, and Knives Millions. That's right, the people we know and love from Trigun were lead voices for arguable the most classic anime film of all time. Yeah, that blew you all away, I'm sure. And let me assure you, their characters in Akira were right on target, Vash was a sharp shooting, mouth running, women chasing lunatic, and Knives was a demonic, power hungry, yet redeemable psycho. The first three characters you'll see on that link are Vash, Knives, and Faye (from Cowboy Bebop.)

Plans for tomorrow include picking up two or three monitors (I can now acquire 15" for $9 via inside contacts) and having a crazy shooting/racing/conquering party involving copious Dew. It is likely this will be the last shindig before my return to Texas, so I am prepared for total craziness. Next week we are planning on going up to Canada for some canoing and portaging fun. Oh, and if Sam Allen ever reads this, he should know his system is being put to good use here, it will be tested and approved for all great games by the time you get it down in Texas.

A final note, as I logged off the online servers after racing madness last night, bid the racers farewell with these words, which I will now impart to you.

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

2003-08-01T02:18:00.000-04:00

AHHHH, all web hosting sites suck!

2003-08-01T02:00:00.000-04:00

I had today off. Hurrah. Today I ran a race for the first time since the accident. I didn't have any pain (other than the usual associated with running,) and for that I am very happy. I ran rather slowly, 22:28 for a 5K, and although that's over five and a half minutes from my best time, I am so very happy to still have my legs! I love my legs. I only have two.

After that deep comment, I would like to reccomend two games whose demos I downloaded today. IGI 2, a FPS, is a very open game. In the demo, you start near a helicopter drop of tools and must enter and clear a massive enemy base in the moutains of Tanzania (I made that last part up.) However, there are moutains. Anywho, its lots of fun to sneak around and shoot the guards with silenced stuff, but they are much smarter than your average guards. As I lay behind some rocks sniping a group down below, I was very disturbed to discover a grenade beside me. It wasn't mine. I died. Also, I ran into a house and crouched in the corner, ready to cut the enemy down as the came in the door. Remembering my earlier fiasco with the grenade, I chose a position where a grenade would not affect me if thrown in. The door swung open with a creak. I readied my mouse finger. A small black object sailed into the room. I smiled, I was clear. Then the screen went white. Ahhhhhh! I sprayed my AK-47 side to side, but it was no use. I died, shot to pieces while blinded by a flash-bang. They were really really smart! So yeah, its a cool game.

The other game appeals solely to my love of danger. It's called Midnight Club 2, and involves high-speed driving in San Francisco. There is an insane amount of traffic, and and on a motorcycle you can have oodles of fun weaving in and out at 95 mph. Until you hit something, that is. That said, I just spent several happy hours driving on a packed Frisco Freeway. Backwards. Oh yeah, it doesn't get any better than this.
*note, don't try this at home, kids*

Woweee, the adrenaline is definitely going.

btw, if the link doesn't work, hit refresh a couple of times.

2003-07-31T02:02:00.000-04:00

I have discovered two new fun games! While wandering GoneGold.com, I discovered a list of recently released demos, complete with links. So, I proceeded to download a linux counter-strike client, a vehicle guns and missiles game, and Elite Force II, the sequel to the first good Star Trek game in history (or so I hear). The two windows games are lots of fun, I am already a decent way into Elite Force. Phasers are powerful! Now only if I could use the alien death ray for good, instead of evil... Wait, that would be boring. So yeah, I love blowing things up!

2003-07-31T01:02:00.000-04:00

Here's another gem I discovered from the same author. It was written several days into the war.
"Most auspiciously, the Arab League has appealed to the United Nations Security Council to stop the war. One can only hope the Security Council will agree to intervene. How would they stop us? Would France threaten us with war? Young men across America would have to enlist as a matter of honor. The Army could use as its recruiting slogan: "Are you afraid to fight the French?" Even liberals would enlist as a way to pick up glorious service with no risk of injury."

2003-07-30T23:14:00.000-04:00

Wilson may love this article.

Here's an excerpt.
"Hussein praised his sons for putting up a brave fight, noting that U.S. forces had surrounded their compound with advanced weaponry, ground troops and warplanes. In case that didn't work, U.S. forces were prepared to tell Janet Reno that a small Cuban boy was inside the house."
Sounds like honors material to me.

2003-07-30T00:55:00.000-04:00

Well, I don't have much to blog on...
I didn't have to work today, but I'm going in early early tomorrow, eight o'clock! Sounds horrendous I know, but I'll have some time to clean up for church. Today, however, in my free time I worked on my program (more on that in a minute) and played many games. Neal, my room-mate, came over and we got a keyboard for his new system. Then we played Aliens Vs. Predators for about five hours. Neal, brother Daniel, brother John, and I squared off on many maps, and I was always an alien. There's no FPS that beats the crazy fun of running at 30 mph up and down walls, inverted on the ceiling, and leaping forty feet straight up! I'm hard to see, hard to hit, and when I drop off from the shadows and land right behind, you'll wish you had never had me drop behind you! Yeah! It's lots of fun, and I love threatening the soft, squishy humans. I can squish them so easily...

About the program, I found an answer! I use a two-dimensional array of stacks. Each stack contains all the dirt/rock/grass above that point. Thus a 1000 by 1000 area only requires a few megs of ram (maybe up to 30.) Anyway, it lets me do collision detection easily (just run up the appropriate stack and check blockage), it lets me do terrain deformation easily (just remove and add chunks to different stacks) and it lets me do rendering kinda easily. The rendering actually turns out to be the hardest part, I have to draw the top, bottom and sides of every stack. However I only draw the sides of the stack that show, otherwise I'm doing tons extra.

So there was a good answer. It just took many minutes of lying on my back on the living room floor. Granted, I did snooze there and awake at two in the morning, but I got my answer! Hurrah. Now, I think I shall maybe eat a cookie and go to bed! ('Cause bed is good!)

2003-07-28T16:09:00.000-04:00

Finally, a solution to Saga!
These pills are just the thing to help maintain regularity!
I heard about them during a break in Rush and couldn't help but look into the matter.

2003-07-28T00:07:00.000-04:00

Reading some of Beer For The Homeless Feedback, and couldn't pass this up. Wilson, they have attacked your man...
Here's the offending comment.
"Thank you for what you do! I wish G. K. Chesterton was alive today to see this. He would have loved you. I just looked at your photo gallery. You women are beautiful, too. Thank you!"
Is this guy just off his rocker?

2003-07-27T22:53:00.000-04:00

Hmm, on what shall I think long and deeply.....
Oh bother, too much effort. So I'll think shallow thoughts. Oh boy do I love pie! Blueberry pie!!!

Now where was I. Ah yes, collision detection and deformable terrain. Here's the deal.

A standard heightmap is nice, and great for collision detection (all you do is extrapolate between the points.) However, it lacks key features like overhangs and true cliffs. Additionally, true terrain deformation is impossible, and you end up with lots of stretched polies.

The most obvious answer is a particle system. This looks really good, and would be fast to process, and easy to draw. Plus, if done with an array or hash table, collision detection is a breeze. The only problem is memory. Let's say my world is 1000 units cubic. If each unit had a value or true or false, (representing if it is full or empty), the resulting chunk of memory to store said information would be nearly one gigabyte. Although some people have that much RAM, I'm not about to create a program that needs it.

The next possibility is to create a fully deformable mesh. Every collision moves points in the mesh and creates new polygons as necesary. The new polygon creation is tricky, but can be handled. The real killer is the collision detection. Even if I went with a hash table, it could take years (not literally of course). I am tempted to at least try this method, but I have to wonder if a my processor could really handle it.

The final possibility that I see is that of a large block array. It would use large units, but the array style approach. A 300^3 array would only require 9 megabytes, and would have the nice easy collision detection. It could be drawn easily, by simply passing across and drawing all open faces. Terrain deformation would be slightly blocky, but not too bad at all. However the killer is in the inclines, the graphics just wouldn't look right.

Thus I am once again unable to find an elegant solution to my problem. If only I had gigs and gigs of RAM, or a special physics processor, then I could happily indulge these processes. Oh well, I guess someday we'll have the power to do beautiful and full terrain deformation.
Anyone have any idea about a slick way to do this? I don't figure so, but drop a comment if something comes to mind.

2003-07-27T01:21:00.000-04:00

Must post funny jokes I got in an email.

Engineer Fun:

1. Understanding Engineers - Take Two To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass is half empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

2. Take Three A pastor, a doctor and an engineer were waiting one morning for a particularly slow group of golfers. The engineer fumed, "What's with these guys? We must have been waiting for 15 minutes!" The Doctor chimed in, "I don't know, but I've never seen such ineptitude!" The pastor said, "Hey, here comes the greens keeper. Let's have a word with him." "Hi, George. Say, what's with that group ahead of us? They're rather slow, aren't they?"
The greens keeper replied, "Oh, yes, that's a group of blind firefighters who lost their sight saving our clubhouse from a fire last year, so we always let them play for free anytime." The group was silent for a moment. The pastor said, "That's so sad. I think I will say a special prayer for them tonight." The doctor said, "Good idea. And I'm going to contact my ophthalmologist buddy and see if there's anything he can do for them." The engineer said, "Why can't these guys play at night?"

3. "Normal people ... believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet."

4. An engineer was crossing a road one day when a frog called out to him and said, "If you kiss me, I'll turn into a beautiful princess." He bent over, picked up the frog and put it in his pocket. The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess,and I'll grant you one wish." The engineer took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and returned it to the pocket. The frog then cried out, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a princess, I'll grant you 3 wishes and I'll marry you." Again the engineer took the frog out, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket. Finally, the frog asked, "What is the matter? I've told you I'm a beautiful princess, I'll grant you 3 wishes, and I'll marry you. Why won't you kiss me?" The engineer said, "Look I'm an engineer. I don't have time for a wife, but a talking frog, now that's cool."

Well, I laughed, and I hope you did too. You see, that's what family's all about.
Yeah, time for bed.

2003-07-27T00:52:00.000-04:00

Every night I feel the inclination to begin my post with the word "Well..." I refuse to do so, for it would be to descend into the depths of gramatical silliness.
Today I happened to get some pretty things from my brother Daniel, who only recently returned from adventures in Russia and Germany. I have acquired a Russian hat of black fur, which is adorned, and fittingly so, with the symbol of the KGB. I shall have to make use of it when it snows. Hmmm, that might be tough. I also received a small cap gun and Chocolate. I like chocolate.
At work today I rediscovered the joy of playing Oni, that fascinating anime game where you dispatch all manner of baddies with wicked hand-to-hand combat. Fear my neck-breaking body slam!
I also discovered that small children enjoy driving a car, regardless of whether it is stuck against a corner and going nowhere. Need For Speed is just that addicting.

As a final note, a rant upon the stupidity of many church signs. Yes, "I'll be back - God" signs are annoying, but the one I saw on my way home tonight takes the cake (and thus bothers me immensely, I want the cake.) It said...
"Summer in church, some are not."
Yeah, makes me wish I had a gun rack in my Golf. How can anyone take religion seriously with idiotic signs like that? I guess some people are so hung up on puns they don't know when to stop.

2003-07-25T23:45:00.000-04:00

Wow, I can't believe it!
169 people have taken my quiz, and I made it at two yesterday morning. Wowee! I'm a success in life. Now I can die knowing I have accomplished something.

Well that feeling wore off quick.
I spent many hours today sitting and talking about computers. So fun, but I want to do more work on them, not just talk about it. Oh, and I have a sore finger, so I'm not blogging much.
Bye!

2003-07-25T03:30:00.000-04:00

Why is the rum gone?
You've all been wondering, now you can find out!

Rum? What rum?
I'm only drinking water, Doug.

Why is the rum gone?
brought to you by Quizilla

2003-07-25T01:29:00.000-04:00

Not much too to blog on tonight. I added a 3rd-person view to my program, it works nicely, but I'd like to make movements up and down hill smoother, not sure how to best do that. I painted this morning, and used the last of the enamal paint of death. I get to work nine hours at the fair tomorrow, that's good, I need the dinero. Today I also watched Pirates again, its so good. I'm going to miss my brother Enoch when he goes to Alaska this Sunday, and the free movies I get via him. I also helped Neal, my room-mate, put together and begin setup of a new nForce2 system, XP 2600 w/ DDR400 RAM. It has a whopper 123 gb hard drive and should be lots of fun. I also discovered how to install XP/2K off a non-bootable cd, such as those we get from LETU. The secret is to boot a DOS floppy with cdrom access and copy the i386 directory to your drive via xcopy32 (to preserve subdirectories). Then you just run the winnt.exe found there. We had fun and made many unnecesary floppies. Oh well, life is lessons learned.

Many hours of work tomorrow, must sleep sleep.
Good night peoples of the world!

2003-07-24T02:15:00.000-04:00

It seems some cards don't handle the textures properly, if the game seems too dark, just delete the ground.bmp file and everything will be nice and bright, albeit untextured. This also seems to improve the framerate dramatically.

2003-07-24T01:50:00.000-04:00

News, I had no work today so I slept in until 11ish. Then I had some fun programming. I went to church tonight, and played frisbee and talked. Our leader is on vacation I think, he wasn't there. My brother Dan is back from Germany/Russia, so I'll get to see him tomorrow as he was asleep when we returned from church. He's leaving for Argentina in a few weeks for a year at Word of Life.

I've had my fun for the day, and now I fear I must head off to bed. I spent most of the day working on my 3D Accelerator engine and adding a little sphere based dude who moves and shoots. You can check him out here. Just download the zip, unzip, and it should run. It needs OpenGL, which most machines have by default. The controls are:
PageUp - mouse and arrow keys control the guy
PageDown - mouse and arrow keys control the camera
Left Click - Shoot
Right Click - Jump

Oh, make sure you tell it to run windowed when it asks, I haven't been testing it full-screen.
Right now it does little more than look nifty, I'm working on how to add multiplayer stuff and lots of weapons/effects. Let me know what you guys think.

2003-07-23T00:35:00.000-04:00

I thought this was great. Someday, I want to design advertising banners for Google.

2003-07-22T01:10:00.000-04:00

Well, another tiring day has passed. I was getting high this morning on enamel paint. I have some in my hair, and the only way to get it out would be with paint thinner. Probably shouldn't use that. I had alot of fun at the fair today, I learned all about bananas and how to eat anchovies. Oh how I love to eat food, but I am so tired right now nothing makes sense at all. I need to eat sleep yummy food and stuff. Or something like that. Ouch!
Oh, and I have to go see Pirates of the Carribean again sometime soon. It's funny, "Why is the rum gone" is my new favorite line. Which brings me to my next question.

Why is the rum gone?

I guess we'll never really no for sure. I like pie.
So, I must sleep, but first I will satiate my desire to see what Screenit says about Pirates. Happy Banana Hour!

2003-07-20T14:10:00.000-04:00

All those folks searching for "Ran muto free movie" on yahoo can find their way to my blog now. I'm only the fourth one down, after an the "#1 online adult DVD store", a year old GameZone Newsletter, and someone's digital photo album. Guess that means I'm in good company, or something...
Wow, I am so tired I could fall asleep during a sneeze. Don't know if I'd ever want to wake up though.

2003-07-20T00:55:00.000-04:00

My feet hurt. I had another full day of fair working, this time 11 hours. I got to talk more spanish, see Ice Age six more times, and crack the same jokes about our fish tank screen saver and clear acrylic case. Oh, and I got to pay a mint for fair food. I'm definitely bringing my own meals from here on out. I hope to bring some other attractions for the booth besides the movie and screen saver. Perhaps Jedi Knight II or Need For Speed 6 would do it.
On another note, I picked up a 70 port hub for $20 bucks, but it doesn't work. Thus, I'm going to swap it for a managed hub with 20+ ports. That should provide for my dorm room networking needs. I'm really tired, and I must set up yet another computer before I sleep, so I'm going now. Good Night All.

2003-07-19T00:22:00.000-04:00

Well, I am now part of the workforce! Today I had 10.5 hours, 6.5 painting and 4 talking about computers. I'm working in a booth at the local 4H fair all week. Its a pretty big deal, and I got to talk and eat all day long! It looks like I'll be doing alright as far as pizza money goes, and maybe even get some extra use out of that "paperweight." Enetation sucketh much, so I will now speak directly to Randy about his monitor woes.
I have a local source that can get dirt cheap monitors. If you want me to pick one up for you, give me a email or comment. Prices (no I don't add any charge.)
15" $25
17" $45
19" $85
21" $120
I've got a 21" and its great, although they are all used (however in good shape.)

This goes for the rest of you too, but if I have too many requests I won't be able to get all of them down there. Also, I can get the 15" for $15 just this Saturday, so if you want one at that price, email or comment me and I'll check in the moring before I go to pick them up.
In other news, I've been having a riot building systems, now doing a third for my roomie, Neal (alas, he has no blog.)
As a final note, those of you who haven't check out the links on Stu's blog should do so, I found some awesome backrounds. Well, I have another 11 hours of computer talking to do tomorrow, so I must get to bed. Ta-tah.

2003-07-18T00:28:00.000-04:00

I've noticed something interesting. You never remember how much cursing/violence there is in something until you watch it with your parents (although in this case its just my dad). I'd forgotten that E. G. Mine has such a horrible mouth. In his five or so sentences he manages to get out an extraordinary amount of vulgarity. We watched some more episodes, and ended with the Fifth Moon incident. Pretty deep stuff, and my dad is really thinking about the philosophy behind it all. I just with Legato wasn't do dang evil. Makes me feel kinda bad to have my little brothers watching it (they are sophomores now).

I have some stuff that I am very thankful about. First off, I haven't really had a straight job all summer, and I really need some kind of way to get dinero. Between the accident and the way nobody seems to want to hire computer help, I've been going off what I had saved. However, with just a few weeks left, God opened up two great jobs. I'm going to be able to work at the table/setup for Micro-source, the company I've worked for before, for the week of the fair. Also, in the mornings I'll be painting in the air-conditioned school with my old Spanish teacher, Cass. He also happens to be a great runner (ie. wins every race in the area) and a good friend. It looks like I have a busy week ahead of me, but a lot of fun as well. Oh, and the Desert Combat mod for Battlefield 1942 is a must-play. Bye-bye big jet, say hello to my Stinger!

And thus, Bananas wander freely, fearing nothing.

2003-07-17T01:33:00.000-04:00

Hurrah for Battlefield 1942. I love blowing things up. Bombs are Great. Kaboooom! Bombs... Beautiful!
Now who here can name the origin of those lines. I know some of you should be able to.

2003-07-16T02:00:00.000-04:00

After many years at home and nearly a full year at Letu, I must say I once again have a new place that is home to me. Its not the first time, I've moved many times in my life. When I was five I moved from Rochester NY to here, Goshen IN. When I was 8, I moved to Stanley NY, and a year later to Canadaigua NY. At age 11 I moved back to this same house in Indiana. My freshman year in high school was in a boarding school on Long Island NY, thus two more moves were involved. And finally, I moved somewhere other than New York and Indiana, Texas. So I now present, for your comment and ridicule, the things I miss about my homes.

What I missed about Indiana.
1. My cat. Fuzzy is the most amazing cat ever, and she talks to me and comforts me. She's quite affectionate at times, but never lets you forget she is god.
2. Driving. There's just no substitute to getting behind the wheel of your car and roaring off. I don't care where I'm going, so long as I can rev the engine and work the stick.
3. A job. Despite the occasional annoyances, having some source of income is necesary and gives you motivation in times when you feel apathetic about a task.
4. The food. My mom is such an incredible cook, and Saga is so... not good, that I thought of home every time I took a bite.
5. My buddies. Throughout the years here (sporadic as they may be) I've found some truly caring friends who I don't want to lose track of.
6. The snow. It ought to snow in the winter, and I ought to be able to sled and throw snowballs. That's just how it ought to be.
7. My brothers. It's true, I am 3 of 5, but the quantity only makes the absence more acute. They are more than relations, they're friends who usually spend the night every night. You can talk about stuff, and they sometimes pay for your movies!
8. My little sister. She is so incredible different. I don't understand her, and she really has no clue about the world. Somehow, that only adds to the way I love her.
9. My parents. My mom and dad are... best friends. My dad not only cares about my personal issues, he can talk programming, physics, and math in ways I never dreamed possible. And he cares more for my righteousness than he does for my feelings. He's a great dad. My mom, she's so desirous to know God better, I can't help be amazed. She teaches me through her life that there is no fuller life or better thing than walking with God. I only hope to be something like her.

Things I miss about Letu.
1. The showers. Yep, from the room to stretch to the water pressure to the big room where you can actually dry (I can't stand trying to towel off in a room thick with mist) I am reminded every morning why Tyler is the best dorm. Oh, and I miss early morning conversations too.
2. The walking. I know it seems a pain top many people, but the walking between everything helps keep life a little slower. If I had three minutes to think before I did anything during the summer, my time would be much better spent.
3. The late nights at Waffle Shoppe. Yes, drunks can be wierd. But its hard to beat a table of friends and a Texas Two Step at three in the morning.
4. My floor. Whether I playing that position in football where you never get the ball (I think it's called drawback), or sitting on the lounge loft for devos, I miss having a hallway full of brothers who are always full of fun and dumb ideas.
5. Friday night Bible study. Theological discussions, rants, friends, and food. Need I say more?
6. Writing papers. I love to talk, and I love to write (nobody tells you to shut up). Plus, nothing helps me think over an idea more than to sit down and map it out on paper.
7. Ultimate Frisbee. When class gets long, I just close my eyes and ponder how at that very moment there is probably a game going on, and the moment class lets out I can join right in.
8. Dnd. Lets face it. Its a whole lot easier to plan get-togethers when everyone you know is in walking distance. Plus, it means I can always borrow books.
9. The bannisters. Nothing starts my day out better than sliding down three bannisters on the way to breakfast. Its a fun, healthy form of entertainment the whole family can enjoy. Here in Indiana the best I can do is to sit on a fence and make sliding noises.
10. All you friends. Despite your collective wierdness, your great faithfullness and constant support have have given me inspiration, entertainment, and occasionally, chills. Throughout the days (and more often, nights) at Letu, you have become more than pals, you've become part of who I am. At least now I'll have someone to blame when they catch me.

Well, that about wraps up my sentimentalism for the night. I must now decide if I want to do some more anagram work, or go to my rest.
May you all sleep in peace (except Scholl, who would be bored by it.)

2003-07-15T03:32:00.000-04:00

Everyone's talking about that bear:
Some Blogger
Scientists
The Braden Files
The Human Counterpart (really nasty)
Cody the Freak
The Cynic...

Well I guess it means there's a new fad sweeping the nation. I hear the bear's been pushing for an accomplishment like this for some time now, he just didn't think it would slide.
You really have to wonder what he eats. Perhaps Pi? Whatever the case, he's clearly associated with Al Gebra, the notorious Muslim terrorist organization. He probably has hidden weapons of math instruction.

2003-07-13T13:08:00.000-04:00

After much deliberation, I have decided to leave this link up. It is slightly underneath my normal browsing taste, but it was incredibly funny when I found it (very late at night), and it relates to the programming I've been doing. Plus, it illustrates what can happen to ME majors.
Enough said, here's The Disturbed Link

2003-07-12T17:55:00.000-04:00

I don't know why, but I keep running into things that I want to reproduce here. I have (in my search for knowledge, and a good grade) been using several programming books. One of them, "The Practice of Programming" (by Kernighan and Pike) contained not only a great hash function for my Data Structures program, but a great program for generating readable text. The program "reads" a normal piece of literature, and generates a similar piece. The geniuses who wrote this book decided to feed it nothing other than the entire book of Psalms. So, I now present for your reading pleasure Psalm 151, a psalm of bytes.

Blessed is the man of the net. Turn thee unto me, and raise me up, that I may tell all my fears. They looked unto him, he heard. My praise shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be saved. Thou hast dealt well with thy hid treasure: they are cast into a standing water, the flint into a standing water, and dry ground into water springs.

Selah.

If you want to make one yourself, here is an online program that can generate them for you, and here you can get the entire text of the Bible to paste in. Check back tomorrow for a new version of the creation story. (If you prefer feeding it entire books instead of chapters, you can get them here.)

2003-07-12T14:41:00.000-04:00

John Adams to Abigail Smith.
"Oh my dear Girl, I thank Heaven that another Fortnight will restore you to me, after so long a seperation. My soul and Body have both been thrown into Disorder by your Absence, and a Month or two more would make me the most insufferable Cynick in the World. I see nothing but Faults, Follies, Frailties, and Defects in any Body, lately. People have lost all their good Properties or I my Justice, or Discernment.
But you who have always softened and warmed my Heart, shall restore my Benevolence as well as my Health and Tranquility of mind. You shall polish and refine my sentiments of Life and Manners, banish all the unsocial and ill natured Particles of my Composition, and form me to the happer Temper that can reconcile a quick descernment with a perfect Candour.
Believe me, now & ever yr. faithful,
Lysander"

I ran into this in a compilation of letters from the fathers of our country. Perhaps what the Cynic needs is a woman.

2003-07-11T23:07:00.000-04:00

Hmm, I am writing this post from my living room floor. I have just finished installing Win2K on a new computer for my good buddy, Sam Allen. The system is a nice nforce2 based 2200 ghz with onboard geForce4 MX, FireWire, 6 channel surround, and dual monitor support. If you want one built for a very reasonable price, don't hesistate to ask. Well, time to watch more Trigun. Love and Peace.

2003-07-11T03:39:00.000-04:00

Another day of programming, this time lots of math and figuring which formulas are better. The best hashing function I have come up with takes a 10,000,000 pointer array, and suffers 10% collision. I'd like to get under ten, but I'm not sure how. I could always go higher then ten million, but that's kinda cheap. I'm thinking about geometry functions, I might be able to get better mileage out of them. So far n^x has been good (ie. value^2 or value^3) but x^n has been slightly better. I'd like to use the size of the eventual word in the figuring, but so far I can only use it in the condensing. I guess the question is how perfect must the hash be? Is perfection better than speed? Oh well, I'll figure something out.
Hmmm, I'm sure Anna is loving this. Math sprinkled all over my fun programming.
That's the day in my life, not a lot to look at, but much learning has occurred. I am anxious to use what I have learned in personal pursuits of fun programming. Sure, these blow Dr. *cough*'s assignments out of the water in interestingness, but I'd always rather be doing some OpenGL. That said, I must be going to bed. Goodnight All.

2003-07-10T01:01:00.000-04:00

Well, another day of programming bliss. I spent many hours today creating a wonderfully small algorithm for finding all the anagrams in a dictionary file. In other words, all the words which are re-arrangements of other words. I did this using two sets, self-sorted lists. Total lines of code, 53. Runtime, under two seconds for a 45,000+ word dictionary. I am very happy!
In other news, I ran into another person who is quite wierd. I have been getting to know a girl at my church who is quite strange. No, before you all ask I will inform you that there is no interest or progression of interest in this case. Just fascination at the general wierdness of humankind. At least now when people ask me if I was dropped as a child I can point to my head.

Disturbed Link:
Bonsai Kittens

2003-07-09T19:19:00.000-04:00

Ran a test on download/upload speed. Some fool must be using our upload to put his entire dvd collection online.
I'm wondering how LU measures up. Oh, and Ardith, you might not want to try the test, it could take days.

2003-07-08T23:11:00.000-04:00

Why does the sun come up do early? You'd think it would wait until a decent hour before starting the day and driving people to wake their children up for dentist appointments. I wouldn't mind at all if morning waited until around ten, and the sun didn't set until midnight or so.
Yes, I had to get up early this morning. At 6:30 I was roused from my slumber to prepare for tooth cleaning. It seems that, with only one viable car, I must be part of an endless train of people being brought to work. So, I waited on the steps of Dr. Birden's office for half an hour. At least I had my Data Structures book.
After that incident (and I only had one small cavity, probably due to my excessive increase in pop consumption) I got home and decided to finish up my maze program for Data Structures. But when I got started, I realized that I wanted to actually draw the mazes, even though it wasn't required. So I wrote a :: windows app :: to do so, and before I knew it I had sunk several extra hours in the assignment. Oh well, it was kinda fun and might even net me some extra credit. Always a good thing.
It looks like no Trigun tonight, my Dad is too tired. I've been keeping him up late *grin*. I'm feeling in need of a late night snack!

2003-07-08T00:45:00.000-04:00

Well, "we" watched two more episodes of Trigun.
Check out what Linux hackers have done to the X-Box. Hurrah for Linux!
Wow, I feel quite sickened by the Cynic's disturbed links of the day. I'm going to just not click on any links I find there for a while. Well, I have to go to the dentist in the morning, so goodnight all!

2003-07-07T00:56:00.000-04:00

Well, here I am posting again. I had a pretty good night, there is a upper high school / college thing Sunday nights that's pretty good. Oh, and Sunday mornings for the college class there's a guy going through some fairly deep apologetics. I have to wonder how many people aren't getting any of it. Its stuff like the fundamental law of non-contradiction and intellectual arguments for the existence of God. Lots of fun. However, the most amazing thing today happened tonight. I finally convinced my Dad to watch "one" epidode of Trigun. So a little before ten I popped it in and we sat down. One thing led to another and after the fourth episode my dad decided he really ought to go to bed, seeing as he has work in the morning and its nearly midnight. Hurrah! Now I have an excuse to watch it through again.

2003-07-06T17:43:00.000-04:00

I'm Blogging because I don't have anything to do right now. Hmm, that might be dangerous. I watched the end of Coyboy Bebop today, its pretty good, and the animation is very well done. However I don't find in it the depth of thought that is so prevalent in Trigun. I guess nothing will ever match my first anime love. Well, I actually saw the car I got smacked in, I had no idea it was smashed as bad as it is. The bang in is around two feet, and my chair was very very squished. Another chance to thank God, it could have been quite bad. I had a buddy over last night, Ben, and we played alot of FPS, from Battlefield 1942 to avp2. I love being an alien. I can run on walls and ceilings, and I'm fast and hard to see. Well, there must be something around here I should be doing, but I'm just not sure what it is. Or maybe I know what I ought to do and just don't want to do it. Either would explain my aimless wandering. That said, back to wandering.

2003-07-05T13:07:00.000-04:00

Dr. Roger Gonzales, Engineering

Which LeTourneau Professor Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

I don't even know him, so I have no idea if this is a good thing. Oh well, not like I care anyway.

2003-07-05T00:54:00.000-04:00

Ahh, lost a post due to nothing more than stupidity. Don't ask me to elaborate.
Well, the fireworks were big and really good. I want one in my room. Bombs are great!
I ran into this great story on FOXnews today. Good to know they keep up to date on matters of national security.
Of Hot Dogs!
I have to hand it to a little fella for such strength in the face of adversity.
Well, I really ought to be off to bed now, must be rested for my new big day!

ENTIRE DAYS WASTED TO NWN: 3.5

2003-07-04T15:06:00.000-04:00

"It's story time kids. Gather around and hear about the big, scary dragon."
"Daddy, I'm scared. What if a dragon comes to eat me?"
"Don't worry son. There are no such things as dragons. And Daddy will take care of you."

2003-07-04T04:04:00.000-04:00

Here I sit, for some reason not feeling tired or sleepy at all. Maybe its because I spent all day sitting in a car, or maybe I just feel funny because of the hour time change coming down from Canada. I don't know. I do know that there is still stuff to be done. Will it always be like that? Will every resting moment be overshadowed by the next deadline, the next due date. Even if there isn't one fleshed out, there is always one sometime ahead. If it isn't today, its getting up tomorrow morning. What would life be like if nothing had to happen on time. For some reason I think of Mexico. Yeah, I know everyone talks about the "non-time orientated society." They do it so much it seems like a wasted to mention it. But for some reason, during my week down there I thought to myself, "I really could live like this." Getting up when you smell the food cooking, splashing in some cold water. Then eating a big meal with your friends, and heading off to work in the back of a pickup truck. Hard work, but good work. Work that leaves you with something to look at when the day is done. How often do I do something concrete. Something where afterwards I can point to it and say "Look at that. That's what I did today." Working under the sun, eating well and laughing fully. Fellowship and late nights laughing over food. There's so much we miss up here in the States. It seemed, when I came back here, that all of the flow of life had changed. I didn't want to do papers and computers, books and classes. I had a taste of life, raw and uncorrupted by the growth of technology or "progress." Is it possible to live like that up here? Is our land so different, our culture so advanced that people can't just be themselves at all hours of the day? What would Dr. Batts think if I told him I was 23 minutes late to class because I wanted to try and catch a duck in the Glaske Pond. Would they let me hang out at a gas station and chat with the people who came through? Whatever happened to living? We seem so stuck on tasks and jobs. What will happen when its time to die and I find I haven't ever really lived?

Despite its cheesiness, I feel compelled to quote Braveheart. "Every man dies, not every man truly lives."

2003-07-03T20:47:00.000-04:00

Feel like I must post, but quickly. I'm back in one piece, and had a lot of good, free food. Everything up there was so sleepy, and down here I have so many deadlines. May everyone have a wonderful Fourth, and enjoy bombs, explosions, and good ol' American pyrotechnics!

2003-06-30T10:55:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm up in Canada today, and as I write this, I can look up and see Lake Ontario. The trip up here was quick, took about nine hours. The cottage is nice and cosy, and the view is beautiful. We brought two of my friend's dogs along, and one of them, the younger, kept trying to bite and claw the waves. It didn't work. Oh well, it must be very confusing to have a small brain. It looks like I won't be playing Neverwinter for a while, but something has come up that makes that OK. You see, my friend's mom lives up here on the island, and she owns a restaurant. Its called the Back Kitchen, and sells, "Burgers, Fries, and Homemade Pies." The first thing I did upon arriving was eat a 1/2 pound bacon cheeseburger. It was very large and I almost couldn'd finish it. With that kind of a start, I know I'll be happy here despite any games I have been deprived of. Well, I must be off to start working on the dog kennel. All that great food comes at a price, namely doing some odd jobs around the cottage. I hope you all have fun down whereever you are in the hot US. I'll be splashing in Lake Ontario! (And eating delicious hordes of food.)

2003-06-28T18:33:00.000-04:00

I smited the Big Dragon! hahahahaha
I used my huge sword of Dragon Smiting!

But I must leave in 20 minutes...

2003-06-28T15:38:00.000-04:00

Well, I fear I must now postpone my Neverwinter Nights questing for a few days. Due to some delays I'm not leaving until tomorrow morning early, but I'm staying at my friend's house who I'm going with so that I won't stay up all night here playing NWN. That said, I must mention my nifty new items. I have a double axe +3, and a ring o' protection +5. Also, I have a amulet o' natural armour +4, a ring 'o elemental resistance (15), and belt of strength +5. That, combined with my DR15/+1 armour makes me practically invulnerable to all who oppose me. Hahahhahaha.

I think I'm playing that game too much.

I ran into a guy this morning, his name was AJ. (This is in REAL life folks.) He has started his own computer store (a year ago) even though he's only 18. He is looking to hire me at good pay to do fun work that involves driving a VW Golf, messing with computers, and talking. It doesn't get much better than that. Hopefully something will come of this, I see lots of fun in the future.

Oh, and with the delay I'll be a day later getting back to Indiana.

ENTIRE DAYS WASTED TO NWN: 3

2003-06-28T04:43:00.000-04:00

I'm up too late, and I know it. I'm leaving today around noonish for a trip to Canada, I'll be back Wednesday. It's just that I'm addicted to Neverwinter Nights. I've finished the Second Chapter, and I'm over half way through the game. I've only been playing for two and a half days now. Hmm, maybe I should keep track of that.
Other than that, I really need to get packed, and its so late. Plus, I really want to try out my new DR +1/15 armour. Hmmmm.

ENTIRE DAYS WASTED TO NWN: 2.5