[ 06/01/2004 ]
Vengeful Cynic [1/06/2004 11:43:00 PM]
[ 05/01/2004 ]
I'm way too lazy to go find a disturbed link. Here's to hoping that this is the last post on the old and nasty blogger system!
Alright, here are two joke threads that I was passed.
Days Until I See Anna: 2
Days Since I Saw Anna: 20
Vengeful Cynic [1/05/2004 11:43:00 PM]
[ 04/01/2004 ]
Let's put it this way... we're very close to getting off of blogger!
Eric: "So were you the honorable student who didn't look at the board for the answers?"
Jake: "Why?"
Ardith: "Why am I the odd one out?"
Disturbed Links of the Day: Where verylazy.com redirects to
Days Until I See Anna: 3
Days Since I Saw Anna: 19
Vengeful Cynic [1/04/2004 03:32:00 PM]
"Why do you need a book on wench management? Why, you ask, is it so hard to get females to do what they're told when they have such an easy time manipulating men? The trick is all in how we understand the world.
You see, men tend to be logical and women tend to be emotional. That said, we men have one very powerful emotion that tends to get us in a lot of trouble and emotionally-saavy women tend to use this to their advantage. Thus, we're trapped by an emotion that we can hardly manage, much less control.
On the other hand, you're a man, just trying to get a wench to do what she's supposed to. Problem being, you;re approaching the situation from logic and women have no secret logic receptor that overrides their emotions. In fact, playing to logic tends to confuse the issue and create a whole new set of vague and ambiguous emotions..."
That might be the beginning... or it might not. We'll see.
Disturbed Links of the Day: Tricksy Surveys
Days Until I See Anna: 4
Days Since I Saw Anna: 18
Vengeful Cynic [1/04/2004 12:17:00 AM]
[ 03/01/2004 ]
So yeah, today I started writing again. It's been a long time since I've written anything of a respectable length that I didn't have to, and most of that unnecessary writing turned out to be trash. It seems like I can never get past the catharsis stage to the point where I just have quality ideas and content to generate. We'll see if this goes any differently.
Disturbed Links of the Day: TibFib's Homepage
Days Until I See Anna: 5
Days Since I Saw Anna: 17
Vengeful Cynic [1/03/2004 12:11:00 AM]
[ 02/01/2004 ]
Before reading this, I would have you note that this is probably the rough draft and there are some places where it needs help and a lot of linking action. That said, feel free to comment on things that you feel I've left out... and I'll probably toss them in there. In fact, I encourage criticism, nit-picking and error-hunting.
2003: A year in review from the perspective of The Vengeful Cynic
January 2003
This month sees the return of the Cynic and all other good LU students to campus for the Spring Semester.
Cynic skips chapel.
During Missions Emphasis Week, the Cynic runs across a contingent of people from Quad 3... and takes a liking to them.
Cynic and Shem spend a lot of time talking down at Q3.
The Cynic starts blogging.
Cynic and Wilson are enrolled in Historiography together... this is a very bad idea but nobody knows it yet.
The Cynic gets access to the electronic bulletin board associated with Contemporary Political Issues and starts assembling the framework to build a gallows to hang himself.
The Cynic vents... a lot
C-4 informs the Cynic that the age of consent in OK is 16.
February 2003
Space Shuttle Columbia burns up on re-entry over Texas; Cynic's father calls at 8am to ask questions and continues to call every half hour until phone is taken off the hook at 11am.
Cynic skips more chapel.
Cynic pulls an all-nighter down at Quad 3 with female involved... damned shame I could never get the luck to do that sort of thing with SC people.
C-4 reminds the Cynic about the age of consent in OK.
The infamous "satire" post of the Cynic goes up on the Contemporary Political Issues forum; Cynic is nearly lynched by frenzied wenches.
Frenzied wenches calm down and propose truce. This truce is the beginning of very good friendships.
The term "Happy People" comes into existance and the war against them in its current form begins.
The Cynic gets sick.
Cowboy starts blogging.
Brenton is "asked" to take down his confederate flag.
Ardith starts blogging.
March 2003
Manly Month of March.
Anna starts blogging.
Cynic drops Circuits 2; changes majors from CSE to CS and thus gains modicum of sanity.
C-4 again tells us all about the age of consent in OK.
Cynic skips chapel, yet again.
Spring break comes; Cynic's parents come down to visit and everyone else skips town.
Cynic rides with Jenny, ELH-2 girls up to Paris, TX in order to accompany Jenny back to Longview.
Parents leave town; Cynic spends week having a blast on virtually-vacant floor.
New LU Forum starts up.
Judge is stolen by ELH2 wenches; recovered.
Stitch is stolen by Bandits; held for a week.
April 2003
Cynic discovers Something Positive!
Cynic skips more chapel due to this discovery.
Bandits clean house in LSM Pie Auction to send money to LU summer missions.
Admissions Nazis kick Cynic out of his own table at Saga.
Wilson discovers 10 minute rule printed in Faculty/Staff Handbook.
Cowboy decides he's not coming back to LU.
Cynic (and rest of America) submits taxes.
International SARS outbreak hits national news.
Randy's sister dies in a horrible accident; Randy starts blogging.
Cynic, Gecko, Dunny, Anna decide to stay on campus for the summer... Stan and Caleb stick around for a while.
Spring Semester ends with finals
Cynic does lots chapel make-ups due to all of that skipping; vows to skip less chapel.
May 2003
Cynic moves to the John Thomas Hall for summer residency; decides it sucks.
Gecko wanders Texas; gets corrective eye surgery.
Fire alarms in John Thomas Hall go off... a lot.
Stan leaves to go home.
Cynic starts going to St. Mike's.
Wilson starts blogging.
Moore starts blogging.
Tom Elliot vists East Texas for Jordan Groody's wedding.
Matrix Reloaded comes out; fails to live up to expectations
Cynic declares war on NOW.
Gadzooks decides to go to an all-female store with a horrid ad campaign.
Cynic starts working at Physical Plant; discovers a whole new definition of slacking.
Cynic gets sick of school; skips town to see little brother graduate.
Anna starts taking a programming class; Cynic starts helping.
June 2003
Cynic returns to school; realizes how much working for Phys. Plant sucks.
Ardith tries to recruit thugs to mess with Cynic; fails miserably.
Fire alarm in John goes off more.
Cynic, Gecko, Anna start visiting "high places" on campus.
Cynic starts playing on Gaia; flaming morons.
Cynic, Scholl, Gecko move to apartments; get out of shitty dorm with much effort.
Cynic upgrades computer.
Cynic catches knife in the back from Anna and Gecko.
Linear Algebra finishes.
Wilson skips the country.
Cynic helps Anna with more programs.
Cynic, Anna, summer residents go to Texas Rangers game; have much fun.
Anna throws up on Cynic.
July 2003
Dunny's car is broken into.
Cynic gets a tetanus shot; doesn't die.
Cynic takes up Wench Management Consulting.
Cynic picks up a wench of his own.
Cynic goes home for two weeks to placate parents.
Cynic and crew play demolition at Perkins
NFL fines Detroit Lions for not interviewing minority coach in hiring process.
Jenny came to visit Cynic in Ohio; they travel the city, loot and pillage.
August 2003
Julie starts commenting on my blog
Crew nearly gets kicked out of Perkins.
Cynic moves back up to Tyler
Cynic gets hired at IT.
Cynic goes with Anna to Lake City to pick up car.
Stu gets fired from IMPACT.
3rd Annual Texas Bigfoot Conference is held.
Wilson returns to school; leaves; comes back again.
The SC is back at school.
The SC church-visitation squad starts up; visits Pine Crest.
Notorious "Demon Bird Sermon" is preached.
September 2003
Cynic and crew visit "El Cancun" get food poisoning; Wilson skips to go to Marketing dinner.
Infamous Yellow Jacket with no back page is printed.
Only Longview Symphony of the semester occurs.
Moore picks up a wench in a record low amount of time.
Wheeler starts blogging.
Wilson discovers Oral Roberts.
Moore contributes Markov Chain generator to cause; runs Leviticus through it.
October 2003
Cynic discovers repository of poison oak; has hives breakout on hands as a result
Martinez sends out more hillarious bible study emails.
Morgan and parents come into town; go to IHOP with the SC and crew.
Cynic and Anna stop church shopping; stay at Saint Mike's.
The Gallery starts causing trouble in their own right.
Cynic starts taking WMD donations.
Fall break happens; crew sticks in town and watches movies and plays board games.
Cynic drives to and from Dallas twice on the business of getting Toad to/from DFW airport.
Gallagher starts blogging.
Scott starts blogging.
Fall-fest week insanity begins.
November 2003
Fall-fest banquet happens; Cynic, Anna, Moore, Sharon all go.
Matrix: Revolutions shows, lives down to low expectations and exceeds them
My brother Geoff's good friend Jamie dies in horrible accident.
Thanksgiving comes; Cynic and Anna go to Dr. Olson's house
Cynic does next to nothing over Thanksgiving break
Master and Commander comes out and doesn't suck; balance is restored to the Force
December 2003
The Cynic has a birthday; is taken to dinner by the SC crew and has a blast.
Cynic buys new speakers with birthday money; the music lives again!
Hell week and finals week hit LeTourneau; many die.
The first semester ever where the Cynic is neither chapel deficient nor doing make-ups ends; Cynic is proud.
Anna comes down with mono; goes home to Colorado.
Everyone leaves to go home; Cynic sadly drags himself home to Ohio.
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King hit theaters; Cynic remembers why movie theaters in Cincinnati are so much better than those in Longview.
Several days later, Ardith and Anna manage to see RotK near their respective podunk towns.
Christmas happens; people give gifts, are happy. Cynic is sick.
Wheeler finally sees RotK; rest of SC mocks him.
Terror level is raised to Orange; promises to be a pain in the ass to all travellers.
Cynic reads... a lot.
Cynic ends the year on the phone with Anna, and is generally pleased with how this year has gone
Vengeful Cynic [1/02/2004 01:01:00 PM]
I've been sitting here, toying with a "Year in Review" post. I'm up to April. Hopefully I can publish it tomorrow.
Disturbed Links of the Day: 2003 Google Zeitgeist
Days Until I See Anna: 6
Days Since I Saw Anna: 16
Vengeful Cynic [1/02/2004 01:30:00 AM]
[ 01/01/2004 ]
The Cynic Will Exact Vengeance Upon: Blogger
That's the last post you eat, you stupid blogging system!
Vengeful Cynic [1/01/2004 02:24:00 PM]
Here's to the New Year:
If it works, let us be wise enough to not change it...
and if it doesn't, let us be brave enough to try something different.
Let us keep those friends near who are dear to us,
while at the same time making new ones and drawing old ones closer.
Let us have temperance to moderate ourselves,
and wisdom to know when the time has come to abandon moderation.
Let us have the time to do everything that needs it,
and the insight to put off or drop those things that don't need to be done.
Let us see life in the reality of what it is,
and yet have the courage to hope for what it could be.
Finally, let us live in the Hope of our Saviour and Lord,
by whom, with whom, and in whom is our best and only chance at a meaningful year.
Vengeful Cynic [1/01/2004 01:56:00 AM]
[ 31/12/2003 ]
Happy New Year all. Don't have much time, so the disturbed link kinda sucks. Or maybe not... But first, 101 ways to fix the 'net. And now, the endcap, because I am running a bit late to get somewhere.
Disturbed Links of the Day: Woman Ticketed for Indecent Exposure (clean)
Days Until I See Anna: 7
Days Since I Saw Anna: 15
Vengeful Cynic [12/31/2003 07:46:00 PM]
[ 30/12/2003 ]
Books are expensive. I read books fast. Thus, reading is an exceptionally expensive hobby for me. And thusly, I hit used book stores and sales when I can. Not to mention libraries. So, today I hit Half-Price Books and I hope to be hitting ebay tonight to pick up some more books. Fortunately, it looks like I'll have enough books to take me, assuming I try to avoid reading too many more of them.
These days have been fairly rough as far as coming to grips with my relation with God. It would seem like He is really trying to leverage me into a position where I'm listening and I have a hard time being in that position for any length of time. That said, I am working and praying that I will come to learn what He would teach me and, in time, come to be a better student.
Disturbed Links of the Day:
Top 10 Banned Ads for the Year
Street Mattress
Days Until I See Anna: 8
Days Since I Saw Anna: 14
Vengeful Cynic [12/30/2003 02:17:00 AM]
I've never been a person with a lot of faith. I guess it comes from the fact that I'm a very analytical, logical and straightforward person who has a hard time with what he can't see. Combine this with the fact that I am a cynic, any you come up with a real issue.
As much trouble as I have with general faith, it doesn't hold a candle to the problems I have in trusting in God's goodness. God works for our overall good... and that's fine, except that for all I know, that means another bullet in the ass tomorrow and the day after, and the day after, and so on. And when that bullet in the ass really takes the wind out of you, you have a hard time asking for God to bless you, knowing how well the last "blessing" went.
I guess, in the end it comes down to this: life sucks right now. And I keep praying that it'll get better sooner than later. But right now, it just keeps getting worse. And I guess I just have to have faith that in the end, this misery and despair won't break me. Let's hopethat it doesn't...
Vengeful Cynic [12/30/2003 02:01:00 AM]
So yeah, I went to a funeral visitation for my high school youth pastor's mom. It was mostly just to support him as I never had even met his mom, but I guess that visitation just prompted me to do a lot of thinking about life in general. Namely, how much time are we wasting in life, throwing it away on stuff that doesn't matter at all? I would assert that we need to spend more time putting life into perspective so that we don't waste time on the stuff that doesn't matter.
Disturbed Link of the Day: Bizarre News Year in Review (thanks Wilson)
Days Until I See Anna: 9
Days Since I Saw Anna: 13
Vengeful Cynic [12/30/2003 12:42:00 AM]
[ 29/12/2003 ]
Commenting is down... again. Between Blogger and Enetation, it's a miracle that I manage to get this thing to work at all. I guess it goes without saying that I need to get real hosting and MT.
Yet again I am reminded of just what a bizarre and eclectic fellow I really am. Thoughts for today:
You know, the restaurant industry in general is very poorly run and since my mind is on coffee shops of late, we will focus there. You need to understand your target demographic. If you are looking for teens and yuppies who want to feel a bit snobby, the best way to do this is NOT to monopolize half of your store with gaudy-looking crap for sale with your logo on it. The key here is a layed-back atmoshpere: mellow and subdued are the key. Kill the lighting, figure out a way to get rid of that menu monstrousity on the wall behind you, and get rid of the metallic art-deco furniture in favor of padded chairs and wooden tables. Also try to find some classy people to work at your store. If you're going to charge $5 for coffee, make it look like the place is worth it. Another thing, get some wireless internet and some subtle power outlets by the tables for laptops. Maybe even a terminal or two in an out-of-the-way spot. Don't charge for the internet (maybe charge for use of the computer) and watch the nerds flock. And they'll be much more likely to buy more coffee if you keep them sticking around.
Why is it so hard to find the places that need workers? I was out helping my little brother find a job today and we drove by all manner of stores and restaurants, grabbing applications. And literally 95% of the places that were hiring had no indicator of it. There has to be a better way for this. It's not like the companies don't want employees and it's not like the people who are in need of work don't want to get a job... but there is really no better way of a teenager finding a job then walking into a place cold and asking for an application. What gives with that?
Now that I'm home and away from the people I want to be around and the mental engagement of school, I finally get my head to clear and start thinking straight again. I mean, I haven't had this much spare mental energy since about week 2 of the semester. Why is it that we never have the time or resources to get things done when we're all at school together and it's only all by ourselves that we start getting really creative? And why is it that I forget all of the truly interesting thoughts somewhere between the car and the computer? I need to get something to record my brain waves, because I even have thoughts slip my mind in the several seconds it takes to fish the notepad and pen out of my pocket. Sad, isn't it?
I am very bad at trying to resist reading the books that I buy. Granted, I also borrow a lot of books from my friends to keep me in the money, but since I've been home I've read: Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night, Dragons of Spring Dawning, The Case for Israel, The DaVinci Code, Angels and Demons, Slander, Treason, Bias, Why I am not a Muslim, Unveiling Islam. I'm currently working my way through the Space Trilogy and then I'll probably read some other stuff. Bear in mind that I've read a lot of these before, but one makes due with what one must.
Vengeful Cynic [12/29/2003 03:11:00 PM]
Wow... a very long day with a lot of thinking. Not a lot of conclusions yet, give me some time for that.
Disturbed Link of the Day: Freaking Canadians!
Days Until I See Anna: 10
Days Since I Saw Anna: 12
Vengeful Cynic [12/29/2003 01:23:00 AM]
[ 28/12/2003 ]
Well, that was an interesting day. Nice and uneventful.
You will note that I am now posting the estimated number of days until I see the Wench. Granted, it's not a precise estimate yet (still doesn't account for several favors, but it's good enough for now.)
And now I'm tired and shall go to sleep...
Disturbed Link of the Day: The Chuck E. Cheese To Keep Your Kids Away From
Days Until I See Anna: 11
Days Since I Saw Anna: 11
Vengeful Cynic [12/28/2003 01:38:00 AM]
[ 27/12/2003 ]
Rather interesting article about Dr. James Fowler's Stages of Faith that I found as I was browsing around today. It discusses the psychology of human development as it relates to growth of religious faith.
I found this particular paragraph very fascinating:
The fourth stage is known as Individuative-Reflective. This is primarily a stage of angst and struggle, in which one must face difficult questions regarding identity and belief. Those that pass into stage four usually do so in their mid-thirties to early forties. At this time, the personality gradually detaches from the defining group from which it formerly drew its identity. The person is aware of him or herself as an individual and must--perhaps for the first time--take personal responsibility for his/her beliefs and feelings. This is a stage of de-mythologizing, where what was once unquestioned is now subjected to critical scrutiny. Stage four is heavily existential, where nothing is certain but one's own existence, and disillusionment reigns. This stage is not a comfortable place to be and, although it can last for a long time, those who stay in it do so in danger of becoming bitter, suspicious characters who trust nothing and no one. But most, after entering this stage, sense that not only is the world far more complex than his or her stage three mentality would allow for, it is still more complex and numinous than the agnostic rationality of stage four allows.
It's one of those things that a lot of people who have moved around will tell you. You very quickly come to terms with who you are and what you believe, because you can't be identified by your surroundings, your church or your friends. And quite frankly, when you're moving, you tend to get into a hell of a lot of fights with your family (at least mine always did) under the pressure of all of that stress.
Tim and I were talking yesterday, about when I moved back to the Cincinnati area. You see, Tim and I have known each other since I was in 3rd grade. But in the middle of my 4th-grade year, I moved away to New York. Now, for whatever reason (probably that our parents were also good friends) we stayed in touch and talked once every week or so for most of the next 4 years or so and we went on vacation together twice and we visited each other over summers and stuff.
So, my family moved back to the area my freshman year in high school. But Tim noticed something about his best friend - his attitude had changed from a generally genial and up-for-anything kind of guy to a fairly dark, cynical and pessimistic fellow. Granted, these attributes hadn't set in instantly, but they had been there and this move probably acted as an intensifying factor. Tim was really kind of shocked about this and wondered what had happened to me. It was one of those things that I had moved on a bit, and the place I had moved on to was not a very inviting one. Granted, over time I mellowed out quite a bit and retreated back from the edge of this abyss of unbridled negativity... but the mellowing has been a long, slow process.
So I guess the moral of the story is that moving is rough and it does trippy things to people and also that even though this dark night of the soul seems to be an unending pit of despair, it isn't the end. The trick is to get through this part and emerge into the Conjuctive stage.
Vengeful Cynic [12/27/2003 03:03:00 PM]
I Belong in Fight Club!
What movie Do you Belong in?(many different outcomes!)
brought to you by Quizilla
Freakishly close on some points... way out there on others. All in all, a good quiz.
Oh, and see the comic below! You'd best believe that there will be mass nerd rioting if our demands aren't met!
Vengeful Cynic [12/27/2003 01:19:00 PM]
Here's something that especially Moore and Ardith should appreciate:
You know how some days things are going well and you can do nothing wrong? Today was one of those days that nothing that I did went right. Well... not everything, just anything related to fixing this one computer.
So Tim's dad has a computer that he uses for work. Thusly, when he got it, he wanted to buy it OEM and thus have a warantee and the whole mess (he owns his own business.) So this is about the summer before my Senior year in HS. Now, 3 years later, it sucks. He tries to play newer games, and the on-board video overheats and kills itself. So he comes to us, complaining about his computer restarting itself and making funny noises (way too much dust in there, starts to make bearings in fans creak.)
This was several days ago... we took things apart, used compressed air to dust them, and went and bought a new PCI video card (no AGP port, onboard video) - an ATI 9000 PCI. That, along with a fresh format/reinstall for the first time in 3 years seemed to fix things. But apparently, there were issues (it's a 3-year-old computer, what do you expect?) So, today we were going to transplant a motherboard, processor and RAM to fix things.
Tim just "happens" (as many good nerds do) to have an Intel board and a corresponding Celeron 2.2 Ghz sitting around for a rainy day overclocking project. And since Tim's dad is willing to buy them off of him, we go off and get a 256 stick of PC2100 RAM to get the stupid thing up and running and decide to wait and see if it needs anything more for the tasks it handles. Bear in mind that up until this point the project has gone fairly well and taken only a moderate amount of time considering the tasks undertaken.
After a bit of other token shopping, Tim and I rolled back to his house and got started on the whole business of rectifying matters. We got about 3 minutes of deconstruction in when I noted, "Tim, you didn't tell me this IBM was an Athlon!" "So?" "It's OEM Tim, $10 says this power supply hasn't got Intel P4 support." What? And thus, after being at Tim's for about 5 minutes, we recessed to go get a new power supply of the modern variety. Closest place was CompUSA, so we ran there and back.
Now, we take old power supply out. It is at this point that I note that the new power supply is about 2 inches longer than the old. My rapid-fire and increasingly-creative cursing soon drew Tim's attention and he joined in with a few choice epithets. Fortunately, Tim had another computer that he had bought off of a friend's family for $20 a month or 6 back that he hadn't bothered to strip down for parts yet. So he ran to get this and I spent the next 10 minutes trying to figure out this particular variety of Compaq OEM case. After opening this case we noted another essential thing: this case had at least .25 inches of dust on everything. If not more. And we had just used the last can of compressed air up on Craig's (tim's dad hates being referred to by "mister") computer...
So off to RadioShack, which is only 5 minutes versus 15 but has compressed air for $6 a can. Tightwad, overpriced bastards and their $6 can of compressed air... But we were now 20 minutes from CompUSA and wanted to get back, so we bought their compressed air and went back. We then dragged the case outside and blasted all of the dust off of it (used up the entire can) and went back in to strip the thing. But when the dust settled, we found another interesting dilemma: this power supply had been special-made for Compaq and was a mirror image of every other power supply, thus the case's rear cut-out had the plug on the wrong side, and it even lined up wrong flipped.
However, at this point rage set in and it was time to stop buying new shit and start making things happen. First up: saber-saw the hole to the size we need it. And finding said saw takes us up to the Finding Nemo interlude with Tim's family, complete with steak dinner. After dinner, we located said saw and carved the hole. After some filing and the arrival of our buddy Dan, it was time to finally start mounting components. So with a bit of coaxing, the power supply went into it's newly-carved position and all was well. Now time to mount the motherboard. Oops, the little aluminum cover won't fit on quite. Just a tad too snug a fit. Not really worth mentioning except that Tim managed to slice his finger open in this process and while he was gone, Dan and I filed the opening a bit and got things working right.
So Tim returns to the motherboard snugly in place, shielding installed, and the power supply still looing pretty. Next goes the RAM and then the video card (note, this mobo has an AGP slot, rendering the special hunt for the good PCI video card that took the most time on the first run a general waste.) Now to power up... ooops. OEM case with special power button wiring. "Damnit, let's test POST anyways..." I exlaimed, grabbing the front of the old case, dragging it over and connecting the power button to get it to go. Well, POST is fine... but it's beginning to look like time for a new case. More cursing ensued from the 3 of us, while I sat and wracked the brain for a solution. And then Dan found it... because this OEM button rack actually just had a power button and two LED's, all on one strip. And it just so happened that the power switch was the last two pins on one end of this little connector and we could connect it to the mobo if we did it right. And thus, Dan saved the case.
After that, I finally got things back in order and started bossing people around, espcially after one of my two flunkies tried to tell me that jumpers and master/slave don't matter and they could just connect things up. Prompt smacks and beatings removed their insolence mostly, but it wasn't until I allowed them to see what would happen their way that they listened. And thusly, at 10:30 PM EST, we finally started the installation of WinXP. At this point I am noting 2 things: 1) I am sick and I am getting tired... I should go home 2) if I go home, I can talk to Anna on IM. Thus, I was driven home by the crew (the new machine is good, but the cd drive for the moment is a 4x burner b/c tim is too lazy to pull a good optical drive from his computer for the job) while they waited for the install to finish. Oh, it is now nearly 3AM EST and word has it that things still aren't done.
The sad thing is usually things go much better than this. Granted, I am the resident software specialist (if you can make cracked copies of shit work, you can make just about anything work) and not there for the software... but this day has just been cursed. Little to nothing went right, from the beginning of physical installation through to the end of software install. It was just amazing. I guess everyone has one of those days sooner or later.
Morals of the story:
1) Avoid factory-built systems
2) Custom-built OEM shit sucks
3) Know what you're getting into at the start and research this
4) Saber saws fix a lot
Disturbed Link of the Day: Online Cemetary
Days Since I Saw Anna: 10
Vengeful Cynic [12/27/2003 01:20:00 AM]
[ 25/12/2003 ]
Well, Christmas was something of a day in that I was very sick for most of it. But I got a movie and some books and some clothes and some money... so life is good. Time to go shopping tomorrow to spend a lot of that stuff. Let's just hope that my health mends enough to allow for that.
Disturbed Link of the Day: Escape from Neverland
Days Since I Saw Anna: 9
Vengeful Cynic [12/25/2003 11:37:00 PM]
Something amusing that Moore sent me: The Longest Sig File Ever
And a wonderful IM conversation on stabbing that I had with Anna yesterday:
Anna: yes dear, stabbing is always the answer
Cynic: yes... stab even
Cynic: *can't type today*
Anna: ya know, if you stabbed everyone you have issues with, that takes a lot of the enjoyment you get out of arguments with them
Cynic: heh...
Cynic: oh, I wouldn't kill them
Cynic: just stab them
Cynic: classic conditioning
Cynic: "being stupid gets you stabbed"
Anna: ah
Anna: i think ignoring people works just as well.
Cynic: bah
Cynic: stabbing is so much more effective because it improves peoples' lives
Cynic: they learn to be smarter
Cynic: and all it costs is a pint or two of blood
Cynic: is that such a high price to pay?
Vengeful Cynic [12/25/2003 01:43:00 PM]
[ 24/12/2003 ]
And before things here roll over midnight and it is officially Christmas, let me give you this wonderful eye candy:
Disturbed Link of the Day: The Best Page in the Universe
Days Since I Saw Anna: 8
Vengeful Cynic [12/24/2003 10:56:00 PM]
Idea stolen from Bonner:
Current Terror Level:
Vengeful Cynic [12/24/2003 04:34:00 PM]
Well, it's Christmas Eve Day in these parts and I'm figuring that since I probably won't be up tonight managing my usual 10pm-2am EST shift online, I will post now and then if I get a bit of time, I might post a little blurb later.
Things that I still have to do:
Wrap presents (alright, so I bought them all with time to spare, now they just need to be wrapped)
Go to Christmas Eve Service (6 PM I think)
Go to party at friends' house afterwards (probably stay there until 10 or 11)
Hmmm... that's a short list for today. Kind of simple really.
Things that I ought to deal with before I go back to Longview:
See friends from high school
Pirate software for Geoff's computer (so he doesn't have to shell out $1000 for software for school next semester)
Put in some work on the local effort to get a new tax increase to fund the local school district
Spend more time with my family
Enjoy the snow (that is falling as we speak)
Fix the family computer (I fixed it when I got back... it will probably need help before I leave)
Be a bum
Yeah... that should about round things out...
Disturbed Link: The New Bachelor Candidate
Vengeful Cynic [12/24/2003 10:20:00 AM]
[ 23/12/2003 ]
Well... I lasted 2 weeks or so of exposure to Anna's mono and I've lasted a week here in Cincinnati... and it looks like I've finally fallen sick.
*knocks on wood*
It looks like I'm not too terribly sick and this illness should stick to the Cynic's tradition of not being sick for a long period of time and not getting too beat down for a while. Sure... I'll feel like shit for a couple of days, but I should be back up in action before the week is out. And now, I shall watch Letterman, because it entertains me much.
I love watching David Letterman after a long day of being a bum.
Some wonderful Dave quotes:
"Word has it that Saddam is now despondent... they say all he does all day is sit in his cell staring longingly at a picture of George Bush. This sounds a lot like Al Gore."
"If you're thinking of a gift for Saddam you can't go wrong with a Sharper Image Turbo Nose-Clipper."
And of course there's the top 10...
Top 10 Things that Department Store Santa Doesn't Want to Hear from the Kids:
10) Remember me? I'm the kid with the week bladder
09) You smell like supermarket gin.
08) The real Miracle on 34th St. would be if they accepted my mom's Mastercard.
07) I want a 2004 Pontiac Aztek.
06) If i don't get an X-box, I'm gonna hunt you down old man.
05) I'm Jewish.
04) I love you Kenny Rogers.
03) Frankly, I'm just here to please my parents.
02) While Im talking to you, my mom is shoplifting blouses.
01) Mom says you're my real daddy.
Well... I promised myself that I wouldn't start tracking this until I couldn't help it. So hear's the end trailer of the posts for the remainder of my stay here:
Disturbed Link of the Day: The Destruction of a Toyota Truck
Days Since I Saw Anna: 7
Vengeful Cynic [12/23/2003 10:53:00 PM]
[ 22/12/2003 ]
*is laughing so hard he's crying*
I'm listening to Jim Rome and here are some things that happened in this last year:
WNBA is the most betted-upon professional sports league of its kind (Jim Rome suggests this is due to OTB.)
A kid got arrested for calling a hooker to his hospital room.
Apparently 8 games in the season, Detroit was 7.5 games out of first.
A sports writer got fired for quoting Haywood Jablome in a piece.
Some writer wants to turn the life of Evil Kenieval into a musical.
Brian Anderson thwarted a mugging in SF by running down a mugger.
JV Basketball coach in Arizona arrested for bringing strippers on school trips.
Aaron Ralston got lost hiking and chopped off his own arm with a pocket knife to get loose.
A bowling coach in Iowa was busted for kiddie-porn charges.
A German man was arrested for walking down a street with a severed head in one hand and a knife in the other.
15 players and 2 coaches in a New York school got arrested for going to a strip club.
A little-league mother told her son to attack another child during a game.
A fitness center in Denver stayed open while there was a dead body was on an exercise bike... they just moved him to the side and covered him with some towels.
Oh... and check this:
Staff-Chucks
And life wouldn't be complete without a warped link...
Disturbed Link of the Day: Odd Feminine Products Hit New Lows
Vengeful Cynic [12/22/2003 01:24:00 PM]
Well, I've seen my beautiful girlfriend off to bed. Now I must just briefly brag that my mother is one of the most open-minded and thoughtful conservative parents I know. I am very blessed to have her with a liberal arts background and a Houghton education.
I would also like to note that I have really missed my church here for these past however many months. The sermons preached are just so good that I can't believe I have been making due with less.
Lastly, I guess I'm probably either a lich or a half-fiend.
Vengeful Cynic [12/22/2003 02:21:00 AM]
[ 20/12/2003 ]
So now most of my Christmas shopping is done. I did it all in one fell swoop today as I went to visit the overcrowded and poorly-designed mall with my little brother and friend Tim. After taking half an hour to get to open parking, I spent the next hour or so finding the stuff that I'd catalogued in my head over the year that I needed to get. After that, we trekked over to Tim's house where we watched the UC basketball game, had dinner, watched some of The Mummy and fiddled with his dad's computer. Now, I'm back at home, being a bum and watching TV with mom and brothers.
While I've been sitting here, I've been talking to a friend from school, and it has been decided that we can categorize everyone in the immediate SC into D&D races:
I am clearly a large dwarf
Wilson is probably Elven (for the unitiated, note that Elves only trance 4 hours a night as opposed to sleeping 8 and are typically frailer)
Anna is either Human or Half-Elven, probably Human given the proclivity for math and teaching
Ardith is clearly a gnome
Wheeler is probably an over-large halfling
Martinez is probably a human (especially with all of that obsession over knowledge(engineering) and knowledge(math))
Moore is a half-orc with an addiction to food (granted, he's an endurance man... but the one-track mind for food says half-orc)
(the gallery will get their treatment soon enough)
And just on the note of the bizarre, check this guy out. I will never be nearly as cool as he is.
And on that note, I think I'm off to go make a quiz about D&D races or something. Yes, I'm a nerd... and spending a whole day with Tim didn't help that.
Vengeful Cynic [12/20/2003 11:03:00 PM]
I can feel the process required to put the SC into power coming ever-closer to fruition.
Vengeful Cynic [12/20/2003 01:26:00 PM]
On the topic of families and dealing with them, my little brother could use your prayers.
As some of you may know, my parents split in the middle of my freshman year in college and things finally started resolving to the point that my dad moved back in over this past summer. As I was gone, this really had relatively little effect on me and my middle brother didn't seem to phased by it either. My youngest brother, however, got the raw deal on this whole thing.
By all accounts, my youngest brother and my dad have never had a great relationship. However, in the year before my dad left, he probably exhibited just about every poor leadership trait available and managed to completely alienate himself from my youngest brother. In the 5 months my father has been back, it would appear that he has neglected this relatioship or maybe even made it worse to the point where Jonny sees the 18 months my dad was gone as the best in recent memory.
There are many issues my youngest brother has with my father, including a lack of respect for him (which dad really hasn't earned back), a disdain for his hypocrisy, and a desire to see him try to fix things. For my father's part, emotions and relationships are really something that he doesn't get and he has really proved himself to be something of a coward in manning up to his past mistakes. That said, this is something that needs to be done before my little brother can begin to emotionally heal and accept his father as someone other than "that bastard."
Vengeful Cynic [12/20/2003 12:51:00 AM]
[ 18/12/2003 ]
In case you'd been missing out on the disturbed linkage: What Many Girls Want For Christmas (allegedly)
Note, I claim no responsibility for the views espoused or endorsed in the link. If you followed it, that's your problem.
Vengeful Cynic [12/18/2003 11:55:00 PM]
Damnable enetation is down again and thus I don't know if my newfound time and proliferance is a good or bad thing. Failing any feedback, I will continue to post as I have inspiration and time:
Well, after the Christmas tree fun I went to go Christmas shopping at the local mall. That was all sorts of entertaining... I guess it's been a while since I've been people-watching in the mecca of teenage culture. I am here to report that while styles have changed, the mentality of the late 90's is still alive and well. It's so funny watching everyone in the mall fit into whatever cultural stereotype they aspire to. And one other note: Hot Topic is the Abercrombie & Fitch of teeny-bopper "goths."
After this wonderful experience wherein I explored the local stores and came up with gift ideas, I returned home to eat a home-cooked meal (ahh... real food) and then went to my little brother's concert. There were three band groups playing:
1) Chamber Winds (the band for people who the director can't turn down)
2) Jazz Band (for hardcore band nerds who do band 2 periods out of 4 per day)
3) Wind Ensemble (the band for people who are too good for #1)
As expected, the first group sucked... I mean they were awful. But I was close enough that I got to observe Jonny's law of saxophones in action. That being, "Saxophones are typically quiet, unless they don't know the piece in which case you can't hear them at all except when they get to the part tht they know, which they play really loudly to make up for the rest. And God forbid the saxes like the song, because then you can't hear anyone else at all."
Oh... and yes Jon is in Wind Ensemble but not Jazz Band (when you can take 4 classes/semester each year and you already take band both semesters, taking Jazz Band on top of that for a total of 50% of your education being band is a bit much.) And they were very good. Not as impressive as the Jazz Band, but I enjoyed the performance very much. Oh, and I'm now inspired to go to the high school tomorrow.
And as a non-sequitur for the last note of the evening:
If you had half an hour to prepare for an hour-long presentation on anything, what would it be and what visual aides (if any) would you use? (My answer comes tomorrow.)
Vengeful Cynic [12/18/2003 09:49:00 PM]
Amazingly enough, I am much more prolific when I have time on my hands with which to write. Isn't that just shocking?
Today my dad and I went and got a Christmas Tree. Apparently things have been fairly busy around here and when you combine that with the fact that my father isn't really all that into Christmas, you get to be about a week before Christmas and without a tree. My mom and I are quite into Christmas, but up until Tuesday I was in Texas and she is doing ESL tutoring and thus isn't available during the day. So, all that to say is the Christmasy types were busy, and the Grinch wasn't inclined to get one. My brothers? Lazy and too busy doing other things.
The whole Christmas season just gets me sentimental. Don't ask why, I don't know. It's just been that way since I was little. I like doing the whole traditional stuff and getting ready for Christmas and decorating and opening up another door on the advent calendar every day and lighting advent candles and the whole nine yards. I guess it's just that my family (dad especially) doesn't really get into that sort of thing. And when you get into a habit of not liking to do much in the way of Christmas, you just don't.
I guess that's just my whining about wanting to enjoy Christmas more than anyone else around me here. And of course, it doesn't make things better that the Christmas season at LeTourneau sets in right at the most hellacious part of the year and thus I really don't have time to enjoy it there. Christmas decorations? Yeah right. Note to self: enjoy Christmas more when you're off on your own.
Vengeful Cynic [12/18/2003 01:49:00 PM]
[ 17/12/2003 ]
I went and saw Return of the King. It was epic. I am going to have to go see it again very shortly. I could nit-pick all of the parts I didn't like or how the plot was improperly followed and details were left out, added and rearranged, but everyone will do that and it isn't necessary. Suffice that I will say that I agreed with Wilson on the sheer patheticness of the light-beam effects in RotK: Gandalf's staff driving back the Nazgul should have looked more impressive than a flashlight and the same goes for Sauron's red-hued flashlight.
On movie adaptations of books as a whole I will say this. A director is much more talented if he can use his limited resources and budget along with the limitations of physics and acting to stick to the plot of an adapted writing than if said director changes things to make it easier to film. What's worse is if a director changes things merely because he dislikes a particular part of a story and wants to make it go another way.
As much as I have loved Jackson's Lord of the Rings, the simple fact of the matter is that Tolkien was a masterful writer and developed a much better story than anything Jackson could do by altering the original. Jackson is less guilty than most directors in that his film sticks closer to the original than is status quo. That said, just about any major change Jackson has made either takes away from the plot continuity or just has a lesser effect than what Tolkien had written. I will grant that Jackson has done marvels with Gollum and also has done marvels with screenplay, but I am not willing to say that merely because Jackson has done well, we shouldn't beg for him to do better.
In any event, that's my bit of whining on that... and I will make one final note that seeing movies in Cincinnati is just so much better than seeing them in Longview because the prices aren't that much higher and the theaters are SO much better. If you ever have occasion to come by, ask me to take you to see a movie at The Rave and you'll see what I mean.
Vengeful Cynic [12/17/2003 11:01:00 PM]
For better or worse, I am in Ohio. And today, in about 3 hours, I get to go see Return of the King. And now I shall laugh at all of you who cannot see it today.
In other news, Cincinnati is a great place to go do things late night if you want to go downtown. My brother has been going to University of Cincinnati all semester and knows all of the great places that are open until 4 or 5 am or open 24 hours. I wish Longview was cool like that.
I renewed my driver's license today and now the picture on it transformed from a young-looking teenager to a stoned-looking college student. It's pretty crazy looking.
Nothing else happening around these parts thus far. Sooner or later, the famed Perkins run will go down again, and I will be relaying stories of goodness and entertainment to all. Until then, feel free to IM me when I get on and I will talk to you as much as I can.
Vengeful Cynic [12/17/2003 01:31:00 PM]
[ 15/12/2003 ]
One of the better quotes I've run across of late:
Justice Curtis on the Dred Scott case in 1858
"When a strict interpretation of the Constitution according to the fixed rules which govern interpretation of laws is abandoned and the theoretical opinions of individuals allowed to control its meaning, we have no longer a Constitution. We're under a government of individual men who for the time being have the power to declare what the Constitution is, according to their own views of what they think it ought to be."
Vengeful Cynic [12/15/2003 11:01:00 AM]
So yeah... a couple of goofballs from Washington convinced me to join this other guy's forum (note: he is related to the goofballs and lives in the same house with them.) Don't go spamming the thing or anything or I will have to authorize him to hunt you down and kill you. But if you like a good and honest discussion with a very friendly atmosphere, this is a good place.
That said, there was a wonderful thread about this forum called ClayShaker which, from what I understand, is intended to be a fairly positive Christian forum where people can fellowship and enjoy each others' company. Unfortunately, the admin of this forum is a 19-year-old college student with some interesting takes on leadership (read: he would make a good LU admin) which include: deleting posts which upset him and/or challenge the way he administers the board, banning people for doing such things, and construing disagreement about the two aforementioned policies as running afoul of them and thus cause for deleting disagreeing posts and banning users. Granted, from what I understand, policy is not concrete on this and in fact part of the problem is there really is no clear and defined policy and thus the only certainty is uncertain ambiguity.
Now, I normally would stay about as far away from something I know this little about except that the admin is being an ass-hat and people are so fed up with it that they feel the need to discuss it somewhere, just to purge it. So, they went over to this other forum and proceeded to do so, and things were going well and I made one or two posts to try and help clarify what was going on and channel things in a good direction.
Well, as can be expected and even predicted, last night the admin of ClayShaker caught wind of this outpouring and was not happy. He rolled in and linked up this board on ClayShaker to encourage his people to come over and "fight the good fight." To be fair he brought one intelligent person with him whom I was happy to talk with. However, he also brought two morons and he himself was acting the part of a complete and total ass.
So I responded in about the nicest and most contrite way you will ever see the Cynic roll with, and the idiocy just kept on flinging. Now, as predicted, said admin is going to ban all offending parties from his board unless they come back on their knees and kiss up and try to resolve their differences in the dark, in secret. Does this sound to you guys like something LU admin would pull? All I can say is that we need to hire this guy, because he's got all the makings of a successful LeTourneau administrator and he's only 19: wants to resolve all problems in secret, is unbiblical, responds very poorly to admonishment, and just acts like a jackass... oh yeah, and there's no way on earth that he could be wrong.
All of that said, Cory (the guy whose forum this is) has called a moratorium on this thread for a while to cool it down and hopefully shed the light of reason rather than rampant emotion on it (from the perspective of the reasonable crowd)... so if you go over and read, don't respond to this pile of idiocy. Yes, we know it's there... we're just trying to give it some time so we don't have to drag it out and shoot it like the rabid dog it is.
Vengeful Cynic [12/15/2003 10:45:00 AM]
And now, we are finally at the end of the semester. In fact, we're at the holding period wherein I wish I could just be going home and everything would be right... but it's not.
In the end I really try to believe that God is working this all out for good, but it's so damned hard to see that from in the trenches. Nearly, all of my friends have gone home, leaving me nearly alone in this dorm. I stayed over because I went to a wedding with Anna today that was supposed to have signalled the real beginning of my break and the start of a nice and enjoyable 4-week break together. Sadly, this is not how things are working out.
Said aforementioned girlfriend has fallen victim to mono. As such, it has necessitated a change of plans and is sending her home to Colorado whereas I am still going home to Ohio. So, instead of the nice, enjoyable 3 weeks at Christmas with Anna... I have 3 weeks of wishing I could be with my sick girlfriend who will be 1000 miles away. I'm trying to put a positive spin on this, but it sound hollow and trite.
The fact of the matter is that I've always seen people who try and see the silver lining on the stormclouds as morons. Can't you see that things suck? What's the point in contenting yourself with the paltry pittance that is all you have to be happy about?
But in the midst of all of this, I have to admit that there just really isn't much point obsessing over the shitty facts of reality. Yes, it fucking sucks... I know it, you know it, we all know it. But in the end there are only two real options, get over it or don't. And since I plan on getting over it sooner or later, I might as well just get over it now. Granted, the next 3 weeks are going to suck, but I'm going to make the most of the time I have left here in Longview and I'm going to try and enjoy the company of my friends as much as is possible.
That said, I'm having a really hard time getting over it and moving on. I can stop obsessing... but I'm having a really hard time trying to stop feeling like shit. And this, ladies and gents, is why I had exiled my damnable emotions to Tahiti. They bothered me a hell of a lot less there.
Vengeful Cynic [12/15/2003 12:50:00 AM]
[ 13/12/2003 ]
All of the warped links fit to print:
Crazy! Apparently, elephants are hijacking sugar trucks in Bangkok.
And on the animal note... allegedly, pigeons are faster than the internet. Continuing on to other warped animals... this turkey tried to rape a man.
Speaking of odd sexuality, a transsexual in Taipei is confusing its jailors.
In other bad news, crazy adherants of bizarre sects of Christianity who hail from Michigan are wandering about my fine home state of Ohio and breaking traffic laws. In better news, they're endangering their offspring.
And finally, face scanners are being implemented in schools in Phoenix, AZ in an attempt to find missing students and pick up sex offenders in schools. Invasion of privacy, anyone? Not to mention a shaky history of facial recognition.... Can we say, "Law suit?"
Vengeful Cynic [12/13/2003 10:42:00 PM]
[ 12/12/2003 ]
I finally got around to taking that Brain Test. I was fairly impressed by the accuracy of 25 or so questions.
Auditory : 53%
Visual : 46%
Left : 72%
Right : 27%
Cynic, you are mildly left-hemisphere dominant while showing a slight preference for auditory processing. This overall combination seems to indicate a well-working blend of logic and judgment and organization, with sufficient intuition, perception and creativity to balance that dominance.
You will at times experience conflict between how you feel and what you think which will generally be resolved in favor of what you think. You will find yourself interested in the practical applications of whatever material you have learned or whatever situation you face and will retain the ability to refine whatever knowledge you possess or aspects of whatever position you are in.
By and large, you will orient yourself toward intellectual activities and structure. Though not rigid, you will schedule yourself, plan, and focus on routine and continuity of operations, rather than on changes and disruptions
When changes or disruptions occur, you are likely to consider first how to ensure that such disruptions do The same balance is reflected in your sensory preference. You will tend to be reflective and measured in your interaction style. For the most part, you will be considered objective without being cold and goal-oriented while retaining the capacity to listen to others.
Preferentially you learn by listening and maintaining significant internal dialogues with yourself. Nevertheless, you have sufficient visualization capabilities to benefit from using graphs, charts, doodles, or even body movement to enhance your comprehension and memory.
To the extent that you are even implicitly aware of your hemispheric dominance and sensory style, you will feel most comfortable in those arenas which emphasize verbal skills and logic. Teaching, law, and science are those that stand out among the professions, along with technical sales and management.
Vengeful Cynic [12/12/2003 12:14:00 AM]
[ 11/12/2003 ]
Which Lord of the Rings character and personality problem are you?
Congratulations! You're Merry!
brought to you by Quizilla
Vengeful Cynic [12/11/2003 11:19:00 PM]
[ 10/12/2003 ]
Due to a sleep deprivation and a need to amuse myself and others, I proffer this story pulled from my files:
Now sit back and let me tell you the tale of the Idiot Boy. Long ago (something like 3.5 years ago to be exact) I was a Junior in high school and it was the second semester. Due to the extreme grief and aggravation that Spanish had caused me during the angst-ridden 3 semesters of it that I was forced to take, I decided upon taking a new language to fill the void in my schedule. And so it was that Latin entered my high school experience. And I did take Latin and lo, it made sense. This was not vile Spanish where laws of spelling, pronunciation, and verb conjugation varied like the winter winds on the high seas, but where peace, tranquility, and a general holding to the rules was king. And it was good and there was happiness. But to my dismay, this class was riddled with fools.
At every side, there were morons whom the other languages had rejected and foisted off on poor Magistra. Among the ranks of the morons were Davus - the wrestler who had taken far too many hits to the head, Michaelus - to whom the secrets of passing high school in less than 6 years had not been imparted but who was not quite foolish enough to drop out, Dustinius - the compulsive skipper of school (he regularly missed 2 days a week) and least likely to pass a drug test, and last and most foolish Robertus, commonly referred to as "Idiot Boy".
Now Idiot Boy was a particularly dislikeable breed of moron. For you see, though he was chief among the morons and even the other fools disdained him as an idiot, he did not realize that he was a fool. Instead, Robertus would play Gameboy during class and scuttle all hopes of possibly learning the material. Worse, he would not do his homework (a similar practice to myself, but the homework was so easy that by the time she got to my spot in the room to check mine it was done) and would whine endlessly about how hard it was. Bear in mind people, we're talking translating simple sentences here and declining such nouns as canis and pater. But worst of all was his simple absence of mind. Class would go something like this:
Magistra: Robertus, what is the Latin word for dog?
Robertus: uh... uh... wait... I know I have this one.... just one second
Magistra: Robertus, at least look it up for us, it's not that hard
Iosius (unable to take it any more): whispers canis, you moron, canis
Robertus: uh.... can is (pronounced like can and iz)
Magistra: Iosius, stop helping him out, Robertus it's canis.
And thus idiot boy's reputation did plummet. For you see, Robertus would ask the same question every day for a week sometimes and even after Magistra had answered it 6 or 7 times he would still be horribly confused. But he refused to work and refused to study and continued to fail even the easiest vocabulary test (10 words a week, you just had to spell the Latin when she gave the English equivalent, not that hard)
But then, it would seem, Robertus struck upon a plan: he would cheat and get a 100 on his next vocabulary test. So Robertus craftily wrote down his words and definitions on a cheat sheet and dropped it on the floor next to his foot when test time came. But about three words in something went horribly, horribly wrong for Robertus.... Magistra spied his cheat sheet... for even in cheating he lived up to his nickname. Robertus had used bright pink paper to write his cheat sheet on. It was hard to miss. And upon closer inspection, Magistra did see Idiot Boy's deceit and treachery. And Idiot Boy did receive a 0 on the test. Through incidents like these (he got caught cheating again later in the semester when he wrote the answers on his desk in permanent ink and failed to wash them off in time) he became one of the 2 people out of 75 to fail Latin I that entire year... the other being Dustinius, who failed not on lack of merit, but because if you miss more than 8 days in a semester without a good reason you can't get credit for a class and Dustinius missed 30 without much of a reason.
Now... to more recent events.
I had found myself working with Robertus (Idiot Boy) at Kroger over Christmas break last year. This was not a happy development, but I tried to grin and bear it. But Idiot Boy did recognize me and remembered my disdain for him and did tell one of our co-workers the following: "Cynic always treated me like I was some sort of moron in our Latin class. But really I'm not stupid, I just act stupid a whole lot."
Vengeful Cynic [12/10/2003 02:33:00 AM]
[ 09/12/2003 ]
Just when I thought that humanity couldn't get any dumber... this moron proves me wrong.
And apparently foreign hookers are now informing science. Quite something...
Vengeful Cynic [12/09/2003 10:46:00 AM]
[ 08/12/2003 ]
This is quite possibly the best disturbed link of the semester. Same Jack Chick style, different author.
Thanks Dunny.
And here's a wonderful little page about the "evil" white man. Quite entertaining. Racist ignorance is universal.
Now Playing
Metallica - No Leaf Clover
Vengeful Cynic [12/08/2003 03:36:00 PM]
My lazy self is just getting around to posting my finals schedule:
Monday:
12:45 PM - 02:45 PM Digital Electronics
08:00 PM - 10:00 PM Only Inklings
Tuesday:
09:45 AM - 11:45 AM Software Systems
Thursday:
09:45 AM - 11:45 AM Numerical Analysis
Other Assignments Due:
Tuesday - 12:00 AM Learning from Leaders (paper)
Thursday - 9:45 AM Numerical Analysis (extra credit program)
Add in that wonderful work shift from 2:30 (or whenever I get out of Digital) until 6 and that will be a ball-breaker of a Monday.
Here's a funny little story if you've been following the SCO vs. Linux debacle. If you haven't it's funny anyways. Not really warped but my mind is too scrambled for warped right now.
Now Playing
Third Eye Blind - Narcolepsy
Vengeful Cynic [12/08/2003 01:34:00 AM]
[ 07/12/2003 ]
As I sit here thinking that I should REALLY go to bed, I need to put up a quasi-happy post and just say the following: I have the best girlfriend and the best friends ever. I was truly awed by the amount of effort taken on my behalf to take me out to dinner on Friday night and give me a good evening out.
Even in the midst of finals, sickness, projects and the like my friends took me out to dinner in some little town (Jefferson I think) in this nifty little Italian Restaurant with a hotel upstairs. We then proceeded to wander around town for a bit and then drive to Marshall and go to a coffee house where I was treated to coffee and cheesecake (it was good Moore, too bad you couldn't make it) and a rousing game of Scrabble. And as all good Friday nights go, it was finished off by Honors Bible Study.
Thanks to all of you who could come and thanks to those who wanted to and couldn't... I am just honored to have such great people around. You bastards are the reason that I can't just be a cold callous cynic all of the time... :). Now, especially to Wheeler... get better, NOW!
Now Playing
Trapt - Headstrong
Vengeful Cynic [12/07/2003 02:58:00 AM]
More reading back through this old forum has brought to mind some old stories from back in the summer between my freshman and sophomore years in college.
Vengeful Cynic [12/07/2003 02:09:00 AM]
I was trolling through an old thread on a forum that a friend of mine runs. I found this wonderful comment that I made about 2 years ago:
Vengeful Cynic [12/06/2003 01:01:00 PM]
Vengeful Cynic [12/05/2003 03:27:00 PM]
Well, Wilson and I are picking fights with people over the whole Iraq debacle. I posted this in the comments in response to some rather interesting reasoning posted by a reader who was in turn responding to this post on Wilson's blog (blue is me, italics is a guy named Shrode:
Vengeful Cynic [12/05/2003 01:16:00 AM]
Well, I guess most of the hell week is over. And all of a sudden everyone is getting sick. Stop getting sick you fools...
Vengeful Cynic [12/04/2003 09:46:00 PM]
All time new lows for screwed up are upon us!
Vengeful Cynic [12/03/2003 06:38:00 PM]
Today I went out and bought a new set of speakers to replace my old, jacked-up set that had served faithfully for 2 years. In the end, a power pin sheared off and brought an end to an otherwise-great run.
Vengeful Cynic [12/03/2003 12:42:00 AM]
Well, part of the work is over and another bit is yet to begin. I really hate this week.
Vengeful Cynic [12/02/2003 03:13:00 PM]
Happy Birthday to me... I think. I'm another year older... and I have the shittiest week ever to have a birthday. It's always right during hell week/finals. I REALLY need a drink... (of water, Doug.)
Vengeful Cynic [12/01/2003 02:57:00 PM]
Most days I like politics... the process, the deal-making, the smoke-filled rooms... it just appeals to a certain part of me that revels in intricacy. Wilson and I have a great deal of fun talking about it... frequently dragging the Guatemalan into discussions and just enjoying the great political theories that we come up with. Of late however, I have not been enjoying politics, and most of that is due to the fact that I can't find anyone whose foreign policy I can support.
Vengeful Cynic [11/30/2003 05:20:00 PM]
Not that I think many of you will have a variety of results, but go take the Belief-O-Matic Quiz.
Vengeful Cynic [11/30/2003 02:49:00 PM]
I found another great webcomic: FLEM
Vengeful Cynic [11/30/2003 12:59:00 AM]
I've been fiddling with some homework as well as a D&D campaign that I'm working up for next semester and I've been mulling over the whole Dungeons and Dragons thing, especially in the light of those conservatives who claim it is strictly demonic. After all, my parents (especially my father) are given to the notion that the whole thing is bad. Granted, they're only working on what they've been told be hyperconservatives (bear in mind, when D&D was in the news bigtime, some mentally unstable people committed suicide over it and at the time my parents were at a church with some very conservative Bob Jones alums) and my father really isn't into the fantastical anyways, but it's still frustrating that I more or less lie to my parents rather than hash this out with them.
Vengeful Cynic [11/29/2003 04:39:00 PM]
I performed an experiment today in response to all of the whining that's been going on due to the "cold" outside. I went back to my room and pulled out all of the clothes that I'm never seen in and went on a walk. Jeans, socks, shoes, sweater, coat... and it wasn't cold outside, not even a little. I don't know what everyone is whining about. The only thing that even bothered me slightly was the cold wind, and so I got out some ear warmers from one of my pockets and all was well. About half-way around the loop, I had to open my coat up becaue I was getting hot.
Vengeful Cynic [11/29/2003 02:51:00 AM]
Well... I was performing the perfunctory Google search today, and it would appear that when I put my first and last names in without quotes, I end up on the first page. So thank you all for linking me by that, I think it's time to start cracking skulls and beating people to get my link changed. I kind of like anonymity.
Vengeful Cynic [11/28/2003 11:47:00 AM]
Well... one day down and I'm feeling much more rested. Maybe with a couple more of these I'll be able to take out the rest of the semester.
Vengeful Cynic [11/28/2003 02:18:00 AM]
So... it's been an interesting couple of days and I'm sticking in town for the Thanksgiving break while everyone else is heading off elsewhere. I must say that there is entirely too much work to get done this weekend for me to be burning time and not really doing anything yet... but I do need a break and hopefully I will be able to get everything done that I need to after I get a bit of rest.
Vengeful Cynic [11/27/2003 12:10:00 AM]
A friend of mine has been doing a critique on a paper for one of his. Whomever wrote this thing needs to take the English Review and a couple of remedial English Composition classes... not to mention some basic rhetoric.
Vengeful Cynic [11/24/2003 01:23:00 AM]
A fitting commentary on my favorite hardware platform:
Vengeful Cynic [11/23/2003 02:14:00 PM]
Well, that's enough of that melancholy shit. And now for some pleasant thoughts... or at least mildly so.
Vengeful Cynic [11/20/2003 06:55:00 PM]
The saga of my brother continues, but right now it's moreso with him. Most of you are familiar with the fact that all of my compassion put together could fit in a small thimble. The pure reverse is true of my brother. He cares so much that sometimes it scares him that people might take advantage of him and to that end he has a the facade of a cactus. Underneath that cactus, however, is a man who would give the shirt off his back along with his pants to someone who needed them. He's cynical enough and perceptive enough to see through people... but when someone really needs help, my brother is the first person in there to give it.
Vengeful Cynic [11/18/2003 02:16:00 AM]
Well, I have more information regarding my brother. Here is a news story related to the gorge accident. Talking to my mother, apparently there was underage consumption involved and a friend of mine was the person buying the beer. Now I really don't have a problem with underage consumption provided the person that is buying knows that those involved are responsible and they won't be hurting themselves. However, drinking paired with tall cliffs is NOT a good idea.
Vengeful Cynic [11/16/2003 05:48:00 PM]
The spectre of death seems uncomfortably close of late. I just got off talking to my brother and apparently he and some guys went rock climbing yesterday and one of they guys he went with fell to his death. This is coming close on the heels of a wonderful conversation I had with a friend discussing what she would do if the choice came down to either she died or a baby she was going to have died.
Vengeful Cynic [11/15/2003 07:43:00 PM]
On Compassion:
Vengeful Cynic [11/14/2003 01:38:00 AM]
I can't believe they posted this:
Vengeful Cynic [11/13/2003 02:51:00 PM]
Oddly enough, for the first time in a long time I've had two decent ideas in the course of two days. Something in the water, of that there is no doubt...
Vengeful Cynic [11/12/2003 09:45:00 PM]
A couple of us were having a rather interesting discussion on education last night. I'm not sure how it came up exactly... but it boils down to this: "If you had your whole education to do over again and money and acceptance weren't issues, where would you go to school (starting at kindergarten through present?)"
Vengeful Cynic [11/10/2003 03:56:00 PM]
Thanks Wheeler for finding this:
Vengeful Cynic [11/09/2003 03:11:00 PM]
Should I be inclined to help people realize the foolishness of their own preconceptions or should I merely stand by and help propogate those preconceptions for their own good? For instance, what if some of the freshmen guys under my watch have been convinced that all LU wenches are heartless emotion-whores who prey on naive guys... should I tell stories and joked to perpetuate this or should I point out that a good number aren't?
Vengeful Cynic [11/09/2003 03:11:00 PM]
Well... I saw Revolutions last night. And I can't help but think that I need to see it again before I can come to a conclusion on it. First impression says that the eye candy of the original can't be beaten. Sure, there were some pretty fight scenes, but the whole endlessly flying into each other scheme gets old. Plus, there's just the general annoyance that Neo started out nearly omnipotent at the end of the original and kept getting weaker throughout. After all, bullets are easy to stop because they're little... but swords are big and slow and thus trickier.
Vengeful Cynic [11/06/2003 03:22:00 PM]
Just an odd link to tide you over until I post....
Vengeful Cynic [11/04/2003 07:49:00 PM]
Mentally I feel like I'm swimming in cement that's about 80% set. It's so much easier to come up with cogent thoughts when you don't have all of this mental taxation going on...
Vengeful Cynic [11/03/2003 04:43:00 PM]
Well... it's Sunday and if this November is like the last two, things will get much worse before they get any better. Which is probably a dangerous sign considering that I'm tired and stressed-out as is. At least I got to be a bum with my friends yesterday and ended up going to Fall Fest for the first time and with a very lovely date at that. I generally had a good time at Fall Fest, got to sit with some fairly interesting Freshmen, and got to see Ardith look absolutely stunning, all dressed up as 2A's queen. I once read an article somewhere that young men tend to forget the beauty of the women around them because the women tend to dress down to our level. After last night, I can't help but note how true that is.
Vengeful Cynic [11/02/2003 03:26:00 PM]
Wow... that attempt to cleanse my soul yesterday felt very good. And then I began to return to my nirvana and become one with the cynicism again. It feels really good. And thus...
Vengeful Cynic [10/30/2003 01:20:00 PM]
And I honestly tried to link up Aaron last night... but the people at Blogger had other plans. But now, after the delay... we're back.
Vengeful Cynic [10/30/2003 11:58:00 AM]
You know... I've been bumming around lately and feeling lethargic and just apathetic as though something was missing from my life. And then I remembered that I had been negligent in the disturbing of the masses and thus depriving myself and others of the benefits of my altruism. So here now, I bring the disturbance.
Vengeful Cynic [10/29/2003 09:01:00 PM]
My man beat the charges! I am so happy I could do a jig.
Vengeful Cynic [10/27/2003 09:13:00 PM]
I want one of these. People are already worried about them and there is talk of upgrading systems to lock out some of the cheaper one. Here's an article about the whole situation.
Vengeful Cynic [10/27/2003 12:24:00 AM]
S*P always has these great ideas:
Vengeful Cynic [10/26/2003 01:46:00 AM]
Because I'm a speed-reading nut and because I have to one-up others,
Vengeful Cynic [10/25/2003 06:13:00 PM]
Every now and again, I get afraid that my cynicism may leave me. After all, with every passing day, I intentionally shelter myself more from the idiotic public and spend more time with intelligent individuals. And this may last for a day or a week or even a month... but then I get out and I remember what the world is really like. And it's this kind of stuff that reminds me that I will always be a cynic and a firm believer that humanity is nothing more than a pile of hopeless morons.
Vengeful Cynic [10/24/2003 10:19:00 PM]
Mmmm.... everyone loves Jack Chick tracts. Here's my favorite one... ala MST3K. Here's another good Chick tract (no MST3K, sorry) on rock and roll.
Vengeful Cynic [10/23/2003 02:08:00 PM]
There are lots of morons who should be shot... and their idiot lawyers with them. Here is a tale of one such set of morons. I feel their pain, but this is ridiculous. How about we not blame the video game makers and instead sue the defective parents?
Vengeful Cynic [10/22/2003 02:45:00 PM]
Well... after trying to find someone to go get Toad in Dallas and failing... I did it myself. Fortunately, I brought good company for the drive and even when I took a wrong turn and got lost, she managed to make things better. Damn, wenches are handy.
Vengeful Cynic [10/22/2003 12:07:00 AM]
Arguably the pivoting point of my entire philosophy and eschatology and everything that I am, summed up right here.
Vengeful Cynic [10/19/2003 03:40:00 PM]
I usually don't post stuff that is this long, but it's amusing and I don't like the fact that the comic is overlapping on the side:
Vengeful Cynic [10/19/2003 03:09:00 PM]
Yesterday was a good day... a very good day. In case you ever doubted, I am the king of corruption. Give me money and power and I will corrupt people and organizations to do my bidding so that I get more money and more power. Just ask Wheeler, I am a ruthless monopolist... Carnegie and JP Morgan have nothing on me. I raked everyone else over the coals and bankrupted competitors and monopolists alike to emerge the owner of the world of Anti-Monopoly.
Vengeful Cynic [10/19/2003 03:04:00 PM]
Mmmm.... fall break. Now the million-dollar question is what to do over said break. Obviously, I will be wanting to spend copious amounts of time with The Wench, and some of this will also be spent with those who didn't skip town on me (also including some of the Gallery who don't have blogs and the infamous Martinez.)
Vengeful Cynic [10/18/2003 12:42:00 PM]
Well... I made it to the weekend. The blissful break weekend. And I'm tired and feeling a tad sick. I'll be going to bed now.
Vengeful Cynic [10/18/2003 03:45:00 AM]
Wow... this guy hates life. Wouldn't you love it if media assholes published your name and picture on the internet? Especially in a rabid city like Chicago.
Vengeful Cynic [10/15/2003 05:14:00 PM]
And I think to myself, "Damn, why did I come to class today?" and even as I do that I already know the answer, "attendance policy." The miserable thing about undergraduate study in this sort of environment is that going to class is always a crapshoot. Especially in Software Systems, where you never know if attendance will be taken, if group meetings will be called, or if important assignment-critical information will be distributed. Odds are good that none of these will happen, but by the same token, if a student does miss on one of those critical dates, a volatile explosion on the part of Dr. Varnell is all but ensured and you'll either have to mollify him or take it in the shorts on your grade. And yes, today would be the second day in a row that I've dismissed software systems myself.
Vengeful Cynic [10/15/2003 01:46:00 AM]
Updated 15 Oct 2003 2:00 CST
Vengeful Cynic [10/14/2003 01:54:00 AM]
*shoulders sag*
Vengeful Cynic [10/13/2003 03:13:00 PM]
You know, on one hand it is really great to be back at school and be able to grind out all of the good conversation that I missed out on over the summer, but on the other hand, the writing of the combined LU Blogdom has taken a marked turn for the worse since the beginning of the school year. We all write much better when we don't have homework and friends sapping our time and brainpower.
Vengeful Cynic [10/12/2003 05:38:00 PM]
This is just great.
Vengeful Cynic [10/12/2003 02:44:00 PM]
I was sitting in class today and pondering about live in general and came to the conclusion that it would be really nice to have a car of my own. The problem here being money. I'm not sure as to the solution as of yet, but I'm thinking that with the help of my clever friends and readership we could probably think up something. I know that there has to be a gimmick, or internet stunt of some variety that hasn't been done that we could do to scam some money together.
Vengeful Cynic [10/10/2003 03:14:00 PM]
This kind of came to mind because of what Randy put up...
Vengeful Cynic [10/09/2003 02:21:00 AM]
I think I might have finally hit a bit of oil again...
Vengeful Cynic [10/08/2003 09:40:00 PM]
Have you ever tried to write something and you get part way and you know it's in your head somewhere, but you just can't make it go to words. Or tried to get a picture out on paper and it just won't do what it's supposed to do. The problem is that I'm trying to get it to come out but I can't even figure out what the hell it is.
Vengeful Cynic [10/07/2003 12:49:00 AM]
I've been doing some pondering today, but in lieu of any forthcoming great conclusions... have a warped news story. Can't say as I approve of this use of beer, but whatever works.
Vengeful Cynic [10/06/2003 02:57:00 PM]
Well... today I have yet another edition of "Exploring Longview's Church Scene." This week we went to Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church. In the past, the name of this church successfully weirded me out and even in the face of a lot of my good friends going there, I wouldn't go. Then over the summer I went with a lot of the crew that was still in town, at Dunny's prompting I think. This might have been pursuant to going to a wedding there, I can't remember which came first. In any event, I liked it and came to realize that the name wasn't really creepy and in any event, I shouldn't be driven away from a church by the name... especially in light of a really vibrant service and some really good preaching from Father Neil and Jeff Richardson.
Vengeful Cynic [10/05/2003 03:04:00 PM]
Morgan and her parents came out. And we met them and they met us... and then a lot of us went to IHOP. Nothing really profound except, in the words of Morgan's dad, that blogging is a lot like pergo laminate flooring. For those late adopters, they need to see how things play out before they get in. It was definitely interesting talking to him. Probably moreso than any of the other conversation I had this evening. No offense to everyone else... I was quite pleased to see the turnout, but one of my biggest passions in life is interacting and relating with people and nothing intrigues me more than interacting with someone and trying to find some commonality in which we can relate. Morgan and Julie already have commonality with this ragtag bunch... but I didn't know Jim and he had more or less avoided the LU Blogosphere and thusly I had to do more work in relating to him.
Vengeful Cynic [10/05/2003 02:24:00 AM]
This is the best end of an email ever:
Vengeful Cynic [10/02/2003 08:57:00 PM]
Well damn... that's annoying. And by "that" I mean my hands are swelling up with some manner of evil and itching like the death.
Vengeful Cynic [10/01/2003 05:58:00 PM]
We can all thank Wilson and Wheeler for their generous contributions to todays warped link: Maledicta Links. Maledicta is the self-defined repository of: "International Web Sites Specializing in Insults, Curses, Slang, Swearwords, Blasphemies, Slurs, Obscenities and Vulgarities." Amusing stuff.
Vengeful Cynic [10/01/2003 01:02:00 AM]
Well here's another fun and exciting use of the USA Patriot Act. Damn, I hate that thing...
Vengeful Cynic [9/29/2003 03:24:00 PM]
Well... we did that whole church shopping thing again today. It was fun the first or second week... but it's really starting to get old. Hopefully we have somewhere selected by the end of October... but I'm beginning to doubt it. Maybe my standards are just too high after my church at home, but I am just generally unimpressed by the low-quality exegetics in this area of the world. Granted, the worship is great, but don't you people get it? Worship is the easy part... lots of churches have good worship. Good preaching, solid preaching with depth to it, that's the hard stuff to find. I'll take mediocre worship and a great sermon any day over a great worship and a mediocre sermon. Granted, both are essential. But you can almost always get together with a group of solid Christians and worship together. Good exegetics aren't easily done on your own without years of theological and Biblical training and even then, it's hard work.
Vengeful Cynic [9/28/2003 02:44:00 PM]
You need to read Oral Roberts' A Daily Guide to Miracles! After all, it's provided so much joy and endless amusement to those of us who have, that I don't feel right holding out on the rest of you. It's all about seed faith and miracle baskets.
Vengeful Cynic [9/25/2003 01:23:00 AM]
And you thought I was giving up on disturbed links...
Vengeful Cynic [9/24/2003 04:15:00 PM]
Well... it would appear that another of the ranks is joining the LU Blogosphere. To be honest, I did do more than a little to help get Jared up and running.... but I'm sure he'll do just fine. As always, linking on the right reserved until his blog really gets underway.
Vengeful Cynic [9/24/2003 08:23:00 AM]
Do you hate Rigoberta Menchu (warning, her site is in Spanish) as much as Jared?
Vengeful Cynic [9/24/2003 12:46:00 AM]
Welcome to Aussieland. Screwed up...
Vengeful Cynic [9/23/2003 03:04:00 PM]
Welcome to the Cynic Hour of Power wherein I complete all of the homework due this evening... after procrastinating a bit. I have 3 hours to do the polishing on my story, do a write-up on an as-of-yet unspecified passage and on Four Loves, not to mention some reading for Learning from Leaders. Should be fun... feel free to stop by as the mood strikes you.
Vengeful Cynic [9/22/2003 02:49:00 PM]
Every now and again I get bored in the labs (big shock) and today I've been especially so. In light of that, I decided to do some bumming around and at the suggestion of Ziggy, started doing some research into buying my own private island. Not that I have the capital to do so or anything... but I just thought it would be cool.
Vengeful Cynic [9/21/2003 03:33:00 PM]
Yes, I know that post wasn't very bitter and cynical. And those of you who want to go congratulate the Wench for her talent, go for it by all means.
Vengeful Cynic [9/21/2003 01:15:00 AM]
Well... another week is done. I really should post more than I do during the week... but you try and come up with interesting posts while you're also trying to balance classes, a wench and the ominous task of being the ubiquitous cynic. The funny thing is, I relaly need to do a bit more of balancing classes. Fortunately, I'm at the 4 week in mark and I'm doing alright. Problematically, I'm a natural slacker and will skip class and assignments with no real reason at all and I'll get myself in trouble by doing that. Add in a tendancy to procrastinate too much and a reason to be doing something other than class or homework and I rarely get to work. And that's not good.
Vengeful Cynic [9/20/2003 12:37:00 PM]
Look at this. If I could be an SBC customer, I would be. Here's their press release related to this.
Vengeful Cynic [9/17/2003 06:08:00 PM]
Hey look while we were busy fending off the RIAA, Canada went and did something pretty sweet. Hell, I'd pay a levy on cd-r's if it meant I could freely file-share.
Vengeful Cynic [9/16/2003 12:12:00 PM]
It's funny... I don't post anything all week and then it all comes to a head as I sit in the lab and attempt to convince myself that I really ought to be doing something productive. Well, I have an ethical objection to homework, so I guess that leaves blogging. Not that that's really productive per se, but at least it leaves a mark somewhere that at some time on Sunday afternoon, the Cynic might have been thinking (or at the very least, his fingers jumped to productivity without the leave of his brain and this is what we have to show for it.)
Vengeful Cynic [9/14/2003 05:19:00 PM]
It's not that I have less to say now than I did during the summer... I just have less time to say it in. As I indicated Friday, I have no lack of desire to write insulting narrative so much as I have a lack of the time required to do the justice that such self-expression deserves. I don't want to be producing third- and fourth-rate shit like our own student newspaper seems wont to do of late. Anyways, that's more or less a status update: I'm not dead, just a bit out of touch. Stupid schoolwork.
Vengeful Cynic [9/14/2003 02:42:00 PM]
"Hey, it's a new Yellow Jacket... let's read it! Wait a minute... this thing doesn't have a back page on it... I'm gonna go steal one from the stack that does. Hey! None of them have back pages!"
Vengeful Cynic [9/12/2003 03:31:00 PM]
Note to self: expensive air fares suck... but this solution isn't worth it. I mean, even economy class on cheap third-world airlines probably beats the accomodations that one can find in a box.
Vengeful Cynic [9/09/2003 01:45:00 PM]
As I sit here and read up on the news of the world, this disturbs me more than a little. I've been a staunch opponent of the Patriot Act since it first came out for the simple reason that I don't believe that the American judicial system is capable of functioning properly in secrecy. Without the check and balance of public information of some sort, there is no prevention of corruption.
Vengeful Cynic [9/08/2003 05:36:00 PM]
I got to watch a bit of football before I came to work today. I really miss getting to do that and one of these days I'm going to make up for the distinct lack of football in my life that I've been experiencing of late. The problem is that with work on Sunday afternoon and other commitments on Saturday, I hardly have any time at all to watch my favorite sport. Just a thought or two as I watch the box scores for the afternoon develop and start to wonder if I could kick on the game on the projector in one of the labs...
Vengeful Cynic [9/07/2003 03:52:00 PM]
So you want to destroy your computer? Check out this handy step-by-step guide. Dealing with homicidal rage and the aftermath of a violent shooting spree? Don't pay the penalty, sue someone instead.
Vengeful Cynic [9/07/2003 02:48:00 PM]
Well... I'm back out from under my rock and on the road to recovery. On Sunday night, a good group of us (including The Wench, Moore, Damian, Toad, Ziggy and Sharon (Wench's roommate)) went to the Cancun restaurant on High Street across from Sonic. Don't go there yourself. While the ambiance was unique and the food certainly authentic, all of this was made up for the following day when we all came down ill in some form or another. Some felt midly unwell and others like myself got violently ill. Ziggy even managed to puke all over the place in Statics class and then decided to stick around. He gets the award for great determination (or great stupidity for dragging himself to class in the first place.) On the other hand, Moore, The Wench and I skipped classes altogether.
Vengeful Cynic [9/04/2003 03:10:00 PM]
Here's an article for kids who are like I was. Parents trying to limit your computer time with technology? Show them who knows more.
Vengeful Cynic [9/01/2003 06:05:00 PM]
I'm always amused when I get the chance to go to a new church and muse upon the differences between their way of doing things and the way that I'm used to (along with all of the different ways that I've already run into.) This week, we had the joy of going to Pine Crest Bible Church and boy was it a fun time...
Vengeful Cynic [8/31/2003 03:20:00 PM]
As soon as I have spare money to throw at something, I'm buying this t-shirt.
Vengeful Cynic [8/29/2003 03:39:00 PM]
Another odd link of the day, especially amusing to one Gecko. Thanks Shem.
Vengeful Cynic [8/28/2003 04:29:00 PM]
Interesting day thus far. Word of advice: Bud chapels may be boring, but they also contain things to mock him for, without fail. Today was no different as we were exhorted to use integrity in our use of library materials and were likened to lemons with which the University was in the business of making lemonade. Ah yes, and Dr. Carl was positively frightening in his jazz rendition of Amazing Grace.
Vengeful Cynic [8/27/2003 03:21:00 PM]
Well, I've been hit or miss on the disturbed links of the day of late, but I think this one takes the cake. Sadly, I have confirmed the truth of this report, as the book can be found here.
Vengeful Cynic [8/26/2003 11:00:00 PM]
Well... the Council is back on campus and life is going fairly good. My meetings went well and it is safe to say that we are back in the business of doing business again. I got to go spend an evening with a bunch of friends and some new Honors people and just generally got to see lots of people whom I haven't seen in a while. And then I returned to my room...
Vengeful Cynic [8/26/2003 08:32:00 AM]
After sitting through the hell that is registration, it felt good to go harass some professors. It was just about right to be sitting in Dr. Johnson's office with Wilson again. Granted, the office has relocated, but it was still very refreshing. Incidentally, the fate of the universe is going to be resting in the hands of the chosen few once more. It is good to be going back into the school-year.
Vengeful Cynic [8/25/2003 04:40:00 PM]
It's jackasses like this who make me want to go start a giant forest fire somewhere. I mean, I'm all about the earth staying all nice and pretty and stuff, but this is ridiculous.
Vengeful Cynic [8/24/2003 04:16:00 PM]
Well... most of the crew is back and the rest returns tomorrow. All in all it's been a good day, especially the whole sleeping in part and spending the day bumming around with Ardith, Moore, and Anna. It will be good to have most of the people who belong here back. Sadly, a few can't return... as is always the case. They will be missed.
Vengeful Cynic [8/24/2003 12:37:00 AM]
Check these guys out. That's one ballsy press release to be sure, regardless of the truth to the hype that they're generating.
Vengeful Cynic [8/22/2003 10:52:00 AM]
Are you naturally a critic or proponent? Do you tend towards this position with a deal of care and consideration, or is it just something that you'll do blindly?
Vengeful Cynic [8/21/2003 01:09:00 AM]
Quote of the Day: "Look! My pants just vanished! They were just there and now they're gone. I guess my pants just like to disappear. You saw me put them on, right?" - Toad
Vengeful Cynic [8/20/2003 05:06:00 PM]
I am thinking that while I still have the edge left in me, I might want to say something with regards the IMPACT system and whatnot: generally reviewing it and seeing what makes it as defunct as it seems to be. If you have an opinion, feel free to email me or (preferably) leave a comment.
Vengeful Cynic [8/18/2003 11:30:00 PM]
Usually someone sends me a disturbed link or points me to something and says "this is disturbed." But in this case, Daniel Dickerson told me, "Hey, check this out... they're holding a conference and I want to go to it."
Vengeful Cynic [8/18/2003 11:03:00 AM]
As a general note of random curiousity... it would appear that Suzie is in charge of SWARM. [sarcasm]There's a real shock...[/sarcasm]
Vengeful Cynic [8/17/2003 04:05:00 PM]
I think I might be finally coming to understand the creative drought I experienced over the summer. It may just be that I'm so used to having all of these great minds to bounce ideas off of. I just might be even more of an extrovert than I think and really need the outside influence to feed off of. I mean, I'm a decent guy for coming up with things on my own, but I just feed off of outside influence. I go from mediocre to just insane with one person to talk to... let alone if you give me a small army. Yes, the Shadow Council is returning to the land of pulpy little minds waiting to be influenced. It gives me goose-bumps just thinking that the army of subversives is going to be back together in just over a week.
Vengeful Cynic [8/17/2003 03:09:00 PM]
Well.... I'm sitting here looking around at a much-cleaned but still very cluttered room and wondering how to deal with it. I'm sure the ideal solution is to open up the 4 or 5 boxes with all of the "assorted paper" in them and discard the unnecessary variety of said paper and merely retain the essential. Then I could go through all of my "assorted crap" and figure out what is needed and what I'll never use and by means of that (along with giving away all of this food that I'll never cook or eat) get down to a smaller quantity of stuff. It's as my parents say, "you get stuff to fill the space you've got."
Vengeful Cynic [8/17/2003 03:14:00 AM]
My motto for the day is: "Refuse to be manipulated." My buddy Stu is the current reigning king in that department. Right now I wish I was as cool as he is. The saddest part of all of this is that the person who would probably be proudest of him won't even be here next week to hear the wonderful story and pat Stu on the back. Damn, that's depressing.
Vengeful Cynic [8/16/2003 02:52:00 PM]
Check this article on Wired out... pretty interesting write-up on the possibility of quality man-made gems on the market at prices greatly reduced from that of those from the DeBeers monopoly.... not to mention the possibility of diamond electronics. And no, this isn't any sort of hint or announcement... just my nerdiness and the excitement I get at new electronics coming out again.
Vengeful Cynic [8/15/2003 11:31:00 AM]
Still back, tired as ever. Oh yeah, here's a copy of the email I sent to my parents... kind of explains the interaction I have with them as well as the life I lead here. To be fair, I was a bit less than informative as to my travels whilst I was away with the Wench.
Vengeful Cynic [8/15/2003 12:24:00 AM]
I am back in Longview. The Panhandle is an ugly place to visit... I don't recommend it unless you have friends to go see or are really intent on going to see Palo Duro Canyon. I went and saw a wonderful play there called "Texas Legacies" which gave me a whole new insight into the screwed-up nature of Texans. I will be reviewing it later this evening.
Vengeful Cynic [8/13/2003 08:26:00 PM]
I am no longer in Colorado... I am in Amarillo, Texas. I'm not sure which is worse.... but both are superior to Longview. I'm so glad that I don't have to fess up to having been born in that wonderful place. It's bad enough that I have to come to terms with myself over just spending four years there at college.
Vengeful Cynic [8/11/2003 10:41:00 PM]
Yes... I am still alive. I am still in Colorado and I leave tomorrow. Sooner or later (Wednesday) I plan to return to Longview. Until such time, I leave you to your own devices and to the knowledge that I have some really vicious disturbed links to put up upon my return.
Vengeful Cynic [8/10/2003 01:39:00 PM]
The Cynic Will Exact Vengeance Upon: Dial-Up Internet
Vengeful Cynic [8/09/2003 12:53:00 AM]
Here's the deal. I'm packing up and should have already probably left. So here's the stats and some links or something and then I'll talk when I have time to and stuff. And I'm going to count days lived on 1B as how many nights I have spent in that bad up there over my head (it's a system for counting, inaccurate but it'll do.)
Vengeful Cynic [8/06/2003 02:33:00 PM]
HOLY SHIT!!!
Vengeful Cynic [8/06/2003 10:00:00 AM]
This news just goes to show how far much of the modern Church has come from Christ. For a denomination to be willing to admit a openly gay minister as a bishop is to indicate that they have fallen away from the Gospel of Christ and are merely going through the motions. Sadly, they still refer to themselves as Christians while they slander His name with their moral filth and a refusal to reconcile their religion with the teachings of Him whom they claim to follow.
Vengeful Cynic [8/05/2003 11:50:00 PM]
I'm up here and I've more or less moved in. I now claim the title as the first Bandit back to 1B for this year and demand obeissance for my accomplishment. Yeah... and I'm pretty sure I'm the first one back in Tyler period.
Vengeful Cynic [8/05/2003 11:19:00 PM]
I've been cranking away all morning at moving things up to home. Now all I really need to do is move the computer, some odds and ends and some clothes and then I'll be all moved in. Funny how it's so much easier and more enjoyable to move in then move out. Maybe it's because I'm moving back to where I've really wanted to be for the past 3 months.
Vengeful Cynic [8/05/2003 12:32:00 PM]
Well... more stuff is moved up to 1B and it should be ready for occupancy as of tomorrow. I could actually move my computer up there and live there now, but I'm going to abide by the school rules and whatnot and just move everything up there and wait to actually live up there until after this next weekend.
Vengeful Cynic [8/05/2003 12:11:00 AM]
Reading Jonathan's and David's blogs of late has inspired me to do the whole "take on my own friendships/relationships" bit. Here's the thing: I may appear extroverted and easy to get to know, but really I'm not. Oh sure, I love being around people and am very outgoing, but when it gets right down to it, the observant few start to notice that you may hang around me for months and hardly know me at all beyond what I let people know of me.
Vengeful Cynic [8/04/2003 05:16:00 PM]
Tired now... must sleep. Got loft put up in my room in Tyler and will finish shoring it up tomorrow. I'm very much looking forward to moving back in...
Vengeful Cynic [8/03/2003 11:52:00 PM]
The Cynic Will Exact Vengeance Upon: O'hare International Airport
Vengeful Cynic [8/03/2003 11:42:00 AM]
Alright, I'm flying out this morning to go back to school... home if you will. Stark contrast from two weeks ago where I wanted nothing less than to be on the end of the flight and I wanted the flying to drag on forever. This time, I'm ready to be done already. I'm going to try and sleep all the way home. Mmm... it's odd to call Longview home.
Vengeful Cynic [8/02/2003 07:34:00 AM]
Hmmm.... I'm getting new responses every now and again from people whom I don't know or whom I have seen commenting elsewhere on Jonathan's blog or something. Granted, I love that people are reading my blog and I haven't been dragged out and flamed (yet) but I am also insatiably curious. If you are reading this and you aren't an LUser, be a good little lad or lass and leave a comment on who you are and how you found my blog. For instance, I am a college student at LU and I found this blog by being the author. I also linked through Shem who is a friend of mine from school.
Vengeful Cynic [8/02/2003 12:25:00 AM]
Went out to dinner with the crew tonight.... at Perkins. Sadly the service was much better than last time, as I would have greatly enjoyed setting the crew to work subversively. As it was, the crew did some overt damage and nearly got us kicked out by exploding a half-and-half container everywhere. Note to self: bring a more tightly-controlled crew to cause mayhem.
Vengeful Cynic [8/01/2003 11:55:00 PM]
On analyzing the long string of bad waiter/waitress performances that I've been the unhappy victim of during the past two weeks, I have these thoughts about being involved in the personalized customer service end of food services (otherwise known as being a waiter.)
Vengeful Cynic [8/01/2003 11:28:00 AM]
Mmmm.... great day. I got up fairly early and dropped my little brother off at work at Kroger (my former and favorite employer.) After that, I headed back and bummed around and scared up some coffee. Jenny got up and we chatted for a while and headed downtown.
Vengeful Cynic [7/31/2003 11:21:00 PM]
Yes, it's extremely poor taste, I know. And yes, I've had several family members suffer from and die from cancer, so I really don't want anyone bitching about how inconsiderate I am. Just read it for the humor value and for the great new idea it gives me for dealing with idiots. Just ask God (or Santa) to give them all cancer.
Vengeful Cynic [7/31/2003 08:14:00 AM]
Could I pull the trigger? Hell yes. To kill? Without question. The first shot might be to maim if I think I can pull it off, but that would only be to make sure I'm not killing a friend or family member. After I verify that, the second bullet is going in. I don't believe in leaving live enemies behind to return to bother me at a later date. A cruel philosophy to be sure, but let's remember who pointed the gun at who first. Don't start something you're not willing to finish.
Vengeful Cynic [7/30/2003 10:07:00 PM]
Among the more random thoughts that I've had the chance to ponder again this week is this question, "Could you pull the trigger?"
Vengeful Cynic [7/30/2003 09:49:00 AM]
I really do love being on vacation... today I did more or less nothing besides bumming around. I helped some friends move stuff, played wiffleball(sp?), went to a church softball game and went swimming with my brothers and some friends from the church youth group. Tomorrow promises to be more of the same with some friends and bumming around the city. I'm thinking we might go wander around downtown, go hit the Loveland castle for Jenny's benefit and go get some coffee. Long and short is that I have half a week left of vacation and plan to stick to slacking.
Vengeful Cynic [7/29/2003 10:18:00 PM]
The Cynic Will Exact Vengeance Upon: The New York City School Board
Vengeful Cynic [7/28/2003 12:46:00 PM]
Of late I've been guilty of merely providing a running commentary on the occurences in my life, so I will take a brief break and provide a small commentary on what I've been pondering on of late.
Vengeful Cynic [7/28/2003 12:16:00 PM]
Got that crazy powerpoint thing done. I think I'm going to burn it to a cd, take it back to Texas and fix it and finalize it on my own computer. A gig of RAM OWNS 256 mb. Oh yeah, and laptop interface sucks.
Vengeful Cynic [7/26/2003 05:10:00 PM]
Why is the rum gone?
Vengeful Cynic [7/25/2003 06:42:00 PM]
The Cynic Will Exact Vengeance Upon: The NFL and their "Diversity"
Vengeful Cynic [7/25/2003 06:14:00 PM]
Another wondeful day of vacation wherein I got up at the bright and early hour of noon after going to bed at 2 am. You all wish you were this lucky (except David, who has been doing this all summer.) I woke up to a fresh pot of coffee being brewed and generally being left alone for the first 10 minutes of being up. Granted, this is less time than I like being left alone, but when at home with my two brothers and parents there is only so much one can demand. Plus, it was only my mom and she usually demands little in the morning, especially when I've just gotten up.
Vengeful Cynic [7/24/2003 11:48:00 AM]
Well, at least I've got something to do to keep me busy for a couple of hours tomorrow. My brothers went with the church youth group on a retreat and they're doing a picture slide-show on Sunday. My return to town has prompted people to remember that I am a technologist and that I can set up this sort of thing on a computer and run it through a projector. Thusly, I have been nominated to scan several hundred pictures tomorrow and set up said presentation for Sunday. Should be interesting anyways.
Vengeful Cynic [7/23/2003 09:28:00 PM]
The Cynic and His Crew Exacted Vengeance Upon: Perkins
Vengeful Cynic [7/23/2003 10:48:00 AM]
Just before I go to bed I have a little bit of musing. Is it easier to be motivated when there is a strong emotion driving you? I know that in recent memory the only times I was ever motivated for much is when a bit of anger started driving at me. I wonder if it's the same for other emotions...
Vengeful Cynic [7/23/2003 02:46:00 AM]
Shopping went more or less without incident due to the fact that I wasn't really feeling up to shopping and thusly I was more in a hurry to get out than ever. In my haste, I still managed to note several teenaged girls who were working through the same rack of clothes for the entirety of the hour or so that I was there. In that time I managed to get new shorts, shirts, button-down shirts and two new pairs of sandals whilst they managed to find and discard one or two racks of clothing... from what I could tell. Maybe there's some precise science at work there.... I doubt it.
Vengeful Cynic [7/22/2003 04:09:00 PM]
Well... I'm up and I finally have some sleep and hopefully that means I'm going to be able to more peacefully and clear-headedly interact with my world. I guess it's time to "Carpe the diem! Seize the carp!" - Out Cold
Vengeful Cynic [7/22/2003 11:19:00 AM]
I went to bed at 3 am last night after going out with my friend Tim to see a movie and bumming around and talking with him until 2 am or so. The general plan was that due to the sleep defecit created by getting up for work last week and perpetuated by a 6 am wake-up for travelling followed by a 8 am wake-up for chuch, I was going to sleep until I woke on my own. Sadly, this was not to be.
Vengeful Cynic [7/21/2003 02:05:00 AM]
Several of my friends and I were having an interesting conversation about situational ethics. Namely, what is the basis for an ethical standard? Now, for a Christian this sounds like a fairly straightforward Sunday School answer: "the Bible." But think about it, is it that you do what you should do based strictly on a biblical standard and if so, is it just based on the spirit of the Word or on Levitical law? Take the question a step further: assume that a perfectly legitimate activity (ethically) is made against the law by the government that you live under... do you follow the law or continue on as you have? What happens when it's something like handgun ownership where you feel that it would be wiser to keep the gun if it weren't against the law?
Vengeful Cynic [7/21/2003 12:30:00 AM]
Incidentally, I am working on my policy on idiots so leave a comment if you have an idea. Right now I'm trying to determine if idiots are more of a product of their environment or their genetics and if the former, how to prevent idiots from raising idiot children (until I have the means of disposing of adult idiots.)
Vengeful Cynic [7/20/2003 02:50:00 PM]
I got to go to my home church today. I keep forgetting what good preaching I have at home. While the worship can be a bit lacking from time to time, it's mostly good and even when it's a bit skimpy, the sermon more than makes up for it. I really have loved Saint Mike's, I just wish that they would find a permanent priest and that he could preach well. The problem now is that they're getting every guest priest in the diocese and some of them are good preachers and some of them preach the worst 5-minute homily ever.
Vengeful Cynic [7/20/2003 08:17:00 AM]
Well... I'm back home. Aside from stupid mechanics and the fact that my ride was held up on her way to the airport by traffic for an air show, it was a fairly uneventful trip.
Vengeful Cynic [7/19/2003 03:18:00 PM]
I do believe this is the second time I've left for home and really not been looking forward to anything other than the return. It should be a good two weeks, but I really just don't want to leave for two weeks. Incidentally, it's morning and I'm tired... but at least I can sleep on the plane.
Vengeful Cynic [7/19/2003 06:31:00 AM]
I did the work, I'm about to do the packing... and then I'm the hell out of here as of bright and early this morning.
Vengeful Cynic [7/19/2003 01:33:00 AM]
Vengeful Cynic [7/18/2003 12:20:00 PM]
Well ladies and gents... 3 hours of work and some packing and cleaning stand between myself and a 2-week vacation. I am definitely going to enjoy my two weeks off from work and the ability to bum around like a champ, but I wish that it could be with all of my fellow Bandits and Honors comrades. Anyways, all that to say is that I'm tired and beat down and ready for a vacation from work but I'm getting tired of vacation from my friends.
Vengeful Cynic [7/17/2003 11:29:00 PM]
Check this odd little game out.
Vengeful Cynic [7/17/2003 06:59:00 PM]
I went to Kilgore College to see the Texas Shakespeare Festival's performance of "Comedy of Errors." It rocked... I think I might even pay $20 again to go see it if I wasn't going home this weekend. If you have the chance, I definitely recommend checking it out. Not a whole lot went on today besides that: work or otherwise... I just hope to get the rest of my work (or at least a good chunk of it) done tomorrow so I can be off on Friday.
Vengeful Cynic [7/16/2003 11:57:00 PM]
Yet another groggy post from the land of "5 minutes before work." You'll note that at least it's on time this morning, but that's not the point...
Vengeful Cynic [7/16/2003 07:37:00 AM]
Well... it would appear that Blogger doth not love me as I attempt to load my page tonight... And as it prepares to rain outside, I would remind Anna that it doesn't rain in East Texas in July.
Vengeful Cynic [7/15/2003 11:48:00 PM]
I don't know what's gotten into me, but it seems as though I need more and more sleep of late. Last night i went to bed around 12:30 and got up at 10. This is after 4 or 5 days of getting 8+ hours of sleep. I hope I'm not turning into the narcaleptic Gecko.
Vengeful Cynic [7/15/2003 10:29:00 AM]
Rush on NFL Countdown?
Vengeful Cynic [7/14/2003 05:46:00 PM]
Alright, so I've had this great idea for a long time and I think I can now manage to afford it and set it up using Brunetto T-Shirts.
Vengeful Cynic [7/14/2003 11:54:00 AM]
I would like to post in solidarity with Randy on the topic of NASCAR. For my part, I must admit with a smug grin that I am a yankee in good-standing and as such don't have family (that I will claim) that have an inclination to watch this retarded "sport." Granted, everyone can claim from a perspective that most sporting events are lacking in entertainment value, skill requirement, physical exertion and the like, but NASCAR really takes the cake.
Vengeful Cynic [7/14/2003 11:19:00 AM]
Moore has a great disturbed link up. Go check it out.
Vengeful Cynic [7/13/2003 01:45:00 PM]
You may now bow before your Geek-Lord.
Vengeful Cynic [7/13/2003 02:23:00 AM]
I tried taking Wilson's What Western Ruler Are You quiz. Problem is, I really don't get anyone whom I even remotely resemble. I guess I just wouldn't make a successful Western Ruler... I don't have enough optimism or trust in people. I think I'd make a better totalitarian...
Vengeful Cynic [7/12/2003 01:16:00 PM]
Reading up on some LU Blogs, the need to do this overcame me.
Vengeful Cynic [7/12/2003 01:24:00 AM]
To those of you whose asses are being kicked by the summer, let me offer you this bit of encouragement. Today is 7/12
Vengeful Cynic [7/12/2003 01:18:00 AM]
To clarify, there are two separate things involving Wench Management that I am supporting:
Vengeful Cynic [7/11/2003 11:47:00 PM]
Well... it's Friday. A happy day, a glorious day, and a day that I didn't work a single minute. Fun times. This is what summer is about: bumming around, doing nothing, chilling out with friends and enjoying life. I just wish I could get payed to do this rather than painting.
Vengeful Cynic [7/11/2003 04:42:00 PM]
Well... I'm back late again, but before I sleep I guess I'll do the disturbed link... I can't let down the peoples.
Vengeful Cynic [7/11/2003 12:55:00 AM]
You'll note that due to my late return to my apartment last night, you were deprived of yesterday's link of the day. Fear not, you will get two this morning to make up for it and then the usual this evening. Oh, and Edge weekend is this weekend for those of you who care about such things.
Vengeful Cynic [7/10/2003 07:32:00 AM]
I have a new idea for LU to better prepare students for life.
Vengeful Cynic [7/09/2003 05:15:00 PM]
It would appear that Wilson has taken to posting disturbed links on his own now. Hey, more disturbed links are better. Even Ardith got in on the action the other day. This pleases me and makes me happy... in a sick and sadistic kind of way.
Vengeful Cynic [7/08/2003 03:09:00 PM]
Something I jotted down on the curse of LU summers...
Vengeful Cynic [7/08/2003 03:02:00 PM]
You know it's going to be a rough day when you're just waking up and looking for something on your computer only to stop for a second and realize that you've never had that file - it was just in a dream last night. Alright, so nerds dream about computer stuff sometimes, so shoot me.
Vengeful Cynic [7/08/2003 07:30:00 AM]
To end off the evening... I've been accused of being some variety of happy of late. You people have pushed me to the limit. Feel the wrath of the Cynic with three disturbed links:
Vengeful Cynic [7/07/2003 10:37:00 PM]
It strikes me that it's been a while since I've linked up a comic. And this one seems to be about right.
Vengeful Cynic [7/07/2003 03:07:00 PM]
Well, I've gotten most of the to-do list that I had to get done out of the way today. My flight plans to Cincinnati are set up, my check problems with the Business office are cleared up, my vaccination paperwork is filed with the nurse, and the ball is rolling on my registration.
Vengeful Cynic [7/07/2003 02:57:00 PM]
Sitting here and thinking about watching Trigun like I have incessantly of late, the great Machiavellian question of the greatest good comes up. But Trigun stands that question on its head and perverts it a bit. Rather than, "kill one innocent for the good of many" it's "take one life to save those of many." The sad thing is that the initial stance of the series completely fails to take into account the circumstances involved and the guilt of the life in question.
Vengeful Cynic [7/07/2003 10:37:00 AM]
Well it looks like the Maria J pastel eyesore is no more. Behold... the new Maria J blog.
Vengeful Cynic [7/06/2003 11:25:00 PM]
Yay for another pseudo-intellectual blog post... if you don't like these, cease reading now.
Vengeful Cynic [7/06/2003 02:25:00 AM]
Every time I load my page and am greeted with errors because Enetation has screwed up yet again, I think about switching over to a pay server with some manner of Movable Type blog. Every time I look disdainfully at my template, I think about switching over. Every time Blogger eats or toasts yet another fucking post, I think about switching over.
Vengeful Cynic [7/05/2003 02:29:00 PM]
I really do hate polls. I especially hate polls where I end up with the same result as the guy I took them from. Not that this poll isn't rigged so that 2/7 of the answers aren't ever going to be used (I mean, who really wants to be Otwell or Batts) but still... the accompanying pictures and text are really good. You should go check them out.
Vengeful Cynic [7/05/2003 10:59:00 AM]
Well, due to a lack of anything else interesting around here and a good offer by my roommate D, I went up to visit his family about 20 minutes north of town. They fed me home-made brisket, barbeque beans and sausage.... it was REALLY good. I can't help but wishing my mom lived a bit closer after a visit like that. Afterwards we bummed around and shot off some fireworks and then went to Ore City to watch the fireworks. I have to admit, they weren't a big city production, but they were top-notch for a little town and much better than I had anticipated. If I'm ever in town for the 4th again, I'm going back to Ore City.
Vengeful Cynic [7/05/2003 01:08:00 AM]
This guy has quite possibly the best job ever.
Vengeful Cynic [7/03/2003 09:53:00 AM]
It's the morning, I'm tired and all of that. Much as I would have liked to get that shot yesterday, it still looms big in my forecast today. Thinking back, I don't think I can remember but one or two shots that I didn't loathe entirely: some Hepatitus B shots that I had to get back in junior high. The rest of them have been miserable events to say the least.
Vengeful Cynic [7/03/2003 07:33:00 AM]
Here's an idiot to euthanize.
Vengeful Cynic [7/02/2003 05:15:00 PM]
If your summer job is providing you more cash than you usually see during an entire school year, take some time and a few bucks to donate to repairing Dunny and Hellmuth's cars. Oh, and if you have any information on the "glue-sniffing asshole" I'm sure Dunny would love to hear about it.
Vengeful Cynic [7/02/2003 09:55:00 AM]
Some days I love my parents and some days I hate them. Someone needs to make me go get a tetanus shot and follow up on finishing registering for classes. I also probably ought to be going to work more than I am. Some days it's rough being a slacker who knows that he should get off his ass and get things done. Well, if I go to bed now, life will be better than if I go to bed later.
Vengeful Cynic [7/01/2003 11:39:00 PM]
I was rudely awakened at 5 AM to the sound of banging on the door. The shitty part is that while this was an annoyance to me, it was nothing compared to the wonderful news that the cop had for Sam and Dunny that their cars had been broken into.
Vengeful Cynic [7/01/2003 07:33:00 AM]
Well all of the local crew is back again and apparently Anna came back sick. I stopped counting how many times I've been barfed on in my life, but it brings the total within the last year up to two. Wonderful life that I live.
Vengeful Cynic [6/30/2003 10:49:00 PM]
Stupid blogger killed my post, so here's all that I really remember... Oh yeah, and Ballard's back in town.
Vengeful Cynic [6/30/2003 12:25:00 AM]
Have you looked around you and seen nothing but ignorance and idiocy and been driven to anger? Do you worry that in the over-crowding of the earth, all of the intelligent people are being crowded out like a good flower in a patch of weeds? These are concerns of mine as well, and I have a solution:
Vengeful Cynic [6/29/2003 04:56:00 PM]
Sadly, this t-shirt site is blocked. But if you can get to it, it contains the best t-shirt ever...
Vengeful Cynic [6/29/2003 01:51:00 AM]
Incidentally, on more of an FYI note, I met Katy last night and she has the look of an honors wench to her. This should be amusing.
Vengeful Cynic [6/28/2003 06:46:00 PM]
Before I spew nails, I would like to point out that Stu is a good friend of mine whom I would only hurt if he came down the hall after me naked and walking on his hands...
Vengeful Cynic [6/28/2003 12:01:00 PM]
Another of those things where I usually don't post quizzes. But I like the thought of being Agent Smith... it fits somehow.
Vengeful Cynic [6/27/2003 05:47:00 PM]
Apparently I am involved in a new summer fiasco. Wondrous... and generally amusing. Sadly, somehow Anna and I are among the last to be told.
Vengeful Cynic [6/26/2003 11:42:00 PM]
Incidentally, I was noting that the archives were starting to get out of hand. Rather than archiving them properly and futzing and deleting some of them, I just switched over to the monthly archival system.
Vengeful Cynic [6/26/2003 09:59:00 AM]
Well... I was gonna post last night. However, when I got on, the damned thing was whining something about updating everyone to the new Blogger. Maybe that means that it won't lose any more of my posts or other screwy things like that.... I hope. It does look nice though, and I wouldn't be annoyed if it hadn't gone and updated when I wanted to post.
Vengeful Cynic [6/26/2003 09:55:00 AM]
You know it's too early when you go browsing blogs and wonder why that Vengeful Cynic hasn't posted recently... seriously. Every Tuesday for the past 3 weeks, I have remembered why I skipped work every Monday for the past 3 weeks. It sucks, it's long, it's boring and I hate it. But I need the paycheck, so I continue to work.
Vengeful Cynic [6/24/2003 10:14:00 AM]
I think this pretty much sums up things for myself and some of my friends:
Vengeful Cynic [6/24/2003 09:53:00 AM]
Sleeping in is good for the soul. I have awaken refreshed and a new and much more sane individual.
Vengeful Cynic [6/23/2003 01:16:00 PM]
I've never had so much fun with pennies in my life. The scene: The Ballpark in Arlington. LeTourneau SummerPLUS students and administrators go to a Rangers vs. Astros game. I have penny projectiles.
Vengeful Cynic [6/23/2003 02:25:00 AM]
Well... it's Saturday. And I guess that means it's officially time for a "what the hell is going on in the Land of the Cynic" update.
Vengeful Cynic [6/21/2003 02:02:00 PM]
DAMMIT!!! I nuked another post. If someone has it, let me know.
Vengeful Cynic [6/20/2003 09:26:00 AM]
There's something fundamentally wrong with this. I'm a heartless sadistic bastard, and I wouldn't call the cops on a little girl and her lemonade stand like that. Go see for yourself.
Vengeful Cynic [6/19/2003 01:18:00 PM]
All I have to say is that Linear Algebra is done. W00T!!!!
Vengeful Cynic [6/18/2003 05:23:00 PM]
I saw this and thought of Gecko...
Vengeful Cynic [6/18/2003 02:46:00 PM]
Some wenches I know have noted/been slightly upset about guys' tendancy to do that. I would probably fall into the category of those infrequently guilty of this. Sadly, my problem is usually that a wench has something written on her shirt or something odd on it. I just can't resist reading things. It's like Wisher and shiny objects... my attention is inevitably drawn to them. And thus I'm probably known by at least one wench somewhere as a pervert... go figure. That would be the story of my life.
Vengeful Cynic [6/18/2003 12:00:00 AM]
Apparently I toasted this post. If someone has the old contents or links, email them to me or leave them commented and I'll try to fix it. Damn, I hate blogger some days.
Vengeful Cynic [6/17/2003 09:42:00 PM]
Usually I don't hold to quizzes, especially shitty ones. In fact, I believe that this is the first one I've linked up... not because of quality (it sucks) or because of most of the options (they suck too), but because the outcome suits me so well...
Vengeful Cynic [6/17/2003 04:38:00 PM]
I really hate Hillary Clinton. Thus, any wonderful news about her book sucking or general criticisms tend to make me giddy. Hence, the amusement when Rush and Ann Coulter both layed into the former first lady and liberals on a larger scale.
Vengeful Cynic [6/17/2003 09:59:00 AM]
Note: the following is only inspired by recent events and is in no way an attack on the perpetrators of said events against the author of this blog. This is intended to be more philosophical than narrative in nature.
Vengeful Cynic [6/17/2003 12:43:00 AM]
The new computer is up and running after a better part of two days of headaches. At least now, I can enjoy my gig of RAM, new spiffy case and all of that jazz. Now we can clean this damned apartment up and stuff.
Vengeful Cynic [6/16/2003 11:51:00 PM]
We Are Out of the Shitty Dorm
Vengeful Cynic [6/15/2003 06:36:00 PM]
The Cynic Will Exact Vengeance Upon: The European Union
Vengeful Cynic [6/12/2003 04:41:00 PM]
Here's a comic that I figured would probably rank as all kinds of wrong and hurt the minds of the weak among you. In fact, I figured it probably shouldn't be posted as such. Therefore, I warn you here that it's not graphically offensive, but it might hurt your little brains. Oh yeah, and it's from S*P
Vengeful Cynic [6/12/2003 09:40:00 AM]
After discussions with Lisl about children, comics like this always seem appropriate:
Vengeful Cynic [6/12/2003 09:38:00 AM]
Have you ever hated someone's presence? You just wish with every bone in your body that they would stand up and go away but they won't. I have a couple of those. I really just wish they would leave and never come back. Some have, most haven't and more come in every year.
Vengeful Cynic [6/12/2003 01:06:00 AM]
As for the daily update, apparently I have forgotten to link up Moore... sorry about that. He's taken to posting every now and again in Spanish, so I'm going to have to administer a beating over that when he gets back.
Vengeful Cynic [6/11/2003 04:47:00 PM]
Well, summer is nice. Not that I really do any more, but I'm working and getting payed for it. Beyond that, I'm also only taking one class and thusly doing far less homework. This frees up more time for me to go get on Gaia and discuss complex topics with simple minds and berate them duly.
Vengeful Cynic [6/11/2003 04:24:00 PM]
Damned Blog keeps eating things. Anyways, sorry for not posting yesterday. I guess I'm just not on it like I should be.
Vengeful Cynic [6/10/2003 10:49:00 PM]
Shannon's Literary Train Wreck... wow... my eyes hurt.
Vengeful Cynic [6/09/2003 06:29:00 PM]
I hate it when blogger FUBARS. I wanted to whine about the shitty fire alarms at 3 am, but it wouldn't work. As is, I've been insulting idiots on Gaia at a fairly regular clip. If you want to abuse them too, go ahead and get on. I'm Vengeful Cynic, the Brit is on as well... as is Shem.
Vengeful Cynic [6/08/2003 05:54:00 PM]
Two fire alarms this morning. 3 am and 3:30 am. Damned busted fire alarms.
Vengeful Cynic [6/08/2003 05:38:00 PM]
As much as I love to hate yuppie organizations, I have to admit that the Sierra Club has a point with this advertisement. That said, I fully respect your right to drive a gas-guzzler if you damned well feel like it. The point is just that someone realy ought to be trying harder to make more fuel-efficient SUV's along with cars. Screw the environmental issues, I'm concerned more about the economics and the dependence on the Middle East that a giant national oil need engenders.
Vengeful Cynic [6/07/2003 11:38:00 AM]
Looks like that nutty convert to Islam from Florida has to take off her veil for the camera to get her driver's license back. Am I the only one out here who thinks the case for this was completely absurd? Think about the sheer number of people whom I could impersonate if the only thing we had on our photo ID's was a pair of eyes. Not to mention those of you who are of normal stature. What good is a photo id if the photo serves no purpose. Hell, why not sue them for the right to put your pet's photo on the ID while you're at it?
Vengeful Cynic [6/07/2003 11:12:00 AM]
It's the weekend and Steve (the RD) said he's going to try and put off our move to the end of the 6-week term. I'm giving serious thought to getting some webspace and setting up a full-blown page along with a redesign. I want somewhere to store all of the pictures that I link up so that I can guarantee where they'll be and that I'll have them for posterity.
Vengeful Cynic [6/06/2003 05:59:00 PM]
I want his job.
Vengeful Cynic [6/06/2003 02:27:00 PM]
The Cynic Will Exact Vengeance Upon: Res-Life Buffoonery
Vengeful Cynic [6/05/2003 03:49:00 PM]
Stupid protester. Either that, or a clever attempt to get a date.
Vengeful Cynic [6/05/2003 03:44:00 PM]
The Cynic Will Exact Vengeance Upon: Attempts to Create a Police State
Vengeful Cynic [6/05/2003 03:40:00 PM]
"Any MRS major who fails to graduate LU with a man deserves an F for effort." - Wilson
Vengeful Cynic [6/04/2003 11:43:00 PM]
Vengeful Cynic [6/04/2003 01:00:00 PM]
Ardith is making a heartfelt and piteous plea for helpers to do her dirty work. Go read about it and tell me what you think.
Vengeful Cynic [6/03/2003 11:17:00 PM]
Well damn, apparently the fire alarm went off today. I was two seconds from posting an erroneous number.
Vengeful Cynic [6/03/2003 05:36:00 PM]
Glad to see that S*P agrees with me on the whole dressing animals up thing.
Vengeful Cynic [6/02/2003 11:07:00 PM]
Well, I'm back. My flight left at 6:25 am this morning. Now let me do some quick math to help you understand what this means in practical terms. 6:25 am translates to 6 am to board. The airport is roughly 45 minutes away from my house plus an assumed 15 minutes to stand in line. That means I leave my house at 5 am. Now if I get up to get a bit of breakfast, pack and wake up, I get up at 4 am. Now let's also realize that this is EST as opposed to local time which is CST. So effectively, I've been up since 3 am. Damn, that sucks.
Vengeful Cynic [6/02/2003 05:15:00 PM]
Here's something for the crackhead...
Vengeful Cynic [6/02/2003 04:56:00 PM]
It's been fairly good times to be home in Ohio. I've seen a lot of my good friends over the course of the last day and a half. I keep forgetting the reasons that I really do enjoy being home and just tend to focus on the reasons why I really don't want to come back. It's been too short of a time, but I guess the purpose of making me want to come back later this summer has been established. I'm also contemplating a road trip later in June to the Universal Event.
Vengeful Cynic [6/01/2003 05:18:00 PM]
I Got Away From School
Vengeful Cynic [5/31/2003 05:50:00 PM]
Apparently the fire alarm went off at 1 AM. News to me. I'm headed out in an hour or so. If you see a Happy Person*, smack him/her for me.
Vengeful Cynic [5/30/2003 12:44:00 PM]
Since it would appear that there are a number of ignorant Happy People* out there who are developing misinformed and foolish notions and spreading them, I guess it comes time to do a little work on defining semantics and clarifying things.
Vengeful Cynic [5/30/2003 12:40:00 PM]
Here's something I'm praying will never happen. Just think, another 8 years of Bill Clinton.
Vengeful Cynic [5/30/2003 10:03:00 AM]
Wow.... I didn't get around to posting yesterday. Since it's not 11 AM yet, I'll put up the countdown statistics from yesterday. Incidentally, I suspect I remember hearing the fire alarm going off as I was going to sleep last night but it's all kinda blurry. Any confirmations?
Vengeful Cynic [5/30/2003 07:26:00 AM]
Vengeful Cynic [5/28/2003 05:57:00 PM]
Ugh! Every day that I work, I develop a little bit more hatred for my job. Maybe it's just that any of that "new job appeal" that I had has finally run out. Or maybe it's just that I've gotten all of the work aspects and haven't quite figured out all of the slacking yet.
Vengeful Cynic [5/28/2003 05:54:00 PM]
I've been out looking for screwy links so that I can have some more for tomorrow. In the process I found something special: a site dedicated to the ruining of Britney Spears posters. Check it out.
Vengeful Cynic [5/27/2003 10:58:00 PM]
Vengeful Cynic [5/27/2003 09:32:00 PM]
THE HOT WATER IS BACK ON!!!
Vengeful Cynic [5/27/2003 02:55:00 PM]
Vengeful Cynic [5/27/2003 02:51:00 PM]
Still no warm water. I ought to go stab someone for this. In other news, everyone is out of town or elsewhere. I guess that gives me a lot of time to myself... but I guess I'm just not as good at that as I used to be. But long story short, now I'm hungry and am liable to kill someone if I am not fed. Later...
Vengeful Cynic [5/26/2003 05:12:00 PM]
New thing to bitch about: no hot water in the John. This is twice in one year that I've had to deal with a cold shower. Luckily, the first time was in Tyler... so I just walked over to Tyler West and took a shower over there. Sadly, this time there was no alternative to the cold shower of doom... TWO DAYS IN A ROW
Vengeful Cynic [5/25/2003 01:36:00 PM]
Found this at expectnothing.com and it amused me:
Vengeful Cynic [5/25/2003 11:26:00 AM]
Every now and again, something positive has a poignant comic on D&D. Here's another good one:
Vengeful Cynic [5/24/2003 05:52:00 PM]
I love sleeping in until after noon. It gives me this wonderful fuzzy feeling that I've missed since starting my job. At least I get a 3-day weekend this one and the joy that goes along with not having to work or go to class on Monday. Damn, that feels good.
Vengeful Cynic [5/24/2003 01:58:00 PM]
Work is always fun when you don't do much of any on a particular day. Oh, and catfish is decidedly not my thing... I guess I'm just not southern.
Vengeful Cynic [5/23/2003 04:00:00 PM]
The Infamous "Things Want My Ass Kicked For Doing" List... reposted to the top of the blog
Vengeful Cynic [5/22/2003 05:41:00 PM]
Skipping class for the second time today. After that little Sadistic trip by Roden yesterday on my Linear Algebra exam, I really don't feel like another kick to the head.
Vengeful Cynic [5/22/2003 03:59:00 PM]
Some interesting things are coming down the pipe related to housing from a variety of sources. If you know anything or have heard any interesting rumors, let me know.
Vengeful Cynic [5/21/2003 08:00:00 PM]
"Anyone can sit down and write some boring artistic song. Pop music is the hardest shit to write." - Britney Spears in 5/9/2003 issue of Entertainment Weekly
Vengeful Cynic [5/21/2003 12:09:00 AM]
Here's an interesting article on The Hill. If you skipped this much class, most teachers would fail you outright. Good stuff.
Vengeful Cynic [5/20/2003 05:36:00 PM]
Vengeful Cynic [5/19/2003 08:17:00 PM]
I'm now officially painting for physical plant. I miss not working.
Vengeful Cynic [5/19/2003 08:17:00 PM]
Tired of getting abused by LU? Have a sneaking suspicion that your rights are being trampled by Doug and Bud? Want to do something about it?
Vengeful Cynic [5/18/2003 09:36:00 PM]
Why is it that the people who get on my nerves the most are also the ones who will never go away and the people I enjoy having around are never around enough?
Vengeful Cynic [5/18/2003 07:18:00 PM]
The Cynic Will Exact Vengeance Upon: Starting the Day Off With a 1 AM Fire Alarm
Vengeful Cynic [5/18/2003 01:44:00 AM]
The Cynic Will Exact Vengeance Upon: Two Fire Alarms in One Day
Vengeful Cynic [5/17/2003 11:29:00 PM]
Dragged my ass out of bed at the bright and early hour of 10 to go over to the girls' house and have breakfast. Tom cooked and we all had a pretty good time sitting around and chatting. Worm crashed here last night and came along and several others like Kass and Rachel are still in town and came over. Damn, I miss all of the people that leave. At least some of them still come back for now... wonder what it'll be like in 2 or 3 years when I graduated.
Vengeful Cynic [5/17/2003 05:19:00 PM]
The Cynic Will Have a Drink* For: Jordan Groody
Vengeful Cynic [5/16/2003 05:26:00 PM]
Incidentally, the Wall Street Journal is now giving tips on how to be a slacker if you're not as good at it as some of us professionals.
Vengeful Cynic [5/16/2003 08:33:00 AM]
The Cynic Will Exact Vengeance Upon: People Making Me Do Effort in the Morning
Vengeful Cynic [5/16/2003 07:50:00 AM]
I've been looking at some other blogs and back at mine and I can feel a redesign coming. The background is iffy, the text needs redoing, and the orange is really starting to grate on me. Tell me what you think as I could use the suggestions of some of the more artistic among you.
Vengeful Cynic [5/15/2003 04:09:00 PM]
Well... the fire alarm went off again at 6:45 or so this morning. At least, I think I heard it go off. And by the time that we fastidiously hurried to get our clothes on and rush out of the building like good LeTourneau students, lo and behold the fire alarm had turned off. It was amazing.
Vengeful Cynic [5/15/2003 11:57:00 AM]
Well... I went and I saw and now I'm back. I really can't say it was as well-done a plot as I'd hoped, but I think it followed the Star Wars 4,5,6 generic setup rather closely. Namely the first movie is self-contained and leaves a few threads to attach a sequel to and a lot of spots you can expand, the second does a lot of expanding, twisting and stretching the plot in ways that you (or anyone else) hadn't really considered and makes you realize that there really was some stuff there that you hadn't thought about. The second movie also does a bit of deeper character development, brings in a new character or two, and creates conflicts between existing characters. A lot of people hate second movies because they don't really tie up any strings and for every loose end they tie up they create 3 more.
Vengeful Cynic [5/15/2003 02:09:00 AM]
Well, it would appear that it's come time to start declaring war on the many ignorant and foolish groups that exist in the world. Today's target of choice is the NOW. Stay tuned for more idiotic and ignorant groups to declare war on...
Vengeful Cynic [5/14/2003 12:49:00 PM]
Back then I worked a temp job through Office Team at Miami University in Middletown as a telephone survey facilitator at the Applied Research Center. I worked for Dr. Seufert making phone calls and fixing all technology that broke. When I wasn't actually fixing things or making fruitless calls, I administered surveys (hopefully I managed 1/hour, but frequently I got much less than that.)
(It has been noted that I have a somewhat dark view of humanity and have been known to posit that people are stupid on a fairly regular basis. Reading on should give you some indicator as to why I feel as I do.)
Here are some of the fun things I came up with while surveying (all true stories, I wrote them down as I surveyed):
Cynic (on the phone): "Hello sir, my name is Cynic and I'm calling from...."
Man on the other end: "Y'all need to stop sendin' me stuff"
Cynic: "Uh, sir, I haven't even told you who I was calling from, and we don't send out any "stuff"
Man: "I'm sure y'all have been sending me somethin, and I ain't got time for this crap"
Cynic: "Sir, could I at least tell you whom I'm calling with so that you could make a more iinformed judgement"
Man: "No, just quit sending me stuff and leave me alone"
Cynic(muttering to himself): "I guess I mark that as a hung up and he gets called back until he politely refuses or completes the survey"
...
Cynic (on the phone): Now I'm going to read a series of statements and you need to tell me 'yes' or 'no' to each of them.
Man: Ok
Cynic: I will encourage my child to say 'no' to sex
Man: Is that until they're married or altogether, because while I want my kids to abstain until they're married, they're not like my neighbor's kids. I don't want THEM to EVER reproduce.
Cynic: Well, I'd assume it's just until married, but the question doesn't say. Oddly enough, nobody's ever picked up on that before....
...
Cynic: I'm going to read some income catagories and I want you to stop me when I reach the one that includes the approximate total annual income of your household.
Crazy Lady: I don't have any income.
Cynic: I mean for your entire household... everyone who has income in your household.
C L: We have no income
Cynic: ok..... [marks the less than $10,000 a year bracket]
Cynic: Now how many kids do you have?
C L: 4
Cynic: And how old are they?
C L: 17, 14, 12, 9
Cynic: And how old are you?
C L: 28
<Cynic is now on the phone with Crazy Lady's son>
Cynic: Do you feel it's wise or foolish to attend parties where alcohol...
Crazy Son: [interrupting] I'm not allowed to go to parties
Cynic: Ok.... And how do your friends feel about attending....
C S: [interrupts again] I'm not allowed to have friends
Cynic: Uh... ok, well.....
C S: I'm not allowed to go out of the house without my cousin or my mother
Cynic: ok....
[towards the end of giving the survey to Crazy Son]
Cynic: How old were you on your last birthday?
C S: I'm not allowed to celebrate my birthday
Cynic: Ok, how old are you?
C S: 17
Cynic: [ends the survey and cowers in fear that people like this exist]
And my personal favorite...
Cynic: "Our information says that Jimmy has asthma"
Sadistic Lady: "He got cured"
Cynic: "Cured?"
S L: "Yeah, we got a surgery for him.... we drilled 2 holes in his sinuses and broke off some bones"
Cynic: "Bones?"
S L "Yeah, they was gettin the the way of his his breathin'"
Cynic: "Uh.... ok..... I think you're ineligible for the survey ma'am"
Now Playing
Linkin Park - From the Inside[ 06/12/2003 ]
"Indeed? Are you so arrogant as to presume that your individual ability supersedes the inherent weakness of your gender? Is it possible that even one could escape the vacuous wasteland that is the sum of all female intelligence? Perish the thought. There is no such thing as female intelligence, only the modicum of perceived thought that is the imitation of male ingenuity. There is nothing more, anything that could presumed otherwise is only a clever charade or the plagiarism of an idea that originated from some poor man."
I need to go find some more of my old Chauvinist writings to properly re-inspire myself.
Now Playing
Evanescence - Where Will You Go?[ 05/12/2003 ]
My life is rated R.
What is your life rated?
Is there any real suprise here?
Now Playing
Godsmack - Voodoo
I believe Saddam was a threat. But not for the reasons you mentioned. He was the backbone of an attitude in the region that supported terrorism.
I would really like some justification for this line of reason. Bluster aside, Saddam was a cowed dictator who played silly cat-and-mouse games from within his borders and talked a big fight. How was he more of a backbone than any other leader in the region?
You see supporting terrorism at ANY level must be seen as a threat to us by us. That is why he had to be taken out. To set an example and change the region. Other countries with similar mindsets must learn that even flirting with terrorists is a risk to their very existence. He gave rewards to PLO and Hamas families of suicide bombers. We must destroy all terrorists and all supporters of terrorists.
So on what level do we draw the line? Idealogical? So are we now going to invade North Korea? How about communist China? What about Colombia?
Why don't we attack Saudi Arabia? By all indications, they have many more citizens who support terrorists on an individual scale than anything Iraq could do? What about Syria and Yemen? I would argue the inaction of these governments in some way indicates a support of terrorism and probably does more harm than Iraq has in the last 10 years.
And it is a just war to do so because it is self defense. Where our government has been inconsistent, and where Bush dissapoints me, is in not giving Israel full support in its war on terrorism. We have also not helped the UK in its fight against the IRA enough. We must wipe out all terrorists everywhere. I kill all scorpions on my property whether they are in my house or not. Because I know that if my child happened to get near one it would get stung. We must hunt down and destroy all terrorists period. And that I believe is a consistent conservative (and Biblical) position.
So now all pre-emptive strikes against prospective terrorists and supporters of terrorists are now justified by self-defense? Who decides what is a terrorist problem and if we get to strike them? And are we still advocating that Bush make unilateral strikes like he has thus far?
As far as UK and IRA goes, this is a non-issue anymore. And as for Israel, is not the Israeli government equally culpable for a war of terror against the Palestinians? Justifying huge collateral damage in the name of "National Security". Wow... that sounds awfully familiar *cough*Ashcroft*cough*... but I digress.
I find your casual assertion that the U.S. should strike out against anyone who would possibly support terror worldwide to be at least mildly distasteful. On what grounds do we invade sovereign nations? Pre-emptive self defense? Being idealogically anti-American? And I'm really questioning where on earth you're getting a Biblical support for all of this.
Now Playing
Cake - Italian Leather Sofa
[ 04/12/2003 ]
In order to facilitate the willpower necessary, I come bearing two warped links.
Disturbed Links of the Day:
Special Crafts (thanks Dang)
Special Surgery for Women (thanks Gallagher)
Now Playing
Goo Goo Dolls - Imaginary Friend[ 03/12/2003 ]
Disturbed Link of the Day: Fox News story on German court proceedings
Now Playing
Matchbox 20 - Long Day
And then I went from July to December without music or sound. At first it wasn't so bad... I really don't need sound for most of what I do and considering that for the first 2 months after this I was in an apartment with a group of guys who had music to run, I didn't mind. But slowly throughout the semester, I have grown to miss my music. And it has grown into insanity. I have come to miss my music to the point that I listen to music nonstop in the labs (where I have working speakers) and one day last week, I just grabbed my discman and put on the headphones so I could hear music.
In the end I did what I had to do, I took the remainder of my birthday money plus some of my own and went and bought speakers. Italian Leather Sofa never sounded so good...
Now Playing
Third Day - These Thousand Hills[ 02/12/2003 ]
[ 01/12/2003 ]
[ 30/11/2003 ]
The ditto-heads and Republican Party faithful out there will tell me that I should stick with Bush because he's doing the right thing. My problem with that is the war on Iraq was NOT JUSTIFIED, at least... not like Bush justified it. If we ever find WMD's, I will be very surprised (thanks for the link, Wilson.) If we even find good evidence of them, it will be a good deal more than we have now. The fact of the matter is that justifying this war on the basis that Iraq was an international threat is bullshit. North Korea is a threat, China is an international threat, Iran is an international threat.... hell, our allies like Israel are more of an international threat than Iraq was.
What it all boils down to is that while there might be good reasons to justify the invasion of Iraq, they weren't the reasons employed for invading Iraq. What's worse is the outcome of these arguments. "Potential support of terrorism?" Great, so now we're fighting pre-emptive wars? "Human rights?" This one is even better because if we're all of a sudden fighting wars to free the denizens of countries from Human Rights opression, we're going to be doing a lot of fighting, including against allies such as Saudi Arabia and China.
My general concern is this: either the Bush administration actually believed that there were WMD's in Iraq or they didn't. If they did, and they were there, then we have a good bit of digging to do and all of our intelligence right now is wrong. If the WMD's weren't there, then our pre-war intel. has a lot of explaining to do. If our pre-war intel. said that there weren't WMD's and we went in anyways, then we have some sort of unterior motivation that isn't being addressed and the president is lying to the world and the American people. Any of these ways, I'm at least slightly annoyed and assuming that there aren't still undiscovered WMD's out there, I'm downright irritated.
But in the end, what am I going to do? Vote for Dean? I'd rather move to France.
Here's how I came out:
1. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (100%) 2. Seventh Day Adventist (89%) 3. Eastern Orthodox (86%) 4. Orthodox Quaker (86%) 5. Roman Catholic (86%) 6. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (75%) 7. Islam (62%) 8. Orthodox Judaism (62%) 9. Liberal Quakers (49%) 10. Hinduism (48%) 11. Bah?'? Faith (40%) 12. Unitarian Universalism (39%) 13. Reform Judaism (38%) 14. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (36%) 15. Jehovah's Witness (34%) 16. Mahayana Buddhism (32%) 17. Theravada Buddhism (32%) 18. Jainism (30%) 19. Sikhism (29%) 20. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (26%) 21. New Thought (26%) 22. Nontheist (25%) 23. Scientology (24%) 24. New Age (21%) 25. Neo-Pagan (20%) 26. Taoism (15%) 27. Secular Humanism (14%)
Here's one I can show you:
Here's one I shouldn't post. Go check it out only if you enjoy my warped links.
On the other hand for something clean and still quite funny, check out this video.
[ 29/11/2003 ]
Going over things in my head, my points essentially boil down to this:
1) D&D is just like reading fantasy, it isn't real... just imagination.
2) Consequently, the only real moral value it has is what you make of it.
3) D&D is NOT a guide to witchcraft and sorcery (check this out for a humorous commentary on the matter; thanks Gallagher)
4) While D&D might be used to draw people into the occult, so could things like the Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings...
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that D&D is not intrinsically evil, it has just been used to evil ends. The same could be said for any number of things, including well-meaning Christians. In fact, I would go so far as to say that there are probably more drawn away from God by overzealous Christians who venture out of God's plan than by any D&D book.
That said, I recognize that people tend to be uncomfortable with the notion and that D&D is one of the fringe elements of nerd-dom that gets the furthest away from the norm. Therefore, as a policy, I try not to invite anyone to come and play with us who hasn't asked. We don't make it a secret that we play as a rule (there are exceptions) but we also try not to beat people over the head and drag them in. If anyone wants to play, we welcome them.
So there... not sure why I went off on that topic... but to quote a favorite movie line:
"Well.... there it is"
Update: performed the same experiment this afternoon and walked over to Bodacious... still not cold.[ 28/11/2003 ]
Whenever I walk down the empty hall of 1B when everyone is out of town, I get a bit reminiscent and philosophical about all of the guys who have come through on my watch. So here's to the few who made it, and the many that didn't.
Here's to Hex: the man who IRC'ed, played D&D and video-gamed and never really made it to much class or bed.
Here's to Pooder: the man who wished he was Canadian.
Here's to Hog: the man who played DAOC so hard he woke up on his keyboard more than once.
Here's to Kass: the quiet man who the system screwed and made it out anyways.
Here's to Woobadoo: the most disturbed guy to ever wander the floor and the worst influence on Gecko yet.
Here's to Ivan: the man who got asked out by Saga Troll Lady's daughter and run off by his roommate.
Here's to Tim: the man who married a girl from ETBU.
Here's to Ronnie: the man who could be counted on to roll in on Sunday as we rolled out for church.
Here's to Gary: the man whose room stank up the entire hall when his door was opened.
Here's to Groody: the man who escaped into the worst job market ever and got stuck in Longview.
Here's to YourMom: the man who left us those wonderful Senate pictures.
Here's to Randrew: the man who got out, got hitched, lived on campus another year, and is still sticking around.
Here's to Aaron: the RA whose soul couldn't be saved with only 37 chapels.
Here's to Micah: the man who dealt with Gary, ate the cats, and then got called elsewhere to the military.
Here's to Baba: the man who attempted 12 hours, and probably didn't even go to class 12 times.
Here's to Tom: my unofficial roommate in Fall '02 who had moved off campus but still showered on 1B.
Here's to Odom: the man who asked for programming help at 2am for a program due in 6 hours.
Here's to Doc: the man who Damian and I single-handedly traumatized more than is decent.
Here's to the Kormex: the man who played the video games, got great grades in EE classes, and promises to return next year.
Here's to Cowboy: the man whose listening ear and wise wit kept me sane through POD.
Here's to Singer: the man who captained the soccer team and left lusting after the championship we never got.
Wow: that's a lot. That doesn't count Dave and Luke, who pledged my freshman year. 21 guys who left the floor. Out of those, 5 graduated. Baba gets the award for closest to graduating with 9 hours shy on dropout. Hex gets the award for the guy who was here with me the shortest period of time, Ivan was he biggest recluse, and Pooder and Woob have to tie for the oddest.
I miss those guys...[ 27/11/2003 ]
Hopefully I will be able to get more up tomorrow... I'm going to take it easy and go to get some food at around 5 at a benevolent professor's house with some friends of mine. Until then, I'll be sleeping, watching football, and maybe doing some work. Until next time... remember: "While there are many trees in the world, goldfish don't like tomato juice."[ 24/11/2003 ]
Some interesting sentences include:
"This obedience was not merely legalistic and works oriented although it did involve a very legal aspect, since in Adam's failure all men have failed (Romans 5:12)."
"The nature of their fall seems to have set a precedent for further sin in the world that had formerly been good. Prior to the temptation of the snake Adam and Eve seem to have been quite content within the garden."
"Adam and Eve's trust in God and his promises and prohibitions is where their happiness lied."
"Genesis never explicitly states a leadership role for Adam in terms of relationships between people until after the fall when it was declared that the woman's desire would be for her husband."
(I would like to note that I have been taking great pain to be sure to copy the grammar, spelling, and punctuation on these.)
Now, my personal favorite just so happens to be the understatement of the millenium: "The fall of Adam and Eve is an interesting turn of events in the history of mankind."
Wow...
So what, the flood was an interesting turn of events in global meteorology?
The birth of Christ was an interesting turn of events in Christian Theology?
The Creation was an interesting turn of events in cosmology (and maybe even geography?)
The fall of Communism was an interesting turn of events in contemporary international politics?
The bombing of Pearl Harbor was an interesting turn of events in World War 2?
France was an interesting turn of events?
Long story short.... this shit is special.
Anyone out there with an interesting turn of events?[ 23/11/2003 ]
[ 20/11/2003 ]
Today in class, Varnell told us that God is happy and God wants us to be happy. In the interest of getting out of class and not strangling the man, I didn't object strenuously. I should have maimed him for that. God is joyful (as in the joy of the Lord) and God wants us to be joyful and content. However, that is not the same thing as happy.
Nothing else particularly interesting on the mind at the moment, except that some jackass was messing with my brother and making fun of his departed friend... so if any of my mildly unethical friends who aren't avowed to be good little computer users want to jack with IP 157.89.184.220, I wouldn't mind. It resolves to an Eastern Kentucky University IP, so it should be fairly stable and mostly on.
Disturbed Link of the Day: Dwarf Tossing Banned (so what, there was a problem with dwarf tossing before this?)[ 18/11/2003 ]
I'm sure some of you are familiar with the concept of survivor guilt. Now take that, and imagine you could have made several dozen different choices in the hours leading up to a friend's death that might have avoided that death. In light of that, I can't even begin to understand what my brother, who would gladly have given himself in exchange for his friend, must be feeling at this point... and I know it must really suck.
That said, pray for my brother... he's in a really dark place and it's one of those wounds that only God and time can heal.[ 16/11/2003 ]
That said, pray for my friends who were involved with this. I knew just about everyone involved in this, most of them go to the church that I'm a member at. Two of them had to carry the body at least part of the way out, a task that my brother would have usually undertaken if it weren't such a close friend of his. My brother is VERY traumatized and upset about this and could really use prayer. The friend that bought the beer could be facing legal problems and has had to procure a lawyer, and thus he is also very much in need of prayer.
The circumstances surrounding this pretty much amount to this: my brother has been camping down at the Gorge for about a year. In that time, he has taken many people from the church with him. A lot of people are realizing that this could have been them or this could have been their kids. I'm shook up at the thought that this could have been my brother and at the same time, I grieve for him and know that this has to be unspeakably hard. The guy who died was a very close friend: his only real friend at UC. The two had been going through Young Life leadership training together and spent much time together. This is going to be a very hard couple of months.[ 15/11/2003 ]
You see, I've never really had any real fear of dying myself. I mean, sure, it would suck... but I guess my faith in where I am eternally doesn't let me get really bothered about that. But losing friends, that's the thing that scares me. When Bekah died the summer between Freshman and Sophomore year, it was like a piece of me got ripped out. I knew her for less than a year, and yet she was a close friend and losing her hurt... a lot. I can't even imagine what losing some really close friend or family member would be like.
I guess it just all boils down to this: do I have the faith to get through something like that. I pray that if God would put me in that sort of situation that He would also bless me with the faith necessary to get through it... and at the same time pray that nothing like that comes any time soon. Because I'm not so sure I have that much faith.[ 14/11/2003 ]
Or more functionally, how I'm not. You see, I understand how I don't deserve grace or mercy and how even trying the hardest that I've ever tried, I'm still no good by a perfect standard. But yet, I have a very hard time helping those who quite obviously don't want to help themselves. It all boils down to this: if you don't want to change and better yourself, I don't want you to either. Some people see how much others really want to be different... I see how much they could be doing to enact that change and aren't. Yes, it's judgemental... but that's how I think.
The same is true with quiet people and ideas. If you want to register on my radar screen (oooh.... RADAR) you're going to have to think that your idea is worth my hearing. I'm sure as hell not going to go fishing around for it. Basically it boils down to this: I respect the people who have the spine to tell me what's up. I really don't respect the people who have something that they know is important but can't pull it together. I just hope it's not something that I desperately needed to hear... because the fact of the matter is that I'm not going to go asking everyone for their stupid ideas just so I can hear one good idea every 3 months that I wouldn't have heard otherwise.
Here's the biggest problem: I don't know what to do about this. I mean, sure, we are supposed to be compassionate. But I am also a fairly firm believer in the Ben Franklin concept of "God Helps Those Who Help Themselves," though in my case it's more of a Andrew Carnegie approach to compassion in that I will help someone, but only after they're proving that they really want it by working themselves and are willing to meet me part way. And sometimes (especially around here) I see too many people willing to give indescriminately without even thinking about what's going on on the receiving end. While I believe in compassion, I equally believe in hard work and determination. And I have a hard time justifying the former without the latter.
Someone toss me a bone and help me clarify this train of thought.
Disturbed Link of the Day: Dude Sues NASA For "Parking Fees" (clean, work-safe, wench-friendly)[ 13/11/2003 ]
Actually I can, but it's still great.[ 12/11/2003 ]
On the topic of denominationalism, is there a justification for different denominations who break fellowship with one another over seemingly-trivial matters? How about the ecumenical movement which seems to be attempting to deepen bonds between churches who have deep-seated theological misgivings about one another, not to mention centuries of bad blood and often violence? What is a good reason to break fellowship, what should the relationship be between these churches, and what is the significance of these divisions?
My personal answer is that there are essentially two reasons for breaking fellowship within the Church:
1) Others are preaching a gospel other than the one preached in the Bible (For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear {this} beautifully. 2 Cor 11:4 [NASB])
2) Others adopt a doctrine that is contrary to clear Biblical teachings and/or amount to sin
Whether or not other denominations are bad enough to be declared outside of the Faith is really not something that I think anyone can make and I firmly believe that there are those who come to a saving Faith in Christ in any number of places, some quite outside of the Church as we understand it. Even so, the prevailing argument that I appeal to here is that continued fellowship with a sect who meets one of the two above criterion damages your own witness and may cause legitimate Christians to stumble.
And on a lighter note:
Five Secrets to A Perfect Relationship
1. It's important to have a woman who helps at home,
who cooks from time to time, cleans up and has a job.
2. It's important to have a woman who can make you
laugh.
3. It's important to have a woman who you can trust
and who doesn't lie to you.
4. It's important to have a woman who is good in bed
and who likes to be with you.
5. It's very, very important that these four women
don't know each other.
Disturbed Link of the Day: Epitome of Disfunctional Marriages[ 10/11/2003 ]
Personally, I know where I would start and that's walking away from public schools. Not that I didn't learn a good bit in public school and I did have a couple of spectacular teachers... but the fact of the matter is that easily 8-10 years of my primary and secondary schooling were wasted in classes where the teacher either couldn't teach or was simply teaching to the bottom of the class. Especially for those of you who did at least some of the public school thing, just stop and think about it: how much of your time in school were you bored because your teachers either were re-hashing stuff that had been gone over 3 times before or were teaching down to the point that you could have sworn there were retarded monkeys in the class with you? Is it like this in private schools as well?
My current theory is that I know I would have opted for a very rigorous private school at least through 8th grade. After all, as much as I would have liked home-schooling, the social development is a must and is quite frequently one of the most neglected things in home-schooled students that I have met. Beyond that I'm torn between more private schooling and boarding school. After all, as much as the former helps, the latter adds the maturity that being responsible for yourself away from parental guidance brings, the social development of living around your peers all of the time, and the academic rigor of living at school. There is of course the painful separation from family and the lack of relationship with one's parents this brings... but boarding school needn't be so far from home to prevent monthly visits and the months of holidays, of course. Having it to do over again, I would probably go boarding school. Of course, there is the whole matter of college left to discussion, but we'll tackle that some other time. For now, just roll that over and respond.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot:
Disturbed Link of the Day: Making Your Job More Bearable[ 09/11/2003 ]
Raistlin Majere
An intensely private individual that chooses actions with care, you strive to further your own skills and powers.
This happens because I choose it to happen!
Raistlin is a character in the Dragonlance universe. He has a short biography at Dragonlance.com.
Having read a good bit of Dragonlance myself, I find this highly entertaining. It's not so much what I am now, as who I was 5 years ago... but it's still uncanny that this is that dead-on. Those who are more familiar with the book series will appreciate this more.
I would be inclined to propogate the myth. After all, there are a disproportionately large number of wenches around here who are nothing but bad news... especially to the sheltered home-school variety freshman male that is so prevalent around here. Further, an even larger number of those wenches that these sheltered frosh will see will be of the problematic and predatory variety. So should I attempt to illuminate them to the truth and in the process dispel the unnatural and useful cynicism that such a sterotype brings? Hardly. The fact of the matter is that if the frosh aren't sharp enough to figure out that stereotypes are merely generalizations and not universally applicable, they probably aren't wise enough to deal with the LeTourneau brand of heartless wench nor capable enough to even manage a friendship with an amicable one.
I am not here to teach social skills, I am merely looking to prevent emotional episodes in the parts of the world that I frequent... because let's face it: relationships get messy and I don't want to have to walk through the aftermath. If only the cynics are out there dealing with the female populace of LU, we're going to have a lot fewer episodes and thus, my life is easier and more tolerable. Plus, it's a lot less visually offensive to have fewer freshmen making out on every bench in sight.
Oh, and just in case you'd been missing them:
Disturbed Link of the Day: Worst Jobs Ever[ 06/11/2003 ]
Aside from nitpicking, the 3rd one did bring closure to the series and there was indeed a good bit of mind-jerking that it brought on. I'm going to tackle that after seeing the movie a second time... but for now, I would suggest you go see it yourself.[ 04/11/2003 ]
[ 03/11/2003 ]
Last night we got together and watched Roger & Me. Ebert did a nice review of it a couple years back that you can find here.
The general sentiment of the movie is that big corporations owe their employees something. Being a good heartless capitalist and a supporter of the mindset of a heartless company, I tend to take a bit of issue with that sentiment, and the train of thought goes a bit something like this:
1) Corporations exist solely to make money (if you disagree with this, one wonders why the hell else a corporation would exist)
2) Employees are resources to this end
2a) Happier employees are generally more productive employees and thus better assets
3) When employees are grossly more costly than their counterparts in another nation who will do the same work for 50% less, it behooves you to do something about this
3a) Go into this knowing this action will make the current employees that you keep unhappy
3b) Even so, this will probably be an acceptable cost against the benefits gained
4) A corporation should exist in a near-virtual moral vacuum: in the end, the only thing that matters is making money
4a) if you disagree with this, cease spending money on said company and divest yourself of its stock... if enough people agree, the company will change the position... again, to make money
5) In the end, the corporation should always bow to the almighty dollar: the reason for its being
Entities that should resist unchecked capitalism to care for the people: government, church
The fact of the matter is that while I generally don't like the government's interference in these matter, the simple truth is that the government ought to be ensuring the safety of its citizens to stay employed rather than be layed off and replaced by citizens of other countries. I'm not sure how much action this will take and where it plays into the balancing act, the fact of the matter is that a company shouldn't be taking a loss or losing out on profits just to make people feel good about themselves. If they're doing that, they're not really a capitalist corporation after all... they're selling themselves and their stockholders short.
And now... because the concrete needs a bit of loosening...
Disturbed Link of the Day: Dave's World[ 02/11/2003 ]
Following Fall Fest, Anna and I found Wilson and went to the Chai Party. Afterwards we wandered some and ended up back on ELH2 just in time for Anna's headache to develop into a full-blown migraine. After open dorms ended, Wilson and I left behind my ailing girlfriend as we were kicked out to wander and discuss the greater philosophical meanings of life. This terminated with a trip to Caleb's room, where I hung out with the D&D crew there (Wilson excused himself early on) and participated in "Satanic Saturdays" as the DM's NPC monkey until it wee hours in the morning on Sunday.
Church was interesting today... I remembered again that while I love Saint Mike's, we do have some fairly fundamental differences of theology including the sacraments of eucharist and baptism. It's still a great place to be and I'll continue on there until such time as the Lord prompts me on to elsewhere.
Oh... and because you've been feeling neglected on my links, here's a good news story and here's what you've been waiting for...
Disturbed Link of the Day: Public Company of Interest[ 30/10/2003 ]
Disturbed Link of the Day: The Fysche Bowl - Go and "Learn to write the Lingo-go"[ 29/10/2003 ]
Disturbed Link of the Day: The Temple of Shao'Kehn (translation: Got warped, home-made half-baked religion? ...because we sure do!)[ 27/10/2003 ]
[ 26/10/2003 ]
[ 25/10/2003 ]
I read at 2719 wpm with an accuracy of 91%
Try it out yourself...[ 24/10/2003 ]
One wonderful excerpt:
"I worked at the front desk of a hotel for about two years. It was at a major ski resort in the Rocky Mountains, destination of stupid tourists. "
Dumb Guest #1: "Can you tell me which of these mountains is the Rocky Mountains?"
Dumb Guest #2 (calling from room): "What time is it?"
Me: "8:30."
Dumb Guest #2 "Is that Colorado time?"
(I actually laughed in the phone, wondering why in the world I would give her the time for another time zone).
Dumb Guest #3 (calling to get room rates): "How much would a room with a queen bed be?"
Me: "$69.95 plus tax"
Dumb Guest #3: "Is that in American dollars?"
ME (well, I didn't actually say this, but i thought it): "No, that's 69.95 in Yen. If you want the conversion into American dollars you'll have to call someone who doesn't think you're an idiot."
Dumb Guest #4 (team captain for a European Men's Ski team): "Someone stole my skis."
Me: "Someone stole your skis? Were they in your room?"
Dumb Guest #4: "No, they were right outside the door."
Me: "You left your skis in the hallway?"
Dumb Guest #4: "No, outside the front door of the hotel. They where there last night, but I went outside this morning and they're gone."
And last but not least:
Dumb Guest #5: "Could you tell me how much the complimentary breakfast costs?" [ 23/10/2003 ]
If you're in the market for a t-shirt, this one ought to suit most of my friends.
And here's one of the best prank ideas ever...[ 22/10/2003 ]
If you are amused that people are sick and screwed up... check this site out. And for good measure, here's a man who got battered by his wife. Husband abuse!
Also, Gallagher has passed the threshold for posts to be included on the links list... not to mention having posted a rather interesting church review of his home church in Sherman, TX. Guess that's one less church I have to visit... and one more little hell-hole town in Texas to stay away from.[ 19/10/2003 ]
Two Cows
DEMOCRAT
You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
You feel guilty for being successful. Barbara Streisand sings for you.
REPUBLICAN
You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
So?
SOCIALIST You have two cows.
The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.
You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow.
COMMUNIST
You have two cows.
The government seizes both and provides you with milk.
You wait in line for hours to get it.
It is expensive and sour.
CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE
You have two cows.
You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.
DEMOCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE
You have two cows.
The government taxes you to the point you have to sell both to support a man in a foreign country who has only one cow, which was a gift from your government.
BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE
You have two cows.
The government takes them both, shoots one, milks the other, pays you for the milk, and then pours the milk down the drain.
AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one.
You force the two cows to produce the milk of four cows.
You are surprised when one cow drops dead.
You spin an announcement to the analysts stating you have down sized and are reducing expenses.
Your stock goes up.
FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike because you want three cows.
You go to lunch and drink wine.
Life is good.
JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains.
Most are at the top of their class at cow school.
GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You engineer them so they are all blond, drink lots of beer, give excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour.
Unfortunately they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year.
ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows but you don`t know where they are.
While ambling around, you see a beautiful woman.
You break for lunch.
Life is good.
RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have some vodka.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You have some more vodka.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
The Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have.
TALIBAN CORPORATION
You have all the cows in Afghanistan, which are two.
You don`t milk them because you cannot touch any creature`s private parts.
Then you kill them and claim a US bomb blew them up while they were in the hospital.
IRAQI CORPORATION
You have two cows.
They go into hiding.
They send radio tapes of their mooing.
POLISH CORPORATION
You have two bulls.
Employees are regularly maimed and killed attempting to milk them.
FLORIDA CORPORATION
You have a black cow and a brown cow.
Everyone votes for the best looking one.
Some of the people who like the brown one best, vote for the black one.
Some people vote for both.
Some people vote for neither.
Some people can`t figure out how to vote at all.
Finally, a bunch of guys from out-of-state tell you which is the best looking cow.
CALIFORNIAN
You have a cow and a bull.
The bull is depressed.
It has spent its life living a lie.
It goes away for two weeks.
It comes back after a taxpayer-paid sex-change operation.
You now have two cows.
One makes milk; the other doesn`t.
You try to sell the transgender cow.
Its lawyer sues you for discrimination.
You lose in court.
You sell the milk-generating cow to pay the damages.
You now have one rich, transgender, non-milk-producing cow.
You change your business to beef. PETA pickets your farm.
Jesse Jackson makes a speech in your driveway.
Cruz Bustamante calls for higher farm taxes to help "working cows".
Hillary Clinton calls for the nationalization of 1/7 of your farm "for the children".
Gray Davis signs a law giving your farm to Mexico.
The L.A. Times quotes five anonymous cows claiming you groped their teats.
You declare bankruptcy and shut down all operations.
The cow starves to death.
The L.A. Times` analysis shows your business failure is Bush`s fault.
Oh yeah, and I also bore a bit of witness to a fairly mean game of Risk and played a bit of poker... not to mention taking a nice long walk with my favorite girl... yeah it was a good day. The only real downside was that I didn't get to play D&D and in honor of that, here's a nerdy cartoon in that vein:
[ 18/10/2003 ]
There is always the question of what to do in said time... but right now that seems a bit too complicated. After being up for 10 minutes, I think I'll just go back to bed for a while. That seems a bit simpler and more straight-forward.
Consecutive Software Systems Classes the Cynic has Dismissed : 3
Cynic's Chapel Credit Count: 28[ 15/10/2003 ]
And while you're at it, check out this wonderful news post.
Consecutive Software Systems Classes the Cynic has Dismissed : 2
Cynic's Chapel Credit Count: 26[ 14/10/2003 ]
Thank you all for your kind weapons donations. I am now the owner of 10 WMD's and hope to receive more. Thus far I have been gifted with:
Fear Gas Bomb
Donated by A Dark Shadow
Neutron Bomb
Donated by Mad Scientist
mass to energy conversion bombs
Donated by A Librarian
Sunshine supercannon
Donated by Doug
Sunshine Cannon
Donated by Anna
Bombs. Lots and lots of bombs.
Donated by Ross
nuclear fusion devices
Donated by Jon M. Sharpton
Instant Pun Generator
Donated by heh heh heh...
Flesh-Eating Bacteria
Donated by A Concerned Citizen
Hydrogen Bombs
Donated by Blame Jared
The African children will be very pleased by your generousity.[ 13/10/2003 ]
...so very, very tired... and I don't have the slightest clue why. Maybe it's just that I keep bottling up mental stress and putting it off to deal with a bit later and when I'm swamped with work on Mondays, it all comes crashing down. Or maybe I should just get a bit more sleep... hard to say.
*smacks self awake
On with the program...
Well, that chapel today was all kinds of special. Memo to people who disagree with chapel speakers: the proper way to voice your displeasure is NOT to stand up in the middle of chapel and say so. Even if the speaker is dead wrong and spouting heresy, you just won't get anywhere like that. However, in that vein, I figured it would be pertinent to share that my Mormon name is Johoshua Chevrollette, in case you were wondering.
I would also like to take this chance to thank Jared for pointing me in the right direction to find the little gem on the right (duplicated below):
Please find it in your heart to donate. The poor starving African children will thank you.[ 12/10/2003 ]
And speaking of that sort of thing....
The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Eigth Level of Hell - the Malebolge!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:Level Score Purgatory (Repenting Believers) Moderate Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers) Very Low Level 2 (Lustful) Very Low Level 3 (Gluttonous) Very High Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious) Very High Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy) Very High Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics) Very Low Level 7 (Violent) High Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers) Extreme Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous) High
Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test[ 10/10/2003 ]
Hell... I don't even really need a car, I just want us to come up with some scheme to scare a lot of money up so we can go down in infamy with such millionares as the creators of:
1) Pogs
2) Pet Rocks
3) Beanie Babies
4) Slap Bracelets
5) Pez Dispensers
6) Troll Dolls
7) Tamagotches[ 09/10/2003 ]
Did you know that quite a few of the trees and structures on this campus are memorials to someone or another? Over this summer Sam and I were working Phys. Plant and got to clean out the basement of old Student Services... and we found several things that had been tossed off there. I seem to remember Sam even going over and running into Dr. Graff about a memorial plaque for one of the old MIR's here... but ask him about that.
Long story short, this institution has a criminally short attention span. To be fair, it is the nature of educational institutions to forget a lot... as a friend of mine put it, "if something hasn't been relevant in the last 2 years or is done for two years, for all that half the people on campus know that is the way that it's always been, and after 4 years only a handfull of people will remember beyond the common memory." Of course, this shouldn't be true at LU. Unfortunately, it is the habit of this place that we are so damned busy looking ahead that we hardly have a grasp on where we are, much less where we've been. Again, the typical myopia of a University... but that's not an excuse.
I just think of a really good friend I've lost and how many others this school has seen have their time cut short, and I wonder if anything would be different if we tried a little harder to remember. I wish we were more concerned about their memories than about the newest attempt to put screws in some old man for his money to build a new hunk of concrete on campus...[ 08/10/2003 ]
It's one of those things that whenever you get hit with a really great idea, you're never in the right place at the right time to jot it down and remember it for posterity. Fortunately for me, mine (not necessarily great, but an idea nonetheless) happened to rebound again this evening, after blessing me on the way to Digital earlier today. The profound thought is namely this: why should administration be requesting patience and understanding when they so rarely bless us with the same? I know, I know... the golden rule and all of that. But I just figured I'd take the time to point out the hypocrisy in this.
The last Bud chapel (I think last Wednesday) he alluded to the fact that the "summer project" is just now coming to an end and is indeed, still not done. However, he admonished us that we should be glad that this is going on and noted that this delayed termination date is typical of many large projects and that things should be done shortly. Furthering this line of thought, we have the ever-present security dilemma and the cameras which Bud alluded to sometime last year (aside: we really should probably go through and find the actual date he made reference to those and quote him for posterity.) They're still not here, we have no closed-circuit tv and the budget for security seems to be much less than it should be. Cars are broken into regularly and this whole situation is something of an ongoing debacle. Yet Bud admonishes us that we live in an insecure area of the world and that we really are quite safe and ought to count our blessings and be wise. This is all well and good, and I think these are reasonable requests.
The problem comes out when administration turns around and refuses to make any concessions or hold anything back with regards to its own students. My favorite example, and I will hold this until I leave, is the legend of the 37 chapel credits. For those of you who have never benefitted from this story, here we go...
My old RA Aaron ran things on my floor, quite smoothly all freshman year. We even had the occasional room check, nobody did anything really dumb on his watch and largely things went quite well, especially as a guys' floor goes... well over par. Aaron had a fatal weakness, and that was that he never could seem to go to chapel and thusly ran deficient and had to do makeups. It was the same fall and spring semester... Aaron got behind, Aaron did makeups. But alas, during spring semester his memory slipped a cog and rather than do makeups to sum things up to 38, he only got to 37. And so in August, administration comes calling. It would seem that 37 chapel credits is 1 short and that due to this unfortunate circumstance, Aaron would no longer be allowed to be RA. No matter the fact that he had an impeccable service record, the love and respect of the floor, and had really gone to a lot of effort to make chapel credits up and had just fallen one short... this wasn't good enough for LeTourneau Standards.
I'm really at a loss on this one, because on one hand, I don't think I've held up the standard all of the time myself and I'm not one who deserves the right to judge. But on the other hand, you've got to see that something isn't right here and that this is more the rule than the exception: admin demands and does not reciprocate. If you were God, would you want these guys building a "temple" at LU in your name? I sure wouldn't.[ 07/10/2003 ]
It's like somewhere in there in my head, there's a big underground oil well or something. And every time I go drilling for it, I miss. Sometimes I miss badly and come up with nothing, and sometimes I miss with a glancing blow and manage to get a couple of barrels. But no matter how many times I go after it, I never manage to get near that oil reserve. Somewhere in there, there's a story, or a program, or a painting, or a revolution, or something. I'm not sure what it is, but I can feel it in there but for the life of me, I can't get at it. Anyone got a muse for sale?[ 06/10/2003 ]
[ 05/10/2003 ]
Over the summer, Father Neil went on vacation and thus was replaced on a weekly basis by whatever local priest in the parish needed a spot to preach. Sometimes Dr. Watson preached and sometimes Jeff preached, and both were very good. This itinerant preaching varied from really good to really sucky. But the worship was solid and the fellowship good. Thus, after 2 years of on-again, off-again church visitation, I was encouraged to get back to church and thus prompted to do a bit of church shopping in Longview before settling at Saint Mike's... and thus the great exploration began.
Here we are, at the beginning of October and by a series of odd coincidences and interesting timing snafus, we found ourselves at Saint Mike's this morning. I was encouraged and uplifted by the worship, revitalized by the service, and renewed in spirit by the sermon. Neil preached a very good sermon on revival and apparently he's going to be doing a series on this in the next couple of weeks. And I think that this is going to mark an end to the great church hunting extravaganza for at least the immediate time-being. While I'm not 100% satisfied with Saint Mike's, I don't think that it's possible to be 100% satisfied with any earthly church and I really do feel like God is calling me to Saint Mike's. So, I guess that's where I'm going to start showing up every week. Incidentally, I apologize for a lack of any really odd/entertaining tidbits from church this morning... I guess that's the downside of going to a good church.
And now comes some puzzling out and around. I've gotten several underhanded comments about my language of late. Nothing overt, nothing condemning, just a little comment here and a little comment there. And it occurred to me that at someone point or another, it had become a crutch. I, the arrogant man of thesaurus, had slipped to using 5 or 6 words to frequently express myself. Not that these words don't have a place in the language within certain context and that their superlative meaning has been lost on me. But I really need to introduce enough variety that each word retains its unique flair and thus when I call someone an ignoramus, a moron, or an idiot, they mean something different than when I refer to someone as a walking experiment on the human condition post-lobotomy or when I call someone a fucking moron, it really takes the cake. That's the inherent problem with humanity right there, familiarity dulls the inherent art of living. If I were to use the same words all the time, even if they were the best words to describe something and perfectly good words, they would eventually lose meaning. That's why we need so much variety and synonymous syntax: so that people continue to appreciate the profundity of what we're saying.
Anyways, all that to say is that I came, I saw and I've returned... and the LU weapons policy is still among the most empty-headed, rash and irrational things that one could have puzzled out to keep students safe. They would be better off wasting their time and resources on putting up armed guards and razor-wire, because there's no way in hell that students are a bigger threat to other students than the social denigrates of South Longview.[ 02/10/2003 ]
(Please make checks payable to Adam Martinez; he is not responsible for lost or bounced checks, death of delivery persons, the common cold, Al Gore, call waiting, IT, Saga, Cynic or anything he says, Rejected Cartoons, expired milk, pipe bombs, homework, anything stupid that the Guatemalan says *dodges hammer*, triple integrals, snipe hunts, exploitation of the working classes, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords, small rodents, killer rabbits, the French, Rigoberta Menchu, the Judge, Communism, rascalism, cronyism, nepotism, any-other-ism, the choreography and "Inspiration" of the white-robed order, "Blocked by LetNet", Miracle Baskets/Seed Faith, "fuzzy studies", happy quotes, references to pi, Moore's insatiable appetite for edible matter, or any offense you may have received from reading this paragraph. He is, however, completely responsible for various and sundry bad puns (and the occasional good one). As for the rest, blame Jared *dodges hammer again*.)
And the man is still resisting starting up a blog of his own. It's utter foolishness I tell you. Blame Jared.
[ 01/10/2003 ]
You see, when I was in high school, I went on this mission trip to West Virginia. And there I shoveled sand out of a yard that had been flooded so that the grass could grow green again. But apparently this was the sand of death or had the nasty West Virginia River Disease on it or something, because it caused my hands to break out in hives. I had to get steroids to make said hives go away, but alas... the foolish wench of a pediatrician to whom I went gave me an incomplete steroid regimen and the hives came back with a vengeance. In the end, she was afraid to put me through another regimen and just gave me hand cream.
Because of this unfortunate series of events, the hives never went fully away... just dormant. And so when I'm really stressed out, I'll get about a dozen itchy little red bumps the size of pinpricks on my hands that annoy me a bit and last a day or so.
But this time, I had a bit of physical stress on my body. You see, I sat on the south end of the berm last week and apparently got a bit of poison ivy/oak or something on my back, but it refused to go away and went nuts. Maybe I'm allergic to poison oak... I don't know. But regardless, after about 3 to 4 days of this, my hands started breaking out. And now, they're close to their original horrific glory. Thus I was brow-beaten to go to the doctor today. But fear not, the doctor was good and gave me steroids to ease the itching and get rid of the bumps. I guess now is as good of a time as any to go start lifting...
Oh... on a side note, new warped link for today: Nude Man Carrot (not pr0n)[ 29/09/2003 ]
And here's a wonderful quote from Moore: "I'm going to hold my tongue on this one because it's going to get around." Moore's tongue gets around. Special...[ 28/09/2003 ]
On the topic of global politics, you've all known for some time that I hold a special disdain for European Socialism, and contemporary European culture and politics in general. Apparently, there are others who feel that these decisions are rotting away at Europe from the inside. Read this and tell me what you think.[ 25/09/2003 ]
Incidentally, I have new disturbed linkage of the Bobbit variety. Blame Jared.
Carnage 1
Carnage 2
Carnage 3[ 24/09/2003 ]
"Not likely" - Jared
"This woman is so ugly, it looks like someone started a fire on her face and used a rock to put it out" -VC
"Yeah, and what little hair there is left attests to what they used to start the fire in the first place" -Jared
If so, check out this link. Contained are several pictures fo this jacked-up old hag and an interesting article on the scholarship of her "biography." Isn't it sad that some academics are still willing to defend the "scholarship" of this pack of bullshit?
note: the only page linked above that is in Spanish is the old hag's site, which you could just as easily run through babelfish (unless you're a LUser using LetNET)[ 23/09/2003 ]
Attack of the Geeks! If it weren't trying spin off of such a stupid show, I would be more apt to be amused...
And of course, a nice article on voter fraud courtesy of electronic voting machines. Oh great Council, your time is soon come.[ 22/09/2003 ]
[ 21/09/2003 ]
Here's what I've figured out so far:
1) 99.9% of these islands aren't in the US (the very few even available in the US are in the possession of very happy owners)
2) the riskier the country, the cheaper the island (do you want to own property in the middle of a war zone?)
3) apparently, you can appeal to the safety of US protection as far away as halfway between Hawaii and Australia (US global dominance?)
4) amenities like modern construction, running water and power cost a lot extra
5) this isn't a market for anyone who isn't at least moderately wealthy
6) I want my own island
I really need to get back into a market where I can get ahold of the money necessary to get one of these islands.
Want a sample?
Here's a nice one.
Here's an even nicer (albeit much pricier) one.
Here's a place for the SC to set up shop and run continuing operations from.
I bummed around today and then went to the Longview Symphony. It was fairly good... 3 pieces that I thoroughly enjoyed. Sadly I can't remember the other two composers, but the middle piece was Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet and it was very well-done. (Aside: Question to Grammar Nazis... How does one punctuate the title of a musical piece?) I got to go with Wilson, Ardith, Moore, his wench, and of course my most beautiful date (yes, it's smarmy... get over it) and we followed the trip to the symphony with dessert (or something like that) at Applebees' with a large number of Bandits and associates. It was good fun and fellowship and all in all a good evening. If only there were more evenings like this with fewer days of work (like Monday) to look forward to. Hopefully I will be able to lay my hands on some good pictures of said event within a week or so. If you're lucky, you might even get a look or I might post one or two.
A parting word to the wise: if you steal something, take good care of it. Especially if it's something that I'm involved with...
*glares meaningfully at parties who know who they are*[ 20/09/2003 ]
So hopefully I'll get on that and get on some backlogged school stuff. At least the job is fine and the rest of my life seems to be sailing along smoothly. And for those of you chuckling about the new, happier Cynic... it really boils down to this. Try staying pissed off or even remotely upset when you're pretty much totally in love and focussed on trying to keep someone else happy. It doesn't work so well...
However, just give me a good reason to be pissed at something and I'll get back to you with a diatribe. Ask the Yellow Jacket monkeys... I'm not done with the evisceration of morons by a long shot, I'm just out of the business of searching out new morons to verbally abuse.[ 17/09/2003 ]
The long and short story of this matter really is that there's a company who sees something to gain on a PR level from opposing the RIAA. Sure, it's a business and marketing maneuver, but if it manages to protect the privacy of consumers, it's fine by me.[ 16/09/2003 ]
[ 14/09/2003 ]
I really miss cynicism on one hand and on the other hand I really don't. The rest of you don't even know what the hell it means whether you like it or hate it, and that mildly annoys me and makes me really wish I could whole-heartedly advocate it like I should.
"So what is cynicism then?" the ingrates intone, as they attempt to salvage some dignity in the futile hopes that I really can't substanciate my assertions of being mentally superior inasmuch as I at least understand my terms. Sadly, Webster hops in a circle on this, but if you spend the necessary effort you can piece together a workable definition.
cynic (n) : 2 : a faultfinding captious critic; especially : one who believes that human conduct is motivated wholly by self-interest
cynical (adj) : 2 : having or showing the attitude or temper of a cynic; especially : contemptuously distrustful of human nature and motives
cynicism (n) : 2 : cynical character, attitude, or quality; also : an expression of such quality
You'll note that each is the secondary definition, due to the fact that cynicism derives from a philosophy of the same name started by the Greek philosopher Diogenes. The general gist of this being the primary tenet of cynicism is the contemptuous distrust of human nature and motives inasmuch suspecting that that all of these are tied up entirely in self-interest. I fully believe all of this... the problem is the contemptuous part and the attempts of some to extend this cynicism to God and a failure to account for the changing power of God in the lives of Christians. That isn't to say that Christians are above base motives, but neither does it excuse one from expecting Godly motives from one's Christian brothers rather than lording their former sinful nature and base motives over their heads. And of course, it's very difficult to be generally contemptuous when one is happily involved in a relationship, but that's neither here nor there. The long and short is that while some will accuse me of abandoning my philosophical basis, I will just say that mine is still cynicism, just slightly modified to include a Biblical worldview. The wide-ranging distrust of human motives, especially among non-Christians, is as strong as ever. Oh, and those who decry cynicism are back on the food chain.
Oh yeah... and welcome to my world:
note: I'm sorry I killed your comment Morgan
On a more sadistic note: I find it amusing that these guys seem so upset at a taste of their own medicine. "Give and ye shall receive..."[ 12/09/2003 ]
Thus began my experience reading the Yellow Jacket (the LU student newspaper this morning.) I suggest you go pick it up. It's funny in the sense that watching a retard try to color a picture with crayons is hillarious... translation: it's an abortive attempt at self-expression on the part of the editorial staff that should have ended in mass suicide but by an inexplicable act of God ended up in a published format, readily available for school-wide faculty, staff and student perusal. I'm going to go kipe 20 or 30 copies so that I can mail them to my enemies and break one out to burn it every now and again for catharsis.
I really can't do this thing justice in review, but suffice to say that the blank last page epitomizes the fact that this thing just sucks horribly. In short, it doesn't have a consistent style method (different fonts, sizes and methods of doing by-lines, titles and captions abound to the point that it looks like someone should have dropped in an article in a foreign language or alphabet somewhere), nothing is justified, half of the pictures are pixellated and/or out of proportion, there are pages where entire words are lost off the edge of the page, the editorial page is a train-wreck of bad bios and irrelevant pictures, there are articles with no columns, a page consisting entirely of a 3-paragraph press release of unexplained significance and a gramatically offensive advertisement (with unrelated clip-art) and the list goes on...
I think I'm going to sit here and admire how much this thing sucks. Oh, on a bright note, at least the entirety of the editorial staff and contributing authors have their names, pictures and bios in the paper. That says something for accountability... or stupidity. No way in hell I'd sign on to this piece of shit... and if I had, I would leave the school or preferably the country subsequent to seeing the paper.[ 09/09/2003 ]
Or how about this nut (thanks Dunny) asking people to crack him over the head with a skateboard? What the hell is wrong with these people?
An amusing story:
On a Trans-Atlantic flight one of the plane's wings is struck by lightning.
One woman in particular loses it. Screaming, she stands up in the front of the plane. 'I'm too young to die!' she wails. Then she yells, 'Well, if I'm going to die, I want my last minutes on Earth to be memorable! I've had plenty of sex in my life, but no one has ever made me really feel like a woman! Well I've had it! Is there ANYONE on this plane who can make me feel like a WOMAN??'
For a moment there is silence.
Everyone has forgotten their own peril, and they all stare, riveted, at the desperate creature in the front of the plane.
Then, a man stands up in the rear of the plane. 'I can make you feel like a woman,' he says.
He's gorgeous. Tall, well built, with long flowing black hair and jet black eyes, he starts to walk slowly up the aisle, unbuttoning his shirt, one button at a time.
No one moves.
The woman is breathing heavily in anticipation as the strange man approaches.
He removes his shirt. Muscles ripple across his chest.
As he reaches her, and extends the arm holding his shirt to the trembling woman, he whispers:
'Iron this.' [ 08/09/2003 ]
Do you trust the Justice Department to police themselves? I certainly don't... nor do I think that secret courts will be any better. Classification of criminal matters and stripping the rights of US Citizens without due process on the claim of "national security" seems to be a cop-out. Sure, there should probably be a special court designated with privileges to classify some evidence and prevent it from entering public record, but there should also be intense scrutiny of any time where the federal government attempts to conduct any business outside of the public eye, much less the most important business of potentially stripping someone of their liberty or even life.[ 07/09/2003 ]
And if you didn't think any of those were bad enough... go buy a bar of soap.[ 04/09/2003 ]
Incidentally, if anyone wants to come help us go burn down this place, let me know.
And just as a random aside: here's a guy who deserves some sort of award for his remarkable IQ. I hope they just kill him out of mercy to the rest of humanity. And while I know I might be annoyed if I had tomatoes thrown at my car, this response is unacceptable.[ 01/09/2003 ]
[ 31/08/2003 ]
We rolled in a couple of minutes after the service had actually started and thus missed introduction. After what came later, I'm fairly grateful for that stroke of fortune. The singing selection was interesting and conservative (read: hymns), but hey, to each his own. After this, the real fun began as the pastor proceeded to preach from Revelation 18. For the first 20 minutes, I was exposed to this message: "Babylon is materialistic and materialism is bad... materialism is bad... materialism is bad... Babylon is materialistic... materialists will mourn Babylon... materialism is bad."
A fairly sound message, not very well preached and certainly not very deep, but fairly sound nonetheless. Then things got interesting as he proceeded to tell us about the evil demons and evil demonic birds that infested Babylon and went to this passage:
He presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all {other} seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."
Mat 13:31-32 (NASB)
He then asserted that this passage was referring to the "Mystery Kingdom" which exists between Christ's first and second coming. Ever heard of the Mystery Kindgom? If so, enlighten me, because this was a new and special reference. He then further asserted that the birds were clearly demons living in the time of the Mystery Kindgom. Anybody out there willing to take a hack at this?
While this was easily the most aggregious of the bad exegetics on display today, there were other interesting observations from the sermon, such as "modern pop cultural music" being evil and some more yammering about the demonic birds. I will leave others to review other aspects, but will close in saying that the constant advertising for the evening service on giving was a bit unsettling, especially in the face of this sermon on materialism. That pretty much breaks my cardinal rule on discussing titheing in sermons and the whole guilt-tripping bit and even moreso with the heavy lines about materialism... and encourages me to take myself to a pew elsewhere as if everything else hadn't.
I guess I should have refrained from using the name of the church... but then again, I want you to be warned if you decide that you should go yourself. For a different perspective, Wilson already has a review and I'm suspecting that some of the others with whom I went will as well... sooner or later.
Incidentally, here's the church doctrinal statement (I dug it out of the webpage, the actual provided link is broken.) Would you expect such a train wreck from such an innocent statement?[ 29/08/2003 ]
[ 28/08/2003 ]
You know, I hate math homework... especially when it's disguised as CS homework.[ 27/08/2003 ]
Analysis of Algorithms with Dr. Baas should be interesting, contrasted sharply by Digital with Dr. Leiffer, which promises to be boring and to start out with a waste of my time and a lot of work. Today I spent 30 minutes being instructed in basic binary. Ardith, Zippy and I came up with things that we'd rather be doing. Sadly, I have no webspace to post the illustrations to, but the list included:
stabbing myself in the eye with a stick
baking cookies
sleeping
being run over by an old lady
installing windows 98 on a 486
Well, now it's time to go buy some books before the much-accursed bookstore closes so that I might be able to do my homework for the vast array of classes which I am in. Fortunately, I only need the Numerical Analysis book right now... which means I won't be going broke as quickly.[ 26/08/2003 ]
Apparently some of the juvenile idiots on the floor didn't take too kindly to my spending time elsewhere and felt it necessary to show their displeasure in the form of a prank. That's fine, I like pranks... within reason. What I fail to understand is how taking everything imaginable, including clutter and random boxes and papers, and stacking it in my room such that it will take me hours to remove it is even remotely funny. Maybe I just lack the proper perspective... but somehow I doubt it. I am incredibly grateful that my RA and roommate, the man known as Toad, found this as unamusing as I and threatened to fine the hell out of all of the perpetrators if things weren't rectified. Thus, while there is still trash in my room, I am assured that it isn't nearly as bad as it was and I'm sure that the beatings will continue until the crap is gone.
The million dollar question is my response. I mean, I love a good prank as much as the next guy. But I'm also fairly sure that a couple of idiots managed to drag most of the freshmen into this and thus, there really isn't any good response. All I know is that anybody who thought this would make me more likely to stick around the floor at all during the next weeks must be incredibly stupid. If it weren't for my RA and two or three other good guys, this puerile bullshit would be almost enough to convince me to move elsewhere.[ 25/08/2003 ]
[ 24/08/2003 ]
Oddly, it would appear that my philosophy on life is changing at least a bit. I am still cynical of humanity, but cannot help but feel that there is something biblically unsound with being cynical of fellow Christians and I know that there is something wrong with being cynical of God. Thus, I am at an impasse with my philosophy. Do I come up with a new name for it, or do I just come up with a modified version and claim to be a sect of mainstream cynicism?[ 22/08/2003 ]
While I'm at it, I figure I might as well give a general update. The frosh are here, I am tormenting them and there are numerous leads on unwanted souls which I am diligently following up on. Orientation moves along and I warp some and try to talk others out of going, and all in all I am feeling back in my element.
If there are freshmen willing to sell souls, vendors in the market to buy or people interested in getting in a league with the Cynic, get ahold of me. If you don't know where I live, ask for the guy in the cloak. I'm sure someone will be able to give you directions... for a price.
Wise words from Ethan for today: "To be on a network, use a phone cord you must not."[ 21/08/2003 ]
Myself, I tend towards criticism. I would like to think that it's not a blind criticism, but from my angle it's really hard to say. Then again, I think it's a good deal easier to be intellectually honest and still blindly critical of things. After all, you may fail to see the big picture, but you'll always be able to spot the errors, insignificant or overwhelming. On the other hand, if you're a perpetual proponent, you'll be backing the Titanic as it sinks into the water and praising its great design and wonderful craftsmanship. You'll be right, but you'll tend to be guilty of ignoring the faults in order to see the bright side of life. The reverse is also true I suppose, but I guess I tend to be like my father in assuming that there will always be someone to see the bright side of most things. On the other hand, while there is rarely a dearth of people looking for problems, there will always be that fundamental design flaw that it takes the 300th observer to miss.
I guess what I'm saying in the end is that you really shouldn't be blindly critical or blindly supportive, but it really does help if you keep an eye open for problems. After all, the upside will usually be obvious enough that it'll knock you on your ass and it'll be the problems that are a bit more subtle. Unless it's a failed endeavor, at which point there's not much point looking at the bright side now is there?[ 20/08/2003 ]
Disturbed Link of the Day: Crazy Animal Cracker on Ebay[ 18/08/2003 ]
And I'm also working on the list of "101 Questions/Actions to piss off an IMPACT Leader"
1) Aren't you Peer Advisors payed over $1000 a year to be our friends?
2) Don't you have something better to do than try to be my mother?
3) So is it that Chaplains and Themelios don't matter that they don't get payed?
4) Why is Senate IMPACT at all?
5) Why are Themelios second-rate PA's?
6) Why are Senators forced to be second-rate Themelios during orientation?
So behold and be very afraid... and if you're interested, I will get you in contact with Daniel. I'm sure he'd like to go to this event with someone.[ 17/08/2003 ]
In other news, it would appear that the lemmings are upset about PCs making inroads in the schools and edging out those pesky Macs. I would like to point out to all of my Mac enthusiasts that while a Mac may be a superior machine for ease-of-use, it is also more expensive and in posession of a virtually nonexistant market share which is fading fast. If I'm going to use a PC at home and a PC at work, why do I want to use a Mac in high school? That would be retarded.
Yes, that is a nasty little grin you see spreading across my face...
Maybe we can even do odd stuff like this at LU. On the other hand, there really aren't enough students, and if we started mobbing, the neighbors might decide that it's time to go LA Riot on LU. On second thought... I pass.
It's true; after a year in a room by myself I can verify that I've got nearly enough "stuff" (not all of it even really worth keeping) to fill a room. It's going to take some getting used to... this having a roommate and all. But it will be a welcome change. Now off to more cleaning until Toad gets in...
Oh, and here's a link for those who have been missing them: Cat Translator[ 16/08/2003 ]
Anyways, here's a song in honor of Stu... (Eagles - Witchy Woman)
Witchy Woman
Raven hair and ruby lips
sparks fly from her finger tips
Echoed voices in the night
she's a restless spirit on an endless flight
wooo hooo witchy woman, see how
high she flies
woo hoo witchy woman she got
the moon in her eye
She held me spellbound in the night
dancing shadows and firelight
crazy laughter in another
room and she drove herself to madness
with a silver spoon
woo hoo witchy woman see how high she flies
woo hoo witchy woman she got the moon in her eye
Well I know you want a lover,
let me tell your brother, she's been sleeping
in the Devil's bed.
And there's some rumors going round
someone's underground
she can rock you in the nighttime
'til your skin turns red
woo hoo witchy woman
see how high she flies
woo hoo witchy woman
she got the moon in her eye
(lyrics courtesy of Lyrics.com)
[ 15/08/2003 ]
It is late, I am tired… so I will be brief. I ended up working from 8 AM this morning to 9 PM this evening with an hour for lunch and an hour for dinner. I ended up working a lab shift among many other things. Thusly, I failed to call this evening. I’m sorry, I’ll try again tomorrow… at least then I get off at 5 and will have time to do that. Calling Gecko and bugging him doesn’t do anything, please leave the poor boy alone.
Take care,
-Cynic[ 13/08/2003 ]
As far as my "letting" the wench shoot, I really didn't have a choice in the matter, short of physically taking the gun from her... which probably would have gotten me shot or worse. Context: we were staying with Anna's Uncle and Aunt who own a small armory of handguns and offered to let both of us shoot. I really don't think preaching my doctrine of unarmed wenches would have gone too well considering that Anna's Aunt and cousin were both examples of armed wenches. All I can say is that I escaped with my life and without any bullet-holes and plan on living on to do better in the future. You may all rest assured that I will try my best to keep handguns away from the wench to the best of my abilities...
As far as the countdown, I forget what it's counting down to and whatnot. I'll play with it later this evening and do some polishing up and whatnot. Not sure where the plans take me from here, but we'll see...
As to a good beating, bring it. And as to my losing my ability to ridicule wenches... Sez who? Further, where is the basis for my being removed from my divinely-appointed duty?
Disturbed Link of the Day: Cheesesteak Politics?
Done With Vacation :(
Days Until Summer is Over: 4
Glorious Days of Living on 1B this Year : 1 (and holding, pending my return)[ 11/08/2003 ]
Yes, Anna and I are dating. If you hadn't figured that out by now, I'm sorry. More straightforward information and some sort of a formal post will be forthcoming upon my return. And if any of you start commenting, you know the drill. And in case you hadn't read, she took up shooting a handgun tonight and enjoyed it. I'm scared shitless and I'm her boyfriend, imagine how you'll feel if you start making smartass remarks. Not to mention that if she doesn't finish you off, I actually have aim.
I really don't have much more to say other than if you get the chance to drive through Colorado, do it. And if you have the chance to drive around West Texas, don't. Oh yeah... dial-up still sucks in Texas as much as it did in Colorado. As crackhead would say...
-Cynic Out
[ 10/08/2003 ]
Oh yeah, and the sadist in me keeps giggling at the thought that there is going to be a record influx of freshmen and I get to try and corrupt them all. Do you really want to see the Cynic become a work-aholic? Because it's about to happen... after all, spreading corruption and the seeds of discord is a full-time job.
*cackles maniacally*[ 09/08/2003 ]
Well, here I am safe and sound in the wonderful state of Colorado. Anna's family lives in this wonderful town called "Lake City" which should be renamed to the "Remotest Outpost of Nowhere in Colorado". It's a beautiful area and very amusing and quaint, but the fact that dial-up is required because high-speed fiber into town has been resisted by the denizens of said town should tell you something. Their further insistance that the last thing they want their town to be is like Teluride should pretty much tell you all of the mindset that you need to know: archaic, quaint and damned determined to stay that way.
Incidentally, the area up here is very beautiful. If it weren't for this primitive tourist trap of a town and its related astronomical prices, I would really find nothing wrong with it. Granted, it's 2 hours from anything that could be remotely referred to as "civilization" and 5 hours from a major city, but it is really a nice place. This is the kind of place you could have a summer vacation house if the people weren't so militantly backwards.
Due to the increasing frustrations of trying to do anything in the neighborhood of good posting on this computer and a lack of access to my normal faire of disturbed linkage, I anticipate that I will be hit or miss on disturbed links until I get back to 1B.
Disturbed Link of the Day: What Women Really Want (warning, 1.7 Mb file)
Days Of Vacation Left: 5
Days Until Summer is Over: 15
Glorious Days of Living on 1B this Year : 1 (and holding, pending my return)[ 06/08/2003 ]
Disturbed Link of the Day: Inkblot Passwords?
I'm Gone Again!
Days Until Summer is Over: 17
Glorious Days of Living on 1B this Year : 1
I just ran by Randy's blog and from there was directed to Fred Reed's Fred on Everything. Fred is my new hero. He is my long-lost GodFather or something like that. I'm going back to read through all of the archives now. For those of you who were hoping that I wouldn't find anyone to feed my angst, cynicism and chauvinism, you just lost. Fred is also incredibly politically incorrect and quite amusing. Go read some of his columns... NOW![ 05/08/2003 ]
I think our Episcopalian brothers are in need of much prayer right now. Only God can make this one right...
RAH!
Incidentally, as the countdowns go, I leave tomorrow to stay in Fort Worth with Caleb and then depart for Colorado the following morning and due to the fact that I'm back on 1B, I'm not on the count for Apartment.
36 Days Lived in a Shitty Apartment!
Disturbed Link of the Day: Stupid Person's Guide to Life (thanks Gecko)
I'm Gone Again as of Tomorrow!
Days Until Summer is Over: 18
Glorious Days of Living on 1B this Year : 0
On a varied note, I'm kind of working on a disclaimer and this is what I've cooked up thus far:
"Warning! As you should have noted by the name of the blogger, this page purports, nay preaches the tenets and virtues of cynicism. Ignorance and idiocy are decried at every corner and if you are foolish enough to respond with your fallacious ass-babble, you might be flayed for all to see.
Oh yes, and I am prone to using "strong language" (terminology courtesy of Shem) and offending everyone whom I can get my hands on. This especially includes liberals, feminazis, queers, foreigners and pacifists althought that list is nowhere near all-inclusive. If you feel I've been neglecting your particular sect, let me know and I'll see if I can work you into the rotation.
And if you happen to be a member of some governmental agency or an administrator at a University which I hold near and dear to my heart, I would like to state for the record that anything posted here which might indicate some conflict between myself and a statute and guideline which I am required to uphold is either a misinterpretation, an error or a result of fictional prose on my part. I would never disobey the law... ever."
I'm pondering the fairly good odds that I won't be able to update to my blog daily whilst I am out of town in Colorado... and I guess I'm ok with that, as much as I'd really rather have my updates going up daily. After all, wouldn't it be better to take that time off and enjoy a good vacation? With luck, I might even keep good records and post them after the fact...
Well, it's time for sleep so that I will be able to do my moving tomorrow. I'll talk at you all soon.[ 04/08/2003 ]
I often proudly display my philosophy of cynicism to the world around me. I preach it and attempt to proselytize others with fervant lectures on the evils of humanity and the supreme depravity of the people one knows. After all, how can you trust anyone else when you know that you can't be trusted yourself? And thus, my relationships progress. Sure, I have a lot of people who I know and even know a fair bit about... but few know me as anything other than that funny cloaked who hates happy people.
When it gets right down to it... it might be because I don't trust people... and then there's the part that I might not wnat people to trust me. Think about it, in an honest friendship with someone, when they trust you, you become responsible to uphold that trust. Now granted, this is nearly always a reciprocated thing... but upholding a trust is a fairly serious thing. And guaranteed, sooner or later you will break that trust. You are a sinful, flawed, depraved human and you will let friends down and they will let you down.
Can you deal with this? I don't know if I can or not some days.
Here's a passage on trust that I thought might be pertinent...
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going."
Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."
Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:1-14 (NIV)
Disturbed Link of the Day: Twisted Poetry (thank Moore for this... not me)
Days Until I'm Gone Again: 2
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 36
Days Until Summer is Over: 19
Days Since it Last Rained : ??[ 03/08/2003 ]
Will post more details tomorrow...
Well.... I'm back. I got in yesterday more or less on time, no thanks to American. My flight from Dayton left late enough that they bumped me off of the connecting flight from O'hare to Dallas, even though I made it to the gate with a minute or two left to spare. Bastards... leaving me in freaking O'hare like that. The worst part was that the delay was due to a new traffic regulation system that they have for flying into O'hare so that they won't have congestion. We sat for 20 minutes on the ground after a 10-minute delay, waiting for the air traffic control clowns to clear us.
This would be twice now that I have had problems flying through O'hare, although as my single-serving friend on the flight from O'hare to Dallas pointed out, any problem that merely results in a delayed arrival in the same day is just a minor problem. Any problem that just results in inconvenience of having to hurry though airports (which is what happened to me) is merely that, an inconvenience. The fun stuff is when you get delayed overnight or they lose your luggage or temporarily misplace it for a week or two.
Anyways, all that said, it is much better to be in Longview and not flying around the entire country. Although, I'm doing more of that flying around stuff later this week... but I really don't think it'll be so bad seeing as that I won't be going through O'hare.
Disturbed Link of the Day: Get Paid to use Shitty Software
Days Until I'm Gone Again: 3
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 35 (and sadly, counting again)
Days Until Summer is Over: 20
Days Since it Last Rained : ??[ 02/08/2003 ]
And here's an odd quote from my friend Tim about a girl named Julia... "She's short... I could hit her with things, like cereal"
Disturbed Link of the Day: "Armed" Robbery?
I'm Flying Home Today!
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 34 and holding
Days Until Summer is Over: 21
Days Since it Last Rained : who cares?
Obviously, LU admin isn't going to fess up to actually reading a blog... that would be all kinds of balls and stuff and coming out from behind the smoke and mirrors. But for the rest of you, I'd love to hear how you are getting to me.[ 01/08/2003 ]
Outside of that, we hit bowling earlier on in the evening and I proved that I suck 90% of the time at it. I didn't even break 100... it was bad. Before that I had dinner with the good friends of the family and bummed around. It was a very good end to a very restful vacation. Now I'm just ready for it to be over with...
Disturbed Link of the Day: Optical Illusion (thanks to my little brother Jonny... best known to all of you as the source of the gargling sand joke)
I'm Back at School Tomorrow!
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 34 and holding
Days Until Summer is Over: 22
Days Since it Last Rained : who cares?
1) Be good at details. Memorize details in your head, take notes, do whatever the hell you have to... but I am not impressed when I order a mountain dew and get a water. I am notably less impressed when I order a steak and get a burger.
2) Be there. If I am out of a drink, you're already not doing your job. Now granted, I'm an oddball and anyone who's ever gone out to eat with me will note that if I'm thirsty, it's not uncommon for me to knock out the first 3 or 4 drinks within the first 30 seconds I have them. I'm willing to cut slack on this sort of thing, but if I've got less than a half a glass after leaving this kind of carnage behind me, someone should have the sense to get me another. I'm thirsty and I'm paying $2 for something that's costing the restaurant maybe $.10 ... get the hell on the ball, Junior.
3) Be happy. I know, I know, I'm the first person in the world to tell you that being happy all the time gnaws at me. But I'm depressive and pissed off enough for the entire world, I don't need the person who's supposed to be getting my food to help feed that. Plus, I (like most other people) tip better when they're happy... not when they're feeding off of your lack of happiness and enthusiasm.
4) Tell us what the hell is going on. If you don't have our food because that cook in the back is a jackass, we'll roll with that. Hell, we'll probably even forgive the offense and tip you better because you were straight with us and took the time to come by and mention what was up. Communication is a good thing.
5) Fast is good. The more of it you have, the happier we will be. If I order a drink and it's there before I can blink, we will be amazed and you will get a pat on the back. The reverse is also true though... if it takes you 30 minutes to get anything done, you will be hated.
The above are essential. If you don't do these, you will get the shaft. I am usually a generous tipper when my server is decent... 20% for even mediocre service. But when you start ignoring us and refill my drink 2 or 3 times in the hour that I'm there, or you drag things out to 2 hours due to slow service and ineptitude, I start getting vindictive. And when that happens, your tip starts to drop like a rock. I will leave a 25 cent tip to tell the waiter that, "No, I didn't forget your tip and yes I do tip, but you are such a worthless server that your service is worth about that much to me."
Now... advice for getting better tips.
6) Amuse me. If you have a sense of humor or have crazy talents, put them to play. I had a waitress once reduce our table to tears we were laughing so hard. She was there, she was on it, and she was hillarious. She got an absurd tip as I recall... something like $5 on a $10 tab. Look, we know you're whoring out for money... and we appreciate it.
7) Be on top of things. If we have some guy who keeps downing drinks, bring out 2 drinks for him and tell him that you're moving the tap to the table or something. Again, impress us that you know what's going on and you're looking out for us.
8) Give us stuff for free. I know some places you need to be around for a while or be in good to do this, but I guarantee you that if you don't charge us for the sodas, your tip will go up that much more... even if your service completely sucks.
Anyways, those are my pointers. Feel free to comment in your own.[ 31/07/2003 ]
Yes, I am the cheapest bastard in the world and I went and parked at Family Dollar in Covington so I wouldn't have to pay for parking. Wandering around the city for a while was fun and we got to see all of the wonderful baseball-themed art. Jenny also got to see a street named after Pete Rose and several signs about him. She had been curious earlier as to how I even knew who this guy was. Ignorant wenches...
We also got to hit Half-Price Books and Barnes & Noble on the way back before she had to cut out. It sure was a lot of fun showing someone around the place and getting to have a friend in town. I ought to do more of that... when I'm in town myself, that is.
After Jenny left, I picked the little brother back up from work and proceeded to go to a softball game and then bum around with Tim. We spent what should be nearly the last couple of hours working on Dan's computer and then went out to get a late night snack at Applebees'. Again, for the umpteenth time this vacation, I was cursed with a bad waiter.
At least this time, the problem was just that the guy was a rookie. But boy, was he a rookie. Granted, I'm a fairly demanding customer. But come on, 3 refills in 45 minutes? Ridiculous! To make matters worse, he jacked the checks all up, took forever and was never there when you wanted him. He also repeatedly forgot little things like napkins and kept bringing back the wrong drinks. In the end, we tipped him $1 on a $15 tab. Not too shabby considering we were going to just leave 50 cents until we started feeling bad for him.
That's all the news for the day... tune in tomorrow for the last day on sabbatical before the return to Texas.
Disturbed Link of the Day: Bury Me In a Pet Cemetery (thanks Wilson)
Days Until I'm Back at School: 1
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 34 and holding
Days Until Summer is Over: 23
Days Since it Last Rained : who cares?
[ 30/07/2003 ]
When would I pull the trigger? Endanger friends, family, loved ones, or maybe even just innocent people. Not sure on that last one, considering that I'm a private citizen and I really don't want to be getting involved in something that is going to get me potentially shot at by the police. But failing that, I think I'd be willing to kill someone to save innocents. Is there a slippery slope involved? Perhaps. Am I making a judgment call as to who lives and dies? Yes. Am I comfortable making this decision? About someone who is trying to kill my friends and family? Definitely. About someone who is trying to kill innocent people? Probably. Will I flinch before I pull the trigger? No... I'll leave the sorting things out to after I am out of potential danger.
Any takers care to take exception to my philosophy? Leave a message after the beep.
Disturbed Link of the Day: Best Tract Ever! (thanks Shem and Damian)
Days Until I'm Back at School: 2
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 34 and holding
Days Until Summer is Over: 24
Days Since it Last Rained : who cares?
Context? Alright... it's not really essential, but ok. Suppose some nut has a gun pointed at you and you have reason to believe that he'll shoot you if you don't do something... you have a gun pointed at him or have access to a gun and a quick enough draw that you know (or at least strongly suspect) that you could shoot first, would you? Could you?
Some people tell me that they couldn't do it for themselves but they could for a friend, loved one or child. Others say they'd have to think about it or that it would require getting over a lot of emotions. Some people initially say "sure" and then end up following it up with a lot of conditions that would have to be satisfied before they could do such a thing.
It's a fun question to think about in my mind simply because it's a fairly good indicator of how you respond to extreme situations and how you relate to others. Is it allowable to kill to save a life? Are you allowed to make such a decision? Could you make a decision to kill if given the means and the need?
And another fun question... what do you think my take on this is?[ 29/07/2003 ]
For my own benefit and yours, a list of things that one should do while in Cincinnati:
1) Go to Skyline
2) Go to a Red's Game
3) Eat Graeter's Iced Cream
4) Drink Jones
5) Eat at Panera (they're everywhere, but it's still good)
6) Go to the Books in Shandon
7) Eat at White Castle
8) Visit Union Terminal
9) See Fountain Square
Incidentally, Damian is updating his blog again (after a year away) and it's very amusing. I suggest you go check it out... especially the wonderful story of the ineptitude of our very own Physical Plant.
Disturbed Link of the Day: Text-Message Divorce?
Days Until I'm Back at School: 3
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 34 and holding
Days Until Summer is Over: 25
Days Since it Last Rained : who cares?[ 28/07/2003 ]
I can't believe this. A school for all gays?!? Someone has gone off their rocker and into the deep end. So now if you're gay you get better treatment than the other children in the school district? I've been down in this part of the world, and the schools suck. So now they have a gay magnet school so they can have some good PR for successful gay students? This is ridiculous.
And just on a side note, it would appear that blogger's date/time system is all jacked up.
Disturbed Link of the Day: Beer for the Homeless
Days Until I'm Back at School: 4
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 34 and holding
Days Until Summer is Over: 26
Days Since it Last Rained : who cares?
Losing people in your life sucks. If that's just that you move away from them for a couple of months (summer break), for an indefinite period (graduation, withdrawl from school and the like) or for a decidedly longer period (death) it is still a rather tragic occurence especially in the case of a good friend. This is one of the biggest problems with a specialized microcosm like a university. Undoubtedly you will meet many people, some of whom will become your friends. Every year, a group of these people moves away to possibly never be seen again this side of eternity. Every summer, you are separated from many of your friends for several months. And it would seem that damned near every break, we have someone die. Granted, there are at least as many meetings as partings in the course of an education, but it would seem that the partings are more memorable because they're more traumatic.
Of course, a place like LeTourneau exacerbates this problem even more than a normal institution. With slimy bastards like Bud perennially running the tuition up 5%, people start to be unable to afford the place. Add to that the environment where grace is all but absent in administrative interactions with students and a difficult academic setting that probably admits more students than it should, and you have a recipe for attrition. Not to say I have any grandiose solutions for this problem... I'm just saying it sucks.[ 26/07/2003 ]
Aside from going to church today, I went to a party for an old friend from church whom I rarely get to see anymore. It's kind of sad that we so rarely see each other, but she's doing really well and I'm really glad for her and proud of her. Yes, you heard that correctly... people who I've known that long tend to get a bit of "happy treatment" from the Cynic. Just don't go expecting any for yourself, after all I'm a stingy bastard who doesn't give out handouts.
Anyways, so that's that... and I'm looking forward to a visit from Jenny later this week. Hopefully that will help burn through these last couple of days here before I get out to go back to school.
Disturbed Link of the Day: Bowling For Columbine (thanks Anna)
Days Until I'm Back at School: 5
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 34 and holding
Days Until Summer is Over: 27
Days Since it Last Rained : who cares?[ 25/07/2003 ]
That's what I'd like to know!
This bottle is empty...
brought to you by Quizilla
Well... I just jumped on Moore's bandwagon and took the "Why is the rum gone?" quiz. I hate people who make quizzes that won't show you all of the results... but other than that it's a rather amusing and fairly good quiz.
I got up at a decently early hour today and went to bum around with my parents. Since I'm very rarely home and spending time with them, they even offered to go do the stuff that I wanted to do... which was pretty cool. First, we went up to this cool bookstore in a nearby little podunk town called Shandon. I bought $45 worth of books there (including another copy of The Prince for only $.50) and could have easily bought $100 more. Jonathan and Dr. Johnson would have loved the place... so many quality primary-source books and older histories. Stuff that a library as old as LU's should have but doesn't. You would think that if the LU library doesn't specialize in new stuff and has lots of old stuff, at least it would be good old stuff... and you'd be wrong. The LU library specializes in three things: being quiet, being vacant, and just sucking.
After that we went out to this cool little castle that some crazy old WW1 veteran built out in the middle of Loveland (another little town in the middle of Ohio.) I think he essentially built it because he thought it was cool (logic I can't disagree with) but his stated reasoning was something like this:
America is going to hell in a handbasket (note: the year is 1927) and something must be done, therefore I will re-establish the order of King Arthur and get a group of "knights" together to uphold this code of honor. All knights need a castle to be proper knights, thus I will build a castle.
Personally, I would have just stuck with "castles are cool... living in one would be even cooler... thus I will make a castle to live in." But hey, that's just me... and I wasn't the one educated in France so maybe that's the difference.
Anyways, now I'm back home scanning more pictures to finish up this powerpoint presentation and looking up some new and creative ways to spend money. Don't enjoy the disturbed link too much...
Disturbed Link of the Day: BANG! BANG! BANG! (thanks Stu)
Days Until I'm Back at School: 6
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 34 and holding
Days Until Summer is Over: 28
Days Since it Last Rained : who cares?
Take a look at this and tell me that something isn't all fucked up in the NFL. There is an unofficial decision made to interview at least one minority applicant for a coaching position (lip service)
and then a team is fined for failing to keep up appearances and pay their lip service to diversity. What kind of bullshit is that?
Look, I will freely admit that there would seem to be a disparity in minority coaches in the NFL. It's the good old boy network to the extreme and it's going to take time. But there is one solution that won't do anything: make all owners try and keep up appearances by interviewing people and then claim that this is an honest attempt at diversity. Either make an honest attempt or at least have the decency to man up and put some real subterfuge to work. Because this is utterly ridiculous...
Disturbed Link of the Day: Best Cuban Raft Ever
Days Until I'm Back at School: 7
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 34 and holding
Days Until Summer is Over: 29
Days Since it Last Rained : who cares?[ 24/07/2003 ]
Anyways, reading blogs I am once again reminded that people shouldn't start arguments with people like Jonathan if they're not willing to back up said arguments with anything other than empty rhetoric, strong words and the occasional insult. I tried to get the perma-links and it failed... so used the link to the pages instead.
Incidentally, I'm about fed up with Blogger permalinks. It's going to be stab time here really soon. I'm thinking that as soon as I can get back to my room to cancel my Camelot account, I'm going to start channeling the resulting cash towards payments for webspace and setting up a blog and a page out on the open 'net.
I'll probably be sitting here all afternoon scanning pictures and the like, so holler at me if you're so inclined.
Disturbed Link of the Day: "Star Wars Kid" Sues (here's the actual video)
Days Until I'm Back at School: 8
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 34 and holding
Days Until Summer is Over: 30
Days Since it Last Rained : who cares?[ 23/07/2003 ]
Now if only I had webspace to put some of said pictures on to amuse you all...
Just incidentally, I think that humans have something to learn from this beetle. We have a long way to go before our society is that advanced.
Disturbed Link of the Day: The Mythological State
Days Until I'm Back at School: 9
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 34 and holding
Days Until Summer is Over: 31
Days Since it Last Rained : who cares?
Last night my best friend, youngest brother and I had the joy of going out to eat at the local Perkins. I had a nagging thought in the back of my head that this might not be the best idea ever considering that the last time I had been there the service hadn't been so hot. Regardless, just about all alternatives for late-night dining were closed and so we went. In hindsight, we should have gone to Big Boy.
We knew it was going to be an interesting night when the greeter started talking. He seriously sounded like he was taking estrogen supplements and was about 40 years old and female as opposed to late-20s to early-30s and male. The demeanor and carriance indicated that he was VERY gay. It didn't bug me a whole lot, but it seriously bugged my two companions and provided for amusement during the next hour of mostly waiting.
We were seated and the waitress arrived about 15 minutes later... wonderful. We placed our orders and waited about 5 minutes for my coffee and their waters to show up. I really didn't feel like coffee especially, but the trick is that when you get coffee you also get a pot of coffee to keep yourself going. So about 20 minutes later, I still had half a pot of nasty coffee that needed four sugars to make it drinkable, but my counterparts were out of water.
Now, when this particular little motley crew feels neglected and ignored by the server, boredom kicks in and destructiveness is the rule. After burning through all of the sugar in my coffee and adding sugar to the salt, it was go time. Tim began taking little single-serving creamers and firing them into cups and this continued until the food actually arrived.
After eating our pittance of bad food, it was still go time. They had invoked the wrath of the vengeful diners and there would be no getting out of it by serving us shitty food in an untimely manner (about 45 minutes after we were seated.) The syrup was tempered with tobasco, the tobasco with salt and the surrounding environs had a coat of creamer shot unto them. I will note at this point that I did none of this, I merely made suggestions. I do have some level of decency, my best friend a lesser level, and my youngest brother virtually none. So after waiting another 15 minutes to see our waitress again, I went hunting for her to demand my bill. I'd been here for over an hour and my companions were threatening to go demolition crew.
After a 5-minute trek through the restaurant and another run-in with the gayest greeter ever, I found the waitress and managed to get her to give me my bill. Granted, I know how hard food service is and I could see that she was being overworked to the extreme last night, but I really don't like inferior service. If you aren't going to at least try and get back to me with water 10 minutes after I request it, your tip will suffer. We left a dollar tip on a $25 tab and left. Jonny half-heartedly suggested lighting the place on fire but I realy couldn't see what good that would do beyond forcing the owner to actually put money into the place. As we sped off into the night, I vowed never to return there if for no other reason than they might have figured out who added tobasco to every syrup server within our section. Yes, it was immature but it was also 1 am and we were getting bad service... what do you expect from a group of two bored college students and a bored high schooler?
I'm starting to suspect that it is... any thoughts from those of you with real motivation?[ 22/07/2003 ]
Being home is really starting to bore the piss out of me and even moreso that I really don't feel like being in town. The larger curse is that between reading books like a madman, watching movies and goofing around on a computer, I still can't manage to keep myself distracted. It may just be that I'm not very good at being an introvert when I'd like to be around people and am so used to having people around. After all, at school there's always someone to go do something with and I rarely have to just kill time by myself. I miss that and want it back.
Anyways, enough about my being a pathetic excuse for an introvert... here's the link and the stats.
Disturbed Link of the Day: Ode to Bad Commercial Art
Days Until I'm Back at School: 10
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 34 and holding
Days Until Summer is Over: 32
Days Since it Last Rained : who cares?
As soon as the stupor of sleep wears off, I will try and post a coherant thought or two. This will probably be after going clothing shopping (an activity which I loathe) so bear that in mind. I might have decided that this exercise in fueling my Chauvinism along with an interaction with the general public is a case-study justification in the euthanizing of most high school girls. Or maybe not... time will tell.
Random thought of the moment: If the saying "no brain, no headache" is true, why do women get headaches?[ 21/07/2003 ]
At 9 am this morning I was shaken awake by my mother and informed that she had rescheduled my dentist appointment (formerly scheduled for when I was going to be out of town) to this morning and that I needed to get up to be at the dentist's in an hour. Granted, she had just asked them to get me a cancellation and she had been informed only an hour before myself... but still. I REALLY hadn't wanted or planned on getting up before about noon today and thus was in a fairly grumpy and tired mood. To make matters worse, after speeding to make a 20 minute drive in 10 to make said appointment, they were 15 minutes late on my appointment. Stupid dentists... at least I didn't have any cavities.
Oh, and this evening was made eventful by referring to a "dumbass idea" as I was distracted and who should hear me say this but my mother. The sparks flew my way and I quickly and sheepishly apologized. I really need to get my brain focused on keeping me out of harm's way while I'm at home; this would have never happened in high school. Anyways, check out the jacked up link and thank the Good Lord that you live in America (unless you don't and then pray that you might be delivered here.)
Disturbed Link of the Day: British Judges Suck (c/o Wilson)
Days Until I'm Back at School: 11
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 34 and holding
Days Until Summer is Over: 33
Days Since it Last Rained : who cares?
Personally, at least in the past I was very rarely driven by ethics or "moral standards" but rather by my own standards which I referred to scruples. The basic difference in my lingo is this: ethics are based on an absolute external standard and scruples are merely actions taken in order to keep one from getting into trouble. Put simply, my scruples are intended to keep me out of jail and from getting arrested while ethics are to keep a level of moral decency. Currently, scruples take a back burner to ethics because many of my scruples are simply watered-down attempts at ethics that don't hamper my life as much.
A simple contrast of ethics and scruples. Ethics say don't lie and if one digs, one could even come up with a reasoning behind this imperative rooted in not deceiving and hurting others that resolves to the Golden Rule (do unto others as you would have them do unto you.) On the other hand, scruples say don't lie when you don't have to and if you have to, be good enough to not get caught. This scruple is based on life experience that the more you lie, the harder it is to keep the truth straight in your own head and the easier it is to have the whole damned house of cards come collapsing down around you. If it were expedient, scruples would have no problem with lying to everyone all of the time so long as one wasn't caught.
Of late I have come to this conclusion: ethics have a place and a reason otherwise our benevolent and omniscient God wouldn't have created His ultimate standard of perfection. A proper understanding of the character of God (probably the reason that it took so long for me) causes one to quickly come to this conclusion and thusly understand that in the end a failure to uphold this standard will result in hurting oneself or someone else. Of course, if one cares nothing for others or God ethics are largely pointless... therein the great gap between theists and everyone else. If the end all and be all is merely self, what reason for empathy or sympathy? Altruism is an idiotic farce by this standard and the only law of the land is to perpetuate self and continue living a good life. Scruples promote this and ethics merely get in the way... and thus you understand the existance and place of both sets of standards.[ 20/07/2003 ]
My brothers get back from their church trip today and that should be interesting. I've really missed them and look forward to spending some time with them. As I've referenced in the past, my parents have been split for over a year and need prayers. It looks like they're really trying to work on getting back together and have gone to a shrink and all of that, so ongoing prayer is greatly appreciated. All that to say is that it's really good to be home and I just hope that things are going to work out in my immediate family so that I can feel comfortable coming home again.
Disturbed Link of the Day: Birds of a Feather
Days Until I'm Back at School: 12
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 34 and holding
Days Until Summer is Over: 34
Days Since it Last Rained : who cares?
[ 19/07/2003 ]
Disturbed Link of the Day: Relationship Gone Horribly Wrong
Days Until I'm Back at School: 13
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 34 and holding
Days Until Summer is Over: 35
Days Since it Last Rained : who cares?
Disturbed Link of the Day: Liberian Soldiers in Drag (courtesy of Wilson)
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 34
Days Until Summer is Over: 36
Days Since it Last Rained : 5[ 18/07/2003 ]
[ 17/07/2003 ]
Disturbed Link of the Day: Old Man Can't Drive
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 33
Days Until Summer is Over: 37
Days Since it Last Rained : 4[ 16/07/2003 ]
Disturbed Link of the Day: Naked Paintball?
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 32
Days Until Summer is Over: 38
Days Since it Last Rained : 3
I'm going to be asking for a bit of help on the contributions to warped links for the next 2 weeks. I'm going to be home and ostensibly spending less time on my computer, less time posting, and more time out with friends. Granted, I'm sure my brothers will be able to contribute some warped links but there are only so many of the same sites about retards that you want to see... believe me. To that end, be sure to send me odd links that you come across (especially if you wouldn't post them yourself but think I would) and I'll see that they get posted and you get credit.[ 15/07/2003 ]
Disturbed Link of the Day: 2-inch Waist Corset (blocked for no reason I can discern)
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 31
Days Until Summer is Over: 39
Days Since it Last Rained : 2
Here's something to amuse you as I head off to work... it seemed to be the kind of comic that befits a man of my outlook on life.
[ 14/07/2003 ]
I love Rush as much as the next conservative and I love football as much as any other red-blooded American and while I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a publicity stunt, it will at least be interesting.
The general gist of the idea is to make a t-shirt with "Got wench?" printed on the front of it in the same font of the "Got milk?" ads. Now all I need to do is dig up the font and do some sampling with it to figure out how I'd like it to look. Incidentally, minimum order is 10 and while I'd love to have 10 of these shirts, the cost might be a bit much. It's looking like the cost per shirt will be under $10, so if you're interested in getting in on some of these wonderful shirts, let me know.
A note on the disturbed link: at first glance the page just looks a tad odd, not disturbed. But take a closer look and you'll realized that just about every frog looks smacked out of his respective mind and there are also several products that could easily double as shot-glasses and bongs.
Disturbed Link of the Day: Lilly Pad Store
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 30
Days Until Summer is Over: 40
Days Since it Last Rained : 1
Physical exertion? Even the roughest driving conditions imaginable aren't that physically exerting. There is definitely a mental level here, but if that's your only claim to fame, go drag chess into the ring. At least there is a good deal of skill required here, so I can give them credit... this doesn't make it a sport persay, but at least I can allow that they are competing. The biggest beef I have with NASCAR, besides the fact that it isn't any more of a sport by any definition that I can figure than mowing the lawn, is that it's SO DAMNED BORING. Some of you would say the same about baseball, and you're entitled to your opinion... but come on, 300 laps on the same course with only the occasional wreck to liven things up? That's ridiculous.
Anyways, that's my take on NASCAR. Indy-car, stock-car and shit are more or less the same. I'll tolerate drag-racing, because it's a quarter mile and around about the time I get bored, they're done.[ 13/07/2003 ]
It's been a fairly good and pleasant day, even by my standards: good food, good friends and good fun.
Disturbed Link of the Day: Woman vs. Cockroach
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 29
Days Until Summer is Over: 41
Days Since it Last Rained : 0
[ 12/07/2003 ]
I've been thinking about the coming year and stuff and I'm realizing more and more that I'm going to realy miss having Cowboy around. Last year during Philosophy of Death, it was talking with Cowboy for an hour after class and getting all of the related stress out of my system that enabled me to take that class without turning into a homicidal maniac. This spring, wandering with Cowboy and talking with him was one of the greater pleasures of the semester. He seems to have a unique perspective on life that agrees with mine and yet is completely different. I could really use that refreshingly insightful perspective right about now...
Disturbed Link of the Day: Stonehenge and Sex?
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 28
Days Until Summer is Over: 42
Days Since it Last Rained : 3
Homegrown warped links:
The Brit's Famous Ass
Airplane Porn
Assuming you are coming back for IMPACT, (I think) you have to be back on 8/14. Assuming you are not, you are back 8/24 (if you follow the rules.)
According to this math, you personally have anywhere from 33 to 43 days before you are back here... which is just over a month. Assuming you want to come back a bit early, I will find somewhere for you to stay* until you can check in... you have my word. Lest you think this bit of empathy and kindness is out of the ordinary, allow me to explain:
Last summer, I was ready to be done before the summer even started. My dad moved out in March and the last place I wanted to be was at home dealing with this. Within the first couple of weeks at home, word came back that Rebekah Gamwell, a good friend of mine, had died in a car accident. I never did find a well-paying, steady job: I settled for temp agency work and Kroger, often going for a week or two between jobs. In short, summer sucked hard.
So if you're just ready to be done with summer, or if it's beating the living hell out of you, let me know. We'll see what we can do for you.*
*Note: These housing arrangements shall be in no way construed to be anything less than in full compliance with LeTourneau University policy and will be in only those places sanctioned by Residence Life Staff, the Trustees, Bud, and the Pope.[ 11/07/2003 ]
1) Course-work at LU corresponding with a semester with Phys Plant Custodial
2) Wench Training Consulting
The former would be, of course, part of the normal LU course-work for wenches. The latter, on the other hand, is a specialized business in which I am involved in order to propogate the occurence of well-trained young ladies within society. You will note that your typical LU wench is not a lady and a good number of your run-of-the-mill wenches outside of the bubble aren't either. My training program can change all of that.
Rates are available on demand and take into account the current state and skillset of the wench in question. Talk to me for LU student discount and referral bonuses.
Disturbed Link of the Day: Brides For Sale
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 27
Days Until Summer is Over: 43
Days Since it Last Rained : 2
Disturbed Link of the Day: It's Raining Electronics
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 26
Days Until Summer is Over: 44
Days Since it Last Rained : 1[ 10/07/2003 ]
Disturbed Links of the Day:
A class I wish LU offered
Topic for a new Honors history elective
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 25
Days Until Summer is Over: 44
Days Since it Last Rained : 0[ 09/07/2003 ]
Upon arrival at LU, all wenches must spend 10 hours a week for one semester working with the Physical Plant custodial crew. This will enable them to be better women.
Think about it... custodial crew teaches many of the valuable things that a wench needs to know how to do: cleaning windows, scrubbing floors, vacuuming, cleaning bathrooms, washing sinks, cleaning up after people... this job is the one of the best wench-training tools ever. If every LU wench worked there for at least one semester they could gain many of the skills necessary for doing woman's work. Granted, many will still need to learn cooking, gardening and the art of caring for her man, but that's what specialized Wench Training Consultants are here for... assuming that a man can't train his wench himself.
Incidentally, the Cynic is a specialized Wench Training Consultant with a great resume, exceptional skill, and affordable prices. Please don't hesitate to call...[ 08/07/2003 ]
Note: Blogger perma-links are kinda screwy... the post referenced should appear at the very top of your browser window.
Before someone beats me to the punch on Hulk...
Disturbed Link of the Day: Hulk Doll upsets parents
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 24
Days Until Summer is Over: 45
Days Since it Last Rained : 0
How do you deal with the loss of a friend?
How do you cope when hope comes to an end?
Do you sigh? Do you sob? Do you break down and cry?
Or do you resolve yourself to just asking Him why?
Remember The hope lost is less than the hope that is found.
In the end, in eternity, is where hope is sound.
It just seems that every damned summer, I lose more friends. Here's to hoping that summer finds you well and remember that in just over a month school starts again. That's the thought dragging me through the summer.
Look, I'm a shitty poet... I don't need you to tell me that. It just expresses my sentiments on the matter and I'll thank you to leave it alone. Otherwise, I'll illustrate how much better I am at profane and derisive limericks.
At least I'm not dreaming about chess anymore... usually...
Update: It's lunch time... I just worked Grounds Crew all morning and I'm hot, sweaty, tired and staring in a blank stupor off into space.[ 07/07/2003 ]
Link 1 (blocked)
Link 2 (blocked)
Link 3
You may only continue to call me happy after linking and exploring the above sites.
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 23
Days Until Summer is Over: 46
Days Since it Last Rained : 0
The scariest thing about this is that I have more friends like Mike than I care to admit. Granted, I would have killed Kharisma (or given her advise to step out in front of a car) years ago, but I would probably also encourage Mike to keep stalking her. I guess I'm just a cruel asshole who would take a stalker for a friend over a self-absorbed (albeit good-looking) wench any day.
Incidentally, I'll be leaving 7/19 and returning 8/2. If I bother formatting the html so that it looks right in blogger, I might even post my itinerary.
For instance, if there is a trained assassin who will kill anyone who gets between him and his target, this individual is obviously a liability. Rather than allowing multiple people to die at his hands, his life should be forfeit. Granted, given enough time you can decapacitate him so that he cannot kill anymore, but the odds are good that in that time, he will kill more innocents. I would kill him the first chance I got, before he had a chance to do his worst.
Is this playing God? Probably. On the other hand, the question of the ends justifying the means is typically a thorny one. However, when given circumstances that are this easy to rectify and the means is killing a murderer to justify an end result of saving countless lives, this just isn't a rough decision. At least, not in my pragmatic and Machiavellian mind.[ 06/07/2003 ]
Update: allegedly Maria is discontinuing this new blog as well... right after I went to the effort to link it too. Go figure.
Anyways, down to the data of the day... and to make up for the disturbed link of the other day I would even recommend this link to people like Anna.
Disturbed Link of the Day: Star Spangled Ice Cream
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 22
Days Until Summer is Over: 47
Days Since it Last Rained : 0
I am always slightly amused by the variations in my own personality when it comes to interacting with people. I am fond of quoting sayings such as "nice guys finish last" and breaking out my own cynical and chauvinist rhetoric. This veneer along with the well-practiced routine of quips and wise-cracks tends to stay up throughout about 95% of my interactions with the outside world.
Sooner or later, some people hang around me to the point where they realize that the veneer isn't as solid as it appears at first glance and there really is a depth hidden behind the iron-clad veneer. Depending on how trustworthy an individual is deemed, they manage to see beyond the initial barrage of sarcasm and smartass remarks to at least some well thought-out sarcastic insights. This is where nearly all of the remaining 5% lives.
Finally, there is a remaining 1% of people who know me very well. Somehow they've managed to get past the hard exterior and the seemingly vicious reactions to outsiders and see a bit into the real Cynic. I'm not sure how this happens, but it does from time to time. Oddly enough, one of the fastest ways to get there is to be in the middle of an emotional crisis in my presence. For all of my hard talk, I can't stand to see a friend in pain... especially if they start crying. Tears are my own personal kryptonite. While years may get someone into my trust, transparency and honesty in hardship are things that seem to bypass all of my cynicism and skepticism.
Granted, there are manipulative bitches out there who could use this to their advantage and indeed have in the past. You'd be amazed at the quality acting that some wenches can pull off. But eventually, the truth will come out... and be wary of the vengeance of angry and betrayed men. If there was a case where I'd hit a bitch, this would be it. After all, there's a special place in hell for manipulative bitches, and I'm sure it's full of rapists and pedophiles.
Anyways, I'm not sure what prompted all of that... maybe remembering my ex, the manipulative bitch and the hellish relationship that was started on the 4th between my Senior year in high school and my Freshman year here. All that to say is, well, um.... yeah....[ 05/07/2003 ]
There are really only two things stopping me:
1) setting up on a pay server requires me to pay
2) it will require a vast amount of effort to migrate this blog over to Movable Type so I don't lose archives
Come to think of it, if I were to set up my blog on my own webspace, I might end up investing lots more time in it anyways so that I can have a setup that I like rather than what I have now. Food for thought as I sit here and curse at the Enetation commenting system I have chosen to use.
Disturbed Link of the Day: Cheapass Games
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 21
Days Until Summer is Over: 48
Days Since it Last Rained : 1
Which LeTourneau Professor Are You?
Dr. Andy Woodring, Biblical Studies
brought to you by Quizilla
Thank you for spending the time on putting the fun pictures together and doing up the quiz Shem.
Incidentally, I think I'm going home for two weeks at the end of the month to whom it may concern. Where I go from there is anyone's guess, but two weeks is about the limit that I can stay at home and still feel like I'm visiting rather than becoming re-assimilated. This may be a good or bad thing, but this summer I really don't feel like going home to stay, so to speak.
I will comment on the disturbed link as if you are female and/or one of my more gentle readers, you really shouldn't go to this link. And if you do, don't say I didn't warn you...
Disturbed Link of the Day: Why The Sea is Salty
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 20
Days Until Summer is Over: 49
Days Since it Last Rained : 0[ 03/07/2003 ]
And this guy's blog never ceases to amaze and amuse me every time I read it.
Incidentally, the shot went off without a hitch short of my bleeding all over my shirt immediately afterwards. I highly recommend the Gregg County Health Clinic to anyone in or near Longview who needs shots. The shots are free and the people who give them are damned good at what they do.
Disturbed Link of the Day: The Crystal Children
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 19
Days Until Summer is Over: 50
Days Since it Last Rained : 0
I can still remember the first shot I had to get in conscious memory. I don't remember why it was such a traumatic ordeal (other than that they were poking me with a needle) to start with, but my father was teasing me about it for about a year prior to it and my brothers caught on. I seem to remember them making up some stupid little ditty with which to torment me in reference to this event. And they wonder why shots bug me. After they stuck me with the needle, they had to give me smelling salts to prevent me from fainting.
Next event on record (as best as I can figure) would be somewhere around age 10 or 12 I had to get a cholesterol test. This isn't as bad as a shot, it's worse. Especially when the pathetic nurse pricked my thumb with a lancet and was trying to milk a thimbleful of blood out of it. This process took at least a minute and it was sickening me quickly to watch her nurse my blood out of my arm. I started getting queasy and warned her that I was going to throw up. She didn't listen and kept milking and sure enough boom! all over the stupid nurse. She deserved it. On the other hand, come to think of it, it may be bad karma from this even that keeps getting me barfed on. Anyways... suffice to say it wasn't a pretty sight.
Now, I've never been overseas to the point that I needed extra vaccination, and I've never needed allergy shots. I think if either were true of me, I'd probably have gone crazy. Beyond these events, there was the Hepatitus B shot where the nurse left the needle sitting in my arm for an extra 5 seconds and I damn near killed her or the anesthesia IV that kept falling out as I was prepped for having my wisdom teeth removed... so suffice to say I've got a wonderful track record with needles. Sounds like lots of fun and games in store for today, let me tell you what...[ 02/07/2003 ]
I worked a full 8 hours today and tried very hard to get a tetanus shot. Unfortunately, shots are only available at the Gregg County Health Clinic from 12:30 to 4 and I got there are 4:30. So I guess it's not 8 hours tomorrow... oh darn (hear the sadness in my voice.)
Disturbed Link of the Day: White Trash World (blocked)
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 18
Days Until Summer is Over: 51
Days Since it Last Rained : 6[ 01/07/2003 ]
And the damned RA made tomorrow room inspection day as of this morning.
Disturbed Link of the Day: Slo Mo
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 17
Days Until Summer is Over: 52
Days Since it Last Rained : 5
For those in administration who keep telling us that fences discourage an open community, I have this challenge. Come park alongside us and do what you would encourage us to. Let's see just how long your attitude stays this way when your car is broken into, your friend's is stolen and your roommate's is vandalized. What does it say when damned near every laundry change machine on campus has been stolen at some point or another. It tells me that open community is for the birds. I want guard towers with armed guards. Give security a handgun and a shotgun and let's weed out the local ingrates. At the very least, electrify the damned fence.[ 30/06/2003 ]
Disturbed Link of the Day: Hero Machine
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 16
Days Until Summer is Over: 53
Days Since it Last Rained : 4
Disturbed Link of the Day: Richard Sandrak
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 15
Days Until Summer is Over: 54
Days Since it Last Rained : 3[ 29/06/2003 ]
KILL THE IDIOTS!!
It works something like this. At birth, every person will be fitted with a black box that traces where they go and records any sound around them. This data is aggregated along with information from all places of employment, schools, etcetera. At age 18, all of this data is analyzed to determine whether or not someone is an idiot... assuming that they don't do something previous to this to merit instant termination. If they are an idiot, someone worthy gets to kill them.
Right now I'm appointing myself to this task for at least the first 1000 idiots. I'm figuring that there will be two categories of idiots: harmless and painful. Harmless idiots get a bullet to the head. Painful idiots caused undue suffering to the intelligent people around them and thusly are handed over to a worthy individual who has volunteered for the job of killing them.
Support and suggestions are encouraged.[ 28/06/2003 ]
Who the hell introduced her to C-4? Someone should know better than to introduce innocent previewers/freshmen to him. It's a recipe for disaster. It's like handing a person susceptable to addiction over to an experienced crack-head... it just shouldn't be done.
Disturbed Link of the Day: Christian Hedonism
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 14
Days Until Summer is Over: 55
Days Since it Last Rained : 2
That said, Stu has seen fit to incur my wrath by posting his insights which go something to the effect of "The Cynic is a happy person."
Actually, I'm not really mad at Stu, but it felt good to say that. Stu has just chosen to take the words that I use and apply a fundamentally different definition. In his mind, a happy person is merely a person who is fun to have around and generally tends to make you feel better by having them around. I think I'll take that as a compliment. That said, this is hardly my definition of a happy person. Also, to further denote the difference between my rather unconventional definition and the usual, I define my variety of moron as a "Happy People*."
Happy Person (Stu's Definition): A person who tends to make you happy.
Happy Person (average definition): A person of a generally positive demeanor, tending to be jovial
HAPPY PEOPLE*: Someone who chooses to be happy with regards to the world around them and maintains this false happiness by ignoring all negative aspects of said world.
So thanks for the compliment Stu. But call me a Happy People* and I'll stab you with a dull knife, rip your intestines out and manually castrate you with them.
*said, as always, with as much disdain as you can muster. You really ought to hear me do this, I occasionally impress myself with how much disdain I can muster.[ 27/06/2003 ]
What Matrix Persona Are You?
You are Agent Smith, from "The Matrix."
No one would ever want to run into you in a
dark alley. Cold as steel, tough as a rock,
things are your way or the highway.
brought to you by Quizilla
[ 26/06/2003 ]
I could make generally amusing insights into Sam's love life and educate him on the word "fiasco." But instead, I think I'll just laugh and point out that so far as I know, I'm still in the running for my $5.
Incidentally, it didn't rain yesterday that I know of but today when Gecko and I went outside we were greeted with a deluge. Fun stuff that damned East Texas Rain...
Oh, and when you check out this great disturbed link of the day, be sure to check out the Nazi Sheep. Here's a little preview:
Disturbed Link of the Day: Stoned Gecko
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 12
Days Until Summer is Over: 57
Days Since it Last Rained : 0[ 24/06/2003 ]
I'm just doing some quick math and figuring that if I road-trip and bum for roughly a month, that just leaves a month of summer left to agonize through. There's a happy thought. As I've said before, if you want to be included in the road trip, if you have a place for us to stop, if you want to be picked up and leave for school early, let me know. If you're concerned about getting back to school too early and not having a place to stay, we can work with you on that too. I have friends, enemies and neighbors who will be willing to put early arrivals up, especially those whom our friendly Res Life staffers won't let move in.
I usually avoid linking up "disturbed news" for links of the day, but the last line in this article disturbed the hell out of me.
Disturbed Link of the Day: Tongue Forking
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 10
Days Until Summer is Over: 59
Days Since it Last Rained : 2
[ 23/06/2003 ]
Here's some advice for those who are of a similair mindset to myself: avoid spending appreciable amounts of time with wenches. They start to cause you to act like a decent person... very bad if you are an asshole like I am.
People are always referring to me as the bad influence, but I'm not the one who's inducing nice actions. The nerve of some people...
Anyways, off of that odd little diatribe and on to other news of the day.
We are considering doing some random roadtripping in August. If you want to participate in this event of random wandering across the country, let me know. No promises, but if you want to get away from your home or wherever you are a couple of weeks early, get ahold of me now before we make plans of any sort...
Disturbed link of the Day:Tucker Max
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 9
Days Until Summer is Over: 60
Days Since it Last Rained : 1
My first target is Bri... you've gotta pick on the LU Admissions liar... you've just gotta.
Next up, for a bit of a stretch in my aim, I go for two rows down and about 10 seats over and go head-hunting for the Limey Brit... SCORE! I manage to hit the Brit and graze the penny off of his fiancee while I'm at it. Dunny flips me the bird, ignoring the presence of the children. The children fail to see the act: no harm, no foul.
Next target is Corey. Corey is sitting behind the Brit and Q, another shot, another hit.
Note: up until this point, all of the targets have known that I was the one throwing the pennies... Corey is apparently ignorant to this fact (unbeknownst to me at the time.) As I sit back and scope out more targets, the real fun begins.
Corey, noting that the Brit had been looking around and holding a penny not more than 30 seconds earlier, assumes that Dunny threw said penny at him. Thus, he holds his drink over Dunny's head and attempts to shake a drop of condensation unto the Brit's head. The drop holds on with uncommon tenacity and as Corey works his magic, he manages to pour a good splash of coke (or whatever was in that cup) unto Dunny's head in lieu of the drop. Corey is shocked, Dunny is confused and pissed, Querida is slightly amused and confused, and I am rolling in my chair laughing my ass off. This gets better when Dunny asks Corey why he did this and Corey responds "because you threw that penny at me." I realize that this attack should have been meant for me as Dunny turns, glares and explains. I am nearly in tears from laughter.
Does it end? Nay, it gets better.
Doug and Brent have brought their families (including small sons) to the game. Each (along with Stephen) has a pre-k son. The three boys cavort around, extol the virtues of the Rangers and deride all Astros fans as only pre-pubescants can, "you better stop cheering for them!"
I pelted them with pennies, and again they knew not their benefactor. Doug's boy was pleased and confused, Steve's boy was glad for the penny, and Brent's boy didn't even stop cheering to wonder about the source of said penny. Brent's daughter was also a beneficiary of a penny and she was greatly confused as to its source. Bri and Joy attempted to tell her that I had done it, but I acted confused and pointed her towards Corey. After much convincing and Corey being dumb enough to throw a quarter to the boys, all were convinced that he was at fault.
Prompt me later for more details on this, I am tired and need sleep and am ceasing to make much sense.[ 21/06/2003 ]
Last night a group of us went over to Chuck-E-Cheese in Tyler. It pretty much blew, I don't reccomend you do the same. The pizza was very good as far as Chuck-E-Cheese goes and actually would merit eating more often if it wasn't both overpriced and located 30 minutes away. The company beat out the food and the lousy selection of crappy games by a long shot. I remembered that I hate the damned rat maze tubes as much as ever and that the ball pits still stink like pee. All in all, I remembered why I usually avoid Chuck-E-Cheese. On the bright side, we did pool our meager stockpile of tickets (we were even bright enough not to spend more than $10 on tokens between Anna, Crackhead, Stu and I.)
In other news, I've lived in this damned apartment for a week and it's still a mess. I really ought to go clean more stuff up, but I really just can't bring myself to expend the effort. I should, but I just can't seem to motivate myself to do it.
After almost 3 years of staying away from OSes that avail themselves to usage for "alternative means" I am installing Linux again. I tried installing Redhat and it crashed and decided to deactivate my USB ports during the installation, thus leaving me without a keyboard and mouse for an hour or so. Thusly, I have recalled the reason why I had switched over to Debian. Because I'm still a bit rusty, I'm gonna stick with something simple (the only other cds I had around were Mandrake) before going either back to Debian or over to Gentoo. We'll see what happens.
Incidentally, it's down to less than 9 weeks until summer is over. Oh, and I was doing some math and I'm pretty sure we haven't had a totally dry day since moving to these damned apartments. I hate rain.
Disturbed link of the Day:Ouchy The Clown
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 7
Days Until Summer is Over: 62
Days Since it Last Rained : 0[ 20/06/2003 ]
Orrin Hatch is a hypocritical bastard.
Disturbed link of the Day: Some Typical Egyptians (according to Gecko)
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 6
Days Until Summer is Over: 63[ 19/06/2003 ]
[ 18/06/2003 ]
Disturbed link of the Day:Man Runs Over Criminals' Car
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 4
Days Until Summer is Over: 65
[ 17/06/2003 ]
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 3
Days Until Summer is Over: 66
How would you kill someone
You would make them suffer
brought to you by Quizilla
I might actually stab someone or run them through with a sword, but this is where the true sadist in me comes out...
Mmm... nothing like reading about Hillary sucking on my computer that's now working as I contemplate revenge to end off a good break.
The primary tenet of Cynicism is that you can't trust peoples' motives. Further, you can't trust people period. Think about it, from the least to the greatest, just about everyone has been let down or even stabbed in the back by someone they trusted. Even Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot. Granted, Jesus knew this was coming, but that's beside the point. The problem is that you can't trust imperfect people.
You can't trust yourself either, but at least that's more or less something that you manage to fuck up on your own. The decisions of other people are more or less completely out of your hands. Thusly, the inherant mistrust of others on the part of the Cynic. He sees what he has done to others, he sees what his friends do to others and he is under no illusion that circumstances somehow uniquely favor him. In the end someone he trusts will betray him, but in order to keep the damage down to a bare minimum, he scrutinizes every motive and every action of every person who professes to treat him kindly.
And sometimes even the Cynics among us are lax and are brought down a few pegs. That's been the case with this Cynic in the past and will continue to be so until the end of time...[ 16/06/2003 ]
Incidentally, apparently I made the mistake of the summer a week or so back by falling asleep in the John Thomas Lobby. Anna apparently took a picture involving myself, the Judge and a smiley face. The bitch is as I was lying there tired, I SPECIFICALLY REMEMBER wondering if falling asleep was a good idea and glancing around and figuring that Anna and Gecko wouldn't let anyone screw with me while I was asleep. Gecko was asleep for most of the time, so I guess I can't fault him for most of what went on and he did retreive the stolen Judge.
I'm probably just making a big deal of nothing and I haven't seen the pictures myself, but it's one of those things that I rarely let my guard down as a cynic and now I feel like an idiot for doing so and am ashamed for not abiding by my own standards. If you're going to preach a philosophy, stick with it or you'll be mad at yourself when you don't. And that's the Cynic's lesson for the day.
Screwy Link of The Day: Toilet Ice
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 2
Days Until Summer is Over: 67[ 15/06/2003 ]
Sadly, this marks but another chapter in the passing of the summer that is coming to be known as "not as shitty as last summer, but not great either." Instead of the Shitty Dorm, whose days occupied is finalized at 38, we are now in the Shitty Apartment. All in all, life is good though as I sit here preparing to set up my new computer. But alas, I am a lazy bastard so there will be no link of the day until tomorrow and no blow-by-blows about relationships that aren't.
No More Stupid Fire Alarms!!!
Days of Living in a Shitty Apartment: 1
Days Until Summer is Over: 68[ 12/06/2003 ]
Now the bastards are getting angry with the US for not joining the ICC. You know, as Dunny so aptly noted, after this exemplary display by Belgium in attempting to sue Gen. Tommy Franks for war crimes I really have no trust for the EU. They claim that they would never use frivolous charges in the court to make political statements and then Belgium pulls this shit? Why should we ever believe that joining the ICC would be a good idea?
On to local news, it would appear that life in this shitty dorm endes either tomorrow or Saturday. Not sure which apartment I'll be in, but anything's better than the John. On a side note, this means that my phone number is changing again. Not sure what it will be, but to whom it concerns I will try and find out and pass that along.
Screwy link of the day: AmpuLove
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 4
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 36
Days Until Summer is Over: 71
I hope I'm not like that to anyone and am just oblivious to the fact that my presence is painful. I know that I pride myself in making sure that people that I hate being around have a strong negative vibe. I would hope that I'm not that oblivious if someone were to want me to get the hell away.[ 11/06/2003 ]
Screwy link of the day: Dancing Paul
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 3
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 35
Days Until Summer is Over: 72
Here's a sample conversation I had with an idiot to encourage you to come help me in the good fight. The italicized was written by an idiot with the user name of Kwai. The grey is my response.
I think the question arises, is it stealing? No, it's sharing. It is no more a crime to share my $500 software than it is to share my $5 comic books.
Someone's trying to salve his conscience
The net is just a large sharing place for information and that is what software is. This is not about piracy it is about companys adapting to a flux in supply and demand. There is more supply of software because more people are sharing it and thus we want less. Come on look at how inefficient we are; we buy a book, we read it, and what do we do? We leave it to gather dust. So we put it to good use, give it to the public library, they know how to use a little bit of information quicker. Is my library a criminal for sharing? How different is the net from a library? Not much! Well, if sharing software is a crime, they it's time to close down the public library cause they share software, movies, music and books. And I don't see why these things can't be all on the net, free to distribute and use by everyone.
Umm... about that. There's this fundamental difference involved with books to the effect that everyone can't be using a book at once. Further, if a library buys a book and 20 people read it, the author still gets compensation and there is a greater likelihood that one of those readers will either buy the book at a later date or buy a book by that same author. The equivalent of what you're talking about would be running photo-copies of a book for 1,000 people.
You display a fundamental ignorance in the realm of economics bordering on criminal stupidity. It needs to be realized that your POS comic books can be cranked out at a dime a dozen. Software requires years of development with hundreds of developers. The enormous overhead is substantially more than the money required to write a comic book plot, draw it and ink it. Thus, software updates are released annually or every other year while comic books abound by the dozens and most shitty authors can manage to do numerous ones.
Controling the use of any of these forms of human ideas on the net for the sake of greed of some company, is in it's essence Nazi reminicent.
Oh fuck, he just brought out the Nazis. *throws up hands in defeat*
I hate you Kwai. I hate the fact that you are a fucking moron and you don't know it. And I hate the fact that I am irresistably compelled to respond to your idiocy with logic. Mostly, I hate the fact that this will do nothing to dispel your idiocy and you will continue on in your foolish ways.
So there you have it. The actual thread is here, if you want to read the even higher-quality repartee that followed.[ 10/06/2003 ]
Screwy link of the day: Khai
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 2
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 34
Days Until Summer is Over: 73[ 09/06/2003 ]
[ 08/06/2003 ]
Here's a link to the dissident frogman, where you will find good conservative commentary and a very well-done cinematic clip on the war in Iraq.
Screwy link of the day: Khai
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 0
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 32
Days Until Summer is Over: 75[ 07/06/2003 ]
Screwy link of the day: Bicepmania
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 4
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 31
Days Until Summer is Over: 76
I can almost see a shred of validity in not wanting to get the picture taken on religious grounds, if you weren't already toting around a criminal record. If child welfare workers have deemed you unfit to raise children and have taken yours from you, that is a problem. Even bigger than this (though the ACLU adamantly denies this is a valid concern) is the fact that this ruling sets a precedent. Thankfully, it sets a good one rather than allowing one to essentially not have a picture on a valid picture id. Hey Wilson, wanna play identity swap?
Incidentally, here's a list of ID rules in several Muslim countries relating to driver's licenses:
Saudi Arabia: Women aren`t allowed to drive
Iran: Women wear a traditional chador, which does not cover the face.
Egypt: Women do not cover their face in I.D. pictures
United Arab Emirates: Women do not cover their face in I.D. pictures
Oman: Women do not cover their face in I.D. pictures
Kuwait: Women do not cover their face in I.D. pictures
Qatar: Women do not cover their face in I.D. pictures
Bahrain: Women do not cover their face in I.D. pictures
Jordan: Women can drive if their faces are covered but do not cover their face in I.D. pictures
Short of the Saudi Arabian solution, I'm guessing we're not exactly breaking with any Muslim countries. Not that I'd mind the Saudi solution, mind you...[ 06/06/2003 ]
Screwy link of the day: More Strangeness (thanks Dunny)
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 3
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 30
Days Until Summer is Over: 77
And Gecko wishes he was friends with this crab.[ 05/06/2003 ]
I'm not sure where this is coming from in the heirarchy (and I intend to find out) but it would appear that ResLife is going to try and make us move out on a day or two notice down to the apartments at some point within the next week. The best part of this is that the announcement is coming down as all of the RD's and Doug are off at some conference. More to come as I get information...
Screwy link of the day: Pointless Amusement (thanks Dang)
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 2
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 29
Days Until Summer is Over: 78
Update: I've gotten several people asking me "Is that a girl or a guy?" I don't know... I guess it's just a Pat.
Alright, I love John Ashcroft as much or more than the next guy. That said, this disturbs me more than a little.
The Patriot Act's vacating of significant safeguards against the government's abuse of private citizens disturbed me enough. Now they want to allow indefinite imprisonment and the ability to pursue the death penalty for "acts of terrorism?" Does anyone else smell a New York City Sewer Rat the size of a school bus?
I share the mindset of most Americans in the desire not to be terrorized. However, I think that desire extends to my government. If Congress passes this shit and the Supremes sit idly by, we could be in for some real trouble.[ 04/06/2003 ]
"Just remember, I don't think they let you MRS majors graduate without a man. It would be like graduating engineers without making them take math... you'd be sending them out unprepared and setting them up for failure." - me
You know how much we all love the MRS majors around here.
Screwy link of the day: 0100101110101101
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 1
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 28
Days Until Summer is Over: 79[ 03/06/2003 ]
Oh, on the topic of Dune and the Herbert Family... I agree with you C-4, Brian should have never been allowed to pervert Frank's work. They should have gone and found real talent to do the writing and let that be that.
And of other great amusement is the fact that Anna seems to be affronted and upset by my referring to her "MRS Major" as such.
I guess the long and short of this is that I seem to be upsetting the whole world. If anyone is uspet to the point of wanting to react, you should know where I am. But while you're waiting, check out Dunny's look at LU blocking Christian blogs. Way to go IT.
I got my cd from Dang. It's even fairly well done. I'm impressed.
There are several things knocking around in my head that I could post on, but seeing as none of them are developed to the point where the benefit exceeds the danger imposed by angering various individuals, I'll refrain for now. Oh, just as an aside, listen to Italian Leather Sofa by Cake. It's on the Fashion Nugget album. If you happen to be in Longview and come by my room, I just might play it for you if you ask nicely. We'll see.
Screwy link of the day: Cat Prin
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 0
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 27
Days Until Summer is Over: 80[ 02/06/2003 ]
Anyways, being at home was good times. I went and got Skyline and White Castle with good friends. I also got to go to church with my mom and brothers and see all of my good friends from there. I also got to go to my brother's graduation and party, so all in all it was a great experience. My only regret is that I wasn't able to stay as long as I would have liked. I guess this will make me look forward to going home later this summer as opposed to being upset about going home, so that's good. I was going to write more about it and give a more in-depth report... but I'm feeling lazy. More later...
Screwy link of the day: Black People Love Us
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 3
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 26
Days Until Summer is Over: 81
The Gecko Man
And here's something to get Sam in trouble...
"Stupid thing to assume for the day, your woman will understand." - Sam Daimwood[ 01/06/2003 ]
In any case, I have a new screwy link of the day, but I'm unsure if it's blocked. I guess I'll find out...
Screwy link of the day: Happy Tree Friends (everyone agrees it's twisted)
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: *ON VACATION*
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: *ON VACATION*
Days Until Summer is Over: 82[ 31/05/2003 ]
I'm up at home in Ohio to witness my brother Geoff's graduation. I haven't mentioned it up until this point because it was a suprise to all up here. I don't know if anyone from home reads this, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. I'm about to head out to party, but I'll give more update info later...
Screwy link of the day: *ON VACATION*
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: *ON VACATION*
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: *ON VACATION*
Days Until Summer is Over: 83[ 30/05/2003 ]
Screwy link of the day: Extreme Ironing
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 0
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 25
Days Until Summer is Over: 84
cynic: noun
a faultfinding captious critic; especially : one who believes that human conduct is motivated wholly by self-interest
cynical: adjective
having or showing the attitude or temper of a cynic; especially : contemptuously distrustful of human nature and motives
Now that I've got the definition of those words cleared up...
I've heard the accusation that cynicism is counterproductive and destructive. From a Christian perspective I see no other alternative. Humanity is fallen, period, end of story. Anyone want to argue on that one?
So if we can pretty much assume that people are depraved and sinful, why should we trust their motives or believe that they act from altruism?
Now that we've got that out of the way, we have to address the issue of Happy People*. Simply put, Happy People* are those who have decided that their perspective has no correlation with circumstances. In short, their method of coping with life is, "so what if life sucks? It's not bothering me... let's all be happy." Happiness is not an outlook, lest you be fooled, it is an emotion. Some of you might be referencing joy, but that's a completely different thing, especially from a Christian mindset. Long story short, if you can be happy while people are suffering and being treated horribly, you've got some issues. Either that, or you chose to ignore the plight of yourself and those around you in an attempt to remain happy*, and then you are among the most despicable of individuals because you care for nothing but your own delusions. You are the reason for my cynicism.
*note: Happy People and Happy are to be pronounced with every bit of disdain possible.
Screwy link of the day: http://www.philscasket.com/Lords_Supperx.html
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 11
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 24
Days Until Summer is Over: 85[ 28/05/2003 ]
Ever had one of those days? Today wasn't one of them for me, hopefully it wasn't one for you either.
Oh, and I officially am also tired of Linear Algebra. I just can't wait until the weekend at this point. Supposedly I'm going to see Bruce Almighty tonight. If I do, I'll review it later.
Screwy link of the day: Icy Hot Stuntaz
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 10
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 23
Days Until Summer is Over: 86[ 27/05/2003 ]
In other news, apparently Florida minorities feel that if they fail a test at a disproportionate percentage, said test is evil. I don't buy it... but then again, I apparently have no heart in such matters.
It may be photoshopped... but I don't care.
About the picture, I know a few good people from Canada and I suspect that there are more. But I also know French Canadians and their idiocy. The liberal bastion of the north and the cause of a lot of idiotic bullshit that perpetuates across the northern border, I know I wouldn't miss the damn thing.
I just realized that it's been almost 4 weeks since I ate at Saga. Mmmm... real food. No wonder I haven't been sick from food lately.
Incidentally, I'm running low on screwy links. If you find one, send it to me.
Screwy link of the day: Porn King Saddam?
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 9
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 22
Days Until Summer is Over: 87
I wouldn't.[ 26/05/2003 ]
Screwy link of the day: http://www.thoraxcorp.com/
Days Without Warm Water: 3
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 8
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 21
Days Until Summer is Over: 88[ 25/05/2003 ]
If I have to increment that warm water counter tomorrow, there WILL be hell to pay.
Screwy link of the day: http://www.i-mockery.com/visionary/shaving.asp
Days Without Warm Water: 2
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 7
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 20
Days Until Summer is Over: 89
American History 101
It was the first day of school and a new student, Suzuki, son of a Japanese businessman, entered the fourth grade class. The teacher said, "Let`s begin by reviewing some American history.
"Who said, `Give me Liberty or give me Death` ?" She saw a sea of blank faces, except for Suzuki`s
"Patrick Henry 1775," he said.
"Very good! Who said `...government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth`?"
Again, no response, except from Suzuki. "Abraham Lincoln, 1863."
The teacher snapped, "Class, you should be ashamed. Suzuki, who is new to our country, knows more about its history than you do."
She heard a loud whisper, "Screw the Japs."
"Who said that?" she demanded.
Suzuki raised his hand: "Lee Iacocca, 1982."
At that point a student said, "I`m gonna puke." The teacher glared and asked, "All right! Who said that?"
Suzuki says, "George Bush to the Japanese Prime Minister, 1991."
Furious, another student yells, "Oh yeah? Suck this!"
Suzuki jumps up waving his hand and shouts, "Bill Clinton, to Monica Lewinsky, 1997!"
With near mob hysteria, someone screams, "You little shit. If you say anything else, I`ll kill you."
Suzuki yells, "Gary Condit to Chandra Levy, 2001."
At this, the teacher fainted. The class gathered around her.
One of the kids says, "Oh shit, we`re in BIG trouble!"
Suzuki says, "Arthur Andersen, 2002."[ 24/05/2003 ]
In other news, Gecko should be back for good as of Monday-ish which is a good thing. After his laser eye surgery, he's been on the mend and staying with his mom so she can take care of him. He should be back to good and helping cause trouble soon. People need to be around and available on the weekends or else things get boring. Regardless, I'm clearing stuff off of my hard drive and going to install a Linux partition again. It's been too long since I futzed around with that...
If anyone has any interesting ideas for plans this weekend, let me know.
Screwy link of the day: 
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 6
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 19
Days Until Summer is Over: 90[ 23/05/2003 ]
Screwy link of the day: http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,58914,00.html
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 5
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 18
Days Until Summer is Over: 91[ 22/05/2003 ]
I will be updating the list here from now on... at least until it moves to the bottom of the page and needs to be dragged back up again.
1) Become a vegetarian.
2) Start worshipping animals.
3) Eat a tofu burger.
4) Go out with a girl that a good friend of mine is interested in behind his back.
5) Hit a girl when (when my life isn't being theatened by said girl.)
6) Buy an Apple computer.
7) Change how I look for a wench.
8) Sell out my morals for a wench.
9) Stop referring to wenches as wenches.
10) Refer to a Business Major as a "tough degree"
11) Stop being cynical.
12) Start espousing feminism.
13) Refer to the MRS degree (the other EE) as anything other than MRS
14) Stay at LU as long/longer than Lurch.
15) Turn into a "Happy Person"
16) Hand a weapon over to a wench.
17) Commit to do an undisclosed favor ("Can you do me a favor?")
18) Commit to something I don't know anything about.
19) Become a member of another worthless committee or organization.
20) Run from the cops when I get pulled over.
21) Join the Peace Corps
22) Ask for advice and then ignore it
23) Break up with someone in a letter
24) Tell a friend goodbye in a letter/email/phone call
25) Arm a wench (militarily or otherwise)
26) Give obnoxious morning greetings
27) Sing in Saga (a la Didlake)
28) Work as an Admissions Nazi
29) Become Themelios
30) Treat people under me as inferior
31) Become an ignorant asshole who treats people like shit to further my ego.
32) Turn into Dr. Batts
33) Stop asking anyone for advice except those whom I know will agree with me
34) Join a cult
35) Stop being a Chauvinist
36) Stop being a 2nd amendment activist
37) Join Green Peace
38) Start a labor union
39) Neglect my parents when they get old
40) Rat out a friend to the authorities
41) Give even a dime to the NOW
more to come as I remember them or they come to me...
Screwy link of the day: http://rent-a-negro.com/ (note: read the site, you should realize that it's a joke)
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 4
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 17
Days Until Summer is Over: 92[ 21/05/2003 ]
Screwy link of the day: http://www.zelica.com/ukq/stag.htm
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 3
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 16
Days Until Summer is Over: 93
I really wish I was making this up...[ 20/05/2003 ]
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 2
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 15
Days Until Summer is Over: 94[ 19/05/2003 ]
Look at this shit.
Apparently Gadzooks has decided that the trick to good marketing is discrimination against men. It's a damned shame that if any men's wear store tried this they'd get blacklisted and sued by all of the goddamned feminists out there.
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 1
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 14
Days Until Summer is Over: 95[ 18/05/2003 ]
Go order the FIRE Guides and read up on your rights and what you can do about LeTourneau's abuse of them.
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 0
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 13
Days Until Summer is Over: 96
That's right folks, 3 John Thomas Hall Fire Alarms in the past 12 hours. 4:30 PM , 10:30 PM and 1:30 AM. Someone's gonna die for this...[ 17/05/2003 ]
I hate this building.
I've pretty much decided that I'm not going to move off the floor. With the exception of Tom, nobody who does that comes back much at all. Dunny's been half-decent about stopping by, but everyone else leaves the floor and then you never see them again. I think we saw Groody on the floor maybe 6 or 8 times all of last year. Then again, he did have a fiancee in town, but that's hardly an excuse. It's days like this that convince me that one of the shittiest things about life that will be resolved in heaven is that there isn't enough time to spend with your friends and you lose touch with some really awesome people.
Update: Apparently fire alarm went off at 4:30ish... counter resets to 0...
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 0
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 12
Days Until Summer is Over: 97[ 16/05/2003 ]
Big guy is getting married this very evening. I'm proud to be his friend and glad to be able to attend such a momentous event. It's great to see good things happening to good guys.
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 1
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 11
Days Until Summer is Over: 98
*clearly a drink of non-alcoholic sparkling grape juice
I'm happy to note that I'm awake and it wasn't due to a fire alarm. Not that I'm particularly happy about getting up this early, but stuff needs to get done and I don't see anyone else going to do it. I am starting to get REALLY sick of this University running off good people to other schools and leaving us to deal with the aftermath.[ 15/05/2003 ]
As far as everything else goes, Tom, Kass and Rachel are back in town with others soon to follow. It feels good to have a lot of the members of the old crowd back around and in town. I'm looking forward to seeing Jordan get married and become a respectable citizen. It should be amusing...
I cut my first class of the summer today and thoroughly enjoyed it. Now all I need is a crackhead to skip class with.
Alright, so even by the time we had thought about doing all of that, the fire alarm had turned off. So maybe we just rolled over and went back to sleep... so what?
Oh, and for those of you keeping count, that brings the total up to 3 this summer.
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 0
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 10
Days Until Summer is Over: 99
I personally thought that Matrix 2 was fairly good. There were some things I could have done without and a few apparent contradictions with the first movie, but it made me happy. I think I might be one of the few people who can say this: but I saw the motive behind about 98% of what they put in there and I agree with why they did it and enjoyed it for that. Some of it was a bit overdone, but all and all I was very impressed and left satisfied. And let me tell you this, part of it is DEFINITELY fishing for an Oscar. To get more than that, go read a spoiler or see it for yourself. I think I might go again tomorrow... we'll see.[ 14/05/2003 ]
Going to see Matrix tonight and Tom gets in tonight. Should be an interesting day...
Days Since Last Fire Alarm: 4
Days of Living in a Shitty Dorm: 9
Days Until Summer is Over: 100
I have found a group whose political and sociological idealogy cannot be resolved with mine. Not only will I destroy them, but I will exact Holy Vengeance upon them.
