Random Thoughts

The end of Random Thoughts

2007-11-21T16:05:00.001-05:00

this blog is officially being renounced in favor of my new blog, which I hope I will use with more frequency and more topically than this one: thepeacenik.wordpress.com

Kandinsky Trio in action

2007-11-17T17:23:00.001-05:00

yup. this is my dad and his trio, with a cover of Blinding Me With Science, by Thomas Dolby. They do cool things for encores sometimes. Haven't posted anything in a long time, because i'm a boring person.

I are serious cat. this is serious thread.

2007-08-17T11:11:00.001-04:00

so... i'm pretty sure i'm the only person on the whole interwebs that understands the words "invisible bike", knows html +css +javascript, and runs linux at least part of the time that still has a dial-up connection. This bothers me. But whatever. since my last post, i've been busy doing as little as possible. I saw Donnie Darko at a friend's house. I think it was an amazing movie, but I'm not entirely sure, because I couldn't really hear half of it. Other than that, i haven't done anything productive except buy school stuff. so i think i should post something, but i have absolutely no idea what it is. hmmmm.... what have I recently seen that's semi-interesting? stuff at lifehacker.... wikipedia's featured article is on indonesia.... that's sort of interesting... and you can make your own shoes at converse.com. i think that's it. holy crap i lead a boring life.

Lest I Forget...

2007-08-13T22:31:00.000-04:00

...This is my list of things to do before I die. This idea is shamelessly thiefed from my friend Wyatt, here. but I find it justifiable because he stole my number one, which i told him a while ago. He did, however forget the reasons, which i will asplain:

Number Five:
Bike across Europe. It can't be beautiful forever, especially with the modern disassociation with art and the constant lack of scruples when it comes to bombing historic and significant areas/buildings/cities.

Number Four:
spend two weeks in the wilderness alone, or with a select group of friends. Minimal contact with anyone else, or what's the point? I'm talking serious preparation, probably a kayaking/canoing trip on the amazon or something like that. Of course we'd have to buy supplies every few days along the way, but mainly just alone.

Number Three:
Be a member of a revolution. Or start one. Just as long as it has better and longer lasting consequences than the Russian Revolution. Something that actually helps people permanently. It might be to invent something, it might be to write a book, it might be to create a religion. Ever read the book cat's cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut? it's a great book. Being like Bokonon would be the most amazing thing ever.

Number Two:
Come up with something that achieves semi-major attention. this is difficult for me, because i don't naturally seek attention at all. I'm naturally shy and out of the way. I want to, just one time and certainly no more, have a little bit of the spotlight. Mostly to prove to myself that I really wouldn't like it.

Numero Uno, a.k.a. the big cheese, a.k.a. number one, a.k.a. my only significant mark on the earth:
Die.

By jumping out of a plane without a parachute.

"WHAT???? That's totally the stupidest thing I've ever heard. It really is."

no, it's not, and here's why:
first of all, this is when i'm 80-something or 90-something and in poor health. so i'd be dying soon anyway. second, think about it: either your last sensation would be of falling, almost forever and for the last time, or it would be of every bone in your body breaking. And no one will ever know for sure, at least not until they're dead. If it's the first option, that would be pure ecstasy. if it's the second, it would be proof that you were the most amazing person ever.

list of 100 best songs of all time

2007-08-04T12:04:00.000-04:00

ok, here's how this works: i post a list of my favorite songs of all time, and you tell me in the comments why my taste sucks. ok? ok. only sort of in order:

Woodstock- Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Riders On The Storm- The Doors

Louie Louie- The Kingsmen

Hello Operator- The White Stripes

Sweet Jane- The Velvet Underground

Welcome To The Machine- Pink Floyd

Happiness Is A Warm Gun- The Beatles

Just What I Needed- The Cars

Paint It Black- The Rolling Stones

Into The Mystic- Van Morrison

My Generation- The Who

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised- Gil Scott-Heron

Conquistadore Rides Again- Santana

Are You Gonna Be My Girl- Jet

Breaking The Girl- Red Hot Chili Peppers

Heart In A Cage- The Strokes

Jumble, Jumble- The White Stripes

Where Is My Mind?- Pixies

Once In A Lifetime- Talking Heads

Smells Like Teen Spirit- Nirvana

Rebel Rebel- David Bowie

Sympathy For The Devil- The Rolling Stones

Hey Joe- Jimi Hendrix

I Can’t Explain- The Who

Bone Machine- Pixies

You Really Got Me- The Kinks

Harold Land- Yes

Maps- Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Dear Prudence- The Beatles

Karma Police- Radiohead

Get Yourself High- The Chemical Brothers

Incinerate- Sonic Youth

Run Like Hell- Pink Floyd

The Air Near My Fingers- The White STripes

All Along The Watchtower- Jimi Hendrix

Walk Idiot Walk- The Hives

Teen Age Riot- Sonic Youth

Bohemian Rhapsody- Queen

Gone Daddy Gone- Gnarls Barkley

Y Control- Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Here Comes The Sun- The Beatles

Suffragette City- David Bowie

Won’t Get Fooled Again- The Who

Whip It- Devo

Ana Ng- They Might Be Giants

Train In Vain- The Clash

Lady Madonna- The Beatles

I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor- Arctic Monkeys

B.O.B.- Outkast

Psycho Killer- Talking Heads

Here Comes Your Man- Pixies

Who’s Yehoodi?- Cab Calloway

Blitzkrieg Bop- The Ramones

Soma- The Strokes

Blackbird- The Beatles

And She Was- Talking Heads

Positively Fourth Street- Bob Dylan

My Best Friend’s Girl- The Cars

Mr. Brightside- The Killers

We’re Not Gonna Take It- Twisted Sister

Dream On- Aerosmith
Ballroom Blitz- Sweet

Under Pressure- David Bowie & Queen

London Calling- The Clash

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is- Jet

Ever Fallen In Love?- The Buzzcocks

Give Peace A Chance- John Lennon

Superstition Stevie Wonder

I’m Not Down- The Clash

Hate To Say I Told You So- The Hives

(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction- The Rolling Stones

Clampdown- The Clash

Debaser- Pixies

She Blinded Me With Science- Thomas Dolby

Hey Now, Hey Now- Cab Calloway

Death Or Glory- The Clash

What I Like About You- The Romantics

Roadrunner- Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers

Gigantic- Pixies

Fire- Jimi Hendrix

Roxanne- The Police

Crazy Train- Ozzy Osbourne

Communication Breakdown- Led Zeppelin

Lost In The Supermarket- The Clash

Beautiful Day- U2

A Quick One, While He’s Away- The Who

Seven Nation Army- The White Stripes

Bad Reputation- Joan Jett

Walk Like An Egyptian- The Bangles

Back In Black- AC/DC

Immigrant Song- Led Zeppelin

Pride (In The Name Of Love)- U2

Born In the USA- Bruce Springsteen

Nearly Lost You- Screaming Trees

Mr. Tambourine Man- Bob Dylan

I Wanna Be Sedated- Fight The Power

Fight The Power- Public Enemy

Heroes- David Bowie

I Melt With You- Modern English

All Alone- Gorillaz

So.... nice weather we're having!

2007-07-22T00:41:00.000-04:00

i'm only posting because i'm at the beach and i got really into my blog a year ago when i was at the beach so i think i owe it to my past self to blog now. I don't really have anything to say, except that i've discovered that priests are proof that the human race will go extinct. Humans developed into the "dominant" race on earth because we evolved to have "more intelligence" than other animals. apparently, as in the book Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut, our big brains create too much interference among all those tiny circuits to continue our obvious darwinian goal, which is to reproduce. Priests and those who choose to remain chaste are deciding to be, from a darwinian standpoint, completely useless in the continuation of the human race. if the first men had to be efficient, one would think that any genes that coded for lack of sexual drive would have been killed off pretty early on. but apparently we, no longer using our intellect solely for food, have created positions in which continuation of the human race is not the main concern. as computers such as the one i am typing on now grow in power, they will eventually be able to contol the planet by themselves. This will allow more and more people to die without reproducing, and when aliens find our planet trillions of years from now, they will find robots, whether still operational or not, and no humans and possibly no animals. they will be very confused if the robots are still running.

theonion.com

2007-06-26T13:31:00.001-04:00

FBI Learns OF Plot To Download Old School

^^This article is why i love The Onion.  I don't really feel like i deserve to read things this funny. It's totally true, too. There is absolutely no point in any of the laws against downloading music or videos. 3 cents is not worth the amount of trouble it takes to arrest or prosecute someone who steals a movie. I'm not saying that it's a good thing to steal, or to download things illegally, I'm just saying that it's pointless to try and stop it. it's like trying to cover up the sky.

sipping coke

2007-06-24T23:26:00.000-04:00

So here I sit
In my aeroplane
Drinking, sipping

While somewhere in the dark
A man dies of AIDS
A woman is raped

And what do I care?
I’m 3000 miles above
Above them all

Drinking, sipping

An addict is run over in the streets of New York
By a hummer
But I don’t drive a hummer

I’m 3000 miles above it all
And so is the captain
The flight attendants

You
And me
And them

But not…
Them.
The tired, the poor, the huddled masses

Not ours.
We can’t support that number of people
A child starves in Mexico, Iraq, Sudan, The Phillipines, and never makes a sound

He knows that we’re all too far to hear him
3000 miles.

Sipping, drinking, sipping coke.

I love summer...

2007-06-12T15:13:00.000-04:00

...mostly. My legs hurt. A lot. and by a lot I mean just about as close to 2nd degree burns you can get from the sun. I even used sunscreen.

Anyway, they got like that because I was just on a Boy Scout trip on the New River. I was in a canoe with Adam the first day, and a kayak the second. I really like these trips, because you can carry as much as you want, really, but moreso this trip: we were camping at a real campsite (not like the island from last year), and we drove the cars with all our gear over to it. So really we didn't have to worry about swamping because most people were only carrying snacks and water and sunscreen. It was essentially two perfect days for canoeing, about 75 degrees (F), dry and breezy. so basically it was the perfect trip. I only wish it was longer. All the canoing zen masters of the troop (except for Phil Pickett whose grandmother died the day before) were on the trip, so it was really fun. Not the best trip ever, because the campsite was surrounded by the tracks of a train that went by every fifteen minutes all through the night, but still pretty awesome. Never having been to the campsite (which had almost no trees), i packed my hammock instead of a tent. This was also fairly annoying. But in general, a really good trip.

other than that trip, I haven't really done anything this summer. ooo, forgot: My cell phone was almost killed in the wash yesterday. it still turns on, but only when it's plugged in to the charger. I think this means there's a water-induced short somewhere in the power, because it hasn't dried out yet. At least I hope so, because a cell phone you can't use except in your room is very nearly pointless.

It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it
and I feel fine.

SCHOOOOL'S OUT/ FOR SUMMER!

2007-06-06T13:27:00.000-04:00

Wow. It's been a really long time since I've posted, hasn't it? like 2 months. The last three weeks of it were because my computer was dead, or in the shop, or something like that. Well, I'm sort of glad for that anyway, because i became re-obsessed with photography over this break from the computer. I uploaded the best pictures i've ever taken to my flickr. you can see it by clicking on the image above.

So what else has happened since my last post? Well, for starters, it's SUMMER :) !!!! so far, though i've realized that the fact that i only had to take two exams at the end of school made me not sure when to be really excited, and this caused me to be less excited overall. So that's not fun. but also, i think i got some good grades: B in drafting (that's a 4.0), A in Latin, A in history, A-B in Algebra (depends on my exam grade), A in Biology, A-B in Enlish, and A in gym. so yeah, that's all that's going on that's interesting in my life right now...

Harold Land/With a wave of his hand/said goodbye to all that

this doesn't actually happen in real life, does it?

2007-04-17T22:25:00.001-04:00

I watched with glee

While your kings and queens

Fought for ten decades

For the gods they made

I shouted out,

Who killed the kennedys?

When after all

It was you and me

I've been in shock the past two days. Stuff just doesn't happen here. It doesn't happen anywhere, really, does it? You mean the stuff on television happens to real people? like, people with lives and jobs and families? <-- my thought process, courtesy of my brain. So unless you don't have a tv or a computer, which wouldn't make sense, since you're reading this, you probably know what happened here on monday. This disturbed korean senior killed 32 people +himself. so this makes the second murder here in one year. Not to mention the largest single mass murder in U.S. history. There have been a total of "0" murders here ever. It's not a real place anymore. it's one of those nice, small towns that produce serial killers that you see on "america's most wanted." This is not cool. not fun. not comfortable. It's RIGHT HERE. Everything's shattered in our brains. my parents knew the german teacher.

Powered by Bleezer

Whoops...

2007-04-13T17:52:00.000-04:00

Can't you see I'm trying?
I don't even like it. I just lied to
Get to your apartment, now I'm staying
Here just for a while
I can't think 'cause I'm just way too tired

Is this it?
Is this it?
Is this... it?

i freaking love the strokes.

Anyway, i made a comment yesterday that i regret extremely, but that was actually really sarcastic and not meant to offend anyone. Mr. Reinhardt asked the class why the Christians felt, during the crusades, that they needed to control Jerusalem. Everyone answered. He then asked why the Muslims did. No one answered. So to break the overwhelming silence and mock America's view of Muslims, I said, my voice oozing sarcasm (or so i thought), "because Muslims suck." Of course, Mr. Reinhardt and everyone else in the room understood that i was not serious. however, the administrator who just happened to be giving Mr. Reinhardt his teacher evaluation that day did not realize this. I got called to the office today. I'm not saying that I am not at fault, only that I really did not think i was saying anything offensive at the time. Well, that's not completely true. I knew, of course, that "Muslims suck" would be a terrible thing to say if one was in fact of that conviction. I just didn't think that anyone would believe that I actually thought that it was true.

day before easter

2007-04-07T14:45:00.000-04:00

today we were supposed to go on a bike trip on the New River Trail with the scouts, but it didn't work out because.... drum roll please... it was snowing! yeah. halfway through April, it's snowing. so that was disappointing. but now i get to stay home and do nothing, which is good! i think...

tomorrow's easter! this is the first year we haven't dyed eggs. i'm not sure if that's symbolic of something or just because we didn't feel like it. the dye didn't smell good, and your hands weren't the same for a week. I like easter, because it's not about the presents and is therefore less commercialized than christmas. holidays should be about what they represent, not about how much money the CEOs make during them.

can't you see i'm trying
i don't even like it
i'd just like to get to your apartment
now i'm staying
there just for a while
i can't think 'cause
i'm just way too tired.
<--the strokes (is this it>

first day of spring break!

2007-04-04T20:05:00.000-04:00

so, yeah. today was our early release for the first day of high-school break. it was really fun, at least at first. above is a picture of jessica about to fall on leah's face out of a big tree on the duck pond.

So it was fun. until we went to squires. Leah was drawing on my shoes, with her gigantic bag of sharpees, when a policeman walks over and begins to tell us about how graffiti destroys the university. He said they were cracking down on taggers and that he would need all of our info. we had done nothing remotely destructive to property today, or any other day for that matter. so yeah, after that, we were free to leave. but it still freaked me out that because we "fit a profile," we were accountable for our age-group's sins. he came up to us and his first words were "are you all the kind of kids who ride skateboards and tag buildings?" like they went hand in hand. they don't. and we aren't.

"listen, son
said the man with a gun
there's room for you inside

2007-04-01T12:29:00.000-04:00

yet again, it's been a while since my last post. i think i'm finally getting rid of my computer habit. whether that's good or bad, i don't know. I did get a new camera because my old one, which i had for 2 1/2 years, broke. it's april fools day, but i didn't come up with any stupid pranks to play on people, mainly because it's a sunday, and therefore i won't see anyone today. I don't know why i felt like posting today, because i really don't have much to say.

Well, my new camera is very cool. it has 6x optical zoom, 24x digital, which is like 3 times better than my last one. it has the best macro function EVER, and you can set the focal distance, aperture, shutter speed, iso, and anything else you could possibly want. it takes VGA quality video, but on my 512 mb card it can only take 4.5 mins. anyway, i love it soo much, and will be frequently posting new photos on flickr, if not here.

"Who says a funk band can't play rock?" --Funkadelic

2007-03-10T13:24:00.000-05:00

ummm...
yeah... I don't have any sort of thing I really wanted to post... just felt like letting everyone know i'm not dead. I watched "Wild Hogs" yesterday. the preview was pretty accurate as far as the level of humor goes. But considering the idiotic premise and puerile sense of humor, it really wasn't so bad. The feeling seemed to really fit the topic. I rank it as the best terrible movie i've seen recently.

busy week

2007-02-27T18:07:00.000-05:00

hey. sorry it's been a while since i posted. I have put a semi-ban on the internet for myself. It's been a fairly eventful week. First, last weekend, my computer basically broke down and wouldn't conect to the internet. so i had to back up everything, reinstall windows, and restore all my files. This weekend, we took down my loft bed because i was getting really sick of having to climb down every time i was thirsty. This ended up making my room look a lot better, in my opinion. Finally, my computer's monitor started glazing over frequently. I think there's a bad connection because closing and reopening it makes a difference. I set it up so that it's connected to an old monitor that i have laying around, and it stopped, so it's not a problem with the graphics card.

Cold Weather

2007-02-15T19:40:00.000-05:00

It's been very cold here the past few weeks. This is a shot of a branch outside our house. I realized after taking it that you can't tell that it was attached to the tree, and it sort of looks like I was holding it there. I wasn't, it was still attached to the tree. Anyway, whether by popular demand or my own desires, i changed the template. I didn't get any negative feedback, only three people who thought it was better. I also like it better, because it is brighter. I'm not really a dark person. I'm not sure i like the intensity of the blue, but it certainly is better than the black. this is likely the last time i'll change the template for a while, unless someone would like a change in sidebar-size or color or similar. Well, i guess that's it for today!

Valentines Day

2007-02-14T19:34:00.001-05:00

Happy Valentine's day, everybody! Yeah. I ate a whole box of chocolate today. I was planning to give someone a valentine, but we didn't have school today because of ice (ummmm, sort of), and my plans were foiled. The upsides were, of course, we didn't have to go to school and i got to sleep until 1:00 P.M. (not joking about this, either).

2-3 things (depending on whether i remember the third thing)

2007-02-13T19:57:00.000-05:00

Hey. You may have noticed, although probably not, that in the sidebar there is a link to a flickr site. it is mine, and if you are viewing this in some medium other than the regular blogspot page, the link points to http://flickr.com/photos/spiritfox. The second thing is, that i have created, half by accident, a new layout for my blog, but unless people like it more, i don't want to go to the trouble of changing it. the new template can be found here: http://spiritfox12.googlepages.com/index.html (yes, the "index.html" is actually neccessary because of the way google pages works.) If i were to change the template, the sidebar would include the section about what i'm reading, my albums of the week, etc.
and the third thing..... uuuhhhh....

Oh yeah. from now on, i will try to post once a week, each post with the best photo I've taken that week. Partially because a.I have recently noticed that most of the thousands of pictures i've taken are crap, and b. I want to have something to blog about that isn't really boring. a is based on the expression "practice makes perfect."

new chat thingy in the sidebar.

2007-02-09T20:34:00.000-05:00

if you have a comment and can't say it in a comment-thingy for some strange reason, chances are you can't use the sidebar chat thingy i just installed. but it's still pretty cool, right? right? oh yeah, i forgot no one ever sees these messages. of course, if you can disagree with me, then i guess i'm wrong, so there's no point in arguing. i realize that this post is totally pointless and useless recently, but i'm feeling lazy enough that i don't want to press the backspace button.

new cafepress shop

2007-02-06T17:37:00.000-05:00

Me and tmforeignguy made a cafepress shop. you can get it at http://www.cafepress.com/spiritscafe
at this time, there are two shirts up, which are both my creation, although i don't consider myself as artistic as tmforeignguy. the window to the soul shirt is my favorite of the two.

GO MAINE!!

2007-01-27T11:47:00.000-05:00

go here:
Tenth Amendment Center » REAL ID: Real Resistance

If only Virginia would do the same...
for that matter, if only congress would do the same!

wait, one more thing

2007-01-18T20:14:00.001-05:00

hey. go here. it's awesome.

whoops, forgot to add

2007-01-18T20:08:00.000-05:00

hey. forgot:
why does bush, who very recently admitted to being "no expert on military matters," have the power to go against nearly every bit of advice on the planet and deploy 20,000 more troops to Iraq? that just confuses me.
oh, and does anyone know how to get a visa to Canada?

Quote from Paul

2007-01-18T19:47:00.000-05:00

"Economically, we just had no choice in Iraq. The country swims in a sea of oil." --Paul Wolfowitz, commenting on the difference between the situation in Iraq and North Korea.

two movies.

2007-01-07T22:07:00.000-05:00

just watched two movies that i haven't seen, even though they've both been out a while. one was woody allen's newest movie, scoop. it was pretty cool. i think it'd be a better theatrical production than a movie, though. the other was MI:III, which i haven't seen yet. it was okay... not great, but okay, which for me is better than most action movies.

hipster PDA

2007-01-07T00:06:00.000-05:00

hey. as you may have noticed, i have recently had a strong urge to blog but very, very little to blog about. to remedy this, i have gotten, or rather created, an (or is it a? i'm never sure about h) hipster PDA. you can see more about it here. i will write random crap in it whenever it strikes me, and i may or may not post that random crap here. in other words, if you don't understand a post, it came to me on the bus at 6:30 a.m.

edit: i did not mean that the hipster pda was my idea. i meant i found a cool idea from that site at 43folders and created a hipster pda. so no more confusion.

Driving Lessons

2007-01-04T20:19:00.000-05:00

Hey. i just saw a cool movie called Driving Lessons. I thought i probably wouldn't like it (it has rupert grint, from the harry potter movies), but it turned out to have a little of the texture that i like a lot. this texture was in little miss sunshine, everything is illuminated, and a small bit of nacho libre. hey, speaking of Jack Black, can anyone tell me anything about "tenacious d and the pick of doom?" i really want to see that movie. i'm sooo tired from my first two days back at school. i want to go to sleep but i have some more homework i should probably be doing right now. well, i'll get started on that. later.

And just because i'm so ecstatic...

2007-01-01T22:11:00.000-05:00

well, as you can see, this is my third post of the day. this time it's not at all related to the new year... well... i guess it sort of is... but not really. it's lyrics! yay!
Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play
Dear Prudence, greet the brand new day
The sun is up, the sky is blue
It's beautiful and so are you
Dear Prudence won't you come out to play

Dear Prudence open up your eyes
Dear Prudence see the sunny skies
The wind is low the birds will sing
that you are part of everything
Dear Prudence won't you open up your eyes?

Look around round
Look around round round
Look around

Dear Prudence let me see you smile
Dear Prudence like a little child
The clouds will be a daisy chain
So let me see you smile again
Dear Prudence won't you let me see you smile?

Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play
Dear Prudence, greet the brand new day
The sun is up, the sky is blue
It's beautiful and so are you
Dear Prudence won't you come out to play

man, i haven't listened to the beatles in a while, at least not this song. i put itunes on shuffle and it played this. i had never thought about this song before, either. it's actually really amazing to listen to a song that you've never thought about before and suddenly listen to it more intensely. it's yet another great feeling i've had within the past 24 hours.

resolutions

2007-01-01T21:52:00.000-05:00

whoops, forgot to post resolutions:
(most of these are short-term. i can't ever get long-term stuff to work out.)

I. muster some courage. in general. there are a few specifics, but i don't have the courage at present to publicize them.
II. Ace the Midterms.
III. finish all my homework by the end of the break. (one day left... still time!)
IV. care less about other peoples' opinions of me, and greaten my opinion of myself.
V. be nicer to the people who I haven't been especially great to lately... only three i can think of, but still
VI. there is no six. i probably won't be able to remember 1-5 anyway.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2007-01-01T14:53:00.000-05:00

hey, everyone! i hope this year goes down in history as the second-to-last year of the neo-con regime. even if it doesn't, though, i hope it will at least go into the history books as a year that people started to care about the world we live in, began to show empathy for people around the world. In any case, i had a decent new year's eve. i went to Lucy's house for a party that was meant for adults, but the teens had been invited, too. the guys got locked out of everything the girls were doing, though, and it turns out Lucy had tried to get her parents not to invite us. so that wasn't so great. but it was fun, anyhow. i feel like i can make a difference, for once. i feel like it's a time for new life, almost like it's spring. i'm glad the Roman calendar puts the new year in winter, when everything's bare and the trees aren't as lush as normal. it gives the winter a warmer feeling.

Last post of the year.

2006-12-31T14:37:00.000-05:00

i would post this at 12:00 tonight, but i won't be here. i hope you won't be here. i'll be at a party that i halfway want to go to. oh well... so... happy new year. it's sort of an odd new year, isn't it? not odd in the sense that it's strange, but in the sense that the next number isn't really a number you say very often. "hey, i'd like to order 2007 pizzas." "wow! there must be 2007 cubed inches of cake here!" yeah. you just don't. so anyway, happy new year! :)

BACk!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-12-30T20:48:00.000-05:00

hey. i'm BACK! w00t. i haven't slept well the past two nights, though. I can't stop thinking. it's not important thinking that will change anything. i just kind of can't get my brain to shut up. well, i got a few cool songs with my itunes gift cards, and this new PS2 game is pretty cool. it's called "singstar" and it's basically karaoke. and it only has 30 songs, but it's still okay. better designed than any other PS2 game i've ever seen before. i've been wanting a better design for this page for a while. probably a white background this time with some pointless divs that change color when the cursor is over them, using the css "a:hover" pseudo-element. i think that'd look cool. any comments on that would be helpful.

Nebraska

2006-12-26T13:01:00.000-05:00

well, i now feel like elaborating on my previous message. those of you that know me know that i spend christmas in Nebraska with my grandparents. this year was awesome. i gave cool presents and got cooler ones. (for instance: a magnetic sculpture thing that you can hold pictures and things in, the who's newest album, an "SNL: best of steve martin" dvd) today we're seeing a movie, probably the pursuit of happiness. (i don't know if this is the actual movie title or not, but the Lincoln paper said that it was called "pursuit of happyness," with "happyness" spelled with a "y." i don't think that's right, but it doesn't have to be correct to be a movie title, so it might be.) and then tomorrow i might finally see the second pirates of the Caribbean movie. yay!

In NE

2006-12-22T16:45:00.000-05:00

hey. i'm in nebraska. that's all i feel like posting at present.

In DC for thanksgiving

2006-11-22T16:12:00.000-05:00

hey. I'm here in DC for thanksgiving w/ my family. Also, learning why my idea for a flying machine won't work... oh well. it's worth it.

Cool Band

2006-11-11T13:26:00.000-05:00

Hey. I went to an indie concert last night at which i was supposed to meet some people. Of course, me being me, and them being them, they didn't show. except wyatt, who left without telling me after 5 mins. Anyway, they missed a 50% decent concert. Philip Uster and The House Floor opened, and they were actually the best of four bands that i saw. they're here. I like Spy Vs. Spy. Anyway, they're really cool. check it out.

Senatorial Race

2006-11-06T19:16:00.000-05:00

Hey. If you live in my state and are of voting age please consider the following:

When senator George Allen was asked to comment on his noose, he was quoted as saying this. "I mean, it's a family heirloom. It's been in the family for generations. My father used it, his father used it before him. I'm proud to continue my family's heritage by using it myself today." Now ask yourself: do you want a man who even OWNS a NOOSE? let alone keeps one in his office? even if this wasn't a real quote (what are the chances?), he actually HAS a NOOSE in his office. not to mention his ads suck. they state that marriage between two people of the same gender would "cut against the foundations of our beliefs." I believe that this freedom would do no such thing. the notorious "No. 1" ammendment would enforce allen's views. The ammendment to the VA constitution in question deprives thousands of virginia citizens of their basic rights.

i made a video

2006-10-28T22:35:00.000-04:00

I made a video with pics/video of a lot of my friends, and I want to share it, but I can't because of my stupid dial-up. Of course, the next time I'm downtown I can get a wireless signal. But I also don't want to make it too public. Does anyone know a site like youtube except that you can password-protect your videos? If so, please leave the address as a comment. Thanks!

totally weird poem

2006-10-28T16:50:00.000-04:00

this is a completely weird and random poem-y thing i wrote... it's different from anything i've ever done or even read before so, yeah...

Once upon a moon, there was an earth, and once upon the earth there was a moon. For when the tenants of the world looked upon the alabaster saucer, it became tethered as a member of the planet, unto itself. And of course this set of events was repeated a plethora of ways, and at the points of these ways’ intersection a million travelers look into each other’s eyes, and can see the transparent shores of the planet with which they are forever entwined. Somehow through all this doubling back on everything that is itself and nothing that is not, the many ones remain. And somehow through the carnage that will always be within the infinite mind of the universe, we are the sole recipient of any real consequence, for everything else repeats itself again, because of its introspect, and lack of concern. Yet, it sees nothing, for only the mirror can see.

i feel like posting lyrics today, so here they are.

2006-10-17T20:37:00.000-04:00

pink floyd lyrics.

NOBODY HOME--BY PINK FLOYD--COMPOSED BY ROGER WATERS
I've got a little black book with my poems in.
Got a bag, with a toothbrush and a comb in,
When I'm a good dog, they sometimes throw me a bone in.

I got elastic bands keepin my shoes on.
Got those swollen hand blues.
Got thirteen channels of shit on the T.V. to choose from.
I've got electric light.
And I've got second sight.
Got amazing powers of observation.
And that is how I know
When I try to get through
On the telephone to you
There'll be nobody home.

I've got the obligatory Hendrix perm.
And the inevitable pinhole burns
All down the front of my favorite satin shirt.
I've got nicotine stains on my fingers.
I've got a silver spoon on a chain.
I've got a grand piano to prop up my mortal remains.

I've got wild staring eyes.
And I've got a strong urge to fly.
But I got nowhere to fly to.
Ooooh, Babe when I pick up the phone

"Surprise, surprise, surprise..." (from Gomer Pyle show)
There's still nobody home.

I've got a pair of Gohills boots
and I got fading roots.

terrible stuff happening lately

2006-09-23T12:05:00.000-04:00

Well, on wednesday a former teacher in our school district (retired in 2003 but substitutes sometimes), and manager of a local school, was arrested on molestation charges. to say that he was a trusted member of the community would be an understatement. Everyone knew and liked him. Completely trusted. He is currently in a jail cell in ohio, where the charges were filed. He tried to kill himself twice. This is Mr. Utin, who i never saw without a smile on his face. I really don't know what to think. Does it make him a bad person?

Christiansburg Institute

2006-09-17T17:53:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody. (yeah, all three of you). Today was pretty boring. except i started research on my NHD project (the Christiansburg Institute). it's actually really interesting, but i won't go into detail right now.

Little Miss Sunshine

2006-09-17T14:53:00.000-04:00

I am adding "Little Miss Sunshine," an R movie about a family on a road trip, to my list of two (now three) favorite movies of all time (Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Everything is illuminated, and Little Miss Sunshine). it has a little of the feel of everything is illuminated, but it's mind bogglingly funny.

hmmm... stupid thoughts about the meaning of life and rantings

2006-09-15T23:55:00.000-04:00

maybe it would have been better if man hadn't come up with agriculture. if you think about it, we'd all be living exactly the same: hunting every day for food. no division of labor, which allows for control of others, and corruption. No abusing nature: we'd still be a part of nature. no pondering the meaning of life (we wouldn't have time). Unfortunately, we did discover/invent (very confusing words) agriculture. And now, in 2006, i find myself pondering questions that have existed for thousands, even millions of years. what is the purpose of life? first off: It must absolutely depend on your beliefs. if you believe in a deity, or something to that effect, a heaven, an afterlife, your purpose in life will generally be to make the time on this earth more bearable for others around you. If you believe in logic and logic alone, which is in itself a flawed system, you will eventually come to the conclusion that you should do whatever will give you the most pleasure, because that is what will a. forward the human race, due to our instinct, and b. please us for that reason and that alone, because we like it. no further explanation will ever be given. I will now explain my previous statement that logic is flawed. about fifty percent of logic is based on the idea that if an event or series of events or a consequence of an action is repeted many times, it will always happen that way. for instance, if a ball is dropped, it will be pulled towards the body which exerts the most gravity or other force on it. this is completely stupid, if you really think. So what if it's happened before. maybe the ball will fall upwards. maybe it has already happened, and maybe it never will again, but there is simply no sense basing anything on the scientific laws. you might as well believe in a religion.

Fourth Week of school over.

2006-09-15T18:37:00.000-04:00

well, it's been a while since i posted, as i have been notified by a source who wished for his/her name and gender to be withheld. So i would like to take this opportunity to state the following: "Hey, mister. I bet you never smelled a real schoolbus before! SNFFF!"
also:
"Cameron:
The 1961 Ferrari, two-fifty GT California. Less than a hundred were made. My father spent three years restoring this car. It is his love, it is his passion . . .
Ferris:
It is his fault he didn't lock the garage."
FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF!
FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF!FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF!FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF!FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF!FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF!FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF!FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF!FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF!FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF!FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF!FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF!FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF!FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF!FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF!FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF!FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF!

and yes, FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF!

first week of school over!

2006-08-27T15:23:00.000-04:00

well, the summer is most definitely over forever. and there will never be a summer like this one again. But there will be others, that will be just as awesome and amazing. And yet, this summer is over. somehow that makes me feel like something's terribly wrong. But the school year is shaping up pretty well, i guess. not perfect, by any means. but okay. and i guess that's enough. I wonder why events in real life are never as exciting, romantic, or happy as they always are on tv.

2006-08-17T21:32:00.001-04:00

Drafting I(~)Irby
Latin II (~)O'Dom
World History/Geography Honors(~)Reinhardt
Algebra II Honors(~)Delpercio
Lunch
Biology I Honors(~)Sink
English 9 Honors(~)Duff
Health/Phys. Ed.(~)Sloss

My Schedule

2006-08-17T21:32:00.000-04:00

Drafting I (:~:) Irby
Latin II (:~:) O'Dom
World History/Geography Honors (:~:) Reinhardt
Algebra II Honors (:~:) Delpercio
Lunch
Biology I Honors (:~:) Sink
English 9 Honors (:~:) Duff
Health/Phys. Ed. (:~:) Sloss

To Chicago!

2006-08-08T17:56:00.000-04:00

well, here I am in chicago. it is my last trip of the summer, and it's very sad. only 2.5 weeks. well, we went on a boat tour and saw the art museum. yesterday we saw the aquarium, which doesn't hold a candle to the Baltimore one. So far, that's essentially all we've done. you can see some pictures i took and liked at my other blog, http://truthvista.blogspot.com/ leave some comments, I'm trying to learn to take some pictures people will actually enjoy.

To the Beach!!!

2006-07-22T21:31:00.000-04:00

Well, after a six hour drive, I made it to the Beach. I was forced to eat at a vietnamese restaurant, despite the fact that there were several other restaurants along the way, and chinese and vietnamese are my least favorite of all foods. I will be posting some pictures of my first few hours at the beach at http://truthvista.blogspot.com/ so you can see it there. all in all, so far it's been pretty boring, but i think it'll get better.

yet another politically minded post

2006-07-17T16:12:00.000-04:00

trickle down economy doesn't work in a country where the biggest businesses (**cough**Wal-Mart**cough**) outsource the majority of their labor, and the labor they use that is in America (cashiers) is forced to give what they earn back to buy food and neccessities.

two words: kyoto protocol

2006-07-16T22:34:00.000-04:00

how can you watch a documentary on global warming and not believe that it exists? our children, their children, everyone. Do you want them to live in the kind of world we're creating? Or do you subscribe to the Groucho Marx quote: "posterity? what's posterity ever done for me?" something needs to be done now. like it or not, we're killing the planet. Think about it. by using E85 ethanol, we are going to be completely free of our dependence on middle eastern oil. Do you enjoy the high gas prices whenever Israel is attacked, attacks someone, or the U.S. doesn't do so well in Iraq. so on the off chance that the entire scientific community isn't full of wackos, please try and do something.

"Won't need no haircut/
won't need no shoeshine/
after the garden is gone"

2006-07-15T17:28:00.000-04:00

As I write this, it is 5:15, the 15th of July, 2006. I am listening to public radio. The conflict in the middle east is becoming worse and worse. Bush is talking nonsense about "short term and long tem goals," while not actually doing anything to the effect of peacemaking. I am beginning to believe that the world is going crazy. Israel, Hizbollah, Lebanon, Syria. America, The United Kingdom, The United Nations, Russia. North Korea and their missiles. What's Going On?

Gaaahhh!!! annoyed.

2006-07-14T20:11:00.000-04:00

don't you hate programs that only let you undo one action? Y'know, and then if you click "undo" again, it redoes the thing you undid in the first place? is anyone else annoyed by that?

Still More lyrics.

2006-07-14T17:13:00.000-04:00

yet again, no music to go along with it:

and now i lay me down to sleep

i ask the board my soul to keep

and should i wake before i die

i'll pay the court my soul to try

and if naught's sure but death and tax

i'll lay my soul upon the tracks

i'll take my cross and bear my pain

and joy will come to me again

sound of silence hold me tight

I've lost my country on this night

truth or falsehood, who can say?

Politics rule the world today

There is no meaning 'neath the veil

Just lawyers' hands, so cold and pale

Men and women of the jury

Bathe us in your joyful fury

he's killed so many souls before

bloodlust avenged with one more

Song Lyrics

2006-07-14T16:48:00.000-04:00

Here are some lyrics i wrote. They don't have a tune, so as of right now they're really just a poem.

Hitchhike to happiness

Heartless artichoke and soulless shoe

Ingredients for the witches brew

Ragnarok is come

Just stick out your thumb

Hitchhike to happiness

It’s okay, Lose yourself under the floor

Lose a moment, then you lose ten more

Look what you’ve become

Just stick out your thumb

Hitchhike to happiness

The confused heart and the broken mind

Peace and calm will come to both in time

Colored glass indeed

Plant a soul tree seed

Hitchhike to happiness

And there’s gotta be an easier way

To let the world go on with its day

Windows cannot lie

Grounded souls can fly

Hitchhike to happiness

Weird, sorta emo poem

2006-07-14T16:45:00.000-04:00

I was at a concert last night, and the smell of BO, beer, and cigarettes in a cramped room must have gotten to me. I wrote the following lines of poetry:

Can you hear the truth of the words of the silent?

The truth that we’re all dead

The truth it’s in your head

Hell from the sax, in a cold, whispered rasp

Can you grasp the truth of the sounds of the voiceless?

Cymbals twisted into deathly faces Blood scores across her cheek

Go and seek the truth of the voice of the muted

the surreal touch of the night seeps in

bleeds into your pulse. you begin

to believe that the streets can breathe.