Kicking ass and taking names

I seriously hate being right sometimes... it would be so nice to be wrong for a change. I feel like we've been beating a dead horse for the last 2 and a half weeks to no avail. In the words of Dr. McCoy "He's dead, Jim."

In other news I got my recommendation forms out today and have most of my personal statement written. I just need to put a few polishing touches on it for each school and get everything sent off. Staying here wouldn't be so bad, especially if someone else fights my funding battle for me... I still don't know, it's a tough decision. For now I just need to get all that stuff in and think about it later... like if I get any acceptance letters back.

Only one more week until the end of the semester! Have a couple projects left to finish up, and then studying until I can't see straight... but I'm done technically by next Wednesday, but really by Tuesday afternoon. Hooray! I shouldn't really be getting too excited. Next semester, even though I only have 12 credits, is still going to be busy. I'm taking 19th century art history, game design and development (yes, again. I'm a masochist), principles of programming languages, and philosophy of technology. It's going to be fun. In the mean time I need to finish this semester's courses, figure out what I'm getting all the pains in my ass on my Christmas list for Christmas, and write my annual Christmas/End of the Year letter. Busy busy busy busy busy all the time. But if I wasn't I wouldn't know what to do with myself.

I'm not dead yet...

... though there are a handful of artists who are lucky they're not. The last 3-4 weeks have been a total whirlwind. Physics and CprE exams went all right. I made it through the GREs without dying. I actually did better on the real thing than I did on any of the practice exams I took. I should get my official scores back sometime this week, and then along with writing my personal statement and getting my recommendation forms to people I can finish up my grad applications. The more I think about it the more staying here doesn't seem all that bad. Steve, my game dev prof, is trying really hard to get me to stay. Yesterday he proposed 2 different TA jobs I could potentially have if I were to stay and do HCI here. One of the big reasons I don't want to stay here, other than the obvious of that I've lived in Iowa all my life, is HCI grad students have to have funding or they're not accepted, and I don't want to fight for funding. So Steve has taken it upon himself to fight for funding for me, even though I may not stay. I must admit, it is nice having someone want you stay enough that they put forth extra effort to make it possible and easy.

Which brings us to Grimm... wonderful Grimm that has been owning my life. Long story short, we failed, the artists screwed us. The programmers spent 6ish days straight, at about 12-14 hours per day in the Bunker working to get done on time, not to mention all the time spent individually working and the weekly meetings. Grimm was supposed to be complete Wednesday, November 16th at 2am for IGF. It wasn't even close because we had no art. The artists assumed that since their models were complete and textured that they were done... that they didn't have to worry about exporting, and they didn't have to worry about making sure everything looked right and was to scale, not to mention they didn't get "finished" until sometime late Tuesday. But we had a "magic installer" that went out and checked a server for updates before installing. So a new hard deadline was set for the artists to have everything exported and usable and then the programmers were going to finish the last little bits Friday before Thanksgiving break and everything was going to be happy... yeah, totally didn't happen. Important stuff that we (the programmers) needed more than anything else wasn't exported, and to make matters even worse, the server that all the art was on was down when we came in Friday. Luckily we got in contact with the guy who maintains it right before he left town and got what we needed off of it. Unfortunately it was to no avail, Steve and I spent about 2 hours putzing around trying to get the physics terrain to export, but had to give up because the only lab we could use was closing. So we gave it up. Yesterday we were informed that we have to finish by next Wednesday because we're presenting to people who might want to give us money. So the artists have been given a new deadline of 2pm tomorrow to have everything exported and in working order, and then Friday afternoon/evening the programmers are going to finish the beast up. I have little faith in the artists at this point, but I want to get Grimm "done"... I don't want to spend another fruitless day in the Bunker and have nothing to show for myself or my team... artists included. I could go on and on about the stupid shit the artists did, but if I did that I wouldn't get any sleep, and I need sleep.

So with that I'm going to put a close on this rant with the promise of better posts in the upcoming weeks. I'm hoping to get my graduate applications completed by this weekend to mid next week, and I'm done with finals 2 weeks from today. (Hooray!) Then it'll be over and I'll be able to breathe again... Pooh sticks.

(12/01/05) Edit: In response to an anonymous comment I received from what I can only assume is one of the Grimm artists: I am well aware of the break down of communication amongst the Grimm team. I am also aware of the total disregard for styles, requests, directions and deadlines of certain parties. I realize that allot of the people working on Grimm put in countless hours, but on the same token there are those who assumed their work was done when it wasn't, didn't stick around to make sure it was all ok, and made little effort to remedy it. On that same train of thought, this should be a learning experience for all of us, unfortunately I don't feel that some people have gotten anything out of this experience nor care to. When working on a team project everyone needs to not only get their part done, but stick around to the very end and be willing to fix any errors or mistakes. And maybe, just maybe, you might have to put in a little more work and go out of your way to learn something new on your own. In the real world you can't expect to have someone spell out for you step by step how to do something or how something works. In the real world we all would have been fired. Luckily for all of us we're doing this in a safe, learning environment where we're allowed to screw up, fall on our faces and fail miserably. To put it bluntly, my issue with the art team as a whole is not the lack of understanding of the exporting and integration process, but the lack of wanting to understand and the attitude of "What do you mean my stuff doesn't work? You must have broke it, it's your fault, you fix it." This by no means applies to all the Grimm artists, but it does apply to some. Sometimes in life the good get lumped in with the bad.

That's what I mean by groping. You try something and hope for the best.

It's really no wonder I'm screwed up. Sunday night I took a little break from studying and sent out an email to the family giving them a quick update about what's been going on and what I'm up to because I haven't done so in a while. Usually everybody is happy to hear from me and to know that things are going well, and I get nice little emails back. Not this time. My wonderful, sarcastic, cheeky father wrote me back with this:

Deinse,

Thank you for the submittal of your form letter. As you can imagine, we recieve a high volume of form letters, and are unable to personally respond to each of them. Never the less, we do appreciate your effort at communicating, and encourage you to continue. You might also try other methods such as Instant Messenger (we can provide links to appropriate clients for this if you need them) or even the old fashioned but always loved telephone.

Again, thank you for your coorsponednce.

Parental Units, Inc.

(this response was auto generated. responding to it may or may not reach anyone human).

He didn't even spell my name right! It's D-e-N-I-s-e, not D-e-I-N-s-e! Though it would be kind of funny if my name were Denise van Deinse. But seriously, that is the funniest thing I've received via email, and I would expect, nor would I want, any less from my dad. It just further proves I was raised in a weird and completely twisted environment, and there was never any chance of me being "normal." I've come to accept it, even love it... I just hope other people do too :P

The title today is something my physics professor said in class the other day. We were talking about Atomic H and Thompson's Model, and I don't totally remember what exactly he was talking about, but he said that and it was just too funny not to write down. He does that a lot, he gets all excited about physics and says funny stuff, that's even funnier taken out of context. Speaking of which, I have an exam in that class tomorrow as well as my computer engineering class. I'm probably going to die. Then next Thursday I get to go take the GRE's, at which point I will probably die again. And then two weeks from yesterday Grimm is due and I'll probably die at least one more time. Death is seeming fairly inevitable right now.

Grimm makes me grim. Friday (10/28) we (the programming team) spent 12 hours in the Bunker... yes 12 hours! From 2pm Friday afternoon until 2am Saturday morning. We got a lot done, and had fun doing it. We finally got the animations for our PC, and so we loaded some of them into the game, they were really funny. There's this one, where he's supposed to be climbing a rope, but taken out of context (which is how we like things) he looks like he's humping the air. We had a really good laugh playing with the animations. Chad (project manager) almost cried, which made me and Emily (fellow programmer) laugh even harder. Overall it was a fun and very productive night in my opinion, unfortunately there's still a lot to be done, and a very short amount of time to do it in. Makes me nervous. I'm going to be so happy when we're finally done with it... then I can spend a little time and make up a t-shirt design that says "Grimm makes me grim", it'll be fun :) Mostly right now I just want my life/soul back.

Skittles: The New Packing Material.

I've heard of packing peanuts, but I've never heard of or seen packing Skittles. It's all my crazy mother. I asked Dad to send me my games (Myst and Riven) from home and my mom got ahold of the box and I guess decided that Skittles would make a great packing material. So she put some in those little snack sized zippy bags, and I'm guessing there were about 4 bags in there. It was kind of hard to tell because the bags exploded during shipping and there were Skittles all over the inside of the box. But it was kinda fun digging all the Skittles out to get to my games. Alas, I have no time to play, but eventually I will have to for a project. Ah, having to play a game so I can do homework :). And I have Skittles! Dad says little round candies should have chocolate or peanutbutter in them. But I love the little Skittles! I love them good! I need them or I will explode! That happens to me sometimes.

Grimm makes me grim!

Actually Grimm makes me a little less grim today as compared to yesterday. Yesterday was brutal. I spent all evening attempting to implement this CEGUI stuff in Ogre3D. It does not play nicely. It doesn't help that it's poorly documented, and all the tutorials that do exist all use the demo code which doesn't really work well in an actual game. But good news is CEGUI is going bye bye!! I almost did the happy dance right there in the Bunker, but refrained because I knew I'd get laughed at. A few of us programmers on the project met after class and talked about things and decided we could do a "GUI" using some of the Ogre libraries, namely Overlays, MouseMotionListener and MouseListener. It shouldn't be too bad, though I still have a couple things to figure out, like how to load a material and what a material is. I'm really hoping that's not going to be too hard, I've spent enough time this week banging my head against the desk. Stupid GUI and it's importance to the look and feel of the game! :P

Told you I was allergic to Atanassoff

So as some of you may know I will on occasion, especially after spending many hours there, say that I'm allergic to Atanassoff, the computer science building. I have news for you for those of you who have scoffed at me and told me I'm crazy and that it's all in my head. I very well may be allergic to the building. I was talking to Gloria, the undergrad adviser, and it turns out that the building has closed air circulation to reduce the cost of heating and cooling. This isn't unusual by any means, but the current air has been in there 10ish years, and black or blue-green mold has started growing on some of the ceiling tiles in the basement, and possibly other parts of the building. Penicillin comes from the blue-green mold Penicillium notatum, and I'm allergic to amoxicilln which just so happens to be part of the penicillin family. So it's no wonder that after about 30 minuets to an hour of being in the computer labs in Atanassoff that I get all stuffy, sneezy and coughy. The mold probably isn't the only contributing factor. I'd be willing to bet there's a fair amount of dust and other things that I'm most likely allergic to that also help set me off. It's not a good thing that I'm allergic to the building because I spend a lot of time there, but at least now I know I'm not crazy in thinking that I am.

Basketball season starts in 18 days!!!!! I got my season tickets yesterday, it was so exciting! I can hardly wait. I love basketball season. It's the most wonderful time of the year. So I've already scoped some of the preseason rankings, and I must say we are sorely underrated. ESPN has us ranked 22 in the preseason pole, and something I read elsewhere has us finishing 6th in the Big 12. I'm calling bullshit, especially since ESPN has Iowa ranked 16th. They totally don't give us the credit we're do. We probably have one of the best backcourts in the nation, Blalock and Stinson rock! I'll give them that our frontcourt is a little shaky with Homan graduating, hopefully we'll have a good new big guy to take care of things. Hopefully I'll have time on Saturday to go to the shootout and scope out the team and the new players. Regardless of what the critics say, I'm psyched for the new season. I've got season tickets and from what I've read it looks like it's going to be a good and exciting season. Go Cyclones!

Oh boy, shiny things!!

I was walking to the library tonight to go meet with my group to finish up our proposal for English (ugh), and I was between the library and Atanssoff when I see.... two racoons crawling out of the gutter. They were so cute, they looked like weird, fat little kitties. One of them gave me this funny look, and I wasn't sure if it was going to hiss or meow at me. Then they both slunk under a car as I walked by. Racoons are neat, and kinda scary, and they make me think of shiny things. They do this because, racoons like shiny thigns, and I like shiny things. Sometimes my mom makes fun of me because I like shiny things and get shiny object stupor like a racoon. Ashley laughs at me too when I'm channel surfing and they're showing shiny things on QVC or something I almost always get stuck and have to pause and watch for a few minutes until the annoyingness of their voices infiltrates my brain. What can I say, I love shiny things. Anyway... highlight of my day -- seeing racoons crawling out of the gutter by Atanassoff!

Things I must remember

Yesterday is but a dream, tomorrow but a vision. But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day. - Sanskrit Proverb

Work like you don't need money, love like you've never been hurt, dance like no one's watching, learn like you'll to live forever, and live like you'll die tomorrow.

And the biggie:
Don't take life too seriously. You'll never get out of it alive. - Elbert Hubbard

meh

So it feels like forever since I last posted, but really it hasn't been that long. I think it's just that this has been a really really long week. Kind of the too much to do and not enough time to do it all in. I seriously think we need like 36 hour days, that way I could actually get my 8 hrs of sleep plus still have 28 hours to work.... wow 28 hours a day to work on stuff... that would be fantabulous. This having too much to do, and having group projects where part of the group doesn't do any work, or doesn't let any one else know that they've done any work till class time the day it's due, really eats up a lot of time. You spend time doing not only your part of the project, but theirs too because you don't already know they've done it. Really makes me mad, and it eats up a lot of time I should be working on other things. There are two other pretty big things I need to be working on, and unfortunately they're both "due" about the same time. I take GRE's Nov 10th, and Grimm is due Nov 15th. Those are my two really big things right now, and most of the time I don't feel like I have enough time for either, let alone one or the other.

The GRE's are especially plaguing me, I have no time to study for them, and if I don't do well there's no way I'm going to get into grad school. I'm not sure that even if I do do well on them I'll get in. Most days I think I probably won't because I'm pretty sure I won't do well enough on the GRE's to compensate for everything else. It's really going to come back and bite me in the ass too, because I'm putting off applying and interviewing for jobs so I can focus more on grad school, but I'm not having enough time to do grad school either. It's like my classwork is eating up all my time this semester, and I can't afford to let that happen. And the worst part is it really is all classwork, I haven't even had time to just go chill with my friends the last couple weeks. Consequently some of them are a little ticked at me because they feel like I'm just blowing them off, when in reality I'm blowing everybody off. That just makes things worse, because not only do I not get to hang out with my friends, but some of them make me feel guilty about it. The only time I get to see anybody is if it's in class or class related. Grrr! I don't know what to do. I'll probably end up working myself crazy so I have a better chance at the GRE's. In reality, no matter what I do it'll be wrong. If I take time to chill with my friends that's time I don't study and time I don't get much needed sleep. On the flip side if I study all the time I don't get to see anyone, and then people get upset with me. Pretty much a lose lose situation.

All your base are belong to us

So I don't have anything real or significant, just a few funny odds and ends. It has been decided that fobonics/chinglish/engrish, is probably one of the most hysterical spoken languages. And as most of you probably already know All Your Base Are Belong To Us is probably the funniest and most popular video demonstrating this. Also notably it has a very well documented and fairly long Wikipedia article which I find entertaining because it's so pointless.

Other random bits of entertainment:

• Go to www.google.com
• Search for "failure"
• Click the "I'm feeling lucky" button

If it's still working it should take you here. If I hadn't been on campus I probably would have been roflmao.

Update: Studying (or trying to find time to) for the GRE's is not so much fun. If I want to get into grad school anywhere I'm going to have to do really well. But on the bright side, I know I want to go and I have a pretty good idea of where I want to go. I got my last (hopefully) degree audit from ISU!! *insert happy dance* And, I'm going to have enough time that I'll be able to pick up my Design Studies minor. Grimm, the adventure game I'm working on for one of my classes this semester, is owning my life. Ogre3D (rendering engine) doesn't play well with others. I've been trying to implement the gui stuff for the game and it's been giving me fits, I finally get one thing working and something else breaks. Talk about frustrating. It doesn't help that neither the Ogre nor the CEGUI (Crazy Eddie's GUI) have decent documentation or tutorials that make much sense. I'm getting closer, I know what the problem is, but I'm not sure how to fix it, it's an issue with a singleton object. Probably the worst part about this is this project has been in the works for 2-3 years, and we've got a November 15th deadline to get it entered in a competition. If it doesn't get done on time I think Chad's probably going to cry. But it will get done, things always do... kinda funny how that manages to happen, well, as long as we bust ass.

Take off every 'zig'!!

INTJ - that's what's wrong with me.

So I got this email today from WiSE (Women in Science and Engineering) today and there's some seminar series (which I will most likely not attend) about learning about yourself and choosing a job path. To sign up for this seminar series they first want you to take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and I was a little bored, curious and it was only gonna take me 5-10 min so I took it. Turns out I'm a INTJ - Introverted Intuitive Thinking Judging. A Mastermind Rational if you will. It doesn't explain why I am the way I am, but it does explain some of the "rational" behind some of the things I say and do... or don't say or do, depending on the situation.

In other news I'm about 90% sure I want to go to grad school, and I think I want to go for Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) or some sort of computer graphics/game technology sort of master. Google and I have been digging around for schools with such programs, and I've got quite a list, but I'm having a slightly difficult time narrowing it down to my top 5 or so. There are 3 that really stand out: Carnegie Mellon, University of Pennsylvania, and Georgia Tech. And actually, when I got to looking at it ISU's HCI program isn't too shabby. I'll apply here, but mostly as a backup, I kind of feel like it's time for me to go and leave wonderful old l'Ames. Some others I'm looking into a little more are Purdue, Michigan, Virginia Tech, Washington University and DePaul. I dunno... I'm slowly getting there, which scares me, seems like I'm not moving on this stuff quickly enough. I really need to get on the ball if I want this to happen. Yeah, things will work out, but only if I push them... nothing is just going to magically fall into place. But the motivation is kicking in, so that's good. There are a few people's brains I'd like to pick about the matter, and I'll get to that too, which will help resolve a lot of this. I think it's all coming together finally.

I seriously need to stop writing so late... I start to lose all train of thought and end up sounding like a bumbling idiot. I guess that's not really much different than any other time of day though :)

2B || !2B

So, it's kind of been slowly sinking in for a while now, but hit a little harder today, that I graduate in about 7 months and I have no idea what I'm going to do or where I'm going ot go. For some reason answering questions at freshmen seminar really got me thinking that I have no plan, and no idea what's going to happen... and it scares me. And a lot of the problem is I don't really have anyone, or feel like I have anyone, I can talk to this about. Part of me really wants to go to grad school and get my masters, but the other part of me questions what I would do with it. I honestly don't know, I don't know what I want to do. I really hate uncertainty, it makes me nervous. And everybody tells me it'll all work out... but for everything to work out I need to make some decisions and for some reason that's really hard. Ideally I would both apply for jobs as well as take the GRE's and apply to grad schools, but I just don't see time for all of that. Both are rather intensive processes, and for grad school, most universities have a deadline of January or February 1st. If I do decide to do the grad school route I need to figure out what I want to do. UPenn has a really cool masters program, CGGT (Computer Graphics and Game Technology), which is new, and is very much in my area of interest. At the same time it's very narrow and I think maybe HCI (Human Computer Interaction) would be a better way to go. The more I think about it the more I think grad school is where I want to go, but on the same token having a real job would nice. Being a student wears on you, granted there's "less work" when you're a grad student, but it's just work/homework in a different sense. With a job, your work typically falls between the hours of 8am and 6pm, at which point you're done and can spend the rest of your time how you like... that and you actually have real money in your pocket. Being a semi-poor college student, as most of you probably know, gets kind of old. I don't know, I never thought I'd actually be having the debate with myself about grad school. I always thought I'd do my undergrad in 4 years, get a job, and be done with school. But now that I'm at that point, I.... I like school, and I like learning, and I kind of want to continue for a couple more years. Get a little more specialized, more focused. I need to get it figured out, get all my little ducks in a row and get going on things... but I'm just so torn. Most employers will pay for, or do tuition reimbursement, for their employees to go to grad school, but that's typically under the stipulation that you go for something that would contribute to your job. I'm not sure that what I want to do would fall under that category. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't in most cases. Ultimately it boils down to I don't know what I should do. The more I think about it the more it seems like I should go to grad school... but part of me keeps saying I'm just putting of part off my life by doing that. I guess that really isn't that big of a deal though, I've been putting off certain parts of my life for years, but I'm not going to get into that. *sigh* This obviously isn't going to get resolved tonight, so the internal battle will continue to rage. Any advice, opinions etc. are welcome... the best would be someone to talk to who is going through this, or has gone through this, but I don't see that happening. Oh well.

Sneeze * 4 = Orgasm

The following conversation is a loose recap of the conversation that occurred while working on physics pre-lab:

Me: *sneeze*

Ooly: Did you know every sneeze is equivalent to one quarter of an orgasm

Me: What? So does that mean if you sneeze 4 times you've in effect orgasmed?

You're probably thinking "WTF?" which is what I thought too, and I don't claim to understand it, but it was funny so I thought I'd share. Thank you, that is all.

I less than 3 Boheme

So I totally love Boheme. It is like the best place ever. Couple weekends ago we went to Club Element for Leah's birthday... and it... well bluntly it pretty much sucked. The atmosphere was terrible, music wasn't that great... I dunno, Boheme kind of spoils you. It's small, but the people who go there are cool, the music is awesome, and the DJ is the best ever! Anyway... back to my little story. So we went tonight, and usually we don't go on Thursdays because of class and homework and what not. But it turns out that Thursdays are techno, which is cool, and something different than what we're used to. Usually we go on Friday nights, which is international music night, and they play a lot of Desi, Latin, etc. Techno night is the shizzle, there are way less people, and the ones that are there don't really dance. So it's just 4 of us (me, Heidi, Dita and Ash) out there dancing, and some random chick who was there comes up to us as she's leaving, gives us all a smack on the ass and a hug and proceeds to tell us that we rock. It was really random, but kinda cool at the same time. It's not everyday that some random chick you've never met before walks up, smacks your ass and tells you you rock. Later, we finally got some of the other people there to dance too, and we were having fun, and we look over at one of the couches and there's soft core porn going on right there in the club. The were making out, and this guys hands were going everywhere, on her boobs, on her crotch... it was grotesque... talk about PDA gone awry. Though, I must admit, it was good for a laugh. Overall techno night was a total blast. We need to make a habit of going every (or almost every) Thursday and Friday night!

In other news... WE BEAT THE HAWKS!!! I never thought we could do it, but they came out totally flat, we took out their QB and kicked their sorry asses all the way back to Iowa City. PWN3D! It's good to be a Cyclone. Needless to say, when basketball season comes around, they'd better bring it, 'cause they're coming to the big house, and if they don't we're going to wipe Hilton with them. I almost feel sorry for Adam Haluska, it's his big homecoming. I hope he's gotten some balls since he left... he's gonna need them.

There was other stuff I was going to pontificate about, but it's currently almost 3AM and I'm no longer thinking very clearly. So there will be more later when I remember what it is I wanted to write about. I know I said this last time too... but this time I really mean it. Promise. *hearts*

PS: A free show, good music, good friends, and a slap on the ass... gotta say, makes for a pretty good/interesting night.

PPS: I totally forgot to mention the transvestite in the red pleather with the 5 o'clock shadow. Maybe she'll come next week and we can get her to dance w/ us.

Insomnia

So, I've got a little bit of insomnia going on, mostly due to the fact that my mind is going about a million miles an hour. It's mostly the whole grad school vs. real job thing. I have no idea what I want to do and career fair is in a week and a half, and I haven't signed up or even started studying for the gre's. I also haven't updated my resume, which I really need to get on, because I've had a couple people offer to give it to people they know. Mostly it boils down to I have no idea what I really want to do. Unlike I had hoped, the internship didn't really get me any closer to that point. If anything it may have set me back a bit... then again it did kind of show me what I don't want to be doing. Unfortunately IT and IT consulting is a lot of the market right now. I'm still just so scattered all over the place and haven't found that one thing (or even 2 things) that I'm good at and love. So along with the mountain of homework/work I have I need to start figuring out the rest of my life in the next few weeks. Not my whole life... just the next few years of it, which right now seems like a lot. It'd probably help if I had time to find me again.

There was other stuff I wanted to write about, but I'm no longer forming cohesive thoughts... so more later.

Score one for coffee

Yay for coffee! A new study shows that coffee is full of antioxidants that help fight cancer and heart disease. This totally validates my addiction. So now not only does it allow me to function in the morning and throughout the rest of the day, but it's protecting me from cancer and heart disease among other things trying to kill me :). Now, I know, I can't get buy just drinking coffee, I still need fruits and veggies and whatnot. But it's still pretty cool. YAY FOR COFFEE!! (ok, maybe I've had a cup or two too many already today)

Haha, in other news, it's just as I predicted. I've been back in Iowa about a month and I'm already itching to get out again. Ironic, isn't it? A month and a half ago I couldn't wait to get back, and I'm already ready to leave again. I don't make any sense. I think part of it's the whole school thing. I've been in class a week and I'm ready for the semester to be over. Physics 2 is the death! Plus that and everything else... I'm not going to get my soul back until mid December.... if then. And I seriously need to get my act together if I'm going to take the GRE's and apply for grad school. That and attempt to keep my grades up or I'm never going to get in. I'm insane for even considering grad school... what's wrong with me? Maybe I just need to get out for a few days or a weekend or something. I just don't know where I'd go or what I'd do.

And for my little random bit of the day check this out. It's totally funny, totally stupid, and absolutely hilarious.

LMAO

I love people who leave comments on your posts that don't make any sense. 1) They leave the comment on the wrong post. 2) They make no sense because the didn't really read your post and made all sorts of wild assumptions. 3) They leave it anonymously because they know full well they're being asinine. I mean, come on, if you're going to leave a nasty comment at least leave it on the right post and actually read and understand the post first.

Last night a whole bunch of use went to Boheme. It's this kinda dirty little cafe/bar/hole-in-the-wall. Anyway, on Friday nights they play international music, and so we go and we dance and have tons of fun. Last night was the first time I'd gotten to go in at least 4 months. I had missed it so much! I'd forgotten how much fun that place is, and how easy it is to just go there and forget about everything else and just have fun. And it was a little extra special because the last few times I had gone Pete (the Friday night DJ) had been playing more and more Latin music. This is ok, but not my favorite thing to dance to, and when that's all he plays all night it gets kind of boring. Anyway, I got mildly ambitious and put together a cd of stuff he doesn't play, and some new stuff, and gave it to him, and he actually played some of the tracks! This is totally cool, 'cause Pete won't play just anything. It also helped that I wore the sexy hat.

I've decided I need a pet. This isn't exactly an earth shattering, new idea. I want a dog, but that's not feasible right now because I'm not home enough to take care of a dog. Dogs need lots of attention, and someone who's around more than just popping in the apartment, grabbing different books, something to eat on the run, and then back out the door again. I really want a pocket-puppy, a small little dog that will never get that big, because I could take it some places with me, but still not everywhere. Left at home a dog would get lonely, so that's out for the next couple years. So, I've decided the next best thing would be a hedgehog. They're small, and cute. You can leave them home alone all day because they're semi-nocturnal and sleep during the day. From what I've read about them, the domesticated ones are very tame and friendly, not like a dog or a cat, but they will bond with you. And they're way cooler than a hamster. It probably won't happen, they're kind of expensive, and what am I going to do with it if I move to a state where they're illegal to possess. Doesn't change the fact that I need a pet, but I'm probably going to have to hold out a little longer.

Oops, my hotdogs

So, I've got a killer case of A.D.D this week. My mind has been in 20 million different places at once all week. I can't focus on anything for more than 5 seconds, I swear. . . . . . . See, just there, I got up and made myself a cup of tea. So now I'm back... what was I talking about? Oh yeah! My weird A.D.D this week. Yeah, like yesterday when I was in Gilman looking for the room my class was in. I was kinda wandering around because I haven't been in Gilman for a while and knew where the room was, but it was evading me at the moment. Nandita saw me wandering, and yelled at me, so I turn around and walk towards her. Now you know those double doors that have the bar/door jam separating them? And you know how wide institutional doors are? Yeah... so I'm walking back, and I'm walking through the door way, and I run into the metal bar that separates the doors. I didn't just brush up against it, or lightly graze it... no full shoulder ran into it. I even managed to bruise my arm a bit, which I noticed just now and this happened Tuesday. The worst part was there wasn't anybody within like 3 feet of me. I felt a bit stupid, but then I started laughing and Nandita started laughing, and we eventually remembered where the room was. Haha... and on Monday, we were coming out of Ross Hall, and it's on the East side of campus, and there are way too many doors in and out of that building, and I spin around once because I have no clue where I am and I'm trying to get my bearings so I can go to physics... and of course Nandita laughs at me again. There's a reason I avoid the East side of campus, I can never remember where anything is, and the people are scary. Today I saw this creepy skinny guy wearing cowboy boots, wranglers, this huge ass belt buckle and a cowboy hat. I was scared, I mean, for all I know he's gonna pull out his lasso and rope me or someone else.
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Whoo! So I finished reading my CprE... still have more to read, but it's a start. Reading is so boring, and makes me so sleepy. I need to find something to listen to or do that'll help keep my attention while I'm reading. So yes... it has taken me well over an hour to compose this post. Oops, my hotdogs.

Invasion of the Retards

So last week everybody came back to l'Ames and ISU... talk about invasion of the retards. I swear, people have actually managed to get stupider over the summer. Thursday was by far the worst. There were people everywhere, and none of them know where they're going. It was especially annoying because I had places to be and knew where I was going and there were too many people in my way. The students who stay here over the summer know what's going on, but the ones who leave are totally clueless and completely stupid. Most of them should just be shot on the spot.

Later today, I was bored, and was checking out the ISU home page and re-discovered the link to the campus webcams, and found out that they made the one outside the MU a live feed! I was all excited, and I'm watching it, and I think to myself... the people look like little ants. And I keep watching and another thought comes to mind... I wonder if they go squish like little ants. And of course I share all this with Dita, and we come to the conclusion that we're anti-social and people are stupid. I need a t-shirt that says "I see stupid people". I especially need it on the east side of campus. That place is frightening.

Give it up already

So, I've got a new facebook stalker... and this one is actually more of a stalker, he just won't quite messaging me. And he's this doofy freshman football player. I hate football, and most football players are cocky jackasses. And this guy seems to fit the stereotype to a T. The way he writes says it all:

whassup ma? i dont know you but i just saw your picture and i was like damn! and i thought i would say hi and maybe get to know you. so now that i feel like a dumbass, how bout you tell me bout yourself...

And later, after I've sorta nicely tried to tell him to go away:

well what do i have to do to chill with you?

It's like... dude, just go away. You're younger than my lil bro, and you play football. Just quite already. Maybe if I ignore him he'll get the hint and go away, I prob already screwed up by responding back once.

(Insert witty segue) I was listening to internet radio this afternoon and heard Axel F - Crazy Frog. Now, I've already heard the little Nokia ring tone, and seen the little Nokia video, but I didn't know there was a whole song. And then to come find out, there's a full legth video that goes with! I have yet to find that, so if you've seen it somewhere, let me know. It's not better than the Numa Numa song and the fat kid (that's just great!), but it's right up there. It makes me laugh, and do a little stupid dance of my own. If you're still not fully entertained and could use a little more, try this one.

Reality TV has taken over the world

TV officially sucks, especially ESPN. Not only do they spend the entire college basketball season touting the "greatness" of the ACC, but they have now signed Bobby Knight to his own reality TV show. 'Knight School' is just one more show where a bunch of basketball hacks vie for their 15 minutes in the spotlight before they get laughed off the court. The premise of the show is 16 Texas Tech students enduring the "legendary" Knight practices for a chance to be a walk on in the 2006-07 season. Apparently, playing for Mr. Knight is a big deal, what with him being a legendary hot head and all.

Now if you hadn't already guessed, I am not a Bob Knight fan. I grew up a Hawkeye and had to deal with him in the Big 10. Watching Mr. Knight frequently throw tantrums, and even on occasion chairs, during games. Indiana finally had enough in 2000 and fired him. I couldn't have been happier. Later that same year Texas Tech named him their new head coach. Unfortunately at the time I was not thinking clearly about my future, and where exactly I was going to college. I ended up choosing Iowa State, and with it the Big 12... and got stuck again having to watch Bobby Knight basketball. Doh!

I'm Back!

Whoohoo! I'm back in the boring state of Iowa, and I couldn't be happier. I never thought I could miss it so much. I drove back Sunday, and it was so great to see real corn again. It was just nice to drive through Iowa. I missed the quiet, and the laid back attitude, and actually being able to see the horizon line. It was just wonderful, and made the 6 hour drive not so bad. Then today I rode my bike out to Kelly and back just for the fun of it. It was gorgeous... clear blue sky, corn/beans on either side of me, fresh air, and you could see forever. Only problem is, now my ass hurts from riding so far... and it wasn't even really that far.

In other news. Ashley's moved in, and we're having fun. We're gonna go shopping tomorrow when she gets home from work. We still are in need of a DVD player and a few other things. She works at Caribou Coffee in Des Moines, so we get free coffee sometimes, which is good for me. I don't function properly in the morning until I've had at least one cup. But yeah, she's so much fun, and I think we're going to have a great time living together. I'm still just so excited.

Stalker update (every girl should have one): still no word yet. I probably scared the crap out of him, that or he just has no cajones. It's very possible it's a combination of both. Either way, ruins all my fun. I so love messing with people. Oh well.

Classes start in a little over 2 weeks. I can hardly believe it, the summer went so fast. Our a/c was out the other day, so while we were waiting for someone to come fix it we decided to go find out what books we were going to need for the semester. We went to Campus Bookstore, and I instantly remembered why I no longer go there. For those of you who have been there, they'll make you check your backpack if you're carrying one, which is slightly annoying, but makes sense. All Ashley had was her purse, and this little green notebook with some company logo on it. The lady at the register stopped us and was going to make her check it, because apparently they carried some just like it, even though theirs didn't have any logos on them. It was so stupid, and she was such a bitch about it, we just walked out. That's not the first time I've had shitty service there. Last semester I was returning a book I didn't need, and I waited for 15 minutes before someone even asked me if I needed any help, and then it took another 15-20 minuets for them to track down the person with the key to the return register, and then that person couldn't come up right away, and apparently no one else can do returns. Needless to say, I was very upset by the time I got out of there, and vowed never to go back. Word to the wise, don't shop at Campus Bookstore.

A little bit of randomness

WARNING: The following blog is completely random.

So, I'm finally done with my internship in St. Louis. They didn't offer me a full time position when I graduate. For a fleeting moment I was a little disappointed. You know that "what's wrong with me" feeling, and the sting of rejection? And then I realized, wait, you didn't really like working here all summer, and you know this isn't really what you want to be doing after graduation, no need to be upset. So I'm off and running again... trying to figure out what I want to do after graduation. Sunday I will be making the long trek back to Ames... I'm excited, but in a way kind of sad. I've had a great time getting to know K and Paul. They're both such wonderful people, and I couldn't have asked for better people to live with. They are probably the best thing I've gotten out of this whole experience. Yeah, the internship was fine, I learned a few things, made good money, and it will look good on my resume. But if it hadn't been for them, my time here would have just been miserable. I'm going to miss them.

We went to an opera tonight, and just like that I can't remember what it was called. It was my first opera, and it wasn't too bad. It was in German, but I guess it isn't a more well know one, and the plot was a little confusing and kind of hard to follow. My mind started wandering a few times. Overall it wasn't bad, but I prefer plays and musicals. Usually they keep my attention better, and I find them more entertaining. It was still good though. I went with K, and her daughter, Margo, who is in town visiting for the weekend. Overall it was enjoyable.

And now for a totally random subject. I really dislike it when you call someone because you need to talk, and for whatever reason they can't talk at the moment and say they'll call you back, and then don't call back. I understand the not being able to talk initially, but I hate it when someone says they'll call you back, and then they forget. It's almost just mean. I'm making a bigger deal out of it than it is, but... sometimes you just need to talk to someone and not just anyone will do. Oh well.

OMG! This is so going to suck... I've been sleeping on a queen bed all summer, and just realized that when I go back to Ames, I'm also going back to my itty bitty twin bed. Oh, that sux0rz! Ha! I'll probably roll out and fall on the floor the first night or two. That'll be fun. :P

In a little bit of what I deem to be good news, Senator Frist has decided to back government-funded stem cell research. Of course, we all remember his threats of getting rid of the right to filibuster during some of the judicial nominations earlier this summer. That's still just completely asinine to me. The worst part is, it'll probably happen again with the new Supreme Court nominee, John Roberts. I'm not sure he's experienced enough to be appointed to the Supreme Court. That, and it's a life time position and he's only 50. Also, from what I have read about him, he's too conservative for my taste. But you never know what someone is going to do once they're on the bench, and he hasn't been a judge for that long... so who knows. It'll be interesting.

I have a new stalker...

.... yes, a new "stalker". A facebook stalker to be more precise. I received this very odd, and totally random message on facebook the other day from some English grad student at ISU.

Hi.

I have your facebook page bookmarked, and for the life of me, I can't remember why now. Perhaps it was a slip of the finger while randomly surfing my so-called social network, perhaps I meant to say something to you a few months ago and forgot, or perhaps... okay, those are the only two I can think of.

Regardless, I thought I would say hello. You do have an extremely interesting profile, so perhaps that's why you're bookmarked. Computers and creativity merged in a female form. A guy couldn't ask for much more.

That is all. Write back if you're bored. :)

I promise I'm not a stalker,

Now, if that isn't stalker-esqe I don't know what is. I wasn't aware that saying you weren't a stalker made it true. Those people from the East Side of campus are . . . different, to put it nicely. I laughed my ass off the first time I read it, and then I read it again... and laughed again. And I continue to laugh every time I read it. I couldn't resist responding. I had to, it was too good to pass up. It wasn't the nicest response... and in fact I took a couple cheap shots. I couldn't help it, it was too easy, and what can I say, that's just my style. What'll be interesting now is to wait and see if he has the balls to respond. That's just what I need... a new "stalker". Last fall there was "Creepy Stalker Chad", as I dubbed him. He was the guy from my software engineering class that just randomly stopped me on the sidewalk while I was walking home one night and said "Hi, Denise." It was early in the semester, and I had no clue who he was, it was well after class, and being the wonderfully witty person I am when caught off guard, I said "Should I know you?" Yeah... I really said it, out loud. And there are always just the typical, weird CS and CprE guys. They're kinda scary sometimes. So yeah... I have a new "stalker." It'll be interesting :)

In totally unrelated news, the heat wave in StL has finally broke. It's been around 100 here for the last week, but it rained last night and things have finally cooled down. I have 2 more days left of my internship, and will hopefully be back in L'Ames sometime Sunday. I can't hardly wait. For as much as I complain about it when I'm there (and even when I'm not), I've really missed it. Regardless, it will good to be back. Back where people don't drive like total idiots, only semi-idiots; where corn looks like corn, instead of this spindely stuff with ears and leaves; where people aren't obsessed with baseball; where all my friends are. I'm so excited, I can hardly contain myself. And just about the time I'll be getting really sick of it, and itching to leave again, it will be May and time for graduation. Hooray!

Alright already, keep your pants on

Jeez people... I know I haven't posted in a while. But seriously! How about you harass me about it just a little more. I haven't had much to write about lately. Things have been pretty quiet and uneventful. Too busy with work to find much to really bitch about :). I will give you one thing though; I absolutely hate the gas pumps in Missouri (or Misery as I prefer to call it sometimes). They're so weird and hard to use. They've got these weird little plastic tubing type stuff over the regular metal nozzle. I don't understand the purpose of them except to maybe totally frustrate and piss off out of towners. That and just normal use of the pump is odd. It really ticked me off today. And after a long day the last thing you need is to have a gas pump get the better of you.

I may have already told this joke (it's not mine, someone else told it to me) but you're going to get it again anyway:
Q: How do you raise the IQ in both Iowa and Missouri?
A: By moving the bottom row of Iowa counties into Missouri!
Ok, most people in Missouri, at least not in the city, aren't that dumb. Yes, there are some, but there are everywhere. I see stupid people all the time.

Another random thing about StL/Missouri is their obsession with baseball and in particular with the Cardinals. Now, for those of you who don't already know, I don't like baseball (and fyi, I don't like football either). I think baseball is one of the most boring games in the world to watch. I just do not see the attraction, unless you're looking for something to put you to sleep. Anyway, back to the point. Everything is about baseball, that's all anybody talks about. "How'd the Cardinals do last night?" I don't know and I don't really care. Now, if it were college basketball, it'd be a totally different story. I live for college basketball season, and especially March Madness. But not baseball. I never watch it on TV, and only ever go to the rare game under much protest. Oh well, seeing the reactions on people’s faces when I tell them I detest baseball is always fun.

Intern Training

So, I’m sitting on the plane right now on my way back from training (posting later obviously). And I can’t sleep so I’ve decided to start on the evitable blog that is bound to be written anyway, might as well do it now since I have nothing better to do. Only problem is that since I’m in the air and I’m on a little itty bitty plane (try 3 seats across, ugh!), it’s kinda bumpy and consequently hard to type. But I’ll manage, I always do :). Training was fun, long, but fun. I met lots of cool people from all the different offices all over the country, hopefully all of whom I’ll get to see again at the end of the summer in Orlando! It was super cool hanging out with “my people” all week. You know, all the Com Sci, CprE types… nerdy/geeky computer people. It was great! They had us out in one of those hotel/conference centers in the middle of no where New Jersey. We spent way too much time in the hotel, not fun. I start getting a little stir crazy being cooped up indoors all day. But a couple nights we went down to the bar in the hotel and shot some pool and had some good quality intern bonding time. One night we went in to New Brunswick and hit one of the local college (Rutgers) bars. That was uber fun (more intern bonding time). Overall it was a good week. We leaned a lot about the company and the different groups within our branch. We also got a better idea of what we will be doing and what we’ll be working on this summer. Granted, by today, most of us were in information overload and nothing was sinking in. We were all standing out in the lobby waiting for our respective transportation, and the bunch of us just looked so dead tired and drained. Probably the coolest thing we did this week was get our laptops. Granted they’re hp’s which wouldn’t have been my fist choice. I was really hoping for a ThinkPad. No such luck :(. Regardless, it’ll give me a chance to use a laptop for a couple months and really decide if I want to shell out the money and buy myself something. One of the cool things about being an intern is we get some of the full time employee perks, like discounts on computers, cell phones, other techie type stuff, clothing etc., which is really cool. I’m gonna have to check it out later when I get home. I might finally be able to get my laptop or my pda. Yay! Oh, and the really crazy thing, is they already have me on a project Monday when I get back. I think I’m going to have to meet with clients Monday afternoon, and I have to be in around 7:30 so I can be debriefed before our little StL intern orientation so I can be prepared for the afternoon. Talk about throwing you in head first. Not even going to get a chance to get settled. But it’s probably a good thing for me. I’ve been bored and itching to get to do some real work. Ya know, I like flying. Looking out the window and all you see is the cute, fluffy tops of the little clouds. It’s like a whole other world up here. All blue and white, calm and peaceful looking and you can see forever. Ha! That was really random. But I’m tired, so it’s ok. I was sleeping while we were sitting on the tarmac in Newark, and I was asleep through take off, but unfortunately I woke up shortly after and now I can’t fall back asleep. Not that that’s a bad thing, I’ll just sleep all that much better tonight when I finally get home. And the randomness continues… I should probably just stop while I’m still ahead and before anybody thinks I’m too crazy, even though most people who know me already know that I am crazy. But that’s ok, maybe more later…

More later... So yeah, got back to St. Louis about 8:30 central time. And I'm in the airport waiting at the luggage carousel waiting for my bag, and I'm waiting and I'm waiting... and my bag still isn't coming around, and I'm starting to wonder wtf. Finally the guy at the little desk makes an announcement that there are unclaimed bags from the Newarkflight by the desk that had never even made it onto the carousel. Now, why would you do that? That is so annoying. Why would you only run about half the bags through on the carousel, that makes no sense to me. But whatever. Crazy airport. But yeah, it's really nice to be back in the Midwest again. Clean smelling air, fields... just a totally different atmosphere. As much as I complain about it, I miss it when I'm gone. That's kinda weird. You don't really appreciate a place until you have to leave it. Like Iowa, it's boring and blah blah blah... but now that I'm in Missouri I really miss it. I mean, yeah, it's just north, but it's so much different down here. Different corn, different roads, different just about everything. And the worst part is about a month after I get back I'll be complaining about it again. Oh well :)

Jon Stewart is my hero

Jon Stewart is my hero! What else is there to say. The Daily Show is just great, sometimes I feel that it's the only news source that isn't owned by The Man, and hence can report the real news. Yes, I realize some of it is a little skewed, and it's a touch satirical, but it's more factual than some of the crap they play on Fox News. But yeah, I was just watching it, and I haven't for a while, and I'd forgotten how great it really is. It's nice to see someone poking a little fun at the news and other current events while still giving you the facts.

So annoying!

So, have you ever been to a museum, art or otherwise, and have someone hover around behind you to make sure you don't touch anything or do anything you shouldn't be doing? Well, if you've never had that happen to you, consider yourself very lucky. I went to the St. Louis Contemporary Art Museum today, and I swear, every time I turned around there was someone standing about 5-10 feet away from me, watching me. And there weren't even very many people in there, and no small children. Common, I've been taught well enough that you're not supposed to touch the art work when you go to the museum. It totally ruins the viewing experience when there is someone hovering around behind you. But there were a couple exhibits I did enjoy. There were 4 all together; Kathrie Kuharic: The World Brought Low; Alexander Ross: Survey; and the 2 I enjoyed the most, Dzine: Punk Funk; and Ruby Osorio: Story of a Girl (Who Awakes Far, Far Away). Dzine is really abstract, bright colors, patterns, shapes etc. I loved it, it was so vibrant and alive. Ruby Osorio was completely different in contrast. All her art is done on paper, in ink and thread. The colors are much more sedate, and there is far more white space around her figures. Her stuff looks more like art you would find in a children's book. It's very beautiful, feminine and simple.

On a totally unrelated note, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, my home town, has the country's safest drivers. Now, growing up there, and learning how to drive there, and having driven other places, I already knew this. What slightly blows my mind is that Des Moines, Iowa is ranked 6th. There is a very stark contrast between how people drive in eastern Iowa vs how they drive in central Iowa. Granted. It's nothing compared to how they drive in Missouri or Illinois, but for Des Moines to be number 6 is a bit astonishing. Makes me wonder how they drive in other parts of the country... scary.

You can find me in St. Louie...

So, I'm in St. Louis. I made the 6 hour drive from Ames yesterday with only one stop. I'm rather proud of myself. The drive wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. It was long, but it was divided highway most of the way. There was a stretch between Mt. Pleasant and Hannibal that wasn't, but there also wasn't much traffic. The only bad thing was I hit the skirts of St. Louis around 4:30... start of rush hour traffic. Bleh! But as soon as I got on I-44 it got a lot better. Overall Avenue of the Saints treated me pretty well. It felt really weird crossing the Iowa/Missouri boarder though. I don't know why, but it did. Leaving the apartment yesterday felt really weird to. I know I'll be back in only 2 months, and those 2 months are going to fly... but it still felt odd leaving. As much as I complain about how boring Ames is, I'm going to miss it. Or maybe not so much miss Ames, but miss some of the people there. You know who you are.

The people I'm staying with are really cool, K and Paul. They have a pool, and I love their dog. He's fun. They've made me feel right at home and like I'm part of the family. That in and of it's self is making this so much easier. It's nice knowing people who know their way around... I'd be lost otherwise. Like today, I don't think I would have made it downtown w/o getting lost if I hadn't been able to ask K how to get there first.

So, lunch today, I got to meet all the other interns that are going to be in the St. Louis office. Most of them I won't be seeing too much of. We all have different training. I and the other Advisory intern, Temi, have training in Somerset, New Jersey for a week. We leave June 12th and get back June 17th. So basically, I have all of next week do to whatever I want, get to know St. Louis a little better etc etc etc. I think tomorrow I'm going to go in, and get a tour of the office (I haven't been there yet) and maybe go to lunch with my buddy Craig. Then June 28th the office is closing at 3, and we're off until July 5th... and it's payed time off! SCORE! I dunno what I'm going to do yet, K and Paul are going to be gone July 2 - 10. Regardless, it'll be a nice little mini vacation. Maybe find someone who wants to go to Six Flags with me. That would be fun, I haven't been there for a few years, and I love their roller coasters.

Well enough rambling for now. I'm going to either go unpack some more or find something else to do. Later!

A class about porn... wtf!?

Those crazy, drunken Hawkeyes are at it again, only this time it's porn instead of booze. I heard about it this morning on the radio, but didn't catch the full story, so I hit the Press Citizen to check it out. It's not as bad as it initially sounds. It's a class about how porn affects today's society and our every day lives. Which is actually kind of interesting, because, anymore, sex is everywhere. And of course, as to be expected, some in the Legislature are throwing a small fit because it's a public school and they're still messing with the education budget. Just more threats from them about cutting some funding... hell, tuition's going up anyway, who's going to notice a little more? Maybe while they're at it they should offer a class about how beer affects society too, and what better place to offer it other than UI... 'cause in heaven there is no beer (prob no porn either). Props Hawks.

Baaaaaah!

Sheep I tell you, they're all sheep! 43%... 43%!!! of Americans poled find that the press has too much freedom. Unbelievable! And only 14% of those polled know that the First Amendment entitles freedom of the press. How dumb can people possibly be? And to think that the press has too much freedom? Do they really want news media that is mandated by the government? Do they have any idea what that might be like? I can't, and don't even want to imagine what that might be like. It's bad enough with all the FCC regulations on tv and the radio. Wow, at the rate things are going right now we might as well just scrap the whole Constitution and start over again. Aparently it just isn't working out any more... too much free "liberal" press, the government minority is too vocal, hell, the minorities in general are getting out of hand, demanding all the same rights as majority citizens. Someone needs to stop them before things get out of hand and the other sheep wake up and realize what's going on. I mean, it's ridiculous, who do they think they are anyway? Ok, enough sarcasm... It just really irritates me that people can be so stupid and so uneducated. They're like lemures... whatever the head lemur does, the rest do. Oh well what are you gonna do other than point your finger and laugh later when they finally learn they're wrong.

Why insist on changing what works

Why is it suddenly a big deal that the minority can filibuster to keep things that they don't want to happen from happening? And why is this something that we now need to change? The majority (Republicans) in the Senate want to end a 200+ year right to filibuster judicial nominations, and to some extent any nominations by the president, which I don't understand. It's stupid, the right to filibuster was put in for a reason, so judges that are too conservative or too liberal can't just be pushed through. But because currently it's a conservative president and a conservative Senate they refuse to think about what it would be like if the situation is reversed. Eventually it's going to change, there will be new senators, a new president, and then what? Then they'll complain that they don't have the right to filibuster... but they'll be the ones who will have gotten rid of it in the first place. There is a reason things were setup the way they were, the minority needs to be protected, whether the minority be liberal or conservative, because their opinion matters too. It really scares me, the new trend of if we don't like something, lets just change the constitution so it works for us. Let's not think about the repercussions, or the rights we may be violating, we just want our way and we want it now.

On a totally unrelated note, I think the barrage of German spam that has been infiltrating my iastate email account has finally stopped! It's about time AIT fixed the problem. Sometimes I seriously wonder if they know what they're doing over there. Rumor has it that one of their web servers, or webmaster accounts, was some how infiltrated and was sending out tons of German spam. It was wonderful... checking my email and having over 100 new messages, most of which were in German. Supposedly the problem was fixed last night, but I still had about 20 when I checked first thing this morning... now they're just going to my spam folder. I wish they'd actually get the problem fixed... hey, what do you expect really? Ha! It's worse than when people reply to a group account asking to be removed from the mailing list when it says at the bottom of the original email who you should contact to be removed. Or when people hit reply-all when they should be doing just a reply. Some people are just so stupid... they never cease to amaze me.

101 things about me

1. Full name: Denise Bacher
   
2. Date of birth: April 26 , 1984
   
3. Height: 5'7''
   
4. Parents: Bill & Donna
   
5. Sibling(s): Bill
   
6. Pet(s): Buddy and Sandy, my puppies
   
7. What book are you reading: Currently nothing, hopefully that will change soon
8. What time is it now: about 11 pm
9. What's on your mouse pad: Don't have one, optical mouse baby
10. What's your favorite board game: Twister... that is a board game, right
11. Favorite magazine: Wired, Spin, Cosmo
12. Tea or coffee: Coffee, duh
    
13. Favorite sound: Thunderstorms (which we're having right now), friends' laughter, and the hum of a computer
    
14. Worst feeling in the world: Finding out the person you love doesn't love you back
    
15. First thing you think of in the morning: Usually how badly I don't wanna get outta bed
16. How many rings before you answer the phone: 2 or more
17. Favorite color: red
18. What's the most important thing in your life: My friends and family
19. Favorite food(s): Hot braised chicken, orange chicken, General Tso's chicken, pizza, tacos...
    
20. If you could play an instrument what would it be: I can play the sax, but I think it'd be fun to learn piano or guitar
21. Do you like to drive fast: YES
22. Sleep with a stuffed animal: With Mr. Monkey sometimes, but he usually ends up on the floor
23. Storms - cool or scary: Way cool
24. What type is your car: '95 Dodge Intrepid
25. Favorite alcoholic drink: Beer, rum and Coke, Sex on the Beach
26. What's in the trunk of your car: Jumper cables, 1x2, windshield washer fluid
    
27. What's your dream job: Working for Rockstar or Pixar... oh what a dream
28. Ever been in love: Once
29. Is the glass half empty or half full: What's in the glass?
30. Favorite movie(s): Napoleon Dynamite, Kill Bill, Spiderman, LOTR, Top Gun, Princess Bride.... etc etc etc
31. Do you type with your fingers on the right keys: Yeah, usually
    
32. What's under your bed: few boxes and my suitcases
33. What's your favorite number: 7
34. What's your favorite sport to watch: College basketball baby
35. If you could build a house anywhere, where would it be: Somewhere where it's always warm
    
36. What's your favorite article of clothing: Blue jeans and a hooded sweatshirt
37. Beach, mountains or city: Oooh, tough, prob beach then city then mountains
38. Technology or art: A sweet combination of both... can we say 3D animation
39. Comedy or horror: Comedy, I'm all about the haha's
40. Favorite physical feature of the opposite sex: Hands, eyes
41. Favorite time of day: Sunset and right before I fall asleep
42. Last CD you bought: Prob Cold Play, but I don't remember
43. What's your favorite place to be massaged: Back, shoulders and calves
44. What's more important, strong in the mind or strong in the body: Strong in the mind
45. What time do you wake up in the morning: usually 6-7.... gotta work
46. What's your favorite kitchen item: Microwave
47. What makes you really angry: Stupid people
48. Sports car, motorcycle or SUV: again, tough, toss up between the sports car and the motorcycle
49. Do you believe in the afterlife: not really, I believe more in reincarnation
50. What's your favorite season: Summer
51. If you could have one super power, what would it be: I wouldn't want any, I'd probably just screw things up worse than they already are
52. Can you juggle: depends on what we're juggling ;)
53. What's your favorite day of the week: HUMPDAY! haha, j/k Friday's are my favorite
54. Do you prefer sushi or hamburger: Chickens.... yum
55. What's your favorite cartoon: Boondocks, Non Sequitur
    
56. What's your favorite children's book: Dr. Seuss books
    
57. Do you have a tattoo, where and what is it: Yes, on my back and of my little moon
    
58. Do you have any piercings, how many: 7, 5 in the left ear, 2 in the right
    
59. What's your favorite flower: Calla lilies... other assorted lilies, irises, orchids
    
60. What's your favorite meal: Anything I didn't have to cook, I love it when someone cooks for me
    
61. Describe your pj's: usually an over sized t-shirt and shorts
    
62. What's your favorite ice cream: Cookies and Creme... or Ben & Jerry's Phish Food or One Sweet Whirled
    
63. Favorite TV show(s): Simpsons, Futurama, Sex and the City, Friends, CSI
    
64. How many email addresses do you have: 6
    
65. Best Advice: Always be yourself
    
66. Best Cliche: There is no "I" in "team"... to which I retort "There may be no 'I', but there certainly is a 'me'"
    
67. Words and/or phrases you over-use: Oh yeah? Your mom and Whatever
68. Have you ever been to jail: Nope, not yet *crosses fingers*
    
69. What type of music do you listen to: Everything except country
    
70. Political affiliation: Independent liberal
    
71. Do you want to have kids: Nope
    
72. Favorite restaurant(s): Little Tai Pei, Carlos 'o Kelly's, Chilli's, Red Lobster
    
73. What sports do you like: Basketball and soccer. I hate football and baseball
    
74. When you die, do you want to be buried or cremated: Cremated
    
75. Do you believe in aliens: Yeah, it's a big universe for us to be the only ones
    
76. What do you obsess over: School and grades
    
77. Favorite kind of pizza: Sausage, and Chicken Supreme and Taco
    
78. If you could live anywhere, where would you live: Arizona, basically anywhere warm
    
79. What kind of guys are you attracted to: Tall, skinny, smart, intelligent, funny, a little nerdy
    
80. Who is your favorite author: Terry Pratchett
    
81. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be: I'd be smarter and more self confident
    
82. If you could change one thing about your past, what would it be: I'd be more open with people
    
83. Do you eat breakfast then brush, or brush and then eat: eat then brush
    
84. Do you ask the person out, or wait for them to come to you: Depends, I'm more apt to drop subtle hints
    
85. Do you mind paying for a date: Not at all
    
86. What is most important in someones personality: Intelligence and a sense of humor
    
87. Who's more important, family or friends: Both, I couldn't live without either
    
88. Do you get stressed out easily: Yes
    
89. Can guys and girls just be friends: I think so... but I also think it depends a lot on the 2 people and even more on the guy
    
90. What's your dream car: I want a Mercedes or a BMW
    
91. Do you smoke: Ew, no
    
92. What's your favorite animal: Doggies
    
93. Favorite candy: Gummy bears, Skittles, Milky Way
    
94. If you could meet anyone, who would it be: Mahatma Gandhi
    
95. What's your favorite drink: Diet Coke
    
96. Do you believe in love at first sight: No
97. Have you ever broken a bone: Yes, my right arm
98. Do you use your hands when you talk: OMG yes!
99. What's your favorite popsicle flavor: Cherry
100. What's your favorite holiday: Last day of finals
101. Do you sing in the shower: Wouldn't you like to know
     

I'm bored

I'm bored, and I was paroosing the news this morning and found an article about how Google is looking at how to make Blogger better by integrating it with Gmail. Well, this sparked my intrest because I *heart* Gmail. I was also going through some of my old emails, cleaning out my inbox and rediscovered Rust Boy. It's this little animated character that some guy, Brian Taylor, is working on, and you can learn how he does some of the stuff, and watch snippits that he's completed, it's really neat. Granted I find it neater than most because I have a passion for 3D animation. But the texturing is good, that's something I need to work on and learn better. Oh well, I still love
my panda, he's so funny.