| My hell? |
[28 Jun 2004|06:33pm] |
Creationists
Circle I Limbo Rednecks, Goths
Circle II Whirling in a Dark & Stormy Wind Incompetent administrators.
Circle III Mud, Rain, Cold, Hail & Snow Militant Vegans
Circle IV Rolling Weights General asshats, Parents who don't discipline asshole kids
Circle V Stuck in Mud, Mangled River Styx Riceboys
Circle VI Buried for Eternity River Phlegyas Osama bin Laden, Aaron Charney
Circle VII Burning Sands Wanna-be thugs
Circle IIX Immersed in Excrement Republicans, George Bush
Circle IX Frozen in Ice Design your own hell |
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| CBBB |
[03 Mar 2004|09:49pm] |
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mood |
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 amused |
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Cowboy Bebop? Of course I'll post it.
We've been watching all the episodes. We're up to 19. And we know all of the songs whenever they come on in an episode. We're hooked.
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| Woohoo?... |
[02 Mar 2004|01:32pm] |
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mood |
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 apathetic |
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96 on Physics Exam. Go figure.
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| So yeah... |
[01 Mar 2004|03:38am] |
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mood |
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 annoyed |
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music |
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None... the humming of my laptop's single fan. |
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Yeah, I've decided to do an analysis of my life (at least my pre-college life) and put it in my journal.
...
...
...Just not right now (it's close to 4 am). Just a heads up though... should be good reading. Definitely need some time to think about it though, takes at least a little thought to put together 19 years on a white screen and be satisfied with the result.
I'm not talking about a "When I was three, my dog/cat died. When I was four I spilled milk at lunch and everyone laughed at me. When I was five I had an awesome birthday party..." sort of play by play of unrelated events (like I tend to do a lot), but at least how I view the course my life has taken and most importantly WHY it took that course (based on factors around me like parents, school, friends, and my own philosophies on issues). So that should be quite a project.
And, for more short-term events... Sikorsky had it's Commanche program cancelled by the army so I doubt there are many internship opportunities available (at least for college freshmen like me). Here's an idea of how bad this probably is for the odds:
Around 2 days before the news is released:
Dad: "Go check out the Sikorsky site, they have new intern positions available."
Around 2 days after the news is released:
I check the site and there is ONE job oportunity for the entire United Technologies Corporation (which owns Sikorsky and a shitboatloadwagon of other companies) in Trumbull, not at Sikorsky, not for interns, not engineering.
Other news... yay school. I got a 94 on my chem exam... which actually disappoints me. There were 3 100's, like 13% of the class had an A. Though this is like an A+ with the curve, I only got points off on two questions, all stupid mistakes: 1) calculator error... just typed something in wrong, and didn't have time to check 2) multiplication error in head (3.5 times 8 when it should have been 3.5 times 4). My whole goal in this class is to be THE BEST at it. This is a class that is directly related to my MAJOR and I want to not only make an impression, but KICK ASS at it so I do just as well in the other harder chem courses I'll have to take, and maybe even have a position as a Teaching Assistant open for me down the road (well down the road). Might seem stupid of me to care about getting 'only' a 94 on a test, but this class means a big deal to me, and the professor is a great guy to boot.
Anyway... I find out what I got on my physics test in a few hours (yay early classes). Unlike chem, I could care less what I got on the test because the teacher is erratic and unorganized, the TA's are all old, balding foreigners that only exist to explain problems in recitation (unlike chem where they actually give you sample questions in class and explain how to do them), and my TA in lab is simply the most ANAL MAN I HAVE EVER MET. In fact, he gets his own paragraph... or page:
OK, so my previous experiences with labs: you walk in, do an experiment, walk out, write a lab with a general format, and as long as you get all the raw data down and show you understood what the lab was about then you did well.
Our physics TA, first lab, talks for an HOUR about how to write a 'good' lab report. He gives us one of HIS labs he did as a Junior as an example of a good report, and hands out at least 30 pages of photocopied texts on things from standard deviation to the student standard constants and RIDICULOUS things on accuracy, precision, random error, systematic error, confidence levels, and all kinds of information that he wants us to include in EVERY REPORT. He wants CONFIDENCE LEVELS on data of how a cart was pulled across a table by a mass on a string. **********He described FRICTION as an experimental error.**********
He has a 2-page hand-out that explains how to do a good graph: must have an 'x' at every data point, must always have a trendline (his exact words: "you'll lose points if the line goes through the curve"), and the units of an axis on the second-to-last major axis (which is really hard to put there on graphing programs). He wants us to use Excel for all graphs, an EQUATION WRITING PROGRAM to write all equations for us so there are no '^' for powers-- only subscripts, no '/' for division--only horizontal bars with variables/numbers above and below, etc.
He tells us last week that "Most students think that it's good to be concise, but you want to get all the information in... it's ok to write a 5 or 6 page report." ... Keep in mind we just did a lab where we started a motion sensor and walked across the room in front of it and he wants 5 pages on how graphs and position/velocity/acceleration are related.
He wants us to turn in a DRAFT of our next report in a week so he can give us pointers. I have NEVER done a draft for a report before, and will consider it absolutely POINTLESS to do so until I complete a genuinely important lab.
That's basically my beef with physics 11... and the entire physics department in general... you can really tell that Professor Morse and the chem faculty care so much more and have such a better handle on teaching. Instead of things as pointless as formats of reports (brings back memories of MLA and high school English classes) they care more that you know what's going on and how to solve actual problems and have a more conceptual view of the material.
Alright... it was close to 4 am when I started writing this, and now it's well beyond 4:30. So, goodnight.
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| NEWS! |
[23 Feb 2004|07:12pm] |
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mood |
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content |
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music |
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The Real Folk Blues - Cowboy Bebop OST |
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Ok, here's a real post. Maybe not one that actually requires in-depth analysis of my life at the moment, but at least a summary of recent events.
1st off, Prague was awesome. For those that don't remember, the Tufts Univeristy Wind Ensemble traveled to Prague, Czech Republic, for a week during winter break. We got to play at this after-school band called "Junior" at their School of Fine Arts... apparently the entire school is JUST for after-school programs, which they pay for on a semester basis (with a lot of the cost covered by the government). On top of that, they were DAMN good, especially compared to our lazy asses that hadn't played in over a month since fall semester ended. We also got to perform at the U.S. Embassy for a diplomatic reception of some kind that the Ambassador was holding. Did small ensemble pieces... sounded alright, though the guests didn't really care about us anyway.
That covers the official business of the Prague trip... the rest of the week was basically eating decent food at dirt-cheap prices and taking advantage of the drinking age of 18 years (they sold beer by the litre at one restaurant). There was a nice 4 floor club too, different music theme on each floor (though we really only went to 2... stayed away from the fog-filled raver lunatics and some other random room I don't even remember). Lots of great sites to see, lots of time to just get to know more people in Wind Ensemble.
Well shortly after I got back from Prague I broke up with Rebecca... too many stupid things happening. So, I'm single for now... lookin.
As for school...
Classes are kicking my ass. You'd be surprised how quickly free time disappears when you're taking two lab sciences at 3 hours a piece, plus problem sets. Norm and I have decided to room together next year, though we're not sure where at this point (maybe Miller again... though it is uphill). He's got a good enough lottery number (scale is 1500-2900 i think for freshman class), 2600 something, to get us a decent room. It's a god thing, though, that only 1 number matters, because I got 1585... which would guarantee me--at best--a nice box on the side of the road.
I officially declare my major this week, still doin ChemE. Taking the "Microbrewery" engineering elective this semester with my advisor as the professor--great class: no tests, no quizzes, meets ONCE a week for 1hr 15min, ONE project to do for the entire semester. And the best part is we get to learn how to brew beer. I'm going to try and stay up to date with the AIChE too... American Institute of Chemical Engineers... cuz they do beruit tournaments and beer brewing lessons and all kinds of fun stuff.
Speaking of alcohol... we wanted to have a Valentine's Day party, went and got (between our room and next door) 2 bottles of Belvedere, a bottle of Captain Mo, and made about 30 jello shots... and nobody wanted to come. So... we've got all this sitting around waiting for a party.
The final current event I want to mention is Texas Hold 'Em... which is simply the best poker game ever invented. We've been doing some games... started off at a table upstairs, buy in for $5 or $10, cash out whenever (though usually play till the end), but now we've moved to tournament style: $5 buy-in, 60 chips, all worth 20 cents, play until only one person has all the chips. It's a lot more fun that way... less risk (only $5 opposed to $10 or more if you buy-in after you lose or something stupid). I've lost money so far... $10 bucks, but I've always ended up breaking even for the tournament style games because one of the three of us (Collin, Norm and I) always wins (mostly Collin.) so winner pays back the buy-in for everyone else.
That is all for now. Hooray for updates. Maybe more will follow.
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| Music |
[23 Feb 2004|04:05pm] |
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mood |
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lazy |
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music |
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Blue - Cowboy Bebop OST |
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Yay, I'm posting again after a long break.
Doing a random survey-style post that requires no actual thought because I just don't want to think outside of all the work I normally have to do. So...
Step 1: Open your itunes/musicmatch/whatever you use to play MP3s
Step 2: Put all of your music on random
Step 3: Write down the first twenty songs it plays, no matter how embarrassing
1) Stay Away - Nirvana
2) Moribund Mifune - Matrix Revolutions OST
3) Rex's Lair - Metal Gear Solid OST
4) Night Bird Flying - Jimi Hendrix
5) Super 16 - Neu! (Kill Bill OST)
6) Start as you Mean to go on - Aphex Twin
7) Head for the Barricade - Limp Bizkit
8) Californication - Red Hot Chili Peppers
9) Street Fighting Man - Rage Against the Machine
10) Niobe's Run - Matrix OST
11) Monsters in the Parasol - Queens of the Stone Age
12) Machines of Loving Grace/Richest Junkie Still Alive - Hackers OST
13) My Dsmbr - Linkin Park
14) Sleep Now in the Fire - Rage Against the Machine
15) ONE LIFE - The Pillows
16) Dam - System of a Down
17) Outtathaway! - The Vines
18) Want it all Back - Cowboy Bebop OST
19) The Modern Age - The Strokes
20) My Goddess - The Exies
1739 songs, 4.6 days, 8.28 GB
Not a bad list considering all the random crap I have in my music folder.
Maybe I'll do a real update later.
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| Yay Surveys |
[13 Dec 2003|07:24am] |
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 drained |
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music |
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Outkast featuring RATM - Bombs Over Baghdad |
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[ current clothes ] It's 7:30 am. I've been up all night. Boxers.
[ current mood ] Drained
[ current music ] Static X and Dead Prez - Hip Hop
[ current taste ] Espresso's baked ham calzone
[ current hairdo ] hat head (favorite adidas hat)
[ current annoyance ] nothing... not a care in the world (just took my last final!)
[ current smell ] nada
[ current thing I ought to be doing ] hmm... sleeping maybe?
[ current desktop picture ] "SoulGate" - look it up on wincustomize.com (Andrew was the first to use this wallpaper)
[ current favorite group ] Mr. Oizo
[ current books you're reading ] starting Ender's Game soon
[ current movie in DVD player ] No DVD player... just watched Clockwork Orange though
[ current color of toenails ] none.?///
[ current refreshment ] vanilla coke
[ current worry ] none
last person
[ you touched ] raeanne
[ you talked to ] norm (i do live in the same room as him...)
[ you hugged ] raeanne (she locked herself out of her room at 6:00 am... she needed a hug.)
[ you instant messaged ] lee (hell yes, insomniac gamers)
[ you yelled at ] norm
[ you kissed ] rebecca
favorite
[ food ] honey barbecue boneless chicken tenders from wing works
[ drink ] bawls
[ color ] red
[ shoes ] New Balance 806's (they kinda look like they spell BOB if u look fast)
[ candy ] payday.
[ animal ] cats
[ TV show ] dont watch much tv...
[ movie ] donny darko, fight club
[ dance ] like.. dance event or dance song... im just gonna say anything playing at a party in Latin Way dorms
[ (current) song ] Statix X and Dead Prez - Hip Hop
[ vegetable ] carrots
[ fruit ] banana
[ cartoon ] ren and stimpy
are you
[ understanding ] i'd say so...
[ open-minded ] most of the time, sometimes with some encouragement needed
[ interesting ] probably not
[ hungry ] now? i just ate an entire calzone the size of a large pizza.
[ friendly ] sure
[ smart ] sure
[ moody ] nah. i have a wide variety of emotions, but they all fall under the category of 'calm'
[ childish ] sometimes with friends or when drunk
[ independent ] no. not at all.
[ hard working ] HMMMM!?!?! guess.
[ organized ] computer and CDs: yes. Everything else: not a chance.
[ healthy ] mostly...
[ emotionally stable ] when did i walk into the psychiatrist's office?...
[ shy ] most of the time
[ difficult ] nah
[ attractive ] iunno, that's what i'm told.
[ bored easily ] nah, i can find amusement anywhere
[ messy ] not really... though messy only because cleaning doesnt take place often
[ thirsty ] sooo thirsty right now. ran out of my gallons of water and have been too lazy to go buy more at the jumbo express convenience store (its allll the way downhill.)
[ responsible ] yes
[ obsessed ] with computer.
[ angry ] sometimes
[ sad ] nah, can be though
[ happy ] usually
[ hyper ] in the wee hours of the morning
[ trusting ] mostly. but i can get paranoid sometimes
[ talkative ] the silence could kill you.
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| Yay Generic Posts! |
[06 Dec 2003|05:25am] |
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mood |
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 awake |
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music |
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Final Fantasy X - Opening Song |
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1. Give me a nickname and explain why you picked it.
2. Am I lovable?
3. How long have you known me?
4. When and how did we first meet?
5. What was your first impression?
6. Do you still think that way about me now?
7. What do you think my weakness is?
8. Do you think I'll get married?
9. What makes me happy?
10. What makes me sad?
11. What reminds you of me?
12. If you could give me anything what would it be?
13. How well do you know me?
14. When's the last time you saw me?
15. Ever wanted to tell me something but couldn't?
16. Do you think I could kill someone?
17. Describe me in one word.
18. Do you think our friendship is getting stronger, weaker, or staying the same?
19. Do you feel that you could talk to me about anything and I would listen?
20. Are you going to put this on your live journal and see what I say about you?
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| Weekend Back Home |
[10 Nov 2003|02:10am] |
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mood |
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apathetic |
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music |
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Matrix Revolutions Soundtrack -Matrix Revolutions Main Theme |
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So I had fun over the weekend... went back Friday, saw Mark (like I always do back in Milford) and Eric and Jon (who came down from UCONN for the weekend). Went to see Matrix Revolutions Friday night, but we walked in at around 10:20 for the 10:15 showing and they announced over the speaker that they just sold the last ticket (for the last show that night). So, defeated, we left to go to Mark's and watch some of his movies. On the way out I ran into nearly half the kids from band (who had just gotten out of the showing of the Matrix they had gone to) and got a nice warm welcome from them. Over at Mark's we ended up gaming most of the night... Soul Calibur, Super Smash Bros Melee, FlashFlashRevolution (www.FlashFlashRevolution.com... addicting stuff, and much better than DDR in arcades with all the big fat guys that think they're the shit at the game and jump everywhere while sweating like beasts).
Saturday... got a haircut. Sideburns aren't curly anymore, big improvement. Saw the Matrix with the Crew around 12:30 (2nd try--success). Drove to Danbury to see Rebecca, got there just in time to drive BACK to Bridgeport for marching championships... we were too late to see Law perform, but I heard the end of the show, and the lead trumpet, Mike, hit a nice E to finish the show (he's only a Junior, so it's kind of impressive). Law ended up coming in third out of six with an 89.something. Not bad at all considering it's mostly a young group. Apparently Eric and Mike (the two Junior trumpet players) got in a fight during practice (they have a lot of friction between them... both kind of have issues they need to work on). Mr. Marino got pissed, told them he's never had trumpet players fighting, and they've always been best friends (said something like "Look at Ricky and Bob from last year"). I'm glad I got to see Ricky again. He's working full time at CVS (my old job) until he sends out applications again (he didn't have a high enough SAT score to get him in last time... but he's such a great musician I'm sure he'll be able to find someone who can pull some strings... especially at the schools he's applying to--all VERY serious about music). Apparently, Ricky has GAINED weight (for those that know him, he's a big guy...). He's gone up from 330 to something like 380 pounds now that he's going to the gym again. He's still just a big teddy bear though, funny guy.
Well, like I said, Law placed 3rd in Division 3... East Lyme got first (because they're ABSURDLY GOOD... I think they had a higher score than ALL of the Division 4 bands), Danbury beat them by only a little margin... but I'm sure everyone is still proud with how they did. In division 4, Trumbull got 1st (like always... because they're SO GOOD--they swept every special award: best marching, best general effect, best music, best colorguard, best percussion, best drum major... and anything else I forgot... MANY trophies for their wall). In division 5... a miracle happened. Norwalk High got 2nd place. I think they've won for something like the last 20 years straight. In the past, they deserved it. This year, though they're still amazing, they had a REALLY crappy show... circus theme... I'd hate to be a senior and have to play that for my final show. Arlington beat them by a score of 97.45 to 97.10... very close margin (but it always is in division 5... there's a clear winner, but they boost the scores and make them close intentionally so it looks good on the web site).
Well, it was BALLS cold out, so Becky and I just went back to her dorm after the competition and thawed out. Only had time to go get brunch Sunday afternoon before I left for home.
Got my Amtrak ticket booked for Thanksgiving... as I would suggest everyone else do NOW before everything sells out (two trains on the 30th were already gone). Got my Student Advantage card (booya Animal House Special Edition version) so now it will cost me slightly less than a fortune to travel to and from home.
Coming back to school was interesting...
Went to New Haven station around 7:35, wanted to catch the 7:29 train (site said it was like 15 min late, so I know we had time). Get to the window, and it's sold out. Look at the "Departures:" board under the "To:" column.... don't see Boston anywhere. Start to sweat. Ask the teller "Are there any more trains to Boston?" "Yes, the 6:35." Oh, the 6:35! Of course!... wait a second. "The 6:35?..." "Yes, It's an hour and a half late." So I luck out and get a ticket for that one. VERY lucky I made it back tonight (though I could probably afford to miss the 2 classes on Monday anyway with no big problems).
And that's the week(end) in rewiew. I missed the last Tufts game... I'll have to ask Norm how they did. I wonder if they put him in? He said the team chants "Quach-y! Quach-y!" in the spirit of the movie "Rudy." I bet he's glad the season's over though... don't think he's playing next season... free time is non-existent with sports.
Anyway, I'm out. I'll keep everyone posted.
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| Halloweeeeeeen |
[01 Nov 2003|05:40am] |
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mood |
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tired |
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music |
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Matrix Revoultions Soundtrack |
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So Halloween was pretty cool... I dressed up as a pimp (in my kickass home-made costume, as can be seen in my avatar). I gave Norm a clean bedsheet and he made a nice toga out of it. We did some hall trick-or-treating, saw some good costumes... saw a RIDICULOUS costume worn by this girl Tara on the 4th floor... "Victoria's Secret Angel" costume... she had lots of see-through lace on, and she's distracting enough without the lingerie.
Went to see 28 Days Later screening done by the Film Series committee, and since there was a costume contest and only Norm and I were in costume we won the 2 DVDs they were giving away... Seven, and 28 Days Later. So, I finally got to see the alternative endings to 28 Days Later, and watch such a great movie again, "REPENT, THE END IS EXTREMELY FUCKING NIGH." It was great with Norm there too since he's rather... 'emotional'... funny to see some of his reactions to the scenes (like where Jim gouges a guys eyes with his thumbs). Somebody sent Norm a link to that 'Subliminal Message' flash movie, the one that has the music at the end (supposedly saying the Lord's Prayer is played backwards) that's really quiet, and so you turn it up and then all kinds of crazy shit pops on the screen with a deafening screen. I was just chilling at the laptop reading Salon.com when I hear "AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" and Norm jumps OUT of his chair and huddles in the corner of his bed with a blanket to his face. The entire hall came to see what happened, quite a scene. (We hope to get Norm again with more of those pranks, but shhhhh...).
Went to Dewick dining hall where they held the "Monster Masquerade" (hip-hop dance thing from 10 PM - 2 AM). I hadn't planned on going... I wanted to go party, but decided to stick with Norm, who was going to Brandy's room in Houston Hall. I know Brandy from my English class, and thought it would be nice to see her. I was cool with just chilling in her room, but then everyone wanted to go to Dewick... so I went along for the trip, and did some 'dancing' (something I don't like doing DRUNK let alone sober). So that part of the night wasn't too great, but at least I got to meet some new people in Houston (including some guy dressed as Paul McCartney who gets my nomination for the Man-Whore of the Year award for grinding with EVERY girl in our group).
Let's see... got a PRE-FROSH coming Monday! His name's Tyler Consilvio, don't know anything else about him yet though, hopefully he responds to the email I sent him so I know what he wants to check out on campus (Monday is DEFINITELY not a party night, so maybe there will be some sports practices or SOMETHING interesting happening. They don't do hosting on the weekends... and Monday was the easiest day for Norm and I to host (Norm has football in the morning on Mondays, and I've only got 2 classes). Hope I can show him a good time... my overnight kind of clinched my decision to come to Tufts... had a guy named Tate as my host, went on a Thursday (yay party night!... it was winter though, and not much going on, but I met some nice people). I still see him around campus sometimes... cool guy.
Norm and I have taken it upon ourselves to put together a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle of a Simpsons photomosaic. Got the entire edge done already, but I'm probably going to destroy it soon... we have it resting on a poster, hanging precariously off the edge of the counter between our closets, RIGHT next to mine. I know I'm going to wake up one morning, or maybe come in late one night, and forget it's there and walk into it. It's a really nice project though... I kind of want to glue it together and hang it on the wall when we're done.
Have another nice addition to my room too.. right above my bed I have 7h3 L0rdz Pr4y0r"... Collin found it online somewhere... good stuff.
Been playing through CS:CZ more... it's fun if you play it like you would play New York Minute in Max Payne. Otherwise, it's not really fun (other than exploiting obvious glitches). The AWP is nice though, you get to shoot down a helicopter with it. Get "One-Time-Use" rocket launchers as well. It's like CS with save points and stronger guns... though sans intelligent opponents (one guy threw a grenade at you when you enter this room, but his trajectory was poorly programmed and it just bounced off this lip on the ceiling and landed at his feet).
Other news... no new interesting news really, just class. I got a 98 on my calc test, and a 91 on my chem test (median was like 66%... so I get like an A+ for that). People are dropping chem so fast... my lab partner dropped the class and I didn't even realize it until his chair was empty for 2 weeks straight in lab. This kid Steve on the 3rd floor that we do problem sets with bombed the test and is dropping. RaeAnne is deciding she doesn't want to be a chemical engineer anymore. It's depressing to see everyone dropping or switching out.
I'll end with the Halloween song burned into my skull by my Mom every year:
"Witches and goblins and Jack-o'-Lanterns bright,
Creep through the town on a cold October night!
You hear the sound of running feet, but nothing can be seen...
Oh, the strangest things can happen.. on a wild!.. Halloweeeen."
It's kinda lame, but kinda fun (much like dressing up in costume at college is).
Anyway, I'm out, keep you updated.
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| By the way... |
[25 Oct 2003|03:54am] |
See that avatar of mine? It's almost Halloween... the pimp is coming back! Parents brought me my costume, just in time. Norm has agreed to dress up in a Pikachu costume... all day, in all his classes... if we find him one to wear. Aaron says he knows where to find one, and I hope he does... should be hilarious. Maybe I can pimp out Pokemon.
Kinda reminds me of the parodies for Fukemon, with Cuntmander, Fuckachu, and the rest of the creative names.
What's scary though is the subliminal message on that one Pokemon T-shirt... I'm sure you've all seen it. The P has a Pokemon covering part of it... just enough to make it look like an F... conveniently the only letter that has a Pokemon in front of it. I'll give a link if I see a pic.
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| POST! |
[25 Oct 2003|02:56am] |
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mood |
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awake |
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music |
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System of a Down - Toxicity |
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I haven't posted in eternity, so I guess I will now... Amount of time spent on LiveJournal is inversely proportional to amount of work.
Well what's been happening... Had our Wind Ensemble Concert last Wednesday... went very well. Debut performance of TUTE (Tufts University Trumpet Ensemble). Unfortunately, on Monday we came to practice to find that instruments had been stolen. A number of people keep their instruments in lockers in the basement of the auditorium (where all the practice rooms are), and when they went to get them the locks were inside the lockers... cut in half. At first, they thought it might have been the music department, because they have been known to cut locks and store what they find inside the lockers in the music building (the lockers weren't registered), but when they asked the woman in charge, she called the cops. Damage: two Bach Stradavarius trumpets and one silver-plated French horn gone. I felt so bad for Nimish and Liz (the two trumpet players), you really get connected to your instrument (I'm sure someone like Steve could vouch for that). On top of that, it was Liz's 21st birthday. I think homeowner's insurance covers all of them, but it's still not a good experience.
That's all I'm going to discuss as for the past... since I have awful short term memory and don't remember anything else that happened. As for the present: today marks the start of Parents' weekend, so my mom and dad came today and loaded me up with all the stuff I needed on my "wish list" I emailed home. Got a nice new chair at my desk, tons of food, some great new clothes (went to the bookstore looking for a hat, came out with 4 Tufts shirts), some great OLD clothes (that I hadn't packed yet since I didn't bring my winter clothes here). Also brought my Hurricanes picture from championships... gonna hang it on my wall (on a related, but WEIRD, topic: those adhesive lint brush things are AMAZING as a substitute for tape. Norm and I were looking for duct tape to hang up a calendar--about 2' by 3'--but had to settle for the lint brush sheets... ONE sheet held up the entire calendar. I was impressed.). Also got my birth certificate and wallet-size pictures so I can get my PASSPORT tomorrow. Going to PRAGUE in January, HELL yea. It's a trip for Wind Ensemble, real good deal, good group of people, lots of free time.
That reminds me... have a concert tomorrow performing for Parents' Weekend... but it's going to be OUTSIDE, and unless you're a hermit like Mark who never leaves his room, you know it's BALLS-cold outside. Most of the other groups performed tonight... I found out that I HATE chamber and choral singing groups (falling asleep through them), but we have an AMAZING jazz band and gospel choir. I want to try to get into that jazz band, but I don't think I'm good enough (from what I heard tonight... except maybe that one dumbass trumpet who couldn't improv solo for his life), and they already have 5 players. The gospel choir... oh my God. They're so good... all THREE HUNDRED of them (or some gi-normous number like that-- *NOTE*: yes, gi-normous is a word, just take gigantic and combine with enormous). I've never heard a group quite that large sing, and sing WELL and in TUNE with each other. I need to start going to more of these concerts.
What else is new...
Well, I'm getting the most out of the Tufts network, playing with my new friend Bittorrent... downloading so many movies and games I haven't had time to even play them. Calculus test Monday, Chemistry test Tuesday, hooray. Even more stuff to worry about.
Well, the only game I actually got to play was Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, and I must say that it SUCKS. Now, Mark believes I have an older version of the game (which is most likely true), but how much older? The game is simply crap. All actions are scripted. This would be acceptable for a game like Half-Life, where they could explain an enemy coming out of nowhere through the fact that they can warp into our world from the alien world. It's just really frustrating and annoying when I turn a corner and a guy with a machete comes flying out of a room I just cleared.
I can't stand the AI... all enemies see through walls and aim using an aimbot script, so basically they always know you're coming, and exactly where to get you (because they're scripted to run right at you when you come into view). This can be fun though when you find the guys with rocket launchers... If you approach them from the right angle, you can get them to shoot the wall in front of them and blow themselves up. The programming is awful. There are stealth missions where enemies can see you (and even shout something like "Hey!" and then ignore you and not set off the alarm, and then there's another instance where you can sneak up on a sleeping guard, but if you KNIFE him in the dome he dies, and THEN stands up and looks at you (but promptly falls to the ground) so you lose the mission because he detected you. The enemy placements are ridiculous... it's almost entirely predictable where an enemy will be because there will be one around every possible corner, on every roof, in every TREE, or behind every door.
Then, there's always the classic bugs involved with that engine as well, like getting on top of the level through some complex jumping from roof to roof or crate to crate. It is fun to go up in the "void" there and snipe down on enemies or drop grenades by them... just annoying how SIMPLE it is to do it (like an obvious stack of crates you can exploit). The last gameplay comment I have is for the "special items" areas. You get these nice pieces of equipment... remote mines, a blowtorch, a fiber-optic camera, a radio... but you can only use them in their designated areas. Do you know how frustrating it is trying to look for a place I can stand in so I can use my RADIO? All-in-all the gameplay glitches can be fun. For example, I found a room where an enemy sits and is scripted to break down the door when you go in the room after that. However, there's a small crack above the door... so I jumped in front of it, and sure enough, I could shoot him (poor guy... shooting fish in a barrel, all he had was that crappy machette). It was hilarious when I reached the scripted point and the doors flew open to reveal only his dead body.
As for the story... the voice-actors are horrible... you can tell they're inexperienced from the awkward jumps in pitch they speak in: "AlRIGHT men LEt's gO! We HAve a missION to dO!" I don't think there's really a plot either... you just take the role of a generic grunt in the field who works for almost every special ops force in the world. No two missions are interrelated.
Summary of the game: basically, because every enemy is scripted to do the SAME THING every time, it's like Half-Life minus scary aliens and plus retarded, stereotypical terrorists running around in circles with big knives. Regardless of whether or not there is an updated version of the game, it's not worth playing against scripted bots when I can log online for CS 1.6 and fight real people.
I think that's enough time wasted on a game review for tonight. I'll post more when more is happening, I promise... just remind me.
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| Religion |
[22 Sep 2003|01:44am] |
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 contemplative |
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music |
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Wynton Marsalis - Carnival of Venice (Variations) |
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The topic.
I tried to fit this as a comment, but it wouldn't fit.
God has to exist.
I'm going to argue this logically (because that's the type of person I am).
First, I present the question: Why are we here?
1) Everything we do has been done by others or will be done in the future; we are all insignificant (hence humility).
but
2) Because of 1, we are obviously here for some greater purpose than we will ever find in tangible reality (hence worship of greater powers).
We all know people are proud and arrogant at times, but I think nothing we do to alter physical reality holds any true significance. Imagine if someone could do anything; if you could do anything in the physical world, what point would there be to doing anything at all? I believe we are limited in the physical world because if we could do anything, there would be no point to life. (Trying to avoid the reference, but think of the Matrix and the first 'perfect' version they created). Eventually, we have to come to realize that the physical world is lesser than the emotional and spiritual because of the sheer limits imposed upon us. Why do we not have proof of God's existence?: He is higher than the physical world--though He is everywhere, you won't truly find Him and know His existence anywhere but within your own thoughts. It was said that in order to prove that God exists you must believe He exists, because you can only find Him through the exercise of your own mind. I like to think of it the way Socrates believes: that when we die, our soul is released from the body--much like being released from prison--and can find true wisdom. Wisdom, defined by the philosophers, is the 'first cause' or 'first principle' that originated the universe, or set it in motion. Originally, philosophers thought the causes were elements, or inexplicable 'swirling motions' or some "Mind" that ruled over matter. This gradual progression in complexity of philosophical thought led us, in medieval times, to see that this 'cause' was in fact God. When we die, we find wisdom: God.
We're just here for a short stay, but we're here for a reason: to learn. Life prepares us for afterlife, as we all come to find that the meaning of life is to escape the physical and accept the mental/emotional/spiritual world that truly governs us--
"As long as we have this body, and an evil of that sort is mingled with our souls, we shall never fully gain what we desire; and that is truth. For the body is forever taking up our time with the care which it needs; and, besides, whenever diseases attack it, they hinder us in our pursuit of real being. It fills us with passions, and desires, and fears, and all manner of phantoms, and much foolishness; and so, as the saying goes, in very truth we can never think at all for it. It alone and its desires cause wars and factions and battles; for the origin of all wars is the pursuit of wealth, and we are forced to pursue wealth because we live in slavery to the cares of the body.” Socrates in Phaedo (by Plato)
And that's my take.
I'd also like to argue against Mark:
1) "You know what's a great thing about this theory, also? It can't be proven or disproven. So, my theory in itself is a religion."
Philosophy gave birth to science. The scientific way we think today is based on things we can't prove without the proofs themselves, but assume (have faith in) to be true. So your random number theory, founded on scientific and mathematic principles, is in fact based on philosophy: which is in turn based on the existence of God. (That's the short explanation anyway).
2) "One more thing that baffles me about religion is the lengths people go to to try and protect their way of worshiping this invisible, omnipresent dude. We have people crashing planes into buildings, killing innocent people because of how they interpreted some old book. AN OLD BOOK!"
A very small minority of religions believe in violence for their cause today (though Crusades were common in Medieval times, and the Jihad continues today). These factions are wrong: religion was never meant to be divided.
"Rivers, ponds, lakes, and streams -- they all have different names, but they all contain water. So religions all have different names, but they all contain the same truths." -Muhammad Ali
Fanatics are not true followers of religion, as they fail to see how all faiths are related. You'd probably appreciate Deism Mark: religious philosophy based on reason and against fanaticism and sectionalism. It examines nature, and concludes from its structure and design that a designer exists.
3) "The reason I believe there is no God is because there is no evidence that God exists."
You can't find evidence of God's existence unless you believe He exists. (I forget why right now... I need to review my philosophy, D'oh). And anyway, what proof can you offer that He DOESN'T exist?
I'll give Anselm's "lost island" proof though (ontological debate):
1) You can conceive of a perfect being in your mind.
2) Then this perfect being exists (in your mind).
3) If the perfect being exists in your mind, it must also exist in reality (or else it would not be perfect- it would be less than perfect if it only existed in the mind).
It is argued that this logic could be used to prove the existence of a 'lost island' that is the perfect island, so it must exist (though no one has seen it), but Anselm replies:
It is the perfect being, and an island is obviously not perfect- the proof applies only to God, and anything else you try to prove with this logic would be less perfect than Him. (It is interesting though that it can be used to prove the existence of the perfect evil as well).
This argument is also great because it pisses off atheists:
If you can think of the perfect being, it concludes that God exists. If you say the perfect being does NOT exist, then you admit knowing that you can conceive of the perfect being in your mind (and say He doesn't exist), leading to the conclusion that God exists.
Can you say... UR BEAT! Nah, just fucking with ya.
And that's all for tonight. I'm tired. I'll post more arguments later. I won't go into proving the soul exists like Socrates in Phaedo by Plato since it's a related topic, but we're concentrating only on God right now. And you really ought to try to prove God doesn't exist - probably impossible - instead of just concluding He doesn't based on the limited availability of knowledge we have. You've got some harsh words to say about people that believe in God, but no proof that He doesn't exist, so don't mind me if I don't buy what you have to say.
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| RIAA |
[19 Sep 2003|11:47am] |
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mood |
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amused |
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music |
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The All-American Rejects - Swing Swing |
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Since there's all this controversy going around about 'piracy' of peer to peer file sharing I figured I should finally get off my ass and share my take on the issue.
File sharing is a necessity for the music industry.
Now, that means either the free version we're so used to, or the type where you pay per song, or pay a monthly rate. Now, I know everyone is making a big fuss because they want their music for free, and I can't blame them. But honestly, it's not fair to the artists to take their music for free (I could care less about the RIAA). I think that if a legitimate file sharing program were to take hold, it would need to adopt the style of television and radio. If the music industry wants its customers to stop 'stealing' music, then they need a way to make income off of people downloading it. There are already websites that force people to watch advertisements before/while they download files, and I think that a file sharing system that adopted this method would be very successful (and I don't mean like the crazy spyware shit Kazaa has). The music industry is looking at the issue the wrong way. People want their music for little or no cost (just like it is on TV and radio) and the music industry is giving them no alternatives to the illegal methods. Until the music industry creates a free p2p file sharing program that they can collect revenues from, people will just keep using the programs they already have--the RIAA is currently acting as if they passed Prohibition on file sharing, and if people have something they love (like alcohol, or music in this case) and have VERY slim chances of being caught for breaking the law, then they will just intensify their hatred for the law until the RIAA gives up or compromises on the issue.
That's my take. The RIAA is fucking stupid because they are persecuting their customers when they should have been adapting their methods to accomodate the customers from the beginning-- that's called business flexibility, got that RIAA? Take notes.
Anyway, for my personal experience, everyone knows I was never really big on music until a few years ago. I had never bought a music CD in my life (except like 1 or 2 Weird Al CDs, but those don't really count)... until I started using WinMX. After I got WinMX, i found my music I had never heard before, and probably never would (I don't watch MTV or any music stations, don't listen to a lot of radio). I found System of a Down that way, now my favorite band. And, since i loved their music so much, I decided to go out and buy their CD. I never would have spent a single penny on music if not for file sharing to expose me to the different types. This is my favorite quote on the issue:
"The irony is that we've played out this whole scenario before, more than once. When radio first started broadcasting records instead of live performances, the music publishing industry became livid. This was going to hurt sales! A compromise was reached whereby radio stations paid small fees to the publishers for each playing of a record.
But the truth is that it's a lot of bother for nothing. Radio didn't hurt record sales. Radio made record sales, because people wanted to own the records they heard on the radio. Radio let people hear musicians they might never have found otherwise.
Same thing with TV and movies. Yes, TV wiped out the B-movie market segment and it killed newsreels -- but it opened up a lucrative aftermarket that kept movies alive long after they would have stopped earning money. That's how Wizard of Oz and It's a Wonderful Life and many other movies became American icons.
And again, with the VCR, studios were terrified that people would tape things off the air and stop paying money for movies. (And the TV networks were terrified that people would tape shows and skip over the ads; they didn't realize that most of us are too lazy to skip over commercials.)
And rental videotapes! That was the end of the world!
When the studios finally stopped charging ninety bucks for a videotape, they discovered that the videotape (and now DVD) aftermarket was often bigger than the original theatrical release.
The internet is similar, but not identical, to these situations.
First, most of the people who are getting those free MP3s would not be buying the CDs anyway. They're doing this in order to get far more music than they can actually afford. That means that if they weren't sharing MP3s online, they would simply have less music -- or share CDs hand to hand. It does not mean that they would have bought CDs to get the tunes they're downloading from Napster-like sharing schemes.
That's why I laugh at their estimates of "lost sales." "
This comes from an article by Orson Scott Card. I suggest that everyone read it if they have not already done so. His points are all valid. I think it's pretty obvious that the music industry needs to 1) accept file sharing as the next step in music distribution, and 2) develop a way to collect money for it, and 3) stop sueing their customers and gain some trust back before people will respect them and agree to get music the legal way.
The RIAA should be pouring it's efforts into devising a free file sharing network (with advertisements, like radio or television) to replace the current free programs. Personally, I would immediately switch to a reliable legal file sharing network if all I had to do was deal with an advertisement before each download (we already do so with Kazaa anyway--even Kazaa Lite has ads in the corner of the screen). They are diverting their resources to destroying customer support when they could be adapting to the changing environment.
And... that's my rant. Let me know what you guys think, leave a comment to this post yes or no if you would or wouldn't switch to a legal p2p network if you just had to watch ads.
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| Survey: Chain-Letter Style Post |
[11 Sep 2003|10:19pm] |
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Sum up your opinion or impression of me in one word, leave it as a comment in this posting, and then post this sentence in your own journal.
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| A couple things... |
[07 Sep 2003|10:22pm] |
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mood |
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Well, I've got a couple interesting links.
Donnie Darko, awesome movie, but a giant mind-fuck (site is crazy).
Weird site, ties into the Donnie Darko thing almost... time travel and such. Makes a prediction for civil war in 2005, nuclear war in 2015. Even if it's a hoax, the material is interesting (there are links to show that all of the scientific theories he mentions actually exist, and most of the equipment for his 'time machine' are already developed) and, like the site claims, there's something eerie about what he says...
Canadian drug policy... I fucking hate our government so much. Canada has a good philanthropical program running here, and our fucking conservative government wants to throw a hissy fit about it. FUCK conservatives. The only time a program like this failed was when the Netherlands designated an entire park to be a 'safe-haven' for hard drug users, and it just made people flock to the area, and allowed drug deals to go unnoticed. A controlled environment like this is nothing new, and rather risky, but better than anything the US has done.
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| Tufts |
[04 Sep 2003|09:42pm] |
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mood |
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cheerful |
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music |
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311 - Empire |
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Tufts is great. And I'm glad I can share my experiences with you guys (POST MORE YOU BASTARDS). I'm starting to like this whole thing you call "free time"... I've got a pretty good schedule... kinda early morning, but I think I can switch it up a little and wake up later some days. If that's the case, then I'll only have 2 classes Monday (start at 10:25), and one class Friday (starts at 1:30). Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are the early days... 8 AM classes. But... all week I usually end class around 2:30. So, I'll be able to sleep in Monday and Friday, and nap after class the rest of the week... or, knowing me, nap IN class. I'm taking 4 credits this semester... English 2: Conformity and Rebellion (writing workshop), Chem 1, Math 11 (calculus), and two .5 credit intro to engineering courses (required for freshmen engineers): EN-1 (Introduction to Computers for Engineers) and EN-47 (Exploring Computer Science). Need a lab class for chem, and both ENs, and a recitation for chem. English is a lot of fun... free writing, creative writing, not a whole lot of work, but a whole lot of experimenting with writing. Chem is kinda difficult for now... I can't remember that far back to junior year quite yet. Math is more tedious than anything, but it's nothing I can't handle. EN 47 should be good... programming seems pretty interesting.. I've always wanted to learn it, never had the time. EN 1 has a good text book... more programming (VBA and Excel, not C++), but the lab is BORING AS HELL. Today we learned how to save a text file and copy, move, or delete it. Luckily, we have a cool TA for the lab, a grad student who's like part goth/part cheerleader... she let us leave whenever we wanted (nothing was actually due in class).
I spent about $160 on books so far... which isn't bad... though they RAN OUT of both the math and chem books (the most expensive) so I'm looking at another $250 or more. I've had to keep going to the library to take out a reserved copy of the books just to do my homework. Math 11 is probably too easy for me... (I should get credit for it for AP and go to Math 12, but they recommend against it because most people who DO use the credit usually nearly fail Math 38) but my advisor put it well: "If it's too easy, fine, you get an easy A and it only helps your GPA. When looking for a job, that's really what companies look for." And besides, I only need 35 credits to graduate without it, so that's 4 credits a semester for most of the time I'll be here. (I also might get a credit for philosophy... finally found out who to talk to about it... meeting her Monday).
In other news, I want to join the Tufts Wind Ensemble, or maybe try out for the Tufts Symphony Orchestra (though they're really, really, really good... and I need to find the practice rooms). Intramural soccer starts soon... I need to find a team somehow. I need to find the gym too. Well, I mean I know where the two gyms are, but they're HUGE and on opposite sides of campus... so I don't know where to go yet for weight machines.
What else... well, next weekend (12, 13, 14) I'm coming back to Milford. I have to go to the Big E for Hurricanes on the 14th, so I'll have at least a day or two in Milford (want to check out Law's first marching performance on the 13th). If you guys are going to be around, let me know.
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