Friday, January 25, 2002
how is it that boston college (a catholic school, mind you) can have so many thugs on their basketball team? i mean not one of them, other than the 'big country' bryant reeves look-alike, made it through the game without taking a cheap shot at my boys. i know we're the #1 team and everybody wants their shot, but kicking a player while his back is turned and shoving someone during a free throw is just a tad out of line, yet none of these infractions were whistled a foul. one of life's little mysteries i guess. it's ok though, cuz we still whooped their hockey playin' hinees.
just finished my summer project application 5 minutes ago. it took a lot longer than i thought it would, and so it is now 4 am and i have only about 5 hours of sleep in store for me before a couple of classes present a rude awakening. but it's all bueno in the sueno (pretend there's a tilda there). this summer is going to be pretty cool. i'll be doing misison work in either argentina, slovakia, russia, or nigeria. how's that for variety, eh? i think God is going to show me some great things through this.
i've come to the conclusion that all computer geeks should be rounded up and separated from society so they can't hurt us normal people. anyone who gets their jollies by sending out email hoaxes about viruses and makes people delete files necessary for their computer to function properly should not be allowed to associate themselves to humanity. it's just not nice to do things like that. sure, i'm a nerd, a dork, an uber geek, but i'm a history major, so the worst thing i can do to you is spew so many random facts at you that you get dizzy and fall off your bike or something. at least your computer would still work.
i saw one of the n'sync/chili's commercials today, and boy was it poor. there is now way this was the one sergi was talking about on wednesday because it was not funny at all. it was completely and utterly retarded and full of nonsensical word groupings, just like all their songs. there were three of them sitting there, talking about how they could get it whenever they wanted (it, apparently, being the food on the chili's to go menu). i can only hope that this signals their imminent downfall. either that or perhaps one of them will get in an arguement with somebody from the wu-tang clan. anything to see o.d.b. put his boot in someone's pretty little face.
enough is enough. the pillow beckons, and the generator has now become white noise in the background. God bless.
sounds: plastilina mosh - ode to mauricio garces
food for thought: things fall apart - chinua achebe
just finished my summer project application 5 minutes ago. it took a lot longer than i thought it would, and so it is now 4 am and i have only about 5 hours of sleep in store for me before a couple of classes present a rude awakening. but it's all bueno in the sueno (pretend there's a tilda there). this summer is going to be pretty cool. i'll be doing misison work in either argentina, slovakia, russia, or nigeria. how's that for variety, eh? i think God is going to show me some great things through this.
i've come to the conclusion that all computer geeks should be rounded up and separated from society so they can't hurt us normal people. anyone who gets their jollies by sending out email hoaxes about viruses and makes people delete files necessary for their computer to function properly should not be allowed to associate themselves to humanity. it's just not nice to do things like that. sure, i'm a nerd, a dork, an uber geek, but i'm a history major, so the worst thing i can do to you is spew so many random facts at you that you get dizzy and fall off your bike or something. at least your computer would still work.
i saw one of the n'sync/chili's commercials today, and boy was it poor. there is now way this was the one sergi was talking about on wednesday because it was not funny at all. it was completely and utterly retarded and full of nonsensical word groupings, just like all their songs. there were three of them sitting there, talking about how they could get it whenever they wanted (it, apparently, being the food on the chili's to go menu). i can only hope that this signals their imminent downfall. either that or perhaps one of them will get in an arguement with somebody from the wu-tang clan. anything to see o.d.b. put his boot in someone's pretty little face.
enough is enough. the pillow beckons, and the generator has now become white noise in the background. God bless.
sounds: plastilina mosh - ode to mauricio garces
food for thought: things fall apart - chinua achebe
Thursday, January 24, 2002
it seems that chapter 11 bankruptcy is all the rage these days. first came enron, whose executives i would like to thank for completely decimating the california budget surplus. not really, but at least they exposed good 'ol gray davis for the poor crisis manager that he is. perhaps i'm being a little hard on the fellow? hmmm.....i don't think so. next came argentina, where the entire economy hit the crapper and a new world record was set for the most presidents in a two week period (that would be five). alas, as if all that and an nsync chili's commercial weren't bad enough, the nationwide bargain bin known as k-mart is also no more, and with it go those oh so wonderful blue light specials. dear God, how can we have fallen so far so fast?
in case you can't tell i'm joking, what i really think about this is 1) who gives a flip about k-mart? i don't shop there anyway 2) i like argentina. they have a good soccer team. i might actually go there this summer (seriously) and 3) i think all those enron executives who made out like bandits should have their money taken from them and distributed to the employees whose pensions were wiped out when they weren't allowed to sell their stocks. then i think those very same executives should be sent to play with our friendly neighborhood detainees in camp x-ray. just a thought.
but the real news today is that the clippers beat the lakers baby! woot!!! so much for breaking the single season wins record, eh? for the record, i am a bulls fan, but i root for all teams who employ former blue devils and thus, i root for the clippers over the lakers.
in all seriousness though, the things that happen in this world sometimes amaze me. i am by no means naive, and i know that we're all depraved and fallible, but the depths to which some people can sink is truly shocking, and often seems quite illogical. this whole cycle of violence in israel/palestine continues to evade my understanding, but i'm going to leave it at that and save my social commentary/middle east foreign policy lesson for later.
on a happier note, i'm most pumped about this semester and this summer, and life in general. this past year has seen quite a few significant changes in my life, not the least of which was me becoming a Christian. to high school friends, this may seem like an odd statement, but if you need an explanation, ask me about it. in any case, i'm excited about the potential for growth in duke cru. a lot of people plan to go on summer projects, which is one of the best things you could ever experience. i know it was for me, and i plan on doing another one this summer, perhaps in argentina (and so my earlier comments make sense) or slovakia (geography lesson anyone?). in just discussing the possibilities with different people i can see that God is really moving among us, and i can't wait to see the results.
the generator is still loud and going stong....God bless.
sounds: aerosmith - dream on
food for thought: my home under imperial fire - chinua achebe
in case you can't tell i'm joking, what i really think about this is 1) who gives a flip about k-mart? i don't shop there anyway 2) i like argentina. they have a good soccer team. i might actually go there this summer (seriously) and 3) i think all those enron executives who made out like bandits should have their money taken from them and distributed to the employees whose pensions were wiped out when they weren't allowed to sell their stocks. then i think those very same executives should be sent to play with our friendly neighborhood detainees in camp x-ray. just a thought.
but the real news today is that the clippers beat the lakers baby! woot!!! so much for breaking the single season wins record, eh? for the record, i am a bulls fan, but i root for all teams who employ former blue devils and thus, i root for the clippers over the lakers.
in all seriousness though, the things that happen in this world sometimes amaze me. i am by no means naive, and i know that we're all depraved and fallible, but the depths to which some people can sink is truly shocking, and often seems quite illogical. this whole cycle of violence in israel/palestine continues to evade my understanding, but i'm going to leave it at that and save my social commentary/middle east foreign policy lesson for later.
on a happier note, i'm most pumped about this semester and this summer, and life in general. this past year has seen quite a few significant changes in my life, not the least of which was me becoming a Christian. to high school friends, this may seem like an odd statement, but if you need an explanation, ask me about it. in any case, i'm excited about the potential for growth in duke cru. a lot of people plan to go on summer projects, which is one of the best things you could ever experience. i know it was for me, and i plan on doing another one this summer, perhaps in argentina (and so my earlier comments make sense) or slovakia (geography lesson anyone?). in just discussing the possibilities with different people i can see that God is really moving among us, and i can't wait to see the results.
the generator is still loud and going stong....God bless.
sounds: aerosmith - dream on
food for thought: my home under imperial fire - chinua achebe
Wednesday, January 23, 2002
blast! e-reserves are back, meaning i have to actually do my reading from now on. oh well, it was too good to last, and i guess i should learn a little something this semester.
so other than the poor mood i was in this morning after being serenaded to consciousness by heavy machinery, the day turned out decently. i applied for this program called 'america reads' in which i will be a reading tutor for some kids at a local elementary school. i think it will be good fun, good for the kids, and now i finally have a job for the work-study money that has been sitting there, waiting for me to take it. i don't know if they're desperate for tutors or if they really just trust me because i'm a duke student, but i pretty much got the job on the spot. not that this is a bad thing.
we watched a clip from gladiator today in my military history class. the battle scene at the very beginning when the roman army beats the living crap out of whatever random barbarian tribe that was supposed to be. it's a pretty cool class really, other than the fact that it's about military history. the professor is quite humorous, and we get to watch a movie clip almost every class, which means taking fewer notes, which means a lower possiblity of developing carpal tunnel syndrome. so yeah, this is a good class. my holocaust class, on the other hand, while quite interesting, obviously has great potential to make this the single most depressing semester of my academic career. i don't see how professors can spend a lifetime studying it and not become completely disillusioned with humanity, but hey, more power to 'em i guess.
ok, time to go do something productive, as you should also be doing instead of reading this, hehe. im outtro. God bless.
sounds: jars of clay - needful hands
food for thought: dossier documental - crisis en argentina
so other than the poor mood i was in this morning after being serenaded to consciousness by heavy machinery, the day turned out decently. i applied for this program called 'america reads' in which i will be a reading tutor for some kids at a local elementary school. i think it will be good fun, good for the kids, and now i finally have a job for the work-study money that has been sitting there, waiting for me to take it. i don't know if they're desperate for tutors or if they really just trust me because i'm a duke student, but i pretty much got the job on the spot. not that this is a bad thing.
we watched a clip from gladiator today in my military history class. the battle scene at the very beginning when the roman army beats the living crap out of whatever random barbarian tribe that was supposed to be. it's a pretty cool class really, other than the fact that it's about military history. the professor is quite humorous, and we get to watch a movie clip almost every class, which means taking fewer notes, which means a lower possiblity of developing carpal tunnel syndrome. so yeah, this is a good class. my holocaust class, on the other hand, while quite interesting, obviously has great potential to make this the single most depressing semester of my academic career. i don't see how professors can spend a lifetime studying it and not become completely disillusioned with humanity, but hey, more power to 'em i guess.
ok, time to go do something productive, as you should also be doing instead of reading this, hehe. im outtro. God bless.
sounds: jars of clay - needful hands
food for thought: dossier documental - crisis en argentina
Tuesday, January 22, 2002
yay for loud sounds before dawn! i woke up at 6:30 this morning to the sound of jackhammers outside. three cheers for the early morning construction crew! huzzah!
not much action today. being that it was a holiday and that whole posting episode kept me up half the night, i rewarded myself by sleeping in until 1. that did not bode well for getting any work done the rest of the day, but oh well. so basically i just did random things to try and catch up with everything i need to do, like going to three different computer clusters to print things because they're all out of ink or paper or both, or someone just managed to break them over the weekend. whatever the case, it was a pain in the butt.
the only thing keeping me from falling further behind is that the one person at this entire university who puts the e-reserves online quit last week, so half the school can't do the reading we're supposed to do (this affects three out of my five classes). you know, for a top 10 academic institution, you'd think duke would be able to find some more reliable employees, or have some sort of backup system where if one person quits, there's someone else who can take over, at least temporarily. but no, that would make too much sense, wouldn't it? why on earth would we want that? i wonder what would happen if someone 'important' suddenly disappeared. would they just shut down and send us all home until they find a replacement? sheesh. it also makes you wonder what they do with the 40 grand a year tuition fees that all those rich kids pay. i'll tell you what they're doing with it. they're using it to start yet another construction project. this time they're digging up the street right outside my window for no apparent reason, other than to wake me up at 8 am every morning with that infernal beeping that you hear every time some large vehicle (i.e. a bulldozer, dump truck, or delivery truck) goes into reverse, which is about once every 5 seconds. they're also using it to pay for that generator that's on 24/7 (that too just happens to be right outside my window). but enough of this tirade.
well, if you haven't realized this yet, i'm a very tangential person, so this will be random more often than not. the good part of my day was leading leading my bible study for freshmen guys in crusade (heretofore known as cru). they're a sharp bunch and fun to hang out with to boot. ok, now it's time for sleepy sleep. oh yeah, and sergi, don't knock the dukes of hazzard. general lee rocks! alrightyo, later skaters! God bless.
the only thing keeping me from falling further behind is that the one person at this entire university who puts the e-reserves online quit last week, so half the school can't do the reading we're supposed to do (this affects three out of my five classes). you know, for a top 10 academic institution, you'd think duke would be able to find some more reliable employees, or have some sort of backup system where if one person quits, there's someone else who can take over, at least temporarily. but no, that would make too much sense, wouldn't it? why on earth would we want that? i wonder what would happen if someone 'important' suddenly disappeared. would they just shut down and send us all home until they find a replacement? sheesh. it also makes you wonder what they do with the 40 grand a year tuition fees that all those rich kids pay. i'll tell you what they're doing with it. they're using it to start yet another construction project. this time they're digging up the street right outside my window for no apparent reason, other than to wake me up at 8 am every morning with that infernal beeping that you hear every time some large vehicle (i.e. a bulldozer, dump truck, or delivery truck) goes into reverse, which is about once every 5 seconds. they're also using it to pay for that generator that's on 24/7 (that too just happens to be right outside my window). but enough of this tirade.
well, if you haven't realized this yet, i'm a very tangential person, so this will be random more often than not. the good part of my day was leading leading my bible study for freshmen guys in crusade (heretofore known as cru). they're a sharp bunch and fun to hang out with to boot. ok, now it's time for sleepy sleep. oh yeah, and sergi, don't knock the dukes of hazzard. general lee rocks! alrightyo, later skaters! God bless.
Monday, January 21, 2002
wow. leave it to me to draw out the simple process of posting here into a 30 minute ordeal with many an attempt not going through and some html babble about errors popping up. but that's what sergi is for. i break technology, and he fixes it, so it's kind of like a twisted symbiotic relationship. this is nothing new either. sergi and i go way back to freshman year in high school, and it's pretty much been this way ever since. in that time span, we've come to know each other well. so well, in fact, that before i had even signed up for this whole deal, sergi was able to correctly predict that i would somehow make my way through the idiotproofness of this posting process and find some way to break this contraption, which is exactly what i did. ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! i give you the great gerkee! move over ms. cleo, there's a new dog in town!
well, so much for the first post being all poetic and profound, but it's three freakin thirty in the morning, so that became an impossibility a good while ago. if the following posts require the minimal effort that i envision, i will finally have the "webpage" that i've always wanted but have been too lazy to learn the html for and too cheap to buy something like dreamweaver that would make creating a website much easier. baby steps, people, baby steps. but enough of my faults, it's not much fun discussing those, although they have and continue to provide sergi with many lifetimes of entertainment material. speaking of which, thanks for the heads up about this site dude.
ok, that's enough for now. there may be no school tomorrow, but i have three books to read before tuesday (yes, in their entirety and yes, i should have read them already, but i procrastinated, happy?). peace out y'all, and God bless.
well, so much for the first post being all poetic and profound, but it's three freakin thirty in the morning, so that became an impossibility a good while ago. if the following posts require the minimal effort that i envision, i will finally have the "webpage" that i've always wanted but have been too lazy to learn the html for and too cheap to buy something like dreamweaver that would make creating a website much easier. baby steps, people, baby steps. but enough of my faults, it's not much fun discussing those, although they have and continue to provide sergi with many lifetimes of entertainment material. speaking of which, thanks for the heads up about this site dude.
ok, that's enough for now. there may be no school tomorrow, but i have three books to read before tuesday (yes, in their entirety and yes, i should have read them already, but i procrastinated, happy?). peace out y'all, and God bless.
