December 19, 2001
This sleeping until 2pm thing
This sleeping until 2pm thing has it's advantages!
Oh yeah, I failed Honors lit, but not really. La Salle offers this online system to maintain academic accounts on, called Brother LUWIS (Lasalle University Web Information System) which has our grades first, before they're mailed home. I checked yesterday, and the darn thing said I had an "F" in Honors Lit. This is impossible - I had a 94 on the midterm, and had failed nothing in the class. Long story short - professor mistyped the grade, and it will be changed as soon as it can be changed, on 1/02/02...sigh.
I had a 1.08 GPA for the semester with the F 
. Freaked my parents out...
-matt
December 18, 2001
HOME: - Did nothing today,
HOME: - Did nothing today, but sleep until 2pm.
I start working on Wednesday. Hoyts Hunt Valley Cinemas 12. Baltimore's Premiere Multiplex Cinema. I am an "Assistant Manager," which means I can slack off and do very little work...just kidding. It means I have more responsibility then I really ever need or want. I'm the one that people talk to when they get angry at our prices, our or staff (who is good, usually) or when the movie sucked...I get all the crap from them, and then some from our staff. I got my raise, which is AWESOME, and makes the complaints a little more bearable. It will be more money than I know what to do with (buy presents for people ). I keep telling myself that it will be fun, but I know that I'll be drawn into the same old petty stuff thats always present at work...oh well. At least I get to see my old friends again.
Current quote (a poem):
She Walks in Beauty
Lord Byron
SHE walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies,
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meets in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which Heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress
Or softly lightens o'er her face,
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
And on that cheek and o'er that brow
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,—
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent.
From: http://www.bartleby.com/106/173.html
Current Music: Various Simon & Garfunkel songs - "Cecilia," "The Boxer," "Homeward Bound," and "America."
-matt
December 15, 2001
The semester is over. A
The semester is over. A moment of joyful of screaming: louder and more beautiful than anything ever heard before this day.
Just a quick note to all those who were present during this semester: thank you. Thank you for being there, for helping me, for kicking my butt when I needed it, for slipping notes to me that I needed, for laughing when I told a dumb joke, for just listening to me when I needed to vent, for being my inspiration, for being my enemy, for being my best friend in the world, and for being my foil. Thanks for it all, it was amazing - words cannot describe it.
As of right now, the halls are empty and depressing. A college dorm loses it's heart and soul when the residents leave: all thats left is an empty shell. It will not live again until January, when everyone moves back in, and the hell of the second semester begins.
I leave tomorrow at around noon. I can't wait - there is no to-do list now. It's all done.
Thanks again, all.
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-matt
December 13, 2001
My history paper is finished.
My history paper is finished. It runs just over ten pages, and I'm very happy with it's content. It took me just about seven hours to do today, starting around pm and ending around 9. It was the greatest feeling imaginable to bring the books back to the library tonight, and hear the noise when they hit the returns counter.
After finishing the paper, I started packing up a bit. I was amazed at just how much stuff I thought I'd need 5 months ago that I haven't even used yet...so much clothing fits into this category.
I called my previous employer about coming back over break, and it looks like I will return to my job as teapot man at Hoyts Hunt Valley. I'm not altogether looking forward to it, as I'd rather use the break to write (ha ha ha) but the allure of cold hard cash is hard to deny. So if you're in Baltimore, please stop by.
Links for today are kinda nerdy, so consider yourself forewarned. The first is a link to the Internet Archive and it's "Wayback Machine." The wayback machine accesses the archive to pull back cached versions of web pages. For example, you could see Yahoo! as it was on October 17th, 1996.
Wow.
Yeah, kinda nerdy, I know.
The other link is even worse (in terms of nerdiness factor.) The Internet Movie Archive is a collection of "ephemeral" films - those films that serve a very narrow purpose in the entire scheme of things: training films, health films from schools, industrial films. Think "filmstrips." Anyhow, about 1000 films are online, and are downloadable. Some are interesting, in that they provide insight into a time when things were different. Some are just really funny: seeing how something was predicted to occur when in fact it happened completely differently.
Yeah. Even nerdier, I know. But check it out anyway.
Finally, the year-end countdown chart:
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December 12, 2001
Comm Theory exam was today.
Comm Theory exam was today. No idea how I did: mixed up a major communication concept in the essay (traditional view of communication theory vs. the critical view of communication theory.) I did have an A on my research paper however. I was ecstatic - I poured my life and soul into this wonderful critique of cultivation theory. Interesting theory - states that those who watch television have a worldview that is based off of television's reality. Leads to the "Mean Scary World Syndrome" in which people believe that the world is worse that it is in terms of violence.
Yet another reason why Jon Stewart is the man:
"If the events of September 11th have proven anything, it's that the terrorists can attack us, but they can't take away what makes us American - our freedom, our liberty, our civil rights. No, only Attorney General John Ashcroft can do that." -- Jon Stewart(taken from ShopTalk)
Wednesday: write history paper. That is all.
-matt
December 10, 2001
Communictaion Technology final today. It
Communictaion Technology final today. It took ten minutes to complete. It took longer to walk to the Com Center then to take the exam. These are the exams I like; history will not be like that.
La Salle has an arboretum (tree place.) You truly do learn something new every day.
10 pages left to write; better update later.
ALL BOW BEFORE THE AWESOME
ALL BOW BEFORE THE AWESOME POWER THAT IS THE DEMIZIO.
cough.
cough.
sorry. Got a lot done this weekend and am just really proud of it. Finished most everything, except for the ten page history paper. That is due on Friday. I have the two take-home exams completed, printed out, and sitting in my bag ready to be handed in this week. I feel so good about that...the history paper seems miles away, yet is really only hours now.
A new chapter has been written in the Yatta! story. It is a long (and strange) trip but to explain it:
- A short while ago, I stumbled upon a link to something called Irrational Exuberance which was a very funny Flash animation set to an incomprehensible Japanese song. The Japanese from the song was interpreted (as humorously as it could have been) into English. This is very hard to explain; if you can, download the video and watch it to get an idea of what I mean. Some of the video was stupid; some horribly funny. My friends and I, being college-age males, found it hilarious. We couldn't stop watching it. We could say "YATTA!" and the others would crack up. It was a fad. We knew it would die, but we didn't know when.
- About a week later, memepool posted another link, this time to the REAL version of "YATTA!" This one was even better than the first! This one had Japanese men in fig leaves dancing. Once again, it could crack any one of us up in a second. Very, very funny. At this point, two of my friends have taken to "naming" each of the people in the video - one is the leader, one the fat guy, one the pretty boy and so on. It just adds to the complexity of the humor.
- I got an IM from my friend that contained this link to an actual Japanese page with information on it about the video. Finally, my friends and I declared, a reason to take Japanese! The pictures on the site are pretty darn funny, and if you can get a good translation of the text (try the babelfish) is good for a laugh.
So, as you can see, the Yatta fad shows no signs of slowing down! Other fads from the past (Space Ghost, Mitch Hedberg, ThreeBrain [that is, School Bus, Hypothermia, and Weeee!]) have all but died out and become passe. I have no idea how much longer Yatta will last.
FINALS - Finals are bad. My sleeping schedule is completely whacked out. I've been going to bed at four in the morning, and getting up at 2 or 3 in the afternoon. This isn't good; but somehow its working. Without bothersome things like class at 9am, it makes sense as well. It maximizes sleep while minimizes pain (minimax principle, John Stuart Mill, thanks Dr. Kerlin!) The other thing about finals week that sucks is "24-Hour Quiet Hours." This means no noise. period. It stinks being an RA and having to enforce it (really!) because we desprately want to make noise too. I agree with its purpose and its execution, but it creates this weird, sterile environment in the dorms right before everyone leaves: without people going about their daily business (as people don't during quiet hours, for fear of write-ups) the dorms lose their heart and soul. And it doubly sucks because it happens right before break begins, so the last memory you have is of quiet hallways! A necessary evil, i guess...but it still sucks!
This week is going to be fun. I only have one paper left really, and once thats done, I can slack off. The paper is on the Character of Thomas Aquinas, and it looks like it will turn out to be ten pages of biographical information, with a few stabs at interpreting what he meant in his philosophy. Ten pages does not seem to be that much; I've done twice that before with little problem.
The only major question I have this week is to decide whether or not to go back to my old job. I feel that it's time to move on, but for the four weeks that I'm home, I could be making $2-$3 more at it than at any other job (assuming I could find another job.) It has the added benefit of bringing free movies - theres a couple of good ones coming out over the holidays, which make it very worthwhile. Any Thoughts?
currently reading: Between books now, am trying to read all of Neil Simon's plays currently. Have finished "Sunshine Boys," "Brighton Beach Memoirs," "Lost in Yonkers." Will probably start "Prisoner of 2nd Avenue" next. Also finished his two volume autobiography, which had interesting insight into theater despite being immensly self-serving - first volume is called "Rewrites," second is called "The Play Goes On."
CURRENT QUOTATION:
Phillip Henslowe: Mr. Fennyman, allow me to explain about the theatre business. The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster. Hugh Fennyman: So what do we do? Phillip Henslowe: Nothing. Strangely enough, it all turns out well. Hugh Fennyman: How? Phillip Henslowe: I don't know. It's a mystery |
From "Shakespeare in Love" (IMDB LINK | AMAZON.COM)
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currently listening to: America - Simon & Garfunkel
December 05, 2001
The presentation went really well
The presentation went really well today. My plans before I went to sleep were to do the best presentation ever done in the class. I was to show up in a suit and tie, and theatrically present it as dramatically as I could, completely dazzling the professor and causing spontaneous combustion of the class. It didn't go that far; but I spoke well, for like ten minutes, and clearly knew what I was talking about. As a result, I no longer fear failing history. I can move on to fearing failure in Com. Theory.
The rest of the day was okay. We watched "Shakespeare in Love" for Lit class. It was the the second time I've seen it; but it still felt like the first. I liked the love story, and the many jokes made about theatre were excellent as well. Definitely recommended.
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I have to keep telling myself that it's not that much.
Link for the night: FARK.com. Another Weblog type site that collects random bits of news on the day, much of it funny.
-matt
Wow. Remember that english paper
Wow. Remember that english paper I mentioned earlier yesteday? Its finally finished. The presentation is done as well. It's only 4am, time for some quality sleep.
-matt
December 04, 2001
Some quick stuff for today.
Some quick stuff for today.
- Goner Worm - New worm is going around. This one is a lot like the others. The short end: if you get an e-mail with the subject of "Hi" and a message about a screen saver, don't run the program attached. Delete it immediately. In fact, don't open attachments unless you know what they are and where they came from. If theres doubt, delete the file. Link for more info: McAfee.com
- New at Threebrain.com - My friend Matt showed this to me today...click over here, to threebrain.com. If you haven't seen the other videos go through them (Hypothermia, Weee!, and Schoolbus) play them (Flash/Shockwave required.) Then reload the main page. When the bottle of lotion falls, put the mouse under it and maneuver it over into the basket on the right. A brand new video will play, which, while not as good as the others, is still pretty funny.
- My day - My day was uneventful. It went quickly. Slept through another history class, which I meant to go to, but I just couldn't wake up in time for. Didn't do much else except for Com. Tech class, which consisted of watching other student's PowerPoint presentations. Fun. (although I did learn a good deal about the holographic universe theory, which says that everything in the universe is interconnected because everything is everything else.) Tonight, a lit paper on "Mary and O'Neil," a love story by a professor at La Salle. Also, a history presentation.
Another major step taken - this site has been linked in my profile. So now, it has been advertised. Scary, eh? Before, the thoughts were public, yet no one knew they were here. Now that they're linked, few people will know that they are here.
So, to all, a good night. -matt
Oh yeah. If anyone knows
Oh yeah. If anyone knows of a really cheap web host, please let me know - no ads, and just need a few megabytes (10MB-50MB) with little transfer, and FTP access.
-matt
Hey. Welcome to my Blog.
Hey. Welcome to my Blog.
Bah. Poor first sentence, I know. Has none of the "oopmh" that it needs. The guiding purpose for this is to create a new outlet for me creatively. It should work swimmingly well within demizio.com. Even the color scheme and style sheets tend to fit rather nicely.
What I plan to use this for:
- Writings - A place to bounce new ideas around, and just play with language.
- Journaling - A place to help figure out whats going on inside my life. I tend to do it more through writing than in any other way.
- Linking - A place to put those links I want friends to see quickly.
- Other Stuff - A place for stuff that I just haven't thought of yet.
So, enjoy. Let me know what you think.
-matt