Stuff Worth Sharing

Project 365, Day 16

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 23:19:00 -0500

I was ill today, so I really didn’t feel like going outside and capturing a happy image. In fact, I didn’t feel like capturing a happy image anywhere. I was doing my laundry in the evening when I took a look around, and (being in the mood I was in) saw the terrible shape the dorm laundry room was in.

I knelt down so the pipes that feed water to the washers were above eye level, leaving them looking not only rusty and decaying, but a bit menacing. Finally I could capture an image that explains how I felt at the time.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit better, but I suppose the fact that my photographs change with my mood says something. At least now I know and recognize that!

Project 365, Day 15

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:11:10 -0500

It’s been getting warmer lately, so I decided that for today’s Project 365 photograph, I wanted to capture the beginning of Spring! I grabbed my camera after lunch and started wandering around campus, looking for a budding flower, plant, or tree. I stumbled upon this gem growing in the root system of a tree near Towers.

After clearing the garbage from the scene (the tree was right next to the dumpster), I grabbed my camera, squatted down, raised the viewfinder to my eye, and… got a phone call. Jennifer called to say hello! I talked with her for a bit, then got back down low, recomposed, and took the shot.

The first shot I took excluded the dandelion leaves growing on the right, but that didn’t feel right. Why should they get shunned just because some people consider them weeds? I recomposed and took this photograph, which turned out to be much more interesting. It sort of shows a duopoly between the soft, round plant growing on the left and the hard, spiny plant on the right.

I’m so glad that spring is here, I am quite tired of the dead, dreary winter that we had. I’m going to be spending a lot more time outside now that I don’t have to bundle up - in fact, I’m going to a big campfire the Residence Hall Association is putting on tonight!

Project 365, Day 14

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 08:50:00 -0500

After yesterday’s pitiful Project 365 sorry-excuse-for-a-photograph, I decided today’s had to be epic. Not just good, not only great, but epic. Lucky for me, it was foggy when I woke up this morning.

I didn’t notice it, being the groggy person I am in the mornings, but Jennifer called me and had me look out the window. I immediately got out of my PJ’s and into some real clothes, grabbed my camera bag and tripod, and went outside.

I went to Cardiac Hill, which has a particular tree I’m fond of due to its beautiful roots. The fog wasn’t quite as thick as it was when I had looked out the window, so I knew I had little time left. I set up the shot, framed the scene, and snapped the photograph. My first one was my best, but I got a couple more keepers out of the situation, looking at different angles.

I’d say I did pretty well for today’s Project 365 - I’m about twelve hours earlier than I usually post them! No idea what is coming tomorrow, but sometimes that’s for the best; Today’s photograph is proof of that.

Christmas Break

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:08:18 -0600

For the past month, I’ve been in Texas with my grandmother and aunt. I flew down a few days after break started, and I’ll be flying back up to Missouri tomorrow afternoon. Though I’ve missed Jennifer and my friends at school, I’ve had so much fun while I was here.

When I got here, the house was all decorated for Christmas - including the traditional Christmas Ficus. I relaxed and got into vacation mode, and helped Grandma get used to her newish computer. Christmas came and went, with lots of family, smiles, laughter, and of course gifts.

The next focus became New Year’s Eve. We prepared snacks and games in the days prior, and when the night came we stayed up playing Trivial Pursuit Digital Choice (naturally, we used the kids’ questions). A few days later, we took down the Christmas decorations and the holidays were over.

I helped Grandma order and set up a network camera and netbook, and liked the netbook so much that I sold my laptop to get one for myself! I now own (and love using) an MSI Wind U115. 10-14 hours of battery life with VERY active Wi-Fi usage, music playing, and more.

I got a new client over the holiday, and it’s turning into a nice business-to-business relationship. It couldn’t have come at a better time either, with the interesting financial situation I’m in - but I’m still able to attend school, so all is well.

Overall, it’s been a very nice, relaxing, comfortable holiday. Depending on whether I get a job in Cape Girardeau that wants me to stay or not, I may come here again for the summer. There’s a customer service call center in town that’s always looking to hire.

"The only way to prove that somebody is mortal is to kill them!"

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:34:00 -0600

“The only way to prove that somebody is mortal is to kill them!”

"That’s called bait, dammit! I know better."

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:51:00 -0600

“That’s called bait, dammit! I know better.”

- Dr. Baird, on sushi.

Finals are getting to me.

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:12:00 -0600

Kerrick: I don't think you're a moron.
Kerrick: I think that you are too willing to let the shackles of a corporate infrastructure weigh you down.
Danny: what?
Kerrick: You've got a chance here to break free!
Kerrick: SLAY THE BEAST! BRING FREEDOM TO THE PEOPLE!
Kerrick: ...wow, I think finals are getting to me.

"A middle-class family might think it would be nice to have an in-ground swimming pool. A millionaire..."

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:06:38 -0600

“A middle-class family might think it would be nice to have an in-ground swimming pool. A millionaire might think it would be nice to have a yacht. The billionaire, a private jet. Someone, somewhere might think it would be nice to have food to feed her family tonight.”

- http://www.salon.com/life/pinched/story/index.html?story=/news/pinched/2009/12/06/living_in_a_van

Going Cold Turkey

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:03:00 -0600

As of this instant, I shall no longer be playing FishVille or Cafe World. I’m leaving my fish to die, my food to rot, and I’m even blocking the games. I’m doing this for a few reasons:

I am proving that I, like Mike Arrington, can quit social games.
I am proving that I am NOT addicted to social games.
I need more time for FarmVille.

Yes, that last one was sarcasm - but I am still going to play FarmVille from time to time. It’s a game that I could play every two hours or every four days, so I can play only when I have time to. FishVille and Cafe World just don’t bring me the joy that FarmVille does, either. I play FarmVille because it’s fun, but I play(ed) the others because they were there. Leveling up became a chore, and that’s never a good thing.

Now, where did I put my Nerf guns?

"If you believe in telekinesis, raise my hand!"

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:25:29 -0600

“If you believe in telekinesis, raise my hand!”

Internet Vices

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0600

Internet Vices

"A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is..."

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:09:00 -0600

“A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

- Antoine de Saint Exupéry. Found at Quotes on Design.

Shaving!

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:53:00 -0600

I am now a man. I shaved my face for the first time yesterday! A few weeks ago, Jennifer told me that I had been getting a bit too scraggly, so I decided to do something about it… someday.

As procrastination goes, I forgot about it, remembered it at the wrong times, and forgot about it once more. Yesterday, though, my roommate happened to be shaving at the time that I remembered that I, too, needed to shave.

I asked him how to shave, and he said, “You have facial hair?! Whoah, you do!” He proceeded to instruct me on the basics, handed me a razor, and bode me well. In utter terror of slitting my skin and bleeding to death, I dragged the razor over my cheeks… and I was fine! No muss, no fuss! I had been worrying about nothing forever.

Later that night Chris, Jennifer, and I went to Walmart to pick out some razors. I, of course, got the 99 cent 5-pack razors and the $1.50 shaving cream (which I have yet to use) because I’m a cheap college student like that.

I think I’ll have to shave again tomorrow, because my beardstache is all scruffy (though still blonde and invisible), so it bugs me. Hmm, I wonder if I’ll ever get a 5:00 shadow…

This is too funny!

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 02:07:07 -0600

This is too funny!

Thanksgiving!

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 22:06:00 -0600

This year’s Thanksgiving was amazing. Jennifer and her family invited me to their house for the weekend, and I met a bunch of the rest of her family. We played games, I fixed computers, and everybody had an all around good time.

On Tuesday night, we had the tire blowout on the way to Jennifer’s house in St. Louis. Once we got there around 10:00 PM, I was thoroughly exhausted. Shortly after our arrival everybody went to bed, and I collapsed. The next day, we went to Dobb’s for the tire quote, and Jennifer drove us to her grandmother’s, and I cleaned out her computer for her. Bye bye, AOL 9.1 browser, hello Google Chrome! Alex (her brother), Jennifer, her Grandmother, and I all played a few games. First, we played “You’ve been sentenced,” and then some game that is like pictionary where one person tells the other to draw something and they have to guess what it is. They were both very fun, but soon night came again, and everybody went to bed.

I woke up at about 7:30 AM on Thanksgiving and helped Jennifer and her grandmother get the turkey in the oven. The rest of the day went by as a really fun, really fast blur. We continued getting ready for Thanksgiving, and the rest of Jennifer’s family filtered in around 1:00 PM. I met her second cousins Matt and Dan, her great aunt her great and uncle (who is into photography and design as well), and the children of her second cousins - third cousins?

We ate and ate and ate - Jennifer’s grandmother is an amazing cook and baker. Her meal was great, but her pies were better. Best apple pies and pumpkin pies I’ve ever tried. A bunch of us settled in for a game of Uno, and we played round after round. I showed some of the younger kids some magic tricks, which they were amazed at - I even showed one of them how to do a trick, which I think made her day. Everybody began filtering out around 4:00 PM, and by 6:00 PM we were on our way back to Jennifer’s house. We lounged around and hung out until bedtime.

On Black Friday, we did NOT go shopping. I did, however, get a haircut. I also got my car all taken care of, which took a few hours. Once we got back to Jennifer’s house, everybody played Parcheesi a few times, Mario Party once, and hung out the rest of the day. Jennifer’s parents were very welcoming and kind, and I had a blast. I cleaned out their computer too - this time I removed the AT&T Yahoo Browser in favor of Google Chrome.

On Saturday (today), Jennifer, her mom, and I all went out shopping. We went to the Fair Trade Market, where I got Jennifer a special Christmas present. After that, we headed to Borders. I got a book called “The Dictionary of Bullshit.” It’s a “lexicon of corporate and office-speak,” and it’s quite humorous so far. Once we got back, everybody played Trivial Pursuit - the first time I’d done so. Her parents were shocked that I hadn’t ever played Trivial Pursuit, but they were excited to show me (up). The problem was that we played Disney Trivial Pursiut… from 1986! Nobody knew the adult questions, so we played the Kids questions. Still, none of my favorite Disney movies were there - but it was really fun nonetheless! Jennifer’s dad won, and we continued playing (with him starting over again). He won again before anybody else!

Tomorrow, we’ll be headed back to Cape Girardeau, and back to school. Jennifer is a bit disappointed, as she’d love to spend more time at her home. I think she’ll be a bit better once she’s actually back at Southeast - she has a hard time leaving. This has been the best Thanksgiving in recent memory - certainly since I was a child. I’m so thankful for Jennifer, her family, and the kindness that they extend.

Tire Blowout!

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

On Tuesday night, we headed for St. Louis - and I got a tire blowout! We were in the middle of nowhere in the dark, on the side of the highway. Luckily I had a spare, the tire was on the outside of the road, and my dad had taught me how to change a tire. Halfway through changing, a nice guy named Tim who works on a tugboat pulled over and helped us finish changing the tire. We got to a gas station to air up my tires, and went the rest of the way to St. Louis.

Wednesday morning, Jennifer and I headed to Dobb’s Tire and Auto and got a quote for new tires for my car - about $75 apiece - luckily, they had used ones for a bit less. We made an appointment to get three new tires on Friday.

Today, we went back to Dobb’s and got it taken care of. I got the three used tires for $25 each, they threw in a spare, and I got an oil change for $20 (with a coupon that Jennifer’s parents had). It was less expensive than new tires, but still more than I wanted to spend. However, that’s one thing I can cross off of my list to get done with the car!

I still need to get a new windshield, get my brakes checked (they sometimes squeal in the rain, but they always brake just fine, so I’m not worried), and get my air conditioning converted from the old formula to the new one. Looks like I better find a job with lots of hours over the summer to take care of it all!

My Website

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:41:25 -0500

My Website:

This is my own personal website. As of now, it’s just a placeholder - but eventually, who knows what it could be!

I can’t get it out of my head!

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:37:24 -0500

I can’t get it out of my head!

Angular Inertia is FUN!

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:18:00 -0500

Turntables, weights, bicycle wheels, strings, and humans. Alone they may seem mildly interesting at best, but when one of the humans is a physics teacher… EPICNESS!

In our physics class today, we dealt with rotation; angular momentum, angular inertia, angular velocity, all that fun stuff.

To illustrate, the physics professor called up a volunteer (which happened to be me) with stable footing. I was put on a nearly frictionless turntable and given two 2Kg weights to hold. With my arms outstretched, I was set in motion very slowly by the professor. I finally realized my mistake when a vision of watching figure skating with my grandmother popped into my head. Before the words escaped his mouth, I knew the professor was gong to tell me to bring my arms in. Fearing the speed that I knew was soon to come, I did so. The room began to spin so quickly that I couldn’t even keep track of where the door was! I quickly stretched my arms back out to regain my footing, but I soon missed the thrill of spinning wildly without control. Ironic, eh?

When I finally became too dizzy to stand, I stretched out my arms again to slow myself enough to dismount the turntable.

Shortly after, the professor spun a bicycle wheel and held it by a string to demonstrate rotational inertia, the tendency of a rotating body to resist change in the axis of rotation. Simple gyroscopic stuff.

What he did next was not only unexpected, but would have seemed like magic if web hadn’t been studying physics. He stepped onto the turntable, spun the wheel, and changed the direction HE was rotating by changing the axis of rotation of the wheel! As it turns out, the total angular momentum was being conserved. Still, very cool.

"Defense is as much a part of war as offense, the shield as important a tool as the sword."

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:41:00 -0500

“Defense is as much a part of war as offense, the shield as important a tool as the sword.”

- This is a quote from an old Magic: The Gathering card, “Withstand.” I always have liked this quote, and even though I no longer play MtG, it stays with me.