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School starts tomorrow (actually as I'm writing this just after midnight I guess it would be today) and it's been way too short of a break. I bought books today and paid a small fortune in doing that (over $400). I just have one more class to graduate with a BS in computer engineering (Software Engineering), and one more class for my math minor (decided to take Intro to Number Theory). Then I'm taking an electrical class that I'd have to take anyways for grad school (Signals and Systems). And then because I've always wanted to, I'm taking an entry level astronomy course for fun.
New Years was fun, went down to the beach again in the Sarasota region, and basically wandered around there for a few hours. In the spirit of end of the year lists, here's one on the top 10 scientific news stories of 2004. My favourite one being the dawn of civilian spaceflight.
I really could have used this article on robot rights for my social issues paper last semester.
I backed up my hard drive to DVD's today, which got me thinking about archiving stuff. All my pictures the last year and a half (barely) fit on a small little DVD, instead of overflowing into multiple shoeboxes or photo albums like previous generations had to do. Of course if I had to use film instead of the virtually limitless hard drive space, then I don't think I would have bothered to take most of the pictures I do.
I don't think I mentioned it on here, but I won two free tickets by filling out a survey to see the Village People and KC & The Sunshine Band. Considering they're normally $30 a piece I was surprised to get them for free. I got pictures today from it, with the village people and the lead singer of KC & The Sunshine band. That guy had the most outrageous outfits, that only a rock star could possibly wear and not get made fun of. Similiar to Outkast being able to wear a white snowsuit with bright pink feathers on national TV and no one cares. Also I learned the official way to the YMCA, where the M comes together in front of the chest, not above the head like most people do it, and the C goes to your left.
College students everywhere have a new goal to try an attain. Get a .914 BAC and manage to live. Apparently anything above a .55 is life threatening, but this guy had a .914 and was still able to talk. Apparently you'd have to drink 39 beers in an hour to get that much alcohol in you.
The first day of classes are always fun. I'm also finishing my grad application to UF, which I finally decided to go into the Electrical Engineering department for my masters (should I stay at UF). I'm still leaning toward UT though.
I ended up seeing over 18 movies during Christmas break thanks to the "pay $15 and rent all you want for a month" deal at Blockbuster. So out of those that I saw over the break:
Best: Maria Full of Grace
Worst: Happenstance (I loved the premise but it didn't deliver)
Weirdest, by FAR: Mulholland Drive (Still liked it though)
Biggest Surprise: I, Robot (I came in with low expectations and really liked it)
Suggested Viewing: Goodbye Lenin!, Before Sunset, Hidalgo
And my favorite movie of 2004: Garden State
Reason #93 why I love college: Roadtrips!
My friend Sarah organized a spur of the moment roadtrip up to Atlanta over the long MLK weekend, and so me, her, and 4 other crazy UF students treked the five hours up there to be tourists. It was soooo much fun, and while I had been to Atlanta briefly before (driving through it, getting stuck in it's traffic, and I spent 7 hours in their airport one time after my flight got cancelled), I haven't gotten to explore it. So we rode around on the Marta subway, went to the Coke Museum, played some group DDR at Underground Atlanta, went to the MLK Jr. Museum (being MLK weekend and all) and went to see a traveling Van Gogh exhibit. His Cafe Terrace at Night is so much more vibrant in real life. We also hung out with a bunch of hippies on Saturday during an outdoor bonfire which was really cool, and went to a couple of local restaurants and just hung out in general. One of my friends who went along is an exchange student from Australia, which it was cool to hear all about that country in her thick Australian accent.
And of course, a sampling of pictures:
Group shot
Trying to keep warm (It was REALLY cold)
Coke's advertising apparently works
What happens when a dry Christmas tree is on fire
Atlanta skyline at dusk
In other news, my speakers are crapping out on me, and my headphone earpiece fell off, so I'm left to using my laptop speakers for the time being. But since my scholarship money finall came in, I might be able to afford some new one's finally.
Also this past Friday the Huygens Probe landed on the Saturn moon Titan, making it the furthest any man made object has touched down on another world. Titan is also only one of four solid bodies in the solar system with an atmosphere (the other's are Venus, Earth, and Mars). I thought it was really cool, as we now have upclose pictures of an alien land over a billion miles away for the first time ever. Space is cool.
It's been another really fun weekend, even though this one was spent in Gainesville. Friday I saw The Incredibles again, which is one of my favorite Pixar films (though Toy Story is still the best). Then I went to a bowling alley to sing a stirring rendition of The Foundations - "Build Me Up Buttercup" at karoke night. Saturday I went to the annual swing dance that the Honors organization throws, and swinged (swung?) for a few hours. It's always fun, and I'm slowly getting better even though I go to lessons way too sporadically to become really good. Afterwards was even more "dancing" though this time it was at some rap club, hence why dancing it's quotes since it's more like bouncing/shaking to the bass line. Actually since I have cool friends some real dancing was done, so it was actually fun. After about 6 hours of moving though through the evening, I was just a little exhausted. Then tonight I went to see the Aquila Theatre Company put on Shakespeare's 12th Night. I had seen them last year perform A Midsummer's Night Dream, and they didn't disappoint again. They put their own spin on it, keeping the dialogue the same, but emphasising the comedy through outrageous costumes and exaggerated gestures and props. And they used techno music to switch between the scenes. Techno and Shakespeare, it was awesome!
Some pictures recently released show that should the software business not have panned out, Bill Gates would still have a career as a model.
Once again it amuses me to no end that half the nation thinks Bush is a uniter while half thinks he's a divider. I think the poll results tell you which side is correct.
Do you way awake at night wondering where you fit in on the grand scheme of geekdom? Wonder no more! Let the The Geek Heirarchy chart let you know how you stand in relationship to other nerds in the world. I'm at the top of the chart, and am less geeky than roleplayers or trekkies. Well that's a relief.
Tuesday night was The Shirt Game meaning that they gave out shirts to the people who went to see UF play basketball. Usually it's just to the lower levels of the arena, including the first 1000 students. But since UF isn't doing so hot this year and Georgia is horrible, they gave them out to everyone, all 12,000 of us. The design is pretty cool, and we won the game so all is good in the world. I also managed to get on national TV (ESPN2) a few times since we were in the 2nd row and they thought our section was super cool for some reason.
I was watching TV last night, and I hear this familiar infectious annoying sound. Looking up, I realize that the internet has now invaded my TV, and the infamous Hamster Dance was being used in a commercial for ring tones. In case you missed it, the whole internet fad started about 6 years ago (and when I looked up the date, I felt REALLY REALLY old since it doesn't seem like it's been 6 years) with Hamster Dance. It eventually spawned off dozens of imitators that had everyone from Al Gore to Jesus dancing to annoying techno remix music. It's the last thing I'd expect to see on a TV commercial, but I guess when you're desperate you go to great lengths to get attention.
I recieved a really freaking awesome cookie jar from my friend Sarah today, which was a very belated Christmas present. I really needed one too, so now I have somewhere to store all my cookies, biscuits, and other random food things. My roommate also got me a white chef's hat that says "Anthony, Master Chef" to complement the apron I recieved. Cooking's awesome!
The experts agree: Bin Laden is either Dead or Alive.
Could it be? Yes... yes, I think it is... a sleep deprived update!
It's been a while since I've had one of these, where I ramble on and on and on about absolutly nothing because I'm beyond tired and don't really think coherently. I had to double check that I spelled that right too, it doesn't seem to be right, but yet it is. Of course you may be asking yourself, how does this differ than the usual BF.N (you like how I just abbreviated (this one I got wrong, I originally spelled it abriviated) it like that? Oh yeah!) updates? Well in those updates I would have used the double parentheses without any explenation but now I'm going to point out that I used embedded parenthetical statements. If the history of the English language is a line graph, I'm the x and the rest of the world is the f (for further back, get it?) (---------f----------------------------------------x).
I played some crazy board games today at Alyson's, who has a ketchup number of games. Yes, ketchup is a number. Since there are an infinite amount of numbers, then every possible letter combination must be used if one were to describe every possible number. Therefore "ketchup" must be the name of some sort of number, in the same vain of billions, millions, etc. It may be like 10^mustard, but it must exist. Anyways, going back to games, I learned that it's really hard to act out hay fever. And that waving your hand in a jovial manner will not get people to think "HEY!".
After that I went to a party (no, this is not a drunken update. Thaaat wwooujld lkjok likee thsiss) where lots of loud awesome 80's music was played. There were heaps (that's Australian for a lot) of people and since it was 80's themed people dressed up, including some random guy with a huge clock around his neck. The guy biting it is the person whose birthday we were celebrating, and as can be seen by the red cup, he was a little unsobered. And hence probably why he's biting a wooden clock. Or maybe he just really likes how clocks taste. One or the other.
Here's some links I've been saving for the next update, which would be this one:
I-Pod roulette. Celine Dion, that's pretty rough. It could be worse though, something like that god-awful Hot Potato (I mean that's what it's about right?) song that Snoopy Diggity Doo Dog Dig has out now. I think my ears die a little everytime I hear that song.
It got pretty cold the last few days, but not frozen solid cold. I mean it's like something Frosty the Snowman would use. After living in Florida 6 years I'm so used to the heat that anything below 70 is worthy of a sweatshirt and jeans. It's sick I tell you, but I can't help it now.
The world's greatest comic EVER has the World's Saddest Story too (though this one is obviously photoshopped, but the point still stands). One of my favourite (u's are cool) quotes is that "You don't stop playing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop playing." I love Calvin and Hobbes, I had cut out that very last comic and have it hanging on my wall. It's faded and yellow now, but it's one of those things you don't forget.
Well it's almost 4 in the morning (Hi Mom, that was a typo, I meant 9 PM) so I probably ought to go to bed. This coming week is Career Showcase week, which means super hectic and long days, while wearing a suit and tie and trying to get good at small talk. A girl I used to know LOVED guys in suits, so if you go to UF and that does it for you, go to the O'dome and you'll find your hearts content worth of people dressed up. In the meantime I'll be trying to get an internship for this summer. The one nice thing is there's TONS of free food every night, so you'll never go hungry. The things college students will do for free food... it's a beautiful thing.
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