This quote, from this article on a recent muder charge in Pennsylvania, has to be one of the stupidest things I've heard anyone say in a long time. Maybe not the stupidest, though...
"I mean, you have many, many stab wounds and those 'Dungeons and Dragons' fantasy games involve swords and knives and daggers and things of that nature. There may be a connection but I can’t say for sure."
Proof to the point, I guess, that guns don't kill people. Gamers kill people. (although I think the point was originally meant to apply to video gamers... we're all cut from the same cloth).
Finally finished my take home test. Or at least, the part I've been given so far. Should get the rest tomorrow... will probably finish it about midnight Wednesday night, because it's spring and I am extremely unmotivated. I also found out that the paper that I thought was due like, the beginning of May is actually due like, two weeks from today. And I have to make a presentation on it. *rolls eyes and flops face first into pillow* Why am I staying in school? I don't know!
I now officially hate triangles. And eHarmony commercials are annoying. Just thought I'd let you know.
Anyway. I need to find something cold to drink. And figure out when Chad will be home. And go to bed.
Was sick yesterday... all day. Feeling kinda blah today, but no fever. Big Mike and Jenna came over last night, which was cool because I hadn't seen them in forever. When they left, I was extremely tired, and didn't really want to deal with people... so Chad ran to Wesley to talk to people, and I stayed home. Which apparently caused some sort of weird strife between people, and when Chad said he was coming home to cook dinner for me, someone called him fat :-/ I wasn't trying to be anti-social, people... I was just sick, and didn't want to see anyone. I was very social to people who were talking to me online.
Various April Fool's pranks in the works I hear... some more dangerous than others. If I can get ahold of a digital camera, I'll try to get a pic of my April Fool's exploit... only true geeks will appreciate. ;-)
The world is funny and disturbing place. Just thought you should know.
In Memphis for Easter... Must think of something fun to do Monday afternoon, to celebrate William's birthday. And something fun to do next weekend, to celebrate mine :) (note: Chad will be LARPing either Friday or Saturday, so plan party night for then *wink*)
Not really much else new... got my schedule for the summer and fall... classes look good, mostly, times look great (no 8ams!). Thinking about staying on after that, as long as I'm here... maybe I'd make it to a PhD. Or not. "Terminal degree" is such a depressing term. Sound like a disease... "I'm sorry to inform you, ma'am, but you have a terminal degree." *sigh*
anyway... I need to run away, and like, sleep or something. Or play kingdom hearts... oooooooh. Gameboy. Fun.... shiney... hmm.
I wear a black trench coat. I listen to metal. I was poor growing up. I was teased a lot in high school. Most people considered me a loner (and still do, to some extent). I know how to fire a gun. I have in my possesion two different (electronic) versions of the anarchist's cookbook. I was once invited to join the National Aryan Alliance (I declined, of course). And I own at least 20 books on Hitler and the Holocaust.
Apparently, that makes me the type of person that turns into a "school shooter". At least according to the media at the moment. Go figure.
Thunderstorming here... big time thunderstorm, too. The thunder is shaking the building... and I can't see any of it, because I'm inside... in class. Sinfest on rain...
In other news, yay for open source software that does exactly what you need it to do, and has an awesome graphical interface (specifically Cluster 3.0, which is currently doing my machine learning homework for me).
Blah. My class today was cancelled, but the teacher didn't send out the e-mail until like, 20 minutes ago, so I'm already on campus. And Chad's truck is *still* in the shop (they promise it will be "put back together" by this afternoon).
But it's ok... we roleplay tonight (theoretically). Which will be awesome.
So... Recap. Since there were no storms to chase in the midwest, Brian, Chad, and I decided to go to Tampa, FL, (where it was supposed to be warm), camp out for a couple of days, and check out Busch Gardens. We left Tuesday morning at like, 5am (ugh). We drove it straight through, 13 hours with a minimal number of stops. I so slept like, more than half the way.
Tuesday night, we checked into the camp ground, which was on this little island thingy right outside Tampa. Brian and Chad set up the tent, and I got in the way a lot. We sat around for a little while, but ended up going to bed kind of early.
Wednesday morning, we attemped to cook bacon and eggs over the camp stove, which was funny. it worked, but it took a while. So we finally ate breakfast at 11 something... then we went to Fort Desoto and toured the fort... which actually turned out to be one concrete dungeon looking building with a couple of guns outside, and then lots of little brick piles that marked the corners of where buildings stood (some of the brick piles had pictures of the buildings they represented, but not most of them). Oh yeah, and part of the sewer system was still standing. Then we went hiking, where we were chased by lizards and squirrels, and hermit crabs masquaradeing as spiders. After we ate lunch, we went and slpashed around in the ocean for awhile... which was awesome. Then we decided to go into St. Petersburg and see if we could find a putt-putt place. About the time we found it... the biggest rainstorm eVar hit. So we drove aound for a few minutes, and headed back to check on the tent.
The tent was assuming a life of it's own, and trying to run away. It had pulled up 3 or 4 stakes, and was attempting to esacpe by sea. So Chad and Brian stripped down to their shorts and ran out into the monsoon to capture the tent... which they did quite successfully. Once the tent was weighted down and tied to palm trees, it sort of stopped raining for a little while. So we put all our towels in the dryer... and Chad cooked hotdogs on the camp stove by flashlight (the monsoon killed our lantern). Once the towels and stuff dried, we took hot showers and went to bed... right after it started raining again. It rained all night... and all the next morning... but our tent was (mostly) waterproof, so we didn't get (very) wet.
Thursday morning, we were supposed to go to Busch Gardens, but it was still monsooning. So we opted to go to the Museum of Science and Industry (which was pretty cool)... and we watched an IMAX movie there, on a Dome screen... it was like home :-) so after that, it was still raining, but only a little. So... we upgraded our tickets to Busch Gardens to a year pass (for like $6 extra a person), and braved the theme park in the rain. Which actually turned out to be really cool, as they hadn't closed anything but the skyride, so all the coasters and water rides were open. We rode all the coasters (Montu, Kumba, Python, and Scorpion) except the wooden one (Gwazli, maybe?)... they were really awesome (except the Python, which sucked a lot). And we rode all the water rides, as we were already wet.
About the time we decided to head back to camp, it started pouring again... so we detoured by Family Dollar and Target and bought stuff for the lantern and garbage bags and extra towels. We went back to camp, and I took a hot shower (the temp had dropped to like, 50 degrees, which isn't so much fun when you're wearing a wet bathing suit, wet shorts and a wet tank top)... and cooked dinner, again by flashlight (the stuff for the lantern didn't work). It stopped raining, but was still wet and cold all night.
Friday we spent most of the day at the theme park... we walked through the replica of Tut's tomb, I bought a cool Egypt picture (becasue it was the only really cool Egypt thing I could affoard)... they had some awesome statues of like, Anubis and Isis and Bastet and Ra, except they were like, $50 each, and I already have one of Bastet... I really wanted the Anubis statue, though... *sigh*. So we took the walking safari, and rode the train, and laughed at all the animals. Did you know that hippos have really powerful and fast tails... so powerful and fast, in fact, that they can use them to fling poo in every direction as fast as it come out of their butts? I thought that was fascinating.
We rode the coasters again (the Montu and the Kumba, anyway)... lusted after the new coaster they're building (the first coaster with a 90 degree drop. Yeah)... rode the wooden coaster (which was way awesome)... and looked in all the shops we had missed the day before. We had a really good time.
Then we had to drive back (we = Chad). Straight from the theme park. We got to Memphis at like 5am. And had to kick Chelsea out of our bed so we could sleep. And we slept until 2pm.
Today, we set up the tent and hosed it off... and washed wet clothes. Tomorrow, we have to go home to Starkville and do all the homework I haven't done this week :-/
Update on life: In Memphis, at least for a few hours yet. Chad's truck is in Starkville, at the transmission shop, which has been the source of much drama. My car is here (hence the fact that we managed to get here). Embarking on a road trip tomorrow, with what's left of our spring break. Me, Brian and Chad... in Chad's mom's car. To Tampa, more specifically Busch Gardens. And we're camping, which is awesome. And we're not storm chasing in the midwest, which made my mommy happy. Maybe we'll make it to the beach.
Held Krys and Manda's baby, Toby, today. Decided that babies are way way way too much work. At least after they're born... :-)
Anyway... must run away now.... T minus 6 hours till we need to be on the road (and we're not done packing).
look. I am a computer science major. not a marketing major. not a communications major. not a business major. I chose a major where I wouldn't have to fake enthusiasm, or deal with people. Thus, I have no cause to paste a dumb expression on my face in an attempt to make people think I am having a good day when I'm really not. I hate doing that.
I'm not having a good day. My head hurts. It's hurt for most of three days. I broke my project this morning... and I'm supposed to demo to my boss this afternoon. Chad's car is in the shop (which will be free), and mine is acting up (which will at least cost me whatever a bottle of fuel cleaner costs, and maybe more). I haven't had enough sleep, and the vending machines in Butler... nevermind.
I have smiled several times today. I smiled when I called and woke Chad up this morning (he's funny when he's mostly asleep)... Joe said something stupid and made me smile... Dr. Bridges butchered the tale of Hansel and Gretel, and that was funny... William got an onsite interview ing Huntsville, which was worth smiling for. But having someone shout over IM or over the phone that I need to smile... no. That realy won't make me smile. Sorry. But I really don't see the point. And I know I've said that more than once.
Rant number one. Vending machines in Butler. They've been empty for a week. I mean. Empty. They are out of everything... includeing bottled water and diet coke. Yeah. Computer science students need to buy caffiene. It's a fact of life. So why is there no caffiene in the building? grr.
Rant number two. People cause extra drama by dealing with their problems with a specific group's method of doing things by announcing them to the world, thus making everyone else uncomfortable and hurting people's feelings. Let's take, as a "hypothetical" example, the Wesley. Ok. So I have some problems with the Wesley at the moment, and some of the people involved, and some of the way things are being done. I took up a few of my problems with people (who had the potential to do somehting about it) mostly in private. Things haven't changed, the majority seems happy with the current state, and i have huge amounts of work to do... so I really haven't been to Wesley this semester. I just don't have the time and energy to deal with it. However. If I had interrupted worship, under the pretense of praying, and listed all my petty gripes in the prayer... yeah. that would be way out of line. Way. Out. Of. Line. Even if the points made are valid (which, in this hypothetical case, I have no clue)... the method is bad. And uncalled for. And that's all I have to say about that.
Rant number three. People need to learn what is and isn't their business. Like, for instance, It might be rude to ask someone's age, in certain settings, or if you're tlaking to a woman who is more than like, 16. It's probably rude to ask how much someone makes a year, but not so rude. It is probably extremely rude to enquire after someone's sex life, unless you have been invited to, or you are a medical professional. In my oppinion, "When are you planning to have kids?" or any variation thereof falls under the sex life catagory. I mean really. What business is it of anyone but us whther we even want to have kids? And what if either Chad or I couldn't have kids? Should I have to explain that to everyone I'm connected to in 6 degrees or less? No. People should butt out. When/if we have kids, we'll let you know.
Rant number four. anti-discrimination disclaimers. They just keep getting longer. Take, for example, MSU's disclaimer. It's like, 5 or 6 lines, and includes age, race, national origin, sexual orientation or group affliation (exactly what is sexual group affiliation, anyway?)... and a bunch of other crap. So, in order to be in vouge, I have come up with my own disclaimer:
I do not discriminate on the basis of gender, sex, race, religion, creed, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, belly button depth, shoe size, eye color, or artistic ability. However, I reserve the right to discriminate on the basis of stupidity, hair color, State of birth, gut feeling, and level of annoyance.
Hey... David and Lain are now publishing a new comic strip based on the Hippie and the Black Guy strips they did back in the day :-) The new strip is (coinsidentally enough) called "Hatbag". I updated my little button thingy for it over in the sidebar. You should check it out, because it's pretty funny. Yay for webcomics with real humor!
And another link blatently stolen from David... (which I was posting here for my sister's enjoyment, but upon reflection I realized that she doesn't read my blog... which is weird. She is online, like, 24 hours a day. And she has the url. Huh. Anyway, I IM'ed it to her. But left it here for you to enjoy).
I have several ranty type things to say, but I'll leave it at that for now (so as not to detract too much attention from the new comic) :)
I survived the beginning of the week. No more (extensive) homework due this week. CSI, here I come (if the next disc actually comes today). *sings and dances* Whoooooo are you... doot doo, doot doo... *stops singing*
I really shouldn't sing in class.
In other news, my trip home this weekend was pretty cool even if all the cool people I know in Huntsville skipped town. Like an anniversary is a good reason to go out of town. Really. But I digress. Chad and I hung out with my mom at work (and got hassled by the rest of the staff about not having kids yet). And we kept my brother up way too late when he had to work the next day (two night in a row). And we went to the Mall, and Best Buy, and Krystals (all places we must go when we visit Huntsville). And we played Risk 2210 (Chad won). And we discussed random money schemes with my Dad. But we did not watch the Reduced Shakespeare Company's Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged), or Asterix and Obelix vs. Caeser. And we did not do homework. Which bit us (me) in the butt yesterday and today.
This is my brain..... in part, at least.
