Now for something less dark

I love Congress. These honest, forthright public servants, out fighting for truth and the American way. Their staffers hard at work making sure the truth is told and never, ever distorted for political gain. :D

Yes, I was talking about the fictional Congress in this new book I am reading, why do you ask? *chuckles to self thinking that was really humorous*

Seriously, what kind of people are we electing these days?!?

Push

How is it the second week of school and already I feel so over-whemlingly busy? Oy!

Faith manages

It's weekends like this where I come out feeling worse then I did going in where I have to remind myself that.

On a positive note: Grey's was quite good, my roommate is a superb cook, and I've realized that everything I know about rolling up electrical cords I've learned from Scott.

It just feels like this will be a very lonely semester all of a sudden. I'm feeling very pessimistic and I don't like it.


At least it's snowing.

Can't forget: faith manages

There is a time for everything,
a season for every activity under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to rebuild
A time to cry and a time to laugh
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
A time to search and a time to lose.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak up.
A time love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.

-Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

odd concept

Creating worlds, Theresa found, was addictive. At night, when she set her work aside and stumbled into bed, she would dream of it: new shapes of reality, new styles of existence, new ontological and theological substructures on which she could build a cosmos. If it were not her work, she knew, and free, she would spend everything she had, and more, so she could keep on creating; and that would not be so bad, or such a waste of a lifetime.
Naturally, they had not perfected the process. Even the management had the humility to understand that - they were mere humans, toying with divinity. Some aspects of the universes they built were primitive, unrefined, and incomplete. These technical flaws paled before the simple truth of their efforts: that each creation caught all the subtle flaws in their being and magnified them, that each weakness in Theresa's honor appeared a thousandfold in her work. That, in short, for all their beauty, the defining characteristics of Theresa's creations came not from her deliberate efforts but from the dark places in her heart.
All unaware of it, Theresa was building her own Hell.

-Prebyter Harah Jane, Fruit of a Poisoned Tree

Folks we could use some extra prayer for Chi Alpha these days...

On jargon

So random rant that doesn't have much thought behind it. Is jargon just an excuse to make people feel smarter then other people? I suppose that we create jargon so that people "in the know" know exactly what we are talking about quicker by having a simple term or phrase to describe something rather then describing it each time but I've been thinking of late that a lot of time that just perpetuates several problems. One it increases the need to train newcomers greatly by not only having to explain a process but then explain terms for that process. Then you have to make sure the newcomer correctly associates the right term with the right process. Furthermore whoever is teaching the terms (and presumably there will be many people over a vast distance) must have the same definition or otherwise the term begins to have different meanings causing problems with communications as people mistake common terms' meanings. Now this problem alone can be allievated by having some sort of universal agreement on the meaning of a term. Particularily in areas where the jargon is already set in stone and only rarely are new terms added. I'd hazard philosphy as an example although I am fairly sure new ideas/terms arise on a regular basis, perhaps the fact I cannot think of the example points to impossibility of this idea? Whether its feasible for less "dynamic" areas of life/study some things simply change too quickly to allow for set-in-stone definitions. Take the IT world for instance. Have someone define client/server. Have someone else. I'll bet you get several different definitions albeit they may be fairly similiar. Anything pop culture related would be similiar as jargon changes probably on an almost daily basis if you looked at things as a whole. So basically my point is here that terms are by no means universal and there is no way to keep it that way. Essentially jargon defeats common communication.

My second point in this gigantic run-on sentence filled ramble is that jargon also is a cop out in communicating between people who are in the know and not. If a layperson is discussing/debating an issue it is all too easy for anyone possessing jargon to use it to confuse the debate. In essence instead of tackling the problem they avoid it by forcing one side to concede they haven't a clue and then claim victory. Jargon makes discussion all big words and less common ground and understanding. Furthermore I'd say the onus lays on the person who possesses jargon to spell things out without using the jargon if they want it to be a valid arguement. If you want to prove that you are smarter then saying I know more in Area A then you does not prove anything. Explaining what you know in Area A so that someone else understands it as well as you and allowing them to challenge your ideas on equal footing (and in lay terms) shows not only great intellect and patience but enough confidence that your ideas can stand up on their own and not behind any shields.

Right, that was probably terribly redundant and otherwise non-sensical. Oh well :D

Day One of the Last Year

Well things went well today. Slept til noon. Got up, putzed around. Called the two places I am most interested in living in next year. Scheduled one appointment, left a message (not returned) for the other. No classes at all. Worked at 3-5 in CPS. Got a working CPS key prior to that. I am amazed that Diane and Jackie know which building the key is for by the 6 digit number on it. I shouldn't be but I am. The work shift was fairly dull, there is a prof who has two classes during my shift so helped him set up and that took a fair amount of time. Chatted with Kat and read a ton of Rifts in between. I really am happy I got a tablet. Now with pdfs I can read off a computer without having it bother me. I probably will read more of Rifts then I have of Exalted by the simple fact that I will have 10 hours a week to read for a little bit until homework bogs me down in February. Afterwards attempted to help get Kara connected to the internet. Didn't succeed, I blame resnet. Met Blaine and met her roommate who ironically I've met before. Waiting to see what her roommate says about a boy being in the room. Apparently Blaine doesn't count, but he is kinda a stiff :D Worked out and that was good, i've missed that for over a week so rather sore now.

Tomorrow I have real classes and an apartment to tour. Both of my CIS classes too :/

System Launch

Dear Buddha for Christmas I'd like a plastic rocket and a pony.

I think I'll watch that tonight. We had XA tonight and it was good. Spent quite a bit of time afterwards chatting with people. I'm not looking forward to classes at all this semester. I guess I really want to get working so I can enjoy having a real salary, etc. But I'll miss everyone if I am working. In fact I've been thinking a lot about when I finally move away. I don't really want to. It'll be a tough to make a bunch of new friends especially as close as what I've got now. Frankly I don't like the lonely feeling and even in Marshfield I'm just a little too far away from Point to visit very often or on short notice. Guess technology needs to update things just a bit more so I can travel between cities quick! Yea, not really an option. Not something I should worry about anyways, that's at least a year if not more away. Who knows, I might even end up working here in Point although I am really shooting for Marshfield.

I should probably worry about the here and now if I am gonna worry about anything at all.

Have a good first day all. For those of you already in things hope they are goin' well.

Stand By

Well somehow they switched the work meeting to Saturday so I got my schedule. It's not bad. Thankfully I only work at 3pm on Monday not anytime in the AM (something I feared greatly). I work almost exclusively in CPS although I got a UC shift saturday morning (at 10, blah). No North Quad which I was hoping cause I know folks there so it'd be nice cause I'd have an excuse to be up in that area. Ah well.

Here's to surviving another semester. Chi Alpha tonight. Werd :D

Post Finals

Post Finals, originally uploaded by mirv120.

My roommate wasn't the only one down and out post finals.

Busy Day

Wow, so much for a relaxing slow Friday prior to classes starting. Let's see, got up rather late for going to Marshfield cause I managed to mis-set my alarm. Managed to get there not too late and caught up with Andy and Kurt (now working full time). It was good times. I miss those guys and work. Then on the way out got a call from Al asking if I wanted to help out with some office work. Didn't really have anything pressing so went and did that. Not sure if I was a terrible help but hopefully did something useful. Anywho after that did go home and kill some time playing Mario Super Strikers with the roommate. Mario games can be very violent, completely rated E violent but still, slide tackling, blocks in the back, checking, it's all legal! Then got to hang out with Evie, Amber, and (Intern) Kim and watched RedEye. Decent movie.

So that's my day. Enjoy the pictures below, welcome back to school folks!

Casualties

Casualties, originally uploaded by mirv120.

Sometimes you just gotta nap

Page Updates

Updated active blogs and quiet blogs. Added a whole shtick of my space pages, those at least with somewhat active blogs. That is all.

Ironic

So how's this for irony? I try to tape something Saturday night. I ask Dad to tape it at home. Neither place got it right. *sigh* I must have been in a complete moment of stupidity last week.

Pause

Well back from SALT, can't really say much about my own expierences, it wasn't what I expected. Now that I am home trying to tie up any loose ends since I won't probably be home til spring break. Much to do when I get back and then classes start. This break I was worried about being bored but that certainly has not really happened. I've kept quite busy. I am sure that this semester will be insanely busy as well.

On impulse I picked up the first season of Andromeda. Kind of like EFC it was the only good season of the show. Very much an impulse buy. Prolly the last one for awhile unless EFC Season 1 ever gets out of DVD limbo. Yea, I'm a nerd, I buy seasons of sci-fi shows :o

Prolly not a new concept

But perhaps one of the reasons science cannot prove/dissprove the existence of God is very simple. Taken from a scientific standpoint wouldn't it be reasonable to assume if there's a God that He would not be capable of being measured/scaled/identified by a system He created? Essentially He'd be limiting Himself by fitting into a box meant for beings obviously of a much more limited scope.

Crunch

Well Madden today was so-so. Barely beat Lars and then got annihilated in the franchise 27-6 (had a 0.0 QB rating). Can't win them all I guess!

Had lunch with Lars today. Prolly be the last time for a long while since he goes out West next Monday. Strange to have him leaving. However people come and go so just have to hope our paths cross again somewhere down the way. He donated some dishes to me and now I have 16 matching coffee cups and 8 matching small bowls. Time for a tea party! Well I'll probably take some home for now, might be useful later in life. Lars and I also delivered garbage cans to Amber and Evie's place. Random factiod: the CRV can hold two full size plastic cans with room to spare!

Apartment search continues slowly. Lots of it comes down to how much I am willing to pay especially since I'm going to want cable internet/tv and that tacks 90 onto the price of anything. Stupid Charter and their monoply!

Random news: seems like Prince Caspian has gotten the go ahead to follow The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. It looks like it'll be done like the HP movies though so if all 7 books make it I suspect it'll take a decade or more.

Blah, I'm gonna go lie down, stupid cold.

Happenings

Well got up for breakfast today even tho I was feeling the oncomings of a cold. Breakfast was good but have to admit curling up in bed afterwards was much better. Anyhow at least I am mostly past the point where I ache now and onto the nose running part. For the moment it hasn't been too bad so I am hoping with lots of rest and fluids I can keep this in check/eliminate altogether prior to Salt.

The blonde is visiting tomorrow and I am also meeting Lars for one last lunch. This break def. has a lot of changes going on.

Not a whole lot going on. It's odd I've been able to keep fairly busy over break but most of it is worth much discussion. Some random things that have happened in the past week are: baby-sitting, LANing, SW:CCG (lost twice), putting up signs for ECSP, worked on the Exalted campaign, slept, read, slept some more.

Still need to do some actual work towards searching for a new place for May. Whee.

Delta Reports

Well the LAN party out in Marshfield was interesting even if it did somewhat peter out faster then I thought. It wasn't that anybody had left it was just that by 4 it was only 3 of us awake and the likelihood of anyone being up before noon was nil and I was going to head out by noon so I opted to leave about 7 when Tim finally decided to call it a night and that left me and Chuck. So I went home, got to see the drive back from the opposite direction in the whee hours of the morning.

Gaming was fun, played Rise of Nations and Serious Sam primarily. I did alright. Serious Sam was actually probably the most fun. We played the last level of it as a giant co-op with inifinite lives so it was a huge insane no-holds barred shoot-out. The highlight was when Tim and I ended up being the tail end in the final portion and Tim got turned around and when I finally reached the end of the gauntlet and cheer cause I am a) at the door and b) everyone is there he realizes that he got turned around. The end result was: I had the least kills and Tim had the most deaths. Henceforth since we were last we became Delta Company and to make matter complete our squad leader (by the implication that he had reached the end first) was Pirate Mike. What a squad. Our motto was "Last One's Out" mostly cause we'd be late or lost all the time! Lotsa fun.

Also played Rise of Nations which is kind of a AoE clone I think. Pretty fun to play. I actually picked up on it fairly quick, by the second game I was actually useful!

Heard some interesting stories though and had a fair amount of fun so twas a good time. Went to take a nap today when I got home and ended up somehow sleeping through my alarm (or waking up turning it off and not even remembering it at all) so ended up having a 3 hour nap. Whenever I have weird sleeping patterns I have incredibly vivid dreams, wonder why.

That's all, betcha most people got to the 2nd paragraph and quit reading eh? :o

Yay, Done

Well today is pretty good. It finally started snowing so it doesn't look so blah outside. I'm done cleaning finally. I dunno if there is anything else I can do. Oh well, it looks nicer at least. Sorta smells better too but I think that might be cause I've used air fresheners somewhat more then before. *shrug*

In random news, in Fantasy Football I somehow took the championship. Mostly on Larry Johnson and Chris Chambers with some timely support from Rudi. I can of understand the concept a little better now so hopefully next season I will be able to put together a team that will do a little better then 7-6 in the regular season. Part of the reason I did so well was the fact that nearly all my opponents were completely apathetic. That helped a lot.

So now what's on tap? Need to rebuild the Star Wars decks so I can get my posterior kicked by Seth again. This weekend good ol' Pirate Mike is having a LAN party in Marshfield so I will probably partake in some of that goodness. Not a whole lot to do but sleep, read, game, and generally relax prior to SALT.

Clean Up Status

What is this day 2 of the clean-up? Anyhow, living room and bedroom are done. That leaves the kitchen and bathroom. Theoretically I will get them done tomorrow. My task list is somewhat shorter at least. I ran down almost all the errands I needed to do today. I vacuumed and I sorted. The living room looks pretty clean except for maybe the top of my desk and the mid-table (where Twism has a stack of papers). Otherwise thins are pretty clean. Somehow Twis keeps his desk fairly clean on top. Not sure how. I'm envious, mine gets cluttered really quick.

I'm really glad I got a convertible tablet PC. Last night I settled down to read a couple of RPG pdfs. It's nice to be able to read them like a book rather then the normal PC monitor sort of view. I may actually get some use out of them though without having to print stuff up.

I've finally re-attacked Greg Boyd's Letters From a Skeptic. I picked up a little prior to where I had left off. It's a good book. Actually tackles a number of questions I've had. Funny thing with being a believer is that you don't nessecarily know anymore then anyone else unless you actually do ask questions or investigate. I've still got a long way to go. This just scratches the surface. Well, noone ever said it's an easy path. Actually the line from a very old cartoon theme song comes to mind: "You knew the job was dangerous when you took it!"

So I've learned that a fair portion of people I know have myspace accounts. I'm not quite sure if I should dump them all onto here (although since I have Lena's on here I guess the precedent would be: yes). Not really planning to jump on the bandwagon though. I've got this monstrosity, facebook, theoretically a LiveJournal, several random forums I track, and so on and so forth. Can't remember another password or for that matter post in another place. Heck I have several blogs floating around (good luck finding all the others) that I neglect. I did realize a fascinating theory: the reason why I suck at school is because I have to remember 1,245,632,035.2 passwords. All my memory is spent on that and there is no room for school. Yes, that's my new excuse and I'll be sticking to it!

Alrighty, that's enough for now. G'night all.

Structure

Well, part one of the clean-up is in complete. Tomorrow I'll have to finish up in the living room and my bedroom. Then I can attempt to tackle the monster that is our kitchen. Oh joy.

I don't feel very creative as of late. It rather depresses me. This is my time to stretch my mind and do some writing, etc. It's just kinda blank. Blah. I am still unsure if I am going to run anything for PointCon. It would help if I knew my work schedule for spring. Among other things. Also trying to slowly read through Rifts. Talk about a meaty system. Sounds like lots of high-powered fun but seeing as I know noone else who plays/reads it I'd have to run it. Oy. Same thing for so many of the games I have. Suppose I will have to become a better gamer. Maybe wherever I end up working there will be gamers. Ok, time to read!

About Time for a New Year's Post Already

That's it.


Ok maybe not, instead I will randomly write stuff inbetween sorting out what papers to send to the great binder in the sky. Boy that's quite a mess. This will be quite an undertaking to clean things up. Oy, hard to motivate myself to do it too.

Ok, that's all for now. Yea, kind of a useless post, on the bright side it can only get better!