home

so far...
home is the most boring place in the world
on the other hand
its really relaxing to be away from work and get nice homecooked meals.

so..all my friends are either too busy working or with school stuff to hangout...last night a friend forgot that we were going out...

am i just forgettable or is this some paranoia perceived by me?

i'm going to go and do crypto type stuff

Roller coaster

Sometimes I use a roller coaster to describe my life. Earlier this summer, it was all fun and what not and now it feels like things are pettering out. There is still plenty of time to save summer though!!!

I'm going home august 11-16th. My parents foiled my plans of not having to go home again until christmas. They had planned to bring my siblings and themselves over to DC in August, but decided not to (they had enough traveling in China); so they offered a cunningly crafted invitation that left me no room to decline. Its not that I don't like my family, but I really like being independant here in DC. Here, I have to do stuff for myself; there, if I go to do something, someone else does it for me. Its rather frustrating. But, I'll be able to see the few people back there that I actually give a damn for (you know who you are, if you're reading this. Everyone else from 2004 can fall off the face of the earth).

I got myself a new machine built. Foxconn NF4K8MC-ERS(mATX mobo), Athlon 64 3000+ Venice, 1gig PC3200, 2x160GB WD Caviar SATA drives, NEC ND-3540A DVD burner, Winfast PX6600 GT THD Extreme edition video card; all packed into an Aspire X-Qpack case. Its a beauty, and runs Doom3 on high mode like nobodies business even anti aliased.

Work has more or less ground to a halt. Bar exams are done, as are summer classes at the law school. No more laptops, considerably lessened useage of the computer labs...life is sweet..but spending my day here is still about as exciting as looking at the horizon while stranded in the ocean. I really like doing stuff that'll challenge me. Thats the only downside to this job, little I do here challenges me. At ISIS, as least I had to fix mechanical systems, swapping out parts to make reciept printers and their POS brethern work, digging through technical manuals that were 15 years old to figure out if a NCR board is compatible with a certain style of tube gun assembly (The joys of dumb terminals, none of this putty emulation crap). I do lots of reading here, lotta technical and news stuff. I've been slowly working on Lolita, which is almost too good to read...I can only read so much of it each day.

But I"ve taken up DVD authoring at home. I've got tons of Divx/Xvid movies/episodes/cartoons that I want off my harddrive but in a readily playable format. I finally got chapters to work yesterday, I'm not too concerned about menus. I'm done with writing now.

Independance Day

Watching the fireworks over the national mall last night was amazing. CI is almost over, one more round to go. Class is done. Computer is ordered. MythBox should be coming along later this month. Biking should be getting into better gear soon [hurt my ankle 2 weeks ago]. Hurrah.

Summer begins tonight [or how Md has liqour sales]

Calc is done as of tonight. I've got my final at 6pm [not too psyched about it but i've got alot of time to study for it]. Last night me, Matt, Ben and Rich went to Bethesda, in Montgomery county, Md to buy booze. Why, you might ask. Montgomery county is liqour controlled, the county determines pricing across its bounds. One thing goes on sale, its on sale everywhere. The list has 18 pages of stuff....it makes it well worth the trip to Md. Hypnotiq, Alize Wild Passion[i don't remember if it was Wild or Red, the bottles and color are so strikingly similar], some more Jack [can never go wrong with the bourbon whiskeys], some Southern Comfort and Kahlua Especial. Similar runs will be made in the future, ultimately culminating in a serious liqour cabinet.

So CI has been going okay. I like to do the volunteer work with SEAS, and meet some of the incoming freshies. There are 80 incoming biomedical engineers in a class of 187 at SEAS. They don't know what they're getting themselves into. Soem people are doing rotc+biomedical engineering. Its insane, these people are taking 20-21 credit hours their first semester of college; I can only hope they make it but damn, I had enough trouble with my 15 [granted, I was partying a bit, but that is definitely what the first semester is for].

Colonial Inauguration

Colonial Inauguration begins tomorrow at GWU. Which means hundreds of prefrosh, people that aren't event freshman but are going to be, will be storming campus. Kids and parents who have no idea what they're getting into. Worst off are the kids that have their parents come along. Who wants to be bogged down with parents when you could be hanging out with new friends at your new school?

Anyhow, I'm well, well shielded from the insanity that is CI. Up in the Jacob Burns Law Library, I don't have to deal with any CI kids. They've got no reason to be here at the Law School. Alas, the better half of me, the part that tries to be community oriented at times, broke through and decided that I want to help out SEAS with CI activities. Mainly, course scheduling; I know just how much of a pain in the ass it is to do it by myself, this kids are diving into a swimming pool without learning how to swim! So...I'm venturing out into these untamed wilds to help these poor kids out. Mabye Its because I want to help make SEAS a better place. I really think the school needs more people that are interested in seeing it pick itself back up. We're engineers, we're not the biggest group on campus but I'd like to see it be a tighter group.

Anyhow, I saw Batman Begins with some friends last night at the midnight screening at the Loews Theatre in Georgetown. The movie is awesome, and Christian Bale is my favorite batman. Bale is a very talented actor that I believe hasn't gotten enough attention. After dropping all his muscle to become almost nothing for The Machinist, I don't think there is a more dedicated actor [I'm curious about is behavior onset though, Tom Hanks is notoriously dedicated to films he works on] around. The man is good and I think he's poised to become a symbol of an actor like Johny Depp is; versatile and willing to act a part because he likes the part, not because of blockbusting power.

Blur-No Distance Left to Run

It's over
You don't need to tell me
I hope you're with someone who makes you
feel safe in your sleeping tonight
I won't kill myself, trying to stay in your life
I got no distance left to run

When you see me
Please turn your back and walk away
I don't want to see you
Cos i know the dreams that you keep is wearing me
When your coming down, think of me here
I got no distance left to run

It's over, I knew it would end this way
I hope you're with someone who makes you feel
That this life is the night
And it settles down, stays around
Spends more time with you
I got no distance left to run

Testing remote blogging

Blog from any email terminal in the world! Or try to anyways. I've
never used this feature before so time to try is now i guess. There
is no real content to this post...mabye tomorrow though.
--
-William Gibb

Corresponding Secretary of Theta Tau Professional Engineering Fraternity, Gamma
Beta Chapter

How many bards gild the lapses of time!
A few of them have ever been the food
Of my delighted fancy, - I could brood
Over their beauties, earthly, or sublime;

Redacted

redacted

Summer

I'm done!

Finished the first year of school at GWU. I've done 1/4 of the requirements for a BS in Electrical Engineering, and I'm damn proud of myself. Academics aside, I think I've learned alot about myself, dealing with people, living with random people, and how to avoid stressing out(ask me, i'll tell you how).

From being the token white guy at the first ISA meeting of the year to pledging (and joining) Theta Tau with some great guys to EBall 2005 to HavocLAN, meeting all sorts of great people and making some of the closest friends I've ever had; overall there isn't much i would've changed about how the year went. But in hindsight we can always wish to change things for the better, but if they could be changed that hindsight and insight wouldn't ever have occured[casuality be damned!].

Taking calc 3 [hurrah for multivariable!] this summer, working as a classroom computer assistant at the GWU Jacob Burns Law Library, which means i get to do lots of homework and fill printers with paper. Living at my Uncle's studio in DC over by the Eastern Market, its a really cool place. I'm mostly moved in now, just gotta set all my stuff up.

Au Revoir

Creative process

people are like sensors. we take input, modify it, and create output. that is the creative process in a nutshell. there is nothing new under the sun, just changes of old things into new things. all sorts of things. hahaha I'd buy you things anything if you want things. tooo much Floyd right now.

anyhow, wired released their creative commons CD back in november, and I just can't stop listening to it. you can download it all over at Creative Commons Its some of the best music I've listened to in a while. Check out the byrne single, its pretty tight.

Happy New Years

Another year, another 365 dollars.

But, in another world, someone recorded a song and that song became a smash hit.
Politicans hated it. The establishment snubbed its nose at it.
Hollywood loved it.
Washington cringed.
They didn't write this song themselves. Someone else first wrote it in 1963.

Noone knows how it became a smash hit. No major label would dare touch it today.
They thought Fuck the Police and Cop Killer were tough places to be in.

The major labels would never allow this song to be promoted today.

Mabye someone else will promote it for them?

Mabye someone small; untied by corporate greed and the illusory status quo could do it.

I present you; Masters of War

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead