Greetings,
For my last blog of my life, I figured I would just give the highlights of my semester. Well, it started off normal, lots of school and high hopes for the Sooner football team. The school aspect wasn't too much this year. I did have to drop that one class, but I suppose I'll jot this semester down as a success anyway. The football team broke my heart. I was so sure that we would go to the National Championship that I made a bet with a friend in Michigan that, in retrospect, was a horrible idea. The only way I'm not paying for drinks the whole time she is in town for a weekend next semester is if the Lions don't make the playoffs. And now that Cutler and Forte are hurt, it looks like the Bears are going to just hand the wild card to the Lions. Crap. But o well, things could have been worse. At least I had awesome seats to the OU/TX and we stomped on those nerds.
World Music has been awesome. I don't think I have learned a single thing about world music, but the professor is awesome and I leave that class pretty much everyday with an awesome quote that I'm just itching to use.
Pulled the funniest prank I've ever pulled off on my little brother. That was awesome. I've pretty much told that story to everyone I know, including my grandparents.
Still trying to find a grad school. Rice looks like my best shot, but I'm starting to get a little worried about what I do if it doesn't work out. Who knows, maybe Teach for America or spend a year as a park ranger or working at a museum. I'm starting to get really stressed about the whole thing, but I'm trying to stay positive.
Well, that's pretty much my semester. Its been fun guys. I'll miss this class. I really enjoyed it and think it will turn out to be one of the most important classes I've taken thus far.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Fantasy Football
Hi all,
So this has not been the greatest year of fantasy football for me. I had a feeling going into the year that things might be ugly, but I covered for it by increasing my normal amount of pregame smack talk. I had the first pick in this years draft, which is a really big deal. It was the first time I've ever gotten lucky enough to get this spot. Well, seeing as how Micheal Vick had such a great year last year, I risked it and picked him. Most people use their first picks on a Running Back, but I figured Vick usually has a rushing touchdown on top of his solid passing game, so I took a shot on him. I knew he get injured more often than most players, but with all the hype about how good the Eagles were supposed to be, I blew it off. Well, that move really messed me up. He's missed several games at several points in the year and doesn't even do that well when he isn't injured. I'm on a 8 game losing streak. I hate losing, especially to my family and friends. They are relentless. I lost to my brother, dad, and girlfriend twice each. Worst of all, because I did so bad and that made them do even better, I'm out of the playoffs. But all of them made it. Christmas Break might be pretty rough for me with all of them around returning all the crap I've been talking all year.
So this has not been the greatest year of fantasy football for me. I had a feeling going into the year that things might be ugly, but I covered for it by increasing my normal amount of pregame smack talk. I had the first pick in this years draft, which is a really big deal. It was the first time I've ever gotten lucky enough to get this spot. Well, seeing as how Micheal Vick had such a great year last year, I risked it and picked him. Most people use their first picks on a Running Back, but I figured Vick usually has a rushing touchdown on top of his solid passing game, so I took a shot on him. I knew he get injured more often than most players, but with all the hype about how good the Eagles were supposed to be, I blew it off. Well, that move really messed me up. He's missed several games at several points in the year and doesn't even do that well when he isn't injured. I'm on a 8 game losing streak. I hate losing, especially to my family and friends. They are relentless. I lost to my brother, dad, and girlfriend twice each. Worst of all, because I did so bad and that made them do even better, I'm out of the playoffs. But all of them made it. Christmas Break might be pretty rough for me with all of them around returning all the crap I've been talking all year.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Nobody worry, I'm a Ninja
Dear mortals,
So I must have made some kind of clear mistake by not posting this much earlier in the year. How can I expect you people to know who I really am if I've never told you this story? That's my bad and I apologize for not letting you guys know that you have class with a ninja.
Well, two summers ago, when I was at the University of Michigan Biological Station, there was a guy there who was a real life ninja. His name is Lance and he is (or at least was) the president of the Ball State Martial Arts Society. He is a pretty small guy, I probably have 50 pounds and 6 inches on the dude, but none-the-less, he is a legitimate ninja. So one night, a few of the other guys wanted to go down to the sandy part of the beach and wrestle. We all tagged along and got a kick out of how bad both of the dudes were at wrestling. When they were done, Lance challenged me. Well, I have no experience at wrestling and the guy is a ninja so I was a little worried. But I'm so much bigger than Lance that I figured I could take him. So right when we started, I just rushed him with a good old fashion football tackle. Being that he was so small, I laid him out and quickly flipped him around and had him in a head lock from behind in just a few seconds. Therefore, I beat a ninja a fighting! I'm pretty sure that if you beat a ninja, you take their ninja statues, right? That means I'm a ninja and awesome. Nobody has to worry about deadly ninja attacks while you're in class anymore because you have an ace ninja in the room to prevent it from happening in the first place. Doesn't that make all of you feel more safe? You're welcome.
So I must have made some kind of clear mistake by not posting this much earlier in the year. How can I expect you people to know who I really am if I've never told you this story? That's my bad and I apologize for not letting you guys know that you have class with a ninja.
Well, two summers ago, when I was at the University of Michigan Biological Station, there was a guy there who was a real life ninja. His name is Lance and he is (or at least was) the president of the Ball State Martial Arts Society. He is a pretty small guy, I probably have 50 pounds and 6 inches on the dude, but none-the-less, he is a legitimate ninja. So one night, a few of the other guys wanted to go down to the sandy part of the beach and wrestle. We all tagged along and got a kick out of how bad both of the dudes were at wrestling. When they were done, Lance challenged me. Well, I have no experience at wrestling and the guy is a ninja so I was a little worried. But I'm so much bigger than Lance that I figured I could take him. So right when we started, I just rushed him with a good old fashion football tackle. Being that he was so small, I laid him out and quickly flipped him around and had him in a head lock from behind in just a few seconds. Therefore, I beat a ninja a fighting! I'm pretty sure that if you beat a ninja, you take their ninja statues, right? That means I'm a ninja and awesome. Nobody has to worry about deadly ninja attacks while you're in class anymore because you have an ace ninja in the room to prevent it from happening in the first place. Doesn't that make all of you feel more safe? You're welcome.
DWAYNE!
Something horrible happened this weekend,
So my fish Dwayne and I went to Wichita Falls, Texas for Thanksgiving. I have an aunt that lives there, and it is pretty centrally located for my family, so we decided it would be the most convenient place to meet up. It was a good time. We did all the normal Thanksgiving stuff; turkey, football and trash talking. But on top of that, my cousins were in charge of feeding the next door neighbors cats. Well, I'm not sure if that's true or not, but somehow we ended up going over to the next door neighbors house and playing with the cats. The strange thing is these cats were hairless. You know how on Austin Powers the hairless cat is kinda cute in a strange way? Well, this was not the case for these demon felines. Their skin was funny colors and they were just plain ugly. I don't know why anyone would want one of these monsters, but I guess some people do. It was strange and confirmed my dislike of the entirety of all domesticated cats.
Here comes the worst part. I had to leave Friday night so that I could be home for the football game on Saturday morning. I left pretty late, so I just wanted to get home and go to bed. Well a little ways down the road, my mom called me and told me that I forgot Dwayne! It was too late to turn around, so Dwayne was abandoned. My parents took him home to New Mexico where he will live for the next month. Its tragic. I hope he likes New Mexico and my parents are able to keep him alive till I get home. Good luck Dwayne. :(
So my fish Dwayne and I went to Wichita Falls, Texas for Thanksgiving. I have an aunt that lives there, and it is pretty centrally located for my family, so we decided it would be the most convenient place to meet up. It was a good time. We did all the normal Thanksgiving stuff; turkey, football and trash talking. But on top of that, my cousins were in charge of feeding the next door neighbors cats. Well, I'm not sure if that's true or not, but somehow we ended up going over to the next door neighbors house and playing with the cats. The strange thing is these cats were hairless. You know how on Austin Powers the hairless cat is kinda cute in a strange way? Well, this was not the case for these demon felines. Their skin was funny colors and they were just plain ugly. I don't know why anyone would want one of these monsters, but I guess some people do. It was strange and confirmed my dislike of the entirety of all domesticated cats.
Here comes the worst part. I had to leave Friday night so that I could be home for the football game on Saturday morning. I left pretty late, so I just wanted to get home and go to bed. Well a little ways down the road, my mom called me and told me that I forgot Dwayne! It was too late to turn around, so Dwayne was abandoned. My parents took him home to New Mexico where he will live for the next month. Its tragic. I hope he likes New Mexico and my parents are able to keep him alive till I get home. Good luck Dwayne. :(
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
The internet is creepy
Hi nerds,
So my parents have been looking at houses in Albuquerque for the past few days. They found one that they liked and sent me the address. I googled the address and found an online listing for the house. After taking the virtual tour, I felt like I had actually been there. I gave my parents my opinions about the house and took dibs on a bedroom. After that, I Google mapped the house. Saw the neighborhood and its area. Its pretty close to one of the high schools in the area, so its walking distance for my mom if she works there. I then noticed that the neighbors had a trampoline and a slide, so assumed they must have elementary school aged kids. I found a link from the houses listing page to an elementary school in the area. They showed that their is a bus stop right in front of the neighbors house. Then I was able to look at average per square foot prices for houses in the area. That lead me to a website by the guy who was developing the whole neighborhood.
The whole internet detective thing was pretty nifty, but it freaked me out how much I could learn in such a short amount of time. Its kinda freaky what all is on the internet, and to think that bad people who aren't using the internet for innocent curiosity could do the same things. If I could do all that so quickly with practically no effort, someone who knew what they were doing could find out things about a house or person that they could use to do bad things. The internet might be as creepy as people say it is.
So my parents have been looking at houses in Albuquerque for the past few days. They found one that they liked and sent me the address. I googled the address and found an online listing for the house. After taking the virtual tour, I felt like I had actually been there. I gave my parents my opinions about the house and took dibs on a bedroom. After that, I Google mapped the house. Saw the neighborhood and its area. Its pretty close to one of the high schools in the area, so its walking distance for my mom if she works there. I then noticed that the neighbors had a trampoline and a slide, so assumed they must have elementary school aged kids. I found a link from the houses listing page to an elementary school in the area. They showed that their is a bus stop right in front of the neighbors house. Then I was able to look at average per square foot prices for houses in the area. That lead me to a website by the guy who was developing the whole neighborhood.
The whole internet detective thing was pretty nifty, but it freaked me out how much I could learn in such a short amount of time. Its kinda freaky what all is on the internet, and to think that bad people who aren't using the internet for innocent curiosity could do the same things. If I could do all that so quickly with practically no effort, someone who knew what they were doing could find out things about a house or person that they could use to do bad things. The internet might be as creepy as people say it is.
Folks moving
Hi there,
So after several months of uncertainty, it appears that my parents going to move. They have been in Carlsbad, New Mexico for 12 years now, but have always wanted to move to a bigger city. My dad's business has extended quite a bit over the past few years, and that meant he was traveling more lately. He has been spending at least a day each week in Albuquerque over the past few months, so he decided that it would be in the best interest of the company if he just relocated there. My mom is a fan of the idea, except for the whole having to find a new job in Albuquerque. Its looking like she will be able to find a high school in ABQ where she can do the same thing she does now. So it sure looks like they will be moving up there sometime before Christmas.
I'm pretty excited because Albuquerque is a nifty city. Its closer to snowboarding and has a whole bunch of fun outdoor stuff in the area. Not to mention it has actual restaurants. Not that I didn't like Carlsbad, it is pretty cool in its own way, but Albuquerque is just a better city for my folks and will mean my dad doesn't have to travel as much.
So after several months of uncertainty, it appears that my parents going to move. They have been in Carlsbad, New Mexico for 12 years now, but have always wanted to move to a bigger city. My dad's business has extended quite a bit over the past few years, and that meant he was traveling more lately. He has been spending at least a day each week in Albuquerque over the past few months, so he decided that it would be in the best interest of the company if he just relocated there. My mom is a fan of the idea, except for the whole having to find a new job in Albuquerque. Its looking like she will be able to find a high school in ABQ where she can do the same thing she does now. So it sure looks like they will be moving up there sometime before Christmas.
I'm pretty excited because Albuquerque is a nifty city. Its closer to snowboarding and has a whole bunch of fun outdoor stuff in the area. Not to mention it has actual restaurants. Not that I didn't like Carlsbad, it is pretty cool in its own way, but Albuquerque is just a better city for my folks and will mean my dad doesn't have to travel as much.
Monday, November 7, 2011
New Scar
Hi nerds,
So at this random Zoo party I was at the other night, people were making jokes about the way I say S'mores. I know the delicious treat is a contraction of the words some and more, but i like to add an H in there to pronounce it Shmores. Well, because of this relentless personal attack, we decided the only logical thing to do was to buy the things we needed for S'mores and make some. We started a little fire in the back yard. Turns out, if you are the only sober one at a party, that automatically means you are in charge of making the fire. Probably not a bad idea, but I would have rather played with the taranchula more, but in the interest of safety I got to work on the fire. There wasn't any firewood, so we used the next best thing, a chunk of fence that had fallen down in their backyard. I broke the fence up into little manageable pieces and stated the fire. I then got to work on making myself a S'more. While I was toasting my delicious treat, one of the other people around the fire decided to be a freaking genius and tossed a piece of wood into the fire. That shot embers up into the air and one hit me right in the side of the face. It hurt, but not really bad. Just enough to make me furious but not angry enough to punch a grad student in the face. I went to the bathroom and saw a little mark on my face. I don't think it will scar, cuz it is pretty small and didn't burn anything past the very top layer of my skin. It is scabbing over, but I think that's a good sign. I find if funny in a weird sort of way that of all the dumb people being dumb around a fire, the one who was being the most careful was the one injured. O well. Worse things have happened.
So at this random Zoo party I was at the other night, people were making jokes about the way I say S'mores. I know the delicious treat is a contraction of the words some and more, but i like to add an H in there to pronounce it Shmores. Well, because of this relentless personal attack, we decided the only logical thing to do was to buy the things we needed for S'mores and make some. We started a little fire in the back yard. Turns out, if you are the only sober one at a party, that automatically means you are in charge of making the fire. Probably not a bad idea, but I would have rather played with the taranchula more, but in the interest of safety I got to work on the fire. There wasn't any firewood, so we used the next best thing, a chunk of fence that had fallen down in their backyard. I broke the fence up into little manageable pieces and stated the fire. I then got to work on making myself a S'more. While I was toasting my delicious treat, one of the other people around the fire decided to be a freaking genius and tossed a piece of wood into the fire. That shot embers up into the air and one hit me right in the side of the face. It hurt, but not really bad. Just enough to make me furious but not angry enough to punch a grad student in the face. I went to the bathroom and saw a little mark on my face. I don't think it will scar, cuz it is pretty small and didn't burn anything past the very top layer of my skin. It is scabbing over, but I think that's a good sign. I find if funny in a weird sort of way that of all the dumb people being dumb around a fire, the one who was being the most careful was the one injured. O well. Worse things have happened.
Zoo Party
Hi there,
So I went to the strangest get-together that I might have ever gone to before in all my days. I worked with this girl named Emily a few summers ago at the Biostation in Michigan. She now is a graduate student her at OU and we hang out pretty much every weekend. Well, this last weekend I went to her house for what she called, "a Zoo party." Well, turns out, if you get a bunch of Bio-nerds together in Norman, they throw the weirdest parties ever. Thankfully, I was driving that night so I was able to watch everyone and make mental notes of all the crazy stuff that happened. The first thing I noticed when I got to the party was a few professors were there. I've been to my share of parties with professors, but never have I been to one here in Norman. They are always at a Biostation or something like that.
Second funny thing I noticed was that some people took the concept of Zoo party seriously. I think most people just thought it was a bunch of Bio-nerds, but some actually thought that they should bring their pets. There were a few dogs running around, but the weird thing was the taranchula. It turned into a photo opportunity because before you knew it, everyone was holding the spider and taking each others picture. I got a kick out of my girlfriend holding it because she hates anything that could be mistaken for a bug.
So I went to the strangest get-together that I might have ever gone to before in all my days. I worked with this girl named Emily a few summers ago at the Biostation in Michigan. She now is a graduate student her at OU and we hang out pretty much every weekend. Well, this last weekend I went to her house for what she called, "a Zoo party." Well, turns out, if you get a bunch of Bio-nerds together in Norman, they throw the weirdest parties ever. Thankfully, I was driving that night so I was able to watch everyone and make mental notes of all the crazy stuff that happened. The first thing I noticed when I got to the party was a few professors were there. I've been to my share of parties with professors, but never have I been to one here in Norman. They are always at a Biostation or something like that.
Second funny thing I noticed was that some people took the concept of Zoo party seriously. I think most people just thought it was a bunch of Bio-nerds, but some actually thought that they should bring their pets. There were a few dogs running around, but the weird thing was the taranchula. It turned into a photo opportunity because before you knew it, everyone was holding the spider and taking each others picture. I got a kick out of my girlfriend holding it because she hates anything that could be mistaken for a bug.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Alanis Morisette
My friends have been on this kick lately about making fun of the things that I do that if anyone else did I would call them a girl for doing. The main things are my love of the movie The Notebook and a few of my pandora stations. First of all, The Notebook is a fantastic movie. There is nothing girlie about rooting for the underdog and thinking that old people who love each other are cute. Anyone who says otherwise is either heartless or on anabolic steroids. The other main thing is my choice of 90's music. Of course I like all the classic songs that everybody else likes, but I also include Jagged Little Pill in my list of 90's classics. My parents used to listen to it all the time and it reminds me of all the fun road trips we went on together... and about being an angry 40 year old women. We've all been there, at least metaphorically, or enough to relate to the angst of having 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife.
This brings me to my next point, painful irony. The other day I posted about how I took a test in my crime and punishment class. I called the people in the class dumb and said that the only way I don't get a perfect score on the test is if the professor takes off points for not using well thought out paragraph form and stuff like that. Well, turns out you need to answer the questions in more detail than I did, as well as have better structure and all that stuff. For a lack of a better expression, I was kicked in the butt by this grading style. Ended up having to drop the class (3 grades all year and the first one come last week? not cool.) The worst part of this whole ordeal is right when I got the test back and realized that I needed to drop the class, first thought in my head was, "Isn't it ironic, Don't cha think?"
This brings me to my next point, painful irony. The other day I posted about how I took a test in my crime and punishment class. I called the people in the class dumb and said that the only way I don't get a perfect score on the test is if the professor takes off points for not using well thought out paragraph form and stuff like that. Well, turns out you need to answer the questions in more detail than I did, as well as have better structure and all that stuff. For a lack of a better expression, I was kicked in the butt by this grading style. Ended up having to drop the class (3 grades all year and the first one come last week? not cool.) The worst part of this whole ordeal is right when I got the test back and realized that I needed to drop the class, first thought in my head was, "Isn't it ironic, Don't cha think?"
Halloween Stuff
BOO!
I thought I would take this time to give you a brief history of my Halloween costumes over the past 22 years, at least the ones that I can remember. When I was a wee tot, I was usually some form of a power ranger. That almost goes without saying, but I might as well. I was a huge fan and they always had new costumes so each year I could be a different ranger, or even the same one in a different seasons costume.
When I was old enough to think power rangers weren't cool anymore (or at least say the weren't cool, cuz lets face it, they are still awesome) I wanted to be Dracula. I had my dad put the face makeup on me... bad idea. I'm not sure why a Dracula costume came with purple makeup, but my dad used it liberally. One lady asked if I was a zombie, I was furious. Haha I love that I still remember that probably 15 years later.
I took a hiatus from Halloween for a few years in the later part of elementary school. This was because my parents would buy me a bunch of candy instead of a costume if I so chose. I should have been a business major because even then I knew I could get more and better candy by cutting out the middle man. That might be where my love of Sam's Club began.
Once in Junior High I was a banana. It was really just my dads yellow water suit with a brown hat and a sticker taped to it, but thats when I decided that I would make my own costumes from then on out.
Since college, my costumes have been a team effort between my girlfriend and I. As freshmen, we were John McCain and Sarah Palin as the leaders of the free world. I told everyone we saw that night that this was the scariest costume we could come up with. And that's when things became political. Ha I'm sure all of our friends think we're pretentious jerks, but its been a fun few years.
We went last year as a bird and a fish covered in oil; it was right after the BP spill and it gave us an excuse to rant to drunk people about the horrors associated with weak environmental policy and why regulation is a good thing. Did I mention that we might be a bit pretentious?
We went out on Saturday as tree huggers. She was a hippie and I was a tree (we hug alot.) The best part of the costume was that we have made so many tie die shirts over the past few months that she didn't have to buy anything for her costume except a vest. Nerd.
I thought I would take this time to give you a brief history of my Halloween costumes over the past 22 years, at least the ones that I can remember. When I was a wee tot, I was usually some form of a power ranger. That almost goes without saying, but I might as well. I was a huge fan and they always had new costumes so each year I could be a different ranger, or even the same one in a different seasons costume.
When I was old enough to think power rangers weren't cool anymore (or at least say the weren't cool, cuz lets face it, they are still awesome) I wanted to be Dracula. I had my dad put the face makeup on me... bad idea. I'm not sure why a Dracula costume came with purple makeup, but my dad used it liberally. One lady asked if I was a zombie, I was furious. Haha I love that I still remember that probably 15 years later.
I took a hiatus from Halloween for a few years in the later part of elementary school. This was because my parents would buy me a bunch of candy instead of a costume if I so chose. I should have been a business major because even then I knew I could get more and better candy by cutting out the middle man. That might be where my love of Sam's Club began.
Once in Junior High I was a banana. It was really just my dads yellow water suit with a brown hat and a sticker taped to it, but thats when I decided that I would make my own costumes from then on out.
Since college, my costumes have been a team effort between my girlfriend and I. As freshmen, we were John McCain and Sarah Palin as the leaders of the free world. I told everyone we saw that night that this was the scariest costume we could come up with. And that's when things became political. Ha I'm sure all of our friends think we're pretentious jerks, but its been a fun few years.
We went last year as a bird and a fish covered in oil; it was right after the BP spill and it gave us an excuse to rant to drunk people about the horrors associated with weak environmental policy and why regulation is a good thing. Did I mention that we might be a bit pretentious?
We went out on Saturday as tree huggers. She was a hippie and I was a tree (we hug alot.) The best part of the costume was that we have made so many tie die shirts over the past few months that she didn't have to buy anything for her costume except a vest. Nerd.
Monday, October 24, 2011
The crappy part of the weekend.
Gosh, I am so upset with the football team right now I can't even think straight. I'll start from the beginning. So as we started walking to the game, Kristine asked me if I thought she needed a rain coat. "Its only like a 20% chance of rain, so I doubt it" I said. Bad idea. So when it starts pouring rain, Of course I have to give her my coat. But I refused to leave my spot to take shelter underneath the bleachers, so she and I stood in the rain for the whole storm. Ended up with great seats though, since everyone else left.
Well, the team played like garbage and it started to look grim pretty early on. I refused to believe that it was even possible for us to lose to a team that we were a 30 point favorite to beat. So I kept talking trash to my brother, a Tech Student, and his Tech friends. When we lost, I was swarmed with trash talk by my brother and pretty much everyone I have even met that lives in the Tech area. It was horrible. The worst part is that they were doing the meanest kind of trash talking, being ironically nice. They said stuff like, "O don't worry, you might still get to play in the Sun Bowl," and "You guys tried your best." I wanted to cry. Heck, I might have cried, but you wouldn't be able to tell because I was drenched. At least I hadn't bought plane tickets to New Orleans yet. I wanted a National Championship so bad....
Well, the team played like garbage and it started to look grim pretty early on. I refused to believe that it was even possible for us to lose to a team that we were a 30 point favorite to beat. So I kept talking trash to my brother, a Tech Student, and his Tech friends. When we lost, I was swarmed with trash talk by my brother and pretty much everyone I have even met that lives in the Tech area. It was horrible. The worst part is that they were doing the meanest kind of trash talking, being ironically nice. They said stuff like, "O don't worry, you might still get to play in the Sun Bowl," and "You guys tried your best." I wanted to cry. Heck, I might have cried, but you wouldn't be able to tell because I was drenched. At least I hadn't bought plane tickets to New Orleans yet. I wanted a National Championship so bad....
The funny part of the weekend
Ok, so, my brother Paxton came to town this weekend. He has come up for every Tech game since I have been at OU (that will be the topic of my next blog). Since he last came up here, I got a new room mate. This guy is named Korey and Paxton has never met him before. Korey is a former Marine, so he is a big and intimidating dude. Korey works at one of the local casinos as a security guard. He has to wear a uniform that, at first glance, appears to be a police uniform. Do you see where this is going?
So Paxton and his friends get to my apartment around 10. Korey gets off of work about 1030 and gets home around 11. He and I had been working on this scheme for a while, so I sent him a text to let him know the prank was on. There were about 10 people in my living room when Korey knocked on the door the way cops do. I say, "everybody quite... O crap. O crap" and then answer the door like I'm about to wet my pants. Korey stood there with a stone cold look on his face as he explained that he was Officer Elliot and that the neighbors had called him about a noise complaint. The whole living room was fighting so hard not to laugh as he asked to see everyone's IDs. Paxton, being a huge girl, was hiding in a closet. So I opened the closet door and had him give his ID to Korey. Korey asked him to go outside with him so he could write him a ticket for the noise complaint and hiding in the closet when a cop came to the door (which is apparently the norm at Tech). Paxton was horrified and honestly might have cried if the gag went on any longer. So I start cracking up, and the whole group joins in. Paxton falls to the ground hes so relieved. Haha it might have been the funniest prank I've ever pulled. I'm laughing out loud just thinking about it. Even my parents thought it was hilarious.
So Paxton and his friends get to my apartment around 10. Korey gets off of work about 1030 and gets home around 11. He and I had been working on this scheme for a while, so I sent him a text to let him know the prank was on. There were about 10 people in my living room when Korey knocked on the door the way cops do. I say, "everybody quite... O crap. O crap" and then answer the door like I'm about to wet my pants. Korey stood there with a stone cold look on his face as he explained that he was Officer Elliot and that the neighbors had called him about a noise complaint. The whole living room was fighting so hard not to laugh as he asked to see everyone's IDs. Paxton, being a huge girl, was hiding in a closet. So I opened the closet door and had him give his ID to Korey. Korey asked him to go outside with him so he could write him a ticket for the noise complaint and hiding in the closet when a cop came to the door (which is apparently the norm at Tech). Paxton was horrified and honestly might have cried if the gag went on any longer. So I start cracking up, and the whole group joins in. Paxton falls to the ground hes so relieved. Haha it might have been the funniest prank I've ever pulled. I'm laughing out loud just thinking about it. Even my parents thought it was hilarious.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Crime and Punishment
So while I was in Michigan this past summer, Ola offered me a job as the Evolution TA. I thought it would be fun and look good on my CV, so I took it. It was at the same time as a Stream Ecology class I was enrolled in, so I had to drop that. Because I had little access to the internet, I had about an hour to drop that class and pick another one. I saw one called Crime and Punishment and thought it would be a pre-law style class. My sister just started law school at Emory, so I thought it would be cool to know a little bit about what she was doing. Turns out, the class is nothing like what I thought it would be. Its more focused on the history of Greek, Roman and Chinese law. But not even in a law-ish way. Its more literally a history class that focuses on the power balance between the governing bodies of these cultures and the people.
Well, because I know literally nothing about any of these cultures' penal systems, I went into the class super far behind everyone else. Its an honors class, so I figured the people in the class would know what is going on and I could simply follow their lead. Well, turns out honors kids are either hypochondriacs or dumb. In science classes, you would be a fool to not keep up with the readings and come to class prepared. Turns out in history and political science classes, as long as you talk alot and ask irrelevant questions while dominating the class discussion, you are doing a good job.
We had a test yesterday, and I expected it to be next to impossible. We had been talking in class for at least three weeks trying to get everyone on the same page about what will be on the test and that the classes high stress level is an over reaction. People were just freaking out about how impossible the test will be. It was horrifying. The class seemed to think that no matter how much we studied, we were all going to fail the test miserably.
Well, when the test came and went, I realized that it was not difficult at all. Every question on the test had been at least mentioned in class discussion. The readings really said everything that you could possibly want to know in great detail. I'm guessing the people who were freaking out (about 3/4 of the class) must have just not been doing the reading at all. Or else they are just naturally stressed people. Plus, it was open book and open notes, so I dont think I even wrote a sentence that I hadn't already at least paraphrased in my notes. It was a joke. The only way I dont get a perfect score on the test is if my spelling and sentence organization wasn't perfect (which is a possibility because of the time crunch). The information was not difficult to use at all.
So the moral to this story is if you are going to take a class that you have no background information in at all with, you should first do two things: 1- make sure the class is what you think it is. This way you doing get stuck in a random class with a much of frustrating, loud, and stressful honors nerds. 2- if these same nerds are freaking out about a test, you can just blow them off and study in the way you normally do. This is because either non-science majors dont know how to study... at all, or they are just so stressed about everything that they can trick you into being way more stressed than you aught to be.
Well, because I know literally nothing about any of these cultures' penal systems, I went into the class super far behind everyone else. Its an honors class, so I figured the people in the class would know what is going on and I could simply follow their lead. Well, turns out honors kids are either hypochondriacs or dumb. In science classes, you would be a fool to not keep up with the readings and come to class prepared. Turns out in history and political science classes, as long as you talk alot and ask irrelevant questions while dominating the class discussion, you are doing a good job.
We had a test yesterday, and I expected it to be next to impossible. We had been talking in class for at least three weeks trying to get everyone on the same page about what will be on the test and that the classes high stress level is an over reaction. People were just freaking out about how impossible the test will be. It was horrifying. The class seemed to think that no matter how much we studied, we were all going to fail the test miserably.
Well, when the test came and went, I realized that it was not difficult at all. Every question on the test had been at least mentioned in class discussion. The readings really said everything that you could possibly want to know in great detail. I'm guessing the people who were freaking out (about 3/4 of the class) must have just not been doing the reading at all. Or else they are just naturally stressed people. Plus, it was open book and open notes, so I dont think I even wrote a sentence that I hadn't already at least paraphrased in my notes. It was a joke. The only way I dont get a perfect score on the test is if my spelling and sentence organization wasn't perfect (which is a possibility because of the time crunch). The information was not difficult to use at all.
So the moral to this story is if you are going to take a class that you have no background information in at all with, you should first do two things: 1- make sure the class is what you think it is. This way you doing get stuck in a random class with a much of frustrating, loud, and stressful honors nerds. 2- if these same nerds are freaking out about a test, you can just blow them off and study in the way you normally do. This is because either non-science majors dont know how to study... at all, or they are just so stressed about everything that they can trick you into being way more stressed than you aught to be.
Monday, October 17, 2011
My awesome weekend
To celebrate the fact that my girlfriend and I have been dating for three years as of today, we spent this last weekend in Kansas City. Turned out to be an awesome weekend.
We left on Friday before lunch so that she could take a test in one of her classes. She thinks she did well, so that put us off on a good start. I drove the whole way up there. Not that I'm complaining, I like to be alive, so I do as much of the driving as I can without her realizing why. We checked into our hotel and had just enough time to get some food before we went to the Blind Pilot concert started. Some fancy little outdoor bar. They had a green chili cheeseburger, so of course thats what I got. It had a whole green chili on it! Reminded me of home. It was good, but it wasn't as good as one from New Mexico, but this is to be expected.
The concert's headliner was Brett Dennen. I'm a big Brett Dennen fan, but Blind Pilot is my favorite band of all times, so we mainly went to see them. After their set (which was awesome) we watched about 4 Brett Dennen songs before we were ready to go. As we were driving away from the concert, we saw Blind Pilot in their tour bus. We debated for a few blocks before we realized that we had no choice but to go over to the van and tell them we love them. So we turned around, parked the car illegally and went to the bus. As we were walking up, I saw some people through the windows of the bus pointing at me and smiling. It was because I was wearing my Blind Pilot shirt that they hadnt sold in a while or in this part of the country. When we got to the bus, I told them how awesome I thought they were and how we drove 6 hours to hear them. They were so cool. I asked if kristine and I could take a picture with them, so they said sure, but a few of the members were still inside the concert hall. I said crap, they wont let us back in since we have already left. Then their manager said no problem follow me. We walked right up to the bouncers and the manager said, theyre with us. So we walked back into the show with the band and found the other members. I shook all of their hands and told them that they were my heroes. Then we all took a picture together. It was so freaking cool I cant even describe it.
The next day we went to the farmers market in Kansas City. That was pretty cool. Bought some nifty spices and bread. Then we drove to Fulton, Missouri to watch Kristines brothers soccer game. That was pretty sweet too. After that we all went to his fraternity house and got the tour. They cram so many guys into such a small space I would probably die, but he likes it so that awesome.
After that, we drove to Lawrence, Kansas to watch the OU KU football game. We won, which also was awesome, but the team didn't kick as much butt as I was hoping for.
The next day we drove home, but along the way we stopped at some random side of the highway gas station. While we were filling up, I went over and picked some wild sunflowers from a little patch in a field. I gave them to Kristine, cuz Im such a nice guy.
Got home just in time to study and catch the last inning of the Cards game. Going to the world series! ha what a good weekend.
We left on Friday before lunch so that she could take a test in one of her classes. She thinks she did well, so that put us off on a good start. I drove the whole way up there. Not that I'm complaining, I like to be alive, so I do as much of the driving as I can without her realizing why. We checked into our hotel and had just enough time to get some food before we went to the Blind Pilot concert started. Some fancy little outdoor bar. They had a green chili cheeseburger, so of course thats what I got. It had a whole green chili on it! Reminded me of home. It was good, but it wasn't as good as one from New Mexico, but this is to be expected.
The concert's headliner was Brett Dennen. I'm a big Brett Dennen fan, but Blind Pilot is my favorite band of all times, so we mainly went to see them. After their set (which was awesome) we watched about 4 Brett Dennen songs before we were ready to go. As we were driving away from the concert, we saw Blind Pilot in their tour bus. We debated for a few blocks before we realized that we had no choice but to go over to the van and tell them we love them. So we turned around, parked the car illegally and went to the bus. As we were walking up, I saw some people through the windows of the bus pointing at me and smiling. It was because I was wearing my Blind Pilot shirt that they hadnt sold in a while or in this part of the country. When we got to the bus, I told them how awesome I thought they were and how we drove 6 hours to hear them. They were so cool. I asked if kristine and I could take a picture with them, so they said sure, but a few of the members were still inside the concert hall. I said crap, they wont let us back in since we have already left. Then their manager said no problem follow me. We walked right up to the bouncers and the manager said, theyre with us. So we walked back into the show with the band and found the other members. I shook all of their hands and told them that they were my heroes. Then we all took a picture together. It was so freaking cool I cant even describe it.
The next day we went to the farmers market in Kansas City. That was pretty cool. Bought some nifty spices and bread. Then we drove to Fulton, Missouri to watch Kristines brothers soccer game. That was pretty sweet too. After that we all went to his fraternity house and got the tour. They cram so many guys into such a small space I would probably die, but he likes it so that awesome.
After that, we drove to Lawrence, Kansas to watch the OU KU football game. We won, which also was awesome, but the team didn't kick as much butt as I was hoping for.
The next day we drove home, but along the way we stopped at some random side of the highway gas station. While we were filling up, I went over and picked some wild sunflowers from a little patch in a field. I gave them to Kristine, cuz Im such a nice guy.
Got home just in time to study and catch the last inning of the Cards game. Going to the world series! ha what a good weekend.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
my fingers hurt
Dear nerds,
I had to go to the dermatologist today. I have had these little warts on my hands for about a year now. They aren't too big or gross or anything like that, I just don't like that they exist. I have been going to the Goddard Health Center for a while to have them frozen off, but the nerds there weren't doing a very good job. When I have had warts frozen off in the past, they always blister up and then the problem is solved. The lady at Goddard would just barely freeze them and they wouldn't blister at all. After 4 times, they never went away. So I had Kristine make me an appointment with an actual dermatologist. The dude was a pretty cool guy. We talked about the fallacy of credit cards and how it would be impossible to go "off of the grid" in the modern world. All the while, he was freezing my fingers and chopping off the blisters as soon as they formed. Hurt like a mother, but I think it will do away with those little buggers for good this time. I know its inevitable that I will get new ones in a year or so, but at least the problem is solved for now. So my fingers might look kinda nasty in class today, but you guys are just going to have to get over it. haha see you in a bit.
I had to go to the dermatologist today. I have had these little warts on my hands for about a year now. They aren't too big or gross or anything like that, I just don't like that they exist. I have been going to the Goddard Health Center for a while to have them frozen off, but the nerds there weren't doing a very good job. When I have had warts frozen off in the past, they always blister up and then the problem is solved. The lady at Goddard would just barely freeze them and they wouldn't blister at all. After 4 times, they never went away. So I had Kristine make me an appointment with an actual dermatologist. The dude was a pretty cool guy. We talked about the fallacy of credit cards and how it would be impossible to go "off of the grid" in the modern world. All the while, he was freezing my fingers and chopping off the blisters as soon as they formed. Hurt like a mother, but I think it will do away with those little buggers for good this time. I know its inevitable that I will get new ones in a year or so, but at least the problem is solved for now. So my fingers might look kinda nasty in class today, but you guys are just going to have to get over it. haha see you in a bit.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Im Awesome
Dear world,
I'm awesome. I figure that you all already know this, but now it is official.
So i scheduled the GRE for today about 3 weeks ago. I had studied some for it, but not a whole lot before this. I had so much stuff due over the past week and next week at school, but i pretty much blew it all off until right now. Turns out, that was a good call. I've done little but study for the GRE for the past two weeks. I got my scores right after the test, and at first glance, I didn't think they were very good. Thought that most people would be in the 700s, so to be in the top few percentile I would need to be around 780 or so. Well, according to the internet site I just looked at, my scores are awesome. 95-99 percentile. I'm pretty excited about it. I'll send these scores out to the professors I've been in communication with tomorrow, and hopefully that will help get me on the fast track to the admission process.
On a different note, I'm not sure what I should do for my charts and graphs for tomorrow. One of the main things is, "is the graph necessary?" For my data set, I don't really think I need a chart of graph. Not really sure what I should do about it. On one hand, if I turn nothing in, I fail. On the other, if I force my data into a chart, it will be unnecessary and I'll get a D anyway. I guess I'll make one and just tell the peer reviewer that I won't actually be using it in my paper.
I'm awesome. I figure that you all already know this, but now it is official.
So i scheduled the GRE for today about 3 weeks ago. I had studied some for it, but not a whole lot before this. I had so much stuff due over the past week and next week at school, but i pretty much blew it all off until right now. Turns out, that was a good call. I've done little but study for the GRE for the past two weeks. I got my scores right after the test, and at first glance, I didn't think they were very good. Thought that most people would be in the 700s, so to be in the top few percentile I would need to be around 780 or so. Well, according to the internet site I just looked at, my scores are awesome. 95-99 percentile. I'm pretty excited about it. I'll send these scores out to the professors I've been in communication with tomorrow, and hopefully that will help get me on the fast track to the admission process.
On a different note, I'm not sure what I should do for my charts and graphs for tomorrow. One of the main things is, "is the graph necessary?" For my data set, I don't really think I need a chart of graph. Not really sure what I should do about it. On one hand, if I turn nothing in, I fail. On the other, if I force my data into a chart, it will be unnecessary and I'll get a D anyway. I guess I'll make one and just tell the peer reviewer that I won't actually be using it in my paper.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Where my family lives
howdy,
I'm not really sure what I should be writing about, so I'm going to make sure that you all (assuming anyone reads this) know enough background information about me.
I have parents in New Mexico, but they are moving soon to a place that I'm not supposed to announce yet, but I doubt the Mexican food will be as good there. This is a problem because one of the best parts about going home to see my folks is the delicious Mexican food. Don't get me wrong, the place they might move to is awesome and I'm hoping they do move there for selfish reasons, but I will miss the Mexican food. More on this when I have the go ahead to announce the possible new hometown.
I have a sister, Jordan, in law school at Emory in Atlanta. I'm not sure if its rude to say or not, but I have no idea what the rapper TI looks like. So when I'm in Altanta, if I see a attractive, well-to-do African American Male about 25 years old with lots of attractive girls around him, I always have to ask my sister if that is TI. You would be surprised how many times I have asked and been wrong. I think before I go back to Atlanta, I might just print off a picture of him so i don't feel like a jerk when I mistakenly identify people as a famous rapper. Maybe its a complement, but I fear that someone might mistake my ignorance for racism, and that would make me feel like a horrible person. I just don't want to miss the opportunity to meet a celebrity, especially one who saved a mans life by talking him off of the edge of a building.
My little brother, Paxton, lives in Lubbock Texas. When he was little, he made all kinds of jokes about Texans, how they can't drive and how they are so arrogant. Well, he has only been in Texas for a little over a year, and he has become exactly that. He recently sold his awesome Jeep to buy an enormous Dodge truck. Just the other day he was asking my parents to buy him cowboy boots. I think its funny how proud Texans are to be from Texas. Good for them for loving their state, but come on. Texas is cool, but its no California or Florida. I think the best thing that Texas has going for it is that they are right below below Oklahoma. If fact, do you know why its so windy in Oklahoma? Its because Texas sucks. haha I forget who told me that but I think its clever and kinda funny in that awkward not so funny way.
I'm not really sure what I should be writing about, so I'm going to make sure that you all (assuming anyone reads this) know enough background information about me.
I have parents in New Mexico, but they are moving soon to a place that I'm not supposed to announce yet, but I doubt the Mexican food will be as good there. This is a problem because one of the best parts about going home to see my folks is the delicious Mexican food. Don't get me wrong, the place they might move to is awesome and I'm hoping they do move there for selfish reasons, but I will miss the Mexican food. More on this when I have the go ahead to announce the possible new hometown.
I have a sister, Jordan, in law school at Emory in Atlanta. I'm not sure if its rude to say or not, but I have no idea what the rapper TI looks like. So when I'm in Altanta, if I see a attractive, well-to-do African American Male about 25 years old with lots of attractive girls around him, I always have to ask my sister if that is TI. You would be surprised how many times I have asked and been wrong. I think before I go back to Atlanta, I might just print off a picture of him so i don't feel like a jerk when I mistakenly identify people as a famous rapper. Maybe its a complement, but I fear that someone might mistake my ignorance for racism, and that would make me feel like a horrible person. I just don't want to miss the opportunity to meet a celebrity, especially one who saved a mans life by talking him off of the edge of a building.
My little brother, Paxton, lives in Lubbock Texas. When he was little, he made all kinds of jokes about Texans, how they can't drive and how they are so arrogant. Well, he has only been in Texas for a little over a year, and he has become exactly that. He recently sold his awesome Jeep to buy an enormous Dodge truck. Just the other day he was asking my parents to buy him cowboy boots. I think its funny how proud Texans are to be from Texas. Good for them for loving their state, but come on. Texas is cool, but its no California or Florida. I think the best thing that Texas has going for it is that they are right below below Oklahoma. If fact, do you know why its so windy in Oklahoma? Its because Texas sucks. haha I forget who told me that but I think its clever and kinda funny in that awkward not so funny way.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Busy week
Why hello there,
I have about 30 minutes before my next class starts, so I figured I would use it to knock out a blog. I have so much stuff going on this week its ridiculous. I'll just give the highlights, I have the normal amount of stuff to do for this class, which is no cake walk but is manageable. I have to convince my Dr Fincke to let me take 2 more hours of reading and research with her next semester, which isn't in itself a huge problem, but she is so busy with her graduate students right now that I imagine she won't be super excited about it. I need to write 2 essays for History of Science. Well, I can't complain about that because its actually a test on Wednesday. He posts all of his essay tests online a week before the actual test so you can prepare for them. This is pretty awesome actually because I can make sure that I am exactly ready for the test before I even walk in the door. No excuse to not get a 100% on that kind of test. I'm proctoring a test in the Evolution class on Tuesday. Never done that before so I'm not sure what to expect. I hope nobody tries cheating because I don't want to have to kick anyone out of the test, but I will. O yea, then we play Texas this weekend. That should be fun, but I'm only going up for the game so that I can be back Saturday and spend Sunday doing last minute GRE preparations. I should have picked a week later for the GRE, but that would have been to easy. Ha, I probably sound like I'm having a pity party, but that's not what I'm trying to do. Just have a big week and thought I would blog about it.
I have about 30 minutes before my next class starts, so I figured I would use it to knock out a blog. I have so much stuff going on this week its ridiculous. I'll just give the highlights, I have the normal amount of stuff to do for this class, which is no cake walk but is manageable. I have to convince my Dr Fincke to let me take 2 more hours of reading and research with her next semester, which isn't in itself a huge problem, but she is so busy with her graduate students right now that I imagine she won't be super excited about it. I need to write 2 essays for History of Science. Well, I can't complain about that because its actually a test on Wednesday. He posts all of his essay tests online a week before the actual test so you can prepare for them. This is pretty awesome actually because I can make sure that I am exactly ready for the test before I even walk in the door. No excuse to not get a 100% on that kind of test. I'm proctoring a test in the Evolution class on Tuesday. Never done that before so I'm not sure what to expect. I hope nobody tries cheating because I don't want to have to kick anyone out of the test, but I will. O yea, then we play Texas this weekend. That should be fun, but I'm only going up for the game so that I can be back Saturday and spend Sunday doing last minute GRE preparations. I should have picked a week later for the GRE, but that would have been to easy. Ha, I probably sound like I'm having a pity party, but that's not what I'm trying to do. Just have a big week and thought I would blog about it.
Sick
Greetings everybody,
I hate being sick. Its just not fun at all. I always happen to get sick at the worst times. So Friday I started feeling a little under the weather, but I refused to accept it. I kept doing all of my normal Friday stuff, homework during the day and being social at night. I felt bad, but not sick, so instead of meeting up with all my friends Friday night, my girlfriend and I just watched Breaking Bad all night. (BTW that show is awesome. It has convinced me that I would be the best drug dealer ever. If all those strung out people who can't think rationally can do it, I would be the best ever.)
Saturday I tried to do the normal pregame stuff with all the guys, grilling and playing volleyball. But I just didn't feel good at all. I tried to make it to the game, but was pretty sure I was going to puke by the end of the first quarter. I went home and went to bed before halftime was even over.
Sunday was the worst. I had so much stuff to do with a test this week, tons of homework, the GRE quickly approaching, and trying to find a grad school. But I couldn't pull myself out of bed. Every time I tried to get out of bed, I would make it two or three minutes before I fell back in. unfortunate.
Well I feel better today, but the stuff I wasnt able to do yesterday all needs to be done today, so I'm going to be going at full speed all day. Crap, today might stink.
I hate being sick. Its just not fun at all. I always happen to get sick at the worst times. So Friday I started feeling a little under the weather, but I refused to accept it. I kept doing all of my normal Friday stuff, homework during the day and being social at night. I felt bad, but not sick, so instead of meeting up with all my friends Friday night, my girlfriend and I just watched Breaking Bad all night. (BTW that show is awesome. It has convinced me that I would be the best drug dealer ever. If all those strung out people who can't think rationally can do it, I would be the best ever.)
Saturday I tried to do the normal pregame stuff with all the guys, grilling and playing volleyball. But I just didn't feel good at all. I tried to make it to the game, but was pretty sure I was going to puke by the end of the first quarter. I went home and went to bed before halftime was even over.
Sunday was the worst. I had so much stuff to do with a test this week, tons of homework, the GRE quickly approaching, and trying to find a grad school. But I couldn't pull myself out of bed. Every time I tried to get out of bed, I would make it two or three minutes before I fell back in. unfortunate.
Well I feel better today, but the stuff I wasnt able to do yesterday all needs to be done today, so I'm going to be going at full speed all day. Crap, today might stink.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
I won the Lottery!
Dear poor people,
Whats it like to not be as rich as me? haha I'm the king! I won the ticket lottery today, well not exactly, but the results are the same.
I ordered my OU vs Texas football tickets a few weeks ago. You have no idea where your seat will be because it is assigned randomly. However, I had heard a rumor a while back that the people who assign the seating try to put large groups in the back. I have no idea if that is true, and I wasn't even thinking about that until after I had already grouped my tickets. Last year I grouped my tickets with 4 other people, this year I grouped with 6. Well, last year we had average seats. I'm not sure exactly where they were, but they were OK at best. We sold our tickets for $500 a piece last year.
Well I found out today that our seats are... 50 yard line... 4th row! How insane is that? On StubHub, the same tickets are for sale for $1100 each!
So what I think we will do is place our tickets for sale and use the money we get for them to buy average tickets. If our tickets sell for 1000 a piece and we buy $500 tickets, we make $500 and still watch the game, only from about 20 rows higher! Its the greatest situation ever. It's understandable for everyone to be jealous.
Whats it like to not be as rich as me? haha I'm the king! I won the ticket lottery today, well not exactly, but the results are the same.
I ordered my OU vs Texas football tickets a few weeks ago. You have no idea where your seat will be because it is assigned randomly. However, I had heard a rumor a while back that the people who assign the seating try to put large groups in the back. I have no idea if that is true, and I wasn't even thinking about that until after I had already grouped my tickets. Last year I grouped my tickets with 4 other people, this year I grouped with 6. Well, last year we had average seats. I'm not sure exactly where they were, but they were OK at best. We sold our tickets for $500 a piece last year.
Well I found out today that our seats are... 50 yard line... 4th row! How insane is that? On StubHub, the same tickets are for sale for $1100 each!
So what I think we will do is place our tickets for sale and use the money we get for them to buy average tickets. If our tickets sell for 1000 a piece and we buy $500 tickets, we make $500 and still watch the game, only from about 20 rows higher! Its the greatest situation ever. It's understandable for everyone to be jealous.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Grading is difficult
Dear nerds,
So as the TA for Evolution, one of my responsibilities is to grade the assignments that the students turn it. I didn't realize that this could be difficult. How hard could it be? If the student doesn't put the correct answer, its wrong. If they do, its right. Well, turns out grades are not black and white, and not just because pencils write in gray.
Turns out you have to take into account what the student was meaning to say. This can be hard, mainly because sometimes what they say doesn't answer the question, but the attempt can be worth something. But at the same time, if you give credit to someone who has the right answer but got to it in a round about way, you get in trouble. I suppose the main thing is to grade in the style of your boss. If she would have given full credit and you only give half... trouble. If she would have given no credit because of how they got to the answer but you give half...trouble.
Ha, I guess what I'm saying is I'm not going to complain about nit-picky grading points anymore. Simply because grading is not nearly as easy to do as it is to complain about.
So as the TA for Evolution, one of my responsibilities is to grade the assignments that the students turn it. I didn't realize that this could be difficult. How hard could it be? If the student doesn't put the correct answer, its wrong. If they do, its right. Well, turns out grades are not black and white, and not just because pencils write in gray.
Turns out you have to take into account what the student was meaning to say. This can be hard, mainly because sometimes what they say doesn't answer the question, but the attempt can be worth something. But at the same time, if you give credit to someone who has the right answer but got to it in a round about way, you get in trouble. I suppose the main thing is to grade in the style of your boss. If she would have given full credit and you only give half... trouble. If she would have given no credit because of how they got to the answer but you give half...trouble.
Ha, I guess what I'm saying is I'm not going to complain about nit-picky grading points anymore. Simply because grading is not nearly as easy to do as it is to complain about.
Monday, September 26, 2011
The downfall of the world as we know it.
Dear planet earth,
I'm upset with you. Not the normal, "It so hot outside, you suck earth." kind of upset, its even worse. Wait, I'm not mad at you earth, just disappointed. How dare you? This shenanigans has gone on long enough, and i intend to end this craze right now.
Pillow Pets are neither a pillow nor a pet! These dumb fluffy things serve no function and are the downfall of the world as we know it. Lets examine this menace to society part at a time.
First part- Pillow.
When I call something a pillow, i expect a few things in return. first, I expect that it be think enough to actually lift my head off of the bed. Second, it is not a pillow if there is no pillow case. That's just disgusting. Everyone slobbers at least a little bit when they're asleep. Show me someone who says they don't, and I'll show you someone who is full of bologna. And if you can't wash the pillow case, the next night you just sleep in your own slobber. This is unsanitary and I want no part of it.
Second part- Pet.
My pet wiener dog Frank is a pet. My goldfish Dwayne is a pet. I know we set the bar pretty low with the pet rocks in the 80's, but at least a pet rock can defend your home if someone ever broke in. If you threw your pet rock at an intruder, he might leave. Throw your pillow pet at an intruder and he will probably tickle you to death before he steals your TV. Pillow pets cannot fetch, swim, lick your feet, or even pee on the carpet. Well, at least my moose pillow pet hasn't done any of those things yet. But Moosie is different, she's adorable.
I'm upset with you. Not the normal, "It so hot outside, you suck earth." kind of upset, its even worse. Wait, I'm not mad at you earth, just disappointed. How dare you? This shenanigans has gone on long enough, and i intend to end this craze right now.
Pillow Pets are neither a pillow nor a pet! These dumb fluffy things serve no function and are the downfall of the world as we know it. Lets examine this menace to society part at a time.
First part- Pillow.
When I call something a pillow, i expect a few things in return. first, I expect that it be think enough to actually lift my head off of the bed. Second, it is not a pillow if there is no pillow case. That's just disgusting. Everyone slobbers at least a little bit when they're asleep. Show me someone who says they don't, and I'll show you someone who is full of bologna. And if you can't wash the pillow case, the next night you just sleep in your own slobber. This is unsanitary and I want no part of it.
Second part- Pet.
My pet wiener dog Frank is a pet. My goldfish Dwayne is a pet. I know we set the bar pretty low with the pet rocks in the 80's, but at least a pet rock can defend your home if someone ever broke in. If you threw your pet rock at an intruder, he might leave. Throw your pillow pet at an intruder and he will probably tickle you to death before he steals your TV. Pillow pets cannot fetch, swim, lick your feet, or even pee on the carpet. Well, at least my moose pillow pet hasn't done any of those things yet. But Moosie is different, she's adorable.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Blogging is hard
Good afternoon,
I must not live a very exciting life, because I have run out of topics to blog about. I'll just have to describe my weekend in detail.
Kristine's mom and step-dad came into town this weekend. It was pretty nice to see those guys. They took us out to eat three times in the two days they were here. I like going out to eat, but after 3 huge meals, I'm pretty excited to eat cereal for dinner tonight.
Her step-dad is a super republican, so I always find it entertaining to make little remarks that he doesn't agree with. The best part is he used to always try to talk about these things (to teach me the error of my ways) but he didn't at all this weekend. For example, after the football game yesterday, we were walking back to their car and saw the new Islamic Center. He's one of those super conservatives that thinks if you're not a white, middle class christian, you are a bad person. So I commented on how nice the new center is looking and how excited I am to go inside when the construction is finished. Ha, the look of disgust in his eyes at this comment make me snicker just a little bit.
In other news, the game was ugly. I hear that we are going to drop in the polls. I don't care if we're number two, I just don't want Boise State to even think that they are comparable to us. I just dislike Boise. Play a good team once in a while if you want my respect. Chumps.
I must not live a very exciting life, because I have run out of topics to blog about. I'll just have to describe my weekend in detail.
Kristine's mom and step-dad came into town this weekend. It was pretty nice to see those guys. They took us out to eat three times in the two days they were here. I like going out to eat, but after 3 huge meals, I'm pretty excited to eat cereal for dinner tonight.
Her step-dad is a super republican, so I always find it entertaining to make little remarks that he doesn't agree with. The best part is he used to always try to talk about these things (to teach me the error of my ways) but he didn't at all this weekend. For example, after the football game yesterday, we were walking back to their car and saw the new Islamic Center. He's one of those super conservatives that thinks if you're not a white, middle class christian, you are a bad person. So I commented on how nice the new center is looking and how excited I am to go inside when the construction is finished. Ha, the look of disgust in his eyes at this comment make me snicker just a little bit.
In other news, the game was ugly. I hear that we are going to drop in the polls. I don't care if we're number two, I just don't want Boise State to even think that they are comparable to us. I just dislike Boise. Play a good team once in a while if you want my respect. Chumps.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Debate
Hi there,
(so I think I've just about run out of ways to say hello.)
I just finished a debate in my Capstone class. It was over a bill that is going before congress soon about the use of antibiotics as growth enhancer in meat animals. My group was on the side in favor of the legislation. The other side was supposed to use scientific reasoning to show that Congress should not pass this law. Well, clearly because there is so much information out there concerning the evolution of bacteria in response to antibiotic resistance, it was clear that the Pro side was in the best shape.
The Con side attempted to counter our arguments about animal rights and the clear evolutionary problems associated with the practice by pointing out how the specific wording of the bill was the main, if not only reason why the bill should fail. This made me realize this is probably the only way a group fighting against science can make a point. I don't know for sure, but I imagine that this type of argument is one of the main types used to fight off environmental regulation in our government. How sad.
If there is a clear evolutionary problem, supported by clear evolutionarily evidence, that can be solved quickly through some easily enforceable laws, why not go for it? The same is true about climate change. I hate that we see the problem, but we cannot solve it because of misinformation and silly, insignificant problems with regulatory practices.
(so I think I've just about run out of ways to say hello.)
I just finished a debate in my Capstone class. It was over a bill that is going before congress soon about the use of antibiotics as growth enhancer in meat animals. My group was on the side in favor of the legislation. The other side was supposed to use scientific reasoning to show that Congress should not pass this law. Well, clearly because there is so much information out there concerning the evolution of bacteria in response to antibiotic resistance, it was clear that the Pro side was in the best shape.
The Con side attempted to counter our arguments about animal rights and the clear evolutionary problems associated with the practice by pointing out how the specific wording of the bill was the main, if not only reason why the bill should fail. This made me realize this is probably the only way a group fighting against science can make a point. I don't know for sure, but I imagine that this type of argument is one of the main types used to fight off environmental regulation in our government. How sad.
If there is a clear evolutionary problem, supported by clear evolutionarily evidence, that can be solved quickly through some easily enforceable laws, why not go for it? The same is true about climate change. I hate that we see the problem, but we cannot solve it because of misinformation and silly, insignificant problems with regulatory practices.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
The history of my Fish
howdy y'all
In attempt to better inform the masses about legend that is my life, I suppose I should tell the world about my history with fish. I've always been a fan of fish tanks and the like, so I have owned a few in my day. I've learned a few important things about fish tanks in that time, and these are lessons I feel my fans should learn.
Lesson 1- Keep your tank clean.
I had a beta when I was in junior high. His name was Steven and he was a pretty good fish. He lived in a pretty small bowl with no filter, so his tank got dirty nearly every week. My mother is a very cleanly lady, so this dirty tank did not make her as happy as it did me. One day she told me that I needed to clean it by the end of the day or she was going to give the fish to the neighbors. Thinking she was bluffing, I called shenanigans and didn't clean the bowl. Well, turns out it was no bluff. Steven went to live with a new family.
Lesson 2- Fish tanks are not water dynamite proof.
I was a junior in high school when I set up a 10 gallon tank in my room (my room that had just been re-carpeted) Well it was just after July 4th, so my friends and I had a few extra water dynamite. My friends Jose and Justin were at my house playing x-box when we decided that we should use the rest of the water dynamite. Jose told me that he had a tank at home and dropped water dynamite into it all the time and it looked really cool, but didnt hurt the fish at all. In a moment of complete stupidity, I believed this and decided my tank would be a perfect place to try it out. Well, as it turns out, this was simply not true. The tank burst and spilled the smelly water all over the floor. All the fish were killed and my room was a mess. I was in so much trouble. I haven't trusted Jose since.
Lesson 3- PetsMart is full of crap.
I once bought my girlfriend a goldfish fish from Walmart. His name was Buzz and he was awesome. He lived in a one gallon bowl for nearly two years. When he moved to the Big Ocean in the Sky, we decided that we would honor his memory with a funeral. It was a suit and tie affair with pamphlets and nearly 20 mourners in attendance.
Well a few weeks later we bought a 10 gallon tank with all the bells and whistles. We, under direction of the experts at PetsMart, only put one large goldfish in the tank. Her name was Calypso. She only lasted about a week. Because this was such an untimely death, we returned the fish's corpse to PetsMart and demanded a refund. They gave us 5 mollies. Kristine refused to name them because she said she couldn't handle becoming attached to them if they were just going to leave her. Even with all the chemicals and antibiotics PetsMart sold us to help them survive, they all died within two weeks.
Well, after about a year, Kristine decided to try her luck with fish again. This time, we each bought a single goldfish from Walmart. Hers, a orange and white goldfish with brown spots, is named Ginger. Mine, being solid black and looking angry, is named Dwayne (after professional wrestler and actor Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson.) Dwayne and Ginger have been alive for nearly 2 months now. So clearly, PetsMart is full of evil people who want you to fall in love with an aquatic friend only to mourn their passing within a week. I'll never buy a fish from PetsMart again.
In attempt to better inform the masses about legend that is my life, I suppose I should tell the world about my history with fish. I've always been a fan of fish tanks and the like, so I have owned a few in my day. I've learned a few important things about fish tanks in that time, and these are lessons I feel my fans should learn.
Lesson 1- Keep your tank clean.
I had a beta when I was in junior high. His name was Steven and he was a pretty good fish. He lived in a pretty small bowl with no filter, so his tank got dirty nearly every week. My mother is a very cleanly lady, so this dirty tank did not make her as happy as it did me. One day she told me that I needed to clean it by the end of the day or she was going to give the fish to the neighbors. Thinking she was bluffing, I called shenanigans and didn't clean the bowl. Well, turns out it was no bluff. Steven went to live with a new family.
Lesson 2- Fish tanks are not water dynamite proof.
I was a junior in high school when I set up a 10 gallon tank in my room (my room that had just been re-carpeted) Well it was just after July 4th, so my friends and I had a few extra water dynamite. My friends Jose and Justin were at my house playing x-box when we decided that we should use the rest of the water dynamite. Jose told me that he had a tank at home and dropped water dynamite into it all the time and it looked really cool, but didnt hurt the fish at all. In a moment of complete stupidity, I believed this and decided my tank would be a perfect place to try it out. Well, as it turns out, this was simply not true. The tank burst and spilled the smelly water all over the floor. All the fish were killed and my room was a mess. I was in so much trouble. I haven't trusted Jose since.
Lesson 3- PetsMart is full of crap.
I once bought my girlfriend a goldfish fish from Walmart. His name was Buzz and he was awesome. He lived in a one gallon bowl for nearly two years. When he moved to the Big Ocean in the Sky, we decided that we would honor his memory with a funeral. It was a suit and tie affair with pamphlets and nearly 20 mourners in attendance.
Well a few weeks later we bought a 10 gallon tank with all the bells and whistles. We, under direction of the experts at PetsMart, only put one large goldfish in the tank. Her name was Calypso. She only lasted about a week. Because this was such an untimely death, we returned the fish's corpse to PetsMart and demanded a refund. They gave us 5 mollies. Kristine refused to name them because she said she couldn't handle becoming attached to them if they were just going to leave her. Even with all the chemicals and antibiotics PetsMart sold us to help them survive, they all died within two weeks.
Well, after about a year, Kristine decided to try her luck with fish again. This time, we each bought a single goldfish from Walmart. Hers, a orange and white goldfish with brown spots, is named Ginger. Mine, being solid black and looking angry, is named Dwayne (after professional wrestler and actor Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson.) Dwayne and Ginger have been alive for nearly 2 months now. So clearly, PetsMart is full of evil people who want you to fall in love with an aquatic friend only to mourn their passing within a week. I'll never buy a fish from PetsMart again.
Monday, September 19, 2011
World Music
Why hello there neighbor,
I'm taking a class called World Music. It is one of the classes offered to undergraduate students to fill the "non-western civics" requirement of Zoology students. In all honesty, it is known as the easiest class at our beloved university, so it was an easy choice for me.
The class talks about the different styles and textures of music from around the world. It has been relatively interesting so far, but not compared to any science course I have ever taken. We were just tested over Native American music. Even though I speak a little bit of Cherokee, I didn't realize the music worked. Did you know that a large portion (at least of the music I was exposed to for this class) is untranslatable? It is just a string of nifty sounds thrown together.
The best part of the class is the instructor, Dr. Goza. He is a formal orchestral conductor, but I would say he prides himself mainly on his interpretations of the world. He sees the world in a way 180 degrees different from the way the average Joe sees the world. He has a daily rant about the strangest things. Some of these rants include:
We shouldn't have programs to help veterans re-assimilate to society, but instead sing them songs to fight off the evil spirts.
Humanity evolved its ability to create society from the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms.
If the economy is going down the drain, we should cut science funding and replace it with more art and music funding. That way we spark creativity, which is what will lead us to a new financial plan.
Even though I think he might be crazy, I like that he believes in himself and is confident in who he is as a person. Well done sir.
I'm taking a class called World Music. It is one of the classes offered to undergraduate students to fill the "non-western civics" requirement of Zoology students. In all honesty, it is known as the easiest class at our beloved university, so it was an easy choice for me.
The class talks about the different styles and textures of music from around the world. It has been relatively interesting so far, but not compared to any science course I have ever taken. We were just tested over Native American music. Even though I speak a little bit of Cherokee, I didn't realize the music worked. Did you know that a large portion (at least of the music I was exposed to for this class) is untranslatable? It is just a string of nifty sounds thrown together.
The best part of the class is the instructor, Dr. Goza. He is a formal orchestral conductor, but I would say he prides himself mainly on his interpretations of the world. He sees the world in a way 180 degrees different from the way the average Joe sees the world. He has a daily rant about the strangest things. Some of these rants include:
We shouldn't have programs to help veterans re-assimilate to society, but instead sing them songs to fight off the evil spirts.
Humanity evolved its ability to create society from the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms.
If the economy is going down the drain, we should cut science funding and replace it with more art and music funding. That way we spark creativity, which is what will lead us to a new financial plan.
Even though I think he might be crazy, I like that he believes in himself and is confident in who he is as a person. Well done sir.
Grad school
Hey there nerds,
I, after several weeks of nervous procrastination, sent out an email to a professor from the University of Kansas about a master's program. I wrote an email to this guy around a month ago, but wanted to wait a while to send it out. I was hoping to get advice from some of the grad students I know here about how to word it and what to say. I had pretty much everyone I know that was willing to read this thing email proof read it.
I used the CV I created for this class, but I'm not very confident in it. Not that the CV was bad or that my experience isn't good, just that I got such a low score on the CV when I turned it in, but didn't know what I needed to change to improve it. I had a friend go over it with me and she had a few pieces of advice, but I still feel that the grader must have seen something else wrong with it that went unseen to us. I'm worried that the Kansas professor will find it too.
Gosh, I tell myself that I'm such a big and tough guy, and I usually believe it. But I've been so nervous all weekend I feel like a 8th grader at the dance. I'll be sure to post if I hear anything back from Kansas.
I, after several weeks of nervous procrastination, sent out an email to a professor from the University of Kansas about a master's program. I wrote an email to this guy around a month ago, but wanted to wait a while to send it out. I was hoping to get advice from some of the grad students I know here about how to word it and what to say. I had pretty much everyone I know that was willing to read this thing email proof read it.
I used the CV I created for this class, but I'm not very confident in it. Not that the CV was bad or that my experience isn't good, just that I got such a low score on the CV when I turned it in, but didn't know what I needed to change to improve it. I had a friend go over it with me and she had a few pieces of advice, but I still feel that the grader must have seen something else wrong with it that went unseen to us. I'm worried that the Kansas professor will find it too.
Gosh, I tell myself that I'm such a big and tough guy, and I usually believe it. But I've been so nervous all weekend I feel like a 8th grader at the dance. I'll be sure to post if I hear anything back from Kansas.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
How about those Sooners!
BOOMER!
Wow! What a game! The OU-FSU game was probably the most exciting OU football game that I have ever watched. The opening drive looked so good. We just pounded the ball, and if I'm not mistaken, Landry was 5/5 passing. At that point, I thought it was going to be a blowout.
But the rest of the first three quarters were much more stressful. The interception thrown into double man coverage was just ugly, and the backup quarterback for FSU had a cannon for an arm. When they scored on the 3rd and ~30, I really started to worry. But my boy pulled it together! Landry just commanded the offense after the start of the 4th quarter.
Funny story, right when FSU scored their touchdown, my girlfriend left the room to take a phone call. While she was gone, OU had that great drive down the field and scored. After that, when Kristine came out of the bedroom to rejoin our watch party, we said that she was bad luck and said she had to finish watching the game from my room. Of course we were kidding, but if she wouldn't have told us to get lost, I probably wouldn't have told her to come back to the living room. I really like winning.
Side note, I was glad to see the FSU player who was carted off of the field was OK. When he was knocked out and his hands were stuck in that strange position, I thought he might be seriously hurt. I'm all for hard-hitting football, but I don't want to see anyone actually hurt that badly.
Wow! What a game! The OU-FSU game was probably the most exciting OU football game that I have ever watched. The opening drive looked so good. We just pounded the ball, and if I'm not mistaken, Landry was 5/5 passing. At that point, I thought it was going to be a blowout.
But the rest of the first three quarters were much more stressful. The interception thrown into double man coverage was just ugly, and the backup quarterback for FSU had a cannon for an arm. When they scored on the 3rd and ~30, I really started to worry. But my boy pulled it together! Landry just commanded the offense after the start of the 4th quarter.
Funny story, right when FSU scored their touchdown, my girlfriend left the room to take a phone call. While she was gone, OU had that great drive down the field and scored. After that, when Kristine came out of the bedroom to rejoin our watch party, we said that she was bad luck and said she had to finish watching the game from my room. Of course we were kidding, but if she wouldn't have told us to get lost, I probably wouldn't have told her to come back to the living room. I really like winning.
Side note, I was glad to see the FSU player who was carted off of the field was OK. When he was knocked out and his hands were stuck in that strange position, I thought he might be seriously hurt. I'm all for hard-hitting football, but I don't want to see anyone actually hurt that badly.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
9-13-11
He there fiction fans,
The following story is absolutly not true. I'm making it up as I go.
So just the other day, I was with some friends at the mall. I hate going shopping, but I needed jeans so I forced my friends to tag along and keep me company. You will never guess who I saw there, Justin Beeber. He I introduced myself and invited him to go to Orange Julies with us. While drinking delicious smoothies, the Beebs started talking about dancing. I took this as a personal challenge. The two of us climbed on the tables in the food court and had a good old fashion dance battle. He was good, but I was better. The whole mall was cheering and dancing along, win suddenly Justin fell off of the table and busted his head open. Almost instinctively, I sprang into action. I used a needle and thread to sew his head up and some native american herbs I had gathered to wake him from his coma. He was lucky I was there of he might have died. He was so grateful that he asked me to star in his next music video. Of course I said no, mainly because that would be lame.
The following story is absolutly not true. I'm making it up as I go.
So just the other day, I was with some friends at the mall. I hate going shopping, but I needed jeans so I forced my friends to tag along and keep me company. You will never guess who I saw there, Justin Beeber. He I introduced myself and invited him to go to Orange Julies with us. While drinking delicious smoothies, the Beebs started talking about dancing. I took this as a personal challenge. The two of us climbed on the tables in the food court and had a good old fashion dance battle. He was good, but I was better. The whole mall was cheering and dancing along, win suddenly Justin fell off of the table and busted his head open. Almost instinctively, I sprang into action. I used a needle and thread to sew his head up and some native american herbs I had gathered to wake him from his coma. He was lucky I was there of he might have died. He was so grateful that he asked me to star in his next music video. Of course I said no, mainly because that would be lame.
Monday, September 12, 2011
9-12-11
Hello America,
I'm about to make a statement that, if taken WAY out of context, could be considered offensive. I surly have no intention of it being interpreted that way, but you never know.
It's darn good to be an American on September, 11. We all know how horrible and tragic that day 10 years ago was, but our response to the day reminds me why I'm proud to be an American. On the ten year anniversary of the day, we weren't scared. Our spirits weren't crushed. We didn't cry for the loss of the American way of life.
We responded to the anniversary by reminding ourselves of how we felt that day and showing that we can move on without forgetting. The World Trade Center Memorial looked incredible and to see the new tower going up just made me proud. They can hurt us, but they can never stop us. Go America!
Hey there football fans
Hey there football fans,
What a great opening Sunday of football! I'm not a huge fan of the turn out of most of the games, but it was still just so nice to be watching the NFL again. The Cowboys lost to the Jets, in true Romo choke fashion. This was probably the highlight of the week for me. Not that I dislike the Cowboys, or love the Jets, it was just a great way to get vengeance against my room mates.
You see, I am a Steeler fan, and they played their rivals, the Ravens. The Steelers had 7 turnovers, leading to a Ravens spanking. I was not very happy about this. To make it worse, my room mates hammered me with smack talk for the entire game. My only reply was, "Yeah, but the Cowboys are worse and your QB stinks worse than Pigpen. He will choke harder than Bush on Pretzels. America's Team my butt, you're a terrorist if you don't cheer for New York on the 10 year anniversary of 9-11." (I cleaned up the language a bit)
Thankfully, Romo came through for me and blew the game, or at least his team did and I get to blame it on Romo simply because he exists. Unfortunately, it looks like I will lose in Fantasy Football this week, I need Brandon Marshall to score less than 8 points on Monday, which doesn't seem likely to happen. Shucks.
What a great opening Sunday of football! I'm not a huge fan of the turn out of most of the games, but it was still just so nice to be watching the NFL again. The Cowboys lost to the Jets, in true Romo choke fashion. This was probably the highlight of the week for me. Not that I dislike the Cowboys, or love the Jets, it was just a great way to get vengeance against my room mates.
You see, I am a Steeler fan, and they played their rivals, the Ravens. The Steelers had 7 turnovers, leading to a Ravens spanking. I was not very happy about this. To make it worse, my room mates hammered me with smack talk for the entire game. My only reply was, "Yeah, but the Cowboys are worse and your QB stinks worse than Pigpen. He will choke harder than Bush on Pretzels. America's Team my butt, you're a terrorist if you don't cheer for New York on the 10 year anniversary of 9-11." (I cleaned up the language a bit)
Thankfully, Romo came through for me and blew the game, or at least his team did and I get to blame it on Romo simply because he exists. Unfortunately, it looks like I will lose in Fantasy Football this week, I need Brandon Marshall to score less than 8 points on Monday, which doesn't seem likely to happen. Shucks.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
What I saw on TV
Happy weekend team,
I was just watching this documentary on ESPN that nearly made me cry. It was the story of a boxer named Paco. He was a fairly accomplished boxer in the Chicago area, having a record of 14 and 2. His wife, who had recently given birth, was encouraging him to give up boxing because of the health risks. He refused because he finally had a shot at a title match. When the match came around, he was beaten badly. So badly that he fell into a coma and died the next day.
His wife then decided to donate his organs. Five different people received Paco's organs. A few months after their surgeries were completed, Paco's wife wrote to each of the people to arrange a meeting. On the one year anniversary of his death, all the recipients and Paco's wife meet in Chicago. It was a strange sight; sad for Paco, but joyous because his death saved 5 strangers lives.
I hope when I die they can help people with my organs. It almost seems like a way to cheat death, trading one life for five others. Its a kind of victory through defeat. Good for Paco
I was just watching this documentary on ESPN that nearly made me cry. It was the story of a boxer named Paco. He was a fairly accomplished boxer in the Chicago area, having a record of 14 and 2. His wife, who had recently given birth, was encouraging him to give up boxing because of the health risks. He refused because he finally had a shot at a title match. When the match came around, he was beaten badly. So badly that he fell into a coma and died the next day.
His wife then decided to donate his organs. Five different people received Paco's organs. A few months after their surgeries were completed, Paco's wife wrote to each of the people to arrange a meeting. On the one year anniversary of his death, all the recipients and Paco's wife meet in Chicago. It was a strange sight; sad for Paco, but joyous because his death saved 5 strangers lives.
I hope when I die they can help people with my organs. It almost seems like a way to cheat death, trading one life for five others. Its a kind of victory through defeat. Good for Paco
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
9-6-11
Howdy Y'all,
Well, the long weekend is over. It was fun while it lasted, but if it lasted much longer I would probably not enjoy it as much. Labor Day is a nifty holiday. I understand it is to support and honor the work force and the unions who fought for the workers' rights, but its still so abstract to me. Maybe that's because I have never been a real member of the work force, or maybe its because in my mind Labor Day is synonymous not wearing white pants. Either way, I wish the holiday was more important to me, but its not. Does that make me a bad liberal? Maybe, but at least I'm not phony.
The evolution class took their first quiz today. Only one of the questions I wrote made it on to the quiz, but it was still a proud moment for me. Only 59 percent of the class answered it correctly. I'm not sure if that makes me proud for creating a hard question, or feel guilty because I made the question too hard. I'll probably make the next batch of questions slightly easier to see what my emotional response is to a higher correct response rate. After that I'll know for sure what kind of questions make me feel the best, and will make all of them like that in the future. (if any professors of mine are reading this... I'm SURE it will be the very easy questions. Lets aim for that on my next tests.)
Well, the long weekend is over. It was fun while it lasted, but if it lasted much longer I would probably not enjoy it as much. Labor Day is a nifty holiday. I understand it is to support and honor the work force and the unions who fought for the workers' rights, but its still so abstract to me. Maybe that's because I have never been a real member of the work force, or maybe its because in my mind Labor Day is synonymous not wearing white pants. Either way, I wish the holiday was more important to me, but its not. Does that make me a bad liberal? Maybe, but at least I'm not phony.
The evolution class took their first quiz today. Only one of the questions I wrote made it on to the quiz, but it was still a proud moment for me. Only 59 percent of the class answered it correctly. I'm not sure if that makes me proud for creating a hard question, or feel guilty because I made the question too hard. I'll probably make the next batch of questions slightly easier to see what my emotional response is to a higher correct response rate. After that I'll know for sure what kind of questions make me feel the best, and will make all of them like that in the future. (if any professors of mine are reading this... I'm SURE it will be the very easy questions. Lets aim for that on my next tests.)
Monday, September 5, 2011
9-5-11
Good afternoon,
Today has just been one of those days. Not like "those" days referring to a bad day, if fact just the opposite. I mean today has been one of THOSE days, where while nothing is really going right, everything just seems to be funnier than normal. Today started out like any other Monday, with a lab meeting. We were a bit confused as to be having a lab meeting on Labor Day, but I'm not the boss so my opinions are irrelevant on this kind of thing. Well, as it turns out, we didn't have a lab meeting. Woke up and went to school at 9, but no meeting. Communication breakdown, but the silver lining was that I went to the union and had a delicious Phili Cheese Steak for breakfast. Roy Halladay's breakfast of champions.
Then I was off to play some Frisbee golf. I played probably the greatest round of Frolf of my young life, but that wasn't the good part. The THOSE day events came from a 10 year old kid who joined our group. He was wearing a Kool-aid shirt, so naturally, his nickname became "OHHH YEAH!" Well OHHH told our group that it was weird for my room mate and I to be playing together. "What makes you say that DJ Yeah?" he responds, "Well, you (pointing at me) are like, what... 30? and you (my elder room mate) are like 17. How'd yall become room mates?" I laughed so hard I could have died on the spot happy. By the time I was finished laughing, Captain Tropical Punch had left without anyone seeing where he went. We decided that he must be a ghost who haunts the Frisbee Golf field and only materializes to make my life full of immature laughter.
Today has just been one of those days. Not like "those" days referring to a bad day, if fact just the opposite. I mean today has been one of THOSE days, where while nothing is really going right, everything just seems to be funnier than normal. Today started out like any other Monday, with a lab meeting. We were a bit confused as to be having a lab meeting on Labor Day, but I'm not the boss so my opinions are irrelevant on this kind of thing. Well, as it turns out, we didn't have a lab meeting. Woke up and went to school at 9, but no meeting. Communication breakdown, but the silver lining was that I went to the union and had a delicious Phili Cheese Steak for breakfast. Roy Halladay's breakfast of champions.
Then I was off to play some Frisbee golf. I played probably the greatest round of Frolf of my young life, but that wasn't the good part. The THOSE day events came from a 10 year old kid who joined our group. He was wearing a Kool-aid shirt, so naturally, his nickname became "OHHH YEAH!" Well OHHH told our group that it was weird for my room mate and I to be playing together. "What makes you say that DJ Yeah?" he responds, "Well, you (pointing at me) are like, what... 30? and you (my elder room mate) are like 17. How'd yall become room mates?" I laughed so hard I could have died on the spot happy. By the time I was finished laughing, Captain Tropical Punch had left without anyone seeing where he went. We decided that he must be a ghost who haunts the Frisbee Golf field and only materializes to make my life full of immature laughter.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
9-4-11
Howdy,
So how awesome was the football game? I invited a few friends over to my girlfriend's house to tailgate before hand. We had steak, bratwurst and all that kind of stuff on the grill. I always get a kick out of grilling. Mainly because it is one of the only styles of cooking that I'm no novice to. Also, standing behind a grill makes me feel like a big boy.
We all walked to the game about an hour before kickoff. The lead up to the game is almost as much fun as the game itself. Watching all the freshmen is the best part. Freshmen are so excited, and usually pretty drunk, so I just get a kick out of them. I like to think that I wasn't that lame at that age, but I'm sure I was equally, if not more, ridiculous.
The game was great. I was so excited for the season to start that i was described as "an 8 year old on Christmas eve," which was a reasonable description. I hope the excitement stays all season, which means I really hope we keep winning. Florida State in just 2 weeks. Can't wait!!
So how awesome was the football game? I invited a few friends over to my girlfriend's house to tailgate before hand. We had steak, bratwurst and all that kind of stuff on the grill. I always get a kick out of grilling. Mainly because it is one of the only styles of cooking that I'm no novice to. Also, standing behind a grill makes me feel like a big boy.
We all walked to the game about an hour before kickoff. The lead up to the game is almost as much fun as the game itself. Watching all the freshmen is the best part. Freshmen are so excited, and usually pretty drunk, so I just get a kick out of them. I like to think that I wasn't that lame at that age, but I'm sure I was equally, if not more, ridiculous.
The game was great. I was so excited for the season to start that i was described as "an 8 year old on Christmas eve," which was a reasonable description. I hope the excitement stays all season, which means I really hope we keep winning. Florida State in just 2 weeks. Can't wait!!
Friday, September 2, 2011
9-2-11
Greetings Nerds,
So I'm currently in Springfield, Missouri. My girlfriend, Kristine, is from Springfield, so we came up to see her parents. Her dad turned 65 yesterday. And if that wasn't enough to constitute a trip, today was his last day of work. He is retiring from the city water treatment plant after 14 years.
The retirement party was this afternoon at the water treatment plant. Surprisingly, the place didn't smell bad at all. The plant (under his leadership) is now the most progressive and greenest treatment plant in all of Missouri. It was honored in 2010 for being the best treatment plant in the state, making Kristine's dad a pretty popular man in the Missouri engineering world.
Before the tour kicked off, one of the workers gave me a tour. Turns out water treatment is much more sophisticated than one would assume. Ozone generators, Nitrogen conversion tanks, and gravitational belt settlers (or something that sounded something like that) to name a few of the nifty machines. More on the tour tomorrow. See you at the game!
So I'm currently in Springfield, Missouri. My girlfriend, Kristine, is from Springfield, so we came up to see her parents. Her dad turned 65 yesterday. And if that wasn't enough to constitute a trip, today was his last day of work. He is retiring from the city water treatment plant after 14 years.
The retirement party was this afternoon at the water treatment plant. Surprisingly, the place didn't smell bad at all. The plant (under his leadership) is now the most progressive and greenest treatment plant in all of Missouri. It was honored in 2010 for being the best treatment plant in the state, making Kristine's dad a pretty popular man in the Missouri engineering world.
Before the tour kicked off, one of the workers gave me a tour. Turns out water treatment is much more sophisticated than one would assume. Ozone generators, Nitrogen conversion tanks, and gravitational belt settlers (or something that sounded something like that) to name a few of the nifty machines. More on the tour tomorrow. See you at the game!
Monday, August 29, 2011
8-29-11
Good afternoon team,
Gosh, I am having some real troubles selecting a Journal to submit my paper. As an undergraduate, I feel that most middle-of-the-pack papers will probably not take me seriously. I understand that, so it doesn't bother me, I just wish I knew how to find journals that will be willing to hear what I have to say. The only journal I have found that encourages undergraduates to submit is the THURJ. I know that THURJ is a reasonable place to submit, but I had higher hopes than that when I formulated this experiment.
I have tried search engines on the internet and reading journals' web pages but haven't found one suitable yet. I finally decided that I should just ask my mentor, Ola Fincke, what she thinks on the matter. I sent her an email this morning and shes is usually really quick to reply, so I'm sure I'll have a better idea by class tomorrow. If not, I'll just bring in the THURJ information.
Gosh, I am having some real troubles selecting a Journal to submit my paper. As an undergraduate, I feel that most middle-of-the-pack papers will probably not take me seriously. I understand that, so it doesn't bother me, I just wish I knew how to find journals that will be willing to hear what I have to say. The only journal I have found that encourages undergraduates to submit is the THURJ. I know that THURJ is a reasonable place to submit, but I had higher hopes than that when I formulated this experiment.
I have tried search engines on the internet and reading journals' web pages but haven't found one suitable yet. I finally decided that I should just ask my mentor, Ola Fincke, what she thinks on the matter. I sent her an email this morning and shes is usually really quick to reply, so I'm sure I'll have a better idea by class tomorrow. If not, I'll just bring in the THURJ information.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
8-28-11
Why hello there,
I figure now is as good of time as any to describe the events leading to my involvement in this class. I was working on my Honors Project under Dr Fincke. She has been working with polymorphism in damselflies for the past several years at the University of Michigan Biological Station. I had Dr Fincke as my Evolution TA as a sophomore. One day she said she was looking for a field assistant, and the next day I was in her office. I had never been to a Bio-station before, but it sounded like the kind of place I just had to check out.
The summer at UMBS was one of the most entertaining summers of my life. Working during the day, swimming in the afternoon and singing karaoke every night just seemed like an awesome way to live ones life.
At the end of the summer, Dr Fincke suggested that I spend the following summer working on my Honors Project with her help. Unfortunately, this meant I was to be on Sugar Island instead of at UMBS, but it was too good of an opportunity to pass up on.
After a few months of planning, we came up with a pretty nifty experiment. A short time later I was on Sugar Island doing my first independent project.
I'll get into the experiment itself tomorrow.
I figure now is as good of time as any to describe the events leading to my involvement in this class. I was working on my Honors Project under Dr Fincke. She has been working with polymorphism in damselflies for the past several years at the University of Michigan Biological Station. I had Dr Fincke as my Evolution TA as a sophomore. One day she said she was looking for a field assistant, and the next day I was in her office. I had never been to a Bio-station before, but it sounded like the kind of place I just had to check out.
The summer at UMBS was one of the most entertaining summers of my life. Working during the day, swimming in the afternoon and singing karaoke every night just seemed like an awesome way to live ones life.
At the end of the summer, Dr Fincke suggested that I spend the following summer working on my Honors Project with her help. Unfortunately, this meant I was to be on Sugar Island instead of at UMBS, but it was too good of an opportunity to pass up on.
After a few months of planning, we came up with a pretty nifty experiment. A short time later I was on Sugar Island doing my first independent project.
I'll get into the experiment itself tomorrow.
Friday, August 26, 2011
8-26-11
Howdy there,
I created my first quiz today. I'm one of the undergraduate TAs for ZOO 3013, and part of the responsibility of the job is to create the in class quizzes. There are only three questions per quiz, but it took me nearly two hours to finalize the questions! I never knew how much work creating a few multiple choice questions could be.
The hardest part was coming up with the wrong answers. Trying to think of something that someone who has not done the reading might assume was correct, while still insuring that it was wrong is more difficult that one might think. I feel like writing questions is a good way to study the material. In fact, I might just try that next time I'm studying for an exam.
After I finish this blog, I intend to start working on my CV. I haven't updated my CV in 2 years, so I'm assuming it will be difficult. Mainly because I have done most of my CV worthy things in that time. My next blog will probably focus on how I climbed this CV mountain.
I created my first quiz today. I'm one of the undergraduate TAs for ZOO 3013, and part of the responsibility of the job is to create the in class quizzes. There are only three questions per quiz, but it took me nearly two hours to finalize the questions! I never knew how much work creating a few multiple choice questions could be.
The hardest part was coming up with the wrong answers. Trying to think of something that someone who has not done the reading might assume was correct, while still insuring that it was wrong is more difficult that one might think. I feel like writing questions is a good way to study the material. In fact, I might just try that next time I'm studying for an exam.
After I finish this blog, I intend to start working on my CV. I haven't updated my CV in 2 years, so I'm assuming it will be difficult. Mainly because I have done most of my CV worthy things in that time. My next blog will probably focus on how I climbed this CV mountain.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
8-24-11
Greetings fellow Bio-nerds!
This is my first ever attempt at Blogging, in fact, this is my first experience with Blogs ever. I've never written, or knowingly read, a Blog in my life. The reason I say this is to inform you that I'm unaware of the proper style, jargon, and format, so bear with me if I come across as a Blogging rookie. Heck, I'm not even sure if I should capitalize Blog.
Well, the first day of school was Monday. I was actually really excited for school to start this year (I must be a nerd.) I felt this way mainly because I missed Norman; more specifically, I missed my day-to-day routine.
I spent the summer on Sugar Island, Michigan at the Chase Osborn Nature Preserve. This seemingly random summer destination was selected because the University of Michigan Biological Station has a satellite station on the Nature Preserve. I was there to work on my Honors Project, but more on that in the future.
I suppose I should say a little about myself, seeing as how this is my first Blog ever. (That what you're supposed to do, right?) I'm a Senior Zoology major originating out of Carlsbad, New Mexico. I'm a huge football fan, almost to the point of a problem. College, NFL, Fantasy; you name it, I like it. I feel that my football addiction was a major factor in wanting school to start. School leads to football, therefore school is good.
This is my first ever attempt at Blogging, in fact, this is my first experience with Blogs ever. I've never written, or knowingly read, a Blog in my life. The reason I say this is to inform you that I'm unaware of the proper style, jargon, and format, so bear with me if I come across as a Blogging rookie. Heck, I'm not even sure if I should capitalize Blog.
Well, the first day of school was Monday. I was actually really excited for school to start this year (I must be a nerd.) I felt this way mainly because I missed Norman; more specifically, I missed my day-to-day routine.
I spent the summer on Sugar Island, Michigan at the Chase Osborn Nature Preserve. This seemingly random summer destination was selected because the University of Michigan Biological Station has a satellite station on the Nature Preserve. I was there to work on my Honors Project, but more on that in the future.
I suppose I should say a little about myself, seeing as how this is my first Blog ever. (That what you're supposed to do, right?) I'm a Senior Zoology major originating out of Carlsbad, New Mexico. I'm a huge football fan, almost to the point of a problem. College, NFL, Fantasy; you name it, I like it. I feel that my football addiction was a major factor in wanting school to start. School leads to football, therefore school is good.
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