| Washout |
[Feb. 12th, 2006|07:46 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | allie, emi | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | conflicted | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Death Cab for Cutie - Soul Meets Body | ] |
Well, Allie called today to say that her Mock Trial team won, which means they're going to Florida for some sort of championship. It also means that she won't be able to come visit me in March, which is a major dissapointment. On the other hand, this does mean that I won't have to fight with Emi any more about Allie coming down. So I guess it's a wash. |
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| FUCK |
[Dec. 9th, 2005|03:38 pm] |
The Volvo is in the hospital now. Everything was going great. We made the 300 mile drive up from Santa Barbara last night with no incident, and I got to Fry's and back without any problems this morning. So this afternoon I set out to see Allie at Stanford, stopped to purchase some fuel, and then hit the freeway. Less than a mile onto 85, however, and the car died. In a serious way. No amount of coaxing could get the engine to start again.
I was able to get a free towing by leveraging my expired AAA membership, and Holly picked me up and drove me back to Saratoga. I tried to figure out a way to get to Stanford anyways, and even considered asking the tow truck driver to take me there. I feel really bad, cause I promised I'd make it up and then wasn't able to. Dammit.
Now I'm faced with the choice of paying thousands of dollars to fix a car that is almost definately going to find new and exciting ways to break even after being fixed, or paying even more money to buy a whole new fucking car. Considering that I've got a dollar in my wallet, less than 30 in the bank, and I still have to worry about finding money for tuition, this isn't good. Plus I just spent some money on gas for an automobile that I can no longer drive.
My only consolation is that I'm currently watching Star Trek, one of the episodes in the Maquis arc. And that's not much consolation at all. |
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| this week (and beyond!) |
[Nov. 14th, 2005|02:10 pm] |
Everything is awesome.
Last weekend was super sweet. I don't want to write up all the details, but suffice it to say that even after driving a thousand miles in the span of four days I had a fucking awesome time. Shout-outs to Jessie, Kristina, Nicole, Janet, James, Ladd, Allie, Erika, MeMe, Sophia, Anne-Marie, Carlo, and Siarah. And of course when I got back to school last night I was immediately greeted by the wonderful news that Emi had purchased some Triple Sec, so I went over to San Nic and we had cocktails.
This week is going to be a bit iffy: I have three programming assignments due, a math midterm, and various other scholarly requirements. I can deal, though.
I think I'm going to be able to Sow another Seed of Empire this week, too, which will be great news if everything works out.
I brought my suit down, and I'll probably be wearing it to the TriDelta date party this weekend. I like wearing my suit, but I'm going to try to resist the urge to buy a new shirt or tie to go with it.
We're planning a Vegas trip in addition to the Mexico trip. No word on dates yet for either of them, considering they'll be moderately expensive and that I'm broke and tired of driving, it'll probably be Winter or Spring quarter before we actually go, but it's still going to be awesome. Emi has never been to Vegas before.
SHDH6 is coming up on December 10th, and as long as my finals schedule permits I'll be able to attend. Today an idea for a quick and simple software project struck me, which I might try to develop that night. I think I'm also going to do a geek pitch for Barracuda and AUVAI/AVI. I think it'll be at the very least interesting for the other geeks there, and I'm hoping that by doing the presentation I'll be motivated enough to get back involved and start coding again. |
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[Oct. 16th, 2005|11:05 pm] |
Sometimes the music I list on these entries relates very closely to what I'm writing about or feeling, and other times it has nothing to do with it at all.
I'd also really like it if I could list multiple songs for an entry. It'd also be cool to have a field for current weather, and other things like that. I think some of that could actually be important meta-data for an entry.
So for the most part this weekend has competly rocked. Starting Thursday night and ending sometime this afternoon I spent a TON of time with Emi, and on the whole it kicked ass.
This weekend also saw the success of AMA's roadtrip, which she deserves both huge props for pulling off and congrats for finally making some major progress with her parents.
I also found out a lot of shit about a lot of people, some much more shocking than others. Honestly though it's all good, and none of it's gonna keep me down.
Plus I made hella money on the markets on Friday.
If anyone wants to know more about anything I alluded to in this entry feel free to ask; I'll either tell you or I won't.
Alright, I've got a paper due tomorrow, which again hasn't been started. I've also got a math midterm on Friday, which is bad news because I suck at Calculus. Wish me luck! Have an awesome night! |
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| I haven't posted an entry with this title before |
[Oct. 8th, 2005|12:53 pm] |
I'm feeling really sick today, and I don't know why. I'm sure it's partially because I haven't been getting a ton of sleep, and partially because of all the Mountain Dew I drank yesterday, but that can't be everything. Right now I'm basically just munching Vitamin C pills and drinking orange juice and green tea in an effort to prevent it from getting worse.
My day did get a little brighter because I had a chance to talk to Allie on the phone this morning; that's always nice.
I've got a paper due on Monday, and some programming stuff and Calculus due after that, so I really ought to work this weekend. I told Arina I'd go to Santa Barbara with her, but I think I'm gonna blow that off, due to both the homework and the sickness. |
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| Basically a weekend... |
[Oct. 6th, 2005|03:49 pm] |
Well, since my only class on Thursdays is CMPSC20 today is effectively a weekend, because there is absolutely no reason for me to attend those lectures.
Not much happened last night other than me getting all my homework assignments in on time, which continues to be source of amazement for me. I met up with Arina and Zac after my writing class ended, and we hung out together until about 11, when Zac excused himself to go home and sleep. Arina did my laundry for me again; it's nice to have someone who does it for me after I've had to do it on my own for the last four or so years. We watched TV for an hour or two in my lounge, then we walked back over to San Nic and ended up sitting out in the hall on the 8th floor discussing philosophy until four in the morning.
I haven't done anything productive today, although I did manage to make it to the cafeteria before they stopped serving lunch, and I took a shower sometime between waking up and taking my first nap of the day (I've had two already).
I also downloaded an emulater and both Chrono Trigger and Radical Dreamers (with the English fan translation). I'm not sure what I think of 'Dreamers right now, but now that I've played it a little I can certainly recognize that some of the music from Chrono Cross is taken directly from Radical Dreamers. I'm considering buying/obtaining a playstation so I can replay some classics when I'm bored here.
I've got a pretty long paper due on Monday for Writing, as well as another calculus assignment and two more programming projects to get done. Thankfully I've got almost a week to get that all done, so I feel fine not working on any of them today.
Allie called to say she recieved her birthday present, which was good cause I'd started to worry that I'd miss addressed it or something and that it would be lost forever. I also got a call from the Biology department. They want to interview me for an IT developer position. If that goes well I should be making $12 an hour writing web applications pretty soon.
I think I'm going to go play Radical Dreamers some more, and probably visit the beach and get dinner a little later. I'll probably hit up DP tonight. |
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| Telephono |
[Oct. 3rd, 2005|02:27 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | allie | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  good | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Moby - Natural Blues | ] |
I just got a call from Allie!
I'm so excited that I finally have a phone that works, and that I actually got to talk to her on my own phone instead of borrowing someone else's.
I know it's just a tiny little thing, but just getting that call made my day excellent.
And if the rest of you folks in Internet-land would like to give me a ring, you can reach me at 925.989.4796 |
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| Del Playa |
[Sep. 24th, 2005|11:10 am] |
So last night I went partying on Del Playa for the first time. I'd of course walked up and down the street before, and seen all the chaos and partiage, but I'd never actually gone into one before.
The first party we went to was on the south side of the street, right above the cliffs. We walked back into the yard, and the first thing we saw was the band. They had their little stage set up, and were dressed in your typical Metallica-rocker type fashion, but they were actually playing really mellow Marley-esque music. We went up the stairs to the balcony and had a good laugh as we watched some other freshmen trying to operate the keg tap. Eventually, after much shens, we got out beers, and just stood on the balcony and watched the band and the ocean.
We wandered around there for a little bit longer, and did a tiny bit of dancing, before we headed back out onto DP. The next party we came too was also band-oriented. This band, called Picket Line, was actually playing from a trailer with a fold out stage, and filled with AV equipment. It was really cool. Oh, and the singers were actually standing on amps up on the roof of the trailer. In addition to playing some pretty decent music the band were throwing out free merchendise. I snagged a Picket Line t-shirt, which means I can go one more day without doing laundry.
At this point Arina (who has by now definately learned her lesson) was so sick of walking around DP in heels that we decided to grab some munchies at Freebirds, then head back to my place. We came back and hung out with Paul for a while, and then went into the lounge to watch some tv. We got a little That 70's show, and some Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
At this point we were getting pretty tired; cause we had both been missing sleep during the week because of those annoying classes. Arina just crashed in my room because her roomate's boyfriend was over for the night, and she didn't want to interrupt them. We had just switched off the lights and were going to go to bed when the phone rang.
I was super excited; finally I had a chance to spend more than three minutes on the phone with Allie. I practically ran into the lounge and answered. We talked for a little while, and then Allie decided to go to bed, so I came back and went to sleep too. |
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| New Wallpaper |
[Sep. 10th, 2005|12:20 am] |
The new desktop...
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| !!! |
[Aug. 17th, 2005|02:42 pm] |
39 Days until the season premier of The West Wing.
Plus only 22 hours until I get to see Allie again.
I love The West Wing! |
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| Dashboard |
[Aug. 16th, 2005|10:30 am] |
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| At least I have my iPod... |
[Aug. 11th, 2005|11:08 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | allie, music | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  blah | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | John Williams - A New Hope and End Credits | ] |
Well, I'm in Canada now. I'm having a good time for the most part, but I'm feeling kind of bummed out right now for no particular reason. Well, there are a couple of reasons, but they're all small so I should really just get over it. I lost at poker; but I'm only down a toonie (that's two dollars Canadian). I don't get to hang out with my counsin tonight, cause she's meeting her friends at a bar and the drinking age here is 19, so I miss by five months. And because I stuck around here to finish the poker game that I would eventually lose, I missed my last chance to catch a ride back to Oma's house, where all of my clothes and my laptop are. Finally, even though it's only been two days I really miss Allie, and it sucks to think I don't get to see her until Thursday.
I'm done complaining for now. My cousin (other cousin) has D2 on this computer, so maybe I'll start a char and play a round or two of that. Since I've got an entire month until school starts anyways I might as well start (or re-start) another time consuming addiction. |
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[Aug. 1st, 2005|11:30 am] |
This weekend was one of the best weekends ever.
Saturday was our two month anniversary, so to celebrate we had a very fun date. Dinner followed by a movie and ice cream, with much window shopping interspersed between. Then yesterday was fantastic as well; I picked Allie up at church and we went down to see the Taylor Woodrow Grand Prix of San Jose.
Because my father is the race president we got awesome seats in an air conditioned booth, and of course free food and drinks. Some of the funniest moments of the day were when my dad went up and performed some official functions. It was especially hillarious when he presented "Mr. Listwin", his best friend since college, with one of those novelty giant checks for half a million dollars. It was also cool seeing hunter, Don's young son, give out the Rookie of the Race trophy.
All in all it was a good day of family fun.
Anyways, this is short because I've really gotta get cracking. We leave for San Diego in less than 48 hours, and there are still major subsystems on the submarine that haven't even been INSTALLED yet. |
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| Free Enterprise |
[Jul. 28th, 2005|11:22 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | allie, robotics, sleep | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  exhausted | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Protricity - Mine Cart Misadventure | ] |
Alright, it's time for me to take a short break. No Submarine, no Friends, no Work and no TV from now until 8:15 tomorrow morning. That gives me just under 9 hours to relax, listen to music, and sleep. I fear that after that the grind begins again, and this time I might not get out of it until after San Diego.
Now, some of you might wonder why Friends and TV are on the list of thigns that I'm relieved I get a break from. I don't want anyone to get me wrong, because I do totally enjoy these thigns. They do however keep me from reading, and from sleeping. Basically anything that takes up time is evil now (meaning everything I do is evil) and I just have to decide how best to spend my limited time. Usually those things are all fun and good, but right now sleep is a priority, especially because this will be one of my last chances to get a significant chunk in probably two weeks.
I'm gonna go get some grub, and then get that sleep we were talking about. Late. |
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[Jul. 19th, 2005|12:58 am] |
I wanted to write a somewhat long entry talking about robotics and Allie and life, but I'm feeling pretty tired now, so I think I'm just going to hit the hay after writing a short but quick update.
We got the sub in the water today, and for the most part everything works. We've got some kinks to work out in both hardware and software: the rear engine won't turn on, the computer occasionally powers itself down, and we can't actually compile the software on the computer it's meant to run on. On the bright side however last year we didn't get it into the water until just a few days before we left; that means we're almost two whole weeks ahead of where we were last year. Considering how much progress we made every single day last year, I think these two weeks are seriously going to add up. Look for Amador to return to it's usual excellent standing this year.
I've been reading D&D books again, and want to write campaign settings. I won't let myself start anything new (or continue old stuff that I've stopped) until after San Diego, however.
Even though San Diego is going to be awesome, it's also somewhat sad, because I'm barely going to get to spend any time with Allie at all during August. I'm going to San Diego, then right after I come back I'm going to Canada, and then as soon as I get back from that she's leaving to go on an extended vacation with her family. On the bright side, however, we will get to spend most of September together. |
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| Poop |
[Jul. 12th, 2005|09:37 pm] |
I just spoke with my father on the phone; he was having lots of trouble with one of the family computers at his house and he called me for help. It wasn’t something I could solve over the phone however. He was really frustrated because he had spent hours attempting to solve this issue, and he got really mad when I couldn’t help. So now I’m in a cranky mood as a result.
The rest of this week has been so much more awesome, though. I spent the last three days in Santa Barbara at orientation. In addition to participating in that fun program I also got to spend a fair deal of time with Allie, who is currently vacationing there with her family.
I really do want to spend as much time with Allie as possible while I still can. As soon as college starts I’m going to be lucky if I get to see her once every month or two, so I don’t think it’s so ridiculous that I want to spend so much time with her now.
As an aside, I’ve really come to realize that a huge portion of Desktop Support and IT stems not from extensive education or study, but is actually an acquired talent. If it was simply a question of knowledge I would be able to troubleshoot any problem over the telephone simply by conveying the appropriate instructions to first diagnose and then solve the problem. As it is, however, unless it is something very simple I usually can’t even think of what to try unless I’m sitting at the terminal reading the error message myself. Somehow when I am operating the machine it is different, and I can solve issues that are far more intricate and twisted than I otherwise could.
This is why instead of going back to Pleasanton tonight I am going to get dropped off in Saratoga so I can fix all those fucking problems with the computers. I don’t actually even have my OS CDs with me, but I’ll see what I can do without them. I can probably bittorrent every image I need overnight, and then burn them when I wake up in the morning.
Aside #2: As I’m writing this on my new laptop in the car on the way back from Santa Barbara, and I keep stopping my writing to chat with my mother and answer the phone, I’m actually listening to the entire album (Fragile) as I write this entry. It’s definitely one of my top five favorite albums of all time, and may even be number one. I can’t decide whether or not Discovery belongs on that list. It’s also another contender for the coveted #1 spot, but for some reason I don’t feel like it really is the best album ever. Maybe it’s just cause I’m in more of a NINy mode right now.
Anyways, as I was saying, Santa Barbara was awesome. It’s a beautiful campus, especially when looking out over the water. In fact, I think the two best moments of the entire weekend were when Allie and I were constructing sand structures on the beach, and when we spotted two dolphins gracefully swimming west along the shore.
Other highlights include discovering that earning my Bachelor’s is going to require even fewer classes than I previously thought, meeting some really fun and interesting people, and having a late night powwow on the beach.
Aside #3: Just because I’m curious to know: do you, my readership, enjoy reading my longer, more detailed but multi-subjected entries? Or do you prefer when I write shorter, more focused entries about a single topic? Chances are I’m not going to change anything as a result of this survey, but I am interested in knowing the answer. |
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| Blech |
[Jul. 5th, 2005|10:43 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | allie, sleep | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | depressed | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Nine Inch Nails - Ripe (With Decay) | ] |
Blah...today was a lame day.
It actually started out alright. I did a fair bit of yard work, and as much as I like to complain I actually enjoyed being out in the sun and being productive.
The rest of my day was a long monotonous stretch of me doing nothing. It was interrupted only twice; first when I went over to Allie's for about an hour before she went off adventuring with the girls, and then when they all stopped by my house a few hours later for five minutes. Those five minutes actually brightened my day a bit, but then it quickly returned to monotony.
I guess it's only natural that after an entire month of being entirely happy that I should enter into a sadder spell. Hopefully it will not last too long. I'll try to schedule some more work for the rest of the week. I think that helps.
On another note, I just finished reading The Silver Chair, and have started The Last Battle. Depending on how tired I am I'll probably finish that tonight. I can't tell for sure, but it doesn't feel like I'll be getting much sleep. |
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[Jun. 22nd, 2005|10:28 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | allie, money | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Muse - Stockholm Syndrome | ] |
Well, as I'm writing this Allie is sitting and staring over my shoulder. Well, she isn't sitting over my shoulder, but she is sitting on my bed and staring over my shoulder. Anyways, I'm writing this at her command; apparently in order for her to have updated her Xanga today I am required to do this.
Today was pretty cool, especially financially. I woke up with no money in my wallet and only pennies in my bank account. By 1:00 PM I was up to sixty bucks in my wallet, the fruit of my tutoring labor. I also got $20 from my mom to reimburse for my haircut. Then I found my report card in the mail, and due to me being an exceedingly excellent student, and due to my hourious hours of study, I recieved a 4.0 GPA (exactly) and earned $500 from my stepfather. Woot! I then proceded to sell my old laptop to my mother for an additional $500, so I've basically done pretty well today.
Woo! Muse ended a bit ago and we're listening to Star Wars music now. Very awesome. |
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| WooHoo! |
[May. 30th, 2005|09:50 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | allie | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | indescribable | ] |
WooHoo! |
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| Princess Leia |
[May. 30th, 2005|09:08 am] |
I've got her in my head
At night when I go to bed
And I know it sounds lame, but
She's the girl of my dreams
And of course I'd do anything for her
I'd search the moons of Endor
I'd even walk naked through
The deserts of Tatooine
And even though I'm not as cool as Han
I still want to be your man
You're exactly the kind of
Alderranian that I need
So I've had a pretty awesome weekend.
It started off shaky when the school went on lockdown at 2:35, so everybody had to spend an extra half hour at school. Right after the lockdown ended, though, I walked over to Allie's house, and we got to hang out during her sister's birthday party. I even got free pizza. After that was over Angelica drove us back to the school parking lot so we could pick up our cars and go home.
I stayed in Friday night to make sure that my mother would be willing to let me go to SuperHappyDevHouse on Saturday. I did chores around the house and was generally helpfull, and it ended up paying off. Saturday morning was uneventful, but in the afternoon I met Jim at In-N-Out, and then I drove off to the peninsula.
SuperHappyDevHouse was a fantastic party. Even though I encountered numerous problems relating to my flat screen monitor, I still managed to have a really awesome time. I managed to do a tiny bit of coding work on AUVSI, and I also refreshed my memory of perl by writing a very basic web application, which ended up being a brain teaser. I met a guy who was writing software to pilot a Jeep Cherokee in the DARPA Grand Challange. This was very cool not only because of how interesting and complicated the problem was, but also because it meant I wasn't the only person there writing artificial intelligence software for piloting unmanned vehicles.
I also met Jan, who came to the party armed not with a computer, but with decks of cards and rubber bands. She performed a number of magic tricks for us, which was not only entertaining in itself, but led to endless discussion as to how certain tricks were executed. Sometime after two in the morning Jan sat down at my computer and started IMing with Jim and Shelby, and the resultant conversations were pretty funny.
I met a ton of other cool people that night too. I'd especially like to thank David Weekly, for allowing all of us to utilize his amazing houes for an amazing party. If SuperHappyDevHouseII ever occurs, I'm definately interested in attending.
Anyways, I left the party around 5:00 AM, and drove down the peninsula to Saratoga to get some sleep, and say hi to my dogs and my family in the morning. When I awoke, however, I discovered that not only was my dad not home, neither were the dogs. My stepsister was the only one in the house, and she informed me that everyone had gone to Lake Tahoe for the weekend. So much for that plan.
I went back to sleep, and was awoken pleasantly by a phone call from Allie, who also happened to be in Tahoe. We talked for about half an hour, and then I went back to sleep again. I woke up around one, and left for Pleasanton. I also stopped at Kirk's for lunch, and ordered a Big Tripler.
Back in Pleasanton I took yet another nap, and then went out for Chineese with my mom, Matt, and Brett. Then I drove over to a park and sat on a bench while I talked for about another half hour with Allie. Then I drove over and saw Jim's appartment for the first time. Caitlin, Randal, and Shelby were also there, and we played Scrabble. I was beaten by team Jim+Shelby by a margin of 18 points, which isn't huge, but isn't very small either. I'll get 'em next time. |
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pissed off
sick
tired