out of the blue

In my family room at home, there is a large pile of books behind a particular green chair. I was kneeling on the chair talking on the phone, and I chanced to look back there. It's always amusing when you find a copy of "Introduction to Electronics for Technologists" (one of my dad's college textbooks) lying next to "Horton Hatches an Egg" (One of my own early textbooks).

That was amusing. What is truly making me happy right now is that a bunch of my friends are coming back today! Soren and Nathan, in college in Everett, are returning tonight on a train, and we're going to Shari's once they get back. Sarah, from USU, is returning by plane, and we're going to be doing stuff tomorrow. In ADDITION, tomorrow I'm going with a bunch of Alumni from SST to see the play they're putting on this year, titled "The Curious Savage." I'm really excited, as this is the first SST production I'll be able to see, since I was involved in all the others.

I'm off to have fun!

(This means I won't work for a couple days, and homework will kill me when I get back, but such is life!)

So, my school does an art publication called "Reflections" twice a year. I didn't manage to submit anything in the fall, but this time around, I had a piece ready. I suppose you have seen my painting of St. Al's. Anyway, I e-mailed it to them, and shortly thereafter I recieved a reply….

Chris,

Hello! I a question for you. Should some of your photography be chosen for publication, will you be able to provide the originals? You see, we have to resize the photos for print, and in order to ensure the best quality of representation in Reflection, we try to scan the photos ourselves. The goal is to get as close the original as possible after going through scanning and reprinting on a different medium. Let me know. Thank you!

EG (editor)

I appreciate this a lot, but I still sent back an e-mail saying that, actually, it wasn't a photo, and if she looked carefully, she could see the brushstrokes from Photoshop. I hope I get published!

Well, I did okay on this. Some of them were a little confusing, because some of the words actually did work with either, although it changed the meaning. Oh well… I still did okay.

Advanced
You scored 93% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 87% Advanced, and 66% Expert!
You have an extremely good understanding of beginner, intermediate, and advanced level commonly confused English words, getting at least 75% of each of these three levels' questions correct. This is an exceptional score. Remember, these are commonly confused English words, which means most people don't use them properly. You got an extremely respectable score.

The test

*hugs for Elana*

Just a few minutes ago, I read this one person's page on DeviantART. I looked at their artwork, which was a lot of political hate-art against the United States. I also read a lot of the comments that people had posted there. It made me mad that so many people can be so blind.

Why do people insist on using hatred to combat what they see as hatred? Why can't they instead try to understand the people they are against? It's universal that nobody does something BECAUSE it's bad. They do something because they see some good in it. The people we say are bad are those people who do things that hurt other people. They think its justified, or they wouldn't do it. They think they are justified in hating America. They think they are justified in killing people. They think they are forced to do something. There's always a reason.

It is a rare person who has a real reason to hate America. To truly hate it requires so much of a personal connection that it isn't entirely rational any more (I think). Yet so many people claim that they do. Why are they so eager to claim that hatred? Does it make them more of a person?

Is it wrong to think I'm smarter than they are? More educated than they are? More rational than they are? They don't seem to really know much about what goes on, instead they just parrot the stuff used by EVERYONE to insult the US. If they seemed to have more of a rounded opinion, I might take them seriously as a person with some intelligence. Instead, everything they talk about is how the United States is bad. And of course, they are not a racist, which they assure people of every time they say something. "I don't hate all Americans, just the half that voted to reelect Bush." Or "I don't hate Americans, just most of them because they're stupid." (disclaimer: not actual quotes)Am I wrong for thinking they are ignorant?

Sorry about the rant. Just something that was on my mind.

Cat with Hands

This is a bloody awesome short film that I stole from Danko's journal. Go see it! It's really well done :). Not too long, either. About 4 minutes, I think?

I just read a really awesome play, that Aaron recommended. It's really surreal and insane. Everyone ought to read it, if they haven't yet. The play is titled "On Borrowed Time", and it's based on a book by Lawrence Edward Watkins. It was adapted for the stage by Paul Osborn. I won't explain it any more, besides giving it my highest recommendation.

From On Borrowed Time

Brink. Because man's logic is the most pitiful thing about him. It stands in his way. It confuses him, so that he can't quite see the giants.

Well, last Friday night was quite interesting.

Aaron and I devoted the entire night until 12 frantically finishing Physics problems to turn in online. (They were due at precisely 11:59:59 on Friday). Then, relieved that we had gotten them done (nearly all of them, actually–I missed two, and I was about to submit one when the time ran out; the other would have taken another minute to do), we abandoned our homework states of mind, and went running off to Safeway in order to support a drinking party… of the most pleasant kind. We procured various kinds of root beer, cream soda, and orange soda, and proceeded to down them with rigorous fervor to the strains of various happy music like Electric Light Orchestra, Elton John, Billy Joel, and Elliott Smith. It was brilliant, and we have glass (soda) bottles scattered all over the room. The remnants of an impressively non-alcoholic college drinking party.

Cheers!

Found this online at DeviantART. You guys really should take a look, because it's awesome and hilarious.

The Biscuit Fire

For those of you that don't get the joke in its entirety, go to:

The Joke

In response to: [winstonsbitch's Entry on English]

Okay, to clarify. I am all for looking at literature in various lights. So, looking at the sex and women's roles in a few pieces of Literature is all fine and dandy. But do we bloody have to look at it in EVERY SINGLE WORK WE DO?

Methinks there be more to literature than sex

She has had a lot of interesting points on the subject. Frankenstein is a birth novel, in a sense. Frankenstein MAY very well have been influenced by Shelley's relationship with Percy Shelley and Lord Byron. It might even be useful in SOME cases to know about them having sex on her mother's grave. But I was expecting a survey of Literature; instead I'm getting "sex in literature", with a few other themes thrown in. That last class period was simply the straw that broke the camel's back. When she started the class out by talking about this weird theory that she didn't even explain well enough for me to see past its apparent absurdity to whatever truth was behind it, and then seemed about to go into exploring the text based on this theme, I just couldn't take it. If I wanted to spend a day or two looking at Frankenstein from a perspective I don't agree with, and one that is a bit tangential even, I'd be in a bloody class on the subject. I am not. So, I really don't see why we can't have a more even view of the text–surely she can teach about the basic themes in Literature at an undergraduate level, at least.

I am not against discussing sex. I am not against discussing homosexuality. I am certainly not against women's roles being less constricting. BUT, I am against that being all there is to literature.

Disclaimer: I am exaggerating for a point. She has explored philosophy, and racism in the couple works that REQUIRED her to do that.