Meadowlake Street

durrghh

2007-02-20T15:24:00.000-06:00

durrhgg

der

2007-02-20T15:22:00.000-06:00

der

Blogged with Flock

diddley doo

2007-02-20T15:18:00.000-06:00

test

Blogged with Flock

Untitled

2006-08-15T20:10:00.000-05:00

i got it?

Blogged with Flock

Untitled

2006-08-15T20:09:00.000-05:00

i got it?

Blogged with Flock

Untitled

2006-08-15T16:33:00.000-05:00

please dont work. I dont want it to work

Blogged with Flock

Untitled

2006-08-14T15:13:00.000-05:00

huh?

Blogged with Flock

This will never see the light of day

2006-08-14T15:12:00.000-05:00

This will not work

test

2006-08-10T19:57:00.000-05:00

test

Blogged with Flock

Untitled

2006-07-24T14:45:00.000-05:00

test. test test test. Test

Look at the adsense ad^^ I've made 60 cents on it. Woohoo...

Blogged with Flock

NEW BLOG

2006-05-09T13:15:00.000-05:00

I've finally switched to Wordpress, at the insistance of others (Lloyd and Chris from Flock, as well as Jake Dahn ). There were several things that were holding me back, mainly the lack of an import feature (it may have been there, but I didn't see it). So all of my posts are now over there. Plus, Wordpress is more open source than blogger, with much less downtime and connection issues. So, if you want to keep up, here's your destination:

http://danakin.wordpress.com

Enjoy the site.

Um, Yay?

2006-05-09T08:27:00.000-05:00

Had my interview with Heineman today. It went well? Did it?
I think so. The first thing he asked was about my living arrangements here and in Chicago. So that must be a sign that they want to make sure I have a place to stay so I can work for them.
Next question: When will you have your ACI Cert? That is a very good question. I honestly don't know, and tell him this. I kinda screw up and say that I might not get it at all if someone didn't turn in their test. But that is the truth. However, the ACI certification is something that they were looking for. Here's how it breaks down...
New job site in Mount Pleasant (which the contract has not yet been pushed through...) will require substantial concrete placement, which requires a fair amount of testing. McDowell's of Midland could be subcontracted to test the concrete, but at $45/hr. With me, they can have me test the concrete for a relatively low price ($7-?? an hour, plus cost of new equipment) and save money in the long run.
So that's that. Kinda. Then, we have a conversation on my resume, which I'll admit is pretty lacking. I mention the things I should in it, I just simply do not have the experience others might. Finally, Dale, the guy who was interviewing me, explains that you need to be self motivated out in the field. I think he may have wanted a response, but in a way, he never gave me the opportunity to give one. So, not sure what to think of that.
I would say my chance of getting a job there is 50%. The interview was alright (much better than with Holland at Cabot, because I had no clue what the job really entailed and what the field was like), but it wasn't the greatest. I wish I had said some things, and wish I hadn't said others. Meh.

In any case, I'm hanging out in Midland a while longer. I'll be leaving once I hear from Heineman again, or Saturday, whichever comes first.

Oh, and I'm down to nine bucks. Had to buy a nice new black belt (I grabbed a brown one at home) and gasoline for my oldfangled automajigger. My debit card is coming in the mail tomorrow, though.

By the way:
PS3 will be sold in two versions: 20Gb stripped down version for $499 and a 60Gb full featured version for $599.
Controller is the same as any other controller for the PS2, except that there is no vibration, and it's wireless. Also, they stole Nintendo's idea of a motion sensing controller. Nintendo noticed this. "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," said one rep.
Speaking of the controller, there's still quite a bit of lag between the controller and the unit response. Maybe it was just the demo acting funky, but it looked unplayable for shooter games.
Graphically, not impressed. Same as the 360. Don't care if it is 1080p, it won't mean a thing for quite a while. You know, when the next nextgen systems come out, then 1080p might be a thing to look for. But right now it's like buying a turbocharged Geo Metro. Yeah it may be turbocharged, but you won't get to see the benefits of it. Well, bad analogy, but you understand.
Blu-Ray is not gonna catch on, in my opinion, Hd-DVD will, because it already exists, and there aren't that many problems with it. The technology is already out there, and it is a pretty universal format. Blu-Ray ain't got any of that going for it. Kinda like the UMD, or Universal Media Disc. Remind me how it's universal...'cause last I checked, being a proprietary medium for a single device does not make you universal...
There are a couple of neat looking games, though, for the PS3. One uses a new Eye Toy and collectible cards. Basically, you put these cards on a playing mat, and focus the Eye Toy on them, and the cards are read and spawn creatures that can fight each other. As you move the card, the creatures move too. Pretty neat, but a niche game for sure. Or an instant fan fave, can't tell yet. The other game I liked was called Eight Days, which looks like it plays like a movie. However, some of the in-game footage was definitely prerendered.
Worst part of the entire Sony E3 conference (aside from all the rhetoric that they promised they wouldn't use in the opening speech, or the blatant lieas about how good UMD sales are...) was the Gran Turismo HD demo. Don't get me wrong, the game looked stunning (except for the crowd, which looked pretty crappy when they ran). However, the demo went on and on, showing us tracks we have already seen. The last track, Grand Canyon, was a new one I believe. It was the only track where I saw any difference between GT3/4 and GTHD. However, the game was in a demo mode, not really a playable one, so again, it could have been prerendered.

I'm not a Sony fanboy at all, and while I do enjoy some Playstation exclusives (Katamari Damacy, We Heart Katamari), there isn't really reason to buy the PS3. Whoopdidoo that it has a cell processor. Whoopdidoo that it has a good graphics card. It's nothing innovative. And when Sony spokepeople laugh at the Nintedo Wii (pronounced "we" by some, "revolution" to others), it really makes you think that they are thinking 100% in the box. Same thing with the Xbox folks. I would rather have a 360 than a PS3 for many reasons, but really, the Wii is looking like the only thing that will be affordable, and the only system that is looking to change the way games are Experienced, not just played. For that, Nintendo gets my vote.

Sony= evil corporation, wants money from every citizen, and a rootkit on every computer
Microsoft = gigongous corporation, inaccessible, business plan is to make lots of money, and they have no problem with it, which creates problems for others
Nintendo = gamer corporation, one which focuses on the wants and needs of gamers, rather than money

Challenge

2006-05-07T11:14:00.000-05:00

Got 52 bucks in my pocket. Has to last me until Saturday and it has to get me home to Naperville, and I have to eat and stuff still. May be leeching off others this week.

Been with Solo this weekend. Went to the race on Saturday with him, and he did alright. Placed 4th out of 6 in his heat, and 7th out of 14 in the feature. The winner in the Factory Stock feature had an illegal compression ratio which got him DQed and bumped Solo from 8th to 7th. Solo was running on a broken engine (pushrod got bent, another one got broken, and the studs that hold the rocker arms were cut [really odd]) and a bad hop in the rear end (a result of dirt and rust and stuff building up in the back right brake drum). As a result, yesterday we pulled the rear end off, and pulled the engine and transmission. Fun stuff.

Still waiting on a call for my Heineman interview...

Exhausted

2006-05-03T23:49:00.000-05:00

Quick rundown of what you guys haven't been doing with me.

Cancelling a lost debit card
Watching Scrubs and Adult Swim
Eating at Mongolian Barbeque
Walking around all of Chicago
Hanging out at the Shedd Aquarium
Consuming homemade pizza
Walking 10+ miles in the windy city
Talking to some dudes who needed money (more later)
Chilling in a heart shaped jacuzzi

All in all, it's been a pretty fun time so far. Jill and I went to the city today, and went through all the stops (Sears Tower, Art Institute, Pritzker Pavillion, Fountains [Buckingham Fountain and the cool glass face fountains whose name escapes me], and the Shedd Aquarium). Gave some money to two guys from the Boys and Girls Club. Probably got took there, but it's fine. It was only five bucks. However, I wish I had that five bucks for the other guy we met. Name was Johnny B. Goode. Selling papers for the homeless shelters, and he was probably legit. I didn't have any money smaller than a 20, so I refused and told him I'd pray for him. He was a little disappointed, but I saw that when I said I'd pray for him he cheered up a little. I don't think he gets that alot.

And the big news of the day is that I'll be in Midland on Friday. Got a call from Heineman today while having lunch in Millenium Park, and they would like to interview me. So, Jill and I will be making the half-lovely trip starting early in the morning Friday. I'll be there in time to see Solo race at Dixie, so I'm pretty happy about that. I was kind of upset I wouldn't get to see him race at all. But, he's got that number 97 car all shined up and ready to go. Said the car was a bit slow in practice today, and there were some things that broke, but said that once he gets the new Hoosiers on there and replace all the broken parts, he should be in contention.

Bottom line, I'll be in Midland for a week. Hopefully this next week will lead to a job that gets me a reason to stay in Midland for the summer!

2006-04-28T23:31:00.000-05:00

I think I may have Bakke take the TFNM stuff down off of Myspace. Why? This is why. Not cool.

So I got back in to town at 10:30 and suprised Jill with roses and a card. It means so much to me to be within 15 minutes of her again. Had a good time tonight. Jill played nurse and took my blood pressure and heart rate and all that jazz, 'cause she can.

Tomorrow, going out to Solo's to hang out, work on the car, and then go out to Auto City and watch the supers race.

Sunday I'll be at Sunrise, and then go out to Pi's for lunch afterwards. Then it's just hanging out with people and relaxing.

Monday, Jill and I will be heading to Naperville. Should be a fun ride. Hopefully my car can make it there, and the battery won't randomly disconnect on the Stevenson. That would really suck...

Friday, Jill will be going back to Midland, and I'll be separated once more, for who knows how long.

Trip down was alright. Once I figured out how to make my FM transmitter for my iPod work (as in, don't have the volume jacked all the way up on the iPod, and remember, unlike all the other cars you ride in, the antenna on this one is on the back left, not front right) I had tunes going and calming me down. Driving alone is not my thing. Trip playlist:

Undergrads Soundtrack
David Crowder Band (from Can You Hear Us? and A Collision)
Ozma (RnR pt3, Spending Time)
Third Day (Offerings I and II)

That lasted a while, and at abotu 30 minutes from Midland a station started coming in on the one I was using, so, instead of changing the transmitted frequency, I just switched to 101.7 They had some pretty good music tonight, and I actually was glad that they started throwing in more Christian rap (and the good stuff at that).

Only really interesting thing that happened on the trip was after dinner, when my car completely refused to start. Turns out the battery cable/lead came loose, and I had been going on alternator power for some time. Thank goodness it's a new alternator and is still efficient. I guess the lead was just slightly touching though, just not enough to stay there.

Guild Wars: Factions was released today (Friday). All I have to say is "impressive" is an understatement. The new world of Cantha is ridiculously intricate, and there is so much to explore. It feels like ArenaNet said "Hey, remember how there were semi-set paths in Guild Wars: Prophecies? Well, remove the paths, give the players freedom to run wherever they wish." There are two new classes in the game: Ritualist and Assassin. I have a Ritualist started, but it's not that fun to me right now. Probably because she is still in the newbie area. Oh yeah, the female ritualists have disproportionate breasts, the likes of which are only seen in shady Texan strip joints. Therefore, I named my character "Look At My Chest." Just saying what everyone is thinking.

Call my cell if you wanna do something Sunday, or if you want to go to the race tomorrow. It will be a lot of fun!

Secrets...

2006-04-25T01:28:00.000-05:00

Got two pretty big secrets that I'm keeping. One I can't tell to too many people. The other I can never tell to anyone. Both are starting to wear on me a bit, because telling them to people would really bring closure to some.

Also, I'm bored out of my skull. I really want to start moving in, which we'll probably start on today, and finish up Wednesday. After that and my exam, I'll just want to be home. Well, I already want that, but I'll want it even more.

Oh, and someone (anyone) should update their blog. I need some reading material...

"Listen to the girl / As she takes on half the world."

UPDATE: After reading an email from my prof stating that all exams must be turned in or everyone fails, I decided that the photocopy version I had might be considered an exam, so I went to the EERC and handed it in. Grabbed my Estimation exam (the 16 question one I was worried about) and saw that I got a 93. I'm pleased with that.

Lost In Translation

2006-04-24T02:47:00.000-05:00

In the past 15 minutes, I have switched from Undergrads soundtrack to the Lost in Translation soundtrack.

"Sometimes" by My Bloody Valentine
What can I say, it's all fuzzed guitar. It is amazing. Wraps my ears in the sound, and I really want to watch the movie again.

"Girls" by Death in Vegas
Laid back, relaxing, and airy. Then enters the fuzz. Seems to be a recurring theme. Either way, it's another song to encompass your ears in sound.

"Just Like Honey" by The Jesus and Mary Chain
Another good one. Lyrics are wierd, and they kinda make sense if you see the movie. Again, fuzzed out guitar, heavy reverb on the drums. Just some good stuff here.

To the Two!

2006-04-24T02:39:00.000-05:00

Look, it is Bakke and Lackey! Their names rhyme! If you ask one of them if they want ice cream, they both say yes.

Bakke keeps me alive sometimes. Probably would've killed myself on a monitor I was taking apart had it not been for Bakke pointing out the insanely obvious sticker noting the 13,000 volts. And he would probably have messed up somthing really simple if I didn't point out something obvious to him as well. It's a pretty good system that keeps both of us alive and efficient.

I've been kinda talking out of place about him and Felicia publically. I wish them both well in whatever is going on there.

Underclassman no more

2006-04-24T01:50:00.000-05:00

I'm a Junior. Whatever power and pride that should bring, I have not felt the effects. Nor do I believe I ever will.

So, I'm in one of those indie music hipster lover moods. The kind where you just pop in some Undergrads and watch your past year go by. So I worked on my Undergrads soundtrack. Some of you (meaning Bakke) will be pleased to know that Ruckus added several missing artists from the soundtrack to their database. Yeah, we're on the scene, we've got the lights down watching the screen...

Lots of stuff going on to make me feel kinda odd. Like the weather. It's nice and all, but it also means I get allergies and that's no good. I'm also kinda missing Jill. It's been a while since I saw her, and that really needs to change. There are a ton of reminders that scream of her all over the place, and tons of stuff to make me fell pretty heartsick. Sometimes I think it would be nice to be able to date while in college, but then I realize that a lot of the girls up here are fickle, and I'm pretty happy with what I got.

I've also been kinda questioning my entire relationship with Jill, which may come as a shock to all of you. It's not one of those "should I leave her?" questionings, but kinda thinking over why I love her, and what I like and what I don't like about her. Also, we've been together for five and a half years, and some things have kinda evolved. I just wish that somethings didn't change. There were a lot of fun times, but this current situation that we are in really limits it. I guess I'm stuck at one conclusion...

I really wish I could just restart the relationship in a sense. Like how things typically go when you first fall in love. You try everything to get her to like you. You don't rely on the fact that you've got years backing up your love, you have to work for it. And she does too. So there's flirting and stuff on both sides.

I'm watching the entire Bakke/Felicia thing from my vantage point, and it's prodding me to think about this. No, they aren't going out (in their eyes at least, but to everyone else around them they are). I honestly don't know what's going on. In any case, the point is that seeing the dating process from the beginning on makes a long term couple look at how to redo some stuff.

So one of the big things that is also on my mind is that Jill's brother, Mike, got engaged this week. Major kudos to him. I really don't know Amy, but I suppose she's pretty cool. It kinda makes me feel like riverdancin'

To do:
Call Dennis Rhem about a job with Heineman
Study Environmental Geo
Clean the place up and pack stuff in to boxes
Relax

Finissimo

2006-04-23T03:50:00.000-05:00

Well, since Bakke and Felicia are doing their "Let's flirt and giggle and cuddle and talk all night thing, but remain separate and keep Bakke in the friendzone" I might as well figure some stuff out... Could be worse...

First off, I'm gonna be back in Midland soonish. Next Friday or Saturday. Following my M-Town stay by whisking away my lovely to Naperville, via automobile. This may not be the best way to travel, since it's gonna be me driving the entire way.

I still havent heard back from ANY potential jobs. Kinda worried about that. I really want to be in the Tri-Cities this summer. At the same time, I love my family, and it is technically "home."

I am done, for all intents and purposes. I have one exam, which I need to get higher than a 60 to pass the class with. I think I'll take that Wednesday, since it will be at 3pm instead of 10am if I took it on Monday.

Well, picked up a bunch of stuff today. http://www.flickr.com/photos/danakin/sets/72057594114445234/
There's all of it. Was going to make a monitor fishtank, where you gut the monitor and then turn it into a fishtank. But, Bakke pointed out the obvious that I nearly missed: thirteen THOUSAND volts will kill you. That and the neon/mercury gas contained in the CRT can kill you pretty quick too, so I've heard. We probably could have done it, if we tried, but better to not try and live, than to try, die, and not have a fishtank in the end anyway. In lieu of a monitor tank, I've decided to create my own out of some material to be determined.

I really like aquarium keeping. Many aquarium enthusiasts note that you aren't really keeping fish, you're keeping the plants and water; the fish just happen to be there too. It's one of those things I like. The ecology of it all, you know? I'm not too much of an environmentalist in most regards, but I love aquatic life. I know a decent amount about it, but I'm a bit rusty on the entire water chem part (give me a day to reread some stuff and I'll be fine). I'm hoping that when I get back to Naperville my local plat filled aquarium is bristling with bacteria and plants. I'm going to do some work with it, and see if I can't start a full hatchery using plant filtration. I want to know one main thing: how effective is anachris in filtering out harmful pollutants? This means a bit of an experiment involving oil, alcohol, and lots of tubes. Giddy giddy me. I love this stuff.

Ah Mitch Hedberg, always a good listen.
You can tell we're at a tech school when half the people at a junkyard gawk and converse about old computer parts and the like, and it all makes sense to all of us. Yeah.

Sorry I've got nothing deep to post. All that stuff is extremely personal right now, and you'd have to ply me with good conversation or bad liquor to get some of the stuff out. Sorry.

Digg

2006-04-19T23:48:00.000-05:00

Digg
Originally uploaded by danakin.

Yup. My take on Digg as of late...

Midas Touch

2006-04-19T23:14:00.000-05:00

Using Flock. Still. They just did a whole bunch of good stuff to it, and the next release is the one I would like you all to try out. It's coming next month.

There is a new blog editor engine that was dropped in today. The switch brings a faster editor load, and general goodness. If you are reading this, and there are Technorati tags at the bottom, Flock wins!

technorati tags: danakin, midas blog editor, flock, tagging

What I have learned in the past 17 hours

2006-04-18T22:53:00.000-05:00

I've been awake since 7am. Taken three showers in that time.

Went to the Quincy Mine. Amazing. Simply amazing that this area is so responsible for so many things.

Whats I gotta do...
Finish Asphalt Exam
Study for Environmental Geo
Clean/Pack
Finish Revisions portfolio
Continue cleaning/packing
Upload photos of the mine tour
Post the full details of the day (cause it was pretty sweet)

Goodnight. Off to unscramble my poor brain.

HeHe

2006-04-16T11:39:00.000-05:00

2006-04-16T02:46:00.000-05:00

BRITISH broadcaster who travelled to the Philippines to be crucified on Good Friday for a television programme pulled out of the stunt in tears yesterday — and blamed God for his decision.

Dominik Diamond broke down and wept after watching nine Filipinos take their turn to be whipped and nailed on crosses and realising that his turn was next. “God wanted me only to pray at the foot of my cross,” he sobbed, sinking to his knees and praying as local people and tourists started to boo.

Five, the television channel, denied it was disappointed that Diamond, a radio and TV presenter and outspoken Daily Star columnist, had decided against being crucified. No date has been set for the broadcast of the programme. If shown, it may have to change its original working title, Crucify Me.

--http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,25689-2135354,00.html

Diamond was set to join an elite group of radical Roman Catholics who mark each Easter by re-enacting the Crucifixion. Thousands of people gather to watch the volunteers nailed to crosses with metal spikes the size of pencils.

Negotiations had taken place to bestow on Diamond the privilege of becoming only the second Westerner to take part in the event, known as Karabrio. The ceremony is held in the village of Cutud, 50 miles (80km) north of Manila. Men dress in white robes and flagellate themselves with glass-tipped paddles and bamboo whips, in penitence for their sins.

Diamond, who said that he had had a crisis in his faith, decided to go on a pilgrimage taking in the Vatican and a Jesuit retreat in Italy, and culminating in the crucifixion to restore his faith in God. Despite his failure to go through with the exploit, producers insist that the documentary would still be aired.

After pulling out of the challenge, Diamond said: “At no point was it ever conveyed that I would definitely be crucified. At all times in this journey I have been guided by my God in ways I could never have predicted. Having experienced the humility of bearing my own cross through the streets, I felt my God wanted me only to pray at the foot of my cross.”

Sebastian Horsley, an oil painter, was the first Westerner to take part in the Karabrio. He felt that it would be valuable for him to experience that level of pain, for artistic rather than religious reasons.

Horsley was pleased with Diamond’s refusal to go through with the ordeal. “I’m glad he bottled it. I mean, going over there with a Channel Five crew is not right. It got leaked to the press when I did it but I wouldn’t allow any film crews to come with me.

“This is very special to these people. It is something they do to get closer to God, not something that should be cheapened,” he said “I tell you, it really hurts having nails driven through your hands. Your arms are strapped up and they put alcohol on them and then bang in the nail.”

Five denied that the television channel was disappointed with Diamond’s decision: “It’s not a surprise. He always said from Day 1 he would make a decision when he got there and it was absolutely up to him.”

Ruben Enaje, a Filipino carpenter who takes part in the festival every year, became Diamond’s mentor as the presenter tried to summon the willpower to be crucified. Mr Enaje has had himself nailed to a cross every year since 1988 to show his gratitude to God for saving him when he fell out of a window. Guided by him, Diamond made his own cross and carried it for two miles through the streets of Cutud.

Ed Stobbart, the executive producer, said: “I've been talking to Dominik for about a year about the idea. He used to be practically the face of Celtic (football club) up in Glasgow and he would get into all kinds of problems there with people who had an issue with him being Roman Catholic. He thought, ‘Hold on, I’m not even that into the religion’. He ended up leaving Scotland with his family.

“His insomnia was a major problem. He used to lie in bed all night praying for God to let him sleep and He never answered so he began to think there was no God.”

Mr Stobbart conceded that the programme’s name, Crucify Me, may no longer be appropriate. “Let’s just say the title is subject to discussion. Read between the lines,” he said.

Google Cal

2006-04-16T02:04:00.000-05:00

Google Calendar... how do I love thee... let me count the ways:

1. I'll never forget my girlfriend's birthday again.
2. I'll never forget our anniversary again.
3. ... uhh, basically you keep me on good terms with my girlfriend.

And for that, and that alone, Google Calendar + Gmail gets my Seal of Approval!

-Digg user...

Untitled

2006-04-15T01:33:00.000-05:00

Testing...can Flock please get my Blogger account to work again with tags? Right.
Not much to report. Been busy being lazy, and that's gonna change today since I have a paper to write.
Got some stuff in the mail; a packet of info from IMB and a box of candy from Bobaks from my parents. Awesome.
I'll put the IMB info up tomorrow. For now, defragging my brain seems fun. Off to sleep.

technorati tags: danakin, flock, tagged, fun, sleep

Wonderful Day!

2006-04-12T18:57:00.000-05:00

I just wanna say...
I'm Done!
And now I nearly can. I finished two exams tonight, and they are pretty much all that was standing between me and next year. I still have a 6 page pare to write, but that will be easy. I'll get started on the morrow. Maybe.
Also, had a startling revelation earlier. It will change my life! Soon.

Flock On!

2006-04-11T15:12:00.000-05:00

I haven't really been doing much lately with Flock, other than reccomending it to anyone who wants to have a fun browser that lets you do so much more. Earlier this semester, though, I was heavy in the bug verification. It is a lot of fun to do, and it doesn't take too much time. Today, my FlockStar profile went up on the site. I am very proud of the work done on Flock, and I am glad to contribute to it. Lloyd recently thanked those who have helped with the bug work in a blog post , and I certainly thank him for helping me get set up with the Bugzilla process and getting me involved with the community.

Tonight tonight

2006-04-10T00:40:00.000-05:00

I feel kinda like writing down some stuff, so might as well get the thoughts out here.
To begin with, Ryan Reynolds is pretty freakin funny. Watched Van Wilder at the apartment where Bakke and I will live next year (hoorah Keypad), and made me realize several things. First off, I'm glad my relationship is something deep. The relationships in culture today are so shallow and self focused, and Van Wilder exagerates this to show it.

Secondly, I need a job. I'm willing to take most any position at any place, as long as the pay is decent and the coworkers are cool. Jill has been a wonderful help encouraging me to keep trying. But today tops the cake. When she called to say that her dad refered me to the CEO of Heineman Contractors for a summer job, I was extremely happy. Hopefully I can get a response from him soon on a position, and maybe get set up before I leave Houghton.

Another missions opportunity, but probably won't be able to go. David and Ann Wilson are involved with a cool program in China, and have asked for help several times. I don't even come close to speaking a word of Chinese, but the thought of going to China is very exciting. However, the stays are long and expensive, and I will probably not be able to go. So my basic options for missions this summer are as follows:

Work at the Josiah y Bethany Children's Home in Reynosa, Mexico
Go to Brazil with Naperville Baptist
Go to China with the group that the Wilsons work with
Work on deconstruction and cleanup in New Orleans

The opportunities are there, and right now I feel disgusted with myself at thinking of rejecting them all to work for money over the summer, but that might just be the case. Jill is going to Honduras in July, I believe, and I know she is very excited about that.

Samantha and her husband Matt came up today to visit. That was nice. Had BBQ pulled pork sandwiches with them and all the others in the hall. Then kinda hung out, and talked a little and ended up taking a walk down by the portage. Ended up at the apartment. Came back. It was kind of awkward in several senses. First, she used to be Bakke's girlfriend, and now she's not, plus she is married. That wasn't too hard to deal with for me. The bigger thing was that it was simply a lazy Sunday, and there wasn't much going on. I felt like a bad host (and probably was). The room is a wreck, and kinda cramped. Add other people coming in and talking about stuff that our guests were out of the loop, and it made it kinda wierd. Sadly (for me, not them) Samantha and Matt are moving to Grand Rapids in the summer, so we won't get to see them much. I wish I had known that they were around, and started talking to Sam earlier. I enjoy their company and wish we could have started something like dinners every other Sunday. Catching up is hard to do in a dorm setting I guess.

Bakke's sleeping, I think. Sniffling every 5 seconds too. Allergy season is indeed upon us. For him it's probably something he caught (possibly from me), I don't know.

Took my ACI certification lab test on Saturday. Very stressful for several reasons. First, I was under about 5 watchful eyes as I performed routine tests, which made them much more difficult than they really were. Secondly, I was recovering from whatever bug I had this past week, and it made me pretty weak. Concrete, if you didn't know, is pretty heavy, with an average unit weight of 145pcf (comparatively, water is 62.4pcf). Add in the steel/brass apparatus, and you've got a pretty heavy load to move. I'm not terribly strong to begin with, but I can typically carry the 100 pound bucket to the scales. Saturday it took some help to get it there. For the unit weight test, the bucket is filled to the brim, then leveled off very carefully and precisely. That just makes carrying it even more difficult. Add in the nervous wreck I was, and how it made me all shakey, and you've got quite a situation.

Still, I think I passed. I'm only nervous about one portion now.

Been seeing a lot of Felicia lately... This may be a hint to someone who reads this... 'cause I'm not gonna say anything directly to you about it... 'cause you probably already know...

Oh yeah, look at my photos. Got quite a few of them up.

beautiful

2006-04-10T00:18:00.000-05:00

the most beautiful piece of art on this planet is the girl who is happy

I don't like people....

2006-04-09T13:52:00.000-05:00

OK, here's what started it all...

Then, today, some guy posted a comment that really really really pissed me off:

Ashley Pomeroy says:

I disagree with your approach. You clearly have a sought-after and popular natural resource (your wife Jill). You are very fortunate to have something that other people want, and cannot take from you; that gives you power over other people, and that is the most important thing of all. You should exploit this. People will probably be prepared to pay money to see your wife wearing revealing clothes or no clothes at all. She will be your ticket out of poverty.

To which I responded.....

Yeah, you are a dick, plain and simple. For one thing, I'm not poor. Secondly, how does whoring out my girlfriend (visually) help me at all? You know something, I havent seen her naked. Not even topless. Yeah, she has a nice body and all, but the only person to see that in all its glory should be her husband. Otherwise, how is it something special for her and her husband? It becomes cheapened for both of them.

You wanna know something, I'm glad I'm not like you. I love my girlfriend wholeheartedly, and I will marry her. And when I am with her, I will laugh at all of you out there who have cheapened their relationships by exploiting them online.

So go ahead and post your lover online, but rest assured that I won't sink to your level.

See below

2006-04-09T03:25:00.000-05:00

I did actually download, install and run Rockbox on my iPod (the software that allows you to play Doom and Halflife on the iPod, as shown in the video below). It is indeed very neat. However, I do really enjoy listening to my music in an organized fashion, and being able to watch videos as well. Rockbox does not allow me to do that. However, it adds a ton of games, directory creation support, many very cool themes and "While Playing Screens" and also a text editor. The last feature was a bit shoddy to me. Still, the development is not quite finished with something they can put out to the vast majority. The install requires you to run a command prompt in Windows and run a series of commands. Not hard for me at all, but terribly daunting to someone like Jill. People who havent really gotten in to this type of hacking would be scared to death that they would screw up their iPod; and then they'd screw up their iPod.

So is Rockbox still on my iPod? Yes and no. I have the files still on, but the bootloader is gone. All it takes though is a quick command and it's right back on and working. I look foward to seeing a more powerful, fully featured version, but I fear it may take iPod Linux to accomplish what I want. Not that that's a bad thing, it just may take six months or so to do.

Oooh! I wanna do!

2006-04-09T00:05:00.000-05:00

Hands and Feet

2006-04-06T13:21:00.000-05:00

Qualifications

Missionary apprentices serve three to four-year terms, which allow them to learn a language, adapt to the culture and gain valuable field experience alongside veteran personnel.

Applicants should be:

• Called and gifted by God, with a high sense of God’s leading to use their gifts in missionary service in cross-cultural situations

• Age: 21-60 years old at the time of appointment.

• Single or married, never divorced (both spouses must qualify)

• Citizens or permanent U.S. residents

• Active members of a Southern Baptist Church, and a minimum of three years as Southern Baptists

• Trained and involved in personal evangelism, discipleship and witnessing. Read more about Evangelism Training

• Educated and experienced to meet requirements for specific assignment. Written job descriptions indicate educational requirements for each specific assignment. Apprentices who are appointed without meeting the career or associate requirements must complete them by the end of their first state-side assignment. Apprentice service itself is a means of gaining the field experience needed for career and associate service. Prior church related and secular experience will be evaluated as a part of the apprentice application process. Read more about Seminary Requirements

• Model a Godly and healthy family life. Dependent children should be 12 years of age or younger at the time of appointment.

• Good emotional, physical and mental health

___________________________________________________________________

I have a bit to go. I need to work on some stuff before I can apply, and I need to be stronger in so many ways.
But I have Jill and Andrew and some other amazing friends to help me, so it can't be that bad.

Kiss

2006-04-05T01:52:00.000-05:00

Kiss
Originally uploaded by danakin.

Last two days in song...

2006-04-05T01:43:00.000-05:00

Is She Really Going Out With Him?- Elvis Costello

My Life Story- MXPX

Hands and Feet- Audio Adrenaline

Meant to Live- Switchfoot

Now She's 24- Fono

Your Song- Elton John

The Tide- Newsboys

All Ceatures of Our God and King- David Crowder

All The Way- Delirious

Nothin'- Chris Rice

Deep Enough to Dream- Chris Rice

A lot of my last two days has centered around a friend I haven't seen in many years. It's caused me to think a lot about what my priorities should be, and how I can help others. She really is pretty cool, and has definitely gone through (and is going through) more than I would care to. I just hope what I'm doing is the right thing...

Sittin, Wishin, Waitin...

2006-04-04T01:32:00.000-05:00

I've been spending the past hour or so working through a lot of issues. Some I just thought through in my head, other's I emailed Jill about, and others still I posted on a Christian forum.

I would like to let you know about The Prayer Room. If you need prayer for anything, just a quick registration, and you can post anonymously and recieve prayer from many across the world.

I read an article about how prayer doesn't work. I have to say, in the writer's case, it does not work. It takes a relationship with God for prayer to work. You cannot walk up to a surgeon and ask him to do a double bypass on your grandpa without consultation first. Many people assume prayer is like an Ask and You Shall Recieve Whatever You Want, Even That Nice Crovette kinda thing. It just doesn't work that way.

When you pray, there are somethings you gotta keep in mind. First, you have to believe. Second, you have to be sincere. The two mean radically different things. Think about it.

That's all I have for tonight.

And after all of my alibis desert me
I just want to get by
I don’t want nothing to hurt me
I had no idea where my head was at
But if my heart says I’m sorry can we leave it at that
Because I just want for all of this to end

And I so hate consequences
And running from you is what my best defense is
Consequences
Oh God, don’t make me face up to this
And I so hate consequences
And running from you is what my best defense is
Cause I know that I let you down
And I don’t want to deal with that

Good stuff

2006-04-03T00:54:00.000-05:00

Ok, you've got to hear them....really. They will make you happy!

The Decemberists

Explosions In The Sky

Got these off of Ruckus. Makes me so happy. EITS is an awesome instrumental light rock group, kinda like if Ozma went sans vocals on RnRpt3 or the Double Donkey Disc, but with less Star. It is very guitar and drum driven, and perfect for listening to whenever you need to chill out. It's what I would have wanted to do with TFNM but never would have happened. The Decemberists are, well, they're good. That's all I can say.

Also, check out this sweet "music video" for EITS.

Once again, gotta plug the fact the The Few No More finally has "Final Cuts" out there. Yeah, they're a lot rougher than I would have wanted, but they are pretty good nonetheless. You can find the downloads HERE.

Still have quite a few stickers left. I may be giving them away soon, or I may not. Who knows? If you want one, send me an email at drlackey@mtu.edu with your address and stuff. I may be unlazy enough to get one in the mail in the next month or two.

Mississippi (or, Stormy Blues)

2006-04-02T03:09:00.000-05:00

Hey look, a song! What? It was written by Lackey? Ridiculous!

The sun is hidden, the clouds are grey

And rain is headin on my way

Yeah, these days just keep on comin

The stormiest weather for miles around

Mississippi

Ahhh, ya know it’s good to be at home

Where the mighty cool breeze blows

The fields are soaked, the dam has broke

And honey the sky is falling down

Mississippi

Ooh, Mississippi

I was a kid the day the heavens broke

Sultry tears and clouds of smoke

And you were the girl to break my heart, oh come on!

Who did you think you really fooled?

Mississippi

Oh you know the place to go

Mississippi

Yeah you know the place to go!

The sun is hidden, the clouds are grey

And honey, the rain is on its way!

Yeah, these days just keep on comin

The stormiest weather for miles around!

Ooh little baby

Oh call me crazy

Oh on the nighttime winds

Come on to the waters

I’ll make sure no one sees ya

Oh gotta love the hard times

Ya gotta love the hard times

Ya gotta love the hard times

I know you hate the hard times!

I know you hate the hard times!

Mississippi…

Dancin on the nighttime winds

Mississippi…

Dancin on the nighttime winds

Not Quite Gone...Yet...Err...What?

2006-04-01T03:09:00.000-06:00

OK, I have about 3 minutes before I crash and sleep into the afternoon. Here's the lowdown...

I indeed WILL BE returning to Michigan Tech next year, despite the efforts of Mr. Jim Loman. It's all about who you know, and I know the professors.

Solo's girlfriend is up here this weekend. Always funny to watch a girl who looks like she's 12 try to buy 60 some dollars worth of alcohol.

I may or may not have figured out that this weekend needs to be devoted to working. The not side seems to be sinking in more and more.

I don't believe I actually have any finals, per se. I will have final projects and the like, but no exams.
Estimating: Group Projects till semester's end
Cement/Agg: An exam the week before, not really a final
Env Geo: A final exam, but maybe not during finals week
Revisions: Final portfolio, nothing big

Oh yeah, and finished the entire Full Metal Alchemist series, which my next crazy sleep-inebriated musings will be centered on. Oh man, it's so good!

Crappy day...

2006-03-29T15:04:00.000-06:00

Well, I forgot how much of a worthless advisor I have. Jim Loman refuses to do anything to help. I spent the better half of the day running around in anger and frustration, trying to get overrides to get around his views of what I should do. So, the good news is I am up to 12 credits. The bad news is, that may be all I can take next semester is Mr. Loman has his ways. If it is, then screw it, I'm probably not going to be here next year. I can't afford to be up here 6 years. Luckily, the professors don't like the advisor either, so they are a big help when it comes to doing things. They are actually productive, unlike Loman.

See, the problem that I have is that I will have only 57 credits at the end of this semester. To enroll in these classes I need to be a Junior. I will be a junior in all respects next year (having taken all the pre-reqs), but will not have attained the 60 credits to be recognized by the computer system as a junior. But computer systems don't take in to account situational probelms like mine. That is what the advisor is for. They are supposd to override the system when something like this occurs. After all, this is just a college education. It doesn't matter, right? Seems to be the thinking in the tech advising office.

I don't like Loman. I don't know any students who like him. I know professors that like him on a personal level, but not on a professional level. He is not a good advisor. I hope some of the emails he got from students and professors today telling him this will wake him up. I hope he realizes that when students cuss him out, it is for a very legitimate reason. They would not cuss him out if he didn't treat us like crap. They wouldn't cuss him out if he actually helped us with anything, anything at all. He is screwing so many students out of classes that they should be in, and this is unacceptable.

So, since Loman can't get his act together, I've been forced to rearrange my schedule in to a gruesome 18 credit week (assuming the professors' help gets me the classes I need). I'm taking a class that meets 8 hours a week. My Tuesdays are now far from free (not to mention the dreaded 8am classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays). The only reason I'm doing this is because Loman won't get around to fixing my schedule (which HE broke) anytime soon, and I need to retain Full-Student status, lest my tuition jump to out-of-state. Should that happen, I'm outta here. Too much financial strain on the family.

I am pretty furious. I'm not taking much from anyone today, and my temper is extremely short. It takes a lot to get me really ticked off, and in this kind of mood, but a doubleshot of Loman is more than enough to push me past the edge.

technorati tags: jim loman, flock, screwed, sucks, danakin, junior, college

A Camping I will Go...

2006-03-29T00:25:00.000-06:00

...next year. But first, I gotta get some gear. Basic cooking, sleeping, etc. And a nice flashlight.

"But Lackey, what brings this craziness up?"

Well, history did. I should say, the History Channel did, because that would be closer to the truth. They were running a show on cannibalism, and some of us started to discuss the survival benefits of cannibalism, and who would be good to eat, and what parts. That led in to survival techniques, and that led to camping.

So I wanna go camping. Again. It's been a while. Last time was at least a year ago with Matt, RK, Rozz, Mark and Jonathan. We went to Big Bear Lake State Park (I think). It was nice. Twenty to thirty something miles of hiking, of which we did about three in the pitch black of night (only the leader could use the flashlight, for several reasons. One reason was that the other flashlight had died of unknown causes). So now we need to get a new place up here. There are several designated places, but suprisingly, there are only a few places you can actually camp in the Keeweenaw. Sure, you could always rough it in some backcountry forest up here, but up here there ARE wolves and there ARE bears. And they WILL eat you.

Next year I plan to spend a lot of my time outdoors. I really want to go fishing a lot more. It's one of those passions that I have that I never get to do really. It was so much easier in the south. I will most likely bring up my fly-rod and vest, along with some tying materials and a vise. I remember I was excellent at tying flies. There are very few things I actually excel at, but that was one of them. I'm also planning on getting a new rod for my nice Rhino reels I got several years back. They have been sitting in my desk drawer for some time.

I should probably get a decent bike while I am at it. I wont want to drive every morning to class, and a bike is a good way to get around up here. I'll most likely have my moped up and running, so thats some good fresh air riding as well (and I learned that I don't need to insure it, since it is only 49cc, and is not considered a liability, or something to that extent).

Speaking of next year, I started registering for classes today. The way it works up here at Michigan Tech is more of a race than registration. There are only so many seats open per class, and only a certain group of people can register at a time, going from most credits earned first to least registering last. The process is completely web-based as well. So when 10pm hits, there are a good 1000+ students vying for that seat you want. The servers go nuts and slow up for a while, and then you find out how many classes you actually got in to. The minimum for a full time student is 12.

I got 9.

Yeah. It sucks. I should be able to get the other 7 credits of classes no problem if I talk to someone tomorrow (that someone being my advisor). I've already sent emails around, which secured my spot in the enterprise I am joining. There are 6 seats open in one of the three credit classes I need, and 17 seats in the other 3 credit class I need. That puts me at 16 credits for the semester. Tack on a physical education class, and there's 17.

Know what the greatest part is? With those 16 credits, I don't have a single class on Tuesdays. Now, if my advisor screws this up (which is entirely possible) I may have to redo my entire, and yes I mean entire, schedule. Which would suck. I'm thinking I'm set though.

So my next step is to get some work done this week. I have a certification exam for the American Concrete Institute I have to get done. Once that's finished, I just have the lab portion of the exam to do. I get two tries on each test, and I can restart once if I know I screwed up. Basically, three tries. I dont think I will have a problem here.

So, take it easy.

technorati tags: danakin, camping, michigan, registration

Flickrites...

2006-03-27T10:30:00.000-06:00

Flickrites...
Originally uploaded by danakin.

I suppose I'm making a point, 'cause people sure are listening!

Good Man

2006-03-26T02:09:00.000-06:00

Well, sometimes my life just don't make sense at all
When the mountains look so big
And my faith just seems so small

So hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory
Won't You be my Prince of Peace

And I wake up in the night and feel the dark
It's so hot inside my soul
I swear there must be blisters on my heart

So hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory
Won't You be my Prince of Peace

Surrender don't come natural to me
I'd rather fight You for something I don't really want
Than to take what You give that I need
And I've beat my head against so many walls
Now I'm falling down, I'm falling on my knees

And this Salvation Army band is playing this hymn
And Your grace rings out so deep
It makes my resistance seem so thin

I'm singing hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory
Won't You be my Prince of Peace

You have been King of my glory
Won't You be my Prince of Peace

beautiful

2006-03-25T00:12:00.000-06:00

beautiful
Originally uploaded by danakin.

Jill drew me a picture, and even though her drawing skills are not that great, I really wanted to work with it. You can't really tell what the picture was, but it was basically the outline of a female body. Nothing supermodel like at all. Just an average girl. But average doesn't have to mean "not pretty." It means everything but. Your curves could be wierd, you might have a flat chest, you might have an overly large chest, you might be missing a tooth, you might have super thin hair, you might have no hair at all, you might have a disfigurement. But that doesnt mean that you aren't pretty. There are people who love you just the same. You need to know that.

I love Jill, for all of her beauties and imperfections. She is beautiful.

On deck

2006-03-22T01:20:00.000-06:00

Got a song coming for you. Mississippi. Should be good. Working on the music tomorrow in free time. Think 29 by Ryan Adams, but this will probably be sung by someone decidedly NOT Ryan Adams. Same bluesy feel to it. And it's all about the wonderful state of Mississippi. Yeah, Mississippi is great. So many wonderful thunderstorms that just roll in over the night, and you can hear them coming for miles. That and the trains coming down the tracks, blowing their horn to let the night owls know that the railmen still live. And they're always on time.

Tura lura lura!

2006-03-19T03:11:00.000-06:00

Just want to let you know that The Few No More now has songs up for download. Not the greatest quality, but good anyway. Enjoy.

St. Pattys was fun. To sum it up for you, "Don't be that guy."

I just wanna say, Jill is cool. She's gonna be a nurse, and she knows all that stuff. It's awesome having a lady who can diagnose your problems for free. Then, she tops that off with singing. I wish I could see her tomorrow when she does her solo. She plays guitar pretty well too. I think she's better than me. Not only that, but she also plays Guild Wars. When we aren't together we can still do things together. Cool.

I hear all these bad things about people's girlfriends and their destructive habits and obsessive ways. The only complaints I have with Jill is that she doesn't smile enough and sometimes needs to talk up more. That's nothing. Those aren't even really bad.

Got several things to do. First off, once I'm done with this, sleep. When I wake up, gonna cook some Red Lobster style biscuits (by the way, don't ever have Bakke search for ingredients in a cabinet). I hope they turn out all right. Then I got all sorts of stuff to keep me busy, including 2 papers and a group assignment (which I'm doing alone). I hope I can sit down sometime and just read tomorrow. Got the room cleaned decently finally so I can. Reading Jonny Cash's autobiography still.

Johnny Cash was a cool guy. Kinda a "rags to riches to rags to great guy once more" tale. How cool do you have to be to have the Prime Minister of Jamaica order the nations soldiers to guard your house? In his later years, he was a really down to earth guy, with an amazing sense of home. It's the only way I can describe it. I think it was Autumn who didn't want to see Walk the Line because it just showed Cash's bad side in his youth. But at the end, you see that he changes. He really did. Anyone who can take a Nine Inch Nails song and make it into such a powerful piece of art, even turning it into a Christian theme, is awesome in my book.

This post is about Guild Wars

2006-03-17T02:10:00.000-06:00

Our guild isn't that great. But we have fun. Most of the time. Some dudes are breaking off because they want a more PvP oriented guild. Meh. I like both PvP and PvE. Some people that are breaking off can't grasp that concept.

One dude said I can't play. That's a lie. Went 21-0 in Team Arenas today. How can I not play? You mean, that's a bad thing to win so much?

In any case, environment is going to get much more relaxed at Northern Brethren.

Nordic Beastmen...That is the other guild. Conan. Mighty power!

It's gonna end up failing. Cause no one can meet his requirements. Including himself. But don't say I told you that...(even though I did).

Songs Up For Download

2006-03-16T00:06:00.000-06:00

Yeah, pick yourself up off the floor. There are two songs ready for your eager ears.

The Few No More on PureVolume

The songs are not the greatest when played in the PV player, and SHS sounds downright horrible through it. Maybe if they are downloaded it will be all better. Check it out...

TMJ sucks

2006-03-15T23:36:00.000-06:00

I wish my nightguard would help get rid of my jaw popping and locking faster. Instead, it just keeps getting worse. Basically, it sucks. It's kinda hard to even opn my jaw now. I really don't want to go through the same stuff Jenn did, especially because it is expensive (actually, only because of that. The surgery part doesn't bother me). So I'm sticking with the plastic mouthpiece from hell for now.

One song Down, several more to go. Bakke finished up "Crushed" and will be uploading it to the site, where you may download it for free. Personally, I enjoy the older vocals more (they were more powerful and felt stronger, even though not as refined).

Scheduling for classes. Wishing the rest of my major's courses would be put online so I could schedule. So far, not much. And sucks. Yeah. What does that even mean?

It means I'm tired. Night...

It's coming...

2006-03-14T23:42:00.000-06:00

http://myspace.com/thefewnomore

Nothing up there yet, but hopefully we can get this done. Spread the words, yo. Hype it. A lot. Because it's gonna be average. Brace yourself for the mediocre. Take a walk in the rain, and find yourself in winter.

Seriously.

Ok. Well, I'm a bit frustrated. No real reason. I'm just getting very sick of people. I even snapped at Jill yesterday. I really just need a tent and a good book, and maybe much better weather so I can go and camp in said tent and read said book.

Said book would be Johnny Cash's autobiography, Cash. I'm a good ways into it, and so far, it is amazing. I reccomend it to anyone looking for a good read.

In any case, I'm finding it really hard to tolerate the people whose company I enjoy, much less those I don't. There's something to say about that. I've been ticked at just about everyone in the past three and a half days, and for no good reason. Little things they do that I all of a sudden notice, or things they say that make them sound completely idiotic and arrogant, or things they do the prove they are far too cocky for their own damn good.

I need to get away from the snow. Sunday night we had nothing on the ground, and a balmy 48 degrees. Monday, it snowed. Mountains of snow. Professors were stuck on campus, couldnt see 15 feet out the window for 12 hours on end kind of snow. About 32 inches in no time flat. My first class today was optional due to the snow, so I took the time to do work...in my head...in my dreams.

Gonna redo this template. Sometime. Kinda getting sick of it. Gonna write my own later. Or just change it up. One or the other.

Oh, the scale Jill got me is awesome. Bakke will agree, I believe. Thanks Fuzzball!

technorati tags: danakin, flock, Cash, Johnny Cash, houghton, snow, The few no more, myspace, Still sucks, template

Doot Doot Pause Doot Doot

2006-03-10T21:36:00.000-06:00

Man, today's been pretty sweet. Hung out with Solo at his house in Saginaw, and got all the body work done on his race car (old school Chevelle, lots o' fun). That took until about 8pm, at which point we headed into Midland for dinner with Bakke at Bennigans (burgers...mmmmmm).

Quick notes of interest...
Walk The Line was amazing. I honestly don't know how I feel about it, but I know it was good.
Check back next week for some FINISHED TFNM songs. I promise!
For those Flockstars, yeah, I'm still around. I'll be getting back to bug work in a week or so after some projects and exams are done this coming week. Kinda been slacking on that for a long time, and I'll get on it asap.

Got screwed by Electronics Boutique. Pre-ordered Guild Wars: Factions and got nothing but a reciept. No box, no codes, nothing. So we went to Best Buy and I pre-ordered there as well. so I'm down 6 bucks, no whoop.

Had a bad dream last night. Hope nothing like it ever happens in real life or I would go, quite literally, insane (and possibly mangle someone...). Let's just say it made me realize how protective I am of Jill, and how much I care for her (doesn't that sound cheesy...).

Working on a song. Ten Million Miles, Ten Million Years. So far, I have a title. And a few concepts that I want to work in to the song. I'll post a bit once I get it out of my head and into a notebook.

Also, got my summer options laid out. I could
A) Work in Midland
B) Work in the Chicago area
C) Do mission work all summer, the bulk of which in New Orleans doing deconstruction in a Haz-Mat suit.

I would absolutely love A or C, and C is my fall-back plan if I can't get an internship. It doesn't pay well in the short run (it's volunteer work, for the most part), but the NO, LA thing would be awesome experience, and would look sweet on a resume. Plus, I love that kinda thing. Might also go to Tanzania on mission. Who knows?

Deeds Undone

2006-03-07T01:20:00.000-06:00

Yeah, two posts, late night. One recipe, one song. Just like you like it.

Before the song, quick update for you all. Me and Jill are in the warmish suburbs of Chicago. Except it's a bit colder for me now. Shaved my head. Completely (#2 blade). Went from hippie to kinda-Irish-boxer-looking-dude in about 5 minutes. Cost me 15 bucks, which made me realize, that a 30 dollar haircutting kit would do wonders. Anyway, went clothes shopping with Jill today at Target. As usual, out of the maybe 20 things she tried on, 15 looked good on her, and out of those 15, she only bought 2. Still, the two she got are nice. She also got some weightlifting gloves, some hair dye, and something else, I forget. She was also feeling generous with her gift card, so she split the cost of a nice scale for me. It has a built in body fat measurement thingamajig, and can also tell you how hydrated you are. Pretty neat. Also, got a nice 32oz Nalgene/Lexan bottle to gank milk from the cafeteria with.

Song here is called "Highway to You." Wonderful lyrics by the Croe, and music by Matt and Ryan, no doubt. Working on remembering it, may get a recording out of me sometime, just to brush up (which reminds me, next week, there will be a TFNM song up for download, finished or not. Most likely, "Crushed"). Enjoy.

Highway To You
by jonathan Ault
C G Am
I'll sing a highway back to you.
Dm C G
I'll sing a highway back to you.
C E Am F
I’ll sing, and I’ll sing, yes I’ll sing, Oh I will sing
C G C
I’ll sing a highway back, to you
F Am G
I went walking in the forest yesterday,
Am E F-Fm
Into the hilled and living place.
C G Am
I tilted my head back inside a quiet glade
Dm Am G – C- Dm7
And sunlight trickled on my face.

I'll sing a highway back to you.
I'll sing a highway back to you.

F Am G
I've watched screens a-glow for hours at a time,
Am E F-Fm
Blue-empty as the summer's sky;
C G Am
While words went stumbling through my barren empty mind
Dm Am C
Before they sank down and they died.

F Am G
The moon thrills through me like thunder on the sea,
Am E F-fm
My heart, feels bigger than the world.
C G Am
My eyes are gritty and my palms are always wet . . .
Dm Am G-C-Dm7
The sky unravels and uncurls.

I'll sing a highway back to you.
I'll sing a highway back to you.

I walked slowly down a cobbled street today,
Beneath the autumn's music-spell.
A man with blackened arms beat out his hammer's tune;
It broke upon me like a bell.

So go smiling through the rain and cherish gray,
And treat the darkness as your friend.
Don't pray unless it brings some peace into your soul
And when you do, pray for the end.

I'll sing a highway back to you.
I'll sing a highway back to you.

I drink coffee black and bitter all the time
Because it helps me see the bars.
I know the hour the windy hill will fall to dust,
For I have seen it in the stars.

(Musical interlude)

It's hard thinking about anything these days
It's so much easier to dream.
'Till fever-like the daylight falls across my face,
And birdsong hits me like a scream.

I'll sing a highway back to you.
I'll sing a highway back to you.

I'll sing a highway back to you.
I'll sing a highway back to you.

Recipe

2006-03-07T01:18:00.000-06:00

CHEESE GARLIC BISCUITS AKA RED LOBSTER BISCUITS
2 c. Bisquick 2/3 c. milk 1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese 1/2 c. melted butter 1/4 tsp. garlic salt Mix Bisquick, milk and cheddar until a soft ball forms. Beat vigorously for 30 seconds. Drop by balls onto an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 450 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Mix butter and garlic and brush on rolls while still on the pan and hot.

Found this today. Folks at Tech....get ready....

Yakkity yak..ow my back!

2006-03-03T22:42:00.000-06:00

Won our soccer game yesterday. Freakin sweet. In related news, shin splints hurt. I really need some good running shoes so I can run for longer than 15 minutes before my shins compress or split or cramp or whatever they do that makes them feel not good.

Today, as in in the past 5 hours, my back has gotten really sore and tight. Sleeping should help that (sleeping on a mattress today, on a fold out. Awesome...). On the upside, I got to see my lovely lady, which made the pain much more bearable.

Posting through the Blogger interface for the first time in a long time, since I'm at the Bakke's. No Flock, and my intarweb portal from the ancient days (1999) is still in the van, locked in the lovely Dell laptop case. So, get this... I'm using IE6 right now. It really sucks. I keep middle clicking, and nothing happens. Bakke's dad, for some reason, won't use Firefox. Drives me nuts when I'm here. But, meh, I'll deal. I still have to get Jill's computer up and running again. Something funky going on there, but I honestly don't know what until I get my hands on the machine.

Gonna sleep or something now. Working on the racecar tomorrow at Solo's. Have no clue what needs to be done yet, but there's going to be enough people to help (me, Jill, Bakke, Lil Bakke, Solo, Solo's girlfriend, anyone else in the area that drops by).

List of classes

2006-03-01T20:51:00.000-06:00

OK, so it's still a good three weeks away, but I've gotta start looking at classes for next semester. The nominees are...

Architectural CAD/ Surveying software
Statics and Strength of Materials
Business Stats
Surveying and GIS Fundamentals
Structural Design and Analysis
Water and Wastewater Technology
Route and Construction Surveying
Accounting (no, no no!)
Construction Cost Estimating
Building Materials and Methods
Project Management
Principles of Economics
Principles of Marketing
Technical and Scientific Communication

That's all that I can take next semester. The list is more for my purposes, so I don't forget. Someone remind me about this post in two weeks after I get back.

Everyone seems to be feeling bad. I'm about to get some sleep, as is Solo, Josh, and half the hall. Grrr. Pretty sure this is all from the massive -11 degree to 33 degree temperature change. Or something.

I'll SEE you all on Friday.

technorati tags: danakin, mtu, flock, school, semester, scheduling, construction

In the Boat

2006-02-28T10:42:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm in about the same boat as Bakke was earlier this weekend. I can walk, but just barely. I have no clue how my leg got so screwed up. I was running, and it started to hurt, so I stopped and stretched, and went upstairs to do some lab report stuff. Then went to Tae Kwon Do, and after several kicks, the inside of my lower leg just started to kill. After sitting down to put on my shoes, I fell trying to stand up on the leg. Grrr....no fun. Luckily for me, we have Ibuprofen, BLTs and a nice hot water supply.

technorati tags: danakin, broken, leg, tae kwon do, flock

Resolutions Broken

2006-02-27T21:15:00.000-06:00

Stuck with the all-fruit diet a whole no meals, since I realized there is no fruit up here for me to subside on. Still, eating much less.

Wanna see the monitors we got? Hokay....

technorati tags: danakin, flock, monitor, resolution, broken, diet, fruit

Hehehehehe.....

2006-02-27T12:38:00.000-06:00

Giddy like a little schoolgirl right now...

Why? 15 free monitors, thats why!!!! 21 inchers, 17 inchers (nice Viewsonics at that), and an old IBM relic. SWEET!

technorati tags: danakin, mtu, monitors, free, flock

This Week the Trend...

2006-02-26T23:12:00.000-06:00

...is detoxification. Mainly, switching up my diet to mostly fruits and veggies, with a turkey sandwich or BLT thrown in every so often. For protien, good old whey powder milkshakes. Gonna see how this works out, especially considering the only fruits in the cafeteria are apples, bananas and oranges. Gonna hafta make me some applesauce too.

Note: I fully expect to break this diet by Wednesday...

Other goals:
Run a full 25 minutes at mile/10 minutes
Run an 8 minute mile
Hit 165 lbs
Not suck

Fully doable. I guess.

technorati tags: danakin, detox, fruit, diet, blt, turkey, whey, milkshake, applesauce, flock

On stuff

2006-02-26T20:33:00.000-06:00

Well, the Fox channel up here sucks hardcore. It freezes every 3 minutes due to a bad job switching over to digital. Grrr. At least the race and Family Guy were good.

In other news, my first eBay purchase is taking forever to get shipped. The seller's rating has tanked since I won the auction, with most people complaining of the same things going on with me: seller takes forever to ship and won't respond to emails. If they don't get back to me soon, I'll post the seller info.

I got a FlickrPro account. Weee!

I am also a Prayer Room chaplain now, and I'm happy about that. www.theprayerroom.com

I am also joining IME, Bakke and Lew's enterprise. I am starting by helping out with cement and concrete testing, and I'll be doing something else. Marketing, local promotion, learning how to code, etc.

I am also going to work out downstairs...right about now.

technorati tags: danakin, Flickr, pro, prayer room, IME, Bakke, Lew, Flock, eBay

Reading material

2006-02-26T14:07:00.000-06:00

Been reading Theo Lang's "The Word and the Sword." Quite interesting, and so far pretty good. The novel revolves around Pontious Pilate, and his work before Christ was to be crucified.

One thing I have never understood is people saying that crucifixion couldn't have killed Jesus. In those days, crucifixion was used quite often, kinda like lethal injection today.

Also been wrestling with some craziness in my head over the past couple nights. Thank goodness for The Prayer Room. Lots of support there, as well as with Jill. I'm so glad she's so supportive. I love her so much.

Hehe, KWay's myspace... "I don't know where I'd be without her..." How about Michigan Tech? That sounds about right.

Wonderful

2006-02-25T01:24:00.000-06:00

Kinda a poem/song thing. First thing I've written not pertaining to class in a long while. Gotta get back into it. No real form or whatnot, but hopefully you get it. Enjoy...

_____________________________________________________________

Wouldn’t it be wonderful
If we could all be the way we wanted ourselves to be?
All those nasty habits disappear?
All those embarrassing problems faded into nothingness?
And you could finally play guitar
And you could finally paint the ocean
Yeah, something you only wish for
Something you wish you could strive for
But when you try you fall so hard
And the bruises are discouraging
And the cuts leave you shamed
But wouldn’t it be wonderful?
That moment of breakthrough
That recognition that you have evolved
Metamorphosis
A brand new creature
Something lovable again
Something clean again
Something strong again
But wouldn’t it be wonderful?
I’ve heard there is a way
I’ve heard there is one way
But the path is rough
And the path is not compromising
And you will fall
And you will bruise and you will bleed
And the scars will become your cocoon
And someday you can break free
Won’t it be wonderful?

Job search

2006-02-24T12:44:00.000-06:00

So far I have contacted the following places looking for summer internships

Bennet Construction (shot me down cold)
Three-S Construction (so far, nothing)
Gerace Construction (left a voicemail with an owner)
Hatfield Construction (will call me when business picks up in the spring)
Three Rivers Construction (havent gotten through, blocking my phone card with a telemarketer device)
Heineman and Sons (no clue what went on there, but I got turned down. Guy kept repeating "Don't let this hinder you...more power to you...no hard feelings...etc")
Kiewit Eastern (so far, most likely place to get a job with)

I have several more Midland calls (going to see about Fisher Sand and Gravel [Christian owned company as I remember, and I really wanna drive a front end loader!]) and then I'll be going through Naperville, and applying online at places.

technorati tags: danakin, jobsearch, construction, rejected, kiewit, flock

Finally!

2006-02-24T01:15:00.000-06:00

I read Questionable Content. I've been waiting for this to happen for a long time in the comic. Finally did. Woot!

I've started something

2006-02-22T21:57:00.000-06:00

I need to sleep. It would be the reccomended thing to do. Bakke is still on my bed, due to his ankle injury. I am on the floor still, since I have this subconcious problem that wont let me get to sleep on a top bunk. So a bed is going to feel amazing whenever I get it (2 weeks on the floor so far).

Tomorrow is one of those make or break days. Depending how it goes, my weekend will be wonderful, or I'll be down. Nothing big that I have to do, but it is a chance to redeem myself in Tae Kwon Do (I'm the 7 year black belt, they're the 7 week white/yellow belts...why can't I land a good kick?) and to get some work done.

I sent an email to my mom explaining how frustrated I was that every time we have a break of any length she wants me to come home for at least part of it. I really don't get to see my friends often, and the traveling for 4+ days on a 8 day vacation kills my sense of relaxation. I may have been a little mean in the email though, and I didn't mean to be at all. I just want to have a break that I can choose what to do without worrying about making the requisite Naperville stop.

Anyway, I have started making cards for Jill with Photoshop. I hope she enjoys them. I may post some of the better ones here later.

technorati tags: danakin, flock, jill, doornbos, bakke, spring break, vacation, mom

Bad Day, LA

2006-02-21T23:53:00.000-06:00

Woke up, had caffiene, looked like it was gonna be a good day.

Went to tae kwon do. Didn't do too hot sparring. I blame it on sickness, and the fact that I was going light to not kill them.

Then went to the job fair. Couldn't find my dress pants, so went in jeans. Luckily, I talked to only a construction company, and they understand that sort of thing.

Then went to geo lab. Last group out. Got clipped by a car as I came back. Just got my coat, but still...

Was still ticked off about the TKD thing, so went to run with Lew. Got on the treadmill, set my iPod in the cupholder thingy, started running. Knocked the iPod on to the treadmill, iPod went flying. Turned to pick it up, while on treadmill, and I went soaring (but stayed upright). So ticked off I ran 2 miles. Then did abs.

Then ate.

Then beat Tales of Symphonia.

Then played guitar.

Now blogging.

Will sleep soon.

technorati tags: danakin, flock, ipod, crappy, day

I'm so Proud of Me!

2006-02-20T23:30:00.000-06:00

Made my first ever eBay purchase today: 115 Titanium Drill Bits for 28 bucks.

Other things I have bid on:
Mario Kart: Double Dash (Currently winning)
Nikon CoolPix 4300 (Currently winning)
Nikon CoolPix 8400
A 1.14ct 14k White Gold ring

technorati tags: danakin, ebay, titanium, flock

Unity

2006-02-20T15:08:00.000-06:00

There's been some nasty stuff flying around the Flock forums and mailing list pertaining to an analogy made by a chap named David. The basic analogy was that one program (which converted extensions to be compatible with Flock) treated the extension like a lady, while the other program treated the extension as if it were a serial rapist. The analogy was in bad taste, but what was even worse was the fallout from it.

Since then, there have been harsh rebukings, retorts, defenses, apologies, finger pointing, and much more. It has already driven David away from the Flock project, as well as several others on the mailing list and forums. Yeah, the analogy was kinda funny, and yes, it was also in bad taste. But the way the two parties handled it was atrocious. It was like watching a highschool clique fight all over again.

Basically, there are some people who feel nobody can be offended, and will fight to the teeth to make sure that absolutely nothing will offend ANYONE. On the other hand, there are people who will say whatever they please. There were some ridiculous statistics thrown about, and there were ridiculous retorts.

The bottom line is that this kind of thing should be resolved behind closed doors, privately. Since it was all out in the public, a lot of ugliness reared its head.

Bad move, guys.

My New Disease

2006-02-19T22:14:00.000-06:00

I don't feel great. Been suffering from a myriad of symptoms over the past two days. Sore throat, headache, sinus headache, dizziness, extreme achiness, diarhea, upset stomach, extreme tiredness, weakness, shivers, fever, and lack of appetite. Needless to say, not fun. I'm feeling somewhat better today (about 75%) compared to yesterday (25%).

Gonna get me a job. Not sure where yet, but there are several places that I will apply to on Tuesday during the job fair. Kiewit is the big daddy of the employers I'll be hitting then. They have an office in Chicago (Elgin, actually) and look like a great place to work. If all the companies give me a thumbs down, I will be applying to a ton of construction firms in Midland and Naperville (I'll be doing this regardless). Honestly, I am hoping that Bennet or Three Rivers in Midland gives me a summer internship, because I really want to be with my friends this summer. Not to mention the crazy racing antics of Solo I will be able to be part of (figure 8 bus races!).

Speaking of jobs, my mom is really nervous about starting work tomorrow. Pray for her.

I completely forgot about the NAMB (North American Mission Board). I had been set on IMB (International) but who knows?

Oh, Flock .5.11+ released! Go check it out!

technorati tags: danakin, imb, namb, sick, flock, hahn, solo

Goodness, it's cold!

2006-02-18T02:44:00.000-06:00

Grrr.....-3 degrees out right now, with that fog-like snow that whips around whatever head covering you are wearing and chills you to the core. It really bites you hard. Luckily I am inside. However, I have to get up sometime and "play" broomball later. They want me to play goalie. I want to sleep. What do you say to that, 1950s society?

Played a ton of Guild Wars today. Deserved it. Had to sit through quite a bit of stuff in class, and then had a nice 2 hour cement/agg lab. Who would have thought that one cubic foot of typical Portland cement had a density of 180 pcf? Eh, it was all good.

There's some movie with Jim Belushi and Ahnold Schwarzenegger on right now. Not watching anymore, but I wish I could remember the name of the movie.

Highlights of my day:

Got to Cement/Agg 15 minutes late, and class ended 10 minutes early (for once)
BLT day in the cafeteria
Cement/Agg lab; finally getting into Portland cement. Good stuff
Ascended my N/W in Guild Wars, and then made a (semi) successful Tombs run. Then captured one of the best skills, and killed Glint ("toughest" boss to beat).
Ran 3/4 miles before realizing that my calves are killing me. And so is my groin
Pondered how Solo and I are approximately the same size and how he can be 35 pounds less than me
4am and I am still not sleeping
Made meatballs
Ate said meatballs

I'm gonna kill Steve Jobs...

2006-02-15T22:16:00.000-06:00

...if I see that "Intel set free" ad one more time. Ripped off a Postal Service video scene for scene, and then claiming that the Intel processor has been "trapped" doing boring operations. Ya know, like gaming. Or photo editing, video editing, distributed computing, coding, audio editing, web browsing, communicating, organizing, downloading, or even acting as a still (search for "x86 still" and you'll see what I mean). Also, I'm removing the VERB "Google" from my vocabulary. Bad Google! Bad! I will of course, still be using it as a verb in flame wars (Go google your mom!).

Good Life

2006-02-15T21:41:00.000-06:00

Softly Now,
You owe it to the world
And everyone knows that you're my favourite girl
But there's some things in life that are not meant to be
I'm not meant for you and your not meant for me
Here's to our problems
And here's to our fights
Here's to our achings
And here's to you having a Good life
From Me
Good Life
Softer Now,
You owe it to yourself
And don't think that you will be left on the shelf
Cause there's someone for you and there's someone for me
Like me you'll meet them eventually
Here's to your lover
And here's to my wife
Here's to your children and here's to you having a good life
From Me
Good Life

Louder Now,
You've lost all your pain
You're married with children and happy again
And now I'm regretting the move that I made
Fatal mistakes are so easily made
Enough of my problems they only cause fights
Forget that I rang you
And promise you'll have such a
Beautifully happy and painlessly romantic
Good life
From Me
Good Life

Great song from the Scrubs soundtrack (By Francis Dunnery). In fact, the entire album is awesome. There is a version of "Hallelujah" that works wonderfully (it is used in the episode where JD, Turk and Elliot all have their first experience with a patient dying), along with Colin Hay's song "Overkill" (lyrics follow...).

I can't get to sleep
I think about the implications
Of diving in too deep
And possibly the complications

Especially at night
I worry over situations
I know I'll be alright
Perhaps it's just imagination

Day after day it reappears
Night after night my heartbeat shows the fear
Ghosts appear and fade away

Alone between the sheets
Only brings exasperation
It's time to walk the streets
Smell the desperation

At least there's pretty lights
And though there's little variation
It nullifies the night from overkill

Day after day it reappears
Night after night my heartbeat shows the fear
Ghosts appear and fade away
Come back another day

I can't get to sleep
I think about the implications
Of diving in too deep
And possibly the complications

Especially at night
I worry over situations
I know I'll be alright
It's just overkill

Day after day it reappears
Night after night my heartbeat shows the fear
Ghosts appear and fade away
Ghosts appear and fade away
Ghosts appear and fade away

Hahn Racing

2006-02-15T21:33:00.000-06:00

Narcolepsy, My Inner Pains, and A Guy Named Jim

2006-02-15T12:05:00.000-06:00

I have class-induced narcolepsy...the second I walk into class I fall asleep.

Not really, but I am really tired. I need to sleep, but I can't until around 6 tonight (class, then an exam, and homework between now and then).

I love Jill so much. It's a shame I cannot spend Valentines with her anymore, but I know we have time later in the year to see each other.

Alexa often asks me if it is hard to spend so much time apart from Jill, and most of the time I tell her that I can get by easily with telecommunication and the like. That's a lie. My relationship with Jill isn't everything that it should be, but I love her, and I support her with whatever she wants to do in life. Being away from her while she has to make all the big decisions is icredibly painful. I get to see her only a feww weeks of the year. She was up at Tech last weekend, and it was the longest I had been with her since summer. I was so relaxed.

Jill is going into nursing, which is awesome. She can be like all the wacky nurses and doctors on Scrubs (not entirely true [Speaking of Scrubs, I have seasons 1 and 2, and they are awesome! Thank you Jill!]). We will work for a while in our respective fields (me in construction) for a while before heading out on to the mission field. Also, we will have to go through some seminary classes before we can go.

My sister, Jennifer got a tatoo for her 18th birthday. It looks cool, and I wouldn't mind having one, but I have multiple reasons for not getting one. First, in the mission field, we will be interacting with various cultures, and some may find tatoos taboo. That would be bad. Also, there are cases where we may have to keep our Christianity hidden for the sake of our lives and those around us. A tatoo of a cross would jeopordize everything. Secondly, I have never been a fan of tatoos (for the most part), as I consider most of them trashy. Not to say they cannot be art, but many come across as poorly done.

I still haven't hit up that homework yet. Might as well get it done now, before it is due...

technorati tags: danakin, tatoos, jill, cross, scrubs

Wow...

2006-02-13T08:45:00.000-06:00

So I just skipped a class because I believed my dream was real...that I was stuck in Mexico and couldn't catch my plane to Spain in time, so I had to work that out...wow....

Dandelions

2006-02-12T23:10:00.000-06:00

It's not hard for me to say sorry, it's just hard for me to fix what I have broken. There is only one outside person who knows what I'm going through right now, and it will stay that way for now. I really wish I was back to the old me, but that's gonna take some time.

I'll figure this out, I promise.

technorati tags: danakin, flock, sorry

Singbird, Songbird

2006-02-09T12:51:00.000-06:00

http://www.songbirdnest.com/home

This is very neat. I haven't played with it too much, and it's in a 0.1 release, so it isn't the greatest, but man! Open source iTunes killer! Rock on! Right now it's only out for Windows, but it will be out for Linux and MacOS soon.

technorati tags: songbird, flock, open, source, opensource, danakin

Grrr

2006-02-08T12:07:00.000-06:00

Jills plane had a bad propeller. Which means it's one less hour for me to be with her....

My King

2006-02-08T00:28:00.000-06:00

My King was born King; the Bible says He's the seven-way King.
He's the King of the Jews- that is a racial King.
He's the King of Israel - that's a national king.
He's the King of righteousness,
He's the King of the ages,
He's the King of heaven,
He's the King of glory,
He's the King of kings and
He is the Lord of lords.
Now, that's my King.

"Well, I wonder if you know Him do you know Him?
Don't try to mislead me - do you know my King?
David said, "The heavens declare the glory of God
and the firmament shows His handiwork."
My King is the only one, whom there is no means of measure can define His limitless love.
No far-seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoreless supplies.
No barriers can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing.
He's enduringly strong, He's entirely sincere, He's eternally steadfast, He's immortally graceful, imperially powerful, He's impartially merciful.

That's my King. He's God's Son, He's the sinner's Saviour. He's the centrepiece of civilisation, He stands alone in Himself. He's awesome, unique, unparalleled -
He's unprecedented.

He's the miracle of the age. He's the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him. He is the only one able to supply all of our needs simultaneously. He supplies strength for the weak. He's available for the tempted and the tried. He sympathises and He saves.
He foreguards and He guides.
He heals the sick.
He cleanses the lepers.
He forgives sinners.
He discharges debtors.
He delivers the captives. He defends the feeble. He blesses the young. He serves the unfortunate. He regards the aged.
He rewards the diligent, and He beautifies the meek. Do you know Him?

Well, my King is the King of knowledge.
He's the wellspring of wisdom, He's the doorway of deliverance.
He's the pathway of peace, He's the roadway of righteousness, He's the highway of holiness, He's the gateway of glory.
He's the Master of the mighty, He's the Captain of the conquerors, He's the Head of the heroes and He's the Leader of the legislators!
He's the Overseer of the overcomers, He's the Governor of the governors.
He's the Prince of princes, He's the King of kings, and He's the Lord of lords.
That's my King.

His office is manifold and His promise is sure. His light is matchless,
His goodness is limitless.
His mercy is everlasting and His love never changes.
His Word is enough, His grace is sufficient.
His reign is righteous, His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
Well, I wish I could describe Him to you, but He's indescribable!
He's incomprehensible, invincible, irresistible.

I'm trying to tell you the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him,
let alone a man explain Him!
You can't get Him out of your mind. You can't get Him off of your hands.
You can't outlive Him and you can't live without Him!
Well, Pharisees couldn't stand Him but they found out they couldn't stop Him.
Pilot couldn't find any fault in Him.
The witnesses couldn't get their testimonies to agree and Herod couldn't kill Him.
Death couldn't handle Him and the grave couldn't hold Him.
That's my King!

He always has been and He always will be.
I'm talking about, He had no predecessor and He'll have no successor.
There was nobody before Him and there will be no one after Him.
You can't impeach Him and He's not going to resign.
That's my King!

Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory.
Well, all the power belongs to my King.
We around here talk about black-power, and white-power, and green-power, but it's God's power! Thine is the power and the glory!
We are trying to get prestige and honour and glory for ourselves but the glory is all His.
Yes, Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever and ever and ever
and ever (how long is that?) and ever
and ever and ever and ever.
And when you get through with all of the forevers, then - "Amen!"

- As inspired by Pastor Dr. Shadrach Meshach Lockridge.

Girls

2006-02-06T23:56:00.000-06:00

Jill is coming up TOMORROW!
Felicia is coming down with a bad symptom of denial.
Jenn has a tatoo.

technorati tags: danakin, girls, flock

Stupid China

2006-02-02T09:05:00.000-06:00

China, why do you have to be such a hater? Dontcha see that people everywhere just wanna be free? Well, do ya?

There's a shirt that Chris Messina designed. Plain text

"/join #revolution"

Revolution via the internet. Sounds like a plan.

New target. Spike in 3, 2, 1...

technorati tags: China, revolution, FactoryJoe, danakin

Electric sheep makes me happy!

2006-01-30T17:37:00.000-06:00

Wonderful screensaver. Distributed computing fractals, and it makes for an awesome show!

Electric Sheep

technorati tags: electric sheep, flock, hardy-har-har, get it?, sheep and flock, whatever, screensaver, danakin

HOMM5 Bugs

2006-01-30T13:01:00.000-06:00

There's a ton of them...

PLEASE NOTE THAT ONLY BUGS ARE LISTED HERE THAT ARE NOT ALREADY FLAGGED AS KNOWN IN THE README

- Initiative Queue (the bar at the bottom during combat) cannot display units with more than 99 troops. E.g. if you have 181 troops, it will display 81.

- Sometimes artifacts are picked up twice even though they are only there once. Happened to me with Iceberg Shield.

- Caster units do less damage when stacked higher. E.g. 40 elder druids will do very little more damage than 20 elder druids. Splitting them into 2 stacks of 20 does more damage than a stack of 40.

- Imbuing your arrows with lightning bolt for example does not trigger the bolt when you attack.

- Resource Silo for Preserve gives Gems instead of Crystals.

- Resource Silo for Inferno gives Sulfur instead of Mercury.

- Resource Silo for Necropolis gives Mercury instead of Wood and Ore.

- Resource Silo for Dungeon only costs 5000 Gold instead of 5000 Gold and 5 Ore.

- In combat, having units close by can overlap the count and thus hide it (especially nasty when its more than 100 and the bar below won't show it)

- Ring of Lightning protection actually makes lightning based spells 50% stronger (not sure if it still protects for 50% or not)

- Empowered spells do not work

- Game crashes for many users when transitioning between underground and above ground, likely due to intensive memory usage leading to desynchronization of the game. Users both experience a permanent hour glass cursor with most game functions becoming inaccesible.

- Several buttons are missing an icon and have script descriptions in the town menues.

- Text typed before/during battles may not show up until after the battle.

- Resources lack tooltip names.

- After the combat, the wrong was victorious against Y message pops up. Sometimes Y is empty and sometimes its the hero's own army.

- Bless spell increases damage instead of maximizing it.

- Curse spell decreases damage instead of minimizing it.

- Some skills cannot be chosen even if requirements are met (e.g. Disguise and Reckon)

- Cursors sometimes mess up when trying to enter a town. The Town Enter cursor often does not appear. (castle icon appears instead)

- Memory Leaks and people not being able to use the internet after having played H5 without a reboot.

- If not in the right camera angle, you sometimes cannot move your hero around at all until you realign your camera to another angle.

- Necromancy Amplifier gives a much larger percentage per town than it should. Having basic necromancy and 1 town (with amplifier) gave 90% revival. Also, higher tier units are revived at a much larger rate than low tier units.

- Underground movement path color can be red even for non combat which is confusing.

- Initiative bar at the combat bottom screen does not update continuously at times, showing old moves still.

- Mass version of spells miss tooltips and spell name (only have the icon).

- Devil's ability has no tooltip.

- Boarding/Leaving a ship should have its own cursor.

- No display for how long certain buffs last and if they still last.

- Using teleport on a 2x2 unit will only show a 1x1 square (which is the top right square of the 2x2 creature when teleported)

- Starting units too random, sometimes players will start with almost no units and sometimes with high level ones.

- Sword pointer in combat is unclear when attacking or using a 2x2 creature to attack. When attacking from left bottom for example, the creature would still move to right below the enemy to attack instead.

- War machines die before a spell effect hits them.

- First aid tent will ressurect units when healing them permanently if the hero can control the tent. It will also cure units of negative effects in this case.

- Militiamen do not give gold/day although the hero ability to increase the gold produced by militamen AND peasants suggests that they should.

- Female and Male heroes look the same.

- Under 1600x1200 chat text has problems displaying.

- Dragon Tomb Stone for Necropolis can be built before the dragon graveyard is built.

- After clearing a tomb, it is still flagged as visited />

- Rider and Minotaur building in Dungeon's city plan are switched.

- Raise Dead lets you keep the creatures even after battle.

- Flying and Teleport will not work across castle walls.

- Harmful touch (wraith ability) affects undead and mechanical units.

- Death Cloud (Lich ability) AoE affects mechanical units but not undead (should not affect either in AoE, should the actual target only)

- Necropolis allows you to buy a building called of Darkness which costs 1000 Gold and has for Second hero ability as description. This building is NOT on the city plan but will appear randomly when you open the buy menu and has no icon.

- Cycling through towns in the town menu temporarily makes 3 mouse cursors appear while loading.

- Mage guild gives 4 lvl 1, 4 lvl2, 3 lvl3, 3 lvl4 and 4 lvl5 spells instead of 3,3,2,2,1.

- Hero will cast a large shadow over the castle if standing near it from acertain angle.

- Camera is very restricted from rotating on the battle field and in towns.

- Tactics skill does nothing.

- Using/Exploiting Auto-Combat can give endless combat turns.

- Enemy hero's movement sound can be heard even when not nearby.

- No music on the adventure map.

- Clicking on a chest located near a staircase to above-ground can cause the hero to transition to above-ground instead of getting the chest if part of the movement path runs over the staircase.

- The necropolis hero ability that allows the hero to raise wights after combat only raises manes instead.

- When clicking on an unexplored area on the map, the area is explored for a short moment before it is covered up again.

- Viewing the map at a low camera angle draws the unexplored area's contours, allowing to see what is there. This is due to the game rendering the complete map in advance and thus also creating slower games.

- When starting a new game, the city exterior first looks built up completely before it changes to the actual state.

- Gargoyles and skeletons bleed when hit.

- Dwarven Mithral shield is equipped on armor slot.

- Great axe of giant slaying is one handed.

- Game sometimes randomly splits unit stacks into several stacks in combat. Happens most frequently in sieges.

- Hire creature icon is disabled while no fort is built. However clicking a creature generator open the same screen as if the buy button had been clicked.

- Royal Griffin Battle dive can be targeted on friendlies and it will hit.

- Necropolis' Great Mausoleum icon disappears temporarily when trying to build it when not sufficient resources are available.

- When clicking to build basic Academy upgradeable buildings, the upgraded building will flash on the city plan.

- Curse attack of wights and wraiths does not trigger.

- Wight/Wraith and Shadowdragons' incorporeal ability does not work.

- When joining a multiplayer game and the list refreshes while you e.g. type the password for a certain game, it will send you to the currently marked game instead of the one you selected.

- Creatures fly through obstacles and other creatures instead of over them.

- Camera can only be rotated one way on the battle field and only 180 />

- Creating a game with the same name as an existing one will prevent the user from creating further games until Heroes 5 is restarted due to a message calling creation already in progress when it is not.

- Week of the Priest spawns Cleric creatures around the map instead of Priests.

- Dragonscale Armor and Dragonscale Shield are to give an offensive / defensive ability respectively. I had 1 offensive + defensive ability not chosen yet (but available) and did not get it by equipping either these items. Similarly Dragon Mantle does not work in this respect.

- When being teleported by a portal or spell, the client will load the target area first and then hop back to the starting spot and slowly to the target location, thus slowing the teleport process dramatically and increasing usage of CPU for the client. This can be seen as the selection window on the minimap slowly moves from start to target location.

- First aid ability will not restore a destroyed tent after combat.

- Soulhunter ability to raise manes (not wights) will not trigger a display of the stack's death.

- Creature retaliation animation will sometimes trigger twice together with the sound. This is only the animaton and sound, the retaliation does not actually happen twice.

- Teleport spell in combat limits range and thus also prevents devils from freely teleporting.

- Thieves' Guild buy information button incorrectly says Buy Hero.

- Gating speed is unaffected by any gate skill/ability (besides Instant gating) and building boni due to the gated creature appearing as soon as the gating creature's next turn is over.

- Town portal spell teleports to the nearest unoccupied townis exploitable by moving a hero in the visiting slot and thus makingit possible to target which town one wants to teleport to.

- Initiative bar's unit status is often out of date.

- Spell effects cast on a creature are sometimes not listed in its properties (right click) when it already has many properties bestowed upon it.

- When targeting with a spell or attack, other boxes around the target are lit up green as well (in a lighter green) even though those boxes are irrelevant. Likely due to lighting.

- When moving onto the corpse of a dead unit or a unit dies on the corpse of another, the unit that first died cannot be selected anymore (for ressurection or otherwise)

- Master gremlins use the reload animation and then jump when moving. Gremlins use the attack animation and then jump when moving.

- Battle Diving royal griffins still count as blocking a ranged unit when in the air (if they were blocking before performing battle dive).

- Attack/take damage animations for many creatures are not timed properly.

- Negative morale of a unit freezes its position on the initiative bar for a significant amount of time.

- When using the build option in towns, all possible buildings light up yellow instead of just the one that is to be built, creating higher CPU usage.

- When repairing a dead golem (or likely ressurecting a dead creature) on a currently occupied field, the occupant will not be able to attack while the revived creature can attack the occupant.

- Blood witch attack displays unit death count twice (although only one counts)

- Actions taken during the wait time between turns queue up and may cause unwanted actions to occur.

- Similarly, actions are queued up during any wait duration or loading time (e.g. accessing town screen, hero screen etc).

- Impossible to see what week it is. Also no display of what which week does.

See Last Post

2006-01-30T11:50:00.000-06:00

Flock's blog editor sure does do some crazy formatting now and then...

technorati tags: Flock

That Front-End Loader's Gonna Kill Me Someday

2006-01-30T11:09:00.000-06:00

Seriously, it might. It's been following me ever since we had to take Fro to the hospital when he broke his back. Now it's right outside our dorm!

Not much to report. Got a new bank, with some money in my account. Jill's coming up in a week and a half. Flock 0.6 should be landing soon (think Wednesday, maybe pushed back a while).
On the downside, homework. Got some earthwork estimation to do, which is a bear. It's nothing too hard, but it takes forever. There's a reason this stuff is done with computers now. Basically, you make grids on the site, then calculate the amount removed per grid box, but if the gridbox goes from excavation to fill, then you have to subdivide and recalculate. Etc etc. Also, have a 2 page Environmental Geology paper due tomorrow, and a test in the same course on Wednesday.

On the upside, games. We've got them. I have every version of the old school RTS Total Annihilation, including Core Contingency and Battle Tactics. Also, I have Heroes of Might and Magic 3 and 5, Battlefield 2, Sim City 3000, and old reliable Guild Wars.

Nasty Nate Shafer got engaged. Congradulate him if you see him.

Solo's girlfriend and her sister are coming up this weekend.

We've started a Bible study, with me, Lew, Bakke and Solo. Gonna see if Felicia wants to join. Oh, and Figs dumped Felicia. BAD FIGS! BAD!

I like my Red Wing boots. So comfortable.

Kevin Mitnick can use the internet again. Woot!

This is a sentence I wrote!

This is called freewriting...

I really enjoy carpeting. Really, I do. The crap on the floors here sucks. I only say so because you cannot sleep comfortably on it without cushioning. Can't wait to move into the apartment.

The Questionable Content for today is not that great. Sad.

Chris Messina went to a Microsoft dinner? Suprising. I didn't peg him as the type to a) be invited to a Microsoft dinner and b) accept the invitation to the Microsoft dinner. Anyway, it's kinda cool. For those of you who don't know, Chris is kinda the voice of Flock. He did the presentation of Flock at Barcamp, and find's plenty of good things to talk about.

Been blocking people on Flickr. Wierd people. Who?

ashynich

mzuri_mjinga

holywaaaa

Various reasons for this. ashynich is freakin' MySpace wannabe. I cannot stand it. I took a picture a while back trying to be MySpacy. The emoness hurt! Literally!

That's all.

technorati tags: danakin

Search Analysis

2006-01-29T01:41:00.000-06:00

Search Analysis
Originally uploaded by danakin.

Click to see it better! You should see Bakke's analysis...

HOMM 5, Part 2

2006-01-28T02:26:00.000-06:00

Somehow got HOMM 5 to install. Don't know why it activated this time and not the others.

Impressions after playing for a while:
Gameplay and graphics are good. The world view is everything the HOMM world view has been, but 3d. Some of the towns are downright spectacular looking.
Interface is not good. At all. Does not feel like HOMM, look like HOMM, or interact like HOMM. Not intuitive really. The older games weren't terribly intuitive in town, but at least they weren't as cluttered.
The panning in towns makes me hurt....
Combat looks good, and the Necro units are sweet.
So are all the other units.
Still, it doesn't feel like HOMM should interface-wise.
Also, extremely slow when going in to battle or town. Probably just on my part (RAM needs a nice doubling), but this game taxes the computer. And you though BF2 was harsh...

I can definitely see the game being good; in 3-5 months time. Please, Nival and Ubi, please change the interface back to the classic one. It worked so well!

technorati tags: heroes of might and magic V, danakin

Week of Stuff

2006-01-27T22:11:00.000-06:00

Ok. So this week's highlights:

Our hall is infested with fruitflies. I've been killing them off, one by one with a bottle of cologne (knocks them to the counter instantly).

Tae Kwon Do is still cool. Bakke's not bad, but I think I could teach him quite a bit more and get him really good. Beyond the level of the class we take. They don't really emphasize perfection, which is bad. I'm out of shape when it comes to my kicks (and help me if I even attempt forms), but I remember what needs to be done. Knowing the techniques is a huge part of the discipline.

I've been busy with homework and stuff for the first time this semester. Spent two and a half hours in lab today going through procedures on aggregates. Could have saved two hours and twenty minutes by using a nuke gauge (if you really want me to explain what this is, ask).

People in this hall are kinda starting to tick me off. Not the guys I hang out with (though the debates have gotten completely ridiculous and pointless [hockey players have an advantage over those who have never skated in figure skating. Really]). It's more the freshmen at the end of the hall. One's a wigger, one's a drunk, and one isn't that bad, but victimizes himself. Ah well.

Worked out Monday, Tuesday and today. Gained several pounds, so I'm up around 173. That's alright for now, since it is muscle, and it is a visible improvement. Somehow Bakke couldn't do sit-ups on the incline bench, which I found suprising. I had no problem with the more level angles, but as it got steeper there was too much blood-rush to my head.

Got three things in the mail this week. First, I got the kick-paddle for Tae Kwon Do from Jill on Monday. On Tuesday I got my BarCamp shirt (and had to explain to everyone what BarCamp is [tech get-together. Everyone who attends must present, or help present. Cool stuff]). Then on Wednesday I got my refund from the school. Originally it was going towards an engagement ring, but it is going to pay for expenses for the rest of the year, including the down payment on our apartment (The Keypad... BaKKE, LacKEY, SoapcinsKY). So it's for food, oil changes, possibly a new blender (cause we've worn the 15 dollar Wal-Mart special to death already), and other stuff. I'm doing good not spending much money this month. Hoorah.

Downloaded the Heroes of Might and Magic V open beta. Not even going to bother to link it here. It looks extremely rushed, and isn't polished at all. Waited in line for 3 hours to get my download started, then waited another 6 hours for the stupid 756Mb file to finish downloading. When I finally started the install, it froze up halfway in. When I got it to install (three tries later) I was happy... until I went to play. There's copy protection software included in the game. Not like "Sony will rip out your hard drive and eat it alive, and then say it didn't do anything" copy protection. But neverthless, the copy protection sucks. Not because it fulfills it's primary purpose (prevent illegal distribution) but because it won't let me play the game with my legitimate access key. I've tried uninstalling, reinstalling, repairing, redownloading, even resyncing my system clock. Nothing helped.

Bakke got his copy to install fine. But it does have an annoying watermark on the screen, even in-game. Didur had problems with his graphics when it finally loaded up for him. The look and feel of the main menu is lacking. It's void; uninteresting. The graphics look great though, as promised...when they don't glitch out. And the beta requires you to get an Ubisoft account. I have tried multiple times to get an account. Each time it says I have successfully created one, it won't let me log in to validate. Grr.

Luckily, the hardcore HOMM fans such as myself are ticked, and are letting Ubi and Nival know it. www.saveheroes.org was put up shortly after the beta was released, and is drawing tons of attentiong to the game. The community wants to see the game's release pushed back in order to give the developers more time to make the game stand up to HOMM3 standards. Apparently, the game journalism industry had their rose-colored glasses on when reviewing the beta, because most gave wonderful, glowing reviews. The fans didn't agree, and protested. Today, Ubi released that the game would be pushed back at least "a month or more." However, they claim this decision was made before the beta came out. That's a lie. I know it, you know it. Ubi got caught releasing crap, and is terribly redfaced about it. All I can say is they better be working real hard over at Nival and Ubi. I expect revolution!

Enough about HOMM5, now on to Moral Orel. Man, I wish I was in Adult Swims' pockets. If Moral Orel were about Jews, there would be OUTRAGE! The show is funny, don't get me wrong, but I'm sick of the stupid double standard that's out there. "Can't make fun of anyone's beliefs...except Christians." The show rails on a very incorrect stereotype of Christians that the media seems to pick up constantly. If the jokes were turned around, satirizing the gay community, the Jewish community, the Muslim community, or nearly anyone else, there would be riots to take it off the air for not being sensitve to these cultures. But this makes fun of Christian culture, therefore it is OK. Something is seriously wrong there.

There were some good lines though. In a scene where Orel is trying to resurrect his dead grandfather (because by being dead he is sinning by rejecting God's gift of life) using the Necronomicon, his friend notes "That doesn't sound very Protestant, Orel." "Well at least it's not Catholic."
In another scene, Orel is awed at his dad's idea, and says "Boy, you're right dad!" "Well, that's why they call me dad. And not mom."

Okay. Time for some chocolate pie, and maybe some gaming till my eyes bug out. Or, quite possibly....

ROCK LOBSTER!!!!!

...or guitar.

technorati tags: save heroes, moral orel, tae kwon do, danakin, necronomicon, FTW

What a Dick

2006-01-24T16:39:00.000-06:00

BREITBART.COM - West Poses As Jesus for Rolling Stone

technorati tags: kanye west

AT&T and their "Blogging" campaign...

2006-01-22T17:46:00.000-06:00

att blogging campaign
Originally uploaded by spcoon.

Obviously, AT&T has no clue what a blog is...

"Let's take a new trend/niche and market it!"
"Well, what in tarnation is a blog?"
"I don't know, but they sure are popular! Make me a billboard saying that we deliver blogs!"
"But sir, we don't even know..."
"Nonsense, the public won't realize that! We're hip now. See our new logo? That symbolizes our jump into GenX!"
"Sir, GenX was..."
"Why aren't you designing me a billboard?! Faster, marketing guy! Draw, draw!"

Ha!

2006-01-22T01:36:00.000-06:00

The Few No More

2006-01-20T00:29:00.000-06:00

The Few No More
Originally uploaded by danakin.

Well, it's coming along. The end of The Few No More is near. With the release of our album, TFNM will cease to be, and we will all go our separate ways. Bakke and I have some stuff we will do, and Ryan and Matt will do some stuff, and we may all do some stuff together. I guess the gist of this is there will be stuff done.

The CD isn't completed yet, nor is it named. We were going to name it "You're Gonna Carry That Weight", and those who are hardcore can call it that if you wish. In any case, here is the album art I have come up with. It may change, since I am feeling particularly creative, and it may even become a pencil sketch. Or not.

Flock, FTW?

2006-01-19T13:25:00.000-06:00

do this....

Back! Today only!

2006-01-18T01:13:00.000-06:00

Quick updates;

Bakke now has Cubase SX running. The old version he had got messed up (and was 2ish years old). We will be getting the TFNM stuff pushed out quickly. To those in the band, do you care if we put Creative Commons licenses on it? I will put the lyrics in the ID3 tags, so you can have those. The technology is available, but noone seems to do it. Well, we will.

I have Tae Kwon Do. I am out of shape. Crap. But I have the knowledge of all the techniques, which means I can relearn and retrain my body pretty fast. I don't really like the setup of the class, since we spend 1 day on concepts that can take several classes just to get the basics down.

Speaking of TKD, emailed Master Angel about some stuff; notably about my Black Belt certificate. It has been 3 years now, and I still have not recieved it.

Still, I need to drop about 20 pounds. Talked to Alexa about this. Told her I was gonna hibernate. That's a little joke there. I can't hibernate, that would be unnatural. Anyway, I'm around 170, which is pretty high for me. My peak is 175. My ideal is around 155. I'm shooting for 150, and will probably only hit 155ish. I just need to figure out how to do this effectively. Thinking about using this workout routine:

Monday & Thursday
Upperbody Program

Warmup 5:00 / stretch

Repeat 5-10 times
Pushups - 10-20
Regular Crunches - 20
Bench dips - 10-20
Reverse Crunches - 20
Pullups - max reps
Hanging Knee up
Stretch abs/lowerback

Cardio option 20-30:00
Run, bike, walk, swim etc

Tuesday & Friday
Legs and Love Handles

Repeat 4-5 times
Walk, bike or jog 5:00
Stretch legs
Squats - 20
Lunges 10 / leg
Left crunches - 25
Right crunches - 25
Hip rollers - 10/side
Stretch abs / lowerback

Cooldown walk or bike
5:00 / stretch

Wednesday
LONG Cardio Day
45-60 minutes of walking, running or combination of the two
Or biking, swimming, elliptical gliding machines

My mom is getting a job, I believe. I'm proud of her for doing that. Have no clue what she will be doing, but I hope she can adjust to it.

And the biggest news of the day:
Bakke and I have an apartment. We will be living with Soap (yeah, Soap. Whatsamatta, wanna fight about it?) in an apartment close to campus. I'm happy about this. It saves my family a ton of money per year (going from $6,000-6,500 for room and meals a year to $2,000) which is awesome. Plus, no more dorm food. I've been sick to my stomach a lot this semester already. And I hear Soap has a magical free chips technique...

2006-01-15T03:58:00.000-06:00

This next weekend will be an open beta for the next chapter of Guild Wars. It is free for all to play. Check out the Guild Wars site to get in on the beta. I can hook you up with my guild, the Northern Brethren.

If you decide you want to play with us, you should get Ventrilo 2.3 so you can communicate with us. The server information is somewhere on our forums.

JReal Drummer splash screen candidate 1

2006-01-12T18:34:00.000-06:00

JReal Drummer splash screen candidate 1
Originally uploaded by danakin.

Bakke has been chugging along with his open-source Java drum sequencer, getting a little bit farther every day. My only contributions to the project will be graphics, of which there will be relatively few, and user documentation.

This is what I got playing around, trying to come up with a good splashscreen. I really like the font and the effects here. Still, it needs work (drums dont match font at all), but it's a start. Let's see what Bakke thinks.

RTFO

2006-01-12T15:21:00.000-06:00

RTFO
Originally uploaded by danakin.

I was taking pictures of me for Jill. And this happened. Didn't think it was possible... I was wrong.

Back in Black!!!

2006-01-10T23:39:00.000-06:00

Not really. But I have a working computer again. Didur touched it today, and instantly I got a blue screen of death, and the computer died. Boot sector got corrupt and so I had to completely reinstall (using a "kinda-legal" version of Windows XP).

Anyway, I spent my day doing little things. I've been verifying bugs for Flock, which I enjoy. It's not too hard, and it helps out with the QA work.

About the classes, yeah... I already have dropped 2 of them. The first was my Level 1 Introduction to Spanish Language and Culture. Certainly didn't sound like a second year Spanish class from the title or description. Dropping that put me down to 13 credits. I can't get behind that!

So I started to look for classes open in my major, and related majors. Nothing that fit my schedule. Darn. UNTIL...

Today I came back and checked out the Tae Kwon Do sections. There were open spots! Sweetness. So I dropped my Revisions class (required class by the school) and got an earlier Revisions section so I could take Tae Kwon Do. Taking both Beginning and Intermediate. So are Bakke and Lew.

So my schedule is a bit different than what I had originally planned. Too light a credit load still. I want 16+ credits! But it simply cant happen with the classes offered and the schedule I already have. Summer classes at College of Dupage seem to be calling me... Sadly the Admissions Rep from there isn't, despite the fact I sent him several emails several weeks ago, and follow-ups. Grrr.
____________________________________________________

Well, I'm not a genius. But I do have at least basic knowledge of a lot of subjects. Enough to get me by in basic conversations at least, and enough to explain simple science, technology, etc. But man, I felt like a genius in my Environmental Geology class today. Compared to the guys I worked with, I was Einstien. Seriously. pH does not indicate carbon dioxide levels. You cant tell density by saying "That rock is bigger, so it is more dense." One of the guys is a fifth year student! I can see why...

That's all for now. Check out my post on 3ivx and how much it sucks in my post on Looce.