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Welcome my son, welcome to the machine...
Blog
Life == <3
I'm so happy to be back in school. My classes are wonderful and interesting (most of them anyway) and I feel good that I'm out and about, doing things, despite being sick. My medicine has been making it a bit difficult to concentrate at times but before classes started, I was afraid it would be impossible to get my work done. Thankfully, that hasn't been the case. I mean, I guess I might have to put more time into my work than students with normal brain chemistry who are lucky enough to not require round the clock pain medicine, but that's okay. I'm just thankful to be able to do the work at all. If I become too sick or debilitated from my meds, I may talk to my professors about having more time on exams/formula sheets or something if the morphine impairs my ability to memorize them all. I really want to try and just do my work without any accommodations , but at the same time, I am at a disadvantage to students who are not ill and not on medicine which alters their brain chemistry and impairs their concentration and memory.
Other than school, my activities have consisted of pretty much four things: spending time with friends and family, gaming, writing, and less pleasant medical related things (trips to the ER, laying in bed, etc).
I've been going to my parents' house every week for Sunday dinners. It was my dad's suggestion at first and I love it. It gives all of us (my mom, dad, sister, Ian, and me) a chance to visit and enjoy each other's company. The last two weekends, my mom made two delicious vegetable soups. I'm so lucky to have such a great family. Ian and I have been spending a lot of time together, as well as trying to get together with our friends as much as possible. On a somewhat related note, my mom and sister brought home two little kittens. At first, I was really sad about this since they both reminded me of my Dixie and her absence so much, but they're simply adorable and delightful that I can't help but love them. They're so curious and sweet, as are most baby animals (and on a SIDE note to that, there's another baby pigeon on my balcony!!!! cute!!!).
Onto gaming. I honestly haven't been doing anything terribly hardcore lately. We got Soul Calibur IV, which was fun but got old REALLY quickly (at least for me). Ian bought me an expansion pack of The Sims 2 (the expansion pack called "Apartment Life") and so I've been playing that a bit lately. I also ordered the Sims expansion pack "Free Time on Amazon.com with the gift card my dad gave me. It's due to arrive tomorrow, so that will be fun. And I'm very much looking forward to Sims 3, which is tentatively scheduled to be released in February 2009, as well. Ian and I both pre-ordered Warhammer Online, but I'm not sure how much I'll be able to play. If it's anywhere near as addicting as WoW was, I'm afraid it will have to wait until after graduation (since an engineering degree is more important to me than gaming...yes I know, that's terribly shocking). And lastly, I pre-ordered two Harvest Moon games, also from Amazon.com. The first is called Tree of Tranquility and it is for the Nintendo Wii system. The second is called Island of Happiness for the Nintendo DS. When I ordered them (in July), the dates of shipping were both August 26th, but now when I look on my Amazon account, it shows the estimated shipping dates as September 22nd and September 2nd (today!), respectively. One of the main reasons I ordered them off of Amazon is because it said when I pre-ordered, I would get free plush animals (a chicken with a baby chick sewn on and a cow). I love little cute things like that so I couldn't resist, especially after my dad said he would buy them for me. Another game I want to play: Oblivion: Scroll of Elders IV (or something like that). Ian has been playing it and it looks SO COOL. When he's finished with his game, he said I could use the xbox and start a game of my own.
Lastly (since I won't be writing about anything medical more than I already have), I have been writing my book. It's science fiction and I really haven't thought of a good way to describe it in a synopsis paragraph. Basically, it just deals with time travel with lots of awesome physics and math. And ends in an apocalypse (of course, since I love writing about that, hehe). I currently have 77 typed 8.5x11 pages written (almost on page 78!) and I even registered the domain LaurenMartinaFosco.com to use as an online writing portfolio, should I choose to seek publication for it once it is complete.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great day (if anyone even reads this anymore! haha)
Other than school, my activities have consisted of pretty much four things: spending time with friends and family, gaming, writing, and less pleasant medical related things (trips to the ER, laying in bed, etc).
I've been going to my parents' house every week for Sunday dinners. It was my dad's suggestion at first and I love it. It gives all of us (my mom, dad, sister, Ian, and me) a chance to visit and enjoy each other's company. The last two weekends, my mom made two delicious vegetable soups. I'm so lucky to have such a great family. Ian and I have been spending a lot of time together, as well as trying to get together with our friends as much as possible. On a somewhat related note, my mom and sister brought home two little kittens. At first, I was really sad about this since they both reminded me of my Dixie and her absence so much, but they're simply adorable and delightful that I can't help but love them. They're so curious and sweet, as are most baby animals (and on a SIDE note to that, there's another baby pigeon on my balcony!!!! cute!!!).
Onto gaming. I honestly haven't been doing anything terribly hardcore lately. We got Soul Calibur IV, which was fun but got old REALLY quickly (at least for me). Ian bought me an expansion pack of The Sims 2 (the expansion pack called "Apartment Life") and so I've been playing that a bit lately. I also ordered the Sims expansion pack "Free Time on Amazon.com with the gift card my dad gave me. It's due to arrive tomorrow, so that will be fun. And I'm very much looking forward to Sims 3, which is tentatively scheduled to be released in February 2009, as well. Ian and I both pre-ordered Warhammer Online, but I'm not sure how much I'll be able to play. If it's anywhere near as addicting as WoW was, I'm afraid it will have to wait until after graduation (since an engineering degree is more important to me than gaming...yes I know, that's terribly shocking). And lastly, I pre-ordered two Harvest Moon games, also from Amazon.com. The first is called Tree of Tranquility and it is for the Nintendo Wii system. The second is called Island of Happiness for the Nintendo DS. When I ordered them (in July), the dates of shipping were both August 26th, but now when I look on my Amazon account, it shows the estimated shipping dates as September 22nd and September 2nd (today!), respectively. One of the main reasons I ordered them off of Amazon is because it said when I pre-ordered, I would get free plush animals (a chicken with a baby chick sewn on and a cow). I love little cute things like that so I couldn't resist, especially after my dad said he would buy them for me. Another game I want to play: Oblivion: Scroll of Elders IV (or something like that). Ian has been playing it and it looks SO COOL. When he's finished with his game, he said I could use the xbox and start a game of my own.
Lastly (since I won't be writing about anything medical more than I already have), I have been writing my book. It's science fiction and I really haven't thought of a good way to describe it in a synopsis paragraph. Basically, it just deals with time travel with lots of awesome physics and math. And ends in an apocalypse (of course, since I love writing about that, hehe). I currently have 77 typed 8.5x11 pages written (almost on page 78!) and I even registered the domain LaurenMartinaFosco.com to use as an online writing portfolio, should I choose to seek publication for it once it is complete.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great day (if anyone even reads this anymore! haha)
Posted on 02 Sep 2008 by Lauren
Aggravations To Speak Of
I am so fed up with people (and in general) right now, it's not even funny. I am seriously ready to just leave pack up and move to an undisclosed location where I will have no friends & family who PERSISTENTLY DISMISS AND OVERLOOK ME. I am so sick of stupid and selfish people that I sometimes think it would be better to just be a recluse who does not interact with the general populace. I have been so infuriated, upset, and stressed out these past few days and I feel like I have no outlet for my emotions. I don't want to tell anyone about it because it's no one's damn business. But nothing else (exercise, writing, violent gaming) has helped me this time. And so the cycle of bottled up contents under pressure continues. A nagging element is the fact that I am so hot all the time. My morphine seriously makes me feel like it's 20 degrees warmer out than it actually is. And any good scientist/engineer/person with basic scientific education knows what an increase in pressure + an increase in temperature leads to. I wonder if that means my blood will boil when both temperature and pressure are reduced? Anyway, I've suddenly lost my interest in writing this blog post, so I'll wrap this up. What should you take away from this post? That I would rather be anywhere rather than where I am right now and if you're someone important in my life who has been doing things lately that give me the shaft...please STOP IT and start thinking about what potential negative impact your actions have on others (specifically, me). Thank you and goodnight.
Posted on 17 Jul 2008 by Lauren
Guitar Heroness - Joy and Joyness!
It is Monday, June 23rd. 2:12 AM, Mountain Daylight Time. And today, Guitar Hero: On Tour for the Nintendo DS gaming system is being released. I reserved a copy at Gamestop in Superior so if you have any desire to stalk me at all, this today would be an awesome opportunity since you know I'm bound to show up there as soon as possible ;) If you are unfamiliar with the game I'm speaking of, check *HERE* to familiarize yourself. The game itself doesn't look TOO spectacular but it's the premise of having portable Guitar Hero that I'm the most excited about. This is definitely a victory against car/airplane/travel boredom. In honor of today's special event, I made a cute little animation (maybe going to use on myspace...debating between this and it's "Wii" counterpart):
Nifty, huh? :) Not to brag but I think it's pretty darn cute. It took such a long time to make though. Would you believe that there are exactly 100 GIF frames in that tiny little image? Hehehe. Relatedly, here's the "Wii" animation I made, WHICH happens to be related to Guitar Hero in the sense that Guitar Hero Aerosmith, available for the Wii system, will be available here on June 29th!!! (Ian pre-ordered that one, I think):
I'm happy I was able to upload those little guys. Earlier today and yesterday, I was having problems connecting to my servers via FTP. As it turned out, the problem was resolved simply by restarting my computer (pffft) but nonetheless, all hail the awesome Dreamhost Technical Support Staff for their amazingly helpful tips and prompt responses to my e-mails. If you're looking for a webhost, you literally CANNOT go wrong with them. Dreamhost == ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥. Anyway, that's all for now. Hope everyone's having an excellent summer and as always, thank you for reading ^_^
Nifty, huh? :) Not to brag but I think it's pretty darn cute. It took such a long time to make though. Would you believe that there are exactly 100 GIF frames in that tiny little image? Hehehe. Relatedly, here's the "Wii" animation I made, WHICH happens to be related to Guitar Hero in the sense that Guitar Hero Aerosmith, available for the Wii system, will be available here on June 29th!!! (Ian pre-ordered that one, I think):
I'm happy I was able to upload those little guys. Earlier today and yesterday, I was having problems connecting to my servers via FTP. As it turned out, the problem was resolved simply by restarting my computer (pffft) but nonetheless, all hail the awesome Dreamhost Technical Support Staff for their amazingly helpful tips and prompt responses to my e-mails. If you're looking for a webhost, you literally CANNOT go wrong with them. Dreamhost == ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥. Anyway, that's all for now. Hope everyone's having an excellent summer and as always, thank you for reading ^_^
Posted on 23 Jun 2008 by Lauren
Morphine
...is kicking my butt. She prescribed me some of those time released capsules and I took one and WOW. I don't even know how to put it in words (maybe my entry will be reflective of how DAMN WEIRD) it makes you feel. Anyway, I'm just sitting here on my computer, chilling out with the three-legged wonder dog. My dad said if I was feeling better later, we could go get some lunch and I'm starting to get kind of hungry but also nauseous from the morphine. We're going somewhere this weekend. Not quite sure where, Ian won't tell me. But I guess I'll find out soon enough, since we're leaving tomorrow in the AM. Okay well thanks for reading...hope I didn't sound too tripped out or anything :(
Posted on 16 May 2008 by Lauren
Writing
I have been writing my book all day! It feels fabulous to make so much progress. When I started writing this morning, I had 18 pages done and now, I have 25. That may seem insignificant but believe me, it's pretty difficult to fill even one page with content, let alone seven, in a single day. I'm really proud of myself. During the brief period when I left the house, I playing conversations in my head and thinking about my characters. I jokingly told my dad, "We need to go home, Jayne and Jinx (two of my characters) are waiting for me." Also, I worked on the website for my trilogy (finally, I was spelling that word wrong all over the place on my site last night, haha), with character profiles and such. I'll probably add the link to that domain on this page too. I really hope I can publish this book. That would be really amazing. I guess I just have to work hard and then try to find a literary agent. Not looking forward to all the rejection letters but I guess I just have to try to not let them get to me? After all, if it gets published, I'll be able to pwn some serious n00bs by sending everyone who rejects it signed copies :D
P.S. Happy pre-420 everyone!
P.S. Happy pre-420 everyone!
Posted on 19 Apr 2008 by Lauren
Caravanserai
I've been listening to a new CD, recordings of Loreena McKennitt, live from Alhambra and there's one song from her new CD (An Ancient Muse) called Caravanserai that I love. Once I started listening to this, it prompted me to do a google search for "Caravanserai" because this is such a beautiful song and I had no idea what the word meant. Anyway, here's the definition I found on Wikipedia:
A caravanserai (Persian: اصفهان - kārvānsarā, Turkish: kervansaray) was a roadside inn where travelers could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information, and people across the network of trade routes covering Asia, North Africa, and South-Eastern Europe.
My search also produced a lot of pictures from Turkey, Persia, and a number of other Middle Eastern countries that are nearby those. These pictures are simply AMAZING. The places look so beautiful, so full of rich culture. I really REALLY want to travel to them now. I'm kind of scared to do much international traveling because a lot of countries hate Americans (THANKS A LOT, BUSH) but then I remembered the conversation I had with Ian's mother's friend Jill about how if you maintain a respectful air (IE, don't go marching around doing the longhorn symbol while wearing your cowboy boots, spitting tobacco and implying by tone of voice that there may be repercussions if you "mess with Texas"), international travelers from America are usually fine. Anyway, I might talk to my dad about planning a trip because I REALLYYYYYY want to go to the places I saw in the pictures.
In other news, I will shortly be added some content to the "Me" section, such as a screen shot of my desktop. That's actually the whole ulterior motive I have for adding anything at all - I want everyone to see the awesome desktop background I'm using. It's of the Orion Nebula and it's gorgeous. In case anyone wasn't aware, I spend about 90% of my days thinking about space/celestial objects/timespace travel and the like, so I think it's safe to say that I'm a *tiny* bit obsessed => time to declare an aerospace engineering major.
A caravanserai (Persian: اصفهان - kārvānsarā, Turkish: kervansaray) was a roadside inn where travelers could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information, and people across the network of trade routes covering Asia, North Africa, and South-Eastern Europe.
My search also produced a lot of pictures from Turkey, Persia, and a number of other Middle Eastern countries that are nearby those. These pictures are simply AMAZING. The places look so beautiful, so full of rich culture. I really REALLY want to travel to them now. I'm kind of scared to do much international traveling because a lot of countries hate Americans (THANKS A LOT, BUSH) but then I remembered the conversation I had with Ian's mother's friend Jill about how if you maintain a respectful air (IE, don't go marching around doing the longhorn symbol while wearing your cowboy boots, spitting tobacco and implying by tone of voice that there may be repercussions if you "mess with Texas"), international travelers from America are usually fine. Anyway, I might talk to my dad about planning a trip because I REALLYYYYYY want to go to the places I saw in the pictures.
In other news, I will shortly be added some content to the "Me" section, such as a screen shot of my desktop. That's actually the whole ulterior motive I have for adding anything at all - I want everyone to see the awesome desktop background I'm using. It's of the Orion Nebula and it's gorgeous. In case anyone wasn't aware, I spend about 90% of my days thinking about space/celestial objects/timespace travel and the like, so I think it's safe to say that I'm a *tiny* bit obsessed => time to declare an aerospace engineering major.
Posted on 16 Apr 2008 by Lauren
I don't understand...
There is a situation at hand which I do not fully comprehend. Some people I'm close to were involved in some conflict and as a result, one of my friends was basically shunned by some of her friends on account of another woman who is very heavy handed in nearly all her engagements. Everyone in this group of "friends" just let this happen or tried to remain "neutral". If there truly is a two way conflict, I can understand why people would want to remain neutral and let the two involved work it out but when one is blatantly bullying the other (and everyone else, for that matter), I feel it is ethically unsound to just sit and let this happen. Yet, that's what all these people did and in my opinion, this is not right or fair at all. I can't believe they would do that to her or not defend her while they were claiming to be her friends. All parties involved seem to be over this incident but I just can't help but feel a sense of rage. This precise situation doesn't *exactly* pertain to me but I am concerned because I find myself in the same situation as my friend who was "shunned". What if the same type of conflict arises again and the same thing happens to me? It's a scary thought that some people I consider friends are so "laid back" or "neutral" about this type of thing. The whole reason any of this is happening originates from everyone's love for an old friend. But in my opinion, the price of this person's friendship is WAY too high and yet, everyone just keeps buying into it. If I had a friend who associated with people who constantly started drama and ruined a good time, I would be fair and TELL them that I cared for them but that their associates were making it difficult for me to socialize with them and if they still would rather associate with the rotten individual instead of their friends, then I would sever ties. In fact, that is exactly what I did in the case of my former best friend Francesca. She started dating a socially reprehensible person named Daryl and when I couldn't enjoy her company without him being present, I told her I didn't like or approve of him or the way she had been treating me as a result of her dating him and that I loved her dearly but I didn't want anything to do with him. Unfortunately, she chose to keep associating with him in my presence so I severed those ties. It was hard but I am much happier now that I no longer have to deal with him or the person she has become because of him. In fact, that is almost exactly parallel to what's going on now. The difference? I actually had the balls to stand up for myself and not allow myself to be walked over by an abusive or negligent (in terms of friendship) person and not a damn person in the situation that I'm writing about in this blog does. My advice to all of them? Grow a pair and THEN come back and talk to me.
Posted on 14 Apr 2008 by Lauren
Dizzy
Isn't it weird how medicine can affect your body? I am feeling very dizzy and "high" from my pain medicine now and I have been trying to control it using mind over matter techniques with no avail. I've also been having trouble trusting my doctors lately because while they are very good people with only the best intentions, they do not think critically like engineers. It seems like they just pull things off a memorized list instead of thinking and diagnosing things logically.
I also find it very strange that some people do drugs like opiates (what I'm taking for pain) for leisure and recreation. It helps to ease my pain but if given the choice (assuming I could have a good, pain-free, quality of life), I would always choose to be off the medicine. One time when I went to the emergency room, I was given a sedative called ketamine before a procedure and it was SO weird being on it. I felt like hours had passed when really, it had only been ten minutes. I was thrashing around and I was trying so hard to stop moving but I couldn't. I felt like I was having a nightmare and I recognized people's faces in the room (like the doctors, nurses, and my dad) but I couldn't remember where I knew them from - not even my own dad. Isn't that scary to think that you wouldn't know where you knew your own father from? Anyway, once the medicine wore off, the doctor told me that a lot of college students and people my age took this drug recreationally (its street name is "Special K") and I was shocked to learn that people actually WANTED to experience this drug. This was easily the most uncomfortable medicine I've ever taken and I have no idea why anyone would want to feel the terrible feelings it gave me. This week, my doctor prescribed an anti-inflammatory agent called prednizone for me and it is making me very cranky (yep, that is a known side effect of the drug - mood swings). It's like, I am in a perpetual bad mood and little things set me off and make me sad. It is easier for me to control my behavior than on sedatives where I have no control but I find myself getting upset and it is not comforting, even when I try to tell myself that I am only upset because the drug is acting on my body. I am grateful that I can at least control my behavior to some degree, even if I can't control my feelings. I want to apologize to all my wonderful and supportive friends - if I don't seem like myself, it is because of all the medication the doctors have me on and I just want all of you to know that I love you and cherish our friendship.
Anyway, enough about that. Ian and I went into Game Stop today. Ian was reserving a copy of Grand Theft Auto and it made me really happy to look around and see all the games. I was going to buy one...I've been kind of down this week (probably just the drugs because I really do have a great life and nothing other than being sick was wrong) and I thought a new game might cheer me up but they didn't have the one I wanted, unfortunately. I looked to see if there was anything else I wanted and aside from Zelda Four Swords (which I have for gamecube) for GBA. The game I wanted is called Harvest Moon: Rune Factory. It's supposed to be kind of a cross between normal Harvest Moon games and the RPG aspect of Final Fantasy games. I heard it was good so I was hoping to buy it but they were out. Another game which I am super excited for (June 22nd!!!!) is Guitar Hero: On Tour. This a an edition of Guitar Hero for NINTENDO DS!!!!!!! Can you believe it? It basically functions such that there is an extension which you plug into the GBA slot on Nintendo DS and this has four buttons. And it comes with a "pick" for you to strum with on the touchable screen. Sorry for the bad description...Click **HERE** for a visualization, since I suck at explaining. Anyway, even if this does seem a tiny bit lame, I am wicked excited because this means I can take my favorite game with me where ever I go without hauling around those big old plastic guitars. If anyone else knows any games that you think I'd like or that you want to play with me, please let me know! Goodnight everyone!
I also find it very strange that some people do drugs like opiates (what I'm taking for pain) for leisure and recreation. It helps to ease my pain but if given the choice (assuming I could have a good, pain-free, quality of life), I would always choose to be off the medicine. One time when I went to the emergency room, I was given a sedative called ketamine before a procedure and it was SO weird being on it. I felt like hours had passed when really, it had only been ten minutes. I was thrashing around and I was trying so hard to stop moving but I couldn't. I felt like I was having a nightmare and I recognized people's faces in the room (like the doctors, nurses, and my dad) but I couldn't remember where I knew them from - not even my own dad. Isn't that scary to think that you wouldn't know where you knew your own father from? Anyway, once the medicine wore off, the doctor told me that a lot of college students and people my age took this drug recreationally (its street name is "Special K") and I was shocked to learn that people actually WANTED to experience this drug. This was easily the most uncomfortable medicine I've ever taken and I have no idea why anyone would want to feel the terrible feelings it gave me. This week, my doctor prescribed an anti-inflammatory agent called prednizone for me and it is making me very cranky (yep, that is a known side effect of the drug - mood swings). It's like, I am in a perpetual bad mood and little things set me off and make me sad. It is easier for me to control my behavior than on sedatives where I have no control but I find myself getting upset and it is not comforting, even when I try to tell myself that I am only upset because the drug is acting on my body. I am grateful that I can at least control my behavior to some degree, even if I can't control my feelings. I want to apologize to all my wonderful and supportive friends - if I don't seem like myself, it is because of all the medication the doctors have me on and I just want all of you to know that I love you and cherish our friendship.
Anyway, enough about that. Ian and I went into Game Stop today. Ian was reserving a copy of Grand Theft Auto and it made me really happy to look around and see all the games. I was going to buy one...I've been kind of down this week (probably just the drugs because I really do have a great life and nothing other than being sick was wrong) and I thought a new game might cheer me up but they didn't have the one I wanted, unfortunately. I looked to see if there was anything else I wanted and aside from Zelda Four Swords (which I have for gamecube) for GBA. The game I wanted is called Harvest Moon: Rune Factory. It's supposed to be kind of a cross between normal Harvest Moon games and the RPG aspect of Final Fantasy games. I heard it was good so I was hoping to buy it but they were out. Another game which I am super excited for (June 22nd!!!!) is Guitar Hero: On Tour. This a an edition of Guitar Hero for NINTENDO DS!!!!!!! Can you believe it? It basically functions such that there is an extension which you plug into the GBA slot on Nintendo DS and this has four buttons. And it comes with a "pick" for you to strum with on the touchable screen. Sorry for the bad description...Click **HERE** for a visualization, since I suck at explaining. Anyway, even if this does seem a tiny bit lame, I am wicked excited because this means I can take my favorite game with me where ever I go without hauling around those big old plastic guitars. If anyone else knows any games that you think I'd like or that you want to play with me, please let me know! Goodnight everyone!
Posted on 03 Apr 2008 by Lauren
Writing, Gaming, and a brief list of physical items I want.
I have been seriously writing one of my novels lately. I've been thinking about this book since Summer 2006 and I can't believe how quickly it's taken off and evolved, not just in my head but also on "paper". The only reason I'm up so late at night writing this blog is because when I tried to go to bed, these "voices" (haha my characters, I'm not schizophrenic or anything) would not SHUT UP. Like the conversations that I wanted to write and scenes from my book just kept playing over and over again in my head. So I got up to write them down but then I kind of got stuck so I decided I would listen to some music (Loreena McKennitt! <3 She is coming to Boulder for a concert this spring at Macky Auditorium!! Anyway.) and write a blog since I hadn't for a while. So yes, my book is going quite swimmingly and I have even registered a few domains that I may use to promote it (well, the trilogy) once it's done.
As an avid gamer and longtime Sims player, I was VERY excited to hear the announcement of Sims 3, tentatively scheduled for release in Fall 2009 (not holding my breath though - I got really disappointed by Sims 2 before, haha). I was looking at some screen shots and it looks really awesome - it's not quite as big of a "step" to Sims 3 as it was to Sims 2 from the original Sims game but still, I'm looking forward to some of the additional features.
Thing I Want:
I mostly just put those things there as a digital "shopping list" for myself since people (my dad, mom, etc) are constantly asking me if I want/need anything and of course, I think of things before but right at the exact moment they ask me, I completely forget. So yes, this is my own reminder. Thanks for reading!
As an avid gamer and longtime Sims player, I was VERY excited to hear the announcement of Sims 3, tentatively scheduled for release in Fall 2009 (not holding my breath though - I got really disappointed by Sims 2 before, haha). I was looking at some screen shots and it looks really awesome - it's not quite as big of a "step" to Sims 3 as it was to Sims 2 from the original Sims game but still, I'm looking forward to some of the additional features.
Thing I Want:
- Loreena McKennitt, An Ancient Muse handbag
- This external hard drive, because my laptop is getting full of music and pictures.
I mostly just put those things there as a digital "shopping list" for myself since people (my dad, mom, etc) are constantly asking me if I want/need anything and of course, I think of things before but right at the exact moment they ask me, I completely forget. So yes, this is my own reminder. Thanks for reading!
Posted on 28 Mar 2008 by Lauren
RIP Dixie - August 16, 1995 - March 13, 2008
My beloved cat passed away this morning. We knew she was dying (I had even written up an entire blog about it last night while I stayed up with her but I lost it when Firefox crashed). We also knew that while she was extremely weak, she wasn't in pain. I had decided today that if she was still alive, I would try to procure some morphine for her from the vet though, just so she could be even more at peace. She and I slept here together on the sofa bed last night. I kept waking up periodically to see if she was still breathing. I felt her moving around on my feet this morning. My mom was on the phone at around 10 AM which woke me up and while I was awake, I checked on her (still alive) and then went back to sleep. Probably 20 minutes later, I woke up again, checked on her and couldn't see the rise and fall of her body with her breaths. I called her name (she was responding to that last night by flicking her tail) with no response and when I put my head next to her body and didn't hear a heartbeat, I knew she was gone. Dixie brought me so much delight and joy, I can't even begin to explain. She was the best cat anyone could hope for. She comforted me in my time of need and made me and my family very happy. We are going to bury her in our yard today and plant a rose bush on her grave. I am planning to create a "shrine" for her on this website with all her pictures, videos, etc...I was reluctant to work on it before she died but I definitely will upload my pictures now. RIP Sweetie Cat, you will be dearly missed.
Posted on 13 Mar 2008 by Lauren
Relieved
I am quite relieved because although my dog does have cancer, everything got taken care of. She had her leg amputated over the weekend and is already back home to recover from her surgery. And to think, if I had let all the "adults" (my mother says she doesn't consider me to be an adult...even though legally, I am one) have their way and just sit tight until Tuesday, Pennie wouldn't have even seen the oncologist until tomorrow (technically today since I'm up late writing). Thank goodness for my better judgment!!!! She will begin a regimen of chemotherapy in a little over a week and given that we caught this early, her lifespan will most likely be relatively unchanged by this whole ordeal. She has quite a bit of recovering to do but she has a very favorable prognosis. I'm also relieved that I will no longer be putting up with certain *other* aggravations which previously plagued my life. I definitely made some good decisions this past week, regarding both myself and my puppy.
Anyway, I was randomly looking at the Colorado Sex Offender Registry today (I know, I'm weird). I just got a little paranoid so I decided to scope out which sex offenders lived in my area. On the map, there were links in various locations (their homes, their workplaces, etc) and if you clicked on them, it would pop up a new window with their name, picture, physical description, crime(s) they were convicted of...things like that. So anyway, I was randomly clicking on them when all of a sudden, I recognized one of the names. When I looked at the picture, I recognized the guy too. It was the dad of this girl I used to play soccer with (like, in 5th grade...very long time ago). It was shocking/creepy/funny to see him up there and all I could think about were two things: 1) how weird it was that I was actually acquainted with a registered sex offender and 2) how thankful I am that MY dad isn't one. I mean seriously, how embarrassing would that be? You could never have a superiority contest with someone without the topic of your perverted old man coming up (and then then it would be all over but the crying). I guess I had relatively slightly-negative-neutral feelings about the girl (unlike most of the other members of that team, whom I hated so very much) but I happen to be aware that her father's workplace is at their family business and it's quite close to the grocery store that we shop at. Of course, I had to call up my mom to warn her about this and she bursts out laughing and then proceeded to thank me for "the laugh of the day". I guess it is pretty amusing but nevertheless, I'm very cautious and wary of these types of situations. It didn't say what crimes he was convicted of (only that they were felony convictions, presumably sexual offenses since he was in the registry). Felony convictions are a matter of public record so I'm sure I could call the police department or courthouse and find out exactly what the convictions were and what he did but I probably won't bother - I don't want my good name associated with this in any shape, way, or form.
Anyway, I was randomly looking at the Colorado Sex Offender Registry today (I know, I'm weird). I just got a little paranoid so I decided to scope out which sex offenders lived in my area. On the map, there were links in various locations (their homes, their workplaces, etc) and if you clicked on them, it would pop up a new window with their name, picture, physical description, crime(s) they were convicted of...things like that. So anyway, I was randomly clicking on them when all of a sudden, I recognized one of the names. When I looked at the picture, I recognized the guy too. It was the dad of this girl I used to play soccer with (like, in 5th grade...very long time ago). It was shocking/creepy/funny to see him up there and all I could think about were two things: 1) how weird it was that I was actually acquainted with a registered sex offender and 2) how thankful I am that MY dad isn't one. I mean seriously, how embarrassing would that be? You could never have a superiority contest with someone without the topic of your perverted old man coming up (and then then it would be all over but the crying). I guess I had relatively slightly-negative-neutral feelings about the girl (unlike most of the other members of that team, whom I hated so very much) but I happen to be aware that her father's workplace is at their family business and it's quite close to the grocery store that we shop at. Of course, I had to call up my mom to warn her about this and she bursts out laughing and then proceeded to thank me for "the laugh of the day". I guess it is pretty amusing but nevertheless, I'm very cautious and wary of these types of situations. It didn't say what crimes he was convicted of (only that they were felony convictions, presumably sexual offenses since he was in the registry). Felony convictions are a matter of public record so I'm sure I could call the police department or courthouse and find out exactly what the convictions were and what he did but I probably won't bother - I don't want my good name associated with this in any shape, way, or form.
Posted on 05 Feb 2008 by Lauren
Guitar Hero and other frustrations.
I'm supposed to play in the finals of a Guitar Hero tournament tonight. It's sponsored by Old Chicago and I beat out 40 people at the one in Boulder so I made it to the finals. It's in Denver and I was feeling kind of lazy and not much like going but then I talked to my dad and I guess my dog injured her paw while running the other day. So my parents took her to the vet who said he didn't see any kind of damage but that there was something sketchy about her bone density and he was suspect that it was osteosarcoma (bone cancer). Now, I just don't feel like playing Guitar Hero at all. I'm worried about my puppy and I'm completely frustrated with my dad. The vet she's with now (Dr. Kay) said that the best thing to do was to send her to the veterinary hospital at CSU so my mom called and the soonest they could get her an appointment was Tuesday. So because it might be cancer, I felt that waiting until Tuesday was unacceptable, especially since osteosarcoma is aggressive. So I got this idea that Dr. Kay could do a biopsy and then we (my mom and me) could drive up to CSU in Fort Collins and deliver the sample tomorrow. I called CSU's lab and they said it takes 48 hours to get a preliminary report and the soonest they could have one for us if my mom and I drove the sample up tomorrow was Monday. Well Pennie's appointment isn't until Tuesday and Dr. Kay thought that CSU would do a biopsy the same day as the appointment. I spent several hours making calls (like a madwoman, haha) only to find out that Dr. Kay's schedule was totally booked tonight and that he wouldn't be able to do the biopsy. So I made some more calls and found another veterinary clinic that could take her but the vet I spoke to said to get her in ASAP because they closed at 6:15. I called back home to convey this news to my mother but then she put me on the phone with my dad without me even asking to talk to him and he just WOULD NOT LISTEN TO ME. He kept talking and basically wasted 20 minutes of precious time. I felt like my efforts were being hindered (not on purpose but everyone who knows me at all knows that if there's one thing I hate, it's stupidity) and I was so upset and frustrated with him that I was crying (also still very upset about the prospect of my dog having cancer). I was so mad that he just wouldn't listen to me and that he wasn't concerned with efficiency like I was but anyway, after I hung up with him I called Dr. Kay's office back to find out if they could release Pennie before her scheduled release time (which was 5:30 PM) only to learn some good news. Dr. Kay had already performed the biopsy and would release it to my parents when they went to pick her up at 5:30. That was remarkably lucky! Anyway I'm really just praying that the results of the biopsy reveal that it's not cancer because that poor dog has been through a lot and if it is osteosarcoma, she will probably be facing amputation (though there is limb salvation surgery available) and chemotherapy. I did some research this afternoon and all of the veterinary hospitals all had very grim statistics but after finding some web pages made by people whose greyhounds actually had and survived osteosarcoma, I felt much better. Anyway, I just feel like my nerves are shot now and I'm really worried about my dog. If you pray, please pray for her that she doesn't have cancer (the doctor said it might be something else...like a fungal infection or something eating away at the bone). Thank you.
Posted on 31 Jan 2008 by Lauren
NOOOOOO :(
Terrible news! Dennis Kucinich is dropping out of the presidential race. I really like Kucinich and I'm VERY disappointed to learn this. There are still other candidates I like but I've been favoring Kucinich for a number of years now. Sadness! :( :( :( Speaking of other candidates, Ian and I met up with John and Megan last night at an event sponsored by Barack Obama's campaign (I think...it might've been the Colorado Democratic Society instead). They had a lot of free food (even sushi from Hapa! Wow) and it was kind of interesting to see how many people showed up. It was somewhat annoying though because there were constantly people who would come up and talk to you in a very pressuring manner trying to get you to register or volunteer. I like politics but that's not the type of volunteer work I'm into. I like to do stuff that helps people who actually need the help. Anyway, I've been watching the first season of Lost and I really love it. It's so interesting, I can hardly stop watching it. A lot of friends had told me how good it was but I never got into it because it seemed too mass media for me. I'm just watching the part where Sawyer says "I've got some revenge to tend to" about a wild boar that he thinks is harassing him. Very funny! I can't decide which is my favorite character though. I like Claire, I like Charlie, I DON'T like Boone or Sawyer (I kinda feel sorry for Sawyer), I think Sayid is awesome (he might be my favorite. still not sure) and I LOVE John Locke!!! Anyway I am off to watch more Lost. Have a great night everyone!
Posted on 24 Jan 2008 by Lauren
RPG Cliches
http://project-apollo.net/text/rpg.html
Ian showed me this article about cliches that always seem to appear in RPGs. Some of these are soooo true. Anyway, I thought it was a cute article and wanted to post it here for my own future reference and in case anyone actually reads this and wants to read about RPG cliches too :) Have a great day!
Ian showed me this article about cliches that always seem to appear in RPGs. Some of these are soooo true. Anyway, I thought it was a cute article and wanted to post it here for my own future reference and in case anyone actually reads this and wants to read about RPG cliches too :) Have a great day!
Posted on 24 Jan 2008 by Lauren
Cathy Ruse is a complete IDIOT
I was recently reading an article about the game Mass Effect and how some "pro-family" (code word: Fundamentalist Christian) groups are concerned about the sexual elements (mainly homosexuality) it incorporates. Family Research Council lawyer and senior fellow Cathy Ruse claims that Mass Effect is "clearly marketed to minors." I have no idea on what basis she makes this claim (the article didn't say - probably because her claim is moot) but from what I've observed, the game is CLEARLY intended for and marketed to adults. Firstly, it's rated "M" for mature - if Bioware's targeted consumers were minors, I'm sure they would've aimed for a more benign rating to appease concerned parents. Secondly, basically everything in the game is mature; the characters are ALL adults, none of the quests are petty, there's virtually no drama (something that a great many underage persons feast on) at all, and within the storyline, there are some fairly scientific and highly intellectual elements, and the storyline is oriented around doing good in the universe and helping out others less capable than yourself. Not to say that there aren't intelligent and mature minors who would love everything listed above (I myself was one until a year ago) but most of the other media which is "clearly marketed to minors" differs greatly from this in the sense that any icons are portrayed as young adults/teenagers (not people in their late 20's to early 30's), there are depictions of outrageous and ridiculously unrealistic sexuality (thank you, MTV), incorporations and focus on petty issues such as teen angst and drama (again, thank you MTV), little content that is in any way intellectual; it's all mindless trash, and nearly all other media marketed to minors focuses on furthering one's self (image, status, whatever) with no regard for consequences or repercussions that others may face from one's own selfishness.
I think I've sufficiently made my case against the statement that Mass Effect is marketed to minors. On to comments about the next moronic statement that Ms. Ruse made - "This is unethical, and they have a duty to be good corporate citizens. There's no First Amendment right to exploit children ... They're making money at the expense of children in America, and they ought to be vilified for that." I agree that children should not be exposed to negative images before they are old enough to properly understand and think independently about them but there are ALWAYS going to be channels of negativity which young ones can be exposed to. It is up to their PARENTS (not corporate America) to shield and protect them from it. Furthermore, I don't think that persons of mid to late teen age on the brink of adulthood are considered to be "young children" (another less-than-brilliant quote from the article) and if any minors were to play this game, it would most likely be ones in the aforementioned age group. If Ms. Ruse and her little "family council" group are so concerned about children receiving media that could have an adverse impact on them, then perhaps they should turn their attention to all the accredited news stations that report on all the violence and senseless war going on in the world instead of on sexuality video games meant for adults. It's a fact nearly all people will have sexual relations at SOME point in their lives, where as not everyone will behave violently.
To be perfectly honest, I think the real reason why all these groups are focusing their attacks on Mass Effect is because of the homosexuality. YES, you can be romantically involved with another woman if you play as a woman. But seriously, who cares? Please allow me to quote the article again - Bob Waliszewski, of Focus on the Family (please see my early code word reference), state "We never shy away from sexuality in the media. It's just a question of how is that sexuality portrayed. One can use the media to portray some very healthy forms of sexuality. And when done wisely with taste and age-appropriateness, it can be done well. Unfortunately, Mass Effect doesn't do that and even goes so far as to allow homosexuality to be on par with heterosexuality and heterosexuality outside of its proper context of marriage.". I haven't the faintest idea why he thinks such a claim would hold any merit or validity (or reflect credibly on his organization) in a society where scientific studies have conclusively reported that almost all Americans have had premarital sex and a majority percentage of Americans support homosexuality in some fashion. Furthermore, Bioware is NOT a religious or political organization so for Mr. Waliszewski to impose his idea of "ethics" on them in this Capitalist society is very self righteous and inappropriate.
In conclusion, any objections these "pro-family" groups make to the wonderful and brilliant game Mass Effect should be dismissed, as they are groundless and hold no merit.
I think I've sufficiently made my case against the statement that Mass Effect is marketed to minors. On to comments about the next moronic statement that Ms. Ruse made - "This is unethical, and they have a duty to be good corporate citizens. There's no First Amendment right to exploit children ... They're making money at the expense of children in America, and they ought to be vilified for that." I agree that children should not be exposed to negative images before they are old enough to properly understand and think independently about them but there are ALWAYS going to be channels of negativity which young ones can be exposed to. It is up to their PARENTS (not corporate America) to shield and protect them from it. Furthermore, I don't think that persons of mid to late teen age on the brink of adulthood are considered to be "young children" (another less-than-brilliant quote from the article) and if any minors were to play this game, it would most likely be ones in the aforementioned age group. If Ms. Ruse and her little "family council" group are so concerned about children receiving media that could have an adverse impact on them, then perhaps they should turn their attention to all the accredited news stations that report on all the violence and senseless war going on in the world instead of on sexuality video games meant for adults. It's a fact nearly all people will have sexual relations at SOME point in their lives, where as not everyone will behave violently.
To be perfectly honest, I think the real reason why all these groups are focusing their attacks on Mass Effect is because of the homosexuality. YES, you can be romantically involved with another woman if you play as a woman. But seriously, who cares? Please allow me to quote the article again - Bob Waliszewski, of Focus on the Family (please see my early code word reference), state "We never shy away from sexuality in the media. It's just a question of how is that sexuality portrayed. One can use the media to portray some very healthy forms of sexuality. And when done wisely with taste and age-appropriateness, it can be done well. Unfortunately, Mass Effect doesn't do that and even goes so far as to allow homosexuality to be on par with heterosexuality and heterosexuality outside of its proper context of marriage.". I haven't the faintest idea why he thinks such a claim would hold any merit or validity (or reflect credibly on his organization) in a society where scientific studies have conclusively reported that almost all Americans have had premarital sex and a majority percentage of Americans support homosexuality in some fashion. Furthermore, Bioware is NOT a religious or political organization so for Mr. Waliszewski to impose his idea of "ethics" on them in this Capitalist society is very self righteous and inappropriate.
In conclusion, any objections these "pro-family" groups make to the wonderful and brilliant game Mass Effect should be dismissed, as they are groundless and hold no merit.
Posted on 13 Jan 2008 by Lauren
Harvest Moon
I love Harvest Moon games. They're really fun. The first time I ever heard its premise described, I thought it sounded kind of stupid but the games are really fun and frankly, quite addictive. Basically, Harvest Moon is set on this farm (on which you're the farmer) and the object of the game is to raise animals, crops, and get married and have a kid. The best way I can think to describe it is as a more specific farming version of The Sims (if you've ever played that). The one drawback about Harvest Moon is that most of the games yield zero (and I mean ZERO) n00b pwnage. It's like, all the characters are excruciatingly nice. I mean, in Zelda, at least if you were feeling malicious, you could go walk into your neighbors houses and break their pots or something without seriously hurting anyone but in Harvest Moon, if you want to break some pots, you CAN'T and it sucks. And you can't slash at people with your sword either (though there really is a sword in one of the Harvest Moon games). Anyway, I've been playing Harvest Moon DS (on my lovely new gold triforce ds) and it's fun. I have a fairly developed farm and I finally got a brown cow instead of just those black and white spotted cows for my barn. I also have a lot of pineapple crops in my basement and I'm about to marry my girlfriend (you have to play as a boy in the version that I'm playing). I think I may decide to post a section of games and screen shots I've taken in them later!
Posted on 02 Jan 2008 by Lauren
Triforce!
Ian is amazing (as you already know from reading the last entry). He gave me the most wonderful gift: it's a gold Nintendo DS with a triforce on it! It's totally wonderful and awesome. Please see pictures below:
Posted on 29 Dec 2007 by Lauren
Ian is AMAZING
I do a lot of ranting and complaining about things I don't like on my blog here so I thought I'd change things up a bit and write an entry about something I'm infinitely pleased and delighted (understatement) with...my boyfriend Ian. We were close friends for a long while before we started dating and after, so much changed about our relationship but at the same time, it remained perfectly intact as the wonderful friendship it had been. Being with him fills me with joy and joyness!!! He treats me so wonderfully, I can't even begin to describe. Here is a limited (I can't possibly include everything...I don't have enough server space) list of things about Ian and that Ian does that make me love/admire/appreciate him:
This is just a short compilation of things that I love about Ian. Anyone who has the privilege of knowing him would wholeheartedly conquer with everything I've said about what makes him so amazing. Some may thing I'm just infatuated or blinded to any faults Ianabsolutely, positively does NOTmay have, and while I cannot, as a logical and rational individual, necessarily deny this, I can say that I have a LOT of positive, external feedback about him. My parents and sister ADORE him, as do all of my friends. I've been told on numerous occasions by friends/family that "they could see me marrying him" and I think that if our relationship continues blossoming and being as perfect as it has been up until this point, that is a very real possibility. In closing, Ian is amazing and I'm blessed beyond this dimension to be so close to him and have him in my life.
- Ian is amazingly brilliant, hard working, and driven. He has an undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering and a Master's degree in mechanical engineering and as if those alone don't provide evidence of such, he's also very entrepreneurial and strives to be more than the average citizen who graduates with their degrees and becomes part of "the machine".
- He tells me that I look beautiful every single day, even on days where I'm absolutely looking my worst. He also compliments me on many other things besides how I look.
- He views me as an intellectual equal and respects my opinions and thoughts. We are able to have highly philosophical, technical, and scientific conversations about a wide range of subtopics and if there's something I don't understand about math/physics/whatever, he patiently explains and teaches me about it without making me feel inferior or chastising me for not knowing.
- He's remarkably kind, generous, and thoughtful towards me. He is constantly doing things like giving me material gifts he knows I'll like (without me even saying it's something I want/like), taking me places he knows I'll enjoy, spending a lot of time with me (like coming to see me during his lunch breaks and after work) and genuinely trying to make me happy. He always asks me if there's anything he can do for me or if there's anything I want. He takes such good care of me and is so sweet! Just tonight, he went to the store at midnight to get cough drops for me since I've been sick and the night before, he brought me chicken soup and cake for dinner.
- Ian respects me in every way imaginable: he respects my boundaries, my body, my mind, my friends, my family, my time....EVERYTHING.
- My relationship with Ian is incredibly fluid, dynamic, and multi-faceted. We can do anything from having deep and meaningful conversations (about anything and everything), to playing video games. We understand each other so well that a lot of things are understood without ever being spoken of and in the months that we've been together, we've NEVER had a fight. Most couples are not so compatible that they have NOTHING to fight over. It's not that we have conflict but suppress it - there is literally NOTHING we disagree over and anything that vaguely resembles a disagreement is quickly squashed because we have such a deep and thorough understanding of each other.
- Ian is very personable, likable, and friendly and as such, he's absorbed all of my friends as his own. The new mutual likings make it so that I never EVER have had to choose between my friends and my boyfriend. I'm very sensitive to this because I lost a close friend to a boyfriend who was not compatible with humanity (and therefore, ANY of her friends. sadly she consciously and unconsciously chose him over her friends) but his revolting personality made me appreciate Ian's ability to befriend my friends all the more.
- Ian and I have so much fun together. He's so understanding and secure as a person. I doubt that most women can recall events of being hit on by other men to their boyfriends and have their boyfriends say "o0o0o0o, let's pwn him" and then have a laugh about it together. With your average guy, that would warrant a jealous and insecure response but not with Ian. He's just awesome like that.
- Ian and I pwn n00bs together and it's hot. Enough said.
This is just a short compilation of things that I love about Ian. Anyone who has the privilege of knowing him would wholeheartedly conquer with everything I've said about what makes him so amazing. Some may thing I'm just infatuated or blinded to any faults Ian
Posted on 20 Dec 2007 by Lauren
The Cake is NOT a Lie!
Here are pictures of cake that my wonderful mom made for my birthday. Sadly, she couldn't bring it to me tonight because of the snow (snow!!! more on that later) :(
Anyway, it's snowing out and that makes me happy. I love winter and I love the snow. Thanks for reading and DRIVE SAFELY if you plan to go anywhere tonight!!!
Anyway, it's snowing out and that makes me happy. I love winter and I love the snow. Thanks for reading and DRIVE SAFELY if you plan to go anywhere tonight!!!
Posted on 08 Dec 2007 by Lauren
Hacking Ftw
Working on analyzing the code in this swf:
http://www.aperturescience.com/ApertureScience17.swf
Notes and discoveries:
function bosskey()
{
/*this function contains attributes and
text of to page which appears upon pressing
"return" from the security video page. Thought
the name was interesting. The name
might imply that the page is of some
significance. */
}
function playPortal()
{
getURL("http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h50K2NVJ
HM", "");
{
//Visited the link. Stated that "This video has
been removed by user"
function initCake(target)
{
//not really significant other than a
variable named cakeimg1
}
//Appears to cause an image (presumably of cake)
to appear at semi-random intervals
if (hintOn)
{
hintScale = hintScale + hintStep;
if (hintScale < hintMin)
{
hintScale = hintMin;
hintStep = hintStep * -1;
}
if (hintScale > hintMax)
{
hintScale = hintMax;
hintStep = hintStep * -1;
}
hint.field._alpha = hintScale;
}
//Judging by the variable names, one might
conclude that there is some kind of a "hint"
system built into the file.
words of possible significance:
CJOHNSON - context:
if (__reg0 === 1)
{
__reg1 = __reg2.length > 2;
is_cj = __reg2 == "CJOHNSON";
}
//Chell Johnson
TIER3 - context:
__reg1 = __reg2 == "TIER3";
is_cj = __reg2 && is_cj;
gladosPrompt = "^^ADMIN> "; //ADMIN
So what I've been able to surmise is that you can enter the site using with the username 'CJOHNSON' and the password 'TIER3' in order to gain access to further information about Aperture Science and such. You heard it here first. Maybe.
http://www.aperturescience.com/ApertureScience17.swf
Notes and discoveries:
function bosskey()
{
/*this function contains attributes and
text of to page which appears upon pressing
"return" from the security video page. Thought
the name was interesting. The name
might imply that the page is of some
significance. */
}
function playPortal()
{
getURL("http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h50K2NVJ
HM", "");
{
//Visited the link. Stated that "This video has
been removed by user"
function initCake(target)
{
//not really significant other than a
variable named cakeimg1
}
//Appears to cause an image (presumably of cake)
to appear at semi-random intervals
if (hintOn)
{
hintScale = hintScale + hintStep;
if (hintScale < hintMin)
{
hintScale = hintMin;
hintStep = hintStep * -1;
}
if (hintScale > hintMax)
{
hintScale = hintMax;
hintStep = hintStep * -1;
}
hint.field._alpha = hintScale;
}
//Judging by the variable names, one might
conclude that there is some kind of a "hint"
system built into the file.
words of possible significance:
CJOHNSON - context:
if (__reg0 === 1)
{
__reg1 = __reg2.length > 2;
is_cj = __reg2 == "CJOHNSON";
}
//Chell Johnson
TIER3 - context:
__reg1 = __reg2 == "TIER3";
is_cj = __reg2 && is_cj;
gladosPrompt = "^^ADMIN> "; //ADMIN
So what I've been able to surmise is that you can enter the site using with the username 'CJOHNSON' and the password 'TIER3' in order to gain access to further information about Aperture Science and such. You heard it here first. Maybe.
Posted on 24 Oct 2007 by Lauren
Proof That I Should Be Supreme Dictator of the World (or at least of the city of Boulder!) # 1
Just kidding! Though I would make a very benevolent dictator ;) No seriously, I was just being silly in my title. Anyway, what prompted me to title it as such was that I came across the article I wrote about the prairie dogs for the newspaper two summers ago. I thought I'd post it. I'm probably going to make a section on my site with assorted pieces of writing but I'm feeling too lazy to do it now. I was really proud of this article at the time. I was also kind of livid about the "political" situation with the prairie dogs that was occurring then so please excuse any undue hostility in this article:
Regarding the city of Boulder's intent to kill prairie dogs, I must say that I am quite disheartened and disturbed. The fact that they would "take the easy way out" instead of searching for a solution that is both ethical and practical is morally reprehensible.
I'm disgusted that something as absurd as this extermination proposal is even being considered. Instead of jumping to this lethal ultimatum, they would be wise to allocate more of the city's budget to search for a humane alternative. A city as progressive as Boulder should be well aware of the ecological repercussions which would subsequently occur if these animals were to die, and the fact that no one in power seems to be actively seeking another method of dealing with the prairie dogs could be perceived as laziness (no disrespect intended. I understand that the officials are quite busy but finding a viable and non-lethal solution isn't something that requires much thought).
Additionally, the weak response from Boulder's City Council demonstrates complicity in the slaughtering of these poor creatures, and I find this to be highly unacceptable. It sends the strong message to Boulder's youth that it is all right to end lives which are not yours to end instead of searching for solutions which yield peaceful coexistence. That being said, many sociopaths are characterized by having insensitive and violent feelings toward animals during childhood and this behavior example being set would certainly facilitate such for Boulder's younger generations.
If a 17-year-old such as I can grasp the concepts of compassion, coexistence, and morality, then there is nothing that can excuse our elected officials' lack thereof (and no, "because we're heartless politicians and bureaucrats" is not a suitable defense). I strongly urge Boulder City Council to withdraw all support of this plan immediately.
Any thoughts? Thanks and have a great day!
Regarding the city of Boulder's intent to kill prairie dogs, I must say that I am quite disheartened and disturbed. The fact that they would "take the easy way out" instead of searching for a solution that is both ethical and practical is morally reprehensible.
I'm disgusted that something as absurd as this extermination proposal is even being considered. Instead of jumping to this lethal ultimatum, they would be wise to allocate more of the city's budget to search for a humane alternative. A city as progressive as Boulder should be well aware of the ecological repercussions which would subsequently occur if these animals were to die, and the fact that no one in power seems to be actively seeking another method of dealing with the prairie dogs could be perceived as laziness (no disrespect intended. I understand that the officials are quite busy but finding a viable and non-lethal solution isn't something that requires much thought).
Additionally, the weak response from Boulder's City Council demonstrates complicity in the slaughtering of these poor creatures, and I find this to be highly unacceptable. It sends the strong message to Boulder's youth that it is all right to end lives which are not yours to end instead of searching for solutions which yield peaceful coexistence. That being said, many sociopaths are characterized by having insensitive and violent feelings toward animals during childhood and this behavior example being set would certainly facilitate such for Boulder's younger generations.
If a 17-year-old such as I can grasp the concepts of compassion, coexistence, and morality, then there is nothing that can excuse our elected officials' lack thereof (and no, "because we're heartless politicians and bureaucrats" is not a suitable defense). I strongly urge Boulder City Council to withdraw all support of this plan immediately.
Any thoughts? Thanks and have a great day!
Posted on 10 Oct 2007 by Lauren
LOREENA MCKENNITT
I am seeing Loreena McKennitt in concert today at 7 PM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is my FAVORITE artist and I can't remember being THIS excited for a long while. I'm making vector graphics right now. I can't sleep again because of teh pain. Dilaudid is a good oral drug though...it works for pain but sucks intravenously because of the chest pressure (morphine, as I found out over the weekend, has the pressure thing too when injected intravenously). Peace and love be with all of you!!!!!!!!!!
Posted on 05 Oct 2007 by Lauren
Alternate Realities
I've been thinking about how things could have turned out differently if I had made different decisions earlier in life. The reason why I've been thinking about this is because it occurred to me today that if my mother had permitted me, I could have officially graduated high school in 2003. That's an entire year before the seniors in college. I would have graduated from college this past year, in 2007 - the same time everyone else my age was graduating from high school. I can just imagine running into someone I didn't like (has to be - how else would I pwn them?) who I used to go to school with and they'd be all "I'm so excited to have graduated!" and I'd be like "Me too" and then they'd be like "Where are you going to college?" and I'd be like (with a barely noticeable arrogant tone) "Actually, I already finished college. But I'm going to be starting graduate/medical school at _________(insert university here)". Then I'd walk away doing that arrogant laugh that my mom hates. Oh well, I probably wouldn't have met everyone I know now if I had done that and I really like all my friends. And I can still do that when I graduate with my master's degree at the same time (or sooner) than most of my old enemies will be graduating with their bachelor's degrees. I really need to let go of bottled up anger. I'm working on it though!
Posted on 04 Oct 2007 by Lauren
Halo 3
So, Halo 3 came out last night. Ian and I camped outside of GameStop in Superior in the cold and rain to get it. We arrived at 7:30 PM and stayed till midnight. The best part was that we were FIRST IN LINE. Everyone kept coming up to us and asking us what time we got there. One kid was like "but I was here two hours before that, just hanging out inside the store!" and he was acting all whiney and pissy and I was just like "sorry dude, but.......PWNT" (I didn't actually say that last part...I'm mostly not all about making kids cry. Mostly). There were some other high school kids there that were kinda cool (gave me some hot chocolate without me even asking!) but for some reason they thought it would be really cool to blare their rap music from the car with the windows down...in the rain. I was like "dude, aren't you worried about the inside of your car getting all wet?" and he gave me this look like "oh wow what a concept, that never even crossed my mind" and then proceeded to go roll his windows up part of the way and then later, all the way. The good news is I got a lot of studying for calc 3 done while we were waiting (my book and engineering paper got kinda water damaged but that's okay! It was totally worth it). I was sitting there working some problems and one of the moms who was there with her teenage son said to him "She's doing her homework" and I said "I have to, I have an exam on Wednesday" and then she asked me what grade I was in (she guessed 11th), to which I smiled and replied that I was a sophomore in college. So anyway, we waited until 12 AM and then we went to go get the copy. When we walked out of the store, Ian was like "hold it up!" so I did and everyone was applauding and cheering like we were celebrities or something. Pure pwnage. Here's a picture of me holding it. I don't look nearly as happy as I felt in it:
That picture was taken right before we proceeded to play it until 3 AM (it's damn awesome, for those who are wondering). And now, back to the real world *sigh*. I have calc to study for so I will not be playing ANY Halo until Friday (or maybe Thursday. We'll see). I've skipped two classes to study for calc today which I don't feel bad about at all! I'm being very productive which is awesome. A closing comment: today when I went home, my cat's fur was all fluffly from the humidity brought on by the rain and she looked incredibly cute.
That picture was taken right before we proceeded to play it until 3 AM (it's damn awesome, for those who are wondering). And now, back to the real world *sigh*. I have calc to study for so I will not be playing ANY Halo until Friday (or maybe Thursday. We'll see). I've skipped two classes to study for calc today which I don't feel bad about at all! I'm being very productive which is awesome. A closing comment: today when I went home, my cat's fur was all fluffly from the humidity brought on by the rain and she looked incredibly cute.
Posted on 25 Sep 2007 by Lauren
Under the Milky Way Tonight
I love that song. And guess who does a cover of it? My new favorite band, Kill Hannah. Yay for good music!!! So speaking of the Milky Way, I spent some time on the balcony of 831 tonight. Best view in Boulder (excluding the view from the overlook at Flagstaff, of course), right where I go to school at the engineering center. Nice stars. How awesome. Oh and speaking of good music, I heard that one song in Vivian's car by Panic! At the Disco called I Write Sins, Not Tragedies and it reminded me of when I was in the hospital. It was one of the few songs I had on my laptop at the time and I remember thinking of how applicable some of the lyrics were to real life at the time. For example, nearly all of the hospital staff seemed to have some kind of a disability when it came to remembering to close my door (despite repeated requests from myself and my parents). So at times, I just wanted to say something like "haven't you people ever heard of closing a goddamn door?" (lyrics from the song). There are some other lyrics that totally apply too but it's kind of unnecessarily mean so I won't say it. Here is a novel question: why the hell am I still awake when it's 3:35 AM, I have to get up at 9 AM to go work on Graphics homework with Alan, AND I have an Algorithms quiz tomorrow? The answer: because Dijkstra is dancing on my grave (shouldn't it be the other way around???). Oh well, I'm sure I'll get my work done eventually. On unrelated matters, I have a bunch of swollen lymph nodes on my neck and I don't even have a sore throat or anything. I hope this doesn't mean I'm getting sick. The last time they were this swollen, it directly preceded a two week hospital stay. Anyway, goodnight! Thank you for reading :)
Posted on 19 Sep 2007 by Lauren
Lips Like Morphine
Mmmm...morphine. Good stuff when you're in pain. Anyway, the title of my blog is the name of this really good song I heard in Vivian's car today by Kill Hannah. I know a lot of people who are completely and totally obsessed with Kill Hannah but I had never listened to them but I just heard this song and I totally love it, it's awesome. So apparently (according to my mom at least), I call everyone I don't like "fat"....it was really funny, last night my mom and I were talking about her first cousins' children and one of them has a morbidly obese girlfriend who attends every single family function we have. While talking to my mom about our upcoming trip to New York for David's Bat Mitzvah (no idea how that's spelled...), I said something to the effect of "I hope that fat girl doesn't come, she's so rude", to which my mom replied "Why do you call everyone you don't like fat?". Umm...I don't? I was just using an accurately descriptive adjective because I couldn't remember the girl's name. Believe me, I have much worse things to say about people I don't like ;)
I'm really excited because I'm having lunch with Brita today. I'm really sad that she's moving though :( I mean, I don't know her that well but she's always been really nice to me and she's so sweet and smart and such a good role model to have for women in computer science. I'm sure she'll be much happier when she moves though so that's good!
Closing thoughts: Justice is on the horizon. Dijkstra is going to be the death of me. Brita is awesome. My tolerance for n00bs has gone down a notch. I want Ian to be back from Florida :(
I'm really excited because I'm having lunch with Brita today. I'm really sad that she's moving though :( I mean, I don't know her that well but she's always been really nice to me and she's so sweet and smart and such a good role model to have for women in computer science. I'm sure she'll be much happier when she moves though so that's good!
Closing thoughts: Justice is on the horizon. Dijkstra is going to be the death of me. Brita is awesome. My tolerance for n00bs has gone down a notch. I want Ian to be back from Florida :(
Posted on 18 Sep 2007 by Lauren
Foiled
I have been foiled in more ways than one tonight. In one of these incidences, someone else was directly responsible my failure. In another, someone else was indirectly responsible however, I was the responsible party in this occurrence. The first one was truly out of my control. Treachery was afoot and while in retrospect, I could have counter-thwarted the enemy's efforts, it was purely misfortune and circumstance. The second deals with my recurring blog theme of Francesca. Her actions and decisions have foiled my efforts to maintain our beautiful friendship. I'm sure my own intolerance has something to do with this as well but the fact of the matter is that I hold my friends and family to the same high standards to which I hold myself. In this sense, I have foiled myself but I foiled myself more by being disillusioned for so long. I'm quite thankful for the clarity which has befallen me on this day. I have long been under the impression that I was important to Francesca and at one time, I truly believe I was. But she repeatedly chooses her monstrosity of a boyfriend over me, even in times when I desperately need a "best friend". It's like my mother said, "She's not your friend now. She has made her choice. She may one day be your friend again but for now, you have to see her for what she is." I only wish I had listened to my mother when she told me that the first time. It would have allowed my thoughts to be realistic. I guess we all have to learn some things on our own though, right? The thought that Francesca isn't "really" my friend anymore is kind of depressing, considering that we were like sisters before Daryl showed up. But the more I think about it, the more it's true. I can count (on one hand and one finger ) the number of times I've seen her since she began seeing him. She texts me and asks me how I am and when I reply that I am not well at all, she continues to choose to make time for him but not for me, even when I'm ailing. She isn't there for me the way a friend would be. I do hope that we can be true friends again one day but until then, I think I need to focus on my studies and on the wonderful, fabulous people in my life who actually HAVE been there for me when I needed them (you know who you are...thank you so much for being so amazing. I love you all!). Thanks for reading and sorry I'm always so emo when I blog. To end on a happy note: My earlier discussions with Ian about metaphysicality were very thought provoking and have given me some ideas for my novel. I suddenly feel compelled to write again. Too bad I have a calc III lab and some programs to write...otherwise, I very well might crank out a novel over the weekend ;)
Posted on 16 Sep 2007 by Lauren
A Golden Era is Upon Us!
Things are so wonderful! I love my life. School is great, research is great, family/friends are great. I'm so lucky and grateful, especially for all the wonderful people in my life. I'm very busy with school but my classes are quite interesting. I can't wait for them to start picking up even more because although that means more work for me, it also means more knowledge of interesting topics.
Today was a splendid day. I did some very splendid things. At around 7 PM, I went to a tea party at Francesca's house, which leads me to my next paragraph...
Some irritating (but optimistically hopeful) news:
As I'm sure you're well aware, my beautiful, wonderful, amazing friend Francesca is dating an abomination that goes by the name of Daryl. If I had a nickel for every time he did something that was socially (or otherwise) reprehensible, I would be VERY wealthy right now. You may think that I'm being overly harsh and judgmental (and I won't deny the possibility of either of those being true) but I am only one of many who feel that he is a disgrace to humanity. The "optimistically hopeful" news is that there has been some conflict between my friend and Daryl. I'm glad that Francesca is finally starting to become aware of the problems this imbecile is causing for her but in my opinion, she is not as fully aware of them as she should be. This is part of the "irritating" news. She labels every conflict they have as a "misunderstanding" (as she also did with every single one of my reasons for disliking Daryl). As a non-believer in coincidences, I can assert that there are far too many misunderstandings here to be a coincidence. She's too forgiving, overly willing to accept half the blame (which rightfully belongs 100% on his shoulders) and "understand where he's coming from" (even if it's totally irrational). For example, he's been whining a lot because she hasn't been able to spend as much time with him since she started college (which he KNEW would happen but apparently still feels compelled to burden her with his complaints, as he is driven by his self centered and self indulgent personality). Francesca admitted to me that she procrastinates sometimes and puts things off until the last minute and Daryl went as far as to accuse her of procrastinating on purpose so that she'd have an excuse not to hang out with him. My first thoughts when I heard this: WTF? W-T-F? I don't know which is worse, the fact that he would actually SAY such a thing or the fact that she would subscribe to it as a legitimate concern, rather than seeing it for what it is: a manipulation tactic. That type of behavior doesn't just mildly irritate me...it pisses me off. A lot. Francesca is so stressed out with her classes and she doesn't need this whiny/clingy/selfish crap from Daryl. Perhaps if he quit being so lazy, got off his ass, and worked towards going to college and making something of himself, he could empathize with what it's like to be busy with one's education and studies but since he's shown no effort towards any of the above, he can't and probably never be able to understand why she's so busy. In any event, I hope she comes to her senses ASAP and breaks it off with this loser. He's a negative asset and is keeping her from exploring potential, as a person. I'm persistently saddened to see my friend being judged according to Daryl, who is associated with her. She deserves much better. I was just thinking that if I could write a letter to him (a "civil" letter - one where I wasn't allowed to cuss him out or anything like that. Passive aggression and blunt criticism permitted), it would probably look something like that
Dear Daryl,
Please grow up and stop your whining. Your presence makes us all grow weary (by which I mean, nauseated) and we would greatly appreciate it if you did everyone (Francesca included) a favor and withdrew from her life. She doesn't need people like you sapping her credibility and she certainly doesn't need your emotional baggage, especially not now, a time in her life when she should really be focusing on herself, without having to worry about your selfishness. It is quite apparent to everyone other than Francesca that you are a waste of her time and personal resources. You are needy, clingy, and severely emotionally disturbed and have no business interacting with people until you can learn to do so in an appropriate manner. You are the way you are because you choose to be and it's time you acted like a man and took responsibility, instead of coming up with an endless amount of hollow excuses explaining and justifying why you're so pathetic. For example, you've seemed to persuade Francesca that you're not in college because your treacherous parents promised they would pay your tuition expenses and then went back on their word and that there's not a damn thing you can do about it. Firstly, if the situation with your parents is true, it's unfortunate but it isn't limiting you from pursuing a college education. Plenty of peoples' parents do not financially support their educations but that doesn't prevent them from furthering themselves, working hard, and earning degrees. There are plenty of options available for people in need of financial aid and you really don't have to be a genius to take advantage of these options. So this begs the question: what exactly IS holding you back? The answer: Your own laziness, stupidity, and socialretardation issues. Furthermore, I think you'll find it highly beneficial to enroll yourself in finishing school. Your manners are atrocious. You are easily the most ill-mannered (rude, to put it in words that you'll understand) person I've ever had the misfortune of encountering. Your rudeness has and will continue to antagonize everyone you meet. Aside from burning bridges and making enemies, you'll slight yourself of many opportunities and cripple yourself, should you decide to pursue a real career if your bad behavior exists (you may have convinced Francesca to dismiss your bad behavior as a series of unfortunate "misunderstandings" but sadly for you, no one else you meet will be blinded by the infatuation and compassion that she is). In closing, I feel you are a very flawed individual and I want you out of my best friend's life. You are corrupting her essence and I do not take kindly to the reckless destruction of precious entities by degenerates like yourself. So get lost and go someplace where your boorish demeanor is accepted (a barnyard might be a good place to start).
Spitefully, sincerely, and intelligently (at least more so than you) yours,
Lauren Martina Fosco
RANT ENDS HERE. PLEASE CONTINUE READING AT THIS POINT IF YOU ARE EXASPERATED WITH MY ANGER :D
I have rediscovered an old snack that I used to love but haven't had for a while: graham crackers and peanut butter. Yummy. I'm also compiling a list of artists from Guitar Hero that I like and I'll probably add them to my radioblog soon. Speaking of compiling, I'm starting to heart programming again (I was hating on it when I had to do my heapsort project). My classes rock.
Lastly, September 25th, 2007 is a very important date...Halo 3 is being released then. LAN party? I think so. Thanks for reading :)
Today was a splendid day. I did some very splendid things. At around 7 PM, I went to a tea party at Francesca's house, which leads me to my next paragraph...
Some irritating (but optimistically hopeful) news:
As I'm sure you're well aware, my beautiful, wonderful, amazing friend Francesca is dating an abomination that goes by the name of Daryl. If I had a nickel for every time he did something that was socially (or otherwise) reprehensible, I would be VERY wealthy right now. You may think that I'm being overly harsh and judgmental (and I won't deny the possibility of either of those being true) but I am only one of many who feel that he is a disgrace to humanity. The "optimistically hopeful" news is that there has been some conflict between my friend and Daryl. I'm glad that Francesca is finally starting to become aware of the problems this imbecile is causing for her but in my opinion, she is not as fully aware of them as she should be. This is part of the "irritating" news. She labels every conflict they have as a "misunderstanding" (as she also did with every single one of my reasons for disliking Daryl). As a non-believer in coincidences, I can assert that there are far too many misunderstandings here to be a coincidence. She's too forgiving, overly willing to accept half the blame (which rightfully belongs 100% on his shoulders) and "understand where he's coming from" (even if it's totally irrational). For example, he's been whining a lot because she hasn't been able to spend as much time with him since she started college (which he KNEW would happen but apparently still feels compelled to burden her with his complaints, as he is driven by his self centered and self indulgent personality). Francesca admitted to me that she procrastinates sometimes and puts things off until the last minute and Daryl went as far as to accuse her of procrastinating on purpose so that she'd have an excuse not to hang out with him. My first thoughts when I heard this: WTF? W-T-F? I don't know which is worse, the fact that he would actually SAY such a thing or the fact that she would subscribe to it as a legitimate concern, rather than seeing it for what it is: a manipulation tactic. That type of behavior doesn't just mildly irritate me...it pisses me off. A lot. Francesca is so stressed out with her classes and she doesn't need this whiny/clingy/selfish crap from Daryl. Perhaps if he quit being so lazy, got off his ass, and worked towards going to college and making something of himself, he could empathize with what it's like to be busy with one's education and studies but since he's shown no effort towards any of the above, he can't and probably never be able to understand why she's so busy. In any event, I hope she comes to her senses ASAP and breaks it off with this loser. He's a negative asset and is keeping her from exploring potential, as a person. I'm persistently saddened to see my friend being judged according to Daryl, who is associated with her. She deserves much better. I was just thinking that if I could write a letter to him (a "civil" letter - one where I wasn't allowed to cuss him out or anything like that. Passive aggression and blunt criticism permitted), it would probably look something like that
Dear Daryl,
Please grow up and stop your whining. Your presence makes us all grow weary (by which I mean, nauseated) and we would greatly appreciate it if you did everyone (Francesca included) a favor and withdrew from her life. She doesn't need people like you sapping her credibility and she certainly doesn't need your emotional baggage, especially not now, a time in her life when she should really be focusing on herself, without having to worry about your selfishness. It is quite apparent to everyone other than Francesca that you are a waste of her time and personal resources. You are needy, clingy, and severely emotionally disturbed and have no business interacting with people until you can learn to do so in an appropriate manner. You are the way you are because you choose to be and it's time you acted like a man and took responsibility, instead of coming up with an endless amount of hollow excuses explaining and justifying why you're so pathetic. For example, you've seemed to persuade Francesca that you're not in college because your treacherous parents promised they would pay your tuition expenses and then went back on their word and that there's not a damn thing you can do about it. Firstly, if the situation with your parents is true, it's unfortunate but it isn't limiting you from pursuing a college education. Plenty of peoples' parents do not financially support their educations but that doesn't prevent them from furthering themselves, working hard, and earning degrees. There are plenty of options available for people in need of financial aid and you really don't have to be a genius to take advantage of these options. So this begs the question: what exactly IS holding you back? The answer: Your own laziness, stupidity, and social
Spitefully, sincerely, and intelligently (at least more so than you) yours,
Lauren Martina Fosco
RANT ENDS HERE. PLEASE CONTINUE READING AT THIS POINT IF YOU ARE EXASPERATED WITH MY ANGER :D
I have rediscovered an old snack that I used to love but haven't had for a while: graham crackers and peanut butter. Yummy. I'm also compiling a list of artists from Guitar Hero that I like and I'll probably add them to my radioblog soon. Speaking of compiling, I'm starting to heart programming again (I was hating on it when I had to do my heapsort project). My classes rock.
Lastly, September 25th, 2007 is a very important date...Halo 3 is being released then. LAN party? I think so. Thanks for reading :)
Posted on 10 Sep 2007 by Lauren
Winter
I think I have a new favorite song! I heard it today on the radio when my dad and I were driving back from school. It's called Winter, by Tori Amos. I never really had much interest in her music before now but I simply adore this song, I think it's SO pretty! I'll probably post it on my radioblog soon. I think I figured out why I like it so much too...it sort of sounds like a "contemporary" version of Loreena McKennitt. I love her music so much and Tori Amos's song is very pretty and poetic, like Loreena's music but the lyrics are more modern and the song is less Celtic sounding.
I've been programming all day. I'm seriously walking the line between loving and hating object oriented programming and languages. Sometimes it's SO fun and challenging but other times it's just so...evil. I really like my data structures instructor, Elizabeth. She's very personable, understanding and funny, which makes the class and material much more palatable. I took my final for that class today in the morning and I think it went well! It was pretty easy, I think I knew just about everything on it, though I had to refer to my book and notes (both were open!) for some details. I think I'm going to make a section with all my code and such on here sometime...eventually. By the way, I have my curriculum vitae up! I had to write one for some research submission thing so I decided I'd put it on here too.
The most exciting of what I have to blog about today is............that I moved to my apartment! I love it! Aside from broken AC (NOT good in the summer heat - but it will be fixed), it's lovely. I guess I'm a bit skeptical about the carpet as well since whomever lived in the unit before me seemed to be very untidy (according to the woman in the leasing office and my new roommate) but they said they'd be able to do something about it so as long as they take action soon, things will be fine.
A few random things: Some totally awesome songs that I love are going to be on Guitar Hero 3. These include Miss Murder by AFI and Rock You Like A Hurricane by Scorpions. October (when it's being released) can't come soon enough (also because ZELDA FOR NINTENDO DS is tentatively being released then - though I'm not holding my breath. It took them nearly two years to release Twilight Princess from the time they announced the first release date). I think I'm going to start (and hopefully finish) writing my book again. We're going to the mountains soon so perhaps I'll have some time (and inspiration) to write then. And lastly, I wish that *SOME* certain people would realize how poorly it reflects upon themselves to associate with certain anonymous individuals (anyone who knows me probably knows what I'm talking about - and if you don't, just let me know. I'd be more than happy to fill you in). I realize I "ruined" this positive and happy post with a twinge of negativity but come on, this is MY blog we're talking about here...you didn't really think I could make it through an entry without complaining about at least one of the world's injustices, did you? ;) Thanks for reading!
I've been programming all day. I'm seriously walking the line between loving and hating object oriented programming and languages. Sometimes it's SO fun and challenging but other times it's just so...evil. I really like my data structures instructor, Elizabeth. She's very personable, understanding and funny, which makes the class and material much more palatable. I took my final for that class today in the morning and I think it went well! It was pretty easy, I think I knew just about everything on it, though I had to refer to my book and notes (both were open!) for some details. I think I'm going to make a section with all my code and such on here sometime...eventually. By the way, I have my curriculum vitae up! I had to write one for some research submission thing so I decided I'd put it on here too.
The most exciting of what I have to blog about today is............that I moved to my apartment! I love it! Aside from broken AC (NOT good in the summer heat - but it will be fixed), it's lovely. I guess I'm a bit skeptical about the carpet as well since whomever lived in the unit before me seemed to be very untidy (according to the woman in the leasing office and my new roommate) but they said they'd be able to do something about it so as long as they take action soon, things will be fine.
A few random things: Some totally awesome songs that I love are going to be on Guitar Hero 3. These include Miss Murder by AFI and Rock You Like A Hurricane by Scorpions. October (when it's being released) can't come soon enough (also because ZELDA FOR NINTENDO DS is tentatively being released then - though I'm not holding my breath. It took them nearly two years to release Twilight Princess from the time they announced the first release date). I think I'm going to start (and hopefully finish) writing my book again. We're going to the mountains soon so perhaps I'll have some time (and inspiration) to write then. And lastly, I wish that *SOME* certain people would realize how poorly it reflects upon themselves to associate with certain anonymous individuals (anyone who knows me probably knows what I'm talking about - and if you don't, just let me know. I'd be more than happy to fill you in). I realize I "ruined" this positive and happy post with a twinge of negativity but come on, this is MY blog we're talking about here...you didn't really think I could make it through an entry without complaining about at least one of the world's injustices, did you? ;) Thanks for reading!
Posted on 09 Aug 2007 by Lauren
Bittersweet
I watched The X-Files today for the first time in several months. It was really great, it's definitely my favorite show (of all time) but I never really watch television so I rarely get to see it. And relatedly, I received from very exciting news from my dad: they're making a second X-Files movie!!! From what I can tell, it's not yet in production but this is very exciting, nonetheless. Here's the Wikipedia article on it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_X_Files_2
Sadly, I saw something very disturbing on television on commercial break when my dad was switching between the channels. There was some hunting channel that we were on and it showed these people sitting next to deers which they had killed, holding their heads and necks upright and moving them, making it look as though the poor creatures were still living. They were smiling, laughing, and bragging about their kills. It was one of the most disheartening and sickening things I've ever seen. I really don't like rednecks like that. It also showed one male deer being shot to death and I very nearly cried.
I had my first programming test today. I didn't finish it but the professor Elizabeth was so nice and told me I could finish it up later today. I am trying to work on it right now but my medicine is making me dizzy and it's hard to work. I'm excited about programming because even though it's hard sometimes, it is pretty fun and it's always very rewarding when I'm able to solve the problems, even if it's time consuming. And everyone in computer science is so nice to me. I would love to be in a field where I'm surrounded by people like the ones I've met so far. They're so brilliant and I can learn so much for them!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_X_Files_2
Sadly, I saw something very disturbing on television on commercial break when my dad was switching between the channels. There was some hunting channel that we were on and it showed these people sitting next to deers which they had killed, holding their heads and necks upright and moving them, making it look as though the poor creatures were still living. They were smiling, laughing, and bragging about their kills. It was one of the most disheartening and sickening things I've ever seen. I really don't like rednecks like that. It also showed one male deer being shot to death and I very nearly cried.
I had my first programming test today. I didn't finish it but the professor Elizabeth was so nice and told me I could finish it up later today. I am trying to work on it right now but my medicine is making me dizzy and it's hard to work. I'm excited about programming because even though it's hard sometimes, it is pretty fun and it's always very rewarding when I'm able to solve the problems, even if it's time consuming. And everyone in computer science is so nice to me. I would love to be in a field where I'm surrounded by people like the ones I've met so far. They're so brilliant and I can learn so much for them!
Posted on 25 Jul 2007 by Lauren
Man it's a hot one. Like seven inches from the midday sun.
I took four showers today. They were all freezing cold (as cold as the switch would allow) and I still feel disgusting and sweaty (though taking a freezing cold shower when you're hotter than hell feels AMAZING). It's TOO HOT IN HERE. There are bugs everywhere in Libby. I went to the restroom and they're just swarming above the sink near the lights. As I write this entry, three have landed on my computer screen. This is fairly unacceptable, as I hate things messing with my computer. I really would be pissed if a bug got into my laptop and somehow circuited out my motherboard or something. HSHI is fun but extremely long and tiring. The kids are cool and the other group leaders are nice. It's just soooo tiring but the experience as an "RA" really made me thankful that I'm not going to be one next year...I can't stand having to put up with restless kids and their crap. I told Vivian that if anyone disrupts my sleep tonight with their nonsense, I'm going to go on a writing-people-up spree. AND I swear, if I have to be on my feet hardly at all tomorrow, I'm probably going to die because I'm soooo tired and sore. Anyway, I'll quit complaining now. On a brighter note, my kidney function is increasing exponentially from all the water I'm having to drink to stay hydrated out in the heat of the summer. Great news, isn't it? :) Anyway, I'm closing my computer screen before anymore bugs land on it (since I mentioned it before, about 11 more have landed on it - two of which, very tragically, did not survive).
Posted on 23 Jul 2007 by Lauren
All things evil
I am remarkably irritable. It's 2 AM and for about the fifteenth day in a row, it looks like I won't be getting more than five hours of sleep tonight. You might wonder what right I have to be complaining about my lack of sleep when I'm up blogging instead of at least attempting to sleep and for this question, there is a very straightforward, logical, and (at least for me) painful answer: it's too hot to sleep!. AC? I think not. I am stuck on the third floor of Libby Hall where AC does not exist. I've been volunteering for HSHI all day long and quite frankly, I'm TIRED. They REALLY need to install some AC in these dorm rooms. It's virtually unbearable without it. Seriously, I'm sweating like a pig...it's disgusting. Well I have to be up early in the AM for some meeting thing so I'm going to "sleep" (haha I wish) now. We'll see if I make it up in time for that meeting.
On a totally unrelated note, I was looking on Google for some things and I came across this link to this thing I did with the astronaut Jim Voss when I was like 12. Fun stuff.
http://www2.arrl.org/news/stories/2001/06/22/3/?nc=1
P.S. TO THE NOOBS WHO KEEP SPAMMING MY CUTENEWS BLOGS: IF YOU DON'T CUT THE CRAP AND LEAVE MY SITE THE HELL ALONE, YOUR SERVER IS GETTING HACKED AND PROBABLY USED FOR DISREPUTABLE (TO YOUR REPUTATION) DEEDS BY ME. IF YOU THINK THIS IS IN ANY WAY A HOLLOW OR EMPTY THREAT, PLEASE REFER TO THE SORRY SOUL IN DENMARK WHO CONTINUED SPAMMING FORMMAILS, DESPITE MY NUMEROUS ATTEMPTS TO PERSUADE/REASON WITH/THREATEN HIM. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION IN THIS MATTER.
On a totally unrelated note, I was looking on Google for some things and I came across this link to this thing I did with the astronaut Jim Voss when I was like 12. Fun stuff.
http://www2.arrl.org/news/stories/2001/06/22/3/?nc=1
P.S. TO THE NOOBS WHO KEEP SPAMMING MY CUTENEWS BLOGS: IF YOU DON'T CUT THE CRAP AND LEAVE MY SITE THE HELL ALONE, YOUR SERVER IS GETTING HACKED AND PROBABLY USED FOR DISREPUTABLE (TO YOUR REPUTATION) DEEDS BY ME. IF YOU THINK THIS IS IN ANY WAY A HOLLOW OR EMPTY THREAT, PLEASE REFER TO THE SORRY SOUL IN DENMARK WHO CONTINUED SPAMMING FORMMAILS, DESPITE MY NUMEROUS ATTEMPTS TO PERSUADE/REASON WITH/THREATEN HIM. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION IN THIS MATTER.
Posted on 22 Jul 2007 by Lauren
Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage
So today, I received a proverbial ass kicking from life. I had some kind of a muscle spasm in my leg (the same one I have hip issues in) or something in my sleep at like 4 AM this morning and the pain was so bad that it woke me from my sleep and made me pass out. Then, when I woke up a few hours later (I passed out, "came to" and then just tried to sleep off the sick aftermath from fainting), my shoulder hurt and I couldn't move my head without my shoulder hurting. I couldn't even sit up without help from my mom. I figured I'd just strained it during my little episode and it wasn't cause for concern so I didn't go to the doctor or anything. Some may think that given my circumstances, this was foolish but honestly, what would the doctors do? Prod me, make me uncomfortable, and give me some pain medicine (of which I have an ample supply). I'm too busy to have my time wasted like that. So, I just doubled up on the percocet and went about my business (though it was soooo hard to stay awake in class today. Restless night + percocet == sleepiness).
On a brighter note, I am done using series FOREVER (hopefully). We've moved on to conic sections in calculus class and I've never loved geometry so much. Conic sections are like a breath of fresh air after the ugliness of testing series for convergence/divergence.
Lastly, I forged an alliance today. You know the saying "the enemy of your enemy is your friend"? Well mine is kind of the converse of that. In my case, it happens to be the friend of your enemy is your friend. I had an interesting and fairly long conversation with Daryl's best friend and it turns out that he's fed up with Daryl for exactly the same reasons I am AND that he's having the same problems with his best friend (personality changes, being ignored, etc) as I am with mine. We both agreed that it was nice to know we, respectively, weren't the only ones being shafted by the whole Daryl/Francesca situation. We have a fairly similar outlook on the relationship (in general) and while we want our best friends to be happy, we hate being excluded so much and we're worried that Daryl and Francesca are basically sacrificing all their friendships to be together (never a good idea, for any relationship).
On a brighter note, I am done using series FOREVER (hopefully). We've moved on to conic sections in calculus class and I've never loved geometry so much. Conic sections are like a breath of fresh air after the ugliness of testing series for convergence/divergence.
Lastly, I forged an alliance today. You know the saying "the enemy of your enemy is your friend"? Well mine is kind of the converse of that. In my case, it happens to be the friend of your enemy is your friend. I had an interesting and fairly long conversation with Daryl's best friend and it turns out that he's fed up with Daryl for exactly the same reasons I am AND that he's having the same problems with his best friend (personality changes, being ignored, etc) as I am with mine. We both agreed that it was nice to know we, respectively, weren't the only ones being shafted by the whole Daryl/Francesca situation. We have a fairly similar outlook on the relationship (in general) and while we want our best friends to be happy, we hate being excluded so much and we're worried that Daryl and Francesca are basically sacrificing all their friendships to be together (never a good idea, for any relationship).
Posted on 20 Jul 2007 by Lauren
Great News
So the 16th was National Daryl Hating Day but to top that off, Nicole, Daryl's best friend Lee and I all decided that this would forever be National Daryl Hating Week. While we're at it, why not dedicate the entire month of July to hating on Daryl? But why stop there? Maybe this entire year (and every year thereafter) should also be a Daryl hating holiday? After all, it (the hating) will be taking place anyway and the only way it would stop is if he gets his act together and stops acting like such a jerk to everyone (which I don't forsee happening...though I'm always open to pleasant surprises).
Posted on 18 Jul 2007 by Lauren
Happy Belated Daryl Hating Day
Yesterday, July 16th, was officially Daryl Hating Day. Apparently everyone's pissed at him because he's a whiney bitch (among other things). That made me incredibly happy.
Posted on 17 Jul 2007 by Lauren
An Ancient Muse
I'm delighted because last night, I found out that Loreena McKennitt has a new CD out called An Ancient Muse and I've listened to audio samples of the songs and they're sooooo good! I can't wait to get the CD. I love Loreena McKennitt. Her music is amazing. The songs on An Ancient Muse:
All of Loreena McKennitt's music is great. I love the names of her songs and the titles of her albums. They're all so poetic and mystical sounding. For example: Elemental, To Drive the Cold Winter Away, Parallel Dreams, The Mask and the Mirror, etc. Beautiful names. Very similar in nature to the titles I'd want to give my books (should I ever complete another one).
Today when I was driving, we were behind the most awful car. It was a black model of a Mercedes-Benz that I had never seen before...it was ugly as hell and looked like an SS vehicle or something. It had a Texas license plate (surprise, surprise) and the guys driving it looked kind of creepy. I fail to see why anyone would want to drive a car that resembled anything SS (unless they were some of those Neo-Nazis, white supremacists, or other persuations that really have no place in the civilized world). I also fail to see why Mercedes-Benz would manufacture such an abhorrent thing but that's their problem. However, I do feel the urge to scratch Mercedes-Benz off my list of potential cars to buy when I get a new one this summer.
- Incantation
- The Gates Of Istanbul
- Caravanserai
- The English Ladye And The Knight
- Kecharitomene
- Penelope's Song
- Sacred Shabbat
- Beneath A Phrygian Sky
- Never-ending Road (Amhrán Duit)
All of Loreena McKennitt's music is great. I love the names of her songs and the titles of her albums. They're all so poetic and mystical sounding. For example: Elemental, To Drive the Cold Winter Away, Parallel Dreams, The Mask and the Mirror, etc. Beautiful names. Very similar in nature to the titles I'd want to give my books (should I ever complete another one).
Today when I was driving, we were behind the most awful car. It was a black model of a Mercedes-Benz that I had never seen before...it was ugly as hell and looked like an SS vehicle or something. It had a Texas license plate (surprise, surprise) and the guys driving it looked kind of creepy. I fail to see why anyone would want to drive a car that resembled anything SS (unless they were some of those Neo-Nazis, white supremacists, or other persuations that really have no place in the civilized world). I also fail to see why Mercedes-Benz would manufacture such an abhorrent thing but that's their problem. However, I do feel the urge to scratch Mercedes-Benz off my list of potential cars to buy when I get a new one this summer.
Posted on 21 Jun 2007 by Lauren
The Police
I'm seeing The Police in concert tomorrow!!! How exciting! AND to make that even better (I know, I thought it was impossible too), Ian and I are going to the Spaghetti Factory. My favorite restaurant. Ever. And I'm going to Hapa now. I feel like such a fatass, obsessing over food like this but whatever. It's good and I'm not THAT fat, hehe. Peace out, I'm going to eat edamame and miso and sushiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii:D
Posted on 08 Jun 2007 by Lauren
Apple, Microsoft, and....Facebook?
I love my iPod. My iPod kicks ass. I used to have a Dell Pocket DJ as my mp3 player and it sucked. I was trying to be all "I'm too unique for iPods" but it didn't work, I conformed, and I'm SO glad I did. It kind of pisses me off that Microsoft has a monopoly on the computer market because Macs are functionally (with respect to microscopic computing and processing, at least) better computers than PCs are. I love my computers though (which are products of Microsoft). And I also love xbox 360s. I want one. And I want a PS2 (never a PS3 though....buying a PS3 would make me a. very stupid and/or b. a technology whore [and not in a good way]). I might just buy a PS2 before their slight deflation from the PS3 disappears.
Facebook is awesome. It's the most ridiculous site but it's soooo addicting. It's amplified its addictivity (is that a word?) by adding this music feature game thing. I've gotten a lot of new music/songs I like from that game so it's awesome. The last four songs I added to radioblog are from there. However, I do have some problems with it:
I don't care what anyone says, Britney Frickin Spears is NOT cool. I loathe those who give her and her *kind* any type of attention, media or otherwise. That's all :)
Facebook is awesome. It's the most ridiculous site but it's soooo addicting. It's amplified its addictivity (is that a word?) by adding this music feature game thing. I've gotten a lot of new music/songs I like from that game so it's awesome. The last four songs I added to radioblog are from there. However, I do have some problems with it:
- Not enough Police/Sting music.
- Too much pop music.
I don't care what anyone says, Britney Frickin Spears is NOT cool. I loathe those who give her and her *kind* any type of attention, media or otherwise. That's all :)
Posted on 31 May 2007 by Lauren
If I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don't know
My philosophy professor is awesome. Granted, the class itself is kind of boring but she's really cool. She has such good views on the world. She's an Atheist (like me) and also a vegetarian (like me!). Today in class, she was articulating her views (and elaborating on an article she wrote) and then, somewhat randomly, she was like "I think Philosopher1 and Philosopher2 (can't remember their real names) are assholes!", hehe. And on more than one other occasion, she's said something to the effect of "that's bullshit!". On totally unrelated matters, I really want to go to the Spaghetti Factory soon. I haven't been there in over a year and that's my favorite restaurant. Seriously. This is quite depressing, though, all of the other good stuff going on in my life MORE than makes up for it :) TYVM to all my awesome friends. Love you all <3
Posted on 31 May 2007 by Lauren
To be taken with a grain of salt...
Disclaimer: Rant with many (possibly offensive) generalizations.
I'm really tired of a lot of things. Firstly, I'm very tired of summer. I wish it were fall semester already. I hate the hot weather, I wish it was winter again (winter or a temperate spring...something I can comfortably hike and run in). Even though I'm going to be soooo busy with all the hard classes I'm taking, I actually give a damn about the material. I hate the class I'm taking now - it's philosophy and the premise of the course is very interesting but I don't care for the way the class is constructed at all. I really don't care about or want to discuss the opinions of the philosophers whose work we're reading (with respect, most of them are dead but I still don't care) and I want to discuss my own views on the issues raised, not theirs. I'm not being enriched educationally or personally and every time I go to this class, I feel like my time gets wasted.
Secondly, I'm very sick of being dismissed by those close to me. My friends and family both are guilty of doing this and frankly, I hate it. I feel like I'm being driven to the brink of insanity by people and their selfish/stupid/controlling/blatantly ignorant motives. I've been pretty much miserable since I moved back home from school, not because I'm unhappy to see my family but because I strongly resent having to give up the freedoms which I've enjoyed over the school year because my parents can't accept the fact that I'm more than grown up enough to do what I want. Considering what some people do, they should be grateful that all I want to do is stay overnight playing video games with friends (even if they don't know these friends, their addresses, social security numbers, and full history starting from the day they were born - it's called trusting my adult judgment, kthx). My mother's excuse is that "18 isn't really an adult!" (she doesn't seem to realize that her denial doesn't invalidate the truth). Her other is "you didn't experience high school the normal way" (and implied, therefore I should be reduced to being treated like a high schooler now). And so the cycle continues, I do what she wants to please her and in effect, make myself miserable. The previous sentence is applicable to nearly every aspect of my life that involves people. I'm so sick of people. I just want to be left alone to sit and write, play video games, and listen to my music with my cat. Perhaps I'm just being bitter but I believe that my feelings and anger about my situation(s) (medical included) are perfectly justified. The whole being sick thing probably has a lot to do with why my parents are so overprotective but it's so unfair to me that the quality of my life should be affected by what other people want for me/themselves, even if they mean well (that makes me feel sooooo guilty for being frustrated...because ultimately, I'm blessed beyond belief with the family I have. I could go on and on about why [for literally pages] but it's probably obvious to me and anyone who knows me well enough to be reading this blog entry).
Well that's my parents but certain other (anonymous) individuals are not well meaning at all. Some are ignorant and some are selfish. I find myself less agitated at the ignorant because although I have some very strong opinions regarding ignorance and stupidity, it's less of an offense than the individuals by whom I'm negatively affected, with respect to their "greed". I will use my attention and personal resources as an example: the ignorant find my attention to be disposable and use it selectively, as if my friendship is some kind of an abundant commodity with no more sentiment than an arbitrary material possession. Because of how I'm grounded (as a person), I'm quite torn as to how I should handle these individuals; my patience for their treatment of me grows quite thin but my love for them as friends somehow balances that out (though I'm not sure how much longer it will hold). As for the selfish...well, they aren't so frivolous with my attention. They do try to monopolize it though and as a result, I feel I have no time for anything else (including myself). Even when I express my wishes regarding how I spend my time, I find myself being pressured to keep giving in to their wants (again, the aforementioned nature that I possess) to keep them happy. Lastly, although this entry may seem very general, it only actually refers to a few isolated incidents which have been bothering me. Thank you so very much to the unreferenced...you are wonderful :)
PS: If you actually read this rant in it's entirety...congratulations/thankyou/getalife(haha just kidding about the last thing. I'm just being bitchy).
Posted on 28 May 2007 by Lauren
Why I Hate People # 2
Because they suck. And are stupid. And do stupid things. And act stupid. Which brings me to my next point: stupidity should be a capital crime. No kidding. On a brighter note, I've found a new soda to use as my pure cane sugar fix:
Posted on 16 May 2007 by Lauren
There's a little black spot on the sun today...
Yeah, finals tend to do that. I've been studying calc so much today, I'm ready to kill someone. On the other hand, it's really awesome because my confidence in my own ability to understand calc has increased dramatically. My mom was totally sweet to me today, when I went home, she handed me a bag and in it was a sweatshirt that I really wanted but didn't get (because I'm an idiot) when we were at the store the other day. I swear, I have the greatest parents ever. EVER. Another really cool thing happened to me today...so my dad was taking me back to school and as I was getting out of the car, I noticed a little honey bee on my jeans. It was so cute, it was just sitting there chilling out and clinging to the fabric. I walked carefully over to a little patch of flowers and tried to get it to go off but it wouldn't go. Sarah helped me kind of shake it off. I didn't see where it landed but presumably, it now has a new home in the bed of flowers :)
Posted on 06 May 2007 by Lauren
Flash FTW
I've decided I'm going to redo a lot of my site in flash. I mean, I love the blend I made and I like the color scheme and layout but flash is just so fun. I might keep my current layout and just add mouseover flash buttons and a flash splash page or something. Anyway, we had a power outage today so that kind of delayed me working on my website. Also, my sleep is really messed up. Okay so two nights ago, I probably got like an hour of sleep plus two hours of napping during the day and then last night, I should've been dead tired (and I kind of was) but I couldn't fall asleep until like 1 AM. That's so weird. AND I have a new friend on myspace who's going to CU also next year so that makes me very happy :D Well I guess I'll go work on the flash for my site now.
Posted on 30 Jul 2006 by Lauren
Okay so...
I've had a really bad headache all day. Everything else seems to be agitating me today too (even though I'm in a better mood than I was yesterday). I've been working on my Greengrants stuff for like three hours and I CAN'T FIX THE PROBLEM. They're probably going to think I'm really incompetant or something but I swear, I've tried everything I know of to fix it. Oh well, maybe I can ask them when I go to the office next week. Sarah and I also went to the club today and we were playing basketball when the abomination - aka men's basketball league - moved in and encrouched upon us and our court space. That was extremely irritating because they're so tasteless, honestly. One of the guys at least had the decency to invite us to join their game but after he insulted us (he asked "Do you want to play with us? You can guard each other", implying that we didn't have the skills to guard any of them, pffft), I respectfully declined. It was kind of gross because some of the older (and fatter lol) guys took their shirts off and Sarah and I had to see some unpleasant things. Sarah didn't really feel like running or anything (she just wanted to leave after we were forced out by them) but tomorrow I hope we can run and lift weights while we're there. My mom and I are also going for a walk on campus tomorrow. Sort of to map out my classes and see how long it REALLY takes to get to and from the different buildings. So I'm looking forward to that a lot. I also need to call CU if they haven't replied to my e-mail by tomorrow...
Posted on 26 Jul 2006 by Lauren
Why I Hate People # 1
I saw an advertisement on channel 8 which stated that the city was recruiting volunteers to help them count prairie dogs and document their locations and such. They said it was for "scientific" and "statistical" purposes but I think it's pretty obviously that they're just trying to make volunteers do the preparation work for their little extermination plan. It's pretty pathetic that they can justify a $400,000 expenditure on the useless architecture running along 28th but when it comes to the welfare of living creatures, they opt for something unethical to save the taxpayers a few hundred thousand dollars. When you divide a few hundred thousand by the 100,000 or so tax payers of the city, it ends up being like $5 each. Personally, I'd have to save a hell of a lot more than $5 to support something as morally reprehensible as slaughtering prairie dogs for the sake of convenience. And it's not like it's money back in their pockets either. Honestly, people can be so senseless. Idiots shouldn't be allowed to coexist in the world along with the rest of us. When I make it to Washington, I'm declaring stupidity to be a capital offense so if you're stupid and you're reading this (if that's possible haha), you should pray that I don't get elected. That goes for the elected officials as well.
Posted on 24 Jul 2006 by Lauren
Seething animosity...
Godiva chocolates are exquisite. They're the type of item that one would associate as a sweet gift from a gentleman to his girlfriend, much more than just a hollow, meaningless trinket. I know of a certain very special girl who really needs a box of Godiva chocolates. She deserves to receive these from a man who, should she choose to share the chocolates with him, would humbly accept only what she offered to him and want, expect, and try to take NOTHING more. If this wonderous girl wanted to share her chocolates with others, such as her friends and family, the man should not object nor try to intercept her generosity for his own selfish purposes. And if this young man simply couldn't bear the thought of his girlfriend generously trying to share her joy (chocolates) with anyone other than him, then he can /graceful poetic metaphor go back to the trailer park where his white trash ass belongs and fuck himself until his microscopic dick falls off. Maybe then he'll realize exactly how unimportant the likes of him (aka, the proverbial scrotum of the civilized world) are with respect to princesses like the aforementioned girl. Word. I sometimes scare even myself with how vicious I can be when n00bs piss me off.
Anyway, you may or may not be aware that a once-a-millenium cosmic event occurred tonight - I charged my PSP (Playstation Portable for the n00bs) and turned it on. It hasn't been turned on for like a year! It hasn't been charged for so long that somehow it got reset and when I started it up, it prompted me to set the time and date as part of the "initial setup" (which I obviously already did when I received the damn thing). It then proceeded to take me to my sims game, which I have no interest in playing at the moment. So instead, I exited the game and went back to the main menu to adjust my color scheme. It's currently set to a brilliant shade of emerald green. I was tempted to change it to a bright tangerine color scheme but then I decided on the green because it was a little easier on the eyes than the orange. Not that any of this really matters, since as soon as it's charged, it's going to live on the bookshelf with my long abandoned and highly ignored organic chemistry textbooks from high school. Right after I typed that, it started beeping at me, like it was sentient or something. "Beep, beep" == "please love me, play me, and don't abandon me...good games are coming out soon, I promise"? It's possible but this thing is the spawn of satan (also known as Sony) so it's probably a trick.
In better news, I finally found my digital camera's charger (it was chilling out in the purple bag, along with PSP's charger). Just in time for THE POLICE concert tomorrow. I'm ridiculously excited. And tonight, I found out something that will amplify my concert experience tremendously - VIVIAN IS ALSO GOING!!!!!!! I was so excited when I found out that I texted her in a crazed frenzy asking her to confirm the news and when she did I got even more excited and then we made plans for all of us to have dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. This is going to ROCK. I love life. Peace, y'all. Thanks for reading :)
Anyway, you may or may not be aware that a once-a-millenium cosmic event occurred tonight - I charged my PSP (Playstation Portable for the n00bs) and turned it on. It hasn't been turned on for like a year! It hasn't been charged for so long that somehow it got reset and when I started it up, it prompted me to set the time and date as part of the "initial setup" (which I obviously already did when I received the damn thing). It then proceeded to take me to my sims game, which I have no interest in playing at the moment. So instead, I exited the game and went back to the main menu to adjust my color scheme. It's currently set to a brilliant shade of emerald green. I was tempted to change it to a bright tangerine color scheme but then I decided on the green because it was a little easier on the eyes than the orange. Not that any of this really matters, since as soon as it's charged, it's going to live on the bookshelf with my long abandoned and highly ignored organic chemistry textbooks from high school. Right after I typed that, it started beeping at me, like it was sentient or something. "Beep, beep" == "please love me, play me, and don't abandon me...good games are coming out soon, I promise"? It's possible but this thing is the spawn of satan (also known as Sony) so it's probably a trick.
In better news, I finally found my digital camera's charger (it was chilling out in the purple bag, along with PSP's charger). Just in time for THE POLICE concert tomorrow. I'm ridiculously excited. And tonight, I found out something that will amplify my concert experience tremendously - VIVIAN IS ALSO GOING!!!!!!! I was so excited when I found out that I texted her in a crazed frenzy asking her to confirm the news and when she did I got even more excited and then we made plans for all of us to have dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. This is going to ROCK. I love life. Peace, y'all. Thanks for reading :)
Posted on 09 Jun 2007 by Lauren
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