WSU Trumpet

All right! Here it is New Year's Eve and I'm sitting here working on my blog among other things. Youshould know that I do slave over these posts. Especially when they are full of stupid links like this one. :)

Okay, so the other day I went to Kevin's house to watch the Lord of the Rings. No, it wasn't just a casual watching of the movie. We watched the first two Extended Editions in a row (nearly 8 hours of movies) and then we went to Jordan Commons (wow, big place) and saw the Return of the King. Yeah, all in all it was more than 12 hours of being in a movie theatre. Kevin's home theatre system is awesome! I want one! During the second movie (The Two Towers) I sat next to the great subwoofer. And I thought my little sub was good for my computer system. Yeah, I was humbled severely.

One note about the movie marathon: It was very enjoyable, but also very mind-numbing. When it was over, I didn't want to watch another movie for like a month.

Yeah, how long did that last? Well, last night, Kristin came to my house with her friends Danielle and Scott. We watched the Temple of Doom and got pretty well into Finding Nemo before the other chamacos decided they had headaches and wanted to go home. :) It was really fun; I enjoyed myself quite a bit. See, I think I have been desensitized to long bouts of movies because of the LOTR marathon. After one movie, I felt I was just barely getting warmed up.

Anyhow, I just thought I'd tell you about that, yo!

Again, have a happy New Year! I'm not exaclty sure what's going on with me. I will be going to a friend's house, but perhaps, if the weather holds the way it has, we can go down to SLC to see some of the First Night celebrations. (Hope, hope)

[insert Hebrew word for "farewell" here]

Good idea/Bad Idea Good Idea: Playing the piano in a concert. Bad Idea: Playing the Piano in a marching band.

All right! So there's a new Assault posted. I just barely got done with it, so if you see any problems, let me know. :) K, see ya!

Merry Christmas to you all. Well, anyone who actually reads this and since there are billions of people in this world and only a few people I know who read this, Merry Christmas to you. Actually, if you have found this site, you may consider yourself lucky. With the billions of people in the world and the billions of websites available, the chances that you actually came to this one are infinitesimal. So, actually, I should be congratulating you too. :)

I don't have a lot to write about today. It's Christmas Eve today and I'm really excited about Christmas. Even though we won't be having a "big Christmas" this year (lots of presents, etc.) I feel especially blessed. I love this time of year. I love the feel in the air, the lights, the music, everything. I really like Christmas, if you can't tell.

Okay, so today at work, I was introduced to a couple of interesting things. First was the "What I would do if I were an Evil Overlord" and the other is an "Engineer's Christmas." I don't know about you, but I really like humorous stuff like that.

Website of the day: What I would do if I were an Evil Overlord (you can also link to this one off my side links)

Anyhow, Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year! Ooh, I'll probably be back on here before the new year. I don't want to disappoint certain frequent visitors. :)

Au Revoir

WSU basketball team victorious over the Redcoats. We trailed by like eleven points at once spot, but came back to win by just two points!

Anyhow, I'm not sure what to write here. I guess I just have to say that my life seems to be going really well, as it was the last time I posted anything. Sure there are things I need to fix in my life, but then again, who doesn't have stuff like that? Mainly, in my life I just have to pay some bills and get some debts out of the way.

I had a really neat experience the other day. I got to give my brother a Priesthood blessing. It's been a while since I was called upon to do that, and it was a real honor. I once in a while take my Priesthood for granted in the fact that I can bless people's lives and that I'm actually SUPPOSED to do so.

The Priesthood is the most amazing power in the universe. It is literally the power of God. It was by the priesthood that God created the universe and all the planets and the inhabitants thereon. I just find it such an honor to actually hold some of that power. Of course, it is only to be used to bless other people's lives. For some reason, that is just really important to me. I feel like I have to bless others' lives before my own. If I don't, then I feel like something is missing. So, being able to give a blessing was like a spiritual recharger. It really helped me to feel better connected to my Heavenly Father.

On my mission, I had many opportunities to give blessings and each of them was a blessing to me as well. I was just recently reminded about it this past week. I'm grateful for my brother and his desire to have a blessing.

Anyhow, I think I'll wrap up this post for the evening. I guess what brought it up was that I was talking to Ben earlier and we were chatting about the temple.

Chao!

Okay, so I have had an incredible weekend. Yeah, absolutely incredible. I know, you're probably going to ask me what made it so great. Well, let me just tell you that I have just been enlightened so much during the past couple of days. Actually, this goes back a couple of weeks, but that is another story, one that I may or may not share on this site. All I have to say is that when there is understanding between people, the world is so much better. Honestly.

One lesson that was reinforced to me this weekend is the value of good friends. Friends who understand you and who can help you to feel better about yourself are some of the greatest treasures in the world. Let me just say that for a little while (which seemed like an eternity), I was feeling like pond scum and thanks to a very good friend, I feel much better about myself. This person taught me a valuable lesson that I had learned before, but had kind of filed away. I was taught that people are human and make mistakes. The thing we have to do is to recognize where we fall short and do everything in our power to make it right. You need not suppose any really heinous mistake of me, just a shortcoming. Sometimes I don't take time for the little things in life that make our journey here enjoyable. Things like chivalry. I have been a very staunch practicer of chivalrous acts in the past, but recently, my life has slipped a bit. I was able to notice this in myself and take some definitive action against it. My friend helped me to make the decision to set a goal to go out of my way to be kind and show the chivalry that is not dead.

Y'know, like I said earlier, I had a wonderful weekend. I really enjoyed going down to Salt Lake to the Off Broadway Theatre. It was so funny. I got to be among my best friends. All in all, it was a very good weekend. I hope to have many more like it. I also got to go do Christmas shopping. I now need to get the stuff that I bought wrapped and get it ready for those to whom it is intended. :)

Well, it's late and I have been getting to bed really really late at night the last week. *wink, wink* I think sleep is a good thing and I need a bit of it tonight. Anyhow, good night all. Until we meet again.

ps: The power of the priesthood is amazing. I love being able to serve with the priesthood and bless other people's lives.

The Story of Google - Version 2.0 (as told by JD Schill, kindly revised by K. Fink - ;) )

The big volcano rumbled in the distance as Gro tried to hunt down the small mammal. The last of the dinosaurs had just died off as the climate of the planet was gradually cooling. Life was beginning to change on the surface of the planet. Gro vaguely realized this would likely be the end of his sexy suntan.

Suddenly, as Gro was just about to get his small mammal, his buddy, Hu, came bursting out of the bush. The mammal heard the racket and fled.

Angry, Gro turned to Hu and, in a few grunts and pointing motions, expressed his anger and distaste for what Hu had done. Hu was, of course, apologetic, but grunted to Gro that he had been all over the jungle looking for a rock of a certain shape that would be really cool to file his toenails with. The year was 1995.

So, feeling a little dejected at his chum's apparent lack of interest in his plight, Gro decided to help Hu find his rock. They went searched all over the jungle trying out rocks of different shapes and sizes. Each time they found a rock that Hu thought would work, they tried it out on their toenails, yet none of the rocks fulfilled their need.

They passed several days wandering the jungle in search of the one rock that would satisfy them. They sought the advice of Yoi, the priest of the local village. He directed them to the top of a mountain. When Gro and Hu went to the top of the mountain, they did find rocks, but mostly they just found that it was cold and not very pleasant. So, they came down from the mountain.

The two amigos then went around to some of the neighbors and asked their advice, first to Sah and then to Gro's brother Weh. Sah simply said to throw dust into the air and follow where the wind carried it. Of course, to Gro, this seemed a bit foolish because the wind never blows in the same direction, and what happens if it blows the dust right back into your face? That simply results in more pain. Weh wasn't much more help. He said that it must be in the waters and that they would have to walk down to the bottom of the lake to find it. Seems logical, Gro and Hu thought. So they tried it. However, when attempted, they discovered that the water got into their mouths and that it made them gag. Not a pleasant experience. That couldn't be right.

The cohorts then proceeded to the cave of a certain packrat caveman called Bo. In truth Bo was not his name, but due to the lack of records and the history being an amalgamation of varying grunts and gestures, nobody knew his name and so, to keep things simple, everyone called him Bo. Bo seemed to have a solution for everything. He collected a lot of stuff in his cave and hardly ever cleaned it. So they went to ask Bo. He rooted around in his rubble for a while only to produce a very used rock. That simply would not do. Hu needed a new rock because, by now, his toenails were getting very long and not terribly comfortable. The companions were happy to know that the thing that Hu was looking for actually existed. Yet they had searched everywhere and had had no success. They were getting a bit discouraged.

Feeling as they were, they galumphed to Gro's cave to see if they could think of a way to solve their problem; it was not an idea they’d had before. Upon returning to the cave of Gro, they sat and grumbled at each other, expressing their distaste for the help they had not received. As they sat Gro was overwhelmed with this feeling of something watching him. Abruptly, out of the corner of his eye, Gro saw a small multi-colored rock sitting peacefully in the dirt. He looked at it for a minute. Eventually Hu, curious about what Gro was doing, looked too. Gro perambulated over and picked it up. He brought it back to Hu and they took a gander at it for a minute or so. Neither of them had ever beheld anything like it, or held anything like it for that matter. They considered it for a while, wondering to themselves what it could possibly be. Puzzled, Gro simply put the strange thing down on the rock between them and proceeded to grunt about their dilemma. Unexpectedly, the multi-colored rock moved. It started rolling out of the cave! All by itself! Gro picked it up and forthwith felt it tugging him in a direction. Curiously, Gro and Hu decided to follow it. What did they have to lose?

The rock led the associates outside of the community of fellow cave dwellers, down through the valley to the east and across the river. The speed at which the rock went amazed the companions. Suddenly, it took them around a corner into a place where there were rocks. Rocks! Just like the one Hu had been looking for! Thousands of them! No, millions! The men were overcome with happiness. Hu picked up one of the rocks and used it on his toenails. It worked beautifully. The friends then turned to the curious multi-colored rock and vocalized about another thing that had been puzzling them from a long time. The rock led them elsewhere and they were able to solve the problem. Soon, Gro and Hu were discovering all kinds of things: plants, animals and even things that were neither plant nor animal. They started to learn about stuff. Their grunting diminished and they began to form actual words. They, of course, knew what words were because they had asked the curious multi-colored rock. After a time they developed syntax and even syntax errors, which have surprisingly little relation, but that is another tale.

After the mates had made many discoveries and had become geniuses, and having constructed the Periodic Table of the Elements, it occurred to them that they needed to define what the curious multi-colored rock was. They decided to call it “Google” and name the chemical symbol "Go" for it and place it on the Periodic Table, which was their right to do. Of course, this was a very rare element, Google; there was only one specimen. However, when the buddies deployed the element into a Linux server, immediately everyone in the entire community was able to use its amazing powers. People could know anything about anything. The grunting stopped among the villagers too (well, most of them). Utterance got out to other villages of this great discovery. They tapped into its awesome ability and soon the whole world was using the incredible influence of this extraordinary element. The element called Google.

I am so tired right now. Man! I can't believe this. I never get tired. I am the source of unlimited energy, normally. I guess I'm going to have to perhaps think about going to bed earlier than 2:30 am. But it's so fun chatting online until really late at night (or early in the morning as the case may be).

So, I have decided that I'm going to post my little tidbits of wisdom for all to see. Perhaps, what I'll do is make an actual HTML page out of them and post a link on my blog site. That way, as I put more posts, then they won't get lost. Nothing actually gets lost here, but stuff gets put into the archive and it's kind of hard to find once it's there.

Actually, in talking to Jason, I have gleaned the knowledge that this is simply practice for when I have kids. :) At least that's my twisted interpretation of the situation. I'm learning to live on no sleep. Actually, I don't usually need much sleep, but it is nice once in a while. :)

Anyhow, I have decided that this is enough. I'll let you go on with your busy schedule and do whatever it was you were doing when you came to my mesmerizing little corner of the Internet.

Adieu

Today is a great day! I'm not sure why I'm even up right now. I didn't get to bed last night until like 2:30 am and I'm still pretty tired. However, I want to watch the 100 anniversary celebration of the Wright Brothers' historic flight. Me being kind of an aviation buff, thinks it's kind of an important thing. I mean, where would we be if we didn't have the aviation that we have now?

Anyhow, I just thought I would post some stuff.

Driver License Application

Redneck Driver's Application
Plez compleet this paper, best ya can.

Last name: ________________

First name:
[_] Billy-Bob [_] Bobby-Sue
[_] Billy-Joe [_] Bobby-Jo
[_] Billy-Ray [_] Bobby-Ann
[_] Billy-Sue [_] Bobby-Lee
[_] Billy-Mae [_] Bobby-Ellen
[_] Billy-Jack [_] Bobby-Beth Ann Sue

Age: ____ (if unsure, guess)
Sex: [_]M [_]F [_]None
Shoe Size: ____ Left ____ Right
Occupation:
[_] Farmer [_] Mechanic
[_] Hair Dresser [_] Waitress
[_] Un-employed [_] Dirty Politician

Spouse's Name: __________________________
2nd Spouse's Name: __________________________
3rd Spouse's Name: __________________________
Lover's Name: __________________________
2nd Lover's Name: __________________________

Relationship with spouse:
[_] Sister [_] Aunt
[_] Brother [_] Uncle
[_] Mother [_] Son
[_] Father [_] Daughter
[_] Cousin [_] Pet

Number of children living in household: ___
Number of children living in shed: ___
Number of children that are yours: ___

Mother's Name: _______________________
Father's Name: _______________________

Education: 1 2 3 4 (Circle highest grade completed)
If you obtained a higher education what was your
major?
[_] 5th grade [_] 6th grade

Do you [_] own or [_] rent your mobile home?

Vehicles you own and where you keep them:
___ Total number of vehicles you own
___ Number of vehicles that still crank
___ Number of vehicles in front yard
___ Number of vehicles in back yard
___ Number of vehicles on cement blocks

Age you started drivin ______ (If over 10 are you
are still slow lerrnin ? [_] Yes [_] No)

Firearms you own and where you keep them:
____ truck ____ kitchen
____ bedroom ____ bathroom/outhouse
____ shed ____ pawnshop

Model and year of your pickup: _________ 194_

Do you have a gun rack?
[_] Yes [_] No; If no, please explain:

Newspapers/magazines you subscribe to:
[_] The National Enquirer [_] The Globe
[_] TV Guide [_] Soap Opera Digest
[_] Rifle and Shotgun [_] Bassmasters

___ Number of times you've seen a UFO
___ Number of times you've seen Elvis
___ Number of times you've seen Elvis in a UFO

How often do you bathe:
[_] Weekly
[_] Monthly
[_] Not Applicable

How many teeth in YOUR mouth? ___
Color of teeth:
[_] Yellow [_] Brownish-Yellow
[_] Brown [_] Black
[_] N/A

Brand of chewing tobacco you prefer:
[_] Red-Man [_] Skoal

How far is your home from a paved road?
[_] 1 mile
[_] 2 miles
[_] don't know

Have you ever had one of those bad days? Ever feel like you're running on two wheels? Sometimes, I think that we try to go too fast through life.

My day has not been like that. :)

Happy day! My mouse works again! :) Well, actually it's a new mouse.

Late breaking news: Jason will be transferring his blog over to a new site once he figures out how to set it up. Yeah, that's right, a new site. Jason's friend, Nate, gave him space to do it. Currently, Jason's site is not available, but once Jason figures out how to get everything installed and running properly. Until then, Jason feels like a complete computer idiot, that's ID10T.

Chao!

Well, I must say that the United States Military did an excellent job. We finally got Saddam Hussein! When I saw pictures of him this morning, he looked terrible. He had a beard and his face just looks like that of a man worn out and wasted. I tried to imaging that man living in some of the biggest mansions in the world surrounded by the lap of luxury. Now look at him. He's been reduced to what he is: a prisoner of war, a simple terrorist, not unlike those Taliban and Al Quaida people who live in caves in the desert. If only they knew that freedom can be had just by coming over to America and living peacefully. I guess they don't understand that.

Now, I also have to say "Good job!" to President Bush for leading an operation that has been highly successful. Despite what the media likes to portray, Operation Iraqui Freedom has been highly successful. Sure, there have been resistance groups and terrorists, and we have lost lives, but for the vast majority of the operation, we have seen success. Look at us eight months ago: we were able to go into Baghdad and destroy Saddam's regime. We saw the fall of Saddam's government. We saw the people rejoicing in the streets, once again able to practice their beliefs without fear of being imprisoned or executed. Sure, it's been rough since then. With nothing more than a U.S. Military government, the people have been restless. Lawlessnes has run rampant. However, in speaking with soldiers, they say that there isn't a day that goes by that someone doesn't come up to them and emphatically thank them for what they have done. The terrorists will fall. The tyranny will fail. The people will be free. It saddens me when I hear these Democratic whiners complaining that it's taking too long or that we're losing too many lives. To that I say look at our own country. What did we have to go through to get our government? We had a very costly revolution and it wasn't until 13 years later that we ever drafted a Constitution. These types of things take time. You cannot simply walk into a country, take it over, and, BAM, establish a functioning democracy where none has existed. It's not fair to ask that of our troops. There are still groups over in Iraq who support the old way and those groups need to be put down, for the safety of the people. It's the people who need to govern, not some dictator or militaristic faction. However, for that to take place, certain steps need to happen. The people need to be taught how to run a government of the people. For the last 24 years, they haven't known that. There is an entire generation of citizens that doesn't understand that concept. It must be taught and taught carefully. So, to all those who wish to complain, just think about what I just said. Think about your own country and what it took to get its government.

Again, I am grateful for a job well done and I wish the best for the men and women in harm's way. I support the war effort and the decisions the President is making in regards to said effort. These terrorists MUST be put down. Terrorism will not be tolerated and will be dealt with sumarily.

Some insightful wisdom gleaned from KDE-Look.

"Virii is not a legal latinate word, as would be assumed. It is a mass. noun, like 'universe' or 'milk'. That is, you could say 'kinds of virus', but never 'virii'. Would you want moosii? Anyway, because the definition would be new to english, the proper modern suffix would indeed be "es". Viruses. Neat, eh?"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I AM SO MAD NOW! CRAP! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! THAT IS THE SECOND TIME I HAVE KILLED A PERFECTLY GOOD POST CLICKING THE BACK BUTTON INADVERTENTLY. When I get a response back from the Blogger staff, I'll try to post something. Geez, this makes me mad. To me, it seems like the control that they have in place for if you do that is really un-intuitive. It never tells you where it's saving your post, neither does it give you an option to simply say, "Oops, I didn't mean to do that." AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!! Again, this really burns my hide.

Random (and Awesome) Web Site of the day: Realistic Internet Simulator

I was going through the URL grabber in my Trillian instant messenger and found this one. I thought it was pretty funny. :)

Bye!

The Story of Google (as told by JD Schill)

For the complete story of Google, see my post on Dec. 18, 2003. It is better than this one was. :)

Coming soon: The Story of Google

Okay, so it's really late at night and I'm here chatting with Kristin on IM. What else is there to life? I can't imagine anything we haven't chatted about. That's cool though. I like it that way. Just random chat.

So, I am glad that my finals are done for the semester. That is a major relief.

Favorite song of the day: Grandma's Feather Bed by John Denver
Favorite drink of the day: Sunny Delight
Random Website of the day: Everyone's Favorite Vehicle (Come on, you know you want one.)

The end.

Okay, since I haven't blogged since Thursday, I think it's high time that I do so.

Random site of the day: The T.W.I.N.K.I.E.S. Project

So, I have been busily getting ready for the dreaded FINALS. I have three this next week that I'm supposed to take. Not looking forward to it too much. But, I am looking forward to the break. :)

Event of the Weekend: Kristi Keck's Birthday Party (Yeah, it was fun!)
Other event of the Weekend: Updating the Band Photo Album (Okay, only a geek would consider that fun. I'm a geek. Do you have a problem with that?)

Anyhow, I'm sure that my dad would like to set up a TCP stack on his computer and since we only have one line for the Internet, I must surrender this one.

Chao!
ps: Note to self: Must take up invitation to go to swing club. :)

Well, sad day. Jason could not purchase a ticket to LOTR for the opening show at midnight. He will not be going with his friends. :(

But, other than that, I'm fine! :)

Okay, so I'll put up a small blog for the evening as I am busy doing my Spanish homework and also working on Java.

According to the thesaurus installed in a certain program, Alabama = improved.

So, I am really glad to be done with my CS2705 presentation. Now I just have to sit through a bunch more and learn stuff I never thought of before.

Anyhow, I'm done with this post. Catch you later!

Okay, so I have a bit of a rant today. I hate being negative, but this really bothers me. So, I have to get up on my soapbox for a minute.

Ahem,

PLEASE PEOPLE IF YOU'RE GOING TO SEND SOMETHING OVER EMAIL, USE PUNCTUATION. IT'S SO FRUSTRATING TO GET EMAILS THAT HAVE NO PUNCTUATION AND/OR CAPITALIZATION. SO, PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY AND PURE, USE PROPER PUNCTUATION AND CAPITALIZATION. THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR IT. RESIST THE URGE TO TURN INTO MR. 'I FORGOT ALL RULES OF GRAMMAR' ON THE INTERNET.

Thank you.

Saying of the day: I'm going to make my orcs multiply like rabbits. Rabbit Orcs. :)