Company

My aunt and uncle are going out of town so we're watching their dog, Porter. He's a little English setter whose only a few months old. That makes him about the same size as Toby. Toby likes him but he won't leave him alone. We're keeping him in the garage most of the time and if Toby's inside, he wants to go out. If you let him out he runs right to the garage door and scratches and barks wanting to get in to see the other puppy. It was cute at first but he just won't leave him alone. I mean, how long do they have to sniff each other before they can just nod and say hi? Anyway, busy week in school. A few programs and such. I have a term paper coming up soon that I need to be working on. I feel tired just thinking about it all. Toby status: Laying by the back door whining to play with Porter I don't know what's worth fighting for or why I have to scream

Anger Management

I didn't mean to sound so angry this morning. I just wrote while I was in the moment. I know I was pretty worked up, though, since I didn't even give a Toby status or song lyric. Toby status: When I left for school, he was on the couch munching on a treat. I didn't want him to get bored while I was gone, so I left him watching Fellowship of the Ring. Don't you know, Blue Eyes, you never can win

*CENSORED* of Speech

I was listening to Radio From Hell this morning. They were mentioning this news story. I'm all for keeping things from kids that they're really too young for. The commentary on the radio was how such bills are really aimed at lazy parents. Amen. Most, if not all, ISPs provide a lot of filtering services. There are third party filters that are available. Now I'm not arguing for porn in every home, I am arguing for parents to raise their own damn children. Why are my tax dollars raising their kids? Why is legislation even being considered when it's unnecessary. Parents already have the means, if not the inclination, to keep their kids off of web pages or channels they don't want the kids seeing. "But I'm so busy that I don't have time to check what they're watching all the time." If you're too busy to make sure you're kids are being raised right, MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE HAD KIDS! If you can't find the time to work with your kids and teach them your values, then it seems like you don't care enough. Raising kids is a lot of work, I've heard, and they do learn from a lot of different sources, but the ultimate judge of what sources and how much and when your kids are exposed to them is you the parent. If you can't do that, if you can't raise you own kids, then maybe you should consider a cat, or a fern, or better yet how about a pet rock? You should be able to handle that.

1-1-1

I shouldn't be, but I"m a bit sore today. Played some racquetball last night. I try to play every Tuesday night now. I wasn't sore last week, but my back is really stiff this morning. There were three of us so we played cutthroat. For those of you who don't know what that is, the person who's serving plays the rally on his own team. The other two people play the rally as if they are on the same team, like doubles. When the server finally sideouts then the next person rotates up to serve and now he's by himself while the other two play as doubles. So at one point you're alone and the next your with player B then the next player C then alone again. Get it? After playing three games we each won one apiece. We all walked still friends. Toby status: I just let him outside. He's doing a perimeter check. I fell so much safer now. Woke up in my clothes again this morning

Wish I was there

A local radio show is broadcasting from Maui thhis morning. They had a contest to bring some listeners with them, but I never win anything. Sounds nice, though. I'm glas it's Friday. Friday with a three day weekend around the corner. I do have a dentist appointment on Monday, but no class. Yeah! Heather doesn't have to go to work, either. We're going to do some serious relaxing. Toby status: Chewing a rawhide bone. Seems pretty intent on it. When the world is running down you make the best of what's still around

Bad me, bad

I didn't post yesterday. Again. Sorry. I just get busy doing things. I know, nothing should be as important as making sure you have something to read that will hopefully amuse you and bring a tiny ray of sunshine into your humdrum little life, but I have priority issues. I promise I'll seek therapy so I don't disappoint you anymore. Snow comes and goes. All that snow from the other day is almost gone, but there is supposedly more in route. C++ goes well. I'm liking it more and more. I still like Java, but I'm beginning to understand each languages strengths. Some of those overlap, but certainly not all. Also, a big you-told-me-so regarding Firefly. It is good. I was told so awhile ago, but I can only focus on so many addictions at a time. Toby status: Trying to play soccer with a tennis ball. He's very coordinated, but this might be beyond him. There's no place that I can be since I found Serenity

So Sorry

I have not posted since Friday. I meant to remedy that yesterday, but I came down with a bad case of lazy. It seems to have worn off. So what's new? Well, I have snow on my lawn. As you can see. That may not sound like anything amazing but consider that there was no snow last night when I rolled the garbage can to the curb and today there is 4-6 inches. I had 3 on the driveway. I would like to pause and acknowledge my awesome snowblower. Starts with one pull even after sitting all summer. So anyway, snow. I blame Chelsea. The fates are really vindictive. You shouldn't give them any reasons to mess with you. I have a new addiction. Everyone who's ever seen an episode of Firefly, raise your hand. I can't stop talking about this show, nor of the stupidity incarnate that is Fox for canceling it. I'm more than a little bitter at having found something so good knowing that there are only 14 or so episodes. But, I have September 30th blocked off on my calendar. What was that? What happens September 30th you ask? I'm glad you did. I'll tell you. Serenity. A movie version of Firefly. You can put your hands down now. I'm also rereading the Wheel of Time series again. There's a new book due out soon and the plots get so twisty that it's hard to keep up. So every time a new book comes out I have to reread the previous books to remember what the hell is going on. I have mixed feelings about that. I really like that it's epic and complicated, I don't like that when I'm on the 11th book I have to reread the 10 before it when they're 300,000+ words. Not when I have so little time left over after homework is done. Toby status: Since he think snowfall is simple for his amusement, he's roaming in the back yard. He was chasing snowballs I was throwing earlier. Now it looks likes he's trying to track down the cat that left tracks in his fresh snow. Sometimes Jacks rule the Realm

Wake up for nap time

Toby was barking at 6 this morning. He wanted to get up because he needed to be let outside. So I let him out and he came in and we played with his tennis ball for a bit. I went to get a bowl of cereal and when I came back downstairs to post and check email and such, well all those hours of sleep must have not given him much energy, cause I think I wore him out. He's asleep under my desk. Occasionally he will move to get more comfortable, and try lick my toes (damn that tickles). For all those who blog, (I'm talking to you, Tracy) be advised what topics you decide to cover. This happens a lot. Toby status: He's so cute when he snores. I got a pocket full of quarters and I'm headed to the arcade

Delay of Game

Sorry about yesterday. I was feeling like crap in the AM. I got home and had to wait out a headache before working on a ton of homework. I worked on that until Heather came home and then we hung out and ate some pizza while we watched Hunt for Red October. Heather loves submarine movies. It was nice to spend a little quiet time together, seeing as how I dropped her off at the airport this morning. She has a business conference in New Orleans and she'll be gone until Sunday. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure I'll be able to survive. I have no one to help me tie my shoes in the morning. I just know that I'll show up at school tomorrow with untied shoes, mismatched socks and my pants on backwards. Ah well. Toby status: He was a bit clingy when I left for class this morning. I spent some extra time playing with him when I got home. He's sleeping under my desk, at the moment. You make me feel like I could fly, so high

Snow

This is yesterday. It snowed and it was cold. This is today. Not so cold, still snow. Although the sun will probably fix that soon. This is from my backyard looking east at the Wasatch Mountains. I love where I live.

Screw you, Jack Frost

There is ice everywhere. It's nice when winter actually feels like winter, you know, with snow and all. But this recent snowfall seems more like a 9th inning rally. I know it's technically still winter, but it's been such nice weather for so long that I'm ready for spring. The fact that I'm not feeling too good may be a contributing factor. I took some pictures of the campus all covered in snow, I'll post those as soon as I get home. I'm in the CIS lab at the moment. We're looking for new ways to crash Java. The way the language is written, you get a lot of compiler errors, but fewer runtime errors. We decided that if you want to crash the system with panache, you use C++. Toby status: Well, he's at home while I'm at school, so I assume he's asleep on the couch. But I suppose that he could be in the kitchen making cake or a souffle. If you wanna kiss the sky you better learn how to kneel

*cough*....*hack*....*sneeze*....*sniff*

I'm sick. Not sick of school, at least not yet. No, I've contracted some kind of viral-cold-thingie. I have a test today and I'm not planning on missing it, so I stocked up on cherry cough drops and those little pocket packs of Kleenex. I just stayed wrapped in a blanket Sunday and drank hot drinks, ate bread and listened to some Faithless whilst I worked on my C++ homework. The Faithless I have is the right amount of happy and sad sounds to fit my mood. I've always liked techno and trance but my collection is a bit eclectic and random. I don't have many albums of just techno but on my iPod I make as many techno play lists as I want and I'm ready to jam across campus. I have to admit that I've been tempted, on more than one occasion, to dance my way from class to class. I refrain. I'm sure my fellow students have no idea what they've been spared. If they had even the slightest inkling they would thank not only their lucky stars, but all the lucky stars, yellow moons and purple horseshoes. It snowed last night. So much so that the snow blower was pulled out of the garage. I don't have far to go for class, but I just know that half a dozen idiots will have forgotten how to drive in snow and will delay the commute, either by being in an accident or through super paranoia. That means they'll drive about 2 miles per hour. And if we go through a school zone, they'll slow it down to 1 mph. Too fast or too slow. You'd think that living along the mountains people would have figured it out, by now. I mean we brag about our snow on the state license plates. The least we could do is figure out how to drive in it. Toby status:Romping in 6 inches of snow. How can I continue to be the sky without my earth?

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y...NIGHT!

Wow, Saturday is here. Saturday night, time to party! Time to relax! Time to...research for a term paper and finish a program and study for a test and write an essay and...if I get all that done by 7, then maybe I'll treat myself to an episode of BtVS or Firefly. I hope your weekend is filled with more fun and less work than mine. Unless you like work...then I wish you all that you can handle...including all of mine. Toby status: Outside, sniffing the perimeter. Nice to know that if anyone attacks the house, they'll be licked to death before they can do anything. Effect without a cause

Now it's just silly

I have a gmail account. I actually have a few. In each of them, I now have fifty invitations to join Gmail. Fifty. 50. So basically you just have to know another human being and the odds are good that you can get a Gmail account. I liked it better when I thought I was part of a select few.
Need a Gmail account?

No lifeguard on Duty

Just in case you couldn't read the warning label. Did I mention it came with a snorkel?

To speak of many things

My iPod rules. I have the 4G U2 edition. The batteries on the 4G are great. I just realized that I have not charged it all week, and I listen to it everyday. Today is Maggies birthday. Say hello and 'Happy Birthday'. Today my CIS prof, who teaches two of my four classes today, is moving. He's declared today to be a 'lab day'. So that means I only have two classes. That's really great, but they don't start till noon. So I have two hours of class right-smack-dab in the middle of the day. This gives me time to read the book I'm using for my Poli-Sci term paper, go over my summary for English, code some C++ homework and play with my beagle. Then when I get home, maybe we can walk my Big Ass Mug down to the 7-11. Now I capitalize Big Ass Mug because that's what it is. X96, a local radio station, has a concert/music show every year called the Big Ass Show. I go just about every year. They have 8-10 bands and it's usually pretty good. Well, if you buy your tickets at the station, they give you one of these mugs. The first year that they did the mugs, they were 52 oz. That's pretty big. For the 8th show, the second year of the mug, they were 64 oz. That's pretty damn big. This last year, the 10th show, they had a very special version of the mug that was 100 oz. 100 oz!!!! That's insanely damn big. ONE HUNDRED OUNCES! See the massiveness of the mug? It has a warning label on it. See the warning label? Keep the kids away from it.

Toby status: Chewing on a rawhide bone, looking immensely content. Has is ever come down to do or die?

Say cheese

You're not taking my picture again, are you? I can't help it. He's too cute. You wouldn't think it, but he can be quite expresive with his ears and eyebrows. I know his whole face is furry, but he does have eyebrows. I know becaue he raises one when he tilts his head as if to ask, "What the hell are you doing now?"

I can see clearly now

From the front porch

I don't see any panels

Toby status: I need to tell you that Toby is sleeping on the family room floor. He's lying stretched out in the sun beam. When I get home from class I open the drapes and he always stretches out on the floor and almost instantly falls asleep. I'm sure all that sun can't be healthy, but maybe dogs are solar powered. You don't love me, you love the relationship

This is the way we go to school

There are three people in my Java class today. Count 'em, uno, dos, tres. I'm not sure if everyone confused today with the lab day scheduled for tomorrow, or if they were afraid to turn in the assignment. The assignment was easy. Lab day is Friday. Not too much confusing information there. We have a brand new assignment now, lots of string manuipulations. Doesn't look that hard, although putting all the error checking in place will take a lot of time. Stay tuned...

$241,000

I don't want this to get too political, but I wanted to say that the Education Department is seriously deficient. Due to a big fuss, the kids show "Postcards from Buster" will not air an episode in which Buster goes to Vermont and has dinner with a girl, her mom and another woman. Nothing is mentioned that the parents are lesbians. But the Education Department freaked out and said this was pushing the gay and homo agenda. They went so far as to ask for grant money back. It's a grant. If anyone should be giving money back it should be Armstrong Williams. That was not morally gray, it was just plain illegal. Ok, we're done with politics today. I found a link to this wacky stuff. I'm not sure that it's funny, or not. Either way, I couldn't stop watching till I had seen them all. Fair warning. Toby status: Staring out the window, trying to figure out where Heather went. (Psst, she went to work, she'll be back later tonight) It's not where you're born, it's where you belong It's not how weak but what will make you stong.

And I have no idea why

I'm in a great mood, right now. I feel like life is great, even though my brain almost exploded twice during lectures in class today. Even though I have term papers to write and programs to code, I feel fantastic. I just thought you all should know. Just in case, you know...You were feeling like crap and needed to feel worse. Tracy has joined the herd. His new Blog can be found here There's a new Beck song out. I've heard it twice today and it's probably a contributing factor in my up-lift-ed-ness. Keep an ear open for it. Now I know my love for her goes on

State of the Onion

So, big speech tonight. Lost is pushed to 9:00, but it's a rerun. Terrorists have captured a Special Forces soldier. Has everyone been reading PVP lately? I'm not sure if I'm disappointed with Marvel or excited. I would have thought the game 'City of Heroes' would have helped Marvel comic sales and interest in comics in general. They have a point, though. The game almost encourages you to create Marvel character knockoffs. I'm sure I'd be a little bit irritated with that. Well, I must be off to school. My C++ prof said that if you miss today's lecture then you may as well drop the class. Last day to drop was Monday. Toby status: Begging for a piece of my toast, cause he never gets fed...ever. Beagles are such liars. You know I could be just like you

Bueller...Bueller...Bueller...

Notice that you can now comment on each post. I thought I'd turn that on to see who's really hateful and mean, besides me.

Didn't I just do this?

It seems like the days just fly by. One minute it's Monday and it seems before I can even get my shoes on to do something about that it's Tuesday. Say, isn't tomorrow Punxatony Phil's big day? Now all I need is a freak snow storm that will trap me on the campus and cause me to repeat things. I've noticed that when my clock radio goes off at 6 and I don't really wake up, I have very strange dreams that include the radio DJs. I suppose that's good, since I like them, but it gets a little weird since I don't really know them and in the dream they're staying at my house. Toby status: On the prowl, I think he's hungry. Wait, of course he's hungry...he's a beagle.