lilblackdemon

School has begun, so you can expect the lack of updates to continue while I study instead.

~andy

So I'm sitting here trying to do multiple things at once, including finishing up an essay on interface design that I'm going to post on my website (http://www.ascagnel.com/, for now), and freaking Adobe GoLive keeps freezing on me. If I could export the project file to something like DreamWeaver, that would be amazing. However, I think I'm going to have to switch to a plain-text editor instead. Gaah!

~andy

I'm still working on it, but I'm about finished with my musings on interface design.  However, GoLive (which I use to manage this website) keeps crashing when it finishes loading, so I might be forced to switch to some other method to keep the site up.

~andy

All I can say, is that after this weekend, I'm ready to take on the week. I didn't post yesterday because I didn't have the time, and today it's only as a break.

Saturday was nothing eventful, just me recuperating from the week from hell. Same with Friday, but with thermo prep & anime club. Sunday, though, was where everything happened.

Law, president-elect of Alpha Sig: AT, was able to get a big-screen TV donated to the house. Although he was a bit concerned that it might not fit up the stairs, we still went to get it. We ended up driving up and down NJ, from Toms River to Brick, Middletown to Hoboken. We got a U-Haul truck, on which Dev kept hitting his head, and Law did once while laughing at Dev for hitting his head (good one, Law). We got the TV, and then on the way home decided to stop by Yassa's house to go swimming. Yassa decided to stay home, and not come back to Hoboken with us.

All in all, it was a great day. Too bad the TV didn't fit up the stairs.

Today I finally got my room in order for the summer, including moving my desk to get full advantage of the AC that I put in earlier this week.

Finally, the days of sitting at my desk and breaking a sweat are over, now that the cool wonder has come into use.

In other news, if anyone from home reads this, expect a call becase I'll by heading home tomorrow night (hopefully).

OK, now I'm off to do some thermo homework.

~andy

I was wasting some time today, and I came accross this story online:

"Survey: U.S. residents addicted to email"

Honestly, people, are we that bad that we check email in the bathroom?

Our nation is already on an information overload.  Services like Google News pull together more sources then we could ever possibly read.  CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC all give us 24-hour a day coverage of worldly events.  New York City alone has two radio stations dedicated to breaking events (even if they aren't important).  This information overload can't be healthy, and it kind of scares me how so many are totally ignorant of this fact.

What we all need to do, even if it's just for a few minutes, is to get away from the information and just have some time to ourselves.  It's the best way to get out of the daily grind, and to clear our minds.  And you can even do it on the john.

~andy

I bombed out my computer... and then got it back again.  All without totally f***ing myself.  Yay.  Too bad it took almost 2 hours to reinstall The Matrix Online.

~andy

Well, I've managed to get through my first week of living in a frat without major incident.  Ellis finally moved out of his room Wednesday night, although he should have been out long before that.  Will moved into Ellis' room by Thursday night, so I got to unpack my things and get everything in order, which is why I didn't post for a few days.

I got SuSE 9.2 running on one of my externals, so that it will only boot into Linux when that external is plugged in and switched on, otherwise it goes into WinXP.  When I get the chance to download a 9.3 DVD (and buy more DVD's) I'll try to upgrade.  For those of you who are technically-minded, append the following line onto the end of the /etc/sysconfig/kernel file:

ehci-hcd usb-storage scsi_mod sd_mod usbcore

Then save the file and execute "mkinitrd -o /boot/initrd" and edit the /boot/grub/menu.lst file to point to /boot/initrd (it should already).

Sorry for nerding out, but if it screws up I want some type of record as to how I did it.

This summer I'm taking two classes, Physics III and Thermodynamics, but I will probably drop Physics as it is geared to people who have already taken it.  Again, meh.

Have a good week everybody.
~andy

Am I the only one who thinks that "Team America" is a horrible movie that is crappy farce of what most ultra-conservatives would like to see happen (especially Michael Moore blowing himself up)?

Well, now that the high from initiation has worn off, life seems to have gotten harder. The next few weeks will be difficult, and then lead up right into finals. After finals end, I get all of 2 days off before summer classes begin. Then it's Physics III for a few weeks, right into Political Science II (the second one's tentative, either way it'll give me a few breaks during the fall semester).

In addition to the bleak schedule ahead, the part of me that distracted my mind with pledging is now gone. There's no more big test to study for at the end, there's no more random events I need to attend. It's just 3 long weeks of nothing, and I'm scared of that.

Wow, it's been, what, 3+ months since my pledge to go drug free. And I'm proud to say I've done it.

This week ends my pledge process, and by Sunday I should be a brother!! (YAY!)

OK, class soon... Guess what that means...

I am proud to say so far that I have kept an open mind the past almost two weeks, and stayed free from marijuana and other substances.

~lilblackdemon

Last night I was fortunate enough to have a ticket to see the String Cheese Incident at Radio City. Something, however, struck me about the entire experience. Why do so many feel the need to "expand" their mind and become enlightened through drugs like marijuana? From the first minute of the concert onwards, the room had the rank stench of the drug. Everywhere you turned, there was no way to escape it.

I have made it my pledge to counteract the reason why so many claim to do marijuana.

Many believe that the only way to expand and open their minds is to smoke marijuana, and can do so only off of the "high" effect it gives. This, in my opinion, is the exact opposite. The psychedelic effects of marijuana are caused because your brain is gasping for air, a small part of it dying and never coming back. I want to prove that you can expand and open your mind without a mind-altering substance killing it off. At least I know that I am not supporting a trade that engages in some of the most despicable practices in the world.

~lilblackdemon

First, as most of you may have noticed, this blog has turned into something more philosophical than most blogs. I'm trying to use this to rationalize my thoughts and give myself some explanation, while still being able to provide some sort of insightful commentary into what is around me.

As most of you know, this week is what is referred to as the "Holiday week", separating New Year's Day and Christmas Day. However, calling it the "Holiday week" is not a fair description for most. While the largest single religious group in this country is Christian, they themselves do not make up a majority.

Every religious group in the United States of America is a minority.

Every single person, whether they are religious or atheist, is actually a minority. Although Christianity may be the single largest group, it is still only the largest minority. It has no right to force its beliefs on other groups, especially considering the separation of church and state that is such an integral part of our Constitution.

Those who we often regard as fools, taking the "holiday spirit" out of classrooms are in a way, right.

This is not something I agree with personally. However, these people in some ways have done the right thing. They have requested that the separation of church and state be enforced in the public schools of the USA. This is their right, given to them by the constitution. However, they are in a way overstepping their bounds. Instead of thoughtfully dealing with this outside influence, and even letting their children have an open-minded attitude so they can develop their own beliefs and opinions, these parents sometimes sue to force others to give up their rights. We in the United States are very lucky that we have the right to speak our minds without fear of imprisonment or other penalty, provided we stay within certain decency guidelines. This point ties into my earlier point how adults sometimes unwillingly expose children to adverse forces. However, we do not have the right to not be offended. If we are offended, we only have the right to fight it, and often we lose. The symbol of a Christmas tree in a classroom is a traditional symbol, and non-Christians have been offended by it. Over fear of lawsuit, schools are trying to force out religious symbols from the Holiday season.

This is a pointless effort, as the only way to really rid the schools of the holiday season is also to take away the holiday break.

The holiday break, which I am enjoying right now, is totally religious, and with the exception of New Year's, is not at all secular. Even the start of the break is centered around Christmas, rather than Hanukkah. My friend Lou was forced to celebrate his holiday in school, while I was lucky enough to spend mine at home.

The separation of Church and state is violated at the highest level of the government.

President Bush claims that his faith is a large part of his decision-making process. This is not what the constitution's framers intended. Just because he is in charge of the country does not mean he has the right to impose his beliefs on others. Although I personally support the President, I am opposed to this part of his leadership. It is inexcusable that he does this, and consequently should stop. He needs to decide what to do based on the opinion of the people, not on what he feels morally obligated to do. His moral obligations got us entangled in an untenable position in Iraq, and sometimes this idea of doing what he believes is "right" is actually wrong.

It was my belief from the beginning that Iraq was a bad idea.

I am not a pacifist, and I make no reservations about that. If war is a necessity, than it should be done. However, I was opposed to Iraq because there were larger, more visible threats that were happening elsewhere in the world. The other two parts of the "Axis of Evil" were developing nuclear weapons. They have continued to do so, mostly unchecked. They have to be stopped first.

~lilblackdemon

After going into NYC on Tuesday night, and seeing a homeless guy standing there with the words "Its all ending soon" on a piece of cardboard, I did something I never did before.

I stopped.

I realized that maybe we can't control anything in our lives, that control is in and of itself nothing more than a fake reality.  Even our thoughts are just random synapse firings.  Nothing that we can do can control our thoughts.

Tonight, a joke on the Simpsons was that we all have a murderous voice in our head, but we must silence it.

That is a prime example of what we are as people.  We would like to believe that we have evolved beyond the cave dwellers that preceded us, but we really haven't.  All we have done is learned to mask our most brutal and blatant instincts.

The gang lifestyle glorifies this activity.

This is because gangs themselves breed of those of the "lowest common denominator" of society, for the lack of a better term.  Those who seem to have no future look for a way to escape the life that surrounds them, or at least a way to survive another day at public school.  So they turn to gangs, a form of acceptance that never gives up.

Yet for all the bad of gangs, we glorify them.

Scarface.  Grand Theft Auto.  The Godfather.  The Sopranos.  All rap music not made by Will Smith and Forest for the Trees.  This glorifies the gang lifestyle.  What image of the 1980s had a longer-lasting effect than Al Pacino asking people to meet his "little friend"?  How many young children have been corrupted because their parents were foolish enough to let them play GTA?  Look here, it's all still happening.  What adults want is creeping down to our youth, who don't know yet the line that separates fantasy from reality.

~lilblackdemon

What type of virtual pet are you? Giga Pet Another popular virtual pet, you come in a massive variety of species with "clever" names, including but not limited to the: Digital Doggie, Compu-Kitty, Floppy Frog, Micro Chimp, and Baby T-Rex (I had a Baby T-Rex). Unfortunately, you are prone to health problems and thus difficult to care for.

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

Which pianist are you? Glenn Gould Truly a master of interpretation, you give new perspective to everything you play, to some you're a weirdo, but to me you're really : "an individual"...

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

What Homestarrunner.com character are you? Strong Bad You are a funny little character in a mexican wrestling mask that says "holy crap" a lot. You created Trogdor, the BURNINATOR!!!

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

I've made it through half of the year, the first semester, one-tenth of my college career (5-year Co-Op porgram), and right now life has finally settled back to normal.

My sister hasn't gotten back from Boston quite yet, but she will be back by the end of the day.  At that point, everybody will be home and nobody will be complaining.  Yet.

I went out with my mom today, which wasn't my favorite thing in the world to do, if only because she got mad at the knowledge i *gasp* sometimes play Taboo on Friday & Saturday nights.  What a disgrace!  Taking time of on weekends?  Horrible!

Considering for the past few months I've gotten used to going out whenever I want (on weekends), getting up whenever I want (on weekends), and generally doing what I want (providing I have budgeted time for finishing homework on weekends, do you see a pattern?), my parents iron grip will, as usual, choke me until I start fighting with them.

The latest I have ever stayed out (minus proms) while living at home was 12:30, and that was at Gene's house, while Noel, Dave, & Matt had just shown up and Brendan was still there.  As were several other guests.  There was no need for me to go home.  Yet my father called me on my cell phone, started yelling at me, and made me come home.

I did, only to try to sleep in the futon downstairs while my father was watching "The Two Towers: Extended Edition" while I tried to sleep.  And he wouldn't let me sit and watch it, even though I could see it all from my the futon.

Wow.  This is gonna be a fun 2 weeks.  Thank God for intersession classes.

Right now, popcorn licenses seem like a good idea.

(23:19:07) ME!: FINALS ARE DONE FINALLY WOO HOO I CAN'T BE HAPPIER RIGHT NOW THIS IS SUCH A RELIEVED FEELING RIGHT NOW WOO HOO!