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January 9, 2004 - Oh boy

It's definitely been two weeks or more since an update. Crap.
So, I suppose that means that I should say what I've been up to. (pause) Want me to say it again?
No, seriously though, break was awesome. It was great to get home, spend some time with the folks, with the friends, and with the pillow. New year's eve down at the University of Illinois was incredible, and an awesome time. (Pictures coming soon; Wicked-madd props to Jody for hostessing; For some glimpses, see certain pictures on the new link I put on my links page) I did a smidge of work, didnt play nearly enough games, and got together with people a lot. That was pretty much the entire three-week break.
Oh yeah, and the small detail of me getting a car! A white, 4-door, 1997 Honda Civic to be exact. Her name is Montecore; ten points if you can tell me where that comes from! Took her down to UIUC for new year's eve, took her back with me to Ames, and she runs smooth as butter. Couldn't be happier with her, and now I don't have to gank Ryan's or Kristi's cars anymore!
Anyhow, now that I'm back, updates should be semi-regular again. I'm looking forward to this semester, or at least some of the classes. We shall see.
Oh yeah, I archived December and added a link. Check 'em.

January 13, 2004 - And so it begins... Again.

Yes, classes have begun. Which means that I now have a whole lot less free time than I did when there was nothing to do but laze about all day and play racquetball. Funny how that works.
Even so, classes are allright, and I'm thinking that they should be okay through the semester. I only have one difficult-to-understand professor, and at least two classes have homework that will be enjoyable. The only thing I'm leery of is the projects; many of the courses seem project-based rather than homework-based like I'm used to, and I'm hoping that they won't all be due at the same time. Ugh.
I forgot a couple of important things in the last update. For one, we moved! We switched apartments at semester, moving from a 4-person, 2-bedroom apartment into a 4-person, 4-bedroom apartment, which is really nice. Robert came with me, but Eric and Lee both got spring-summer co-ops, so they'll be coming back in August. The two new guys, Paul and Justin, are great. Pictures will be up ... in about that much time.
And, I forgot to mention that I added a Computer Science degree, which makes me officially a "Double-degree student in Computer Engineering and Computer Science with a minor in Sociology." Blech, I just think of myself as a kid who likes computers, but whatever. Resume updates will reflect the change ... again, in about that much time.
But, check it. I went through and did the pictures from New Year's! Be sure to take a look at those for a glimpse of the craziness that was the evening.
I gotta get back into some video games, too ... I'm thinking this is my semester project. You know, the one that really matters.
Hope everyone has a good week!

January 15, 2004 - Some changes... *gasp*

A minimal update, but one nonetheless.
I updated my resume page to reflect the double-major, the minor, and last semester. I also finally got rid of the Iraq Body Count graphic on the navigation bar, since that whole business seems to be over with, by and large.
I try to keep this site relatively apolitical and professional, so I'm going to refrain from any ranting about politics or policy. I hope everyone appreciates how hard this is for me :) - It's enough just to briefly mention the disappearance of the graphics.
Classes are continuing, as they have this nasty habit of doing ... first week and I'm already looking to the weekend. The schedule is working out pretty nicely, though. It kind of sucks to be up and in class at nine every day, but it's nice to be forced to stay up and actually see some of that ... bright thing ... in the sky. Certainly a change for me!
Anyhow, I said this was going to be a minimal update, and so it is. Have a good weekend!

January 19, 2004 - Nice long weekend

You know, you really can't complain about having a long weekend. But it would be really, really nice if we got the one long weekend for the semester at a time when we actually need it, instead of after the first week of classes. Still though, it's better than a two-day weekend.
So what did I do with this long weekend, you ask? Well, I did a smidge of work, played a lot of racquetball, saw two movies, slept a lot, and played a boatload of Final Fantasy 8. What a weekend! The part where I have very little homework thus far helps a lot, too.
No big changes or anything else around here. This week is when school kicks back in with full force, so I guess we'll see how I handle it.

January 25, 2004 - Ugh.

Been awhile since an update. Excuse du jour: I've been sick. No, really, I have, ever since about Thursday. I've been increasingly lethargic as the weekend has progressed; basically I have done nothing but sit and play Final Fantasy 8 the whole weekend. Scratch that; the last four days.
Yeah, on Thursday I went to my 9:30 class, which let out at about 10:00. Seeing as my next class didn't start until 11:00, it was cold, I was sick, and even if I did go to class it would have been worthless, I opted to go home instead. Friday morning I had an appointment over at Student Health, which I forced myself to go to, got some antibiotics (which, since the symptoms have changed from a strep-throat-like condition to more of a general cold, I'm thinking will be largely useless, but whatever), and went home to sleep. So, in four days, I have been to half an hour of class. Rock.
Anyhow, I changed the good old links page just a tad; check out the new weblogs.
Here's hoping I recover soon from this.

January 28, 2004 - Brr!

Yeah, so it's cold outside. Really, really, freaking, cold. This is the third straight day with minus-twenty wind chills or worse, and I for one am starting to get sick of it. When does May get here again? (Yes, I know May gets here on May first. It was rhetorical. Thank you.)
I've discovered recently that I hate reading. I've had about two dozen items come onto my to-do list since school started, and eighteen have come off. The six that remain are reading assignments, and the eighteen that I've done have had no reading involved whatsoever. Notice a pattern? I do, and it really bothers me when I'm in a Sociology and Religion class... And both of the professors think the only way to learn anything is to read. Booooooring.
On a positive note, I am really enjoying the couple programming classes I am in, however. I really did miss having things to code. As soon as I get an assignment or something that involves coding, it's pretty much the first thing I do, even if it's not due for ages and I have much more pressing matters. Not sure what to make of that, but hey.
I changed my current schedule page a bit, to reflect a change in the lab time for my Computer Engineering class. Yeah, that's about it.
Basketball game tonight; we'll see if we can keep up the decent play at home.

January 31, 2004 - We live for the weekends

Taking a cue from Emily, I realized I could put off archiving January if I updated today. Awesome.
So I went to our basketball game today... between this and the Iowa game, I've seen some pretty intense ball recently. We won, thankfully, after one heck of a game. Extremely fun to be involved in.
So lately, it seems like I've been involved in about a million and a half things, very few of which are academically-oriented. Besides the 22 hours a week I spend in class, I work with King a couple hours a week helping him with his Electrical Engineering class. I've been playing a ton of racquetball recently. I have dinner once or twice a week with friends. I go to HKN meetings once a week, and will soon start sitting at their helpdesk for an hour or two a week. I go to SCUBA club meetings every other week, and have two-hour SCUBA lessons every other week also. I recently started getting photography-type lessons so I can take Night and Nature Photography courses from the Workspace later in the semester. I just applied to be a VEISHEA Security Aide in April. I'm sure there are things I am missing, too. In short, it's been crazy.
And I still hate reading! I only mention this because I have a written and oral report on a 300-plus page book of boring, dry, awful sociology studies due in ... two and a half weeks. And I can't bring myself to read it. Or, for that matter, any of the other several readings I should be doing. But to make up for it, I'm way ahead on all my other work... so it all balances out, right?
Anyhow, SCUBA-Adam is having a Superbowl shindig tomorrow, so that should be a good time. Assuming I find the time, and more importantly, the willpower, to do anything, I should be in pretty good shape this week. But, as always, it remains to be seen.
Oh, and we're supposed to get six or so inches of snow Sunday night. That will make Monday morning incredibly fun!