20040909
Thursday, September 9, 2004 - 03:58 p.m.
sooooo....apparently graffiti.net managed to somehow delete all the pictures i had stored there. so that's why none of the pictures are working.
i've also moved back to livejournal, so if you were actually reading this for some reason, go to www.livejournal.com/~renshai.
as for what's going to happen to this one, well, a couple of friends and i are collaborating on a website idea, because we need something for our portfolios that we can show to people.
so that should probably be up by christmas. or at least started by christmas.
Thursday, June 3, 2004 - 11:52 a.m.
this complete lack of internet at home is becoming very wearing. WHY WON'T MY WLAN CONNECTION WORK??
in other news....crutches are fun! unless you're attempting stairs.
Wednesday, May 26, 2004 - 03:55 p.m.
[ mood | incredibly bored ]
[ today's soundtrack | fluke - Zion Rave ]
i'm almost positive i shouldn't be doing this right now, but i don't have anything else to do. all my immediate superiors appear to be AWOL. and i'm not likely to have the net at home until at least this weekend, since it would entail cleaning up my room enough for me to reach the USB ports on my computer.
so. a quick recap. i am home in alberta, rather than at UBC. i am working (*gasp*). at a desk job. that i hate. but at least i'm being paid well for my pointless busy work. i'm back playing rugby again, for two different teams, which i hope are in two different leagues. Calgary Rams Ladies team (div 1) in the calgary rugby union league, and then i got invited to play on a U-19 team that's supposed to start in June out in Okotoks. so, as far as i can tell, i'll be playing rugby 6 out of seven days a week, with two practices and two games for the ladies team and one of each for the U-19 team.
my room is a complete and utter mess that i lack the will to put to rights. and it smells like guinea pigs now, because we had to leave them in my room while my granparents and their hyperactive dog were here.
i'm in the midst of convincing myself to buy an iPod. something in me balks at buying anything for 400$ that i can't even change the batteries in, though. whatever i get, i need some kind of new portable-music-playing-device. my discman is on it's last legs. it's been a loyal companion for the last couple years, but i think that last trip over the banister was too much for it. it's started cutting off the last thirty seconds of every song, no matter the disc.
and now...i am incredibly bored. time to go see if the admin-co is back yet.
PS: the one thing this job has cemented for me so far? i never, EVER, want another desk job.
Friday, April 23, 2004 - 10:44 p.m.
[mood | crazy ]
[music | Beatles - Come Together]
was treated to the muscial strains of Christina Aguilera's latest album while driving back from dinner tonight. and it occurred to me that, had she played her cards right, she might have been able to pull at least half of those songs off as rock. possibly even hard rock. rather than the slutty pop limbo (or is that bimbo?) that she now finds herself in.
of course, by "played her cards right" i mean not become frightening-to-small-children skanky and attempted to pass her new "look" off as Girl Power. sorry. don't quite buy that one. especially not as the average waistline of twelve year old girls is dropping more than far enough to see things i never wanted to see. twelve-year old thongs = disturbing. very, very disturbing.
and possibly she might have had to somehow have made her previous music disappear. because no self-respecting rock station will ever play the artist from "A Genie in A Bottle", no matter how rawk they are now. and no. Power 107 does not count as self-respecting.
the rest of the ride back was interesting. only five seats, so kel got to lie across our laps in the back seat. originally, taz was lying across, but it would appear kelly and i are two of the rare people who don't get car sick. i mean....i read in the car. all the time. anyways....and then taz (being the adorable little satanspawn she is) convinced becca to cross the center line and make a fake run at some hapless pedestrians.
they got a movie....something about Winning a Date with some guy....it sounded incredibly stupid not my style. so i'm going to go do laundry instead. my life is just one big ball of excitement.
oh, and i'm defrosting my fridge. i mean, how much more excitement could i possibly stand?
Monday, April 12, 2004 - 02:52 p.m.
[mood] surprisingly laid-back, all things considered
[music] Sasurai no Cowboy - Cowboy Bebop Box Set
arr. too many exams. too little time.
i swear i'll update this more often. as soon as exams are over.
Sunday, March 28, 2004 - 02:23 p.m.
[ mood | drifting ]
[ music | Is It real - The Seatbelts + yoko Kanno ]
i'm bored. really, really bored. and can't manage to get up the wherewithal to study (like i probably should be) or go outside and take pictures to send home (like i keep saying i will). so instead here i sit, having a pair of very...um...interesting IM convos with phreid and jad.
went to cabaret last night. it was excellent. much, much better than tommy was. but i suppose the fact that the vast majority of performance arts students i've ever met live in vanier probably contributed to that.
i've got little paper cranes popping up all over the room. and the little boats made from the paper left over. darn nicole for teaching me to fold them.
i want to vacuum. but taz is asleep. or at least looks like she's asleep.
*sigh*
Today's quote out of context:
Eric-the-Type (Now is the time for you to rise and bring your squirrel... to the bagel shop.) says:
must find sexy ferret picture...
Wednesday, March 24, 2004 - 08:39 p.m.
[mood | mischievious]
[music| Make It Right - Econoline Crush]
i'm becoming steadily (steadily, steadily) more interested in this whole urban exploration thing. and, having introduced the little bro to it, now have a willing partner in crime. this might actually be the thing that motivates me to get a license.
particularly interested in the stories i've heard about the UBC steam tunnels. but i refuse to go explore them alone. I'm not that stupid. i am in need of an accomplice. or two.
and a guy to go with would be nice. (yes Geoff. specifically so that, when we get caught, we can blame you for warping our fragile female minds. :P)
"Researchers found that the presence of dihydrogen monoxide in Aliso Viejo had reached startling levels: it was present in its crude form, often spilling unmonitored on to the city streets; it was found to be a crucial ingredient in many common chemical compounds; its presence was even detected in that most ubiquitous of civilised artifacts, the styrofoam cup.
And it got worse: dihydrogen monoxide is lethal if inhaled, causes severe burns in its gaseous state, and is the major component in acid rain. Prolonged exposure to solid dihydrogen monoxide can cause severe tissue damage. It can, said the city council report, "threaten human safety and health"."
read the rest of that article here. handily lifted from neil gaiman's blog.
came across a neat idea that i may put into practice while subverting the Man at my summer job. you take little bits of model railway scenery (trees, fake grass, small farm animals) and head out into the downtown, find a nicely sheltered nook on the street, and super glue them in. :P have to do it without my da noticing (yes da, i'm cognizant of the fact that you may be reading this), though. he might be suspicious, since i've never evinced an interest in model trains before.
burnt myself a "First Year" CD. all the songs are related very closely to how i feel about my first year of university. although they aren't exactly in chronological order. and some of them require my twisted meaning to know what i'm getting at. but, the track list is here, because i'm sure enquiring minds want to know.
1. It's Going Down - The X-ecutioners feat Linkin Park
2. Parallel Universe - The Red Hot Chili Peppers
3. I Miss You - Blink 182
4. My Way (Or THe Highway) - Limp Bizkit
5. Hypnotic Crisis - DDR (2nd Mix?)
6. Welcome To My Nightmare - Alice Cooper
7. Numb - Linkin Park
8. Just A Moment of Weakness - Bif Naked
9. I Believe In A Thing Called Love - The Darkness
10. Megalomaniac - Incubus
11. Breathe - Prodigy
12. Enter The Sandman - Metallica
13. Somewhere I Belong - Linkin Park
14. Faint - Linkin Park
15. Breathe - Swollen Members feat Nelly Furtado
16. Still Frame - Trapt
17. 180 Paranoia - DDR (2nd Mix?)
18. In My Head - Pale 3
19. Breaking the Habit - Linkin Park
20. Firestarter - Prodigy
21. Out Of Control - Hoobastank
notice the disproportionately large amount of Linkin Park. *notafanatalldontknowwhatyouretalkingabout*
and now....i think i'm going to go to bed at this unprecedentedly early hour of 8:30. unless i've managed to get more anime since last time i checked.
Wednesday, March 24, 2004 - 11:02 a.m.
[ mood | rebellious ]
[ music | David Bowie and NIN - I'm Afraid of Americans (how apropos) ]
i forgot to add these to the last post....i've had the URLs sitting on my harddrive for a couple days...
thought this was kind of interesting
and this sounds scarily like a setting from some kind of modern sci fi book.
Wednesday, March 24, 2004 - 09:58 a.m.
[ mood | industrious ]
[ music | Third Eye Blind - Jumper ]
aarr.
i have fallen out of the updating groove. although not entirely my fault. with only the one internet connection for two of us, and my roomie having both classwork and househunting to do on the net, i'm not on as much as usual.
looking for summer school classes is a pain in the ass. stupid U of C offers the second course i need in the night classes is want. but the first course (which is a prerequisite for the second) is only offered during the day, from 10:30 - 1:30. and my summer employer feels that they can't give me up for that long four days of the week. and since i decided a long time ago that i'd take the job experience over the not having to take an extra year of university, i'm in something of a situation here. so i wrote Mt Royal to ask if they're offering the course at the time i need it. and they haven't gotten back to me yet.
someone suggested doing the first course through correspondence....but considering the last correspondence course i took was French ( a language i'm fluent in) and i nearly failed it, i'd have to say that wouldn't work for me.
have to hand in my program choices for next year pretty quick here. the preference order i've got so far is: integrated, mining, mechanical, computer, geological, and then metals and materials engineering. and i think that's what i'll stay with, probably. since i have no interest at all in taking chemical, civil, or electrical. or *shudder* engineering physics.
my hair is in a pair of inch-and-a-half long pigtails. and yes, i know i look silly. but having it on the back of my neck was driving me nuts. caroline told me i look like a pirate from "pirates of penzance". i was like, well, at least i don't look like a british naval officer. : P there's nothing wrong with being a pirate.
arrgh. gotta do homework.
at least there's only a month and a week left of school.
Saturday, March 20, 2004 - 12:52 a.m.
[ mood | pissed off ]
[ music | rolling stones - paint it black ]
so, i go down to do my laundry. and discover that i don't have enough money on my card to start both loads. so i start the one load, and leave the other in the machine while i go put money on my card.
i come back five minutes later. and someone had rummaged through my laundry. leading me to ask the salient question,
WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU RUMMAGE THROUGH SOMEONE'S LAUNDRY?!
and furthermore...if said person took anything with intentions of doing something like, i don't know, running underwear up a flagpole or something, i truly don't care, beyond the fact that, you know, i now have one less pair of underwear to wear. know why?
because i can console myself that said person is undoubtedly a moron, and that i never have, and never will, have to steal someone's undergarments to be cool.
thank you, and good night.
PS: if, by some fluke of change, the laundry-rummager is reading this,
1) you have problems and
2) if you've taken one of my t-shirts i will be forced to hunt you down, and do something horrible to you. most likely involving large amounts of your blood leaving your body. possibly using only my dull penknife. got that? kthxbye.
Friday, March 19, 2004 - 08:18 p.m.
more news tidbits.
shocking news - file sharing doesn't kill industry, industry kills industry.
in related news - if a little sign reading "Bad Pirate!" popped up on my screen i'd probably giggle myself silly and call all my friends over to see it.
a bit like the pot calling the kettle black - can we say soft wood lumber?
Those Wacky anarchists
Postatem obscuri lateris nescitis.
"You do not know the power of the Dark
Side." There are two possibilities: you
are a Star Wars geek, or you are unreasoningly
scary.
Which Weird Latin Phrase Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
i leave it to you to guess which.
i appear to be growing vampire-like fangs as opposed to wisdom teeth. and every time i carelessly close my jaw, i gouge chunks from my cheek.
damn evolutionary ladder.
and to add insult to injury...my wrist still hurts.
my student shadow fell asleep in my math class this morning. i had to poke him awake at the end. and then he exhibited the ability of any teenage boy to wipe out a pizza in 2.2 seconds. i was impressed.
have targeted a couple more animes to check out...should anyne know where to easily find episodes of these to see, lemme know - Gatekeepers, Boogiepop Phantom, The SoulTaker, Serial Experiments Lain, Silent Mobius
i really wish i could understand the dialogue tracks on the cowboy bebop box set...
i'm bored.....drek is ranting about something in the hallway....and i have four more hours before i can safely head downstairs to do my laundry. yes. i habitually do laundry at midnight on fridays.
i might be tempted to nap if i didn't think it would royally screw up my sleep patterns....
of course....when has that ever mattered before?
Thursday, March 18, 2004 - 10:23 p.m.
arr. teh p41n.
anyways. found some interesting tidbits in my surfing today. here's the cream of ze crop.
Those wacky Americans and the things they say over at Guerilla News
the most frighteningly cute thing you can hope to never see again, pulled from a random Google link - i can't even remember what i was searching for.
and, an unfortunate sentence in an article about the US's proposed new air passenger screening plan, over at Slashdot - "Passengers who raise questions would be classified as yellow and would receive extra security screening." That's right people. No longer would it be advisable to ask directions to a gate, or wear buttons on your backpack with witty anti-political slogans. I don't even want to imagine what the extra security screening could entail.
in other news....the physics midterm went pretty well. but i'm currently in a state of not caring. and it just took me three tries to spell caring right. awesome.
my wrist still hurts, leading me to believe that i did not sleep on it weirdly, although after le heat (phreid's witty comment nonwithstanding) mentioned it, i did indeed consider the possibility. Attempting to sleep while plugging both ears does lend itself to odd positions. But when i finally decided that there was no chance i could get to sleep with it, she did turn it down when i asked. so i'm happy. vaguely worried about the state of my roomie's eardrums, but happy. and really, her eardrums are none of my business.
it's weird....when i was younger i couldn't get to sleep without something playing in my tape deck. Usually a book on tape of some sort. I think i still have all the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron books pirated onto tapes from the public library somewhere. Except, i think i might have lost a couple, leaving me with only half a book on occasion. And now i have trouble getting to sleep /with/ ambient noise in the room. of course, my tendency to wake up whenever someone enters the room probably helps. and i've always done that.
and now....i should get to bed. i have a french assignment to jot down and hand in tomorrow morning....and a sinking feeling that there's an in class composition on Huis Clos tomorrow. ugh. French literature.
Thursday, March 18, 2004 - 12:14 p.m.
[ mood | surprisingly mellow ]
[ music | Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts - Ask DNA (Cowboy Bebop - Future Blues) ]
T minus 2 hours. and I'm almost done my formula sheet. joy of joys.
MSN messenger seems to be broken. not only does the service not work, the webpage that is supposed to tell me why it's not working is not working. ah yes. Microsoft, how i loathe thee.
my wrist hurts. especially when i try to move it. making both typing and mouse use nearly impossible. but i can't figure out why. i mean, i guess it could be broken. i've gone longer without noticing broken bones. but usually there's some indication at the time of the injury, right? except, i don't actually remember what i could have done to it during the bike crash. i guess i might have planted my hand. but i was wearing my bmx gloves, so i didn't hurt my palm any.
still...it'd be weird for it to only start really hurting a week later. more than a week later. i guess i might have done something to injure it further, but i can't figure out for the life of me what.
oh well. if it still hurts next week, i guess i'll go in and get it looked at. next week, because i have a water safety instructor recertification this weekend. and casts aren't really pool friendly. or wetsuit friendly, for that matter.
gotta have your priorities straight, after all.
Wednesday, March 17, 2004 - 10:20 p.m.
[ mood | ninja-tastic ]
[ music | Hoobastank - Pieces ]
w00t. public blog thing is up and running at http://renshai.pitas.com i haven't checked all the links yet, so if someone happens to be going through them and notice a broken one, drop me a line.
next? a haloscan account, so i can actually /have/ comments on this blog.
today was mostly uneventful. St Patty's day. It was interesting how few people wore green. Figures on a mostly international campus - i guess they don't celebrate St Patrick's day in Asia, do they?
plans for not one, but two student projects for next year were percolated at lunch today. they shouldn't let me hang out with other engineers. I'm a bad influence.
i wore green. and shamrock boxers. :P kickass.
of course, it decided to start pouring rain at the exact time i was leaving to write my APSC exam. so i showed up soaked to the skin, freezing, and...in the wrong classroom. that's right. i sat down, they handed me a copy of the exam, and i was like, "what the crap. i have no idea what any of this is. i've never heard of trailings in my life." and then i realized that this was probably the /other/ APSC exam.....and that mine was probably in the basement.
I think i did okay. of course, the fact that Chris (who actually knew what he was doing) found it hard, and i didn't, kind of worries me. *shrug* ah well.
i passed my math midterm too! wee!
physics midterm tomorrow. thankfully i don't actually have any classes between the 8 am APSC lab and the exam, so i'll come back here and study my butt off. w00.
and now....bedtime. my eyelids are starting to stick together.
Wednesday, March 17, 2004 - 06:16 p.m.
Let's try this out, then
