Nothing much for me today. Class, homework, laundry. That about sums it up. In good news, my test got pushed from Monday to Wednesday! So now I won't have to be as rushed to get back after this weekend!

Tuesday

I originally wrote this for the previous entry, but since it was so long winded, I decided to save it for another day and add to it.

One thing I've noticed this past weekend, I don't sit and do nothing very well. While I was supposed to be taking it easy, I somehow managed to create things or somehow make the simple things I needed to get done, complex. My ingenuity comes out in odd ways (lets just say my creativity and ingenuity sometimes merge to form this odd mesh of randomness) and at odd moments sometimes.

Case 1: my "fort". My bed is so high, that I need more than a running start to get onto it. Well, you can imagine the head room under there. Since I had a bean bag chair and nowhere to put it, somewhere a light bulb went on in my head. I never go under there, but it has a light in case I need it and a comfy chair. Since the people who built this place didn't think college students needed storage room, I also had to creatively store my boxes under there, as well as in my midget of a closet. There's some more to it, but I don't feel like explaining.


Case 2: I now solved the problem of having my Playstation in the way of my TV speakers, now it hangs under my bed. Found stuff in my room to put it together...

Well it happened again this past weekend...
I was wrapping my friends birthday gift and found something I thought I could add to the gift. This is all I can say at the moment, since she turns 21 this weekend! Maybe I'll have more interesting pictures this weekend with my trip to Corpus.

I think it's about time for my creativity to be unleashed, I noticed it started to creep out when I was wrapping my friends gift. I get in creative moods sometimes. Maybe it's moods or maybe its just a matter of time management. It took me awhile, but I had to discipline myself so I could concentrate when it came to getting things done for school. I won't allow myself to even think about guitar, photoshop, or any sort of fiddling with programs on my computer unless I have my homework done for the next 2 days, or have a test, lab, or project to work on. When I start with anything remotely creative it turns into a big project and will keep me busy for hours.

I recently acquired a new program for web design (well 2...), and I'm teaching myself to code for it. It allows for more creativity than other programs, where I can design everything for it, and not just do simple modifications of prefabricated layouts. I also have been working on this photoshop piece for a long time now, and found myself stuck, and just haven't had the time to look at it again. I really like the way it's going, it's inspired by The Beatles.


Quote of the Day
“Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily available, they will create their own problems.” --Scott Adams

The life of a long winded college student....

People are starting to flock to the pool, I don't blame them, it's been beautiful outside.

I've been cooped up inside studying and trying to get better. I started feeling sick Friday, usually I brush it off, but since my roommate was having flu-like symptoms, I wasn't going to take any chances. If I had to have the flu, the on-coming week would have been the worst time; tests, birthdays, concerts, labs and some traveling was all coming with the week, I could not afford to get sick. So I stocked up on my vitamin C.

For some reason I had the urge to watch one of my favorite movies, Requiem for a Dream. It could have been a subconscious thing with all the pill popping I was doing. This is a movie I recommend to some, but not all. At first I was hesitant to watch this movie, it's about drug use and addiction, and I don't really like drug movies so I never had the urge to watch it. Eventually I watched it and loved it. Everything about this movie is incredible: the script (based on a book), cinematography, the acting (Ellen Burstyn and Jared eto), and the soundtrack. The soundtrack is done by the Kronos Quartet, and is brilliant. It follows these characters for a year, through the beginning of their addictions and the end result of what their addictions did to their lives. It's a pretty intense movie, and depressing, but yet I manage to watch it constantly.


Today I had a test, which is in part the reason I opted to take it easy this weekend. I was prepared, although I did have a little anxiety going into the test. I've found this to be even more common this semester than previous ones.

One thing I don't understand about this professor is how he doesn't seem to care or pay attention to the time. I know I learned how to tell time in Elementary School, and it's served me well, since this knowledge I've acquired has enabled me to make it to his class on-time, now why can't he do the same thing for us. Everyday he goes over the allotted time for this class. Going over time for lectures is one thing, but handing out a test that takes longer than the time period of the class and knowing it's going to take longer, is another. It took 90 minutes to finish this test, causing me to miss out on my lecture for my next class. I was already frustrated when I got the test and looked at it, since at that moment there was only 35 minutes left in class, and 3 designs to implement and make schematics for. Then he announces that no one can leave the class until the last test has been turned in. What are we in high school? This is the only section for this class, so cheating wasn't even an issue.

I really don't want to hate this professor, but it's turning out that way. In fact I actually enjoy his lectures, and he helped me with the test, but his like of time-management is causing me to suffer in my other class in which I need to be present for every minute of lecture.


One of the only things that is helping as each day passes is the many countdowns of the many things I've been looking forward to:
5 days until Taste of Chaos (not only the concert, but I get to see my Corpus crew and my womb buddy!)
11 days until spring break
16 days until the Toadies reunion show in Houston
1 month and 7 days until Astros home opener (finally, good television!)
3 months and 5 days until I'm the big 2-0 (Astros VS Cardinals, couldn't have been scheduled on a better day)

Monday-Thursday

I've been pretty busy trying to catch up and get everything done that I need to get done. It's not that I've been slacking off , b y the class standards, I'm on target (well, for the most part), but with all I feel I need to do to make sure I understand, I've been behind. Spent a lot of hours listening to my music and "catching up." I take my mp3 player everywhere, just got back from running, and of course my trusty mp3 player was with me.

Last week was homecoming, of course we lost. Our school isn't known for it's athletics, but of course the UC was decorated.

I discovered Sudoku puzzles. They are so much fun and involve a lot of thought. They'll keep you entertained for awhile! I still haven't mastered the Easy puzzles yet.



Lately I haven't been too impressed with my school. First they build pointless things: a dorm, but not another parking lot, as well as a lazy river, yes, a lazy river on campus. I don't understand. Also our athletics are horrible, and they're adding another team, which is one of the reasons why tuition is increasing. I'm not a huge athletic supporter, but I'm paying for it. Also the teaching assistants they have for some of my major classes. I went to my class today and the TA didn't know how to answer the problem. The reason why they are TA's is that they've been through the class, most of them are on their way to getting their Masters. I'm not sure if it's the TA or the class, or just the class. From what I've heard, the understanding in my current class is pretty low. The majority of the class, both sections with about 50 people in each, made below a 60. Not only did they do that bad, but the professor said that normally happens (for like the past 3 years), so they know the class is doing poorly, yet they don't do anything to try and improve the class as each semester goes by.

It's a partial miracle...

My roommate ACTUALLY cleaned, well, a little bit. As you can see, nothing in the living room is mine. For me to put any of my stuff out in the living area would be like me trying to put up any of my music posters anywhere other than my room at my parents house. She's only 22, but she decorates like she's 30, and reads Ikea catalogues obsessively.

Actually the only reason she did anything was because her parents came into town. Too bad they weren't there long enough to go into the bathroom, that needs to be cleaned. I did my cleaning a few weeks ago, and her version of cleaning is taking out the trash and maybe vacuuming. The one time she cleaned the bathroom she freaked out and pulled me in there to show me what she had done. It was like she had never cleaned a shower before, and now I'm starting to think it had actually been her first time to scrub a tub. Obviously she didn't enjoy it too much, since that was in November.

Hey, it's me...

So, I read that we're supposed to occasionally post pictures of ourselves for this Project 365 thing, so we can see how much we've changed, blah blah blah. Well this is me.. waiting to go out. My hair is so long, probably the longest its been in a LONG time, I think the last time I got it trimmed was November, so I think I'm due for a cut. The question is, what to do!?!?! I hate being so fickle, I always want to do something different, but never know what, so I end up doing the same thing.

The countdown is on: 2 weeks until Taste of Chaos in Corpus!! I'm extremely excited!! I know I say I'm excited about every concert I go to, but I don't go to concerts as frequently as I did in high school, and I'm a little bit pickier than I was back then, so I think it has a bit more meaning than back in the day.

Once the concert passes, it will be less than a month until opening day (April 4), and less than 3 months until I'm 20 (eeckkkk!).

I can never say I'm bored....

I have enough movies to last me a full week of nothing but watching movies.... and enough music to listen to for at least 4 days straight without having to hear the same song twice....

Not much is happening, just the fact that this big drawer of movies almost fell on my foot. Just trying to get things in order since I'm going to be a little too busy having fun from now until spring break, so I need to get the boring ole school work done and out of the way! I think this week I'm going to try and do the "schedule" thing, I really hate living my life by a schedule, but that seems to be the only way I can force myself to do schoolwork.

All the things I've seen.

I don't know what prompted it, but this morning I went through all my old ticket stubs I've collected over the years. I keep stubs for every concert I go to (some have gone missing, but everything is post backstreet boys of course), but the stubs don't compare at all to all the bands I've seen, at least half of them are for festivals which have 15+ bands. It brought back great memories, most of the best times I've had have been at concerts. Of course, I do the same for my sporting events I go to, there were some Houston Astros, Corpus Christi Hooks, and Corpus Christi Rayz stubs thrown in there.



Today I also received some lovely roses from my dad!

I had to try and minimize what was seen of my room in this picture, because sometimes reminiscing involves a little bit of a mess!

I broke it...

Well, one resolution broken, somewhat. I made a resolution to cease my bad habit of needing to drink energy soda. It had gotten so bad, that I needed a Vault almost every day to function. But I had a early morning/late night studying, classes all day, and of course my last class was my test. I did use a different kind this time, maybe it won't be as addicting!
At least my biggest problem with addiction is energy drinks. One of my favorite movies (Requiem for a Dream, not recommended for adults.. haha) is about addiction, and at least energy drinks won't cause my arm to be amputated.

Catch up: Tuesday

3 seems to be my lucky number lately.. and 2 the unlucky one...

• Number of hours spent on 2 problems for my math class, still unable to get the right answer : 2
  
• Nights in a row this has happened : 2.
  
• Time in which I seemed to eventually get the answer for the past 2 nights (after taking a long study break, of course) : 9:30
• square root of 9 is 3. 30 take away the 0 is 3, or divide by 10, it's 3.

• Number of times I've seen 2/3 of my favorite bands (well the only 3 that are still alive/together and touring) : 3 (aerosmith, and The Used, which the third time will be in March)
• the third time I will see The Used, they just so happen to be touring with my other fave band 30 Seconds to Mars, on March 3, 3/3, and of cours 30, divide by 10 is 3!
  
• The Used will also be out promoting their 3rd album.

• The third year I have received tickets (well, am going to receive.. I already know about this year..) to a Astros game for my birthday just so happens to be the matchup I've been eager to attend for awhile VS the St. Louis Cardinals. To top it off, it starts at 3 pm!
  

Put my unlucky number 2 and my newfound lucky number 3 side by side, you get 23. 2/3 is .666. That was totally random, I just saw a preview for The Number 23, starring my favorite actor Jim Carrey, which comes out in 2 weeks.

Add 2 and 3, you get 5, on of my fave numbers, which just so happens to be the number of my favorite Astro!!

I think spending the past 2 days doing nothing by math has caused me to pay wayyy to much attention to numbers!!!!

Give me some time and i will probably thinkg of more coincidences...

Yes, I'm playing catchup - Monday

I fell behind on my 365, but I didn't forget to take pictures! Once I get online to blog and upload, I usually find myself distracted, and what should have taken 5 minutes, ends up taking an hour because I find places to wander on the internet!

But my studying has been fueled by this CD, the debut self titled 30 Seconds to Mars CD, along with some great acoustic sets from this band. I absolutely love this CD. While the interpretation of the songs are left open for the listener to find, as the lead singer, Jared Leto, says, I find it to be too open. I think this is why this CD is so intriguing to me, and the fact that I love that the sound is completely different from 'The Kill', and 'From Yesterday' as is heard on the radio from their latest album.

The acoustic sets are by far my favorite, since Jared's vocals are downplayed on the album.

Which brings me to my video of the day, I bet you can't guess what it is...


30 Seconds to Mars - The Kill (acoustic)

Everyday is exactly the same...

Pretty much today was the same as yesterday... math, math, math.. except today I actually figured out the 2 problems that plagued me yesterday! It so hard to be persistant with math, after awhile of doing a problem over and over, it's almost like you've convinced yourself of how to do it wrong.

Guitar Hero

Now I have another band to check off my list of bands to see, today I purchased tickets to go see the Toadies on their small reunion tour. This will probably be my calmest concert since the Backstreet Boys.
I've mainly been focusing on my math homework today, but I took a little break to look at my guitar magazine. It's been ages since I've read one of these magazines. When I do buy magazines, it's usually because I hear of articles on some of my favorite people, this time was no different than the times before. This magazine was packed with just about every "Guitar Hero" (hahaha, played that game last night) of mine, and of course a article on my number one, Joe Perry (of Aerosmith), along with Eric Clapton, Pete Townsend (of The Who), John Lennon, and even Muddy Waters.

Tonight was movie night... Rented Running With Scissors, great movie, now another book has been added to my must read list, and another movie added to my collection.. The rest of the weekend I'm a slave to math :S


Quote of the Day:
"I was learning that if I lived slightly in the future—what will happen next?—I didn't have to feel so much about what was going on in the present."
-Augusten Burroughs, Running with Scissors

May the force be with you!

I predict a lot of math in my future. Test on valentine's day of sections of homework that aren't due until weeks after the test. Again, I was up to the wee hours of the morning working on this. In good news, I found a concert to go to over spring break! I'm already pumped for my show on the 3rd! Now Star Wars is on, which I must tear away from to go to class.

Blank stare

So, I've learned that staring at the computer screen won't bring me the answers to my programming homework. If you've ever done any coding, programming, or anything of that nature, you understand how frustrating this is. Which is why I'm doing last nights post today, since I was trying not to procrastinate.

looks arent everything

So i finally decided to cook out of one of my cookbooks that I received for Christmas (I got 3, I think my parents are trying to tell me something...). Campbell's 1-2-3 Dinner, a variety of quick and easy meals. Today I cooked a "Beef Taco Skillet," but I switched the ground beef with turkey since I still don't eat beef if I have to. It turned out alright, not extraordinary, but it was my first time making it, and I didn't feel like going to the community center to use the stove, so I made it all in the microwave. It didn't look as pretty as the picture, but hardly anything ever does! I also used habenero picante instead of regular, it was a bit hot, but that's how I like it!

Iiiickkkk....

So this food is gross.. I eat these simply asia noodle bowls and love them, and these are always right next to them, so I tried them, and didnt like them too much. I also attempted to sort through some of my music... I only made it to the A's, and I stopped on Aerosmith. I have a lot of aerosmith music, but I'm not even at a halfway point when it comes to owning the whole Aerosmith collection, I'm at 11/25.

Tomorrow I'm making my first meal out of one of my new cookbooks!

False Memory

I remember when reading was fun. I had stacks of these Disney books my mom used to get me, along with Babysitter Club and Goosebumps, and I believe I had a Batman book or two. About the time I entered middle school, reading for enjoyment no longer existed. With all the programs the school enforced to "encourage kids to read", reading became the black hole of fun. It made reading a chore with the deadlines and grades associated with the amount of points acquired. I like to take my time with books, but the time it took me wasn't sufficient for the Accelerated Reader program.

I can sit down and read a book for hours, sometimes; most of the time I don’t have the time or patience. The same with TV, video games, CDs, etc, I enjoy them, but while I do other things, I'm a multi-tasker. I indulged myself and purchased a book, the first in a very long time. Dean Koontz was my author of choice. So far 'False Memory' is very intriguing. I want to sit down and just read this book for hours, but in the back of my mind I know I have other stuff to do and I won't allow myself to sit and enjoy this book for more than an hour.

I’m trying to make this a regular thing. With all the nonsense that’s on TV these days (well, this TV season, wait until April, baseball season is always good entertainment), when I want to sit at home and relax, there’s always something on, but I wouldn’t even deem it to be entertainment. The next book I want to buy is A Day in the Life: The Music and Artistry of the Beatles.

Quote of the Day:
Life offers infinite possible roads. Sometimes your head chooses the route, sometimes your heart. And sometimes, for better or worse, neither head nor heart can resist the stubborn pull of fate.
---Dean Koontz (The Forgotton)

What is this nonsense about the early bird

Well today I had to do the unthinkable, it was hard for me to comprehend this concept, but I had to do it. I had to wake up at 8 a.m on a Saturday! Wait, there were 2 concepts, the other was driving under 55, due to the lovely spare tire I was using. Plus the 410 loop is horrible, so my theory, the earlier the better, since it is the day before the superbowl and everyone is going out to get ready for this event, I hear it's a big deal, I really dont care.


I got everything all fixed up though. I was little miss fix it today I guess. Exchanged some stuff at the mall after getting my tire fixed, and I finally got a chance to visit Guitar Center to get some parts for my acoustic guitar. Now I have all my guitars functional again, it feels so weird playing my acoustic again, it's taken me forever to find the parts!
My productivity ceased the minute I got home though, I was exhausted (due to the 5 hours of sleep I got). I was disappointed though as I awoke from my nap and picked up my package (the final text book I've been waiting for) to only find it was the wrong version. Now I get to go through this long process of somehow getting my money back, but I have to wait until the 6th because Ebay likes to make things complicated.

Went to the store earlier, and the sky was just so beautiful, I had to snap some pictures with my cell phone.

I'm going to start to try and do something new every week or few weeks. Whether its going places that are new to me, or trying something new, or making something, you get the point.

Girl Interrupted

Every Friday of this semester is just my day to wait. I wait for class to start at 3, then I wait for class to end at 4, then afterwards I wait some more until I find something to do. Today I had more waiting to do, but thats expected with AAA. Tomorrow I get to wait some more at Pep Boys, just how every girl wants to spend her Saturday, getting up early just to sit around. But since my car is out of commission, I decided it was movie night. I borrowed Girl Interrupted, a movie I've been meaning to see for awhile now. A reason for my delay in watching it is the fact a certain actress who I can't really stand is in it (the new mrs. brad pitt, but thats not reason I can't stand her..), but I was impressed, definately adding this movie to my collection.



Quote of the Day:
Was I ever crazy? Maybe. Or maybe life is... Crazy isn't being broken or swallowing a dark secret. It's you or me amplified. If you ever told a lie and enjoyed it. If you ever wished you could be a child forever. They were not perfect, but they were my friends and by the '70s most of them were out living lives. Some I've seen, some never again, but there isn't a day my heart doesn't find them.
---Susanna (Girl Interrupted)

One of my favorite things...

I just had to add one more thing to my list of aches and pains. Since I am incredibly sore from my workout last night and my run the night before, I decided to skip on tonights jog, which left me with some free time.

In order for me to even think about playing guitar, I have to have at least 2 hours to spare. Tonight I needed 4. Long story short, I found some software that slows down songs, so when it comes to those obnoxiously awesome guitar solos, I can actually figure out the notes.

I've been working on Back in Black by ACDC since I got my Gibson SG (2004... again, i'm a procrastinator!!). I would start on a part, quit for a few months, master some other songs, and wouldn't continue with the rest of the song for a long time after. I have accomplished everthing but 2/3 of the solos. I really think this program will help with this problem, since when I usually quit a song for awhile was when a solo came up. But now I can loop a certain part I'm having trouble with, slow down the speed, and gradually increase it. Pretty much I played a 20 second loop for over an hour.

There seems to be a common factor in some of my favorite activities. The end result is some sort of pain, but with some feelings of accomplishment and enjoyment. Some would say I'm too intense, with my extreme work outs, my insanely long practice sessions with my guitar, and my stubbornness at concerts (which is how I get the stupidest injuries..). I don't see it as intensity, I see it as dedication.


Quote of the Day:
"We cannot learn without pain"
---Aristotle