Things I wasn't prepared for

1. Parking
2. All lecture all the time.
3. Fast food on campus.
4. Parking (yes, it deserves two spots)

So far things are going well. I've got three classes, and it looks like it might stay that way, since I refuse to take any classes on Tuesday or Thursday, and the philosophy class I wanted to add is now full. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to use the extra time to re-teach myself Latin. Because it will be so useful to my Masters that I just have to know it.

I've added a Calc II for the Social Sciences class, which looks like it should be easy. They started with reviewing differentiation, which I've already finished, and will have to learn integrals, which I will be reviewing before the class gets to them. Apparently there's no trig in this class (which is sad because I love trig) and they gloss over some other topics compared to your standard Calc II class. So while I haven't taken Calc for 7 years, I don't expect any difficulty with this one.

It would appear that my initial impressions of my economics teachers are correct. One is going to waste all sorts of class time because he is obsessed with his own clerverness. This, of course, doesn't mean that he doesn't expect everybody to be in class, even though all of my learning will be done outside of it (he actually takes roll). I think I will have a lot of fun this semester relating all the tales of what he thinks is important to talk about during my precious class time. At least the subject matter is interesting, even if it looks like it might be pretty easy.

The other class is going to be awesome. Not only am I supremely interested in the subject, but it will be difficult (well, marginally), and hopefully will keep my attention. I do find it ironic that the first real topic we hit on (besides a very brief history of economics as a discipline) was the Vienna Circle and Logical Positivism. I really really hope that it is only a brief discussion topic, because if I have to hear about Logical Positivism all semester long, it is going to be very hard not to rip it to shreds every day. For those of you who don't care I won't go into what it is, but I will say that it is the most despised of all the philosophical ideas I learned. Ever.

I've located the Safeway closest to campus, so I'll have my deli food whenever I want it (I love Signature Soups). For all you SoCal people, Safeway is the north's Vons. It looks like there's really nice snow up in the mountains, but I don't think I'll go boarding this weekend. I should pretend that I'm up here to do things other than play, at least for the first week.

Hey, teacher! Leave those kids alone.

I'm officially a student again, and I have the student ID to prove it. I've already been struck by all the differences between a big state school (it's much bigger than Cal State Bako, which I knew, but wasn't really prepared for) and the small private school that I'm used to. Paying for parking and my student ID are just the beginning of it, but I think it'll be a good change.

I only had two classes today, and I'm very excited about one - both the material and the professor. She was an English and econ major in college (Jess, there's another in the world!) and is making us start with ancient philosophers in the history of economic thought, unlike most courses of it that start just before Adam Smith (late 1700's). So I get to read Aristotle in an econ class, which is very exciting. I also love that the prof told the class that this was going to be a hard class not because she grades hard, but because the material is dense, and there's a lot of writing. At the end of her little spiel, I thought to myself, "Hurrah, I'm home!"

The other shouldn't be too bad, in spite of the fact that the prof strikes me as a bit of an off-topic rambler. Of course, this is just a first impression, but I think it's a pretty safe assumption, considering that as we introduced ourselves, he interrupted almost every person with some tidbit of his own. While off-topic rambling can be fun, when I'm in class, I'm there to go over the material and not learn all about the personal likes and dislikes of my prof. If they throw them in every once in a while, that's fine, but completely taking up class time with non-pertinent facts is not okay.

Sacramento seems like a nice city, although I haven't seen much of it. The campus is situated right on the river, which is pretty cool, and there is a great bike/walk path running the whole length of the river (it's the American River, not the Sacramento River). If I had a bike, I could take the path all the way to campus from my uncle's house (about 5 miles), but I couldn't fit it in my car on the way up. Next trip I'll have to convince my dad to bring all my stuff up in the Expo.

I'll post again at the end of the week about first week impressions, and put up the biggest differences between Sac State and Whitworth, but for now I'm excited to get back into learning and procrastinating.

The Dead Zone

So I've gotten away from my series a month idea, but I thought it was time to bring it back. USA has a show called The Dead Zone which is based on characters from a Steven King novel. This novel was also made into a movie which starred Christopher Walken in 1983. This show has been around for a while (recently finished its 6th season this past summer), but I never really looked into it because with Steven King's name attached to it, I thought it would be more akin to horror than it actually is. With a name like The Dead Zone, I expected him to be seeing ghosts or something like that, but really, it just refers to the part of his brain that he uses.

But luckily, this past summer it was on immediately after The 4400, so I started catching episodes of it as I was getting ready for bed. I think I watched probably four episodes this way, all of which were at the end of the season, and got intrigued. So I decided to download the first season and watch it to find out what the show is all about.

So far, things look pretty good. The basic idea of the show is that John Smith seems to have the ability to experience past and future events by touch the objects or people around him. This happens because he is in a coma for 7 years, and when he wakes up, he not only has to integrate himself back into society (a lot could happen in 7 years, like your finance getting married and having a son, strangely enough named John Smith), and dealing with this ability, and people knowing about his ability. It's similar to The 4400 because the ability given protagonist doesn't try to hide them (like in Smallville or Charmed), and that leads to some fun episodes. I especially liked the one about witchcraft.

Unfortunately it's a summer series, so that means only 13 episodes per season, but that can also be a good thing, I guess, although I can't think of a reason right now.

Lack of class

There was a student in the class I was in yesterday named Sparkles. Seriously, that was the name listed on the roll print out. That is all I have to say.

And I didn't die once!

So Saturday after reffing two soccer games, I decided that it would be a good idea to head down to LA and join Rob's D&D group for some orc-slaying fun! Actually, I don't think we slayed any orcs, but we had fun running around a tower and trying to kill a spider lady. Plus, there was lots of food involved, and flashy cups.

On Sunday, Rob wanted to try out a pick-up Ultimate Frisbee game he heard about through his new Ultimate Frisbee league, so we headed out to Pasadena, and to a park in the Rose Bowl area. Now, you all may think I'm fanatical about frisbee, but you ain't seen nothing until you see these people play - very good and very intense about frisbee. It was a beautiful day, and it was great to get out and run around for a while, once we figured out the different rules and the subbing mechanism.

On Monday, I decided to pay my aunt, who lives about a mile from the Rose Bowl, a visit. Had I known she was that close, I might have made us go over on Sunday and say hi (it was literally almost on the way that we went), but oh well. I'll know for next time. It was good to see my aunt and uncle, and we went to the Norton Simon for about an hour (I had never been there before) and had Mexican.

Now I'm home and I have to start getting some things done. Only two weeks until my classes up in Sacramento start! I keep dreaming that I'm back in high school, only not high school aged, so I think I'm either worried or really excited about going back to school. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

It's been 12 years

Drank a Dr. Pepper and nothing happened. Interesting.

Putting the "real" in RL

Here's a review of the biggest and most popular MMORPG ever. (Read it, it's actually funny.)

Click me!

Also....

Everybody should see Juno. Great movie.

Up in the Sky!

So, I think most people are aware of my somewhat recent obsession with comics. Well, actually, so far I have refrained from buying actual comics (with the exception of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8), but wait for the good ones to come out in book form and read them then. I just thought I'd share some of my favorites (and maybe some people will join me in my nerdness).

52 - My first encounter with this series was in book form (as in paragraphs and sentences), but it was so good that I had to find the visual version of it. This was a weekly (which is amazing in comics) comic that used a huge number of DC characters, but noticeably missing are the big three - Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. It takes place pretty much right after Infinite Crisis, and is really good. It focuses on some of the more interesting superheroes, morally speaking, including Black Adam, who is pretty much classified as a villain, but toes the line.

Kingdom Come - This was a Christmas gift from my grandparents, and I've been hearing about it for a long time, but have never found it in Bakersfield. I read it in one sitting, and it's a 225 page book, if that tells you how good I thought it was. Basically, all of our current heroes are old, and have for one reason or another retired, but their inheritors have seriously screwed up. So the question is, should superhumans (for the most case, extra-terrestrials) even play a part in human life, or should it only be up to actual humans. Very, very good.

Marvel 1602 - This is the only Marvel comic I've read, and for good reason. While I can't see anything wrong with Marvel, it has never been my favorite of the two for some reason, but this book was different. It took a handful of the most popular and powerful of the Marvel characters, and placed them in Elizabethan England. I think my favorite character in this book was Daredevil, which was a real surprise. It's written by Neil Gaiman, which was probably most of the reason I bought it.

Help Wanted

So I'm thinking on getting my own website, because they're cool, and I want a way to keep my extended family in touch with videos, pictures, and perhaps some other toys. But I need a good name for my site. Anybody got any bright ideas for what it could be. I will give the winner total credit on the site once it's up.

You Rock!

So I played Guitar Hero for the first time last night, and while I can see how it is fun, I think I'd much rather just play my actual guitar.

I have officially corrupted my little cousin, by giving her the first taste she's ever had of candy, I think. We were over at my uncle's for Christmas dinner, and I was playing with Shea while eating a candy cane, and she kept grabbing for it (although she might have been trying to get my hair - she has an unhealthy obsession with my hair) so I gave her a taste. From then on she would not take it out of her mouth, and I had to struggle to make sure she didn't poke the back of her mouth with it. Jenny took some pictures, and if I ever get my hands on them, I will post them here. Shea is almost old enough for me to really enjoy playing with her. When we had out poker party, Chris and Jessica couldn't believe that I would actually hold her, and promptly took a picture of the feat.

A Very Merry Un-Christmas To You

I threw a poker party on Saturday for friends and family, and I think it was a great time, and don't really care if anybody disagrees with me. Although some people couldn't make it, I think we had a good number of people, although it was probably a bit annoying for the people who went out first to sit around for a couple of hours watching other people play. I think it was a fun non-traditional way to celebrate Christmas by having people that I like hanging out with around, and not have to do any of the cheesy Christmas stuff that I find annoying. We had cookies, but that was about the only Christmas thing that there was (thanks to my cousin Jenny for the good home-baked cookies).

Buy in bulk

Every time I walk out of Costco, I'm amazed at the types of things you can get there. I love the movie selection, because they always have some random old movie, or box set, or two-pack that I love looking at. But the thing that gets me every time, are the displays when you walk out. You can buy mini-blinds, carpet, and tires! But that's not all! Need a casket? Get it at Costco. Cuz, you know, buying in bulk makes it cheaper? I'm not really sure what they're trying to tell us with that one.

This year I'm having a problem that I normally don't have: I can't tell my mother what I want for Christmas. Now, you have to understand; my mom is great at buying gifts for everybody that we need to give them to. If we have family over at any time during the holidays, she is never without a gift. But for her immediate family, she can't manage to ever get surprises. She has to know exactly what we want, and half the time, we usually end up buying it for ourselves, but she just pays for it.

I have the completely opposite mentality for Christmas. I like to find gifts for people that will surprise them, that they haven't asked for, but that they will love. Sometimes I make exceptions to this when I know there are things that a person needs, but usually it's more fun for me to find the perfect gift for somebody, that they didn't even know they wanted. Likewise, I want other people to surprise me, instead of telling them exactly what I want.

I should be used to needing to give my mom a list of the things I want, but for some reason this year I was caught off guard, and still can't manage to come up with anything. I mean, there are some things out there that I want, but I don't know the specifics that I want. Like, I need a new graphics card, but I don't know what kind. Also, I need a new backpack (well, messenger bag), but I haven't found one that I like yet.

I did ask for some Lego, but I doubt that I'll get them. How sad.

The deep abyss

I have been sucked into the abyss that is the Warcraft III map editor. And yes, I know I'm a nerd. I've never denied it, nor will I ever. I know I can't fool anybody.

Anyways, this this is the end all in power over Warcraft III. It's amazing in its depth, even if I haven't managed to get all the commands down. It's part video game, part programming code, all fun.

My two days of fun starts tomorrow. Originally, I had been put with my brother at CSUB doing really bad girls varsity games, which I was looking forward to. $40 per game, with no sprinting and only minimal jogging for two days I can handle. But the stupid assigner changed me to doing moderately good girls varsity games, with lots of sprinting, filled in my some standing around, and some jogging. For probably less money, because there will be more refs on the game. And it's at the soccer park, which adds at least another hour per day to the time I have to spend. I'm not very happy about this.

For anybody that will be in town, I'm having a poker party at my house on Saturday the 22nd. All are welcome, and it should be a lot of fun hanging out and enjoying people's company right around Christmas.

In the Grind

It's been a busy week, although I don't really know why. On Thursday and Friday I was the sub in a class that I've done a couple times already this year, so it was good. We went to the Nutcracker on Thursday, which is always fun. It wasn't the whole show, because third graders would have a difficult time sitting through all of it, but only about 5 of the more entertaining dances.

Since Brandon is in town, we've done a lot of hanging out, which usually involves food and our computers. Their house is still in the dark ages with dial-up, so he likes coming over to the broadband of my house, although he almost doesn't know what to do with all that speed.

Soccer tournament season is officially upon me, with the Taft Tournament last week, and the massive Garces Tournament this week. There's something like 150 teams and 350 games over two days. This year I'm at Cal State instead of the soccer park, which is a nice change. It makes for a little shorter day, which is always wanted.

I guess it's just typical December business, but after the chill of London (when there were only things I wanted to do, not things I had to do) it's a drastic change.

Down and out in LA

This past weekend I drove down and back to LA on both Saturday and Sunday. Luckily, I didn't drive either time, but if you count that I was down there on Tuesday, too, that's a lot of time spent traveling over the Grapevine. Saturday I went with Matt and Donna to pick up Soldier Boy from the airport, and Sunday Billy and I went down for a volleyball ref meeting.

I was at Golden Valley for a soccer match yesterday, and had a girl drop unconscious for no apparent reason. I didn't even see if happen, since it was behind the play, but all of a sudden I heard the ref and my assistant yelling at me to stop play. I glanced back and saw her on the ground, but just figured she had been kicked, so it wasn't a big deal since play was away from her and she wasn't in any danger.

But when I saw that the coach had run on the field, as well as my assistant, I decided to stop play to tell the coach that players getting kicked happens, and he shouldn't freak out about it. This was the second time he had done so, running onto the field when his goalie just needed to catch her breath. When I got over there, I saw that she was unconscious, and so realized that it was a good thing I stopped the game. We ended up canceling the rest (about 8 minutes left) because they were keeping her still until the ambulance came, and we didn't have any lights.

That was the first time I've had to have an ambulance come to one of my games.

In other news, I got into Sac State, and will be starting there at the end of January. I'm looking forward to getting back into school, but not looking forward to the Calc review that I'm going to have to put myself through between now and then. Should be a good way to work myself back into the swing of things, though.

Back in black

So I'm back in the states, if you were wondering, and soccer has started full swing. Apparently the weather decided to turn cold while I was gone, as we now have started to use our heater a little bit, but I suppose that's to be expected - as soon as soccer starts the weather turns cold.

The UK was great, and I had a wonderful time. I will try to put up a few pictures sometime later on the site, but most of them are of buildings that a lot of people have seen already, so I don't feel like I'm in a rush to get them up. The only problem I'm having with jet lag is that I keep waking up way too early in the morning for my liking, but all that will take to cure is one late night and sleeping in. And I suppose it's not a bad thing to get up early in the morning.

"I'm a wee monster!"

It's been a long time with no post, but I've been busy. Tuesday night, I guess it was, I got the red eye bus up to Edinburgh, and arrived at 8:00 the next morning. Edinburgh is a very nice town, but it didn't give me a very warm welcome - it rained without stopping from before I arrived until after I went to sleep that evening. I hide in a museum for most of the day, and learned some fun things about Scotland, but still got soaked walking to and from it.

On Thursday I found a nice little tour of the highlands to join. There were only five of us in a little mini-bus, which made for a very personal tour, especially considering that two of the five couldn't speak English, and so were basically just along for the ride. I got to ask a lot of questions, and, or course, talked about football with the driver. We also got to listen to some nice Celtic music when he wasn't telling about the places we were, so it was an awesome day, altogether.

My bus got back at 7:00 Friday morning, and I decided to walk back from the station, firstly because I didn't want to wake Rachel up that early, and secondly because I wanted to see some of Westminster (the city, not the Abbey) in good light (all previous visits had been during or after dusk). It was fun seeing the city of London wake up, and was a nice walk. After that, since it was such a beautiful day, I walked around Hyde Park (largest royal park in London) and Kensington Gardens, and then hit the National Portrait Gallery until around 7. I saw Elizabeth, Shakespeare, Jane Grey, and some other tutors, and then spent a lot of time on their computer, looking up pictures of my favorite British actors and actresses that aren't actually shown in the gallery. Good times.

Today the plan was for the National Gallery and a pub for some football matches, but a bad allergic reaction to something yesterday and Benadryl today sort of knocked me out, so I made a quick run into the Gallery, saw three of the four turtles, and then explored Saturday afternoon and evening at Coven Garden, which was a zoo, although a very interesting one.

Tomorrow is our venture off to Fulham for a football match, which I'm looking forward to greatly. Before that, if I'm feeling ambitious, I might head to Westminster Abbey for services, but we'll see. I think we'll also be going to Wimbledon, just because I can. I thought about putting some pictures up, but have decided instead that it's time for bed, and I might put them up tomorrow. Although the really bad techno music from next door might mean that I put them up tonight.

Be Prepared

Today I wasn't particularly prepared, so I didn't get to hear somebody sing that song on stage. Silly me, assuming that there would be a Sunday evening performance of The Lion King that I could go see. So instead I Googled things to do in London on a Sunday night, and found absolutely nothing, aside from clubs, which I'm not really interested in.

The problem is that everything here closes so early, which I'm just not used to. Museums close around 6 PM, and the same with stores. So I finally realized that the London Eye might be open after dark, and decided to check it out. I saw that it closes at 8 PM, but didn't know if they let the last 'flights' go up at 8, or if everybody was off by then. I decided to risk it, and arrived at about ten 'till 8, making it on the last flight of the evening.

It was pretty nice because our room was almost empty, there only being four other people in there with me: two Americans and two Japanese. The view was pretty awesome, with London all aglow. Parliament was especially fantastic. My pictures couldn't turn out very good, but I think I got a few that are decent. And I figure I can just buy some postcards for good pictures; I was up there for the view, not pictures.

Yesterday I popped into St. Paul's to find out what time services were, and arrived just in time for a concert. It was Saturday Evensong, but they were giving away some music awards, so it was basically a concert. I couldn't understand any of the words, so I don't know what they were singing, but the music was very cathedral-ish, and added a definite atmosphere to the cathedral.

Scotland tomorrow!

My buddy and me! (it wasn't a doll!)

I've cruised about London for the past two days with my best friend Soren. He really is a great traveling companion. He always wants to go where I want to, and I can tell him to shut up when I want, and he does.

But in serious news, I have spent the past two days cruising around London on a tour bus. It was well worth the money, I must say. Yesterday I traveled around the heart of tourist London, and say most of the things to see from a great vantage point. While I really enjoyed my exploration tour from the previous day, it was nice on my blistered foot not to walk around everywhere. That's not to say that I didn't do my share of walking, but it wasn't across the whole town like before.

I also got to go to the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is awesome. I'll talk more about it later once I get pictures up. And right next to it is the Natural History Museum, and I can never resist one of those. It's pretty amazing, and has so much stuff in it - dinosaurs, rocks, bugs, mammals, whales - anything you could want to look at. It even had a dodo bird, which I think might be the coolest thing of the day. Obviously not a live one, but one that I think actually did live at one point. Gotta love the empire and the fact that Britain once ruled half the world, and so has stuff from half the world.