I'm eating Cheetos and drinking orange Mountain Dew! Ph33r my l33t 0r4nG3 t33th!

My friend Tony is the man. He's letting me borrow his digital projector to use tomorrow at the dance. That means you'll all get to see your lovely faces in all the 300+ photos Brion and I have taken this year! Yay for Tony!

Well I was bored at work, so I fixed my template! You'll see I should theoretically have both archives and comments. If it actually works I'll be truly amazed.

Hey, hey. It's Friday; finally. So I got my math midterm back today. I got a 96%!! I do believe that's the highest grade I've gotten on a math test ever. I was pretty stoked. Irony struck when I also got back a quiz I'd taken the week prior, I got a zero. It was the same subject matter. It's amazing what a few days of studying will do for you =P I feel pretty damn good after that... I hope I can get that same feeling in EE...

My concert is this weekend, so that's exciting. It's exciting.. and frightening. I was excited about this piece at the beginning of the quarter. It is an awesome piece; the instrumentation is cool, the flow is cool, and basically it just rocks. (But would you expect any less from Beethoven?) Problem is that it's frickin' hard. It's harder than anything we've done yet... and I think we've done some relatively difficult pieces. This one is on crack. I get nervous just going to rehersal! Usually it's a time to kick back and sing, basically have a good time. Beethoven has changed that... it's stressful now!! I'm always worried about forgetting to crescendo, or losing track of dynamics... not coming in on the right beat. Pieces should not be in length greater than 10 minutes!! It's too stressful >_< Oh well.. it's going to be a fun concert in any case, and this piece is cool regardless.

Oh, by the way: blogger is on crack. Don't even bother trying to comment. Blogger screwed up and lost my template AGAIN. So that means at some point this weekend I'll have to redo it AGAIN. Anger ensues.

Brion kissed a guy.

I was reading through random blogs, like I usually do at work. I noticed there are lots of people counting down to exciting events. I wish I had something to count down to. It's a shame; all I can really say is "1 day till tomorrow"... *sigh*

So I figured out why I didn't have archives... I still don't, but there are some awesome dead links on the side. Ooh, as an extra added bonus: I can't edit my template... which means I can't finally add comments. *sigh*

Death to Fourier! He's already dead, but had he died earlier I might do better on my midterm tomorrow! This will be a very interesting midterm. The teacher never properly said what would be on it... and my notes are far from comprehensive. We'll be hoping and praying tomorrow.

As for now, I'm stuck at work. It's only 20 till 7... which means i still have like 3+ hours to be here. BAAAAH. I just wanna go frolic on the downs, or do something other than be stuck here; sort of studying.

So I have no money. It's funny, I have a job and am making money, but I've never been poorer. Oh well; I'll get paid in a week and I will have a tiny bit of money then. Most of it'll go to my gigantor credit card bill. *sigh* I wish money grew on trees, and only I was tall enough to reach it.

Dunno why, depressed right now. Haven't felt like this for a pretty damn long time... so I guess I'm over due. There are a ton of things running through my mind right now... but none really that connected to how I'm feeling. I don't know exactly what it is, but I know myself well enough... if I were to eat something right now I bet I would feel 10x better. I'm weird like that; if you ever see me being depressed and anti-social: feed me. That's some free advice.

So I have a test on tuesday... that sucks; I really hope I do well. I dont' know how well I'm doing in the class so far, and a bad grade on this test would be no good. Cross your fingers for me.

"Fact of life: Googly Eyes can improve ANYTHING."

I was just reading through some random blogs, and some of them are horribly depressing. There seems to be no end to the huge rants written by angst ridden nerds striking back at whatever their particular idea of "the man" happens to be. I hope my blog isn't like that. Of course by writing this commentary I'm brining my self one step closer to them, but it does need to be said. Blogs aren't just for bitching! Sure, blogs are a great place to bitch, but it's also fun to see some GOOD things that have happened! I like to read what happens in your lives, not just how much you hate this or that. Occasional bitching is perfectly acceptable, but at least season it with the few good things that may have happened during the day. I want to read if you saw a puppy, or if the wind was nice on your face. I don't care what it is, but I'm tired of reading how much you hate things!!

Now that that is all over... Today was boring, but that's to be expected. I have a midterm on Tuesday, and even though everyone else gets a three day weekend; it'll be the same old same old for me. Since I work all weekend I won't really get too much excitement. I guess I could stay up late on Sunday night. Oh well, at least it'll let me study for my math midterm.

I'm at work right now, and I'm hungry. Very hungry. I don't even really know why. I made a tasty, delicious breakfast this morning of eggy-cheesy-sausagey goodness accompanied by a mango and some ice cream. Doesn't that sound healthy? (The mango some how legitimized all the other bad stuff).

Have you ever cut open a mango? I mean there is that hard part in the middle; the 'bone'. Have you chopped that bad boy open? It's totally sweet!! After I ate my mango I thought I should do it. It was quite the challenge, but a big knife always prevails. Inside is the coolest frickin' seed thing in the world. It's huge! I suggest you try it.

Tonight is a swing dance. That's good. I have to work tomorrow at 6:30. That's bad. Yeah, so wanna know a funny realization I came to last night? I don't even think I like dancing. I mean on things to do it isn't the lowest on the priority scale, but I really don't have that much fun doing it. Swing is allright, and of course it's my favorite of all; but I know I don't even do that correctly. Thankfully there are the few that humor me; Patti, Sandy, Kristina, but I don't generally dance with anyone else. Truth is I'm a pretty horrible dancer, mostly 'cause I don't care that much. I like dance for a far different reason then there is dancing going on. I like dance because of all the people. Everyone in the whole group is awesome, it's diverse enough to be interesting and similar enough to be good friends. So yeah, that's how it is for today!

Ballroom was fun tonight! I don't know why exactly, but for some reason I had a great time! I think it's mostly cause a lot of people were there. I got to hang out with lots of fun peoples, and even thumb-wrestle and "square-dance" with Marcella (who is super-cute by the way). Yeah, now i'm talking to everyone... but i'm getting tired... and I actually want to wake up early tomorrow so that I can make breakfast... we'll see how that goes. So g'night world!

So it's official, this job rocks. I'll tell you why. My boss let me borrow the new Castlevania game for GBA from him. Now that's cool just because it's cool, but the fact that it's my boss. The fact that my boss has a GBA, and is currently purchasing games, and isn't anal about loaning them out... now that is ultimate quality. Yeah, this job rocks.

It's Sunday! Well, that actually sort of sucks. I have EE homework; and no paper and no idea how to do it. I'm at work right now. I also forgot to bring my lunch. Dammit. It's not that big of a deal I guess, I'll go back on my lunch break. Maybe I'll even finish my EE homework (*snicker*). So remember how I said I got the Matrix game? Well, I did. It was pretty amusing, but I was reaching a point of pure frustration. Parts of the game were just too damn hard, and not worth the effort. I started playing today, and finally beat this stupid part (it took a million tries) and suddenly the game started being fun. I mean, the game wasn't bad before... but it actually started being REALLY fun! When I left for work I was sad, I wanted to play more... Alas.

So, I just got an email from Tim. He' s back home, so that's cool. It's been strange not hearing how gay everything is, and how gay I am. I'll tell you if I missed it in a couple of weeks of having it back =P So that's the story for today. I got to see Arianna at church today, that was cool. She's so cute! But that's really the highlight of the day.

Oh, yesterday was the Senior Prom. I know what you're thinking.... Lyle's after high-school girls. Now, while you're probably right, if age 50 was the median line, these girls would have been a reflection over it. If you don't get what I mean; I'll put it this way: the dance started at 6; it ended at 8. 8pm, it ended... the attendees were tired, had to go to bed. Yeah, it was MOST not quality. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't what I was led to believe it was. We were invited to give a demonstration. I assumed we would demonstrate, then leave. Or hang out. The people leading this for some reason decided that we were also supposed to dance with all the seniors, as well as socialize with them. We were discouraged from "clumping". Seniors are fine, I don't mind them... one or two at a time. It's the same with any group. I would feel just as ackward if I went to a Jr. High Dance; it's a question of the experience gap. They were all very nice, but still; I don't like being misled and I don't like being forced into ackward social situations without proper prior preparation (hence I gave a pitiful, poor performance). Yeah, but whatever; it was after all only a couple of hours.

Post that everyone came to my place to watch Eddie Izzard. I don't know how that happened, I didn't even want to watch it. But Sandy wanted to show Nick, and I don't really know how I got involved. I fell asleep. That'll show 'em. Actually, my falling asleep was an accident... but it generally is. If you come to my house ever, be forewarned that if you put on a movie I've seen, have no interest in seeing, or am just generally tired; I WILL fall asleep. It's not an insult to your company, it's not an insult of any kind. It's just how I am. You can poke me, I generally wake up feeling refreshed. If you don't want to, that's fine too. Just lock the door on your way out.

Cheers!

So, it's been a while. No one has seen the last few posts... it's also likely no one will see this one. I think the ftp thing on polylog is on crack.
Who knows? In any case, I went and saw the new Matrix. It was okay. I wasn't expecting really that much; and I didn't really get that much. The movie was really just more of the same. I think everyone (me inclusive) went in expecting the same types of crazy revelations that made the first so popular. We were of course disappointed. I don't know what I was hoping for, but nothing can quite compare to that "Holy Crap!" moment when you first realized what the Matrix actually was...

The action scenes however were superb. I couldn't have asked for more, my only complaint was the computer animation. It was pretty, it sure as hell was expensive... but it didn't look right. They promised seamless integration of actors and graphics... I honestly didn't see it... The Smith/Neo fight for example. To me, it was very easy to tell what scenes in it were animated, and which weren't. Why? Because of the motion. It never looked right. The models were beautiful, but the motion looked spongy. Neo's actions were too planned, too forced. It was pretty, it was exciting... but it wasn't super.

The Matrix Reloaded is dominated by the theme of power. Through the use of Neo, the Councilman, the Marovingian, the Oracle and the Fleet Commander five conflicting views on its nature are presented. The viewer is guided by these three to reach the ultimate conclusion that power is really a sum of all ideas.

Neo's view of power is that power is the ability to destroy. This pedantic view shows us that Neo, while still "The One", has a lot of travel yet down his road to enlightenment. His view is best exemplified by his conversation with the councilman. "We could shut them all off if we wanted" he responds to the councilman's question of how to define power. "That's it! You've hit it right on the nose; we could smash them all to bits if we wanted... but you'd have to consider the consequences" the councilman responds. Neo's view on power is one of action, shown constantly in his "Do first, think later" type attitude. Through both of the movies thus far we've seen Neo's impulsive, puerile methods of descision. His giving the finger to Agent Smith, his showdown in the building, his fight with the 100 agent Smiths, and many more add up to show us a character that believes in action first and questions later. A character who believes that the ability to destroy is true power.

The councilman acts as a reflection of Neo, as if he once thought the same as Neo; but now wonders if power is embodied in the consequence of action. While Neo sees power in act of committing, the councilman sees it in the ultimate end of an action. Neo sees that one has power because one can destroy all the machines on the engineering level. The councilman sees that they have no power, because if they destroyed the machines it would only end in their deaths. This is shown again in his descision to send the Nebuchadnezzar(sp?) off in lieu of it staying to defend Zion. He sees greater potential for power in that descision. The councilman always chooses the best action for the final end.

The Fleet Commander offers another view. He sees power personified in accumulation. He short sightedly only sees his need for ships for the defense of Zion. Two times he fights tooth and nail to keep every ship he can docked. Early in the film, he berates Morpheus for leaving a ship behind to maintain a presence in the Matrix. Even the state of his office reveals his need for accumulation. His desk and surroundings are covered with personal effects, revealing a man who sees power in possession.

The final view of power presented is represented by the Marovingian (who's name I cannot spell). This ancient program sees the accumulation of goods as a child-play. After his conquest, confronted by his wife he states "It is only a game!" The Marovingian sees power in purpose. "You come before me with out 'why', powerless" he tells Neo, Morpheus and Trinity.

His counter-part; the Oracle presents the opposing view. She sees that power is gained through understanding. "You've already made the choice, you're here to understand why you made it" she advises Neo. Through understanding why we do something, she belives that is the path to power.

Neo, eventually must choose between these four paths. The Marovingian's wife reveals that "he used to be just like you, so long ago". Neo's peurile method of descicion isn't suffered by the image of the One, so he must grow; and he must choose his path. "I won't do it!" he tells the Oracle; "But you must, that is the path of the One" she replies. Neo must change, he cannot continue to be a being driven by instinct and impulse if he is to truly be the One. So be it the path of understanding, the path of accumulation, the path of purpose or the path of consequence; Neo must change.

Yet it is not to be, Neo is saved from the choice by having his options taken away by the architecht. He takes away all options, and forces Neo into a position defined as powerless by all others. Neo's path is the chosen path of impulse is the only one that allows him an option, and he chooses as his character ought; he chooses what he wants at the moment...

The new Matrix movie was okay, but the ideas behind it are awesome. Granted, the ideas are old; but set in an arena with explosions and nipples... what could be better?

It's Saturday. Yay, I'm going home later today... I don't really feel like driving to Santa Barbara... but it is Mother's Day. So I'm at work now, bored out of my mind. I was stuck on prepaid today, and there was a tornado back east so everyone and their mother was calling. At least now I get a little break.


So yesterday we had Brion's Birthday Celemabration. There wasn't exactly a stupendout turnout (ie me, Sandy and Brion) but we had fun nonetheless. We ate at Palindromes and stopped over at the Palm Theatre and saw A Might Wind. It was pretty frickin' hillarious. Not having seen Spinal Tap, I myself can't really draw the comparison. But, I have seen Fear of a Black Hat, and it was like that; and everyone says that movie is like Spinal Tap too... so therefore so is this one. Yeah, so it's hillarious. If you like to make fun of folk music, this is the movie for you. It's even more for you if you like folk music, cause you'll get the jokes that I didn't... Yeah... so back to work now.

Well it's Thursday, nothing really exciting has happened. As soon as I find a decent webserver, you'll all be able to enjoy the 'Should Lyle Go Out With Me?' Quiz Michele and I wrote. Of course if you read this, you've probably already taken it. Ho hum.

So I went to Wildflower this weekend. What a blast! I had a ton of fun, but now I am at work... and I'm dead tired. I had to skip class today, I was too tired to get up. I am wiped out, but I feel good. Yeah... so I'm going to get back to slee... er, work. Pictures and more to come later!