Xbox Dead

I just (finally) cancelled my Xbox Live account after almost 10 months of no use. In fact, I wanted to cancel last year, but I waited for Halo 2, gave up on it, and then got billed right before I wanted to cancel. I figured if I paid for another year I might as well ride it out and see if it's worth it. It wasn't.

I feel better knowing that I don't have that bill coming up any time soon.

Xbox 360

I had successfully avoided wanting Microsoft's upcoming console. I wasn't impressed by its graphics, its two-levels of hardware is upsetting, and its online plan hasn't improved. The biggest reason I didn't want one is the lack of one really great game to convince me that it was worth it (and good games were possible).

That was, until Spomer mentioned that Elder Scrolls: Oblivion will be available on the 360 at launch. This makes me sad, because I never got into Morrowind, but could tell that it would steal my life if I let it.

Still, Katamari is about as much of a distraction as I can afford right now. This summer might be different, when I take a break from classes and devote myself to only a fulltime job. Fulltime is child's play.

A Blessing in Disguise

As I was loading all of my data from backups, I realized that I didn't actually back up my music. Wow. I have none of it.

At first, I was really upset. All that music I had was lost. However, this is actually a good thing. My old library was full of music I never listened to. I spent countless hours rating my music as I listened to it, and a lot was just cast off of the list. Now, I can easily get the music I wanted back from my friends who have similar libraries, and grab only what I will actually listen to.

Of course, I'll get a little extra here and there, but the definites are in there: the Postal Service, Frou Frou, and Radiohead, along with assorted bands that make me smile. Soon I'll have my library in proper shape. The trick will be when I copy the files into iTunes, I don't know if I have space enough for two copies of every song.

Friday = Frisbeeday

I love Fridays. The week is over, the weekend begins, and it's frisbee day.

There's nothing like getting outside with some friends and hurting each other while throwing a piece of plastic up and down a rectangular piece of grass repeatedly until everyone is worn out or injured enough to stop.

Good times. I love frisbee day.

Backups

I have been loading data from my backups since last night, and it's taking a while (26 DVDs). I was too lazy to do it before, but I miss my music from days before the HD crash. After this, I'll finally have my server in full operations for FTP, but the old site won't be back for a while.

I was wondering how people enjoy the new site compared to the old. Is the blogger format better? I don't know. Tell me.

A.M. Mayhem

I got a new coffee at the Mill last night: A.M. Mayhem. It sounded too awesome to pass up. It tastes pretty good, too and has that kick you would expect.

It was helpful during my finance test this morning, but it's not a miracle worker...

Layout

If I wasn't so busy, I'd fix the apparently broken state of this site. In my tweaks of the template to make certain things work how I want them, I failed to make sure everything else didn't break. Oh well.

Maybe I'll have time over Thanksgiving or Christmas to do it. I don't have enough interest to sacrifice what little time I have to this.

Elbow Pads

My post-Ph.D. wardrobe would consist of several casual sport coats with elbow pads. Elbow pads are a professor's way of showing who's boss. If my degree tells me I can avoid laws of fashion and taste, then I will take full advantage of that right.

My combinatorics professor wore a sweater with elbow pads today. A sport coat just wouldn't look the same on her, but I give her props for the effort.

Busy Busy Busy

With two tests, two papers, three problem sets, a prototype, and two presentations in the next 2 weeks, I'm a little busy. I keep promising myself some time off later, maybe Thanksgiving, maybe Christmas, maybe next summer. Whenever I get around to it I'll probably get bored really quickly and start doing a lot of work again...

Rurouni Kenshin

Ignore this post if you don't care about anime.

I finished Rurouni Kenshin tonight. I borrowed all 95 episodes last week and they went by quickly. The story revolves around Hirano Kenshin, a wandering swordsman who took an oath not to kill after he killed a lot as an assassin to usher in a new era in Japan. I liked the blend of humor, action, and Japanse pseudo-history present throughout the series. The second season was by far the best, when they go to Kyoto to challenge the greatest threat of the entire series. It was a little sad when I stopped caring about the story after that, but that's okay.

I have yet to watch the last two non-prequel OVAs and the movie. However, I hear the movie is just an extended episode, much like the Cowboy Bebop movie. That doesn't mean that it isn't good, and the animation will be better.

That remnds me... I need to find the Fullmetal Alchemist movie. That's actually a sequel to the series, and with the way that ended leaves a lot of questions to answer. Also, the surprising ending kind of came out of nowhere and I need compensation for that.

Since When

Since when did the leaves change color? I saw them out my window this morning. The beautiful yellows and pale orange were on treetop and sidewalk alike. It's pretty and calming, with hopes of winter. I'm glad I didn't miss it.

Aches and Pains

My mouth is finally healing from last week, but it still hurts to eat with the right side. This makes me very sad. Also, I think the tooth that was just drilled has come loose a little bit. I don't know if it is from the drilling, or my playing with it, or both. But, it sucks and is annoying. I can't wait until I can eat normally again.

Single Again

After a freak-occurence of an 11-month planetary alignment, I have become single again. We just grew apart as people.

No, there was no fitness instructor invovled.

OMG Dentist

I haven't commented on my trip to the dentist because I didn't want to post anything in rage. I think it has been long enough for me to respond to the flagrant disrespect for my well being as a patient.

During this trip to the dentist, I was jabbed, poked, pulled, and pinched in more ways than I needed to be. To keep my numbed mouth open, they shoved up to 5 tools in there at a time, and pried my mouth open with them. However, they didn't bother to check if my lip was in the way of my teeth or not, so I was constantly getting my lips pinched between teeth and metal. Didn't hurt at the time, but it did later. Also, there is a scratch on my gum, way in the back. It is either a horrible mistake by a stray tool or they did the worst possible job injecting novacaine as possible. Either way, I can barely open my mouth (still) because of it. It's a pain to eat anything.

Even with all the side effects that they happened to inflict, they couldn't get my filling right. It's incredibly rough, with obvious divisions between tooth and metal. They went deeper than they should have for such a small cavity (this was my smallest drilled yet, but my biggest filling) and now I feel every sensation of cold or hot that graces over the right side of my mouth.

Never go to the university dentist. I heard horror stories about them after I made my appointment and have witnessed my own.

Dentist

I have to go to the dentist and get some cavities fillled. I could blame my lack of going to the dentist for the past two years to be the cause of this, but that's not really it. These cavities have been around since I drank nothing but Pepsi the summer after my junior year, working at Lakes Cafe. I went to the dentist to have these drilled out, but he said "They're too small right now, wait until they get bigger and then we'll take care of them."

That's only part of why I hate the dentist. The other reason is that my strong gag reflex makes me choke on my own spit every thirty seconds.

Spoiled

I'm kind of spoiled by having a DVR. I never watch shows when they are actually on.

I miss the bumps of Adult Swim. I miss stopping whatever I'm doing at 10PM (or 1AM) to change channels and watch for hours with breaks at commercials. It used to be a pasttime of mine, going to the TV lounge to catch my favorite shows with friends, but the lounge is kind of dead after all but freshmen stick to themselves.

The other thing I miss about watching Adult Swim live is their entertaining commercials (not all real). If more commercials were actually entertaining and fit with the content of the shows, I would be more swayed to pay attention.

Traveling Sadness

I went to Kearney for a client meeting today. It was far too long a drive for the worth of the meeting. I am now very behind on getting all my stuff done. I'm sleepy and need sleep. I also procrastinate.

Dangerdoom

I went to Christo's pub last night for an Adult Swim promotional of "Dangerdoom," an Adult Swim themed album. The music didn't seem that great, but I got free posters, including a special-edition poster, and a free coke (while my over 21 friends got free martinis). It was a fun time.

They were also talking about the release of the Boondocks animated series. I'm excited for that to come, but I haven't seen it on any of the listings. I must watch this show.

T-Waveless

During my Physics lab last night, we were taking our own EKGs. We compared our heartbeats with a diagram to identify the different waves. First, there is a little P-wave. Then, a little dip called Q, a spike called R, another dip called S (completing the QRS complex), and then an arc called the T wave. Apparently, I don't have a T-wave.

We looked over every heartbeat we registered, and couldn't find one. I don't know if something's wrong with me or not. Oh well...

I Will Have a Good Day

I doubted myself when my homework grades in combinatorics were sub-par. Most of them were stupid mistakes that I stopped making. Since then my homeworks have been near-perfect. However, these homeworks were meant to be done in groups, and I do them by myself. I love this class and like doing these problems.

My loner behavior finally paid off during my test today which I rocked. I was the first one out and I'm pretty confident about it. Today is a happy day.

I Learned Something New Today

While reading (yes, reading) for my History of Pre-modern Japan class, I discovered that Masamune was the best swordsmith of all time, not just a freakin' sweet sword found in many Squaresoft games.

I thought you would like to know.

Programming and Such

Today was the local competition of the ACM Programming Contest. Team Grindor (consisting of Yuliy Pisetsky, Travis Meinders, and yours truly) took 1st place, with three problems of six solved. While ranked #1 coming in (based on regionals last year) we still need to practice a lot to do better at regionals to make it to internationals in San Antonio. Our hopes are high, and we're going to work hard.

Congrats to the other 3 JDE teams in the top 5!

Joss Whedon is my Master Now

I got the chance to watch Serenity last night, and it was good fun. Fans of "Firefly" will not be disappointed, and sci-fi junkies not familiar will have a smile as well. The film was exciting while bringing out elements of the series and throwing in unexpected surprises all over the place. The relevations that were shown were not expected, and some I thought would be revealed were not.

Go watch it, now! I highly recommend it. Afterwards, WATCH IT AGAIN!

If you don't like it, I don't like you!

I Love Katamari

I picked up "We Love Katamari" this weekend, and it is a glorious purchase. It's lots of fun, extremely similar to the original. However, there are some new things that are fun, such as more variety of levels, vs. mode, and co-op mode (very frustrating).

If you're looking for a wacky way to spend your time, this is very addicting. The zany Japanese must have been smoking something fierce when they made this game, too. The soundtrack, art, and "story" all reflect the strangest (but purest) human imaginations.

Bill Gates

Bill Gates came to talk to the J.D. Edwards program in my dorm.

He babbled about the "future of technology" for a while. He was doing this as a favor to Jeff Raikes (President of Microsoft Business Unit and Chairman of J.D. Edwards Advisory Board) and clearly didn't care.