March 2005 Archives

This is a way overdue entry I meant to post two weeks ago. Yay for finals and spring break!

Nostalgia and general end-of-quarter busy-ness defined my last few days as a student at UCD. Tuesday, March 15^th was my last day of class, but it felt like an otherwise normal day. After getting out an hour early from my last non-major class (it was a Communication class…go figure), I headed over to the GSM for the traditional end-of-quarter Tech Minor reception.

Half of my group from the Marketing class was there—namely, myself and Stephanie. Jennifer hadn't RSVP'd, and Jennie was no doubt completely knocked out, having spent the past few days compiling most of our 23-page behemoth of a final paper. Other students complimented us on our final presentation the day before, which surprised us since we'd thrown it together almost completely over the weekend—completing and printing out the final paper a half hour before class, and then whipping together a PowerPoint presentation, finishing with less than fifteen minutes before class started. We hadn't rehearsed our presentation, and the three groups that went before us were stellar, so we were certain that we wouldn't look that great. Nonetheless, the professor was impressed enough to not grill us during our Q&A session.

Incidentally, our project was on developing a marketing plan for LiveJournal—which explains my earlier post looking for new bloggers.

Toward the end of the reception, the two graduating seniors (myself and someone who I didn't recognize from my classes, which is rather odd) were presented with the traditional parting gift for the minor—a nifty black PDA holder (unfortunately, sans PDA) emblazoned with the GSM logo. After saying my goodbyes, I headed over to the Coffehouse to meet with my prayer partner—the last time I would do that as a student and, I guess, the last time I would ask for prayer for finals. I gave him one of the cupcakes leftover from the reception—they had these green plastic St. Patrick's day rings that I figured both of us could use to ward off potential pinchers.

Then it was off to the ARC for a quick workout before rushing to a computer lab to finish up my last ever Computer Science assignment. I finished 15 minutes before it was due, giving me time to get my last ever full-price coffee at the CoHo Bakery before walking into my last ever class.

Naturally, I brought a camera to capture the event.

Sadly, the last time that I would do the California Aggie crossword puzzle in class, I was unable to complete it (fell short by ONE letter).

As the professor wrapped up his lecture, people packed up and started to leave. Last spring, there was a different feel—things ended, people said goodbye and took pictures. That night, I was probably the only person thinking "this is the end"—everyone else was probably thinking about the final we had in three days, perhaps spring break just beyond, and Spring Quarter past that. Even though, in a sense, my spring break would be longer than anyone else's, I was bummed. People had been (and still are saying) that I must be excited that I'm finally done. Granted, there's a sense of relief, but truth be told, I really want another quarter. I want closure.

I think I wanted something more dramatic—even romantic, if you will—orchestral strings swelling as I gaze over my shoulder for one long, last look at the hallowed halls of Olson. Then a slow turn—my back to college, my face to the future—before I set out under the sliver of a moon, the stars, and the arms of oaks lining East Quad Avenue.

Even though my class got out around 7:30pm, I was still able to head over to the Moroskis' for the Grace Alive! end-of-quarter dinner. I got there in time for the prayer time, probably the best part of the whole day—there's something refreshing, especially during a hectic day, in taking the focus off of yourself and putting it squarely on God and the needs of your brothers and sisters in Christ.

There was still plenty of food left over, so I got dinner after all (and dessert!), before heading home and getting some much-needed rest.

Alternate version with cooler colors.

I'm a wee bit apprehensive about posting this here since, well, it's a self-portrait and the unsmiling pose drips of self-absorbed pretension (never mind the fact that I'm surrounded by glowing lights). While I won't deny the possibility (and I'm not proud of it) that there probably is a hefty dose of narcissism in my personality (I mean, c'mon, I have a blog for crying out loud), the truth is, I needed a subject to goof around with in Photoshop. I went through a ton of pictures on my computer looking for one that would work, couldn't find one, and so snapped a quick one of myself.

So why is this image here? Well, I've mentioned in the past that I have a particular aesthetic interest in light, especially in terms of creating it digitally. And convincingly. Recently, the work of 19 (20?) year old Chuck Anderson (AKA nopattern) caught my attention, because he gets light, balance, and composition. After trying and failing to emulate his work, a Google search turned up a treasure—a back copy of Computer Arts in which Anderson reveals some of his secrets.

Several attempts later, this image is my first somewhat presentable piece. I know it needs work—the background is visually uninteresting, the photograph I started with was too grainy, and some of the masking (especially around my head) is sloppy.

So it's here for your feedback, especially any constructive criticism. I'm no designer, and I need all the help I can get in terms of figuring out colors and compositional balance (does that term even mean anything, or did I just make it up?). While I welcome comments like

• "sick,"
• "cool," and
• "Dearest Aliotsy, That new picture probably makes you the biggest dork in the history of the world" (actual quote!),

I'd much prefer the sort of feedback I got from Donaville: add more light to my face, black out the background, not overdo the "pixie dust," and vary the size of the lights.

Check back soon for a nostalgic look back on my last week of school.

So ages and ages ago I should have written an entry with this title. Well, yet again, Nathan's lack of new posts is messing me up.
Allegedly, Nathan has a blog for rantings and ravings. I stress allegedly. What he does is he says "Oh well, uh, my comments are down." But he doesn't post, and does NOTHING ELSE!!!!
Recently, when I obsessively check his site, there's nothing new. 5ish blasted tiMES A DAY! Oh, but what can I do about it? NOTHING!!!!! NOTHING!!!!!
Except not PROCRASTINATE ALL THE TIME(PATT).

I should be studying for my two finals tomorrow, but since people are evidently very eager to know why I came late to broomball Friday night, here's the explanation.

I was at the Sacramento Kings game against the LA Clippers at ARCO Arena. I had dinner at the $26 buffet at ARCO's Skyline Restaurant.

Oh yeah, it was all free, too.

Yes, indeed, the Technology Management Minor rocks. I know I'm starting to turn into a kind of cheerleader for the program, but really, it's been a tremendous opportunity that I'm very thankful for. We've worked with great instructors on topics as diverse as workplace motivation and financial accounting. We've interviewed managers at area businesses, built contraptions to launch malt balls, and even written our own obituaries. In class just two weeks ago, an Intel Vice President gave us a presentation and Q&A session. Yes, that Intel.

But back to the Kings. We were there for a partnership opportunity between the Graduate School of Management and Maloof Entertainment, the company that owns the Kings. Basically, in exchange for conducting "Fan Feedback" surveys during the hour and a half before the game, they'd pay for parking, admission, and food. They couldn't get us tickets to the game, but we could watch from the arena.

Those of us participating arrived through a designated toll plaza and parked in a specified lot. The coordinator said that the security guards would be given our names ahead of time—the lady at the booth seemed confused when I said I was there to do a survey, but then I held up the coordinator's printed out email and she waved me through. I met David and Ara in the parking lot. They've already been to one of these surveys, so they showed me the way to the special security entrance we were instructed to go through.

We were early, so we hung out waiting for the rest of the participants to arrive. While I was there, a tall guy wearing a Kings jersey and earphones walked right by us through the door. I figured he could be one of the Kings, but I didn't recognize him, and there were plenty of people walking through the door who wore jerseys. Turns out, it was Brian Skinner, the Kings' starting center.

After everyone arrived, Melissa, our coordinator, led us up to the Maloofs offices in Arco Arena. They were quite nice, with wood paneling and statues of lions. We gathered in a conference room where Melissa gave us instructions for our assignment, and showed us how to use the PDAs we were given for the surveys.

The actual assignment was pretty easy: fans were often more than willing to take a survey to help the Kings out. I was done in about a half hour, so after returning my PDA, I went down to the lower arena to watch the pre-game shoot around with Chris, Jennie, and Stephanie. We had some time to kill before dinner, so we lingered there until the Kings came out for the pre-game shoot around, at which point an usher politely directed us elsewhere (we weren't allowed in the lower area without a ticket).

When dinner time came, we proceeded to the Skyline Restaurant, running into some oddly-dressed fans on the way. Dinner was delicious, as you can see.

The Skyline is pretty nice, and we watched the game on some TVs as we ate. We finished eating about halfway through the second quarter, and then wandered back out into the arena, where we found some empty seats (we figured whoever had tickets for them wouldn't be coming back, and they didn't). The game was pretty good, and the Clippers kept it close.

I left the game at the end of the third quarter to make sure that I had plenty of time to make it to Grace Alive's Broomball Fest '05. Unfortunately, having Legolas-eque vision doesn't mean I can necessarily find anything, so I spent a good 15 minutes or so in the parking lot looking for my car. I figured there were a billion cars in the parking lot at ARCO Arena, though in retrospect, that figure may be grossly underestimated. Interestingly, it seemed like half of them were Hummers.

Still, after much frantic jogging and praying, I saw the trusty gold Camry, and was soon on my way down 80 (not the 80, mind you), looking forward to spending some quality time sprawled out on the ice.

As much as I'd like to say my nickname is 'Legolas' because my hair stays unmussed when I beat up on bad guys, this is the true story, as told by John:

For the record, my last eye exam said I was 20/13. That exam was before four years' worth of staring blankly at monitors in the undergraduate computer science labs, so it could be worse now.

Of course, I had fun with this.

John: "Legolas, what do your elf-eyes see?"

Aliotsy: "A band of Uruk-Hai make their way across the Westfold…and the 405."

Yes, I said the 405. SoCal is rubbing off on me.

As long as I'm posting random things, how about this: thefacebook is convinced that I'm in a fraternity. What's up with that?