January 2002
She looks, dances, sings, AND integrates functions better than you ever will
January 30, 2002 11:22 PMBritney Spears guide to Semiconductor Physics: semiconductor physics, Edge Emitting Lasers and VCSELs
I take back anything I may have ever said regarding her intelligence (or lack thereof).
here's a riddle...
January 30, 2002 2:04 AMMy little brother picked this one up at work. What is the follow? (answer in my comments)
M R DUCKS.
M R NOT DUCKS.
M R 2 DUCKS.
HOW B?
C M WINGS?
L I B. M R DUCKS!
I don't understand
January 29, 2002 11:40 AMThere's something bizarrely twisted with the fact that I'm actually enjoying my Computer Science class this quarter. ECS 20 covers Discrete Mathematics, which seems to basically involve propositional calculus (a fancy term for logic) and NO LAB TIME. Weeee!!! I've always loved proofs (except for calculus proofs), and it seems weird that the homework seems fun for me. That doesn't mean I don't work at it, but using my brain creatively to solve problems in this way is actually kind of entertaining. Even when it's on the day it's due and I'm not even halfway done.
Something that bothers me though is that I'm enjoying spending so much time away from the infamous undegraduate basement computer labs, aka "THE DUNGEON." I mean, if I WANT to be a Computer Science major, shouldn't I be missing computer time, or at least worrying about it? Cuz I'm definitely not. Hehe.
Professor Donnelly and Statistics
January 29, 2002 1:13 AMCool, my chem lecturer from last quarter was featured in an article in the Sacramento Bee. Apparently, his invention made him pretty rich, too. Rumor is, he has his own Learjet.
Interesting bit of dialogue from today:
AA: So you have a girlfriend?
JF: Yeah. I think you get one once you start college.
True enough. Of the ten or so guys I hung out with in high school, only six dated in high school, and only two of those continued those relationships after graduation. Only 3 dated before their senior year. Since then, eight have had at least one significant relationship right out of high school or during their first year of college.
Why is that?
Greater maturity? Less parental restraint? More confidence in social situations? Let me quote my friend GL:
"It's like, we were emancipated or something. We were slaves. Cute Asian Girls are our 40 acres and the mule. The UC system is our Abe Lincoln. Aha! I'm a genius (more so if I had finished my essay). The bad, bad DHS was holding us down, man."
Erm, yeah. No comment.
teeheeheeCome see...
January 28, 2002 4:53 PMThe Author. It's that good. Honest.
This picture will give you an idea of how hard it was snowing here this morning. My friend Gabe's mom took the picture and sent it to him in LA.
I've noticed that...
January 28, 2002 11:06 AMI'm a better dancer when I'm in my room and no one's watching. o_O
:D
SNOW?!
January 28, 2002 8:15 AMWell, it's a little icy, and most of it melts once it hits the ground, but it is most definitely snowing outside. It hasn't snowed in Davis since 1989, or so I've heard.
*goes outside for snowball fight*
welcome to remix 1.5
January 27, 2002 12:28 PMAt 7:13 AM Pacific Time, TheThousand.net received its 1000th unique hit. It seemed like an appropriate occasion to launch The Thousand Remix 1.5.
Why is this a remix rather than a redesign? Although the site's layout has dramatically changed, the actual information structure is pretty much the same. It's all the same content, only in a new, pretty package.
My main goals for the remix were
a) to fix some nagging problems with version 1,
b) to further explore minimalistic design, and
c) to create a standards-compliant design.
Incidentally, this design is much closer to the original concept of The Thousand when I started sketching a layout several months ago.
This site should look just dandy in Internet Explorer 5.5 and up, as well as Netscape Navigator 6.2 and up. Unfortunately, Opera, a very fine browser, does not support the overflow attribute, so the site won't look too great on it. Accessing this site with the Netscape Navigator 4+ series may induce insanity. Proceed at your own risk.
As for screen size, this site is optimized for...any resolution. Yup. This is a completely liquid design. Try resizing your browser window, and watch as the page morphs accordingly. Hours of entertainment.
The biggest improvement for the site is readability. The original concept for version one was that the newsbox would be for short entries, while longer entries would become vignettes. however, as my news posts started growing longer, it became apparent to me that the newsbox was inadequate, so I made it bigger. I've also used CSS to tweak the typography, so reading won't be such a strain on the eyes.
On top of all this, the page also validates as HTML 4.01 Transitional. I know the stylesheet isn't compliant, but if it were, you wouldn't be able to see these funky transparent layers. =)
That's about it. Third Day is coming to the Rec Hall in March. Woohoo!
The Author
January 25, 2002 12:29 PMGrace Alive!, the Christian student group I'm involved in at UC Davis is sponsoring a skit called "The Author", which we'll put on Wednesday, January 30th in 2205 Haring at 7:00pm. I've seen this play before, and I can honestly say that it's one of the best shorts I've ever seen. It's clearly philosophical, but accessible to most people and written by someone with a good wit. So if you're not busy Wednesday night, be sure to drop by and check us out.
We've got refreshments, too, but don't make that your only reason to drop by ;).
I'm seeing double...
January 25, 2002 11:48 AMI've ingested enough caffeine in the past 24 hours to kill several large rodents.
The thing about too much caffeine is that it makes me hungry, but then the mere thought of ingesting food makes me sick in the stomach.
So I take a nap instead. Only I can't because I'm so buzzed.
*sigh*
Professor, I would rather not take this midterm. May I have $28 million?
January 24, 2002 9:29 PMSo Mariah Carey got $28 million to not work. I wonder if that would work with my bosses (just kidding...I love my jobs, honest), or my professors.
please don't bite
January 24, 2002 12:16 AMnote: although the following rant is about a specific person, it applies to myself and countless others who have put a lot of time (and money) into our websites. If you don't want to read this, at least skip to the last paragraph.
ok, people. jennie found four people directly ripping her site, using elements of her design as part of their own site, without her explicit permission.
This is a big no-no.
Let me repeat that.
This is a big no-no.
The Internet is a wonderful thing. For millenia, people could only dream of having access to so much information, all the time, any time, right at one's fingertips. Today, many people interpret this easy access as meaning that they are allowed—even deserve—to use this information as if it is free for the taking, without ownership. It is not.
Just because jennie is an extremely talented individual doesn't mean she didn't work to make her site what it is. Forget, for a moment, the $300 she spent on her current site and look at the real cost. That clean-looking design hides the fact that she spent weeks looking for inspiration for the perfect layout. She spent countless hours wrangling with Photoshop and HTML to make this and past layouts look just right. She spent years learning techniques, devising hacks, and resisting the urge to give up. She takes time almost daily to update her site with interesting content. Don't take this sort of devotion lightly. "Lifting" her work, without asking, for your own use is sneaky and unethical.
Here's a novel concept. Ask first. jennie is not some unapproachable, holier-than-thou web deity. She has her contact info posted clearly on her site, and it doesn't take 5 minutes to shoot off an e-mail or IM her.
I'll tell you right away that she will not let you simply "copy and paste" her design. She chooses to have her work exclusively for her site, and as the creator, that's her prerogative. She will, however, be more than willing to answer any questions you may have on her design (granted that she hasn't already answered them in her faq), and might even help you out, though again, that's her choice. I know I would be willing to help you out, to a certain extent. Understand though, that we're both (presumably) busy college students, and sometimes have priorities over helping people with their sites (like, for example, studying for the ecs 20 quiz we have tomorrow. Eeps!).
Finally (and I'm hoping you at least read this paragraph), understand that I sympathize. I know that a lot of people rip other sites because they're awed by what's out there and are frustrated when their own efforts fall short. In this age where we expect instant gratification, ripping someone else's design is understandable, but never ever justifiable. Ripping someone else off cheapens the learning process for you and takes some of the fun and satisfaction out of having a site. Knowing that you've built your site through your own hard work is far more satisfying than having a pretty design that isn't really your own. Trust me. What are your alternatives?
Buy a good book, or check out a good site (I can refer a couple if you'd like).
Learn HTML first, maybe Photoshop later (preferably Paintshop, since it's cheaper and more affordable for beginners).
Ask questions.
Study the code of other people's sites, and toy around with it (just don't put it up without permission and claim it as your own).
And most importantly, be patient. Good things come to those who wait.
lost and found
January 23, 2002 1:08 AMtoday (yesterday!) was one of the past coming alive.
a battered cardboard package came in the mail today. on inspection, it turned out to be one my mom sent to one of my aunts two years ago. she never received it. at the time, my aunt was living in Ivory Coast, and so we assumed that some corrupt official or worker somewhere grabbed it, since it contained something of reasonable value—American clothes. I guess we were wrong. Although the package had been opened, nothing had been taken.
At about the same time my mom was excitedly rooting through the contents of the mysterious box, I was checking my e-mail, and found one from Kojo, my best friend in the fourth grade. It's been 10 years since I last saw him. wow.
my site remix is ready to go live, but it'll be delayed while I try to work out some major incompatibilities with Internet Explorer 6.
restructuring for remix
January 21, 2002 10:17 PMThe Thousand Remix 1.5 will launch any day now, and will involve changing templates in greymatter, so if the newsbox starts looking funny, you can attribute it to that
trendy enough?
January 21, 2002 11:20 AMtake this survey to see if you're a designer or not. while the site is tongue-in-cheek and a lot of fun, it's a poignant statement on the current state of web design.
compatibility
January 21, 2002 1:45 AMtrying to code a website for every possible browser, platform, and resolution combination is akin to self-induced insanity.
newstoday login
January 20, 2002 2:42 PMisn't this nice...newstoday has just put up their new system to register users, and the forum is now actually useful. No more self-righteous, derogatory posts about how every designer but yourself has no life and sucks anyways (although, interestingly enough, those people never actually show the oh-so-wonderful sites they claim to have).
???
January 20, 2002 1:26 AM*confused* o_O
goodness...
January 17, 2002 10:03 PMSomeone I linked recently has a lot of friends because I haven't gotten this many hits since coolstop made me site of the day back in December.
So, hello everyone! Incidentally, it looks like coolstop has had a minor redesign.
In the spirit of beating a dead horse, I wanted to write an extended commentary on the issue of digital music and piracy, but right now I can't seem to think straight. Guess that means it's time for me to do my linear algebra homework. =)
observation
January 16, 2002 11:46 PMwant to teach a fourth grader to read? give him a comic book.
brian daly is another professing Christian. Not much time to browse it (8am discussion tomorrow), but he has a lot of written content that I looked through, and he comes across as a thoughtful individual who isn't afraid to stand for his beliefs. The image gallery had some nice pieces (I liked the one about not being categorized), and I had way too much fun with his color scheme changer.
wow, hits counter is at it's highest in over a month.
Lauren's sense of humor is the greatest thing out of Alabama since, well, whatever was the last great thing out of Alabama.
I've noticed people don't post comments after long posts (ok, maybe I'll take that back).
whole lotta links...
January 16, 2002 2:36 AMnew vignette on the way...I have an urge to write about my "kids"...
Anyone who's said "easy as taking candy from a baby" obviously never tried. Not to mention from three ravenous, rambunctious 8 and 10 year olds.
Boy do I have a link dump today (that wasn't very pleasant-sounding, was it?)
Via a rather interesting e-mail, I came across the following sites. Incidentally, they're all owned by professing Christians:
sarahonline: Really nice site that, unfortunately, many of you missed since she actually took it down today to make way for a "Revamp". Still, there's some content there if you look for it. Hint: check out her journal...that's where the really good stuff is...she writes really well, and I have to say that sarah's an awfully nice person, too. =)
asinine: Tod's splash page blew me away. Not only is it striking, it loaded very quickly...almost too quickly for freedom2surf, which was notoriously slow for me. The site is very well-designed as well, and hand-coded. *impressed* He also linked me up earlier today. Thanks!
stormy: not as much content here as the other sites, but sara makes up for it with excellent writing. She's got the sort of controlled, minimalistic layout that I love.
lifemirrored: Hannah's minimalistic design appropriately highlights the real strength of her site: extremely well-written content. Some of the most eloquent writing I've seen in a while on the web, right up there with jeffrey zeldman. Definitely worth repeat visits.
also, jennie posted some really nice snapshots of Davis at night. check them out.
jennie also passed along these two: evie has a graphically stunning site that she refers to as a "game." excellent use of typography, shape, and color. ricky has cool splash screens and a nice clean layout.
just found this: fix3r is a sweet-looking site, with the sort of look I was planning on emulating for my remix of this site. Check out the watch on his main page: it tells the real time!
About my site "remix": as some of you know, I've been working on "remixing" this site...not a full-scale redesign, but rather fixing some stuff that's been nagging me, sort of a v. 1.5 rather than a v. 2.0 . After thinking about it though, I'm going to do another full-scale redesign. I'm still exploring different design styles, as I always have, and I'm thinking about toying with one in particular that really isn't very prevalent in the design community. Although I like the main trends (tech look/grunge/minimalism), my new look will be none of these, though you may find elements of it here and there. I know I'm being vague, but this is gonna be a huge change for the site, and I like to surprise people. =)
Estimated launch: at least several months from now. School and work, of course are priorities, which will eat up free time. More importantly though, the new design will be a total change in my own design process. Since there aren't many sites (if any) that represent the style I want to emulate, I'll be spending less time online looking for inspiration and more time in the library, in particular, checking out certain art books. I'm going to study the design of certain objects around my house and elsewhere and start incorporating them into a whole new style for me, which will involve a lot of sketching and experimenting. In the meantime, v. 1 of The Thousand will stay up while I experiment. There may be minor layout tweaks, but nothing major.
Incidentally, I've made an unofficial logo for my site available in PNG format for those of you who were asking me for one in order to link my site. Please note that it's a work in progress that I probably will not finish as I design a new look for my site.
Culiachion
January 14, 2002 9:10 PMdagnabit...apparently, my Elven name is Culiachion. That doesn't sound too impressive. Angela gets to be Mororëiel...no fair.
Incidentally, if I type in my name without my middle name, my Elven name comes out as Lostregion. Hehe...lost region.
name change...
January 14, 2002 2:08 AMSo, apparently my hobbit name is Podo Moss of Lake-by-Downs . Cool. Find out what yours is at The Hobbit Name Generator.
iron chef...
January 13, 2002 11:33 PMmmmmm...one of the nice things about being able to cook is that you don't have to wait for someone else to make something delicious...made curried rice and roast chicken for dinner...heavenly...
What is up with guys who think they can't cook? Seriously, it's not that hard...not that everything I've cooked turns out right (ever had undercooked green beans? *bleh*), but putting together a decent meal isn't that hard (and if you're a college guy, it sure beats the beef jerky/top ramen staple, unless you plan on eating out a lot...expensive...)
So for you guys out there:
Near-Impossible-To-Mess-Up Roast Chicken
Ingredients
-chicken (preferably dead and plucked first...)
-olive oil
-salt
-herbs (I used sage, thyme, basil, and rosemary)
Directions
1. Rub chicken down with olive oil.
2. Rub chicken down with salt (not too much).
3. Rub chicken down with herbs (getting the hang of this?)
4. Bake in toaster oven @ 400°F until top browns.
5. Turn over and bake until somewhat edible.
6. Remove from oven.
7. Eat like a ravenous wolf.
Not so hard, huh? Rice is even easier.
To Cook Rice
1. Buy rice.
2. Buy rice cooker.
3. Follow directions on rice cooker.
hehe.
political correctness...phooey
January 12, 2002 9:37 PMRemember that unforgettable image of three firefighters raising the American flag over the ruins of the WTC after the Sep. 11 attacks? Apparently, a new memorial featuring a statue of that image is coming under fire because the firefighters have been changed to a Caucasian, African-American, and a Hispanic. I suppose the need to include everyone is admirable, but c'mon guys...this is ridiculous. Not including minorities for the sake of authenticity certainly doesn't undermine the fact that black and Hispanic firefighters served just as valiantly as their white brothers-in arms.
Changing the statues also goes against a certain spirit prevalent on that fateful day. For a precious few hours, life was very real for a lot of people. Race issues, politics, the economy, and the wide array of personal issues that nag us daily seemed like petty concerns as we were faced with the terrifying reality of death and the worst of human nature.
In other news, angela redesigned her blog. Go visit her and leave compliments!
Hmmm...Cosmos Patrol, the Soviet Russian rip-off of the original Star Trek series. Complete with tight-fitting uniforms and Ensign Chekhov. Main differences: Spock is *gasp* German, and the crew drinks vodka for R&R.
D'vai!
designer's block?
January 12, 2002 12:38 PMHad Designer's Block lately? Here's an interesting manifesto that may jump start your creativity. Some of the stuff it says is kinda hookey ("Let anyone lead"...erm...okay.), and some of it doesn't apply, but a lot of it is fairly helpful.
1. Best tip: Don?t be cool. Cool is conservative fear dressed in black. Free yourself from limits of this sort.
2. Funniest tip: Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child).
3. Most thought-provoking tip: Think with your mind. Forget technology.
some thoughts
January 12, 2002 12:53 AMDrunk people and fog are two things that should not go together. Especially when you're swerving around one while trying to see through the other.
So, I got a card today...
time to start looking for a new job
January 10, 2002 11:43 PMso, my brother just finished a web design class at the college he's going to, mostly basic HTML (and not very standards-compliant...my bro couldn't figure out why I was getting so worked up over him using tables for structures). I think one sad thing was too much emphasis on learning HTML and not enough on design...the class should have been called "HTML Programming" or something. It really seems these days that people think that learning a little HTML is all it takes to be a supafly web designer. Anyone who knows anything knows that the requirements for being a professional web designer are:
a) the ability to snowboard,
b) a website that is "coming soon",
c) a girlfriend from sweden named ingrid, and
d) an obsession with bjork.
No, but in all seriousness, web design (excuse me as I step onto my soap box), is more than technology. It's more than HTML, Javascript, Flash, PHP, ASP, and whatever other technologies are out there. It's about people. It really bugs me when I see graphically stunning sites that just don't compel me to stay, much less visit again. I know a lot of "designers" loathe blogs and think of bloggers as a bunch of untalented amateurs, but at least they have content, which is more than can be said about your fancy-shmancy 80K "Coming Soon" splash screen. Some blogs are even compelling enough for return visits. Imagine that.
*steps off soap box*
So anyways, back to my brother. They didn't really do any graphics stuff in his class, so my brother wanted to mess around with paintshop pro. After giving him a few pointers about using it, I went to bed. Got up the next morning, and he showed me what he made, and...well, if I don't watch out, he'll come steal my job from me. Wow. My brother is definitely the designer/artist in the family. Granted, his work wasn't perfect, but it was probably as close to quality, professional-level work as anybody could get on their first serious shot at a graphics program like paintshop.
fish out of water, part 2
January 9, 2002 1:04 PMFigured I'd write a little bit about my latest project, fish out of water.
The idea came to me during the holidays, sometime between Christmas and New Year's Day, I think. I'd been thinking about the idea of being a foreigner or a stranger, in the context of my own life. I've moved around so much that I hardly feel like I have roots in any one place, as well as a weak conception of who I am from a cultural aspect.
To clarify, one thing that came to mind was what I could put down as my "hometown." Granted, I was born in Antananarivo, Madagascar, but I only lived there for two years. I lived in Burlington, Vermont for six years, which is longer than at any other place (Davis is a close second with 5 years and 11 months). I have very strong emotional ties to Nairobi, Kenya, where I lived for 5 years, and I'm building those same kinds of ties with Davis.
So that's just one aspect of what I was thinking about. The name fish out of water refered to the way that I'm always the new kid, and even after several years I don't always feel like I belong. Kind of depresssing, huh? So the project is kind of a lament, I suppose, but when I started putting it together last night, I hardly felt sad, so I started thinking about positive aspects of the past 19 years of my life.
The one constant in my life over that time was (and is) Jesus Christ. Looking back, it's interesting to see how certain events led me to the church I'm going to now. It's interesting.
As far as design goes, I was heavily influenced by the style of pk of Comments (0)
fish out of water
January 9, 2002 2:02 AMNew project up.
Do you like Bill Gates?
January 8, 2002 1:06 AMLadies, before you consider dating a CS major perhaps you should read A Girl's Guide to Geek Guys. This thing is so hilarious (and uncannily true of some people), it's scary.
Just a joke though, because a lot of people in the CS major are pleasantly...normal. Honest.
And I'm not just saying that to keep myself covered because I'm trying to get into CS, either.
GT-40
January 7, 2002 8:00 PMFord unveiled the GT 40 concept car at the Detroit Auto Show this week...wow. I like it. A lot. Note how it destroys my ability to create coherent, complete sentences. I'm not really into American muscle cars from the late 60's and 70's, but this car definitely has that look and manages to pull it off in a way that's got me almost drooling.
Mandatory Linkup: Flo has an absolutely stunning site. The design is minimal yet elegant, quite complicated to pull off. Her graphic work is excellent, and her sketches show she has talent off the computer, something far too few "designers" seem to have. Her commercial work is tasteful and restrained as well, showing good judgement (which, again, a lot of people seem to lack). And she's only 16. Wow.
Day One of Winter Schedule
January 7, 2002 7:08 PMThe single greatest song to workout to is "Leave Your Far Behind" by Lunatic Calm.
In fact, I have a fairly decent playlist that I worked out with at Rec Hall.
1. "Elk Hunt" Last of the Mohicans Soundtrack
2. "Escape from Mantua" Romeo + Juliet Soundtrack
3. "High Roller" The Crystal Method
4. "Right Here, Right Now" Fatboy Slim
5. "Leave You Far Behind" Lunatic Calm
6. "Keep Hope Alive" The Crystal Method
7. "Higher" Creed
First day on my new, semi-strict winter schedule, and it was pretty good. Ran into my friend Ian, who scoffed at the idea of me reading anything on the second day of class.
"What you do is start studying the week of your test, everyday, from 11 to 11 at night. Then you play video games until 2 in the morning."
Right. Personally, I'm tired of late nights, bad eating habits, and too much coffee.
Ok, maybe I'm not tired of the coffee. =)
hmmm...
January 6, 2002 11:19 PMIs there anyone I know who can appreciate the startling revelation that Samwise Gamgee is played by the same guy who was Mikey in The Goonies?
All I ever get is "The Goonies? What's that?"
Only one of the 10 greatest movies to come out of the 80's! Which compels me to now list those movies (in no particular order because I should be doing homework).
1. Star Wars Trilogy (all nine hours)
2. Willow
3. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
4. Princess Bride
5. The Goonies
6. Blues Brothers
7. Glory
8. Batman
9. Chariots of Fire
10. Field of Dreams
new leaf...
January 5, 2002 6:32 PMI haven't really made any special New Year's resolutions, per se, but...to bounce back from a disastrous Fall Quarter (it wasn't that bad, but still...), I'm working on improving time management. To this end, I've created fairly comprehensive daily and weekly schedules that I intend to stick to. My goals were to keep Sundays free from study, have a bedtime of 10pm (party-pooper, I know), and factor in some free time and workout time. I even color-coded study sessions by class (I'm a nerd, aren't I?) Impossible you say? Check out my schedule, which includes 12 hours for me to goof off, erm, engage myself in non-academic pursuits.
My stated goal: earn the ever-elusive 4.0. There, I've said it on the record. Hold me to it).
Those of you who do not go to Davis must realize the difficulty of such a task: an A- counts as a 3.7, not a 4.0. Only A's and A+'s can count as 4 grade points. And since I'm taking essentially 3 math classes concurrently (ECS 20 is "Discrete Mathematics") as well as the hardest class in the Chem 2 series, I've got my work cut out for me. So please excuse me if I don't blog very often anymore.
Link to keep you busy while I'm gone: v-2: who says minimalistic design can't be colorful and visually appealing? This site definitely proves otherwise.
Incidentally, today is the 1-month anniversary of The Thousand, and as of right now, I've had exactly 600 unique hits on this site. Woohoo!
the way things should be
January 4, 2002 12:01 AMAnyone who writes anything online, including bloggers (especially bloggers), should read this thread over at alt.sense. alt.sense, by the way, is a sweet site. I can't believe I've only discovered it now.
When I'm bored, I like to stalk old classmates on the Internet. hehe, j/k. I do like to look up old friends from when I lived in Kenya, though, just to see where they've ended up. I found my old friend Okey this way. His site doesn't have much on it, but it shows some of his work as a graphic design student at Michigan State.
other links:
dubtastic: I really like the look of this site, the work of jason morrison. It combines a grunge style with a tech style. Most effective part of the site is compelling content, though. I'm really starting to get bored with sites that are visually stunning but are nothing more than eye candy. I also admire jason for maintaining longneckonline, a record of his grandfather's WWII battalion.
clearbolt: another nice site, maintained by another web-savvy 17-year old. hehe. Nice graphics, nice layout. Nice integration of visuals with a minimalistic interface.
thegoonies.com: a fan site for what I consider one of the greatest movies of all time. brings back all sorts of memories, and makes me wish I had a working TV and VCR.
Someone stop me, though. I just downloaded the theme song for the movie, "The Goonies Are Good Enough" by Cyndi Lauper. Classic synthesizer-heavy 80's music.
Hmmm...so far, my hits for today are four times the average of the last 5 days, the highest they've been since the week I got "Site of the Day" over at coolstop. The counter lists them as "Direct Requests"...where are all of you people coming from? hehe
heeheehee
January 3, 2002 9:57 AMLink-ups:
chopping block: Design studio with an impressive site. Their "Oranges and Chopping Block" theme song is absolutely hilarious (and the real reason why I linked them).
edwin: This guy is only 17! His site is Flash-based, but has a sort of sketchbook feel to it. Really unique combination that he pulls off nicely.
edmond yang: he achieves a nice balance between graphic stimulation (with those supertrendy abstract 3D shapes) and minimalistic design.
Anyways, gotta get some work done, then go get books for class.
*NSYNC and Star Wars
January 3, 2002 1:01 AMOk, I don't know if what this article says is good news or bad news. Apparently, *NSYNC will be in the New Star Wars movie. *Star Wars fans booing*. But apparently, they're in the background for only a half-second or so before they get wiped out by battle droids or something. *Star Wars fans cheering?*
Apparently, George Lucas's 13-year old daughter was a big fan of the group, and bugged him on her behalf.
w00w00
January 2, 2002 7:13 PManyone on AIM should check this article out.
shakira...
January 2, 2002 1:06 PMsarah holds the dubious honor of being the first person to instant message me via my "IM Me!" link below. She's also the first person I've linked for 2002. Congrats!
And now she's got me listening non-stop to the two Shakira songs I have in my mp3 collection...*sigh*
still remember...
January 2, 2002 12:39 AMAs we look back at 2001, I was just thinking (like everyone else) about September 11th. As life more or less has returned to normal for most people, it's easy, to forget what it was like that first day. An entire nation, shocked to silence, then unity. Not knowing what would happen next, wondering when the next plane would hit. Wondering where the president was. Wondering about friends a continent away. Knowing, that each and every moment was history, almost as if, for a moment, we realized "This is it. This is life. Life is real."
I can't begin to explain what I'm thinking. Closest I can get to it is this song.
I can imagine telling my children, or my grandchildren:
"Let me tell you about September 11th. The day the planes fell from the sky."
With this in mind, I thought it would be appropriate to repost my entry at unscripted from that day.
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It was a lazy summer morning. I got out of bed late, stumbled to the kitchen, and poured myself a bowl of cereal. I shuffled to the dining room table, and turned on the TV for back-to-back Cosby Show reruns. I immediately forgot about breakfast. The television greeted me with the image of bombed-out buildings and panic in urban streets.
But this wasn't today. This was three years ago, on August 7, 1998.
Someone had bombed the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi. I knew people in that building. Granted, I left Africa less than 3 years earlier. But my friends had parents working in that building. In fact, my friends would often go to the embassy's commissary to buy American treats.
Thankfully, none of my friends were among the casualties. The closest I got to the personal tragedy was that the mother of one of my soccer teammates was killed. I was never really close with him. But nonetheless, it hit home.
And so, in light of today's events, you probably wouldn't be surprised to hear that one of my first reactions was not again. I have few reasons to worry that I personally knew anyone killed or injured in today's events. But it hit home.
This morning was appropriately overcast. There had been no sign of clouds over the past week as I remember, but this morning was gray and dreary, and it even sprinkled briefly. I first heard after a phone call around 7 in the morning, Pacific Time. It was barely an hour after the first plane crashed into the tower. It was a worried family friend, who quickly conveyed the news. After hanging up, my mom quietly told me what happened. I couldn't say anything. My mom had been planning to leave for Scotland tomorrow. Immediately, I started running through a list of everyone I knew who may be remotely involved. It hit home.
The power of images fascinates me. 3,000 miles removed from the event, I still felt very near to it all. All day, the Internet and television fed me with the horrifying images of the chaos in Manhattan. The radio provided a soundtrack of sirens, helicopters, shouting, and appropriately somber music. Communication from friends in the East came in, assuring they were alright. Instant messages began shooting rapidly back and forth, as friends in major cities told about offices, schools, and streets being shut down. Rumors and miscommunication flared as millions tried to find out what was happening. Everyone seemed to be gripped by fear and worry. It hit home.
This afternoon, on my way home from class, I took a different route, cutting through residential neighborhoods. For the most part, you couldn't tell anything was wrong. Kids had soccer practice. Couples took walks in the park. But there were little things. A TV was set-up in the university's Silo eatery with tables and chairs gathered around it. People watched in hushed silence, still shocked by images they had seen all day. Outside, flags hung from front porches. A pick-up went by me with a flag in the bed. There was a line outside the blood center by my workplace, there were two signs:
"We Need Type O Blood Today"
"All Other Blood Types Sign Up Inside"
And when your eyes met a stranger's: there was that grim look that said "Yes, I know. It hit home."
I think, in part, this is a message from God. We read in the Bible how He allowed even his beloved Israel to suffer through calamities. Why? To wake them up. We need to wake up. I think, before we point fingers at others, we should look to ourselves. Monsters didn't do this. Human beings did this. And whether or not we like to admit it, we all have the potential to commit something so vile and inhuman. Fortunately, most of us do not nor have the inclination to do so. But it's something to think about. If anything, this should remind us that life is short and uncertain. What are we doing with the time we have? For me, it hit home.
first entry of 2002
January 1, 2002 1:01 AMHappy New Year! I want to post something more significant, but I'm playing football tomorrow morning (my church's annual Frost Bowl) and need my rest.
I've been messing around with Blender3D. =)
So the promised January 1, 2002 re-launch of k10k was a bust...grrrm.
