Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in sadmelloncollie's LiveJournal:

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Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
10:19 pm	So I never post on here... But yeah. I never post on here. Anyway, I suppose this is sort of a long-term sign off. Sort of...long overdue. Yup. I graduated on Saturday, so I'm a college graduate now. Final GPAs a 3.75. w00t. Something I've worked on for a long, long time. Crazy. I commissioned on Friday. Something I've also worked on for a while, for which I've lost countless hours of sleep, endured weeks of physical pain, sweated, and bled. So yeah. I'm finally Jeffrey Clement, 2nd Lieutenant, United States Marine Corps. Crazy again. I'm still down in Atlanta, working at the ROTC unit on the logistics for next year's Freshman Indoctrination. Plans for now? I don't report to my next command until October, so I'm hangin' out in Raleigh for a bit, doing home repair again and possibly the 3am shift at RDU for UPS. Then Alison and I are getting married in June, and I'll move up to DC, working for someone (current offers for EVS Movers and City Sports, still holding out for something that would use my degree, if only for three months) and then report to Quantico, VA in October. I leave Quantico in like...March/early April for a few weeks of specialization training, and then to my final posting. So yeah...could be anywhere in the world by next July. w00t! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 9th, 2008
4:26 pm	Writer's Guild Strike If you haven't already, I recommend you browse the wikipedia site on the writer's strike (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writer%27s_strike) to understand a little better what they are striking for. The page is slightly biased for the writers, but I think this is a case (to some degree) of "corporate fat cats" taking advantage of people who are in their employ. Check out the WGA website too (http://www.wga.org) A few key points: -Writers currently get only 0.3% of the gross sales from DVDs. This is a holdover from the original 1988 agreement regarding VHS and Betamax tapes; in which the writers gave up a significant part of their usual residuals (often 2-3% of the gross) in order to help allay the costs of establishing "new media." Since DVD and VHS are no longer a "new media" and are a proven outlet (grossing something like 3 times box office revenue annually...a $4.8 billion market), the writers want the same residuals as other areas. -Internet distribution is going to be huge-If you watch a show on NBC.com (with ads, mind you...so NBC is getting money from advertisers) the writers get nothing. More and more people are going to be migrating away from pure broadcast television for their entertainment. Writers get NOTHING (0.0%!) from shows distributed over the internet. -Other issues being discussed are the timely payments of residuals. The Writers Guild wants payment within 30 days of when the studio gets money for the sale of a DVD or from the broadcast or rebroadcast of a program. -Clarification and better pay and residuals on reality TV shows. The studios are arguing that they are not "written" in the true sense of the word. While true, the producers (for example) get some residuals from reality shows, but the writers who craft the scenarios, challenges, and drama (as awful and vomit-inducing though it may be) get no residuals. Clarification for prime-time animated shows (The Simpsons, Family Guy, etc.) that are argued as not being "written" in the truest sense of the word. -Nearly every statistic or statement issued by the studios uses the term "working writers;" this refers to writers who are CURRENTLY employed and working on a project. It is important to keep in mind (and this statistic is from the WGA, so is probably somewhat biased, but probably not totally offbase) that the average writer is not employed for about 4-6 months of the year...it's a cyclical thing and it's just how the industry works. Sure, you don't need residuals when you're getting paid right now, but your kids still gotta eat when you're between gigs! Interesting to note, the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) contract is up in the summer, and many of the actors face the same issues that the writers are facing. Read this (http://www.minorcon.org/residuals.html) blog to see what an actor thinks about residuals. Keep in mind that the people these agreements matter for are NOT Tom Cruise, Jay Leno, Seth MacFarlane (writer/creator of Family Guy, American Dad!) etc who are already multimillionaires. These agreements matter for the thousands and thousands of Hollywood "small-timers" who you don't know. The minor characters who really flesh out the movies and TV shows, and the writers who write those parts. Sure, there's a headliner like Henry Fonda leading the way in 12 Angry Men, but where would he be without the Advertising Man or the Yankees Fan (played by actors whose names I don't even know- and that's the point!)? Studios are beginning to reach independent agreements with the Writer's Guild. United Artists, a movie and TV studio now half-owned by Tom Cruise reached an agreement with them yesterday, as did Worldwide Pants, David Letterman's company. These studios diverged with the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) in reaching these agreements. Now, Tom Cruise is a wackjob, no doubt, but I think he understands the concept of money, and he has agreed to get a little less in order to give the writers a little more. Nobody is arguing that he is particularly generous, as he probably makes more money each year than any one of us will make in a lifetime, but nonetheless, he did give up a few bucks. There have been accusations back and forth of bad faith, and both sides accused the other of walking out of the December negotiations. Nobody is right all the time, or 100% right, but I, personally, admire the writers who are out there on the streets. Ordinary people who need to feed their families agreed to stop working in order to fight for something that they believe, displaying a sort of daring. Michael Eisner, former Disney CEO and current head of Tornante (an investment firm that just launched its own studio, "Vuguru," called the writers "stupid," and said that they shouldn't have struck yet, as their key issue, residuals from online distribution of content, will not make them much money at the moment. Take a guess what Vuguru's main market is. That's right, from their own website, "The studio produces and distributes innovative story-driven content for current new media and emerging platforms." (http://www.Vuguru.com/about.php) Eisner, who has his personal finances at stake in emerging content markets and new media distribution of entertainment, thinks it's stupid for them to argue for contractual protection and a piece of the revenue from online distribution of content they create? I don't think so. He obviously thinks it's going to be a good market, seeing as he staked his investment firm on it. And yet, he stated "For a writer to give up today's money for a nonexistent piece of the future — they should do it in three years, shouldn't be doing it now — they are misguided; they should not have gone on the strike." Admittedly, the studios aren't making much money from online distribution-yet. The writer's contract was expiring (it expired on 31 OCT 07) and in the renegotiations, they demanded residuals from online distribution. Online distribution is going to be huge. Whether in a year or in five, online content distribution will be huge, and the writers didn't want the same thing that happened with DVDs to happen to them again. The studios and execs are in a similar position to the RIAA in many ways; they're faced with a better education population, I think. A more "networked" present than they are used to, that is, demanding new business models. It will be interesting to see the result of the strike. Certainly, the writers are going to have to compromise a little, but how much, we will have to see. Once more studios start settling with the writers, there will be a sort of peer-pressure to settle, as competitors produce new materials. Current Mood: awake (Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007
1:29 pm	Stolen from Erin: Book Meme Because I am sick of studying for Manufacturing... These are the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing's users (as of today). Bold what you have read, italicise that you started but couldn't finish, and strike through what you couldn't stand. Add an asterisk* to those you've read more than once. Underline those on your to-read list. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell Anna Karenina Crime and Punishment Catch-22* One Hundred Years of Solitude Wuthering Heights The Silmarillion Life of Pi The Name of the Rose Don Quixote Moby Dick Ulysses Madame Bovary The Odyssey Pride and Prejudice Jane Eyre--I didn't like it though A Tale of Two Cities The Brothers Karamazov Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies War and Peace Vanity Fair The Time Traveler's Wife The Iliad Emma The Blind Assassin The Kite Runner Mrs. Dalloway Great Expectations American Gods Atlas Shrugged Reading Lolita in Tehran Memoirs of a Geisha Middlesex Quicksilver Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West* The Canterbury Tales The Historian A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Love in the Time of Cholera Brave New World* The Fountainhead Foucault's Pendulum Middlemarch Frankenstein The Count of Monte Cristo Dracula* A Clockwork Orange Anansi Boys The Once and Future King The Grapes of Wrath The Poisonwood Bible 1984* Angels & Demons--TERRIBLE The Inferno The Satanic Verses Sense and Sensibility The Picture of Dorian Gray Mansfield Park One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest To the Lighthouse Tess of the D'Urbervilles Oliver Twist Gulliver's Travels* Les Misérables The Corrections The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Dune The Prince The Sound and the Fury Angela's Ashes The God of Small Things A People's History of the United States:1492-Present* Cryptonomicon Neverwhere A Confederacy of Dunces A Short history of Nearly Everything Dubliners The Unbearable Lightness of Being Beloved Slaughterhouse-Five The Scarlet Letter Eats, Shoots, and Leaves The Mists of Avalon Oryx and Crake Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed Cloud Atlas The Confusion Lolita Persuasion Northhanger Abbey The Catcher In the Rye* On the Road The Hunchback of Notre Dame Freakanomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainence:An Inquiry Into Values* The Aeneid Watership Down Gravity's Rainbow The Hobbit/ In Cold Blood:A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences White Teeth Treasure Island* David Copperfield The Three Musketeers (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007
9:15 pm	nerdalert so I have accomplished something SUPERNERDY. Yeah. I know. Hard to believe. Anyway, I have resurrected my old Dell Inspiron laptop as a server. The screen was dead (or mostly so) and the cooling fans were LOUD/didn't work half the time. So yeah, removal of the screen, an improvised water cooling system out of some copper tubing and a garden pump and it's running alright. I administer the system via remote desktop from my main computer (12" Apple Powerbook) which is still kickin' it after almost four years. As of now, the dell is serving as an ftp server (i hope to get a website up at some point) so that I have access to my files when I'm not in the room and I don't bring my laptop, and also to play music via Ruckus (=unlimited free music downloads for Georgia Tech students) which doesn't work on Macs. Pictures to follow. (Comment on this)
Monday, October 1st, 2007
12:21 pm	Sooo... I spend my time studying and such, oftentimes, at any rate. Lisa is not suprised to find that I study ball bearing contact and shaft bending. "Hurr, studying BALLS." The balls I study are made of steel (brass balls would deform too easily). Anyway, yeah. If you want to hang out or something, call or something. Or something. Both Alison and I read the entirety of Questionable Content in like the last four days. It's very entertaining. Poor Faye :-( Onward. To class. To learn about...not balls. Actually, we do talk abotu balsl in this class. How to make them. Brass ones. Or steel too. (Comment on this)
Saturday, August 18th, 2007
9:58 pm	Here we go again? I never post in this thing. Anyway, school is about to start. w00t w00t? Senior year, blabbedy blah. I get silly emails from freshmen with silly questions. I suppose I asked the same questions. The complete trust they have in us seniors is amazing to behold. It's like they just implicitly trust that we can solve their problems. Awesome. (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 26th, 2007
9:51 pm	They don't make 'em like this anymore... I'm watching The Philadelphia Story right now...Jimmy Stewart, Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant...no special effects, no color. They couldn't afford to have bad acting or a bad plot...there were no special effects to distract the audience. Movies nowadays simply can't compete. Other good ones are: - North by Northwest - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation - Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House - A Bridge Too Far ...and so on. (Comment on this)
Thursday, May 17th, 2007
11:04 am	Simple Economics The price of gas has little to do with how much you purchase on one day. Practically nothing. So the little "facebook boycott" of gas on Tuesday did...nothing. Here's why: By merely not putting gas in your cars on Tuesday, sure, the daily revenues were a little low. But the thing is, you didn't cut back on your driving over the past two weeks (or three days, if you drive an SUV). Therefore, you're still going to need to fill up. So instead of filling up when you were at 1/4 tank (which may have happened to be Tuesday) you're going to fill up today, when you're scraping empty. Now here's the kicker-whoever chose the 15th of the month ENSURED that this little gas-out will have NO EFFECT on the MONTHLY revenues of the petrol retailers. Those who avoided filling up on Tuesday will surely do so before the end of the month, and the numbers posted for the month of May will be the same as they would be otherwise. Oh, and there was no gas-out in 1997. Nothing dropped "30 cents overnight." There was one in 1999, but it had no effect on prices. Look it up...in a reputable source, please. And this whole thing about "stick it to the Middle Eastern Oil moguls..." is bollocks. Sure, a lot of our oil comes from the Middle East. But the number one importer is....CANADA! Number two? Mexico. Number three? Nigeria. Look it up. The Middle East is not the only thing affecting oil prices. Don't even get me started on the "let's just boycott Exxon" shenanigan. That will work just as well as a toddler crying only to his mother about wanting to stay up late, instead of complaining to both his mother and father. The fact that so many people believed that "this could actually work" is a pathetic statement about the quality of economic education in our public schools. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 16th, 2007
6:14 pm	So I bought a car... 2007 Toyota Matrix After extensive shopping around and research, I came to the conclusion that this is the right car for me. It is roomy, and the rear seats can fold down for plenty of cargo room. Mine will be dark gray and have a roof rack, but other than that, it will look basically like the one in the picture. 30 mpg city/36 mpg hwy...oooooh yeah. I won't actually get it until July, since there is no sense in buying a car now, and then letting it depreciate and pay insurance on it for six weeks while I'm at OCS and couldn't use it. But it's ordered, and the deposit is paid, so yeah. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, April 30th, 2007
11:37 pm	Almost there... I'm finished with System Dynamics, so now I only have Probability and Heat Transfer finals left. Woohoo. Ah, to be a Georgia Tech student. It's a very sad, sad place around here. The engineering buildings have been packed every night for the past week well past midnight. It truly is the place where fun comes to die. On a positive note, I secured a job for next semester as a System Dynamics Undergrad TA. So that I may pass on a bit of the misery to those who will come behind me. (Comment on this)
Friday, April 27th, 2007
10:06 pm	From Erin The Dante's Inferno Test has sent you to the First Level of Hell - Limbo! Here is how you matched up against all the levels: Level Score Purgatory (Repenting Believers) High Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers) Very High Level 2 (Lustful) High Level 3 (Gluttonous) Very Low Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious) Very Low Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy) Very Low Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics) Very Low Level 7 (Violent) Low Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers) Low Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous) Low Take the Dante's Inferno Test (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, April 23rd, 2007
7:48 am	Rumblings Early mornings are good for thinking. One by one, things are getting knocked out, and, slowly, my life is coming back into focus. The last three weeks have been hellish. Now that it's slowing down a little bit, it's easier to see the forest, instead of the individual MASSIVE REDWOOD TREES THAT BLOCK OUT THE SUN that are all of the things I need to do. I graduate in 376 days. Assuming OCS goes well this summer, I will be a Marine in 74 days, and be commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of Marines in 375 days. On the one hand, it seems so far off. But on the other hand, it seems so close. I graduated from high school over 1000 days ago, almost three years. I am nearly done with all of my classes. I have only eight more classes to take to complete my major. I look at the curriculuum checklist, which seemed so vast only a few years ago, and now it is almost completely covered with checkmarks. In some ways it is easier for me than for my civilian counterparts. I applied for my job in the military during November of my senior year of high school, and do not have to worry about resumes, interviews, and job fairs now. On the other hand, the gravity of the job I do have is starting to set in. It is entirely possible that within one year of graduation, I will be on the ground in Iraq or Afghanistan. Young Marines, some of them only 18 or 19, will be looking to me for leadership. My decisions could determine whether they live or die. How do you even prepare for that? I enjoy leading, and organizing. I had a board this morning to determine the ROTC billets for next semester. It went well, and I'm probably going to be the Battalion Executive Officer, which is the second highest billet a midshipman can hold. Tonight, the Mechanical Engineering Honor Society will hold officer elections, and I'm slated to be president, unless there is strong opposition. We'll see how it all pans out. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, April 16th, 2007
7:43 am	Shoplifted! From Lisa's fb, John's eljay, et. al. Also posted to the book of face...I will cross index to tally the scores (you only have to put your answers in one place) Step 1: Put your iTunes/OTHER MUSIC PLAYER on random. Step 2: Post the first line or two from the first 25 songs that play. Step 3: Bold out the songs when someone guesses correctly. (make guesses by commenting on the note entry) Step 4: Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is CHEATING!!! (you have to get song and band for it to count) 1. Well you've heard about the alligators sleeping in the shade/You've heard about the sugar barons screwing up the glade/It's a melting pot existence that's hard to contemplate. 2. Hey Jack Kerouac/I think of your mother/and the tears she cried 3. If I could open my arms/and span the length of the isle of Manhattan/I'd bring it to where you are/making a lake of the East River and Hudson. 4. Couldn't ask for a better day/Two by two/to the ring to the right point of view/We each retreat to the corner/that's defined by you 5. Here on the cliffs of the Dover/So high, you can't see over/and while your head is spinning/hold tight it's just beginning 6. I think I'll go home and mull this over/Before I cram it down my throat/At long last it's crashed/This collosal mass has broken up into bits in my moat 7. Why drink the water from my hand?/Contagious as you think I am/Just tilt my sun towards your domain. 8. Shakedown 1979/Cool kids never have the time/On a live wire right up off the street/You and I should meet 9. Carry on my wayward son/There'll be peace when you are done/Lay your weary head to rest/Don't you cry no more. 10. In the shadows of tall buildings/Of fallen angels on the ceilings/Oily feathers in bronze and concrete/Faded colors, pieces left incomplete 11. Have you ever been close to tragedy/Or been close to folks who have?/Have ever felt a pain so terrible you collapse? 12. Buried deep as you could dig inside yourself/And covered with a perfect shell/Such a charming, beautiful exterior/Laced with brilliant smiles and shining eyes/Perfect posture but you're barely scraping by 13. You can't escape the wrath of my heart/Beating to your funeral song/All faith is lost for hell regained 14. Slow down, you move too fast/You've got to make the moment last/Kickin' down the cobblestones/Lookin' for fun and feelin' groovy 15. Hello, goodbye/Higher you fly into the world/I awoke this morning with pouring rain in my heart/As I fall apart today 16. Hello, I've waited here for you, everlong/Tonight, I throw myself into and out of the red 17. If I die tomorrow, would this song live on forever?/Here is my unopened letter to a world/that never shall reply 18. Oh, life it seems, a struggle between what we see and what we do/I'm not going to change my ways/just to please you, or appease you 19. Someone's always coming around here/Trailing some new kill/Says I seen your picture on some hundred dollar bill 20. (Credit given for song title only...too many covers out there) Well just look at that girl with the light coming up in her eyes/I say she must be somebody's baby/Well all the guys on the corner stand back and let her walk on by 21. I've got a Dungeon Master's Guide/I've got a 12-sided die/I've got Kitty Pryde/And Nightcrawler too 22. Jesusland/Take a walk/out the gate you go and never stop/past all the stores and wig shops 23. (Credit only given for original artist) I am thinking it's a sign/that's the freckles in our eyes are mirror images/and when we kiss they're perfectly aligned 24. Coming out of my cage/And I've been doing just fine 25. As I was going over/the Cork and Kerry Mountains/I saw Captain Farrell, and his money he was counting/I first produced my pistol/and then produced my rapier/I said "Stand and Deliver" (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, April 1st, 2007
5:33 pm	INCREDIBLY unmotivated It's that time of the semester...for me to be incredibly unmotivated. I have a heat transfer test tomorrow. It will suck. A lot. Blegh. It doesn't help that I'm really busy with Pi Tau Sigma stuff and NROTC. Blegh. Yeah. I should go back to studying now. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, March 26th, 2007
1:36 pm	Spain I am back in the swing of things now that school is back and spring break is gone. Break was busy, to say the least. Pictures will be on Facebook exclusively, as there are far to many to post here, and I think you all have Facebook, and Facebook will host the images. Alison and my roommate Ricky and I left at 3pm last Saturday, had a lovely 9 hour flight to London, 5 hour layover in London, 3 hour flight to Madrid, and finally arrived at the hostel in Madrid around 5:30pm Sunday. We hung out in Madrid that evening, walking about, eating some food, and relaxing. The next day we walked all over Madrid, seeing all of the sights in Madrid. I think my favorite thing was the Museo Nacional Reina Sofia, a modern art museum with works by Picasso, Gaudi and Miro, most notably Picasso's Guernica. That night we went around to a bunch of tapas bars, eating tapas, drinking beer and sangria (now my favorite drink ever), and listening to music. We got back to the hostel around 2:30 am or so. On Tuesday we caught a flight to Barcelona (about a 1.5 hour flight) and then a train to downtown where our hostel was. We were staying half a block from Casa Batllo, a neat house designed by Gaudi, which is right in the heart of Barcelona. It is a very fashionable area, with very expensive clothing stores (Burberry, Tommy Hilfiger, etc.) Needless to say, we didn't spend much money in that area. We walked all about Barcelona, seeing sights, and experiencing Spain. Wednesday was more of the same, but included a night out at a restaurant (with more amazing sangria), a bar with free mojitos for the ladies (which were nasty...apparently you had to ask for sugar...and they are nasty without sugar...maybe with sugar they are good...but I have my doubts), and a discotheque. The nightlife has never really been my thing, but it was interesting to see, and certainly something that I wanted to experience while I was there. Friday night, we began a 32 hour long trek back to Atlanta, which included an overnight layover in the Madrid Airport and having to take a 70 minute bus ride from London-Heathrow Airport to London-Gatwick Airport (all during a 3 hour layover...during which we had to collect baggage, completely enter the United Kingdom, get to the bus, get to Gatwick, check luggage, and get to our gate. Needless to say, it was stressful, but we made it. Ok, so...Spain...Here are some: Likes Sangria Public Transportation Art Language Dairy, Meat, and Produce were noticeably fresher, less "altered" COFFEE Architecture Dislikes Food was okay, but kind of bland at times and not too terribly much variety Lack of green space Everybody smoking, and smoking allowed in public places </ul> Observations At 2pm when everyone takes a siesta, the city shuts down. Don't plan on anything being open, except restaurants Hardly anyone spoke English. I think it was pretty obvious we were Americans, but lets just say it's a damn good thing that I have a decent amount of Spanish-speaking ability because nobody voluntarily spoke to us in English like when I was in Italy. We would have gotten by, but it would have been a lot harder. I wouldn't mind studying abroad there, but I don't think I'd want to live there long-term. London, I could do, but not Spain, at least not Barcelona or Madrid. </ul> (Comment on this)
Sunday, March 18th, 2007
9:37 pm	It's 9:36pm in Madrid! Spring Break has finally come for us down at Georgia Tech. FINALLY. A week later than some of you, two weeks later than many. Gah. Anyway, it finally arrived, so Alison, Ricky and I hopped on a plane to Europe. It wasn't quite that spur of the moment, but just about. It took us about 24 hours of traveling to get to our hostel, but we're here now. I'm going to take a shower, and then go to bed. Tomorrow, we'll explore the city, and then on Tuesday we head to Barcelona for the rest of the week. I don't have any way to upload pictures at the moment, but they'll be posted eventually. Adios! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, March 14th, 2007
7:47 am	Life as we know it... Let's see, how're things? Entertainment I went to see George Winston last week. You have to understand that George Winston is one of my favorite artists (solo pianists, also did some guitar and harmonica at the concert), and is definitely the one to whom I have listened the longest. I used to play his cassette tapes in my little Fisher Price cassette player. I also saw 300 last Friday. Daaayyyymmmn. It was very good. Not historically accurate, but that was not the intention of the filmmakers. I was reading about the training that the actors and stunt guys had to go through in order to be so ripped...and I feel significantly less hard core now. Gym Jones out in Utah is where they trained. The exercise routines that they went through are RIDICULOUS. There's a workout in there called "The 300" that sounds just awful. Gah. But yeah, good movie, entertaining. I particularly enjoyed the line about being "civil." I won't describe in further detail so as not to spoil it for those who haven't gone yet. Next. School Busy as hell. Kinda boring. Not too terribly boring, but just a little bit boring. I witnessed someone cheat on a quiz in my statistics class. Like flagrantly cheat. He waited until the quizzes were being handed in, and when they came to him in the row, he looked through the pile (presumably to get a consensus on an answer), erased his answer and then wrote down the answer that had "come to him." I was in awe, like..."did that just happen?" To be so shameless...wow. I talked to the teacher about it, so presumably, he's gonna get what's coming to him. I don't want to be "that guy," but you know what, the class is graded on a curve. If he cheats, he makes it harder for everyone else who is legitimately working hard to do well, so screw him. Next. Marine Corps OCS is fast approaching. My six week vacation in Quantico, VA should start on 27 MAY 2007, and I should graduate on 06 JUL 2007. I just want to get it over with. I've been preparing for this for a year and a half now. After that, I'll be a real Marine. Kinda. I will have earned the right to wear the Marine Pattern camouflage uniform, Eagle, Globe, and Anchor Insignia, and the U.S. Marines tab. I'm working out a lot to get ready, so hopefully I'll stay healthy and uninjured, and get through it alright. To see what OCS is like, you can find some pictures at http://www.ocs.usmc.mil/FamilyInformation/CurrentGallery.html?WC4, and by clicking "home" on the top navigation bar, can find some other info about the program. There's a decent chance that I'll be battalion commander of the ROTC unit next semester, which would be most excellent. I'll understand completely if I don't get it, but all the same, it'd be pretty sweet. The job is a hard one, but you're the number one midshipman around, which would be pretty sweet. Spain Alison, Ricky and I are going to Spain on Saturday. Across the Atlantic. It hasn't really sunk in yet. I haven't started packing. I've been too busy to even think about it. Gah! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 28th, 2007
11:36 pm	Red, White and Screwed That's right, ladies and gentlemen, LEWIS BLACK is coming to Georgia Tech and I will be going, along with Alison and Ricky. Life has been relatively uneventful. I'm busy planning the Pi Tau Sigma Mech. Eng. Honor Society 2008 National Convention, studying, class, working out, and doing the ROTC thing. Tonight was my roommate's 21st birthday, so we took him out to TACO MAC, which, interestingly, is not a mexican restaurant, but instead features nearly 350 types of beer. Drunkenness ensued (for him, anyway, as neither I nor Ricky nor Alison are 21). It was fun. I know this entry is like a placeholder. Perhaps more will be said later. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 20th, 2007
8:43 pm	Bad things come in threes... ...but so do good things! Last week I busted my ass studying for systems and probability/statistics, got way behind in heat transfer, and have had the flu for the past five days. Today though, I kicked my stat test's ass, began getting better (well enough to function at about 80%), and found out that i got the highest grade on the systems test... To quote Dale Gribble, "Shishishisha!" To celebrate, I downloaded The String Quartet Tribute to Coheed and Cambria. Oh, and I never mentioned it earlier, but Alison gave me a betta fish for Valentine's Day. It's fun to watch him swim about and such...he's pretty active. He is as of yet named Mr. Fish. A first name is in order, and suggestions are welcome. Here he is: I'm going to be making him a custom home in a few weeks here, something with a little more room to move about and to put a few more plants in. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, February 18th, 2007
6:16 pm	What great fortune! I'm going to be a multimillionaire! HEAD OFFICE EURO-AFRO SWEEPSTAKE LOTTERY NL. BURDENSTREET 21B 1053 DS AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS. FROM: THE DESK OF THE MANAGING DIRECTOR INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION PRIZE AWARD DEPT. REF:HWS/2002292201/06 BATCH: 19/206/JJS. ATTENTION: Clement Happy New Year and Congratulations .We are pleased to inform you about the release of the EURO-AFRO SWEEPSTAKE LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS HELD ON THE 6th of December 2006,your name attached to ticket number:677-4834490301 with serial number 6599/06 drew the lucky numbers :4-33-26-40-56-78, Which consequently won the lottery in the 2nd category. You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of USD$1MILLIONin cash credited to file HWS/2001183308/06. This is from a total cash prize of USD$10 MILLION shared among the ten international lucky winners in this category. Furthermore, your lucky winning number falls within our African booklet representative office in, ACCRA, GHANA as indicated in your play coupon. In view of this, your USD$1,000,000.00 (ONE MILLION US Dollars) would be released to you by our banker, BARCLAYS BANK . Your Fund has been therefore deposited with Our banker in your name from where it would be released to you Via BARCLAYCARD ATM CARD. Due to the mixed up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep this a top secret from the public notice until your claim has been processed and your ATM CARD Activated and delivered to you as this is part of the security protocols to avoid double claiming or unwarranted taking advantage of this programs by participants. All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from 25,000 company email Addresses and 30,000,000 individual email addresses from Australia, New Zealand, America, Europe, North America and Asia as part of International Promotions Program, which is conducted annually. To begin your claim, you should first acknowledge receipt of this notification through the above email address. Endeavor to include your full recent contact address, telephone/fax number (be rest assured all information given is held in confidence by members of our staff at all times), where you want your card delivered to you, while replying this notification. As soon as you confirm receipt of this notification, you shall be advised/directed on how to contact the paying bank for processing and Activation of your Card to your provided Address. Remember, all winning must be claim not later than 30th MARCH 2007 AFTER THIS DATE ALL IS RETURNED AS UNCLAIMED. NOTE BEFORE: In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please remember to quote Your reference and batch numbers in every correspondence. Furthermore, should there be any change of address, do inform us as soon as possible. PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE THIS MAIL BY SENDING IN YOUR REPLY VIA (jaspermorrisons@mailcanada.ca) this is for better service. Congratulations again from all members of our staff and thank you for being part of our promotion program. Sincerely Yours, JASPER MORRISON. MANAGING DIRECTOR INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT. Current Mood: giddy (4 Comments |Comment on this)