motivation

I'm notorious for procrastination. I read a psych article about it, and the reason why most people procrastinate is because whatever they're putting off gives no immediate reward. Often it involves something they don't really want to do, like work.
I often skip class if I "don't feel like going." sometimes, something important is going on so i force myself to go. Today, I drove to LLCC for my drawing class. As I'm in the parking lot, I'm watching this girl carry a portfolio in the rain, and i think "Shit! I don't have anything to carry my drawing pad in!" So I turn around and go home. Eh, wasted a little gas, but I saved my artwork.

speaking of wasting gas, and wasting time, I got caught for speeding again last night, going into chatham. I'd just gotten a ticket friday going 84 on the highway. Fortunately this cop just gave me a written warning, but if I get another within a year, my license is suspended. poop. Anyway, wes was showing me how i really only save like 14s doing 85 instead of 65.. and like 6s doing 54 in a 40 like i was last night. poop again. i was arguing that the 14 s could make the difference whether I get stuck at a light or not.
anyway, i gotta slow down. I owe the state $75 now, and it was almost $90 had it been 1mph more. I wish that was tax deductible...

aaaaand, one more on the note of gas prices (other than that theyre down!) is that i think by drinking instead of smoking, im saving a lot of $$. I already saved 20-30$ last week by not re stocking. and since you cant drink and drive, that saves gas by not cruizing. and I'm not the one who buys it :P lol, well i dont pay for all of it at least. In fact, we havent bought any since the summer. We almost did over the weekend, we were walking to the checkout with some peach vodka or somethin and wes is like "I dont have my wallet..." but we had plenty in the freezer, I just wanted somethin different. He couldnt find it when we got back to his house either. He asked his mom the next day, and apparently it was behind the microwave?? wat.?

gay

i love this old guy

the fringe may be my new favorite show. its kinda like x files meets house.
heres a clip:

New solution

1. install VirtualBox. (check)
2. put winblows on it.
3. GET SPORRREE.

omg

i wish my torrents would download, because spore is sitting next to me, begging to be played. ararararasdfgdhdfhdjas.hjl.

i seem to be more out of it since i stopped smoking. I forgot two people's change at work last night. that never happens. oh well.

carter bro's hayride will occur friday night! yay!

In other, much more important news, people across america have stopped taking some of their prescription drugs on tighter budgets. Like for their cholesterol. (Next month's news: Increase of heart attacks across america.)
Eh it's okay. High cholesterol is a byproduct of fast food. I wonder if sales of Cheerios has gone up?

Through this whole economic thing, I kinda feel bad, because i spent $100 on clothes at target the other day. But it was alot of clothes, that I needed, I swear.

day #2

of not smoking for me. I went 3 days before the other night. pot btw. still havent touched cigs since i was 17 ^_^

entirely job related. I'd like to actually be able to apply places.

in other news, idk if i should re sell my copy of spore. un opened. i put up a listing on facebook and then took it down a minute later, because i remembered I had torrents for it. there is one thats 100% seeded, but its got over a day left. hopefully the speed picks up tonight during prime time. and then I dont know if it will even work.
but if youre interested, im selling it for $45 dollars. $43 if you find me a working download of it for mac (but then if you can get me that, you probably dont need to buy it XD )

tech support for the non-technical (aka mac users)

so, my internet connection randomly went out. here's the steps i took (fairly typical):

1. check google connection
2. unplug, replug router
3. click airport icon to refresh connection
4. repeat 2 & 3 x three
5. drink
6. restart computer
7. rejoice because it's a mac problem and it's now solved!

more 2012 super happy fun times news!

This one's about the oort cloud. soundtrack's not too bad, i suppose. That's what's important in youtube vids, right?

anyway. apparently meteorites have been falling more frequently to earth. Wes and I saw a decent sized falling star over Glenarm a week or two ago (after a very disappointing Perseids "shower" in aug)

but oh, i got a KICK out of this frame:
and it gets really jesus-y from there and condemns metal, video games(wow, gta, everquest), wrestling, magic (harry potter, david blaine, MTG etc)

anyway, if you want some consolation, heres a 12 year old british kid assuring you the world wont end in 2012:


if you dont believe him, heres some google earth BS to look at, while listening to some groovy elevator music:

the real sarah palin on SNL

this is perfect... when the moose gets shot shes all like =D

income tax reform

here you can take a survey of sorts on whether income tax should be reformed/abolished (results are 80% yes, 20% no). It only counts your last vote after you've read through all the arguments. each time you choose "yes" or "no" it presents you with an opposing argument. I strongly encourage you to read both sides on each page (but oh, gee, that's quite a bit of reading and history and blah blah...) in order to get the broadest perspective on the issue.

As a big saver, the interest I earn gets taxed. Boooooo. Pluuus, you get some of your paycheck withheld, and then, come April they usually want you to cough up more money. And where the hell does this money go, eh? We don't get a say in the federal budget. ("Billy, I know Joey bullies you at recess, but I won't let you buy brass knuckles with your allowance.")

The basis for the reform is to completely eliminate individual income tax, and impose a higher sales tax. The site quotes 20% on one of their pages. I would assume necessities (like food, diapers, medicine) would have a lower tax than luxuries and sins (ie. cigs, alcohol, gambling gains).

One of the last arguments against reform is that there would be a mass increase in spending before the switch and then noone would buy anything... Well then they oughta be saving every extra penny they're earning without the withholding. Seriously, people need to buy things.

Honestly, I know there's no law that requires you to file your tax return.. But I file because i get money back "/ lol. Illinois usually takes some of my money (the three years I've filed it's been $4.. $8.. $16) but I get a few hundred from the Guvment. This past year, my parents gave me $500 for giving them my tuition info (that I paid, not them.)

have you noticed

that when the dow drops, it ALWAYS drops 700 points?

A man got into the carriage and began to play on a fiddle made apparently of an old blacking-box, and though I am quite unmusical the sounds filled me with the strangest emotions. I seemed to hear a voice of lamentation out of the Golden Age. It told me that we are imperfect, incomplete, and no more like a beautiful woven web, but like a bundle of cords knotted together and flung into a corner.... It said that with us the beautiful are not clever and the clever are not beautiful, and that the best of our moments are marred by a little vulgarity, or by a needle-prick out of sad recollection, and that the fiddle must ever lament about it all. It said that if only they who live in the Golden Age could die we might be happy, for the sad voices would be still; but they must sing and we must weep until the eternal gates swing open.

— W. B. Yeats, "The Golden Age"

What it means to be human

Humans are basically sacks of meat. (we think)We are the most advanced species on the planet... With our communication skills, and fancy cars, and money... opposable thumbs.. we have mastered nature. We are the ONLY materialistic creature. One could argue we are the ONLY creature that is unable to survive without the infrastructure we have built. Medical advances are making the species genetically weaker, because it's no longer "survival of the fittest" but "survival of those with adequate health care."

I mean yes, humanity has made some great achievements in setting itself apart from plants and animals.. and yet it has also proved itself the most needlessly destructive force on the planet.

Sometimes i think, "what to animals DO all day?" they hunt for food. the sleep. they fuck. in the case of deer they watch cars drive by. I also wonder how they view us, whether they see the structures we build as associated with us. I would rather be some kind of animal. I would rather detatch myself from money, from housing, medical, social, political crises. (but oh, how I'd miss art and music)


As an artist, I am continually torn between pursuing graphic design (a field with little feeling) and traditional art (a field with little money). I like the feeling of moving the medium around, watching the image grow and develop. Graphic design offers little room for self expression.

I wish someone would bomb someone. I dont care who. Because of mutually assured destruction, all hell is guaranteed to break loose.

P.S.

America wants to be socialist.

So the gay guy is upset

..Because grant told him he couldnt dress up as a business woman for halloween at the store.

thank you john stewart,

for coining the term "jane winebox"

Danger Dogs!

If this is what I got for $250 + shipping from Nepal, I'd throw a fit!

(.. and dont forget Danger Cock!)

OOOOHHH SHINY

Pics of MacBook's new case have been leaked (on a painfully slow chinese site)

real life

- getting a new job in Nov hopefully
- voting for Obama in Nov definitely
- unless a third party candidate is sexier than Sarah Palin. (Rosa Clementine is the best we've got? C'mon people, sex sells!)
- all my extra money is going to pay for one final/"official" semester of LLCC.
- I invested too early into the crisis. Shoulda done it now that im down another $1k.
- We blow each other off way too much. I miss my bff.
- And I blow off school work waaaayy too much. When the hell is my term paper due..?
- I hate midterms. More than finals usually.
- Becuase "midterms" is papers and projects. "Finals" are tests and maybe one project, but it's no sweat cause I don't study.
- Bacon.
- Which reminds me, I'm hungry and LLCC is gay because it doesn't respect Columbus.
- need more new music. budget: 0$. myspace is acceptable.
- 8GB iPod was ok then, but the internet prevails.
- I really need to get a life

state of the union (can't wait for that..!)

I had another...

dream about dinosaurs. I seriously think that this is the most reoccurring dream I have. In fact, in this one, I had a flashback to a different dino dream. WTF?

So, I'm at wes's house, and we just got up and are leaving, we drive to wildlife, and there's raptors everywhere. And we have to turn around in a flock of them, so I tell him to go real slow (this is where I have a flashback of a raptor ripping off the top of the jeep I'm in).

This is also where the dream looses linearity(?). I'm suddenly with two girls, and were standing on the road with the raptors. A giant allosaurus thing walks in front of us and chases them away, I dive into the forest to hide, but its in the woods with me. So I hide behind a really skinny tree (it's all I've got!) till it walks by and then I'm back out of the forest.

And I'm in wes's car again, and as we drive away, I see two lions walking, followed by a guy chasing after them some ways back. I decide that the raptors and lions are there because of global warming. THEN I got on my cell to txt "Wildlife got LIONS" to facebook and twitter.

That's when I realized I'm an idiot.

BTW

mav·er·ick (mvr-k, mvrk)

n.

1. An unbranded range animal, especially a calf that has become separated from its mother, traditionally considered the property of the first person who brands it.

2. One that refuses to abide by the dictates of or resists adherence to a group; a dissenter.

adj.

Being independent in thought and action or exhibiting such independence: maverick politicians; a maverick decision.


So McCain's gonna do everything he can to go against the popular opinions. GOOD CAUSE PEOPLE ARE STUPID ANYWAY.

Sarah palin <3s gay couples.

we should just watch SNL for all our election news.


Both Biden and Palin say gays should have equal rights as married couples- hospital visits, signing contracts jointly, etc. And as they discussed this topic, they both went on to say that they still wouldn't recognise gay marriage in a legal sense. Now that just doesn't make sense to me. They're saying unmarried gay couples should get the same rights as married hetero couples do. What about unmarried straight couples? Do we get hospital visits, " joint ownership of property, life insurance policies, et cetera" (from Biden's quote. Sarah's less detailed on the rights she would give them.), just because we are a "couple"?

I really don't mean to turn around the gay rights issue like this, but laws must be VERY careful how they word things.

Apple's done it again...

This time, they've innovated a new way to manufacture MacBooks- and end their reliance on outsourcing the process. Apparently they're using water jets to carve the casing out of a block of aluminum.

AAAAAND.. they're gonna stick some Nvidia in there as well possibly, to step up their game in the gaming sector. YAY! I knew it was good to wait on that iMac (but its soooooo sexxy!)

McCain

A little gem from Shin Chan:

Beauty of it is, thats not even edited.

The scale of our universe vs. the scale of the bailout

There are 100 billion stars in our galaxy. There are 7x that many dollars in the bailout.

To get a sense of how small we are, watch this movie, narrated by Morgan (haha almost wrote Gordon) Freeman.

What the candidates should do for the economy...

... is donate their remaining campaign money to the economic bailout plan. C'mon, that's our money anyway. Obama's already spent much less than he's pulled in (however McCain is nearly breaking even... what does that say about their financial savvy?) so it makes since that whatever's left over should go to a good cause. Our best interests are in our own people.

did you catch the VP debates?

Last night, Joe Biden and Sarah Palin went head to head. They talked about energy, the war in Iraq, Sarah's mantra of "drill baby drill" (and how we wouldnt see any of the oil for another 10 years), their kids (Joe -almost- shed a tear!), the economic crisis, what they would do as prez if "the unthinkable happened" (oh, we've all thought about that), and a little bit about gay marrige (which sarah agreed with joe COMPLETELY on.)

one thing to note: she DID screw up!
"During the debate Sarah Palin made the point of talking about a potential surge strategy in Afghanistan and mentioned the commanding general in Afghanistan as being "General McClellan." Pundits criticized Biden's omission of the General's name until it was discovered the General's name is in fact McKiernan." (wikipedia)

Nintendo unveil's updated DSi

This is surely the biggest news of the past few months (har har.)

The new DS features TWO 0.3 MP cameras (woohoo!?) larger screens, a slimmer design, a built in browser and MP3 capabilities.

However they scrapped GBA cartridge support.

I was tempted to trade in my 1st gen DS for a DSi when I read this, but I think I'll wait till they release the next one.