8.27.2009

Habari gani?

Salama tu. Mostly.

This guy tells an interesting story that I wasn't really aware of. I don't think it's particularly rampant but I'm glad I've read it.



Kiswahili is going very well. As tired as I was today, Kiswahili perked me up for the day. RLST is also very very good.



Scott Miller is someone I've recently discovered. I like it. It makes me think of those Ozark Mountain Daredevils.

Some lyrics:
SIN IN INDIANA
Henry Streator owns this town
Parks on the sidewalk and he beats men down
His wife was pictured in a magazine
He brought her over from the Philippines
You can see her about five o’clock
On the hood of his car on the town sidewalk..

Well it starts in Minnesota as a tiny stream
Then its rolling like a river down in New Orleans
Sin in Indiana: It’s a powerful thing.

Chalmers Wolcott is the biggest liar
Drinks bottled water but can still breathe fire
Got half a finger but he’s twice as mean
As a Boilermaker on amphetamines
He’s a deacon down at the church
And there’s porn on the corn so there’ plenty of work.

Magnolia Hempstead could not stop
Eating popcorn when she was high on pot
She kept on chewing until her teeth were gone
The dentist made some out of cut limestone
You can always tell she’s been around
Because there’s tombstones growing where she spits in the ground




Also good:
Rise Against - Swing Life Away
Miike Snow - Animal
The Virgins - Rich Girls

8.18.2009

One-Way Round Trip

So, this past weekend Dad drove up to give me a ride to Springfield. There, at 0921, I flew to Chicago. At the 604, I boarded a plane bound for Denver, Colorado. Waiting for me in Denver was a plane going to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. At 1604, in OKC, Mom and Gracie picked me up and we drove to Charleston, arriving at 2345 the next day.

That's about 1500 miles flying, 675 miles driving, and approx. 3 hours of a crying 13 mo. old.

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School starts next week. I'm pretty stoked for it. Tomorrow I'm going to get my textbooks out of storage, get some school supplies, and begin planning my success. : )

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Rustoleum dry erase paint is pretty cool. I bought one kit and painted the top 3 feet of 4 door surfaces and 2 2'x4' hard boards. This yields 49 square feet of dry erase surface. It's pretty good, but doesn't erase as well as I would like. However, the expo dry erase board cleaner does a great job of cleaning it. If I had it to do over, I would have primed the doors with something off-white and sanded them glass smooth. My plan is to screw the 2'x4's to the wall. One will hang horizontally and the other vertically. I'm very excited about all of this space as I have already filled my 3'x2' board.

8.06.2009

zero sum

I'm registered for classes now. I'm taking Math 463, English 114, and Swahili 201. It's 12 credit hours and I feel very good about my course selections. Probability and Statistics will undoubtedly be the hardest class, but I have no choice but to do well in it. The Bible as Literature is taught by a professor I've had before, whom I liked, so I feel confident about it. Elementary Swahili is a class that I previously enrolled in, but didn't finish because I withdrew that semester. These classes should give my brain some well rounded exercise.

I did not get the WAL position.

Win some, lose some... right? Yes and no. I'm glad Allison got the position because now I don't have to deal with any feelings of guilt. After all, I have thought that she should have been a manager for the last 2 years. However, that does little to abate my feelings disappointment, crushed expectation, and failure.

But we couldn't both come out as winners. One must lose in order for the other to win. There is no stalemate, draw, or other outcome. Given that, I'm glad I lost. I cannot stomach winning at the expense of someone I care about in things that matter. True games are another matter.

Or maybe that's just my excuse for being better at true games than at the ones that matter...