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.

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

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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

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

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.

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...

Update

• Made it to the final four of the WAL interviews. That's good.


• Went to a bachelor party in indi on saturday. That was off the hook. I cut someone's shoe in half.


• I'll have my university bill paid in 24 hours. That will allow me to register for classes.


• I bought a truck for $200 last week. It will be good for parts or as a project vehicle.


• I've had some real and honest conversation with Allison. That has allowed me to feel safer and more secure.


• I went to a strip club for the first time. Wow. Just wow.

John 8:32

Tomorrow is a day of action. Today was a day of rest.

so many irons in the fire... I barely know where to put my hopes. : )

Just a Taste

Oh, Howzit? I went up to Chicago for Fourth of July and/or Taste of Chicago and/or to visit Mike and Sara and/or to sight see Chi-Town. It was lots and lots of fun. Allison and I took the train up and Mike brought us to his new apartment via the L. [I like to call it el L; no one else likes this.] Their apartment is very nice. It has much character and lots of angles.

On the 4th it rained so we went to the Taste. Turns out the rain was a good thing as it kept the crowds and heat away. The food was quite good, if expensive. That night we attended a party held by M&S's landlord/downstairs neighbor. It really a lot of fun. I met new people and even met a former Peace Corps participant who lived in Moldova for 2 years! She was there 04 to 06, while I was there during the 97-98 school year. O! The Stories!

The 5th was M&S's last day to move out of storage, so they did that while Allison and I explored the City. It was fun to just walk around, talk, gawk, and see. We thought about doing the Sear's Tower, what with the new glass thingy, but lines were too long. Besides, we thought, it will still be there next time. Instead we toured Millennium Park and Navy Pier. All of the walking took its toll and we packed it in around 1830/1900. Seven or eight hours of walking, however. The day winded down with pizza from... some place I can't remember right now. [it was good... very good... like, I-want-some-right-now good...] Along with the pizza was Role Models and Knocked Up. Role Models was very funny, very good. Knocked Up was... eh. Personal issues aside, it was too jumpy plot-wise. It was also not funny enough to cover up the jumpiness and not sappy enough to explain the lack of humor.

We came home on the 6th, via Amtrak. There were no seats together, but there were four terribly behaved children with parents who slept rather than modified the behavior of their children. Oh well.

Work last night was the first with pigtails. ugh. I'll put up a picture later for those who have no idea what I'm talking about.

This weekend was very good. Allison and I talked a lot about our relationship, its future, our individual futures, our hopes, dreams, expectations.... all that crap. We both came away feeling better, I think... at least, I feel better. : )

it's hard not to like this game

http://www.donpixel.com/play/en/060413201807/

Barbara Grace Murphy

I attended a baptism on Sunday. It was at a Lutheran church. The sermon featured Mark 5:22-43. The pastor had some interesting insights on it. For example, there is a theme of non-traditional Christian thought in the woman believing that touching that which is holy will make her holy. It is also present in the fact that Mark records the Aramaic that Jesus speaks when He heals the girl. The power of Christ is not in the hem of His garment or in the words He spoke. But Jesus doesn't really seem to care. He is more concerned with healing and whatnot to focus on correcting how they practice their religion. It was very refreshing to hear that message in a church.

Afterward, Allison and I went to the STL Science Center. I love the science center... like a lot. We watched Wild Ocean which is about the Wild Coast of South Africa. It was such a joy to see rondovals again. Watching the Omnimax and then coming home and seeing the stars just now reminded me of the absolute wonder I felt as I looked to the sky and saw no constellations that I recognized. Doing some research I found Orion. But in the Southern Hemisphere, Orion is upside-down. It may not seem like a big deal, but it completely floored me at the time.

Laura Dun Got Hitched!

So, Laura is now married. Now there is only Laura Pullen. That's weird. The wedding was very nice and very dry. Venues were tasteful and enjoyable. The music was very nice... very Laura. : ) Rachel sang. It was good to hear her sing again. She also gave a speech that was well done.

I had a lot of fun sitting with Cat, David, Lucy and some other people. Mike and Jeff were no shows. They had moving stuff to take care of.

It used to feel strange to be not married. I think that was because I had been preparing myself for it for so long. Now there isn't really any kind of feeling about it at all.

Luckily no one was able to tell that I had a head injury. It's healing quite well. The knot is much smaller than it was at the wedding. Still no real pain from the injury and no headaches. I'm quite lucky in that regard.

all w's

my retroactive withdrawal was approved. I now have a chance.

It's hot an muggy. I would just like to acknowledge that I've noticed.

Father's Day coming up, I got dad something cool. I hope he can use it.

w00t, shirts!

http://shirt.woot.com/Friends.aspx?k=8681 -- clever and cute
http://shirt.woot.com/Friends.aspx?k=8207 -- perfect for your next star party
http://shirt.woot.com/Friends.aspx?k=8978 -- someday we'll have to explain this to our kids

Work Area Leader. I just filled out a self-nomination form... We'll see if this becomes the initial debacle that the load coach program was....

Yay for texting my parents via email to give them directions to where I am.

Boo for my phone dying every couple of days.

Some Thought

This life is a hospital where every patient is possessed with the desire to change beds; one man would like to
suffer in front of the stove, and another believes that he would recover his health beside the window.
It always seems to me that I should feel well in the place where I am not -baudelaire

I read that somewhere. It seems so right, but there's something just off about it. I can't put my finger on it, but I don't feel like I'm never satisfied. It's more like I'm not yet satisfied. While that might be only a hair's breadth difference, it feels very important. Perhaps it's that I haven't given up yet. I know that I will be there someday. It isn't a goal that is always far away; I am not chasing the horizon. I am getting better. It would crush me to think that I might never recover. I don't want to think of this human affliction as incurable and only tolerable. Maybe my only difference is my defiant spirit. O! What a difference it is!

It doesn't feel like depression, but I feel like I'm in a low spot. Low on motivation I suppose.

There's an old thought experiment that goes like this: Supposing money was not an object, and you could do anything you wanted, what would you do? If you were retired, and comfortably living off of an investment, how would you spend your time? The answer is usually something like "pursue hobby X" or "travel to location Y" or even "live out vague, sometimes altruistic, dream Z." Then the experimenter twists it all to say, "then why aren't you doing those things now?"

It's related to the advice, "find a need, and fill it." Find your own need, and fill it. Thus you are happy. Then you have a goal. You want to be a world traveler? Why not go be a world traveler then?

Inspirational? Sometimes. Original? Hardly. Useful? Dubious.

It goes with pithy sayings like: "Just Do It," "Grab life by the horns," "Carpe Diem," "Live each day as if it is your last," and so on.

But they all seem out of touch with reality. One's potential in general is not strictly identical to one's potential at the moment. They offer the motivational energy of a refined sugar, quick kick but short ride with a crash at the end.

My point? No point, really. Just some bitching.

What's wrong with the credit industry?

They say it's a credit crunch that we're in... at least I think I heard someone say that... somewhere. However, the problem isn't that credit card companies don't trust consumers or that consumers don't trust the market. It isn't about failures of automakers, banks, or risky markets (sub-prime, I'm talking to you). It is that credit card companies have been fleecing customers for far too long and have finally weakened the market to such a degree that now everyone is in trouble, who isn't careful.

Take this example I got in the mail today:

It's from First Premier Bank. Never heard of them? Neither had I.

They say:

Dear Stephen Murphy,

Apply for your Platinum MasterCard card from First PREMIER Bank. Just use Confirmation #: 142 739 *** *** and visit www.60SecondPremier.com to get your credit response in 60 seconds.

Because we know that bad things happen to good people, First PREMIER Bank had created this card for those with less-than-perfect credit. So even if you've been turned down in the past, don't let that stop you.

Use your card anywhere MasterCard cards are accepted. And if you ever have questions, account access by phone is available 24/7. Plus, you will receive a credit to your account of 5% on all on-time payments for 12 months.

Wow, what a great deal! They even offer 9.9% APR on all purchases. They claim that this is one of the lowest rates available. Hmm, let's see what the initial disclosure says... 9.9% APR on purchases... goes up to 19.9% if I don't pay on time... fees include: $29 Account Set Up Fee, $95 Program Fee, $48 Annual Fee, $84 Monthly Servicing Fee (billed monthly), $25 fee every time they increase your credit limit, $3.95 Internet Access Fee... that sounds like a lot. The break down is this:

If you are approved, you get a minimum of $250 credit limit. Minus the fees put on the card before you use it... that's $71 dollars left. If you check your account online that's $67.05 of your $250 left... so they just spent $182.95 just to have the card. wow. That's 73% of your credit line used to get the card.

What's wrong with this picture? Who is this card marketed toward again? People with "less-than-perfect credit." They are the ones that need to be using up 73% of their available unsecured credit limit. This card would actually hurt their credit score, just by owning the card.

What a joke. It's hard to see how this kind of marketing is legal.

(btw, what does "first premier" mean? Can there be a second premier?)

Long Distance Call -- Phoenix

Where to go I had no idea
26.10 was the price to pay
A messed up kid with no ideals at all
I thought those 26.10 I shouldn't give'em away

I remember this young guy died and I took his part
He got far too many stitches on his pretty face
Long time to see but I always thought us two would be serious
I was looking around town, thinking the same as you.

I'm far gone but your long distance call
And your capital letters keep me asking for more

It's never been like that
It's never been like that

I'm far gone but your long distance call
And your capital letters keep me asking for more

Where to go I had no idea about it
Most of the people do, they're only doing just fine
I don't wanna stay in place no more, see
Ain't doing well well well, I am only doing just fine

long time no see, long time no say
Got little to tell, I don't say much but I might
Something always told me us two would be serious
I am looking around town, thinking the same as you

I'm far gone but your long distance call
And your capital letters keep me asking for more

It's never been like that
It's never been like that

I'm far gone but your long distance call
And your capital letters keep me asking for more

Long time no see... Long time no say...