took my first anat & phys lab practical today... so that's 2 exams this week... now the 2 hard ones left for friday and sat. an exam on a saturday... for school! can you believe that shit? right after my physics lab... on saturday too!

crap. on the plus side... i feel much better today... i seem to have come out of the haze i was in yesterday. i'd like to ask for a moment of silence for the qor blog. sorry to see you go... but i understand your reasons for shutting down. it's damn hard to blog... sometimes i don't even know if it's worth writing cause so much of it is about the same or similar things... but... it helps me somehow. the most difficult thing about posting for me isn't that random people will read it (i don't think that's scary at all... random people don't know who i am) but there are some things that some people might think are too personal to post for themseleves perhaps if they were in my situation... for fear maybe of things getting misconstrued or being offensive or being weak or whatever. well... i have those same thoughts but... one thing i like about blogging is that people that know me get to know me a little better maybe. i don't know why writing is easier for me than talking... but it is... isn't that weird how it's like that for some people? so yeah... i don't really know where i was going with that... though there are still some things i think i'll hold inside my head... even though you all know i'm crazy by now... i'd rather you think that than think i'm super gimoungo bizzarro crazy... or something. so thanks for reading my most of the time pointless and absurd posts... and for those who comment... thank you... for those who blog... may you keep on bloggin... and hope you all do this --> =] <-- a lot to end your week (i know i'll be smilin @ 5pm on saturday). fyi... this doesn't change the fact that i'd still think it'd be cool if life ceased to exist and i didn't have to take orgo and physics in the coming days... or have to go through more school... or finding a job again... or finding the "right" person... or any of those decisions/experiences... but if this weekend's still on track to going down... i'm gonna be one happy person once sat rolls around.

letting the cables sleep, bush

You in the dark
You in the pain
You on the run
Living a hell
Living your ghost
Living your end
Never seem to get in the place that I belong
Don't wanna lose the time, lose the time to come

Whatever you say, it's alright
Whatever you do, it's all good
Whatever you say, it's alright

Silence is not the way
We need to talk about it
If heaven is on the way
If heaven is on the way

You in the sea
On a decline
Breaking the waves
Watching the lights go down
Letting the cables sleep

Whatever you say, it's alright
Whatever you do, it's all good
Whatever you say, it's alright

Silence is not the way
We need to talk about it
If heaven is on the way
We'll wrap the world around it
If heaven is on the way
If heaven is on the way

I'm a stranger in this town
I'm a stranger in this town
I'm a stranger in this town

If heaven is on the way
If heaven is on the way

I'm a stranger in this town
I'm a stranger in this town

just my luck to get sick during a stressful week. last night after i came home from my first midterm of the week... i came down with something. it could've been food poisoning, a stomach bug, or though i don't know how possible it is... i may have ingested some dichloromethane as i had my orgo lab in the afternoon and i got some on my hands when i was cleaning up my lab station after i had already taken my gloves off. i did wash my hands... but... i don't know. in any case... study time was cut short... my stomach just kept getting worse... and i was running a fever by 12am. didn't get much sleep... i kept waking up wanting to vomit... and i'd go and stand over the bowl for a couple minutes... get the chills and hop back under the covers. i didn't end up throwing up... but i don't think i've felt this bad since my dxm experiment. i was pretty dehydrated this morning... and my fever had already broken when i woke up... but i still don't feel normal... things are still quite off. one thing remains certain... i'm totally screwed for orgo and physics.

so... i gotta get back to studying... but this needed to be posted.

o'reilly factor vs. daily show audience comparison.

disappear, rem

I've dragged my feet
across the seat
and jumped out the passenger side.
the only thing worth looking for
is what you find inside.
but that had not yet appeared.
lost, invisible, here.
tel aviv and agadir,
taroudant or olomouc
before i learned to see
the vanishing point appear

I looked for you and everywhere.
I looked for you and everywhere.

there is a calm I haven't come to yet
I spent half my life figuring what comes next
I telescoped in.
I'll finally win,
I'll finally win the prize.
that now my eyes see
a comic's perfect timing squeezed.
I'm headfirst fighting everything
the crushing force of memory
erasing all i've been
the vanishing point appears

I looked for you and everywhere.
I looked for you and everywhere.
tell me why you're here
I came to disappear.

look at this face.
can you believe it?
am I living in a beautiful vacuum?
because I can't see it
the vanishing point appears.

I looked for you and everywhere.
I looked for you and everywhere.
tell me why you're here
I came to disappear
tell me why you're here
I came to disappear
I came to disappear

so nyu has a pretty good spam blocking system on their servers... but recently i've gotten these messages about some "family" i have who passed away and they're "trying" to locate me to execute the person's will. here's what the email looks like with headers.

Return-path:
Received: from mx3.nyu.edu (MX3.NYU.EDU [128.122.109.23])
by mail.nyu.edu (iPlanet Messaging Server 5.2 HotFix 1.15 (built Apr 28 2003))
with ESMTP id <0I4H0007ICMJ1H@mail.nyu.edu> for XXXXX@ims-ms-daemon; Thu,
23 Sep 2004 01:59:07 -0400 (EDT)
Received: from mk-smarthost-2.mail.uk.tiscali.com
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Received: from [81.199.85.70] by mk-cpfrontend.uk.tiscali.com with HTTP; Thu,
23 Sep 2004 05:25:57 +0100
Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 06:25:57 +0200
From: barr_jamesdouglas022@tiscali.co.uk
Subject: seeking your urgent assistance
To: barr_jamesdouglas022@tiscali.co.uk
Message-id: <413FCB38000AEE13@mk-cpfrontend-2.mail.uk.tiscali.com>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable
Original-recipient: rfc822;XXXXX@mail.nyu.edu

Dear Chow,

I am Barrister James Douglas a solicitor at law. I am the personal attorn=
ey
to Mr.Harry Chow a national of your country, who used to work with Eagle
cement company in Nigeria. Here in after shall be referred to as my clie=
nt.
On the 21st of April 2000, my client, his wife And their three children
were involved in a car accident along sagbama express road.

All occupants of the vehicle unfortunately lost there lives. Since then
Ihave made several enquiries to your embassy to locate any of my clients=

extended relatives this has also proved successful.After these several un=
successful
attempts, I decided to track his lastname over the Internet, to locate
any member of his family hence I contacted you.

I have contacted you to assist in repatriating the money and property lef=
t
behind by my client before they get confiscated ordeclared unserviceable
by the bank where this huge deposits were lodged. Particularly, the finan=
ce
company where the deceased had an account valued at about USD$8.2 million=

dollars has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or have the ac=
count
confisicated within the next ten official working days.

Since I have been unsuccesfull in locating the the relatives forover 2 ye=
ars
now I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin of the decease=
d
since you have the same last name so that the proceeds of this account
valued at USD$8.2million dollars can bepaid to you and then you and I can=

share the money. 50% to me and 45% to you, then 5% will be maped out for=

any expencies you might undergo during the process of trying to procure
documents to back this claim up.

All I require is your honest cooperation to enable us see this deal throu=
gh.
I guarantee that this will be executed under alegitimate arrangement that=

will protect you from any breach of the law. Please get in touch with me=

by my email and send to me your telephone and fax numbers to enable us di=
scuss
further about this transaction.

Please make sure you reply to this email address(barr_jdouglas2004@yahoo.=
com)
to indicate your interest.

Best regards,
Barrister James Douglas.







__________________________________________________________________
Get Tiscali Broadband From =A315:99
http://www.tiscali.co.uk/products/broadbandhome/

so... if the guy was a real lawyer... wouldn't you figure he'd have an assistant or something that knows how to type a formal letter? wtf is "dear chow?" i have a frickin first name there buddy. secondly... it's not typed correctly. now i'm not so sound grammatically... but if i were to type a formal letter, i'd at least run my letter through spelling and grammar check and make sure there are spaces where spaces need to be etc. thirdly, what kind of a lawyer tells people to reply back to a yahoo account? i always hear stories about how people get scammed by this hustle... you know... they send money to "secure" their portion of the estate and never hear back, but even if you just look at where you should send your email address, a FREE email account from yahoo? come on... that's just totally ridiculous.

i'm so tired.

housing boom downtown. article 1, article 2. man i wish i had the money to buy a place downtown, i think it could be a good investment... plus it'd be so nice to have a place with character and history to it. if i did end up moving to canada... it'd still be nice to have a place here... afterall, it will always be home. the collective consiousness of the region's young people is being reawakened... and as depressing as the job market is here... i think we're in the beginning of a turnaround for the city core. young people are finally moving in and putting their energy in and creating some motion for a city desperate for it. i'm glad hertel ave is doing well, it's a really nice part of the city... part of the old italian west side.

nhl & nhlpa... figure it out! long term stability is more important than short term gains. will someone answer the question to why there are hockey teams in phoenix, tampa bay, miami, nashville, atlanta (it didn't work out the first time here either), dallas, and raleigh? bettman's expansion gamble set the league back a lot. here's a link tc sent.

brett hull is a punk, as is mike modano. "i don't give a about the fans"? the fans pay your salary! without us (well people of dallas/detroit/wherever your money grubbing body ends up), you wouldn't be on the ice foot in crease NOT scoring a goal to win a cup your team shouldn't have won! mike modano, $400 couldn't feed your dog for a month?! who gives a crap about your dog? what kind of selfish, self-centered statement is that? have you looked at the world around you? you are blessed to be playing this game for a living (earning millions a year i might add). i'd like to also remind everyone, that both these players were members of the 1999 stanley cup "champion" dallas stars... yeah the team that "beat" buffalo.

eh... i'm tired and i feel the frustration building already. how am i gonna make it to the end of the semester?

Wish You Were Here Lyrics, Pink Floyd

So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell,
Blue skys from pain.
Can you tell a green field
From a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

And did they get you to trade
Your heros for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl,
Year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have we found?
The same old fears.
Wish you were here.

posted by -jason-  # 9/22/2004 02:41:00 AM 2 people typed stuff

there was a really bad accident yesterday on transit road. apparently 2 cars were racing northbound, and the driver of one car lost control and veered into the southbound lane. i saw pics on tv of the accident scene, it was totally ridiculous. an suv was flipped over by a telephone pole and on the sidewalk, and there was an engine laying in the middle of the street with no car body or chassis near it. 2 people were sent to the hospital, one was in critical condition.

it makes me so mad that people race down the street. it's one thing if you do stupid stuff and mess up your own life, but it's another when you affect someone who wasn't even involved. why do people have to constantly prove they have a larger penis? what does it matter if you're dead or if you get convicted of vehicular manslaughter? your dick won't do you no good in prison. so who's the bitch then?

as much as you'd like, you can never bring anyone back from the dead after you've made a critical mistake. you don't want to have that with you for the rest of your life. the sad thing is, for some people, they need to go through the experience before they figure it out.

it got cold enough for me to break out my down comforter. i sleep the best in the fall and the winter... i always look forward to these coming months of sleep. yesterday night i got into the upper to mid 40's in amherst i think, which was a big enough drop to warrant the new layer. when i woke up this morning... the air was crisp and cool, we had blue skies, and it was really sunny. i hope i'll have time to go hiking in the niagara gorge, alleghany, or letchworth parks this fall and walk through forests of trees with all their leaves changing colors and slowly drifting to the ground.

i mowed the lawn too... i give it 2-3 more weeks before lawn mowing stops. lawn mowing is one of those things that i enjoy and hate. i'm glad it's almost over for this year... i've had enough of it.

headed over to leng's to watch the bills game. they make me cry... they are SO bad. the o-line is porous and bledsoe can't ever get rid of the football. if you look at all the offensive series (yes they were offensive indeed) it was usually either one or the other messing things up, sometime both. what's with moulds dropping balls? and how come we can't conver a 4-1 on the frickin goaline?

so here's a good autumm season song by david usher (of moist fame)... it's also just a good song in general. it kinda has a feeling of wrapping things up and reflecting... which is what autumn is physically the wrapping up of the seasons to prepare for winter, and mentally (at least for me) i always reflect a bit more from october-december. the lyrics, singing, acoustic guitar, and the lone horn work well together. winmx/limewire/or whatever and download it, you won't be disappointed. you know what? i think my musical selections change with the seasons... i don't think i've ever consciously made that connection. if i was in cali... i'd probably be all into weezer 24x7 or something... good thing i'm not, it's better this way.

St. Lawrence River, David Usher


Smells on the air
See there it's crushing the final impression
The stains on the paper
Where words fell like water
Unearth all the changes that never did matter
I think it's beginning to freeze here

Caught in the rage and the fire of things
All the brightness that burns me
I'm fumbling through like a child in the dark
When the nakedness comes
I am shocked by the colour the glorious weight of your skin
Comes alive
And I never thought we'd make it back so soon
Might be nice
But I knew you'd be your own destroyer
Comes a time
And I always thought I'd make it up to you

Here please forgive me
Could we escape all the bitterness piled upon bitterness
Held in the face of the things that I don't understand
Intellectualize over and over
This helplessness suits us
Funny how quiet has slipped to our corners
Worn all our edges away
You are watching breathing and baiting
Wanting and warming and cautiously waiting
For some simple signal to creep cross your conscience
Uncover redemption and oh did I mention
I carried you down to the St. Lawrence River
The banks running dirty the water's beginning to freeze here
Solid by morning
And I'll freeze here
Winter by morning

Comes a lie
And I never thought you'd get me back so soon
Might be nice
But it's only if my own destroyer
Comes alive
And I always knew I'd make it up to you

I saw on your face such a curious grin
As I let go your hand
I was desperate to hold you again
But you're sinking so deep in the water
Outsmarted myself and so easily gave up what I wanted
Solid by morning
What I wanted
Winter by morning

Comes alive
And I never thought you'd make it up so soon
Night be nice
But I always knew you're my destroyer
Comes a time
And I always thought I'd make it up to you

Solid by morning
And I'll freeze here
Winter by morning

are taking over.

there is a pharm tech position open @ one of the wal-marts nearby. i went in today resume in hand and gave it to one of the pharmacists working there. i really hope that i can get an interview... and a job... and into a school... and stuff.

jill had a dinner party thing for her bday. some good people, some good food, some funny conversation, good times. then everyone got tired... because we're old... and we all went home.

here's a blurb from this story.

Speaking to a meeting of world mayors in Moscow, Putin also made a veiled attack on the West, saying that double standards in dealing with terrorism are "disastrous for global security."

i don't know how some of the bush administration officials are asking russian president putin to conduct peace negotiations with chechen rebels, instead of going ahead with pre-emptive strikes against terrorists. sure, the 430 deaths are "dwarfed" by what happened on 9/11, but that is still a significant number, and there were kids involved. it might have been one thing if after realizing their mistakes, the bush administration came out and said, "here's what we learned, we should not have gone with the pre-emptive strikes," but there was none of that. how can our government be trusted internationally by countries that are willing to stand with us by creating these double standards?

i feel terrible for the losses suffered by the russians. i feel bad for the losses that have been suffered by all people. i still don't think we (north americans and most of europe) understand how much pain the world is in. these sorts of incidents have been happening for a long time now... think of israel... after it was reestablished as a country after wwii. bombings seem to be a daily part of life there from as far back as i can remember watching tv news when i was a kid. it really is a sad state of affairs... and we were jostled a bit 3 years ago... but we seem to have gotten back to the lifestyle that we created. focus on the bottom line, profits, making money, instead of the more important issues such as how do we get to a more peaceful global society where everyone can benefit. the world will never be at peace... but we seem to have moved backwards instead of forwards.

and lastly... this link to a story was posted on callalillie.

besides buying a plane ticket to go to italy to become a bum... i would also like to buy a wegmans store from the wegmans grocery chain. i would live in it. tonight i bought 2 bottles of ocean spray white cranberry peach juice (the 100% juice one not the other flavored drink or whatever one). it cost me a total of $5. in new york, they go for $3.50 at least to easily over $4. it added up after awhile, because i'd usually have it in stock in the fridge, along with tropicana oj, and apple juice. i'm a big juice person. so anyways... if wegmans was a woman, it'd be the hottest woman in all the land and i would make sweet love to her. if i could have babies with a giant supermarket with it's spacious earthtone interior, and brown brick exterior with white lettering i would. you get the picture.

so tc and i were chattin it up on im. our conversations usually don't make any sense and are generally pointless. sometimes though, something come out of it that makes me think. we were talking about homer simpson and some of the catchphrases and sounds that were associated with him. so i guess i'm wondering, if whenever anyone nowadays says 'doh', are they saying it like homer? or when then type it, does it sound like homer in their heads? can it be said some other way or are people just so used to the short 'doh' with homer's voice saying it? i think for myself... i always say it like homer or imagine it sounding like homer when i type it. kinda interesting me thinks... a simple phrase sewn into the fabric of our culture.

um. i think i need a job, but nothing looks interesting. i really don't want to get stuck doing something where i learn nothing at all... but those seem to be the only jobs available in an old rust-belt city. buffalo's not exactly a tech hotbed either... so there aren't too many part-time positions available to tech dorks.

i think the pcat's gonna kick my ass, along with physics, and maybe even orgo... i'm so screwed. i really need to get my shit together, though i always seem to need to get my shit together... why is that?

i was cleaning up/out my room... and looked at my high school senior yearbook. damn that was a long time ago. people had left comments about 'being a bum in italy'. i remembered that that was what i aspired to be (half-joking). now that i think about it... i still think it'd be nice. italy is just about one of the coolest places i've ever been (though i could probably say that about any place abroad that i've been). i must make enough money to go there again... to firenze.

shit. it's 1am... wtf am i doing up?

© www.hockeycanada.ca

i sincerely hope that i'll be able to catch a sabres-leafs game this season. hopefully both the players and owners will be able to reach a labor agreement. please find a fair compromise so that existing smaller market teams can exist without running red every year; there are hardcore hockey fans here too!

@ oddtodd.com!

i'd like to add that i am continuing the tradition of suckage, as i make my way through this second semester of physics. calculus integrals and visualizing electric charges in three-dimensional space hurt my brain.

here be some misc pics that bern has from my trip to new york & hickory run (i'm only in a couple of them in the h.r. album since i was only camping for 8 hours or whatever... they were after my hat in the one of me being molested by tiny children).

there are a couple more pics bern took from h.r. that may or may not be viewable due to the drunken debauchery that happened by the white folk ;]. i'll have to see how i can link so that all parties remain anonymous.

speaking of white folk... if you look through the other albums bern has on his site... you'll find a picture of my arch nemesis aaron baer... who has disappeared again. i'm sure he'll resurface sometime... as he tends to call me only when he needs something from me (or anyone for that matter). that's the type of friend he is... great right?

night.

it's frustrating to me to see the world so very much unchanged since 2001. as much as people say it's different, i don't think it is. people will be people, we will have the same flaws throughout our existence on earth.

i was talking to leng about it all... and i brought up hope. i think hope is a feeling that has a lot of pain attatched to it. so many things that we hope for don't work out... but it's also the thing that pushes us to wake up the next morning. hope is quite a unique feeling cause you can feel good and bad about it i guess.

'Am I Wrong', Love Spit Love

There's too much
That I keep
To myself
And I turn my back on my faith
It's like glass
When we break
I wish no one in my place

And I've seen
You don't need their scenes
When the cut
Goes in deep
And I'm lost in sleep

I can't stay
In this place
I can't stand
When the room turns round
On my fate
You give no guarantees
There's no promiseI can keep

I can't stand
I can't see my way
I feel blind
On my feet
I can't stay too long
Am I wrong?

Goodbye, Lay the blame on luck

I'm so tired
Of my mood
And sleep comes
With a knife, fork and a spoon
You're so pale
In your face
You let life
Get in your way

And I've seen
You don't need their scenes
When the cut goes in deep
And I'm lost in sleep
Am I wrong?

Goodbye, Lay the blame on luck

time to go for a drive.

i usually stay up late when there's no one home. it's strange not having anyone home... no parents... no roomates... big house all to myself. i'm not used to it. i've always had people in the places where i've lived... never by myself for more than 2 or 3 weeks. growing up through high school... then onto college and into the working world. nyu loved cramming as many people as it could into rooms and after graduation it definitely wasn't economically feasible to live alone in new york.

i've rediscovered pb, strawberry jam, on potato bread. it's so good... and i haven't had it in months. i brought some with me... when i went camping for 2 hours this past weekend.

i still procrastinate too much.

i've been thinking about trying out wellbutrin lately. i'm not feeling terrible, but i'm not feeling as good as i had been feeling. i worry that i'll slide backwards, and i'd like to prevent it.

bern wants to throw a new years bash in new york. while it sounds like it could be fun... the last 3 new years (which i've spent in new york) have sounded like they'd be fun... but when they came... i just didn't much care. not for a lack of trying and planning by my friends... things happen and i'm just a party pooper. it's been awhile since i just didn't do anything for new years... just disappeared and stayed home. i kinda just want to sleep through it this year... cause all it's done these last couple years is depress me on all the things that i haven't accomplished... or haven't worked out. i've ended up waking up new years day thinking, 'another year for me to mess up'. going to sleep has other advantages too... i haven't had a drug free new years in awhile either. i know that if i feel like crap though... i'll be more likely to put something in my system. since i'm a lightweight i only need half a beer to get a buzz and put me to sleep =]. it's been a long time since i've had a beer... a couple years i think.

how often do normal people think about death am i just morbid? i'd like to fall asleep in a cushy snowdrift and watch my breath and snowflakes falling against a cloudy grey sky.

the lowest of the low are out with a live album recorded from the buffalo show this past august that i missed from being in new york.

08.25.2004
Lowest of the Low’s summer appearance in Buffalo on August 20th was a revved-up, sold-out affair that saw the band embraced by their second home while performing a range of songs spanning their whole career—some old, some new and some reinvented. A recording of this memorable evening is now available at www.disclive.com.

it makes me happy that they think buffalo is their 2nd home... much props to ron & crew. they always manage to pack in a good crowd and play a rockin show.

anyways... their new album sordid fiction comes out on the 21st of this month in canada. cd release party is @ the phoenix in toronto on the 30th... which i won't be able to make either... have a chem exam the day after =[. on the upside... new album means they'll be touring. anyone want to make a trip to canada on the weekend of the 24th with me?

the weakerthans are also playing in new york @ bowery on the 26th... ummmm... i wonder if i could get to new york for the show and be back in time for orgo lab. it could be doable. i have a kaplan class til 5pm on sat... and i'll leave right after that. hmmm... should i drive or fly? flying would be a little less tiring... but... i don't know if i can part with $100 for such a short span of time. driving is doable... and a bit crazy... but i've done the overnight drive... from philly to buffalo just to spend 4 hours in buffalo and drive back to new york for work. i guess i'll make some calls and see how many people would want to go to a sunday night weakerthans concert... if there are takers... i think i may just have to do this for the sake of rock. how many more chances do i get to be crazy? i'm getting too old for this... and september is here to remind me. the end of summer always reminds me another year has passed... melancholy and bittersweet. yay's or nay's... let me know guys.

so that's the info on 2 great canadian bands... and that's that.

this quickly turned into a fav for the drive home alone in the long stretch of darkness on i-390.

the last last one, the weakerthans

You always stole all my last words.
Here's no exception then, one more for me to send. And nothing happens in the end.
I'm thinking of you less, more concerned... and more is less, I guess it doesn't matter now.

Maybe we'll never go insane.
You always said we would, sometimes I wished we could with you lying naked in the rain
and singing Boney M, cutting down all our old friends. I talk to them again now.

So here's the last one I have left. We fell a little deep, I watched you fall asleep. And nothing happens in the end,
but I remember when I could remember when.

Seems like a long time ago.

just got back from penn... i decided to go. took me almost 6 hours to get down there yesterday evening... got in @ 11pm. left penn today and took me a little over 5 hours to get back. 10 hours of sleep in 2 days and driving 600 miles sucks in a little over a 24 hour period really sucks. my goal was to make it back to buffalo before mighty closed... which i did as i made good time... but the last hour of driving i frequently found myself zoning out... and the eyelids were getting heavy and my ass was getting sore from sitting. i figured i should just go home and find some food there as i didn't want to run over something... or someone.

so why did i come back sun instead of mon? well... i have homework to do that needs to be turned in on tue... i need to finish mowing the lawn... pick up some extra school stuff... and i really didn't want to get stuck in traffic wasting time on i-80.

camping was pretty fun... it was very short though... was only there for 21 hours... and 5 were spent sleeping. got in a good hike... observed dumb white kids drinking (i'm being sarcastic about the dumb for anyone who decides to take offense... it's a joke... really... well maybe not for the few involved in the camping thing).

pics tomorrow... maybe... if they come out ok. i need to crash. good night.

i'm feeling less inclined to go camping now. there's a lot to take care of after i drop off my dad and grandma @ (mom's already in taiwan and flying to hong kong tomorrow) the airport... i'll be the only one holding down the fort for a month. i still haven't really started studying... i have homework to do... labs to read over... textbooks to read. it'll take me 5 hours to get to hickory run in penn, and even longer for my drive back on mon. i don't know if i'll have the energy to do all that AND the other chores i need to get done. camping is fun and all... but it'll be me, bern, bern's co-worker & his girlfriend. there'll be other's there... but in terms of people that fit within the 20-30 group... that might be our group. i'm not exactly thrilled about that.

so... another idea that i thought of... catch a world cup hockey game in toronto @ the air canada centre tomorrow or sunday. such a promising weekend in the planning... with people interested and everything... all for nothing. you know... i tell myself to not plan things all the time... cause when i plan on things happening... they don't, or can't... and usually the exact opposite happens anyways.

shit.

so i got my pics off my phone using qualcom's qpst software, futuredial's usb port driver, and a hex image converter. all the instructions and files can be found here @ the samsung 670 forum.

the camera can take some really nice pics... but it's very sensitive to movement... as you can probably notice from the quality of some pics. it's hard to notice your arm moving though, since the phone is pretty small and it's not like a normal camera. that's ok though... hopefully i can improve my technique with more pic taking. so... if i take around 100 pics... i'll have paid for the cable that i bought from infinite wireless on ebay (calculated using verizon's $0.25/pic gin sending charge). i have to find some ringtones for the phone too that aren't as annoying... which i can transfer with my new cable too as opposed to using gin which of course verizon will charge me for. so that's that... i'm happy it's all working.

in other news... people are dropping the camping thing... it might just be bern & me... yeah... my friends ROCK! eh... oh well... next time. the other big group is going to boston... and i'd be tempted to go... except... camping is so much better... i have to fit it in once a year at least for the smores by a real campfire!

view from tansal's balcony of midtown... and my current phone background, tc's 08/04 

tansal pondering the yummy goodness of his jamba, times sq jamba juice 08/04 

kris enjoying the jambaaaaa, times sq jamba juice 08/04 

the wonderful mara smile comes out on the boardwalk, coney island 08/04 

goldsmith on the phone, morningstar diner (don't worry he kept kosher) 08/04 

marlon thoroughly entertained by the family guy, tc's 08/04 

alex doin what he does... watchin the tube, tc's 08/04 

laura modeling a tasty beverage from tansal's fridge, tc's 08/04 

kris & br, enid's 08/04 

br... deciding what to order @ enid's, 08/04 

my roomate lindsey looking all good... er... scary @ enid's... better pic next time, 08/04 

storrey @ enid's for brunch, 08/04 

ravi wondering how he ended up so damn lucky, enid's 08/04 

so the usb cable i bought off ebay came today... i have to hook it up and see if that qualcom software will let me pull the pics off my phone. i hope it works... i really don't want to give verizon more money... and i really don't like how they pretty much force you to use gin (aka get it now) in order to get your pics off the phone. as if it weren't bad enough that gin is all 'brew'-ed out instead of using java (j2me). i may also have to try gagin, but that can really mess up my phone if i make a mistake using it.

here's some interesting health news. that sounds kinda scary... good thing it doesn't happen often... otherwise i probably would've died by now... actually... i'm quite surprised that i'm even alive today having done the things that i've done.

i got a really reassuring email from the faithful america group.

Dear Mr.,

FaithfulAmerica.org is an interfaith group with members from many traditions, but we wanted to tell you about a great campaign being run by our Christian friends at Sojourners.

Sojourners is responding to Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and others on the Christian Right who claim that God has taken a side in this election and that Christians should vote only for George W. Bush.

The campaign asks how the love of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, and his good news to the poor, have been co-opted by the political agenda of the Religious Right.

If you feel like your faith has been hijacked, click below to sign the Sojourners petition and tell America that the Religious Right does not speak for you.


www.takebackourfaith.org/faithful

Sojourners' "God is Not a Republican. Or a Democrat" petition ran Monday, August 30th, as a full-page ad in The New York Times. It was also placed in the hometown papers of Falwell and Robertson. More than 45,000 people have signed the petition so far. You can donate and help continue to place the ad in newspapers across America - including your own.

When you sign the petition, you'll also have the chance to sign up for Sojourners' weekly updates and online newsletter. We highly recommend the Sojourners newsletter to you as one of the best publications around on faith, culture and politics.

www.takebackourfaith.org/faithful



Blessings,
The FaithfulAmerica.org Team

while the christian right is getting all the attention from the republicans politicizing religion, it's nice to know there are still (and i believe a majority of) people that consider themselves christian in the way they follow jesus' teachings and find ways to apply them whom are very much against the views that the christian right hold.

all of philly might be going wireless. pretty cool with the wifi. i wonder if it'll be 802.11g or just 802.11b spec. the prior would be nice. i can't say i'm a philly fan (there's just too much animosity between the flyers and i)... but... tech-wise i think they're doing something really good.

verizon's out with a new cdma/gsm phone by samsung. it's a joint dealie with vodaphone so that customers can use the phone around most of the globe where mobile service is available (verizon's network in the states, vodaphone in europe & asia). i wonder if cdma tech is compatible with the other asian countries that use cdma, and if you can switch the sim card for gsm use so that you don't have to use vodaphone's service? the phone does look pretty nice though... with a nice samsung color screen.

a fun peanuts cartoon. peanuts was just a great strip though... snoopy and woodstock... were so funny. other strips that i've liked... calvin & hobbes, the far side (technically not a strip), family circus (which many people hate... but i like it cause it's about kids doing stupid kid stuff, using their imagination, and saying kid things, and that makes me happy), and outland/bloom county/opus (i'm glad berkeley breathed brought back opus, i'm obssessed with penguins all waddling, and sliding, and lookin all funny).

i just loaded up firefox 0.9.3 and thunderbird 0.7.3 by the mozilla group for windows and i have to say... i like em. it's been awhile since i've installed anything from the mozilla group on my windows system... as previous experiences with bloated mozilla & netscape 7 had been less than impressive compared with ie. using firefox on tansal's osx system though... i could see that the ui is much improved (clean and minimalistic vs. fatty) and the redering engine with everything cut out is a good deal faster as well. i like the tabbed browsing feature so everything can be contained in the app vs. taking up space in the taskbar. i figured i'd install thunderbird as well, as it's still quite small for a mail app. thunderbird is an improvement from previous versions of mozilla/netscape mail too. i recommend anyone interested to go download some good open source (free) software that comes in small packages. firefox is almost at release 1.0, and seeing that it's very close, you can bet that it's pretty darn stable right now. download @ mozilla.org.

callalillie has some really good pics from a31 @ union sq./irving place yesterday. there's some descriptions of what took place with every pic. i suggest you check it out.

mara sent a fun link for everyone to do tomorrow. the great american shout out. find a shout out location near you.