!
NEW coLor SchEMe !
tELL
ME WhAt You thINk.
IGNORE THE
BANNERS
I HATE THEM. A LOT.
1-11-03
Closer to when I go
back.
I played some
counterstrike today and got my all time best record of 21 kills and only 15
deaths, first place for my team baby.
It is worth celebrating. I had
the kids on the other team so mad they said I eat poop, which in this context I
will take as a compliment.
I had my oil changed
today and went shopping for some last minute stuff. I hope I have everything I need because I spent the last of the
money I brought home. We watched the
patriot today, and Anna’s quote of the week was “Mel Gibson suffers a lot of
‘wife damage’.” I guess it is true.
I have not packed
yet and it is 9:40pm. I really despise
packing.
1-10-03
It is almost time to
go back to school.
This brings about a
mixture of good and bad things. It will
be good because I will see people and be busy again. It will be bad because I have to do a lot of work.
The last week or so
I have been so lazy that it is impossible to compare me with anything more then
my lazy dog cookie who sleeps, eats, and enjoys a boring life. There were things worth writing in here but
I forgot them. I was, however, somewhat
productive today because I cleaned out my car and shoveled the driveway. Most importantly was my ingenious fixing of
the windshield wiper blades on my poor neon, that have been working only well
enough to clear a 2 by 3 inch piece of the glass for me to look out of in the
snowstorms. How, you ask. It was a simple job for my new roll of duct
tape I received for Christmas. More of
this roll will be used in the restoration of my hat.
I have not gotten my
hair cut this break for those of you who care (and I know that most of you do)
so do not be alarmed because this is on purpose.
I have gotten a
little bit better at playing counterstrike online against the pros, mostly
because I spent who knows how many hours on it this break.
Now, the last
productive thing I am doing this break is fixing this darn site before I go
back and not touch it for months. I
deleted everything off of geocities and now am about to place it all back on
again. This will mean that parts may be
down for a while, but I don’t really care.
1-3-03
Well we are now in
the year 2003.
On the 1st
my mother returned from her trip to Phoenix around 4:00. I had until 9:00 to convince her to allow me
to travel to Chicago. We went home and
sat, then my father left to get Nate. I
decided when they got back would be a good time to bring up the subject. Nate’s plane is delayed. 6:00 rolls around, then 7:00, soon enough,
8:00. Finally I make the call to start
the proceedings without my father to at least get the ball rolling, seeing as I
only had an hour. She did not like the
revisions I made to the plan.
A slight
interruption, my Grandpa just called me.
He asked when the snow would stop, and before I could answer decided
that now would be a good time for us to visit Florida. I agree, it would be a good time to go to
Florida. I’ll drive.
Anyhow, they finally
got home and we ate, and it was like 8:30 with not much being
accomplished. Then my brothers and
sister kept making dumb statements and the time was ticking and finally I just
started yelling and saying everybody shut up I need to talk to them NOW! So finally, at 8:50, everyone is out of the
room and the subject is discussed in its entirety, or at least as much as
possible before I have to call Nathan and give him my plans.
As you can probably
tell, the battle did not go well, it was hopelessly lost. Hopefully only the battle, and not the war,
for there is always next break and that looks a lot more probable. Still, this leaves me with a tremendous
amount of free time on my hands. It is
snowing on and on here so I am seriously considering grabbing a shovel and going door to door asking people if they want their driveway shoveled
for 5 bucks. If I shovel a driveway in
like 40 minutes, that would be around $7.50 (w/out tax) an hour which isn’t too
bad considering im getting nothing right now.
I will shovel my driveway and if I feel like doing more then you might
catch me somewhere in the village plowing away.
And that sums it
enough for today.
12-31-02
Today is
unfortunately another long uneventful day it seems. I suppose it should be something special because it is New Years
Eve. Frankly, I don’t really care. It is 10:47am and I have no plans for the evening
because I am lazy. Something must be
done about this.
Not having a job
this break has been the death of me. If
I think about it, I still have 12 long days of break to go. And then I will get back to school and wish
I was here doing nothing. And then the
summer will come and I will be working and I will wish I wasn’t working and
back in school. And then I will go to
school for a year and then get out and go to grad school, and then go find a
job and sit in my cubicle forever until I make enough money to stop
working. And then I will sit around
being old and have nothing to do. Wow,
that was a fun thing to do, think about the future.
12-30-02
Not much happened
that is worthwhile to tell. I went to
the church “college kids gathering” and dragged Dave along with me so that I
would at least have someone to talk to.
Nothing changed between high school and now I’ve decided. Me and Dave were the only guys from our class
that even came to the thing – the rest of our class knew better it seemed (and
Dave would have not come either if I hadn’t forced him). Everyone else was stuck in the same old
cliques that were around forever. Yeah
they seem cool on the outside saying hi and everything, and then they go right
back on as if you never existed. This
is the key problem with Browncroft Community Church’s Youth Group, and it’s
hard to say if even anything can be done about it. It is too large of a group and some people just float to the
outside. Many have debated what is to
be done about this, we were given lectures on the subject, taken on missions
trips together, and all sorts of things.
But if you don’t wear Abercrombie or have some kind of tight bond with
the “Abercrombie Kids” or J-boys, or Already Taken, whatever you want to call
that prissy little group, then don’t bother trying to enjoy BCC’s youth
programs.
It’s a harsh reality
ladies and gentlemen. Granted I
complain about a lot of things, but honestly there is little more that irks me
then this group of people. Sometimes it
seems that if you don’t go to my church you have a much higher probability of
being a nice person.
12-29-02
Well, today was an
exiting day to be sure. I went to
church and sat with Dave and Tara, and then Steve, Dad, and I all went to
Syracuse to see our aunt and uncle and the Austin grandparents. I decided that on this trip it would be a
good time to inquire about the Chicago trip status. So I asked if Dad had talked to Mom before she had left. He tells that basically I cannot go because
it is too long and the weather could be too bad. We had a bit of a discussion or debate about it, and at this
point I realized I could not win this alone.
Dad was too determined and Mom would never consider without his
approval. I needed backup – the topic
must be brought up for discussion at my relatives house to gather a fuller view
of the situation. And so it was
done. Everyone was inquisitive of
Renata over in Chicago and everytime a reference to her was made I would say,
well I don’t know, some people won’t let me go to Chicago with a nice
look at my Dad, who just kinda smiled.
Eventually, my Aunt Karen who is quite astute in such manners and can
often be depended on to back me up on these issues, asked about the details of
the trip and what was going on. So
everything was brought before the council, yes 10 days is a long time, no the
weather is bad, yes I went to Illinois when I was a freshmen and you are a
junior, etc etc. The subject was
pressed but unfortunately left unresolved because the time had come for us to
leave. But much had been accomplished
in these simple proceedings and on the car ride back, little was said, but a
much more open attitude was expressed.
Well, can Nathan maybe change his plans a bit if necessary, Dad
asks. The battle is not yet over.
I went bowling and
saw Ghost Ship tonight. Don’t ever
bother seeing Ghost Ship it is a waste of money. I should have my own movie review section I just realized, but
that would take a lot of effort and I would get bored with it after probably 3
movies.
12-27-02
Another day of doing
nothing. I am about to go and play some
football and this unfortunately is the highlight of my day. However, for your benefit I have included my
new GAMES page alerting you to all the upcoming
games that I am creating. It is
fantastic, there are even screenshots included so check it out. That’s it for now. No news on the Chicago trip.
12-26-02 (and those
few days between my last entry and now)
The day after
Christmas, also my 2 month anniversary with the lovely Renata. But before we delve into today, it is a good
time to recap. So recap I shall.
A little less then 2
weeks ago, the infamous Anti-joy week began commemorating yet another
semester’s closure with a slew of finals.
I struggled to get through the week without dying and I was successful,
as you can now tell because of my writing this. After finals I came back to Webster where I found to my dismay
that the bridges over route 104 had been painted blue. This may not seem big to you, but to me it
shows that Webster is always changing.
No one in my family had bothered to tell me that the bridges were being
painted. I had to experience the shock
for myself, and I did because the familiar green was not there greeting me as
it always had before.
I arrived home to
find Steve, my tall brother now towering over me after boot camp of the marines
taught him how to stand up straight.
The marines are now a loved group in the Austin household as Steve now
holds the position of PFC in their ranks.
Everybody else did not change much sine I last saw them, but then again
I saw them 3 weeks ago where as I hadn’t seen Steve in 3 months.
My sister told me
that my Grandma was once talking to our sort of show-offy worship leader. It went like this:
Grandma: do you always play like that?
Maurice: - yes i sure do
Grandma: - im glad that i dont live near your
house.
When I am old I will
have the guts to say things like this, things I only dream about saying now…
The big Austin event
of the vacation was a family trip to Lord of the Rings which we saw in
Tinseltown (for those of you who do not know anything about Rochester it is a
very big theater with comfortable seating).
Unfortunately Steve who is taller then me picked the aisle with a
railing in front of it that blocked my view of the screen at the bottom. Every time they spoke in some language that
required subtitle translations I was forced to squirm around until the bar was
above or below the test. I smuggled in
some Reeces and ate them during the loud parts of the film so no one would hear
me. The battles for helmsdeep was never
so fun as when a peanut butter cup was melting in my mouth.
I mentioned that I
might like to go to Chicago this break so I could see Renata. The parents have been very wavering on this
subject. When I first mentioned it to
my Mom, she was only concerened that I would be around when she got back from
Phoenix, which I would. Then when I
brought it up before both of them, Mom was very much against the idea, because
of weather, etc. Dad seemed to join
her, but then he says, well lets hear what this would entail. So I explain as best as I can and they seem
just about fine with me going. Then the
next day I am asked how long this trip will be. With travel time and the amount of time I am staying with Nathan
and his relatives, it will be about 10 days I inform them. This does not go over well, and I am again
thrown into uncertainty about the probability of this trip occurring. They now want to see an exact itinerary of
my trip word for word. So I make one up
and my Mom is like, I don’t wan’t to see it now, it is unpleasant and will ruin
my Christmas. On Christmas my Dad is
talking with his parents on the phone and says I might be going to Chicago to
see my girlfriend. This is a positive
sign and I perk up. Instantly my mother
is says loudly “no hes not going” which is decidedly a negative sign. So I decide I will wait until after
Christmas to show them, and then she leaves for phoenix without me bringing the
subject up, sadly enough. So now I am
forced to wait until she gets back to see if I am allowed to leave the next
day. I have basically lost all hope for
this trip.
I kept meaning to
get a head start on Christmas shopping this year but I never found the
motivation necessary to get me out of the house. That is, until Christmas eve where I obviously ran out of
time. So at around 9:00 I set out to do
all of my shopping as soon as possible.
I managed to accomplish this in approximately 3 hours, which was not bad
as far as I was concerned. And a good
half an hour or so was just me being lost as I tried to make my own shortcut
through the city from the mall to Walmart.
It did not work as well as I planned but that was ok, it is the
Christmas season and people are supposed to be happy even if they are
lost. Some of it was time I spent
showing a worker in JC Penny’s which rack exactly I got a pair of slippers off
of. Somehow, people in stores seem to
make me do all the work these days.
The Christmas eve
service came around and I was unfortunately not the one who picked up my
grandparents, but Nate and Steve did, and they have some good conversations
that I wrote down as soon as I heard them.
Here they are for you to enjoy as well:
Grandpa: now that’s a sexy voice (referring to
the radio)
Grandma: you don’t even know what sexy is
Grandpa: yes i do, the announcer’s voice is
sexy. I’ll tell you about some stories
from France in WWII.
Grandma: Charles, they don’t need to be
hearing those stories…
Grandpa: silent night, holy night
Grandma: shut up
Grandpa: all is come all is bright
Grandma: shut up shut up shut up
Grandpa: nate, dont tell anyone this
Nate: what grandpa?
Grandpa: well back in the war
Nate: uh oh
Grandpa: when it was time to move out, they
would always say "get up your cocks and pull on your socks"
Nate: uhh, i wont tell anyone grandpa
Grandpa: no, i was kidding, you can tell steve
Nate: oh, ok...Steve in boot camp did they
ever say that?
Steve: well not exactly…
Grandpa: we used to eat in the world trade
center, thats where she got me this ring.
What did it cost, $27?
Grandma: yeah I wasn’t about to buy you
diamonds
Grandpa: oh well, its chipped now
Steve: good it has some character
Radio: (song about young love)
Grandpa: ha, i am young love!
We watched the play
that Anna was in as an angel (she did a good job in case you are
wondering). Unfortunately, we had to go
to the “family” service to see her. The
family service entailed some Veggie Tales clips as well as our Pastor giving
the entire sermon with the aid of two audience picked children. I raised my hand to be picked, as did Nate,
but we were passed by for other, smaller children. Later I was told that the kids had been pre-picked and that I had
actually stood no chance of being picked by Pastor Phil whatsoever. I had even been optimistic and said “maybe
next year” in the spirit of Christmas, but now I know that it will never
be. Because the service was for
families, the candle-lighting section was replaced with the glowstick waving
time. No one was allowed to have
candles in fear of burning down the church, which I think I almost did last
year. This was an outrage to me. No candles is like ruining Christmas
Eve. And it didn’t even work because
the few candles that actually were on fire in the advent wreath were knocked
over by the adult lighting the middle candle.
He single-handedly almost took down the sanctuary while we held our
sterile glowsticks.
Finally it was time
to go home and have our Christmas Eve buffet which is my favorite meal of the
year. For example:
Grandma: heres the cookies, no dont take the
plate just take 2 you will spill it all over the place. You will drop the plate because it is too
heavy. Look, your hands are shaking.
Grandpa: no they arent, your hands are shaking
It was very good
this year like every year. Then the
grandparents were taken home and I sat around for a while. Then at about 10 I decided maybe now would
be a good time to wrap the presents I had just bought. I did that and went to bed.
Christmas arrived
nice and early at 7:00 with Anna banging down everyone’s doors. She claimed she had been up since 2 but that
is hard to imagine. We went down and
opened presents and I received many good gifts, as did everyone else even our
dog cookie. I wore pajamas all day
until the night where we had to go and shovel the driveway because Nate had to
leave early the next day. All in all it
was a good day.
Then today came and
Nate was gone before I even woke up. He
is in Phoenix now for the rose bowl as part of the marching band. I played some Yu-gi-oh with Anna and then I
went to see if I would have a job for this break. It appears that I will not have a job. My boss is in PA and there is little work that needs to be done
this break. So it looks as though I
will be doing a lot of sitting around this break, which is unfortunate. The reason I am working on this website is
because I am bored right now. I might
write some Christmas cards late because I have so much time. The time rolled around for Mom and Anna to
go to the airport, because they will be staying in Phoenix with Nate for the
next 6 days. Now only me, Dad, and
Steve are left. I am worried what our
meals will become. Steve is gone a lot
because he works at the recruiting office.
12-1-02
It’s December now.
I went to Walmart
today to buy some shampoo and a scraper for my car. When I got to the cashier, I realized I would have to cash a $100
bill for my 10 dollars worth of stuff.
This did not please the cashier.
First, she put on the blinking light saying she needed more cash in the
drawer – my checkout had become an emergency.
She also entered into the register that I gave her a $1000 bill, and my
change was supposed to be $990 something.
This did not make her very happy.
Then she proceeded to check out the next person in line. So, in an effort to improve the situation, I
tell her I have a 50 I can use instead (I don’t normally carry big bills like
this, but I was on break and I had meant to buy a set of speakers). At that point she handed me a piece of paper
and a pen with 50.00 – 9.48 on the paper and says, “Here, you can do the math
for me.” She checked out another
person, turned off the emergency blinking light and took the paper back. I was a bit caught off guard that she wanted
me to figure out my own change – do I look like a calculator? And it was annoying because you had to cross
out the 0’s and make them 9’s and it was getting really complicated, but I think
I got it right. She read it and handed
me the change I wrote on the slip. I
should have given myself an extra 5 dollars.
So, I apologize to
her and take my stuff. In retrospect, I
wish I didn’t apologize because I wasn’t the rude one. Oh well, maybe next time. I went out to my car and started backing up
and then a huge plow turned into my row, so I made haste to get out of its
way. And what do I see but another huge
plow facing me, coming the other direction.
It was like they were given orders to smash my little neon into a big
green snowball, made of car parts and not snow. Luckily, I quickly drove through some parking spots to avoid
their crazy snow-removal tactics.
All in all, it was
the most eventful time of my break, assuming my trip back to Houghton in the
snowstorm is boring.
11-30-02
The skin is dying on my right hand middle finger. It hurts and does not look like my normal
skin. Right now, my brother Nate is
sitting next to me. He is
annoying. I wish that he would go away,
but he just doesn’t. He cannot take the
hint that I do not want him to sit here, even if I spell it right out on the
screen in front of him. The only
solution: now I must fight him. It was
a tough battle, but, I am victorious.
He is whining about loosing feeling in his fingers.
On to other matters.
There is not much to say about these
past few days. I am only writing
because I am still on break and thus I feel like I have more time on my hands. Yesterday, I saw a movie and ate at Taco
Bell. It was fun, but not terribly
exciting or hilarious in any form, sadly enough. Today, I played games with my friends all day long and then I had
pizza. Then more games, and now here I
sit.
There you have it, a
summary of 2 days in 1 paragraph. Not
too shabby. I know the links on the
bottom are messed up but I can’t figure out why stupid Frontpage wont load them
right. So, broken they will stay. Just move the cursor around and eventually
you will find what you are looking for, I guarantee it.
Tomorrow I will
drive through a snowstorm to return to Houghton. Hopefully I will get some Krispy Kreme donuts on the way, because
they are good. This has been a break of
good food, so I might as well finish it off with a bang.
You know what, I had
a lot of other stuff I wanted to say.
It comes to me, randomly, in places where I am too lazy to jot stuff
down. So I lose the random thoughts I
wanted to share. Maybe they will come
back to me, but I doubt it.
11-28-02
THANKSGIVING
At the end of the
day here, I find myself with nothing to do except programming homework for Dr.
Hu, so I have decided to work on this website of mine instead. And since it is Thanksgiving, you will all
get a taste of what an Austin family holiday is like.
So here is the
scenario. The day begins early for my
mother, who begins doing all kinds of cooking action in the kitchen. I sleep until about 9 or 10, when I am told
to get up. I don’t remember why it was
so important for me to get up, because I promptly went down and started playing
with Legos. Every once in a while I
feel inspired to build, and this break has been one of those times. At about 10:30 or so, my grandparents call
to say that they don’t want us to drive in the insane blizzard to pick them up
for Thanksgiving dinner, which my mother promptly tells them is absurd. Then, the real reason of the call is
discovered; my grandma has forgotten what time we were coming over and wishes
to know. It is a subtle system of
obtaining information, but it is the Austin way. A neighbor comes over and brings me a pie – specifically for
me! Not the rest of the family, but me,
I am quite honored by this gift. At
this point Nate and I are told to go shovel off all the ice so that the
grandparents will not be upset when they get here. I go and shovel off the paths and mind my own business when I
get attacked in an undeclared snowball war.
Nate and Anna, who is outside for who knows what reason, gang up on me
and we fight with snowballs until it becomes more convenient to throw shovels
full of snow at each other, making a mess of the areas we just shoveled.
Back inside we go, to eat some food to hold us over until the
feast at 4:00. Nate and I play some
computer games and then I am called to get ready to pick up the
grandparents. I am the chosen one to
drive in the blizzard, risking life and limb in an effort to save
Thanksgiving. So I shower and shave and
take off in the Neon with Anna in the car.
She makes sure to remind me (twice) that my grandparents will only
appreciate classical music and that I should adhere to such an
appreciation. We pick them up at 3:28,
where they are already waiting with anticipation for the meal. The customary greetings take place and we
head back home. Here is just a small
part of the conversation:
We pass a cemetary
Grandpa: Well, those people wont be having turkeys for dinner
Me: Well, no grandpa, you are right they wont.
We pass a friendlys
Grandpa: Can we stop there and eat first?
Me: You better not say that near my mother...
We pass a mcdonalds
Grandpa: I wont ever eat at mcdonalds
Me: Why not?
Grandma: He says he wont eat there, I dont know why
Grandpa: They urinate on the burgers...
I cannot help but say that I find my grandparents refreshingly
humorous.
We arrive home for
to view the final preparations, and then it is time to eat. Everyone sits down at their named place
settings (courtesy of Anna) and Dad prays and we eat. I could have written this same paragraph 5 years ago and nothing
would have changed. Dad is somewhat
grumpy and is upset if the passing does not go well. When I say passing, I mean the transfer of a dish from one person
to the next, always counterclockwise, in an efficient, timely manner. If someone does not pass their dish at the
correct and fast time, chaos ensues.
And I mean chaos. My
grandparents comment on how they only eat like this once a year. My mother informs them that we have a big
meal on Christmas that they always attend as well. This year, the whole table notices that people are sitting in the
wrong places. Steve is not here this
year, and Anna and Mom took the liberty of changing around all of the
places. It was a bit confusing for me,
but then again I have been branded as the “hater of all change” and my opinion
has lost its value in any situation that is a change of some sort. So the other family members needed to duke
this one out.
At the end of the
meal, Dad does the dishes and Mom cleans up the food, and Grandpa and Grandma
are told to stay out of the kitchen.
There was some chitchat, and then I was sent to take them back home
again.
I took a nap, then played
some more video games, then watched Dinatopia.
It is an interesting show to say the least, all about humans and
dinosaurs, go figure. Then I looked at
some of the great bargains that stores are having tomorrow, and then everyone
went upstairs to bed, at 10:00. It is
so early, I will be in bed by 11 and life will be good. And thus ends the eventful Thanksgiving at
the Austin household.
Tune in next time
for an Austin Family Christmas…
11-15-02
I have decided to
update this sucker once again. There
is, I suppose, much to say since the preseason days. Cross-Country is over, and I am finished running competitively
for life. My professor Wei Hu takes up
most of my free time with his long programming assignments – I have to first
write the programs and then I revisit them all to grade them for the
class. It is not a great system, but at
least I am kind of a TA again, like the good old days. YFC is fun, lots of great kids there. FYI is over. That is fine with me, because a lot of the kids I taught in FYI
did not think so highly of me, and it showed in their leader-evaluations. Such is life, I suppose. That is how honors kids act all the time, I
am told…
My newest project is
the STAR column dedicated to things I feel like writing about. I will post all of my articles on the
website, don’t worry.
That’s all for now,
I’m too lazy to keep writing.
The rest of these entries can be found in the ARCHIVE page.
Welcome to
ChrisAustin.com, the site that claims to own a URL address that doesn't exist
and is too expensive for me to buy. This site is of course, always under
construction, and probably one of the most technologically-lacking webpages you
will ever encounter. Keeping these facts in mind, I think that you will enjoy
what my site has to offer, since you most likely know me if you stumbled across
it. If you don't know me, well, I don't really know what to tell you to expect.
CREATED BY CHRIS AUSTIN WITH WORD AND PAINT. ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED. ©