Well well. It looks here like I'm pretty much done with the new layout, except for a few things like the Photo pages, and what have you. Tom's been giving me free suggestions, and I like them. I really do.

It's really too bad that CSS-2 doesn't support columns, like the way the Bible is always laid out. I would really like that better. Or maybe the support is there, and i haven't found it?

Multiple days on one page might work out well, too. We'll see, in time. I find that managing hundreds of files is annoying after awhile, so ya know, you gotta condense sometimes.

This new setup is a lot cleaner, advanced, cross-platform-browser-compatible, and the code just makes a whole lot more sense to me now. So i am happy and my life is complete. For my next quest i must find me some coffee.. then maybe cold fusion.. ??

recap, rewind: I was at school all last week, doing work, hanging with the boys, you know the usual. At one point on Thursday i finished my laundry, while finishing the first half of this layout, and joined Dwight, Jenn, Linds, and Katie, had some lunch, then started the long, dark car-ride home. It was awesome. We were nearly killed, i can assure you. There was this yellow Kia that was out to kill us,, and dude, that convocade of trucks, they were on the rampage i swear.

I woke up that morning, Friday morning, on Jenn's couch, cause i had crawled there last night. All things considered, my home is in pretty good shape for me not having been here in several months. Portersville didn't have a revolt, Mercer as far as i know hasn't waged civil war on itself, and good old Butler is doing swell. So basically i hung out with Pam and Tom a lot of the time on Friday, sort of at the mall, and we bought chocolate. I got a Qur'an and a Silmarillion.. the Qur'an I bought, because it seems part of an ongoing sense of purpose - a calling, if you will - to be well-versed in the Islamic religion.. NOT to turn from saving faith into a Muslim :-P (No one does that), just to read up. The Silmarillion i got cause it was good and i wanted my own copy.

Hidalgo

Betsy and Tom and I and Pam went to see Hidalgo, a pretty sweet movie. There was lots of Arab and Native American Indian cultural stuff in it, old-skool style. I'm talking 19th century, way back. See it.

Then that evening after taking Betsy home, we did a bit o' yardwork (which is suspicious, cause though they're kicking me out little by little :-P I still have to do the yardwork. eh well...) Then Tom and I watched the Cowboy Bebop movie that i borrowed. Then there's the whole issue of today, where I got my passport photos. They don't look half bad; in fact they fall a close SECOND only to my driver's liscence photo as being the BEST photo of me ever, first of all cause it's stereogrammed, so my head is rendered in stunning 3-D, and i dunno, i like it. I was late picking up Dave from the doctor, so i got ice cream, and we hung out at the mall forever, (met Jackie and her family here!) and headed down to Dan B's house, for some Karaoke and a really stupid movie which i don't recommend :-P

Party at Jenn's! We had Dan there and his gf, and Adam was there, and Nikki, and Lauren and Krista, and Sam but not Andrew or JW, and Els-Marie and Jackie and Sarah-Sam, and of course Jenn Dwight Katie Linds and I. And Mr. And Mrs. K of course. Jeff and Carrie came soon after, Brent showed too, and Sarah Morley. Lots of catchup happened, lots of stories and what have you, lots of reminiscing.. eh you know, it's inevitable! It's good. There was lots of fire but sadly no Lugby, which i was hoping, but everyone wasn't dressed down enough.

The pool table and ping pong, and fuuz ball tables got used the whole time. Oddly enough i didn't play fuuzball that time!? I just realized it. I always am challenging someone. But of course Adam is the local champ anyway, so best that I didn't go throwing my weight around. I got home and everyone was asleep, go figure, so i diddled on this site a little more, and uh, yeah, watched Matrix 3, loved it.. good movie.. and yeah, i'm going to bed, it's like 3 AM.

A long while ago God came to live with us, and eventually died at our hand. Which played right into his hand, as usual. It was cool because, though he's big on justice, he couldn't stand sending people, who he loves, to eternal hell, so he paved a way for us to take out of that situation.. at the expense of his life yeah, but what other kind of love is there?

Yeah, rock and roll... hmm. It's easy to get caught up in the swell of the music. I think i had touted Rock and Roll as The Epitome Of All Good Music, or something. And it's good music, but i wonder if some people don't take it too far..

What I mean is, there's a whole subculture that listens to just the music of the fifties, sixites, seventies and eighties, which is generally considered pretty good stuff by everyone. But isn't that just it, isn't that the point? It's got to stop being viewed like Jack Black sees it, like it's some eternal virtue or world spirit, cause it's just Rock. Meanwhile it rocks, and to listen to it gets your feet and your mind going, but apart from being THAT form of expression that so many people relate to, apart from being this genre that may be lost in history, it's not really anything.

First of all, rock isn't eternal. I mean come on, no way. No way is life a highway to ride all night long, just gimme a break, it's a song. I wanted to put the lyrics here in my journal. It just wouldn't make sense. It's nonsense. All the pageantry of Rock, the trappings, the 'Big Eighties' hair and metal bands, the stage presence, the show, it's all rubbish. There's nothing to it.

January

The pageantry and majesty all come from this idea, this romantic notion that to be a rock star is to be a god - and so far in America, we DO idolize our rock stars to a pathetic degree. Yes, they made good music, most of the time, but geez, they were trash like the whole lot of us. And like a lot of us, they mostly all died, or will die, and become part of this growing festering heap of stars that people worshipped. And when America falls, their glory fades away. And what if it doesn't last even THAT long?

Rock is music. Like American Christendom, there's all these denominations that don't have to be there, but they're there. There's the RIAA, there's big names that people follow, emulate, copy, what-have-you, and bands leave their mark, break up, try new things, mix it up all the time. Rock is, sad to say, largely driven by the dollar, anymore. I think the IDEAL rock is when bands play because that's what they're good at, and don't seek any higher 'record deal' than that. I think in a lot of ways even the band Boston must have succumbed to that; if you listen to that one song, you'll see what i mean.

It's very fake to me. I like the music, but i can't help detect what a whopping lie it is to sing about Rock as if it were something worth singing ABOUT.

It was not long before the wooden parts of it were glowing red. In no time the studio was filled with smoke. Backing away in some alarm, Mr. Tompkins found the door and threw it open to allow the smoke to escape. From there he watched in fascination. He caught sight of Maud's face. It was a picture of total concentration. It was at that moment he realized that he was in love.

It was less a cinch than it was really easy. Cinch-hood would mean that i laughed at it, but i didn't really, cause it was okay. I got like an A, i bet, though.

Yesterday was busy.. i went straight from labs to the rock wall with Chels, and went up a few walls, caught up, ya know.. then from there to Trash Club, in the pouring rain, despite which, it was a really good day.. then from there straight to Golden Goose practice, where we learned parts of our act - Bohall is gonna rock the house! Then from there to do Math homework, which lasted like four million years, until like 1 in the morning, then yeah. And all that took all day. I think i'm missing something..? And i only have 70 mealpoints. Dirty dog...

So i overlooked some CS homework, so i'll be up all night doing that. Maybe not. Maybe i'll get some sleep - yawn.. Meanwhile, here are some things i think are important:

Number one, dropload.com is the bomb. Drop it. Drop the bomb, right now. I dare you.

Also, I'm talking to my bud Brian V, hallmate from Freshman year, now recording his awesome music down in Martha's Vineyard.

And the JUNIOR DANCE that Melissa asked me to, is tomorrow, and that's gonna be exciting! More about that later, definitely.

Fourthly, Jackie's written another Robert and Pati chapter! Read it!

I just got news that Nathaniel's going to the Hilton community next year! Even more reason to go visit them, over there. Alright, so i did a bunch of stuff today and now i'm gonna go to DANCE!!

Yesterday for Bible study we went and heard this guy talk about Vocation. It's a topic that i personally have heard way too much about. Everyone says sort of the same thing, and i have my own views on what Vocation and Calling are. I think people philosophize about it WAY TOO MUCH. First of all, (this guy says) there's your calling to salvation, and also your calling to whatever it is you're gifted at. Then Karrel has heard the idea of a third calling, the calling to grow yourself in Christ with a fam of believers. I'd actually lump that with salvation.. i don't think the two are any different. And same with the calling to develop your talents in the wider world. It's no different. I get sick of all the talk, the semantics.

Here is the difference, the ONLY difference in my eyes between the saved person's calling, and the non-saved person's calling (yeah there's only one) is that Christ controls the first one, and therefore it continues forever. Or something like that. The whole topic .. it tastes salty, i hate to write about it. It's like Reformed Theology or something, something that they would talk for hours about. As if talking about it for more than a minute were important.

Sigh.

So i got the .NET developer's kit from Will just an hour ago. Ima gonna install it soon, here. I also made a page in XML, though i can't imagine why i'd use it, ever. Maybe it's a tad bit more general than HTML, i guess.

The dance yesterday was awesome! Granted, a lot of it worked like a Rider dance party, but they had stuff you could dance to every once-in-a-while, like Huey Lewis' Power of Love, and others, and when those songs weren't playing, everybody was able to fake it pretty well - and have a great time! Melissa and I and her suite-mate Liz went up to the place, and we were like the first ones there besides Anna, and Dan J and his girlfriend, and Troy and his friends. Everyone filed in over the next half-hour, as the DJs played the tunes softly at first, then gradually louder, and the meal was sweet, there was some sort of chicken, and delicious breadsticks, and the lasagna was decent as well. My mum shoulda made it though. :P But yeah, the dance itself was crazy, we were all pulling these crazy moves. And before we knew it, 3 hours or so passed and it was time to go, and they finished off with Stairway to Heaven! It was just classic.

Work today was LOUSY by comparison - there was no music, atmosphere, lasagna, or anything - no complaints though. It kept me busy anyways. The roomies all got haircuts the other day, they look pretty fantastic. Dustin can finally wear a hat :P This guy came to the grill today, he was like, "hey there, can i get a bag o' tater chips?" And i was like, no, that area's closed. And he was like, "Oh alright then, uh, could i just get an order o' them-there mozzerelley sticks?" Aw man, i wanted to bust out laughing.

So this .NET developer's kit is the usual gigabyte or two of pure Microsoft bloatware. The GUI-maker better be decent, cause that's the ONLY advantage it would have over the basic .NET framework that i ALREADY have. It looks like i'm gonna be packing up my mp3s and leaving them on the shelf, for the rest of the semester. Farewell, Led Zeppelin. I have the radio i can listen to if i want. No worries.

I was at the grocery store and wanted to write a check. They gave me a pen... with a plastic spoon taped to it. I asked why and they said, "To keep people from stealing it." The plastic spoon is now a crime fighting device. I taped one to my car. Who needs Onstar?

Having a spoon on the pen might make things worse. If someone is desperate enough to steal a plastic pen, that plastic spoon is going to look pretty good.

So it's been an okay few days... a lot of redding up for the big summer, (sent in my passport app today, for instance) and a lot of cleaning up the tons of assignments. It's kind of a pain, but eh.

Amanda from Mac called and told me to quit playing Population Tire, and get out and enjoy the beautiful night. First of all, i haven't played Population Tire in over 6 months. Second of all, the stars weren't even out! But i took a walk anyway, even though i was tired. It was good for me (i think?). See, i learned something; that is that i had thought it was a crappy night, when in fact it was, but it did not effect itself so to other people. Caleb as well, remarked that the night, which at my first glance had been a mediocre-at-best night, was actually a beautiful night.

And i had this dilemma now! But then, whilst walking, it came to me. The beauty that i had been struggling to see, perhaps was not for me to see. Perhaps it's set aside for me to experience warm cloudy nights and regard them as distasteful and nasty. But wherein lies the beauty, then?

The beauty is this, my friend: that to others it is beautiful thing, and that in OTHER people's minds, it is a treasured thing. That is what makes it beautiful to me.

and i enjoyed my night.

So i was like, wanna have fun? and Chels was like, there's a lacrosse game today. And so we went, and took bikes to Endicott College; first i did then she did. And i forgot that Tiff was a goalie! That's cooler than what i'd previously thought, i just thought she was crazy :-P . The girls team won, thankfully; the game went back and forth, but Tiff and MacLeod had it in the proverbial and collective bag, it was a done deal, we all knew it. It was just a matter of cheering the right amount.

I should have worn my Endicott LAX shirt! Then when i'd have cheered for Gordon, the Endicott people woulda gotten mad at me too.

Captain Dusty's was on the way home, and i thought i had to be home for Trash Club, so we got ice cream on the way home. Then trash club was closed for the week, cause of the guy's game..! Stink, i shoulda stayed. But i got stuff done insteadwise.

There was a whole largish reunion of lots of my friends who sort of know eachother but not really.. all around a table in Lane, during Cheese Night. I could only be there for a few minutes, as it turned out. I still didn't finish the assignment that i wanted to, but with any luck i'll get full credit ;-)

strangely enough i got to bed at a decent hour (1:30 am) so imagine my surprised expression when my alarm clock didn't wake me, though i randomly happened to doze awake at ten of 8. Just in time, eh? I felt nasty and unshowered and un-toothbrushed for like two class periods. So i did all that and laundry, during Chapel. Yay.

Then just as i was about to call Chris, Grandma called! She's up to no good as usual. This time she's headed to Colorado then Utah to visit her Aunt Marge, it's gonna be the bomb (fo schnizzle). And i suggested that she should play basketball with Harry since he's recovered and all? And i think they just may. Oh man. What fun.

and uh yeah. its beautiful outside. I müst eat, then call Chris before the café closes.

Brian came to school today! Brian has been out on the island doing music for so long, it was great, he came back, he was here, i FINALLY got to see him! It turns out he's going down to do a school in Tennessee, and never really going to see us again. Heavy, huh? But Brian's a man of God, i'll see him again one of these days. And i sure hope to hear some more of his MUSIC, it's GREAT! I'm so glad he came to visit, even if just for one day.

The LEAD retreat caravan also headed out today, while i was at work, working in Lane, watching them load things onto the buses, from my vantage point on sunny-side Lane.

Looks like they'll all be headed out to a bright new future!? :-\ Ah, i turned down the opportunity to go on this thing - first of all i don't see it as an opportunity, but that's just my personality ( i hate meetings, schedules, retreats ? ) - i turned it down cause i dunno, the 'cleaning club' idea just would not work well with me having to be a part of a large beaurocracy. Yes yes, it would be valuable to know how to work like that, with pointless things scheduled. But i figured, hey, this is America. I'll freelance the cleaning club. Yeah, i'm talking to people, the idea is getting out.

So then after thinking, i went back to my working, and i worked some, and things were good, but Tom had thrown out his back! Not cool! They put me in with this John dude from Rider, who's a future Drew man - the step of faith that takes for him, i applaud - and as it turns out, Mike who i met at Denny's that one night, dude, he's changed his mind! I'll have to just go out and get to know him then, he's cool.

Henry came to school today! Oh, we benched Zack, we had this nice girl jumpstart our car, we searched all around for Chelsea - and it was really efficient cause the two of us were searching at once - and i got Tiff really mad cause i had an Endicott shirt!? i mean come on, have a little fun, girl. We bugged Kevin for half an hour, Henry flipped some knives around, you know, the usual.

we got Chels to come with us to the beach, and so she and Eileen, Steph, Mag and Krista pile into the back of Henry's little 3-seater, and we ROAR down that road the whole way like a truckload of college kids. Oh then we met a few kids at the beach, enjoying the night, you know, all pretty much wasted, but nonetheless halfway conversationable. Oh yeah. And the sand was way too cold. I thought i was gonna swim or something. Heck no. We ended up really singing and worshipping God that way, for a long time. Henry: nice harmonies, man! Chelsea: you go low, really well! i'm impressed. Eileen, you got a strong voice! Steph, i missed your guitar but it doesn't matter, you DO sing quite well. I say all this cause this is true about your voices, but don't get caught up in worrying about your voice during singing. It's not the point. Let it be a gift to God, and thank him for it! God is looking for worshippers whose worship comes from love, and comes from every part of our being. Spirit and Truth, yo.

So Henry and i had some good times today, and we got to meet a bunch of each-other's old friends. I hadn't seen him since February, on the Birka marketplace trip, seriously. He'll be around tomorrow, methinks.

Cudney came to school today! He's a friend of Amanda's, he's actually cooler than she made him out to be. Man, i am so tactless when it comes to representing Amanda in writing. Oh well.

- and by that i mean that i should stop representing Amanda in a negative light, in my writing. yeesh, 'manda, FLIP OUT some more, why doncha?! :-P - (apr 25 2004)

But hey, Henry and I got to meet him, during our little search-for-Chels-and-destroy mission, and guess what?? i get to give this dude the grand tour tomorrow! How about that!? I'm psyched. Who knows WHAT we'll do, hehe, haha!

AND!!! i got a 91 on the project! What project? Project 4. What's Project 4? The minor-maker. Yes, the B-Tree. Oh yes, THAT project. Oh, oh, who's the man? Oh yeah.

Dude i'm totally out-of-line for taking more than HALF the credit from my GENIUS partner MIKE, cause i'll be hanged if he didn't have the clearest idea of the big picture, of what was going on as a whole, with that gold-blasted B-Tree we built. Yecch, that code gives me the jibblies. Ah, Mike, hi five.

man i worked way too long, yesterday. I have 12 hours on my punchcard this week, and i'm not done yet! Sheesh. I should work for a living, or something.

cudney is the proverbial 'man'. he may be coming here, to school. something about it being dangerous in his hometown..? ignoring the fact that he HIMSELF is a danger to himself?? :-P

Here's stuff from Robbie's site, (raging kiltsman): it's a quote from Francis Schaeffer, and it's so dead-on:

the hippies of the 1960s did understand something. They were right in fighting the plastic culture, and the church should have been fighting it too... More than this, they were right in the fact that the plastic culture - modern man, the mechanistic worldview in university textbooks and in practice, the total threat of the machine, the establishment technology, the bourgeois upper middle class - is poor in its sensitivity to nature... As a utopian group, the counterculture understands something very real, both as to the culture as a culture, but also as to the poverty of modern man's concept of nature and the way the machine is eating up nature on every side.

dude, so many people dont know the beauty of the forest itself, and all its massive glory. And who created that? That's right, you know who makes things like that.

this nail polish is making me sleeeepy....

it's cool cause my partner has a laptop, so we just told Professor that we'd go do the lab on the quad, and it was good. Pretty refreshing too!

Two days ago, Henry let me know, that he's gone, outta here. He's moving to Alabama, he'll be there next year. Henry, you're the man! Never forget that! That spirit never dies! Come visit when you get the urge to travel ridiculous distances, eh Henry?

So there's some paper-writing to be done, as well as rock-climbing and trash-clubbing. I worked 11:55 hours this week. That's like, a lot of time. And i'm hurting for free time - but i like it :-)

I sorta like it. It's kind of making the time go MUCH too quickly. When am i ever gonna stop watching the clock like i do? I guess it doesn't help that i have a ticker to keep track of how old i am. :-P But that's actually entirely different - i don't care if days pass, i just care if usable time passes. I'm not making sense.. Am i trying to make sense? Nah..

Yo, Drew next year is gonna be AWESOME. Jeremy and I and Gordon, we have a plan. Or rather, plans. Like, lots of little ones that weave into and out of eachother. You will be begging to live here, next semester. :-P No kidding.

Showertime.