25 July 2004

i'm gonna regret writing this tonight tomorrow morning

The Bourne Supremacy was good, but not so good up close. if you go see it, give yourself an extra couple of rows because it's got a lot of actiony hand cam stuff. so it's a bit rough watching it up too close. but it was really good.

then on saturday night we watched Bottle Rocket. if you like the Wilsons (Owen and Luke), then you'll love this movie. it's almost about nothing, but it's pretty funny due to the high Wilson content.

then tonight jesse and i watched Before Sunrise. it took me a while, but i finally remembered seeing previews for it a long time ago and wondering how they could make a movie about one night, of course, back then i wasn't as brilliant as i am now, so it's only normal for me to have thought that. anyway, she wanted to rent it because the sequel is out or coming out. i dont know exactly. yeah, but it was a good movie. i dont know how many people i know can really relate to it, but maybe? hard to imagine a movie about 2 people talking to each other for over an hour could be somewhat moving. they did a really good job interacting. it was very natural. these kind of movies sort of worry me; that this will happen to me or perhaps already did. i dont know. i guess you could go around worrying that you'd miss out on the excitement of something like this by being with someone permanantly, but i think perhaps it's much wiser to hold on to that person that makes you happiest when you find them even if the way you met wasn't some adventure story. because i don't think it'd be an enjoyable existance always leaving someone in hopes for an adventure with someone you might love more. this might sound really stupid to you all, but it's kind of like a thinking "outloud" session for me. yeah. i'm glad i have jesse. and just because we didnt meet on an adventure doesn't mean we can't have adventures together. i look forward to those, babe.

i found a lot of new music that i really dig today.

one more week of work. "easiest thing in the world"

23 July 2004

Jerry Goldsmith, we hardly knew yee

well, i don't really know much. i guess it's been a little while since my last post. not having a computer at my desk makes it a lot harder to find the time blog.

Jerry Goldsmith died 2 days ago. that's a shame. he was a wonderful composer. he composed music for an enormous amount of movies including Rudy (probably my favorite) and tons Star Trek.

i'm about to enter my last week of work and i'm quite certain... i do not want to work for the state. i would so much rather get paid more for actually doing work than get paid regular for doing nothing. i hope i find something good in the next year.

i hope everyone's seen Anchorman because if you haven't you're a big fat idiot. it is quite possibly the hardest i have ever laughed at a movie (even more than Jackass, which i came out of hoarse).

jesse and i went on a secret afternoon movie rendezvous wednesday. that was fun. we saw Harry Potter on the IMAX. it was spectacular. it was so clear and huge! not to mention louder than all get out. even though jesse said she totally didnt want to see it and everything, i think she's thanking me in her heart for taking her ;)

so one of my neon bulbs went out the other day rendering the whole set useless (without a replacement bulb). however a replacement bulb would have cost more than an entire new set, so rather than just the single bulb, i got an LED underbody kit for over $10 less than i paid for the neon set, which is what i wanted in the first place! dangit. and much to my surprise, the LED kit is capable of patterns (actually i knew it was capable but it wasnt mentioned in the auction so i didnt get my hopes up). it has about 6 or so different ones. anyway, with the help of my reluctant dad, we got almost the whole thing put on last night. and i must say, i like it. the LEDs aren't as ambient as the neons were, but they are considerably brighter i believe. (not to mention the patterns). i'll put a video of them up as soon as i can.

i was sick the other day(s). very uncomfortably sick. coincidentally, bryan was also sick on the same day(s). weird stuff...

...the bottom line is. i learned my lesson.

well, i'd like to see The Bourne Supremacy this weekend.

i sent out like 15 emails the other day to various people and i havent gotten back ONE friggin response. what the duece?

ah whatever. oh yeah, and i'm leaving work today at noon to meet jesse for a secret lunch in the park rendezvous. i cant wait.

and i get cool new glasses on monday! they look just like john lennon's only not black. (his were circles in case you didnt know)

peace out. please.

08 July 2004

i am the webmaster

i'm sure none of you looked at the old ASCE website that i'd been talking about, but if you had looked at it and then you went and looked at the new one i just created, you would crap you pants (as would everyone around you). i did all of this in one evening (granted it took ALL evening, but still!)

check it out, peehan!

happy 200th.

well this is my 200th blog entry. it's been a crazy road. lotta "in's", lotta "out's". not to mention the "ups" and "downs" of course (and "lefts" and "rights"). i think the most interesting part is probably the entries written during my hungarian adventure. i keep meaning to compile them into "book" of sorts and print it off. someday. i've actually been fairly "busy" lately. not at work of course (because i dont do squat), but after work. i have but a few hours to try and get stuff done that i "need" to do.

A) my website is currently under going a facelift
2) the ASCE website is in DIRE need of a HUGE facelift (i really dislike the way it looks. whoever did it knew how to do html and whatnot fairly well, but he knew nothing about style)
D) i cant seem to get the neon lights under my car to work well for an extended period of time. seems like something needs fixing on them every week. the whole thing is like a long algebra problem; once you make a mistake, it's really hard to figure out where you went wrong
5) i STILL havent fixed the fulcrum on the catapult!

and all the while i'm trying to find time to exercise and spend time with jesse.

i am however getting to read a LOT lately, which is a really nice change. i finished 1984 last week and this week i FINALLY finished the last 70pgs of Return of the King that i had left from over a year ago (sheesh). and now i'm working on Chaos (very interesting stuff).

i think working for the state (TDOT) is not what i'd prefer to do. at least not until i'm ready to quit working. this doesnt seem like a place that rewards motivated employees and stuff. and i've come to realize that so much of engineering isn't just problem solving, it's legal stuff. you gotta get permits EVERYwhere for EVERYthing. lotta paperwork. so i'm leaning more and more towards my interests in construction management and some sort of water transport (for people who aint got no agua). we'll see. but first and foremost concern as of recent is that i'm doing what God wants me to do. as long as i'm obeying and pleasing Him, everything else will just fall into place. such an odd concept to me at times. odd in that i dont see how i didnt realize this before, but also odd in that it seems too easy; i just do what God wants and He takes care of the rest. amazing.

jesse and i and jon and ian(sp?) went to see Fahrenheit 9/11 this past weekend. honestly, it wasn't as bad as i thought it was going to be. i mean, it was, but those parts were just so ridiculous that i could only laugh at them. although, there were some very interesting points along the way. if i havent said it before, i'll say it now... i do respect michael moor for what he does. he's a very regular american-looking guy who is using his gifts to try and better the world in the way he deems appropriate. now whether or not it IS in fact appropriate, i cant say (sort of). so i commend him on rising above what the average guy does with his life and trying make a difference with his. that being said, i think the majority of 9/11 is propaganda...

noun
2 : the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person
3 : ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause; also : a public action having such an effect

and i think he will lose a lot of his message's effectiveness because it will be viewed in this manner. maybe he's invented a new genre: the docuganda. or perhaps the propumentary. (well, you get the idea.) (either way, he's really good at propaganda.) in the end i tend to think a lot of the "facts" his evidence is based on is most definitely skewed. this is a great informative article about moore and his "facts". and here's a delightful segment from what the guy says about France...

"Wait until France gets a hard shot in the nose. Wait until France reacts with some nasty work. They’ll get a golf-clap from the chattering class over here and a you-go-girl from Red America. France could nuke an Algerian terrorist camp and the rest of the world would tut-tut for a day, then ask if the missiles France used were for sale. And of course the answer would be oui."

nice. this is really a great article. you really should take 10 min and read it if you have any opinion whatsoever regarding michael moore or the current war.

we went downtown and watched the fireworks. i wasnt really looking forward to it simply because the promise of fireworks just isnt enough to motivate me to fight the crowds of people, but i still had fun. i think everyone else did too.

well it's 2:00pm now. that 3:00am (friday) for hong kong sam and 7:00am (also friday) for kiwi corey.

good travels to you all.

01 July 2004

sorry. been busy and away from the computer.

but at least i'm not scott. lazy.

so this cat...



...got locked up in my grandmother's garage the other day when my brother and dad were mowing. so we've been taking care of him(?). funny cat. he hisses all the time, but doesnt do anything else, just hisses. funny. as lame as it sounds being one of those people who thinks kittens and puppies are adorable, i just cant help it; i think they're adorable.

my white neon underbody kit wasnt working for a few weeks (because i was on vacation for a week). buti finally fixed it the other day (after a great deal of (unnecessary) trouble). turns out i ran the wires over the catalytic converter (which i could not have identified before now; nor could i have told you that it gets up to around 1000?F) which melted the wires and caused the fuse to blow (everytime). anywho, i got it fixed after a great deal of troubleshooting. and here it is... BAM.



yeah and my current job is really easy. i ride around middle TN checkin things out. i get to read a lot.

which is good.

one more thing. look at all these countries coming to my website! i love it.