Friday, July 30, 2004
Behold the terror of…the upcoming final!
Really, you have to laugh at the absurdity of it all. How old am I, nearly 24 now? This is *entirely* to old for me to *still* be freaking out about finals. Shouldn’t I be complaining about my pension plan or health care benefits at this point? Aren’t I supposed to be concerned about other things? I am *entirely* to mature for this sort of ‘finals week’ tomfoolery. Harrumph!
Well, be that as it may, I do have a final coming up; probably the hardest on of my entire graduate career, with luck. I’m taking 562A, random processes, which is widely regarded ‘round these parts as the most difficult class in the USC EE masters degree curriculum. I can see why, too, I have little-to-no idea what’s going on. I’ve started reviewing and studying, though, and things are starting to come together, so I’m not worried. I have about a week-and-a-half or so before I have to be good, and it’s not as if I am studying for anything else.
Other weekend forthcomings include an Apartment-Warming party for Mylinh, co-worker. Should be fun.
Also, I realized that I have a full 8 days of PTO I have to use before the end of the year. This isn’t counting the days I’m going to carry over to next year or use on Christmas/thanksgiving. These are 8 other days. Crikey! So planning that is going to be fun. In terms of spending-money, though, there are some things I want to get before I start spending money on vacations. Especially ones to Japan, or Korea, perhaps. And I need to learn the language before either of those. At least a little.
So I’m planning to take time off and *do* rather than *go*. May sound nerdy to some of you, but sounds like heaven to me. Motorcycle lessons? Why not? Video games? Need you even ask? Practice the drums? Sure! I can use the money I save from not traveling to get a set. And, of course, some audio production gear. I’m starting to figure out the system, a little bit. I think I may just be on the verge of my own home studio. Probably need a new computer for it though.
See? Just look at that last paragraph. I only have so much expendable income, here. I’d much rather get and play around with some of those than go somewhere. At least for now. I’m allowed to change my mind. Not a woman, so it’s not a *prerogative*, per se, but I still think it’s fair cricket.
So there you go. Final and vacation. Wow. It’s almost like I *am* back in college. Perhaps I’m not as old as I think.
Pshaw…not bloody likely! [Waves cane]
-N
Really, you have to laugh at the absurdity of it all. How old am I, nearly 24 now? This is *entirely* to old for me to *still* be freaking out about finals. Shouldn’t I be complaining about my pension plan or health care benefits at this point? Aren’t I supposed to be concerned about other things? I am *entirely* to mature for this sort of ‘finals week’ tomfoolery. Harrumph!
Well, be that as it may, I do have a final coming up; probably the hardest on of my entire graduate career, with luck. I’m taking 562A, random processes, which is widely regarded ‘round these parts as the most difficult class in the USC EE masters degree curriculum. I can see why, too, I have little-to-no idea what’s going on. I’ve started reviewing and studying, though, and things are starting to come together, so I’m not worried. I have about a week-and-a-half or so before I have to be good, and it’s not as if I am studying for anything else.
Other weekend forthcomings include an Apartment-Warming party for Mylinh, co-worker. Should be fun.
Also, I realized that I have a full 8 days of PTO I have to use before the end of the year. This isn’t counting the days I’m going to carry over to next year or use on Christmas/thanksgiving. These are 8 other days. Crikey! So planning that is going to be fun. In terms of spending-money, though, there are some things I want to get before I start spending money on vacations. Especially ones to Japan, or Korea, perhaps. And I need to learn the language before either of those. At least a little.
So I’m planning to take time off and *do* rather than *go*. May sound nerdy to some of you, but sounds like heaven to me. Motorcycle lessons? Why not? Video games? Need you even ask? Practice the drums? Sure! I can use the money I save from not traveling to get a set. And, of course, some audio production gear. I’m starting to figure out the system, a little bit. I think I may just be on the verge of my own home studio. Probably need a new computer for it though.
See? Just look at that last paragraph. I only have so much expendable income, here. I’d much rather get and play around with some of those than go somewhere. At least for now. I’m allowed to change my mind. Not a woman, so it’s not a *prerogative*, per se, but I still think it’s fair cricket.
So there you go. Final and vacation. Wow. It’s almost like I *am* back in college. Perhaps I’m not as old as I think.
Pshaw…not bloody likely! [Waves cane]
-N
Sunday, July 25, 2004
Behold, the greatest blog update of all time...ladies and gentlemen, I present to you...
Apartment-Tour 2004
Yes, friends. Two things have happened in rapid succession. First, and most importantly, my parents got me a digital camera as an early birthday present! Yay! My birthday isn't until September 5th, but I'm going to Hawaii then (woot, again) and they were kind enough to make sure I could document the adventure. How kind!
The second thing that happened is that BlogSpot (the people hosting this mess) have allowed us to post pictures. Pretty shnazzy, yes? So since I need some practice with taking pictures, capturing them, and then doing something useful with them, I thought I'd make an apartment tour for those of you that can't come see the squalor in which I live. So lets get to it, shall we?
First off. A shot of my room from the door. Computer on the left, needs to be replaced with something *much faster*! Bed on the right. Where I get my sleep on! You'll note a severe lack of any recording or audio production equipment. I'm working on it!
Same room, this time from the computer. Chest-of-drawers, my shelf-o-incense, and plaque-o-honors from my freshman year. Dad had it made for me.
My ugly steel shelf! Whenever I go shopping for furniture again, this is going to be the first thing to go.
A view from my window. Nice 'n green, and pretty private. I usually keep the shades drawn, though. Too much sun = too much hot.
On the way out. My bathroom is behind the door. No I'm not going to show you my bathroom! It's all bathroomy! Completely non-descript. And you can see the hideous darkness emanating from within. That's not a strange reflection from the flash on the doorway, that's a magical ward designed to keep the evil creatures therein from escaping.
The dining room. Things of note. That tube on the table is someone's fishing pole that I found on the road when I came home. It was on the asphalt when I came back, and I parked and went out to pick it up, just in case something cool (or dangerous to tires) was inside. Turns out it's a fishing pole, and the guy's address is on the outside. I'll see if I can contact him to send it back, if he even wants it.
Also of note, we have two refrigerators. Works out pretty well, actually.
The living room! Schnazzy Ikea-brand furniture and video games be here.
The kitchen! You can see the blender that Sandy and I got when she was here. I have fallen in love with the smoothie! Fruit + Yogurt + Juice = Happiness.
THE COOLEST THING I OWN!
SUPERCOUCH, TRANSFORM!
FORM OF...
TWIN SIZE BED! And it has storage, and it's blue...oooooh. So neat.
Behold! This is what passes for our 'entertainment center'. Not bad. It's got the prerequisites for coolness. Got the TV, got the PS2, and with the addition of Derek's stuff, I've got stereo sound!
Pointless artistic PS2 Photos!
The Weaponry:
We keep the swords and the like by the door, so if anyone ever breaks in, they have the weapons with which to do the damage *right there*. Though I wouldn't worry, they're much more decorative then practical. Note also the nunchaku. While nunchaku are illegal in California, these are made of foam and plastic, and you couldn't hurt anything larger then a mouse with them. So these actually are legal. No worries.
White board. Back towards my room. Just another picture. Moving on!
This is Derek's Room. That's not Derek. That's Chris, Derek's brother. He's staying with us for the week. This is Derek:
Pointless transition shot...
Our enormous and completely unused balcony. First shot facing south, second shot facing north. We use this area to practice our kicks. We have a balcony big enough to practice spinning hook kicks, and that's saying something.
The view from the balcony. That's Lincoln Park across the street. Not to be confused with Linkin park. They're a band.
Look at the puny balconies everyone else has. Spinning hook kicks? I don't think so!
Our pool. Frolic, kids, frolic!
Out in front of the apartment, facing south. That's LAX over there. If you're ever landing on a flight on Alaska Airlines and you're seated at the right hand of the plane, try to spot my apartment, most Alaska flights land on the runway right near where I live. Not so close that the sound is too annoying, though.
Here's the same street, but looking north. Two important landmarks here, Otis College of Art and Design and the Furama Hotel. You can see them from landing planes too. I had to stand in the *middle of the street* to get this shot, so be grateful!
Just a couple more shots to wrap up:
Goatee experiments resume! I call this one...nothing, really. They don't have names. I like it, though it's a tough one to shave. I would have included some other shots, but they all made me look *hideously* ugly.
I don't like my hair. I'm always hemming and hawing about growing it out and trying to get a valid haircut or just shaving it off, but it always starts to get unruly when it gets even a little longer then long, and my *huge* forehead is beginning to show some age. That's why I tend to keep it short or shaved.
And lastly:
This is Austin. He's a co-worker who had a birthday this weekend. Went to his house today, hung out, took some pictures, few of which turned out well. They had some *crazy* big bunches of food for the eatin'. Lordy. And one of those obnoxiously big chocolate cosco-cakes. And his girlfriend, also in attendance, put those clever little paper umbrellas in everything. The margaritas, the cake...there were three in the Hummus.
Okay, future posts will *not* contain this many pictures. I'll probably post some more of my friends, though, just so you have a mental image of what they look like.
Also coming soon, my website! I'm going to put together a quick little site where you can download random pictures, music I've composed, and some writing too. Should be up before too long. It'll be simple, but it'll be about the content, not the style. I'll post the link here when it's ready, but it'll probably be noel.zerothpower.com. That's where I'm hosting the images by the way.
Oh, and if the images prove too much of a strain on our Web Server, I'll take them down. We have some pretty good andwidth, so it's not likely, but just so you're aware.
Okay, thus ends the longest blog post in the entire universe. Enjoy! Tell me what you think!
Ta, ducks,
-N
Apartment-Tour 2004
Yes, friends. Two things have happened in rapid succession. First, and most importantly, my parents got me a digital camera as an early birthday present! Yay! My birthday isn't until September 5th, but I'm going to Hawaii then (woot, again) and they were kind enough to make sure I could document the adventure. How kind!
The second thing that happened is that BlogSpot (the people hosting this mess) have allowed us to post pictures. Pretty shnazzy, yes? So since I need some practice with taking pictures, capturing them, and then doing something useful with them, I thought I'd make an apartment tour for those of you that can't come see the squalor in which I live. So lets get to it, shall we?
First off. A shot of my room from the door. Computer on the left, needs to be replaced with something *much faster*! Bed on the right. Where I get my sleep on! You'll note a severe lack of any recording or audio production equipment. I'm working on it!
Same room, this time from the computer. Chest-of-drawers, my shelf-o-incense, and plaque-o-honors from my freshman year. Dad had it made for me.
My ugly steel shelf! Whenever I go shopping for furniture again, this is going to be the first thing to go.
A view from my window. Nice 'n green, and pretty private. I usually keep the shades drawn, though. Too much sun = too much hot.
On the way out. My bathroom is behind the door. No I'm not going to show you my bathroom! It's all bathroomy! Completely non-descript. And you can see the hideous darkness emanating from within. That's not a strange reflection from the flash on the doorway, that's a magical ward designed to keep the evil creatures therein from escaping.
The dining room. Things of note. That tube on the table is someone's fishing pole that I found on the road when I came home. It was on the asphalt when I came back, and I parked and went out to pick it up, just in case something cool (or dangerous to tires) was inside. Turns out it's a fishing pole, and the guy's address is on the outside. I'll see if I can contact him to send it back, if he even wants it.
Also of note, we have two refrigerators. Works out pretty well, actually.
The living room! Schnazzy Ikea-brand furniture and video games be here.
The kitchen! You can see the blender that Sandy and I got when she was here. I have fallen in love with the smoothie! Fruit + Yogurt + Juice = Happiness.
THE COOLEST THING I OWN!
SUPERCOUCH, TRANSFORM!
FORM OF...
TWIN SIZE BED! And it has storage, and it's blue...oooooh. So neat.
Behold! This is what passes for our 'entertainment center'. Not bad. It's got the prerequisites for coolness. Got the TV, got the PS2, and with the addition of Derek's stuff, I've got stereo sound!
Pointless artistic PS2 Photos!
The Weaponry:
We keep the swords and the like by the door, so if anyone ever breaks in, they have the weapons with which to do the damage *right there*. Though I wouldn't worry, they're much more decorative then practical. Note also the nunchaku. While nunchaku are illegal in California, these are made of foam and plastic, and you couldn't hurt anything larger then a mouse with them. So these actually are legal. No worries.
White board. Back towards my room. Just another picture. Moving on!
This is Derek's Room. That's not Derek. That's Chris, Derek's brother. He's staying with us for the week. This is Derek:
Pointless transition shot...
Our enormous and completely unused balcony. First shot facing south, second shot facing north. We use this area to practice our kicks. We have a balcony big enough to practice spinning hook kicks, and that's saying something.
The view from the balcony. That's Lincoln Park across the street. Not to be confused with Linkin park. They're a band.
Look at the puny balconies everyone else has. Spinning hook kicks? I don't think so!
Our pool. Frolic, kids, frolic!
Out in front of the apartment, facing south. That's LAX over there. If you're ever landing on a flight on Alaska Airlines and you're seated at the right hand of the plane, try to spot my apartment, most Alaska flights land on the runway right near where I live. Not so close that the sound is too annoying, though.
Here's the same street, but looking north. Two important landmarks here, Otis College of Art and Design and the Furama Hotel. You can see them from landing planes too. I had to stand in the *middle of the street* to get this shot, so be grateful!
Just a couple more shots to wrap up:
Goatee experiments resume! I call this one...nothing, really. They don't have names. I like it, though it's a tough one to shave. I would have included some other shots, but they all made me look *hideously* ugly.
I don't like my hair. I'm always hemming and hawing about growing it out and trying to get a valid haircut or just shaving it off, but it always starts to get unruly when it gets even a little longer then long, and my *huge* forehead is beginning to show some age. That's why I tend to keep it short or shaved.
And lastly:
This is Austin. He's a co-worker who had a birthday this weekend. Went to his house today, hung out, took some pictures, few of which turned out well. They had some *crazy* big bunches of food for the eatin'. Lordy. And one of those obnoxiously big chocolate cosco-cakes. And his girlfriend, also in attendance, put those clever little paper umbrellas in everything. The margaritas, the cake...there were three in the Hummus.
Okay, future posts will *not* contain this many pictures. I'll probably post some more of my friends, though, just so you have a mental image of what they look like.
Also coming soon, my website! I'm going to put together a quick little site where you can download random pictures, music I've composed, and some writing too. Should be up before too long. It'll be simple, but it'll be about the content, not the style. I'll post the link here when it's ready, but it'll probably be noel.zerothpower.com. That's where I'm hosting the images by the way.
Oh, and if the images prove too much of a strain on our Web Server, I'll take them down. We have some pretty good andwidth, so it's not likely, but just so you're aware.
Okay, thus ends the longest blog post in the entire universe. Enjoy! Tell me what you think!
Ta, ducks,
-N
Monday, July 19, 2004
Good weekend.
Two get-togethers. One at Cherise's new place, very shnaz, bunch of people there. Got to hang out with Mike Sand, one of the guys that hired in around the same time I did. He got moved to a different building, though, so I don't see him too much any more. Good to see him again, though, we keep in touch. He's a good cat. Oh, and I found someone else who loves Karaoke! So with any luck I'm going to do that some more. Yeehaw, I say.
And now, I present a brief essay on 'movie kicks.'
What are movie kicks? Movie kicks are kicks that look good. They overlap, somewhat, with kicks that are good for sparing or defending yourself 'on the street'. For example, a kick that is fast looks good for movies and is good for sparing. And when you do a kick with the correct form, it looks good. On the other hand, there are kicks that are used in movies that just aren't used in regular fighting. Pretty much anything that starts with an angle greater than 360 is a movie kick. 540, 540 crescent, 540 twist, 720; they look great, but they aren't kicks that one generally throws in a match. They're just too slow, too unpredictable, too easy to get lambasted while you're flying through the air. They’re great for movies and stunts, though, and you have to respect people that can pull that kind of stunt off.
I have horrible movie kicks. I don't just mean that I can't pull off the crazy 540 kicks, even though I can't, I mean my kicks just don't look good, and I tend to think this is indicative of some failing in my technique, so I’m working on them. I actually have a theory as to why they don’t look good, it’s because I can’t get my leg up high enough. Try this. Stand up and lift your leg up sideways as high as you can. Tough, huh? (Unless you already know a martial art, punks.) Derek can pull his leg up about 15 degrees above horizontal…and *hold* it there. I have trouble getting either of my legs up to horizontal. This is sideways, though. Front-ways I can kick about forehead level. It’s just that my hip-muscles, whatever they are called, have lagged behind in terms of catching up with the rest of the (huge!) muscles in my leg. My leg got heavier, and some of the muscles have yet to compensate.
Other ways to bring up the leg: Stretching, of course. I’m actually getting pretty flexible, but I have a ways to go before I can get all the way down. And I really have to stretch out before I throw any kicks. Those leg muscles get *tight*.
Way #2: drop the body. Tough to do, cause it can mess with your balance, but it’s a great way to bring up your leg.
Way #3: Other stuff. I’m going to play around with my kicks some to see if I can fix anything. There’s this one woman at TKD…well, she’s not there anymore. She’s taking some time off to be pregnant…but she has this incredible side kick. I mean, it just looks fantastic. I think it might be a body-alignment thing. Like I said, I have to play around.
Today, my legs are heavy. I’m wearing my leg weights today, so I’m carrying around an extra 10 pounds everywhere. This sounds like a lot more effort than it is, being as I sit most of the day, but I do walk around sometimes. And I’m trying to keep my legs moving as much as possible. I dunno, I figure the more I do, the more it’s like training. And I really want my black belt. And not the red-and-black one either. The one with the *yellow stripe*. And then *Two yellow stripes!* And then either three, or I’ll go on to a different martial art. Tai Chi Chuan with bricks! Gotta keep in shape into my older years.
Okay, enough about that obsession.
Grr, Grr, grr! My church-finding experiments have stalled again. Must remember to do that. Must find the right church. Assuming there is one.
Next semester I’m taking EE483, Introduction to Digital signal processing. I’m also taking another class, I’m just not sure which one, yet. Here are some candidates:
EE585, Linear System theory.
EE559, Mathematical pattern recognition
EE563, Estimation Theory
EE669, Selected Topics in Digital Image Processing
Just some classes that look intriguing.
Hawaii in 6 weeks. Crikey. Here’s my plan. Pre-planning pretty much just involves finding a bus schedule. If it’s good, then that’s probably all I’ll need. Either that or I’ll see if the Hotel shuttle does anything clever. I have some ideas of stuff I’d like to do, but I’m going to see what’s available by checking out that huge rack of brochures that every hotel in the world seems to have. The ones in HI are probably going to be extra-huge. Then, just see if anyone wants to come along. There’s freakin’ 24 of us, man. I gotta share interests with someone. I’m going to see if there’s someplace that does Luaus for large groups, enough that we can just get tickets beforehand. That way everyone can go that wants. Simple. Planning anything more complicated than that is just asking for trouble.
Wouldn’t hurt to practice surfing or boogie boarding, either.
Tool is working on a new album! I’m so excited. Tool is my favorite band. I’m still listening to Laterilus, their previous album, 5 years after it came out.
My parents have sent me an early birthday present! Thank you so much! I still have yet to get a birthday present for my mom! I am a failure!
Mmm…nothing else to discuss. Ta ta!
-N
Two get-togethers. One at Cherise's new place, very shnaz, bunch of people there. Got to hang out with Mike Sand, one of the guys that hired in around the same time I did. He got moved to a different building, though, so I don't see him too much any more. Good to see him again, though, we keep in touch. He's a good cat. Oh, and I found someone else who loves Karaoke! So with any luck I'm going to do that some more. Yeehaw, I say.
And now, I present a brief essay on 'movie kicks.'
What are movie kicks? Movie kicks are kicks that look good. They overlap, somewhat, with kicks that are good for sparing or defending yourself 'on the street'. For example, a kick that is fast looks good for movies and is good for sparing. And when you do a kick with the correct form, it looks good. On the other hand, there are kicks that are used in movies that just aren't used in regular fighting. Pretty much anything that starts with an angle greater than 360 is a movie kick. 540, 540 crescent, 540 twist, 720; they look great, but they aren't kicks that one generally throws in a match. They're just too slow, too unpredictable, too easy to get lambasted while you're flying through the air. They’re great for movies and stunts, though, and you have to respect people that can pull that kind of stunt off.
I have horrible movie kicks. I don't just mean that I can't pull off the crazy 540 kicks, even though I can't, I mean my kicks just don't look good, and I tend to think this is indicative of some failing in my technique, so I’m working on them. I actually have a theory as to why they don’t look good, it’s because I can’t get my leg up high enough. Try this. Stand up and lift your leg up sideways as high as you can. Tough, huh? (Unless you already know a martial art, punks.) Derek can pull his leg up about 15 degrees above horizontal…and *hold* it there. I have trouble getting either of my legs up to horizontal. This is sideways, though. Front-ways I can kick about forehead level. It’s just that my hip-muscles, whatever they are called, have lagged behind in terms of catching up with the rest of the (huge!) muscles in my leg. My leg got heavier, and some of the muscles have yet to compensate.
Other ways to bring up the leg: Stretching, of course. I’m actually getting pretty flexible, but I have a ways to go before I can get all the way down. And I really have to stretch out before I throw any kicks. Those leg muscles get *tight*.
Way #2: drop the body. Tough to do, cause it can mess with your balance, but it’s a great way to bring up your leg.
Way #3: Other stuff. I’m going to play around with my kicks some to see if I can fix anything. There’s this one woman at TKD…well, she’s not there anymore. She’s taking some time off to be pregnant…but she has this incredible side kick. I mean, it just looks fantastic. I think it might be a body-alignment thing. Like I said, I have to play around.
Today, my legs are heavy. I’m wearing my leg weights today, so I’m carrying around an extra 10 pounds everywhere. This sounds like a lot more effort than it is, being as I sit most of the day, but I do walk around sometimes. And I’m trying to keep my legs moving as much as possible. I dunno, I figure the more I do, the more it’s like training. And I really want my black belt. And not the red-and-black one either. The one with the *yellow stripe*. And then *Two yellow stripes!* And then either three, or I’ll go on to a different martial art. Tai Chi Chuan with bricks! Gotta keep in shape into my older years.
Okay, enough about that obsession.
Grr, Grr, grr! My church-finding experiments have stalled again. Must remember to do that. Must find the right church. Assuming there is one.
Next semester I’m taking EE483, Introduction to Digital signal processing. I’m also taking another class, I’m just not sure which one, yet. Here are some candidates:
EE585, Linear System theory.
EE559, Mathematical pattern recognition
EE563, Estimation Theory
EE669, Selected Topics in Digital Image Processing
Just some classes that look intriguing.
Hawaii in 6 weeks. Crikey. Here’s my plan. Pre-planning pretty much just involves finding a bus schedule. If it’s good, then that’s probably all I’ll need. Either that or I’ll see if the Hotel shuttle does anything clever. I have some ideas of stuff I’d like to do, but I’m going to see what’s available by checking out that huge rack of brochures that every hotel in the world seems to have. The ones in HI are probably going to be extra-huge. Then, just see if anyone wants to come along. There’s freakin’ 24 of us, man. I gotta share interests with someone. I’m going to see if there’s someplace that does Luaus for large groups, enough that we can just get tickets beforehand. That way everyone can go that wants. Simple. Planning anything more complicated than that is just asking for trouble.
Wouldn’t hurt to practice surfing or boogie boarding, either.
Tool is working on a new album! I’m so excited. Tool is my favorite band. I’m still listening to Laterilus, their previous album, 5 years after it came out.
My parents have sent me an early birthday present! Thank you so much! I still have yet to get a birthday present for my mom! I am a failure!
Mmm…nothing else to discuss. Ta ta!
-N
Saturday, July 17, 2004
I hate fruit flies! Man, alive. I'm not sure what brings the nasty beggars out. I assume its fruit. What I can't figure out is why they seem to congregate in my *bathroom*. I've been scouring the house for sources of fruit fly-food, but I just can't seem to find any. Especially not in my bathroom, which is where they seem to congregate once they've reached 'annoying' age. Course, the towels are right there, so they're easy enough to take out, but my bathroom? What the deuce? Are they using my deodorant? Are they using Axe to pick up the ladies? Are fruit flies so narcissistic they need to perch themselves on my mirror?
Course I could be wrong, I remember fruit flies being smaller, and less red. But that was Alaska. Bugs grow big here. No cockroaches at least. *shudder*.
Couple of parties this weekend. I think I found someone else to go Kareoke with! Woot! Yay Bonnie! And I met up with a bunch of people going to Hawaii with us. Just to get to know. There's enough of us that I don't think we're going to plan everything to death. Which is okay by me. We can form smaller groups and just do whatever sounds fun. Cept for a Luau. That's a 'big group' kinda thing.
Homework sucks homework sucks homework SUCKS!
Derek's gone for the weekend. I actually kinda like this place better *with* a roomate. We each had our spaces, so it's easy enough to get solitude when it's desired. And it's always nice to have someone to play Soul Calibur 2 with.
Blogger has been adding some clever new details to itself, too.
Course I could be wrong, I remember fruit flies being smaller, and less red. But that was Alaska. Bugs grow big here. No cockroaches at least. *shudder*.
Couple of parties this weekend. I think I found someone else to go Kareoke with! Woot! Yay Bonnie! And I met up with a bunch of people going to Hawaii with us. Just to get to know. There's enough of us that I don't think we're going to plan everything to death. Which is okay by me. We can form smaller groups and just do whatever sounds fun. Cept for a Luau. That's a 'big group' kinda thing.
Homework sucks homework sucks homework SUCKS!
Derek's gone for the weekend. I actually kinda like this place better *with* a roomate. We each had our spaces, so it's easy enough to get solitude when it's desired. And it's always nice to have someone to play Soul Calibur 2 with.
Blogger has been adding some clever new details to itself, too.
- You can add
- Bulleted
- Lists
And change text color.
And upload pictures, too! Course, you have to host them elsewhere, but I'm going to chat with Derek about getting some webspace on the Zeroth Power website. noel.zerothpower.com, likely. I'll put music and stuff up there, but believe me, the HTML is going to be *reeel* simple.
Okay. It's over. Homework sucks, but I have to do it now!
-N
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Has it really been two whole weeks? Heavens, I seem to have lost my pace on this thing. And neat things continue to happen.
First, work. I taught classes! Weehaw! Here at work, in our section, we have classes that we offer to new hires, both those new to the workforce and those simply new to Radar. I got to teach two this time around. One was the SNR class; the other was a MATlab class that I actually got to make up. Weehaw! For those of you that don't know, SNR stands for Signal to Noise Ratio. For more information than that…I'm going to have to ask you to get a Bachelors Degree in an engineering discipline. MATlab is the program I use to write and run most of my simulations here at work. It's very common around these parts, and the class was an introduction. It had about 50 people in the class. Yowza! I brought donuts. They were a big hit. And I think the class went really well. So good news there.
Schoooool! I have yet to be accepted/denied entry to the USC masters program, and it's getting late. I'm trying to figure out what is up with my application, but the people there are useless. I have a theory, though, and so I'm going to try some stuff. It's certainly not for lack of credentials. Getting in won't be a problem, once the actual paper work is out of the way.
And I got an A- on my midterm. Booyah to that. What's scary is that my score was a 58. Pretty low for an A-. The high score was something like an 80, and a 38 would get you a C-. Now that's a pretty torqued-out curve, right there.
Martial arts. I'm a blue belt. Woot for me! This means another form, another board break (two actually, front kick and then side kick) an additional sparring kick (axe kick) and some other miscellany. It'll be *12* weeks before I test again, though. So about another…what…6 months and I get to go to the advanced class. Can I get a booyah? (Booyah!) Thanks. They even let me practice my spinning hook kick in class for the first time *ever* on Monday. That felt great. I've been practicing it some though my right leg is fairly…ahm…useless. My left leg kick is quite solid, and rather rapid. I've been working on my back kick too, trying to get the speed and form up. It's a great counter kick, but not if it's slow, or if you throw it too late. Perhaps I should be like Kevin (in all things!) and learn the *jumping* back kick. And then kick them in the head! No, wait, no head contact yet.
I don't know if you've noticed, in any of the movies, but most of my kicks don't look very good. This probably means they are a little week, too. I have a theory, though. I'm trying to improve their height, and that means leg lifts. I've got these massive tree-trunk legs, but the muscles along the side of my legs haven't been keeping up. So hopefully that will help. Course, added to the long list of things I'm trying to train already, I wonder if I might not end up stretching myself out too thin.
Video games! I continue to see people I know online in City of Heroes. I play it more (okay, *much* more) during the weekend than during the week, though (stupid classes!). Disgaea continues to be fun as well.
Creativity? Sure! I managed to get a good start on a short story about my character in CoH. Trite, I know, but certainly fun to write. Derek wants me to write some more music too, cause then we can make music videos for stuff. Sounds like a great idea to me. I've got to stop putting off this whole 'making a studio' thing.
And in the land of movies, production on 'The Alliance' has fairly well stalled. Guess we're just not cut out for larger projects. We'll see if we ever get it working again. We're going to do a short, though, next weekend. Really short. One of Derek's moment-of-inspiration pieces. If I ever get an idea, I'll write one too. Tweaking Derek's stuff is easy, but a little unfair.
We're going to try to have a get-together for all the Hawaii people, or at least as many as can make it, this weekend, if we can find a place to do it. I thought we might be able to use the common area downstairs, but as it turns out it costs $100 to do, plus a $250 deposit. Crikey! I don't have that kind of money to be throwing around. So we're still in flux, a touch, but hopefully we'll nail something down. There's a lot of us going, would be nice to meat some of them. Derek can't make it, though, he's going up to his parents place for the weekend. He's bringing his brother down too. Someone else to play video games with; joy!
Okee, so now you're all caught up. Hopefully it won't be another two weeks, eh?
-N
First, work. I taught classes! Weehaw! Here at work, in our section, we have classes that we offer to new hires, both those new to the workforce and those simply new to Radar. I got to teach two this time around. One was the SNR class; the other was a MATlab class that I actually got to make up. Weehaw! For those of you that don't know, SNR stands for Signal to Noise Ratio. For more information than that…I'm going to have to ask you to get a Bachelors Degree in an engineering discipline. MATlab is the program I use to write and run most of my simulations here at work. It's very common around these parts, and the class was an introduction. It had about 50 people in the class. Yowza! I brought donuts. They were a big hit. And I think the class went really well. So good news there.
Schoooool! I have yet to be accepted/denied entry to the USC masters program, and it's getting late. I'm trying to figure out what is up with my application, but the people there are useless. I have a theory, though, and so I'm going to try some stuff. It's certainly not for lack of credentials. Getting in won't be a problem, once the actual paper work is out of the way.
And I got an A- on my midterm. Booyah to that. What's scary is that my score was a 58. Pretty low for an A-. The high score was something like an 80, and a 38 would get you a C-. Now that's a pretty torqued-out curve, right there.
Martial arts. I'm a blue belt. Woot for me! This means another form, another board break (two actually, front kick and then side kick) an additional sparring kick (axe kick) and some other miscellany. It'll be *12* weeks before I test again, though. So about another…what…6 months and I get to go to the advanced class. Can I get a booyah? (Booyah!) Thanks. They even let me practice my spinning hook kick in class for the first time *ever* on Monday. That felt great. I've been practicing it some though my right leg is fairly…ahm…useless. My left leg kick is quite solid, and rather rapid. I've been working on my back kick too, trying to get the speed and form up. It's a great counter kick, but not if it's slow, or if you throw it too late. Perhaps I should be like Kevin (in all things!) and learn the *jumping* back kick. And then kick them in the head! No, wait, no head contact yet.
I don't know if you've noticed, in any of the movies, but most of my kicks don't look very good. This probably means they are a little week, too. I have a theory, though. I'm trying to improve their height, and that means leg lifts. I've got these massive tree-trunk legs, but the muscles along the side of my legs haven't been keeping up. So hopefully that will help. Course, added to the long list of things I'm trying to train already, I wonder if I might not end up stretching myself out too thin.
Video games! I continue to see people I know online in City of Heroes. I play it more (okay, *much* more) during the weekend than during the week, though (stupid classes!). Disgaea continues to be fun as well.
Creativity? Sure! I managed to get a good start on a short story about my character in CoH. Trite, I know, but certainly fun to write. Derek wants me to write some more music too, cause then we can make music videos for stuff. Sounds like a great idea to me. I've got to stop putting off this whole 'making a studio' thing.
And in the land of movies, production on 'The Alliance' has fairly well stalled. Guess we're just not cut out for larger projects. We'll see if we ever get it working again. We're going to do a short, though, next weekend. Really short. One of Derek's moment-of-inspiration pieces. If I ever get an idea, I'll write one too. Tweaking Derek's stuff is easy, but a little unfair.
We're going to try to have a get-together for all the Hawaii people, or at least as many as can make it, this weekend, if we can find a place to do it. I thought we might be able to use the common area downstairs, but as it turns out it costs $100 to do, plus a $250 deposit. Crikey! I don't have that kind of money to be throwing around. So we're still in flux, a touch, but hopefully we'll nail something down. There's a lot of us going, would be nice to meat some of them. Derek can't make it, though, he's going up to his parents place for the weekend. He's bringing his brother down too. Someone else to play video games with; joy!
Okee, so now you're all caught up. Hopefully it won't be another two weeks, eh?
-N
