I finally cover CSI

//EDIT//
Sorry about the bad formatting in this post. Something with mobile posting or whatever.

This is like "tomorrow", right?

First, in this post of extreme postitude, a response:

No. You're not awful. You didn't do anything wrong. And you can stop using
the "what did I do?" angle any time now, because I specifically answered
that several times. Nothing. It was entirely my thoughts and
feelings that were responsible for my decision. I told you why I
wanted to break up. I didn't want to be a couple any more. I didn't like you
the same way any more. But we already covered that. I still respect you a
lot, though recent actions may have somewhat belied that. I'll get to that
in a second. One last thing here: Would you have preferred I'd stayed? Would
you rather have been part of a broken relationship? Would you have liked it
more if I'd just gotten more and more distant and uncomfortable around you?
Would you like it if this had gone on for a while, and any chance of any
relationship of any sort between us was utterly destroyed? You can't--I'm
sorry if I sound like a movie or a relationship counselor or something--you
can't have a relationship that only one person is interested in continuing.
I left because I didn't want to go through that, and didn't think it would
be fair to make you suffer the consequences.

My parents have always told me "actions speak louder than words", and I
suppose recently some of my actions have been screaming "Hey, look at this
kid, what a jerk!" I'm sorry if it seems like I moved on too fast, and I'm
sorry if I've done it too openly and brazenly. I didn't want to hurt you (it
certainly wasn't a calculated effort to make you feel used), and I'm sorry
that you don't feel than inexperience is a good enough reason for the
stupidity of my actions. It's the only reason I've got.

So there we go. I don't want to be bitter and angry at you, and I'll try to
behave more respectfully.

All right. That's done. Here at Pyromania, we (and by we, I mean I)
generally try not to Xanga it up too much. Sometimes, though, it's just a
good outlet for venting. Sheesh, when did inexperience stop being a "good
enough" reason for acting inexperienced?

But anyway. For a while now, I've been wanting to blog about the CSI class I
was just in and how much it sucked ass. Before that, though, one thing just
came to mind: Don't you just hate it when friends take sides in a personal
conflict?

DONE WITH THAT NOW. Okay. Enough.

CSI II was a horrible class, and I'm glad it's done. I convinced href="http://kuelbsme.blogspot.com">Marty to switch out of it, because
it's such a waste of time. I originally signed up for the classes for the
same reason I sign up for any elective class: I thought they would teach me
things that I (a)didn't know and (b)wanted to know. I thought we'd be
learning about different areas of forensics, in addition to analyzing the TV
show (more on that later)--at least, that's what the course description
implied. CSI I wasn't too bad. We covered a bunch of different subject
areas, and the information we were learning was at least interesting. Also,
I had a great teacher, Mr. Lund. He's very entertaining and informative.

CSI II was a different story. In CSI II I began to really see why it was
thought of as a total slacker class. There were several reasons that CSI II
sucked like a Kirby vacuum, the first one being the teacher. I'll say this
right now: Don't get me wrong, Mr. Selden is a great guy and I've got
nothing against him personally, but this class went badly. Probably a
quarter (at least) of the total class time was spent doing nothing.
Rarely was there a lesson plan (I recall him joking about never having one
once). There's open-ended, and then there's shoddy. His unpreparedness made
it seem like he lacked dedication to teaching the class. Not a real
motivator for the...

Busywork. Hate it, hate it, hate it. Case studies were busywork. They
weren't made interesting. They were never anything in-depth at all. All we
had to do, basically, was summarize the basic aspects of a certain case in
about a page of double-space typing. Useless and boring! The only
interesting part of the whole thing was reading about some of the cases.
They were never discussed in class (aside from Selden occasionally joking
about what a small amount of the class had done theirs, which, like most of
the class-based jokes in there, was funny at the time but saddening in
retrospect), nor were they ever used for anything other than the occasional
quiz/test question. PEOPLE! This is not how you use case studies to teach! I
actually do have a few suggestions here: Pick
important/landmark/precedent-setting cases. ACTUALLY DISCUSS THEM IN CLASS.
Most of what was contained in the written case studies we did--basic
elements of the case, suspects, evidence, how the evidence was
helpful--could be covered in 10-15 minutes of class discussion at maximum!
Also discuss how the case affected forensics as a whole. Keep the labs
(which I don't have too many complaints on), but make them related to the
case study at the time. For example, one of our case studies was on the O.J.
Simpson case. Then is when the blood spatter and testing labs should be
done. Make note in class of the fact that the lab relates to the case at
hand.

Another good example of case study misuse: the case study on pg. 355 of our
book, which dealt with being able to match bullets from a known source to
bullets from an unknown source and thereby determine who a murderer was
without ever actually finding a murder weapon. Definitely an
interesting and unique case. But this interesting aspect of the case was
buried within ten pages of boring, dry reading. Not exactly motivational for
a bunch of slackers (I actually read the whole thing, but nevertheless
failed to be motivated to rewrite it). This would be much much easier
to include if it were simply discussed in class. During the discussion,
references could be made to pages in the book/parts of the article if
necessary.

Also a HUGE waste of time was CSI (the show). It was handled in what, from a
teacher's perspective, should be the absolute worst way possible. We watched
CSI. Every Friday. Did we analyze it? Hell no. We wrote a "case study" on
it. In the context of this class, what do you think that meant? It meant
"who-did-it-who-got-it-what-was-the-evidence-how-did-it-help" on half a
sheet of paper. Some people wrote like four sentences. And got four out of
five points. Absolute waste of time and effort.

Now, from a student's perspective, I really shouldn't be complaining about
getting to watch a TV show I enjoy, once a week, during class. But it really
was an absolute waste, in every possible sense. I believe both course
syllabi mentioned something about "What's Wrong With This Episode?", or
units in which we would watch episodes of CSI and figure out what didn't
jibe with the real world. It was never really a set unit, but we actually
did do something involving pointing out unreality in episodes of the show in
CSI I. A couple of times. Nothing of the sort in CSI II. In CSI II, it was
strictly watch TV, then busywork, then sitting around talking for 25
minutes.

How would I have handled this, you ask? Well, first, I'd actually take the
time to find episodes of the show that had specific occurences of magic
futuristic technology (or some other type of error). That was something else
Selden didn't do too often--prepare things outside of class. No, actually,
he did do that reasonably often for the labs. But we didn't have a whole lot
of labs (for the last, like, two weeks, we didn't really do much of
anything). Then, I'd actually TALK ABOUT IT IN CLASS. I'd point out (or a
particularly awake student might possibly point out) that something was
wrong, and I'd ask (or just tell) the class what it was. At the end of the
episode we'd recap what was wrong, and talk about why they might put it in
the show anyway. See, that's actually getting the class involved, instead of
"Here, look, TV!"

Many of the other kids in the class kind of annoyed me, either because they
never paid attention or because they never paid attention and were blatantly
stupid about it (Casey, I'm looking in your direction). But that's not
really something that can be directly improved.

I'm glad it's done with. I'm sick of worrying about my grade in a waste of
time class that I don't like.

I say we call it "E-logging"!

Actually, I don't. That would be silly.

Short post today. Suit shopping went surprisingly well. I just hope the pant legs aren't too short. Bah. Formalwear. Also lots of driving today, which is good for me. I should probably schedule my license test sometime soon.

Tomorrow (hopefully): Why CSI (the class) is stupid
Monday (unlikely): Reincar-whatsis?

Currently listening to: Catch 22 - Dear Sergio

'Nother survey

What? I like surveys. I promise I'll talk about CSI soon.

Really Long Survey (over 200 questions)

What is your name?
Rob

Are you named after anyone?
My middle name is the same as my grandfather's (on my dad's side) first name.

What's your screename?
Strifeheart

Would you name a child of yours after you?
No, that'd be boring and/or confusing.

If you were born a member of the opposite sex what would your name be?
I vaguely recall my mom saying something about this... Jessica? Jordan? Something like that.

If you could switch names with a friend who would it be?
Hmm... my name is just fine.

Are there any mispronounciations/typos that ppl do w/ your name constantly?
People tend to read "Carson" as "Carlson". It's irritating.

Would you drop your last name if you became famous?
No.

Basics

Your gender:
Male

Straight/Gay/Bi:
Straight.

Single?
Sort of?

If not, do you want to be?
N/A

Birthdate:
1/31/89

Your age:
16

Age you act:
Depending on the subject, anywhere from 7 to 45.

Age you wish you were:
mid-20s

Your height:
5'10.5"

Eye color:
blue

Happy with it?
Yeah, it works.

Hair color:
medium brown

Happy with it?
Yeah, but I bleached chunks of it. It looks cooler.

Lefty/righty/ambidextrous:
Right.

Your living arrangement:
I live with my parents.

Your family:
Mother and father. That's my nuclear family, anyway.

Have any pets?
No. I want a pet, though.

Whats your job?
Lawn mowing (I desperately need a real job)

Piercings?
None, sir.

Tattoos?
Nuh-uh

Obsessions?
No, not really. Nothing you could really call an obsession, aside from constantly messing with my hair.

Addictions?
I might as well face it, I'm addicted to love.

Do you speak another language?
German.

Have a favorite quote?
Far too many for this survey.

Do you have a webpage?
strifeheart.blogspot.com; I'll have another one soon.

Deep Thoughts About Life and You in it
All I want out of life is to enjoy myself. I always want to be happy with what I'm doing.

Do you live in the moment?
Yeah, I guess.

Do you consider yourself tolerant of others?
Yes I do.

Do you have any secrets?
No. OR DO I?

Do you hate yourself?
Hell no!

Do you like your handwriting?
It works. Most people can read it. It's kind of idiosyncratic.

Do you have any bad habits?
Not really.

What is the compliment you get from most people?
Apparently I'm smart. Hmm. Who would've thought?

If a movie was made about your life, what would it be called?
[insert [Insert Witty Title Here] here]

What's your biggest fear?
Powerlessness

Can you sing?
I like to think so. Most other people don't.

Do you ever pretend to be someone else just to look cool?
Not really.

Are you a loner?
I like spending time by myself and with my friends about equally.

What are your #1 priorities in life?
Having fun and being happy.

If you were another person, would you be friends with you?
Depends. Who would I be?

Are you a daredevil?
Occasionally.

Is there anything you fear or hate about yourself?
I fear that I won't be able to seriously apply myself to classes in college. But I try not to worry about it, because it'll probably work out in the end.

Are you passive or agressive?
I don't really know. I've never thought about it.

Do you have a journal?
strifeheart.blogspot.com generally suffices.

What is your greatest strength and weakness?
Let other people rate that.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I would be less emotionally awkward (probably a misrepresentation of what I'm actually trying to say). And I would have straight hair.

Do you think you are emotionally strong?
Sure.

Is there anything you regret doing/not doing in life?
Not really. I dislike regret.

Do you think life has been good so far?
Yeah, I'd say so.

What is the most important lesson you've learned from life?
Do what you feel is right, have fun, and it'll all work out in the end.

What do you like the most about your body?
The fact that I retain muscle tone and slight tan despite playing video games and avoiding direct sunlight for 4-5 months out of the year.

And least?
I dunno.

Do you think you are good looking?
I guess.

Are you confident?
Sure, why not?

What is the fictional character you are most like?
I'm gonna have to go with Commander Vimes (see: Discworld series by Terry Pratchett), even though it's probably not really that true. This is another thing that other people should decide.

Are you perceived wrongly?
Uh, sometimes?

Do You...

Smoke?
No ma'am.

Do drugs?
CAFFEINE

Read the newspaper?
Every day.

Pray?
Never.

Go to church?
Nope.

Talk to strangers who IM you?
No IM. Except AIM express, and I'm not on often enough for my friends to IM me, let alone strangers. But I probably would.

Sleep with stuffed animals?
Yes, actually.

Take walks in the rain?
Occasionally.

Talk to people even though you hate them?
Not really anyone that I hate.

Drive?
I'll drive more when I have my license.

Like to drive fast?
It's pretty fun, but generally I'll be somewhere near the speed limit.

Would or Have You Ever?

Like your voice?
It'll work.

Hurt yourself?
Not on purpose.

Been out of the country?
Only Canada. But I saw Niagara Falls.

Eaten something that made other people sick?
Lots of things have probably made someone sick at one time or another. So yeah, I guess so.

Been in love?
Yes'm.

Done drugs?
None that would cause concern.

Gone skinny dipping?
Yes, every night. (SHOWER OOH BURN)

Had a medical emergency?
Hit. By. A. Truck.

Had surgery?
A tooth pulled, a few stitches here and there, but that's it.

Ran away from home?
No.

Played strip poker?
Heh, no.

Gotten beaten up?
No.

Beaten someone up?
Apparently I beat someone up in kindergarten. Knowing him, he probably deserved it.

Been picked on?
Yeah, nothing major.

Been on stage?
Only for school.

Slept outdoors?
A few times.

Thought about suicide?
Never.

Pulled an all nighter?
Once or twice

If yes, what is your record?
Like a day and a half... then I slept for 15 hours. I'm weak.

Gone one day without food?
Nope.

Talked on the phone all night?
Longest phone coversation is like three hours.

Slept together with the opposite sex w/o actually having sex?
Not recently.

Slept all day?
Latest I've slept in is about 1:00 p.m.

Killed someone?
Oh, thousands.

Made out with a stranger?
No.

Had sex with a stranger?
No.

Thought you're going crazy?
Yeah, a few times.

Kissed the same sex?
Not, uh, sexually.

Done anything sexual with the same sex?
Do I count?

Been betrayed?
Not really.

Had a dream that came true?
Yes.

Broken the law?
Nothing major. Curfew is t3h dumbx0rz.

Met a famous person?
I met Melee. The band.

Have you ever killed an animal by accident?
Ran over a vole with my lawnmower once. #tear#

On purpose?
Plenty of insects, spiders, bees... etc.

Told a secret you swore you wouldn't tell?
I don't think so.

Stolen anything?
Not, uh, illegally.

Been on radio/tv?
Burnsville public access, for Quiz Bowl. w00t w00t.

Been in a mosh-pit?
Yes.

Had a nervous breakdown?
Not really.

Bungee jumped?
No. I might, eventually.

Had a dream that kept coming back?
A few. And they never came back that often.

Beliefs

Belive in life on other planets?
Somewhere, definitely.

Miracles?
Not really.

Astrology?
Don't be silly.

Magic?
Sleight of hand, my friends.

God?
Nossir.

Satan?
If I don't believe in God, why would I believe in Satan?

Santa?
Not really.

Ghosts?
Not in the traditional sense.

Luck?
I don't believe in inherent natural luck, but I do believe that it would be cool.

Love at first sight?
If you fall in actual love at first sight, clearly it was destiny and you are in a fictional setting.

Yin and yang (that good cant exist w/o bad)?
Yes, though I believe that taking the view that everything is a simple dichotomy is bad (see: Newspeak).

Witches?
Most Wiccans are uninformed dolts.

Easter bunny?
No. But I do believe in candy.

Believe its possible to remain faithful forever?
Probably.

Believe theres a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow?
The rainbow is an image individual to anyone looking at it. It's simply an effect of light (albeit a beautiful one), and has no physical end. But if there is one, Lisa Frank already fucking found it. #shudder#

Do you wish on stars?
No, but they do look damn cool.

Deep Theological Questions

Do you believe in the traditional view of Heaven and Hell?
You don't know me, do you? No.

Do you think God has a gender?
Irrelevant.

Do you believe in organized religion?
I hate hate hate organized religion and all forms of proselytizing.

Where do you think we go when we die?
Well, I want to be cremated. (I have an interesting view on consciousness and its transfer (sort of like a spinoff of traditional reincarnation) that I'll be sure to blog about in future.)

Friends

Do you have any gay/lesbian friends?
Not that I know of for sure.

Who is your best friend?
Eric.

Who's the one person that knows most about you?
Hmmm... hard to say.

What's the best advice that anyone has ever given to you?
Don't worry too much, everything will turn out fine.

Your favourite inside joke?
TOO. MANY.

Thing you're picked on most about?
I don't know. Ticklishness?

Who's your longest known friend?
Michael Arnst? I don't know; I've known a few of my friends since at least elementary school.

Newest?
Lauren?

Shyest?
David?

Funniest?
Dillon

Sweetest?
I couldn't say.

Closest?
Eric

Weirdest?
Jon M.

Smartest?
I know lots of smart people.

Ditziest?
probably Lucky or Kylie... or Lauren, or...

Friends you miss being close to the most?
Hmm...

Last person you talked to online?
Dillon, technically

Who do you talk to most online?
No idea.

Who are you on the phone with most?
Lately, Eric or Catie

Who do you trust most?
Eric

Who listens to your problems?
Me. I talk to myself a lot.

Who do you fight most with?
Hmm...

Who's the nicest?
All of my friends are usually nice.

Who's the most outgoing?
Lucky

Who's the best singer?
No idea

Who's on your shit-list?
No one, really

Have you ever thought of having sex with a friend?
Uh... define friend...

Who's your second family?
The Tjenstroms.

Do you always feel understood?
Don't know. Haven't really noticed.

Who's the loudest friend?
LAUREN

Do you trust others easily?
Yeah, generally.

Who's house were you last at?
Eric's

Name one person who's arms you feel safe in:
ARGHBLABLBL "WHO'S" USED AS POSESSIVE ERRORERRORERROR ####@%!@Q#$^ ... ... ...Sorry. Couldn't really say, right now. Maybe later.

Do your friends know you?
Mostly?

Friend that lives farthest away:
Forrey, Marty, and Amanda live all the way out in Carver. Stupid Carver.

Love and All That

Do you consider love a mistake?
No. Love is never a mistake. What people do with it can be.

What do you find romantic?
All kinds of different things.

Turn-on?
See above.

Turn-off?
Unattractiveness, stupidity.

First kiss?
Amanda

If someone u had no interest in had interest in dating u how would u feel?
Argh, idiot-speak! Uh, I'd be flattered.

Do you prefer knowing someone before dating them or going
Huh? The rest of this survey was in English; what happened? Anyway, yes, I prefer getting to know someone before dating them. Which is rather fortuitous, as it happens.

Have u ever wished it was more socially acceptable 4 a girl 2 ask a guy out
I didn't realize it wasn't.

Have you ever been romantically attracted to someone physically unattractiv
If I am attracted to someone with my whole heart, they are beautiful to me no matter what they look like. (Uh, yeah, what Bond said. He's the one I stole this survey from.)

Do you think the opposite sex finds you good looking?
Some, I'm sure, do.

What is best about the opposite sex?
Personality!

What is the worst thing about the opposite sex?
Personality!

What's the last present someone gave you?
A fedora full of chocolates. That's the last major-holiday-present someone gave me. Catie gave me a The Streets CD not too long ago. Good CD.

Are you in love?
I'm not sure I'd call it that yet, but we'll see... #roguish wink#

Do you consider your significant other hot?
I am choosing to ignore that question, for it is stupid.

Who Was the Last Person...

That haunted you?
Amanda

You wanted to kill?
GWB

That you laughed at?
David? No idea.

That laughed at you?
Don't know.

That turned you on?
Hmm... #roguish wink#

You went shopping with?
Catie, Eric, Kylie, Lauren, Kelly

That broke your heart?
N/A

To disappoint you?
Anyone who got all Xanga-y a few days ago.

To ask you out?
[insert correct response here]

To make you cry?
Amanda, but I guess actually myself.

To brighten up your day?
Catie.

That you thought about?
Kylie. Because I was just talking to her.

You saw a movie with?
Eric. (Hostage. Good movie.)

You talked to on the phone?
Kylie, like a few seconds ago.

You talked to through IM/ICQ?
I have no idea. Forrey, maybe?

You saw?
Mom.

You lost?
I don't know how to answer this question.

Right This Moment...

Are you going out?
I'm answering a survey, stupid.

Will it be with your significant other?
N/A

Or some random person?
Still N/A

What are you wearing right now?
Here's the entire list: boxers, socks, Dickies shorts (when am I not?), dark blue long-sleeve shirt, brown Rooney T-shirt, watch, Blink-182 wristband, ring, necklace, belt

Body part you're touching right now:
I'm sitting on my foot.

What are you worried about right now?
Suit shopping tomorrow. I hope I can find something I like and not piss everyone off.

What book are you reading?
Visual History of the 20th Century

What's on your mousepad?
Pizza Hut (or my mouse lolololololololol)

Use 5 words to describe how you're feeling:
Hungry, tired, longing, optimistic, sorethroated

Are you bored?
I'd say I'm sufficiently entertained.

Are you tired?
A little.

Are you talking to anyone online?
No.

Are you talking to anyone on the phone?
I was talking to Kylie a little while ago.

Are you lonely or content?
A little of both. Mostly content.

Are you listening to music?
Yes. Left Front Tire - "Cheaters".

And another!

Blah blah, SURVEY! I like filling things out.

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY
1. Rob
2. Robert (some people still call me that...)
3. Robespierre (thank you Matt.)

THREE SCREENAMES YOU'VE HAD
1. Strifeheart
2. ZombieAipom
3. Actually, those are really the only two.

THREE THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF
1. Ridiculous memory
2. Sense of humor
3. Optimism

THREE THINGS YOU DON'T LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF
1. I'm sick right now
2. I'm usually tired
3. PROCRAS--I'll finish it later.

THREE PARTS OF YOUR HERITAGE
1. German
2. Scottish
3. These are guesses based on vague memories.

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU
1. Death
2. Deep, open water (middle of the ocean kind of thing)
3. Large insects

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS
1. Good mood
2. Humor
3. Music

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW
1. Blink 182 t-shirt
2. blue long-sleeve shirt
3. Dickies shorts

THREE OF YOUR FAVOURITE BANDS/ARTISTS
1. Less Than Jake
2. New Found Glory
3. Suicide Machines

THREE OF YOUR FAVOURITE SONGS
1. Point/Counterpoint (Streetlight Manifesto)
2. No Sale (Suicide Machines)
3. Dumbface Idiothead (The Angry Toasters)

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO TRY IN THE NEXT YEAR
1. Being a senior
2. Getting a job
3. Not dying (always enjoyable)

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP
1. Sanity
2. Stability
3. Fun

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE (Shameless thievery!)
1. 3 is true
2. 1 is a lie
3. 2 is true

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS THAT APPEAL TO YOU ABOUT THE OPPOSITE SEX
1. Eyes
2. Overall body (copout? I think so.)
3. "Style"

THREE THINGS YOU JUST CANT DO
1. Force myself to care about a class that's a complete waste of my time (full story later!)
2. Come up with a joke to put here
3. Your mother

THREE OF YOUR FAVOURITE HOBBIES
1. Video Games
2. Academic teams
3. Reading

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO BE DOING REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW
1. I don't want to have to worry about CSI any more, because it's stupid
2. Actually finishing video games
3. I dunno... talking to Catie?

THREE CAREERS YOU ARE CONSIDERING
1. Software engineer
2. Computer programmer
3. Chemist

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION
1. Japan
2. Australia
3. California

THREE KIDS NAMES
1. Dominick
2. Matthias
3. I don't know... I can never think of girls' names

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE
1. Have sex
2. Motivate myself enough to finish (hell, even start) my manga
3. Enjoy myself

THREE WAYS YOU ARE STEREOTYPICALLY A BOY
1. VIDEO GAMES
2. I have an entire shelf of Star Wars books
3. I eat a lot and it doesn't really show (I have no idea if that actually fits, but I ran out of ideas)

THREE WAYS YOU ARE STEREOTYPICALLY A GIRL
1. I constantly mess with my hair
2. I'm ticklish
3. See #1

THREE CELEBRITY CRUSHES
1. Keira Knightley
2. Liz Phair
3. Monique Powell (Save Ferris)

THREE PEOPLE WHO SHOULD TAKE THIS QUIZ RIGHT NOW
1. Dillon
2. Anyone else?
3. Your mother?
4. That guy (I hate that guy)

Woo. Wasn't that exciting? Join me next time, when I rant about CSI and its overall worthlessness and wasteofaquarterblockitude.

And thus re-begins the postage.

So I took this political test today. Apparently I'm a liberal. SURPRISE SURPRISE. Here are the results:

Your PERSONAL issues Score is 90%.

Your ECONOMIC issues Score is 40%.

(Please note: Scores falling on the Centrist border are counted as Centrist.)

//EDIT//

Okay, so I can't use Angelfire for image hosting. Fuck you, Angelfire.

What could possibly combine the fun of camping and falling blocks?

Why, TENTRIS, of course!

This amazing untapped idea came to my attention when Dillon typo'd attempting to access an online game during class. We discussed it for nearly 30 seconds before I decided to blog about it.

So I don't really have anything to say about it, because it wasn't a real in-depth discussion. But wouldn't it be a great idea?

Yes. Yes it would, damn it.

So... anyway!

Yep, so I'm dumb.

Such is life. Where will it lead now? Who knows? But I'm gonna find out.

Time to move back to mindless rambling about things. No more drama here, I say!

Speaking of drama (and I would personally congratulate you if you figured out this tangent), Kim Possible is a surprisingly good show, given the fact that it's about high school students and it's on the Disney Channel. I can appreciate good satire and comedy wherever I find it.

This one's a bit clearer: speaking of TV shows, I haven't watched an entire episode of MXC in a long time. That's such an awesome show. The only problem is that sometimes it just devolves into a half-hour of sexual innuendo. Even I get tired of that after a while. Still good, though.

Also, apparently I'm doing the Relay for Life now for my school. It's mostly the asking-people-for-money thing that I'm not really looking forward to. But that's just because I'm lazy. I'll get over it.

Pyromania: bringing you long disjointed ramblings since a few days ago!

Ignore this.

Well, it seems like everyone I know is angsting and dramaing about, so I figured I'd join the crowd. This time it's mostly centered around me. Oh boy.

So here's the backstory: Back at around the dawn of time (or ninth grade, however you want to look at it), I met a girl. She was cool. We dated. For two and a half years. A few weeks ago, I began to feel like I needed something different. I still respected and liked this girl, and she will always be special to me, but I wanted to go. I realized that feeling like that and staying in the relationship anyway wouldn't lead to goodness and light. So I broke up with her. There was sadness.

So now I'm single. There's like a week of nothing really happening. Then I turn around and holyfuckdamn. There's this incredibly awesome cute girl I know. And now I'm single. So there is flirting. Apparently it's obvious to all and sundry.

I'm new at this. I've had one girlfriend since I became not-girl-shy. I'm a little inexperienced. I may not be the best at tact. So that's my fault. But really, what can I say in my defense? I suppose I could have tried to wait longer, or been less obvious... but I have no idea what I'm doing half the time. I'm used to just going with the flow, so that's what I did.

The last thing I want to do, ever, is unnecessarily hurt anyone or break up any friendships. So I'm sorry to everyone I've hurt. Please don't hate me because I'm a n00b.

To X: I'm sorry if it seems like I've moved on too fast. Any error there is the fault of me not having a clue. I'll try to be less, uh, overt. Splitting up friends won't solve anything, though.

Yeesh. This part of being a teenager, I could do without.

When I'm 79

So I got my personal Death Clock today. Apparently I'll live to be 79. My clock is here, if you're counting.

Everyone should e-mail David and tell him he should get a blog. And by everyone, I mean all, uh, zero of my regular readers. And Dillon.

Yeah, that's it. No astoundingly humorous sarcastic riffs on popular culture this time.

God reportedly dislikes praying

So did you guys hear about the church group shooting in Wisconsin? I found this interesting:

"He tried to protect me," she said. "I said, 'Gerry, I think you better start to pray.'"

"He said 'Yeah, I think we better,' and he went 'uh' … Maybe that's when he was shot."

IT'S A SIGN FROM GOD! If you try to pray in the middle of a crisis, you will get shot.

Yeah, there was no real reason for that. But it kind of makes you think. I wonder about the thought processes going on in those people's heads: "Oh shit! There's a gunman in here! He's shooting people! I better... talk to myself! Instead of, like, hiding, or calling 911, or not doing something that's totally freaking useless!"

Hmm. I'll try to make things like this less disjointed in future.

Doing work is overrated. Like the Beatles.

So here I am in third block, not doing work. This is totally uncharacteristic of me.

That was a blatant lie, in case you couldn't tell. Or don't know me. It's weird, because I enjoy this class. It's Computer Generated Art II, which basically boils down to Playing With Photoshop For Ninety Minutes.

Okay, already bored of that subject.

The Beatles are really overrated. People always misunderstand when I say that. I'm not denying that they're good. They were certainly very revolutionary, and their appearance undeniably changed the face of music forever. Their music itself, though, leaves something to be desired. They have a few good songs--Dillon tells me to mention mop-tops (actually, semicolon mop-tops)--but overall it's nothing amazing. It probably just boils down to personal preference. But the Beatles are boring.

Yeah.

Ooh, look at me.

Well. I have a blog now. This must supplant my Xanga. So sorry Xanga. It's been, like, ten minutes and I'm already planning on turning you into a link to this. Heh.

So, news. Not much. I'll try to post on this as much as I can. I can't promise Pulitzer-quality writing, but--

Hey, that reminds me of something. Why is the Pulitzer Prize awarded for excellence in journalism? The man it was named for, Joseph Pulitzer, strongly opposed excellence in journalism. He was one of the men primarily responsible for the "yellow journalism" in the late 1890s that played a large part in pushing the US into the Spanish-American War. It's like handing out the Nixon Prize for honesty in politics.

So, uh, anyway, a lot of the posts will probably be stream-of-consciousness stuff like that. I'll probably be ranting about various things. It's fun.