The Enemy

It's called sleep, and it almost made me miss my microeconomics midterm.


8:50 am - My cellphone alarm (which never fails to wake me up) goes off, and instead of hitting Snooze I accidentally hit Stop, without knowing it.

10:00 am - Economics midterm beings, and I'm still in bed.

10:15 am - My roommate Mark gets back from his morning class, and sees me asleep and says "What are you still doing in bed? Don't you have a midterm?" I look at my watch, jump out of bed, change into the previous day's dirty gym clothes that were still in the bathroom, and start sprinting towards Waggener.

10:20 am - After running uphill from San Jac to Waggener and a flight of stairs, I make to class 20 minutes late.


I did complete that test on time, just about. Being able to do graphs, line equations and slopes about 5 times faster than anyone else helped with that. That midterm counted for 25% of the overall grade. I'm just wondering what would have happened if my roommate hadn't come back from his morning class (he usually doesn't)....

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Now Playing: Guns N' Roses - November Rain

Talk to your mom lately?

I was up late yesterday, just like the rest of the weekend - which was good, by the way. Dan came down from Louisiana and we had dinner at Papasito's (how on earth do you spell it?) along with Elliot and Corey. I also took advantage of the fact that he had a car, and got some stuff I was missing from the storage place. I actually have a usable comforter now...

Like I was saying though, I was up late yesterday... and I got a call from my mom at 2 am. We talked for about 25 minutes. Personally, I don't know how they keep up with the telephone bills at this rate. Telephone calls halfway around the world certainly aren't cheap. Anyhow, we talked about the usual - college, classes, whether I've been doing my laundry or if I've been secretly sleeping with random freshmen girls - so maybe she didn't actually say it but you just know she was hinting at it.

What's interesting (and perhaps ironic) though is that after a year of living on the other side of the Atlantic as my parents, I seem to have a much better relationship with them. We're a lot more open, frank and honest with each other than before - and no shouting matches! It's not the kind of thing I think about usually but that conversation reminded me that I do owe them a lot for any number of things, not the least of which is the fact that they're paying me through college.

There's no point to this really, I just thought I'd mention it because it's something I've been thinking about lately. So this blog post is officially dedicated to mom and dad - even though chances of them reading it are minimal. (And let's keep it that way, shall we?)

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Now Playing: Iron Maiden - Dance of Death

Food for thought

I was just watching an episode of The West Wing (have to love the Undergrad Library on campus, they have all kinds of DVDs), and here's an excerpt from it. Toby (White House Speech Writer, Democrat) trying to convince this inexperienced Republican Congressman, Joe Willis, to change his vote on a certain bill. Here's the conversation....

TOBY
Mr. Willis?

WILLIS
You can call me Joe.

TOBY
If you don’t mind me asking sir, what changed your mind?

WILLIS
What do you mean?

TOBY
Well, I know it wasn’t expediency sir. I was wondering what changed your mind?

WILLIS
You did. I thought you made a very strong argument.

TOBY
Well thank you. [laughs] I’m smiling because, well, around here the merits of a 
particular argument generally take a back seat to political tactics.

WILLIS
I can imagine.

TOBY
Yeah.

Now if only more people understood that.

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Now Playing: The West Wing Episode 1x06

Chatlogblogging: Part 3 - Porn/Chimps/Telemarketer edition

[08:44:55 PM] Alfred E. Ne: don't you have the msn music thing
enabled?
[08:45:11 PM] Inter Arma E: didn't
[08:45:12 PM] Inter Arma E: lol
[08:45:19 PM] Inter Arma E: i turned it off for porn
[08:45:22 PM] Inter Arma E: at some point
[08:45:32 PM] Alfred E. Ne: :'(
[08:45:55 PM] Alfred E. Ne: use mplayer2 ;)
[08:45:56 PM] Inter Arma E: i want to know how much money i'll have
[08:46:02 PM] Alfred E. Ne: or media player classic
[08:46:03 PM] Inter Arma E: i usually do
[08:46:15 PM] Inter Arma E: but firefox opens wmv stuff in winamp
[08:46:20 PM] Alfred E. Ne: hmm
[08:46:20 PM] Inter Arma E: everything else in mpc
[08:46:21 PM] Alfred E. Ne: lol
[08:46:22 PM] Inter Arma E: lol
[08:47:10 PM] Alfred E. Ne: "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges - VULCAN SEX
TPOL FUCKS ARCHER (Busy)"
[08:47:18 PM] Alfred E. Ne: and that's when all your contacts go
offline
[08:47:27 PM] Inter Arma E: lol...
[08:47:40 PM] Inter Arma E: please tell me it never said that
[08:47:44 PM] Alfred E. Ne: lol
[08:47:48 PM] Alfred E. Ne: not that i can remember ;)
[08:47:51 PM] Inter Arma E: lol
[08:48:01 PM] Inter Arma E: that's not what i look for anyway
[08:48:04 PM] Alfred E. Ne: lol
[08:48:14 PM] Inter Arma E: and i have the busty thing turned off
[08:48:17 PM] Inter Arma E: busy............
[08:48:22 PM] Alfred E. Ne: hahahaha
[08:48:22 PM] Inter Arma E: oh boy
[08:48:30 PM] Inter Arma E: lol...
[08:48:46 PM] Inter Arma E: damn
[08:48:47 PM] Inter Arma E: lol
[08:48:53 PM] Alfred E. Ne: indeed...

Edited for brevity, but... talk about typos, lol.


[09:16:49 PM] Sam: :-O
[09:16:51 PM] Inter Arma E: ok
[09:17:00 PM] Inter Arma E: you know how i bring up primate sex a lot
[09:17:15 PM] You have successfully received C:\Documents and
Settings\Sam\My Documents\My Received
Files\TV2005071721112200.JPG from Inter Arma Enim Silent
Leges.
[09:17:17 PM] Inter Arma E: thinking a human and a chimp could have a
baby
[09:17:21 PM] Inter Arma E: that is a liger
[09:17:26 PM] Inter Arma E: a lion/tiger
[09:17:30 PM] Sam: lol.......
[09:17:34 PM] Inter Arma E: they never meet
[09:17:44 PM] Inter Arma E: and it has no growth inhibitor gene so
it's huge
[09:17:48 PM] Inter Arma E: but it worked ;)
[09:17:59 PM] Sam: god damn
[09:18:00 PM] Sam: lol
[09:18:53 PM] Inter Arma E: i want to try to get a chimp pregnant :(

I kid you not! In all fairness, that quote is just a little bit out of context. Or so you think, until you get to this....

[09:26:27 PM] Inter Arma E: i'd like one good reason it couldn't
happen
[09:26:35 PM] Inter Arma E: lol
[09:26:39 PM] Sam: lol
[09:26:41 PM] Sam: :'(
[09:27:02 PM] Inter Arma E: i shall create a humanzee strike squad!
[09:27:17 PM] Inter Arma E: and take this country by force!
[09:27:27 PM] Sam: yay!
[09:27:34 PM] Sam: start now
[09:27:49 PM] Inter Arma E: i could get my own reality show too
[09:27:54 PM] Inter Arma E: the real planet of the apes
[09:27:55 PM] Sam: find the nearest chimp...
[09:27:56 PM] Sam: and fuck it
[09:27:58 PM] Sam: .
[09:28:05 PM] Inter Arma E: i just might.

Oh, but there's more.

Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges says:
i really would fuck a chimp before ann coulter
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges says:
lol
Devon says:
lol nothin wrong with that
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges says:
especially after the porn i've seen
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges says:
people fuck dogs
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges says:
horses
Devon says:
I've seen dat
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges says:
other things
Devon says:
not my style
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges says:
why not chimps?
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges says:
they get no love?
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges says:
they are 98% us!
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges says:
ok
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges says:
i should stop now

And more....

[09:50:28 PM] Sam: hmm
[09:53:45 PM] Inter Arma E: a 42 year old chimp
[09:53:48 PM] Inter Arma E: :'(
[09:53:54 PM] Devon: don't you dare!
[09:53:54 PM] Devon: lol
[09:54:02 PM] Inter Arma E: lol
[09:54:07 PM] Inter Arma E: why not?
[09:54:19 PM] Inter Arma E: i can hear the screaming now
[09:54:27 PM] Inter Arma E: chimps only have a 3 inch penis
[09:54:33 PM] Inter Arma E: so...
[09:54:49 PM] Inter Arma E: lol
[09:56:38 PM] * Devon is now Away (idle)
[09:56:54 PM] Inter Arma E: why do i know that
[09:57:18 PM] Sam: :'(

There's a bit more but I think you get the idea here.


And while we're quoting, I might as well link you to this.

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Now Playing: U2 - Where The Streets Have No Name (Slane Castle)

Week 1

So it's been a week since summer classes started, and I guess I'm due for a bit of an update.

Not much going on really - although I keep running into people I know that I didn't think were taking summer classes. I think the biggest coincidence has to be that I have Arghmed - of all people - in my World Literature class. (For those not in the know, this guy was in my CS 307 class last fall - notorious for pointing out missing semicolons in Java programs)

My roommate here in San Jacinto, an Asian guy named Mark, seems pretty nice. Sometimes I think he's a bit overly nice. One of these days he's probably going to ask me something major that I won't be able to refuse because he's been so nice to me all this while. I can so see it coming....

Been working out at the gym and I think it's making a difference.

Nah, who am I kidding?

Anyhow, classes aren't too bad. Microeconomics is just plain boring (missed it twice already) but World Literature is just incredible. If you plan on taking World Literature at UT, take Ernest Kaulbach. This guy curses the hell out of everyone and everything - but if you can live with that (and I'm willing to bet you can), you'll have an incredibly easy class that's actually fun. I mean - how can you NOT like a guy who writes "FUCK" in big, bold letters on the slide projecting on the screen when talking about Genesis - and then erases it when he moves to the next topic because "it's not polite"?

On a side note, I shook up my computer a bit too. Sold a 6800 GT (and should be selling the second one soon) and bought a 7800 GTX, all while making a profit. Now all I need is an Athlon X2 and I'm set.

Finally - Guns N' Roses are one hell of a band. Like I said earlier to a certain, um, person with a God-complex, they're no U2 - but still fucking good.

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Now Playing: Guns N' Roses - Estranged

Now entering the city of Austin

Wow, a lot can happen in two days. This is another one of those 'what I did today' posts, but it's interesting, and hey, it's my blog. Feel free to complete a feedback questionnaire and leave it in the drop box and I'll make every effort to ignore it.

I flew over from Houston to Austin yesterday (Friday) morning. It's so much more convenient than the bus. a 25 minute flight versus 4 hours on the bus, 5 to get to/from Clear Lake. Except the air ticket is 4 to 6 times more expensive.

Anyhow, I took the airport flyer to UT and checked into San Jac. It seemed pretty quiet and I didn't really meet anyone. So I unpacked, sorted my stuff out and started wondering whether the next 5 weeks would be the equivalent of watching 9 seasons of Friends at a stretch - just plain boring. Some people would disagree with that. Those people are communists. Ignore them.

Seeing as how I had nothing to do, I took the WC shuttle to Rio Nueces and got my desktop from there in two trips. That took about an hour in itself. And then I ran into Manish, and he was kind enough to help me get my stuff from storage. That helped because sleeping without a sheet, pillows and a comforter would have sucked. Except that I got the wrong comforter and didn't find out who it belonged to until I got back. The thing smelled like it had been drenched in concentrated sweat harvested directly from somone who had just run 10 miles non stop in the Dubai summer sun. Guess who it belongs to and I'll personally mail you a Double-Stuf Oreo cookie.

All that done with, I thought I'd sleep early and get 12 to 14 hours. That wasn't going to happen though. This guy named Landon who lives down the hall knocked on the door, and when I opened he introduced himself and asked if I wanted to go get dinner. I stepped outside and it looked like the whole fifth floor was going. He ended up introducing me to everyone there. About 10 of us ate at Mr. Gatti's pizza, and then ended up going for Fighter Pilot in the IMax cinema next to campus. I didn't really talk much at the time because I was really tired. I don't even remember some of their names. They're all freshmen, and they kept doing weird stuff... and then telling me "yeah, we're weird". Not in a bad way though.

And that was yesterday. Today was different though. I didn't run into most of them, and it seemed like it was going to be a slow day anyway so I paid a visit to HEB and got some groceries. Put my desktop together too, and listed one of my 6800 GTs for sale. (Anyone interested? You know you want one)

Then I decided to go to the gym, since I didn't really have much else to do. After about an hour of working out, I ran into - if you went to Modern High, wait for it - Roshan Nair. I've been at UT for a year and I never met him before this. We played squash... and let's just say I haven't beaten anyone this bad for a while now - and I'm not even that good. I wouldn't say he's a bad player though, and in all fairness, my serves were incredibly accurate, which usually doesn't happen.

That just about covers everything. Oh, bandwidth limits really suck. 12 GB/week just doesn't cut it. It's only for a month though....

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Now Playing: The Killers - Mr. Brightside

Chatlogblogging: 2nd edition

___Aeris | Infatuated. says:
so, what else..?
Sam says:
i'm hungry
Sam says:
lol
Sam says:
it's 8.45 am
Sam says:
i don't even know why i woke up so early
___Aeris | Infatuated. says:
hehhe
___Aeris | Infatuated. says:
update your blog!
Sam says:
yeah i need to get around to that
Sam says:
lol
Sam says:
brb
Sam says:
going to raid the panty
Sam says:
er
Sam says:
pantRy
___Aeris | Infatuated. says:
LOL
___Aeris | Infatuated. says:
ok now that's blogworthy :P

...

Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges says:
:o
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges says:
hahaha
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges says:
what were you thinking? ;)
Sam says:
nothing... nothing at all :(
Sam says:
... damn you freud!

Yeah.

Anyhow, I'm back in Houston now. The flight sucked, and the two hour long delay at Paris/CDG coupled with the worst turbulence I've EVER felt didn't help any.

I'm really not one to celebrate 4th of July (and even August 15 for that matter) but I'm never saying no to a barbecue. Fly all the stars and stripes you want - just give me my steak, and no one gets hurt.

That reminds me, I need to watch the U2 stuff from Live 8....

Edit: Here's something worth reading - absolutely hilarious. That would be Schumy's blog, run by Atul. Added a sidebar link too.

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Now Playing: Guns N' Roses - Nighttrain