 | Who, Me? |
 | Home |
| Archived |
| About |
| GeekDom |
| Odd Crap |
| Top |
| Links |
 | Who, Me? |
I have Evil Dead on VHS, and I have the director's cut of Army of Darkness on DVD. But not until today did I get around to checking out Evil Dead 2. Was it amazing? You're darn tootin'. I'd have to say that ED2 is probably the greatest of all three, and Bruce Campbell is the coolest human being.
[Pompous Namedrop Mode]
Of course, the best scenes of ED2 were take-offs of Within The Wood, Sam Raimi's Super-8 film which inspired the series.
[/Pompous Namedrop Mode]
I've experienced little of this university outside the realm of the science building. There are places on this campus I've never seen before, and I chanced upon one of them as I was leaving my Art Appreciation class. There's a little walkway widget on the very top of the hill that has "Love One Another" written across the side of it, and anti-war posters hanging all around the sides. I think it's safe to assume that - while we science geeks are generally apathetic to global politics - the art, history, and journalism majors have very clear opinions on the matter.
I just want cheaper gas, man. Don't trouble me with minutae.
Someone in the Honors department sent out an E-Mail about some deal where high school seniors come for a day to be indoctrinated into our demented academic cult. As many of these people will need to stay for a night, they were asking if some of us would be willing to take one under our roof while they sit in awe at the majesty of college life. While the writer of this little note assumed honors students would be smart enough to infer that we would be designated someone of like gender, it only expressly stated that they had both "male and female" students in need of a place to crash.
Oh, how I'm tempted to exploit this to its fullest potential.
In Calculus II, we're reviewing things we were supposed to have learned before registering for this gentleman's class. But despite a year of AP Calculus in high school and a semester of Calculus I this past fall, he's pulling out problems I've never seen before in my life. I'm so terribly, terribly screwed.
Giotto worked in the Proto-Renaissance period; Masaccio in the Early Renaissance; Michelangelo in the High Renaissance. Am I the man, or am I the man?
I stopped today and realized something terribly important about this school year - I haven't done anything remotely resembling an artistic piece. Yes, I've done my fair share of dumb PhotoShops, but the last real piece of artwork I did was my final project for Graphic Design II. I'd forgotten all about it until I chanced upon my dusty old art folder buried deep within the many layers of My Documents. It's not much, but I was really proud of it. It's called "The Time Is Now."
Maybe I really just need a teacher to assign this kind of thing to me. I obviously can't stay motivated enough to do work alone. But more importantly, I feel almost like I've stopped enjoying art altogether. I'd like to issue an apology to anyone who caught the blunt end of my "Art Is Meaningless, Emo Kids Are Pompous Crap Bags" protest last year.
Not only was I full of it for believing I had any right to start spewing that kind of garbage, but I've come to realize it set me on a road that was more self-destructive than anything else. I realized today that I've completely abandoned anything resembling aesthetic appreciation. I started seeing everything in a bland, analytical, left-brained manner, and that's a state of mind I used to fear like the plague.
I'm currently taking Honors Art Appreciation, and I believe it's really opening my eyes. I don't ever again want to look at at a Massaccio and say "So What?". As much as I love my Physics friends, I don't want to be as bored and unmoved as they sometimes seem to be about art and music and theatre and anything else that used to be important to me before I went on some egotistical anti-art spree. I want my life to have a meaning beyond physics, math, and computers. I just hope it's not too late to find a balance between the two sides.
*Some Emo Kids are still pompous crap bags. They don't get off the hook that easy.
I came out of my first college semester without too many problems. My advisor had my back on times and locations, and I was free to balance my easy classes with my hard. It was a beautiful combination, and I thought I had this thing licked like a Tootsie pop.
Pride cometh before a fall, however, and I believe I overestimated myself.
I took on an extra class or two, thinking I'd just squeeze them into the rest of my schedule. I could have handled them last semester. What makes this situation different? I'm the man! I'll have no problems. What I failed to realize was that - despite having a similar schedule - I have very different professors. My Physics and Calculus teachers are pleasant people, don't get me wrong. But in this - the first week of classes - I'm already catching a case of the overwhelmies. Throw in a dash of Western Civ, Honors Art Appreciation, and Computer Science, stir, and watch my mind unravel.
I write this update as an intended disclaimer while I still have sense left to put together complete sentences. If you don't see any updates for long periods of time, or don't see me on AIM for more than five minutes, or receive incoherent e-mails in the middle of the night about the mind-controlling robots in the heater - don't fret. A pack of neuroleptics and a week of sleep later I'll be fine.
Until next time, cross those fingers.
Speaking of school, I'm a dead man.
Monday used to be a free, mellow, easy-going day of the week. It was the hippie of my weekdays, and I could always count on it to chill out and just go with the flow. At some point over the break, Monday totally sold out.
From 8AM to 3:25PM, I'll be stuck inside the same building. I get to see the sun for a few minutes when I fight the throngs of people in the food court, but will be immediately herded back to the science building for more incredible adventures. When I worked this schedule out with everyone, I was of the naive impression that it wouldn't be all that difficult. By the syllabi alone, however, I realize now there's no hope for me.
For those of you considering a college career, let me give you a piece of advice. When you schedule your labs - any lab you take - leave at least a two hour break immediately prior to your lab. I don't care how studious you think you are, you will not finish your lab report the night before. Be realistic.
People who kid themselves never get the joke.
I'm going to catalogue and rank my entire audio collection. I have no idea what kind of criteria to use - especially with so many different genres and styles represented. But those of you who know me well know I don't have a hard time being dogmatic and quick to conclusions, so I'll probably just create some unfair, generic system of measurement that will leave a few of you a little angry.
Man, I can't wait.
I know this will sound like a yuppie attempt to sound intellectual, but I started playing with the "multiple instances" option of WinAMP. By opening up WinAMP twice, I can play two different songs at once. Sure, that's old news. But if I load my full list of songs into both and set the old girls on shuffle, I'm amazed at the way some of the most random songs match up.
There were points of clashing, to be sure, but I find it interesting how well "Hungarian Dance No. 6" and the theme from "Ren and Stimpy" mesh at times. You might like to know that the introductions to Ozzy Osbourne's "Mr. Crowley" and Weezer's "Simple Pages" went together in a very creepy sense of harmony.
I don't want to push the envelope or anything - not this soon, anyway - but I'm starting to wonder what would happen if I went for three. I want to hit the trifecta.
P.S. - Does anyone else hate the word "trifecta," or do I just have a personal problem?
