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January 31, 2002
Currently playing: Inoj - Time
Currently playing: Inoj - Time After Time
Barry and Eileen are being violent right now. Argh... the apartment is being destroyed!!!!!!!!!!! ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(but I have some good video, so it's worth it... until one of them gets flung over here and hits me or my computer. That could hurt!)
Posted by brian at 04:40 PM | Comments (0)
January 30, 2002
Currently playing: New Order -
Currently playing: New Order - Hurt
Spiv, my fellow Case and Cooling moderator at Ars, just did a review of the Olympus E-10 digital camera. While not the best camera out there...
All I can say is... oh. my. gawd.
print them out on a good printer at 8x10 or better yet a real photoprinter... WOW!
butterfly. dragonfly.
Posted by brian at 02:21 AM | Comments (0)
Currently singing to: Erasure -
Currently singing to: Erasure - Sono Luminus
- Geography 5 research: done, turned in today.
- Geography 152 midterm: take this past morning. Hope I did well. =( Done, at least.
- Geography 5 debate: done. Why was I so worried?
- Geography 130 reading: not-even-close-to-being-considered-halfway-let-alone-finished. CRAP!
Well, 3 out of 4 isn't bad. Plus more of the usual weekly readings. And apartment crap- the search continues... at least all the computer stuff is ordered. Just too busy right now. Not to mention 3 of my friends are sick right now, too. BLAH! At least some fun stuff is approaching-- Erik and I get to play with computer ugprades soon. =) What other fun stuff? Well... I wish I knew, actually. Been helping Erik (and now Barry) car shop, although at this time it's still more dreaming than reality-- for them it will be reality in the summer. I'm just playing around. =) (and I can get that baby for $25k. If only I had $25k! Argh, I really need to wait until Summer 2003 at the soonest!!)
Even on crazy days like this, sanity still comes from Erasure, at least for me...
(getting U2 - Zoo Station stuck in my head earlier today does not bring sanity for me! =þ )
I never thought that I would reach you
Though I've been searching, for oh so many years
This place I am seems unfamiliar
But there's a light, to break through all my fears
Still, time and time again
I'm looking for the love
The one that can inspire
- Erasure - Sono Luminus
Posted by brian at 01:42 AM | Comments (1)
January 28, 2002
Currently playing: Depeche Mode -
Currently playing: Depeche Mode - Breathe
It was a decent weekend with some very good points. Until tonight. At least Barry is ok- it's his first accident, so he's shaken. Having had two of my own accidents (and been involved in a few others), I've been there, done that, and got the t-shirt so I can firmly attest that accidents suck. I'm going to go back to that homework I had planned to finish 3.5 hours ago now.
Another troll hit Ars' Openforum again earlier tonight, too. I thought I had a pretty good weekend going until 11pm tonight when Barry called me about his accident-- despite all the craziness of Friday and Saturday-- but as it is, it just went all downhill tonight. *sigh*
Posted by brian at 02:33 AM | Comments (0)
January 27, 2002
Currently playing: Eurythmics - Sweet
Currently playing: Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
Back in Los Angeles now... covered 333 miles in 4.5 hours... crazy... heck, all of these trips are getting crazy. No, I didn't find anymore sanity at home. (well I found a little, but I promptly consumed it all... argh!) Also, trolls suck. I planned to go to bed right after unpacking... not spending an hour dealing with trolls invading the forum on Ars Technica. 
It's been a good weekend, although it wasn't nearly as beneficial in terms of studying or relaxing as I'd hoped...
BTW, congratulations to Theresa for graduating last quarter!!!
Posted by brian at 02:28 AM | Comments (0)
January 26, 2002
Currently playing: Depeche Mode -
Currently playing: Depeche Mode - Only When I Lose Myself
Back home until 4pm or so... got in about 3:30pm on Friday. Good to be home, although trips this short are a little nuts...
Got home, swapped the stock intake back on to Barry's car, went with him to get his car smogged... picked up some computer parts... visited 2nd family... then that was about it. Just finished ripping a bunch of CDs to MP3 to take 'em back to LA, since I don't want to drag all these CD singles with me. A couple Zip disks are a lot smaller, and especially later when they'll all fit on a single CD. 16x secure mode DAE over my Sony 52x is beautiful!
Posted by brian at 01:23 AM | Comments (0)
January 23, 2002
Currently singing to: Erasure -
Currently singing to: Erasure - Crying in the Rain
Okay. I think I need help. I've been running around like crazy all day and I'm acting... well... goofy I guess is the best way to describe it. I was tired, then bored, then frazzled, then stressed... now I'm just feeling weird!
I guess staying up until something like 3:30AM last night finishing the Ars System Guide didn't help, nor did the 8:30AM wake-up to go make an appointment to go see a counselor...
Oh yeah, got a front-page mention on Ars too, in a news blurb. Scroll down to the January 23rd, 4:56PM update by Yaz. Okay. I'm spent. Time to either get back to work, or to go running, or to take a nap... or... FIND FOOD! (didn't even have time to each lunch yet. Ugh!)
Can you make it all right?
Can you make it okay?
When the talk don't come out right
You're moving further away
Now I feel no pain
I do my crying in the rain
Everybody hurts
When you play in the game of love
Stumble and fall
And it's all in the name of love
Words don't come out right
Can you make it okay?
And the way I feel I keep out of sight
Then make the heartbreak fade away
And the nights are long and cold
I want you here my dear to hold
- Erasure - Crying in the Rain
Posted by brian at 03:46 PM | Comments (0)
January 22, 2002
Currently playing: Digital Underground -
Currently playing: Digital Underground - Freaks of the Industry
Plextor has announced 40x CD-RW drives now; IDE only, of course. (where's the SCSI love?) I'm sitting here looking at my old Teac 4x burner, but I don't think I can justify $120 or $150 or $180 to replace it at the moment (with a Sanyo 12x, 16x, or 24x unit...). Heck, my car needs a new headunit more than I need a new burner.
As it is, today wasn't as productive as I'd like. Found a beautiful apartment that Helma and I are going to try to get, but the homework front just moved really slowly. Knowing I was missing VSU Culture Night didn't help! =( Well... the homework is finally almost done... but the Ars System Guide isn't done yet. =( I'll have to put that off until tomorrow, I think. Ugh. It doesn't help that for some reason, the entire day, I've been hungry... the food available to me hasn't been satisifying. I guess that means I need to go home and eat dinner with mom and dad again. That's the only sure solution I know of- mom's cooking. MMMMMM YUMMY!
Hope VSU Culture Night went well, everyone! Back to being boring and studying for me.
Posted by brian at 01:29 AM | Comments (0)
January 21, 2002
Currently playing: Kylie Minogue -
Currently playing: Kylie Minogue - Spinning Around
Well... Friday was totally unproductive as far as studying went. Yesterday was reasonably productive for studying. Today was totally unproductive for studying. Let's hope I get lots of studying done tomorrow before VSU Culture Night interferes, or else Tuesday could be a little stressful.
Found a Cingular flier in the mail today. All their plans now have unlimited nights and weekends + nationwide long distance included for free, plus their $39.99 plan is now 400 anytime minutes. Sounds like a good deal vs. some of the old plans, right? I've got $39.99 for 300 anytime minutes, and I could chose two of three options: (1) unlimited nights and weekends (2) unlimited nationwide long distance and/or (3) unlimited mobile to mobile + text messaging.
Well, looks good in theory if you don't use mobile to mobile. (1) is worth $9.99, (2) is $4.99... so if I had (1) and (2), I'd actually be better off upgrading to the current Cingular plan.
I do use mobile to mobile, though. I use it so much that I rarely use all of my anytime minutes. =) So I've actually got (2) and (3) right now. (3) is $14.99 for unlimited mobile to mobile, plus $9.99 for 500 text messages (vs. unlimited which I get) = $24.98/month for what I get for what was (at the time) $15 or $20 worth of options. Not bad! 
Ok, I admit the 1000 mobile to mobile and 250 text messages would work for me, at $9.99 and $5.99 each. Still $15.98...
Cell phone plans remain anything but simple today is still the order of the day.
Posted by brian at 01:41 AM | Comments (0)
January 20, 2002
Currently watching: Run Lola Run
Currently watching: Run Lola Run
Well not quite. Barry's friend is watching, and we're trying to stay awake.
Spent most of today studying... not that I was up for very long, since I stayed up so late last night. (and tonight, evidently...) Did some stuff for Ars, too... still need to finish it tomorrow.
Some numbers for the last week:
363 files, 28 albums and singles, 2264MB worth of MP3s updated or added.
All freshly ripped with EAC and LAME. =) Ripping my own CDs was the only way I found to get actual quality MP3s of some of this stuff. =)
11,002 files, dating from 11 October 1999 to today, 2029MB worth of pictures.
Those digital cameras have been pretty productive over the last couple years. =)
Ok... bedtime!
Posted by brian at 05:09 AM | Comments (0)
January 19, 2002
Currently playing: Kid Rock -
Currently playing: Kid Rock - Picture
Bedtime, finally. Watched The Matrix and partied with Nick, Pete, Sarah, Dennis, Van, Mike, and Lauren; we were going to watch Black Hawn Down or The Simpsons Season I, but Erik somehow became a pansy on us and told Helma he wanted to leave! (I don't know what's up with that... wtf? She didn't want to leave!)
Usual post-party 2am Del Taco run was good. Party is over... and I get an actual futon to sleep on instead of the floor. =) (aka Helma and really need to hurry up the apartment hunt!) See you all in the morning!
Posted by brian at 04:04 AM | Comments (0)
January 18, 2002
Currently playing: Method Man -
Currently playing: Method Man - Bring the Pain
Umm... no idea why I'm posting this blog. I just know I got up early, did not see a counselor because they were already out of appointments... and did get groceries. Killing time at Erik's place now... time to go running I think!
Posted by brian at 05:32 PM | Comments (0)
Currently playing: LTJ Bukem -
Currently playing: LTJ Bukem - Big Bud - Chill
Saw Monsters, Inc., tonight. It's a funny movie! By the time we were done my throat was sore from holding the laughter in. Came back to the apartment and laughed some more and I could barely stand, let alone gasp for air!! hahahaha... Anyway, if you need comic relief, go see it! 
Came back to the apartment and finished off the rest of The Fast and the Furious... got another good laugh at the cars and the racing- but I won't bore you with the technical details here.
Oh, yeah. First milk I've had in 3 days was tonight, with cookies from Diddy Resse. We really need to go grocery shopping. I may just go tomorrow, with or without Barry, because I am getting really tired of this "no food" thing.
Erasure box sets 3 and 4 (EBX3 and EBX4) shipped from Tower Records today... so aside from maybe three CDs now, my "to buy" CD list is pretty much taken care of. Freakin' Erasure addiction... not nearly as bad as my computer hardware addiction or my car addiction, but this last purchase was pretty inconvenient as far as my budget is concerned! Okay, enough rambling... bedtime! Need to go see a counselor tomorrow, go grocery shopping, and check out some apartments! (while most everyone else has school... hee hee!)
Posted by brian at 01:32 AM | Comments (0)
January 17, 2002
Currently playing: Depeche Mode -
Currently playing: Depeche Mode - Somebody
Well, my friend Ryan just put down a deposit on a Nissan 350Z Enthusiast model today. Lucky punk. =) He's worked hard and can afford it, though! Now next August I just need to fly over and drive it! hehe! Back to normal stuff, I have to go apartment hunting with Helma... still. *sigh* Still need to find a place. Have some other stuff to do tomorrow too. If I can get up early in the morning I can take care of it all without a problem, but if I get up at noon I'm going to have some problems getting it all done...
Also, I sat through a hellish schedule today. I'm worried about the fact that I am waitlisted for my Geography 5 class, so I sat in on Geography 183 today just in case I end up taking that instead. Problem was... Geog187 (9:30-10:45), Geog152 (11:00-12:15), Geog5 (12:30-1:45), Geog183 (2:00-4:50) = no breaks for Brian. Ack. Talk about sucky. This Geography 5 problem should be fixed by Tuesday though, so hopefully I won't have to go through this many continuous classes again this quarter...
BTW, Pearl is redesiging her website. Take a look! She's using frames though... icky... =þ As for my redesign plans from December... well, I haven't had time to start it yet. I've dabbled a bit in CSS in the meantime, though. Hopefully soon. =)
Posted by brian at 08:17 PM | Comments (0)
January 16, 2002
Currently playing: Depeche Mode -
Currently playing: Depeche Mode - Told You So
Still waitlisted for Geography 5... I need to make sure I get in, or else I need to take Geog183. (which meets right after Geog5 does, which could be a major pain tomorrow) Not too much else today. Lots of reading, although I still have a ton of stuff to catch up on in Geog130. I procrastinated a bit too, by cleaning my car a little bit and scrubbing down the bathroom sink and shower. Evidently, keeping things clean isn't a high priority of my roomies... *gross*
Stuff to look at: The Onion- iMac satire and LA Autoshow 2002 Pictures
Posted by brian at 08:32 PM | Comments (0)
Currently playing: Global Underground 012:
Currently playing: Global Underground 012: Dave Seaman - Buenos Aires CD 1
Bedtime, I think. 1:30am was planned, it's now 2:45am. Oops. Got lots of reading and grocery shopping to do tomorrow. Maybe even a car wash and apartment hunting. I'll see. I need to go see a counselor too and check on my Geography 5 enrollment, but I'll think about all that tomorrow and see how the day goes.
Posted by brian at 02:47 AM | Comments (0)
Currently playing: Chemical Brothers -
Currently playing: Chemical Brothers - It Began in Africa
Just finished Tom Clancy's Clear and Present Danger about 5 minutes ago. It's kind of crazy if you think about it, but I've had a mountain of reading to do for school... and for fun, I do more reading. Okay... check that, it's definitely crazy! Not too much else is happening though, which makes things awfully slow around here. The apartment hunt is stalled while Helma digs what is going to be a tough week for her, I've still got my nagging list of items to do. It's mostly taken care of at least...
Oh, an interesting technical quote:
"Hard drives aren't quite as accurate at preventing errors as fibre optic cables are - Qwest reckons that the error rate of an optical cable is equivalent to having one sand grain out of place on a 20 mile beach. - JamesW on StorageReview's forums"
Posted by brian at 12:28 AM | Comments (0)
January 11, 2002
Currently playing: Erasure - Ship
Currently playing: Erasure - Ship of Fools
Monkey mistake of the hour: not checking to see if I've sealed an envelope before I mailed it. Oops. Hope that Christmas card doesn't get lost! =(
Monkey mistake of the day: not double-counting the money I paid for my Pioneer DVD-305S (10X SCSI DVD drive). I'm pretty sure I gave him $60, but if I accidentially gave him $80 I'm gonna be pissed at myself.
Monkey mistake of the week: not packing extra 5.25" drive rails for my computer. I might have 'em but I doubt it. Oops.
Posted by brian at 03:56 PM | Comments (0)
Currently playing: Erasure - Grace
Currently playing: Erasure - Grace
Oh yeah, forgot to mention... currently on an Erasure kick right now. Been listening to lots of new (to me) stuff lately, and it just doesn't distract me from stress like Erasure does.
Looking in the papers makes me sorry to be human
A little ray of hope won't hurt at all
A price on every head and it's cheaper when you're dead
Quality of life may have to fall
Muffled voices, world in action
Stir the peaceful, need for longing
I... cannot describe the fear inside my heart
I... hereby do swear to live my life in accordance with grace
Erasure - Grace
(not that there's anything wrong with New Order, Information Society, U2, or any other recent musical obsessions... just needed a break! =) **ouch!!** Hey, that hurt!!!)
Posted by brian at 12:49 AM | Comments (0)
Currently playing: Erasure - Freedom
Currently playing: Erasure - Freedom (Acoustic) (from "Freedom" single)
School paperwork is done, I think.
It feels so much better do have that done. (although the $1400 for tuition hurt...)
Still a hideous amount of crap to do, though... definitely going to be a busy week or two remaining... =(
Still, sanity has been allowed to live a little longer, and that's definitely a good thing.
***in absence of actual content, time to ramble***
Unfortunately hard disk space is running low now... argh. Reencoding entire albums from 128kbps CBR Audioactive to 192kbps CBR LAME is finally making its additional space requirements known. Doh.
Posted by brian at 12:39 AM | Comments (0)
January 09, 2002
Currently playing: Depeche Mode-Erasure-OMD-Pet Shop
Currently playing: Depeche Mode-Erasure-OMD-Pet Shop Boys-The Cure - Slow & Sleazy - Mega Mix
What little sanity I have left is quickly going down the drain.
It's not that I am too busy...
It's that I have too many things on my mind.
All these little errands to do...
... paperwork for school...
... reading I'm already behind on (and can't do because the readers haven't even been printed yet!)...
... a friend with serious personal issues...
... a friend I've been neglecting for too long who I need to make time for...
... finding an apartment...
... processing hundreds of pictures to publish on my website...
and all kinds of stuff... thankfully most of it is minor, but I only have time to take care of so many things every day...
I've spent the last 2 or 3 years dealing with major issues. Minor issues just weren't a big deal... whereas now I just feel stretched a little thin. Things should be better in a week or so, though.
Posted by brian at 07:02 PM | Comments (0)
January 07, 2002
Currently playing: Erasure - Perchance
Currently playing: Erasure - Perchance to Dream
The morning phone calls scared the hell out of me... so I showed up to Murphy 1113, they had my paperwork... took it to Murphy A316 where the sign said "no more appointments available today". ARGH!! But wait!! The counselor working the front window is one of the ones who's familar with my file! HELL YEAH!!! =) Today went well after all. Took a couple hours for my bad mood to lift, though...
Posted by brian at 06:34 PM | Comments (0)
Currently playing: Morrissey - How
Currently playing: Morrissey - How Soon Is Now
Waiting... still waiting... *sigh* I'd like to be able to sign up for classes... ah well, back to waiting.
Now I'm told they can't find all of my paperwork, after being on the phone with three different people for the last half-hour. Time to go deal with this mess...
Posted by brian at 10:34 AM | Comments (0)
Currently playing: Information Society -
Currently playing: Information Society - Lay all your love on me
Very tired right now. I hauled myself down to LA for all of 19 hours last week to process paperwork, and I just checked URSA tonight-- I can't get classes!!! I guess my paperwork hasn't been processed yet. GRRR!!!! **fumes**
Posted by brian at 12:46 AM | Comments (0)
January 06, 2002
Currently playing: M:G - What
Currently playing: M:G - What Do You Remember (Jazzy Jim's Radio Mix)
Storagereview is shutting down.
*sigh*
New Year Eve's was good. Slow, but good. Alicia arrived around 2pm from SoCal... first of the NorCal people didn't arrive until 5:30 or 6ish. I don't think more than 11 were there at any one time, but things sort of inched off the ground until around 1:30am when we had to go pick up Erik and Jimmie (and where was Helma... long story!), and Valerie and Eileen came over. Once more of the "core group" came over, things got going pretty good and didn't stop until 5am! We did the usual New Year's Day thing and drove up to Nick's place for dinner and stuff.
Friday night was crazy too. Really crazy, since Erik and Jimmie don't dance much, if at all, until they're clearly intoxicated. =) They didn't want to stop, and as everyone finally collapsed around 4:30am Jimmie was still going. So much for driving home that night, too! 4:15am... Constant and Brian have been sober all night since we know someone has to drive back, but where's Erik and Jimmie? By 4:30 or 4:45am Leslie, Laura, Nellie... everyone's tired and we've all pretty much collapsed on the available couches and beds. So much for driving home. =þ
Pictures will be up next week. In between classes, the apartment hunt, and other items, "next week" is about as specific as I can get.
Posted by brian at 03:40 AM | Comments (0)
January 02, 2002
Currently playing: Inoj - Time
Currently playing: Inoj - Time After Time
New Year's pics may be up this week, but next week is possible-- there's a lot to do this week, and I'd like to spend some of the week relaxing for once. The party last night went well, although it got off to one of the slowest starts of a party in recent memory... plus, bad luck struck Helma and Erik again on New Year's. :-/
Posted by brian at 12:16 AM | Comments (0)
January 01, 2002
Happy New Year! Yes, that's
Happy New Year!
Yes, that's all for now. =)
Posted by brian at 04:01 AM | Comments (0)