29.2.04

More College Stuff

Okay, here's another college essay. In a couple of days, when I'm not so damn tired, I'll write a full report that makes sense of all this crap.

-----
I always have a problem with this type of essay. You see, I haven't got any real personal problems. Nothing big enough to put on a college application, anyway. I have a congenital heart defect, but that has been fixed, and doesn't affect my life in any major way. My parents were divorced and my mom moved us from New Jersey to Texas, but even that wasn't too big of a switch. If my life has been exceptional in any way, its that it was exceptionally average.

I suppose, actually, that average isn't quite the right word for it. I mean, I am by no means an average person. I have my own unique personality that, I feel, doesn't fit well into any "average" mold. What I meant, though, is that I haven't really had any above average challenges, but by the same token, I haven't had any been given any extraordinary opportunities. My life, sadly, has been a dreary path of "the same ol' same ol'," never really being much of anything exciting.

Now I wonder, though, if that doesn't give me some advantage in itself. Having neither the ultra-privileged life nor the highly mistreated one, does that afford me a clear, unbiased view of both aspects of life? I neither have the down in the dregs, "Everyone hates me" style of thinking that abused and under-privileged people have, nor do I have the higher than thou, "I'm better than everyone" attitude of the rich and pampered. This is not to say that I think I'm better than them. Quite the contrary, I envy them for their rich experiences. However, I do have a nice, clean, third party insight, if you will.

Of course, that's not to say that I'm planning on staying in this boring lifestyle. I do indeed plan on filling my life with as many experiences as I can attain, which is one of the reasons I am interested in attending UT. I feel that it will help me attain all that I can possibly. And mind you, I plan on attaining a lot. I refuse to be limited by death, even, and will work to continuing my exploration of life long after my human body has quit on me, through some future application of robotics and medicine. But that, I'm afraid, is a story for another essay.
-----

Okay, I'm off to have fun building my Zombie Bidding deck. So long!

28.2.04

College and Stuff

Yay me! I'm working on getting into a real college! Heh. And, since the hardest part of any application is the essays (and even they aren't that hard), I thought I'd treat all you to one of my essays. The prompt was "What is the next big thing, and how will you recognize it when it comes about?"

-----
During my childhood in the mid- to late-1980's, the cartoon show "The Jetsons" was running in syndication, and was a show I watched regularly. The show took its viewers far off into 21st Century, where cars could fly, robot maids served families, and houses were built on long pillars in the sky. To a young child at the time, this "21st Century Thing" seemed like a great time to be alive. And by the time 1990 rolled around, I began to grow excited. "Hey", I realized, "I'm going to be a part of this brave new world! I'm going to get a flying car, a robot maid, and a house in the clouds!"

Midnight 2000 (and 2001, if you're a nit-picker) came and went without event. Cars and houses are still firmly attached to the ground, with the exception of Evil Knevil-type daredevils, and Honda's Asimo robot can't even service itself, let alone another human, without being told explicitly by a living operator. Collectively, as a world, we gasped. "Where is our 21st century? Why didn't the big 2 and its team of zeros change everything for us?"

The next big thing is going to be just the opposite, unfortunately. It is NOT going to be an instantaneous event heralded by the news men, a sudden change in our way of life. All of our previous achievements have been gradual advancements of human engineering and ingenuity, not some instantaneous epiphanies by unknown men and women, hidden away from the grasps of normal people. That in part is what makes the whole mystique of the 21st Century so laughable; it is humanities acceptance, and expectancy even, that if we merely wait for some predetermined point, all our wishes will be granted by some invisible force.

Consider the field of aviation. One might consider the Wright's first flight at Kitty Hawk to be its time's "Big Thing." The same could be said for Neil Armstrong's famous moon landing. However, both of these amazing achievements are not mere one-time blips on history's radar, but the culmination of years, decades, even centuries of work. Apollo 11 is the result of nearly two decades of extra-terrestrial research and development, by people all over the world. And the first powered flight had been a goal man had been working towards for even longer. Leonardo Da Vinci's flying-machine designs, dating back to the Renaissance, are just a sampling of humanities reaching for the heavens, one which has spanned for our entire existence as a species.

Computers are another example of a seemingly short term goal that has in fact spanned over a century, sense Babbage's first adding machine was introduced. Though computers do expand at an exponential rate, none of their expansion could be said to be anything like a quantum leap. It has all been a logical growth from one step to the next. Even our "new" Internet isn't all that different from the wiring together of the different pieces of equipment within a single computer. The lines may be longer, but the principles been in use for decades. Remember, distance is irrelevant to an electrical current.

So, what is the next big thing, and when will it arrive? Sadly, we probably will not know until a great deal after we have developed it and moved on. Of course, that is the key. We have to stop waiting for things to happen and actually accomplish them ourselves. In other words: talk to you in a few years, when I'm done making It.
------

Oh, and a quick side note, I'm sorta kinda grounded, so if you don't see me, well, that's why. Okay, gotta jet. Tell you more later!

27.2.04

Greetings from Not New Jersey

Yeah, I skipped right over NJ. So, this will be my catch-all entry for that trip. Let's see... First note, I've done a lot of traveling on my own for this trip. I suppose this shouldn't be such a big thing for me, I have taken plane flights on my own before, though usually I have someone there to buy me the ticket, because those e-Ticket booths need a credit card, which I don't have. Anyway, this trip, after driving from Tennessee to Washington, D.C. (and spending the night there) we made our way to the DC train station, which functions a great deal like an airport, until you get to the actual train, at which point you realize how much train technology has NOT advanced in the past 150 years. Oh well.

Anyway, that was all well and good, and then I arrived in Delaware of all place. That was good. Let's see.
My step brother held a Magic Sealed Deck Tourney - Mirr/DS, if you were wondering. I made a pretty decent White / artifact equipment deck, despite not getting ANY of the little white guys who make equipment so good. I did decent, third of nine. Got a pack out of it. Course, the big prize was getting my 4th Glimmervoid and, yes, a 4th CHROME MOX, all for just one each of the Mirrodin Tower cards. It's a steal, trust me. Not so much as the guy who gave me a Call of the Herd for FREE (this was just as Torment was coming out, and Call was worth like 20$ at the time.

Then, Sunday, I was supposed to see my friend Ralph, who is going to college in the area (2 hrs from Philly). My dad dropped me off at his old house, from where his sister was going to take me. She is over an hour later than she said she'd be. The she finally shows, and, oh, we're not going, we're going to the movies and lunch instead. It was nice, except that I blew twenty bucks on that day, which I would have rather spent elsewhere... Oh well.

The next few days I just spent chilling, not much to say bout them, so I wont.

Then I went home, again, alone. It was alright. I got to sleep a little. And I discovered that the e-Tickets could use anything with a magnetic strip, almost. My drivers license didn't work, but my ATM card did. It even brought up my own ticket, after I told it what flight I was on. Which was odd, considering I'm fairly certain that you cant buy airplane tickets (or anything else) with an ATM card. Especially mine, because I am broke.

Anyway, I got back home, safe and sound. First think I did was go shopping! Heh. I FINALLY found Chobits #3. Nothing farther than that, though. I also got the first DVD of a series called Kiddy Grade. It's rather cool, and if I get more money, I'll get the 2nd and 3rd and so on when it comes out. Unfortunately for you folks, I am too tired to describe it. Or anything else. See you around!

18.2.04

Greetings From Tennessee

Hey. The greatest thing about this states name would have to be its repetitiveness. Although it's nine letters long, I only use four different keys to type it out. Tennessee. Okay, five if you count the shift key, but you know I don't. Tennessee. It's just a fun word. Try it! Tennessee. Tennessee. Tennessee. Tennessee. Tennessee. Tennessee. Tennessee. Tennessee. Tennessee. Tennessee. Tennessee. Tennessee. Tennessee. Tennessee. Okay, I cheated there, and used copy/paste skills. But STILL.

Hrm... The thing is, I sorta already did this entry once before... Yesterday, in fact. (Hehe, i said TURD... Too much celebrity jeopardy, I guess.) Anyway, I am in Tennessee, and not really doing all that much which is productive. I really don't understand why I came here. Not that I'm not enjoying myself, of course. I'm spending time with family who I rarely ever get to see. Case in point, yesterday, my six-year-old cousin Lena (and to all you people out there who think that makes her cute by default, well... I'd have to agree ^-^) gave me a short quip about how my mom "saved me from being a Yankee" when she divorced my dad. No way was I about to tell her that I STILL consider myself a Yankee, especially after what she said next. "They went against us, you know." I had to assume she was talking about the Civil War, and hearing her say it was, again, SO CUTE, that I didn't have the heart to pipe in and remind her that those evil Yankees (actually, the term is apparently "DamnYankees," one word) had in fact WON the war, or that her side was fighting to preserve the institution of slavery. That stuff is all so depressing for a six-year-old. Better to let the school systems fix it.

In other news... The title of the last entry on "Weirdness" was supposed to involve a few other things I didn't get to mention. One of them was that I apparently have a free website at l33tn1nj4.50megs.com. I have no idea what to put in there. Though, maybe I can use it for my other "weird" thing, which is my recent discovery of the program Magic Set Editor. It's a nifty little application where you fill in the blanks on a card, and then it throws them all together on a reasonably reasonable looking card. I've made some impressive ones using what little images I had on hand, but alas, I have run out of inspiration. If you would like a card made of yourself, or of anything else, for that matter, just send me the picture, and I'll return your card. It'll be fun! Hah. Anyway, that's all for now.

Oh yeah, I'm going on up to Philly this weekend, so if anyone from that area wants to hang out or something, drop me a line. "That area," BTW, encompasses pretty much a two hour driving radius around Philly, if you know what that is. Basically, if you could make it to Philly from where you live in a reasonable amount of time, then I'm available for you. Maybe. I'll have to see how scheduling goes. Oh well. I'm off.

14.2.04

Ton's of Weirdness

I seem to be neglecting this thing more and more. I'm sorry, it's not my fault, really it's not. It's just.. I've been having some odd scheduling things. As you fan tell, I'm STILL not in Tennessee. Yeah, we got snow, instead. Just not enough to get excited over. It was all melted away by noon. But apparently there was a snow warning up along I-40, our intended route of travel. So we're effectively snowed in by snow I can't enjoy. Exciting, huh?

God, I'm stupid. I just looked at some stupid thing talking about the subliminal messages in some song. And it was pretty weird, because it really did sound like the Lord's Prayer in whatever song they were singing, UNTIL THE STUPID SCARY SHIT CAME ON!! If you don't know what I'm talking about, well... I won't subject you to the flash thing itself, but here's a description. A flash movie comes on with very quiet sound, and something for you to read, or look at (Where's Waldo is sometimes used). Then, after you're sucked in and staring at your screen, with the volume cranked up to max, the image switches to either something disturbing or disgusting or something, with loud music. Scary shit, if you're not expecting it. Kudos to the designer, because he lured me into a false sense of security.

Anyway, lets see what else is going on... Um... Oh yeah, it's Valentines Day, and I've managed to stay lonely and happy at the same time. Again, the glories of the Internet. Thanks to all my friends for talking to me today.

Speaking of love, I've been reading Chobits lately. For those of you who don't know, it's a manga (a.k.a. Japanese Comic Book, or Anime in Print Form) about a guy who is, like many guys in this sort of story, is down on his luck. Of course. As the story begins, we find our hero, Hideki, bemoaning his fate about being down on his luck, and, specifically, unable to afford a computer, or persocomp. Speaking of which, that's what makes this an interesting story - the persocomps. They are computers shaped like people, usually pretty girls. Hideki, the lucky guy, stumbles across a seemingly brand new one, just tossed in the trash. He carries it to his home, activates it (her?) and then notices the oddness. Such oddness as Chi - so named because that is all she can say at first - having no operating system detectable, despite her functionality, and shorting out any other persocomp that tries to link with her, and, as I stated, being able to only say "Chi." Anyway, its interesting, and you should all get it, or at least, buy it for me. ^-^

Dudes, I started this thing at 450 today. its now approaching midnight. And tomorrow I have a road trip. So long. See you from Tennessee.

11.2.04

Not In Tennessee

...Yet! Yeah, for those of you not in the loop (i.e. most of you), I was supposed to be in Tennessee by now. As the title suggests, I am not. Why this is, I don't know. I believe it has something to do with a relative being in town on SATURDAY, which is when my new departure date is. For a few hours there, this change almost messed up some plans with a doctors apointment. Luckily, though, the doctor called and had to reschedule. So, problem averted. W00t.

Anyway, yeah, apparently I'm getting to go out there and do... something. I'm going to visit with my uncle, and learn the mysteries of a program called MetaStock, which, I guess, um, stocks, er, metas? No, not really. It's a stock tracking program that my grandpa wants me to use for him.

Blah, I'm tired again. Dunno why. Oh, if anyone wants to buy me Chobits #3-8, I'd appriciate it. More on that tomorrow, I guess.

8.2.04

Even MORE Religious Talk

I just realized that these post are displayed backwards to the order I post them, making a chronological reading somewhat difficult. Like reading manga that's been translated into English: the words go from left to right, but the speech bubbles are oriented right to left. What this means for you is, unless you tuned in during the brief period while this wasn't here and the first one was, um... Never mind, I confused myself. I got to not do these things at midnight.

Okay, I'll start things off with a joke. While I wish I could take credit for it, but it belongs to Magic designer and columnist Mark Rosewater (unless he stole it from someone, too, in which case, fuck off, Mr. Third Degree).

The philosopher Descartes walks into a bar. As he sits at the bar, the bartender notices that Descartes is in a bad mood. Trying to cheer up his friend, he says, "Descartes, would you like a beer?"
Descartes looks up and says, "I think not."
And then, he disappears.

Hehehe. Okay, on with the show....

I seem to have set my price, as seen in the post directly before this one. Yes, that's right, to get your very own spot in my blog, you no longer need to guess some stupid quote (more on that later). Instead, you need simply to show me yboobiesoobs, and voila! You will live in cyber infamy as one of Greg's cyber-hoes (Note: That is a term of endearment, not meant as a slight to any of my fine lady-friends or their delightbosomssoms.)

I'm getting shoved off to bed, so ONCE AGAIN, my religious discussions shall have to wait until tomorrow, I hope. Ta.

Post for Ash

This post goes out to my amazing gal-pal Ash. She's the coolest chick out there, cuz she showed me her titties! Heh. So lot'sa love, Ashley, now get off my back about it.

More Religious Talk

Wow, it's been a while since I did one of these, so I guess it's about time. I just want to say I haven't forgotten about this, I just had my laptop taken away for some time, due to misbehaviours and such. Really, I need a job. Yes, still. I got a call back from Lenscrafters, apparently. So I may be the man making our glasses sooner or later. A useful skill, if I do say so myself.

Let's see... That Kid Safety thing my mom installed on my comp like a month ago still hasn't worked. Or rather, it hasn't recorded my logs, but it HAS done a good job of blocking my porn. *Cries.* Poor Greg. Actually, it hasn't done a good job. Really, it's done a job so poor that its even MORE frustrating than usual, because I'll be surfing around and get "good, good, good, nice, okay, good, BLOCKED!!!!" Not fun.

lessee, I was supposed to be discussing religion, but I got somewhat sidetracked. Umm... In Sunday School today... Hrmm... *Reads through past logs...* Apparently I didn't tell you good folks about my adventures with the Lakeway church. Apparently their High School teacher doesn't like questions. Yeah. I got kicked out for that. Maybe I'll talk more on that later. Anyway, because of this, I have been banished to the adults class. There's no college level class!!!! What kind of place is this?

Ugh, I had more, but my Internet Explorer is pop-upping more than usual. So I'll return to finish this (Did you know that those letters spell 'shit', too? Typoes can be most revealing.) Okay, bye.