Do they always come in threes?

So what was it? A week ago? Whenever it was, it was recent that I heard about and from a gal I knew long ago and haven't been in touch with for quite some time. Last night I needed a break from what I was doing (not studying, alas) and felt like I might go to my old stompin' ground. Then I said, naw, I don't want to drive over there. But felt again like I ought to so I threw on some footwear, grabbed the keys and headed out to EB Games.

Lo and behold when I get there, not only is my pal John working whom I haven't seen for around 2 weeks, but someone else. A regular at the store who I haven't seen in almost a year because I haven't worked there. One whom I have to admit I always have had something of a small crush on. Anyhow, was very nice to see her and her brother and son again. I even suggested that perhaps we could kick around town sometime, but that would require a phone number. So she gave it to me. So who knows maybe I'll have a "date" sometime this year.

So what if they come in threes? Who else out there from my past is single still (or again)? I wonder... what if it's someone who was far too young when I first knew them but would now be 27 or 28. Hrm. That's not that bad. Course I cold just be dreaming, wishing or otherwise speculating on the improbabilities of life. So any of you single women who are reading this and remember some guy you knew from 1 to 10 years ago -- give him a call, e-mail or something to see what he's up to. Who knows, he may just be thinking about you.

Glad it's Thursday. Means I don't really haven any work due tomorrow, just study. This is good because I'm tired today. Not 100% sure why as I went to bed at 10:30 last night. Maybe it's just because I am once again using more mental power than I did over the whole winter break. Speaking of which -- forget being PC, Christmas Break, darn it. What ever happened to that? Someone probably took offense to it because they weren't Christian so the rest of us who are have to suffer. I am feeling discriminated against because we don't get to call it Christmas Vacation anymore. So enough of the tangent -- since there is little "work" to do today/tonight I will be able to relax a bit and play or sleep or whatever. (Course what I ought to be doing is finding a job.)

Well even though no two clocks on this campus are remotely close to each other, I'm going to trust my watch which tells me it's time to get to class. If I see ya later, bien. If not, muy bien. Hehe. Whatever the case, rest assure that some nuclear power plant is feeling the fear of the Godzilla... maybe that's why I'm tired, I haven't recharged by destroying a town in a while.

Hasta la proxima vez!

~G

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On my way home from school today my car started shaking and vibrating really badly. Wasn't pulling to the left or right but I really felt like I was going to shake myself to pieces. So I stopped in at the tire store to see if it was an alignment or balance issue. Lucky me -- one of my tires had almost shredded and another was in bad shape. So I got there safe, thank goodness, but had to shell out some dough to get it fixed. Alas, better safe than dead in this case. Heya?

So since I was shelling out for tires already I figured I'd eat out for lunch too. Tried out the Mongolian BBQ. Strange thing that. A sort of Chinese Stir Fry meal, hispanic cook and country music being played. Talk about a mix of cultures. I really didn't know where I was. Not something I will choose to repeat often. A> too expensive, b> food was mediocre, c> I really don't like country. Ah well, I studied my Japanese while waiting and am now full so I guess it's all good. Just couldn't pass up sharing the experience.

Under Cover of Mid-Afternoon We'll Escape In the Largest Car In the County

Somehow I managed to get through all weekend without getting on here, which may be for the best since I seem to have been pretty well outta whack when I wrote last. Course I always seem to be out of whack. Anyhow, here it is a little bit after Future Studies. And the verdict is -- I'm staying. I am staying because I want more than 9 credit hours, because even though he says some very strange things from time to time and I know we have differing world veiws I think he's open enough to my close-mindedness to pass well. Ha! He mentioned last week some things I though strange and so I really didn't know what to think. Like how science has proven tachyons. You know, that faster than light particle. I would have thought should that actually have been done every physicist in the the world would know about it and be talking about it. Alas, last time I talk to one about it they still thought it a mere hypothesis. Or how about the unexplanable energy of the pyramid shape -- like the one at Giza. Has to be specific, not just any ol' pyramid. He claims to have built one (and no longer has it) and conducted all kinds of experiments. Like put a 5 pound bag of sugar inside it, seal it up and the next day it won't weight 5-lbs. *shrug* I can't say that it won't, but that was just a little out there for me. Today we were a little more mundane and talked about time and how as we've become more "civilized" we have created more and more divisions of time and how even today different cultures view time differently. All in all I think it will be interesting and I will be able to cope.

On a wholly different note -- last week before Japanese one day Bush came up and at least one individual at the table said "Well who likes Bush, anyway?" Of course I replied that I did. He asked why. I said something to the affect because he has morals and values. I could not believe the response I got. I really was shocked. He said, "Choosing leaders based on morals is foolish." Excuse me? We didn't get into it because class was starting, but I was (and am) shocked. He did claim it was wrong because everyone is a hypocrite. Chad-o-tron, I'd love to hear your take on this as you seem to be good at writing about that whole political side of things.

My take on it -- if we aren't choosing our leadership on moral values, what are we choosing them on? Because they look good on the tele? Yeah, that's a good way to get things done. That's a good way to keep the country from sliding into oblivion. Now I will have to grant that personally I think this fellow has some slightly messed up morals. The day before he was talking about his Japanese boyfriend with whom he lives. Well, guess what guys, I'm not all that politically correct -- being homosexual isn't okay. Thinking it is, well that's one of those moral issues I'm talking about. Not taking a stand against something we know to be wrong is a sin of omission. I did think that very afternoon that it would be a perfect opportunity for me to learn/ practice some charity (the Pure Love of Christ type of charity) -- in otherwords, remember that he is a Child of God too and that though God abhors the sin he loves the person the same as everyone else and that's how *I* should do it. I know I need to work on that, I think for me it'll be a lifetime project.

So anyhow, back to the issue that was at hand. Choosing leaders. Nobody is perfect. Not one of us is, you know. That being said, if we don't choose people to represent us who stand for something we believe in what are we doing? Giving them free reign to do whatever they wish, make laws that don't protect, but rather line pockets. If we don't choose on some sort of moral grounds we mine as well not exist. If there is no law, there is no punishment. If there is no right, there is no wrong. I guess some people want that. If there is no law to break, then I can do whatever I wish without consequence.

One of the biggest problems amongst those who do want some sort of standard arises from just what set of morals we use to make those laws. People talk about separation of Church and State. And while I agree we ought not have a national religion defined by law, you can not avoid the FACT that this country was founded on a set of religious values and you can not *remove* those values without *destroying* the country. Certainly a theocracy can (and will) work. But what it takes is a perfect being (or one who at least follows the dictates of God impeccibly). Until Christ comes again to reign, I'll be content with the Republic we have, so long as we can keep it as focused in on those morals and values.

And so it goes, I should get hitting the books. I'm staying on campus until I get my HW done. Fewer (though as you can see here) still some distractions. I did a good clip of it earlier with that in mind so off I go to get it done. Either way it's going to be surface streets home being ½ past 2 already.

Until the cows come home, or Tokyo is rebuilt again--

~Gojira

REM Cycles and other Myths

Actually I do believe that REM Cycles are real and are a major part of restorative sleep. Why they are I don't know and amongst popular hypotheses I couldn't tell you if any were even close to the truth. Heck, since I studied it some 13-14 years ago there is probably new data. I was really just trying to say I didn't get much sleep again. My circadan rythym seems to be along a 40 hour (not even 48 hour) system.

Course last night it was also because I was playing with my new tool. It is not a toy, I bought it for use at school. *nods* Of course the fact that I can put all kinds of other crazy mad mp3s on the iPod is irrelevant. Because that class was cancelled and books could be returned but were already paid for, I had enough to buy the thing + like $5. We have these CDs for our text and workbook in Japanese that help us get used to hearing the language and answering questions. So I'm going to rip them into MP3s and carry around one small iPod rather than a CD Player, 8 disks, etc. Even putting them on mini-disc not only takes longer but takes up more space. Of course I started with stuff already ripped and even then had to spend time organizing it (and have a lot left) [lucky me my Oingio Boingo was pretty much exactly the way I wanted it so I put some 240+ OB songs on in a single shot].

Cancelled class? Did I forget to mention that? I'll bet I did being in such a huff over it for a while. Yeah, ya know how Wednesday was my long day? Well, not any more. I am on campus all day. I'm trying to get stuff done and stay awake. So it's 10 to 7 or so and I wander over to the classroom. There are people milling about so I wait for a bit. I peek in the window and nobody's sitting down, duh, the door is locked. Finally I start reading the notices next to the door. ENG 200, Sec 8950 has been cancelled. (Tthis is sounding really familiar so if I've already told it I'm going to chalk it up to lack of sleep and general stupidity on my part.) Anyhow, I was upset because I had spent all day waiting for the class, I need it to graduate, went out of my way to make a PITA (That's PITA [Pain In The Tookus] not PETA [whackos who think animals have human rights]) schedule so I could get it done. And now that it is cancelled if I drop Future Studies I'll be at 9 credits. *grumble* We have another "class" today so I'll see. I will probably end up sticking with it, but I'm not sure entirely yet. I have through Tuesday next week to make my decision which means class today and Monday so I'll see if it gets to be anything I feel comfortable with.

Anyhow, I am going to review some Japanese before class so I'll catch you guys and gals and Movie Monsters later today and let ya know how FUS101 went. Until then, keep truckin' good buddy.

Now That I've Had Some Sleep

I have to admit, last night by 7 I was getting pretty cranky and irritable. Lack of sleep and a long day can do that to most anyone. I don't think my cousin Geo has ever been cranky or irritable (hehe) but what do I know? So after leaving you guys I head to class. There's a sign on the window next to the door -- ENG 200 Sec 8950 has been cancelled. Huh? What? Cancelled? Tonight only or like for the term? If it's tonight only that's still bad as it's only once a week. For the term is bad because I need the class and that automatically puts me at 11 credit hours meaning if I drop FUS 101 I'd be at 9. NINE? That's not good, I'll never graduate with only 9 credit hours a semester. It's already 3 days in now so starting another class (IF I can find one) wouldn't be a good idea. So anyhow, I have to determine for sure. I had gone to the cashiere's office to get a refund if it's been cancelled but they don't know much. Guess I'll have to do some research today after Japanese and find out. As it goes, it is 15 mins until Lit class, Ha, I realize it's Thursday today so I won't be late.

I'll probably be back later. Until then -- don't eat any wooden salad.

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One mildly amusing anecdote. Kanji Quiz today. Very different from last term. At least the second half. She actually had us translating sentences rather than just writing them out and their pronuciation. Any the problem was on part 1. I had to write out 60 degrees, but I could not for the life of me remember what the number six (roku) was in kaji. I wrote out 1-10 (minus 6) on the bottom of the page to try and jog my memory, no dice. I can't believe I couldn't remember such a simple kanji. hehe.

Anyhow, that's really about all for today. I think I'm gonna play a little bit of WoW. I've been a good boy and done my homework and all. See ya later.

~G

Long Day Ahead

Well last night I got home and after doing some stuff got on and wrote a paragraph or two about yesterday, apparently I didn't save it or publish it. Así es la vida. Guess that's the way it goes.

So yeah, yesterday, TUESDAY. I'm pokin along typing on the blog. First day of school, it's Monday right? So my brain was telling me (hence why I shouldn't listen to it -- bad for my health, ya know). But as I'm writing about my long day, Wednesday, I realize that it really wasn't Monday, but Tuesday. Yikes. So I was a few minutes late to my Lit Post 1800 class. Not a huge deal being the first day (we even got out 20 minutes early too) but I don't want to make a habit of it. And of course I didn't have my text book since I was on the wrong day, so I had to do some reading at home (and have a bit left) but that's okay, it all worked out.

So today is my long day. Why? Well, I've decided I'm going to try and get to school by 8 every day. Not quite 7 like last year. My earliest class is 9 am on TR, so that gives me a little time there but MWF is 2 hours. 1 to 2 hours where I'm not distracted by the PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, World of Warcraft or anything else at home. That's 8 hours a week (give or take time to unpack the bag, pack it up and get to class) where hopefully I will just do homework or study most of it. Sure, I'm blogging now, and did before (and probably will again) but I did do 2 hours of HW this morning already and as I said this is my long day. Let's look at it.

8-10 Library
10-11 Japanese
11-1 Library
1-2 Future Studies
2-7 Lunch and whatever else (ie Library)
7-10 English 200

that doesn't include getting up at 6:30, leaving the house at 7:30 or getting home at 10:30. Like I said, a pretty long day and as you can see there is a good 9 hours during the day when I'm not in class but am not at home or traveling either. I figure that will be put to pretty good use throughout the semester. I hope so anyway. Also means I'm gone from home like 14-15 hours each Wednesday. *nods* You are beginning to get the picture.

So what else is new -- well, I got an e-mail forwaded from one of my many brother's yesterday. Apparently one of those HS websites has information for this brother, though I don't know how it got there and someone we knew wrote him. He passed it along. It has probably been arbout a decade since I've talked to her. It was a surprise to see it, I do hope she chooses to write back since I am curious as to what she's been up to. You all know my life is pretty dull with school, school, school these days (though for some reason I can babble on about it for ages).

Well I suppose as I have 1½ hours or so before class I'll go read some more of the poetry that's been assigned and do some Japanese work. Mayhaps I'll try and pop back on and tell you about Future Studies. Until next time--

~Gojira

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About 20 minutes until my English class. I have been over my Kanji for the quiz tomorrow and wrote them all out a few times as well as worked on vocab and whatnot so I think I'm pretty much done with the ol' homework gig today. Good thing too cause I'm beat. Don't know how I'm going to make it through tonight but I will.

So I wrote Chad an e-mail and here was the gist of it:

Not sure about this class, or if I even need it.  I

signed up so I could get at least 12 credit hours, but

I don't know if I am going to be using student loans

for this term anyway as I've already got it covered.

If not I should be able to drop to 11 with no

financial aid issues.  Right?



Here's the thing -- from a religionist standpoint, I'm

not sure I am capable of giving this guy what he's

looking for.  Of course we just had our first class

today so how am I supposed to know that?  I will

certainly go Friday to see what it's like.



No tests.  No big homework.  No final.  Well not

exactly.  It's just one paper we write and that's it.

Of course he didn't spend much time talking about that

so I don't know if it's a big paper, a small paper,

etc.  If it's some 20 page thing I don't know...



The ideas he presented today are identifying trends

and look at possible ways that they may affect the

future.  All in all, it might work out very well, I'm

just not sure.  If it is just a reasonable paper and a

few reading assignments I am not going to stress over

the workload.  It's just how open is he going to be to

comparing everything to the Word?

All in all, I'm not really sure what to think of the class. We will be reading the two books that were listed in the bookstore, but not really "studying" them or that sort of thing. Just a strange class and I don't know what to think about it. I do have until next Tuesday to drop it for a full refund so I suppose I'll be hitting Friday as I said and if I haven't decided by then, I'll go Monday too. If I haven't found some reason to stay in the class by then I don't think I will. Ah well, you win some, you lose some.

Oh, I did get an e-mail back from the "someone" mentioned above. It was fun to hear from this person. Sounded like things are well. Was (and is) a bit hard to know where to begin talking to them after all this time because I didn't remember what had been said last. Ah well, I'm sure we'll catch up. Funny how life throws people your way once upon a time and then years and years later after you've drifted apart some random chance seems to cause you to collide again.

Guess I'll go before I ramble *too* much. Hasta tacos!

~G

Knock, Knock.

Who's there?

Hiya gang. Kinda hard to believe it's been another 3 weeks (well 2.5something) since I last wrote again. Where does the time go? Anyhow, school starts again today. Yeah, I know some of you bums have already started but you also get out in April so quit complaining.

As it goes, I'm writing primarily because I have an hour and fifteen before class starts. Japanese 102. Yeehaw. I came early to finish up paying tuition for the class I picked up on my last shotgun trip to CA and get the books for it as well as determine where my classes meet. Lo and behold that didn't take very long at all.

So just in brief so you know what I'm looking at this term:

JPN 102 -- MWF 10-11
TR 10:30-11:45 (R being their designation for Thursday)
ENH 222 -- TR 9-10:15
ENG 200 -- W 7p-10p
FUS 101 -- MWF 1-2

ENH 222 is "Survey of English Lit after 1800". ENG 200 is "Reading & Writing about Lit" while FUS 101 is "Dimensions of the Future". More on that in a moment.

I mentioned a shotgun trip to CA. You know, cha-ching. There and back. This last one was to take Dad home. He helped Wendy and Christian (the baby) come out. It was apparently rotton awful weather, Christian had an ear infection and Wendy didn't know, so was very fussy and all in all it was a long, rough trip. So Dad's out and has no way back. Sure, he could fly, but what was I doing with my time aside from playing World of Warcraft? Not much. So I elected myself to make the drive both ways. Lo and behold, it was also for Sean Morris' benefit (my Brother-in-law). He was getting in from DC the day I was coming back so instead of his parents driving out from Moreno Valley (an hour out) and then another 5-6 back to AZ, I just took him back. All in all it worked out, but those drive out, spend a day and drive back trips aren't my fave. My last 3 trips to CA have been that way... the one before that was for a wedding.

So anyhow, back to school. My English classes I'm not sure what to think of. We'll see. I do know I've never been overly fond of Literary Criticism, ah well, I'll cope. It's the Future Studies thing that might prove to be interesting. Oh yeah, before I go on, this puts me at 14 credit hours vs 12 last terms. Sure, no 3 hour lab (1 credit of my 4 creit hour physics class) so that will help, but I suspect Japanese will be just as busy as ever and I *must* find some sort of job even if I have to go back to retail. *barf* Okay, so where was I... oh, FUS 101. Our texts are Carl Sagan's Demon-Haunted World and Michael Talbot's Holographic Universe. I've not ever read either before, though I've at least heard of the latter and am familiar a little bit with the athiestic former. Being something of a religionist I am curious to see how the class will be presented. It may not even be presented in that light, just from the back cover blurb on Sagan's book it's chock full of his universe with out a diety tripe. I am sure you'll hear more about it throughout the semester.

What? you ask. Am I going to be back to writing more, even daily? This I do not promise my friends. I *know* I am going to be busy. But I suspect I shall write more than every 3 weeks. If nothing else I do have from 2 pm to 7 pm on Wednesday's between classes. Doesn't seem much point in going home and coming back. That would take 1 of the 5 hours right there just in travel time. Mine as well hit the library, or if I get a part time job work a few hours there... yadda yadda yadda.

I just realized it's Tuesday not Monday. I have to RUN!

~Case
~Gojira