HemisphereDancerCopilot's Xanga

Moving On

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 02:44:14 GMT

I thought about getting a bunch of people together to revive xanga, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that quest was doomed to fail.

But I still want to blog, so now you can find me here.

Passed Over

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 19:43:36 GMT

Amazing. Just amazing. I opened up my Google homepage to find the latest news stories with "Judge Overturns US Web Porn Law" at the top. Apparently he ruled that a law that was designed to restrict minors from viewing internet porn because it violates free speech. That's not the amazing part. I couldn't really care less-apparently the law wasn't effective and there are other means to protect minors that are more effective. The amazing part is the quote I read in the 3rd paragraph of the article, "Opponents criticised the ruling, saying parents should not have to shoulder the burden of restricting adult material." Read that quote over again. No...wait-read that last part one more time, "parents should not have to be parents to their own children." I changed it around that time to make it a little more to the point. I hate people.
-SOURCE

On a different but equally depressing note, I got passed over for my 2 year raise due to uncontrollable circumstances. I am now officially looking for a new job.

Sigzilla

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 01:59:11 GMT

And on it goes...

It seems like a lot of people are giving up on xanga lately. I can't let it die. I'm like that guy in the movies that keeps doing CPR on the guy who's been flatlining for nearly a minute. Hey, it worked in The Abyss.

So I ran across a lens yesterday. A large, expensive one...which is a gross understatement. Whenever I see someone with a a ginormous lens attached to their camera that's exponentially longer and heavier than their camera, I can't help but liken it to a phallic symbol. Among photographers, whenever you see someone with a huge lens you can't help but feel envious-so the parallel is easily drawn. It's just so much glass...the longer the lens and the wider the end of the end of it, the more easy it is to take pictures of things that are far away.

Well, throw out everything you thought you knew about telephoto lenses. Those huge things stuck to photog's cameras at the sidelines of football or baseball games? Kids stuff.

The Sigma 200-500mm f/2.8 Ultra-Telephoto zoom lens.

You can read more about it here.

Today was the day that concluded our (ETSU students) return from spring break. Yesterday was mostly uneventful, so we'll ignore it. Today, however, was awesome. I roll into campus listening to the Bob and Tom show-the best morning show I've ever heard-at 935. Class starts at 945. One thing you should know is that every class I have this semester is within a 100yard radius. If you know where the art, business, language and english (neither of which are Rogers-Stout) buildings are, you'll understand. The closest parking to all of these classes is the parallel parking in front of the University School. 7 times out of 10 I will find a spot there when I come in. On T/R it's a bit harder because how late my class starts. But today I rolled in and there was a spot waiting for me-I didn't even have to shadow someone walking to their car.

So I parked, shut off my engine and listened to the last joke on the Bob and Tom show-which was worth waiting for. After that I walked into class. Quantitative Methods for Business. For those that are familiar with the class you know it involves nothing but math and logic and can be pretty difficult. Today we received our tests we took before spring break. The test consisted of 8 word problems worth 15 points each-120 total. I got mine and saw 106 written on the front page. I did the math and thought, hmm, 83-not too shabby I guess. Then the professor informed the class that his curve involved taking the score on the test and making it out of 100, instead of 120. For some this didn't help much (the girl sitting behind me got a 15), but for me, it effectively meant I made a 106 on a mid-term. Yeah, that pretty much made the day. Realizing I left my wallet at home while I was in the checkout line in the Atrium at lunch time didn't get me down. Neither did having to read 7 poems while I ate (I bummed some cash) before going into American Lit.

Hey look, pictures. I took these over spring break.

btw, click on them to view full size. this entry's already large enough.

stfu

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 03:29:29 GMT

I was opening a bag of Wavy Lays today and was reminded of something that pisses me off: people that bitch about the bag being "half empty" when you open it. The side of the bag clearly states that the chips are measured by weight, not volume. Every bag has the exact same amount of chips and the larger the bag the more the chips settle during transport.

If you're one of those people, stfu. Now.

Eternal Embrace

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 04:01:21 GMT

What has two thumbs and didn't have a VD date? THIS GUY. Too bad.

I was saving this one for today.

Awww

"A pair of human skeletons lie in an eternal embrace at an Neolithic archaeological dig site near Mantova, Italy, in this photo released February 6, 2007. Archaeologists in northern Italy believe the couple was buried 5,000-6,000 years ago, their arms still wrapped around each other in a hug that has lasted millennia."
-Yahoo News

"Get up to 70, hit cruise control, and just go"

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 02:17:09 GMT

Wow, what a weekend. It was awesome yet terrible at the same time. Where to start, where to start?...

First off, I'll start by letting you know what all the hoopla was about with that 60lb UPS package. I bought a sub, amp and box for my car, and that was the tracking data for the package. I finally received it Friday evening at about 1730. The awesome start to what would become a very long weekend.

It was shortly after I received my package I decided I wanted to take a trip to Asheville to meet up with someone I hadn't seen in about 8 years, Mairibethe Hayes. Also, my good friend, Kyle, is going into the Air Force tomorrow so I decided I'd stop by and hang out one last time. I get to Asheville and enter Barley's Brewery and Pizza. Pretty cool place-good food, 2 walls full of taps for local brews. Kyle was off having a Valentine's dinner with his gf and Mairibethe was on her way. I go in, grab a pint of Pisgah Porter and shoot some darts.

Rewind-for parking, there was this place directly across the street from Barley's that was 3 bux for nights, so I paid, and went on into the bar.

After a couple round of darts and one beer later I get a text from Mairibethe informing me she's getting close and it's at this point I start thinking about how long that 3 bux gets me in that parking lot. So I return the darts and my empty glass, head downstairs and just as I get to the floor I run into a familiar face, Andrew. We start chatting and it's at this point that Mairibethe walks in. Greetings are exchanged and I am informed that that 3 bux is a flat rate for the night.

So me, Mairibethe, her friend, Andrew, and two of his drunk friends go back upstairs. More words are exchanged, more darts are thrown, another local brew is had and it comes time for Andrew and his friends to leave. I say goodbye and me and the ladies stay to finish our brews. We decide to relocate so I start to follow them out and realize I'm not wearing my jacket-I left it on the window sill next to where we were standing. Without saying anything I run back to get it and it's gone. In the pockets were my car keys, golden aviators, toboggan, chap stick, and leather gloves. My leather jacket with it's pocket items are gone. I just about panicked, look all around for it and never find it. I call up Andrew to ask if one of his friends took it on accident as they left (they were a bit toasted), but his phone is off. I then get a text from Mairibethe asking where I ran off to and inform her of the situation and ask for a ride. She gives me a ride to Kyle's, we say good night, and I make more phone calls to people who don't answer.

When Kyle gets home he tells me if all else fails he'll give me a ride back to TN so I can get my spare keys. We go by Andrews first to see if he's home-no dice. We then go to Andrew's friend's house where they've gone to sleep and he's getting ready to. He finds me my jacket but the pockets are empty, no keys-nothing. Drunk friend is asleep and basically cannot be woken up and doesn't remember anything being in the pockets. We then exhaust our final option-drive back here to TN to get my spares. By this time it's 330-4am, somewhere in there and we decide we're both too tired to drive back to Asheville.

Rewind-several weeks in advance to this weekend, my and Kyle had planned on him coming here for his last weekend before shipping off to Basic so we could get drunk and he was going to have me look after his car while he was gone. Turns out his insurance wasn't going to cover me so the whole plan was scrapped. As for the getting drunk part, Kyle somehow got the idea to try and drink 100 shots of beer in 100 minutes.

So here we are at my house, having 4th meal from Taco Bell, and figure since were gonna crash here, and I have a case full of Bud Lights that my parents bought for the Super Bowl and never got consumed, that we should try the 100 in 100 (which btw, we figured out was about 8 beers a piece) and watch Clerks II while were at it. So at 419, we begin. I had already had a Rolling Rock for 4th meal so I got a 5 shot credit for the experiment. Long story short, 50-55 minutes later I give up and I think Kyle went on to 65 or so (we're lightweights, we know), and we call it a night.

I wake up to the sound of an incoming IM blaring from the speakers of my computer at about 1030. Kyle had apparently been on my computer a few hours earlier. So we get up and leave because I want to get to my car before noon so it doesn't get towed. Just before we leave he gets a text from his gf saying that the drunk friend has since returned my missing pocket articles. This should have pissed me off because of a wasted trip over the mountains, but I'm relieved to know I'll get my stuff back. Ninety-some miles later, we arrive across the street from Barley's at approximately 1215 with my car still sitting in slot 44 where I left it. I get in and Kyle leads me to his gf at Target where I reacquire my things. At this point we're starving so we head over to the BK lounge and have some burgers and fries. At around 215 I say goodbye and finally make one more uneventful trip over the mountains.

I would like to say thank you first and foremost to Kyle for driving me to TN and back. It's great to have a friend that will do that for you and he will be missed while he is in training. I would also like to thank Mairibethe for the ride to Kyle's, who lives out in the sticks, and finally Andrew for helping me find my things at 230 in the morning.

It Comes From the City of Angels

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 20:23:40 GMT

bwahahaha. Don't you just love tracking a package you've bought? I do.

btw, I think I may have forgotten to post this pic a while back and I don't feel like finding and uploading it so I'm just going to imbed it from dA.

Eastern Sunset by ~SovereignAxe on deviant ART

Pentax F/1.4 50mm

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 18:18:07 GMT

As promised, I have a picture post for you-within 48 hours like I said .

First off, a couple of things I forgot to mention the other day. My screen name for AIM is now obsolete. I no longer have the Sunfire so MetalicFernGreen doesn't really suit me any more so I need to come up with another one. Suggestions are welcome.

Second, it's been cold...damn cold. Not so terribly during the day, but I have my first class at 815 on MWF and today and Monday it was 14 while walking to class. Windy both times. *applies chapstick*.....I've been dealing with it; I bundle up, I sometimes wear PJs under my jeans, a good and thick beanie, leather gloves, leather jacket, etc. Well, Monday I got out of Intro to Mass Comm and walked next door for German. Since I'm early, the room is usually locked so I just chill in the hallway for a few minutes and look out the window, watching people walk to their classes. As I said, it was 14º that morning, with a slight but steady breeze. So what did I see when I looked out the window that day? That's right, a student walking the streets wearing a SKIRT, FLIP FLOPS and a sweater. She was walking kinda funny and I imagine it must've been somewhat painful. What did I do? I laughed. I hate stupid people. On to the pictures.

This first one is a few weeks old that I found hanging out on my memory card. I laughed when I saw this car, cuz I didn't think it was real. When I got home I looked it up, and sure enough, there is such thing as a honda civic sir. I say it "sir", not S-i-R cuz it's funnier.

These next pictures I took in the last few days with my new lens. None were taken with a tripod and all but one were taken with an ISO of 400 or less.

This was the very first shot I took with it.

+2 eProps to whoever can tell me what that is^^

I've got the temperature just the way I want it in my room.

Prelude to a Picture Post.

Mon, 29 Jan 2007 18:24:28 GMT

Sorry for my absense. I've had all intentions of updating xanga within the past couple of weeks but I just keep putting it off. This isn't even really an update, just a preview of what I'll have up soon.

Yesterday I bought a new lens for my camera, a Pentax F/1.4 50mm. As far as "prime" lenses go, this one is about as good as they get. I've only taken a few pictures with it but I can already tell it's an amazing lens with lots of potential. Hopefully I'll have a set of sample pictures up within 24-48 hours.

For those of you that are as cool as I am, the premiere episode of the 9th season of Top Gear aired yesterday with Richard Hammond alive and well. I saw a copy of the show this morning and I'm sooo glad it's back.

Annnnd how about that cold this morning? On a whim, I decided to check weather.com this morning before I got dressed for class (about 730) and to my amazement a very small number came up on the screen. At first my mouth just dropped open, then finally I said "TWELVE!?!?!". That's right, the listed current temp was 12/feels like 2. I about cried, cuz I had to be in class in 45 minutes. On the way to class the Altima was telling me it was 14...not that it mattered, because while walking to class there was a stiff, steady breeze that made it feel even colder.

Before I go, a fun story. The other day I started and fought a brush fire. That's right, I played dumbass/firefighter for a day. A couple days earlier my dad had asked me to take a load of ashes out of the fireplace. The next day I was busy, so Friday seemed perfect...or so I thought. As I was scooping out the ashes into the bucket, I noticed there were still some small glowing embers from the fire we had the night before. I didn't think much of it, I figured it was cold outside so they'll cool off soon, besides, it snowed like crazy the day before and they it all melted so I thought there'd be plenty of moisture.

So I took the metal ash bucket outside to pour on top of a groundhog hole which quickly filled up. So then I moved on down to the fenceline that runs adjacent to my house. It was fairly windy so I was slowly pouring out the ashes and letting the wind carry them away. Every once in a while a large chunk would fall out and onto the ground. As the ashes fell I was walking down the fenceline so as to spread them out. Next thing I know I hear a popping sound from above me where I'd been dumping the ashes. I look up and I see a area about the size of 4 dinner plates in flames. So I put the bucket down and run up and start stomping on the flames. Problem is, it was WINDY so every time I'd stomp a flame out it would pop right back up.

Well, I knew this was going to become a problem very quickly so I ran up to the side of the house to hook up the garden hose. After doing so I quickly realized the hose wasn't nearly long enough to reach, so I ran into the garage hoping to find a bucket to fill with water. No dice. There was, however, a trash can we keep used aluminum cans in. So I pulled the bag out, took the can outside, filled it up with about 4 or 5 gallons of water, dragged it down to the fire, which was now the size of a small love seat. I awkwardly dumped the water onto the fire to get it under control, which worked. It bought me some time, but didn't put out the fire.

Next I ran to the other side of the house where we have a very long hose. I gathered it up, dragged it to the hose I had already hooked up, turned off the water, attached it to the end, put on a spray nozzle, fired up the water back up and ran down to the fire.

Have I mentioned I hate road salt?

I have a request

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 04:55:45 GMT

I need to take a video from a camcorder cam and put it on computer and get it edited. If anyone knows how to do this and would be willing to help me out, let me know.

Next week classes start back. I'm not looking forward to it.

[edit]
BOOM. This is for all you douchebags that think raising the minimum wage will hurt the economy. Suck on that, bitches.

[/edit]