Why don't YOU think of a funny title for a change?

My connection works again.

I haven't done a thing in the past two days, although I found an amusing missprint in a book I own. It repeated about fifty pages and then restarted thirty pages after the missprint, leaving a large chunk of the book essentialy missing. Good thing I had already read it a few years ago, and this was just a new copy. I'd return it, but I chucked the recipt.

Speaking of books, I bought a few in B-town on Wednesday with a gift card. World War Z and one by the guy who wrote Fight Club (he needs a new last name, I always pronounce it as phallunkiicks, or some variation on that).

Me and Kyle have decided to go looking for Matt, or possibly visit Kathy and Mia. I need to get out of the house.

I hate Kingdom Connection.

My Internet connection has been kaput since last week. I'm amazed I'm even on now. Christmas went well. I got a PSP, but then had to go drop fifty something dollars for a memory stick or whatever. I thought that was pretty lame, but I'm not complaining much.

I didn't hear back from the Physical Plant, so it looks like I'm jobless for the break.

Kyle just told me something funny. I can't say what is though. I'll leave you all to ponder it.

You'd think I would have more to say after such a long lapse, but there's not much. I'm contemplating getting a pet tarantula or a scorpion. I'd use it to terrify certain people. Kathy would probably think it was cute though.

Watch out for the Crumpus.

I went to B-town (Burlington) with Kyle today at around two. The weather was foul. We saw maybe five or so accidents, one they had to close part of route 2 for. Still, we made it and picked up Kevin, Geoff, and Keri and then went shopping. I got the old man a funny present. I'm going to try to take a picture of his face when he opens it.

The Bible exam was pretty easy, I thought. I new all the answers, so...yeah. I also managed to process a check request for the Critic in record time. They should have faculty parties more often. That way you can them all in one place to sign stuff you need them all to sign.

I'm not on my lap top, so no pictures today. Maybe later I'll transfer some nice ones.

There are no pumpkins in coffee.

Looks like Tak spiced up my layout. I approve.

Remember how I said I was going to put snow pics up? Yeah, well I lied. Someone took the snowblower to the driveway before I got a chance. Apparently they wanted to be able to leave or something lame like that.

The above was taken several years ago. Don't ask me the number, that's math major stuff. I'm the guy in the black above the guy in the red. It's a picture of the TWF, the backyard wrestling federation I used to belong to. We had our monthly shows broadcast on the college's TV channel. KATV or something. I wonder if they show reruns?

I was reminded partially because we were all at the Critic gathering last night and Jordan reminded me of it. That and I was browsing through my photos looking for something that wouldn't get me fired to post for your viewing pleasure.

Here's an interesting fact: LSC used to have a backyard wrestling club. They went to House meetings, had a budget, the whole nine yards. LSWF I think it was called. I can't imagine the trouble they had to go through to get that that ship sailing.

I remember wanting to start a billiards club, but then I found out there already was one. Sadly, they never met. An innactive club is actually worse than a non-existant one. If a club doesn't exist, interested parties can create the thing. On the other hand, if the club exists but can't be found *cough*SPRI, AKA the ghost hunting club,*cough* anyone wanting join is more or less up a creek.

Deb's making pumpkin spice coffee for the Writing Center...I can't remember if that flavor was horrid or not. I'll let you know next time.

The snow took my car.

I'm not going to work tonight. The weather is pretty much awful, so I e-mail everyone telling there were free hours.

I didn't crash Saturday night at Kathy's like usual because I wanted to avoid the snow. It was clear most of the day, but now it seems like coming home was a good idea. Tomorrow should be fine. I'll go nab my portfolio and then do my hours before heading over to the Critic exam.

I keep running over my toes with this stupid chair...I'll take pictures of my buried car tomorrow and post them so you can learn to fear and hate the winder up here, if you don't already.

Strange smells in the WritingCenter.

You smell that? It smells like the last day of classes. Smells like a lot of snow, to tell the truth. I don't like snow, but last winter was a little creepy. It was January thaw weather the whole way through except for the end where it froze.

Here's why I'm glad I took the Bible as Literature class: I can now argue with my brother on a topic he likes to argue about, and know more than him. Usually he sticks to science and junk where he's got the high ground, but this time I've got him! Ha!

Next Thursday looks to be long. At 1:30, I'm off to B-town to shop and see my brother. I'm not interesting in crashing the night there, but I might change my mind by then.

I need like, seventy tetrabytes....that okay?

You have no idea how nice it was to put the finish touches on the last issue of the Critic for the semester. Ten issues and we didn't crash and/or burn once. Next semester I'll have a fresh crew, some of which are actually into journalism which means I might be able to turn my attentions to stuff that isn't writing articles and assigning stories. Stuff like ads and making something the next editor can build off from instead of this Throw Them to the Wolves setup that's been going for I don't know how many years.

I've got some billing info to sort out, plus the Critic's constitution needs something done to it. They neglected to tell the clubs just what the problem with their constitutions were, so a few of us are a little worried.

Christmas shopping for Kathy next week. Need to check my pictures for middle fingers...whoops.

Lets see...I think I can pretty much relax a little now, even though it doesn't feel like it.

I think I'll House for a new car.

After tonights House meeting, I'll feel much better. The last Critic won't be a big deal. The font page might stink a little though. I didn't get time to do the article I wanted, so whatever I can get on Thursday will have to be what we run.

I think I've got my life figured out. It mainly consists of these things.

1. Complaining about the Critic.

2. Complaining about going to House meetings.

3. Complaining about boring lectures.

4. Gaiaonline.

5. Going home and writing on my lap top.

Which reminds me, I need to head over to maintenance sometime to see about a job over the break. I'd love nothing more than to loaf the entire time, but the bank account says otherwise.

Sarah is graduating tomorrow. Me and Kathy are going to show up after Bible class.

Here's a picture of my brother, Kevin. He goes to UVM, which according to him "Ain't nuthin' to $&*%^ with!"

I disagreed and spit a mouthful of soda in his face. Heh, heh, ha!

Fun with photos.

You know those pictures I've been promising? Well here's three. The one to the left was taken over the summer in the Stonehenge parking lot. Kathy is the one holding the turtle which she promptly captured after seeing it walking by the maintenance shed.

We both worked on the paint crew over the summer, so that pic was taken at about 3 in the afternoon.

The guy on the right in that picture is my old pal Kyle. He hates turtles and other horrible forest creatures.

The picture on the right is me and Tom, AKA Red.

We all went down to Bakuretsucon this year (an anime convention in Colchester) and got tore up.

I'm the one on the left without the flaming red hair. Normally I avoid touching him at all costs, but I was pretty far gone by then.




Bellow is a Role Playing Club meeting from last semester. I ran a Vampire: the Masquerade game. It went pretty good, but I'll never run one again...ever.



I apologize for tha gawdawful layout of this post. I just barely figured out how to put pics up and move them around. This is the result of about half an hour of tinkering. Turns out all I need to do is drag the images. Tomorrow's post should look nicer.

Joey was kidnapped by gnomes...that's the only explanation.

I got all of my prints done today. Like a moron, I forgot about the ones I left to dry over the weekend and ended up making more than I needed to (not good ones either). Now all I have to do is buy some stupid plastic holders and stick them all in a binder...then I'll be done photography forever.

I had myself my usual egg salad/tuna fish sandwich today. Once again it prompted the usual "That's an odd combination," from the guy making it. Nothing mean mind you, but...how should I explain this without sounding like a jerk? Being different, in any way, is often punished in some fashion. Whether it's extra questions or being stoned to death in the village square.

I've got something to do right at this moment, so that's all for today.

Can't stop eating pretzels.

Saturday I did a whole lot of nothing. Kevin wanted to see what the game Bioshock was all about, so I thought I'd play it for an hour or so, but ended up beating the stupid thing after roughly five hours. Something was weird with the way the game was saving and I would've had the thing beaten weeks ago had it not set me back at least twice.

We decorated the Christmas tree too on Friday and made fun of Kevin's candy cane. When we were younger we would make decorations out of paper and whatnot, so Kevin made a straight candy cane with some scribbles for red stripes. It wasn't funny until Kathy started decorating with us a few years ago and though it was hillarious. Now it gets made fun of every year.

Today was more active. We went down to Barre with Kyle, did some shopping, and ate at Friendly's. My parents had been there earlier that day and had apparently eaten awful food.

I'm at work right now, but before leaving the house for my Sunday night shift, Kyle got stuck in the driveway moving out of my way. Thankfully he didn't get as stuck as most people get and was out in about ten minutes. I knew he'd get stuck in that end of the driveway eventually. Everbody does.

Sign, sign, everwhere a...monopoly dollar?

It's been brought to my attention that some one had been putting weird little notes all over campus. Stuff like "Stop lying to yourself" and there's a monopoly dollar taped to the clock in the hall near the science wing with a note "What would you do for this?"

Joey tells me he's been noticing them all over. How bizzare. Kind of creepy too. Josh took a bunch of pictures of them. I might post them latter if and when he sends them to me.

I should note the Critic came out alright. The front page was once again a little dumb, but I'll live with it.

You know what stinks? Graduating in December. I'm graduating in May, but I went to Keri's December graduation last year and I thought "This kind of stinks." Seriously, it was like Graduation-lite or something. Yeah, you get speakers and a bagpipe band, but it's inside the theater and if I remember right, no robes or stupid hats. You can't have a graduation without robes and stupid hats.

My eighth grade graduation was sans robes and stupid hats...so December graduation is lamer than high school graduation, which was full of robes and stupid hats.

Speaking of things that look stupid: graduates who dress down. You know, the losers who wears shorts, sandals and sunglasses under their robes. It's like "Go roll another joint, jerk." Dumb kids need to learn to clean themselves up a little.

That complaint stems from my high school days, so it's about four or five years late. And no, I'm not a super senior. I took a year off high school to clean floors at Price Chopper. On the up side, I made so much money I haven't had to get a real job during school. The other up side, I learned working for a living stinks.

I wonder what the deal is with those signs...???

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I'll bite ya, tomorrow...

Critic day again and alas, the front page looks to stink. It bugs me when I have to run photos on the front page that have nothing to do with the front page's articles. Oh well. I'm thinking the thin ice photo would be good. It's got footprints across the pond next to a sign that says to stay off it.

There's this weird type of candy in a bowl on a desk in the Writing Center. At first I thought they were plastic shower curtain holders or something. I thought "Why in God's name are there colorful shower curtain holders in the candy bowl? I mean, I know it's Christmas and all, but...oh, they are candy."

I ate one to make sure. I think plastic wouldn't have broken so easily. They were tasty enough, but they got sticky easy and were breakable. All in all, I didn't like them.

You can tell my life is exciting.

I find myself on Web forums during my free time picking arguments. One I've found myself in lately has been the whole to-do about "The Golden Compass" movie coming out. I read all three books back in high school, so what bugs me is that it didn't become a controversy until someone took the story and put it to moving lights and sounds. As in, it's only worth talking about once it become a movie.

People can be dumb.

Enough of my high horse. Perhaps something interesting will happen tomorrow.

Workin' hard for the money.

You know what I hate? People who stretch the page on Livejournal entries. For the next God-knows-how-long everyone has to scroll to the right.

I was able to make four prints today. I need at least fifteen, so with what I've already got, I only need to make two on Monday. Even with my slow methods, two should be do-able.

I handed in the Joyce essay, but I had to keep it sitting face down next to me in the few minutes before I passed it in. It's painful to look at. The class was more boring than usual today, although I learn things in the lectures I would never get from the book. Like which characters have children and whats going on. You know, complicated stuff like that...

For the next hour I'm going to look over U-wire (the AP for college papers) and get some filler. Jornan's sex column looks good. It's basically how to have a quickie at a party without being caught. It's pretty much the kind of stuff he should be writing about. I wonder if we'll get more hate mail.

It looks like the plan is for Kevin and Keri to come down Friday. Kathy has decided to come by on Saturday and hang a few decorations. I have to find out how long Kevin and Keri are staying first.

I'm not gonna lie, this is really annoying. It would be nice to have the family able to get together, but because some people can't bring themselves to reach out one last time, it has to be like this. There aren't words for how much this sucks. It's not so bad on the surface, but when I think about what the situation could be and isn't, it pisses me off.

This coffee is rancid, but I drink it anyway.

Did I shut the coffee pot off?

I'm going to count today as a success. A fair margin of stories came in on time and this was the last news meeting of the semester.

Tena Star, from the Caledonian Record came in to speak with us. She's the one that interviewed me about Jordan's sex column that caught all that heat a few months back. Apparently being a reporter pays a little more than I thought, but it's also a lot of work. She told us she does two articles a day, which made me laugh because some people complain about doing two a week.

We also discussed a few ethical issues she'd run across. You run into some icky stuff when you're a journalist. Hearing Red's long-winded answer to her moral dilemma was also amusing.

Kathy decided she might come to the tree decorating get-together my family usually has. Normally she'd be there along with everyone else and there would be no problem, but this year she and her best friend, AKA my brother's girlfriend, decided to have a falling out.

I feel like I've mentioned this before...probably because it's been a slight issue for a little while now. Neither one of them cares enough to reach out to the other and it doesn't look like either one will, so it looks like it's going to be an awkward scene come Friday or Sunday, depending.

Personally, I'd rather eat the damned Christmas tree than be in the same room with tension like that.

Speaking of eating trees, I was down in South Station once where I put two bags of green tea in a cup before boarding a train for a nine-hour ride to Baltimore. Can you guess what that much green tea tastes like? A pine tree, that's what. I don't advise it.

Chemicals taste bad.

The roads are bad today. The college was closed until about one, which did me no good because none of my classes start until three today. I came in and the photo lab was empty, as I thought it might be so I was able to make prints in peace. The downside being that I had to set up and clean up by my lonesome.

I think I fogged some of my paper. That doesn't make me happy in the least. That stuff is expensive.

I read my e-mail and I see my next Critic article. Some looney came up to a woman in her car and got after her about something. She drove off and called her roomates. The Public Safety Director explained the entire event in an e-mail and then did a follow-up explaining how it was a case if mistaken identity.

I'll interview him tomorrow about it. My guess is I'll get no new info and names, as usual, will be withheld.

That makes kind of sense for this case, but it's the same way with any other type of thing. Someone does something bad on campus, they get caught, they get punished, their names are withheld.

I was always under the impression that a large part of the concept of punishment was deterence. If people don't know anything happened, it only stops that one person from misbehaving. It happened with a few things last year.

Perhaps I'll suggest a change next time I get a chance.

Anyway, the drive home is going to be fun. It's still snowing, I also need to buy gas.

Do elephants paint peanuts?

I just "finished" the biggest B.S. essay I've ever written. I decided to respond to a Joyce notebook on aesthetics, where he said something about photography not being art. By his own definiton, I thought he was wrong, so my essay centered around that and painting elephants. Now all I have to do is provide evidence of the elephant I saw on 60 Minutes that one time who could paint.

Right now I'm IMing with my brother who goes to UVM. He's got some large chemical presentation he has to do. For some reason, this reminds me that I have to set a date to go to Manchester and visit Malcolm again. I told him late November, but we see how that turned out.

Classes are delayed until 1:00 tomorrow. I don't have to go in until 3:00, but I need to get those prints done for my portfolio. I hate photography classes...don't take them if you're short on cash. Film, paper, binders, folders and plastic jackets rack up a bill after a while.

It's not delivery, it's a frozen pizza....

The RPC game day would have been a bust had it not been for Halo 3. At first, because the stupid screen in the Rita Bole confrence room was on the fritz, it didn't look like we'd be able to do system link. Plus we only had one copy and one xbox. So we eneded up having to go get one from a guy's room and I made a trip down to Price Chopper to rent another copy.

Mental note: get a new driver's liscense. Mine isn't lamenated, so it's shot. I can't even buy beer with the stupid thing, much less convince Price Chopper to part with it's precious game. Had to use Joey's account.

I took pictures, but they're lame. As soon as Eric gives me back my USB cable, I'll put 'em up anyway.

That's basically all that happened today. One big Halo-athon. Fun to play, not so much to hear about. Tonight me and Kathy are going to go house sit for someone. Their dog, Martin, needs watching. He's a cute, hyper little creature. Maybe a pic of him too, but we'll have to see.

It's hard to come up with funny entry titles.

I witnessed one of those awkward scenes...two women, one older, one younger, come into the Critic office. They ask to use the phone. I say, "sure." Why not? It's not like we're billed on it or anything.

Turns out the girl was some kind of client working with the older one. A human services type thing, or something. The girl, it appeared, had a severe disagreement with the older one and there was much yelling and accusations of lying.

None of us in the office were busy and I don't think the worker planned for the scene to occur, so it's no big deal. Still, it's somewhat amusing that we were all quiet and had all suddenly found something to read while this was going on. As though we weren't paying attention to the scene unfolding. Funny how people do that.

We forgot to run a few ads in the paper...they were free, so I don't feel THAT bad, but still...something we'll have to rectify somehow.

Right now I'm questing for a short essay on James Joyce and Shakespeare that I can respond to for five pages. Actually, I'm leaning towards disagreeing with something Joyce said about photography not being art...I want to agree with him, but I don't think I do.

I'm faced with a decision: go see Matt later, or take it easy. I just spoke with him, we discussed New Years celebrations. Should be fun, now that Kathy drinks. She used to hate drinking like bees hate cell phone towers, but she's lightened up recently.

Speaking of Kathy, we had an argument last night over MSN. We have one about every few months, so it's not a big deal, but sometimes, after thinking about the subject matter, they seem more like venting than anything else.

She was mad at me for being snappy at her earlier that day. I said I was sorry, but then added a few complaints of my own. Somehow we ended up arguing over moving to Colorado with my brother and Kathy's ex-best friend...

That's all I'll say about it. I had a co-worker one time who talked on and on about his relationship...I swear, the worst story another human being can tell is one about the intricacies of his or her relationship. It might be a guy thing, but I remember Kathy, who worked there too, didn't care for it either.

Sometimes it was funny, but not often.

"Dude, where are all the chics?"- Everyone at the bar.

Well, the House meeting was as awful as I thought it was going to be. Sure, the agenda looks short, but people feel the need to talk for fifteen minutes at a time about the same crap every week. Although this week the discussion on the minute taking took less that 15 minutes this time, so overall it was a success.

I ended up going to the Packing House after the meeting got out to find Joey, who volunteered to cover the thing. He was gone when I got there, so after watching some topless girls dance on a pole, I went to talk to my old pal Matt, who's a bouncer. Crazy bugger works outside, so I hung out there a bit.

As it happens, Joey didn't get any notes. Can't say as I blame him though, althoug it was a bit vexing. I ended up calling the Packing House today and interviewing the manager, plus I spoke with Joey and got a few quotes from Matt. So there's 500 or so words on the GGW at the Packer, the pictures could be better, but we can't have everything, now can we?

I should warn you all, Thursday is Critic day for me. All I have to say about Thursday is how the newspaper is going. I don't have time for much else. It's Bible class, watch Richard bend time, then off to the office where I sit from 12:30, after getting food from the snackbar, until I'm off to be a tutor at 4:30. Then at 6 it's paper time until 10:30 or 11 depending on how well things go.

I spoke with both a comic artist (a good one!) and a business major. So perhaps we'll have ads and comics soon...less articles, which is good.

Holy crap, it's Thursday...the weeks go by so fast now. Seems like it's Monday...blech. I put an end to the RPC game I run on Friday, so after 2:30 I'm free, free as the wind blows...so long as it blows home and either naps or plays Resident Evil 4.

Anyway, here's to hoping the photo lab doesn't get locked.

You would think this would be easy...

The reporter I assigned to cover the Girls Gone Wild bus being at the Packer suddenly remembered she has to baby-sit. Which means I now have to find someone to go up there and cover it. I sent out an e-mail to everyone I can remember who's written for the Critic, but somehow I get the feeling I'm spitting into the wind.

You would think getting someone to write about topless women would be easy, but it's actually more difficult than you would think. It's only been about five minutes since I put out the call, so perhaps I'm overreacting. Naw...

I'd do it myself but I have to attend a House meeting. There aren't words for how lame that is by comparisson. Especially this particular session where the SGA prez gets to defend his veto of three unanimous decisions. Fweee!

For real though, we suck if we don't get an article on that GGW bus... I'll be the first person to admit that it's not the most intellectual thing going on, but considering our audience and where we're located, it's a big deal.

I will be thoroughly annoyed if we get zilch on it.

On a better note, photo class was short, if non-existant, so I was able to get some real work done early. Mainly responding to a mess of e-mails I'd otherwise forget about.

I'm still up a creek on that Joyce essay. I have no idea about what I'm going to say on Ulysess. From all the lectures I've heard, no one knows. The only people who might have been driven mad by Joyce and thus, write like him: incomprehensibly. Thankfully, I only need to write five pages, as opposed to the ten I would need had I been lazy earlier this semester.

I've got a bad feeling about this week. Thursday night, the night we put the Critic together, is going to be one of "those" nights. Granted, I say this every week, but this time I mean it.

Pray for me people. And pray for someone to get up to the ******* Packing House.

Why am I dizzy?

So I'm sitting in my chair last night at about 12:30, when for no reason at all, I get dizzy. I blame that two-day-old pickled beef stuff. That'll teach me to try new things.

I have this one professor who uses the phrase "in any case" a lot. This semester I began keeping a tally of how many times he says it. I thought I'd seen the limit one day when I counted 13. The next class I had, he said it 15 times. Today, 23. A bizzare hobby, I know, but it helps me pay attention.

I heard that the Girls Gone Wild people will be at the Packing House. Normally, I avoid the Packer like the plague, but I might make an exception.

I went over a bunch of advertising material for The Critic with Dan. Hopefully, after I meet with the guy who wants to sell for us, we'll really get into the swing of ad sales in the spring. From what I was told, a $7,000 goal wasn't all that unreasonable. The question would then be: what to do with that much money?

Solid gold notebooks...solid gold digital camera...print The Critic on solid gold plates...one copy of course, but it would be the best issue ever.

I forgot that the RPC's Game Day is this Saturday. You pay three bucks at the door and you play whatever video game system from noon until about midknight. SNES, Gamecube, Xbox (hopefuly at least one 360...HALO 3!!!!) and some PS2. I remember it being succesful last year. I'll bring my TV and maybe my Cube, but I'll cut back on the PS2 games. All the multiplayer ones I own are lame.

I'm taking a nap when I get home. Today was my early day. I took a 9-11 shift at the writing center as a tutor, which means afternoons are for sleep. Just as soon as I get done with this news meeting, which will be depressing seeing as how more or less no one got their stories in on time. Oh well, not much I can really do.

Back from break.

Ah, it's the first day back from the Thanksgiving break. I managed to kind of avoid eating myself stupid over Thanksgiving, but there's enough leftovers to feed a small guerilla army. Not that I have one that needs feeding, mind you...

Anyway, I go into my photography class at three and apparently they're mad some one didn't pick up all of the chemicals from the last time it was used. They say if it keeps happening, they'll close the lab off and limit its use to during class hours only.

I'm no photo whiz, so I need that extra time. I can't make enough prints in the hour and twenty minutes class takes up for a half decent project grade. Also, I was the last guy there today, so lucky me, I ended up being the guy to clean all the chemicals, plus I got to fix up the developer sink. I hate messy people.

On a better note, my essay on James Joyce isn't due until next week. I thought it was this Wednesday. I hade the rope to hang myself all tied and everything...still, once that essay is done, I'll only have two more Critics to worry about before the nice, long, winter break.

The Critic is the school's newspaper. I edit it. It's pretty much the best thing on campus, period. You should read it. Heck, join it.

There's some political forum going on tomorrow. I'll have to send a reporter to see if we can cover it. Things like that are always hillarious.