Moving Out

Moving out is a bigger deal than I thought it would be. Over the course of living in this dorm for the last year (has it really been a year?? wow..) I had forgotten how much stuff I actually owned in this room. As it turns out, I will need to make several trips over the course of two or three days to get everything out and back home. ...Home will be nice... However, I am not really looking forward to having to clean it again. When I've gone home randomly on the weekends, it's always been dirty cuz my family is so busy all the time. They're always runnin all over the place and getting things done. One time I went home and there was a dried puppy turd in my room cuz Leo had snuck it in while they weren't looking and they're all too busy to even notice it. lol
Good thing we have Febreeze! That stuff works wonders! I'll finally be able to play guitar hero again! yay! It's been forever since i've really gotten the chance to play that game with friends or my brother. Me and my brother michael are so gonna start a Co-op band and rock out!

Summa Plans

I can't wait to be away from the hustle-bustle of school life. It will be nice to just relax and do simple physical labor around the yard again. There's something fundamentally fulfilling about working with my hands; something fulfilling in the sweat and muscle soreness after a long job being completed. I wonder if I'm the only one who thinks that way.. Surely, someone else other than my father, grandfather and myself feels the same way. I guess it just runs in my family. That relaxation and peace will be short-lived however, as I am taking a summer course at UALR. College Chemistry II. I'm showing up for class at 8:40-11:50 everyday for a month straight. That will probably be quite hectic, but I am determined to get an 'A'. I'm tired of just barely getting by in college. The break will be great but I will have a new attitude towards school when I get back to UCA in the fall. Guaranteed.

Legos

Is it weird for an 18 year old dude to still love playing with legos? I hope not, cuz I freakin love legos! They're ridiculously fun! If I had to describe legos with one word it would have to be "Incredi-Krunk" because incredibly krunk is two words. I have a lot of legos. I've been collecting them since I was...gosh, age four or something. Most of my legos are Star Wars related; and that is weird but I'm cool with it. Being a geek is pretty awesome once the people around you grow up enough to not make fun of you for it. Lets see, I have a giant Tie-bomber, a Republic Gunship (favorite), and a Jedi Starfighter. Outside of the Star Wars area, I have a combination snow-ski/bulldozer (depending on how you put the peices together), an alien spaceship and a fighter plane. I also have a giant bin of random peices filled to the brim.
Everyone should love legos as much as I do! :P

Class Schedules

Does anyone else find it annoying that UCA has class registration at the same time as finals? Signing up for your next semester's classes before you've finished the one's you're in seems ironic and is rather frustrating. It bugs me. Not only do I have the pressure of studying for finals, but I also have to keep a close eye on which classes are open and when they are. Making a schedule takes a lot of time and it seems to me like it would be better for everyone if registration wasn't so near and in finals week. I'm done venting about that now.

Cryptograms

What are cryptograms you ask?
Why thank you for asking! I'll tell you.
A cryptogram is a word puzzle where a simple message is hidden in plain sight. Each letter of the alphabet is arbitrarily replaced with another letter. No clues are given, one must crack the code on their own. Would you like to see one? Yes? Well good, here you go. Feel free to copy it down and figure it out. The first person to figure it out gets a free soda! :D

TPIIOPZN OU P DGJMNICVH OJUXOXVXOGJ DKNJ WGV TPIIW CGI HGYN PJM KPRROHW COJM GVX XKPX WGVI SNUX CIONJM.

Hint: Start by figuring out the one letter words then move on to larger words.
You may have to use trial and error at first, but don't give up.
Good Luck!

Portfolio

So I have this really big portfolio assignment due on Friday that I have (naturally) procrastinated on for way too long. I am supposed to gather everything related to my writing class, including this blog post, print them off, organize them and turn them in as a last ditch effort to raise my grade. Hopefully, this post will assist in that endeavor.

...But probably not.

Reflection

So college was not at all what I expected it to be. And I had no idea what to expect in the first place. I have discovered that I have absolutely atrocious study skills. Somehow I never needed to study to much in high school and I managed just fine with 3.5 or higher.
I assumed that the same strategy would work in college as well and was horribly mistaken. In retrospect, sitting out a year may have been good for me. I also seem to have a problem with self-motivation and guilt. I lack the drive to do well until the last minute and then it's too late. Then I feel bad about not doing my work, and feeling bad makes me unproductive. It's a vicious cycle.
However, I am not posting this for sympathies or to have a pity-party. I am writing it as a reflective thing. Maybe it'll help me this summer and next semester. Now that I am aware of my weaknesses and study issues, I know what needs to be done. In short my struggle and barely surviving has pushed me to super-succeed this summer and next semester.

Product of Boredom

I'm not sure what to write about so I'm just gonna free-write this blog and see what happens.

....
You ever notice how so many people text "lol" (laugh out loud)? It's very overused, I think; and often, it is dishonest. I challenge people to create new acronyms for their texting endeavors! One's that you will have to explain to people after you send them. Use them sparingly as well, so they don't get worn out like "lol" and "btw". Don't get me wrong, these acronyms have their place, but they shouldn't be overused. Instead of texting "lol" when you aren't laughing out loud, you could text "lqtm" (laugh quietly to myself) which is usually more honest anyway from my experience. (credit to that comedian on comedy central. whoever he was, he made a good point)
I'm also a little tired of the " :) " thing. I know there aren't enough buttons to accurately display emotion but people could at least try. The closest thing to improvement in this area that I have seen is " :D " which works when you feel excited or something. I say we should make new expressions for emotions too. Like "smfo" (smiling my face off) for those really big smiles that can't get displayed otherwise.
You people should think of more innovations for texting, cuz I can't think of anymore at the moment.

As the World Holds Its Breath

I know you are all sick with concern over the condition of my baby. Thank you for your prayers and sympathies. My baby was put on a waiting list for a few days while the organs she required were being transported to her. As of Saturday April 19, she went into surgery. It has been a long and arduous process that hasn't ended yet. The computer doctors are working hard to ensure her safety and speedy recovery. Luckily, she didn't require euthanasia. *phew* :{ I will post an update when I get one.

Aww SNAP!!

Last Friday went like every other Friday until the evening rolled around. I had gone to my morning classes as usual, and relaxed for the rest of the day. Occasionally, I attempted to study something for some class, but that didn't work out well. I was kinda bored and didn't want to do any studying so I got on my computer. I don't remember what it was that I was doing, but when I was finished, I reached up to close the screen and heard an awful crunching sound. :{ Naturally, the sound filled me with worried curiosity. I leaned forward to look for the source of the noise and found that the screen frame on my laptop had split from the base up, stopping about halfway up the window. I was shocked and dismayed! How could my baby hurt herself under such normal circumstances? I tenderly attempted to move the screen again to see the extent of the damage and small pieces of plastic spilled forth from the gap as blood from a knife wound. Immediately I recalled a similar problem that my father had had with his laptop and called him for assistance. He told me that all I could do was wait until Best Buy opened on Saturday and take her in for maintenance. :( I was disheartened. Out of curiosity or disbelief (I'm not sure which one) I re-assessed the damaged area. Maybe I was hoping that it would have disappeared somehow during my conversation with my father. It looked just as bad, though the flow of plastic bits had seized. My laptop appeared to be functioning at full capacity despite her greivous-looking wound, so I obtained some blank CDs and created back-ups for all of my essential data (school work, pictures and such). Then I shut her down, resisting the reflex to close the screen-lid, crawled into bed and wondered what the computer doctors at Best Buy would do about my baby's injury.

Arkansas

Arkansas is officially retarded in the area of weather. Last week it was 80 something degrees and this week, it's maxing out at mid-50s. Thank you, Arkansas for allowing me to get out my shorts only to not use them! I'm just gonna wear jeans all summer now because the weather patterns are so out-of-whack here.

I was just sitting here and it occured to me that it is uncomfortable hot in this dorm room of mine. As a result, I attempted to turn on the AC. This was to no avail of course as the university, in its great wisdom, has not yet changed the units to use cold air. They still blow out heat. Naturally, this made the room even more uncomfortable.
It felt much like the picture on the right of this blog. I don't have a fan, and have no car in order to go buy one. So i tried opening the window. Unfortunately, the cool breeze that exists outside is blowing from the other side of the building this time of year, leaving my room without much circulation. I look forward to the day when I see that electrician/janitor with the ladder outside my room tweaking the air conditioning unit to use cool air. It will be a happy day for Arkansas Hall. It will be nice to have the room back at 65 degrees. :)

Rise Against

Hey there guys. I just recently discovered this absolutely amazing band named Rise Against.
I'm not sure how long they've been around, but to me, they are just three months old. Their music is a powerful mix of rock and punk and alternative. Their style is hard to put words to, but is quite distinct.
Anyone who was bored enough to read this blog should definitely check them out on pandora.com or youtube.com.
All of thier songs have messages, usually political in nature.
I have their newest album, "The Sufferer and the Witness" and I love every single song on it. All of them are extremely catchy, especially "Injection" and "Prayer of the Refugee". They are extremely talented musicians and everyone should check them out.

Intro to Desperation

As the semester comes to a close, I find myself in dire need of new blog posts. After praying to, Blognash (the god of Blogs lol) and finding no miraculous assistance (go figure), I decided to just start writing new posts. Maybe I'll get enough.. but that isn't too likely.
So this is the first of a long line of near pointless blogs created in a last-ditch effort to add to the numbers of posts on this blog. :/

A Brave New Research Topic

So yeah, It's rather difficult to find knowledgeable sources on the tactics and technology of warfare in the ancient world. The internet sources are shady at best. Proquest and Academic Search Elite yielded a few useful results, but most of them required me buying a book the size of Rhode Island and sifting through it for decades. (Only two could be found in the library.)
As a direct result, I am suddenly and dramatically changing my research topic! *cue dramatic music* I know! Don't be so shocked and dismayed! I shall endure! Thank you for your concern ladies and gentlemen, but my new topic should be much easier to work on.
Speaking of which, my new topic is Evolution: the Holes in the Argument. It should be a much more controversial work and much more interesting for me to write about. (Despite how much i like ancient warfare, it's not fun to write about. It's much more entertaining on the silver screen.)
I plan to push just a enough buttons to get a reaction and start a debate that will last until the turn of the millennium! (or Armageddon, whichever comes first.)
I may or may not keep you posted on the development of this paper. It would only lessen the surprise in the end. LOL

Update to Research Topic

I decided not to try and prove that any certain military tactic was superior to another. All strategies had their weaknesses and strengths; and none of them exist in the same forms today. So instead of determining dominance, I have decided to debunk the myth that ancient warfare was primitive and unsophisticated (like throwing rocks and poking with sticks). War was far more advanced in the ancient world than modern people give it credit for. This topic will allow me to expand my focus from the "cradle-of-civilization" area and include the Asian countries.

List of Sources for Research Paper

I'm not quite sure how to cite these so I just kinda copy and pasted. I'll figure out the actual format for the real paper. This list is not by any means final. Sources may be added or removed at the whim of the writer.

1. Title:

The phalanx dominated Greek warfare for three centuries, but fell before combined-arms forces.Find More Like This

Authors:

Carey, Brian Todd

Source:

Military History; Sep2006, Vol. 23 Issue 6, p69-72, 4p

ISSN:

0889-7328

2. I will be using Sun Tzu's The Art of War. However, I haven't decided what version to utilized yet.

3. Title:

Cavalry Operations in the Ancient Greek World (Book).Find More Like This

Authors:

Buckler, John
Vandervort, Bruce

Source:

Journal of Military History; Jan2003, Vol. 67 Issue 1, p218, 2p

ISSN:

0899-3718

4. Title:

It took a humiliating major defeat to convince the Spartans to adopt the bow and arrow.Find More Like This

Authors:

Hind, Andrew

Source:

Military History; Jul/Aug2006, Vol. 23 Issue 5, p12-14, 2p

Document Type:

Article

ISSN:

0889-7328

Randomness-icity

This is noise..in letter form!

I was really bored on New Years, even though i was at a party with my youth group. (Guitar Hero only goes so far.) Around 1030, we got the brilliant idea to just run around campus. So we did; we ended up on the UCA nature trail. We took a little detour and found a dump site with large construction machines, after playing on the machines, we went to the dump section. It was mostly broken chairs and the old stadium lights. However, amongst this pile of junk, a single jewel resided! Behold!! An old traffic sign!! I had to have it. I grabbed it and took it back to my room, where it remains to this day.

My Research Paper Topic

Ok, so my next assignment is to write the longest paper of my life. It is a research assignment which means I am undoubtedly going to fill it to the brim with well-documented quotes from my sources. Such tactics should be expected on a ten page report. Speaking of tactics...my chosen research topic is Military tactics of the ancient world: a comparison and analysis. Fancy title for a paper on how people used to kill stuff efficiently.. anyway. that's my topic and I'm sticking to it.

Heater Shields Blog record

I have made the final decision on what wikipedia stub to alter. I chose the topic of the Heater Shield (a type of shield used in medieval times.)
Update: finding relevant and meaningful information on this topic has been far more tedious than ever expected. Google proved next to useless, turning up only one site that wasn't trying to sell me something or talking about a stupid video game. So far, I have found one legit site. This site, however, doesn't say much more than the wikipedia stub I'm attempting to alter.

Accidental similarities? or PLAGARISM??

What is Plagiarism? I'm so glad you asked! Plagiarism a hard word to define without committing some form of plagiarism. There are millions of hits on Google.com for the word plagiarism, most of which offer the definition of plagiarism (and many of which are probably, themselves plagiarized). Therefore, one can easily infer that there are no more original definitions for plagiarism. There probably aren't. That being said, the definition of plagiarism is to steal and pass of the work of others as your own. (http://www.plagiarism.org/learning_center/what_is_plagiarism.html) One can only hope that the afore-displayed information is enough to dispel any accusations of plagiarism in this peice.

hey i got one

hey, i got a blog now.. woot! :/ soo....yeah. it seems to be up and running..