sansculotte's Xanga

Monday, August 29, 2005

Mon, 29 Aug 2005 23:28:18 GMT

What Mixed Drink Are You?

You Are a Martini

There's no other way to say it: you're a total lush.
You hold your liquor well, and you hold a lot of it!

Monday, August 29, 2005

Mon, 29 Aug 2005 03:10:17 GMT

Your IQ Is 120

Your Logical Intelligence is Above Average
Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius
Your Mathematical Intelligence is Exceptional
Your General Knowledge is Exceptional

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Tue, 16 Aug 2005 14:13:19 GMT

How Liberal / Conservative Are You?

Your Political Profile

Overall: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Social Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Ethics: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Monday, June 13, 2005

Mon, 13 Jun 2005 01:43:20 GMT

I light my way with the bridges I burn.
I refuse to tiptoe through life in order to arrive safely at death.

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Tue, 07 Jun 2005 00:06:40 GMT

Sunday I played hero again. I worked 8 hours and ran 15 miles before many would be awake...before I normally would be, anyway. (That does mean I worked til three hours after the sun came up.) It was great, and I didn't even go to bed after that. And now I'm feeling it, but I have to get up before dawn again tomorrow (mitigating circumstance: I'm going to Florida). Today was exhausting; I went to transfer orientation at JMU, and Kristen was cool enough to accompany me...again...to something that might have been potentially insipid otherwise. I saw several members of the Sherando class of 2003 there, including Loren Williams, on her 2nd transfer. Signing up for classes took half the day, and my advisor was dumbfounded that I have taken 117 credits and have two years to go. (AP credit helps) I am indeed going ahead with the Psych/Philosophy double major, but the minors I finished/almost finished at High Point are so far void in this transition. I also fully intend to run for JMU. And fast! My sister just accidentally put the oriental seasoning into the macaroni and the cheese powder into the rice...Good night.

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Thu, 26 May 2005 14:19:21 GMT

Well, everyone scored higher than me on the observation quiz. Even the ones I would have deemed rather oblivious! Lucky guessers, all of you! I was planning on recording the timeline of my last Friday night, and here it is a week later.
2100 hrs: Tired, ready for bed
2130: Begin drive to Martinsburg Sheetz for work.
2200: Start work, eyes already bloodshot from previous night's shift.
2300: It is freezing outside and very cold inside. My jacket is not enough.
2400: Out of intense boredom, I work out with pen and paper that it takes me 3.54 seconds to make a cent, and 5:43.5 to make a dollar. I set my watch to go off every time I've made a dollar and occasionally do a delirious jig to break the monotony of watching bananas ripen.
0100: First of many cups of coffee.
0200: Fall asleep standing up. I am finally halfway through.
0300: Legs begin buckling. Time stops standing still; it has actually begun to go backwards.
0400: I send the trainee home out of benevolence. I should have sent myself home instead.
0500: I couldn't read even if I was permitted. No matter how hard I look for serenity, I can't find it. I know it's only miserable if I allow it to be. But I'm soooo tired and this feels so unhealthy. Particularly since I have a race tomorrow.
0600: I marvel at how I made it. I felt every second.
(The race on Sunday morning was a disaster and I no longer work the Sheetz post.)

This weekend however, I have gotten off work to go to NYC with my uncle to stay with his friends that he's told me so much about and meet some distant cousins from California. I'm psyched.
I also met with the cross country coach from JMU yesterday and we basically figured out that my running has sucked for the past 3 years almost certainly because of my insufficient diet. I am to see a nutritionist before he lets me on the team.
Here is the first on what might become a list.
#1 LOG (Loathsomely Obnoxious and Galling) thing:
Every road race, cross country meet, and track competition I've been to has had mostly Large or X-Large T-shirts for sale, and when the team received shirts au gratis, the smallest were large. Are people this oblivious? Hmm yes most distance runners are notoriously large people. Makes sense to me. These shirts are of no use to me and it's a complete waste. I don't need a sundress. What am I missing? Isn't it common sense?

Friday, May 20, 2005

Fri, 20 May 2005 22:56:31 GMT

It's been a long time since I've been up to enjoy sunrises. Now, however, I get off work one day at dawn, run 12 miles, nap...and I go to work the next day at dawn. Nights=illuminated, days=eliminated. Wookie doesn't like his new brand-name food. I'm alternating reading chapters of a book on feminist philosophy and articles in FHM. I seem to be the only one amused by that irony. I'm addicted to online scrabble, as most know. Could be worse... After 2.5 years, I just figured out the presets on my car's radio. I'm very excited about the 10K in DC on Sunday. Brandon passed me a music baton:

1. Total volume of music files on my computer.

I don't know like 10 giggity-gigs.

2. The last CD I bought was?

In Keeping the Secrets of Silent Earth: 3- Coheed & Cambria

3. Song playing right now:

Recycled Air- Postal Service

4. Five Songs I listen to a lot or that mean a lot to me (in no order):

Shiny- The Decemberists
The Girl From Impanema- Frank Sinatra
Moondance- Van Morrison
From Such Great Heights- The Postal Service
Fallen- Sneaker Pimps

5. Which 5 people are you passing the baton to, why?

I guess I was anchor leg. (whoever wants to)

Friday, May 06, 2005

Fri, 06 May 2005 19:24:57 GMT

i'm so fuckin sick

Thursday, May 05, 2005

Thu, 05 May 2005 01:11:31 GMT

EO Wilson: We are mainly the products of our genetic inheritance
BF Skinner: We are mainly the products of social conditioning

These are both deterministic. We are robots. We are self-glorified cows. We live in our little pastures, without knowledge of why or what will happen next. We eat our grass and lay our dung, and then we do it again and we are stimulated. Is there any room for blame or credit, particularly in and of themselves? Is there such thing as an original creation? Are my choices my own? If not, would it change anything? Is there a difference between being determined and being unfree? I may as well be content. I was supposed to conclude that, and it was predetermined that I would question it.

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Wed, 04 May 2005 02:44:53 GMT

The next time you hear a politician use the word "billion," casually, think about whether you want the politician spending your tax money. A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into perspective in one of its releases.

A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

A billion days ago no one walked on two feet on earth.

A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government spends it.

So, back to me. That crazy weekend (a 10K, plus crazy shifts involving lots of standing and little sleep) left me quite sick in addition to sleep-deprived. And now the boss is "asking" me (it's already on my schedule) to take over the shift working 10pm-6am at Sheetz over the weekends. Has to be over the weekends. When races and such occur.

As the National Day of Reason approaches, I got brainstorming on reasons...like why we are who we are and why we do what we do, etc.
It's moms and dads. Doubly so. Nature and nurture. This was the only way it could be. Well, I don't see why there can't be randomness. Not uncaused causing, but multiple and unpredictable outcomes. Slot machines are "random" aren't they? But not if you deconstruct them. No. Because the referee, when you break it down, is technically RESPONSIBLE for the result of the coin toss. It can be directly traced to the voluntary actions of his hand, regardless of his (supposed) lack of intent. "Voluntary".... The genetic component of our determined behaviors can be modeled by ant colonies. They line up and they march. They organize, they achieve, they work efficiently. Yet they have no thoughts. They have no desires. They make no choices. They obey their genes. They are nature's little robots. Their genes interact with the environment in determining their behavior. ARE WE ANY DIFFERENT? Where do these crazy coincidences come into play? I met someone in Spain, and then, when it came time for me to leave, completely randomly, she was not only on the same train on the same day, but sitting right next to me. I slept right through my alarm after that when it came time to catch my plane home. I was an hour-and-a-half late. Something told me not to panic. When I got to the airport, the plane was delayed 90 minutes. Right in front of me in line was another American college student of Mexican descent. I talked to him. On the plane... you guessed it. Right next to me. Energy fields undectable exerting convoluted and permeating forces upon all others at all times like gravity and magnetism. Ether.