New Blog

Hey guys. I’m starting from scratch on another blog. I’ve graduated and I figure now is as good a time as any to start fresh. You can find my new blog at http://cacology.net. It’s still managed with WordPress so you should still be able to RSS it if you want. I’ll keep this blog up as an archive of sorts but it won’t be updated anymore. Thanks!

So, it’s been a while, huh?

It’s been a while, I admit. I was just going to abandon this blog, but I realized that I really just need some sort of outlet to write in order to maintain some semblance of my sanity. So here I am again! Enjoy continuing to not read this blog!

What has happened since August of 2009, you may ask? I admit, not much. My final fall semester came and went without much to-do. I passed all of my classes, including computer Architecture and Databases, meaning that the only other computer course I had to pass in the spring was Software Engineering, with Dr. Sam. Honestly I figured it was going to be my worst class this semester but I have been pleasantly surprised. More on that later.

Other than school, not much happened last semester. I did, however, purchase another ukulele. That’s right, now I have two: the soprano I bought this past summer, and now a tenor, which is really the only one I ever play anymore. I’ve learned every basic 7 chord that exists, that is, every m7, M7, and diminished 7 chord. This is evidenced by the fact that I can play through the entire “Tune Up” song on the Aebersold album of the same name. Tune Up is a song which, every chorus, moves up a half step. And the play-a-long does twelve choruses, ensuring that every single version of the above-mentioned chords appear somewhere.

And now that I know my minors, majors, and diminisheds (shut up, I know it’s not a word), I also can play them over other chords, where the upper structure forms that chord. For example, C7b9 (that’s C7 flat 9; stupid font) is simply a C#dim chord, over a C. And since I’m playing a ukulele, I don’t really ever have to worry about the bass note, so I just move the root up a half step and play a diminished chord. Similarly, the upper structure of Dm9 is FM7. Since I only have four strings to work with, substitutions like this are always necessary. And if I’m playing jazz (which, let’s face it, I usually am), the upper structure is always the most important part of the chord anyway, really.

Sorry to geek out there for a moment. I’ve been doing a lot of ukulele playing over the past few weeks, so it’s kind-of on my mind.

So, that brings us to this semester, I suppose. My course load isn’t the most insane thing that has ever existed, but I’m constantly reminded that if I actually passed all the courses I attempted on the first go, I would have far fewer classes right now. Oh well, though.

I have Public Speaking, which is criminally easy. I have Astronomy, which is fairly easy, even if the professor likes to pretend it’s a super hard class where you will absolutely fail if you are not Stephen Hawking. I have Modern Concepts of Math, which is supposedly easy but I am a total failure at math, so it’s actually pretty hard for me. I definitely will not be passing that one with an A. But I will pass, dammit. I must.

Then there’s Geomorphology, which is a terrible class. Every day at 10:00 AM (9:00 on Fridays), we go sit in a room and have the professor read off slides that are freely available on the network drive. He reads them in an almost incomprehensible Chinese accent, and doesn’t really explain anything. Then, for the tests, I have no idea if he writes them or steals them from other professors / the authors of the book, but they are so in-depth and cover material most of which we never even looked at in class. Instead, they come from the gigantic Book of Doom we needed to buy for this class, which is full of nothing but insanely technical explanations for every single chemical reaction that ever takes place at any point on the planet, ever.

However, I foresee myself passing the course, just because everyone else in the class (with the exception of one guy who is a geology major) is in the same boat as I am. So, we’ll see.

And I guess that brings us to Software Engineering. This class was touted as the absolute worst class you ever have to take in the Comp Sci department. On top of that, it’s taught by the “meanest” teacher in the department (this is true, actually). Honestly though, if you actually go in and do the work for the project (something I have always done; I may not be great at remembering to do homework, but if I am assigned a project I will do the hell out of it), you will have no problems whatsoever in the class.

Our project is to make a web application that utilizes three mapping services, Yahoo, Bing, and Google, to display information the user requests. It really hasn’t been too bad so far. We’ll see how he grades it at the end of the semester in three weeks. Four weeks. Something like that.

I was going to mention one other thing. I totally don’t remember what it is though. Oh well, I’ll remember later. This entry is long enough as is.

Oh, and happy Easter or something.

America iz numbar won!!!!!

Allow me to rant here for a moment.

I read a story just a few minutes ago which infuriates me to a level like only political dumbassery could.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090813/ap_on_go_co/us_health_care_end_of_life_2

Blumenauer said the controversy [over the healthcare bill's "death panels"] was helping Democrats in a “perverse way.”

By continuing to spread a widely refuted claim, Republican critics are undercutting their own credibility, he said. The controversy has drawn more attention to the original proposal, which passed largely unnoticed when a health overhaul was approved by three House committees.

Blumenauer, if I may address you personally, I appreciate you and your views on political discourse. Some of my best friends are intelligent conservatives and I enjoy debating with them immensely. I believe that proper debate is the only way to arrive at the most equitable solution in almost any given situation.

However, republican critics are not interested in their own credibility. They’re not worried about the credibility of their statements; they’re not worried about the credibility of their political party; they’re not worried about the state of political discourse in this country. The only thing these conservative commentators (and by “these conservative commentators” I mean the legions of conservatives who march around bearing a banner for Fox News) are interested in is riling up the largest number of people they can possibly rile up.

Look at the place in the bill that has caused all this controversy. The following paragraphs describe the “advanced planning consultation” which the bill says it will cover every 5 years for citizens who qualify. Remember, these meetings are completely voluntary. Let’s see what these consultations will cover.

(A) An explanation by the practitioner of advance care planning, including key questions and considerations, important steps, and suggested people to talk to.

(B) An explanation by the practitioner of advance directives, including living wills and durable powers of attorney, and their uses.

(C) An explanation by the practitioner of the role and responsibilities of a health care proxy.

(D) The provision by the practitioner of a list of national and State-specific resources to assist consumers and their families with advance care planning, including the national toll-free hotline, the advance care planning clearinghouses, and State legal service organizations (including those funded through the Older Americans Act of 1965).

(E) An explanation by the practitioner of the continuum of end-of-life services and supports available, including palliative care and hospice, and benefits for such services and supports that are available under this title.

It seems as though the entire section on advanced care planning describes nothing but informational medical sessions for older citizens.

This has been pointed out time and time again. I would like to give conservatives credit enough to assume that the ones railing against the bill have actually read it. I can only then assume that the only reason Palin and her ilk are spreading such misinformation is malicious intent.

The reason I get so riled up about these things is because it completely floors me that organizations such as Fox News and Freedomworks have goals that involve nothing but whipping large numbers of blissfully ignorant Americans into a frenzy that tears our country further apart among party lines.

I’m disgusted.

Bored.

Welp, I actually managed to get a decent amount of stuff done today.

I upgraded the linux install on my laptop to the 64-bit version of Ubuntu 9.04, and so far it’s working out really well. I’ve been playing with the keyboard layouts, and I’m enjoying the international layout quite a bit. For example, I didn’t know there was a need for a character ś. Or ḿ. Or ĺ (that’s an L with an accent, for those of you playing the home game). If someone forced me to guess which language used consonants with accents over the letters, I’d probably say Vietnamese. Maybe I should look it up.

Just did. Turns out it’s Polish. Among others. I fail hardcore.

I’m bored. Updating my blog when I have nothing of value to say makes me feel like this guy. Maybe I should just call it a night.

Music: My Antidepressant

So, I’ve mentioned this to a few people over the past few weeks, but for those of you to whom I have not, I’ve been dealing with some depression-like symptoms.

I’m not saying I suffer from depression. Much of what I’m feeling right now, I’m sure, has to do with the fact that I’m stuck here at home, away from school and friends, with nothing to do and no car. I’m sure that contributes more than anything else, really.

Apartment Woes

I don’t really have anything of value to write, but I really feel like writing. So write I shall, even if it’s about something that I’m utterly sick of talking about!

Preparing for the Great Schism

I just needed a reason to use the word “schism.”

I created another blog. I’m not going to be using it yet, and for all my current blogging needs (which… you know, don’t exist), this blog will be the target of my verbose rants. However, that blog is specifically targetted at my aims of international travel. As time draws nearer and nearer to the outset of my adventure into the Orient, I’m gonna be using that blog more and more until it becomes my new main blog.

However, I’m gonna try to keep depressing shit out of that one, so I’ll keep this one in the event that I need to rant about something that people don’t want to freaking hear about.

So if you are one of the poor souls who actually reads this blog, might want to keep your eye on that one too. I’ll be updating it with my progress of applying to the JET Programme over the coming school year.

In unrelated news, I’m considering doing NaNoWriMo again this year. But this year, you know.. actually finishing it.

I think I’m gonna go to bed.

Being in the SRU Jazz Band

…is awesome.

Seriously. A few weeks ago, we performed with a Mr. Kurt Elling, a jazz vocalist, philosopher, poet, and all-around incredible guy. It was one of the best performance experiences I’ve ever had. And then just today, we performed for a bunch of high schoolers in the big auditorium with none other than Michael Philip Mossman. You may not know who he is, but within the jazz community, he’s an icon. I’m sure everyone in any sort of big band has played at least one of his arrangements or compositions.

Spring Break!! Whoo!!

Everyone ready to get wild and crazy for spring break?

Yeah, me neither.

I’m back!

I can’t talk for long. I’m in bed and it’s totally lights out. I just haven’t written in a while and I felt it was my duty to write a small entry to let all zero of you know that I am indeed still alive.