In one of her comments Jenny Smith said "Andrew--I am always amazed at how un-hoboblogger you are. You always have a zillion posts for me to catch up with."
I feel that I've let you down. But right now I'm watching the debate. Then I have to go to something, but later tonight I'll post twice, once about the debates and then once about In America (because I told you I would).

I just got done watching In America. I'm still crying. It's 2:03am. I'll post sometime later today about my thoughts.
But right now, all I feel is "I need a good hug" and "I need a girlfriend to watch this with"

Today was a busy day, despite finally falling asleep at around 4:15am and then got up at 7:30am.
Work was tolerable since it was cool most of the morning, but I managed to somehow get paint in every crevice in my body.

I got to have dinner with a good friend tonight. Becca just started at Fuller Seminary (where someday I'll attend too), so I paid her a visit for dinner. Becca and I spent a summer working at St. Peter's by the Sea Presbyterian Church as interns. It was really cool to meet some of her friends who had just started seminary too. I think I'll be headed out to Pasadena more frequently. There's always something cool about meeting new people who you just feel like you click with. (Jenny Smith, I'm sure you know what this is like) We made some homemade pizza which was just a fun activity to do. After dinner and some good convo (conversation), Becca and I headed down to Old Town Pasadena to grab some gelato. There is this great little placed called Tutti Gelati. Ohhhhh sooooo gooooooood. If you've never had gelato, get some, you'll never go back to regular ice cream. We ended up walking around and talking for a while, just catching up. Good times.

On my way home I realized I needed a power strip, for plugging stuff in. But I realized that Target would most likely be closed after 10pm so my only other option was WalMart. I know, I know, I despise and loathe WalMart as much as the rest of you but it was there. I really only went in there to get the strip but impulse got to me. Damaged controlled I walked out with aftershave, deodorant, a candle and a candle holder.

I did get the copy of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind today in the mail from Blockbuster, I think it's pretty cool that I could get the new DVD in my mail the same day that it was released. I did send back Bonhoeffer today since I really couldn't get into it. It actually was the thing that finally put me to sleep last night. But it will be interesting to see the turnaround time it takes them to receive Bonhoeffer and for me to get Super Size Me. Hopefully it will be by Thurs. That would be really neato.

Mucho thanks to the commenters. A note to each of you.

Karen: Thanks for the comment, only thing left is your own blog.

Kat: Just do some research as to which one you want to get, Blockbuster or Netflix, see the link (3rd paragraph 4th link) in the other post today.

Jeni: Tell Kevin Hi for me, and Rick too. Tell them I miss them and really miss doing improv. And I'll be there in late Nov or early Dec and I'd love to come to the improv class.

Katie: No prob on the comments, you read my blog, I'll be sure to read yours. I'll continue to leave you comments too.

To the rest of you, mas comments por favor.
Also NO ONE has jumped on the free iPod offer. Help a guy out.

In case you didn't get the title it's a parody of Oops, I Did It Again. Just sing it in your head.

It's now 3:22am. I can't sleep. I've watched Sixteen Candles and am currently watching Lucas on cable. I've checked my blog and email like 173,000,000 times and am quickly running out of things to keep my attention or to tire myself out.

I did do one thing that I see as an accomplishment, I finally finished a video game. Last x-mas I received a copy of Halo for the PC from my roommates and have played it off and on for the last year, but more recently in the last month I have spent a sizeable amount of time on it and have finally completed it. I don't know about you, but it always feels good to complete a project that you have invested yourself in, and video games are no exception. I hate leaving things unfinished, it makes me feel like I could of, should of done better. The good news is that Halo 2 is coming out in Nov. The bad news is that for a while it will only be available for the XBox, it took the first Halo almost a year to come out on PC. Depending on certain circumstances I'll have to see if a 149 dollar purchase of an XBox is in my future, mainly so that I can play Halo 2 without having to wait a year or so.

I told you about the Blockbuster deal I signed up for as part of the free IPod deal. It's pretty cool. I think I'd actually subscribe to it if: 1 I had a DVD burner. 2 If number 1 was met and I didn't feel adverse towards the whole "burning" thing. 3 If the system didn't use the "queue system" (where you make a list and then they send you what is available)
The things that I do like is that there is about a 2 day turn around for getting your DVDs. I haven't shipped them back yet so I can't tell you how that process works. Although this is exactly like Netflix, I think from what I've read that Netflix wins out in terms of being a better service, please see this site. But my overall opinion is that it's kinda cool not to have to worry about returning things on time and then not even having to leave your house to get movies is a pretty cool thing, but I don't think I NEED to watch as many movies as I'd get from the service to feel like it was making it worth my money and time.

The 3 movies that I have out right now are:

Bonhoeffer
In America
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

The ones in my queue:

Super Size Me
The Ladykillers

I'll try and keep you up to date on how this whole process pans out.

Well it's now 3:54 and I'm watching Bonhoeffer, we'll see if I can get some sleep before having to be at work at 7:30am.

< rant >
Use the cogitations (comments) for crying out loud. You're making me feel unloved.
< /rant >

Today the jerky is now done. As expected it is mediocre. Really only a 4 out of 10. Eatable, but tonight I'll pass it around to a few people and get some feedback. I'll try and let you know what others are thinking about it, but I'm looking forward to making a new batch and trying to get a better cut of meat.

In other news today, they announced the DVD release of the special edition Return of the King, so save Dec 14th. Oh joy.
And Zach Braff announced the DVD release of Garden State.
It'll be a busy Dec.

If you know me at all you have some grasp of my disdain for my car. What a piece of crap. Made in Korea, like me, but far inferior. Yesterday I went to start it. Put the key in, turn, nothing... Lame!!!! I thought it was the starter, so I took it to the mechanic today and luckily it was only my battery. So good for me. But I really want something different.
As I've said before my dream car for right now would have to be a MINI, but we all know that won't happen any time soon.

The Koreans should really stick to making TV's, rice, nuclear bombs (well at least the north side) and such.

Don't forget to get your FREE iPod

I'll actually take this down sometime early next week, it's just here so I can remember my thoughts. (addendum 9/28 I think I'll just leave it up, no use in undoing my thoughts, enjoy)

brought to you by audioblogger.com

I'm here at the Lofgren's house. Showing Karen the joys of Blogging.

We had a good evening. Jamie (her husband) and I spent some time playing horseshoes in the backyard. Before playing a little Gamecube. Joseph (or affectionately known as J-Liu) came over and we went to dinner at Route 66 (a restaurant in Canyon Country) which was good. I had the Big Rig. Good stuff. Topped it off with a medium shake at Jack in the Box. But the gal at the counter put in the LARGE cup, seriously way tooooo much shake for one person to consume.

We headed back to their house after dinner and while Jamie and I were playing Tiger Woods golf, I was shooting for a critical birdie put on the 18th hole and got really anxious and started doing a victory dance. But their dog Maverik, who was quietly resting in the corner got startled and reared up and snipped my leg. He even drew a little blood. I'm perfectly OK. Jamie is a little upset about the whole instance but I'm totally ok and hold no grudge towards Maverik or the Lofgrens. I will continue visit their house and enjoy their dog. Really I'm ok (that was mainly to reassure Jamie), except for the itching notion to go chase after the cars going by.

Hopefully Karen and Joseph will be welcomed into the blogging community. So keep your eyes peeled for them soon, and if you know them bug them about it.

So by now you should have heard about freeipods.com (please do not sign up through this link, see bottom of page if you are interested in joining). First let me say that this IS REAL. It DOES WORK. I personally know someone who has received their iPod due to this offer. See Adam's site for details. And it has been featured on the G4TechTv show The Screensavers. Which I trust and they do their homework on these types of things.

Here's how it works. I didn't say it wasn't a bit schemy but nonetheless it is true and you can get a free ipod. I sign up with freeipods.com and then refer 5 friends. I have to complete one of their "offers" (which does not mean that I have to pay for anything). The "offer" I picked was a 2 week FREE trial subscription to Blockbuster's rip off of Netflix, where I make a list and Blockbuster sends me DVDs instead of going to the store to rent them. I do have to make sure that I cancel my account right at the end of the 2 weeks or I will be charged the 20 bucks for the subscription. Then once I get 5 of my friends to sign up and get a similar "offer" I then get to redeem my free iPod. Fairly simple. But you must make sure that you friends do one of the offers, not just sign up.

NOTE: I just had my mom sign up so that helps me, but the thing was that her offers didn't match mine, so you may or may not see the blockbuster ad, but there was another one for some fax thing with a 30 day trial that wouldn't cost you anything. I urge you not to spend any money unless you really want one of the services listed. I am NOT selling anything. Nor do I endorse or condone anything other than getting a Free iPod.

If you would like to help me out in getting my free iPod and think you may know 5 people who would like to help you get YOUR free iPod, please click on the link below:

HELP ANDREW GET HIS FREE iPod

please click on this link if you want to help, do not go directly to freeipods.com it will not get me my referral

Damn the Man!!! (Lucas, Empire Records)

Well maybe this whole thing is a pyramid scheme...oh well...give me iPod

Here's Adam's endorsement

Cory's site

Here's the latest on the jerky endeavor.

#1 I think I screwed up the cutting of the meat. The pieces weren't too thin and they were pretty small too. I think it may have been due to the cut of meat that I bought at the store. Since I didn't take notes on the last batch I couldn't remember what cut of meat I got. And I got anxious to get a batch rolling since I promised some guys that I'd have a batch done by Monday night. The piece of meat I got was really kinda fatty so I ended up cutting off a lot, and then it ended up in little sections which didn't make for bigger pieces of jerky meat.

#2 I wanted to make this one really good, so I will let the meat marinade for at least 24 hours. I used the plastic bag technique. Which means you put the meat and the marinade in a bag and try and take out as much air out of the bag so that the marinate touches the greatest amount of surface area.

#3 Official notation of recipe:
2.88 Lbs of Chuck Roast (which once cut down probably only left me with 1.85 Lbs of usable meat)
1/2 cup of Soy Sauce
1/3 cup of Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 cup of Teriyaki Sauce
1/16 cup (about 4-6 shakes) of Hickory Liquid smoke
2 Tbs Kosher Salt
3 Tbs fresh ground pepper
1 Tbs Lawrys Seasoned salt
1 Tbs Crushed red pepper flakes
3 Tbs Honey
5-6 cloves finely chopped garlic

#4 We'll see how this batch comes out on around Sunday and I'll most likely do another batch next week, and I'll make sure to go to the local butcher for my cuts of meat which I'll have him cut for me.

I've done some geeky things in my life such as

going to buy a Simpson's DVD the day after Thanksgiving to save 15-20 dollars
going to see Star Wars Episode II 3 times in 24 hours
and being totally obsessed with the Simpsons
and I'm sure a number of other things

But I think tonight has to take the cake.

I spent my (late) evening buying the new Star Wars DVDs (star wars and dvd are 2 links) at Best Buy where they were selling it at Midnight.

Here's a timeline of my evening:

10:42pm I leave my house for the Best Buy in Westwood
11:17pm Arrive at Westwood Best Buy to find line stretched down a LONG city block
11:59pm One minute til DVDs go on sale
12:00am DVDs go on sale
12:01am Line has not moved
1:10am I can finally see the front doors of the store
1:20am I am finally let in to buy my copy of the Star Wars Trilogy DVDs
1:53am My transaction is finally complete, due to the slowest cashier (see price notes down further)
1:55am I get into my car to head home
2:16am I step into my house (note time to Best Buy vs time home from Best Buy

I am really glad I had a book in my car that I took in line with me to read since I didn't have a friend to accompany me tonight.

I did get a good deal on my DVDs. I paid 43.63 for the DVDs, 2 20oz Cokes (which should have been free, but Mr. Cashier rung it up wrong), 8 free trial issues of Entertainment Weekly, and a free trial subscription to Netflix (which I'm sure I'll never use, so if you want it let me know and I'll give you the info). The whole package was supposed to be 37.99 plus tax. Not too bad of a deal since they were selling just the DVDs for 42.99. Yes, all the stuff was cheaper than just the DVDs. But I'm not sure my extra time was worth saving the 5 bucks. It took FOREVER for them to collect all my information, which seemed like they got everything aside from my original birth certificate. The only thing I have to do now is to remember to cancel the subscription to EW so that I don't get charged later.

I'd be a super ultra geek, if tonight I planned on watching all 4 disks of the set, which include all 3 movies and 4 extra hours of bonus features. But I have to go to sleep now since I have to work tomorrow.

Please remember to save May 19th 2005 (which will actually be the Wed night before, since you know I'll be at the midnight screening) for the release of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Nite Nite

In case you didn't know I make my own beef jerky.
Well made, once.
This week I plan on doing another.
I plan on improving on a few things. The first batch I had a few people give me feedback and I agree with it. One thing was that, it was a little tough, I'm not sure if this was due to drying time or marinating time, but it was the first time I'd done it so I have some thoughts on how to improve this time. Last time due to my anxiousness to get some done, I only let the meat marinade for about an hour or two. This time it will sit for a minimum of 24 hours, hopefully that will improve the flavor and the texture of the final product. Secondly, last time I did it, I had to cut my own meat, which was really fun and maybe someday I'll have a career as a butcher, but the meat came out a bit thicker than I'd wanted it to, so this time I will really try to make sure that I hone my skills to provide a quality end result. In hopes of continuing to improve my craft of jerky making I will this time be taking careful notes on procedure and recipe in hopes that I will be able to perfect my craft. I will make sure to post about my findings so that if you feel like attempting to reproduce my results then you will have access to these recipes and results.

If you have any suggestions on flavors or anything else please feel free to use the NEW cogitations comment section.

Today has been one of unexpected blessings. Not only did the weather hold today making painting somewhat enjoyable, instead of sweltering. But I received an email from a long time friend from Whitworth who I haven't talked to in the longest while. He met Jenny Smith at Princeton and found out she blogged and then found out that I blogged and then sent me an email. How cool. Then I surfed over to his site and saw a few other names that I knew and was overjoyed to leave comments on their blogs letting them know that I blog.
So please welcome

Adam Cleaveland
Kevin Benson
and
Tony Hoshaw

to my blogging community.

I can only hope that today continues to be a fine day. Unfortunately I've already gotten the mail and nothing good there, unless you count the card from Blockbuster telling me I owe them 4.10 in late fees for renting Along Came Polly on 8/16/04.

I do know that tomorrow will shape up to be a good day. Due to the fact that it is Tuesday. Which is new media day, CD's, books, games, and movies all come out on Tuesdays. And tomorrow one particular thing comes out that I blogged about last Feb. That thing is:


STAR WARS on DVD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh joy!!!
I've been waiting for this so long and now I finally get to own it on DVD. So on my way home from work I'll be stopping by to grab a copy.

This weekend has finally ended. Aside from the long advisor retreat sat, raquetball sat night, the really late night playing Halo (I got home at 4am Sun) and the mini golf sunday morning (getting up at 8), church, the tutoring sun afternoon and High school group sun night, I'm just about dead.
I had a good time doing all the stuff and got to spend time with some good people, including the High Schoolers I got to see for the first time in 2 weeks (tonight was our fall kickoff). My time tonight was spent at home doing laundry and watching a movie that I'd really had wanted to see since early this year.

I watched the film Triplets of Belleville.
It's a small independent French film. It's animated, with little to no spoken words, while scored quite nicely with vivid sounds and images accompanied with a few songs. While quite strange at times it was a refreshing piece of art. Art in the truest form, meaning not everyone will like it and those who do like most won't like all, but it will intrigue you and fascinate you. The story is slowly developed through a montage of scenes that initially have nothing to do with each other, but the overarching premise is a boy, his mother, their dog and a triplet of singers and the journey of discovery, devotion, perseverance, change and love.

The film is only 78 min long but feels much longer, which is good and bad. If you are feeling in an artsy mood or looking for something different than the crap from Hollywood please make an effort to check out a copy of this movie.

Sky Capitan and the World of Tomorrow came out this weekend and cnn.com reported that it took number 1 over the weekend. I will make it to see this movie sometime this week and will post about it. I'm really looking forward to seeing it, as I've stated before.

Tonight Val and I headed over to Jen's house where we met Kerri to play some Pinochle. I brought some
Smirnoff Twisted V Mandarin Orange along to add to the fun.
If you've never played Pinochle you really should it's a fairly fun game. It takes a little time to learn, but the best way is to watch some people who are patient enough to walk you through what they are doing. It's one of those games that has deep roots in strategy in how you play your cards and how you try and coax your opponents to play their cards too.

On another note I've been sick for about the last week and it hasn't been too much fun. I think it's been a sinus infection which really just gives me headaches and a burning sensation in my nose and a lot of congestion. Really no fun at all.

Last night was a lot of fun going to see Richard Swift at the Hotel Cafe. If you want to hear some good music head over to Richard's site and take a look and if your looking for a cool place to go to hear live music head out to the Hotel Cafe, they've got live music most nights of the week. You can even occasionally catch Alexi Murdoch (who I need to see myself) playing there. The only downside was that the show didn't start til around 10:45 which meant that it got over around 11:30 plus travel time home and such it was around 12:15 by the time I finally walked into the house. Let's just say between the sinus infection and the lateness I didn't make it to painting houses today.

Tomorrow I have an all day retreat for Jive the High School group. We are headed out to a beach house in Oxnard to meet as a leader team to discuss the upcoming year and talk about how to better minister to these kids. Should be a lot of fun.

And tomorrow night I'm headed over to AJ's house to head out to Spectrum (a gym that Bobby works at) to play some Racquetball. Then we will head back to the house to engage in some heavy fighting via Halo.

This weekend is pretty packed with things to do and I'm not too sure that I'll be able to recover all that well. Hopefully I'll get some rest and start to feel better.

Say it anyways.

If you notice there is now a new comment section called cogitations. This is going to replace the old comments section. I just noticed that the old ones cap out at 5 comments this new one allows more people to leave messages. I will leave the old ones up (down at the bottom of the posts)(all the blank ones will be replaced with just a ".") just so that people can read what was left before but please use the new cogitations one. Thanks so much.

Thank you to

Here are a random samplings of things going on or information tidbits.

• Richard Swift has a record release party at The Hotel Cafe tonight, I will be in attendance.
  

• Rocker Johnny Ramone died yesterday. Sad loss, only one remains of the legendary Ramones.
  

• Martha Stewart going to serve jail time in a minimum security prison. I guess the appropriate advice to her would be don't drop the loofah (if they have group showers)(sorry had to make the joke)
  

• In case you never knew the reason behind how hurricanes are named. They go in A,B,C order alternating genders. So this year - Frances, ______, _____, Ivan, Jeanne, etc.
  

• Only 3 more days til Talk Like a Pirate Day. Rrrr you ready?
  

Today I went to Frost Middle school, where I had attended 6th grade, for See You at The Pole. I ended up seeing 3 of our Jr High students. (I still call them Jr Highers even though they go to middle school and I myself went to middle school, I never really caught on to the whole middle school thing, so Jr Highers they are) They were quite surprised to see me there, yet they seemed not too surprised either, like I would naturally fit into their surroundings (that sounded a bit Natural Geographic). But when I told them what I was there for, being prayer they seemed a bit disinterested. I did see a group of kids gathered around the flagpole and when I questioned if they might be praying, the only response I got was "Oh, those are the cool kids they are there all the time. Praying, Ha yeah right." All in all the morning was quite disappointing in the hope that kids would be doing some praying, but I myself spent some time praying for them and their school, so I was standing alone.

Today is See You at the Pole. In where students and teachers and others gather at the flagpoles of schools to pray. Last night we had the 1st annual all valley (san fernando valley) SYATP rally. Our hope was for around 1500 students to come and gather and get excited about today's event. While we didn't get the 1500 we were expecting a few hundred came out and hopefully have been encouraged to pray today at their schools. While you probably can't make it to a school at 7:30am today please take some time to pray for your local schools or your past schools. The theory is that this event is totally student led and they are standing up announcing their faith and taking a stand to make a difference on their campuses.

We are the church. No matter your age. You are the church and we need to make a difference if you do not do it then who will. I myself am very tired of the mainstream church, we need a change and we need to reach people who are not followers of Christ. But in my opinion even more so than the unchurched we need to reach those who claim the name of Christ yet sit on the sidelines doing little to nothing with their faith. As Newton's theory states "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction", we as Christians must respond to Christ's action (death on a cross) with equal action, and opposite that we are going to bring life to those who are dead to Christ. Let God motivate you to react to his love and then go out and motivate others, those who do not know God or those who you know who say yes with their mouths but do not with their actions. Our time is now, we are the generation who is in control of the Church, not just those people who sit on committees or boards. Be the Church God loves so much.

The other night we were watching Newsies at Kayla's house with Megan, Chris and AJ. I noticed that one of the cast members was named Trey Parker. Unfortunately this Trey Parker is not the same Trey Parker who helped create South Park.

In closing to Megan, Kayla, Chris and AJ, I retract my statement that the Trey Parker in Newsies is the same Trey Parker that helped create South Park. I was wrong. And I apologize for misleading you.

If you remember I posted a while about the upcoming movie Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, see here if you don't remember. Thank you to G4TechTV again, and their show called Players they happened to do a segment with the cast of Sky Captain and they showed some making of footage. The movie is about 98% CGI, with only the live actors being the real things in the shots, but even sometimes the scenes are totally digital. Once again reiterating how amazing this movie looks. The graphics and lighting are going to make this one visually lavish flick. Just had to share that with you.

If you've never heard of the small and illusive Icelandic Bjork, then you've been missing out. Most notable you would remember her from 1995 with her song It's Oh So Quiet and also a small independent movie called Dancer in the Dark which she starred in and scored. I'll admit I only own the album Post which It's Oh So Quiet comes from and I'll admit I RARELY ever listen to it. But over the years her unique style of music has continued to intrigue me. About half a year ago I heard a number of songs of her's from her Boxed set Family Tree on KCRW. I almost went and got the set, but I rationalized not getting it since I wasn't a die hard fan. Bjork's latest album called Medulla is something that I most likely will get. I've been hearing the track Oceania. And I really like it. This album Medulla is quite unique since most of it is composed of only human voices. See review at allmusic.com. So if you get a chance check it out and find a copy of Dancer in the Dark, quite powerful but not easy to watch, no gore or questionable content (from what I can remember) but a heavy hitting movie.

Thinking about music I realized I haven't been to a good concert for a while and need to make it to one. There have been a few that I have wanted to go to over the summer that I didn't make it to due to funds, such as the Jack Johnson concert, Jamie Cullum and Nellie McKay shows. There is one show that I really hope I make it to this fall and it's KCRW's annual Coldplay in their only US show and Nellie McKay which is still my pick to win a Grammy next year, see archive posts 1 & 2. And many more great artists to be announced, but every year it's the show to be at for great music that you don't necessarily hear on commercial radio. See here for last year's artists. The only thing that might keep me from going is the $75 ticket price for the lowest level. I have a while, so we'll see.

Nothing funnier than a monkey doing Kung-Fu. Watch this.

No I'm not talking about Michael Moore.
I got my laptop back in Dec of 2002 and it's starting to seem quite outdated. It is the HP Pavilion ze5000 series, and frankly I can't even find a link on the HP website to show you what kind of laptop it is. That's how frustrating Moore's Law is. Moore's Law states that the number of transistors on a microchip will double every 18 months. Which has held true for many years, but many people are beginning to speculate that we will hit a wall sooner or later due to the limits on conventional technology. But once we hit that wall I'm sure that there will be a new type of technology that will far surpass the transistors, launching technology and computers into a new level.
My laptop specs are:
Intel Pentium 4 2.0 gig processor
40 gig hard drive
512 MB of Ram
ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 (I think that is the right model number)
A CDWR/DVD drive (which the WR portion stopped functioning after a short time)
An internal Wi-fi card
and even a 56k MODEM!!!

When I bought the laptop it was fairly top of the line, I had to get it custom built to make sure that it had 512 of Ram and had the 40 gig hard drive, which these days is fairly obsolete.
I know for a fact that I'll never be able to run Doom 3 on this machine, even though I probably meet the minimum specs with the exception of the DirectX 9.
I consider myself fairly up to date on most technology things and it's quite depressing to see the advances in technology and always feel out of date. I'm thinking of getting a new computer in the near future but I think I'm going to move back to a desktop, although I love the portability of the laptop, you get so much more for your buck with the desktop. Aside from the fact that a laptop is pretty much impossible to upgrade. While a desktop I feel comfortable enough to fool around with myself.

I watch a show called The Screensavers on G4TechTV. They show and talk about the latest things and I heard them say something about a 400 gig hard drive. Wha Wha What??? 400 gigs?? I don't think I could ever fill that much space, unless I started ripping tons of DVDs to my hard drive. I don't even know how many times you would have to partition that hard drive, you would probably have drives C-V.
But I think right now I would build a PC with at least a 250 gig hard drive ($150) with 1 gig of RAM (2 512 sticks) (around $100 - 130) with a DVD burner (around $100 - 150) a NICE video card (dream card is the top of the line GeForce 6800 Ultra 256MB from NVidia) but it costs around $400 and you need a top of the line motherboard, so I think a GeForce FX 5700 Ultra 256MB (around $100 - 150) will do, I think for the processor I'd choose an Athlon somewhere between the range of 3700-3400, I don't need top of the line but something fast is good, a motherboard combo would probably run between ($300 - 500), and a nice 802.11g wireless card. The thing that I'd focus on this time around for my case would be a good cooling system, I'm not sure if I'd want to go as far as water cooling. As far as monitors go I'm still not ready to hop on the flatpanel bandwagon. To me most of them still don't look that great, unless you are willing to spend upwards of 500. I saw a 21 inch regular monitor for around 70 dollars that looks great!!! and then I saw a 21 inch LCD (flat panel) that costs around 300. Hmm you make the call, huge screen and a little less desk space or a lot more deskspace and 300 dollars more. I don't know about you, but I have room. The problem with companies such as Dell or Gateway, while they have comparable systems like Gateway's 710G Gaming PC they come bundled with so much crap that you have no control whether or not you get it, crap like Aol or picture software or even music programs that I would find unnecessary since I know enough about them to choose my own and better products, which is good for people who don't know much but when you get to this level of computer you really should know enough to make those choices for yourself and get exactly what you want and at better prices.

So there's my rant against fast moving technology. Whatever it's worth.

The last post I wrote at 7pm YESTERDAY as you can see by the time stamp but didn't get to post it til today. What use is Blogger Status if it doesn't get updated til 10:30 the NEXT day when I was having problems all night long. Geesh.

Hmm, not too sure of what to post about today. After getting home from College Briefing, I'm not sure yet how to sum up the weekend, I will give it some thought and draft up something sooner or later.

Later last night, after napping and lounging I headed over to AJ's pad for a little BBQ action. His roommate Bobby Woo was there to greet me since AJ was at work until 9. They have this pretty tight pad with a sunken den with not only an original NES but a SEGA Dreamcast and a Gamecube, surrounded by 3 computers. There's a slight possibility that I might move in with these guys in the near future which would be good since it wouldn't be my mom's house, but then again she is moving to Sacramento in the near future. And since I don't want to live there it's kinda a one of my only options. But there are a few obstacles such as finding a steady job to pay for rent, and their landlady is kinda neurotic so we'll have to wait and see.
At the BBQ we were all sitting around playing various video games, like 3 or 4 at a time since there was the tv + computers, and one of the computers had Halo on it and we got the bright idea to host a LAN game so we could kill each other. Luckily I live fairly close to the house so I ran home to get my laptop and my copy of Halo. We struggled for the next few hours trying to get a Mac to recognize my PC on their home network. Thank you Microcrap. We gave up on trying to get a LAN game of Halo and focused our attention to Counter Strike. That worked. But we had to use one of the PC's since it isn't available on Mac. Well enough we had a hoot of a time beating up on each other. Finally AJ wanted to join in on the fun but he didn't have Counter Strike so we switched over to the classic Half Life, which didn't work out since AJ had such an old version of the game. Finally at around 3 am I decided it was time to pack up and head home. All in all a good night. It will be a pretty chill place to live it that works out. It seems like every time I'm over there, there is a different group of people milling around. A different kind of crowd than who I usually hang out with but it could be fun to meet some new people.

In other news tonight is Laundry Night. How fun.

I'm off to Forest Home for the weekend to attend College Briefing. I'll be back Mon afternoon.

In other news, this working outside in the sun all day doing this painting job has landed me with a kinda crazy case of heat exhaustion, not to be confused with heatstroke, which I've been calling it, but I guess that one (heatstroke) could kill ya. I hope this weekend in the mts will do me some good, not only heat wise, but also relaxing and spiritual growth. I kinda have some high expectations for the weekend personally, which have nothing to do with the speaker or conference but my own personal issues. I am really excited because Mike Barnet, one of Tryone's friends who we see at Room 5 is going to be a guest artist at College Briefing.

I really hope you all enjoy your weekend. See a good movie or two. My recommendations: Napoleon Dynamite, Riding Giants, Garden State, Fahrenheit 9/11, and Maria Full of Grace (which I have yet to see, but want to). See archives for thoughts on all (except Maria) of these movies.

PS
I forgot to mention that one of my favorite independent artists has a song in this movie. Orange Sky, by Alexi Murdoch is featured in this movie. I totally wasn't expecting to hear the song and when I kinda heard it, I almost missed a really good scene because I was trying really hard to hear the song in the background over the talking.

Just got done seeing Garden State with John and Kayla. Stop what you are doing (after reading the rest of my post) and go and see this movie.

First impressions: Zach Braff is wonderful, awkwardly charming, a great writer, sincere in his story telling, funny, engaging, provocative, willing to spend time dealing with real-life issues, real, an all around great guy (so I suppose since I've never met him, but I do know someone who has, who actually lived with him in college)(true story). He even has his own blog, check it out.

Back to the movie. I was really refreshed to see something on the big screen that at times felt very unpolished, which struck a chord with me. The fact that this movie speaks to the place I'm in now. The inbetween of a vast canyon where you see nothing but darkness, yet you can remember the place that you left to get here and you know that there are walls surrounding you, yet they are now but memories, dreams, or longings that will bring comfort. You also realize that the end is looming beneath you, clouded in uncertainty or vagueness, yet swiftly approaching, yet unreachable. You long for the consoling of firm ground beneath your feet, but still you dread it, for you have become somewhat at ease with the nothingness. Only a defining moment will snap you out of your fall, being blindsided with the unexpected safety of chance. Am I ready for unexpectedness or am I in waiting or wanting of my chance? Doubt crowds my mind. Sorry I have strayed from the topic at hand, yet have expressed the emotions created by this movie. Are we able to conquer our demons by ourselves or do we require the assistance of others to give us counsel?

After the movie I headed to the store with John, it was around midnight, my personal favorite time for going to the store. We got to talking and the subject of healing came up. The healing of spirit and mind, spiritual and emotional healing. Is it possible to really move forward in our lives without being completely healed of our pasts? We find it hard to understand how to heal when we cannot pinpoint the area that needs to be healed, only that we are in desperate need of healing. Are we to leave the healing to God who determines when it is time for us to move ahead or for us to be absolved of our pain and discomfort? Are we to push on bleeding and hurting knowing that we must make it to the next checkpoint to be able to receive aid? The checkpoint being when we can fully offer up our hurt to the one who is knowledgeable enough to cure us. I'm inclined to look at the story of the bleeding woman (Mark 5:25-34), who knew her ailment, went seeking Christ and in faith received her healing. As I told John I do not think it is my lack in faith, but my impatientness. Even though she sought out Christ, it was only when he entered her town could she fully seek him out. That is the hard part for me. Lying in waiting and wanting just as the paraplegic sat by the pool. The thing is I know and believe that God fufills his promises and my pride and selfishness want him to do it at my bidding for my own self-gratification and happiness, not to the glory of God.

Well the movie got me thinking. I only wish more movies would do that in a profound way, instead of the usual Hollywood jargon.

Yesterday I forced myself to go to a movie ALONE!!! I went to see Riding Giants a surfing movie by the same guys who did the movie Downtown and Z-Boys. Riding Giants chronicles the history of big wave surfing. It was a really well put together movie. That kind of stuff really intrigues me. The sheer athleticism and cahones that it takes to do the things they do. Most of these movies don't put the raw sound that these behemoth monsters make, but if you were to hear them I'm sure it would make the moment even more meaningful to what these guys do. I'm sure I'm never going to do anything closer than sit in a bathtub and wish that it was the north side of Ohau in the Pacific Ocean and there was a huge swell. Oh well. I can at least watch.

But the last time I went to go and see a movie alone was last summer when I went to see the movie Step Into Liquid, which incendentally was a surfing movie too. I was thinking about the whole doing things by yourself thing. And I like probably most of you dislike to do very many things alone. I really even hate going into a fast food restaurant and eating there alone. I'll usually take it home. That's like the one place where I really feel comfortable alone. For me there is something about being able to share experiences with people. Be it, eating, shopping, going to movies, concerts, or various other things. I love to go with other people. Sometimes I feel that the experience is not as real if I don't do it without someone else. I find it interesting that we as human people need the company and community of other people so much. We rely on others for so much. From birth to death we need the company and support of others. So I guess it really is in our nature to want to be in fellowship with others. Or the other theory is one of Theology, being that since God is so shrouded with community ie. the Trinity and the disciples, that we too would naturally gravitate towards emulating such a thing.

I guess it is good for me to do things alone. No I'm not talking about...pooping. I'm sure it will help me discover that I need not rely so heavily on others for comfort or sense of self-worth. Now I guess I've wandered into the realm of psycho-self-analysis. So that will be $350 an hour. Who should pay me or you?

Aside from that, tonight I'm off to finally see Garden State. Expect a post about that tomorrow.