Pearls Before Swine

Who is the winnnnnnnnnner?

2006-08-10T20:13:00.000-04:00

Well, first off I'd like to thank the people that submitted your photos. I got about 20-25 pictures to grade... not so bad. I appreciate everyone sending in there entries. When I had people judge these photos, I got a wide spectrum of people's taste. But I told them to grade on the photograph, not the subject. Well, here are the results.

Alright... so lots of people sent in scenery photos. But one of the high scorers was this one:

(Taken by Jon Waldbauer - Flags of Duquesne - *from is PHONE*)

And also, this one:

(sent in by Carinne Park- taken in Gettysburg PA)

Next category was people. Some of the pictures just... weren't good. But we did get a great entry.

(Taken by Jordan Posey - PPG Fountains)

For sports... we really didn't have an entry. Oh well, I guess it wasn't a popular genre.

Now, for night life, one entry stood out for the crowd, because it indeed encompass the "night life" genre.

(Taken by Jon Waldbauer - concert)

And then, we have animals. Best one of the bunch was this picture:

(Taken by Jordan Posey - Goose)

Now... for humor, we had some entries, but they weren't really deemed photo worthy. (I'm sry to the people that sent in some of these pics - you know who you are - just no one I talked to liked them)

And last but not least, there is Pittsburgh. There were two great entries, and here they are:

(Taken by Tanya Zehnder - Pittsburgh)

AND:
(Taken by Jordan Posey again - Smithfield St Bridge)

Now... who takes the cake? Well, there was one picture on here that everyone liked no matter who they were.

This person didn't think that this photo was good, but CARINNE PARK's photo of the Gettysburg fog was loved by all. Congrats Carinne! You did it - you are obviously not a lousy photographer. I even showed my mom afterwards, and she said she wants a print of it.

So what did you win Carinne? You win a $10 gift certificate to iTunes. So buy what you like... hope you enjoy.

So if anyone is interested, there is a real photo contest going on from VisitPittsburgh. They are looking for pics of Pittsburgh and the countryside. Winner nets a cool $1,000. Check it out if you are interested here (that's a little more than my measly $10 gift certificate).

2006-08-07T15:44:00.000-04:00

Get in those entries!!

Another contest!

2006-07-27T23:56:00.000-04:00

Well, in honor of my blog's first birthday, I wanted to have a little contest that my loyal readers can participate in. So I was debating what to do for this contest. Since I always post some of my pictures on the blog, why not have a photo contest?

Ok... so here are the rules of the contest. To be eligible for the contest, your picture must fit into one of these categories...

Scenery, people, sports, night life, animals, humor, and Pittsburgh

Also, you can only submit a maximum of 3 pictures. (You can submit more than one picture for a category as well).

So I want to see what everyone else can do! I wanted an easy way to just upload it to the blog, but I found that to be too complicated, so just email them to me. It doesn't matter what resolution the pictures are - just make sure the pictures are in jpeg format. The photos can be touched up, but cannot be made completely in Photoshop.

My email address is arkisman@gmail.com .

As for grading all of the pictures, I will grade your picture from a scale of 1-5, and I will have an independent 3rd party grade them as well. I will post the winners of each of the categories on my blog, and announce a grand prize winner. The grand prize winner will receive something of value - of at least $5-$10 (hey I'm still a cheap college student).

I guess I should make a deadline as well... let's say... 8/9/06. Get your pictures submitted by that date to be eligible.

So, snap away!

July 25th 2005...

2006-07-15T02:06:00.000-04:00

Holy crap - so as Carinne pointed out to me, this blog is almost a year old. Wow... it's been a year already? I'm surprised I kept with it. Pearls Before Swine turns 1 year old on July 25th - Make sure to look for a birthday contest of some sorts. I just need to think of something to create.

Well, the past week I went down to Washington DC for a short little vaca with some friends. We did the normal touristy stuff - visited all the monuments and such, which turned out to be a great extended weekend. Next week, I'll be going out to Colorado and some western states with my family for a nice little vacation. As soon as I get home from that, I'm going up to Camp Bock for almost a week. Then back for a bit, then off to MD for a family reunion. I'll have to leave the reunion early, as I will be going back to Duquesne on the 15th of August. Not much time left for summer I guess :-
Well did everyone catch the All-Star game? Sure hope you did, because it was held in Pittsburgh obviously. Jordan and I went downtown for the game, and watched part of it on the Roberto Clemente Bridge. We couldn't really see anything, but it was still pretty cool to be there and experiencing it. We met some students from Ohio who were playing cornhole on the bridge, and invited us to join in. I guess the game is an Ohio thing - I had no idea what it was, but Jordan was really excited about it (he's from there). Later we grabbed some chicken from the Lemon Grass restaurant, and chatted with the owners, who wanted advise on how to advertise to Duquesne. We put our two cents in and told them what to do. Maybe they will take our advice and offer delivery service at night to Duquesne... yumm

So basically for the summer I've just been working when I can from home, and enjoying every oppertunity that gets thrown at me. I'm really glad I didn't really get a full time job this summer - I'd be missing out on a lot of things!

p.s. leave me some advice for the contest thingy - perhaps I will use your idea. A wonderful super fabulous prize will of course be awarded to the winner.

Another day, another summer night...

2006-07-07T02:11:00.000-04:00

So I had this really great post made out... and then IE decides to be stupid and move away from the page without saving. Stupid Mircosoft...

Anywho, it said that I had a great 4th of July yada yada yada got a lot of fireworks yada yada yada had a great time these past 2 weeks etc etc.

I really hate Internet Explorer!

Sry maybe if I have more time to write something meaningful out I will later... I'm just too pissed off right now.

Hope you like the pics tho...

Summer solstice - longest day of the yEaR...

2006-06-22T00:20:00.000-04:00

Oh... and P.S. I'm not on my laptop, so I dont have access to my pictures at the moment. But I'm sure you'll enjoy these shots anyway. These are pictures from last week when my oldest brother Drew was being ordained as a Reverend. One pic is my cousin Isaac and my brother Tim cookin' some hamburgers for our picnic afterwards. And the other picture is the congregation taking part in the blessing of my brother - who you actually can't see, but he's in there.

Yeah... it's kinda been a while since I last posted. Sry I haven't gotten around to it. Oh well... I'll try to be better in the future.

Wow, so it has been a long time since I last posted. What happened in the past two weeks for me? Well, I got a job for starters. I'm working with Duquesne in the Office of International Programs. I'm doing database work for them. It's pretty much creating / designing some new Access databases. I think I'm at the point where I know what I'm doing now, so it should be alright. It's a small project that will take maybe 100-150 hours, so I still have a lot of free time doing other things. Plus, I can work from home, so I don't have to commute work everyday. SCORE

I'm also working with my dad this summer again... so between the two jobs, I'll be busy, but not busy enough to do anything. I can work my schedule around to anyway I please, so I'm up for a fun summer. Tomorrow I just might head up to Pymatuning for a little camping with my bud if it all works out.

Also, next week I'm doing a little housesitting. I'm actually dogsitting my friends dog for a week while she's away on vacation. But I'll be spending a week in my friends house coming up.

PNC finally contacted me and resolved the problem I had with them. I wrote about it a while ago - basically a ATM in Japan didn't dispense me my 10,000 Yen. Well they finally realized there was a problem and put the money back into my account. w00t

That's all for now... but hey... at least I got something up!

'Tis finally summer...

2006-06-06T15:03:00.000-04:00

I'm glad I'm finally back on American soil after an exciting and amazing month overseas. China is an amazing country, and I'm glad I was able to be a part of it for a while. But, I'm also glad to finally be home and to start my summer in Pittsburgh.

So I owe the blog a lot of photos - so here are 3 right now. One is of course Mt. Everest, one is the scenery in Tibet, and one is a picture of Mao. I have an online photo album so everyone can see a selection of pictures online, so if you would like to see them, click on this link.

So now I'm home, and chillaxin. However, I'm looking for a job/internship, because I don't want to be a waste of life this summer. I applied for a couple of jobs online, but I wasn't getting any responses. So, this morning I was getting really despirate, and about to go out and look for any ol' job. But as I was getting ready this morning, one of the companies I applied to finally gave me a call, and scheduled an interview. Whew... I was getting worried that I wouldn't be able to find something. I'll let you know how that goes.

So I hope everyone is enjoying summer now - I sure am.

Tokyo - wow

2006-05-26T10:48:00.000-04:00

Well, today was the first day that I saw my blog for the first time this month. As many of you know already, China filters out blogs from computers - it supposidly spreads democracy, which is not good in a communist country. But now that I'm in Japan, I can finally read people's comments and see how boring my blog is without pictures. Trust me, as soon as I get back, I will post a ton.

The other day we got into Tokyo, and for me, it could have been a lot better. As soon as I got to the airport, I went to an ATM to get out some Yen. I put in my card, punched in how much I need, and it was processing. It gave me my card back and my receipt as it was counting the money. All of a sudden, the money didn't come out, and the ATM experienced a fatal error and shut down. So, my bank account was charged for 20,000 yen, and I got squat. So, I'm trying to work it out with PNC bank trying to tell them that I didn't receive this money.

But that wasn't the worst part. As soon as I got into the bus leaving towards the hotel, I realized I forgot something. I forgot my iPod on the plane. I placed it into the back of the seat in front of me. I contacted the woman who was with us that new Japanese, and she called Northwest Airlines. After about 15 minutes, she delivered good news to me. The cleaning staff found the iPod. They were able to send the iPod to the hotel, which I just got a couple of hours ago. Sure the postage was a lot, but hey... it's either that or no iPod. Thank you staff of Northwest Airlines!

So we settled in, and met with some of the Japanese students at a local university here in Toyko. We gave a presentation that we worked on for this trip, and they presented theirs as well. Then I met the student (her name is Yui) who will be taking me around Tokyo tomorrow. It should be a lot of fun... we are going bowling as well :-)

We traveled by ourselves around Toyko by the Metro, which is a lot of fun. The subway system in Tokyo is sooooo massive... it is impossible to get around unless you have a map. And that can get confusing at many times. So, we went to many local places, saw the sites and sounds, and had a lot of fun. I actually just came back from the Tokyo City View, which is an observation floor on top of a large building... man Tokyo is huge. I can understand why they say it's the largest city in the world.

However, I have to keep this short, because like everything in Tokyo, everything is expensive, including the internet. This probably is gonna be my last post during the trip, because I'm coming back on Monday, which... is approaching quickly. I'll cya all soon...

Mark

Good ol' Xian...

2006-05-22T09:30:00.000-04:00

So we are winding down our trip in China. Tomorrow, we are heading to Beijing for a day, then off to Tokyo till the 29th. I can't belive there is only about a week left in this trip. Although it seems that I have been with this group of students for forever, it'll be sad not to wake up to the same 23 students.

Yesterday we visited the Tera Cotta solders (probably misspelled) which was quite interesting. I'm sure not many people are familiar with the story behind it, but it is facinating that a tomb of an ancient chinese emperor was unearthed in the 1970s.

And then last night we hit the local clubs in Xian, but that's another story...

Today we were allowed to sleep in (w00t - first time during the trip) and visited a local temple. These past 2 days have been fairly relaxing, and we have had a lot of free time to ourselves, which is nice.

So this evening I was shopping in the local market, and I saw someone who looked familiar approaching. Sure enough, it was one of my professors at Duquesne. Dr. Gal-Or, who teaches object oriented programming and database management. So... he didn't come with us on the trip - he was just shopping too. Very bizarre. And what are the odds? He knew that we were in China at the time, but he didn't expect to see anyone. So, that was very cool.

And about an hour ago, we hit up the DVD store in Xian, and we got a lot of new DVDs. So... The Da Vinci Code came out 2 days ago, and it has already surfaced on DVD. So it's not the best quality or anything, but for 7 yuan, why the hell not (less than $1). I also picked up Mission Impossible 3 and V for Vendetta. w00t

Later ya'll

More traveling...

2006-05-20T08:27:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone,

So here I am sitting in an internet cafe with about 200 chinese people in this large room in Xian. For the past 2 days, we have been in the city of Chengdu though. Chengdu is a very large city (probably bigger than NYC) with about 10 million + people. And you can definitely feel their presence. The first day we were there, the noticed all of the smog and pollution filling the skies. Even though the sun was out, we couldn't really see it. However, I still feel it was cleaner than Beijing though.

The first day we were there we kept it easy and visited Do Fu's thatched cottage (a famous Chinese poet back in the day). We took a lot of pictures of the scenery, and then went back to the hotel. We found a bar close to the hotel, so we chillaxed for a bit. The next day we drove over two hours south of Chengdu to visit the largest Buddha statue. It was about 71m high, carved into the earth. It wasn't bad, but there were so many people there, combined with the 90 degree weather and humidity, it could have been better. Afterwards, we have a special "hot pot" dinner, where we basically cook our food in a hot pot right in front of us on our table. It sounds like a cool idea, but all of the food came out wrong and didn't taste very good. Plus, being as Chengdu is part of the Sichuan providence, everything was extremely spicy, even though they called it "mild". I couldn't imagine anything hotter than that.

So basically, everyone was pretty bummed out over the crappy dinner we have, but that's when we saw the Golden Arches on our horizon. Our savior. McDonalds. We buckled down and ate there for the first time on the trip, even though our professors didn't want us to eat there (they made a rule with us at the beginning of the trip - no one eats McDonalds... you should experience the local food). Well, yeah, we didn't take that rule seriously. But it was funny though... as soon as we walked in, everyone was staring at us. Everyone. I couldn't tell if they never saw a white westerner before, or it was because us typical Americans are eating in McDonalds. We experienced a couple of people taking pictures of us while we were standing in line. Sure, it was very awkward, but the food made it worth while. It tasted exactly like in the States. Yumm. So a Big Mac Meal costs about 15.5 yuan, which equates to under $2. Nice...

Today, we woke up early as usual and hit up the Panda Adventure. This is the largest place in China where you can see pandas. So we saw all of the cute little pandas eating bamboo and lounging around... they don't do much besides eat and sleep. That pretty much makes up their day, and I'm not joking. They are even too lazy to have sex, so we've been told.

After that, we flew over to Xian, where I am now. And our hotel that we are staying at has a McDonalds and a KFC within walking distance. Whew. Although, we have a enjoyable local dinner here though... I haven't hit up that place yet. But give it time.

Oh... so one more thing about the whole "crash" that we had at Everest. The company that we drove with apologized to our group, presented us with a nice dinner and a show, and gave us some gifts to take home. They really felt horrible and ashamed. So, I would say that everything is back to normal now.

Talk to yinz later...

Well, we are Alive...

2006-05-17T05:10:00.000-04:00

Well, the past few days sure have been interesting. One day we traveled from Lhasa to Shigatze, then the next day Shigatze to Tingri, then the next day Tingri to Everest base camp. I must say that it was an exhausting trip. We had a convoy of about 7 jeeps, so we all piled into them and headed on our way. The past few days have been nothing but jeep rides... I'm sick on sitting in a jeep.

But our jeep rides were interesting. From Shigatze on, there wasn't any paved roads. So, we traveled by dirt roads. These roads were long, narrow, and very bumpy. And often we road on the side of a steep cliff, without a guard rail to protect us from a 150 foot drop.

And the weather here in Tibet is insane too. It literally changes every hour. One hour it could be rainy, then snowy, then foggy, then dry as hell. Traveling on dirt roads when it is dry really sucks - all the dirt from the previous jeep kicks up into your jeep. Bleh

Ok... so I just want to tell everyone - we are all ok, and we are not injured. This is key for my next paragraph. And I don't want anyone to worry about us, because we are doing fine.

So we were about an hour away from base camp, traveling down a dirt road on the side of the mountain. The road was windy, and there were many switchbacks going down the mountain. All of a sudden, our driver starts yelling something in Chinese and stops the car. We thought we had a flat tire or something, so we came outside to take a look. But it wasn't a flat tire. The jeep immediately behind us flipped down an embankment. LUCKILY, the jeep fell down a part where there was just a 2-4 foot drop. It could have been a part where there was a 20+ foot drop. Anyway, we saw the flipped jeep and ran towards it. Since it was flipped over, we pulled our fellow groupmates from the shattered windows. Our professors were obviously pissed at the driver, because it wasn't really a dangerous curve. The curve that we had the accident on was one of the most timid curves we saw. It sure was scary at that moment - we didn't know if anyone was injured or hurt. But, thank god, everyone walked away from the accident. We were shook up from that, but we fought through.

We didn't know whether to scratch the rest of the Everest trip or not. But we had enough room in the other jeeps for everyone else tho. So... our trip went on.

-----

We got to Everest base camp, and wow... what a site. The mountain was amazing - and we came on a fairly good day. There were just a couple of clouds in the sky. I took a ton of pictures, and then we went to our little hostel we stayed at for the night. It was probably the worst place I've ever stayed at... well actually, it was. There were 9 of us to a single room, sleeping on old matresses. There was no running water, electricity, or heat. It was a miserable night.

Also, at that altitude, the simplest things can tire you out. We climbed a flight of stairs, and we were winded after we were done. There is just not enough oxygen up here, and we definitely felt it. Plus, since it was so dry, everyone including myself got nosebleeds, because we just aren't used to this. So, breathing was a definitely a chore.

The morning after we were all thrilled to leave base camp, because we were all miserable. But the 11 hour jeep ride that followed didn't really help either. But, we are over this hump, and ready to continue on our trip.

I'm pretty exhausted at the moment, so I'm gonna get going... hope everyone is doing well!

Yak Yak Yak

2006-05-12T09:48:00.000-04:00

So right now I'm sitting in Lhasa, trying to aclimatize to the altitude. I don't remember how high we are, but I'm thinking it's higher than anything in the continental United States. But, we are going to go higher in the next few days, so I hope I'll be alright. Some students are getting sick from it, but right now, it's nothing major. Although, it can worsen. The altitude is my biggest problem currently. I believe we are at 13,000 ft, and climbing to about 17,000 ft at Everest.

I just got back strolling around on the streets in Lhasa and saw a lot of local flavor. A truck was loading yak carcases on a truck by hand - pretty disgusting. One fell of the truck, and he through it back on. And I had yak for dinner, so... I hope its alright.

Tomorrow we are visiting the local sites, and then the day after I believe we are heading out on a convoy of jeeps heading toward Everest. I really don't know what that is going to be like. It will be rough getting there, and rough when we are there. The hostel we are staying at doesn't have running water, eletricity, or running water. It should be interesting. And we are only allowed to bring a large backpack on this excursion (not my regular suitcase). And of course, it's going to be friggen cold. Below freezing temperatures is common even in May. I can already see snow on the mountain tops, so it'll probably get a lot worse. So, we'll see how it goes.

Today we visited the Potala Palace here in Lhasa. It's a huuuuuuge palace, built for the dhali llama. But now he's in exile, so he's not there anymore. The palace has about 1,000 rooms, and built on top of a mountain. Quite cool. I believe there is a picture of us on the Duquesne blog.

It seems like every dish here has some sort of Yak in it. I've given up looking for other dishes. Steamed Yak, spicy Yak, fried Yak, Yak butter... bleh. It's just too much Yak. It doesn't taste so bad... but it's YAK. It's just weird saying that.

Afterwards we hit the Backor market (I think I spelled that wrong) where we got a lot of shopping done, Tibetian style. Quite fun. I enjoyed spening time at the market.

So bright and early tomorrow we are on our way toward the city of Shigatze and Everest base camp. Wish me luck, because I'll be in a Jeep for 7 hours tomorrow. Not fun.

Last day in Beijing

2006-05-10T09:56:00.000-04:00

Well, it has been a great past 2 days here in Beijing. Our tour guides are very friendly and they love to spend time with us. Yesterday, we had a caligraphy class in the morning, and toured a China steel plant in the evening. Pretty lackluster I thought, but oh well. We had an interesting lunch though. We were fed these local dishes that are pretty popular, and it didn't go well with us. The food was way to exotic, and not very enjoyable. We were greatful when they served us a bunch of food that resembled chicken wings. It was finally something that we could relate too. Although, at the time, we didn't know that we were eating frog legs. BLEHH. Although, it did taste like chicken. Another group at the restaurant had cow penis for lunch. I guess by comparison, it wasn't so bad.

Later that night we went to see a Chinese acrobat show, which was quite good. I have no idea how those people do what they do. We saw 12 people pile on to one bike while riding it around the stage. Pretty good!

Late last night we hit up the KTV, which was the local karoke bar. Although everyone was shy at first, the unlimited supply of beer helped the situation a bit. Sure enough, I lost my voice for the rest of the night. haha

Today, we went to see a guy whose name rhymes with Dao. Well, we saw his mosuleum. After that quick visit in T. Square, we went onward to lunch and shopping. We were VERY greatful when the place that we stopped at to shop had a Pizza Hut next door. Needless to say... it was one of the best lunches! Later, we hit up Silk Street. This is a large shop were we can get some things by haggling. I bought a few items, but it was a lot of fun to negociate with the sellers. Although, they are really trying to sell you the product, and will literally pull you into their little booth when you pass by. I have a video of them pulling me into one. I was just shooting around, and then BAM - I apparently was going to buy shoes. Although I could have gotten a fake pair of Nike Shox for about 150 yuan (about 17ish bucks), I decided to pass on that offer.

We ended the night by enjoying a dinner at a revolving restaurant situated at a top of a building. Great food. Oh, and they had birds nest soup there... but it didn't look too appitizing.

Tomorrow morning we are up bright and early (catch the bus by 6am) to Lhasa. We'll be on our way to western china, so, maybe in about 5 days I can post another post. The one night we are at everest base camp, the hotel doesn't have electricity or running water. Fun....

Hope everyone is doing well - talk to you later!!

Stayin Alive

2006-05-08T08:03:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm still alive here in Beijing, and I'm having a blast.

I don't know if anyone is leaving comments on my blog... I can't access it. It is very weird... I can post on my blog, but I can't access it. Basically, a certain govt doesn't take too kindly to blogs, so it forbids it. But I guess I'm lucky I can access it.

Yesterday, we had a class on politics of China, then visited the Summer Palace here in Beijing. It's quite large, and resembles a national forest inside a city. It is quite a getaway for the emporer of China. Last night, we hit the "Kitty" bar and for roughly $5, we had all you can drink beer and danced the night away. Well, not much of the night. We had to be up early for Today's excursion.

Today we visited the Great Wall. The weather was less than perfect - slight rain and overcast. Our visibility was limited. I wish the weather was better, because it really is quite a site. Also, it's quite a hike. I don't remember how many steps there were, but trust me... it wore our group out. It was worth it though to get to the top section of the wall we were at.

After we got down, we browsed the shops. This is where the fun began. There were many street vendors that we haggled the prices with. And we have to be careful how we haggle too. For example, if we were quoted a price of 80 yuan (about $10) for an item, we should bargain with them as much as possible. A good idea was to start at about 15-20 yuan. The people say "
no no no you are crazy not enough money no no no". Then, you have to pretend that you are not interested, and start walking away. They will quote you a price lower (50 yuan), and you slowly push them aside and start walking again. If you get to the door, they will scream at you, and they will finally cave in, and get it for around that price. They are still making alot of money off of it though if you think about it.

I purchased a shirt, which the lady started at 250 yuan. We were negociating on a calculator, because she didn't know much english (and I sure as hell don't know chinese). I punched in "20" in the calculator, and she went bezerk. About 5 minutes later, I got it for 25 yuan. Although I thought I had a good deal, she offered me something else after I bought it. A classic sign that you got ripped off and they want to sell you more. Oh well. We are visiting the famous Silk Street soon, so some major shopping will occur. I need to work on my negociating skills.

The food here is great and exotic, but it's always exciting to see an American company around Beijing. Yesterday, we saw a Starbucks in the middle of Forbidden City - a ancient shrine. I couldn't believe it was there, and it made some caffine addicts in our group very happy. We saw another Starbucks at the base of the Great Wall. We also peered into a McDonalds here, but I didn't order anything. I took a lot of interesting pictures tho.

I'd love to share some pictures, but I suppose the Duquesne blog has some up. I don't have a laptop, and I'm just using public computers. I can't check the blog obviously, so... I hope some are up.

That's all for now... I hope to get another post up before we get to Tibet. There will be no internet access there, yet alone electricity or running water.

Hope everyone is doing well... you can email me, and I'll post your answers on this blog - it's a lot easier than to respond to about 10 emails.

p.s. - mom: I barely got any sleep on the plane... it was quite uncomfortable and loooooooong.

Greetings!

2006-05-06T09:00:00.000-04:00

Greetings from Beijing. Our group is all doing very well, after an extremely long travel period. We must have spent 24 hours traveling, including layovers, waits, and just plain ol' confusion. We are here staying at Jiaotong University in a hotel on campus. When I say "hotel", it's basically a dorm room. It has a working toilet and shower, so it's all good.

We spent our first day learning the campus and the surounding area. Beijing is quite large, so there is still a lot left to explore. I would really like to show some pictures that I took, but, I'm lucky enough to be on a computer. I'm in an internet cafe here typing away, which is close to the University.

We traveled to the forbidden city today. The forbidden city is the area where China's emporers stay. It's quite large and breathtaking. Once again, I wish I could show the pictures, but maybe at a later time.

We enjoyed lunch at a local restuarant, which was quite good. The food was delicious. I think the highlight of the meal was my first LEGAL beer. haha. It was great.
Another great thing about China is how cheap everything is. I mean, very cheap. A meal at this restaurant (which is exactly like Seseme Inn in the States) cost about 30 yuan each, which included alcohol. That's roughly $4. I got stuffffffffed. Man that was good food.
Well, I'm being pressed for time again, so I'll keep in touch. We are all doing well, and I have many stories to share.

Follow my trip

2006-05-03T18:55:00.000-04:00

FYI - I'm unsure if I'll be able to blog overseas, but our professor has an official one for our group tho.

CHECK OUT http://duq2006.blogspot.com while I'm gone!

cyaaa

2006-04-25T03:00:00.000-04:00

9 days till China!

30 days till Japan!

I don't have much to say other than this week is going to be one of the longest weeks in my life... wayyy too much to do between now and then.

Good luck on finals everyone

Boom...

2006-04-19T01:05:00.000-04:00

So here we are - April 19th. We are getting down to the home stretch. I'm already starting to feel the pinch - work is piling up in every class. But I'm sure everyone is feeling that right about now. I'm envious of all the students going to Pirate games and outside playing sports... but I just have too much to do.

One might ask, "very interesting pic". Well, if you live in Pittsburgh, I'm sure everyone knows all the wild weather we had last week. Pittsburgh was lighting up with bolts every which way. I got on the backporch of St. Ann's and snapped a shot of the storm. I wish I was at a different location (other than staring right at the parking garage), but, I'll take what I can get.

So, in less than 20 days, I'll be overseas experiencing the culture of China and Japan. So, I really hope to be updating my blog more often to keep an update on what I'm doing over there. I'm not bringing my laptop there, but I'm hoping to just borrow someone's or find an internet cafe. It should be a lot of fun, and I'm already preparing to take literally 1000s of shots. I'm probably only going there once in my life, so I might as well make the best of it.

Last weekend was Easter Break, and although it was way to short, I'm glad I got to see my family and all of my friends. I especially love playing Tetris with my cousin Isaac on xBox for hours. I don't know why it entertains us so much, but it does.

oOo... and just so everyone knows, Alias will be premiering Wednesday at 9pm on ABC. Of course I have to miss it because of ORL spring workshop, but iTunes just picked up the show, so I can download all the episodes I missed. So tomorrow, I will be finding out what building I'm RAing in next year - I'm predicting either Ann's again or Vickroy. Either way, I won't have to share a bathroom with 35 other people ever again... haha

Eeeek no pictures...

2006-04-11T01:23:00.000-04:00

I don't know if it is the network or something, but I can't post pictures. Major sad face :-(

Well I'll try to do without. So over the weekend, I went out with Ashley to LuLu's Noodles, and I think I had the best Lo Mein of my life there. Now I compare all chinese food to the Great Wall Chinese Buffet in Allison Park, which is amazing. But somehow, LuLu's topped them. I feel sorry for anyone who has not been to this restaurant yet... located in the heart of Oakland on Craig Street, it features great noodle and rice platters for a reasonable price. Wow I need to go again...

Afterwards, we headed down to Harris Theatre downtown to watch American Gun. This was my first time to an independent movie theatre, and it won't be my last. They show great movies for a great price - $5 for students. The movie wasn't bad, although it didn't really have an ending... it just stopped, which was a little irratating.

On Saturday night, I spent a majority of it locked in my room working on an Accounting budgeting project, but at around 8pm I stepped out for a bit to play bingo. Good thing too- because in a few games, I racked up a Tshirt and $20 in gift certificates.

AND WHO IS READY FOR EASTER BREAK?! I know I am. I'm tired of constant projects and assignments. I'm looking forward to almost a week off right before finals. I'll be home the 13th through 17th, if anyone cares.

FYI: If you are over in the UK, stop taking pictures of monkeys from your camera phone. This probably explains it all.

How long has it been?

2006-03-28T20:11:00.000-05:00

Uh, so yeah... sry for slacking off recently. I'm normally not this bad. I'll try to improve in the future... you have my promise.

Let's see, I haven't posted since, March 7th... wow. What is new with me...

Well, for starters, I got a new digital SLR camera (Canon Digital Rebel XT). I put a lot of money into it, but this should let me be a lot more creative and help me gain more experience. Like this picture for example. The only thing I did in Photoshop was make it black and white. It's pretty sweet.

So I know some people asked what was going on with this picture situation. Well, I sold some of my artwork to the Office of Residence Life here at Duquesne, and they will be displayed in a lobby here in St. Ann's. I'm still waiting on the frames for the pictures, so they aren't up yet. Maybe one of these days we'll get the frames... I dunno.

So, Tanya and my mom both sent me an interesting article that I somehow passed up this weekend. This kid attempted to spend his spring break in Wal-Mart. For 72 hours straight. You can read the interesting article here.

Today I found a really interesting program that you can try for a month. It is a brain wave generator. What you do, is plug in a pair of headphones to your computer, and let the program send you binaural beats that change your brain frequency towards the desired state, be it relaxation or enhanced attention. So, hypothetically, it can help you relax, fall asleep, quit smoking perhaps... i dunno. I've listened to it, and it is a little weird at first, but I think it can work. Maybe it's just all psychological, but who knows. Oh, and if any members of my family decide to try this out, I swear the "Relaxation 1" soundbyte sounds exactly like the humidifier we have at home. Maybe that's why I loved going to sleep with the humidifier on. Check out the program here. (free to try for one month)

Here's more pix I took with my new camera sitting at my desk. Sorta cool aint it? Meh, it's either that, or I was really bored.

What are YOU looking at?

2006-03-07T23:40:00.000-05:00

We got up close and personal with some flamingos recently in Florida. This one was obviously the closest... he sorta looks angry in the picture. But then again, what does a happy flamingo look like?

I got my pictures that I ordered printed, and they came in the day before I left for Spring Break. So, I wasn't able to frame them n stuff. So now I have to wait till I get back. No biggie. But the pictures look amazing. I really didn't think they will turn out that good printed at that size.

For all yinz diehard Simpsons fans out there... you must have heard this by now, so I apologize, but for the rest of the readers, they probably haven't heard. So anywho, are you familiar with the opening scenes in The Simpsons? It's the same scenes at the beginning of each show... and they always have a couch gag. Well, over in the UK, they reshot the entire opening scenes using real people. There's a real Homer, Bart, Lisa, Marge, and Maggie. It's quite entertaining. Because I'm cool like that, here's the link.

Also, if anyone saw SNL Saturday night, I'm sure you'll agree the skit with Natalie Portman rapping was one of the best. So here's the link to that too.

Additionally, this may seem more confusing and very odd, but a couple decided to do the right thing and pay down their credit card bill, and instead of feeling great about it, they were being investigated by Homeland Security because of possible terrorist activities. Just by paying down a credit card...

While I'm at it, I think it's pretty cool that recently the POPE received an iPod filled with classic music. It just goes to show you... if you don't have one, you are going to Hell :-P

Look at me...

2006-02-27T00:05:00.000-05:00

Here's a pic of a lighthouse down in Miami. I took this right before I had a very interesting conversation with some locals about American Idol and what snow feels like. Whatever floats their boat...

So it was somewhat of a big week for me. I had a big week of school - hw, projects, midterms and all, and next week is no exception. I'm just really looking forward to Spring Break, which starts March 4 - March 12. So I'm not really sure what schools have off at that time - I think Pitt does tho. I'll be available, so call the BUTT and make some plans.

I was at a meeting with my RD, and we were discussing the renovated study lounge about to be completed in St. Ann's. He mentioned that he just needed some artwork. So... I had to ask him. I told him that I could have some pictures that he could use. I showed him my portfolio, and he ran it by the Director of Residence Life. They both agreed it was a good idea. So what does that mean for me? Well, I'm printing 6 photos of mine that I took around Pittsburgh in various locations. I'm priting them at 32x24, so they will be quite large. We'll also matte and frame them to perfection. I'm getting reimbursed for all my materials, plus a bit on top for my effort and artwork. I hope this can be completed before I leave for Spring Break. So, technically, I'm a professional photographer - I sold some of my artwork :-) .

I'll showcase my showcase when it is completed. I'm so excited!

One mistake that I made was going down to Ritz Camera this week to look at the cameras. I picked up a digital SLR, and... now I'm addicted. So chances are I'm going to make a major investment for my hobby in the next few weeks. But... if I'm serious about the matter, I need a serious camera.

I had the oppertunity to chillax with Ash, Shell, and Chris on Saturday, which included doing everything in Pittsburgh in one day. We went out to eat, we shopped in the Strip, we spent time at Duquesne and at Pitt, we ate some more, and finished the night with a movie. Thx for making it possible Ash.

I now have some "learn Chinese" CDs that my grandma picked up for me. Hopefully I'll know more than a couple of phrases before I leave for the mainland in May.

Money Money...

2006-02-19T22:35:00.000-05:00

So Did anyone win Powerball? I know there was just one grand prize winner of the $365 million prize, but did anyone get anything less than that? Our group went in on a pool... we spent about $35 and won about $7. It was still worth the chance of getting a shot at that prize.

Hey Jerome...

2006-02-13T00:01:00.000-05:00

Alright... I'm sorry everyone. I haven't been faithful to my blog. Recently I just have had a lack on interest in keeping it going. I hope it's out of my system now.

So I must say - this is one benefit of going to Duquesne. You get to participate in events happening downtown, and it's only a short walk. Last week, we had the Steelers victory parade, which was, unbelievable to say the least. I couldn't believe how many people were downtown celebrating the victory over Seattle on Super Bowl XL. Lucky for us students, Duquesne suspended classes for about 3 hours so everyone could come downtown to celebrate. How sweet is that?

On Friday, I got my letter saying they want me back as an RA again next year. Like I didn't see that coming. It should be nice to have a bit of a leverage against the new RAs next year - maybe I'll finally get a bathroom next year. Well actually, let me rephrase that... I WILL get a bathroom next year. If I don't... well, that just better not happen.

Over the weekend I spent a lot of time sleeping, which was awesome, but I also had some time to spend with some buds from Shaler. Alicia, Chelsey, Amanda, Julie, Nate, Joe, and I got together at Chili's to rememise. Ah fun times. A also learned how to dance with Alicia just like "On Dancing with the Stars", or whatever that show is. And I also learned that Oprah looked like a slave on her last magazine cover.

Cya later...

(meow.)

Here's some more...

2006-01-26T01:16:00.000-05:00

Photos include: Hotel pool... which was amazing; and 2 shots of the airport... read on to understand what happened.

Today was the last full day in the States for the students of Duquesne who are studying abroad this Spring. Phil, Stacy, Jackie, Bill, Manly; you will all be missed. You guys have a great time in Rome. Make sure to get on AIM one of these days and talk to us.

So... about this trip. My mom, myself, and my brother Dan were relaxing on the beach for the first day that I was there. We were getting ready to leave, and I noticed this film crew strolling down the sidewalk. I figured this group was shooting a little movie, but I didn't know what kind it was until one of the kids took off his towel and revealed a very skimpy speedo. Then it dawned on me. Our family is standing right behind a gay-porno shoot. There was a fake lifeguard to "rescue" this kid... I dunno. We were on our way out when they came in, but this just made us want to leave faster.

So after that, we had a pretty normal vacation... until we were coming home. Our flight got delayed, so we decided to eat some dinner at a Chili's in the airport. We were sitting next to the windows that viewed the tarmac. My mom noticed a police car screeching to a halt at the base of one plane. Then, a couple more police cars followed suit. This started to grab our attention. It appeared that the police officers were frisking a passenger on a plane. Then the fun began. The passenger bolted away from police custody, and ran to the middle of the tarmac. Lucky for me, I had my camera handy. It's not a great pic, but I got a shot of when the police officers slammed the guy onto the ground. The maced him, and took him into police custody. Apparently, he jumped OUT of a plane earlier, because he was psycho or something like that.

So that was our excitement for the week. Let's look ahead now in less than 2 weeks, the Stillers will be playing in Detroit. How amazing is that?? So... who is having some Super Bowl parties???

Sure beats the weather in Pittsburgh...

2006-01-25T01:29:00.000-05:00

Sry for the long wait for the next post. I've been busy soaking up the sights and sounds down there in Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. Even though I was only down there for an extended weekend, I'm glad I had the oppertunity to go. Weather was alright - warm, but a bit breezy with scattered sunshine. The resort we stayed at was fancy schmancy... way to nice for a resort. Felt a little out of place staying at a place where everyone drove BMWs and Mercedes. We looked at the room service prices for the heck of it: $17 for 2 eggs, toast, bacon or sausage, and juice. Keep in mind that didn't account for the $3 delivery fee, plus accplicable taxes, plus a 20% service fee and gratuity. Who pays for that kind of stuff?

I have a couple of stories that I want to share, but I'm out of time tonight. I promise to get another update (at the lastest tomorrow) sharing more insight. But for right now, I'm tired...

Happy MLK day...

2006-01-16T23:37:00.000-05:00

Here's a pic of the pens game when I went with Nicole. She had an extra ticket, and I can't say no to that. Even though the Pens lost, we still enjoyed laughing at how fat the guy was in front of me and discussing Family Guy.

How bout 'dem Stillers? Wow... what a game. As soon as we thought we won, we didn't. So who's ready to take on Denver next week?

So... an update to the whole Arts Festival. I found out that there are special "scholarships" for a free booth for emerging artists. I meet all the requirements, so I'm going to go for it. On the website, it states that it is highly selective, so I have no idea on the outcome. If that doesn't work out, some people expressed interest in sharing a booth. Applications are due early in February, so I guess I should get starting on them. Thx for everyone's imput.

As the temperatures drop this week, all I can think of is Florida. I'm able to get away for this weekend retreat down to Ft. Lauderale. Mentally, I'm already there. I can't wait. w00t w00t

This summer...

2006-01-10T01:20:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm back at Duquesne for the start of what I hope is a great semester. I've moved back in, and decorated my walls a bit with various photographs I printed out over break. One frame that I bought smashed into little shards of glass because it slipped out of my hand while I was trying to hang it up on the wall. Great. What a mess.

But since I've decorated my room, I can't help but think. Is it time to bring my artwork to the world? Should I sell some of my best photos?

The push I needed happened tonight. I was with Jon, another RA here in Ann's, and he saw my photos, and really enjoyed them. I suggested that he take one of my frames and take some of my 4x6s so he can put it in his room. He asked why I don't sell them, or make postcards out of them. Well... maybe I should.

I'm fortunate enough that my dad has his own business, so I can start from there. I can showcase some of my photos around his store, and possibly work in some of my photos in his baskets. I talked with my dad, and even though the details aren't set yet, he is supportive, and willing. I think that's a good way to get off the ground.

I know I talked about this months ago, but what has remained on my mind is the Three Rivers Arts Festival. Could I possibly pull it off? I would love to showcase my photos to the general public for a few days during this summer. If I do go ahead with this, my goal would be to break even. It costs money for the tent and other various things, but I would just love to break even. Maybe someone else can join me with their artwork and we can go from there. I've put a little research into this, and if I was to go ahead with this, applications are due by February.

So, it's something to think about. My Christmas gift to my family were photo books of many of my photographs. My family loved it, and it's a great thing to keep on the coffee table when guests come over. I love looking at the reactions of people that view the photo book. Maybe it's time I get out of my comfortable little hole and showcase some of these photos to the world.

What do you think?

Why does it have to rain?

2006-01-04T01:41:00.000-05:00

Another picture of light up night at Duquesne. Minto, Vanessa, Caitlin (not shown) and I decided to get our pictures taken with Santa. It's surprising that I'll be back starting the 2nd semester in less than a week.

Over New Years, I was on duty at Duq. That meant that I had to stay in my old roomies' room if they need me for something. I did get one lockout call, so the 2 days wasn't a complete waste. I spent most of it watching movies and playing video games. And friends stopping over to visit me only sweetened the experience...

Yesterday, I tried to go skiing with my bud Corey. I was excited until I woke up that morning and I saw that it was 52 degrees and raining. Bah. Then again, I spent the day with Corey watching more movies and catching up. I haven't seen him since... well, i don't know when the last time was.

It's a slow week for the weird and the wacky. I always keep an eye out for the latest stupid thing to stumble across the internet.

A while back while in a local drug store, I came upon these candies. Bulls-Eyes. Nothing wrong there. But the company was what surprised me. Goetze's. I admit it's sorta an inside joke between some people at Duquesne, but if you understand internet humor in the past year or two, you'll get it. Goetze's candies... hahaha. I'm not eating those.

Cheez-Its are good...

2005-12-29T00:28:00.000-05:00

No no... I didn't get a new dog this Christmas, even though mine is pushing past 10 in human years. This is my cousins dog, which I'm not too sure why I posted it. He's cute though. His name is Snickers Jr., which is one of the many puppies my cousins breed. "Pepsi" is the other black doggie. Cute though...

Should I post some more pictures of their doggies? Ok sure...:

Anyway, not much to report on. I got a couple new cool links:

My friend Corey and I actually attempted something like this before years ago, but it wasn't as great as this. Check this cool "flip book photography" movie.

The other link is of the worst job in the world, which, after seeing this, I'd have to agree. Not suitable for all audiences for some crude language selections. haha

Merry Christmas to all...

2005-12-23T23:37:00.000-05:00

First off, I would like to wish everyone out there a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Years. I can't believe how fast the year went, and BAM... here we are at Christmas. Oh, and this week's featured picture is the Duquesne ice sculptures at light up night. Somehow, they remained intact throughout the last week.

I haven't been able to enjoy much of my break yet, because I've been working with my dad at the store this week. But after Christmas, I should be good. I have yet to get to my goal, which was to learn a bit of Chinese before I get back to Duquesne. Don't worry... I still got some time. Have some faith.

I don't know why, but there are just so many great sites and videos out there on the internet. These are some that I stumbled over, and were in my profile on AIM:

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A man died, or flat lined, 32 times in 2o minutes, and still survived. What a horrible near death experience...

The auctions on eBay always surprises me... as in this. Who would pay this?

I want some chocolate milk!!! Someone forgot to turn off their headset while playing xBox Live. I've heard people acting like idiots before on Live, but not to the extent of this.

9/11: A day which every American will remember. We all know what happened on that day... or do we? All I ask is that you keep an open mind, and believe what you want to believe.

And on a much lighter and funnier note, This is why I search the archives of Google's videos.
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In between working this week, I've been playing tetris with my cousin Isaac for a record 2 straight hours on one game on xbox, searching through people's garbage in Treesdale up north, kicked ass in laser storm, and ate everyone's food at Denny's. It's been a productive week.

Middle of December...

2005-12-16T23:12:00.000-05:00

Here's a pic of the reflection off of the PPG building downtown during light up night. If you look closely at the windows, you can see people skating in the ice rink. Cool. Speaking of which, we got to go ice skating there soon. Even though I'm not real keen on the idea, I'll do it.

Today concluded the first semester of my second year here at Duquesne. And what a semester it was. I think I've worked the hardest yet, and it has paid off very well. The RA job is going well, I have some extra dough from working with my dad, my grades improved this semester, things are working out socially, and I'm really enjoying myself. Things to look forward next semester is my trip to Asia in May... I can't wait.

Now, I promised someone to write about our mall experience a couple of days ago.

Basically, we found out each others mannerisms. For example, Jordan's mannerisms or expressions include, "Not gonna lie." And Jen's are: "Oh please", and "What does that even mean?!" I suppose mine are "whatever floats your boat", and "No, wait". I don't know how we really got into that type of conversation, but we did. We used those phrases throughout the 28x bus ride to The Mall at Robinson, which, I'm sure pissed off the other passengers. We were the only ones talking, and everything we said included those phrases. They must have thought we were psycho or something. So anywho, we get to the mall, shop, and THEN we go to Ikea. I LOVE IKEA. I don't know why home furnishings get me going, but it goes. "$.50 for a candle wax catcher? That's MINE". I spent lots of money on weird Swedish items, but I don't regret it. I left the store enjoying a $.50 beef hot dog from the concession stand in Ikea. On the way home on the bus ride, I obviously had a lot of bags, so I placed them in the front of the 28x, which includes space to put suitcases and luggage. I placed it on the top shelf, and forgot about it. Then, the bus took a sharp turn on the way back, and a heavy picture frame came crashing down on this guy. Not the way I wanted to end my trip...

So I'm here at home until early January. I'll be on duty at Duquesne Dec 31st and Jan 1st (I don't want to hear about it), but other than those days, I'm up for anything. I realize that not everyone is fortunate to be out of finals yet, so I wish everyone the best of luck.

Back in action...

2005-12-11T04:42:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone... so what is with that beach picture, you might ask? Well, to my surprise, my parents are considering going to Florida again this January. If so, you can bet I'm skipping out of Duquesne for the week. I absolutely love going to a warm climate in the middle of the winter. It does wonders. So hopefully, I'll be sitting on the beach the weekend of January 20th.

I'm finally done with Duquesne (with finals, that is). I completed my last final early on Saturday, after staying up all night studying for accounting. Basically, the last week was insane, with 3 finals on Friday, then this one. But all in all, it's done. I'm happy with the way things went. But I won't be home until Dec 16th, because as an RA, I have to remain on campus. It's actually a good thing, because all I'll be doing is sleeping, watching movies, and eating. Sounds like a pretty good vacation to me. If anyone wants to do something this week... lemme know. I can go places and such, but I must be back here by 11pm, which is the curfew for RAs because of finals. I always find something to do... it's not so bad.

So today, I spent the good part of it sleeping after my final this morning, but I did play some snow football and snow king of the hill, which where quite fun. I headed over to Towers for some more fun, which I'm not going to explain here in this blog. Afterwards, I took my floor to midnight mass here at Duquesne, which was amazing. The choir and singers were amazing, and even though I sat behind a pole which limited by view of everything because it was so crowded, I still enjoyed it. After that, I came back, ordered food for my floor who attended mass, and played cranium up until about 15 mins ago. Woooohoooo

So I found another great holy image here on the net. This time, it's a holy potato. Someone cut the potato open, only to find a perfect shape of a cross. What are they going to do with it? Sell it on EBay of course. Let me know if you purchase it... it looks cool.

That's all for now...

Yo ho ho...

2005-12-04T02:24:00.000-05:00

Three's Company: Phil, Nick, Matt... we are all at light up night, chillin like villains. We make a good team...

Sorry for another boring update. Not much is new... just gearing up for finals next week, which are going to suck. I have 3 finals on Friday, and then one on Sat morn, then i'm done. But I'll still be required to be at Duquesne for a week after my last final. That should be an interesting week.

I also entered some online photography contests and sites, so maybe another picture of mine will get published. It's a long shot, but you never know.

So... yeah... that's my update. I'm not feeling to great right now, so my apologies. In the mean time, these Christmas lights always makes me feel better. You should check em out too...

Snap back to reality...

2005-11-29T23:55:00.000-05:00

Hola everyone. I hope yinz had a great Thanksgiving break. I sure did. I spent the week with my family mostly, caught up with some friends, and worked with my dad. The food on Thanksgiving was fantastic, and I was stuffed. Gobble gobble.

This is another picture from my gallery... taken at Phipps Conservatory last spring.

Oh... so I have to mention the fun time I had over break with Lys, Ash, Shell, Steph, and Chris. We went bowling at the famous Arsenal Bowling Alley (voted best alley 2 years in a row... haha), had a snowball fight that lasted throughout the night, in which I almost hit a random girl at Borders and "supposedly" threw a snowball at Ash's upholstry, and ended with a discussion that Ash's mom is a drug dealer and a delectible ENP Breakfast Smile with double bacon with a side of butter and syrup. Yum. We have to do that again...

Alrighty... so it's time to announce the winner of the contest. I wasn't sure if anyone realized, but there was a little clue hidden in the last post. If you click on the fireworks photo, it says IMG_5225. So, I took at least that many. But it seems like everyone guessed over that, so... that's good.

So how many did I take? I estimated that I took... 8175 photos. So that means... Jordan (Jojo) is our winner. Congrats Jordan. What does he win? Well, he wins a FREE Shick Quattro Midnight razor with a FREE traveling case (a $9.99 combined value!) I bet everyone is jealous of him now. haha. Now, if a girl won, I was going to get something else... and in case someone lived far away from Pittsburgh, I was going to give away a iTunes gift card. So... congrats!

Until next time..

P.S... spell check isn't working again tonight, so... shush...

Trivia time...

2005-11-25T02:04:00.000-05:00

First off, here is another pic from The Point last week. I sure love fireworks...

Ok... secondly, I've been considering what to do about this trivia contest that I've been thinking about. I realized that many of my friends that are reading this that I know from Duquesne, and many reading this went to old Shaler High, and then my family reads this too. So, I ruled out any questions that have dealt with my history... I wanted to give everyone a fair shot at this. Also, I wasn't sure how to do all this with Blogger without linking to another site to do it, so I made it simple. There is just one question. Guess once by placing your answer in the comments section. (And yes... you can comment even if you aren't a member of Blogger... you have no idea how many people asked me that).

So, over the past 4-5 years, I have an extensive collection of pictures. So I thought to myself, how many have I actually taken? I'm counting the ones that I have currently saved on my pc, and the other ones that I have deleted. How have I come up with a number? Digital cameras use a numbering system, starting with IMG_0001 (with Canon cameras), so if you take a picture and delete it immediately, it still counts. I have a good estimate of the pictures taken... it's hard, because my I'm trying to guess how many taken on my Sony MVC-FD75, Kodak DC3200, Canon A40, Canon A80, Motorola v300, and Motorola V3. So, how many pictures have I taken?

Winner closest to the answer will definitely receive something of value... at least $3. haha

Good luck......................

Light Up Night '05...

2005-11-21T01:49:00.000-05:00

Ho ho ho... 'tis the season. Or at least, the city of Pittsburgh thinks it is. Friday night was Light Up Night, or as Amanda calls it, "Light up the World Night" (beats me where she got that from). Light Up Night is a fantastic time where people come to downtown Pittsburgh to ring in the Christmas season. I've came down to this for the past 4 years or so, and loved every single time. I went with my friends from Duquesne, or, at least, the people that still were there, because Friday was the last day of classes, so many went on home. This years moments included PPG Plaza, Gateway Center, and Point State Park for the fireworks. Other events that occurred within our group:

-eating ice cream outside while it was about 35 degrees, but it was fun non-of-the-less

-witnessed a pseudo-fight in Market Square, and I went up to the fight to take some pictures, but I stuck out my camera without aiming, so upon review, I didn't capture it:-(

-Hitting up the Udderly Smooth giant cow in Gateway Center for some free samples

-Trying to get some free cookies from a old woman in one of the booths, and got both free cookies and a Bible

-3 words: Frownie the Brownie. The costume makes him look sad, but the brownies were awesome

-spending 15 minutes watching a crane slowly lower and raise itself, because there was a rumor of them putting a reindeer on the roof... needless to say, that didn't happen, and was a waste of our time

-getting yelled at the manager of the McDonald's, because we ordered our food, and we were standing because there was no where to sit... we got kicked out...

-getting the back of my feet stepped on about... 50 times

-Niki finding me at The Point... nuff said

I always have fun at these events... this year was no exception.

Getting off the subject a lil, this past week was the week of that guy in Pennsylvania who killed his girlfriends mom, and drove across state lines or something like that. Normally, I don't pay attention to these things, but this case did. The killer's last name was Ludwig. Ah geez. Ludwig. What are the odds? I didn't think much of it, until I got to the library one evening. I was checking out some books, and I handed my school ID to the librarian. She looks at the card, looks at me, looks at the card again, and says to me, "You aren't the guy who killed all those people... right?" HAHA. Yes lady, I'm the guy... now, I'm standing here in the Duquesne Gumberg Library checking out books about "Latin and African American Women at Work". You caught me... call the cops. But regardless, this is one of at least 4 comments I received randomly throughout the week...

Quack Quack...

2005-11-17T01:38:00.000-05:00

Here are some ducks on an photo trip downtown with Jordan. Er... I guess they aren't ducks... (Geese right?) Well I still enjoy the pic anyway...

Hey everyone... sry I haven't updated in a while again, but this is one of those weeks. All i can say is... 2 more days... then I'm off for Thxgiving break. Friday can't come soon enough. So, I'll be home for the week starting Saturday, so... let's do lunch (whoever is reading this :-P )...

Some good news - I didn't have to reformat my hard drive and reinstall Windows. Instead, I just ran about 2 dozen tests, scans, and updates, and it seems to be working fine now. So, cross your fingers...

Last Saturday I was able to spend part of the Day with Alicia, whom I haven't seen in a while. We went out to Century III, which I finally got some cheap Duq clothes that I've wanted since I came to Duquesne. Needless to say, the trip was the highlight of my stress-filled week.

Well, I'm sorry to keep it short, but my night is far from being over, so I'll be sure to post a better one when I have some free time. Maybe then I'll do my trivia contest I've been talking about. Stay tuned...

One week to go...

2005-11-12T13:06:00.000-05:00

So who knew everyone loves that "Airline" show? Kinda amazed at the response I got. It is a good show. Speaking of A&E, has anyone seen "Random 1"? It was on after "Airline" one night. It's a show about people going around the country for the sole purpose of helping people out who are in need. They don't give monetary donations, but they try everything in their power to get things to people less fortunate. I recommend that if you see it.

So, forgive me if I do not post in the next couple of days, but tonight I'm wiping my hard drive clean and reinstalling Windows. I've been having random problems with it, but it's not because of viruses or spyware. But... whatev... I hope it's not my hard drive failing.

Friday is the last day here at Duquesne before Thxgiving break, so I'll be home for the week starting the 19th. I can't wait to sit back, do nothing, and eat turkey. Yum. Towers had their annual Thxgiving meal last Thursday, and boy was it good. I've been coaxing my friends all week about it, and it didn't let me down. Congrats Duquesne Dining Services.

Newest craze: Tagging. What is tagging? A service provided by Facebook. It is where you upload your pictures, and indicate who with you in the pictures. Then, it "tags" to your friend's profile, so they can see the picture, along with the rest of the world. I uploaded a boatload of pictures already, and I'll add more shortly. So, there's a good chance that you'll be tagged very shortly (or already have been repeatedly) if you are one of my buds.

Well, I'm off to Steve and Berry's with 'Licia to pick up some cheap Duq clothes. Lata...

Recap of TV for the week

2005-11-07T20:17:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone... I hope yinz had a great weekend. Mine was pretty boring - I was on duty for most of it. Highlights of the weekend included losing $5 in poker, and a 3am fire drill. But other than that, I can't really complain. haha

Thank goodness that the regular Sunday night line-up returned to Fox last night. I had enough of the baseball playoffs, and if you watched the Simpsons, you would understand. Family Guy did a great job of criticising the FCC in their episode. One of the biggest problems that the FCC cracks down on isn't sex shown on tv... it's bathroom jokes. Poop jokes. Fart jokes. Apparently, it really is censored. What a crazy world...

Additionally, as I was going through the channels this weekend on TV, I believe it was A&E had a show about people in the airport. I think it's called... "Airport"... or "Airplane"... something like that. Basically what it is, is they go around airports looking for stories about people and their lost connections, baggage, problems with tickets, etc. It's a reality show in an airport. It sounds so stupid, but actually, it was really entertaining. I caught myself thinking, "Man... I really hope the pilot lets Samantha on the plane with her dog... because if she doesn't get on the plane, she won't be able to get off work again to see her mother, which she hasn't seen in 6 months." So... lookout for that TV show... 2 thumb up!

Another awesome TV series - I Love the 80's: 3D. I can't believe VH1 made a 3rd installment on their most popular decade. Fun Fact: Did you know that in 1982, PETA through cans of red paint on people that were wearing fur? I thought that was amazing.

Oh, so I guess I should explain the picture. This was from last year. We learned in our infinite wisdom of the people in the honors college that hand sanitizer is very flammable, but fun. So... yeah... I love college. haha

p.s.... the spell check wasn't working for some reason, so if you find and error... shove it.

Update: Forgot to mention a couple things that occurred... first off, I was in the process of going laundry tonight - one load of colors, one load of whites. I thought to myself, this'll be a good opportunity to bleach my whites. Well, I don't know what I was doing, but I accedently poured some bleach into the colored washer. CRAP. I just got my laundry out, and I some of my clothes are ruined. (Cough cough... if my parents are reading this, you should feel pity on me, and lend me a hand $ wise... cough cough). I feel so stupid. AHHH

Oh, and the newest craze going around is Sudoku. It's a fun number puzzle, played in many newspapers. I've started to play last month, and it's getting increasingly more addicting. Check out the game... located in the "puzzle" sections in your local newspapers.

kinda freaky...

2005-11-02T01:15:00.000-05:00

I forget where I got this from on the internet (so don't sue), but this is a pretty cool optical illusion. If you look at the pictures closely, and then from far away, the two pictures switch sides. Kinda awesome... I don't know how it does it. It seems easier if you save the picture, and then zoom in and out on your computer.

I'm one step closer to becoming an official college student. I had Ramen noodles today. "Oh big whoop... everyone eats that." Not many eat it straight from the package though. It was quite crunchy and very salty, but overall, not bad. It was worth the $.11 I paid for it. Yum

I hope everyone out there had a fun Halloween. I sure did. Stillers won, and no classes the next day. Can't beat that.

So I'm thinking about doing a trivia contest or something here on my blog. I can ask some questions, and the first person who gets it right will win... something. I actually have some ideas for prizes, so i think this could work. Maybe I'll do the contest tomorrow... or maybe I'll do it in a month. I dunno... that's why you have to keep on coming back and checking if I have the questions up... :-p

More religious occurences...

2005-10-30T14:21:00.000-05:00

Ok... so, kudos for my mom on this post. I dunno how she does it, but she finds things on the internet that I didn't even hear about.

So first up is a fish bone that resembles Jesus. Yes, a fish bone. Just when you thought the pope on a pancake was enough. They couple that owns it said it has brought them good luck for years, and now they are selling it on eBay. Check out the article here.

Another thing spotted was on the doppler radar when Hurricane Wilma come over across Florida. Something appeared in the eye when it made landfall. I can't link the picture, so you are just going to have to check out the website here. You can also watch the video.

So what's new with me? Not much... if I can get some research done for a paper due soon, I'll be in good shape. I got my new watch on Friday, so I'm very excited about that. Also, if you are in St. Ann's, make sure to check out my new bulletin board on academic integrity.

Dinner at 5?

2005-10-28T01:34:00.000-04:00

mmm... I'm hungry. So I was searching for a picture that had something to do with food so I can make a post. Hence, here's a picture of the Primanti Bros restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale. Oh man, I could really go for one of their sandwiches right now...

I swear... it better not rain again. I'm watering again tomorrow. I was talking to my mom, and she reminded me of something else that I HATE when I am delivering flowers. No matter when or where, if someone sees me on the street carrying flowers, they say, "Are those flowers for me?" or, "Oh how nice... you shouldn't have". Yes, I my goal was to carry around a delivery and give it to the first person I saw. C'mon people...

Ok... I think I got enough of my anger towards people and plants/flowers. I appreciate all the comments... I probably should have thrown the water at her. She was so rude... and then just laughed in my face as I walked away. Oh well...

So, you know how you have a ritual, and you pretty much follow it everyday? Yeah, well my friends and I do. We eat dinner at about the same time everyday... 5pm. Well, someone asked at lunch (name will be concealed) if we can eat dinner at 5:30. We didn't think much of it, until it got to about 4:30. And then the phone calls started. The calls sorta resembled something like this:

"Wait Mark... are we eating at 5, or 5:30?"
me: "I dunno, some people need to eat at 5 because of a test at 6."

Another call:
"Someone said that they were going to eat around 5:15"
me: "5:15? I thought we were going at 5?"

Another call:
"Isn't dinner at 5?"
me: "Well, yeah... but some people want to eat later at around 5:30... i dunno... when are you eating?"
"Whenever you go"

Another call:
"What time are you going to eat dinner?"
me: "AHHH... I have no clue... we always go at 5... why can't we go at 5?"
"I dunno... someone didn't want to"

discussion with people outside of the dorms while on the phone:
"So and so doesn't want to eat now... he is going at 5:15"
me: "Well... I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE... I'm just going"
"Wait hold on... I'm coming with you"

So, basically, just stick to your routines people. It makes life a whole lot easier, and a whole lot less stressful.

C'mon people...

2005-10-24T23:53:00.000-04:00

Alright... so as many of you already know (or not), during the week, I go downtown to water plants. It's my job - my dad is a florist and he has contracts with businesses for regular plant maintenance - so I'm the guy who goes around to office buildings downtown.

Anywho, I found out the worst time to go downtown with my watering cans... it's when it was raining. It's not because of the obvious factors that I'm getting wet and it's miserable... it's the fact that people don't understand what I'm doing. I was stopped 5 times by random people today and asked what I was doing with watering cans. "Why are you holding watering cans? It's raining." Really?? I didn't notice dumbass. Additionally, I was walking along 7th Avenue today, and I had a little water left in my cans from the previous job I did. Along the sidewalk are trees. I emptied what little water I had left, and this girl who was walking up to me, stopped in her tracks with a dumbfounded look on her face. Yes, I know it's raining lady, but what do you want me to do with this extra water? Throw it at you?? She walked past me, and started to laugh hysterically. Maybe I should have thrown water at you.

It didn't end there. I came into Subway to grab a sandwich, still holding the watering cans. As I presented my order, the lady behind the counter said, "You are watering plants in the rain?" AHHHHHHHH... it took every ounce of strength I had to not beat her with the 2 plastic cans I held.

Normally, I do not get any comments, and no one goes out of their way to say something to me. But when it's raining... oh man...

Items of the week...

2005-10-22T19:36:00.000-04:00

Here's another pic of that dog of mine... I think he's getting cuter as he ages. Now, if we can only teach him to let one of us know when he needs to go out to go to the bathroom - that'll be great.

I'm stuck in another week of tests and papers - not fun. You know it's bad when you go to the library on a Saturday night to do some research. But, such is life.

Last night, my watch battery finally died. You probably are thinking "so what... it's a battery". Well, it's a lil different situation for me. A little part of me died last night. I have worn this watch every single day since 10th grade. I feel naked without it. Unfortunately, I don't have access to a car, so prob will not be able to go out to the mall and get a new battery anytime soon. My watch is so scratched up, but I still actually get complements on how nice it looks. Should I replace the battery that'll prob cost about $20, or just go out and buy a new one? Decisions, decisions...

Also last night, a bunch of us went up to our friend Stacy's house for a haunted hay ride and a sleepover. Stayed up till about 4 high on sugar from candy and playing euchre. Sounds fun to me. haha

Another gripe I have this week - China Wok raised their prices. Sure, they raised it by about 25-30 cents for each item, but that really adds up to college students that don't have much extra income lying around. What is this world coming to?

$$$...

2005-10-19T12:48:00.000-04:00

Here's another installment of "Mark's Pimp Picutres". haha. But, this is the second of the two pictures that I have like this. So why am I holding that money? Basically, I was paid for something that cost $230 in ten dollar bills.

What else is going on... um... today I gave blood here at Duquesne. It went fine, but when I was halfway done, a girl who finished before me got up and went to get a drink. She didn't make it. She collapsed on the floor in front of me. Giving blood obviously makes you more succeptable to that kind of stuff, but I never saw anyone actually faint. So, they rushed over a wheelchair, and she felt better after about 15 mins.

On Friday, I'm heading up to Stacy's house with our friends for a "haunted hayride". Sounds corny, but I'm really looking forward to it. I'm one of about, 10 people who will be spending the night... this should be interesting. haha

That's all I got for now. There also isn't much news to report on either. I was hoping for an SMS toothbrush or something to come out... it'll text you when it needs replaced. Oh well, I'll keep dreaming...

Scary...

2005-10-16T02:47:00.000-04:00

Hiya... I'm coming off of an enjoyable week here at Duquesne. Easy week of classes and little hw, but I got back the midterm grades, and I would like to have done better. But you can only do so much...

So on Friday night, a bunch of us went to Fright Night at Kennywood. It was a lot of fun, and very well themed. This picture of the Phantom's Revenge (albeit not the greatest picture in the world... I don't like the camera phone quality), adds to the spookiness and the scariness of the night (if those two are words). I don't really know how the picture came out red. I was standing under a green light, and the skyline was a bit yellow to the naked eye, but I guess when you mix those colors together somehow, scientifically for the camera it comes out red. Kinda cool though.

Today, I'm on duty for Sat night and I have been doing things around here. Did a boatload of laundry, and strung Christmas lights in my room already. I got the idea from my roomie last year, in which we had Christmas lights in our room until we moved out in May. Also, the freshman talent show was today. As a staff of our building, we had to perform an act. We swing danced. Basically, we rocked the house. The other building's staffs couldn't even compare to the energy and enthusiasm that we had. It was actually quite fun to get up in front of a large crowd and dance, which was surprising to me. I'll try to find some pictures of us at the show for you guys.

Right before I wrote this post, I found an article explaining what can be in your pillow. Basically, it's a breeding ground for fungus and such. Great. I washed my pillowcases before I read this today... haha. So if you dare, check out the link here.

Well I'm off to bed in my freshly washed sheets. Nite' nite'...

Holy Pope...

2005-10-11T20:23:00.000-04:00

Ok... I'm not making this stuff up. According to this article, someone was making breakfast (pancakes), and lo-and-behold, she flipped a pancake, and an image of the pope appeared. This is just amazing. What is with the religious symbols on breakfast materials? First it was the Virgin Mary on a piece of toast, now this. She claims it happened randomly with butter... I believe her though. Next time you are making a waffle at Towers, watch for a picture of Jesus being crucified.

3-1...

2005-10-11T01:00:00.000-04:00

Colorful, isn't it? This was the ceiling at the Bellagio Hotel in Vegas, by... someone who I forgot. Those are glass sculptures hanging off of the ceiling.

Go Stillers! What a crazy game. The game just... overall sucked, but we came out on top. Can someone explain to me how that one play was called for fair catch interference?? Whatev... a win is a win.

So um... I somehow have to learn how to swing dance by Saturday, for the freshman talent show that I have to partake in. Hm... I need a lot more practice. Anyone out there know some advanced/cool moves?

Don't you hate in the morning when you want to boil some water, but you don't want to get out of bed? I know I hate that. That's why a company invented a SMS kettle that you can send text messages to, so you can ask it to boil some water. This is the definition of laziness right there... read it here.

Not much else going on, except I had about a 30 minute conversation with someone about peanut butter. That... was definitely weird.

-Mark

What happens here, stays here...

2005-10-07T01:52:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone! I survived my little hell week that I had. 3 midterms, 1 paper, and a 100 page book are all under my belt. Now I all that I'm looking forward too is doing absolutely nothing this weekend.

So who here is going to homecoming? Anyone coming home from... say... across the state? across the country? across the world? If so, please give me a call over the weekend. Let's hook up at ENP, and reminisce.

So I took my floor down to Sesame Inn in Station Square for a floor dinner. I went with another RA (Erin) and her floor. I don't think it could have went better. The food was great, service was superb, and my faculty member (Dr. Spangler) really enjoyed spending time with us. And the bill was footed by ORL, so I didn't pay a dime. It really was a great experience.

I was going through the tech news again, and I found that they changed the ruling on the transition over to digital tv. They were expecting to cut off analog broadcasting for good, and switch to only digital. The current law sets the deadline as either December 31, 2006 or when 85 percent of the television audience can receive digital, whichever comes later. But instead, they pushed back the deadline to 2009. Why does this matter? Because it'll be even longer now before we all get high quality tv. Looks like those uber cool plasma and DLP tvs won't be dropping in price anytime soon.

And also, it appears that a bomb squad robot successfully disarmed a bomb that someone had in their mouth. Actually, there wasn't really a bomb, but the picture looks pretty funny. Check it here.

Oh, I couldn't decide what picture to put up on today's post. So, I found my album when I traveled out west to Vegas and the national parks, and decided on those pics. The Monte Carlo looks pretty nice in that pic...

Finally, I'd like everyone to know how much it sucks getting in 3rd place in poker. It... really blows. You play all that time, and you come away with nothing. I wouldn't be so upset, but this is the 3rd time it happened to me in the last 3 games I played with people :-(

Oh boy...

2005-10-03T00:53:00.000-04:00

Here's a pic of PPG Plaza, from one of those "mirror dinosaurs" that they have. Kinda an intersesting perpective. Multiple different angles and views. I like it.

Well the week I've been dreading is here. Monday I have a take home midterm, which I'm almost done, a paper due for Theology on Tuesday, a Business Stats Midterm on Tuesday, and a freakishly hard Business Law midterm that my teacher said on average, over half fail the first midterm. Great. Not looking forward to this. So, forgive me if I don't put up a new post in the next couple of days. I'll get around to it eventually.

This weekend should be fun, if it ever comes. I'll be home friday night, and then homecoming is on Saturday. Then, back to Duquesne hopefully for Fright Night at Kennywood with my pals, and then back home Sunday for a family get together.

I'm going to try and get to bed by 1:30... and to do that, I should probably start to get ready now. Later...

I hate being on duty...

2005-10-01T00:23:00.000-04:00

What's going on boys and girls. It's time for another update. My name is Mark, and I'll be your tour guide through this post. So, sit back, buckle your seat belt, and enjoy the ride.

Haha. But seriously, not much is going on. Here I am stuck in the building on duty, waiting for people to return from their Friday night festivities. I always dread rounds on Friday night... you always find something. I should probably refrain from saying anything, because... I'm not allowed to talk about it. But anyway, it's going to be one of those nights. woohoo.

Oh, forgot to mention... this was just a random PPG fountain pic when Jordan and I went downtown on a photo safari. He has some cool pictures listed at his DevArt site. Make sure to check it out.

I came across a new product tonight, which leads me to ask... "why didn't anyone think of this before?" Well, I think there is a good reason no one did. BLACK toilet paper. Who comes up with these things? Well, I guess it is more chic and aesthetically pleasing with the contrast of the colors when you wipe, but besides that, it's nothing different. Read about it here.

Well, I'm off to a fun night folding laundry and organizing papers in my room, and probably will vacuum too. Later...

Another week...

2005-09-29T02:21:00.000-04:00

Haha... this is Jojo at Towers... she actually posed for a camera phone pic. No one else will for some reason...

So, I handed in my deposit 2 days ago, so I'm officially going to China and Japan in May. I'm so EXCITED. But I found out that I don't need the credits for the class though, but I have to pay the tuition. So, I'm paying for a class that I don't need. Oh well, that's the only way I can go on the trip. That's why they invented student loans... so you can pay your debts later.

So I'm in the middle of another fun filled week of... work. I was scheduled to have 4 tests and a paper due this week, but, 3 of them plus the paper got pushed back to next week. Funny how things work like that. Well, that was a relief, but next week I'm going to die.

If anyone on my floor is reading this, sign up for my Sesame Inn floor program. We are eating down at the restaurant in Station Square for dinner, and the Office of Resident Life is footing the bill. It's October 6th, so sign up if you are interested. Free Chinese foo'!

I did some math yesterday, and I discovered that the average lifespan of my digital cameras are about 18 months. After 18 months, I sell it and get a new one. Why did I figure this out? Well, it occured to me, that this Asian trip is going to be the biggest photo trip I've ever been on, so I was deciding if my camera is good enough for the trip. And in my opinion... it is not. haha. I found out, that October is month number 16 on my current camera, so, I'll probably upgrade a couple of weeks before I go in May. I'm probably going to come back with over 1,000 photos... no joke. Actually, I would like to take more. If I'm there for 25 days, that's an average of about 40 photos. I hope to crush that number.

I'm coming home on Oct 7th for Homecoming on the 8th, so let me know if you want to do something. There's only so much Mark to go around... haha

That's all that I can think of offhand. I haven't had many comments in a while... so post some!

China?

2005-09-26T16:13:00.000-04:00

Another candid shot from my NYC trip... you can see Zoe Wandel and Steve Burton in the front talking to each other. This, of course, was taken in Times Square, shortly before going on TRL with Lindsey Lohan. Woohoo... she was less than 3 feet away from me.

Anywho, today I figured out a big part of my future. This May, I'm 90% sure I'm going to China and Japan with a group of students from the business school at Duquesne. I've always wanted to go somewhere out of this country, so I figured out this was a good idea. Some of the highlights of this trip are seeing Tokyo, Beijing, and going out to Tibet to see Mt. Everest. I'm not worried about the cost - you can't put a dollar figure on a trip of a lifetime. So, unless somehow 7 people sign up for the trip between now and tomorrow morning when I make my deposit, I'm pretty sure I'm going.

I also talked to my adviser today about my major. Information Systems Management is a good fit for me, but she also talked about double majoring with Supply Chain Management. I don't know much about the major yet, but it's only 2-4 additional classes. The majors "go well" with each other. I've thinking about either SCM, or Technology Marketing. She said I can probably double major, and still graduate a semester early, because of all the credits coming in from high school. Woohoo

I didn't forget about the news of the weird today. The Navy has trained dolphins to shoot divers in wetsuits with toxic darts attached to them (which is ironically close to the dolphins that had laser beams attached to their heads in Austin Powers). Well anyway, because of the hurricanes, they got loose into the Gulf of Mexico. So, if you are planning to go scuba diving anytime soon, I'd probably hold back on that till they resolve this. You can read about it here.

That's all I got right now... (cough cough JEN)

Hiya again...

2005-09-23T16:58:00.000-04:00

Here's one of my pics when I went to NYC senior year. That was such a fun trip. I went with a Professional Development group, which basically had no point to go to NYC other than to have fun. Senior year was the first time I've been to NYC, and I don't want it to be my last.

So, after this week of school, I realized that I have some major tests coming up next week. Great. And I still have to write a paper on religion. So, maybe I should get started this weekend. I say it now, but will it ever be done? Probably not...

Recently, I pulled out my pedometer I got from work over the summer. I decided to have a go at it again, with the goal of 10,000 steps. Some days it's under, some days it's over, so I think on average I get about that many. It's easy, and sorta cool to see how many steps you took over the course of the day.

Tomorrow, Jordan and I are heading down to South Hills Village for the opening of the Apple Store. I can't wait. If anyone else is interested, they are giving away Apple t-shirts to the first 1,000 customers. The stores are always so cool. I'm glad they are building this one, because this is more convenient to get to than the Shadyside store.

GUESS WHAT THEY GOT AT OPTIONS NOW??? After months of complaining and bitching, they FINALLY got Heinz Ketchup. It's sooooooo much better than that Hellman's crap that they serve. I mean, you can practically SEE the Heinz plant on the North Shore, so why don't you use their ketchup? I can finally eat fries at Options now...

I need some zZz...

2005-09-21T02:01:00.000-04:00

Here's the view from the back porch of St. Ann's. Nothing to spectacular, though. Great view of the field, aaaaaaand the parking garage.

So I realized something as I'm writing this. I don't think there was one time this semester so far that I went to bed before 2am. Not once. The sad part is, I keep on saying to myself, "I should go to bed early tonight." Well, that never happens. On weekends it's worse. The past 2 weekends, there were days that I didn't get to bed till past 5. Seriously though, I should get to bed earlier.

So, starting this Friday, I'm back with my job that I had last year... watering plants. My dad is a florist in the Strip District, and he has contracts with companies for plant maintenance. So, I'm the guy. I go downtown to different office buildings and water and care for their plants. Not a bad job, but my weeks are hectic enough as it is. But hey, I could always use some extra cash.

Not much else is going on presently. But what I can say, is how happy I am here at Duquesne. I can never get enough of the people that bring this campus alive. I feel that I play an important role at the University as an RA too. Even though classes get stressful, I don't want to trade a minute of it. This place rocks, and I don't ever want to leave. Now I'm thinking, should I go to grad school here? It's a possibility... I'm still uncertain how the next few years will play out, but I'm thrilled about how things are going right now. Thank you God for blessing me with this opportunity to be a student here at Duquesne.

There's $16 on the floor...

2005-09-19T00:25:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone... long time no post. I probably should have updated on the account of doing pretty much nothing this whole weekend. Oh well, I'm here now.

Friday night I watched Batman, and went to the Southside for some hookah. I went to the Khan, which obviously wasn't the regular one we go to. I'll never go back to the Khan though - crappy band playing, horrible service, pointless $5 cover... bah. I'll stick to the Sphinx, thanks.

On Saturday, I played more Cranium than I probably should have - played a total of about 3-4 whole games or something like that. Tooooo much for one day. haha

Sunday was good. Stillers kicked butt, Simpsons were always great, and Family Guy was always hilarious. Played a lil' Halo, and on the way back from Towers, I found $16 on the ground. (take THAT Carinne lol)

This pic was this winter when our family was down in Florida... ahhhhhhhh...

So basically, nothing really new and exciting is going on. The news is slow, so I have nothing to report on. So... yeah...

Come on...

2005-09-15T18:00:00.000-04:00

Hiya birdy...

Well, I'm done with classes for the week, which means I can sit back and relax for a little bit. So, like always, I browse the internet. I came across two very interesting articles. One article on Yahoo explains that there are rats missing from a lab that have the bubonic plague. Great. Read more about it here.

The other article caught me off guard. Guys, you know how we just got used to the Mach 3, with the 3 razors? I thought to myself, wow, 3 razors sure is a lot... it must be good. So I bought it. Then Schick a lil while back came out with a razor with 4 blades. Wow, how do they fit 4 blades on one razor head? I'm not quite sure. But not to be outdone, Gillette decided to up the ante and make a razor with 5 blades. 5 frickin blades. I mean, come on. Do people really NEED 5 razors to shave their beard and mustache? I'm not too sure, but the Gillette Fusion will be out soon in 2006.

I bet some people are saying to themselves, "I bet Mark needs 5 razors to shave his shoulders"... yeah... not funny.

Cranium...

2005-09-14T22:55:00.000-04:00

Haha... great pic. This was when the RAs were playin cranium one night, and they had to act out something. What a great pic... haha

So here are some convos that I found doing a quick search on Google Desktop. I tried to make em clean, but I did what I could do. These all have some reference to something else, or are just plain funny. I'll be sure to find some more.

Oh, wanna search for specific topics in blogs? http://google.com/blogsearch
It's a new search engine for all different types of blogs. Check out how many "Pearls Before Swine" titles are out there...

---
savestheday086: I WANT PICTIONARY
---
Arkisman: well, find some $
savestheday086: ok, yeah..let me just pull some out of my ass
---
taz82701: i didn't realize you had a single.....very fortunate, especially as a freshman.
me: ya
me: at least for now
me: i'll prob get stuck with a roommate
taz82701: well, you never know. is it a double but you live as a single?
me: yup
taz82701: okay, well that is how i had it, and between you and me..i didn't get a roommate second semester either. ;-) so, here's hoping.
me: i hope i don't
me: lol
(This was a convo before Byron moved in... lol)
---
malvavisco azul: apparently sex is like pringles...
---
malvavisco azul: wow make tyjat amazingly ficked up
malvavisco azul: i;m beyond drunks righjt now!
malvavisco azul: i'm, like... wow...so trahssed... one or two many shooorts of tacilla
---
AnnaWintourJr: I told my Mom how there was an article in US News about hookah, and how its becoming popular....and my Gram was in the car
AnnaWintourJr: and she was like "whats hookah?"
me: oh geez
AnnaWintourJr: so, i had to explain and my Mom goes "Communal smoking"
---
AnnaWintourJr: well, in the way back of my mind
(In reference to about a 3 hour conversation about terrorism and NYU)
---
psir151: alright well im going back to what college guys do
me: cool
---
psir151: dude why are you iming me from across the hall?
---
MattyRo18: so hows cliffy
me: cute
MattyRo18: lol
MattyRo18: and fishy?
---
me: that stinks
MattyRo18: how ironic of you to say that, i just farted

I dunno... i was bored. Leave some comments...

Living in America...

2005-09-12T01:27:00.000-04:00

Hola everyone. It feels good to be writing again after a 2 days hiatus. I've probably gone for longer, but today, I said to myself, "You really need to update the blog."

This weekend was interesting to say the least. My cell phone somehow was permanently disabled (please don't ask me how... or why), so I had to switch over to the new phone immediately. But the phone is schweeeeet. It looks great, and is so thin too.

I was also on duty on Saturday night, so I had to remain in the building. Bunch of the RAs got together and played CRANIUM. Fun was had by all. After that, we did some "community building", and then went on rounds, which, were very interesting. The night kept you on your toes, to say the least.

w00t... so how bout those Stillers. Amazing stuff. Looks like a repeat of last season's 15-1 (hopefully this year, it'll be 16-0).

Oh, I didn't know how many of you noticed, but IM changed a bit. This probably changed a couple of weeks ago, but I'm sure it affects us all. AIM changed the maximum amount of buddies you can have. Instead of the 200 we all know, the new maximum is 350. I'm sure this will delight the people out there that buddy lists are swelling because of the new people they meet. I was happy when I heard about this...

Gracias does to Tanya once again for trying to fix my back. I've been having nagging lower back pains for the past 2 weeks, and I think with her recommendations, the pain will finally dissipate.

This featured picture was taken down in the Everglades in Florida, when I went down there in Jan '05. Miles and miles of nothing but lily pads and... water grass. It's pretty cool though. Lots of wildlife resides in the Everglades. If you never been, visit it. It's very beautiful.

September 11th has come and gone again... keep the spirit alive by saying a prayer or two to the families all around the US.

That's all for now. I promise, I will post the comments which I... promised to post for this blog edition... the NEXT entry. hehe...

Back in time...

2005-09-09T13:52:00.000-04:00

So this pic came from all the way back in 2001... when digital cameras were just making their way mainstream. Cool little silhouette of my family on top of a sand dune, in OBX, NC. Shortly after I took this pic, I dove down the hill for fun, and sand got in the camera... not a good time trying to clean it out.

So, this is my big dilemma for the day... or week: I ordered a new phone / service (Cingular), because my contract expired (T-Mobile). Long story short, the phone arrived after my contract expired, so I signed up for another month with T-Mobile. But what gets me, is that I ordered the Black RAZR v3 phone, which is sitting right next to me. I just want to open it up and use it, but I have another 27 days with my contract. Should I crack it open? The thing is, I've seen plenty of new phones being announced, which will come out very shortly. Cingular just got the ROKR, which I explained in the last post. New phones coming out include the SLVR, and the PEBL, which are due very shortly. Also, the updated RAZR v3x is coming out soon. These phones kick ass. Should I wait, or crack open the RAZR right now? As you probably already know, I love technology, and hate it when it gets outdated. See, the RAZR has been out for a year already. I dunno what to do...

I'll post quotes probably in the next post... just incase you are waiting for them...

Comments please...

2005-09-08T20:28:00.000-04:00

So this afternoon, after I was all done with classes, and after reading Alyssa's blog, I decided what I can find using Google Desktop. Sifting through the roughly 7,000 chats stored in my index, I was looking for good quotes that people have said to me. Instead of going through everyone I know, I'll post quotes of people that want to be included. So, POST A COMMENT with your name, and I'll find a good quote for ya. But only if you post a comment...

So, I originally heard this from Mobile PC mag, but Phil reminded me of this concept. So what do you if you are out at a party/bar or whatever, and someone else asks for your number, and you really don't want to give it to them? Well give it to them, but give the wrong number. I suggest 215-618-1505, or 781-382-3756. It tells whoever is calling them, that the person who you tried to reach really isn't interested in you. Haha... you got to try it. Just call the numbers (it's free - just uses minutes)... you'll get a chuckle out of it.

OOO... so, just in case some are trying to reach the site, make sure to not type the address incorrectly. http://arkisman.blogpsot.com/ won't work... just because the blogspot is spelled wrong, it sends you to some jerusalem bible site. So um... if you see that... you typed it wrong.

Oh, so the pic is from Myrtle Beach, just like every other pic recently. I actually woke up at the crack of dawn (I never knew there was a 6:00 am). Cool pic though...

So I hope tonight, I hope we can whip out Cranium and play with it... no pun intended. lol

Another Wed night...

2005-09-08T01:47:00.000-04:00

Well here we are again smack dab in the middle of a week. Great... For me, Wednesday nights are absolutely the worst. I have Wednesday night class for about 3 hours, so that really cuts down on the studying / hw time. So that means I have to do it later in the night for my 3 classes on Thursday. So basically, here I am, typing this at 2am, with 2/3 of my hw done. Great.

This week sorta sucked so far. I found out that my freshmen flag football team wasn't put on the schedule, and there's nothing that can be done. So... our floor can't play. I also spent an hour on the phone with buy.com after I cancelled an order about a week ago, and today they decided to charge my credit card and ship it. Damn buy.com... Oh, and tonight, I get yelled at from the night desk aid Don, because I tried to go over to the girls side of the building to talk to the RAs. I'M ALLOWED TO DON. READ THE VISITATION RULES. God... sry, I'm a little wound up over that one.

But anywho, i'll be much better at 3pm on Thursday, when I'm done with classes for the week.

So, today was a big day for Apple. They released their new iTunes/Motorola phone, ROKR, the new iPod Minis which are now called iPod Nanos (which are SO incredibly small), and iTunes 5.o. Check out any of the links to get more information. Those are some schweeeeeeeet products.

What a tranquil photo... I enjoy it.

Anyone have any comments about anything? You know, you DON'T have to be a member of blogger to post comments. You can post them anonymously, and then you can sign your name. It's easy. Try it!

What up Cliff...

2005-09-06T01:24:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone! It has been a couple of days since I last posted, but I've been busy with random stuff. I was fortunate enough to be home for this weekend. 1.) Because my birthday was Sunday, and 2.) Labor Day was Monday.

This weekend was a blast. I got the most "happy birthday!" messages and greetings I have ever gotten in my life. For that, I thank facebook. haha...

Well, I'm about to go back into the swing of things this week. Even though I really don't want to, I guess we all have to go back to the grindstone. Hm... speaking of which, maybe I should finish up some of the hw I have for my 9:25 class that I have in... 8 hours. Great.

I'll be sure to write soon on something... interesting. haha

news of the weird...

2005-09-03T00:48:00.000-04:00

First off, this is the first picture that... isn't a photo. But it was from my computer. This is why microsoft is so... messed up.

Speaking of bigtime tech companies, I just realized how much Google has changed the way I go on my computer.

1.) First off, my homepage is google.

2.) Want to email me? Arkisman at gmail (google's email system) .com.

3.) Google Mail notifier... says if any new mail comes in.

4.) Google Desktop - the new version (2.0) rocks. I'd recommend getting it if you don't already have it.

5.) GoogleGet - downloads Google News straight to my iPod.

6.) Google SMS - I found so many answers when I txt Google at #46645.

7.) Picassa - This Google photo management software really helps me organize my photos.

8.) Google Toolbar - I love clicking on the "check spelling" button and it scans my emails and forms that I fill out on the web for errors.

9.) This blog - Blogger, it Google's system.

and 10.) How did I find my picture of my house from space? Google Earth, aka Keyhole.

Google is much more than a search engine...

So anywho, remember that post I did a while back saying that your light bulb will text you if it goes out? Well, this is one better. Phillips made a PILLOW that scrolls your SMS across the pillow. Crazzzzzy... see it here.

woah... big spider...

2005-09-01T01:40:00.000-04:00

Well, basically, I don't know what happened yesterday. I've kept track of my blog statistics (hits, unique visitors, etc), and recently, it's been slowly decreasing. But, for some reason, it increased 4 fold yesterday. Plus, I have tons of blog spam in my comments section. I can't tell if the comment from sexyblog was a real comment or not. Is my blog listed on some blog spam list? I dunno...

So anywho, this sure has been a crazy week. I got hw out the ass, and this job as an RA takes a lot of time away. But, I'm sure we all have time management problems, so you prob don't want to hear me rant about it.

But tonight was my first floor program. It went surprisingly well. I had a great turnout to see the Family Guy Movie, which, I don't want to say if I have it or not. lol

This weekend, I'll be back home. I'm coming home on Sat, enjoying my Birthday on Sunday, and hopefully catching a picnic on Monday. So if any Shalerites are reading, if you want to hook up, lemme know!

On Tuesday, I accidentally slept through my financial accounting class. whoops. Let's hope this doesn't happen again. I swear I set my alarm clock, but I subconsciously turned it off when it went off. So tonight, I'll be setting 2 alarms. It's a bad sign if you slept through your 3rd class of financial accounting... can't wait for the rest of the semester...

Oh, so that spider was hovering above Alicia's head when we were down in SC. That spider was HUGE. It sure is a cool picture though...

real?

2005-08-31T01:00:00.000-04:00

Bah... what a busy day. It's 1am, and I still have a crapload of hw to do. Great. Tues - Thurs are pretty much hell, but, the rest of the week isn't bad.

So um... whoops... how can I misspell Tanya? Wasn't thinking...

Oh... so my router came today, FINALLY. I tried to install it on my own, and ran into problems. So, I called tech support, and AN HOUR LATER, he gave up on me. Note: Don't call tech support on your cell phone - it eats a lot of daytime minutes. So, after fooling around with it another hour, I give up. I call up Devon, who is a freakin genius, and he got it up and running. Thx so much again Devon.

Doesn't this picture look... almost real? It does at the first glance, and probably the second and third too. It was a model train set at the Phipps Conservatory last spring. I like it.

Also, CRANIUM: TURBO EDITION arrived in my mailbox yesterday. Anyone who is interested in playing, let me know, because I'm always game.

I'm going to be 20 in 4 days... woah...

Duquesne activities...

2005-08-29T01:49:00.000-04:00

Well, I finished my first school week here at Duquesne, and it went pretty well. But hey... it's the first week, it'll get worse probably. Wow... I almost been at Duquesne for a month now. That's pretty crazy.

So anywho, today was a good day. I played poker with some of my residents, and won $30. And earlier this week, I won $20. Things are looking up. I also decided to sell a couple of books online that I don't want or use anymore, and sold 4 within a couple of hours. So, all in all, I made over $150 today. WOOHOO. That helps a little.

Oh, so I had to wrap and package my books, so I just want to give a shout out to TANYA, who rocks tremendously, because she had saran wrap. haha

The featured picture was from the gardens again in Myrtle Beach. That was such a cool place. I was there a couple of years ago when I went with my family, and it still rocks to this day.

This week I also learned how to get free pop and drinks from the vending machine in Rockwell Hall. Mad props goes to Blair for telling me how. Tayna and I got some drinks when we were over there today. I showed her how to do it, and she was quite amused. As was I...

This weekend, I swear, about 48% of my friends were drunk. It was nuts. There were parties everywhere you turned, and I sure got my share of drunken phone calls and IMs. Thx guys.

All in all, what a great week. Lets hope the next week is as much fun as this one...

Saturday...

2005-08-27T20:19:00.000-04:00

Quick post today... today I woke up late because of staying up till about 4 or so, but in the hours I have been up, it has been productive. My room is as clean as it was since I moved in, so that sure is a plus. I organized many of my papers and such, so that is another plus.

I'm on duty tonight, so I'm sure there will be drunken activities going on in the St Ann's LLC. Can't wait for that... bleh.

Ah Cliff... you are so cute...

Weeeeeekend...

2005-08-25T17:26:00.000-04:00

Ahhh... my school week is over. I somehow scheduled to have no classes Friday, which, is a good thing, but I'm willing to bet that my dad will have me work for him. Oh well.

Tonight I'm going to the Pirate game with Jordan and some of my family, so that'll be fun. Oh, and I started the year on the right track, because yesterday I won $20 in poker. So... things are looking up.

So what is with that picture? Well, I was vacationing with Alicia, and we went to a local gardens in Myrtle Beach. We both brought our cameras, and we were amazed how many bugs and animals were there. So I got this dragonfly chillin on top of a flower/plant. Sure, it might look gross up close, but I love it. I'll prob post more pics in later blogs.

Oh, so I really have no clue how aimfight.com works. I think it's fun to play around with, but I seriously can see people getting addicted to it. But whatever.

Point...

2005-08-23T22:27:00.000-04:00

So, when I was cruzin' down the river on the Gateway Clipper, I was fortunate enough to capture this pic when we past the point. All my other pictures are blurry because the boat was moving fast, but for some reason, this didn't blur much. Nice! I love this pic... it's my background right now on my desktop.

So, not that I support this site or anything, but I found a site that gauges how "popular" you are on AIM. It sees how many people are connected in your network of friends, and their friends. It's kinda complicated, but you can see how many people you are with compared to another sn. I can see a lot of people secretly using this to see how popular they are. Click HERE if you want to visit.

Well, I still got some work to do before my classes tomorrow, so I'll be going. Later gatorz...

Winter bliss...

2005-08-23T01:13:00.000-04:00

Ah... winter bliss. Everything is so calm, so peaceful. Just think, we'll be seeing a lot of this in a few months whether we like it or not. Enjoy the weather we have now...

So let's see... what went on today... Oh, well today was obviously the first day of classes. I only had 1, and that was my honors seminar on racial violence. It seems very interesting. On Tuesday, I have 3 classes, so, I'll probably shoot myself then. I'm also on duty tomorrow, and to my surprise, I scheduled my duty nights on bingo nights. Whoops. Well, I guess I won't be playing bingo this semester. Bingo is great at Duquesne... all you do is show up, get a card, and win $$$. Last year, I won $45 in one night. That was a great night. I would have split it with someone (cough cough JEN cough), but she didn't agree to at the beginning. Mo' money for me then.

So how bout I really don't want to see my credit card bill this month. I set a new record for myself. I believe it is about 10^3 right now. Ahhhhh... Oh well, it's only money.

Oh, and we are quickly approaching 1,000 visitors to my blog. That is schweeeeeet. Well, I shouldn't say visitors, I guess I should say hits. It's almost the same thing, right?

Classes?

2005-08-22T01:08:00.000-04:00

Whoops... it appears I didn't update last night. You'd think I would have had some time, because I was on duty for 24 hours, but nope...

So anywho... everyone is back at Duquesne. Yea! I was able to spend a whole day with my friends catching up. Sadly, classes start tomorrow. Classes? What the heck are those?... Oh... wait... I think I remember someone telling me that these things are the reason we go to college or something like that. We can get an "education" from these things. Oh...

So what picture is that?? Well, I snapped this when I stayed up in Conneaut Lake with Corey a couple years back. Ah... what a great sign. Brings back lots of memories of the summer... which... is... over for me. *sniff* Oh well... such is life.

The Waterfront...

2005-08-20T02:15:00.000-04:00

So today, I was looking through the July 2005 edition of Pittsburgh Magazine. It shows what is going on throughout Pittsburgh this year. Well, i was flipping through the pages, and on page 21, it showed a picture of the Homestead smokestacks. I looked at the picture, and I said, "holy sh--, I took that exact same picture". Sure enough, I went though my photos on my computer, and found this pic, which I posted. The photos are almost identical. It was taken at the same place... just off the road when you turn into Lowes parking lot. I was just amazed that someone else had the exact same perspective as me. Kinda freaky.

Also, it appears that Matt Semler was in the picture for an ad for Act One Theatre School, on page 86. I highly doubt anyone else has this magazine, but some people at Duq might. They were handing them out the last couple of days.

So... that's pretty weird. It's a small world after all here in Pittsburgh...

Cliffy...

2005-08-19T01:19:00.000-04:00

I think there's a point in college when you move back, and you start to miss your pet(s). Well, I think I'm at that point. I was watching TV for a lil today, and they did acupuncture on a dog. It was a black dog just like Cliff... so it made me think of him. Chances are, I'm going to come home for labor day weekend, because it'll be labor day, and my birthday. So that's not so far away, so I'll be sure to see him soon (along with the rest of my family).

So how bout I don't have anything planned as an RA till about 5pm tomorrow. Friggen schweet. I'll be sleeping in... forever. Thank goodness.

So I was surfing the net like I normally do, and I came across an interesting article. Apparently, Fujitsu will make a light bulb which sends a text message to your phone when it burns out, so you can change it. View the article here. That's pretty cool.

August 20th is quickly approaching when everyone else moves back to Duquesne. That'll be a good day. And classes start Monday. Woah... I forgot that we take classes in college. Hm...

halo halo halo...

2005-08-18T01:36:00.000-04:00

So... All of the freshman are now moved in. Whew again. I think that move in is the worst time for everyone, including the staff and the students. It gets so much easier after this. Today I met with my residents, who seem really nice. My first floor meeting as an RA went... pretty smoothly. I didn't think it was perfect, but it got the job done.

So... what's with that picture, Mark? Well, tonight I was playing Halo 2 with a couple of people. We played in the Towers Mutli Purpose Room, which has a projector. So we played Halo off of this hugh jazz screen. It was great. Fun was had by all.

That's all of I can think of today. Now, I'm off to bed... as usual again. See, I always write the blogs as the last thing I do everyday. As soon as I'm done typing, I hit the sack. It's not a bad scheudle I suppose. But that explains why I'm constantly tired... which... I am right now. And I'm rambling too, so, for your sake and mine, I'll stop.

Nite...

where is the exit?

2005-08-16T23:42:00.000-04:00

Well, about 1/2 of the freshman are moved in. Whew. Thank goodness. It's been a lot of work. I must somehow get up at 6:30 tomorrow to start all over again. Hopefully my alarm goes off tomorrow, because last night I must have subconciously turned it off and I was late to a couple of things.

Oh, so I probably should explain the pic. This was on the way to our staff dinner near Crafton. We were trying to go onto 279S, but we missed the exit, and we planned to go around the block so we could get back on the exit. While we were turning, Justin (picured with a big grin) hit the curb. We didn't think much of it, until the car started to go *thump thump thump*. So we pull over, and sure enough we got a flat. Poor Justin.

As usual, I really need some sleep, and I can't seem to get enough of it for some reason. Oh well...

Cruzin down the river...

2005-08-16T00:21:00.000-04:00

Ah... what a great night. After a long day of RA stuff, we kicked off the night with a Gateway Clipper cruise. Wow... tonight was amazing. I had a blast dancing the night away with my amazing crew in St. Ann's. You guys rock! (isn't that a great picture???)

So... a couple people on my floor have already moved in, but the majority of it moves in tuesday or wednesday. I'm excited about them moving in, but not excited about the extra work.

Oh, and it looks like I'll be on duty in Ann's on every Tuesday nights when we start this semester. And, the weekends will rotate, so that everyone doesn't get stuck with the weekend duty. So, from here on out, my Tuesdays are shot. But hey, you guys can still visit me.

Oh, and I'm also on duty the 20th. Bah. That's when everyone is moving in. Maybe I can get out for a little bit. I miss everyone in Assumption.

Well, now i'm off buying some books on Amazon and off to sleep. I'll catch ya later kids...

Duty time...

2005-08-15T01:15:00.000-04:00

Woohoo... some of the people from Duquesne are moving back. Things are finally getting back to the swing of things here.

So, I had pretty much today off from all of the RA activities, but I had to be on duty today. I had a good schedule going, until I had to cover the front desk at Towers for 2 hours, which I didn't get to go to church or some other things I was planning. Bah... but such is life.

I don't know why I posted a picture of Collins, but, he's worked hard all summer moving furniture here at Duquesne. Kudos goes to you, buddy.

Why do my titles end in...

2005-08-14T02:59:00.000-04:00

So why does my titles end in "..."? Well, that's just the way I write them. Everyone has their quirks... and I know I use the "..." waaaaay too often. But it doesn't bother me. But, I suppose it can bother others.

So today, the RAs helped out with the flood aftermath in Millvale, a year after the flood. And actually, I was working in the basement of Bill Dougan's house. Does anyone remember him from high school? I remembered him, but I doubt he remembered me. So anywho, we were working to help the community out a little bit. It was fun, and the time flew by. I got some great stories about today that maybe I'll post later.

So why did I post a picture of my old dog Jiggs? Well, I was out with my staff at Bruster's, and there was a corgi sitting in the pack of a pickup truck in the parking lot. It was the cutest thing ever. It made me want another corgi.

Why am I writing this at 3am? I really have no clue. I really need to get some sleep, because the past week I've just been running on fumes.

Oh, and thx for all the comments. After a couple of martinis, I bet that chicken looks pretty real too.

zZz...

2005-08-13T00:49:00.000-04:00

I wish there was something new in my life right now. But... it's all RA stuff. I'm exhausted and need sleep... badly. Tomorrow we will be heading out to the North or South Hills to work with Habitat for Humanity... there still is plenty of work to do from the floods last year.

So, yeah... there is a story to this picture. A while back when I was working at Panera, I was talking chicken breasts out of the freezer, and I noticed one in the bag. I took it out, and there it was. It was a chicken breast... that looked like a chiken. I was amazed. I've shown many people this picture, and they either think this is the coolest thing ever, or they think I'm just crazy.

Doesn't it look like a chicken? It has the beak... the eye... the feather on top of the head... the foot... and the wing. How can people not see it? Lemme know what you think of this. Post some comments.

Wha...?

2005-08-12T00:11:00.000-04:00

I really don't know why I'm posting a picture of a alligator... but... whatever.

Well, I'm meeting a lot of new people through training. So that's... good. Today, everyone was sharing their stories about being an RA and the things they have encountered, good and bad. Today for some reason I got really excited about my residents moving in. Sure... there is a lot of work that I have to do before Tuesday comes, but I'm sure I'll get through it.

Not much else to talk about. This is consuming everything I got. Res Life 4 Life. haha...

Where's the carpet?

2005-08-11T00:39:00.000-04:00

Alrighty... so here is my floor right now. You might be saying, wow... that looks like crap. Well, it is right now. We are getting new carpet on our floor, so that'll be installed tomorrow (let's hope). And... I still have to do door decs, so it looks pretty bland.

Because I'm on the 2nd floor of Ann's, I do not get the "RA suite", because that is where the GA is living. I get a regular double room. I really wanted to have my own bathroom in the suite, but, you take what life gives you. I'm just fortunate enough to be an RA.

So, today was... busy, to say the least. Woke up at 7:30, and didn't have a break until about 11pm. Let's hope the whole week is not like that. I have a lot of work ahead of me.

OOO... and congrats goes to Jordan. He just found out he'll be RAing in Towers for the next year. Congrats man!

Well, like I said, I'm uber busy right now... so I'll catch you later kids...

Duquesne...

2005-08-10T00:20:00.000-04:00

Hey... I actually do have a picture of St. Ann hall. This pic was taken from the roof of Assumption (more on that later... maybe).

Well, here I am back at Duquesne. I moved in earlier today, and I've been busy with RA stuff already. So much to do, so little time. Freshman are moving into St. Ann on Tuesday, so that gives me some time to get things situated.

So anywho... I'm exhausted, and there's a busy week ahead of me. I'm really going to try and keep up with the blog, but forgive me if I get behind.

Moving...

2005-08-08T16:53:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm back from vacation. Ah... it sure was nice. This is the one of the views from our room at our hotel, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Alicia, Nate, and I soaked up the sun. And I'm definitely a couple shades darker. I didn't burn that much though.

So basically, we hung out on the beach the whole time. We hung out with some other Shaler people that were also vacationing down there, so there was never a dull moment.

Well, today is the transition day for me. Either tonight or tomorrow morning, I'll be moving in to St. Ann at Duquesne. I can't wait till everyone else moves in on the 19th and 20th!

I do have a lot to talk about, but, I'm also short on time today. Wish me luck at Duq!

Woah...

2005-08-02T16:56:00.000-04:00

Ok... quick post... I was online reading Engadget, and they had a short article about how you can "hack" an elevator. You can get to the floor you want quickly. Read the article here. That is too cool! haha

AND... you can "hack" crosswalk signals! You can change the "don't walk" to "walk" in just a few simple clicks. This is great. Check it out here.

That's all for now...

"Oh sure, communism works. In theory."

2005-08-01T23:14:00.000-04:00

So this is the day before I leave for vacation. And the week before I go back to Duquesne. So hopefully, this'll be the view that I'll have when I'm down at Myrtle Beach. haha. This was from the hotel we stayed at when we were in Florida this January. So even though I'm going on vacation, I'm stressed out with getting everything ready for Duq. It should be alright though.

So I dunno if there is internet where we are staying. So, this might be the last blog for about a week or so. I don't know. But when we were in Florida, I just sniffed around until I could find an uncrypted wireless network, and then just piggybacked it. So, maybe I'll be able to blog down there.

I was out with my lil cousins again today. We went mini golfing and go-karting. Good family fun.

Oh, I saw online today that the Pittsburgh Tribune Review did an article about iPod thefts around Pittsburgh. There isn't really a crime spree going on, but it is interesting to read. Check it out here.

Not much else new. Oh, and I want to thank the people who leave comments. I really enjoy reading them :-)

"Free Tibet? I'll take it... but it'll cost ya... that's right... all the tea."

2005-07-31T20:56:00.000-04:00

So, a bunch of my cousins are over from Connecticut. Normally, we would see them at the beach, but of course, it didn't work out as we planned this year. So, I'm spending as much time as I can with them before we both have to leave. On Monday, we will be swimming, playing mini golf, possiibly a picnic, and going for a lil hike in North Park with them. That'll be fun.

I went to the Pittsburgh Mills mall today with Nicole and Jen. Wow... that mall is big. But, once the novelty wears off, it's just a big mall. I probably won't be back there anytime soon. But I can imagine that the SGA bus at Duquesne would loop around it.

You know what really grinds my gears? Well, nothing right now, but if you saw a leaked movie, you would understand. Well, actually, my phone decided to stop charging itself. I called T-Mobile, and they said that it's probably the phone's fault, and they are sending me a new one. But, that'll take a good week because it's backordered. So, they said that I can get a loaner phone from a T-Mobile store, but it seems that every store within 20 miles of Pittsburgh doesn't have any. Great. So, we'll see where this goes.

So, does anyone else live around me that has a recent Motorola cell phone? Plz lemme know if you do. I want to see if it is my phone's fault, or the charger.

"Luckily there's a family g...

2005-07-31T00:10:00.000-04:00

This was the view from outside the window at work. I snapped this with my phone, so forgive me for the pic quality. But the view is amazing.

So i watched the new FG "movie" that got from the inkernet (Does anyone else listen to Dawn and Drew????). It was fricken schweeeeeet. I watched it with Lys, and boy was it funny. Anyone else see it yet??

I also today went back to school shopping. Bleh. But, I spent over $150 on clothes n shoes. And I'm also going out to the new mall in New Kens, so, I bet I'll spend more up there too. Great...

So, as I was writing this, I was talking to someone online. I'll omit their name, but they were planning to go to college in New York City. But as it turns out, this person switched colleges to go somewhere local because in part of the terrorist bombings in London. Obviously that wasn't the only reason, but still. I can't believe it though. Living in fear is what they want. Bah. If you are reading this, yes, I understand your other reasons, but I can't believe that you factored that into your decision...

It had to happen...

2005-07-29T18:30:00.000-04:00

Well, today was my last day at work. (woohoo!) So, now I have about a week off until Duq starts. I'm going to miss the people at work though... even though no one is my age. So for lunch today, some people took me out to the chinese buffet place on Smithfield. It was good, but it wasn't no Chinatown Inn, Sesame Inn, or the Great Chinese Buffet on rt 8. So, I didn't know what picture to include in the post, so this pic was our plate of chicken at Sesame Inn a while back. It's hard to see, but they lit the sauce on fire. Cool stuff...

Soooo... it had to happen. The new Family Guy Movie was leaked out aready. I don't know HOW, but it was leaked about 2 months before it comes out on dvd. Sooooo... the RIAA might be reading this... so, I'm not saying if I have a copy.

I also feel really bad for all the creators of Family Guy who spent lots of time creating this. And now it's leaked. But don't worry Fox, I'll still buy the dvd.

And as I was writing this, my mom hands me a copy of the U.S. News Magazine. There's an article about hookah. Is it safer / better than cigs? Well... I could go into a discussion about it, but the short answer is... yes and no. haha...

Oh, and that's Manley at the hookah bar earlier in the year. Good times...

Summer is almost over...

2005-07-28T21:57:00.000-04:00

Ahhhh... the joys of camp Bock. This pic was taken during one of those enjoyable summer nights.

So, I only have one day of work left to go. And... this will probably be my last day of work for a while. Sure, I'll be an RA, but, they don't give you a paycheck every week. They just take it off of the tuition. So, I'm going to somehow make it till Thxgiving break or something like that.

The days of summer are winding down for me. If you guys want to do something before the 3rd, by all means, ask. After the 3rd, I'll be on a lil vaca, then back to Duq. It'll sure be great if some people come and visit, because the rest of Duquesne moves in on the 20th... *cough cough*

Well, my internet is painfully slow right now, so I'll keep this short. I'm downloading lots of... "stuff".

Just a thought...

2005-07-27T19:40:00.000-04:00

This pic was captured in Clear Creek State Park, just up north. I looked down, and saw something small and orange. Sure enough, this little fella poked his head out of a log for a few brief moments. Too bad he didn't stay out for a lil longer, I wanted to take more photos...

So... I've been getting a lot of nice complements on my photos recently. It's been a nice moral boost :-) But in the past, I always envied many of the artists at the Three Rivers Arts Festival. Such great artwork... such great photos. I got many new ideas when I have visited there.

This idea is something that I have considered in the past year. What would it take to get a booth there next year? I suppose I should investigate it. I'm sure it costs a pretty penny, but, I'm sure many artists make a lot of money down there though. But, I'm not really interested in the money... I would just like to do this for the experience.

I've been meaning to make a portfolio of my best shots... but... never got around to that. I'm pretty critical of my photos though... I always find something that could have been improved. I guess that makes me a perfectionist. I need to find some more people that will give me an honest opinion on some of my shots. Luckily, my best friend at Duq lived right next door, and he always pitched in his two cents.

Ah well, this is just an idea. This is one of the many things that go through my head as I'm trying to waste some time at work... (only two more days... woohoo!)

Laterz...

Woah...

2005-07-26T23:50:00.000-04:00

Carinne was asking about a couple beach pics that I took, and it just so happens that it's the subject of this post...

So I was talking with Alicia today, and it dawned on me that I'll in Myrtle Beach in a week from now. Woah... that is awesome. I'm going down with Alicia and Nate, so it should be a lot of fun. We are staying at the top floor of our hotel/motel, which has a heart shaped hot tub on the roof. Hm... we'll probably hear a lot of "noise" from our balcony...

So I think the posting of my pictures is a really good idea, but, as you might know, I'm really protective of them. It's not that I don't want people to see them, but I hate the fact that people can take your picture and claim it as their own. And it happened a couple times in the past year. That just really pisses me off. But on the bright side, some people (Trish) are really considerate and ask for permission. So, I'm just scaling the pictures to a smaller size. 640x480 is plenty big. Oh, and if anyone knows any imtermediate / advanced html coding, let me know, because I need some help with a couple of things.

Congrats goes to NASA today...

2005-07-26T17:51:00.000-04:00

The featured picture today was from Conneaut Lake, Friday night. The moon sure was orange that night. I was up there for the weekend with my bud Corey... man was it fun. Good times were had by all.

Haha... so after telling some people that I was creating a blog, they asked me, "...what's a blog?" Bah. I thought this stuff was mainstream now...

So yeah... congrats goes to NASA after the shuttle launch today. It's great that the agency is moving forward.

Thankfully, work is ending soon for me. My last day for the summer is July 29th. That might seem early to a few of you, but since I have to be back at Duquesne on the 9th, it really isn't. I realized that, the real world pretty much sucks. Enjoy college / school while you can people.

So, my sister's husband (in law? I dunno with all those family names) walks into a McDonald's last week and gets a Big Mac Meal. On the fries and on the Mac were special codes you can enter on the internet to see if you won any prizes. Sure enough, he entered a code, and won a PSP. Man, he's lucky. It sort of reminds me of someone who contantly finds $20 bills lying on the ground... *cough* *cough* Carinne *cough*.

Laterz gatorz...

Coupla things...

2005-07-25T22:50:00.000-04:00

So what do you want to know about me? Wellllll, I'll tell you the basics...

I currently go to good ol' Duquesne University, and I'm a RA at St. Ann's. For the summer, I'm working at Gateway Health Plan in the finance / IT department. I'm planning to major in Information Systems Management, which I've been told, is a good fit for me.

Ahhhh... that's enough of that. You'll learn more as we go on.

O... if you got a blog / journal out there... let me know. I already have a couple up, but I know there are more out there.

In the Beginning...

2005-07-25T22:23:00.000-04:00

Hi y'all,

So, I decided to do this. I'm creating a blog. It was either a blog or a podcast, and, since not many people actually know what the hell that is, I'll stick with something simple. Let's hope I stick with this ongoing project though. Every post, I'm also going to post one of my own pictures. Last time I looked at my iPod, it says that I have over 3700+ photos, in my 4 year span of owning digital cameras. So, I probably shouldn't run out anytime soon.

Let me know what you guys think about this. I'd really love to get this up and running, and continually update this as often as I can.