So, this last Friday about 30 people or so took a break from school to come down and have a LAN party!



I remember Gizmo and Bubbles some other 41 alums hosting these things at their off-campus apartments when they lived down here. I was the little sophomore who they let come and have fun with them, which I have always appreciated.

So after they left, LAN parties have kinda fallen to the wayside, at least in my experience so I decided to have one this last weekend.

PEEEEEKTURES

Zerg and Fargo and Trolley and Fjord helped me out tons with renting a classroom, talking to security, securing sponsorships from nvidia and Bawls and of course with providing hardware from the computer club to make the network... work.

It was tons of work but also tons of fun. We had plenty of guests, pizza, DDR and XBox on projectors. We linked up 2 Xboxes and played 4v4 Halo. And of course lots of Warcraft III and UT2004 over the LAN. We had some crazy matches and the best part is all being in the same room together.

Anyway, I'll get up a post with pictures about Thanksgiving, soonish.

I am about to go cross-eyed because of philosophy homework, LAN party planning, Disraeli paper-writing madness, but I found this humorous.

My Blogger profile views...



are so very leet. Booyeah.

Now don't go look at it or you'll mess it up. ;)

Just an update... to say that I put up two new Flickr sets. One of an outing to Nacogdoches and the other of the LETU Fall Extravaganza, which I covered for the LETU newspaper.

I have discovered that even paper writing becomes cool and adventurous when you play the Mission Impossible theme really really loud.

It also makes everyone entering your room want to burst in stick-em-up style with hands clasped like a pistol.

The Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii were released this last weekend, and though I have not been much into gaming consoles, I have recently had good times with several 41ers playing an XBox, which made me especially enjoy this comic.



More papers to write but it looks like Thanksgiving will be crazy... something like 19 LETU students car-pooling up to Kansas. Craziness.

Mirthquake. I just encountered this word and I find it endlessly amusing. Are you having a mirthquake today? I am.

More seriously, Fargo and I went with our fine arts class to the Dallas Arts district today. Our first stop was the Texas state fairgrounds, which had seven commemorative Art Deco buildings from 1936. Fargo didn't take any pictures. Bad Fargo.

He did take pictures of our next stop, the Dallas City Hall, designed by I.M. Pei.



It's an inverted pyramid shape, which is way cool. People's office windows were hanging out over empty space. This, and the other Pei building we got to see later, use a lot of straight geometry, so he liked to offset this by having fountains and bright, curvy sculptures around his architecture.

In the case of city hall, this was a red ball with a bite taken out of it, spinning in a pool.



We ate lunch in the Plaza of the Americas, I believe it was called.



Then we went inside the nearby cathedral, Virgin of the Guadalpue. The sun shone very nicely through the western transept stained glass.



Then to the Meyerson. Spork, Slope, Sydney and I had poked out heads in here on an earlier trip to Dallas, but this was my first real visit. We did get to hear a pipe organ recital!

I'd heard from people that it was really cool, but none of them had bothered to tell me what I learned today: that I.M. Pei designed the building, that one of the nation's best pipe organs is inside the concert hall.





There's tons of technical reasons that make it a really really awesome concert hall, but the end artistic result was just beautiful. It was completely soundproof, so despite being in the middle of downtown Dallas with an airport flight path right over the building, one could hear nothing from the outside.

After this, we spent an hour and a half running through a few parts of the Art Museum. I found a Van Gogh I'd like to write the class report on, if I don't do a favorite pieta of mine, so more on that later.

I felt really tired all day, but again, coffee to the rescue. Wanting to sit down while looking at art reaaaally reminded me of my jet-lagged dash through London early this year. Funny how these things always happen together.

This blog is two years old! W00t.

Last week Bebo Norman came to campus so I went and saw his concert. I was only a partial fan of his music but after the concert I was very impressed by his faith and voice. The upcoming issue of the YJ features a tiny review I wrote of his CD.

This is a terrible picture but it is him.



My next writing project is American Lit journals. I am beginning to wonder if I can get it all done by Thanksgiving.

Zerg and Fargo and I recently watched Lost in Translation. Numerous little moments really reminded me of what it felt like being in Korea.

It's been a good week or so for my Fine Arts class. On Saturday evening, a number of LETU students piled in a bus to see Madama Butterfly at the Shreveport Opera. It was superbly performed and very watchable. Not too long and with subtitles on a screen above the stage, you could actually tell what was going on.

After seeing the entire opera, I noticed even more phrases and themes in it that appear in Weezer's Pinkerton album. Really interesting stuff.

Tomorrow, I'm going to Dallas for a Fine Arts field trip. We'll be going to the museum area or something. Should be good times.

Hooray for getting away from Longview during the semester. My motivation/energy levels have been reaaaaaally low recently.

I found out today I was accepted to UT! I was very happy.

I actually had no idea what to think. The application was a last-minute affair; nobody proofread it for me and I even forgot to attach my academic resume.

I find myself curiously spelling my words in Britain-style today. Mostly theatre and colonise. Strange.

In any case, for your undoubted viewing pleasure, here's an essay I wrote for the UT application.

The stated requirements:

Many students expand their view of the world during their time in college. Such growth often results from encounters between students who have lived different cultural, economic, or academic experiences. With your future growth in mind, describe a potential classmate that you believe you could learn from either within or outside a formal classroom environment.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Jakhongir was too hard to say, so I called him John. He was rich, he spoke four languages fluently and I felt certain his dad was in the mafia. He and I were students at Handong Global University, an upstart Christian institution in South Korea.

For me, the decision was easy to spend a semester in Korea. I came from a Christian college in Texas. But my friends in the States still laugh when I tell them that my best friend in Korea was John, a Muslim from Uzbekistan. He and I were like night and day, but somehow, we clicked.

John loved wisdom. I believe that, though he would probably laugh if he could read this essay. There is no doubt in my mind that he came under intense pressure from friends to convert to Christianity, to conform his ideas this way or that.

Instead of skirting the issue or ranting obnoxiously, he engaged others with an idea to hear their reasoning, and if it wasn't sound, he would pinpoint it.

He could differentiate ideas and put them in their place, in class or in a casual conversation on the porch. I remember one time he quite seriously said that someday, when he had a family, he wanted me to come and be a tutor for his children.

"Why?" I asked, thinking he would want someone he knew better for such a position.

"Because I don't want them to think like everyone else in my country. I want them to be international."

I would often ask him what his life was like in Uzbekistan. He had some telling insights, but he was inexcusably ethno-centric.

One time he said, "I'll tell you, the best tasting food and the most beautiful women in the world are in Uzbekistan. You just have to see them for yourself."

"But John, most Americans can't even find your country on a map. If that's true, shouldn't they be able at least to do that?"

"That doesn't mean anything." And then he pulled out his favorite joke to describe the internationality of the dormitory.

"If you know three languages, you are trilingual. If you know two languages, you are bilingual. If you know one language, you are an American."

Even if he mixed up the issue, I also respected his motivation, his get-up-and-go. He told me about his IT work in Dubai, about switching schools and learning a new language in junior high just so he could understand his teachers.

I had done comparatively little travel at the time and was impressed personally with his spunk. Before college, he could fly to the Middle East and get a high-paying job because of his English and technical skills. I grew up on an east Texas farm. What was I doing?

I also noted his lifestyle. He wasn't living off his rich father, partying in Uzbekistan, or staying in a ritzy apartment, working in the United Arab Emirates.

He wanted to learn, and he wanted to help his country. He knew his country needed it. He wouldn't often speak of it, but it was something I could notice by his presence there.

I haven't spoken with John since I left Korea. But people like him stretch me when I visit a new place. I could not have imagined that growth coming from someone like him, but I internalized it nonetheless.

I felt bad again today. Again, I took a nap. Again, it didn't help.

BUT

This is all overshadowed by the wonderful truth that ALL of my second set Poetical Books journals are DONE. I was freaking out over them this afternoon so I decided to not sleep until they were done. And they are! Nevermind the time.

I go to bed happy. :)

Felt under the weather all day. Not much energy, weak, tired. I took two naps back-to-back, an hour each, one on my couch and one on Fjord's. Didn't particularly make me feel better but it passed the time nicely.

I'm still trying to do Poetical Books journals but it's going slowly. I find it hard to write insightful analysis on Proverbs. There's certainly much there to think about; I must change strategies.

For our Monday night play reading, we read Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot. It was light on action and interaction (long speeches), but as always Eliot's imagery is unmatched.

The next few weeks require focus. I have four writing projects. The work is certainly doable, but there are a million ways to fritter your time here.

My window is wide open to November and it's still hot in here.

I'm at peace about leaving LeTourneau. I'll be sad but I've been saying goodbye to places and happenings and people, not with words, but just in the sense that I enjoy them in a different kind of way. It's time to go.

Things I've done (in bold):

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment (giggling fits yes, worst possible moment, never)
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day (International Talk Like a Pirate Day, anyone?)
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer (OK, so not two physical drives, but I have three partitions on my disk, that should count)
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk.
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe.
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party (hahaha, I love crashing parties)
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read (Hawthorne, Melville)
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

That was kinda cool. I thought I'd done more than I have, but there are some crazy things on that list. I really want to try and do some of them. Many thanks to Abigail for the idea.

At least the list reminds me I have a really freakin cool life. I don't think that often but I really do. God is good.

Sweet potaters in a juice, who'd a thunk

Today I woke up early for a Saturday and did journals a lot of the day. I want to shoot myself now I'm on my sixth one, just from being here a lot. I can't stand doing paper-y things for very long.

Speaking of doing lots of sitting-with-a-computer work, I've gotten into a TV show called The Office. It's about this group of people working in a mid-size paper distribution company in Pennsylvania, led by a pair of social misfits.



It has a lot of very hilarious commentary about corporate life, which I wouldn't profess to know anything about, but the show is nevertheless really great.

The show comes in easily-digestible 22-minute bites and it doesn't help that Fargo has the first two seasons on DVD.

There's some kind of riot going on outside my door. I will miss this about LeTourneau. What're we down to? Five weeks? Inconceivable!

My lovely grandmother stopped by today after a meeting. Granny, I tried sending you a note by email but it said your inbox was full. Thanks for the hoodie and the T-shirt and most of all for stopping by. I love you.


I am... Red Riding Hood.

My mom sent me a few pictures from this summer, when we did one of the always-amusing family photo shoots.





Otherwise, not so much beyond school going on. We started reading Macbeth and hope to finish it tonight. The accents are fun, as is trying to use helium balloons to enliven the witches' voices.

Finally finished my Poetical Books paper. I'm not proud of it, but it's finished, which is a delightful word.

I also started a quality movie from the 1940s about Benjamin Disraeli for my Europe paper. I love the look and feel of old movies when I don't get annoyed with the pacing. They take time to get into the drama right from the start of the movie, without the gratuitous action scene every modern movie has to have.

Zerg and Fargo and I went to Starbucks today. I am still amazed by the regenerative powers of getting off campus for an hour and laughing about random things with a maple macchiato.

I have also enjoyed indulging my inner nerd with Battlefield 2142. Bubbles and Gizmo of Dorm 41 fame got the game and we have been owning n00bz for great justice.

Here they are playing DDR for great justice



Right now? The Rolling Stones and philosophy homework. And chatting with Jordo.