2005

Oct252005

The Dawg House

I was up and ready to go in shorter order that usual this morning. I woke up and nine and had plenty of time to get to my ten o’clock class. Today’s economics session was an over view of the history of tax, from the British navigation acts to the current income tax system. It was a pretty enjoyable lecture considering the material. Professor Blackstock was honest and frank as always. I think my favorite part what when he said “A lot of people think the great depression ended with WWII, not true! We came out of the great depression because FDR died.” After class I walked over to the Dawg House, a ‘sports grill’ just off campus, pretty close to CAB, where my economics class is. Britney from French and Kasey from my history class work there. I got a burger and fries. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a decent hamburger. I walked back to my dorm after class and remained there until about 1:30. I stopped by the housing office to pick up a package. I ordered some new shoe strings for my Chuck Taylor’s but I ordered the wrong ones. These were almost an inch wide. There was an exam in Sociology today. I didn’t find it to be too difficult and I was out the door before 2:30. I went to Tolliver Hall afterward and remained there until almost four. This evening’s history class was a continuation/conclusion of Professor Anderson’s lecture on the cold war. I went to the cafeteria for dinner after class and then went back to my room for the evening. I did a drawing or two for a possible redesign of my website. I managed to get a load of laundry done late this evening.

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Oct242005

Monday

A lot of material was covered in French class today. Some of it was review for the upcoming exam. I think I went back to my dorm after class and had lunch there. I went to the cafeteria for dinner sometime after six. I ate with John and I’m guessing a friend of his, Corwin. Josh joined us later. We all stopped in Tolliver briefly after dinner before we all went home. I didn’t do much this evening outside of cleaning up some tags in my MP3 collection.

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Oct242005

Sunday

I was at home almost all day today. I watched the Saints game on TV. They lost again, mostly the result of a bad call involving what was a nice passing play which was turned into an interception after a Rams player took the ball from the receiver’s hand well after he was down on the ground. The Saints didn’t have any time-outs to challenge the play, which would have surely been reversed. The Raiders won today, which was nice. I had to listen to it online as the game wasn’t on TV here in Ruston, which wasn’t so nice. I did leave my room once today to get some dinner. It was quite brisk outside this evening, almost uncomfortably so the coldest I’ve felt since I got here.

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Oct232005

Homecoming

I only left my dorm today for Louisiana Tech’s homecoming game. I first stopped by the barber shop I patronized last Saturday to pay for my haircut. The three o’clock game was versus North Texas. I walked in the stadium about a half hour before the 3:00 kickoff. The turnout was pretty impressive. There were a large number of parents and alumni. There were over a dozen players from Tech’s 1955 football team in attendance. Tech dominated the whole game. The halftime score was 27-0. The halftime homecoming court presentation was much like the several I’d seen at past Tulane games. The one unusual thing was the Texas kicker that took the field in the middle of the presentation to practice some drop kicks, much to the displeasure of the crowd. He was pretty close to the far right couple. Shortly before the homecoming queen was crowned, the escort on the far right ran over and knocked over the ball that was on the stand, which got quite an enthusiastic reaction from the crowd, or at least the students in the crowd. I left about halfway through the third quarter, as there was no question as to the outcome and my eyes were hurting after being in direct sunlight for a couple hours. I didn’t do anything of circumstance in the evening.

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Oct222005

Parents Visit

It was nice and cool again today. I was up and out the door a bit earlier than usual this morning. I had plenty of time to go to Tolliver and get something to eat before class. Today’s French class dealt with more adjectives and their usage. My parents drove into Ruston this morning, stopping on their way to Georgia. I met them in the Caruthers parking lot after class. After greeting them I directed them to the parking lot in front of my dormitory. They brought number of my things from the house I asked for and a couple boxes of food. After unloading the car to a degree allowing me to fit inside, we went to get something to eat. We ended up a Johnny’s Pizza, which I’ve been told has the best in town. I found it to be pretty decent, better than the cafeteria and Domino’s at least. I wanted to get a mini refrigerator for my room. I’d already seen Wal-Mart’s single offering so I wanted to look elsewhere. We went to True-Value hardware first. They didn’t carry any but the owner, “Mr. B,” who greeted us at the door recommended we check a used appliance store. We drove about a mile to it. They had just one, the same model that Bianca has in her apartment. It was damaged however and the price was far from appealing. We drive back to the strip mall where the hardware store is and checked a couple stores there, none of which carried what we were looking for. I still didn’t have a fridge and I needed a few things anyway so we went to Wal-Mart. We picked up the last mini refrigerator on the shelf. I got a few other things including stuff to put in the fridge like Coke and cherries with stems. Shortly after getting home and getting the fridge into my room, Mom and Dad had to be on their way and left. I spent the rest of the afternoon straightening up. All the things from the house were just put on my bed and scattered elsewhere. I got everything cleaned up and hung the posters I asked for from the house. I went to the cafeteria for dinner. Tulane’s football team lost again tonight.

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Oct212005

700th Post

Today’s Economics class was about the income tax. We did some simple exercises to get a grasp on income tax brackets and the marriage penalty. Afterward we watched a video, which was mostly about how tax money is spent poorly. I went to the cafeteria for lunch afterward and then to Tolliver until my two o’clock. Today’s sociology class was mostly about race. This evening’s history class was a continuation of the lecture on World War II from Tuesday.

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Oct202005

Cafe Du Monde is Open for Business

I put the news on when I woke up this morning. A Fox reporter was doing a live remote from Cafe Du Monde, which reopened at six this morning after having been closed for about six weeks, the longest length of time the Cafe has been closed in its 153 year history. In my opinion, this is one of the most significant signs of returning to ‘normalcy’ in New Orleans yet. Beyond that it was just very nice to see hot beignets being served as I’m quite fond of this particular establishment. I also learned that Snug Harbor, a jazz club which is another favorite place of mine in New Orleans, reopened this past weekend. I left my room shortly after ten this morning, which gave me plenty of time to get something to eat and sit in Tolliver for a little while before heading to this morning’s French class. Today’s session went over facial features again and personality traits. I went to Tolliver Hall after class. I made some updates to the links page on my website. I left there around half past one and went to the cafeteria for lunch. I got some stir-fry and sat with Sara who was already there, although we didn’t exchange many words. I went back to my dorm after lunch. The washing machine was fixed and not in use so I got my stuff in. I remained there until about seven when I left to get some dinner. I went back to Tolliver after dinner and did some homework. I went home at ten.

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Oct192005

History Exam and Wal-Mart

Today’s economics class was about the consumer price index. We used it to compare prices of things today to say 30-50 years ago. We also used it to determine the highest grossing movie of all time in real dollars, basically adjusting for inflation Gone with the Wind. Class ended at quarter to 11, more than somewhat early. I went to Tolliver Hall after class for lunch. I remained there until about three when I went back to my dorm. I called the people who maintain the coin-op washing machines for LA Tech to see if they were aware that the one in my dormitory is broken. They were not. I found this to be pretty asinine as it’s been broken for days and apparently nobody so much as made a phone call to a number posted right on the machine. Anyway, the lady said they’d send somebody. I remained in my room until about quarter to four when I walked to Madison for history class. There was an exam today. It wasn’t difficult. After the test we actually went over the whole thing with answer sheets in hand, and pencils out of sight. I missed 6 of 50. I would have disputed one of what I thought was a poorly worded true or false question but bonus points from previous class work will being my grade up to an ‘A.’ There was a lecture after the test review, which was a very generalized summary of World War II. I went to the cafeteria for dinner after class roast beef sandwich, fries and a slice of pepperoni pizza. I went to Tolliver Hall after dinner. I added a mouse-over on the style sheet switcher GIF on the menu bar of my website which explains the purpose of the three colored boxes. The mouse-over code doesn’t work in Firefox though. I called John in my dorm room sometime around eight to see if anyone had been by about the washing machine. Bianca answered the phone. She said she was about to call me and wanted to know if I wanted to go to Wal-Mart. I had nothing better to so and needed some things so I agreed and headed home. Bianca, John and I left a few minutes later. On the way to ‘the Ruston mall,’ we stopped at Bianca’s apartment to grab some defective picture frames she was going to return. We were at Wal-Mart for about two and a half hours, time which passed rather quickly. Bianca returned her frames with no trouble. She needed a number of things from the store and we wandered around with her for a while. I was very temped to buy a fridge but couldn’t bring myself to purchase the one of the only model they stocked. I just bought some socks and underwear since I was wearing my last clean pair of both and a few extra couldn’t hurt. On the way home we stopped at Bianca’s apartment and helped her carry her things in and visited for a few minutes before John and I headed home. Late this evening I watched the first episode of “The Colbert Report” which aired yesterday and did some of my French homework.

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Oct172005

le visage

I got up at nine this morning, a little earlier than I have been on Mondays since I don’t have class until 11. I had plenty of time to stop by Tolliver and get something to eat before class. I also stopped by Cathy Martin’s office to drop off past blue pages for my Sociology homework assignments. Per departmental policy, you have to turn in these tear-out pages that go with homework assignments to prove you purchased the textbook, the sales of which finance the strapped Sociology department I can’t imagine why there aren’t all sorts of people eager to throw money at them. On the way out I made the mistake of saying “See you Tuesday,” even though there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell I’m going to class tomorrow to watch Roger and Me. The better part of today’s class was about vocabulary relating to parts of the human head and face. One of the class exercises involved Professor De Mattos describing a person’s face in French, and then having the students draw a picture of that person. At the end of class there was a short quiz that I don’t think I did too well on. I went to Tolliver Hall after class and remained there until shortly after one when I went to get some lunch. I went back to my room afterward. I took a short nap as I was uncharacteristically tired. I left around four and made my way back to Tolliver, where I remained until shortly after five when I went to the cafeteria for dinner. Bianca was there and joined me. After dinner I sat with her for a little while at the red tables while she did some homework. She had to leave shortly before seven and I went back to Tolliver Hall. I went home sometime after eight. The washing machine was still broken. I didn’t do much this evening. I did slightly modify the header text, “Mr. B’s Domain” on the top of my website to improve the character spacing.

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Oct172005

The Weekend

I got up at a half-respectable hour on Saturday morning and took a shower before getting some breakfast. I took a walk through ‘historic downtown Ruston’ this afternoon, which amounts to about four square blocks. I was curious what was there not much. I needed a haircut too which was a more prudent motivation for taking a walk. I didn’t find an open one ‘downtown.’ I walked to a grocery store before heading back. I needed some quarters for the laundry. As I walked down Arizona Ave. on the way home I spotted a barber shop that I first noted a week or so ago. I stopped in and asked if they took credit cards, which they don’t. However, the guy there, Kenneth, offered to cut my hair anyway and take payment later, an unusual and generous offer so I got my haircut. I went home afterward. Later in the evening I met up with Khadijah and Sara for a trip to Wal-Mart. I just bought some shampoo and razors. Later in the evening, at seven, I met them again for dinner at China Wok. We walked there from Pearce. I left the restaurant ahead of them and went home. That was pretty much my Saturday. Sunday was especially uneventful. I was in my dorm most of the day, with exceptions for eating.

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Oct152005

Tulane vs. UTEP

I stopped in the cafeteria before class this morning. Most of today’s French class was about vocabulary relating to family mon mre, mon pre, etc. I went to Tolliver Hall after class and remained there for a while. Bianca saw me there shortly after one and asked me to join her for lunch and help her carry some boxes she got in the mail. I packed up my laptop and we went to Chick-fil-A in the student center. After eating we walked back to her apartment with two boxes with things her mom sent her from New Orleans. I can’t remember if she opened any of the boxes before we left and went back to Tolliver. She needed to send a fax and went to the Student Government Association office. She didn’t have any luck though the whole ordeal must have gone on for almost an hour. She had one more package waiting for her in the housing office and we went back to U.P. again. I stayed with her for a little while as she unpacked the boxes. I left shortly after four as I planned on going to the Tulane football game this evening. Shortly after getting back to my dorm I went outside where a ‘tailgate’ party was taking place between Cottingham and Mitchell. Some food was on a grill and a volleyball game was going on. I got to talking with Darren, a fellow New Orleans resident who was attending UNO. Not too long after I arrived outside some barbequed turkey legs came off the grill. There wasn’t a line initially and I got one, although a rather long line formed immediately afterward and remained for a while. I walked over to the stadium around 6:00. They were giving out T-shirts at the gate. I took a seat not far from where I sat at the New Mexico game, just a few rows up. Darren and someone else from my dorm, Brian, joined me. Tech’s band was at the game, so was ESPN. The band had a kinda-sorta rendition of Tulane’s fight song it was well-intentioned. There was a nice turnout for the game, at least on the east side of the stadium. The game itself wasn’t so great. Tulane played alright but some critical mistakes cost them the game, namely three turnovers. Two resulted in UTEP touchdowns. The third was a fumble on the Miner’s five yard line. Tulane was within three points in the third, but 21 unanswered points put Tulane away with a score of 45-21. It would have been one thing if Tulane had simply played badly but that wasn’t the case. Lester Ricard didn’t throw a single interception. I walked home after the game. The stadium is just down the street from my dormitory. I didn’t do anything later this evening, not even laundry, as the coin feeder on the washing machine was broken.

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Oct142005

Headers

The lecture in this morning’s economics class was about gross domestic product. Professor Blackstock lectured for about an hour and then showed a video which compared the economy here in the United States to other nations around the world. The gist of the video was that economies tend to thrive when the government stays out of the way. India, for example, while full of smart people, has a poor economy due to the insane beurocracy associated with trying to start a business. The United States of course is pretty good. Hong Kong’s economy was described as rather remarkable. There are no natural resources there yet industry there is incredibly prolific. There is a minimum of regulation on businesses there. To start a small business in Hong Kong, you need only fill out a single form. I went to lunch after class and then probably to Tolliver Hall until my two o’clock class. This afternoon’s sociology class was about ‘economic inequality’ and social class. The tone of the lecture made it sound like ‘inequality’ was somehow a bad thing. While it’s a practical given that the professor is a liberal, all too often she sounds like a communist, although I can’t say she definitively expressed such opinions. After class, I went back to Tolliver for a short while before History at four. This evening’s session had to do with the end of the great depression. I got dinner after class and eventually made my way home. I spent the evening browsing stock.xchange and adding some of those header photos that appear on the top of my website. I doubled the number of images in random rotation. There are 80 now.

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Oct122005

le salle de classe

I was ever so slightly late for French class this morning. Today’s session continued on simple questions, some verbs and vocabulary relating to the classroom. I went to Tolliver for a while after class and then got lunch around one. John joined me not too long after I had my food and was seated. I went back to Tolliver for a while and later went back to my room to straighten things up and do my sociology homework. I was back at Tolliver later in the evening. I made a stop at the library in the evening to print out the homework I did. On the way back to Tolliver I ran into Khadijah’s friend Matt and spoke with him fort a little while before making it back to Tolliver, where I remained until after eight. I was back in my room before nine did a load of laundry this evening.

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Oct112005

Warming Trend

It was a bit warmer today than the past week, but still quite pleasant. I read my watch wrong this morning. Just before I made it to the door of CAB, I noticed it was five minutes to eleven, not five minutes to ten. I was shocked and amused that I could make such a ridiculous mistake. With my first class ‘out of the way,’ I went to get some lunch. I went to Tolliver Hall afterward. I added some F-22 Raptor wallpapers to the website. I remained there until shortly after one thirty and headed to Madison for my two o’clock class, Sociology. Today’s session was about crime and consisted mostly of contrived generalizations, as I’m finding is all too frequent in this particular survey class. The gist of the lecture was that poor, uneducated black folk commit a lot of the crime because they’re poor and uneducated. Class was dismissed early enough for me to go to Tolliver for a little while before history. This evening’s History class elaborated on the great depression, which was touched on last Friday. There was a small class exercise in which students were to discuss in small groups what we would do in the event of a cataclysmic and sudden economic collapse. Most students said they’d probably liquidate their assets and try to stockpile food or something. There were a number of other responses as well. The point of the exercise was to point out that what we thought of today was pretty much the same things people thought of and did in the 30’s. After class I went back to my room quickly to pick up my swiss army knife as I was gonna need it later. I met Bianca for dinner in Tolliver hall around 6:30. We both got pasta and took it back to her apartment. After I finished eating we put together a small shelf she had. I would have done it when I was there yesterday but I didn’t have a screwdriver on hand. Bianca put on Resident Evil: Apocalypse, a rather dreadful zombie movie, while she did her homework. One of her friends, Derek, joined us after the movie had been on a little while. Dorcas came over after it had been finished a while. I left shortly after ten. I stopped by Tolliver for a Coke before heading home for the evening. The internet was barely working thus evening so I just got caught up on this log and hit the 2000 mark in Triffia.

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2005

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