2005

Oct102005

Exam? Today?

There was an exam in French class today. I had not really prepared for it and I don’t think I did too well. I got something to eat after class and went to Tolliver for a while after stopping by my dorm to drop off my books. I’m pretty sure I remained there for quite a while. Later this evening I went with Bianca and her friend Josh to Wal-Mart. She needed some hangers and things. I bought some bed sheets while there. With those things in hand we went back to Mitchell to help Bianca move the rest of her belongings into her new apartment. It took two trips in Josh’s station wagon to get everything. She had a fridge, bookshelf, a trunk and a number of other things. I sat in the car during the second trip as John illegally parked very close to the building entrance. Ami called while I was in the car and we talked for a little while as I was sorta helping unload the car on the second go-round. Josh took me back to Cottingham afterward. By then it was well after 11, I went to bed as soon as I got home.

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Oct092005

Unloading

It was cool outside today as it has been these last few days. Perhaps the pleasant weather is here to stay for a while. Like yesterday, there was no haste in getting up this morning. I believe I ate before noon today though. I got a waffle. I went to the trouble to microwave the syrup with some butter this time very good. After breakfast I went to sit in Tolliver Hall, where I remained for the better part of the afternoon. I got a call from Bianca in the afternoon. She’d just arrived back in Ruston after being in New Orleans for the weekend, packing up some things from her house there. I walked over to the University Park apartments, where Bianca is moving, shortly after nine to meet them just as they were pulling up. Dorcas’ car was filled to the brim with stuff but between the three of us, we were able to unload it surprisingly fast. I stuck around with Bianca after unloading the car to help her put some things away. I also installed a printer driver on her laptop while I was there. I walked with Bianca back to her dorm in Mitchell sometime after 11, and made my way home for the evening not too long after that.

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Oct082005

Tech Won, Tulane Did Not

Like the last couple Saturdays, I didn’t rush to get up. Khadijah arranged to have ‘breakfast’ together, although I don’t think we actually ate until one in the afternoon. We were sitting outside later and saw Khadijah’s friend Steve, who invited us to join him and his friend Matt to go to the nearby Chinese buffet. Neither of us were hungry but I shortly broke down and ordered some fried donuts, which were pretty good. I went back to my room later in the afternoon. I did a little work on my website and watched some football this afternoon. Both Tulane and Louisiana Tech played this evening. LA Tech did quite well, handily defeating Hawaii 46-14. Tulane didn’t do nearly as well, falling to Houston 35-14. Tulane was in the game for a good while until Houston scored three quick touchdowns in the third thanks to some interceptions. I think I did some laundry this evening too.

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Oct072005

Magic

It was unusually cool outside today, quite different from the heat we had yesterday. This Friday’s French class recapped numbers, time, and simple questions. I went back to my room after class and straightened up the room a bit and then went back out to get some lunch. After leaving the cafeteria I saw Khadijah at the red tables on the way to Tolliver and ended up hanging around with her and her friends for the better part of the afternoon. Eventually Khadijah and I went to Neilson where a Magic tournament was to take place. She arrived a bit late however and couldn’t get a spot. We ended up talking to her new friend Sybil for a good while. Sometime after seven I went back to my dorm for the evening. I ordered a pizza and stayed up late installing Gallery 2 on my website.

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Oct072005

Lost and Found

There was a test in this morning’s economics class. It was pretty short and I was finished in 15 minutes so I had a few hours to spare before my two o’clock class. I stopped at the library to print my Sociology homework before going to the cafeteria for an early lunch. After eating I went to Tolliver and remained there until I left to go to my next class at about a quarter to two. Today’s topic in Sociology was deviance and crime. This evening’s history class touched on the Jazz age. Near the end of history class I noticed I didn’t have my ID. After class I went back to my room and didn’t find it so I looked in Tolliver and the cafeteria. I looked again in Tolliver and found it under the seat cushion of the chair I had been sitting in a few hours before. I felt pretty lucky as my ID is pretty important as I need it to eat. With it in hand again I got some dinner and then went back to Tolliver and remained there until about 7:30 before I went home for the evening. I did a load of laundry tonight and watched some TV.

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Oct052005

Happiness

Today’s French class involved a lot of oral exercises involving asking simple questions. After class I think I went to lunch before heading back to my room. I stopped by the book store this afternoon to try and return a foreign language lab and get a size exchange on the sandals I bought about a week ago. I think I sat in Tolliver after that until I went to dinner sometime around six. I sat with John, Josh and some of their friends I don’t really know. After dinner I walked over to Nethken Hall where the first meeting of CinemaTECH was held. It’s just a small group that shows movies with a singular broad theme each semester. This evening’s first movie was The Woodsman, a fascinating movie I’ve seen previously which follows a recently released child molester. There was a break and a little discussion after the movie. A second movie was shown afterward which not as many people stayed for. [url= http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0147612/]Happiness[/url], which I’d not seen previously was a amusing, dark, ironic and somewhat disturbing movie. After the second movie I stopped to get some water and then went home.

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Oct042005

Ryanhood

Professor Blackstock spent this morning’s Economics class going over the material covered thus far for Thursday’s exam. I no longer recall exactly what I did after class, but I probably went to the cafeteria and Tolliver for a while until my two o’clock. We had our first exam in Sociology today. It was pretty easy, although I didn’t remember all of the noted ‘sociologists’ and their associated theories. The test didn’t take long so I had plenty of time before this afternoon’s history class. Today’s session touched on World War I. There was a group exercise in which we were to analyze and compare two songs: “I Didn’t Raise My Boy to be a Soldier” and “Over There.” After class I went to Tolliver hall for something to eat. I kept my seat after I finished to see a musical performance in Tolliver this evening. An acoustic band from Boston, Ryanhood, performed this evening. The band consists of two talented singers/guitar players. The music was ok and their lyrics were pretty standard fare. The last song of their set was rather amusing, an acoustic guitar rendition of the Fresh Price of Bel Air theme song. I went back to my room after the show. I continued the work on my website this evening and got a number of pages converted.

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Oct032005

Faculty Concert Series

This morning’s French class dealt with numbers again, among other things. There was a short quiz during class. I went to Tolliver for a good while after class and made my way to the Cafeteria shortly before two. It was pretty vacant by then. I went back to my room after class and remained there for a while. I went to a little solo piano concert this evening at 7:30. Dr. Steele Moegle, a Tech faculty member, performed a few works by Beethoven, Rachmaninoff and Debussy. She’s a very competent player although some of the material seemed a wee bit over her head. The last piece was done rather well though. She played Claude Debussy’s L’isle Joyeux from memory and made a good close for the short 45 minute performance. I went to Tolliver for something to eat afterwards and made my way back to my dorm after that. I continued working on the website code this evening. I’m finding that CSS behavior between Internet Explorer and Firefox is annoyingly different.

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Oct022005

Dinner in Another Cafeteria

Like yesterday there was no sense of urgency in getting up this morning. I was in my room for the better part of the afternoon, with a few exceptions for food. I had the Raiders game on for a little while. Khadijah called he some time in the evening and asked me to join her for dinner off-campus because she lost her school ID. Sarah was with her when she picked me up on side of Cottingham. We stopped at Wal-Mart first. They needed some things and I went off and got some laundry detergent and a few more hangers. With the shopping out of the way we went to Ryan’s. I didn’t quite understand the logic of going to another cafeteria but the food was pretty good by comparison to the one I’ve been patronizing under duress. I poked around with my website a little this evening but didn’t make too much progress.

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Oct012005

Louisiana Tech vs. New Mexico State

I got up more than a little late this morning and got cleaned up and dressed around one. The cool weather of the last few days was gone. I heard from Khadijah around the same time and asked if I wanted to go tailgating with her this afternoon. A youth group from her church was tailgating before this evening’s LA Tech football game versus New Mexico State. Khadijah and I walked down Tech Drive to the stadium sometime before two. It’s not far from my dormitory. We were told to look for a yellow truck which we had no trouble finding. I recognized a lot of the people there from visiting the church a couple times. Others I had never met before. We were immediately encouraged to get something to eat and did. There were hot sausages and hamburgers. For the most part we all just sat around talking for a few hours. The guy with the yellow truck ended up with a dead battery after running the radio without running the engine. They tried jump-starting the truck with no luck. The guy, whose name I’m afraid I can’t remember, had to go get a new battery and was gone for a while. They packed everything up around five and we entered the stadium. Admission is free for students, although the seats are on the sunny side of the stadium. The ‘student’s section’ is situated directly behind the visiting team’s sideline, which was ‘interesting.’ About 17,000 people showed for the game this evening, although it didn’t really look like it since Joe Aillet Stadium could hold the entire population of Ruston and still have 8,000 seats to spare. Even though most Tech students leave town for the weekend there was still a very respectable student turnout. The school spirit and enthusiasm was impressive. The have a lively marching band. I had to stand up for the duration of the game. Although I was able to sit and see a good deal of action late in the fourth quarter as the crowd thinned out a bit. The game started at six. New Mexico got the ball first but it was intercepted after three of four downs. That kind of set the tone for the whole game, although LA tech had to punt shortly after the interception. Louisiana Tech dominated throughout. At halftime, the score was 24-0. The scoring continued in the second half. It was 34-0 with about four minutes left. New Mexico got a couple touchdowns in before the games end for a final of 34-14. After the game a friend of Kali took us home can’t remember his name either. I took a shower after getting home and got off my feet, which were killing me. With Star Trek VI in the background, I spent the rest of the evening tinkering with my website, although I didn’t make any real progress. I went to bed at midnight.

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Sep302005

Painting Framed

This morning’s French class dealt with numbers and time, both formal and conversational. We also spent some time writing out numbers in French. I back to my dorm after class. Sarah picked me up and one so I could go pick up Ami’s painting from the framing shop. It was leaning on the floor against the wall with the shops other recent work, including a mint poster of Pope John Paul II pointing his finger, with the text “The Pill Is a No-No.” The frame and painting look fantastic. Although the price was painful, the shops workmanship is superb. Sarah took my back home and I hung the painting in my room. At present it’s the only thing on any of the walls in my dorm. After a little while I went to the cafeteria to get something to eat and then to Tolliver Hall. I was there for an hour or two. I did a little work on the website. Khadijah called me sometime around three and invited me to join her and two of her friends who were going to a nearby Chinese buffet. I had just eaten but company was nice to so I joined them. I didn’t exactly get my money’s worth. A lot of the conversation upstaged me as a geek kung-fu movies and role-playing games. After about an hour of that I walked back to Tolliver Hall. I think I remained there until shortly before sundown. I watched some TV and got a couple loads of laundry done this evening. Ami called really late and I talked to her on the phone for a while. I went to bed sometime after two.

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Sep292005

Taking Down Tables

I woke up at 9:30 this morning not much time to get ready and get to class, but enough. This morning’s economics class covered some simple formulas for computing consumer behavior. I went to the cafeteria for lunch after class. Class ended well early enough for me to beat the noon rush. After lunch I probably went to Tolliver for a while. I went back to my room to exchange laptops before my two o’clock class. Today’s Sociology class was about bureaucracy. Most of the lecture material seemed painfully obvious. “Bureaucracies have rules for everything.” Yeah… fascinating. After a shorter lecture than usual there was a class exercise, so titled the moon game. The scenario was a ship crash-landed on the light side of the moon and the survivors have to walk 200 miles to the moon base. There was a list of aobut 15 items which needed to be numerically ranked by their usefulness. Items included oxygen tanks, water, a parachute, parachute, matches, etc. First we ranked them ourselves, then in small groups. After that the professor read how NASA ranked the items. The whole point of the exercise was to prove that better decisions are made in groups. I was one of four of the 114 students that did better alone than with group input. After class I went back to my room to switch computers again and then went right back to Madison and sat in the classroom until my four o’clock history class started. Today’s lecture was about the US acquisition of territory after the civil war through post WWII. I got some dinner after class and then went to Tolliver for a while. I read a number of articles and Tutorials about CSS and creating tableless websites. I’ve wanted my website to be pure XHTML and CSS for quite sometime but never bothered. I went back to my room after eight and worked on my website for a while. I got started on that lofty goal. I eliminated the tables in the body layout, although all my content pages remain. I talked to Ami online for a while and finally went to sleep sometime after one.

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Sep292005

Fixing the CSS Switcher

This morning’s French class dealt with numbers and telling time, among other things I can no longer recall. I went to lunch in the cafeteria after class and sat with John for a while. I think I went to Tolliver for a while after lunch and read some pages of the French textbook for homework. I went back to my room later and cleaned up a bit. cleaned my swiss army knife fascinating stuff. Later in the afternoon I went back to Tolliver hall where I remained for a good while. I spent a few hours working on the CSS switcher on my website. It’s never worked fully because I couldn’t get the cookie to be read site-wide. Rather than tweaking the JavaScript one I had in place, I decided to use a PHP one from an article on A List Apart. I spent at least a couple house on it without success. At some point I got it working but it immediately broke. By then it was after eight and I hadn’t had dinner so I decided to give it a rest and eat something. Having had my fill I went back to my room and soon after had another look at my website. I eventually found some code online that actually worked and was quite pleased with myself.

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Sep282005

Easy History Test

I got up with just enough time to get ready and get to my 10:00 economics class. Today’s session was about elasticity of supply and demand. After class I went to Tolliver to get something to eat quesadillas. Lindsey was sitting at a table next to an outlet for my laptop so I sat and talked with her for a little while. After lunch I went back home to take a shower as I had to skip that step this morning. This afternoon’s sociology class was a continuation on ‘socialization,’ ‘resocialization’ in particular. Afterward, I had almost an hour before my four o’clock class so I went by the bookstore to glace at chapter 21 of the economics textbook, which I really don’t need to buy. I finally bought a pair of sandals, which should save my feet from all the evils of the shower floor. I walked back to my dorm to unload my purchase and switch laptops before heading back to Madison for my history class. We had our first exam today. It was all multiple choice and wasn’t difficult. I got something to eat in the cafeteria after class and then went to sit in Tolliver for a while. Comedian Tom Cotter performed in Tolliver Hall at seven this evening. He was pretty funny although his routine was a bit crude, catering to the audience nicely however. A little while after the show I stopped in KLPI to say hi to Khadijah as on the way to the library to print some things out for French homework. I ended up hanging around with her for a while. I was able to print my things up in the station office. Soon after Khadijah wanted something to eat and we went back to Tolliver. Her friend Steve joined us. After a while I went back to my room for the evening.

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2005

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