So this is what I get for vacation these days: a case of pinkeye, a teeth cleaning, a dermatologist's appointment (in which I have to somehow make sure that the dermatologist doesn't mention my tattoo to my mom), and a car search.
I went to LBJ High School yesterday to see everyone. By everyone, I mean the two teachers that are there that are actually interested in seeing me. My band director is the MAN, though, and he seems to have as much faith in me and pleasure in getting to talk with me as I do with him. They built a new theater in his honour (or, they built a new theater and named it after him. They're also going to be putting a gigantic portait of him in it), and he showed me around it and talked about how the band is going and whatnot. I really appreciate being remembered by one of my most influential teachers in high school, and especially as he (claims to) remembers me - as a strong leader in the band that had a big role in making us as sucessful as we were my senior year, when I was brass captain. I miss band, and I miss playing music, and I miss how much of a family everyone was with Mr. Haynes at the helm. He is a big black guy that likes to wear muscle shirts to show off his still impressive guns (he's in his fifties), but he has this incredibly sweet and fatherly disposition that goes along well with his big smile and slightly flamboyant habits. I thought he was gay until I found out he's married, and has 3 kids. Anyways, he deserves all of the recognition that he gets (which is a lot because he has been with the school for over 30 years and impacted a lot of other people in a similar way that he did me - probably a large part of why I am where I am today).
I am buying a Toyota Echo from a really sleazy dealer - some South American guy, I think, who doesn't know a lot of English and was selling this car out of an apartment parking lot - and I'm really excited about it. It gets something like 38 highway miles to the gallon, and over 30 in the city. It's basically the replacement for the Tercel, and the predecessor of the Yaris. One outstanding feature is the rediculous amount of headroom in the car. The roof is so high, apparently it's comfortable for 6'8" people. However, I think only small people are going to be able to sit in my back seat. It will be good to have something that I can drive around in Houston to get food, buy beer (when I'm 21 and supplying all of Long Hall, as well as Will Rice parties that I am coordinating), and in general be a senior in. It's a standard transmission car, and the only real technical upgrade from my Tercel that I used to have is that it has power steering (doesn't need it though, and I almost wish that it didn't). Also the interior is a lot nicer, and I'm assuming there is some better engine technology.
Can anyone tell that I'm bored? I'm going to go watch that Wilson brothers movie, I think.
PLAH (Peace Love and Happiness)
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
the small children of summer
summer begins, and I have gone to my first day of labwork. This is the first lab that I have worked in that has its own graduates students (previously I had to rent them hourly). They work more than 12 hours a day. Which is going to be pretty awkward when I work less than 10 hours a day. I cannot imagine spending my summer working 12 hours a day for 8-hour a day pay (there is some sort of legal maximum that I work).
Not to mention I didn't get paid for the 7.5 hours today.
DJed Tim's graduation party, which means DJ Humble is officially on the market as a hireable party DJ. It was pretty good, except for the part when Tim's brother almost killed Mark Hurley.
Off to recover from work.
Not to mention I didn't get paid for the 7.5 hours today.
DJed Tim's graduation party, which means DJ Humble is officially on the market as a hireable party DJ. It was pretty good, except for the part when Tim's brother almost killed Mark Hurley.
Off to recover from work.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
spring bizzle
back from the fantastic NGA (no girls allowed) spring break 07 camping trip. Three worries over spring break, all associated with beer bike: 1) I would lose a lot of weight and thus be slower. 2) I would not be getting biking workouts, and thus be slower. 3) I would be slow.
So I got back from the trip on Wednesday night. Thursday I spent some time at the gym, and two of my three fears so far have been assauged. I have not lost a lot of strength in my legs because of spring break, and in fact I think that all the turbo-mountain-climbing with heavy packs on has made me stronger rather than weaker. We really booked it on this trip. Second, I weighed in at 161 lbs, which is heavier than I have been in a long time, which is really exciting because I have been losing any fat that I happened to have on my body so all the weight gain is in my muscles, specifically in my legs. Hooray! I am finally getting bigger.
However, I proceeded to be extremely sore after my stint in the gym and had to spend all of yesterday recovering my hamstrings from a workout that they apparently were not ready for. The quads are fine, and they are the muscle that really matters the most, but it was still pretty annoying being this sore. I'm going biking today, we'll see how it goes. There's not a lot of time until beer bike, and I have a lot of speed to gain if I'm going to be good enough.
I wait in eager anticipation to see if my summer is going to be simple or really complicated - I applied for three summer research positions, and I am really worried that I am not going to get any of them (they are really competitive, although my resume is extremely good) and as a result am going to be poor and without anything interesting to do in physics over the summer. I applied to places that have laser cooling, which I want to get good at. Hopefully, Washington State lets me in and I can make six grand, as well as live in a really cool city and save money for my trip to China after I graduate.
I'm worried.
Off to bike
So I got back from the trip on Wednesday night. Thursday I spent some time at the gym, and two of my three fears so far have been assauged. I have not lost a lot of strength in my legs because of spring break, and in fact I think that all the turbo-mountain-climbing with heavy packs on has made me stronger rather than weaker. We really booked it on this trip. Second, I weighed in at 161 lbs, which is heavier than I have been in a long time, which is really exciting because I have been losing any fat that I happened to have on my body so all the weight gain is in my muscles, specifically in my legs. Hooray! I am finally getting bigger.
However, I proceeded to be extremely sore after my stint in the gym and had to spend all of yesterday recovering my hamstrings from a workout that they apparently were not ready for. The quads are fine, and they are the muscle that really matters the most, but it was still pretty annoying being this sore. I'm going biking today, we'll see how it goes. There's not a lot of time until beer bike, and I have a lot of speed to gain if I'm going to be good enough.
I wait in eager anticipation to see if my summer is going to be simple or really complicated - I applied for three summer research positions, and I am really worried that I am not going to get any of them (they are really competitive, although my resume is extremely good) and as a result am going to be poor and without anything interesting to do in physics over the summer. I applied to places that have laser cooling, which I want to get good at. Hopefully, Washington State lets me in and I can make six grand, as well as live in a really cool city and save money for my trip to China after I graduate.
I'm worried.
Off to bike
Saturday, February 10, 2007
i'm the milk guy
so the big conclusion to the archiarts costume that I put a total of 7-8 hours into was a really amazing costume (I had several people, including a lot of archis come up to me and tell me this) that said MILK on the front in big black letters. Everyone wanted a picture of me, and a surprising number of men wanted to dance with me... I guess being an inanimate object invites sexual dancing. Some guy tried to untie my shoes while I was dancing on a platform, too. Whatever.
I couldn't ride the shuttle to the party, so I had to ride the lightrail and walk some distance to get there. It was pretty tough, and I only was able to be at archiarts for about an hour and a half, but it was interesting too. People really respect you and stuff when you are wearing a giant (almost 6' tall) milk costume. We got pretty lucky finding it, though - and I owe Daniel a big one for going with me to the party on the lightrail instead of riding the shuttle, which I was a few inches short of fitting on.
All in all, an epic night. I think I made a lot of peoples' nights better, and even though I spent so much time on it and I had to leave it there because it wouldn't fit on the bus (lightrail doesn't run at 2) it was worth it. It's easy to dance when you're totally isolated from the rest of the world, becuase you don't have to worry about social awkwardness. However, it can be lonely too. Such is my life. At least I'm in a lot of pictures. Hopefully I can use my newly-won fame to make our parties next year more sucessful when I am socials coordinator.
Off to bed.
If anyone actually reads this and is disgusted by my diction and syntax, remember that I am exhausted and sober-after-drunk, which isn't great for either diction or syntax.
Peace
I couldn't ride the shuttle to the party, so I had to ride the lightrail and walk some distance to get there. It was pretty tough, and I only was able to be at archiarts for about an hour and a half, but it was interesting too. People really respect you and stuff when you are wearing a giant (almost 6' tall) milk costume. We got pretty lucky finding it, though - and I owe Daniel a big one for going with me to the party on the lightrail instead of riding the shuttle, which I was a few inches short of fitting on.
All in all, an epic night. I think I made a lot of peoples' nights better, and even though I spent so much time on it and I had to leave it there because it wouldn't fit on the bus (lightrail doesn't run at 2) it was worth it. It's easy to dance when you're totally isolated from the rest of the world, becuase you don't have to worry about social awkwardness. However, it can be lonely too. Such is my life. At least I'm in a lot of pictures. Hopefully I can use my newly-won fame to make our parties next year more sucessful when I am socials coordinator.
Off to bed.
If anyone actually reads this and is disgusted by my diction and syntax, remember that I am exhausted and sober-after-drunk, which isn't great for either diction or syntax.
Peace
Thursday, February 8, 2007
potpourri
in the middle of a math test/Chinese quiz binge, trying to regain some of my sanity. I have to make a costume for archiarts at some point between now and tomorrow - I think it's going to happen tomorrow. The worrying thing is that all of the wood isn't even cut, let alone is the frame built. I might just go as a white milk carton with nothing on it.
So sick of this math test. If I turn it in with only two of the three problems done, will I get a poor grade?
So sick of this math test. If I turn it in with only two of the three problems done, will I get a poor grade?
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
still buzzed over how cool the party was two weeks ago...
so many people know me now because they went to my party. It's so much easier to meet people now. Dj Humble represent.
Only 9 weeks until beer bike. I have been running stairs pretty much exclusively, because I can't really run distances and it's way too cold and wet to bike. I think I'm getting a whole lot out of it, though, because I started out running the stairs once, then I went to doing it twice but it took me about 30 minutes to recover after, now it takes me about 10 minutes. Now I need to work on doing it faster and faster, and all of that muscle and stamina should translate to biking (I hope). This year should or could be our golden year, so hopefully I can start strong and keep going strong all year. First time trial Thursday, I'm shooting for 2:25.
The semester is incredibly hard. I work every night on one of my three math classes or my physics class, or I catch up on Chinese that I've forgotten to do because I was doing math. I am already substantially better at thinking about math, though. I have a really adaptive mind, in that I am good at adjusting my thinking style to whatever suits the subject I am studing. So taking more math than I have ever before (by far) and doing a lot of proof-based and abstract stuff has really developed parts of my intellect that weren't being used for physics, and as a result I am a little better at everything. I love learning. On the other hand, I am swamped and I hate that. Also I am doing nothing but math and physics now, so I am really losing a little bit of my touch on reality. I have to make up for it by having a badass tattoo and drinking more than any of the other physics majors. HA.
Off to do some Chinese.
so many people know me now because they went to my party. It's so much easier to meet people now. Dj Humble represent.
Only 9 weeks until beer bike. I have been running stairs pretty much exclusively, because I can't really run distances and it's way too cold and wet to bike. I think I'm getting a whole lot out of it, though, because I started out running the stairs once, then I went to doing it twice but it took me about 30 minutes to recover after, now it takes me about 10 minutes. Now I need to work on doing it faster and faster, and all of that muscle and stamina should translate to biking (I hope). This year should or could be our golden year, so hopefully I can start strong and keep going strong all year. First time trial Thursday, I'm shooting for 2:25.
The semester is incredibly hard. I work every night on one of my three math classes or my physics class, or I catch up on Chinese that I've forgotten to do because I was doing math. I am already substantially better at thinking about math, though. I have a really adaptive mind, in that I am good at adjusting my thinking style to whatever suits the subject I am studing. So taking more math than I have ever before (by far) and doing a lot of proof-based and abstract stuff has really developed parts of my intellect that weren't being used for physics, and as a result I am a little better at everything. I love learning. On the other hand, I am swamped and I hate that. Also I am doing nothing but math and physics now, so I am really losing a little bit of my touch on reality. I have to make up for it by having a badass tattoo and drinking more than any of the other physics majors. HA.
Off to do some Chinese.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
holla at a playa
I don't know who actually reads this, but if you go to Rice and you weren't at my party last night then you missed out on some hardcore shit. I think it was some sort of record for attendance at a private party - when the fire alarm went off, I was almost sure that there were 300 people standing in the little forest between Will Rice and Hanszen. At least, Officer Anderson said that he thought there were at least 300 people there, and I trust his opinion. We went through three kegs and 15 gallons of punch in about two and a half to three hours. Wow.
Dancing all night was a success, too. I DJed for at least 2 hours (with breaks) and people really enjoyed what I was doing. It's almost impossible to chop and screw live and work it into a mix because you need two tables to do it, but I did it a couple of times (seamlessley enought that most people didnt notice). There was certainly a lot of partying going on in that room. And the biggest surprise was that the other common room, with the TV and surround sound hooked up to someone's iPod, was bumping as well. Even after the fire alarm and after we floated. Both rooms were completely full, as well as the balcony and there were at least 100 people outside in the forest at any given time. What an amazing scene. Everyone had a great time.
Parties are a strange creature. When it was getting started, the only people there were 90s kids (and friends), and we were all out on the balcony and in the girls' rooms upstairs getting ready. So at 10:30 when the first group of Wiess freshmen came by, they thought it was going to be a bust and took off after consuming some of our famous lemonade punch. Then Montoya, Diana, and Caroline came in and were the only people not from our immediate group in the room, but they were dedicated to actually staying in the party room, and after that I started DJing as no one actually left after that. The next time I took a look outside, it was people literally as far as I could see. All of Rice made a mass exodus from the rest of campus and congregated on our room. So it was this lull before the storm, when we thought we would have a hard time getting it started, and then there was the seed group that caused people not to leave, and then the floodgates opened. What an intense night. None of us even got really drunk, because we were all dealing with different stuff (I DJed, some people were outside making sure there were no cups outside, once the fire alarm went off we all helped deal with it and made sure no one bothered Officer Anderson). I think we really dodged the bullet with the cops, actually, because we got the coolest cop EVER and he didn't mind that there was a lot of noise/people outside even though that qualifies us as a public party and they can come in. He just said keep the drinks inside. I guess he figured out that it would have been impossible for him to tell us to all go inside because of the massive number of people there.
If you're ever in the 713, holla at a playa, holla at a playa, holla at a playa. What a great time.
Dancing all night was a success, too. I DJed for at least 2 hours (with breaks) and people really enjoyed what I was doing. It's almost impossible to chop and screw live and work it into a mix because you need two tables to do it, but I did it a couple of times (seamlessley enought that most people didnt notice). There was certainly a lot of partying going on in that room. And the biggest surprise was that the other common room, with the TV and surround sound hooked up to someone's iPod, was bumping as well. Even after the fire alarm and after we floated. Both rooms were completely full, as well as the balcony and there were at least 100 people outside in the forest at any given time. What an amazing scene. Everyone had a great time.
Parties are a strange creature. When it was getting started, the only people there were 90s kids (and friends), and we were all out on the balcony and in the girls' rooms upstairs getting ready. So at 10:30 when the first group of Wiess freshmen came by, they thought it was going to be a bust and took off after consuming some of our famous lemonade punch. Then Montoya, Diana, and Caroline came in and were the only people not from our immediate group in the room, but they were dedicated to actually staying in the party room, and after that I started DJing as no one actually left after that. The next time I took a look outside, it was people literally as far as I could see. All of Rice made a mass exodus from the rest of campus and congregated on our room. So it was this lull before the storm, when we thought we would have a hard time getting it started, and then there was the seed group that caused people not to leave, and then the floodgates opened. What an intense night. None of us even got really drunk, because we were all dealing with different stuff (I DJed, some people were outside making sure there were no cups outside, once the fire alarm went off we all helped deal with it and made sure no one bothered Officer Anderson). I think we really dodged the bullet with the cops, actually, because we got the coolest cop EVER and he didn't mind that there was a lot of noise/people outside even though that qualifies us as a public party and they can come in. He just said keep the drinks inside. I guess he figured out that it would have been impossible for him to tell us to all go inside because of the massive number of people there.
If you're ever in the 713, holla at a playa, holla at a playa, holla at a playa. What a great time.
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Arooooo! On the ones and twos
Launching my effort for this blog to be a homebase for DJ Humble, there is going to be a spectacular and unimaginably large dance party/night of mayhem this friday in the Will Rice 90s. DJ Humble will be there spinning, chopping and screwing, and playing 80s rock classics like Journey and the Eagles. It should be one of our biggest parties, probably our biggest yet, and we are expecting a prodigious turnout. I don't know if I am going to drink a whole bunch, because I have been feeling the pressure of classes this semester a lot, but I will for sure be partying and bringing the house down with my skribble skillz...
Really excited about this one, for several reasons. Hopefully we can keep the police at bay.
My classes this semester are really math-y mostly becuase I am trying to catch up in the math major. If I am going to graduate with a math major, I have to take three math classes senior year, as well as two asian studies classes (not counting the language classes), and whatever the physics major needs. It's going to be hardcore. This semester is really intense - I have three maths (one is easy, one is cool, one is impossible) and physics as well as phys lab and Chinese. And I don't even have all my distribution credits. Oh no...
I am getting a lot closer to several of my professors (especially Dr. Jones, who is a really cool guy) but I'm worried that I am really just not good enough at math to be trying to major in it. This triple major thing is a real time sucker. I'm going to have to work my ass off this semester. It feels really cool to know that they made calculus of variations just becuase I and some other people had asked for it, though. The class is going to be really neat, and I expect to learn a shitload but hopefully I don't feel stupid the whole time because I have a little bit of background in it and other differential geometry stuff.
Blah blah blah lab is going horribly in that the data I have now is not publishable and I need to look at the (8,8) armchair nanotube instead of the (9,9) if I am going to have any chance of getting good data. I am so sick of this goddamned laser and these goddamned nanotubes. I wish I could just crank up the power by like 10 times. Then I'd have some good data.
Off to work on a math proof homework
Really excited about this one, for several reasons. Hopefully we can keep the police at bay.
My classes this semester are really math-y mostly becuase I am trying to catch up in the math major. If I am going to graduate with a math major, I have to take three math classes senior year, as well as two asian studies classes (not counting the language classes), and whatever the physics major needs. It's going to be hardcore. This semester is really intense - I have three maths (one is easy, one is cool, one is impossible) and physics as well as phys lab and Chinese. And I don't even have all my distribution credits. Oh no...
I am getting a lot closer to several of my professors (especially Dr. Jones, who is a really cool guy) but I'm worried that I am really just not good enough at math to be trying to major in it. This triple major thing is a real time sucker. I'm going to have to work my ass off this semester. It feels really cool to know that they made calculus of variations just becuase I and some other people had asked for it, though. The class is going to be really neat, and I expect to learn a shitload but hopefully I don't feel stupid the whole time because I have a little bit of background in it and other differential geometry stuff.
Blah blah blah lab is going horribly in that the data I have now is not publishable and I need to look at the (8,8) armchair nanotube instead of the (9,9) if I am going to have any chance of getting good data. I am so sick of this goddamned laser and these goddamned nanotubes. I wish I could just crank up the power by like 10 times. Then I'd have some good data.
Off to work on a math proof homework
Friday, January 5, 2007
it's the return of the
aw, wait, he didn't just say what I think he did, did he?
Friday is here, and along with this amazing day come some amazing people. Louie, then Russ and Dan, then Kyle and Leia all got back yesterday and the 90s feels like home again. Lil' Turtle is doing well and looking really healthy (and really comfotable with people, too). Rap music is usually playing from more than one source in the room. And everyone is totally geared up to be back, which says SO MUCH about how much of a family we are, that we would all rather be in the 90s than at home. The party on Friday is going to be off the chain, as per usual. I think it's going to be yet again the first big party of the semester. I'm going to try and DJ for a lot of it, if I can. I'm not going to do much (if any) scratching, because I don't trust it to sound good, but we have a whole bunch of actually decent rap and techno singles that I can play for several hours. Should be bundles of fun.
I love my life. How many people get to have friends this amazing, and parties this fun, and really amazing academics to boot? I don't know if I have bragged about this yet, but I convinced the math department to offer a class just for me - calculus of variations. There is a guest professor that comes every few years, and he didn't have anything to teach this year and I had been clamoring for some calc of variations, so I think my math prof from last semester suggested it to him. That means that I might have to drop abstract algebra which I was excited about because it looked easy but math-y enough to not be at all redundant. If I don't drop it, and drop Psych 101 instead, that means I'll be taking 3 math classes (one 300-level and two 400-level) and quantum physics 2 which is supposed to be impossible as well as a really hard lab course and Chinese 202. That seems pretty daunting... I had such a hard time with Chinese last semester because I never had time to study. I guess I'll keep everything at first and then decide what to drop later.
The tattoo is getting less attention from people than I thought it would, but I am ultra happy with it. It smells kinda weird, though. Also, surprisingly, it hasn't itched or hurt at all, and has not even scabbed up yet (there is one small part that has a scab on it, but for the most part it's really healthy). I am told that it will scab up, but I think the heling process is going really well and I am now far beyond the point where I need to be worrying about infection. Now I have to worry about keeping it moist all the time (I got some hand lotion for it) so it doesn't crack and fade.
Friday is here, and along with this amazing day come some amazing people. Louie, then Russ and Dan, then Kyle and Leia all got back yesterday and the 90s feels like home again. Lil' Turtle is doing well and looking really healthy (and really comfotable with people, too). Rap music is usually playing from more than one source in the room. And everyone is totally geared up to be back, which says SO MUCH about how much of a family we are, that we would all rather be in the 90s than at home. The party on Friday is going to be off the chain, as per usual. I think it's going to be yet again the first big party of the semester. I'm going to try and DJ for a lot of it, if I can. I'm not going to do much (if any) scratching, because I don't trust it to sound good, but we have a whole bunch of actually decent rap and techno singles that I can play for several hours. Should be bundles of fun.
I love my life. How many people get to have friends this amazing, and parties this fun, and really amazing academics to boot? I don't know if I have bragged about this yet, but I convinced the math department to offer a class just for me - calculus of variations. There is a guest professor that comes every few years, and he didn't have anything to teach this year and I had been clamoring for some calc of variations, so I think my math prof from last semester suggested it to him. That means that I might have to drop abstract algebra which I was excited about because it looked easy but math-y enough to not be at all redundant. If I don't drop it, and drop Psych 101 instead, that means I'll be taking 3 math classes (one 300-level and two 400-level) and quantum physics 2 which is supposed to be impossible as well as a really hard lab course and Chinese 202. That seems pretty daunting... I had such a hard time with Chinese last semester because I never had time to study. I guess I'll keep everything at first and then decide what to drop later.
The tattoo is getting less attention from people than I thought it would, but I am ultra happy with it. It smells kinda weird, though. Also, surprisingly, it hasn't itched or hurt at all, and has not even scabbed up yet (there is one small part that has a scab on it, but for the most part it's really healthy). I am told that it will scab up, but I think the heling process is going really well and I am now far beyond the point where I need to be worrying about infection. Now I have to worry about keeping it moist all the time (I got some hand lotion for it) so it doesn't crack and fade.
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
ink, and other beautiful things in life
I haven't been publicizing it much except to a few people, but ive been thinking of inking myself of over the past several months or so, and as part of my new years' resolution to not be such a pussy, yesterday I finally bit the bullet. I have always been opposed to the idea of getting a 'safe' tattoo first, where I can hide it away, because I am unsure about it. I think if you're going to get something permanent on your body, you should do it with confidence, enough to get something that you're willing to see every day. So I did.
There is a considerable amount of care involved with keeping it from getting infected or blurring in the first few days, and I am lazy, so I took the day off from lab and have been sitting around in the 90s watching TV and napping and playing nintendo 64 and waiting for Cristina to get back and waiting for the basketball game (there has been a lot of time to do things, since I'm not doing any work - thus the run-on sentence). And I figure what better time to add my 4th or whatever blog to my budding literary publishings on this website, and muse about what I have done to myself and to the 3 or so other people that actually read the facebook close enough to see that I have a blog and care.
That was just 2 sentences. Or wannabe sentences; I guess there were problems with both.
Anyways, one of the things that is really strange about getting a tattoo (especially a first tattoo, of course) is that you're sitting in the chair and it's getting put on you and you are of course completely aware that there is no going back and you don't really have any desire to, but just the fact that you're irretractably involved in something that is going to influcence at least the next 20 years if not the rest of your life gives you really strong chills. It's kind of like a more personal version of what everyone felt when they first found out about 9/11, without all the negative parts - the knowledge that what has just happened is one of the most important and certainly lasting things that you will ever go through/experience.
And the rest of the night, it's looking at this thing on you that looks AWESOME and trying to get your mind around the fact that it will ALWAYS be there. It's just really mind-boggling. Of course, I was completely aware of all of the consequences of getting a tattoo beforehand - I in no way made the decision rashly, I had been planning this for some time now - but there's a difference between wanting to get a tattoo and planning to get a tattoo and then just having got a tattoo. Totally different world.
But all of that just really motivates you to really thoroughly and correctly take care of it, especially for the first two weeks or so when it can get infected and do most of the fading, because all of those things are true whether you do take proper care or not - if I get infected, I will still have a tattoo. It just won't look as good. So I am going to make damned sure I don't. That's harder than it sounds in the 90's - you don't want it to touch ANYTHING except the inside of a clean shirt (and even that's tenuous. I don't want it to be really rubbing hard against it, only lying gently) and your hands AFTER you have soaped them and have either soap or triple antibiotic on them. You can't let it get too wet, you don't want to expose it to sunlight, you can't let it dry out - really, constant care. In a way, you could say that this is preparing me for having a child because I imagine that includes a lot of the same feelings of permanence and responsibility and a confounding sense of the future mixed with extreme pride and happiness...
What a fucking hippie. Anyways, what I got is my ex-girfriend's name tattooed along the small of my back.
Just kidding, come see for yourselves, kids.
There is a considerable amount of care involved with keeping it from getting infected or blurring in the first few days, and I am lazy, so I took the day off from lab and have been sitting around in the 90s watching TV and napping and playing nintendo 64 and waiting for Cristina to get back and waiting for the basketball game (there has been a lot of time to do things, since I'm not doing any work - thus the run-on sentence). And I figure what better time to add my 4th or whatever blog to my budding literary publishings on this website, and muse about what I have done to myself and to the 3 or so other people that actually read the facebook close enough to see that I have a blog and care.
That was just 2 sentences. Or wannabe sentences; I guess there were problems with both.
Anyways, one of the things that is really strange about getting a tattoo (especially a first tattoo, of course) is that you're sitting in the chair and it's getting put on you and you are of course completely aware that there is no going back and you don't really have any desire to, but just the fact that you're irretractably involved in something that is going to influcence at least the next 20 years if not the rest of your life gives you really strong chills. It's kind of like a more personal version of what everyone felt when they first found out about 9/11, without all the negative parts - the knowledge that what has just happened is one of the most important and certainly lasting things that you will ever go through/experience.
And the rest of the night, it's looking at this thing on you that looks AWESOME and trying to get your mind around the fact that it will ALWAYS be there. It's just really mind-boggling. Of course, I was completely aware of all of the consequences of getting a tattoo beforehand - I in no way made the decision rashly, I had been planning this for some time now - but there's a difference between wanting to get a tattoo and planning to get a tattoo and then just having got a tattoo. Totally different world.
But all of that just really motivates you to really thoroughly and correctly take care of it, especially for the first two weeks or so when it can get infected and do most of the fading, because all of those things are true whether you do take proper care or not - if I get infected, I will still have a tattoo. It just won't look as good. So I am going to make damned sure I don't. That's harder than it sounds in the 90's - you don't want it to touch ANYTHING except the inside of a clean shirt (and even that's tenuous. I don't want it to be really rubbing hard against it, only lying gently) and your hands AFTER you have soaped them and have either soap or triple antibiotic on them. You can't let it get too wet, you don't want to expose it to sunlight, you can't let it dry out - really, constant care. In a way, you could say that this is preparing me for having a child because I imagine that includes a lot of the same feelings of permanence and responsibility and a confounding sense of the future mixed with extreme pride and happiness...
What a fucking hippie. Anyways, what I got is my ex-girfriend's name tattooed along the small of my back.
Just kidding, come see for yourselves, kids.
Monday, January 1, 2007
living alone in the 90s is a challenge
So New Years was a bit of a letdown, but I don't really care. I watched The Empire Strikes Back and then some Dane Cook on HBO, which was a nice quiet way to enter the new year. I am going to enter it with much more volume today... hold on to your hats folks, this one's going to be a winner.
What I'm really writing about today is the difficulty I am having feeding myself. Last night I ate chex mix with chiptle queso dip for dinner, with a carrot and a banana. Today I had a carrot and half a yam for breakfast. I don't think that's going to really sustain me if I am planning on working out a bunch and gaining weight. I won't starve, though; people are coming in to Rice starting tomorrow, and I actually do have a lot of food. I have several cans of dinner type foods, in fact, like beef stew. So that should be dandy. I was disappointed to realize how many of the things that I want to eat require milk - for instance, cereal and (yummy) macaroni and cheese. I was really craving some mac and cheese, but that'll have to wait.
Today's lunch menu: spicy sausage and a banana. And some bread. Luckily these scans that I'm running in lab take so goddamned long to do that I can pretty much start one and go cook and eat lunch with no problem. Let's hope for my sake that I actually get some good data out of them. The good news is that the laser is cooperating...
Since I have been back at Rice, I haven't actually seen anyone except Yu-pu. I was going to hang out with Nathan and Tim last night, but such is the way of being not 21. I have gained a new turntable skill, and am waiting eagerly to show Louie, so my time is not wasted. I really want to actually DJ an entire party sometime. I think that may happen if the 90s people end up being socials coordinators next year, which seems inevitable because we are the only people at Will Rice that have thrown sucessful parties, and we have done so with regularity and energy that has gained notoriety not only at Will Rice but throughout the university in general. Which is nice, because any time we throw a party we are garunteed that many people will show up because they trust that it will be good.
On that note, looking forward to spinning some and doing some crazy shit on the 7th hopefully, the day before classes start. That's when everyone gets back, so we'll have the only party on campus and hopefully people will appreciate that and not go to bed before school the next day.
Finally, I want to say fuck you to all those people that think that the 90s are a bunch of no-good irresponsible hoodlums. We all got great grades in hard classes this year (Kyle is proud as hell too), which goes to show that partying to excess when working to excess is healthy and a good way to ensure sucess in academics. Ha.
What I'm really writing about today is the difficulty I am having feeding myself. Last night I ate chex mix with chiptle queso dip for dinner, with a carrot and a banana. Today I had a carrot and half a yam for breakfast. I don't think that's going to really sustain me if I am planning on working out a bunch and gaining weight. I won't starve, though; people are coming in to Rice starting tomorrow, and I actually do have a lot of food. I have several cans of dinner type foods, in fact, like beef stew. So that should be dandy. I was disappointed to realize how many of the things that I want to eat require milk - for instance, cereal and (yummy) macaroni and cheese. I was really craving some mac and cheese, but that'll have to wait.
Today's lunch menu: spicy sausage and a banana. And some bread. Luckily these scans that I'm running in lab take so goddamned long to do that I can pretty much start one and go cook and eat lunch with no problem. Let's hope for my sake that I actually get some good data out of them. The good news is that the laser is cooperating...
Since I have been back at Rice, I haven't actually seen anyone except Yu-pu. I was going to hang out with Nathan and Tim last night, but such is the way of being not 21. I have gained a new turntable skill, and am waiting eagerly to show Louie, so my time is not wasted. I really want to actually DJ an entire party sometime. I think that may happen if the 90s people end up being socials coordinators next year, which seems inevitable because we are the only people at Will Rice that have thrown sucessful parties, and we have done so with regularity and energy that has gained notoriety not only at Will Rice but throughout the university in general. Which is nice, because any time we throw a party we are garunteed that many people will show up because they trust that it will be good.
On that note, looking forward to spinning some and doing some crazy shit on the 7th hopefully, the day before classes start. That's when everyone gets back, so we'll have the only party on campus and hopefully people will appreciate that and not go to bed before school the next day.
Finally, I want to say fuck you to all those people that think that the 90s are a bunch of no-good irresponsible hoodlums. We all got great grades in hard classes this year (Kyle is proud as hell too), which goes to show that partying to excess when working to excess is healthy and a good way to ensure sucess in academics. Ha.
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