Days in the life

Last night I went to this CHEM135 dinner sponsored by my professor. There are six people chosen in a random raffle every week for a thursday dinner. It was at Plato's Diner, and I didn't really know where it was, but my directions were to get to Route One and head south. The walk was about 30 minutes with the sky threatening to fall the entire way. Evidently it was just holding its breath because it poured after I entered. The food was good; I had the rib-eye sandwich. Dinner talk was mainly about what classes everyone is taking, what they thought of it all, etc. After dinner I needed to walk back to Ellicott... in the rain... so that was fun. I just kind of meandered til I got to the building, seeing how I was already soaked. I think I might've gotten sick from that unfortunately. Later I joined in a game of Poker (Texas Hold 'em), but the cards weren't with me that night. I was like the deer in Big Game Hunters (arcade game) that would get shot but still manage to walk off the screen to have you fail the round. I didn't go down easy. There were about sixteen people there, and I made it down to the final seven. Not bad for my first game in a while.

This morning I only woke up an hour late, and could make it to English on time (as opposed to my two and a half hours >.<). From there I went to a Psychology Experiment, where I was to see if I could outsmart a lie detector. I might've done it too, just because I kept answering questions wrong by accident... whoops... Almost fell asleep in my ENES lecture (next to a professor sitting in the classroom) and had a Calc 3 exam. That kicked my @$$. Slept in CHEM (as I told my professor I would from the night before) and came back to the dorm. Interesting times.

It ain't cold yet

I just can't understand why people are wearing long sleeves/jackets and long pants. Well, I suppose that long pants isn't as large of a deal because people wear long pants all the time, even in summer (strange types). Just because the sun is blocked by clouds and the wind is blowing doesn't mean that it's now cold outside. 60 degrees is plenty warm to go out in shorts and tee shirts, just watch me as i whiz by on my bike in said clothes, drinking refrigerated water. Just because it is now 'officially autumn' doesn't mean someone snapped his fingers and lowers the temperature. I highly recommend all of you 'cold' people to get used to these temperatures. This is exactly the same type of weather in spring but you're all wearing shorts and tees then.

I'm willing to bet 9 out of every 10 people asked has not camped in a tent in below freezing temperatures. I have, and I'll tell you what: it's fun. It's a great feeling, sleeping in your sleeping bag all cozy and warm, and waking up to snow covering your tent and everything around you. It's silent, pristine. This is real camping in the woods, I tell you. I've camped in torrential downpours (also fun), slept in a hammock for a week (in torrential downpours (also fun)), backpacked through the mountains of New Mexico (oh yes, its not flat there like in Oklahoma). I must say, the only thing that is more enjoyable than camping in the snow in winter time is camping on an island miles from civilization. Sleeping with the crabs.

Well... holy crap

I procrastinated my English paper (as I usually did in high school) because I can never really seem to focus until the twelve hours before the class its due. So I finished my draft about 3:05 am and was fanatically looking for someone to use their printer. Luckily, there are some people on my floor who have some insomnia issues and I managed to use someones printer. When I say printer I mean half broken piece of crap that can't handle trying to understand printing more than one page at a time let alone having the ability to only have one piece of paper in it at any given time. After this printing fiasco I realize I still need to staple the pages together. Another insomniac's roommate owns a stapler. So I was able to go into his room while the roommate was sleeping and find the stapler. The thing is, I can't see in the dark, so I was blindly reaching around for it. Finally I get frustrated because I want to go to sleep, so I whisper very quietly, "Hey, wake up man." Surprisingly, because the noise of me rummaging through his desk was much louder than my voice, he bolts up, but acts nonchalantly. "Sup?" It pretty much threw me across the room. He showed me where it is, and I finally went to sleep. Mission accomplished... or so I thought.

I hadn't thought that I might not wake up to my alarm in the morning, partially because in high school if i ever missed it my mom would get me up in time. Well momma ain't here. Evidently I had woken up by my alarm, walked across the room, turned it off, and smacked it before going back to bed. Bad move. I shot out of bed at exactly 10:30 (weird) staring at the clock screaming "oh s*** oh s***" in my mind. Now that i think about it, I don't know why the first thing that i thought I had to do was shower. Regardless I managed a 5 minute shower, dressed, threw my books in my backpack, and raced to my bike. I must have averaged at least 16 mph even uphill to get to English class. My hair was wet until the end of the ride, and my hair was sticking up. Fast-walking to the room, I straighten my hair (ish) and pause at the door. Panting, I walk in, notice everyone noticing me, and that ended my adventure.

Moral of this story: if theres a paper due, set both alarms to wake up in time.

Freewriting In English Class Narrative Thing

Well, for my story narrative thing I am going to talk about video games I've played, perhaps some of the more addicting ones in particular. Maybe talk about an event in one of the games, maybe follow though an entire round of a game...
There are too many different types of games I could talk about:
FPS - First person shooter
RTS - real time strategy
RPG - role playing game
TBS - turn based strategy
MMO - massively multiplayer online

There is also of course all the different aspects to each game that can pull one in as well:
Ventrilo - talking online to other people
Guilds - people working together in a mini community type thing
etc...

Well I could edit this to make it longer, but I don't really feel like talking about this in here anymore.

CHEM -999

My chemistry class, specially designed for engineers, is completely useless. Allegedly we've gone over 3 chapters of material, but all I remember is watching my professor attempt to cut open a full plastic container of lotion, play with glue, and wear Hawaiian shirts.

He's talked about the following for an entire lecture each:
what we should learn from chapter 1 in the book
aluminum
solving one chemistry problem
light bulbs
elements in the Universe - almost interesting
what we should learn from chapter 2 in the book
gloop (glue + water + borax)
what we should learn from chapter 3 in the book

I must say I only go to the lectures because I still hope there will be something useful there. As far as the discussions go, one was talking about how CHEM 135 is for engineers and the other was us sitting there twiddling our thumbs. My notes in this class consist of a drawing of a robotic spider with guns. The homework takes 30 minutes to do and you just look in the book for the answers.

I was really hoping that chemistry would be interesting like it was in high school, but all I find myself doing are crosswords and sudokus. Chemistry with Tossell is honestly a joke.

Hmm... its been a few days

I went home last weekend to say hi to my family and eat come home cooked food. Also, while I was home, I managed to buy the rock climbing gear I've been wanting.

Foodwise, it was so worth coming home. Friday night my parents bought crab cakes, which are always delicious. Saturday we grilled burgers, always great. That night my mom tried a new way to cook ribs (Sunday nights meal) and the instructions were '200 degrees for four hours'. Well, they weren't done for eight hours, but they turned out the best EVER. Best ribs in my life.

One odd thing I found when I returned home was that I felt extremely lazy compared to college life. There wasn't nearly as much to do at home, and my computer was in college so all I did was watch football and read. I caught up some reading I had meant to do in college, but it seemed kinda slow back at home. I actually prefer being at the dorm with so many things to do and people to hang out with.

Rock climbing since I got the gear has been completely awesome. My chalk prevents me from killing my hands now (yay!), and the shoes can keep grip on much smaller holds than my tennis shoes could. Last but not least, my harness is so much more comfortable than the free ones that you sign out at the wall. Rather than the straps digging into my waist and legs, I feel as if I could hang there all day.

If anyone ever wants to go rock climbing, let me know! I can help you out and belay if you want (which is especially helpful if its crowded).

A little deep thinking for ya

For the past two nights now in my dorm room I've gone into the common room to do my homework. You might guess that those were the first two nights I did my homework ... and you would be wrong of course... *ahem*.

So college life is a lot more free than I'm used to, which also means I've been doing more responsible things than back at home (makes no sense, I know). Back In high school I had a group of friends who never really needed to do homework anywhere other than in class that day it was assigned or due. They always pulled it off. Of course, I did it too; high school was easy. But here in college I'm trying to get things done a day or two beforehand.

I figured I had to get that out of the way because everyone has to talk about their transition sometime...

I'm one of those kids you would call 'good at math'. Because of this, and the fact that I like to help people out with their problems, it feels like I became 'that guy' who people try to get to know just enough to get him to help with their work and then keep away at a distance (Note: this may not be necessarily true, it just seems that way from high school and already a few people on my floor). So far I've helped at least 9 people on my floor, and they seem to give me respect for my abilities. But because I can do this work so easily in comparison to them its like they elevate me to another level of person. It seems like they can't talk to me about anything but the work because they don't know how else to relate to me.

So, ironic as it seems, I might actually like English the most in college because I won't be that 'go to guy' for the subject. I'm just not good at it!

And for the record, it's not that I don't like to help people (in fact i mentioned the opposite statement above), this is just for clarification. I think helping people helps reinforce the material in my mind as well. It's just that I feel that the relationship between me and the people I help become too 'teacher - student'.

Pancakes in Autumn ... In Maryland

I have never heard such a discussion topic mentioned in an English class as the delicious subject of pancakes. And Maryland in autumn is a perfect place and time to enjoy this 24 hour treat. Why autumn? Perhaps it gets the mind thinking about maple syrup. Maybe it's the perfect time to tap those trees for their nectar to pour on those perfect cakes of pan. Along with the traditional maple syrup, theres an abundant of flavors for those not-so-standard tastes. Theres butter pecan, strawberry, blueberry ... and I'm only mentioning the typical ones offered at your local IHOP. Speaking of IHOP, it clearly redefined breakfast as what the word was originally supposed to mean (in my opinion). People believe that breakfast is your 'morning meal', but when you break the word down you are actually 'breaking your fast', a.k.a. ending your period of fasting. You could be fasting all day through the traditional 'supper time' and then decide to eat. What is that meal called? Breakfast. When can you eat it at IHOP? Anytime. This may bring up the discussion of how long exactly you have to not eat in order to be thought of as fasting. I would suggest any period of time longer than, say, the length between the average Joe's meals of the day (about 7am, 1 pm and 6 or 7pm, so any time not eating for longer than 6 hours would qualify as fasting). This brings to the final point: why Maryland? If you're not in or have never been to Maryland, you wouldn't believe that we have in fact brought dragons back to life and use them as transport. You also might not believe we have every single superhero ever conceptualized protecting us. But of the rest of you (the ones who have been here) know why Maryland. You just know.

You dare question me!?

After learning just before class today I had to do a 'mandatory assignment' on my 'mandatory blog' (eh, essentially mandatory) since I never received that email... (blaming ELMS of course) I figured it best to take my time of today's blog to... well, you know, do it.

1. Introduce yourself briefly. Where are you from? Where have you gone to school? What educational plans brought you to the University of Maryland, and what fields of learning or potential majors interest you at this stage in your academic career?

Hi, I'm Dan (Hi Dan) and I'm from Baltimore County. I went to Hereford High School, not the one in Texas (in case you decided to Google it). I had plans to go to college, applied to MIT and UMD, didn't get accepted into MIT but did here, so here I am. I'm interested in Aerospace Engineering.

2. What kinds of writing have you done in high school? At UMD? At another college? Outside of a school setting?

I preferably write informally, but have had to write research papers and the sort... I don't really know or remember what types but I pretty much hated them all equally. At UMD I've written an informal paper about me and blogged. Haven't written at another college, and I try to not write in my free time.

3. What steps do you usually follow when you write a paper? Do you outline? Revise? Compose on a word processor? What part of the writing process do you find easiest? What part do you find hardest?

Unfortunately, I typically don't follow a set plan on writing a paper. Example: for my Junior and Senior year in high school I did not write a rough draft and wrote the entire paper the night before it was due (I got both 92% by the way). I did do the required note cards, though late, and I do type them up on MS Word.

4. What kind of writing has given you the most satisfaction?

Freestyle. Any way I can just let some wit or personality into my writing that comes naturally.

5. What is the longest or most challenging paper you have ever had to write? How did you go about preparing and writing it? What did you learn about writing from that experience?

My Senior year writing 12 pages about comparing two novels. I didn't prepare, I took some notes in the novels, I did an outline, and I didn't do a rough draft. I learned to use more time on my writing reports.

6. What do you remember learning about writing from other courses or other writing experiences that you found useful?

To put it blunt, I didn't.

7. Assess your strengths and weaknesses as a writer. What are you good at? What aspects of your writing are you dissatisfied with?

I am dissatisfied with the speed I write a paper and I don't always write as thoroughly as I wish. Another problem is that sometimes I try to plan the paper perfectly in my head and lose all my time with that.

8. What part of the writing process do you think you will need the most support with?

Planning to Rough Draft

9. If you had your choice of subjects for a research project, what issues or topics would you like to write about?

Something fun like video games or nature.

10. What do you associate with the term argument? How do you feel about taking a course that focuses on argumentation?

I associate argument with someone talking about a particular side of a discussion/debate. I can focus on promoting one side of an argument pretty well so I'm not too worried about that part of the class.

Artistic flair?

So I had originally posted a picture of me when I went to Philmont in New Mexico, but that picture doesn't quite fit the persona of a 'mad man ranting' ... and its also two years old ... so I fiddled in MS Paint until I got bored...

Side note: Philmont is a Camp run by Boy Scouts and is one of the three 'High Adventure' trips a scout can do. You select a particular trek and backpack for 11 days or so... pretty much the manliest thing you can do save going alone in uninhabited territory. The other one I've done is Florida Sea Base, where I lived on an essentially deserted island about five miles south of Key West for a week (which was the greatest trip in my life). The third is North Frontier, somewhere along the Canadian border. There you go on a week long canoe trip.

Back to MS Paint. Here is the current two candidates for my profile picture:






I gotta admit, my two selfs are strikingly similar (not). Of course I'll get more artistic eventually, perhaps photoshop something together. I'll swap the pictures on Monday before the next blog.

I'm also working on my first flash animation... well not so much as flash as many many pictures put together in a slide show type deal with a movie editor program. The quality of artwork is a bit better than the profile picture... I'm personally proud of my cloud... titled simply 'Ball Bounce', I'm hoping to make it about 10 seconds long. (why so short? thats pretty pathetic) Yeah, I know that 10 seconds is short, but after I've made 32 frames it's still only about 2 seconds long and that took about four hours to create.

Here is the preview:

So this is a blog, eh?

Clearly, since this blog is going to be posted to everyone ... hopefully just in my class ... I should clear some things up about some information I have.

For example:

ae42 (my nickname or whatever I chose on this) does NOT stand for 'American Eagle'. I am WAY too cheap for that place, and I don't really have that sort of 'fashion sense' anyhow. it stands for 'Answer to Everything is 42'. If you know what that is a reference of, you deserve a cookie.

My AIM (labeled AOL on this for some reason), r0x0rz j00 f00 (those o's are zeros), was made a long time ago when I thought I was too cool to use real words and I never changed it because I'm lazy when it comes to insignificant labels. It's supposed to mean something along the lines of 'I rule you, fool', but the message is widely unreceived by the masses.

As for this 'blog project' for ENGL101, I have my doubts that I will remember to fill it out often enough, especially since I tried to blog once very many moons ago and lasted about a week. Then again, this is graded, so I will try to make it regular and entertaining. With that said, if you actually start reading other peoples blogs (more importantly mine) and don't see one posted every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, please IM my ridiculously strange screen name and complain about how you haven't read a new rambling yet.

I sure as h3ll (is that considered a slur?) don't want to earn a 'B' grade in this easier section of the class, especially because I am an insanely slow writer when it comes to English papers. Is this more than 250 words? Is Ms. Corbin going to even count what we type? Most likely not on either account.... and she'll probably read that too...