superfluous fixation

Facebook has been tagged as the medium that will revolutionize the internet and bridge the gap between social networking sites and professional networking sites. Its also been found to be useful for keeping in touch with old friends, distant relatives, and for finding out every time those people-you-will-probably-never-speak-to-ever-again-and-basically-never-spoke-to-at-all-in-high-school-but-for-some-reason-requested-you-as-a-friend-on-Facebook-and-you-didn't-want-to-be-mean-so-you-added-them sneezes.

Regardless, I recently found a feature on Facebook that puts all the other to rest. Facebook Scrabble. There was a previous form known as Scrabulous, but Hasbro sued for copyright infringement, settled the case, and proceeded to make an official-but-crappier Facebook version of its game.

Now, fun fact about myself: I like boardgames - alot. I also like competing and winning, but I mainly just like boardgames. And puzzles. And Scrabble happens to be a really good mix of both. So because of that, I have been really happy to be able to play Scrabble on Facebook against friends from all over the world. Having been playing Scrabble about non-stop for about 9 hours yesterday, one realizes how quickly things like going to the gym, eating healthy, and leaving your room become irrelevant in comparison with how to utilize the remaining triple word spot with the letters RCJPSUA in your hand [jars, caps, pars, cars, carp, cups, spar].

I think I may be entering a whole new level of dork. o.O

chaotic regurgitation

Randomness I have found in the past few weeks and felt like sharing:


Oops...

Proposition 8: The Musical

"Prop 8 - The Musical" starring Jack Black, John C. Reilly, and many more... by Jack Black

An amusing take on a very serious issue.

I personally do not recall the 'Wassup' beer commercial, but apparently it was a big hit.


Wassup has been updated. Here is 'Wassup 2008'


I find that if I do not have anything specific to accomplish [like attending class or leaving my dorm], I spend hours on end reading and/or browsing the internet via 'StumbleUpon'. I think I may end up messing with my blog layout again; we'll see...

unnatural deselection

Being exam week, I have found myself with an unnatural urge to study more than normal. By more than normal, I mean that I find myself actually studying for the first time this all semester. [<-- that is an exaggeration. I distinctly remember looking at the pretty pictures in my Bio book one Monday during my Cprogramming class =D]

Regardless, I have determined that I do better on tests and quizzes, and therefore feel better about myself, when I have studied and actually know what I am doing. So I shall be doing more of that in the near future.

This, along with running 3 times a week, is my goal for the coming break/semester. We'll see how long it lasts... :)

smoke alarms and 6am rage

This week is that dreaded time of the semester when the average [and even the above-average] college student says a big "oh %$*@" [a word that, depending on the person, could rhyme with trap, bell, duck, or meh] and gets down to business of learning that we all [I hope] are here at college for: exam week.

This week has also been known throughout time as hell, stress overload, the most important week of my life (this semester), and that time when no sleep is meant to be had.

Taking this concept of no sleep to the extremes, I woke up at the pleasant hour of 5:47am this morning - to the sounds of screeching fire alarms. [NOTE: NEVER a pleasant thing to wake up to, much less at 6 in the morning the day before exams.] Stumbling out of my room, grabbing my laptop, cell phone and wallet, I made my way down to the Tower courtyard where I joined the mass of confused and angry college students, wondering what was going on.Temperature conditions of our 6am sojourn outside: 45 degrees - and the sprinklers all came on, in deference of the invisible flames.

After about 10 minutes, it became apparent that no one, including the RAs knew what was going on and after about 15 minutes, we were allowed back inside. Grumbling about how this would ruin our college careers and plans to lodge formal complaints, we made our way back into the Tower to our respective abodes. Time now is 6:12am. Fully awake with no possibility of going back to sleep - since I'd have to wake up in about an hour anyway, I decide to blog about this annoying event - because that's what fully functioning people of society do nowadays. As I am whittling away at the loom that is my blog, the fire alarm goes off again. Time now is 6:34am. That means about 20 minutes since we got back, more than enough time for a tired college child to fall asleep if they felt the need.

Wary of being sent back out into the cold again, the majority of my hallmates, my roommates and I included, waited in our doorways to see if an RA in shining armor would walk through with a "please excuse this alarm" message emblazoned on his/her/its chain mail - we were not so lucky. So for the SECOND time in a 30 MINUTE PERIOD, we were sent outside into the 45 degree freezebox known as our courtyard; I had brought my laptop so I could continue updating this post - and so that it wouldn't melt if there really were a fire this time around. We were allowed back inside within 6 minutes this time.

Turns out that there was some faulty fire alarm sensor being set off in the Starbucks located in the Barnes and Noble connected to our tower; even the best caffeine fix isn't worth waking up at 5:47am the night before exams.
Vive le sommeil.

mega electron volts

I am SO ready.

p.s. - the title has nothing to do with the post.

college paper how-to

I recently (a few minutes ago) stumbled upon a webpage detailing how to write a college paper. It quickly becomes clear that these instructions were definitely written after 1971 (when Starbucks was founded) but before 2004 (when Facebook was launched), I've decided to create an updated version.

How To Write a Paper in College/University - 2008 Edition

1) Sit in a well lit area
2) Lay out all necessary books/materials
3) Open all relevant websites in tabs in your web browser of choice
4) Open a new browser window and check your email.
5) Check your Facebook to make sure no new messages/tags/pokes/wall posts/comments were received
6) Read your assignment guidelines
7) Go scavenging for a snack
8) Check and see what your roommates/any nearby people are up to
9) Read your assignment guidelines again, possibly start thinking about what you may do for it
10) Check your email; respond accordingly
11) Check your Facebook
12) Google/Wikipedia any random words/topics that you come across
13) Go say hi to your next door neighbors and tell them to watch the Victoria's Secret fashion show
14) Go have dinner with your next door neighbors, having in-depth conversations about movies, loopholes, and illicit schemes
15) Write the first paragraph of the paper
16) Attempt to solve the Rubik's cube you haven't managed to solve in over 2 years
17) Acquire a soda and/or coffee for the caffeine
18) Check your Facebook
19) Write another sentence in your paper
20) Watch the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show
21) Realize that it is now 11pm and that the assignment is due online in less than 59 minutes
22) Check your Facebook
23) Proceed to finish writing your paper in 55 minutes
24) Submit your paper with minutes to spare, due to everyone in your class submitting at the same last second, therefore slowing down system
25) Stay up until all hours of the morning playing video games/reading [for fun]/watching movies/etc
26) Pass out in your earliest class the following morning

Of course, these rules do not hold true for everybody; some people find the need to check their Facebook more often or enlist the use of Facebook chat/AIM to actively keep themselves busy. Or some update their blogs with posts that prove to be highly prophetic. Regardless, I have a programming assignment due at midnight, but first there are some Angels that need seeing to.