Ten and 2/3 points to the first person to identify the title without cheating.

I was loading up a television episode on the computer to watch before turning in for the night.  My mouth was getting restless, so I found a sucker for it- one of those See's Candy big rectangular ones.  I just grabbed a sucker and put it in my mouth (that's the only way to have suckers).  I mean, with a 40-minute episode, I'd get through it no problem.

Problem.

The episode had started loading correctly, but then the website went down.  I had just gotten a good start on the sucker, and you know how horribly sticky it gets when you try to save it... yeah, I know, wax paper or something... but it's not the same.

So now I'm sitting here doing nothing but trying to finish this huge See's Candy chocolate sucker.  It's lovely, but it's a lot of work to eat quickly without breaking your teeth off.

...I know, life's rough, eh?  :)

EDIT: Never mind.  Not going.  Oh well, I will survive!

---

That's right, ladies and gents, I'm gonna see Wicked tomorrow- for the first time ever!  With my beautiful girlfriend!

I know, I shouldn't just GIVE it away with hints like the obvious polychordal voicing of a second-inversion IV9/IV, a signature sound of Schwartz's.  Perhaps less so than Williams' C(add9#11)  or his  I∆4/2... but still characteristic of his own style.

Is it bad that I have other examples? 

Watched two movies last night online- both were first-times for me.  My reviews in a nutshell:
1. Kung Fu Panda- Fun, clean, predictable, but still enjoyable.  The crane sounds like Tobias Fünke.
2. Die Hard (1)- good action flick, strong language, dated but not unbearable, implausible but awesome.

In closing, WATCH THE VIDEO on my last post.  Spontaneous comedic duet!

First off, I'm publicly declaring in the Xangaverse that I am in love with a wonderful, beautiful girl.  No jokes this time like with the Aloe Vera or the Jaguar.  This time is the real deal.  I'm not afraid to say it, and I pray that I get to say it for a very long time.

On a totally opposite end of the spectrum, I heard at work today that a coworker in the Eiro project trailer just lost her husband to a heart attack.  It was pretty rough on a lot of the folks I work with, though I don't really know this lady.  Some other unfortunate misinformation was distributed that made it even more difficult for a while.  Sometimes life and death just don't seem to make sense.

Next, my roommate brought home a Nintendo Wii this week.  He's been playing it a lot.  I spent about 2 hours one day playing and haven't touched it since... but it's fun, and the sport games I can actually play ok!

Today I had dinner with my sister.  We talked about stuff.  A good deal of stuff.  I'm glad to finally have caught up with her- she's often on the go, so this was good.

Tomorrow, I am going to see Wall-E with Charmaine.  I love Pixar movies.  I'm curious to see if it feels slow during the non-dialogue segments... after all, it's a robot.  2001: A Space Odyssey, anyone?

And lastly, APU has its Annual Day of Prayer tomorrow.  Every staff and faculty member on campus is supposed to meet for a day of prayer and refocusing on Christ and the year before us.  I don't object to prayer, corporate worship, or even setting an entire day aside to do so.  I just wish it wasn't a Friday!  Fridays are my single day back in the office- a chance to catch up (somewhat) on office stuff.  I treasure Fridays for that reason, because it's like that rush you get when spring cleaning- weekly.  Work has been stressful and full of responsibility lately, and Friday is the day to sort out the dirty laundry you've been throwing in the corner all week... even if all you do is throw it in the right basket.  At this point, it looks like I'm putting everything aside and letting God teach me to listen again.  Last year, He taught me that sometimes listening to Him means also noticing the air escaping from your tire, so you might as well spend your solitary devotional time at the shop getting a patch.  I'm praying this year's lesson won't be quite as expensive.

Ok, that paragraph got long.  I guess that shows how well I come alive when I'm complaining.  Yippee!

Want to help break a world record (for most downloads in 24 hours)?
Want to upgrade to the best free web browser out there?
All you have to do is download Firefox 3 (just released) today! 

Ok, I don't know the exact deadline, but even if you miss it, you get a great browser anyway.

Here's where you can download it:  Firefox 3!
 

I just received a report that some of you are dying to know what is up in the life of the sc0tlas.  First, I hold a special place in my heart for you folks, though I admit to being a mite concerned for you.

There's been so much going on, it's hard to get it all out, so rather than really digging deep and processing (as two of you may remember I have only ever promised this, but never followed through), I'll give you quick snippets of stuff.

1. Yes, I still have a girlfriend.  She liked that poem I posted.  So much that she left California for 10 days with her family.  Ok, it was on a vacation that they started planning way before she knew I existed.  They went to Hawai'i, and apparently it was a great trip.  We spoke on the phone a fairly good amount of time.  I have more to say about Charmaine, but I will space it out so as to not induce nausea in the single and bitter.

2. My room is clean.  Also, organized.  This includes sheet music, bills/other paperwork, and CDs.  For all of this to occur simultaneously is about as miraculous as room-cleaning gets.  Now, for the rest of the apartment!

3. Before Charmaine left for Hawai'i, I gave her a monkey that related to a weird dream that I had once.  I told her it was a reminder that though she would be gone, she would be in my dreams (all together now: "Awwwwwwwww.....").  Though hopefully the dreams with her would be not as weird as the monkey one.  Anyway, she named the monkey Vines Narquod.  Vines was the name on his little ear-tag, and Narquod is a reference to the dream.

4. I am working on this crazy-involved process at work.  We're implementing a new info system that affects every member of the APU community.  It will completely change my job once up and running.  For now, I have people back at the office covering my usual responsibilities while I am working in a special project office on the other campus for MONTHS, configuring this system for the university's needs.  It's amazing just how much work it takes to do something like this.  The process is supposed to be finished by preregistration in for Fall 2009, which means March 2009.  Eighteen month process, and we're right in the thick of it.  So pray for us, if you think of it.

5. Charmaine brought back a ukulele for me!  It wasn't exactly a professional one, but as I am a 100% beginner, it was perfect.  I've since modified it a bit by filing down the nut and the bridge so the strings lie closer to the fingerboard.  This helps tuning a lot, and I'm beginning to be able to play songs on it!

6. I eat salad for lunch much of the time now.  The eating establishments on West Campus are decent, but the food mart has an option for whatever-you-can-fit-in-the-box-from-the-salad-bar as your main course, plus two sides and a drink for a single meal on your card.  They have been doing well at having a good selection for a little salad bar!  So, I put plenty of stuff in the box, add half the dressing, close the lid and shake to "toss" the salad.  Open, shovel in, enjoy!  Repeat as necessary.

7. Another post-Hawai'i gift to me was a photo album of Vines Narquod, the dream monkey, getting into mischief in various places throughout Maui.  It was very funny, and there was even the occasional picture of her, which didn't hurt matters at all!

8. Remember the computer system implementation project I told you about?  This transition is called "Project Eiro".  Eiro is a greek term meaning 'to connect, to bring together'.  Working closely with other departments for a year and a half definitely helps with the connectedness.  Anyway, I'm really growing to appreciate some of the other folks I work with in the Eiro trailer.  They are great, intelligent folks who also crack me up.  Most of them are also data people, so we understand each other well.  You should see our Eiro trailer quote list- it's about 4 1/2 pages already.

9. I'm sleepy, it's past my bedtime, and thus I am going to sleep.  Goodnight!
 
 

Ever seen the Victor Borge sketch where he plays a duet with an Armenian guy and it's funny?



Well, got ten minutes?  These folks have taken the piano-four-hands concept from funny to (dare I say it?) sexy...

New  -  adj.   Of recent origin, production, purchase, etc.; having but lately come or been brought into being

New describes a lot of things right now.  New is the video camera that I now own.  New is a computer system that I have been very involved with configuring for APU over the past 6 months and will be for the future year.  New is a growing relationship with a wonderful girl that I met under very unlikely circumstances.  New is my courage to try unfamiliar things.  New is my resolve to put some of my bad habits to rest once and for all.

News  -  n.  A report of a recent event; intelligence; information

My life is also full of news.  My sister was just re-baptized into the Christian Orthodox church.  I went to the service (my second time at her new church), and though it was a little different than most churches I've attended, she's found a place that she seems to be calling home.  This, if you know my sister, is a big deal.  News is that on Thursday I'm playing piano for a show in Monrovia.  I will have no rehearsal- just talking through the score with Robby, whom I am replacing for a single performance.  Other news involves the fires above Monrovia/Arcadia/Sierra Madre.  They were spreading very quickly today, and watching it makes one feel utterly powerless.  News is that on a walk today with the aforementioned girl, we passed a place that looked familiar.  I said, "Huh, that looks like where Jay and Faith live, but I don't remember."  I then spotted a man on the stairs, and said, "Hey, Jay!"  He invited us in, gave us Orangina, and we spent some time talking with him, Faith, and a few of their other guests. 

Also in news is that my boss, Daniel, is leaving the UG Registrar's Office to pursue a rapidly growing career as an all-around musician.   He told me a few days ago, and I couldn't concentrate on anything else that day, because I realize the impact he has had on me through the years.  Daniel and I are very similar in many ways, and very different in many ways.  We are both musicians specializing in voice, piano, arranging, conducting, and technology.  My first semester at APU I was scared out of my wits, and he was kind enough to help me along in little ways.  He was Al Clifft's student conductor in UCO, something that I always wanted to do.  He was a tech in our music computer lab- one of the few that was well respected by his fellow students.  He accompanied the choirs at Covina High School for a time.  He took music jobs that seemed way over his head, only to find that God was faithful in bringing him things that he was just equipped enough to accomplish.  He took a step of faith and applied for a job in a registrar's office, an unlikely place for a musical talent of his caliber.

In all these areas, I've followed his lead in a way.  I've had the honor of bringing encouragement to several UCO newbies, I conducted for Al and Rod in UCO for years, I became a music lab tech (much because someone I helped in the lab said, "Wow, you're like the next Daniel Semsen!" and I was honored), I played piano for CHS, I have taken (and survived) gigs outside my alleged skills, and I've now worked in the UG Reg Office for 11 months.

I've looked up to Daniel for 7 years, despite how mean I am to him most of the time.  When I beat him in the weight-loss competition, when I trounced his record in the crowd-counter speed competition, when I pointed out his spelling errors and laughed at him for the Reply-All email that will go down in history, I did so out of love.  Daniel has inspired me to do well as a student, a working musician, and an administrator.  I continue to secretly look up to him, even though I make fun of him to his face.  Daniel, you will be sorely missed in the quadruple-wide UG Reg trailer, and I pray TONS of blessing on you and your family during your newest chapter of awesomeness.


Gnu  -  n.  Stocky, oxlike antelopes of the genus Connochaetes, the silver-gray, white-bearded C. taurinus of the eastern African plain and the black, white-tailed C. gnou of central South Africa: recently near extinction, the South African gnu is now protected.  Also called wildebeest.

 


These are gnus. ^^  They are watching... always watching...

 

Never start blogging before you decide what to blog about.