Baltimore's Finest Trash

Style

2005-10-02T10:40:00.000-05:00

As a frequent visitor of boingboing.net, I am always finding cool ideas from other people that are far cooler than I.

About a month ago, maybe less, someone tore apart their flash drive and placed it in a hotwheel. Never one to hesitate to rip of someone else's idea and claim it as my own, I did just that.

They used a Ferrari convertible.

Me? A 1958 Impala.

The wheels work too.

Kick ass.

All quiet on the east side

2005-10-02T10:20:00.000-05:00

So . . . back in the spring when I went to Rome I bought my friend a gift, it was a small metal pillbox with a picture of Pope John Paul II (this was two weeks before his passing).

It occurred to me last night that the shop, a very generic tourist-like shop, had several of these. So I'm sure that there are several stores that carry this item all across Rome, if not Italy. So then I began to wonder, what if somewhere, someone is perhaps using this pillbox with a picture of the Pope on front to hold their birth control pills?

That would be ironic. Indeed.

-------

No apology for not posting, I think the blog world has evolved far enough to where these long gaps are expected, if not mandatory. School is busy, but good, much more so then last year (the good part anyway, not so much the busy, which is why I suppose that it’s good). Once again, I can see the light. My Grandmother, who had a massive stroke a month ago and has been tossed back and forth between different hospitals and rehabilitation centers, has finally regained most of her mobility and her mind, and she is to come home this week. The weather is great, and as a bonus, my payroll office misplaced a check last summer, and they owe me a rather substantial sum. They have reissued me a check, and damn it, I'm going shopping.

Hurrah.

All is well.

Indirect Evolution

2005-08-17T13:45:00.000-05:00

An interesting article here, on how humans can drive the evolution of some plants.

Interesting, as I find this while I am reading Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel, who uses the same reasoning as why the strawberries that we have are larger and why the almonds that we eat are not poisons as the those found in nature (wild almonds are bitter as they contain a compound called amygdaline, which the hydrolysis of produces hydrogen cyanide).

Diamond reasons that as we humans began to domesticate crops, we obviously picked the almonds that didn't kill us, while preferring the strawberries vines that produced the higher berry-to-seed ratio. He gives several interesting examples, at least to me, about how humans helped drive the dominance of some plants that were mutated, and if left in nature would have perished. [Case in point: the peas that we grow are different from wild peas, as in the wild when peas ripen the pod explodes throwing the peas (the seeds of the vine) onto the ground so that they might sprout. But farmers domesticated mutant pea vines that did not explode, as they preferred to keep their peas in the pod for harvesting. Now in nature, these mutant peas would have died in the pod never reaching the soil and thus never sprouting because of this mutation, but humans perpetuated their survival.]

Now I am not finished with the book yet, so that isn’t to say the book isn’t filled with nuisances, broad generalizations, and other oddities such as mentioning the “Peppered Moth” myth as undisputed fact. But some of the information he has to offer is interesting to say the least.

Runnin' wild and lookin' pretty

2005-08-17T12:42:00.000-05:00

So I uploaded a song on the right for any passerby to download, so go at it. It's not a new song, or an obscure song, but rather a song that, for me anyway, has some fond memories.

As a child, we had an assortment of records and a record player that we kept on the sun porch of our house with all the other toys. Miraculously, our record player survived several years in our household, unlike the other toys that became bruised and battered, mostly by teeth marks, as I would put just about anything in my mouth (a problem that still plagues me to this day).

Most were singles, some had come free in the mail, and all were relatively small, perhaps of the seven-inch variety. Out of the twenty or so records we had, this was my favorite one to listen too. I remember the label being blue, a color that was shared by only one other record in our collection.

Because at this age I wasn't able to read yet, I would often get upset when I choose the other blue record, in which I was then bombarded with Tony Basil's cheer for Micky, (which for some reason I mistook as being sung by Lucille Ball to Desi Arnaz, her TV husband by the name of Ricky).

Those records are long gone now, along with all of the slobber-incrusted toys that resided on our sun porch. But that doesn’t bother me so much, as I have better toys now anyway (and they don’t smell funny).

Did they ever cover this on Sex and the City?

2005-08-17T09:58:00.000-05:00

So when a casual relationship is over, such as mine that lasted about a month this summer and ended like most of my relationships, that being not with an official "it's over," but more of a whimper as the phone calls trickled down to a long silence, what is the protocol with AOL IM? Do you block them? Do you erase them? Or do you just leave them on your buddy list as a reminder of another failed attempt?

I have done all three in the past, and all three have their drawl backs. I really hate to leave the screen names on my list, as that causes the list to grow longer and longer, each name a stab of shame, an albatross, if you will, reminding me of what a lousy boyfriend I must be, while apparently excelling at being a whore.

But I also like to keep the names on there, as that way I don't feel like such a loser every weekend when I am home surfing the net late at night, as I see that they are too (in which case I then put up a fake away message about going out and having fun, while in reality stumbling into the living room to watch a ST:TNG marathon with my cats). It's like stalking an old boyfriend, but from the comfort of your bedroom.

And while banishing one to the blocked list might seem like an easy answer where you are sweeping it under the rug as if it never happened (which makes me wonder how many have me blocked), that can get ugly. I have been ambushed before as dates that have gone horribly, horribly wrong (but evidently only from my view point) have logged in under another screen name to confront me.

In the meantime, with this guy, I guess I will leave him on there. I don't hate him, I am really only mildly disappointed. We both knew what this was, I was only hoping to get a few more miles out of it.

But don't worry about me, there is plenty of more room on my buddy list.

Gayest. Jeans. Ever

2005-08-16T17:56:00.000-05:00

Do men really desire their backside to look like some chick's cleavage?

Fall into the gap

2005-08-10T14:22:00.000-05:00

Why the recent silence? Cold it be a case of full fledged blog depression? (via silt).

Nah, well, may be. I just have no desire to publish now. In fact, I have some drafts that are now it publishing purgatory that I just can't seem to bring myself to even read over and see why I wrote them, and if they are worth publishing (probably not).

It's the summer, and I'm just trying to enjoy what is left of it. I'm going into my senior year, and if all goes well, I'll have a BS in May. But I also need to figure out if I want to continue on with an MS. I have struggled obtaining my BS, and though an MS would only take me one more year, I'm just not sure I am capable. In fact, I have the sneaky suspicion that my professors think I can't do it either.

Paranoia? Perhaps, but at the least, this academic journey has been a most humbling one.

With or without an MS, I plan on getting an MBA. It will make me far more marketable, I can make more money, and it will fit well into my retirement plans: around the age of 50 or so I'd like to open up more own plant nursery that will be open during the weekends as I will teach high school chemistry during the week.

But then again, things may change. When I was 19, my plans were to be a millionaire by the time I was 23. I'm now 25 and not even a ten-thousand dollaire.

Ho hum.

It happened two weeks ago

2005-08-10T13:10:00.000-05:00

At first I thought it was odd that Doug Duncan traveled up to Hamilton to give a speech. Why here? Then I realized why, because his future opponent lives just around the corner, and if he can gather a decent crowd in the Mayor's own back yard (who lives down the street in Waltherson) then he just might have a chance.

As for the meet and greet, he did pretty well, considering that it consisted nothing more than your typical bland political babble. I actually have a far better understanding of the political views of DEMOCRACY for Baltimore, who organized the event. They are against the ICC and demand that the new electronic voting machines contain a paper trail (indeed, the two hour meeting was basically hijacked by these topics).

Now I am for the paper trail, but these people foamed at the mouth over this topic, which I have never understood. As my history professor once stated, "How do they know their vote was ever counted to begin with?"

As for the ICC, I'm not too familiar with this topic or this region of Maryland. From what I get, the people fear that this new major road will only increase the new construction and overcrowding in an already overcrowded region. Perfectly understandable, but unfortunately that is on its way with or without the ICC. What the ICC will do, however, is take drivers off the back roads (which in my view, is far more dangerous for both the drivers and pedestrians).

As for Duncan, it is still far too early to make any kind of decision, as he hasn't even declared that he is running. But he likeablekable guy, and anything is better than Ehrlich.

Nothing to Declare

2005-07-27T11:47:00.000-05:00

This Thursday (tomorrow night) Doug Duncan will be less then a block away from my apartment at a church for a Meet and Greet of some sort (the information presented in both email and flyers around town has been rather lacking about the format, as I have never been to a meet and greet before and know not what to expect, as I expect most of the local population doesn't either).

I have heard very little about Duncan (all good however), but he looks promising and I am interested in what he has to say. Because I leave the next morning for Denver, I will blog about this on my return.

I will be traveling to Denver on Friday for an extended weekend to visit a friend that I haven't seen in years, I only hope it cools down while I'm there.

So it will remain quite here until next week, when I present my sure-to-be riveting opinion about Duncan.

I heart JD

2005-07-20T10:21:00.000-05:00

Everything in this room is edible! Even I'm edible. But that is called cannibalism my children, and is, in fact, frowned upon in most societies.

[...]

This is the Puppet Hospital and Burn Center . . . it's new.

Or something to that effect, I have found several variations online, but that is what I remember. Pure Gold, even my Mom laughed at these. And that Freddie Highmore is one talented kid.

Great overall flick, very visual (as any Burton film is) and far more dark than the previous version. The opening is mesmerizing, and almost hypnotic with the Danny Elfman score. Depp is far more childlike with his own problems, and thus realistic as opposed to the simply-eccentric character played by Wilder. Not that I don't care for the Wilder version, hell, I can't remember how many books I read one summer to be eligible to watch that film at my local library. But this latest version is more my kind of movie. And it is nice to see one of my fonder childhood stories revisited, and not destroyed and vandalized.

And on the topic of movies that I have viewed and enjoyed this summer, Boing Boing points us toward this. I have already printed it off (free, thanks to our very nice color printer here at work) and will start as soon as I learn Japanese.

Phone Home

2005-07-19T15:33:00.000-05:00

I have no problems with Verizon, their service often leaves me with a signal, long after my Cingular companions have given up. However, their phone selection is weak, as is all of CDMA phones. Even the newly released LG 8100 seems rather ho-hum. It is generating a lot of buzz, but only because of lowered expectations I assume. I went into a Verizon store last week to play around with it, and while, yes, the screen is wonderful, I find the speakers at the top bulky and ugly. I know with the video-on-demand thing Verizon needs better sound, but at what aesthetic cost?

My contract is up in December, and while I most certainly will be staying with Verizon, I hope by then a better selection will be out. Or hopefully this price will drop.

I know, Motorola. But I know some people that have it and it's a nice phone, more than what I expected (again, lower expectations perhaps?).

I currently own a LG 6000, and I am quite happy with it, but equally bored. But at least I know that I can hold over with this phone until something better comes along.

Over the Hill

2005-07-14T15:10:00.000-05:00

Self-imposed exile? Perhaps. But I thought we hadn't heard from her because everyone was tired of her shit.

Her 1998 album made her a household name, she even won five Grammys (whatever that is worth). She seemed so popular, so unstoppable, and so full of herself. From acting like an innocent victim of Wyclef to her never-ending journey to associate herself with Bob Marley while reading from the bible every time she was given a microphone, it wasn't hard to see why everyone believed that particular rumor.

------

By the way, I have been downloading a lot of music lately, and not from iTunes. I now legally get my music from allofmp3.com. It is not as flashy and hip as iTunes, but it is so much cheaper. I downloaded two complete albums (Missy Elliot's latest and the Gorillaz previous release) for less than six dollars, and at a much better quality that the 128 kbps iTunes offers.

Allofmp3 lets you choose the quality of your file (128, 192 and 320). The higher the quality the more they charge, but we are talking nickels and dimes here (or pennies). There are some draw backs of course. You have to first deposit money into your account, by charging your credit card, before you can download. And all of the information for a song or album isn't stored when you drag it into iTunes (cover art, etc). It is also a bit trickier to navigate and doesn't offer imixes or other fancy stuff that you get from user-friendly iTunes.

But, as mentioned, you can download an album at a much better quality in several formats for a fraction of the cost. And you can also download a full (low quality) version of the song to listen to before purchasing. I don't recommend too many things, as I am your typical everything-sucks-type-twenty-year-old, but this Russian MP3 store rocks.

Oh, and there is no DRM on these songs either. Rock on.

What Housing Bubble?

2005-07-14T11:25:00.000-05:00

Insane.

Pretty

2005-07-07T12:51:00.000-05:00

Yes, the Sony NW-E505 looks slick.

But I have to agree with the review on iPodlounge, it is only the screen that sets it above what the Shuffle has, as your eyes move away from the screen, everything else about this product seems flimsy. Although the FM tuner is a nice touch.

I can't wait to see the Shuffle 2G. This makes me think that a future iPod might not have a distinct screen, but a solid polished look with a built-in screen like this product. Sweet.

Shenanigans

2005-07-07T09:42:00.000-05:00

I was 12 when Ooooooohhh...On the TLC Tip came out, and I fell in love with TLC. A love that, though it would be eclipsed by The Cranberries for a short time, would never completely fade. My mom thought the acronym was for Tender Loving Care, but this is the same individual who thought that Red Hot Chili Pepper song went get away, get away, get away now. So close, yet . . .

It wasn't until I was 16 that TLC came out with CrazySexyCool, my girls were back, mature, and more popular then ever. I have a lot of good memories with this album, no, make that great memories. Riding around, having fun with people I now haven't seen in years, doing all kinds of stupid things in such a stupid way that to this day it is a wonder how we didn't get arrested. Several other albums would find their way into my tape deck (I eventually bought a portable CD player that I used in my car with a cassette adapter, but it skipped every time I hit a bump. Oh the days before MP3 players, when people had pagers instead of cell phones, and I was convinced of my heterosexuality).

Say what you want about my limited range in taste of music in my late teens, I don't care, and I won't apologize. Besides, I was high half the time anyway.

But then TLC came out with FanMail, a disappointing third album that took three years to make. Scrubs was a fun song (but truly, like Waterfalls in the second album, only with Left Eye's rap) that got annoying fast, much like Sisqo's thong song that would make my ears bleed in due time. Oh, summer of 1999. If it weren't for the ecstasy, I might not remember you so fondly.

Left Eye tragically died in 2002, right before the girls were to reunite to put out their forth album. Though by this point my taste in music had changed, I found this news sad. I felt this put in end to the group as Left Eye was a key vocalist in the group with the strongest personality. I've often thought the only dispensable member was Chili, sorry girl, but even you know that is true. You are like whats-her-name from Destiny's Child.

Yes, Left Eye's death was heartbreaking, but now this is just plain tragic and beyond very poor taste.

I'm Confused

2005-07-06T10:04:00.000-05:00

So aliens traveled to earth to bury giant machines so that they could come back several years later to kill humans? Why not just inhabit the planet then, and destroy humans when they were nothing more than a glob of goo, or primates, or whatever we were when the first came? And we honestly never found them? The were huge, and everywhere, and not that deep in the ground.

And were humans being incinerated or used as fertilizer? And just what the hell was all that red root-like stuff covering everything? And that whole EMP thing was constantly inconsistent (filming the lightning?). And why did the aliens look like the ones from independence Day? And what about that movie, how was our programming language compatible? And was Independence Day really released 9 years ago? God I'm getting old.

I could go on and on about how this movie frustrated me, but it is just a movie. And if you can believe it, I actually did find it enjoyable.

Decent, great, shit

2005-07-05T10:09:00.000-05:00

Via Fark.com, we learn:

Brett Ratner is spicing up the new X-Men 3 movie with the addition of his very own fantasy - a sex siren mutant who seduces her opponents rather than battles them. Ratner takes over from departing director Bryan Singer, who made the first two movies, and the Rush Hour film maker is determined to leave his mark on the comic book series.

Yes, Brett Ratner, the acclaimed director of such classic films like Double Take, Red Dragon, and, well, er... other even crappier movies that I have never heard of as well as the entire library of the Rush Hour series.

I want to cry now as a shudder with anticipation of what he has in store for the X-Men. There are spoilers regarding X-Men 3 in the comment section, but I'm not entirely faithful in their veracity. At least, let us hope that they are not true.

***And sorry for the long break, I have been busy. Meet a guy at Baltimore Pride the other week (YEA!) and I've been trying to complete miscellaneous tasks and chores that I have put off for the past six months (I finally repainted our very nasty and paint-chipped bathroom. It no longer disgusts me to take a shower in there (double YEA!)).

Huh

2005-06-22T09:25:00.000-05:00

I like DC, I don't go there often, but I do like it. It's rich in history and culture (like Baltimore), but at the same time, it's, well, cleaner . The only part I like more about Baltimore is that it is not a tourist trap (overlooked as it is for all its valuable treasures), where in DC on any given day you have a bunch of damn outsiders clogging up the streets.

An aspect of DC that I like is the nice contrast with New York, where the DC skyline lies low, offering a feeling of modesty. But that feeling of modesty is only an illusion. I'm not going to go into the tired complaints of why most in DC residents can't see beyond the beltway, instead, take a look at this article:

District of Columbia Councilman Jack Evans would like to see Southwest Airlines wrap one of its jets in the D.C. flag[...]

The airline unveiled a jet last week called "Maryland One" with the red, white, black and gold state flag to honor Maryland and its growing customer base at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.[...]

"It would only be fair to us in the District of Columbia that they add to that a District of Columbia plane," Evans said. He noted BWI shares the Washington name and contends Southwest owes much of its growth there to D.C. residents.

"We were doing this because (the airport) was actually in the state of Maryland," said Southwest spokesman Ed Stewart,
[...]

Even that fact that Mr. Evan thought the plane should be covered in the with the city slogan, "No Taxation Without Representation" makes me chuckle.

Stewart said the low-fare carrier would probably need to be flying out of D.C. to consider wrapping a plane. The 61-square-mile city has no airport, relying instead on BWI as well as National and Dulles in nearby Virginia.

Serenity now

2005-06-17T13:04:00.000-05:00

Finally, after three years of waiting, it blooms:

My Grandmother gave this to me years ago, she had it planted in her back yard where it never did that well. So she gave it to me and I planted it in my garden by the bridge, a garden that I created when I was 15 to get out of the house and be by myself. It was with this adventure that I fell in love with plants (my mom often thinks I spend most of my money on clothes, but I know I spend at least twice as much on plants).

Down the road from the farm house was a small bridge that crossed over a stream, and if you followed the stream onto our property a little ways, it formed a bend at a small wooded area. It took me two long summers to clear the brush and move around dirt and stone to form my garden. And when I'm sitting at my desk at work, I'd do anything to be there again, blisters, poison ivy and all.

I took stone from an old barn on our property to build a wall with the larger ones used as steps, and then I used two trees to tie up my hammock with a cement and slate patio underneath. The garden never really got to the point of where I wanted it, but falling asleep in the hammock listening to the creek ramble gave me all the serenity I needed during those awkward years. If there ever was a place that helped me get through the later years of adolescence, this was it.

Since I moved to Baltimore, I haven't had enough time to go back and make sure it stays decent and weeded. And after four years I can only assume it is overgrown with brush and the soil has been consumed by the woods once again. Luckily, when I moved into the place I live now three years ago, it had a backyard and I was able to harvest some of the plants (like the hydrangea above and other hostas, which are easy to divide so you don't take the whole plant) and create another garden.

I've gotten better at making and planning a garden. This one is very low maintenance and does quite well on its own. That way, when I leave this place, it wont be such a burden on the new tenets. And if they don' weed it but once a year, that would be enough.

And I know this post is already sounding corny, but it does make me happy that I was able to share something that my Grandmother gave me with others. It is a beautiful hydrangea, and any future tenets will appreciate it.

Blow out the candle

2005-06-16T15:10:00.000-05:00

My first year anniversary was on the 2nd of this month, and I missed it.

Originally this site was going to about sex, seriously. But then I had nothing to write about as it's been over 16 months dry here. So then I started to write about politics, but well, I really don't know that much beyond what I read on other blogs, and why come here for warmed over third rate political analysis?

Indeed.

It was then decided that this blog would be for me and my friends to blog for each other and for others to come and visit. Surprisingly, I do have some friends that have traveled and now live in far away places who come and visit, if they have nothing else better to do.

Any way, this experiment has taught me that it is more work than I expected, and my hat goes off to those that blog with a far more frequently than myself. And thanks to those that have keep their links active to my site, even when my site was kept inactive for long periods of time.

Happy Birthday to me.

Rex Reed, I hate you

2005-06-16T13:30:00.000-05:00

When ever I have my reservations about a film, I always read the Onion AV club as they always give a great analysis and don't slam a movie just to slam movie. They leave that to Rex Reed, who I read when I'm bored at work and digging low into the bin until lunch comes.

Take Reed's take on Batman Begins:

Batman Begins is for morons.

POW!

There is a girl: Katie Holmes, too young for the part and hopelessly miscast [...] around for window dressing [...] no wonder Bruce is waiting for Robin.

WHAM!

With any luck, Batman Begins is also Batman Ends

OUCH!

but none of the other elements that made the previous Batman movies so entertaining are present here. The film has no interesting villains. No Catwoman, no Mr. Freeze, no Penguin, no Poison Ivy, no Batgirl.

KABAa...um, actually, those movies sucked. Big time. That is why they are starting over from the beginning. I liked the first one, but the Riddler, Two Face, Mr. Freeze, those sucked. And Batgirl wasn't a villain the last time I checked.

Without Superman's Kryptonite or Spider-Man's wall-scaling cobwebs, poor Bruce has to find his power in an indestructible symbol

Oh, okay. I see. Rex Reed has no clue what he is talking about. Kryptonite was Superman's weakness, not his power.

Rex has never seen a main-stream, bloated-budget summer blockbuster that he likes, or can't waste print slamming.

But that being said, his next review is decent, as I had already decided to go see Howl's Moving Castle two weeks ago when I saw the preview for it on Apple's website. It reminds me of a cartoon I saw when I was little. All I can remember about it is that a puppet that was thrown away becomes enraged and evil because it was discarded by the family. Seeking revenge, it then began turning all humans into puppets and used them as biulding blocks to build himself a castle.

Complexes

2005-06-15T20:55:00.000-05:00

It is odd how most of us, no matter how great we stride to be, or naturally are, in, say, some areas, can still become fixated on some part of ourselves, physical or otherwise, that no one else would notice or care about.

Take Brad Pitt for example. If ever there was a person on this planet that is being constantly told how beautiful they are, it is he (though I must say when he shaves his head, he looks a bit fake). But the man is good-looking, statuesque with a seemingly down to earth personality. And if you don't believe me, please check the past 15 years of magazines.

So it is funny that he is so shy about parts of his body of which he doesn't feel reflect the beauty that is Brad Pitt, that he keeps them covered at all times. It became well-known (well, to the extent that I heard about it) that he wouldn't dare let anyone see his feet during the filming of Troy. I even heard you weren't so much to even look down there if you perchance to cross paths with him. So after that, I began to notice that I could never find a picture of him barefoot. Even when those recent pictures of him and AJ where on the beach over in Africa, he was wearing shoes while AJ and her son walked barefoot.

Odd, that.

The man who was knighted by People magazine, no less an authority on such matters, as the sexist man a live hates his feet so much that you can't look at them. That is a complex. I mean, if you saw Brad Pitt, would you look at his feet? Who would bother looking down there to begin with? And how can they be that ugly?

Oh, I just answered both questions.

Oh, and Brad, if you happen to read this when this page pops up after you google your name, it's great to see you dedicate some time to the plights in Africa, but please, for the love of Pete, don't go all Bono on us.

I'm not an audiophile

2005-06-15T20:41:00.000-05:00

However, those cheap earbuds that came with my iPod some time ago need to go. I must have small ears as they constantly fall out or move and twist to some degree where I can no longer hear the music.

Over winter I was looking at buying new earbuds and I traveled to several Ipod discussion boards (the foremost being iPodlounge) to do some minimal research. I decided that if I was going to buy new earphones, earbuds, headphones, or whatever, I might as well buy a decent, yet affordable, pair. So I set my heart on Etymoyic's 6i Isolator Earphones.

But I waited to make sure that they were what I wanted. I planned on doing more research or something, but seeing as I really don't know what else to do beyond reading postings on random discussion broads, I bought them today on ebay for under $100.

Yea me.

Out and about

2005-06-15T14:56:00.000-05:00

Was away for a bit, but now I'm back and feel fully recovered from the semester.

The semester ended somewhat worse than what I had hoped for, but at the very least I did pass all my classes and it looks like I still be able to go onto Grad after next year. Our senior year is suppose to be the easiest, or at least easier than our junior year, as I'm told getting A's takes very little effort.

I'm taking a summer course, Introduction to MATLAB, a program that by knowing will hopefully but me a step above the other candidates when I apply for a job. With such little experience in programming I'm doing well enough that I am on the cusp of my first ever 4.0 semester (so what if it's only one class?). I taught myself Basic on my TI-83 years ago, which in some ways I am having to deprogram my mind in how programming works, as BASIC is, well BASIC, and MATLAB is a higher language.

No Thank You

2005-06-09T09:27:00.000-05:00

The reason that I like Apple is that they provide programs that are clean, slick, and efficient. If they offer cool functions, they don't go beyond their reach. Meanwhile, Microsoft is always trying to have their programs do something that isn't helpful, thus making it worse and only adding on another layer of processing and functions running on your computer. Just like this toolbar.

I don't want some shitty toolbar that (if I have learned anything from Microsoft) has been impregnated with poorly executed "cool" features that will really only fuck things up.

I'll just stick to Firefox, except for those rare websites that I have to use explorer.

Housing

2005-06-08T13:41:00.000-05:00

There is a new employee in the office looking for a house in Harford County, and since she knows so little about the area and I have so little to do, I thought I would help her look.

You know what I found? Several cheap, generic-looking homes built in the 70's selling for $250,000 to $500,000. Now to me it seems obvious to me that the housing bubble does exist, as ten years ago these homes would have sold for a fraction of their current "value".

At fist I thought that the high price was caused by a large demand of people leaving Baltimore and moving to the suburbs. But even in the neighborhood where I live in Baltimore, which is nice but not too nice, homes are selling for a quarter of a million dollars, and those are the bungalows. $250,000 to live in Lauraville? A place that being in the northern residential section of the city offers none of the advantages of living in the city without any of the perks of living in the suburbs?

When I look at some of the homes online, and their asking price, I hope that this bubble bursts soon. Because if it doesn't, I won't be able to afford to live anywhere decent.

But with the 10,000 new jobs coming to Fort Meade, the demand for housing can only go up. At least in the short term.

As sad as it is to say, the only thing I have to look forward to is the glut in the housing market that will occur with the death of the baby boomers (sorry Mom).

Entertainment

2005-06-08T10:21:00.000-05:00

Paul Anka was on Howard Stern this morning. I'm not a big fan of swing music (as the novelty wears off quickly), but check out some of these clips from his new album.

Hearing Blackhole Sun and Smells Like Teen Spirit to band music with his voice is an interesting twist.

Though with some of the songs, he could have picked better.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2005-06-02T09:59:00.000-05:00

I love to go to Wikipedia, I know that the posts can be bias and have not passed any type of official review, but I find opinions on subjects far more interesting than just the bare facts. I go there to learn about history (which is really all a matter of interpretation anyway) or anything else. I use it quite frequently.

But this has to be the oddest, and yet strangely informative, post that I have ever come across. And if this particular entry wasn't odd enough, I then saw that there were references to both butt plug and anal stretching within it.

Meltdown

2005-06-02T09:36:00.000-05:00

During my teen years, I was fascinated with Tom Cruise. I found him masculine, boyish, and well liked amongst the masses. From everything that I read, he seemed to be a sincere and caring person.

Now I know that he is just a freak. And I don't even think it takes a crash course in physiology 101 to see that. His recent behavior is just him loosing that tight grip he tries so desperately to maintain over his public personae.

Trying to sustain that boyish yet masculine heterosexual charm well into one's forties puts an awful strain on oneself, doesn't it?

I wonder, sometimes, if in the future, one of his kids will write a book.

Something Interesting I learned

2005-05-31T22:59:00.000-05:00

I learned several things this semester at school, most I have already forgotten.

In one of my required courses, BioChemistry 2 (Chem 438), we covered metabolism. Memorizing how our body digests carbohydrates and turns them into energy was at best, tedious. I don't recommend it.

However the topic I found most interesting was photosynthesis. Unfortunately there are still some gaps of information to be filled in regarding this topic, but one thing, a rather simple thing, that I understood in the class is something that I'd like to share with you, if you would be so kind. (This post got a bit out of hand, and if you want, read the next paragraph and then skip to the second to last one for the answer.)

Have you ever placed a houseplant outside in the sun? What happens? It gets burned, and by this I mean the leaves turn brown and curl up. Have you ever wondered why? I had always assumed it had become too hot from the sun. And while this is somewhat of a logical conclusion, it is not entirely correct. The reason the plant becomes burned is because of the sun, but it is also a bit more indirect.

I'm going to assume everyone has some type of elementary background in photosynthesis, where chloroplasts (full of chlorophylls) found in plants capture light energy and turn it into chemical energy. Chlorophylls are special molecules with special bonds called pi bonds (not the greatest definition, so let me try: atoms bind to each other by one sigma bond, thus sharing a pair of electron between them (two or more atoms bound make a molecule). Now if these atoms have extra electrons that are not bound to other atoms, these electrons can also pair up between the two already bond atoms. This is how molecules come to have double or triple bonds (higher bondage occurs but is rare, unstable and beyond me). These extra bonds are called pi bonds, they are not as strong as sigma bonds and are often a principle component in chemical reactions that one studies in organic chemistry. Which brings me back to photosynthesis).

As noted, pi electrons are reactive because the bonds are not as strong and thus they can move more freely. It is the pi bonds in chlorophyll that absorb the light energy, and they become excited, they are buzzing with their new energy like me on my tenth cup of coffee. So when this happens, four possible outcomes can arise with this excited electron. At specific sites, this energy is turned into chemical energy which plants can use to build sugars and such. But only a fraction of chlorophylls participate in this type of function (called reaction centers). Most chlorophylls simply capture the light energy and passes it along to the reaction centers (this is called light harvesting).

I picture this like a wave of water in the sea. As a wave moves, the water isn't moving with it, right? The water just rises and then falls back down until it hits the shore. That's why something floating on the water (like a beach ball) stays put, just moving vertically. The only thing moving out there is momentum, not the water. So too with the electron in the chlorophylls. When light hits a chlorophyll the electron becomes exited, rise up to an excited state and then passes the momentum to the next chlorophyll as it drops back down to a ground state while causing the electron in the chlorophyll next to it to rise to an excited state. So when one chlorophyll is hit by light, it passes along the momentum of its energy to its neighbor, which passes it along to its neighbor until that energy hits a reaction center and it turned into chemical energy.

Why does this happen? I'm not all that clear, it is hard to find direct answers. These chlorophylls that pass along the energy are called antennas, as they are acting like antennas and the funneling the energy to reaction centers. My guess this that these particular chlorophylls are on the outside of the chloroplasts and most susceptible to being hit by light. They then can pass along this energy to other chlorophylls that are further inside near reaction centers. I have a lot of questions here too, but lets not get bogged down into an area that is still under development. Back to why plants burn.

Remember that I said there are four possible things chlorophylls can do with the light energy stored in an excited electron, and I cover two (pass it along and make chemical energy). The other two are what happens when the chlorophyll become over stimulated and can't use the light energy. In one process, the excited electron drops back down giving the light energy off as illumination. I'm not to clear on this either, I take that it is rare and it most likely wouldn't be a bright light that we could detect anyway.

But the last possible outcome it that the excited electron drops back down giving off the energy as heat. So this entirely too long post is to explain that when you take a plant that was only getting so much direct sun, and you stick outside in direct sun for a long time, it is an overload of energy that it can't utilize, thus it gives it off as heat and thus burning itself.

Now ain't that some shit? It is not the heat from the sun that burns the plant, but the energy from the sun, causing the plant to burn itself.

Also note that Chlorophyll looks green because it absorbs mostly red and blue light (the wavelengths in these regions of the spectrum correspond to the amount of energy needed to excite the electron in chlorophyll). It is the green light that is not absorbed (and thus reflected) that reaches our eyes, making chlorophyll appear green. Also note that there are other light absorbing pigments beyond chlorophyll in chloroplasts, they just happened to be the most abundant.

Oscar Brown Jr.

2005-05-31T13:40:00.000-05:00

From the New York Times:

Oscar Brown Jr., a singer, songwriter, playwright and actor known for his distinctive blend of show-business savvy and social consciousness, died on Sunday in a Chicago hospital. He was 78 and lived in Chicago.

The cause was complications of a blood infection, his family said.

On my laptop at home, I own the Verve Remix of Brother, Where Are You? which I'll post later tonight after class. It is a soulful piece, and he'll be missed greatly.

Finally

2005-05-31T10:05:00.000-05:00

Almost five years after the first tabbed browsers appeared on the market, Microsoft is finally getting in on the feature.

You can read more here, but why bother as the above clip tells you all you need to know. The beta version of IE7 should be released later this summer with what I can only guess will be little excitement.

Now above all, I prefer Safari. It is sleek, easy to use and has the tabbed browsing, which in my opinion is better than that of Firefox. This is only due to the fact that Safari gives you the option to let a new tab become your current page or not. I like this as I prefer to open a new link and let it load while I continue to read the current page. With Firefox, when you open a new tab, that link automatically becomes you current page. Small, trivial, but makes a difference.

I think that there is an extension you can download to fix this for Firefox, but I also must point out that UMBC usesBlackboard, which doesn't open properly in Firefox, but does in Safari.

However with Firefox, I use StumbleUpon, which has increased my time spent surfing the internet ten fold.

9.9 times out of 10 I am jumping between Firefox and Safari on my laptop at home, but sometimes I am forced to use Explorer. There remain a few rouge websites out there that I must use which are unfortunately only geared toward Explorer. So about once a month I am forced to go searching on my laptop to Explorer, knowing that I will use it quickly and then close it, putting it back away with al the other programs that I don't use until the next time.

Now I am not anti-Microsoft, I wouldn't mind using their stuff if it didn't suck so much. So while this new IE7 is in improvement, it isn't going to make me dump my other browsers any time soon, as Explorer in general still sucks.

Note: Apparently tabbed browsing has been around since 1994, says Advanced Web:

The first browser to offer tabbed browsing was InternetWorks, developed by Booklink Inc., and winner of the Comdex show's Rookie of the Year Award in 1994. The program was renamed GNNworks the following year when it was bought by AOL and incorporated in their online client. (The same development team went on to develop AOL's Instant Messenger application.)

For some reason Internet Explorer and other browsers did not pick up on this feature, and the next browsers to offer tabbed browsing were Opera and Mozilla in 2003.

Back

2005-05-28T20:53:00.000-05:00

I meant bloging (blogging?) would resume after the 25th, not the 20th. I'll blog some tomorrow, I haven't read or done anything to blog about anyway.

After my last final in Heat and Mass Transfer (which my teacher made far harder than what it needed to be, such is her way with things) I traveled to Muvico at Arundel Mills to see the latest (and last?) Star WarsÂ Â© movie.

I question last because there are rumors that three more installments are going to be made as a trilogy sequel (episodes 7, 8 and 9). And with such a cash cow in greedy hands like Mr. Lucas, who is squeezing every dime out of this he can get, well, it's safe to say that we can expect them. After all, this last movie it felt like he wrote it over a ham sandwich in twenty minutes, so it couldn't be that hard for him to write three more.

I know that it is fashionable to go on at great lengths about how the new Star WarsÂ Â© are not as good as the older, but it's true. With such a focus on cramming our vision with mind blowing effects and details in the landscape, the characters fall to the wayside. I don't know why he feels he must cut from scene to scene to show us clips of all these little conversions. I mean, we all know what is going to happen, damn.

It is also ironic that the latest technology makes things look cheap. Yoda looks like he was crafted out of leftover tissue paper from Christmas.

Well, I'm going to head out tonight, try and catch some action.

Almost done

2005-05-23T21:59:00.000-05:00

Two more finals to go. All my projects are done, and my fingers will remain crossed until grades are posted.

Studying for my biochem exam that I have tommorrow, I thought I would see what I could find on the electron trasnport to aide in my understanding. I found this website that made me laugh, mostly becasue my lack of sleep:

In your mitochondria, with the absence of oxygen, or in the presence of a poison such as cyanide, there is no outlet for electrons, all carriers remain reduced, Krebs products become out of balance because some require NAD or FAD and some do not. However, you don't really care about that because you are already dead.

heh.

Alas, on hiatus

2005-05-03T21:11:00.000-05:00

I've tried to post recently, and blogger has for some reason deleted the posts. I'm really bogged down with school, I'm spending most of my weekends there to work on stuff and I am still behind. With finals and projects due, this is the home stretch and I just don't have time.

Bloging will resume after the 20th.

scarey

2005-05-02T21:43:00.000-05:00

My commute to school every morning involves going through the tunnels, and though I know that odds are slim, car accidents like the one from this morning terrify me.

And yes, there are other ways to get to school, but they are not really alternatives. I live in Northeast Baltimore and UMBC is Southwest of the city, near BWI. I'm not taking two hours and driving though the city (with all its glorious potholes), and the other means involve I-695, which is just as bad as I-95 and would take me even longer.

I can't tell you how often I am in my car and I just barely miss an accident. I've already hit two telephone poles in my life (those things are everywhere), and with one I wound up in shock trauma and the ICU. I was only in the ICU for nine days, but it effected me. I was surrounded by individuals that would live the rest of their life in pain because they suffered permanent body damage, or their loved ones hadn't survived. I was luckily not wearing my seatbelt at the time of my major accident, which saved my life. I hit black ice, lost control, and slid. My truck struck a telephone pole at the drivers door, I was thrown to the other side. Had I not been, I would have been crushed. My sister was with my and walked away fine.

I don't think about it all the time, after all life goes on and new problems arise. But every now and again I reminded of it, and it is not a pleasant feeling.

Only Sometimes

2005-04-25T14:36:00.000-05:00

Sometimes when I open up my work email and an individual has sent out a message informing everyone that there is left over cake in the lunchroom from the weekend, I want to respond that there is also a half-eaten ham sandwich and an open Mountain Dew that I couldn't finish for lunch, if anyone is interested.

But I don't. Instead I get in line for leftover cake, as I do love a good cake. Unfortunately these cakes are often from the store and have that horribly cheap whipped-icing with that bad aftertaste that lasts for an hour or more swimming inside your mouth. But I eat it anyway because it's there and I need sugar.

As I eat, I look around the room and notice, among other things, that she has decided to wear that sweater again. And then I wonder where the hell she bought it and what was going through her mind when she thought horizontal stripes of dark red and light brown would look smashing circumnavigating her ever-growing gut. But as the sugar from the cake begins to plate my mood, I come to, and pick up on the conversation going around the table. They are talking about their kids, again. I make some light banter and head back to my desk knowing that they were probably thinking some of the same stuff about me as I was about them.

Back at my desk I realize that I really must leave this place, and this summer my time would be wisely spent looking for a new job. But first things first, as that will be over the summer and now I must plan on what time I should go back for a second piece. Not too early, but before the guy from upstairs comes down and throws two pieces on his plate to take home to his kids, even though by the time he hits his driveway both will have already been consumed.

No, he’s not that evil, I’m sure he is taking them to his kids. I’m just tired, and I really don’t want to be here.

Still here

2005-04-24T01:56:00.000-05:00

I really have no clue what is going on outside school, so I have nothing to write about, and I'm trying to keep my bitching-about-school to a minimum, so I offer you a joke:

A women goes into the store and buys toilet paper, paper towels, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and cup of noodles. She heads to the checkout and the casher rings her up. After he scans the last of her items, he looks at her and goes, "Your single, right?" Astonished, and caught of guard, the women says, "Yes, wow, how did you know that?" The cashier responds "BECAUSE YOUR FUCKING UGLY!"

Hey, I never said it was a good joke.

Holla

2005-04-18T14:59:00.000-05:00

Hola, amigos. I know it's been a long time since I rapped at ya, but I been dragging my ass through school.

I'm doing well actually, not great, or super, but I might be getting mostly B's with a sprinkle of A's. I say this not to brag, but so you understand why I have been derelict in blogging.

This semester is the hardest one I'll ever take as the work never stops, no matter how hard I cry. Even a graduate student admitted that her graduate course work is easier. And it was important for me to hear that as I'm considering getting my master.

UMBC offers an accelerated program where I can take my senior classes at the graduate level where I'm graded harder and I might have an extra project (but I hear that these senior-year classes are a cake walk anyway). Then it is only an additional year to get my masters.

A masters in BioChemical Engineering, makes me all tingly inside. And you better believe I's put the letter M.S. after my name.

65 pounds lighter

2005-04-08T20:44:00.000-05:00

I've always found Christian Bale creepy, but I figure that is what he is going for, it's his thing. I never heard of his last movie The Machinist, but I caught a preview of it tonight on a rental. I didn't even recognize him until they splashed his name across the screen as he lost 65 pounds, dropping down to 120, by starving himself for this role.

Not too sexy I'd say.

Another Hint

2005-04-06T13:49:00.000-05:00

I love maps, they can be such a helpful tool in orienting yourself in new, and even familiar, territory. Since I started using Google maps about a month ago, I haven't looked back at yahoo or mapquest.

They are easy to read and have a great interface with only some minor things that need to be changed (but as this function is still in Beta, I'm sure they are already working on them).

My favorite feature is that you can click on the map and drag it to see what is East, West, North or South, as opposed to click on an arrow so the map can reload showing you what is around the corner.

But now a new feature, practically useless but fun nonetheless, is that you can view the road map, and then click a link in the upper right of the screen and convert the map to a satellite photo. Some areas are not yet available for this, or you can only zoom in so far, but it's cool.

I like Google, I know there are reasons not to, but I can't help but like it. It's like Wal-Mart. I know it's wrong, but it is just so damn useful and easy that I'm willing to sacrifice my principles (whatever those are) to benefit from their services, no matter what evil they have committed against me and others to provide them.

Holy Shit

2005-04-06T12:59:00.000-05:00

Finally saw the trailer for Star Wars 3, and it looks like this might make up for all that other crap we were force fed.

I know, I know, behind the curve again, but school is really keeping me busy.

What does warm weather bring?

2005-04-05T22:14:00.000-05:00

Along with my heightened sex drive, but unrelated I assure you, are white boys showing off their pale, yet hairy, legs that have been hibernating in jeans all winter long. The glare from all those pasty-white legs were scattered thickly across campus today, many seen paired with equally milky-white feet flip-flopping around in flip-flops.

Some guys should really not show off their feet. Pale legs I can take, but scabby toes with toenail fungus is more than I can bare.

ew.

Useful Tip

2005-04-05T11:12:00.000-05:00

Are cats scratching up your shit?

I've tried using duck-tape, tinfoil, and other various measures to keep my cats from destroying some of my furniture, only to meet failure (although the most annoying scratching comes when I'm in the bathroom and they are on the other side of the door going crazy as if they themselves need to use the bathroom desperately).

But I've found a secret, or was informed of one rather, that being lemon juice and water. I mixed up a spray bottle and sprayed the couch, the doors, and my hamper among other things, and now these items are no longer on the receiving end of nail sharping. They were sprayed Saturday and the effects are still present.

A cheap and effective tip, so pass it on.

And if you haven't noticed, new music on the sidebar. Download, enjoy, and then go out and buy it.

Thank you Daylight Savings

2005-04-04T19:05:00.000-05:00

It's is 8:00 in the evening, and it is just starting to get dark after a sunny day. You have no idea how much happier that makes me.

Where life slows down to a crawl

2005-04-04T15:04:00.000-05:00

Do you remember Gremlins 2: The New Batch? Of course you do.

But for a quick recap, as found on IMDB:

A few years after the incident in Gremlins, Billy and Kate have movied [sic] to New York where they work for media mogul Daniel Clamp. Meanwhile, Gizmo's former owner has just died and he's been captured for the genetics part of the Clamp building.

When all hell breaks loose, Mr. Clamp comes across a drawing by Billy of Kingston Falls, his beloved hometown from the original Gremlins. Mr. Clamp momentarily forgets about the fact that the Gremlins are tearing apart his multimillion dollar state-of-the-art headquarters, and becomes enamored with the quaint little (Spielbergain) town. In a flash of brilliance, he claims that his next big project will not be a post-modern building made out of glass and stainless steal, with talking elevators, a genetics lab (for some reason), and the latest gimmickry. Oh no, instead he will create Clamp Corners, where "life slows down to a crawl."

(I'm pretty sure this is what he says, I am recalling this from memory and I have been known to make things up. I fell pretty sure about this scene though, as for some unknown reason it has been stuck in my head for the past fifteen years).

So what does this have to do with anything? Well, this might not be news to you, but Clamp Corners is up and running under the name of Kentlands. It is as if Whitemarsh and Annapolis morphed together, and the bastard creation then raised the prices ten fold. A place where people with too much money can buy a house so they can pretend they live in the city, but without all the mess. The street are sterile and well lit, and I'm pretty sure that poverty is an offensive punishable by death (or maybe they just put the poor people on a bus headed towards DC).

Actually, as far as planned communities go, it looks nice, in a way. I could never live in such a generic, imposter-reeking sham-town, but it sure is a hell of a lot better then the cluster fucked communities thrown up around Bel Air.

Tell me if I am wrong

2005-04-03T00:09:00.000-05:00

Some of my friends at school are taking a course where the professor, of which it is her first time teaching, has decided to incorporate an outreach program. For some reason my department has a thing for outreach programs, where students travel to nearby high schools and demonstrate engineering feats to a classroom. This particular teacher has insisted in making her students choose inner city high schools, a fact that does not make me envy my friends.

I understand the teacher's intentions, as when other classes do outreach programs I can't recall a single time a group has choose an inner city school. But there is a reason for that. I live in a very blue-collar section of Baltimore, it is alive with that trashy vibe that defines Baltimore so well. But the racial tensions run high. And when I walk into the dollar store down the block in nondescript blue jeans and a sweatshirt, the resentment is palpable and comments have been made.

I just can't imagine that inner city impoverished high school kids will respond well to what they will interpret as over-privileged white county kids that have swooped in for one day to share what great knowledge they have gained at college. And the fact that a girl (of whom I love dearly) wrote a rap song to relate to the students to aide in teaching them engineering principles, shows how completely misguided this project is.

I'm all for helping inner-city kids find a way out by introducing them to a higher education with programs like UMBC's successful Meyerhoff scholarship, which is a benefit to the community as well as the recipients, but I see this particular project as having no long term goals or positive lasting effects. At it's best, it will present an awkward dialogue between each group, and at worst it will further mitigate the racial tensions that run rampant in this city.

Quick Break

2005-03-30T20:54:00.000-05:00

I'm not one of those individuals that likes to pass out, or even receive, sappy human-interest-story emails, but I find that these photos tell an amazing story. The commentary, though helpful, is a bit cheesy. Perhaps due to translation as it was originally posted on a site in Taiwan.

Still Here

2005-03-30T14:45:00.000-05:00

Yes, I am back, but I have some exams this week and, well, I need to take care of other things.

Blogging will resume shortly, as of now I don't even have time to read blogs, let alone write one.

Rome, bitches

2005-03-17T20:20:00.000-05:00

I'm frustrated with school, and my dentist has told me I'm grinding my teeth at night. I hope that goes away when the semester is over, along with the nightmares, headaches, and anxiety.

Any way, Sten and I leave for Rome tomorrow, so this extended break I have taken from blogging will be extended for at least another week. I'm not fancy enough to have guest bloggers, a concept I've never really understood anyway.

Go Give

2005-03-14T15:52:00.000-05:00

From Anonymous Coworker, the Book Thing needs our help.
I've been a couple of times, and it really is a wonderful asset to Baltimore.

If you can, please donate, I'm going to.

Gearing Up, and Winding Down

2005-03-13T13:30:00.000-05:00

Spring Break starts this Friday, and I'm having a hard time concentrating on school.

I'm trying to get everything done for school, but with Sten and my impending trip to Rome, I'm so excited (and according to all my friend's that I've told over a hundred times that I'm going, I apparently just can't hide it).

In other news, I'm not that surprised to learn that Peter Jackson is working on The Hobbit, he has done a brilliant job thus far, and it's disappointed that we'll have to wait four years.

When I think about the Hobbit, two things come to mind. The first is that when my father bought our first computer (1987 I believe), the first game we had was The Hobbit. Now I am a patient guy, but this game pushed me over the edge. It fit neatly onto a flop disk, only because it was a rather low end game. With it's dull color scheme and lack of options, it played like one of those Choose Your Own Adventure books. I managed to get killed or lost with every vain attempt at playing this shitty game.

You can download a version here, but as I recall, it is not that fun of a game.

The other image that pops into my head is Willow, a movie that is seared into my brain from repeatedly watching it in my youth.

My sister's friend was so obsessed with this movie, that when ever she went over to his house it was playing on his TV. After about a year or two, the VHS tape was in such poor shape, the sound and picture where distorted beyond recognition.

'Tis the season

2005-03-09T22:10:00.000-05:00

I realized today that I need to order my tomato seeds soon. Last year I ordered them from Tomato Growers, and I think I'll stick with them. My crop was poor last year, but it was the first time I had tried to start from seeds, and last summer was rather damp.

I believe in a mad cleaning dash, I must have thrown last years seeds out, and I had plenty left over. I tried to grow three different peppers last year, and 12 different varieties of tomatoes. This year will be a lot less, in regard to the tomatoes at least.

My biggest hit last year was the stuffing tomato, and by hit, I mean my mom commented on them. This one looks like a bell pepper, but it's not, it's a tomato that you can stuff (hence the name).

I notice last year over on the GardenWeb forums that everyone prefers the Cherokee Purple over other black tomatoes. The varieties that I had tried left me disappointed. So those two are in, and at most I think I'll have six plants this year.

I'm ready too. Last year I constructed several tomato cages from PVC pipe that can be broken down for storage (a design I was given to be a poster on Gardenweb). They were strong, and once painted (John Deer) green, rather pleasant looking too. And after years of tilling in fresh cow manure, my soil is at it's peak performance.

It's all up to mother nature now. And after the past two years, that bitch owes me.

Just how lame am I?

2005-03-09T15:54:00.000-05:00

Yesterday at school, while speaking with a Grad student, we both stumbled upon our shared love for history. He remarked how, out of all the cities he has lived in, he loves the charm and unique character that Baltimore provides. When I agreed and elaborated on some of the more historical virtues our fair lady lays claim to, the conversation took a turn for the next thirty minutes. He knew far more than what I did about Baltimore, but I attribute that to the fact that he is older and is more involved in the community, while I am still emerging from I'm-just-too-cool-to-get-involved-you-bunch-of-dorks mentality.

So when he told me that since 1988 he has volunteered ever summer at Ft. McHenry playing a soldier as part of their living history program, I thought he was a dork.

He put me to shame by asking me about Defender's Day, something I knew nothing about. This holiday, in September, is in recognition of the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812. He joked that last year, while our Mayor dressed up and participated, Ehrlich sat on the sideline denying all the chance to shoot him. I guess he knew better.

He said if I wanted he'd help me get a job at Ft. McHenry. I thought about it and I think I will, I think it would be cool. So there.

Super fun Super Whole Foods

2005-03-09T13:42:00.000-05:00

Via Drudge, Whole Foods is trying a new gimmick:

Whole Foods is waving goodbye to those smallish, 31,000-square-foot stores and saying hello to 50,000-square-foot versions, 58 of which will be built in the next four years.

Go read the article for all lavish and luxurious treatments customers will find. I can see why they plan on building one in Annapolis, as it is probably easier and cheaper to find land there rather than DC, while still being surrounded by the kind of people who would camp out the night before the grand opening, pushing, shoving, and screaming once the doors open.

Now I like Whole Foods, if you shop right it is really no more expensive than any other store. And their produce section is unmatched. But this type of store would give me a splitting headache, and I feel the type of crowd it would attract would make me want to choke a bitch. I have to agree with the gentleman in the article that this concept store is really too much.

I'll stick with Trader Joes, it is hell to fight all those people on a Saturday, but during the week they have good selection of affordable goods. I typically try to avoid hip places that receive a lot of attention, as they are often nothing more than hype, so it was two years in Baltimore before I traveled to Towson. But I have been hooked ever since, I have never been disappointed with TJ's, even if it isn't 50,000 square feet.

Axis of Crybaby

2005-03-07T20:13:00.000-05:00

Over at Eschaton, Atrios is forcing his readers to confess their darkest secrets, what bands they listen to even though they suck (this was actually posted Sunday, but I was still on break).

They funniest comment comes from Eli:

Hmmmm...how bad is it to love Toad the Wet Sprocket? Bad?

Yes. Together with Soul Asylum and Gin Blossoms, they made up the dreaded 90s Axis Of Crybaby.

Bands that I am embarrassed about? You can throw in your typical boy bands and Brit Spear type clones (but I honestly don't listen to them much, but I keep them in my library for nostalgic purposes). But I'm not really embarrassing by my music. I blast the Indigo Girls, and scream along with Pat Benatar, and I agree with Sten that Pink truly is M!ssundaztood.

Feeling lighter in the loafers than usual

2005-03-07T16:43:00.000-05:00

The weather today is simply wonderful as it felt like a very sunny 67 outside. Or about 20 degrees Celsius for those that are not bothered by the inferior English system of measurement.

After taking several courses in engineering, I have realized that the English system of measurement is abound in idiocy. Meanwhile the Metric system is so clean and user friendly. Do you know how many feet are in a mile off the top of your head?

5,280 feet are in a mile. What the hell is that?

That exam was also handed back today. Yes, the one that caused me, along with all my classmates, to curl up into the fetal position and cry ourselves to sleep over the weekend, had already been graded by this morning. I scored a 74, a mid-range B, and I'm pleased as punch. I didn't get a sticker on my exam, as those are only awarded for A's, but I'm not complaining (yes, stickers sound oh-so-elementary school. But you know, we've all agreed that we like it, as it only sweetens the grade).

Now I must hunker down and prepare for my Kinetics exam this Thursday.

I swear, I better bank some loot when I get out.

Eat your heart out Martha

2005-03-06T17:15:00.000-05:00

I scrub out my shower just about every Saturday so I have a large supply of cleaning products that I keep under the sink, and now I am able to hide them under this skirt I made all by myself. Praise me. The hardest part was gluing it to the porcelain sink, I had to go through several different types of glue. The cloth itself is connected by velcro, so it can be removed for cleaning purposes. Hand wash only, because, well, it is a piece of crap.

I know that I said I would blog yesterday, and only managed to put up a crappy link, but I'm burnt out. I'm better now, having taken Saturday off from everything, but Friday was horrible. I had two exams that day, my first in history and my last one in an engineering class. That one was four questions, and after three hours I was still not finished along with 90% of the class. It was a humbling moment to say the least.

After all that, some of my classmates took me out for my birthday and surprised me with a gift certificate for Starbucks, because they always see me with a cup of coffee in my hands. I must say that I have found some quality people at UMBC. This particular group is a very smart bunch, most are getting their masters and some will go even further than that, yet they don't look down on me as I struggle. I have realized that as an engineer, I'm not going to set the world on fire, I just pray that I don't get pushed into some shitty little cubicle and push paper all day.

As I said, yesterday I took the entire day off, and did things that I wanted to do. The best was that I got my haircut, I didn't realize that it had been a month, which is way too long. The girl that cut it did a decent job and I might go back to her in the future. But, how trashy would it be to have your hair stylist work at Hair Cuttery?

Golden

2005-03-05T18:07:00.000-05:00

I'm not a big fan of gold, but I do think that this is funny.

I want to sleep

2005-03-03T23:11:00.000-05:00

I have two exams tomorrow, so I have been refraining from even coming online and surfing. I might post some of Saturday, right now if I posted it would be nothing more than me bitcing about school.

Speaking of The Gates...

2005-02-28T16:07:00.000-05:00

...and we were, this weekend was its last. Let it not be said that it did not have an impact.

The last picture is a bit cheesy if you ask me.

God, I am so lame.

And counting

2005-02-28T14:10:00.000-05:00

Mt Birthday was well received.

I drove up to the farm where I visited my Grandparents, and then ate lunch with my Mom. My youngest sister was home, returning from NY where she went to see The Gates. While at my Grandparents, I did my typical reading over of the local newspaper where I noted that in the police blotter it was reported a man in the area was "hunting paint." No word on if he caught it.

Later on, back in Baltimore, I meet up with PB#3 (who is quickly becoming bf)and we went to the Paper Moon Dinner. I don't mind Paper Moon as it can be fun, and of all the late night restaurants I know, it's probably the best choice. The food is rather ordinary, and $8 for a burger is ridiculous no matter how many miscellaneous Barbie and mannequin body parts have been glued to the wall. My other complaints include their type of communal waiting staff setup, it's stupid. There is no server assigned to your table, you just have to grab the arm of which ever one is walking by. Typically that person is rushed and in a bad mood, making the service awkward. Another would be that this restaurant is continuously being discovered by county kids who drive all the way from podunk and vomit their "ooohhh-ahhhs" all over the place (this includes me at 19). Yes, this ain't Apple Bee's, but it sure ain't no little secret either, and they are the reason they can charge so much (along with all the late night drunks).

I really can't think of a favorite restuarnt in Baltimore. I like the Helmand a lot, which Sten took me to on my birthday two years ago. b is decent as well. The more I think of it, I have been in Baltimore for 3.5 years, and I have been to so few resturants. I really need to work on that as Baltimore has so many to choose from.

Plugging along

2005-02-27T01:48:00.000-05:00

It is officail, today I am 25. And that is like half way to thirty.*

It's not that I'm obsessing over age or anything, but it has still snuck up on me. I always imagined 25 year-olds were at the great turing point in their life, the true epitome of young adults. Right out of college and settling into their career with nice things, but still young enough to be hip and cool. Their bodies and overall looks still fresh enough, they haven't turned to shit quite yet as they grasp onto their remaining idealism from youth.

I really don't mind getting older, I know gay guys who bitch about it, and loath any 18 year-old twink that walks by. But you can't dwell on it, you're only getting older, and when you're 50 it will seem so stupid that you felt old at 25. Hell, I remember being 18 and I'm much better off now anyway. I look forward to the future, in fact the reason I am working hard now is so that I can have a decent career and enjoy my thirties and forties. I just never planned on this consuming a good chunk of my twenties, and I never really thought about turing 25. It just seemed so far off for such a long time, being an adult.

*That is a Jessica Simpson reference, for those that don't know. Sten showed me his In Touch magazine tonight, informing all that the marriage might be over. At first, I thought Nick would never leave her as he would look like an ass to the public. But now, after two season, I think the general public knows how bad she is, and how bad he needs to get laid. And yes, I know, this is another reality show I have just admitted to watching, but this one I watch sparingly, honest.

Evil Never Looked So Good

2005-02-25T22:45:00.000-05:00

You can read about it in the Washington Post here

Some is utter bull, she doesn't look that good as the outfit is more of a third-rate Wendy Pepper presentation. But those boots.

What took them so long?

2005-02-25T21:59:00.000-05:00

Have you ever been in the grocery store and turned the corner to spot something, something new, and yet, something so right? It happened to me the other day when I saw this.

I put down my Special K with Berries and immediately picked this up, a cereal with the best of both worlds.

And yes, the box is almost gone, already.

Control

2005-02-23T21:05:00.000-05:00

I've been using Pear Budget to control my spending, as my one true love of shopping is out of hand.

Actually, I don't love shopping. That's what women that spend loads of money on tacky clothing at the mall with the bumper sticker "Shopping is a sport!!!!" say. I was speaking with my friend J at school and she told me that she went to the mall with our TA, who apparently gets off on shopping as if it were an orgy. The TA just about ripped her arm off walking down the mall, giving commentary on every store as if they were on safari. J witnessed her eyes growing to the size of saucers when the clerk swiped her credit card.

But back to me. In gearing up for Sten and my trip to Rome (less than a month away!!) I've been spending more than I should. So when I got home today and there was box from Amazon.com waiting for me, my first reaction was Shit, did I order something and not even remember?

But it was a present from my brother, two books which I'm sure I'll love. I don't know how he finds time to read during the semester, as I'll have to wait to the summer before I crack those open.

Remastered

2005-02-23T20:36:00.000-05:00

Hard times in the city
In a hard town by the sea
Ain't nowhere to run to
There ain't nothin' here for free

I just found out that remastered version of Nina Simone's record Baltimore is going to be released sometime in the near future. If you'd like to smaple some of the music on this album, you can go to the orginal version on Amazon.com here.

Nina Simone created a lot of music, and I have not listened to it all, but the tittle track with its Reggae beat is quite different with what I am familiar with. The lyrics are what one would expect, but the beat is off. Either way, the other songs sound brilliant and it now sits on my wish list.

You, yes you, with the bad hair

2005-02-22T21:25:00.000-05:00

To the girl that sits in the front row of my chemistry class, the one with orange hair and way too much eyeliner, it is obvious what you are trying to do. And I think that the odds of the teacher inflating your grade far above what you deserve, in return for some indiscretions of course, are stacked in your favor.

But still, if you must, please do not flirt with the guy while class is in session (even when you're sad attempts are nothing more than coyly asking him if he wants an animal cracker). When you do this, it makes you seem, well, whorish.

Slut.

Tired

2005-02-21T22:48:00.000-05:00

This is the worst semester for my major, an opinion shared by all that take it. Homework is long and grueling, and as soon as you turn it in, the wave of satisfaction one feels dissipates as you're handed your next assignment. So please excuse my light blogging.

This Sunday I was able to catch the Project Runway episode that I missed, the one being the wedding dress brew-ha-ha. I eagerly await the finale, but Kara has it in the bag. As for this poll, I think it was Jay. I don't Wendy more than the next follower, but that really is a prepubescent-girlish thing to do, and no one foots that bill more than Lady J.

Any way, I have homework to finish and a quiz to study for.

As I study

2005-02-19T16:04:00.000-05:00

They have to rub it into my face, that I don't have a boyfriend.

And if you didn't know, Homey, the gray striped cat, is the bitch in this relationship. He differently considers himself to be the pretty one, and oddly enough whenever they wrestle, Champ dominates without a struggle.

Not in my house

2005-02-19T00:13:00.000-05:00

My ideal home has changed over the years. For a long time I wanted a huge house, now more of a cottage. It has to be two floors with at least three bedrooms. One would be mine, another a guest bedroom, and the last would be like a study. I would house most of my books and my television in this study, as one thing I do not care for is how most people arrange their living room around the television.

Now I like TV, I watch a lot of it, and I would go insane if it weren't for our free cable (the company never turned it off from the last tenets). And I despise people that go to great lengths to inform all within ear shot how they just don't see the point in watching TV. Fine, that's your choice, I don't see the point in your need to brag how you prefer to be cut off from the rest of society.

But I have decided that the very last thing I will ever put in my house is wall to wall carpet. After seeing how much I pick up in the vacuum, I don't want to imagine how much is left behind. Is there anything more disgusting as a giant sponge that lays in your house, year after year, never being changed, only accumulating filth and stains?

And there was a point when I wanted to have my master bedroom in my huge house to be adject to a master bathroom with wall to wall carpet. It sounded so nice at the time.

K-I-D

2005-02-18T23:20:00.000-05:00

I was talking to one of the grad students (who is two years younger than I) in our department, and we came onto the subject of shows we use to watch as children. She mentioned a show on Nickelodeon called Fun House which I couldn't remember, but what she described to me sounded like a rip off of Double Dare. I always find it funny how even within the smallest age gap can be found different childhood shows. You would expect that in perhaps a ten year difference, but even within two years kids have already moved onto the next wave of shows.

But this all reminded me of a show I was a big fan of called KIDS, Incorporated which aired on Disney. I googled it, and didn't find much beyond a cast list which to my surprise included Jennifer Love Hewitt, Mario López, and Stacy Ferguson.

This girl grew up to be part of a group with former KIDS Inc caste-mate René Sands called Wild Orchid, the unfortunate american answer to the Spice Girls. She has since left that awful group and now spends her time known as Fergie, that white chick, in Black Eyes Peas. Wise career move.

KIDS Incorporated was an odd show. I don't remember much beyond that each show there was a story that was intermediately laced with some songs and dance. Like Saved By The Bell, parents were basically nonexistent as these kids explored and reflected upon life in such adventures as helping a homeless women by giving her a makeover (that's all it takes) and learning that even if a boy is deaf, he's still fuckable. When the poor girl realized this, however, the cute deaf boy being spurned had already left town without her saying goodbye. She consoled herself by singing a melancholy Too Late For Goodbyes.

One other thing that I do remember about Stacy was that at some point it was reveled that she was not from around here (or there, wherever they were from, or at). She was a Peter Pan type character that the cast somehow found and adopted her. And by Peter Pan type character, I mean she wore a green leotard and could fly. In retrospect, I think this might have been a fantasy episode, or during a dream sequence. I was six at the time and easily confused.

Quick Break

2005-02-15T22:30:00.000-05:00

Atrios, or gaytrios, pointed me (not personally, but his readers) to a gay-oriented personal ad sight.

I've always liked to surf through ads, mostly just to look, mostly. And I don't just stick with the gays either. Sometimes I punch in my high school zip code and look to see who from my graduating class has moved back, gotten fat, and is looking for love. Once I did come across a picture of a guy from high school that I always thought was cute, but those days were behind him now, sadly. To much beer had puffed his face to the point of alien-esque, and it was apparent he had even placed this ad while drunk as it made no sense and lacked punctuation. I will give him points for making sure his picture included a hot girl smiling beside him, but she wasn't that hot and it only made the ad all that more pathetic. But I'm being mean.

Anyway.

The link that was placed online regarding Mr. Black was posted at Gaysinglesonline.com, a place I had never been to before, so I naturally took a peak. And I saw someone. Someone from Ikea. I wasn't sure if it was him at first, his parameters matched, but it was not a close-up shot. But then, in the background, I noticed an Ikea box. I looked closer and saw that in his hands there appeared to be what looked like a part of some type of pressed-wood piece of furniture. He wasn't in uniform, but he was at work.

I always thought he was gay, I mean, the boy worked at Ikea and loved to shop. So much so, that his mother confiscated his credit cards because he was running them up too high. Luckily (or maybe not) he had memorized the numbers so he could still shop online.

But I was always challenged by other at work regarding his sexuality, so I let it go. They would ask, and when I gave my reply they would deny my judgment. Soon I stopped anwserwing. In part because I grew tired of being everyone's gaydar, but I also must say that if someone might be gay, but is unaware of it, I think the worse thing you can do is talk about the possibility openly (and behind their back) with other people. This is something that I have worked hard at stopping myself from doing. It's not cool, and I certainly did not like it when I was 19 and it was being done to me.

But, I will say that I'm happy for him. He's a cute boy, with a nice thick body topped with a great smile. I hope he has more luck than I have.

[Post Addendum: I feel the last paragraph makes me seem completely superficial, as if I feel that he’ll do fine because he’s cute. The fact is that, yes, I am superficial. Sometimes. I do judge some people based solely on their looks. But this is the group of people who place themselves on TV in reality shows and such, so I am not ashamed. This is because in most cases the only reason these people are in front of a camera is because of their looks. So they are asking, if not demanding, to be judged. In the general population I hold people up to different standards. More often than not, what doesn’t fly on TV is character in the real world. The reason that I only reference my former coworker by his looks is for two reasons: One, I really don’t know him. We talked sporadically, but we are very different and had little to talk about. But now in hindsight, he might have been somewhat uncomfortable around me. Second, in his profile he seemed to have low self-esteem regarding his looks. He refers to himself as “okay looking” and “chunky,” which this type of honesty, though completely different from what one usually encounters with personal ads, is unfair. I wish I had someone to set him up with.]

Busy

2005-02-15T20:04:00.000-05:00

I'm stressed out about school, with staying up until 2 a.m just trying to work on homework and being severely behind in my readings, I'm doing little else.

Two of my classes, Heat/Mass and Kinetics, are very similar and I'm becoming confused.

Kinetics I have twice a week with homework due each class.

In Biochem I have to completely memorize gycolysis: what happens when and the structure of each substrate, enzyme, and product.

I'm just trying to concentrate on school right now, so trash will be light.

Dear Nana

2005-02-13T19:05:00.000-05:00

Thank you for the card.

As per your request, the answer is yes, I will be your valentine.

xoxo

The Gates

2005-02-12T22:20:00.000-05:00

PB#3, of whom I really hope it works out as I find him adorable, took off to NY this weekend to visit his family for birthday celebrations. He was able travel down to Central Park for the start of The Gates, an art project Christo & Jeanne-Claude. He took some awesome photos he shared with me, and I would like to share with you.

As always, click to make them larger. Scrolling activated where needed.

Rock On

2005-02-12T17:24:00.000-05:00

New music to the right.

I'm not sure if I'll continue to do this weekly. I don't mind it, but I would like to find another place to host my files, that is also free. Most of what I found that is free has a limit of 30 Mb and a download well below what I need.

I'm not even sure of anyone is downloading this stuff anyway.

Yes, I'm nosy, but he was stupid . . . and loud.

2005-02-11T16:25:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, while eating lunch at school, I overheard this conversation:

She's not cool enough to do coke, coke is like the drug right now.

Please don't picture me falling out of my seat to hear this conversation. Only someone so stupid enough to say such a thing would, as you know, also say it loud enough hoping everyone within earshot would hear them. Falsely believing, as they are stupid enough to believe, that saying such a thing makes them cool.

This guy, a rather boring-looking homosexual (in the sense that he has about a dozen twins walking around any gay neighborhood: thin, tight clothes from Banana Republic, and those played out black-framed glasses), obviously has never known anyone that has become addicted/dependent on this drug.

There was a time when I thought drugs was the epitome of coolness, but I was in high school. Just looking at him, I could tell that, at the most, he might have had a couple of bumps here and there, or perhaps never at all. He looked, and sounded, clueless.

The way I feel about drugs now is a bit more mixed. I don’t care if you do them, I just prefer not to be around it. But this guy made me realize not only what a tool I must have been was when I was in high school, but how utterly dense people sound when they make vapid remarks about subjects they know nothing about.

But I can be pleased with one thing. One of the fellows I use to run around with would, on several occasions, brag about always having a box of wine in his refrigerator. Yes, a box of Franzia White Zinfandel. I might have sounded like a tool, but at least I wasn't white trash.

Butterflies

2005-02-11T14:38:00.000-05:00

How can such innocent brown eyes (accompanied by nice lips) look right past someone so cruelly, as if that someone was nothing.

Even if he doesn't like me, or notice me, it still feels wonderful. I haven't had a crush, like this anyway, in years.

YES!

2005-02-10T13:53:00.000-05:00

Thank you James Wolcott. I couldn't put my finger on who Wendy reminded me of, and now it seems so clear.

I was picturing in my head John Goodman, which now makes sense as he played Linda Tripp on SNL. Wendy actually resembles Goodman's imitation of Linda more than the real thing.

When Wendy becomes frustrated, she does this thing where she lowers her head (causing her double chin to protrude further out) and then crosses her eyes. At that point she looks like the character played by Rob Schneider in the Gap Girls skit, the one that worked at doughnut world, I think.

[Post Addendum: It was donut hut]

Procrastinating, as usual

2005-02-10T00:54:00.000-05:00

I still have about two hours of homework left before I can go to bed, but I couldn't help but get online. As I was surfing through Statscounter, someone had performed a search on Austin Scarlett leading them here. Wondering just where I fell in that search I performed it myself and up popped my blog entry along with this livejournal one.

Read it, it's hilarious.

My mother never painted her nails, let alone mine. I'm almost jealous.

This is why I love History

2005-02-09T16:40:00.000-05:00

The legend goes that Cincinnatus, a Roman farmer, was plowing his fields when he was asked to join the military in defending the city against the Aequi and the Volscians. He put down his hoe, or whatever the hell they used, and took command. In sixteen days he helped defeat Rome's enemies and returned to his farm. He, then a hero, refused both rewards and the plea to become a supreme leader, or dictator, over the people. The idea that he did serve as a dictator is not fact and has not been proven, apparently.

George Washington is the American version of Cincinnatus because he too was successful in his command of the military (at least in the important battles) and after the Revolution only wanted to return to his farm. Even when asked to be President, he only agreed if they wanted him, and then, before he took office, resigned as commander in Annapolis. And then yet again, after his second term, he left office setting a precedent followed until FDR, 150 years later.

In reality Washington was not such a humble being. All our Founding Fathers knew that they were standing at a pivotal point in time, and each were trying hard to make sure it was their name that would be placed in the history books. During the Continental Congress, when they were deciding who would lead the military, he showed up in his old uniform, an act that did not go unnoticed.

It is often thought that the city of Cincinnati was named indirectly after Washington, but this isn't true. After the Revolutionary War was over, a group of officers formed The Society of the Cincinnati, in honor of the Roman general. Cincinnati was named after this group, and a statue of Cincinnatus is in the city.

Also, as an interesting fact, our first President (I don't care if you want to split hairs), was a land surveyor.

A 300 page turner

2005-02-09T15:53:00.000-05:00

I had a gift certificate to Best Buy, so I went and bought my TI-89 there. I was fairly capable of adapting from my 81 to my 83 and then from my 83 to my 86.

Both the 81 and 83 were lost. I don't remember what happened to 81, but I miss it most of all. That calculator I bought with much glee and excitement in the sixth grade, and then had my teacher carve my name onto it. It helped me learn BASIC programming and stuck with me through my very awkward years in middle school and high school. The 81 has been sadly been discontinued, only adding to the pain.

The 83 was left at a double T dinner one night after a Differential Equations exam. I went back to claim it when I realized my misfortune, but it was gone. There is no doubt in my mind that the individual that has it in their possession does not realize the power that they hold, as that baby houses all of my calculus programs.

But moving from the 86 to the 89 isn't so easy. So I'm doing the wise thing and reading the manual. Yes, my calculator comes with a manual. 300 pages at that.

It's a good thing that I have no social life.

Not Good News

2005-02-09T15:20:00.000-05:00

Baltimore may win the label as the deadliest city according to the NYT.

I really do think that Baltimore's reputation is unfair, as most people cringe when I tell them I live here. Yes, there are some bad spots, and unfortunately we lack the funding to make the type of sweeping changes that have occurred in New York. But since I moved here four years ago I have seen changes in new buildings and more investment. Baltimore is improving, and I hope that it becomes the great little big city I see when I drive down St. Pauls or when I get lost in Bolton Hill. Baltimore really is charm city.

But at the same time, I don't know what is in the future for Baltimore. I love it here, but there are these areas that are infested with drugs and crime. Even the Pimlico area that houses Preakness, the second race in Triple Crown, is quite bad. It's depressing to drive into a neighborhood and see an entire row of homes bordered up, abandoned by all except drug dealers.

And then you have the opposite effect, like in Federal Hill and Canton. A nice area that is swarming with yuppies and becomes so expensive, it feels like an alien landscape in Baltimore. Which most would say is the obvious choice over Baltimore's crime and drugs. But all you're doing with that is pushing those families out into the margins of the city and causing Baltimore to lose it's identity, become more like DC's bratty little sister. And one DC is enough.

I don't know.

Around Town

2005-02-09T13:59:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm sure that you have heard by now the latest scandal between Mayor O'Malley and Gov. Robert Ehrlich, even Drudge has it up on his site.

I read about it this morning in The Baltimore Sun, and I was pleased that this came to light as the horseshit it ever was. Even I had heard the rumors back in the fall, that O'Malley had fathered a child with a certain local (black) News reporter (who's name I can't remember but Sten knows), and that he then forced her to move to New York where she is currently raising the kid and covering the news. And if that wasn't bad enough, while reporting the news (LIVE!LOCAL!LATEBREAKING!) she was almost hit by a car, an assassination attempt given by Martin O'Malley himself. I mean, really. Come on. Please.

It was only fitting that most of these rumors were stemming from FreeRepublic.com.

On a related topic, O'Malley's future as the next Gov is not so sure with or with a knocked-up-black-news-reporter-he-wants-dead on his hands. Douglas M. Duncan has been receiving a lot more press lately, and frankly even I am impressed. I have a lot more to learn about this fellow, but it looks like he may be a decent contender in 2006.

Bush to Scrap Highway System

2005-02-08T19:53:00.000-05:00

After years of funding and government subsidies, finally an administration has seen the light. The highway system does not make money.

I don't use Amtrak, I haven't been on a train since I was 10, and I know that it is not perfect, as say, the US airway system. But I know a lot of people that do use it, everyday even (or every work day). Why is there an argument that Amtrak, to be worth anything, must make money?

I would like to know how much money has been spent on the I-95 corridor north of the Harbor Tunnel here in Baltimore. That area has had men working on it for well over two years now. And I have noticed nothing substantial done. And trust me, I look. All they do is move the cones from one lane to the other about every six months or so.

So yeah, $1.2 billion that congress gave Amtrak last year seems like a lot, but in comparison to what?

I feel pretty

2005-02-08T13:50:00.000-05:00

And perhaps if I was 19, I'd feel flattered.

Today after I sat down to read, a guy I knew from a physics class I took three years ago sat directly in front of me, no more than five feet away. I always thought he was cute, a mix between Rick Schroder and Kurt Cobain, real cute and blond with a full beard. I think he is studying Mechanical Engineering.

But after some bad spots when I was 19, I have adopted a policy of leaving straight guys alone. That, and his level of hygiene was somewhat low.

But today, his blond hair, the same length of Kurt's in the photo, was clean and groomed. I also thought that it looked like he had lost weight, which my assumption was proven correct when his lunch resembled what could only be a diet: an apple, yoghurt, giant rice wafer, and for desert a kudos bar.

We have exchanged glances a couple of times on the campus, but I just left that at that. But now I wondered, hhhmmm. Perhaps he has gown up, matured, using shampoo and doing his own laundry.

Before I could say anything, he began groping himself in front of me. Yes, rubbing his groin, I am not exaggerating. I was being cruised, seedy style.

Now I've done my fair share of cruising, mostly when I was 19. But I was more of the staring type than the watch-me-rub-myself variety. Even so, the outcome of all that lead to my policy mentioned above.

So I gave him my number.

I'm just kidding, a friend of mine sat down next to me and he walked off shortly thereafter.

It's Okay

2005-02-07T22:25:00.000-05:00

My cat and I have made up, and just to show him that I wasn't that mad I got out his favorite brush that makes him squirm around with utter delight as I brush him.

All he did was dig into my pot with my Diffenbachia, not necessarily a rare or expensive plant at all. But this particular species that I have can grow well over two meters tall and I've had a hard time getting it comfortable. I've had this plant for about three years now and only in the past six months has it started to grow. And Champ nipped that in the bud. He not only tore it out but broke it in half.

I'm just glad he didn't eat it. Diffenbachia is poisonous containing oxalic acid, which causes (among other things) the tongue to swell and can block the airway causing asphyxiation. Not all that likely to be fatal in humans, but contains a higher frequency in domestic pets.

This compound is unique by having two carboxyl groups joined directly causing it to be one of the most strongest organic acids.

Bad Kitty

2005-02-07T18:59:00.000-05:00

My cat, the one that always is bad, did it again. Tonight when I got home I put away my groceries and started dinner. I then walked into the living room and turned on the light. As soon as the light came on, he, my cat, in the other room, ran under my bed. He knew he was in trouble.

The vacuum was pulled out and the mess is gone.

And my cat is still hiding.

Sorry

2005-02-07T15:05:00.000-05:00

Again, I have plenty to blog about, but time is most certainly not on my side.

School started a week ago and I am already behind in my readings, mostly due to the fact that I ordered my books online. Yes, I did put the order in two weeks before classes begun, but they only arrived last Saturday, almost three weeks later.

Now that I have my books I am studying all the time, or more realistically I read an hour for each two hours of TV that I consume. Which only further mitigates my behindness.

Did you happen to watch a certain game on TV last night? Yeah, me neither, as Project Runway was on. I know, I said that I don't care for reality TV and then admitted to watching this and The Surreal Life, but I still don't care for them, I am just watching them. See how that works?

In all honesty, Project Runway is missing a lot that The Apprentice offers (Oopps! I just admitted to watching yet another reality TV show. But in fairness, I only watch The Apprentice when Sten makes me). The hatred and tension is not as palpable on Project Runway as on Donald's show, and it seems rushed with every show over before it begins. But one thing that is hard to miss is that once one turns forty, trying to look hip and funky only makes you look tired and cheap.

That, and if you're asked to design a new outfit for the post office, all you have to do is take in the seam at the hips, and you are an instant designer!

And as if Bravo didn't have their hands full enough with one Carson on QE, they had to go clone his ass and give us Austin Scarlett. He is taller, leaner, and queenlier than Carson, but he has yet to stick his head in another man's crotch, at least on camera.

Last night Jay, aka "The Wild Card" (cause he is so damn wild and such a card), had a problem with his model, she didn't show up! Thankfully Carson, I mean Austin, sucked it up and modeled for him. Whataguy. I'm sure that wasn't planned, because if it was, it wasn't nearly dramatic at all. Just like when Wendy, aka "The Frumpy Bitch," was upset and confronted the group that someone drew a mustache on the only picture that she has of her daughter looking up into the sky, it seemed anticlimactic as well.

Not that this makes it a bad show, but it is just that Donald knows how to milk it for what it's worth, and Heidi Klum, well, models for H&M.

It's a beautiful day

2005-02-06T13:50:00.000-05:00

And it is only 55, but that is 10 degrees above average for this time of year. It is so sunny here that I wish I had a dog, or I would settle for a friend nearby, to walk with. I feel weird walking alone.

The girl that use to live below my apartment had two Doberman Pinchers, male and female, that I could walk whenever I wanted. I preferred to walk the female as she was my lady, and I don't believe I ever heard her growl at anyone.

But they have since moved on to Charles Village, and here I am in Lauraville with my two cats.

Well, I have studying to do, but I might take breaks later on to write as I love to procrastinate.

There goes my budget

2005-02-04T23:51:00.000-05:00

First week of February and I've already spent my allowance.

With some search on Froogle I was able to find my bag in the color that I wanted, that being olive/green, cheaper with free shipping.

It will probably look really big on my frame, but my current bag just doesn't cut it, not when I need my lap top anyway. This bag also has pockets to store my pens, calculator, cell phone, and iPod along with other miscellany. My messenger bag from Jcrew does not.

Now I need, yes need, to buy a TI-89. My teacher in Heat and Mass informed me that we are going to be calculating more integrals in this class than we have in previous classes, and the hell if I'm going to get stuck on a test trying to remember a simple integral.

And then, I promise, no more spending. At least for a week.

Oh, happy day

2005-02-04T23:27:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow I have a date with PB#3. Out of all three contestants for my prized heart, he is the only one that has made it to the final round garnering himself a rose, or whatever the hell they are handing out these days on the Bachelor. Being only 20 he's mighty young for me, but I've come into heat and it's bad. So bad that I actually contemplated calling up my ex from six years ago. And trust me, that's bad.

ew.

Update

2005-02-04T18:56:00.000-05:00

Nothing going on here, just fighting with my inner demons again on a Friday night.

Links added/changed (thank you John) and a new MP3 for you to try, and then, you law abiding citizen you, erase off your hard drive because keeping it would be a sin, unless of course you do the next best thing and buy the album, which after you listen to this song, I think you will. And yes, that was all one sentence, grammatically correct or not.

I told you

2005-02-02T23:48:00.000-05:00

Here it is, past 11, I'm still online and haven't completed any reading for school.

I did just download Sing by The Carpenters, currently on heavy rotation in a VH1 spot. I might post it sometime, but honestly, go buy it for 99 cents you cheap bastard. Soon I will post a selection from Sten, perhaps tomorrow. It's quite a pick from a wonderful artist. But I want to find a new download site, I have no clue how many are downloading under the current setup.

While on iTunes, I could not help but click and view Andrew Llyod Webber's Playlist, just what does he listen to, I had to know. Well, Jailhouse Rock by Elvis, Senorita by Justin Timberlake, No Matter What by Boyzone and Sk8ter Boi by Avril Lavigne among others. He has lived up to my every expectation.

Not to say that I don't know the words to JT's songs or the chorus to Sk8yer Boi, but I sure as hell would not make them a published playlist. Or call Justified a "great album." As for Elvis, yes, he's the king, but I've never cared for him. But I can at least respect that choice.

The one good thing I can say is that in his picture that accompanies his playlist picks, he accomplishes that pose that I see Bobby Trendy try for, but is never able to pull off. It's a boyish, wide-eyed look directly into the camera. Poor Bobby just comes across looking confused and hungary. It's the lip gloss I think.

That's a shame

2005-02-02T21:59:00.000-05:00

Far behind the curve, that's how I like to play it. Sully is retiring (I'm late on this because I stopped reading him long ago). Or he might not be, I don't know really, and neither does he. But that is his style, hint at something so that if it doesn't work out, you have nothing to take back. If you want criticism on AS, there are plenty of blogs that do it far better than me. Check my link list.

Long ago, before his stupid awards, his site was awash in Flash. And any one, especially gay men (especially those gay men who act as if they are the epitome of hip because they once stared in a GAP ad (why GAP? WHY?)) should know better. Before you could read a damn thing, all this shit would go flying across your screen. Perhaps an omen for the sloppy shit slinging one was about to witness.

But I am glad to have been reading blogs long enough to see AS fall from his perch as the it blogger. His popularity was only because he was noticed first by the main stream media. And the media, as is its style, was too damn lazy to look at any other blogs. I mean, why bother, they already had one bookmarked and I am sure they are all the same.

Anyway.

So long AS, until we meet in the chat rooms. You be the one with a picture of your pale arse flexing what you assume is muscle, and I'll be the one frantically reaching for the ignore button.

[Link obviously from Sullywatch]

I know, and I am sorry,

2005-02-02T21:20:00.000-05:00

But it is the first week of school and each class has already covered a chapter and my grandmother passed away. So give me a break. I have plenty to blog about, but time is not permitting right now. Perhaps soon when I get into the swing of things. If I venture online, I'll do the typical thing and stay online for hours until it's time for bed and I didn't put a dent into my homework.

I did manage to travel to the mall today to buy some black pants for the funeral. While there I was hungary realizing I had not eaten all day. Word to the wise, if you ever find yourself in the mall's food court, stay away from the chinese food booth. No good will come of it, only gas.

Fag Bag Addict

2005-02-01T14:20:00.000-05:00

Sten recently sold his car ~~to live that all American dream~~ and will now rely on mass transit, his boyfriend and his bike. He recently crossed my mind when I saw this bag. I thought about buying it for you, Sten, so you could carry your lap top in style as you ride you bike across fair Baltimore. But some of the reviews are less then stellar and I'm not sure you'd use it. But hey, at 14 bucks, it's not a bad buy.

I recently found this bag retailer, and I'm drooling over which bag to get. I had my heart set on getting the Buzz from Tom Bihn, but Crumpler has some freakn' sweet bags.

Haloscan

2005-02-01T13:35:00.000-05:00

John asks:

Why do people use Haloscan?

And my response is simple: I like my comments to pop up in a separate window by themselves. I know that I could code something similar into my blog, but Haloscan is easier and I personally do not get enough comments to warrant such an undertaking on my part. I also like to log into Haloscan.com and view all my comments from every post on one page. This is nice because someone commented on a post in my archives of which I would have never known otherwise.

Ironically enough, I've had trouble in the past two days accessing John's comments. On his post All American Food it currently displays 7 comments, but when I click the link I am able to read only the first comment. Hmmm.

[Post Addendum: I forgot to add, the reason I really turned to Haloscan was the trackback function]

A very long week is ahead

2005-01-31T21:58:00.000-05:00

As I was (literally) heading out the door to my first day of classes this semester my Mother called me to say that my grandmother, her mom, had passed away. I drove home this afternoon to take my mom flowers and check up on her. She is doing fine and asked me to be a pall bearer at the funeral this Friday. This wasn't all that unexpected and all is relatively fine. The worst part is that this is all just a glimpse of what to come, I fear, regarding my other grandparents and extended family.

On another subject, I asked my teacher today if I could be a T.A. for her this fall. She was genuinely happy to have me ask (it is no wonder that I love her) and told me that if she is assigned the course this fall, I'm welcome to the spot. Our department is hiring on three new professors, so they might be given the corse instead of her. But that fact is why I am glad of the decision I made in attending UMBC for my degree. Not only is UMBC expanding its Chemical Engineering department, but last fall it was reported that ChemEs are the highest paid BS degree and the field of Biotechnology (of which I am concentrating in) is the fastest growing.

Of all the times that I bitch about being in school for too long, I honestly think that it will be a blessing in the long run.