April 2003 Archive

• Not really a vending machine, but close enough: An ATM here at JHU was pleased to withdraw $40 from Bill's account, but didn't feel like giving him the cash. Bill's about as lazy as me, so he hasn't done anything about it.


• More JHU Vending machine woes: It's 4:30 AM and I want a Pepsi. So I walk across two quads to get to the building with the 24 hour computer lab. I journey to the 4th floor where the pepsi machine is located to find that they're SOLD OUT. So i get a Sierra Mist instead, and as I'm drinking it, I'm thinking, "hmm this tastes pretty good", but I look at the label and it says "Caffeine Free!" with the exclamation point and all, like that's a good thing. What is the point of a caffeine-free carbonated beverage? To make you burp? Then, in the adjacent vending machine, a Kit-Kat wrapper caught my eye cause it said "Win a Hulked Up Hummer." So I bought it and opened it. Turns out it wasn't one of those instant win wrapper deals; you just have to go to hersheys.com and enter your email address. But i like Kit-Kats so it was all good.


• Headphones are great. Put a pair on and you have the perfect excuse for ignoring your roommate or anyone else who comes in the room.


• Earlier today, I jokingly asked Chris Smith (of Hopkins, not the Juicy variety) if there was a way I could download Pepsi off of the Internet, because I was thirsty, but didn't feel like looking for an accessible vending machine at 5 AM. Just a few minutes ago, he sent me a link to this page that he created. It appears that I'm not the only one here with an odd set of priorities when it comes to time management.


• Writing this paper is SO HARD. All I've been able to accomplish so far is come up with witty additions that do not help my argument at all. At the top of my title page, I wrote this wonderful fact: "Contrary to popular belief, NASA's spaceships are not edible."


• ironviking 60 (8:08:09 PM): 3 papers finished in 1 day, I'm an academic animal


• So who's gonna step up and buy me an iPod?


• iTunes 4. Wow.


• Omar, why must you sneeze so loudly?


• So instead of working on my paper, tonight's main activity will be searching Google for "Wyszomierski" and other variations such as "Michael Wyszomierski". This is also known as "ego-surfing."


• Miltime63 (1:52:59 AM): u have anything done?
  Skier Wysz (1:53:15 AM): nothing. i just finished a movie
  Skier Wysz (1:53:27 AM): it's too early to start working
  Miltime63 (1:53:30 AM): ur sick
  Skier Wysz (1:53:37 AM): it's a skill
  Miltime63 (1:53:47 AM): ur like the yoda of procrastinating
  Skier Wysz (1:54:10 AM): haha, i have until 1PM tomorrow. it's not like it's due at 8 or anything
  Miltime63 (1:54:32 AM): true. but still. the calmness. the collectiveness. i am in awe
  Skier Wysz (1:54:54 AM): eh after awhile you just don't shock yourself anymore


• Omar, why must you force yourself to laugh out loud. You want me to ask what you're laughing at, but you know I won't do that. So either tell me what you want to tell me about, or be quiet. Only one more week of you.


• JHU vending machine complaints:
  -Shaffer Coffee Machine. I insert 70˘ and order a large French Vanilla. No cup came out, and it poured coffee into the drain.
  -AMR II Basement Pepsi Machine: I gave it $1 and pressed the 65˘ Pepsi button. It gave me change, but no Pepsi. I inserted another dollar, and pressed the button. This time it gave me change and one Pepsi. Still not willing to give up, I put my 70˘ of change in and ordered another Pepsi. It gave me a nickel and a Pepsi. It still owes me one.
  -Gilman Pepsi Machine: I swipe my "J-Card" and press the 65˘ Pepsi button. It gives me a DIET Pepsi. What am I going to do with that?
  Total stolen from me: $2.00.


• ironviking 60 (12:16:02 AM): some kid came into my room asking for a review sheet I got in class. I almost stabbed him with a spoon


• Go away, Vocal Chords, go away.


• Auto response from Pez Man40: Finals make no sense. They put you in a room where you vomit useless information for two to three hours, expecting you to be satisfied. Then they give you a horrible grade because it makes them feel better. I'm glad I'm a slacker. It definently gives me a great excuse when I fail and great bragging rights when I succeed.


• I attended this "Spring Fair" at JHU today. By "attended" I mean "had to walk through it after class to get to my room."


• From "Deep Thoughts" on Miller Time: "Some people think that they are funny. Some people should just stop thinking. (you know who you are)"
  I hope he's not referring to me.


• Apparently I'm funny.


• I know that most of you probably won't believe me, but I went off-campus TWICE today. During my video class, we went out to lunch with Richard Chisolm (a local cinematographer), and then tonight I went to the Inner Harbor for dinner WITH OTHER PEOPLE. We were going to go to the aquarium first because they thought that tickets were only $5 for students after 5 PM, but we found this not to be the case when we went there. Nobody else wanted to pay $17.50 to get in, so I didn't get to see any fish.


• Brendan: Do you want to go to the aquarium with us?
  Me: Do they have fish there?
  Brendan: Yes, and I'll also buy you ice cream at Ben & Jerry's.
  Me: Fine.


• I hope that tall slacker does well on his exam today.


• Vocal Chords DVD is FINISHED.


• I wonder if Ted still wears that Vandy visor every day.


• I don't know why, but there was a DJ in the cafeteria tonight. He looked exactly like Bill Lumbergh from Office Space. To make things exciting, he picked up the mic and announced that he had an inflatable tropical fish that he would give away to the next person who came up to the table. No takers. A couple minutes later he tried again, still using the unenthusiastic Lumbergh voice. This time he said "you know you want it" and "it's burning a hole in my hand." Some girl, I'm assuming out of sympathy, walked up and took the burning item from his hand. Next up: AN INFLATABLE PINK FLAMINGO! It's crazy here.


• Octopus: 2 YES 6 NO.


• Blue Man Group's new album, The Complex, shipped today. Unfortunately I won't be able to listen to it until next Saturday because I had Amazon ship it to my house.


• Me: What are you doing?
  Omar: Comparing sequences.
  Me: Of microbonates?
  Omar: What?
  Me: Microbonates. I just made that up.


• Friday: Lunch with Richard Chisolm.
  Next Friday: Video shoot with John Astin.
  Friday after that: I'll be HOME!


• The living conditions keep getting better and better here. This is an excerpt from a recent email to all JHU faculty, staff and students: "This water, though discolored, is safe and should clear up within 24 - 48 hours."


• Octopus: 1 YES 6 NO.


• Octopus: 1 YES 5 NO.


• I want to go home so much that I have already started packing. Tonight I took down everything that was hanging on my wall. On May 3, I am SO OUT OF HERE!


• shkenblke2 (12:40:30 AM): u c mike, girls have this fantasy deep down inside them where they fall in love for a guy th@ almost never leaves his room unless his roomate watches anime, or he needs food, or he has class
  shkenblke2 (12:40:48 AM): and they think not sleeping 4 days on end is very sexy


• Comma omitted.


• I was thinking about adding a new page to my site called "What does it taste like," but I abandoned this idea when I remembered that I'm too cowardly to taste anything worth making a webpage about.


• "Are you going to watch the game?"
  "What game?"
  "The playoffs."
  "Which sport?"
  


• I use italics a lot.


• I want to watch CNN Headline News with the closed captioning turned on. The entire screen would be text.


• Me: I don't mind excercise; i just have to be doing something. I can't stand running around in circles.
  Bill: Or picking things up just to put them back down?
  Me: Exactly. I'd rather build a stone wall than lift weights.
  Bill: Build a stone wall around yourself? Yeah, you'd like that.


• Boyang: Why are you going home?
  Me: It's Easter.
  Boyang: I didn't know that you were Jewish.
  The funny (or sad) part is: He wasn't kidding.


• Good Friday. Good to be going HOME.


• Hardest decision of the day: JHU Cafeteria. Which piece of cake do I choose?


• "I'm going to breakfast."
  "At Terrace?"
  "No, the Pepsi machine in the basement. I got tired of the usual Milky Way bar."


• Hilarious: Tony Trumbo.


• I should probably be packing, eating, sleeping, or doing homework instead of updating my website.


• At the end of a long IFP class during which we did nothing but read and discuss depressing poems by Robert Frost, I was wrote the following poem in my notebook and read it to myself to better my mood. You may have seen this one before:
  Roses are red
  Violets are blue
  Sugar is sweet
  And so are you


• While walking to one of my classes, I saw the bulletin board for the German Department. In each of the upper corners, there was a large sign reading, "DEPARTMENT OF GERMAN POSTINGS ONLY. UNAUTHORIZED POSTINGS WILL BE REMOVED." Can't get much more German than that.
  I kid. I kid.


• Octopus: 1 YES 4 NO.


• Fun lies to tell your roommate who just wakes up and asked what time it is:
  My personal favorite is yelling "Omar, you missed your exam!" Usually, I just tell Da Butt that it's 12:57.


• Thursdays and Fridays require a Pepsi for breakfast to avoid the head-snap effect of falling asleep in IFP.


• Why do people give me such a hard time about watching The Late Show with David Letterman? I have found that in general, dumb people like Leno, and more intelligent viewers prefer Letterman, but let's not get into that... even though I brought it up. I'm always asked why I don't like Jay. Well, the fact is I do enjoy Leno. I just prefer Dave's show. Leno is a great comedian, and I love to hear him make speeches or do stand-up. His show simply isn't as good as Dave's, although I have to admit that Headlines and Jay Walks are awesome.


• It's FRIDAY. It's GO HOME day! Have a great Easter, everyone!


• Registration begins today. When I am finally able to log in, I see that the film courses I had pre-registered for are already entered into my schedule. This is a pleasant surprise. I am also surprised to learn that the writing course I wanted to take, Introduction to Nonfiction, has been cancelled. This surprise is not pleasant, as it means that I have to a course to replace it. What do I choose? Sensation and Perception, a 100-level psychology course. It is at 9 AM on MTW, making it the earliest class I have ever taken. The record was previously held by Introduction to Fiction and Poetry, which met at 10:30 AM.


• Omar was watching his Japanese cartoons, so I left the room, so I could watch Letterman in the lounge. Of course the lounge was locked. So I went back to my room, hooked up the antenna to my small TV, and watched with headphones. Unfortunately I could still hear the cartoon playing on Butt's TV. I know I should be tolerant of other cultures and whatever, but Japanese (maybe just in their cartoons) has to be the most annoying language to listen to. I mean the voices are unbearable.


• Cake.


• My roommate lives his life as a series of whims. If he has class in 15 minutes, but feels like taking a nap, he takes a nap. If it's a Monday night and he feels like driving home, he gets in his car. At 5:30 AM today, he felt like watching a movie, so he popped Jurassic Park 3 in the DVD player and watched it.


• Butt's brush with the law: 81 in a 55. Ticket reads "Failed to obey posted signs and markings." $104.00. He could have lost his license.


• Awesome weather today. Less than 3 weeks until SUMMER VACATION!


• Worst excuse I've come up with so far: "I wasn't in class today because I fell in a well."


• "Wysz is the most bitter man alive."
  -Quote from the first day of school (Junior year of high school, if I remember correctly)


• parec02 (2:09:12 AM): wysz, i'll buy you an icecream after we're done with this dvd
  I also work for peanuts.


• Should I rename this page to something funnier? What about calling it "Thinks"? Nah, then I'd have to change all the links. It shall remain "Thoughts."


• Matt says he needs a "cool name" for his site. I suggest "Miller Time." He tells me that's not a place. What is his site called now? Miller Time.


• Octopus: 1 YES 3 NO.


• Matt's site is now open for business. Ready to go. Dart on the board. Water in the bucket. Stain on my shirt. Water not working. Break out the Tide. I'm happy to see that he used my suggestions for the links page.


• Still eating the Chex Mix from last night.


• Nerd humor:
  Miller asked me what I use to write html.
  Skier Wysz (6:29:42 PM): i use netscape
  Miltime63 (6:29:56 PM): netscape what?
  Skier Wysz (6:30:15 PM): 7
  Miltime63 (6:30:22 PM): the internet?
  Skier Wysz (6:30:30 PM): yes
  Skier Wysz (6:30:32 PM): the internet


• This Link now works. Click on "View Archived Performance" to watch. My critique: Not enough star wipes. You can see my shoes at the end, as they kept broadcasting while I climbed down the ladder I was standing on to shoot the credits. Interesting, isn't it?


• Found my watch.


• Pez Man40: why do you think i used pezman40
  SomeOne: I thought it had something to do wi the fact that pez machines looked like stretched out versions of people or something
  SomeOne: you know...kind of like giraffes?


• Looking for my watch.


• Why do I have such a hard time getting out of bed for class, but I'll get up just to add something to this website?


• I think one time I was halfway to class, but turned around because I thought I forgot to put up an away message.


• Once again, I run the risk of waking up late for class, and without any work done.


• Octopus: 1 YES 2 NO.


• In the "????????" category:
  Pez Man40 (2:14:23 AM): i don't knmow if i would wear it but i know people like blake would but the problem is there is no other persin like blake
  Pez Man40 (2:14:23 AM): so i must go with no
  Pez Man40 (2:15:01 AM): how was letterman tonight


• The whole "In less than a year I will be in my 20s" thought doesn't bother everyone.
  Miltime63 (12:12:40 AM): yea
  Miltime63 (12:12:51 AM): in less than 2 years i will be 21
  Miltime63 (12:12:59 AM): and thats the important thing
  


• Duder.


• Current Octopus Line poll results: 1 YES 1 NO


• Ted's convo with my sister:
  Pez Man40 (6:01:32 PM): slackers work best under pressure
  Pez Man40 (6:02:27 PM): you should know that by know
  Pez Man40 (6:02:34 PM): you do live with one of the biggest out there
  Coming from Ted, it is an honor. On the day before Spring Break, who would you find in the CALC writing their papers? Wysz and the Tall Guy.


• Omar Butt has set his cell phone on the most annoying setting possible. The ring tone is a car horn, and it vibrates loudly as well.


• Vocal Chords? More like... um... Vocal Not In Synchords. Yeah.


• I just realized that The Butt and I have servants. They restock my refrigerator with Pepsi, bring me stuff to eat and drink, answer the door... and their only payment is being allowed to play Butt's video games and sit in my chair.


• Octopus line poll... First vote: NO.


• If only I could just take that N64 and run it over with a steamroller.


• So my family has to stay up late for one night. All I hear about is how tired they are. I stay up for 40-hour stretches once or twice each week. Although, yeah I admit that I complain about it too.


• Sara Wysz (9:23:54 PM): yeah...the prom was RIGHT there
  Skier Wysz (9:24:02 PM): oh in the entrance?
  Sara Wysz (9:24:03 PM): like in that huge area where ben is
  Sara Wysz (9:24:05 PM): yep
  Sara Wysz (9:24:08 PM): the enterance
  Sara Wysz (9:24:15 PM): in was kinda weird
  Skier Wysz (9:24:17 PM): thats kinda weird
  Sara Wysz (9:24:24 PM): hahaha
  Skier Wysz (9:24:25 PM): that was kinda weird
  Sara Wysz (9:24:34 PM): that WAS kinda weird


• Cool beans.


• Best four years of your life. Good one.


• I was told that college would be fun.


• It's 4:50 PM... just walked past the lounge. Still closed.


• It would be nice if certain people would IM me once in a while.


• Did I ever mention that the building I live in is where they send you when you get kicked out of the nicer dorms?


• Last night at 1 AM, when (believe it or not) I wanted to sleep, His Buttness started watching animé. I left the room and went to the so-called "social lounge" in the basement, and fell asleep on an uncomfortable couch. At 1:55 AM, the monitor woke me up and made me leave. Yeah, the lounge closes at 2. Isn't that ridiculous? And sometimes I've seen them close it as early as 10. And then it's closed for most of the day. But anyway, I stumbled back to my room, and Sir Butt was still watching his stupid Japanese cartoons. Luckily I was tired and was able to fall asleep almost immediately, so I didn't have to suffer through more than two minutes of it.


• As I'm reviewing the footage from the concert, I found that 20 minutes into the show, some idiot bumped the tripod, and moved the wide shot off-center. I was counting on having this shot to cut to often. Now I have to either crop it or use a different angle. I wish I could find out who is responsible for moving the tripod. It was out of the way, in the back of the auditorium. You did not have to come near it to get to your seat. I'm assuming that somebody went back there to climb over the seats of the back row. This just makes me mad.


• I have been told that this website is funny.


• I have been told that nothing bad happened, although at one point there were drinks on the counter. I will personally do an assesment myself on Friday.


• What a frustrating night. I have a headache. First I try to synchronize footage on that concert, and now I find out that there will be 30 of them.


• Just remember, don't touch the screen. Don't touch the projector. Don't mess up the cushions. Don't put your drink on the counter.


• "Michael, you're not like this to your friends!"
  -Actually, my friends know that I would KILL them if they touched anything. In fact, Bill knows me so well that he asks permission before coming within 10 feet of my computer.


• Yeah, so guess what I'm going to be worried about all week.


• My family should have told me.


• Ted should have told me.


• Treinta.


• XXX (Roman numeral equiv. of 30.)


• "About thirty" means there might be more.


• Thirty.



• 30.



• It's nice to know you're needed...
  Result of a 40 minute phone call with my sister, during which I told her how to operate the popcorn machine: 3 burned batches of popcorn, and 1 batch that "probably tastes okay." It's not her fault though. Using that machine is HARD. That's why I should do it.


• Not fun: Synchronizing 4 camera angles of an hour-long concert. No, you can't just synch it once and be set for the whole hour.


• So remember that a cappella concert? I said it was going to be three cameras. Well, last night I came back to my room with four tapes. Can't wait to edit!
  Please note: When I claim to be excited about working, such as editing a 4-camera shoot, I am being sarcastic.


• So I got a call from Ted yesterday. He was watching Wheel of Fortune, and guess what the solution to the puzzle was. "OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR." Of course, it took Ted a few tries to get it right over the phone. Idiot.


• Preregistered with Film & Media, met with my advisor about next year's course selections... why am I so prepared for the Fall? I need to do some serious slacking off to compensate for this.


• Upon seeing me in a group of people in a picture on my computer, someone in my hall asked, "Are those actors?"


• Looking forward to meeting Erin this summer.


• Tony sent me the new version of Safari today. RealPlayer clips now play on Letterman's website, althought the controls are hidden. The issue I've been having with CNN pictures randomly not displaying has not happened yet with this version. Hotmail still goes into the "Please re-enter your password" infinite loop (if I try to use the "remember my password" option), so IE remains in my Dock. I've been waiting for AutoFill, and now it's here. Plenty of new features to check out. I like this "tabbed browsing." I've been hearing about it but this is the first time I've used it. A lot easier than managing multiple windows. The reset is convenient as well. Overall it seems a bit faster, both with cached pages and while rendering ones that are loading. The app's launch time is even better than before.


• Opening of my paper, which is about whether or not space research is worth the risk and cost:
  "In the 1998 blockbuster film Armageddon, an asteroid is headed for Earth. If humans cannot interfere with its course, everyone on the planet will perish. In one scene, Dan Truman, a NASA administrator, says, 'For thirty years they've questioned the need for NASA. Today we're going to give them the answer.' (Bay) 'They' got the answer in the movie when NASA's scientists played a major role in saving the world. Saving over six billion lives would be an excellent example of a reason to continue the funding of space research, but unfortunately (for this argument) it is fictitious."


• Some paper topics I abandoned last night: "Should Teachers be Replaced by Robots?", "The Secret Service is Neat, Cool, and Secretive"


• Another link to The Wysz! John, um I mean The Funk Lord of the U.S.A. has linked to me on his site.


• Perhaps I should just devote an entire page to quoting away messages. My aunt's today: "I am taking big hairball thingy off of Hobbes."
  Hobbes is a cat.


• So Ted gets to go home on May 1. Goes back to school on June 1. I feel sorry for the tall guy. Thinking about flying down for a visit at some point.


• This is the link for the live i2 broadcast I will be running camera for on Saturday from 4:30-5:30. It's poetry, it will be boring, and it might not even work (Although the tests went well.) But just in case you're interested you can click on that link on Sat.


• According to GA's website, it's Library Week! Coincidentally, I went to the library this week.


• Word that I just made up: gaugeometer (a type of indicator)


• Remember my long Winter Break? Well guess what, my Summer Vacation begins on May 3rd.


• My motivational speech to my coworkers, delivered last Summer:
  "I know that I make fun of you a lot, but it's only because you deserve it."


• So I FINALLY chose a topic for my research paper: Is space research necessary? My first source is the movie Armageddon. In the film, Dan Truman says, "For thirty years they've questioned the need for NASA. Today we're going to give them the answer." Well if that doesn't give me an "A," I don't know what will.


• Ring ring.
  Ted: What's up?
  Me: It's 11:11.


• Ted = Fellow Super Slacker


• Shower gel shouldn't be green. I was in a hotel once, where they had green shower gel and green mouthwash. In the morning after I had brushed my teeth and was still half-asleep, guess which one I put in my mouth? Shower gel tastes really bad. This almost happened to me a second time when I was in St. Louis recently, but luckily I was able to read the label at the last second.


• I am invisible. (But this is a good thing.) Today my English teacher asked everyone in the room individually what his or her paper topic is, except me. This reminds me of high school Spanish when Mr. Brown would check everyone's homework but mine.


• Got a $25 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble from Film & Media Studies as part of National Student Employment Week. I'm not sure what I'll use it for yet, but I always see something I want when I go in the store.


• Tony Trumbo wins today's "most exciting away message" contest. His winning entry: "Talking to cafeteria software vendor"
  Some of us lead crazy lives...


• After reading everyone's away messages, I was able to deduce that there is some sort of popular (most likely athletic) competition on TV tonight. My TV doesn't turn on until 11:35.


• I just found a $10 bill on the ground and picked it up. It's sitting on my desk right now. I didn't put it in my wallet. What should I do with it? (Serious question)


• Why do people always tell me I'm funny when I've been awake for 30 hours? (After 40 I'm just crazy.)


• In response to my away message "i'm @ class, then 5:00 date with Erin" (referring to a webpage lesson, not dinner and a movie):
  Christine: date?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
  I think she sounded a little jealous...


• Skier Wysz (8:34:42 AM): i need a topic for a research paper
  ironviking60 (8:35:00 AM): the paper is due at like 8:45 isn't it?


• Great way to confuse your half-asleep roommate:
  1. Enter the room, lock the door, and sit at your computer for a few minutes, then quietly exit via your window (which he cannot see from his or her bed.)
  2. Enter your building via a door, unlock your room, repeat step 1.
  3. If this fails to confuse him or her, reverse the process, so you he or she only sees you exiting the room through the door, then magically rematerializing at your desk.
  Note: This is only recommended for first-floor windows.


• I almost entered my old email address. I haven't used it for almost a year! What prompted me to do that? Ah, yes, I wasn't using AutoFill, and the manual entry reminded me of when I would type in that old address to override the one stored in the AutoFill profile. Of course! That has to be the reason. I'm glad I was able to find an explanation, because I fear the unknown.


• The video projects keep coming! On Friday I am taping a concert/recital/show/whatever by what I believe is an a cappella group, and I think their name is The Vocal Chords. After I tape it (one camera on tripod, one manned handheld by myself, another operated by a second cameraman), I will be given four audio recordings of the show, from which I will create a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound mix. This will be the sound track of the video I'm editing for the DVD that I'm also making. All for free. I'm such a nice guy.


• ironviking60: I can't believe his last name is butt, I think you totally fabricated all of this


• Ted, Lee, and Matt are a bunch of losers. How hard is it to get to the Final Four? I mean once they got there they didn't have to win. But no, they couldn't even do that.


• Time to give Apple more money. FCP 4 and DSP 2.


• It's Daylight Savings Time! David Letterman reminds you to set your clocks forward or back 90 minutes at 2:00 AM on Sunday. It's 90 minutes this year because the Earth's rotation is speeding up or slowing down or something.


• Clean sheets.


• Highlight of the housing selection process: Member of Housing Services using a box of chocolates to sedate me. Mmmmm... chocolate.


• What is it with you athletes? Your coach has no right to tell you what to do, as long as you show up to practice and you're ready to go at gametime. "Coach" (you kids still call them "Coach," right?) can't tell you that you have to live in a double room next year. Stand up for yourself, or give me "Coach's" phone number.


• Next year I will be living in a single. I asked a current resident what the building has to offer. He told me, "It has climate control, which means that all year it's set on 'Kenya.'"


• Quotes from my most recent paper, in which I basically admitted that I had nothing intelligent to say about the novel:
  "In this response I will just raise the question of the meaning of some of these occurrences; I will not answer it."
  "Thomas Pynchon has fun with names, and likes to play with words in general. I cannot tell if they offer any deep meaning in the novel, but they do add to the story's humor."
  "Perhaps Pynchon chose 'Inverarity' for Pierce's last name because it sounds like it might be a word, and leaves the reader searching for its meaning. According to the dictionary, it has none. However, the second part of the word is 'rarity,' whatever that's worth."
  "The plot of The Crying of Lot 49 is generally ridiculous. This may be because the reader's view of the world is clouded by Oedipa's deranged state of mind, but this does not matter."


• Self deprecation: If I wasn't such a loser, would I have a sense of humor?


• Both of today's video shoots are postponed! John Astin couldn't make it, so he is rescheduled for May 2.


• Today I get a call from the producer of MTV Lock-In. After trouble dealing with the Writing Seminars department and discussions with liability lawyers, he has decided to put the project on hold for two weeks. I feign surprise and disappointment, and wish him luck. No party for me tonight, instead I get to sleep!


• Got a Pepsi can from the vending machine... New label.


• That Sergei Rachmaninoff guy played the piano really well.


• Today is April 3. That's 4-3. So I was thinking... If March 3 is pi day (3-14 as in 3.14), then April 3 can be 4:3 aspect ratio day!


• I briefly considered posting a "DRY PAINT" sign on my door, but I'm too lazy to actually do it.


• Apparently I'm part of the "small representative portion" of JHU's student body that has been chosen to participate in a survey about alcohol/drug use. After answering the questions, I have to admit that my responses make me sound boring.
  One of the questions was kind of funny: "Do you ever forget things you did while using alcohol or other drugs?"
  No, I don't remember forgetting anything.


• We're only three hours into the third day of April, and already this page is getting too long. Perhaps I will have to make weekly instead of monthly archives. I'm sure that I'll slow down on the site updates in the summer, when I have a life.


• Most common reactions to when I say "Hi" online:
  "i'd love to talk but i gotta get some sleep."
  "sorry im talking to a lot of people right now, i'll ttyl"
  "i have to get some work done, but i'll ttyl"
  Putting up an away message
  "bye."
  


• Just wanted to say "hang in there" to everyone. It seems like everyone I talk to is having some sort or a problem or is just simply too busy/stressed out. It's almost May. We can make it.


• I'm wondering if it was a bad idea to email my instructor at 2:30 am, asking a question about an assignment that was due at 10:30 am that same day.


• In college I've learned that you don't need water or a heating appliance to enjoy hot chocolate mix, hot chocolate mix with marshmallows, macaroni and cheese, or apple cider mix. For those of you playing along at home, the key is DO NOT INHALE. To assist the powder in quickly dissolving, it is made very fine, and therefore becomes airborne easily. You don't want it in your lungs.


• If I don't get a single room next year, I'm taking the year off.


• It's Asian Awareness April! At least it is at Hopkins. After some research, I learned that several other colleges consider March to be Asian awareness month. I just hope this doesn't mean my roommate will be watching more animé.


• I just found a sock in my trash can. Whoops.


• And the winner in today's "Strangest Away Message" contest is.... My cousin Kari. Here is the message:
  "anyone want to help me move 32 kids, one coverd wagon, 3 barrels, two bales of hay, 3 benches and chicken to the Sanbornton Town Hall tomorrow let me know.....got to love muddy roads...."
  (She is a teacher.)


• Celebrity (or pseudo-celebrity) encounters/sightings/etc:
  Leonard Nimoy: Signing copies of an audiotape he was a voice in. (Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne).
  Marina Sirtis: At a Star Trek convention. (Yes, I know, haha Michael went to a Star Trek convention. What a nerd.)
  Some guy who my parents told me was on a well-known TV show but they can't remember this story so I don't know who it was: At the Hilton Head Island airport.
  A kid who may or may not have been the younger "Pete" from that "Pete & Pete" show that used to be on Nickelodeon: Some airport
  Rupert Jee: While visiting New York last August, my dad and I stopped in the Hello Deli, and there was Rupert. We bought some bottled water, I took Rupert's picture, and we were on our way.
  David Letterman, and other members of the Late Show cast and crew: I went to a taping of the Late Show last August, so obviously I saw everyone who was there. Unfortunately Biff was still on his Summer Mailbag Tour thing, and Tony wasn't around either. I saw George Clarke the day earlier when we went to get tickets.
  Robin Williams: Guest on the show mentioned above.
  James Taylor: Musical guest on the show mentioned above.
  Brent Spiner: I have his autograph. Got it at the nerd convention mentioned above.
  The Beach Boys: Concert in Valley Forge.
  Bruce Springsteen (And the E Street Band, including Max!): Concert at Giants Stadium.
  
  There are probably more stories that I haven't thought of. I'll add them when I remember. I'm sure someone else out there has a more interesting story than I. Tell me about it.


• Lots of videography for me on Friday. At 1 pm I have to set up for a 2:00 shoot. We will be recording John Astin introducing some old TV show. You've never heard of John Astin? Perhaps you would recognize him from prestigious films such as "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes", or "Return of the Killer Tomatoes!" Or maybe you saw his performances in "Killer Tomatoes Strike Back!" and "Killer Tomatoes Eat France!" Actually, if you ever watched the old Addams Family TV show, you might know him as Gomez Addams.
  After the Astin shoot, I have to tape somebody getting ready for the MTV Lock-In party, and then the eight hour party itself. On Saturday, I sleep.


• Do you have a good April Fool's Day story (you played a trick or were a victim)? Tell me about it!


• 5 HOURS straight of videotaping auditions for MTV Lock-in. Fell asleep for an unknown length of time. Overall it was pretty boring, but if you want to know more about it just ask me.


• Look what they did for the new Dumb and Dumberer trailer. It is available in a ridiculously small size. Also, the second smallest version is on its side.

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