November 2003 Archives
Yes, kids, every now and then we like to do some PSAs here at Project BS. Today's? Don't stare at the screen too long putting up a bunch of picture galleries. It could be bad for your eyes, or at the very least it could make you turn out like this guy.
A couple of things worth discussing today. First, the finalists for the World Trade Center 9/11 Memorial have been decided. You can view them here. Be sure to check out the full galleries for each proposal; they have different angles and model shots. I think each does an articulate job in evoking an emotional response toward the lost towers, but so far my favorite is Reflecting Absence, submitted by Michael Arad, a New Yorker. "A visitor to the site can sense that what is beyond this curtain of water and ribbon of names is inaccessible." Even in an architectural display, this design packs a very stiff punch to the gut when it comes to emotion. Some people were against the idea of naming each victim, but most of these designs do, and I believe this tradition is important to the families of those that were lost. A few of the proposals even include short pictorial biographies of each victim - a nice touch.
Failing Arad's proposal, my vote would also go to Suspending Memory or Memorial Cloud, both exquisite and poignant designs.
In other news, I'm a big gadget guy. I don't like building things, necessarily, but I sure like picking up some kind of new electronic toy to play with. The latest is a wireless router for the basement apartments of Wesley. Stephen hatched a plan to upgrade our network with this new, wonderful technology, and I bought one today at Best Buy. I can't stay in that place for too long or I'll walk out of there with $500 worth of stuff. As it stood today, I was hungry, so I wanted to get out of there relatively quickly and managed to salvage my bank account somewhat. I just got the router, a wireless card for my laptop, and some blank CD-R's. Now I'm just looking forward to installing the whole shebang and having it work right on the first try. This almost never happens, but it's fun to think it will, anyway. I'll keep you updated on the results.
The weather's beautiful and should stay that way all weekend, and next week I get a bunch of vacation days. Plus a few days at home with my parents and family. Could it really get any better? I think not. Ciao!
For every issue of the Wesley Foundation's newsletter The Flame this year, I get to write an article under the President's Corner. I just finished the latest edition (several days late -- sorry Tom!) and I thought I'd post parts of it here. It actually feels great to write every once in a while. Makes me wonder why I don't do it more. At any rate, the article touches on why I haven't been posting all the time, and why the photo galleries aren't popping up at lightning-fast rates.
"Well, here we are. The fall semester is already beginning to wind down, and to use a cliché the time has flown by! While Ive been co-opping this semester, Ive certainly had some days that have dragged on and on, and some evenings when the only thing Ive felt like doing is go home, eat dinner, and go straight to bed. However, I have to say that this semester has gone by comparably well to any of my past falls in Blacksburg. I actually find myself missing class, oddly enough, except on a few windy days when I rejoice in not having to walk across the Drillfield in the morning. So while everyone whos taking classes this semester is gearing up for the gauntlet of finals, Im riding out the end of my work term and looking forward to the break and paid vacation days. Im still getting into the holiday spirit, but Im seeing it from a no-exams perspective. This is a first for me. Its an odd situation, something to which Im sure the Wesley alumnus will attest.
It seems that cool stuff comes in spurts, like so many other things: rainy days, new music releases, missing socks. And, using the Direct Coolness Corollary, that means more posting about cool stuff. First on the list is an online craft project that'll throw you clean back to your elementary school art class. No, I'm not talking about a step-by-step guide to making cars out of celery, I'm talking make your own freaking snowflake here! I could probably sit and do this for hours, no joke. I've already got a couple of flakes in the gallery; see if you can spot them. My ultimate goal is to make a snowflake containing the late Harry Carey's profile...I think it can be done.
And now, a Public Service Announcement brought to you by Project BS:
Oh no! Look out! It's Mr. Electricity! He's mean, and he'll shock you until the only thing you can do is hum the theme from Mr. Ed. But really, you don't have to worry, because Mr. Electricity isn't real. He's just a fictional character, being acted out by these guys:
Man, that was a close one that almost had me worried there for a second. But really, that's enough for now. A final remark before I close for the night: Gerritt and I have joined forces again. He's hosting (or shortly will be) a few sets of pictures I took over Halloween weekend, so until I get the rest of my 2003 galleries up, head over to his place to see some! Actually, you should visit his site regularly, anyway. Caught ya while you weren't looking, didn't I?!
Yes kids and friendly regular readers, I have returned to posting. It's not that things got busier than usual; I just couldn't seem to find the time to write about anything here. As it stands right now, I don't have a set topic for today. I will, however, give you some insight into how the last week or so has gone.
First, as I'm sure you know by now if you've traveled down the local web aisles, it's been an up-and-down rollercoaster of a football season for us Hokie fans. If the Miami win eradicated the foul odor of the WVU loss, our game at Pitt let off one more stink bomb. Maybe playing consistent football is as hard as making smell analogies make sense. At any rate, the loss means there probably won't be a BCS bowl in our future this year, but perhaps we'll be in one close by. An east coast bowl game = fun road trip over Christmas break for me.
This is the point in the semester when everyone either starts going bonkers or getting sick. I think I've had a touch of both, even without my usual feast of classes. I missed work yesterday due to some kind of bug that hit me - I didn't catch the license plate, but it had "exhaustion" written all over it. I've whined before about how hard it is to balance my time between everything and how delicate a balance it all is, but I think all the stress just caught up to me again. My solution was practically an entire day of sleep, some TLC from my amazing girlfriend (thanks for the dinner!), some vitamins, and a brand new outlook on life this afternoon. And who says work is boring (besides me)?
Halloween has passed (and there will be pictures from those festivities soon), today is Veteran's Day, and despite what corporate America would like you to believe, Thanksgiving is in a couple of weeks, before Christmas even gets here. I for one, would like to sincerely thank all the men and women who have fought for our country over the years; indeed, the ones that are still fighting today over in the Middle East and Afghanistan. I've had some family members in the military, and I know that their duty was both frightening and noble for them. Kudos to you all, and God Bless. As for Thanksgiving, the Wesley officers and I will soon be cooking up a feast, and I'm welcoming the chance to spend a few days back in West Virginia.
I got a glimpse of the lunar eclipse Saturday night, but I didn't have my camera on me. I doubt I could've done it justice with the equipment I have, anyway. There's apparently all kinds of sky activity going on soon, including the Leonids, according to Gerritt. So don't forget to look up at the sky once in a while when you're out this week. Astronomical stuff has always fascinated me.
Ramble much? This is what happens when a guy doesn't get a chance to voice his randomness for a while: a long post with little linking. Ah well, I'm sure I'll find something humorous to write about soon. For now, it's time for Wesley Band practice, with a little relaxation on the side. Cheers!
If you go to school here, you know what I'm talking about. The game that none of us dared to dream about winning was played out last night, and the Hokies came out on top, demolishing then-#2 Miami 31-7. But I'll leave the big sports talk to the guys over at TSPN; all I want to say is that you can see the effect of the win all over Blacksburg. Sure, there's physical evidence of partying from last night scattered around the streets, but everyone's supercharged. We believed in our players. We went to The Walk, showed them that we were still behind them, and you could see it in their eyes. The results were shown quite nicely on the field. All is well in Blacksburg!
I'm still so jazzed; it's been the perfect weekend. And it's such a beautiful day that I can't spend it indoors. So I'm going to go play football with my friends, and I encourage all of you to do the same. Nothing screams fall in the US like playing backyard football with your buddies. Cheers, everyone.