February 2004 Archives

Today, the Wesley Singers had our pre-tour performance at a small country church in Newport, VA. The people treated us nice, and we sounded great, in my opinion. There are still a couple of rough spots, but we'll be ready in time for the start of Tour on Friday. There was one lady at the church who was celebrating her 23rd birthday today. She was 92.

On that note, Happy Leap Day, kids! I couldn't pass up the opportunity to post on such a rare occasion. You know, of course, that February 29 only comes once every four years, but there are a couple of other rules, too. For instance, years ending in 00 are only a leap year if they're divisible by 400. I was not aware of this; sometimes I think people make it up. (It's a conspiracy! We never landed on the moon or sailed around the world, either!)

Sorry, I'm back now. I actually think that the people in the 1500's that finally perfected the calendar we have today did an outstanding job at being accurate, especially considering the tools they had to work with back then. As it turns out, we'll still have a day of error in another 2,000 years. So what then? Will we get two Leap Days? Awesome. There are lots of facts and interesting stuff here, along with some postcards with Santa on the beach with a surfboard. Weird.

I was walking back home earlier this week when I noticed this solitary shoe atop the University Club sign:

Where did it come from? What lonely man walked through the cold streets of Blacksburg with just one shoe? Did it fall from the sky, or did some drunken frat guy set it up there to be funny? Will we ever know?

The answer is probably not, but I thought it was a funny image, anyway.

"But words are things, and a small drop of ink, Falling, like dew, upon a thought produces That which makes thousands, perhaps millions think." -Lord George Gordon Byron, 1788-1824

Today is, of course, Ash Wednesday, marking the beginning of the season of Lent. Whether that means something to you or not, it certainly is a time of spiritual reflection, not to mention another sign of warmer weather ahead.

Something entered my mind earlier this week, and it's kept returning as I've waded my way through classes and such. It's simply the idea that the words we write can be very powerful. Powerful enough to shape governments, rally people together for great causes, or to lead them to doom. Now, I just have a little blog here that a few people like to read every now and then, but every post I make gives me a nice little feeling of satisfaction, like I've contributed to something a bit bigger than anything I could think of by myself. On a much, much larger scale, this must be how great novelists, sports journalists, poets, and songwriters feel when they've completed one of their works. They've produced something that hundreds or thousands of people will read and enjoy. Maybe that's why I've always liked to read and write so much, and why I've kept up an English minor throughout the trials of an engineering curriculum. Something to think about. (Along with the possibility of a Constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages, which I think would only needlessly split the country down the middle even more, but I won't go there right now.)

In keeping with the words theme, I'd like to announce a few new blogs and journals I've been perusing lately (in addition to the ones I've got linked already):

• Gerritt has launched the brand-spanking new gerritt.net today! He's always got something interesting to say, often a different perspective on some of the activities we share. I'll take this opportunity to wish him a happy birthday, as well. (Good timing, eh?)
• Paakow started coming to Wesley this year, and I've found his LiveJournal to be intriguing.
• Brittlea, faithful Secretary of Wesley this year and all around cheerful gal, has her LiveJournal up, as well. I enjoy checking it out and getting her take on worldly events, too.
• I sometimes cruise the net looking at other people's blogs, just to see what people are writing about and what ideas they have for their sites. chrisruzin.net is one that stuck out in my mind recently, for just various reasons. I'm just a fan of intelligent postings, I guess.

I know there are more from my various friends and acquaintances that I'm probably missing, so drop me a link sometime. I'd love to see what you have to say.

Last night, two Wesley teams met at the NRV Superbowl in Christiansburg for a battle of epic proportions. A battle of wits, stamina, and physical prowess. A battle of bowling! I'm proud to say that our men's team took home the match victory, with an outstanding performance by all involved. Things were looking a little grim after the second game, when the opposing Beta team had narrowed our once 40 point lead to a slim 11 points; however, a solid finish by Stephen, Andrew, Matt, and myself clinched the victory in lanes 21 and 22. Regretfully, I'll miss next week's game thanks to the Guster concert, but the team will reunite during the playoffs after break, when it really counts.

Add one more to your list of Bands You Should See Very Soon: Guster. As I mentioned previously, Sarah H., Gerritt, and I drove up to Charleston Sunday night for a taping of West Virginia Public Radio's Mountain Stage program. We got the tickets based on Guster's appearance, but as it turns out, the other four acts that preceded them were mostly very entertaining, as well, including the huge blues jam that ended the show, when they brought everyone that had played that night back onstage.

First off, I couldn't believe that I'd grown up in West Virginia being such a music fan without hearing of or listening to Mountain Stage before. I mean, the program's been on almost as long as I've been living, and they've had dozens of guests that have went on to become hugely famous. They book acts who are on their way up like Guster, along with lesser-known folksy/bluesy artists who get a chance to shine.

My tests are over! BWAHAHAHAHA!

We had a couple of 50+ degree days here in Blacksburg this week, which got my mind out of the winter doldrums and looking ahead to spring. It's coming! Another sure sign of that is Wesley's Spring Tour, which is a scant two weeks away. And one more sure sign of warmer months is that many of my favorite artists are beginning to announce their summer tour dates. Most notably, DMB. It looks like I'll most likely be hitting up the Hershey Park and Charlotte shows in July.

Now, some people would call me insane, addicted, or other terrible things when I say that I've seen these guys in concert about 10 times now. But really, I don't care too much about what they would say. I'm a fan, and every show is a unique experience. On top of that, I see plenty of other concerts to round out my musical horizons. So there. Nyaaaaah.

What these dates really mean to me are not just a great three-hour show put on by my favorite band. They also mean great road trips, visiting friends during the summer, seeing new cities, and lots of fun memories on top of everything else. The show is often just the centerpoint of an even greater weekend. So think about that the next time you have the urge to shake your head at someone who's a deeply committed fan of something. It's the same principle, to me, as going out to Hokie football games or to the ballpark night after summer night. Maybe it just costs a bit more.

Aside from DMB-related news, I'm finally getting to see Guster again. My first Guster experience was when they opened for John Mayer a couple of years ago, and their set's end left me wanting more. Since they've had great success with their Keep It Together album this past year, they've been touring non-stop, and they're finally coming near here. Twice. The second time is in March, here at Tech. The first time will be tomorrow, at a taping for West Virginia Public Radio's Mountain Stage show. Gerritt, Sarah H., and I are heading up to check it out. Guster will be doing three or four songs, then the rest of the night will be filled out by four bluesy/folksy/twangy acts. I'm really looking forward to this; it's a great way to kick off my 2004 concert season and hear some new artists, to boot.

I'm usually game for a good show nearby, so if you find one, let me know. We'll talk shop.

Let me tell ya about my weekend. For those of you keeping score at home, this past Friday was my third attempt at making the trip through Virginia to visit Gina in Maryland. This time, I was ultimately successful. I only had trouble at the beginning of my journey with finding some stamp change at the post office--after that, it was smooth sailing (or driving, as it were). I think my visit did both of us a lot of good, letting us relax a bit and catch up with each other.

If you hate Valentine's Day, you can skip the rest of this entry and look at something more appropriate for you. I'm all about showing how much you care about the people you love on more than one commercially-sponsored day a year, but since neither of us had really done much "official" Valentine's Day stuff before, we wanted to go all out.

Another Project BS PSA: When you're jumping in your bathroom to see if there are any other rolls of toilet paper hidden on top of your cabinet, make sure that you're not standing in the decidedly concrete doorway first. Your skull will thank you.

This entry has been brought to you by Another Stupid Thing That Bret Did.

Every once in a while, I like to check out the site statistics provided for me by my service provider, who provides service to all the providees needing it, provided they pay first. There are quite a lot of statistics to pick through, as you might guess. But the most interesting stat to me isn't the amount of hits per day or the top entry and exit pages, it's the top 20 visitors based on IP address. With a quick search using the WHOIS database, I can get a general idea of where my most frequent visitors come from. Now, I don't see this as an invasion of privacy on anyone's part - no, I just think it's really cool.

So welcome, all you people from UMBC and the University of Maryland! Welcome visitors from Marshall University, NTC, AOL, Virginia Tech, and places beyond! You guys are my heroes. You're why I even bother to have a site at all. Just post a comment every once in a while, wouldja? I like having feedback.

Gerritt scooped me on this, but it's too good to pass up. Wesley's in the middle of our annual Secret Valentine game, and whoever's got Otey has really raised the bar. They've raised it so far that there's now a version of dancing Otey on the web. I think the folks at moveyoassets.com (brought to you by Si) are going to make it big with this thing.

Wow, things just kinda blew up here all of a sudden. I don't have time to write very much, but I haven't forgotten you, Project BS! I put up a few new galleries in the Photos section this weekend. They span some of the randomness from last fall through my birthday extravaganza.

I just realized that this is the first time in two years or so that I've actually had a photo gallery up in less than three weeks after the event. Now that's something to be proud of. Take care, everyone.

I'm not going to mention or make any reference to any future trips to Kensington, MD or to visit Gina. Why? Because every time I post about it on here, the weather turns to crap and keeps me from coming. So there. Next time, I'm just going to sneak up there, all quicks-like. Under the radar.

That being said, go see the new Disney movie Miracle. If you haven't heard, it is based on the 1980 U.S. men's hockey team. I'm not a hockey fan by any means, but this was a quality film. Not too much of the chintzy Disney sweetness, plus lots of body checks and real-life sports drama. I guess it's continuing the trend of family movies that are a bit tougher, yet still fun, like Pirates of the Caribbean was. I give it two icy thumbs up, because Blacksburg still has patches of crazy invisible ice everywhere, and ice is pretty important to hockey.

It's amazing how quickly things can get busy in life. I'm finding that, three weeks into the semester, more and more of my time is blocked out for homework, meetings, and other stuff. While this week seems to be at a slower pace than last week, I'm still... wiggin' out, as it were.

It's at times like this that I often take a step back and do something like watch the last few Strong Bad e-mails, because I haven't seen them in a while. Or maybe I'll go jam for a good 30 minutes, until my fingers get tired. Lately, I've also been playing with my iPod. And thinking about missing people. And wondering why I have no motivation this week.

I guess, though, that there's not much I can do about any of it. I'll eventually figure out what's wrong and make some attempts to fix it. As we learned in my Lit class today, courtesy of the poet H.D., sometimes these moments of stress sharpen us enough to bring out some greater good or inner strength. I swear I coulda been a poet.

But for now, I'll continue to trudge through my homework and things, looking for enough free time to step back and say "yeah, I'm still doin' good." And really, it'll all be okay tomorrow, when I make my long-awaited trip up to Kensington!

First off, I'm suffering from a bit of a headache, so today's entry will be kept pretty short. I just want to thank everyone again for making my 22nd birthday a blast. A semi-surprise party at O'Charley's, home-cooked Puerto Rican dishes with the ISE guys, and a visit from Mom and Dad were all good times. Be looking for the pictures from these outings soon.

Second, to make up for a short post, I'll give you a link to a neat update of a Charlie Brown Special. It's a QuickTime file and takes a while to load, but it'll kill a cool four minutes of your time once you can watch.

Oh, one other thing. Check out Gerritt's site for the complete slideshow that was one of the Wesley Olympics games a couple of weeks ago. We put together some interesting on-campus and downtown-Blacksburg photography to use as a "Where in The World" picture-location guessing game. He's got the pictures and answers.