We don't need no friggin' titles.

Currently in headphones: ".45" by Shinedown, "Denn alles Fleisch es ist wie Gras" from Brahms' German Requiem.

I would like to apologize for the following rant to the regular readers out there. This egocentric happenstance is not indicative of normal posts and should not be construed as such. Regular readers are urged to skip this post in favor of catching a more informative, interesting entry to occur later. I apologize for the inconvenience.

begin(personal tangent)

Alright, what the hell am I supposed to feel here? Whenever something happens and I can't see My Lady, I always feel let down. Which, I suppose, is normal, but I feel like a manipulative, evil partner for it being so. I've always read those love stories, in which the young, infatuated man can't seem to take being away from his other and usually breaks some rules to see her, achieving brief happiness but complicating things later on. What I usually thought of the said young man was that he was overly brash and destructive in the long run and shouldn't have done what he did. He somehow should have been more mature and waited, making the small sacrifice of loneliness to, somehow, be happier later on.

Now, before I continue, let me just say that I've at least reached a level of comfort in the after-effects of my last romantic endeavors. As my Psych textbook says, Separation is a gradual thing, not an instant resolution. Therefore, I don't worry that I'm "hung up" on my last relationship, because I know that something that intense doesn't just disappear quietly. I don't know how long it will take for me to fully "get over" it, but I'm not worried that it has not yet happened.

With that said, in my last romantic encounter, I suddenly came to realize what pain it was to be away from the other you cared about, and following in the footsteps of the dissatisfied youths of the stories, I let my feet do the thinking. Though nothing incredibly dangerous/bad happened on my yearning sojourn, I will merely say that the effects of such were opposite, and started my downward spiral that led me out of those final months.

I was vindicated in my thinking, and nastily so, for my immediate actions had the opposite outcome, as it had been repeatedly shown in the stories I was familiar with. Now, to be fair, that wasn't the only factor in this romantic demise, but it sure as hell expedited it.

Now, at this point in time, when I am again frustrated by the coming together of circumstances and the like that prematurely separates me from My Lady, I feel bound. On one hand, I feel the frustration and the letdown that I can now empathize in those stories of old. On the other, I'm so frikin' biased based on that last time I let my self and soul wander that I dare not do anything lest I complicate the matter. So I beat my head and heart against the cages of reality and my bias and feel generally horrible.

As Peter Parker inquired of the world, "Am I not supposed to have what I want?"

Man, I've got issues.

End(personal tangent)

If you, reader, have read all down to here, you are entirely vindicated in thinking less of me. Something so intensely personal probably has no right to be where the public can see it, much less the impertinent whining of a thwarted Romeo. Once again, I urge you to disregard this post in reference to the continuity of what this blog should be. I'm sorry to have wasted your time.

Enough. More Later.
- James

Glad that's over....Wait, there's more? Titty biscuits! (Updated)

I suppose another post is in order.

For those of you not acquainted with this specific online toon, do so immediately. Monty Python Fans a plus...

http://www.weebl.jolt.co.uk/

Hey! I find the exclamatory statement in the title of my post funny! (found at the above site).

Just finished my Anthro midterm. Wasn't quite as bad as I'd thought. Sure, I still goofed on the dates (and almost avoided a question, but figured an educated guess rather than a sneaky turn of phrase with no info a better choice), but I was surprised at how much I retained. It's not that the information is difficult, just a heck of a lot of it.

On one sore point, the division between more monkey-like types (Cercapithacoids) and more ape-like (Hominoids) is slightly debated term-wise. Rather, just the Hominoids. Generally, Man and his precursors are referred to as "Hominids." Technically speaking, the term HominID and HominOID are very close, but the former meaning Human and the latter referring to the branch HominOIDia. Now, a smart person went "Hmmm, Hominid is really close to Hominoid, what if we classify just humans as HominINEs? That way anything resembling Hominoid/-nid is in reference to the Family Hominoidea while Humans and there kind be relegated to the Subfamily Homininae." Brilliant! No close spelling to twist the tongue and mind.

However, our Professor, respect him though I do, has elected to keep calling Humans and their kind Hominids (as it has been for years, which usually doesn't post a problem). But, especially on one question of the test, there can be some marked confusion. There was a certain fossil, Proconsul, that had the makings of being in the Family HominOIDia. The question was, did it have the traits to be placed higher up in the tree, with the Hominines, viz Us? The phrasing of the question was thusly..."Your friend argues that (a primitive trait, not useful in classification) makes Proconsul a Hominid. Explain why he is wrong. What traits DOES it have to place it in the family Hominoidia?"

Now, the question steps on its own feet. The Primitive trait is ONLY considered Primitive when comparing it to something higher up on the evolutionary tree. Viz, "Lucy" has five fingers and a grasping thumb, therefore she should be considered a Homo Sapiens. That doesn't work, because ALL Hominines have five fingers and an opposable thumb. It was a trait that begun with a really far back ancestor, and since we all have it, we can't use it to refine our classification WITHIN our small group of Hominines. Therefore, we need to search for a Derived trait, or a specific difference that sets us apart from more CLOSELY SIMILAR ancestors.

It is the Final part of the question that maddens me. It's obvious that the Primitive trait does not justify placing Proconsul with us Hominines. However, if they are asking for a trait that places them with HominOIDs, then they've just given us the answer and not really stepped anywhere. The Primitive trait becomes Derived when we step farther away from specifics. Yes, Proconsul was in that LARGE family Hominoidea by that Primitive (now derived, from this viewpoint) trait. However, there is also a trait that places it in the Subfamily Homininae with us, but are you asking about that, or the large family Hominoidea? What I can't tell is whether they've lumped the -noid/-nid together, in which case they should have said "What trait does make Proconsul a Hominine?" Or just asked a "Duh!" question with no merit. Get this stuff straight, people!

< /anthro rant >

Alright, sorry if I was getting all textbookish, but I had to get that outta my system.

I've still got a Latin Quiz to study for. The Midterm for the class is also coming up soon, not to mention the next Psych Midterms. Yeeesh! I get done with one only to have another pop up.

On the plus side, I get to go paint TC's House on Saturday. That should be fun.

Perhaps I'll get to see my Lady again soon, as well. I hope so.

UPDATE

Currently in headphones: "Dogs Among The Bushes" by The Cheiftans.

Bother, My Lady is busy friday. Hopefully I'll have some time saturday evening to see her. I know I shouldn't be grumpy about it. I don't have priority in her life. Wheres the justification in feeling a bit down then? Suck it up, buddy!

Latin vocab down, working on grammar with Mr. Hatfield as we speak. Hands down, the Future participle ending "-ūrus" sounds the coolest. Such as "Athēnās profectūrus, comitēs aspexit dormientēs." or "As he was about to set out for Athens, he looked at his sleeping friends." The "pro-fec-TOO-roos" is just so tasty on the tongue. Latin kicks ass!

Recēdite, plebes! Gero rēm imperiālem!

Enough. More Later.
- James

Wine, Women and Song!

Hey all!

Wow! What a weekend! Where to begin?

I had a lovely time with M'Lady Friday evening, though it did get rather cold. Heavier jackets next time!

Saturday morning, I get up at 8am, shower and meet up with Toes to go to Cuarto. We met up with Tim and soon Preston's parents and the SLO folk. As what was appearing to be a trend, Preston was still sawin' logs when the prescribed time arrived. When he finally did get up, he was so surprised and out of it that he was bidding a happy birthday to everyone he met for lack of attention. What a way to begin a 21st B-day. It was all good.

We drove up to Napa/Sonoma and visited first the Buena Vista Winery. Very cool, quaint place in a glen with most of the old buildings intact. Had a very informative tour guide named Doug, who as Patrick pointed out, "Would probably still give tours even if they didn't pay him." Doug loved what he was doing and loved the entire subject. He studied Enology and Vitrinology (The former a branch of Chem. the latter one of Bio.) and was neck deep in information. Two things stuck with us, as he urged us to remember. One: There are two types of wine, good wine and bad wine. It's all about what you like. Nobody is wrong when it comes to judging it. Two: in most cases of wine merchants hawking their wares, you can always add an "..., or not" to anything sounding too much in one direction or the other. Once again, no-one is wrong when it comes to judging wine. Consequently, if you hear a "This vintage has a great, buttery after-taste and really tickles your tastebuds" (or other, better wine lingo, I didn't exactly memorize the wine adjectives) or something in the negative direction, chances are a ".., or not" can also clarify it. Good stuff.

We also got a great amount of tips for how to taste wine, ones that I'm not going to soon forget, far away though my 21st is. The whole swirling of the wine in the glass and the smelling of it isn't just visual bravado. First off, bad wine will smell different if swirled. That's point one. If you smell it, swirl it, smell it again and find a different smell, warning! Oh, and on an initial note, if you go wine tasting, if you drink a proportion of (2-1? 3-2?) water to wine, you can avoid much of the adverse effects of it. Also, when switching from one wine to another, 3 sips are needed to accurately judge the taste of the new sample. Rinse, calibrate and test. Back to the immediate tests, though.

Color plays a role. If you let light go through the glass and cast a colored shadow on, say, a napkin, you can tell quality by color. Generally, Doug said, good wines are Brick to Burgundy, however the heck you judge that. Or not! He also said he's had good wines darker/lighter than he mentioned, but it was a generality that was usually true. We left Buena Vista in high spirits.

We had lunch in Sonoma proper in the small central park. There was some errand Patrick had to go on, so we walked all around the surrounding shop fronts. There were numerous back allys with some great shops to be had. We found one that had not only an Irish store, but an Irish pub as well. We went down it for kicks and those who knew the words started singing "Johnny Jump Up." Patrick and some of his SLO buddies have received and really like all of the Gaelic Storm stuff that I initially sent to Preston, and we've got quite a group of people who just like to sing for fun. We kinda died down as we entered the store and looked around. We found some great merchandise, though didn't get anything. Here's the great part. As we were exiting the store and making our way back up the ally, we heard someone say "Can you sing again?" There was this group of what looked like semi-goths, all decked out with black hair and designer sunglasses, all of whom were looking intensely interested in us. Every obliging, we immediately broke out again into a spirited round of "Johnny Jump Up" and sung our way out of the ally and up the street. We might have gotten some odd looks, but man did it feel good!

I won't waste too much time on our other trip to Benzinger Winery afterward. The tour was nice, and the guide was knowledgeable but ehh. As a corollary, Patrick said "This guy would probably not be giving tours if he wasn't getting paid." What was different was we got a tour through the fields and into the caves. Very neat visually.

Part two of the birthday was an evening of food, fun, and a sleepover. Made a quick stop back at Davis to grab some overnight junk and my Viola. Boy, I hadn't had a sleepover in ages! We were very fortunate to have Preston and Patrick's family as our gracious hosts. In addition to owing a roomy and beautiful house in Roseville, they made sure we were well taken care of. Food a-plenty, lots of sleeping space (and cushions) and even toiletries offered if needed. Fun Stuff!

Had a great big barbecue and played with Stripe, an old but rambunctious pup that liked his tennis balls. Started a round of Name that Tune (finally was on a winning team!), opened presents and socialized. Both Preston and Patrick received numerous wine bottle openers. Patrick even got a wine rack and an entire carton of different wines from the SLO crew. Preston got a fencing jacket and a sabre, and man is he ready for it! I promised Patrick I'd try to turn Preston from the Dark side, but it's not gonna be easy. How many saberists does it take to screw in a light bulb? Eight. Two to run screaming at each other, one to call halt, four to abstain from making any claims, and one to go get someone else to change the light bulb. (For those who want a more raunchier light bulb joke of that evening, How many Liberal Arts Majors does it take to screw in a light bulb? They don't screw in light bulbs, they screw in hot tubs!).

We played Name that Tune until Midnight, I unfortunately didn't get to string along on me instrument. We all pretty much were told "Here are some places to sleep. 'Night!" and left to our own devices, though there was definitely a strong suggestion to the "Goodnight!" that left no room for bunkum. We got ready for bed and crashed around 1.

I woke up around 9ish and took my shower, went downstairs and ate a hearty breakfast. We chatted and socialized a bit more before heading off to our respective universities. Not much of note there.

The only other point of conversation was our second IM Ultimate Frisbee game. We managed to improve: we lost only 9-5, which was darn good considering that we lost the first game 13-3. Now, you're probably wondering why the game stopped at 9, and funny about that. Evidently the teams aren't segregated by dorms (or even years) because we got some additions to our team, V from Nova, John from Malcom and our very own RA Gus. Man, did those guys earn their keep! Had an amazing dive catch from V that netted us a point, John was all over the place tossin' and catchin' with verve, and Gus proved himself a valuable asset even though he proclaimed that he "wasn't a very good thrower."

Here was the crux, however. There was a pretty tall dude from the other team that always went long, and I guess he was a little uptight, but Gus was covering him in defense. The both were running to catch a wayward toss, and both jumped to get it. There was a little jostling, as often happens in these games, but right afterward, the guy said something along the lines of "You fucking touch me again, I'll fucking (something or other, but not an idle threat)" to Gus, who immediately called for Time out. "Time out! This man threatened me!" I was far off, didn't hear the full exchange, and at first didn't think much of it. "Threatened? What the? What could have been so bad as to give Gus pause?"

After I heard about it, however, I instantly revised my opinion of the guy. The game was stopped as soon as the Ref. heard the story, and although they still won point-wise (viz the game), they got a Sportsmanship demerit, which carries more weight. So, say there were on the cusp of getting in the playoffs, 2-2. With the demerit, they stand little to no chance of making it against any other team that's 2-2 as well. While they may have won the fight, we shook them up point-wise, which may or may not have caused that guy to shoot himself in the foot. It was a moral victory if nothing else.

Thus my weekend has been. If Julia gets her rear in gear, I might watch a movie with her and Ikhlas. If not, I'll probably turn in early. I wouldn't mind the sleep to recover from this full weekend. And with No Latin tomorrow, I can sleep in for a long time. Wow! What a ride!

Enough. More Later.
- James

Fridays are Good.

Greetings All.

Fairly uneventful Fencing last night, just honing those rough skills.

This weeks Latin quiz was ok, but there were a few things that tripped a lot of us up. Preston H. and I were scratching our heads over some of the Parsing and synopsis. Was it Progressus esset? it had to be, it's a deponent verb, there are never any active forms for those. Hooray for lazy Supine forms, Alright! Just Laying there!

Mel lent me her Fiddlers Fakebook, looks like it has some good stuff in there. More and more I see that there are standard reels/jigs/sets that appear everywhere and are known by the same name, which is both good and bad. Good: lots of variations to learn on the kick ass war horses that are staples of Fiddlers. Bad: not a whole lot of difference overall. I love comparing notes with Mel, because we're both communicating on the same level, if not the same skill. As Preston T. said, "You're just two halves of one big fiddlin', bow squeakin', musical talent."

Got the Ned Kelly soundtrack. More Klaus Badelt-y goodness. Some neat signature sounds from the composer, some Celtic feel, and some nice string solos. Now, the final track, "Remembering Ned Kelly," is a solo string playing the main theme, but what's driving me batty is I can't tell what string! A review of the soundtrack mentioned a Viola Solo, but then called the string in the final track a Violin. However, when I listened to it, it was in a low register, which made me think initially a Viola, but then I realized that Violin's can go quite low too. Gah! I so want it to be a Viola, but I need to be sure. I'll pass it by Mel and see what she has to say.

WTF!?!?! I got a 72% on my Psych midterm?!?! No freaking way! Yeah, I missed a few questions, but I missed 11 of em out of 40? Piss off! Now I have to take that goddamn final. Frikin-A.

That aside, tonight is going to be cool, because I finally get to spend some time with My Lady, and then the next day have a kick ass time (about which won't be mentioned here). Bring it on!

Enough. More Later.
- James

Post! Post! Post!

(Currently in earphones: Schindler's List Main Theme. Comp: John Williams)

Greetings All. I suppose an update wouldn't go amiss.

Psych. Midterm went off without a hitch. Two or three questions on the specifics got me ("Robert got damaged in the Cerebellum. Which of these will he NOT be able to do?") but I think I did fine overall. Also got an A on last weeks Latin Quiz, Huzzah! Glad I was able to whack the heck out of it.

As I was leaving the Midterm, I heard someone call my name. I turned and, lo and behold, there was My Lady! We met and exchanged cordialities and chatted a bit, then parted, each having our own respective schedules. It felt good to run into her like that, thank goodness we'll have some time together on Friday. Though given that I now have an appointment on Saturday to make, I might not be able to stay the whole night with her. We can still meet early tho, so I'm not worried.

Broke down and ordered the Ned Kelly soundtrack (got it used for 15, score!). What I wanna know is, what the hell is Decca Music doing putting a crapload of info about the soundtrack on their website, evidently produced by them, yet not (a) release it in the US and (b) not sell it on their site?!!? Ahh well, Go Klaus Badelt!

I'm wonderin' if it's worth slogging through two Anthro textbooks that are essentially telling me the same info. I'm almost done with Don Johanson's Lucy and the Extinct Humans book is giving me all the same stuff. Yes, I've learned about Dart, Bloom, the Taung Baby and Africanus, what more is there? I have a hunch that I'm gonna need to wait for further chapters of Extinct Humans for new matters, however, so I'm not abandoning it. What's getting me is that, so far, there really hasn't been a whole lot of work for Anthro. I'm waiting for our Prof. to drop a research paper on us, and both Jon and I know it's comin'. I'd prefer it now to later, because now I know I have the time. It's on it's way, I know it!

You know you're a college student when it's 10:30pm and you're like, "Damnit! What am I gonna do with all the time between now and going to sleep?" Yay for hecka late classes in the mornings!

Oh, and it turns out its a full CALENDAR year that I have to be doing Foil. I was SO CLOSE to taking Epee lessons from Matt. I had an Epee in my hand, it was IN MY HAND, MAN! Then the ol' Rock went to check with TC and found out otherwise. Darn it all! And what burns me a bit is that both Mel and Sascha (who, granted, have been fencing longer than the rest of us novices) can both go on to new weapons. Mel is already deep into Saber and Sascha began Epee with Matt. Ahh well, at least Preston and the others are still doing Foil for lack of experience like myself. Still, I HAD IT IN MY HAND, I TELL YA!!!! Yeeesh.

Enough. More Later.
- James

Picnic Day: Afternoon

Hello All.

First off, I can do my laundry whenever I damn well please! If you wanna go goof off at Picnic Day, be my guest, but don't whine at me when you see me being productive and lugging laundry around. At least I wont be caught Sunday night with no clean clothes to wear, ya lousy oafs. Sheesh.

Marched in the parade with the Fencers: it was AWESOME. Whenever we had a brief stop TC would have us salute the spectators, our opponents, and fence! It was a real crowd pleaser, especially with the frats and sorors. Loud, raucous yells of "GET HIM, STAB HIM!" and "FIGHT, FIGHT!!" were embraced and absorbed, and I found myself getting a boost from them instead of feeling disgust at the crudeness of the "greeks." This is how ya fight, ya tottery wineskins! This is REAL Swordplay! We managed to get applause pretty much every time we stopped and fenced. I only wish I had some water with me at the time and it was longer, that was a sweet experience.

Watched "The Duellists" with a smattering of fencers last night, and M'Lady. I'm glad people enjoyed the movie, I was worried it wouldn't go over so well. Speaking of fencing movies, TC was talking about a line in Cyrano de Bergerac that he preferred from a specific translator (that I didn't catch). Something along the lines of "I am too big for mortal men! GIVE ME GIANTS!" which was then picked up and mangled by the rest of us for that practice, today and surely into the future. My slip was (having only seen the one version) mentioning the Depardeau version of Cyrano, to which TC replied with a rousing "HELL NO!" Damn, I guess being somewhat entertaining and having William Hobbs as fight choreographer on the list things going for it wasn't enough. TC's reasons why it sucked: "One, it's got Gerard Depardeau in it. Two, it's in French. And Three, it's the [I don't remember the name] translation." Now I need to find the version TC approves of, One: Because it's TC. Two, because he's got good taste in movies. And Three, it's the [blank again] translation. Huzzah!

Hopefully I can spend more time alone with M'Lady tonight, I felt rather short changed last night when we had to part early. Perhaps I can make it up tonight.

UPDATE:

Blarg. I dunno. Name that Tune with Preston and Crew was fun and all, we had some good laughs and some great music, and it was generally good all around. But.....urf. I wish I had some more time with My Lady....Maybe some insta-karma from being rather aloof when she had to cancel a previous meeting, I dunno. Is it wrong to feel such regret?

Enough. More Later.
- James

Of Blades, Music, and DVD's

Hello All. Feeling a bit back to my usual self.

First, fencing (which seems to be a big topic now). Last Tuesday's practice was both really bad and really good. I started out in a real deep funk, somehow feeling like my lack of progression was all my fault for no reason whatsoever. I was in a real, "Oh, yeah? Well I'll show them! ::GRRRRRRRR SNARRRRRRL SEEEEEEEEEEEETH::" mood. However, as soon as I got fencing, I gradually got better. "Hey! I CAN score touches! I CAN execute fairly complicated moves! I CAN somewhat fence!" After sewing my remaining shreds of dignity into a somewhat usable cap, it cooled off my hot head fairly well. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow, where I can break out with the Epee. Score!

In musical news, I made the decision to put my private lesson and Baroque ensemble back to back. Tonight it turned out well. In my lesson I tried working a bit on Schubert's "Arpeggione" Sonata and was advised by my tutor to go for something else (or stick with the Sonata, it is my choice). I'll play around (seriously) with that and another prospect and see which is better. We've got some good stuff in Baroque. Another Bach Cantata (can't seem to get away from those) and amazingly, a Concerto Grosso by Corelli that I somehow have played before somewhere. Odd stuff. There will now be not 1, not 2, but 3 things for us to do this quarter. In addition to our noon concert (in which, I think, we'll be doing "Ich Habe Genug" again) we have two recitals to play (one with another Cantata, which I enjoy more than the previously mentioned). More dates and info later.

Been trying to secure a DVD player and the Lounge of my building for a Movie with the fencers Fri. Night. Ferdinando, the guy with the "easy" DVD player (read, gets passed around like a cheap French whore, excuse the misogyny and blame Matt Rock) is fine with it, but now I need to ask the usual Friday night movie goers in my dorm if THEY have plans. Oy.

I fade....I need the touch of M'Lady to restore me. Can I hold until this weekend? Days seem eternities....I will prevail. I am stronger than that.

Apologies, reader. I fear I bore you when I wax sickeningly poetic like that. I'll endeavor to keep that to a minimum. Crud, I just realized I need to study Latin Vocab. Awayyyyyy!

Enough. More Later.
- James

My Sword misses it's target, amidst other things.

I suppose I should do an update then.

Here goes.

Went to the Tourney on Saturday. It was better than Berk, but not nearly as fun, for some odd reason, as Cal Poly. I still felt that damn funk from not doing as well as I'd hoped. Frikin-A! It would have at least been nice to have WON a bout. I came damn close, two of my first 4 got to La Belle (That's a tie for last point, for you non fencing types) and I only got handed a doughnut once. I guess I was spoilt after making out 2-3 in the first pools at Cal Poly. Now, I did get 1-4 at Berk in the first pools, but the one victory was against a guy obviously not too good (he only did one thing..ATTACK). I really don't know what it is. On one hand, it's like I don't like the competitive atmosphere. Most everyone of the people I meet and fence are jolly good fellows (and lasses), but there's this taint that permeates me whenever I walk away with a loss. Yeeech. And yet on the other hand, it's like, well, I'd like to win at least 1 or two bouts, ya know? Walking away with a smattering of points is ok, but still! I guess I'll just have to work harder.

Got to talk a bit more with Colin of CPSLO, very neat guy, and gave me some pointers as well.

Went to Woodstocks afterward and chatted it up with the Gemini Preston and Patrick (The latter I introduced myself to, he's got some qualities I like a bit better than Preston, namely: he is an Epeeist and knows that Epeeists rule). It was interesting though, like having a slightly different version of our own PNT but equally cool. Also chatted with most all the fencers both at the tourney and at Woodstocks after. Stuck pretty much with Preston, Sascha, Mel, Frieda, Toes, Matt, Cody, Nam and the crew. Went to Cuarto at midnight with Preston, Patrick, Sascha, Mel and a few others to soak our weary bodies in the hot tub. Good stuff. Conked out afterwards.

Sunday, did my reading, lounged about, watched Predator 2 with Toes, and most unfortunately, had to cancel my visit with My Lady. As right as it was for her to get her homework done and buckle down, it still was a letdown. Sometimes the right thing to do doesn't feel that way. I have little hope for anything with her before this weekend, namely because of my schedual. Hopefully she'll be able to make it to a little evening Soiree that Preston has planned on Saturday. ::sigh::

I really should do a Viola Practice. In fact, lemme do it right now.

Enough. More Later.
- James

Stop Chill-axin and start upgradin'!

Hello All.

Ceeeeripes! I had an annoying night. Popped awake at 3:15 AM with my head reeling. Not a headache, but it felt like my brain was doing the whole memory waltz of transferring short term memory of the previous day into my long term memory, but I was awake while it was happening. It rendered the phrase "SHUT UP, BRAIN! Or I'll Stab you with a Q-tip!" frighteningly applicable. I took some benadryl and went to lay down in the lounge for a bit. After I calmed slightly, I went and veeeeerry sloooooowly dropped back to sleep. Only problem then was I overslept and had to skip out on a good amount of my morning routine before running off to take my Latin quiz (Which I beat the crap out of, luckily).

No more classes for the day! JOY-GASM! But damned if I still have stuff to do. Haircut, Laundry, and set up for tomorrows Fencing Tourney. Since I'm done with my Latin HW, I can pretty much relax, and that's just what I'm gonna do: Chill-ax (credit to Will and Al of the 1st floor for explandin' my vernacular vocabulary...(Playing WCIII, Will:"Oh hell, it's Bill Kazmeier! Kill him, Al! ::dies:: hella gayz0r!")

OMG, Klaus Badelt's soundtrack for Ned Kelley sounds both Celtic/Irish AND features VIOLA SOLOS?!?!?!? I'M SOLD!!!!!!

Hope I do ok in the Davis Tourney. I hate being slow to warm up: I always seem to get doughnut-ed my first few bouts before I even start to feel ready. Ahhh well, Everyone come watch!

Enough. More Later.
- James

Frisbee. Fun and Annoying, what a Recipe

Greetings All.

What's on my mind is just how I can somehow get more beaten up doing something as benign as tossing a Frisbee about than fencing, where someone is actively attacking me. My list of Frisbee Accidents so far...

- Scrape on my knee after almost doing the splits while slipping on a piece of grass, falling backwards a ratcheting my back knee across some concrete.

- Body blow from colliding with my buddy Brian. He's always one that goes all out for a throw, and he and Troy had a pretty big collision last night. Luckily when Brian and I fell over each other, the grass helped in reducing the damage. I only got some minor abrasions on my knees.

- Major bruise on my ring finger from crushing it under my body and blow to my right shoulder. Tried to keep my balance while laying out for a wayward throw, ended up tripping and my momentum carrying me into a shoulder-dive right into a small concrete partition of one of the dorm bike-rack areas. That one's gonna be with me for a while.

- Bits of skin taken out of my index and middle fingers. Got my timing down on my throws, so I can pretty much do any type of one by flinging my arm out and letting the disc shoot out from my hand. What I didn't figure as I did this over and over was the damage a chewed up edge of the Frisbee, my probably-not-the-best-way grip, and the way I was releasing the disc was doing to my hand.

Owwwie.

What the heck is up with that? Every time I get hurt, I always worry that it's gonna impede my fencing, and I worry about the Tourney that's coming up here in Davis on Saturday (the 9th) in Hicky Gym (HINT HINT ALL). But then the next day I'm only feeling minor discomfort and forget about it, and soon I'm out again tossing the Frisbee about when I have nothing to do. It just seems to be this week that I've been getting banged around; I was tossin' that ol' disc about before break with no injury, so I'm guessing...Well, I don't know. I'll just try to be more careful.

Anthro looks like a whole lotta fun. I hope today's lecture will confirm it.

Damn, I gotta do my Psych reading, eat some lunch, maybe put in a call to the 'rents, read some more of the Anthro book, practice my Viola (I wonder when William will confirm the days the practice rooms are open?) and at the end of it all go fence. Whew!

::UPDATE::

I'm on a roll! Was fencing with Preston: through some product of flailing blades, I managed a parry in 6, but not quite. His tip got caught on my guard, stuck, then released, snapping down on my pinky finger. I now have a gi-normous blood blister right on the cuticle. I must give him credit, it was a strong blow and yet didn't break the skin. All I need now is to get injured on my thumb and that'll make all the fingers on my right hand. Oy!

Enough. More Later.
- James

Hey! Wasn't I just here?

Hello all, might as well put up another post.

I hope Anthro 1 is gonna be good, I've got it with a good friend of mine, a Mr. Jon Helm. He's an awesome guy, and although the Prof. explains quickly and somewhat flatly, I'm diggin' the subject material.
I have no idea what Psych is gonna be like. I read the first module in the textbook, which was rather general, as you can imagine. I also need to be a guinea pig for psych experiments to get credit and ultimately pass the class. I've been advised to sign up early and get those out of the way. Come Monday, when the online regs open, I'll be at my comp guaranteed.

Latin 3, more of the same. Though a bunch of us (luckily, I thought I was gonna be the only one) realized we needed to go over a good amount of stuff we barely covered at the end of Latin 2. Yeeeesh, I don't like having to run to catch up, but it looks like that's gonna have to be the case.

I tell ya though, it's nice to only have one class on Fridays. I'm finished after lunch, which gives me plenty of time to either get HW out of the way or just veg. I'm diggin' it.

Had another nice night out with My Lady last night. Poor lady, she's caught between a rock and a hard place. Though she still has the chance to appeal her rather abysmal math grades and get back into the Engineering saddle (ugh, I'm not too fond myself of their regimented schedule) she's worried about how her family is going to react. Let's just say they're not in the best position to be taking such news, correctable though it is.

I can only hold her and be with her, trusting in her strength of mind, spirit, and will to get her through. I wish I could do more, but alas, I can only stand and watch. I love her very much.

Enough. More Later.
- James