Christmas has officially come and gone. All of the presents have been opened, the Christmas lights aren't being turned on anymore, and my Grandma left this morning. Oh well, it will be back next summer in full marketing force anyway. But with the holiday season passing, that left me room to go snowboarding with Yohan, and his English cousin Chris today and let me tell you that it was brutal. I have gone about six time total and never really picked it up very well, until today. I am not sure what I did but I was in my rhythm going down the hill and showing Yohan and Chris how to snowboard well. By the end of the day I would have been ready to go down a harder trail than just coach except for the fact that I fell a handful of times, and those falls made my knee swell up quite severely. Oh well, I have the technique I guess, so now I will go back to skiing where the falls don't hurt so much.

And I know that you are probably tired of me talking about football, but here it goes because I love to talk about it. The Packers won!!!! That means that they win their division and get home field advantage for at least one week. Also Philadelphia lost Terrell Owens so they won't be as big of a threat, and my playoff picture is still holding true. I am not sure that Jacksonville will make it into the playoffs but other than that I still think that is how it will go. Ok I am done.

I got my DDR pad and game finally, and I was going to play it today but my brother stole the PS for the first time in a long time. Probably just to spite me too.

Ok, time to get ready for the LAN party at Chris's tomorrow. Make sure you are there!

At church today, I was reminded again about how hallow Christmas has become. The marketing starts in July (almost literally) and then the season comes and goes. How many people stop to realize that Christmas is just that; Christ-mass. It is the celebration of the mass of Christ, but some people don't even go to church on that sacred day and I don't understand that. My boycott of Christmas didn't go too well and I have come to realize that when it comes to Christ or stuff, stuff always wins. Oh well, Merry Christ-Mass anyway.

Ok... football playoff prediction time. It is week 16, and there are only two more games before we move to the playoffs, and since so many people have asked me who I think is going to make it to the Super Bowl, I am going to make my predictions on who is going to each round, and who I think is going to the big game.

Here is the bracket as I predict it.
Ok... football playoff prediction time. It is week 16, and there are only two more games before we move to the playoffs, and since so many people have asked me who I think is going to make it to the Super Bowl, I am going to make my predictions on who is going to each round, and who I think is going to the big game. Here is the bracket as I predict it.

FIRST ROUND

Pittsburg - Bye
New England - Bye
Philadelphia - Bye
Atlanta - Bye
New York Jets vs. San Diego - San Diego
Jacksonville vs. Indianapolis - Indianapolis
Carolina vs. Green Bay - Green Bay
Minnesota vs. Seattle - Minnesota

SECOND ROUND

San Diego vs. Pittsburg - Pittsburg
Indianapolis vs. New England - Indianapolis
Green Bay vs. Philadelphia - Green Bay
Minnesota vs. Atlanta - Minnesota

THIRD ROUND

Indianapolis vs. Pittsburg - Pittsburg
Minnesota vs. Green Bay - Green Bay

SUPER BOWL

Green Bay vs. Indianapolis - Indianapolis

As you see, I think that Green Bay has a very good shot at the Super Bowl, but it doesn't matter who plays GB, they will probably lose. The NFC is weak and GB could do it, but the AFC is strong and would tromp them. Also, I think that the first round will be won by home field advantage with the exception of Minnesota. In the wild card race in the AFC, I think that Jacksonville has just enough strength, and an easy enough schedule that they will win the wild card race. As for the NFC, Carolina has a very good chance because the teams that they are racing against are very weak. For the second week, I think that Philadelphia and Atlanta will fall. Philadelphia just lost Terrell Owens who was a huge weapon, and Atlanta has had an easy schedule. Both of them will fall. New England will fall to Indianapolis just because Indy has such a strong offense and defense. It will be a good game though.

Of course, I am not sure that these will be the match ups. These teams may not play each other, because the schedule is based a lot on how the teams end up at the end of the season, but we will see if I am right. Go Green Bay for the Super Bowl!

Corey got screwed. He is in the hole $120 because the bank screwed him, yet that same bank has let me off the hook twice. Once was when I overdrew on my checking account and they charged me $28 for that. I caught it pretty early, fixed it and then called them. They were pretty cool about it and gave me a credit. Thank God I check my statement online often. The other incident was really recently when I forgot to pay my credit card bill. It was due on 12/8 and I didn't check it until 12/13 and there was a nice little $35 charge on there, but I called them Monday and they took that off because I have been good about paying in the past. I am not sure why Corey is getting screwed so badly. This is nuts.

Anyway, today was a monumental day because I finally broke 100 wins on solitaire. Well, actually this is my second time because I have a new passport with my GMail email address (my msn account record is something like 700-400-30). But yeah... I played Danielle and my mom and I still haven't had enough. Man I love that game.

And I am moving along on Half Life 2, I am going through the part with the buggy right now. I know that Yohan and Kacy finished this game in a few days, but I want to enjoy it a little bit longer. It is fun to put it down and then play it every once in a while. But the mods rock too. That was $50 well spent!

I am home, happy and feeling good! Yesterday I was feeling so good that I agreed to go on some errands with my mom, even though I knew that the errands would consist of going to the post office, doing a yoga class with my mom and going grocery shopping. I really am not sure why I said yes... maybe it was a short fluke of the mind that made me do it, or maybe it was the Christmas spirit that made me want to spend time with my Mom, but I did. The thing that surprised me is that yoga was kind of fun. I was the only guy in the yoga class but it was really relaxing and I am contemplating doing it again. The thing that holds me back is the thought of me saying "See ya Chris, I am heading over to my yoga class." Yeah... that is a tad weird.

Anyway, Sunday we also went shopping but that was the whole family, and that was Christmas shopping. We also went to see the movie "What the Bleep" because one of my parent's friends had recommended it. Well... it was basically an educational film about how the brain works... no joke. There was no plot, and only a whole bunch of specialist describing stuff about the brain. So if you think about going to see that... don't. Oh god don't.

After that we went to Table Rock Pub and Grill to eat, and the Packer's game was on most of the TVs. Unfortunately they lost a very very very close game to Jacksonville (28-25). Then Minnesota barely squeaked out a win when Detroit messed up their extra point attempt to leave the score at 28-27. That leaves the Green Bay and Minnesota tied up with 8-6 records. On Friday, they are going to play each other with Green Bay trying to win the division (they have already clinched a spot in the playoffs but now they are going for home field advantage) and Minnesota is trying to get into the playoffs.

Last night I witnessed a football game that was truly amazing. New England, with a 12-1 record, was playing Miami, with a 2-11 record. I didn't even watch most of the game because I figured that pitting NE (team tied for the highest record in the NFL) against the team that is tied for the lowest record would be a blow out. My dad came home late and told me that the game was going down to the wire and to come down and watch it with him. When we turned the TV on, Miami had just scored a touchdown to make the score 28-23. They needed a touchdown, and they got it when they sacked Tom Brady (NE's Quarterback) and he threw it as he was going down. Miami took that possession and made a touchdown out of it, and then proceeded to intercept Tom Brady again to seal up the game. I was amazed. Miami has no playoff hopes, but they stirred up the playoff picture by toppling the team that has only been defeated three times in the past two years. Make that four. Good job Miami.

Well I guess it is time to get going on my Christmas gifts.

I had my chemistry final yesterday... or I was supposed to atleast. At the beginning of the semester, our teacher said that if we had higher than a 95% in the class that we would not have to take the final, and I calculated my grade to be about a 84%. So I went to take the final at the ungodly hour of 7:30 in the morning, after studying all day on Sunday. He had also said that he would not let the final hurt our grades, so I am not sure why I studied; I guess it felt like the thing I was supposed to do. Anyway, when class started he started rattling off the names of the people who had over a 100% in the class. About 15 people got to leave. Then he listed the people with over a 95% and another 35 people got to leave. I had been pretty happy about getting a B in chemistry, but once I found out that 50/60 people had over a 95 I didn't feel so happy about it. Anyway, Doc then turned to the rest of us and said that we could look over the test and decide if we wanted to take it. If we did, then we had the opportunity to raise our grade, otherwise we could leave. I looked over the test and found out that it was most of the stuff that I had studied already, but I had flashbacks of the previous three tests where I had the same feelings and I got a 60%, 62% and 65% on each. So I left. And that was the final that I was dreading.

Now I just have to do a take home test for Core and a final for Computer Science. Other than that I am watching the 8 seasons of South Park, some Simpsons, and playing Half Life 2... because I finally bought it. Oh yeah... and it is great.

Danielle said that I don't say enough about her so here goes an entire entry about her. I love you Danielle, and I don't want you to make any decisions that you would regret. On another note, here are some pictures that Danielle doesn't like.

Here are two pictures of Danielle pigging out while I sat and had to witness the food fest.

Heh, the only reason that I posted those was because she doesn't like them, and the only reason that I did this post was because she wanted me to talk about her more. Show you!

I love you Danielle.

I think that I am going to have to eat my words now. All of the things that I said about chemistry might be incorrect. Now don't get me wrong, I hate the class to death and I don't think that there is anything that can change that, but I think I might like my teacher a little bit more. All semester I have been getting between a 60% and 65% on the tests, even after studying for 15 hours straight, but my teacher has been doing this class so long that he plans for low grades like mine. Here are all of the ways that he is making the class's grade higher.

1) We have a pass fail test, which is suppose to be review (it wasn't for me), but upon passing it with an 80%, we get 100% on that test, and that test is 12.5% of my overall grade.

2) He knows that it is hard to get up for an 8:30 class on Fridays, so every Friday he has a one question quiz which is turning out to be extra credit. Overall in the semester, we have the potential of getting 30 points of extra credit that goes on our test grades, and 30 points equals 30% boost in test grades.

3) On top of the extra credit that we got from the quizzes, he is now curving all of the test grades to 100. So when I got a 68/112, 70/108 and 65/100, I now have a 68/100, 70/100, and 65/100.

4) He doesn't think that the final should hurt us, so if including the final in our grade would drop our cumulative grade, then he won't count it. Since I have about an 83% in the class right now (with all of the curving... and yes I can't believe it either), I would have to get higher than an 83% on the final for it to count (which almost is a guarentee not to happen). Getting a 100% on the final would only bring me up to an 85%.

Talk about eating my words huh? This is awesome. I think I could like that guy... but I am still never taking chemistry again. I have already had his scope on my chest once, and I am not going to roll the dice again. Whew... my weekend just got that much better. Who is up for some Counter Strike now?

I think that I am going to have to eat my words now. All of the things that I said about chemistry might be incorrect. Now don't get me wrong, I hate the class to death and I don't think that there is anything that can change that, but I think I might like my teacher a little bit more. All semester I have been getting between a 60% and 65% on the tests, even after studying for 15 hours straight, but my teacher has been doing this class so long that he plans for low grades like mine. Here are all of the ways that he is making the class's grade higher.

1) We have a pass fail test, which is suppose to be review (it wasn't for me), but upon passing it with an 80%, we get 100% on that test, and that test is 12.5% of my overall grade.

2) He knows that it is hard to get up for an 8:30 class on Fridays, so every Friday he has a one question quiz which is turning out to be extra credit. Overall in the semester, we have the potential of getting 30 points of extra credit that goes on our test grades, and 30 points equals 30% boost in test grades.

3) On top of the extra credit that we got from the quizzes, he is now curving all of the test grades to 100. So when I got a 68/112, 70/108 and 65/100, I now have a 68/100, 70/100, and 65/100.

4) He doesn't think that the final should hurt us, so if including the final in our grade would drop our cumulative grade, then he won't count it. Since I have about an 83% in the class right now (with all of the curving... and yes I can't believe it either), I would have to get higher than an 83% on the final for it to count (which almost is a guarentee not to happen). Getting a 100% on the final would only bring me up to an 85%.

Talk about eating my words huh? This is awesome. I think I could like that guy... but I am still never taking chemistry again. I have already had his scope on my chest once, and I am not going to roll the dice again. Whew... my weekend just got that much better. Who is up for some Counter Strike now?

Thank god for dead week. I am completely done with math and english, and I had the entire day off today because our core class was just meeting for breakfast today. Now I have to worry about studying for the computer science test that is a week from today, and the chemistry test that is next monday. And not to leave us hanging, our chemistry teacher is having the test at 7:30 am on Monday. Bastard.

And it looks like Optix might make a reappearance. We wouldn't do it the same as last time, because a simple search of the web shows that there are already 10 million games like that, but we might do it with a business theme. We still have to iron out the details, but I am brushing up on my .Net skills so that we can get started on development later this month. We also won't put it on the web until we actually have something ready, and hopefully with two people on the development team this time, we can get things moving faster.

And I am getting addicted to Counter Strike, HL2 Deathmatch, and Counter Strike Source. I am thinking that I might just buy HL2 because I am using more than I originally thought. I can't use it as a Christmas present because I told my parents that I want nothing for Christmas. Do I regret saying that? No. But Christmas still feels so empty. Sigh. I honestly have no idea what I want to do with Christmas. Aw well.

Seven days until I am officially done with my first semester of college. Over and out.

As promised, here is the english paper that I wrote. I think that it is one of my better creative writing projects (because of the ending) but I want some other critques. Also note that some of this is made up, but a lot of it is true.

Strella

The world is spinning as fast as it can, and everything is optimized to be faster than everything else. Our society pushes its children to be as efficient as possible, as early as elementary school when they have assignments to do and a schedule to keep. Anyone who has too much fun is looked down upon, and considered childish. It is rare to find someone who doesn’t conform to society’s rules; someone who stops to smell the roses on a daily basis; someone who lived life to the fullest and never complained about missing opportunities

However, I was blessed enough to have someone like this in my life, and her name was Strella. I first met her when I moved to Idaho, and she was the only friend that I had. I lived in Texas prior to moving, so I was dealing with a huge culture change, and I had no friends on the same side of the country as me. As a kid, I was very quiet so I did not make friends quickly, but she took me in and made me feel loved.

There were many days that we would sit on the lawn and just talk. In elementary school, she was the quiet ear that listened to me talk about my new school. She didn’t judge me when I told her about the girls that I chased around the playground, and how I got in trouble on a daily basis for doing it. My friends from Boy Scouts turned their backs on me on many occasions, but she was always there for me. Strella was also the thing that helped me transition from elementary school into middle school.

Middle school was hard for me. I was struggling to fit in at school, and I was trying to be independent at home. My battle for independence caused a lot of fights between me and my mom, especially when she would tell me to do something that I didn’t like. One time when things got especially heated up, my mom smacked me for talking back to her. I was so mad at her, that I hit her back and then ran outside. My mom was yelling at me the whole way out so I knew that I had to go somewhere, so I went to Strella. I was crying my eyes out because I immediately regretted doing what I had done, but I was still mad at my mom. It was comforting to just be around Strella, and it helped me to deal with my emotions.

Later during my middle school years, I started to turn into a computer geek. The problem was that I would stay on the computer for hours on end without getting any exercise, so Strella took it upon herself to make me go for a walk with her almost everyday. Sometimes we would just go around the block, but other times we took long walks through the foothills behind my house. There were many afternoons that I spent walking through those hills with Strella, going nowhere in particular.

High school was a life changing experience for me. It was the first time that I actually had a social life, and it was the first time that I had a significant homework load. My friends took up more of my time, so I didn’t spend as much time with Strella, but she never said anything about it. She was just as loving and compassionate as ever when I did spend time with her. On the days when I had to study for finals, or write a paper that was, she would sit with me as I worked on my homework. Looking back, I can tell that she missed the days when we spent time doing things together, but her unconditional love was there the whole time.

During my senior year in high school, my attention turned to graduating and working at my part time job, and I really didn’t notice how her health was deteriorating. She was still the same loving Strella that had been around me since elementary school, but she just wasn’t as energetic as she had been before. When we went for walks, we never went into the foothills anymore because she asked that we stay on the roads. There were more and more days where she told me that she didn’t want to go on a walk at all because she wasn’t feeling very well. When we finally did make her go to the doctor’s office, we had to almost drag her in because she had never been to a doctor before. The doctor fixed her up and made her feel better, but it was only temporary as we could see the signs of age starting to take its toll. She never did give up, even when she struggled to stand up because of her bad hips, she would still go on walks with me on a very consistent basis.

I could see the sadness in her eyes as I packed up for college. I was pretty sure that I would see her again, but I never could tell. She was getting very old. However, now that I am in college and I look back on her influence on my life, I am really astonished at how much she has done for me. She never bought me lots of things or spoiled me, but she has had a profound impact on my life. When she does die, I won’t cry for her death, but instead, celebrate her life. I know that she will be with me all the time and she will forever be the shoulder that I can cry on. So I want to thank you for everything that you have done for me. This is for you; my dog Strella.

I have been so unmotivated lately. I have not wanted to work on any of the projects that are due this week, study for next week's finals, or update my blog. I just want to mess around and waste time. Good thing that my hard final is at the beginning of the week so that I can get it out of the way.

Anyway, I had my first date with Christine on Saturday. It was all planned out because she said that she was tired of planning things, and that she wanted no hand in this. Ok! So I thought that we could go out for dinner, come back and play cards (she had expressed interest in beating me :P), and possibly watching a movie. Well, about 30 minutes before the date she called me and said that she had some stuff that just came up, and that we would not be able to have the date as planned. She suggested going to Arby's instead. Ok! Talking with her made me realize that she is really quite an interesting person. After dinner, we went to a concert that she had to be at and that was that. Simple and to the point. I had fun though and I would definitely be up for a second date (if you consider the other one a date; I do). I am getting the impression that she would be up for another date too, but not until finals are over. She had to pull an all nighter last night because she had so much to do. Blah.

This weekend was bad to the Packers. After winning six in a row, they fell to the Philadelphia Eagles. I will admit that the Eagles were playing very well, but I also attribute the loss to the poor performance of the Packers. Brett Favre didn't even throw one touchdown, and it took the backup quarterback, Craig Nall, to get any touchdowns for the Packers. I almost cried. I don't want to mention the score because it was that bad but go ahead and look it up if you want. Sniffle. The Packers play Detroit at home this week, so I believe that they will bounce back with this game. The Packers beat Detroit 38-10 on the road, so this game should be a breeze, but not a given. I have learned that nothing is a given when you are talking about NFC teams.

I got Linux installed on my desktop, but not without a fight. After Mandrake, and Suse both had problems installing and booting, I talked to some Linux gurus and they said that I probably have a piece of hardware that is bad. That would explain why things were crashing in Windows Server 2003 as well. I am guessing that it is the RAM but I really don't feel motivated to test out that hypothesis. Maybe after finals I will. So far I like Linux, because it looks like a great Windows alternative. I am not going to say that Linux is better than Windows because I really have not played with it that much, but it looks like fun.

Speaking of fun, I am just finishing up my English assignment, and I like it so much that I am going to post it here later. I think this assignment is the best creative writing that I have ever done. So look for that later.

It is amazing how much time I can waste. I had no classes from 12:30 on, and I still was able to waste almost twelve hours. Mind you, I did eat, go to my bible study and have a huge snowball fight in there, but I still didn't do my homework. Actually, I guess I really didn't wast that much time. I just have procrastinated my homework.

I love this snow though. But after three snowball fights I have decided that it doesn't belong down my shirt.

I am worried about Danielle. She has worked her butt off all semester, and now she is concidering dropping out because she thinks that she is a burden. I really hope that she doesn't, first off because that would be stupid to do, and also because she is not as bad as she thinks she is. I do think that it would be best for her to live in Boise where she would have the love and support of her real family (not just us). But she will get through it. Go Danielle.

Ok, I really need to stop putting off my homework, and get it done so that I can get to bed. See ya.

All week my parents said that they wanted to go to a movie with me. Since today was the last day that I would be in town, we designated today as that day. I was not in the loop on movie selection (because I was still asleep :P) so they picked the Polar Express. They said that they had not heard anything about the movie (which I later found out was not the case), but they said it would be really good. So we went.

When I was little, my parents bought a book called "The Polar Express" which is about a boy who doesn't believe in Christmas anymore. I didn't make the connection until the movie started, otherwise I probably would have opted for a different movie. But I am glad that I didn't know. I loved the movie because it did remind me of the story, and the days when Christmas held more meaning to me than just an overly commercialized holiday. Beyond the story, the animaition was amazing. I mean, you probably have seen some good animation, but this was awesome! There were some points in the movie where I wasn't sure if it was live action or animation, and the voice talent was right on. Tom Hanks did some of the voices and he was good. I don't want to give away the story, but I would highly recommend that movie. Live a little... go see a movie that caters to your kid side.

After seeing that movie, we went over to a family friend's house to watch the BSU vs Nevada game. There was a lot riding on this game because BSU was going for their first undefeated season in school history, plus they are hoping for a bowl game. The big bowl games are worth abouot 14 million dollars, whereas the bowl that they already have an invite to is only worth 1.4 million. BSU did win 55-21, but we will have to wait a week to find out if they get into any big bowl games because there are a few teams that play next week. Idaho on the other hand... heh.. yeah. They got in invite to the "Lets throw this POS team into a bottomless" bowl. Yeah. Go Vandals.

And the Packers play the Rams on Monday night. There is not going to be a gimmie game for either side and I am looking forward to a good game. The Packers are still on a five game win streak (They are 6-4 and tied for first in their division), while the Rams have lost three of their last four (They are 5-5). However, last week's win at Houston was very sloppy for the Packers, with them bearly pulling out a fourth quarter win with no time left on the clock. This week they do have homefield advantage, and I think that that will throw the balance to the Packers. However, I still think the Packers could have done it in St. Louis.

Well its bed time for me. Gotta get up early to go home tomorrow.

The funny thing about blogging is that Yohan was the one that first got me into it, and now he is hardly doing it at all. Oh the irony. Gotta love Yohan for jumping on Wallop (which, for those of you who haven't guessed, is a Microsoft related thing, and yes Microsoft stole the idea from someone else). Oh well.

Today was my brother's birthday. Yea. He turned 16 and didn't do much. I really don't think he cared much except for the cake and presents.

But today was fun because I got to hang out with Corey all day. And when I say all day, I mean all day. First we went to his Discreet Math class, where I found out that Discreet Math really is suppose to be slightly challenging, unlike my class which is an easy ‘A’. Corey has to do a whole bunch of proofs, and actually do work. My class is just like my middle school classes, except that we go slower. Our teacher is such a push over, and I am not even taking advantage of her. She almost takes advantage of herself!

After class, I finally got to play DDR on a metal pad. Corey said that it is the way that DDR is meant to be played... and it was fun because I got to keep my shoes on and there were some new songs. The problem is that it is hard to challenge yourself with the arcade version, because failing a song makes you lose the whole set of songs, and your money. It is only 50 cents, but that could add up fast.

Then we went to MCHS and I got to see all of my teachers. They were all happy to see me, and commented on how many of the class of 2004 that they had seen. Yeah! Good showing. But when I went in to talk to Mr. Caldwell, I saw his freshman class and couldn't believe how small some of them were! There was one or two that looked like he should be in elementary or middle school. Heh... hard to believe that I was once like that. I am going there tomorrow so that I can talk to the teachers more, when they aren't tied up with classes.

And here comes Thanksgiving! I am not sure what I am looking forward to more: the food or the football. I think it is the mix that makes Thanksgiving so cool. We watch the first football game and then eat. Afterwards we watch the second game while we let our food settle. Unfortunately, last year the Green Bay lost to Detroit on Thanksgiving so my food didn't settle well, but this year I don't have any teams that I am rooting for that are playing. The first game is Indianapolis at Detroit, which could be a good game, but I doubt it. Indianapolis has run over almost every team that they have played, scoring tons of points (like 30 and 40 plus points a game), so I am positive that they will win. Chicago at Dallas could be a little bit more of a nail biter, just because both of the teams suck. Neither one of them have any hopes for the playoffs anymore so there is nothing riding on this game. Dallas has home field advantage, but they have been very flaky this year, while the Bears have picked it up in the past few weeks. I think this will be a little bit closer of a game, but I believe that the Bears can do it.

One other thing, I am curious as to who visits this page so if you read this, just leave a comment saying so.

So I am going to play Need for Speed again and maybe some Half Life 2. So until next time…

Ah. It is so nice to be home. I thought that I would hate coming back, but I really feel comfortable. The weird thing is that it really doesn't feel like I have been gone for three months; it just feels like I was gone for a while and now I am home.

But that has made me think, where is home? Is "Home" the one that my parents live at and where I was raised, or is home the one where all of my stuff is right now, and where I live all year, and where all of my friends are? I am not sure. I think it is UI though. This kind of stuff has seemed to come up a lot recently because everyone has a different meaning for the word, home. Oh well.

After riding down with Chris today, I am almost inclined to say that my home really is UI because I am not sure that I have the guts to drive down with him again :P. Scary driver... he is everything that my parents warned me about when I was little. I swear, he is going to get in an accident one of these days because of his driving and I hope that I am not in the car when that happens (well, actually I hope that it doesn’t happen at all).

After surviving the car ride (by the grace of God), I saw my parents again. Unfortunately, they thought that I was coming back either Saturday or Sunday, and when they were invited to an open house on Saturday evening, they accepted. Since my parents were gone, I took the opportunity to go see Corey! We played DDR for a while, but after using the pads that Yohan has, I was too spoiled to use Corey's pad :(. Oh well, it was still good fun because we talked for about 4 hours. Good times Corey, good times.

Oh, and we have that LAN party that we are going to do this week. Hmmm... not much planning on that so far. I think that when I get done with this entry that I will send out an email trying to get the ball rolling on that. My mom said that she would love to have it at our house, so that is one possibility. Plus we can play DDR! I can't wait!

After getting home and seeing all of the magazines lying around that were advertising Christmas stuff, I am sick. Seriously, I am really starting to realize that Christmas has lost all of its meaning, and that all it is about is buying stuff. Why do people throw themselves into debt just to buy everyone on their list presents? I can understand going into debt for something that you really need, like clothes, food or a house, but for Christmas? Whatever happened to "its the thought that counts"? What happened to the season of giving? All the stores want is your money. I want to puke. Am I going to feel better if I get the latest and greatest stuff this year, and if I buy as much stuff as I can for other people? No. Would I rather receive nothing, and just give my friends and family something that is small but special? Yes.

I mean, the kick off to the Christmas shopping season is called Black Friday. People are pushing and shoving and cutting in line just to get the stuff that they want. "It is about what I want... now get out of my way!" I really wouldn’t mind a low key Christmas this year. I want to ignore all of the Christmas advertisements (especially the Old Navy ones) but I know that isn't possible. I want to go into a hole and celebrate Christmas away from the ads. Now I just need to convince my friends and family to join me :P.

Sigh, I am done ranting. Good night.

I loved going to summer camp. I got to get away for a week, hang out with kids my age, and have fun. I once went to one that was about science (like dirt, and water and things like that). It was boring but I still enjoyed it. I went to one other camp for three straight summers because I liked it so much. I probably would have kept going, but it was for middle schoolers only.

One year at that camp, (I think it was the second or third year) I met a girl named Jessica. She was a really nice girl, not terribly nice looking but I really don't judge on looks. I think she had her eye on me the whole week because she kept going out of her way to talk to me. I remember that towards the end of the week she was getting very possessive with me, and I think it was because the camp was putting a dance on for the last day. She almost made me ask her (even though it wasn't that kind of a dance, but we were middle schoolers and we wanted to feel special). So I did.

The dance was fun. I danced with her and only her because she wouldn't let me dance with any other the other girls that were sitting on the sidelines looking sad. That dance was the first time that I slow danced with a girl. And it was close dancing... no buffer between us. Wow... I was an ecstatic.

About half way through the dance, we decided to take a break and walk outside to get some air. Since it was summer, the sun had just set behind us so it was just light enough to see each other. We walked out by the lake to talk. I must have thought that she was something really special because I told her some pretty embarrassing stories about me and a lot of details about my life. I found out that she lived in Boise, and I got her phone number. She made me promise that I would call her when I got home so that we could get together. If we had been out by the lake much longer, I might have had my first kiss right there by the lake, but instead one of the counselors saw us and made us go back to the dance.

We sat next to each other on the bus ride home too. We were going steady at this point. I think I even got to hold her hand. When I got home, I immediately called her up. We didn't talk about much, but we were on the phone together! I had made a connection! A few days later, she invited me to a Fourth of July party that she was going to have at her house. She said that it would be our first date.

That was all that I thought about for the next few days. Wow, I have a date! I have a DATE! I HAVE A DATE! I wasn't sure what to expect, but it didn't matter. We were official.

Before I went over to her house on that Fourth of July, I picked a few flowers for her, and even spiffed myself up. I couldn't wait to get there. When my mom dropped me off, she made me promise to be good and to thank her parents for having me over and all that jazz. I promised and then ran to her front door. I think she saw me coming because she answered it immediately. I handed her the flowers that were sweaty from my hands by this point, and she let me in. She introduced me to her family and two of her friends that she had also invited over. Then her friends, Jessica and I went off by ourselves. And then the four of us just sat there. We had nothing to do until it got dark when we would light off fireworks.

I found out that the other two were a couple too, so this was like a double date. After we had been talking for a while about nothing, the two girls suddenly left to talk outside of earshot. Feeling attached to Jessica, I started to follow her but she told me to stay. So I did. I didn't know the guy at all, and making small talk was painful because both of us were just waiting for the girls to come back. Finally, the girls came back. They wouldn't tell us what they talked about but they started to lead us towards a shed. Not dragging us, but suddly leading us. When we stopped, we were behind the shed that looked like it probably held a lawn mower and other landscaping equipment. The girls got to the point about what they wanted. Jessica wanted to kiss me back here and the other girl wanted to kiss her boyfriend. I don't think it was as big of a deal for them because I think they had done it before, but I was shocked and very scared.

I had no idea how to kiss. All that I could think of were kissing scenes from movies that I had seen. I was thinking about how her spit would get in my mouth, and how our noses might get in the way. I looked at her and tried to scope out how I would do it. I had no idea. I figured that I would let the other two do it first and see how they did it. I could fake this! The problem was that when they were getting ready to kiss, Jessica pulled me out from behind the shed so that they could be alone. Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no. What would I do?

I didn't have much time to think because they finished up and Jessica pulled me behind the shed. We didn't say anything. Before I could even think about what we were about to do, she grabbed the sides of my face and started kissing me. The whole thing felt like an out of body experience, because it didn't feel clumsy. My nose didn't get in the way of hers, and I didn't taste anything nasty. That was until I found some food around her teeth. Bleh... but I kept going. I had to look cool. Then she bit my tongue. I didn't even realize that it was in her mouth but she clamped down and pushed it out. I felt dejected. My tongue wasn't good enough for her??? For her mouth that had food in it?? Awww.

We finished shortly thereafter, and she ran away. I walked back around the shed still on cloud 9 (because even if it wasn't great, it was still my first kiss). She ran over with her girlfriend and they talked about their kisses (again out of earshot). Both of us guys just stood there. I probably had some dumb look on my face though. The girls came back, and they wanted to do it again. Oh no. I don't want to roll the dice twice! I figured that I got lucky the first time, but that I was bound to screw up this time. She was very insistence that she wanted it, so I knew that I had to do it.

Again we waited for the other couple to get done, and again we went back there. For some reason I thought she was doing this whole thing to look cool to her girlfriend as well, and since I really didn't want to kiss again, at least not so soon, I suggested that we just pretend that we were kissing. She looked at me like I was some sissy. She didn't give me a chance to change my answer, but just walked away. Again, the girls got together for a powwow, and came back. We were not going for another round, but Jessica decided to announce to everyone about how I was scared to kiss. Aww... that hurt. I felt so dejected at that point. I wasn't cool.

The other two went back a few more times to kiss, but Jessica didn't want to go back with me anymore, and I really didn't want to go back with her either. I really don't remember anything else about the night; I am not even sure if I stayed for the fireworks. I imagine that I did because I had to wait for my mom to pick me up, but I didn't care about any of it. I went home feeling so depressed. I liked her. I thought that she liked me.

The next day I called her and we talked. Nothing important, but I was trying to rebuild the relationship. I could make this work. The day after that, she called me. Wow! This is awesome. She is still interested in me. Then she called the day after that. And the day after that. And so on. I was starting to get very annoyed with her calling because we never, ever talked about anything. In hindsight, she might have been waiting for me to invite her on a second date, but I just thought that she was getting annoying. Every time that she called I thought about that kiss. That dreadful kiss. The kiss that was so good and bad at the same time.

It got to the point where I would see her on caller ID, and I would have someone else pick up the phone and tell her that I wasn't there. After a few days of this, you would think that she would get the point, but she didn't. Day after day after day. Finally, my mom told her off. Told her that I wasn't interested, and to take a hint. Heh... I think she only called a few more times after that, and then gave up. I was annoyed with her and very over her. I didn't want anything to do with her.

Thinking about it today, I realize that she would have been the really clingy type, and probably a whore. My mom still calls her "Jessica the whore". I guess my mom is right about stuff every once in a while. At least she saved me from that girl, even if it was just picking up the phone every time and lying to her about my whereabouts. I wonder how it would have turned out if we had kept going. I imagine that she would have been a drama queen and never let me out of her sight. It would have ended after she saw me talking to another girl, and she would make me get back together with her.

The funny thing is that even though I hate her now, I still remember all of the details seven years after the fact. I still haven't had another relationship, though, and the motto "I will let them come to me" has served me well. That was, until Christine came along who did come to me. I am a rookie in the relationship business, surrounded by people who have had umpteen relationships. Even Christine has had quite a few, even up to last week. Intimidating? Yes. Do I want to get to know Christine better? Sure! Do I know what I am looking for, or what I am waiting for? No, I am clueless. I don't know how she is going to make me feel, but I figure that she just has to be better than Jessica. Can I stand to have my heart broken? I think so. Can I stand another kiss with food involved and a rejected tongue? Well, if that happens again, I think I will go asexual.

Yeah, I know! I asked Christine if she would be willing to go on a date with me after the Thanksgiving break and she said yes! Wow. Well, I first asked her if she wanted to go to Bob's to eat tomorrow, and she said no to that... but then I offered a double date and she said yes! Ok, I need some ideas as to what we should do. Also, there is no way I am going on this date alone so is anyone willing to double date with me? I know Yohan said he would, but JB would have to be able to go too. Kacy also said he could go. So that shouldn't be a problem, but does anyone have any ideas as to what to do on the date? Just dinner? I dunno... I want something slightly more thoughful than that. But yeah, comment away with your suggestions because I need them. Big time.

Now that I have the second date in my entire life coming up, maybe I will tell the scary tale of my first. But that will come later. Now comment!

I couldn't think of a creative title for this one, so it is simple. Besides, I don't feel very well. I am not sure what it is from, as most of the tower is getting over different things. I think I have something different because it is not a cough... just queasiness. I haven't been sick in so long that I didn't remember what it felt like, but I think it may have to do with the lack of sleep, because I have been tired all day and just started feeling sick this evening.

I knocked two more projects, and one more test out of the way today. That leaves only my Chemistry test tomorrow, which I have studied over for about 10 cumulative hours and I still don't think I understand it. The good news is that I think if I get another D- on this test, and a D- on the final, I might be in the running for a B. I think I have a C locked in pretty well, but we will see in four weeks. He said that his finals are so hard that even he wouldn't want to take them. Thanks Doc!

But I do think that I will be able to get an A in math without a problem. CS, Core, and English will be a challenge but might still be doable, so I think that I might end up with a 3.0 GPA as a worst case scenario. Our English teacher seems scared of giving A's, but if I don't get an A on the paper I just turned in today, heads are going to fly. I have worked my butt off on every single writing assignment and have only squeezed out B's. The thing that pisses me off (other than the fact that I can't get an A in a 100 level English class) is that I have heard other students talking about how easy their English class is. Grr... plus our teacher talks too much. I hate our English class.

Today, Corey invited me to go to classes with him next week. BSU makes their students go to class next week... heh. But I think it could be fun. And then we could go home and play DDR! I can’t wait to hang out with Corey next week. I get to see all of my other friends everyday (except for Kacy and Kevin, but I see them weekly), but I haven’t seen Corey since August. Good thing I am not playing DDR at home because I know my family would make fun of me, even though they tell me to get exercise. Oh well.

Oh! Speaking of exercise, I finally got around to weighing myself again, and I am down another 1.8 pounds. That brings the total, since I started my self designed "anti-freshman-fifteen" diet, to 9.2 pounds lost. Oh yeah! I doubt I will stick to it over Thanksgiving, but I can splurge every once in a while right? And it is a holiday!

Ok, back to homework, and then bed. So to everyone in Boise, see you this weekend!

I love blogging so much. Everyone gets to see a little bit of me, and I get to type it out. It makes me feel like I am doing something with my life instead of just going through the days, day after day. It is like a reflection time where I can go back through everything that is going on. Plus you guys find out about it as well. I think this could become an addiction. I wonder if it is healthy or not. Maybe it is like a DDR addiction: healthy but time consuming. Anyway, I am looking at Diaryland as well for my blog. It is really customizable so I might jump over there. The problem is that I have to get everything set up and that takes time. I don't have that.

I know I shouldn't be writing in this right now. I blew off bible study so that I could do homework, but this is just starting to get so wearing on me. The only thing that is keeping me working is the fact that I know that there is only 48 hours of this stuff left.

I can't wait to go back to Boise. Not only will I get to sleep in all week, eat food whenever I want, and not go to class, but I will also get to see my family again... and my friends! Yea for LAN parties. Yea for Half Life 2.

Got to see HL2 being played last night because Yohan bought it. I would but I just can't play games for that long. I have had Doom 3 since our last LAN party (Alex let me install it) and I have played for maybe 3 hours total. That is over the course of 4 or 5 months. Sigh, I want to play it though.

I have never been counting down to the weekend so soon, but I am counting it by how many projects and tests I have left for the week, instead of counting days. Two tests and one project down, and two projects and two tests left to go. And of course Chemistry is half of that.

Rack up win number four in a row for the Packers! With this win they take the lead in their division because they beat the former division leader, the Minnesota Vikings (the team they are currently tied with). That puts them in first. Minnesota is on a three game losing streak right now, and I hope they continue that. I am a tad concerned though just because they do have two very tough games coming up: The Eagles and the Rams. We will see how all of this turns out but I think that the Packers have a good shot at least one of the wildcard spots.

Well, Yohan tried to get me to use the blogging site Wallop, but I didn't like it. Right now it is in its early stages and it is just too buggy for my liking so I headed over to Live Journal. Then I find out Live Journal is open source. So now Yohan is with the MS version of blogging and I am on the OS side. This always seems to happen :P.

I am thinking that I will do something this week with Christine. Something. I am not sure what but I think it will be good. I have no idea what girls like but I guess I can take a wild guess and hope that I get it right. If not then... well... I guess she will laugh at me and tell me that I am a dork. Then she will break off all contact with me and I will be the same Brian that I always was: just Brian.

On a more sour note, *gets up on his soapbox* I hate chemistry. I am pretty sure that most of the world knows how much I hate chemistry but I just need to get this out again. Today (a Sunday night) we had a review for the test that we take this Thursday night. And it is a three hour test. Yeah, if that isn't bad enough we have to know so much freaking stuff, and even our professor said that it was a "huge amount of stuff to know, and I am pushing you to what I would expect out of my 112 class or beyond". Oh, great. I am in Chem 111 and we are learning stuff from future semesters. There is a reason that I am not taking this class next semester from this guy (or at all). So this is our third test (the first two I got 62% and 63% on). Then he proceeds to tell us that the final is unbelievably hard and that we should pray to God that we get out of it somehow. I think he likes to see us suffer. The only good news that I got is that he curves the grades at the end of the semester. Oh thanks... stress us out with your fun games and then get us up to passing. GAH! I can't take this.

Anyway, I have that test and a 15 page paper in chemistry that I have to work on now. Sigh.

I love the weekends. They are a time for relaxation... and catching up on homework. Well... that is what it seems like. Next week I have three tests, and two 10+ page papers due. Eh.

But tonight rocked. Yohan and I drug out DDR again and started playing. Oh I love that game, and I don't feel like I am wasting time because I am working out. But everyone decided to go to the movie 'Collateral', so of course since that turned into the cool thing to do, I had to join in. Lo and behold when we got to the basement, there was Christine (the girl that I talked about in my last entry), and I invited her to come. She’s fun. I think I could consider that movie a date because I paid. Hmm... I wonder what the rules are on that. Anyway, she didn't end up liking the movie but I did. It was full of action, killing and a plot that wrapped itself up and then slowly unwound. The problem was that the ending was very poor, but all in all I really liked the movie.

When we walked back, Danielle and Christine ran ahead and started talking. I can only imagine what they were talking about. Wait... actually I have no idea. I am pretty sure it had to do with me, but I don't know what they said. As with they guys that hung back, they started talking about me and Christine. I really think that they are more excited that I am in a relationship than I am. Actually, I have no idea what I think. I am not even sure if we are in a relationship. This is why I have never dated before: girls are so confusing.

Kacy offered to go on a double date with me, which really sounds like fun. We could go on a date (which I think is what she wants) but it wouldn't feel awkward and I could test the waters. I am just scared that Kacy would bring Kevin as his date and then that would be all sorts of awkward :P.

After we got back, I finally got to see what everyone likes about Pita Pit. It is highly hyped and very good. I am not sure that it is as good as everyone makes it out to be... I mean it is a wrap... not God's food or something. I would definitely have it again if they were healthier, but of course I am on my diet and those things aren't exactly conducive to being healthy.

I was suppose to weigh myself today but I never got around to it. I am kind of looking forward to seeing how I did this week because I think that I did pretty well. In three weeks I lost 7.4 pounds and that was even with my birthday in there. I think I could be down 5 pounds this week like I was the first week. We will see.

Man I love this blogging stuff, but I need to get to bed. I have to get up early in the morning so I am signing out.

Sigh, I never thought that I would break down and consider dating but it has happened. Don't worry, the things that I have said about "waiting for them to come to me" is still holding true. Actually I am not even sure if we are dating or just friends, but I know that she likes me. I like her too. This is the closest I have ever gotten.

The whole relationship kind of snuck up on me (which is why I am still not sure if we are dating or friends). I knew her from a junior high youth rally that we both volunteered at and from Idaho Catholic Youth Convention (ICYC) but I hadn't talked to her in about two years. When I saw her up here she was just another familiar face that I remembered from before college and I really didn't think anything of her, but she kept stopping by my room whenever she was on the 11th floor (which was rather often considering that she lives on the 10th floor).

Tonight she invited me over to her room for dinner (which I couldn't turn down because she wouldn't let me go to the LLC to get something to eat). After playing DDR for a few hours, I took her up on her invitation. Showered and fresh smelling (yeah... would seem like quite the occasion) we ate and then proceeded to talk for about 2.5 hours. Scary, I have never talked to a girl for that long.

Two things are scaring me about this whole thing though. One is that she manipulated me into staying longer. I couldn't leave without her saying goodbye... even as I was walking out the door telling her that I was leaving I couldn't until she dismissed me, so to speak. Damn... I think I am whipped. Even Yohan was obeying her earlier!

The other thing is that she likes to dance. Yes... I have a very good record with me staying away from dancing and I really don't want to ruin that. Two weeks ago I went swing dancing with a girl from my chemistry class so I have had more than enough dancing for the next few years. Gah. Dancing :@.

We will see how this goes. Man, I can't lose my reputation for avoiding relationships. This could be bad. I guess I could just tell you guys who she is and you could tell her about me and then she would run away, and maybe even move out of the tower. But we will see.

I never thought that I would get sucked into the whole blogging thing, but it has finally happened. I guess I was going to eventually, I mean it has gone from being a thing that only people with lots of time do, to a massively popular diary tool. I know that I want to be cool so of course I have to join in.

Anyway, I am off to see what Wallop can do.