well... I ordered my computer last night

I am SO excited you have no idea. This computer is going to be so
ridiculously fast. The latest benchmark tests I've been seeing have
rated the low end model of my computer (mine's max'd out of course)
as scoring above a 150 on the xBench. For those of you who don't know
what the xBench test is, it's a benchmarking program used to test the
limits of a systems hardware in all aspects of computing (e.g.
processor/video/memory/hard drive etc). As a comparison to this new
system, my current laptop scored an 8 on the xbench... yes... a
single digit 8, and my custom built crazy desktop computer scored
approximately 50.

Needless to say, I'm going to enjoy having a supercomputer
accompanying me to class everyday ;-).

mmm.... almost through

well... this week as been TOUGH!! Mid-terms, term papers and all
sorts of stuff has been keeping me up till about 2am every morning.
Thankfully I'm almost through, I have 1 more mid term and one more
paper to write for next week and then things will ease up for another
week or two... and then its crackdown time for finals. Also...
Kathryn and I are celebrating our 2 year anniversary next week!!! How
cool is that... it totally doesn't seem like two years... but at the
same time it feels like a lifetime. Anywho... don't know what else to
write so i'm gonna sign off now. If i think of something later...
you'll see it.

~James

Luck... meh

Well... I guess the gods of luck sensed an imbalance in the world
with me winning that ipod, they decided to even things up a bit by
having my bike stolen and my cologne bottle explode, dumping half a
bottle of cologne all over the electronics on my desk.

This week has officially resumed its status as a BAD week!

Papers are due, midterms are imminent and on top of it all... i don't
have a bike anymore which is just going to make my schedule harder :-(.

I'm hoping i can find a decent bike on craigslist so the schedule
thing won't be so bad, we'll see how things go.

I do have a bright spot though, I get to see kathryn in a little less
than 2 weeks!! Yay!! We're going to be celebrating our two year
anniversary!! Yes... you read that right... 2 YEARS EVERYBODY!!

some pictures

here are a couple of pictures from the movie shoot on friday :-). I played a crazy Gothic miscreant... you know... just my type.

I won an iPod!!

Hahaha... I just got an email today from the USC credit union saying
that I'd won an iPod. Apparently I get to go pick it up next thursday
and have a photo shoot with the other two winners. It's a white 5g
30gb ipod with "fight on" engraved on it. Woo hooo... so much for not
having a good week ;-).

I'm getting bigger!!

Weighed myself in the locker room today and I've hit 170 :-D.

Woo hoo.... getting rid of that poochy belly ;-).

grades ok so far

well... i just got the results back from my first term paper in
Natural Hazards, I got a solid B (85%) which is excellent considering
all of my other "smaller" assignments have been A's so far and I only
need a C- to pass the class.

*note for parents and auntie Kare who are surely about to protest at
my acceptance of a C-*
Please remember that I am taking this class "pass/no pass" meaning
that it doesn't touch my GPA, it's only a matter of getting the units.
*end of note*

as for my other classes, well... to be honest i'm not quite sure
where I stand but I'm pretty sure I'm doing well. I had a PR
presentation today and the teacher gave us excellent reviews (our
group was the gold standard).

In other news, my beard is growing long and gangly (quite annoying I
assure you) for Friday's shoot -the hair on my head is looking about
the same- and I've resumed working out (which is positive). I'm up to
167lbs (compared to 150ish when I arrived at SC)... the heaviest I've
ever been in my life :-). No more complaining about emaciated James,
he's bulking up.

nightly super smashbros battles continue to rage till about 1a.m. or
so on a regular basis, along with general techyness and a splash of
hacking :-p

I have yet to decide If I want to participate in this massive GM PR
campaign and live in a chevy aveo for a week with another person, but
I'll be talking to some people about it and making my decision soon.

I was offered a short job doing publicity for a new film, It will
consist of about 8 hours of logistical organizing and publicity
activities and the pay rate suits me so that should be exciting. I'll
keep you all posted as to how things go.

I'm about to leave to go have some dinner and play ultimate frisbee
till about 11pm tonight so i'm going to sign off and get ready.

Laterz,

James

Yes... I'm still alive

Hello all,

sorry its been so long between updates but you know how it goes...
school/parties/girlfriend/more school = me forgetting that I have a
blog and that people enjoy reading it.

well.. last night was quite exciting; to give you a full run down
would take the better part of the evening (which i do not have) so
I'll summarize by saying there were about 10 of us in the apartment
and the alcohol was flowing freely. What ensued was the craziest beer
can/cup fight you could ever imagine. There were beer cans and red
plastic drink cups flying around our apartment with such speed that
It looked like a battle scene from the droid army attack in Star Wars
Episode 1.
Being that I have rather superb balance and reflexes (even in my
inebriated state) I was able to dodge and deflect most deadly blows,
however i did sustain several nice welts and bruises from the
occasional beer can that penetrated my defenses and connected with my
head. The battle lasted for about 10 minutes at which time we
unanimously called a truce and compared battle wounds.

For the record i must say that I have not for a moment second
guessed my reasoning for not drinking in High School. While it does
make for some truly memorable moments, the after effects are QUITE
miserable - I intend to maintain my course of non- alcoholism (most
of the time) to avoid these miseries.

Tonight I went to the gym for the first time in over a month
(ick.... i hate the first day back) and tortured myself through an
hour-long workout before i felt like i was going to die; no doubt the
result of the lingering effects of the alcohol and my not having
worked out in over a month. I then proceeded to the cafeteria to have
dinner which ended up making me feel even more miserable initially,
but once I forced some food down I felt a little better. From there
it was back on the bike and off to the apartment for a quick shower
and a blog update.

Now I'm about to start on a powerpoint presentation for Tuesday's PR
class and then I'm calling an early night on account of feeling like
a sack of rotten, E. coli ridden spinach. Hope all is well in your
various corners of the world. I promise to try and keep updating more
often... it's just so hard to remember :-(.

lots of love!!!

James