not having a computer sucks

it really does. i have to go to the library if i want to accomplish anything useful now, and it's really annoying having to actually get up and walk across campus to talk to friends, instead of IMing them. i suppose its more exercise... but i think i'll be getting plenty of that as the semester goes on anyways.

on the bright side, there is a slight chance that my computer will actually be ready to use again before monday. they're working really hard to get everyone back on the internet here, so they were able to get some people to work this weekend. i'm not holding out too much hope, but we'll see.

anyways, time for lunch, and then homework. if i do get my computer back sometime this weekend, i'll post again; if not, that probably won't happen till monday.

yarrrgh....

stupid campus network. my computer was doing just fine until i hooked it up; now it's getting pwn3d by a virus. since the school disconnected everything but the library (and maybe the research labs... not sure about those) from the internet, i can't download a fix for it, so i had to take it in to the help desk. apparently they're understaffed and way behind, so unless they rope some people into working this weekend, i can expect it back... monday. which means no computer all weekend. so assuming i don't die of boredom, i may actually get some homework done. we'll see.

anyways, time to do some reading. hopefully i'll be able to update again sometime soon.

side note: unfortunately, i won't be putting up any more pictures until my compy gets "fixed".

church sign contest

i've got one of them up already, and i'm going to stick another one up in this post. and i figured, what the heck? head over here and make a sign, or if you've already got a picture of a good one, send me that.



now that my readership appears to be over 2, i figured i'd give this a try. i'll arbitrarily pick the winner, but feel free to weigh in in the comments section.

oh yeah. and another random pic.

can't forget this. i think i'll shoot for one a day from now on, until i run out of pictures. enjoy.



and even though it says it really small down at the bottom, i figure better safe than sorry: this pic is from www.rightwingstuff.com. which is a great site, by the way. you should check it out.

the RISK factor

or something like that. for those of you who i haven't told yet, my RISK board is now complete. well, sort of. it's done enough to play on, and that's the important part. as i think i've mentioned before, i'll just bring it home during breaks for some touch-ups, making it even more awesome than it already is. the grand unveiling will be sometime monday night, probably in the BJ lounge. i'll take some pics that night, so those of you unable to attend will be able to see the finished product.

on a side note, i'd like some reader comments on bush's proposed "opportunity zones," which he hopes will reduce unemployment even further. i think it sounds like a very interesting idea, but i don't know how well it would work, and i don't know enough of the specifics to make an informed decision.

more random piczors

this post will pretty much just be pics. thanks for getting me around the whole gray box thing forrest.





and last but not least, i can't forget to make fun of kerry:



alright... you can expect more pics in this vein, but not until at least tomorrow... i've got the closing shift at work again tonight, so i'll be home late.

well, most of my political pictures don't want to work, so i just do this funny one for now

though not as entertaining as the real lloyd and harry, the name still fits these guys.

it's hunting season

grab your guns, your gear, and your ballots; it's time get the liberals out of office and get this country back to its roots.

well, crap. it's not letting me post the picture. or at least it doesn't look like it on my end. so i'll just post them seperately.

----update----
looks like forrest found away around the whole gray box thing, so here's the picture i meant to post:

yay! i have a friend again!

yeah, so basically i've hardly seen my friends at all this summer. they were all (except trevor, who was stuck in iraq) home for about a week for jon's wedding; but then josiah went back to alabama to finish flight school, rachel went back to work in southern california, and jon and his wife headed down to mexico. i got to spend some time with kate-lynne, but then she left for europe for about a month and a half, and just got back on tuesday.

ok, that's enough complaining for now. i've only got 2 days of work left (yes!), and then it's back to school and writing papers again. for now? back to the RISK board.

oh yeah... and i'll be posting some random pics making fun of the john's edwards and kerry; partly because i think they're funny, and partly in an attempt to piss off forrest. here's the first:



there are some more i have that target liberals and democrats in general... watch out for those too.

books

well, i finally finished up "guns, germs, and steel" a few days back. i would say that it is a must-read for anyone going into history, and i would definitely recommend it for anyone who has an interest in the subject. i would tell you more about it, but i'm tired, and having problems typing.

next on the list is "the left hand of darkness" by ursula k. leguin, and then (it'll go well w/ my poly-sci classes this fall) "the selling of the president 1968." could be an interesting read. i think that's about it... i'm tired, and i'm going to bed. later all.

sorry about the weird angle... i had to get up on a dresser to get the whole thing in the picture.

better late than never

well, this is probably going to be way the heck to big again, but i'm going to give it a try anyways. i'm notoriously horrible at IM walkthroughs, so i have to wait till next week to learn how to change the picture sizes for this. anyways, here it is: the world.

not on a silver platter, but still pretty nice. in the little bit of time i have left before school starts i want to draw in the country lines, fringe the coastlines at least with some blue, and attempt to find some more army men... i've only got 4 full teams right now. which will work, but its always better with more players.

----update----
i lied. i'm not going to post the world here, because it's way too huge. i'll just have to do it seperate again... oh well.

testing

let's try this again, shall we?



i vote for this to work!

yay! thanks for the walkthrough forrest. anyways, this pic is from my friend's wedding this june. that's him on the left, me in the middle, and his twin brother on the right.

john kerry: what exactly did he volunteer for?

not viet nam, though he may have known that he was going to end up there anyways. today's federalist patriot points out that when john kerry enlisted in the navy, it was as an inactive reserve officer. knowing that the federalist has a fairly biased view of the presidential candidates, i decided to check on that for myself. lo and behold, they were right. so in that sense at least, kerry is no better than bush. neither of them wanted to go to viet nam; just because kerry ended up there doesn't make him somehow superior. if my english teacher could see that last sentence, she would flip.

kerry's medals may also be iffy, but i'm not going to attack those... i really don't know enough about them. he had to have done pretty good to even have a chance of faking them (i.e., there should be no argument that he at least did his duty, and possibly went above and beyond), so i would like to thank senator kerry--because of course he reads this--for his valiant efforts on behalf of the united states. i don't appreciate his bad-mouthing fellow soldiers when he returned, but there's really nothing i can do about that now.

check out this site for some interesting info on kerry's silver star, but be sure to check as many sources as possible before making a decision... try and get a good balanced view.

for now, i'm off to enjoy my three days off from work. hopefully i'll remember to keep this place updated. farewell.

whatever happened to open primaries?

i just got my good old absentee ballot in the mail today, and i really don't like this new system we've got going here in washington. instead of giving you all the candidates on one ballot, they're now split up onto seperate ballots by party; you choose only one ballot (and thus only one party) and vote on that. true, i was probably going to vote for all republicans anyways... but not even having the option to vote democratic on some of the positions really irks me.

for their reasoning on this new system, or to register to vote, or to check out the candidates, go to www.vote.wa.gov. to any out of state readers, i urge you to vote in your respective states. i've only tried for a few of them, but i believe you actually have to go to your state's home page (example: www.ca.gov) and link to elections stuff from there. make sure to get informed before you vote.

australia

the new, improved europe.

australia, and the new, improved europe

i'll need to go over australia again, but it's done enough for now. and i got a new blue for europe (copen blue... who knew there were so many different shades/tones/instert art term here's?) and went over that again... i think it looks much better.

and remember, everybody knows what PETA really stands for... People for the Edible Treatment of Animals. Have you eaten your daily requirement of meat today?

well, i tried

i got mainland australia and tasmania done, but couldn't finish up the rest of the continent. the purple i had was too dark, and i ran out of white to lighten it up. i should be going down to get my new glasses tomorrow, or at the very least for work on tuesday. still planning on getting asia done tomorrow... australia will just have to wait. and if anybody can think of a good place to get ahold of some plastic army men (2-3 inches high) post a comment and let me know. it's harder than it sounds.