clipshooter's Xanga

Monday, September 04, 2006

Mon, 04 Sep 2006 08:14:18 GMT

Wow, I just woke up from a crazy dream.

I "opened my eyes" mentally just a few seconds ago, finding my head moving slightly back and forth; in the dream, I was a stroke for our DB, and we were training new members. Because I've really never BEEN a stroke, I was making an especially conscious effort to stay in time. ..enough to actually make me conscious.
I also had a scene about a team dinner, at mongolian BBQ (WHICH WE SHOULD DO SOMETIME. My subconscious is smarter than me when I'm awake, honestly), and the dream was accurate enough that it remembered the creaky, weak chairs there. ...poor Kenny Arikaki almost died swinging between them during our time there, and I was like 'damn, that's something I'd do.'

Monday, September 04, 2006

Mon, 04 Sep 2006 00:12:27 GMT

Ever wanted to add that little, bassy something to your computer sound system?
Well, now's your chance!
I've got this kickass, downfiring subwoofer under my desk, but I'm saving up for a new room-sound-system, so it'll be replaced. Therefore, why not sell it to help get to the new system?

I bought it for about 100 bucks + shipping, and it's listed at 60 watts RMS. (I know it doesn't sound like much, but it certainly performs)

Here's the front. It's a front-ported sub, with the woofer firing towards the floor. If you've got hardwood floors, you'll be very well off; the whole floor resonates.

Here's the back. The way you plug it into a computer is through a cable that connects to the red/white plugs (shown below)

The red/white end goes in the sub, the end of that splitter goes in the back of the computer, and your old comp speakers can plug into the plug right next to the grey one.. basically, it plugs in both the sub and your old speakers to the same comp plug. Both cords are included.

And, of course, here's the woofer itself. It's 6", long-throw, and pushes nicely.

So, I'm asking $45 or best offer (i.e. make an offer lower than 45, and if I don't get the original price, you'll get it for that. ..if it's within reason)

Again, it's especially good on hardwood floors.
Give my dear sub a loving home!

Thursday, August 31, 2006

Thu, 31 Aug 2006 03:04:53 GMT

As some people may remember, Long Beach was lots of fun.
However, at one point I got rather injured. David was being a sleepy douche and not clearing out of one of the girls' rooms, so I got to help drag him out. Being the half-sleep fucker that I was at the time, though, I managed to drag him over my toe, folding up the front half of my right-big-toenail. Blood was abundant.

This evening, one of the kids that I was babysitting for, who has some sort of emotional disorder (anger management issues of some kind) managed to repeat that incident.
Due to the huge clearance beneath their doors (about 1", probably had carpet before and then removed it), and her emotional, violent nature, she slammed the door despite my foot being there. Normally this would stub said toe, but in this case, the door.. continued for a little while.
Same toe, same amount of blood, same amount of foldage.. not on the same fold, oddly enough, but still about 1/3-1/2 of the nail.

AUGH.
Yay for marching tomorrow.
No bonus for injuries in the workplace this evening.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 03:53:23 GMT

My lordie, I feel like smacking something.
My general emotion is that no matter how hard I try, I WILL be stressed.
Evidence from today:
(Feel free to skip)
- communicated with teachers about rec. letters
- checked out the common app and started filling it out
- did all my homework for tomorrow
- emailed my counsellor about swapping math classes (stats please?)
- did auditionstuff in Wind Ensemble, but ended up "taking one for the team" and filling the Bari spot, despite my TenorSectionleadehood, because the none of the other section members would do it (whatever, it's not MB)
- got in touch with Forster for resume writing help
- Read deep into my english outside reading book, which we really don't even need to have yet
- Read the first segment of "The Importance of Being Earnest," which we really don't even need to have yet EITHER
- Started learning drill in MB, finally
- Finished my physics homework for friday

...but I'm still fuckin' frustrated. I still feel like I have amazing loads things waiting to happen.
Dad's continuing his job search, but for each day that that goes on, that's one more day with too-few cars, meaning that my car may or may not be there if I leave it in the lot, since the parents tend to be borrowing it a lot these days.
Also, my computer keeps getting delayed one day at a time. First, UPS was being lazy or something so it was a day behind, and then today mom was out of the house when the delivery people came.

I'm trying so hard here; my study habits are better than they've ever been, I've been getting good amounts of sleep, and I'm generally ahead of the game. What kind of reward is this feeling of suffocation?
Blech.

If I can swap math classes, though, I assume a huge weight will be lifted. I honestly hate calculus with a passion; I know everyone says that about some class or another, because they find the teacher mildly bothersome, but I truly despise the whole system of calculus, its numerous rules, its arbitrary notation (have you ever stepped back and looked at the gibberish on those papers? cosx ln4^xalskdnkv... fuck you), and general uselessness. It'd be awfully nice if math and science weren't so often linked. While I am interested in medicine and things related to it, for some reason counsellers and other people have all decided that that must mean CalcBC is a perfect fit for me.

*deep breaths*
I'll change to stats, the comp should come tomorrow, and Dad's job search is looking fine.
Hang in there, Chrispy.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 03:26:41 GMT

War-Torn Middle East Seeks Solace In Religion

JERUSALEM—Millions of Middle Easterners are turning to one thing to make sense of the seemingly endless violence between Israelis and Arabs: religion.

This one took me a few seconds to remember that it's actually an Onion article.. fuckin' creepy.

Monday, August 21, 2006

Mon, 21 Aug 2006 14:29:59 GMT

A few things happened family-wise while I was gone, but all turned out to be for the better.

Basically, Dad got "laid off," (in quotes because it was somewhat voluntary) and while this would normally be a bad thing, he's got a few very good offers for other companies, because he was Planning! ...and there's a 2 month severence package.

So, Dad is currently jobless, but:
-Still getting paid
-...Getting unemployment pay as well
-Not commuting to Utah anymore
-Not commuting at ALL at the moment
-Lined up for something much better back here at home.

On a somewhat related note, he has decided that it's Computer Revolution time! This is a wonderful phase that he goes through once every.. three or four years. Because of his departure from ThatUtahCompany, he had to return the laptop they loaned him, SO!
- A nice, photo/media capable desktop for him.
- one of those tiny, silent, cute-yet-somewhat-pokey HPs for each sister,
- Dell XPS400 for me It's the midsize cool-desktop, with numerous cooliofeatures, most notably a 360gig HD and 19" monitor. Yummies.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 01:05:38 GMT

Yayy I'm home!
Dude, all the other bandcamps sucked compared to this one. This was my first on staff, and was also a VERY eventful week (lots of.. incidents), so I was obviously quite hankered out. Hoooowever, it was one of the best experiences I've ever had, and helped build my character! or something like that!

More later?
Eh, probably not. It's more fun to tell people stories in person, anyway.

Friday, August 11, 2006

Fri, 11 Aug 2006 21:18:05 GMT

Yes, we ARE ready for band camp.

Staff training has been pretty good in general, with the highlights being racing about buying things, playing baseball with a sunscreen bottle, annd.. eh, I forget.
Tenor saxes are coming over for a party tonight, and I'm slightly nervous, since there are about nine new people to meet. We only have six veterens. Whatever, we'll kick ass.
Yay, DB tomorrow. :D

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 01:51:48 GMT

Fancy:

"Study links teen sex, lyrics

August 7, 2006

BY LINDSEY TANNER

Teens whose iPods are full of music with raunchy, sexual lyrics start having sex sooner than those who prefer other songs, a study found.

Whether it's hip-hop, rap, pop or rock, much of popular music aimed at teens contains sexual overtones. Its influence on their behavior appears to depend on how the sex is portrayed, researchers found.

Songs depicting men as ''sex-driven studs,'' women as sex objects and with explicit references to sex acts are more likely to trigger early sexual behavior than those where sexual references are more veiled and relationships appear more committed, the study found.

Teens who said they listened to lots of music with degrading sexual messages were almost twice as likely to start having intercourse or other sexual activities within the following two years as were teens who listened to little or no sexually degrading music.

Among heavy listeners, 51 percent started having sex within two years, versus 29 percent of those who said they listened to little or no sexually degrading music.

'So common, it's accepted'

Exposure to lots of sexually degrading music ''gives them a specific message about sex,'' said lead author Steven Martino, a researcher for Rand Corp. Boys learn they should be relentless in pursuit of women and girls learn to view themselves as sex objects, he said.

The study, based on interviews with 1,461 participants, appears in the August issue of Pediatrics today.

Natasha Ramsey, a 17-year-old from New Brunswick, N.J., said she sometimes listens to sexually explicit songs because she likes the beat.

''I won't really realize that the person is talking about having sex or raping a girl,'' she said. Even so, the message ''is being beaten into the teens' heads,'' she said. ''We don't even really realize how much.''

''A lot of teens think that's the way they're supposed to be, they think that's the cool thing to do. Because it's so common, it's accepted,'' said Ramsey, a teen editor for Sexetc.org, a teen sexual health Web site.

Benjamin Chavis, chief executive officer of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, a coalition of musicians and industry executives, said explicit music lyrics are a cultural expression that reflects ''social and economic realities.''

''We caution rushing to judgment that music more than any other factor is a causative factor'' for teens initiating sex, Chavis said.

Other factors cited

Martino said the researchers tried to account for other factors that could affect teens' sexual behavior, including parental permissiveness, and still found explicit lyrics had a strong influence.

However, Yvonne K. Fulbright, a sex researcher, said factors including peer pressure, self-esteem and home environment are probably more influential than the research suggests.

''It's a little dangerous to just pinpoint one thing. You have to look at everything that's going on in a young person's life,'' she said. ''When somebody has a healthy sense of themselves, they don't take these lyrics too seriously.''

AP"

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-lyrics07.html

My Thoughts:
While there most certainly is a correlation (Shit, 51% compared to 29% is nowhere near negligible), the real question is "does the music CAUSE this." I'm sure it plays a role, but do lyrics truly account for a nearly twofold increase in virginity-loss-quickness? Aside from lyrics, what about the videos, and other influences? It feels like they've taken two results and assigned one as a cause of the other.
Regardless, there is a link, which is interesting on some level.

I'm curious about what others think here, too.

Annnnnd yes, I guess I haven't updated in a while.
- Got back from UCSD
- LBC DBRace! omfg kickass.
- best week of my life
- ..and now stafftraining has started.

Everything kicks rump, though, especially friends. I don't know how I survived without certain ones.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 14:44:37 GMT

First three surveys!
Gotta go to class, to the next two'll come later.

Michelle
1. A quiet guy, most likely asian, that picks you up for dates and opens every door for you
2. Blue!
3. Well sheesh, everytime anything bio-related comes up, of course.
4. Face/Smile +hair too
5. Friendly and Luvable.
6. Pizza. Not sure why, just an urge.
7. Dude, that needs no explaination. You're the most awesome biogroup member and always easy to talk to when I need it most
8. I haven't really wondered anything, but I'll answer your questions!
I've always been confused by/interested in the human mind+body. What sets us apart from all the other creatures? What do they have that we don't, and what can we DO with that? That's why I'm so bio-neurology nerdie.
Anddd what do I think of myself? Mm. Overall, I'm very happy with me. I feel skilled enough, with musical gifts and several other quirky talents. I'm smart although my performance in school doesn't always match it. If I'm comfortable in a situation, I can "attract girls," but when it matters most, and when I get nervous, I lose whatever cool I had. In general, this seems to be why I often fall into the friend-catagory, since my low self-esteem from earlier in life still resurfaces occasionally.
I've come to love this, though, and I'm not frustrated with it at all. As I've found out here at UCSD, I'm by no means un-crushable. This one girl over here is very clingy.

Becky
1. You deserve a quick, muscular man who will indulge all your DDR Fantasies.
2. Probably pink or white, IMO.
3. I was eating marshmallows a few days ago and I was like "DUDE CHUBBIE BUNNIE."
4. :D You already know my opinion on this, dontchya?
5. So Spunky! Ahh it's always so much fun to have you on any trip/gathering. AND you're very good at listening when I have to bitch about something, and offer very good consulation/advice.
6. Something sensual. Lol nah baskin robbins, or even more marshmallows (with some tofu-based ones for you) would be fitting.
7. Psh that's all I've been talking about up there. Your energy always brings everyone up with you, and you're always there for me (even if you don't want to be, you at least act like it )
8. Would you say you went through a significant personality change between middle and high school, or no?

Colin
1. One of those rockclimber babes, who wears a sports bra everywhere, but yours would look really good in it.
2. Shit, that kinda thing doesn't matter to a pirate like you. Skull and crossbones, though, in all honesty (Or Red. You'd look superb in red)
3. Ah man so many times at UCSD! Unattended golf carts sitting around, multiple soda-trays (yes, the real ones), and general tools of mischief lying about and underappreciated.
4. Crazy hair, both from your chin and your scalp. Your guns ain't bad, either.
5. The fact that our chaotic urges exponentially combine when we get together, like Power Rangers, or Chiapets or something. Yeah.
6. More BBQ. Lots of it. And we need to cook a pig on a stick on the beach sometime.
7. Our history says it all. None of this would have happened had we not ran into eachother at some point. You're also cool becauuuuse.. *thinking of things not previously said* Ooh I actually really like your laidback attitude towards school and such. "Hey, didn't make it this year, so I get to chill in MV for a year." A lot of other people would curse the gods, their parents, and themselves, but you take everything in stride. (Like me denting your car! Such forgiveness)
8. I'd love to know about you Pre-pirate stage. Sometime we'll discuss this, since I've changed drastically myself in the last few years.