Journal
The Nine Star Story
Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Holiday
The semester is over and I’ve been taking the last two days and the rest of the week off from doing any work. I’ve been slightly under the weather so taking a nice few days off will be fantastic.
I have two projects lined up during the winter break. One of them being for my parents business, and one for a friend who is starting up a company. They will be up by the start of next year. I’ll let you know of the releases.
Dead Day
Yesterday was Dee and my five year anniversary. We were going to celebrate at a Japanese restaurant, but it got late, and we were both hungry. So we went to the Saltgrass steakhouse that is behind my apartment complex instead. Then Dee wasn’t feeling to well so we stayed in and watched Tin Man. We’re going to extend to celebrate once we go back to Houston.
Today is “dead day,” and I’ll spend the whole time studying for finals. With only two final exams there is still a lot for me to prepare.
I disabled to Twitter journal updates, because it ended up not working correctly. I’ll bring it back (maybe) once there is an update for it.
So far
I’m enjoying this semester so far. My life has been good and the courses I’m taking have been fine.
The art and design classes have been great. I will post some of my work as soon as I get my hands on a scanner, or I can just take photos of them. Philosophy isn’t too difficult now; I’ve been doing fine on the essay exams. I slipped on the first exam, but now everything is keen. I am quite worried about communication (speech) grade though. I think I’m somewhat comfortable about standing in front of people, but giving presentations will be the challenge. It’s something I need to work on if I aspire to contribute at conferences.
I got this cool lamp from Ikea a few weeks ago, and it makes my birch table workspace look really nice. It matches with my Mac and speakers so it doesn’t look lame. I would get another one for the other side of the table but that would probably not look great. Ikea calls them Tertial and cost $8.99. It works with the Magnesit stand but I really didn’t want to spend more than $10, and it works fine attached to the end of my workspace.
I also got a rocking chair from Dee’s parents. It was in their attic since they’ve moved to their new home. It’s medium dark wood with an eagle on top to accent “eagle heart.” I need to take more photos of my rearranged apartment. It’s been almost a year now, and things have filled out, but my bedroom is still the same.
Tree Tops
I went to the Rice Harvest Festival in Katy over the weekend with Dee, her mom, and sister. It was got kind of hot after awhile, but the food was fantastic! We went into antique shops to cool off, and found some nice ‘things’. I had a good time because Dee and I rode the ferris wheel. The photo above was taken from the top of the wheel. You can see the rest on my Flickr page.
Accomplished
It’s the end of the week, and I have stayed with my new routine. I think waking up early is great; 6 AM is perfect. My days feel a bit more accomplished, and sitting in the quiet while I drink coffee can be so serene. This morning I washed the dishes while listening to NPR and the NY Times podcast. This is good because Dee and I are going to Houston for the weekend. We are leaving after my class is through so I probably wouldn’t have time. I got the I Am America (And So Can You!) audiobook that is “shouted by” Stephen Colbert. It will be a great book to listen while driving.
Publisher’s Summary
What The Daily Show is to evening news, The Colbert Report is to personality-driven pundit shows. Stephen Colbert brings his sarcastic charm to a half-hour report, tackling the important issues of the day and telling his guests why their opinions are just plain wrong. Stephen stands for “truthiness” and his American right to copyright that word and claim ownership of it.
The author describes his audiobook as a simple audiobook from a simple mind: Stephen Colbert’s. In plain conversational language, not to mention the occasional grunt and/or whistle, Stephen explains his take on the most pressing concerns of our culture: faith, family…hygiene.
Why now? Stephen fears America has lost its balls and he hopes to re-ballify us…even the ladies. Ladies can have balls: lady-balls too. Stephen likes to call those “Thatchers”. Stephen will show how he got his mammoth swinging sack with tales of courage and vital documents from his own life, including the Mother’s Day card he made at age six, disputed credit-card bills, and putt-putt score cards - all the major milestones.
October 2007 Desktop
Theme: Vitae - Graphite (http://tinyurl.com/35ropt)
Desktop Picture: I forgot where I got it.
System Icons: Agua (http://tinyurl.com/2v58pa)
Hard Drive Icon: Spooky Stickers (http://tinyurl.com/2wtdh4)
A New Routine
I am starting a new routine today in hopes to have a calm morning. My days will now start at 6 AM (when it’s very quiet), take a shower, have breakfast while I listen to NPR: 7AM ET News Summary and New York Times Front Page, read, and then write in my journal - thats if I have something to write about. Now this doesn’t have to be in order or else it wouldn’t be a calm morning. My journal hasn’t been written in for awhile. I usually only write when my day is complete, but I think now that it would be better to write the day after. It’s important to stay consistent because I hope to stay with the routine.
Gone Fishin’
My brother and I went fishing in Galveston on Friday afternoon. The weather was very, very hot. However, there was a good breeze from time to time. Once we found a spot there was a father and son already there, and they kept catching fish every-time they cast their rods. My brother and I on the other had only caught four after two hours, and kept losing hooks and weights. Once they left we caught plenty of trout and my brother caught a medium size catfish. I had a good time, and we had some nice cold root beer floats afterwards.
SII
The second summer session of classes started today. I am taking the second level English course, and I think it will be alright. This session will be better than the last. It will give me more time for my hobbies and the “secret” project Dee and I are working on.
When class was over Dee and I watched COMA, a documentary on HBO. We didn’t finish it all but it was very interesting. I’ll let the HBO site describe it:
Academy Award®-nominated director Liz Garbus’ insightful documentary COMA explores the mysteries of the injured brain and its ability to heal. Giving voice to people whose quality of life and very existence have been threatened, the special goes inside a top U.S. medical facility for the treatment of head trauma and follows four coma survivors over the course of a year.
I’m in the process of reading The Inferno from Dante’s The Divine Comedy. The plan is to read the rest of the 100 cantos composition but for now I’ll just read Inferno.