It would be appropriate if I could magically whip up a new design for my website tonight, because I feel like new beginnings. Yeah, there was graduation and some things of that nature, but I really knew that this weekend was the beginning of a new era in my life when I got my first spam comment. Check it out, it's on the last post. Perhaps it's a bad sign that some random sign actually isnt contradictary to the post itself. Nonetheless, my website is re-born! Expect great things this summer: new design, copious amounts of digital images in gallery form, and more links!
If this was the first day of my new life, what was the best part of it you may ask. Well, very simply it was the act of firmly securing the metal plate of licenseship upon my automobile with a circumscribing "Texas Ex" frame. I am now an Ex-Texan, finally, after all this time. I think still makes me a form of Texan though, yee haw.
The diaretical nature of this entry is partially influenced by the discovery of the web diary of an obscure character from my childhood. A young actress who introduced me to the phrase "first class bitch" in 4th grade (while speaking with, I believe, a bad British accent) is apparently an actress in Austin. This chick/woman/girl is still acting after more than 12 years; that's commitment people! Or following a dream, or coincidence, or maybe just pure desperation; I'm not sure. Anyway, the point is there are some cool people that went to my high school, and sometimes you see them in an award-winning short film on public cable (the Austin Music Network, which is perhaps the best channel we've got in Austin). Other times you see them on a BET World AIDS Day Special.
Most people have experienced the death of someone they knew not so well, an aquaintance. In almost all cases, both friends and acquaintances of this person will take this opportunity to laud how great this person was. Often characteristics such as being kind, caring, unique, special, or even amazing and wonderful are attributed to the one who passed during this period. Friends will often freeze their feelings toward this person forever into these near perfect notions.
This has always bothered me. As someone who's still living and no less amazing than many of the deceased, I've always been jealous of the praise they receive. Obviously that's not right of me, but I think my view is still valid. Why don't we appreciate the people who are still alive more? This is not the same thing as that Mike and the Mechanics song. Almost everyone I know is amazing in multiple ways. I just want people to stop singling out people who die for their praise, or else I'll tell people you were a short-sighted, sentimental fool when you die.
One of the truly splendid parts of my brief return home to Shreveport has been to rejoin my fellow Louisianians who dine in the wee hours at IHOP. As any large town does, Shreveport also has a locally run all-night diner that serves greasy food, and it of course has regular interesting characters. But that's sort of obvious. If Murrell's did not have regular interesting characters, no one would eat there except for the drunks. On the other hand, I was surprised when I realized that IHOP has such a lively community. The fact becomes obvious on nights like New Year's Eve when the place is packed with strangers at 2 am.
First of all you've got the wait staff: the black girl with corn rows who can often be caught imitating Jim Carrey (By the way, who in the world is gonna vote for that guy! I mean he's just an actor people! Even given Eternal Sunshine, should he really be President?), some girl my friend thinks looks like Britanny Spears but doesn't, and a host of less interesting waitresses, the youngest of which is the only one who will refer to you as "hon." Then you've got perennials like the bad kids, the goth kids, the kids who buy way too much of their wardrobe from American Eagle and A&F, a blonde police officer who is the most attractive woman I've ever seen at IHOP and her huge wrestler-looking boyfriend, a friend I used to be in youth group with but rarely talk to, a middle-aged couple, three unattractive girls/women who are dressed up, and of course there's always that someone in there who you know you recognize but can't figure out from where. I once saw a girl who was in my homeroom for all 6 years in elementary school there. I was once followed there by an old high school friend who reintroduced me to the Cure. But no matter who you see there, you must follow the unwritten rule that no two parties may merge into a single party. And when you go up to the front to pay, you pick up a cinnamon peppermint, which is perhaps the most disgusting candy I consume on a regular basis, but the IHOP experience would not be complete without it.
In Shreveport only one location rivals the sheer magnetic running-into-people power of IHOP, and it's not Thrifty Liquor. To be continued . . .
I just spent about half an hour reading an Apparelog and a Cosmetics Log, which is ridiculous. This is not sleeplessness. This is boredom. This is not having access to Civilization III during a time when I clearly NEED it. On the bright side, now I know where I should go for tips should I ever decide to get my G.A. degree. It may be a bad sign that I was upset over not being given the outlet to comment on the Apparelog about what I think about Old Navy.
Let me review what I think of the issues that are currently focused on in the American body politic. In order of importance (thining from the perspective of an American History textbook)
- Social Security: The fact that we do not have the money for this is somehow being overshadowed by all the other issues. The proverbial shit will hit the fan only after the "baby boomer" generation hits 65, which is only a decade away. This alone is pretty much the reason for the national debt. It's really not a question of if, but when we will have to restructure the system.
- Tax Code: This is where the government gets it's money so we'd better worry about it. This is also where the government most directly interacts with all citizens. It could easily use this as an opportunity to leave the poor and working class alone and find people who can spare some money to fund government spending. This doesn't happen, and in addition the system is so complicated that entire corporations are sustained by the help that the non-business minded (poor and working class) citizens need to do their taxes. It's a mess and tax cuts or raises are not needed, but instead restructuring of govt spending (i.e., SS) and of the tax code itself.
- "The Economy": Obviously SS ties into this because it determines where a huge part of the money this country has goes to. In fact most of the political discussion about the economy seems to be of the mind that the government can somehow pass laws that will directly fix things. I propose that the most significant factors affecting the state of our economy are actually education and the tax code.
- Iraq: Complex issue that I think most of the world (including many Americans) sees in the context of the war on terror which has taken on some some Islam v. Christianity context. This is probably in part because of epic movies that show things as good v. evil, and most people shape their opinions about foreign affairs based on movies. The U.S. has quite a mess to clean up, and regardless of the rights and wrongs up to this point, no candidate offers much hope of doing that. In the end, whether we follow one plan or another will not significantly affect our position in the years to come. It's pretty much up to the Iraqis now, and we and the UN should ensure they are able to carry out their wishes. This is not an issue to decide between candidates on apparently.
- Gay Marriage: An amendment will not pass, but we should be thinking about civil unions. But if any politician actually sets out to do something other than ban/stop the ban on gay marriages I'd be surprised. This is because the gay crowd hasn't really made it evident that they're an important voting bloc.
Dear class, I have no finals this year, so I have come up with a list of questions with which to entertain myself during the time I would normally have spent studying to fill up my boring day to day life. Enjoy them. Read them all, there will be a question for you.
Score will be calculated by adding up the points from the last two sections. If the sum is odd, your score is 0; if the sum is even your score is 1.
Short Answer
1. There is a product distrbuted through Laredo, TX of Mexican origin that is called Jumex. Does anyone besides the guy I know who drinks it dispute that this stands for Juice Mexican? Discuss.
2. Should Christians be more concerned about stopping executions than stopping abortions? Discuss which has a better prospect of lasting success, and which is more grave an injustice in your opinion.
3. This week I found a new sleep pattern more beneficial to my working on several large projects at one time. Instead of 18 hours of awake and 6 of sleep, I went to 36 awake 12 asleep. What are the advantages/disadvantages of 36-12? Compare and contrast with 18-6.
4. Is the reason why the sky is blue the same as why the sunset is red?
Multiple Choice
5. I pointed out tonight that two of my good friends are going to places mentioned in an MC Hammer song for graduate school. Both friends also participated in a Dean's Scholars karaoke butchering of the song in question on a night years ago, causing us to ponder with wonder at the coincidence of this.
The question is, which is the correct line from "U Can't Touch This"
a) I've been around the world from London to The Bay
b) I've been around the world from London to Bombay
If it's b), then the coincidence is shot down and my life will seem that much smaller and insignificant.
6. Columbia was once known as
a) Queen's College
b) King's College
7. Which book should I request as my award for being a Dean's Honor Graduate?
a) Carnegie Atlas of Galaxies
b) Hubble Galaxy Atlas
c) Osterbrock Astrophysics
d) something else
True or False
T/F 8. The theme for my last Dean's Scholars dinner ever was Hawaiian.
T/F 9. John Kerry
T/F 10. Instead of tutoring at the elementary school this Friday, we were lectured to about cutting up happygrams (school property) and told we were no longer welcome.
T/F 11. Men should only have other men as "accountability partners."
T/F 12. Jerry Seinfeld attended Queen's College
T/F 13. I am driving to STL on Wednesday to see Nelly Furtado
At 8:30 AM I met with (Associate) Dean David A. Laude this morning. Only if you know this man do you realize why this is intteresting, and in fact worthy of telling others about. It's not to toot my own horn, though the meeting was about my being named a Dean's Honor Graduate (according to the department I'm number one in the astronomy class of six, though some would say number two).
Laude first explained to me how the process of my nomination went. He asked John Lacy, Honors Comittee member or some such, if the department wanted to nominate any seniors for the award (one per department). John Lacy whom I see on a regular basis, though mostly on a mechanical level (asking how to pipe data, what the new password is, etc.), said nope, no one. Laude knows both myself and Sarah Busch (perhaps the real number one) personally and thought Lacy's response was strange, but didn't say anything. Then a few weeks later the astronomy department calls him asking why they didn't get to nominate an honor graduate (Sarah's and my handiwork).
He said they told him they didn't have one.
"Oh yes we do! We want Trent Dupuy," they exclaimed!
"Well it's about damn time," Laude replied dryly.
That's a little interpretation of the events. But that's not the real interesting stuff. The real interesting part of the meeting was random chatter. I swear, every time I leave a conversation with this guy, I promise myself that next time instead of nodding my head most of the time I will tell him he's just plain crazy.
1. Politics is useless. There is a question of whether something is right or wrong. What politics does is have people gather around it on various sides until no one cares about the question anymore and all they care about is their side. Laude proceeds to use the example of the Republicans and the military and their attempts to denegrate his Purple Heart.
2. I didn't even know I got a D in differential equations my last semester until I was applying for jobs as a professor. Therefore, don't worry about your government test Friday.
3. There are a bunch of people in Austin who protest a Wal-Mart being built in their neighborhood. If you ask, they won't say it's because brown people shop there, but because of the environment, trees, their neighborhood, etc. But they will go live in the hill country and cut down trees to build their huge homes. And then if someone wants to build a Target it's okay.
Wait, I just realized that I actually heard a Dean tell me that the government class I have to take is useless. This is what we've been saying all along. Actually I kind of like this one, but it certainly shouldn't be required.
More humor from the Austin music scene. Two weekends ago I staked my happiness for the next few days on winning an on-air bid for Nadia M.'s (Austin Music Network VJ) mini-me. The mini-me is featured prominently is the promo for her "Women Who Rock" show and accompanies her anytime she's on the air. Well I lost the bid because unbeknownst to me, she was not using the U.S. Naval Observatory standard clock and instead was just waiting for the last video to finish. I'm still bitter about that. I was banking on no one else with as much money as me being up at 3am, and I lost. All the money would have gone to support the Austin Music Network (which was having a money drive at the time), and the bid only got up to $180.
Well the guy who I talked to when I called in my final losing bid was Mike (I think) from a local punkish band called Rubberhed (formerly Rubberhead). Tonight when I ran for a quick burger, fries, and Red Flash-Dr. Pepper at Player's (favorite hangout of freshman year), I saw the voice of Rubberhed himself. He was sporting a nice mohawk, but it wasn't completely filled in: there was a gap. At first I thought this was intentional, some new form of mohawk I wasn't familiar with, but I soon realized it was a mohawk bald spot! I'd like to say this is the funniest thing I've seen all weekend, but two seconds after I realized this that Hoobastank video where the girl gets runs over came on, and I almost laughed out loud in the relatively quiet restaurant. Anyway, if you ever see this guy you need to make fun of him. I mean, if nothing else he inflated my hopes at 2:59 am that fateful Sunday night only to have them dashed against the rocks of losing.