Thursday, 2002-05-30
i'll tell you what i'll do with that offer
So, I have been looking for a domain to put my site on. I figured since1983.com would be nice. So I went to Network Solutions, now owned by VeriSign, to use their whois records search. Basically to find who owns the domain and when it will expire.
I find out that a company is sitting on it. That company is Domain Collections. Just the name makes me mad. They collect domain names? For what purpose? I soon found out by asking for a quote. They want to charge you up the, uh yeah. Their quote for the domain: $1900. At this point I was fuming. So I sent them this email:
Y'all are crackheads if you think I would even consider paying $1900 for a domain. Its companies like yours that take advantage of others. Any other domain would cost me $10 but because y'all are sitting on the one I want I have to succumb? No way. I'll pass.
Their response: "Please, send us your best offer for consideration."
My response to their response: "Blehhhh."
Wednesday, 2002-05-29
wtc cleanup complete
On Tuesday night the last steel beam was taken down at the site.
It's hard to imagine that two of the world's most recognizable buildings are gone. By that I mean, there is no trace at all left, except for a hole in the Manhatten skyline. What is next for the site? No one knows. Personally I feel a quiet park should be created with the focal point being a memorial made of debris from September 11. The whole "let's build an even bigger building as a testament to the resilience of the United States" idea just doesn't work for me.
Tuesday, 2002-05-28
all alone
If you are wondering why I haven't been posting lately you can blame Gemma. She had been with me here in Houston for about the past week. So it goes like this...my computer or Gemma. No brainer.
I tried to spend every waking minute with her (except for the occasional email check). I enjoyed her stay so so much. But alas, all great things must come to an end. She left for Austin today and I will spend the next couple days whining and pining for her like a lil puppy dog waiting for his master's return. I will be back in her arms soon though. Till then, I guess I will just work on my webpage to pass the time. Sigh.
Monday, 2002-05-20
great vacation
Gemma's here. I should get away from the computer and spend some time with her. Well, I guess I will (because I love her and all).
Saturday, 2002-05-18
die aim ads, die
I have always disliked the ads in AOL Instant Messenger. On my laptop I only have so much space to view programs (my resolution is only 800 by 600). As a result I usually have to scroll down to see who is online. I went to a site that had a plugin that removes the ads completely (and adds a couple of really cool features).
we're human
Remember: we're human first. Human before we're black, before we're white, before we're gay, before we're straight, before we're catholic, before we're muslim, before we're American, before we're Arabic, conservative, liberal, democrat, republican, male, female... We're human. That is all. And if we continue to discriminate, how human are we?
Friday, 2002-05-17
silence the critics
I saw Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones the day it came out. All I did was show up with my younger brother and sister, older brother, and a friend of the family, Brandon. No need to order tickets ahead of time at my local Magic Johnson theater. I think there were a total of thirty people in the theater, present posse included. The scenario was the same last time around when Episode I: The Phantom Menace came out. I am beginning to notice a trend. One that I will appreciate when the third installment of the prequel trilogy hits the theaters. And, for that matter when both The Matrix: Reloaded and Revolutions explode in 2003.
Back to topic...
Attack of the Clones was better than I could have ever imagined. It is very tough, though, to witness the beginnings of Anakin's transformation to the dark side. But that was to be expected. I truly believe that Attack of the Clones is a masterpiece. The Phantom Menace was my least favorite of all episodes (past and current) and I hoped I would not be disappointed by the second prequel. In retrospect I have more respect for The Phantom Menace. It took an interview with George Lucas to understand that fans really wanted to jump right into Attack of the Clones and skip the story of The Phantom Menace. But, what I recently realized, is that the prequels are the journey of Anakin Skywalker. And this story really begins when he is found by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Gin.
"Duh," you might say, but again...I digress.
Attack of the Clones was great for so so many reasons. It was visually breathtaking. I was blown aback by the action sequences and duels. Jar-Jar didn't really bother me as much as he bothered me in The Phantom Menace (because of his deprecated role). And some details were finally filled in that I had always pondered in the original trilogy. Critics didn't like Episode I because it was arguably a kids movie. But of course, I say. Anakin was a kid. A very light-hearted one at that. It would be impossible to see the dark side in him, except in his fierce competitiveness. Critics hounded Episode I and only recently have began to attack Attack of the Clones. In my humble opinion, they need to sit back, let their age go, and enjoy the feature.
Thursday, 2002-05-16
home, home again
I don't like to be here when I can.
Welp, for those who might have figured it out, the lyrics previous are from Pink Floyd's "Time" (edited to fit my homecoming). If you can gather, it isn't that I am not happy to be home, it is just that I would rather be in Austin with my Gemma. I know I will only be home for a month. And that I will see Mrs. Waterston in about a week. But still...that is a week too long and a month I will spend missing that special someone.
Tuesday, 2002-05-14
from 'the princeton review'
Those who don't fit in at Texas A&M or College Station have a tough time. Explains one Aggie, "The first thing I will admit about A&M is that it is very conservative. While most of the students are open-minded about the differences between us, there is a visible group of students who are very close-minded. The one flaw I can point out about A&M is that people of minorities — whether a religious minority, a racial minority, or a minority based on sexual orientation — are not necessarily encouraged to come here by what they see.... Honestly, we are a school of white, heterosexual, Christian students."
more...
"With over 700 student organizations, a first-class student union, and a thriving Greek community, A&M offers just about anything for the student who feels at home in College Station. For those who don't, life can get pretty monotonous. Writes one such student, "Nightlife consists of either going to a country bar, some smoked-filled bar teeming with other guys, going to a party (more beer and guys), or just hauling ass to Austin, Houston, or even Dallas/Fort Worth. For fun I like to dream about this upcoming August when I shall graduate and never set foot here again."
Monday, 2002-05-13
a google bomb request for all my loyal minions
I mentioned earlier that Google is by far my favorite search engine. This is mainly because it works so well. And one of the reasons for this is how it has become so powerful. It depends on links from indexed pages. If enough people were to put a link to Random Ramblings on their web pages, my site would eventually show up as one of the top results on Google...whereas right now it isn't. Correction, I just found out it is! What the hell is going on. Out of 7,870 pages all featuring "Random Ramblings" mine is at the top. Wow!
Well, back to the topic of this post. A fellow weblogger, Leslie Harpold was screwed by VeriSign out of her domain name. So the goal is to put the following link to an article on as many webpages as we can. VeriSign will not take care of this issue for her. So we are going to take care of VeriSign, if you know what I'm a sayin'.
Without further ado: VeriSign, VeriSign, VeriSign, VeriSign.
Sunday, 2002-05-12
moooving on
Man, college is tough. I am not just talking about finals either. They were. But the biggest reason is how people you know enter and leave your life. People who you have made connections with. People who make you feel home and all right. I am talking about how things change and how one thing has changed in particular. My room is now half empty. Rowdy is gone. It's so hard to feel your life change in as little as a week. And all week it was so hard to say my goodbyes to Rowdy. 'Cuz goodbye is forever.
I came out of my Microeconomics final and headed straight to my room, expecting to see my roomie, Rowdy. I bumped into Chris, a Jester West room 1319 local. He told me I missed him by like ten minutes.
Ten minutes. Can you imagine! I put off giving him the hug I wanted to give him. Rowdy grew a lot this semester. And learned a lot about himself and who he truly wants to be in peoples' lives. For the better. I would like to think that my coaching played a very small role in this. And it is because of all this that he will be truly missed.
Saturday, 2002-05-11
new check card and a final
Today I received out of the blue an upgraded credit card for my Bank of America checking account. Apparently the "Gold Check Card comes with valuable benefits." I think that is a polite way of saying "we are going to rheem you (still), but a little more gently from here on out."
I took my Microeconomics final today. I think I did okay. The only thing is, I needed to do great, so as to keep that illustrious 'B' that I spoke of in an earlier post.
Friday, 2002-05-10
how i wasted $42.28
Today I intended to see Blink 182, Green Day and Jimmy Eat World. Things don't always go according to plan though.
I probably would be on my way right now if I hadn't completely blown off my studies for finals (which happen to be tomorrow). Last night I decided I would stay in Austin and study. The only problem is that it's 16:54 and I have to start studying.
I seriously regret getting the tickets via Ticketmaster's will call. Because I used will call I can't even give them away — they require my ID and credit card to be claimed. On another note, I have a friend who was going to go with me who had bought tickets via will call. He has finals too. So together we wasted $84.56.
If you ever need an idiot to blow your money, let me know. I can hook you up with this guy named Jonathan Horak. That would be me.
Wednesday, 2002-05-08
my uncontrollable addiction
I'm 74% addicted to instant messaging. And how about you?
Tuesday, 2002-05-07
benton arrested
Justice evidently isn't blind. Most people at UT have already heard about how Cedric Benson has been recently arrested on drug charges. But check this article out. What really gets me is the part about a stereo not even being in the apartment. Police claimed they came over because of a noise disturbance from loud music. Sounds (pun not necessarily intended) a bit sketchy to me.
Friday, 2002-05-03
spidey sense and such
So, I got to see Spiderman the movie today. It was great. I really really liked it. You should definitely check it out. Only problem I had was with digital Spidey (you'll see what I mean).
Afterwards I went to Kerbey Lane. Great meal. Probably the best so far. Only problem: the salsa fizzed. Don't ask me why.
Welp, I am headed over to see my beautiful, beautiful girlfriend (Gemma of course). Out.
Thursday, 2002-05-02
singing louder than midtown
Midtown rocked. I enjoyed the show very much so, although the sideliner (Thrice) wasn't to my liking. Hold on. That is a nice way of putting it. Thrice sucked. And their sound setup did as well.
By the time I finally saw Midtown my ears were shot. So for their final song, 'No Place Feels Like Home' (the only one I know all the words to), I sang in what I considered to be a quiet voice. Apparently, I was singing louder than Tyler quoteth the Gemma. At least I couldn't hear my lack of tone.