alles Gute zum Geburtstag, sis!

Well, never got to talk to my sis today. So let's embarrass her in public!

• My sister is now the big 2-0. Consequently that's how many hours I sleep each day.


• She goes to school in Wisconsin. I'm not sure if it was the cheese, or the Sprechers (sp?) soft drinks that attracted her to that area.


• Frogs are one of her favorite animals. They taste great in a stew.


• She is rather fond of Tetris. She plans on building a house made out of Tetris blocks.


• Speaking of houses, she's not quite sure what country live in. My bet is Demios.


• She seems like to horror movies. This was something she learned while residing at Arkham (no, not the city).


• At times she can be rather hyper. Scientist have speculated the energy may be supplied by an internal nuclear fusion reactor and various forms of confectionery.


• Speaks English, German, Spanish, Russian, Pig Latin, Newspeak and Plutonian.

Meh, I'm running out of things.

Wind Ensemble notes

To this semester marks the one and only semester I have had that I am first chair with a bassoon section with more than one person. It's quite daunting actually. I'm hardly an expert and half the time I'm just stumbling around. The other player is a freshman who has played for about three years. She's pretty much self taught up to this point. She also needs a boost of confidence. Coming up in February is Musical Arts Day, when honor choirs and band for high school students perform a concert along with their Concordia counterparts. I am told there is indeed a bassoon player coming. Heh, knowing my luck it will be a star performer and I'll end up looking like an dunce when I help with rehearsals. Oh well, such is life.

In other new, next year the group is planning on tours to Florida and China. Both of which are probably going to be fantastic trips. I now need a good excuse to stay on for another year. How bad could six some-odd years in college be?

GameCube hacking

I would really like to try my hand at homebrew GameCube development. Thing is, I need to get a hold of a copy of a specific game to do this, Phantasy Star Online I & II. Obviously it needs to be the GameCube version and I don't think the "Plus" version will work. If my readers could look out for a cheap copy of it, I would appreciate it.



Box art to the game I am looking for. Note the white background.

Geeky gifts

I would love to tell you about the first week of the semester. However at the moment this quick and totally unrelated post will have to suffice. I was over at Think Geek looking at their what's new section and I found this rather geeky Valentine's Day gift. Now at first glance it may look rather aesthetically lacking but there are two things to keep in mind. You just get all of the parts and you have to do all the soldering and wiring yourself. There is also nothing keeping you from adding your own aesthetics to it. You could make a faceplate for it or stuff it in a stuffed doll.

Bingo

So I am packing to head back to school. OK, so my mom is doing most of the packing since I'm tired and gave myself a nasty scrape on my knee this morning. Well, at least that's why I think she's helping. She could just be looking to get rid of me.

Anyways, all kidding aside, I have sat down to take a quick jaunt through the Net. After visiting a web comic I read I have decided that this is going up by my door when I get back to my dorm. I may technically not be an IT worker, but I have heard many of these comments numerous times in my computer geek career. So yeah, it will be something for me and my friends to laugh about.

Well, I'd better get back to getting ready to get out of here.

A hunting we will go...

This semester I begin my initiation into the Real World™ by searching for a job. There are a few questions on my mind that I will now present to my loyal readers to see what they have to say.

1. Utilizing social networks. How does one go about leveraging people you know at a place that you are applying to?
2. Web applications. Many of the places I intend to apply to have their own online systems to view openings and apply to jobs. (Example) Should one use these systems when applying to these companies or should one try to do it the "old fashioned" way?
3. Juggling multiple opportunities. I would like to apply to as many places as I can and pick from the best offer I get. How does one keep the door from being shut if I don't make a final choice until a couple months down the road?

I'm sure I will have more questions as I continue on this endeavor.

Comical Music

Near the end of last semester I found a comic geared towards musicians. Well, perhaps not all musicians, but those who enjoy marching and concert bands will enjoy Tales From Band Camp I thought I would share it here for all my musically-inclined friends to enjoy. I liked this strip so much that I have it posted my by dorm door in the hall. Hey, I like bassoons and I'm crazy, got a problem with it? An interesting thing to note, that strip came out on my sister's birthday. Odd, perhaps there's hope yet. Well, enjoy!