Do-nothing days

It’s another testing day here at school, and you know what that means for the upperclassmen: it’s another nothing day here at school! Apparently they need to test the freshmen and sophomores every once in a while to make sure that they’re not still at a third-grade reading level, but they don’t care so much about us. But that’s fine. They pretty much leave us to ourselves. Some of the classrooms get the laptops for the bored students to use, hence this post.

I will have a lot to do this weekend, though — some of which I want to do and some of which I don’t. Tonight is a rehearsal for the Christmas play I’m in. Tomorrow I have to go to work, which I guess is good because I might get paid (I just can’t keep track anymore). But that’ll take up much of my day. On Saturday it’s yet another rehearsal — this time from 9 in the morning until “when it’s perfect.” I’m hoping to do some Christmas shopping in the afternoon if I have some time. I’ve started to think about what I want to get people (which is really something because I usually have no idea), but I haven’t thought about what I want yet (which is typical). This year I have more money and can therefore afford to buy more things, thereby helping to boost the economy! You should thank me, America. I’m doing you a favor.

Then on Sunday, we’re planning to make a sequel to Beowulf: The Movie. By we, I mean Justin and me. I’m not sure if I’ve talked to Nick and Mark about it, but they’ll probably be able to come over. We might have someone else also. In any case, it will be just as silly as the original, if not sillier. Plus, there’s going to be an original song! You can’t beat that. As in the first movie, we will be using the works of the versatile Kevin MacLeod to serve as a score. (I’ve been afraid to tell Mr. MacLeod about our use of his works in Beowulf because I don’t think I gave him credit the way he wants. Maybe I should contact him. Anyway, I plan on giving him a donation for allowing us to use his works in the Beowulf movies. That should make things all better.)

Beowulf 2 (I’m suggesting the subtitle “This Time It’s Personal”) will pick up right where Beowulf: The Movie left off. After Beowulf sends Grendel to his watery grave, Hrothgar asks him to go back and get the dead monster’s head. But little does Beowulf know — actually, I guess he does — that he’ll have to face his most fearsome adversary yet: Grendel’s mother. Will Beowulf be able to handle the mother of the beast? You’ll soon find out! Hopefully.

Also, I have some things to do for homework this weekend: particularly, finishing my science project (which I could have sworn I was done with weeks ago), as well as writing a research paper and making some sort of slideshow to go with the same. I’m not doing so much in school today, but it’s going to be a busy weekend.

Here’s a video of ants making an ant farm their own (YouTube).

Check out TEH INTERNETS, a series of illustrations of popular expressions from the Internet(s). Ya rly!

One year ago: “It’s a sort of ‘Today in History’ thing regarding old posts.”
Two years ago: “I’m here in Programming class, where things are awfully quiet.” And: “But everyone has experienced the death of a loved one.”
Three years ago: “I’d think that buying her a DVD player would be the least they could do.”

Body-rific

Today was the field trip to Bodies: The Exhibition. I haven’t been on a field trip in a while, so it was nice to have. I’d actually only been on two other field trips in high school — one as a freshman and one as a sophomore. I guess this was my last.

But enough of that. For some background, Bodies: The Exhibition is an exhibition of real, dissected human bodies. Well, it turns out that they’re not really real, but they used to be. This particular preservation process replaces the bodies’ cells with some kind of plastic, leading to plastic but realistic-looking dissected people. So you could say that they’re preserved permanently.

The school is making at least three trips to the exhibition. One was last week, one was today, and one will be next week. On today’s trip, there was a whole busload of people, and I imagine that the other trips are/were equally booked. I expected to bump into at least a few people I knew, and I did happen to find a few people I knew who were going on the trip, so I hung out with them. We had to split into groups because we were supposed to answer some questions whose answers could be found in the exhibits.

It took a little while to get to the exhibit, which was in some kind of mall or shopping center in South Miami. It really didn’t take that long to get to Miami because I-95 can take you all the way there. Before I went on day trips to Miami, I used to believe everyone’s grumbling about Miami being six light-years away. It really isn’t so. You can get there in about 45 minutes. South Miami isn’t much farther, but you have to go slower because I-95 ends along the way.

When we got there, it was raining a bit, but that wasn’t much of a problem because we were going to be inside. We got into our groups and, after a while, they had the typical tour-guide-type guy deliver us a verbose, worn-out introduction to the exhibit, including the typical bit to turn off “cellular phones,” and “those cellular phones which are capable of recording video, and other cameras or video equipment.” However, the guy was helpful in explaining where the bodies actually came from. He said that they were unclaimed bodies from China (the People’s Republic of China, in case there was any doubt).

After that, our groups were free to go through the exhibit and answer the questions on our worksheets. There were lots of things to behold: bones, blood vessels, brains, hearts, lungs, muscles, and more. There were fetuses, too. But of course, the real hallmarks of the exhibition were the bodies. They were dissected, showing the muscles and some organs, and they were cut and posed in various ways to emphasize certain bodily systems or characteristics. For example, one body was cut into transverse sections (stacks) and laid out to show how an MRI scanner views the body (or was it CT? or either?). A few were cut in half. But most were in one piece.

My Anatomy and Physiology teacher, who went on last week’s trip, said that she didn’t feel any emotional attachment or empathy for these things that were once really human bodies. However, she dismissed it as an occupational hazard, if you will, of having been a doctor. But looking at the bodies with their fake eyes (the tour guide guy said that the eyes were the only organs that couldn’t be preserved), it was hard to imagine that they were once everyday people like you and me (except they were in Red China, where museum exhibits look at YOU!).

We got out of the exhibit pretty quickly, it seemed, and I figured out why: after we had gone through, we were allowed to go around the mall and do anything we wanted until it came time for us to go back to the bus and leave. I stuck with my group; even though I didn’t know them that well, they were the only people I did know. I had thought that I would want to go around by myself, but I figured it would be too depressing, and I wouldn’t know what to do with my time besides eat. After going to some stores, we went to Wendy’s to have lunch, and then it was pretty much time to go.

When we got back to school, the day was almost over. I’m glad it passed quickly for me. Plus, I got to learn a thing or two about the amazing human body. I also learned that fast-food restaurants can have exceptionally poor service when they’re busy. (Come on! I ordered the jalapeño melt for here, not the bacon melt to go.)

Presidential speeches meet tag clouds. It’s so Web 2.0! Need I say more? (Actually, yes: it’s a slow load.)

Hey, it’s another Top 10. Now those aren’t tired clichés. Good pictures in this one, though: 10 Most Impressive Photos of Our Universe.

One year ago: “Tomorrow I’m going to go for the full 14 minutes.”
Two years ago: “The winning photos will be announced Wednesday, December 1. Cross your fingers for me!”
Three years ago: “Announcing The World of Stuff’s latest upcoming addition, The Bill Factor Project!”

Crepuscular

I haven’t gotten better. I still feel terrible. I’ve had a mild fever since Wednesday. Some congestion and a sore throat with the occasional light-headedness. Today I found that my temperature has returned to normal (below normal, actually), but I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to tell. I still feel miserable. Not lie-in-the-recliner-all-day-and-watch-TV miserable, but pretty bad nonetheless. For example, too miserable to do homework.

So my body has given up on fighting this disease or whatever it is. I don’t know how else these symptoms are going to go away, but they have to go somehow. There’s no end in sight. I’m willing to bet they’ll be around until this Wednesday at the earliest. But if I felt 50% better tomorrow, I’d be ecstatic.

Thanksgiving was good, though. It was a good time to reflect on what I’m thankful for. I’m especially thankful that I have Natasha to talk to. Just thinking about her makes me feel better.

My mom was going to take my sister to the zoo yesterday, so I went along. (She’s the same age as me. She just wanted to go to the zoo, okay?) We went to the Dreher Park Zoo (now called the Palm Beach Zoo at Dreher Park [warning: annoying sound]). I guess it’s good that they changed the name because I had no idea how to spell “Dreher” when I was looking up the hours and prices. (“Dreher” rhymes with “bear,” by the way.) Anyway, we spent a few hours there, gazing at the weird and wonderful birds and beasts. It was a pretty nice zoo, although it seemed a little inhumane to see the animals in their cages. I guess I’ve gotten used to Metrozoo, where there aren’t any cages.

It was nice to go out, though. I had a good time. I learned that the capybara is the world’s largest living rodent. Plus, when reading that Reeves’s muntjac is mainly active at dawn and dusk, I was able to say that they’re crepuscular. (Special thanks to Brian for teaching me that guinea pigs are crepuscular.)

Today is a birthday party for my friend Michelle. She’s 18 today. (Funny how all of my friends are turning 18, and I’ll be 17 until the summer. Actually, it’s not funny.) I had no idea what to get her, but then I thought of something. That’s pretty fortunate because I usually can’t think of what gifts to get people. I predict that a good time will be had by all.

Alyssa Peterson was a 27-year-old Army interrogator serving in Iraq. She objected to the inhumane techniques that the prisoners were subjected to. But her complaints fell on deaf ears. Weeks later, she committed suicide. Read part one and part two of the article.

Oh, those clever crows.

One year ago: “People have been dying in bathrooms since ancient times.”
Two years ago: “Merry Christmas!”
Three years ago: “Why he hadn’t used a roll’s worth of film in that camera for 3 or 4 years is well beyond me.”

Thanksgiving

Yesterday I woke up with a sore throat. I got more light-headed and tired throughout the day. At the end of the day, in my Anatomy and Physiology class, Dr. Singkornrat, the teacher, was teaching us about lung sounds. I had her listen to mine to see if anything was amiss. She noted that my breathing was labored and said that I might be getting a fever and that I would have to be careful. Yesterday also happened to be a practice date for the Christmas play that the church youth group is putting on. At school, my friend Nick, the director, said that he was going to be late to the rehearsal, so told me to take his place until he got there. That meant that I would have to boss people around with a sore throat. Fun?

As my sister and I were getting picked up to go to the rehearsal, my dad saw that there was a house down the street that was on fire. Of course, we had to go over for a look, so we got as close as we could (which wasn’t very far due to the police cars, fire trucks, ambulances, and the like). There were some other neighbors watching too. I didn’t know most of them. I actually don’t know most of my neighbors. It’s kind of sad.

Anyway, I took charge of the rehearsal, and we got things going pretty smoothly. The production’s coming along nicely, but we sorely need some run-throughs with the entire cast (at least three people couldn’t make it), to say nothing of dress rehearsals. Luckily, there’s going to be at least one major rehearsal (Saturday, 9:00 AM – ?) and a bunch of regular ones coming soon. I tried to avoid raising my voice, but I felt compelled to speak loudly while onstage. Over time, I started to grow weak and needed to sit down more. Some people said I started to look pale. A qualified mother said I had a fever. Luckily, the rehearsal ended a little early, so I got to go home earlier than expected and have a little something to eat (I wasn’t very hungry). According to the thermometer, which wouldn’t give a final reading because I couldn’t keep it still in my mouth, I had a mild fever.

I decided to sweat it out. I had worn two shirts, a jacket, and long jeans to school because it was cold. For the play, I decided not to change clothes, putting my costume (a t-shirt and pajama bottoms) over my clothes instead. After having a bite to eat at home, I wore all those to bed, along with two pairs of socks, plus some sheets, blankets, comforters, and such. For about two hours I lay half-asleep, sweating. It really keeps your mind active. In my mind all I could think of was complex math problems like the ones I have to face in calculus class. (If I needed any more proof that I was ill, that was it.) After two hours of soundly not sleeping, I decided to eschew any coverings and just rely on my clothes for keeping me for hot. After that, I went to sleep.

My temperature was a little better this morning — almost normal — and I feel less light-headed, but my throat is still bad. And today is Thanksgiving. It’s supposed to be about giving thanks. Family get-togethers and great feasts are common. Just about everyone has a turkey as the main dish of their Thanksgiving feast; in fact, it’s sometimes called “Turkey Day.” Someone I used to know once said that Thanksgiving is a holiday that celebrates gluttony. I disputed her claim at the time, but now I realize that she’s right. However, I’m really hungry today.

As hungry as I may be, Thanksgiving really is about letting people know that you’re thankful for them. That’s why I’ve made it a point to name that I’m thankful for my friends, old and new; my teachers and my school; my chiropractor; (I was going to say my health, but never mind); you, the reader, for providing feedback and making my blogging worthwhile; and most of all, my family, for tolerating me.

As usual, everyone’s coming to our house for dinner. I think there are going to be something like 15 people (including ourselves), and 5 dogs (including our dear Speck). Everybody who’s anybody is going to be here. My cousins are bringing their friend who lives with them or something. We’ll also be having our own friend and neighbor, Kevin, who, because he just got a job, can’t travel anywhere or take any time off. His family left the country for the long Thanksgiving weekend, leaving him alone for the holiday, so we invited him to dinner. Unfortunately, we’re all going to be eating outside. It’s very nice outside today, but I’ll probably be relegated to sitting at a barstool on a dirty countertop that’s uncomfortably high. I’ll complain about it if it still bothers me by then.

Apparently, a teacher’s aide at the University of Pennsylvania was running off copies of a Psychology I exam a few days ago, and he or she decided to have some fun by adding an extra page to the test with the instructions, “Draw a turkey.” Here’s a gallery of people’s turkey drawings and an analysis of recurring themes. For example, 6 turkeys had extra legs, and 8 were wearing a hat. Many of the college students drew hand turkeys like kindergarteners are taught to do. Innocent Thanksgiving fun or psychological experiment?

Check out the 50 Worst Video Game Names of All Time. There are some real gems, many of which you’ve probably never heard of. Coming in at #21: Divine Divinity. And you’ve gotta love #2: If It Moves, Shoot It! I think there’s a good reason you haven’t heard of these, actually.

Three years ago: “Christmas does not begin in the middle of November.”

Turkey time

Well, Thanksgiving is around the corner, and you know what that means: It’s time to feed the homeless! I got roped into doing some volunteer work today. I really didn’t want to wake up at 6:15 on a Saturday to do it. You have no idea. It’s 5:30 on school days and 6:30 for work. And even when I can stay up late, I always wake up early. Saturdays are mine… unless I have to help distribute frozen turkeys in the tri-county area. I really didn’t want to do it. That makes me a bad person.

Anyway, KFC donated 200 frozen turkeys to the cause, so the first thing we had to do was go and get them. They were conveniently located in a small warehouse in West Palm Beach, so we had to go up there and get them. From then we moved to points south, distributing turkeys here and there, and also picking up some boxes of food and stuff that had been made specifically for certain needy families. Then those boxes had to be delivered to Miami, so by that time, I actually felt like going along. After all, I had never been to West Palm Beach and Miami in the same day before.

After that, I hung out with Mark for a bit. He gave me back some of the CDs that I lent him from our band practice of April 18, 2004. I’d been getting on him about it for months now. Nine hundred and forty-four (944) days later, he gives two out of three back, which I’d say is not bad for him. Incidentally, my CDs were held captive for 500 days longer than the Iran hostage crisis. However, while all of the American hostages returned alive, two out of three of my CDs emerged unscathed.

Well, besides Thanksgiving, the other noteworthy things that happen in mid-to-late November are my friend Michelle’s birthday and the Leonid meteor shower. I’ve never seen the Leonids (or any meteor shower, for that matter), although I have tried. Five years ago, I went camping with my friend Sean around Leonid time, and I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the meteors, but I couldn’t. I think it was too cloudy, and I was too tired, and the smoke from the campfire was making me sneeze too much. It was probably too cold also.

It’s also cold tonight, but the sky is as clear as a bell (except for all the light pollution, but whatever). The meteor shower is supposed to peak later tonight, so maybe I’ll actually see some. I’m glad that the Leonids aren’t peaking on a school night this year. You won’t escape me this year, Leonids! Actually, you probably will, considering how much light pollution there is in my general area, but… we’ll see, won’t we? I’ll probably come back inside frustrating and freezing, but Leonids, I will see you. Well, I’ll try, anyway. Okay, that’s enough.

A little Ask Jordon never hurt anybody.

Peter: Do you realize that, according to Alexa, your traffic is falling somewhat rapidly? Why do you think this happened, and what could you do to stop it?

Yes, I did realize that, actually, but it doesn’t worry me that much. The only reason I can think of that makes sense is that I haven’t been posting as much as I could be (though I am posting as much as I can, if that makes sense). Or maybe it’s just that people who download the Alexa toolbar are increasingly tending not to be the sort of people who visit my site. Who knows?

If I wanted to gain more traffic, which I suppose I do (even though I don’t care about it as much as I used to), I would probably try increasing my links to other sites and maybe write a post that would make the front pages of Slashdot, Digg, Fark, Metafilter, and all the sites of that sort. I tend to link to a lot of top lists of things that are ranked by certain people who seem to know what they’re talking about. In fact, checking my list of sites that I plan to link to in forthcoming posts, 3 of the 14 pages are countdowns of some kind. Maybe I could write the Top Ten Reasons People Should Visit The World of Stuff. That’ll get ‘em.

Check out The Illustrated Beowulf, a condensed version of the timeless Old English epic, featuring Bill Clinton as Beowulf, Danish Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen and Pope John Paul II as Hrothgar, and Cookie Monster as Grendel, among others. But, as always, be sure to watch Beowulf: The Movie, starring my friends and me.

Speaking of astronomy: What is the Hubble Deep Field, and why is it the most important image ever taken? Find out (YouTube).

One year ago: “By the way, I don’t want to die alone.”
Two years ago: “What might be even more crazy than Mr. McDonald having been a Major League Baseball player is that no one ever bothered to tell me.”

Bodies

A few weeks ago I found out that there’s going to be a field trip to see Bodies: The Exhibition… you know, the exhibition of dissected human bodies. It’s not called “Bones” and it’s not “Dead Bodies.” But as you can imagine by the number of ways I’ve heard the name mangled, it’s been the talk of the school lately. After all, how many non-medical people get to see dead bodies and stuff like that all the time? Answer: not many. We talk about our various body parts all the time, and we learn about bodily systems in school (especially if we have Anatomy and Physiology like I do… who is this “we,” anyway?). But we never get to see them. It’s a really educational opportunity.

Anyway, since so many people want to go, there are going to be three trips, so I don’t know which one I’m going to be assigned to yet. Hopefully it won’t coincide with an important test or something, but if it does, I’m going to go on the trip anyway. First of all, my parents already paid for it, and second of all, I can always make up the test another time. (It seems unlikely that I’ll miss a test, though, because I think the teachers will probably make sure that they don’t have tests when a bunch of their students are on a field trip. Except Mr. Gates, my calculus teacher. I know he wouldn’t postpone a test even if everyone were absent. But that’s okay, Mr. Gates. You’re a good teacher, and you’re very professional. That’s how you roll.)

Speaking of which: last week, report cards came out. I knew I was going to get a B+ in Calculus, so that wasn’t a shocker. I don’t mean to brag, but I had only gotten A’s since starting high school. So you can imagine that I’m disappointed but not saddened. It’s a tough class, and I’ll just have to try harder. I’ve actually climbed in the senior class rankings from my usual, cozy #3 to the big 2. Apparently, the AP credit for the calculus class boosts my GPA a lot, but it could be better. Actually, things might be turning around for me this quarter as I get to handle the work load (well, I’ve got that) and try to do better on the tests. (It’s the tests that matter in that class; they count for 95% of the grade.) Things are looking up so far because I got a 100 on the last test — a first for me in that class. The next test is Thursday, and I hope I can keep my grade up.

Right here in Broward County, Florida, an absentee ballot from last week’s election was mailed in with several old stamps, including none other than stamp collecting’s most prized specimen, the Inverted Jenny, a 1918 misprint featuring an upside-down airplane. Only 100 specimens are believed to exist. However, since this stamp was used to mail a ballot, it’s now locked away with all the other ballots, where it has to remain for a certain amount of time. And because the person mailing in the vote didn’t identify himself, it’s impossible to know who sent it in. However, a man from Sarasota is claiming (video, sound) that he mailed the ballot, and he says he didn’t use an Inverted Jenny but rather a recent commemorative that’s meant to satisfy the desires of stamp collectors by featuring an intentionally upside-down train. The moral of the story? The Postal Service will do anything to get people to collect stamps. And someone can’t tell a train from a plane.

You know those cool mosaics made up of different images? Now you can use an Image Mosaic Generator to make your own. Just upload a file and wait a while. You can upload any image you want, and the images that make up your mosaic are taken from Flickr.

One year ago: “I’ll try things out with the new teacher and then reconsider whether the class is worth taking.”
Two years ago: “Then her husband, Louis, went off to fight in a kind of war called a Crusade…”
Three years ago: “You now have a chance at choosing a new name for my band!”

Movietally

Previously I linked to Movietally, a site that combines cinematic appreciation with the principles of Web 2.0. Because people have said to me, “What do you mean you haven’t seen that movie?” about a million times, I decided to sign up. As a registered user, you can tag movies, create a “to see” list, and view recommendations based on what movies you like. My “to see” list effectively replaces a similar list that I used to keep on paper after hearing the above line so often.

Apparently the site was created by a fifteen-year-old in one month, and viewed in that light, it’s really not that bad. It’s missing some important things, like the ability to distinguish between different movies of the same title, but that really isn’t much of an issue right now because there aren’t that many users on the site anyway. Because Web 2.0 is based on interactivity and a big user community, a lack of users is a fundamental flaw of all new Web 2.0 sites. But it’s one I’m hoping to change as I add and tag more movies that I’ve seen.

Now I’m not exactly a big movie buff, but I like the “to see” list because there are so many movies that I need to see, and the recommendations are great because I’ll never have to leave Blockbuster empty-handed again. Movietally really has potential to become a widely useful site. Maybe you could help out by joining and building a list of movies you’ve seen.

And now for something completely different.

answer or die jk: this is not a stupid or rude question and i actually want to no the purpose of this site because its cool and i think there should be more like it

I think there should be more like it too, Answer. The great thing about this site is that it doesn’t really have a point. It’s just a big pile of vanity. It’s my blog, and it’s my weird pages of random things. It’s all me. This site is saying, “Hey, Internet! Hey, world! I exist!” Apart from attracting a seemingly disproportionate number of Canadian readers, the world hasn’t really said much besides making vague references to poker and pharmacies. But it’s incredibly fun to write a blog and publish your own junk on the Web.

Peter: How did you get all the links on your blogroll?

Let’s go through them one by one and find out.

• Adventures with YardBoy: YardBoy and I used to be big-time members of the Where’s George? community.
• Alka Dwivedi: Happens to link to YardBoy, so I figured, why not ask for a link exchange?
• ChaosZone: Same as above, but I’ve realized that it’s a silly reason to trade links. I’ll probably remove these three links soon.
• Chewbonkers: The ever-moving blog of longtime reader Todd Chan. I follow it regularly. (Ha… get it?)
• Greatplay.net: The site of yet another WoS reader named Peter. I’m assuming this is you.
• Greatplay.net Blog: Your blog? I also read it on a regular basis.
• idly.org: The only site I could get to link to the then-new but long-gone WoS page The Bill Factor Project. I promised to link back in return for the favor. He still has a link to me, though it appears (or doesn’t appear) in the blogroll randomly.
• mcgees.org: Another user from Where’s George?. Also made a fun little utility based on Ultimate Cool Characters at one time.
• Nothing Important: Another WoS reader. Also the only site I’ve ever written a guest post for. I charge a low appearance fee, guys!
• One More Blog: Yet another reader, one who shares some interests with me and who used to live nearby.
• Pompano Pulse: My school paper, in which my friend Luke plays a big part. I check for updates regularly, of course.
• Scotto’s Wall Scrawls: Another local blog and a longtime reader whose blog I also read regularly. It’s fun to look at his pictures of the everyday sights that I see.
• theworldofstuff.net: Apparently the original World of Stuff, though I didn’t know that when I called the site an “impostor.” We’re cool now, though.

Yes, it appears that my blogroll is a bit stale and out of date. That is, it has some sites that I hardly visit. I should try exchanging links with blogs I actually read. Thanks for reminding me. By the way, do any other readers want to trade links?

Love that Tech-no-lo-gy™: Here’s a demonstration of software that turns a 2-D image into 3-D (YouTube).

Hear Alvin and the Chipmunks slowed down (also: what a cricket probably sounds like to itself).

One year ago: “But I should fondly remember that for about five days, I was #1 due to some kind of error.”
Two years ago: “Another favorite of mine is actually being able to send an e-mail by clicking on an e-mail link!”
Three years ago: “If you are lucky enough to own one, you are a face in the crowd.”

Election Day

Today’s Election Day, the day we’ve all been looking forward to. I think these mid-term elections are pretty interesting, probably because I’ve never really been aware of their existence before. The balance of power in the Senate and the House of Representatives could shift tonight, and 36 states are electing governors. It’s almost important as a presidential election. Well, maybe not, but still.

Election Day is very important, I think. We even had today off from school, presumably so that the teachers would have time to vote (and probably because the school might have been used as a polling place). In fact, while I was pondering that yesterday, I came to the realization that Election Day should be a national holiday celebrating democracy (and giving everyone a chance to go and vote without making excuses like “It was too crowded at five o’clock”). Apparently, though, I’ve been beaten to the punch. It turns out that Election Day is a holiday in some states, and a bill making it a national holiday has been introduced in the House.

Anyway, on Saturday I had the opportunity to see former President Bill Clinton at a political rally at my school. He was campaigning for Ron Klein, who’s running for a House seat. I was taking pictures and video for the school paper, the Pompano Pulse, while my friend Luke recorded the audio of the entire rally. Luke has posted his audio and my video at the Internet Archive, where it lives safely in the public domain. But since he hasn’t posted the photos yet (no hurry, Luke), I thought I’d post some of them here. Enjoy!

	Former President Bill Clinton greets Student Government Association President Sherrelle Thorpe as State Senator Ron Klein looks on. (Sherrelle later denied allegations that Clinton kissed her.)
	Klein makes a brief speech, proudly introducing Bill Clinton.
	The school band, some other students who were somehow allowed onstage, and Bill Clinton look on as Klein addresses the crowd.
	Klein beams as Clinton wags his finger.
	Clinton’s all, “You know I’m right,” and Klein’s like, “Come on and applaud, everyone, the man’s right.”
	Check out Lucas Boyd’s green-and-white-striped shirt. It’s crazy. I was looking for news coverage of the rally the following day, and I saw a shot of Clinton and Klein, but it was very tight, so I couldn’t tell if they were at my school or somewhere else. Then I saw Lucas Boyd’s shirt in the background, and I knew.
	Clinton wags his finger yet again in this action shot (actually, it’s probably just me being unsteady with the camera). Now I’m trying to remember if there was a reason I wanted to provide captions for all of these photos.
	After making his speech, Clinton salutes the crowd, and the band starts playing. I can’t believe I was close enough to get a shot like this. I love it.
	Clinton meets with senior citizens from local retirement community John Knox Village as the rally ends.
	The Pompano Pulse‘s very own M. Luke Myers (right) asks Ron Klein the hard-hitting questions about the Darfur conflict. “The United States Government should be much more involved than they are right now,” said Klein. “The United States should absolutely be providing much stronger leadership.”

Here’s a simple demonstration (YouTube) of how electronic voting machines can be hacked ‘n’ cracked without leaving any evidence of tampering. Whoops!

McSweeney’s reports on an election held at the most local level: The Race for Junior-Class Vice President Goes Negative.

Listen to an NPR interview with two voice-over guys who do negative political ads. Don’t miss them reading nursery rhymes.

Three years ago: “It appears that a bunch of people came here within the same few hours and poked around quite a bit.”

I did not have… a bad time yesterday

On Thursday I managed to get a ticket to a political rally that was going to be held in the school auditorium on Saturday. It was a big deal because former President Bill Clinton was going to be there, campaigning for Democratic State Senator Ron Klein, who is running for the US House of Representatives in one of the most closely watched races in the nation. His opponent is E. Clay Shaw, who has represented Florida’s 22nd district for over 25 years. With the election this coming Tuesday, the stakes have been high. I planned to cover the event for the Pompano Pulse, the school paper that no one knows about, along with Luke, this blog’s number one commenter. He was going to record the event on his digital minicassette-type recorder, and I was going to take pictures and perhaps some video.

The event was yesterday, and my sister and I thought we were getting there early, but it didn’t seem to be early enough. There was a huge line to get into the auditorium, and they hadn’t started letting people in yet. Most of the people there were not students. They were Klein supporters in general along with some teachers from school. There were some Secret Service guys around, along with people handing out fliers of various kinds. Eventually, I met up with Luke, and not long afterward, they started letting people in. I was expecting to be searched by Secret Service guys, so I brought a pen and paper for us to take notes in case recording devices weren’t allowed for some reason. Surprisingly, there were no searches; getting in was a breeze. The only problem was that the auditorium was almost full when we got in. I thought we were doomed. I knew we’d never be able to get good audio or photos from way in the back.

Suddenly, our friend TJ came to the rescue. He told us that Ms. Vazquez was sitting near the front and she had two extra seats. Luke and I took them, and unfortunately, my sister had to find a seat elsewhere. We talked for a bit while the school band and the orchestra played onstage. Some students (probably members of Student Government) stood in front of them. Eventually, after the presentation of the flags and other ceremonial things that give the JROTC something to do, the rally began. Pompano Beach Mayor John C. Rayson, who is running for a judgeship, spoke first, followed by Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who represents the Fightin’ 20th in Washington. Next came State Senator Skip Campbell (running for State Attorney General) and Eric Copeland (running for State Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services). They all basically talked about why Ron Klein should be elected as part of the Democrats’ effort to take back Washington this year.

After that, there was a long break during which the band came back on and kept playing the same few songs. People shuffled around, and Luke and I discussed what we had heard. Eventually, a guy said that Bill Clinton was on his way, and finally, the president of our Student Government Association introduced him and Klein. They were greeted by overwhelming applause as Clinton shook a bunch of people’s hands. Klein spoke briefly before handing it over to the former President. He was the one that everyone had been waiting to see, and it showed. I took a lot of pictures (one of which you can see above) and recorded a video about two minutes of his speech. Like the others, he criticized the current administration and expressed a desire to see a change in Washington on Tuesday.

When he was done, the band started to play again, and a bunch people went up to try to shake his hand. I tried to get up there, but it took a while because everyone else was trying to go to the front. By the time I made it up there, Clinton had moved to the other side of the auditorium, where more people were mobbing to talk to him, shake his hand, and take pictures with their cell phones and digital cameras. After that, he walked up on the stage, where he continued to shake hands with people standing on the floor. As he passed by, I extended my hand, and he shook it. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture, but you’ll just have to believe me.

By then, a lot of people had left, and as I stood in the middle of the emptying auditorium, Ron Klein passed by, and I shook his hand. Later, I met up again with Luke, who had gone to get his red fedora. We were hanging around because Luke wanted to ask Ron Klein about his position on the Darfur genocide. When Klein came back around (having gone out of the auditorium through the front door), we introduced ourselves, and Klein shook my hand again, this time introducing himself as though I had never heard of him: “Hi… Ron.” Luke proceeded to take out his recorder and ask the hard-hitting questions while I took a few pictures. We thanked him and then went our separate ways. All in all, it was a very interesting experience, and I’m looking forward to seeing the Pulse‘s coverage in its final form.

Shortly after getting home, it was time to go out again, this time for a surprise party for TJ’s 18th birthday. I pretty much hung out with Luke, Michelle, Megan, Brian, and of course, TJ. It was at a pub, and I’d never been to a pub before. I didn’t drink, though, so don’t worry. I did have a good time.

A year and a half ago, Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, lost his voice to a spasmodic dysphonia, a condition of the brain that no one had ever recovered from. Though he tried to regain his voice, he thought he might never speak again. Then one day, his efforts unexpectedly paid off. Read about how Adams conquered spasmodic dysphonia.

Ernest Hemingway, famous for his spare style, is said to have written the following (very) short story: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Wired asked some writers to come up with their own stories of six words or fewer. They ended up with some Very Short Stories.

Two years ago: “So, here’s the first (and hopefully not the last) edition of Ask Jordon.”

A special visit

Yesterday some news was spreading around the school like wildfire. I heard my first block teacher, Ms. Boudinet, talking about it, although I wasn’t really paying attention, and I could hardly believe what I was hearing. Apparently there was going to be a political rally in the school auditorium on Saturday, and there was going to be a very special guest. Who, you might ask, would go to such a quiet little school as mine? None other than former President Bill Clinton, in fact. He’s campaigning for state Senator Ron Klein, who’s running for the US House of Representatives in Tuesday’s election. You may ask what I think about all this hubbub. Hint: Bill Clinton is the only politician whose picture I have hanging in my room (besides George Washington, but he doesn’t really count). Creepy? Probably.

Of course, the big question was how to get there. Would it be easy? Difficult? It was hard to say since I had just found out about it and because I’ve never been to a political rally. The first official confirmation I heard of the event came at the end of the day when the principal announced a meeting for all the faculty members right after school. Hoping to snag Ms. Boudinet on her way to the meeting, I just made it to her room as she was leaving, and I asked her if it would be possible for us young future voters to go. She said she would get the details in the meeting, and that she didn’t see why not.

This morning before school, I heard that tickets were available for free from Ron Klein’s office. Today being the last school day until the weekend, a plan formed in my head immediately. I was pretty sure where Ron Klein’s local campaign office was, as I had passed by it several times. It’s not far from school, actually. So I figured that in Ms. Boudinet’s class, I would verify the location of the office and call my dad to ask if he could get tickets on his lunch break. But then I asked Ms. Boudinet about it, and she said that I could probably get them right from Mr. Gordon, the principal. Apparently he had been given 200 tickets, and he was giving one to each teacher (or, because some teachers couldn’t make it, two to the ones who could go). She suggested that I catch Mr. Gordon at lunch. Throughout the day, I had found that it was pretty easy to get a ticket if you were in the right set. For example, the Student Government kids were supposedly invited, and I know that some people from the TV production class were going to cover it for our school’s morning TV news-type show.

Lunch rolled around, but I decided that I would eat first and then look for Mr. Gordon. The school seemed to be abuzz with excitement about the visiting ex-President. I had heard that the Secret Service was in the process of checking out the campus, and a lot of people had seen agents walking around. But anyway, I couldn’t find Mr. Gordon, and I didn’t want to go into the office and ask for him — I was afraid of what they’d say. “What? Students at the rally? What about us important grown-up-type people?” So my next idea was to ask my teachers if they had extra tickets. I didn’t go through with it, though. Instead I thought I’d swing by the office after school and ask for a ticket. I figured I would have to have a good reason, so I decided that I would cover the event for our de facto school paper, the Pompano Pulse. (I figured that my friend Luke, who sort of runs the show there, wouldn’t mind.)

So it was time for the moment of truth. I told the receptionist that I would like to get a ticket for the event so I could cover it for the Journalism Club (i.e., the Pulse staff). She referred me to an administrator, whom I subsequently flagged down. She told me to wait, and while I was supposed to be waiting, I ran into Luke, and he decided it would be a good idea for him to get a ticket too. So I ran to tell my sister, who was waiting for our ride, why I hadn’t been there. “I’m getting tickets,” I told her excitedly. “Oh,” she said. “I already got one.” With no time to discuss the matter, I hurried back to the office. Soon, I signed for a ticket and had it in hand. It was that easy.

So on Saturday, Luke and I are going to do some work as journalists in the field. Of course, the kids filming for the school’s morning show will probably have the upper hand in this department, seeing as they’ll have big fancy cameras, but we writer types should at least be allowed to bring our own cameras. But if the Secret Service agents decide that we shouldn’t have cameras, I’ll acquiesce to their request and have a pen and paper to take notes instead. Either way, seeing a former president speak is, for an average young person like me, the opportunity of a lifetime.

Halloween was pretty good. I went to Sean’s house with Mike, and we pretty much hung out the whole time. There was some food, of course, and it was good. It’s kind of sad to think that this will be like my last Halloween, but I guess I’ve outgrown it.

See pi in color.

Neighboroo is a site that maps various nationwide statistics (US only, apparently). Maybe it does something else also.

Two years ago: “It was October 15, 1998, and Jeb Bush (W’s brother and former President Bush’s son) was on the campaign trail running for Governor of Florida. He visited our school, and Reid and I were part of the welcoming committee thing.”
Three years ago: “I’m also looking to have Tredici published in a book and/or have a Tredici computer game made. Anybody want to give a hand?”