On Sunday nights I tend to get philosophical. Earlier I was reminiscing a bit about the days when I used to jam with my friends. I don't feel very comfortable as a musician, but with them, it was all right. I don't know if I could ever meet people like that again. That's why I'd like to get together with them and play some music once in a while.

I haven't been playing much because my guitar is kind of shot. The frets are worn down. I do have others, but they're... well, I'll describe them. I have my first guitar, a Hohner (as in, the harmonica company) acoustic that I believe is 3/4 size and whose case cost more than the instrument itself. I have my DeArmond electric, a sort of a Les Paul copy that's held up pretty well. I have my Epiphone Dot, which I've considered my primary guitar since I got it in March 2003. It's the one that's sounding pretty sad. Finally, I have a Carlo Robelli 12-string acoustic guitar, which sounds heavenly but is nearly impossible to play because it's a 12-string acoustic guitar.

The suggestion I've gotten in the past is to sell some or all of those babies and buy a new one. But I'm not sure how much money I'd get for them, and they have a lot of sentimental (and practical, sometimes) value. Maybe I could buy one good acoustic or one good electric, but I don't know. I also don't know how much money I could sink into a new guitar considering I am a college student and all. Also, I don't play nearly as often as I used to. Is it because I'm no longer interested or because I have a guitar that sounds like crap and is musically unviable? I'd like to think it's the latter. (The poor Dot, by the way, is the only one I have at my apartment, a five-hour drive from my house.)

I don't want to buy a new one, so I'll probably do what I can to fix the Dot. All I can think of doing is changing the action because I don't think that having the frets redone would be worth the money that's been spent on it. It's already had a costly repair a few years ago.

Speaking of things not working, I've mentioned that the memory card I bought for my camera in anticipation of my big European trip (you know, the one that broke during the trip)... umm... broke. It turned out that it worked in my dad's camera, so I figured the issue was with the adapter that I used to fit it into my camera. Apparently that's not the issue, I've found out after my dad bought two new adapters for me. The memory card and the camera just don't get along. I'll have to have the thing reformatted, I guess. Or buy a new one. Actually, I don't want a new one because I've been locked into Sony (we're talking Sony cameras and Memory Sticks here). I think I'll just wait for my current camera to bite the dust, be it in one week or ten years, and then buy all new stuff. And no vendor lock-in this time.

From my dad's camera, I did manage to get 10 photos that I thought were lost when the memory card crapped out. That brings my total number of photos taken during the trip to 4,012.

Creepy video of the day: Barack Obama's Amazingly Consistent Smile. (Via The Presurfer)

Here's an epic song directed at Lily Allen, who apparently has been concerned that file sharing will rob her of her income in the future. (Via waxy.org).

A few days later, Jon asked me if I knew what had happened with him. "Oh yeah," I said. "He lost his student ID card and his backpack." "No, not that," Jon said.

Apparently he was hanging out with another guy in the parking garage behind the building, and they were on the third floor, and he was sitting on the edge and fell off. I was told that he was pretty intact, but an article in the major student newspaper said he had suffered injuries to his face. They also said he had been smoking marijuana but printed a retraction the next day. They didn't, however, correct their statement that he was a 20-year-old sophomore when he's actually a 19-year-old freshman.

That's probably a good reason not to wish for having an interesting life. You just might get it. (Or, you might not. Whatever. No one's just granting you wishes.) Anyway, he's a great guy and I wish him a speedy recovery.

Why else am I here? Oh yeah, to talk about other stuff. Of course. This is The World of Stuff, after all.

Here is a stuff. It's a fun fact. (Yes, I did mean to say "a stuff." I used to talk to a Korean girl on Skype and she spoke perfect English except she would say "stuffs" instead of "stuff.") Anyway, here's an interesting foodstuff: I have not engaged in any courtship-related activities this year. And by this year, I mean this school year, beginning in August. And by courtship-related activities, I mean August. No. Damn it. I mean no dating. (Ah, my consciousness. It is such a stream.)

I really have not met anyone that I would be interested in dating. And by be interested in dating, I mean would be able to ask out. I know a lot of interesting girls. And by a lot, I mean some. But they have boyfriends or whatever. It's always something. "It's Complicated!" Oh, whatever.

The other day it occurred to me that I am now 19 and a half years old. It's less than six months till I'm in my twenties. I know I shouldn't be thinking this way, but I sort of feel like the clock is ticking. People my age are tired of high-school games. They want to meet someone to settle down with in a long-term relationship or something. I know people who are married.

So one time I apparently blinked and missed learning how to go about with dating and stuff. I am still learning. But now that I know that you should not just ask an acquaintance on a dinner date, I haven't had a chance to use that information. What is it, you meet someone and you just sort of click with them and you hang out a few times and then you go to the movies or whatever and it's magical and I don't even know what comes after that. But I just can't make it click. (Sounds like a personal problem.) I wish I had spent more time interacting with people rather than just chillin'.

In spite of these impediments, I do imagine that I'll have kids someday. I guess it's inevitable to imagine that, whatever reality seems to be indicating. But anyway, Jordon Jr. is not going to get a children's encyclopedia. He's going to get a baseball glove. And relax, I won't name him Jordon Jr. Jeez.

Okay, hive mind, help me out here: you've all mostly probably maybe met someone you find special in that special way. Even if you hate them now, you probably still like the memories, perhaps. Was there a moment where you "clicked"? Or, you know what? Just tell me how you met your significant other(s) and how they became attracted to you or vice versa. I will be using this personal information for my personal gain, and I will credit you if you wish. This Awkward Placing Of My Arm Around Your Shoulder Is Brought To You By [your name here]!

This is already running long, but I have to have one, so: a crazy PDF chart showing radio frequency allocations in the United States. It is pretty crowded. (Via J-Walk Blog)

I did get to see The Dark Knight at midnight on opening day. I had been concerned because I was going with a group of people who had tickets to a different showing than I did. They were at the same time, but at different screens. I couldn't find anyone to trade tickets with, so I resigned myself to seeing the movie without the company of most of them. I was with this guy Tyler, who went to my high school for a semester. I had a class with him. Some of my other friends apparently did too because he has now reappeared in the group of friends.

Anyway, while we were in line, he encountered this girl who he apparently knew well. They ribbed each other mercilessly, and he kept asking me why he was putting up with it. I wondered too; he's not the kind of guy who just takes that sort of thing. It was later made known to me by other people that they had dated and that all sorts of drama had recently unfolded. Maybe that's why, when I was sitting between them before the movie started and they were trying to challenge each other to name the last time the other had lied to them, Tyler insisted that I switch seats with him and allow him to whisper something in her ear.

So, he puts up with her verbal abuse because he still has feelings for her? That would be my guess, but I don't know. I do know that she took a liking to me; she said so. I was pleased by that. But whatever.

Anyway, the movie was really good. This was only the second time I had seen a movie premiere (well, not premiere, but opening) at midnight. The first time was last year when I saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The Dark Knight was really epic. But unlike my previous midnight film experience, I was pretty tired by the end of it. I even managed to miss part of a pivotal scene somehow. But I was still impressed by Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker. Posthumous Oscar? I would recommend it. Get on that, Academy.

I should be leaving for my second year of college in about a month. I'm looking forward to it in a way. I'm going to have a cool roommate. Plus, I'll be able to get to an ATM and eat at Taco Bell whenever I want. As for the classes, eh. Oh, and also, I may have a chance with Number 6 (this one). I remember her hinting that she might want to hang out in the fall. I hope she remembers that too.

Current Music: Kaiser Chiefs - Employment. My dad caught an interview with them on NPR a few years ago and got the album. I like it too. Before this, I was listening to "A Whiter Shade of Pale," which seems to be my stream-of-consciousness-writing-enducer.

Well, it looks like it's time to return to being bored. Here are some links.

Have movies been getting longer recently? I can't remember the last time I went to see a movie that was just the standard 90 minutes in length. A survey of IMDb's top movies by decade suggests that movies have been getting longer over the course of decades, but I'd be interesting in analyzing all major feature films from the past, say, 20 years for a more thorough analysis.

The BBC reports that the oldest recording of computer-generated music has been discovered. It dates back to 1951. Read and listen.

Dumpster diving sounds like a good idea to save some money. Too bad there's such a stigma associated with it. We should just get people to throw away less stuff.

I had some tests over the past few days. Last Wednesday, I had a test in my biology class and I did well. On Friday, I had a test in differential equations and got a pretty good grade. On Monday, I had a test in physics, and, well -- it counts as a C on their own special grading scale. Let's leave it at that. (Leaving it not at that, I just want to say that I'm glad that a B+ is between 80-90%.)

I've actually been sick since I woke up Monday. (Great way to start a Monday, isn't it?) Monday and yesterday it was a throat thing. Today it was a nose thing. There are no more tissues around here.

Random thought (I'm writing stream-of-consciousness-ly, so I'm allowed to inject random thoughts): If this is my fifth "Stream of Consciousness" post between November 18, 2005, and today, and the Super Bowl has occurred annually since 1967, then in what year will I write a stream of consciousness post that has the same Roman numeral as that year's Super Bowl? Express your answer as a year in Roman numerals.

(Note: I just want to test the idea that if a site has a sufficiently large fan base, then its loyal and devoted readers will do anything you ask them to. Or, at least, one of them will, anyway.)

How about that Super Bowl, anyway? I had an inkling that it would be the most-watched Super Bowl ever, and I was right. In fact, it was the second most watched TV program in American history, behind only the last episode of "M*A*S*H." (That's fun to type.) But anyway, I knew it would be an exciting game, no matter who won. What an upset for the previously undefeated Patriots. They'll be talking about that one for years to come. (And my poor roommate, who's originally from Massachusetts, wasn't very happy.)

Speaking of roommates and rooms, today was my day to sign up for housing for next year. I decided to stay in Hume Hall, and luckily, I won the lottery to stay. I even got to pick what room I could stay in (from a selection of a few). I chose a room on the opposite side of my same floor. I like being on the second floor. I don't have to spend too much time walking up and down the stairs.

Ah, there's nothing like a detailed entry about your web host's new bandwidth pricing policy to attract zero comments from readers. I'm starting to feel the savings now, though. I can actually watch my bandwidth costs go down. $0.9837 per gigabyte and falling, baby!

My sister's going home for the weekend, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to. Well, for one, I go away a lot as it is, and I think it's important for me to spend time here and socialize with my dorm-mates. Also, since I'm paying $tons to stay here, I might as well get my money's worth. On the other hand, it is nice to see my family. I'll probably still be sick on Friday, so I don't think I'm going to go home. (It's bad enough being sick and feeling awful, but being sick and feeling awful in a car for five hours? Bleah.)

And for those of you keeping score at home, this is my 899th post.

I guess the Oscars are coming up or something, so read about 6 Odd Moments in Oscar History.

More about that friggin' Super Bowl: If you watched the Super Bowl (I accidentally typed "bowel" there -- good thing I allow myself to correct typos in these kinds of posts), then you probably noticed a lot of advertising from Bridgestone, the tire company. Well, it turns out they're just trying to clean up their image in the face of a human rights lawsuit.

Science education in Florida's schools rather sucks. I should know because I was subjected to it for a few years recently. Okay, my school in particular wasn't so bad, but it could have been better. Anyway, there's a petition you can sign that aims to change that.

Now, time for some hot soup (of the ramen-like variety) and probably some rest. Ah, that sounds good. Oh, and a hot shower, too. Yeah. But not in that order.

As I write this, my bandwidth is now $0.9829 per gigabyte.

I haven't really done much today at all, as I said. I did trick out Ubuntu quite a bit, though, by adding a new login window and splash screen. Some people may wonder why it matters, but I did it to go with the theme that I've made up, which is predominantly blue. I hope soon to get to the point that working at Ubuntu becomes transparent -- i.e., I don't use it, thinking, "Hey, this is Ubuntu instead of Windows, which is what I'm used to." That probably won't happen soon, though, because I read somewhere that it can take a year or more for someone to know the ins and outs of a particular operating system. Oh well. I'm enjoying the Linux experience.

And as my mind inevitably turns to the future, I'm thinking about what kind of laptop to get. Obviously, one that runs Linux, as the main reason (or one of the main reasons) I switched to Linux was for the cost (usually free). It's my understanding that laptops with Linux preinstalled (they do exist, keep reading) are cheaper than equivalent laptops with Windows. Actually, they may not be, but with Windows you have to pay for a lot of the software, but on Linux it's mostly free. Besides that, I really don't know how the cost figures into things -- or, rather, how things are figured into the cost. I need to do my homework when it comes to hardware and stuff. I just found out recently that this computer is, by the standards of March 31, 2007, slow and old.

Anyway, when researching laptops with Ubuntu pre-installed, System76 immediately emerged as the definitive leader. They apparently have great customer support and are determined to help you when you buy from them (or even when you don't). Plus, they have guaranteed hardware support, which is a must when Linux hardware support is kind of patchy and unpredictable. Supposedly, System76 laptops come with Wi-Fi working out of the box, which is pretty neat because I think there's a wireless Internet connection thingy in my house.

I want a laptop that won't get outdated quickly and that looks slick. Obviously, affordability is important too. My friend Brian says he just got a laptop from System76, so I have to check it out for myself to see what I could be getting. He said he got the cheapest one, which does look pretty cheap. I'd like something a little nicer and sturdier with plenty of room on the screen to see stuff (a big screen, I mean). And I don't want their expensive white one that looks like a Mac. I think a white laptop would just get dirty and ugly over time. Besides that, I don't want people to think of me as an artsy, turtleneck-wearing, cappuccino-drinking Mac user if they see me with such a laptop. I am incapable of being that smug, and I know more about computers than that. (But I still don't know a lot.)

Speaking of knowing or not knowing a lot about computers, my latest Greasemonkey user script is a masterpiece, and I anticipate it becoming a big hit. It's gotten about 75 installs in the past 24 hours. It's called Google Search Counter, and it is intended to satisfy an idle curiosity I've had for a long time. How many Google searches do I perform a day? In the 24 hours since I've been using the script, I've made 50 searches, and that's just the main web search (which is all it counts, for now at least). I plan to have it count how many searches I do throughout the whole of next month. It should be interesting to see.

For nerds only: HTML Tags Illustrated.

What a weekend to waste a day, let me tell you. (Yes, I've been debilitated enough to do nothing except write in my blog, which requires little to no thinking.) I thought I could pounce on some calculus homework and maybe a college application, but it'll have to wait till tomorrow. I feel like crud today. (I still say "crud" sometimes. Or "crudbuckets" if something's really bad and there are people with fragile ears/minds around.)

The past few days haven't been that bad, though. On Wednesday night I was talking online to Natasha, and we were talking about talking to one another on the phone. We had exchanged phone numbers some time ago, so we were talking about when would be a good time to call. I suggested the next afternoon, but apparently Natasha's mom egged her on to call me right then and there. Luckily, she has a good long-distance plan, so that kind of thing is okay and actually encouraged.

It was nice to finally put a voice to the face I had seen. She has a nice voice. We talked for about 25 minutes on various things, but it was getting (sort of not really) late, and my sister needed to use the phone to talk to Lisa about every detail of the then-airing episode of Lost during every commercial break.

Last night, we wanted to talk again, and I wanted to be the one to do the calling for a change. (Might as well switch off, right?) I tried using Skype because it would be free to call her phone. It wasn't until she picked up that I realized that my microphone wasn't working and it hadn't told me. That was kind of an embarrassment. I turned off the computer (which itself took forever because Windows needed to install some updates) and nearly killed myself to try to make sure that the microphone was plugged into the right place. It was a real hassle, but it was worth a try. Then I asked my parents if I could call Natasha. ("Who? Oh, the Canadian girl.") They get very upset at the idea of using our long distance, it seems, so my dad tried to see what was wrong with the mike, but he was stumped.

He did, though, find a calling card for me to use. It had about two minutes left on it, so I talked to Natasha briefly and she said that she'd call me back. And that she did. Meanwhile, my dad, who will really go out of his way to help me out, got a good calling card at some store or something. I look forward to using it in the future. Anyway, on Natasha's dollar (CDN), we talked for over an hour on various things. What things, you ask? It's the most interesting part, after all. Actually, I don't really know what we talked about in particular. Just things. We did compare accents. Our accents are mostly pretty similar, the only differences being in the little things like "about" ("a-boat" vs. "a-bowt").

Random thought: It's nice writing about Natasha because her name can be spelled entirely on the home row of the Dvorak keyboard, which I, of course, use.

And that's that, really. I enjoyed talking to her on the phone, and I hope to do so again soon.

Like microscopic (or at least really close-up) images of everyday things? Check out the Micro Images Blog.

If you're trying to check out the latest cool link that's being passed around the blogosphere, and all the traffic has brought it down, you can have l8tr.org send you an e-mail when it's back up.

So it's February, guys. Already. Tomorrow is Groundhog Day, Joyce's birthday, and Scotto's birthday, and February 2. Luke probably wouldn't let me get away without mentioning that tomorrow is James Joyce's birthday. Case in point: He's been carrying around a copy of Ulysses and is planning on attending a reading of it after school tomorrow. They'll probably use his copy, even.

This is going to be a difficult subject to discuss all in one shot, but I'll try. I'm planning on asking out a girl to the Valentine's Day Dance. No, she is not my secret crush (?), nor is she the lesbian, nor is she the girl I almost went out with. This is one girl that, in terms of liking, has been on my mind by far the longest. I've only mentioned her a scant few times in this blog over the two and a half years that I've known her because I couldn't act on my feelings -- she was seeing someone. I don't know if she is now -- she very well may be -- but if she's not, then I'll tell you who she is (assuming, of course, that she accepts my offer; there are two conditions at work here: she has to be single, and she has to say yes. Otherwise, it's a no-go, and I won't tell. You don't need to know about a failed crush, anyway.)

This is the way I see it: if she has a boyfriend already (which, if I haven't mentioned it, is extremely likely), then the worst thing that can happen to me is that his opinion of me would probably drop a bit, if he knows me. On the other hand, if she is single and says yes to me, then, well, I have the world to gain. Potentially. It would be nice to act on these feelings I've had basically off and on for two and a half years. And maybe if she rejects me, then it can serve as some kind of closure. I guess all of you understand me when I talk about these things, as you have all done these things before. Well, the guys will understand, because they're usually the ones who do the asking and stuff. The girls will probably laugh at how naive I am. The guys will too.

But you all have to understand that I love that feeling you get when you're in love, sorta. I meant it when I had said I was the happiest guy in the world at one point. Another thing that makes me happy is that this site is currently the #1 result on Google for "happiest guy in the world" -- without the quotes.

I wonder if this is how a lot of people write posts on LiveJournal -- without thinking it through, I mean. Maybe that's why so many LiveJournals are incomprehensibly bad. (I'm not talking about any of the nine LJs that I read regularly, of course. My friends and acquaintances all have the good sense to care about things like spelling and grammar. That's why I like 'em. Well, many of them do, anyway. Some of them. If you're reading this, then probably you.)

Here's an old (1946) documentary/propaganda-type film about despotism (Flash, sound).

How does your web site look on Apple's Safari browser? Find out at SafariTest. This site was useful while I was redesigning The World of Stuff most recently.

One year ago: "If I were more able to express my emotions, I'd be hyperventilating or something."

I should stop trashing people here. It would be good to talk about myself instead of others for a while, anyway. When I say "trashing," I mean any sort of thing that might be taken by others as trashing. You know.

I was going to see Harry Potter tonight, but I couldn't at all. My dad's out of town, my mom went out, my sister went to see it with her friend, Sean had to go to a game, I couldn't get in touch with Nick, Mike was already seeing it when I called his house, and Kevin is leaving for London. That leaves me here to do nothing. Maybe I'll go tomorrow if someone wants to go with me. I'm tempted to be all like "hey hit up the cell if you wants to do sumthing tomorrow" but I won't. I'm hoping this will be construed as an invitation to any interested party.

I wish I could drive. Then I could go places. Going to the movie theater by myself sounds like a great way to beat loneliness.

By the way, I don't want to die alone.

Maybe I should change my haircut. Somebody suggested that I should. The other day, Justin showed me his friend Alex, who has the same haircut as me. I had never seen someone who had hair so similar to mine. It was scary. I thought I was looking at myself, and that was unsettling.

Other things that are unsettling include being in complete darkness, like in a cave. I've been in a couple of caves, where they give you a tour and switch off the lights at one point. It's really crazy when you can't see in front of your face and it doesn't make a difference when you close your eyes.

I don't think I'm losing weight on the No S Diet. I have a hard time discerning what's "Sweets" and what's not. I eat sugar cereal for breakfast. I'm going to pick new cereal soon. Also, I still don't exercise because I haven't gotten a shovelglove. I must do that tomorrow. I need a sledgehammer and a timer; I already have the sweater.

However, losing weight will only make me skinny and exercising will only make me muscular. There are other problems you can't really fix...

[Current music: Relient K - Pirates Who Don't Do Anything]

[It's in my head. Is that what "current music" means?]

I'm not otherwise interested in Relient K, or Veggie Tales for that matter. I was listening to a '50s rock and roll CD earlier. So there you go.

Speaking of which, I haven't played the guitar a whole lot lately. I was going to, but then I was like, "Hey, I should blog." Don't get me wrong, I have played, but just not as much. I think.

I guess that should do it. No going back and changing anything or anything (except fixing typos). Now let's do the links.

Are you an indie filmmaker? Try IndieFlix.

Do you have a camera? I mean, like, a digital one? If so, set it for a long exposure, go someplace dark with a few lights, and throw your camera around (being careful not to smash the thing). It's Camera Toss, and it can produce some smashingly (har har) beautiful results.