Category - Ask Jordon

On Friday night I went out to dinner with some people from Get Carded, the organ donor awareness organization I'm in. After we put on our end-of-the-year concert, there was nothing left to do but celebrate. So we went to On the Border, a Mexican place that I went to once about 5 or 6 years ago.

Not everybody was there, but some people I knew were. After we ate (good food, by the way), there were the obligatory photos. Michael, one of the co-presidents, had an award to give out. Printed on his computer, was the "Volunteer of the Year" award, and it was given to... me! I couldn't believe it. Actually, I kind of could, but it was still a little hard to believe. Apparently I was the only person who helped out at all of Get Carded's events this year. I also got a gift card for Moe's, which is this extremely popular Mexican-type place. Many people would envy the $10 in Moe's cash I now wield.

But anyway, I really appreciated the award (even though Michael and Jehan, the other co-president, forgot to sign it before they gave it to me). I have it hanging on the fridge now. Hopefully there will be some competition for the award next year. That would be great for the group.

UF's spring football game was yesterday. It's called the Orange and Blue Game after the school colors. The Gators split into Orange and Blue teams, and they played each other. They get a chance to show off their talent, and the fans get their football fix until August.

I figured it would be a pretty big thing, but I didn't know it was going to be on ESPN. Actually, by the day of the event, I did know. I had planned on watching it on TV, but I decided to go instead because it was going on about a block away and, as my roommate said, 50,000 fans would be mad at me if they found out I didn't go.

The game was pretty informal. There were 44 minutes of play, with no penalties or anything. (A referee did throw a flag once, but I think it was due to force of habit. He just picked it up without saying anything.) The coaches were just chilling there out on the field, watching each play closely. The players went pretty easy on each other, and there was no tackling the quarterbacks. (The team doesn't want to get hurt playing against itself, you know.) After each field goal or extra point, the kicker would try it again at varying distances, just for giggles.

The atmosphere was likewise relaxed. Even though the stadium wasn't packed to capacity, there were still a lot of people there, and I saw some people I knew. Everybody had a good time, although some people left early. I can't blame them. The sun was bright. Even though I was wearing a hat and the game lasted less than two hours, I got sunburned like whoa. But I'm glad I went. I had a pretty good time.

The final score was Blue 28, Orange 14. Also: The Sun 1, Jordon 0.

Yesterday evening (actually more like the late afternoon), I got inducted into the Phi Eta Sigma honor society. It wasn't anything big, really. They had a room that was way too small for all the inductees and their guests. Fortunately, the whole thing didn't last very long. They said a few words, and then they called each person up to get a pin. Then it was a free-for-all as people lined up to get their certificates. My family came to the induction, and then we had dinner. I had lunch with them again today (at Moe's) before they left.

So now I have an official-looking Phi Eta Sigma certificate and pin. I can wear the pin whenever I want to look important, and people will think I'm in some fraternity that secretly rules the world. They probably won't know that it's just an honor society that does community service every now and then.

Here's an Ask Jordon question.

Carol: Is it possible for you to see when someone is visiting your site? Like me right now?

As with most web sites, accesses to files on this site are logged, mainly for statistics purposes and my own amusement. I can tell which IP addresses have visited the site, and what browsers and operating systems they correspond with (although all of that information can be faked). When you submit an Ask Jordon question, your IP address and browser/OS information are sent as well. I can tell that your ISP is Verizon and that you're using IE 7 on Windows XP (if your browser isn't lying), but that's about it.

With regards to the story I posted last time about Illinois state representative Monique Davis, she has apologized -- though not publicly -- for her bigoted tirade.

Can't decide between Clinton or Obama? Here's a Democratic Primary Quiz (Flash).

Here are photos of 10 Interesting Abandoned Places.

Yesterday, I went tubing on the Ichetucknee River at Ichetucknee Springs State Park. In case it sounds moderately exciting, "tubing" just means floating on an inner tube. Which is not to say that it's boring. In fact, it's fun in a relaxing way. It's "chill," as the young people say. I was with some friends (including my roommate, Adam) and friends' friends who were girls. We had bought our own inflatable pool rafts (Adam got a giant seahorse), while the girls rented a large inflatable raft from one of the many tube rental places near the river.

We meandered down the river at a rather lazy pace except when we were paddling out of the way of fallen branches and things. The girls in their little boat decided to lie back and not pay much attention to where they were going, so they bumped into a lot of things and often fell far behind the rest of us. But they sang. They sang "Aura Lee" in serene three-part harmony. I asked if they knew anything by the Beatles, and they tried out a few lines of "Because."

After conquering the river, everyone left except Adam, his friend Stephen, and me. We were going to go to Ginnie Springs for even more tubing adventures, but it's privately owned, and the admission was more than we were willing to pay. Instead, we ate at Conestogas in Alachua and then got back to campus.

Hm... what else? Oh yeah. The World of Stuff is five years old today.

Don't look at me like that! You know I wouldn't forget. I've been looking forward to the day, actually. It's a milestone. Five years. Half a decade. It's pretty big. Of course, I can't forget about the chain of events that led me here.

In February 2003, I was a thirteen-year-old eighth-grader, and I had a problem. I didn't have a single web site. I had two: The Dvorak Keyboard and You and flipacoin.net. I decided to create a new site of which both would be a part. (flipacoin.net never fit in well and was finally spun off two months ago.) Since the new site was just going to be a collection of random pages, I thought the very general name "The World of Stuff" would be funny.

The original home of the site was free, ad-supported Angelfire space that my friends and I had used to advertise our two-off comic book series, The Superbuddies (hence "superbuddies" in the original URL). They weren't too happy about me wiping over the Superbuddies site, but I think they can agree that my site has been more successful than our photocopied comics that we had trouble selling even to our friends. (I still have a few copies of both issues; I found them recently, and they're pretty good. I should put the scans online here. Full circle??)

On Sunday, April 6, 2003, I decided the site was ready. After writing an introductory note on the main page, I made the following announcement on the "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Forum!" Forum at Where's George?:

Two days later, I e-mailed the link to five friends. And that was about all the publicity I had for a while.

Over the next few months, I made note of occasional updates on the main page. During the summer of 2003, the site moved to its own domain name and -- to keep people coming back -- evolved into one of those newfangled "blog" things. Over time, I found my style, and my posts eased into the format that you're familiar with today. But it became tedious to manually add posts to the main page, maintain archives, and update the RSS feed. On January 2, 2005, I started using the WordPress blogging platform, which automates those tasks and allows readers to comment on each post. I also strove to give the site a polished appearance. The layout was redesigned on October 16, 2004, and again on January 1, 2006.

When blogging was still new and exciting, The World of Stuff was mentioned in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in September 2003 ("Blog Stars") and by City Link Magazine in April 2004 ("Meet the Bloggers"). In the past four years, there has been a significant lack of press coverage. But news articles don't really matter. In fact, they did absolutely nothing to increase the popularity of the site. But it has become more popular. People have found the blog somehow (probably from here), and they've kept reading. They've post comments and e-mailed me, and I've responded. So we have this cool two-way dialogue going on, me and you.

While we're going meta, here's an Ask Jordon question.

natasha: What is the purpose of the numbers beside the months in your archives?

The archives page has a link to each month's posts followed by the number of posts made in that month.

And one more:

Carol: I'm new here but I'd like to know what you are majoring in.

Computer science.

Now, as I was saying, having a community of readers is a really cool thing. Sometimes I ask myself who I write for -- that is, whether I would still write if I didn't have an audience. I'm not sure whether I would. Knowing that other people are reading this gives me a sense of fulfillment. I like to entertain, inform, and provide a window on my life to others. I'm glad I've been doing it well enough that people are coming back for more.

Thanks for your continued readership and support over the past five years. I love you guys!

Okay, so you know how I got a 15 out of 20 on my last physics test? (I mentioned it last time). Anyway, that was an unofficial score based on me comparing my scratch work to the answer key, which was posted online. A few days later, I got my actual score and it was... 13 out of 20. Something happened on the answer sheet, like I bubbled in the wrong answers, or maybe I forgot to bubble them in at all. You can be sure I won't let that happen next time.

In less disheartening news, I had a programming test yesterday that I think I did well on and a biology test this evening that I think I did very well on. We'll see soon enough, but I'm not going to make any guesses.

Last week, Sarah, a girl I asked out a few months ago but then she never talked to me again and I think she has a boyfriend, texted me, asking me to go to her orchestra concert. I thought it would be fun, so I told her I'd go. It was Thursday night, and the theme was Oscar-nominated film scores. Listed on the program was another member of the orchestra that I knew; the president of the club I'm in was a violin. (Yeah, he was actually a violin.) I got to talk to him during the intermission. I didn't actually talk to Sarah, but I waved to her, and she saw me and pointed me out to whoever was next to her. (This was before the concert, not during it.)

Speaking of which, have you ever wondered what orchestra members do before they make that nice tuning-up sound? They practice. Individually. Think of that bit from "A Day in the Life," but for twenty minutes solid. (Also, how do orchestra members applaud if they're seated with their instruments? They slap their legs and stamp their feet.)

The orchestra played music from Gone with the Wind, Braveheart, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and Goldfinger, plus others I had never heard of. (Just so you can make fun of me, let me add that I have never seen any of those movies! No, not even [insert your favorite one here]! I know, I'd better go to Blockbuster and rent it right this minute. 'Cause I totally rent movies all the time.)

Oh, I lied. I did see Lawrence of Arabia, which the orchestra performed a piece from. For the occasion, they brought out the actual Oscar statuette that the film won for Best Picture. It was being guarded by a huge guy with a baseball bat. After the show, people lined up to have their picture taken with the Oscar. I think a lot of people thought that the Oscar wasn't real (probably because the fat guy was so comical, pointing his bat at anyone who got near the thing, including the conductor, who, at the end of the show, could no longer resist the urge to go over and pick it up), but in the program, they thanked some collection in California that the statuette was on loan from.

Anyway, the concert was really enjoyable. It's pretty cool to actually see an orchestra playing. I can't remember if I had ever seen one before, but now I can say that I have. Also, I've seen an Oscar.

Now, a quick Ask Jordon:

Alexis: Okay I was wondering if I was going to go out with this guy i like when spring break is over?

I could give the standard Magic 8-Ball answer, but I'll try to be a little more helpful this time and offer actual advice. You sound like you're asking for a prediction, but you needn't be. Here's a tip. Take matters into your own hands. That way, you have a chance of getting the outcome you want.

With the war in Iraq entering its sixth year, I just want to know why the hell this hasn't happened yet: ImpeachBush.org.

This is similar to a link I posted four years ago. (I can't find the original post; maybe I didn't actually post it here.) Anyway, this news article lists some of the more famous extended family members of the presidential candidates. For example, Barack Obama is related to a number of Presidents; George W. Bush is his tenth cousin once removed. He's also related to Brad Pitt. Hillary Clinton is related to Celine Dion, Alanis Morrissette, and a few people who aren't Canadian singers. Do you have to be half-WASP to have such extensive family records? I want to run for President just so they can tell me I'm related to Chuck Norris.

Worst idea ever: Ten Cent Beer Night.

I'm still alive, really. I've been busy. I present to you a post I started working on yesterday but didn't have time to finish.

Tuesday was Free Pancake Day at IHOP, and my sister really wanted to go. We went with our friend Amanda. The pancakes were good. They tasted really free. Since man cannot live on pancakes alone, I also had some eggs Benedict. The point of letting everyone have a free short stack was to raise money for charity, so we did our part. In that sense, the pancakes weren't really free.

They still tasted free, though.

Also Tuesday, I had my first test in my programming class. I think I got an A. It helps when you already know some basic programming concepts. Today in programming discussion, we were doing exercises with loops (which were just taught yesterday). The hardest one was to implement Leibniz's calculation of pi. I got it, and I've been playing around with it. It turns out that it converges to pi extremely slowly. With 1 billion terms, it's accurate only to 8 decimal places.

Of course, the proverbial elephant in the room is that it's Valentine's Day. You know what that means: it's my anniversary... of switching to Linux. You probably know how I feel about Valentine's Day, or you can probably guess. After reading this, you will be able to guess.

I went to a Gator Freethought meeting last night. To make things interesting, the topic of discussion was how your religious beliefs affect your views on love, sex, dating, and the like. To make things more interesting, "stoplight" dress code was made optional: wear green if you're single, red if you're taken, and yellow if you're "It's Complicated." While the people there spent the entire time debating the definition of love, I couldn't help but wonder: Why cant everyone dress this way all the time then we wouldn't have any problems or rather I wouldn't have any problems. Seriously the last 3 girls I asked out or wanted to ask out were already taken and I didn't know it at the time WTF. I hate this. I really do. And it's only getting worse. I'm just going to make this clear:

I can't get a date.

There. I said it, for everyone to hear. It's hard to exude coolness and confidence with a track record like the one I have.

However, I do have some joy in my life by volunteering for Get Carded, which gives out organ donor cards. Today we gave out cards with a Valentine's twist: "Have a heart, sign a donor card" was the slogan, and the idea drew some people. The chocolates also drew some people, no doubt. It was a productive day, though, and that's good. I like knowing that I'm helping to save lives.

Time for Ask Jordon:

Brian: Is Justin secretly Stephen Rea?

Your IP address indicates that you sent this from the University of Oregon. Is Brian secretly my friend Luke?

Dan in Japan: Did you ever read Pulp Novels? If so, did you have a favorite hero? (Example - The Spider, the Shadow.. etc.)

No, Dan the Man in Japan, I've never read those kinds of things. I think they were before my time. I thought Pulp Fiction was okay, though. By the way, your IP address indicates that you are in Japan. Good job.

Just to fit into the theme we've got going here, here are 50 Very Simple Ways to Be Romantic.

And this probably fits in too: Your Eyes Don't Lie - Reading Thoughts By Eye Movements.

It's been a busy week. Last night I had a biology test. Tomorrow I have a differential equations test, and on Monday, a physics test. I wish all my tests weren't concentrated in such a short amount of time, but I guess it's better that I get them all over with within a week... only to be struck by another wave of tests a few weeks later.

Dayum. If you Google "lefty," Being Left-Handed is currently #7. How long will that last? I don't even know how it -- I mean, my lefty page -- is so popular. It's by no means extensive, and virtually no sites link to it. Come to think of it, I should probably add some information I read in Stanley Coren's "The Left-Hander Syndrome" for a high-school psychology paper in '04... which shows how recently I've updated the page. (I don't think I ever have, other than to remove some clip art and an animated GIF of my left hand in various annoying colors. If you remember that, I'm sorry.)

A few months ago, someone e-mailed me about an online quiz that they suggest I take. I checked it out, decided it was worthy of posting, and linked to it here. The other day, I got a surprisingly similar e-mail, addressed first to "Jordan" and later to "you guys," suggesting I take a similar quiz from the same site. The author says, "I thought would be perfect for your site. Especially in your geek section." The e-mail was from a live.ca address, and I think the first one was too (although it's not uncommon, being Canadian Hotmail and all). I don't have the text of the original e-mail handy, although I probably have it in one of my weekly system backups if you really, really care. (You don't care.) Well, I just thought that was weird. Does this quiz site employ manual spammers, or is it just a coincidence?

Enough asking questions. People have questions to Ask Jordon. Well, one person does, anyway.

Laura: what is your favorite restaraunt?

If we're talking about worldwide chains, Taco Bell can't be beat. I mean, beaten. I love Taco Bell and enjoy having one right on campus, a five-minute walk away.

"Washington Crossing the Delaware" is a poem in which each line is an anagram of the title. It rhymes and makes sense and everything. Pretty impressive.

Music these days is way too loud. Record producers want their songs to be the loudest, so they compress the sound, making the quiet parts as loud as the loud parts. Every valley is being exalted, and every hill made low. The result is music that's boring to listen to because there's no variety. Luckily, the Turn Me Up campaign is working to reverse this trend.

Check out the Secret Word of the Day web site every day to see what the secret word of the day is. When you hear the secret word, scream real loud!

It's Christmas again.

I did go to church with my family yesterday, and I didn't feel that bad, but I won't make a habit of it. I gave gifts to my friends that I saw there. The Christmas pageant, as it were, was pretty short. Some of the kids in it were way too young; they didn't seem to know what they were doing. One girl who had a reading still had a Homestar Runner accent. "A weading fwum the lettow of Paul to..." Just no. Did she even know what she was saying? The Cowinthians wouldn't have taken her seriously. Sewiously.

I got mostly guitar-related gifts: strings, cables, and a practice amp that's small enough for me to take to my dorm. It packs a punch, though. But what else would you expect from a Vox? Okay, maybe I only like Vox amps because the Beatles used them, but my friend Sean had a Vox mini-amp that I liked. Other than that, I'm a Fender amp guy.

For the second year, my pen pal Natasha and I exchanged gifts for Christmas. I got her a plush gator that says "Go Gators" and plays UF's fight song. I also included a video greeting where I showed her my dorm and the alligator in the pond across the street. This afternoon I called Natasha to wish her a merry Christmas and see if she got my gift to her. (She did, and her gift to me should be coming any day now.) I love to hear her voice. We both agreed that we need to talk on the phone more often. I'll hold up my end of the bargain, long-distance charges be damned. Ooh, I said damn. Maybe I'll get a phone card. That probably would have been good to ask for for Christmas. Oh well. I got money that I can buy phone cards with.

And now, a not particularly holiday edition of Ask Jordon.

Justin: Did I ever explain to you my theory on the communist santa?

I think so, but I don't really remember. Let's see what I can make up: He wears red. He distributes toys equally to practically everyone. People are urged not to question him. He doesn't live in the West. And what else? I bet he has pretty tight control over the elves.

Justin: Also, do you think there may be an "Answer Jordon" component in the future?

I did have Jordon Asks YOU!! about a year ago, but I haven't done anything with it since then. It's probably because I gave a schedule to work with (ask a question every Saturday), and anyone who reads this blog knows that I don't adhere to schedules when blogging. (Remember the monthly interview series that only lasted one month?)

In Soviet Russia, Santa writes letters to YOU!!

New at The World of Stuff: Do you use Wikipedia? How about Creative Commons? Or Linux? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you should consider giving a monetary donation to the organizations involved. I came to that conclusion yesterday, and to make it easy for people to donate to free content projects, I've created this page with Donation Information for Free Content Projects. As a student without a credit card, I'd like to know which free software projects I can send a check to. Hence the list. I hope you or somebody finds it useful.

Classical music is everywhere these days. We hear the same classical pieces all the time as they've become associated with a particular aspect of popular culture. Enter Kickass Classical, a list with information about popular classical tunes. Incidentally, I found this site when I was trying to find the name of the repetitive, escalating piece they use in movie trailers to indicate mounting chaos. I couldn't find it there, but I bet somebody knows the name of it.

If you grew up in the '90s, here's a present for you: a memorable sketch from All That.

Here are some vintage Images from the Tobacco Industry Campaign to Hide the Hazards of Smoking. Did you know that more doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette?

I had my first final exam today. In the morning. At 7:30. Yuck.

I had never seen so many people out and about on campus at 7:00 in the morning on a Saturday, but lots of people are in this chemistry class, and I'm sure there were some other exams at that time also. My studying paid off, largely due to the help of a study guide posted online by one of the professors -- a list of exactly as many topics as there were questions on the exam. Sure enough, the exam followed the topics on the list in order. (Do you really think I otherwise would have memorized the integrated first-order rate equation?) I did well enough to get an A in the class. I've also gotten A's in Social Geography and chem lab. Next: a history paper (due Tuesday) and a calculus final (Thursday).

This past week, on a cold Tuesday night, I went with my suitemates Adam and Cameron to the intramural flag football championship game, held in The Swamp. During the game, my eyes drifted toward the south side of the stadium, where Heisman Trophy winners Steve Spurrier (1966) and Danny Wuerffel (1996) are honored. Next to Wuerffel's jersey and name, someone had placed hand-drawn posters of a makeshift jersey with the number 15 and the name Tim Tebow.

Tebow is the man here at the University of Florida. He's as charismatic as he is physically imposing. (I've seen the guy. He's big.) Women want to be with him. Men want to be him. What's more, the sophomore quarterback has been very successful this season, and by all accounts, he's one of the best players in college football. I went to the game during which he became the first quarterback in NCAA history to throw for 20 touchdowns and rush for as many in a single season. Perhaps his defining moment of the season came in the last game of the season against Florida State, where he broke his non-throwing hand scoring a touchdown in the third quarter and continued to play through the end of the game.

And now Tebow is the front-runner for the Heisman Trophy, considered the highest honor in college football. The award is presented tonight, and he was invited to the ceremony. A majority of Heisman voters polled have said they're voting for him. The only thing he has going against him is that he's a sophomore, and almost all Heisman winners in the past have been seniors -- the rest have been juniors. But maybe today in New York, Tim Tebow will break tradition. It wouldn't be the first time.

I can't even imagine how crazy everyone around here would get if he won. I bet they'd throw him a parade. Everyone's wild about the guy as it is. They'll probably love him even more even if he doesn't win. That's Tebowmania.

It's time to answer some Ask Jordon questions.

teddy: what would you do if you were the las person on earth?

Isn't there a movie coming out that has something to do with that theme? Wouldn't it be more likely, as the movie seems to suggest, that even if you think you are the las(t) person on Earth, you're probably not? How would you know? Or are we just talking about a sort of "I haven't seen anyone around for years, so I think everyone in the area is dead"-type feeling? Would it really make a difference if there are still a few people left on the other side of the globe? How about this: what if I and someone else were the last people on Earth? That would be a more interesting question.

Eric the Red: What falls from the sky in the poster for "Woman is the Nigger of the World"? Are they bullets? Lipstick tubes? Phalli? (see Shaved Fish cover)

Haven't seen it. My knowledge of the Beatles effectively ends at 1970. I do know that "Woman Is the Nigger of the World" is a song by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. (I DONT ADVOCATE CALLING PEOPLE NAMES OK) Can I have a high-res version of the Shaved Fish cover for a very good look? And is that really the plural of "phallus"? Also, why didn't your browser send a user-agent string when submitting the Ask Jordon form? Are you my friend Luke? All evidence points to it.

Sasha: Will I get lucky tonight?

Why are you asking me? Do I look like a Magic 8-Ball? Is there anything I can do to help you out? Are you a guy or a girl?

The Open Font Library is a project that collects freely usable fonts.

"What happens when you mail a letter to someone, but instead of putting a 39 cent stamp from the post office, you just tape on some loose change adding up to 39 cents?" Find out.

What would Earth be like if we had no moon?

When you call someone, isn't it considered polite for them to, say... call you back?

I count this as number four. Time to move on. What does the world have against Jordon Kalilich?

Just before I left home on Monday, I decided on a whim to take up the shovelglove again. I briefly took up this form of sledgehammer exercise two years ago but stopped after I overexerted myself. Since then I've been lazy/trying to forget it/afraid of exercising. But for some reason, I remembered it and decided to give it another try.

I brought my 4-kg sledgehammer and have started doing some movements with it in the morning. A 14-minute session is recommended, but I think I'll work up to it this time. Last time, I tried to do the whole 14 minutes too soon, and I couldn't move my arms for a few days. I'm doing the same movements I did last time: shoveling, churning butter, chopping wood, and flipping the lever. I think I'll try the Ab Killer as well.

Do check out my online HabitCal (habit calendar) on which I'll mark my successes and failures. (The color code is: green = success, red = failure, yellow = exempt day.) Right now I'll count doing the movements as a success, but when I can do the full 14 minutes, I'll be tougher with the definition.

I am Jordon. People ask me things. I answer them.

Michael : I would like to know the truth about the Beatles 1964 coin that is resurficeing,. Who made it, Why and Who were they given to. I Thank you, Mike

Hm. I know about the Beatles, and I know about coins, but I don't know about Beatle coins. A quick Google search suggests that some bronze coins were made to commemorate a visit they made to the United States in 1964. Since I didn't bother to go past page one of the Google search results, I don't know who would have issued them, and it's possible that some or all of them were made years after the fact.

Tim: How much does it need to go to Ameryca one time?

Tim, thankses, to ask to me over a travel towards the Ameryca. It is a beautiful station of job, that the sure one is that estimated. The Ameryca, For Your Information must once be a lot. I hope that you he find it valid.

Here's a fine example of stop-motion animation with real people: Tony vs. Paul.

20 Things You Didn't Know About... Nothing.

Here's a list of most common nicknames for first names based on 1990 US Census data.

In school politics, the Gator Party swept this week's elections, winning 44 of the 47 seats that were up for grabs. Someone told me they usually win more, which just goes to show the kind of influence they have. They have a lot of money, I think it's because the fraternities endorse them. They're probably good chums, the Gator Party and the frats. That's a great reason to vote against them. But anyway, the Progress Party candidate running to represent my dorm won, so did vote for a winner.

The referendum-type things were a little more disappointing. One question asked whether a non-profit, student-run café should be built on campus. The other asked whether the university should build a homeless shelter. The café was approved, and the homeless shelter was rejected. Methinks those results paint a sad picture of UF's student body. While I can't speak for everybody, it seems that in general, they care more about their caffeinated drinks than about the destitute people living around them.

Anyway, my sister and I have come home for the weekend, but my parents are away because it's their anniversary. We've been hanging out with friends, which is cool, but I'm really looking forward to watching the UF-LSU game tonight on our ginormous TV. The kickoff is in a few minutes.

Here's an individually wrapped edition of Ask Jordon.

Peter: How do I keep up my motivation to blog, especially when I'm very busy in life?

I love to inform and entertain. I have a readership that likes to find out what's new in my life, so I write for them. If too many days have gone by, I feel that I need to blog if only "for the record." Sometimes, when I'm letting off steam, I write for myself. Even if I don't intend to let off steam, I still end up feeling better now that I've gotten my feelings into words and shared them with other people. If you have one dedicated reader, you have an audience to write for. And hey, I'm a dedicated reader of your blog. I noticed you haven't written anything in a while. What do you have to say about that? Write about it in your blog. That should get the ball rolling again.

Here are some of The World's Ugliest Cars (although, to be fair, many of them are simply listed because they were pieces of junk).

For those of you interested in moving to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, read 20 Reasons Not to Move to Dubai.

Student Government elections were yesterday and today. Exciting. I didn't really know much about the elections until recently... like, yesterday, maybe. Apparently there are these two parties, the Gator Party and the Progress Party, and they were running candidates for the Student Senate or something like that. Anyway, people from each party have been making sure you go out and vote for them. They've been bothering me since yesterday, so I voted today. It wasn't just so they'd leave me alone, but because I wanted to have a say in the democratic process and other things like that.

It wasn't as easy of a choice as I thought because it wasn't like the two parties were for or against things. They just had their own different ideas. But the Gator Party wants to produce "tangible benefits for students" (as my dorm's incumbent SG representative said to me in a harangue that was given in one breath) or "do stuff" (as my friend Luke said when I showed him their platform). The Progress Party seems more concerned with fixing Student Government so that it can "do stuff" in the future. They had less money and less of a visible presence than the Gator Party. I voted for them.

There were also referendum-type questions on the ballot. One asked whether a non-profit, student-run café should be built on campus, and the other asked whether the university should build a homeless shelter. Well, here's an idea that I should have thought of earlier. We should have a homeless-run café on campus. That should give them a livelihood (or at least something to do). Or maybe a café where people who can't pay can work instead. That's another way to put both ideas into use (not that they're incompatible with each other, of course, but it might be more economical to put them together). Also note that I am only kidding. I voted against the café and for the homeless shelter.

Do you hear that? It sounds like Ask Jordon!

Fabi: This isn't a question, but you should definitely check this out https://payperpost.com/

This may or may not be the same Fabiola I went to high school with. It probably isn't, despite what the IP address indicates. But anyway, Fabs, I've heard of the whole "get paid to blog" thing before. J-Walk of the J-Walk Blog partakes in it once in a while, with fair warning to readers ("I was paid to write the following" or something similar). In any case, it's tantamount to selling out, even if you don't believe what you're writing. I think ads on the Internet are obnoxious, but none are worse than ads that replace content. If I got a few bucks to fill up a post with a review of some amazing web site, I'd have a few bucks, but not much dignity. I'd have sold out, you see. If ever I try to make money from this site, it will be in a more tasteful way.

natasha!: do you know anything about the string theory? if so, could you possibly explain it for me? (the wikipedia explaination is confusing). <3 lotsa love.

Unfortunately, I don't know anything about string theory. I had a physics teacher in high school who called it nonsense. Apparently it's very controversial, as most new ideas are. Maybe a reader can help us out. (Brian.)

The 2008 election is a little over a year away, but the primaries are sooner. Here's a handy table to see where the candidates stand on many issues.

Find your birthday star, a star that's as many light-years away as you are years old. In other words, the star's light that reaches Earth was emitted when you were born, and when you're looking at it in the sky, you're essentially seeing it as it was at that time.