Almost Done

I'm done with classes! I'm almost a Junior. Yikes.

Also, I have an apartment for the summer! Sorry St. Louis crew. I'll probably be visiting on the 4th of July or something so you will get to have a few good days this summer. Maybe more.

Bullet Time Survey Answers

I just took part in a study on video games' effect on aggression. My observations:

• Max Payne is too complicated
  
• the X-Box's controller is too complicated
  
• the game's graphic novel-style cutscenes were my favorite part yet influenced the game little
  
• the questionaire did a poor job of analyzing aggression

For instance, we had to fill in the blanks of words to complete them.
"ki_ _" and "b_h_ _ _" became "kiss" and "behave." I wasn't sure which way I wanted to skew the statistics so I used those instead of "kill" and "behead." I did consider going the other way and taking something like "b_e" (which I filled in as "bee"), scratching it out and writing in blood (not mine) "I SHALL DEVOUR YOUR FIRSTBORN."

Some of the other questions seemed to be directed at how engrossed I was in the game / how aware I was of my surroundings. (For a while I was watching someone else play the game in the reflection on my screen. It was also interesting to listen to how quickly the others progressed based on the cutscenes' dialogue.)

Pre-Junior Preparations

I can't believe I registered for Junior year classes already. Yikes! I hate that time seems to speed up as you age. I feel like I've been a Sophomore for a few months. It's been eight. Anyway, I finally had an uneventful course registration! I'm so excited. I have classes next semester. Three major requirements, one core, and one (potentially very interesting) elective.
I like that only one of my courses has a room scheduled. The rest are in limbo.

The Glory of Mother America

My latest art and digital tech project was to create a 4 page spread of a book or magazine. I decided to go for an art book of sorts with constructivist style propaganda posters for the Bush administration. I decided this fairly recently, too. We were given the assignment two weeks ago and the one I worked on teh first week ended up reeking of poop, so I scrapped it and went with this one. Anyway here are a few of the images.



I wasn't a big fan of the font I ended up using (Braggadocio) and was very close to purchasing some of these fonts. I could see them being useful later so I may still get them.

The Making of a Zealot

"He's constantly getting stoned."

- my Biblical Studies (BS) professor on Paul of Tarsus

Keyboard Dancing

I was watching an episode of The Office in which Pam, the receptionist, brags to her star-crossed lover, Jim, that she can type at 90 words per minute. (Jim can only get 65.) Anyway, I was curious as to how fast I could type, and after some quick googling, found this test. I'm ususually somewhere between 80 and 90, but my high score is 101. Unfortunately it doesn't count accuracy so if you just wiggle your fingers around on the keyboard for a while, you can pretty easily get 100+ wpm. [test]

Also, school's officially back in session. A few days ago, I was only in 3 classes. (We're required to take 5 per semester.) Now I'm in 4 and the fifth I want to get into is taught by my photography professor from last semester, so getting in won't be a problem. I was getting a little anxious about going back to classes towards the end of break, but now that I've gone to most of them, I'm kind of excited. The only class I dislike is (of course) my biblical studies class, but after this semester I will never have to open that god-awful book ever again. How exciting is that?

Totally Psyched

Okay so I just kicked my psych exam's ass to the ground and beat it senseless. I'm super-excited about that. I've been doing rather well in that class. Especially considering I literally have not read any of the required texts. For whatever reason my professor really likes me.

So anyway, a little more catch-up time, as I mentioned, I am currently employed by Apple. Incidentally I am also anxiously waiting to find out whether I'll be allowed to stay at school so I can continue to work into the winter break as I promised my managers I could. I have yet to successfully contact the person who approves the extended stay and considering wer'e supposed to be kicked out tomorrow, I'm more than a little concerned about what's going to happen.

Tomorrow will hopefully be a good day. It's certainly going to get off to a good start with a nice 9AM BS (biblical studies) exam. I've cared about each exam I've taken less and less and this class I care about least of any class I've ever taken. My roommate was arguing last week that at least BS has a nice story to it. I told him he hadn't read the whole story. I'd take another round of loftily worded philosophy over another semester of this any day, but sadly, I've gotta fulfill my core requirements. After I lather on enough BS, I'll be knocking down the door of the bastard who's going to approve my squatting in my dorm room over winter break. Then it's off to buy new jeans and anything else I feel like spending money on. (Maybe I'll even pick up a few things for someone other than myself. Meh.) And finally, yesterday one of my coworkers informed me that he was filming a fight scene for something and for some unfathomable reason he wants me to be in it. (Perhaps I should be concerned that my reputation beyond mere resemblance of Edward Norton proceeds me.) Don't know what to expect from that. All I can do is wait for him to call.

Speaking of which, I just got a fancy new phone that I love.

It's basically the most gorgeous thing ever. Especially next to the bottom-of-the-line free phones I've had until now. A wonderful improvement.

I think I'll leave you now with the latest video I've uploaded on my iPod. It's the spectacular music video for the Scissor Sisters' latest single. While the song itself isn't the Bond-themiest they could have chosen, the video is nonetheless stunning. So now, I present for your viewing pleasure (in ScissorVision!) Land of a Thousand Words.