I graduated on Saturday.
I feel great about being done with the degree.
Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame, if the name doesn't seem familiar) gave the commencement address, and he gave us quite a number of pieces of bad advice. Needless to say, the speech was thoroughly enjoyable. Since commencement speeches tend to be of a certain length, having one that is funny is the best one can hope for, and I greatly enjoyed it.
The university awarded Jones an honorary doctorate. I got an empty folder, a lapel pin, and a few handshakes.
The organizers of the event just had stacks of these folders on stage, and as we each got to the edge, we'd hand our card with our information and our name spelled phonetically to one of the marshals, who read it. To save time, the university will send out the actual sheepskins in six weeks, when they know whether we've passed all our classes this semester.
C'est la Vie. I was pleasantly surprised to open the program and see two asterisks by my name. I hadn't known for sure whether I was getting any honors (having been far too busy earning the degree to figure out such things), but I looked to see what two asterisks meant among all the various notations, ranging from Army/Air Force ROTC to a special services recipient to Pace scholarship recipient, and it turned out that the asterisks were fairly straightforward: one meant cum laude, two meant magna cum laude, and three meant summa cum laude. So, I could have worn honor cords. Ah, well. The simple black cap and gown was fine for me.
I now have a BA in Communication Arts. More importantly, I'm free.
"Free at last, free at last! Thank God almighty, I'm free at last!"

I was so happy and proud I wore my mortarboard and tassel to church while I went around and greeted people (I took it off during the service).

Here is the status of my major goals:

WIFE - I'm not sure how things are going here. My friend Ruth introduced me to a young lady with whom I've been messaging back and forth. I'm thinking about going to a singles event tomorrow night. I know a fair number of people, but I don't know anyone who really stands out as definite potential rather than unknown possibility.

DEGREE - I'm done with all my assignments. I walk the stage on Saturday. Assuming all is well, I am done with my degree.

CAREER - I launched my church's Web site this morning. Yesterday, I got my occupational license for this year, and tonight, I'm going to try to get the LLC paperwork squared away. I've made a list of people I need to contact to propose doing their Web sites. I have put together a tentative business plan. I need to put together some more samples and presentations so that I will be prepared to discuss the possibilities with pastors and other church contacts. I need to get contracts put together and find out about sales tax and the like. There are many, many hoops to jump through. I went to the bank today and got information about a business checking account I think I'll use. So, there is much to do. I'm going to spend a few weeks trying to drum up business, and then I'll decide whether I need to take a part-time job to pay the student loan payments until the business takes off. But this is what I've decided to do, and God told me I should decide what to do and He'd help me. If this is His will, He'll open the doors for me. If not, He'll shut the doors and open others. I plan to do Web design for a while and then start branching out into other areas of stewardship consulting. God will take care of all my needs.

NOVEL - I have made no progress on this. I am still waiting for my proofers to finish reading through the PDF versions I sent them. If you are one of the recipients of this file, please get done with it as soon as possible. I am counting on you! :)

I covet your prayers. Thank you. God bless you all.

I just though I should mention that in the past month or two, even though I've been terribly busy with school and the church Web site, I have managed to do a bit of reading. Here are the books I've finished:
Friday, the Rabbi Slept Late by Harry Kemelman
Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
Saturday, the Rabbi Went Hungry by Harry Kemelman
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
A Nickel's Worth of Hope by Andre Vandenburg
and read about half of His Mysterious Ways, a Guideposts book.

The rabbi books are neat little mysteries, keep you guessing until near the end. :) Unfortunately, they contain too much foul language. :(

As I have these goals, I thought it prudent to look at what has happened in each of these areas.

WIFE - I have been too busy to do much on this front. My Sunday School teacher suggests that I get involved in activities at Blue Lake. I think this is a good idea. It will take some time before I can do anything in practice on this suggestion, but I will keep it filed as something to do. One of my classmates said she would talk to a girl friend of hers to see if she might be interested in meeting me. My mom said a friend of hers has moved into the area and said she will be keeping an eye out for a potential wife for me. It's nice to hear that people will be looking to help me out on this, particularly since I believe I have time to have a girlfriend exploring the potential for marriage, but I don't really have time to be looking myself.
DEGREE - I try not to think too much about this. It's all I can do to keep up with the things I have to do in each next-few-days, but so far, so good.
CAREER - I've secured permission to work on my church's Web site. In fact, I'm going later today to a meeting on that topic. I've made some efforts to talk to other area churches, but I haven't gotten much done on that score because of my tight schedule at school.
NOVEL - No progress. I sent my novel in PDF to some of my friends a little while back. If you are one of them, you can help me immensely by proofing/reading it as quickly as possible. I'm not being impatient, so don't feel I'm trying to hurry you. Just get it done as you are able. Accuracy is more important than speed; just don't dilly-dally. ;)

So, that's the status report.

I just bought a new digital voice recorder, and I have to say it is awesome.
I had a crappy Sony ICD-P28, which doesn't play nice with Linux and requires Windows(tm) software to access.
I now have an Olympus WS-300M. Not only does it read under Linux (and any other USB-compatible OS) as a thumb-drive-like storage device, but it has stereo recording and MP3 playback, so I can take some music with me to listen to while I work on copy editing or between classes.
The WS-300M has a nice design, runs on only one AAA battery, and features internal index marking, so if I hear my prof say something particularly important, I can tap index and have the spot marked. I don't know yet how useful this feature will be, but it's nice to know it's there.
The only downside of this is that its native format is not MP3 but WMA. I'll make an update once I've had a chance to verify the assertion that mplayer plays WMA fine.
Either way, I'm still very happy, because I know there exist converters, and this device rocks. :)

[edit: 1-15@20:46]

Well, it didn't take me long to find that XMMS plays wma fine. I'll probably leave them in WMA format, because it appears to be smaller than MP3s as converted by ffmpeg without any specific options. I need to find some free MP3s to load onto it for my listening pleasure.

I suppose I ought to update this with what's been happening to me, for the benefit of my friends and my poor memory.
The semester is all but over. I have to turn in one packet of assignments tomorrow, and I'm free. I'll need to go back on Friday to get my packet back from Thursday night's class.
I'm still way behind on sleep. I'm hoping I will grow a brain in the next week and start going to bed at decent hours.
We got new fire alarms put up in our house. We went to a free dinner and saw a presentation on fire safety, and really, everyone should look into what protection their homes have, because the standard smoke detector is not enough.
I've been thinking a lot about what I'm going to do when the spring semester is over. In the spring, I'm trying to get an internship lined up, but that may not work out. If it doesn't, I'll do another semester of practicum as a copy editor on the student paper.
Anyway, after spring, I've decided that what I'll do is try to get jobs working for churches or Christian organizations, possibly through my church conference, so I could get paid by them and work for the small churches without charging them... editing copy, building Web sites, teaching churches how to write press releases in a form papers are likely to print, etc.
I found a LUG in the area, and they have an IRC channel, so I've been getting on IRC some (freenode.net). This keeps me up a little later at night, but since most of the people are in the same time zone, not nearly as much as Undernet used to. And I'll be meeting many of them in person at the next LUG meeting. I'm looking forward to that. It'll be nice to sit down with some people who don't get glazed eyes when I start talking about Linux. Sure, the art director at the paper understood it, but it'll be nice to meet multiple people who not only understand Linux but advocate it.
I've been annoyed by things I've heard in the news lately. A lot of people are bashing President Bush about this NIE report and ignoring both the biases of the authors and the intelligence we're now hearing about that refutes its findings. I'm annoyed that I see so much action that is based not on the welfare of our nation but on how people can smear their political opponents, regardless of how much it hurts morale and mission effectiveness, even though the people in question were singing a different tune in the past. It makes me sick, and I'm not going to mention any party names.
On the crochet front, I've finished a major project. Yay! I'll post pictures eventually. I still have 25 exposures left on the roll.
I'm working on a few other things, still. I have a baby blanket I need to finish, a hat I'm working on that I should probably wait until I finish the blanket before I work much more.
I posted some ads for artists, but I haven't gotten any nibbles even. I need to sit down with the pad of paper and just practice drawing until I can do my own artwork, since it looks like I'm not going to have an artist any time soon.
I wish I could think of something else to write. I wish I knew what my friends want to hear more about. I wish I were caught up on sleep. I have a lot of topics I could write about, if I were better rested and more confident.

I polished off the last of some lavender yarn today with a mobile phone case. I had to use lime green yarn to make a belt loop and top strap for it, because I ran out of lavender. If I keep waking up early, I'll be drowning in crochet projects.
I'm still working on the chevron blanket, but it is slow going because the rows are so long. I went to Wally World this afternoon to get more of the 'color' of yarn with which I started the chevron blanket. It's Red Heart 1987 Bathtime Print. The clerk who helped me with my 6" sample said it seems to have been discontinued, but they had three skeins. I should only need one, but I bought two, since it's discontinued. Good thing I went today. I got to the end of mine this evening and had to start one of my new skeins.

I finished 'reading' A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court on cassette and started 'reading' P.G. Wodehouse's The Code of Wooster: Jeeves to the Rescue. While there is no equal to Mark Twain for humor, I have been greatly enjoying Wooster's misadventures so far. When Stiffie brought out her plan, I was in guffaws. I anxiously await the continuation of this comedy of errors on my commute tomorrow. :)

I think I will be a great deal warmer on my commute in coming days, as I noted white smoke-like mist coming from my A/C vents this evening. I have seen this before in other cars, and I believe it to mean that my A/C needs to be charged. I sincerely hope I can get it done with freon, because whatever people say, the synthetic stuff isn't as effective. Also, whatever they say, freon refrigerant can't possibly be important in the alleged decay of the ozone layer, as it is heavier than air and thus sinks, not rises, and it hasn't been in use the 300 or so years it would take for air currents to theoretically carry it up to where it might destroy any ozone, which, by the way, is created by sunlight. There. Right, so, I hope charging an A/C with freon is not too expensive.

It's been over 90 the past few days. Not ideal for walking around on campus.

Well, it is getting quite late. I must to bed. Please pray for me; I need a big cold front. Then I wouldn't have to worry about my A/C for a while.

I had quite a day, today.
As I was approaching the Milton exit, I changed lanes behind someone who had just passed me, and as I did, I ran over a "gator" and heard the most awful racket. I thought it had shredded my back tire.
I pulled off the road immediately, which put me in the median.
I got out and looked at the rear passenger side and saw that my muffler was on the ground, so I called AAA. Then I called my mother and said, "First of all, I'm okay." Then, I explained what had happened. Then, I called the CommArts office to let my professor know I wouldn't be in class. He said he knew I was up-to-date on the readings (Nice to have such a reputation.), so it would be fine.
The tow truck arrived about 20 minutes later, ahead of the predicted time, and asked me if I wanted him to pull it or tie it on the top. I said because of the muffler, I thought it couldn't be pulled, so he let down the lift bed and drove the car up onto the ramp and tied it down.
He drove me to the dealership where I have my service done. I got the car checked in, grabbed my books, and sat down in the waiting area. Unfortunately, it was by this time close to noon, so when the courtesy van came in, the driver went on lunch break. So, it was after 1 p.m. before I was on my way to the university.
I stopped in with the business manager of the campus paper and trained her on the Web site administration pages, because the one they had last semester got a new job, so they got a new business manager, who handles the ads for the paper.
After that, I set up an interview, went to class, sat around waiting for the interview time, called my source and got my interview done, and headed for the door.
It was about 4:40. Outside, I called the courtesy driver and left a message that I was ready to return to the dealership. After a while, she called back and let me know she was going to come, but there was someone who needed to get to a car rental before they closed, so she had to take him there first. All told, it was 6:05 by the time she got back to me, because of traffic and the other passengers she'd had to take places. I wish I'd known that; I'd have asked one of the editors to drop me at the dealership. Anyway, the cashier and the service guy stayed late to get me out the door, and I drove home.
I wrote what I could for this week's story deadline and sent it in.

Last night, I finished my first crochet project. When I finished, I looked at it and decided it looked like a cape. So, I crocheted up a little strp for it, worked it into the cape in the middle of the top, and wove the straps into the top of the cape. It's going to be a birthday present. I had a little bit of yarn left, so I started to crochet something else. First, I tried crocheting in a spiral, but that didn't work very well. I was doing it too tightly, so it was making a cone. I pulled out all the stitches and started over by chaining four and trying to crochet a square around it. That didn't work out, so I pulled it all out and started over. This time, I chained four and crocheted four rows of four stitches. Then, I started crocheting around the edges, and that worked well. It took me a while to figure out the best way to do corners, so it looks a bit strange, but it is almost square. When I ran out of yarn tonight, I decided it is a trivet-like object.
Does anyone want it?
For my third project, I'm crocheting a scarf.

My lip seems to be almost fully healed. Just a scab left, now.

Well, it has been an interesting week.
I got pretty worked up Monday night and threw up. Arguably, that was probably influenced by the rice I ate, since others who ate it had problems, but it was still a defining moment for me. I've decided that my worrying had reached a level far beyond what is sinful. So, I've been working on not worrying. I've also been working on getting more rest. To that end, I've decided to lay down as soon as practical after arriving home. If I fall asleep, I get a nap. If not, I've spent some time resting. I hope this (along with trying to go to bed earlier) will help me catch up on sleep. Over the past year, I've slept far too little.
So, I'm going through some rough times, but I already feel much better. I need to keep myself from worrying and rest more and exercise, and I will be well on my way to a better life.

I exchanged part one of Anna Karenina (15 tapes) for part two (12 tapes) a few days ago. I'm already in Part Five (or maybe Six) of the book. There is still more of Anna in the story than I'd like and less of Kitty and Levin, but it is still interesting and keeps my commute from being boring.

I'm working on two stories this week, and both are going slowly. I hope I can get one of them completed in time for next week's edition of the campus paper.

Looking back at the entries I've posted in the past few months and the responses they've gotten, I take it that nobody who reads this journal is interested in cryptography or taxonomy. If I am wrong about this, please leave a comment.

I think people should run either MacOS or Linux (or other POSIX-compliant OS). They're both good choices. *nod*

This week for the paper, I covered the SGA Senate meeting. I'm not pleased with how I did. I forgot some important questions and didn't do a good job of managing my time over the weekend.
Still, I am not totally displeased with the weekend. I got some cleaning done, and I got a small amount of much-needed rest.
My lip has broken out again.
I asked my mom to teach me how to crochet. She showed me the basic stitch this afternoon. I've already done about four rows, and I'm liking it more than knitting, which I started to learn a while back, but I don't know what I've done four rows on. It may be a doll blanket. It may be a cape. Who knows? We'll find out when I finish, or when I've done more on it, I guess.
Tonight, my church had a healing service. I went, and some of my church family prayed over me. I want to be more faithful, to be peaceful and unworried. I need to do a better job of taking care of myself, walking and sleeping more. I'm down to 180, which is a healthy weight for me. With exercise, though, I'm probably going to need to eat more often. Please pray for me, that I don't pick up the burdens I've laid at Jesus' feet.
Please pray also that I make some new local friends. I love my online friends dearly, but with the distance, it's just not the same. A man needs people to do things with.
Part of why I haven't been on LJ much is that I've been out of the house doing things. I just wish I could be doing things with friends and not just people who are only "people from school" to me. It would be nice to do things other than homework, too.
Speaking of homework, it looks like I'm going to have to end my Sunday early. Because I spent Friday and Saturday doing news and such instead of what I should normally be doing on Friday and Saturday, I need to get some reading done for tomorrow's early class, and I won't have time in the morning. :(
Oh, well. Have a great week, everyone!

My first story will appear in tomorrow's campus paper. School is under way. Last week was a little hectic, with the news story and all. This week is about to start being hectic, with this week's story event happening on Friday.
I'm sorry I haven't been around much, but that's how it goes with the schedule I have.
I've been meaning to write entries here for a while, real entries-- not just passalongs and surveys, but that hasn't happened.
I'm still not doing a good job of getting enough sleep.
But it's two weeks into the semester, and I guess I'm doing okay. I don't know how I'm going to get through all the reading I have to do this semester on top of all the work for the newspaper. I started with a bit of a buffer, but I don't know how long that will last, and I'm not sure it's helping, because I read the early stuff so long ago I hardly remember it.
The first day of classes, I borrowed Anna Karenina on cassette from the school library. I've been listening from the point where I had reached in the paper copy. I've now reached the third part of the book. Sadly, I am more interested in Levin and Kitty than I am in the title character. Still, I am enjoying the book, and it distracts me from the length of my journey.
Anyway, I've been looking over some logs from last year. Mostly, I was combing them for questions that were good to ask in getting to know someone. But it is interesting to see some of the topics I discussed with people last year. I think I was much more in tune with current events last year.
I have a hard time following current events because people tend to want to put deep value onto everything they observe. It's good to care about things, even deeply or passionately, but looking at every event as being of epic proportions is like jumping at every sound. It'll be hard for anything to sneak up on you, but in a short time, the adrenaline will do more damage to you than the dangers you feared. I find my life is a lot calmer when I wait to hear things by word of mouth. A lot fewer Chicken Little stories reach me that way than when I pay attention to the media.
That's an ironic point of view, I know, from someone who is studying journalism. But I think it shows that journalists needs to be more selective about describing trends. If we say something is heading a certain way, we might cause the likelihood to shift in that direction. We are stewards of truth, so we need to be sure we are saying things we can verify and not things that are conjectural.
I also think the public would like to see more good news. We don't focus enough on good things that happen.

I'll probably pick up five or ten copies of the paper tomorrow. :)

  There has been a spring in my step this past week. That isn't actually true, but there have been a lot of moments during the past week when I have caught myself walking with a light and joyful step.
  I wouldn't say this is uncharacteristic. I'm not normally a guy who is down in the dumps. I have a bouyant personality. I'm the guy who's rarely down but almost never perky. I have never been the type of guy who is so cheerful it annoys other people. I sit like a bobber on a fishing line, never pulled under the surface for long, but rarely seen in the air above the surface. I don't notice the general cycle of ups and downs in my life that are common in the lives of most people.
  I'm different.
  I'm rarely far from the baseline. But I didn't start out to write about myself and my tendency to be of flatter moods than is normal. I started out to write that I've been catching myself, and noting with pleasure, my generally upbeat mood in recent days. I lost some weight in Poland and got a good walk almost every day I was gone. But I don't think those things had as much effect on me as simply being in the mission field. I love helping others. But maybe that's not it, either. I don't really understand it, because at the same time as I was on the mission trip, I was feeling the weight of some concerns. I think Christ's churches are not doing enough in missions. I think too many people are ignoring the commission of Jesus to go into the world. I think I ought to be doing more to remind people that missions is for everyone, not just those called to live in Africa or other countries for their careers. And I think a lot of missions is poorly done.
  So, really, my joy surpasses understanding. Maybe God has simply blessed me this past week with a light heart.
  Proverbs says that hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. I had a desire fulfilled today. I know this is a silly desire, and it wasn't a profound one for me, and it is nothing compared to my heart desire to know my future wife's name, but it did make me very happy to finally see it arrive. Let me make absolutely clear that this is not something I consider important but merely long-awaited.
  You see, in the spring semester, I worked on the campus newspaper as a copy editor. Early in the semester, I also took on the position of Web editor. These positions, on top of a full load of courses, made the semester more complicated and difficult than what I should have taken on at one time. I'm at fault for overscheduling myself, but I enjoyed the experience. But at the end of the semester, I felt like death warmed over, because I really did overextend myself. Anyway, because of a paperwork mix-up, I only got paid for the Web position. At the end of the semester, I finally discovered that the paperwork mix-up had not been resolved. Eventually, I got it straightened out and left a note with the person who could do the final steps to make sure I got paid.
  On Saturday, my check arrived.
  I had decided at the end of the semester what I would do with the check. After God's part and a part for my IRA, I dfigured I would have just enough left over for a Wii game console, an extra controller set, two GameCube controllers (because I have a GameCube game), and the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Wii.
  So on Saturday, I called around to the local Wal-Marts and EB Games stores. Nobody had the console. EB Games said to try back on Monday.
  On Monday, I called EB Games, but they hadn't gotten any in. So, I decided to visit Wal-Mart every day. I had some pictures that I needed to get reprinted, since I'd given the original prints to another member of the team, or to the pastor in Poland. So, this is what I did. No consoles on Monday. No consoles on Tuesday. Went in this morning, and they didn't have any. I asked one of the associates if they were being bought up by people selling them on the Web or if there were just that many people who wanted one. He said there were that many people.
  So, I ran some other errands while waiting for the developer to finish the pictures. By now, I had reached the point where I was willing to wait a little bit, but I was beginning to wonder if it would be Christmas before I got to the store while they had one in. On my return, I checked electronics first, and they had the consoles! The associate said they'd arrived about five minutes earlier. So, I bought one, along with the accessories I'd planned for. I had $2.00 left from my check. Hehe.
  So, I now own one of those awesome consoles with the really stupid name. And I'm a very happy man. I know I could have spent the money on more lofty things, but I really did want this game console. It's not like I regularly buy console games as they come out. The last console I bought new before May of this year (when I got half a PS/2 for an early birthday present (I asked for a Wii, but I also had games for the PS/2, so we got that instead)) was a Super Nintendo Entertainment System. And I only have three games for that system. I'm not what you'd call a serious console gamer. I like Nintendo's new console because it's truly different. It does things none of the others do. It promotes movement rather than couch potato sitting. It plays GameCube games, of which I have one or two. And the games for Nintendo's console are for everyone, not just the hardcore gamers, so they're game I have fun playing.
  And this next semester is going to be tough, so I'm glad to have something like this for relaxation and energy catharsis. I think I have made a good choice in this console.
  But I forgot to pick up my photos from processing. Oops.
  When I got home, I set up the console and played a game of bowling with my mother. Neither of us did a stellar job. I won the game, but she got a higher skill rating than I did. I messed around a bit with the fitness section and the training section. Then I loaded the game that was a large part of my desire to get this console. I played that for a while, and I got almost all the way through parts I had seen other people play. I'm a bit of a fan of the Zelda series, and Twilight Princess has lived up to my expectations, for the most part. I'm pleased with this game, and with the whole purchase.
  I have to admit, as low-key as I normally am, that I've been excited about this since Saturday, when my check arrived. It's not often that I get excited.
  I hope that your day has been wonderful. I hope that you have been blessed. Now I'm going to think about writing some things about missions. Catch you later. :)

I'll take this opportunity to thank all of you who've been praying for me. In spite of being snappy and motivated only in fits, I did manage to get my profile article done Tuesday night. I wasn't very pleased with it, but I did get it done. And I have a rewrite for that article, so maybe I can pull it into better shape the second time around.
I had a very bad day Wednesday. I went to the local city library, and not only did they have no periodicals archives, they didn't know how to access the electronic periodical databases they had. At least, they didn't tell me when I tried to get something.
Really, people! When you take something away because you think you are providing something better, make sure everyone knows how to use it properly so your patrons won't be frustrated and think your building is a waste of real estate.
So, I was so frustrated (I'd wasted an hour I didn't have to waste) I stormed out and forgot my notebook (but it turned out okay, because I had someone go pick it up). After grabbing a quick bite, I headed for Niceville, where a friend of mine is a research librarian who knows what's what and which end of the box goes up was waiting with some articles and a working database system.
But as I was waiting for the turn signal at the corner, an accident happened right in front of me. I only saw the last second of it. Basically knew they were going to collide and hoped they wouldn't, but they did. So, I pulled to the side and called 911. They'd gotten several calls about the accident, and the operator connected me with law enforcement, to whom I explained that I had been waiting for the light and wasn't paying attention, so I didn't know what had happened. They said I didn't need to stay at the site, which is good, because I was shaking and still needed to go do things. But if they had said to, or if I'd known what happened, I would have stayed.
So, after doing some research at a real library, I went to the campus and tried to relax, printed out my profile, and proofed someone else's. I was feeling pretty mellow by this time, which surprised me, but I guess it was your prayers.
This morning, I got up, decided I wasn't going to get anything done at home, and went to class. After class, I sat down, mildly panicked on the back burner, and started piecing together citations and pulling stuff out of my rear end so I'd have something to turn in for my Econ paper. It came out better than I'd hoped, and I had the required length before I realized it. I just wanted something to turn in, figuring with the test grades I have and the expectation of a good final, I didn't need more than a 50% on the paper to earn a passing grade. This being a class not in my major, and my having dropped the minor option in favor of an area of concentration (using existing credits), I no longer have a strong reason to care about this class other than one of three credits I need to fill the 15sh requirement.
Wow, I didn't start out to write this much!

Anyway, on to the addiction.
I think I am getting addicted to this tagging (and social bookmarking) site, del.icio.us. Click the name to see my tags. I've gone overboard with posting my bookmarks and with snagging links posted by others. You could probably spend a whole day just visiting sites linked from there, if you could stand being at your computer for that long.
In any case, I think you might find the site useful for finding interesting links related to a topic of your choice. for instance, you can find procedures for reaching a human on customer support lines, fables about organization, and insight into how car dealerships work so you won't get ripped off when you buy your next car.
God bless you. Have a great weekend. I may not be on much, because I have another major profile due Monday. I need to be sure I do that on Saturday.

I guess it's been a while since I updated. Here's what has been happening.
My lips appear to be healthy again. They've been clear for a couple of days.
I've been doing homework. Yeah. It's starting up again. I had some reading, and I've knocked that out. I had an assignment from my Magazine writing class to bring a copy of my favorite magazine, "and if you don't have one, go to Barnes and Noble and pick one," so since I don't really read magazines, and since my favorite magazine is vintage Mad, which doesn't have articles, per se (which is what we'll be discussing), I went to Books-A-Million! and spent twenty minutes scowling at their selection of magazines. I wasn't scowling at the limits or the contents... just scowling because I don't really have a magazine I read. I'm getting started in HO railroading, so I picked up a copy of Model Railroader 2007 special issue, which I will claim as my favorite magazine, for at least the next week. With that out of the way, and my chapters read for tomorrow's class, I'm ready to go.
I'll drop in to the campus paper after class and probably proof stories for a good long while. I have my copy of the Stylebook in my backpack, so I should be good to go on that front. I'm nervous about this. I'm always nervous about going to work, because even though I should have no trouble with the work, I'm afraid of messing up.
Speaking of reading, I've been doing some. I'm into the third section of the third book of Return of the Native, and the story is starting to move at a good pace. Older books tend to start more slowly, but I think they're worth it when you get into them. It's an intimidating thing, though, because some books don't really go well after the slow start, and by then it's too late. You've read half of the book and are sick of it. But getting back to the book I am reading, it's very good. The story is shaping up nicely, and the things abridgers might remove are thoughtful and well-written. I'm glad I started reading it. However, I'm anxious to get back into Anna Karenina.
And speaking of good stories, I saw a great movie tonight. It's called Akeelah and the Bee. This movie is well-done. It's cute, heart-warming, and funny, but it's also serious, gritty, and poignant. The ending is great, not what you would expect in a movie that is heading where this one heads in the middle third. I recommend it.
I've also seen:
A Prairie Home Companion - A fun movie, especially if you listen to the radio show. Many familiar characters, but I probably wouldn't recommend it to someone who's not a fan of the broadcasts.
Mozart and the Whale - A very well-crafted story. I was disappointed in the level of bad language, though. I saw a bit of myself in the characters, and you probably could, too. In truth, we face similar struggles to those faced by the characters in this movie.
Mission: Impossible III - Just what you'd expect. Worth the price of admission. Rather gut-wrenching in places. But a thrilling ride.
And speaking of stories, I have some I'd like to tell through images. If any of you would be interested in drawing for a comic strip, please let me know. I don't have any plans that would bring in any money, but I have over 80 strips worth of scripts, and it'll be good practice. Plus, if we do somehow make money, I'll be happy to split it 50-50 (or 40-60, if you prefer).
Tomorrow, I want to drop by the local paper. I've been thinking about trying to sell some of my essays for publication. Do newspapers do that anymore? Or would any of you like to publish essays I wrote?
I guess that's enough for this update. God bless you all!

Happy New Year.
I don't know what word to use in describing this week. It's been quiet, it's been busy, it's been relaxed, and it's been productive. I haven't been reading LiveJournals much since my last post, but I've been keeping up with answering the comments.
I've been trying to get onto the university's secure site to check my grades, but it has tossed me to an error page every time I login. I don't know who manages that system, but they don't seem to be in a rush to get it back up and running. It's been like that since the middle of December. And I still haven't gotten my grades in the mail, so I'm a bit annoyed about that.
However, I found out tonight that the new school has received my final transcript from the old one. I missed the deadline to register for orientation, so I'll arrive at my first class with no idea of how to be a good student at this university. Oh, well. I'll get everything squared away after the first class.
I found on Sunday (12/31) that my lip has broken out again. This always makes me feel monstrous. On top of that, I'm dealing with some sort of illness that has been making me ache in various places.
Mom and I cleaned out a bookcase and a desk and switched their places. We've made some minor inroads into cleaning the garage.
I cleaned and rearranged my bedroom, almost totally changing the layout. I'm pleased with the new set-up.
I hate living in this county when I'm looking for something specific. There don't seem to be any hobby shops in the entire county, except one RC car store. I don't know why, but I'm suddenly desperate to find model trains, and I can't find any place that sells them.
My car has begun to make a strange noise, so I'm planning to take it to the dealer on Friday.
I found a stack or two of photographs while cleaning my room, along with two scrapbooks. I need to get those pictures into the scrapbooks and write up the story behind each photo.
I've seen a large number of movies this week:
Chicken Little - This is a very cute movie. Well made and fresh in its approach to the story. I recommend this movie.
Ice Age: The Meltdown - Nothing noteworthy here, but it's good for a lot of laughs. Well, actually, the variety of tortures they perform on Scrat are noteworthy, hehe.
Thank You For Smoking - I was a little wary about this movie, but I'd heard so many people say it was good that I put it on my list. I enjoyed it, and I couldn't figure out why, until I was reminded on one of the special features that the movie isn't about tobacco; it's about spin. And I found it an interesting return to my own beliefs about smoking, which I will probably add to my web page on the topic.
John Tucker Must Die - I enjoyed this movie. It's something of a teen version of The First Wives Club.
The First Wives Club - After that comparison, we had to watch this one again, and it was great. While Tucker was a well-made movie, First Wives has a class and wit that a movie about teenagers would be hard pressed to equal with authenticity. I highly recommend this movie.
The Sentinel - A great action romp. I only noticed a few errors in protocol. But they don't detract from the overall story. I recommend this movie.
The Princess Bride - Always a pleasure. That's why I own it. :)
I finished reading The End, the thirteenth book in A Series of Unfortunate Events. I highly recommend the entire series. This installment had many twists and turns and unexpected one-offs of the conventions Snicket established throughout the series. It's a more intense book than the others, and high;y thought-provoking. The ending is a surprise, though it probably shouldn't be, if you keep your eyes open throughout. However, there is one surprise at the end of the book that I don't think anyone could foresee.

I'm not who I pretend to be.
To begin with, I should admit that. I've been pretending to be someone for many years, and I'm simply not that man.
I'm not a loner. I claimed to be all through high school, but I wasn't. I was an outcast but never a loner. I wasn't alone by choice. I tolerated it easily, but I never chose it. I only claimed to be a loner because loners are more romantic than outcasts, or so I thought. I'm a social man. I love being around people who respect me. Yes, I strongly dislike large crowds, but I don't like being alone. I've simply tolerated it for so long that I only notice it half the time, but I hunger and thirst after companionship. I'm a social man, not a loner.
I'm not shy. I don't think I've really claimed being shy lately, but I'm not. I only come across as shy because I'm picky about what I spend time discussing, so I don't talk much in social settings. Small talk doesn't come easily to me, because I see little value in it, but the other side of that is that not all small talk is what we think of this weather we've been having lately, and the stuff that's not in that vein has connectional value. I'm still working on getting a handle on finding out people's interests so we can actually talk about things of substance. But when I do get that conversation that sparks something else, I can talk to someone for hours. And I am picky about who I engage in coversation. Respect is very high on my priority list, and I like talking to people who respect me and others, but I generally don't like talkign to people who are disrespectful. I need to change my behavior, because people who act disrespectfully often need good companions more than those who are polite. And that may be because I'm a bit introverted, but I'm not shy. I'm not shy. I'm just a little too picky about conversation.
I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed. I'm not good at debate, I get tripped up easily, and there's a lot of stuff I don't know and things I'm unable to do. But I know that sometimes I come across as though I am. I'm not. Yes, I'm an intelligent man. Yes, I look around and gather information that I later spew out to the amazement of some. But I'm not as smart or as quick-witted as some of the people who work in the financial and governmental centers of our nation. I'm not the smartest person on the face of the planet. I'm just smarter than some people, which is no great distinction.

Anyway, it doesn't sound as profound when I lay it out like that.
I took a tour of the campus yesterday. It was apparently the last day the campus was open this year. I'm very excited about the new school. I like a lot of the things I saw and heard there.

Item:	UNF	UWF
On-campus food:	6 or so options	12 or so options
Campus radio:	http://ospreyradio.com/ Good luck getting it in your car - No FM transmitter	http://wuwf.org/ 88.1 FM, which I can get in my car 50 miles away
Start a new club:	10 students	3 students
Entertainment:	Game Room with video game consoles	Rock wall with weekly change of paths
Parking pass:	$146/yr.	$30/yr.
Visitor parking:	$3/day	Free
Printing and copying:	$0.11/page, no quota	$0.00/page up to 500 pages, then $0.10/page
Vending:	Meal plan free spending does not work for vending.	Meal plan free spending works for vending.
Campus tour:	Walking tour	Tour conducted by golf cart with stops

Other benefits:
Real kitchen facilities; Since I won't be living on campus, I'll have a stove, oven, and pantry, so I'll be able to buy and eat healthy food.
Job; Since I won't be living on campus, I won't be spending as much time in on-campus parking, so even if the parking is difficult, I won't be reluctant to leave campus, which will make finding a job easier.
Church; Living at home, I'll be near my home church. No on-campus second choices next year.
Roommates; Living at home, I have my own room with no roommates. Joy unbounded!
Laundry; No charge for laundry.
Being home, I'll probably get more exercise. There's plenty to do around here, and I'm enjoying being home.