Scattered Thoughts

Yes, I know you're all thinking "But Tom, you have a girlfriend." Yes, I do, but that doesn't mean that St. Valentine's Day doesn't suck. How many of you actually know the origin of this wonderful holiday? Two, maybe three of you? Well, as with most holidays, there is a religious background. The religion of choice for St. Valentine's Day is the Catholic tradition.

Here's the story…
There exists more than one Saint Valentine, but we shall focus on one for our purposes.

Saint Valentine lived circa 260 A.D. in Rome. He was a priest who came into some trouble with the Roman government of the day. He was apprehended and jailed. While he was in jail, it is said that he sent love letters to the guardsman's daughter. While Valentine was jailed, he was forced to renounce his faith by the emporer or Rome. The Emporer also commanded that he be beaten with clubs and then beheadded. His excution is said to have taken place on February 14, 270 A.D.

Another common myth about the origins of the "lovers" tradition comes from England. It is said that in the middle of the second month of the year, the birds start pairing off and mating.

"For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne's day
Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate."
-Chaucer Parliament of Foules

Hence the tradition of Saint Valentine's Day being a day for lovers.

Today it has been transformed, by Corporate America, into a commercial holiday. Until I did some research on the topic this morning, I was under the impression that it was a holiday created merely for the greeting card, flower and chocolate businesses. Now that I actually understand the stories of St. Valentine's Day, I respect the holiday.

The reason that I say St. Valentine's Day still sucks is because of how Corporate America has transformed it. I only say this because I don't think I have made it clear with what I have written so far. I will never completely understand why Corporate America feels the need to ruin every holiday by saying "It's ::insert holiday name here:: Day, you need to get your loved one(s) this ::insert product name here::." Can't we just celebrate and remember why we have the holiday or who the day is named after?

The End-of-the-Blog Rundown

Song of the Day – 54-46 That's My Number/Ball and Chain – Sublime

Hero of the Day – John and Tim for calling me to say hello last night while I was standing in the middle of Maxwell Street.

Quote of the Day – Tieing me back into your pants is not the best way to get me out of them. –Erin

Beatles Trivia, Question 3
Here are the answers to Question 2:
John Lennon was in a band known as The Quarrymen. They played a style of music popular in England at the time, known as Skiffle. John met Paul at the Woolton Parish Church in Garden Fete on Saturday July 6, 1957.

Today's questions:

1. Who were the members of The Quarrymen?
2. What was the full name of the band before most of it was dropped and they became simply The Beatles?
3. With whom did they perform as the back-up band under the name "The Beat Brothers"?

Pretty easy one.

e-mail me your responses beatles@tlmason.com

IU WINS, PURDUE LOSES, IT'S A GREAT DAY TO BE A HOOSIER

Now that I got that out of my system… time for the life update…

Being sick sucks. I had an exam this morning that was a piece of cake. From what the prof says, this is the hardest exam of the semester. If they only get easier from here, I'll be able to get an A in this class.

As I said above, I'm sick. I have the viral thing that Beth and Erin had. I got it from Erin (I hope it wasn't from Beth ). My nose is clogged and it keeps draining down my throat. It's ok, I guess, I won't have it for long. I'd rather be sick when it's cold out than be sick when it's nice out.

Tonight was breakfast for dinner night . I love eating breakfast for dinner. Shoot, I would eat breakfast for three meals a day if I could. We made some omlets, bacon, etc. It was good times as always. I was almost late for work tonight, but I made it, with one minute to spare.

That's all I got for now. I may add more later, I may not. Here it is…

The End-of-the-Blog Rundown

Song of the Day – You've Got a Friend – Carol King

Hero of the Day – Beth for entertaining me with her car story.

Quote of the Day – um… since I slept all day, I have no quote of the day. Maybe I'll change that after hanging out with Erin some tonight, maybe not.

Beatles Trivia, Question 2
Here is the answer for question number 1:
The Beatles, on their first American TV broadcast, played five songs. The songs were, in this order: All My Loving, Till There Was You, She Loves You, I Saw Her Standing There, I Want To Hold Your Hand. Congrats to you who got all six points.

A lot of points up for grabs tonight. This question is a bit more difficult, but I think if you're a real fan, you'll know it. Here we go.
Before the Beatles, John Lennon played in a small combo.

1. What was the name of the combo? (1pt.)
2. What kind of music did the combo play? (1pt.)
3. On the day John met Paul, where was the combo performing? (1pt.)
4. What was the date (day month year)? (1pt.)
5. BONUS POINT: Who is burried in the nearby cemetary? (1pt.) this answer will not be counted into the total points total i.e. extra credit

We'll see who is a real Beatles buff and who isn't with this question.

DO NOT POST YOUR REPLY IN THE COMMENTS, E-MAIL IT TO beatles@tlmason.com

I have two this week… as well as three assignments due. Not looking forward to it. One fo the two exams should be alright, it's tonight, Macroeconomics. The exam that I have tomorrow will be the tough one, Information Representation… blah.

Not much to post right now, check out The Link Below for the update in my life.

I've decided to add a section to the End-Of-The-Blog Rundown. It will be a Beatle's trivia section. Stealing the idea from Jimi since he doesn't do it anymore, but mostly since it's been forty years since The Beatles "landed" in America on the Ed Sullivan show. I will be giving out one point for each correct answer. As soon as I start getting responses, I will add a section to the right sidebar that will contain the information about the points leaders. I haven't decided what I want to do with the winners yet, but I'll think of something.

Really short post, I know, but I feel a rant coming sometime later this week… The seed has been planted, it just needs some time to germinate…

The End-of-the-Blog Rundown…

Song of the Day – Roxanne – The Police, It's been stuck in my head for about a day and a half now…

Hero of the Day – Andy Young for picking up my shift!

Quote of the Day – "You mean I have to push it all the way in?" – Customer in the Music Library when wondering why he couldn't get his floppy disk to read. We have this problem often, it seems.

Beatles Trivia, Installment 1
We'll start out easy this week. Since the 40th Anniversary of the Ed Sullivan Show appearance by the Fab Four just passed,

1. How many songs did The Beatles play in their set? (1pt.)
2. What were the names of the songs? (1pt. ea.)

Sounds easy enough, doesn't it? Send your responses to me via e-mail (beatles@tlmason.com) since that way nobody can cheat. Only entries sent to that address will be accepted. I will post the answers when the next trivia item is posted.

Enjoy!
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To all of you who don't care what is happening in my life, this entry is not for you.

Ok, I think I'm done messing with the design of this blog for a while. I've finally landed on something I like, so I'm going to stick with it for some time. Not that I didn't like the Calvin and Hobbes layout, but I like this one better. For those of you who are wondering, the picture in the background is of the Beck Chapel, Indiana Memorial Union and the Jordan River. I took the picture at midnight using no flash and a 15 second shutter. It's one of the best pictures that I've taken with the camera. Here is a link to the unedited image file. It's also on my photoblog.

I've been caught up in the flurry that is college lately. My classes this semester are arranged so that two of them, assignments are due on Wednesdays, the other two, the assignments are due on Mondays. I've been trying to get my homework done early, but when I do, there's another assignment staring me in the face. It really sucks, but I'll get over it.

My weekend was fairly unproductive. I worked Sat till noon, then did some apt. shopping. The first apt. that Will, Chris and I went to to look at was out where Erin, Beth and Shae live. It was a nice place, but one of the water pipes had broken and there was water everywhere. It's a good thing that we went to look at the place Sat. or it would have been more flooded. I feel bad for the lady who owns the property, she was so flustered. Sadly, the water problem was a deciding factor in us not wanting to live there. From our experience, the apartments out there have problems with their water services and such. Whatever…

The IU vs. Iowa basketball game was a bust. It was one of the most boring basketball games I've seen in a long time. The first two halfs of the game were unbelievably slow. I just wanted the game to end, no matter the outcome. Then we went into overtime… and then again into double overtime… I hate few teams in the NCAA, in fact, I can name them here… Michigan State, Iowa, Ohio State, Purdue, Kentucky and Duke. I think those are pretty standard (a few of them anyway).

After the game, Erin and I roadtripped to the 'ville so I could fix my parent's computer. We rented Identity because Lost in Translation was all out everywhere in town. The movie was really creepy in the sort of Fight Club, Memento kind of way. I enjoyed it, Erin, not so much.

After fixing the computer on Sunday morning, we headed back to B'ton because I had a lease signing apt. at 1, and Erin had to play at the women's b'ball game at 1:30. Which leads me to my next topic…

We signed a lease yesterday! I will be living at Crimson Crossing (on Kinser Pk). Here is more information about the apt. including floorplans and pictures. It's going to be such a fun year, I'm looking forward to it.

After lease signing, it was intramural basketball. We lost by a lot of points again, but I don't care, I had fun playing and that's the reason we've got a team. Afterward, I did about 15 minutes of work on my campus board, then went to bed. That brings me to where I am now… I know, it's exciting.

And now, for the randomness that comes with a graveyard shift…

Stole this one from Erin
RULES:
1. Put your birth month in an entry.
2. Strike out anything that doesn't apply to you.
3. Bold the four that best apply to you.
4. Put all twelve months under a livejournal cut (see The Link Below).

FEBRUARY:
Abstract thoughts.
Loves reality and abstract.
Intelligent and clever.
Changing personality.
Attractive.
Sexy.
Temperamental.
Quiet, shy and humble.
Honest and loyal.
Determined to reach goals.
Loves freedom.
Rebellious when restricted.
Loves aggressiveness.
Too sensitive and easily hurt.
Gets angry really easily but does not show it.
Dislike unnecessary things.
Loves making friends but rarely shows it.
Daring and stubborn.
Ambitious.
Realizing dreams and hopes.
Sharp.
Loves entertainment and leisure.
Romantic on the inside not outside.
Superstitious and ludicrous.
Spendthrift.
Tries to learn to show emotions.

Does anyone know what Spendthrift means? I don't quite understand becasue, to me, it's a paradox. Spend – to waste, to use… Thrift – saving

Another one…

And now for the End-of-the-Blog Rundown

Song of the Day – Bang, Bang – Dispatch

Hero of the Day – Erin for taking a trip with me this weekend and because she's awesome.

Quote of the Day – nothing interesting has happened yet.
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A new design, yes, a new design. I currently am searching for a new color for the date headers and the borders, if you have suggestions, please post them in the comments. I'm also toying with the idea of making the text a sort of gray and the date header and borders the cream color.

suggestions welcome. Calvin and Hobbes have fond a permanent home on my Resolutions Web Log.