Scattered Thoughts

Well, it's true. Today you get a bonus entry, especially since the one before was about a silly coincidence.

Life has been pretty uneventful lately. This week is finals week, and since I have three finals, I've been studying my butt off, right? Wrong!

The first final I had was G300 – Managerial Economics. This is the THIRD economics course I have had to take while at IU. The first two, E201 — Microeconomics and E202 – Macroeconomics — were for my business degree; you know, the one that I dropped after two years because business students and professors are pompus assholes. This being the third, it was a breeze.

Tomorrow marks my second exam — C103 Introduction to Chemistry, a.k.a. Chemistry for Idiots — should be just as easy. It covers topics that I learned in the first semester of my sophomore year IN HIGH SCHOOL chemistry class, taught by none other than Roger Palmer. Now, I won't be getting the grade I was hoping for in this class because I've missed quite a few classes, but that's only because a lot of the material and discussion was stuff I already knew.

Thursday marks I310 – Multimedia Arts and Technology, which should also be pretty easy. We've had the question for the final exam since three weeks ago; I sure hope it will be easy. The exams in this class are open notes and open book since the class is about the application of new media theory, not the theory itself.

All in all, this has been a relatively stress free finals week.

In other happenings, I will be moving to the 'Burg either Sunday evening or Monday morning. I will start working for Keith on Monday, either at 8am or after I move myself in.

I really don't think I have anything else to write. I have a couple things I'm going to write about in my Sideblog and a photo for editing and post into my Photoblog so check them later tonight for more stuff to read. Especially since I know you guys have nothing better to do than read my journal…

That's all I got

The End-of-the-Blog Rundown

Song of the Day – Army – Ben Folds Five

Quote of the Day – You can't ever find a place that's nice and peaceful, because there isn't any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when you're not looking, somebody'll sneak up and write F*** You right under your nose.
–J. D. Salinger

Villian of the Day – The #6 bus driver I rode with twice today. You may think I'm a scary driver… you shouldn't criticize me until you've ridden the #6 bus through town.

Hero of the Day – Excedrin Migrane

Current Mood – – Strangely relaxed.

Until the next post…

Again, it's been longer than I would have liked since my last post and a lot has happened. I'm going to take more time to write tonight than last time though.

I will hopefully have some time to post again this weekend, but for now, this is what I've got.

Let me see… Where do I begin?

How about with this summer. This isn't your typical, mushy "I can't wait to get to camp" posts. This is more of an "outsider looking in" post. Believe it or not, I feel like an outsider coming back to the 'burg this year. For the most part, the people who have really made my last few summers will not be there — i.e. Mojo, Jimi, Jess, Will — and my staff will be full of a bunch of n00bs, other than Brent. That in itself will prove to be an interesting challenge.

A lot of old friends are returning though — Craig, Thad, Luke and others. Maybe this year will be the Farewell of Room 6 Part Deux. Last year was supposed to be the Farewell of Room 6, but we all found a way to come back yet another season. I know that barring some unforseen circumstances, this is definitely my last summer being spent at the 'burg, but that probably won't set in until a few weeks into the summer.

A lot of people have been saying that things just won't be the same without certain people there, but the truth is that they will, in fact, be the same. Sure the campers will, for the most part, be different, the ever-changing staff will be different (from week to week), but the overall experience will be the same. Like Jimi said, merit badges will be earned, friendships will be born and broken, but in the end, the sun still sets in the west… directly across from Fossil Beach.

Last summer was The Summer of Fossil Beach for some of us. That meant sunsets spent with cameras and friends, listening to the water crash upon the fossil-rich limestone shore, watching the boats speed to the various marinas to make it to dock before dark, waiting for the sun to sink behind LMSA. All in a comfortable silence; comfortable because there was no need for words. In that surreal silence, we all took comfort in the fact that for that evening and the rest of those ten weeks, we had each other.

We parted ways in early August, each one going back to the life they knew before June. By the end of September, schoolwork resumed and homework engulfed our lives. And so it goes…

I guess my point is that we all come into camp looking for something different, some look for relationships, some look for advancement, some look for fun, some look for work. When all is said and done, when the end of September comes around, all we will have are memories of the time we spent together to get us through tough places in our lives…

And the sun always rises
Over the dew-filled campsites,
And always sets
Over the Sycamores on Fossil Beach.

Creative title, I know.

I know I haven't updated in a while, but nobody seems to have cared too much or else someone would have been raising a stink in my comments boxes.

Nothing really interesting has been happening in my life since I made a substantial post. My ruminations are becoming easier and easier to deal with. I've been more and more able to concentrate on homework and on some pleasure reading, but I still have a relatively short attention span.

I had my second round of midterms in some classes and my first in others throughout the last couple weeks. My favorite was my multimedia class (I310). My prof told us that the best way we can study for the exam is to immerse ourselves in objects of new media and apply Manovic's five principles or Johnson's theories to them. I watched some Daily Show with John Stewart, played some Halo 2 and watched some movies. I also did some surfing around the web to see what kinds of new media I could find there.

The exam consisted of two essay questions. One was to take three sample videos and tell why they are culturally significant and then why they are considered new media. The three samples we had were all of Star Wars Kid. It was great, we got to watch the movies and then write about them. Our second question was to take a software program, like Photoshop or PowerPoint and explain how the five principles of new media apply to it. The best thing about the exam was that it was completely open notes and open book.

I went home for the Easter weekend which proved to be a waste of travel time. Don't get me wrong, I like getting to see my family and all, but I thought we were going to be heading up to Hartford City to spend some time with my Grandparents Witt as well as with the cousins who live nearby. We ended up not heading up to the HC until sunday morning, after mass. Since it's a two hour drive from Shelbyville and Shelbyville is one hour from Bloomington, I would have had to get there, say hi, turn around and head back to Bloomington. I had to work from 8pm – midnight that Sunday.

My newest obsessions are my Xbox and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. It is definitely the best game on the market right now for the Xbox and/or PS2, whichever you prefer. The environments are beautiful, the music by Amon Tobin is amazing and the gameplay is unbelievable. You can co-op on missions as well as play against other Splinter Cell fanatics online with Xbox-Live. If you are a console gamer, you need to get this title. If you aren't, but enjoyed the other two – Splinter Cell and Pandora Tomorrow – you definitely need to see this game to believe it. The thing that amazes me the most about this game is that you can complete a level, but not have completed it to 100%. There are optional missions as well as an optimal way to complete each mission. The characters are also aware that they are a part of a video game and attempt to make the player feel like there are dire consequences for their every action.

Lambert: This ship also has an alarm system.
Fisher: Let me guess… Three alarms and the mission is over?
Lambert: Of course not! This is no video game! You can't afford to let the situation get out of control, Fisher.

It's just a great game. You'll have to play it to see what I mean.

Why is the title so boring? you may ask. Well, it's boring because Capstone and Multimedia are completely draining my creativity. So until my final projects in those classes as well as for Managerial Economics and Chemistry are done, there won't be much creativity coming from this kid.

That's all I have for now. I shall try to post again soon. I also hope to get some time to spend with my camera now that it is spring and everything is in bloom.

And for now…

The End-of-the-Blog Rundown

Song of the Day – Blow Me Away – Breaking Benjamin

Quote of the Day – "There are no stupid questions, but there are inquisitive idiots." – Calendar hanging in Jacob's cubicle

Hero of the Day – Erin for being the awesome girlfriend she is. She and I have been together for over a year, collectively .

Current Mood – – I am absolutely Exhausted from this week. It needs to be over… And so does the semester.

Until the next post…

I can finally see the light at the end of what has seemed to be a very long semester. I knew when my college career started that my semesters would get more and more challenging as they went on, but I didn't think they would be this difficult.

Here is the update to my checklist…

Tom Mason Presents, A Thomas Mason Production of Tom Mason's POST-Thanksgiving Break To-Do List:

• Design a five minute presentation about Cybercafe security issues and how to resolve them.
• Devise a theme for a final paper to be written for my Cheating class. I'm thinking something along the lines of how to cheat the UITS Uniprint system or something of that sort.
• Write my final paper for Spanish Class
• Write my final project for my marketing class
• Publish new pictures to the KKPsi web site
• Clean the house
• Clean my room(but it needs to be done again…)
• Do my laundry
• Sleep and relax without video games for as long as I possibly can
• Visit the family

I did get a lot done over break, but I still have more to do. Now that my Spanish paper is done, I'm going to relax tonight, but tomorrow I have to start working on my CyberCafe presentation and start on my final paper for my Cheating class (I still don't have a topic…).

Let's see… What has happened in the life of Tom lately. Oh yea, I am hella excited about the soccer team and their current run through the NCAA tournament. They play Tulsa at 2pm this Sunday in the regional. If they win they go to Carson, CA a.k.a. Los Angeles. That means I get a trip to LA

Also, the basketball team put up a good fight against the University of North Carolina last night. The Assembly Hall was as loud as I have ever heard it and it wasn't even a conference game. It gave us a glimmer of hope for the rest of the season. I'm hoping that our team this year is like the team we had a couple years ago where they play to their oponent's skill level. Then we might actually win some big games.

Anyway, that's all I'm going to write about for now. Maybe I'll post more later, maybe not.

No End-of-the-Blog Rundown today, I don't feel like it.

Until the next post…

I will never again go out and shop on the day after Thanksgiving, no matter who it is with nor how crazy the sales are. It's not worth it.

Biggest Shopping Day of the Year… HA I am from now on labeling this day "Infusion of Idiots into Shopping Establishments"

I think the average IQ of people in the malls today was 50 to 100 points lower than normal.

I'm done, I'm getting more agitated the more I write…