Friday, 2002-08-30
trying to get back to normal
Two nights ago I felt very tired, sick, and hungry (not really a good combination, I know). When I got to Dobie to pick up Gemma, I realized I didn't feel so well, so I asked her to drive. On the way back I asked her to stop at a gas station so I could get heartburn medicine. I can generally predict when heartburn is about to strike and I thought it was going to, but I had not been prepared. So I went in for some Rolaids. Turns out I was wrong. No heartburn. Instead, Chinese food and a little dry heaving (which led to a pile of blehhhh on the concrete right outside my car).
Since then I have felt pretty weird (stomach-wise). I can't get full and my stomach constantly hurts. To top all that, my room isn't clean. Can you imagine? Me, Jonathan Russell Horak, living in a clustered, box-on-top-of-box room.
Last nite I finished unpacking and organizing my room. And now I do feel a little better. I did, however, miss RTF this morning (which has me kind of bummed).
Apartment life has been treating me fairly well. But life on the other hand. What a bitch.
Regardless, I do have something to look forward to tomorrow: Texas Football. Hook 'em Horns!
100th post
This is my 100th post! Woohoo!
Tuesday, 2002-08-27
the juliana theory
I saw The Juliana Theory tonite with Gemma and friends. I really really enjoyed the show. Mainly because it put faces to a band that I had yet to see. But what was really the best aspect of the show was that most of the songs I like were played.
The song I was happiest to hear was 'You Always Say Goodnight' which was their closing song. I personally believe the band had to have been influenced by Pink Floyd at some time or another. 'You Always Say Goodnight' is one of the most Pink Floyd-esque songs I have heard to this day (that's a good thing). Since I will most likely never see my favorite band live (in case you haven't guessed yet, Pink Floyd), I am quite happy to see their influence still lives on in shows and music I hear today.
By the way. I was allocated five photos on Kassi's camera. Which means I should post them right after she gets them developed. At which point I shall create another division of my site (dedicated to photos).
privacy, a kitchen, and slow internet
I must say, privacy and a kitchen are two of the biggest advantages of having an apartment (as compared to dorm-life). On that note, there is also something incredibly amazing about being able to control the temperature of the place I live.
The only disadvantages I can think of are living off-campus and my shoddy Internet connection. Both are big pains in my ass, but I will learn how to deal (with the first problem that is).
The poor quality of my Internet connection frustrates me, because I expect it to perform much better. I feel like I am back on dial-up; something I thought I would never have to experience again.
So, I am back. And I have a connection to the web again (whatever it's quality may be). That means I can post. Which is always good.
Saturday, 2002-08-24
fords suck. but i guess i can make an exception
Throughout my entire life my family has always had Chevy's. Thus I have always been partial. And last year I became a hardcore Longhorn. [Just filling you in on a few minor details before we start this wonderful journey of twists and turns]
So, recently, I found out that my dad had been planning a big surprise. I have never had one of these "big surprises" before. So I really didn't know what to expect. My family therefore kept the suspense level high from the moment I started anticipating what my dad had in store.
I think my mom felt a little sorry for me. I really wanted to know. And everyone kept chunking me clues in the wrong direction. Needless to say she cracked. She told me I would be getting a maroon Ford Taurus as soon as I got insurance. Here's how that conversation went:
"A maroon Ford Taurus? Mom you know I bleed orange."
Yeah, I know. But when we picked you up in Austin this past weekend I realized there were a lot of maroon cars in Longhorn territory."
"Maroon?"
"Oh, the irony." [Note: my mom didn't actually say this. I am just adding it to spice up an otherwise boring conversation. Boring anyways? Sorry 'bout that]
Well, me and dad pulled up to get the car just a little while ago. I didn't unlock the car. But my dad did. And I heard a chirp. But what is crucial here is he didn't use a key. The car is keyless! I guess I am a simple guy, but the whole maroon thing didn't bother me anymore.
But wait. It gets better.
I think a residual placebo effect was still in full force when I got home. The car looked maroon. I shuddered. What I then found out is that the car is actually 'Toreador Red' which makes all the difference. In my mind and in the dark, the car was maroon. Maybe tomorrow will shed some light as to the currently ambiguous color of the car.
I don't like Fords, right? Yeah, that is correct. Well, I won't complain. What I will do though is get a sticker with Calvin pissing on...you guessed it, the Ford emblem. Oh, the pleasures of being genius.
In related news...
"Woohoo! Total freedom. Ah, college life just got kicked up a notch."
Update 2002-08-24 03:59:10: I've added a picture to give you an idea what the car will look like.
Thursday, 2002-08-22
gemmathan
I just wanted to make a note that Gemma's name and mine are connected. And in order to really bring on the cheese I must say one thing: Gemma, I love you.
Proof that we really are meant to be together: Jonny Nonny Nanny Canny Canna Manna Magna Magma Mamma Gamma Gemma.
from the wisdom of dean martin
You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on. Dean Martin
Tuesday, 2002-08-20
junk email
I never really wanted to use Outlook Express. It always seemed to be a pain. If I customized the installation of Internet Explorer so that it wouldn't be bundled it usually would still somehow magically install.
Back to topic.
Having a couple email addresses that are all POP3 finally pushed me towards the use of the program. When I found out I could use it to check my Hotmail account I was sold. All the emails I had wanted to backup for such a long time are now saved and organized on my computer. I can put folders inside of folders inside of folders...well, you get the idea. So stop selling the program Jonathan. Get back to topic.
Outlook Express automatically checks all of my accounts when it first loads and every minute or so thereafter. A couple days ago, as Outlook was loading, the sync hit a brick wall. That brick wall was 216 junk emails in my Hotmail account. This shouldn't have happened. I'll tell you why.
Those 216 emails were all from the same email address. Sorry, 215. One was from another sender. At some point a red flag should have alerted Hotmail's email handlers to the spam bomb (instead of putting me over my limit and thus blocking any emails that I might have received). Thanks for the notice. What if I'd been away from my computer for an extended period of time? Crazy thought, yes, but such might be possible.
"There. Now wasn't that cathartic, Jonathan?"
"Yes. I feel much better now, HAL."
Monday, 2002-08-19
if this were to happen to me...
Check this except out from a book I am reading called 'New Media Technology' by John V. Pavlik.
"One big Wall Street firm, for example, uses network technology to let its employees know when they've been fired. Rather than sending a pink slip or a letter of termination, an employee who's been let go slowly discovers the truth as they unsuccessfully try to log on to the computer network. First, they think they've mistyped their password, but slowly the realization — and panic — sets in. Soon, they are confronted by the reality that they cannot log on using their password because they've been deleted from the computer system, and from the company payroll."
[Note: the book was published in 1998, and is now somewhat dated. But regardless, I would probably go postal on the IT fool that booted me from the system.]
Sunday, 2002-08-18
absolut genius
I think the Absolut ad campaign is incredibly original and creative. I must say, I am really a fan of their entire collection of ads. Here's some links to my favorites: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 and finally 15. Oh, and this one too.
haha, lawyers
"No material from the law.com Web site may be copied, reproduced, framed, hyperlinked, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed in any way, provided, however, you may download, where specifically permitted, one copy of the materials on any single computer for your personal, non-commercial use only, provided you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices."
Law.com: take that. And that. How about a 'lil of that? Huh? What's that? I couldn't hear you through your idiocy. Don't link? Why the hell not? If lawyers are considered (by many) to be some of the greediest, slimiest people in America they shouldn't mind a 'lil free advertisement.
Saturday, 2002-08-17
I now have six email addresses.
Two of those are site-related. There's janitor [at] the writings on the stall dotcom, where folks can submit whatever they would like to see on The Writings on the Stall, and webmaster [at] another pointless dotcom. The third and fourth are University of Texas accounts.
The other two are personal. I try to not post those addresses online because spambots tend to find them and start sending me junk mail. That doesn't mean you can't contact me though.
I never in my life thought I would have four email addresses. I always thought I would stick to using only my hotmail account. But alas, in my life, anything simplistic must eventually come to an end.
By the way, I used an anti-spam "obfuscator" to encode the addresses above.
Update: Now just making the email addresses human readable, but hopefully not harvestable for spambots].
back
It has been quite a while since my last post. And I am so glad to be back. Not only am I excited to be back, I am excited I no longer will post through the utexas.edu web server. When I was on the uts server, I really didn't have any kind of drive to post on a frequent basis. Over the course of the past couple weeks, though, I have realized that many times I have wanted to release my thoughts, but generally decided not to out of sheer laziness. No more.
That's not to say I won't have periods of refrain and rest like I did before. I will. But this time around I will force myself to let my thoughts overcome my lethargy.