Bryan Is Fat

New Possible Schedule

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 18:20:53 GMT

So I thought about it and considered it for a bit, and I decided that I don't really want to do 3 credits of lab, because 9 hours in the lab every week is kinda icky. Plus I want to leave some lab credit for my last semester, since you can only have at most 6 credits in PSY 496. So I revised my tentative schedule for those that may be interested:

Monday:
PSY 511 - Statistics in Psychology - 11:00 am - 12:15 pm
LIB 197 - Intro to Library and Information Research - 1:00 pm - 1:50 pm
MTH 535 - Advanced Calculus - 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm

Tuesday:
COM 101 - Intro to Speech Communication - 12:30 pm - 1:45 pm
STA 588 - Sampling Techniques - 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm
MUS 186U - University Band - 6:30 pm - 7:45 pm

Wednesday:
PSY 511 - Statistics in Psychology - 11:00 am - 12:15 pm
LIB 197 - Intro to Library and Information Research - 1:00 pm - 1:50 pm
MTH 535 - Advanced Calculus - 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm

Thursday:
COM 101 - Intro to Speech Communication - 12:30 pm - 1:45 pm
STA 588 - Sampling Techniques - 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm

Friday:
NOTHING!!

And then I'm going to try to take two hours of lab credit in the Fall, which will be 6 hours of lab time a week. As an aside, LIB 197 is only half a semester, and damned easy from what I hear, so that's cool. And as Liz commented to me in my last post, I can actually fit Symphony Band into my schedule, so I may audition to get into a band. If I do that (for those who don't know), I'll have band on Tuesdays and some Thursdays from 4:00 - 5:20 as well. If I can get a bass clarinet, I'll audition on that methinks. Otherwise, they always need more clarinetists.

Scheduledoom?

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:38:31 GMT

Ok. So I know that this is kinda like a cop out as far as journal posts go, but I'm too lazy to write a good post. Maybe next week when I have a shit ton of time, I'll write a good post.

Anyhoo... Here's a tentative schedule for the fall:

Monday:
PSY 511 - Statistics in Psychology - 11:00 am - 12:15 pm
MTH 535 - Advanced Calculus - 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm

Tuesday:
COM 101 - Intro to Speech Communication - 12:30 pm - 1:45 pm
STA 588 - Sampling Techniques - 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm
MUS 186U - University Band - 6:30 pm - 7:45 pm

Wednesday:
PSY 511 - Statistics in Psychology - 11:00 am - 12:15 pm
MTH 535 - Advanced Calculus - 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm

Thursday:
COM 101 - Intro to Speech Communication - 12:30 pm - 1:45 pm
STA 588 - Sampling Techniques - 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm

Friday:
NOTHING!!

And then I'm going to try to take three hours of lab credit in the Fall, which will be 9 hours of lab time a week.

Important!!

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 04:41:13 GMT

Something you've never seen before...

That is all.

First Day!

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 16:32:12 GMT

So it's the first day of classes. I only have one class, a math class, at 2, and then later on I have community band at 7.

Sucky thing for the day: I have a bunch of stuff to do, but it's raining and I don't wanna leave. :-(

I'll give more info about my Christmas break later!

Yeah

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 03:03:03 GMT

So... blower motor fixed.

For a day.

Yep, it's out again... ugh.

On Request of Amanda

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:52:47 GMT

So, quite frankly, I've been pretty busy as of late. But what the hell is new anyway, eh?

So I'm a very strange person. I obtained three more woodwinds within the last month. I now own an alto sax, a tenor sax, a clarinet, an alto clarinet, a flute, a piccolo, and an oboe. I'm so freakin' strange. The thing is that I totally want to learn how to play all of them, and well. Who knows if that will ever actually happen.

Liz and I are having an Awesome New Year's Party of Doom in Mt. Pleasant this year. If you wanna come, you probably should, 'cuz we kick ass and you know it. Besides, what the hell else would you be doing??? :-P

I think it's effin' ridiculous that the semester is almost over. Shit, this happens every friggin' semester eventually, and everytime it feels as if it just went by too damned quickly. And everytime I ask if it went by too damned quickly, I have to answer "Yes Justin, it went by too damned quickly." Is this how the rest of my life is going to go? Am I going to just graduate next year, get into grad school, graduate, get a job, and then die, all the while not realizing the amount of time that has passed??? Probably. As much as that is a relatively bleak outlook towards life, it's not all bad. At least it shows you that life happens, and really time passing quickly is a sign of a good life; you aren't thinking too hard about it.

Today I realized that my blower motor in my car isn't working. I am not happy about that. I have a feeling that it's a grounding issue, or possibly a fuse, but I won't know that until the car is taken to a mechanic (or Dan). I would check the fuse, except I can't seem to find it. I checked both the under-the-hood fuse box and the in-the-cabin fuse box, as well as random other fuses under the dash, to no avail. Oh well I suppose.

Guitar Hero 3 = the shit. Forever. I decided I wanted to throw that out there.

Bryan is fat. Dan is gargantuan. Let it be known and sung across the generations.

Later.

Schedule Time!

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 17:00:04 GMT

So I think I pretty much figured out what I'm taking next semester, so here's my (tentative) schedule!

Monday
11:00-11:50am PSY 384 (Behavioral Analysis)
2:00-3:15pm MTH 332 (Intro to Analysis)
7:00-8:30pm Community Band

Tuesday
9:30-10:45am STA 382 (Elementary Statistical Analysis)
11:00-12:15pm PSY 385 (Applied Research Methods)
6:30-7:45pm University Band

Wednesday
11:00-11:50am PSY 384
2:00-3:25pm MTH 332
6:30-9:20pm TAI 170

Thursday
9:30-10:45am STA 382
11:00-12:15pm PSY 385
1:00-2:50pm PSY 384 (Behavioral Analysis Lab)

Friday
11:00-11:50am PSY 384

I may do COM 101 instead of TAI 170, but that's up in the air right now. Anyhoooo... later.

Peanut Butta Jelly Time!

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 15:23:53 GMT

As I was sitting here (I'm at Shaun's) and hoping that someone had written an inspiring post to end all other posts (or least something interesting), I decided that instead of hoping others would write, I should write myself.

The past month (wow it's been a month!) has been mostly the same old "Justin going to classes and chillin' and hangin' out with friends"-ish stuff. I do have an interesting story to tell, though...

So basically the most incredible, but completely out-of-character, thing has happened to me.

Oh, and before I start this story, sorry Liz that I haven't told you about this yet, you haven't been around too much while I've been around lately, and it's just kinda slipped my mind to tell you when you are around.

So I met a girl. But she's not just some random girl on campus. In fact she doesn't live on campus. Or go to this school. Or live in this state. The truth is, I met her online through (and it's kinda lame) an internet dating site. And I don't know what exactly it is about her, but she's freakin' awesome and amazing. The thing that makes it most out-of-character for me is that I want to go and meet her. She lives in Chicago. And before any of you go "*snerk* You better sure 'she's' not a 'he' *cackle*," I've been webcamming with her. She's definitely a girl. If you want any details about her, ask me, and I'll tell you... I don't feel like talking about her in detail here. : )

So, beyond that, I've decided to bump my minor in math up to a major in math. I'm gonna be a double major! Hellz yeah!! *super high five* This decision has come after the remarkable discovery that after next semester I'll have finished my major, finished my minor, and completed my university requirements (i.e. math, English, speech, general education), but I'll still have 30 credits to finish. I'll also have to meet the minimum required credits of 300 and 400-level courses (which is 40). I have already completed (or will complete after this semester) 18 credits of 300/400-level classes, which leaves a minimum of 22 to finish. The only way a could see that I could feasibly get those credits is to take more random math classes and more psych classes, because most "upper-level" have prereqs. I'll need at least 8 classes (most classes are 3 credits), but I can't do them all in psychology for practical reasons. So I've decided to take 6 more math/statistics classes and get a major in math.

At the same time, my differential equations professor (Dr. Lin, chairperson of the math department) offered me a position on a research team to come with a research grant proposal in mathematics. How sweet is that?!? Freakin' sweet, I'll tell ya!!! *nerd* hehe I don't have all of the details on that yet, since he has yet to e-mail me the information he said he would e-mail me after class on Thursday.

In music, the University Band is playing on December 6, at 8 pm, in Staples. The Central Michigan Area Concert Band is playing November 11, at 3 pm, in Warriner Hall, and also on December 15, at 3 pm, at the Heritage Center of Alma College. You should come!!! *points to all of you*

Bryan is fat, and is now a legal drinker (as of yesterday), and is slated to become an alcoholic immediately. Later.

I'm a Lazy Bum! Yay!

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 14:19:39 GMT

Actually I'm damned busy all the freakin' time. I constantly have shit to do for my classes (i.e. reading, homework, writing).

Not too much is incredibly interesting right now.

As most of you all know, I'm playing at the Flint Masonic Temple in their dinner theater. It's a musical called Swinging On a Star. The plot line to it seems vague to me, but in essence it is a musical revue of lyricist Johnny Burke's music. He did stuff like Shadows on the Swanee, Pennies from Heaven, Polka Dots and Moonbeams, Going My Way, Appalachicola Florida, Here's That Rainy Day, and Road to Morocco. I'm playing alto and tenor saxophones, and clarinet in it. We have 6 shows, all starting at 8pm. They are this week Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and next week Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The only problem is that this week, since we start on a Thursday, I have to run down to Flint and come back... twice. Wednesday (tonight) I have to run down for the final dress rehearsal. By the weekend, though, it'll be tremendous amounts of fun.

Well that's about all see ya!

Library-time, Shmibrary-time

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 17:34:16 GMT

And this post is brought to you via the CMU Park Library. Yay good internet.

I'm just kinda chillin' out in between classes right now. Woo. So I decided to make an entry!!! Yay!!!

The past couple of days have actually been really, really kewl. I'm honestly enjoying each of my classes, even if I had an in-class essay in English today. I've met some pretty neat people, including a freshman from Nigeria, a psychology major that happens to be in the class I'm TA-ing for, and a really cute girl. Haha... and this really cute girl started talking to me first. *weird* That just doesn't happen to me, so I actually think it's a first. Yay!!! I kinda wanna be like all suave and stuff and ask her out for coffee, but I'm lame and can't ever seem to make myself do these things. Maybe I'll do it? I'd like to.

So I have my office hours set up and all that shat. I am holding office hours in HP 1181 (the Neuroscience grad student place) from 4-5 on Mondays and Wednesdays. The only sucky thing is that I have to be up to be at Pearce to proctor exams before 9am. Ugh! I'm just glad that this is a really good experience, and gives me great references later on.

Today I'm going to go home for a bit to grab some stuff I left (my bike, my birth certificate, my alarm clock) and get some things at the Meijer's at home (Koegel Viennas, a new desk to replace the one that broke unexpectedly). I may or may not stop by to see people, depending on time, since I have class at 9:30 tomorrow morning.

Annnnyyhoo... Bryan is fat, Dan is gargantuan, and I think I can see them from here. Later.

CMU Starts Again...

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 01:16:23 GMT

Oh man... so here I am, back at CMU again. Of course, this year I'm no longer living the dorm life, but instead the apartment life. Thus far it's been pretty enjoyable, and mostly peaceful ("mostly" because aparently my roommates and I are the only ones in this building that don't party). I've had no real complaints other than the general statement that the internet is damned slow, and I just got that running no less than an half hour ago. Anyhoo... I live in W-5 of Douglas St. Apartments, so stop in anytime!

Other than apartment stuff, I got myself a new saxophone, and it's the shit. Tenor baby! Silver! Vintage! *drool* It's pretty awesome to finally have my own tenor after so many years of wanting one. I plan on playing it in both the University Band and in the Central Michigan Area Concert Band. And it'll be awesome.

Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo... that's about it really. School starts tomorrow and I'm excited. Yay!

Later.

Awesome Game Theory Study!

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 08:51:23 GMT

I found this extremely interesting since I'll be living with 3 girls in a couple of days. Of course, the corresponding math for my situation will clearly state that down will always be best, but I still think it's neat. Enjoy!

Moooooo

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 20:41:23 GMT

This just in:

POOP!!

That is all.

To the Soo and Beyond

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 07:14:29 GMT

So this weekend, as many of you know, I went up north to go visit Michelle. It was some serious amounts of fun! We went all around the Mack, and even went to Canada!!!!! It was both of our first times, so it was confusing, but eventually got used to the mean streets of Sault Ste. Marie, Canada. I bought a kickass John Coltrane CD (A Love Supreme anyone?) and she got some cute clothes, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The only thing I didn't like about the area was the massive amounts of one-way streets. One-way streets can burn in hell. We got lost in the Soo (on both sides lol), but it was still all good. All-in-all, (some) Canadians have fun accents, and (some) Canadians are buskers, but other than their (few) differences, they're the same as us. Also, Mexicans should never be that far north I've decided.

I'm making it short and simple today. Dan is fat. Duh.

Later.

Ooooo work. Hoorah?

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 02:04:15 GMT

So I'm at work right now, taking a nice hour break. Fun eh? The job is alright, a lot better than expected, but it sucks all the same. I'm just glad the money's good.

So this coming weekend's plans:

Friday @ 1 - I'm going to Mr. Galbreath's funeral. It'll be sad, but I'm glad he's in a better place now.
Friday after that - I have work. 5p-3a as per usual. I'll probably be staying over... again.
Saturday - I guess we're having a party at Aunt Karen's? It should be fun.
Sunday - I don't know yet, but if you read this Kimmy, I'd like to take you out to dinner for your b-day this day if possible.
Monday - I'm thinking I'm going to go to Lansing. I need reeds, and to get a price on an overhaul of my new instruments. The Noblet really needs it, but once it's finished, that thing will really blow.

Any other plans guys? Anything kewl? What are your plans?

You are in imminent danger if you go behind either Dan or Bryan. Both of them shoot a 100 foot cone of death from behind them. If you must walk behind them for whatever reason, please practice extreme caution.

Later.

Late-Night (Early Morning?) Update!

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 10:00:47 GMT

So for those of you who didn't know, I started working at the plant a week ago now. I'm working on the B-Crew, so wo0t for nights. The problem with that shift is that I never go to sleep, as is evidenced by the fact that it is 5:30 right now.

Lol... AstroBoy is on the tv right now. AstroBoy is known as the first true anime. It's kinda funny, because I always thought animes were a relatively modern idea, but this is totally in black and white. Weird.

I bought two new clarinets, too. One is a vintage Noblet 40 Bb Clarinet. The other is an alto clarinet. Wo0t for awkward new instruments! I kinda want to get a bass clarinet or a flute before the summer is up too. I'm weird I know.

In my music box, it says that I'm listening to Desperado, but I'm not now. I'm listening to Landslide. The original mind you. It's such a frickin' beautiful song. I love the lyrics, because they are so honest. I kinda take them to heart. I'm seriously afraid of big changes. They break my heart, especially when it involves knowing that despite anything that I want, change is inevitable, and I can't always get what I want. But, I can always look back on my life and reflect, and know that I've grown. It's crazy to think how much you can grow in the shortest amount of time. We are always getting older, getting wiser. There have been so many times in my life that I thought, I could stay in this moment forever, but that moment never lasts. But, with those ever-changing moments in life, bring about new experiences, that never would've been experienced with that moment staying forever. I guess life's a give-and-take of moments, be they good or bad. I never want to take a single one for granted. Here are those lyrics for those who don't know them:

I took my love and I took it down
I climbed a mountain and I turned around
And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
Till the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love
Can the child within my heart rise above
Can I sail thru the changing ocean tides
Can I handle the seasons of my life

Well, I've been afraid of changing
cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Children get older
I'm getting older too

Oh, take my love, take it down
Climb a mountain and turn around
If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well the landslide will bring it down

If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well maybe the landslide will bring it down

Hmm... insight? Thoughts?

Global warming is merely an issue of Dan farting too much. Later.

Decree of Entry-dom

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 05:49:58 GMT

As Mikey has decreed, so it shall pass... I fondly write in mine journal for all thine eyes to see.

So as of late, I've been kinda down. Not too much, just a little. You know me, I'm crazy ghetto Mexican that can never be totally down. But like, a few days ago, I had my 20th birthday. It was great, and I loved having gotten cake a couple days before via Lindsey. But it wasn't too great; I really didn't do anything, but chill out at the house until about 10 pm when Shaun came over and we went late-night swimming. (By the way, I've decided that late-night swimming is the shiznite, and if anyone ever wants to do it, COME OVER AND I'LL SWIM. It's goodtimes, 'cuz of the heated pool with a waterslide!) I almost felt as if no one really wanted to be with me. It happens, I understand, but on my birthday, my 20th birthday, I'd at least like a small get-together of my closest friends. That's all I ask. But whatev, I suppose.

Also, the friends all got to go on what should have been a kickass camping trip of do0m. I freakin' half-planned the thing originally, and didn't get to go because I'm a broke mofo. Turns out the trip ended up sucking balls, and they all came home a day early. And Shaun's car died up there. Squueeee/snap/overheat/lackpower/death. That's what I call it. 'Cuz that's what us Mexicans do? So Shaun, Dan and I went on an insane trip up to Caseville (see: tip of thumb) to tow the car of death back to Mt. Morris. We got it back finally at like 8:30, and found out that the V-belt that spins the waterpump and the alternator broke. That was the problem. Hopefully Shaun didn't massacre his engine block by running so long without water to cool it down. If so, then the fix is a $6 fix, otherwise it'll be a "get-a-new-car-or-get-a-new-engine" type fix. We're basically praying to god that's all it is.

So I basically decided yesterday that I want to start collecting sweet instruments. I want to actually realize my dream of being a woodwind specialist and learn oboe, bassoon, and flute. And I also want to get a set of clarinets (bass, e-flat, A, C, alto, B-flat), a set of saxes (alto, tenor, bari, bass), a set of flutes (soprano, alto, bass, piccolo), an oboe, an english horn, and a bassoon. I know it's alot of instruments, and will a helluva lot of money, but I think it'd be waaaayyy sweet. So, uh... anybody that wants to help in the get-Justin-awesome-instruments fund, I won't refuse the help.

Dan is soooo large, Jabba the Hutt said damn!

Later.

Jumps on the bandwagon

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 07:12:08 GMT

The Everything Test

There are many different types of tests on the internet today. Personality tests, purity tests, stereotype tests, political tests. But now, there is one test to rule them all.

Traditionally, online tests would ask certain questions about your musical tastes or clothing for a stereotype, your experiences for a purity test, or deep questions for a personality test.We're turning that upside down - all the questions affect all the results, and we've got some innovative results too! Enjoy :-)

Personality

You are more logical than emotional, more concerned about others than concerned about self, more atheist than religious, more dependent than loner, more lazy than workaholic, more traditional than rebel, more artistic mind than engineering mind, more idealist than cynical, more follower than leader, and more introverted than extroverted.

As for specific personality traits, you are romantic (86%), artistic (72%), horny (58%).

Stereotypes
College Student	91%
Old Geezer	83%
Punk Rock	73%

Life Experience
Sex	35%
Substances	3%
Travel	18%

Politics
Your political views would best be described as Liberal, whom you agree with around 100% of the time.

Socioeconomic
Your attitude toward life best associates you with Working Class. You make more than 36% of those who have taken this test, and 86% less than the U.S. average.

If your life was a movie, it would be rated PG-13.
By the way, your hottness rank is 74%, hotter than 90% of other test takers.

TAKE THE TEST
brought to you by thatsurveysite

Not Freakin' Again...

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 18:49:15 GMT

Yeah, so as always I must start by saying that it's been awhile since my last update. Actually, I find it kinda funny that I check LJ like a billion times a day when I'm home, hoping that others will update their journals, but I never actually update mine. I guess I'm just lazy. :-P

So mostly the last few weeks have been full of lameness and waiting. I got my first call to the plant on the 1st, and I went and did my drug test the Monday following that. Since I'm not a druggie, and in fact I don't think I've ever actually seen drugs before, I should pass the test and be able to start work as soon as it comes back. But, it hasn't come back yet. And it sucks.

Blah, blah, blah... nothing has happened because I'm boring and I do nothing ever, because I'm still waiting on my call to the plant, which btw when I get in I'm either working B or C crew, meaning either night or weekend crew respectively.

But the last couple of days I've had issues. It started one day driving home from Shaun's late at night. I reached up to scratch my nose, and I had a little blood pop out of my nose, but it wasn't bad (just a couple of drops) and I didn't think anything of it. So a couple days later, I mowed the lawn, and then got a shower. I scratched my nose, and a lot of blood came. Just like last year. So I jumped out of the shower, cleaned myself up, and stopped the bleeding. And it was done right? Nope. This morning I had gotten to bed at 3 am, but randomly woke up at 6. Why? Because I started bleeding apparently, and my body was alerted on it. So I jumped up, ran up the stairs, and tried to clean it up. But there was no toilet paper upstairs, so I had to go out to the garage and get some, all the while my nose is bleeding profusely. I eventually stopped it about 15 minutes later and stayed up watching tv, because I didn't want to start in my sleep again. Eventually I started nodding off anyway at 7:30 and slept on the couch. At 9, Jen came downstairs and was like "What is all this blood on the wall?" I heard her and told her what happened, and she and Dad both agree that I should go see my doctor and get a physical done just in case there is something wrong with me. Jen thinks it's probably just what it is, really big random nose bleeds, since her sister, my Aunt Tami, used to get them worse than I get them without any medical reason. I hope there's nothing wrong with me, but if there is there is.

Dan is fat, but he's hoping to lose some weight, and be less fat. That's the first sign of the Apocalypse. We're all going to die! Later.

UPDATE! (since I suck and never do)

Wed, 16 May 2007 07:06:38 GMT

So... it has been a really long time since I have updated at all.

First thing's first. My semester went damned well. I got a 3.94. I got an A in all of my classes except for PSY 330, which I got an A-. Wo0t.

I realized from hanging out with Cat that I absolutely love Live Action Sailor Moon. It is my new crack. I just wish I had it right here so that I could watch it right now. Oh! And Sailor Jupiter is fine as hell, and I would totally bang her if given the chance.

My other new crack is Guitar Hero. I play it all the time anymore. Hehe... i managed to get Shaun and Dan both hooked too, to where Shaun just bought Guitar Hero 2 with the guitar controller. Damn I'm good.

So anybody who has ridden in my car within the past year would know that my car is loud. Well, about a week ago, my car went from loud to really really really really really really loud. So a couple of days ago, Dan and I went ahead and ordered the parts to fix my exhaust system in stupidmobile. It cost me quite a bit, but holy shit does it sound good. I seriously haven't had my car sound so in a whole friggin' year. A WHOLE FRIGGIN' YEAR. As I told Dan, I'm gonna be amazed about how awesome it is for a long time. We found what the problem was in it, though. Apparently for the past year part of my exhaust has been loose and ready to fall, and it finally went. There was honestly a foot and a half section of my exhaust missing. Insane huh? What really caused me to want to fix it was that carbon monoxide was being seeped into my cabin as a drove. That was certainly not good. So I got Kimmy to loan me the money to help fix it. Kimmy... I love you forever and a day for that! Of course you already know that... but I figured I'd tell you again. :-)

Tonight was the Galbreath's last concert as the choir directors of Mt. Morris. I want to wish them a happy, loving, and fulfilling retirement.

And Cat... I wanna tell you that I feel for ya, and I want you to know that I am here for ya (albeit far away from ya) whenever you need a talk. Don't hesitate to tell me what's on your mind, because I'll listen.

Oh and Michelle... I hope work is going great for you. I haven't been able to get ahold of you, so I figured I would tell ya here.

I am probably going to start work in the plant next Monday. I really want to get started ASAP, because money is good, but I won't have a life after I start either. So if anybody wants to hang out, tell me and we will.

Welp... Bryan is a massively large dude with boobs... his cholesterol is rising and we may want to make sure it's not contagious. Later.

Poop!

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 05:17:23 GMT

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:

- Justin
- Felix
- That guy

THREE THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
- I'm a generally very nice person
- I'm waaaayy laid-back
- I play sax and compose music well

THREE THINGS YOU DON'T LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
- I'm a little chunky nowadays
- I'm a lazy bastard
- I sweat too damn much

THREE PARTS OF YOUR HERITAGE:
- Mexican
- Chippewa
- German

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
- Ending up a schizophrenic like Mama
- Not actually making it through grad school
- Not finding someone ever

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
- Music
- Friends
- Caffeine

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:
- My green overshirt
- My Vans
- Pants of the jean variety

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS:
- The Beatles
- Polaris
- Blood, Sweat, and Tears

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE ALBUMS:
- John Coltrane: "Giant Steps"
- The Beatles: "Love"
- Polaris: "The Music from the Adventures of Pete and Pete"

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE:
- Live Action Sailor Moon kicks ass!
- I am a diehard saxophone lover!
- I hate Squirt.

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO TRY IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS:
- I want to try to get a good score on my GRE's.
- I want to try to get a new saxophone!
- I want to try to learn some more guitar.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED IN A RELATIONSHIP:
- Love.
- Intimacy.
- Compassion.

THREE THINGS YOU JUST CAN'T DO:
- Eat pickles.
- Hate people.
- Speak Spanish.

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES:
- Saxophone!
- Hanging out with friends.
- Playing video games.

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW:
- Play guitar.
- Make a random trip to Chicago.
- Hang out with a friend.

THREE JOBS YOU'D CONSIDER DOING OTHER THAN THE ONE YOU HAVE:
- Professional musician
- Math professor
- Be a bum on the street

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
- Up North!
- Chicago!
- London!

THREE KID'S NAMES:
- Erin
- Paul
- John
- Rebecca

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
- Publish one piece of music
- Get my doctorate in psychology
- Have a wonderful family

THREE PEOPLE WHO SHOULD COMPLETE THIS SURVEY:
- Cat
- Kayla
- MJ

Ho hum.

Mon, 02 Apr 2007 04:33:48 GMT

Well, I don't post here too much, but it's due to laziness mostly. So, today, I bring you a short post.

This Saturday was Saxophone Day. HELL YEAH BITCHES!!! I haven't gotten to play on a bari since the summer, and I missed it dearly. I played on one on Saturday, and now I am fulfilled for a while again.

John Sampen, the saxophone professor at Bowling Green University, came to CMU and had a concert. It was fabulous! Seriously, he makes me crack up!! This guy did one of the very few comedic music concerts I've ever seen. One of his pieces was called like Lecture on Saxophone or something, and it was hilarious!! I really want to see him perform that again.

Today, I chilled out with Ethan and Liz and Smilla (Sarah) and we watched Billy Madison. I've seen it quite a few times, but it's hilarious every time. Afterwards, the Liz and I went (clothes) shopping, and she got some barely there, but still not slutty, clothing that is typical of the Liz. AND WE GOT COOKIES!! AND CHICKEN!! And we all rejoiced. Amen.

The next few weeks are filled with poopy shit, and stinky crap (school stuff). And it sucks. I mean, I guess I don't really have it as bad as most everyone else does, but school sucks either way right? Anyways... I have a test tomorrow for Sociology that I should honestly do really well in, and a test on Thursday in Calc 3 that I should also do well in. For Easter, I do plan on going home, although our family doesn't really do anything special for it. I'm mostly going home, because 1) my sisters miss me, 2) it's the last weekend that Kimmy will for sure not be busy, 3) Kevin is home from DC and wants to hang out with me and Shaun, 4) because no one's going to be here, and 5) because I'm not going to be incredibly busy this weekend anyway. On the 14th, we have a concert. It should prove to be pretty good, because... we're cool like that? Yeah.

It's really scary to think that the semester is already nearing a close. A lot of stuff has happened this semester both professionally and personally for me, and I'm almost going to be sad that it's gone. But I know that this summer, and next school year, have much in store that will keep me on my toes. Besides, I can't stop time anyway, unless I enter in cheat codes, and I usually try to get through the first time on my own.

Anyhoo... nothing extremely insightful, nothing overly exciting, nothing to really complain much about... I guess I'm just content, for once, with who I am and where I'm at in my life.

Bryan is fat, with cholesterol levels constantly on the rise, and Dan is bald and ginormous. Later.

Joins the Bandwagon...

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 00:56:03 GMT

And here's my (tentative) schedule for next semester!!!

Monday:
ENG 201 - Intermediate Composition - 1:00-1:50 pm
GEO 373 - Latin America - 2:00-3:15 pm

Tuesday:
PSY 285 - Research Methods - 11:00-12:15 am
MTH 334 - Differential Equations - 2:00-3:15 pm
MUS 186U - U Band - 6:30-7:45 pm

Wednesday:
same as Monday

Thursday:
same as Tuesday minus Band

Friday:
ENG 201 - Intermediate Compostion - 1:00-1:50 pm

Also, I'm signing up as Dr. Backs' TA next semester for 3 credits. And if I ever have to be in class for that, it's at 9 am. Basically, I'll be grading tests and homework assignments, and possibly teaching a class if he's gone.

If I change anything in this schedule, it'll be to have my classes earlier, since I can change any of them, except for math and band, because there are many sections of them. Math I may take a different class depending on how my math advisor, Dr. Lenker, tells me when I ask him about it tomorrow; I'm signing my minor tomorrow somewhere between 1:00 and 2:00. The other choices that I want to take in math are MTH 341 - College Geometry or MTH 332 - Introduction to Analysis, or maybe even being crazy and taking a 500-level math like Theory of Numbers, Modern Algebra I, or Advanced Calculus I.

I was also going to take my speech class next semester, but after a re-analysis of the situation, I have too much on my plate as it is. I'm also planning on getting more research experience, but this time hopefully with Dr. Gibson. If he doesn't have room, then I'll stick with Dr. Backs for now.

Anyhoo, my life is boring right now (just reading and shat) so I'll see y'all lata!

NOTE: Bryanfat is not for human consumption. If you accidentally ingest some, call your local Poison Control immediately. Most importantly do not induce vomitting. It will just make things worse.

Hyperspheres!

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 17:46:47 GMT

Damn, what the hell is that? We had a substitute in Calc 3 yesterday (Dr. Vermeire) and he presented us with the ideas of double and triple integration. He was absolutely hilarious, and was also the only English-speaking math professor I've had thus far. One his more memorable quotes (math nerd):

Dr. Vermeire: What is the sine of 2 class?
class: *befuddled looks*
Dr. Vermeire: Nobody knows! It's just the sine of 2!

Right I'm lame... anyways... at the end of class he showed us how to get the area of a circle (integration), then the volume of a sphere (double integration), and then the hypervolume of a hypersphere (triple integration). As we all know the area of a circle and the volume of a sphere both have formulas; these formulas are derived from the integration formulas. Similarly hypervolume has a generalizable formula:

Area: Pi * r^2
Volume: (4/3) Pi * r^3
Hypervolume: (1/2) Pi^2 * r^4

Let me just state for a second that the hypersphere I am discussing here is a 3-sphere. n-spheres are discussed as being in (n+1) dimensions. Thus, a circle is a 1-sphere, a sphere is a 2-sphere, and so forth.

Anyway, the formulas for finding "volume" of an n-sphere are obviously not easily discernable. The "surface area" formulas are just as difficult to generalize a statement to all n-spheres:

Circumference: 2 Pi * r
Surface area: 4 Pi * r^2
Surface volume: 2 Pi^2 * r*3

Of course, those of us in calculus know that any general form of suface area can be obtained by taking the derivative of volume, and inversely volume obtained by integrating surface area.

So why do I mention this not easily discernable fact of n-spheres? To illustrate the point that we live in a world in 3 dimensions! It has been said that any being living in an n-dimension can visualize 0 to n dimensions with ease. From our perspective, anything beyond our third dimension cannot be visualized without extreme caution taken. Take the example of a circle living on a piece of paper. To this circle, a person moving anything in space seems like a god. Certainly, if we were similarly to be presented by a being living in a fourth dimension, and this being moved objects across the fourth dimension, we would believe this being to be a god no doubt.

So then, if there is a fourth dimension, how would we as individuals living in a third dimension be able to tangibly visulize this? A simple (kinda) method of doing this is being able to project n-dimensions onto (n-1)-dimensions. For example, imagine a sphere floating in space, and the sun is directly overhead. The resulting shadow on the ground would be a projection of the sphere into a 2-dimensional space. And what shape is this object? It is a circle! Similarly, if you were to project this circle into one dimension, it would be a line (the domain of the equation of a circle, for those who know what I'm talking about). So, then, one could reasonably assume that a sphere would be an effective projection of a hypersphere, right? However, the projection would not just encompass the outer shell of the shell, but also all of the innards as well. So then, we can inversely imagine this object by similar means of the projection. Lets talk about cubes and squares for a bit. A 2-dimensional square is bounded by 1-dimensional surfaces, correct? Yes, of course; 4 lines bound a square. Also, a 3-dimensional cube is bounded by 2-dimensional surfaces. A cube is bounded by 6 squares. We all know that from elementary geometry! So then, it should be true that a 4-dimensional hypercube would be bounded by 3-dimensional surfaces. It turns out there are 8 of these. By knowing this little tidbit of information, one can generalize that an n-dimensional cube is bounded by 2n (n-1)-dimensional surfaces. In modern physics, the fourth dimension is said to be the dimension of time. So then, a hypershere has a domain encompassing a sphere and all its innards that moves about in time? In fact, computer generators have been able to visualize these as objects moving in time. The best example is a tesserect, a hypercube in space. If you are interested, there is a picture by Salvador Dali called Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus). It is a picture depicting the crucifixion of Jesus, but on a net tesserect. The last statement that I want to make about this is that one can state that any intersection of a hypersphere with a "hyperplane" is just the surface area of a sphere. That can be generalized as well: a circle is intersected through the middle by a line, and the result is a line; a sphere is intersected in the middle by a plane, and the result is a circle; an n-sphere is cut an (n-1)-dimension plane, and the result is an (n-1)-sphere.

So, what is it that you can get out of having read this? Purely theoretical math concepts. And if you read all of this, I commend you.

Outside of doing this, I've basically taken this week as an extension to my Spring Break, since I didn't really want it to end. It seriously feels good to do nothing for two weeks, even if I haven't actually done nothing. I'm still doing all of my homework, and reading, just if I decide I don't want to do it anymore, I just don't do it. It's probably not a very good idea, but it seems to be a good motivator for me. *shrugs* Next week, I'll be all back to normal, though, so meh.

Bryan is fat (I saw for myself, and yes he is); Dan is gargantuan (also saw with my own two eyes).

Later.

Blackbird

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 06:52:06 GMT

A lot has gone on in the last month. I'm not going to get into too many details, but yeah, it's been nice.

Right now, I'm at home, watching an old re-run of Conan. Good stuff there. I've been playing on guitars just about constantly since I've been here. Greatest thing ever = learning how to play Blackbird. lol... My dad wants to get some music together and play at his bar some time in the summer. That would be effin' sweet!

Spring Break is almost over, and I'm not ready to go back yet...

Tomorrow, Kimmie and I are taking my sisters skating. That should be fun since I haven't skated in... oh... about 10 years. Yeah. lol

So random thought... have any of you ever had a strange hankerin' for a banjo??? I totally want one... I think it would be SO MUCH FUN. If someone wants to go get banjos with me, we could sit on a porch in the middle of the Appalachians with our slackjaws and do the Dueling Banjos. And then afterwards we could makeout with our cousins and make inbred babies. Or something.

Aaaaannnnyhoo, since I suck and don't know what to write about, I'm out.