I got my first wheresgeorge.com dollar bill today--actually last night, I think. What does that mean? It means that someone, as an art (or something) project, stamped a bunch of dollar bills with, "Track this bill, WheresGeorge.com, See my next stop." You go to the website and enter in the bill's serial number and it's current location. The largest number of entries for any one single bill is 15--I'm the second entry for my bill, which was initially tagged in Las Vegas. The best George story I read was that someone's kids found the bill in a sealed two-liter in the water, and the guy then took the bill with him fishing and tossed it back in. Someone else found the bill while he was fishing, and his girlfriend used it to purchase a hotdog.

By the by, I remember having heard about this project before. I do believe the stamping of the bills is, in fact, legal.

My sister just called me. She said something along the lines of, "Hey, I just wanted to let you know that someone found me through the Internet and called me to ask for riding lessons." The guy actually googled middle tennessee riding or something like that, but my sister is listed as one of the two instructors with that area. The website I made her actually was important; the listing only linked to her website and it was there that the contact information was.

So, I think this is really cool. I like it when things I do turn out to be good for people.

On a related note, does anyone have any suggestions for getting my sister's website indexed with Google? I've already submitted it, but I'm sorta thinking that does squat.

I think I've been pretty happy recently. All of the gifts I gave to people turned out pretty well--I gave my mom a double boiler (which she's apparently "always wanted"), I gave my dad an automata that I designed and printed (yes, I printed an actual 3d object), and I made my sister her website.

Also, thank you to everyone who gave me a gift for my birthday or for Christmas. After having heard about the virtues of giving and selflessness for so long it feels almost wrong to be happy about the things that I get, but I am.

This may sound weird to those of you who usually only see my cynical side, but I really do think I'm one of the luckiest people I know and I'm really grateful for it. I don't really want to go into all the reasons why I think I'm lucky because that just seems too cheesy.

So. Happy Holidays, Happy New Year. I hope things are going well for you too.

It's been a while since I've updated, but I don't think anyone's noticed.

I went to go rent a movie a while ago. I had to wait for five minutes or so for someone to notice that I was ready to rent the movies. After someone finally came over to help me, there was some sort of problem with my account that required no less than three employees to figure out. During that time, Nicholas and I got to listen to a little girl crying because her dog had been hit by a car. They finally figured out that, even though I had rented videos from this place once before and had a membership paper on file, I was not entered in to their electronic system. This actually turned out to be a good thing, because I think the last time I rented there I turned in my videos way, way late and this way I had no late fee.

I suppose the moral of the story is that people screwing up sometimes ends up benefiting you and giving you the opportunity to listen to little girls crying.

Also, I am going to be in the suburbs for my birthday (Dec. 17). I expect to be celebrating it with those of you who still live up there or who will be back for winter break.

So freecycle.org is about the coolest site ever. It's a place where people offer the crap they want to get rid of and other people take it. So far I have gotten a couch, a loveseat, a table, a grater, and a desk and a dresser that have gone to Nicholas. I've also given away stuff too, but not cool stuff like that.

I'm officially living in my house now, and I'm ever so thankful that I inherited a window air conditioner from my sister. Not that she's dead--she just didn't need it anymore. I like my house but it's kinda dirty and a bit falling apart and spidery. I've realized that I wanted to live somewhere that is not just "as nice as I could make it" but is actually nice. Illini Tower, where I lived during my freshman year, was perhaps less than nice. The apartment I lived in last year was okay but my bedroom was too small to really be fully functional.

Oh yeah, about that. The kid I sublet my apartment to for the summer got evicted. Apparently there was criminal activity going on. Thankfully the kid went quietly so my (and Cecilia's) credit rating will not be affected. Unfortunately, he still owes me like $200. Well... it was a learning experience and I came out of it with some money anyway.

I was living with Nicholas during the first part of this summer. Then his ceiling started falling in and I took that as a sign to move into my current house. Now Nicholas mostly lives here, too, but he'll be moving over to the sprout factory after he finishes installing the carpet and things like that.

The summer program I was in is now over. Classes start in about three weeks.

I planted twenty-eight pepper plants in my backyard two days ago. I went to check on them today only to find that they had been completely decimated by a lawn mower. This was the first time in a while that they (the people my landlord gets to mow) had mown--I know this because there were small trees growing back there.

I'm annoyed.

So here are the really fast updates of my life in no particular order:
- I am living with Nicholas for about three weeks until my lease at the house begins. It's a little crowded.
- I found someone to sublet my room in the apartment I shared with Cecilia.
- I work at the Beckman Institute doing programming stuff. I'm also working on the Airstream Project, which is in commemoration of the interstate's 75th anniversary.
- I am not moving home for the summer.

Nicholas is writing a program that finds user names on LJ and records them, then finds their Friends and records them, then finds their friends and records them, and so on. He has over a million names at this point although I'm not (and probably you aren't, if you're my Friend) on this list yet.

What's he going to do with this list? Via programming, he's going to take every entry he can find and count all of the words in each entry. These words will then be tallied and displayed with the number of times the word occured and the % of total words counted it is.

So... why am I telling you this?

I want you to mix things up.

I want you to post your favorite little-used word on your journal. Thousands of times. I want to see posts that are only words like "euhemerism" over and over. This way words that should be way back in the boonies of this program will get more limelight, and things will be... a little screwed up.

Please note that private posts will not be included in this program so it has to be a public post. I'd also like it if you posted this message so your friends could see it, and it would be great if you commented to this post so I could see who all's posting what.

I've started volunteering at the Humane Society here in CU, and it's usually a lot of fun: I get to play with dogs and feel good about it because it's "volunteering." I fall in love at least once every time I go, and I usually leave pretty happy.

Today was kind of different.

The first dog I walked today was Jack, who was a real sweetie (although maybe drugged up because he'd just been neutered). Happily, he was adopted and hopefully in the position to go home to a loving family.

I was out with Jack until about half an hour before the humane society closed and (almost) all of the dogs had been walked. I was going to go home until I noticed the one dog that hadn't. Her name is Coco, and I think she's got some pitbull in her. I'd say she's maybe two and a half feet long. She's nine months old. When I walked by her run, she perked her head up and slowly got up to come over and see me. That was when I noticed that she didn't look so good. Her eyes were goopy. In some spots she had no fur, and all over most of her body her fur was so thin that you could easily see her skin. When her tail wasn't wagging, it immediately went down between her legs. Her chest was about a foot across, but her waist was so skinny that I could have put my hands around it. I later noticed that she had just gotted spayed, which was (at least partially) why she had a hard time getting up to come and see me.

What all of that means is, basically, that whoever had had her during her short life had neglected her to the point of cruelty. Someone just did not feed her. Being that skinny is not healthy for a dog and is, I believe, the result of severe hunger. The lack of hair indicates horrendously poor nutrition. Goopy eyes means sickness, maybe allergies that no one's bothered to take care of. I mentioned that she had just been spayed; this is not a sign of cruelty (and the humane society spays or neuters all of its cats and dogs) but just added to the discomfort this dog was feeling.

So what did this neglected, downtrodded (and also probably drugged up) dog do when I walked by? Just because I paused to look at her, Coco got up and came over to see me. Because she seemed so nice and hadn't been out yet I decided to take her on a walk. This dog was nothing but loving. She wagged her tail every time I looked at her. When I stopped, sat down and called her name, she happily came over to me, got as close as she could get, and licked my chin. Her tailed wagged even harder when I gave her a gentle hug.

I had to take Coco back in because the humane society was closing for the day, but I wish I could have stayed with her. I was amazed that something who had been mistreated so badly was still so damn nice; if someone had routinely starved me, I would probably be angry at everybody.

What's been killing me is that someone, over the course of months, was starving this affectionate, loving dog. How could anyone be so cruel?

I sorta wish someone would make Aaron Lewis happy so that Staind would stop making such crappy songs.

My dad forwards me things. This is the most recent one and even he acknowledges that it may not be true. It seems fairly accurate to me.

***

WATER

1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.

2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often mistaken for hunger.

3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as much as 3% !

4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.

5. Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.

6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.

7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger a fuzz of short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.

8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.

And now for the properties of COKE:

1. In many states (in the USA) the highway patrol carries two gallons of coke in the truck to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.

2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days

3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the "real thing" sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous China.

4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bu! mpers: Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.

5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.

6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Applying a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.

7. To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before the ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.

8. To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of coke into a load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains.

9. It will also clean road haze from your windshield.

For Your Info:

1. The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. Its pH is 2.8. It will dissolve a nail in about 4 days.

Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase in osteoporosis.

2. To carry Coca-Cola syrup (the concentrate) the commercial truck must use the Hazardous material placards reserved for Highly corrosive materials.

3. The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean the engines of their trucks for about 20 years!

I believe that I may have mentioned that Nicholas and I are in a class called Programming for Artists. Because we're both such stellar students, our teacher asked us if we wanted to work on a project that would actually be displayed in the museum at our school. (She mostly asked Nicholas, really, but... I've carried my weight.)

So Nicholas and I have been working on this project which I call "The Room of Economics." It's basically a visual representation of a work written by an esteemed English professor here. Nicholas and Rose (our teacher) have done the coding, this girl Erin from our class has made the backgrounds, and I? I did the sound for this thing. I've never done sound before but it turned out to be fun. Unfortunately I haven't been able to do exactly what I want with it, but I think that I'll be able to figure that out in the future.

Guess what, though? The opening is tomorrow. Like, TOMORROW. I did throw together some MP3s to play and it's still kinda cool, but it isn't what I wanted... but wow. That's gonna be cool.

Here's a link for those of you who are interested. http://www.canvas.uiuc.edu/.

Oh my crap, I bet that Brian's back! Damn!

So Superbowl 40 has come and gone. I just realized that I do not know who won, I do not know who played, I don't know where it was played, and I know nothing of the halftime show or any zanny commercials.

Somehow, this makes me feel pure.

Well, that pink insanity is over.

I guess I don't have very much worth saying. This may be a first.

For those of you who are interested in such things, Nicholas has a new online writing space: Untitled - by Narada.

The University of Illinois is experiencing a budget crisis. Some of the lecture halls have peeling paint, chipped tile, breaking desks etc, and some of the art buildings are just digusting. That being said, can someone explain to me why we just installed a fitness center with a water slide?

So I actually went running/jogging today. This activity is no longer my sworn enemy. My sworn enemy is now the random pain that my body experiences throughout random activities.
In a related note, I had a conversation with Robin, who mentioned that she had exercised-induced asthma. She specifically mentioned that she had never had an attack until just recently, but had asthma all the same. This got me to thinking, "Wow! Maybe feeling like I'm going to die every time I run because breathing is so painful is because I have exercise-induced asthma!" This would make sense, as my father has full-blown chronic asthma and my sister has exercise-induced asthma. I always figured that I just had crappy lungs, though, because I'd never had an asthma attack. So I go to be tested (at some point), and then maybe breathing will be fun again.


Speaking of fun! Classes start tomorrow! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! I'm just so happy!






Robin and I are going to start fencing. Well, I definitely am, although it seems that Robin may have some schedule conflicts. But I'm excited. I miss physical activity, and I really did enjoy fencing when I felt that I was still learning about it. It started sucking when I didn't feel that I was progressing anymore.


Classes that I am taking and my initial impression of them:
Drawing II: I started to get my act together at the end of Drawing I and really felt like I was accomplishing something, and I hope that feeling continues through this class. Also, I think we get to draw naked people.
Design II: I really disliked Design I (in good part because I did not like how my professor taught), so I hope that this class is a lot better.
"Programming for Artists": I think that this class might be the most helpful class that I can take right now, because I like computers and I'm an artist, but I'm worried that it might be more work than I'm willing or able to do. I am still looking forward to it.
Viking Mythology: This is a class that is completely unnecessary for me to take. That being said, I've heard that it's awesome and I am really excited to be taking it.
Native American History from 1850-present: This seems interesting, and I liked how this professor addressed this issue in one of the other classes that I took. It also helps fulfill requirements for my minor, so that's good.

Your Irish Name Is...

Siobhan Flynn

I only posted that because I think Siobhan is a pretty name, even though I'm not positive on how to pronounce it. According to a website, it's sha-VAHN. Cool.

I helped build a house today. Actually, let's start somewhere else.

I called up Robin this morning. The conversation went approximately like this:
R: Hello?
A: Hey! Want to come help build a house?
R: Sure! Wait. What?

So Robin, Nicholas and I got into a car and headed to the sprout factory and helped build a house out there. Lisa came and helped, too. We moved some stuff that would have been difficult for less people to move, and it was fun. Other highlights included a ride in the bed of a truck, petting Zoie the dog, and eating popcorn, cookies, and some nice warm beverage that I forget the name of.

Now, however, I have a cold.

Also, my car has ceased to start on a predictable basis. This adds some stress to my life, not just for the obvious reasons but because when I go home for Thanksgiving now revolves around whether or not I have to take it home to get it fixed. Things are further complicated by trying to figure out if Nicholas will be accompanying me or not and what plans are for Brian's homecoming. I predict that Brian won't like Nicholas if they meet because Brian doesn't like anyone I'm dating. Maybe I secretly have horrible taste in guys. I dunno. My sister wants to meet him.

Guys, I'm tired. Stupid freaking cold. I will probably sleep through my lectures tomorrow if I don't end up feeling better. This happened last week too. No really, I swear I didn't go to class because I was sick. Honestly. *wink!*

Also, my hair is now "pomegranate" colored.