Djereometer

2006-10-31T20:57:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody,

It's been a long, long, long time.

I'm sorry.

As you know, I'm still living at Grandma's. As such, I'm not online anymore.

I'm sorry, I'd really, really, really like to be, but I can't stand dialup.

I'll try to write again soon.

Horticulturally Yours,

Djere

2006-08-05T23:17:00.000-04:00

"In the blood of the martyrs lies the seed of the Church" -Tertullian

2006-06-05T18:40:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 6:39 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Tired
Reasons: Well, I'm home for the summer, but not really home home. I'm living at Grandma's house for the summer, so far. I'm still working at Lowe's (I'm improving home improvement) for now. I've applied to work as the Public Information Officer for Oswego County's Department of Tourism, but I won't hear about that job for a while (June 7th at the earliest) so for now I'm content with Lowe's. (though there's an editor's position open at the newspaper in Malone...)

So, I'm still alive, but I'm at my grandmother's so I can't get my computer online. Hopefully I'll get the job in O-go and I'll get an apartment and Road Runner.

That is all.

2006-05-18T01:01:00.000-04:00

Watch this.

Just do it.

2006-05-16T12:30:00.000-04:00

Lens Cleaner Is Recalled Worldwide

Bausch & Lomb recalled its lens cleaner because tests showed that it could leave consumers at risk for a potentially blinding fungal infection.

That's the kind of news that makes me glad I don't wear contacts...

2006-05-04T09:30:00.000-04:00

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I NEED A RESUMÉ!

2006-04-29T13:01:00.000-04:00

They were men who, given a mob of people decrying the God of heaven and cursing the Name of Christ declared their work "the best thing that ever happened to this campus."

They were men who, saw their group was dwindling so they yelled, "Just wait until you hear what I have to say about fornicators, masturbators, drunkards, and gays!" until the crowds returned.

They were men who, given a crying girl and Christ's self-proclaimed mission to heal the brokenhearted, casually stated, "I would rather you weep over your sin."

When I asked why they didn't live among the gentiles to demonstrate their works, as it commands in 1 Peter 2:12, rather than preaching to stir up contention as Paul derides in Philippians 1:15-17 the only response they had was: "Who are you to accuse me? Do you know who else accuses the brothers? The devil. You are a child of your father the devil. You, sir, are a Pharisee."

They were men who, given a crowd of corpses shouted, "Stop being dead!" instead of "Get up and live!"

They were prideful, haughty, under the influence of a religious spirit, accusatorial (especially of Christians), and unwilling to listen to anyone who would not approach them through the Ray Comfort hoops they had set up.

They say they will never stop preaching hellfire and damnation until every person understand that they are criminals in God's eyes; that God sends people to hell for their individual sina. They see God more as a punisher of sins than a redeemer of souls.

I pray they don't return, but they say they will, annually.

At least the Name of Christ was named...

2006-04-25T11:32:00.000-04:00

While we wait for this current Challenge to be posted (MAN Djere is so lazy!) I propose a temporary challenge that may become a recurring one.

The Six Degrees of Wikipedia... and Kevin Bacon

Starting HERE, at Kevin Bacon's wikipedia article, get to something absolutely ridiculous using only six mouse clicks.

For example:
Kevin Bacon -> JFK (Film)
JFK (Film) -> President of the United States
President of the United States -> Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan -> Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev -> Birthmark
Birthmark -> Radiation

As a suggestion, I'd like to see how many degrees separate Kevin Bacon and Joseph Smith, founder of Mormonism.

EDIT: I got there in three!

2006-04-20T12:30:00.000-04:00

Yeah, the barbeque was great. Special thanks to Ben, without whose presence the barbeque could not have taken place. Thanks to everyone who came, and thanks to everyone who didn't (which allowed me to eat more london broil and pork).

Walking around the campus today, I'm really just full of loathing. I don't know what it is, but I look around and I see all these people, and I'm just disgusted. By what they say, what they do, the way everybody's an individual just like everybody else, just like Hot Topic wanted them to do.

I don't know, everywhere I look I see these sullen, sunken-down, depressed-looking people, and it makes my heart sick.

Coming back from class, I was looking around at all these people and I thought to myself: "Does beauty even exist anymore?"

It could be that I'm taking some things to heart, that I'm feeling particularly Ecclesiastical, or that last night I was woken up too many times to count by stupid, petty, miserable people that I'm tired, grumpy, and vindictive. I'm taking a nap after class. And eating the "Yard-O-Beef" Steve and Missy brought to the BBQ.

Cheers,

Djere

2006-04-13T15:50:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 3:49 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Pretty good, all things considered
Reasons: Well, first of all, I'm only posting at the request of Karen E. Lupia, one of my best friends. Even if we're not dating anymore (in case anybody didn't know), she still means a lot to me and we're still friends.

That said, by the authority vested in me by my over-inflated ego, I heretofore decree that Wednesday, 19 April 2006 to be the first Barbeque of the year!

Behold, forsooth, for I will make fire and grill meat. Furthermore, we will hit golfballs into the lake.

Stephen and Thomas, consider yourselves invited. Other people, consider yourselves invited.

It's tradition to have BBQs out behind Scales hall, and we don't have any classes on that day, so, that's the day we're doing it. I'm going to be calling people to invite them as well, and we'll see how it goes and who wants to come.

I really hope people come.

You'll come...

right?

2006-03-28T01:13:00.000-05:00

HAPPY MOM DAY!

2006-03-27T23:43:00.000-05:00

2006-03-19T22:19:00.000-05:00

As a man of the world, it's important not to give away all of my secrets at once. However, I feel like it's important to give the pups out there a leg up.

The secret to my success?

Away messages.

About 250 of them, and more every day.

2006-03-17T08:52:00.000-05:00

Man, Jake. You're a bigger jerk than I am.

Djere1: So Jake, you were a history major... Was the potato famine really all that bad?
SirMaximus***: yes
SirMaximus***: it sent the irish here

Doing a little research, I've found several examples of people of non-irish heritage wearing orange on St. Patrick's Day, just to tick off the Irish. Italians, Scandinavians, Jews,

As I promised, I personally have sworn off bashing the Irish, so in honor of Aunt Su, Happy St. Patrick's Day to all you protestants out there.

From imao.us:
Selected Fun Facts about the Irish:

* If encountering a drunken Irishman, be careful not to make any sudden arm movements. This may cause the Irishman to either hug or punch you or a combination of the two.

* In a fight between the Irish and Aquaman, the Irish would buy Aquaman a few rounds well telling him all about his ancestry in Ireland - whether he actually had any or not. After having enough drinks, the Irish would then pummel Aquaman until he was unconscious and then throw him in a bog.

* Irish as a prefix means "contains alcohol" such as Irish coffee, Irish cream, and Irishman.

* In Ireland, the bartender is most sacred job to hold - more revered than a priest. After that, the most prestigious job is a professional soccer player... but only if they're winning.

* While no notable scientific achievements have ever happened in Ireland, most people would trade all those for a good pint of Guinness any day.

2006-03-10T12:53:00.000-05:00

Time Check: 12:52 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
Mood Check: Excellent but...
Reasons: Well, Karen and I have made it, more or less, through one year of being together.

And it makes me very happy.

However, we won't be getting together tonight. But soon.

I love you, Sweetheart.
---

Don't like it? Don't read it.

2006-03-08T02:33:00.000-05:00

A. Check out Random Creative Writing.
B. Check out the last post about Alice Cooper. Apparently, he's born-again now.
C. Check out and ENTER the djere.net challenge. Who's in?

2006-03-06T01:03:00.000-05:00

Dear Jesus,

Please explain this to me. Thank you.

Love,

Djere

2006-03-04T23:45:00.000-05:00

Announcing...

Djere.net Challenge 4: The Little Yellow Slicker

Your task, should you choose to accept it is as follows.

Using a standard word processor (Open Office, Word Perfect, Word Pad, Works, or Word) write a short story. The story must include a standard Yellow rubber raincoat, also known as a "slicker." Any length will be accepted, though prime real estate would be anywhere around 7 pages or so.

The end goal is to work each of these seemingly unrelated stories into a chain of unrelated stories all united by the yellow slicker and influenced by one another, and put into, possibly, book form. This book would, naturally, be published under the publishing arm of the djere.net universe, Silent D Publishing.

You may enter more than once. You may write an entire story about the slicker, about a person wearing the slicker, or a person looking at a person wearing the slicker, or the slicker can fall out of an airplane onto a car on the highway below, or any imaginable aspect, as long as the slicker's there, you don't mind creative criticism, and you don't mind rewriting it to make for a more cogent, cohesive narrative thread in the end product. Feel free to collaborate slightly with one another. Don't steal ideas from one another. Series of stories will be accepted, as long as they're good, and the final product will be put into, roughly, chronological order, according to the slicker's life timeline.

You must submit your stories as an attachment no later than 9 April 2006 to djere (at) djere (dot) net with the subject line "Challenge 4."

WOO HOO!

2006-03-03T18:06:00.000-05:00

Time Check: 6:06 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
Mood Check: Pretty Good
Reasons: I got some of my work accomplished, though there's bound to be another crunch soon. As Karen so lovingly pointed out, I don't keep a journal every day, which means I do like 4-5 entries at a time, complete with illustrations.

In other news, there's a new post over in Random Creative Writing.

Tomorrow, the new djere.net Challenge will come out, but it's not what you think it is!

ENTER TOMORROW!
---

2006-03-01T20:35:00.000-05:00

Time Check: 8:34 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Tired
Reasons: The crunch is starting. This semester I'm overloaded with busy work that keeps me from doing my regular, real coursework. For example.

I'm an RA. This 'limits' me to 10 hours of extra curriculars each week.
I'm an intern at the LEAD Center. In order to graduate, I need to get credit for my internship. Also I need to actually put out the newsletter for the LEAD Center.
I'm in GST 303. The class is all busy work related to 'how I'm feeling about my internship' and crap like that. It is the stupid way they devised of giving you credit for doing an internship.
I'm in JLM 419 - Capstone. I need to write a 20 page academic paper to get credit for the class. My paper is about teaching JLM 319 how to use Dreamweaver. Which means:
I'm in JLM 319 as an unofficial Teaching Assistant. Every Tuesday, I've got to be in that class helping teach the graphic design and online layout needed for the Online Journalism class.
I'm in CPS 301. The Waste-Of-Time RA class that somebody cooked up so Rick Kolenda won't be out of a job. Every stinking single day, I need to be gazing into my own navel and writing a journal about my feelings and experiences with residents. Worst. Class. Ever.

So please forgive me if I'm grumpy: I just have busy work to do. I'd say I could do it all on Fridays, but I need to work 120 hours this semester. Yep. 12 weeks, 10 hours a week. That's all my extra-curriculars for the year in that one internship. Fortunately I did a no-credit internship last semester, so we're pretty 'cool' about the number of hours I work for my internship. But I still need to spend a lot of time in the office.

A mixed blessing is that Karen's in Syracuse. I love her a lot, but I'm glad she's gone because if she was always around, I'd never get my work done. I would fail this semester if she were here. But I miss her, so I'm glad she'll be at the Greutman's for 7 weeks at the end of the semester.

I need more sleep.
---

2006-02-22T18:20:00.000-05:00

My first column for the Oswegonian called "The Silent D"

Iran's Ire

Here in America, we’re pretty keen on keeping our freedoms. We like the right to say what we want, where we want, when we want, with whomever we want, and to do it all on our cell phones during a movie.

As Americans, we generally think of ourselves as the bastion of such freedoms.

“If we don’t protect them, who will?” we ask one another as we pump our SUVs full of gasoline. “Not Europe, that’s for sure!”

Well, it turns out Europe is standing tall in the face of crisis. It’s called “conviction to principles,” kids.

All over the globe, Muslims are rioting to protest the publication of twelve cartoons featuring the Prophet Muhammad in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. Many of the illustrations were merely pen-and-ink, no message. Only two made overt political statements.

Iran has demanded an apology from the Prime Minister of Denmark for the newspapers sins. The same Iran that refuses to recognize Israel as a state. The same Iran that holds conferences to refute the Holocaust. The same Iran that is illegally enriching Uranium.

Many countries in the Muslim world are boycotting the entire nation of Denmark. Why? Because the Danish Prime Minister will not apologize for the remarks of a private newspaper. Instead, the P.M. has called for “mutual respect and tolerance between countries and religions.”

In response, mobs sacked the Norwegian and Danish embassies in different countries and armed men stormed the European Union’s offices in the Gaza Strip. Rioting has killed over 200 people around the Muslim world and mobs have burned countless businesses, homes, and churches. Nigeria has declared a state of emergency.

For the second time in as many “cartoon scandals,” Iran is just that, scandalized.

This time a German newspaper is to blame. In the wake of the last cartoon riots, Der Tagesspiegel, a German daily, printed a cartoon featuring four members of the Iranian soccer team dressed as suicide bombers. Clearly bad taste, but freedom of the press is freedom of the press.

The newspaper responded to Iran’s ire by writing, “We journalists comply with the law and court decisions. But we do not comply with the prejudices of a humour-resistant Islamic taste-police which believes that whatever is Western is decadent, and whoever is not a believer is immoral.”

Two newspapers, two sets of cartoons, one continuous riot.

I understand the Islamic tradition of not picturing Muhammad, but it’s the 21st century. Murderous riots are not the way to be taken seriously. Muslim leaders around the world expect reverence and awe when it comes to Islam’s holiest people and sites, but feel no remorse when it comes to blowing up two of the world’s largest shrines to Buddha.

There is a global attention to Muslim rioting when Muhammad is pictured in any form in a newspaper, but the U.S. government gives endowments for such timeless classics as the Virgin Mary smeared with feces, a crucifix submerged in a jar of human urine, or the Last Supper with a naked woman standing in for Christ.

Christian outrage was met with yawns from the global media. Perhaps the Baptists should have burned a Burger King to make their point.

When artists violate the delicate sensibilities of imams, people get killed. Whether it’s a murdered Dutch journalist/filmmaker or innocents in the streets of Tehran, people die. When artists exploit the hallowed symbols of Christianity, Judaism, or Buddhism, it is freedom of expression and hailed as genius by art scholars.

If we are truly a culture that supports freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of the press, we must not bow to these pressures. We must not bow to theology popular during the Dark Ages, and we must not shrink back from our obligation to expect civilized discourse from other cultures.

2006-02-13T02:53:00.000-05:00

COMING SOON!

djere.net CHALLENGE #4!

"The words of my mouth"

2006-02-11T10:52:00.000-05:00

yeah, so the Random Creative Writing is now at http://djere.net/rcw

and the forums can be accessed at http://forum.djere.net

2006-02-10T20:23:00.000-05:00

2006-02-10T19:34:00.000-05:00

I recently stumbled across this little webpage.

Uncle Joe, Aunt Betsy, and family: Any thoughts?

Your college is apparently Tech/geeky enough to have a very famous LAN Party.

2006-02-09T23:24:00.000-05:00

"A little something for the ladies." ~Stephen Maxon

2006-02-09T10:02:00.000-05:00

Time Check: 10:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
Mood Check: Excellent.
Reasons: Well, just three more classes, and I'm done for the week. I'm feeling pretty hungry too, but the dining hall isn't open, so I'll just settle for peanut butter.

I was on call last night, fun as usual. Last nights incident report, you ask?

People making out, without pants, in the laundry room.

*sigh*

Tough night.

Plus some memver of our staff lodged a three week old complaint against me, just as I found a violation she committed. So I was accused of this complaint, then of attempting to get retribution for the complaint.

It was my lucky night.

There's something new in Random Creative Writing.

Check it out ------>
---

2006-02-06T02:52:00.000-05:00

Time Check: 2:56 a.m. Eastern Standard Time
Mood Check: Mighty Fine
Reasons: An excellent showing by the Steelers of Pittsburg. I was quite pleased to join Bryan, Paul, Jake, and Nate over at the guys' apartment. Too bad Ryan couldn't make it. Also, other people were there. If they want a mention, they can wait til I do it, or simply put a comment to the effect that they were there.

Simple as that.

Also, if you're interested in publishing some creative writing, email me and I'll add you so you can post anything you want commented on.

(...and I love you.)

2006-02-05T00:51:00.000-05:00

Time Check: 12:52 a.m. Eastern Standard Time
Mood Check: Thrilled
Reasons: Yesterday's Hockey game against Plattsburgh was perhaps the best single hockey game I have ever personally attended.

It was an epic game, stemming from a long and glorious rivalry. A mighty slugfest with Oswego coming out on top 7-6.

Plattsburgh took the early lead, and by their second goal several non-hockey fans in attendance were getting antsy, so a tramp sitting in front of Ryan Miller threw a bagel onto the ice. So I calmly reached into my mouth, removed my gum, and tossed my gum into her ratty hair.

Wrong? Yes. Hilarious? Yes. Did she even throw the bagel? Probably not. The angle it came from had to be either her or the guy in front of her, but the guy looked so suprised that the bagel was on the ice that I went with my gut instinct. She later removed it without incident.

Thousands of bagels were hurled onto the ice in response to Oswego's first goal. Oswego received a bench minor after another retard threw a bagel onto the ice when OSU scored to tie up the game. Dozens of bagels were hurled at the opposing team when all was said and done.

Tonight's game against the less-than-mighty Bears of Potsdam was exciting, but for different reasons. Oswego State humiliated Potsdam State 9 to 3. There were no survivors.

On no less than two separate breakaways, Freshman forward Rick Varone duped Junior goalie Vinny Cuccaro with the exact same move. The move left Cuccaro literally face down, slapping the ice with his hand and covering his head in shame.

In the final five minutes of play, it was 8-2 Oswego when out of nowhere, Oswego Sophomore forward C.J. Thompson was charged with a five-minute major penalty, Game Misconduct and was ejected from the game. Potsdam then pulled their goalie giving them an incredible 6-4 man advantage. Despite their best efforts to score, Sophomore goaltender Ryan Scott was nigh unto unstoppable, stopping excellent chance after excellent chance. Potsdam scored on a deflection and put their goalie back in. Next play? Oswego shorthanded goal.

The crowd erupted into cheers of "We want 10!"

It was the Great Lakers' last game in Romney Field House.

Oswego is now in first place, and it looks like they're assured of home ice in the playoffs.

What a weekend of hockey!
---
"national guard is running around
looking for the monkey but he can't be found
cause he's down by the pond playin hockey with the kids

and all the teachers are running around
looking for the children but they can't be found
cause they're down by the pond playin hockey with the monkey"
~The Zambonis, Hockey Monkey

2006-02-04T04:10:00.000-05:00

Time Check: 4:10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time
Mood Check: HULK SMASH!
Reasons: At about 3:15 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, and unknown person discharged a type ABC fire extinguisher in the 1st floor South Lobby of Seneca Hall. The resulting discharge of chemical flame retardants into the air tripped the hall's fire alarm. All 10 floors were evacuated. It is my understanding that this is a felony offense.

Personally, I was in a very blissful state of REM sleep. Seeing that it was an hour of the night when God Himself would be in bed, I grabbed my coat, put on a hoodie, grabbed Karen's coat (she was staying with Alicia but had her coat in my room) and locked my door.

I gathered residents in my section and ushered them out the door.

One of my residents, in an attempt to get noticed, came down in only his boxers. I gave him my emergency blanket. I gave Melissa Garwol, Assistant Hall Director, my coat. I gave Karen her coat.

About an hour later, we were allowed back in the building.

We are not happy campers.

2006-02-02T23:12:00.000-05:00

Time Check: 11:12 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
Mood Check: Pretty Good
Reasons: It's been a while since I actually sat down and slammed out a real post, so I thought I might for a change.

This semester's looking pretty good. Monday's and Wednesday's load is one class deep, JLM 419, Senior Capstone.
Tuesday and Thursday carry me away with three classes.
EWA 308, Creative Nonfiction Writing II
CPS 301, Critical Issues in Personnel (The 'RA class')
and POL 205, American Government something-or-other with a loon teaching the class.

(Example of lunacy: "The Second and Third Amendments to the Constitution are moot. There's just no reason to have them in there anymore." "The War in Iraq is such an unspeakable abomination, I can't stand it.")

Karen is gone, living in Syracuse for half the semester to do her student teaching (which she loves) which means I have time to spend with people I haven't spent time with in a while.

Don't get me wrong, I love her, but she freely admits that she monopolizes my time whenever she can. Heck, I'd spend every minute of every day with me if I could... wait, I do!

Anyway, so I'm taking EWA 308 and I remembered that long, long ago, nigh unto a year ago, I created another blogspot outlet for Random Creative Writing. At the time I was taking Creative Nonfiction I and Rob Lawry was doing a lot of writing, so we both created it, but never really did anything with it.

So, I wrote a short piece for class today, so I posted it there. It's in my links section now. Creative Writing. You can't miss it.

It's pretty open to the public, so if you want to post something for people to freely comment upon etc., send me an email and I'll hook you up with posting privilege.
---
"It's not just melodies and harmonies that capture His attention."
~Tim Grant, Greatest Song of All

2006-01-31T00:10:00.000-05:00

This semester's courseload is pretty light. One monday, three-and-a-half Tuesday, Two Wednesday, three Thursday, none friday.

However, I am taking advanced coursework in Necrobiology with Dr. Max Brooks which fills up most of my time.

Karen's in Syracuse, so it's pretty lonely without her. Yeah, I've got more spare time, but I miss her.

camini in cruor et incendia

2006-01-13T00:52:00.000-05:00

Two words.

Correction: Two simple words were all it took for Thomas to earn a coveted Djere.net bonus point.

For those of you who don't participate in the forums, you wouldn't know what those words are.

Just this once, I'll tell you the words, but to understand the brilliance, the saivoire-faire... the context, you'll need to go to the djere.net forums for yourself and find the "I LOVE" thread.

Those two words?

"And twins."

2005-12-29T03:36:00.000-05:00

Time Check: 3:36 a.m. Eastern Standard Time
Mood Check: Less than ideal
Reasons: So I guess it's not an adequate excuse to say that I haven't really been feeling like myself, is it? Because I really haven't been.

I got my grades, A, B+, B+, B- (3.33). I guess that's good. It balloons my GPA up to 3.26 from a paltry 3.25.

I've been working as a cashier at Lowe's and I absolutely hate it. I'm sick and tired of people not knowing what they're talking about and looking at me like I'm a chimpanzee with a learning disability because they're wrong. I loved working Outside Lawn and Garden; it's exactly what I wanted to do. But this.... this stinks beyond belief. Standing, in one place, with nothing to do, for 7 hours. Ugh. And all this week I've been working overnight at the hotel 11-7:30 (where I am now), sleeping for about 5.5 hours, then going to Lowe's 3-10:30, and starting all over again at the hotel. Fortunately this is my last night at the hotel and I'm going to call in sick at Lowe's.

Fortunately my headaches have been going away. At the end of the semester, I was dealing with a lot of stuff and stress just got to me and nailed me to the wall. I started getting terrible headaches from tightness in the back of my head every day for two-and-a-half weeks, but they're now confined to just the occasional headache and a twinge of pain every once in a while.

Oh, yeah. Christmas came and left bringing wishes of good will, tidings of comfort and joy, and a confirmed wumpus sighting. There's a strict 'don't-ask-don't-tell policy regarding that.

So, sorry I'm an abject failure regarding the djereometer's upkeep. I'll try to do better and get into posting again. I'll try.

---
"I don't wanna know if the answers aren't easy
So just bring it down from the mountain to me
I want a new law
I want a new law
Just give me that new law

Cause what's the use in trading a law you can never keep
For one you can that cannot get you anything..."
~Derek Webb, A New Law

2005-12-04T21:19:00.000-05:00

Fwoooosh.

Yesterday, I think the stress finally caught up to me and I went a little crazy. I definitely needed some alone time. Then, today was an incredibly emotionally exhausting day. I'm ready for vacation.

Golly, I sure do love Karen. Thanks for being there for me.

Encouragement for the weary

2005-11-29T10:09:00.000-05:00

No matter who you are, where you're from, or what you're going through, be of good cheer, and just be glad you're not this guy.

President of the Vaccuum Cleaner Collector's Club?

Not appearing on my resumè.

On the bright side, somebody call James Harmer!

And again:

'john.richards2@virgin.net'

Appropriate email address for the chairman of the "Apostrophe Protection Society."

He sure will be... forever.

2005-11-28T11:14:00.000-05:00

Time Check: 11:13 a.m. Eastern Standard Time
Mood Check: Pretty Good
Reasons: First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to everybody out there. I spent this Thanksgiving making 15 pounds of mashed potatoes on turkey day, then another 5 pounds the day after. It was excellent.

Furthermore, by royal decree, this Thankksgiving was an 'All-machete' Thanksgiving. Everything that could be done with a machete was done with a machete. My machete. I cut and peeled potatoes, I cut turkey, I spread butter, I cut dessert. Naturally, I washed the machete thoroughly before and after each event, but I think the 'All-machete' Thanksgiving was a smashing success. Hopefully it will have laid the groundwork for other 'All-machete' holidays. If all goes well, we'll be seeing an 'All-machete' Christmas, New Years', Easter, and if all goes poorly, an 'All-machete' Valentine's day. No pressure, Karen. Just kidding.

Yeah, so everything with the Colleen Ryan, the AHD of Funnelle Hall, blew over. It was all a big misunderstanding why she was mad at me, but most people I talked to about it said she's impossible to get along with, so I did well.

Over the weekend (Friday - Sunday) I got pretty sick with a pounding headache right behind my right eye and sinus congestion. I'm feeling mostly better now. Karen, on the other hand, and her entire family (11 people or so) woke up Sunday morning barfing. Her mom says it "must be a bug," but all signs point to food poisoning. Karen says her mom would never admit that her food was infected, but I don't know. It's not her fault even if it were food poisoning. Karen's feeling much better today than she was yesterday.

Now, after my first class of the day is over, it's time for a shower. And vidjagames.

2005-11-19T00:16:00.000-05:00

I really love this girl.

2005-11-17T13:47:00.000-05:00

Not a good night last night. I had to read Fast Food Nation (which is a crappy book), got called down to the front desk for back up, and got into an altercation with the Assistant Hall Director of Funnelle Hall, wrote a report about the whole mess, then pulled an all-nighter writing a 9 page paper about Fast Food Nation (again, which is a crappy book). Here's my report on the matter (with names changed)

At approximately 1:20 a.m. Thursday, November 17, 2005, G**( (SE Desk Attendant) called me. She told me a girl had vomited in the lobby and that T*** and E*** (SE Resident Assistants) wanted my back up. I came down stairs to see E*** spreading Zorb-it-all on the vomit. T*** was talking with two residents (M****** G**** and an unidentified male) with M**** U****, the girl who vomited, trying to get information from them and convince M**** to sit down.

I stepped behind the desk and E***, T*** (after convincing the three of them to sit on a couch) and I decided SAVAC should be called. T*** phoned SAVAC and E*** began to clean up the vomit. I decided to start on the paperwork. I put the two girls’ names on an incident report. I stepped out to ask M**** some questions, just to calm her down, and asked G*** to call Funnelle’s main desk for M****’s room number, phone number, date of birth, and class year.

M**** decided that she should run away, getting as far as the elevator before I escorted her back to the couch in the corner of the lobby.

M**** apparently had been lying in a pile of her vomit when G*** first spotted her, and the vomit was covering her hair, left leg and the left side of her upper body. She grabbed on to me and insisted that I sit next to her on the couch and cuddle with her. I politely declined and told her I would be right back. She had gotten vomit on my hand.

I stepped behind the desk and G*** told me the DA in Funnelle she spoke with grabbed the floor chart instead of the register, so she didn’t get the DOB or the class year, but said her roommate was a freshman, so G*** inferred that M**** was a freshman.

I told G*** I would call Funnelle back and ask the DA to check the register, but before I could, M**** made a dash for the large multi-purpose garbage/recycling can opposite the desk’s main window. I and T*** swung M**** over to the couch by the front doors where E*** had placed a garbage can for the Zorb-it-all. M**** coughed and spat into the can several times.

University Police arrived and I stepped into the basement bathroom to wash my hands. When I returned, G***** (SE DA) had joined G*** behind the desk. I called Funnelle and “C******” answered the phone. I identified myself as an RA documenting an incident in our lobby and asked her to check the register for her date of birth and class year. She refused to do so.

“I need you to have your Hall Director or Assistant Hall Director call me and request that information,” she said.

I thanked her and hung up. G*****, G***, and I were all dumbfounded. First of all, not only had G***** and G*** given out dates of birth to RAs calling from their respective front desks, but I myself had received that information from Johnson Hall for a writeup. Second, we did not think one girl who vomited on our lobby floor was worth waking our HD or AHD to make that phone call. None of us were familiar with the policy, so I grabbed the desk’s copy of the student handbook and began reading the relevant sections in the lobby and watching T***, E***, the residents, and a University Police officer talk to M****.

I could not find any policy regarding dates of birth, so I asked G***** if there was a policy manual that dealt with desk staff. He grabbed me a copy of the Residence Life and Housing Front Desk Operations manual from the office of M****** G***** (SE Assistant Hall Director). I scanned through it and found no policy regarding that information, but only found a vague reference to DAs being ‘information centers’ relaying accurate information to guests and residents. At this time, I did not know that C****** was the AHD of Funnelle. At this time, SAVAC arrived.

After examining M**** for a while, T*** and E*** both gravitated back toward the desk. G*** and G***** discussed the policy of giving RAs dates of birth, so when SAVAC left, I redialed Funnelle’s desk. H****** answered the phone. I identified myself and asked if she had just spoken with me. She informed me that I had not spoken with her, but rather C******, the AHD. I asked if C****** were still around, and H****** said that, indeed, she was at the desk. I asked to speak with C******.

“C****** R***, Funnelle Hall Assistant Hall Director,” she said.

“Hi C******, this is Jeremiah Maxon the RA over in Seneca; we just talked, right?” I asked.

“Yes we did,” she said.

“Well, I’ve got a question for you C******. We’ve got one of your residents over here, puking in our lobby. I’m documenting the whole deal, and one of our DAs called and I called for the date of birth, but you wouldn’t give that to us,” I said.

“Yep, that’s right,” she said.

“I mean, I’m talking to a couple of our DAs right now, and they say they routinely give out dates of birth to RAs who call from their front desks, and I know that I’ve gotten that information from desk staff before. Could you clear something up for us?” I asked.

“Sure,” she said.

“I was wondering what policy is governing your action. You told us to wake up our HD or AHD to get that information from you, but I’m looking through the Residence Life and Housing Front Desk Operations manual, revised 7/05, and I’m not seeing any policy about the subject at all. Is there one that you can think of that would cover this information?” I asked. “We really want to clear this up.”

“You want me to look up policy for you at – what time in the morning is it?” she said angrily.

“Well, I don’t have my cell phone with me – I’m behind the desk – but I believe it’s after one in the morning,” I said. It was actually closer to two in the morning.

“No,” she said. “I will not look up policy for you at after one in the morning.”

“Well,” I said, “Then can I get your name and job title again? I’m documenting the whole incident and I just want to include this little snippet that you refused to give us the information in there.”

She gave me her name and job title and asked me for mine. I spelled my last name for her. She thanked me sarcastically and hung up the telephone.

In just enough time to look up M****** G*****’s phone number, M****** G*****’s phone rang. We didn’t check to see who was calling as that would be an invasion of privacy, but I’m pretty sure it was Assistant Hall Director R*** calling her.

Both G*** and G***** were present for the first phone call, and T***, E***, G***, and G***** were all present for the second, seemingly more confrontational phone call. They can all attest to the fact that I was professional, polite, and cordial throughout the entire length of the phone call. I’m sure that Ms. R*** was tired and stressed, so I can empathize with her unwillingness to provide that information. I neither wish to formally lodge a complaint against her, nor pursue this further, other than to inform both S**** C********* (SE Hall Director) and M****** G***** of the events of Thursday, November 17, 2005 between the hours of 1-2 a.m.

2005-11-11T21:10:00.000-05:00

Time Check: 9:10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
Mood Check: Pretty good.
Reasons: I've finally decided to post about Karen's birthday because in her words, I am "the most wonderful, most romantic, sweetest, kindest boyfriend" ever.

No small feat considering I have had no other loves. Just a short relationship with somebody I haven't actually seen with my eyes in over a year.

So I'm going to put in a lot of whitespace between the romance and here, so if you're one of those people who doesn't want to hear anything else about me and Karen, you don't have to scroll down and read it. If I leave it at the top, you'll chastize me for leaving it where you can see it. Well, from here on down, it's up to you.

There, that's good.

So Karen has her Practicum placement in Granby Elementary School in the Fulton School District. Knowing full well that she was waking at 6:45, I hatched a plan. Nigh unto two months ago, I purchased a simple little ring for Karen. White gold, a .005 carat diamond in the center of the heart. Nothing that says "marry me" (because we're not there yet by any stretch of the imagination) but something I knew she would absolutely adore to pieces.

For the last two months, I've been lying to Karen. Lying about getting her some DVDs, lying about returning the DVDs, lying about getting her clothing, lying about returning the clothing. Lying about going to a gas station to buy her whatever I could afford (because I'm pretty well broke [any donations are willingly accepted]). So on our way to the BASIC conference, she was convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that I had not bought her a thing for her birthday because I simply could not afford to do so. She told me nothing was necessary because she loved me no matter what, etc., etc., blah blah blah. Meanwhile, I have a ring she will love hidden in the one place in my room she'll never look: inside one of my board games.

Back to her birthday. The morning of (12:01 a.m.) I put her to bed up in her room. Then I raced down to my computer and my textbooks and starting reading poetry. All in all, I found 11 poems that I meticulously copied down onto 3x5 cards. I went to bed at 3am and awoke at 6:30, knowing she'd be awaking at 6:45. I checked everything (the poems, the present, etc.) and went up to her room. At 6:44 I was outside her door, and at 6:45 her alarm went off. I knocked.

She crawled out of her loft and came to the door. I pulled her into the lounge at the north end of the hall and read her a letter Lewis Carroll wrote to his "Dearest Gertrude." If you look hard enough, you can find it on your own, but the 'romantic' part of the poem (which is quite humorous) is that Mr. Carroll is forbidden from kissing her by his doctor who tells him he must send her any more kisses to her in a box. At this point, I give her the ring. She opens it, pulls it out, and...

and...

yawns. It was 6:45 after all.

BUT she did tell me that on her way to Fulton on 481, she saw the ring, realized what it was, and freaked out so much she had to pull over.

The poems I gave to her to read. One for each hour we'd be apart. 7am through 6pm. She saved the 6pm poem for me to read, and it was perfect.

I told Tom what I did and his question to me was "why're we so smooth." My response: "Genetic Mutation. And annointing."

---

2005-11-10T09:24:00.000-05:00

Time Check: 9:24 a.m. Eastern Standard Time
Mood Check: Pretty Good.
Reasons: Well, I was on the Murray, if you will, thinking theological thoughts.

Correction: I was trying to think theological thoughts. This is the best I could come up with.

How do I know that somebody invented corn flakes? I mean, I can never know for sure... so I guess I'd have to have faith and believe they exist, so they must have been invented.

First, I have the word of people who currently enjoy the benefits of Corn Flakes. Second, I have the word of those who were there to see it. Third, I have the the word of the man, Will Keith Kellogg, himself. Finally, I have the product itself.

Groundbreaking theology, I know. All of you can crunch and munch your way through a bland, yet nutritious breakfast.

Naturally, there are theological implications. People who don't believe in God as the creator, author, and finisher of their lives should look at four things.

First, the word of the people (like you and me) who currently enjoy the benefits of salvation ("and these signs will follow..." "the fruits of the spirit are..." "the gifts and callings of God are...").
Second, the word of those who were there to see those benefits ("they will overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony...") and who saw the man himself ("We have seen the Lord!").
Third, the word of God and the spoken word of God.
Finally, there's the products. Salvation and Creation.

So I guess there's some theology in there after all.

All this corn flake nonsense has gotten me hungry. It's time for breakfast.
---

2005-11-09T11:40:00.000-05:00

Len and Diana are pregnant!
---

2005-11-08T07:30:00.000-05:00

Happy birthday, Sweetheart.

2005-11-04T01:58:00.000-05:00

Time Check: 1:59 a.m. Eastern Standard Time
Mood Check: Groggy and exhausted
Reasons: Karen and I drove to Oneida to her great aunt Mary's calling hours. It was a nice funeral home, and her family is nice. The drive was easy and relaxing, but there was a group of old ladies about 25 strong chanting catholic zombie prayers.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not calling all catholics zombies, but here's the deal.

Mary can't do anything for you. She's dead. Stop praying to her. Besides, she was just the human, prone to sin mother of Jesus, not the pre-pre-incarnate mother of God. I'll hold my tongue on the rest of Catholicism for now.

Anyway, it was an experience. Good to see her family, too.

We got back here and Karen did homework while I did some top-secret boy stuff. Then just 5 minutes ago, as I was preparing for bed, I noticed I had an email from Tigerdirect.

Early in the semester, Cheryl hired me to build her family a computer as theirs was an ancient dell that was... the most disgusting thing I had personally seen in one calendar year. Anyway, the order kept getting delayed by Tiger because they had just upgraded their warehouse. It irritated me, but the Margensey's were gracious. It came, eventually, and I put it together no problems (actually a fan is a bit noisy. I'm going to take a look as soon as I can get over there).

So the email comes.

"I'm writing to personally apologize for what happened. It is unacceptable
and I wouldn't want it to happen to me, and I want to try to make it right
with you.

Below, I've included a unique link for you. It will provide you with a $20
discount on any order placed by Friday, November 4th. That's right, get 20
bucks off the product total of any order placed by the 4th."

So the email arrived on Friday, November 4th, and they wanted me to use it by Friday, November 4th. So I obliged them and purchased a $41 DVD burner with $10 shipping for a grand total of $32. You may note that I paide less than it's worth. If anyone's in the market for a DVD burner, I'll sell it to you for $52 (so I can buy another one and not have to pay for shipping) or install it for $60.

Update: And if that weren't enough, the confirmation email just arrived and said that the discount was $25. Curiouser and curiouser...

Anyway, it's 2 and I'm exhausted.

BASIC conference tomorrow.

Rock out.

Awards:
---

2005-10-31T22:33:00.000-05:00

I hear the accuser roar
all the ills that I have done
I know them well, a thousand more
Jehovah findeth none.

I hear the accuser roar
all the ills that I have done
I know them well, a thousand more
Jehovah findeth none.

He findeth none,
He findeth none:
I've been washed in the blood of His son!

He findeth none,
He findeth none:
I've been washed in the blood of His son!

I've got a river of life
flowing out of me
makes the lame to walk
and the blind to see
opens up prison doors,
sets the captives free
I've got a river of life
flowing out of me

Spring up, o well,
within my soul.
Spring up, o well,
and make me who-o-ole.
Spring up, o well,
and give to me-e-e
that life abundantly.

In other news, it was halloween yesterday, so 'celebrate' like this.

2005-10-25T12:52:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 12:56 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Pretty Good
Reasons: Djere.net Challenge #3 is officially closed.

Chris Zeigler - 1 VP: 1 Second Place
0 First Place
Ryan T. Miller - 2 VPs: 0 Second Place
1 First Place
Phil Sweet - 3 VPs: 1 Second Place
1 First Place
Thomas Maxon 2 - 4 VPs: 0 Second Place
2 First Place
Steve Maxon - 7 VPs- BRONZE MEDALIST: 3 Second Place
2 First Place
Ginnie McDermott - 7 VPs- SILVER MEDALIST: 1 Second Place
3 First Place
Katherine Widrick - 7 VPs- SILVER MEDALIST: 1 Second Place
3 First Place
Thomas Maxon 1 - 11 VPs- GOLD MEDALIST: 3 Second Place
4 First Place

So as you can see, Steve, Ginnie, and Katherine all tied in number of points toward victory (VPs), but since he received fewer first place votes, he is in 3rd place overall.

I mentioned there were some oversights, including my forgetting THIS entry by Jacob Waugh. Because of the oversight, and because it already became an official djere.net design, he's declared a co-winner by decree, receiving some djere.net points.
Awards: QUINTUPLE BONUS to Tom Maxon for winning djere.net Challenge #3! TRIPLE BONUS to Katherine Widrick for winning djere.net Challenge #3! Second TRIPLE BONUS to Ginnie McDermott for winning djere.net Challenge #3! Third TRIPLE BONUS to Jacob Waugh for his outstanding entry that was forgotten by the judges in djere.net Challenge #3! Bonus to Steve Maxon for winning djere.net Challenge #3! Bonuses for Thomas, Phil, Katherine, Ginnie, and Jake for all entereing the Challenge appropriately: emailing djere@djere.net with "Challenge #3" as the subject.

The Standings:
Steve Maxon - 12
Thomas Maxon - 12
Phil Sweet - 6
Katherine Widrick - 4
Ginnie McDermott - 4
Jacob Waugh - 4

2005-10-20T10:11:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 10:11 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Groggy.
Reasons: Well, this reporter just rolled out of bed and answered two calls. One was a knock upon this reporter's door, awakening this reporter from his leisurely slumber. Nay, slumberful slumber. The second was the call of nature.

As many of you are aware, I am legendary for my colonic feats of fortitude. Rumor has it that I only answer the call of nature four times in your typical seven day week.

I will not use this medium to confirm (nor deny) that aforementioned legend. What I will say is this: It's apple cider season; all bets are off.

There is a woman. A woman who is very very close to me, and I to her. Her name will remain unreported. But she gave birth to me and my gigantically oversized head in the early afternoon of May 7th, 1983.

Many of you know this nameless woman. Fewer of you know this: she despises pooping. Many a time she has gone on record to say the best thing about heaven will be the lack of defecation.

In other news, the votes at the djere.net forums have been tallied and the heavens are being consulted. After long delay after setback after congressional oversight, Challenge #3, the shirt off my back, will come to a prophetically-inspired close.

Please note: A link to the venerable blog of the honorable Job Bartholomew Tate. Behold what God hath wrought.
---
"Heaven came down and glory filled my soul
When at the cross my Savior made me whole
My sins were washed away
And my night turned to day
When heaven came down and glory filled my soul"
~David Crowder Band, Heaven Came Down

2005-10-19T10:37:00.000-04:00

Father forgive us.
---
Under bridges,
With hands raised,
From the ghettos they praise his name.
Broke and crippled in the dark of night,
Raise your voices to Jesus Christ,
Hallelujah.
~Brave Saint Saturn, Under Bridges

2005-10-15T11:58:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 11:58 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Tired.
Reasons: Well, Steve's up. He breezed in yesterday, stuck around all day, then spent the night here. Because this college's cable system is stupid and because the NHL blew its chance at being on Real TV (Sorry OLN) we had to listen to the Flyers' game over the internet. Talk about frustrating.

"That was the best save I have ever seen in my entire life!"
"I can now die a fulfilled life!"
"We've seen so many plays tonight that'll be on every highlight reel in the morning!"

But we won in OT, which is nice.

C-SPAN is on the TV in my room. It's the Millions More Movement. Yet another rambling black power protest founded by, you guessed it, the Rev. Louis Farrakhan.

"Being black in America is hazardous to your health." Dr. Therman Evans "Minister of Health: Nation of Islam."

"There is a health emergency in this country among the Black, Brown, Yellow, and Red people in America. And by extention, the white people too." Dr. Alim Muhammad. He went on to say, "Since we are, I'm told, 14% of the population, give the Millions More Movement 14% of the health care dollars. We couldn't possibly do worse than is being done now, could we?"

They're nuts and deserve the state they're in. (the millions more movement, not 'people of african decent')

In other news, pray for my Aunt Debbie, who broke her neck in a car accident.

Psa 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
---

2005-10-13T01:31:00.000-04:00

THIS courtesy Stuiee.

NOMAR!!!

2005-10-11T08:01:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 8:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Groggy.
Reasons: I had a chat with one of my oldest and dearest friends last night. My friend has been having a rough go of it the last several weeks, and didn't really have anyone there for them. My friend tried talking to some people about what had been happening, only to have those feelings hijacked and warped into something my friend was not feeling. Others tried to talk to my friend about it, and it only became personal attacks against my friend.

So we talked for a long, long time. I reminded my friend of something. The facts of the matter are unimportant. What is important is the truth of the matter.

For example:

Catie Paniccia is about to bake me a pie she offered to bake me for my birthday two years ago. Mmmmm. I have no doubt that it will be flaky and delicious. However, what would happen if Catie's pie was burned beyond all recognition on the bottom. Charcoal crust. The fact of the matter is that I got a burnt pie. The truth of the matter is that Catie's pie was an expression of love toward me.

If she asks, "How was the pie?" I can approach her two ways.

The first is without that central truth in mind.

"It was burned! You call that pie!? It's disgusting! You make me sick! I hate you and your stupid pie! Karen's never burned a pie for me!"

The second is with the central truth behind my message.

"Well, Catie, I appreciate the pie, and I know that you worked very hard on it. It was delicious, even if the pie was darker than I usually like. But I know you made it because you love me. Thank you."

The underlying truth that gets steamrolled by everyone is that christians are supposed to love each other. Instead, it's more fun to pick up offense at one another and over generalize. I'm not going to speak to specific situations, I'm not going to talk about certain people, or even tell you with whom I talked last night. Don't worry about it. Instead, I'm going to say that we Christians, especially we Christians on campus must remember that we love one another. That's the truth that must be evident behind every one of our interactions.

"But Djere. You're a jerk, and I hate you and everyone who's remotely like you."

Great news. That's your opinion, and you're entitled to it. YOU are entitled to it. The moment you spread that he-said-she-said-now-I-hate-him crap around, I'll take you down. In love.

Brothers and sisters, is that love evident in what you say, do, and write? I doubt it very much, because I hear grumblings and rumblings on campus about all sorts of stupidity.

(Time out: My favorite part of not hanging out with the girls in the suite, the boys from last year, or anybody new because I'm too busy being an RA is that whenever somebody tirades about how 'this group of people makes me mad' I know that they cannot POSSIBLY be talking about me because I haven't spent any time with them for them to pick up offense.)

So the first thing to remember (think sermon notes in bullet form): Love is the central truth. The Truth is more important than the facts.

The second thing I want to leave you with is this: I cannot offend anyone. Rather, someone becomes offended when they choose to pick up offense and hold it against me. Sure I may make it easy for them to do so, but it is always your choice to let go of that offense.

So the next time you say, "Djere, you offended me when" fill in the blank, I'm going to say to you, "No I did not. You picked up offense when" fill in the blank.

Just let it go.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:14-16)
---

2005-10-06T22:29:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 10:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Tired, but good.
Reasons: Karen's gone to Camp Hollis to sleep on the floor of a cabin, chaperoning 4th graders. Good for you, babe. I'm going to bed. But first.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and why I didn't really like it.

First of all, it was marketed as Horror. This simply is not the case.

Let's clear up the misunderstading. The movie is *NOT* about the exorcism of Emily Anything. It's about the court case that ensued from the exorcism. But something tells me that the focus group rejected "The Litigation that proceeded the exorcism of emily rose" as a possible title. It was about as frightening as J.A.G. reruns.

Second, every scary thing that you saw in the previews is every scary thing in the movie. Since it's based in reality, it limits the scariness. In real scary movies, reality doesn't stop them from scaring the crap out of you by breaking the rules. For example, if you're walking alone down a dark corridor and you know nobody's there, you know nobody's there. In the horror universe, as soon as you turn around, the crazy man in the goalie mask appears behind you, even though you were just looking that way, there are no doors or windows, and the camera showed you he wasn't there. If you hold out hope that something will jump out and scare you during the scenes you want that something to scare you... you'll be disappointed. It's just business as usual.

This movie lives in the real world, albeit a catholic world. They babble on about catholic superstition. Witching hour this, holy mary that. The priest testifies that demons can possess people at 3 a.m. because it's their mockery of the holy trinity and the opposite of 3 p.m. (the miracle hour when Christ rose from the dead, rolled over, checked his atomic clock, and made a pronunciation that 3 p.m. would forever be the miracle hour.) Get real. Miracles and possession can happen at any time, but if you're a christian, the best thing about the movie is that it's not even intimidating. Oooooh, look at the big scary demon making the girl eat spiders. Run along now, demon...

And another thing! Why would God say, "you know what demons? at 3 a.m. you can do whatever you want. i'll let you. and apparently i don't capitalize words because i'm god and i do whatever i want." It's stupidity.

This 19-year-old German girl is apparently posessed by 6 demons. And upon further review (the priest screaming at it in Latin [the language of demons]) they're not just any demons. They are "The one who lived in Cain," "the one who lived in Judas," The one who lived in Nero," "One with Legion," "Belial," and "Lucifer in the flesh."

I don't know about Cain, Judas, and Nero, but Legion, Belial, and Lucifer seem pretty darn important to me in terms of demonic chutzpah. Why did the six of these demons decide one morning, "HEY GUYS, LET'S GO POSSESS A 19-YEAR-OLD GERMAN GIRL AND TYPE IN ALL CAPS!" Please. I'm not buying it.

It makes absolutely no sense for them to do that, and furthermore, the movie ends with the stupid girl getting the stigmata from "the holy mother of god." So Mary's the one passing out Stigmata now, is she? Tool.

The only logical sense that I can make of this movie, if it's all true at face value is this:

The girl was possessed by those demons to give more credit to the evil thing that controls the catholic church in the form of the "blessed virgin," and appears to superstitious simpletons in third-world countries. To scare people further into man-made religion that kills (not gives life) they took her and used her to give more credit to mary than she deserves. Yes, I'm sure Mary was nice, but she's dead now. She's not coming back. She did not ascend into heaven. She was not crowned "high queen of heaven." She's dead and decayed, and there is nothing left of her. Get over it.

So the demons scare this girl for a while, the priest plays his part thinking it'll work, and they all run deeper into the trap that lies to them and says Mary died for their sins. Or whatever they believe.

There's more, but I'm sleepy.
---

2005-10-05T02:39:00.000-04:00

Oh, I almost forgot. Go HERE or HERE and do your patriotic duty.

God bless America and the Philadelphia Flyers.

2005-10-05T01:56:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 1:57 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Tired.
Reasons: Karen and I did about 100 pounds of laundry. Ugh. I'm through with laundry for a while. After that, there was an auction in Seneca Hall to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina. I was the auctioneer. I also put dinner up for auction.

Allow me to clarify. I let people bid on the honor of me cooking them a steak dinner with dessert.

It was the second highest priced item in the auction. $35. Only a date with another RA went for more ($45.50).

But I was funny and kept about 60 people entertained for an hour and a half. I never even lost their attention. The gavel helped with that, though. It was a good time, and we auctioned off 72 items and raised about $650, $20 more than our semester-long goal. So we're well on our way.

Tomorrow, I post on Emily Rose. Honest, you should stay tuned in!
---

2005-09-28T10:34:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 10:34 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Tired
Reasons: I've been not getting enough sleep lately, so I'm going back to bed instead of to class that started 14 minutes ago: Ice Hockey Coaching. All we're doing today is skating anyway. More importantly,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THOMAS!

In honor of Thomas's birthday, yesterday I had a quiz on current events for JLM 319. One question read, "What are we 'celebrating' this week, or rather 'making rememberance of' this week?" My answer read, "My brother Thomas's 21st birthday this Wednesday."

My answer was not the response she was looking for (Banned Book Week), though I may get credit for a joke answer. She gives out bonus points for them.

Here is a telling facebook statistic about our brother Thomas.
---
Update (11:38 a.m.): Check this out. http://beta.news.com.com/2300-1044_3-5884639-1.html

2005-09-26T19:43:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 7:44 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Pretty Good
Reasons: Nothing to complain about.

Karen's currently taking a nap in my bed because she fell asleep on my floor doing homework. I mean, I can understand falling asleep doing homework: I do it all the time. But falling asleep on the FLOOR doing homework? Please. Enjoy the sleep, sweetheart.

I just was reading the wikipedia article on the White House and discovered that the White House Website has an incredibly lengthy robots.txt file.

The purpose of the Robots Exclusion File is to keep automated search engines from scanning your website and caching your site, indexing the pages for later use.

One journalist, speaking on the subject of the robots.txt said "It's not Watergate, but it's weird."

COMING SOON: 'Emily Rose' review.
---

2005-09-26T09:31:00.000-04:00

Time Check:931
Mood Check:Wonderful
Reasons:Because this is Karen, not Djere
Awards:Mom, for taking us to Burrville
---

Hi guys,

Djere is gonna delete this post, I'm certain. I was just filling in real quick like to say hi. We went home yesrerday and it was about time! So much had changed. Even when everything looks the same it's all different. It's so weird to go into the Maxon house and there's only like two kids in it.

We went to Burrville. Djere bought mev fudge because he's awesome like that. And Mom bought me 4 lbs of Starburst!!! Thanks Mom. **see my blog about a dentist appointment**

Djere is gonna stop being a slacker pretty soon and fill you in on his thought on The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Although any of you who have been around him have already heard it and his ideas about Jimmy the demon.

Oh well, Djere is begging me to go to breakfast, so I gotta go.

Much love!

2005-09-20T09:02:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 9:03 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Groggy
Reasons: Because I went to bed at 2:40 this morning after doing all my laundry.

Here's what happened Sunday:

I was on-call until 1 p.m., so I couldn't go to church that day, which is fine. About last Sunday, I really needed to clip my toenails, but I didn't have any clippers. So I used my scissors as a knife, and cut them like that. Sort of. Things went swimmingly until I decided to pull the part on the outside of my left big toenail out of my toe. You know that part... it's long, and not part of your toe or your toenail.

Yeah, bad idea.

My toe usually hurts after doing that (which should be a sign not to do it), so I didn't think anything of it. The next day it looked infected, so I got some anti-biotic ointment from a resident. The anti-biotic helped it feel a little better the next day, so I ignored it.

Over the course of the week, my toe got more and more swollen and painful, and I kept having horrific nightmares about yelling at somebody (doing my job as an RA) and them just stomping on my toe and it popping everywhere. Honest, it terrified me.

So Sunday rolls around, and not only is my left big toe swollen, hot, and red, but there's a thick red line running halfway up my toe, and some lymph nodes in my upper left thigh are swollen and painful.

"Awww, cwap," I said.

Dad called me and after describing my symptoms to him, he ordered me to Oswego Hospital.

I went to the hospital with Steve (who dropped me off and left) and Karen (who had to go to work). It was pretty fun for a while, sitting and waiting and sitting and waiting. Then, I went in, the doctor looked at it sort of, then decided, heck, I want to cut that puppy open.

"Doctor, my lymph nodes are swollen up here too," I said, pointing to my upper thigh.

"Is that so?" Dr. Dhanraj J. Soogree asked. He took one step toward me, then stopped. "Eh, we'll still just cut you open." He walked away.

I waited for about an hour, during which a nurse squirted Lidocaine (to numb my gigantic toe) on me twice.

"This isn't going to work," He said.

"Say what?" I asked.

"There's a whole lot of stuff in the way. It's not going to get that numb. I don't know why he doesn't give you a topical injection if he's just cutting it open."

"Heh," I said. "Me either."

A long while later, Dhanraj came back after a cigarette break.

"Feeling numb?" he asked hopefully.

"Nope," I said. It wasn't really ever that numb, and what it was wore off. In fact, it's throbbing now.

I glanced down at my foot and remembered that when I came in, the red streaking was halfway up my foot. It has since leapt up to 4 inches above my ankle.

"And this red line has gotten a lot longer. can we do something about this?" I asked.

Dhanraj J. Soogree, M.D. agreed that now was a sufficient time to act, because the global Feng Shui was clearly off. Dhanraj was waiting for the North American tectonic plate to shift closer to the Eurasian plate. Clearly.

So it's time to cut me open.

"I need the number 11 blade," he said.

He was already holding the blade in his hand, so I don't know why he was announcing it. This isn't ER, my friend. You're about to cut my grotesque toe open.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Sure thing." I lied.

"Okay, then here we go."

He ran the blade along my toe. It felt cold and hard, like it was biting into me. It felt exactly the way blades are supposed to feel like if you're a teenage girl writing about suicide in a romantic way for your 10th grade English Creative Writing component.

"That wasn't too bad." I thought.

"Heh heh heh. Whoops," he said.

He turned around and smiled at me like he'd eaten a gigantic bowl of Stupid-ohs this morning for breakfast.

"I was holding the scalpel backwards. Ready again?"

"Uhh...... yes?" I lied again.

I don't know where these teenage girls are getting their razor blades, but I wish they'd let Oswego Hospital in on their supplier. It felt like he was using a steak knife to explore the inner parts of a T-bone, even though he only made a 1-inch incision. Cold, welcoming steel angels come to lift me away on gossamer wings my eye you depressed freaks.

Then he squeezed. An incredible amount of yellow-white pus came squirting out and down my toe. Fortunately for all of America, they took a culture of it. Odin be praised, they took a culture.

Then the surprise. After soaking my foot in tepid anti-septic water, a nurse came in with a big needle.

"I have bad news," she said.

"You're going to shoot me in the butt aren't you," I said.

"Yeah, I am."

"I am not looking forward to this."

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Eh, don't be," I replied. "It's not your fault. It's mine. I will never clip my toenails, ever again."

Long story short, she injected a hot ball of maple syrup mixed with tar into my right buttock.

So to make me feel better, I bought myself Half-Life 2.

I'm going to play that now.

2005-09-18T04:19:00.000-04:00

So yeah.

Several days ago, I was clipping my toenails, when I cut too close to the cuticle on my big toe, and it got infected.

Life went on, and it got better until

WHAM

Today, my toe is incredibly swollen, and is hot and red and painful up to about halfway up my toe. And if that weren't enough, several lymph nodes in my thigh (same leg) are quite swollen.

Amputation, anyone?

(Seriously though, I'm going to the health center Monday, unless my leg is about to fall off, in which case I'll go to Oswego Hospital tomorrow.)

(Tom, if it's a Necrotizing fasciitis, do you want some for study?)

2005-09-13T09:07:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 9:07 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Pretty Good
Reasons: The trip to visit Karen's parents this past weekend went well, I think. We went out to dinner at a nice restaurant near where they live (one that Karen used to work at). It was a good time. I like her parents, and I'm pretty sure they don't hate me, which is nice.

In a violation of residence life and housing policy, it got to be too late to drive back to Oswego, so we stayed overnight there. As an RA, I need to fill out paperwork if I'm going to be sleeping off-campus.

Furthermore, I played with their dog Barkley, who does not smell nearly one-twentieth as bad as Libby does. He just smells like dog.

In geek-related news: I've decided that just building computers isn't enough, but that to further geek them up, I'm going to customize the start bar of any computer I build with the computer's name. The example at left from my desktop.
---
"To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time for every purpose, under Heaven"
~The Byrds, Turn, Turn, Turn

2005-09-07T11:31:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 11:31 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Pretty Good
Reasons: Last night, as you can clearly see, I was up late. Much later than I had hoped I would be. So come this morning, I did *not* feel very well. I tried to get up at 8 a.m. as is my custom (to read the bible) but I could barely manage to shut my alarm off, such was my energy level.

So I crawled onto the couch and waited until Karen came down for breakfast at 9:15.

9:15 came and I needed a shower. I told Karen I'd be in and out, but once I got in the shower, I completely forgot about her and started trying to wake up.

I am not a flexible man. Everyone knows this. So when I'm in the shower first thing in the morning, I like to stretch. It helps me wake up; it helps me be relaxed.

I totally forgot Karen was waiting for me, so I was in there for a good half-hour. Sorry, babe.

Needless to say, we did not enjoy a leisurely breakfast, but rather a breakfast on the run. Karen, however, is no longer angry with me.

I'm thinking about applying for a Wal*Mart Discover Card.
---
"Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme
Out of the doubt that fills my mind
I somehow find you and I collide"
Howie Day, Collide

2005-09-07T01:23:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 1:23 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Excited, tired.
Reasons: Well, apparently the Formal Lounge (where BASIC meetings are held) was full of newcomers in BASIC today. I wish I weren't on call so I could've been there.

Furthermore, both Mom and Tom are "bloggers" now.

I'm currently on-call.

And sleepy.

P.S. I got a plethora of price quotes for T-shirt designs. It's a long, hard road... sorry.
---
"So you’ll be an austrian nobleman
Commissioning a symphony in c
Which defies all earthly descriptions
You’ll be commissioning a symphony in c"
Cake, Commissioning a Symphony in C

2005-09-04T03:05:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 3:05 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Tired
Reasons: Holy stinking crap! If I got one more Instant Message screaming at me to post, I think I'd've killed somebody. I post when I can or when I'm in the mood. YOU CANNOT FORCE ART! CAN YOU FORCE DJERE TO POST ANY MORE THAN YOU CAN ASK A BUTTERFLY TO EMERGE FROM ITS CHRYSALIS BEFORE IT IS TIME!?

Sorry. Tired = grumpy.

Plus, he died. :(
Awards:
---

2005-08-17T03:26:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 3:26AM Eastern Standard Time
Mood Check: Very, very good.
Reasons: Karen came over and helped me with my first bulletein board, then she ordered an LCD monitor to replace the one that just died on her computer. Sorry to make this post about the Karen and Djere hour, but after that we had a serious conversation about our relationship, where it is, where its going, and where we hope it'll go in the next 18-24 months. Just so we'd be on the same page. I think it went rather well, that we have very similar goals in mind for the mid-range future, and I think that by seeking the face of God, we'll not be led astray.

I have to get up in under 5 hours for a breakfast with all the custodians of Seneca Hall, then train allllll day again. :(. Hooray for custodians!

Good night, moon... I mean everybody...
---
Greg Painter informs me that his lady friend is interested in purchasing a "Penguins are people too" t-shirt. If you're likewise interested in that particular model of T-shirt, lemme know and I'll look into getting them printed.

2005-08-16T16:33:00.000-04:00

So hey, I'm back to school, back online, but too busy training to be an RA to do anything of value on the internet. Soon enough I'll be back to posting in standard format, and all will be well with the world.

2005-08-10T09:57:00.000-04:00

Camp was great, and actually that song I just posted was a pretty big hit throughout the week. Derek Levendusky, the worship leader, lead singer and head of Isaiah Six Ministries wanted to learn the song and says he might use it in the future. Which is cool. All thanks to Janelle Gmitter playing it one night.

Other than that, I move back on campus on Friday.

Outside of a dog, a man's best friend is a book. Inside of a dog it is very dark.

Worship

2005-07-21T20:08:00.000-04:00


        G               D/F#             A
I WILL NOT     LIFT MY SOUL     TO ANOTHER
        G               D/F#             A
I WILL NOT     LIFT MY SOUL     TO ANOTHER
        G               D/F#             A 
I WILL NOT     LIFT MY SOUL     TO ANOTHER

                G                   A                  Bm-A
YOU ARE ALL I NEED, YOU ARE ALL I NEED, YOU ARE ALL I NEED
                G                   A                  D
YOU ARE ALL I NEED, YOU ARE ALL I NEED, YOU ARE ALL I NEED
© 2005

2005-07-13T19:28:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 7:32PM Eastern Whatever Time
Mood Check: Tired and achey
Reasons: Yesterday at work I was involved in a greusome industrial accident and split my shin open to the bone (TO THE MAX!!!). So I got four stitches, and I'm out of work until Monday because the nurse was from our church and likes me and let me go to BTS by keeping me out until Monday. So that was cool.

Now I get another cool scar!

I'm working on the template garbage.
---

2005-07-01T20:52:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 8:53PM Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Tired
Reasons: Work's been great, but I lift, on average, 1.5 tons of stone a day, so I'm exhausted. Other than that, I love it there, and they pay me well enough to not complain.
No, I don't know what was up with the page formatting.
No, I didn't do it on purpose.
---

2005-06-24T00:54:00.000-04:00

First: This is incredibly disturbing, yet entertaining at the same time.

In other news: A guy walks up to me at work (think outdoor lawn and garden, live nursery stuff) and says, "Hey, do you know where I can find a Wandering Jew?"

So I smile and say, "well, up by Thompson Park there's a synagogue..."

He bought two.

2005-06-21T07:35:00.000-04:00

if you like to click, then click red. it'll keep your FPS skills honed.

2005-06-15T22:48:00.000-04:00

Good News: I got my computer online for the time being.
Bad News: My 40GB Hard Drive containing about 26GB of music had a massive stroke and died.
Alos Good News: I've been working at Lowe's and I like it there.

2005-06-08T12:12:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 12:13PM Eastern Standard Time
Mood Check: Pretty Good.
Reasons: I got the job at Lowe's on Monday after 4 interviews, a drug screening, and a background check. All that to work outside in the lawn and garden department. But they classified me as a "Seasonal" employee so I can get 40 hours a week while I'm here for the summer, then once the summer ends, I have three options:
1. Terminate my employment with Lowe's.
2. Transfer to Lowe's in Oswego.
3. Go on furlough until winter break, then work Christmas for them, then go on furlough again until the summer thereby almost guaranteeing myself a full-time job.

I enjoy it, anyway. Orientation starts Saturday from 9-4, and then we'll see what my schedule is.

The trouble with all this is if I'm working 40 hours a week and Karen is working 35 hours a week, there may be trouble trying to get together.

Also, I have to request Josh and Allison's wedding, Ben and Kristy's wedding, and John and Maria's wedding off, and be sure to let them know that I can't work starting in August (First week is counseling camp, second week is OSU as an RA.

So much for a relaxing summer. Why do all these people have to get married! Jeepers.... just kidding.

P.S. Forget Bryce and Home Depot, come to Lowe's and see me!
P.S.S. I love you Bryce.
P.S.S.S. I love Karen more than Bryce... sorry.
---

2005-06-01T16:34:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 4:35PM Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Pretty good.
Reasons: My interviews with Lowe's have all gone really well. I interviewed with the HR director, the Store Manager, and the manager of the lumber department. Odds are pretty good that I'll work in the Lawn and Garden Department outside like I want to.

Ziggy can't get online for whatever reason, until randomly this morning it connected to AIM. I downloaded my email, then it stopped working again. To further complicate things, he's been getting WAY too hot lately. Just idling my computer has been keeping it around 45 Celcius, and when I play vidjagames it'll often peak at 65+ Celcius and lock up, even though my ambient case temperature is about 31 Celcius consistently. TOTALLY UNCOUTH. I'm looking at getting a new heatsink/fan combo for my processor.

I've begun making some more experimental recipes again. By that I mean, I just start cooking things and find out how well they go together afterwards. It's pretty random. Here's the first:

Ingredients:
1 Cup Rice
1 Tsp Italian Seasoning
1/4 Cup Italian Dressing
1 Egg
3/4 Cup Colored Peppers (red, yellow, and green)
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 Cup Cheese

Process:
Cook Rice. Add seasoning, dressing and egg. Mix well. Fry peppers in the olive oil. Add rice mixture to peppers. Brown over high heat. Remove from heat and add cheese.

Results:
Eh. Not bad. It totally would have been a lot better if I'd cooked some sausage and served over top. If you're going to cook this, cook up three sausages, cut them up, and serve over the rice. Serves two people. Yeah, Steve thinks it'll be better with Sausage on top.

Stats:
650-750 calories, plus whatever the sausage is. You wanna fight?
---

2005-05-30T16:08:00.000-04:00

another interview at lowe's tomorrow at 11

2005-05-27T19:54:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 7:55PM Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Better
Reasons: So my computer still can't get online at home, but I'm at the ole' hotel for a while, so I thought I'd update. James is here, and we just played chess. I won in an upset, and we've spent the last short amount of time discussing his theoretical comic book "The James Farrington Action Task Force." You'd have to be a Sackets native to really understand the humor in Dale, Digger, Garrett, and the guy with amnesia being on a task force, nay ACTION task force with James Farrington. Throw in Thomas Krake and you've got yourself an agent for political change.

Anyway, I had an interview at Lowe's today, I've done a lot of work around the yard, and it turns out I'm preaching on Sunday (unexpectedly) so I'm writing a sermon that I'll post on later. I'm wicked tired, so I'm going to sit on the couch and talk with James until Karen calls.
---

2005-05-20T20:46:00.000-04:00

I wish my computer could get online on this network.

2005-05-11T11:53:00.000-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH!!!!!

(Update: I called you, but you were in bed!)

2005-05-10T16:17:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 4:17PM Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Exhausted but not finished yet
Reasons: I got up pretty early to work on a paper that I ***KNEW*** was due at my final tomorrow at 10:30. I worked at it (more or less) until noon when, by a freak coincidence I glanced at my syllabus and discovered that my final was TODAY at 10:30, not tomorrow. So I sprinted across campus, slipped and fell, and got blud (blood + mud) all down my leg. Not good. I got there by quarter after, all bluddy, and finished up my final in 30 minutes. The professor was really understanding and let me take however much time I needed.

After that, I got back and Karen and I took our Heresy final and I got my paper back (another 'A' Karen. HAHAHAHAHA OW! Why did you hit me! I am not a big fat Jerk!) Sheesh.

Anyway, that's been my day. Pretty hectic. I think I'm skipping most of BASIC tonight. Who needs it, anyway.
---

2005-05-09T02:28:00.000-04:00

challenge update:

I have shirt designs completed for:
Rob Lawry
Katherine Widrick
Tom Maxon
Steve Maxon
Jake Waugh
Phil Sweet
Ginnie McDermott
Ryan Miller
and Chris Zeigler

If I've forgotten yours, lemme know ASAP.

2005-05-08T16:32:00.000-04:00

Karen and I on the best couch $10 ever bought, before going to dinner on my birthday.

2005-05-08T02:02:00.000-04:00

Today was an awesome day. It was my birthday, and I'd have to say that it ranks up there as an all-time favorite. Probably #2 or #3 out of 22. Clearly, I don't remember all of my birthdays, but this one was great.

Last night at roughly 2AM, the one and only Elizabeth Rose Merrell 'phoned' me from the continent/country/city-state of Australia to wish me a happy birthday. It was great. Then, at about 2:38AM, the one and only Rose Elizabeth Maxon called me to wish me a happy birthday. I found the coincidence interesting.

Next thing I knew, I went to bed and was awakened the best possible way. In all my days, I have not been happier to have been awakened, for awaiting me was my beautiful girlfriend with a freshly-cooked pound of bacon. Two of my favorite things in the world. Then, I had a half-hour long fiveway phonecall featuring (in order of appearence) Thomas, Stephen, Dad, and Rose. I was, naturally, the fifth of the fiveway.

After brunch and a pound of bacon later, I was a happy dude. Karen (the aforementioned beautiful girlfriend) and I went out to dinner, and met up with Ryan, Bryan, Paul, Jake, Katie (Jake's sister), and Rob Lawry for bowling. Always good fun with Ryan around. Ryan is not, as they say in france, a bowler. Instead, he makes up funny names for the people who are bowling. My team was, "Birthday Girl" (myself), "Bry Bry Softbottom" (Bryan), and "Djere's Old Lady" (Karen). The other team featured "Somalia" (rob), "The Sister" (Katie), "Studly Studderson" (Paul) and I can't remember Jake's. He'll post it as a comment, I'm sure. I think it was "farmboy" or something like that.

For the record, I bowled atrociously.

The best birthday I can remember was my 16th. I skipped school, Dad woke me up at about 10 with a fishing pole, and he and the late Tim Grant took me fishing at the land our church had bought and is now mostly finished building a church on. For all measurable statistics, that is my favorite birthday. It had rule-breaking (skipping school), manly activity, male bonding, and Tim Grant.

For the record, I cannot listen to the song "He'll Take Care of the Rest" by Keith Green without hearing in my head the way the record that Steve and I used to listen to would skip
---
"dun nuh j
duh nuh j
duh nuh j
duh nuh j
duh nuh j
duh nuh juust bee-lieve
and you'll ree-ceive
the comfort you need"
Keith Green, He'll Take Care of the Rest

2005-05-07T01:11:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 1:12AM Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Tired
Reasons: Hey, sorry about not writing anything for the past month... I've been really swamped and not really feeling at all social or like writing. But hopefully as the semester shrivels up and dies I'll write more.

oh, and happy birthday to everybody who's had a birthday since I stopped writing (Amy Parker, John Maxon, Tia Congdon, and maybe others...)

happydjereday

ps - working on designs.
---

2005-04-26T00:26:00.000-04:00

made it home safe from philly STOP
challenge 3 is closed offically STOP
will be posting designs for voting STOP
computer works but had a scare STOP
end of telegram STOP
i love sleep STOP

2005-04-19T13:17:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 1:19PM Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Excellent
Reasons: This was my weekend:
Sunday - went to church at Elim Grace. Had a good time. Church was followed up by a great lunch at the Zeigler residence. Before lunch, we played Mario Kart on the Gamecube for quite a while. After several rounds, we all started getting into the swing of things and began competing evenly. Chris was the big winner, followed closely by myself and Mike. Jake was a distant fourth. Poor, poor Jake.

After lunch we went to the softball fields on campus to play some softball, but they were both being used. Since they we already had some people on alert to play, we instead went to the highschool and used one of the fields there. We played until 3:30 when one of the city league's coaches kicked us off. Previously, I had called Steve and told him to come and play at 2pm. I repeat, 2pm. Steve, however, wasted his time playing Volleyball after church with the ne'er-do-wells I call friends back there. (I love you guys). Since he did that, he did not arrive until 3:30, just after we were kicked from the field. I injured my wrist and scraped up my knee sliding into third base. I also yelled at some girls who came with us and (one or two in particular) were criticising the game and our calls.

"HEY!" I yelled. "You're not allowed to make a call unless you've got a 'Y' Chromosome, okay!?"

A short time later, just after I'd slid into third, one of our players hit a high pop-up in foul territory. The first baseman did not catch the ball, as I would have scored if he had.

"HA!" Yelled Katherine, "There's your 'Y' Chromosome at work right there!"

The girls snickered.

"Yeah, it is." I spat back. "If he had caught that ball, I would have tagged up and scored. Now he has an opportunity to stop me at third base. That is the 'Y' Chromosome at work. Learn the strategy of the game!"

Sidenote: Perhaps I was a bit harsh, but I was in pain. Sorry, Katherine.

Monday: I had a presentation due the week before, though I'm a little unclear on that. She was fuzzy on the details, but I guess it made my project late. So I finished my top secret POL300 powerpoint presentation for Culture and Politics and presented it. I had the best presentation overall (though I rushed through it) with great charts and graphics and the whole nine yards, as well as a really interesting idea. My professor gave me a bonus point for my "extremely engaging" topic and I got an 18/20 points because it was late. She suggested that I could even get my paper published, which is really bizzare to me.

After the class, I sprinted to the first barbeque of the year, which was incredibly awesome. I told everybody there are two rules for my barbeques:

Everyone must eat some meat

I need copies of all photographs taken at the barbeque

the first is because meat is awesome. The second is because I'm stuck at the grill the whole time, so I don't see what happens. I just make people happy. I'm a simple man who likes smelling like barbeque fire.

People were invited to come, and they even invited other people to come, so I didn't know several of the people who showed up, but they all had a good time and ate large quantities of meat.

Amazing days.

Awards: BONUS point to Steve for helping me with the concept of the project which I may or may not get published, however that happens.
The Standings:
Steve - 11
Tom - 6 (for his trannie point)
Phil - 5
Challenge 3 Update: We'll be voting on the best three T-shirts. When you vote, you'll just see the designs, not know who made them. That'll be announced after the voting is complete. I just need to figure out how I'll run the voting...
---

2005-04-17T01:23:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 1:23AM Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Excellent
Reasons: Today, Noah Burdick came down from Clarkson to come be a HUUUUUUUUGE dork with the Story Tellers' Guild of SUNY Oswego, but he found the time to be a normal human and hang out with my friends here. We showed him a good time, spending the time by hitting golf balls into the lake and watching a movie. I'm working on a top-secret, yet AMAZING Powerpoint Presentation for my POL 300 class. It's splendiferous.
---

2005-04-13T22:35:00.000-04:00

I was searching for domains on yahoo, because I'm allowed to do that sort of thing, when I discovered that some evil company got the forkart.com domain and another Go-KART company has the forkart.net domain. So two of the domains I would want in the future for fork art have been taken. Stupid domains. Stupid yahoo. I know it's not their fault, but... stupid domains. stupid yahoo.

2005-04-12T13:46:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 2:01PM Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Excellent.
Reasons: I'm thinking this could be the best challenge ever. It's so easy, even Christ Zeigler (oops. He's not quite *THAT* Christ-like yet...) could manage to enter this one. Not win, mind you... just enter. First things first, bud.

Happy challenging!
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2005-04-08T12:36:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 1236h Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Excellent
Reasons: I had the opportunity to scare the crap out of Karen this morning, so I took it. Great fun was had by all.

And now for the important news!

After the votes were tallied, Phil Sweet got 7 VPs, Steve Maxon got 5, Tom got 3, and Katherine Widrick got 1.

For the recommendations themselves, Phil gets one VP for using the word "atmospheric" to describe the music. Steve gets one VP for talking about Bono flying around the world in his funny sunglasses, but LOSES one VP for saying U2's bassist "The Edge" has a cooler name than I do. Thomas gets a whopping 3 VPs for entering his recommendation as a triptych, or a series of three haiku on the same topic. Furthermore, his was the first entry, garnering him 2 more VPs. Katherine gets one VP for recommending songs by the Beatles, but loses that point for calling them "the beetles."

All this calculatorial work has left us with the following results:

Phil Sweet - 8
Tom Maxon - 8
Steve Maxon - 5
Katherine Widrick - 1

So,

THE DJERE.NET CHALLENGE #2 WINNER IS.......

BOTH TOM AND PHIL!
Awards: QUINTUPLE BONUS to Tom Maxon for winning djere.net Challenge #2! Second QUINTUPLE BONUS to Phil Sweet for winning djere.net Challenge #2!

The Standings:
Steve - 10
Tom - 5
Phil - 5
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2005-04-07T10:57:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 10:57AM Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Ugh.
Reasons: I had a test just now. I overslept, but not too much. I slept past my alarm so I couldn't study, pray, or shower like I usually do in the mornings, but instead jumped out of my lofted bed at 9:17. Karen and I walk to class together at 9:15. So instead of studying for the test (writing the answers to the questions on the cheat sheet the professor provided) I took the test and I think I did fairly well. Unfortunately, every time I'm late to the class, I miss a quiz (for some reason) so instead of a 36 out of 40 (a solid A) because I missed quizzes, I'm at a 26 out of 40 (a solid 65 [passing, barely]). I think I'll pull it through, but it'll be my lowest grade of all time.

Now I'm off to gouge my eyes out in Plants and Society.

Challenge winner to be announced this afternoon!

Special Thanks:
Special thanks to everyone who's made THIS POST the most successful ever, with (currently 48 comments!)
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2005-04-06T11:47:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 11:48AM Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Excellent
Reasons: Yesterday afternoon, some MORON sent an email to every member of the Student Association, the Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper, and me (the president of BASIC). The email claimed that BASIC was being discriminated against by SA on religious grounds, and that members of BASIC were "willing to talk if asked." Furthermore, if the BASIC constitution was not approved, this tool threatened litigation!

So imagine my suprise when Michelle Garcia, editor in chief of the newspapers asks me about the situation and I haven't read it yet. Imagine my further suprise when I find out it's an email that's been sent to everybody in SA, as well as the newspaper and goodness knows who else.

Today I met with Jennifer Senez, chief justice of the SA Supreme Court. We both agreed that somebody blew it out of proportion. Furthermore, she said she checked with someone in an advisorial role over the Supreme Court, and it turns out that the two biggest changes don't have to be made. Only one addition and one textual change needed now.

Excellllllllent
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Son of Man, prophesy...

2005-04-05T03:09:00.000-04:00

Time Check: 3:10AM Eastern Daylight Time
Mood Check: Excellent
Reasons: Chris Zeigler, Mike Stirushnik, Karen and I just talked for several hours about what must happen for BASIC and what God's doing for the group. Which reminds me, Mike, dude, we're laying hands on you at the meeting. Not just Mike, but everybody and anybody. The Spirit of God is on the move and pouring out on us all.

In honor of Job Tate, I give to you...
Special Thanks:
Special Thanks to Steve for recommending this to me.
Special Thanks to Katherine for not believing some of the Papal Titles, and until she finally read this list of the Pope's titles (that she just sent along to me).
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2005-04-01T13:57:00.000-05:00

for a good time, read the comments from the previous post, and keep commenting.

to ensure a good time in the future, go here and vote for the winner of djere.net challenge #2!

Consider the following:

Everybody wants God to show up in their lives, especially around conferences. We plot and plan and get our lives in order just so that Jesus will come in. In Revelation 3:20, He says He stands at the door to some peoples' hearts and wants to come in. So we spend all our time cleaning our houses and waiting for Him to knock. Meanwhile, 2,000 years ago Jesus said, "Hey everybody, party at my house!" and few people have truly taken Him up on it. He's been preparing it for, you know, two millenia, but hey, you're right. Our house is probably cooler. Sure, we'll get into the presence of God, maybe make it to His front porch, but we'll knock on the door and Enoch, or Elijah answers.

"Umm, can Jesus come out and play?" we ask.

"Just a moment." Meanwhile the elders are falling down in the living room and bright, glorious light is streaming out of the windowshades. And I'm pretty sure the angels in the garden are actually angels.

Moments later Christ our Lord appears at the door.

"Hey Djere! How've you been? HA! Trick question, I already know! Wanna come in and see the living room? Dad's here! Seriously! I'll just bring you right in and you can see the new chairs we got!"

"Awww, well actually... I was hoping you could help me with my midterm, Jesus..."

Christ, always a team player, decides that sure, it would be cool to come back out my place and hang out for a while, but that it would be cooler if I ever took Psalm 27 or Psalm 26 or Psalm 24 seriously, I'd wash my hands, purify my heart, and stop swearing by what is false and lifting up my soul to an idol and hang out in his house for a change. That's what He's promised me.

I think this weekend at the BASIC retreat, I'll tell him to stay at home, and I'll visit Him for a change...

2005-03-30T16:50:00.000-05:00

Time Check: 4:50PM Eastern Standard Time
Mood Check: Pretty good!
Reasons: Well, I just got off the phone with Citibank of South Dakota, and I told the fast-talking gentleman with the southern drawl "I'm going to have to go ahead and turn you down, Alice. Oh, and if you could take my number off your list, that'd be totally sweet, kay?"

In other news, I got a girlfriend, things are going pretty well, and life is good.

Karen and I just need to work on this whole "country music" thing she likes so much...
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2005-03-29T10:48:00.000-05:00

Time Check: 10:48AM Eastern Standard Time
Mood Check: uuuuurgh
Reasons: Here's a tip: don't go running late at night just before bed if you want to go to your first class. And by running I mean sprinting for 12:27, and by your first class I mean POL 207. But if you do want to wake up and feel like a bus hit you so you can't even get out of bed, go ahead and do it. The burning sensation in your back means you're growing muscles.

Or dying.
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2005-03-28T14:19:00.000-05:00

Time Check: 2:19PM Eastern Standard Time
Mood Check:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY!

Reasons: Well, it's her birthday, duh. djere.net Challenge #2 officially closed at 11:59:59.9 last night. We got four recommendations for CDs. Shortly there will be a poll opened at the forums for you to vote on something to do with them, and also, I'll post soon about why I haven't been posting lately.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
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2005-03-27T01:59:00.000-05:00

HAPPY EASTER!

What better way to celebrate the resurrection of our blessed Lord, Christ Jesus than by entering the latest djere.net Challenge.
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"Hear the bells ringing,
They're singing that you can be born again,
Hear the bells ringing,
They're singing Christ is risen from the dead.

The angel up on the tombstone,
Said He has risen, just as He said,
Quickly now, go tell his disciples,
That Jesus Christ is no longer dead.

Joy to the word, He has risen, hallelujah,
He's risen, hallelujah,
He's risen, hallelujah." ~Keith Green, Easter Song

2005-03-25T01:29:00.000-05:00

Happy Good Friday.

A contradiction of terms?

I think not.

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

and i am so unworthy. Yet,

1 John 4:9-10 "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."

i can't help it, that's how i measure love

"I still can't help wondering how we can explain away what to me is the greatest miracle of all and which is recorded in history. No one denies there was such a man, that he lived and that he was put to death by crucifixion. Where...is the miracle I spoke of? Well consider this and let your imagination translate the story into our own time -- possibly to your own home town. A young man whose father is a carpenter grows up working in his father's shop. One day he puts down his tools and walks out of his father's shop. He starts preaching on street corners and in the nearby countryside, walking from place to place, preaching all the while, even though he is not an ordained minister. He never gets farther than an area perhaps 100 miles wide at the most. He does this for three years. Then he is arrested, tried and convicted. There is no court of appeal, so he is executed at age 33 along with two common thieves. Those in charge of his execution roll dice to see who gets his clothing -- the only possessions he has. His family cannot afford a burial place for him so he is interred in a borrowed tomb. End of story? No, this uneducated, property-less young man has, for 2,000 years, had a greater effect on the world than all the rulers, kings, emperors; all the conquerors, generals and admirals, all the scholars, scientists and philosophers who have ever lived -- all of them put together. How do we explain that -- unless He really was what He said He was?" --Ronald Reagan

"Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal." --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"It was not for societies or states that Christ died, but for men." --C.S. Lewis

"When I survey the wondrous cross, On which the Prince of Glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride." --Isaac Watts

"When divine souls appear, men are compelled by their own self-respect to distinguish them." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

"In a word, it was not Christ who died; it was Death." --Fulton Sheen

"Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, 'Why do you seek the living among the dead?'" (Luke 24:1-5)

"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?'" (John 11:25-26)

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." (Jesus in Revelation 22:13)

2005-03-21T19:28:00.000-05:00

For those of you interested in entering djere.net Challenge #2, here's a list of my song library so people don't accidentally recommend a CD I already have.

You have until Sunday March 27th.

2005-03-21T14:45:00.000-05:00

Back in O-Go.

I'll be posting a copy of the CDs I already own for those of you partaking in djere.net Challenge 2.

Holy crap.