Ahh yes, April 22, and I’m nearly gay.

So what’s new in the life of me. Not too much. Hmmm, let me think – I guess I’ll just go through them all. [B]Text:[/B] I have been doing a ton of reading as of late, and very little of it is uplifting. I finished Snowcrash (Gibson), the 7-novel series Death Gate Cycle (Weis & Hickman), Digital Fortress (Dan Brown) and Pattern Recognition (Gibson). Digital Fortress and Pattern recognition, although fairly long books, were both very engrossing and very quick reads. PR, though, is in Gibson’s typically-cryptic style and takes a lot of think-time outside of reading the book. Like, read 10 pages, stop, think for a few minutes, make sure I have it, then continue. Maybe I am getting dumber. Wouldn’t surprise me. I’m supposed to read The Da Vinci Code next, but I have to wait until Keen is done with it. [b]Web:[/b] [L=http://jared.seehafer.net]Jared’s website[/L] is back up, which is super. He even has all of his archives. Yay. [L=http://pinklaura.blogspot.com]Laura’s site[/L] has some new content, which is nice. Other than that, the [L=http://www.copyright.gov]www.copyright.gov[/L] website has a ton of good reading on it. For example, you don’t need to put a copyright notice on any work created after 1989 — it’s insta-copyrighted upon dissemination. Odd. Also of interest is the latest [L=http://www.uniras.gov.uk/vuls/2004/236929/]TCP Protocol Vulnerability[/L], which is a semi-big deal. Not for me but other people. I also highly suggest reading [L=http://www.kottke.org]Kottke.org[/L] – always good text and links, and it was one of the original reasons why I started rand0m.org [b]Store:[/b] The store is doing OK. We had an issue with our CS Team, but that has been cleared up. I setup the FreeBSD machine to be a [L=http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/filtering-bridges/article.html]packet filtering bridge[/L]. Yay for bandwidth shaping & firewalling. I think implementing that broke our mailserver, though, as it went totally apeshit the other day and stopped accepting mail. Burned an hour of my day to figure out why, too. I had no idea configs could just change. On another note, we are starting up a Counter-Strike League. Here’s to it working. [b]HPI:[/b] Nada, really. Had a bizarre set of circumstances that led to the whole HPI network going down. I’ll put up an article about that shortly, and link it here. Additionally, had some _whack_ weather kill a bunch of our radios in one day. It was not fun. Also, 5.7/5.2GHz ISM/UNII totally owns the shit out of 2.4GHz gear. Period. [b]Personal:[/b] I am not sexually interesting, per Samantha Garrett, my almost-life-long dream girl. How’s that for a start to your Wednesday? Maybe I need to find a floozy and use her to make myself feel good. Meh, that never works. Well fuck that. Maybe I am just uninteresting in general. I could see that, as I’m pretty bland, or have been for the past 6 months or so. Maybe I just give off the “uninteresing sexually” aura and drive women away. Ahh yes, that must be it. Nothing wrong with _me_, just the damned Aura. And some girl’s obviously misguided opinion of things. Yes, that too. One of my roommates Got Laid. He looked happier than a fox in a hen house. I was jealous there for about 3 seconds, then realized that, oh yea, I’m a eunuch, and then went on my way. There’s a girl I’m thinking about pursuing, but it’s going to take some time to sort itself out. God I hate that. And the whole relationship thing in general. It’s so fucking difficult to find good people – especially women. And then they crush your spirit mercilessly, and you’re just like “this is bullshit”. Eat shit and like it. Took Duck in the face at 250 knots. I walked to work today, and despite the inclimate weather, it felt good to be outside.

2004-04-22 15:07:22 – The Disco Nova
It’s not that I got laid, that happens alot and does nothing to improve my mood. I had sex with a girl that I have been dating, that I don’t mind keeping around after I had sex with her. Pretty rare with how regularly most women piss me off nowadays.
2004-04-22 16:39:29 – Netheus
d’oh!
2004-04-22 19:08:51 – Nick
1. Snow Crash is not by Gibson 2. How is Pattern Recogntion both "very engrossing and very quick" and "typically-cryptic" taking "a lot of think-time outside of reading the book?" 3. Try again. 😉
2004-04-22 23:06:18 – rand0m
You’re right, it’s Stephenson, my bad. And yes, it was very engrossing, and hence a quick read. Despite the amount of mental time spent on it, I couldn’t put it down – 2 days, which is extremely quick for my total lack of reading time. And, btw, Gibson’s works make very little sense unless you think about them quite a bit, as he doesn’t always string all the events and facts together for you – he bounces around, leaving big gaps that the reader has to fill. And neg. kthxbye.
2004-04-23 11:03:53 – Nick
Hehe. Fair enough. I agree with you 100% about the Gibson stuff–I’m actually finishing /All Tomorrow’s Parties/ right now. Once I’m done with that, I’ll be taking a look at /Pattern Recognition/, but I think I’m going to do something a little lighter first. I’m really looking forward to the new series by Stephenson, but I’ve been waiting for paperbacks–I can’t stand reading hardcover books.
2004-04-23 16:41:56 – Netheus
I have my sister reading Snow Crash right now… But she got the odd impression after leaving the bookstore that she should read all the books we bought in tandem… The others being "A Clockwork Orange," "Brave New World," and Neil Gaiman’s "Underworld." Kinda makes me glad that we put the Lovecraft novel back…
2004-04-23 17:56:57 – Master Ha-reed
Oh come on Neth, you know Cthulhu loves you.
2004-04-24 18:54:17 – keener2u
Nick, Try out The Difference Engine…it’s quite wierd but kinda cool…based on the premise that the computer age comes about from the early industrial age.
2004-04-25 01:58:55 – a nice girl (seriously)
in my defense, i wan’t implying in any way that you are not a sexual being. jeeze. i was just saying that my night with you carried no potential for an interesting sexual relationship, what with – me being attracted to introverts, and you being th most extroverted guy ever – you living in colorado and me living in iowa – me being too damn picky – my firm belief that if anything were to happen between us, it would have years ago if it makes you feel any better, tonight i was (am) the perfect level of drunk, but still went home alone while the hott ex-roommate of my best friend’s boyfriend went home with some easy skank instead of me, even though we flirt all the time, just because i require a little more effort. bah.
2004-04-25 03:02:32 – Lauren
You are overthinking the whole sex thing you know. Besides, a girl loves a man with confidence(not ego) and judging by your statements you lack that. You shouldn’t care what other people think. Anyhow, just saying hi from Japan! Can’t wait to get back to the states. Wait, do you even remember me? Oh well, just curious. TATA!
2004-04-25 08:24:21 – Nick
Keen, It’s on my shelf and will get read in time. Seriously, though, I have to read something that isn’t Gibson first or my head will never stop hurting. Randal pinpointed it rather well with the reading 10 pages and stop to think bit. Owwie.
2004-04-25 09:09:44 – Netheus
Some people cotact the Alumni Association, some people wait for the reunion. Our class stays together because of Randal’s website. Aren’t we 21st century.
2004-04-25 11:38:30 – realbighead
lauren that no one likes?
2004-04-25 11:54:29 – rand0m
I have nothing witty nor insightful to say, so ya’ll only get this sentence.
2004-04-25 20:45:50 – pinky
jesus, this is why we don’t go digging in bone yards…ahh! ahhh!
2004-04-25 20:47:16 – pinky
ahhh! ahhh! ahhh! what the fuck? ahhh! i just got really really bad flashbacks. lauren, sammi, tore, randal and myself all posting ahh!
2004-04-25 22:02:03 – Netheus
Bad flashbacks listening to everyone bitch about each other…. oh the memories…
2004-04-26 14:11:02 – WC
hmm, yah not even going to touch the thing about Sammi, have I ever met her (I don’t think)? And I haven’t a clue about wtf you guys are talking about since I do zero reading outside man pages (I’m not talking about Maxim or the likes) and newsgroups. wo0o0! Ohh I might be wanting to get back in school yay or nay .. i don’t know hmm. :-p
2004-04-26 16:07:01 – rand0m
Yea, the whole Sammi thing is totally out there. Shit, I can’t even say anything. Maybe "Ow" or "OMFG YOU’RE SO WRONG!!~1", neither of which do any good. So I guess that’s nearly off limits, unless somebody has something enlightening to say. I guess. And yes Tore, you are a total asshole. Congrats on your promotion in the club of "I hate people"! And yes, flashbacks. Oof.
2004-04-26 17:20:45 – pinky
my sophomore year of college, i saw lauren at the weezer concert in denver. i hoped that she didn’t see me and ran off. however, i think it’s been years and years since high school, and assume that everyone has matured a bit. however, by looking at the fact that randal is (was?) still smitten with sammi, tore is still bitter, christina is still herself, i’m pretty much the same, and whatnot, i wonder sometimes. alright, flashbacks. remember the ibo e-mail list? i think it was the ibo. who the hell knows.
2004-04-26 18:16:08 – realbighead
IBu. IB underground, I believe it was? and I’m not bitter. just hateful. there’s a subtle difference, namely, that I rather enjoy life at the moment.
2004-04-27 08:54:20 – Netheus
Laura- do you really think we haven’t changed all that much? I mean, seriously…is that what you think? I’m not sure, but mostly because if I say I have, most of the differences would be just furtherences of the stuff I did in High School, or cosmetic non-sense. Like I am still corrupting the youth, and I am married. But are those really changes?
2004-04-27 11:30:05 – pinky
speaking of high school, go sign your ass up here [L=http://www.classreport.com/usa/co/colorado_springs/phs/]class of 2000 alum[/L]
2004-04-27 11:39:53 – rand0m
If you go to that site and go through the little bios of people, you’ll see that a certain pinky has a GMail account. I can’t believe how envious I am.
2004-04-27 21:25:34 – Master Ha-reed
WTF? How did you land that Laura?
2004-04-27 22:21:55 – pinky
i am a goddess, so i get some hot gmail.
2004-04-28 00:21:46 – Netheus
I just went and saw Taj Mahal. Blues+Ukelelees+8 band members/14 instruments= I had a good time. I wouldn’t buy the CD, but i had a good time. Apparently they play at 32 Bleu a lot. It’s a good way to have a night.
2004-04-28 19:21:04 – Krutt
I was bored at work, and apparently reached the end of the internet for the thousandth time, cause I ended up here. My gut hurts from laughing histerically. "- my firm belief that if anything were to happen between us, it would have years ago" Randall, stop loathing, and dreaming of something that will never happen. Move on, and sometimes it helps to actually care for someone other than yourself. There’s a lot more going on outside your bubble of reality. If you look beyond that you might actually find a dream girl who finds you "interesting" or even "sexually interesting" at that.
2004-04-28 19:45:44 – WC
Spoken like a true man. I was afraid to say the exact same thing but thanks kurty, no I don’t have to. Ohh btw I am a ipfw+natd+bridge pimp. And you all know it. I love acroynms too!
2004-04-28 20:02:16 – rand0m
rofl. kurty, if you only knew. I am offended that you care to make such huge suppositions about my life when you have absolutely no idea (nor interest in?) about what’s going on. Of course, I could still be totally hung up about it. Or not. Or, get this unbelievable concept, maybe it was over a week ago and the whole thing, including her, has been written off. And craig, fuck you.
2004-04-29 00:43:51 – wC
I still <3 you randal! :-p
2004-04-29 02:10:59 – pinky
that was kinda mean… personally, i wonder why anyone should be told to settle, i say fuck that.
2004-04-30 01:39:27 – (still) a nice girl
god damn. i didn’t mean to cause this mess. i just thought it was common sense that a night spent whining about other members of the opposite sex followed by a return to iowa did not equal a date with a whole lot of potential. it was still a good time. and i still find randal interesting, without a doubt. i’m not sure about sexually interesting, but more interesting than most other people i know. oh, and fuck off, kurt. what’s with the trend of people being real asses on this site lately? anyway, in addition to making me feel incredibly awkward, this whole line of posting has caused me to reevaluate my own hopelessly-smittenness with the almost-life-long dream guy from high school… ug. what a world.
2004-04-30 08:15:26 – Netheus
You find them where you are meant to find them. I found Troy at Boulder Street. My grandpa found my grandma at a bed and breakfast she worked at. My other grandparents met in high school. Be as smitten as you want, reciprocation is what matters.
2004-04-30 10:51:34 – rand0m
>>reciprocation is what matters w3rd. If it ain’t going to happen, stop fooling yourself, say fuck it all and move on. GG.
2004-04-30 12:05:34 – The Disco Nova
I say they go on another date. And not a "friendly" one either. We are talking romance here. I will coach Randall on the fine art of dating, since it has been a while.
2004-04-30 12:10:17 – Master Ha-reed
Make sure you include the part about showing her the difference between Platonic love and Aristotlean love.
2004-04-30 13:33:04 – rand0m
Neg. I tire of this thread. Time for a new post.
2004-05-01 04:44:50 – WC
o0 new post!! /me waits anxiously. Sorry btw for my previous comment. I was in a wierd mood that day. 🙁
2004-05-01 11:40:04 – Netheus
Happy May Day. Communists and pagans unite!
2004-05-01 20:33:53 – pinky
what if you’re a pagan communist? or communist pagan? all that means is you all owe me beers the next time i’m in town. right.
2004-05-02 11:32:20 – Master Ha-reed
If you were both, John Ashcroft would have eaten your soul by now.
2004-05-02 23:03:15 – Netheus
why is it that everytine I see the word "unite," I think that it’s actually "untie" untill I stare at it for a while?
2004-05-02 23:22:50 – pinky
john ashcroft is on my underwear, which goes to show he has no power over me.
2004-05-03 15:24:34 – WC
I too have pictures of people I hold dear on my underwear.