phantastic!

As some of you know, i am currently reading the phantom of the opera. i don't want to give a book report, but i will say that it's one of those "better than the movie" books. actually, i think it's so good that i wish other people would read it just to see for themselves.

but i doubt that will happen. i feel that if any of my friends read, it's usually a book by some theologian who is referred to by a few initials and his last name. i'm not saying that's bad, but there seems to be a level of guilt placed or taken on by christians who read "secular" books...as in, 'i should probably be reading the bible instead'. which may be true, but i don't see anything wrong with enjoying books. all that to say that i am enjoying the phantom of the opera tremendously. i find that at times i can relate to the phantom...and to the viscount de chagny. i could probably count on my hand the number of books that made me feel sad when i finished reading them....and by "sad", i mean "sad that it's over". i think PotO will be one of those books. along with reading the book, i have been listening to songs from the soundtrack. pretty good stuff, mr. lloyd webber. i think i'm rambling now, but i've realized that i want a wife who appreciates good books.

to end, i think i'll type "fear of man" since it seems like a good thing to put in posts. good day.

blogger's midterm (Answers posted)

Please do not mark on test. Record answers by filling in the corresponding circles on the Scan-tron sheet, using a #2 pencil. Calculators are permitted for questions 1 and 2 only.

1.) Which of the following books is Tom likely to buy? (35 Pts.)
a) Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson
b) Dracula - Bram Stoker
c) Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
d) Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
e) The Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux
f) Tom doesn't actually know how to read yet
g) Tom is afraid of bats

2.) Favoritehood is the Indo-European word for "black hole of cyberspace". (15 Pts.)
a) True
b) False

3.) Write 50 words or less on ONE of the following (50 Pts.):

a) Discuss the short- and long-term effects of not updating one's blog. Also, discuss the social tension created by written or verbal encouragement to update one's blog. You may cite online sources, but include a complete bibliography of such quotes at the end of your essay. Or not.

b) Describe the relationship between posts that include photographs and the number of comments made by other bloggers. It may be helpful to consider the relationship of photo-less posts and number of comments. Is there any type of correlation?

c) Do an analysis of your favorite Some Lines poem (see "Some Lines" link to the right). Explain why you chose the poem you selected, and offer any critique you feel is necessary.


X_________________________________ I have neither given nor received assistance on this examination.

j.v. mcgee

today on my lunch break i was listening to Dr. J. Vernon Mcgee on the radio. if you've never heard of him, he's an old preacher who recorded a "walk through the bible" program, among other things. today they were playing a question/answer time, and the issue of marriage in Heaven came up. this is just a little of what he had to say:

"Heaven will not be a place where you'll get a bride. Heaven will be the place where the Lord Jesus Christ gets a bride...and that's the Church... ...that day is over with when you leave this earth, here, and if you intend to have a wife you better get her now, because I don't think you'll be able to get one there. But the marriage state is not the important thing for Heaven..."

he went on to explain how Heaven will be so much greater than what our earthly marriages can be that they won't be something we miss. i really enjoy listening to this guy, because he sounds like an old-timey grandpa who tells you how it is. if you've never heard him, take a listen.

raleigh, north carolina, lock in your votes!

(voting is also open to people in high point, charlotte, and the state of california.)

here's the situation: although i work at starbucks, i often go to caribou to study. being a frequent customer, and known there as an employee of "the competitor", i have been offered a job. i would work the same days (just saturdays), and would be getting a pay raise. but i'm not sure it would be a good idea to make my place of study also my place of employment.

i would like to know people's thoughts...

confessions

i don't have a lot to say, nor a lot of time to say it right now, but i know that confession is good for the soul. with this in mind, i want to tell you all that i downloaded "walk away" by kelly clarkson. whew, that feels better. anyone else want to admit anything? actually, while i'm at it, i also dowloaded "boyfriend" by ashlee simpson. i don't know what's wrong with me. someone help me. :)

you never know...the end.

geeks and roses

i feel like i've stepped into another world, where fun = finding new syllabaries for other languages, or writing out the phonemic spelling of words found on the side of my coffee cup. i'm a linguistics geek. i like words. i like the idea of people communicating through learned patterns of sound. i think the fact that i drink coffee while doing these sort of "studies", if i can call them that, is the only thing that keeps me from dropping to loser status. (please, just humor me by letting me think i'm not already there).

which brings me to the next topic of this post: el dia de san valentin. for those of you who don't habla, i just dropped the valentine's day bomb. i haven't seen anyone post about this "holiday" yet, and i think i might know why. it's one of the touchiest holidays known to man. a holiday hot potato, if you will - and you must, this is my blog. so what is to be said about this coming tuesday? who will benefit, who will suffer? who will end up watching some sappy john kusack movie at 8'clock at night while slowly playing "love me tender" on the guitar? i don't know, but i sure feel sorry for that guy.

not that i couldn't be that guy myself. i'm single, i have no plans, i sometimes get trapped watching 'serendipity' on tv, and i own a guitar. toss in a long day of studying the evolution of olde english, and i just might be in the mood for a good cry. i may be a geek, but i'm a sentimental geek. this line is for josh, because i think he scrolls down past long posts to read the comments. so back to valentine's day. here's a quick history of the holiday, according to dictionary.com:

The fullest and perhaps earliest description of the Valentine's Day tradition occurs in Chaucer's Parlement of Foules, composed around 1380, which takes place “on Seynt Valentynes day,/Whan every foul cometh there to chese [choose] his make [mate].”

now, either "foul" means foul, as in a scary, disgusting, smelly, ugly person, or it is the old spelling of "fool". i'm betting on fool. so basically, chaucer started a tradition of getting all the fools together to find their "make". isn't this what happens even to this day? guys get lonely, girls get lonely, they start looking around for some "foul" to fall in love with. it's really a beautiful thing. if it would've just stayed that way, i think i would enjoy it a lot more. but like every other holiday in america, it's been commercialized to the point of foulishness.

edward t. welch says in his book (When people are big and God is small) that we shouldn't want people, that we shouldn't need people....that instead we should just love people. now i either don't understand what he means, or i don't agree with that. i don't see how you could say to your wife, for example, "i love you, but, ya know, i just don't want/need you." i guess there's just a lot about relationships that i don't understand. but what i do know is that i don't exactly enjoy a holiday that re-emphasizes the fact that i want to be a foul in a love, and i'm not. i don't want to sound bitter. i think i did that last year, and it doesn't help. so instead i'll just leave it at that and pass this hot potato.

be mine,
tomas

and the Runic word of the day is:

and here's my first runic poem:



and here's your online "decoder ring"

no, it's not national groucho marx day...

daniel renstrom proposed the idea of Mustache March to follow "Febru-hairy". Here are some computer renderings of what that might look like:











girls are encouraged to participate as well:

hip hop names

this here a chance for y'all to make a hip hop name for yo'self (this includes you, mom and dad) and lay down a flow bout yo' life. tonight at work i decided mine would be "hiatus rock". i'm not sure if i would spell rock with a "k" or not. i think "roc" might be more "hype".

here's a sample from my first flow:

h to the ia
t before the us
hiatus roc your coffee
throw a heartbeat in your chest
i take your bling at the register
turn and call your drink to my
homies on the bar, no dou' they mark the cup fo' ya
one, two, three pumps, count 'em out loud
6:30 am and you know we gots a crowd
they gettin violent, like they need da caffeines
got businessmen on they cellphones makin scenes
"i need a 8 shot venti no whip dolce latte,
and hurry up, son, whatcha think that i got a
extra twenty seconds just to stand aroun'?"
that's why you gots to have skills in this town

Breathing Light On Glass

i know that 'blog' is short for "web log", but i wonder what else it could stand for...?

sometimes i make things:

i had an idea...

and it goes a little something like this. as you may recall, one of my resolutions for this year is to learn how to dance. seeing as how george has showed me the basic steps for shag dancing, and seeing as how i live not too far away from a certain venue which is ideal for sporting the above mentioned newly-aquired skills, i previously embarked in thought as to how i might apply the above twice-mentioned newly-aquired skills towards and directly against the above-mentioned-no-further-above resolution. it appears that the logical conclusion is to venture, or shall i say ADventure, to this location and begin my quest to master the art, yes art, of music-accompanied dancing.

now, this cannot be done alone. so i ask of you, reader, do you have what it takes to be a part of a dream of this magnitude? i cannot answer this question for you, nor can i dance with you, josh (in public). i agree that this post has been quite outrageous, but if you've made it this far, you might just have what it takes. all in favor of a little rock-stepping, say aye...