Monday, May 26, 2003

Wow.
It�s been a few days since I posted, but a ton has happened. I shall enumerate:
1) I graduated college. Yep, it�s Joe the Alumnus, now. Friday Mama, Daddy, Peeg, Nick and Aunt Gayna came to the Capping Ceremony, a BSC tradition where one (or tow in my case) special people symbolically give you your mortar board and put it on your head. It was wonderful. Mama and Daddy capped me. The next morning was Baccalaureate at First Methodist downtown. Daddy came, and the liberal arts education that I received became even more apparent with the variety and inclusion involved in the service. Bishop Morgan gave a beautiful sermon on being an "amateur in all things" in the original sense of the word. That is, in the sense that an amateur does things for the sheer love of doing them. Then Saturday morning was graduation, and all my blood siblings were there along with Mama and Daddy and Aunt Gayna. When I got my degree my family yelled, mostly in the Rocky voice. I looked up and made a face at them. I found where they were sitting by hearing Daddy cough. My brothers and sister know what I'm talking about. Then at the end I danced to the processional music, and many parents frowned at me. So I just swung my honor cords instead. They still frowned. Oh well. We all went to the reception and then to Mexican food. It was supa keen in more ways than can be said.
2) I moved out of the dorm. Man alive, I didn't know I could fit so much stuff in that tiny room. I have accumulated more junk in the last four years than I really knew about, and it showed when Nick helped move me out. After a few car loads earlier in the week, we filled his 940 and my 240 with no problem. Lots O' junk. And I've spent almost all of today unpacking it and setting up my room for the next two months.
3) I became the proud papa of two lab rats. Yep, Ratagast and Little Belle are living at the Chandler household until I move to T-town. They are Long-Evans strain hooded lab rats, and they rock. Little Belle is Jennifer's, and she'll get her back at the end of the summer.
Ok, that's about it. I said it was a lot, but really just three things. I'm going to go and clean some more. To all those that gave me presents for graduation, thank you many many many times. To Meghan, I hope you are feeling better. To my family, I can't wait until we get together all at once again.
I hope everyone is well
Peace,
Joe

Monday, May 19, 2003

Just added a link to Marcus' homepage. He is a poet and supa cool guy. Read his stuff. READ IT!!!!!

Peace,
Joe
I just potentially finished my last college assignment ever. It was a paper on the process theology of Alfred North Whitehead and how it can tie together the metaphysics of Buddhism and the practice of Christianity. I am tired. I am almost done with college. Six, oops I mean five days and Joe is movin' on up in the world. Or at least south-west, to Tuscaloosa. I have a few more details to take care of, but, depending on the decision of one professor about another potential paper, I might just be done. I think that deserves a woo-hoo.

WOO-HOO.

Yes. Also, here is a Dr. Bronners quote of the day:
DILUTE DILUTE DILUTE!

Need sleep.

I hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Joe

Thursday, May 15, 2003

What do Bob Dylan, Nickel Creek, Bela Flek and Willie Nelson all have in common? They are all performing at City Stages this weekend, and I'm a'gonna be there. Liz and Josh and Nick are also coming, and we will be having "the blast." Yes. I am so pumped about seeing Nickel Creek that I had a dream about it. Not much of a dream, just me at City Stages watching Nickel Creek. But still, it was a good dream.
Nick and I found a house! Its a two bedroom, 1 bathroom place in a great Neighborhood about ten minutes from campus. Its in great shape, with brand new siding and a huge living room and the like. It has all the "amenities": W/D hook-ups, dishwasher, central heat and air, monkey slaves, etc. Well, maybe no monkey slaves, but everything else I said! It should make a great house. Its in a neighborhood that is mostly middle-class families and owners. In fact, ours will be one of the few rental houses anywhere really near there. The landlord is a private owner that seems to be a great guy. He showed us a bunch of houses the other day after he had already gotten off work, around 5pm or so. He was very honest about the condition of the houses and stuff. We move in August 1st.
I took my only in-class exam this morning. It was computer science (practicing for the Webmathering! HAHAHAHA!!!) If you want to see a very pnutbu-funny freshman picture of me, look at the class roster section. Yeah, I really did part my hair like that.
Now all I have is two papers due, one saturday and one monday. Then for all intents and purposes, I will done with college. Yep, pretty crazy stuff.
I'm at work, and my first customer of the night just walked in. Off to the coffee and desert makin'.
I hope everyone is well!
Peace,
Joe

Monday, May 12, 2003

Here's a post that was supposed to be up yesterday, but blogger was having the technical difficulties:

I've started to post like three times today and stopped becasue I didn't know quite how to do it without sounding really supa hokey, but I think now that I am relatively exhausted my propensity for the implementation of superfluous verbage has been quashed. So today was my last day of college class. And my last day to run participants in the Harbert lab. Its just now starting to hit me that I will be out of college soon. Very soon. I have two papers and one exam left, but no more class.
Graduation is twelve days away. ::saying in the very surfer man voice:: WHOA.
I am the very tired. Tonight, the sleeping will commence. Then tomorrow Nick and I will look at more houses, then I will study, then go to work. I don't know why I just told you my daily routine. But lack of sleep makes the world funny and full of monkeys.
I'm going to have a beers and go to sleep.
Hope everyone is well!
Peace,
Joe

Thursday, May 08, 2003

Quick post for a little business...
As most of you all know Nick and I are looking for a house for the fall now that I will be going to UA for grad school. I think I may have found something, and I am asking those of you that read my site for your opinion. For those that are not familiar with Tuscaloosa, you can tell me if you have any bad vibes and whatnot. For those of you that are familiar with the T-town, please comment on the neighborhood (that is, whether Nick and I will get robbed and the like if we live there). Any and all help is welcome on our journey to house-land. The website where I found it gives each property a name, and this house is apparently called "Changes in Latitude." Ok, I'm cool with that if the house is ok. Thanks everybody!
Peace,
Joe

Wednesday, May 07, 2003

Tornadoes. Tornadoes. Then more tornadoes. The weather here has been, shall we say, tempestuous here as of late, and it doesn't look like its getting any better. The past few days walking outside has been a bit like walking in soup. Nasty thick soup that sticks to your face and head and clothes. But, at the same time, its cool! I was walking down here to the lab and a huge clap of thunder sounded. It was so loud and so close that it made the bells in the belltower vibrate. It sounded like sort of a wah-wah sound. So that is good. Also the rain is always fun to look at.
Nothing really exciting except the weather. I'm plugging along to the end of the semester, and each day I get something else to fill out about graduation. Nick and I are looking at more houses this saturday, but I may have found one already (if it doesn't turn out to be a dump). The guy said he only rents to grad students and families, but when I mentioned Nick he was Ok with it. He said something like "An Army man, eh? My brother is in the Army. That's just fine, just fine!" Its a two bedroom with a garage and yard with central heat/air and the roof was recently re-done. Sounds promising, anyway.
Well that is about it. On to more of the workin'.
I hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Joe

Sunday, May 04, 2003

Upon more contemplation I just realized how awesome it is going to be living with my little brother in a house. Wow. I think I will now just think about how much that is going to kick ass and use it to calm the odd confusion I am feeling about most other things. Yes. AWESOME!
Also, Torrie will be living with us.
She's a cat.

Peace,
Joe
Four papers, two exams, one huge experiment, twenty days. That is how much of the college I have left. Hmmmmm. Sort of bizarre. I'm treating it like any other end of the semester by being alternately lazy and productive, giving up at the amount of work and then getting all pumped up to tear through it. But every once in awhile I think: I will have no more semesters like this, at least here. I'm sure grad school will be like one long end of the semster, but the fact that when I move out of the Hanson (my dorm) I won't be moving back in is just foreign at this point. Nick and I looked at several houses yesterday and found some great possibilities. I have to call some folks tomorrow to inquire about pets (Torrie is coming with us) and prices and the like. But then thats it. We'll move around the 1st of August so I can get settled and on the 'Bama payroll, and then its time for the Grad school. The times, they are a'changin.'
Besides that nothing is really going on. I have to work at a frenetic pace for another two or three weeks, and then I can rest, sort of. Right after graduation we're going to the APS convention to be all psychological. But then I can relax. I think I might go to the beach with some friends. And I will definitely be taking a trip to see Will and Meghan and Peeg and Stacy. That is a given. Hopefully I can just use a few weeks to do it all driving.
I hope everyone is well!
Peace,
Joe

Friday, May 02, 2003

And then clean up the spelling.
I had to rearrange the quotes.
I have added some quotes from Mr. T and The Buddha to help illustrate their complex relationship. Enjoy!
Peace,
Joe
I'm sitting down in the basement of Harbert in the good old G-16 lab realizing that we are conducting a full-fledged experiment with two weeks left in the school year. "Cutting it close" does not even describe this. I have actually considered setting up a cot in the old rat lab so we can rest inbetween subjects we can sleep. This place has become the home of me, Caroline, and Michelle. Next week we'll use the data we are collecting now to construct another experiment that will yield more data to be analyzed. BUT I do suppose this is getting me ready for grad school, and if I have partners at Alabama that are anything like I have here, this won't be a bad life at all.
I added a link to a Volvo collector's site. If you like Volvos at all you should go see it. There are European models on the page that I have never heard of, including the very odd 480GLT sprorts car. Take a look.
Ok, time to run more subjects.
I hope everyone is doing well!
Peace,
Joe

Thursday, May 01, 2003

You might notice that the scroll now says "Monkey Knife Fight."
Just a change of pace.

Peace,
Joe

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