Here's a quick update for those of you I haven't gotten to talk to lately... remember all those posts when I talked about the Rhodes competition? Well beyond all logic and reason I got a state interview bid. The letter came in the mail the other day and my dad opened it because he thought it was a traffic ticket (it was from a magistrate judge... she's the head of the Alabama commitee) and then called me and told me the news. Its purty exciting and way beyond all my expectations of what was going to happen. 'Southen (my school) hasn't had one in like 40 years, and a friend of mine, Nick Gaskill, also got a state bid. Two BSC students in one competition. Purty neat. Thanks to all those that wrote me letters of recomendation and to Will, who got me pictures in a very short period of time, completing the application. I find out next week if I make nationals, then two days later whether I got a scholarship. I don't expect to go any farther, but it would be cool if I did. I'll keep everyone posted!

I hope everyone is well.

Peace,
Joe

Here is a link to a really, hmmm.... I guess I'll say cool website. All you do is enter words in the space and press enter or return (for mac users). I have only found two key words that lead anywhere... one is "Hello" Type that in and you'll get an explanation of the site. Have fun!

Hope all is well.

Peace,
Joe

Haha! I have defeated the mighty G R E! Actually, I have just taken it and minorly injured its left leg maybe, but my scores are good enough to get me where I want to go. If I want to qualify for fellowships at some of the choosier places I'm applying to I'll need to raise my math score (yes, the Chandler curse continues), but thats ok. Its just nice to have it done and know that all the components of applying to Grad school are now withing my grasp. My huge senior experiment is coming to a close, too. We ran participants all day today (personally I did about 6.5 hours) and I'll be running folks tomorrow from 10am to 8pm with one one-hour brake. Oh yeah. This is HARD CORE PSYCHOLOGY! Woo-hooooooooooo. Really its just long. Not hard core.
I find out about the Rhodes in less than a week. At least the State level, anyway. That will be nice. I'm at the Cellar right now. Have I mentioned that this is the best job ever? I have a friend that works at a "real" coffee house (some place called MoonDollars? Or is it Star... ummm) and I get paid more! AND I'm posting on my site sitting next to my manager and I'm working right now. After this, we'll play Uno. Then, maybe I'll make a "Latte." Whatever that is.
So thanksgiving looms large. I am really ahppy about that. Its always cool to see the family.

Hope everyone is well.

Peace,
Joe

Man this has been a crazy week. All in the span of a few days I have thought I wasn't going to grad school, then I thought I might go to law school, then I thought my dad was getting paralyzed, then I thought a Ham sandwich was actually a Turkey sandwich and ate it and was quite disappointed, then I realized I was being really dumb and that of course I am going to grad school and then I got a letter from the Rhodes people saying that my GPA and everything was good enough and they would call me later if I went to the state trials and then I worked at the Cellar and pretended I was a ganster, then I played some Uno, and now I am in the midst of a hunt for a Movie called "Brother From Another Planet" that I have to watch for African-American Lit. So I thought (as I was online) "boy Joe, you haven't posted on your website seeing as how you've been all busy and such, you should do that." And so I am.
Hmmmm... what else. Oh yes. My family is all getting together for the thanksgiving. That will be wonderful. I can't wait. One of my professors might be coming to thanksgiving dinner, too. He's practically family, seeing as how he is my mentor and all. Yens.
So I saw the new Harry Potter last night. Man let me tell you, it was grand. I will say nothing of it for those that haven't seen it. Only this: you should go see it. Its grand.
Vic got the new LOTR box set with the extra 30 minutes of footage. As soon as my life slows down I'm going to watch it like 50 times. In a row.
I want to be Gandalf.

Hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Joe

Sometimes I think to myself that I don't post on this site enough. Then I think, yes Joe, you're right. I have been busy, but isn't this site a part of my relief from said responsibilities? Oh the self conversation: worthless and yet also useless. Yens.
So today in The Cellar I invented a new game. Its called "Jump into the couch from a relatively safe distance Game." because of all the storms noone was around, so we made up a bunch of new games and carried them out. It was grand.
I went to lunch with mama and daddy today at The Mill. It was a supreme meal. I really love it that they're only an hour away. After lunch we went to Golden Tmeple and mama went crazy over all the cool stuff. The scene was hilarious: mama smelling all the herbs and daddy looking worried saying "ok Kathy, time to go." Mama loves those kinds of places (its a hippie health food/other stuff store). Daddy bought me some Dr. Bronner's (THE GREATEST SOAP EVER!) which you can use to do everything from wash your hair to brush your teeth to stopping global warming. Ok, so maybe that last part isn't true. But it does smell like peppermint!
After that we went to school and I showed ma and pa the brand new science building we have. Its supa keen. It has a whole floor of psych labs, including a neuroscience lab (which I dig immensly). When they left you could already tell the bad weather was moving in. By the time the night came it was gettnig bad, so we closed up the Cellar early and everyone in the dorms had to go to the basement. It turned out ok for us. Walker county got hit hard, and the line included several tornadoes. So I called all my loved ones and everyone checked in ok. I'm glad the storm came and did no direct damage to me or my loved ones, but I do pray for those that lost property or worse this evening.
But on to happier things... I have an Abnormal Psych test in 11 hours! I should probably study a bit more and then go to sleep. I hope everyone is well and that the weather is kinder where you are right now than it is here.

Peace,
Joe

Hooray. I love the Nickel Creek. Especially that Light House song. That is the saddest song I have ever heard sung from the point of view of an inanimate object. I liked it so much I sat down and figured out as much of it as I could, then got the rest from a reliable bluegrass tab site. The song is simple and fun to sing and play. If you're Will, you should learn it. Then we could jam on it a bit, and maybe lay down the fiddle part. Speaking of the fiddle, I wish I had more time to practice it. But I have locked in a bit of its value now, because I'm taking violin lessons on campus next semster. That will be good because it includes access to a sound proof practice room, much the boon to my suitemates.
So Amberly is back in town and its been a good thing. I forgot that she was a great friend for awhile there. She has a dog named Cooper. He's a bit crazy. Calm one second and crrraaazy the next. He slobbers a bunch. All in all a nice dog.
Hmmmm... so that's whats really going on. Peeg and Stacy left me the coolest announcement messege ever the other day. They presented getting an X-box as a regal thing. Coolest messege I've gotten in a long time.
School keeps on truckin. Finals are in only four weeks. Grad school apps are due in six. Supa busy, supa crazy.
I hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Joe

Last night I had a crrrrazy dream that I invented a new kind of rice that gave people super powers. The really odd part was that I invented it while trying to come up with a personal forcefield that people could use as umbrellas. The whole dream seemed perfectly natural, you know, the kind where you don't know its a dream until you wake up. So the down part was that you didn't know what power you'd get until after eating the rice. So not many people did it. Of course me and all my brothers did, because super powers are cool. Peeg got the ability to see things very far away, like he had super binocular vision. Will became stretch man, and hence, could stretch like a rubber band. Nick got laser eyes, not like cyclops, but controllable like superman. I got the ability to talk to animals. The bad part about that though was that I had to speak just like them. So I barked alot. After eating the rice we formed a super group of course and went around fighting crime and the like. Liz didn't want to eat the rice, but eventually she did. She got the ability to mentally switch places with her cat Sticky. Like a mind transplant. It was grand fun. We called ourselves "THE MYSTERIOUS MONKIES" becasue Liz thought that would be a good title. Now for those of you that have seen our sibling interaction, this is not an unusual post. Those of you that have not, now you have a small glimpse into the way my mind works in relation to my brothers and sister. Its great.
It is finally cold down here in the great Alabama. Its grand.
So thats it. Cool dream, cold weather. I hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Joe

Ok so don't click on the super mysterious link on the last post. It was supposed to be to the Martin Guitars site, but I messed it up. but do look at the other link. Ok. CYA!
Peace,
Joe

Oh yes, also here is a funny link that my friend Ryan showed to me the other day. I am going to try to get my African-American Lit teacher to show it in class. Some parts are a bit over the top, but all in all its an excellent little commentary on modern racism. Also, since I am liking the link thing here, this is a link to A MYSTERIOUS WEBSITE OF UN-KNOWN ORIGIN!!!! Or maybe its just a cool instrument place, which is probably more likely.
Peace,
Joe

So here marks the longest I think I have gone without updating my site, and there is a good reason. Every time I try too, my computer crashes. A few of my very smart friends assure me that this will not happen anymore, so I am trying to post. Obviously if you are reading this then I have been successful. Hooray!
Ok, so now I must have somehting to talk about. How about Micheal Jordan. Great! I watched the Wizards play last night (just me and a six pack of Rolling Rock. Yea, I know how to party on Halloween) and the 39 year old rocked the Celtics house until they had to stop and say "oh please, I know that we all keep saying you're too old to be effective until you drop a bazillion points on us without blinking, but please Mr. Jordan, have mercy!" Yes, my favorite old guy dropped 21 points in 20 minutes last night on way to a Wizards destruction of the celtics. If you will for one moment, imagine me jumping around in front of the TV laughing at all others attempt to play basketball, you will see how nice it was to watch the game. Oh yes.
But enough of poor nerdy basketball Joe. Oh wait. Thats all there really is to write about. I'm still a sicky pants (the flu has stuck with me for a week) and tonight I'm going to work and do my laundry. I know things on this site have gotten even more boring than usual, but so it goes when the semester starts getting rough. Amberly gets here on Monday for her foray back into the south. I hope she has a safe drive.
OOOOHHHH!!! Maybe Space Ghost is on. Cya.
Peace,
Joe