It is Spring Break. In honor of said break I have made a mix CD called "Don't be sad, Condi, Its SPRING BREAK!" to make ol' Condi Rice happy again. She's been sad on the news lately. I thought some Trogdor (track 1) would cheer her up.
"So what are you doing for your break, Joe?" you aren't asking yourself. Well, right now, I'm in sunny Anniston, soaking up some sleep. I've hung out with my grandparents and parents and Linus, our greyhound. Tonight (or tomorrow morning, if the rain comes) I'm off to Nashville to see Jenn for a few days. Then to Athens to see Nickel Creek and David, Drew, and Carl. Should be grand.

So this post WAS going to be longer and more entertaining, but I'm sleepy, and its time for a nap. Ma and I had Dad's BBQ for lunch, and its calling me to sleep.

I hope everyone is well.

Peace,
Joe

My siblings truly know me. I don't think there are too many almost 23-year-olds who would freak out so completely over getting a toy for their birthday, but this couldn't have gotten much better. The details along with nostalgia and potential for all-encompassing nerd-dom combine to make me one happy guy. I have the original, the 2nd generation, and now the 20th anniversary special edition. You wouldn't believe the attention that went into this thing. The eyes glow, its heavy die-cast metal, its more complicated to transform than the original, and the Autobot Matrix of Leadership lights up. I know that most folks will keep it in the box for collection purposes, but this one will be employed in hours of play. Nay, days, months, years. There are parts of me that will never grow up, and I'm sure if I were to see Optimus die in a movie again, I would still cry profusely.
In other birthday news, Jenn got me Transformers playing cards, the new Norah Jones CD, a Mindy Smith CD (we saw her open for Nickel Creek), and Trivial Pursuit Volume 6. All four gifts are awesome, and each demonstrate to me that she knows me better than I know me sometimes. I mean, Transformer playing cards? YESSIR! And music and a game. Whadda gurl, I tells ya.
Mama and daddy gave me money, which will be used to get me to the APS conference in May where I'll be presenting a paper with Shane and two of my friends from 'Southern. Grandma and Grandpa got me the traditional "money to match your age" deal, and told me to blow it on something for myself, which will inevitably turn into CDs. Today we went to 11th Ave. grill, had cake, and finished off the night with Champagne and pictures of Optimus Prime boozin' it up with Grimlock (pics soon to be posted on my homepage). All in all, a great birthday before my birthday even got here. Thanks to everyone for a supa keen time.
In other news, I presented my thesis idea on Friday to the faculty and it went off without a hitch. There were no questions I couldn't answer, and everyone gave great suggestions to further my idea. So now I'm on to the formal phase of getting together my committee and crunching the data and the like. If all goes well I'll defend this time next year and then only be two years from my PhD. Yippee!
In yet other news, I am tired. So much fun this weekend has made me a sleepy guy. It all makes me not want to go back to the working tomorrow, especially since my spring break is only on week away. But alas, there is work to be done. Fun work for which I am paid. Whine-whine. I know, my sheltered life in academia is sooooo hard.
I'm off to transform Optimus Prime one more time and then get some sleep. When I wake up in the morning, I'll be 23 years old. Weird.
I hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Joe

HA! In sheer defiance of myself, I am posting. I have been working on this presentation so much I think I might go a bit looney, so I'm taking a short break. And really, thats all thats going on. Jamie put up a website for the new band "Blue 88s." I say "the band" because I think I may be a part of it, I'm not sure. I'm in the picture he named Blue 88s from Will's 30th, and Will and I did some recording this past suummer. If I am, great! If I am not, then I'd like to join! Anyway, the site is nothing but a picture so far, but its cool. Plus I think that being there will provide some motivation to record. Though we'd have to be a sometimes band, seeing as hwo we all live in different states.

Alas, the presentation, she's a' callin'.

I hope everyone is well,
Peace,
Joe

Hey I have added a link to my new homepage! (Its called "Home"). That's right, I have my own webspace and have finally figured out how to use it. Its a bit shabby at the moment, but you can take a look if you have nothing better to do.

Also, I present the idea for my thesis next week, that is why I have not posted in awhile and why I will not be posting for awhile hence.

I hope everyone is well.

Peace,
Joe

I took Peeg's geek-quiz and I am a woman. Check it out:

But the small oversight of my gender does not bother me because the description is way cool:

Possessing a rare combination of wisdom and humility, while serenely dominating your environment you selflessly use your powers to care for others.

Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.

I hope everyone else can find their inner powerful-immortal-she-elf-ness.

Peace,
Joe

HOLY CRAP, OKAY!

Its March 4th, and its brilliantly sunny and 74 degrees outside at 11am.

I know this trend will become hot later, but for now its the type of day I imagine the Beatles wrote "Good Day, Sunshine" about.

Can't help but put you in a good mood. I hope everyone else has an equally anomalous weather day!

Peace,
Joe

Ok, so I am pre-testing my very first all-by-myself-big-boy-researcher experiment this week, and I'm a bit scared. I spent a large portion of the day making last minute corrections to my materials and protocol, and its all kind of odd that I am in charge of conducting an experiment on folks. Its a measure test for my eventual thesis, and its the first time I have felt like I was really in grad school. Jamie (my advisor) is answering questions when I ask them, but its basically all me at this point. That is scary in so many ways.
So beyond my basic insecurities I had a purty good day. I got a whole bunch done and bought some new tools for my car and Nick's car, determined to outsmart the man that drives up dealership maintenance costs. The tools include:
1. A 2-ton hydraulic jack
2. Two 2-ton jack stands
3. A 3/8 to 1/2 drive converter
4. A brand spakin' new Torque Wrench with 3/8 drive and 10 to 75 lb/ft capability

And synthetic oil. Five quarts of it. Also, super wiper blades with a lifetime warranty. And I comparison shopped for all of it (smart shopper Joe!) and had a huge gift certificate to Sears which helped with the wrench. All in all, a good day for tools. Plus, this saved me a lot of monies over the Saturn dealership cost (no offense to Saturn) which for a grad student is good.
Oh man, Nick made dinner and its ready to eat. I must away to the land of food.

I hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Joe