chaz720.net - journal

August 02, 2002

So I get a few pieces of mail yesterday, not too abnormal, paycheck (woohoo), offer to go to different school (no, unless uiuc drops any more of my classes this semester (lousy farmers)), and the always fun blank white metered envelope. I kinda roll a bend through the blank white one real quick wondering what it was and it stopped about 3 inches from the edge. Terrific, it looks like another pre-approved credit card. I tear it open and sure enough, a discover card blazen with the american flag is attatched with that space-aged, tacky, not quite glue that comes off all rubbery and weird material that I am fascinated by oh so very much. Ten bucks says 3M or Dupont makes it. Anyway, after looking at the card more closely I noticed that upon it was inscribed "Member Since 2001". Hmm, I've been a member for over a year already, sounds cool but uh, how the hell did that happen? I also noticed the letter said "Your new Card" at the top. So I call up the number in hopes of some answers and I'm greated by the menu that doesn't offer the "Since when am I a member?" option so I hit 0. After listening to a voice with multiple personality disorder tell me what place I was in line (your call is-FOURTH ... ... in line to be answered) for a minute or two I get a human being.

Me: I received my new card and I have a problem with it.
whoever: Uh, what seems to be the problem?
Me: I never had an old card.
whoever: hmm are you sure there wasn't a telemarketer that called and you signed up over the phone?
Me: Not a chance, no.
whoever: alright let me transfer you to someone who can take care of this.
MPD: your call is-SECOND ... ... in line to be answered
whoever else: I understand you were thinking of leaving discover card is that correct?
Me: Technically I don't think I ever joined.
whoever else: well you've been an outstanding memeber for over a year.
Me: Right well, this is all news to me so if it's all the same to you...
whoever else: If I was able to offer you a 5% balance transfer from any of your high interest existing cards for 6 months would that change your mind?
Me: No, see I don't carry balances on my-
whoever else: How about 0% interest on purchases for that same six months?
Me: No, see I don't carry balances on-
whoever else: Okay, I'll just get this account closed up for you, sorry about all this.
Me: Not at all.

While it's terrific to have such a multitude of credit cards available with no annual fee these days it would be nice if opening these accounts actually required my signiture. It's a good thing no one stole this apparently already active credit card or I'd be out 50 bucks because of something I never did, yay for me!

August 08, 2002

I saw Signs and Amelie in the last couple days. Signs was so-so, it had humor, suspense, jump-out-of-your-seat freaky parts, but all in all as a movie I feel like it failed somewhere. The characters, besides Mel Gibson's, all seemed hollow. A couple characters (the military general comes to mind) are completely pointless, and just serve to bring in additional information that by the end of the movie prooves completely useless. If you could prevent yourself from thinking about the movie after you left it would be a great movie as scene by scene it was great entertainment, but as I said, as a movie, it fails.

I thought Amelie was awesome. Yes it's in french and you have to watch it with subtitles, but after watching all that cursed anime I've become somewhat adept at watching a movie with subtitles and not even notice having to read them. Audrey Tautou is as cute as you can imagine someone being in this movie, and I love it when characters take those mischievous glances back at the camera every now and then. Her role as a general instigator of change in people's lives is funny and it's great how she reacts to all the outcomes. Plus the flow of the movie from the director's point of view works really well and I love how it introduces people and immediately tells you what they like and don't like. I'd go on further but I'm sure you get the idea.

So yeah Joel posted on his site what I've for the most part just avoided saying here today or last night or whatever. The two of us talked about it briefly after the less than amusing (at least for me) game of mini golf. I really just don't want to bitch about everyone but yeah as a typical set of friends would go the group leaves something to be desired. But since they seem to all enjoy each other's company and antics a great deal I am really just going to say fuck it, who cares. I'd rather have friends who didn't find it funny to yell obscenities out of car windows everywhere they drive, but I guess that's just not in the cards...

August 12, 2002

So yeah, the Bears game was alright on Saturday, unfortunately they didn't play any of their decent players cause it was only a pre-season game. But the 5 or ten minutes that the first string was out they played really well and I think Urlacher had two sacks. The trip was fun regardless

I saw XXX yesterday and to my surprise it was actually a good movie. I had my doubts at first but after hearing it was very good from the fellas I saw it. We did catch ourselves bitching about the way prices in the area have gone up again. It's now 7 bucks to see a movie with a student ID... That's fucking rediculous. A dvd costs 18 dollars to buy and a few bucks to rent max. (or if you are nimble in the ways of DirectConnect, free, cough) I mean c'mon two people seeing a movie should not cost as much as buying the damn movie does. I guess it just means seeing more movies down at school and less here in the 'burbs.

So yeah Brian's new car. We are going to have some fun with this thing. Right now it's got a stereo slated for it. We are going to build componants into the front doors and some equally high-end alpine coaxials for the rears running off a 4-channel amp just like the one Hans has and just a technicality away from being the same set up I use in my car. Further he is thinking of doing some cheap bolt-on/tune up modifications to his engine to get it running nice and clean and make sure that he gets the most out ofit without really burning up any extra gas. A worthy endevour for such an automobile. We at least stand to learn a thing or two.

The new site is brimming with potential the more and more I think through it. By the time I actually sit down and write most of it I will probably have most all of the details worked out. It will include a fully automated images section, lyrics lookup, a faster and more powerful comments system as well as comprehensive searching of all sections of the site. And at least for the begining will ditch the flash movies, collections, and hopeless section. I may make a seperate real quick, static site dedicatd to nostolgia of the site if there is such a thing, judging by the e-mails I get about the flash movies to this day I'd say it would at least get a few visitors a week. Also as a possible foray into the use and management of cookies I may try and employ a system where you could change the look of the site to your liking if, say, you decide you don't like my new color scheme (not just gray!) but then I might also decide that what I say goes and you can go to hell.

It all depends on how dedicated I am to putting off actual school work this semester, cause I know I have a hell of a hard time coding unless there's something else I should be doing... ...kinda like laundry.

August 26, 2002

Talking in her sleep again, reciting lines start to end. But she's not crazy, (Knock on wood) just a little misunderstood. She takes a walk at 4AM, wakes the neighborhood again. And I find myself recalling everything she used to tell me. Aw yeah, alright, truth hurts inside Aw yeah, that's right, you go around once in life. Everybody wants to be a part Everybody loves a situation Who would ever want to play the part Of anonymous numbers on a governmental chart? She's waiting tables the next day She pulls a double then on her way To an audition in Hollywood, yeah, A little misunderstood We sit around the house Waiting for the phone to ring And I know she alone holds the key To everything I want to be. Everybody wants to be your friend When you've got something you can give them All I've seen, bad and good, she's not crazy Just a little misunderstood. Aw yeah, all good, she's not crazy, Just a little misunderstood. Two years later you're a star Who'd have thought we'd get this far? But I'd give it all away if I Could see you on that day again When you quit work And threw that coffee At the manager jerk You said, "Close your eyes I've got a surprise A house in the hills And a car that drives by."

off of their new(?) album closer, this is one of my favorite Better than Ezra songs.

phydeaux36: http://chaz720.net/index.php?post
phydeaux36 signed off.

The best part is that I was trying to think of something to type here and I was typing out </div> to finish off that aim quote and I typed out </die> subconciously and I feel that probably summed up how I feel pretty well.

Right now there is someone parked in my parking space in the garage and I'm trying to be nice because it's move in time and all but it's getting on around 4 hours since they parked there (I went to pick up a new piece of glass and was gone for 15 minutes) and I'm losing my patience. Having had my car towed before I know how much of a pain in the ass it is and I don't really wish that on anyone. So for now I'm parked somewhere else and I put a note on the car that says "MOVE ME NOW." However, this is why the concept of being a nice person fails, and I will probably face years and years of pain and suffering throughout my life so that people can treat me like shit and tell me it's my own fault. yay for being considerate you pig-fucking assholes. Plus I have this feeling that anything I do will just get my car keyed and I will have little or nothing I can do about it.

Moving in has pretty much sucked so far. I do have WinXP on my machine and I'm already running into a few little quirks that accumulate in a fashion optimized to piss me off. The camel's back is still intact but any more and XP's gettin' jacked. Also Fei left the place a dump, Hans threw out 6 bags of garbage from this place (the 33 gallon black kind) before I even got here. We vacuumed and mopped and scrubbed for a while yesterday and the place looks good again. I replaced all the burnt out light bulbs and Hans cleaned up the dishes. Fei also left a bunch of his shit here so he's on our list for that too. I have no idea where to draw the line and throw his shit on the patio because again, nice-guy syndrome takes over. Hans actually suggested we eBay some of it which I think would be entertaining if nothing else. It will repay us for cleaning up his mess.

There's shit all over my room that still needs to be put away and I have laundry to do and books to buy before school starts. But first I have to go call the towing company.

August 28, 2002

Wake me up Slap my face Draw me closer in To your embrace Cause nobody wants to be the butt of every joke And nobody wants to be the one to pull the rope So you harden your shell Slowly losing yourself And now I'm close But not touching And I'm cold But not freezing And I'm only alive Only alive Briefly Can you feel Could you love Are you further now from where you started I bet you do enough just to get by Don't you Cause nobody wants to be the butt of every joke And nobody wants to be the one who's full of hope And a cop's light goes by And the moon lights the night And now I'm close But not touching And I'm cold But not freezing And I'm only alive Only alive Briefly And you're a starlight that shines For a moment in time In time

I think I just set a record for the most times being dropped from the same class in one semester. This is 75% the advising office's fault, and 25% my fault for asking them to do something for me in the first place. Pretty much everything else is taken care of though, I got throughly raped for books. Even the used books I found were around 80 bucks a piece, I'm not even going to get into the new ones. And every class I have has a big fat text book to go with it.

If you're curious, just as I was going downstairs to get the person towed out of my spot they had moved so I guess they just picked a lucky time to get out of there. Fei got most of his shit, he still has an old chair, a monitor, and the turntables. I suppose he'll pick those up soon or something.

My teachers seem alright so far but I've only seen two of the 5. My schedule is now just 12 lectures throughout the week, no discussions and no labs now that all hopes of getting back into ece249 have been squelched. I have a strange feeling like tedium is going to overpower me. The only thing that will be able to save me is if my classes continue to have good professors, one can always hope.

Until I find that out for sure I will attempt to drown my sorrows playing Super Mario Sunshine and revelling in the fact that I can walk down the street at any hour of the day here and count the dozens of beautiful women on this campus.

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