New Year's Eve

Yesterday, I got up earlier than days prior and went to lunch at Pasqual's Southwestern Deli with Shana. She was working at the Monroe Street Fine Arts Center that was next door to the restaurant so it was a lunch break for her.

Afterwards, Sita had called and we went shopping at West Towne and Greenway Station. When we got done making the rounds, we stopped by Shana's to have cake for Dustin's 23rd birthday. It would be later that we would meet him out at the Nitty Gritty Birthday Bar after stopping by Vintage Spirits & Grill and then ending the night at Karaoke Kid.

Tonight is New Year's Eve and the plan is the celebrate the countdown to 2005 at the Come Back In with my fellow Rockstars (minus James and Zack). It's a pact that began months ago and has been filled with fun, delights, and laughs!

My only resolution for 2005 is to be true to myself--which means to grow into the person that I'm going to be. It's not to forget what I've learned in the last 24 years but to look ahead at what majesty might be in store.

Auld Lang Syne


Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
And here's a hand, my trusty friend
And gie's a hand o' thine
We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne

I Love Egg

Flash: http://www.iloveegg.com

Wiggle jiggle, yellow middle
That's the best of what you are

I LOVE YOU EGG!

The Last Few Days of 2004

Not much happening in the last few days, however, it's my last 2 days at work for 2004. The snow is already melting away but forecast shows snow for after the New Year. Green Teamers decided to order from the Mediterranean Cafe tonight but I found (when I got there) that they had closed early so instead we elected for Qdoba. On my way to pick up food, I noticed that State Street was barren with only a few walkers strolling on by. Even the street beggars were gone from their usual stations.

Work was slow and I got some bills paid while working on a Windows XP install on a SWAP computer. I purchased a spindle of Ritek DVD+RW's to split with the guys at work and a PC Chips Motherboard for Jon.

After work on Monday night, I had stopped over by Sita's place to install My ReplayTV DVR and returned home at an odd hour. As of late, my irregular sleep pattern has returned and I find myself waking up from the most outlandish of dreams....



A Dream
by Edgar Allan Poe

In visions of the dark night
I have dreamed of joy departed
But a waking dream of life and light
Hath left me broken-hearted.

Rest Peacefully Gentle Warrior

It's already after Christmas and I feel exhausted. I'm not so sure why I'm so tired. Kendo is off for a week until after the New Year and it's too cold to go for a run outside. Last night, I took my sister and folks to Romano's Macaroni Grill in Middleton after doing some stock food shopping at Sam's Club. Besides that, I grew tired from doing nothing.

At dinner, ESPN had announced that Reggie White had died in his sleep Sunday morning, possibly from a sleep apnea. Growing up in Wisconsin, I will always remember him as No. 92 for the Packers when they took the Vince Lombardi trophy back home to Green Bay in SuperBowl XXXI. White was a key player on a team that brought glory back to a failing franchise. Although we will remember him for his aggressiveness on the football field, we won't forget his gentle character in life and now in death.

Reggie White
1961-2004



The Dying Christian To His Soul
by Alexander Pope

Vital spark of heav'nly flame,
Quit, oh, quit, this mortal frame!
Trembling, hoping, ling'ring, flying,
Oh, the pain, the bliss of dying!
Cease, fond Nature, cease thy strife,
And let me languish into life!

Hark! they whisper; Angels say,
Sister Spirit, come away.
What is this absorbs me quite,
Steals my senses, shuts my sight,
Drowns my spirits, draws my breath?
Tell me, my Soul! can this be Death?

The world recedes; it disappears;
Heav'n opens on my eyes; my ears
With sounds seraphic ring:
Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I fly!
O Grave! where is thy Victory?
O Death! where is thy Sting?

Style of No Sword

Tsukahara Bokuden was the classic knight-errant. A rich nobleman, he travelled the Japanese countryside, often with a full entourage, in search of adventure. Of course he often found it. Bokuden, a master of the sword, was challenged by a mannerless ruffian. When asked about his style, Bokuden replied that he studied the "Style of No Sword." The ruffian laughed and insultingly challenged Bokuden to fight him without a sword. Bokuden then agreed to fight the man without his sword but suggested they row out to a nearby island to avoid disturbing others. The ruffian agreed, but when he jumped from the boat to the shore of the island, drawing his blade, Bokuden pushed the boat back out, leaving the ruffian stranded on the island. Bokuden explained, "This is my no-sword school."



Hold On by Jet

You tried so hard to be someone
That you forgot who you are
You tried to fill some emptiness
‘Til all you had spilled over
Now everything’s so far away
That you don’t know where you are, you are

When all that you wanted
And all that you had
Don’t seem so much
For you to hold on to
For you to hold on to

For you to belong to....

Loving One Another

After two dinners, I am quite full from festive feasts. On the way to the first dinner, I ran into a man who had fallen on the icy ground from a seizure. With difficulty getting back up onto his walker, I picked him up and brought him into the apartment so that he could enjoy Christmas with his family.

As far as our after-dinner(s) traditions go, I'm taking my sister and little cousins out to a movie. I think we're going to go see Meet the Fockers. I miss the whole family thing and it's a good reminder for me in this season of loving one another.

It's a White Christmas

On Christmas Eve the air was cold and dry, all was gray.
On this Christmas Day, snow cover wiped it all away.

My Christmas began yesterday when the Green Bay Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings in the fleeing moments of the football game to win the NFC North. After the game, I went around dropping off presents and had a great time. The only thing I really wanted for Christmas was snow. I woke up today to a thin layer of snow on the ground and a White Christmas.

I wish everyone a blessed day and a Merry Christmas!



There's More to Christmas...

There's more, much more to Christmas
Than candle-light and cheer;
It's the spirit of sweet friendship
That brightens all the year;
It's thoughtfulness and kindness,
It's hope reborn again,
For peace, for understanding
And for goodwill to men!

Come Home For Christmas

Unlock the door of your heart,
Enter the gentleness within.
Open the window of your soul,
Breathe in the season of miracles.
No matter how far you've traveled,
It's time to come home now,
Where Christmas abounds in love.

Closed for the Holidays

Since yesterday afternoon, I am all done with exams. I went to Kendo practice afterwards and got there just as Travis had already left. Apparently no one showed up for practice so I worked on technique alone and then I swept the floor before closing up. Practice resumes on January 2.

After a shower, I went out to dinner with Steph and Sita at Benvenuto's in Fitchburg. It was my first time eating there but I had a great time since they let us draw on the paper overlaying the table cloth.

For drinks, we stopped by the Oakcrest Tavern to find that it's been sold to new owners who want to call it Lucky's. They will no longer have Karaoke nor the Wednesday night long island specials. This will surely be missed.

While there, I ran into Terrance from work. He's new and I only know him because he had asked me a Macintosh question once before. After talking to him, I found that he's a collector of weapons and studying Aikido. When our UW Kendo Club had a Kendo demonstration in the Great Hall Memorial Union, he was there.

Later, I went to pick up Kelly and Jenny to hang out for a few drinks and we all had a great time. By bar time, Jenny was hungary for something so we tried Taco John's but it's a weeknight and they had closed, however, Ian's Pizza is always open late and it made for good late night food.

Once the night came to an end, I went to bed to some of the best rest I've had in weeks. Christmas Eve is tomorrow and I have to make sure that all gifts are procured by then.

burr...it's cold outside.

Almost Done

The semester wraps up later today with my last final exam. With the little sleep I've been getting, everything feels like a blur. However, I feel that I did quite well yesterday on the Arts of Japan final. There were over 100 slide identifications to memorize and Professor Phillips picked out 2 for the exam.

On my way to work Monday night, an older man and his younger son were in the Milan's parking lot trying to change out his flat tire when he found that his jack had broken. It looked as if he had spent some considerable time trying to get the car high enough to switch out for the spare and no one was going to help him out. Furthermore, it was an older car and his son was just trying to keep warm inside while the man himself was only wearing a light spring jacket and looked as if he was freezing. When I got there to help him, his face lit up with excitement.

The problem we had together was that I was driving Diana's Honda Accord and wasn't sure where the jack was. Fortunately, I was at DoIT and made a call to Brent who came out and he found it immediately. A well deserved thanks goes to you, Brent.

It's now time to get back to studying....

Concerning the Aims of Kendo

People believe that the reason for mastering swordsmanship is to be able to cut down one’s enemies. For myself, however, I seek to master swordsmanship because through it I seek divine principle. If once I attain this, my heart will be as still as water, calm and quiet, like a clear mirror lucid and bright, able to cope instantly with any situation. For when faced with any incident my spirit will react on its own. Of what comes to pass, my comprehension of it will be instantaneous. To truly attain to this plane is to be one with the way of heaven. Throughout earnest training and by clearing the mind (kokoro), I seek only to awaken to the one root principle of the heavens.
-Yamaoka Tesshu

On the subject of Love and Friendship

by Emily Brontë
This one is for the comings and goings of people in the world.

LOVE is like the wild rose-briar;
Friendship like the holly-tree.
The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms,
But which will bloom most constantly?

The wild rose-briar is sweet in spring,
Its summer blossoms scent the air;
Yet wait till winter comes again,
And who will call the wild-briar fair?

Then, scorn the silly rose-wreath now,
And deck thee with holly's sheen,
That, when December blights thy brow,
He still may leave thy garland green.

The Story of Yue Fei

As told by Hao Zhuo:

As a valiant and wise commander, General Yue Fei once defeated an enemy said to be 500,000 strong with only 800 soldiers on the outskirts of today's Kaifeng. So a commander of Jin sighed, 'It is easier to shake Mount Tai than to shake Yue Fei's army.' Thanks to Yue Fei and a contemporary general, Han Shizhong, the shaky regime of Southern Song maintained itself for the time being.

Although Yue Fei and other war hawks had won brilliant victories and recovered the most part of the territory, it was the capitulationists like Qin Hui who wielded real power at court. They even resorted to false accusations to eliminate the war party and finally had Yue Fei sent to prison and executed.

After the emperor Xiao Zong succeeded to the throne, Yue Fei was cleared of the groundless charges and a temple was built in his memory at the foot of Qixia Ling by West Lake in Hangzhou. Before Yue Fei's tomb are four cast-iron kneeling figures, with chests bare and hands bound behind their backs. They are responsible for the murder of Yue Fei.

Honored the green hill is to provide
eternal resting-place for the loyal soul;
Innocent is the iron used to cast the images
of the hated traitorous ministers.

The Road Not Taken

by Robert Frost

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

The Beginning of the End

Tonight was Professor Cahill's final exam. The last few days were spent in the Kohler Art Library at the Elvehjem Museum studying Greek Pottery. I had essentially crammed half of a semester's work in these two days preceding the exam but in all, I feel good about my performance. I know my mistakes but I also had fun in writing the essay section. At this point, I think my brain is at full capacity and cannot take any more studying tonight. I shall continue studying tomorrow, beginning with Narciso's take-home exam for Monday and then study for the Arts of Japan and India which take place Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. This is the beginning of the end for this semester and I hope I can carry this energy and enthusiasm into next week.

After the exam, I went out with Stephanie and Sita to the Oakcrest Tavern to drink away any worries.
All who know me know I'm crazy. I think dignity was the first to go and sanity may soon follow....

Pat-a cake Pat-a cake, baker's man,
Bake me a cake as fast as you can;
Pat it and prick it, and mark it with a T,
Put it in the oven for Teddy and me.

If only life were as simple as nursery rhyme, alas, we all must return to adult life and such rigors.

The Book of the Samurai

When the time comes, there is no moment for reasoning.... Above all, the Way of the Samurai should be in being aware that you do not know what is going to happen next.... Victory and defeat are matters of the temporary force of circumstances. The way of avoiding shame is different. It is simply in death. Even if it is certain that you will lose, retaliate. Neither wisdom or technique has a place in this. A real man does not think of victory or defeat. He plunges recklessly towards an irrational death. By doing this, you will awaken from your dreams.

1. Do not fall behind in bushido!
2. Be of use to my lord!
3. Be filial toward my parents!
4. Arouse great compassion, and be of use to other people!

-Excerpt from Hagakure: Book of the Samurai
Yamamoto Tsunetomo

Winter's Song Haiku

enduring winter
lost and found is lost once more
she will leave again

A Windy Day

My body feels completely relaxed after two hours of the sweet stroking jets of the hot tub last night. I woke up early this morning to organize some papers and things on the computer and went out for Christmas shopping after noon. With a high winds advisory out, I can hear gusts of wind crashing against the window like waves against the shore, but that didn't stop shoppers on a busy holiday shopping weekend. Shoppers braved the high winds for that unique gift or holiday sale and the wind?...a mere annoyance.



Perhaps the wind
Wails so in winter for the summer's dead,
And all sad sounds are nature's funeral cries
For what has been is and not.
-George Eliot

Be water my friend

Empty your mind, be formless.
Shapeless, like water.

If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup.
You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle.
You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot.

Now, water can flow or it can crash.
Be water my friend.
-Bruce Lee

Holsman's Holiday Party

Stephanie gave her presentation about Marriage and Death in Greek Art yesterday. It went well. When I got off class, I had a little downtime so I dispensed treats to friends to lift spirits on such a gray and rainy day. Kendo practice had its largest attendence yet as it appears that everyone wants to get some play in before finals time. Kiyota Sensei invited all the club members to have dinner with his Kendo class this Tuesday at Imperial Garden. I want to go but I'll have to see about getting off work and see how much study time I can cram in before my exam on Wednesday.

Tonight is Chris Holsman's Holiday Party. Metzger is going to cover a part of my shift tonight so I can go and enjoy the hot tub along with the Green Team.

Update: hot tub feels so good....

Sticking with the theme for this week,
here again is your moment of Zen. :)



Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson

I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly.
Though it’s not easy to tell you goodbye
Take a risk, take a chance,
Make a change, and break away.

Out of the darkness and into the sun.
But I won't forget the place I come from
I gotta take a risk, take a chance,
Make a change, and break away

Break away....

Penguin Cop

This is not a joke. A security threat has been discovered in several popular web browsers including Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari.
To safe check your computer, visit the Secunia website for a Vulnerability Test.

While security concerns also affect Mozilla Firefox, although to a lesser extent than IE, I would still recommend downloading Firefox for it's speed, pop-up blocking, and tabbed browsing.

A Penguin Joke

A vacationing penguin is driving through Arizona when he notices that the oil-pressure light is on. He gets out to look and sees oil dripping out of the motor. He drives to the nearest town and stops at the first gas station. After dropping the car off, the penguin goes for a walk around town. He sees an ice-cream shop and, being a penguin in Arizona, decides that something cold would really hit the spot. He gets a big dish of vanilla ice cream and sits down to eat. Having no hands, he makes a real mess trying to eat with his little flippers. After finishing his ice cream, he goes back to the gas station and asks the mechanic if he's found the problem. The mechanic looks up and says, "It looks like you blew a seal." "No, no," the penguin replies, "it's just ice cream."

The Inner Penguin

The project 3 essay for Prof. Cahill was just dreadful. After an all-nighter, I'm finally done and it's coming up to the final stretch of the semester. It will be quite a stretch as I'm scheduled for a final next Wednesday and then a night exam on Thursday. A six page essay, take-home exam is due the following Monday. I'm sure there's another exam in there somewhere but it's far from being on my mind.

There's a group of runners out there that call themselves "penguins." They run because they enjoy it and need not any recognition for their action. They get pleasure simply in the act of the movement. This last week of school will be a perpetual run to the finish. It's time to start taking to heart the penguin philosophy.

"The miracle isn't that I finished . . . The miracle is that I had the courage to start."



White Flag by DIDO

I know you think that I shouldn't still love you,
or tell you that.
But if I didn't say it, well I'd still have felt it
where's the sense in that?

I promise I'm not trying to make your life harder
or return to where we were .

I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender .
There will be no white flag above my door

I'm in love and always will be....

A Day which will live in Infamy

Been up most of the morning and have yet to accomplish anything, well, not anything academically. I spent time setting up my Linksys WRT54G wireless router for QOS so that bandwidth is used more effectively with my Lingo VoIP phone service. Mission accomplished.

I was up for the better part of the night because I had taken a very long nap after class yesterday and had some crazy dreams. Native Americans believed that a true vision can be achieved when the body has completely exhausted itself.

Today in the News:
Americans remember today, December 7, as a date which will live in infamy after the attacks on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan. This event pushed the United States of America into World War II.
In other news, Ohio certifies President Bush's win by 119,000 votes after a more thorough recount.
Indeed, a day we will live in infamy....

And now for your moment of Zen. :)



"Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory."
-Franklin D. Roosevelt

Day of Reckoning

Ouch! It's the day after chicken wings and birthday celebration. My head and my stomach act if I had done a great wrong. I guess it's been weeks since I've touched a spicy buffalo wing and now I'm paying the price.

After work last night, I stopped in at the Great Dane Pub & Brewary where rockstars had begun celebrating Zack's birthday. Stephanie had made a little Zack (see pictures). After drinks and a Jager Bomb toast, we left the bar and ordered hot buffalo wings from Pizza Extreme and went back to Sita's place to pass out on the floor after their consumption.

Good times.
Here's to you Zack, Happy Birthday Buddy!
Zack's Birthday '04 Pictures

Speaking of Buffalo Wings, there's a Wings University in Buffalo:
http://wings.buffalo.edu

Today in Art:
Zack shares a birthday with Wassily Kandinsky.

Wassily Kandinsky was one of the most original and influential artists of the twentieth-century. His "inner necessity" to express his emotional perceptions led to the development of an abstract style of painting that was based on the non-representational properties of color and form. Kandinsky's compositions were the culmination of his efforts to create a "pure painting" that would provide the same emotional power as a musical composition.



"Art, like morality, consists in drawing the line somewhere."
-G. K. Chesterton

Happy Birthday Zack!

I feel so useless today. My brain was overly active after waking up from my nap yesterday which means I was up all night working on my Think different '04 Campaign. I got a little sleep in before heading into work. Now I'm trying to catch a nap in between calls so that I can go out tonight to celebrate Zack's birthday. Even though he's in Honduras, as rockstars, there's a pact as such I am obliged. Tired silly....

Think different '04

Here’s to the crazy ones.

The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.

They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can quote them,
disagree with them,
glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.

They push the human race forward.

While some see them as the crazy ones,
we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world, are the ones who do.
-Narrated by Richard Dreyfus. Apple, 1997.


Audio | Video | Gallery

A Critique of Alliteration in Iambic Pentameter

I had a few hours of sleep last night before getting up and writing a paper. When I had finished, it was already early morning and if I had slept, there would be no waking up for class. So, I went down to the UW SWAP shop to pick up a few computers that I intend for Christmas gifts. After my Greek Painting class, I dropped Stephanie off at work just in time for Arts of Japan. Once class got out, I had never felt more ready for a nap and fancied this critique on alliteration.


'tis the time for fei to hit the hay, hey?
friendly follies await a solemn sway.


[fei is pronounced faye]
As you can see, the verse is a couplet in meter, consisting of sets of successive words that begin with the same letter.

For more information:
alliteration
couplet
iambic pentameter

And it's now time to regress to a place where dreams are made.



If I were a Penguin, I'd lounge around all day in a tux.
If only I were a Penguin....

An Important Lesson: the Cleaning Lady

During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?" Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. "Absolutely," said the professor. In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say "hello." I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.
-Story passed on by my friend, Stephen

Kismet's Sneezing Fit

I worked the 3rd shift last night at the Help Desk after being informed that Eric and Wulf had both called in sick. It was fairly slow work. When I got home this morning, we found Kismet having sneezing fits and she's blowing out mucus from her nose. Yuck! I drove her to the Arbor Ridge Pet Clinic in Fitchburg. There, the veterinarian technician weighed her in at a healthy and heavy 11.9 lbs. After the doctor came in to examine Kismet, she found a bacterial infection and suggested pills to kill the bacteria. You have to mash up the pills pretty good and then put it in her food so that she'll actually eat it. Also, I was witness to how they take a cat's temperature; a thermometer up the anus...gross.

The Book of Five Rings

If you practise day and night in the above Ichi school strategy, your spirit will naturally broaden. Thus is large scale strategy and the strategy of hand to hand combat propagated in the world. This is recorded for the first time in the five books of Ground, Water, Fire, Tradition (Wind), and Void.

This is the way for men who want to learn my strategy:

1. Do not think dishonestly.
2. The Way is in training.
3. Become acquainted with every art.
4. Know the Ways of all professions.
5. Distinguish between gain and loss in worldly matters.
6. Develop intuitive judgement and understanding for everything.
7. Perceive those things which cannot be seen.
8. Pay attention even to trifles.
9. Do nothing which is of no use.

-Excerpt from The Book of Five Rings
Miyamoto Musashi

The Void

Late Monday night (Tuesday morning), I had stayed at work a little longer past my shift. Before I was about to leave, I noticed a stillness in the air. There was the normal sound of computers humming, air blowing from the ventilators, and there was not a single soul around. As I was heading out the door, I noticed the janitor sitting down all quiet, thinking to himself, not making any movements. His older face was in locked concentration. I usually say a friendly hello to him but I didn't want to interrupt his stare. When I left the building, I got into my car and started to drive home. Looking out the window I became aware of my surroundings. Everything from the buildings to the trees seemed darker than normal, all dimly lit by the street lights of the road. No one was out nor was there a car moving on the street. I felt like I had entered some void out of space and time. Distances grew short. Time had slowed. It was a world more imagination than reality; atleast the reality that I knew. I headed home as fast as I could and the moment I stepped into the door, the phenomenon ended just as quickly and I fell back into the world.

In one moment, I desperately tried to capture my thoughts of events just passed:

What happened?
Is there more to this world?
I must free my mind.
LET ME OUT!