J, I think it's great that you're gonna grow your dreads out again. It really is about the coolest white boy hair you can have. You da man. You're the so the man!

Roxanne is the funnest person on Earth. Last weekend was surreal. I'm pretty damn crazy about her. Big tme. Can't wait to be back in Atlanta.

Blogs are indeed pretentious, especially the 'clever' titles. They lend quite nicely to personal webpages, which are showy and egotistical by nature. The quantity and quality of private information that is disclosed on a homepage says a lot about a person and their sense of security, pride, and mental health in general. When you make a post to this blog, who do you consider the audience to be? For me, I assume it's just those in the fortress that read this blog, but really it's anyone who wants to read it. I have to admit that I can feel my inhibitions taking effect when I post things for public access on the net. How about you kids?

yeah! i got an email from Chris today with good news about Christina. her spine was not as badly injured as previously thought so the surgeons are cautiously optimistic. that's definitely somewhat of a relief. the road ahead won't be easy but I know Christina has the heart for it.

i found out yesterday that my good friend Christina was in a car accident and she's paralyzed from the neck down. the prognosis for the future is unknown. it was a throat drop into your stomach moment. the ones that suck but you have to deal with because that's life. i want to do something but i can't. if i was the type of person that prayed i supposed i would be praying for her now. i'm not, but I know that I love you Christina and I wish you the best.

so i don't know about everyone else... but since i have no shame, i feel perfectly fine posting all of my random thoughts and ramblings on this blog rather than starting my own personal one that others can't contribute to or whatever. also, this way i get to be really lazy about the whole thing and not try to set up my own (cause frankly, i don't think that i could come up with a title as 'clever' as most of the other blogs out there -- and god forbid i should accidentally duplicate one). anyway, that was a preface to me saying that i am going to grow my locks back out. i think that it will be really fun. it was a great 'haircut'. but this time i am going to try and keep them more clean. while i never really noticed (prolly cause they were on my head and i got used to them or whatever) everyone else seemed to think that they smelled bad. well, this time i am going to not be such a slob and shower semi-regularly (sorry, but that is as good as a promise as i can make), so they should stay more 'under control' as far as stench and whatnot. it has already started. it will of course be a while before they are really beautiful -- that and the fact that my hair is still really short -- but i am willing to wait. it is the coolest (so i of course don't care what you think about them...).

tonight i feel i have much to say but i have no desire to form complete and coherent lines of thought. i'll make a list!

- cabin weekends are great, getting away, meeting new people like sara who is really cool but will be going back to UT soon
- hey Matt, I started doing cool stuff at work with java server pages and databases and dynamic web stuff -> jacquie (my supervisor) called me a dork when i said i was going to go home and make my web page dynamic and cool (ha, i'm a dork)
- cabin weekends are great because you run into people and they give you stuff to make blackberry pie and tell you to cook chicken with some wine. then they tell you again that you need to cook chicken with some wine as if it's some sort of sin if you don't. funny. our chicken turned out good without the wine.
- too many times i think i've thought that she'd be the one for me and why doesn't she realize this. silly.
- i have perfected the zombie to my liking. alcohol content as prescribed. extra fruit juice and powdered sugar (of course). extra ice on the top that floats on the foamy head. tasty.
- free concerts are cool, especially in your psuedo-back yard
- friends are cool too, the topic of regrets and missed opportunities came up and i found it hard to think of any missed opportunities. it hits me now that i would like to be in contact more with more of my friends (like Ryan for instance) but it's hard to do. that may be a regret. it's too easy to get wrapped up in your local bubble.
- i think it's about time to start writing again and messing with my web page (dynamically populated and database driven of course)
- if there is a girl out there that likes zombie movies and she is fairly well adjusted and gets along with most anybody, i think we might be soulmates (and there can be multiple instances)
- i sure have given a lot to the student center and tech (that would be Georgia Tech, the institute), and it was worth it
- it's fun to show off the loft to people. it has so much character and there are so many stories you can tell.
- one more year of school and then it's off to the real world. ha, that's funny. i could swear what's happening to me now is real.
- i miss charlotte
- i've always wondered what the world would be like without music

DataPimp! Read these URLs out loud and laugh your ass off!!!!

oh yeah -- happy jeu de bastille.
hah

whoa, final fantasy was really pretty. the peoples' body movements were nearly perfect, hair was outstanding, skin textures were awesome. the mouth movements were a little understated, and the explosions looked a little fake, i think (although i don't know what an explosion really looks like). but the smoke, dust clouds, holographic pseudo-computers, aliens, and all of that shit was outstanding. whoa, particles. plot was ok, but i had sort of a hard time paying attention to it because i was always gawking at the graphics. that was really awesome.

Hey doodz. Finally got my wisdom teeth out today, all 4 of 'em. I took all your advice and took the put-me-to-sleep route. Man, that shit works! I had Hey Jude in my head while I floated off and then I just woke up and walked out the door. I'm on some Percocet pain killers at the moment and feeling fine and dandy.

I'm looking forward to comin back to school soon. I'm ready for Fortress life again.

Damn. Network is inaccessible from here. It's a good thing I'm Johnny Mnemonic and can simply zap through the phone lines up to the source of the problem and fix it. Yeah, hell yeah.

so ray arrived home yesterday on schedule. what an ordeal that was. so we finally decided that we were going to go to the airport (once ray's sister and family peeps arrived -- brand new baby). krista walked out to the civic to put isabelle in the car and get ready to head out. as she leaned into the front door someone came down the street and almost clipped the door right off! i am still floored, and i think that the more krista thought about it, the more agitated she became. everything is better now. the car has been sealed up and is waiting to be taken to a repair shop on monday. they got a rental thanks to the wonder that is charlie fortner and volvo. by their powers combined they are a taxi service.
so anyway, we get on the road. it is michael and michelle in the car behind me and mn and isabelle, while everyone else sits on the sidewalk waiting for the cops to show up. the traffic is insane, and we started to fear that would keep us from getting to the gate on time. that sent mary nell into a nearly feral rage (not that she can be blamed at all -- krista said that if she had to sprout wings out of her ass to make it there on time, she would have). we saw kate pass us on the way, so that was good -- at least someone would be there. we arrived at the parking deck, and decided that marynell should go to the gate. so she took the run-through, and left. i parked the car, and took the baby to the gate. michael and michelle followed. kate tried to accompany us, but i made her go to the gate and keep marynell company. fortunately, ray had not yet arrived, and butch was waiting at the gate watching marynell run down the concourse. mikex0r was there too. but he and butch had not yet met. whoops.
anyway, it all worked out. when ray got off the plane, kate and marynell and i burst through the run-through and flawlessly assembled ourselves into a human pyramid (with mn on top) ray smiled through the embarassment, and we went and got his bags. then we came home, ordered pizza, fucked around a little and just generally hung out until ray absolutely could not stay consious any longer. so marynell 'put him down' and we all took off for home. now it is time to go back and make a big 'western-style' breakfast. and goof off.


and be glad that ray is home.

well, kiddos, it looks like i'm gonna be blowing into town tomorrow night sometime. my california jaunt has come to an end. it looks like i'll prolly go to bed soon, get up early enough to get in some surfing and then come back & do some final packing before hoppnig a plane sometime around 3ish back to atlanta (ATL) from san diego (SAN). maybe this time i'll get 1st class and the free massages and service by trained monkeys with green fezzes i always hear about in first class...

then again, maybe i'll get stuck back in coach with the rest of the cattle. no matter to me, as long as i get back before i start having my stuff shipped out here. damn, this place is awesome. i'm definatley coming back. soon.

it's good to see that ray is coming back into town, but i'm sad i won't be there. i should be heading back to the Atl soon, but that remains to be worked out. at any rate, tell him "aloha" for me...

so the fourth was pretty ok-blah-blah-shit... nothing really spectacular happened. mary nell and kate and mary nell's good friend sidney came over and we played pictionary. earlier in the day, evelyn and a friend of hers from william and mary came over and we sat around. played a game and watched a movie. chris (the friend) took a nap. god. our lives are really boring.


so there was a lot of rain and a decent amount of electrical disruption in the air yesterday, so everyone ostensibly cancelled the fireworks celebrations. but then... at like midnight -- right after brad got home, we started to hear explosions and shit. so we were all excited or whatever. i leapt up and headed over toward the stairs so i could go up on the roof and watch the festivities, but i stupidly tripped on something on the way and fell onto the couch. this made me realize that i was far too tired to enjoy the fireworks (and probably too tired to safely climb the stairs) so i went to sleep. yeah, i think that i am officially old because of that.


in other news, ray comes home tomorrow! yay! luckily, ray doesn't read this, so we can use it as a forum to plot for his return. hahaha! not really, but i think the plan is for mn and brad to go to the student center tonight to prepare for ray's arrival. so anyone who is interested should contact on of these cats and find out what the deal is. otherwise you are going to get a shit part in the synchronized dance routine. or be on the bottom of the pyramid.

math... demand it.

with any new activity or hobby, there comes a point where things just snap into place, come clearly into focus and it suddenly becomes lucid beyond all doubt exactly what you're doing. this happened to me today. i was out at pipes, bobbing in the sea on the longboard, just to the left and behind the "serious" surfers in the lineup. some beautiful waves were coming in on an otherwise calm sea (see the surf report, below). then i saw a large swell and i knew i was going to take it in. i did a 180, laid down on the board and paddled like hell. it rose behind me, looming like a pissed-off second grade teacher. i paddled like a motherfuck, keeping the nose just an inch or so above the water. i felt the wave start to come in close behind me and i let it start to have it's way with me.

then i grabbed it. i took it, snaked it, ran with it. i whispered sweet nothings to it. i stroked it, played with it. i caressed it and told it everything was gonna be alright, baby. i smiled at it, looked it in the eye and then...

i fucked the hell out of it!

i surfed. it all made sense. everything clicked. it felt great. wonderful. orgasmic. stellar. brilliant.

it ranked up there with the first time i had sex, tripped, aced a test i studied my ass off for or jumped an obstacle while mountainbiking. it felt fucking great, in the way that things will stick with you for the rest of your life.

ahh, Matt, i do wish you could be here to surf as well. while i'm not to the hanging 10 stage yet (actually, i'm still working on the standing up stage), i'm getting better. slowly. today, i caught a decent wave in and for the first time felt how changing my center of gravity changes the way the board handles. it was a realization that only practice can teach you, like the first time you caught a wicked jump or downhill on your mountain bike really well. every time i go out there i learn more and more. even if i don't get any good waves, it's still a blast.

I visited the fortress today. Had much much fun. I have to leave in a while and I don't really want to. Although home is comfortable and a good place to have alone time for reading and computer activities, it's no match for the friendly and active atmosphere of the fortress.

Friday night: free TMBG concert - rocked. Went to Ultimate gathering and had some of my fav sierra nevada pale ale.
Saturday morning: woke up at the ass crack hungover and went paddling - great day. Later that evening, we all went to Ragin Burrito and then saw A.I. - amazing amazing incredible must-see-5-times movie
Sunday - woke up early again and went rock jumping with some I.D. / kayak folks. Jumped off a 40 ft. cliff into Alatoona Lake and was quite scared. After the first big jump, it wasn't no thang and did it many many times more. Wow, that was fun. We all (fortress) must go sometime. You know, it really is amazin.

Ted, I'm jealous of your pipin surf out there. Sounds like you're having a blast - wish I could come hang whicha. We could "tear the surf up." I'd probably go out there, get my ass hammered by the surf for 40 mins before catching a wave, falling, and getting slammed into the bottom of the sea floor, become discourage and curse a lot, and then watch you hang ten on your longboard. Hells yeah.