Lotta stuff been happening. Finally went to an interview with Primerica, after they have been consistently calling every year for like the past 3 or 4. My brother got into that and had a bad time, so I have stayed away from it...seems like a pyramid scheme to me. I found the whole process bordering and very often crossing over into the absurd, but it kept me amused for a few minutes, and I used it as a stress free interview experience. The "interview process" asked for 5 references, and I would bet all my most valued possessions that that is how they get your number in the first place. These guys sure will do a lot to make money....We as a nation really should do something about this free enterprise capitalistic society crap. I think competition and stuff is a good thing, but the cutthroat & telemarketing tactics have GOT to go.

Went to class Sat. Got up all extra early @ 6:30 and everything. Still walked in 30 minutes late. Ah well. Screw it. It's not like I'm the only one. And half the class didn't show up this week, spring break plans I suppose. Our instructor for this module is taking the same class he's teaching (Research Methods) except while he's teaching Master's level, he's taking Doctorate level. I've been stressing and panicking all week trying to get my stuff I missed last week turned in, and it seems I've been stressed for nothing. I gotta say, that's what I like about Friends University. The work is hard enough, they seem to not try to make it any harder on you....most of the time. I am gonna have to either hump it or half ass it this week, cause I got so many papers due it's not even funny. 1)7-10 minute presentation on my research topic 2)Final paper on my research proposal topic 3)Data analysis in excel for a statistics problem we were assigned 4)Literature Review 5)Annotated Bibliography Besides all that, still trying to find a better job, pay for grad school, pay for new grad school books next week, etc. etc. Well, definetely living in interesting times, even if I don't always find them very interesting.

Went to SCA fighter practice Sunday. Fighter practice has gotten a LOT smaller, but most of the same people are there. Felt good to get out in the warm sunny weather and swing a pseudosword around for a while and shoot the shit. The new fighter marshall there is an old buddy of mine that I was in kenjutsu class with for a while. It seems he has kept the bullshit and drama out of fighter practice that is so prevalent to most social groups, especially ones dealing with SCA or LARPS or reenactments in general. I'm just happy to be able to be brash, crass and aggressive, without having to deal with stressful things like lawsuits or police ;) Being able to swap bruises with a bunch of like minded guys and gals, and then have a beer or two afterwards is what its all about. Had a problem doing that back when I ran with some of my old Larp groups, because many were not "fighter" types, but drama queens wanting to role play and get attention. Nothing wrong with role playing, mind you, but the drama got tired really really fast. May have made a contact tho, one of the fighters there (if I heard right) rebuilds transmissions for a living. He's not showing up next week, but I will have to pursue that.

Did some partying Sat nite, and met some really cool folks. My main problem has been that with grad school, being an introverted computer nerd, and life in general, I don't get out much. :) Compound that with the fact that I'm a wanderer like Kaine and tend to show up and genuinely want to help people and solve problems, I sometimes wonder how I don't get into trouble all the time. It seems that since I hang out with the goth and underground folks, I've had to re-learn my "polite" social skills. This has taken some doing, since I tend to be crass, semi-perverted, but upfront and truthful. Still, useful because when/if I ever land an upper management mega money job, the ability to tolerate douchbags will be important ;) Its much easier with car people, their ass-kissing is much more transparent. Egos and quick tempers lead to thrown wrenches and sugar in your gas tank. Getting back in touch with "polite" society, means that I get to see quips, slights, hurt feelings and veiled insults, which can be amusing to witness. Thankfully, none of that b.s. was at this party, although I was amused by how profuse apologies can become when someone thinks they hurt your feelings. We had some underage drinkers crash the party tho, which did suck. Beer is not THAT expensive, people. I met some cool folks, and got to shake my booty a bit before I left. Intelligent conversation, hot chicks, No hurt feelings and no fights. I call that a success. I do admire these folks for trying to be who they want to be, and (it was a masquerade ball) the costumes were FANTASTIC. Wish I had been able to hang with these boys and girls 5 years ago when I was still sorta heavy into this stuff.

Link time:
Webcomics:
The Order of The Stick An online comic for d&d type gamers. If you don't know what a d6 or d20 is, you may not understand the humor.
The Font Bandit @ deviant art An art chick I met @ a cafe a while ago. Really good art, and a fellow otaku (anime freak) Although I gotta say I have yet to meet an artist that sucks, I'm really liking a lot of the stuff she does
Livejournal user akbal Another cool person I've met that I consider in my "inner circle" of friends. This girl has some very interesting thoughts and experiences. She is soon to be quit of wichita, which is a good thing, but its sad to see her go....
sgvy.com Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yukie. A webcomic about a boy that gets turned into a girl that gets turned into a superhero. The chick that runs this webcomic is an accomplished writer and artist.

www.pennyarcade.com Penny Arcade. Written and Drawn by our very own Gabe & Tycho.

www.megatokyo.com Everyone knows about Piro. If you don't, go find out.

Researching Depression and drugs related to the affliction. The anti-depressant drugs seem really scary to me, but I'm thinking I might need to look into this further. the manic depression quiz....depressed me ;) But if it's an honest to god illness that makes it so hard for me to get up and get shit done, then I need to get it fixed, quick