webcam up

the first version of my webcam is up. you can view it here. i have a lot of work to do before i am happy with it. i don't know if you noticed but i also added a photo album. its user uploadable, so feel free to add your own stuff.

the webcam is a combination of my isight, videoscript, and a little bash script. i still have to modify the script to put a "last updated" on the web page.

i ♥ huckabees

i am sick. i didn't go to work yesterday, and i'm skipping class today.

for those of you who haven't seen i ♥ huckabees i would recommend it. it does an excellent job at exposing the strengths and weaknesses of existentialism and nihilism. at the same time it keeps it fun and interesting. it reminded me slightly of waking life, only without the numbingly long soliloquies and sickening digital effects. i ♥ huckabees is an interesting and comical look at how these theories respond when they come in contact with human nature.

for those of you who are graduating soon, but have no idea what you are doing, i recommend reading What You'll Wish You'd Known. It's advice from dot-com millionaire Paul Graham about what to do with your life. it's geared towards high-school graduation, but i think it applies to college as well. even if you have already graduated, i'd say it is appropriate reading for all ages.

i'm working on getting a webcam set up. we'll see how that goes, and i'll post the link up here soon.

hurray for hr

i am now the manager of my own store. my old boss "resigned" and is now working at another store. i've been really busy. my new job requires me to work 40-45 hours a week. thats really challenging see as i though i was going all out at 36 hours a week. and with school full time. ugh. i just found the paperwork for my "intro to mass media" class. the work was due january 05'. well, its now february and i haven't finished my lincoln steffens paper.

i'm currently in a 6 hour seminar on HR procedures. i had to drive all the way through LA to Santa Ana. i can barely remember what's been going on these past four days. ill try to recap. yesterday i went to school. it was an average editing class. then i had a genre critique of kind of blue. then i had a test in persuasion. next i had my propaganda class. its probably my least favorite class. the teacher prefaces every statement with something like, "you guys wont appreciate this but..." i wouldn't expect you to know this" "you don't understand why this is important, but..." he needs to give us some credit. he assumes everyone is an idiot. for example: we're watching the pro-hitler film Triumph of the Will by Leni Riefenstahl. he constantly talks about how we wont be able to see why it should be studied as a powerful film. i've seen the film in its entirety and i found it particularly powerful.

i was taught my whole like about the atrocities and horrors of Hitler's Nazi Party. to watch this film and see crowds of beautiful people who adore Hitler is frightening. when i watched the film i found myself admiring the Nazis. suddenly i was frightened because i just thought something good about the Nazis. it was then that i understood the power of that film.

now the HR lady said "don't ask about a car" (when you're interviewing an applicant). now it is bash the HR lady over whether or not our applicant has a car. come on people. roll with the punches, lets move on.

after class, i went to the chiropractor. that guy is amazing. pointed out to me that one of my shoulders is higher than the other. i never realized that.

today there was another board meeting for fcdh. i had to get more logos for brendie (view here).

a simons shaped box

people don't really take jazz seriously. i gave a little presentation today on kind of blue and people couldn't believe that someone would be excited about jazz without snickering. unfortunately, i got nervous and start defending the idea that "so what" didn't have a set melody. i sat down and then decided what i was saying was wrong. however, since then i've gone back to my original opinion. of course, this is the class where other people are spending a whole semester analyzing eternal sunshine, the biblical book of jonah, and garden state.

that's the second time i made a fool out of myself today. the first was in editing class when simons said that one of his "tests" for students was to see if they wanted to take a chua class. he would tell the student that she was the best teacher on campus but also the hardest. apparently he read my face and saw that i wasn't fond of chua and called me on it. listen here

i didn't care for chua when i took her class, however i was only a freshman. maybe i would learn a lot from her now. i wish i knew then what i know now: i'd get a lot more out of my education. i cant believe i'm about to have my degree. i know i've said it before, but i feel as though i've only now come to a place where i can learn. i wish i had been taking simons' classes all four years.

it's interesting that he brought up that he used chua as a dividing line for his students. i totally understand using it as a test to determine the student's desire for learning. i especially thought it was interesting that he talked about it today because yesterday i was talking to ash about the same thing. i told her that i categorized people who were unwilling to take a simons class. "there are two types of people: those who like simons, and those who don't."

we were on the subject because this blonde volleyball player, who we'll call tracy, went crazy on me after i said that i was taking simons and i loved it. "i hate people like you!" she said. Then she mocked, "ooh dr. simons, he's so smart. ooh simons simons simons. everything he says is gospel. gosh! you people! do you know what he said to me? i didnt show up for his class and he called me! he called me! i wouldn't even talk to him. and! do you know what he does." tracy's voice became hushed, "he even gets in trouble with the school. lets just say that. that man is an imbecile!"

wow someone who doesn't always agree with the administration, imagine that. better watch out for that philistine.

so what

i've been writing a paper on miles davis "kind of blue" (itunes). its absolutely amazing. if any of you haven't heard it, you need to. i just finished ashley kahn's book on it. its really quite excellent for showing the personalities and events that shaped the album.

my parents are now homeless. they sold their house and are now traveling the country. you can follow their journey on mat's blog: The Murray Migration

i've really been trying to focus my efforts on my homework. i'm trying to put aside trying to learn Perl for a little while until i can finish all of my school work. this website is also taking a bit of a back seat. i'm planning on adding a photo album some time soon, but again i have to find the extra time.

the foundation for children's dental health is looking for a different logo. i guess this one looks too much like a droopie eye. back to the drawing board...

your dog's name, right on the biscuit!

personalizedpettreats.com

i wish i had been an english major.
im starting to get pushed out of my undergraduate nest. i dont really feel ready. i think im going to make my self an expert on open source software in a corporate environment. i just downloaded the white paper on mysql.com on using the Open Source LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP/ Python/Perl) in a corporate environment.

i recorded dr simons this morning in editing class. the thing is, they turned the heater on that was right behind my chair. so basically the first half hour is dark noise covering jack's voice. listen here