Thoughts

So, I'm sitting in one of the many Linux labs on the campus of Brigham Young University, realizing that this is pretty much what my life is going to look like for the next two years.

And on that happy note, here goes a post about nothing in particular.  :)

I'm slowly realizing that this semester is probably going to be my hardest yet.  I have two classes in which I have homework assigned every class period.  These aren't just pansy busy-work assignments either.  Heck, I already have a test in my Linear Algebra class.  3 weeks into the semester.  That's ridiculous.

On top of that, I'm in CS 240, which I've heard from everyone who's ever taken it is simply a beast of a class.  The big project that's due near the end of the semester supposedly takes close to 100 hours of coding time.  And all of that in a brand new programming language that I've never used before.  Bleh..... 

On the other hand, I do have some crazy awesome classes this semester as well.  I have gold level social dance, yet again.  I've enjoyed this class every time I take it, and I'm sure this semester will be no exception.  It's definitely a nice break from the daily grind.  Additionally, I'm in a beginning guitar class.  Now, I haven't played guitar since 8th grade, when I took that for my Jr. High music credit.  However, I find that I've really enjoyed it so far, even though my fingers hurt a bunch after I've been playing for a while.  Hopefully I can get some sweet songs learned.  And then play them.  And be awesome.

In other news, I went to a concert a couple nights ago.  Me and a couple friends went up to Salt Lake to see Chris Carrabba in a solo performance of his first Dashboard album, Swiss Army Romance.  It was an awesome show, but probably the coolest part was one of the opening bands called Lady Danville.  I was completely blown away by their performance.  The drummer was using his bare hands for crying out loud!  Also, they had some really sweet vocal harmonies going on.  Because the venue was so small, they actually came out after their set and just chatted with people by their merch table.  I got to shake their hands and talk with them for a bit.  Turns out, they met at UCLA, in the a cappella group there.  That's why they have such sweet vocals!  Anyway, they're a really sweet band.  Check them out.

On that note, I'd better get some programming done tonight, and I think I'll listen to some Lady Danville as I do so.  Until next time!

Waiting For the End

There just aren't enough hours in the day.... So, these first couple weeks of school have kind of been kicking my trash. I don't really have a whole lot of time to play anymore, which is really sad. There are some things that I'm just making time for, like the ward intramural ultimate team that I'm playing on tonight. I hope we do well. Also, watching the football games on Saturdays. That's another priority. Anyway, I've been listening to Linkin Park's newest CD on repeat for all of yesterday and today, and it's kind of blowing my mind. The whole album has a very different feel from their previous records. I won't give a full review yet, but here is just a section of lyrics from one of my favorite songs, 'Waiting For the End.'




waiting for the end to come,
wishing i had strength to stand
this is not what i had planned
it's out of my control


flying at the speed of light
thoughts were spinning in my head
so many things were left unsaid
it's hard to let you go


i know what it takes to move on
i know how it feels to lie
all i wanna do is trade this life for something new
holding on to what i haven't got


................


picking up the pieces now, where to being
the hardest part of ending is starting again




Until next time, may life be as un-busy as possible. :)

Multi-sensory Aesthetic Experience

On my way to work this morning, I was listening to an mp3 mix that I made.  A song by Mae came on, and yet again I realized what an awesome yet unknown band they are. 

I first heard of them in high school, but I never actually listened to them.  Then, about a year ago, I got their first two albums from a friend.  'Destination: Beautiful' was alright, but not like crazy good.  Then I listened to 'The Everglow' and I was hooked.  I loved how the album was laid out like a story, complete with prologue and epilogue tracks.  Later, I acquired and listened to 'Singularity,' their third studio album.  One of my favorite songs by them (Sic Semper Tyrannis) is on this album, and it happens to be the same song that came on this morning in my car on the way to work.  

This isn't meant to be a review of them as a band, or of any of their albums.  I'm just trying to spread the word about a band that I enjoy.  Here's a link to a grooveshark playlist with these three albums on it in order of release date.  There's more than that to hear from them, but this is a good start.

Enjoy!

P.S. Mae is actually an acronym for Multi-sensory Aesthetic Experience.  One of their EPs was actually a scratch-and-sniff, right on the disk!