Wow, I can't believe my blog is still here. It's been quite a while since I've been here. The html intensiveness of this system kind of made me shy away. Really all I'm able to do here is post - my ability to customize anything is very limited. The reason I'm here now is to plug my new MSN space. It's much more useable for someone who's programming incompetent like myself. I've placed a link there to this blog. Now, with this post, they are inter-connected. woo-hoo.

-E

Again, as has become my custom, I've neglected my poor lonely blog.

I went to ADPi informal last weekend; it was an 80's theme party. I was sitting there, having a drink, looking around at a bunch of people who were just barely old enough to know what the 80's were about, and yet were all way too young to have dressed like the people we were making fun of. My generation's view of the 80's was that of child's; not that of the teenagers who defined the 80s by there music, clothing, and behaviors. And I thought to myself, where are these people now? These people now in their early 30s; would they appreciate the humor in our mockery of the way they were? How will my generation, or more importantly, the next younger generation, view the way we were in the 90s in another 10 years? How is it that the decades become defined by the behaviors and attitudes of the youth? Pick a decade, any decade; what comes to mind? How is the culture of that day defined? By the youth. Interesting? Moot point? I dunno. And so I contemplated the succession of generations, the passage of time... and I became frighteningly aware of my own mortality. Nothing snuffs your fun like the point blank inevitability of your own death. Generations, representing billions of people, come and go. Each life a mere drop in the ocean of existence. The same thought crossed my mind just last night as I watched Lord of the Rings at the Elks. My mind drifted from the time on earth equivalent to the midievel-ish setting of the movie, accross the ages. I pictured civilizations rise and fall. Billions of lives came and went. So many people. So many hopes and dreams. My mental journey raced me through the ages in a matter of moments and it brought me to a theater... and I looked out at all the faces, sitting in the dark, all staring blankly at a movie screen. What are they doing?! Why are they just sitting there?! So precious few moments left... and so many wasted each day in idleness.

"This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality. Embrace this moment. Remember. We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion." - from "Parabola" by Tool

Well, I haven't posted in quite a while. I initially got discouraged by all the html crap in the templates for this blog stuff, but I'm just going to ignore all that stuff and just write and post. Simple enough even I can handle it. I should probably make some effort to learn html some time, could come in handy.

I'm done with my co-op now and have been back in school for about a month and a half now. School is good. This semester is fun. Blah blah blah... I could ramble on about what classes I'm taking and why I like them but that's boring. I really have nothing interesting to write about.

I'm enjoying living in the AXE house. Having my own room is really nice.

Valentine's day was this last weekend and I had a great time. I drove to Aberdeen to spend the weekend with Randee (my girlfriend). We had a whole lotta fun. That's probably the first time in my life that Valentine's day has had any significance to me. Oh, and I learned something valuable about Valentine's Day gift shopping... I ordered one of those long sweater coats from Victoria Secret for Randee, it cost me a nice chunk of change, but no biggy. I was willing to spend a lot - it's a really nice sweater coat, and she looks fantastic in it. Here's the kicker - I just got the latest Victoria's Secret catalogue and the whole catalogue is on sale and clearance. I could buy the same sweater now for half the price I paid for it a month ago. Next year I'll be ordering V's Secret stuff after valentines day.

I'm at work right now... it's slow... I'm hungry...

Ooh... story: yesterday schmidt and i were driving around town looking for pimp clothes for the pledge's "Pimps and Hoes" party this weekend, and I decided to stop by the Budweiser distributor to see if they had any of those bottle openers that attach to the wall. They didn't. We got a bunch of those arm bands for the party, and asked if they had any tap handles, which they didn't. The lady behind the desk then says, "We do have girly posters. Would you boys like some girly posters?" I was like, "uh.. sure..." So this other lady goes and unlocks a closet and proceeds to hand us two each of like a dozen posters.

My words of wisdom for today: A bald cat won't shed, a well oiled door won't squeak, and free stuff is cool.

-E

I'm blogging. Oh my. It's my first time... be gentle.

It's Halloween. The doorbell is starting to irritate me. Half these kids don't know how to say "trick or treat." They just ring the doorbell and give you a blank stare when you open the door. It's cold out there, though; I don't blame 'em.

Things are good with me. Iowa is still here, in case anyone cares. I've got less than two months left here, though. That makes me happy. Hopefully I'll have my project done at work by time I have to leave. The superintendent of the refinery told me a week or so ago, "You'd better have your project finished by time you leave so I can chew your ass when it doesn't work."

I'm eager to return to school. I miss Rapid City, and everyone there. But, I'll be further away from my girl in Aberdeen. Ack.

I have a new idea of what I might do after I get my B.S. in chemical engineering... I've found from working at Cargill that I have an eye for safety (despite the fact that I'm continually hurting myself). But, I notice things when I watch other people work. The new engineer, Scotty J. as I call him when I page him, said some schools have a Masters program in Industrial Safety. I think something like that could compliment a ChemE degree quite nicely, and I think I'd enjoy it a lot. I'm going to look into it when I return to school. I pretty sure SDSM&T doesn't have such a program, but I'll see if I can find someplace cool to go for it.

That's all for now.
-E