| Dear internets,
I wish to purchase a laptop computer. I am a little sick of my slow, old computer. I mean, it's totally functional, but it's getting to be a little outdated (it's been 6 years since I got it!). I assume that when I got it it had the best stuff... Well, I don't know that for sure, but you can tell me. It has 120 GB hard drive, 1.8 GHz, with 512 MB RAM. It doesn't have any problems, but if I have too many programs running, my computer thinks it can't handle it and starts getting lazy. It's nearly impossible to work on my company's website - I am sure part of it is Comcast sucking, but the pages always time out before they load. And the help desk said if I'm wired, it shouldn't be this bad and it's probably my computer's fault.
I am looking at a Sony, purely because it's CHAMPAGNE GOLD OOOH! You can customize it, and for $1429 I have it with 200 GB hard drive, 2.4 GHz, and 3 GB RAM (plus some other upgrades - Office, Photoshop, extended life battery and a mouse). Should I go for more? I am willing to spend up to $2,000 if it means I can wait another 6 years to upgrade. I'm not as concerned about the hard drive - I'm going to keep this one as long as it works - so I'll have that additional storage. It's more memory/speed that I'm worried about. I don't do much fancy stuff with this computer, but it'd be nice to watch movies on my laptop. I hear there's a new Starcraft coming out, but that'll probably be the extent of my gaming.
I am kinda tempted to get a Mac... I had one before and loved it, but I know that so many websites and programs don't have Mac versions. It also fought with my PC over which computer could use the internet. Mac was a jealous bully and said "If I can't have it, no one can!" (I think I just needed a different brand wireless router, but that was very aggravating). And I hated that I couldn't right-click!
If anyone wants to voice opinions and help determine the future of my home electronics, please comment! | comments: 7 comments or Leave a comment   |
| Puzzle people:
My dad doesn't know if he's going to feel up to going to the tournament this year. If he goes, it'll be a last-minute decision because he needs to see how his side effects are. Dad normally pays for my registration and we share a room. I just pay for the plane ticket. Well, I really, really, really want to go this year - even if my dad doesn't - but I can hardly afford it... my dad mentioned a lady on the NYT forum who needed a roommate but I'm concerned about bedtime. Do any of you know of a female I can room with who is likely to stay up late at night (or won't mind if I do)? I don't smoke or snore! | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| Just finished The Time Traveler's Wife today.
You have to read it! (Unless you already have, of course - then you're exempt.) | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| If anyone likes fun/goofy/artsy t-shirts, you should check out threadless.com. They're a Chicago company started years ago by a friend of a friend. Now they're so huge, one of my students recognized one of my threadless shirts. It's a community project - people submit designs, then everyone scores them. The ones with the highest scores get printed. It's a democracy! (And a genius idea on the part of the creator - he knows the shirts are gonna sell out!) I just spent $80 on shirts, and Nelson spent another $40 because right now they're having a $10 sale. Girls' shirts are normally $17 and boys' are $15, so they're still normally not that expensive. I wanted to spread the love, but with a small selfish request - let me know if you're thinking of buying anything so I can go to the site and send an email to you before you actually buy it. That way I get bonus points :) Anyway, here's mine and Nelson's stash:
Splatter in D Minor
Fish Tank
Rock Out With Your Cock Out
Keeping It Real
Star Men in Moon's Milk
All those shirts are mine, mine mine!
I got these for my sister: (notice the animal theme?)
Satan's Little Helper
Hide and Sheep
Big Cats (You have to look at the larger image on that one)
Nelson's getting these:
Hero Within
Cyclope
War and Peas
And for his brother
In Case of Fire | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| OMG it is sooo awesome! I feel like a silly fangirl but it is honestly one of the best games ever!!! Believe it or not, only 20 copies of the game were released in the Bay area today and Nelson got one!
Nelson and I have two bands, one for me on guitar and him on drums... called Phish Theater. The other, with him on guitar and me on drums is called Dream Pumpkins. His favorite band is Dream Theater, if you couldn't tell. And I'm guessing mine are pretty obvious (and a little more well-known).
We're 244 stars into Phish Theater's world tour and have been playing on hard (both of us) until now... our joints were so sore we had to stop, but the last message we got was that if we want to play at certain venues we have to play at a harder difficulty level! All that's left is expert!
The drums are fun as hell, and I am really pleased with how the guitar turned out. We've both been failing every song on the microphone (except when I sang "Creep") so we're hoping something's wrong with it :( We don't want to admit we're bad singers... Dan, you'll have to let me know what the secret is.
All in all this is going to be a really fun game. There is so much more to do than in Guitar Hero games, and it's going to take us way more than just two days to beat it...
Five stars! | | comments: 4 comments or Leave a comment |
| My tonsils are full of pus, it hurts like hell to swallow, and I just blew my nose in such a way that my ears won't get back to normal pressure. I slept 16 hours from Saturday-Sunday. I haven't worked or gone to any classes since Saturday. I went to the doctor yesterday... of course it's the flu and there's nothing he can do about it. It's all been bearable until last night, because I've been sleeping through the worst of it. But the cough started. And it kept me up all this morning... and I'm just ready for it to be gone already!!!
If the doctor didn't check my ears yesterday but today it feels like I was swimming and can't get the water out of my ears, should I go back? | | comments: 5 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Very impressed! I beat the game last night on Hard and am still working on Expert. I must have a Guitar Hero/Rock Band party when the next game comes out so we can play multi-player. But so much fun! | | comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
| I know I shouldn't be so excited about it, but it was kinda cool!
5.7 magnitude... I was in Cupertino, but my pictures and books and yarn and stuff fell from my top shelves. | | comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
| Why am I pissed?
Because the one day I get to sleep in, I get woken up by the ICE CREAM TRUCK. It's 10:20 in the frickin' morning. Wait til after lunchtime, dumbass. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | Drive | | Time: | 04:26 pm | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/nolegs/amused.gif) amused |
|
| I admit, the only thing that urged me to watch the new show Drive was an ad I heard on the radio comparing it to Heroes and LOST, two of the best shows on television. I was very intrigued.
I am hooked! I'd highly recommend this show. I hate getting into shows late in the game - so if that's you, start watching this show now! You can catch up online (there was a 2 hour premier and another regular episode on Monday, the regular time).
I'd only compare it to LOST or Heroes in that it's a ensemble cast of people thrown into a strange situation with little knowledge on the audience's behalf of their lives before this event. So it looks to be moderately character-driven (har), which in my opinion is a lot better than action shows (like 24) that are all action all the time.
But the basic premise of the show is a cross-country race that all these people are competing in, either by choice or by coercion. The characters, so far, seem to have interesting back-stories. And, of course, there are lots of fast car scenes. And tons of mysteries to be solved. The writers have so much to play with. The teams of people racing have their own issues among themselves (there are reunited half-brothers, a father-daughter team, a married couple, and others are complete strangers), and with so many teams, there are endless conflicts and connections to make between them all.
Wow. I used to hate Fox, but with Prison Break, House, and now Drive, it's beating my beloved ABC! Good thing Prison Break is over and I stopped watching 24 (Going to watch them all consecutively) - otherwise I would have way too many shows to keep up with. | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| I always wind up doing puzzles the day after they're published. I usually spend Monday doing all the Sunday puzzles, so today I got to the Monday puzzles. And it was a good morning! I matched my record on the LAT - 2:59! I got 4:23 NYT, which is about par for me. And the NY Sun was kinda shitty, at 6:34 with a stupid, stupid mistake. Always check crossings!
My physics class started 23 minutes ago. I'm being lazy and I'll hit up the afternoon lecture instead. I may even take a shower before class....
Nah.
Last night I got delicious burritos with Sarah. We had a great discussion, and she helped me out a lot with my current crisis (thanks, Sarah!). Then we played Guitar Hero, which was SO MUCH FUN! I wish I knew more of the songs, though. We would choose new ones to play and when we saw who wrote them (Kiss, Pearl Jam, for instance), we were both shocked that we didn't know them. What's up with them choosing the more obscure songs rather than the hits everyone knows and loves? They did, however, have Possum Kingdom, which is a kinda-obscure song that happens to be one of my favorites. Good times!
Things I need to do but have been putting off
- Residence reclassification request form (was putting it off until my taxes are done)
- Mailing in taxes (At least they're done!)
- See 4 different advisors (major, minor, gen ed, pre-med)
- Get a pap smear (Really dumb of me, especially considering I had 3 abnormal ones and a biopsy a couple years ago)
- Clean out the garden area and get this year's veggie garden started
- Figure out car insurance stuff with Chris
If you think about it, pretty much every one of these things has the benefit of either putting cash in my pocket, or saving me lots of money. Except for the pap smear, but I suppose you could argue that if by putting it off I am letting cancer grow inside me, I could be saving on medical bills. But that's a morbid thought. And the garden - I mean, I guess I could save money on produce this summer, but that's assuming I'd eat a lot of produce if I didn't have a garden. But I have thousands of dollars to save by getting in-state tuition, and possible thousands of dollars to save if I minimize the number of classes I take before graduation. I'm getting a refund of over $500 from my taxes, and I'm sure Chris will help me out to save on my car insurance. So really, what's my problem? | | comments: 7 comments or Leave a comment |
| For once in a LONG time I actually have some knitting content.
(Also, note the beautiful Wentworth Miller userpic in honor of the Prison Break season finale tonight, which was AWESOME).
I had to knit some socks (on commission) for my grandma's friend. I started them over winter break and finished them by the end of February. They were quick, it was just that I never had time to work on them. Finally, some knitting for me: over spring break I started these bad boys. ( for people who like the knitting stuff, an lj-cut )
Oh, also, I sent in my dues today for the NPL. :) | | comments: 5 comments or Leave a comment |
| The best thing about having a camera is... pictures, of course! I took lots of pictures this week - from the tournament, at karaoke on Wednesday, and some other odds and ends. The crapload of pictures can be found on my Flickr.
Tyler and I won first place Novice at a road rally[e] last night! It was a baseball-themed rallye, though that didn't really come that much into play. There was a lot of craziness with a rule that if you were at a crossing of two streets containing the word "wood" (as in Kerry Wood), you must turn right. This drove (har!) us crazy for a while and we had to run through that section three times. In the pouring rain. And as much as we knew we screwed up, we only wound up making 12 mistakes (out of maybe 40?), which just happened to be the fewest mistakes out of any of the other cars in the Novice class. Now, if Tyler was not in the car with me he would've been considered a Beginner. So this was quite an accomplishment!
Only one more win for me until I'm considered a "Master." (I think it should be Mistress - then one day I could possibly be a Grandmistress - but I digress). It was a great end to my spring break. Especially with the pizza and Heineken at the endpoint! But seriously, I was very proud of us. :)
(note that even with all of Tyler's puzzle garb, no one in the puzzle-loving crowd recognized him!)
Back in San Jose. It's kinda cold here :( | | comments: Leave a comment |
| Nikoli.com has jumped on the kitten bandwagon.
Don't give cow's milk to kittens or adult cats. Apr 1, 2007 
It is not healthy for cats, because they can't digest it and it will cause diarrhea. nikoli.com highly recommend cats milk it contains enough proteins and nutritions.
April Fools? | | comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
| I downloaded last year's USPC puzzles. 23 puzzles - wow! Here's how I'm doing so far:
11 complete
5 partially complete, or puzzles I at least know where/how to start
7 WTF
What I've learned:
I'm good at stuff I've done before (sudoku, battleships, fences/slitherlink, crisscross, word search, arrow ring, picture matching, etc).
I can do weird variants, except I haven't quite finished that kakuro with the negative numbers.
If I know *how* to do the puzzle, I can usually finish it. The problem puzzles are ones at which I look and have no fucking idea where to begin. (traffic signs, suspects, slide weight, distance - the one thing those have in common is how very little they give you to start)
I need to get my hands on more practice puzzles!
So Tyler, Dan - think I'll be in contention? :) | | comments: 6 comments or Leave a comment |
| In the last 24 hours, my brother and I have driven over to the bowling alley 4 times. Only one time it was closed. The other three times they had no lanes open. Jeez.
I watched maybe half of Borat last night with my siblings. We got a little bit after the one scene everyone tried not to spoil for me, but I knew about anyway. The slow parts really lose my attention. I guess I'll finish it later. I really need to watch Prison Break today, too.
Tyler has informed me that I must try the Google US Puzzle Championship, because I kick his ass all the time on Nikoli, even though I only learned how to do the puzzles a few months ago. I am a speed demon! With these kinds of logic-type puzzles, once I get the hang of them, I can't click my mouse fast enough to keep up with my head. I don't know how great I'll be on paper (Similarly, I can break 3 minutes on a Monday or Tuesday on Across Lite, but can't break 4 on paper). We'll see. It would be awesome to go to the world championship.
I'm not looking forward to going back to school on Monday, but I am looking forward to going back to San Jose. I have been planning to move back to Chicago when I graduate, but I really like all the friends I've made in California and I'm gonna miss them! Unless I live downtown in Chicago somewhere, I probably won't have nearly as awesome of a social network as I have in Cali. I get so bored when I come here for winter/spring break. Yeah, I get to hang out with my cousins. I love them dearly, but we've grown apart, I think. And Tyler lives here, so that's a big incentive! And my grandmothers REALLY want me to come back. They miss me like crazy, and they're not getting any younger. Hmm. Clearly, I'm starting to be torn about this decision. At least I have another year and a half to choose. Maybe I won't restrict my med school applications to Chicago. And then my decision will hopefully be easier, depending on how many schools accept me. :)
I made a goal a long time ago. I said one day I will live in New York, California, and somewhere outside of the country. Moving back to Chicago doesn't really help accomplish the rest of that goal :P | | comments: 4 comments or Leave a comment |
| Last night I drove a half hour south to Downers Grove to visit my grandma, and then my aunt/uncle/cousins. ( the rest of the night )
LOST was great, as usual, and if any of you think otherwise - DON'T EVEN SAY ANYTHING. It's my favorite show, I'm easily satisfied by it, and don't want my satisfaction ruined by all of your nit picks and pessimism! Let me be! | | comments: 7 comments or Leave a comment |
| The tournament was so much fun! And just as I predicted, Tyler won again... first ever contestant to win three years in a row. Congrats!
My dad did really really well. Out of 698 contestants, he was 98th this morning. He was bumped down several spots after puzzle 7 (as was I), but I think he'll still be in the next higher division next year! Too bad he didn't hit 100 - the hotel was giving gift certificates for all winners who were at a multiple of 100.
I was 555. Not bad at all - and percentile-range, I did much much better than last time, which is all I was concerned about. I don't think I'll be moving out of division E anytime soon - I have to break into the top 65% of the pack to do that. But hey - I got time!
Next year the tournament is moving to Brooklyn because we've outgrown the Stamford Marriott. However, it's also going to be in February. Eek. It's been during my spring break every year... damn!
I met a LOT of people and made many new friends. That was by far the best part of the weekend, outside of the obvious spending time with Tyler and my dad and solving great puzzles. I will post pictures, I promise! | | comments: 5 comments or Leave a comment |
| I am SO freakin' excited for this week to be over. Tomorrow's gonna suck, though:
9:00-10:00 Chem exam (taking it early, it's supposed to be on friday)
10:30-11:20 Chem lecture
11:30-12:20 Bio lecture
12:30-2:30 Physics lab
2:30-5:20 Bio exam (probably won't take the whole period, but whatever - I'm also having to take this early, usually I have bio lab on Thursday)
EEEEW.
But here's thursday:
9:00-10:15 Physics exam
12:00 Go to airport!
1:20 pacific time - Fly to Chicago
7:30 central time - Arrive in Chicago
Friday-Sunday Stamford, CT with my dad for the crossword tournament. Wish me luck!!
Sunday-Sunday back in Chicago
I'll be back Sunday afternoon on April 1st... Then Monday is Passover - yay! I have an awesome week coming up. | | comments: 5 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Subject: | whoops. | | Time: | 02:37 pm | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/nolegs/mischievous.gif) naughty |
|
| So I took a Tylenol with codeine maybe 20 minutes ago and decided it wasn't working well enough for my cramps so took another. That was about 30 seconds ago. The first pill JUST kicked in. Fuck.
Normally if I take one pill I get incredibly high. The next 3-4 hours are gonna be interesting... | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| |
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
mammothali's journal![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/nolegs/sleepy.gif){kind=small}
sleepy![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/nolegs/happy.gif){kind=small}
good![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/nolegs/determined.gif){kind=small}
determined![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/nolegs/calm.gif){kind=small}
calm![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/nolegs/uncomfortable.gif){kind=small}
cold