Back to school. Well, it started out as an okay day. Saw Sarah, Andrew, Rashmi, Shiny, and others on the bus. AP Psych looks like it'll be an awesome class. English looks like it'll be okay. Topics in Globalization looks awesome. Not sure about math yet. It's a big change from Stueben.

We took off at 4:30, and by 5:45, I realized that there wasn't enough time left with the aircraft for me to solo. Christy also had not endorsed my logbook and student certificate for solo flight, a legal requirement. So, I was kind of unhappy, but at the same time, kind of relieved. I had been jittery ever since 2 PM, and with the pressure of soloing removed, I could concentrate on making my last landing real sweet. It was a good landing. I wanted to do another one, but my instructor called the tower and asked for clearance back to the west ramp (meaning the flight school, where we could secure the aircraft). So, we taxied back.

I pulled out the checklist and flipped it open to "Securing Airplane," then prepared to shut down the engine. Christy then turned to me and said, "Don't shut down the engine." She held out her hand, so I gave her a high-five, not knowing what else to do. She looked at me strangely, then said, "Give me your logbook and student certificate." I said, "Ohhh. Oh!" I handed them over and she signed the endorsements in both. I was ready to do a jig. She then said to me sternly, "Three takeoffs, three landings. If you have to go around [reject landing] for ANY reason, you do it without hesitation. Understood?" I said, "Yes, ma'am."

She got out of the aircraft and closed up her door. I then got clearance to taxi, taxied back to the runway, then got clearance to take off. The airport was devoid of all traffic. It was really kind of disconcerting how quiet it was. I was the only plane out there. So, I taxied out onto the runway, pushed the throttle to full power, sped up to 50 knots, and lifted off the ground. It was at that moment that I said to myself, "Shit. Now I'm kind of committed to landing this thing."

I flew around the traffic pattern, got clearance to land, turned onto final, came around, and then suddenly realized, "Wow. I'm landing this plane. By myself. Oh, God." I came in, pulled the power back to idle, and the nose yawed to the left. I tried to correct, but didn't get enough right rudder on it. Meanwhile, I had flared a bit too high. The aircraft hit the ground once and bounced, half sideways, half forward. It bounced three more times, then came to rest. One of the ugliest landings I've ever done, but it wouldn't be a solo without an ugly landing, right? I'm told everyone at the flight school cheered - half because they were happy I had made my first solo landing, half because the aircraft was still in one piece after that landing.

I taxied off the runway, and there, I saw Christy waving me back toward the runway (we agreed that she would wave me back to the runway if she wanted me to continue, and toward herself if she wanted me to stop and talk to her). I taxied back to the runway, got clearance again, and took off. I circled the pattern once and came back in. The approach was perfect. I descended onto the runway, flared at just the right height, and touched down as gentle as can be, right on the centerline. The landing was very pretty.

I taxied off the runway and saw Christy waving me back toward the runway again. I taxied back, got clearance again, and then took off. I flew around the pattern again, dropped onto final again, and touched down - this time, my rudder was a bit off, so although I didn't bounce, all the tires squealed.

Christy waved me back to the west ramp, and then she took off in her golf cart. I got clearance to taxi back to the west ramp, taxied back there, and then my parents, uncle (a commercial airline pilot), uncle's fried, and brother all took the requisite 2000 pictures of me with the aircraft, me with the instructor, me with them, etc. Then, Christy drove me back to the flight school, where she took my shirt and cut the shirttail off it. The cutting of the tail is a tradition that dates back to the early days of aviation. The instructor sat in back and the student in front, and when the instructor wanted the student to take the controls, he would rock the wings. However, when he wanted them back, he would pull on the student's shirttail. So, the instructor cuts off your shirttail to indicate that you no longer need an instructor.

It was AWESOME.

It was the second-greatest experience of my life. The feeling of flying all by yourself leaves you with a tremendous sense of accomplishment. It's incredibly exhilarating. Scary, too, but I feel much more confident in myself having done it.

I'm going to remember this day for a long time to come.

The absolute best moment, though, was when Christy turned to me after cutting my shirttail and said, "You're a pilot now!"

---

Run and tell all of the angels
This could take all night
Think I need a devil to help me get things right

Hook me up a new revolution
Cause this one is a lie
Sat around laughing and watched the last one die

And I'm looking to the sky to save me
Looking for a sign of life
Looking for something to help me burn about bright
And I'm looking for a complication
Looking cause I'm tired of lying
Make my way back home when I learn to fly

Think I'm done nursing the patience
I can wait one night
Give it all away if you give me one last try
We'll live happily ever trapped if you just save my life
Run and tell the angels that everything's all right

And I'm looking to the sky to save me
Looking for a sign of life
Looking for something to help me burn about bright
And I'm looking for a complication
Looking cause I'm tired of trying
Make my way back home when I learn to fly
Make my way back home when I learn to fly
Fly with me
I can't quite make it alone
Try to make this life my own
Fly with me
I can't quite make it alone
Try to make this life my own

And I'm looking to the sky to save me
Looking for a sign of life
Looking for something to help me burning bright
And I'm looking for a complication
Looking cause I'm tired of trying
Make my way back home when I learn to fly

First off, I would like to say that I am hoping I don't offend anyone with this post.

I know that Mr. McCarthy is a widely respected teacher at TJ, and I really think he does a fantastic job as a Model UN sponsor. However, I have never managed to connect with him. I get the feeling that I have somehow caused him to think of me as a non-serious kind of guy. I do not know why, and I do not know what I can do to remedy it.

Yes, I enjoy having fun as much as the next guy. The Soviet Reunion (including my freshman year arbitrator speech, and of course, our takeover of the NATO General Assembly) definitely contributes to that. However, if that is the reason, I would like to point out that I take Mr. McCarthy seriously despite his birthday dances, his showing of "Ridicule," his attacks on Yi, and this Southern Comfort story I still have not yet heard.

We had a test recently. I got a B. A number of students who also got B grades were told to see him for guidance. I was not. Does this mean he expects B quality work from me? The test before that one would seem to disprove that.

I have never once felt that Mr. McCarthy really thought that anything I did was above average, or even acceptable. The only compliment I can recall receiving from him was that "Andrew said [my] crisis went really well." While that was very nice of Andrew to say to him, I am still unhappy that it required Andrew's intervention to make him realize that the crisis actually went well.

I have also never received any advice on how to improve. It has been a process of natural selection - but without any positive feedback, it has just been repeated cases of negative results.

Well, if only I could get some help...but I don't know how I can ask him. He seems to get very defensive whenever I talk with him about any problem at all.

Oh well...this, by the way, does not dissuade me from recommending Mr. McCarthy to anyone else. He is an excellent teacher and a good man. His class is always interesting.

see subject

Well, a number of people have commented recently that I should update my journal, and I guess I should, since a lot has happened.

First off, there was the Model UN conference we hosted. I was the crisis director for the integrated crisis - a simulation of the Cuban Missile Crisis with a Historical Soviet Presidium and a Historical National Security Council.

How to describe the conference? Well, I heard several people say it was the most fantastic conference they had ever been part of. I think the crisis went pretty well...it completely drained me, for sure. Anyway, good job everyone. Thanks to those of you who kept me going.

Afterwards, we all went over to Sarah's to watch movies. I apologize to everyone for acting like a jackass at the beginning of it. Anyway...that was wonderful, thanks to all, particularly to Sarah for hosting it.

The conference made me realize that there is someone out there with more detailed military knowledge than myself (from Robinson, was chair of the Chinese Cabinet at their conference, I believe a junior...was on the HSP at our conference, if anyone knows him, let him know my email address)...this worried me greatly. Therefore, I've gone on a major book-buying binge. Books being added to my collection...

One Hundred Unorthodox Strategies

How to Make War

On War (Clausewitz)

Strategy

The Art of War (Sun Tzu)

The Art of Maneuver: Maneuver-Warfare Theory and Airland Battle

Impossible Victories

Soviet Airland Battle Tactics

If anyone else knows of any good books, please let me know.

Only a week before the Russia trip. Scary.

Anyway...it's been one of those bittersweet weeks. My friends have been fantastic, which has been the sweet part. Events have been primarily bad, though.

I had a big discussion with Andrew about the military...the decision time is coming up. I've told some of you that I've started exercising - that's because I want to keep my options open, service-academy-wise. I think I'd make a good officer (okay, you can stop laughing now). I think I'd have a good time. I think I'd do something worthwhile. I think I'd get some useful skills. The problem is that I know there are people who would be less than ecstatic to see me get killed, which would of course be a possibility.

Anyway...you can always offer your opinions on any subjects I expound on by commenting on posts (ahem).

On a hilarious side note, Tim mentioned the possibility of his joining the Marine Corps.

That's about it for now.

Run and tell all of the angels
This could take all night
I think i need a devil to help me get things right
Hook me up a new revolution
Cause this one is a lie
We sat around laughing and watched the last one die

I'm looking to the sky to save me
Looking for a sign of life
Looking for somethin to help me burn about bright
I'm looking for a complication
Looking for cause i'm tired of lying
Make my way back home and learn to fly

Think i'm done nursing the patience
I can wait one night
I'd give it all away if you give me one last try
We'll live happily ever trapped if you just save my life
Run tell the angels that everything's alright

I'm looking to the sky to save me
Looking for a sign of life
Looking for something to help me burn out bright
I'm looking for a complication
Looking cause i'm tired of trying
Make my way back home and learn to fly

Fly along with me I can't quite make it alone
Try to make this life my own
Fly along with me I can't quite make it alone
Try to make this life my own

A series of quotes that sum up what's happened in my life recently...

Tim: "What was your eventual solution?"
Me: "I hit my head against a wall. Now my head hurts."

Sarah: "You filmed without me?"
Me: "I'm sorry. They had an M16A1, I couldn't pass it up."

Ben F: "The victorious sultan of Turkey requests a ride home."

Tim [about above quote]: "Assholes."

Ben A: "I'd make such a great Castro."

Tim: "One thinks he's Otto von Bismarck, one thinks she's Arwen, one thinks he's Napoleon...your friends constitute a mental ward."

Me: "Next time we are organizing a game where the alliances are predetermined against Andrew and Ben."

Tim: "You know, this is the first time in a month I haven't had a dream about the Andrushko."

Sarah: "Yeah, and there was this building...the I'm Going To Kick Hanson's Ass Building..."

Andrew: "Dear God, Tim, what is this music?"

Tim: "Sergeant! Sergeant! You forgot your backpack! And your water bottle! Now, promise me you'll wear your MOPP-4 protection the whole time."

What is a Military Training Route? What is a Victor Airway?

Look at the stars; look how they shine for you
And everything you do
Yeah, they were all yellow

I came along; I wrote a song for you
And all the things you do
And it was called yellow

So then I took my turn
Oh what a thing to have done
And it was all yellow

Your skin, oh yeah your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
D'you know?
You know I love you so
You know I love you so

I swam across; I jumped across for you
Oh what a thing to do
Cause you were all yellow

I drew a line; I drew a line for you
Oh what a thing to do
And it was all yellow

And your skin, oh yeah your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
D'you know?
For you I bleed myself dry
For you I bleed myself dry

It's true
Look how they shine for you
Look how they shine for you
Look how they shine for...
Look how they shine for you
Look how they shine for you
Look how they shine

Look at the stars
Look how they shine for you
And all the things that you do

I know I haven't used this journal in quite some time, and I apologize to everyone who hangs on my every word in it (ha).

Friday night, I went to the sophomore class auction. It was fun...saw a lot of people there, heard a bunch of great musical acts (including a "Freedom" Horn), made comments about David's sister. It only got better as the night went on.

Yesterday, I tried to play hockey in the morning, but that failed. However, the one highly successful activity was making crisis videos for the Model UN conference we're hosting soon. I'm going to be the crisis director for the historical National Security Council and Soviet Presidium, an integrated crisis based on the Cuban Missile Crisis. I can't discuss the specifics, on the off chance that someone might get advance knowledge of the crisis, but it's going to be good. We got to dress up as Cuban soldiers and beat the crap out of David. Also, we got to see the wonderful, wonderful sight of Tim wearing bright urban camouflage pants into Home Depot. I did tell him that might send the wrong message about his sexual orientation when he bought them...sadly, he's managed to make a fashion statement at school.

Had dinner with my brother, then came back home and did some work. That's pretty much what today has been devoted to as well.

All in all, yay. :-)

As many of you probably know, I won the gavel on my committee at the Model UN conference last weekend. This is a huge deal for me. Yay for that!

What a hilarious conference...so much randomness...my favorite part was when a delegate on my committee randomly attacked a crisis staffer pretending to be an agent of Robert Mugabe's government.

Besides that, a big thank you to John B. for letting me stay with him at Brown. What an awesome college - going to have to decide soon what I want to do about applying there. Thanks for helping me make that decision, John.

Also, there was a situation that had been confusing me for some time. A big thank you goes to the person who sorted it out with me. I still have some ways to go with sorting it out, but I am a lot happier about the situation now than I was before this week. Thank you, Sarah.

Not much else to write about...maybe will update again soon.

Hello
I've waited here for you
Everlong

Tonight
I throw myself into
And out of the red, out of her head she sang

Come down
And waste away with me
Down with me

Slow how
You wanted it to be
I'm over my head, out of her head she sang

And I wonder
When I sing along with you
If everything could eve feel this real forever
If anything could ever be this good again

The only thing I'll ever ask of you
You've got to promise not to stop when I say when
She sang

Breathe out
So I could breathe you in
Hold you in

And now
I know you've always been
Out of your head, out of my head I sang

And I wonder
When I sing along with you
If everything could ever feel this real forever
If anything could ever be this good again
The only thing I'll ever ask of you
You've got to promise not to stop when I say when
She sang

And I wonder
If everything could ever feel this real forever
If anythind could ever be this good again

The only thing I'll ever ask of you
You've got to promise not to stop when I say when
-Foo Fighters, "Everlong"

America is right now stuck with a lost and confused foreign policy. In 2004, the Democratic candidate, to get my vote, must be ready to repair the damage the current administration is doing to American foreign policy.

Right now, the rhetoric coming from the administration clearly indicates that we are prepared to go to war with Iraq, with Security Council approval or not. This is incredibly dangerous to US foreign policy. How would we feel if Iraqi forces came into the United States to despose George W. Bush, claiming he was "unelected" and "despotic"? Or, even more appropriately, how would we feel if Iran were to announce a policy of "regime change" in Pakistan? What would we do if Iran decided to remove General Musharraf, the leader of Pakistan, and replace him with a leader extremely hostile to the United States?

This double standard is a very risky proposition. Okay, so there may be some slight short-term gains. However, in the long-term, this will do terrible things to our reputation in the international community, and will do nothing to improve American security other than creating a mass of recruits willing to fight in terrorist organizations around the world against the United States. Whoopty do.

There is no goal of American foreign policy that cannot be achieved through a long-term policy based on justice and the rule of law. Slobodan Milosevic is on trial in the Hague now. East Timor is an independent nation. Afghanistan is every day becoming more stable under an international peacekeeping force. Even China, untouchable through the UN due to their Security Council veto power, has begun to open itself up to democracy and improvement of human rights through trade agreements and the WTO. Multilateral instruments and organizations can work - but only if there is no double standard. We cannot force the smaller, less powerful nations to abide by rules set by international bodies the large, powerful nations do not follow.

Look at the case of NATO. NATO was founded as an organization in which the United States would come to the aid of Western Europe in the event of Soviet attack. When NATO first invoked Article Five, Europe came to the aid of the United States. Since then (September 2001), European NATO pilots have been flying AWACS sorties over the United States. This benefit is exactly the kind of thing that comes out of a foreign policy where we may sometimes be bound by a law higher than doing whatever we want to do.

However, with our invasion of Iraq, we are about to undertake an attack that is condemned by the vast majority of the international community. We do not care. We are going to adopt the policy of "regime change," despite the fact that it is completely unjustified under international law. There is no provision in international law for removing the leader of a state, since that could completely destroy the framework of states, which has set up international law!

This action will weaken international law and the UN. That will permanently damage our ability to carry out future action against states attempting to develop weapons of mass destruction. Not that we have the moral high ground on that issue - this rhetoric about keeping the world safe from weapons of mass destruction comes from the nation with the largest nuclear arsenal in the world, a nation that has tested biological weapons against its own citizens (in San Francisco and against Navy ships, resulting in several deaths).

If we got Security Council approval for a war in Iraq, I would feel much more comfortable about it. I'm not saying it's what I would do, but who am I to stand in the way of the Security Council? However, the administration's reckless policies seem to indicate that we are going to war with Iraq either way. It's hard to argue otherwise when the administration claims that the inspectors not finding anything automatically means noncompliance by Iraq. How can they get out of that situation - if the inspectors find nothing, they are not cooperating, but if the inspectors find something, they are in breach of international law?

This breakdown in American foreign policy is why we require a different kind of Democratic nominee. Every senator in the race voted in favor of the war. Only Governor Howard Dean has publicly come out against war in Iraq. General Wesley Clark has also come out against the war. So has Al Gore.

I do not by any stretch of the imagination support Saddam Hussein. He is an evil man who has committed the worst atrocities imaginable against his people. However, he has not attacked us. The terrorists did that. Anyone who looks at Iraq and compares it with terrorist organizations will immediately come to the realization that there is no way Hussein would ever give weapons to the kind of terrorist organizations that fight against the United States. The same criticisms that have been leveled against the United States can be equally leveled against Iraq. Iraq is a secular state in the Middle East. Groups like al Qaeda would never work with a state like that! Osama bin Laden offered to fight on the side of the coalition in the Gulf War!

However, Dean, Gore, and Clark all make the same key point: the war on Iraq distracts us from the war on terrorism. Right now, there are many more places in the world we should be going if we want to be rid of the terrorist menace.

Gore, obviously, is not running for the Democratic nomination. It's unfortunate - he is the most successful Democratic candidate in history, judging by votes received. Clark has not announced that he is in the race. Dean has announced, but has little name recognition or fund-raising capacity.

General Wesley Clark would be my first choice for the Democratic nominee for president. General Clark is a genius - he graduated first in his class at West Point. He rose through the military ranks quickly, commanding troops in battle, and eventually becoming an assistant to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. At the JCS, he became intimately familiar with conducting foreign affairs. He was then appointed Supreme Allied Commander, Europe - the top military commander of all NATO forces. As SACEUR, he gained a lot of experience in working with groups such as the NATO General Assembly and the member states of NATO. He led the Kosovo campaign that liberated Kosovo and destroyed Slobodan Milosevic's infrastructure to the point that the people were able to despose Milosevic. He then commanded the relief and reconstruction mission for Kosovo, KFOR. Unfortunately, Clark was relieved of command as SACEUR after publishing a book called "Waging Modern War," in which he sharply criticized his civilian commanders.

Clark is an innovator. He successfully demonstrated during the Kosovo campaign the way modern war will be fought. Many lessons were learned from that campaign that carried over to the war in Afghanistan. Clark also has been a major innovator in the concept of Operations Other Than War (OOTW) - peacekeeping, for example. KFOR is a textbook OOTW operation. While the civilian administration may profess to be against "nation-building," the military quietly has recognized that OOTW is an inevitable result of conflict in the modern world. The military forces in Afghanistan right now are performing an OOTW operation right now. In Iraq, no doubt there will be OOTW operations after the war we seem to have decided to undertake. Clark wrote the book on how to do OOTW operations in Kosovo.

Clark has been meeting with Democratic strategists and donors. However, I believe that it may be too late for him to mount a serious fight for the nomination. Clark would be as famous Colin Powell, except for one thing - by virtue of being the OOTW innovator, rather than the military leader in a major successful conflict, he has had much less publicity than a general such as Colin Powell.

Dean is also an attractive candidate because of his views. However, Dean is unfortunately in as difficult a situation as General Clark. I'm afraid neither one will be able to mount a presidential campaign in 2004. I've got a feeling that Clark's meetings may be about running in 2008.

Oh well. Only six more years of a lost and confused foreign policy! And let's not forget about the domestic issues...with our new Republican Congress, we're going to make the tax cut permanent, spend out of the deficit, and massively increase the national debt!

The only chance for the Democrats is if something goes severely wrong during the next two years, particularly with regards to the economy.

Oh well.

What an excellent time...

Got out to the airport, and filled out some forms. Received an introduction to the traffic pattern...all review for me, but I don't want to miss anything. Then, my instructor and I went out and preflighted the aircraft. She taught me how to check the fuel for contamination...unfortunately, even after mastering this on the first try, I failed the test of "pouring the test sample into the can." I didn't realize there wasn't a top to the sampler, so I ended up pouring avgas all over the can. So I'm a dumbass, what else is new?

We then started up the aircraft, and taxied out to the runway. This time, she decided I'd had enough practice to have full control of the aircraft during takeoff. As we were lining up at the hold-short point (where the planes line up just before taking off), she said to me, "Make sure your door is securely latched. One opened on me a week ago during takeoff." We received permission to take off, and so I pushed the throttle to full and then lifted off. 900 feet up and at 100 knots, we turned left into the traffic pattern, when suddenly I realized it was overly loud, windy, and cold. I looked left, and sure enough, my door was open, and I was staring at the ground 900 feet away with nothing but a glorified seatbelt and centrifugal force holding me in the plane. So, I said to my instructor, "Can you take the plane? My door is open." She laughed and said, "My plane." I had to push the door slightly out into the airstream before slamming it shut in order to get it to latch securely.

That excitement over, I flew the pattern, and came in for final. I was expecting her to take over from me, but she never did, instead she just told me what to do. Not quite getting the hang of flaring, we hit the ground relatively hard (not unsafely, but uncomfortably). After running through the after-landing checklist, we taxied back to the runway to take off again.

After takeoff and exiting the pattern, she had me do several turns, and I practiced maintaining straight and level flight. I got above-average marks for those areas. We then practiced slow speed flying. As I decreased the power, added back pressure, and lowered the flaps, the speed came down a bit too much. Just as I was adding power, a loud BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ came through the cabin. Having never heard the stall [a condition caused by a lack of airspeed] warning horn before, I applied forward pressure and full power. The instructor looked at me, then said, "What are you doing?" Realizing we were a good 10 knots above stall speed, I reduced the throttle and began a slight climb. I then said to her, "Can you show me what the stall warning horn sounds like?" She looked at me strangely, then said, "Oh!" and laughed, then induced a stall so that she could demonstrate the stall warning horn for me.

After a few more maneuvers, we turned back to the airport. We flew the pattern, then turned onto downwind, base, and final. On final, I did a little better on the flare, but it was still a relatively hard (night) landing. Will need to work on that. Got average marks for the flight overall.

So, anyway. It was highly excellent. More news to come, hopefully...

Here

Delta Force: Rappels in from black helicopters, secures money, delivers pizza to objective. Extracted by black helicopters. Mission considered a success if more than half the helicopters do not crash.

U.S. Marines: Level the block to make sure there will be no resistance. Suffer 50% casualties.

U.S. Navy SEALs: Sneak into your house, place pizza in the oven, then leave. You don't notice anything until the rotting cheese smell a week later.

U.S. Air Force: Delivers pizza three doors down, blames it on weather.

National Security Agency: Delivers pizza with a bug in it.

Information Awareness Office: Tracks you for three days, then concludes from your friend networks the kind of pizza you most like.

101st Airborne: Parachutes into tree with pizza. You get fed up waiting and order Chinese.

U.S. Army Ranger: "Get down! That pizza is hot! Don't touch it! Give it to me!" Proceeds to sacrifice himself.

FBI: Barricades house. Offers pizza in exchange for twenty dollars. You refuses. FBI burns down your house, and blames it on faulty wiring. Loses pizza next day to internal spy.

LAPD: Shoots pizza. Pizza's fault for not answering questions.

NYPD: Sticks pizza with broom handle.

CIA: Bribes random person on street to deliver pizza.

State Department: Negotiates with you about the price, toppings, delivery time...

Democratic Party: Fourteen different guys rush to your house, begging you take only their pizza. None of the pizzas are the one you ordered.

Republican Party: Delivers your pizza to George W. Bush. Demands tip anyway.

Libertarian Party: Refuses to give you a pizza, claims it belongs to them alone. Offers you a toke.

George W. Bush: Shows up at your house empty-handed, claims pizza abducted by terrorists. Demands tip anyway.

George Bush: Tells you over the phone price is $10. Shows up, demands $15.

FDR: Delivers pizza. Refuses tip. Delivers another pizza, free. Refuses tip. Delivers another pizza, free. Refuses tip. Weeds garden, takes out trash. Delivers another pizza, free. Refuses tip. Dies. Republicans blame him for shortage of tip money.

Nixon: "I am NOT a pizza delivery boy. Can I still get a tip?"

JFK: "We choose to deliver the pizza! We choose to deliver the pizza in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, and that goal is one we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others too!"

Ronald Reagan: Promises to deliver pizza on time. Forgets. Republicans name your doorstep after him anyway.

Bill Clinton: Shows up, starts flirting with you. Boss threatens to fire him over cell phone until he starts flirting with boss, too.

IDA: We were going to develop and run a computer simulation to determine the best methods for pizza delivery, but we got distracted playing Counterstrike.

-Myself and Tim L.

My karma went from "positive" to "good"! This calls for lyrics.

"Hard Candy" by Counting Crows

On certain Sundays in November
When the weather bothers me
I empty drawers of other summers
Where my shadows used to be
She is standing by the water
As her smile begins to curl
In this or any other summer
She is something altogether different
Never just an ordinary girl

And in the evenings on Long Island
When the colors start to fade
She wears a silly yellow hat
That someone gave her when she stayed
I didn't think that she returned it
We left New York in a whirl
Time expands and then contracts
When you are spinning
In the grips of someone
Who is not an ordinary girl

And when you sleep
You find your mother in the night
But she stays just out of sight
So there isn't any sweetness in the dreaming
And when you wake the morning covers you with light
And it makes you feel alright
But it's just the same hard candy
You're remembering again

You send your lover off to China
Then you wait for her to call
You put your girl up on a pedestal
Then you wait for her to fall
I put my summers back in a letter
And I hide it from the world
All the regrets you can't forget
Are somehow pressed upon a picture
In the face of such an ordinary girl

And when you sleep
You find your mother in the night
But she fades just out of sight
So there isn't any sweetness in the dreaming
And when you wake the morning showers you with light
And it makes you feel alright
But it's just the same hard candy
You're remembering again

It's just the same hard candy
You're remembering again

And it's just the same hard candy
You're remembering again

Go ask her to come around
And see me late after dark
Don't ask me to come around
Then wait to see if there's a spark

Go ask her to come around
And see me late after dark
Don't ask me to come around
Then make me wait to see if there's a spark

Go ask her to come around
And see me late after dark
Don't ask me to come around
Then wait to see if there's a spark

Merry Christmas everyone! Happy Atheist Children Get Presents Day! And have a good non-denominational winter holiday time. And now, a word from our sponsor:

Janet: update your slashdot blog, loser
Janet: you submissive fool

Well, a lot has happened since I last posted...I didn't post for a while because life was kind of sucking. It still is, but not as badly.

Well, in the past couple of days, I would say the defining moment was seeing The Two Towers. Twice. I plan to see it at least two more times. What a fantastic movie. After seeing it the first time, we drove past the Uptown, where they only play one movie at a time, and there were about 200 people in line for it. So one guy leaned his head out the window of the car and shouted "ARAGORN DIES!" at all of them. That should screw them up a little.

I've heard that the soundtrack is excellent, and I believe it, so I may actually go out and buy it.

In other news, my project is going well...looks like we may actually get started on it, finally. My boss has advised me to cite Ender's Game in the bibliography for it...I wonder if a work of fiction has ever been cited in a technical paper before?

At the same time, the actual amount of work done at the office has gone down since the briefing we had on America's Army, the Sims Online, EverQuest, Falcon 4.0, etc...unfortunately, they gave us demos of all that stuff. I've been playing lots of America's Army for "research purposes."

I know you're all dying to hear what I'm listening to these days. I'll post some random song lyrics in a few days.

I got a bunch of cool presents today...several books that I want to read, a calendar, some software for learning Russian, a personal Ganesh, the South Park movie on DVD, and some other stuff, too.

Books I recommend: "Spec Ops" by William McRaven (case studies in special operations warfare), "Bush at War" by Bob Woodward (a book about the politics behind Enduring Freedom), and "Separation of Powers" by Vince Flynn (a work of fiction about military counterproliferation efforts).

I guess that's about it. Oh, yeah, and I got my computer's sound system working again, yay me.

http://www.geocities.com/babakbyekta/englishPaper.html

Wish I could cite the author. Oh well.