Omegle

Omegle is some sort of chat thing where you can talk to anyone in the world and its relatively anonymous.

In theory, it's supposed to broaden your horizons, or some shit like that. In the hands of the wrong people, however, its a breeding ground for idiocy.

Here's my two attempts at communicating with others:

First attempt:
You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!
Stranger: Hi, 21/m/usa here
You: 53/f/NZ
Your conversational partner has disconnected.

Second attempt:
You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!
Stranger: hey
Stranger: I'm Jasonn
You: I AM BEING CHASED BY THE RE-ANIMATED CORPSE OF WILFORD BRIMLEY AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO STOP IT!@?
Your conversational partner has disconnected.

Things That Make Me Happy, Part II: Deliberately Making Other People Uncomfortable

Posted this elsewhere, and I am so narcissistic that I decided to share it with everyone here:

People are always like "You're so quiet." And I don't bother explaining that I'm quiet because inevitably, I'll say something offensive, depressing or creepy.

I consider it a good day if I can somehow work all three into one statement, shattering someone's sunny disposition. I think I get off on other people's discomfort.

Also, someone from the geeky architecture forum I'm part of found a website where you can make your own trading cards. This one's courtesy of Rob Gerhart:

Well-Deserved Loss

I've had it with the 2009 Buckeyes. Great defense, horrible offense. Terrelle Pryor is a joke, and the administration needs to think long and hard about its commitment to Jim Tressel and his offensive coaching staff.

There's a perfectly good head coach 100 miles south on 71. Don't let Notre Dame get him before we have a chance to talk.

Reprimand Jim Tressel and bench Pryor. The kid's a fucking bust.

Flagstaff by way of Twin Peaks

I'm glad I'm such a Facebook whore. Sometimes I forget all the weird shit that's happened in the past week, but glancing at my Facebook status updates remind me this one in particular's been off the charts in terms of bizarre.

Its easier to re-post. Its almost 11pm on Thursday and I'm tired.

Monday:
Customer buying a Sinatra CD: You should listen to Sinatra.
Me: I've heard him, he's not bad.
Customer: Do you drink?
Me: No.
Customer: Do you smoke?
Me: No.
Customer: Then you probably won't like Sinatra.
Me: Okay...

Later that day, before class:
Classmate: I'm switching my major to psychology. I don't want to learn how to be Batman anymore.

Tuesday:
Customer (boyfriend and girlfriend) buying Playboy with Marge Simpson on the front cover: Bet you thought you'd never see her on the front cover of Playboy.
Me: I wasn't going to say anything...
Customer: Yeah, its kinda weird, but I'd rather they put Lois Griffin on the front cover.
Me: Uh...

Which generated some interesting responses. I'm sorry folks, but these are fucking CARTOON CHARACTERS we're talking about. Besides, this would've been more avant-garde 15 years ago, back when The Simpsons was still relevant. Nowadays?

Do yourself a favor and avoid ever doing a Google Image Search for "The Simpsons" with the safe-search function turned off. You've been warned...

Wednesday:
We've spent the last month doing class discussions, wherein students lead lectures, for my Criminal Justice Organization's class. Last Wednesday's topic was "Violence in the Workplace" and one of the presenters brought cupcakes.

Her associate's segment was "police trauma." She used images of crime scenes to show us the type of gruesome horrors police officers deal with every day. This was during a point in which half the class was eating cupcakes.

I found it hilarious, because I'm the kind of bastard who would do something like that intentionally. I don't think the professor was as amused...

Today was lacking in insanity, but that's probably a good thing. Problem is, most of what I've encountered this week was fairly mundane. I'm tired as fuck, having spent last weekend writing a paper with a recommended page limit of 3, which ended up being about 19 (you try keeping a 15 source annotated bibliography plus literature review to under three pages...)

I've got a 20 page paper due October 28, as well as a theoretical framework assignment for my research methods class, due October 26. I'm going to try to not procrastinate and crank out a rough draft of the theoretical framework this weekend (its only 4-5 pages...but it'll probably end up being 11 or 12...).

Got NAJP stuff I'm working on tomorrow, which is always a welcome change from class assignments.

Fuck it, lets do sports:
Ohio State travels to Purdue. Purdue sucks (seriously!). I don't see how Ohio State loses this one. I'll go ahead and call it close: 14-10, with no offensive touchdowns. Similar to last year's game.

Also, I'm done with this offense. They suck. I'd start prepping Kenny Guiton, since its obvious Terrelle Pryor would rather be a wideout than quarterback. He almost always looks lost. Its amazing, really. I've never seen someone regress from the previous year like that.

Oh wait...I forgot about Todd Boeckman.

Apparently Troy Smith unintentionally put a curse on Buckeyes quarterbacks.

Bengals will lose to Houston. Given the way this season's gone, its the only rational choice.

I love football, but why the fuck did I have to grow up in Ohio? Its teams suck.

Your moment of zen:
The Cadillac stood by the house
And the yanks they were within
And the tinker boys they hissed advice
Hot-wire her with a pin
We turned and shook as we had a look
In the room where the dead man lay
So big Jim Dwyer made his last trip
To the shores where his fathers laid

Fifteen minutes later
We had our first taste of whiskey
There was uncles giving lectures
On ancient Irish history
The men all started telling jokes
And the women they got frisky
By five o'clock in the evening
Every bastard there was piskey

Fare thee well going away
There's nothing left to say
Farewell to New York City boys
To Boston and PA
He took them out
With a well-aimed clout
He was often heard to say
I'm a free born man of the USA

He fought the champ in Pittsburgh
And he slashed him to the ground
He took on tiny Tartanella
And it only went one round
He never had no time for reds
For drink or dice or whores
And he never threw a fight
Unless the fight was right
So they sent him to the war

Fare the well gone away
There's nothing left to say
With a Slainte Joe and Erin go
My loves in Amerikay
The calling of the rosary
Spanish winde from far away
I'm a free born man of the USA

This morning on the harbour
When I said goodbye to you
I remember how I swore
That Id come back to you one day
And as the sunset came to meet
The evening on the hill
I told you Id always love
I always did and I always will

Fare thee well gone away
There's nothing left to say
'Cept to say adieu
To your eyes as blue
As the water in the bay
And to big Jim Dwyer
The man of wire
Who was often heard to say
I'm a free born man of the USA

~The Pogues - The Body of an American

Yes, I still have a blog.

Long time no blog. Maybe that's a good thing.

I don't think I actually have a life...yet. Its just that school is overwhelming the hell out of me. No big deal, really.

Working a lot on the Northern Arizona Justice Project. My partner went down to Prescott to take photos of the crime scene. I'm trying to get a hold of the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office to see if evidence for this 15-year-old case still exists. Its been fun.

Theory is kicking my ass, I think? I don't know, its just a lot of stuff to compress.

I'm most likely making a return to Orange County in a few weeks for Kristen and James' engagement party.

I have to go back and edit a paper after I finish this.

Fuck it, lets do sports:

How 'bout them Halos? Sweeping Boston? Great. Playing New York with the Yankees having home field advantage? Not so great.

It'll never happen (and Fox will shit bricks if it did because of the low ratings), but there's still a remote possibility for a Freeway Series. The last time two California intercity baseball rivals met, a giant earthquake struck the region. That was 20 years ago. Keep that in mind, folks...

What the hell is up with the Cincinnati Bengals? They have to be the worst 4-1 team in the NFL. Defense is fine, but the offense can't keep playing these games down to the wire and expect a victory each time. This is going to blow up in their faces, probably next week against Houston. I wouldn't be surprised to see them lose that at all.

Same problem with the Buckeyes. Great defense, horrible offense. This works against middle-of-the-road teams like Wisky and lesser teams like Indiana, Toledo and Illinois, but not against teams like Penn State (especially at Happy Valley), Iowa (who may actually beat Ohio State in Columbus) or even, dare I say it...Michigan.

Oh well, its Purdue next week. The country's greatest 1-5 team. I fail to see how the Buckeyes lose that one, unless the defense comes down with the flu.

Your moment of zen:
Let's get the show on the road, babe
At the curtain, take a bow
New Haven, just a rendezvous to take you to
a lover--who was then, but never now
Susan played the lady
who called the players' songs
Just a figurine of stagehand reveries
Guess up-and-coming can't be that wrong...

Let's get the show on the road, babe
Spotlights on the stage
Ah, my, it seems I've heard these words before
Did you forget to turn the page?
And remember what they told you
about how 'the show goes on'
How can you come back, if you've never gone away?
How can you sing--how can you sing without a song...

(CHORUS:)
And today's for sale
And it's all you can afford
By your own admission
Well, the whole thing's got you bored
And the Lord uses the good ones
The bad ones use the Lord...

Let's get the show on the road, babe
Better take a look around
Ya got one thing to remember
when you're climbing to the top
You'd better know the way back down...
I can't believe you'd really stumble
But then, I always knew you'd fall
It seems so easy, to say 'I knew you when'
I'd rather it was not at all

~Michael Stanley Band - Let's Get the Show on the Road

My car is covered in bird crap

Odd week. I don't know if I have ADD or if I'm just lazy, but I'm having the hardest time trying to concentrate on anything.

I'm also an insomniac...again. Back when I worked 40 hours a week 8am-5pm, this wasn't much of a problem. Now I'll find myself up until 1 or 2 in the morning...for no reason whatsoever.

Spent Thursday night hunting down any information I could find online for a case related to the Northern Arizona Justice Project (NAJP). Got assigned a new case today, but public records searches yielded no results. My partner and I literally spent forty five minutes typing different key words related to the case into Google and came up with squat.

This was complicated by the fact that neither of us got enough sleep last night because we were working separately on the case study. I'd only got four and a half hours, while he only four. By the afternoon, we were both bordering delirium from the lack of sleep.

Then, we decided to check out the court transcripts already on file.

This requires a little background info: The Department of Criminal Justice is on the third floor of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Building (SBS). The NAJP office is on the third floor of Social and Behavioral Sciences West (SBSW), which is actually numbered as if it were the first floor. We went to get a key from the CJ office in SBS, but it was the wrong key. Walking up and down stairs from the first floor of SBSW to the third floor of SBS and back grew tiresome. The CJ office couldn't find the key we needed to get into the office. We still can't find any info on the guy whose case we're supposed to be researching.

That aside, I love the thrill of the chase. Got a rush hunting down leads and information for stories when I worked for The Panther and the Orange County Register. Had a similar feeling on Thursday night trying to uncover information for this morning's NAJP meeting. It was...cool.

Anyway and I've got a shitload more school work than I previously realized.

Fuck it, lets do sports.

Illibuck returns to Ohio Stadium tomorrow as the Buckeyes take on perennially troublesome Illinois in Columbus. The Illini upset Ohio State at The Shoe in 2007. I don't think it'll happen again, but it will be a close game. The offense continues to suck while the defense shuts down Juice Williams and the not-quite-as-potent-as-we-originally-thought Illini offense. The turtle remains in Columbus with a 14-10 victory.

So how about that blowout last week against Toledo? Apparently the pollsters weren't impressed since Ohio State dropped two spots in the AP Poll despite a 38-0 shutout victory over the Rockets. This was probably because USC was upset by Washington in Seattle.

What grates me, however, is Oklahoma. How can the Sooners lose to BYU, beat two inconsequential teams, and make it back into the AP Top Ten despite BYU getting blownout by unranked Florida State? The AP doesn't affect the BCS, but the double standard is rather infuriating. This coming from someone who rarely ever has a good thing to say about the Buckeyes.

Also, I would love for Iowa to beat Penn State in Happy Valley. Even better if Kentucky can beat Florida in Lexington.

I need the Miami Hurricanes to be good so that next year's battle between the Buckeyes and 'Canes is somewhat relevant and not like what we saw in 2007 when Ohio State traveled to Seattle to play a deteriorated Huskies squad.

Your moment of zen:
I don't need to be a global citizen,
'Cuz I'm blessed by nationality.
I'm member of a growing populace,
We enforce our popularity.
There are things that seem to pull us under and,
There are things that drag us down.
But there's a power and a vital presence,
It's lurking all around.

We've got the American Jesus,
See him on the interstate.
We've got the American Jesus,
He helped build the President's estate.

I feel sorry for the Earth's population,
'Cuz so few live in the U.S.A.
At least the foreigners can copy our morality,
They can visit but they cannot stay.
Only precious few can garner our prosperity,
It makes us walk with renewed confidence.
We got a place to go when we die,
And the architect resides right here.

We've got the American Jesus,
Bolstering national faith.
We've got the American Jesus,
Overwhelming millions every day.

He's the farmer's barren fields, (In God)
The force the army wields, (We trust)
Expressions on the faces of the starving millions, (Because He's one of us)
The power of the man, (Break down)
He's the fuel that drives the Klan, (Cave in)
He's the motive and the conscience of the murderer, (We can redeem your sins)
He's the preacher on T.V., (Strong heart)
The false sincerity, (Clear mind)
The form letter that's written by the big computers, (And infinitely kind)
The nuclear bombs, (You lose)
The kids with no moms, (We win)
And I'm fearful that he's inside me... (He is our champion)

We've got the American Jesus
See him on the interstate
We've got the American Jesus
Exercising his authority
We've got the American Jesus
Bolstering national faith
We've got the American Jesus
Overwhelming millions every day

One nation, under God...

~Bad Religion - American Jesus

This week's theme is insanity

I've got a paper due Monday and a presentation on Wednesday. Hastings has me scheduled 9-5 those days. I'm kind of dreading the next week.

Met with one of the other grad students from the Northern Arizona Justice Project and got some info from him about the project they're currently working on. Ended up talking for two hours about the disconnect between everyone in our cohort. Glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks everyone in this group is somewhat isolated from one another. It was quite a nice talk, really.

Reading. So many pages. My eyes hurt.

Fuck it, lets do sports.

Jim Tressel needs an offensive coordinator. I'm worried Terrelle Pryor is the wrong quarterback for Ohio State. You can't expect a spread offense-oriented QB to lead a pro-style offense.

Also, why the fuck is Brandon Saine not being used more?

When my father and I, who were watching the Ohio State-USC game on TV in Phoenix, could tell what offensive schemes the Buckeyes were going to use, you know things are bad.

Buckeyes play the Toledo Rockets at Cleveland Browns Stadium today. Ohio State's offense still struggles, and once again, the defense keeps the game from being too much of an embarrassment.

Buckeyes 21, Rockets 10

Your moment of zen:
I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand
Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain
He was looking for the place called Lee Ho Fook's
Gonna get himself a big dish of beef chow mein
The werewolves of London

If you hear his howling around the kitchen door
You better not let him in
Little old lady got mutilated last night
Werewolves of London again
Werewolves of London

He's the hairy-handed gent who ran amok in Kent
Lately he's been overheard in Mayfair
You better stay away from him, he'll rip your lungs out Jim
But hey, I'd like to meet his tailor
Werewolves of London

Well, I saw Lon Cheney walking with the Queen
Doing the werewolves of London
I saw Lon Cheney Jr. walking with the Queen
I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's
His hair was perfect
The werewolves of London
Draw Blood

~Warren Zevon - Werewolves of London