Funnel Bee

So, I went to the consular today to talk about possibly dropping my English class, and it turns out that they really don't deal with that stuff. But it was cool anyways I guess. I kinda found out by myself that my 'depression' is kinda dependent on what I am doing. Like, this weekend was very different for me because I hung out with different people. I went over to hang out with Emily and it turned out that Tessa, Remy, and Colin had all gone to the Doomtree show and so she and one of there other house members, David, had it mostly to themselves for the weekend. That meant that they got to be louder later into the night than usual. So it was a great weekend to go over I guess. I guess I had a misconception about how partyish the house was.
Anyways, it was out of the norm, which I liked. I saw people I rarely see. Then on Saturday I went back over for a 5 hour dinner. Well, Emily and friends started cooking at 6 and we ate at 11. There was an improv show in there somewhere, but still, it was good I ate something beforehand. That night was a lot more chill than Friday, but it was still really nice. They all convinced me that a trip to Viroqua, WI should be a part of my winter break. We'll see.
So anyways, the point was/is that I was feeling crappy until I went out of the norm for a weekend. And although this happens every once in a while, this time was different because I plan on hanging out with Emily and others more than once a month. It's for my health. : )

Damn right!

So, there's this amazing band, The Plastic Constellations, and after doing my weekly website check, I went a little deeper and found one of the signer/guitarist's blog. He doesn't update it or anything, but there is this one post that I just had to share. Here. This is the guy who has been my guitar/musical idol. It was sad to see them take an indefinite hiatus, but I think Tessa said she's working on getting them to do a reunion or something. So who knows.
But it was nice to read something that has been my mentality for the past year. He writes a lot better and gets the point across. But it's what I've been feeling, the unstoppable urge to do something, not for money/popularity, but because if I don't do it right now I might never be able to do it again.

Caribooooooou, cari-bou-ou

So Morris has two "coffee shops". One, The Turtle Mountain Cafe (why is cafe not in Firefox's dictionary?) (TMC) is run by Satan Sodexho and the other is a non-profit place called Common Cup. I actually have a lot more respect for the place when I found out it was non-profit. All proceeds go to one of the local churches. So it makes more sense why it was "built on God's love." But they both are pretty pricey. At the common cup, a bottomless cup of coffee is 3+ bucks. This compared to coffee news in the cities where it's 1.50. Kinda sucks. Anyways, the closest city is Alexandria, a pretty cool place actually, spent a day there shopping. They have a Caribou that my friend Meghan and I went to last week. It's a 45 minute drive each way, but it was totally worth it. Got there and had to have a caramel cooler because I haven't had one in forever. So there goes $5. But then I wanted to know how much a refill of coffee was and the guy looks at me funny and says: "Free?" Awesome. So, Caribou has 1.50 for unlimited coffee.
And not only that, but they have variety. They had two interesting blends the day I went and they change it day to day. The common cup just has two blends, and they are always there. It was also a pretty good place to do homework. I got a lot of programming done that day and I really enjoyed it. I guess Alexandria only has a few hours after work when people go get coffee. So I think I'll probably go there a few more times to get some work done in the next week before finals.
I also have big plans to someday open a coffee house/record store/music venue. It'd be awesome.

Social fun-gineering

So, last night I watched Fletch, an amazingly funny movie from the 80's that is one of my all-time favorites. It stars Chevy Chase and is an over the top comedy. But one thing I was thinking about during the movie was about how he acts with people and how they respond. The plot is that Fletch is a investigative reporter that is on the case of a drug dealing scheme. So he uses some ridiculous disguises to go undercover and get answers from people. This is what I think makes the movie hilarious and so classic. Chevy Chase has the ridiculous factor nailed.
What he does is use confusion to get answers and information from people. At one point he gets asked who he is and here is what he says (taken from imdb.com):

Madeline: I'm sorry, who are you again?
Fletch: I'm Frieda's boss.
Madeline: Who's Frieda?
Fletch: My secretary.

Then he abruptly leaves while she is taken back at this circular answer that contains no real information. He does this throughout the movie and uses confusion in what is called social engineering. Social engineering is using people to get information. Usually this means posing as someone your not. A lot of old hackers used this almost more than actually hacking systems. Kevin Mitnick is famous for using social engineering to get user passwords and computer information.
Remembering this, Fletch started to make me think about if this would actually work in real life. I always wished I was better at being absolutely ridiculous, but I guess with a script it would be a lot easier.
But anyways, I just thought it was an interesting concept. Humor and social engineering. It actually makes me want to read a book on it, the Art of Deception. But we'll see. Here's another example of fletch talking his way around a subject:

Dr. Joseph Dolan: You know, it's a shame about Ed.
Fletch: Oh, it was. Yeah, it was really a shame. To go so suddenly like that.
Dr. Joseph Dolan: He was dying for years.
Fletch: Sure, but... the end was very... very sudden.
Dr. Joseph Dolan: He was in intensive care for eight weeks.
Fletch: Yeah, but I mean the very end, when he actually died. That was extremely sudden.

Let's just never speak of this again

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo it turns out my phone was not lost, it was in my room, behind my window shade, on silent, for the past two days. Fan-freaking-tastic martin, way to go. But I have it back now and after reading all 20+ txts and voicemails, I'm back on track. But I just really want to put this behind me and get over the whole "wow martin, list your phone literally two feet from you, how'd you do it?" and the "sooo, your an idiot" and if anyone wanting to make these statements, you'll get about 24 hours of free shots before I officially move the issue to the part of my mind that is like a black hole and whatnot.
The only words that come to mind are simply: I can't believe I just did that.

Purrfect

So, here's a list of perfect albums. A perfect album, for me, is one that I can listen to all the way through and not get bored or annoyed with. These don't represent my entire music taste, just the albums that have been tried and true throughout the years. I got this by going through my iPod, so it might be missing a few albums. But yeah. Sorry about the format and that it will take up most of the front page.
Beastie Boys - License to Ill
Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
Beastie Boys - Hello Nasty
Belles Of Skin City - Ha Ha Boardroom Think tank Tantrums
Belles Of Skin City - You Do the Company Proud
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Building Better Bombs - Freak Out Squares
Built To Spill - Ultimate Alternative Wavers
Clash - London Calling
Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies
Doors - Doors
Flobots - Fight With Tools
Fugazi - 13 Songs
Fugazi - End Hits
Fugazi - The Argument
Hockey Night - Keep Guessin'
Kinks - The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society
Kinks - Muswell Hillbillies
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin I
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV
Mae Shi - Heartbeeps
Modern Lovers - Modern Lovers
Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News
Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
Nirvana - Nevermind
Paper Tiger - False Hopes
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Pixies - Doolittle
Pixies - Surfer Rosa/Come On Pilgrim
Plastic Constellations - Crusades
P. O. S. - Ipecac Neat
Queens of the Stoneage - Songs for the Deaf
Radiohead - OK Computer
Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
Stnnng - Fake Fake
Subtle - For Hero: For Fool
Tim Fite - Fair Ain't Fair
Tim Fite - Over the Counter Culture
Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground And Nico
Weezer - Weezer (blue)
Weezer - Pinkerton
Zombies - Odessey And Oracle

Break: all in all

Break was good. But it wasn't complete. I know why, it because I never finished my paper. I really need to do that. Expecially because I have another one due next friday. But I need to choose if I want to write a 4 page creative story with 3 pages of analysis or an english paper. Since I basically failed at the last paper, I feel the creative route might be better for me. But I need to decide by tomorrow.
Anyways, break was good. It was something I needed, to see friends and play music and hang out and be in a city. But now I'm in morris for what, 2 and a half weeks. It's annoying having be be back for a short time. Even more because I want to go home one weekend to see my brother before I winter break starts. But we'll see what happens.