Have you ever been alone in a crowded room when I'm here with you?

Have you ever been alone in a crowded room; well I'm here with you...

AHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! I didn't get to post on the 25th. Dang. It's already past midnight. In any case, Merry Christmas everyone and yeah. Christmas this year was green... which kinda sucked... a lot.

I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
'Cause your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone

These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase

When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me

You used to captivate me
By your resonating mind
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind
Your face it haunts
My once pleasant dreams
Your voice it chased away
All the sanity in me

These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase

When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me

I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me
I've been alone all along

(An awesome bridge stuck here... at least in the single version it is when the band's playing)

When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me
-- Evanscence, "My Immortal"

And no, this song does not reflect the nature of this blog's owner. I just happen to like this song a lot even though I didn't know what the lyrics were until I searched for them 2 seconds ago to post on my blog... I like the music of this song. It's a damn good piece of work, despite the fact that it came out as a single around the time the guitarist disappeared from the band, never to be seen again or something.

Oh and it's Dan's 17th birthday today I think. If it isn't, well show's how much I know, but even if I'm wrong, it's sometime around this date. If it is, hats off to you!

Sigh, Todd's right, this song DOES make you feel better.

I'm tired of being what you want me to be
Feeling so faithless lost under the surface
Don't know what you're expecting of me
Put under the pressure of walking in your shoes
(Caught in the undertow just caught in the undertow)
Every step that I take is another mistake to you
(Caught in the undertow just caught in the undertow)

I've become so numb I can't feel you there
I've become so tired so much more aware
I'm becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you

Can't you see that you're smothering me
Holding too tightly afraid to lose control
Cause everything that you thought I would be
Has fallen apart right in front of you
(Caught in the undertow just caught in the undertow)
Every step that I take is another mistake to you
(Caught in the undertow just caught in the undertow)
And every second I waste is more than I can take

I've become so numb I can't feel you there
I've become so tired so much more aware
I'm becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you

And I know
I may end up failing too
But I know
You were just like me with someone disappointed in you

I've become so numb I can't feel you there
I've become so tired so much more aware
I'm becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you

I've become so numb I can't feel you there
I'm tired of being what you want me to be
I've become so numb I can't feel you there
I'm tired of being what you want me to be
-- Linkin Park, "Numb"

GLOSSARY FOR RESEARCH PAPERS

Strictly Speaking

THEY WRITE
THEY MEAN

It has long been known that...
I haven't bothered to look up the original reference

...of great theoretical and practical importance
...interesting to me

While it has not been possible to provide definite answers to these questions.
The experiments didn't work out, but I figured I could at least get a publication out of it.

The W-Pb system was chosen as especially suitable to show the predicted behavior...
The fellow in the next lab had some already made up

High purity... Very high purity... Extremely high purity... Super-purity... Spectroscopically pure...
Composition unknown except for the exaggerated claims of the supplier

A fiducial reference line...
A scratch

Three of the samples were chosen for detailed study...
The results of the others didn't make sense and were ignored..

...handled with extreme care during the experiments
...not dropped on the floor

Typical results are shown...
The best results are shown...

Although some detail has been lost in reproduction, it is clear from the original micrograph that...
It is impossible to tell from the micrograph

Presumably at longer times...
I didn't take the time to find out

The agreement with the predicted curve is excellent – fair, good – poor, satisfactory – doubtful, fair - imaginary

...as good as could be expected
non-existent

These results will be reported at a later date
I might get around to this sometime

The most reliable values are those of Jones
He was a student of mine

It is suggested that... It is believed that... It may be that...
I think...


It is generally believed that....
I have such a good objection to this answer that I shall now raise it.

It is clear that much additional work will be required before a complete understanding...
I don't understand it

Unfortunately, a quantitative theory to account for these effects has not been formulated
Neither does anybody else

Correct within an order of magnitude
Wrong

It is to be hoped that this work will stimulate further work in the field
This paper isn't very good but neither are any of the others on this miserable subject

Thanks are due to Joe Glotz for assistance with the experiments and to John Doe for valuable discussions.
Glotz did the work and Doe explained what it meant.


So school's over now and yeah... no school for two weeks, but this also means that we have ISPs due the first day back from holidays. Pah, teachers. What can you do. Yeah, and there are a lot of teachers who say things like "you were assigned this ISP a month ago! You should have got it done by now so you won't have to do it over the holidays." But like honestly, does anybody EVER finish an ISP a month before it's due? Like it JUST DOESN'T HAPPEN. I also realized that since every year, for the past few years, Christmas day actually keeps moving forward (it was on Wednesday last year and Tuesday the year before) we don't actually start working until after Christmas. Then eventually, we hit the point (every 7 years or so) that Christmas wraps around and lands on a Monday again and then the process starts all over. Still, all in all, HAPPY HOLIDAYS everyone! Including those who don't celebrate Christmas, enjoy the 2 week vacation you have managed to procure by living in Canada.

A Plan for the Improvement of English Spelling

by Mark Twain

For example, in Year 1 that useless letter "c" would be dropped to be replased either by "k" or "s," and likewise "x" would no longer be part of the alphabet. The only kase in which "c" would be retained would be the "ch" formation, which will be dealt with later. Year 2 might reform "w" spelling, so that "which" and "one" would take the same konsonant, wile Year 3 might well abolish "y" replasing it with "i" and Iear 4 might fiks the "g/j" anomali wonse and for all.

Jenerally, then, the improvement would kontinue iear bai iear with Iear 5 doing awai with useless double konsonants, and Iears 6-12 or so modifaiing vowlz and the rimeining voist and unvoist konsonants. Bai Iear 15 or sou, it wud fainali bi posibl tu meik ius ov thi ridandant letez "c," "y" and "x"--bai now jast a memori in the maindz ov ould doderez--tu riplais "ch," "sh," and "th" rispektivli.

Fainali, xen, aafte sam 20 iers ov orxogrefkl riform, wi wud hev a lojikl, kohirnt speling in ius xrewawt xe Ingliy-spiking werld.

"There are two leading types of exfoliators, which are the fire hoses that get rid of your old skin cells. The first does it mechanically, just like a miniature version of a sandblaster. If you want to get through layers of old paint on a house, just fire a stream of grit at the target to get the job done pronto. Since no one really enjoyed sandblasting your face, those helpful Swiss dermatologists have come up with a more useful version for you to use. Mechanical exfoliators contain minuscule pieces of grit that, when rubbed on your skin, dislodge the dead skin cells. The most common grit comes from such pleasant-sounding things as walnut shells and apricot pits. Don't be fooled, these can hurt. This stuff is basically a liquid form of sandpaper. That will wipe the smile of your face . . . along with your nose if you're not careful.

Mercifully, there is an alternative. Chemical exfoliators do the same task as their hostile mechanical siblings but by using mild acids in place of shrapnel. Look for exfoliating products that contain acids such as alpha-hydroxy, beta-hydroxy, or salicylic. If all this talk of acid has images of Batman movies running through your head, be at peace — some of the more notable alpha-hydroxy acids are malic acid, lactic acid, and glycolic acid, which come from apples, milk, and sugarcane. Unless you find eating breakfast feels like a WWI mustard gas attack, you'll be fine.

Of course, a third way to exfoliate your face is to drag a steel blade across the skin each day. Sounds barbaric, we know, but most clean-shaven men do it regularly. If you shave with any frequency whatsoever, you will not need to exfoliate those areas of your face in addition, unless you're looking to draw blood. Instead, limit your exfoliating adventures to the areas outside of your shaving zone—chiefly, your forehead and nose.

As far as shaving goes, let's not confuse the point: nothing can screw up your skin like running a mini lawn mower over it. For all of our modern technological advances, we're still using a scythe to groom ourselves, hacking away at unwanted hair with little scalpels. "
-- Courtesy of soyouwanna.com

What creative wit. That site gives you everything you need to know to practically live your life. It's the most useful website I've ever stumbled across. It's user friendly, it's hilarious, and it provides detailed and truthful information about almost everything you'll need to do in your life. You can learn to land a record deal, eat at a high class resturant, vacate your apartment, quit your job, improve your complexion, buy a guitar, get laser eye surgery, ANYTHING. It's also got fun top 10 lists too. So check it out! http://soyouwanna.com/

In other news, NEVER go christmas shopping on a Saturday afternoon unless you're shopping in November or any month before that (why you would I have no clue). It's like a fire drill at a lunatic asylum. It also helps to plan out your Christmas list before you go so you know exactly which stores to go or at least an idea of what to get. Aimlessly walking down the mall hoping that a sudden revelation will come to you about what to buy for x person never works (case in point, my mother. And of course, never forget to give some of your spare change to those salvation army people who sit at their stations ringing bells with a bucket in front of them (believe me, if you had to dress up like they do and sit all day at a mall ringing a bell, you'd hope for donations... not to mention that it goes towards a good cause (or so I think)).

For some extra fun, try going shopping on the evening of December 24th. One of two things will happen depending on where you go. One, it'll be empty because people are all finished and are spending Christmas Eve with their family OR, what's even more amusing is that you'll luckily find a place where you have people who still have last minute shopping to do and are approaching the brink of insanity.

"Cory: An operation? Operations are bad. Do you remember our cat, Fluffy. He died during an operation.
Eric: Cory, Fluffy fell out of a tree. They were trying to sew his head back on."
-- Boy Meets World

Now that it's December, attentions are being turned all the more towards the upcoming holiday season. We've actually got snow on the ground this year, even though I'm not sure how long it's gonna last.