Monday Oct 30, 2000 07:14 PM
Suddenly I'm reminded of an existentialist short story we read in HS regarding hell. I don't remember much about it except it had to do with everyone's personal hell. My personal hell would be this: I'm in Hell, but I could get into heaven if I had a ticket. But to get a ticket, I'd have to place an order thru the HATORS (Heaven Access Ticket Order Request System). Of course, all circuits would be busy for eternity. That's my personal Hell.
Monday Oct 30, 2000 02:35 AM
Oops, daylight savings time. Gotta fix that timestamp tomorrow.
Monday Oct 30, 2000 02:34 AM
I'm back from OP. I had a really good time, and I'll talk about it later in a new update, but I have a test in the morning for which I need to study. So I'm going to study for like 20 more minutes, and then head off to bed, with hopes I'll get up early and go to the library. It's darn near impossible to study here. Computer is really close, not to mention all the stuff that goes on in this apartment--enough to draw me out of my room about every 10 minutes to see what's up. Ok, off to bed.
Friday Oct 27, 2000 12:01 AM
Hahaha... check this out. It's propaganda, but it's funny nonetheless.
Thursday Oct 26, 2000 02:11 AM
Sigh... I can finally go to bed. I wish I had more time to write something here and at my forum, but I can't. I've had a really long day. I got up at 7:30 to go to the library to study for a midterm (Fluids 2) I had today. Then I had class, which I ended up skipping to study. Then I studied some more. My midterm was from 5:00 - 8:30, which was just barely enough time. Well, if you knew exactly what you were doing, you could have finished at 7:30, but not likely. This test was a doozy. 3 questions. I think I got the right answer to one of them. I didn't finish the other 2. One girl started crying about half way thru it, and there was another girl I think was crying. I think it was a cross between a laugh and a cry. Not a pretty sight.
Anyway, after that, I had to work on my preliminary lab report for lab that I have tomorrow. I just now finished it. Lab is at 7:30 and we'll probably need the whole 4 hours alotted to finish. Sigh. I hope not, I really need to take a nap tomorrow.
Well, I'm off to bed. More topics for my forum are brewing in my mind. Keep coming back to see what I post. Thanks, btw, to all who have been posting. I like the forum a lot, and it's really good to hear differing POVs. Oh, and if you don't like my forum, which you have every right to do, don't post stupid things. Other people like the forum, and we don't need your lame posts. I will delete every one of them.
Tuesday Oct 24, 2000 05:07 PM
Hahahaha.... the Alligator printed my letter to the editor about G.A.T.O.R.S., the sports tickets ordering system. When I wrote it, I wasn't in a very good mood, and it wasn't really an editorial style letter, so I really didn't think they would print it. They did edit it a little, taking out what I would call the 'thesis statement,' in both the opening paragraph and the concluding paragraph, but other than that, it was pretty much in tact. Maybe something will be done about it. I hope so.
Tuesday Oct 24, 2000 01:03 AM
I'm still working on the color scheme of my forum, so bear with me if you can't read some of it. I'll fix it in time.
Monday Oct 23, 2000 02:47 PM
I've posted a response to Eric's latest up date at my forum. Feel free to respond.
Monday Oct 23, 2000 02:17 AM
Well, my forum is finally up. Thanks to Malcolm, whoever you are, for your help. The reason it wasn't working was really stupid. Also, be sure to visit www.phorum.org, the place where I got the forum. It is extremely well done, and is opensource. (insert cheers from Fuster, Jordan, and Phil here) Though, I don't see how they couldn't be opensource, seeing as how it's php. Anyway.... post away. Just don't get too carried away (that is, watch your language), cause I will delete your whole post if it's too out of line.
Thursday Oct 19, 2000 09:44 PM
Hmmm... I'm having problems with this stupid forum (www.phorum.org). F2S is changing a lot of stuff, and now the server that this page is on is using MySQL, as opposed to the old postgresSQL. Anyway, there are different versions, blah blah blah, I can't seem to get it to work. I have, however, gotten a functional forum up and running at my old f2s site, but I don't want to get anything goign there, for fear that they will move all sites over to MySQL, and I'll have to move everything. Anyway, hopefully this guy I'm corresponding with will be able to answer my questions.
Thursday Oct 19, 2000 05:33 PM
My forum is almost up and running. I have a couple things to fix and iron out, but it should be up by tomorrow at the latest.
Thursday Oct 19, 2000 10:16 AM
Dangit, this isn't about abortion. But, just to clarify, right now I do think the government should interfere, and keep people from having abortions. Ack. I don't have time to write right now. The question is about government, not abortion.
Thursday Oct 19, 2000 03:10 AM
Sigh.... I need to get to bed, but I want to clear up a few things, mainly for Jordan's sake.
First of all, this topic is waaaaayy too complex for me to even address it in a short manner. So be advised that this is watered down, and that I'll probably end up clarifying later. As I stand right now, I am an avid Pro-Lifer. I certainly don't think that anyone should ever have an abortion, especially when there are other options such as adoption. Since I'm a product of adoption--my mother was 16 when I was born--I avidly support adoption. There are so many couples that can't have children, and that wait years on a waiting list to get a child. 9 months of carrying another human being, and a few hours of labor are surely worth a family's happiness. My quandary is what role the Government should play in our lives: whether Government has the authority to dictate a person's actions; specifically, whether I can say Government should control some things (eg, abortion, murder, stealing, etc), but not control other things (eg, what I can or can't view on my computer screen). Can I be middle of the road? Is it possible to be middle of the road without compromising some sort of principal? Is Government intervention right or wrong, or are there shades of gray? What I'm thinking now is that, unless you make a hypocrite of yourself, you can be only one way or the other: total government intervention in everything we do (much like a 1984 world), or we have no government intervention, and we rely upon our own moral code to dictate our actions. Maybe my problem is with Moral Issues: separation of church and state. Does Government dictate morals, or do morals dictate government?
Thinking mathematically, let's explore our boundaries. In an ideal world, we would need no external government; the morals set forth by God and Jesus in the Bible would be followed exactly by everyone, and we wouldn't need Government. Obviously this isn't an ideal world, so I guess we do need government. So by my previous assertion (the 'binary' quality of government intervention assumption), we need total government intervention. I don't like either of those options, dangit. There's gotta be a middle ground. sigh.
Concerning Jordan's post: My previous post was more of a discussion with myself. It is in no way my opinion; rather, it was... an exploration of thought. As far as my right to interfere, I think I have the right to make suggestions, talk to her to tell her why I think what she's doing is wrong. I feel I have a Christian duty to try to prevent someone from doing wrong. But ultimately, it's up to her to make that decision. Which brings me back to the question of the role of government. See????? This is where I get tripped up everytime. Ok, tomorrow, discussion forum section. I want to know your opinions.
Thursday Oct 19, 2000 02:17 AM
btw, here's the link to the tests I was referring to. www.selectsmart.com
Thursday Oct 19, 2000 12:20 AM
I, too, took the religion test and the political test. The religion test was an easy one for me, as I am pretty sure about my beliefs and where I stand. There are very few gray areas there. The political test was a bit more difficult, as I am torn between two schools of thought. First, I'll tell you what I 'scored.'
For the religion one, I got 100 percent matching with the 7th Day Adventist, a result at which I pretty much scoffed. While I admit there are similarities with what I (as a member of the church of Christ) believe and what they believe, there are blatant differences. This leads me to believe that this so called religion tester is more for determining your basic tendencies, i.e., Hindu, Atheist, Christian (with subcategories Catholic and Protestant), etc, not your 'denomination,' as it were. Rounding out the top 3 were: (2) Eastern Orthodox and (3) Roman Catholic, each with 77 percent compatibility. These are even more laughable to me. In reference to Eric, Neo-Pagan was way down on my list (number 21) at 27 percent.
Lately I've been thinking about my Christianity.... a lot. Not many people know what I believe, and I think that is pitiful. A major part of being a Christian is 'Evangelizing,' a word that to a lot of people (including me) carries major negative connotations. There are good and bad ways to evangelize, and, unfortunately, the bad ways are the ones that everyone remembers. For example, Plaza Preachers. (insert collective groans of disdain here) While their hearts are in the right place (presumably so, but perhaps not), I personally don't think that Plaza Preaching is an effective means of evangelizing. Maybe it was 40 or 50 years ago, but certainly not now, and certainly not on a State University Campus today. Such methods turn away more people than they attract. On the flip side, however, one can evangelize in other, more positive ways. Living a Godly life, I feel, is perhaps the most effective form. Hopefully I do that well. Sometimes the only 'sermon' a person will see is my Christian example. God help me if I haven't always been a good example.
Where was I going with this??? Oh yeah.... This has made me seriously think about putting up a 'beliefs' section on my page. This would basically cover my Christian beliefs, and probably scriptures to back my beliefs up. My Christianity is such a huge part of my life, and I've realized that by not putting something here about it, I've been leaving out huge chunks of my personality. So, keep coming back to see that. Don't expect it too soon, however. This is by no means an easy task...
Moving on.... Politics. Government. As I said earlier, I have two ideologies to chose from. (1) The government has the right to control people, or (2) The government doesn't have the right to control people. Basically, it's a dilemma of whether or not I think I have the right to force people to believe what I believe. Since abortion is the hot topic these days on everyone's logs, I'll use this as an example. I believe that abortion is murder. Period. Therefore, I would be classified, belief-wise anyway, as a 'Pro-Lifer.' Now, here comes the tricky part. Do I have the right to judge others, and to make them do what I feel to be right? That's a question I don't know the answer to, really. I believe that God gave us all Free Will, which means that a woman should be able to do whatever she wants. So if she wants to have an abortion, it's her prerogative. May God have mercy on her soul for murdering a child. So, in that since, I'm a 'Pro-Choicer.' This is my dilemma on a small scale. On the whole, the major philosophical question is do I want Anarchy, or do I want Fascism? Which then begs the question, can I be middle of the road, without compromising my belief either way? Are these binary variables, or are they continuos? If I say I'm pro-life, then I'm saying, in a way, that I want Fascism. If I say I'm pro-choice, then I'm saying I want Anarchy.
So, you see why I had problems answering questions on the political survey. Politics revolves around government, and if I'm unsure as to what role the government should play, then answering political questions is very hard.
Here's how I scored: 87 George Bush (big surprise there, huh?); 72 Howard Phillips (who???); 65 Pat Buchanan (sort of makes sense); skipping to number 7, 47 Al Gore; 17 Ralph Nader.
Guess I'm a Republican. For now, at least. I hope this post made sense somewhat. I need to add a forum for people to discuss things like this. I'm very interested to see what others think.
Monday Oct 16, 2000 06:56 PM
I'm currently in the Beiry Room (computer lab in Chemical Engineering building) waiting for my labmates to show up so we can work on our lab report that's due in 2.5 hours.
In my infinite boredom, I've been reading other people's postings, and I have come to the conclusion that I don't update nearly enough. I have neither updated my page, nor read other peoples' pages since my "Forgiveness Post." It took me a good 25 minutes to read all the updates that I've missed. (side note: the mere fact that I was willing to spend 25 minutes reading is a monument to my boredom... I hate reading) I've also come to the conclusion that I don't write enough about me. Sure, I write about things that are happening to others around me, but never really anything about me, the person. I don't know why even... My last post was a major insight into my 'inner-being,' (I think, anyway) but that's the only one that I can think of. Posting such a strong opinion actually makes one feel good. I don't know why. Maybe it's sort of an exhibitionistic thing: ie, getting weird pleasure out of revealing oneself.
Anyway.... (still waiting for slacker labmates)
This past week I spent an inordinate amount of time with old HS friends. Maybe it's the impending graduation of a lot of them, or maybe it's just the fact that we hadn't done anything together in a long time, but we've felt the weird need to see each other again. Last Sunday night, a group of us went out to eat at Bennigan's and then we went to Charlie's place and just bummed around, played pool, watched the disheartening Jag's game, shared in the same old jokes involving body parts, etc. Charlie has all of his bedroom furniture from his home in OP, and it was arranged in the same manner as it was there, so it was just like being in HS again, when we'd all go over to his place to work on calculus homework. We always went to his place because it was close, his parents are really cool, his house is huge, and it's on the water. Anyway, it was very surreal... (check out one of my pics from prom where we're laying on a bed... that's his room) Then, we decided to go to Jason Braswell's place on Tuesday to watch Shanghai Noon. Anyway, it was very cool to hang out with everyone again, and to be reminded of all of our Shenanigans. hahahahah. I had a very unique group of friends in HS. We were very.... ummmmm..... close. We could do just about anything without any worries. hahahah.
Speaking of friends.... It's been brought to my attention recently that I seem to know everyone in the world. Everywhere we go I seem to see someone I know. I've been thinking about this, and I think I've come up with the answer. I have lots of 'groups' of friends. I have my OP HS friends. I have my OP church friends. I have my OP church adult friends. I have my college friends here. (mainly arf people) I have my college church friends. I have my CHE friends. Throw in just random people I've met in classes, at parties (what few parties I've been to) and I have a huge circle of friends, and even more people that I'm at least on a 'speak-to-when-we-see-each-other' basis.
Ok, I'm about to give up on my labmates and just go back home. Where could they be?
Friday Oct 6, 2000 03:45 AM
Ok, here is my response to Eric's September 29th log.
Eric has, unfortunately, made a strong statement based on a situation that obviously puts him in a non-objective point of view. This, however, is understandable, considering the magnitude of the situation to those involved. My objective will be mainly to explain the Christian view of Forgiveness, so he can understand where Christians are coming from. Keep in mind that this is my point of view, and is just as skewed as Eric's. Take it as you will.
First of all, since Eric is not a Christian, I must start very basically. To me, as a Christian, I have faith that the Bible is the word of God, as should most Christians. I believe that All the information contained in it was written by 'inspired' men of God. That is, what they say is what God says. 2 Timothy 3:16 I wish all Christians agreed, but that is not the case. Some decide to 'pick and choose' what they want in the bible. But that's beside the point. So, Assumption 1 is that the Bible is God's Word, and what He says is the final decision on all matters.
"There's one thing about some Christians than really bothers me. I just don't understand it. It's the idea that asking for forgiveness frees you from guilt and sin. That as long as you're forgiven, everything is okay."
Paul says in Ephesians 4:31,32 that we should forgive everyone.
When Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive someone, suggesting 7 as a good number (which, btw, would have been considered overkill in the first century), Jesus replied that he should forgive someone "seventy times seven," or 490 times. One can clearly see what Jesus is getting at: that we should forgive everyone, no matter how many times they have done us wrong.
Further bringing home the point, Jesus says in Matthew 6:13-15 that we should forgive our trespassers as God forgives us, else we will not be forgiven. But how does God forgive? In Hebrews 10:17, Jesus says that he will remember our iniquities no more. In other words, he forgets them. So, when we forgive, we should forget as well.
So, as a Christian, I would expect that when I ask for forgiveness, I would be forgiven, and all would be forgotten. I would be freed from all guilt and sin, because I have asked for forgiveness, and have 'repented.' The ball would now be in the other person's court, and that person should behave as God would behave; that is, he should forgive and forget. If he doesn't do this, God will not forgive his sins.
That's all I have to say about the Forgiveness thing right now... The whole "celestial wimp" and the "Screw you, I'm going to another church!" thing is another topic entirely, and I'll try to get to that later. Briefly, just because a lot of Christians do that, that doesn't make it right. God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He doesn't change, and His word doesn't change. What was wrong in the first century is wrong today, and will always be wrong.
Anyway, that's my "Christian Perspective." Hmm, that sounds like a good page for my site. :) I could give a Christian Commentary on things going on. Maybe... Maybe not. :)
Wednesday Oct 4, 2000 05:29 AM
Check it out... lows in the 40s this weekend. SWEET!!!
Tuesday Oct 3, 2000 05:03 AM
I figured it out... apparently, I can't define variables in links with my redirection. That is, http://www.jayzee.net/index.php3?add=pants won't work, because the site is actually www.zimmerman.f2s.com. Weird thing is, www.jayzee.net/anypath works just fine. I just assumed it would work... but we all know what happens when we assume....
Tuesday Oct 3, 2000 03:05 AM
Sign up for Pay Pal. It's totally legit, and I've gotten money from both Erics now, and have bought stuff online with it. 100 percent for real.
Monday Oct 2, 2000 06:27 PM
ARGH!!! I can't figure out what the heck is wrong with my fortune cookie script. It still works at www.jayzee.f2s.com, but for some reason, when I moved to this site, it stopped working. I've checked all the permissions, and they're exactly the same, and the files are all exactly the same. I have no idea what happened. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday Oct 2, 2000 05:38 PM
I'm currently working on a post in reply to Eric's "I Hate Christians" post. Keep coming back... it should be up shortly.
