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The End

2004-09-25T18:00:00.000-07:00

Dear Blogger,
I will always think of you whenever I want to record those special times in my life. You have been so important to me, and I will never forget you. But, a new chapter has begun in my life and I feel we must each go our separate ways.

I am so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. At the time, I needed you in my life, and I am grateful. But that time is over.

Thank you for being you and for always listening. You never forgot a word I said, but sometimes I just felt like you had too much control of our relationship. And, I know I can be jealous, but sometimes it hurt me to hear how many other people you were constantly making time for and serving. Maybe I am just selfish, but I wanted you all to myself.

I wish you well in all of your future endeavors. I know you will never have a shortage of good people sharing their lives with you. But, the time for us sharing our lives together has come to an end.

Sincerely and tearfully,
Jacob W. Foshee

Eminent Domain

2004-09-15T04:32:00.000-07:00

I took a couple weeks off from blogging so that I could get some important things done. I apologize to those of you who have been checking it frequently. However, you should by no means stop polling my site every single day. You never know when a shiny nugget of wisdom will pop up here.

A couple people have commented that my last entry was a little long. So, this entry will be brief. Here is what I accomplished over the past two weeks:

Set up my web hosting and domain name: www.jacobfoshee.com
Furthered my exploitation of friends and family by starting an online photo gallery
Had my first job interview at Laser Shot
Attended the Austin Game Conference
Drank some chocolate milk
Listened to The Shins, live via cell phone
Went to Astroworld with a couple rocket scientist chicks
Saw The Oots live in concert at The Proletariat
Fell far behind on reading friend's blogs
Felt incredibly proud of the amazing progress of TAGD

It was all great fun and more than I can write about here legally.

The moral of the story is that the world wide web will wonder where we've wandered when we won't write whatsup.

So, memorize this: jacobfoshee.com
You'll be hearing more about it soon.
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From Clear Lake to College Station

2004-08-31T21:08:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, as is often the case, started on Thursday. I did not intend for it to start on Thursday, but once it got going, there was no stopping it until well into Sunday. But, I can't complain! It was an awesome ride and I got to get out of the house and visit a lot of friends. (Sometimes you gotta have a buffer zone.)

Thursday
I drove way down south to visit Devanshi, who works at NASA. (She is an ISS-OPS safety engineer for anyone that is curious.) Being the most financially responsible 24 year old you've ever met, she is currently house shopping. Since I currently spend most of my time in a house, I was happy to lend my expertise to the process. So, early that morning, we went and looked at a couple prospects.

Then, while she went to work, I decided to venture out on my own. Now, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to find your way around Clear Lake, Texas, but seeing as many of the residents are, it seems to help. I, a mere computer scientist, made a few miscalculations while finding my way around.

There was the one time I passed up my turn, did not realize it, and stopped at a railroad crossing to wait for a train to pass. In my blissful ignorance, I did not realize that my destination was behind me the whole time.

And then there was my trip to Chic-Fil-A. Once I spotted it, it only took me about 20 minutes to get there--- after crossing I-45 twice and driving through 4 parking lots.

Once Devanshi got off work, we met up with Super Neesie (a.k.a. Denise) and Bear (a.k.a. Alun) to look at more houses. I think I saw every house in the area, and may even be responsible for the police visiting one or two... (We didn't stick around to find out.)

After that we went to Olive Garden, and, as is typical, were seated away from any guests that might be disturbed by our shenanigans. A good time was had by all.

Before the day was out I had received phone calls from Mirko and Dan. Mirko would be defending his thesis Friday morning! Dan, not to be out done, let me know his birthday was this week, his band was playing Saturday night, and he would soon be leaving for Europe. What's an unemployed guy to do except take a road trip to College Station?

Friday
Despite the fact that my unobtrusive phone alarm did not wake me up Friday morning (rather than making any noise, it flashes the words "Alarm Clock" on the screen, and gives you the options "Off" or "Snooze"), I did wake up in time to be 15 minutes late to Mirko's defense.

Mirko did a great job fending off the attacks of faculty members. After some time he was granted the all-powerful, unenglyphicable committee signatures. Congratulations! Turbo Baby! and Long Live the Walrus!

Afterwards, I joined Mirko, Ryan, Neal, Christian and Stephanie for fried goodies at Wings `N More.

That night Mirko, Bethany and I headed over to Forrest's apartment to remind ourselves of what the college party scene was like. While some things never change, the company and surprising variety of beverages made it a worthwhile trip.

Barbra and I exchanged our usual warm greeting of a hand-shake and a smile. I also finally met Forrest and Arianna face to face! And Benjamin (the latter half of Danjiman) too! Rachel was also there, and she reminded me that when I first met her she was feeding Barbra an apple... Aah, such tantalizing memories...

Dan and Lindsey each arrived later. My presence was a surprise to Lindsey, however she handled it with the grace that I have come to expect from her. Dan and I finally got to make out... And by "make out", I of course mean "talk". aitykwimbt...

Naturally the three of us were fashionably late to the party. We also left fashionably early, partly because if Bethany had to endure any more scott/irish/drinking jokes from drinking-joke-guy, I think she would have thrown him out the window. (I've seen her do it.)

Actually, we had told Christian we would catch up with him later, and I felt it was also my duty to give my sister a tour of Northgate. So we left the party and met Christian on Northside. We hopped from bar brawl to bar brawl taking in the enchanting sights, sounds, odors, and mini skirts.

We capped off our night at The Corner. After some people cleared out, and we had some room to shake our bon bons, Mirko and I breathed some life into that place. The highlight came when Mirko requested some Modest Mouse, and the girl who had been making out with her beau in the corner all night, came over to dance with us. That guy wasn't too happy about it, but we found it hilarious.

Saturday
The promise of many unique musical acts brought us to Revolutions in Bryan on Saturday night. I went primarily to see Barbra and Space Camp Dan. But, I enjoyed the other 5 acts as well.

First there was the love-lorn Chris. He loved, he lost, he strummed.

Next up was Sophie. While she had a modest style, and was only performing publicly for the second time, she had an enjoyable groove.

The third act was Wes and Blond Guy. They played guitars, and did a unique rendition of This Little Light of Mine. They also played some Christian music similar to Shane Bernard's stuff (at least that's what Ryan told me).

Finally, right at the peak of my anticipation, Barbra went on! (If I would have had to wait any longer I might have done something drastic...) She did two Joni Mitchell songs. She played keyboard with the first. But, more impressive was her a capela performance of A Case of You. Nice job, Bobbi!

After Barbra refused to do any encores, Red Tape performed. I missed most of their set because I was getting a sandwich and meeting the Revolutions regulars (shout out to Drake, Willie D and Jesse).

Finally Space Camp Dan came on! They started off with some standard punk numbers, and their energy steadily increased. It wasn't long before Mirko was "feeling it." Those guys have a lot of talent! Go listen! And buy a t-shirt! (And tell them to update their website.)

After that, Bethany's cries for Jazz were finally appeased. We did a little listening and got a little funky.

Ryan, Mirko and Bethany called it a night. And Barbra, Lindsey, Dan, Benjamin, Arianna, Rachel, et al. went to the hang-out in Bryan: Whataburger. (I think they did some partying after that, but I had promised Gracie I would join the LNMC (Late Night Movie Club).)

So I met up with Gracie and some of her homies to watch the late night showing of Hero!

The movie was not what I expected since the American commercials made it look like an action flick. However I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you enjoyed Crouching Tiger, I suggest Hero. Every scene looked like a moving painting. Beautiful use of color.

Sunday
Some of my TAGD buddies wouldn't let me leave town without spending some quality time with them, so I happily obliged! I met up with Kyle, Cassie, Kristen, Greg and Luke for lunch at Jin's!

Finally, Gracie came by Bethany's apartment to give me the SIGGRAPH stuff she picked up for me! Thanks, AG!

After I drove through a sea of lovebugs, my weekend finally came to an end.

Thanks to everyone for a fun weekend! Good music! Great company!
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Back to school...

2004-08-24T22:20:00.000-07:00

Many relatives, friends and friends of friends of mine are gearing up for the new school year!

I, on the other hand, am not. For the first time in about 22 years I am not going to school in the fall. To mourn this event I wanted to share a top ten list with you.

Jacob's Top Ten reasons for never ever leaving school

10. You get older. They stay the same age.

9. Be one of the few elite people who can ask for both the student and senior discounts at movies and restaurants.

8. You can do anything under the guise of "research."

7. Being the same age as your teachers has certain advantages.

6. Being older than your teachers has certain advantages.

5. Class rings fetch a fine price on Ebay and diplomas make great shelf paper.

4. Save those 4 years of NCAA sports eligibility until you are 60. Then you will have prescriptions for all the testosterone and steroids you will need.

3. Didn't win that election to student body president? Keep trying. And run on the platform that you are the only candidate old enough to also be U.S. president.

2. There are always fine new flavors of Ramen noodles to try.

And the number one reason for never ever leaving school is:
1. Late night streaking. (Doing this in your parents' neighborhood is apparently frowned upon...)

Alas, I was foolish and left school. Perhaps one day I will regain my senses and return. Until then I am doomed to work, lest I endlessly face the question: "So, do you have a job yet?" Do yourself a favor. Never leave school.

At last the circle is complete...

2004-08-14T01:00:00.000-07:00

I graduated from A&M today (i.e. Friday the 13th). I think that merits a blog post, however boring it turns out to be.

The problem is that I don't know what to write, and whenever people choose to speak up, but don't have a particular point in mind, much less a particular way to make it... Well, they ramble, and thats when you change the channel.

So, I better come up with a point quickly!

How about this:
Trials will come. Overcoming them is better than never having faced them.

I am reminded of a time (maybe before I was born) shortly after my parents were married. My parents were pretty poor. And, I don't just mean college-student-poor. I mean depending-on-God-for-everything-poor. One day they returned home to find they had been robbed. Most notably missing was my dad's Selmer Saxaphone. ---Not something that they could afford to replace.

Flash forward to today, more than 25 years later. My parents watch me cross the stage to receive my diploma for my MS... (I can hear my dad saying, ``Saxaphone? What saxaphone!? I don't remember a saxaphone.'')

What's the connection?

For my dad, a gifted musician, his sax was a source of pride and joy. And that was taken from him, years ago. And now, he finds in his children an entirely different source of pride and joy. Something that cannot be taken away, nor given a price.

Well... I did end up telling a good story. But, I didn't go the distance in making my point. But, that is what happens when you are rambling at 3 AM. I'll have to finish my point some other time. But, you might be wise to keep it in mind in the mean time.

Thanks to all of you who came to see me graduate! And thanks to those of you who congratulate me and celebrate with me! I am very grateful!

And, I am very sleepy!

Good night, dear blogfan.

My name's Jacob and I'm a blog addict

2004-08-09T15:08:00.000-07:00

I'm also unemployed, gaining weight and live with my parents, but that's not the topic for today.

If, like me, you are interested in keeping up with all the online ramblings of your friends, family and political analysts then you just have to know when someone posts an update! Clicking through your favorites, looking at AIM profiles, or manually keying in foshee.blogspot.com is just no longer acceptable. (Doing that 15 times a day is just not efficient.)

So, thankfully hundreds of software developers (God bless them all) have been hard at work writing blog/news reading software. These programs automatically check to see when posts have been made. They also give you a one-stop interface to see what those of us with fantastically interesting lives have been up to.

I downloaded 4 of these programs and will give you my candid evaluation here. If you are not like me and could care less about software to read blogs, then stop reading right now. It only gets worse.

4th Place: Pluck
Selected as a a C|Net Editor's choice, it gets last place with me simply because of the fact that it aggravated me the most.

Pluck is not a stand-alone application. Instead it is used as an Explorer Bar in Internet Explorer (like History or Favorites). This means that to install it, all your IE windows have to be closed (strike one). It also adds buttons to your IE toolbars, and I hate it when new software changes interfaces I have taken the time to customize. It shows a complete disregard for the whole concept.

Pluck also claims to be ``Adware Spyware Free,'' yet it is constantly advertising Ebay, Amazon and Google among other things. We all know I love Google, so the last thing I need to see is an ad for it. (strike two)

Finally, its major fault is feature-bloat. It is just overloaded with features I am not looking for in a news reader. This makes the interface ridiculously complicated. (It took me far too long to figure out how to add my own feed.) You even have to sign up for a an account to use some of the features. As if anyone wants to sign up for yet another online account for anything... (strike three)

3rd Place: SharpReader
This package actually suffers from the opposite problem as Pluck. Instead of being overwhelmed, the user (me) was left guessing by the sparsity of the interface. While context (right-click) menus had plenty of options, none of them were: Add a new feed. That is an absent-minded omission and hopefully will be corrected in future versions.

Otherwise the application is clean, simple, and possesses the expected features.

2nd Place: BlogExpress
I was happily using this software for a few days, pleased with its attractive toolbars and easy-to-learn interface. It also provides multitab browsing (with the option of opening new IE windows).

Unfortunately it has a couple annoying bugs. First, it sometimes ignores formatting like paragraph breaks in Blogger posts. Second, it does not correctly interpret the links to individual Blogger posts. Instead, when you try to open a post, it brings you to a page with an error. Perhaps Blogger is not following the XML standard, or perhaps BlogExpress really has a bug. Either way, its a major handicap in using it.

1st Place: Feedreader
As they say on the homepage, it is simple and lightweight. It provides the features I want, without the annoying extras. And it handles Blogger feeds appropriately.

The toolbar has just a few simple options which are easy to understand, and you can customize which buttons show up. My major complaint would be that you cannot change the size of the buttons or remove the labels. They are too large for my taste, and the labels become superfluous after some experience.

For you real computer nerds, it is also open source (under GPL), so if you really don't like something about it you can change it yourself!

Well, I know this has been one of my more technical posts, so I apologize for those of you who found it boring... But should you embrace your addiction to my blog anytime soon, you should consult this post to see how best to keep up with me.

If you are wondering what the address is for my site feed, it is:
http://foshee.blogspot.com/atom.xml

This follows the same standard as other Blogger and Blogspot blogs. Just take the normal address and add atom.xml to the end.

By the way, does anyone know how to subscribe to LiveJournal feeds?

Thanks for reading, dear Blogfan!

My Car

2004-08-04T11:53:00.000-07:00

The stories of how I got my car, and the famous roadtrip to see The Shins are both ones I've been wanting to tell since I started my blog. Today I will tell you the former story.

My dear friend, Mr. Ashley Hord, sold me his Saturn. But, I, having just finished school, have no money. (Actually, I have negative money, but who's accounting?) So, actually, he gave me his car, until such time as I can pay for it.

That's right. He gave it to me. He serviced it, washed it, and made it look like new. And then he handed me the keys.

We'll discuss why he gave it to me shortly, but first let's talk about Ashley. He and I met my second semester of my freshman year at A&M (Spring 97). I was minding my own business, nose in the books as always, when I heard noise outside of my Hart Hall room (D-15).

I went outside, and just before I yelled, ``QUIET DOWN! SCHOOL IS FOR STUDYING!'' I was greeted by the outstretched hand of Trey Mangan, Ashley's then roommate. They, with help from Bianca, were moving into a room across from mine.

No sooner had I met them, than they were inviting me to hang out and watch a movie with them over at Legett. That was my first evening in Legett, but it wouldn't be the last. Among other things, Ashley and Trey, who spent way too much time there, taught me how to woo those lovely Legett Ladies.

Well, I could ramble all night long about the many adventures Ashley and I shared... (Well actually, probably not. I tend to forget these things.) But, I want to talk a little about him as a person, and get to the whole point of the story, before I completely lose your attention.

If people's insides were on their outsides, Ashley would look like Tom Cruise. When it comes to important things, he is mature beyond his years. Yet, he maintains a jovial attitude and can even get pretty rambunctious! ;-)

Ashley understands true investments. Ashley understands gifts. And he understands what love really is.

After Ashley graduated with a degree in Elementary Education he taught 1st and 2nd grade at Sneed Elementary in Alief ISD. During a couple of his summers he went on mission trips with TeenMania, once to Botswana, Africa and once to Australia.

He felt so strongly a call to ministry in Botswana that, after careful consideration and planning, he took a teaching job there. Being that this is not a paying job (at least, not in the usual sense), Ashley raised financial support through donations.

Here's where the car comes in. Ashley left for Botswana in early June, but he couldn't practically take the car with him (its cheaper to buy a car there). So he had to sell his car. Well, a buyer never materialized. So he offered it to me, and right when I needed it.

He said, ``You are going to need a car to find a job, and you need a job to support me in Africa!'' I could not say no to this plan!

I am truly blessed with some amazing friends (the reader included!) and God continues to meet my family's needs, no matter how large or small, in His perfect timing.

If you are curious, Ashley is having a great time in Botswana. He is very busy chasing cows out of his yard and helping out at the church and international school.

If you would like to help support Ashley, just let me know and I'll pass on the necessary information. Hopefully Ashley will join the international blog craze so we can read all about his wild adventures.

As always, thanks for reading!

Go siame!
(Goodbye!)

Weekend in Review

2004-07-27T10:44:00.000-07:00

Thursday
Thursday I went to College Station to take care of some business (a TAGD meeting, get my cap & gown (with tentacles), and deposit some checks). But, the event that overshadowed all of that, lest I be estranged, was Lindsey's birthday extravaganza on Northgate.

The partying (brought to you by the letter L and the number 20-something) began at one of the new ``upscale'' non-redneck bars in CS: Logan's. Lindsey and Barbra were there attracting the attention of many young men (and some young women). I met a few of their friends including but not limited to Will, Kevin, Dan, Lucey, and some couple who were sitting on one another and not much interested in talking to anyone else.

Will and Kevin are both Journalism majors--- poor guys.

Lucey is Lindsey's roommate and emergency care-giver.

Barbra I have known for quite some time. I used to beat up her brother and Son. Now she doesn't talk to me anymore. (I think she was jealous when I won Legett RA of the Year.)

Now, Dan, who is half of the duo known as ``Danjiman'' (I think the other guy's name is Steve or something), is by far the coolest of the crew. I'm sorry guys, but he was born in Brazil. You just can't trump that. Dan and I talked about Capoeira until he reminded me that we were at a bar and should probably be hitting on girls or something less mentally stimulating.

As the night turned into morning we moved to Fitzwilly's, Kyoto, and Gatsby's. As we moved from place to place, Lindsey became friendlier and I became funnier.

A good time was had by all.

JacobB let me sleep at his place. We talked about some stuff I won't bother to write here because it was too illicit... Well--- I will give you a teaser: view-dependent displacement mapping using polynomial offset mapping functions. Hot! Hot! Hot!

Friday
Friday night was movie night with the boys. It was very sweet. We watched Heartbreakers with Jennifer Love. Is it just me or did J. Love's love interest look a lot like Dan (of Danjiman)? Man, am I becoming obsessed with that guy?

Saturday
Mario, Jayson and I met up with Mirko and Ana at the Galleria. Mirko and Ana are from Serbia, which means they are knowledgeable about fashion. Mario, Jayson and I are from America, which means we are knowledgeable about desserts. So, we all shopped for a while exercising our respective savvy.

Later that evening we joined Matt and Cody, who are now ``flatmates.'' We all clowned into Mario's SUV and headed downtown.

We went to a few different clubs whose names I can't remember. We ended up at some Latin/Techno place. Mirko, ever the old-worlder, bartered our way in for half the normal cover. The chick standing at the door wouldn't stop checking me out, so I was happy to get inside.

Naturally we got the dance floor going. The second story DJ played some house and techno stuff. I felt obliged to do some out-of-practice-capoeira and nearly kill myself due to dehydration and low blood-sugar. It was awesome. I also like to knock drinks out of people's hands and intimidate other club-goers with my flailings.

A good time was had by all.
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Roughing It

2004-07-21T11:33:00.000-07:00

We destroyed a grill, a griddle, and my car's alignment and clutch. My feet are covered in chigger bites and it took two showers to wash all the sand out of the concave parts of my body. But it was all worth it.

Last weekend Cody, Christian, Jayson and I went camping. And when I say camping, I don't mean sissy state-park-plug-in-my-entertainment-center camping. I mean dig-your-own-latrine-and-watch-for-snakes camping.

The express purpose of our trip was to open the channels of communication between us regarding our relationships with God. One of the occasional paradoxes of life is the ease of communicating intimate things with strangers, while feeling impeded with those familiar to us. The four of us all went to a Christian school together and are on the same page religiously, but it bothered me that I discussed my spiritual life and Biblical topics with church-acquaintances, but rarely did with my close friends.

Of course, such a trip has plenty of auxiliary purposes such as not bathing, playing with fire, killing bugs, digging holes, sleeping, staring blankly or other manly things.

The location of choice was near some land my grandfather has in Louisiana on the Sabine River. It is about 45 minutes east of Jasper, Texas near Burr's Ferry.

Day 1
We got to the property at about 6:00 PM on Friday. But, getting back to a camping spot is not so easy. We stopped to check in with one of the local land-owners. He looked at Cody's truck and my Saturn and said, ``Yall aint gonna make it back there in those cars. Well... The truck might.'' We took that as a challenge, and set off.

``Cody, is your truck 4-wheel drive?''
``No...''
``Oh, um... Don't worry, we'll be fine.''

The problem is that where we were going the roads were not roads by any definition you may be familiar with. They are only considered roads because they are not trees. Anything that is not trees is either river or road. And in some places it is even hard to distinguish between those two... But, I digress. The point is that these rutted, muddy avenues were the means to reach the camp site, and the Saturn S-series was not designed with them in mind.

I did get stuck once, but my esteemed colleagues pushed me out. To thank them I sprayed mud in their faces.

After arriving we set up camp. Everything went smoothly except the fire... You are probably wondering why you want a fire in 120 degree heat, but you have to realize that when men go camping all meals contain meat and/or marshmallows, which must be cooked over an open flame. Therefore we suffer the heat in order to have warm food.

As I was saying, the fire did not go so smoothly. Christian, Jayson, and Cody put their heads together and used every flammable liquid we brought (yes, including gasoline) to try to get the fire going. (The wood was wet or something.) After three hours, using some combination of oil and citronella wax, Christian got a fire going. We roasted our hot dogs and s'mores, played some mediocre spades, and called it a day.

The most memorable event of the day went something like this: ``flagibulfppplahnat!'' That is my best approximation of the sound Christian made when, according to him, a bug flew into his mouth and nose.

Day 2
Breakfast: the most important meal of the day. For us, that was the case not because of what we ate, but because of what we learned. We learned that a slow burning open flame is not quite hot enough for frying bacon. We learned that a great way to make your fire burn hotter is to use an air pump as a bellows (Cody's idea). We learned that it is actually possible to make your fire too hot by becoming a little overzealous with the bellowing.

It was touch and go there for a while as the coffee pot and griddle started to slide into each other. We soon realized that this was due to the fact that the grill supporting them started to melt. The grease fire complicated things a bit, but we did remember not to throw water onto it. On the other hand, we did not remember what it was we were supposed to do w/ a grease fire so we basically watched it burn.

Fortunately, the bacon was salvaged. Of course, the Teflon from the griddle was now chemically bonded to the bacon instead. And, when you bit into the bacon it tasted more like charcoal than usual...

After breakfast we decided to try our hand at fishing. Let's just say we were about as much threat to the fish as they were to us. So, we didn't catch anything. But that's not the point of fishing anyway. The point is to put really really stinky stuff onto a hook, then forget its on your fingers and get it all over yourself.

Another lesson we learned is that there are some subtle nuances to camping downstream from a dam. For one, when the dam gets opened the water is going to rise. Now it might not be immediately clear, but our experience has taught us that when this happens, what you thought was a good place to set your equipment is in actuality the bottom of the river, and not a great place to leave your equipment.

Don't worry, we saved everything from the rising waters and had some fun frolicking in the water.

We encountered a few wild animals on the trip. Jayson saw a snake slither by his feet. I had a fish swim into my crotch. And we all developed a certain fondness for the insect life...

We also made a new friend in a stray puppy. We named him Ojos because of his one blue eye. Personally, I was the hard-hearted one who kept trying to send the puppy on his way, but the other guys are big softies. So they fed and snuggled with him while I jealously watched.

For lunch, Jayson cooked burgers. Another lesson learned: in rare circumstances burgers can stick to the foil you are cooking them on and make it impossible to flip them over. In such a situation do not panic. Simply pull the burgers off the fire and rip them apart in an effort to separate them from the foil. Then you may flip the burger remains onto a new greased cooking surface, then serve and enjoy.

For dinner, Cody cooked steaks! This went relatively smoothly having learned much from our previous cooking endeavors. They were evenly cooked and seasoned to perfection with just a dash of ketchup.

After dinner we had a Bible study. I discussed the Grace Bible Church philosophy on inductive Bible studies. We went over the steps of Observation, Interpretation, Application and Synthesis. Christian provided an interesting passage, and we spent the entire time looking at a single verse (Ezekiel 28:17), exercising each of these steps. I was very pleased! It went very well, and I hope we have more studies and discussions in the future.

After that, we lit up the lanterns and preserved our legacy of playing some of the worst Spades ever. I mean really horrible. It was great.

Day 3
Sunday we broke camp and enjoyed leftovers. It was the best fried egg-burger-steak-cheese and watermelon I ever had.

Having traveled the muddy roads before, we navigated them expertly and made it out without incident.

I would love to share more stories such as who had bowel movements where, but some stories are better left at camp. Thanks for reading, dear blogfan!

Snow Crash

2004-07-14T22:09:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading Snow Crash. That's one book down, and I'm gaining momentum.

After finishing a book, I intend to write a reflection. Not a summary, or a review, but a collection of thoughts. Finishing a great read is very stimulating, yet its hard to hold onto any single idea for very long. So, I expect that these reflections may be quite wordy and meaningless as I fumble to record my feelings.

Writing a book must consume the author. He or she must literally dive into their creation until they are sick of it, but intimately familiar with it. They must know it like they know themselves, painfully aware of its shortcomings and awkwardness, probably never able to appreciate it the way others do.

I don't believe I have ever read such vivid, illicit and stretching metaphors as I have in this book. Each one is like an Olympian contorted and taxed to his limit to make it from point A to an unanticipated B. I will never see shopping carts or canyons quite the same way...

The author of this book uses a very informal narrative. I was a little surprised by the cursing, but whether or not it bothers you will be a matter of taste. (Personally, I don't like to curse, but do appreciate the emphasis it adds in extreme situations. (Overuse of cursing is pointless, which is why people who cuss regularly have to invent compound-curse words to further emphasize what they are saying.)) There are a few sexual references in the book, so that might bother some. But, once again, whether you feel they are unnecessary or not will be a matter of taste.

As expected, I did enjoy this novel. It was a fun adventure and a world I might not mind being a part of.

So, if you are asking yourself ``Should I read Snow Crash?'' then consider the following questions.

Are you interested in images of the not-too-distant future generated from wild, though entertaining extrapolations?

Are you interested in Stephenson's vision of a large-scale multi-user virtual environment, which he calls the Metaverse?

Are you entertained by Computer Science Fiction (CompSci-Fi) in general?

If so, then in fine Reading Rainbow tradition, you should read this book! But, ya don't have to take my word for it!

I'll see ya next time.

Blue Dickies

2004-07-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

I donned the blue dickies early last week. I don't actually own any of my own, so I had to borrow a pair of Aaron's. This implies that about 40% of the pants were crumpled down around my ankles.

For me to earn my stripes as a Grease Monkey, the main job of the day was to change Aaron's front disk brakes. On one side the pad was completely worn down and the rotor nearly destroyed. On the other side the rotor and calipers were still usable, we just needed to replace the pads.

Without boring you with the details, I learned an important fact: Something as small as a single nut can add many hours to an otherwise simple job! Problems like this can be avoided by taking care when doing routine maintenance on your car, and by not over-tightening nuts and bolts.

So because of a very stubborn nut, which Aaron had several choice words for, a job that should have taken 2-4 hours ended up taking two days. There is also a remote possibility that my presence might have slowed down the progress a little bit... But once I figured out how to use the floor jack I was off and running.

I also have to brag that at one point I sprayed brake cleaner into my eye. Just a word of caution, but getting something that dissolves grease into one's eye is not a pleasant experience. I thought surely this act of bravery would earn me credit as a Grease Monkey. I was wrong. It turns out that everyone agrees that this is a stupid thing to do.

The final rite of passage for becoming a Grease Monkey is actually far worse. It is something that would make even the most hardened Navy Seal quiver. Just the sight of it would kill those with OCD. The path from tinkering amateur to Grease Monkey is completed by one thing (brace yourself): Eating without washing one's hands.

I did this. With oil, brake fluid, brake cleaner, new grease, old grease and other car guts all over my hands and under my fingernails I ate dinner. In a garage there is just no time to clean up for meals.

And thus I earned my stripes. We also changed the oil in both our car's, but to a Grease Monkey this is as trivial as ordering tacos.

I would like to thank Ford, General Motors, Saturn, Autozone, Spring Hardware, and my advisor, Aaron Chilcutt for making this possible.

Jacob Foshee G.M., M.S.

No Pain, No Game

2004-07-05T21:53:00.000-07:00

To some people, playing cards is an activity of fun and leisure. It is a chance to spend time with friends and enjoy life.

But, to Cody, Jayson, Christian and me, playing cards is much more. It is a test of strength, stamina and endurance. Some people have their so-called ``marathons,'' ``gym memberships,'' and ``extreme challenges.'' But, these activities quickly become dull and boring.

Last night (er this morning) the four of us started our 3rd game of Spades. We began around 2:45 AM. We then played some of the worst spades ever. Five hours late, at 7:45 AM, Cody and I finally emerged victorious...

At their request, and because I have these rare inexplicable moments of nerdity, I plotted our scores. Please, enjoy.

It's the Back-Seat-Driver's Side Door

2004-07-03T08:35:00.000-07:00

My sister, Bethany, came home last night earlier than expected, at around 9:30 PM.

``I got in a wreck.'' she said, visibly upset.

Aaron (long-time friend and car guru) was over so we both went outside to have a look at the Toyota Camry. The passenger side door was crushed and would not open, but there was no (new) visible damage to the rest of the car.

Then Bethany proceeded to tell the same story she would retell countless times in the near future. The following account is based on her account and is not admissible in a court of law, however, it is more than enough for a made-for-tv movie or weblog.

She was taking Jeff, the guy she is ``spending a lot of time with / dating / seeing / being friends with,'' to the airport. He was on his way to help feed starving children in Ethiopia--- oh wait, that's not it... I remember now. He was on his way to a bachelor party in Las Vegas, which I can't blame him for, but, face it, makes him the antagonist of the story. So, for the sake of anonymity we'll call him ``Jeff.''

So, by all accounts, Jeff has a little problem with ``back seat driving.'' And when I say ``little,'' I mean chronic, obsessive, compulsive and make-you-want-to-gag-and-bag-him-and-throw-him-in-the-trunk-ive. This would not be so much of a problem if he were like a stunt-back-seat-driver or racing-back-seat-driver or even mediocre-back-seat-driver. But, he is a bad back seat driver.

Still, under most circumstances this would not be a major problem. Just ignore him, turn up the radio, whatever.

But there is one place where absolute concentration and meticulous attention to signage is required to drive: the Airport. One wrong turn and you'll end up nose-to-nose with a 747, or worse yet, a rental car line.

``Jeff, please tell me in advance when I need to change lanes or turn.''
``Ok, no problem. Oh! This is our exit!''
``The next one?''
``No, this right here, three lanes to the right and 10 feet behind us.''

...

``Jeff, I told you, I don't know my way around the airport. You have to tell me in advance or we are going to get in a wreck!''
``Ok, ok. Oh, turn here.''
``Left?''
``Right.''
``Right, right? or Right, correct?''
``Bethany, you don't need to ask three times. I'm sitting right here.''
``Ok, I'm turning right.''
``Oh, wait, where are we? No, turn left here.''

...

``Jeff, we are approaching a fork in the road. Which way should I go?''
``...''
``Jeff! Exit!? Which side!?''
``Oh, I like them sunny side. Thanks for asking.''
``Fine, I'm going straight.''
``I thought you already were.''

...

``Oh, wait, Bethany, we should have turned back there.''
``...''
``Ok, just turn left here.''
``Jeff, I don't think I can turn here, there are no arrows.''
``Yeah, yeah you can. I am absolutely certain of it. In fact, I would stake my very life on it.''
``Ok, I'm turning... Wait, there are headlights on both sides of the median.''
``No, no, keep going.''
``Jeff, I can't! I'm turning around!''
``Uh oh. Oooh %#*$''
*crunch*
``JEFF!!!''
``My bad. That was my bad.''

So, as Bethany tried to turn one left into three lefts, she was hit by oncoming traffic. Jeff's door was crushed by the front bumper of an older vehicle. Fortunately the driver of the other vehicle was a mechanic and not much damage was done to his car, which was not in good shape to begin with, him being a mechanic. He did not call the police or take insurance information. The valiant gentlemen simply said, ``Nah, don't worry about it, there's not much damage to my car, but, looking at your door, you're screwed!'' And with that, he was gone.

Now, far be it from me to go around asserting what God's will is. But, if you are trying to control a situation that is beyond your control and you end up with a car in your lap, and the only damage is to pride and pocket-book, I think that's a message from the Almighty.

All in all, everything ended up ok. Jeff made it to his flight on time. Bethany went to see Spiderman 2 with Cody, Brandy, Aaron, and her big bro. And I got offered that writing gig with Letterman.

(-=

Flirting for fun and profit

2004-06-30T22:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday (Tuesday) Jayson and I played soccer out at Meyer Park. Its the second time I've played since I've moved back home, and the second time I've done any physical activity since... Anyone? Anyone? Starts with ``can't,'' ends with ``remember.'' Anyone?

I think the only thing keeping me strong enough to lift ice cream to my mouth was my occasional use of my force feedback steering wheel.

So after we played soccer, and got cleaned up we went to Hooters (for the wings). Then we cruised down 1960 (cuz thats what ballers do). We ended up at Hurricane Hut because there was no cover (cuz thats what broke college guys look for).

Our waitress was an undergrad from Texas State studying Marketing---

Allow myself to interrupt myself... If you have seen me interact w/ people as I meet them, then you probably know that I have an undeniable urge to find out what they do, are interested in, etc. (I don't always ask, but often do.) To me it is an opportunity not to be missed. You never know who you are going to meet, what they know, and what you can learn from them. It's really something to take advantage of. (e.g. I once learned a lot of interesting stuff about lawsuits, including the famous McDonald's hot coffee case because I sat next to a lawyer on a plane.)

So, where was I? Ah yes, justifying my flirting with the waitress... Ok, so this waitress was studying Marketing. So I asked if she had heard of The Secrets of Word of Mouth Marketing or Purple Cow. She had not, so I started to talk a little bit about accelerating buyer decision and some of the principles of WOM.

Curiously, she seemed completely uninterested. It's not like she had a lot of other tables. There was basically a client to server ratio of about 3:1. So what is up with that?

At least for the sake of tips you should feign interest in what your customers are saying. I mean, flirting is good for business. I know if I was a server I would flirt my pants off. ---Well... not literally.

Summer Reading List

2004-06-28T15:34:00.000-07:00

Secrets of Word of Mouth Marketing. George Silverman
Snowcrash. Neal Stephenson
DaVinci Code. Dan Brown
Godel, Escher, Bach. Douglas R. Hofstadter
Modern C++ Design. Andrei Alexandrescu
Tricks of the Windows Game Programming Gurus. Andre LaMothe
Diamond Age. Neal Stephenson
Mathematics and its History. John Stillwell
Wavelets(from SIGGRAPH course notes)

There are more titles I want to read, but I don't know if I'll even get through all of these...

I would be interested to hear anyone's comments on these titles.

Relief

2004-06-26T14:59:00.000-07:00

I finished my thesis yesterday.

That is the reason I began this journal. After everything was submitted and I had been instructed by the Thesis Office to ``go and relax!'' I did not know what to do with myself.

I looked for Christian online but he was apparently playing X-Wing at the time. Nearly everyone else on my AIM buddy list had an away message up. Ryan was the only one online to share the news with, but he was at work.

So, having nothing else to do, I figured I would make my slavery to Google complete. I now depend on Google for 100% of my searching and a small percentage of my email, though I may transition. (Gmail still lacks the usability of a stand-alone application, but I need a new address.)

Thus I signed up for ``Blogger.''

Let the ``long-winded-pointless-inner-monologue-made-outer'' begin.

Welcome to Blogger

2004-06-25T12:49:00.000-07:00

``Sorry, this blog address is not available''

So, I was on step two of setting up this little ``blog'' and I submitted foshee as my desired host name. I went to step three, then promptly changed my name. I tried to submit another host name which was not available. So I reluctantly decided to use my original...

At that point it, of course, told me ``foshee'' was already taken. I presume it is taken by me... This post is to find out.