My computer died Friday night.  I should be back tomorrow afternoon.

I love spring and summer.  Not only is there no school, but...just the feeling it brings is grand.  Everything seems happier.  Also, a couple of friends in school an hour or so away are back.  Better odds of doing fun stuff on week nights, playing guitar with friends included.

I've got a new job this summer.  I'm working in molecular biology professor's lab.  I can work 20 hours a week (actually 40 hours per two weeks, however I want to split it up), anytime I want, no strings attached.  I'm not making quite as much as I would make at CVS.  What I'm researching (under his direction...it's his research) is different RNA expression in brain and muscle of specimens with and without muscular dystrophy.  It's mostly setting up reactions or other processes and waiting for them to finish.  But I get paid for waiting.  Not waiting on people - that sucks.  Just waiting, doing whatever I want while I do it.  My professor/boss is a nice guy, and pretty cool too.  He was impressed when I spotted a King Crimson CD in his office only by the cover, sitting in a corner; I have "strange, but good taste beyond my years."

I'm still working at CVS for now, like 12 hours a week; Monday or Tuesday, and always Saturday.  I said I could work Monday and Tuesday, but for some reason the lady that makes the schedule doesn't put me on for the day shift.  Employees at CVS have an "annual review" on the date of their original hiring.  The employee is evaluated by the management and a raise is decided on; the raise is supposed to go in effect within a month.  I was hired July 2003; I'm still waiting for my raise that was sent in July 2004, and it's almost July 2005.  I'm being forced to rotate in on Sundays again, starting this Sunday.  That pretty much settled it.  I'm putting in my two week notice. 

There are two men at my church that run pharmacies.  One runs his own three miles down the road - I graduated with his son, he's been my Sunday school teacher, etc.  His pharmacy closes at 7 on weekdays, 2 on Saturday, and is closed on Sundays. 

The other is in charge of a Wal-Mart's pharmacy about thirty minutes away.  Not as good as the one down the road, but I'll do what I have to do.  They give raises up to four times a year, are only open 9-9 on weekdays (instead of 8-10 like CVS), 9-4 on Saturday (instead of 8-6), and 11-4 on Sunday (instead of 10-6).  I'm not sure if I'd have to work Sundays with him or not.  His son is in our youth group (that I help with, and play for), and he (the father) is involved in the devotions on Wednesday night, so it seems like he'd be lenient.  Even if I did have to work a Sunday here and there, 11-4 is much better because I'd still make it in time for the Sunday night service.

If those two don't work out, I'll just settle for the lab work at school.  Once I start school, I won't be able to work at the Wal-Mart job except for Saturdays, but not even those until after soccer season.

I just cannot work on Sundays.  I can't bear it.  If I could bear it...if I did think it was okay, I still couldn't because I have obligations.  I'm the trumpet player on Sunday mornings; I sing and play the piano on Sunday night.  These are jobs that I am committed to, no less than school and work (and actually more so, in my heart, obviously).  They never schedule me to work over my classes or my lab job...why do they schedule me to work over my church job?

Currently Playing:  Bob Marley & the Wailers - Heathen (live)

Anyway, about the last two posts.  I just had one of the better years of college so far concerning the establishment of...I don't know...a social group?  Now I'm out of the 100+ biology and chemistry classes and in the ~60 member pharmaceutical science classes.  The professors for the most part are great, and our classes are more or less consecutive each day.  Each class has almost the same people in it; just makes it easier.  Finally this past semester, about a month in, I found some friends.  As it often happens, I was just getting the feel of enjoying going to class, seeing these friends, and balancing my work load.  Hopefully this fall's semester will be a continuation of that.

I can't help but notice that this has also been the best semester I've had, morale-wise and grade-wise, since I've started my job at CVS.  This semester I only worked a few days in January, and two Saturdays in March/April.  It made it so much easier.  I never had to worry about rushing to work after class, or not having a Saturday.  I was free to be at church everytime I wished, free to be with family as I wished, free to do whatever I wanted after class was over.

I held a private concert from 10:30 to midnight tonight in my church's sanctuary.  I sang, and played guitar like a mad man.

You should've been there.  Only two were there.

I've had a pretty good night, unlike a good deal of the last two weeks.  I feel very calm. 

Anyone having trouble sleeping should check out Windy & Carl.

Actually, everyone should check them out.

It's not very pleasant in my corner of the world at three o'clock in the morning. But for people who like cold, wet, ugly bits it is something rather special. - Eeyore

I've created an account at www.last.fm / www.audioscrobbler.com along with BW and Sharku.  Both sites link to each other under the same network, so just check out the last.fm site.  My username is bluewaves.  You download the audioscrobbler plugin for your media player (like WinAmp, but it's available for many).  It keeps track of what songs/artists you play and submits them to the site.  The songs you play on your player, along with any other music you choose that's available on the site, is used to create a profile for yourself.  It lists your last ten songs played, top artists, top songs, and top albums based on what you listen to.  There's a "recommended" section where the site suggests albums that you don't have listed by artists you already listen to, and then artists recommended based on their similarities to the artists you already listen to (and their correlation with other listeners).  It also has a buddy list ("Friends") you add to manually and a list of other users that you're similar to ("Neighbours") based on your tastes.  If you go to the Neighbours page, it even shows the percentage you share with those users.  You can also join groups, kind of like rings on Xanga.  There are general forums, forums for artists, labels, and groups.  Not all groups or albums are available yet, though they're working on that constantly.  They're still lacking in the George Harrison department - only Cloud Nine is available for now.  It's essentially a radio station, so they have to purchase licenses for rights to broadcast just like any other radio station.

The best thing about it is the personal and profile radios.  The personal is the best - it makes a radio station for you based on the music you play or pick, and others can listen to it too.  It doesn't play in some crappy, low-quality-stream format that has to buffer every twenty seconds like RealPlayer - everything is at 128 kbps, the typical mp3 bit rate.  The profile radio plays your favourite music in addition to music you might like (i.e. from the recommendations page).  You can listen to anyone's personal radio.  The most awesome thing about the personal radio is that it basically allows you to listen to your music collection from any computer...not just your computer where all your files are.  When they get a fuller range of artists with entire catalogs for everyone, it will be phenomenal, but it's still fantastic as it is.

You can go here to check out my page there.  To listen to my personal radio, click the personal radio button in the top right of my last.fm profile, or click this button.

I've added this button link to my Xanga profile information, so from now on, you can always find it on the left side of this page.  How wonderful!  That's my Christmas present to anyone reading, heh.  After all, why wouldn't you want to listen to what I do?

Current Song:  Beachwood Sparks - By Your Side

A very Merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

I love Christmas.  Except for working more, this has been a grand one so far (and it's not even Christmas yet...).  It's been a different break.  I haven't had the new Lord of the Rings film to look forward to, or see several times.  The Christmas musical came much earlier than usual, and was much better than in years past. I've bought way more gifts for others than I have in the past, which I'm enjoying.  That's also a sign that I've made more friends, or grown closer to some.  My dad, though he's back to making about what he made in his mid-twenties, has a stable job and my mother has gotten a better job.  They are able to get a decent(?) batch of gifts for us as well as buying some for others.  I say decent to indicate that they're able to get some things they'd like to get us - not that I expect and demand a certain amount, or rate how acceptable what I get is.  I'm not making light of anyone in a worse situation, or trying to gather sympathy from those in a better situation - just comparing to last year (here and here) which was not so great, and happy for the progress.  We've still got a long, long way to go with the financial situation, but at least it hasn't gotten worse.  This year we're getting a little less than $100 each by my reckoning, which isn't what my parents would like to be able to, but it's over double what they were able to spend last year, and their buying for others was also a lot more limited.  Also, my dad is giving me some money to help me out in getting a guitar amp; something I've needed for over two years now.

Only two more days - I'm nowhere near finished!

Current Song:  The Byrds - Eight Miles High

What Creation Records band are you?

You are Ride. You are young at heart and full of energy. You are talented but very modest. You are happy go lucky and care free. You have learned to take the good with the bad and you just accept life for being what it is. People tend to be envious of you; that's only because they don't understand you and they just want some of what you have. There's no task too hard for you and you excel at pretty much everything you try to do. You have a playful personallity and a beautiful inner soul.

I would have never guessed...