Fratting...

So I went to a frat party tonight. And the round trip was less than an hour. Here's the story . . . (for the record, I did not drink)

So I heard about this 80's dance party at one of the frats tonight, and, being an 80's maniac, I decided to go. And I ended up going alone - dressed to pop. This, as a non-pledge/member male, usually wouldn't work. But I am a wily sort of person, and managed to get in right away (I ran into a female acquaintance of mine along the way who was invited, and got me around the males waiting outside).

So the first thing I noticed was that everything was white. Then I noticed it was sweltering hot. And then I noticed it was really loud. After that I realized that my glasses had fogged. As soon as I wiped then off I regretted it - I could tell that the floor was covered in a not-so-fine layer of beverage (you know the kind), sweat, dirt, and . . . I don't want to think what else. 

To make a long story short - I tore it up. There were 3, maybe 4, of us secure enough to do more than that modern bounce and grind stuff. A short while later I was covered in sweat (as was everyone else - ugh) and, I'm pretty sure, in the beginning stages of heat stroke (the nature of these parties demands zero ventilation). So I busted out of there, made it to the cool air outdoors, and headed home in just my A-shirt. 

If I can't enjoy a frat party with good music, I can't enjoy a frat party at all (since the other attractions don't entice me). The end. 

AAPL

So Apple stock hit an all-time high today - and I made off with $261.90. Yee-ha!

The Eye of Zeus

Erik D'Esterre and I started writing a short play last spring, but then we both got busy with other things (One-Acts I'd guess). Now I'm back on it, cause I needed to let my creative juices flow into something other than poetry. I've finished it - well, all the dialog that is. It still needs more scene setup, etc. (Oh, and at some point I turned it into a screenplay in my mind - still adaptable to stage though). 

So take a look at The Eye of Zeus. And don't forget to leave a comment - especially if it is negative (this is the constructive criticism phase).

This one goes out to the programmers...

So I was attempting to explain to someone how to determine if two values were equal (in Java). And this is what I said:

"equals equals equals equals"

Scarily, she understood me perfectly to mean "'==' is how you determine if something is equal."

What forms in my mind when I write poetry in a calc lecture. Is that corny or what?

BTW, assuming forever = ∞, this means that love is divergent, which in this case is good because it is ever increasing.

More Sweet Nothings

So the Closet Poet page has been updated with Sweet Nothings 4-7. Scroll down to read the new ones. 

You may also find they are not all sweet nothings, so to speak. That is because they are part of an anthology (I have te rest of my life to finish it) entitled Sweet Nothings: Poetic Libations of Love, Lust, and Lament (a verbose title - but I like it [Mmmm alliteration is tasty]).

And, please, leave your comments in this post on what you think - they are all works in progress.

Parabola?

So I'm in the middle of calc, running on about 2 hours sleep, and the prof writes "parabola" on the the board. Now my mind skips a beat, enters in some craziness, and suddenly I think that a parabola is a variety of snake. As in "I was almost eaten by a parabola," or "I was in the rain forest and had to fight off a hoard of slithering parabolas," or "who would win in a fight; and anaconda or a parabola?" You tell me...

Closet Poet

Check out the new Closet Poet section of Shullian.com

I was struck by the muse today and actually wrote a few of them in class. Some are a bit older however.

"Adventure"

I found out today that the EBO bus would not take me towards campus. I sort of just hopped a bus going down 5th. As son as it diverted from the path I wanted, I yanked the stop cord, but the stupid driver just kept on going, and going (I definitely saw stops that it was marked to stop at). And going. I figured this would have to happen at some time, but I had been pretty lucky so far. 

After that initial moment of panic, I remembered I didn't have class for another 3 hours, so I'd be fine. But I ended up going really, really far.

Cease and Desist

So it seems Freeopardy is just too good. Sony wants me to take it down (click the image to see the whole thing). I'll be looking for some advise from people on campus, so I'll see what I can do to get it back up ASAP. One thing of note, it seems Sony reads my blog; there is no other way to have known I am an I.S. major at CMU!

Money Stuff

So it seems a flight home will cost me $400+ for Thanksgiving. Harumph. Train it is then. 

But on the brighter side it seems that because I live in housing off-campus, I qualify to switch to the Commuter meal plan. As a freshman I have to have a CMU dining plan. Right now I'm paying $3997 for the year to get 22 "block" meals at on-campus dining plus $78 for non-meal food purchases (this is every two weeks). The Commuter plan is only $1600 for the year, and I'd get 12 meal and $8 every two weeks. With what I have now I feel I have to "burn blocks" so that my money isn't wasted. The other way, I'd get to pay cash more often for my meals - which won't make me feel obligated to eat when I am not hungary. (Parents, chime in now.)

Also, as of this posting I am up around $210 in AAPL (Apple Inc. stock - I have 15, and it has gone up >$5 just today). Hopefully, This will go even higher after Apple's music event tomorrow.

Labor Day

Aptly named. Today is a homework, laundry, etc day. But this is not what this post is about. Nope, I just got a delightful package from home with pepperoni bread, apple cake, and more food goodness. All thanks to she-who-bore-and-raised-me. Thanks Mom!

No More 'Stachen

So I decided to get rid of it. And I like the way it looks. 

In other news today, I played squash. Lee, Zexi, and Joyner all play so I figured I might as well give it a go. Wasn't an awful experience either. Lee's friend-who's-a-girl, Maggie, is visiting (HS senior) so she's been hanging out with us. 

Last of all, note to self: Late Sunday strip district activity = 0. (We all found out the hard way ).

Edit: That is not a strip club district.

Blog Moving...

I've moved the blog over to blogger (so I can blog easier from anywhere). Plus, RSS should work better now. You will still be able to find it at the same place though.

Post One

Let's start off by saying my housing is great. It's called Shirley Apartments. I share an apartment with one other guy, and we have a living room, bedroom, kitchen, and private bathroom (with a tub/shower!). Plus some great people live there. The only thing is, we are furthest from campus (a fifteen minute walk made better by busses and shuttles). Oh, and there is no AC, so I carry a fan wherever I go.

Which reminds me, my roommate Eddie has an interesting method of coping with the heat. It only lasts for a short time, but apparently refrigerated clothes are very cool (pun intended). 

So it was an eventful week of orientation (fun things, boring things, info things, free things, etc). Luckily we all were given umbrellas, cause it rained the whole time. There was also Convocation, which was amusing cause each school gets up and cheers (the CS students did some robot dance, the arts claimed they were pretty every day, Tepper business students said we would all work for them in the end - all cleverly put into cheers of course). I knew I was in the the right place when my school got up and claimed we were more well-rounded than the others. 

And at the end of Orientation, housing groups band together to form teams to battle in House Wars. Points are awarded at stations where teams compete at watermelon passing, trivia, limbo, etc. Oakland housing didn't win - still fun though. 

So there was still a weekend left before classes and the upperclassmen started arriving. There are always games going on on the cut, so I joined a wicked game of dodgeball - with water balloons (side note - water balloons is two words, make it one word and spell-check wants it to be watermelons, which is an interesting concept in this context). Then I played some volleyball (and I play with these guys whenever I see them), and some soccer. I hadn't planned on playing, so I played in just my jeans (sandals and collared shirt off). Two guys had cleats, and some other guys had shoes, but I still wreaked havoc. I only decided to quit when my other foot started to bleed (the other one was scraped up earlier). So yeah, I played soccer till my feet bled!

CMU is a great place. Yesterday I got out of class and noticed every tree on the cut was covered in twine - it seems the archies (architecture majors) had a assignment to makes "spaces." Sometimes I'm walking around campus, and it strikes me just how happy I am. Then I feel guilty, cause I know my family is probably missing me (?) and I'm putting distance between my Cherry Hill friends, who seem to be having a worse time of it. 

We have had some fun since classes started. We've had a two-for one bomb scare (two buildings simultaneously threatened - it was fake). And a water main near Shirley broke yesterday, which took out the fresh water supply to most of Pittsburgh. So there was a run on the bottled water. And the school buildings lost AC and the ability to make coffee. Luckily it was repaired by around midnight, so I was able to shower (with absolutely no hot water). This morning I woke up, preped myself, and then got a message on my phone saying the water was perfectly fine, but just in case, I shouldn't drink it brush my teeth with it (oops, too late). Right now CMU is giving water away - bottles, and gallon jugs.

Oh, I got my new baby - a MacBook (with free printer and iPod - iPod now on eBay). As it turns out, it also has a bad battery (I don't know exactly what a cycle count is, but mine is 8, and it is supposed to be >300). It only lasts for a few hours. So Apple is sending me a new one (yay Apple). Speaking of my new computer, I retrofitted the briefcase Aunt Caro and Uncle Gordon sent me (thanks for the food too) with some styrofoam to make it perfect for protecting my precious. 

Speaking of food, I have this meal plan which gives me 22 meals and $78 of campus dining every two weeks. Since I'm usually don't eat breakfast, this is perfect. Plus, every two weeks I get to splurge on food with my remaining food money or else it disappears (no food rollover). 

Hmm, what else? I got this awesome Princess Bride poster (which anyone whose watched that movie can appreciate). 

Last, and by far most important (my parents will be hearing this for the first time), for the time being I've decided to stay an Information Systems major (my original plan was to switch to Computer Science). From what I've seen, I think it is just a better fit. 

Signing off for now,

Chris J. Shull