It’s been an exciting morning so far. I got woken up early by a wrong-number—caller, went down to Keith’s apartment, and got served with pancakes and a subpoena. This will be my first visit to court, outside of our class field trip in elementary school.

My pattern recognition final was yesterday morning, and it was surprisingly easy. As in, “If I’d known that it was going to be that easy, I would have slept 15 hours and studied one, instead of vice versa.” Unfortunately, I think that I still made a mistake, which may end up being more painful than usual, given that the test was simplified (to compensate for our abysmal performance on the midterm, I’d imagine). I was actually somewhat frustrated with the test because four of the five simply involved following the steps of an algorithm that was given to us along with the problem. I can’t particularly complain, though, because I’d much rather follow some 1-2-3 steps than do an infinite-dimensional projection into non-linear spaces for a support vector machine.

 * * *

I had a great conversation on Sunday night with Andrew at Old Bernard’s Café about being our sisters’ keepers. “Like a diet of the mind,” begins one of my favorite movie lines, “I choose not to indulge certain appetites.” There are many hungers in life to be satiated, many appetites that I would like to still; however, I know from experience and scripture confirms that I won’t be content with anything as long as my relationship with God is not My One Thing. I am continually learning things that I thought I already knew. Hallelujah!

Electronic Propers Go Here

1. You’re tired of hearing about the (sic) list eater.
2. You’ve been living under a rock and have no idea who I’m talking about.
   or
3. You don’t live within 50 miles of the Bryan-College Station—plex.

I, for one, applaud the unidentified female student who, in a flash of quick thinking, made a bold and unprecedented move to secure her place in line. When confronted with a difficult situation, she took a difficult course of action. She saw an opportunity and seized it. Because of her dogged determination and willingness to take a stand (and have a snack) in the face of adversity, the fatal flaws in our current modus operandi have been laid-bare, revealed for the world to see. True, it is painful, but reform seldom comes easily and without sacrifice. Though you endure the ire of the student body today, I am certain that you will come to be recognized, along with Walton, Rudder, and Bowen, as an agent of great change on the campus of this University. List-eater, I salute you.

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I know that the phrase “anti-choice” has become a popular way to classify critics of abortion. You realize that, by the same token, you’re “anti-life,” right?

You know the drill

O. R. Simpson Drill Field on the campus of Texas A&M has served the students of this University for decades. Future generals, former Presidents, aspiring athletes, and students in need of a quick shortcut across campus have all used her green grass and open spaces. It was in the last category that I found myself this evening. My first semester, I learned several valuable lessons, not the least of which was this: never cross Simpson when it’s dark outside. Her hard-packed surface, which is so ideal for the quick pick-up game of Ultimate or Two-below, becomes a treacherous black morass when the wet season rolls around. During the day, the fleet-footed student not weighed down by finals and physics books may be able to pick his way through the sucking mud and soggy grass, but once the sun sets, all hope is lost. Blech.

P.S. Will is a stud. Ask him about his Bernie’s story.

Free money to the first commenter!

After briefly talking about blogs with Lindsay and Will the other night, I decided to assemble my Blogger’s Creed:

I am a blogger.
I realize that I am Not That Important.
I believe that not everyone wants to read my every opinion and the most trivial details of my life, and therefore, I will not share them with the world.
I believe that the Internet is no substitute for face-to-face conversation with real people.
I believe that websites are no substitute for real, private journals.
I believe that being intentionally vague so that people will press me for details is annoying.
I believe that using MovableType and knowing what XHTML and CSS are does not excuse me to be an elitist.
I believe that people want to know that they are being listened to, so I will leave them comments.
I will not be so serious all of the time.
I will not use my website to try to get dates (because I am single, you know).
I will not complain that people do not understand me.
I will not use this for ad hominem attacks, directed or anonymous, you jerk. You know who I’m talking about.
I will not turn every other word into a hyperlink.
I will not make up lies to get comments (I love you, Sarah-Jean!).
I will not be a mopey blogger.
I will not use my website to tell bad math jokes.

Okay, so maybe that last one isn’t true. How is yours different?

I will leave comments

The past few days were one of the most enjoyable weekends that I’ve had in a long while. Got a little story for ya, Ags.

Friday saw the end of my nightmarish marathon (nightmarathon?), with my legal analysis of RFID tags and our presentation for Pattern Classification both going pretty well. People sat up and asked questions when we presented, which was probably due to the fact that our problem (geographical classification of folksong melodies) was much more accessible than protein folding or complex graph-network hybrid models. I was happy and relieved to be finished.

I grabbed some lunch from Ye Olde Hullabaloo and fully intended to take a nap for several hours, but somehow I cleaned the room and did the dishes instead — there’s something therapeutic in engaging in mindless chores sometimes. Either that, or my OCD rears its ugly head once again. ;)

Friday night was the Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax concert at Rudder. It was, in a word, awesome. Sarah-Jean wasn’t able to make it down from Commerce, but Annie came along, and I think (read: hope) that a good time was had by all. They played an all-Beethoven concert (see the extended entry for the repetoire) and came back out for an encore by Chopin. It was great music, and they performed it in a very expressive and entertaining way that made it really feel accessible to someone (like me!) who isn’t familiar with the works or with Beethoven in general. Annie and I got cider afterwards and met up with James, Michelle and Matt to watch Roxanne. Good times.

On Saturday, I observed that most sacred tradition of weekends: going to bed without setting one’s alarm. I went to Layne’s for lunch, intending to eat and come back to work on stuff, but instead, I ended up spending ~3 hours there, eating with seven different people in the process. Some of us headed to Hart after Layne’s, and Dimitri and I went and hid around the Academic Building to watch Mr. Matt Fuller propose to Miss Keri Adams. She said ‘yes’! It was really enjoyable to congratulate him along with everyone else afterwards. The Russian and I headed back to his room, where he, Jacob, Luke, others, and I “accidentally” played Smash Bros until 8:30 or so. We all went to Texas Roadhouse afterwards and enjoyed some peanut-throwing, juvenile fun.

Sunday afternoon was the “Holiday Spirit of Aggieland” choral concert with the Singing Cadets, Century Singers, Reveliers, and Women’s Chorus. Christmas carols and concerts are always fun, so I wondered why I’d never gone before. It was cool to see Zach and Jesse in the Cadets (and Jesse in the Aggienizors) and Annie in the Women’s group, and the Hallelujah chorus sung by the mass ensemble was fantastic.

The hall staff and hall council were supposed to meet that evening to plan some events for next semester, but that fell through, so after putting out some fires, I headed to Sunday Sbisa Supper. After some quality chow, we headed to the Ferguson’s house for an RUF discussion night. The topic was alcohol, and as usual, I was supremely impressed with John’s thorough, level, scripturally-sound coverage of the issue — every objection and question that I thought I might raise was addressed before he was finished. When I finally got back to my room, I got an invitation to a midnight basketball game, and since I routinely make poor decisions regarding time management, my choice was clear. I still stink at b-ball, and I’m still a huge oaf who passes balls at people’s faces and knocks over girls. No one was seriously injured, though, so I think that everything is okay.

All-in-all, a great weekend. By the way, if you happen to take a drive down Lincoln Lane (the street that runs by the side of Best Buy) during the evening, keep an eye out for one of the houses on the left. There are two of those Christmas-light reindeer lawn decorations, a male and a female, engaged in some… err… “reindeer games.” We found it rather amusing.

If I were a comment, I'd want to be left on Caleb's site

We fought the good fight. We endured the derision of family and were abandoned by friends. We lost good men along the way. We resisted the razor’s seductive glint and cool edge. And, alas, the curs from Moore were victorious. However, the men of Crocker were the truest companions I have ever known, and here, at the end of all things, I am glad to have been counted among them. I have given in and given up the fight; at last I can rest. I have shaved.

Leaving comments makes Caleb happy

I found out this morning that I got a new cousin yesterday afternoon at 3:18! Dawson Andrew (7lbs 9oz, 20”) was born to my Uncle Josh and Aunt Bonnie, their first child. I do hope that he’ll be one of the last additions to my generation of Bells; his next oldest cousin (my youngest brother) is 18 right now, and the eldest member of my generation, my cousin Bob IV, is a few months older than Dawson’s dad. Sound confusing? I’ll have to draw you a map sometime.

On other trivial notes, I had the best on-campus food ever today at the Faculty Club, and since today is the first day of December, I get to shave. Hallelujah!

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Every semester I have one week so utterly packed with responsibilities that I’m never quite sure how I’ll make it through alive. Last fall it was Dinner Discussion/CPSC 311 homework/Graphics 641 project on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and two tests on Thursday. I don’t remember exactly what I had to do in the spring, but it was so bad that I was reduced to posting statistics about how little I’d slept. This week, I have short papers and comments due in Philosophy tomorrow, an outline to redo and a draft of a ~10-page paper to finish by Friday, our final project for my graduate class (also due on Friday), an informational session panel on Tuesday night (when I’m also supposed to be on duty), and as much of my research project as I can humanly complete. I got a lot done over the Thanksgiving break, but not enough, I suppose. Tonight looks clear with no chance of sleep, and I’ll be partly groggy tomorrow with a chance of naps in the late afternoon. Looking ahead to the five-day forecast, I predict more late nights and another sleepless Thursday, with things breaking up and a concert of note on Friday evening.

With all of the illnesses going around and the fact that I’ll probably be running myself into the ground, I’m afraid that I may prematurely end my semester by getting sick. If you have the chance, please pray for my physical health, for diligence in completing my schoolwork and in staying on top of things here in the hall, for wisdom in taking care of myself, and for me to retain my saltiness even in the middle of busy times.

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[	mood	|	annoyed	]
[	music	|	The Beatles - Anna	]

for (int j = 0; j < data.size(); j++) {
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}

My plan of going to the later (church) service this morning was thwarted when the campus (and consequently, my dorm) lost power around 10:45. The CIS Problem web-site says that a breaker between us and Bryan was thrown. Ian and I were the only staff on-hand at the time, so I stuck around to make sure that nothing “went down” as they say. Power restored ca. 11:45.

Yesterday was a good day: badminton and running with Andrew, Daniel and James at the Rec; lunch with Pedro at Sbisa; in my last home football game as an undergrad, the Aggies defeated Texas Tech (for the first time since I’ve became an undergrad), 32-25 in overtime; standing with a whole mess of RUFers and pizza and hot chocolate afterwards; a bit of pattern recognition homework; walked around the soon-to-be-dedicated Bonfire Memorial; hung out with the last of the TAGD Ninjas Vs. Ninjas crew in the graphics lab; opened the window a crack, threw on an extra blanket, and went to bed. While we were drinking hot chocolate, I was also crowned the Chubby Bunny champion, but after a quick Google search turned up this page, I’ve decided to hang up my laurels. The internet ruins everything.

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[

mood

|

rejuvenated

]

… apparently. I’ve only made three entries this month (well, four now) but my Google hits have jumped about twenty-fold over last month. in fact, I’ve gotten six times as many visits from search engines in the last twelve days than I did during the five month period from June to October. Color me confused.

Since people have been asking if I’m okay, I suppose that I ought to update. Classes have actually been looking upwards lately. It appears that a B in my graduate pattern recognition course is within grasp, although there is still quite a lot of work to be done. I spent about 5 days working on a Bonfire bulletin board for Crocker, and I’m fairly pleased with the way that it turned out (if I had to change some things, I’d abbreviate it a bit more — there are over 9000 words up there, and I doubt that most people will read most of them). Swimming and running has been improving, and I’m really enjoying the cold snap that moved in this week.

The signs of old age — unkempt facial hair, erratic sleeping schedule, decreased contact with family and friends — are starting to set in as the date of my “funeral” approaches. Nevertheless, I’m not dead yet, and with the semester tumbling headlong toward finals, it’s time for me to set my eyes on the prize, to throw off everything that hinders, to go up and possess the land, to run with endurance — to finish strong!

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[

mood

|

sleepy

]

Actually, I haven’t laid my hands on a controller. However! My roommate Logan came back to the room with the game this morning, and I’ve spent most of the day half-listening/half-watching him play while I worked on schoolwork. Furthermore, I haven’t watched the multiplayer part for more than 5 minutes, which, for most people, will be the real reason to buy and play the game. As a final disclaimer, I played through the original Halo campaign exactly once, right after the game came out, and I’ve never been a fan of multiplayer, mostly since I stink at it.

That being said, (and setting aside questions about whether games are really worthwhile endeavors at all) I think that it’s a pretty awesome game. The visuals, including shader and shadowing effects are very nice, and the articulated detail in the character models is amazing, especially in close-up shots of the Prophets during cinematic sequences. There are some peculiar graphical artifacts, however, that appear to occur when switching from low to high-detail geometry and textures. Very visible popping, and a generally distracting flashing effect on textured surfaces. It doesn’t ruin the game, by any stretch of the imagination, but you’d think that they would have ironed it out before launch.

The story is equally cool. It covers a lot more depth and you get a lot more characterization, and it definitely takes the player in a direction that I doubt that most people will expect. The ending, however, will come unexpectedly. Penny Arcade wasn’t lying when they said that “Halo 2 goes to the credits at the very moment the story begins to glow hot with heat” (aside: I’m not sure what else it would glow hot with). Very cool, but very abrupt. I can only wonder if it’s a grand setup for Halo 3, if more content can be unlocked, or if they simply ran out of time.

On a random note, if you bought the Collector’s Edition with the DVD of extras, I’ve been to the park that they show towards the beginning of the “Behind the Scenes” video — it’s where we had our DirectX shipping party/morale event this summer (blog entry, photos). I’m almost famous!

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As I lurch on toward my second week without a shave, I start to have doubts about our cause. When will it all be over? What do we hope to obtain? Why are we in this fight? I’ve never done this before, and the dawn seems so far away. Nevertheless, our honor has been challenged, and the Moore Hall dogs must be defeated. I must trust in the wisdom of our fearless leaders, and I gain strength from the knowledge that I do not struggle alone. I hope to be home for Thanksgiving, Mother, and I’m looking forward to your famous apple pie. Give my love to the rest of the family.

Always,
Caleb

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Crocker and Moore Halls started “No-shave November” on Monday as a contest to see which hall has the most superpilatary residents. I’m not a great fan of the way that I grow facial hair (slowly), but I’ll stick it out at least until Thanksgiving when Mom will tell me to look respectable.

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[	mood	|	sleepy	]
[	music	|	Rocky Point Holiday	]

I’m back at home after a tiring and disappointing, yet fulfilling day — disappointing because I didn’t vote (I effectively disenfranchised myself by not getting my absentee voting matters resolved in time) and because Duncanville didn’t win the State Marching Band Contest, but I got to hear a lot of great bands and hang out with Dad for several hours. Duncanville did a great show (much sharper in finals than in prelims, I thought) and played well, but ultimately, other bands did better. L. D. Bell’s show was tight, fast, clean, and visually awe-inspiring, and Cedar Park did the first show that I’ve seen in eight years based on The Planets that was actually good. Oh well… bands come and bands go (Spring, Westfield, who?), you win some competitions and you lose some, but the lessons that I learned about working hard toward a goal, persevering to the end, and being humble, gracious and grateful no matter what others think of you are things that will outlast the dusty trophies and dulling medals. Congratulations to all of the bands that stuck it out this fall, through the blazing heat, pouring rain, cricket infestations, and other nefarious Texas plagues (especially Berkner, whose Hindemith show I really wanted to see).

We actually tied Cedar Park for ranking points but took third due to the tie-breaking rules. Speaking of contested races — did you like that segue? As of right now, CNN says that Bush leads Kerry, 254 electoral votes to 242 (270 are required to win). New Mexico, Iowa and Wisconsin are still not fully reporting (with narrow margins for Bush, Bush, and Kerry, respectively), but Ohio and its 20 electoral votes looks to be this year’s “Florida” — they’re still saying “too close to call” at 3:35 AM (CST), but the pundit-of-the-moment on TV a moment ago said “I don’t know that it’s completely decided [for Bush] yet, but the writing’s on the wall, and it’ll take a lot of lawyers to un-write it.” Maybe this year we’ll actually know who was elected to be president when I wake up. Either way, I still haven’t helped to put anyone in Office…

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On the last Saturday night in October for the last three years, I’ve embarked on a personal journey that has transcended the very laws of space and time. Since 1918, the government of the United States has seen fit to enact Daylight Saving Time from April through October, granting us an additional hour of daylight. When DST ends, clocks officially tick from 1:59 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. (again), creating an opportunity for paradox just waiting to be exploited. If you’re on the campus of Texas A&M, I invite you to partake in the 4th Annual Rumours Anti-Time Run with me this evening: leave your dorm room around 1:30 or 1:45 and head to Rumours (an on-campus coffeeshop and eatery). Enjoy some breakfast and the company of fellow nerds, and when they close up shop at "2 a.m.", head back home. If you’re fast enough, you’ll get back to your room before you even left. Come on... it’s a tradition!

(Disclaimer: Yes, I stole the idea from the Negative Time Tommy’s Run held each year at CalTech)

Edit: Phew! The Anti-Time Run was a success, but a narrow one at best. The soulless minions of orthodoxy that manage Texas A&M’s Food Services have willed that Rumours be closed at midnight on Saturday nights, in an apparent attempt at quelling our little rebellion against the laws of nature. But we were not quelled! Thinking quickly, we diverted to the Northgate Taco Bell, only to discover that it, too, was in league with the fell Protectorate of Time. In our last moments of desperation, we sighted the neighboring McDonalds, defiantly open twenty-four (and twenty-five!) hours a day, a beacon of hope for weary time-travellers such as we. Parfaits were purchased and spirited back to the Bright building by Jacob the Lesser. Seeing that I had Not Much Time Left in which to complete my quest and still having one stop remaining, I sprinted from Bright to Hart Hall, delivering a sundae to Dimitri, the dutiful RA and our sometime companion in such matters, and raced homeward. My fleetness of foot paid off, as I completed my Rumours-Taco Bell-McDonalds-Bright-Hart Anti-Time Run in a scant negative five minutes. He who dines and anti-time runs away, lives to anti-time run another day!

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