So I had my headphones in one of my cargo pockets and it was plugged into my discman strapped to my waste. I forget about the headphones in my pocket and just detatch the discman and put it on my bed (it incidentally fell off my bed I think, or fell off something, but that's okay, it's all good). Then I walked out my room and closed the door and tug-tug snap goes my headphone cable. I'd be less pissed if they weren't $20 headphones. They actually gave decent headphones with my discman and I ruined them. Luckily I had another identical pair so I am not music-less. However the loss still hurts. Perhaps John can fix them. Then I will be okay. Time to clean up some of my room.

So I got this black turtleneck shirt for cheap at your store for everything. I've been wearing black all day and looking like a ninja/poet. That was pretty cool. If you people are just checking to see that I have not flipped (too much) or have not gone into a downward spiral of depression - fear not. All is well. In fact... I am winning the fight against failure (it is vague and I intend to keep it that way).

On a musical note, I found a special song from Orbital called "Belfast/Wasted (Vocal Mix)." It's the first time I heard singing in an Orbital song. Also, now that I hear it... Belfast alone is one of my favorite songs from the brothers. It's very soothing. It's something I'd like to wake up to in one of those Euro-cities.

Euro-cities... it's amazing to try to figure out what life might be in the future. For me I want one of those jobs where I'm always moving. Traveling from city to city. I need a dynamic environment. What I do from city to city is relatively irrelevant. I'm not going to be a traveling salesmen... but I could be doing any number of things. I want to do something where I can be in all black, like I am today. Listening to Orbital or whatever floats my boat in the future as I do now.

I've been in Urbana since Monday in case people didn't gather. It's great to be back at school except that the weather here is crap. I've been adjusting to classes and doing a lot of cool organization stuff. Let me explain in the next paragraphs, located directly below this sentences.

Earlier in the school year I was wondering what I'd do for living next Fall (and the rest of the year for that matter). For a few months I was on an RA kick. Long enough to actually go to one of the group RA candidate meetings and everything. I needed a backup plan in case I couldn't be an RA. Eventually I got talking to Mr. Roboto (a.k.a. Adam Nagao). So we started looking for a place together.

After Thanksgiving break I decided no against becomming an RA completely. For some time Adam and I were looking for a place with someone named Kate. Eventually she opted to live with her current roommate elsewhere. So, Adam and I teamed up with a group of two to look at one specific apartment. We later decided against it. Out of this group we retained John. Now a good friend of mine, Julie, was also looking for a place and mentioned that she'd be "cool" living with us. We kept that option open. Winter Break came by fast and we could find no more a place to live. We'd have to wait until January.

Through email Adam and I stated that we'd make a good effort to get a place as soon as we get back to Urbana. When Adam waited four hours at Midway to pick me up and then we drove for a couple hours to Urbana we decided that if we did not find a place by Valentine's Day (not for it being Valentine's Day, but rather for it being just short of a month) we would commit harakiri since Adam was half Japanese and it seemed like damn good motivation if anything.

This motivation came about approximately Monday. We declared our intentions to live with Julie. Julie immediately agreed. The rest of this was amazing clockwork. Adam and I perused the classifieds section of the Daily Illini and found a few places and marked them down. We came up with several living combinations with Julie just so we could be flexible (5 or more bedrooms for the most part). Tuesday Julie called and made an appointment at this "8 bedroom" house nearby.

Tuesday night Adam and I decided that we should go beat the crap out of each other. We found the aforementioned "Kate" who was into kickboxing and decided to go to IMPE. Unfortunately everybody was on a "get-in-shape" kick and we had no luck. We did however find out that her roommate wants to stay in the dorms still. We then adopted Kate and wooed her with stories of this magnificent 8 bedroom house we heard about. We drove by it later that night and thought it was pretty cool (and that it was blue, not green).

Unfortunately I, nor Kate, nor Ellen could make it to the house appointment. So it just clicked to me and I said, "let's have Jon tape the place using Ellen's camcorder." Adam replied, "Jinkies, that sounds like a great idea." Wednesday it ended up that Adam, Jon, Julie, Ellen and Susan (a new addition to our new posse) went. They went they saw and they liked it with only a few minor complains.

I watched the video several times and Kate saw it as well. I was go and thankfully so was Michelle. The company had mentioned a group would be out there the next day for their second visit. We had to act fast. Wednesday night we all signed applications. Thursday Ellen, Susan and I dropped them of at the company's office. Thursday late afternoon Julie made an appointment for five of us to sign the lease. Later we planned for Kate and Julie to go with Adam to finish signing the lease.

In essence what Adam and I had planned to take a few weeks was done in a matter of days very quickly and efficiently. This is why we are classified as robots.

We plan to get another person to live with us to help lower our rent cost. There are actually several more rooms available for occupancy, but due to the sheer volume of people we are opting against going over 9 people.

So to all my friends, including those from distant lands, you are all invited beginning next fall.

I'm back from Germany and my trip was just wonderful. I'll type up a nice little documentation of my experiences and set up a little "travel guide" so people can get a glimpse of what fun Germany was. My brother and sister-in-law will be back next week whence I will be mailed copies of the photographs taken. Any recommendations for a good digital or advantix camera?

It's about 12:36 PM in Germany now. I came in last night and so far I love this country.

Our six hour stay in the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport was a bit uneventful. I think in the next few years I'll make a point of actually visiting the Netherlands fully. However, the airport itself is a great place. Ryan Hayle will be happy to know that my favorite restaurant in Amsterdam is Sbarros (so far).

Germany is really cool and I haven't seen anything yet. I'm staying with my uncle and his family at the Ramstein AFB. He's got a nice place. Right now I'm using his computer at the Landstuhl Regionel Medical Center (Army).

One of the most fascinating things I've seen have been the doors and windows. They are all office style in his house. His house is a slightly Americanized version of German living quarters. The doors and windowshave three-states. Open, closed and vent. it seals the door very well too.

We plan on visiting several places. We are nearby Stuttgard where there are Auto Museums for BMW and Mercedes. We'll also take a trip to Paris, France. We'll go to the Castles along the Rhine (which are nearby). We'll also go to Berlin. I'll try to keep you all updated.

I also have the "Well Traveled Camels." I've done half my share with bringing them to Germany. Now I must take pictures of stuff with them... ugh. What sillyness.

A couple funny things I noticed on WB Kids (the afternoon show that I just happened to catch at 6 AM thanks to C-Band). One is that they advertise for Bandai's Digimon line. Digimon is Fox's answer to Pokemon to which WB has exclusive rights. So it is wierd as hell to see its imitation advertising in a commercial.

This is from the New Batman/Superman Adventures. I thought the reference to Pinky and the Brain was cute:

Bruce: What are you doing tonight?
Barbara: The same thing we do every night, Pinky.
Bruce: What?
Barbara: Nevermind.

Today I am bound for Europe with my brother and sister-in-law. We'll probably make a small detour in Amsterdam to get some weed and hookers and by tomorrow be in Deutschland. I'll be heading back to MN on the 16th and leaving the following day for Illinois. It'll be 6 different airports in one and a half weeks (thanks to the inefficiency of Northwest Airlines as people-movers).

Batman Beyond is so cool. I saw today's episode, Bloodsport. It had bloodshed, and for the most part death. They don't try to cover up fatalities like in other cartoons where they explain everything that could be construed as death as some none-death related activity. Also, the music is still killer. I'll definitely order it once I reach Urbana.

Welcome to the world of tomorrow. Welcome to the Y2K. How cheesy is that? Well anyway, I rang in the "millenium" with a small group of good friends. I enjoyed that immensely. It's a far cry from my childhood visions of wanting to see the year 2000 rung in from Times Square. Of course, I think I may have actually wanted to see 2001 rung in from Times Square, being the "true" millenium (thanks to the illogical way we count). Anyway, I did enjoy it none the less. They also showed Batman Beyond last night, so I was more than pleased.

I saw Bicentennial Man. I enjoyed that movie. I suppose it may be a bit sappy for some, but it was a good movie. Typical of Asimov's lighter stories and of Robin Williams' movies.

So, it's Friday night... which means Shabbat. For some orthodox Jews this means the lights go out and a lot of modern conveniences go unused. If the Y2K bug eats everyone of those conveniences come the Millenium, that means this might be the final shabbat. Or the really really long Shabbat that lasts forever.