kova's Xanga

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:26:31 GMT

Conundrum of the week:

So, my new laptop came with 2 CDs, one that was a restore disk that was supposed to return the laptop to factory settings and the other CD had drivers.

BUT...

My laptop did not come with a CD drive.

Yes, I know, I'm still trying to wrap my head around this one, too.

And here I am wondering if it's common knowledge now to create bootable USB drives, b/c there's no other way to explain it...

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:23:01 GMT

Eh, I'm bored enough, so might as well update...

- Needless to say, my investment into a pink Venus has paid off in spades b/c the look on people's faces when they find out that I went from one pink phone to a possibly even girlier one is absolutely priceless.

- I was debating for several weeks now on whether I should go see Nightwish at the Wiltern on 9/13, mainly b/c, with all the added fees, the cost of 1 ticket would be close to $40. Well, the latest news from the Nightwish website says that they're going to be having a major sale this coming weekend, with 500 tickets being sold at $10 a pop. Okay, that settles that, I am DEFINITELY going. I'm tempted to buy 2 or 3, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that there isn't a single person I know who likes symphonic rock, so it'd be a wasted ticket. Ah well...

- I started tutoring again. Fun, fun.

- Apparently, everyone BUT my parents seems to be concerned that I'm still single with no prospects on the horizon...

- And.... yeah.

Monday, June 09, 2008

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 19:24:39 GMT

Insane: Having two finals on the same day in back to back time slots

More Insane: Having two finals on the same day in the SAME time slot

Mike level Insane: Voluntarily taking two finals on the same day during the time allotted for one final in an effort to get an extra day of summer break.

I finished my Intro Paralegal final (100 multiple guess questions) in 25 minutes, so I flipped over next door and took my Advanced Business Law final (50 multiple guess questions, 60 minutes) a day early. Thank goodness for mystical choice and open book exams, b/c I wouldn't've attempted this stunt otherwise.

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 03:45:26 GMT

Amazing the things I find, especially since I have this habit of never throwing anything out...

For whatever reason, I decided that I needed to transfer some of the songs that I had on cassette tapes to my computer. Now, the problem was that the songs that I wanted were spread across 5 different tapes, which meant that I had do some DEEP digging through my drawers to find them... and I'm glad I did.

In addition to finding about 50 billion decks of cards and my old Stats class notes, I discovered that I still had the old youth group distortion pedal (that I bought roughly 9 years ago and which no one ever remembers even existing, for that matter), which I promptly plugged and discovered that a) it was still functional and b) it's not anywhere near as bad as I originally thought it was. Chalk up another $5 in reclaimed youth group assets (probably what the pedal is worth after all these years of depreciation).

... but the crown jewel of my finds was shoved into the back of one drawer. I have no idea how it got there, but I found a gift card to Banana Republic. I checked the balance online and lo, behold, even after 5-6 years (that's the best I can estimate, b/c I only received these kind of cards as a member of youth staff)... the thing STILL carries the original balance of $75.

Well, well... guess who's going shopping this weekend.

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:35:15 GMT

Ack, I always find the oddest things to distract me...

... I had intended to finish up a couple songs this week, but after six years, I've finally found a picture perfect tab of "Romance" by Yuki Kajiura... and now my entire week is going to be spent trying to master this song.

The only thing that irks me is that I don't have anyone to accompany me. The only person I know who would like the song isn't at the skill level necessary to pull off the accompaniment or solo guitar parts... and she probably won't be there for another 3-4 years at least.

Eh.

At least I can FINALLY learn the song now.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Wed, 28 May 2008 04:27:37 GMT

Just a random thought that came to mind today while I was looking at guitars:

Why is it that guys have this compelling need to name things?

This was actually a question posed to me about 10 years ago and I couldn't answer it because... well, I don't name things and I never felt a compulsion to do so. However, ever since then, I've noticed this tendency in guys. My brother names his cars. I know plenty of guys who name their musical instruments (guitars seem to be popular for this), motorcycles, and even computers.

Me? My car is named "my car" and my Gibson SG Faded is "that sweeeeeet sounding thang..." err, I meant, "my guitar."

Short and simple.

Speaking of guitars, I need to amend my "What I would buy if I won the lottery" list to include a Gibson SG Goddess, otherwise known as the most sexiest-looking guitar ever made.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Mon, 26 May 2008 03:57:48 GMT

What to write here, what to write here...

Monday, May 05, 2008

Mon, 05 May 2008 04:47:34 GMT

My life right now, described by Thrice songs:

"Artist in the Ambulance" - God's given me a second chance at life, giving me an opportunity to not screw up this time.

"Melting Point of Wax" - I LOVE LOVE LOVE this interpretation of the Icarus myth. "There's no promise of safety with these secondhand wings, but I'm willing to find out what impossible means..." Right now, I'm staring at some seemingly impossible scenarios, stuff that would take me out of my comfort zone, but hey, the opportunities have been laid out before me... "I will touch the sun or I will die trying..."

"Red Sky" - A rebirth and a birth. Let's see if it all pans out...

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Thu, 01 May 2008 04:40:43 GMT

I don't know if it's safe to admit this...

... by the way, I blame my cousin for this.

In between writing sessions today, I wanted to watch something brainless, so I went through the pilot episode for... Hannah Montana. And I actually found myself kind of enjoying it, against my will.

Like I said, I blame my cousin for this. This is the guy who admits to listening and actually PLAYS Hannah Montana songs while playing WoW. Durn him for implanting subliminal suggestions...

I can't believe I just admitted this.

Let's move on, shall we?

Speaking of brainless, or rather, the exact opposite of it, there's The Alchemy Index by Thrice, which I finally completed today after buying the Air and Earth discs.

I guess one of the reasons why I began to REALLY love Thrice is that with Vhessiu, they demonstrated that they were more than the one-trick pony that most rock bands end up becoming. There was always a certain depth to their lyrics, but Vhessiu began a demonstration of a command of depth in music, a command that was completed in The Alchemy Index.

The concept was simple. Create an album with 4 discs, each with a different theme based off the 4 elements: Fire, Water, Air, Earth. Each disc shows a different facet of exactly what these guys are capable of musically. The Fire disc contains the traditional hard rock and screamo songs that Thrice is known for; the Water disc is an soothing, ambient soundscape filled with keyboards and drum loops; the Air disc contains lighter, acoustic-style rock songs; the Earth disc has a country/folksy sound to the songs.

I love it. It's challenging, new, and... yeah. The exact opposite of Hannah Montana.

You know, if I had to choose my favorite disc, it'd probably be Water (admit it, you thought I was going to say Fire). Instrumentally, it's the darkest of the 4 discs and yet, it still manages to be soothing. I think I love it because these aren't songs as much as they are moods.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 05:09:24 GMT

Painted in drops of rain I'm
Mesmorized
By your undying light
Formed by a palette of stars I'm
Hypnotized
By your dress of night

Dreaming within
Your soft caress
Touch with finesse
Kneel to confess
You

Born from this dust
Not faded
Baptized in rain
Await

... yeah, so who knows where this'll lead. It all depends on if I can last a week without changing that final stanza (again)...