Project for Awesome 2008

The Project for Awesome is a project that the nerdfighters do once a year where we all (or a good portion of us) make videos of our favorite charities and post them on YouTube. We then comment on each others' videos and try to get them to the most discussed, most viewed, most rated pages on YouTube. Nerdfighters successfully took over the most discussed page last year, so we're trying to do it again!

So, I would like everyone to go to YouTube and look up Project for Awesome 2008 and watch and comment on the nerdfighters' videos. My sister and I have a video!! So if you want to see that one it is Project for Awesome 2008: Lymphatic Research Foundation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5nFxktW-oU is us, so watch and comment everyone!!! Thanks a bundle and DFTBA!

Please spread the word, this is a great way to learn about charities and what they do, so please enjoy! And comment and rate and such....
Project for Awesome! Fighting to decrease World Suck!

p.s. yes you will need a YouTube profile to comment, but it's free, so go for it!

Nerdfighters

I have a new found like for the word nerd. It used to be that I hated the word and didn't think it applied to me, that I was a geek and not a nerd and how dare you think otherwise. But after all my grumblings and mumblings and vehement protests, I have come to the conclusion that nerd is not a bad thing. In fact, being a nerd is the equivalent of being made of awesome.

I have only two people to blame for this sudden and complete 180: John and Hank Green. The brothers decided last year that they were going to fore go textual communication (texting, e-mail, IM, etc.) and instead communicate via video blog (aka vlog) and phone for one year. The two created videos on alternating days (sans weekends) and posted them on YouTube to keep in touch. They inadvertently started a movement.

The nerdfighters followed the brothers loyally as each new video was posted, giving (and receiving) challenges and questions, punishments for failure (and rule breaking) and rewards for success, and fighting against world suck. When the year was up, the nerdfighters despaired, fearing that they would never again see John and Hank, but the brothers hatched a plan and decided to keep up the vlogging but, instead of every day, videos would be posted once or twice a week. Nerdfightaria rejoiced!

The vlogging continues to this day, and can be accessed via the link in the title. I suggest starting at the beginning, though, or all of the inside jokes are going to make you very confused. It's easy, when you click the link, find and click the link that says "videos", go all the way back to page 20(? i think) and watch from Jan 1, 2007. Is worth it. Trust me.

DFTBA,
Catherine

End of the Semester

As I reach the end of my first semester of college, I look back and see things that I really enjoyed and hope to continue, I see new friends (or at least acquaintances) I have made, I see new and exciting things I've learned, and I look back on those and give a contented, happy sigh. I also look back and see the friends at RRHS that I miss, the poor choices I made regarding class work, and the class I failed. I look and see these and know that I will force myself to do better next go around. I do wish that I hadn't failed rhetoric, that I had tried harder not to fail rhetoric, that I hadn't procrastinated and missed the drop period for rhetoric, but most importantly, I have vowed to take a choir next semester because choir is, as I have stated on several occasions, my therapy. I would have had a little less stress if I had had a choir class; not to say that it would have been better for my work load, or that I wouldn't have still failed rhetoric, but I'd be less stressed about it if I had a choir class to relax in.

I am getting my license this winter break and as soon as Financial Aid comes in I'll be buying my own car. That, I have to say, will be pretty freaking sweet, until I fill it up the first time... gas prices are low (for now) and that's good, but that's still an expense I didn't have to deal with earlier. That and insurance. I'm hoping to go onto my parents' insurance and just pay them a portion, but I don't know if that's what'll happen. I am excited, despite the scary thought of gas and insurance, because i'll have my own car!! I don't know what I'll be getting yet, but it should be a fairly reliable POS for a little less than 4k. :) Another reason to smile, is that I'll be getting this car before my sister gets a car of her own. I don't generally like to rub things in her face, but this is pretty much worth her wrath.

I don't have finals... so this is my last week... scary. I may go to campus once or twice next week for like work and stuff, but mostly I'll be at home... cleaning my room... which really needs my close undivided attention for a few days. I'll be spending the first day of my winter break gathering all the clothes off my floor, sorting them into what I will and will not wear, and putting them into trash bags. I will then wash all of them, bag by bag, until they are all clean. Then I will donate (or sell) the clothes I won't wear anymore and put away everything else into my newly accessible closet and dresser. This is the plan, and hopefully I will stick to the plan, but I have been known to procrastinate... on occasion... you know, just once or twice...

So anyway, that's all for now.

DFTBA,

~Cat =^.^=

Irelynn

One of my very good friends gave birth today, to a little baby girl. Going into labor at about 10:30am, Irelynn joined the world at 7:36pm on November 10th, 2008. She was born 6lbs 9oz and 19 inches long. Haley, her mother, is doing just fine if a little tired. I was in the waiting room for the last hour and a half of the event, not being allowed in while Haley was pushing. I can understand that, I'm not family after all, and the room is really only so large, but I would have liked to have been there, or at least been closer. Oh well. 

>.<

My head hurts...

Anyway, um... So I am having a bit of an inner conflict, and I can't force myself to post details online, because, well that would be stupid, but I feel the need to send a general warning to everyone that I know that if I seem distracted or frustrated or just annoyed in general, it's nothing you did. It's all me, and I'm hoping to resolve it soon, so bare with me for the time being.

Work

As it says in my profile, I work for UT Austin Athletics as an IT. I will honestly say that I love my job. It's good people, good pay, and good scheduling. I am able to design and organize my work schedule around my class schedule without any problems at all. But the single best thing about my job is that when I'm not out and about helping fix computers, I am in our storage closet of an office (no really, it's a storage closet, it's even labeled "storage") sitting in my wheelie chair, playing on facebook or on this blog as I am now. I love my job.

My supervisor, Hatty, is pretty cool and has great taste in music. It's interesting to see what new color her hair will be every couple of weeks. Currently it's blue, but I'm thinking green next time. The other student ITs, Loc-Uyen and Maanit, are really nice and friendly, though not extremely talkative. My boss is a friend of the family and has known me, literally, my entire life. I think it's rather nice to have a boss that you're comfortable talking to and can share non-work things with. There are another two employees with us in this storage closet, but other than general greetings and the occasional geek moment, we don't talk much.

I have definitely learned more about computers in the past few months than I ever thought possible, and I realize now that when I thought I was proficient with computers at the beginning, I was seriously mistaken. My normal week consists of imaging (or ghosting) new or refurbished computers, newSIDing and asset tagging said computers, applying crap-tons of updates to these computers, and then moving and setting up aforementioned computers to their new homes. We then take the old computers and either start the whole thing over again, or do something called a "boot and nuke" which rewrites everything on the computer with series of random nonsense 1s and 0s. Boot and Nuke takes FOREVER! It goes about .01% of rewrite per second and it does seven passes of rewrites. Added to all this, we will go around the athletics department and fix problems or install needed software to peoples computers, though Hatty does most of the fixing, I just stand and watch. She has sent me to install stuff and apply updates on my own, but it's rather difficult to mess up doing such a simple task. The only reason we do it is because no one else has the necessary Admin access. It sounds busy, I know, but I really do have a lot of extra time just sitting around.

It is completely fantastic and I wouldn't trade it for any other job on or off campus.

Wednesdays

I have to say that Wednesday is pretty much the most amazing day of the week. Obviously it isn't the weekend, but it's the day in the middle, the top of the hill, and when I reach Wednesday I realize that it really is just a downhill glide from there. This is why I like Wednesday. When you reach Wednesday, you've passed the "I hate Mondays" and the "Is it really only Tuesday?" attitudes and you're ready for the rest of the week. 

Weekends are fine, but unless I'm doing something with my crew (which I will post about often), I don't really do anything. I like having something to do, but I don't live close to any of my friends and I don't have my own car (yet) so I can't go anywhere. On weekends I just sit around and do nothing, which is fine occasionally, but I feel like I've wasted my weekend. But I always have something to do on Wednesdays. There is either something going on after school, or a movie coming out, or something that allows me to feel like I'm not a giant lay-about that doesn't do anything besides sit on my ars and watch TV. 

In addition, Wednesday is the day I eat breakfast with a very good friend of mine, Niall. We both (mostly him) have very hectic schedules, but we've managed to configure said schedules to include breakfast once a week on Wednesdays. Other than that, I only see him when we have crew functions, and it's nice to be able to just hang out.

Whatever your reason, I want everyone to find a reason to love Wednesdays like I do. Happy Hump Day!!