Yesterday and today have both been pretty interesting days. Yesterday, a storm came wailing in around 9:00 and I went to the gym with a friend around 12:00pm. That shit is waaaay too early for me. I am more of a 2pm to 3pm person. Any earlier and I just have don't have any energy to spare. Today I went on a great adventure. The trolley driver missed my spot once, and he almost missed my second stop. I kept yelling at him, but he never answered. When he eventually realized what he had done, he apologized profusely. So I was stuck on one trolley for two hours, and a second for one hour. Three fcking hours on a trolley... sucks! Considering half of trip was unbearable; the driver thought the weather outside was perfect, so why crank the A/C up... it is perfect ! Needless to say, that wore me down. When I got back home, my folks asked what was wrong with me. "Nothing," I said, "nothing at all!". I was pretty angry at the trolley drivers. I mean, they are good people, they were just acting like morons today. Here is a new picture of me. The quality is low because it was taken on an old cell phone. Also, excuse the Irish tan. Plus I have my shamrock hat on!



I am in need of some good music. The kind I crave is techno / trance. I have means to acquire music, I just don't know any worthy artists. Please name some artists and I will be eternally grateful! I don't know many artists, just "DJ Quicksilver". Please help me out!

This has been a fairly gloomy week. Yet despise its gloom, there have been some high points. For one thing, the rain and cold can pretty much go and fuck themselves. Yesterday in particular was especially horrible! It rained all day and the night before. The only good day was earlier in the week; for the life of me I don't know what day that was. Other than that, it has been a very, very sleepy week. I got to hang with my case worker, Mia, yesterday. We went to the mall and walked about one and a half to two miles; we talked a lot too--it was pretty fun. I see her every other Friday. We will go to the library on May 28. I look forward to hanging out with her; she's fun and makes good company. Plus she takes me out of the house...that makes for a win right there !

While we were out at the mall, we went to the Vintage Stock there. While we were there, I spotted a used CD by Creed; the album was "Weathered". I got it for a sleek $3 bucks. As soon as I got home, I rushed to my lair and ripped it to my laptop. It joins my collection of Seether, Godsmack, Evanescence, and Lady GaGa. I wish I had more music, but I don't have that many CDs, and I am afraid to download music nowadays. Plus my mp3 player is completely out of commission. I do not have a portable CD player either. I guess that all I have to do is rack up CDs and Itunes cards to replenish my music database. Losing 3009 songs really hurts me deep inside.

Changing the subject here. I am attempting to make a web crawler that downloads images to my pc. That way I just run my script and the images on a website will be automatically downloaded to my laptop! I gave thought to which language to code it in. I went thru C, Perl, Python, BASIC (lol), and PHP...I managed to settle on PHP. When I finish it, I will release it to the public. It can't be that hard, I mean really , just a few loops and a header() function should do it. We shall see how easy it is. It might just challenge me to no end! I am going to target 4chan for my little script.

I added a red theme and a purple theme to Nerblog. Try them out if you like. There is also a FAQ section up. Access it under the "Miscellaneous" tab up of the page. I will try to post again tomorrow after church. Until next time, bai!

This past Saturday I purchased Fame Monster by Lady Gaga! I am honestly enjoying the hell out of it. Not only does she sing well, but she is beyond the highest level of hawtness. My favorite song off the album is Paparazzi. Poker Face is a close second. Her name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta; she is only two years older than me.

The next album I am going for is Paramore's newest piece, Brand New Eyes. The band is actually older than I am. The lead singer, Hayley Williams, is a year younger than me.

I am sure a saaaaaaaaaaaaaad panda right now. My three year old iPod finally bit the big one. I had 3009 of my favorite songs on it. It wouldn't worry me so much but my songs are gone on my old computer; it got killed in a lightning storm. I need a new mp3 player...but which brand do I go for?? Help me out here....I am thinking Zune...

I am willing to share some anime for those who aid me in finding a new and reliable mp3 player. I am offering Lucky Star, Venus Versus Viriusil, and Sainti Ooctober; I have the full series on al three. I'll post more tomrrow or Saturday!

Today I would like to touch on music. As most of you know, my favorite song is Loch Lomond by Corries; I love other music, too! My runner up favorite band would have to be Evanescence. My favorite song that they perform is My Immortal. I am also a big fan of Lacuna Coil and Flyleaf. Let's not forget my love of Sub Dub Micromachine, Fall Out Boy, Plain White T's, Slayer, and My Chemical Romance. I know the genres are mixed up, but I do like all musical genres (except country ...and rap ).

Today I went to the old movie theater that plays 2-3 month old movies. I saw National Treasure: Book of Secrets. I would rate it an 8 out of 10. The plot was steady, the action was intense. There were corny jokes scattered throughout the movie, but it was that way to lighten the mood a bit. If you were a fan of the first movie, do yourself a favor and watch the sequel !

I read a little bit on my new book, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Volume 1 The Lost Memory. I am making pretty good progress . I should be finished on Saturday or Sunday. I'm not going to talk too much about it; I'll write a short review once I complete the novel. It's only 201 pages, so even if I just chop at it 30 pages a day, I'll have it completed by this weekend.

The following music video is My Immortal by Evanescence, courtesy of Yahoo! music videos.

Second post in one day...a rarity for me

Today I am going to touch on a very delicate topic: religion. There are quite a few religions out there to choose from. It seems as though each religion has different sects, or flavors, for that religion. I think of religion like ice cream. The flavors are the religions, and the toppings are the sects. I'm no whiz when it comes to topics like these, but I have been doing some reading on a certain religion that has gotten my interests. This religion is none other than Hinduism. The book that I first picked up is The Complete Idiot's Guide to Hinduism by Linda Johnsen. Going back a little bit...why does religion cause so much conflict? Why does the majority of this conflict involve those that follow the teachings of Christ (Christian) and the ones that follow Muhammad (Islam)? I'll probably never understand it. The religions that are in Asia (Taoism, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.) all seem quite peaceful. While they are not "popular", it does not matter. In my opinion, a faith should not be chosen based on how popular it is; it should follow what a person believes in.

There are two concepts that attracted me to Hinduism. These are reincarnation and the deities that are worshiped. I was told by my parents that the ancient Celts believed in reincarnation and multiple deities that balanced things out; quite similar to Hinduism. I am going to study this religion more and I might stick with it if things look out for the better. There is one thing that is bugging me still. Would someone that has a well-rounded knowledge of religion explain to me this "conflict" that coexists along with most major religions? Does it exist with more peaceful religions such as Buddhism? If there is, then someone needs to tell me why this is going on. It seems like a racism effect; people hating others for being that of a different color or faith. It just seems all wrong to me. If religion worldwide causes this conflict, then why not just be an atheist; I don't want to partake in something that seems like racism . You can e-mail me if you don't want to run the risk of being flamed for taking a side in religion. If you feel the need to flame me for my beliefs, then it would be best not to comment publicly...as a matter of fact, if you're going to flame me, just keep it to yourself .

Thank you for taking the time to read a newbies position on religious practices. Feel free to comment (unless you want to start a flame war, then stay away).

All thanks to my old friend, Accius (owner of Maavfork and Maavrik), I have another album in my Killswitch Engage collection . I am lacking two albums from my Evanescence: The Open Door and Anywhere But Home. I love Evanescence, but not as much as I love Paramore! I have both of Paramore's albums and am planning on catching them on tour eventually! Both bands feature female vocalists; both bands play different styles of music. Evanescence plays more of a "goth/emo" style. Paramore leans more toward "punk/emo". I can't find a Paramore t-shirt in my size . I have a Slayer t-shirt, I have a MCR t-shirt too (thank you, Hot Topic).

Nerblog has a total of over 50,000 words through all of her combined posts (as taken from the stats page). I'm going to take a few days off from blogging -- I'll see you all again on my dad's birthday .

I have some rather sad news regarding the movie blog I was planning to set up. Movie Gallery is putting a stop to their MVP program; I no longer get free rentals . I will however, keep a category for movies; this just means I'll rate a movie maybe three times per month ( if I post anything that month ;) ). I'll start once I get my mangy paws on the new Family Guy movie; Family Guy -- Blue Harvest. I will also be accepting guest reviews. Just e-mail me a movie review that you made and I just might post it .

I have 2894 tracks in my music database; I prefer to purchase music rather than download it ( support the artists! ). I want to get some more Slayer and Lacuna Coil. Once I get the spare cash, I'm going to head over to amazon and get me some more albums.

My dad's birthday is coming up on January 28th; I got him an awesome gift . He loves history -- he really likes wars. He reads historical and alternate history novels all the time. I went out on a limb and purchased him a DVD instead of a book. I got him a copy of Letters from Iwo Jima . I gave him his present a few days ago...I couldn't stand the pressure of waiting till his birthday! I'm going to bake him some muffins for his birthday when it comes time .

One last thing...I am totally done with Dirty Grandpa. I don't even want to see him during visitation following his death. I have had dreams of murdering him with my bare hands. I don't want to say exactly what he did to piss me off so badly...it was bad, let's leave it at that

Hooray for post number 160! Sorry for not posting pictures of my apartment on Sunday as I "promised". I'm going to steal the camera from my parents tomorrow and then I'll click, click away.

This may be old news, but it's still tragic. Lucky Star got licensed recently! I am still lacking the last four episodes. If anybody has them, or knows where I can get them, please toss me an e-mail! I might as well watch Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Venus Versus Virus all the way through while I hunt down / wait for the Lucky Star episodes to appear. If any of the anime junkies that read this post, please suggest some good shows. You can tell what I like from my previous posts.

I have been getting into Celtic music recently. Luckily, my mom has a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge stash of the good stuff. My iPod is getting phatter by the minute . If anyone is interested, I am willing to share a few songs.

Well it's been a fun post, but now I've gotta go do some stuff and things. I've also got a new desktop arrangement if anyone is interested. It's under the Miscellaneous button up at top. Oh and happy Thanksgiving! I'll be gone tomorrow, but those pictures will be back with a vengeance on Friday!

Sorry for the lack of updating, but there's just been nothing noteworthy in the life of a neRd. Here's some stuff you may or may not find interesting...

This past week I acquired a new album from Paramore. The album was released this summer and now I have my mangy paws on it ! Here's a tracklisting:

01. 01. For A Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic 02. That's What You Get 03. Hallelujah 04. Misery Business 05. When It Rains 06. Let The Flames Begin 07. Miracle 08. crushcrushcrush 09. We Are Broken 10. Fences 11. Born For This

My favorite song off the CD is "Misery Business". A neighbor of mine lent me some pretty sweet metal albums. Some of them I've heard time and time again, but others were brand new to me.

Tomorrow I will finish emptying boxes and will finally get some pictures of my apartment. Moving on to the programming business...I have decided to make the trivia bot in PERL. I will release more information as I develop it. Now let's give it up for BRAIN PUPPY!

I currently have ~2800 songs in my possession. I am on the lookout for more songs, too! You know which genres I prefer. If you have any songs you'd be willing to donate or trade for, I am always willing to exchange! A few of my favorite bands are Fall Out Boy, Killswitch Engage, Cake, Cannibal Corpse, and many others! I'm open to anything except country music. Country music is just...ulch -- I just can't stand it . I like emo, rock, techno, jpop, death metal, and even a little bit of rap. Yesterday, I purchased the newest Killswitch Engage CD; I told everybody that already, though. I have a shitload of musical Cd's. I only have about 40 percent of them ripped onto my PC / iPod. I would probably have close to 3,600 songs in my media library if they were all ripped. I want some import Cd's, but the suckers cost about anywhere from $50.00 to $80.00 or even higher! If anyone out there could help me find some Yoko Kanno that I don't have, I would love them forever . All of the torrent sites are fraying away from music; I might have to buy my imports after all .

The fall semester starts up in a little under a month. I am not going to attend until around August 2008. I'm delaying so long because by then I'll have a steady income and a place that I can call my own. I am on a list to be admitted into a low-rent, fancy apartment. It's completely furnished and as far as I know, all it needs is some internet! Let me get back on the topic here. The classes at the university provided no challenge and they were rather boring. I guess that's why they call them entry level classes. I can't wait until my Junior or Senior year when the classes actually challenge me a little. I can't wait to go back to school and begin working on my degree again. I know many of the professors out there by their first name and they know all about my mental condition; they support me in every way, shape, and form. Going back will be both a privilege and honour.

Two days ago, I went with my dad to Books a Million. He was looking for a Dune book, and I was just browsing around randomly. I stumbled across a book about Hinduism. I have been curious about Hinduism for quite some time. I snatched up this book and my dad was so kind as to pay for it. I will start reading it in bed tonight. Hopefully this book will answer all, or at least most of, my quesions about the Hindu religion. I don't believe in the Christian religion and it's sects. I consider myself agnostic, but I am looking for a religion to follow. In order to do this, I will have to read and research everything I can. I need to find a religion that's right for me -- a religion that I can put my faith in. Whatever I choose, I'm sure that my friends and family will support me. They were with me when I announced that I was bisexual (there are still some things about my bisexuality that only a few friends know about).

My mom has such a green thumb. She planted several tomato plants and green pepper plants. The cherry tomatoes she planted are coming out a quart per day. Several pounds of tomatoes and peppers are flowing in. They taste so good, too! Even the neighbors are enjoying the mini-harvest.

Nothing much more to write about. I'll talk to everyone in a day or two! ~Alex.