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	Welcome To My Home... December 7, 2002 The Shocking Truth You know, I don't really talk like this. In fact, I'm actually a very boring person to talk to. My brain is simply not fast enough to interpret information and then select the words needed for an appropriate reply in a timely manner. That's one of the problems, anyway. There's also the fact that people use all sorts of slang that I will probably never accept as a valid means of communication. (And I still can't, for the life of me, determine an appropriate response to "What's up?") Add to that the fact that I have managed, thus far, to keep myself so completely out of touch with reality that I really can't even expect to adaquetely relate to the people to whom I am addressing. I know you visualize me having all these wonderfully insightful and personal conversations with my suitemates and other "college buddies" that you must assume I have acquired by this point in time, but that is really quite far from the truth. Anything you see here that's even mildy amusing or intriguing has been bouncing around in my head for a couple hours (if not days) before I actually write about it. Every once in a while, you may come upon one of those slightly less than satisfactory passages sometimes lovingly referred to as "a bunch of crap." These entries are most likely the result of a thoughtless moment of spontaneity where I attempt write something with no idea as to what I actually want to write. (Or when I just feel like writing about crap, of course). The point is, I really don't see myself as a terribly effective communicator in life. This is one of the reasons I love the internet - it's a whole community of people who never talk to each other. Merely the concept of the thing is inexpressibly delightful. It should be no surprise, then, that I'm less than enthusiastic about participating in any form of public speaking. When put on the spot, my entire vocabulary seems to be reduced to about eight words - three of which are indistinguishable to the human ear. I magically forget any idiomatic device that may have been fundamental in the conveyance of my message and end up so far lost that after a while, even I don't know what I'm saying. So I've developed a strategy. I've been told through my various English classes that it's generally not a good idea to write and memorize a speech word for word, but rather to create a loose outline so as to allow flexibility in your presentation should you forget something. My current strategy for public speaking diametrically opposes this line of thought and involves, as you may have guessed, writing and memorizing the speech word for word. (My deepest apologies are extended to those English teachers whose guidance I am blatantly ignoring). For me, this seems to be the best course of action. And the memorization really isn't such a huge feat. Since I take such an extraordinarily long time to write anything, I usually remember it to an extent for a good time afterward anyway. This is something I've become increasingly aware of through the process of writing these posts. I bring this up because just last Thursday, I gave an informative speech about juggling to my Speech Communications class - and I kicked butt doing it, too. You know you've done something right when nobody will volunteer to go next. Or, as I heard someone remark, "Yeah right! Not after that! Like a freaking how-to-juggle video." (Obviously, this person did not see the juggling video that I did make several years ago... Or at least I'm hoping my speech wasn't so corny). So now I'm torn. I still hate public speaking, but I'm always so darned proud of myself when I can actually pull it off that I wonder if the two emotions might even cancel each other out completely. I guess that would make me neutral in regards to public speaking, then. Comments December 7, 2002 Who's up for Spam? This is one of the most entertaining stories I've read in a while. You might want to read some of the things this dick said in the original article first, though. Then check out the follow-up story. It's almost poetic. I've got three primary email addresses that I started at the same time. Right now, my RFhome account is posted multiple times on no less than 120 uploaded internet pages. HalloweenRay is also spread across the internet. My other email address, however, is the one that only about twelve people know about. That's why I couldn't figure out why I was getting a continuous flow of spam into it while my other addresses were clean. My guess is that those two addresses don't come up in bulk email address generators, since "rfh" is not a typical letter combination and "halloweenray" may be too long and specific. Anyway, if you're looking to create a spam-free email address, you might want to keep that in mind. December 8, 2002 History! I direct your attention to this Penny-Arcade comic. You see, one of the wonderful things about the internet, as just about everyone has realized by this point, is that you don't need to print anything, and yet your material can still be enjoyed by millions worldwide. My history teacher has not quite caught on to this fact, yet, and is requiring us to print out the content of any websource cited in its entirety. When you're talking ten cents a page, that comes out to about seven dollars. And there was no way my life I was going to attempt to print seventy pages from my little printer - black ink cartridge or not. It took me nearly two hours last time before I managed to print my measly four-page study guide. All in all, I figure this term paper has cost me about $21. Seven dollars for website printouts; probably about three bucks to photocopy cited material in books - although I did this one at home; another three dollars for printing my first and final drafts; two bucks for a binder; and six dollars for In-N-Out visits... Okay - so maybe it only cost me $15. But $15 is still certainly nothing to blow your nose with. I mean, that's like seven cans of Chunky Soup, right there. Anyway, that's all in the past, now. It's history, if you will. My term paper is finally complete. Done, printed, and ready for judgement. What am I going to do now? I'm going to Disneyland! December 9, 2002 Um. Was it really necessary to have a link to "Chunky Soup"? I mean, thanks for the convenience and all...but... um. yeah. -Victor December 9, 2002 Well... Perhaps I didn't want people thinking that "chunky" was just some hip new adjective I'd picked up. You ever think of that? =) And for those following the term paper saga, it is now finally turned in and out of my life. That's a weight off my shoulders. Really. The thing must've weighed a full pound or so in my backpack. December 9, 2002 Did you... Did you do a search specifically for that Chunky web site so you could include the link? -Julie December 9, 2002 Of course not I visit the Chunky Soup site regularly and have it bookmarked. sigh ...Yes. I found that site for the specific purpose of including a link on my website. It's really not that big of a deal. It's like two clicks into Campbell soup's website (I would normally slip a link in right there, but I fear the responses that might trigger). =)		Quick Links - Fun 'n Folly - Juggling Club - RF Haunt - RF Gallery News/Updates HOME - Latest Post ARCHIVE - Full Archive <- PREV | NEXT -> 12/7 - The Shocking Truth 12/5 - A Forgotten Art 12/2 - Been One Week 11/22 - It Is Done 11/19 - You Going To Answer That? 11/17 - Cleaning Lessons 11/15 - Picture This 11/13 - Sound Check 11/10 - The Rain Did It 11/6 - What Were You Expecting? 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