Another new MSN...in a way

I've been seeing the advertisement at the bottom of MSN for too long..."Download the new Windows Live Messenger Beta Now!" I decided to try it. I knew that there's been some talk about Windows Live and what it's about and it seems that it will be a part in replacing MSN with Windows Live. There's very little differences aesthetically. I've also confirmed my feelings on what Microsoft wants you to do with their program. Basically, in the newest release, they added the Personal Message space that is really easy to edit and change. They assume that people would do what they want...Use the main blank for a name and put the stupid quote in the Personal Message blank. But people don't get it. They still use quotes, 2 quotes, for one person. OK? Personally, I like to know who the person is in my messenger list. I don't want to have to get through the dumb quote just to find the email address, who sometimes I can't even remember from that. Now I admit I do have a quote, and they are stupid, but I want people to know that that is me right away so they know who they can avoid talking to via MSN. Well, in this new beta, they give you the opportunity to change someone's name on your end. This means that if your friend Jimmy's name is some really long, really stupid quote, you can right click on Jimmy and make the messenger call him "Jimmy" as a nickname (finally!). This has been a feature in Messenger Plus for a long time and now it's official. However, the new nickname replaces the main blank, meaning you will only see the quote in the Personal Message blank. They really want you to use a name. I like this because people can rename my name to however they know me. The Jimmy group can rename me to that, the Kevin group can change it to Kevin. That way no one would think that Kevin/Jimmy is two people sharing one MSN.

Long story short...download the new Messenger and try it out for yourself.

Too Many Comics

Today we went off to Omaha for a Comic Book Convention to see what they had. We picked up Angie in Norfolk first and we were off. We found the convention and it was neat. It was basically a large WillyCon vendors area but with a lot of crap in it. I wanted the next Ultimate Spider-Man volumes but they had none of them. There was a good amount Ultimate X-Men, though. They had Amazing Spider-Man #36 which is the 9/11 reaction black issue for $35.00. I thought that was too much and I wouldn't keep it in perfect mint condition so I declined. I did pick up Marvel Zombies which is hilarious. Everyone came out with purchases.

We then went to Dragon's Lair to see the selection. Steph toyed around with purchasing Munchkin, 1602, or Maus. She decided to wait. I picked up volumes 8 and 9 which made Book Lady giddy. We then went out eat at Biaggi's. I had to tell Daniele, the driver, 5 times to turn right onto Dodge. Frickin' A! Biaggi's was awesome, as always. We then went to Krypton to see the selection. They had a Green Goblin from the movie! It was out of packaging too so it was cheap. I'm excited. Steph picked up action figures as well and got 1602. We then went to Dave & Buster's to see the arcade. We then returned to Wayne to read the multitudes of comics.

The Da Vinci Dream

Last Friday, I had a strange dream. Not only is it strange because I actually remember it, but it was epic. I dreamed that there was a group of us in Paris. I figure it's because I read The Da Vinci Code not too long ago. We decided to go to the Louvre. It's basically me, Daniele, Steve, and Jodie for some reason. We getting our tickets to go in and we see the Inverted Pyramid. Bear in mind, I have neither been to the Louvre nor Paris in my life so my brain is in overtime. They see the pyramid and decide it would be funny to take a picture of it because of the novel. So they stand in front of something, but instead they're in front of some other display next to some Dutch people. I get them over to the correct area with the pyramid and after trying to get my battery-hogging camera to take the picture we walk off. I stop to check that no one actually stood in front of the pyramid.

We go up to the first floor and everyone scatters. So I wander for a while, find a map, and meet up with Daniele at the staircase. She's watching the other people's stuff and I wonder when they're getting back because I want to see the Mona Lisa on the second floor (I know it's there because I now have a map!). She says, "There's more!" as she stands next to the giant staircase. I say, "Of course," she starts running up the stairs. I remind her that she's watching people's stuff so she comes down and a few seconds later they how up. For some reason, I'm really apprehensive about walking across balconies, stairs, catwalks, etc. So walking up these stairs is freaking me out because I don't want to trip or drop something over the banister. We see the Mona Lisa and start walking around. Somehow the Louvre has a Lincoln section because I remember seeing a door and saying, "Oh, that's the State Library. We've already been there," recalling spring break.

I then walk upstairs to the third floor and for some reason, there's a ton of books as if the Louvre has books now. I'm looking at books and there's this statue of Leonardo Da Vinci. The statue says to me, "You want the gold?" I say, "What gold?" and he tells me to follow some guy in the distance. He instructs me to grab one of the brown books and follow him. I pick up a book with a wooden cover and strange, red and black text in it that is unreadable (You can't read in a dream anyway). I follow him back down to the lobby level, freaking out down each stair. There's a not-so-secret passageway right off the lobby that the guy disappears into. It's very dark and shadowy in there. The others find me somehow and Sam winds up in the shadows. We find the gold behind a door. It's basically a bunch of coins, chains, crowns, and other treasure classics. So Sam takes a wheelbarrow and drives all this gold out of the passageway into the lobby with us following him. He walks past the ticket clerks as they give odd looks at the sight and we get outside. Suddenly a guard starts running after us and, for the one logical moment, as Sam takes off running with the gold in tow, we all freeze and ignore him as the guard slips past us. I wake up. I said it was epic.

Holy crap! They shot him!

Well I was fairly productive over the weekend. I got a job at the bank I always work at. This time I'm a teller at the downtown branch. It's a little nice because it's full-time and from May to the end of July so I have August to prepare myself for college mode. Now let's see if I can manage to squeeze in some midnight showings this year...

On one hand, I'm really glad I have a job. On another I wish I was moving to Omaha or Lincoln to work because I would like to be on my own. It's just not cost-effective at the moment. Well, one less stress in my life.

I got a haul from the weekend. I got so much money to buy more Ultimate Spider-Man volumes. Apparently, Book Lady went up to my room before I got back wanting #5. I surprised her by not only bringing #5, but #6 as well. She may have joygasmed.

My room is much smaller now it seems. I took some stuff home. I don't miss any of it but it reminds me that all things end, well at least for 3 months. I never thought I'd be at a point where I'd rather be at school than out for summer. It's a good thing I'm going into teaching!

When I was at Wal-Mart, I saw they had Superman Returns action figures. They had every concievable Superman, but where was the pussy Lex Luthor? Who is he supposed to fight? I just found out the other day that they did make a Green Goblin from the first Spider-Man movie. I would love to find that nice and cheap. It would be neat if they released a line based on Ultimate Spider-Man.

A few days ago I was playing Star Trek: Armada and I was getting upset at getting owned too easily. I basically pulled a Brenner and chucked my mouse. It got jammed. I opened it up and cleaned the gunk out and fixed the problem. After doing that, I realized I actually improved the thing. My scrolly thing no longer clicks and scrolls much smoother. Cosmic.

Registration

I forgot to say...I got all nice and registered on Monday. Apparently I ended last semester with 91 credits so I'm technically a senior. Cool! It's a little disconcerting knowing that it took me 5 semesters to get to seniority, and it will take another 5 to attain a degree. What can you do? As a senior I had no difficulty getting into classes. I'm taking:

MWF 10:00 am - Intro to Anthropology with Ellis
MWF 11:00 am - Child Growth and Development with Dinsmore
MWF 1:00 pm - The Ancient World with Taber
MW 2:00 pm - Human Relations with Dinsmore
TR 2:00 pm - Ethics and Values with Slaymaker

My Tuesdays and Thursdays are going to rock. I won't even need an alarm. I kinda wish I could take 18 hours again but it's hard to find good classes that aren't MWF 10:00 am. On the other hand, being so busy with 18 hours makes my grades drop a little and with the presidency keeping me occupied, I could afford a break. Dinsmore is really going to get tired of me after a while. I'm also looking forward to Taber's Ancient World because I like his classes and a lot of people are going to be in it. In a way I wish I could take more Leeper or Bertolas classes but I don't need anymore. I think the Political Science classes are starting to get to smart for me anyways but I still wouldn't mind another Bertolas class. Well he won't miss me because I'll still be in Explorers Club.

Elections

Yesterday I was elected Sci-Fi Club President which is exciting. I know a lot of people wanted me to be the next president. I also have a great officer team for next year as well. I'm excited to see what will happen and I look forward to leading the club.

Today we had ACM elections and honestly, I'm glad I didn't win. This semester I have been running low on time constantly and I basically fail at being the Secretary. Also, I'm no longer in the major and I feel that the majors should be the ones taking initiative.

Tomorrow I have no class so I may sneak into Sioux City and get the next Ultimate Spider-Man volume before the Haunted House brainstorming session at 6:00pm in the gag.

A neat idea

A few minutes ago, Book Lady, Steph, and I were talking about an idea the campus could do to make a small amount of money. Charge students for storage space over the summer. It would be neat if the college would let you keep your stuff in your room, especially in Morey which isn't used over the summer, for like $50 so you wouldn't have to take it home. They probably would deny access to your items until the dorms reopen in the fall and they would have to clear it to make sure there is no pest control issues but I think it's neat but that they'd never do it. Oh well, one can dream.

A light heart carries you through all the hard times.

Yesterday Steph, Book Lady, and I went into Sioux City because I wanted to get Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 3. We spent a good while there and then we went over to Rainbow Sportcards. This was recommended by Heath and it's a neat place that's not very far from ACME as well. They have a nice selection of comics and they sell some as complete sets. They also have a ton of action figures from everything. It was very random to see everything there. It does smell like cigarette smoke but it's still a neat place. I have found out that only ACME has all volumes of Ultimate Spider-Man up here so that's all I can go to. After we came back we went to Magic Wok to eat something besides Gag food. It's been a while since I've been there. Well, I have a small amont of homework to do so I should get to it...

WillyCon VIII: Sunday

Today, I woke up to get to the con again! We were watching the last episode of Enterprise and discussing it today. We had more technical problems... The room had no DVD player. The DVD player in the atrium had no remote to select the episode. The speakers in the room with Curt's borrowed DVD player were too quiet. So we got it set up in the atrium. It went well. People would stop and see Riker and Troi and watch for a while. We then watched some movies. I got Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 2 from ACME and a double roller from Sci-Fi Kingdom. I went to Mike Marek's panel about Sci-Fi on TV and he was right about a lot but then it got into which Treks were better and it just sounded like originalists vs. new shows and I don't see a difference personally. I watched Spider-Man 2 for a while then. I went to Steph and Jodie's Firefly/Serenity panel which went very well. I hope they do it or another one similar again next year. Then the con wrapped up and now I'm blogging.

WillyCon VIII: Saturday

Yesterday I worked the registration desk most of the day to see what happens. Heath arrived and soon it was our panel. It went well despite taking 20 minutes to get technology to work. First we had no wireless receiver for the mouse and keyboard. We stole a keyboard and mouse from the lab but the mouse had no ball. We soon found one and we were ready. We showed the trailers and images and a lot of people commented. I think Heath enjoyed the discussion so that was good. I will definitely do that panel again next year either with movies or with comics alone. I hope Heath can help too because he is very good. We'll see what happens. The Star Wars panel went well. Jenn was kinda quiet and attendance was a little low. Matt, Jen, Norby, and Will basically randomly discussed things. I don't blame Jenn for being quiet. It was a very Expanded Universe heavy panel and I don't think I will do it next year unless there is a lot more information on the TV shows next year. Jenn stormed out later and Steph kinda made it worse. She felt that she was useless and that she should quit but she calmed down. There were some problems earlier and this just compounded it. After that I bought Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 1 from ACME. I read that during the art auction and I got in the mood to dress as Wonka. Steph and I won best Eye Candy so we each got $15. After that Steph, Greg, Shawn, and Angie played Munchkin. Greg won easily and at one point got 17 treasures. We watched some RPGs then left. I was really food-deprived so I bought some vending food. I love a Saturday Con!

WillyCon VIII: Friday

On Friday I spent most of the day at the registration desk signing up people for the Halo Tournament. We got a good amount of players and everything went well. Dan got everything set up in the lower level and I think a lot of the club was surprised and happy to see such a turnout for a WillyCon event. There were a lot of games and a lot of Capture the Flag teams. Daniele won newbie followed by Angie and Book Lady. Jason won Legendary which was cool. Jason's team of him, Demon, Hinkel, and Mole won CTF. During the large intermediate matches it got down to Mark, Brenner, a Wayne High student, and Hinkel. The match was for 50 but at first they thought it was to 25 so when they got to 25 there was a tie for 3rd but it was set up for 50. As the game went on Brenner slipped to 4th. He slammed his controller to the ground and walked off. I felt bad but there was nothing I could do. After it ended I cleaned up and went back to the dorm. I couldn't get to sleep until 5 am because my legs were freaking out. All in all, a good day.