I usually try not to make a big deal out of my birthday by, you know, not mentioning it on a public medium such as this, but this is more out of appreciation and to give credit where credit is due ...

Beki - Thanks for the Enrique Iglesias e-card ... sponsored by ACUVUE contact lenses. Cracked me up!

Leah - Thanks for the e-card where the monster eats candy corn ... but gets acid reflux if he eats the green ones. I wasn't very good.

Dad - Thanks for calling to wish me happy birthday at 6:23 a.m. this morning ... on my day off. And thanks also for calling again 10 minutes later to do the same thing.

Tracy - Thanks for the IM, I know I still owe you, and why the heck did you call me "Rabbit"?

Laura - Thanks for the IM, I think I will have a great day, and you have a great day as well.

Amber - Glad you guys had fun at dinner, wish I coulda been there too. Don't work too hard.

Kid - Thanks for the birthday greeting. Don't think that just because this message isn't as long as the others that I don't appreciate your birthday greeting as much as the others. Now I guess this message is as long - well longer even - as the others.

*Update*

Erin - Thanks for the birthday message. I hope your costume works out and have a blast with whatever you do!

If you notice that your name isn't on this list it's because you haven't given me ample reason to put you here. If you want to fix that, I think you know what to do (I'll be accepting 10's, 20's (preferrably one of the new "techni-color" ones) and 50's. I also take credit cards).

Happy Halloween everyone

I've been making inordinate use out of the "Draft" feature of ScribNotes lately. I just can't seem to "turn the corner", if you will. I can't tie everything together. I can't finish my thoughts. Heck, I even had a hard time putting together these 4 or 5 lines of pitter-patter. What's the best way I know how to end my keyboard constipation? Read. That's what I'm doing now.

At the height of it's popularity, any hit series targeted toward teens would be remiss if they didn't film an episode specifically devoted to the subject of drugs. Saved By The Bell, a show I grew up with and possibly the greatest and most influential teen-oriented sitcom of all time was no exception. In fact, during it's time on the air SBTB devoted (by my count) two shows dealing with the dangers of drugs. The first, and perhaps most famous, centered around Jessie's addiction to caffeine pills. (What SBTB enthusiast could ever forget that pivotal scene when Zack climbs through Jessie's window, wakes her up, and then very patiently weathers her crying rendition of "I'm So Excited" - "I'm so excited, I'm so excited, I'm so .... scared!"?)

But the anti-drug episode that may have slipped through the cracks of your memory (and incidentally through the cracks of my Digital Video Recorder) featured fictional movie star "Johnny Dakota". Mr. Dakota was the Bayside equivalent to Tom Cruise. Everything he touched turned to gold (well, at least for resident schemester Zack Morris, who sold everything Johnny touched, mostly to star-struck Lisa Turtle). Johnny and his manager were looking for a high school to film an anti-drug spot for NBC, and after meeting Kelly Kapowski, captain of the cheerleading team, Johnny's search was over.

Johnny befriended the Bayside crew and even offered them a spot in the commercial. But things went awry when a "roach" was found in the boys' bathroom (This later lead to a hilarious citizen's arrest scene featuring pop-culture icon Dustin Diamond. Does anyone think Dustin might be interested in doing an interview with thedustin.com?) After some hesitation, Johnny decided to keep the commercial at Bayside and invited the gang to a party. At the party, everyone's night was ruined when Screech hurt himself pretending to be a stunt man - everyone except for Kelly that is, who was coaxed into staying with Johnny. Things really took a turn for the worse when Johnny offered Kelly a hit off of his joint. (Great message here that shouldn't be lost. Johnny tries to bait Kelly with the "Come on, everyone's doing it" and Kelly respondes with a resounding "Not me". Nice)

The gang unleashes its fury towards Johnny, a scene which climaxes with Zack shoving Johnny's jacket back at him in a show of utter disgust and disappointment. Next we see the gang in Mr. B's office, lamenting their lost opportunity at fame when Beldo suddenly remembers he knows the President at NBC (played by the real NBC President at the time, Brandon Tartikoff, who has since passed away). The next scene shows the group filming the end of the commercial and then Tartikoff remarking what an interesting idea it would be for a TV show about a principal and his students, then quickly shrugging the idea off saying "Nah, it'll never work."

Finally, viewers are treated to the actual commercial. And while the rhyme was elementary and the concept was hokey, the final message stood out loud and clear. "There's no hope with dope!"

It's very fitting that the last entry I wrote detailed the famous "Streaming vs. Downloading" argument here in 3234Q because tonight I was vindicated. All of us were in T-Rav's room watching streaming video of Hodgson's¹ hamstring crampin up when suddenly the red "stop" indicator came up on Real Player and the video paused for a moment to allow the video to rebuffer. Eric and T-Rav both tried to pass the "pause" off as a lull in the class when Hodgson awaited the response to a question (how unlucky can I get that that would be where the video would need rebuffering?) and Eric ran for the white board to silence my argument with my own handwritten admission "I know nothing". I proceeded to completely ignore my previously stated pledge to always honor the board, and cried "Foul!" in more-than-as-many words.

Yet, through all of that, the issue remains unresolved and the debate continues.

¹ Dr. Thom J. Hodgson is the James T. Ryan Professor in the Industrial Engineering Department at N.C. State University. He is also the mentor of my mentor Dr. Russell E. King, similiarly a professor of Industrial Engineering at N.C. State University.

Imagine the apartment (3234Q) as a microcosm of the U.N. where egos collide, many words are spoken and nothing is ever agreed upon.

e-pa: What are you doing out here?
thedustin: I'm taking a break while I wait for this lecture to download
T-Rav: Why are you downloading it anyway?
thedustin: I don't really like streaming. Everytime I stream something it ends up messing up or something and I lose video. It only takes 20 minutes.
T-Rav: I streamed it and it worked fine.
e-pa: If you can download it-
thedustin: [getting a little frustrated] well it doesn't work for me. it must be I always try to watch it at busy times
e-pa: - if you can download it in 20 minutes, then you should be able to stream the lecture [and watch simultaneously] for an hour.
thedustin: you'd think that but -
e-pa: NO. If you can download it in 20 minutes, then you can stream it
T-Rav: I just don't understand why you don't stream it
thedustin: I JUST LIKE TO HAVE THE STUPID THING ON MY COMPUTER. I LIKE THAT BETTER! I like to have it on my hard drive just in case I want to watch it again, or fast forward and stuff.
T-Rav: I fast forwarded when I watched and it worked just fine.
thedustin: You're right, I spent an entire summer doing nothing but working on internet stuff and I have no idea what I'm talking about. Streaming is perfect. It never fails. I JUST DON'T LIKE STREAMING. So I download whenever I have the option.
e-pa: Now he's getting angry
thedustin: I'm not getting angry, but you're implying that it's stupid that I do something that I just prefer to do. It's my prerogative if I want to download it or not
e-pa: Yep, he's mad
thedustin: Whatever, I think the stupid lecture's done downloading now.

... And now, to keep me calm and to make things easier for "downstairs", on the whiteboard in the living room we have written the words "I know nothing", with a triple-underline emphasis on "nothing". Roommates need only point to the whiteboard when it seems I may be starting an argument, and I will immediately silence myself.

I did it! I got the cellophane plastic wrap and the "security seal" off, each in one piece. That's the first time it's ever happened for me, and I owe it all to John Mayer. I do owe some kudos to Vertical Horizon as well because I got theirs off in a total of 5 pieces (1 for the cellphane, 4 for the sticker). Basically this is just my way of telling you I go the new John Mayer and Vertical Horizon cds. They're really great. I would write some reviews, but no one's paying me to do that so I can't justify spending the time to do so. Plus I'm not a very good review writer.

It's just so awesome to see what other people are up to. Check out Danielgilligan.pix.

Those of you who know me know I don't normally like to brag - wait a minute that doesn't sound right - but I feel I must share with the world that BJ, Eric and I got tickets to the Lord of the Rings Marathon theatrical release. We really really (but not really really really) tried to get tickets for a select few others of you out there, but we were lucky to get what we got. Now we're just trying to decide if it would make better sense to just sell the suckers. Just kidding, we're going.

... Unless the going rate climbs over $500. Well, maybe $1000.

There are moments in your life when something hits you so hard, and there's no way you could have ever prepared yourself for that moment. It's almost as if the person on the other end of the line is talking to you in slow motion. You don't quite know what's coming next, but when the words pass over their lips, through the tiny circuits in the phone vanishing in thin air and then reappearing, only slightly distorted, in the empty, yearning tunnels of your inner ear you know exactly what they're telling you. Your brain processes a million memories. Moments frozen in time thaw right before your eyes as you rush to keep them cold from fear of spoiling. But you know it's for the best. You know that everyday that passed was a blessing, a gift in itself to be cherished. You know that your life has moved on, and time and circumstance would no longer allow you to be together anymore.

Still, I had a lot of great times in that 1994 hunter green Jeep Cherokee Sport. And though my future plans included rebuilding her and reliving the days of yore, I know it's for the better. I know that wishing and wanting more time with her was only selfish and wasteful. But I loved her, and she loved me and we'll have that forever.

Song of the Moment: Boyz II Men's "It's so Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday"

I won't dwell on this for too long, but I was watching the intro for the Street Ball: The And 1 Mixtape Tour on espn, and it seems to me that teams could eliminate a high percentage of their opponents' dunks just by boxing out. But what do I know?

Anyway ... Greetings! I suppose it's been a while since I communicated, I mean really communicated. Things have been a little rough. I've been going back and forth about my decision to go to graduate school. Some days I like it, others I don't. I think the biggest problem is that the drive and motivation isn't there. It just seems like after so many years of school, it's time to be doing something different. But I know if I got a job I'd probably long for the freedom of school once again. Who knows. Regardless, I'm gonna stick it out, but everyday the odds of me staying to get a Ph.D get smaller and smaller.

In related news, at 8:55 a.m. this morning my Fall Break officially commenced. As per my usual fall break routine I'll be using the free time to try and get myself caught up with school work and work work. I'll also be spending a little bit of time in Winston-Salem to watch two of my temporarily least favorite ACC schools battle it out on the gridiron. No word yet on who I'm going to root for, though seeing as how I'll be in Winston-Salem, it might be more beneficial to my health to root for the Deacs.

Lots more to look forward to: Smallville and party time in Chapel Thrill tonight. Everyone have a great evening.

For those of you who don't check the scribnotes homepage regularly, johnnyh is back.

Update:
johnnyh in color.

Is it pathetic that the most exciting thing in my life this week is the season premiere of Smallville?

I don't care, I'm pumped.

On a sadder note, it will be the first season permiere without Dan. Keep it real over there in jolly old England, buddy.

Oh, and let me add that Beth isn't coming until Sunday evening, which technically is the beginning of next week. So there will be some competition for the second episode of Smallville next week ... just kidding.