Back from the microlab operator party

Submitted: Sunday, April 4, 1999 03:11

I recently returned from the microlab operators party, where we watched two movies on DVD (only one of which was eligible for my movielog; the other was pan-and-scan). It was a fun evening of ice cream, friends, jokes, and of course movies. First we watched Chevy Chase's Vegas Vacation (pan-and-scan, so not logged). It was somewhat funny in spots, but nothing to leave you in stitches. After that, Neelix was lobbying to see Contact. I agreed with him, but we were outvoted by people who wanted to see Ronin. I really enjoyed watching it again anyway, though. Those chase scenes were really something. Just got done typing a brief entry about it over in the movielog.

Right now, Neelix is quite asleep behind me. He and some other people left the party early, before Ronin started.

Sometimes I wonder if I should reevaluate my policy against including pan-and-scan viewings in the log. Seems like I just come over here and say stuff about them. I guess I feel like I can't give a proper review without seeing the whole movie, and that includes being able to see the entire frame. I think I'll stick with my current policy of widescreen only for a while longer.

Tomorrow a whole gang of us are gonna go see The Matrix. Based on what I've heard (which I've tried to keep to a minimum to avoid spoilers), it is going to be an excellent movie. We'll see. I'm really looking forward to that one.

What else to ramble about... The country is a war with the Serbs, blah blah blah. I haven't really followed it closely, but what's to know? Our government blows. We are the world-wide police force, and you shall follow our dictates! So says the all-rightous Bill, so shall it be done!

There. That's my commentary on the matter.

I've decided I'll further injure my already busted budget and go to Starfest two weeks from now. The power of peer pressure. I think it's gonna be fun. Also a nice excuse to spend a couple days back in home country. :)

Looking at the clock, I see that I have been typing random junk in this window for more than 20 minutes now. Something about that says I should stop, but I don't really feel like stopping. Ok, so what else to discuss?

Since I can't really think of anything of irrelevance to say, it must be time to start spilling the beans. If any of my friends happen to read this before I tell them, oh well. It's a public web page. Need I say it: Spoiler below. (Later I'll get to the irony of people spilling their most private thoughts to the general public on the Internet, but that would be off-topic right now.)

I haven't told anybody around here this yet, save one person. Earlier this week, I applied for admission to the University of Colorado for the next fall semester. I don't know whether I'll be accepted. If I am accepted, I don't know for sure whether I'll attend. I am seriously thinking about it. I must be, since the fee to apply is $40, and the check I wrote for said amount nearly cleaned my bank account. The question I keep asking myself: why?

Call it intuition. Call it insanity. Call it the feeling of not fitting in here. Call it wanting to explore, to move on, find new territory. Call it a slight dissatisfaction with the computer science program here. (Oh shit, I hope none of my current teachers are reading this. Lord knows they do the best they can. Well, I think it's highly improbable that any of them would be. Otherwise I wouldn't write this.)

Beyond that, it certainly isn't any secret that I don't share, even sometimes find myself at odds with, the religion here. So far, that hasn't been a serious problem. Worship credits are a minor inconvenience, really. And everyone around here has been really nice about it. I haven't been ostracized by anyone. On the contrary, virtually everyone I've known has been friendly as can be. Which is what makes this so difficult. So what's the problem?

Lately, I've been doing some serious thinking. To put it bluntly, I'm going to need to look for a mate soon. For me, this just ain't the place. When I search for a soulmate, I want to find someone who shares my religion (which, in my case, is mostly a lack thereof). Well, I don't think I'll elaborate anymore on that one right now.

Anyway, my place of schooling next year is quite uncertain at this point. If I do leave next year, the hardest part by far is going to be all the friends I'd leave behind. If it weren't for all the people I know here, the choice would be a no-brainer for going to CU. As it is, it's a really tough choice.

Sometime in the next few days/weeks, I'm gonna have to break it to everyone; inform them of the possibility that I might not be coming back. The question is: how to do it? One way would be to say it separately to each person I know. Right now I'm favoring sending a mass email out. I dunno. I'll have to think about it. Of course, there's the possibility that one or more reads this web page before that happens. If that happens to be you, congratulations.

Well, now another half-hour has passed, and I really am getting tired of typing. I may regret having splattered my guts about applying for CU tomorrow. I hope not.