26 NOV 09 - YAMS ANYONE?

15 NOV 09 - BOWLING TIME - ...I'll admit it, I'm no good at this...BOWLING that is...(or low light photography for that matter).

11 NOV 09 - VETERANS DAY PARADE NYC - So is he (see below).

11 NOV 09 - VETERANS DAY PARADE NYC - This man...IS America, is he not?

10 NOV 09 - KITCHEN/PANTRY/DRESSING AREA/LIVING ROOM/FOYER/SECOND BEDROOM/GUEST ROOM - This...is my kitchen/pantry/dressing area/living room/foyer/second bedroom/guestroom.

10 NOV 09 - WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS - This is where everything happens. For the last 4 and 1/2 years, EVERYTHING has taken place here. It's scary to think of actually, that I really do live at this desk. What you see here is where I spend over 80% of my conscious hours, and two feet to the right is where I spend 100% of my unconscious hours. So aside from classes, meals, maybe a weekend excursion here or there, and the occasional trip to some place "far, far away" this is it. My office, my library, my theater, my cupboard, my dining table, etc. this 7 ft wide area is where I spend the overwhelming bulk of my days (at least for 38 more days!). Its almost overwhelming to think of having my own place someday soon. Actually , it is overwhelming. I don't even think I'd know what to do with all of the space, privacy, cleanliness, and independence. If I were to pan the camera around180 degrees, you'd see my roommates' half of the room. This person...is always...behind me...always...over my shoulder, 8 ft away...leading own little life, trying to make his own space in our room. It's not that he's inconsiderate or a jerk, but anything he does, pisses me off...and do you know why? ... BECAUSE HE'S DOING IT 8 FT BEHIND ME. EVERYDAY. EVERY NIGHT. If he's watching a funny movie/TV show, I know it, because he either is playing out loud on his speaker systems while I'm trying to get my own work done or I hear him laughing hysterically if he has head phones on. If he's got company over, I can tell, because whether I want to or not, I am forced to partake, if only passively, in their conversation.. If he's having a personal conversation on the phone, I can hear it...BECAUSE IT'S RIGHT BEHIND ME. If you can't tell, this drives me crazy. And like I said, it's not him, it's me. I can't wait to live like an adult who can draw off his own boundaries, live by his own rules, and control his domain in a sense. But then again, I've lived like this for so long, do I even know what it means to live independently anymore?






... YES, GET ME THE HECK OUT OF HERE, NOW!!!!!

10 NOV 09 - MY EVERYDAY JOURNAL - This is my journal. Well actually, I have several journals, so I guess that's not exactly accurate. This is what I consider to be my important journal, the one I use for Bible study and to record important notes/snippets that I come across that I feel have a particular relevance or impact on my quest for knowledge and understanding. I don't typically pull a "Jim-Carey-in-23" on all my personal items, so please don't think the walls of my room are all tattooed with "REDRUM" or anything like that. But I've written what I have on the cover of this particularly important item because every time I look at it, I want to be reminded of what I should engage in as I record and review anything on its pages. I only put XYZ in there in the first place because I think that XYZ carry significant gravity and implications for my life, so I find it only appropriate that I remind myself repeatedly what needs to happen as I read and add to it's pages, and ultimately as a result of what I've recorded on it's pages, which ought to be truths that either I, or someone I respect have extracted from the Word of God.

10 NOV 09 - Go Ahead...See if you can piece the magnitude of this picture together...then marvel at how I made it out alive.

10 NOV 09 - CHUCK NORRIS - So it's been a few days since my last post, and I hate when that happens, so I'd like to make it up to you with some opportunistic snapping gold from today: This man, nay, this LEGEND, is the one and only Chuck Norris. The blond lady giving me the inviting stare is his wife. It's a trick, I know. The moment I walk up to her to strike up even the most innocent of conversations, he karate chops and kills me, I'm not falling for it...you siren. The lady behind his wife is a teacher here at my school. She taught my Anthropology class last year and I went with her to Tanzania this past summer on a school sponsored trip. She's essentially throwing me a bone here, pointing me out in the crowd so I could get a decent picture...I just wonder what she could've been saying during the 5-10 seconds she was able to direct his attention towards me: "that's right, the enormous black one, he staring at your wife, making eyes at her. I'm not telling CHUCK NORRIS what to do, but if she were my wife? Well, I'm just saying, I'd rip his jugular out...you won't do it..." Thanks Dr. B. It's amazing how he was able to disguise his contempt for me behind that smile, even while his wife continued to try and lure me in to the snare he had set for me. Thanks, but no thanks, man. I've got plans later on, and they involve LIVING, Chuck...I mean Mr Chuck...Charles...Mr Norris.

06 NOV 09 - WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION - You know that scene in Castaway when Tom Hanks, after becoming stranded on the island, learns to make fire? He stomps around the beach yelling "I...HAVE MADE FIRE!", laughing and dancing around as if he had just cured his own disease. Well this...is THAT moment for me. Not only have I, Daniel, changed my own oil, I, Daniel, have also flushed and filled my own coolant, I have rotated my own tires, and I HAVE DONE MY OWN BRAKE JOB!!! (that last one I'm most proud of; new rotors, new pads, lubricated calipers). I HAVE SAVED MONEY!!! That's what makes me most proud to say, because this time last year, I took my car to a shop that will remain nameless (MIDAS in HARRIMAN, NY) to have my brakes checked for a "clicking" sound they were making. I get there and they have the nerve to tell me I need new rotors and pads all around and they pull out this "transmission fluid test" that looked like a fifth grader put it together to demonstrate that I should get that flushed too. The guy wanted OVER $1,000 that day, and said it all with a straight face. I, being the broke and naive young man I WAS, told him that I didn't have that much money, and that I was leaving the next day to drive back to Ohio FOR THANKSGIVING. Long story short, I got took. I paid them over $500 to put on new pads (which probably won't even last 10,000 miles), resurface my rotors (at a labor cost that would make a Samoan cry), and to lie to me about lubricating my caliper pins...I was a fool. Yesterday (after my brakes were still clicking), I decided to do my brake job myself with the supervision of some REALLY nice local shop guys at the garage here at school. For $8 an hour you can rent a lift in the garage and do whatever you want...and I DID! You can ask them for pointers and instruction and buy whatever fluids or parts you might've forgotten to bring on your own (I had everything but the coolant for the flush). $19 for oil change parts, $120 for a set of rear rotors and brake pads lubricant for my calipers, $23 for the coolant, and $50 to rent the lift for the afternoon to do it all. Grand total: $212...I did at least twice the work for a fraction of the cost...I HAVE MADE FIRE.
(eeeeeeeexxxxcept I made two small mistakes, actually the same mistake twice. I used the "C" clamp (pictured above) to compress the caliper pistons to get my new pads on and ended up chipping the pistons...on both sides.So today I have to go over to the parts store and buy new calipers to slap on, BUT IT'S STILL GONNA TURN OUT TO BE CHEAPER THAN AT THAT SHOP!! I STILL HAVE MADE FIRE, RIGHT?!)