Want to read Flickering Light from the beginning? Click here!

Monday, January 31, 2011

Day 10

fffffff- Rushed post so I can get to work on the half a dozen things I need to do before tomorrow morning. Heavily considering skipping my morning class to get stuff done. :(

Picture: Something from an Alfred Hitchcock film, seemingly

Background: I was on my way to the dining hall and I looked up. Birds. Lots of them. There were more that flew around and past them. It was a bit creepy to see, but cool regardless. But if it wasn't for this, I never would've gotten a picture for today.

Went to Casino night (which was a partial mistake partial win). So it's later in the night than I wish it was. Right now I can count at least six things that I have to get done by 1:30pm tomorrow. And this Project 365 post is making me stresssssss. So just a song for today instead of a video. Because I'm lazy and hurried right now. Blargh!

today's video is pure acid...

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Day 9

Whee! Sunday! Weekend! Workworkworkworkworkworkwork

Picture: Koosh? What in the..?

Background: Okay, so I've had this thing since the 3rd grade. It's a pencil sharpener! I vaguely remember getting it at Chuck E. Cheese's way back whenever. I've lost it probably three or four times now, but it's always found its way back to me. Some of my oldest friends might still remember it. It's like a token to my youth. Why I've kept it for so long, I have no clue. But it works well except when lead gets stuck inside it. Since I've basically switched over to mechanical pencils, I haven't had much use for it, so my high school friends probably have never seen this thing and I doubt it'll be put to use at all in college. It's probably one of my few keepsakes that I'll actually keep. It's survived this long (about ten years now...good God!) so why not? The side's picture is peeling, the koosh hair has been pulled on and some ripped out, some cut, the little "mouth" that holds the shavings doesn't have good hinges anymore, but I still love the thing. Plus, it's purple. Royalty color. Hell yeah.

today's video is very handy...

PS - Proof that 117 haunts me: dorm room number.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Winchester

I wrote a story awhile ago. I think you might like it. If not, just complain via email/comments/voicemail and it'll be promptly ignored. It's also copyrighted, so if you're gonna use it, give credit or link it back to me or something. Enjoy!

-------------------------

So I woke up with a Winchester 97. It's a beautifully made gun, pump action, good condition. In fact, I wish I could say that I was in as good of a condition as it was. But I was looking down its barrel; that was not a good condition to be in. Considering that the person whose right index finger was on the trigger mechanism did not have the highest opinion of myself, I was in a terrible condition. A bad position as well, since I was on my back and still slightly groggy from the peaceful sleep I was entrenched in. I will say “slightly” because looming death can snap someone awake or sober up the most inebriated of all drunks.

I was not drunk, because I could probably have not done the following.

I took a deep breath and said a quick, “Hi.” I allowed my obedient and faithful left hand to fall noiselessly off the bed. During the descent, the owner of the finger mentioned earlier fully launched himself into some sort of tirade about how I betrayed him or stole something of his or I forget what. I just nodded as anyone with a gun pointed at himself would do. Once I felt the handle of the bat that I keep under my bed (the sports kind, not the insect devouring kind), I tensed a little. More than likely it was because the Winchester had found it's way to near the back of my throat. Actually, that was definitely the real reason I tensed up. So I took the only chance I had and brought the bat to meet the finger's related head.

And me being me, I missed and flung the bat halfway across the room. Damn. Not the best at-bat that I've had. The best I've had was a home run I hit when I was in little league baseball.

But this was far from a home run.

Luckily enough, the finger, along with its owner, turned and got distracted by the crashes the bat caused. This gave me enough time to spit out the barrel, sit up, and take the Winchester away from the finger's owner. But not without a fight and a few gunshots, both accidental and otherwise.

After I pushed him out the front door rather roughly with the tip of my newly acquired shotgun, I “convinced” him not to return. He showed me that finger.

This time, though, it wasn't his index finger.

Day 8

Took this picture last night instead of today. Don't judge me.

Picture: Pibb Xtra foreground/Dr. Pepper background

Background: A more "artistic" look on my soda addiction. You have Pibb Xtra at the forefront with the Dr. Pepper can(s) in the background as sort of onlookers. Since I'm near the Coke factory, all we ever see on campus is Coke products. So the Pibb is a larger, close up bottle. And since I had Dr. Pepper for the first time in a semester, it's in the background and not as noticeable. I'm still addicted to soda. It'll be awhile before that habit breaks.

Like I said, I took the picture last night. I thought it would be cool to do something with the crazy amount of soda cans I had and the one Pibb bottle I had. Unfortunately this is probably the only picture of the 24 that I took that I actually liked. I took some other "okay" ones, but when I'm actually trying to get a good shot, then I get really picky. Also, I probably should've recycled them but I already threw the trash out yesterday. Screw the earth, I'm not green! ಠ_ಠ

today's video is attached to your rod, motha licka!...

Friday, January 28, 2011

Day 7

A week has gone by already, AND an early update. Awesomesauce.

Picture: Is that...snow? What?

Background: January 11th (17 days ago, ha!) was the start of a huge snowstorm for Georgia. We got I'd say 6 inches of snow which, as far south as Georgia is, is crazy. We're lucky to get any snow during the winter at all. Last time we ever got this much was sometime in 1993, 18 years ago. So yeah, it was a big deal. And there's still little piles of snow where a lot was piled up by the university maintenance people. Crazy!

Happy Friday! I'm gonna try taking some "better" pictures I guess. Improve my day-to-day photography. I've been taking candid-like pictures so far, so...yeah

today's video is the best song ever...

Thursday, January 27, 2011

While I'm at it

Yesterday night we* got 117 views. I even took a screenshot to prove it. I'm such a nerd.


I'm sure I'll post more 117 things as I get them or take pictures of them or something or another or I'll keep using "or" or not.

*we means, I've spammed this on my facebook and around the web enough to garner that much attention from people

Day 6

Whew! Getting the update in last minute. I had Trivia Night with a Mr. Tyler and his friends (Vermont, Billy Joel, and Lost were some of my awesomely right answers). I ate 19 1/2 wings tonight too, so I'm a bit full.

Picture: Me in my dorm room hole.

Background: The guy who did the first Project 365 suggests to take a picture of yourself every so often so you can see how you change and stuff. So it's me! I've got my own little mancave over here. Yes, that's the laptop I update everything on. That's also my Humans versus Zombies bandanna. And I actually ripped off that sticky note because looking at this picture reminded me that I already did what it was demanding me to do. That is also a piano. It stinks, but it's all I've got.

I've actually got some Philip Wesley music coming for me in the mail soon. It's even autographed by the pianist! I'm pretty excited to learn it all (especially since I've got loads of time to play before Percussion Ensemble). I kinda suck at piano but it's still a lot of fun. I also play a lot of video game music, including some on the marimba...

/self-advertising

today's video is a little messed up...

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Day 5

I lied again. Apparently that first video in the previous post is 1:21, not 1:17. The number changed when I clicked the link and I only just now noticed (a day later and a dollar richer). It's still a 117 sighting in my book.

Picture: Open the door, get on the floor, EVERYBODY WALK THE DINOSAUR!

Background: Percussion Ensemble was really chill since the director couldn't be there. We all pretty much know our parts except for one weird section at 61 that we're probably gonna work on a lot. So Luke found some sort of dinosaur hat in the drum room and wore it throughout practice. I keep wanting to take pictures of the more obscure or stranger parts of my day and I believe I've succeeded with this one. Earlier I thought about the street sweeper (since I've never actually seen one in action before) that was cleaning up the street while I waited for the ninja blue bus. But when I had thought about taking the picture, it was already gone. Luckily we've got some crazy/awesome people in the band.

today's video has "all the fun of llamas, but with the added comfort of hats"...

(ps - check out the second, third, and fourth one if you liked that video^)

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Day 4

Rain! Cold rain! I hate the cold. But I'll live; I've had a good track record of surviving winters so far.

Picture: Bikes! The red one to the left and father away than the orange one is mine.

Background: This. It's even seventy seven seconds long! (that's 1:17 for those too lazy to math) So how could I not include it? It's actually on my cycling playlist, too. Along with some other fast paced songs that are awesome (Anamanaguchi, anyone?). I got this bike mostly thanks to my roommate who told me about an awesome bike sale place on campus. It's very used, but it works well. Just some squeaky brakes that I can live with. If it wasn't winter right now I'd be riding it around more, thought I might have to take it out on Thursdays just because of the rush from going from one side of campus to the other in ten minutes.

Today was a big rush of trying to get stuff done. I snapped this picture on my way back from morning class and (almost) immediately got to work and barely finished in time to get to my afternoon class. Other than that it's been a dull, rainy, winter day.

Also, I'm editing this in because I can. I'm conquering planets tonight. It'll probably turn into a Tuesday/some Thursday night thing since that's the best time for the guy I play with. We started a game, still need to finish it. Sins of a Solar Empire is the name of the game. It's pretty cool, but I still suck at it. Oh well.

today's video is probably the best wish someone can make...(partial nsfw warning)

Monday, January 24, 2011

Day 3

I lied last post. That group C418 is more like a rock/ambient/techo group. But I still love some of their songs (especially acid). There's also a song that interrupts a nice soothing melody with an alarm clock, like you're waking up from a dream. It's completely unexpected. Strange, kinda meh.

Picture: A life sized blood droplet and his partner

Background: I was really already feeling like I wasn't going to be able to come up with unique ideas every day. I was trying to think of what I was going to do when I got around to lunch at the Student Center, when these guys passed along. I was already in line to pick up a package (for Cyanide & Happiness books, which is a whole other story itself) and didn't want to chase them down for a picture. So I grabbed my package and was about to go find them when they basically found me. I explained my purpose and they said "sure", so here we are. Not everyday you get to see a life-sized blood droplet.

It's for the Blood Drive on the first floor of the Student Center. I would be more interested if my blood was actually usable. Apparently (according to the 'rents) one of my aunts or great aunts on my father's side had some form of Mad Cow Disease. My family, sans my mother, can't give blood. Which, honestly, I'm not a big fan of watching a whole pint of blood get sucked out of me. So yeah, not a Twilight fan either. Sorry ladies, but you're not dragging me to those movies even if I was really desperate for a date.

Which I may or may not be. *cough*

today's video is Bobby McFerrin being awesome...

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Day 2

So far I'm still at the brother's house. Not sure when I'm actually going back, but I'm sure it'll be soon. Got some ambient music today as well. Pretty uneventful day otherwise.

Picture: 8 empty Dr. Pepper cans, 3 empty Pepsi cans, and an unopened Dr. Pepper can.

Background: Last night was gaming. Brother drank probably three, his wife got hold of the Pepsi, and I had the rest. I'm really addicted to soda. It's kind of a bad thing and I'm not really doing much to counter it. Blargh.

I'm really finding the names of ambient songs to be really interesting. The one I linked has some really fascinating ones. "Long songs are for people who don't have time to make them short" or "I jate my hob" or even "subtle cupcake rhythms" are some of the more fun ones. Eluvium has one called "Nepenthe" named after an alchemical drug for depression (probably my favorite song name) as well as "I Will Not Forget That I Have Forgotten", "Prelude to Time Feelers", and "Perfect Neglect in a Field of Statues". One other band, Explosions In The Sky, has similar tastes in titles and music. Something about all of this ambiance is really appealing to myself. Instrumentals are really my thing, it seems.

today's video is the theme of the internet set to super mario music...

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Project 365 - Day 1

Like I said in my last post (which got so many views, I know), I wanted to start that Project 365 that I've seen so many other people start. Day one is today, January 22nd. It's official.

Picture: My two nephews

Background: My brother picked me up last night to play D&D like we (try to) do every weekend. This morning I woke up and was basically suckered into watching the two kids he and his wife have had so far. They left his wife's phone behind for the older one to play some sort of game on, and the younger was entertaining himself with the blankets and with the game.

Hopefully this project won't die on me; that's my biggest worry with it. This whole blog is going to start out with Project 365 and will go from there. I'm planning to also post some writings and maybe other pictures, but I already have two or three places that I put them up.

today's video is very inspiring...

Friday, January 21, 2011

Welcome

So, I've had an idea to make this. I think I know what I'm going to put up here. I think.

I've got a couple short stories that I definitely want to transfer here. There's also the possibility of me doing that Project 365 deal that I've seen so many others do, and I think it's a great idea. And it'll get me to use my camera even more. Other than that, I've got a few crazy ideas that may go up here.

As for the title of the blog, 117? Well, about freshman or sophomore year in high school I started to notice something. Everywhere I turned for a year or two, I would see the number 117. It just about haunted me wherever I went. It died off a bit the next two years (plus there were some personal things happening that make me ignore a lot of what was going on around me). But lately it's crept back up and made a reappearance since my first semester at college. What started it all off was my dorm room being room 117. I look at a clock and see that it's 1:17 (or 11:17, which happens just as much). A few days ago was January 17th, or 1/17/11. November 7 and 17 will also get my attention, believe me. I've even told a couple friends about it, and now they've gotten the same sick 117 disease I've got.

So basically, I can't come up with a good name for this thing other than 117. I figure, why fight it? Nowadays I just sigh, shake my head, and continue with whatever I'm doing whenever I notice the number.

today's video features a couple of Swedish Twins...