AWOL

I think I'm going to engage in some mitosis here. I'll probably throw my random personal crap to keep the diaspora o' friends updated on some social networking site, then relaunch this as just a place for my thoughts, of which I assure you I still have a few (despite my best attempts to kill off those pesky braincells with copious amounts of vodak.)

Don't stay tuned.

Streetcars Are Back!

Finally, after 2+ years of waiting, the St. Charles Streetcars are back. Not that half-assed shit through the Lee Circle loop for tourists to circle around from nowhwere to nowhere, or the relatively useless run down to Napoleon Avenue. The St. Charles avenue streetcar line is being extended tomorrow morning down the entire length of St. Charles avenue.

For me, this means the antiquated yet charming streetcars I fell in love with freshman year will once again be running right in front of my school, a fun and easy way to get downtown or to the French Quarter on the cheap.



They still don't run up Carrollton, but they weren't expecting our segment of the line to be running until late Spring. To tell the truth, I wasn't expecting to be able to ride one again until after I graduated. This is a great Christmas present of sorts, and has lifted my mood ridiculously high. You better believe I'm going to be riding one of those streetcars tomorrow.

One of the subtle signs that has always bugged me after the storm, was the disappearance of the usual distant rumble of the single car electric trolleys (don't call them that here!) going down their tracks. That conspicuous absence has been an ever-present reminder of Katrina, even in the relatively unscathed portion of Uptown New Orleans where Loyola University sits.

It's a rare success in a beleaguered city. I'm going out to celebrate.

Underserved Resources

Every once in awhile, a normal person gets the opportunity exploit the massive resources of a large organization for their own ends. I'm experiencing that right now.

Truly, there is nothing more beautiful than an open Bit-Torrent client running multiple gigabyte-sized downloads at blazing speeds through a University's fat pipe -- with nobody else on the fucking network.

Seriously. Now I know what it'd be like to live in Japan or South Korea, as far as download speeds go. I just had a total nerdgasm.

Left Behind

Due to... interesting circumstances back home in New Mexico, I don't really have anywhere to return to. So I made a special request to stay in the dorms over Winter Break. So that means the current occupancy of this 7 story building include:

1) Me
2) The school president

This should be amusing. In the interest of science, I have decided to graph out any and all effects this situation will have on me. I've already noticed one, relating to general music taste and willingness to play crap: