kitty

I'm still looking for more people to share a room. 2 more is ideal!

Oh I don't think you're bashing, I was just a bit confused with your terminology. I get what you're saying but at the same time art is expressive and not everyone is going to agree with the message or method of expression. If the artist is content with their message and delivery then I say that's good for them. (Again, not saying you are against that or anything, that's just my thoughts on the matter.)

I'm not sure "self-awareness" can be described as "shov[ing] a message down peoples throats." I think "preaching," as you mentioned, may be more appropriate. But what I think you're getting at is the heavy-handedness or repetitiveness of a message that results in the consumer of the art becoming fatigued by it. I picked that up from your Braid example where you said "you're just tired of being preached at." I personally don't have a problem with Linkin Park's new stuff for the most part. I rather enjoy a lot of it, but I definitely don't feel like it's "screaming self-pity" either. I think our differing points of view come from our own perceptions of their goal and our own past experiences in consuming this type of music. I personally believe their songs mean things, but I don't believe that they are actually experiencing those self-pitying emotions at the moment or during the song. This helps me get past that "woe is me" message I think you're picking up from their music. I just see it as music I can enjoy and occasionally analyze if I feel like it.

Probably not going. New dates pretty much killed my ability to go.

No worries, I totally understand that So me and nonamer will be rooming together and we have two more spots together in our room!

I am so sad right now. If we can get two more people to split I'm down.

Erutan has such a beautiful voice and it really shows in this mix. As much as I reeeeeally wanted things to keep building and get really epic sounding with a full orchestra and powerful percussion around 3:08, Erutan did a great job with creating a mystical atmosphere. Any "lack" of instrumental background seems specifically crafted to achieve that perfect mysterious and soothing atmosphere. Do recommend!

Work work and no monies. Have fun guys! Perhaps see you in January. edit: oh hmm, flights are pretty cheap around that time. If I could split a room with some people I can probably go!

Supported OCR directly for the first time in my nearly 10 years here!

See you guys there!

Heh..."butthurt"

Breaking my record Every. Single. Time. I go do my circuit. I had noticeable muscle mass increase in my upper arms.

Have a birfday of the happy variety!

The points awarded from FRED are not from a linear function as far as I know.

I believe an "active member" is tallied when an account on the forum logs in once within the last 30 days. If you hover over that area, a tool tip pops up that says "within the last 30 days." It's dropped about 100 users in the last 2-4 weeks.

I think I'm gaining arm muscle. *giddy clapping*

I think that the most exciting thing about my workout results right now is that I'm seeing a slow but steady gain in endurance and/or my mind is believing that my limits are getting higher. This is pretty awesome for me because endurance was always something that I lacked.

I've been told that building muscle and losing fat go hand in hand. But I'm a noob so don't listen to me.

Happy birthday, dude! Still remember your set from MAG 11 and how bomb it was. One of the BEST times of my life! Keep on rockin it!

This cat is buffer than me:

No idea since I am a super noob. Speaking of Fitocracy, zircon you should start updating/tracking on there again. :3

Been seeing some slight improvements in the number of reps I'm pushing into my circuit. My first attempt at the circuit got me through 2 sets and just barely into my 3rd set. Now I'm completing a full 3 sets in the same amount of time. I'm thinking of swapping out the jumping lunges though because my left knee kinda pops a bit and I think I should give it a bit of a rest. Anyone have a suggestion for a replacement? Should be focused on the legs. As a note, squats and the jumping in the burpees don't affect my knee so maybe it's my form?

Get well soon!

1. Taking a guitar class now. We'll see how much I learn. 1b. In just two voice classes I think I've improved my singing immensely. I'm learning to sing a song I like in the class and I'm working on my own to learn how to play it on guitar...slowly. 2. I can code very rudimentary things but I have moved on from Ruby to Ruby on Rails. 3. No real progress. 4. Very little progress. 5. I am exercising every 2-3 days. 6. I've cut a lot calories out and eat smaller portions. I also eat less processed food snacks and eat things like fruit or hummus+carrots as a snack. 7. Perhaps my biggest success. I've been constantly working on being open and haven't gotten frustrated with video games in several months. I've also reached out to many people, mostly strangers on the internet. 8. I've been writing every day with just a few days skipped. 9. No progress whatsoever. For most of these goals, and some other ones I haven't listed, I have a Google Spreadsheet where I check off days where I've worked. I have it set up where I can just type in an "x" in the cell and it turns the cell green. I've also got it set up to tally up the total days that I've worked on that goal so I can see the results both visually (green cells) and with just plain old numbers. This helps me know what I've been spending my time on and if I'm slacking on a particular goal. It's worked very well for me.

Here's something I have an issue with: interviews. I feel uncomfortable hyping myself up (i.e. explaining why I'm qualified) without explaining certain weaknesses. I basically feel a need to be "real" and I can't seem to reconcile that with emphasizing strengths and downplaying weaknesses. On the flip side, I can show my strengths very well on my resume and feel comfortable doing that for some reason.