Monday, September 17, 2001

So it seems as if I was wrong about my first market day predictions. Very very wrong. The market took it's largest point drop in history today, however, I still stand confident that it will rise back up soon enough.
aufgestellt durch Mike at 6:03 PM |link| 9 comments

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

Sunday, September 16, 2001

For English, I had to write a short essay in response to the question, "What is a Southern Californian?" I gave it a little thought and wrote the most accurate description that came to mind -- sadly, I had to leave out some parts, such as my praise of San Diego as a republican haven and sharp criticism of the liberals in the North. Anyways, if you've ever given the topic any thought, here's what I wrote. And if the very idea of wasting your time reading some crap that I wrote for school is offensive to you, I recommend playing Super Mario 64 instead. It's really great.

What is a Southern Californian?

To the casual tourist, Southern California may seem like your typical vacation spot. We meet all of the traditional requirements for such a title: nice beaches, pretty ladies, nightclubs, amusement parks, and all the rest. As with any vacation spot, visitors probably don’t give much thought to the native inhabitants of this area. And who can blame them? They’re too busy lying down on a souvenir San Diego Zoo towel, getting roasted alive by the sun as they fantasize about year-round 72-degree temperatures. In fact, aside from the occasional mumble about how lucky we are to be so far away from the frozen hell of Wisconsin, tourists probably never take the time to think about what life is like for a Southern Californian and what we, as people, are really all about.
So let me tell you a little about us Southern Californians. First of all, I’ll be perfectly honest and tell you that the people who live here are a terribly complicated, undeniably unique bunch. Most of us have rejected the simple life and have instead found a great sense of satisfaction in making our lives immensely busy. We torture ourselves with work (many Californians place their jobs far above sleep on the priorities list) in our dedicated quest for success, and gauge our progress in terms of monetary wealth. Worldly possessions take on an otherworldly importance for us, as we seek to create the perfect home with perfect furniture and perfect appliances and a perfect car in the garage. Of course, all of this requires money—an arm and a leg won’t even get you a single-bedroom studio apartment next to an airport here—so maybe that’s why we’re always seeking it. Of course, in addition to this perfect home environment, we must enjoy perfect health. The Southern Californian obsession with physical fitness is almost sickening. People here rise each day well before the sun even considers doing so, don their Reebok uniforms and Walkman AM/FM helmets, and set out to fight the battle of the bulge. On weekends, our roads are stormed by legions of cyclists and more of those runners trying to prepare for their next triathlon. Those who are not out exercising see these people through the windows of their homes or cars and think “gee, I should be getting in shape too.” Then they head to the nearest supermarket to stock up on Slim Fast and protein bars, which taste horrible but will certainly pay off in the long run, or so we are told.
However, despite all of this working and exercising, Southern Californians still feel the need to relax. Maybe it’s because of all the stress that builds up in our daily lives. So when we find (and in some cases, are forced to make) the time, we head down to the beach. Or go to Disneyland. Or wander into a nightclub. And that’s when we run into those fine tourists, who notice our seasoned tans, assume we are native Southern Californians, and mumble about how lucky we are to live in a vacation spot.
aufgestellt durch Darren at 7:55 PM |link| 5 comments

Good Song...Def Leppard - Photograph.
aufgestellt durch 'Los at 7:32 PM |link| 0 comments

It's frickin midnight and for the second night in a row, my dog will not stop barking. I'm seriously ready to go downstairs and shoot her with a tranquilizer gun to put her out for the night. If only I had a tranquilizer gun...
aufgestellt durch Darren at 12:00 AM |link| 4 comments

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

Saturday, September 15, 2001

ok, so last night... I went for some hardcore off roading action... In Matt's mazda 626 sedan. Oooooooh yeahhhhhhhhh! What else did I do... I forget, it was a long time ago. But tonight as we were driving back to Tommy's house we saw a bunch of girls with candles and american gear cheering for American pride. So we got some candles, stole Libby's huge flag from her house and went to join them. We were there for an hour or so and all the people were honking and whatnot. It was pretty cool actually, so yeah, rally your neighborhoods for American pride.
aufgestellt durch Mike at 11:32 PM |link| 5 comments

I feel weird. I dont know why, but I'm in the middle of tired, full, and bored. I dont know how to explain it. I spent most of my day today fixing the computers in the house. What fun. Argh I should have done homework, whatever thats for tomorrow I guess. Nothing exciting really going on in my life right now....Recently started to listen to my Tonic collection again, they are an awesome band. Yeah, anyway, im out for now...
aufgestellt durch Tim at 7:29 PM |link| 0 comments

TP FOOTBALL WUT WUT
aufgestellt durch Darren at 12:53 AM |link| 14 comments

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

Friday, September 14, 2001

I just got a well needed haircut. Now all I need is a new face to go under it, and i'm set...oooooohhh, dissed, oh wait, dammit. I'll spare the cluttering of the comments section, yes, it was a lame joke on purpose. Anyways, I get to go to work tonight, did I say get? I meant "have". I just keep reminding myself that I'm getting paid and I work with cool people...
aufgestellt durch Troy at 4:21 PM |link| 4 comments

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

Thursday, September 13, 2001

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

Wednesday, September 12, 2001

All in good time, my friends.
aufgestellt durch Darren at 10:50 PM |link| 5 comments

You know you're a nerd when you spend 1 hour playing on your calculator and you dont even have games on it. ;p
aufgestellt durch Tim at 9:42 PM |link| 5 comments

Today was my birthday. I wish my birthday could come in a time of different circumstances. However, I feel that today I have been given enough to be thankful for that the impact of recent events on my celebration is negligible. Today, I heard great stories of patriotism, heroism, and compassion in spite of horrific acts. From the courage of passengers on United Airlines flight 93 who were confronted with knives and a bomb but nonetheless fought their oppressors and sacrificed their lives in order to serve the greater good, to pedestrians who, at the site of fellow New Yorkers in prayer, abandoned bikes and destinations to transform groups of several individuals into groups of dozens. Man comes in many varieties, and the evil do exist and unfortunately have an adverse effect on the majority of humans who, I believe, are good.

THANK YOU, AMERICA!
aufgestellt durch 'Los at 9:08 PM |link| 10 comments

Tonight I was further discussing the attacks with my parents. For those of you who did not know this, my father used to trade commodities on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. I know a lot of you are curious about what is going to happen to the economy after the terrorism, and while the NYSE is most likely closed till Monday (or so my family thinks), the Chicago Mercantile Exchange will be open tommorrow. One index that is traded at the CME is the S&P 500 which is owned by McGraw-Hill. The S&P 500 is one of the more clear stock indexes traded as it gives a much more well rounded look at the market than the Dow Jones or Nasdaq. So I think that how well the S&P 500 trades tommorrow may be a good indication of where the market in America will be headed.
aufgestellt durch Mike at 8:25 PM |link| 4 comments

I have never gone to sleep this early, I wonder how refreshed I will feel in the morning...
aufgestellt durch Troy at 8:12 PM |link| 0 comments

A while back, Los was talking about how is brother was studying Eastern Medicine. Now, I wasn't a big believer of herbs and other methods of healing. However, today, I experienced a 24-hour flu. It was horrible. At lunch, everyone was burning, and I had jeans on, and I was absolutely freezing. Then, in Yearbook, I lied down for a while, that didn't do anything either. However, I get into my car and drove a friend home because she needed a ride. I hung at her house a little bit, drank Coke, and had 3 Ibuprofen. Then, I just lay some more, enjoying the comic relief of Wylee Coyote trying to catch the Roadrunner. Miraculously, I feel totally better. Whether it was her house, or time that did it, my aching body, splitting headache, and temperature changes going from freezing to burning subsided. The Ibuprofen did help with the headache, but I think that's all it did. I can't explain it, but I'm just glad it's gone. Today, physically, sucked.
aufgestellt durch Troy at 5:08 PM |link| 10 comments

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

Tuesday, September 11, 2001

A number of people have posted about today's events, and they've offered a wide range of sympathetic statements, demands for an explanation, and promises of revenge. I agree with most of what has been said, but to tell you the truth, I'm still in shock. And until that horrible moment when it all hits home -- a moment when my knees will grow weak and I'll undoubtedly shed a rare tear for my fellow Americans -- I have but one thing to say:

My God.
aufgestellt durch Darren at 8:22 PM |link| 0 comments

In an effort to rally national pride for the United States, everyone please wear your USA gear tommorrow. Shirts, hats, pants, anything red white and blue, and stars and stripes forever.
aufgestellt durch Mike at 7:11 PM |link| 4 comments

And now we have an exclusive posting from Kian Maleki:

I frequently find that my blessing as a citizen of the United States of America is that so many wonderful things happen to me, and I am given the opportunity to openly express my feelings about them to whoever is willing to listen. Over my eighteen years of life I have transcribed many experiences regarding many subjects, but none so chilling as this. My writ is one of hope, but with a refrain of terror. I am unable to refuse these sentiments. Everything I see is an overture of horror, the live broadcast of two examples of mankind's insurmountable technology used as instruments of terror is as horrifying now, the eleventh hour and eleven thousandth repeat of footage, as it was the first time.

I awoke to my mother, hearing her scream that "New York is under attack!", incredulous. With sleepy eyes I walked downstairs at the ungodly hour of seven and was shocked to full awareness by the ungodly events that unfolded before my eyes. I cried. I'm not ashamed of it, either. I am ashamed of those Americans not patriotic enough to shed a tear for what is, not a terrorist attack on our government, but a personal agenda of terror upon each and every one of you- of us.

I have no fear. The United States is a nation of amazing strength, and this is not the first time we have been confronted with an amazing evil- only the worst time. We will never forgive, nor forget this inquantifiable theft of life, of talent ripped off of this earth. We will band together. We will no longer be a nation split between details, issues as petty as tax reform, as senatorial infidelity, as our lost budget surplus. Now, not only congress but the spirit of the American will unite in a nationwide effort to heal, to grow, to comfort... and to prevent such a tragedy from occuring again.

I hate violence. I was once the first to denounce war and violence of any sort, naively declaring that 'talking things over will solve any problem.' I know this is no longer the case, if ever it was. Evil has touched our blessed nation with its decripit finger, and the only answer is to eradicate it. I have faith in many things, but I have lost much of my faith in man. Prayers are too late for the victims of this tragedy. Now I can only pray that I will never hear the panicked screams of my fellow Americans again.
aufgestellt durch Mike at 6:08 PM |link| 3 comments

I saw one of the greatest political sites ever this afternoon. I hurried home, and turned on the tv. What I saw was the house, and the senate, Republicans, and Democrats, uniting arms discussing how we are all one American governing body at this time. They said we will use all of the resources and strengths that our goverment has to do whatever is necessary. I honestly beleive forgeign countries underestimate the powers of the US Military.
aufgestellt durch Troy at 5:00 PM |link| 0 comments

This could be trouble...
aufgestellt durch Mike at 4:54 PM |link| 1 comment

"Freedom itself was attacked this morning by a faceless coward, and freedom will be defended."

Unfortunately, a war may sprout from this heinous act of violence. If Palestine did this, American troops will be deployed into Israel. You can have my word on that one. If Osama Bin Laden did this, he will be tracked down, captured, and will be subjected to the most atrocious of punishments. Our president has already declared that this terrorism will not be tolerated, and we will use the power of this great nation to bring the perpetrators to justice. What we American's already know, is that we are part of a great nation, and we need to do everything within our power to see the justice served.

Clearly this was an act of war against the American public, as well as military personell. One thing should be learned, and that is, do not mess with America. America is a relentless, determined, and now enraged fighting machine. America has issued a call to the public today to do all that we can to overcome this shocking event. Please, if you have any supplies, blood, or anything, send it to a place that needs it. As 9pm ET rolls along, we will hear a message from our president. Speaking of, never before have I been so glad to have Bush in office over Gore. Bush will get down to business, handle the problem, and fix it, regardless of the steps it takes to get to the solution. This is the way things like this should be handled.

As for me, if a war starts, I will be in support of it. Today, our democracy, our economy, our public, and our way of life was threatened. If it takes an invasion, if it takes bombing missions, if it takes an assassination, I believe that the United States must retaliate upon the terrorists. I put my full trust into President Bush, and the rest of congress to make decisions that will guide the United States through this tragic moment, and hopefully, the outcome will be one of our finest.
aufgestellt durch Mike at 4:32 PM |link| 4 comments

I don't even know where to begin with all of this. I'm sure you all know the details of what is going on, and if not, go to CNN.com or some other news correspondent for the straight facts. I just want to extend my condolences to all the families and friends of the victims, and to tell all the assholes at school who make stupid jokes and the idiots who are excited that they get to watch tv in class, that you are dumb, and disrespectful.

I'm just furious about all that has happened. Not only have we lost thousands of US lives, we have lost billions, if not trillions of dollars. We lost 100 people just at the Pentagon itself, thankfully, that is a small figure in relation to the amount of people working there at any given time. We lost the twin towers, home of the stock exchange, thousands of people, and a landmark of the tallest buildings in North America. They are no longer.

I am very curious to see what actions the United States takes in return to the terrorist attacks. I also eagerly await President Bush's address tonight. I hope all of you are planning on watching it, because this is the biggest thing in history since D-Day. Never, in US history, have we been attacked on our own soil, except for Pearl Harbor. Today, September 11, is now a big part of history.

On a separate topic, it is Oliver's birthday, Happy Birthday Oliver.
aufgestellt durch Troy at 3:55 PM |link| 0 comments

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

Copyright 2001 Flak Smack. Baby Jesus cries because you steal.