(Grumble) AudioScrobber (Grumble)
Josiah turned me on to AudioScrobber, which tracks what music you play for the purpose of recommending songs as well as comparing common musical themes between members of AudioScrobber groups (for instance, Josiah started one named after his blog).
The problem is that its update application leaves some functionality to be desired. It isn't a plugin to iTunes, it runs constantly in the background instead, watching for when the Recently Played playlist is updated in iTunes. Not quite comfortable making it an auto-start application until I used it for awhile, I started it manually. Shortly thereafter, I was away from my desktop for ten days, during which time I did not synchronize my iPod (I don't synchronize it with my laptop).
Tonight I plugged it in, forgetting that I had restarted my desktop (and therefore needed to restart AudioScrobber's tool) and therefore despite the fact that I had listened to a lot of music during the evenings the past two weeks, none of it will show up on my statistics page. Since some of the stats are only produced once a week, I'll wait another week before linking to my page on the site, since the stats still aren't that useful (grumble) unlike how they would have been if the app had just been a plugin and therefore would have caught my iPod sync.
CYOA Reminder
No one has picked up the mantel to continue the Choose Your Own Adventure from 4.5: Gregorian Chants. Haven't tried CYOA yet? Why not try running with this branch of the story as a way of dipping your toes in the water? Already written something for CYOA? Here's a chance to expand the story some more, perhaps in a different direction from your last entry, perhaps the same — it is all up to you!
(Since my blogware does not yet notify me by e-mail when you comment, please comment on this post if you'd like to sign up for one of the Gregorian Chants options.)
Buy Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jack
Well, it is March and not October, which can only mean one thing: baseball is getting ready to begin rather than end for the year! Given this striking revelation, wouldn't you like to get in the spirit by joining the Sakamuyo Network Baseball League?
Who cares if you don't know a thing about baseball, your friendly league commissioner doesn't know much about it either! I may know more about baseball than football, but given my knowledge of football that doesn't say much at all. I do know it involves bats and balls, and is played on a diamond, but I haven't established the carat weight yet.
All corny jokes aside, why not sign up? We already have three teams ready to play, but we need more (we can have up to 20 teams). Go here for more information.
No Post Tonight
I was going to post something good tonight, but I got wrapped up in reading the Da Vinci Code. I've been wanting to read it for some time, and was given a copy of it for Christmas, but just finally found time to start reading it earlier this week.
Now excuse me, I must see what happens with the cryptex they just found…
Recut
I don't know how I missed this previously, but it seems that the Passion of the Christ is back in a less gory edition. The Passion: Recut is six minutes shorter, removes some close up shots for more distant ones, and apparently tones down the soldiers' discussion of crucifixion. Interesting… I couldn't (quickly) find whether this allowed the movie to drop to a PG-13 rating or not.
Comment to Save Lives
Pressed has an interesting event going on over at his blog. Every unique commenter to comment on this post will lead to multiple donations to World Impact. Up to 120 unique posts will up the amount pledged, but this only goes through Friday, so you need to go over there ASAP and comment.
Sticking to a Project
I'm pretty good about getting stuff that needs to be done completed. Projects for clients, church stuff, school assignments, and so on. But, I've always had a hard time getting stuff I do on the side complete. Take SAFARI — I've been developing this CMS for six years now. But I've taken several multi-year breaks along the way.
Then there is what I'm writing for amusement. I've started writing a play, a novel and, most recently, an epic poem. Oh, and a sonnet sequence. The novel was started earliest, and is the one I'll probably finish first, but I find myself always starting new projects instead of working on it. If I focused all of my energy on one of these things, I might actually finish it. Instead, I keep working on them all.
It's not so much that I get bored with a project. It's that there are so many things I'd like to do, and I find I can't resist working on all of those things (well, not all). Since the aforementioned stuff has primarily existed in the realm of hobby, I guess it isn't a bit deal, but I still feel like I should focus myself a bit better.
Right now, I'm thinking I should shift the epic and play to the background and keep fiddling with the novel and sonnet sequence. The former because it might actually become a body of work I can do something with (e.g. publish), the latter because it is a good mental exercise and is an enjoyable way to capture present experiences.
In Lieu of Actual Content
I can't love a hater, it's a losing game
I'll never love a quitter, you'll get left in the rainI can't help the helper when my feet are bound
you are, you're not
I can't feel you near me if you're not the only sound
you better run for your life, love, I'm walking I'm walking
you better run for your life, love, I'm walking I'm walking
you better count up your reasons, I'm leaving I'm leaving
you better count up your reasons, I'm leaving I'm leaving—Leigh Nash (formerly of Sixpence None the Richer), Run for It
Not one of "those" days
Update: I switched to HTML entities for the following Greek characters, per Ed's suggestion.
Well, if yesterday was a bad day, today was its inverse. Despite feeling slightly under the weather, the day just seemed to go right from the beginning until now. I had a Koine Greek midterm and was able to pull off a 97% on it (kudos to an instructor kind enough to grade it as soon as I turned it in), which as a major relief. I'd been worrying about this exam for some time, but in the end it turned out good. My big mistake was making the vocative case second declension noun ending ε into ει and the imperfect middle/passive verb ending ομηι instead of ομην. As a whole though, it turned out well.
Since Tuesdays/Thursdays contain several classes, I usually grab lunch on campus, since I only have 45 minutes to do so. Today, I walked into the cafeteria a bit early after finishing the aforementioned test, and found, for the first time in memorable history, cream of potato soup (my favorite) available. It was quite good too.
The next class, Religion in America, turned into a debate forum on the topic of the First Amendment and the meaning of the phrase “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” I'm sure you can guess which interpretation I have on that issue.
Later in the afternoon while walking to my car, I happened to run into a good friend that I hadn't had a chance to talk to more than in passing for some weeks. Given that I was not in any rush, nor was the friend, it was a nice opportunity to chat (as in talk, not type
) for a bit. The said friend has a mind for wit, and the exercise of quick thinking is always refreshing and a good way to wrap up a good afternoon.
This evening has not presented anything terribly exciting, but it did not need to, given the day. So, how was your day?
