Melodic, Jazz Death-Metal

If you're looking for some new muses, check out the following bands, both of whom I found using Pandora and Last.fm with the tag "melodic, jazz death-metal." For those of you into really progressive rock, they're pretty cool.

Cynic: The Eagle Nature and Sentiment (Live 2007)

Gojira: Flying Whales / Ocean Planet

52 hours and done

Wow. I had something really clever planned for this last one but I can't remember what it is now so I'm going to let the both of us revel in the fact that:

1) I'm still alive

2) I'm about to take a nap

It's all over; there were good times and there were bad times. Times when I was productive and times when I couldn't have formed a coherent sentence if one slapped me on my ass. There were good midterms (Analog went pretty well!) and there were bad midterms (none come to mind...) and there were TERRIBLE midterms (Korean! gah!).

But now it is time for sleep. At least for an hour or two.

Just for fun, since 0900 Wednesday morning I've had:
7 - 12 oz cups of coffee
2 - 2 oz bottles of 5-hour energy drink
1 - 3 oz bottle of Monster Hitman energy drink
3 - 16 oz cans of Rockstar energy drink
2 - 16 oz cans of Monster energy drink
1 - glass of red wine

42 hours and counting...

Just finished my Analog midterm and boy does it feel good! There were a few parts I had difficulty answering but overall I feel good about the midterm and consider it a FANTASTIC improvement over the other midterm I took today...

I have to say, these energy drinks are really working. My level of tired has ebbed and flowed a little since I've been up but I can't help but think how much more tired I would be right now without them. From a sleep-depped Mudder to a company who was there when I needed you, thanks Rockstar and thanks 5-hour energy drinks.

And now, to break up the monotony for myself and you, a digression into color science:

"Homage to Homage to the Square," Lee Arnold


"Composition IV," Wassily Kandinsky

Just for fun, since 0900 Wednesday morning I've had:
6 - 12 oz cups of coffee
2 - 2 oz bottles of 5-hour energy drink
3 - 16 oz cans of Rockstar energy drink
1 - glass of red wine

37 hours and counting...

Well, getting going on my second all-nighter in a row and I have to say things aren't going too badly. Yeah today was hell and in spite of trying my hardest to pump my body full of caffeine I was crazy tired and hardly got anything done. But time passes and what was once due is now a forgotten memory leaving nothing but the soft glow emanating from the last two things I need to finish before this hellish marathon is over: study and take an Analog Electronics midterm and finish my homework for ROTC.

Here goes nothing, I guess. God willing I don't pass out mid-task!

Just for fun, since 0900 yesterday morning I've had:
5 - 12 oz cups of coffee
2 - 2 oz bottles of 5-hour energy drink
3 - 16 oz cans of Rockstar energy drink

30 hours and counting...

Well, the Korean midterm didn't go well AT ALL. I have this bad tendency when I'm taking a test super tired to keep writing as I'm falling asleep only to wake up a moment later with gibberish on my test sheet.

Seriously, I was taking a test for ROTC last week and when I tried to describe muscular strength I put, "Because reading another book would have been in Germay." And no, I don't know what "Germay" is. When I was trying to compare the Military Decision Making Process (MDMP) with the Troop Leading Procedures (TLPs) I wrote, "The MDMP is a larger, battalion sized version of < TP/ deg C."

So anyway my Korean test was basically filled with gibberish and scribbles and my half-awake ass was just trying its damndest to make the thing legible. But on the bright side its over now!

I'm a little behind what I was hoping to have finished at this point in the day. Hopefully I can pull this thing out before I run out of time or sanity.

Just for fun, since 0900 yesterday morning I've had:
5 - 12 oz cups of coffee
1 - 2 oz bottle of 5-hour energy drink
2 - 16 oz cans of Rockstar energy drink

24 hours and counting...

Yessiree, I made it to the 24 hour marker! Granted that might not be a terribly phenomenal milestone for some of you out there, but it's certainly a big one for me. I usually need at least an hour or two of sleep to be operable.

But I'm going strong! I spent some time last night doing research (maybe I'll post some cool stuff later) and a few other things. At 0600 I had to stop and get ready for Army PT (physical training). Now I'm off to Korean for a midterm!

Just for fun, since 0900 yesterday morning I've had:
3 - 12 oz cups of coffee
1 - 2 oz bottle of 5-hour energy drink
1 - 16 oz can of Rockstar energy drink

My body is not going to like me after this...

18 hours and counting...

Well, ladies and gentlemen, I hate to have to do this so soon but you would have found out eventually. There just isn't any more sense in pulling the punches! Nothing will come of veiling the truth, hiding the obvious, keeping it all under raps or under a hat or on the down low or so slow you lose control...

Sorry, lost myself for a minute there. You see, Mudd is hard.

I mean HARD. Not your usual "oh-I-forgot-there-was-a-test-in-AP-Physics-today-I-guess-I'll-just-have-to-rederive-all-of-the-crucial-equations-and-get-my-A" kind of hard. I'm talking about your "the-president-just-called-and-he-wants-me-to-successfully-bring-all-our-troops-home-while-fixing-the-economy-and-establishing-America-once-and-for-all-as-a-conscientious-and-respectful-nation-and-oh-yeah-your-significant-other-called-they-want-to-have-"THE TALK"-even-though-you-have-a-104-deg-fever-and-all-this-needs-to-get-done-before-tomorrow-and-oh-yeah-its-now-2AM-GO" kind of hard.

Okay, so I may have been exaggerating somewhat. But I won't lie, its true what they say about life at Mudd:

"School, Sleep, Social life: Choose two."

So here I am, 3 in the morning on the Thursday before Fall Break and I've got enough work to keep me busy without sleeping until Saturday. So guess which two I'm choosing?

Yep, school and more school.

You didn't think that was an option, did you? It's okay, you just need to think outside the box from time to time. Instead of A, B, or C I chose secret answer D. It's kind of like the secret menu at In 'N Out.

Okay, I'm not sure what I'm saying anymore. Plus I've spent too much time on this post as it is. I won't be sleeping for a few days while I get my work done, why don't you join me (by reading my posts, that is)?

I woke up today at 0900. I'm at 18 hours and counting...

You know you can feed my koi by clicking on the image, right?

They follow your cursor too!

Okay, damn, now back to work.

Curse my inability to refuse spending time with my suitemates!!

Thursday morning I was worried that I wouldn't have enough time this weekend to finish all of the tasks that I needed to complete. I sat down to write a list and figured that if all I did from Friday afternoon until Sunday at midnight was eat, sleep, and attend a 2hr Kenpo class that I'm taking on Scripps, I would still need 10-15 hours to finish everything.

So much for doing anything fun this weekend, right?

Well, right, unless you're me. And by that I mean unless you simply cannot refuse an invitation to spend some quality time with your most favorite people in the whole world.

So of course Friday comes, I'm sleep deprived as all hell, and I'm genuinely ready to start a whole weekend of work. Yeah, it's going to be tough but I'm keeping my eyes on the prize at the end of the race--actually starting off a week at Mudd NOT completely drowning in work. A few of my suitemates are not in as dire a position as me and so start to enjoy themselves over the weekend and despite my best efforts I can't help but spend some time with them. A few hours, max, but c'mon, I haven't seen these guys all week! I've been staying up late, coming back late, and leaving the suite early. Plus I just love them to death and can't say no.

So here I am. Sunday night. How much did I get done? Not much. How much do I have due this week? A frackin' ton. How much will I sleep before Friday? I saddens me to think...

New Discoveries

11:23 PM, 05 Oct 2009: Discovered that I can change the font, style, and color of my blogs. Future experimentation is sure to follow.

11:26 PM, 05 Oct 2009:

1. Can also make lists with numbers
   

• And lists with bullets
  

Reservoir Hill, Ft. Huachuca, AZ

Hello world!

Well, here goes nothing.

First off I'm going to say that I don't possess many skills in the way of blogging. I'm not terribly creative or witty. Right now those two seem like the only really necessary skills. Hopefully you can forgive me for lacking in these departments!

Second I'm going to say that while this might not be the funniest blog you'll read, hopefully it will be one of the most informative you'll read. I have many hopes for some great comment-discussions in the near future with you guys, my internet audience.

Third I'm going to say that this blog isn't just about Mudd for me. Yeah its for Mudd about Mudders but there's so much more to being me than just being a Mudder (as much as I love being a Mudder and I LOVE being a Mudder). Hopefully I'll get the chance to talk about a lot of things and maybe get some neat, random posts in there.

Fourth I'm going to say pumpernickel because its funny to say out loud.

Fifth, a little about myself:

My name is Nathan Jones and I'm a senior Engineering major here at Mudd. I love (almost) every minute of being here and wouldn't trade my four years for anything. I've met some of the greatest people I'll ever meet here and it has been a fantastic experience. Remind me later to tell you about why I chose Mudd, its not a bad story.

Going on four years now I've also been a part of the Army ROTC program on CMC campus and I've also really enjoyed that. It's been difficult at times to balance the workload at Mudd (which is significant) with the workload at ROTC (which often entails dragging my half-asleep ass out of bed around zero-dark-thirty in the morning) but the sacrifices have been rewarding. Over the last year I got the chance to look back on my experiences and I realized how much I'd grown, both as a leader and as a person. It makes me excited that in less than one year I'll be commissioning as a second lieutenant in the US Army. I really hope that I can do a good work as an Army officer and actively improve the lives of my soldiers.

I don't really have spare time but when I do I usually spend it hanging out with my suitemates (arguably the GREATEST suitemates on campus). The guy next to me, Rob Warren, has been my best friend ever since he walked in the door of our room freshman year. I don't know what the Orientation Directors were thinking when they put us together but man oh man did they get it right. He is a huge reason that I've had such a great time here; my four years wouldn't have been the same without him.

Sixth, a few more things about me:

Average time between haircuts: 2 weeks
Preferred soap: Irish Spring but right now I'm trying out Dove (Rob encourages me often to try the finer things in life)
Number of metallic things on my desk right now: 11 (cell phone, wine bottle opener, can of beer, thermos, dancing geisha, dog tags, laptop, Palm pilot, alarm clock, car keys, Leatherman)
Last time I cleaned my room: last night (oh yeah!)
Time before that: Erm... maybe a few weeks back. It was pretty messy last night...
Height to weight ratio (inches/pounds): 0.41
Number of US states I could think of right now: 32 before I got tired of thinking (list at the bottom). Apologies to anyone currently residing in a state that I couldn't think of, it was nothing personal.

Seventh,

BAM! No seventh. I'm done. First blog done.

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

US States that I could think of without a map off the top of my head before I got tired of trying:
washington
oregon
california
south dakota
north dakota
new mexico
colorado
florida
michigan
illinois
georgia
north carolina
south carolina
vermont
new hampshire
maine
new york
pennsylvania
rhode island
ohio
montana
texas
alabama
nevada
oklahoma
kentucky
tenessee
arizona
arkansas
delaware
connecticut
wisconsin