Sorry for the long delay, but there’s good news to be had in this update. Myself and two friends, Jared Crawford White and Alex “Ling-Ling” Ling, are starting a comic. The reasoning behind this is quite simple. I was fed up with the comics in the Friday edition of the Daily Nexus, and took it upon myself to create something better. Soon after I decided this, I came to the startling conclusion that I had a very difficult time thinking up funny things on command. It was then that I decided to employ the help of Jared and Alex. As it turns out, Jared had a book of comics he’d made during his free period in high school, and using that as his credentials, so to speak, I decided he was perfect for this endeavor. Alex’s job is to interject when he feels necessary, and together, the three of us are looking to create a regular comic.

The best part about all of this is that it’s actually going to happen. Jared and Alex are just as motivated as I am - in fact, the three of us are sitting in Alex’s room discussing where we want to take the comic - and we’re already looking for other ways to get the comic out there beyond the Daily Nexus, which only has comics on Fridays. That’s where this website comes in. Starting sometime hopefully next week or the week after, a comic will be posted on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The beginnings of this comic may come later, since finals are in two weeks as well, but guaranteed it will happen at some point.

The other thing to consider for this comic, besides distribution, is a name. We are trying to settle on a name that isn’t totally random, but not too constricting. Once all that is settled, we’ll have ourselves a comic. Look for it very, very soon; UCSB needs a good comic.

Anyway, school-related things. Finals are coming up in two weeks, but I’m not too stressed, strangely enough. Luckily (I’m an optimist; you’ll see) I have two finals in the same day. This is lucky because I get two out of the way early, since they’re both on a Tuesday. Then I’ve got one on the 14th, and one on the 15th (that’s just an evil move; Saturday at 8 a.m.? Ugh).

The visit home was interesting. I flew home first class - thanks Grandma Janet - and slept pretty well, all things considered. I knew even before I got on the plane that I wouldn’t be able to see everyone I wanted to in a mere 2 and a half days (excluding the days in Connecticut for Thanksgiving). However, I don’t think I properly anticipated the difficulty in attempting to; it proved utterly futile. However, I was happily assaulted by friends of mine upon arriving at Jess’s house, and the few days I spent with everyone were just like old times. On the way back - a significantly less enjoyable 6 and a half hour flight to San Francisco - I already missed home again.

Thanksgiving dinner was a feast fit for multiple kings beefing up for heavyweight wrestling. The stuffing was superb (seconds were snaggled later in the night), the turkey (all three of them) tasty, and there was a bevvy of desserts, delicious treats that somehow pulled off the amazing feat of being just as tasty as they looked.

One last thing, to put to rest the Thanksgiving Dinner Mystery of how Uncle Dan’s car was stolen, reported, and recovered all before Uncle Dan knew it was happening. I got a message from him describing the story as such: He was between the age of 18 and 20, out at a bar somewhere, back when the drinking age was 18. He came out of the bar later in the night to discover his car was missing. He called the police, and they had already recovered it. But how? It turns out the car was parked in the parking lot of a Hilton Hotel (I believe), the windows smashed and the radio missing. People passing by saw the car and called the police to report it. The end.

I’m out. Comic coming. I’m excited.

Later.

Let me start off this entry by saying everyone should go see American Gangster (provided you can stomach a sometimes unnecessary amount of gore). It’s extremely well acted - Denzel is flawless, believable, and you actually feel for his cause - the story is well done, and best of all, it’s based on true events. Go figure. I’d write more about it, but there are other, more important things.

Like the movie Fight Club! I finally saw the whole thing. That, too, is an absolutely incredible movie. I’ve seen one great movie after another lately, but Fight Club takes the cake, slowly spiraling further out of control and deeper into insanity as the movie progresses. Interestingly, where most movies would have a solid resolution at the end, this movie ends on one of the strangest notes I’ve ever seen. That is, everything that you thought wouldn’t happen does, but somehow you know it’s going to be alright. I don’t want to spoil too much of the movie, since it must be seen to be fully understood, but add this to your list.

If you need another movie, see Equilibrium. Way underrated movie, sort of fell under the shadow of The Matrix, but is a pretty neat concept. Very 1984-esque. Deja Vu, also starring Denzel, is an alright movie, but I had to suspend my disbelief for…well…most of the movie.

Anywhoo. So movies aside, school’s going pretty well. Got an A on my German midterm, had another Chem quiz that I felt better about, and have just been doing pretty well overall. I compared the weather back home to the weather here: we had two days of 75º weather, while at home it was about 44º. Coming off the plane in Logan will probably be a shock. I’m still going to wear sandals.

I was reminded of why I go to UCSB today when my friend Chris (also from New Hampshire!) mentioned to my Physics professor that he’d seen UCSB mentioned in a BBC article about quantum computing. You read correctly - UCSB made international news with its progress in quantum computing. I don’t mean to brag, but as physics schools go, this one’s definitely up there.

Speaking of physics and strange branches of it, if anyone wants to have their head explode, find a copy of last month’s Scientific American and read the bit on the shape of the universe. In a nutshell, some (possibly crazy) scientists theorize that our universe looks more or less like a big crumpled up piece of paper with possible “teacup handles” coming out of it. However, the wildest part is that this visual that you may or may not have formed in your head should be regarded as 4+-dimensional. Now, imagine at the end of one of the spikes of this crumpled up bit of paper there is a plane perpendicular to the spike (such as: ===>| I tried my best). That plane should now be regarded as a 3-dimensional reality, e.g. the one we live in. If your brain is not yet begging for mercy, imagine further still that the laws of physics that govern our universe are not, well, universal (not a pun, I swear), and that in different “patches” of the universe, it is possible that the laws of physics are different. If you’ve made it this far, congratulations. Go read the article for more information.

I’m out for now. Coming home in 5 days for Turkey Day!
Later.

It’s been a long, arduous road, but after tomorrow my midterms will be done. Let’s recap.

Math midterm was perhaps the easiest math test I’ve ever taken, in the history of all math courses, ever. To put that in perspective: we had 70 minutes to take it, and I finished it in 8. I think I messed up on one problem, but I don’t really mind. However, despite the test being so easy, I decided not to skip Math 3B for next quarter, since it teaches series, which is the one subject I really need to brush up on.

Chemistry is the bane of my existence. I won’t say what I got on the quiz, but to put THAT in perspective, I’m probably changing the class to pass/fail, since I’m never, ever having Chemistry as my major. In fact, after next quarter, I won’t ever take Chemistry again. So, pass/fail.

Physics is a surprisingly easy class. Despite the homework being harder and more time consuming than the homework for all my other classes combined, the quizzes are downright silly sometimes in their easiness, and the midterm wasn’t bad at all (despite making a few silly mistakes).

All that’s left is my German midterm tomorrow. I’m not worried about that either; I really love German. I anticipate the day I can write a full update in German. I want to study abroad next year, maybe in Germany, maybe in the UK, I haven’t decided. More on that later.

That’s about it. California’s great; it’s the beginning of November and the forecast for tomorrow is a lovely 64, keeping in the 65-70 range all week. Should be nice. Beyond school, life is pretty great. I’ve been hanging around with my floor mates more, and have been generally taking it pretty easy. I’m counting down the days until I come home for Thanksgiving break (for everyone’s information: two weeks from Tuesday! Mark your calendars…).

I’m out.

Later.