I dare you.

I’ll pretend I’m on The Tonight Show and set this clip up for you.

I was at a friend’s for a “BBQ” – well more like there was a a fire going but no food unless you count s’mores – and there was a piece of flooring, like this, resting on the BBQ, over the coals for people to warm their s’mores.  The edges of the board slowly began to catch fire and after much discussion over whether it was possible to karate chop the burning board in half, I was finally dared into doing it.  Someone put on oven mits and held the board.  The video shows the result.

No life, just school.

Since returning from my short trip in Oregon, I’ve done nothing but study and complete homework.  It appears a Masters program is slightly more time-consuming than I had expected.  I’ve been averaging about 20+ hours of study/homework each week which, in addition to 35 hours of work (yes, Wrigley only has a 35 hour work week), doesn’t leave me with much free time.  This term has proven especially difficult given my decision to stretch myself and take classes outside of the Information Systems cirriculum, opting for the more intensive – at least in my opinion – Computer Science track.

Computer Science courses emphasize theory along with practical programming assignents.  Since I’m not a progammer by trade, I’m spending quite a bit of time re-learning Java and C.  The last time I did any serious coding was my first year at Oregon State although truthfully I can’t consider that “serious coding.”  Impassioned intellectual pursuit was not a priority during my first year in the house, to which any Sigma Pi can attest.

“It’s a CDO player; it plays CDOs. It cost me like 600 bucks.”

I follow the US market fairly closely and buy and sell individual stocks mainly as a hobby (i.e. I like to gamble).  I realize that the housing mess has affected the economy and that millions of dollars have evaporated over the last couple years but I certainly can’t explain the intricacies of the relationship between toxic mortgages and Wall St.’s cliff dive.  Then I found this video which clearly explains the notion of a CDO, which is rarely explained in news stories.

Anyone get the title quote?

I’m a martian.

I’m officially a martian.  Monday, MARS’ acquisition of Wrigley was finalized and we are now officially a wholly owned subsidiary.  Last Christmas, I gave away gum as stocking stuffers, this year… Uncle Ben’s rice.