1. Find me a lover who won't blow my cover.
2. Back rubs.

So on Thursday's I have class in what is known as the A&H Building 2. This is one of those temporary not so temporary buildings where overflow classes are held. This class begins at 10:00 but I was in the room by 8:30 so I would have time to do some reading and view some videos for the class. By 10:00 I had noticed that no one else had shown up to class. Checking my email to see if class had been canceled I learned that there was a gas leak in Class Room Building 3 which had been closed. Now this building is next door to the one I'm in but there isn't any notice that my building is closed and no one had stopped by to say get out. Needing to pee and curious as to what is going on I pack up and head over to the other building where the rest room is located.

Stepping outside I found not only classroom building 3 tapped off but the other temporary classroom building closed as well. Just about then one of the fire-rescue folks starts to get on my case for being in an area that were I shouldn't. Now knowing the likely source for my growing headache I lay into him for not having bothered to send anyone to check that the buildings are unoccupied. I swear this school is trying to kill me to get out of paying the rest of my scholarship.

So far by racking up massive dept in the pursuit of a largely unnecessary education. Starving artisthood here I come

My Brain

While there are a lot of things on my to do list at least I'm getting exercise. I have started swimming for 30 minutes every other day as well as playing with Lucky most days. Hopefully this and the very healthy and quite tasty food I've been eating will help me get in shape.

Not only have I moved but my parents have sold their house and are moving over to NC near my father's side of the family. Visits will be a tad more expensive but I'll also be able to see other relatives. I'm crossing my fingers that everything with their move will go well.

Around here it appears that, barring anything freaking with my finances, I will be staying at the Fab Four house for awhile. I've also basically decided it is time to finish the degree. I expect that I will have graduated by the end of Spring. Now I have to decide if I want to go through the trial (and cost) of the graduation ceremony.

In the realm of work I'm now working most every day for a few hours though this week I'll be working all day for two days. Hopefully the extra money will help offset some of the expenses from the fire. Not only do they have me at the office more often but my boss has finally started delegating some projects so that I actually have something to do up there. Nothing exciting, just busy work, but at least it is something.

So many people have been so generous that I'm a bit overwhelmed. I can tell I will be busy over the coming months putting together some sort of thank you for them all.

( Fire Recovery )

For personal reference these are the art supplies I'll need to replace. Now I have somewhere to keep an ongoing list.

( Art Supplies )

I just received some supplies from one of my former teachers, Mr. Greg Metz. I'm a bit overwhelmed.

I know have a set of pots and skillets as well as knives. That doesn't mean I'm not accepting more (can never have too many knives). If anyone has any such cookware that they just haven't gotten around to passing on to Good Will I can still collect them up to include them in the donation of extra stuff that will occur at some point. While I did in-gather these pots et. al. that doesn't mean I'm ready for everything else. Tomorrow I get to stop by the University Village to formally apply for housing. It seems that though UTD would like to arrange temporarily free housing I first have to apply. Hopefully I will be able to convince them to waive the deposit and application fees.

Outside of the above everything is still cruising along in a holding pattern. Must remember to hassle the scholarship people again as they haven't responded.

I have basically lost everything. Below is a list of those things I will be replacing over the coming months. This isn't all inclusive and anything anyone thinks of that I haven't please let me know. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Anything donated that I cannot use will either be returned or passed on to Good Will, the Salvation Army, or the Red Cross. At the insistence of some of my friends I am also accepting donations through PayPal. My account there is under Dennis C Adcox @ yahoo . com. (remove spaces for email address).

The below list isn't intended as some sort of demand or anything of the sort. I'm also using it as a way of tracking what I need to replace. But, considering the expense of replacing everything, I will be very grateful for any assistance.

( List of the Lost )

I've finally reached a point where I'm willing to post the news. On Saturday, July 18th 2009, my place of residence burned to the ground. Apparently some children playing with matches in the garbage drop caused the fire. While everything was destroyed no one, including the fire fighters, was hurt. I did not have renter's insurance so I'll be recrafting my life from scratch. At this point I'm attempting to convince myself of the positive aspect of creating a new life without the literal baggage of the old. I am staying at the Fab Four's house for now (much thanks) and working to get everything squared away for my return to UTD in late August.

That is that. Thanks to everyone who has already expressed their sympathies and condolences. Any advice on rebuilding will be appreciated.

Philip Pullman (b.1946)

1 High-Brow, -11 Violent, 3 Experimental and 3 Cynical!

Philip Pullman was already a prominent author of children's books when he published his most praised work to date, the trilogy known as His Dark Materials (1995-2000). In this work, set both in parallel worlds and our own, Pullman made a courageous attempt to write a book for young readers which incorporated a whole vision of the universe, as well as a discussion of ethical issues. He managed to combine this with a burst of thought-provoking and entertaining imagination, bringing to life a Europe where the church is still in control, "souls" that have been externalized as animal presences, intelligent, sentient polar bears and much more. The series have been described as a sort of "anti-Narnia", as Pullman's attempt to write an updated variant of the kind of books C S Lewis, whom Pullman has criticized for having racist, misogynistic and preaching tendencies, wanted to write. His Dark Materials has also spawned some controversy among Christians, who see the the work as an attack against Christianity, Pullman being one of Britain's most outspoken atheists. Other Christians have, however, claimed to have found spirituality in the books.

Either way, Pullman's combination of renewal and expansion of the genre, his profound messages on the value of life and his refusal to under-estimate his young readers' ability to see life as it is makes Pullman one of the most interesting and important writers of modern fantasy.

You are also a lot like Tove Jansson.

If you want something some action, try Gene Wolfe.

If you'd like a challenge, try your exact opposite, J R R Tolkien.

http://www.helloquizzy.com/tests/which-fantasy-writer-are-you

I'm interested in going to see this movie on July 10th. It will be at

The Magnolia
West Village
3699 McKinney Avenue, Suite 100
Dallas, TX 75204
(214) 764-9106

The official website is http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/bloodthelastvampire/

Who wants to go?

Here are my final grades for spring 09. Sadly enough the ending of the semester only reinforced my belief that I can procrastinate until 24 hours before the project is due and still turn in something get earns an A. I just need to work on not being late on some assignments. (Late not because I procrastinated too long and wasn't able to finish in time but late because I just didn't keep up with when they were due.)

LIT PUNK TO CYBERSPACE: CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF POP CULTURE A
ARTS THEORY & PRACTICE OF VISUAL ARTS B
COMM INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION A
ARTS ADVANCED DESIGN: SIX NAME OF BEAUTY B

After pulling an all-nighter last night I completed two of my art projects and one 10 page paper. The paper has been turned in but I haven't received confirmation. I have received grades on the art projects. It looks like I should have a B in my "Six Names of Beauty" class. It looks like I might need to pull another before the semester ends. Bah! I'm tired.

I was googling my name and fell across someone else with my name (but Keith for the middle name) born around 1942 who is an army vet. Apparently there is also someone else out there with my name but I haven't isolated yet whether that is my father or someone else.

You can get your minds out of that gutter and read the article linked below.
Onomatopoeia attacks apathy with improvisation

Onomatopoeia will have a few additional improvisations before the spring semester ends, George said. He hinted at an event to come at the end of April, potentially involving roaming hordes of the undead.

"There's a phrase, 'if you can't beat them, join them'," George said. "Perhaps the best way to cure apathy is to have a group of students walking around like there is no life on campus.