I have a couple of recurring dreams.  They are never really bad or good, it's mostly just really boring.  One of these dreams is based on my home church building, but only the sanctuary.  In the dream, it is 3 stories tall, but I always going up really steep spiral stairs to work on lights above the 3rd level, or to get to another area quickly without being noticed by the congregation.  And sometimes I complain with some other indistinct people that the facility really could use an upgrade.  The other dream only happens long and often enough for me to notice that it's recurring, but I can never remember what it's about.

The dreams seem to be based on locations, and different stories play out in these (fictional) locations.  The locations do have real-world counterparts, though, and even follow the same basic floorplan.  Stairs and supporting columns are in the same places in both the dream and the real locations.

I made it through the first day of class this semester.  My first class I don't like cause it's far away.  Meaning that I can't see if from my breakfast table, as all of my classes anymore should be in the engineering complex - it's much easier to keep a high profile target such as myself safe that way.  It doesn't help that the first class is English, and I'm not too excited to take the class.  We'll see how bad it turns out to be, though.  Up next is Energy Conversions, which promises to be a fun class, mainly because of the teacher.  We have decided to hold off on a decision for the Electronics 1 instructor.  He seems like he could be a really fun guy, but he also has a lot of potential to be a pain in the rear.  I am inclined to think that he'll be fun, but we'll just have to see how the semester plays out.  And now I have many things to attend to, so I must be off.

Dumbledore is not gay.  After examining the books of the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, I have found no backing to the media statements that he was gay.  Indeed, a review of his Wikipedia page reveals that J. K. Rowling only thought of Dumbledore as a homosexual, not that any particular portion of the book series actually lends itself to support this claim.  Since the books are what people read, they are what matter.  Which leads me to my title, implied voice.

Implied voice is some literary term my freshman English teacher talked with us about.  I won't pretend to know a formal definition, but what it amounts to is that no matter what your intentions are when writing, only the words you write have any importance.  If the words you write can be construed in another matter, then you are responsible for that meaning as well as your intended meaning.  I could say "I'm getting off now."  Some would take that to mean that I was logging off of an instant message conversation.  Others interpret to have a meaning that is best left in the gutter.  And ultimately, whatever you write is what you wrote, and if the way you selected and arranged words has a certain meaning, who are you to call what you wrote wrong?

Ultimately, the meaning of anything that is not precisely stated is left in the hands of the readers.  And as a reader of the Harry Potter series, it is up to me to decide if Dumbledore is heterosexual or homosexual.  I choose to interpret the books as if he is a heterosexual.

I usually have reasonably good luck getting things to fit back in the box.  After 20 minutes of trying every possible configuration, that is.  The only reason my Christmas tree ever gets put away right is because the decorations all just get thrown in a lump at the bottom of a box, rather than needing delicate and intricate placement rituals.  But recently my father purchased a set of cordless phones from Panasonic (I'm not certain why, except that now he can have 2 phones in each room).  I was looking at the box, and I was delighted to see packing instructions, including pictures that were broken down into steps.  I have never seen a more helpful box.  I haven't tried putting everything back in the box yet, but I still feel that this is a wonderful development.

I purchased a laptop earlier today.  It is my much-loved bundle of joy.  And I got the laptop, a good wireless mouse, and some other stuff for less than the retail price cause I stuck around to get a raincheck, which delights me.  I will especially appreciate the ability to come home without either having to use a computer that I'm unfamiliar with or tearing my desktop apart to drag it home.  And now, it's time for me to go have some special time with my laptop.

I like this movie clip.

I just finished seeing Charlie Wilson's War.  I liked it very much.

Christmas is, well, tomorrow by the time I finish writing this.  It has snuck up on me quite well this year.  However, I did get my semester grades back and they were acceptable by my standards.  I'm not ready for next semester, but I'll manage somehow.  Some bits of family are trickling in now as a stop off on the way to final destinations, which is lots of fun.  I like having different people in the house - it keeps things from getting completely dull.  I still can't get in touch with some friends, though, which is marginally troubling.  I expect to attempt more aggressive contact following Tuesday's festivities.

There is a breakfast of some sort in eight hours, so I must be off for some sleep if I intend to drive there safely.

I noticed a new feature on Facebook today.  It is now possible to create "lists" of friends.  These lists are just groups inside the friends list.  They are not exclusive, that is, one friend can belong to multiple lists.  So far I have lists for both years I've been involved with the K-State Singers, scouting, high school theater, and people I've met through living in the dormitories (separated by year, also).

I also took awhile to try to catch back up on subscriptions, which I haven't really been checking since Thanksgiving.  After 2 hours, I made it all the way back to December 16, which is about 3 days ago.  I can remember when I used to feel behind if I had more than 5 new weblogs I hadn't read yet.  With more than a month's worth of weblogs to catch up on, I expect it will take me around another week to catch back up to today, and then another 5 hours to catch back up with whatever is going to be posted between now and then.
Speaking of subscriptions, you might want to check out the new subscriptions browser and then give some feedback to John.  I think it's really cool so far.

Of course, I'm going to have to fit reading subscriptions into the time I'm not shopping for Christmas gifts, because I seem to have failed to procure even one wrapped package as of right now.  We'll see how that goes.  At any rate, I hope the completion of another semester or year makes you feels good and accomplished.  I'm going to go eat and then sleep.  And then exercise, cause I want to eat lots of cookies and such before I go back to school.

I left my dorm last night.  I quickly realized that this was a mistake.  And by quickly, I mean about the time I ended up in the opposing lanes of traffic on I-70.  Maybe a little before that.  It was snowing rather profusely, so I holed up in a hotel in Salina.  To be honest, I would much rather have stayed at the dorms, cause I have friends and Internet there.  Oh well.  I'm home now, and I have my computer tied into the ether-world again.  I think I'm going to either try to fix my speakers or decorate this room for Christmas.  Everyone have a great weekend!

We had an ice storm last night.  The dorms have no power, so I'm holed up in the only building on campus that has power, getting my Internet fix.  My final that was supposed to be today has been moved to Saturday, which is really not fun.  OK, so I do get extra days to study for it.  But I had wanted to go see Cookies with Santa at the high school, but since that will be going on at the same time as my final, I won't be able to attend.  Still, that's no excuse for any of you involved with it to slack off.

It was the topic of Myth Buster's today.  And then someone asked me for mine.  Not if I had one, but just asked me for it.  As if it was expected that I would have on just because I am a college student.

Yes, I'm talking about cell phones.  In particular, I'm talking about using them while refueling a car.  The team could not create an explosion from using a cellular telephone.  However, the static developed by sitting down in your car is much more often to blame for refueling station fires.  Both statistically by fires and by the Myth Buster's observations, women are much more likely than men to get in the car while refueling, something on the order of 6 times as many women sitting in the car during the process as men.

So just why are women more likely to sit on the car while fueling?  Are they doing makeup, are they unable to stand for long periods of time (take a look at restroom lines, this can't be the reason), or are women suicidal?

At any rate, everyone, please don't sit in your car at the fueling station.  Pull on an extra pair of gloves and a knit hat to stay warm instead.

There are some discussions in the National Park Service about whether or not to list the Hanford nuclear reactor B site on the list of National Historic Landmarks, as well as creating a national park about the Hanford site, the Trinity test site, and the uranium enrichment plant at Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

I would very much like to see this happen.  However, several roadblocks are still in the way before final approval is given.  Some people are certain to protest on the basis of nuclear weaponry was the purpose of these facilities, and since nuclear weapons are bad, these sites shouldn't be honored.  Others don't even get to the word weapon before they start to protest.  Such people will protest based on some principle and flimsy, poorly-applied "evidence".  The most significant threat to my planned tour of these famous nuclear sites is the fact that the National Park Service has no experience dealing with radioactive material.  Also, there is no precedent for making a (decommissioned) nuclear reactor available to public tours.  While I truly hope the decisions will be made, I won't be holding my breath.  I guess pictures will just have to suffice.

Happy Black Friday!