It’s that time again, folks, when it’s out with the bad air and in with the good. I want to wish everyone a happy old year, and for making this ol’ year a great one.

To celebrate, I have made a clock to count-up to the old year: http://blinkenlichten.org/countup/

This count-up clock page is dedicated to all my favorite HTML tags that the bullies over at the W3C exterminated from the land of teh intarwebs. I really miss those little guys. ;-(

Note: If you are using a primitive browser that is picky over having unambiguous tag agreement, you might experience difficulty because this page will not validate according to any of the W3C standards. You might wish to try a more advanced browser, like IE3.

As my grandfather always used to say…

Grandfather: “Always fight for what is right… unless Chuck Norris is involved, then I’d suggest choosing your fights wisely.”

As my grandfather always used to say…

Grandfather: “If you don’t lose it, use it.”

As my grandfather always used to say…

Grandfather: “You lose, you snooze.”

As my grandfather always used to say…

Grandfather: “Home is where the hearth is.”

The other day, several friends from the Applied CS Labs and I were walking back to the Science Center from dinner. We decided to pass through Snell Hall, an adjacent building that is attached to the Science Center by a raised walkway. We proceeded to walk past a small classroom that oddly enough has a piano in the back of the room.

Now, this room is almost magical to me–I love to stop by late at night to play on the piano and work on a song or two that I’ve been writing while the custodians pass by and look in the windows curious as to why music is coming out of the room so late at night. Unfortunately, this room is almost always locked at the end of the day, so it is a rare, lucky occasion when I am actually able to gain access.

The lights were off, but I decided to test the door handle to see if it was one of those nights when all the planets–or, at least the lock pins–lined up and I could once again enter my very own musical Heaven. By some mishap the custodians had forgotten to lock the room once again, and the handle gave in without a fight! I whipped open the door and leaped inside, standing in a victory stance with my eyes closed and my face pointing upward, immediately exclaiming, “HOORAY, IT’S OPEN!”

A few seconds later I was brought back to reality when I noticed the background sound of a movie playing. I opened my eyes to see approximately 35 faces staring at me, some confused and others frightened, all lit by the glow of the movie they were watching on the classroom’s projector. I immediately turned around and walked out in a professional manner as if nothing had happened.

I’m pretty sure some of them are seeking psychiatric help right now because, from the sounds of the tiny amount of the movie I heard, I think the movie was in the middle of a really serious or perhaps horrific scene when I burst in. Needless to say, I didn’t go back and play on the piano that night.

As my grandfather always used to say…

Grandfather: “A stitch in time saves half dozen of another.”

As my grandfather always used to say…

Grandfather: “Quitters can’t be choosers.”