Of Wonder

Funny how I’m releasing this a few days before Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is officially released. It’s been on my computer, formatted and all for a few days now. I had a sudden inspiration to work on it, and I did.. all night. I got most of it in layout the first night, had about half of the poetry written already and inputted. Wrote one or two more poems that night, and a few more the next morning… well, evening/morning is rather debatable. Anyways, I needed about three more poems before I could complete the thing, and I finally got some inspiration (had some poet block for about a week) and got the rest of it written and formatted. InDesign still confuses me, but I think I’m okay now. It’s not a big enough book to have tons of masters (which I’m a bit sad about), and the biggest thing was trying to squish everything where it was supposed to be.

So, without much further ado… you can buy a copy of Of Wonder at Cafepress at http://www.cafepress.com/chrnguyen

of strange happenings...

room draw: Okay, not such a strange happening, but rather a head's up that it's being finalized tomorrow. Wonderful; now everyone can relax.. although there were definitely stretches of hours that people weren't too concerned with it.

last day of class: Also just a notification that classes end _tomorrow_. Quite amazing, how we (or at least I) have made it through the year. Now there are only my three final exams and a Voder (project for EDS) to do.

death: Zach Coburn at the beginning of the year described a toothbrush as "death." Well, now one of my fillings has fallen out, and I only have less than two weeks at Olin, and then I leave the country for three and a half weeks. Could it have fallen out at any worse time? Well, I can think of a few, such as "on the plane," or giving a presentation.. but not much else.

lawsuits: I couldn't believe it when I read a judge sues the dry cleaners for $67 million. A pair of pants were lost at dry cleaners, and the family offered to pay up to $12K for suits, but then Pearson files a lawsuit against the dry cleaners. Original story here http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/25/AR2007042502763_pf.html Or http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=3119381&page=1
How does it add up? $15,000 for 10 years of weekend car rentals so he can transport his dry cleaning to another store, $1,150 per suit per violation (signs saying “Satisfaction Guaranteed” and “Same Day Service”) per day (1200 days) per defendant (3), $500,000 in emotional damages (mental suffering, inconvenience, and discomfort), $542,500 legal fees (he’s representing himself). Really, calling 63 witnesses on the original alteration bill of $10.50 is unnecessary. Oh, and the dry cleaners recovered the pants and he says they are the wrong pants. He's supposed to be reappointed for another 10-year term. Please take some action and write to his bosses. Some details here:
http://www.examiner.com/a-704031~Sherman_Joyce__Judge_Pearson__we_will_buy_you_a_new_suit.html

driving: I don’t really have anything to do this summer, so I was thinking about taking a road trip. Unfortunately, I won’t have my own car until mid-August, only two weeks or less before going back to Olin.Road Trip Nation is setting aside some funding especially for Campus Progress students. Basically, it involves “interviewing progressive pathfinders, shedding light on important issues, and sharing these amazing experiences through blogging, photography, and video.” The only real difference between the other road trips is that there is a social justice element to it. I think video may be optional. The grants are small; up to $300 or $600, but will pay for gas. Let me know if I know you and you are interested. =) http://roadtripnation.com/participate_indie_more.php

moving, yet again

Snow in April