Too Many Options...

So I have started to worry about stuff that I know I should not even be thinking about at this point in time. To begin with I started thinking about where I would apply to graduate school if I decide to get a PhD. This of course leads to other issues such as what classes should I take, what kind of nonacademic activities should I participate in, etc. Then there is the, "What do I really want to do for a living?" So far I have narrowed it down to two choices, but the paths for each are vastly different. For one I will almost certainly need a PhD from a prestigious institution, while for the other I need to pass a series of test so my degree will have little if any impact. For some reason I have also thought about what I would like to minor in since I do not really feel like double majoring in any of the other fields that interest me. At this point I am thinking that I will most likely pick two of the following; physics, economics, actuarial sciences, or statistics. I am leaning towards economics and actuarial sciences mostly because they are more directly related to my desired career choices. I do find the other choices interesting it's just that I am not sure I would gain as much from them.
As previously stated, I should not be worrying about most of these things. I should really be thinking about actually learning physics and passing the grandeur that was Rome. Try not
to misinterpret learning physic as, I don't know physics, because I actually do, I would just like a deeper understanding that I currently have. My classes this semester have not in the least kept me "entertained", by that I mean I have no strong desire to learn the material. Hopefully this will change next semester or next year when I get to take upper level math and economics classes.
Well I have been dwelling on my problems for too long, I feel it is time for a change of subject. So I have started downloading music once again. This might seem like no big deal but I haven't done this since the end of high school. Most of the music has been coming from albumbase or googletalk. The music I've been listening to has made me just how important orchestra was to me back in the day. Surprisingly I really miss being able to play my violin or guitar. Hopefully my parents have kept the violin and Roland hasn't lost my guitar. I would really love to go to a concert. Live performances are altogether on a different plane than recordings. If you were wondering what kind of concert I will make it less ambiguous, CLASSICAL MUSIC!!! There now there should be no confusion as to what I expect.
I have been rambling on for a while now, if you are still reading then I must congratulate you for making it this far. As you reward here is the video that comes with every post.

Why Math...?

So as you have already guessed the first thing that pisses me off is when people ask me "What is there to do with a math degree other than teach?" Now this is somewhat understandable because the image that we seem to get from others is that your college major defines what you will do with your life. I would know about this since my mom majored in an agricultural field while in college and now she is working for the government and her work has NOTHING to do with agriculture. Well here is why I want to major in mathematics. First off you can do just about anything, since employers will see that you majored in math and realize that you have strong analytical skills. Now what kind of company doesn't want an employee with analytical skills? Personally I want to pursue a career that will in some way be tied to the financial world. Honestly all you need to do is take finance and economics classes to show that you have some understanding of the topics.
As for the careers that interest me you are almost required to take a large series of mathematics and non-mathematics classes. One choice I am considering is becoming an acuter (to learn more about this profession visit www.beanactuary.com). In order to be an acknowledged acuter there are a series of rigorous test that one must pass. Most of these test have a passing rate that is no higher than 30%. Another option is trying to become an Quantitative Analyst. (This is comparable to a trader in many ways) For this it is very beneficial to have "some understanding" of economics and computer programming.
If for some reason I change my mind about what to do there is always the ability to use knowledge gained from my other non-math classes. Sure I could be a math teacher but really I do not have the kind of patience to teach kids, and as for being a professor I would have to teach an upper level class so that I am teaching only people who actually want to be in the class or can at least pretend to find it interesting.
So I guess the next time someone ask me "What can you do with a math degree other than teach?" I think I will answer with "What ever the fuck I want...now that I think about it I think I will take the job that you want."


Now for the video:

Typical Weekend

Well it was another typical weekend, the usual home football game I didn't go to because I didn't feel like buying a ticket and in my opinion it wasn't a game with going to. So I just watched it on TV. As you have guessed I am talking about Saturday so it means that I had an economics lecture to watch, nothing I wasn't able to handle. I am really hoping that Alli was right about microeconomics and macroeconomics being completely different. I thought about doing some math but decided not to because there is ALWAYS something worth watching on TV, and there weren't any classes that I needed to study for.
Sunday I woke up, turned the TV to FOX, watched the Bucs game, and it was at the moment the game was over that I knew just how horrible the preceding day was going to turn out. Once the game was over I somehow managed to summon the will power to get up and get lunch, it was only about 4 o'clock and I had not eaten breakfast. Once I was in the dorm again I talked to Bethany for a while and then watched the second economics lecture that I had left, I normally leave the lectures from Wednesday and Friday for Saturday and Sunday. The part of the day that I had been most looking forward to, the season premier of Desperate Housewives, was to some degree a major disappointment.
Well tomorrow I will be heading back to Tallahassee after classes are over. However, I will not be able to spend time with any my friends there because I will be getting there a little late. The reason I am there is for a dentist appointment, typical adjustment of the braces, at about 9 o'clock in the morning. After this I head back to Gainesville in oreder to attend my 5 o'clock class.

This video is thanks to Elias:

Thoughts on Video Games

Now I know that not many females play video games. Of the few that do they probably don't need to read this post.
Before I get started I think it will be necessary to define a few terms for those of you that are not 1337 (that means "leet" as in elite)
RPG: role playing game, you develop your character as the game devolves
FPS: first person shooter, think Halo or Halo2 or Half-Life 2

Well I was checking my Youtube account and saw that there was a new Final Fantasy AMV (animated music video) so for some strange unbeknownst to yours truly, I decided to watch it. About one minuet into the video I realized why I did not really enjoy playing turn-based RPGs, it is just unrealistic. Honestly have you ever seen a fight were the combatants take turns trying to hit each other? Didn't think so. So this got me thinking, "What good RPGs are out there that are not based on a turn based combat system?" Guess what the first game that came to mind was. FABLE! This games is amazing. I will admit that once you have beaten the game going through it takes about one fifth the time of the original pass through. This is partly due to the fact that you know what needs to be done and how to do it, but you then have to consider that normally on the second or third time through the game you normally do more side quest that you normally do on the first pass. If there is ever a sequel to Fable I know what I will be buying. Another game that I gave some consideration to was Star Wars: Nights of the Old Republic. This game is a must play for all Star Wars fans even though it employs the o so hated turn based system. I was about to get Knights of the Old Republic II, but decided to buy Soul Calibur 2. Now if any game company comes out with a game that lets you fight like you do in Soul Calibur, while at the same time retaining that RPG feel I will be their biggest fan. Some of you are probably thinking, "There already is a game like this! The Legend of Zelda!" The only reason I would disagree with this is because in Zelda there is no way to customize Link. All you really have to look forward to in the game is new weapons but no new attributes.
Well I just thought I would share some of my random thoughts on RPGs. If you have anything to add or disagree with something I have said please feel free to leave a comment.

Great Labor Day Weekend

So the weekend started with the first UF home game. Really it was not as loud as I had anticipated. For your information I live less than 500 yards from the loudest NCAA stadium. Since I did not see the need to buy tickets to attend a pointless game I stayed in my room playing Maple Story and walked around campus some.
Sunday was filled with great new adventures. However, during my "quest" I had put off doing my laundry, but this will be covered in Monday's story. Sunday I woke up and played some Maple and ate breakfast. Around 3:30 I went and played ultimate Frisbee, which left me covered in sweat and an unpleasant odor to say the least. After taking a bath I went to the Episcopal church which is withing walking distance of the dorm. Service was mediocre, nothing special but familiar in some ways. Now the highlight of the day, DINNER! Well mainly because I do not have the patience to sit here and type the whole story here is the general idea. I met three people; Sarah, Andrew, and Jarrod. They reminded me of some my friends in high school at first, but were really nothing like them once I thought about it for a while. After dinner we went to Ryan's dorm-located in Hume-I met even more interesting people. When it was getting close to midnight we started to play poker and then Hoopla, both great games. Well at about 2 in the morning we decided to call it a night. Myself and 4 other guys walked Sarah back to her dorm. At the current moment in time it is beyond my powers to remember the name of the dorm but I know that I have walked past it on my way to Beaty Towers, as a matter of fact you could say that it is right across the street form Beaty.
Monday capped off the best weekend so far. So when I woke up I realized that I still had to do my laundry and listen/watch my microeconomics lecture. After completing both of these task it was about 2:00. If you noticed nowhere did I say that I had eaten breakfast in this time so by 2:00 I was starving to say the least. Well while eating I ran into Ryan, John, and Peter (more people I met on Sunday). Then went to John's dorm played cards for a while until his friend, whose name I cannot recall right now, invited us to play Halo 2. As you have guess at 8:00 we watched the FSU-Miami game. AMAZING, and FSU won which was an added bonus for me. 13-10.
Well those were the highlights of the weekend.

Now this weeks video, if only Roland were this good:

First Week of College

Well as the title indicates this post will be about my first week of college.
I moved in on Saturday and spent that day and Sunday with my parents getting things for my room and setting it up. Not really that exciting. As of now not having A/C is not causing any major problems. However, my mom really wants me to try and get a room change. As I said previously, I do not have a problem with it so I think I will stay in Thomas for the rest of the year. Truly most of the time I will not be in my dorm so it will not be a major issue, and most of the school year not having A/C will not be bad since it will be cold anyways.
Classes started on Wednesday. They don't seem to be that different from how things were at Chiles. Sure I know that the material will be more difficult and that I will actually have to study, but as far as teaching styles there seems to be no difference. So far I have only had Calculus 3 and Physics w/ calculus 1. Calculus is really boring since we are going over topics that I had learned for MAO precalc year. Physics is interesting, it seems that we will be covering the same topics that Harvey covered just at a higher level. I am truly grateful that unlike most other people that got A's in that class, I actually bothered to learn the material and not memorize test questions/answers.


And now here is the random video for this post, hope you like Dragonball Z/GT.

Zelda Video

This is most likely my favorite video on all of YouTube. This may be a result of me now just starting to use it but still.




This video has reinforced my desier to get the Nintendo Wii and the new Zelda game.