I awoke this morning at 7:05 with a pounding headache. I usually set my alarm for 7:40, but I thought I might try to get to class a few minutes early to try to study for the sociology test scheduled for 9:00. So, of course, the one day I actually managed to get out of bed early, nature found a way to try to set me back. So as I walked toward the kitchen to drink my ritual three gulps of water, I looked at my mom and told her, "I don't have time for a headache." So I hopped in the shower and got ready as usual, pondering various ponderables (mostly about the girl I've finally decided I'm not going to go after any more), and by the time I was ready to leave for school, the headache was gone.

Well, I think it was gone. I didn't notice until about 45 minutes later after I started the test, and I couldn't remember how or when the pain had subsided. But the good news is that I basically willed the pain away, which I have been good at in the past. Maybe I was just lying on a blood vessel in an uncomfortable way while I slept, and getting up allowed the blood to flow properly again. (shrug)

Finally, if you haven't bought A Perfect Circle's new CD Thirteenth Step yet, what's wrong with you?! I have listened to almost nothing but A Perfect Circle since the day before this CD came out, and I haven't gotten tired of it yet. I have never listened to a single band this long, this constantly without at least forcing myself to listen to something else to offset the sound. It's that good. Well, I think so, and I think they're deserving of a little praise here. I also think Tool deserves being mentioned, since they're the meaner, more aggressive alterego of A Perfect Circle.

The regular season has finally come to a close, so now it's time to compare the results to my preseason predictions. I almost nailed the American League (no one could have predicted Kansas City's surge or Anaheim's demise), and aside from switching a couple teams here and there in the National League and completely missing with Florida, my National League predictions weren't too far off either. It's the first time I've ever nailed all six division winners before the season started, so I'm feeling good about making October predictions, anyway!

The Braves are in the picture once again, but for the first time in twelve years, it isn't because of their pitching, so people are clamouring once again that this should be the second year in twelve when they take it all the way and win the World Series. At least, that's what I said. They still have to get past the Cubs (who haven't won it all since 1906) and probably the Giants, and then it's on to the best of the American League.

Winning divisions consistently is the best way to prove that you've got the best team, while winning it all year after year with a different team is the best way to prove that you've got the deepest pockets. Is this why the Braves tend to lose to the Yankees every year or two? Well, back in March, I predicted that the Giants and Yankees would meet at the end of October, and while I won't recant from that entirely, I think the Braves have a much better chance than I had anticipated then. Anyway, my predictions are that the Braves will narrowly take down the Giants in a couple weeks, the Yankees will lose early and allow the Twins to beat the Red Sox, and we'll see a rematch of the 1991 World Series -- only this time, Kent Hrbek isn't around to throw anyone off first base and steal the series.

Finally, the individual awards are always the most difficult to predict, because while the performance of an entire roster can be predicted reasonably accurately based on general expectations, any single player can have a a much better or worse season any given year. That said, I am amazed that Gary Sheffield and Manny Ramirez, who I predicted to be MVPs back in March, are going to be in the thick of it when the results are announced in November. On the pitching side of things, I'm going to say Eric Gagne and Roy Halladay are going to get the awards.

Being a moral agent is nontransferable, which means each individual is responsible for his/her own ethical or moral decisions. This begs the question of why there is an exception for soldiers following orders, and whether that is ethical. And what about punishment for violating an order in such an instance, and is that ethical?

But never mind that. I would like to mention the foundation of the version of egoism to which I subscribe. I base it on the skepticism of Rene Descartes, which is founded on his most famous quotation: "I think, therefore I am." Before I try to justify my egoist philosophy, I should share my definition of egoism: the ethical theory that morality is founded on the human principle of self-interest. The average person immediately assumes the worst about egoism: it is nothing but an excuse to be selfish with a complete disregard for others. You must be careful with such a horrible assumption, because no true egoist disregards any aspect of his/her environment, especially other moral agents (sentient beings with moral capacity -- only humans fit this description to our knowledge). Moving on...

I believe the foundation of morality lies in self-interest because of something Descartes believed: it is impossible to know the true nature of any thing or the true preferences of any individual except the self (i.e., I can't know anything except what I know based on my own perception). Life is experienced via perception, and while the pragmatist trusts what he/she perceives, the skeptic does not. I consider myself between the two, and at least I think I understand each side. There are two examples I use to support this stance:

So you see, the purpose of the egoist is not to ignore the will or preferences of others, but rather to strive to understand them and make the best decision based on that. Every one always tries to make themselves feel good, whether consciously or subconsciously, and that always involves making selfish decisions. Certainly, we all help others sometimes, but do you ever do so with zero selfish motive? The answer, whether you like it or not, is no.

I have an unbridled respect for truth and toleration, so I prefer to let the truth out. The longer a truth remains hidden, the more difficult it is to tolerate it once it is revealed (earth is round and not the center of the universe). I prefer to accept the truth that we all possess the desire to help ourselves, and to help ourselves we can not avoid helping others. Egoism is not egotism; egoism is not a bad thing.

All I can ask is that you tolerate and try to understand my position, but the responsibility to agree or disagree falls on you alone -- being a moral agent is nontransferable. Only you have the responsibility to make your own ethical decisions.

(Thanks to Dr. David Bell, President of Macon State College, and Gracen Strong for contributing ideas, although neither of you are aware that I've written anything outside our discussion...)

I see no good reason why I should hide the reason for going to Athens yesterday. (Reason: yes. Good reason: no.) Some people are embarrassed or otherwise uncomfortable about admitting being a part of any kind of academic competition team. So I'm good at Jeopardy! Big deal, right?

Yesterday's trip to Athens was for an NAQT tournament, the first I have ever participated in. Dr. Taylor had been trying to draft me onto Macon State's team for several months now, and for whatever reason I decided to go this time. Expectedly, we didn't win anything significant, but we did lose a couple of heartbreakingly close matches that easily could have gone our way. Considering our team consisted of four rookies and a captain that had never been captain before, I think we did pretty well.

During time off from actual matches, Clyde and I spent our time stopping cute girls in short shorts out on the sidewalks of Athens. It's amazing how easy it is to get a girl to smile just by saying, "hi, how are you doing?" Back inside, I chatted a bit with a few of the cuter girls at the competition -- or, well, just Felicia from USC. There's something about cute girls at an academic competition at the college level that just spells "bait and hook". Um, anyway...

Gosh, look at the time... It's 5:00am, and I'm freshly out of the shower, leaving for Athens in about an hour or so. It occurs to me that I'll be traveling about 20 miles in the wrong direction before heading out; I suppose that's one of the sacrifices we make when it's a group thing. I really don't have the time for these types of day trips, even when it's for a school function, so I'm almost wishing I hadn't agreed to go. (Okay, so a particular friend of the female persuasion decided she wanted to see me today, and I had to tell her that I was already committed to something else. That stings.)

Maybe I'll win on Jeopardy one day and everything will be righted in the world. And maybe not. As long as I have a decent weekend and my Monday test in international economics doesn't kill me, I won't have much to complain about. But I'll probably whine about it anyway...

Dr. Adams, who created these Web Development Tutorials from scratch, is one of the most talented web developers alive in my estimation, and one of the most all-around intelligent people I've ever met as well, for that matter. Of course, I say that because he seems to think a lot like me, and he has many better ways of expressing those thoughts in words. For example:

I agree with every word said here. What say you, web visitor? Is my version of selfishness good enough for you?

Song of the Moment: A Perfect Circle - The Noose

Instead of spending all this money litigating against kids who are the people they're trying to sell things to in the first place, they have to learn how to effectively use the Internet.

File sharing is a reality, and it would seem that the labels would do well to learn how to incorporate it into their business models somehow... Record companies suing 12-year-old girls for file sharing is kind of like horse-and-buggy operators suing Henry Ford.

Some artists get it; you and I get it; why don't the record companies get it? I'll tell you why: because they are the ones who are out of jobs when all the dust settles on this one. Record companies are the middlemen who we don't need. Artists make the music, and the process to get it from the studio to the listeners is getting simpler and cheaper, leaving the record companies slowly out to dry. As far as I'm concerned, we don't need record labels.

This is a world of individuals who form factions when they think alike about something. The music industry is beginning to fall apart because people can't agree on a universal standard for producing music for record stores. So the result should be simple enough in the coming years: individual artists and bands will begin producing their own music, and record companies and their executives will be left out to dry (which means they will find some other business to manage and leech).

Power to the people -- that is, the consumers and the artists. Screw the suits and their big offices whose hardest day involves a few phone calls and a stress attack for losing another big client...

Are you ready for another exciting day at school? Yesterday, I arrived at school around 9:00am and left around 11:00pm. Today, I'll arrive around 8:00am and leave, um, at least eight hours later. I hope that I'll actually have time to go to work today, but if I don't... I think I at least need to touch base with them. What I did yesterday was an accident, but I realized about half way through the day that I didn't really check in. Whoops. I think they knew what I was working on, but since I didn't confirm that personally, I have no idea. It was a hectic day, and I had fun doing a lot more work than I'm used to doing, but I should probably also try to do the work that I get paid to do too. There's a concept!

And doing homework wouldn't be a bad idea either. After four weeks of school, I've only done work outside of class for my Ethics class. The most attention the other classes have received outside of class is looking for their respective books before taking off in the morning. That can't be good.

The theme for today seems to be "I know nothing". I've been going since 9:00am, and I'll probably be going until midnight or 1:00am, and then I get a tease of a nap before returning around 7:30am to make sure that SGA elections are kicked off properly. Unfortunately, I can't be in Macon and Warner Robins at the same time, so the chances of a problem occurring in Warner Robins that I can not fix nor be responsible for is, well, unknown... But there is a chance.

I spent today perfecting the online and paper ballots, as well as attending classes and doing homework like a good student. Now I'm learning how to use the archaic WebCT web site for my ethics class, and I'm beginning to realize that it's true: I know nothing. I really am a Socratic, you know.

Six Flags was a blast. Lyndsay picked me up at about 9:30 and, after missing the turn onto I-20 (after she asked me if we should take that turn -- oops), we got there a couple minutes before noon. We rode the Mindbender and the Batman coasters to get started, and then we barely arrived late for Mary's performance back up the hill at the "Drive-In" stage, or whatever it is. We then had lunch, and went back to catch up with Mary...

Then Mary, Lyndsay, Lynsey, and I set off to ride the rides of the park. (Mary went to high school with me; she is a year younger than me. Lyndsay and I sort of work together; she won two free passes to go to Six Flags, and I ended up being the lucky one that got the second pass; and she's two years younger than me. Lynsey was with Mary's performing group; she's about twelve years younger than me, give or take a couple.)

The thing we set out to ride was the Dejavu ride (however they spell it at Six Flags), which lifts you up on a vertical track, drops you to pick up speed for a loop, a corkscrew, and then another vertical track, then it drops you again so you go through all of that backwards. I've never been a big fan of being dropped toward cement like that, and I'm happy that Lyndsay persuaded me to do it; it's probably my second favorite ride in the park now. I'm even happier that Lynsey enjoyed it. Hours later, she told us, "Thank you guys so much! Before I came here today I was scared to death of roller coasters; now I can ride anything!" Not only does she seem way too smart for her age, but she's one of the nicest kids I've ever met, and we helped her through the scariest rides in the park (even for me), and now she loves them!

So, it hurt us all (and pissed us off) when, nearing the end of the day, someone stole her little pouch from one of the cubby holes for loose items. The pouch contained nothing of any significant value to anyone else -- her glasses and a $20 bill -- but to a girl of her age and innocence... Let's just say it nearly killed the day.

As soon as I realized what happened, I ran through the exit and up a walkway to the nearest restroom, where I figured a thief would run to for privacy while going through stolen bags. I didn't find any clues regarding Lynsey's pouch, but I did find a leather cell phone jacket without the cell phone, suggesting to me that someone's phone had been stolen. A half hour later, while filling out a report at the park's guest relations office, two girls who rode the Scorcher right behind us came in and said their bag was stolen as well, and inside were two cell phones, one with the leather jacket... In other words, I could not have missed the thief by more than a minute or two! I don't know what I would have done if I had found him (had to be a "he" in the men's bathroom), but I felt angry enough that violence would have been an option if he weren't twice my size or half my age. And, well, if it was anyone smaller, I would just drag him down to guest relations on my own.

But, alas, I found no one, and at this point someone is $20 richer and has probably trashed an innocent little girl's glasses, ruining her night and basically forfeiting her right to enjoy clear vision for at least 12-16 hours. On a personal note, I hope justice finds this person at the maximum penalty that the eighth amendment allows.

Anyway, we all had a great day otherwise, and even Lynsey was smiling again when we left. I don't know anything about her or her parents, but someone did a great job with her. It's kids like her that make me look forward to being a parent.

Speedy Gonzalez has been my AOL Instant Messenger buddy icon for a few months now. This is why. I almost cried when I read this. Well, no, not really. But it deeply affected me! ... I was pissed. At least Marvin the Martian doesn't offend any Martians. Come to think of it, the article doesn't mention that Speedy offended any Mexicans or Mexican-Americans, but only that the networks were afraid that he might offend them. How idiotic is that?

There was a drawing for two passes to Six Flags over Georgia at the grand opening for the Warner Robins campus of Macon State College on the last evening of the festivities, which happened to be the night I randomly dropped by. I had made no plan to attend the event, but I was in town that Thursday night, so I made an appearance, and Lynn flagged me down for photo ops and other little things as if she had expected me all along. (So, I was glad to be there, especially since I probably would have disappointed people if I hadn't shown up. Being president of the student government comes with legitimate expectations...)

Lindsay and Tim, two of the student workers, were really hoping to get a couple of free passes to Six Flags. To keep this story from being longer than it has to be (i.e., without giving you all the funny little details), Lindsay won the tickets and I'm going with her this Saturday -- tomorrow. So while I'm flying through the air above or below steel tracks, I'll be thinking of you and your Saturday routine (yard work, football, house work, football, etc.), as long as you promise to do the same for me when you get out of the house next weekend...!

It's been a fast-paced week. I have been working diligently for the student government to prepare for next week's Senate elections. My self-proclaimed responsibilities include working with ballot structure and options, putting up a web site, and holding meeting after special meeting to ensure that everything goes smoothly next week! Lots of things are different with the student government this year -- the web page did not exist until this September, there are more candidates for student Senate than there have ever been to my knowledge, and there are more interested students who are not candidates than I thought there would ever be! Add to all of that my writing for the school newspaper, four classes, and an internship, and I'm a busy boy!

It should come as no surprise that I'm still making time for the ladies, but it comes as a surprise even to me that that word is plural. There really isn't much to say about that right now, except that I have underlying ambitions, and I'm only focused on one. But single men are a hot commodity at Macon State College, where the female population outnumbers the male population by about a 2-1 ratio, so it's very easy to find myself making time for other girls. (Well, I'm not going to lie dormant while I wait for Miss Perfect... She's taking her time, and she knows how to reach me!)

I think -- here's a concept -- that I might actually go to work and class tomorrow! I missed them both on Tuesday. Being important on campus is fun.

Well, I said I wanted to break 150 with regularity and that I would be pleased if I approached 200; here are my scores for the six games I bowled tonight: 156, 156, 158, 160, 165, 186. Yes, in that order. I frickin' rocked tonight! Man, if we had time for one more game, I think I would have had it! I finally found my groove at the end of that 165 game, when I strung together three strikes in a row. Then at the beginning of the 186 game, I strung together four strikes in a row, and I finished it off with two more at the end.

I have finally rediscovered how I need to throw the ball to get just the right pin action and knock down all ten pins consistently. Now, if only I bowl frequently enough to keep that rhythm, I'll be damn good at it again! Tonight was the most fun I've had bowling in over two years, probably. I want to do it again!

After bowling, Zach, Adam, and I hung out at my house and watched Memento (sort of -- Adam and I actually talked about girls and Zach went home to sleep). Funny story about Adam and me... it turns out that we not only have both dated Dalila (which we both knew about), but we have also both dated Emily (neither of us knew the other had dated her). After discussing various things about girls in general, we concluded that we are actually very much alike. It seems like my major difference with Adam is the same as my major difference with Zach -- I'm not a gearhead; in fact, I know shit about cars except the basic stuff, plus what little I have picked up from having Zach as a best friend for 12+ years.

In any case, tonight was great, even if the day leading up to what became a guys' night was pretty boring. I hope your weekend went have as well as mine! I also hope a friend of mine from years past had a great 21st birthday. Liza, if you're out there, happy 21st! I know it's a couple hours late now, but if turning 21 is how I remember it, you're still up!

I have grown tired of reading headlines about voting machines that will make election results less accurate or more easily misrepresented. It occurred to me the first time I heard such an argument that paper ballot voting can be invalidated just as tacitly and easily as machine ballot voting, but libertarian and anti-technology nuts won't let go of the issue. This leaves me compelled to say something, and as much faith as I have in libertarian ideals, I must challenge is The Liberator, a libertarian newsletter that I receive every two or three weeks via email.

In the issue I received on August 21, an article called "Electronic Voting May Steal Your Vote" got my attention. A report by researchers at Johns Hopkins and Rice universities alerted The Liberator to "the dangers of touch-screen computer voting systems", in which the researchers concluded, "if we do not change the process of designing our voting systems, we will have no confidence that our election results will reflect the will of the electorate." Among other concerns, they said that the voting software is badly designed and can be manipulated, asserting that an election may be rigged "by anyone with $100 of computer equipment".

Um, excuse me: anybody?! I think someone better reword that. I know a lot about computers, and $100 of computer equipment is barely sufficient to do anything useful (that said, I don't doubt the ability of hackers, but usage of the word "anybody" is a bit, er, inaccurate).

Another of the major concerns is that records can not be authenticated without a paper receipts of the voting record. Questions of authenticity and rigged results pop up, geared mostly toward distrust of those counting the votes tallied by the machines. Well, excuse me, but if you don't trust the machines that automatically tally the votes or the people that verify the votes, then why should I trust the people counting the votes recorded via paper ballots? Obviously, only a tiny handful of people can manually count votes; that task isn't open to everyone. Then again, people of varying political biases are required to count the same votes, so presumably the focus is on getting it right rather than biasing the results.

In any case, my point is that no individual who did not manually count the votes him-/herself is going to know that the vote count is exactly accurate. In fact, it is reasonable to assume that no election vote tally is exactly accurate, since votes are misrepresented or invalidated for a number of silly reasons, and people simply make mistakes.

I feel like this isn't a very persuasive argument, but there is no question in my mind that electronic voting is easier on the people, easier on the trees, and easier on the state budgets. That can not be a bad thing in 21st Century America.

Zach and I switched bowling to tonight, so last night I decided to come down to Warner Robins anyway and just hang out with Dad for a while. I had actually hoped to find something else to do (something resembling activities of a normal social life), but hanging out with Dad isn't a bad thing. Jessica came by to show off her new Jeep, and after half an hour or so she left to show the rest of the world.

I watched Desperado for the first time in years last night, mainly because I'm (surprisingly) very interested in the upcoming sequel, Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek come back joined by... Enrique Iglesias?! The movie looks to be badder than the first one, and while that ordinarily isn't why I choose to watch a film, in this case it's a good reason.

Nothing else is going on this weekend. Auburn is playing Georgia Tech, and Alabama is playing Oklahoma (my neighbor might not like this, but any time someone plays a top five team that isn't in the SEC, I root for the underdog, even when that means rooting for Alabama or Florida!). I'm probably going to end up doing a lot of homework that I need to catch up on. But that comes tomorrow...

Who's got the keys to the Jeep? Well, I don't want to jinx it, because she's really excited about getting the car she's always wanted, so I'm not going to say anything more. But assuming things go well today, I should be able to tell you how excited she is tomorrow.

Zach and I are going bowling tonight, and she might come with us. My goal is to break 150 with regularity, and if I approach 200 I will be pleased. Zach bowled a 183 two weeks ago, and he hadn't bowled in several months. He and I are trying to get back into the bowling shape we were in at the end of high school, when he was in the 170s or higher every game, and I was threatening or breaking 200 every game. Bowling is such fun... I wish I were still good at it!

I was in Warner Robins Tuesday and Thursday, and I'm going back again today! It's like my second home... only I lived there first... well sort of. I guess I was born in Macon, so whatever.

I like Baked Cheddar and Sour Cream Ruffles. Mmmm.

Look out, world! I'm on another kick, living single and getting things done, and I'm having the time of my life. Now, if only I could work on the living single part...

I've decided that Dave Matthews is to the Beatles as Radiohead is to Pink Floyd. I'm not talking about pop culture status so much as quality and style of music. Dave Matthews Band music seems, at least to me, to have a similar quality (naturally adjusted to fit with today's standards) to Beatles music, just as Radiohead seems to have a similar sound (again, adjusted for deflation) to Pink Floyd. Maybe that's why those two bands are two of the most popular with two of the most rabid and dedicated fanbases out there -- DMB and Radiohead, I mean (The Beatles and Pink Floyd are givens).

I have little else to report, except that I had no idea Charles Bronson was that old, and I didn't realize Bobby Bonds had died until six days after the fact. For someone who follows baseball as closely as I do, that's amazing. It only means that I haven't been keeping up with the news at all -- not since about March 19, in fact.

So, how you doin'?

Once again, I enjoyed a relaxing and very entertaining weekend in Warner Robins. One of these days, I'll convince myself to stay in Macon for the weekend like I used to, but probably only when I can convince someone to come visit for a significant portion of it. Until then, I am enjoying visiting my dad and two of my best friends in Warner Robins, so I plan to continue as long as the traveling and visitation do not get in the way of more important things, like school and work.

Speaking of the devil, I haven't done any homework this weekend, except a minimum of reading in my computer ethics book. I have fifty pages or so to read and a few questions to answer by Monday, which should be very easy and actually somewhat fun, since ethics is basically the philosophy of morality, something I think I can enjoy for a semester or so.

So the night comes to an end. August was a good month for me overall, although it definitely had some significant downs. The beginning of the month was incredibly stressful (though very much fun at times), but the last few days have over-compensated for it. Even with uncertainty abound, I am thrilled to be in the position I am now, and I'm having more fun than I have in a while. (Now if only I can have my fun and eat it too... er, have my fun and get my work done too!)

Merry September.