I went out yesterday to enjoy the weather we're having. That wasn't the case Wednesday when an F4 tornado slammed near the area. This happened a couple of counties above where I live. I just heard thunder, along with heavy rain. I find it utterly mystifying that the tornado was an F4. That never happens around here. The tornado damaged a house completely and a church. What was shocking was that the church just finished doing a $300,000 renovation in January 2009. Now, it was worth nothing. The owners did have insurance, so that was a relief.
Here's a picture that I took yesterday next to a cannon (Why a cannon? Because it will blow your mind! Get it...?)
It snowed down here today - something that hardly happens here in Augusta, GA. It did not accumulate, but just a few miles up the road, it did. It was an impressive sight and it all happened during the inauguration! Snow is a good symbol. Hopefully this is a sign for better things to come for our president, Obama.
This has been a fast year! I guess that is what most people say every year anyway. I finished my first semester of college and it was great! Twelve credits down, 112 more to go. At this pace, college will be over in no time. I found college a bit easier than I expected. In my opinion, college is the easiest if you come directly from high school. If high school was a struggle, then college will become a struggle. But lucky me, things went just fine. It can depend on the professors as well. One reason I found college a somewhat easy task is that I set up my schedule so I only attend two days a week. I accomplished the same load of work that some of my peers did in five days a week. I chose to do it all in two days a week, so I could have more time to study. My schedule will be like that for the year 2009 as well.
On other news, since my Christmas Break has started today, I am now going to devote much of my time working up my new website. I was so busy that I could not get much done. This website is not a blog, not a pre-made design, nor a free account on freewebs. Everything on the site is created 100% totally by me. You will see in the upcoming weeks, hopefully.
November 4, 2008
Today marks history. It's not confirmed, but most likely, Obama will become our new president of the United States. I've been watching the results throughout the night. It looked good for McCain, but then went into Obama's favor. Many people have this assumption that because Obama is part African American, that it will mean a huge change for everyone whether positive or negative. That's not true - at least in my opinion...that's discrimination whether it was meant in a positive way. I like Obama because for one, he's young, which means he can relate to more of these problems in this generation. I have no hard feelings against McCain, I just don't approve of his economic policy and his values. McCain by all means loves this country, and he is a smart man, but can he actually make a "difference"? With McCain, I just see another Bush. Perhaps I'm wrong...but it can't be disputed anyway because it has not happened yet. Obama was not my first choice. If Sarah Palin was on the ballot, she would've had my vote. Sarah can relate to the common people. She is the type of person you can either like or dislike...I can tell that from many other people. Either way, I believe Congress is the problem with the U.S., not the president.
October 28, 2008
Fall is here! Finally, my favorite time of the dang year. The weather is much nicer in my opinion than it is during the summer. Summertime around here is hot and sticky. Some people actually like that!? I don't...I just like the cool weather. It seems that it could be a cold winter. It's going to be 29 degrees tonight. That is very unusual for a temperature to get that cold this time of year where I live. I'll take it though...but when it gets down to the teens, I think I will pass on that. I'll only take a 13 degree temperature if it comes with snow. It is not like I have a choice anyway, God either makes it snow or not, right?
Oh, and gas prices here are down. The lowest one I found was $2.38. This will probably be a bunch of bull when it goes up next week. Who would've ever thought that people would be excited to see $2.38 a gallon?
September 30, 2008
Yesterday was a bad day for the economy. The Dow dropped over 700 points. That's the worst it has fallen in history. On top of that, Congress turned down the 700 billion dollar bail out plan that was supposed to help our economy. I'm glad it was turned down because where do you think the 700 billion is coming from? Our tax dollars. If we keep bailing out Congress for their mistakes, they'll never learn. Plus, it does not take a genius to know that many people can barely afford goods at the prices they currently are at.
September 18, 2008
I have been in college for a month and so far, it's great! I need to do a bit better, but so far, I have nothing lower than a "B" in all of my classes. I am shooting for all A's, but that's still a long shot. I've been mainly writing essays - which is my favorite, tons of research papers - another favorite, and learning how the economy works. Oh, don't forget college Algebra. College Algebra is mainly Algebra I & II. I am looking forward to Christmas break which is 23 days long I think. The best part about college is the freedom you have to do almost anything you want. They could go cheaper on the food prices though. Overall, every thing's great!
August 29, 2008
Jesus Christ, what a day. Excuse me for the language but what a day of hell it has been. People are working on the roof and the noise is unbearable. They're several people on there using nail guns, saws, all kinds of crap to get it fixed. It was not termites but it was infested with carpenter ants. Don't ask me, I never heard of those types of ants. My two dogs would not shut the f**k up! Don't worry, I mean that with humor, the roof is done and I can get back my two hours of sleep. zzzzzz...zzzzzz...
August 21, 2008
I have been through two days of college and I have to say it was pretty fun. There's so much more freedom and in addition to that, you learn material that you previously learned all over again. I know that I'm currently a freshman so there's the possibility that things could change but as of now, the material is no different than high school. You may have a different class that you never learned before but you can pick up on it quickly. There's so much help offered if you need it. The best part about college is that I only go two days per week instead of the five days a week in high school. Some people choose to go five days a week at college to spread their work out more evenly but I choose to combine it all in two days so I can feel like I still have a summer break. I'll do anything to get straight A's, something I never accomplished ever. No more B's! And no more of those C's!
August 14, 2008
I got a cellphone today. It's already activated and everything. I would've never gotten one if I wasn't going to college. I know one thing I'll never do, I'll never text people back and forth like a moron. I don't even have that enabled so that's good. Some people are so addicted to it, like if it was a craving. Other than that, I visited my college today to check on a few things. I start on Tuesday; can't wait!
August 5, 2008
What a heatwave we are having. Temperatures nearing 100 degrees with the heat index of 107. I can't wait until the fall, when the temperatures are in the 60's and 70's. Winter is also my favorite month, we get a whopping .00001 inches of snow a year. I think I would like hail much more than the little snow (if any) we get per year. There was a time back in the year 2000 when we received five inches of snow. I still remember it, I could make a huge snowman and remember throwing huge snowballs at the neighbors. The snow came down for three days in a row off and on. With the recent warm winters we've had, I can only hope for a cold and moist one so we have a chance of snowfall!
August 1, 2008
Today was pretty fun, I went to my college Orientation and set up my schedule for my classes. I have a full load but I only attend two days a week! Since I registered my classes at the last minute, I didn't get the best times so I can't sleep in too much but hey, with the work load I have, I can still get out in four years or less. Pretty cool huh? I can't believe that I have to take three languages but we'll see how that goes. I took Spanish in high school so I can opt out of that if I take a test. If I do well on the test, I can say screw Spanish and get the credit. The professors and Orientation advisor's seemed very nice. The president of my college said that less than half of the student's do not get their degree. I was very shocked but I can understand why. High schools are not very challenging and it seems that extra credit makes the grade for students nowadays so when it's time to get serious, then I guess I understand why over half don't get their degree. However, sometime in the year 2012, you will see a Journal entry stating that I got my degree,
July 24, 2008
Today is a historic moment (well, maybe not) but the minimum wage rose a whopping 70 cents. When I put whopping, I meant that sarcastically because it does not take a genius to figure out that we are going to pay for that raise right back. How? Well, think of the strain that business owners have. Having to pay each employee 70 more cents an hour which most likely will make the business owner rise prices to make up the difference and guess who has to pay up, us. However, this can benefit many people who live off minimum wage even though no one should be doing that. I believe minimum wages are all to common in this nation today thanks to poor decisions made by congress and believe it or not, us as well. Gas prices surely help the situation. Starting on congress, why is it that only 30% of the oil comes from the United States and that 70% comes from foreign countries? Shouldn't it be the other way around? And we all know that gas is taken for granted by Americans because it's always there for our convenience. Gas prices is the reason why everything rises in cost because food, clothes, etc has to be shipped from somewhere, right?
July 21, 2008
Well, I have nearly a month left before college begins. This will be my first year in the university. I don't expect it to be as hard as I thought it would be. Plus, I can make my own schedule. How cool is that? I don't have to wake up at 5am to get ready for school! And, if I only want classes on Tuesday and Thursday, I can do that. What high school will let you do that? I still want to attend long enough so I can get out of there by the age of 22. Imagine, 22 years old with a bachelor's degree in "Communications." Then, attend college again for a second major in "Meteorology" and graduate by the age of 25. Sounds so easy but it's not. It all takes time, we'll just see what happens, right?
July 14, 2008
I had plans to head downtown today because one of my former teachers was getting a prestigious award. We were going to surprise her. A friend was supposed to pick me up this morning at 10am but never showed up. I felt like an idiot, lol. I know it was not intentional. Oh well, I can still visit my teacher. It was my idea to surprise her and we had a plan and everything, lol. I wonder if they did visited her today? I'll find out...but I am not mad at that, I am mad because we were going to go to Wendy's before we went to the award ceremony and I never got my Frosty Shake, lol.
July 4, 2008
Today is Independence Day otherwise known as the fourth of July. I went to a friends house to get out of my house to a BBQ. I almost didn't go because I felt like crap with only two hours of sleep. I felt so bad that I could not even eat. I had ribs and anything that you can imagine right in front of me but I just couldn't eat. Who knows what's wrong, maybe I just need more sleep. If I never set my alarm, I think I would never ever get up. Like I've mentioned before, sleep is a waste of time to me but for some reason, it makes you feel much better. I mean, why can't we just keep our eyes open and relax instead? I need to find out why right now, no lie!
June 27, 2008
I was watching some videos today on how to take the backgrounds out of videos also known as chromakey. You have to stand in front of a solid color like blue or green for it to work. You typically see that when the weather man is presenting the weather. For my new web design, I want to pop out into cool animated backgrounds. I think that would be cool to do. That's what I have been working on for the last month but the lighting has to be right or it won't work. I want this to be professional so I am using an expensive microphone for crystal clear sound. I will spend the whole day Saturday finishing up my videos for the site. I don't want to tell anybody what I am doing yet, because sometimes, I don't even know what I'll do. The ideas pop in my head while I do the video at times.
June 21, 2008
I woke up today at 6pm, yes PM. I guess not sleeping for a long time will do that to you. I am just working on a few videos for the new site hopefully coming out before the month is over. It's very frustrating working with a green screen because you have to have the perfect amount of light, the right software; it took about a month of prep work to figure out what works. I may look drowsy in the videos since I didn't sleep for so long. Whatever, we'll see soon.
June 13, 2008
Today is Friday the 13th!! Oooooh, it's my lucky day! We only have one Friday the 13th this year, next year, we have three Friday the 13th's. Why is this day so unlucky? Well, I don't care, people need to grow up and live! I heard that up to 900 Million dollars is lost on this day. Hell, I can make up half of that cost by buying a large popcorn at the movies.
June 12, 2008
I can't believe that it's the middle of June already! This is a fast paced world out there. It's also a hot one. For the past week and a half, we've had temperatures close to or at 100 degrees. The air conditioner has ran non-stop at my house. Anyway, I'm making progress on my website. It should be finished soon but I am not ready to give out a date yet. After this website crap is done, I am going to lay off my laptop and give it a rest. I will do what I did fifteen years ago, before Windows 95, I am going to have fun without the use of computers. I mean think about it, when you were four or five years old, what were your memories? You would probably say going to the playground with my friends, riding my bike, etc. In the next ten years, what will young children have memories of? Texting friends with their $500 cell phone. First thing, I never understood texting and I still don't. I don't even understand all of the abbreviations like "btw." It's absolutely pointless to see people texting about absolutely nothing 24/7. It's true. Texting is a good way of communication, but come on, when you use it 24/7 and talk about nothing, it's just stupid. I also never understood chat rooms. Chat rooms are not civilized and have too many grammar errors. I bet many people did not know that "Chatroom" is actually "Chat room" (two seperate words). Computers and cellphones are good things to have, but people need to realize that there is more to life than these two things.
June 6, 2008
Let's see, when I first started high school, I usually fell asleep at 10pm. As high school dragged along, I fell asleep at 12-1am. Now, since I graduated, I go to sleep at around 5-6am and sometimes later. I still manage to get up before 11am. I think sleep is a waste of life, yes, people do need it and it's healthy for you but I feel that I can't get anything accomplished unless I'm awake. It's just a waste of time. Time in my opinion is more valuable than money, sike! Money buys everything. Face it, you can even buy love on the internet. I even heard you can buy a life which reminds me, I need to get one. Life's are on sale for only $29.99 and if I call in the next ten minutes, I can save 15% or more on Car Insurance by shopping with Geico.
June 2, 2008
I can't wait until tomorrow. I am going to buy a High Definition camcorder and it is at a ridiculously low price. I feel so stupid that I bought a digital camera recently because this camcorder not only takes high definition video (the type you see on DVD movies), it takes 8 mega pixel pictures as well. My digital camera took crappy video and 7 mega pixels. I can't believe such a thing costs less than my digital camera. I guess I will have to sell it on Ebay.
May 29, 2008
Well, I received my diploma today. About damn time! I was surprised to see many people in the audience at graduation. All of that is over with and now I have to move on. I will sincerely miss all of my friends and peers. High school in my opinion is one of the most memorable experiences that any person can have.
May 28, 2008
Well, my graduation is tomorrow. Finally, the last thing that is high school related. I can't wait until it is all over. After this, life will dramatically change, however, I am going to enjoy my two months of summer before I worry too much about that.
May 20, 2008
Wow, what a shocking day in weather terms. I live for severe thunderstorms and I hope to one day chase a tornado, but today was a total shock. In the Augusta, GA area today, we had four minutes of golf ball sized hail. This may not be shocking for many people, but it is to me. I was never in a hail storm. And ironically, our local meteorologist came to my school the day before it happened explaining how hail is formed and etc. Life is sure of surprises. I was looking at the radar and the storm just popped out of nowhere. The storm raced toward Augusta. The meteorologist said "This storm can produce gusty winds and golf ball sized hail." I surely did not care because we never had hail at my house. In a thunderstorm, we usually put our neighbors' car under our carport just in case hail forms, but this time, we didn't. Even though hail was falling hard, our neighbor had absolutely no dents on her car. However, for other people, they were not that lucky.
May 19, 2008
It justs seems like time is flying by too fast, however, I am not complaining too much. I am ready for the summer. I can not wait to get out more and do things that I've never done while I was in high school. I am also working on a new design for my website: jamesfurlan.com. It should come out sometime in June hopefully. The website will still mainly focus on website designing, however, I will have a lifestyle section included. I can't tell too much about it yet; mainly because I haven't finished it. I can not wait until the summer!
May 16, 2008
Well, today I learned that I suck at bowling. I only made two strikes in three games. Many times I got the ball in the gutter. However, many times I was only one pin away from a strike. No one made higher than 110 on my team. They were bragging how they get 200 but now I know. It was a great night but I will be paying for it tomorrow with a sore back. I have a ton of studying to do for exams because this is my final week of school. I can still remember my first day of high school like it was yesterday.
May 9, 2008
It was about time I got out of the damn house to do something worth while. I went to a baseball game along with many peers and friends. It was a great experience. It was the Augusta GreenJackets vs. Rome Braves. I am not sure which team won because I was too busy taking pictures. Also, the batter kept hitting the ball over the fence which I believed dented a car. The ball almost hit someones head. I was trying to catch one as a souvenir but failed. I know I ate too much. Who cares, I had a great time. After that, we drove over to "Sonic" to get Ice Cream Sundaes.
May 5, 2008
What an unexpected surprise. I was on the phone with my friend and checking my e-mails when I found out I won a $500 scholarship to the college of my choice. I did not think I would win, but who does? That is why local scholarships are the best. You have an inclined chance with them. Yes, $500 is not much money, but that can help with other miscellaneous stuff in college. For the scholarship, I had to create a video and submit it in. Mine of course was a weather forecast that I created for the Masters. If you want to check out the video I created, click here. I also may be interviewed on the news since the news was giving away the scholarship. We will see what happens; wow, what a day!
May 2, 2008
Today was fun. My teacher Dr. Bryant throws a party for everyone in Physics annually. His motto is that the students do all of the work while he does nothing. We had to buy all of the food, set up the grill, cook the burgers, you name it, we did it. Either way, it was very fun. I feel like I have wasted the last two months of school because we have not done much lately and everything that I've done is so easy. I know college will be a challenge. It would be nice to be the top 10% of my class. Who knows? I probably could do it but it would be a challenge. Dr. Bryant is the only class you will ever learn something in. He actually teaches. I took some video from the "Physics Party". I will post it once I get permission from Dr. Bryant since he is the star of the video.
April 29, 2008
It seems like everything is rising except the paycheck. I feel bad for people who can't afford gas. Gas nowadays seems like the new gold. I hope one day that I can become a philanthropist (someone who donates money, goods, time, and/or effort). Last year, gas was considered high if it hit $3.00, although in my opinion, gas should never rise above $2.00. It is not even summer yet and gas is already $3.50-$4.00. It is just plainly ridiculous. I hate to see that no action is ever done about this calamity. It is like we are powerless and that we just have to suffer. I do not blame the president because Congress plays the biggest role in our lives. Congress makes 95% of the decisions. And you know the worst part, my car takes premium gas. Before you know it, driving a car will become more embarrassing than riding a bicycle due to the high cost of gas.
April 25, 2008
What a day. Today was "Field Day" at my school for the seniors. I have to say that it was very fun. I had the chance to talk to people that I never really spoke to that much. I mainly played soccer, which happens to be my favorite sport. It was not too hot outside; it was probably 80 degrees throughout the day. I also threw the Frisbee, which I suck at. It was fun when I hit my friend in the head with it. I had some good excercise today, something I need to do more often. I typed this at school.
April 21, 2008
Man, I am tired as hell. I guess going to bed at 2am makes you that way. So much crap to do. Plus, I have honors day this Thursday. I guess I will have to wear that red dress with the tacky red hat. Maybe I should just show up with a sign on my ass reading "Embarrassment". In addition to that, my damn cap does not fit well. I guess it is because I have big hair. I got it trimmed down a little bit. It fits better, but very tightly. Hmm, what else? Oh, did I mention I was tired? I guess I did. By the way, people from my school that are reading this should know that I am collecting prom pictures so I can make an awesome video with them. I will send the download link to people who submit prom pictures. No need for Photobucket, click here to submit them to me.
April 20, 2008
Well, much has happened since March 29th. Many people wrote to me asking "Why has it been so long since you wrote in the Journal"? My answer was "I was too lazy". I won't do that again though. Now, I have to remember all of the crap that happened. On April fool's day, I took a test that determined what kind of classes I will take in college. I was worried for nothing. They want to put me in an applied calculus class as a freshman. Uh, I never took pre-cal in high school. How could I've done so well? I will have to think about going into a regular math 101 class. Other than that, I successfully completed driving school a couple of days ago. I need a little work, but I think I will be fine. I have a goal set to get my license on April 30th (the last day of the month). We'll see if I can keep that goal. In addition to all of the stuff that has happened since I last wrote here was the prom. I swear, people make the prom bigger than what it really is. If I ever go to that again, I need to bring a pen and paper because having a conversation is impossible. The music is loud as hell. Also, I kept confusing other people as someone else at the prom. But anyway, it was fun. I meet a few long lost friends there.
March 29, 2008
Today, I met a long-lost friend of mine. I have not seen him for over four years but talked through e-mail and phone. It was great to see him. We went out to eat then to a movie. We saw the film "Meet the Browns." I recommend watching that movie. If you love to laugh, you would yearn to see this comedy. Other than that, I have had quite a few applications for the MySpace Makeover Contest. I encourage you to sign up. I will personally work with you for two days over e-mail/phone to figure out what exactly you want. Then, for three months, you can ask all of the HTML questions you want. I admit, this is a small contest, but I am trying to get more traffic to the site so I can create bigger contests.
March 28, 2008
I am currently at school right now typing this. This has been an easy week for me since all of the juniors are taking the Georgia High School Graduation test. It is a test that every junior must take to graduate from high school. I am glad all of that is over for me. Other than that, I was worried that I was not going to make AB honor roll because of one test in Spanish II I had to take today. If I bombed it, I would make a C in the class. But, I made a 97/A on the test so I am happy. Also, tonight I will be launching a little contest. Be sure to check it out.
Hey everyone! James here. Thanks for taking the time to check me out. To give a little background info of me, I am continuing my education in college as of now. My course of study is Communications. I've always liked being in front and behind the camera, in addition to public speaking. My major in Communications will enable me to improve my skills in those areas.
Since January 2008, I have operated my own website: www.jamesfurlan.com. As of now, the website is getting a huge makeover and will be released sometime in the future. The site will have a large focus on computers and it will still cover the basics of HTML/CSS. HTML/CSS are those codes you all are so familiar with. The codes help build the look and design of a website.
Also, if I knew you back in the day, I'd really want to hear from you. It does not matter whether we were close friends or not; many visitors found me through my website: jamesfurlan.com.
Well, that's a wrap for now. I hope this gives a general description of me. If it does not, and if you want to know more, send an email here: email@jamesfurlan.com
- I am glad that high school is over. I can finally begin my education!
- I don't have a PS2, PS3, Xbox360, Nintendo Wii, and a GameCube. Those things just don't interest me.
- My ultimate dream job would be to host a game show. My secondary goals that I will consider are: journalism, film making, and weather!
- I don't like coffee.
- I watch Good Morning America everyday.
- Every time I go to Bestbuy, the first thing that I do is play Rockband.
- I enter video contests on a regular basis; I have won a few of them.
- I like to watch game shows on my spare time such as: "The Price Is Right," "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," "Wheel of Fortune," "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader," - just about any kind of gameshow.
- I received my permit when I was eighteen. Talk about late.
- During my high school career, I missed only three days of school. Two days were missed because I made a brief appearance on "America's Funniest Home Videos." I won second place on the show.
- The first time I ever used the internet was in 1999. Ever since, I've been hooked!
- My favorite kind of food is Chinese. Who can resist Chinese food? I won't go near the poo-poo platter though.
- IDK why people send 1,000 text mgs a day. I have not sent one in my life.
- On average, I get four three hours of sleep.
- I am very picky when I take pictures. I may take twenty pictures and only keep one. Thank goodness for digital photography!
Check out this video with me and Bill O'Reilly; well, sort of. You'll see!
April 3, 2009
Hey everyone! James here. Thanks for taking the time to check me out. To give a little background info of me, I am continuing my education in college as of now. My course of study is Communications. I've always liked being in front and behind the camera, in addition to public speaking. My major in Communications will enable me to improve my skills in those areas.
