g. mooney

Date: Sunday, June 11, 2006
Time: 3:20 p.m. EDT
Location: Notre Dame, Indiana, United States
Conditions: 69°F, sunny, wind from the north-northwest at 5 mph

Folk choir tour was a success! All my pictures are now uploaded and online (but not every single one has a caption yet). Take a quick look here if interested. Also, I've created per request a folk choir photo bank online here for all of our events as well. So now I'm kickin' back at Notre Dame with ND Vision rehearsals. The high school kids don't arrive for another week, which gives us ample time to get our act together. Can't complain a bit—beats being back in southern Indiana.

Random notes...
I saw Friar Chuy from Faith in Action last summer a few days ago at South Dining Hall. There's this big national gathering for Hispanic Catholics on campus this weekend, and they've been flooding the dining halls every day several times a day. They went marching up and down the quad just before midnight last night keeping me awake up on the second floor of Zahm Hall, but I was able to sleep in this morning. Luckily, the maintenance people didn't unlock my door, almost walk in, and wake me up again this morning (they have a tendency to do that a lot). They just better have the dorm connected back to the system soon so I can get Internet and use my card to do laundry this coming week. Walking to the second floor of the library every time I need to use a computer is getting to be a pain, especially since it is the only computer cluster open on campus this summer. Supposedly the ND Vision crowd is having dinner together at Jen's house tonight since there's another group to overtake the dining hall tonight. Love thee Notre Dame.

Date: Thursday, June 1, 2006
Time: 3:33 p.m. PDT
Location: Seattle, Washington, United States
Conditions: 63°F, rain, wind from the south at 5 mph

Here I sit in the amazing Seattle Public Library during my last day in the state of Washington. This morning the folk choir went kayaking on Bainbridge Island, meeting the bus at eight o'clock this morning to meet the ferry downtown. My first experience kayaking was quite fun, but it was obviously wet between the rain and the seawater from the sound. I roamed a little bit by myself on the island before taking the ferry back with a smaller group from the choir, and now I am roaming Seattle solo, taking in the city for another day. I saw the Space Needle and a few other tourist attractions yesterday before our retreat at Seattle University, so today is a small finale before we all fly to Anchorage this evening. Well, I believe I am now going to head back down toward the waterfront and finish my afternoon, so until next time...

Date: Saturday, May 27, 2006
Time: 11:58 p.m. PDT
Location: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Conditions: 12°C, partly cloudy, wind from the northeast at 6 km/h

Wow, so I'm officially out of the United States in the neighbor to the north (that would be Canada) on the beautiful southern tip of Vancouver Island. I just completed my first full day in Victoria, having arrived yesterday afternoon via ferry from Port Angeles, Washington, after having driven for several hours from Portland, Oregon. The capital city here in British Columbia exceeds all my expectations and is nothing short of amazing. Aside from being my first time out of the country, this folk choir tour is also my first time to experience real on-your-own group travel in the city. After walking along the shoreline this morning with a small group of folkheads, meeting the rest of the choir for lunch in the Chinatown district of Victoria, and bussing to the Butchart Gardens just north of the city, the choir met for dinner near our host church and finally made our way to the nightclub. Yes, nightclub. I went to a nightclub, as in an establishment for people of legal age (19) where alcohol is served, loud music is played, and dancing is the primary method of behavioral expression. I avoided everything save the music, and my eardrums will suffer at some later point. The nightlife is not necessarily my "thing," but it was an experience I can look back on. Luckily, my host family was able to pick me up from downtown before it got to late, which brings me to the present time where it is nearing three o'clock in the morning back home in Indiana. Tour has been enjoyable so far, and I am quickly running out of memory on my digital camera, but once Seattle and Anchorage are over in the coming week, I will be yearning for my one day back home. Of course, Notre Dame is to follow as I return to campus for summer activities, but everything is exciting. I would rather be busy and with friends than being lazy and/or working seven-hour shifts back home. Canada is treating me well—the people are hospitable and the landscape is breath-taking. I will be savoring it because not even I know when I will next leave the country. O Canada. Love thee Notre Dame.

Wow. It's been nearly a month since I have written anything for my blog. From my perspective, this whole LiveJournal fad has kind of worn off—there seem to be less and less posts from both myself and my graduating class back at Providence. But of course, who can possibly blame any of us? College has most likely given all of us much better things to be doing than sitting in the dorm room in the very early hours of the morning typing our every emotion into an online journal for the world to read. As much as I enjoyed it in high school, I simply haven't had the energy or the patience to be charting my life day-by-day when books have to be read, papers have to be written, and exams have to be prepared. Not that I didn't do those things in high school to interfere with journaling, but this freshman year of college has taught me that in order to have a life to chart, I have to live my life. It seems to be a trite statement, but what use is there in recording events when the real passion and spirit is in living them out each and every single day. From Sunday night dorm Mass, philosophy lectures by the lake, midday Eucharistic adoration, and folk choir rehearsals to Friday afternoon ND Vision class, weddings and ordinations, calculus small-group sessions, and overheard conversation at choir meals, each day is a gift.

As much as I want to say freshman year is over—considering that I took my last final a week ago and have already received my second-semester grades—I still feel there are a few more unfinished chapters to the year. Senior week is almost over now, a week that has been full of nothing but folk choir moments it seems. Saturday morning we sang for an alumni wedding, Sunday was our last Basilica Mass as well as the trip to the Indiana State Prison, Monday evening brought the release party, and today was choir senior recognitions and senior last Basilica visit. It was both a night of laughs and tears—someone mentioned tonight that never again will our ensemble be shaped as it is tonight. I'm finding it hard to even fathom the fact that the seniors are going to be gone come next semester and new freshman newbies will take their places as I did last August. It's weird to think that life is just a series of come-and-go phases that last a few years, maybe more, maybe less, and then fade into the depths of our own memories. It's also weird to think how easy it is for others simply to come along and fill those come-and-go spots in our lives, replacing those who have moved on. Such is life. People come, people go. Some we may see again, others will go their own way. To think that this weekend my be my last impressing image of some of the choir.

After Saturday morning's senior send-off, my mom and two aunts are coming to campus to spend part of the weekend with me as well as to retrieve my belongings. Most everything is packed up now—posters we taken down weeks ago, and I've slowly been boxing up books and binders, this and that. I leave Monday morning on a bus with an abbreviated folk choir headed to O'Hare airport in Chicago to catch a flight that will take us to the Pacific Northwest. Our tour will introduce me for the first time to the likes of Portland, Oregon; Victoria, British Columbia; Seattle, Washington; and Anchorage, Alaska. The excitement I have for this trip cannot be put into words, and this is only the beginning of what is going to be an awesome summer. I'll be home for one night in June before returning to campus for ND Vision where I will embark on a series of weeklong spiritual journeys with hundreds of high school youth that will complete my freshman year at Notre Dame the last weekend in July. A long school year it will turn out to be, and one I fear will just seem to segue into the next as the fall semester will leave me feeling no different as a sophomore than as a freshman. Sure, I'll be home and working at J.C. Penney for three weeks before heading back, but will it have been too much in too short a time?

Thursday, August 18, 2005 – Friday, October 14, 2005: Notre Dame
Saturday, October 15, 2005 – Saturday, October 22, 2005: Home
Sunday, October 23, 2005 – Wednesday, November 23, 2005: Notre Dame
Thursday, November 24, 2005 – Sunday, November 27, 2005: Home
Monday, November 28, 2005 – Friday, December 16, 2005: Notre Dame
Saturday, December 17, 2005 – Sunday, January 15, 2006: Home
Monday, January 16, 2006 – Friday, March 10, 2006: Notre Dame
Saturday, March 11, 2006 – Sunday, March 19, 2006: Home
Monday, March 20, 2006 – Sunday, May 21, 2006: Notre Dame
Monday, May 22, 2006 – Monday, June 5, 2006: Abroad
Tuesday, June 6, 2006: Home
Wednesday, June 7, 2006 – Friday, June 30, 2006: Notre Dame
Saturday, July 1, 2006 – Saturday, July 8, 2006: Home
Sunday, July 9, 2006 – Sunday, July 23, 2006: Notre Dame
Monday, July 24, 2006 – Tuesday, August 15, 2006: Home
Wednesday, August 16, 2006 – Friday, October 13, 2006: Notre Dame


"Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, / Lead Thou me on! / The night is dark, and I am far from home— / Lead Thou me on! / Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see / The distant scene,—one step enough for me. // I was not ever thus, nor pray'd that Thou / Shouldst lead me on. / I loved to choose and see my path; but now / Lead Thou me on! / I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears, / Pride ruled my will; remember not past years. // So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still / Will lead me on, / O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till / The night is gone; / And with the morn those angel faces smile / Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile." —John Henry Cardinal Newman, "The Pillar of the Cloud" (1833)

Tonight marked room picks for rising sophomores in Alumni Hall. And as I should have expected, nearly all of the good rooms (i.e. rooms bigger than my current room) were taken. But fortunately, I was able to secure a room on the first floor with a nice bay window that faces toward the Morris Inn for my new roommate Dan and me, all due to my twenty-fifth-seed room pick I suppose. The room number is 147, and I almost freaked out five minutes ago because I thought it might be a prime number, and I just didn't know if I could handle that. Quickly adding up the digits to test for divisibility, I regained calm to know that 147 is divisible by three (since 1 + 4 + 7 = 12, which is divisible by three). I've been spoiled with 165 this year with prime factorization 3 · 5 · 11, but 147's prime factorization of 3 · 7² will have to suffice.

Just to note:
• Everyday Use: The digits forming the number 147 also form the left-hand column of computer keys on a standard decimal numeric keypad going bottom to top and the left-hand column of buttons on a standard telephone going top to bottom.
• Numbers: The number 147 written as a binary number is 10010011 and as a Roman numeral is CXLVII.
• Religion: In the Old Testament, Psalm 147 proclaims that the Lord "takes pleasure in the devout, those who await his faithful care" (v. 11 NAB).
• Technology: Eureka 147 is a digital audio broadcasting system which originated in Europe, supposedly the most significant advance in radio technology since the introduction of FM stereo.
• Sports: The highest break that can be made in the billiards game Snooker is 147 in which the shooter pockets all fifteen red balls used followed by the black ball followed by the six remaining colored balls.
• Cars: The Alfa Romeo 147 first appeared at the Turin Motorshow in Italy in 2000, and was later voted European Car of the Year in 2001. Also, the Fiat 147 was a three-door hatchback compact car produced in Brazil from 1976 until 1986.
• Poetry: Shakespeare's 147th sonnet begins with the line "My love is as a fever, longing still."
• Television: Seinfeld episode 147 is entitled "The Comeback," and is the episode where Elaine is overtaken by the staff video picks by a mysterious Vincent, Kramer seeks to change his will after coming to fear life in a coma, Jerry gets involved with a fake pro tennis player, and George earnestly seeks the next opportunity to use his "jerk store" retort.
• History: Vologases III, king of Parthia (modern-day Iran and surrounding areas), died in the year 147. Also, the year 147 was the first of the reign of Jianhe of Emperor Huandi of the Han dynasty in China.
• Geography: The city with ZIP Code 01470 is Groton, Massachusetts.
• Roman Catholicism: The 147th pope is difficult to determine because Sylvester III is considered by many to be an antipope with his twenty-two-day pontificate in Rome, and his predecessor and successor, Benedict IX, was pope for three discontinuous periods.
• Government: Senate Bill 147, dubbed the "Akaka bill" and officially known as the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005, sought to develop a way to reorganize native governance in Hawaii so as to establish relations between it and the United States.

"If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory." —Colossians 3:1-4

I think I can honestly say that this Easter has been the best of my life. In general, the past four days have been nothing short of amazing—these days have seemed just to reaffirm why I am here at Notre Dame doing the things I do and love to do with a passion. It is Easter joy that I should strive to live for each and every day, knowing that by the grace of the risen Lord we all have life within us to share. By Christ's selfless giving of himself, I am living among such incredible people today at Notre Dame. Through countless liturgies and prayer services throughout the Triduum, the faithful members of the Notre Dame community, and especially my friends in the folk choir, have shown me what it means to follow Christ and put him at the forefront of my life. I would not trade the past four days of Easter break on the half-empty campus for any other set of days—playing together, praying together, being Christ to one another as one family.

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." —Philippians 4:4-7

( Pictures... )

"For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps. 'He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.' When he was insulted, he returned no insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten; instead, he handed himself over to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed." —1 Peter 2:21-24

Palm Sunday Mass at the Basilica this afternoon was so amazing—it was not like any other Palm Sunday liturgy I have been to back home. We processed from the architecture building to the Basilica singing hymns, did a dramatic reading of the Passion, and accompanied everything with fitting music from the folk choir repetoire. I was reading in my Notre Dame seasonal reflections book this morning before rehearsal that the university community makes it a priority to commemorate Holy Week with much liturgical celebration, and I am making it my goal to attend as many of the services as possible even amidst papers and homework—Campus-wide Stations, Holy Thursday Evening Mass, Tenebrae, Good Friday Service, Basilica Stations of the Cross, and maybe even Easter Vigil Mass if I'm not doing something with my parents. I'm excited that my mom and dad are coming up for Easter next Sunday, but I'm just excited in general to be celebrating Easter, Christ's resurrection, the culmination of our Christian faith, at Notre Dame this year.

"[T]he whole multitude of his disciples began to praise God aloud with joy for all the mighty deeds they had seen. They proclaimed: 'Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.' Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, 'Teacher, rebuke your disciples.' He said in reply, 'I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!' " —Luke 19:37b-40

"Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God, and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." —1 Peter 2:4-5

Easter in two weeks, but I have to get there first. Calculus homework, a literature paper, a theology paper, extra credit work, and numerous books to read still separate me from the Easter holiday. Just trying to live one day at a time, but at least South Bend is on Daylight Savings Time now...

Woah, was I in demand tonight. First, Jessica stops by my dorm room and we talked for a while on a bunch of random things which was really fun. Then, oh geeze, Susan and Claire come by to say hi, but I always enjoy their desire to go out of their way to come and see me. Later, Whitney calls me to go on a midnight excursion—she, Molly, Molly's boyfriend, and I end up at Meijer's in Mishawaka to buy grapes, carrots, pretzels, chocolate, and strawberry-flavored mini-cigars (I'm not quite sure why). I get home and Pete tells me that some girl knocked on the door for me and was disappointed that I didn't have a dry-erase board. All this on a Saturday night? Wow, I'm proud of myself for doing things. And I still got in quality reading time with Reading Lolita in Tehran for theology and quality piano time in the chapel. I also successfully avoided all the craziness from the huge dorm-wide bash tonight (thankfully). Random endnote—I saw Ben Hornung in Mass tonight. What?!

Honestly, if I hear one more person complain about the absence of meat in the dining hall on Fridays I think I just might go insane. Look, if you cannot quietly sacrifice meat one day out of the week then there is a problem. Newsflash: You go to a Catholic school. Didn't your Catholic grade school make a habit of serving grilled cheese or fish nuggets on Fridays during Lent at lunchtime? Is this whole "don't eat meat on Friday" thing something new for you, something foreign? I think not. Please, can you deal a bit more humbly with your Lenten obligation? My Lenten penance should not involve your groundless complaints about the university and the ideals it strives to uphold. As a side note, I personally think the university's decision to remove meat from the dining halls on Fridays of Lent is a noble one because it reinforces our Catholic mission and connects us with the millions of other Catholics who are also abstaining on Fridays. The spirit of Lent is not to complain about what we can't have or the burden it is to be forced to make sacrifices—the spirit of Lent is about spiritual renewal and preparation to have the risen Christ enter our hearts anew on Easter. We are an Easter people, and we continually look to Christ's coming and rejoice at his presence in our lives.

Oh, love thee Notre Dame.

Sorry for being overly political today...



We have a national security strategy? When did we get one of those? I was just under the assumption that we were flying by the seat of our pants. Well, it's what the president does 99% of the time anyway.

And get this... This first sentence of this so-called "strategy" is "America is at war." Wow, Mr. Bush, when did you figure this one out? Last Tuesday at dinner with Laura? During a Sunday afternoon phone call to Jeb? Seriously, who finally told you—Condi, Cheney, Rumsfeld? Huh, huh? At least you can admit it now after three hellish years in Iraq.

10:16 P.M. EST 19 March 2003 - President Bush announces the invasion into Iraq
12:00 P.M. EST 16 March 2006 - Total of 2,312 American casualties

The National Security Strategy of the United States of America - March 16, 2006


Oh, and it wasn't called Operation Iraqi Freedom for nothing. Someone must have informed the president in time before he officially named it Operation Iraqi Liberation.

Two words: BLUE PRIDE

I arrived back in New Albany yesterday evening around eight o'clock, grabbing a ride home with Whitney from South Bend. And it feels so good to be back. The "blue pride" remark comes from the fact that I attended the Providence basketball regional championship game in Huntingburg, IN, this evening with my dad. I haven't been to a Providence game in over a year, but tonight's game was overall just a great time despite the loss. Just to see Mr. Zipp and Mr. Hornung leading cheers with the senior girls and Mrs. Zipp and Mrs. Weidner controlling the student crowd brought back comforting feelings of being back in the Providence family. I sat with my dad for most of the game, but then I spotted where Whitney was sitting and I joined her and Kyle. I ran into Shawn Edelen and Max McCrite as well. I always know that I have the support of the close-knit Providence community to come home to any time I feel like coming back. Once again, it feels good to be back for a week of spring break.

Tomorrow I'm lectoring at the eleven o'clock Mass at O.L.P.H. and then hopefully joining the J.C. Penney gang at Buckhead's in Jeffersonville for an outing among coworkers (evidently a mandatory thing thought up by my manager at work). I'm working on Monday and Wednesday this week while trying to balance some dentist and haircut appointments, but it'll all be good. I'm excited to see Amanda, Katie, and everyone at work again before my long stretch away from home with the second half of the semester at school, senior week activities, folk choir tour, and ND Vision. I also need to work in a visit to Providence sometime early this week to see a few people. It's all about that blue pride.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Pray for us.

I just have to say that I am having a solo dance party in my dorm room right now and it's after midnight and I am having a blast. That's right, I'm dancing like a moron by myself in the middle of the night, but I'm loving every minute of it. Holla.

"Lord, who throughout these forty days, for us did fast and pray, teach us to overcome our sins, and close by you to stay." In this Lenten season, may our eyes be opened to God and the constant compassion he shows us through the person of Jesus Christ who sacrificed his life that we may live. May we find the courage to continue spreading the Gospel message to others, leading them to Christ through our words and actions. May we find the strength to bear our own crosses and accept the challenges of daily life with an sense of humility. May we find the patience to foster rich relationships with others, being examples of Christ and lifting them up in the love he shares. My we find develop an attitude of penitence to seek forgiveness where we have gone against God's ways and change our restless hearts. "As you did hunger and did thirst, so teach us, gracious Lord, to die to self and so to live by your most holy word."

Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Pray for us.


"For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment." —Jl 2:13b

"So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us.… For he says: 'In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.' Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation." —2 Cor 5:20a, 6:2

"As he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct, for it is written, 'Be holy because I am holy.' " —1 Pt 1:15-16

Things that I did tonight that were rather unexpected...
• went to the Notre Dame–Alaska-Fairbanks hockey game
• talked about graduate school and careers with Whitney
• learned how to play a basic game of chess and obviously lost to Joe
• played an inane Japanese video game on Play Station 2 (my first experience with this system)
• used the phrase "central processing unit" in casual conversation

Wait, and tonight was Friday? Friday?! I repeat, Friday night. And I was not in my dorm all night. Love thee Notre Dame.


"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom do I fear? The LORD is my life's refuge; of whom am I afraid?" —Psalm 27:1

Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Pray for us.

This is what a Notre Dame education will do to you. I was supposed to be writing a paper for my literature seminar (due tomorrow which I hadn't started as of ten o'clock tonight), but I felt an urge to turn to my philosophy notes to aid in my understanding of Plato's allegory of the cave in The Republic. Somehow, the following un-paragraphed stream of consciousness became my brainstorming process and most likely will turn into my paper. At this point, I really don't care that it is more a philosophical excursion than a literary analysis, but what makes the two all that different in the first place? Pathei mathos. To learn, you have to suffer—wisdom, understanding, knowledge through suffering.


Philosophy consists of learning the truth about the soul and living out the truth of the soul—it is discovering the inner being of oneself and the purpose for which one lives and applying it to everyday life by choosing to be guided by reason instead of being led astray from truth by personal passions. Philosophy involves a commitment to learning how to care properly for the soul, an act at its core involves preparing oneself to meet and befriend the Divine. Coming to know the Divine leads to one’s own personal discovery of virtue, or the innate disposition to do that which is good. Only when one’s physical, outward habits reflect the truth of the soul will virtue be achieved, and lives of this sort point directly to that which is essentially good, uncorrupted by the passions of the human condition, faulty logic, or an uninformed will. This entire learning process, however, implies a willingness to suffer—the truth is not always apparent and is often hidden in the mysteries of common human existence, those things that can never be comprehended fully but do lend some knowledge that can be known with certainty. It is only when one can reflect upon these mysteries while refusing to be turned away by the prospect of suffering through the periods of doubt and confusion that one can abstract truth. The soul is not a physical entity that can be touched and grasped with the senses, and thus one cannot directly perceive how the soul functions directly through material experience. Only in combining one’s personal experiences in the physical realm with the truths that are abstracted indirectly from mysteries can one discover the reasoning of the soul, its virtues, and the Divine. Even though the soul does not exist in a material form, it manifests itself in those things that can be grasped with the mind, but the mind must convince the human will to look past exterior surfaces and preconceived notions to delve into the real “stuff” which makes up the world. A will guided by a reason will transcend a weaker version of itself steeped in the desires and passions that stop short at personal expectancies and outer appearance. A will guided by reason and intellect longs to look beyond itself and realizes that these appearances can be deceptive and misguide the will. A will guided by reason ultimately will desire identifying truth as to reach the Divine. At the highest level, living the truth is based on love and recognizing that there is something at stake, something to be risked in moving toward the Divine. An individual attuned to his intellect and concerned for proper care for the soul is willing to risk finding out that that which is familiar and comfortable is not really the ultimate and final destination of the truth. An individual attuned to his intellect is willing to risk entering the unknown to ponder those parts of mystery with which few can grapple. This individual is willing to risk discovering something about himself that may seem contradictory at first, but his acceptance of personal struggle prevents him from giving into his desires to turn back toward the familiar and comfortable. Soon his struggle, his learning the truth about the soul, will result in a heightened consciousness about what is real, and he will subsequently will be able to apply his enlightenment to other realms of existence. Soon his struggle will remove the confusion about apparent contradictions, and he will be released from his passions that lead him away from virtue. His discovery of the truth about the soul, about his very inner being, about the difference between that which is real and that which is an imitation of what is real will erase the complacency of living in a partially defined world with seemingly inexplicable limits. The one living out the truth of the soul will be able to accurately distinguish between these limits, separating those that are inescapable from those that were simply false limits, those that actually move beyond the surface.

Update following MATH 10860-01 Exam #1
Approximate hour that I will learn that I failed: MON 20 FEB 2006 9:35:00 AM


"The limit of success as x approaches my future is zero."
"The proof of this theorem is not hard." —My calculus professor

Prove that MATH = HELL.
1) Hell does not exist on earth except in 125 DeBartolo Hall. When Christ came to conquer the darkness of sin, 125 DeBartolo Hall somehow was spared of salvation, but that’s only my problem for the fifty minutes between 9:35 and 10:25 three days a week. Therefore, if we place 125 DeBartolo Hall in a parallel plane at, say, infinity, then it is safe to assume that it is an element of the empty set and then hell is purely nonexistent on earth. Thus, assume that Hell = i (the imaginary unit), and the imaginary unit i is not a real number.
2) Math was essentially made up by ancient peoples and expanded by others like Bolzano, Cauchy, and L’Hôpital who had nothing better to do with their time than compose meaningless theorems and attach their names to them as to enhance their egos because no one liked them to begin with. Therefore in essence, mathematics is not real and simply a bunch of philosophical higgledy-piggledy that makes sense only in the confused, lonely minds of those who made it up to begin with, and those people are not important to me. Nope, just not important. Thus, it is safe to assume Math = i.
3) By the transitive property of equality, if Hell = i and Math = i, then Math = Hell.
Quod erat demonstrandum. 

Coincidentally, I think my score on today’s exam will either be i or an element of the empty set.

I cannot believe I did this.


1. First Name: Geoffrey

2. Were you named after anyone? No

3. If so, who?

4. Are you answering these questions during work? I should be finishing my homework. Can we all say, "Calculus exam and double philosophy quiz Friday"?

5. When did you last cry? It wasn't this week, but possibly early last week before falling asleep.

6. Do you like your handwriting? Wow, this is a tough one. I'll have to give an affirmative response, but we all know what my scratches look like on paper.

7. What is your favorite lunch meat? I haven't eaten meat in about a month, but I'll go with turkey. And put it between wheat bread with some romaine lettuce and cucumbers in between. Mmmmm...

8. Bad Habits? Biting my fingernails—it has been ever since I can remember. And of course being obsessive-compulsive about nearly everything.

9. What is your most embarrassing CD on the shelf? I have Christina Aguilera's first album, but that was before the whole "Dirty" thing. I'm still not sure what that was about. Oh, and I seriously doubt she knows what "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?" really means.

10. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you? Would I be able to facebook myself? Then yes. It's all about the friend count, n'est-ce pas?

Where is the eleventh question here? My obsessive-compulsiveness about numerically itemized lists is killing me. Ahh, the pain.

12. Have you ever told a secret you swore not to tell? Probably, but to a harmless listener who most likely thought what I considered secretive was rather trivial to begin with.

13. Do looks matter? If they do then I'm in a lot of trouble. That stage makeup from last weekend's show gave me a bad case of pimples. Luckily, I have the extra concentrated benzoyl peroxide.

14. How do you release anger? I scream either outside when no one is around or stomp up and down in my dorm room when no one is around.

15. Where is your second home? Love thee Notre Dame!

16. Do you trust others easily? No, and I will admit that too.

17. What was your favorite toy as a child? Oh, just give me a globe or map of the world so I can memorize the continents, oceans, and states.

18. Do you use sarcasm a lot? If the reader has not determined the answer to this question by this point in the process, there is something seriously wrong and help should be sought.

19. What's your most embarrassing moment? Commonly making a complete fool of myself right in front of my roommate or other college individuals. Some misfortunes include falling out of my bed, slipping down a flight of stairs, and just tonight walking straight into the door frame. Good thing I can laugh at myself.

20. What do you look for in a woman/man? Sense of humor is a must, and a general interest in current world affairs, or at least knowledge about what's going on. Also, if her favorite magazine is either Car and Driver or Vogue while mine is certainly Time, then we have an issue.

21. Who is your favorite singer? There's more to music than just singing in my opinion, e.g. actually playing an instrument. I prefer to name my influences as Billy Joel and Elton John.

22. Would you bungee jump? If given the chance and it was paid for by someone else's bank account, then yes.

23. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? No, does that make me lazy or something? Huh, huh?

24. Do you think that you are strong? Intellectually, yes. Physically, by no means. Hah, that's almost comical. Me, built and burly? I laugh.

25. What's your favorite ice cream flavor? I last ice cream on my birthday last month, and it was vanilla. I'm also partial to strawberry and chocolate chip.

26. Shoe size? 9½, but once I figure out how to use the darned foot measurer thingamajig at work I'll find out for sure.

27. What are your favorite colors? Blue, red, and green.

28. What is your least favorite thing? My current literature seminar on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at two o'clock. It's pure hell.

29. How many wisdom teeth do you have? Too many to count, and they just decide to come in whenever they please and cause one royal toothache, but the dentist says I have "plenty of room," so they aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

30. How many people have a crush on you right now? Are you serious? Zero, what do you think. My chances with the ladies are quite slim, but I accept that fact.

31. What do you miss most right now? Sleeping in my own bed.

32. Do you want everyone you sent this to to send it back? Not particularly because it would clog my e-mail and I would just delete it anyway. No offense though.

33. What color pants are you wearing? Green, yellow, white, and blue plaid flannel pajamas.

34. What are you listening to right now? Songs of the Notre Dame Folk Choir, more specifically "Siyahamba (We Are Marching)," a nifty South African tune.

35. Last thing you ate? Grilled vegetables from the dining hall—potatoes, zucchini, carrots, and onions, all of which kind of looks disgusting, but it really quite satisfying.

36. If you were a crayon what color would you be? Chartreuse.

37. What is the weather like right now? Thirty-seven degrees Fahrenheit with light rain and a "high wind watch" severe weather advisory according to Desktop Weather 4, downloaded free from the Weather Channel ("Bringing weather to life!").

38. Last person you talked to on the phone? A salesperson who lacked phone etiquette. Needless to say, I reciprocated the etiquette and hung up because I don't want my own personal copy of The Chicago Tribune delivered to my door seven days a week at a special student discount.

39. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Facial features.

40. Do you like the person who sent you this? I pulled it off of someone's LiveJournal, and since LiveJournal is a great way to procrastinate on things I don't want to do (like read Dostoevsky), then yes, I do like the person who sent this to me.

41. How are you today? Tired, really tired. I what am I doing right now? Filling out an inane online survey and freely choosing not to go to bed.

42. Favorite drink? Water or skim milk.

43. Favorite alcoholic drink? Oh, at first I thought you were being serious! You know I don't do that stuff.

44. Favorite Sport? Again, I thought you were being serious! My funny bone has been tickled twice in a matter of twenty-three seconds. Well, I have become a fan of broomball in my ice skating class this semester, but I am also a fan of watching baseball and attempting to engage in volleyball.

45. Hair color? Brown, and it definitely needs to be cut.

46. Eye color? Green, the color of Ordinary Time, grass, and interstate exit signs.

47. Do you wear contacts? Yes because I have the worst vision in the history of all mankind.

48. Siblings? A sister and a brother, both younger.

49. Favorite month? October through April because I'm not the biggest fan of summer weather in Indiana.

50. Favorite food? Select Italian and Mexican entrées (e.g., spaghetti and burritos).

51. Last movie you watched? All the way through? I have no clue.

52. Favorite day of the year? Christmas, but more specifically the evening prior when I'm with the majority of my dad's side of the family.

53. Are you too shy to ask someone out? Definitely, which explains why I have never been, am not now, and most likely won't be in the near future in any kind of relationship.

54. Scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings are cheesy most times, but I prefer them to the death of the protagonist. Still, a scary movie is good on occasion.

55. Summer or winter? Winter all the way. Let it snow.

56. Hugs or kisses? Hugs if I have to choose despite how awkward they are during the sign of peace when you aren't really sure who wants to shake and who wants to hug (or there's that one chreaster Catholic who has no clue what's going on and who would rather avoid all contact during the Lord's Prayer).

57. Relationships or one night stands? Relationships.

58. Who is most likely to respond? What's the stimulus here? Your nervous system can only send a neural impulse in the presence of an environmental stimulus. And at this time of the night, my inhibitions are fading as it is.

59. Least likely to respond? Me when my alarm clock goes off tomorrow morning. Maybe I should switch to angry shouting music over the soothing accents of those crazy Britons on BBC radio carried by the local NPR station, supported by listeners like you.

60. Living arrangement? In a nine-foot-by-fourteen-foot dorm room on the south quad of Notre Dame in lovely South Bend (a tourist destination if I ever saw one, let me tell you).

61. What books are you reading? Plato's The Republic (well, online summaries that is) and Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground

62. What's on your mouse pad? A storm cloud with a tornado advertising McAfee Virus Protection. I guess they want you to be scared by the three-centimeter tall, two-dimensional funnel cloud sitting on your desk and not moving.

63. Favorite board game? Scrabble, because it's like a crossword puzzle, and I am obsessed with doing the daily crossword puzzle. You have to learn how to conceal it from the professors while you're in class though.

64. What did you watch on TV last night? I don't watch television on a regular basis. I might get an online news update from CNN though (updated every half hour).

65. Favorite smell? Not whatever was rotting in my trash can over the weekend—I guess there was just one too many banana peels in there.

66. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up? How many minutes can I afford to spare before getting out of bed and still make it to the dining hall by seven o'clock. I have it down to a science. That is why I am majoring in math.

It's funny because it's true. I totally Googled DeMoivre's Theorem last night online for my calculus homework to find some sort of proof explanation. Why? Because it wasn't in the back of the book.

PEMCo's production of Footloose premiered last night at Washington Hall to a less-than-full house, but the audience members who were present were quite generous with their laughter and applause. We put forth a really good performance last night, but despite the level of excitement that has grown in me over the past week about the show and the cast members, I am still happy that it will all be over tomorrow night. I will have my life back once again.

My Notre Dame ice skating class (PE 11016-04) is only the best class of the day, and to think it happens at 8:30 in the morning! Who thought that mandatory physical education could be so much fun? FYI: Broomball starts next week, and I'm excited.


On another note, L'Hôpital's Rule for solving limits of indeterminate form needs to be cast out of the realm of mathematics. It is just making my life difficult right now. Today was the first time I have ever turned in an incomplete homework assignment. Why? Because I couldn't even figure out the problems after staring at them for a week!