Arafat: Opportunity Missed? Or Keen Foresight?

Checking out the flurry of opinion on Arafat. . . All I can say is: Wow. I don't think I have seen this much, um, well, almost hate in a while. Especially interesting is the undercurrent of disappointment that Sharon passed up on the opportunity to have Arafat assassinated in Lebanon. I think this may have proved to be fortuitous on Israel's part. I am unashamedly pro-Israel, although I believe they have been overly heavy-handed at times. But, despite the suffering Arafat's political/military actions have had on the Israeli people, to kill him would not cause a net-benefit for them. It is better for Arafat to die, weak and frail, frantically grasping for control even in the last moments of his life, than to be martyred by the Israelis. A quiet death will allow Arafat to slip into the dust of time. Martyrdom would create droves of attacks with his memory in mind. Additionally, the chaos that is absolutely going to result from his death cannot be blamed on the Israelis if he dies naturally.

Thanks to Vodkapundit & GoogleNews.

Update: Grammar fix.

Midterms

Sorry, for the slow blogging. . . Last midterm is tomorrow. Wish me luck!

What Saint Are You?

Just took the "What Saint Are You?" quiz. . . My result? I am Joan of Arc. I wouldn't have guessed it, but here it is:

You are Joan of Arc! You don't really want to hurt
anyone, but if they attack your friends or your
country and no-one else will stand up to fight
them, you head into the battle. Beware though,
conviction tends to get you killed.

Which Saint Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Special thanks to Bill and Becca for the link.

Welcome to Sunny California

Another Rainy Day....
Everyone seems to be escaping the rain, as evidenced by the horde of people crammed into my usually empty computer lab. I like the cool weather, but dashing through the rain with one's laptop can be a bit unnerving. (That would really set back my blogging....)

At Long Last!!!!

Inspired by Instapundit and Ann Althouse, I decided to do a little photoblogging around campus. Check Soriano-Clark News for photos from the house projects.

UCI is roughly round, with Dorms on the outer ring, and the Academic sections on the inner ring around a central park. The residential and academic sections of campus are separated by a Beltway. (Note: The pictures are not in chronological order.)

This is just inside the campus from Peltason, the campus beltway.





This is one of the entrances to the park.





These are views of Alrich Park. (The center of campus)







That's all for now. Look for more post-midterms and don't forget to see our lack of ceiling.

Photo-blogging Update

Sorry...
Lost Internet and then learned I had two midterms this week....Will try to upload pics this morning.

Photo-Blogging

Coming up. . .
Cutting the pics down to web-viewable size. Check back soon. . .

Success!!

Two things....

First: The blog has successfully moved. If you're still reading it on Blogspot, you should move your bookmarks to here.

Second: Can lights wired and on! About time, too. Not really being able to use the kitchen, dining room and laundry room after 7pm was really getting old. That, and Izzy was totally falling asleep at 8 because it was so dark. Now, the dining has a smattering (well, it's not a grid...can you think of a better word?) of 8 halogen bulbs. We probably could tan ourselves in there come the dark of winter. Okay, so it's not quite that bright. But it is indeed brighter than the single bulb ceiling fixture we had before. I am finding myself suddenly dissatisfied with the lighting in other rooms....

Moving Day

Okay, so due to the successful posting of the new Soriano-Clark News blog on our own domain, and our successful aquisition of 50% more hosting space... I've moved. Did it work?

A New Look

Trying a different template. . . Better? Same?

Also:
Coming this week.....

PHOTOBLOGGING!!!!!!

Look for pics from UCI and my lack of ceiling.

Website Update...update

Ok, I've learned my lesson.... Never post on your blog that the website is updated and then set the FTP client to refresh the entire site before going to bed. 'Cause it'll lose the connection, or crash, or freeze and you'll have to put a post on your blog explaining why the awesome update you posted last night didn't post. whew.

So... we'll try this again tonight. In the meantime, EMAIL IZZY ASKING HER FOR A WEBPAGE. Hopefully the collective power of suggestion (begging) will convince her that she really should have her own webpage. (You can even remind her that her husband made her templates. ;-)

Oh, and I will refresh the website tonight. Look for Soriano-Clark.com v1.2 tomorrow.

Website Updated

Curse You Blogger!!!!

Sorry, this is the second time I have entered this post. . . .


Anyway~
New Updates at www.Soriano-Clark.com. Images lightened (one folder cut from 14.5Mb to <800kb), anniversary pics added, and home page rearranged. I hope to post my personal page by the middle of next week. Email Izzy a lot and maybe we can convince her publish hers by the end of the month.


Google Update:
Still #6 result for Soriano-Clark. The odd thing is, when I try searching through the Google search built into Firefox 1.0PR, I don't even make the list.....weird.

How Cool is That?

To add to the list of cool things on the UCI campus: An ATM that dispenses 5's and 20's.

How cool is that?

Today's Post Made Possible By UCI Wireless Internet Access

After one and a half weeks on Campus, I'm online.

This is the start of the second full week of classes and I am enjoying the quiet break between classes. The campus is cold today, and lit in soft gray light.... It's foggy and overcast. I'll do some photoblogging next week, I promise... It'll be easier now that I can upload stuff on campus.

This weekend was good. I don't think that anything else could possibly provide the cathartic release of smashing drywall with a hammer. So..... Now that we're on the topic, I tore out the ceiling in our dining room this weekend. It started out as just a simple can light project (I now know to run screaming at those words...), but as I began laying out the grid, and cutting the holes for the can lights, I ran into a serious set-back. The ceiling joists totally interfered with our carefully centered grid. Two of the five holes we made ran right into the joists. Andrew and I rechecked the joists... And as Izzy and Andrew and I decided what to do with a ceiling that had five holes cut in it, two of which were obstructed (at least partially) and four holes left to cut for our grid (3 of which were obstructed), we came to the the most obvious conclusion. "We're going to have to patch all those holes anyway, why not just tear out the whole thing and start from scratch?" So we did. That was Saturday.

Sunday consisted of returning all of the can lights that we had purchased (remodel) and purchasing "New Construction" type can lights. Then I went to do homework while my industrious wife and roommate cleaned the last few nails from the ceiling, stripped the drywall down the wall to the switch (once the ceiling is GONE, it becomes surprisingly easy to justify removing other broad swathes of drywall), and hung the new can lights on the joists. Next step? Having a plumber check the upstairs bathroom pipes (while they're all exposed) and repairing the upstairs floor from where the shower has been leaking. Wiring all of the can lights, intalling a new switch and dimmer and then, new drywall.

The biggest problem with this is the incredible temptation to expand the scope of the project. Our house was built in 1964 and very few of the electrical outlets have grounds. (and the ones that have grounds are pretty sketchy.) I would really like to rewire the house or at least the circuit box and lay the ground work to rewire later. The problem is that neither my wife and I want to redo all of this drywall more than once and the main electrical lines run through the ceiling and walls just adjacent to the dining room.

Ah, home ownership and the sweet smell of sawdust, eh?