Sean Henri

Finals are the Devil

May 14, 2007 // 0 Comments  // Add yours »

Every semester right about finals time I get severely stressed out and then I start to lose sleep.  Last night I tried falling asleep for 4 hours with no luck.  I finally passed out around 4am and then I woke up at 8:30.  Tonight I have an insane amount of work to finish up but I'm so tired I just can't get it done.  My final for my Web Technology course is at 10 AM and I have to do a semester's full of work before that.

Fact is, I'm extremely frustrated with every one of my courses.  Sometimes I feel like I'm just throwing out thousands of dollars a semester. Many of my assignments have been a complete waste of time.  And since I've had PLENTY of other much more important things to devote my time to over the past couple months, I've ignored them.  So now I'm paying for it and this week it's hell for me.  But just two more days till freedom comes.  If I spent 2 more seconds in front of a computer screen my eyes and mind will explode.

On another note, I've set up a youtube account and I'm hoping to pick up a digital camcorder soon.  Just an added level of "nerd" for everyone.  Now go check out this tortoise from hell.

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Loonies on Campus

April 25, 2007 // 0 Comments  // Add yours »

I'm strolling down the walkway in front of Buley Library Monday when off to the corner I hear somebody strumming the guitar while a twangy voice sang along with "it's not okay to be queer, it's not okay to be a homo".  Behind him was a massive sign attacking just about every group of people under the sun proclaiming "GOD WILL JUDGE YOU!". 

Naturally, this caught my interest.  I walked over to see what their deal was, whether or not they were actually Southern students, and how the surrounding students and campus police were going to react.  They were just extremist hypocritical lunatics - calling themselves "Born Again Christians" and spewing hate for nearly everything imaginable.  Still, I respected their right to free speech and I didn't let any of it bother me.  The other students obviously didn't feel the same way as I did as many of them got into a shouting match with the two men and even occasionally threatened them with violence.  One student said he was going to burn one of the guys at the stake.  The guy responded with "well you Roman Catholics are known for the kind of thing, so I'm not surprised". 

The police rushed over and it appeared as though they were going to arrest them, but I guess no law was broken, and they were allowed to stay.  Here's a few photos of mine:

Southern-News.com ran it as front page story:  "Visitor provokes students"

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The new Southern News website

April 25, 2007 // 0 Comments  // Add yours »

I was hired to give SCSU's student newspaper's website a cleaner, more modern look and to keep it up to date with each new weekly edition.  The previous website hadn't been updated since October, and it looked like it was designed in the mid-90's.

I think what I've come up with works very well.  I tied in SCSU to the design by using the school's colors and by including the column of the school logo.  I used a Gothic font for the first two letters in the banner but I didn't want it to feel too stiff, so I switched it over to a more simple serif font for the rest of the letters.  I tried to make the articles very easy to read and the structure easy to navigate.  I also tried to set it up in a way to encourage readers to leave feedback and to share the articles via Facebook and email. 

So far I've gotten a lot of positive feedback and students seem to be using the site as I intended them too.  We had over 1,000 visitors during the first day and the traffic has remained steady ever since.  If you check it out please let me know what you think.

http://Southern-News.com

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Southern News

March 25, 2007 // 0 Comments  // Add yours »

If you're a Southern student like I am, and you've been frustrated with the lack of updates to the newspaper's website (HIGHLY unlikely, I know), I'm happy to say that things are about to change.  I'm the new Online Editor of the school's newpaper and I've begun to getting the site back up-to-date.  From now on you can read all of the latest SCSU related news at http://snews.southernct.edu.  But what I'm really excited about is the re-design I'm working on.  You can expect a much better blog-style website in the near future.

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Another Semester

January 28, 2007 // 1 Comments  // Add yours »

What a week.  Last Friday, I managed to clear up what had become a year long nightmare with my financial aid at Southern and I was finally able to register for the spring semester.  The first week of classes was fun but also kinda sucked balls.  Some of the courses I need are currently full but I've been going to them anyway just in case I can get in.  Along with the classes I actually am registered for I ended up going to a total of 14 classes.  On top of that, there was the AAF club meeting as well as several other meetings regarding some web design jobs that I'm trying to pick up.  Combined with work it all was all just a bit too much, but things should start to slow down now that I'm nearly settled on a schedule.

But hey I can't complain... I'm just glad to be back. 

And the weekend's been great!  On Thursday night Leeann and Nick stopped over for a bit, then on Friday night my friends Melinda and Christina came by for some dinner and wine.  Last night Steph and I took a short road trip up to Cromwell to surprise Heather B. at a bar called Rookies.  They had this cover band there called the Amish Outlaws - four members of which are actually Amish guys from Lancaster.  I guess they decided the strict lifestyle wasn't for them so now they're rapping and rocking out in bars across the northeast.  If you ever get a chance to see them, definitely go check them out.  You'll laugh your ass off.

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S.C.S.U.'s New Student Center

January 23, 2006 // 1 Comments  // Add yours »

For those students at Southern who haven't gotten a chance to check out our new student center yet, here's a picture I took and a little bit of info on what you'll find. 

Overall the building is great.  It's spacious, modern looking, and the first place at Southern where you won't get depressed just by being there.  It has a large cafeteria, with overpriced but very good pizza (almost $4 for the equivalent of a slice), a sub/sandwich place, and your standard cheeseburger/grilled chicken stuff.  There is a "coffee house" that isn't really quite there yet, a very nice gym ($50 a semester), several lounges including one with a fireplace, and a nice computer lab.  There is a huge ballroom on the 4th floor, many meeting rooms, and a decent sized theater. 

Now for negatives.  There is a Barnes & Nobles bookstore on the street level,  which I found it to be very disappointing.  I was expecting something like what Yale has for their bookstore, with more books then the just overpriced texts that we're required to buy.  Instead we've been given a bookstore that's almost exactly the same as our old one with just a little more space. The game-room on the first floor is also a disappointment.  It's a cramped room with 3 pool tables and a ping-pong table.  The TV lounge is missing TVs.   There are two unoccupied spaces next to the bookstore that are reserved for more retail.  There was no major bank like had been rumored, and no major fast food restaurant.  It seems that they rushed to get the building open to satisfy the students.  Hopefully everything that we were told was going to be in there will be by the end of the semester.  But it's still a HUGE improvement for Southern.

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Slow Sundays

January 22, 2006 // 0 Comments  // Add yours »

I'm sitting at work bored out of my mind as usual with absolutely nothing to do.  Sundays are so incredibly slow at this place.  I really love this job and it's great that I have this much free time at work but its amazing how long the time seems to drag.  I always pick up a ton of food from this place up the street called Gourmet Heaven because getting a big meal is one of the few things that seems to pass the time.  This time I bought exactly 2 pounds of chicken fingers, mashed potatoes, and pasta - the real, carb-packed good shit.  But I'm definitely regretting it now... I'm way too full. 

As soon as I get out of here I'm doing a little bit of reading, maybe watching a movie, then I'm going to try my hardest to fall asleep early so I can force myself out of bed in the morning for the first day of classes.  This is going to be a really hard semester, possibly my hardest.  I'm shooting for six courses this semester:

• Contemporary World Politics
• History of the American Family
• Quantitative Analysis
• Traditional & Modern East Asia
• Workers in America II
• World Public Opinion

This schedule is gonna kill me.  On Mondays I have class from 9:10 in the morning till 7:30 in the afternoon, with only one 2 hour break starting at 1PM.  Wednesdays are a little bit better because I get out at 5.  Fridays should be easy - 9:10 - 1:00.  I get Tuesdays and Thursdays off, but I still have to work at night.  I don't know what I was thinking scheduling a class at 9 in the morning.  I've been sleeping till 12 lately and I never go to sleep before 2 AM.  It's gonna be hell adjusting my sleeping habits. 

Our new student center is finally opening up this semester... it's the one thing I'm excited about seeing tomorrow.  We are supposed to be getting a movie theater and some kind of fast food chain in there, so I think I'll be able to stick around a little bit more without getting bored.  Maybe I'll even get some homework done during my breaks.  The lounge in the old student center was always too hot and the seats were uncomfortable, so I'd never stick around.  The library is no better, they are doing construction so you have to listen to drilling and banging when your trying to study.  I love Southern and all of its construction, it's such a great learning environment.

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WindowMatic

November 29, 2005 // 0 Comments  // Add yours »

My group in my Small Group Communication class made our final presentation today on a product we invented - the WindowMatic.  Of course we didn't actually invent anything, we just thought of the idea.  The WindowMatic is a remote controlled Window, so you can open and close your windows with a push of a button from anywhere in the room.  We filmed a video for our project which I edited and made into a commercial.  Nothing professional here... just something I threw together last night and into the early hours of this morning.  This class was the most stressful class I have ever been in.  Thank God it's over.  Enjoy the video and leave some comments!

Just click on the image below to watch the video:

For more videos go to Riceminers.com

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Update And A Video

November 19, 2005 // 0 Comments  // Add yours »

FINALLY received my camera today after two months of it being in repair.  This was a crazy day.  I won a parking pass from Southern so I get to park in the faculty parking lot for a month.  Then I kicked some ass on a quiz, went to my paper shredding job, hit up the gym, went to work at the Yale School of Architecture for 2  hours, went to a work party in Hamden, ate some pizza, and then hung out with some friends at my place, drank some beer, and watched the debate over the Iraq war on C-Span. 

Then just as I thought the day was over, I got a call from my friend Nicole who had run out of gas on the highway and needed help.  So me, my brother, and Nugget grabbed a tank of gas and went for a drive.  It's about 10 degrees outside and we were stuck out there for a good half hour, so I got fed up and left.  Now I'm wired, full of pizza, and have a full day of NOTHING to do tomorrow.  It's a great feeling.  I'm thinking about headed to NYC for the day.  But if I don't I'll find something else good to do, so check back Saturday night for pics.

Here's a Beatles video just for fun.  It's the song Lady Madonna.  Just click the picture to watch:

For more videos go to Riceminers.com

Posted in:  Blogging, Music, Personal, Riceminers, SCSU, The Beatles, Videos | Permalink |  Digg This | Share on Facebook |Comments (0)