lebaneselove
A wealth of resources for fans of the Lebanese entertainment world.

scenebyscene
This collaborative screenwriting community will accomplish an entire film script--each scene by a different writer--over the course of one year. It's destined to be crazy. Along the way, a slew of smaller challenges will be offered.

add_foreign_ljs
Looking to practice your language skills? add_foreign_ljs offers users a way to find journals written in a language other than their own.

All freshman at Biola are required to take a "First Year Seminar" class their first semester.  When I received my class schedule, I discovered that even though I had "declared" a Communications major, they had put me in the Undeclared Seminar.  I called Academic Advising about it, and after talking with a woman whose name I can't remember I learned that I could switch seminars and also switch my science class from Physics to Geology (which I didn't want to do) or stay with my current schedule.  The woman told me that the seminar wasn't that big of a deal, only eight weeks, and that its purpose is mainly to help you get to know other kids in your field of study.  So I stayed.
Today, as part of Orientation, I went to an "open house" for Comm majors, and after talking with a prof and the department chair I began to feel like I would be missing out a bit by not being in the seminar (basic example:  the prof or chair would touch on an interesting subject and say "Well you're all in the seminar, we'll talk more about this then!").  I didn't feel like announcing to the other ten people that I in fact wasn't in the seminar, so I waited until after we were dispersing to talk to one of the profs.  She said it would be nice for my sake if I were in the seminar, but at this point it isn't really worth the hassle, and that I can come to her or anyone else in the office any time with questions.  I've had two knowledgeable people at Biola tell me that the seminar isn't the be all and end all class, so I guess I shouldn't be worried about it.  It's just annoying.  Oh well, I've already bought my physics book and it would be a hassle trying to switch up my schedule with classes starting tomorrow.  Now if I were a junior or senior and this were an upper-level class that I absolutely needed to graduate, then I could see it being worth the hassle, but probably not now.  Argh.  I'm already all stressed and school hasn't even started. 
Tomorrow I've got my first Torrey session on the Iliad, so we'll see how that goes.  I need to buy a few more school supplies;  odds and ends, a couple of notebooks, some pens and pencils.  I'll probably do that tomorrow;  Torrey is my only thing tomorrow, and I'm done by lunch.  Up until now, being at Biola has kind of been like being at a Christian summer camp.  I'm sleeping in a room that's not my normal one, surrounded by people I barely know, attending ice cream socials, chapels, mandatory mingling events, not really thinking about school or work . . . and tomorrow I'm finally going to do what I came here to do.  Honestly, it's kind of scary.  As you know, I'm prone to stress, and as you can probably tell, I go back and forth with my anxieties and emotions a lot.  It sounds stupid, but Nike keeps popping into my head.  You know, "Just do it".

my new favorite quote from John Calvin. Written in the Institutes of the Christian Religion

"“Nearly all the wisdom we possess consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves” (35). But there is a problem of precession; the creature cannot know himself apart from knowing the Creator, and, also, is unable to know the Creator. Not that He is not revealed in his creation, but the fall corrupts even the mind and senses that she cannot see the character of God where it is displayed."

Way to go John Calvin, many of us make fun of you but can say not a word against your preceptive and astute comentary on the Human Condition.

"Torrientation" was very tiring.  I felt kind of lame because on Thursday and Friday night the family wanted (and I did, too) to go to Disneyland, but partly because I was exhausted from the week's activities I was a little moody.  I'm not moping about it or anything.  I guess all there is to do is shrug and move on. 

As regular orientation gets going (or S.O.S. for "student orientation services") this week, I'm getting more and more excited about school.  I think that's great, since I've been anxious about it all summer, but at the same time, I have this weird feeling.  It's as if part of me feels like it would be hypocritical if I didn't hold on to my anxiety after being so openly afraid for the past few months.  I think it's some slightly subconscious desire I have to not become a stereotype, just another cliche, if that makes any sense.  I'm not trying to hold on to my anxieties or anything, I'm happy to be getting settled and excited about Biola, I just like to examine the little niches of my personality, and by thinking through it and talking/writing it out, I feel like I can understand it better. 

Tonight all of the incoming freshman were invited to bring their families to a huge communion.  Mom, Dad, Hannah and I went, and it was awesome.  Beautiful worship music, lights in the trees, hundreds of people (we're Biola's largest incoming class ever;  interesting because our high school class of '08 was the largest graduating class Hope had ever had), President Corey gave a short message, the bottom line of which was that this is a time of transition and change that can be terrifying, but that we should hold to the confidence that Philippians 1:6 gives us, and that "it's ok if we don't know where we're going, so long as we know what we're looking for". 

i just signed up for tiwitter. if you're on it you should let me know :)

ugh . . . feels like i'm under a cloud. i suppose it's emotional. i feel like i'm thinking alright which is not usually how i feel when i'm in an emotional funk. but the headaches and nausia aren't helping . . . ugh.

tomorrow's the last day of house sitting. it's been pretty chill. no keggers. Their dog is a pretty sweet dog, a little angry faced lassa apsa (sp.?). he's an excited little rascal.

i'm reading "what every american needs to no about the quran". it's pretty good i guess. it doesn't back up alot of it's claims assuming alot of them to be common knowledge, but what it does back up (which is a decent amount) it backs up with pretty reputable sources/names. If even half of it's claims are true (and if the quotes from the quran are well contexted) then Islam really is a complilation of some of the greatest Christian heresies in history combining pagan-arab religions, with false christianity, and judaism. it makes the distinction between moderate muslims and extreme ones, the difference being that moderate muslims believe that islam will conquor the world eventually whereas the extreme muslims believe that they themselves are the ushers of a new islamic reign. the book makes it seem as if the "peaceful muslims" and the radicals are actually on the same side and just have different ideas about timing, which, if true, poses a very troubling set of circumstances for christians and secular governments. if not, then it's all bollyhoo.

i've been reading alot of Roman Catholic literature lately. mostly stuff on the primacy of peter/rome and christian priesthood. interesting.

First day of "Torrientation".  It went pretty well;  this morning Rebekah, her friend Katie and I went to the beach.  I promised my mom I would put on sunscreen, and I did, but not very well.  I noticed tonight as I was putting on my pajamas that I have a fairly bad sunburn, which sucks.  My chest and one of my arms are obviously pink, as well as a little on my back.  Oh well. 
I met my Torrey group for the first time today.  There are fourteen of us I think, and only three or four guys.  Most kids are from the area, as to be expected.  I also met my other room mate, Vanessa, and she's really nice.   She's a girly girl, but very cool and laid-back.  Our room is also significantly bigger than I had pictured, which was a pleasant surprise since there will be three of us.  I'm mostly moved in;  my computer stuff still isn't fully set up, and I need to organize a little and get a few odds and ends that I forgot or didn't know that I'd need, like an extra shelf for my printer or a clip-on lamp to put on my bed (we all have loft beds).  I'm not sleeping in the dorm tonight, but I'm staying one more night with Rebekah at her friend Amanda's house, which is actually really nice.  I'm feeling a little bit like when I was eleven, and I went to "sleep-away" camp for the first time.  I wasn't severely homesick or depressed, but I was nervous and was relieved when my parents picked me up at the end of the week.  That's kind of how I'm feeling now:  not so terrified that I'm vomiting or can't sleep, but nervous and not really sure what to expect.  A little excited, too, and I'm sure that will grow with time.  For now, camp doesn't start just yet. 

Dr. Reynolds gave his welcome-to-Torrey-question-and-answer-purpose-of-college-and-education speech tonight.  It was cool, and interesting to see and hear him in person after only seeing pictures and hearing stories from Rebekah, Shannon and Jordan.  I don't remember much from the latter part of his talk;  I started to zone out a little.  He's definitely a celebrity among his students, reminiscent of Mr. Wamsley to Hope students.  He got a huge cheer/applause when he got up to talk, and he made a lot of jokes about being a Torrey geek.  Rather then tell us how amazing we are, he told us that we really aren't that amazing.  To paraphrase, he said that if we were paying all this money to get a prestigious education, we were getting ripped off, but he followed that up by saying that a fancy education and a brilliant intellect means nothing when you have poor character and morals.  He also told us to not date in our first year, admitted that telling college freshman not to date is like "telling a politician not to lie".  While explaining how Torrey relates and is a part of the larger Biola community, he said that Torrey is to Biola as Gryffindor is to Hogwarts.  I think Ravenclaw would be closer, actually. 

Rebekah just came in and said she's got to go to sleep now;  we're sharing a room.  More on this as it develops.

Development Goals and Basic Accounts

Last week we updated our development goals for 2008. Generally we noted a number of cool enhancements and investments to LiveJournal that we are working on, including improved search, usability, and site development.

We also wanted to let you know how we hope to accomplish all these things, and how we plan on paying for them. In order to accomplish our stated goals for this year and beyond, we need to increase the revenue gained from both groups of LiveJournal accounts: paid subscription accounts and ad-supported accounts.

As of August 28th, all users will be able to choose to downgrade their account to Basic through their Manage Account page. Additionally, we will start showing advertising to visitors who are not logged in to LiveJournal when they are looking at Basic Account journals and communities.

Basic Account users themselves will not see ads on any Basic journal or community while they are logged in to their account. If you want more information about this, take a look at our new post on lj_2008 where we outline our reasoning.

Indian Flash Fiction Contest

In other news, we are excited to tell you we've launched "Quick Tales" LiveJournal's first initiative for users in India, in celebration of India Independence day, August 15th. "Quick Tales" is a flash fiction writing contest in which we're partnering with Caferati.com, one of India's largest online literary communites. The contest's winners will receive some great prizes and it is open to anyone with a mailing address in India. We hope that users with an interest in Indian writing or just India will watch LiveJournal's india_writing community. That's where the finalists and winners will be announced, so keep an eye on it towards the end of September! If you're in India then enter the contest - if your story is slick and quick (under 500 words) then you could be the lucky winner!

Meanwhile, back at LiveJournal Inc.

We have updated and redesigned our corporate site. The goal of the redesign was twofold: first, to update the look and feel (Dystopia users will appreciate it!); second, we want to provide a destination for prospective employees, partners, and members of the press where they can access important information about the company. Kudos to our design team.