Ok, first off… I’m going to complain for a moment. Those who have not spent entirely too much time developing web-based UI’s using jQuery and PHP (ie. anyone reading this right now) will probably be bored. Skip down to the bold text if you don’t want to be bored.

My problem was a simple one, which took a disproportionate amount of time to solve due to my inability to pay attention to detail today. I have a page that I’m working on (database interface blah blah blah) which has many editable rows of data displayed, and these rows contain drop-down menus in some of the fields which are populated with possible values out of the database. The problem was that the rows were not populating, nor allowing me to remove elements, nor anything else. My reaction was something along the lines of what rage guy looks like in the 4th frame of every comic he’s in. Then I discovered (after about 3 hours of toying around with these stupid drop-down menus) that I had made them the wrong class, so of course jQuery’s selector utility couldn’t find the damn things. Once again, murderous rage ensued, but this time the problem got fixed. That is my incredibly boring story/wall-of-text.

REMEMBER THAT BOLD TEXT I WAS TELLING YOU ABOUT? HERE IT IS.
Last night I finished reading the third book in the Wheel of Time series, “The Dragon Reborn”. It sounds impressive, and it is. There’s lots of magic, adventure, intrigue and other fun stuff such as people stabbing/hitting/insulting eachother, all wrapped up neatly in the clean and often witty writing style of Robert Jordan (may he rest in peace). Let me just pause to say that the previous sentence was an absolute travesty. I would go back and fix it, but I’m feeling incredibly lazy. Besides, reading poorly-structured sentences is like watching a car accident: you know that it’s a bad thing, but there’s a little part of you that’s really entertained by it.

My Memorial Day weekend was awesome. Friday I went to the hookah bar. Saturday I worked on a farm (baled hay, trimmed trees, fed/watered animals, etc.), and attended a bonfire. Sunday I went to Des Moines and watched the Cubs lose, then was taken on a tour of downtown by a friend. Monday I went to Polk, IA with some friends, ate food that they grilled, listened to music, played bags, played board games, then returned to Ames and grilled out again. Over the course of the weekend, I was in 6 different cities/towns, and traveled an estimated 600 miles. It was just plain great.

Last night was pretty fun, too. I learned a few basic licks at my guitar lesson, which I had to drive through torrential rain and wind to get to. Worth it! Then I went to my friend Jon’s house and hung out with him, Jeff, Kevin and Jeff’s new girlfriend Lynzei. We went to Jeff’s championship indoor soccer game later that night, and unfortunately the wrong team won. Jeff’s team played a good game, but they let the opponent get in their heads a little too much (the team they were playing is the aggressive type). In any case, it was fun to watch even if it didn’t end the way I would have liked.

Let’s see, what else? My grandpa recently had a valve replacement surgery, which he is recovering from as well as can be expected. He had a great room at Clarkson Hospital here in Omaha. I went to visit him last week, and the room had hardwood floors and its own bathroom with a shower. Pretty sweet. He went home on Saturday and is doing well as far as I know.

Uhhh… I think that’s all I’ve got. Okay, maybe not. Here’s a poem.

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“Blue”

Some say that they see the world clearly,
even in a fevered dream.
I know better, as would anyone
who knows such worlds as we have seen.
Surf breaks silence a thousand years old,
yet only an instant in the waking world.
And in my dreams, I stand beside you.
Azure waves ripple through the air
as peculiar wind whips through our hair,
words I may never say heavy on my tongue.
The wind is sound, melodic and dissonant at once.
The light we see the ocean by
is nothing but a trick of the eye.
It is really only hope,
and it does not always shine.
Sometimes a veil of shadow lies
draped across a starless sky.
Though I am blind, I still feel and hear.
Our hands entwined cut through the fear.
We both awaken too soon each day,
and fleeting memories slip away
as dream fragments often do.
For a moment I remember you.
Not your face, though; to my dismay,
only the sound of blue remains.

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Freeverse is fun to write! I’m not quite satisfied with that yet, though. We’ll see what I can do with it down the road.

Bye for now.