So he actually did it. Michael Phelps won eight gold medals in Beijing. Of all of his records, that is the big one. That is the one that he will be remembered for.

Not to detract from that feat, but swimming does have 38 different events. Isn’t that a bit excessive? There is an Olympic event for virtually every stroke, every combination of swimmers, and every meter range. What if they did the same thing with track and field? “Here comes Johnson on the 100 meter backwards run.” “Smith is just phenomenal today. She is clearly the fastest 60 meter skipper in the world.”  I guess even so, it would still be impressive if the world record holder in backwards running was also part of the four person, gold winning speed walking relay team.

Speaking of different strokes and meter ranges, I was kind of curious as to how the NFL’s fastest would stack up against the world’s elite sprinters. According to WikiAnswers, the fastest 40 yard dash ever recorded at the NFL Combine was run by Deion Sanders in 1989. His time: 4.27 seconds.  The world record in the 100 meter dash was set in Beijing yesterday by Usain Bolt, and he ran it in 9.69 seconds. 

If you convert Bolt’s 100-meter time to a 40-yard dash time, you’d end up with about a 3.5 second 40-yard dash. Making it seem as if he beat Deion’s NFL Combine record by .77 seconds!

Of course, this assumes an equal speed over distance, which isn’t likely.  The first 40 yards are always slower because the runners are coming from a full stop. But even so, would it make a .77 second difference? I doubt it. Someone should get Bolt out to a track and time his 40. Olympic medals are great, but so are multi-million dollar NFL contracts, assuming he could handle some contact.

That makes me wonder how much of the United State’s Olympic potential is already tied up in our pro-sports leagues. I bet we’d dominate power-lifting if there wasn’t so much financial reward for the people with raw talent to sign on in the NFL as linebackers and tackles.

If you click on “Photos” in the navigation on the left, it will take you to some of my photography. Right now there are only two photos, but I plan on adding more as I take or scan them. When I get enough I’ll start thumbnailing them and organizing them. More can be found at Skyefairy.net under artist name “Michael.”

I wonder how long this took. It’s chock full of awesomeness. 

Looks like I’m in for another enthralling semester:

Accounting Information Systems
Advanced Legal Studies
Global Strategy and Policy

This is in addition to my full time job. At least Global Strategy and Policy is at the same time as one of Heather’s classes;  we can hang out after and I won’t feel like I’m wasting my Saturdays driving to school. 

I think I’m going to attempt to befriend the Advanced Legal Studies professor. If I decide to go to law school, I’ll need references for my applications, and I haven’t been all that industrious on making myself stand out in classes.

Including the Fall Semester, I would need 8 more classes to obtain the B.S. in Accounting. For the dual degree, I’ll need 14.  I can either A) be finished Summer of 2009 with just the Accounting Degree, or B) be finished Spring 2010 with dual majors in Accounting and Finance. (I average 3 classes a semester during Fall and Spring and 2 over Summer.)

I’ve taken too many accounting courses to completely abandon it, but I find finance to be more interesting and would rather do finance related work for a living.  The dual majors also give me more time to get my G.P.A. up to at least a 3.6 which would increase my chances of getting into the law programs I want to get into. But it’s taken me so long to get this far, and I just want it to be over already. *sigh*

Language evolves. Everyone knows this. If it didn’t, we’d all still be grunting, or even worse we’d all be speaking Old English. Imagine Shakespeare’s horror if he were to take a look at today’s literature. “That’s not real English!” is what he would exclaim. Well he’d probably exclaim it differently, but I’m not quite witty enough to come up with an actual phrase that would  work with his medieval vernacular. The point is, language is changing and it always has been.

Even phrases or words that we use everyday, such as “okay” have entire wikipedia articles devoted to their etymology. Would “I’m just sayin’” mean anything to anyone 20 years ago? How about “LOL” or “text message” for that matter?  There is even a real billboard along I-95 where I live that incorporates the word “bling.”  No, it’s not an ad for Lil Wayne’s new album or some new show on BET.  It’s for cell phone service. 

This change isn’t necessarily good or bad; it’s just change. Language evolves to fit the needs of the people speaking it. If text messaging makes the use of netspeak more convenient, then so be it. Does the fact that someone spells “I love you” as “I luv u” really detract from the meaning? I don’t think so. Is “whattup dawg” nonsensical to the person saying it or to the person speaking it? No, of course it isn’t. “:)” might not have a definition with Merriam-Webster but it certainly conveys a feeling that no other words do, at least not as efficiently. Just because you or I don’t “get it” doesn’t mean it’s an invalid form of communication. 

So it annoys me when people go on tangents about the nature of society as evidenced by our deteriorating language. Language is always changing to accommodate society’s needs. That’s a fact. And if you are intelligent enough to go on a rant about it, then you are intelligent enough to adapt to it should the need arise; there is no reason to be so intimidated.  Besides, there will always be a need for “proper” English. There is no reason for all of your hard work in mastering it to become obsolete any time soon. So stop stressin’ dawg.