let me see you bounce

Biz Markie - Let Me See You Bounce (pops)

Not really much to say today.

I didn't do much of anything today, now that I think about it. I woke up, did homework, went to school, came home, and ate dinner. Not much more than that. Nothing interesting.

As such, consider this a "still alive' post. I'm still alive, but not much else is happening.

I promise to lead a more interesting life in the future.

Well, that's it. Bye.

live and learn

The Cardigans - Live and Learn (pops)

Country-flavored pop-rock from a Swedish female-fronted band?

The mind boggles.

Speaking of country, on my little shopping excursion Saturday, I got an "Encyclopedia of Country Music, 1920-1997". Sometimes I think that I have an actual addiction to outdated reference books. I've got several editions "Leonard Maltin's Big Book of Movies" from all throughout the 1990's, a few editions of "The People's Almanac" from the 1970's, and gobs and gobs of music encyclopedias, like the Guiness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, which dates to roughly 1995, which I purchased sometime in 2000 for three bucks.

Okay, I also really like cheap stuff, and outdated reference materials are even cheaper than sports video games from more than two years ago. (I have every edition of Madden Football from the first one to 2004, and I spent maybe fifteen bucks for all of them. Madden '95 is still the best sports game ever, with NHL '95 right behind it. I miss the Sega Genesis.)

So as far as my schedule for next semester goes, it sucks. Really, really sucks. On Mondays, I'll be at the school from 10AM to 7PM, with only a one hour break at noon. Wednesdays, I'll be there from 10AM to noon and then come back at 4PM until 7PM. Fridays are comparatively easy, with just 10AM to noon.

Needless to say, I'm not looking forward to Mondays. I'm trying to get a little bit of a reprieve, and get into the same class as the late class, but on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11AM, but it's tough going.

Since I'll be free (or at least not in class) on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'll probably take the substitute teaching class at the Barrow County Board of Education this summer, if I can get in, and sub at the high school a little bit during the year.

Scary thought, huh?

Well, let's end on that note. Write, call, or e-mail with complaints, comments, or marriage proposals.

thinking about you

Ivy - Thinking About You (pops)

Life sucks right now, except for my new bowling shirt. Everything else is pretty bad. My schedule for school is so screwed up I'll be there at least an extra semester, I've got entirely too much homework, and Buck Owens died.

So in honor of my relatively bad mood, let's do a pointless time-waster of a survey. Thanks to Kate, because she's the ginchiest.

------

More than 99 movies viewed means you’re a movie freak!

( )Pirates of the Caribbean
( )The Mexican
(x)Fight Club
(x)Starsky and Hutch
(x)Blazing Saddles
( )Garden State
(x)The Princess Bride
(x)Young Frankenstein
( )Anchor Man
( )Napoleon Dynamite
( )Saw
( )White noise
( )White Oleander
(x)Anger Management
( )Fever Pitch
( )The Matrix

total here: 6

( )50 First Dates
(x)Jason
(x)Scream
(x)Scream 2
( )Scream 3
(x)Scary Movie
(x)Scary Movie 2
(x)Scary Movie 3
(x)American Pie
(x)American Pie 2
( )American Wedding
( )Harry Potter
( )Harry Potter 2
( )Harry Potter 3
( )Harry Potter 4
( )Resident Evil 1
( )Resident Evil 2
(x)The Wedding Singer
( )Little Black Book

total here: 9

( )The Village
( )Donnie Darko
( )Lilo & Stitch
(x)Finding Nemo
( )Finding Neverland
(x)13 Ghosts
( )Signs
( )The Grinch
( )Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( )White Chicks
( )Butterfly Effect
( )Thirteen going on 30
( )I,Robot
( )Dodgeball
( )Universal Soldier
( )A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(x)Along Came A Spider
(x)Deep impact

total here: 4

(x)King Pin
( )Never Been Kissed
(x)Meet The Parents
( )Meet the Fockers
(x)Eight Crazy Nights
( )A Cinderella Story
( )The Terminal
( )The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( )Passport to Paris
(x)Dumb & Dumber
( )Dumb & Dumberer
( )Final Destination
( )Final Destination 2
(x)Halloween
( )The Ring
( )The Ring 2
(x)Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
( )Practical Magic
( )Chicago
( )Ghost Ship
( )From Hell
(x)Hellboy
( )Secret Window
(x)I Am Sam
(x)The Whole Nine Yards
(x)The Whole Ten Yards
(x)The Day After Tomorrow
(x)Child's Play
( )Bride of Chucky
(x)Ten Things I Hate About You
( )Just Married
( )Gothika
(x)Nightmare on Elm Street
(x)Sixteen Candles
(x)Bad boys
( )Bad Boys 2
( )Joy Ride
(x)Seven
(x)Oceans Eleven
(x)Oceans Twelve
( )Identity

total here: 19

( )Lone Star
(x)Predator I
( )Predator II
(x)Independence Day
( )Cujo
( )A Bronx Tale
( )Dark City
(x)Christine
(x)ET
( )The Professional (Leon)
( )My Big Fat Greek Wedding
( )Maid in Manhattan
( )Frailty
( )How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(x)She's All That
(x)Calendar Girls
( )Sideways
(x)Mars Attacks

total here: 7

( )Event Horizon
( )Ever after
(x)Forrest Gump
(x)Big Trouble in Little China
(x)X-Men 1
(x)X-Men 2
( )Catch Me If You Can
( )The Others
( )Freaky Friday
( )Ring of Fire
( )The Hot Chick
( )Swimfan
( )Miracle
(x)Old School
(x)Ray
( )The Notebook
( )K-Pax
(x)King Arthur

total here: 7

(x)Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
(x)Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(x)Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
( )A Walk to remember
( )Boogeyman
( )Hitch
(x)The Fifth Element
(x)Star Wars episode I The Phantom Menace
(x)Star Wars episode II Attack of The Clones
(x)Star Wars episode III Revenge of The Sith
(x)Star Wars episode IV A New Hope
(x)Star Wars episode V The Empire Strikes Back
(x)Star Wars episode VI Return of The Jedi...
(x)Troop Beverly Hills
( )Swimming with Sharks
(x)Air Force One
( )For Richer or Poorer
( )People Under the Stairs
( )Blue Velvet
(x)Sound of Music
(x)Parent Trap
( )The Burbs
(x)The Terminator
( )Empire Records
( )Meet Joe Black
( )The Order
(x)Spiderman
(x)Spiderman 2
( )Amelie
(x)Star Trek: Nemesis
(x)What's Eating Gilbert Grape

total here: 19

(x)Mean Girls
(x)Shrek
(x)Shrek 2
(x)The Incredibles
(x)Collateral
(x)The Fast & The Furious
(x)2 Fast 2 Furious
( )Sky Captain Of The World Of Tomorrow
( )Closer
( )While You Were Sleeping

total here: 7

(x)Titanic
(x)Saved!
( )Boondock Saints
(x)Bowling For Columbine
( )Fahrenheit 9/11
(x)The Sixth Sense
( )Artificial Intelligence (AI)
( )Love Actually
( )Shutter
( )Ella Enchanted
(x)Princess Diaries 1
( )Princess Diaries 2
( )Constantine
( )Million Dollar Baby
(x)Envy
( )Eurotrip
(x)Malibu's Most Wanted
(x)Big Daddy
(x)Black Sheep
(x)The Breakfast Club
(x)West Side Story
( )Moulin rouge
( )The Phantom of the Opera
( )The Party

total here: 11

(x)A Christmas Story
( )Spanglish
(x)Pulp Fiction
( )Sleepover
( )The Evil Dead
( )Killer Clowns From Outer Space
( )The Seed of Chucky
( )Vanilla Sky
( )Nightmare Before Christmas
( )Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
( )Interview With The Vampire
( )The Crow
(x)Purple Rain
(x)Wayne's world
( )Six String Samurai

total here: 4

(x)Wayne's World 2
( )21 Grams
(x)Blow
( )Edward Scissorhands
(x)Clerks
(x)Beauty and the Beast
( )Guess Who
( )Monster In-Law
(x)Elf
( )Stuart Little
( )Stuart Little 2
(x)Chasing Amy
(x)Dogma
(x)Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
(x)The Incredible Adventures of Wallace and Gromit

total here: 9

(x)Beetlejuice
( )The Last Samurai
(x)The Amityville Horror (old or new)
( )The Aviator
(x)Romeo and Juliet
(x)Barbershop
(x)Barbershop 2
(x)Legally Blonde
(x)Legally Blonde 2
( )The Forgotten
( )Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
( )The Grudge
( )National Treasure

total here: 7

Total number watched: 109

buck owens (1929-2006)

BuckOwens.com

Rest in Peace, Buck. You were awesome.

boundary rider

The Go-Betweens - Boundary Rider (live) (pops)

Today was okay, I guess.

My final prospective draft for the research project went through, so I start the sampling next week. A 50 person sample, give or take five. I'm just ready to get it over with, write my conclusions, make the poster, and do the presentations. Sometime in late April, our projects will be displayed in the "presentation hall" (conference room) at GSC-OC, so if you really want to see some bush-league psychology on display, here's your chance. I think I have to talk about the project for something like ten minutes, and answer any questions for maybe an hour while people walk around looking at all the posters.

That's pretty much it. I still have to write my speech for Monday. I'll definitely be assigned a paper to do for World Civ tomorrow, but hopefully it can wait until the week after next. I've got too much to do this weekend to worry about two projects.

Speaking of which, this weekend I have to go on my biannual shopping trip to get new clothes. For once in my life, I don't need to get a bigger size, but a smaller size. Much smaller. I'm not svelte by any means, but I have lost a good amount of weight in the past year, so I need some new clothes. My pants are literally falling off of me, and my belts are at their first notch, so I think it's time.

So in conclusion (and I since I don't have any thing else to say), here's a random picture of a cute animal. Refresh to see a new one, click to enlarge. No guarantee of cuteness is implied. Enjoy!

king of pain

Alanis Morissette - King of Pain (opens in Last.FM player)

Hi everybody! (Hi, Dr. Nick!)

How was every little thing? I understand that Savannah was a lot of fun this year.

It's official, I did nothing over the break. I was literally voted "Least Active Vacation" in my Psych class today.

Today I went to class, hoping for no homework. I sort of got my wish, since nothing's really due, but I still have to clean up my research paper a little bit and get it to him by Wednesday. I have to write up a speech for Communications by Monday, but it should be a little bit easier since I can use the same topic as last time, with a little exposition. Technically, all he said was "you can't give the same speech". I think I could re-write the one I've got, give it a new intro and conclusion, dress up the facts a little differently, and be fine.

As far as what I did over the break, I did a lot of comic book research. (I figure, if you want to do something, do it right.) A lot of Wikipedia stuff, crosschecked as much as possible. One of the best sites I found was Christopher Priest's site, which detailed a lot of day-to-day workings of a comics writer. Plus, he's a very good storyteller, and he's always entertaining. If I were a publisher, I'd hire him in a heartbeat, and let him work on whatever he wanted to do, bar none. I've always liked his take on superheroes and, more importantly, their environment. Remember, would Superman be as intriguing without Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, and Lois Lane, with Metropolis in the background? The city is a character, too, and gets overlooked a lot. Supporting cast in general gets overlooked, so it should come as no surprise that cities get the bum's rush, which is a real shame.

Over the break, I think I watched a good sixteen or eighteen hours of lucha. And it was good. I'm a week away from being caught up with current US Galavision, not counting this past week. I now understand why Pierroth is awesome. He has this persona that makes you want to hate him, and a moveset that fits him. He knows how to structure a match to go with the ebb and flow of the crowd, and I could almost guarantee you he couldn't explain it if he tried. It's second nature to him. Working against Hector Garza in the caballeras match, he (along with Perrito Aguayo on the outside) made the match have the "big event" atmosphere. It wasn't a mat exhibition, and there might have been only a handful of actual wrestling moves, but they portrayed the intensity and violence of the match beautifully.

So that's about it. Comments, questions, concerns, and hate mail can all be directed to here.

time after time

Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time (pops)

Nothing to report.

As in, I've done absolutely nothing this week.

I should be writing a speech, re-writing a draft of a paper, filling out a scholarship form, and reading three chapters in a textbook.

I have done none of those, and I've only got two days left to get them done.

Even when I have a vacation, it doesn't feel like a vacation, because I've still got deadlines. I almost wish we could just plow through and get more time at the end.

Almost.

If it wasn't for Spring Break, the majority of us wouldn't have anything to live for. So it's probably a good thing to have.

Today I watched a bunch of movies. "Walk the Line", "Crash", and "Murderball". Let's do a quick review, shall we?

"Walk the Line" is great. It's like "Ray" (of course), but this movie doesn't try to make the protagonist look good. Johnny (for the most time during the movie) was a drug abuser, an adulterer, and an all around asshole. But he's still human, and that shows through. June isn't perfect, as you could say she stole him from Viv, and the movie doesn't try to hide that. It's about real people, and real people aren't cut-and-dry good or bad.

"Crash", on the third or fourth viewing, comes across as heavy-handed, but still powerful. If you don't get choked up watching Lara get shot at, and Daniel's reaction, you don't have a soul. It's also a good example of "real people aren't cut-and-dry good or bad", and I like that. Sadly, it also beats the viewer in the head with "RACISM IS EVERYWHERE!". I could do without so much of that. Then again, I'm a Caucasian male aged 18-34, so I'm part of the problem, right?

"Murderball" is awesome. I love the humorous, almost light-hearted approach of most of it. The movie doesn't try to say that "quadriplegics are special, and should be handled like fine china". In fact, it says the opposite: these are people, from all kinds of backgrounds, that had some bad shit happen to them once, and are just like anybody else. Plus, quad rugby is realy fun to watch.

So what did you do today?

just might make me believe

Sugarland - Just Might (Make Me Believe) (pops)

I have got to write more.

I've got too many stray ideas that could be something substantial, if not necessarily earth-shattering, to not get some of them down.

So I've got a plan.

This summer, I resolve to write something of artistic merit every single day.

I'm intentionally leaving that vague, because I can do a lot of things that fall under "something of artistic merit". Songs, poems, short stories, novellas, magazine articles, comic books, you name it. Any genre, but I've got to get something down every day. I'm afraid that if I don't put something down on paper with some regularity, the skill will leave me.

I'm so going to need someone to remind me of this idea later, or I'll never get started. One of my intrepid readers, maybe?

Today, I read an entire history of Valiant Comics, a synopsis of the Piers Anthony "Incarnations of Immortality" series (which is more than a little similar to Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" series), and watched four hours of lucha from mid-August.

So I'm feeling inspired. I think I've figured out that I need a reliable illustrator to work up some sketches for a comic book idea. I just need someone who can do pencils, because I can do inking and coloring on my own (with or without Photoshop). As far as the idea, I don't want to go into too many details, lest someone with more publishing mien than me happen upon them and pilfer them, but think "Rising Stars" meets "JLE". But suitable for teenage audiences!

Seriously, if you or anyone you know has any interest in doing comic-book-style graphic work, let me know. I have a design aesthetic in mind, but I really have no room to talk as I can't draw for shit, so I'm flexible. I can trace pretty well, though.

If I can get somewhere on this idea, it will really help me on my summer goal. Otherwise, I see a lot of bad love songs in my future.

Speaking of love songs, Last.FM is the best thing ever. The "similar artist" radio is awesome, even though I have to use the skip button a lot more than I should. It will go through five songs I hate, but then it plays this one song I've never heard of but instantly love. It's a good discovery tool. I like it a little more than Pandora, mainly because there's no time limit for non-subscribers.

Well, that's all the time we have today. Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow.

celebration

Kool and the Gang - Celebration (pops)

It's a celebration, bitches!

Spring Break is finally here, and I couldn't be happier.

Well, I could, but I know my limitations. Certain things aren't going to magically happen, so I'm the happiest I could be under the circumstances.

Anyway, since I'm on vacation for the next week, I guess I'll either be posting every day out of boredom, or not posting at all because the torrent of laziness washes over me.

So it's pretty much the same erratic schedule as usual.

If you want to get together and do something, call me, email me, send a carrier pigeon, or something. I've got nothing going on but sleeping.

lights and sounds

Yellowcard - Lights and Sounds (pops)

I'm doing okay, I guess.

I got a bunch of grades back in the past few days.

I made an 87 on the last Spanish test, giving me a 91.23 in the class. I have no idea how it got that high, because I don't do that great on the assignments. I guess it's the lab work (which is sort of a "gimme" grade).

I made a 148/150 on my speech from Monday. Did I mention that it was about legalizing cannabis? I had to persuade the audience about something, so I picked a topic near and dear to my heart. I spent the first two minutes of the speech explaining how I don't smoke, but don't care if others do. Actually, I like being around people who smoke out, because they're much easier audiences. They'll laugh at all of my horrible attempts at humor. Plus, you get deep philosophical discussions on the structure of Twinkies.

Also, the teacher gave me an invite to a speech contest using my last speech. All I'd have to do is give that speech again. It's on the Monday after Spring Break. At 12:00. In Oakwood. There's no way I could make it from Watkinsville to Oakwood in ten minutes, so I'm out. The top prize was only $100, so no big loss.

I've got a test tomorrow in Civ, which I haven't even begun to study for. Then I've got a presentation in HGD, and I'm done for the week.

I hope beyond hope that no one decides to be cute and assign work over the break. I don't think anyone's that cruel, but if they are, you can be sure I'll be bitching about it for days. There's no need for that, because it just means resentment and more assignments to grade.

So anyway, how was your day? No, really, I want to know.

pure

The Lightning Seeds - Pure

Well, I survived.

I finished the paper with no time to spare. I did okay on my Spanish test. I got my speech written and delivered. I made my Powerpoint presentation for Wednesday.

Can I go to sleep now?

I'm completely ready for Spring Break. It can't come soon enough.

I've got a World Civ test on Thursday, but I think that's the last major grade I'll have for a while.

In Communications, I've only got one more speech to give until the end of the semester. That's kind of nice, because all of the pressure is off.

I have no idea what Spanish is going to be like tomorrow, but I doubt any huge projects are going to be assigned that I don't know about already.

By the way, the singer/songwriter for the Lightning Seeds looks like the kid from the Wonder Years that everyone thought was Marilyn Manson.

I'm sorry that this is a little rambling, but I'm kind of tired.

I've got so much stuff to read over Spring Break, as far as comics go. I picked up some new stuff these past few weeks, so I could spend the entire week reading comics, unless anyone's got anything better to do.

Speaking of comics, I've been reading old Bloom County strips a year at a time. They still hold up. Garfield doesn't. Fair warning.

I think I'm about done. I'll try to be more regular through this week, but next week, all bets are off.

pressure point

The Zutons - Pressure Point (pops)

Hey kids! Math problem time!

If one (1) student at the local community college has one (1) test in Spanish 1002 on Thursday, one (1) research paper draft for Human Growth and Development due on Friday, one (1) persuasive speech in Communications to give on Monday, and one (1) PowerPoint presentation to give in the Human Growth and Development on Monday, plus he has had a massive headache that hasn't gone away for three (3) days, how much time will he have left over for the things he actually wants to do, like blogging, listening to music, and making fun of those who are different from him?

Yes, you in the back?

Correct! He will have no time for anything but work for the next five days. At the end of this five day period, he quite possibly will have a nervous breakdown and revert to a fetal state.

Any more questions?

Okay, class dismissed.