pass the time by playing a little solitaire

I don't remember exactly when I woke up today but when I finally got out of bed everyone else was already out of bed. Claire was downstairs screaming about something. At someone. I don't know. I went downstairs, moved Phil's stuff off the couch, and sat down which of course pissed him off. How dare I move his presents off an official and approved sitting module? He got over it as soon as he opened his Astrojax and tried (and failed) to "make it go horizontal". I don't think he ever figured out how to get it to do what he wanted, but it kept him entertained and therefore quiet so I was happy. I opened my stocking which was filled with an assortment of chocolates ranging from Snickers Santa to Godiva and an out-of-place massive bottle of maple syrup. I really have no idea what inspired Santa to put that in there. I don't recall asking for syrup but maybe my alter-ego needed it for something. He's not getting a drop though. It is now mine.

Anyway, I then got to work on unwrapping the miscellaneous boxes and envelopes conveniently placed in a pile designated to yours truly, DVDs and iPod accessories all. Yes, I've officially been overwhelmed by technology. I'm having my eyes replaced with miniature low-res cameras next week. Anyway, definitely the coolest gift is the iTrip (what's in a name). I will now be tuning in exclusively to 87.9 KARB, my own private pirate radio station. I tested it out on my parents' Bose and it has a range of a good 3 feet on that. The clock/radio in my room sucks however and I can't take the iPod more than half a foot away from the radio without losing the signal. Then I tried it in my mom's van and it worked in every seat in the car. Go figure. Anyway I hopped on my compy and put a good 2 hours of Christmas music on the iPod for the listening pleasure of all. (Thanks COTU for most of the Christmas music.)

I tried to watch one of the DVDs, but the DVD player didn't want to work (bitch!) and when I finally figured out that the component video cables were in backwards Ratboy, that contemptuous, conniving bane of my existence, sauntered downstairs and, as Bill might say, "jammed" on his NEW GUITAR!!! That wasn't going to work, so I went upstairs and helped my mom make Christmas dinner. Don't get me wrong. Any and all help was done completely out of self interest. Unofficial stuffing sampler and turkey thief. >=D

Then my grandparents came over. I like them. I really do, but I can't stand them. I don't like having to yell answers to questions they've asked twice already just so they can hear it. Again. I should probably be more sympathetic, but I think the real problem is that I'm afraid that someday I'm going to be like that, because quite honestly I hope I don't live that long. At the first sign of senility I'm going to forget to ask for a mercy killing. It's a trap I can't escape. But these are not suitable topics for a day as happy as Christmas.

Actually today I realized just how terrible Christmas is. Obviously it's now the highlight of a consumerist society which isn't all bad, I suppose. Keeps the economy moving. I guess. (I dunno. Byrne, help me out here.) But on the other hand, Christmas, as Audrizzle said earlier, began a pagan ritual meant to enlighten spirits gone frigid in the dead of early winter and now it's a rush to get gifts and spend spend spend. It's really a holiday we could do without. And what's the point of glutting ourselves when most Americans don't need/can't afford to put on another layer of fat to protect them from the winter? Sure it "brings people together" and that is, in most cases a good thing, but it's entirely overhyped, and for the first time, I am truly disgusted with Christmas. I think I'm just going through a cynical stage. It'll pass. If it doesn't, bah fuckin' humbug to the rest of you.

Finally, because I am a filthy copy cat, I go the way of Aude and leave you with a picture, scanned from my brand spanking new (where the hell did that phrase come from?) calendar.

37 7u bru73?

Well I have a new tale to chronicle. This does involve a member of our family but this is a recent addition and about the furthest thing from human as a creature can get. A few months ago a very large cat began visiting our back porch. Lily at first, before she was fixed, would crawl up to the window when he came and whine to be let out so they could do what boy cats and girl cats do best. After Lily was fixed she stopped whining so much when he came but he kept visiting our house nonetheless. Then winter came and the highs didn't get above 20�. My mom got worried about said kitty and brought it in to our laundry room. The next day she took it to the vet to see if it had a chip and. if it did, to whom it belonged. Well it did and according to the chip its owners live in our neighborhood. My mom called the Humane Society and found out that the owners signed a contract to keep the cat indoors at all times. She assumed that since the cat was at our house more than any other place (except one time my mom found it crawling out of a drain on the side of the road) that the owners had voided their contract. Now she's kidnapped the cat. She's keeping it an there's nothing anyone can do to change her mind. I tried to but then she somehow was able to contact the owner. Apparently she's very old and just had surgery. She can't take care of the cat, so she gave my mom permission to have it.

Damn.

Oh well I can't win 'em all. (If anyone has access to FIV in large quantities, GIMME.) I can't wait for Aude's New Year's Party. It's gonna be great. But now I must go for I have many Christmas preparations to perform.

l473r.

ph0r3 d0\/\/n, 0n3 70 60!

Am I the only one even slightly annoyed that blogger has stopped counting posts? Meh, doesn't matter. Anyway, last night I spent at least 3 hours studying for my calculus exam and I have never felt so prepared for a math test in my entire life. I'm going to pwn this byotch. I kinda need to considering my last test grade was less than awesome but greater than 0. I just finished my Latin exam=easy. Studying for that one was fun because I still don't know where my Latin notebook is and that had a study guide in it with pretty much all the information that appeared on the exam. But I had very little difficulty with it so I guess it doesn't matter. Up next: Calc exam + 3 day weekend! Thank you Engrish.

In other news, the goose this winter season is on a diet and does not plan on getting fat because it is, "sick of having it's fucking neck broken to spread Christmas cheer."

l473r.

Exams 2.0 (Now runs without anxiety!)

I never thought I'd see the day, but I am finally not swamped by exams. I have 3 "official" exams to take and one unofficial one. I'm basing this on the assumption that I'll be exempt from my theology exam which is highly probable. I found out today that I was exactly .4% above the necessary 90 to be exempt from my English exam which entirely made up for the Calc test I failed the period before. I no longer need to show up to school on Monday! Three day weekend! Three exams total! (I just took half of my psych exam but that was so easy it doesn't count.) I love being a senior. Seriously. It rocks.

I tried to study for psych during my free period but I got distracted by the interweb. I tried to watch the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory trailer but unfortunately OS 9 is 73h 5ux0rz and doesn't have eithe Quicktime or WMP which supports the very complicated function of modern media players, video. This is unfortunate considering the fact Umpa-Lumpa songs are 100% less entertaining in the absence of Umpa-Lumpas.

And finally, I should probably mention that I was up until 2 oclock last night studying for Calc and psychology. Needless to say I am incredibly tired right now. I'll be able to make up for it in the days and months to come. Senior project: one month of service and nutzin else.

ROTK: EE SPOILERS FROM HERE TO THE END:: YOU'VE BEEN WARNED
The Return of the King Extended Edition came out yesterday, and I must say that is one fantastic 15 hour flick. Granted, I'm a fanatic and prone to exaggeration, but even so it was a quality film. I really liked the scenes they added and Saruman's death, while not at all as it should have been, was excellent nonetheless. I especially liked the scene in which Aragorn confronts the Palantir himself. I didn't like that in the theatrical version, he touched it and went limp like Pippin. (That by the way is the second worst scene in the Lord of the Rings movies. Terribly done and even I won't bother defending it.) Aragorn is the Heir to the Throe and should not have lost it like that. Jackson quasi-makes up for it when he looks into the Palantir and tells Sauron he's coming to kick some ass with Anduril. Sauron however, like all good villains, strikes at Aragorn's heart and shows and imaged of Arwen, dead. Aragorn leaps back in shock and the dream he had earlier in which the Evenstar shattered became a reality. Definitely one of my favorite new scenes.

Also, if you will recall from the theatrical version, an orc asks the Witch-King what to do with Gandalf and he says, "I will break him," leading up to an exciting....nothing. Well no more! The Witch-King breaks Gandalf and breaks him good, but I won't say how. Needless to say, that scene is kick ass.

Frodo's story is mostly unchanged except they did add the scene in which he and Sam are accidentally taken in the ranks of orcs and have to march a far out of their way on their journey to Orodruin. It was done pretty well. It played even further off the orcs easily provokable and argumentative demeanors.

Of course the biggest disappointment of the film was that the last 30 minutes or so remained entirely unchanged. No Scourging of the Shire. I've gone off on that already so I won't waste more time on that but I liked that the ending was unchanged aside from that. I thought I heard on theonering.net that the Grey Havens scene would be extended, but I guess I just made that up, because it wasn't.

l473r.

l0051n6 my m1nd

I think my mind is trying to tell me something but I have no idea what. Last night I had the most unusual dream last night and I seriously I wish I knew something about dream interpretation because...well you'll see in a moment. This is one of the weirdest dream I've ever had. I was never in the dream; I was just an observer. It started with a person (I don't remember the gender of the person. It could have been a guy with long hair.) was spitting fire using some...stick thing in a stone temple courtyard. (My brain doesn't worry about physics if and when it works. The person was just holding a bundle of fiber-optic looking sticks up to his or her mouth, and exhaling a fire-storm.) The fire-breather was surrounded by a circle of people who seemed happy and cheering, but I remember thinking that this person is clearly rackless and dangerous and might hurt someone.

Anyway, that person then left the circle of people and the scene completely changed and got really trippy. I'm beginning to wonder if I inhaled a little somethin' at the Cookie Party without knowing it. I watched this curly, red-haired kid walk in slow motion down a suburban sidwalk on a sunny day. The weird thing was that he was holding his head and screaming (that was muted for some reason) because the right side of his head was on fire.

Then the dream went back to the temple and one of the guys (this was a guy) from the circle of people was lying on the ground. I thought he was asleep, but then he spontaneously combusted. Some woman's face appeared and she looked really scared. Then it showed the burning guy again and the fire was even more intense and much brighter. Back to the woman and there was a very bright flash and suddenly her face changed. The first thing that came to mind was that there had been a nuclear explosion and her face was radiated and getting splotchy, but at the same time, I knew it was the burning man who had given off the explosion of light. The woman died, but didn't vaporize. I distinctly remember seeing her eyes roll back. Then she fell down. Wow just recalling this dream is really disturbing...

Back to the suburbs. It starts in a garage this time. I can see a bright light on the garage door. It pans out, but locks onto the garage door. When it gets outside I can see that the bright light came from the shape of a gree that was burned into the door like a jack-o-lantern carving complete with trunk, branches and leaves. Must have been from the Nuclear Burning Man. It showed the Burning Head Boy one last time and then I woke up. I really want to know why fire and the apocalypse are such major themes in my dream. I don't remember being scared by any of it. Not while I was dreaming and not when I woke up. Maybe I'm the anti-Christ.

Seed Entry 2: to the minute

Like my good buddy Byrne, I've been playing some old-school games on my compy. Metal Gear is an amazing game. It's a graphical marvel and the enemy AI is already higher than Phil's. And it's got one of the best plots/Japanese-English translations ever. After finding "missing our "Grey Fox"", I went in a truck. "UH OH! THE TRUCK HAVE BEGUN TO MOVE!" I went all over the place and got the the third boss, Twin Shot. Just two guys in turrets firing white dots and slightly missle-shaped objects at poor Mr. Snake. I emptied 92 white dots ("bullets") into one of the guys and he just wouldn't die. I went to the tranceiver and a very fulsome Diane told me that I needed a grenade launcher to kill them. I passed that up very early in the game so now I have to go on a redonkulous back-tracking journey. But other than that, it's just pure old-school greatness. I love getting in a cardboard box and shuffling around until the baddies notice me. Then I just white dot them until they vanish. Punching the dogs makes me sad though. They bounce and then disappear.

Last weekend I didn't have many school-related things to do, so I spent the weekend doing lots of nothing (see above) and going to Noah's house. That was a disaster and I'm really sorry about what happened. Hollyce, Jose, one Malkus, and I were having a spoon war and there were more civilian casualties than miltary, unfortunately. Hollyce's pants tore at the seams and shortly afterward Noah's house also tore at the seams. If you're reading this, I'd be more than happy to contribute however much money is necessary to fix the wall.

Other than the disasterous Spoon War II, the night was pretty fun. Hollyce brought cookies to celebrate the birthdays of myself and Mr. Noah himself. There was a little bit of chaos in the card-signing because Noah ended up signing his own birthday card and I signed his more than once and mine at least once and never under the same name. I just realized that I think I may have left my card at his house. Damn.

One of the few assignments I DID have to do for today was to interview someone about some significant life choice they made which I found interesting or worth investigating for my theology class. I have yet to so much as decide who exactly to interview. I'm leaning towards my dad who converted to Catholicism years ago. Not interesting or at all worth investigating but I'm out of ideas. And people.

And finally, an update on the iTunes Music Store situation. I have yet to so much as sample one song. I'll get around to it eventually, but I honestly don't know when. I probably won't be able to until Christmas break. I didn't have the time over the weekend. Destroying Metal Gear was priority number one. That and typing up an english paper so my computer time was divided appropriately, or so I hope. I just hope I didn't insert random refernces to taking out walking nuclear battle tank in my paper about why elevators are in free fall to hell. Slightly related, but it'd be pushing it.

I really don't like internet Explorer. Or OS 9. I don't have the option to change my font so this is gonna look bad with the rest of my entries. Use OS X or at least Firefox if you're too ignorant and closed-minded to make the big switch.

l473r.

Seed Entry

Wasted seed? Bill are fucking moron.

Taste the rainbow.

I ate a bucket of sunflower seeds. That makes me Fox Mulder. (He ate sunflower seeds too.)

death

Author's note: Looking over this post, it's pretty gross. If cadavers make you queasy, you probably don't want to read this. Scroll down to the blue for the less gory bits of my day.

Watching the video of Kennedy's assassination was traumatic enough. Today we went to a cadaver lab and watched as a woman was torn open and her innards thoroughly explored by a premed. It wasn't at all what I expected. The body was not very fresh and was completely undistinguishable as a human being except for her hands�her awful, grey hands. Most of them wanted to touch her, pull her tendons and squeeze her tarred lungs, but I was getting lightheaded and dizzy. I didn't want to touch her. I didn't want to touch anything that had touched her. I don't think I'll be eating meat for at least a week. I won't be sleeping well for quite some time. I wish I'd stayed at school. I learned everything we were shown there from my anatomy book. I missed two classes while I was gone, two classes which I enjoy.I wished I'd stayed at school.

In other news, my Kesterman interview will be airing tomorrow. I'm excited about that. I looked over the footage and it's not exactly what I had hoped for in terms of his responses, but I didn't have the time to edit it further, so I'll just have to settle for what I've got. I'm also very excited that my Engrish project is officially complete. All 10 movies noted and journaled. I watched my last movie just yesterday and was up until 2:30 typing up my journals. They were all crap and I can say that I am honestly only proud of two of my journals (Godfather 1 and 2). Well what's 200 points in a class as easy as Engrish? Yeah I am screwed.

Next weekend will be the first weekend I can look forward to with delight since the summer ended. For the first time since the beginning of school, I will have absolutely nothing to do, no obligations whatsoever. No races, no test, no Engrish projects. It will be nice. I think I'm going to use my iTunes and Barnes and Noble gift cards. I plan on buying Fight Club (the novel) and the Godfather (also the novel). I'm also considering getting Choke by Chuck Palahniuk, but I think I'll wait to see if I like Fight Club first. I'm also planning on getting either Ender's Game or Dune both of which were highly recommended by a friend. Dune seems much more interesting so I'm leaning towards that. I may also get the Godfather DVD. This may seem like a lot of stuff to get from gift cards, but I have a lot of money on my gift cards, so I could probably get all that. I'll also sample the music suggestions from CB and see which ones are worthy of my $15.

Tomorrow is Friday. It will be a good day.

l473r.