hey hey we're the monkeys

- Two for the price of one.

- Tuesday is due April 21st. Yay! I am so happy and excited.

- So... what's up with you? I've been playing Guild Wars. It's free, which at this time is a huge advantage over WoW. Plus, it's different. You can play the whole thing solo. It's less about grinding. The gear doesn't make or break you, which is cool. WoW was always about gear. Guild Wars is more about your character build, which you can change for free at any town.

On the downside, the little things that WoW has are missing. Like an easy way to reply. It might be there, but I always have to scroll up and click the name. But it's okay. At least for me, right now. I don't think I'll ever go back to Warcraft. I was looking at Cataclysm, the next expansion. Ewww.

- Harry Reid might be in trouble.


That would be awesome. Then he can fulfill his lifelong dream of being on Dancing With the Stars.

- Favre is on the Vikings. This is horrible. I hated brett favre as a sports figure. Not as a person, I don't think about him as a person. He's a sports figure. And he played for Green Bay, and he often played the Vikings, and the announcers LOVED him. "Brett just threw another TOUCHDOWN!! He just has so much fun out there!" and "Brett is so experienced! Who else would have thrown the ball into an opposing players hands because they knew they'd get it back and it would make for great dramatic tension??" or even "Brett just flipped off the crowd. He just loves this game so much!!"

And now he's my quarterback. So now I am forced to reconcile my hatred with this desire he somehow becomes a rejuvenated ace that breaks all of his own records. It's not good on my psyche.

- Speaking of Psych, here is my "at least once per blog" plug for Psych. Watch Psych!!

- I was given the equivalent of 100(0?)g (I'm not exactly sure, it was 10,000 gold, which is ten platinum) in Guild Wars terms yesterday because I knew that a medieval musician was called a "minstrel." Woot!

- My brother's blogs are always deep about meaningful things. I put up webcomics.

- Mike V. for congress! I haven't been able to help out much, so if anyone wants me to start mudslinging or something, let me know.

- Did you hear Vern sacrifices puppies? Yeah! And he eats soup with a fork!!

(Got yo back, bro!)

friday

- Work is work is work.

- Newt Gingrich is working with Al Sharpton to save our schools. Wasn't this the plot for Tango and Cash 2?

- Psych is on tonight. Which means I can watch it tomorrow on Hulu. Yay!! I was pretty excited with last week's episode. I'm worried every year that the show is going to suddenly fall apart, but last week was really good.

- Michael Vick signed with the Eagles. I don't like Vick. It has nothing to do with tha dog thing, which, of course, is quite bad, but his most famous highlight of running 60+ yards through 14 defenders happens to be against my team... the Vikings.
I don't like him for that reason. Also, The Michael Vick experience is a dumb commercial. Honestly, though, he's probably about two years from becoming a rapper. Maybe he can join Joaquin's band - "<(Mediocrity)."



- What's with Eric Bana? He's everywhere. Remember how in the Hulk, he kept getting bigger? No? Neither does anyone else, honestly. I mean, who would remember that movie.. most people have banished it to the deepest chambers of their mind along with Ghostrider and Jackie Chan movies. But go with the idea. Anyway, he's like a real-life Hulk now, growing everywhere, overtaking the world!!!! My wife says he's not a very good actor. I only remember him in Troy, in which everyone except Sean Bean acted badly.

ughh..

- I can't believe it's been almost a whole month since I've blogged.

- We went to the Alma fair on Wednesday. I got sunburned but it was a lot of fun. The girls really enjoyed it.

- The new G.I. Joe trailers are scaring me. The dialogue seems cheesy. Like really cheesy. Like one rung above Jar Jar Binks in a Sam Bernstein commercial. That reference will only make sense to you if you live in Michigan and watch TV at those hours of the day that advertising is cheapest.

Snake Eyes looks cool, but the rest of it scares me. So we'll see. District 9 got 5 out of 4 stars. I didn't transpose those digits. It really got 5 out of 4. Peter Jackson made it. He is also writing but not directing The Hobbit. I wanted him to direct. Oh well.

And then that new movie with Brad Pitt looks good. Apparently the critics love it.

- My boss turns 35 this month, and on the birthday charts, someone wrote that number down. She had it scribbled out. SO today, I wrote "Happy 42nd!!" on it. She is going to fire me, probably.

- My car is fixed! Thank the Lord. That was an ordeal, but He provided and I think it's all taken care of.

- Baldur's Gte 2 has really good writing. A lot of RPGs have good writing, but Baldur's Gate took it to a new level, because the whole thing is good. The little tidbits that you have to play the game three times to even see are well written. Dialogue that takes place only after following a game-long sidequest that you could screw up at any minute is good, despite only people that use walkthroughs will be able to read it. I like it. Icewind Dale 2 has slightly better character customization, though. I already wrote about that.

- Sooooo.. reading the Salvatore books, cause a friend at work is buying them and letting me borrow after he's done. Made it through the first four, chronologically-speaking (story-wise). They're interesting, I guess. I don't like the characters. Drizzt is bland, and the others are caricatures. However, I really like the universe that it all takes place in. Planes, classes, monsters, the Underdark. All very established things that a writer doesn't have to explain from scratch when writing a D&D based book.

- Anyway, on to Drizzt, a favorite for many. Drizzt, if you don't know, is a dark elf, the only one of his kind not to be aligned evilly. He's actually good, and he's the only one. And when I say good, I mean very good. He's practically a nonreligious saint. Think Mr. Rodgers with a sword. Of course, to create angst, he can turn into a vicious killer when good things are threatened. Think Chuck Norris.

And here we find probably the major flaw of the D&D universe. Alignment. Drizzt is chaotic good. Therefore, he does good things. Otherwise, he'd be neutral, and not so uncharacteristically anti-drow. 'Cause drow are evil.

So once you define a character as such, he pretty much is only allowed to act within the borders of his alignment. Well, alignments can change. Yes, but then Drizzt is categorically no longer "good." Which is the only thing interesting/boring about him.

Make sense? Drizzt has to be broing, because he has to be good. Because if he's not good, he's like every other drow in the D&D universe, which makes him uniform and boring. But always being good? Also boring.

- Cash for Clunkers is out of money. Apparently, Democrats really didn't expect Americans to want to have more of their own money. It caught them completely by suprise. It's like when The Witch-King is all like "If it's red it's dead, newb!" and Eowyn's like, "JK! not a dood!" and the Witch-King is all like "no wai!!" and Merry's all "What's going on in this thread?" and Eowyn goes "LOLROFL, PWND!!!" I mean, Angmar never saw it coming, amirite?

- Speaking of Lord of the Rings, DM of the Rings is hilarious. Order of the Stick is pretty good, too. It started off better than it ended up being, but it's a funny comic. Give it a looky-loo if you're bored and like role-playing humor. Makes me want to be part of a D&D campaign. Some DMs give out XP for quoting movies in context of roleplaying.

Hi!

- *snerk*

- I'm reading Lord of the Rings again. I haven't read through the trilogy in years. I'm very caught up on the lore, know more about Tolkie's intent, have spent hours on websites explaining Lord of the Rings mythos in-depth (from Tolkien's own letters), but I liked the movies so much that the books seem less grand.

Of course, the books are fantastic. They were the original that fantasy is based on today. And they are different. Gandalf is better in the books. I can't decide about Boromir. I love Sean Bean as Boromir, and the scenes where he shows his humanity and decency are among the best of the films. In the book though, he seems even more noble.

- My back hurts. Work was terrible yesterday. Power in Alma went down except for the street McDonald's is on, because we share a line with the hospital. And someone quit and so it was a bad day. But it's over. Woot.

- I'll try to be funny tomorrow. Goodnight!

so few things, so much time

- Mike needs about 840 more signatures. I'm going to try and get out with him on Saturday. It depends heavily on my car being fixed. This is a big deal, though. For a long time a lot of us have talked about doing things but he actually is. Good for him.

- I just had a huge glass of Kool-Aid. Oh YEAH!

- Steve McNair was found shot four times. This has been a bad few weeks for celebrities. Although his girlfriend was killed too. Users of Oxy-clean - Beware!

- This was the first non-completely stressful shift I've had in awhile. It was nice. I doodled a bit. I drew a nine-tentacled monster named Spotty.

- I'm thinking I'll try going even if my car isn't fixed. I have to work at 3, so maybe I'll leave around 8am. It depends on how early he wants to go, I guess. Then I can get back home around 2, or 2:30, depending on how many times my car dies.

- Tuesday is sleeping behind me. She looks so cute!!

off to work this independence day

- Let's hear it for our soon-to-be Federal Representative, Michael VanKleeck!! Way to go, bro.

- No fireworks for my family today. That's sad =/

- I'm off to work. Hope you all had a great day!

3rd of July

- Not much to say today. I don't think I'm going to make it to the Tea Party. I was really looking forward to hearing Mike's speech. But 1-3 thousand people is 1-3 thousand people too many, and my car isn't the most reliable.

- I feel soo tired right now. I don't know why. I slept fine, and for a good amount of time. I have to work tonight, and it's draining the life out of me.

- Slow news day. Check out my wife's updated blog. Good stuff.

writings on writing

- First off, let me say that I know I am not a great writer. I know I haven't published anything; I know that I will never have a great cult of readers who hang upon my every word and discuss which of my books are canon. I'm well aware.

However, I know there are writers which do have some or all of these things that I am not worthy to judge, but I am going to anyway.

What bothers me most is the way humor is treated. If your book is going to be funny, please, PLEASE move past the tired cliches of a saturday morning cartoon. You know, the kind that makes 8-year olds go, "Haha! He's so cool!"

No more comment. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's probably because it's all in my head.

- By the way, Nickelback won a bunch of awards lately. I know who Nickelback is because they have about 3 songs that play every time I do an overnight. Anyway, their one song, I think it's called "If Today Was Your Last Day," ticks me off. I think I might have mentioned this in a note on Facebook, but for those of you who find that forum too "girly" (which makes no sense, honestly... hmm, that can be point 3), here it is again. The first line of the song is "My best friend gave me the best advice."

See? Professional lyricists using the same word twice in a single sentence, and not in a cool compare/contrast way. He just didn't want to have to work! The song isn't horrible, by Nickelback standards, but I can't get past the insanity that is the first line. It's not like he made up the song on the spot, in which case it's understandable. But he wrote, and rewrote, and then edited, and then had managers look at it, and production guys, etc. He WANTED to use the same word twice in the first sentence. If you hear it, you'll know what I mean about not intending the word to be some kind of link between the two phrases. He acts like "best friend" makes "best" unlike the "best" in "best advice."

I brought this up at work and the crew call me a snob. It's true, but Chad Kroeger gets paid a lot of money. The least he can do is some oratorical variance.

- Facebook. I've heard some say that "it's for girls." 2 possibilities. The people saying this truly believe that the facebook website is actually feminine, that staying in touch with people is for women only, that sending notes one facebook is like applying lipstick.... OR they don't know much about it, are too lazy to get their own account, and rather than learn/try/take time out of their day to do it, they make up an argument that has no meaning or validity.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go take a quiz about what kind of handbag accessory I couldn't live without...

thoughts on death

- Michael Jackson, the Lady mom used to do her hair after, and the Oxy-Clean guy all died recently. One of each gender.

Some people are glad about Michael Jackson, some people distraught. The best thing I can say about Michael Jackson is that someone made an AWESOME WoW parody of its "Billie Jean." Also, it brought a lot of humor into this world with its baby-dangling exploits.

- Fable 2 is not as good as Fable 1, in my opinion. This is because I am all about characters. I spent more time creating characters and writing them biographies on Icewind Dale 2 (my all time favorite game) than actually playing the game. Fable 2 gives you a hideously disproportionate character (Jay Leno was obviously their model) that will be in his mid-50s to mid-70s by the end of the game. Fable 1 did that too, but thanks to cheats and trainers on the PC, I could fix that. My character still looks like a cool hero is supposed to look, while in Fable 2, he looks like a pirate that lived through the Depression.

- Back to death. When the wicked fall, should we rejoice? it seems classless, but at the same time, the fact that they WILL fall is a source of comfort and encouragement. So when it happens, are we suppsoed to feign regret/remorse, or maybe just pity?

- Hehe.

- I was discussing religion at work. Nuance is important. People don't like to use nuance. I've noticed this before. When discussing religious topics, people say "show me a verse!" and then proceed to pick at each word of that verse, because it destroys their argument. Context, nuance, intent. These things matter. The context, the nuance of the words that are used are readily and openly understandable. You can't just ignore that because you want the verse to say something else.

Words have meaning. Often, multiple meanings. Because a word might mean something else, you can't discard it. You can't say "Just show me a plain verse that says it plainly!" because every verse contains a word with various meanings, and therefore can be argued with. Context and intent allow us to accurately qualify what is being said.

- I was recently in a discussion. I used a nuanced argument that required rational thought to reach its conclusion. The person I was discussing with Kept saying "Show me a verse!" Which I did, but the verse didn't say "Thou Shalt not Kill!" (i.e., the argument took the verse in its context to reach my conclusion, not a simple statement ). He discounted my argument because rather than come to the rational and logical conclusion based on the verse and its context, he demanded words without DUAL meaning.

My point being, you will lose in any sphere of public opinion using his type of rationale. You will lose if every argument you make is, "That word could mean something else!" or "You don't know for sure that's what it says!" People you are trying to convince don't go with that. I told the peron that we should go have the debate in front of people and see who they sided with because arguments that rely on "You don't know for sure!" are weak and foundationless and people who aren't stubbornly entrenched in a view simply for the sake of argument will adhere to logical and deductive reasoning.

- later, gators.

back in the swing of things

- i know, i know; i've promised this before. But this time I'm really going to try and stick with it. Tuesday doesn't let me do much work around the house. She is an extremely diligent and doting wife. So in the interest of not playing video games all the time, I should definitely start writing again.

- I have ideas in my head for a new story. I actually made some decent progress on the intro, too. But then I wanted to make it darker, but i can't write darker. I need to stay in my niche, at least for now. I like dialogue, fast-paced and so on. Heavy stuff comes off very sappy from me.

- President Obama killed a fly. I'm conflicted. Not because he killed the fly. No, that was a undercover non sequitor. I'm conflicted about Strawberry Kiwi. More and more I am disliking the strawberry flavor (not actual strawberries, mind you. They are the nectar of the semi-demigods). But strawberry kiwi is DELICIOUS. How do you reconcile that?

- Mike better hurry up and get elected. I want to write his speeches. Obama's speech writer was on the cover of some magazine or something. He likes surfing, tofu, and commas. Umluats make him quiver, so he tries to sprinkle them conservatively.

- I never watched a lot of late night TV, but i always kinda had a soft spot for Jimmy Fallon because he seems so nervous while he's trying too hard. And I like him. He is doing a good job, imo. But I only watch him when Craig Ferguson is on commercial break. He's hilarious!! My only prior experience with him was on the brief minutes of the drew carey show until his (Ferguson's) appearance, which always heralded an extremely vulgar joke. So we turned it whenever he came on.

But he I find his show far funnier than any of the others on. I get home from work at 11:45, and then Tues and I stay up to watch him, and we both laugh and laugh. It might be because it's 12:35 at night and we're both tired.

- I love the "Sleepy Hollow" atmosphere. That's how my mind has always categorized it. A cool autumn day, with dark grey clouds covering the sky, no sun or blue to be seen, in a small village with cobble roads that are covered with fallen leaves. The wind is blowing with force, but not storm-like. You know what I mean. Sleepy Hollow always seemed to get it best. If it were up to me, every day would be like that. Not the decapitations part. Although that could solve a lot of problems. Every day would be an adventure! Until you died. But then your name could be chronicled. We'd have to have some book-keepers. Somebody named Albert could do it. Or possibly Thaddeus. There aren't enough people named Thaddeus around today. All the other apostles, except Judas, are somewhat popular today. Even Bartholomew. Or Barfolomew, if you're a mog. Which would be weird. But back on topic. Thaddeus is a boss in Naxxaramas, that is relatively tough to beat with pugs because one idiot can kill everyone. But other than that? Exactly.

- I love having a wedding ring. Sometimes I slip it off and pretend Sauron was watching me.

- The coolest thing ever happened to me this week. Monday night, I think it was, Tuesday and I were up late watchnig TV after I got home from work, and Mercedez came out still half-asleep. She wears these over-sized pajamas that make her look really funny. ANyway, she came out and said, "Hi, Mike," in a sleepy voice. Now, it was way passed her bed time, and she had been asleep for many hours. So I say," Hi, sweetie," not sure what's going on. And then she comes over and lays against me on the couch in an extremely natural way, like she always did that. 2s asked her if she had a bad dream, and she said yes. I asked her if she wanted me to take her back to bed, and she said yes. so i took her back to bed, and sat there while she fell back to sleep. It was the sweetest thing ever! I think she was half asleep because she asked her mom if it really happened in the morning. Anyway, that was the highlight of my week.

- Bye! Craig Ferguson is on.. ;P

Change I Can Believe In

- Hey there, everybody! Can you feel it? I can! CHANGE is in the air! Ah, it's like a Febreeze in a can. Why I haven't been this giddy since George Lucas decided to make Liam Neeson talk to a Gungan.

So this is what happens when we put our trust in men. At least that's what I think. McCain would keep us afloat, Obama would cause more destruction than Chinese tanks at an Arts and Craft show; right.. How foolish we are. As a man turns a dish, so are these things in the hands of God.

Honestly, I haven't felt this relieved in months. Is everything going to come crashing down? Possibly. Is Obama going to make leagues and pacts with every Israel-hating nation out there? Probably. Is it for any reason other than God is making it happen? Of course not. i don't know about anyone else (well, I think I do, but go with the thought) but I was trusting in a man I didn't even like very much to save our country, and when he lost - and I mean LOST - it was a huge relief. Trusting in men can be stressful.

- WotLK is coming out in a week. And I've been dragged back. Just because it's really cool: I've run Karazhan 3 times; two times we killed Prince, and the last time we did it in about an hour. That's just cool. I skipped over the months of grueling pracice and got the loots.

- I miss Katie! She's in florida and I have no one to play cards with.

- I met Tuesday's father (her biological father) a few days ago. He looks like Tom Hanks. Like, a lot.

- Another good thing about the complete trouncing the Republicans got? We finally, after 6 years, get to go on the offensive! Ever since Bush dismantled the Democrats at the first midterm election, they've been gunning for us. Now the conservatives can strike back. Of course, we might not have a country in 4 years, but see my first point for that.

- Government is ready to flourish. Under the Democrats' control, we may very well see the institutionalizing of a dozens of Big Brother type agencies. President Obama - He Hears Everything!

(Get it? Hears everything? heh heh. Heheheheheh. Snerk... Sorry)

- Can the Lions do it? The "it" is up to you. At this point I'd settle for find the team bus.

3:10

- Shards of Alara: Conflux. I'm going to make a deck around Progenitus and I don't even know what colors (probably all 5) or powers he has.


- I saw 3:10 to Yuma last night on my computer. It was highly recommended to me, so i tried it, and I was pretty impressed. I like the part where Crowe kills the guy with a fork. Normally, I'm opposed to redemption stories, 'cause they're lame, and even more faniciful than happy endings, but I think Bale pulled it off really well. Crowe didn't really redeem himself, which made it better (if he hadn't whistled for his horse, that would have dragged the movie way down). He wasn't supposed to; it would have been far too ridiculous.

Charlie thought of him as a father figure, as an idol, almost. And while thinking he was saving his (crowe's) life, Crowe kills him. And I'm sure everyone cheered and whatnot, but come on... what was going through that kid's head when Wade put the gun on him for the second shot?

- Gotta go to work. boo!

been awhile

A couple things have happened since last time i blogged. So without further ado...

- I'm engaged! Yay!

- The court advisor is recommending Tuesday receive full custody of Mercedez. I am so excited about this. There are a lot of details that you don't need to know, but this was a huge answer to prayer (even though it was expected).

- The Vikings scored 41 points. And lost. To the Bears.

- Tues and I have been watching West Wing together. I think it's her new favorite show. And with good reason.

- Pete and Sarah and the kids were in church this morning. That was a neat surprise.

- So... McCain is probably going to lose. I'm disapoointed because I really, REALLY don't like the fact that this will galvanize the media into believing they get to pick the president (which I guess they do, if Obama wins). I hate the media. They're like the reporter on Die Hard, but we can't taser them in airplane bathroom.

- The original Max Payne wasn't about the apocalypse, right? Cause the Mark Wahlberg flick is throwing me. And why him? Couldn't they have found someone who looks less like they should be playing the overly-sweet boyfriend that is gonna get dumped for the girl's true-love in a remake of a romantic comedy and more like a street-hardened cop?

- I stopped at wal-mart, bought a few packs of Shards of Alara. Since it's Wal-Mart, the packs come thrice-layered. First the cardboard, then the plastic, then the actual card package. This is to prevent the psychics whose mental power is thwarted by an overabundance of material. Just think, if people knew which packs had the mythic rares... that's right, CHAOS!!! Elspeth might only be $28.00, instead of the - wait for it - $45.00+ she is going for right now. And then where would we be, right? Thank goodness for triple-packaging.

Anyway, I bought a couple packs, and pulled a Sarkhan Vol. I was so psyched. I made a sweet Red/Black/Green Deck I named *Planeswalker Delight* (Vol, Vess, and Nalaar). The stars (*) indicate awesomeness. Triple thick, like Neopolitan Ice Cream and Wal-Mart CCG Packages.

- Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama. But that's okay, 'cause this election is not about race. Powell has just always been in the Most-Liberal-Senator-For-President Camp. What, you didn't know?

- I bought a RPG PC game called Divine Divinity for $2.00 at target. You'd have to expect some pretty bad sludge with a name and price like that, but it's like a more in-depth Diablo. I was pleasantly surprised. On the other hand, Disciples II was like a poor man's Lords of Magic, which was already a poor man's game. So we're talking a third-world poor man's game. But with good graphics.

- I haven't watched the cartoon Star Wars movie, or the subsequent cartoons. BUT, I did get a Boba Fett bobble-head from McDonald's, so I'm thinking my fanship is still intact.

ouch!

- Tues had three teeth pulled (wisdom and other) so she's been asleep for ever. The girls are watching "Swan Princess." I'm in the next room writing on my blog.

- Two weeks in and I've already lost interest in the NFL. Stupid Vikings.

- I soloed Dire Maul (Ogres and Plants) and Scholomance (although I didn't get to fight Gamling since rogues can't cast spells very well and there's that one room with the guys who get low and turn into wraiths that only take damage from spells, which rogues can't cast very well, so then it'd be like "oh noes! they be wraiths and I can't kill them with my Sinister Strike and/or Hemo!" and then I'd end up taking a durability hit). I didn't want to clear the BRD Emperor's room, so I attempted to take him out with 48 different elites hitting me (as soon as evasion ran out, I died; until then they couldn't hit me). I got him to 10%. I also couldn't take Balthazzar, in Human Stratholme, but he cheats. Like the Chinese.

- I don't think I said much about the Olympics. Could China be a more dispicable place? Communists are the worst. Except for Vegetarians. Who have smaller brains, by the way. ;P Kidding. Communists are worse.

- Second time throguh a game is tons more enjoyable. I'm playing Final Fantasy 12 again, and liking it WAAAAAYYYYYY more this time around. The writing is fantastic! And it's all old, and proper, like knights are supposed to talk. Anyway, I'm really, really liking it this time. I think the first time I played it, I thought Vaan, the "protagonist," was, in fact, the protagonist. Realizing he is not, but rather a catalyst to move the story, makes the whole thing so much more enjoyable. The first time it was like "okay... I get all that... but why am I (meaning Vaan) here?"

- I bought Katie a Sauron for her deck (I bought myself a different version; hers is way better). He's a 24 power, which basically says he can overwhelm anyone who doesn't have a buff, but then he gets power +2 per wound on him ("enduring"), and since my fellowship always, always has Legolas in it, it's an automatic wound during the archery phase. And to top it off, he's damage +2!! (Mine is damage +1, and does not have "enduring") Anyway, when she gets him down, it's like an automatic killing of two of my characters. Which leaves me, usually, with one left (plus Frodo). I run small fellowships. On the other hand, one of the recent games, Legolas, Gimli, and then Aragorn ALL defeated the Balrog. The cards fell well that day, I tell you.

- Mom got "Noble House" on netflix, a 6 hour or so miniseries starring Pierce Brosnan and John Rhys-Davies and some other people. It's interesting, despite the complete absence of logical expectation for that result. I think the Taipan is going to win, but that would mean his joss would have to change dramatically and the Americans would have to stick it to "Glimi" (as mom calls Mr. Rhys-Davies).

irregular apathy

- have any of you seen the animation of richard on the "looking for group" website? It's not for the squeamish, but it's chillingly funny in a macabre sort of way.

- Work has been really stressful lately.

- I miss my siblings.

- I have a bunch of homework I need to get done by tomorrow so my boss doesn't get mad at me. I'll probably put it off all day and end up getting up at 6am tomorrow to do it.

- Jenn, I'm working on episode 14... don't hold me to a date, though.

hey hey, we're the monkeys

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-JrYa3u_2U&feature=related

really made me chuckle.

- So I know some people aren't all that happy that McCain picked a woman to run with him, but honestly, between Deborah and Egleg, I think the choice is pretty clear.

- I've been playing some Lord of the Rings TCG with Katie, and my Eomer/Elven Archer deck does suprisingly well against my expensive deck. The arcehrs shoot holes in the bad guys, which boosts Eomer's strength; throw in a spear and a horse, and he can take out the balrog. Well, no, not actually the balrog, but the Witch-King of Angmar, at least.

- Jenn is gone off to college again, and dave and kaylynn are somewhere in florida. florida and wisconsin are stupid places.

- Biden? Really? *snerk*

- I'm waiting for Tuesday to get out of work so she can call me.

- Issac and Tera came over with Sophie. She is very cute. Sophie, not Issac. Ooh, BURN! Just kidding, Issac. I'm in your corner, bro.

- Heroes is coming back soon. I don't know if I can risk getting into it again. I'm pretty content with Psych and West Wing reruns.

- A thought on mozzarella sticks: ... they are delicious.

- I need a new PC but I don't really want to spend money on one, since I kind of have more important things to do with my money. So here I am, stuck with a non-dvd playing PC.

- Sink the Bismarck was on the last cd I burned. So was Rye or the Kaiser.

- If I had more to say, I'd get on here more often. Just nothing much is going on.

- People keep quitting where I work, and that makes me sad. I like a lot of these people.

people and dead people

- Bernie Mac passed away today. I never watched his show, or his comedy, but it still seems weird. He wasn't that old.

- What is wrong with girls? Not all girls, but a lot of them. There's this nice girl at work who is both smart and funny who is dating a guy who has cheated on her at least twice already, and she just found out he did it again. What makes girls do that? And everyone wants to yell at her and say "well duh! it's your own fault for still being with the guy!" but we don't cause she's really heartbroken about it. Tom said we (he and I) should beat the guy into the ground, if only, in his words, "he had my muscle and I had his lack of religion." Then he said that we'd probably be saving her life down the road 20 years, which would make it okay for me to beat the guy up, right? Heh. I didn't get into the whole "save a life" bit because I might need an excuse to beat the guy up if we ever meet.

- For some reason my internet is working right now. First time I've been able to get on blogger in 2 weeks or so.

- Burn Notice and Psych are both really good television, and they're both USA original shows. I didn't use to like the USA channel. No reason.

- Dave and Kaylynn left for Florida. Well-played, Matt and Yuisa. Well-played. Just wait until I cover your vehicle in tapioca pudding with Barry Manilow lyrics scrawled in the goopey, but delicious, mess.

- I need to finish cleaning up my room.

day off

- today was my day off. I did nothing, and now it's over. Bleah.

- "Democracy encourages the majority to decide things about which the majority is ignorant." - John Simon

- Insane characters are always the most interesting. Mel Gibson on Conspiracy Theory. The Joker. The Irishman from Braveheart. Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys. Hamlet. The Fool in King Lear. Insanity is entertaining. Insanity is intriguing. Because it is outside the realms of normality, it is strangely compelling. And usually funny, and always more frightening.

- Okay, so I've been reading this Baptist History book by Beller, a Christian and a pastor, and I really am having some problems with it. I don't like his style at all. The information is good... if I could trust it. I know that sounds bad, but Beller doesn't give evidence. He gives conclusions. This book would never fly in academic/secular circles, which is what I'm more or less accustomed to. It has great information, but I have no idea if that information is correct. He constantly addressing his topic in a completely noncritical fashion, and then makes statements rather than arguments.

On the other hand, Beller is (I would assume?) writing to a Christian crowd who is going to accept his ethos, rather than to secular peers of the field, so it's hard to say that his manner is weak. The majority of his audience probably doesn't want to hear conflicting reports about Roger Wiliams.

Maybe I'm just tainted, but for over four years now, I've been hearing that texts need to be read critically. People lie to their diaries. People lie on their taxes, in their letters, in their journals, so you cannot accept anything penned by a man as 100% fact. You read everything cirtically, comparing texts to texts to verified accounts. Again, Beller's book is focused on a different crowd, but I'm having a hard time accepting what I'm reading as truth. In other words, while he is giving me a lot of information, it is not something I'd feel at all confident is utilizing as evidence against a secular historian in a debate on the nation's religious origins.

- I have to go ring shopping soon. A friend at work told me her aunt owns a jewelry shop and that if I tell her (the aunt) that I know her niece, she'll give me a deal. I doubt it's true. Life isn't like TV.

- Why... so... serious?

no connection

- My pc has no internet connection. Well it does, but it doesn't get any websites. It's some weird virus/firewall concoction that is likely to be the bane of human existence should it get out. I'm keeping it contained... by chopping off my arm with a CHAINSAW!! Heh, sorry.

- We saw Batman: the Dark Knight yesterday. It was good, and Heath Ledger was easily the best part. Not necessarily Oscar worthy, but then again, maybe. I felt myself continually waiting for the Joker to come back on. The fight scenes were kind of boring, but the part with the batcycle was sweet. I really liked the magic-trick. I liked everything about the Joker.

- I started reading a Baptist History book that I got for Christmas. And writing some more of my Isle story.

- Shop Smart. Shop S-Mart.

- I need a new game to play. I know, I say that a lot.