More like Lamespace

A friend of mine has just joined the dark side. In the world of blogging, there are blogs (I unfortunately have to include things like Xanga in this, and of course independent weblogs) and then there is Myspace. The two cannot be mixed. Or at least shouldn't be.

But a friend (I won't disclose names) recently did the unthinkable and made a Space. I looked at it and really can't figure out what to do. I mean, there's nothing to read, and the profile is the exact same thing that this person has on blogger. So what exactly was the point? The thing with Myspace is, to do anything you also have to be a member. Well I for one will protest!

In other news, is it bad to have seen more movies in a month than there are days? I think perhaps I need to think about my priorities.

Okay, I've thought about them and I see nothing wrong with it.

I think we should all just go to my Quik-E-Mart

I hate how convinienent stores don't have prices on most of the products they sell. It's annoying. I don't know if a package of peanut butter cup is going to cost me 60 or 80 cents. And since you don't get a reciept or anything, If you buy more than one product, you'll never know. You can guess, but you won't know.

On a completely unrelated topic, what does everybody think works better: negative or positive reinforcement?

Sad day.

I wish I was in high school again so I could play two hours of soccer a day. Instead I have to be frustrated as I watch high schoolers play poorly. I can't decide if I think coaching would help or make it worse, but it doesn't matter since I have no time to potentially coach with. Asi es la vida.

Fans Part Duex

Did I spell two right?

I decided today that fans don't really care if the ref hears them, they are just trying to out-do the other moronic fans around them. I just wish they would go away to do that. It annoys me that I can't tell them exactly how stupid they are. It's not fair that there would be such a great opportunity to trash somebody, and not be able to take it.

This month I've seen (so far) 12 movies that are on one of AFI's lists. Go me.

You've got me? Who's got you?

They say confession is good for the soul, and I have one. I love Superman. It doesn’t matter what it is (cartoon, movie, tv show); if it’s about Superman, I’m probably going to be a fan. After all of the disappointments of hyped up movies lately (I won’t name them because it’s too depressing) I have refused to get excited about any more hyped up movies (until I think of X-3 at least) but I can’t help it when it comes to Superman. Even as a kid I would get excited as soon as I heard the intro to the theme song.

Most people don’t really root for Superman because there’s almost never a question if he’s going to succeed (of course he will, he’s Superman!), and in order for him to potentially fail, the plot must draw in space aliens or space rocks of some sort. Sometimes even huge evil robots. He’s not one of those superheroes that is just normal and uses gadgets or good training to fight (Batman) and doesn’t have a couple powers here and there, but really needs a team to kick some butt (X-Men). He works it. He goes against any human, and he’s going to win. He doesn’t have to be crafty or cunning. He's just a big super boy scout in a blue suit.

But deep inside the story of superman are real moral questions. Why does he save the world when he really doesn’t have any connection to it other than it’s his adopted home. Why is he so good and was never tempted to do evil (I’m sure in some version of some story he is tempted and commits evil, but not in the mainstream stuff as far as I know). Superman is good, but why? What makes him so innately good that his father knows he will use his powers for good and not evil on Earth where he could be Supreme Ruler of All?

So I don't care what other people think. Superman is the coolest super hero there is.

ABCrap

Just kidding.

Every time I see a headline that says something like “Arrested Development renewal unlikely” a little part of me dies. But then I realize they are talking about the fact that Fox hasn’t officially canceled the show and "probably" won’t renew it, and that little part rises from the dead. Duh, we all know that. What I want is more information on the possibility of Showtime or ABC picking it up (ABC would be much, much better). If ABC picked up the show, I would partially forgive it for killing the best thing on tv and not giving it a chance to come back after Garner can take a more active role in the show (stupid pregnancy). I hate ABC!

Technology is Kant

I don't understand technology. Now don't get me wrong, I know more about technology than most people. I can write my own html and once upon a time knew some basic C+(or was that C++?). I understand that everything is based on 1's and 0's which basically are either closed or open gates that lets the little pulse of energy go through. And I can pretty much figure out how to use any computer program there is with minimal instruction and a lot of playing.

But I can't let myself think about how little gates and an electric charge makes music, or a picture, or a video game show up on my screen because I just don't understand it. And I don't like things I can't understand, so I try not to think about them if there's no hope of me understanding.

It's the same as Kant's phenomenal and noumenal worlds. I can use the phenomenal world pretty well. I think I understand it pretty well, know physical laws and stuff like that, can calculate the air speed velocity of a swallow, know how hard to kick a soccer ball to get it to go a certain distance, that sort of thing, but once I think about why, about the how behind what I know, I have to stop thinking because I don't know, can't understand, and will never know or understand. And I hate it. Stupid noumenal world. All I have to say to it is, "Mahnoumena!"

Free company stuff

Chris gets gift cards and movie tickets. Robert gets food and movie screenings. I get a turkey, an ice chest bag, and a jacket, and the ever present carrots. My free stuff sucks. Why can't I get toys, food, and movies? Curses!

Act like you've scored a goal before.

I don’t understand fans. Now, mostly I’m talking about the kind that you see at their kid’s game, or niece, neighbor, or whatever, but I also don’t understand the type that can watch five football games in a row, yelling at the ref, players, and who knows who else in the process. The first kind are the people that I laugh at while I’m reffing (I have to do something to entertain myself, and I can’t always count on trying to translate the Mexican teams’ Spanglish). I get such a laugh out of the people who yell, “Go go go!” the entire game, no matter what’s happening on the field. Someone needs to thank them for reminding the players to actually do something. “Run run run” is perhaps the only thing funnier. Because they wouldn't otherwise.

Then there’s the people that carry on for 5 minutes about a call that the ref missed. I especially love the case when a coach will turn around and tell the person to shut up because the person is so obviously a moron and doesn't know the rules.. Granted, it doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s great. Last night I heard one parent yell, "Cheater! Offsides cheater!" Yes, I'm cheating for the other team because it matters to me if they score. Why the hell do I care who wins? I get paid either way.

I guess I’m strange because when I watch a game I tend to be very quiet and analytical. I don’t want to yell the whole game, and I don’t want the people around me yelling. I don’t cheer. One “whoo!” is about all you’ll hear from me, and only when something worth celebrating happens, like a goal in a championship game, or when you’re behind. Perhaps it’s because in high school and college we were very relaxed on the bench (and our parents were, too). This might have been because we were used to good things happening (like winning) so we didn't feel the need to celebrate. I actually heard Leslie say, "Act like you've scored a goal before," when an underclassman was celebrating too much after a goal. I've wanted to say that on numerous occasions to numerous teams.

When the cat's away...

... Becca will buy a new mouse. Unfortunately, my mouse that I've had since my sophomore year of college could no longer run it its little wheel. It might be that I just need new researchable batteries, but I decided to get a mouse with a tail anyways, because you have no idea how annoying it is to be playing Warcraft III and have your batteries die. So now even if my wireless mouse is miraculously resurrected, I'll have a back up.

The only problem is that I don't like the new one. For one, the thumb button is much too small, and is too high. And it just doesn't fit my hand very well, either. But it's the best that was available. All the other ones at Best Buy (or Best Buys as all of the older people I know call it) either were wireless or didn't have a thumb button at all. So after who knows how long, I finally picked the only would I could, and got to more important things.

Chris was looking for an "adventure strategy" game (which he later changed to "adventure mystery"), so we got to spend some time looking at the computer games. Unfortunately, the place decided to close early on Sunday, so we didn't have nearly enough time to look at movies. Or maybe that was a good thing since I didn't end up spending too much money.

The other thing I don't like about this mouse is that the wheel doesn't click. And I can't click the wheel to scroll, it cycles between windows. And yes Rob, I realize I can change button assignment, but I shouldn't have to.

Get off the road!

I hate people who don't turn on their blinker when they're at an intersection with no turn light. You know, the one where you have to yield if a person isn't turning. I turn on my blinker so that they know my intentions, why can't they? Jerks.

You play ball like a girl.

Yesterday The Sandlot was playing where I had lunch. There's just something about that movie. There are so many classic parts in it, but that could just be because I grew up with the movie. It does, however, raise an interesting question.

What's with categorizing things as "children's," mostly in regard to books, but also movies. I can understand that the books and movies you read to five year olds (and only five year olds) should be categorized as such, but where should the line be drawn? I can remember when book stores had a children's section, and a fiction section, but now there's Young Adult, Teen, Pre-Teen, and who knows what else.

The most obvious example of this is Harry Potter. I can understand that it's a "kid's book," but to categorize it like that is almost an insult. It is so much more than a children's book, much in the same way The Cronicles of Narnia and the Wrinkle in Time trillogy (or however many there are) are so much more than children's books. It's not like there is a difference between what makes a good children's book and an adult book: interesting characters, a driving plot, and usually some mystery or adventure.

This isn't to say that there isn't 'children's' literature out there that is truely children's literature, but where should the line be drawn. I started reading both Ender's Game, the Wheel of Time, and the Recluse Saga in Jr. High (I was 12) so does that mean that all those books should be considered Pre-Teen? I don't think so.

Okay, I think I'm done.

What would Dumbledore do?

Die. I hope that if you haven't read The Half Blood Prince you don't plan on, because I just ruined the book for you, and you deserve it.

If, like I think, Snape killed Dumbledore on his (Dumbledore's) urging, should Snape be held morally accountable for the action? Even if Dumbledore wasn't urging Snape to kill him, if Snape killed Dumbedore to get in Voldermort's good graces in order to betray him, should Snape be held morally accountable?

For those of you who've read Shadow Puppets (Orson Scott Card), should the Sury be held accountable for "betraying" Peter only to be able to betray Achilles?

Here's to a new one!

Well, another year is over, and every Jan. 1 I sit and think about how arbitrary time is. I know, there are a lot of things that make me think about time (too many philosophy class topics on it), but New Years is one of the biggest. That and Leap Day (if that's the name of it). But in the hopes of not boring everybody, I'm not going to talk about what I think about, I'm just going to mention that I had thoughts. I know, you're amazed that anything is going on in my head now that I have a job.

Today the Armstrong family started their Mammoth trip, which the three college grads had to miss out on due to jobs. I was okay with this idea when there was hardly any snow, but beginning like Friday the heavens decided to open up and rain down beautiful snow in the mountains. So now Tim letting me know exactly how much snow Mammoth got up, and I'm no longer okay with missing out. Hopefully I'll be able to make it up there a couple times this year. Otherwise I might cry, and that isn't a pretty sight, rare as it may be.

I spent most of today playing Civ IV (be jealous Stacy!) and getting absolutely nothing done, because that's just how Civ is. And Chris and I decided to becca-and-christen his TCM version of Scene It yesterday. I won, but mostly because Chris didn't get any "my plays," and most of the "my plays" that I got were really easy, like who is the director of 2001: A Space Odyssey? That and who played Spencer Tracy's daughter in Father of the Bride.

But if you've ever played that game, you know that the hardest part can sometimes be answering the final questions. So after a couple rounds of Final Cut with neither of us getting a correct answer, we decided to play a tie breaker and let it go from there. I had the birthday closest to Jan. 7 (I don't remember what the significance of that date was) so I won.

Women should be kept illiterate and clean, like canaries.

This week at work hasn't been very much fun, since my distractions have been gone for the most part. Luckily, it's the end of the month, so I've had some stuff to do. I've discovered some of my new favorite movies lately, which is very exciting. I've watched High Society, a musical with Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby, and Frank Sinatra, based on The Philadelphia Story. It also has Louis Armstrong, as himself.

I also finally finished Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and was throughly impressed. I'm sad that I had never it before. Robert hit it on the nose when he quoted Freeks and Geeks saying, "I wish I had never seen it so I could see it again for the first time." Or at least I thinks that what it was.

You should check out this commercial. It's pretty awesome, and there's no CG at all. It made me happy.

And now I'm watching Cary Grant in a comedy, so my day is complete. If anybody is in town on Saturday, we're going to be playing frisbee at 11:00 am at Cal State.

Feliz Navidad, prospero ano y felizidad

So it's Christmas, and this year was actually enjoyable for me, unlike most. Now, there are bits and pieces of each Christmas season that I enjoy, but for the whole, they are stressing and I don't want to be home. This year, however, we all seemed to get along. This is probably due to the fact that there was hardly a time when all five of us were home, but if that's what it takes, that's what it takes.

I got a ton of clothes this year, which was interesting and a surprise. I knew about three pieces, but my brother and dad decided they needed to go to Buckle in the mall and buy me new jeans and a t-shirt. We'll see how long those stay.

Friday was Christmas with my friends (sadly Natalie couldn't make it) which was so much fun. Any excuse I can have to hang out with them is great. Saturday we had family over for lunch, and I think we're expecting more throughout the week. I also have watched three classic movies this weekend, and I'm thinking I'll get through a couple more tomorrow. Tonight Brandon is bringing over Civilization 4 so we're going to play that, which is exciting.

Now, I know that you didn't need all that information, but some people were accusing me of not updating, so I figured I would when I can. I'll put up my philosophical thoughts about Christmas later.

The pellet with the poison is in the flagon with the dragon. The chalice from the palace holds the brew that is true.

Okay, okay, I get the picture. I'm boring, need to get a life, and need to update more often.

It may be hard to believe, but I haven't had a lot of free time at my computer lately, and I feel (somewhat) badly when I update at work. However, I will do it anyways. Actually, I made an update to post yesterday, but for some reason blogger didn't want to publish it, so I emailed it to myself to publish later, and just didn't have an opportunity.

Right now they guy sitting next to me is playing some very interesting Christmas music. Some of it is good (Judy Garland singing "Have Yourself A Very Merry Christmas," but then there's what's playing now, and I don't even know how to classify it it's so bad. Unfortunately, I keep forgetting to bring in some speakers (I'm going to steal small ones from the family computer that nobody uses anymore because I think bringing in my computer speaker system would be a little over the top), so I can't listen to my good music.

I feel like I'm re-living the teenage days of pinning up magazine covers and pictures in your room that I missed. The room I'm staying in belongs to an 8th grader, and I've been catching up on who's hot and who's not as I try to fall asleep and end up staring at a wall covered with teen magazine covers.

I got a turkey yesterday and thought to myself, "What the heck am I supposed to do with a turkey?" So I took it home and put it on the counter thinking that my mom will somehow dispose of it to a worthy cause. She did. But it made me feel all "grown up" to get a turkey. (Not a word, Amy).

So, does this suffice for an update? There hasn't been anything happening in my life recently, and I didn't want to remind myself of how boring my life is by posting about the boringness, but "my friends" have made me, and now I feel depressed. Thanks a lot.

But you hate women.

Anybody know what that quote is from?

I've been busy lately, which is why I haven't posted an update in a while. Besides, I figure everybody else is too busy to check my blog due to finals, holidays, and what not. Lately I've been working, watching movies, and not much more.

Saturday we saw Narnia, which I will refrain from talking about here, because I don't know who's seen it and who hasn't. Suffice to say I was disappointed, but I'm hoping King Kong is much more satisfying (don't fail me Pete!). From what I've seen and read, it looks amazing, but we'll see.

Not much more than that has been going on in my life except work, and I really don't care to talk about that much, so I won't.

"I'll call you if anybody anywhere gets drunk."

Name the movie that this quote comes from and you're super cool.

Yesterday I saw the awesomest thing. When I come home from work I drive through Kern City, which for those of you who don't know, is like a retirement community near West High. But before I even got there I had to pass a little old lady driving a gold cart. There were like plastic doors on it, I guess so that the wind doesn't make her too cold. It even had a liscence plate and lights and everything. I want that to be my car when I'm old. That or a little moped (is that how you spell it), but that could only work if I live someplace like Italy.

I think that the people I work with think I only care about two things: old movies (well, maybe movies in general) and soccer. That seems to be all I really end up talking about, mostly because if I start talking about some of the other things I'm into, they'll think I'm even stranger than I am. However, I do think it might be time to bring a toy or two to work, just because my desk is kind of lame right now. I don't think it will be legos, though, because those would be too tempting for somebody going through the office to accidentally nab.

I've been settling into my job, which is nice because now I am pretty much able to do my work without needing to go to somebody and ask if I'm doing it correctly. I think they've finally realized that I kind of know what I'm doing, which is both nice and not nice, since I might now be getting more to do. Ah, things that are bitter sweet.

I'm hoping this post is as random as I'm feeling right now, but if it hasn't been, I'd like to add that last night I dreamed about playing high school softball again, but I had pissed off my coach so much that he made me go coach the JV team. If only that had happened for real my senior year.

Tonight Rach, her sister, her sister's husband, and I are all going to laugh at Chris who is in the Boar's Head, which is a play at his church. I think he's in a comic role, but even if he isn't, I know I'll be laughing. Actually, especially if he isn't I'll be laughing.

Trying to enjoy a day

The reason I asked the question in the previous post is that I really don't like Thanksgiving very much. I don't think I ever have. Part of the reason is that I don't enjoy stuffing myself silly, and don't particularly like most of the traditional food of Thanksgiving. Turkey and gravy? No thanks.

Some people say that Thanksgiving is a day that you remember what you're thankful for. I think that's stupid. I rememeber almost every day what I'm thankful for. When you go around a table and everybody says what they're thankful for all the answers are so lame and cliche. I guess I don't think there should need to be a day where you're reminded to be thankful for what you have, you should just be thankful.

So, needless to say, when I wrote that post I wasn't in a very Thanksgiving mood (I don't think I was at any point that day), and just thought I'd say something. Maybe I should watch A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, or whatever it's called.