Who Does This?

MALE VIRGIN, TAKE MY VIRGINITY

This was just weird. I'm gonna see how this goes. In two days at like midnight, do you think there'll be a buyer?

I wonder if I could sell myself for sex. So far this guy hasn't even gotten a single bid, even at just under a Pound for a starting bid. Of course, he's only been up there for less than a day so far, but still... I don't think it'd be that profitable. I wonder what he'll do for shipping? I'd prolly charge round trip air-fare, I think, plus room and board for the time I was there.

Yet another pipe dream. Ah well... A guy can dream, right?

Updating

Okay, it's been a while since I updated. Sorry about that. It's New Years eve and I've been up to my elbows in stuff to do practically since I got back from school. One of my biggest responcibilities, as it turns out, is being "big cousin" for little Clara. She adores me, as I'm sure you know. It's nice to be loved like that, but there are just sometimes when I'd like a break, to be able to have time to myself. Of course, I'm getting off easy. Some people actually have to do "WORK" for a living.

Oh wait, I'm one of them. Here's the story quick. I got a 1.88 or so GPA. I needed a 2.0 to stay at Tech. So I'm kicked out until next Fall. Whee... Until then, I'll be staying in Austin. I've been looking for a job, but not nearly hard enough. I'll prolly just end up working at McDonalds again or something. *Sigh.* Actually, my mom suggested that I get a job in the child care profession. Not the computer science gig I was hoping for, definitely not the video gaming career, but I do like kids, and I'm good with them, and above all else, it IS a paying job.

Yesterday we went to the store BookPeople, and Mom got me a book on how to program video games. It's a huge thick technical nonsense, but it'll be cool if I can actually make a game work. It won't be my dream game, though, just a fun little ditty. My dream game is something that, realistically, I can't do on my own. It's a 100+ hour quest that is almost more story than anything. It'll be somewhat like Final Fantasy and such, in terms of the epic-ness, but I'll have a more open ended game play. Not open ended in the GTA sense of "Do whatever you want, but you still have to do our quests." More open ended as in, "Do what you want, and that in turn will affect your path."

A year or so ago, mom enrolled me with her in an ACC course on 2D Game Design. Part of the exercise was a chance to come up with a game idea. My pitch was something really ambitious, but still technically doable on a 2-D level. The proffessor said that games today are often pitched to producers as being a mix of things (BMX games are Tony Hawk + Bikes, for instance). So my suggestion was GTA + Star Trek. I'm talking the origial GTA, not the 3D ones on the PS2. Your character would be a lone character in space, and he could ally himself with one or more of the factions in space, each with their own unique differences, and their own fleets of Starships, something like the different races in Starcraft. Your character would be able to commandeer any of a number of vessels, and use them to complete quests and missions. There will be some story line stuff, as well as a few bonus missions to get you specific items and stuff. Think of it as a 1 player MMORPG in terms of play and politics. You can upset a faction and thereby lose their support, or get shot at when you go near them. You can gain favor with a faction and earn better ships in their ranks or what not. You can help change the map by wiping one faction out. Fun stuff like that. Maybe I'll have a demo of it up or something.

Okay, I need to do work. I gotta pack for my trip to NJ tomorrow. Happy New Year everyone. I'll prolly write out a blog on the plane tomorrow, and post it as soon as I get online.

Christmas Hauls

I spent a good deal of Christmas day feeling bad. I showed you all my list. It was spiffy, and I tried not to be too overly greedy about things. I didn't expect to get EVERYTHING there.... But to only find 2 things, between both Christmas and my birthday. Sigh. I tried not to complain, but I did feel a little bad that I got a few gifts that I don't really want... after giving a pretty detailed list. *Shrugs.* I tried to keep it quiet and not tell anyone like "OMG WHY WOULD YOU GET ME THAT!?" I seriously have a sprinkler shaped like Darth Vader now. What's up with that?

I got some cool stuff though. I got the complete collection of Calvin and Hobbes. And I got a T-Shirt with the Matrix on it. I have the touch. And the power. And all those other things. And I got money. A lot of money. Over 50 dollars from Grandma Katie, and $100 from Poppop and Granny, and then even more money from other random people, plus a gift certificate to Best Buy. So what did I do with this newfound wealth?

*Drumroll.....*

A SONY PSP!!! W00T! It's so fucking cool oh my god... And I got Lumines for it, too, which is a great game. The wireless browsing is cool too, I have to say. Sorry, I'm busy spazzling, so I dunno, I gotta go.

First though, check this thing out. It's a web search (Google, mostly) that lets you win prizes if you're lucky. Sign up and start searching. It'll be fun. ^_^

http://www.blingo.com/friends?ref=MloGEYxz_vWte_G6GtQyArDHKwg

Okay, so long.

Merry Happy Crismahanukwanzikamas

Yay Holidays!!! It's officially my birthday in my birth state, so I'm gonna go ahead and say it: I'm 21. In fact, by the time I get this published, it'll probably be 21 in the Central Zone too, and I wouldn't be surprised to find that I've gone into the Mountain or Pacific zones if I'm on a roll. Probably not though. I wanna keep this kinda short....

So I made it to Tennessee. I rode in the car with my cousin, Clara, my Aunt Susie, and their live-in exchange student Xiao (it's pronounced Jah-ow, because the Chinese people can't spell I guess), and managed to split my time between driving and entertaining her while Susie drove. It was fun. We went to the Zoo in Memphis, saw Clara's aunt and grandmother. And on Thursday morning, in Hot Springs, AK, Aunt Susie found, I kid you not, a rock quarrey that we could pay to go dig around in. It was redicuous. We found some egg shaped thing in there. Aunt Susie says it may be a Geode, but I'm thinking for a Velociraptor. *Hides.*

Please excuse any little shoddyness that is lacking from this post, since I haven't got my entire set up, just the power supply and the laptop on it. So yeah, I'm bare-backing it.

So we got here, though. I managed to get on for a second last night, and check out all the awesome things that have been put online. I downloaded and watched RvB episode 70, which was fun, and then, yeah, the big news.....

KINGDOM HEARTS 2 IS OUT IN JAPAN!!! And yeah, there's videos of it. I've downloaded them. The opening intro is pretty, and the ending one, well, I cheated and got it, but I don't understand it, so I don't know what's going on. It still LOOKS better than the "Sorry, Sora, but your princess is in another castle" ending that happened last time." I still wanna see both videos up on the big screen in my den. Yay 6' widescreen. I'll get there for them, no fret. I'm getting this video game when it comes out stateside, oh yes....

Okay, I'm becoming repetitive and stupid... later.

OMG KONG!!!!!

I just saw King Kong. I spent like half the movie with my jaw literaly dropped in awe. It was SO FUCKING AMAZING. I refuse to spoil it for you, beyond the obvious, so I won't blather on about how awesome it was. When you've seen it though... I'm dying ot talk to someone about the awesomeness.

Oh, and wallpapers, too. It was such a pretty movie. I'm gonna get as many wallpapers from the film as possible. So very beautiful. *Stares into space*

"I know that Monkey! His name is Donkey!"
"Monkeys can't be donkeys! Stop trying to confuse me!"

The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers

The wonderful thing about tiggers
Is tiggers are wonderful things!
Their tops are made out of rubber
Their bottoms are made out of springs!
They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy
Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun!
But the most wonderful thing about tiggers is
I'm the only one
I-I-I'm... the only one!

I stayed up until 2AM yesterday to watch the Boondocks because I missed the 10PM showing. It was stupid, because I TiVo'd it, but what's done is done, eh? Anyway, I knew I had to get up at 8 this morning to drive Danny to school. But after that, the plan was that I would drive PJ and Mom to my Aunt's house, and while they went shopping, I'd go get some sleep.

Didn't happen that way. I woke up and well, PJ had stayed up later than me. So he wasn't going. I took Dan to school, then when I dropped mom off Aunt Susie's house, I got "Oh yeah, stay here and watch Clara while we go out all morning. X_X. But I did. I'm a good trooper. I played some Uno and some Dominoes with her (she's pretty smart). Then I went and watched Cinderella with her, which was okay. I got to sleep sorta, except when Clara poked me and giggled at the screen. Then I watched the Tigger Movie, and... I started crying. I blame it on lack of sleep, but it was a really sad and sweet movie. If Tigger is the only one, then he's all alone as the only Tigger there is, and that's not something he wants to hear. So he goes off to find his family of tiggers, only to find that really, his family was with him all along. It was sweet, and I really shouldn't have been taking it so personally, but I did, so yeah... I needed to sleep.

Never did though. I spend ALL my time on "vacation" running around with family, or with friends. No time to relax, really. Sigh..... Tonight, when I finish packing, sorta, I'm gonna go and see King Kong with Jackie. Watch me cry at that one too. "OMG ITS SO SAD HE'S THE ONLY ONE...." ._.

I'm such a woman.

And They Say There Are No Heroes

Did Spiderman ever do this? I don't think so. Suck it, Peter Parker.

Going Nuts

How many lights do you see?


THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!!!

*Ahem.*

I made it back to Austin in one piece. I was a little nervous when Matt got on his cell phone while driving, especially after he got us lost a few hours earlier WITHOUT any distraction. Ah well, though, no harm done. When I left Lubbock, I made a plan to see King Kong with Jackie and a few friends. Sounded like fun, and I was really looking forward to it.

(I'm confused. I had a cursor when I started typing. It's gone now. ._. AH! Got it back!)

Anyway, I got back, and heard from my mom that I was grounded since I failed Computer Science. I felt so bad... And then I put off telling Jackie, because I was sure I could change Mom's mind about it. I couldn't. And I feel really crummy. She's right, I deserve to be punished for failing CS. It was a completely passable class. Not hard in the least. A lot of grunt effort required, yes, but that's it. I should know better than to let things like that make me wanna procrastinate. It's what happened to me the last two years, and I thought I'd learned my lesson. I almost had. I passed all my other classes (I hope; I'm still waiting for official confirmation on two of them... *Crosses fingers*). But yeah, I need to learn my lesson... So I'm grounded, at least until the rest of my grades get in, and I sign up for classes next semester. Fun.

Lesse... I have my computer hooked up here as a desktop style thing. I may leave it here when I go to Tennessee for Xmas. It really is a hassle. I'll still take it to NJ, no matter what.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go entertain a kitty cat. ^_^

How Do They Know That?

Seriously! How did they figure that out? Isn't she supposed to be the world's greatest criminal mind? Able to hop the globe without notice?

OH MY GOD! DOES GOOGLE HAVE HER BUGGED? Who else do they have tabs on? Not me, I'm sure, but I mean... Who knows? It's a trap! *Hides.*

I'm A Fan Of Live Text

Some people don't like the idea of links in text. I'm not one of them. I think that being able transmit ideas beyond the words you are using is what makes the Internet such a great place. I've been surfing the random forum of 4chan (WARNING, NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART), and I like the way they combine links, pictures, and complete randomness into a great package. So HAH. Take THAT, Maddox.

Moving on. I have a hectic schedule ahead of me. I need to pack tonight, since I'm going home at 10AM tomorrow. Then I spend a week in Austin, hanging with friends and Christmas shopping. Then on the 21st, I drive off to Tennessee. That'll be fun. I'm spending Christmas and my Birthday there, so that'll be fun. I've got 10 days until I turn 21. Go me!!! Anyway, after Christmas, I'm heading back with my Aunt Susan, Uncle Jim, Cousin Clara, and the live in Chinese Exchange Student Xiao, on a meandering tour of the American South East. Yay!!! Then I'm up to NJ for the first week of January - the 1st through the 8th. Classes resume on January 11th. I have a VERY packed vacation.

Not to worry, I'll still find time to get online. Laptops are fun that way. Plus I've got my cell phone. So you'll never be too far away from me. And in those times when you are, I've got books that need reading, Game Boy games that need playing, and, of course, the sweet release of a good little bit of shut eye. Speaking of... its midnight... NINE DAYS TILL BIRTHDAY!!!!

And I Thought I Was Done With Tests...

It decided to format itself like a retard, but still, it works!

Bi/Slightly Straight
You scored 5 (-52 being completely gay, 0 being bisexual, and 52 being completely straight)

For the most part, you are bisexual. You have a slight preference for the opposite gender, but either gender would suit you. If you are sexually inexperienced, it is possible that this will change after you do some experimenting.


My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 25% on Orientation

Link: The Sexuality Spectrum Test written by tall_man_54 on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

For Kelly

In my travels online, I met a girl named Kelly. I didn't know her for more than a week, but I still considered her a friend. So it shocked me to from her mother that she had died. I don't have much to say, but I felt a memorial was appropriate for her, here. You will be missed.

A Rose By Other Names

I've talked about how girls get the names of all the cool months, right? I think October would be a good name for a boy. Maybe December. We would call him Deci for short. Anyway, Virginia is the only name from a state. Here are a few others for consideration. Wyoming. Oklahoma. Montana. Michigan. Hell, pretty much all of them. Maybe not the "New" ones, but other than that...

It is my pleasure to introduce you to my new son, Alabama Pennsylvannia LeVine. ^_^

A Jesus By Any Other Name

I was surfing the AIM chat rooms again. This time I popped into the Christian singles. Nothing gets my brain juices pumping like a good conversation with the Jesus-freaks. By that I mean not just any Christians. I know a lot of cool Christians, who just don't rub it in your face all the time, and live a good life, the way they think Jesus would have wanted. I have nothing against them. I DO have something against the people who feel driven to convert people to seeing it their way, because they're afraid that if someone else is right, then they may be wrong. They're fun to talk to, simply to see where they go with my questions. While I won't show exactly what the conversation was, because it's just a long IM session that really doesn't get anywhere, I'll describe the highlights.

To start, here's what I believe. I believe that most major religions agree on basic principals. Life is important, be a good person, help those who need helping, etc. Those are all good things to live a life by, as I try to myself. Where they differ is in some forms of semantics. They all proclaim that their God is the one true God, or, if they have a pantheon of gods, that theirs is the correct pantheon. As I said, this is all just semantics. I used the following analogy to try and describe this:

Suppose there was a secluded tribe of islanders, with no contact to the outside world. One day, a man gets stranded on the island, after being presumed lost in a wreck. He integrates into the natives tribe, learns their language and customs. He begins to teach them the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, he cannot find an appropriate way to translate Jesus for them, and ends up with something random like "Tomato Sause." So the natives continue to worship the being known as Tomato Sause. Now the question: Does that count? Does Jesus care what name you use for him.

The answer, as I see it, is that it does count, Jesus is just a name, and it's really the person that name represents that you are worshiping. So if Jesus is God, then you can worship God and you will be fine, right? Along those terms, if you worship Allah, or Jehovah, or Krishnu, you are still worshiping the same God they all stand for. So really, the name of a religion you worship doesn't matter, as long as you believe the truth in your heart.

As to what the truth is... I spent a good deal of time talking about how Jesus' death on the cross matters. I kept hearing from the guy "Jesus died so your sins could be forgiven, but your sins are only forgiven if you believe He died for them." That seems rather twisted. And really, I don't see a connection between His dying and my redemption. The connection is simply "That's what the book says!" I mean, its like me saying "Hey! I broke a concrete slab with my pinky so you could have toast! But if you want the toast, you have to believe that you're getting it because I broke the slab! Get it?" Do you? Cuz I don't.

The bible is true because it is the word of God. And it is the word of God because it says so, and it is true, so it can't be wrong about being the word of god. That's another thing that got me. It's cyclical logic. The guy I was talking to said that I shouldn't question things like that, and just accept them on faith, but I really think that questioning is good. Without questioning, authority becomes tyranny. Now I'm not saying God is a tyrant. But Churches and other religious leaders could. The Bible was presented by man, published, written, and analyzed by men. It may have been divinely inspired, but that doesn't mean it's perfect by any means. I need more than the book itself to tell me that a book is true.

Okay, my head is starting to hurt. I'm gonna go lie down now. Love you all. ^_^

I'm The Worst Attack Dog Ever

No anniversary yet. Maybe tomorrow.

Lesse... I've been surfing the AIM chat rooms lately. It started with a quest for bordom relief - fast paced games of "Whack-A-Bot". Eventually I made nice with the locals, cuz you know, I'm just that awesome, and managed to pull a few new aim friends outta it. Yay me! I also managed to get hit on by this guy. That was funny:

HoT28yroldman4u: hello
me: hi there
HoT28yroldman4u: age
me: 20
HoT28yroldman4u: what u up 2
me: not much
me: just got done with my final
me: you?
HoT28yroldman4u: just got out of the shower
me: oh fun
HoT28yroldman4u: yeah its cold out
me: well put on a sweater or something
HoT28yroldman4u: yeah your right,lol
HoT28yroldman4u: so tell me about u
me: oh not much
me: i'm basically ur average college nerd
HoT28yroldman4u: what do u look like miss
me: random hobbies that'd bore you to tears
me: umm
me: im not a miss
HoT28yroldman4u: o wow sorry
me: yeah
me: i thought something was amiss there
HoT28yroldman4u: yeah ok have a great day
me: you too
me: check out profile links before you assume stuff

Anyway, part of the problem with making friends online is that you often fall into the tangled webs of politics that would confuse the cast of Friends. I've had more than one person tell me that I should go tell another person off for upsetting her. Being the doting friend, I get the screen name and start up a conversation, and ask what the problem is. Then I get into trouble, because, after the realize that I'm NOT going to yell at them like whoever told me I should, they figure out what a nice guy I am, and I've made a new friend. So now I'm stuck between two people who both think I'm on their side. Today's case, at least, has a happy story. Two girls were fighting because they both thought they were the same guy's girlfriend. It turns out that NEITHER of them were (I actually know girl number 3; she's my friend, and so was the guy, too. I'm too popular x_x), so I ended up telling them something like this:

"Hey, you guys shouldn't be fighting. XXXX played you both, you should be mad at him. You're both perfectly nice girls, and shouldn't be mad at each other."

A couple of minutes later I got the following back:

(Girl 2): wow (Girl 1) and (guy) are fighting but me and (girl 1) r cool now

So you see, I'm a miracle worker. You should let me negotiate peace in the Middle East. I'd tell them that the real enemy was the terrorists, or something. It'd be cool.

Btw, names have been hidden to protect the innocent. ^_^

Speaking of holiday cheer... These lights are awesome.

English Mother Fucker Do You Speak It?!

This just happened. You meet the randomest people from chat rooms. Especially when you have an androgenous / feminine Screen name.

mikeslikes34dds (2:06:50 PM): are you female
Effervescence 34 (2:06:53 PM): nope
mikeslikes34dds (2:07:03 PM): are you female
Effervescence 34 (2:07:07 PM): but i share your love of DDs
mikeslikes34dds (2:07:40 PM): are you female
Effervescence 34 (2:07:44 PM): yes i am
mikeslikes34dds (2:07:54 PM): hi im mike an you are
Effervescence 34 (2:08:09 PM): I'm not female, but at least I got your attention
Effervescence 34 (2:08:18 PM): i told you i wasnt female twice already
Effervescence 34 (2:08:59 PM): pay attention

Wow... He was persistant.

Stupid Ad...

A lot of you have AIM, so you'll know where I'm coming from. Everyone who uses the legitimate client for AIM, and not some 3rd party thing like Trillian or something, knows about the ads that come with it. Just above your buddy list is a little advertisement box. I've been able to ignore most of them, but lately they've been getting more and more annoying. It started last Spring with the Classmates.com ad. A list of the 50 US States scrolled at a high speed each time the ad started up, which would eventually end at California unless you moused over it to stop it. This one really only pissed me off because at the time I was using an older computer that would slow to a crawl each time that came up. Or just whenever, but still, the ad didn't help. And I still have found it vaguely annoying.

Flash forward to now: Dec 2005, holiday season adds have started to pop up. The first was this red thing for the Gap. Whenever you'd mouse over it for whatever reason, it would jump out and expand to twice its normal size. X_X And NOW we've got this Ford advertisement that plays a video for no apparent reason whenever it feels like it. I just wanna make it go away!!! ;_;

I just realized that my blogs a little over 2 years old. I missed the 2 year anniversary. Sorry guys. Maybe I'll have something for you to celebrate with in a few days. Not like you care. Heh.

Eat time is now.

Dodging Bullets Like Neo

They've been showing the Matrix on TNT lately. I know too many people who haven't seen the Matrix yet. For reference, too many in this instance is "any number greater than zero." So yes, I'm looking at you. See this awesome instance of badassery quickly before your chance subsides.

Moving on, though. Last night I went to sleep around 3. I had my next morning all planned out. I set my alarm for 11, which would be a good time to wake up, get some breakfast, take a shower, and study a little before my 1:30 Calculus final. I slept really well. Going to sleep after 2am tends to make me a little sleepy, who knew? I've even got a special bedtime mix of supposedly quieter, gentler music, stuff that'll help me go to sleep without having to listen to silence, the squeaking of whatever mechanical components are malfunctioning at the moment, and the insessant ringing in my ears. So yeah, music helps. I don't listen to it when Matt's in, because despite being able to sleep through anything, he can't actually GET to sleep with music going. *Shrugs.*

Anyway, like I said, I had it all planned out. I woke up at 11 and started to check my e-mail, as usual. Then I noticed the little Rainlendar pop-up: "Calculus Final - Due in -32 minutes." Yup, that's a NEGATIVE 32. The test started at 10:30, not 1:30. I was a fucking half hour late just from sleeping. I didn't eat. I didn't study. I didn't write out a little 5x3 note card to help me remember things. No time. I ran (well, fast walked; I was still a little sleepy) to the physics building, and rushed into the test. 45 minutes late, but better late then never. I managed to get the answer to every question I knew, and a few I didn't. I'm fairly confident with my results, don't worry. Despite having half time. Really, no one ever uses the whole time anyway. But yeah, I was partially worried that I would be flat out refused for being so late. Luckily this wasn't true, but...

The other day Matt revealed that he has the Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy DVD. We were watching the beginning a few days ago, and that's why, as I walked towards my uncertain test, the following words were running through my head:

In many of the more relaxed civilizations on the Outer Eastern Rim of the Galaxy, the Hitch Hiker's Guide has already supplanted the great Encyclopedia Galactica as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom, for though it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate, it scores over the older, more pedestrian work in two important respects.

First, it is slightly cheaper; and secondly it has the words Don't Panic inscribed in large friendly letters on its cover.

This is what I was thinking to myself as I walked there. "Don't Panic." Panicking never helped anyone with anything. So I didn't, and I feel that I'm a fairly better person for it. ^_^

Found Something To Entertain Myself

I got both the X-Men movies. I think I may watch at least one of them today, I haven't seen X2 since it was in theaters. I was testing them out, though, and I hadda install a new audio codec, so I'll need to restart my computer I think. First though, this:

Da Rules:

1. Leave a comment saying you want to be interviewed.
2. I'll reply and give you five questions to answer.
3. You'll update your LJ (or whatever) with the five questions answered.
4. You'll include this explanation.
5. You ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed. And it just keeps going, and going, and going....

So, here are my five questions, courtousy of Umimi herself:

1) Who would win a pie eating contest out of your robot and mine?
I'd have to giveit to your robot. Mine may be able to level a city faster, but yours just looks hungrier.

2) What was the best thing that happened in China? xD
Okay, so I was at this toy store type place in Beijing, and my mom had given me 100 Yuan (about $20 USD) to spend on something. I was looking through the booths, and didn't find anything very interesting, when all of a sudden, I saw it. A box set of Landfill, the four bot set of construction trucks from the Robots In Disguise line. Each one went for about $15 each when they sold seperately, and even after being put into a box set, and marked down considerably due to being from an older, less popular set, state-side the box would still go for about $40. Twice what I had. Just to be sure, I asked the nice lady at the counter how much she was asking. "250 Yuan."

"Ah," I replied, "I was afraid of that. No thanks." And I turned to walk away.

Now, in most Western shops, that would be the end of it. Retailers have set their prices, and buyers either pay it or don't. In China, though, they are much more open to haggling. "What, you no like?" called the shopkeeper. "250 is good price."

She was right, it was. I tried to make it as clear as I could through the language barrier. "Yes, I know it's a good price, but I just don't have that much." She didn't buy it, I guess. She lowered her price for me, but kept it still above my 100 yuan mark, so I had to keep saying no, "I only have 100 yuan." I eventually started laughing while talking it got so rediculous. Eventually, I was getting impatient at being stuck in this one spot, with so many other booths out there. I reached into my pocket and fished out the 100 yuan bill. Verbal language wasn't working, so I went for a visual representation. "This is all I have with me." I tried to say it slowly and carefully so she would understand.

She looked at the bill and sighed. "Okay, one hundred yuan." At this point I was really weirded out. I had been trying to leave, not trying to bargain. Never the less, I had ended up with a toy for less than half the marked price. And THAT's the best thing that happened to me in China.

3) Avez-vous un violet poisson? o_O
No, but I have a Red one and a Blue one, like in the book. I'm trying to get them to mate.

4) What's the worse christmas present you ever got and why?
Some weird bike lights. Like, you were supposed to put them on your spokes or something, and I never wanted to. They just looked silly.

5) What was the last dream you remember having and did it involve chickens?
I had some weird dream last night. I was with my entire family, both Mom's side and Dad's, everyone there, including one kid I didn't know who was Dad's "other" step son. *Shrugs.* It made no sense, nothing really happened. I ran around in circles, and at one point I was Aeon Flux for some reason. In the end, we decided to rent a movie, and have it delivered, and it couldn't get here because there was a road block or something. When the delivery boy got to our house to tell us he couldn't get to our house, I looked out the door and noticed that there was a Blockbuster Video across the street for some reason, and it had a built in movie theater, for $6 a seat. Score. I was dissapointed to wake up and realize that it wasn't there.

"And THAT's why they call me Bender the Magnificent!" - Bender, the Magnificent.

Setting Things Straight

First of all, you all need to see how I fixed my AIM icon, cuz it's spiffy like that. ---->

Done with that? Good, now click here and tell me what you think. Come on, you know I'm sexy, right? *Sexy butt dance.*

And then, on a more serious note, if you're reading this, it's probably because you came looking for me and hit my away message. I've decided to devote a significant portion of today (Sunday) to reading, and maybe writing somewhere that's not here at my desk. I've spent a scary amount of time here lately, and over break I'm sure I will again. I wanna spend at least PART of a day actively avoiding this thing.

On that note, I'm sure I'll get around to writing a post about what's been going on lately, but now I just need to keel over on my bed. Sleep well, all, I'll see you later.

Disturbing Developments

Tomorrow I plan on possibly going to the PTQ at Hatter's. Either that or, since I have no deck worth playing, going with the idea of just staying home and chilling. Maybe I'll tell you about my exciting adventures on the AIM chat rooms. MAYBE. If you're good. In the mean time, I found a rather interestingw website for you guys to peruse if you'd like. Night

Fuck It

I've been playing this.

Apparently that was a mistake. How dare I try to do something on my own for a few minutes. Rawr.

From Aeon To Zero

I saw Aeon Flux last night. It was good. Lots of random violence and stuff, and something about the worst cloning plan ever... it's confusing, I'll let you see it to work it out for yourselves, rather than spoil it, but I found it rather entertaining. It's not quite in synch with the old cartoon, but it's good on it's own.

However, as we watched the movie, Matt kept telling me that he recognized the guy playing Oren Goodchild. I didn't recognize him, but my actor recognition skills have been off lately. During the coming attractions, I mistook James Franco from the Spiderman movies for the guy who played Anakin. I mean, they do look KINDA similar, and I recognized that I had seen him somewhere as an angsty youth. But Oren Goodchild... I really couldn't place him.

Well, I looked him up. He was Zero Fucking Cool! From Hackers. How did I miss that? I mean, I STILL can't see it. Can you?

3, 2, 1, Toss!

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

O_o....

Oh, ehh....

o_0

Ask me again in the morning, kay? Gnight.

I'm Burning

I'm Burning I'm Burning I'm Burning For You!...

I've had that song stuck in my head. Wanna know why? A couple of reasons. Actually, it's one of those chain reasons. You know, thing A leads to thing B which leads to things C D and E, and before you know it I'm waist deep in artichokes because someone said they didn't like Final Fantasy.

That never happened to you? Must just be me.

Anyway, so I was browsing all the forums, and they've all been pointing out the X-Men 3 trailer, and it was this thread on the Megatokyo forums that got me hooked, or at least re-piqued my interest in the X-Men. I went over to my bookshelf and decided that I finally had time to read Pheonix: Endsong.

So there's that. I'm not interested in pheonixes in general. Not neccessarily the X-Men's Jean Grey, just the creatures. You may find some sort of story on here in the coming days as the massive bordom of not having anything to do gets to me. ^_^

And finally, I've got a open casting call. I need a harem. ^_^

IT WAS ME!!!!

I WAS THE TURKEY ALL ALONG

That's Gir, from Invader Zim, incase you missed the reference. I just had the quote in my head and wanted to get it down.

I had a couple of other thoughts that needed to go here. I would have written them in Jackie's journal thing, but I didn't have it on me in Chemistry, and when I was about to write here before my nap (which was heavenly, I might add), Mike showed up and wanted to take a nap, too, so that was kinda out. So these will just be lightly fragmented thoughts. Snack sized, one might say.

Firstly, I've been reading Eragon, just like I promised Jackie. It really is starting off kinda slowly, but she promised me it was good, and I believe her. And even though it's a little slow, it's not really boring. It's managed to keep my interest, and I sorta stopped at a cliffhanger cuz we're reading the book at a set pace kinda thing, even though I'm way behind and feel bad. But so far, it seems a LOT like a kind of fantasy version of A New Hope. It's like Lord of the Rings crossed with Star Wars. So yeah, if you're looking for a book, something to read over the semi-boring holidays, go grab Eragon, why not?

Secondly, I've come to realize why I'm doing so poorly here in college. I hate facts. I don't like memorizing random bits of data. That's why I don't like History, which is a series of "X did Y in the year ZZZZ." I can't stand that. And I can't stand a lot of the things that are taught in Chemistry as just immutable facts, like the idea that a mol of something is something like 6.426 x 10^23 or something random like that. It's just.... agh! I can get concepts down. I have no problem with that. But I'm not good at memorizing things. I really just have to struggle through, though, and make it work. Eventually I will get to the fun stuff.

Okay, I'm sure I had more, but I've lost it. I'll be on later, don't worry.

Even a hippie needs a gun

So I read this article in the school newspaper during lunch today. In it this chick, who claims she usually considered herself an anti-gun hippie, which is something that sticks out in the middle of Texas, describes how someone broke into her house, and so now she's gotta get a gun. She never once says that the guy actually had a gun or not, just that he was there. But no, now she's gotta get a gun. *Sigh.*

Even after writing about how anti-violence I am in real-life (see below), I feel the need to again state that I'm a pacifist. To a great extreme. I truely believe that life is a wonderful gift. Scientists can describe how a baby grows in the stomach, but there are any number of seemingly random connections that need to be made, and that ARE made 99.9% of the time, for a life to form. They can identify how this happens, but they can't tell you WHY something that is practically impossible happens every time a child is born. And they can't tell us where the driving spirit, be it soul, personality, whatever, comes from. So to me, every life is a precious gift, and no one has the right to end life prematurely. That's why I'm against the death penalty. And why I'm against guns in general.

Guns are one of many steps in a long ladder of tools man has developed to help him kill things quickly and efficiently. This is helpful with regard to hunting, back when men had to go out and find something to kill before they could eat it. Nowadays, hunting is an archaic practice, and too many people who hunt have no respect for that which they kill, and that sickens me. It is only worse when those weapons are turned on human beings. I have never believed that violence is the solution to anything. If someone believes something you don't, hitting / shooting them isn't going to make them think you're right, just that you're totally wacko about what you believe, and entirely unopen to suggestion.

Personally, if someone came into my house with a gun, and he was willing to kill me for my stuff, he's fucked up to begin with. I would defend myself, totally, but I wouldn't kill someone. I truely believe that being alive and living with guilt is the greatest punishment you can give to a criminal. Right away after 9/11 people were talking about how they would kill Osama bin Ladin, given the chance. What they all missed was that to kill someone, aside from making him a martyr, well, he dies believing that he's going to heaven to be met by 70 virgins for having done Allah's work. That's not fair. I vote we keep him around as long as we can, reminding him of what his act of cowardice caused, all the death and pain and agony he caused for innocent lives, in the name of "justice." Sigh... If you kill him it just strengthens his belief that he is right, that we are scared of what he did, and that we are as evil as he makes us out to be. I don't want us to do that.

So my personal self defence plans? A camera. I wonder what would happen if I swallowed a polaroid picture. I'll bet the CSI guys could recover the picture and use it to ID the purp, if I was killed. Or I could just set up a few security cameras to catch whoever tried to bust in. That would probably be ideal. Above all, I wouldn't kill him. Even in self defence. If he manages to kill me, that's on his head. I've got no regrets. I do want to keep living for as long as possible, I DO value my life, but I won't take his so that I can life. I would trade one life for two, if that's what it came down to, but I won't trade his life for my own.

Of course, this is all just me. I have nothing wrong with other people doing their jobs as police men or soldiers or whatever. But I'm not gonna be one of those people myself.

That is all. Something else crossed my mind, but it was (A) completely irrelevant compared to what I was talking about, and (B) gone now anyway, so whatever. Later folks.

Violence In Video Games

Last Tuesday I wrote an essay for English class. The stated problem was "How can video game companies react to the outcries against video game violence", or some gibberish like that. It really wasn't a good paper, so I'm not gonna bother putting it up there, but there were a few thoughts that I wanted to add, which weren't really in the scope of my paper's topic.

First, I want to say that I am a fan of violent video games. Not completely excessively, superfluously violent games, but I've been known to go through Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Goldeneye, Metroid, and the Grand Theft Auto games. All violent in their own right. You'll note that despite this violent history, I haven't gone out and shot someone yet. In fact, I'm so much a pacifist, I declared myself as one to a group of gun-toting NRA members in a dream I had last night. But I'm a casual gamer. I play games when it suits me, not so much as a hobby, more of a diversion, like watching a movie or a TV show. When I go out to buy games, I'm generally looking for a few needs to be satisfied. For instance, take my Game Boy games. One, I want something with a story I have to put a lot of hours into, like, say, FFTA. Not violent, but more of an intellectual challenge. Then I want something I can go through and mindlessly kill things, like, say, Sonic the Hedgehog, or Metroid Zero Mission or something along those lines. Something where I can bring misery to those who would thwart me. Oh, and I've always gotta have my Tetris with me. ^_^

I wrote in the essay a little bit about the time I felt an overwhelming urge to play Goldeneye. I didn't really want to kill any person, I just wanted to charge through one of the earlier levels, gun blazing, and bring death to the pologonal Russians. It's sort of scary to think about what was going through my head. I would never want to do something like that in real life, but I really wanted to simulate the mass murder of 100 Dr. Doak skins. I will go on claiming that video gaming is cathartic, but that little bit is still a little creepy.

I've got not much time left, so in closing I'd like to reiterate my stance on the current issues of video game legislation. Everyone and their dog seems to think that video games need special notice, but I feel that they should be treated the same way books and movies are. Movies are industry regulated and controlled in the same way that video games are. They have an independant ratings system, and cannot be sold, rented, or given tickets to anyone under the listed ages.

And above all, I REALLY wish parents would take some time to watch the games their kids are playing. It really is important. What's good enough for the 10 year old down the street may not be good enough for your son, so please use your own best judgement, and don't rely on the government. We've all seen how many times those bozo's have screwed up.

I just found this. How frigging sweet is that? (BTW, I found the source file, so W00T!!!)

And what do you guys think? If I put a paypal donate button, would I get anything out of it? Or would it just be rude since I don't contribute anything as is? I'm so hungry!!!

Okay, off to class.

Weird Typing

I've been typing oddly lately, soo please don't mind my typose if you're talking to me. For osmeto reason, I blame the mouse. It's sucking, and making me typle badely elsewhere. RAWRWQEr!!!!

I'm Not Even Supposed To Be Here Today!

I dunno why I'm writing this in bed instead of on my computer. I suppose it's cause I'm on the phone with Jackie. Plus I just watched Clerks, and now Batman's on. I'm sure Jackie'll love that I'm writing this while talking to her. She's about to go to sleep, or else I'd tell her that I'm writing in the journal she gave me.

A couple of scheduling notes before I forget. Tonight at 8, the History Channel is gonna do a special on Leonardo Da Vinci. And the original King Kong is on TCM Tuesday the 13th at 8pm. Not sure if those are Eastern or Central times. I'll have to look it up.

Okay, I got nothing to add now. Below this you'll find thoughts I added while typing this, on either Clerks or Batman. See you then.

~~~~~~

Okay, back to the present time. I'm gonna write about Batman, Clerks I don't have anything to say about (it is awesome by fiat, and if you haven't watched it yet, you must now), and then I've got a few personal issues. First, Batman. In the original movie, the one I watched last night, they had Billy Dee Williams, aka Lando Calrissian, as DA Harvey Dent. If you've seen Batman Forever, then you know that Harvey Dent, in that movie played by Tommy Lee Jones (who's name I suppose follows the same pattern as Billy's), is the alter ego of the villian Two-Face. I just wanna know why they couldn't get Billy Dee to play Two-Face in Forever. That woulda kicked ass.

Speaking of kicking ass, I feel like life has kicked the ass outta me lately. Firstly, I'm enroled in a sort of unofficial Magic league online, over MSN. I'm sucking so bad at it. I haven't won a single game. I really should just drop out of it, but I do like the challenge. And really, it's something I need to keep my ego in check. So anyway, I lost a 3 player game of that today, and then I lost a contest of "naming robots" against my friend Derek. It wasn't a fair fight, so I'm not really mad. I said ahead of time that I don't know much about Japanese robots, since I don't watch really any mecha series. I know all about the ones in Western Media, but the land of the rising sun is a mystery to me. And then, half the "robots" listed were anything but. The next person who tells me that a Gundam is a robot is getting hit over the head with my Soundwave figure.

So I'm frustrated right now. I'm beginning to see the allure of the dominant / submissive sexual fetishes. I really wanna be a dom right now. I wanna have a chick beg me for sex, I wanna bite her, I wanna make her scream with ecstatic pain, I want her to be mine and live only for me, and when I don't want her any more, I wanna throw her away like a used tissue. I'm so fucking evil it hurts.

Hunger

As usual, I have a song to describe the way I'm feeling right now.

When I see what I want
I'm going to take it
If it's against some law
You can bet I'll break it
My need to feed
Gives me the will to survive
I gotta find it fast
To keep me alive

I can't believe my hunger
Hunger
I want it so bad I can taste it
It drives me mad to see it wasted
When I need it so bad that it's burnin' me
I'm hungry

I'd do anything to get it and feel no regret
Time is running out and I ain't found it yet

I can't believe my hunger
Hunger
I want it so bad I can taste it
It drives me mad to see it wasted
When I need it so bad that it's burnin' me
I'm hungry

I gotta find it fast to keep me alive
Time is running out and I ain't found it yet
Time is running out and I ain't found it yet
And it's burnin' me
And it's burnin' me

There's a rumbly in my tumbly, and I've gotta make sure I'll have enough money to eat. I've got just over $50 to last me the next 10 days. That's $5 a day, maybe I could... Nope, I need at least $10, I think.

I don't think I'm being unreasonable, do you? I've given up breakfast already, and I'm fairly certain my stomach has shrunk. I'm lucky I eat healthy in the meals I do get, or else I'd get sick... I don't think I should have to ration myself. Especially now, during the run up to finals. I need fooooood..... ._.

So hungry.

How To Fly

I was watching Peter Pan, or rather, the Return To Neverland, on TV, and I decided that flying would be fun. Short on pixie dust, though, I have The next best thing right here.

Who's The Beatdown?

A while back there was a Magic strategy article written called Who's The Beatdown. Don't worry, this isn't an entirely Magic post, but it does relate to that topic. The article describes a concept that is today concidered almost basic, but at the time it was written it was revolutionary. In every game of Magic, one player is always in a control role and one player in "the beatdown". The winnner is going to be the player who correctly identifies his role and performs it best. While some decks are only fit to play one role, which is kind of limiting, but the best decks are the ones that can adapt to either role well.

So, I promised that this wouldn't be about Magic. What the hell am I talking about. I've found that I've spent a lot of time engaged in conversations comforting friends. For the purposes of my analogy, the person with some problem is the Beadown, and the person doing the consoling is the Control. Usually I find myself in a control role, trying my best to take people feel better. I guess I do well, but I can't help feeling guilty about how I do about it. I mostly go with the Socratic Method, asking them questions until I've gotten to the root of the problem, then when I can't dig any more, I start with a lengthy repitition of stuff like "It's okay," and telling them al how much I care about them (which I do, I'm not ever lying to them). I did that today while glancing back and forth at the end of Sports Night. I feel kinda guilty. I mean, I'm trying to help too... I dunno, should I feel guilty about multitasking?

And then, for all those friends worried about burdoning me too many problems, don't bother. I've been the Beatdown my own fair share of times, too. So I'm fine, thank you. ^_^ And to all my Control players out there, well... Thank you.

Happy Endings

Over the past week I may have told you that I've been watching Sports Night on my computer. It's a really good show. I just finished the last episode, and it made me feel so great, cuz in the series, at least, they finished with the threat that the show may get pulled off the air. I was a little sad when I got to the end of the series. I wanted to find out what would happen with Dana, and Casey, and Dan, and Natalie, and Jeremy, and everyone I'd fallen in love with over the course of the series.

I'm totally buying this on DVD.

Random Quote From Last Night

"The last time I got you a beard, you just played with the box."

Edit: I found this in a recent IGN preview of KHII:

"In the Lion King world, Sora appears in lion cub form. He attacks with a key blade and can use magic, but because he's without clothing in this form, he cannot use drive moves.

I'm telling you all, this is just more propoganda from the clothing-centric clothocracy. They're trying to keep the nudists down!

Why I Can't Get Any Work Done

A case study:

I'm sitting here, trying to finish my paper due at midnight. I'm a little over 2/3's done with it, still have a ways to go, but I'm confident I'll get it. Here's a few of the things keeping me from doing the work, though:

TriFrog77: Hello there! How are yoooou?!! XP
Effervescence 34: I ASKD YOU FIRST!
Effervescence 34: o_o
Effervescence 34: but i'm doing fine, thanks
TriFrog77: I'm doing fine =P
Effervescence 34: is there an echo in here?
TriFrog77: nah, its a library, shhh
Effervescence 34: oh my
TriFrog77: oh my
Effervescence 34: no, oh MY
Effervescence 34: not oh yours
Effervescence 34: no one ever says "oh yours"
Effervescence 34: and if they do they are stupid
Effervescence 34: and you'll note that I just said it twice
Effervescence 34: so what does that tell you?
Effervescence 34: o_0
TriFrog77: that you're stupid
TriFrog77: lmao
Effervescence 34: seems as if

TriFrog77: *melts*
Effervescence 34: o_o
Effervescence 34: FROSTY NO!!!
Effervescence 34: o_o
Effervescence 34: *puts you in the ice box
TriFrog77: MY HAT
Effervescence 34: *gives you your hat
Effervescence 34: there you go
TriFrog77: Oh my magic servives
Effervescence 34: it had better
Effervescence 34: we've got a lot more specials to make starring you
TriFrog77: yeas
Effervescence 34: Frosty meets The Easter Bunny
Effervescence 34: Frosty and the Magic of Haunuckah
Effervescence 34: Frosty learns about Kwanzah, then forgets it again.
Effervescence 34: Frosty vs Godzilla
TriFrog77: LOL
Effervescence 34: Frosty vs King Kong
Effervescence 34: and my favorite
Effervescence 34: Frosty vs King Kong vs Mecha Godzilla: Throw Down in the Land Down Under

Lennon says:
do you have an ipod?
Effervescence says:
no
Effervescence says:
u_u
Effervescence says:
i want one
Effervescence says:
my brother got one
Lennon says:
everyone has one
Effervescence says:
i don't
Lennon says:
like, literally
Effervescence says:
I have a minidisk player
Lennon says:
a year ago, 10 million ipods were sold
Effervescence says:
woot ghetto alternatives
Effervescence says:
wait, all at once?
Lennon says:
no
Lennon says:
like 7 million of them were
Lennon says:
now, it's going up and up
Lennon says:
apple is driving everyone out of the music player market
Lennon says:
by 2010, 95% of PC users will own ipods
Effervescence says:
what about mac users?
Lennon says:
well, right now 95% of mac users have ipods
Effervescence says:
ah
Lennon says:
so, by then, it'll probably stay the same
Effervescence says:
so how long until i can implant the ipod directly into my body?
Lennon says:
you'll be dead
Lennon says:
by then
Effervescence says:
i don't care
Effervescence says:
i need tunes in the afterlife
Effervescence says:
they don't play jpop in heaven
Lennon says:
there is no heaven
Effervescence says:
there is no hell, either
Lennon says:
I know
Effervescence says:
i learned that little tidbit from sports night

I love being an Internet clown.

Also, I wish I had a camera. A few weeks ago I saw my reflection in the mirror, and I now know where the image of the spikey haired youth protagonist from Japanese video games and anime comes from.

I Think I'm Doing It Wrong

I rinse, then I repeat, then I lather.

Yay showering. I like being in there. I get to think about random stupid things. Things like, how did Doctor Drakken's brainwashing shampoo "Lather, Rinse, Obey" make it past the FDA? o_0

I'm just sitting here in my undies, and I'm sure you all loved that image. ^_^

Something To Cheer You Up

IT'S PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME!!!

Urban Legends And Also The Regular Kind

I was looking through the Megatokyo forums and found this, and I'm ashamed to say I legitimately believed at least this claim:

"For it is written that a son of Arabia would awaken a fearsome Eagle.
The wrath of the Eagle would be felt throughout the lands of Allah and lo, while some of the people trembled in despair still more rejoiced: for the wrath of the Eagle cleansed the lands of Allah and there was peace."

That verse is number 9.11 of the Quran.

I'm such a tool, cuz then I found this: Urban Legends Reference Pages: Politics (Quran). Oh well.

Also, someone needs to check this out for me, too:

Open Microsoft Word and do the following:

1. Type in capitals Q33 NY. This is the flight number of the first plane to hit one of the Twin Towers.

2. Highlight the Q33 NY.

3. Change the font size to 48.

4. Change the actual font to WINGDINGS

It's supposed to do something, but I don't have Word, so I dunno.

In other news, you all should totally check out Jackie's and my new book club thingy. It's awesome. Go there. Now!

Isn't This Chick Hot?

If I'd never told you before, I have a wallpaper changer. I have it set to keep the current wallpaper until I tell it to switch, but if I wanted I could have it switch every hour, or half hour, or whenever. Here's the one it's set at right now:



Whenever this wallpaper pops up, I always keep it up for a while. I set my windows transparent and make sure I can see her through there. I've never seen her anywhere aside from this picture, and I can't even remember where I got this picture from and how it got into my main collection instead of the idols or regular hot chicks folders. I've just now added it to my "favorites" folder on the Changer program, which currently consists of 5 pictures. I think when I get it up to 10 I'll consider actually making that an automatically scrolling rotation, and switch out again when I'm bored of it.

I don't know why I'm telling you all this. I just really liked that picture. I guess I'm feeling kinda hazy about it. Here's the picture again, though, just cuz I like it that much.



Aint it pretty?

An Apple A Day

I had lunch today, and along with my usual selection of entree, 2 sides (at least one of which is green) and a glass of milk, I decided to end off with an apple for dessert. I can't really see myself as getting enough fruit in my diet. I get plenty of wheats, dairy, meat, and veggies, but not nearly enoguh fruits that I can tell. So I grabbed this apple, because that's really the only fruit I care for. Lemme tell you, this was the most delicious apple I felt like I'd ever eaten.

Then I remembered something I'd heard a while back. Babies, if they are allowed to pick their own foods over the course of a week, will balance their diets automatically. This is because you're tongue will naturally find foods containing nutrients you need tastier. As I was eating this apple, I felt as if it couldn't get any better unless my father had sliced it for me himself. Now, my father has many flaws, and I'm not going to go into them now because I have neither the time nor disposition, but I do have to give him at least this - whenever he would slice apples for my brothers and me, they were always just wonderful, and I loved them. (Possibly because even then I wasn't getting enough fruits in my diet.

Anyway, so this apple was really spectacular, and that leads me to believe that I need to be eating more of them. I'm getting an apple at dinner tonight.

I've still got that paper I told you about due. It's over violence in video gaming. The great thing about English 1301 is that each paper in a cycle really builds on the last. My first paper was 400 words describing a problem. The second was 800 words describing the problem and presenting a possible solution. Paper three in the "Problem solving" cycle is 1200 words describing a problem, presenting several solutions, evaluating them and eventually coming to a conclusion. If you were paying attention, you'll notice that really each of those papers is really the last paper, plus 400 new words about something. So, theoretically, I have 800 words written out, and I only need to slog in 400 more about another problem, or something. Unfortunately, I also need (it's not REQUIRED, but its one of those things they strongly reccomend, so it might as well be required) five sources cited in my paper. Do you think they'd mind if I took four of them from random gaming web sites? Anyway, I've really gotta rewrite the whole she-bang, so wish me luck.

Today is December 1st. I love this month, for many reasons. I like the weather. Snow is really fun, and I'm mildly disappointed that I don't get to play in it much more. I was, of course, born in this month (23 shopping days left till my birthday, people!), and there's Christmas. Part of that is simply me being greedy. There are two days right next to each other where I get a shit load of gifts, which is always nice. And the run up before it involves going out shopping for other people, and activity I also enjoy because I get to hint very un-subtly about what people should get me. But also, I really like being with family. I am very, very blessed to have a strong and loving family (on my mothers side at least), and sometimes I feel almost guilty that I know people who don't have the same blessings as me. I really wish I could share the way I felt with them. I guess the best I can do is wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Haunnukah, or whatever. Season's Greetings, everyone. This year I'll try to keep my good happy feeling going throughout the whole of 2006, too. ^_^

Also, today marks the two week mark until winter break for me. Two weeks from now, I will be back in Austin, relaxing with friends and family, or more likely scrambling to get everyone Christmas gifts before we depart to Murphresboro, Tennessee on the 22nd or so. One week until finals season, and despite me taking five classes this semester, I'm blessed with only having 3 exams that week, so I've got a pretty relaxing schedule ahead of me. Wish me luck anyway, though. I also, currently, have 67 dollars in my food account for school. I think that means that if I don't buy anything other than lunch and dinner at the university for the next few weeks, I'll squeak on by, and only starve on the weekends. X_X Again, wish me luck.

Okay, I'm gonna go read, I think. It's all part of my 12 step "Make Greg Better" program.

Step 1: Be happy.
Step 2: Eat right.
Step 3: Read more.
Step 4: Be with people you like.
Step 5: Finish steps 6-12

x_x

So long!

My Name Is Greg Levine

...and I AM the President of the United States. Oh wait, no I'm not. I dunno. Agh.. I'm nuts.

Edit: Since this was short, and the thing I'm about to add is short too, well, here it is is all. The British title for the first Harry Potter book is "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", as opposed to the sorceror's stone that we got in the US. That's also what Al and Ed are searching for in the anime series "Full Metal Alchemist" - the Philosopher's Stone. So why did they change the Harry Potter's title? Something to stew over for the night.

Edit Edit: HINT!

Beauty, Jokes, and Saying Goodbye

This entry is about three vastly different topics that are related for no other reason than I've got all three bouncing around my head today. When I am done I will take a nap

First off, I've recently (in the past couple of days) noticed that the Tech Campus is exceptionally beautiful. I'm really proud to go to a school that looks this good. In my opinion, and I'm probably biased, it looks better than Princeton. So suck on that, Tigers.

Lately I've gotten into a bad habit of telling and recieving jokes badly. For instance, look at this. My comment was, as I say there, intended as a joke. It came out not so much, mostly because my sense of humor is so dry that it's not noticable, doubly so online, and then triply so on the page of the girlfriend of a guy who, last time I checked, has a personal KOS order for me. But you know, I felt like I had to say something, so I said that. One of these days I'm sure I'll learn better.

Now, I'm not saying that I was in the right in this situation. Far from it, I realize where I made my mistakes, and I've tried to apologize, and whether or not the apology is accepted are the sole business of Kaylee. My concern is that, well, I concider myself a funny guy. I try to anyway. I like making people laugh. And I take great pride when I get someone to smile or feel better because I said something funny. So to hear from two seperate people in one night that what I intended as humorous was taken as an offence, well... I'm a little worried that I'm losing my touch. And really, that's all I'm good at is being a random fool online. It's why I'm so well liked (I hope). If I lose that, I don't know what's left of me. I've already lost James as a friend because he took what I said far to seriously. I don't want that to happen for any of my other friends, to...

Eh, the last note was something about the statement "I'm gonna let you go" to say goodbye on a phone call. If someone says that, it SOUNDS like they're trying to set their friend free from the burdon of being on the phone, when really, its the other way around. The person saying that is trying to be set free. Ugh....

Did you ever get to writing something, and then one thought lead to another, and then another? And you find out something about yourself that you didn't know before? I think I just did that. I'm gonna go lie down.

Fun And Games

First, a news quote:

"We will always be Muslims, Serbs or Croats," said Veselin Gatalo of the youth group Urban Movement Mostar. "But one thing we all have in common is Bruce Lee."

And now, more pressing matters of state. It turns out that now, after frustrating myself getting my GBA's shoulder buttons working, I have to actually exhibit some skill, too. X_X And here I thought the battle with Dragon Malificent was tough... I guess a lot of my frustration comes from learning, a little late in the game, that you really can't just throw a bunch of cards into a deck and hit A a bunch until the bad guy is dead. >_< I need to build a freaking deck strategy for Kingdom Hearts... Oh well... I'll level up some too. I'm at level 65 right now, and I have 500 HP and 900 CP. If I go up to level 70 I'll have over a thousand points, and hopefully by then I'll have made a decent deck strategy.

Speaking of Kingdom Hearts again, I've been thinking a lot about the KH2 a lot. I've already got an idea about how the opening would go. At least, how I am picturing it, based on what little knowledge I've got in my head. The game opens same as last one, with a dream about Sora in full motion video, except the dreamer in this case isn't Sora, but the mysterious Blonde Haired Kid we've all heard about. He wakes up in Twilight Town, and we quickly meet him and his friends in a manner similar to which Sora, Riku, and Kairi were introduced. Something happnes to interupt all the introduction, and BHK is rushed into battle against those strange white "nobody" creatures, which serves as the games tutorial, because all games have one.

From there we may jump to Kairi on the Destiny Islands, thinking about Sora and wondering where he is, just to update us on basically where we stand after the last game. She'll tell one of her friends the story (from her perspective, at least) of what happened during the first game. Then we rejoin Sora and his crew, in the middle of a battle field, surrounded by heartless. Sora and Donald and Goofy are fighting off the intruders on this unnamed plane, and you learn some of the newer battle mechanics like the drive forms. After facing off these simple villians, they arrive at Hollow Basteon, and learn that the Final Fantasy characters from Traverse Town have begun to settle in to their old home again.

A few more plot points are revealed here, and then we head to Disney Castle. They meet with Queen Minnie and, apparently, undergo a mission to lead Minnie towards something important, possibly a message from the King. This message begins the full story of the game, which, sadly, I don't know enough about to speculate on.

So there you have it. Oh yeah, SPOILERS!!!

I have a paper due Thursday. I thought it was due today until I went to class... I'm so glad I do that now-a-days. It's my final paper, so I'd assume it counts for a great deal. I've decided for my topic to be the controversy surrounding violence in video games. I need 5 sources, or there abouts. X_X This is gonna suuuuuuuck...

Okay, nothing left in me but bells and whistles. Gotta go.

Oh yeah, one more thing. I've decided to take up the hobby of tracking Spam IM's again. So if you want me to, send me it. Otherwise, keep them away from me.

And remember, in those dark corners at midnite, things aren't always what they seem...

Luck Be A Lady Tonight

I dunno why this was stuck in my head, but here you go.

They call you lady luck
But there is room for doubt
At times you have a very un-lady-like way
Of running out

Your on this date with me
The pickin's have been lush
And yet before the evening is over
You might give me the brush

You might forget your manners
You might refuse to stay
And so the best that I can do is pray

Luck be a lady tonight
Luck be a lady tonight
Luck if you've ever been a lady to begin with
Luck be a lady tonight

A lady never leaves her escort
It isn't fair, it isn't nice
A lady doesn't wander all over the room
And blow on some other guys dice

Lets keep this party polite
Never get out of my sight
Stick with me baby, I'm the guy that you came in with
Luck be a lady tonight

Luck let a gentleman see
Just how nice a dame you can be
I know the way you've treated other guys you've been with
Luck be a lady with me

A lady never flirts with strangers
She'd have a heart, she'd have soul
A lady wouldn't make little snake eyes at me
When I've bet my life on this roll

Lets keep this party polite
Never get out of my sight
Stick with me baby, I'm the guy that you came in with
Luck be a lady tonight

So anyway, I've been playing Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, like I said. I REALLY need a new Game Boy/DS for it, even though my gut tells me I'll finish Sora's quest before Christmas. Still, I'll have a spiffy shiney new system to play Riku's side on. Whee!!!

Oh wait, that's right, I'm a slut.

*Holds up a sign* - "Will love for DS"

The Boondocks Rock

I found The Boondocks live journal. Yay free syndication!

But yeah, if you haven't seen the Boondocks on Adult Swim yet, you're missing out. It's such a good show. For serious.

And then I have a few rumblings about Harry Potter. Firstly, why are they so opposed to using technology? I saw the new movie last week, and it was just weird, namely the part where they teach the kids to dance using an old-timey record player. I don't get why they couldn't use a CD player or something. And then I find out the whole castle/school thing is hexed to prevent the use of electronic devices. I still have to ask... Why!? That's just closed minded and elitist.

Speaking of elitist, the whole wizards are better than muggles thing just rubbed me the wrong way. Why do wizards have to exist in a secret upper class? I think it's all a conspiracy. Magic is a skill as much as it is a talent. "Muggles" can use magic too with training, but wizards are simply elitist snobs. It's sad, really.

On Pickles, And Other Things

Matt: "How do they make pickles, anyway?"
Greg: "They put them in women's vaginas, obviously."
Matt: "I mean, how do they normally do it."
Greg: "Like that. That's why I don't eat pickles."
Matt: "I don't think that's really it."
Greg: "Why not? How do you know?"
Matt: "Call it a hunch."

I'm back in the saddle. I got into Lubbock from Austin at around 6 today. I had a great trip. I saw Jackie. After a little bit of struggling, I finally convinced her that as much as I wanted to, I couldn't be the boyfriend both of us wanted me to be for her. She took it really well, and I still got to spend a lot of time with her as a friend, which was really great. She's such a good person, and I'm glad she's in my life.

Okay, so aside from that, I spent time with family mostly. Clara turned 3, which was cool. I got her some Winnie the Pooh books. I never got around to playing Kingdom Hearts for either her or Lena on my Playstation, but it's okay. I ~DID~ manage to get my Game Boy recharged, and I've been playing Chain of Memories. I beat the Dragon form of Maleficent. Twas fun. Of course, first I got the L shoulder button working, and now the R one has decided to be sticky. X_X Anywho...... I had a good Thanksgiving dinner, and.... I dunno, it was kinda random....

Yeah, I'm done.

Blogthings - A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

I'm Smart!

Your IQ Is 125

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius Your Mathematical Intelligence is Exceptional Your General Knowledge is Exceptional

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

Letter From The King

I'm such a nerd. And they won't let me link to the site, but here's the address anyway, so HAH! http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/file/kingdom_hearts_script.txt

"Donald,
Sorry to rush off without sayin' goodbye, but there's big trouble brewin'. Not sure why, but the stars have been blinkin' out, one by one. And that means disaster can't be far behind. I hate to leave you all but I've gotta go check into it. There's someone with a 'key'-the key to our survival. So I need you and Goofy to find him, and stick with him. Got it? We need that key or we're doomed! So go to Traverse Town and find Leon. He'll point you in the right direction.

P.S. Would ya apologize to Minnie for me? Thanks, pal."

Yay I get to play again Wednesday.

Edit: Okay, I found another cool one.

Although my heart may be weak, it's not alone. It's grown with each new experience, and it's found a home with all the friends I've made. I've become a part of their heart just as they've become a part of
mine. And if they think of me now and then...if they don't forget me...then our hearts will be one. I don't need a weapon. My friends are my power!

I'm gonna make me some away message with these

Tresk or Druck?

Matt's got this remote controlled truck thingy. It's not quite remote controlled, more like it's self-guiding. For his electronics or something project, he's got to hook it up to a GPS and get it to drive itself around a parking lot. He was testing it tonight. He had it hooked into his computer, and it was sitting in his desk drawer, propped up. From my angle, it looked like it was peeking over the edge. And then its motor started up, and the truck was like... HUMPING the drawer. So my only conclusion was that Matt is going to create some sort of desk/truck hybrid. So, either a Tresk.. or a Druck. Which is it? Anyway, fun.

Magical Dealings

Last night I played a couple of multiplayer games of magic, thanks to AIM's chat function. Unfortunately, I was using my red/white weenie deck, which is great at killing off one player, but not as good against multiple opponants. It's quick, but not enough long-term gas. Oh well. So I got my ass handed to me by a Kaldra token, but I managed to pretty much kill him off in exchange. I realized that most of my competitive decks are really just focused for one-on-one matches, and don't have the extra "oomph" to last through a multiplayer game. I thought for a while and eventually I realized that I have a couple of decks that are much better suited for multiplayer.

The first one is a casual combo deck I made a while ago, when I discovered I had 4 Last Laughs and nothing to do with them. It uses Last Laugh, along with pro-Black creatures and Sphere of Grace to make the Laugh one-sided, and then some massive form of removal (I used to use Desolation Angel until I got some Armageddons) to trigger a massive, board-killing, life-decimating Laugh. The more players, the more lands/creatures, the better. It's a thing of beauty, especially because before I draw my kill card, no one wants to do anything for fear of setting off Laugh, pretty much locking the game for me to draw Armageddon.

After that, I have an old one, one I made back in the far-off days of Apocalypse. I found myself with 4 Armadillo Cloaks, 4 Soul Links, and 2 Spiritmongers. That's right, I have a cheesy lifegain deck. The mana is absolutely horrible, being not only 3 colors, but having almost all of its useful creatures at 5 mana. But if I can get the mana to work, it's the best. I recently cheesed out and put in 4 Thrashing Wumpuses, AKA the best Armadillo Cloak target on Earth. He starts thrashing, and you do not wanna be on the other side of that. And that thing in particular makes him a beating in multiplayer. Even if he doesn't manage to kill anyone in a 3 player game, each activation is still at least a 3 point life gain for me, just between him and the players. Any other creatures on the field are just gravy at that point.

Either one of these decks would be stellar in multiplayer, be it free for all or Two Headed Giant. Anyone wanna build the partner deck for that one? ^_^

In other news, Passion (the Kingdom Hearts 2 theme?) is available for download. Check it out here.

I'm Just Sane Enough

...to know how insane I am.

I had an interesting dream last night. No idea what it was about. Something about me driving around some random town with the family on my mom's town. Not sure why. Then I ended up at a doctors office waiting room. With my dad's family. Dad, Wendy, James, and Dylan. And me. I'm not quite sure why. It eventually came up that we were at a psychiatric doctors office, or something. It's all rather fuzzy. The thing I REALLY remember is that James was going on about how Jesus was diagnosed as being clinically insane, and Wendy was arguing with him about it. Yeah, that's pretty much the way that things are there, only with different arguments. The funny part of it is that Wendy and her kids are actually Jewish.

Agh.. Brian spacy.... Try to ignore any weirdness in the following rambling. Lessee... The title of this entry came to me earlier tonight. I was walking past a cop-car, like, right in front of it, and got the distinct impression that it was going to eat me. No one was in the car or anything, but I really feel that if someone had chosen that moment to turn on the lights and start the engine.... I woulda panicked and fell on my ass right there. O_O

Moving on. I went to Hastings today. It was cool. I bought a present for Jackie. Top secret though. I also got a chance to play Final Fantasy XII, though. That was cool. The game plays out... different. Not quite like FFX or VII, but also not quite like Kingdom Hearts. It's sorta a cross. You and your party run around a "stage" populated by enemies. When you hit the X button, the game pauses and an option menu comes up. "Attack, Magic, Summons, Items", like that. These options all work the way the do in the older Final Fantasy games. You pick an action, then game goes back into real time and your characters enact it for you, either until the target is dead if you chose "attack", or just the once for everything else. It was fun though. I got to kill a Tyrannosaur. It was awesome! I hereby add that to my list of "things I want."

Okay, I think I've squeezed all the toothpaste from this tube.

Interesting Developments

In our dorm room, we leave our shades up almost year round, because we have box fans in the windows. If you happened to be passing by my room just a few minutes ago, you would have seen an interesting sight. A six foot tall guy in blue boxers and nothing else was doing crunches, push-ups, and, most visibly, jumping jacks. Yeah, I was exercising. (You know you're outta shape when you don't even know how to SPELL that word.) *Gaps. I did 20 crunches, then 10 push-ups, and finished with a good hundred quick jumping jacks. Yeah, 100. I need more aerobic exercise, my heart is gonna kill me if I don't. In any case, I think I'll start with that plan, and just go up in incriments in five if any given number starts to be too easy. Sound good? Just for reference, my KaJuKenBo lessons started with something like 100 each pushups and crunches, and 1000 jumping jacks. And that was just a warm up. O_O

Also, note to self, try not to wear loose boxers. They were falling off your ass, Greg. x_x

Lesse... Just a quickie before I go. I've been talking to a few people the past few days about relationships and such. It seems like lots of people are asking me "What can I do to make him/her/you love me?" I wish I could give the answer. I was telling one person about how I manage to be completely irresistable to anyone, without even trying, and he asked me how I did it, and I honestly don't know. Of course, in a few minutes HE was completely taken with me too. I'm scary powerful. But that's my own problem. For most people, it seems to be the opposite. No matter what they do, they can't seem to get some person to like them. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

At the back of my head, I'm reminded of one strip of Megatokyo. Something was said, talking about dating sims, Piro's favorite kind of game, along the lines of "Say the right words, make the right choices, and any girl will be yours." I just can't find it. This is the closest I've come (bottom frame). But yeah, that seems to be the attitude a lot of people are taking. All I have to do is say or do the right things and I'll have the one I want. Unfortunately, life is rarely that simple, and people aren't defined by simple cut and dry choices. For starters, just think about how boring that would be? Seriously though, I hate having to say this, but more often than not, there ISN'T some magic phrase that will woo a girl off her feet. I believe that if the love is there, you won't need anything else, but if the love isn't there, well... and the worst part is that usually you don't find that out until it's too late.

Love stinks.

Edit: ...sometimes.

Time Delay

Okay, I'm officially starting a few countdowns. Here goes:

Nov 21 - Hikaru Utada's "Passion" (KH2 Theme) TV Debut.
Nov 22 - Home for Thanksgiving break.
Dec 07 - Last day of regular classes.
Dec 10 - Extended PTQ at Mad Hatters. Winner goes to Hawaii.
Dec 14 - Last day of finals. I GET TO GO HOME FOR WINTER BREAK!
Dec 22 - Kingdom Hearts 2 released in Japan. Must consider spoilerage
Dec 24 - I'm 21! Maybe I'll get drunk, but probably not.
Dec 25 - Yay Christmas. I've gotta buy some presents before this point.
Jan 0X - Possible visit to NJ. Not sure yet. Everything about winter break is a blur.

And then, the crown jewel of long distance goals:

Mar XX - Kingdom Hearts 2 North American release. *Spooge*

So yeah, there's what's going on in my life. I'm sure theres some other stuff going on too.

I've got a whole bunch of details to fill in there, too. Final projects and such. Vacation plans are almost wide open. I gotta schedule time with Jackie. I gotta fit some time to play with little Clara, and I'm sure Lena's gonna want a bit of my attention. And then, as I've been focusing on Kingdom Hearts so much lately, I need to go back to my Hard difficulty game of the first one and do some work on that. My master plan? Show Lena the Agrabah level (from Aladdin) and see if Clara wants to help me play with Winnie the Pooh in the 100 Acre Woods World. I won't beat the game, but I'll get something done at least while im there.

Oh yeah, while I've got you here, I just earlier remembered the dream I had last night. If you haven't seen Blade 2 it won't make any sense to you. For that matter, even if you have, it still won't. It's a dream. Dreams don't make sense ever. Rawr. Anyway, I was running around killing those super vampire things with lights. Yeah, the UV flashlight things that worked so well. Then the head vampire guy though, he was immune. It sucked. But I think I still managed to win. Not sure how. I mighta just woken up, but yeah. Yay pop culture nonsense.

My brain is falling apart at the scenes.

John Cusack Has Father-In-Law Issues

John Cusack is a good actor. That is, he acts in movies that I enjoy, and I enjoy his preformances in them. So yeah, good actor. Except for one small detail. the father of his significant other (wife, fiance`, girlfriend, whatever) always ends up dying. If you haven't seen High Fidelity, you need to. It's damn good movie. Same goes for Pushing Tin, a movie about air traffic controllers. In both of them, his girlfriend/wife's father dies, and while that in and of itself is not a major plot point, something important always happnes, just after the funeral. It's weird. I shall bring you more on this issue as it develops.

X-Box 360

I don't trust that thing. Yeah, the new X-Box. Just look at it. It's white. There hasn't been a white video game system since the Playstation, and honestly, the first one was just a little suspicious. And really, the PS1 was just grey. The X-Box 360 is pure white. It's like an Imperial Stormtrooper. And they're all wireless... No, no, nothing about this adds up at all. I may go for the stately silver Playstation 3.

On which I will play Kingdom Hearts 2!!! Actually, I hope to beat KH2 before the PS3 comes out, but still... Here's a list of all the things I'm excitied about for Kingdom Hearts 2:

-Tron World!
-Steamboat Willie World! (Go go retro goodness)
-Disney castle! (Yeah, I'm a dork)
-PIRATES! (Seriously, they got Jonny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Kiera Knightly for the POTC world)
-More storyline development!

Seriously, I've already ranted about how awesome the first one's story was. And there was a lot left unfinished. Riku and Mickey were locked on the wrong side of the final doorway, Kairi was left alone on their home of the Destiny Islands, and Sora, Donald and Goofy were alone wandering in the middle of nowhere. Apparently something else happened to them for the game Chain of Memories, but it seems that game was something of a removable sidequest. Important things happened, but nothing that'll be missed when KH2 starts. I've been looking at way too many rumors for the game, and I'm not sure I want to.

All I REALLY wanna know is the release date, and maybe watch a few preview videos. The commercials that made it to TV for the first game were really good. I hate to admit it, but half the reason I bought the game was because the "Simple and Clean" PlanetB remix was stuck in my head. (This was the same major reason I got FFX and X-2; the "Real Emotion" commercials got to me)The other reason was that I have a big nostalgia spot, including Disney characters, from Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, on to Aladdin. So that made the game actually look like it would be fun to play. Plus I had a bunch of extra store credit (I wrote about it a while back), so I got it. And I have not regretted it. It's a great game. Have I told you to buy Kingdom Hearts enough yet? Do you have it? Why not? Go! Now!

And Chain of Memories. Man my DS can't come soon enough.

What Is It Good For

This came up on the Daily Show tonight. Felt like looking up the lyrics, and then sharin them with y'all:

War! - huh- yeah-
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Uh-huh

War! – huh – yeah-
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Say it again y’all

War! – huh – good God
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me…

Ohhh… War! I despise
Because it means destruction’
Of innocent lives

War means tears
to thousands of mothers eyes
When their sons go to fight
and lose their lives

I said - War! Huh – Good God y’all
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Say it again

War! Whoa, Lord
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me…

War! It ain’t nothing but a heartbreaker
War! Friend only to the undertaker
War! It’s an enemy to all mankind
The thought of war blows my mind

War has caused unrest in the younger generation
Induction then destruction-
Who wants to die?

Ohhh… War – Good God Y’all
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Say it, Say it, Say it

War! Uh-huh – Yeah - Huh!
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me…

War! It ain’t nothing but a heartbreaker
War! It’s got one friend, that’s the undertaker
War has shattered many a young mans dreams
Made him disabled bitter and mean
Life is much to precious to spend fighting wars these days
War can’t give life, it can only take it away

War! Huh – Good God y’all
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing
Say it again

War! Whoa, Lord
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me…

War! It ain’t nothing but a heartbreaker
War! Friend only to the undertaker
Peace Love and Understanding;
tell me, is there no place for them today?
They say we must fight to keep our freedom
But Lord knows there’s got to be a better way

War! Huh – Good God y’all
What is it good for?
You tell me
Say it, Say it, Say it

War! Huh – Good God y’all
What is it good for?
Stand up and shout it.
Nothing!

So true.

So in other news, now that I've wasted a good chunk of space, here's the highlight of my day. A girl friend of mine got into a fight with some other girl, over some stupid thing (*cough*Mike*cough*), and I got dragged into it. I wish I'd saved the chat, because it was quite entertaining. The best part was when the offending girl brought her new boyfriend in with her, and he threatened to use his gang (first it was the mob, then it was just A mob, the generic pitchforks and torches thing I guess?) before settling on an inner city gang.

So... This guy's solution to dealing with a girl that upset his girlfriend is to go get a gang of thugs to beat her up? Where in does this make sense? Also the guy (19) decided I sounded like a 13 year old dork, despite the fact that I was the only one in the room making intelligent arguments, plus the oldest. I'm not 13. A dork, maybe. I wear that tag with pride.

Toilet Seats

So Jackie went and sent me this comic, thereby sparking the age old (apparently) debate about guys leaving the toilet up. I'd never really understood it. I always got it confused, thinking I should leave the seat UP, so it doesn't get dirty. Either that or I should leave the whole thing, seat and cover both down, to keep stuff from getting out, like in the movie Dreamcatcher. Only, not aliens.

Now, to be fair, I grew up in a house with two younger brothers as my only siblings, and through it all, my mom had a personal attached bathroom to her bedroom. She would often lock herself in there for stretches and read her romance novels. In any case, in a house dominated by males, we'd never considered that someone could actually not pay attention and FALL IN. I had never even considered it until just today, when a couple girls told me. Perhaps its just how I was raised, going from sharing bathrooms with both brothers, to sharing them with just PJ the one year we lived on Allison Rd, to having my own personal bathroom in Austin. And again, I'd shared public bathrooms at restaurants with just other men. Even the facilities here at Bledsoe, which all sit down models (no urinals), are shared by only men. So the idea of thinking specifically about a woman coming in and having to use the toilet after me may simply have never crossed my mind.

But I don't see why men have to do all the work. I mean, I occasionally have to sit on a toilet, too (it's called pooping), and I haven't ever fallen in, even after sharing facilities just with men. Do you ladies want to know why? Because I CHECK before I sit down. I don't just back into the stall and plop down. I walk in, facing the toilet, close the door if there's a stall, and check. I mean, how hard is it to look at a toilet and think, "Oh my, no, my butt could fit right through there"?

And then, once you've identified the problem (which is the big reason chicks fall in), you have to *Gasp* lower that seat. Oh, such hard work, going with gravity and all. Oh no, we'll have none of that. Make guys lift (work against gravity) AND lower.

WTF?

Come on, take some personal responsibility. It's not my fault if you don't check where your ass is going. But with all the other things guys do to be nice to girls, like holding doors open, pulling out chairs, paying for the dates, do you really have to ask us to lower a seat for you too? Do you want us to think you really are that helpless? Or retarded?

Again, to be fair, this is not the most retarded thing I've ever heard from a woman. In the intrest of fair play, here it is: When I was in debate class in high school, one of my classmates was a girl named Amanda. I don't remember her last name, but she was, in my mind at least, hot. Not like, movie star sexy gorgeous, but she had something about her that made me like looking at her. But she said some of the dumbest things about girls in general, it was almost funny except she was serious. The incident in question, the one that will forever stick out in my mind, was some discussion of date rape. I don't remember exactly how the class got to talking about this, but her position was basically that if a girl is dressing in sexy / revealing / appealing clothes to a party, she's basically asking to have sex, and shouldn't complain about being raped. That was, and is still, in my mind, the most retarded things I've ever heard. A girl who looks pretty is not asking to be raped. No one ever is. And anyone who thinks that a sexy dress is an excuse to rape the wearer has some sort of problem.

The story has a happy ending though. One of the teachers, a woman, spoke up and said, "Well, Amanda, what you're wearing could be considered overly sexy." It was true. "Does that mean you're giving all the guys in this class permission to rape you?" Before Amanda had a chance to answer, I spoke up. Keeping my right hand on the mouse so I could play Snood, I raised my left fist in the air and shouted "Lets go!"

Stephen Merrit gave me a high five for that.

EDIT: Oh yeah, my proposed solution to the toilet seat thing: I've decided to start an agressive campaign of leaving toilet seats up. Even when I poop. Seat goes up. Take that.

Either that, or I cover up the whole seat, just so they can see what it's like to lift the seat.