Musing

Ho will not be with you today. Ho's got the flu. :-(

Reading the paper today, I found an article about a German-Christmas festival type thingie in Chicago. Then I thought to myself, "Hmm...we never DID get that pizza from Gino's..." Heaton, Jerm, do you guys want to fix that problem over break with a little trip? I'm not sure how it would work with my own work schedule, but I think I could get a day off somewhere from Joe for it. No, this does not include the trip to the Tip Top Tap. :-P I think I'm actually going to beat this physics final! Go me. It's supposed to get really messy here this weekend; if that's true everywhere, then I hope all of you are careful on the roads. Don't drive like me.

Sometimes when the physics homework is just too overwhelming, I like to take those interesting little personality tests. This one came to me courtesy of (as I later discovered her to be) my evil twin, Voldemort #1. She claims to be more evil. I have my doubts. Anyways, here are my results. Is this me or what? "As Lord Voldemort, you are extremely intelligent, talented and brilliant. One minor drawback though... you are the personification of all evil. Although you have a clear understanding of moral issues, you prefer to take the more murderous or destructive option. Your strong powers of leadership attracts people, but for all the wrong reasons. Your favourite past-time of blowing up people does not go down well with the neighbours." Muahahaha...

Time to get bitchy. I guess, as one of the most cynical people I know, I shouldn't be so disillusioned. It just really irks me to see stupidity running so rampant at this stage in our lives. Maybe getting into college is too easy. Maybe there should be a character test of sorts. When I see guys like I did last night, playing football in the hallway at 1 AM, mocking me by telling me it's past my bedtime, and in all likelyhood WAY under the influence, I don't get mad. I get sad. I can shrug off their shit. I think all of us have taken our share of shit in our lives and are able to deal with it accordingly. It's the fact that the guys even got into what is supposed to be "an institute of higher learning" that makes me wonder. What the hell are they doing here? Maybe you think I'm going off on these guys for this one little provocation, but you'd be wrong. I'm know, from VI, that Tori knows what I'm talking about. And I'm sure...

Words/Phrases That Made My Day(s) This Past Week (in one way or another) "Where's the Jello?" "Yes." "OMG, your Cheerios are BLEEDING?!?! What? Oh...just Spaghettios..." "One bourbon, one scotch, one beeeeeeer." "Your total comes to $37.10." "Here you go, sir. Thank you!" "WHERE'S RICHARD???" "You're back..." "Ya know, that razor of yours would work better with some blades in it." "It's from Ukrainia." Stories are available for most of them (some were just "you had to be there" things, or too complicated). Just ask if you're curious.

There was a column in today's Star about a contest/program in Indianapolis called "One Book, One City, Indy's Choice." People from around the city vote at the Marion County library branches for the one book they think that the entire city should read, then a panel comprised of librarians and officials from the mayor's office narrow it down to 25 (this year, ~2,000 people suggested ~800 books). Why don't we see more of these books from the lists that Mrs. Wilkeson gave us? (note: I also can't help but point out that the greatest book ever is down there) "All Quiet on the Western Front," Erich Maria Remarque. "The Autobiography of Malcolm X," Malcolm X with Alex Haley. "The Bluest Eye," Toni Morrison. "Caramelo," Sandra Cisneros. "The Chosen," Chaim Potok. "A Confederacy of Dunces," John Kennedy Toole. "Fahrenheit 451," Ray Bradbury. "Follow the River," James Alexan...

Quote of the Week: "Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it , can be saved." (emphasis mine)

Every year, I pick a favorite new release that I hear either debuting on the radio or on a newly released CD for my "Song of the Year." I've got seven songs in mind right now - more may follow. I'm curious as to what everyone else thinks of these seven (if you've even heard em all...prolly not, lol). With so many I need to narrow it down a bit... Here is Gone ~ Goo Goo Dolls Up All Night ~ Counting Crows Miami ~ Counting Crows Politik ~ Coldplay For You ~ Staind Stop Cryin' Your Heart Out ~ Oasis Where Did It All Go Wrong? ~ Oasis If there's something that you think deserves to be on the list then by all means add it. But you'd better be able to knock one off the list in its place. :-P

As I was browsing around letssingit.com yesterday, I noticed that they had a CD listed in there by the Counting Crows that I have NEVER heard of nor seen. If anyone ever comes across any information about this CD, "She Likes the Weather," PLEASE let me know. I'm finding that site much quicker than getlyrics.com, so if any of you guys like to go there, search for a good artist, and download all of the songs that are listed under that artist, I think sing-it is a little quick. And less pop up banners (or at least so far). I found a whole CD's worth of Oasis B-sides. Guess what I'm doing when I come home for Thanksgiving...:-D If, in the sidebar, you find a link that doesn't work, just yell at me. I'm not exactly a genius at this.

A little while back, Heaton and I did a little list of the things we learned in high school. It began as a joke - we never thought we'd actually make it to 101. Actually we made it farther, but for the sake of a nice number, I'm going to sacrifice some of my lamer ones. If we seem to have left anything out, just let one of us know. :-D (I should add that some of these are inside jokes and may make no sense to ANYONE else; just assume it's funny. UNLESS it looks serious - we did have a couple serious ones in there.) 101 Things We Learned at NP 1. Fruitopia = life. 2. 2:13 is the best time of day. 3. Pepsi + laughter = severe pain. 4. Never, under any circumstance, ask Mrs. Trujillo about anything. 5. Psycho Miko. 6. Sparknotes.com has saved more lives than anyone alive (or dead) today. 7. Mr. Wade + blood = free time. 8. Two words - Mrs. Louck. Yowza. 9. Joe Smith + geometry = a 4 sided triangle inscribed on your picnic table....

So here's the situation. We, the entire physics class, are all failing. I've had the rumor confirmed that the prof is either quitting or getting fired after this semester, so basically he can keep on screwing all of us over and not get screwed over himself (I believe it's that he's getting fired for his poor teaching ability, I can't remember how my source put it). I have two friends in there with me who are in a couple other classes with me. Jordan, a former top ten student in his school, never below a 3.5 in high school, is withdrawing ASAP so he can keep his basketball eligibility working for him. Joe, another top 10% in his class, a freaking genius, had said in the past that he wanted to follow through to the bitter end. Unfortunately, however, if we take this F, our GPAs will go from 4.0s to 2.5s - definitely not a good thing. So I wanna know what you guys think. Drop it? Or stick it out? (I've already decided my course of action, but if someone m...

This woman is just too cool. Er...was too cool, I guess. Though tediously wordy at times (gee, we don't know anyone like that do we?), she makes a hell of an argument for her point. Most of you know that The Fountainhead is my number one favorite book ever. The Virtue of Selfishness is a nonfiction collection of essays. Not as fast paced, but much more blunt. And we all know blunt is good.

A few things: ~ Just because I'm a math major and this has been irking me, I would like to correct an earlier equation that I derived: x loads of laundry = 45x + 26 (minutes). ~ Would everyone who saw nothing wrong with Sarah's Mistletoe dress please stand up? Well...and comment that you agree with me (that there was nothing wrong with it). ~ Is it just me, or is it harder to hear when you don't have glasses or contacts on/in? ~ How big a dork would you think someone is if finding out that the copy of War and Peace that they bought is abridged totally ruined their afternoon? Totally hypothetical question of course.

I have here a column that I read as regularly as I can. I don't want to say much more than that, I just want to hear some input. Praise it, tear it up, do whatever you want, but let's hear it. I've got a couple things I'd like to say, but I want to see if anyone else sees what I do, or if I'm just stupid. I don't know about you all, but this parable about the workers in the vineyard has always [been] a tough one for me to swallow. There just doesn't seem to be any fairness in it. And, as we all know, "fairness" is what it's about in the United States these days. Ever after the Gospel, when we say, "Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ!" many of us think, "I do give praise to Jesus Christ but it still isn't fair!" It's so easy for us, isn't it, to identify with the workers who've worked all day long in the hot sun? You see, the main stress of the parable isn't on the early workers. It's on the ...

Ya know, it must suck to be deaf. Why? I can think of at least one good reason. What if you need to fart? Maybe you think you're letting it out nice and easy but in reality it's a long, high pitched screamer. You sit there assuming that no one will notice or pass it off on someone else (pun acknowledged), when in reality everyone in the room has just gone absolutely bug eyed in abject fear of the cloud that surely must be making it's way around the room, sufficating victims left and right. Or let's say you just decide to say "Excuse me" every time you fart. Well, then you're going to let people on to a LOT of farts that you could have gotten away with. It does have a couple upsides. You can't really get yelled at, you can NEVER have the music too loud (Music? What music?), and you can't hear all of the nasty things people say about you. You can bet they'll be saying those things anyways, though, especially when you interrupt so...

Someone pointed this out to me today: corndogs != boobs So which of the following must also be true then? A) Corndogs > boobs B) Corndogs C) Or is this person wrong, in that corndogs = boobs?

God bless corn dogs.

I almost think I should be starting a book review in the sidebar, because I have to post another... ...Interesting read of the week: A Tale of Two Cities is a really smooth thing to read when you're taking a history class that covers the French Revolution. If you didn't like Great Expectations, you can stop right now I guess, cuz it doesn't get any less Dickens-like (ie - more readable). I still think it's a good book, though. Cheers to He for VI 2.0. :-) OK, how soon does everyone start their Christmas shopping? I usually start thinking in October, saving in November, and buying in December (hey, I'm a procrastinator, so sue me). Mom on the other hand does things year round. ***Warning: The following made up story is not only typical Ho, but contains suggestive dialogue. Actual facts, where present, are credited to Chapter 31 in Traditions and Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past and in bold . Viewers beware.*** STDs Find Roots in...

Well, the hell of Modhist paper number one is over. He's actually promised a slower reading pace now. Except now, the reading is all about the Middle East. If I may borrow an expression here, "gag me with a spork." For all of you who wanted the Fuzz gone the minute you first saw it, you've got your wish. I still think it makes me look younger, if that's at all possible at age 19. Scratched like hell for a while, but it's better now. I don't plan on making that part of ANY bet EVER again, believe me. Interesting read of the week: The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. Yes, believe it or not, he wrote other books than the Chronicles of Narnia . This, in addition to his other works, are more geared towards adult audiences than the Chronicles , and much more blatantly pro-Christianity. I wasn't even looking for this one when I found it in the library; supposedly his two entitled The Screwtape Letters and Mere Christianity are his hallmarks, b...

Being Friday the 13th and all, it didn't really surprise me when the sun went out this morning. I was walking back from breakfast (cinnamon french toast, yum) reading the paper when it just got really dim. I blinked and then it was alright again. See, I'm near a pretty big airport, and I've kinda learned to tune out the sound of really low planes flying overhead. So it just turned out to be some huge plane. How depressing. At least calc was no disappointment. I had my test in there today, all about limits. I'm thinkin' near perfect score on that one... Physics sucked its usual giant exploding monkey balls (ok, if you've never heard my use that expression, I really do; however, it's for the epitomes of suckage, so it's a rarity). I got my first paper assignment of the year in modhist, but it oughta be a piece of cake. Some important dates coming up: ~*~ 7 days till Sarah comes down... in a dress!! (order your 5x7 prints by ...

Ho Does Indy: Episode III Act 1 - Mac lab, basement of library at Marian [Ho looks up from doing homework during his shift and speaks to Coleman, Mac lab administrator] Ho: Hey, are there any Meijers or Walmarts around here? I need to go blow some gas even though I don't have money to do it with. Coleman: Sure, I can help ya. Go out to 38th street and turn left. Go until ya see the big "Meijer" sign. Can't miss it! Ho: (makes what appears to be a blonde look (though we all know that's impossible)) OK! Act II - In Scurf, leaving Doyle Hall Parking Lot (pulling out of his spot) Ho: Whoa, sh*t, that car is awfully close...whoa WHOA...God, I hope that Sebring already had that mark... (pulls out onto road) Ho: Hey, this is a piece of cake...*pause*...29th street? What the hey? Oh well, we'll see where this goes, I guess...(another pause)...That looks an awful lot like downtown. HEY! I'm on 27th?? Scurf: SQEEEEEEEEAAAAAA...

I learned a very important equation today while working on my calc homework and doing laundry that will probably be the most important equation I'll learn all year: x loads of laundry = 70x minutes. Almost missed ceramics class...and DID miss lunch. :-P I think I've also figured out why I think college homework is worse than high school homework. The professors here haven't once mentioned an assignment, except to say that we can turn it in on his/her desk as we're walking out the door. This can create a lot of panicky situations - it sure did the other morning when I realized that I hadn't even started my physics assignment. Luckily it was short and easy, and it only took me 10 minutes. I've taken to writing down the assignment in several different places now, so wherever I look I have to say "OK, did I do that yet?" Putting together my two subjects, we get today's wonderful advancement in college organization: Homework Day. I only...

Yeah, so tonight, I got screwed. For those of you who don't know, or havn't heard me say it enough, I hate all of this orientation/socialization crap that they have been feeding us the past couple days. Unfortunately, sometime earlier this afternoon, they decided to have a cookout and close the cafeteria for the rest of the evening, which I missed as I was filling out forms and talking to Leah at the time. So right now, I'm an empty Ho. :-( I'm almost happy that classes start tomorrow - at least then I can hope for a somewhat normal schedule. Thursday's schedule goes right to hell though; some mass offering well-wishes for all of the new students and returning students for this school year. *rolls eyes* Great, from the very beginning we're told we need to live off of this prayer (the mass is mandatory)... I had something I thought I'd let everyone vote on, but as my Comment Machine from Hell is still being worked on (it may be next week someti...

Well, now that I've finished breaking everything that came half broken in my room I can finally say that I'm happy with the way it looks. After Sarah left this afternoon I went and cut a hole in my broken closet ceiling (with a sharp knife, thanks to Jason!) so that my curtain could actually hang. Eh...velcro isn't a really good curtain hanging idea, but it's what they gave me, and it's really all I can do with what I've got. Good enough - it's my best effort. My roomie, Kyle, is back from from his trip home. We've talked a little bit, bragged over pictures of our girlfriends, played a couple games of pool in the student center, and all around gotten pretty comfortable - all in one evening. He kinda reminds me of a quiet Don Gourley, just much less mischevious. I think we'll manage. Niftium took a hit last night. :-( I hung it from the ceiling just above my bookcase (well, one of them), came back from the ghost stories and found it lyin...

Alright, is my hair brown or blonde?? Vote now. Vote correctly. :-P Some thoughts on packing: -Nifitum is damn near impossible to pack into ANY box. -Anyone else having a hard time judging how much stuff to bring in the way of school supplies? -I have WAY too many books. -My roomie had better keep his crap on his side. Dana and Victoria may be able to fudge, but the minute this guy crosses the line, his crap goes out the window (to be followed quickly by his stupid ass). I’m gonna have little enough room as it is… -I think I’ll havta get a plant of my own too. Fake or real? I’m thinkin’ fake would be a hell of a lot easier. -All of the Swedish fish I have could almost fill a box of their own. *shakes head* -Ah! My piano books! I gotta get THOSE down here… -Time to get back into getting in bed at a respectable time? -HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Fat chance.

*Follow-up Story* Mom decided that she didn't want to do whatever it was that she wanted my truck and me for today OR tonight, so today was a pretty big waste of time. In fact, after she told me where she went this morning, she rose a few quick steps on my crap list. I wouldn't suggest talking to me unless I initiate the conversation till about Monday or so. Consider yourself warned.

Now I know what mom means when she says it annoys the heck out of her when I go somewhere without leaving a note. I woke up this morning to a very quiet house, so I just figured it was a lot earlier than it looked and checked out the clock. I'm the only one who can sleep till 11:30 in the morning like that, so I knew something had to be up. I dragged myself over to a front window and saw that the car was gone, so her and the other two must be out doing something. She told me not to make any plans today because she needs my truck and possibly me, though, so now I'm stuck here until she comes home. And, since she didn't leave a note, I have no idea when that will be. *pout* I was going to go to the mall and do the shopping that I didn't do in Chicago (or, rather, the buying that I didn't do in Chicago) until she disappeared, and then have another good meal at the Crafts'. Eating your words sucks, but getting a taste of your own medicine is worse.

The Grapes of Wrath and the Carrots of Temptation. First let's deal with the grapes. Grapes piss me off. I'd like to call up all of the stupid grape companies and say "Look, I'm tired of your product falling out of your retarded bags and all over my floor, alright? So either stop sending us bags with holes in them or start glueing your grapes to the vines. *click*" I swear, I find more and more grapes on the floor every day at work. Luckily I haven't had to close in a couple weeks, so it's not MY job to clean em up. Come to think of it, maybe I shouldn't be complaining...(who do you think's been closing? *evil grin*) Next the carrots. The aforementioned/alluded-to person who's been closing most days the past couple weeks made an mistake that my boss actually made fun of him for, right in front of me! The co-worker allowed himself to be persuade to buy some super expensive carrots instead of our normal ones when he was on the ph...

Lots of thoughts come in a week's time... First of all I'd like to add another qualification to my "what I'd like to be when I grow up." I want to be known as a teacher who farts. Yes, that's right, farts. Having a reputation as perfect or near-perfect is a pain, no matter how untrue it is (thankfully I have all of you to help me prove how stupid I really am, right?). Now don't get me wrong; I'm not going to stand up at my chalkboard on my first day teaching and cut a big one. It's just a figure of speech... !!! I actually cleaned my desk a few days ago. Mainly because I have a bill that I need to get off to Marian as soon as possible, but I was also starting to have a hard time reading with so many books open all over the place (btw, Jen, I finally got a copy of Crime and Punishment , but it's on the to-be-read waiting list, lol). It looks pretty nice this way - I might try to keep it like this. My dorm list is down to only a ...

Today's Vote of the Day is brought to you by several people who have all made a certain remark about me (for now I'll leave them anonymous). These people have told me that my natural expression is "murderous" or that I "always look pissed." I think that's a bunch of crap. The vote right now is 5 - 2, 5 saying I look evil, 2 who say I don't (not always, anyways). So what do you all think: Is Ho's natural expression "murderous"? Just because I don't know when I'll next blog, I'll throw up my Happy Birthday to McRoe here today. Feelin' any older, dearie? I made the mistake of getting into an age debate with mom today...the wounds are fresh enough to keep me out of trouble for a while. :-P Maybe I'll let ya win a game tonight...

I met the guy I wanna be when I grow up yesterday. He was a surveyor, working out off of Nimtz (pronounced NIM-z) right across from the police station. I was looking down that road that comes out of the station and did a double take when I saw him, for two reasons. One, he was making weird gestures with his arms, apparently to his partner on the other side of the lot. Two, he was wearing a Burger King MIB II crown and grinning like an idiot. Hey, maybe he was, I dunno. Whatever the reason for the grin, this guy knows how to do things right. I hope I'm that creative someday. I've got something that I'd like everyone to vote on. *dryly* You don't have to comment, just leave your answer on the Comment Machine from Hell (eh, it hasn't been that bad lately, but I like that name...it's got a nice ring to it). Anyways, the question: Who is going to win more games tomorow night - Tori or Ho? Ever feel like just pouring some salt into your hand and eati...

Ah, the things you can find online. Now THIS would make a hell of a blog, check it out. Scandal at Willy Wonka Factory Oh, the horror! And to think I used to love that movie...*shudders*

(This first part refused to publish last night, so just pretend it says Saturday, July 13th 2002, K?) By all rights, I should be in a very bad mood right now. My week long vacation in solitude came to an end this evening, after I came home from a long and boring seven hour day at work. Yet I still went though all day today dancing, whistling, joking, and yes, even singing (just to myself, don't worry, I'm more considerate of others than that). I've been thinking about it and I think I have the answer - I'm just proud of myself. I made it through the whole week with no problems. I didn't have to call anyone and ask any questions about laundry or anything like that. There was never a pile of dirty dishes (even though they don't know that, it still makes ME feel good). The house is clean and...well, still standing. Yeah, the grass looks like crap, but we all know that the Rain Gods and I don't get along too well, so it's not really my fault that it...

Thank God for grandparents. My maternals invited me over for supper this evening, so I had my first supper that didn't come straight out of the freezer in almost a week tonight. Boy does it feel good to have something that solid in your stomach. I heard a 10 sec news clip as we were flipping through the news channels at supper. There's a guy somewhere out west who is going to try to break the sound barrier by jumping out of a hot air balloon from something like an altitude of 150,000 ft. *pauses to let it sink in* Now mind you, I didn't take physics and that may be made painfully obvious here, but wouldn't you blow out your eardrums doing that? You're going to create a sonic boom in your wake, correct? And when you finally pull your parachute line, that boom is going to catch up and pass you, right? (alright, you all know where the comment button is, tell me what I'm missing here...) Ctrl-W almost made me feel good for a whole three minutes today. ...

I'm feeling (especially) like a man right now. I'm eating my frozen dinner, which I somehow managed to mess up slightly. I opened the package in the first place with my Swiss army knife and cutting the tray on the bottom, allowing the butter/water that the corn was in to escape once microwaved. I don't have a napkin, my big mug of kool aid is right next to my plastic tray, and my Oasis song just came on (yet again). Now if I could just find a strawberry pie in the freezer or something, life would be perfect. Oh, stop looking at me with those looks.

"One Day at a Time" Isn't iT odd how yOu can look ahead at the whole week ahead of you and say "Yeah, Wednesday's gonna be boRIng," "Thursday'll be alright," etc.? I realIzed laSt nighT that that's really not a good tHing. If you'rE thinking about a day to Come while mecHanically flying throUgh the one you'Re living in right now , then you're going to waste half of your life waiting for tomorrow (or, even worse, half of one of the best, most important summers of your life). So, beyond making plans, I'm going to try to stop that really annoying habit. For any of my fellow beaCHgoers, if you think of anytHing we need fOr Tomorrow from Meijer/Walmart, leT me know. I'm headIng out that way Either tonight a little after midnight or tomorrow morning for my CDs - may as well save someone a trip. (How'd I get so lucky? If I knew, I'd be more than happy to share, but I don't.)

First of all, I'm going to start with a story that is funny enough without any personal embellishment. Tori can vouch for me on the validity of this as well. We were on our way to the Cove last night where we were supposed to meet Jeremy for a game (he got a couple free tickets). Coming in the back way involves a lot of one way streets, something that I hate with a passion. As we were just getting into the area where all of the parking lots show up, I saw a car up ahead that looked like Jerm's and said "Hey, if that's Jerm, that's pretty funny," (because either he was driving very slow or I was really pushing the brown bullet to new limits). It got funnier as we saw whoever it was turn the wrong way down the one way street that runs alongside the stadium. Sure enough, as we were passing through the intersection we glanced at the red faced driver and it was the ol' Jerminator. What a funny guy. Having the house to yourself is a weird thing. Tim...

Happy Independence Day, everybody! OK, now that the happy-assed crap is out of the way, I can talk about what really made my day this morning: my new bobblehead doll. See, it's not the fact that it's a bobblehead doll. It could have been a stick. But I was the first one to open the box of cereal this morning, so I got first dibs. And guess what made it better yet? It was right on top! No digging around for a half hour trying to pull out a little plastic thing that you will forget by lunchtime! Right there! Anyone who's ever been a KID should know what a great feeling that can start a day out with. (btw, Oreo's O's with marshmallows are incredibly good, even at 6 AM) The great day hasn't stopped yet. I've read over two hundred pages of Apollyon and had two plates of nachos since I got home. A nap's sounding good, so I think I'll attend to that next...as soon as I remember what it was that I got out of the cereal box this mornin...

This short little post has only one purpose: to point out to a certain unnamed person who told me that it's supposed to storm tonight that the chance of rain is only 30%. I should be fine. After a day like today anyways (12-6, all spent in hell, as I was forewarned by the boss yesterday), I think I'll be able to sleep through Armageddon. Here's something to think about. Let's say that a sibling of a good friend of yours gets something (we'll use a hypothetical CD) that you really want. Would you glare at your friend for laughing? Or, if that friend has eyes that tend to do loop-de-loops on your brain, would you at least try to glare? My only laugh thus far comes from the fact that Sarah's song ("Waitress") just came on. Thanks for being Sarah, Sarah. *grin*

This close to the Fourth of July, there should be two things in the front of every American's mind - fireworks and terrorists. Fireworks - those traditional signs of American independence (appropriately invented and made in China, of course). Actually, around here, fireworks could be a bad thing. The lack of rainfall's got everything pretty dried up, so a few sparks in the wrong place could get a real work of fire started. BUT, that doesn't mean we have to let all of those bottle rockets and such go to waste! No! Use it for... ...national defense! That's right! On a day like the 4th, you know there's gotta be some sort of plot against the nation on hand, right? So lift your Chinese sparklers high with pride, light your Roman candles, and load your mortars, cuz anything low enough to be hit by fireworks probably needs to be shot down anyways. Me? I'll be sitting here in the basement with a bucket of water.

That hottie from church was in my store today. I was working pretty hard though, and she got away before I could ask her for the time and a date. Still, I was in a pretty good mood the rest of the day. Thank God for little favors from big hearts. *clears his throat* Hear ye, hear ye. The official Venting Inc. End-of-Summer Field Trip to Chicago will take place on August 6th, 2002. Be at the station in South Bend by 7:20 or so. Expected arrival time back home - 9:30 PM. Hope and pray for weather a little better than last time. How's this for confidence? I've got the house to myself all of next week while everyone else is on their family vacation. Mom came back from the store the other day and tossed me a big bag full of frozen dinners, adding "That's your food supply for next week." Thanks Mom. I can use a phone book, I know how to use a phone, and I can call Papa John's all by myself. Cuz I'm a big boy now.

Randomness for the day (and late night): -- There was a REALLY good lookin' girl in church today, a couple pews up (that, by the way, looks absolutely hilarious to me...and prolly only to me). At first I was disappointed that she didn't sit by me, but then I realized that I probably would have spent more time trying to rationalize a way to make a kiss a better "sign of peace" than a handshake and just all around not paying any attention to mass at all. She did wave to me when she was leaving though...made me grin... -- I went golfing (like, real golfing) for the first time today with my dad and bro. It's not exactly "golfing weather," none of us exactly "had a whole set of clubs," and none of us are exactly "golfers." So at least it was funny as hell (and before I catch any hell for that phrase, hell, as described by Dante, IS pretty funny). Tim and I tied for 20 over par, and dad was 15 over. *shrug* -- If anyone ...

Hell Freezes Over Associated Press - The well-known way of telling someone that something will never happen is just to tell them that it will happen "when hell freezes over." Well, folks, last night it did. Scientists first noticed the chill in the ground around 12:45 AM this morning (6/28/02), which was afterwards followed by slight tremors felt the world around and by odd sonic waves that seemed to eminate both from the sky and the ground. "I've never seen anything like it," remarked Stephen Hawking, world-renowned physicist. "Then again, at my age [cough] and in my crippled state, I'm not really sure [hack] if I'm facing you right now. If I had to guess though, I'd say something very momentous had just occured. The sound...angels singing and devils screaming? Who knows? I'm currently checking into the Book of Revelation; however, nothing about the ground getting cold is mentioned, so something big enough to shake...

Leisurely mornings at work followed by leisurely afternoons of reading are few and far between anymore, so today felt pretty good. I finished up Fahrenheit 451 again today, this time actually reading for enjoyment. I tell ya, this Bradbury guy really knows how to get fired up. Instead of any quotes off the top of my head (OK, knock it off with those grins and cheers), I'm just going to take a quote out of his coda to Fahrenheit and let you all compare it to a Ctrl-W masterpiece. "[...] For it is a mad world and it will get madder if we allow the minorities, be they dwarf or giant, orangutan or dolphin, nuclear-head or water conversationalist (sic), pro-computerologist or Neo-Luddite, simpleton or sage, to interfere with aesthetics. The real world is the playing ground for each and every group, to make or unmake laws. But the tip of the nose of my book or stories or poems is where their rights end and my territorial imperatives begin, run, and rule. If Mormons do no...

I've discovered a foolproof way to call upon the Rain Gods - and have them give you a favorable answer. Wash your vehicle. It seems to be a sacrificial type deal. If you offer to let them get your car muddy as soon as you've finished washing it, they will gladly give everyone a little rain just to see you in agony. Yes, that's right, it started raining not even five minutes after I finished washing the car today. And the ONLY time I've ever washed the truck, it rained not even a day later. So to any and all farmers who may have somehow wandered onto my site (how many farmers wander through blogs, anyways, though?): wash your tractors for some more rain. Is it selfish to say that really bad storms are only cool when you're NOT in your own home? I get worried about all of my personal stuff here at home when the lightning gets close and frequent, but anywhere else (at work, for example), I'm hopping around like a kid on Christmas, begging the Storm G...

I need to complain about medicine. My family is getting ready to go on their family vacation deal out eastward in a couple weeks and everyone's making their lists of things to bring. My sister asked me for some help getting together some stuff to do in the car, so I was flipping through her list and something caught my eye (no, boys, not weird unmentionables): a whole list of drugs. Not drugs as in illegal-type things, but other things. Allergy medicines, face cream things, and goodness only knows what else. For some reason, all of that junk makes me mad. Call me old fashioned, but when I get a headache, I refuse to take an asprin (unless I'm going to work or some other place that's only bound to make it incredibly worse). Did people a hundred years ago survive with allergies, pimples, and headaches? Obviously. Do people DIE from any of the above? Very few. So why in hell does my 13-year old sister have to list off an entire section for medication alone? ...

*sigh* Getting kicked off as you're proofreading your new comments sucks... Fat ladies should not shop in my store (Tori, you can skip this whole paragraph, I'm sure you've heard enough of this story...). Some woman came in a yelled at me when I tried to take her groceries out, then yelled at me again for telling her that she's not supposed to take the carts outside of the building. I went in the back room and was verbally profane enough to make my grandpa blush. Not the way to start the day. It got better, though. Much better. The beach at night is a wonderful thing. After most everyone else leaves, anyways. A tip to anyone who plans on wrestling on the beach: don't do it on the concrete walkway to the lighthouse. The sand might get in your eyes on the beach, but it's better than scraping up you AND your date. I've got a couple questions here, maybe someone can help me out. Hopefully, most you watched Looney Toons when you were little (o...

I noticed something at work that I feel I need to share with my fellow men. The magazine Cosmo has an article in it entitled "35 Ways to Turn a Man into a Mushball." I found that quite...fear inspiring. Where do they GET this stuff?? I'm tempted to buy one of the damn things just to see what it says...but that would just be weird. So be warned guys: if you suddenly feel yourself getting "mushy", then someone's been using this mag against you. I'll try to work on some countermeasures, but right now, I'm too busy being mushified by someone eating Oreos.

Fishing is quite addictive. Even when you feel like you've been blinded and dehydrated beyond any possible hope of recovery, that last bass you caught makes you think of all of the other bass out there, waiting to strike your lure and jump into your livewell. Was Wednesday a good day? Oh yeah. Hmm...off on a totally remote tangent here - usually when I see 12:00 on my clock down here, it means midnight. I don't think I've EVER seen noon. *shrug* Ya know, I had plenty of interesting thoughts yesterday on the boat, but like questions that you think of right before you stumble your way into bed, they all disappeared into the night. I could point out that I'm 19 years and one month old today...but that's just stupid. So I'll havta settle on a good quote of the day (well, technically this should be Wednesday's, since I did think of this on the boat...only because I was singing the song to myself, but let's not get THAT technical). The Counti...

Adding onto that good day, I got home about an hour ago from one of the roughest, mosquito-bite-filled, and all-around BEST days at Potato Creek...with Tori, of course. Just thought I'd try some of this "wing it" stuff she's so fond of. *grin* I think there's something to it...there must be. I've never been content to sit there and FEEL the damn things biting, yet want to leave my hand right as it is. I'm gonna set a tentative start time Friday night for 8:30. That way if I work till 8, I'll still have time to get home and get set up. I'll call Jerm tomorrow and tell him. Leave a note here if that's good/bad with you. Enough of me for one day, eh? (What was that I said at the park, Tori? About not wanting me to breathe, talk...and what else? :-P)

I'd have to say that today has been an oddly good day. I woke up humming the songs that woke me up, got complimented on my work at Nic's by the boss (who then went on to bitch at someone else, making me feel twice as good), and now I have the house to myself and nothing to do for the rest of the day. Ahh, summer. So naturally, today's quote is a little bit lighter: Damn you, Captain Crunch!!!! (eh, he was in my way and he hurt my arm as I was trying to get into the produce cooler...) And, if you haven't already heard from me or figured it out, the new screen name is . prolly would have looked better, but as it's a pain in the ass to try to change screen names, it'll havta do. I'll still have the yahoo account, but I rarely check that since AOL's right here. Finally, kudos to Tori for making it into calc at Purdue. Apparently I helped her get out of her slump when I reminded her that pi = 3.1415 or so. Nice job. *grin* Edit: This seems to be at...

For some unknown and rather disturbing reason, a quote of Mr. Colbourne's came to mind this morning. Without getting into the details of the circumstances, today's quote of the day is "Shoot to kill." *ahem* Yes... One of these days, I might get the blogback thing that Dimitrio has on his site on here so you guys can rip into me. That's really the only thing I couldn't get last night though (well, and the timestamp). With many thanks to Ctrl W and her pet monkey, I got the links and fonts changed. Almost there. Note to everyone: until I get my s/n changed, please use niftium@yahoo.com to send me any mail. This should only take one night, but just in case I have any problems...

Muahahaha...a site just for ME to complain about things on...this is gonna be good. I'm afraid I don't have anything to say now though. *pout* I do have a quote of the day, though. This comes almost verbatum out of church. Not believing in God isn't a sin. It's the hypocrisy of declaring your faith in something you don't believe in that is. Yes, it's been an interesting day. An interesting sermon this morning as well... Now if I can just get this stupid timestamp fixed, it'll all be good.