WTF? I'M HOME? DID I BAIL OUT OF COLLEGE ALREADY?
Naw, haha. I don't even want to leave college for a weekend. But I promised my mommy that I would come home, so here I am.
The Labor Dabor is today. Whoopdeedoo. Who really cares about anything about Labor Day other than getting off of work?
The big surprise is coming...it'll be here by Wednesday. It really isn't that big of a deal.
I need sleep now, though. As Skitz says, payce.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
KATRINA: ROUND TWO??
In case you don't watch the Weather Channel (like most people don't), there's another hurricane out there. It's headed straight for Louisiana. And it's a high Category 4, which is fucking STRONG already...and it's projected to strengthen. Katrina was a Category 3, and look what it did.
They just started rebuilding after Katrina, which was devastating. But there's a pretty good probability that Gustav will be just like Katrina, but STRONGER. Yeah...if you live in coastal Louisiana, Mississippi, or southeast Texas, you need to get the hell out of there.
I wonder if this is Mother Nature's way of saying, "this is what you dumbasses get for building a city BELOW sea level."
This really isn't fair, though. Two major hurricanes within four years? What the fuck?
Katrina hit Louisiana on August 25th, 2005. Gustav is expected to make landfall on Monday, during the early afternoon. That's September 1st, one week after August 25. Sources put the point of landfall about 80 miles southwest of New Orleans. Hurricanes are storms that cover a large amount of area, though. New Orleans will face at LEAST minimal hurricane-force winds, probably at least the winds of a direct-hit Category 2-3 storm.
What is it with Louisiana, Mother Nature?
Geez.
They just started rebuilding after Katrina, which was devastating. But there's a pretty good probability that Gustav will be just like Katrina, but STRONGER. Yeah...if you live in coastal Louisiana, Mississippi, or southeast Texas, you need to get the hell out of there.
I wonder if this is Mother Nature's way of saying, "this is what you dumbasses get for building a city BELOW sea level."
This really isn't fair, though. Two major hurricanes within four years? What the fuck?
Katrina hit Louisiana on August 25th, 2005. Gustav is expected to make landfall on Monday, during the early afternoon. That's September 1st, one week after August 25. Sources put the point of landfall about 80 miles southwest of New Orleans. Hurricanes are storms that cover a large amount of area, though. New Orleans will face at LEAST minimal hurricane-force winds, probably at least the winds of a direct-hit Category 2-3 storm.
What is it with Louisiana, Mother Nature?
Geez.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Oswego to UIUC:
IL71 W to IL47 S to I-74 E to Lincoln Ave S
Plainfield Rd S to Woolley Rd E to Stewart Rd S to Scotch Rd/111th St/Hassert Blvd E to Weber Rd S to I-55 NE to I-355 S to I-80 E to I-57 S to I-74 E to Lincoln Ave S
East-west highways crossed that make for nice checkpoints:
I-80
IL17
IL116
US24
IL9
US136
IL71 W to IL47 S to I-74 E to Lincoln Ave S
Plainfield Rd S to Woolley Rd E to Stewart Rd S to Scotch Rd/111th St/Hassert Blvd E to Weber Rd S to I-55 NE to I-355 S to I-80 E to I-57 S to I-74 E to Lincoln Ave S
East-west highways crossed that make for nice checkpoints:
I-80
IL17
IL116
US24
IL9
US136
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Effective swearing
The surprise is coming soon.
I have to say, I have quite a lot of appreciation for Obama's "I am not a douchebag" campaign
Though I also have to say that people seem to have mixed feelings about choosing Biden as a running mate
Because Biden....might actually add some douchebaggery to the mix
Already I'm seeing ads from the McCain campaign denigrating Barack Obama
Why can't elections be races where each candidate tries to do the best he can and not shit on the other guy?
People are saying that Biden might show aggression toward McCain when Obama's lack of aggression might be a major thing that is pushing him forward
If you've been following Philip DeFranco's show...
you know, SXE Phil?
you might have noticed that for some reason the latest video, which includes the question about when two girls kiss, has disappeared
I managed to find it but I've found that it has been made private
I don't know what happened, maybe he got a lot of shitty feedback from it
It's possible, I guess, but hey I really liked it- that was a good question because I find it questionable myself
I don't really appeal to girls who are so big of attention whores that they would be willing to do that
If they were lesbians, I would understand it....or pornstars...or real-life women who wanted to achieve the same effect that pornstars do...I think the technical term for that is SLUTS
I'd just like to say that phil's show is the bomb; if you haven't seen it, do so because he reports the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And that's the truth. truth, truth..
The stories are interesting, and he's not afraid to put it into a real context
It seems to me that more people are turning to sources like Phil, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert because it's MORE ENTERTAINING and it's NOT JAM-PACKED WITH BULLSHIT
Well, it is jam packed with bullshit but it's the RIGHT KIND OF BULLSHIT
it's the kind of bullshit that knows it's bullshit, and that's a compliment all-around because they make jokes about it and talk about the ridiculous stuff as IF it is actually ridiculous
They know what's fucked up about the world and they report it in a manner such that everyone knows it's fucked up.
Mainstream media tends not to report the fucked-up stuff
But America needs to know the good AND the bad about the world
Censorship is, might I say, TOTAL SHIT
Well I mean I don't support 4-year olds yelling FUCK everywhere
Then again, I don't support 12-year olds doing it either
And BELIEVE me the kids who just start middle school are ALWAYS saying cuss words just so they can assert the fact
They will yell "Dildo dildo" just as a two year old might yell "cookie cookie" now that it learned a new word, and I am not making this up it REALLY HAPPENS
It's OKAY to swear in the right situations.
If you are pissed, frustrated, or in pain then SWEAR, goddamnit! It's pissing ME off to see all the people who will just say things like "ohhhh, poopy."
Because it SEEMS that nothing bad ever happens to these people
Either that or they have no emotions
That is your fact of like #7- It's okay to swear in the right situations
And there are guidelines for these situations
1. It has to be an informal situation. You don't yell fuck if you're in a job interview
2. If you are a guy, you can do it when you talk to other guys...unless they are pansies but if you are talking to a girl, it's not a good idea. If you are a girl, you either think I'm a douche for even TALKING about this and you might as well stop watching this NOW or you're one of those girls who doesn't care and I personally think is awesome, and you can follow the guy directions. When you're talking to the softer people, though, don't swear unless your emotions are in a crappy state, unless you are talking to someone with such a low level of sophistication that he had might as well ride a Harley-Davidson
Did I say that out loud?
3. Don't do it all the time. Cuss words draw attention to the subject of which you are speaking, and there won't be any added severity if you use one of the words in every sentence. It's like the Boy who Cried Wolf....or the Boy who Yelled Fuck all the Time. The truth is that swear words are used to draw attention to whatever struggle or problem you're having that would lead you to swear in the first place...and if you're always drawing attention then people won't give you anymore attention AND they won't care.
I mean think about it.
If your friend has NEVER heard you swear, and then something REALLY bad happens and you yell "SHIT" that would scare the shit out of that person!
I like to be like that, but not to that much of an extreme. There's no shock to swearing if you do it all the time.
I have to say, I have quite a lot of appreciation for Obama's "I am not a douchebag" campaign
Though I also have to say that people seem to have mixed feelings about choosing Biden as a running mate
Because Biden....might actually add some douchebaggery to the mix
Already I'm seeing ads from the McCain campaign denigrating Barack Obama
Why can't elections be races where each candidate tries to do the best he can and not shit on the other guy?
People are saying that Biden might show aggression toward McCain when Obama's lack of aggression might be a major thing that is pushing him forward
If you've been following Philip DeFranco's show...
you know, SXE Phil?
you might have noticed that for some reason the latest video, which includes the question about when two girls kiss, has disappeared
I managed to find it but I've found that it has been made private
I don't know what happened, maybe he got a lot of shitty feedback from it
It's possible, I guess, but hey I really liked it- that was a good question because I find it questionable myself
I don't really appeal to girls who are so big of attention whores that they would be willing to do that
If they were lesbians, I would understand it....or pornstars...or real-life women who wanted to achieve the same effect that pornstars do...I think the technical term for that is SLUTS
I'd just like to say that phil's show is the bomb; if you haven't seen it, do so because he reports the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And that's the truth. truth, truth..
The stories are interesting, and he's not afraid to put it into a real context
It seems to me that more people are turning to sources like Phil, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert because it's MORE ENTERTAINING and it's NOT JAM-PACKED WITH BULLSHIT
Well, it is jam packed with bullshit but it's the RIGHT KIND OF BULLSHIT
it's the kind of bullshit that knows it's bullshit, and that's a compliment all-around because they make jokes about it and talk about the ridiculous stuff as IF it is actually ridiculous
They know what's fucked up about the world and they report it in a manner such that everyone knows it's fucked up.
Mainstream media tends not to report the fucked-up stuff
But America needs to know the good AND the bad about the world
Censorship is, might I say, TOTAL SHIT
Well I mean I don't support 4-year olds yelling FUCK everywhere
Then again, I don't support 12-year olds doing it either
And BELIEVE me the kids who just start middle school are ALWAYS saying cuss words just so they can assert the fact
They will yell "Dildo dildo" just as a two year old might yell "cookie cookie" now that it learned a new word, and I am not making this up it REALLY HAPPENS
It's OKAY to swear in the right situations.
If you are pissed, frustrated, or in pain then SWEAR, goddamnit! It's pissing ME off to see all the people who will just say things like "ohhhh, poopy."
Because it SEEMS that nothing bad ever happens to these people
Either that or they have no emotions
That is your fact of like #7- It's okay to swear in the right situations
And there are guidelines for these situations
1. It has to be an informal situation. You don't yell fuck if you're in a job interview
2. If you are a guy, you can do it when you talk to other guys...unless they are pansies but if you are talking to a girl, it's not a good idea. If you are a girl, you either think I'm a douche for even TALKING about this and you might as well stop watching this NOW or you're one of those girls who doesn't care and I personally think is awesome, and you can follow the guy directions. When you're talking to the softer people, though, don't swear unless your emotions are in a crappy state, unless you are talking to someone with such a low level of sophistication that he had might as well ride a Harley-Davidson
Did I say that out loud?
3. Don't do it all the time. Cuss words draw attention to the subject of which you are speaking, and there won't be any added severity if you use one of the words in every sentence. It's like the Boy who Cried Wolf....or the Boy who Yelled Fuck all the Time. The truth is that swear words are used to draw attention to whatever struggle or problem you're having that would lead you to swear in the first place...and if you're always drawing attention then people won't give you anymore attention AND they won't care.
I mean think about it.
If your friend has NEVER heard you swear, and then something REALLY bad happens and you yell "SHIT" that would scare the shit out of that person!
I like to be like that, but not to that much of an extreme. There's no shock to swearing if you do it all the time.
Paul goes to college
I haven't written about college yet! And I've been here for like five days! WTF?
I'll tell you wtf. It's a surprise. I'll tell everyone soon.
Keep posted.
I'll tell you wtf. It's a surprise. I'll tell everyone soon.
Keep posted.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun
STAY TUNED FOR ALL OF THE ACTION-PACKED COVERAGE DURING OUR SPECIAL SEGMENT:
PAUL GOES TO COLLEGE.
GET ALL OF THE INFORMATION YOU NEED FOR THE KICKOFF OF THE 08-09 SCHOOL YEAR.
ONLY ON CHANNEL PAUL NEWS.
AMERICA'S ONLY NEWS STATION COVERING THE LIFE OF THAT ONE TALL WHITE KID.
STAY TUNED!
STAY TUNED FOR ALL OF THE ACTION-PACKED COVERAGE DURING OUR SPECIAL SEGMENT:
PAUL GOES TO COLLEGE.
GET ALL OF THE INFORMATION YOU NEED FOR THE KICKOFF OF THE 08-09 SCHOOL YEAR.
ONLY ON CHANNEL PAUL NEWS.
AMERICA'S ONLY NEWS STATION COVERING THE LIFE OF THAT ONE TALL WHITE KID.
STAY TUNED!
Packing for College
Today I'm just packing for college and running last-minute errands because I'm moving in tomorrow. I really can't picture myself living there right now. But I'm sure that will clear up in the weeks to come.
It'll be nice to go to school, if my classes aren't as excruciating and time-consuming as I dread they might be.
Yesterday, I went to Chicago with Zexi, Steven, Joey, and Jake. Wei was there for dinner too. We went to this fancy Brazilian steakhouse where these waiter dudes walked around with cuts of meat. There was a little chip at everyone's seat; one side said "Yes, please" and the other said "no thank you." If you left the "yes" side facing up, the waiters would come to your seat and offer to slice you off a chunk of meat. They had sirloin, pork, garlic steak, brazilian beef, pineapple, and filet mignon wrapped in bacon. The bacon kind of annihilated any flavor that the filet had, so I took the bacon off of the filet so I could eat them separately. I ate so much that I was full for the rest of the day and them some. All I've had to eat since then was a few cookies.
After the steakhouse (it cost about $25 but I ate so much that it was worth it), we walked to Navy Pier and rented a quadricycle. It was like a bicycle, but there were two rows of seats and two sets of pedals for each row. Wei had left (he kind of just oddly disappeared) and it was the five of us. Steven was in the middle. I plan on making a youtube video of the experience because I was taking video for much of the time. There's definitely reason to make a video out of it, too, because it was a BLAST!
Then I went to IMSA and visited some of the suckers who had to start school already. I might want one of those webcams, Chris. Just putting it out there.
I'm not going to miss that place at all. We'll see if college turns out to be a better story =].
It'll be nice to go to school, if my classes aren't as excruciating and time-consuming as I dread they might be.
Yesterday, I went to Chicago with Zexi, Steven, Joey, and Jake. Wei was there for dinner too. We went to this fancy Brazilian steakhouse where these waiter dudes walked around with cuts of meat. There was a little chip at everyone's seat; one side said "Yes, please" and the other said "no thank you." If you left the "yes" side facing up, the waiters would come to your seat and offer to slice you off a chunk of meat. They had sirloin, pork, garlic steak, brazilian beef, pineapple, and filet mignon wrapped in bacon. The bacon kind of annihilated any flavor that the filet had, so I took the bacon off of the filet so I could eat them separately. I ate so much that I was full for the rest of the day and them some. All I've had to eat since then was a few cookies.
After the steakhouse (it cost about $25 but I ate so much that it was worth it), we walked to Navy Pier and rented a quadricycle. It was like a bicycle, but there were two rows of seats and two sets of pedals for each row. Wei had left (he kind of just oddly disappeared) and it was the five of us. Steven was in the middle. I plan on making a youtube video of the experience because I was taking video for much of the time. There's definitely reason to make a video out of it, too, because it was a BLAST!
Then I went to IMSA and visited some of the suckers who had to start school already. I might want one of those webcams, Chris. Just putting it out there.
I'm not going to miss that place at all. We'll see if college turns out to be a better story =].
Monday, August 18, 2008
Here are my plans:
Monday: Go shopping for clothes, a fridge, and a t-shirt kit. I think that making shirts would be a cool thing to do at college. I could maybe meet some people too!
Tuesday: Go back to IMSA and visit my Junior/now Senior friends!
Wednesday: Pack.
Thursday: Move into U of I! This is the day when the shit hits the fan.
Friday: Meet some people. I have to decide whether or not I want to be in band or not, because auditions are on this day. I think I might lay off on band until Sophomore year. I don't want to overload myself.
Monday: Go shopping for clothes, a fridge, and a t-shirt kit. I think that making shirts would be a cool thing to do at college. I could maybe meet some people too!
Tuesday: Go back to IMSA and visit my Junior/now Senior friends!
Wednesday: Pack.
Thursday: Move into U of I! This is the day when the shit hits the fan.
Friday: Meet some people. I have to decide whether or not I want to be in band or not, because auditions are on this day. I think I might lay off on band until Sophomore year. I don't want to overload myself.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Once again, I'd like to reiterate that horror movies are FUCKING STUPID!
Whenever any of my friends asks me to watch a horror film, I refuse. If I get sucked into doing so anyway, I ruin it for them, therefore getting my vengeance in doing so. The plot is usually devoid of any originality or overall appeal, and the movie just tries to make its viewers jump all the time. And in order to make us jump all the time, the main characters find themselves in situations that will scare us. In order for these people to get into these tragic situations, they have to be DUMB ENOUGH TO GET THEMSELVES INTO THE SITUATION IN THE FIRST PLACE. People will see a dead person hanging from the ceiling and think, "oh well that's kind of gross." But they KEEP WALKING. If you see a dead person, you TURN AND RUN. I usually end up rooting for the ANtagonist in these movies because the PROtagonists are too stupid to deserve to live and should be euthanized. NOBODY is that stupid. If I am to be scared by a horror film, I have to believe that the events which take place in the movie have at least somewhat of a possibility of occurring in real life. If the main characters are unrealistically stupid, then I will not be scared because it's not realistic!
What's more, don't really like to see dead parts of any animal, vertebrate or invertebrate. I wouldn't pay money to see anything like that, either. That doesn't do it for me. And the sound effects in horror movies are just retarded. Those sounds don't occur in real life. They aren't that loud. They'll have the sound of a dripping faucet in there, but it'll be super loud. Faucets do not come with megaphones. They are not super loud in reality. This takes away from the realism, therefore putting me in disbelief about the whole situation and preventing me from being scared by the possibility of the situation happening to me in real life. There will be screeching violins, too. That doesn't happen in real life, unless you're at an elementary school talent show or something. I don't recall ever seeing a horror movie taking place at an elementary school talent show; if the idea was ever proposed, the NFC WOULD HAVE TAKEN CARE OF IT IN A HEARTBEAT. If I hear screeching sounds in horror movies that I would never hear in real life, this takes away from the realism, therefore putting me in disbelief about the whole situation and preventing me from being scared by the possibility of the situation happening to me in real life.
People in real life do not say, "Hey, a dead person! And the blood is fresh! I think I'll run over there!" They get the fuck away. There's a REASON why Mother Nature made dead carcasses smell like shit. You are supposed to get away. People in real life do not walk into a serial killer's house and think it's okay to get naked and take a shower. People in real life aren't stupid enough to get into the situations presented in horror films. Because of that, I find the situations unbelievable, and I'm not scared. I can't be scared of something that can't possibly exist!
I'm going to college in 5 days. I'm getting more used to the idea of leaving home for a long time. I'm also thinking about coming home for Labor Day weekend. That's only a week and a half past the day I move in. After Labor Day, I have no days off until Thanksgiving. I should start thinking about what to do for Halloween. I want to pull off a kick-ass idea this year.
I'm about done with my shopping. My mom and I went to Office Max and Wal-Mart yesterday. I found a $42 microwave there!! I couldn't pass it up! I still need to buy a midgerator (midget refrigerator). Hmm...which do you think is better: midgerator ot fridget? I think I like fridget better.
Leave me a comment so that I know that all of this writing isn't going to waste and someone is actually reading my ideas.
Whenever any of my friends asks me to watch a horror film, I refuse. If I get sucked into doing so anyway, I ruin it for them, therefore getting my vengeance in doing so. The plot is usually devoid of any originality or overall appeal, and the movie just tries to make its viewers jump all the time. And in order to make us jump all the time, the main characters find themselves in situations that will scare us. In order for these people to get into these tragic situations, they have to be DUMB ENOUGH TO GET THEMSELVES INTO THE SITUATION IN THE FIRST PLACE. People will see a dead person hanging from the ceiling and think, "oh well that's kind of gross." But they KEEP WALKING. If you see a dead person, you TURN AND RUN. I usually end up rooting for the ANtagonist in these movies because the PROtagonists are too stupid to deserve to live and should be euthanized. NOBODY is that stupid. If I am to be scared by a horror film, I have to believe that the events which take place in the movie have at least somewhat of a possibility of occurring in real life. If the main characters are unrealistically stupid, then I will not be scared because it's not realistic!
What's more, don't really like to see dead parts of any animal, vertebrate or invertebrate. I wouldn't pay money to see anything like that, either. That doesn't do it for me. And the sound effects in horror movies are just retarded. Those sounds don't occur in real life. They aren't that loud. They'll have the sound of a dripping faucet in there, but it'll be super loud. Faucets do not come with megaphones. They are not super loud in reality. This takes away from the realism, therefore putting me in disbelief about the whole situation and preventing me from being scared by the possibility of the situation happening to me in real life. There will be screeching violins, too. That doesn't happen in real life, unless you're at an elementary school talent show or something. I don't recall ever seeing a horror movie taking place at an elementary school talent show; if the idea was ever proposed, the NFC WOULD HAVE TAKEN CARE OF IT IN A HEARTBEAT. If I hear screeching sounds in horror movies that I would never hear in real life, this takes away from the realism, therefore putting me in disbelief about the whole situation and preventing me from being scared by the possibility of the situation happening to me in real life.
People in real life do not say, "Hey, a dead person! And the blood is fresh! I think I'll run over there!" They get the fuck away. There's a REASON why Mother Nature made dead carcasses smell like shit. You are supposed to get away. People in real life do not walk into a serial killer's house and think it's okay to get naked and take a shower. People in real life aren't stupid enough to get into the situations presented in horror films. Because of that, I find the situations unbelievable, and I'm not scared. I can't be scared of something that can't possibly exist!
I'm going to college in 5 days. I'm getting more used to the idea of leaving home for a long time. I'm also thinking about coming home for Labor Day weekend. That's only a week and a half past the day I move in. After Labor Day, I have no days off until Thanksgiving. I should start thinking about what to do for Halloween. I want to pull off a kick-ass idea this year.
I'm about done with my shopping. My mom and I went to Office Max and Wal-Mart yesterday. I found a $42 microwave there!! I couldn't pass it up! I still need to buy a midgerator (midget refrigerator). Hmm...which do you think is better: midgerator ot fridget? I think I like fridget better.
Leave me a comment so that I know that all of this writing isn't going to waste and someone is actually reading my ideas.
Friday, August 15, 2008
I think I want to become a wannabe youtuber...wannabe.
I've always taken to the idea of sharing my ideas with other people through videos. In communicating with people verbally, you can write stuff and tell them stuff. But you can communicate so much more if you go beyond words, and use gestures, inflection, etc. Words only make up about 7% of what we communicate. The rest comes from things like gestures, motions, tone of voice, articulation, and volume.
Plus, I can improve my charisma. I think I lack that at LEAST a little bit. Probably more.
I'm getting a haircut tomorrow whether anyone likes it or not. I've been wanting to for 2 weeks.
I emailed my future college roommate. He's Indian but he grew up in Oman! (gmts) What are the odds of meeting someone from that small country? His English is just fine in his emails, so that's a relief. I was kind of afraid that he wouldn't be good at English when I found out where he was from. He seems like a cool guy. I'm not so afraid that things could turn out bad. He also says he's bringing 2 guitars, and he also plays the piano and drums. Dang. I wish I could play drums...but not that much. I kind of gave up on that.
I have an old script for an animation about a royal knight who works for a king who lies around and plays strip poker all day. I need to find it. It would be cool to make a live video for it instead of an animation. Though I don't know how I could get anyone to make a giant killer bunny rabbit. I'll need to work on that.
Six days. This is just like The Ring. What a stupid movie that was, though. The sequel sets the record for the worst movie I have ever seen. Giant mechanical deer attacking a car. Wtf. I threw the remote at the DVD player when it was over.
I tend to bash and laugh at any horror movie you put in front of me. If you want to take a trip to the peanut gallery, I can hook you up.
I went shopping some more today. We're almost done.
I really want a t-shirt making kit. I think it would be a cool way to meet people in college. Making custom t-shirt designs would be a great way for me to express myself too.
I stayed up until 1:45 last night. I don't want to make the same mistake two nights in a row, so bye!
Plus, I can improve my charisma. I think I lack that at LEAST a little bit. Probably more.
I'm getting a haircut tomorrow whether anyone likes it or not. I've been wanting to for 2 weeks.
I emailed my future college roommate. He's Indian but he grew up in Oman! (gmts) What are the odds of meeting someone from that small country? His English is just fine in his emails, so that's a relief. I was kind of afraid that he wouldn't be good at English when I found out where he was from. He seems like a cool guy. I'm not so afraid that things could turn out bad. He also says he's bringing 2 guitars, and he also plays the piano and drums. Dang. I wish I could play drums...but not that much. I kind of gave up on that.
I have an old script for an animation about a royal knight who works for a king who lies around and plays strip poker all day. I need to find it. It would be cool to make a live video for it instead of an animation. Though I don't know how I could get anyone to make a giant killer bunny rabbit. I'll need to work on that.
Six days. This is just like The Ring. What a stupid movie that was, though. The sequel sets the record for the worst movie I have ever seen. Giant mechanical deer attacking a car. Wtf. I threw the remote at the DVD player when it was over.
I tend to bash and laugh at any horror movie you put in front of me. If you want to take a trip to the peanut gallery, I can hook you up.
I went shopping some more today. We're almost done.
I really want a t-shirt making kit. I think it would be a cool way to meet people in college. Making custom t-shirt designs would be a great way for me to express myself too.
I stayed up until 1:45 last night. I don't want to make the same mistake two nights in a row, so bye!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Geocaching is pretty cool.
Today, I hung out with Tyler and we went geocaching. What you do when you go geocaching is look on the website geocaching.com for coordinate pairs (latitude and longitude) of geocaching sites, go to those coordinates, and search for a container that serves as the official "cache." Inside the container, you should find some form of a logbook, on which you can sign your name. What people tend to do is write the date of their finding the site, and signing their username for geocaching.com. Tyler and I made our name paulandtyler. We weren't in it for making a creative username, I guess.
It turns out that there are a lot of sites around our town. Tyler searched for some, and he came up with seven results, all of which were within the limits of Oswego. So Tyler wrote down the coordinates of 7 places and we were off! To our disappointment, we only found 2 of the 7 caches, both of which were in trees. A couple others were in overgrown places...my legs still itch a little from wading through those damn weeds... aagh
I used a crappy little gps system I've had lying around for 3 or 4 years. I got it for Christmas from my mom. I was insulted.
Basically, Tyler and I searched for 2 in downtown Oswego and found nothing. After that, we made our way to the park with the skatepark and we found one! Then, we went to Panda Express for a late I-woke-up-late-so-I-ate-breakfast-late-meaning- there's-no-reason-to-eat-lunch-at-the-appropriate-time-but-I-still-get-hungry-before- dinner-so-let's-have-a-small-bite-to-eat lunch. *gasps for breath*
After that, we looked for 4 more and only found one. Apparently, other people have just recently found at least 2 of the 5 that we didn't see. I guess we hadn't looked hard enough. But hey, we're new at this.
I haven't written any music in a while. That's because I feel like I'm always being judged. I don't like that feeling, and I can't compose when it's imminent.
I've been drawing maps, though. I have a 14×17 inch drawing pad. (It rocks!) I used 4 pages of it to draw out a city that I cut into quarters. The northwest quarter is on one page, the northeast quarter on another, etc.
I also started drawing things other than maps. I drew a bunch of things whose words have the word "own" in them, and annotating them with words with pwn in them instead. If pwn can be pronounced as "pown," then why can't the word "cone" be spelled "cwn"?
Other words on there include bwn, microphwn, pwny, stwnhenge, macarwni, colwn, acetwn, and Sylvester Stallwn.
I think that started off as an inside joke with Julian.
College is going to suck balls. At first.
IMSA has taught me that to every new living situation, there is an adjustment period. Mine lasted about 6 weeks until it wasn't so bad anymore. It was still weird for about 3 months, but at least it was comfortable after a few weeks. After that, it should be nice. =) But it's going to be shitty for the first 6 weeks. I wish I can go there and instantly have been there for 6 weeks. XP but that's not going to happen...
v_v L_L <_< ^_^ >_>
I should start going to bed early......
...
...
...
...
NAAH!
It turns out that there are a lot of sites around our town. Tyler searched for some, and he came up with seven results, all of which were within the limits of Oswego. So Tyler wrote down the coordinates of 7 places and we were off! To our disappointment, we only found 2 of the 7 caches, both of which were in trees. A couple others were in overgrown places...my legs still itch a little from wading through those damn weeds... aagh
I used a crappy little gps system I've had lying around for 3 or 4 years. I got it for Christmas from my mom. I was insulted.
Basically, Tyler and I searched for 2 in downtown Oswego and found nothing. After that, we made our way to the park with the skatepark and we found one! Then, we went to Panda Express for a late I-woke-up-late-so-I-ate-breakfast-late-meaning- there's-no-reason-to-eat-lunch-at-the-appropriate-time-but-I-still-get-hungry-before- dinner-so-let's-have-a-small-bite-to-eat lunch. *gasps for breath*
After that, we looked for 4 more and only found one. Apparently, other people have just recently found at least 2 of the 5 that we didn't see. I guess we hadn't looked hard enough. But hey, we're new at this.
I haven't written any music in a while. That's because I feel like I'm always being judged. I don't like that feeling, and I can't compose when it's imminent.
I've been drawing maps, though. I have a 14×17 inch drawing pad. (It rocks!) I used 4 pages of it to draw out a city that I cut into quarters. The northwest quarter is on one page, the northeast quarter on another, etc.
I also started drawing things other than maps. I drew a bunch of things whose words have the word "own" in them, and annotating them with words with pwn in them instead. If pwn can be pronounced as "pown," then why can't the word "cone" be spelled "cwn"?
Other words on there include bwn, microphwn, pwny, stwnhenge, macarwni, colwn, acetwn, and Sylvester Stallwn.
I think that started off as an inside joke with Julian.
College is going to suck balls. At first.
IMSA has taught me that to every new living situation, there is an adjustment period. Mine lasted about 6 weeks until it wasn't so bad anymore. It was still weird for about 3 months, but at least it was comfortable after a few weeks. After that, it should be nice. =) But it's going to be shitty for the first 6 weeks. I wish I can go there and instantly have been there for 6 weeks. XP but that's not going to happen...
v_v L_L <_< ^_^ >_>
I should start going to bed early......
...
...
...
...
NAAH!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Pre-college
I'm excited to make some new and awesome friends in college.
I'm dreading being overly busy with schoolwork, and having to sit through lectures I don't care about.
I hope my roommate doesn't turn out to be a douchebag.
I'm eager to be on my own again.
I'm unsure about living 3 hours away from home.
Some combination of these ideas (and still more) is what I'm feeling right now about college.
As August 21st creeps closer, I dread college, eagerly await it, and grow to accept that it's going to happen. All I can do is sit here strapped to the railroad tracks and hope that nothing bad happens.
I'm dreading being overly busy with schoolwork, and having to sit through lectures I don't care about.
I hope my roommate doesn't turn out to be a douchebag.
I'm eager to be on my own again.
I'm unsure about living 3 hours away from home.
Some combination of these ideas (and still more) is what I'm feeling right now about college.
As August 21st creeps closer, I dread college, eagerly await it, and grow to accept that it's going to happen. All I can do is sit here strapped to the railroad tracks and hope that nothing bad happens.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Post-vacation spam session
Fuck, college! I have to go to college!
10 days away- I don't know what to DO! HOLY SHIT!
I think I'll just lie around and do nothing.
Hyeah. That sounds nice.
*stretches*
Soooooo YUP! I'm back from vacation. It was the best of times. Way shiggity.
Sunday we drove and drove. The Dopps (Minus Randy) followed us to Niagara Falls but they drove home on Tuesday as we drove further on.
It was my first time entering Canada, or any foreign country. Canada really isn't much different from the States. Their speed signs are in kilometers per hour, they have different brands of candy bars, and everything is written in English and in French. That's about it. Oh, and there's a lot more foreigners. I think that if this country weren't so full of belligerent intolerant douchebags, that could be true for us too.
We ate lunch at a Steak n' Shake in Battle Creek, Michigan, the cereal capital of the world. We didn't eat any cereal, though.
So we stayed overnight in this Hampton Inn, a little away from the main drag. We saw the actual falls the next day...for a while. There is no way in hell I'm going back to the tourist district, though. It's the biggest tourist-trap I've ever seen in my life. It even outshits the Wisconsin Dells. The falls were beautiful, though. I admire what nature has made for us to appreciate...but not what mankind has done to the place. The Clifton Hill tourist district is littered with haunted houses, a launched freefall ride (RCT2 anyone?), a Hollywood wax museum (wtf!?), restaurants, gift shops, gift shops, gift shops, gift shops, gift shops, gift shops, and more gift shops. Tyler said for me to send him a postcard. So I got one. But I forgot to give it to Teresa to send it for me. Shshshshshit.
Monday consisted of viewing the falls, boarding the Maid of the Mist, and dawdling around in the tourist district waiting for the women to browse the various gift shops (which is frustrating for me, personally). And after that, we ate at this ridiculously overpriced restaurant that had an overlook of the falls and giapped us to no end.
Ride the Maid of the Mist. It's fucking awesome. Just avoid the tourist district ^_^.
Ok, so I've already gone over that stuff. Moving on...
Tuesday. Another sweet day. The Dopps left for home as we drove northwest to near Cambridge, Ontario, for the lion safari. I took shitloads of pictures as we drove through the 6 or 7 large enclosures where the animals could roam free (sort of). The first enclosure was the lions, their namesake. They were all lounging around on a rock structure. Lazy kitties. Then we moved on to the cheetahs. If there's one thing that I've learned on this day of the trip, it's that cheetahs are REALLY REALLY CUTE! I wanted to pet one really badly. I wonder how it would have reacted.
The third enclosure was one of the best. It was full of baboons. CRAZY FUCKING BABOONS. There was a bus in front of us, and the baboons were CLIMBING ON TOP OF IT!! There was another minivan with about 4 climbing on it too. My mom wanted them to climb on our car. I could tell that my dad was shitting bricks ruminating on the possibility of them climbing on top of his car. They didn't, though. One of the baboons on the bus in front of us was playing with the antenna, watching it sway back and forth as he let go of it. He eventually BROKE THE ANTENNA OFF OF THE FRONT OF THE VEHICLE. So THAT'S why they warned us of potential vehicle damage! The fourth enclosure was also one of the best. It featured the herbivores of the African savanna, namely ostriches, zebras, antelope, wildebeests, giraffes, rhinos, and these large goat-like dudes. An ostrich walked up to our car! He was opening his mouth and shutting it in quick succession like he wanted us to feed him. At least that's what I thought he was trying to communicate. If you were a bird with no arms, how would you communicate that you wanted food? We got really close to a few zebras, too. There was a parent giraffe holding a branch in its mouth as a baby giraffe bit some plant matter off of it. It was cute. The next enclosure was full of Eurasian animals, and the last was full of American herd animals like elk and bison. And that was all. It was SO COOL.
Hah, I guess it came to exactly 6 enclosures. Now I know.
After that, we ate lunch. And after THAT, we waited to get in line for the safari boat cruise with the intention to see more animals. But then it started sprinkling, and we heard some thunder once. Ah, no big deal. Then, the girl running the boat cruise got a radio call and shut the boat down. For just a few sprinkles? Our optimism told us that it wouldn't get any worse!
But then our optimism was crushed, and it got worse. A hell of a lot worse. It started all-out pouring. All-out fucking poring. And it didn't stop for a whole HALF HOUR! The weatherpeople we saw on the news later reported totals of 50 to 60 millimeters of rain. My dad was like "MILLIMETERS?" in a wtf-y sort of fashion. 50 to 60 millimeters is 5 to 6 centimeters, which is about 2 to 2.3 inches. It rained twice later in the day. Thanks a lot, mother nature.
Garrett called during that first rainstorm, and we made arrangements to meet in Greek town around 5 pm. Around 4:15 we got in the car, because we figured that Toronto would be about 45 minutes away. It stopped pouring around that time, too. Well, we thought it did. When the rain started to let up, we walked out toward the car. Halfway to the car, it started pouring again. Fucking wonderful. And then, about 2 minutes later, it stopped for good. Thanks again.
We drove along 401 toward Toronto. It turned out that it was more like an hour to central Toronto with normal traffic. But it was just before 5pm. That meant one thing: RUSH HOUR. Whoops. And we found out later that because the city of Toronto has almost NO PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM, nearly EVERYONE uses the roads. This was no ordinary city's rush hour. This was driving on a road that has 7 to 9 lanes moving in each direction at all times and STILL not getting anywhere. I have never seen a road with 7 to 9 lanes moving in each direction in my LIFE. I-290 in Chicago has 5 lanes at the most moving in each direction. This expressway was fucking HUGE and it STILL wasn't enough. (Don't worry, there weren't 7 lanes adjacent to each other; they were split into local and express lanes, each section having typically 3 or 4 lanes.) Plus, Greek town was on the east side of town, and we were coming from the west. So we had to go past the central part of town, adding more time to the equation. It was almost 6:30 when we got to Greek town. But we found Garrett okay. Hallelujah.
The story with Garrett is basically this: Go to Marines, hate it, desert, flee to Canada. He tells me that he could spend 18 months in the brig if he comes back to the states. This is the kid that I had been great friends all the way back from second grade, up to eighth grade. Then he kind of diverted and did some things that I didn't approve of, so I kept away. But he came out of it and we hung out a few times within the past couple of years. Then, he decided to go join the Marines. That was a smack in the face. This was the kid who didn't care when the numbskulled faculty at Traughber Jr. High school gave him a detention. He wouldn't bear it if he was under someone else's authority, especially if that authoritative figure was a moron. And he wanted to join the MARINES? Where it was inevitable that he would have to be subject to the authority of brutal and often unintelligent people? I knew this would be kaput. My mom knew it would be kaput. We told him that it would be kaput. But he went. And it ended up going kaput. So it goes.
Now he's in Canada and he can't come back. Or he doesn't want to, for fear of the consequences. So it goes.
No one's gone up to visit him, and he's been up there since April. Not even his parents. I think maybe he needs some guidance?
Nah. He's doing great up there. I think the fact that no one's visited him proves that he should have run away in the first place. Doesn't anyone care?
His little sister definitely cares. As soon as Jason posted the picture that was taken of me and Garrett, she posted a comment about her jealousy.
His girlfriend misses him, too. I'm sure of that.
I think Tyler does too.
All friends.
No parents.
Odd.
Or is it?
We ate at the Friendly Greek Souvlaki Place. Garrett told us that the ethnic areas in Toronto are really, really, ethnic. I noticed that even the street signs in Greek town were alternately written in Greek. Intriguing.
We talked there for about 3 hours. We got to the hotel, on the other side of Toronto, fairly late (it was after 10). We ate at Perkins in the morning and drove northeast on 401 around Lake Ontario.
Then, we were back in America. We crossed on a road that became Interstate 81 (gmts). Then we drove on a bunch of back roads to reach our cabin/motel/whatever in Indian Lake, New York, in the heart of Adirondack Park. I used to think New York was all about the city life. I'll never think that again, after seeing the beautiful wilderness of the "North woods," as my dad calls it.
On Thursday, we just hung around and did wilderness-type stuff. We went hiking toward Rock Lake and found a bunch of interesting wild mushrooms. Yellow ones, brown ones, red ones. It was only about 70°F there. Even so we went to a beach and swam in a nice, clean lake. It was cold, but not as cold as you might imagine with the air temperature barely breaking seventy.
My mom and I went to the quaint grocery store and picked up some items for breakfast the next morning. Then I went outside the store and took the picture you can see on the front of the 3rd album of pictures I uploaded of the trip onto facebook. I still have no idea what the shape of the state highway signs is supposed to resemble.
Thursday was full of what I love about traveling. Living away from home, getting along on your own, going out and having a fun time, and flying by the seat of your pants, all while being able to sleep at night, of course.
Friday was Vermont day. This day had too much driving in it.
We drove north to Saranac Lake and Lake Placid to see what it was like. No big whoop. Lake Placid is another tourist trap with gift shops and stupid shit. We didn't stop there.
We drove on the road up to Whiteface Mountain with the intention to see the view. It turns out there's a toll booth on that road that wants $6 per passenger. The toll booth wasn't on the map or any information we had. When the woman asked for the money, my dad replied, "screw you!" Then he made a U-turn. I found it amusing.
Then we drove to a ferry across Lake Champlain. When we reached the other side, we were in Vermont, the second least populous state in the Union. In spite of that fact, we ended up in THREE traffic jams within two hours of entering the state. What the fuck? Since we were low on time, we decided to screw Montpelier and turn around to go to the Ben & Jerry's factory. That was ...pretty cool. It used to be awesome. Now it's just another corporate basket of bureaucratic bullshit. The ice cream was good, though. I got to buy Tyler some Vermont maple syrup, too. Vermont is a BEAUTIFUL state: just don't drive through it. The roads are TERRIBLE. They aren't striped properly, and hey, I got into THREE traffic jams, and there isn't even a lot of people living there. Enough said.
I drove back to the cabin from B&J's. I took Vermont Route 17. Don't make that mistake. The road had more twists and sharp turns than you could imagine. We had to climb up and down a mountain along that road--that's why. My mom was shitting bricks in the back seat. She was seriously moaning, "oh god, we're going to die." My brother made fun of her for it from then on until we crossed back into New York. By the time we did, it was dark. At one point, when we got to the summit of the mountain, the road made a sharp turn from upward to downward, and just before we reached the tip, all you could see was the sky. It was amazing. Well, I thought it was amazing. My mom thought it was terrifying.
Saturday and Sunday were nothing special. Just a shitload of driving. This is excepting one very special occasion: I visited Michelle in Cleveland Saturday night. We ate out at a Chinese restaurant and watched the Olympics on TV. Nothing's really new with her I guess, because she's been working all summer.
I've decided to start a new collection. I'm collecting a picture of one state highway sign from every state in the U.S.A. It's always been my dream to visit every state in the Union, so why not adapt my sign collection idea to fit with that? I think it makes more sense than what I'm doing now, actually.
So I've added Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New York, and Vermont to what I'd had before, which consists of Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kentucky, and North Carolina. I decided to add an Ontario provincial highway sign in there, too. So that makes 10 states and one Canadian province covered. I don't have Indiana at this point, but at U of I, I'll be less than 1 hour from Indiana. So that shouldn't be hard.
Now I just need to conquer America! In a not-Dr. Evil sort of way.
It feels weird to be home.
But it feels good.
Pressing enter after every line
can make things look poetic
But if you aren't really a poet
Then it can look pathetic
Holy shit that rhymed.
10 days away- I don't know what to DO! HOLY SHIT!
I think I'll just lie around and do nothing.
Hyeah. That sounds nice.
*stretches*
Soooooo YUP! I'm back from vacation. It was the best of times. Way shiggity.
Sunday we drove and drove. The Dopps (Minus Randy) followed us to Niagara Falls but they drove home on Tuesday as we drove further on.
It was my first time entering Canada, or any foreign country. Canada really isn't much different from the States. Their speed signs are in kilometers per hour, they have different brands of candy bars, and everything is written in English and in French. That's about it. Oh, and there's a lot more foreigners. I think that if this country weren't so full of belligerent intolerant douchebags, that could be true for us too.
We ate lunch at a Steak n' Shake in Battle Creek, Michigan, the cereal capital of the world. We didn't eat any cereal, though.
So we stayed overnight in this Hampton Inn, a little away from the main drag. We saw the actual falls the next day...for a while. There is no way in hell I'm going back to the tourist district, though. It's the biggest tourist-trap I've ever seen in my life. It even outshits the Wisconsin Dells. The falls were beautiful, though. I admire what nature has made for us to appreciate...but not what mankind has done to the place. The Clifton Hill tourist district is littered with haunted houses, a launched freefall ride (RCT2 anyone?), a Hollywood wax museum (wtf!?), restaurants, gift shops, gift shops, gift shops, gift shops, gift shops, gift shops, and more gift shops. Tyler said for me to send him a postcard. So I got one. But I forgot to give it to Teresa to send it for me. Shshshshshit.
Monday consisted of viewing the falls, boarding the Maid of the Mist, and dawdling around in the tourist district waiting for the women to browse the various gift shops (which is frustrating for me, personally). And after that, we ate at this ridiculously overpriced restaurant that had an overlook of the falls and giapped us to no end.
Ride the Maid of the Mist. It's fucking awesome. Just avoid the tourist district ^_^.
Ok, so I've already gone over that stuff. Moving on...
Tuesday. Another sweet day. The Dopps left for home as we drove northwest to near Cambridge, Ontario, for the lion safari. I took shitloads of pictures as we drove through the 6 or 7 large enclosures where the animals could roam free (sort of). The first enclosure was the lions, their namesake. They were all lounging around on a rock structure. Lazy kitties. Then we moved on to the cheetahs. If there's one thing that I've learned on this day of the trip, it's that cheetahs are REALLY REALLY CUTE! I wanted to pet one really badly. I wonder how it would have reacted.
The third enclosure was one of the best. It was full of baboons. CRAZY FUCKING BABOONS. There was a bus in front of us, and the baboons were CLIMBING ON TOP OF IT!! There was another minivan with about 4 climbing on it too. My mom wanted them to climb on our car. I could tell that my dad was shitting bricks ruminating on the possibility of them climbing on top of his car. They didn't, though. One of the baboons on the bus in front of us was playing with the antenna, watching it sway back and forth as he let go of it. He eventually BROKE THE ANTENNA OFF OF THE FRONT OF THE VEHICLE. So THAT'S why they warned us of potential vehicle damage! The fourth enclosure was also one of the best. It featured the herbivores of the African savanna, namely ostriches, zebras, antelope, wildebeests, giraffes, rhinos, and these large goat-like dudes. An ostrich walked up to our car! He was opening his mouth and shutting it in quick succession like he wanted us to feed him. At least that's what I thought he was trying to communicate. If you were a bird with no arms, how would you communicate that you wanted food? We got really close to a few zebras, too. There was a parent giraffe holding a branch in its mouth as a baby giraffe bit some plant matter off of it. It was cute. The next enclosure was full of Eurasian animals, and the last was full of American herd animals like elk and bison. And that was all. It was SO COOL.
Hah, I guess it came to exactly 6 enclosures. Now I know.
After that, we ate lunch. And after THAT, we waited to get in line for the safari boat cruise with the intention to see more animals. But then it started sprinkling, and we heard some thunder once. Ah, no big deal. Then, the girl running the boat cruise got a radio call and shut the boat down. For just a few sprinkles? Our optimism told us that it wouldn't get any worse!
But then our optimism was crushed, and it got worse. A hell of a lot worse. It started all-out pouring. All-out fucking poring. And it didn't stop for a whole HALF HOUR! The weatherpeople we saw on the news later reported totals of 50 to 60 millimeters of rain. My dad was like "MILLIMETERS?" in a wtf-y sort of fashion. 50 to 60 millimeters is 5 to 6 centimeters, which is about 2 to 2.3 inches. It rained twice later in the day. Thanks a lot, mother nature.
Garrett called during that first rainstorm, and we made arrangements to meet in Greek town around 5 pm. Around 4:15 we got in the car, because we figured that Toronto would be about 45 minutes away. It stopped pouring around that time, too. Well, we thought it did. When the rain started to let up, we walked out toward the car. Halfway to the car, it started pouring again. Fucking wonderful. And then, about 2 minutes later, it stopped for good. Thanks again.
We drove along 401 toward Toronto. It turned out that it was more like an hour to central Toronto with normal traffic. But it was just before 5pm. That meant one thing: RUSH HOUR. Whoops. And we found out later that because the city of Toronto has almost NO PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM, nearly EVERYONE uses the roads. This was no ordinary city's rush hour. This was driving on a road that has 7 to 9 lanes moving in each direction at all times and STILL not getting anywhere. I have never seen a road with 7 to 9 lanes moving in each direction in my LIFE. I-290 in Chicago has 5 lanes at the most moving in each direction. This expressway was fucking HUGE and it STILL wasn't enough. (Don't worry, there weren't 7 lanes adjacent to each other; they were split into local and express lanes, each section having typically 3 or 4 lanes.) Plus, Greek town was on the east side of town, and we were coming from the west. So we had to go past the central part of town, adding more time to the equation. It was almost 6:30 when we got to Greek town. But we found Garrett okay. Hallelujah.
The story with Garrett is basically this: Go to Marines, hate it, desert, flee to Canada. He tells me that he could spend 18 months in the brig if he comes back to the states. This is the kid that I had been great friends all the way back from second grade, up to eighth grade. Then he kind of diverted and did some things that I didn't approve of, so I kept away. But he came out of it and we hung out a few times within the past couple of years. Then, he decided to go join the Marines. That was a smack in the face. This was the kid who didn't care when the numbskulled faculty at Traughber Jr. High school gave him a detention. He wouldn't bear it if he was under someone else's authority, especially if that authoritative figure was a moron. And he wanted to join the MARINES? Where it was inevitable that he would have to be subject to the authority of brutal and often unintelligent people? I knew this would be kaput. My mom knew it would be kaput. We told him that it would be kaput. But he went. And it ended up going kaput. So it goes.
Now he's in Canada and he can't come back. Or he doesn't want to, for fear of the consequences. So it goes.
No one's gone up to visit him, and he's been up there since April. Not even his parents. I think maybe he needs some guidance?
Nah. He's doing great up there. I think the fact that no one's visited him proves that he should have run away in the first place. Doesn't anyone care?
His little sister definitely cares. As soon as Jason posted the picture that was taken of me and Garrett, she posted a comment about her jealousy.
His girlfriend misses him, too. I'm sure of that.
I think Tyler does too.
All friends.
No parents.
Odd.
Or is it?
We ate at the Friendly Greek Souvlaki Place. Garrett told us that the ethnic areas in Toronto are really, really, ethnic. I noticed that even the street signs in Greek town were alternately written in Greek. Intriguing.
We talked there for about 3 hours. We got to the hotel, on the other side of Toronto, fairly late (it was after 10). We ate at Perkins in the morning and drove northeast on 401 around Lake Ontario.
Then, we were back in America. We crossed on a road that became Interstate 81 (gmts). Then we drove on a bunch of back roads to reach our cabin/motel/whatever in Indian Lake, New York, in the heart of Adirondack Park. I used to think New York was all about the city life. I'll never think that again, after seeing the beautiful wilderness of the "North woods," as my dad calls it.
On Thursday, we just hung around and did wilderness-type stuff. We went hiking toward Rock Lake and found a bunch of interesting wild mushrooms. Yellow ones, brown ones, red ones. It was only about 70°F there. Even so we went to a beach and swam in a nice, clean lake. It was cold, but not as cold as you might imagine with the air temperature barely breaking seventy.
My mom and I went to the quaint grocery store and picked up some items for breakfast the next morning. Then I went outside the store and took the picture you can see on the front of the 3rd album of pictures I uploaded of the trip onto facebook. I still have no idea what the shape of the state highway signs is supposed to resemble.
Thursday was full of what I love about traveling. Living away from home, getting along on your own, going out and having a fun time, and flying by the seat of your pants, all while being able to sleep at night, of course.
Friday was Vermont day. This day had too much driving in it.
We drove north to Saranac Lake and Lake Placid to see what it was like. No big whoop. Lake Placid is another tourist trap with gift shops and stupid shit. We didn't stop there.
We drove on the road up to Whiteface Mountain with the intention to see the view. It turns out there's a toll booth on that road that wants $6 per passenger. The toll booth wasn't on the map or any information we had. When the woman asked for the money, my dad replied, "screw you!" Then he made a U-turn. I found it amusing.
Then we drove to a ferry across Lake Champlain. When we reached the other side, we were in Vermont, the second least populous state in the Union. In spite of that fact, we ended up in THREE traffic jams within two hours of entering the state. What the fuck? Since we were low on time, we decided to screw Montpelier and turn around to go to the Ben & Jerry's factory. That was ...pretty cool. It used to be awesome. Now it's just another corporate basket of bureaucratic bullshit. The ice cream was good, though. I got to buy Tyler some Vermont maple syrup, too. Vermont is a BEAUTIFUL state: just don't drive through it. The roads are TERRIBLE. They aren't striped properly, and hey, I got into THREE traffic jams, and there isn't even a lot of people living there. Enough said.
I drove back to the cabin from B&J's. I took Vermont Route 17. Don't make that mistake. The road had more twists and sharp turns than you could imagine. We had to climb up and down a mountain along that road--that's why. My mom was shitting bricks in the back seat. She was seriously moaning, "oh god, we're going to die." My brother made fun of her for it from then on until we crossed back into New York. By the time we did, it was dark. At one point, when we got to the summit of the mountain, the road made a sharp turn from upward to downward, and just before we reached the tip, all you could see was the sky. It was amazing. Well, I thought it was amazing. My mom thought it was terrifying.
Saturday and Sunday were nothing special. Just a shitload of driving. This is excepting one very special occasion: I visited Michelle in Cleveland Saturday night. We ate out at a Chinese restaurant and watched the Olympics on TV. Nothing's really new with her I guess, because she's been working all summer.
I've decided to start a new collection. I'm collecting a picture of one state highway sign from every state in the U.S.A. It's always been my dream to visit every state in the Union, so why not adapt my sign collection idea to fit with that? I think it makes more sense than what I'm doing now, actually.
So I've added Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New York, and Vermont to what I'd had before, which consists of Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kentucky, and North Carolina. I decided to add an Ontario provincial highway sign in there, too. So that makes 10 states and one Canadian province covered. I don't have Indiana at this point, but at U of I, I'll be less than 1 hour from Indiana. So that shouldn't be hard.
Now I just need to conquer America! In a not-Dr. Evil sort of way.
It feels weird to be home.
But it feels good.
Pressing enter after every line
can make things look poetic
But if you aren't really a poet
Then it can look pathetic
Holy shit that rhymed.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
So here I am in my hotel room at Niagara Falls again.
Today had about 3 hours of awesomeness and the rest was languishing. It was worth it though.
First hour of awesomeness: The Maid of the Mist. An extreme experience. DO THIS. Pay the 14 dollars, wait in line, and crowd yourself on a boat with 600 other people as it embarks to get an up-close and personal experience of the Falls. It rocks. You have to enter from the Ontario side, but so what? If you want to see the falls, you pretty much have to go to Ontario. The Falls face the Ontario side--i.e. the view from the New York side is nothing compared to the view on the Ontario side.
Second hour of awesomeness: Eating the food at the Keg restaurant. But that's the only thing about the restaurant that was awesome. The service could have been better, but we got totally gipped. The menu stated that the prime rib that my dad ordered was $30.95, but it appeared at $35.95 on the bill. Bullshit! And then the 12 oz. steak I ordered with the meal I got apparently jacked the price up $10; nobody notified me of this. I got steak and shrimp. For appetizers we got chips with this crab and spinach dip with lemon, and this flatbread with cheese, tomatoes, and what tasted like...teriyaki sauce!? But it was good. And the bread....it was so soft and flavorful. I want to learn to make bread like that and eat it with every meal I cook...once I learn to cook, if THAT ever happens >_>.
Third hour of awesomeness: Messing around with Jason and Shelby in the pool. Yes, I know that I can do this anywhere in any hotel. But that was more fun than wandering around looking at thousands upon thousands of useless trinkets with the words "Niagara Falls" printed on them.
The rest sucked because we just wandered around staring at stupid stuff. Like magnets, coffee mugs, keychains, plushies, and hats. I came to see the falls, damnit! Not all this touristy shit!
That shit is everywhere. It's been built up into a tourist trap of mind-blowing proportions. It's like the Wisconsin Dells. But WORSE.
At least the falls were cool. Here, nature provides us with something spectacular, and then people come and make it all commercial. All for stupid money.
I need to start thinking about decorations to get for college. Idk what to get though.
I'm off to bed. I'm tired of standing and walking and following older women look at trinkets.
Today had about 3 hours of awesomeness and the rest was languishing. It was worth it though.
First hour of awesomeness: The Maid of the Mist. An extreme experience. DO THIS. Pay the 14 dollars, wait in line, and crowd yourself on a boat with 600 other people as it embarks to get an up-close and personal experience of the Falls. It rocks. You have to enter from the Ontario side, but so what? If you want to see the falls, you pretty much have to go to Ontario. The Falls face the Ontario side--i.e. the view from the New York side is nothing compared to the view on the Ontario side.
Second hour of awesomeness: Eating the food at the Keg restaurant. But that's the only thing about the restaurant that was awesome. The service could have been better, but we got totally gipped. The menu stated that the prime rib that my dad ordered was $30.95, but it appeared at $35.95 on the bill. Bullshit! And then the 12 oz. steak I ordered with the meal I got apparently jacked the price up $10; nobody notified me of this. I got steak and shrimp. For appetizers we got chips with this crab and spinach dip with lemon, and this flatbread with cheese, tomatoes, and what tasted like...teriyaki sauce!? But it was good. And the bread....it was so soft and flavorful. I want to learn to make bread like that and eat it with every meal I cook...once I learn to cook, if THAT ever happens >_>.
Third hour of awesomeness: Messing around with Jason and Shelby in the pool. Yes, I know that I can do this anywhere in any hotel. But that was more fun than wandering around looking at thousands upon thousands of useless trinkets with the words "Niagara Falls" printed on them.
The rest sucked because we just wandered around staring at stupid stuff. Like magnets, coffee mugs, keychains, plushies, and hats. I came to see the falls, damnit! Not all this touristy shit!
That shit is everywhere. It's been built up into a tourist trap of mind-blowing proportions. It's like the Wisconsin Dells. But WORSE.
At least the falls were cool. Here, nature provides us with something spectacular, and then people come and make it all commercial. All for stupid money.
I need to start thinking about decorations to get for college. Idk what to get though.
I'm off to bed. I'm tired of standing and walking and following older women look at trinkets.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Here I am sitting in my hotel room in Niagara Falls, Ontario. That's right. The Canada side. Helllllllz yeah. ^^
I got back from going to the pool with Jason and Shelby.
We ordered pizza and chicken wings. It was awesome.
And now it's late and I'm tired of sitting in a car until my ass feels like a deflated whoopee cushion made of steel- hard and pressed in. Time to sleep.
Night y'all.
P.S. I'm in CANADA!!!
I got back from going to the pool with Jason and Shelby.
We ordered pizza and chicken wings. It was awesome.
And now it's late and I'm tired of sitting in a car until my ass feels like a deflated whoopee cushion made of steel- hard and pressed in. Time to sleep.
Night y'all.
P.S. I'm in CANADA!!!
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Friday, August 1, 2008
fffffffffffffffffffuck. It's August already.
Time sure flies when you're doing nothing yet still occupied with things to do.
There are certain activities that I do which I classify as "nothing." Those are the things that I do everyday when I have no commitments to take care of. Like drawing maps, facebooking, and video games.
Speaking of facebook, the "new" facebook just came out yesterday. This might be my inner Republicanness speaking, but I'm not sure if I like it. I really appreciate how facebook is trying to quell the annoyance of having 37 application boxes on someone's profile, though.
I think there might be an easy way to determine a facebooker who belongs on myspace. Count the profile boxes. If there are 25 or more, that person should go spend time on myspace instead.
Keep it simple, stupid.
People tell me that they don't have a facebook because it's too complicated.
That is fucking stupid.
It's stupid because all of the operations that you'll want to do are divided into separate applications. It makes it really easy to customize what's on your page. Sure, you can't change the appearance of it, but you can easily customize which functions go on your page. Facebook is meant to be a networking DEVICE...Myspace seems to be meant more for self-expression.
I'm excited to add four more states, not to mention a Canadian province, to my list of places I've visited. And yes, they are called "provinces." Not "providences." There's only one "providence." It's in Rhode Island.
Actually, there's probably more than one. There's at least ten Springfields. I know of one in Massachusetts, Illinois, and Missouri...and I'm sure there's more. There are a lot of Bloomingtons too. There's one in Illinois, Minnesota, and Indiana.
I find my brother's whiny white-boy music so ridiculous that I started writing a parody song of it. Tyler came up with the idea when we went on our road trip to Pontiac and Bloomington. HAH! Bloomington. What a coincidence.
Apparently, there's a youtube gathering in Toronto on August 8th. I'm going to be there on August 5th. Sofaking close.
Also in the Toronto area is this thing called the African Lion Safari. Apparently, you can just drive through this big area where all sorts of exotic animals roam freely (not just lions).
I only have 93 friends from IMSA listed on my facebook. I try to be honest.
I'm a bit apprehensive about college. I hope this feeling goes away before I go away. One thing I've learned from IMSA is that everything sucks about school, except the feeling of a job well done, and except for your friends. So once I meet some cool people, things will all be good.
Positive things about college:
-Friends and socializing
Negative things about college:
-It costs a lot
-You're far away
-It's hard work
-The food sucks
-You don't get sleep
-Rooming can be a pain in the ass
-You don't have much time to hang out or relax
Somehow things should even out. I hope they do. Keyword: hope
I've been running across certain youtube users' videos. Like this cool Russian juggler/comedian girl. She seems really cool to meet.
And by the by, I finally played Portal today. It's a really interesting video game. If you don't know about it, you should. Google that shit. Google it real good =)
I beat the friggin game too. It's not a long game at all, but still. My eyes are pretty tired.
I feel empowered to finally be able to type on my laptop's built-in keyboard. It's something I haven't been able to do in 2 1/2 years. I can hear the keys as I type them more clearly; it makes me feel like I'm a good typer. Which is bullshit. You should see the way I type. It's kinda-sorta-fairly fast, but it's in no way the proper way to do it. I wonder how many people really do type properly, using the correct hand positions and what-not, the way they would teach us in our tech class in middle/high school.
I sincerely hope that Portal isn't an attempt at subliminal messaging that condemns stem-cell research.
I don't like seeing your underwear. I don't care who you are.
I'm pretty tired of love songs. Neyo is not the only one. Can't someone sing about soccer, or pineapples, or something? It's getting really fucking old. Really. Fucking. Old. Try something else, seriously. EVERY SONG relates to love or relationships or sex or something. There's so much more to life than that. If all you think about is significant-members-of-the-opposite-sex, then you'll end up with a significant other that will become your entire world. Then, when that significant other becomes your "ex", your world will be destroyed and you won't know what to do with yourself. Don't just bank on one little thing.
This brings up the "dating is like poker" thing below.
I wrote a song about the ideas in that paragraph above. Or at least I started to. I don't know if I'll ever finish it. That's how it is with all of my songs. I'll start it, but I'll put an amount of effort into finishing it that accords to my approval of the idea...and most of my ideas aren't gems. Thus, I end up finishing few of the songs I begin to write.
I saw a video of Tay Zonday singing a version of "Pork & Beans" along with a dude from Weezer who could not contain his laughter as he played the acoustic guitar. Haha.
I need to go to sleep. Go watch Yugioh the Abridged Series or something.
Time sure flies when you're doing nothing yet still occupied with things to do.
There are certain activities that I do which I classify as "nothing." Those are the things that I do everyday when I have no commitments to take care of. Like drawing maps, facebooking, and video games.
Speaking of facebook, the "new" facebook just came out yesterday. This might be my inner Republicanness speaking, but I'm not sure if I like it. I really appreciate how facebook is trying to quell the annoyance of having 37 application boxes on someone's profile, though.
I think there might be an easy way to determine a facebooker who belongs on myspace. Count the profile boxes. If there are 25 or more, that person should go spend time on myspace instead.
Keep it simple, stupid.
People tell me that they don't have a facebook because it's too complicated.
That is fucking stupid.
It's stupid because all of the operations that you'll want to do are divided into separate applications. It makes it really easy to customize what's on your page. Sure, you can't change the appearance of it, but you can easily customize which functions go on your page. Facebook is meant to be a networking DEVICE...Myspace seems to be meant more for self-expression.
I'm excited to add four more states, not to mention a Canadian province, to my list of places I've visited. And yes, they are called "provinces." Not "providences." There's only one "providence." It's in Rhode Island.
Actually, there's probably more than one. There's at least ten Springfields. I know of one in Massachusetts, Illinois, and Missouri...and I'm sure there's more. There are a lot of Bloomingtons too. There's one in Illinois, Minnesota, and Indiana.
I find my brother's whiny white-boy music so ridiculous that I started writing a parody song of it. Tyler came up with the idea when we went on our road trip to Pontiac and Bloomington. HAH! Bloomington. What a coincidence.
Apparently, there's a youtube gathering in Toronto on August 8th. I'm going to be there on August 5th. Sofaking close.
Also in the Toronto area is this thing called the African Lion Safari. Apparently, you can just drive through this big area where all sorts of exotic animals roam freely (not just lions).
I only have 93 friends from IMSA listed on my facebook. I try to be honest.
I'm a bit apprehensive about college. I hope this feeling goes away before I go away. One thing I've learned from IMSA is that everything sucks about school, except the feeling of a job well done, and except for your friends. So once I meet some cool people, things will all be good.
Positive things about college:
-Friends and socializing
Negative things about college:
-It costs a lot
-You're far away
-It's hard work
-The food sucks
-You don't get sleep
-Rooming can be a pain in the ass
-You don't have much time to hang out or relax
Somehow things should even out. I hope they do. Keyword: hope
I've been running across certain youtube users' videos. Like this cool Russian juggler/comedian girl. She seems really cool to meet.
And by the by, I finally played Portal today. It's a really interesting video game. If you don't know about it, you should. Google that shit. Google it real good =)
I beat the friggin game too. It's not a long game at all, but still. My eyes are pretty tired.
I feel empowered to finally be able to type on my laptop's built-in keyboard. It's something I haven't been able to do in 2 1/2 years. I can hear the keys as I type them more clearly; it makes me feel like I'm a good typer. Which is bullshit. You should see the way I type. It's kinda-sorta-fairly fast, but it's in no way the proper way to do it. I wonder how many people really do type properly, using the correct hand positions and what-not, the way they would teach us in our tech class in middle/high school.
I sincerely hope that Portal isn't an attempt at subliminal messaging that condemns stem-cell research.
I don't like seeing your underwear. I don't care who you are.
I'm pretty tired of love songs. Neyo is not the only one. Can't someone sing about soccer, or pineapples, or something? It's getting really fucking old. Really. Fucking. Old. Try something else, seriously. EVERY SONG relates to love or relationships or sex or something. There's so much more to life than that. If all you think about is significant-members-of-the-opposite-sex, then you'll end up with a significant other that will become your entire world. Then, when that significant other becomes your "ex", your world will be destroyed and you won't know what to do with yourself. Don't just bank on one little thing.
This brings up the "dating is like poker" thing below.
I wrote a song about the ideas in that paragraph above. Or at least I started to. I don't know if I'll ever finish it. That's how it is with all of my songs. I'll start it, but I'll put an amount of effort into finishing it that accords to my approval of the idea...and most of my ideas aren't gems. Thus, I end up finishing few of the songs I begin to write.
I saw a video of Tay Zonday singing a version of "Pork & Beans" along with a dude from Weezer who could not contain his laughter as he played the acoustic guitar. Haha.
I need to go to sleep. Go watch Yugioh the Abridged Series or something.
Dating is like a game of poker
Dating is like poker.
In the beginning, you take a little chance and put in a little bit of chips when you really haven't found out much. But as you learn more, you either put in more chips if the situation gets better or back out if the game isn't right for you.
In the end, you can either win big or lose. But if you're wise at the start, you won't lose much. On the other hand, if you keep going more and more in when the game is really not in your favor, you end up losing a lot.
In the beginning, you take a little chance and put in a little bit of chips when you really haven't found out much. But as you learn more, you either put in more chips if the situation gets better or back out if the game isn't right for you.
In the end, you can either win big or lose. But if you're wise at the start, you won't lose much. On the other hand, if you keep going more and more in when the game is really not in your favor, you end up losing a lot.
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