guess what? this isn't bluebeard redbeard abner. this is the hijackin' queen empress girl. hahahahahahahahahahahah!
pull the string!

Saw the new Rocky movie last night. It was good (not as good as the first or second, but much better than the 3rd and 4th. I've never experienced torture, which is what I've heard the fifth one compares to). It was enjoyable. And not one of those "everything-good-is-shown-in-the-preview" types of movies.

Yay!!!!! I got a B in my spanish class (over-all grade). It was an 80. Damn, that shit was close. I knew I did poorly on the final though. I thought I failed it. But I didn't--barely. I got a 68 on it. But there was a separate vocab test and I aced that. So I think it sort of evened everything out. Before the final, I had an 82. But a B is a B. So now I'm happy. I was thinking C or D, truth be told. I love spanish now! And I love my professor lady! Love is in the air.

I'm ready for baseball. Six months is too long to go without my favorite sport. Sure, I have more time for writing now. But baseball is still on my mind. You were always on my mind, you were always on my mind. Hope to see at least 2 games this coming season. One at Pittsburgh with my favorist sister. And hopefully one in the Windy City itself. Hopefully I'll write two more short stories between now and then. But man, I miss baseball. Football sucks. Hockey sucks. Golf sucks d***. Tennis sucks. Archery sucks...

Some classic pics from the archive. Why? Because I'm ninja like that. Also cuz it's my birthday! Remember those Hawaiian shirts and Levis Action Slacks? I sure do. Happy Birthday me.

I forgot in my earlier (45 seconds ago) post. I want to start writing a novel (again). And hey, who knows? Maybe I'll actually finish this one. Plus I still want to work on my short stories. I think it's my niche. Okay, in parting for the night, remember this true believers: Fear is the mind killer. So sayeth Frank Herbert. Nuff said.

Thanks for the card, guys. It made me wonder if people still make zines anymore? Or has everything gone cyberspace now? I sort of want to make a zine but don't know. I'm very lazy, you see. Anyway, the card rocks. Thanks again.

The 2002 James Bond movie (Die Another Day) is on tv right now. Did I mention how great the new Bond movie was? How refreshing it was with Daniel Craig playing a tough James Bond, one that could actually take a "licking and keep on ticking". My apologies for the hokey Timex one liner. But that aside, Casino Royale was great. I think a lot of it had to do with Craig's ability to be tortured (i.e. brutally hit in the nuts, over and over again, while tied to a chair naked) and make it believeable. His Bond was tough. Pierce Brosnan would have had a heart attack just filming the scene. And there were no gimmicks in the new Bond movie. Maybe just one minor one. Mostly it was just guns, babes, and guns. And that makes a great movie. I heard Brosnan is making a new Mrs. Doubtfire movie (film with Robin Williams in drag as a nanny type). That's probably more his speed anyway.

Damn, I hate feeling alone. Maybe it's cuz of the holidays and all, but I think I'm depressed. I need a girlfriend (and a good one at that). Plus fall is over. Which is always sad. There's no better season than fall. Summer is too hot (unless you're at the beach, girl watching). Winter is too damn cold. And spring? Over-rated! It's rainy and shitty and no good. Fall is the best. Fall is a time for hope. And I guess I'm feeling Old Man Winter settling into my bones.

My first short story (Twin Blue Oceans) was workshopped today. It went pretty well. Most people liked it and all that stuff. High praise followed by some minor critisism. It feels like a hollow victory though. I don't know why. Oh well. Top of the world one moment. Shit hole the next.

Found out tonight that they're turning Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy into a movie, starting with The Golden Compass. Daniel Craig is playing Lord Asriel (who did a good job being James Bond--probably the toughest Bond ever, including Connery). Nichole Kidman is in it as well. The director is this guy I've never really heard of, but he did the American Pie trilogy. So I'm hoping there aren't any dick-in-the-apple-pie jokes mysteriously stuck in the film. All in all, I'm excited about it. Hopefully some previews will follow soon.

Since times have been sad in Pitt. for my sis and bro (in-law), I decided to repost this picture. It has been poorly modified. But may it remind us all of better times, of the mission of U-Haul and the Escape from Queens. Those were better times indeed.

Old work from my poetry workshop last semester. More to follow if I find them!

Land of the Free

I was feeling fit. Physically. It was always good to feel that way. Nothing against being mentally fit, but maintaining a physical fitness was a lot easier. I felt so good, I started punching things. I punched the couch, the mailbox, the city bus. I was about to punch a sand crab on the beach when an old lady stopped me. “You shouldn’t punch living things,” she told me. “Why,” I asked. “Because of the laws of nature,” she said. I had never heard of such a thing. I pulled out my law degree, folded up in my wallet and showed it to her. “It’s from Harvard,” I pointed out, “and I’ve never heard of these laws of nature.” She explained that it had something to do with creation and Coke bottles, the slaves on Jefferson’s plantation and an old Paris whorehouse. “Have a great morning,” she said, walking away. I headed back home. The wind had been taken out of my sails. It was a significant downer. On the sidewalk, a shiny new bicycle was practically begging to be punched, but my heart wasn’t into it anymore. Caution would have to be taken in the future. I didn’t want to break any of the laws of nature. The prison was tired of housing and feeding me.

Chef Reg has some pix for da kiddie's to view!

What a beautiful cake! Shame I didn't make it. But that badly scribbled message of "Ha, ha, U R 60, Love U". Yup, all me. Don't be a playa hater! The pizza was made by your's truly. It looked better in person and tasted GREAT! Totally cost around $4. Feed two.

We have begun workshopping short stories in my creative writing class. I've got to hand it to my friend, Andy. His story kicks ass. It's got great action, great description, great dialogue. He really paints the story well. I'd have to say, at this point, that his story would take first place. And mine would be second. Cuz no other story has come close to mine. And mine falls a bit short of Andy's. So there it is. 2nd place. And I think I'm okay with that. Last night as I read his story, I was a bit threatened. But I've gotten over that. Different stories and all. His is an apple and mine an orange. His apple is a bit better than my orange, but fuck it. I like oranges better.

When you find yourself on Myspace trying to figure out the insights of teenage relationships, that's when you know you're getting old. Has it been so long that I don't remember the shit I'd say to a girl? High school (for me), a galaxy far, far away. And Little Bean, you don't count! Your numbers may be more than mine, but don't forget, you drank from the fountain of youth, while I drank none. And guys, I didn't mean in a perverted way. I just can't remember how the whole boy likes girl thing used to go.

I hate this fucking short story of mine. This stupid shit with the buffet and the taking over the world. How in the hell am I supposed to write this shit? I should have written about something else. I don't think I can write scary fiction.

I've done a total of four rewrites on my short story for my workshop. But thankfully I think this last rewrite is it/on the right track. Let's hope it is.

I'm going to try and stop spending so much money. Maybe throw back about 300 or 400 hundred every pay check for saving. And then invest...in an old car!

Why do we feel the need to write about ourselves? I'm not badmouthing this blog as much as I'm badmouthing facebook and places like that. Who the hell cares what my fav. movie is or my fav. quote? A more valid question is favorite place to eat at 2 in the morning. That is a true question, a relevent question, a question that defines persona. Taco bell, Waffle House, and Denny's, in case you were wondering.

Well, nothing important was due today so that's good. But tons of shit is due in the coming days. Got a crap paper due in my history class on thursday and two short stories due for my creative writing class next week tuesday. Oh boy!

I want to say that Okami is a wonderful game...so I will. Okami is a wonderfully awesome game! You can produce bombs (by drawing them) out of thin air to help demolish your enemies. Bombs! How fucking cool is that? Bombs out of thin air, what a hoot! Great game, great game. More updates later I'm sure.

Oh, just to clarify since my sister noticed it, I didn't get that PSP as mentioned earlier. I bought it on amazon and then they cancelled my order. Those jerks! Oh well. Ci la vi (sp?).

I want to buy this game (Okami)! The graphics are simply amazing. I think its about a wolf god trying to bring excitement back into the world. Nothing wrong with that in my book.

I think a PSP might be a good item to include in my birthday/xmas wish list. It's not that expensive and I'd like one. Also I'm spending all of my $$$ on a PS3 (if I can find one to buy). I won't be able to eat but I'll be able to play Final Fantasy and GTA IV.

Damn, I am lazy. In my creative writing workshop, instead of actually doing the exercises, I cut and paste parts of previously written short stories. Isn't that pathetic? I've said it before and I'll probably say it again: but damn, there's some talented people in my class. So yeah, I've got to kick it up a notch again. Perhaps if I actually write some new stuff/do the shit, I'd already be there.

I have an addiction. I'll admit it. I've been playing GTA Vice City and San Andreas non stop. It's on my mind 24/7. I bought a PSP (playstation portable for you non video gamers) today off amazon: brand new and cheap. So yeah, I'll have even more games to play. Vice City stories comes out on PSP in Oct/Nov and I'm definitely looking foward to that. Vice City rocks! San Andreas is okay but not as good. I love the 80's anyway.

Things to work on (for me):
-Play GTA less
-Write more short stories
-Find the secret of time travel

Dan,
I read your post about the Croc Hunter dying. I was surprised too. I thought that guy would live forever. But as I always say, you can't bad mouth baseball and expect to get away with it. Steve Irwin did a commercial for espn a few months back talking about how baseball didn't compare with all his deadly croc hunting. I guess he was right about the deadly part.

Holy Bat-Shit!
Just got out of my creative writing (short story) workshop, well, like an hour ago, and I realized that we've got a lot of talented writers in my class. It kinda blew me away by the quality of some of the stuff they wrote. And I thought it was only supposed to be an exercise! So yeah, I had a paragraph of crap, cuz hey, I thought it was only an exercise. I guess I should "exercise" better. These guys had full blown short stories in development. And one girl, a HIGH SCHOOL chick (I'm not sure how that works) was really good. Her exercise sounded like it could be published. Wow, just blown away. I guess I better kick it up a notch. I know I've got some good stuff in my arsenal too.

Well, the first week of classes came and went. I always want to call college "school", but the high school kids that I work with call their school "school" and I try to avoid any confusion. Yeah, sometimes 24 year old men go to high school. It CAN be confusing some times. My classes seem super easy! So I'm pretty pleased. Actually have a decent shot at making the dean's list, which would be a first. My friend, Andrea, is in my Espanol 101 class, which, I think, will be kinda cool. Unless she tries to kill me (as she threatened to do so about 6 hrs ago). Silly girl, don't you know that I'm unstoppable. That if you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could ever imagine. Damn! I think I was quoting Star Wars again. I can't help it. Once you start, you never stop. And Dan, I hope all is well in Korea. A couple of ladies (korean) from your pics looked pretty sexy. But then I remembered my mother's warnings and quickly looked away. Viva la kim chee!

I ALMOST forgot cause I've been "busy". This photo (sans the autographs) represents the mission that Jason Irwin and I undertook the day of the move. I like to call it The Quest For The U-Haul. We recreated the scene followed this picture, when Lando and Nien Nunb barely escape from the exploding Death Star (Lando begins hooting and Nien Nunb makes some happy gerbil noises). On that eventful day, after some scary moments involving oncoming traffic and directions misunderstood, Jason was hooting and I was making some strange gerbil noises as we celebrated our finding of the U-haul place. It was like escaping the Death Star. My slacker sister was at the apartment during this adventure so she missed out on the star wars recreation.

This is very weird. This whole week, I've been hearing R.E.M's Losing My Religion in the back of my head, singing to it, digging it, even downloaded it on my cell for my ringtone. Now this chick I know (who thinks a lot like me) has it on her myspace page. Pure coincidence. I haven't seen her in months. But isn't that weird. I think we really do think like, which is weird cause she's sort of a skank. And as far as I know, I'm not a skank, so...yeah, very weird.
Other examples of our thinking alikeness: Sloth (from The Goonies) had a line in that movie that went something like "H-e-e-e-e-y y-o-o-o-u g-u-u-u-u-y-s!" when he came to the kids rescue. I used to say that a lot at work. Just come into the room and yell, "heeeeyyyy yoooouuu guuyys!". Well, she did that once for no good reason. The weird part? I haven't done that at work for years. She started working me with about 6 months ago. Weird yeah?
I'm sure there are other examples but I'm too tired to think/type straight. Nuff said.

I haven't watched Pete & Pete since Bean and Jason returned to the wonderful world of pittsburgh. I just realized that (at this very moment). Does it mean that when I watch Pete & Pete, my sister and brother n law are visiting? Or does it mean that when my sister and brother n law visit, I can watch Pete & Pete? I guess it's sort of like that old question of whom came first: the chicken sandwich or the egg mcmuffin? If a tree falls down in the woods, does the fat lady sing? Only time will tell. And I quote from my comic book upbringing, nuff said.

Watching Trading Places (80's comedy w/ eddie murphy) on comedy central. It's supposed to be uncensored and uncut, and the curse words are still in it. But they edited out all the boob scenes. Jamie Lee Curtis' boobs are...well, I can take them or leave them. But still, isn't that the meaning of "uncut"? How can this be "uncensored" if it is indeed censored? On the plus side, the commercial breaks are really short. So that was nice.

A return to work, a hero's welcome. Evidentally I was missed by my pals. And heck, I missed them too. Work itself wasn't too bad either. Had a lot of smiles, a lot of laughs throughout the day. Will this current trend of smiling and laughing at work continue? Probably not. But I'll take it, if only for the day.

I guess it is a curse or something. Whenever I've got to get up (early) for work, I always feel like working on a story. It's 2:11am right now and I feel like working on my short story (the sort-of-becky one). I should be thinking about going to bed. But no, I'm thinking 'now I know the proper direction/vibe to end the story on/with'. I could have been working on this story the past week or so (time off from work to help move my kung-fu-singing sis) but I didn't. Spent three days lifting and driving and lifting some more, then the rest of the time sitting on my ass, playing video games. I am a slacker, yes, and my sense of timing is shot to hell. Damn these muses and their terrible lack of consideration for my schedule. Don't damn them to Hell, of course. I need them to come back. But perhaps, perchance, they could come back, like say, the next time I'm off? How's that sound? Or am I to remain howling at the next full moon?

About that door bell earlier: It was two Russian (?) type girls, high school age or slightly older, asking me if I had any children living in the house. I said no. Then they asked about my neighbors, whether they had any children. I answered as best as I could (honestly, who keeps up with their neighbors anymore?). Figured it was for some sort of after school program but you can never tell with those ruskies.

My sister doesn't know the words to Kung-Fu Fighting by Carl Carlton. I know most of the words but not the entire song. Still, it's kind of sad (that I know most of the words and that she sings the song without knowing any). Everybody was kung-fu fighting. In fact it was a little bit frightening. Cuz they fought with expert timing....

That's like the worse disco song ever. And I mean EVER. Not that disco was so great anyway......

The door bell rang. I have to go

Well, this is my first time blogging like this. Yup, a blogger-virgin. Not sure how to quite go about this. Here are a few thoughts:

Pete & Pete season 1 DVD is cool
Cubs won tonight (6-3) which is cool
Don't have to work tomorrow (definitely cool)
Not working ever again (would be totally cool)...not likely to happen
Pittsburgh has nasty insects but sort of hot girls (not NYC hot, but hot in a still-eating-three-meals-a-day sort of way)
Trying seven days this past week
Moving's a bitch
But we survived

Hopefully I will write more honestly next time, but, whatever.