I will become him

New

2006-07-27T23:20:00.000-04:00

Whoever notices this new post first, and subsequently notifies me by carrier pigeon before his or her rivals, shall receive one American dollar.

I have nothing more to say.

Sugar we're goin' down...to hell

2006-02-03T13:39:00.000-05:00

What follows are the lyrics to the popular song "Sugar We're Goin' Down" by the popular music band "Fall Out Boy." I have added my own comments, as well.

Am I more than you bargained for yet

(Implying that he's too much to handle)

I've been dying to tell you anything you want to hear
Cause that's just who I am this week

(...but he's apparently just a kiss-ass)

Lie in the grass, next to the mausoleum

(Pointless line)

I'm just a notch in your bedpost
But you're just a line in a song

(She's not just a line. SHE'S THE WHOLE SONG. I think she came out on top of that deal)

Drop a heart, break a name

(I don't know what that means to break a name. I'm a college student; they graduated high school. Therefore, they are wrong.)

We're always sleeping in, and sleeping for the wrong team

(I understand what he means by this, kind of. Even so, it's stupid to say someone is sleeping for the wrong team.)

We're going down, down in an earlier round

(Earlier than what? Nice use of a comparative for th extra syllables.)

And Sugar, we're going down swinging

(Going down swinging implies you're both fighting for the relationship, which is clearly not the case.)

I'll be your number one with a bullet
A loaded God complex, cock it and pull it
[x2]

(NOBODY WITH INTELLIGENCE KNOWS WHAT THIS MEANS. Seriously, I smell a case of purposely-vague-writing-to-cover-up-the-fact-you're-not-good-writers)

Is this more than you bargained for yet
Oh don't mind me I'm watching you two from the closet
Wishing to be the friction in your jeans

(Honestly, friction in your jeans? Don't pretend you're smarter than Simple Plan when you write songs. That's dumb.)

Isn't it messed up how I'm just dying to be him
I'm just a notch in your bedpost
But you're just a line in a song
(Notch in your bedpost, but you're just a line in a song)

The song goes on from here to say nothing new or of value. Fall Out Boy can bite a monkey.

I don't care if the song is catchy--idiot lyrics ruin it. That's all.

This one too

2006-01-08T01:10:00.000-05:00

Click on this one too.

Apparently this is all I post now

2006-01-07T00:48:00.000-05:00

I thought this was funny. Click the title above, per usual.

I think I will have something to say soon, bu not until I get the pictures back.

Cya.

Oh Jeez.

2005-12-28T13:10:00.000-05:00

Click on the "oh jeez" above.

Christmas

2005-12-27T12:11:00.000-05:00

What I got for Christmas:

1. Chronicles of Narnia in a single volume
2. Posable rubber E.T. figure
3. Peppermint Bark
4. Someone's two front teeth
5. Everything I ever wanted from life
6. Red Ryder Ranger Model Cock-Action BB Gun
7. A bluetooth headset for my cell phone, because that's cool, right?
8. A job
9. This lousy t-shirt
10. Receipts. Luckily.

Click on this title for a funny thing I found

2005-12-22T00:33:00.001-05:00

Seriously, just click on the title.

Anyway though, I have a rant. I don't normally do this, so I'll make it quick.

I saw that the numbers for King Kong came in for its opening weekend, and it was something like $50 million. Now this was lower than box-office starved (Business class instead of First class) Hollywood would have liked--estimates had put it at around $60 million or more. And yet, when I heard about this movie coming out, I think that my lack of any type of physical or mental reaction was a fair one. Don't forget, this is now the second time King Kong has been remade. Hollywood is disappointed and confused by the lack of performance from Lord of the Rings' Peter Jackson's follow-up picture, but I don't give a crap. They're looking for the next big thing to raise theater attendance, and their best idea is another remake? Of a movie that's been around for what, 231 years?

Screw you, Hollywood.

Now I admit, I just saw the flick, and I liked it. Great CGI, exciting, all that. But still, I knew what was going to happen. It felt new, but not really new. Remake new. Psshaw.

But anyway, whatever. The important thing is that you click on the link in the title. I don't really care if you see King Kong or not.

Papa's got a brand new bag

2005-12-17T01:50:00.000-05:00

And by that, I mean a new job offer. Wowzers. JPMorgan's Private Placement offered me money to apparently come in everyday to their office and do stuff for them, which is cool. You may remember, O Constant Reader, that I had another offer to be considered as well, with LaSalle Bank, also in Chicago. They were kind enough to extend their offer one week, so that I could interview with another firm, get a better offer, and screw them.

Oh man, I feel kind of bad. Maybe if I buy myself a jet pack with my signing bonus, I'll feel better.

*NOTE*
After sleeping on this entry, I realize that I sound like a huge pretentious jerk in it. This realization did not require that I remove this post, but only that I note the recognition of my snobbery. That is all.

Seriously.

2005-12-11T23:25:00.000-05:00

This has been a very very unproductive study week. Seriously.

Poetry

2005-12-09T00:09:00.000-05:00

"Nocturnal Pleasure"
By Meatloaf

The entire city is burning.
You can see the flames like the inside of a mad jukebox.
Lost boys stalk the streets with those jungle markings on their chests.
Barbarians prowl in shadows, their heads rocking with rodents.
Motorcycles reproduce in nocturnal alleys, groaning with greasy pleasure.
And they've blown up the YWCA like a giant baloon, and sent it out to sea
Full of screaming
Lovely
Lonely
Girls.

Listen up stalkers...

2005-12-08T02:58:00.000-05:00

I know when you read this blog. I just do. I know who you are and when you read it and how many times you've read it. And to show that I know, Lesley Greene has eclipsed Jess Fishwick as the number 1 reader. Jess, who has only read it 24 times, has now been passed by Lesley, who has read it 26 times. Congratulations, L Greene, you won.

This is how urban legends start

2005-12-05T22:08:00.000-05:00

Ok.

So remember the b'scuse me story? The heavyset black woman goes into KFC and orders a bucket a chicken. The cashier asks her if she wants for there or to go and she goes, "B'SCUSE ME? You think I can eat this whole bucket of chicken mySELF?!" To which the cashier replies "Bitch I don't know yo' life!!!"

Now, that's an awesome story. It actually happened to a friend of my friend Michelle Jeffers, back in Chicago.

So it was weird when my roommate Kevin's brother tells him that his roommate at Albion College told him the same story, claiming it had happened to his friends in Detroit.

What?

We don't know what's going on. In my mind, someone is lying. I have been told, though, that this story is really getting around. People love it, and rightfully so. But is it getting around that much?

Listen, if you've ever heard this story, and not from me or my blog, or Michelle Jeffers or Kevin, let me know.

Weird.

The beginning of the beginning of the end

2005-12-02T01:13:00.000-05:00

So I got a job.

Which means I'll probably be working at LaSalle Bank in Chicago.

It should be good.

Until then, I have many grand intentions of rocking out the senior year, IYKWIM.

1. Super Scavenger Hunt
2. Further subterranean exploration
3. Climb Stepan Center
4. Kiss a girl
5. Potentially do a sweet prank that's so sweet our heads would explode if I knew what I was talking about
6. Just hang out with my buds! LOL!!!!!1!!!1
7. This is the seventh item
8. Change the name of this blog 20 or 30 more times
9. Put up many more very large pictures of people's heads
10. Make a to-do list (CHECK)

If you're interested in any of the above, so what.

This is about me, not you.

Hey, you hoser. Happy Christmas

2005-11-28T22:06:00.000-05:00

Here's some good ol' Bob and Doug MacKenzie to get you in the holiday spirit.

http://aetherealforge.com/~aeon/humor/12days.shtml

Personally, I say, don't watch the stupid flash animation, or read the script. Just put it on, and minimize the window. Let it wash over you.

Now take off.

Funny

2005-11-28T01:11:00.000-05:00

Click on the title of this blog entry. It's funny.

I'm just not sure yet

2005-11-26T01:15:00.000-05:00

Here's why Ninjas are sweet.

Once there was this ninja who was hired by a fancy art museum to make some fancy art. They paid him over a billion bucks to do something with the garden. So the ninja took a simple hose and threw it in the middle and everybody was like, "Genius." And the ninja was like, "Yeah, and...?" Everybody was like, "...and AWESOME!" but later that night, when everybody went to bed, the gardeners didn't understand and rolled up the hose and put it in the closet with the other gardening equipment.

The Last.

2005-11-20T12:27:00.000-05:00

The first big thing about senior year is over. (Football, idiots.) As my away message has noted for a while, Steve Canham had the idea to throw Tortillas at halftime. Everyone else threw marshmallows. He wanted to do this, because they fly like frisbees.

The following paragraph is taken from an ESPN.com article, about the game:

Notre Dame (8-2) needs to beat Stanford next week to remain eligible for its first Bowl Championship Series berth since 2000. Students threw tortillas back and forth throughout the game in anticipation of a possible Fiesta Bowl invitation. Someone also threw an orange on the field after an Irish touchdown.

That was us.

Additionally, here are some pictures from this year's football season.

http://community.webshots.com/album/503435565NfeJzj/0

Neato

2005-11-16T20:48:00.000-05:00

Look we've seen this kind of thing before

2005-11-15T22:16:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my party, take a look around the room, make yourself a drink. Let me point everyone out.

There's Wong, insulting you with obscure musical references. Actually, they're not that insulting, since you don't get them.

There's Kevin, pretending to quit smoking and making jokes consisting of lists ending in your mom and/or drugs.

There's Steve, pretending to be a squirrel, hiding behind jackets hanging on the door, screaming "YOU CAN'T SEE ME!"

There's Clayton, drinking alcohol out of a hollowed out piece of fruit.

There's Collins, not doing or saying much of anything.

There's Beverley, playing Madden before asking if you want to go to LaFortune.

There's Gwen, cutting the head off a small child to see if the body will run around headless.

There's Katie Hunt, trying to get NDSP to do the Great Race.

There's Manjamin, emerging from a sewer to climb the dome and throw a flaming snowball from the statue of Mary at the top.

There's Ricky, making friends with all sorts of hot girls, and writing up contracts for planned breakfast "dates."

There's Katie Bev, crying in the corner after hearing the entirety of "Get Educated" by the Beat Burglars.

There's Dan, calling you a big idiot, then shoving you.

There's Timmy, making up all kinds of ridonkulous nicknames. By the way, your new nickname is Robby Deluxe.

There's Brother Jerome, defacing the elevator and hall, all the while planning the email he'll send out the next morning.

My clothes smell like my dinner

2005-11-13T20:31:00.000-05:00

I really don't know what to do with myself anymore

I've got something to say

2005-11-10T00:33:00.000-05:00

Listen. LISTEN. I don't have to entertain you all the time. Ok? I'm not your friendly little blogger-monkey, alright? I don't have to just sit around here, trying to think of interesting things to say all the time, if that's okay with you, jerk. I don't have to just sit at my desk every hour of the day typing pointless words that resemble somewhat coherent sentences for your enjoyment, if you would be so kind as to admit. I don't have to wear the same pair of underwear day in and day out so that you may be mildly amused. I don't have to shower only once a week with conditioner because my shampoo ran out two weeks ago so that nameless faceless anonymous patrons of what I like to call the internet may, in passing, peruse the course of my life as elaborated in a series of short electronic notes.

But I do it all anyway, because I care.

REVISION: Halle Kiefer's Friend's Story

2005-11-06T23:28:00.000-05:00

Some people say they're afraid of clowns. Maybe even you. The thing is, you're a liar.

You're not really afraid of clowns. Maybe they weird you out. Maybe you're slightly disarmed at best in the presence of a clown. But you're not truly afraid of clowns.

However, some people truly are. Enter the kid of the story, who I'll call Herbert because I don't know his real name. Herbert goes to school somewhere else. Herbert is terrified of clowns.

Herbie was walking down the sidewalk at midnight one night. He was alone. He could not see very well, for some reason (beyond the fact it was dark, he had some sort of vision impairment, but I never met him, so I couldn't speak to the nature or degree). Herbie saw someone coming towards him. The shape was hazy, but the figure was tall.

And then Herbie realized that the looming creature was wearing big shoes. Really big shoes.

But hey, it's cool. Come on man, it's just a clown. Just a guy dressed up in weird clothes. Keep it together. Keep it collected. Walk by him calmly. But then the clown talked--in a soft, creepy ass voice:

"You dropped your smile..."

Herb's reaction was not to dance and sing and chuckle with amiable glee. I'm pretty sure, in fact, it was the exact opposite of that.

Funny pictures

2005-11-06T13:57:00.000-05:00

Random little stories

2005-11-05T10:28:00.000-05:00

I once had a creative writing teacher that didn't believe in personification. She told me that "hair cannot 'scream infidelities,'" and regardless of what you think about Chris Carraba, I think he was in right with that one. I was all like, "What? Do you not believe in metaphors?" Seriously.

I had a pack of cigarettes recently, and I slid the plastic off the bottom half, but only half way, so that it was a little boxy plastic chamber. I took a lit cigarette and burnt a whole in the chamber, as I'll call it, then blew smoke into the little hole. Then I tapped the plastic, and it blew a smoke ring.

Until just last week, every karaoke song I have ever sung has been a Queen song. What broke the streak, you ask? I was co-opted into singing Don't Stop Believin'.

I was in New York City recently, and I had to get dinner. I was going to go to a deli on 7th, but then I went to a Japanese place. It wasn't very good.

I'm pretty sure I dig postmoderism; that is, the little I know about it.

My sister Laurie sent me a birthday card. It said, "Happy birthday, Chris. Here are some Corn Pops." Then there were Corn Pops in the envelope.

My other sister Ellie recently thought of the word "Jesusmas" for Christmas. She's 12.

Cya

Halloween and such

2005-11-01T02:34:00.000-05:00

A to do list for last night:

1. Convince yourself after dinner that you'll do work rather than go and watch scary movies. CHECK.

2. Do work for about two hours, until someone calls you to come over to Castle Point for Halloween festivities. CHECK.

3. Once again don the guise of "Consultant Batman," this time wearing a black shirt to smooth the visual transition to my dark pants. CHECK.

4. Get there, in full regalia, to find three guys sitting on a couch playing Tony Hawk Underground. CHECK.

5. Shrug shoulders; have some jungle juice. CHECK.

6. Get convinced by some girls to go to Club 23, since you already went to the trouble of putting on a costume. CHECK.

7. Hook up with the first girl you see when you get there. INCOMPLETE.

8. Sing "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey in Karaoke. CHECK.

9. Totally kick ass while doing so. CHECK. CHECK.

10. Do the hold-the-burning-cigarette-between-two-fingers trick a few times. CHECK.

11. Leave the bar to find a cop arresting some guy for kicking the ass of the guy now sitting on the sidewalk, whose face is totally bloody and gross. Totally. CHECK.

12. Make retroactive to-do list to feel as though you accomplished something. CHECK.

13. Blog it up. CHECK.

This salsa was made in New York City.

2005-10-30T15:22:00.000-05:00

I was in New York City this last weekend, from Thursday through Sunday. It was a fun trip. What did I learn?

-If you can only find Batman gloves and black face paint rather than a full Batman halloween costume, then find a name tag and some business casual wear and go as Consultant Batman. (My name tag says BCG: Batman Consulting Group.)

-A bad combination: daylight savings time and drunk kids who need to set an alarm to wake up at 7:00 am. You may think that since we adjust the clocks back that, if anything, people woke up an hour earlier than normal. No. Drunkenness found a way to screw even that up, so that alarms still woke them up at the wrong time. If they woke up at all.

-On that note, we set a new record for time changes: 1. Move clocks 1 hour forwad as we hit Eastern Time. 2. Daylight savings time last night, move clocks back an hour. 3. Fly back to Chicago, where we adjust the clocks back an hour. 4. Drive to South Bend, where we move the clocks forward an hour.

-The musical "Movin' Out"-Billy Joel's musical-sucked. Except for the S&M scene. What?

-New York is pretty fun.

That's all

Can I get a WTF?

2005-10-27T01:55:00.000-04:00

Holy crap.

http://prussianblue.net/index.htm

This is the scariest thing I have seen this year. It's scary in a way that deeply, deeply disturbs me. I am warning you now, it may seem cute, and you may be surprised at first, but honestly, this is the most psychlogically perturbing thing you will see all week, nay, all month.

Follow the link if you dare.

Girls are funny?

2005-10-25T00:30:00.000-04:00

THE CONTENT OF THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED, BECAUSE IT WAS PRETTY OFFENSIVE BEFORE TO ABOUT HALF THE POPULATION OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD. I HAVE REMOVED IT AND REPLACED IT WITH SOMETHING THAT SUITS EVERYONE A LITTLE BETTER: A PICTURE OF EVERYONE'S FAVORITE ANNOYING COUSIN, BALKI BARTOKOMOUS.

Meatloaf

2005-10-14T14:15:00.000-04:00

The recording artist not the food.

Is awesome.

Some great songs:

Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are
I'd Lie for You (and that's the Truth)
Life is a Lemon and I Want My Money Back
Not a Dry Eye in the House
Midnight at the Lost and Found

and of course

Bat out of Hell

Trivia (and I know I've asked some of you this one already):

In the song "Bat out of Hell," the bat in the title is a metaphor for what?

Put your answer in the comment section of this post. Make sure you write your name. If you get it right, I'll give you something.

Oreos

2005-10-12T01:12:00.000-04:00

So I was at LaFortune today, specifically, at the huddle. I was buying mint 'n creme oreos on this particular trip, and when I brought the green and white cream filled cookies to the counter, the register guy commented that, "these are quite the popular item tonight." Now let me tell you they're pretty good. I told him they were especially good refridgerated. However, he informed me that he was not a fan of the cookie, for he only liked his cream filling to be white. Now I know what you're thinking.

This guy is a racist.

A cookie racist.

I held my tongue, but inside, my blood was boiling. I paid and quietly left, but I wanted to explode at him. Come on man. Expand your cookie borders. Embrace other cookie cultures. Respect your cookie brothers.

I wanted to reply; "Oh yeah, bigot? Do you like the (brown-colored) coffee oreos? Or do you think they're lazy?

Jerk.

This is for you

2005-10-11T00:33:00.000-04:00

This blog entry goes out to Jess Fishwick, who reads this blog more than any of you suckers (as far as I can tell. Maybe Charlie reads it more, I don't know). She's my coolest friend, if the coolness quotient is determined by number of times that the friend in question reads this blog.

Everyone else: you've got a lot of work to do to prove our friendship.

Lost

2005-10-10T15:29:00.000-04:00

I've started watching Lost on DVD. It began yesterday, and as of right now I have seen about 11 or 12 episodes, i don't know, they run together. The thing that pisses me off for all you Lost fans out there: the show is outlined around a 5 or 6 YEAR story arc. WTS. Can they not just bring themselves to end it on a high note, instead of dragging on for as long as possible? Oh man.

Also, my search for pumpkin beer has been less than fruitful as of late. By the time I find it, I will have already discovered who killed Kennedy, stumbled upon the fountain of youth, worked my way through a cure for cancer, and had all of my Lost questions answered, and yet pumpkin beer is still harder to find.

But it tastes so good when it hits your lips.

Space is fake

2005-10-02T03:58:00.000-04:00

Life is planning to kick you in the junk. Just be wary of this inevitability. I'm almost afraid to ask if things are going well for you, because, sorry, your glad tidings can only signal impending doom. Nothing is easy. But without the bitter, I guess the sweet just ain't as sweet.

Read "To a Skylark" by Shelly.

Hey, remember nostalgia?

2005-09-28T01:50:00.000-04:00

How about "Meet me at the crossroads" by Bone Thugs and Harmony?

You remember Pogs? I've got some pretty sweet slammers.

What about yo-yo balls?

I always really enjoyed Koala Yummies. (as well as those kanagroo themed frosting dipping cookie things)

Remember when the radio wouldn't shut up with One Headlight in '97?

I remember I used to be exicited for the friday night line up of Step by Step and Boy Meets World, except Topanga's chameleon act from weirdo to girlfriend was a little unbelieveable if I do say so myself.

How about when we all didn't have cell phones, and were infinitely better for it.

I remember when the internet was so new to me that I would write down advertised websites and actually visit them. Case in point: a fishing pole manufacturer.

The X-men cartoon on Fox was pretty awesome too.

End.

A song about life

2005-09-23T12:30:00.000-04:00

Here's a song I wrote about what's going on lately. If you want to hear the music, just strum the G chord a bunch of times.

Jobs and interviews
Jobs and interviews
Jobs and interviews
Accounting burn in hell

Lots of reports and
Too much taking naps
Strawberry Zinfandel
Accounting burn in hell

I gotta do the job
Gotta do the job getting
Somebody give me me money but
Accounting burn in hell

I just wanna
go home

The end.

This damn watch

2005-09-20T15:20:00.000-04:00

Because my watch band was unexplicable severed, I had to buy a new band. It came today, and as is usually the case when one receives a watch band, I was pretty excited. Little did I realize that this particular band had been born in the arctic chill of the deepest level of hell.

I began by removing the old bands. Easy enough. Then began the 2-hour process of trying to get those pins to pop into their holes. Oh man. OH. MAN. Somehow, I actually started to sweat during this process involving very little muscle movement. I eventually started to cut the bands to try to get them to fit better, but it didn't do anything.

Then all of the sudden, without explanation or understanding on my part, one of them went in.

At this point I didn't know what to do. All that toil; all that struggle. The moment was such that I had to stop and sit back and just contemplate my life. Where was I going? Where had I been? Who was I? I sat like this for a few minutes, then popped the other pin in with ease.

It's time for me to clock out.

B'scuse me

2005-09-18T10:11:00.000-04:00

True story.

Michelle Jeffers, who you know or you don't know (I think that covers all the bases) recently told me a story of her trip to a fast-food chicken restaurant. It's short, but sweet.

Act I, Scene I

A large heavy-set black woman is in line in front of MIchelle. She orders something like a 50 piece bucket of chicken. The cash-register operator asks her:

"Is that for here or to go?"

The woman responds.

"B'SCUSE me muthafucka you think I can eat this entire bucket'a chicken myself?!"

To which the cashier replies:

"BITCH I don't know yo' life!"

Either the use of "B'scuse" or the cashier's pithy but vulgar response takes the cake as the best thing I've heard all fortnight. Cya.

This blog entry discusses Pogs.

2005-09-13T20:36:00.000-04:00

Any ideas where I should spend the next two years of my life? I'm currently thinking 1.) Chicago, living with the 'rents, playing the "you can't turn me away I sprung from your loins" card, or 2.) in a job, or 3) in a drunken stupor. Or some combination of the above, I don't know.

On another note, my state quarter collection is coming along nicely. I finally got California today, which I should have gotten months and months ago. I expect that when I'm done, having collected all 50 states, that thing will be worth like $12.50! It's an investment really. Just like my Pogs.

On another note, you see how it mentions comments at the bottom of this thing? Why not say "hi" and validate my internet expression.

Sufjan Stevens concert on Friday. I'm pretty sure I'll like him, based on my limited exposure from my hipster roommate. I'm not racist against indie hipsters or anything, they just better know what they're talking about.

Hello. (I decided to mix up it up and not do the usual "goodbye" thing or whatever.)

zippo

2005-09-09T23:36:00.000-04:00

I bought Kevin a zippo lighter--it was one of those gifts where I wanted it much more than he did. They are cool, but they take some getting used to. Bored? Check out www.lightertricks.com for some cool stuff. Go to Tricks A to Z and check out "Goofy Style." I spent way too much time learning how to do it.

I guess I'll keep using this thing

2005-09-05T14:49:00.000-04:00

What's really new?

Well, I'm back at school, in classes, looking for jobs, doing work, contemplating life, trying to write better away messages, using an apple, going out to bars, making new friends, keeping old ones, enjoying the scenery, slowing down, speeding up, using contradictions, typing blog entries, finishing my journal, starting a new one(?), progressing.

Chris

Nada

2005-09-04T13:10:00.000-04:00

Nothing much has happened lately

One day left (then 33 after that)

2005-07-17T23:54:00.000-04:00

Man, oh man, I am READY to go back to school. Not to say this summer has been boring, but let's just say it's been...well, boring. Things to look forward to:

A: Sharing a dorm room with Kevin McCabe.
2: Being able to eat cookies for breakfast (YEAH THAT'S RIGHT MOM!)
III: Lots of fun homework LOL!!!!1!!1
9-5=: Quality facebook time.
The one after 4: OMG going to dorm mass!
The number of toes McCabe has: Intoxicated serenading at parietals.
VII (yeah roman numerals twice): Hanging out with all my super-cool ND buds! (that means you wink wink)

and drum roll please... the number 8 reason i'm looking forwards to going back to school:

8. CENSORED because somebody thought it was stupid.

Bye

Moonwalk

2005-07-03T22:48:00.000-04:00

Fourth O'July weekend is upon us, and for some stupid reason, this means that we have decided to rent a giant dinosaur moonwalk for the backyard. Now please, don't misunderstand me. The moonwalk is fun, and I have spent a significant portion of time tackling kids half my height, weight, and age with glee. What sucks is that the thing, deflated, weighs about two hundred pounds and is a mother pain in the ass. How did Route 12 Rental advise me in terms of safe and responsible use? Well, nothing, until I asked. "How many people can this thing hold?" "Hmm...I don't know really, I would think..." "I guess within reason?" "Yeah, right, you know, keep it within a reasonable number." But I wasn't really listening anyway, because I was thinking how the hell I would lift this thing out of the back of the car when it took a goshdarn forklift to get it in not kidding.

Ok, but once we did get it set up, with four people working on it, it was pretty fun to destroy the neighborhood kids in just about anything. The game I played was called "no one is allowed to stand up (or even sit up) when I'm in this thing," and this rule was enforced with swift retribution. Safety precautions shmaftey precautions.

Not much else going on. I don't know who is reading this now, but whoever it is, hey, and thanks for coming.

The Summer

2005-06-04T14:09:00.000-04:00

Someone anonymously commented that it was time for an update. They were right.

Summer is in full swing. I'm working at Harris Alternatives on the top floor (60th) of the 4th tallest building in Chicago (Sears, Hancock, Aon, AT&T <-me) and enjoying it as much as one can enjoy the supreme bitch position of intern. I commute in every day on a 7:24 train and get back to the station that night at about 5:52. So the hours are pretty good.

The week prior to work I bummed around at home. Also Lesley and her bestest friend Sarah visited for about four days, which was absolutely great. They saw a lot of the city and the suburbs, but it was short lived. That's ok, because I plan on getting out to NJ soon, ideally in two weeks.

The trip home from London was uneventful, but I stayed up the entire night prior because I was in the emergency room with Lesley, who had a near-fainting spell that lasted a few hours. In the end she was fine and we wheelchaired her back in plenty of time to get our stuff together and get on the bus to Heathrow.

Nothing else is new. I recommend the game Advance Wars for Gameboy. I'll probably be in Charlie's movie this summer. Check out charliecoutrakon.com

Bye

Here's the thing...

2005-05-12T08:21:00.000-04:00

Here's the thing. I just don't think I'll ever really understand people's love affair with things, like babies and the movie Pirates of the Caribbean. Objectively, I fully understand that there are things, and I legitimately comprehend that their are people, and I know that the latter can often be quite fond of the former, but beyond this purely objective analysis, I'm afraid I'll otherwise never understand. But nevertheless, people like things, and that's a fact.

There are other facts too, like the sky is blue, or Shakespeare is boring, or that I'm hungry. And there are some facts that you would never guess or believe in a million years, but guess what--they're true too! Like antelopes. You probably thought they were just made up, but they're not--even if science denies the remotest possibility of their existence.

The truth is that there's lots of stuff in this big crazy world, and the people that comprise your friends and neighbors probably really like a lot of it. But I just don't think man will ever know why. Except for Chee-tohs, because, oh man, I know why people like those--I can feel it in my heart (and my stomach! HA!). (Because they taste good.)

Tequilla Suicide

2005-05-07T06:13:00.000-04:00

Let me tell you a little story. This is a story of the greatest shot in the world. The name of this shot is the Tequilla Suicide.

Illustrated instructions:

You'll need salt, a tequilla shot, a slice of lemon, and very little shame. Here is how it goes.

1. Buy a round of tequilla shots.

Get ready for fun.

2. Put some salt on your wrist; raise your fists, and decide to what you wish to drink.

Let's drink to general stupidity.

3. Snort the salt.

It enters the body through the nose.

4. Drink the shot.

I love it.

5. Squirt some lemon in your eye.

Pure Joy.

I've enjoyed sharing this with you.

-Chris

COMMENT!

2005-05-03T06:52:00.000-04:00

Listen people:

It was recently brought to my attention that anonymous comments were not being permitted on my blog. Well that's all about to change IN A BIG WAY. Mostly, they are allowed now. So use this freely given PRIVILEGE and voice your choice. Rock the vote.

The Sherman Antitrust Act...

2005-05-02T19:10:00.000-04:00

...should have been called out against me, as I dominated my first game of Monopoly at the Wargrave (the pub down the street). That's another thing: I love the fact that we can go to the pub, buy a beer, and play Monopoly. I was with Jack, Austin, and Greg, all flatmates, and all-around good guys.

So basically, when I spent all of my money to control Park Lane and Mayfair (Park and Boardwalk to the Americans in the audience) I collected some serious bank, when those who were unlucky enough to land on my hotels paid me £2000. Best investment I've ever made.

I realize that is what I'll miss about London. Not the opportunities to go see big touristy places but the ability to go to the pub down on the corner and sing karaoke and get wrecked, if I were so disposed. London is great.

I bought one of those zip up "England" jackets. Good stuff. One day when I get back, I'm going to go full-out Euro for the amusement of those around me. I'm talking slicked hair, white shoes, tight pants, pinstriped sportcoat, fashion shirt, the works. Hey, it will be a fun time.

Listen to Aqualung and the Arcade Fire.

Then go away.

As of late

2005-05-01T06:40:00.000-04:00

Been up to many things.

1. On Thursday, I went to Hampstead Heath, which is a very large, very woodsy area in zone 2 and 3 (London tube zones). It was nice, honestly, I expected more gardens, but I was not at all disappointed with the rolling hills and the woodland paths. It reminded me of a little known film, affectionately called "Kick Satan in the Groin," or KSG for short. It too was filmed in similar woods; my trip made me long for the innocent days of youth, but not Walchuk kicking me in the balls for the sake of realism.

I was with Elise and Rachelle, and we sat on a little isthmus that went into a pond and had lunch. I had brought McVitie's tea biscuits and a block of mature cheddar--the best kind. Elise recited a poem from Shelley, which was a beautiful moment that we all shared.

I came back and took Lesley out to dinner at an Italian restaurant on James Street. It was nice, and less expensive than I had expected, which is another feather in my cap...feather in my cap.

2. The next day was Friday. Playing Shakespeare class with Tom Cornford, our director. Cornford. While I had memorized my lines pretty well, I still had some trouble realizing the director's vision of the character of Henry V. The speech is somewhat of a yeller, and is otherwise puncuated by a certain seething anger. Intense.

That night we went down the street to the Duke of York, where Karaoke was in full swing. I did the song "Don't Stop Me Now," by Queen. I did pretty well in my estimation. Mike (Quisao) was on backup vocals, which hey, I thought was nice of him.

3. I've been told that you should only boil cold water, not fill the pot with warm or hot water from which to begin boiling. I think this is a total crock o' shit, and a complete old wives' tale. If anyone knows why this is, let me know.

4. Saturday I did nothing all day, except watch Batman with Michael Keaton, which I still stand by as the strangest casting choice ever. I took a walk around Kensington Gardens in the afternoon, which was just super fantastic, then made my way back to have a fine meal with Chris Wong. Later that night we all played Family, which is a great parlour game, and then we finished off with Scrabble, where I insisted Laundryvent was a word. Woodopen should be a word too; example: "I woodopen the door if I had a hand. Thanks for bringing that up, jerk." But they woodhave none of it.

Afterwards, I chatted with Dan Smith about videogames, which makes me a little excited to get back and finish some, namely Prince of Persia 2 as well as Metroid Prime: Echoes. Highly recommend both of them.

Today is Sunday, and Kevin's (hot) sister is visiting. The plan is to go to Camden Market and buy "Magic Mushrooms," then to stare at the back of our hands for about 3 to 5 hours. Trippy.

Bye everybody!

Debauchery

2005-04-28T13:18:00.000-04:00

I went to the Notting Hill Arts club last night. It's dirty and dingy, and it's in a basement. But it's also got that indie-cool-punk edge, so of course Kevin loves it. They tried to go last week too, but the bouncer wouldn't let Kevin in, because he was too drunk (which he wasn't, others have told me). Chris Wong argued with the bouncer, using the following rationale:

"You won't let him in, but you'll let me in, and I'm drunk as fuck."

I don't know why that didn't sway the guy's opinion. But anyway, last night was fun. Then we walked back. When I got up to my room, I hear Greg yelling from the bathroom. Right away, I'm like, "Greg, shhhh, shhhh." And he yells, "Who is that?" Right then Austin walks out of the common room, into the hall where I'm standing. Right away I can tell he's blasted. He starts laughing, and tells Greg that it's just Reynolds, which Greg tells me, "Hey Chris, guess what I'm doing..." (I assumed he was throwing up, but I found out that such was NOT the case.) Austin ushers me into the family room then, because he needs to tell me something, where I see about 20 to 25 empty cans on the table, and Jack sitting in his underwear, drinking a pint. He looks at me, shakes his head, saying, "You don't even wanna know." And the thing is, he was right.

THE MIDDLE SECTION OF THIS STORY HAS BEEN CENSORED BECAUSE MY MOM MIGHT READ THIS.

The next day, Austin tells me, "You know, you were right last night. I would have regretted that, although it would have been hilarious." And while I kept telling them that they shouldn't do it, I knew that if they actually had, I wouldn't have stopped them, because I was curious.

Well, if you really want to know the rest of the story, email me or something.

Bye.

Hey

2005-04-26T05:44:00.000-04:00

Finally. It only took 3 months. Looking forward to it.

Love,

Chris

The pancakes of the DAMNED! No, wait, I mean DRUNK!

2005-04-25T09:10:00.000-04:00

So.

Scientifically and objectively, some of the funniest things ever uttered by a drunk man were eloquently sounded by Jack Laskowitz (flatmate here in London) last night. Because he was drunk.

To elaborate, the night previous flatmates Greg Belatti, Austin Pauls, Jack Laskowitz, and Chris Reynolds, as well as Austin's girlfriend Meg Smith, took a jovial jaunt down to the Monkey Puzzle, a fine English pub with a particularly great moniker. While I had not participated previously in such verboten and illicit activity, I was swept up by the rush of adrenaline when we stole 9 pint glasses. During the conversation that preceded our larceny, they came up with the bright idea of seeing just how many pubs they could hit in some finite amount of time. The deal was struck, and Jack, Austin, and Greg agreed to set out at lunchtime the next day. (Note: pubs in England close at 11 p.m.) I decided not to participate because A.) It costs on average $4.5 American dollars per drink, B.) I had a paper to write, and C.) I'm a total square. L-7.

So the next day, the merry crew set out at abou 1:30. In the course of their day they hit 11 or 12 pubs (the number was later drunkenly debated) and finished up outside of the Wargrave, which is a pub just down the road from the flats. I met them there with Lesley, who agreed to come along and view the expected debauchery. We all went back to the flats where Jack proceeded to do what he always does when he gets drunk: makes pancakes. Greg fell asleep on the couch; Austin in his bed. Lesley and I helped/laughed as Jack made somewhere in the realm of 20 to 25 pancakes. Yet the best part was still to come.

Jack brought the pancakes out to a sleeping Greg, and just as one might help and coax a drunk friend to drink water, so did Jack attempt to convince Greg to eat some pancakes.

SCENE: Jack sits on the coffee table. Greg is asleep on the couch. Lesley looks on. Chris videotapes.

Jack: (In a stern voice, as though he's doing this for Greg's own good) Greg. GREG. GREG. Do you want to eat some pancakes? Do you want to eat some pancakes? GREG. WAKE UP. Listen, take the pancake that is in front of you and eat it.

Greg: (keeps sleeping, occassionally mutters)

Jack: Listen soldier, you're in the Navy--are you going to waste the food that's in front of you? (Jack eats a pancake) Mmm mmm, you know what this tastes like? The stars and stripes. This tastes like Tubman, on the Underground Railroad. Mmm.

Chris: (Takes a pancake) This pancake is crunchy. There are broken eggshells in these pancakes.

Jack: Greg, I eat this pancake, and it reminds me of Lincoln, freein' the slaves. Now do your duty, soldier, and eat that pancake!

Greg: (Eventually takes a pancake and eats it; eyelids half closed.)

This continues for a while. I filmed a lot of it using Jack's camera. Lesley and I tried not to laugh too loudly, so as not to disturb the natural flow of the scene. Later, Jack fell asleep on the couch. I tried to wake him up, to tell him to go to bed. He got up, took off his shoes, then fell asleep hunched forward in the sitting position. Eventually he just laid down again.

All in all, it was an episode of the best kind of drunkery: someone else's. I should really get those videos.

Dinosaur Comics, among other things

2005-04-22T16:21:00.000-04:00

In my life right now, the following things/events:

I will be playing Henry V--a 51 line speech in fact. That should be fun.

I was at the British Museum today. The same stuff that was there last time I went was still there today. Consequently, my time might have been better spent unconscious, in bed.

London had nice weather today.

Dinosaur Comics are pretty funny. Check this one out.

Nothing else.

2005-04-21T08:14:00.001-04:00

I can do pictures now

2005-04-16T09:47:00.000-04:00

This is one of my favorite pictures, taken during my trip to Rome.

Will Kurtz in St. Peter's Square, the night the Pope died.

So a Canadian soldier on leave from Afghanistan walks into a bar

2005-04-15T13:55:00.000-04:00

And apprently, buys everyone I know shots. His name was Jordan. I think he just wanted a friend. Seriously, this guy purchased 21 shots for our drinking pleasure, then, when we wanted to go to a different club, he paid everyone's cover, which was ten dollars each. I'll admit to feeling a little bad, but I think I did the necessary "No, man, I'll pay--put your money away!" thing, so I'm rectified.

It was Mike Quisao's birthday at midnight this morning. He had a great grand old time, and ended up getting four fairly-to-very attractive girls' phone numbers. Fair play to that. On another note, I am the best dancer in the world, which is probably to my detriment.

We finally got our scene assignments for my Playing Shakespeare class at the Globe theatre. I will be in a scene from King Henry IV, Part I, as King Henry IV. We will also be reciting sonnets. Here's mine, which you may remember:

Two households both alike in dignity
In fair Verona where we lay our scene.
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Doth with their death bury their parents strife.
The fearful passage of their death marked love
The continuance of their parents rage
Which but their children's end nought could remove
Is now the two hours traffic of our stage.
The which of you with patient ears attend
What here shall miss our toil shall strive to mend.

Just so you know, I typed that from memory. Just so you know.

Also, we cooked dinner for Kevin McCabe's parents last night. Although I didn't want to, Kevin insisted on pasta. We added chicken, and I made the sauce--it turned out better the second time. Then I made some crepes for dessert. Those worked out well. I am a God with any Teflon surface.

I love you all.

Chris

Rome

2005-04-11T18:33:00.000-04:00

First: I HAVE FINALLY PUT UP PICTURES. These include a new panoramic from Salzburg, a few new London shots, photos from the first break through Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, and Prague, and finally, a whole butt load of Rome pictures. Click on "My Photos" on the right hand side to see them.

Here's what I did in Rome:

DAY 1: We left on Friday after class got out. Will Kurtz, Sarah Sibley, Matt Skinner, and I made our way to Stansted airport,and with no problems made our flight to Rome's Ciampino airport. We arrived 15 minutes early according to the captain (but I personally think it's a conspiracy by RyanAir to always add an extra 15 minutes to the flight time) and we made it to our hostel, near the Termini train station. Crashed for the night, with plans of hitting the Vatican the next day.

DAY 2: We got up at 7 and made it to the Vatican museum by 8:45. It took longer than expected. Even so, we got in very quick, despite the long line. That was pretty cool--saw all the standard sights. Then we saw the Basilica, went up the Dome, and then got some pizza. After that, off to the Spanish steps and the Trevi Fountain. It was 9:30 by the time we got back to the hostel, where we found out the Pope had died. We decided to go back to St. Peter's, where a throng of people had already gathered. See my previous post for more on this experience.

DAY 3: We went to mass at Santa Maria Maggiore. This is one of the four basilicas in Rome--the only four official basilicas in the world. All the rest, including the one at Notre Dame, are minor basilicas. Anyway, afterwards we hit up the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine, then the Roman Forum, the Bocca de Verita, the Circus Maximus where I beat Sarah in a race. We walked under the aqueduct, on top of Nero's Golden House, then to the Imperial Forum and Trajan's Market and Column. We finished with dinner and Gelato.

DAY 4: First to the Vittoriano, aka the Venitian monument, then to the Pantheon and to two other churches (one of which was a basilica), where we saw Caravaggio's Calling of St. Matthew and Michaelangelo's Christ Carrying the Cross. Then at 1:00pm, Will and I made our way to the Vatican, to get in line and wait for them to bring the Pope into St. Peter's and open the viewing to the public.

at 4:45 they brought him in, and because we had been waiting a while, we got pretty close. Then a few hours later they opened it up to the public, then a few hours later we finally got inside. It was a powerful experience, one that we documented in video, including our brief walk by the body. Ten hours after we first had gotten in line, we made it back to the hostel.

DAY 5: Final day. Will and I checked out Palatine hill, which was amazing--lots of ruins and such, then we found Michaelangelo's Moses in the last remaining basilica. We saw Bernini's tomb in the basilica in which we had gone to mass the day previous, then we tried to see St. Theresa in Ecstasy, by Bernini, but the place was closed. Oh well. We got Gelato instead. Then off to the airport, and an easy flight back to London on Tuesday night.

For the rest of the week, I just chilled out in London. I saw two plays: Don Carlos, which was great, and We Will Rock You, aka Queen: the Musical. Also good, but stupid at the same time. I like Queen though, so it was worth it.

Now I'm just updating stuff and avoiding writing papers. Whatever. Let me know what's new with you. Bye.

Saturday, April 2

2005-04-06T12:26:00.000-04:00

We decided to walk back to our beds. I wished that I had brought my phone, so that I could call my parents, or anyone I knew, just to cement the reality of the situation that I had not yet absorbed. The hour-old day was cold, but we hardly noticed it. There were no stars to be seen; the lights of Rome hid them.

One hour earlier the second service on the steps of the Basilica of San Pietro began--it was simple and unadorned. Two nuns sang the music that echoed throughout the square, and a priest who grasped the microphone stand with two hands and had adopted a far-sighted stare offered words to the throng that had gathered. No one spoke.

We had arrived at the square by bus not too long before, as the first service was ending. The announcement had been made not more than an hour and half earlier, but the crowd of the sorrowful and respectful had already filled the place. There was enough room to move around the intial group of mourners that in the coming days would number over two million. They were crying, praying, and singing. Many more would come later, to line up three miles long to see a man who history would likely remember as Giovanni Paolo the Great.

One hour before we had arrived at our hostel after a long day of sightseeing and walking, and we were all ready to crash for the night. Because the key wasn't working, I went down to the front desk to get it remedied. The computer on the desk there had a single headline on the monitor.

At 8:30, Pope John Paul II had died.

Back from Rome

2005-04-06T11:56:00.000-04:00

Hello.

I came back from Rome last night. On this subject I will have at least two more entries. Suffice it to say I was there when the Pope died, and I, along with Will Kurtz, waited 9 hours to get into see him lying in state, in St. Peter's Basilica. It was worth it. Rome as a city is amazing--one of the most fascinating trips I have ever taken.

More later.

Chris

Laurie says

2005-03-31T15:07:00.000-05:00

I got an email from my sister recently (forenamed in the title) and she had an interesting, if not oft overstated, comment:

hey chris,

i guess it's been about 2ish months so i figured i should say hello. i know what you've been up to since i've gotten your emails and read your blog. your new cooking fetish btw is just another stop along chris' obbsession train. recent trips have been made to guitarland, movie-makingville, and techno music town. i don't know i couldn't thinking of anything cute for technomusic making. anyway, i can't help but wonder what your new thing will be.

She's right, you know. I do make trips to those various 'villes, but only once a piece, and I usually never return to those places again. Now people who know me know this is true--it's the just a thing that I do. I could go on to list all of the places I've been, but I don't think that I will. I'll just give a quick sampling, though:

Pets:
Dogs
Birds
Cats
Rabbits
Skateboards
X-Men (huge one, with subcategories)
Board Games
Juggling (again, subcategories (oh man I rock the devil sticks))
Electronic music
Guitar
Video Production
Murder
The novels of Stephen King
Gardening, if only for a week or two
Nintendo

I'm sure there are more. Feel free to remind me of anything I forgot (Charlie). Have a nice day.

In Other News

2005-03-30T11:42:00.000-05:00

Another random celebrity sighting for today. This one is pretty obscure, but if I have a talent, then I have a talent for two things: obscure celebrity identification, and Connect 4. Anyway, the actor's name is Cillian Murphy--you may know him as the main character from the horror film 28 Days Later, a zombie movie where the zombies run, instead of just walk slowly.

Anyway, the same actor will star in the upcoming Batman flick as the Scarecrow. Like a lot of people's reactions to celebrity sightings, I thought he was was shorter than the screen makes him out to be.

Not much other news. Rome in a few days. That should be fun. I'll let you know how it goes. Until then, you all can begin sitting on the edge of your seats...now.

Out.

Easter

2005-03-27T17:36:00.000-05:00

Today is Easter.

Happy Easter.

Went to mass, then came back and had the best meal of the semester.

We had:

Stir-fried sauteed vegetables
Salad (3 types of dressing)
Homemade wheat rolls
Mashed potatoes
Homemade apple sauce
Rosemary and garlic injected pork roast
Gravy
Wine

I didn't put the stuffed lamb medallions on the list, because they sucked. Bad buy on my part.

But, everything else was last meal death row worthy. Seriously. I made the rolls and the mashed potatoes (dad would have been proud of the spuds) and my good friends Emily and Jess made the vegetables and the pork roast, which was just frickin' great. Also, yesterday, Emily made the apple sauce, which tasted like the inside of an apple pie, except better.

I had that good, time-to-unbuckle-the-belt feeling afterwards, and usually I only get that on Thanksgiving and Christmas (and I would never imagine that I could get that feeling in London, where a McD Quarter Pounder is so in name only--and yes, I've factored in the knowledge that it's pre-cooked weight--they're just smaller here).

Next week I go to Rome, and then I come back for my London Theatre tour. Should be an alright time.

If you're reading this and I wouldn't otherwise hear from you, let me know what's up--send an email or something.

Bye.

In Other News

2005-03-26T11:38:00.000-05:00

A few things:

1. I made bread yesterday. Gonna do it again tomorrow. It turned out pretty well; I got crafty: it was sunflower parmesan, plus, I braided it.

2. The Harvard Hat died. The button that holds the strap across the back of the hat fell apart. I think I'm going to order another one from the Harvard website. It has to have an H on the front and nothing else to identify it as Harvard. It might be maroon this time. Or crimson, that is.

3. Highlander: a movie about a Scottish guy, played by a French guy, who has a friend that's an Egyptian guy, played by a Scottish guy.

The opposite of hello

Where do you think you are? I don't know, the Library of Congress? Detroit? Beyond the sun?

2005-03-24T18:21:00.000-05:00

The sad thing about getting "bomblasted" (copyright Rich Pasiewicz) is that, for all the fun you have at the time, you never remember it afterwards. Here is a random sampling of conversations from "the day after":

"Dude, you were sooo wasted last night!"

"Dude, I think I was so wasted last night!"

"Damn it, and I really liked that shirt."

"We have some crazy videos of you, man."

"I use alcohol to drown my sorrows and hide from my lack of self respect."

"I'm sorry, man, I'll buy you a new one."

"I woke up this morning wearing Kevin McCabe's clothes. Why?"

We had a little flat bonding last night: a rousing game of quarters, which basically involves playing a game that I am no good at, and thereby getting me wrecked. But hey, everyone had a good time, and I can't say I didn't. Also, I got a job last night--I will be working downtown at a fund of funds, which is a hedge fund, which is a way for people to invest their money. So I dodge the "uh oh no job this summer, have to deal at the playground" bullet once again.

On another note, Big Daddy was a pretty funny movie.

You call that a knife? This is a knife.

2005-03-17T08:07:00.000-05:00

So I am big fan of cooking food. Real big fan. Last night, I went out to dinner, but decided to cook a desert. And what better desert to make than chocolate fudge cake? They didn't have fudge though, so I settled for Bananas Foster. Here's my recipe:

Ingredients:
- 4 or 5 bananas, peeled, cut lengthwise and then cut in half
- A handful of brown sugar
- 5 big tablespoons of butter
- Enough cinnammon to taste
- Vanilla ice cream
- 1 bottle of rum
- Fire
- Vengeance (because I don't put Love in my food)

Heat the butter in a skillet until it's melted, then mix in the cinnammon and brown sugar until they melt as well. Add the bananas and cook for a minute or two, making sure to cover them in the syrup. Next, add the Vengeance by stirring the bananas, all the while thinking of those who have wronged you. Finally, add about 60 ml of rum. Drink the rest of the bottle. Take your lighter, or matches, or flamethrower, and light the rum once you have taken the skillet off of the heat. It will flame out. Eventually. Then once it does, quickly serve over vanilla ice cream. The bananas will leave a sweet taste in your mouth, but the Vengeance adds just the right amount of bitter.

Also, I hung out with Richie Brennan, who is a friend from the good 'ol days at Loyola (high school). He is studying here too, but at Regent's College, which is just a 10 minute walk north of me. To anyone who remembers, remember this?

"Playtime's over!"

Oh man, I love you Richie.

Hate out (instead of peace out...sorry, I had leftover Vengenace...)

We're moving workshops

2005-03-12T09:04:00.000-05:00

So I am currently in a class at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, which was reconstructed in 1997. Yesterday, we did a little bit 'o acting on the stage--Act 1, scene 7 of Macbeth. "I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition with o'erleaps itself and falls on the other." I just acted that out as I typed it, because I'm good like that. As I did my part, people who were taking tours of the place were taking pictures of me, but I don't care, because whatever; it's no big thing. To be expected even.

The week prior, our instructor told us that next week, to quote, "We're moving workshops." We didn't quite understand what that meant, so on our walk from St. Paul's Cathedral to the Globe, we debated this sentence. Was it some sort of metaphysical, philosophical statement? Like it's a response to the question, "Who are we?" We're moving workshops, not just single actors. Or maybe he meant he was going to get some physical labor out of us: We're moving workshops. Bring your heavy lifting belts. Or maybe he was answering our question as to what we'd be doing the following week, and that minor earthquake that struck as he was answering caused him to say, "We're moving" and then he regained compusure so as to answer the question, "workshops." I guess we'll never know.

Bye

What is this?

2005-03-08T13:17:00.000-05:00

TTTTTTIIIIIIIMMMMMMEEEEEE
ABDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Tell me what this means.

Walsingham

2005-03-06T14:21:00.000-05:00

Just got back from Walsingham, which is referred to as "England's Nazareth." The town is replete with history; absolutely oozing with it. Mary appeared to a woman there in the very early part of the last millenium, and barring a little run-in with Henry VIII, the town has prospered in its own small way from a steady inflow of pilgrims to the holy shrine there. I went on a "pilgrammage" there this weekend with 17 other ND students. We stayed in a fantastic little house/hotel, and ate like kings, or at very least earls. I had a queen sized bed. I hung my towel to dry on black tudor wood beams that jutted through a corner of the room. There were 600 year old ruins in the middle of town. I love Walsingham.

A lot of ND kids are visiting for the week. I just finished a conversation with Kathleen Ryan, the twin sister of Myfriendpatryanwhogoestoprinceton. That was fun. Otherwise, it's time to get cracking. With crack. Als0, I have to write a paper and study for a test, both due Wednesday, but the problem is that I'm seeing His Dark Materials at the National Theatre on both Monday and Tuesday nights.

What do you call a man with no arms and no legs who uses his butt to separate two rooms?

Wallace.

What do you call a girl with no arms and no legs who is obviously a man?

Amanda.

What do you call a man with no arms and no legs who has a lot of play-doh?

Clayton.

What do you call a man who greets you, then purports the existence of Capt. Solo from Star Wars?

Johannes.

What do you call a Mexican man with no arms and no legs who inquires as to your health?

Emmannuel.

Get it?

Theatre

2005-03-03T08:53:00.000-05:00

Got tickets to see His Dark Materials, parts 1 and 2, on next Monday and Tuesday. Looking forward to it. Highly reccommend the books as well, or first and foremost. In the States, the titles are "The Golden Compass," "The Subtle Knife," and "The Amber Spyglass." Super entertaining, and super anti-religion. Those who might offended by that should probably read the Bible instead, or watch TV, or something.

I am also just about ready to commit to Rome for about four days for my second week-long break. Then I would return to London on Tuesday, and see a bunch of shows, like 5 or 10, throughout the rest of the week. That should be fun.

Not much else is up.

What Chris did the last week

2005-02-27T10:34:00.000-05:00

Chris recently returned from a week-long trip to the western edge of eastern Europe, and boy was it crazy. The following is a summary of the most important points of interest. It's super interesting, and by that, I mean really long. But who cares. I'll tell you who: not Chris--he doesn't live his life so that you'll be entertained. Now keep reading.

DAY 1: We left London to travel by bus to Stansted airport. My dad would be interested to learn that we were four hours early for our flight, although I'm sure Dad would say that four hours early is actually three hours late. With my travelling partners Ryan Hackett, John Miller, and Will Kurtz, we boarded a discount airline for Munich, in Germany (or Bavaria, as that particular area is called.) We landed, and after too many conversations that started with "Wow! I can't believe we're in Germany!" our group made its way to the hostel a little outside the main area of Munich. Because of a booking snafu, we shared a room with 8 other people, one of whom was (most likely) a Russian mob enforcer. Ryan stole his bed, and Klausen didn't like it.

DAY 2: We got up at 0600, as Ryan, who just joined ROTC, insisted upon calling 6 o'clock. Such an ungodly early rising was necessitated by our very early bus tour that took us out to two palaces in the German Alps: Palace Idon'tremember and Castle Neuschwanstein, or something. The first one was very Roccoco, and so that means that the decorators took paintbrushes dipped in gold paint, went into a room, and just whipped it around until the walls were covered in looping paterns of leaves and such. A little over the top, but still shiny, and I like that. The other castle was the one that Walt Disney based the castle in Disneyland on. That night we made it back and went straight to Hofbrauhaus, which is the famous beer hall in Munich, and although they won't tell you in the history on the menu, the Nazis also got their start there. Hitler really liked their dark beer.

DAY 3: We got up and went to mass with some other kids: Molly, Mike, Amanda, and Margaret. They got a private room in the same hostel, of which I was murderously jealous. After mass, Will and Ryan split off to go to Dachau, which was a concentration camp. Apparently, once you get within 25 miles or so of the camp, there is a line that you cross, beyond which, fun and smiling is outlawed. It's a no-joke radius, with Dachau in the center. Don't laugh, you jerk. Anyway, back in Munich, my group and myself went to the Residenz, which is the palace in Munich. I saw some cool stuff there, although most of the palace was destroyed in some war that took place like 6o years ago. I didn't catch the name of that one. Next we went to the art museums, and I went through all three: the Old, New, and Modern. I'm a museum demon. That night we went to the Augustiner, which is another beer hall, and it was pretty authentic. Sausages consumed by this point: 5.

DAY 4: Got up, had breakfast, and went to the train station, to board a train to Salzburg. We got to Salzburg, put our stuff in lockers at the station, then began to explore. Salzburg was alright; saw a lot of churches and giant fortresses, but not much else. We spent our last few hours in a legitmate Austrian restaurant Salzburg(er King). I ate a great meat sandwich and sliced potatoes. Then we got on the train to Vienna, which was cool. Got into Vienna and navigated to our hostel, Wombats, which in my opinion, tried a little to hard to be "cool." It was the kind of place that would use the letter Z instead of S, like instead of kids, it would be kidz. Because that's hip to the max. Still, it was the best hostel we stayed at.

DAY 5: Got up with grand plans of taking Vienna by storm. Then Ryan got hit by a tram and we had to call it a day. Just kidding--that's just a fantasy I had. We walked around Vienna, and it was very nice: we saw the Lippizaner horses in their morning workout, then we went to St. Stephan's Cathedral, and paid 3 Euro to climb 300 steps to the gift shop. Also, it had some views of the city, but clearly the gift shop was the focus. Then we went to St. Charles Church, or Karlskirche as it's called there, and went inside for some more money. This time it was worth it--we were able to climb up into the grand domed ceiling, since it was being restored, and the scafolding was all up. That was awesome. Then we went back to the hostel, where we again met up with the group from Munich, who was just getting into Wombats. We went out to dinner with them, where I ate Wienerschnitzel. It was pretty good.

DAY 6: Probably the best day of our trip: we went to the Natural History Museum, then to Cafe Central, and then finished off with Aida at the State Opera House. In the cafe I had authentic Viennese coffee in the most famous cafe in the city, and at the Opera I had great seats to a great show, and I learned just how much I hate Opera. We went back to the same place for dinner that we had been to the previous night, and again, more Wienerschnitzel. No complaints about that, though.

DAY 7: Trekked to Vienna's other train station, locked up our bags, and tried to go to some war museum and arsenal. We couldn't get inside, and went around to another entrance, where we learned that it wasn't so much a display arsenal as it was an actual arsenal. That's what the guy with the Uzi at the gate seemed to imply. So we just went back to the train station and got on our train to Prague, or Praha, in the Czech Republic. The train ride wasn't bad, although not scenic at all. We got off in Prague, in a country whose language we didn't speak, although this time, the language wasn't even close to ours. For example: Karluv Most=St. Charles Bridge. Whichawhat? Anyway, we found our hostel, which was initially shady, and then ok, especially since we had a private room. We decided after we had unpacked to go out to dinner, and asked for a good Czech place. The restaurant was good--very good, in fact. Three of us shared a giant tray of meat: duck, ribs, pork roast, and dumplings and potatoes. When I saw it in the waiter's hands, I cried a little; it was so beautiful a meal. We went back to the hostel, tired and glistening from the fat that was probably oozing out our skin, and fell asleep before 10.

DAY 8: We spent a bunch of time on the famous St. Charles Bridge, where scenes from Mission Impossible were filmed. Then we trekked up to the Cathedral and another palace. John and I didn't pay to go in, but Will and Ryan did. Instead, John and I walked to a far park up on a hill, for another spectacular view. Then we sat by one end of the bridge, and took pictures for tourists. We met back up with the other two four hours after we had left them, and went back to the hostel, where we all took naps. We got up later to eat at an Italian place, and then walk around more. We saw Wenceslas square, which is like the Times Square of Prague, replete with porn dealers, which was fantastic. Then we made it back to the hostel, where we migrated to the bar on the third floor, and where I tried Absinthe for the first time. It was gross--like Jagermeister, which I hate, but even more black licoricey. Although it's cool to mix in a burning spoonful of sugar, even if it's just for effect. We went to bed around 1, I think.

DAY 9: The final day was spent walking around Prague, all the while wishing the trip was already over, because it was long, and we all hated each other. We had to kill about 8 hours, but in the end we caved and went to the airport early--about 6.5 hours early. Whatever, there were other kids there, and I learned how to play Euchre. Got on the plane at 8:30 London time. It was a quick flight, and we were back at the flats by 12:30.

Today: I haven't done anything good today, except go to mass at 11:30 and make a good pasta lunch. Then I just spent way too much time writing this travel summary, which you've actually read through. Thanks. I feel special.

Somehow I have to figure out how to put pictures on this thing, so I can illustrate my wondrous tales. Until then, I'll let my words color your imagination. How poetic.

Go away.

Hey there

2005-02-26T19:44:00.000-05:00

I'm back. Just got into the flats 20 minutes ago; it's 12:45 at night on technically Sunday morning now. The trip was alright. Saw a bunch of castles, palaces, churches, beer halls, natural history museums, train stations, drug dealers, body parts of John the Baptist, and way too much of Will Kurtz, John Miller, and, oh dear Lord, Ryan Hackett. Now I've got some time tomorrow to unwind, unpack, and recharge for my next fun filled series of adventures, one of which I hope includes me running for my life to the U.S. embassy, waving my passport and screaming, "I'M AN AMERICAN!!!," all of this as I'm being pursued by Russian gangsters. I don't know, it's just one of those wistful romantic fantasies, I guess.

More to come later, and a whole shite-load of pictures, if I ever get around to it. Have a good one.

I'M OUT.

Into the Abyss

2005-02-17T16:20:00.000-05:00

Oh, it's you. Well I guess I should let you know that I will be traveling tomorrow, Friday, and will return the following week, by Saturday at midnight or so. Here's where we're going:

Munich
Salzburg
Vienna
Prague

Now try and tell me in which countries these cities are located. And no, it's not a trick question: none of the above are actually countries themselves.

I saw The Woman in Black last night, which is the longest running show in London at 17 years. It's also really scary--some might say downright terrifying. But not me, because I'm not a little girl.

I guess there will be more to say when I get back next week sometime, but until then, you can just imagine all the fun I'm having globetrotting the globe.

Upper Echelon

2005-02-16T09:31:00.000-05:00

Saw MacBeth last night. Thought it was alright. The guy who played Banquo got a little ham-and-cheese sandwich without the cheese and bread if you know what I mean. Sure, Shakespearean acting kind of requires that, but even so, forgive me: it was too much. I was okay when he died.

As I understand it, Lady MacBeth is supposed to be one of the Bard's great female roles--maybe the greatest. I didn't think the actress really lived up to the part, but I guess that was because I had expected to see the best production of MacBeth ever put on by humans. After all, it was the Royal Shakespeare Company, and after all, it was in London, and after all, I am a connoisseur of finely staged theatre, so I should know what I'm talking about, after all.

The audience for the show was the best possible audience I could have seen any show with, except the total opposite. Cell phones were going off, people were talking and laughing at inappropriate moments, getting up to go to the bathroom, reading comic books, doing homework, writing postcards, taking naps, playing Risk, eating sandwiches, and all other sorts of sundry activities that audience members should not be doing because they piss me off.

On the plus side (I knocked down the Sun Sphere), two kids were murdered during the play, so that was dark. It freaked the girl out next to me, which especially pleased me, since she only likes musicals.

Tonight we see The Woman in Black for theatre class. Long running production in London, and supposedly scared people almost as much as Pearl Harbor sucked. Horrifying!

After tonight, my tally for shows seen in London will rise to 11; 12 if you count the Taking Back Sunday concert I saw. I am mathematically the most cultured mo-fo in this entire program.

Eat it.

!!UPDATE!!

I realized upon further review that I claimed to be very cultured, yet in the same paragraph admitted to seeing Taking Back Sunday. So don't claim I didn't recognize my obvious oxymoron.

Plus, in case you were wondering at the title of this entry, it describes my current location.

I am better than Mike Beverly*

2005-02-15T18:07:00.000-05:00

One ~~Some~~ of my friends recently ~~went overseas to awesome exotic locales and~~ started ~~their~~ his own blog to document ~~their~~ his boring adventures, where he ~~They shares stories of ~~late night rendezvous, trips to world-famous landmarks, and celebrity encounters.~~~~ does nothing but sit on his big fat ass, doing absolutely nothing blog-worthy and occassionally playing Hot Shots Golf Fore.

Screw ~~them.~~ him.

I am going to ~~force~~ grace everyone else ~~to read about~~ with my awesome life in words ~~for a change.~~ since I can't be there to live it in person.

So, today, I got up at eleven, went to one class, spent an hour on the clock for my job (more to come about that) without accomplishing anything, and have sat worthlessly at my computer ever since. I plan to continue this evening, with a possible departure for mountain dew and/or chocolate doughnuts. did a whole bunch of awesome shit that you couldn't possibly do in South Bend, Indiana, because it sucks there, and is cold.

There, see how much fun that was? Who needs ~~London and Rome~~ any of you wankers when you've got that kind of excitement in anywhere else but Indiana?

*I am not better than Chris Collins, but to reiterate in case you missed it: still better than Mike Beverly.

Westminster Cathedral

2005-02-13T18:15:00.000-05:00

So that's where I went today. NOT Westminster Abbey, in case you were thinking that. We had mass at noon, and then a tour afterwards, set up by a priest there who previously lived at Notre Dame. He took us up a huge tower, and then he let us climb around on the roof of the Cathedral, on top of the domes in the ceiling. It was really fun, and surprisingly dangerous. Pictures to come soon.

Made hamburgers for dinner tonight. The English don't have hamburger buns. I hate them sometimes.

I decided that I would really like to go to Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park one Sunday, and just rant. To those who don't know, this is a place where people come on Sundays, get on their soapboxes, and start yelling about whatever they want. Most are religious, i.e. "Islam is your mother!" or "I am an angel from God!" My rant would go something like this:

HOLY CRAP! I have SO MUCH HOMEWORK TO DO THIS WEEK! Seriously guys, jeez! Two papers and a rewrite and a bunch of frickin' reading to do as well! Man! And also, stuff here is EXPENSIVE! Do you know what the exchange rate is between the pound and dollar? I don't, but I'm sure it's not good! No sir! But hey, it's a nice city. And another thing: who still actually pretends not to know the difference between Coke and Diet Coke? Liars, that's who. Give me a break, right? (awkward shuffling in place for a while, on my box) So I saw that new Julia Roberts movie. I thought it was alright. (More shuffling...)

It goes on from there for another few hours or so.

I've got some pictures from my trip to Oxford and Westminster. I'll put them up at some point in the future, so everybody, STOP EMAILING ME FOR THEM.

I'll leave you to decide whether or not I was being sarcastic in that previous sentence.

Leave.

Oxford

2005-02-12T16:48:00.000-05:00

1. 316.

2. The number of pictures that Pat McNulty took on our 3.5-hour-long trip to Oxford.

Sentence 1 = Sentence 2

If we were to hypothetically do the math, as I am about to actually do, we would see that, on average, he would have to take 1 picture every 40 seconds.

But hey, that's cool, because he was my personal photographer all day. I will post the pictures on my webshots site soon, since you're all eager as hell.

We saw the dining hall from Harry Potter. If a room can be a celebrity, then that was my celebrity sighting for the day.

Oxford is a rather beautiful place. The pictures speak to this--if you put your ear to the screen you'll hear them.

I don't know why I don't have more to say about this. Whatever.

Utter excellence

2005-02-11T19:46:00.000-05:00

So I saw a play tonight: Journey's End. It was a WWI drama about British trench warfare. Excellent. Just fantastically freakin' great.

Weather wasn't great today, which isn't my cup of tea, because I don't drink tea.

We did skits today in Theatre class, and I put on an English accent. Not to brag, but my British professor said it was one of the best British accents he's heard imitated in a long long time. Now remember, since I said "not to brag," that wasn't bragging. It's just the truth.

The rest of the skits in that class were absolutely hilarious as well. I'd retell some of the jokes, but you wouldn't get them, because you're a study abroad outsider.

Bye.

Super Supper

2005-02-10T19:51:00.000-05:00

So we made a giant joint dinner with the flat of girls next to us--a meal for a total of about 13 people. That's so amazing right off the bat, I'm considering just stopping right now. But I'll continue.

We had:
Bow-tie and Penne pasta
Three kinds of sauces (more on this later)
Caesar salad
Garlic bread
Lots of red wine
Double layer chocolate fudge cake (from scratch)
Cream puffs with rasberries and blueberries, as well as homemade whipped cream.

So I made two of the three sauces. One of them was a simple alfredo with garlic and herbs. Whatever, I know. The other one I'm more proud of: Creamy tomato with yellow pepper, goat and aged cheddar cheeses, as well as a whole lot of know-how. Mind you, I made this sauce WITHOUT ANY INSTRUCTION OR RECIPE.

Here is my recipe for an excellent sauce:

Ingredients:
Cream, about 2 cups
A can of tomatoes
500ml of tomato base
Most of a yellow pepper, chopped
Olive oil, 1/4 cup or so
Minced garlic
Italian seasons and other sundry spices
1 tablespoon tabasco sauce
A big handful of shredded aged cheddar
About the same amount of goat cheese

Melt the cheeses in the cream over a low heat, stirring constantly.

Take that, along with everything else, and mix it in a big-ass pot over low heat.

That's it, fool.

I'm out.

For pictures: Dinner Pictures

Ash Thursday

2005-02-10T07:41:00.000-05:00

Today is Ash Thursday, the Catholic Church's celebration in honor of the god Baal. The church has designated this day as a day "just to let your pagan side hang out a bit" to quote a 1923 papal encyclical. Typical celebrational activities on Ash Thursday include blood sacrifice of virgins, ritualistic fire-side dances, and good-luck incantations. While the Church is confident in its stance that Christ is the true savior, it figures it is allowed one day to revel in old ways; in the good old days, as well as give itself a little insurance policy, just in case the pagan gods of old feel neglected and vengeful.

Happy Ash Thursday, Catholics!

!!UPDATE!!

Kevin asked me if the encyclical to which I referred was Rerum Novarum, because he was pretty sure that Ash Thursday was not in there.

Ash Wednesday

2005-02-09T12:40:00.000-05:00

Today begins Lent, the 40 days preceding Easter. I am going to go to mass at 6 pm, in about 15 minutes. I've also got my Kevin Spacey play tonight, which reviews have said is ok.

I realized today during macroeconomics that I do my best class work when I can do it during other classes. Case in point: I wrote a bunch in my Philosophy and Literature journal during the aforementioned class. Now if I could only take greater advantage of this new idea and somehow manage to set up some sort of system that allowed me to go to class, but only to do my other work, or play videogames, 'cause I bet if I'm good at videogames now, I would be really good during a boring lecture on gross national product.

On a final note, I'm a big fat fool. (God I sure do know how to beg the question.)

Famous people I've seen

2005-02-08T23:02:00.000-05:00

Quick note on the famous people I've seen in London thus far:

1. Dustin Hoffman: We were both seeing a production at the National Theatre. He's a very short man.

2. This guy who was in Snatch, Robbie Gee: I was just walking down the street, and there he was. And I am 148% sure it was him, because I am never wrong about these important things. Here's a link to his profile on IMDB.
Robbie Gee

3,4,5. I will be seeing Kevin Spacey, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Steven Weber, who was the main character in that Shining remake on TV in '98, also one of the two main characters in the televsion show Wings--I'm seeing this group tomorrow in a production of "National Anthems" in a south bank theatre, the Old Vic. That should be neat.

6. Your mom and/or your hot sister

Later.

Going to class

2005-02-08T09:43:00.000-05:00

Hey ya,

I'm just about to go to class.

Just so you know

C ya.

!!UPDATE!!

Oh wait, no. Nevermind.

!!UPDATE!!

I'm back from class.

Italics and today

2005-02-06T13:08:00.000-05:00

By using italics, I can make things seem really important, even if they're not.

I plan on using this useful tool to tell you all about my adventures in London. How do you like that? (bold!)

I went to mass today, 11:30 am. All of the group responses were sung or recited in Latin, which I thought was dead, but apparently is not.

The superbowl is on tonight, and if I had been so inclined (aka cared), I could have purchased a ticket to watch it in a local pub at a price of 10 quid (pounds). That's eighteen red white and blue and green American dollars. Eighteen.

Nope.

In da Pub (The new track from 50 pence, not kidding)

2005-02-05T19:11:00.000-05:00

Pubs in England are all frickin' great. What an excellent system for drinking beer and other sundry forms of booze. They have such great character. When I come back home, I'm going to open an English style pub with some crazy English pub name, like The Marble Peacock, and the beer will flow like wine.

Forget investment banking; pubs is where it be.

C h r i s

Tate Modern

2005-02-05T14:14:00.002-05:00

Hey Neighbor,

Today I got up early--just in time to catch the 1:15 tube to the southbank of the Thames, and the Tate Museum of Modern Art. That sure was a neat place, and I saw a few paintings that I recognized from my days as suave international art thief. Weather was nice as well; overcast but a nice breezy temperature. i think that when God decided to create January, he started in the midwest, but by the time he hit the east coast, he got bored and left to make a sandwhich, then instead of finishing the job, he watched reruns of Chips (or cHiPS).

I also decided that I really need to get out more and see the sights, even just in London. Saturday's are good for doing that, so next Saturday, I might patronize the Natural History Museum or an Art Gallery or a McDonald's--on that last one, I'll just make sure to find an out-of-the-way one.

Pizza and Tomato Basil soup for dinner, as well as a bowl of sugared Soylent Green for dessert. That stuff sure is good, but they don't put the ingredients on the back. Oh well!

Until later...

To expose a liar

2005-02-04T20:37:00.000-05:00

I am about to write about a situation I've recently stumbled across. Mind you, I might sound like a vengeful jerk, but hey, I do love exposing liars.

I will try to keep this as factual as possible, because it's so obvious that I'm right.

Well tonight around cards and chemical cider, a fellow student described how her film was to be shown at the Notre Dame Student Film festival. She also mentioned another student's film, and I happen to inquire as to the plot. She described it like this:

There's this guy and he keeps seeing this black thing, and every time he turns his head to look, it moves. And he gets freaked out. And then he sees his wife and a man in bed (or something like that) and closes his eyes, but when he opens them, he has killed them.

Now I admit to taking some liberty with this, but the basic points are there: The blob that you can't see because it alwasy remains on the edge of your vision, and the dead cheating wife and lover, killed by the main character, but unknowingly.

This is, to the smallest detail, the plot to an obscure horror/sci-fi novel called Fear, by L. Ron Hubbard. The same author was responsible for inventing Scientology, putting El Nino into effect, and creating the first jar of peanut butter and jelly. Everything there is true except the last two.

Anyway, I emailed him, and he seems like a good guy, but he said he had never heard of the book (In which a man is followed but exactly such a flitting creature, then ends up killing his cheating wife and her lover but only realizing he did it after the fact). I will not say that he is lying to me, especially since I only know the plot on second-hand knowledge. However. my suspicions have been aroused. Yeah aroused, so what. Grow up.

I'll let you know what happens, whoever you are.

Something better

2005-02-04T14:26:00.000-05:00

Hey,

For anyone that cares, I will try and update this thing as often as I can. I'll start now.

I plan on going out tonight to some pubs/clubs and just dancing. No girls tonight, just me, a floor, some euro-shoes, probably some alcohol, and the spirt of the music as it courses through my veins. Right on.

Otherwise, we'll see where the night takes me.

On another note, today I broke my own personal record for days in existence. Woot.

Cya

A Game

2005-01-31T02:41:00.000-05:00

I recently discovered a new game. It's called, "Is It Pointy?" Here's how to play:

1. Think of something pointy.

2. The other person has 20 questions to guess what it is.

3. His first question must be "Is It Pointy?"

4. So I guess he only has 19 questions.