October 19, 2008

• life, the universe, and everything

  Well I haven’t written one of these what’s happening in my life posts in a long time. I’m bored so I might as well.

  Let’s see where the heck to begin? I guess I’ll start when changes
  started. I was plodding along at my job bored out of my mind and
  worried about my online friend who had disappeared for a long time amongst other things. I
  was particularly concerned about this disappearance because just before she’d
  disappeared she’d said she might need a place to stay… a place to
  escape to. Plus… well.. eh never mind about that.

  Then *poof* she appeared again. Like magic. She was just there online
  again and freaking out a bit and as promised she needed to get away.
  The situation she was in was bad. She needed to start over. So I offered as I had before a place to stay. Actually I had been planning to go down there and try and find her anyways.

  So long story short, I had a vacation in Florida for like a week and
  now I have a roommate who I met first on Xanga. Here‘s her blog. Go say hi! She’s
  sleeping in the other room right now I as I write this. She’s nocturnal
  you see. I sort of suspect she might be a Vampire, or as she would
  correct me a Vampyre.  She has fangs and the light burns her too. And
  she knows how to summon ghosts and hangs out with lycanthropes. I’m not
  even joking…  There’s other evidence too but I don’t want to bore you.

  But the question is, is there such a thing as a Wiccan Buddhist Nature Loving Animal Loving Vampire? I suppose even Vampires… vampyres… must have their eccentrics.

  Haha. Well I always wanted a more adventurous interesting life! I guess I found it! ^_^

  So far she hasn’t turned me into a vampire in my sleep and I haven’t
  staked her in hers, so I guess we’re getting along pretty good all
  things considered. I used to eat primarily frozen dinners but now she
  cooks stuff. And it’s quite good. It’s so weird. I’m so not used to
  eating stuff that’s actually cooked except on special occasion. Not
  since I was living at home. It feels like the whole world is all out of
  whack, but in a good kinda way . I’m helping her search for a job and
  stuff and she’s getting back in touch with family and all that. I’m
  really glad to see her life really seems to be taking a turn for the
  better and I’m happy to have been a small part of helping make that
  happen.

  So what else? Well I’ve been a bit concerned with my financial
  situation in spite of my good job and cheap rent. The economy’s got me a little
  freaked and I hate credit cards with umm… a burning passion greater
  than a thousand suns. Yeah that’s the expression! ^_^

  I’m starting to realize that I’m really not as good at saving money as
  I thought. I’m trying to teach myself to be more frugal though.

  Work sucks ass though and I want to quit. Oh sure it’s the best job
  I’ve ever had in my entire life. It’s easy. It pays well. And I’ve got
  the best boss in the history of the Universe.  But…  I still hate it.
  I hate programming. All I ever want to do every day at work is write.
  So I procrastinate and days and days go by in which I do absolutely
  nothing except chat online and Xanga-ing.  Part of the problem is I’m
  not generating ideas which I enjoy. I’m just implementing them. And
  it’s boring and time consuming and tedious. This is a task for robots
  not thinking people.

  Well my procrastination bit me in the ass this past week. Since we’re
  going live with the big project. Part 1 goes out Monday, Part two a
  week later, and part 3 a week after that.  And yeah there was a shit
  load of improvements I still wanted to make to make things awesome. So
  I worked late Tuesday through Thursday last week and by late I mean
  until like 2 am.  I also worked most of Saturday and long into the
  night Saturday night.

  Now I just get to wait until everything breaks tomorrow and I get to
  fix everything all week. Then I’ll realize I’m not ready for part 2 on
  Tuesday and have to work all weekend. Repeat the process the following
  week. Fun fun fun! The life of a grunt worker. Maybe the US economy
  will self destruct sparing me from having to do this any more. I’ll be
  like out on the street gambling with people for games of Chess and
  Magic and earning money for my next meal ticket. Luckily I have a
  Vampyric friend who will keep the shadier parts of the dark underbelly
  of Indianapolis away from me. ^_^

  Or I guess I could just move back to Delaware in that case…. But that
  would probably drive me batshit insane. Don’t get me wrong, I love my
  family. But I need my space.

  Saturday wasn’t *all* programming. I had a really fun nice evening too
  which is good cuz I woke up sickeningly depressed. Oh yeah I’m supposed
  to use anime nicknames for all characters in these life summary posts.
  I almost forgot.  So my roommate I’ll call Seras Victoria for the
  duration of this post.

  Well Seras and I met up with Yuko Ichihara and Alice Seno that evening
  for dinner at the Chinese Buffet place which is a great place to eat.
  Food is only a little over $5 per person and they have a huge variety.
  Yuko and Alice had been working at the Halloween store seasonal part
  time that just so happened to be close to where I live. So when I
  needed a break from work I went and picked them and my roommate up.

  During dinner we had many interesting conversations that I can’t
  remember at all. I think we mostly talked about writing and costumes or
  something. My brain is not working because it is all stuffed full of
  if-then statements and while-loops right now. Fucking programming.

  Afterward dinner I didn’t want to go back to work so I kidnapped my
  three semi-willing guests and took them to the movie theater where I
  bought them all tickets to see Eagle Eye.

  Which is a pretty awesome movie btw I thought. I have a few complaints
  about it but it was a good decent story and very fast paced and
  exciting. Nothing particularly shocking at the end but still very
  entertaining. My biggest complaint as it always is with these super
  evil computer stories is Why The Fuck Did The Computer Lose!?!?!?!  
  Why are intelligent computers in movies so damnably STUPID. Humanity
  should NOT be able to outsmart these things. It amazes me. The Matrix
  is the worst of these btw, but they’re all like that. It drives me
  nutts. But I still find the movies quite entertaining. 

  As Oniisan always says the primary purpose of Science Fiction is to
  teach humanity the overriding principle of “Never Build Intelligent
  Machines”.

  I’m already up to the present and I missed about fifty million pieces
  of information about the many weeks inbetween. Therefore this enty will
  in no way be chronological. In fact from this point on I’m going to go
  backwards.

  Friday night I watched a movie with Sera from Netflix called The
  Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Now THAT movie was wonderful. I mean
  I was shocked that it so suited the books. I was expecting it to be a
  travesty. It worked because they kept so very many of the words from
  the books in tact. Had they not it would have been horrible.

  I’ve seen a lot of other movies too over the weeks I’ve been not
  writing anything interesting on this Xanga. Some on Netflix with Seras.
  Some while visiting Yuko and Alice (and Kyo who was also there
  sometimes). Let’s just list them:

  National Treasure :  I give it a B
  National Treasure 2: A B+
  Stargate Continuum:  A+++  (but I’m a huge Stargate fan, but Alice is
  more fanatical about it than I am. But I’m more of a fan than Seras and
  I think Yuko too)
  Stargate The Arc of Truth: A++
  Happy Feet:  A (i was surprised, didn’t think I’l like penguins that much)
  Sweeney Todd:  A+ (dark but beautiful. incredible acting)
  Hot Fuzz: A (a great comedy, probably one of my favorite comedies in a
  long time, but I’m not a big comedy fan. It has the prhase “By the
  Power of Grayskull” TWICE!)
  Sean of the Dead: A-  (inferior to Hot Fuzz but still good)
  Card Captor Sakura Movie 1: The Sealed Card:   B (it’s CCS so it’s good, but it wasn’t anything special)
  Ultraviolet: B+ (fun mindless action. I like)
  Hellboy II: A-  (I LOVE Hellboy. But this should have been more violent)
  House of Flying Daggers:  B (this would have been much higher but the
  ending RUINED it for me. It’s beautiful and the action was great but I
  can’t take that kinda fucked up ending. It was A+ level up until the
  end. Still Zhang Ziyi is really awesome…)

  Well I think that’s it. I can’t remember. There were some Jason
  Stratham movies I was subjected to… but I think I kept falling asleep
  much to the consternation of my allies.  I also watched the first half
  and the first disc of the second half of Card Captor Sakura.  I’ve seen
  lots of random episodes before but this was the first time I’d watched
  them stright through in order. I’m going to finish it one day soon and
  watch the second movie.

  Also checked out an anime called Mirage of Blaze which is… odd. I
  only saw the first disc so far. It looks like it could be good though.

  Ah now where was I. Oh yeah. It was last Friday. Haha. At this rate
  I’ll finish this entry at just a little bit after the End of Time. 
  Bear with me though. There’s more exciting stuff to come!

  Like… like….

  Friday I WORKED ALL DAY AT WORK!  Amaazing isn’t it!!  Shocking!

  Except I didn’t. At lunch time my great boss ordered us Chinese which
  was delicious. My fortune said “You are never selfish with your advice
  or your help.” Bleh what a bunch of BS. I don’t like fortunes like that
  because it’s sort of like binding you to a statement of fact. Almost
  like a curse. Maybe now that I’ve opened that fortune I can NEVER be
  selfish with my advice or help even if I WANTED to. Why? Because it
  said so! It’s my fortune. It must be true.  But I’m a natural
  contrarian. I really want to make this not true. Quick somebody ask me
  for advice!  …. No! You CAN’T HAVE IT!! No Advice for You! I’m too
  selfish

  Proceeding backwards through time….

  Tuesday through Thursday were unremarkable except that I worked my ass off and wanted to pound nails into my skull every day.

  Monday I also worked but that evening I delivered a new router and dvd player to Yuko-chan and Alice-chan.

  The DVD player was in exchange for the xbox 360 I had lent them and
  recently taken back so I can play my Rockband 2 again and my new Soul
  Caliber IV game I just got.

  The fucking brand new router WOULD NOT WORK!!  I tried setting it up
  and spent like over an hour on it. Or maybe it was two or more I can’t
  remember. but it pissed me off. I was angry and annoyed .This was after
  having watched an episode of Heroes which also pissed me off and in
  part it was because I’d only gotten two or three hours of sleep the
  night before. I went to sleep really late because I’d been playing
  video games long into the night I think and doing laundry, I can’t
  remember exactly. Also kept waking up in the middle of the night cuz of
  some kind of noises, not sure what it was. 

  Anyway I was pissed and depressed so even the Sugar cookies Yuko had
  baked could not cheer me up. I no doubt worried my friends as I
  suddenly gave up on the router and left and drove home feeling all
  kinds of out of sorts. I’d meant to go to work that night and get some
  work done. And I’d meant ot stop for gas near Yuko and Alice-chan’s
  place since gas is cheaper there. But I just plain forgot.

  The next day I completely forgot to bring my wallet with me to work and
  so I ate absolutely nothing that entire day until I got home around
  midnight. When we ordered papa johns.

  You like how I started moving forward in time again like that?  Slipped
  it right in there didn’t I. You probably didn’t even notice.

  Yeah Wednesday through Friday Seras was super nice fixing me big
  breakfasts and coffee in the morning. but she seemed quite annoyed at
  me for not having eaten anything on Tuesday. But I got the feeling it was sort of transference too. She was more annoyed at someone else who wasn’t eating right, but that’s a story for another day…

  Probably I wouldn’t have
  eaten much of anything all week if she hadn’t been there. I would have
  survived on massive quantities of Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts coffee.
  Hooray for roommates! Even vampires serve their purposes. ur…
  vampyres…

  I’d talk about the weeks prior to that but I can’t seriously remember
  that far back. I know some general details. I registered to vote in Indianapolis at some point. Which is good cuz it’s a swing state that
  is leaning red but I want Obama to win so hopefully my vote will help.
  I’m a little worried about being able to vote though cuz I don’t have
  an Indianapolis ID or License and you need a government issued photo
  identification card at the place of polling when you vote in Indiana.
  Yeah Indiana has the most restrictive identification law in the
  country. Yippee. My concern is whether my Delaware license will be
  sufficient or if I will need one that proves I am an Indiana resident.
  Perhaps I can bring my DE license + some other proof of residency.

  I should have an Indiana license. I went to the DMV with many forms of
  identification and I passed the written and  the vision test. But the
  one form of ID I didn’t have was my birth certificate and apparently
  nothing less will do. Well a passport might do but I don’t hjave one of
  those. I tore apart my room the next day searching for my birth
  certificate copy that I ordered at the end of last year and found
  NOTHING! My room is still a disaster area to this very moment by the
  way. But man it was clean before that. I’d cleaned up quite thoroughly
  before I acquired a roommate. I’ll clean it up at some point again I
  guess. When I get bored again.

  Not that I clean when I’m bored. I ramble when I’m bored. Sometimes I even rant like
  crazy. And my ranting IS very crazy. My ranting and rambling is also quite depressing. I
  recommend you entertain me when I am bored or else I’ll bore you with
  my rambling.

  I tend to clean when I wake up in the middle of the night having a
  nightmare that I never remember. That’s when I go on a cleaning spree.
  Hasn’t happened in a long time. I rarely dream. It’s sad but true.
  Apparently Vampires dream a lot though and their dreams are quite
  random. So do Lotus Word masters. And both of their dreams I’m told
  tend to come true. Wish I were that cool.

  I was going to mail in for my Birth Certificate but it would take three
  weeks so I’d probably miss the election. So I hit upon another plan! It
  just so happens that for the first time in ages I live near where I was
  Born!  I was born in Toledo, OH. So I can actually just drive on down
  there and get me a birth certificate in person. How cool is that?  It’s
  a bout a three hour drive to the office which is close to columbus than
  Toledo.  Problem is they are only open on weekdays so I need to take a
  day off from work whcih I can’t do unless I can get far enough ahead on
  my work that I feel comfortable taking a day off. Hence my fanatical
  programming marathons. Gah! If it isn’t one thing it’s another.

  Well if Obama loses because he loses Indiana by one vote I’ll… I
  dunno what I’ll do. I guess I could kill myself but that’s a cheesy cop
  out.  I think I’d have to become an assassin and take out Sarah Palin.
  That’s the only responsible thing to do.  Yuko can probably assist me
  in that endeavor.

  Now a few other random things that have nothing to do with anyhing I’ve said so far.

  I’ve recently rediscovered Naruto manga and read all the way up to
  chapter 421. Yeah it’s still fucking awesome. I’m not a Naruto fanatic.
  Don’t associate me with those people. I just think it’s a good story.
  So sue me.

  I also read Ororon manga way back when. I hated it. What a lame manga.
  But maybe I didn’t like it cuz I couldn’t concentrate on it very well.
  I’ve been having a hard time concentrating on my reading lately. These
  days I’ve read so little my friends from back home and family wouldn’t
  even be able to recognize me. I used to devour books. Now I’ve got
  bookshelves full of half read books and series.

  That plus the forgetfulness is scaring me a little. Plus repeated bouts
  of depression that have lasted for days. This is really unusual for me.
  It’s creeping me out. I sort of won’t be surprised at all if I develop
  Alzheimer’s disease, even though nobody in my family to my knowledge
  has ever been diagnosed. I know some of my older family members have
  gotten very forgetful in their old age. But it’s sort of hard to
  imagine me being more forgetful than I am now.

  I’ve been reading A Song For Arbonne. It’s taking me a while to get
  through it but so far I’m really enjoying this book. I’m still not
  really a Kaye fan but I like it. So far…

  I picked up the Watchmen comic which I intend to read next. Hopefully
  they will settle the BS involved with it and end up making that movie
  about it after all.

  My other recent reading project has been all of VaultESL‘s old blog
  entries. Yep voyeuristic xanga spying at it’s worst. But in my defense
  I’m doing it as research material for an entry I wanted to write for
  the longst time. And also because he is an insanely awesome writer and
  I didn’t realize how awesome until I started reading all his old
  entries.  *jealous look*  You disgust me Vault! Yeah I can say that
  with impunity cuz he isn’t around.

  Next up I intend to sell most if not all of my magic collections both
  online and offline. I’m enlisting the aid of some of my friends to help
  sort them and list them on ebay. I’m not going to sell them as one
  collection though. Rather I’m going to sell them piece by piece to try
  and maximize profits. Yeah my cards are in terrible condition but
  hopefully there are people out there who like me don’t give a damn
  provided the card is playable. I should be able to make a good amount
  of money from them.

  Which will be good because I’d like to move into a bigger apartment.
  But I don’t feel safe about doing that with my current financial
  situation. Soon though. After Seras gets a job unless she decides to go
  back to Hellsing headquarters instead in which case there won’t be any
  need.

  The graphics on Soul Caliber IV are awesome. The Yoda in this game amuses me to no end. Character creation is cool.

  Rock Band II is exactly the same as Rock Band I almost. In other words
  awesome. My Xbox ate my Rock Band I anyways so I needed Rock Band II. I
  miss some of the Rock Band I songs though.

  I still have a stack of unsent gifts in the corner and things to return to people. Lol one day I will.

  Neverwinter Nights 2 is kinda a cool game. It’s based on D&D though
  and D&D 3.5 is kinda a lame system. It needs serious revamping.

  I’m curious to try the game Spore but I refuse to get it on account of the DRM.

  I should try Google Chrome… but my beloved Firefox is so perfect
  already, why should I switch? Why does Google have to go and make a
  browser?

  My brother sent me Kotor to finally play around with which will be
  cool. He’s a partial Red Sox fan iirc and according to Alice needs to
  be lined up with the rest of their ilk and shot. Wow, sports can get
  kinda violent. My other brother is a Phillies fan. I think sports are
  silly.

  It’s weird having a roommate again. I’d just gotten used to being by
  myself again.  But I’m glad to have one. It’s fun too sometimes. Haha I
  haven’t told my parents or siblings about said roommate yet. Maybe they
  will find out by reading this blog entry.

  I’m still trying to fix my cousin’s laptop I borrowed. (i lent her my uber laptop in its place) The hard drive of this piece of crap
  is slowing dying. I ordered a new one but it’s taking a while to arrive.

  If you hate what someone writes in their blog should you usubscribe?
  What if you think what that person is writing are blatant lies? (like say for example about politics) Isn’t
  unsubscribing just letting them get away with it? Isn’t that the
  coward’s way out?  But then again if you comment aren’t you just adding
  to that blogger’s comment and view count increasing the probability
  that others will read their blatant lies?

  I’ve been following politics and economics like a fanatic and wanting to write about it all but never finding time.

  I wish I had money to invest in stocks right now. But even if I had
  money, I probably wouldn’t invest it in stocks. I think there are
  better investments.

  I still don’t like Macbooks…

  Pirates are better than Ninjas. And Pirates can be devious too! Kaiju ninjas are scary though. Don’t piss them off.

  I have a pounding headache right now.

  Soon my Xanga will turn into raving lunatic writing again. And all the world will rejoice.

  I intend to be a published writer of some sort by this time next year or die trying.  And if I die, then my writing’ll get REALLY good.

  I’m totally behind on my writing assignments. I really dropped the ball on that project. Oh well. Deal with it. I hope more people start doing them.

  Heroes is a dumbass show. Why do I still like it?  The Universe may never know.

  I think I’ve met a few too many people who like the taste of or have consumed quantities of blood in their life times of late. Life is odd sometimes.

  Colin Powell endorsed Obama how cool is that?

  I lost my keys. I’m using my spare keys now. They’ve been missing for like two weeks. Pathetic I know.

  I used to hate eggs but now I love them. Isn’t that odd?

  I’ve become really random in this entry…

  So I guess I’ll end it. End it forever… Die entry!!

  Good night all!

  - Sorcerer

   

  • 11:42 pm
  • 14 Comments