Personality Change

Well, I have not had access to the Internet for the last couple of days, so I was unable to make a post to my blog.
There were several things that I wanted to say, but I kindof forgot them now.
I do remember thinking about Credit Cards. They are supposed to be a convenience. They are, for the person carrying the card. They are inconvenient for every person standing behind the person paying with the card. They take more time. Example... If someone buys two tickets to a movie, the total is $15.50. If they give the cashier a $20 bill, then all the cashier has to do is give them $4.50 back. If they pay with a credit card, then the cashier has to ask them for ID, which usually takes a moment for them to pull out. I do not understand why people pull out their cards and then put their wallets back up. After that, they have to swipe the card, confirm the amounts, and wait for the card to be approved. Once that is complete, they have to wait for the receipt to print then get the customer to sign the receipt. This is insane. Get some CASH people!!

Ok... Now on to the reason for the title of this post.
Yesterday, while we were busy and lacking employees, I had to tear some tickets for a while. This girl came through that was absolutely gorgeous. Our eyes locked for a longer-than-usual length of time. I could not turn away. I just kept looking into her eyes until she made her turn to get into her theatre.
For the next few minutes or so... I kept trying to figure out some scenario that would result in me seeing her again. I knew it probably would not happen because we were so busy. She had already been to the concession stand, so there was not much hope of her coming back.
Well, about an hour into the film, the rectifier died. It was almost as if it was divine intervention. Michael and I had to perform an emergency fix on the projector. We got it back up and running. Protocol dictates that I then make sure I get everyone in the auditorium passes to come back another time. I was secretly very happy. Of course...we were extremely busy, so I had to keep a close eye on the time.
Well, eventually, the time came for me to go hand all the patrons in that auditorium some passes. I actually had to chase down a couple that were leaving through the emergency exit. I could see the girl sitting by herself in the center of the auditorium. I was hoping she would be the last one to leave, that way I could focus my attention on her instead of the remaining patrons. Well, she was not. After her there were four more people.
However, as soon as I gave this girl her pass and apologized to her, she took the time to step to the side and initiate a small conversation with me. Apparently, she works in a theatre in Atlanta, and she was just curious what had actually happened Her guess was that the bulb had exploded. It was a good guess, but it was not correct. I told her what happened.
Well...she smiled, thanked me, and turned around to leave.
The female employee standing next to me yelled at me to "Go Get Her!!".
I knew I couldn't because I still had to hand out passes. ...... Though... I made a decision...
I handed the remaining passes to the employee and told her to give them to the customers.
I then hurried out the door to find the girl. I was highly disappointed to not see her anywhere.
I walked all the way to the front and back. I did not see her anywhere.
There were two possibilities. She either went out the side exit, or was still in the restroom.
Well, in coming back down near the auditorium, there were some confused older patrons looking for the way out. I was trying to explain to them where they could go and where each path led. As they finally made their choice on which direction to travel.... I turned. There she was!!!
I did not know what to say. After all...I never talk to girls much.
So...I just said the first thing that came to mind.
"For which chain do you work?"
It turned out to be a good opening line. We talked for a few minutes...... Walking ever-so-slowly back to the front of the building. She smiled the whole time we were talking.
She does not live in Mobile, and there are no Wallace or Hollywood theatres in her area, and she does not come to Mobile very often. I jokingly made a comment that the pass I just gave her was useless since she would not be able to use it. She responded by saying that she would be in Mobile for a few days. By this point, we were near the exit. I told her she should come back soon and see another movie. I did not say what was on my mind (I wanted to thank her for coming because she was very pleasant on the eyes). That may have been a little over the top.
Well, she smiled and said "OK" when I mentioned coming back to the theatre. As she turned to leave, I told her to have a great day. She turned back around momentarily to return the wish. I ran off to the box office to get them some much-needed change. As I was in there, I was able to watch the girl walking to her car. Man.... She was just plain....... Gorgeous.

Now...that may not seem like much to most of you readers out there, but there are a couple of things one must consider.
I rarely talk to girls, and I never talk to them in such a way while I am at work... SO that was a first for me.

This is the reason for the title. It seems as though my personality is changing. I say this because I would not normally engage in such an endeavor.

Also, last night at Picklefish, I was talking to Onya. I was not really paying much attention to what I was saying. I do remember at one point saying something without thinking about it first... And I managed to insult the people sitting with me. However... Kenny questioned where I was suddenly getting the ability to talk to girls.

I just do not know.
Maybe my mindset is just starting not to care about rejection any more.

Or maybe my mind is just desperate because I have not even tried to go on a date since March of 2004. .... Or... Wait.... maybe 2003? I forget. It has been a while.

Anyway, I should probably end this post now.
Goodbye, blog.

Gibbet Backed Down!??

My mother got a puppy for Christmas.
This was a huge surprise, since my father hates animals. Yet.... he got her a puppy.
She wanted to name it Copper, but then decided on Rusty.
I think Copper would have been cool, because then I could have made his middle name Duracell. It would have been a play on Durell. Get it? Duracell, copper top?
Oh well.
The other day, I tried to introduce Gibbet to Rusty. It did not go over well. Gibbet tried to attack. So I held her down. She got pissed.
Today, I tried to introduce them again today.
I think she was either feeling unimportant or emasculated (if you can use that term for a female).
Perhaps she is just getting old and did not feel like fighting? Perhaps she was tired?
Perhaps she was just depressed because of the whole "Matt won't let me kill it" scenario.
Whatever the case may be......
Gibbet BACKED UP!
I did not expect that.
Maybe she's been eating too many Snausages. (BTW, I got her a box of Scooby Snacks for Christmas. I've been spoiling her with them.)
Though, friends they are not.
Rusty was confused. He moved closer. This set Gibbet off... she lunged at it and attacked.
Maybe she did not attack the first time because she somehow KNEW it was "just a puppy" and KNEW that it was not a challenge for her.
Still... the puppy is bigger than her. Once it moved into her territory, I guess she just decided to defend herself. She would have definitely won, had I let her continue fighting. I, of course, could not let that happen. I picked her up and put her further away. She stayed for a moment. Rusty followed me as I led him back to his room.
Gibbet followed.... but she decided to instead explore the kitchen.
She loves bags.

Oh well...
that's my Gibbet post.

No Decemberween?

Well, I am disappointed.
I have been checking Homestar Runner at least twice a day for the last few weeks, and I have yet to see a new Decemberween cartoon.
You would think they would at least have a Decemberween-related Strong Bad Email.
But NO!
I am still hoping that something will pop up on the site before 11:59pm on December 31st.
I also hope I am not working New Year's Eve, though I most likely will be.

I've been playing some old games today.
I played n for a while.
I also played some Stepmania for a while. I have not played it in a long time. It's just a free DDR knock-off. I have every DDR song on my computer, so it rocks.
Though, I still need to buy a different adapter for my computer. I bought one a long time ago (maybe 2+ years?), but it does not work properly. The arrow keys are not processed as "buttons" but instead they are processed as an analog x-y axis. So...hitting the arrows at the right time does nothing. You would think they would have developed a new driver for the device. Oh well. They make some that actually work correctly.

I accomplished nothing of major importance today. Though, I did set up a profile on Mentor Graphics' website. They have no current job openings for which I qualify, so I cannot apply.
I have a small connection at CPSI, but I am not really sure if I want to work there.

I invited Sanaa to join the Picklefish crew. I kindof doubt she would be interested, but wouldn't it be great if she did come join us? The female count would be slightly higher. I love people that are pleasant to the eyes.

Eventually, I shall have to go try some of those "Dippin' Dots" in Baldwin County. Jeremy stated that the froze the ice cream to -360°. I was immediately dumbfounded. I replied..."but I thought Absolute Zero was -272". His immediate response was "-272 K is absolute, the dots are -360 F". I stood corrected. I hate being wrong (more on that later). My next immediate thought was, "Wow, you guys have a machine that chills things to -360°F?" Such a machine could be used for many evil plots! I was disappointed to be informed that THAT machine is at the factory. They simply store it at -40°F.
Now...this whole Kelvin / Fahrenheit ate at me for a while.
I decided to look it up.
0°K is Absolute Zero, not -272°K. -273°C is Absolute Zero, as well as -459°F.

I just ate a bowl of turkey chili. It was good.
I feel like exercising. I really need to clean my room. Perhaps then I would have more room for some aerobics. Right now there is just enough space to jog in place. I need some more shelves for stuff and more drawers for clothes. There...that's a lot of personal information for you.
My sisters got me some new jeans and shirts for Christmas. That was cool. I really needed them. Perhaps I can take my old jeans to Goodwill. I bought them like...6 years ago. They expose my socks when I wear them.

I have listened to tracks 12-13 on the Chronicles soundtrack numerous times. They are the two best songs. Twelve is the battle theme, thirteen is basically the music from the ending.

I have nothing to do right now. I am bored. I think I might actually try to sit down and read that Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide. Reading tends to put me to sleep. Maybe I will actually stay awake for this book. I read a bit of a page this morning. It was awesome. I caught the part where he finds out his friend is an alien... though he is not really aware it is not a joke.

I got some money for graduation!!! If I counted correctly, I got a total of $140. That is money I did not previously have. Free money is good. Though, some may argue that by spending 5 years in school, this money was not really free. I am grateful for this money. It will come in handy for paying bills this month.

This new TV has a great picture to it, but I cannot channel surf easily. It takes about 1 to 1.5 seconds to switch channels. My old TV was more instant. It has a "scan" button on it. This epitomeepitomy of laziness!! If you are too lazy to change channels on your own, then you have a problem. Get some flipping exercise!

Oh well, this blog entry is getting very long. I should shut up now.
Have fun! Thanks for reading!

2006: Festivus

December 2006, I think I shall officially begin celebrating Festivus.
Screw Christmas.
I will continue to celebrate Christmas in the same manner in which I celebrated it this year.
I woke up Sunday morning, I wished Jesus a Happy Birthday, and that was pretty much it.

Working in a movie theatre has made me really hate Christmas.
I no longer have any faith or trust in humanity in general.
Every Christmas, all the deadbeat parents in Mobile drop their children off at the theatre and drive away. When our security stop the parents and tell them they cannot drop them off, the parents drive down the road, drop the kids off, and let them walk to the theatre.
Maybe eventually, when I am away from this type of display, my love for Christmas will come back.
Also...I have a random racial question.
I do not want to sound racist...but WHY are all of the deadbeats that show up on Christmas black? Out of the thousands of people there yesterday, I only saw two little white kids....and I think their parents were actually on the property somewhere. Hundreds upon hundreds of black kids....hundreds with no money.
We had a few families show up. Literally, a few.

At one point, we were forced to just completely shut down because the crowds were too big. We were unable to sell tickets because all these heathen children were just standing there blocking our lines, windows, and entrances.
I was outside surveying the crowd when I got my first dose of pepper spray for the night.
A small fight broke out. I was trying to get to it to break it up, but right as I got to it, I found out the hard way that the police had gotten to it faster.
I never really got much in my eyes, but my throat took a beating.
At least I am building up a tolerance.

"Not mace hon, pepper spray. Sold to civilians. Once you get used to it.......just clears the sinuses." -Under Siege 2

I got stuck taking care of stock. This means counting all of it, restocking all of it, recounting all of it, and verifying all of it. On a typical weekend night, at least 2 people count stock. In this case there are usually only 4 registers to count then the stock room. However, with 2 managers handling money and one running around kicking out people...that left me to do stock.
We had Registers 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10 open. Though, 2 and 5 do not really have much stock to them.
For those that do not know, register 10 is in our North concession stand. It has not been opened since last December.
This means I not only had to count registers of stock, but our community stock too. (Community includes all non-register specific items, such as hot dogs, nachos, waters, juices.)
So, in the end, that means thousands of "conveniently" separated items.
I think I started counting sometime between 10:45 and 11pm.
I was done doing stock a little after 2am, I think about 2:10.

Counting is very monotonous.

...
December 2006, I may very well get that Aluminum Pole, I will invite friends over for an Airing of Grievances, we shall partake of the Feast, and then...maybe wrestle.
If, by chance, only attractive females show up...then maybe we'll ad mud to the mixture. Or..there's always the Old School approach...but where would I find 50 gallons of KY Jelly?

...
One shining light from the evening...
My friend gave me a present.
It is... "The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide".
It looks very much like a bible. I shall treat it as such.

Trees Cause Global Warming?

Ok, so there is this scientist guy in California that is trying to convince people that trees actually help contribute to Global Warming.

This is the stupidest thing I have ever heard.

Ok, sure, trees release heat. That is what they were DESIGNED to do. Remember that deity, what was its name? Oh yeah...GOD? At night, when the sun has set, the heat collected by the Earth during the day is released to keep us warm at night. That is what it is supposed to do. Without it, we would freeze to death.

Ok, now, let us say you do not believe in God. Perhaps you are a fan of that whole "evolution" thing. Over the course of the last "several billion years", the Earth has adapted to the life on the planet, and the life has adapted, in return, to the subtle changes in the Earth. This takes "millions of years". Trees grew all the time. They adapted to the weather patterns on the planet. Their leaves grew out to be the exact color NECESSARY for EFFICIENT PHOTOSYNTHESIS. (Gee, I wonder how that happened!?!)
This meant that the leaves absorbed much light, and in effect, much heat.
This heat was released at night.
At the same time, the leaves converted all the CO2 exhaled by the animals of the planet into wonderful, clean oxygen.
This was the typical thing to do.
Occasionally, when there were too many trees for the animal population of the planet, fires would break out to burn much of the forests, then a rain storm would form to put out the fires.
Gee......convenient, don't ya think?

All of a sudden, there was a population surge.
People started driving vehicles that directly attacked the environment.
The Earth has not had time to adapt to this sudden change.

Now...
these trees are doing the same thing they have done for "billions of years", yet you are going to blame them for it? YOU are the one that threw a wrench into their plans.

Trees are GOOD things. Plain and simple.
Do NOT go around telling people that trees are a threat to the environment, because then people will start cutting more of them down, and we, as a society, will suffocate.

You should be SHOT. You are trying to kill us all.
THINK before you speak, you stupid, stupid person you!

"What do you call an American with PhD in science?
STUPID AMERICAN! HA HA HA!"
-Asian Dodgeball Announcers on South Park

Subway Disappoints

Ok...I used to eat at Subway all the time. The main reason was because I worked next-door to one. However, now I do not eat there very often.
Today, as I was out running errands, I walked by a Subway restaurant and decided... "Hey! I'm Hungry... I may as well eat here."
There was this sign in the window advertising their new Chicken Parmesan sandwich. So, I thought... "Heck Yeah. I'll get that!"
On the other side of that sign was an advert for their new Chicken and Bacon Ranch sandwich.

Long story short. I got the second sandwich.
Though, it was not my choice.
I ordered the Chicken Parmesan.
What I got was the Chicken and Bacon Ranch.
I foresaw this coming as she was making the sandwich and I noticed her using the wrong ingredients.
I was in a pretty good mood, and I did not feel like complaining. After all, the Chicken and Bacon Ranch would be a pretty good choice too.
The problem? The girls working there were badmouthing other customers. That should not be done in front of other customers.

Actually...I do not even care about that.
The only reason I am complaining now is that...
Now that I am home...eating the sandwich...I notice that, not only is it the Chicken and Bacon Ranch....but it also does not have any trace of ranch on it.
It is a boring, bland chicken and bacon sandwich.
Don't get me wrong. I love meat! ...but the meat is dry. There is no sauce of any kind on it.

How annoying!

....my previous comment ("How annoying!") ...reminds me of something.
You could call it a trivia question of sorts, but it is really just a question of grammar.
Anyone want to take a stab at it?

"What part of speech is 'Ouch!' ?"

Submit answers in the form of a comment. Winners will receive an all-expense paid trip to beautiful Absolutely Nowhere!

A Very Brady Update

OK...in a previous post...
I mentioned that I was confused about the Brady girls' last name.

I recently found on a fan site that Carol's last name was previously Martin.

...
Though, the confusion still exists.

The Brady Girls are still named.......Brady.

Why?

Wheels to Africa?

OK...so I was watching CNN this morning...and I was horrified at this disgusting charity some kid started.

http://wheelstoafrica.blogspot.com

Now, don't get me wrong... I applaud the kid for at least making some sort of effort to help people other than himself.

However...I cannot understand this charity at all.
They are sending bicycles to Africa so that people can get to hospitals and doctors to get medical attention when they need it.

...
QUOI??

What is this nonsense?
How on EARTH is a bicycle going to help them?
If you are too sick to WALK....how in the world are you going to ride a bike?

I apologize if this makes me seem inconsiderate...
but gee wiz...
They could put forth effort to help people in THIS country instead of wasting money and resources on people in other countries.

I, for one, think we should take care of our own first...THEN worry about the others.

....
What's worse is that the kid has a following now.
Within just a couple of minutes of him being on CNN, he had tons of posts on this "blog" of his linked above.

Humanity makes no sense.

...
There was one benefit to me visiting the blog...
One of the commenters had a very hot wife.
http://www.blogger.com/profile/15121424

A Very Brady Confusion

Cynthia Brady. Marsha Brady. Jan Brady.

...
Ok, I came home from work. There was nothing on TV, so I left it on one of those holiday specials on TBS. Then, at 7pm, A Very Brady Christmas came on. I did not watch it the movie, but I did manage to make it through the intro. Then, a thought occurred to me. I have never thought about this before.
Why is the girls' last name "Brady"?

Perhaps they explain this in the movies? I cannot remember much about them.

However...it seems to me that the girls' last name SHOULD be the last name of their father. Now, I will admit, it is possible that their father's name was also Brady, but it is highly unlikely.
I just do not understand that.

I know that was random. Oh well. I just figured I would post about it before I forgot I was confused.

Christmas != Family Togetherness

OK...so what dimwitted atheist came up with the idea that the true meaning of Christmas is to be together with your family?
Probably the same guy that invented the concept of Santa Clause.

Christmas is and always has been...the celebration of the birth of the Messiah to the followers of the Christian faith.
For hundreds of years, people have been falsely celebrating the holiday and coming up with "true" meanings of Christmas.
Christmas is not about the toys, the egg nog, the reindeer, the fat jolly guy in a red suit, the elves, the family, the friends, or anything else. It is plain and simply...the celebration of the birth of Yeshua.

That being said....
Anyone up for a Christmas Party! :-)
I do not know why I felt like ranting about this. I have conformed to society's point of view on this issue anyway. It just sort of pisses me off when movies make a big deal about it.

On a different note...I made another observation today.
At least once a day or so...some smoker comes up to me and asks if I have a light.
This thought came to mind when my boss asked an employee at work tonight if he had a lighter. (She wanted to light some candles on a birthday cake.)
This is the observation:
When you need a lighter...a smoker usually has one.
When the smoker needs a lighter...they have to find another smoker.
When that smoker also does not have one...they have to begin a trek to find the first person they can find with a lighter.
Why do smokers not simply carry an extra lighter around? It's small. Not too much trouble...it would seem.

Also...in watching a couple of cute girls walk out of the theatre last Wednesday afternoon...I had a thought...
They walked outside and immediately lit up cigarettes. They were having trouble, because of the wind. I saw their hair blow around near the cigarette. Like clockwork...and without any visible communication between them...they both turned away from the wind to light their cigarettes. This is when this thought came to mind........Wouldn't it be AWESOME if they lit their hair on fire!? I'd laugh. I would not feel bad, because...well....they are smokers. I despise smokers. Plus..the best part...it would give me a great excuse to run out and drench two cute girls in water (or some other translucent liquid that extinguishes fires). Quickest would be water. Then...they'd be cold...and wet.
...I'm sure you can get where my mind is hovering on that one.
If you cannot figure it out...you do not know me well enough...or...you have a pure or naive mind...or....you are just too young and need to stop reading this sometimes PG-13-rated blog.

Hmm...that's all I can remember I wanted to say for now. I guess I will have to blog later if I remember anything else.
Goodbye, blog.

Peer Pressure + Alcohol = Drunken Matt

Well...when it comes to alcohol, it does not take much coercing to convince me to drink some.
As was the case last night.
In a stupid effort to not be shown up, I had a larger-than-usual amount of alcohol. Not only that, but, in the process of drinking this alcohol, I managed to end my 10-week streak of living a caffeine-free life. That was accomplished by drinking a combination of Jager and Red Bull.
If that were not enough, Kenny said "now chase it with a shot of Jack"......and I was stupid enough to oblige. So...after drinking two Long Island Iced Teas, I had a Jager Bomb chased with a shot of Jack Daniels. Fifteen minutes later, I was leaning against a wall in the bathroom.
I did not actually regurgitate anything, but I wanted to. I knew I would feel better if I did.
After several minutes of standing in there, I walked out. I was a little dizzy, but as time progressed I began feeling better and better.

Suddenly, my stomach started hurting. I think the greasy chicken was disagreeing with it in an argument. Well...I will spare the details, but I was in the restroom for a couple more minutes. Some guy came in and threw open the shower curtain. (BTW, the "door" to the "stall" was a shower curtain.) He followed by saying "Oh sorry, dude! That's my typical "check to see if anyone's behind the curtain solution."
That was stupid.

Well, I came back out. Onya once again asked if I was OK. She told me to drink some water.
I tried to. I drank lots of water, but that just caused me to have to go to the bathroom very often. We tried to talk her into going to the Bubble Lounge with us. She did not show up.

We all went there. I did not have any more to drink. I did manage to break a glass, though.
At one point, one of the cute girls there started making out with another girl. They walked into the bathroom and did not come out for a few minutes. Hmm....

I got home and could not sleep very well. But OHHH did I try. I watched a little bit of TV first. I think I fell asleep or at least lost consciousness some time between 2:15 and 3. I woke up during that time to turn off the TV. After that, I just kept tossing and turning for the rest of the night until about 8. After 8 I woke up every few minutes to find a new comfortable position. I remember hearing my phone beep. I ignored it. I wish I had answered it. It turned out to be Brian telling me some folks were meeting at Los Arcos at 12:30 for lunch. I totally would have been up for that. But no, I just stayed there trying to get some sleep.
I am pretty certain that I slept pretty well between 1:30 and 3.
Caffeine = bad.
The one good thing about the laying-in-bed and not sleeping part....day dreaming.
As I was drifting in and out of consciousness...for some reason, I kept thinking about Onya.
All I shall say about her is...... wow.

Now...I must go get ready for work. There were other things I wanted to blog about, but I forgot what they were. I guess I should blog them when I think them.

STOP HELPING, FEMA

New Orleans is not recovering very well economically.
Why?
FEMA.
No, I am not saying FEMA is completely responsible.
It is just, well....FEMA is still paying the deadbeats of New Orleans money.
Since they are getting free money, they have no incentive to work.
New Orleans businesses are struggling for workers and are willing
to pay outrageous wages to get workers.
No one is signing up.

My boss just went to a job fair in New Orleans to attempt to hire a complete staff for one business.
Other businesses were there to hire people.
Two people showed up.

He told me he saw Help Wanted signs in the windows of nearly every business he passed.
Target is willing to pay $11.50 an hour for stocking.
McDonald's is paying $9.
Popeye's: $11.

If only FEMA would stop paying these deadbeats, maybe they would start getting back to work...
Lazy bums.

Phrases I Hate

I was driving home from work when I started thinking about some flea medications I was looking up earlier. I remember checking out "Advantage" on some website. They do not have the option for Ferrets, but my book says that Advantage for Cats should work fine. It is about $45 for a 4-pack, for the "Over-The-Counter" version of the medicine.
Thinking about this made me question the phrase "Over-The-Counter".
The first thing to pop into my head was the commercials I tend to see for some medicine called "Prilosec OTC".
Apparently OTC is the best way to go.
......
but......
THINK about it now.
"Over-The-Counter" is the phrased used to describe any medicine one can buy without a prescription.
This phrase makes absolutely no sense.
"Over-The-Counter" SHOULD be used to describe the medicines you buy with a prescription.
Prescription medications are the ones that must pass over that counter at the pharmacy. All of the non-prescription medications never actually have to pass over the counter. You can go pick them up off the shelf, walk to the register, pay for it, and leave.
I officially hate the phrase "Over-The-Counter".


This posting starts a series. Any time I think of or come across a phrase or word I hate, I am going to hopefully remember to post about it here.

Graduation Day

Ok, so yesterday was the day to which my parents have been looking forward for years. I suspect it has something to do with me being the first member of my family to graduate from college.
I was the first graduate to show up. I was a little annoyed by that. I expected to be surrounded by lots of people.
I went to the robing room and asked if there was some secret to keeping the caps on. The secret? Get a better-fitting cap.
While I was there, Sanaa walked by. MAN...she looks even better than she did while she was in school. I would not have expected that.
Well, I waited around for a while, and then I eventually was allowed to walk into the assembling room. I got my name card, walked in, and got in line.....which I started. I stood there for a while. Eventually, I realized the spot I was standing in was wrong. I was in the graduate section.
I moved to the undergrad section, but I was still the only one standing there. I got some refreshments and talked to the people from the alumni association.
Eventually, more and more CIS people showed up, and I finally had someone to talk to.
After a while we lined up and walked to the Mitchell Center Arena. Our little group wound up standing just outside the entrance to the building for about 10 minutes. Once we got inside, Alberta asked me what the music was they were playing. I explained to him about "Pomp and Circumstance" and how it has been an American tradition for a very long time.
...
Ok...eventually, we walked across the stage. So after about 3 or 4 hours of waiting, I finally got my 2.5 seconds of recognition! :-)
3 groups cheered for me. That made me feel special. What scares me, though, is that I do not know one of the groups. My parents and the CIS crew were in the same general area. One group came from behind me to my left. I do not know who that was.

After graduation, I chit-chatted with some of the other grads for a moment. Mrs. McKinney was all teary-eyed. Dr. Langan had congratulated us all already. I then left to go meet my family at the globe. I could not find Tam. I tried calling her, but it was very loud in that area; I could not hear anything. After getting a call from Brian, I decided to move outside to the Jaguar. It took a while to get there, the area immediately outside was rather packed.
Kacey seemed surprised that I actually had parents. I do not know how I managed to obtain the reputation of being a loner.
Mom got pics. Eventually Tam showed up. Lesleigh thought she was very cute.

I left to go turn in my cap & gown then headed to work. I stopped off at the house to freshen up because I got a little sweaty in that robe after so long.
I got there and talked Patricia into working for me. Her payment? I work Tuesday night for the premier of King Kong. So, I work Tuesday from 8pm to 3am, then I have to open Wednesday morning for some special showings of Narnia for some schools. That is going to be a huge pain.

However, the purpose of the exchange was to free me up to hang out with friends last night. I darted off to Mozzerella's American Cafe. I had a steak. It was good.
We left to go bowling at Cameillia ??spelling?? bowling lanes on Shillinger. We stopped off at Brian's house for a moment. I checked out the ferrets. Smokey is losing hair and has some markings on his stomach. I think he is coming down with Adrenal disease. Poor little guy.

We went to the bowling alley and found out no lanes were available. We hit the arcade. Kacey killed me at airhockey. I demanded a rematch. Our standing now is 1-to-1.
We wound up getting ONE lane early. With 10 people, we decided to just bowl teams. I was bowling pretty well until I had a cup of beer. ....however...now that I think about it...it was about that same time we change lanes. Perhaps the lane was a little off? I do not know which to use as my excuse.
We were eventually forced out due to someone else's reservations.
We went to the Bubble Lounge. By this time, the group was down to five. Doug bought us all drinks. I had a Unique Situation. It did me in. However, Kenny bought me a Mr. T. (A Chocolate Martini). That....was the end of me.
I tried to give Brian my keys, but Kacey snatched them.
After a while, twas time to leave. Brian drove me to his house. Kacey had already prepared a place for me to sleep. I swallowed a bottle of water. Brian made me some more.
I remember running around like an airplane outside at some point.

Kacey and Kenny left this morning around 7-something I think.
I woke up several times during the night.
Around noon, my friend in London messaged me to tell me about a huge explosion in London. I tried to check the news, but did not immediately see it.
However, I did find out that Goonies was playing on Cartoon Network for some reason.

I folded up the sheet, placed the pillow on it. I folded over the blanket and left it on the cushions. BTW Kacey, I am sorry if those things smell like smoke. My clothes today still reeked of smoke when I got home. Thanks, Bubble Lounge.

Now, I must go to work in a little bit.
I suppose I should be heading out now.
Till later, blog.

The Great Cat, The Cold Evil Woman, and the Portable Walk-In Closet that Serves as a Doorway to a Magical Land

Ok.
Yeah...the movie was good.
I am not going to say it was GREAT,
but it was good.

The film has taken a lot of flak for having a lot of religious symbolism.
I do not see what the problem is.
The story was written by a Christian writer.

"Does the Lion represent Christ or not?"
Of COURSE he does.
Christ was sacrificed and Peter was chosen to continue his work on Earth.
...gee.....
I hope that does not ruin the movie for anyone reading this.
...should have read the book.

I loved the movie, actually.
I could see myself actually watching it again.
Not many movies get that nod from me.

The visuals were nice.
The acting was a little off.
The silly arguments among the children were very cheesy.
...
I could almost swear that in one scene the White Witch was trying to seduce Edmond.
I also thought Lucy was getting hit on by the Faun.

I must watch a couple of scenes again. Susan references a red coat on Santa, and I do not remember seeing a red coat on him.
Lucy's footprints in the snow looked too big to be her's.
The children seemed to be overly mesmerized by the Lightpost.
...sure, I know that the Lightpost is a major symbol in the book (and in the film),
but it is still just a "lightpost" before they learn anything. Why should it amaze them so much?
A couple moments of the audio were questionable.
After one of the White Witch's wands was broken in half...how did it suddenly get fixed?
If none of the inhabitants of Narnia had ever seen a human before, how did they know what one looked like. .....and was not the White Witch a human? Apparently humans must have been around before, because everyone was ordered to kill them on sight. Hmmm.... plot hole?
Where did the prophecy come from?

Mysterious.

Look..ok...I will save the rest of my thoughts for myself.
I do not want to completely ruin the movie for anyone else.
Let's just say, it is worth watching.
The music was wonderful.
I may actually buy the soundtrack.

For now...I am hungry.
The kitchen calls.

***EDIT***

I also forgot about the handkerchief.
It was given back to Lucy twice.
...
The older Susan was very cute.

I Think We're Turning Japanese

Many many years ago, there was this little disturbance generally known as "World War II". There was a small country called "Japan" that got beaten senseless by a country known as "The United States of America".
Well, a few years ago, a person of Asian decent told me in colloquial conversation one day that the word for "United States" in Japanese is also the word for "rice". Apparently this signified that Japan was still planning to one day EAT the US. I assume this means they will devour them as in, destroy them.
I thought that was pretty interesting. I kind of shrugged it off for a while until I found out some information recently.
Now remember...this is not all completely verified...so I must do some more research...
however...
From what I understand, the Japanese people (private companies) already own more land in this country than ALL US Americans combined.
Why is this so?
WOOD!
Also, thanks to some very stupid EPA laws, the Japanese are free to purchase more.
Ok...get this.
Any company in the United States that cuts down trees for the purposes of the resources provided by them must plant at least one tree for every tree they tear down.
Ok, not bad.
Now get this....
If the trees are cut down for a foreign trade, no replacement tree must be planted.
SOOO.....
Japanese companies are buying American woodworking companies and thousands upon thousands of acres of land, cutting down the trees, and shipping them off to Japan...because they can. Apparently it is a big business there.
Now, take that into consideration along with all the OTHER land many Japanese companies own in this country, and you see they own a LOT.

Ok...so perhaps you are not so scared about this.
Here's the kicker.
Remember that thing called the "National Debt"?
The United States owes Japan billions of dollars, if not hundreds of billions.
Guess what! We are a little behind on payments.

Ok, so what happens when you get behind on your mortgage payment? They have the right to foreclose on the loan and take your home and land.

Ok, so what happens when you create a huge tab at a bar that you cannot afford to pay? They have the right to kick you out, press charges if they wish, and perhaps never let you back in again.

Oo.....k....so.....What happens if Japan suddenly decides to call in the tab?
They would own this country. Outright.
All it takes is six words (well, maybe more in Japanese)...
"Mr. President, we want our money."

Of course, depending on when they call it in, they could conceivably replace the "Mr." with a "Madam".

Oh, and in case there are Japanese people reading this.....
Welcome to America! Make yourselves at home! Feel free to go ahead and start sending over more cute Japanese women.

If there are American government officials reading this.....
you might want to get to work.

Open Dictionary

YAY!!
A word I submitted to Merriam-Webster is now in their open dictionary. I noticed this when I saw an article on Slashdot about MW's new open dictionary.
I looked up the word I submitted...and it was there. My name is included.
Hurrah.

"Flibbertigibber" shall reign supreme as the second greatest word ever!

More blogging to come later, but now I am going to break in the DDR machine they installed at the theatre.

Cable Networks ... Charities?

I was reading through some random news articles and what-not when I came across an article relating to the debate between the cable industry and the FCC regarding creating an a la carte program to allow consumers to choose which stations that want and not have to pay for the rest.
Personally, I have never minded really paying for all the other channels. It is nice to have them just in case some random show comes on that is actually interesting. Plus, when guests come over, they might have different tastes.
However, one of the arguments listed pissed me off, and it totally made me change my mind on the issue.

If you read the article, check out "Theory #2".
They list one of the reasons that a la carte will not work. It makes absolutely no sense to me.
"No way will a la carte fly. It would bankrupt unpopular, niche television channels, ruin
an industry pricing system that has taken decades to erect, and ultimately raise the
cost of cable TV service so much that popular support among consumers will evaporate."

WHAT?
You mean to tell me I have been paying to keep channels alive that no one watches? The cable companies donate money to this failing channels so they can stay on the air? What the heck is this crap.
I figured that, as a whole, every channel had a huge following. I know what I like..that is my demographic. Other people like other things. Everyone pays a little extra and it helps support the greater good.
However, now I am hearing that there are actually channels no one watches. We are all paying to keep these apparent pieces of crap on the air? This is ridiculous.

If a business has no customers, it goes out of business. That is the way our economy works.
If a cable channel has no viewers, it should be shut down and help reduce the costs to the rest of the consumers. Cable companies should not be "donating" money to these channels simply because millions of people are paying an extra $0.67 or something. Send that to the rest of the channels that MATTER.

On the other hand, I am willing to give each channel a buffer period.
If the cable companies want these channels to stay on the air, they should "donate" some advertising time on other networks to drum up interest. Give each channel a couple of months to try to create a fan base. If they cannot get enough of a base to generate their own sufficient advertising revenue...pull the plug.

That's my 67 cents.