A Long Weekend

That tugboat is always at Fell's Point. For Christmas this past year, I bought a painting for my dad that was of that tugboat in the snow. It was pretty cool. Anyway that's a picture of fireworks on New Year's Eve. I know it's the 4th of July but I couldn't find any pictures of fireworks over the Harbor that were taken on the 4th so that will have to do. I have a 4 day weekend ahead of me. Yay! I don't know what I'm going to do but I'm sure I can find something. I'm still contemplating whether or not to go to the movies since the theater I was going to go to decided to pull the movie before today. That was upsetting but I'll watch it at some point whether it be soon in a theater or later when it comes out on DVD. No big. I'll get over it. Went to back to the eye dr yesterday and she checked to make sure the contacts fit well and my eyes were adjusting to it. My eyes are fine and the contacts fit a lot better than the last kind I had...granted that was 6 years ago and contacts have come a long way since then.

Longo comes home today so some of us are supposed to go out tomorrow. I don't think I'm going to go along. I just want to chill and not have to babysit people while they drink and make sure they don't get into any trouble. I would rather just hang out at home or even just go out to dinner or something. It would be so much more fun...well to me it would. I know when you're young you want to go out and do all that stuff. I did. But now that I'm older (well not that old) I don't want to do that stuff anymore. I'm content just sitting around playing games or talking. Lord knows I can talk. I'm a bit if a motor-mouth at times as you can see. Even when I don't really have anything to say I can find things to talk about. I'm pretty random too. I don't know why...someone will be talking about something and the next thing out of my mouth has nothing to do with the subject. That's just how my brain works.

Last night we were supposed to get more rain but this time it was supposed to be accompanied by hail. I don't think we got the hail but we did get a bit of rain. I was racing home from Amanda's so that I didn't get stuck in it. There was some pretty wicked lightning. It was pretty though. We didn't lose power which is always good. I'm not afraid of the dark but I don't like being in the house when the power goes out. Well that's not true, it depends on who I'm in the house with. If I'm alone I definitely can't be there. Sometimes it's fun though...when we were kids we always had fun when the power went out. We would tell stories and light candles and all that. It doesn't really sound fun but for us it was. If it was in the summer while we still lived in Baltimore, and it was still pretty early, everyone would come out and sit on their steps and talk with their neighbors. I miss that sense of community. We don't have that where I live. I mean I like my neighbors to the right of us (if you're facing my house). They're pretty cool people and they have a beautiful dog named Nanook; he's a husky. The people on the other side are ok when they're not screaming at their American Eskimo, Shamu, to be quiet or get back in the house. I don't know how to explain it.

Well I hope everyone has a safe and Happy 4th of July weekend. I can't wait for the fireworks. That's the best part!

Ho Hum

Nothing new of course is really going on. I watched "Grandma's Boy". I thought it was pretty funny. If you like Adam Sandler movies or movies like "Half-Baked" then you'll definitely like it. It was definitely different. The grandmother played by Doris Roberts was hilarious...she made the movie for me. Shirley Jones was funny in it too. Check it out...it's in the same mold as "Old School".

I just found out the I'm getting $1800 for school next year; $900 per semester plus the $550 for each one from MHEC. That's music to my ears. It looks like I'm only going to have to put out money for books and if I go early enough I can get used ones.

I think I have to go back to the dr. I'm not getting any better...if anything it's getting worse. I don't know what the problem is. Oh well....I'll get it figured out.

I just realized something; well I noticed it before but I never realized how annoying it must be. I use the ... a lot. (I know it's called elipsis just in case some one thought I didn't). I know this is a short entry but I just couldn't think of much to right. My brain has been sapped by Yahoo! Answers. Blame it on them. I do.

Big Bright Yellow Thing in the Sky

What is that big bright yellow thing in the sky? Oh yeah, I remember, it's the sun. I haven't seen it in almost a week. The rain has finally stopped but we're still seeing a lot of flooding. Hopefully we'll get a break and won't have any rain for the next couple of days. I'm hoping so anyway. We need to dry out a bit before we get another batch of rain. The picture to the left was taken on Friday...I thought it was cool looking. No matter how much I complain about the rain and the thunderstorms I still love them, especially in the summer. I just don't like the raining for days and days on end. Nothing much is going on. At the moment I'm on hold with Area Circulation which is a magazine company. They're trying to tell my sister that she has to pay them for magazines she's never recieved, over $800 in total, or they're going to refer her to a creditor. So I told her I would call them and tell them that she would be contacting a lawyer. She's been being harassed by them for sometime. It never ceases to amaze me when it comes to dealing with people. I don't know it's obnoxious. I fell asleep at like 7:30 last night and only woke up once when my ear was hurting. I wish it would just go away. It looks like I'm not going to be able to see "An Inconvenient Truth" this weekend. The theater I was going to go see it at isn't showing it after tomorrow. I wonder why there are so many theaters that aren't showing it. It doesn't make any sense to me. I wonder if I could ask a theater when and if they're going to show it and if not then why. There are a lot of people out there that want to see it but can't because it's not playing anywhere near them. I was kinda hoping that the Science Center was going to show it on IMAX but it's not. It would be awesome if they did though. Oh well...I'll have to wait til it comes out on DVD. I hope it comes out soon. I know it probably won't because I want it to but I can hope. If I'm still feeling bad I might just stay home all weekend. I think it would be smart to do so. I was thinking about having a nice long weekend but I'm coming in on Monday anyway. Tim won't be here all next week so it's going to be twice as boring as usual. It'll be cool to have a day off in the middle of the week though. I don't know what I'm going to do for the 4th. I might just hang out over Amanda's or maybe then I'll just stay home. Longo is home for the weekend and a bunch of us are supposed to go out. I don't want to though. I don't really get along well with him and he's gotten more cocky since joining the Army. I don't know why people get so cocky when they join the military. I guess it's because they're told how great they are and what a big responsibility it is to be defending your country. I don't get it. I'm not trying to down on anyone in the military..I'm just saying why do their egos swell. It's fine to have a healthy self esteem but sometimes they take it too far and come off as conceited. Sorry for the random topic changes. I'm not with it again today. My mom and Jami are thinking of going to the 40's and Flapjacks thing on Friday. One of the local radio stations has this a couple times a year where people can go to the bar and have breakfast and drink and all that. They usually do it around St. Patty's Day which they did but they're having another one in honor of the 4th of July. The theme is the "Deckloration of Dependance". I thought it was funny. Not something I would be interested in doing but it could be fun to watch. I can't imagine people drinking that early in the morning. Well that's enough for now....back to Yahoo! Answers.

I Need a Canoe

Well anything that will float. I think I'm going to Home Depot to buy some wood so I can make an ark. The picture is of a road about 5 miles from my house. I can't believe it's still raining....and it's supposed to rain tomorrow too! Actually there is a chance of rain at least til next Sunday. It's been a long time since I've seen anything like this. The other day it was like driving through a hurricane minus the extremely heavy wind. Now it's just raining with some occasional thunder and lightning.

I woke up late this morning...and I fell asleep on my glasses. Good thing I have contacts; but since I woke up late I just tried to bend them back instead of putting in my contacts. When I got home yesterday I went right to my room and laid down for a bit. I fell asleep for a little while then woke up when Jason called. I was supposed to finishe sewing his shirts but I haven't had a lot of time to do it. Actually thats not true...I just don't want to do it. He thought I had a sewing machine which is why he gave me six shirts to sew. I don't have a sewing machine so it all has to be done by hand. I don't mind mending stuff but that's a project. I don't want to mess up the shirts. Oh well I'll do my best. I meant to do some of them yesterday but I was feeling so sleepy and just nasty that I slept. I'm still not feeling well but I'm here at work. It's not like I would be doing much at home either. I slept all the way in to work this morning....that's a feat considering my mom was driving. She's not the best driver and sometimes she scares me especially in weather like this.

I have no idea what I'm going to do when I get home today. Probably try and sew some of those shirts and then just go to sleep. I fell asleep 3 times yesterday at work...not good. I mean I didn't just pass out it was more like I dozed off while sitting up for a minute or so. I just can't seem to get enough sleep. I don't know if it's because I'm sick or it's the weather or maybe it's the medicine I'm on. I just don't want to fall asleep at work and get in trouble. The last thing I need is to lose my job. On a brighter note I got a letter from the Maryland Higher Education Commission and I've been awarded $550 for the next 2 semesters for financial aid. I was ecstatic to hear that. I know that the max I can get from federal is $800, at least that's what the financial aid office told me, so that means that I should have to put out little or no money for the next 2 semesters. That makes me very very happy. I've been paying out of pocket the last 3 semesters plus the cost of books...that's not cheap. So it's nice to have a little bit of help. My tuition next semester is going to be about $1500 plus the cost of books. I'm taking 5 classes but most of them are online. I love love love online classes. The only one I have to go up there for is Forensic Science. I'm really looking forward to that class. I'm also taking Comparative Religion, College Algebra (since I dropped it last semester), History of Western Civilization II, and Sociology. I'm excited (I know I'm a dork but it's the little things in life that make you happy).

It still looks like it's just gonna be me going to the movies on Friday. Oh well. I know it's important for me to see it and who knows...maybe I won't mind being there by myself so much.

Yuck!

This weekend was terrible. It's been raining since Friday and we're supposed to keep getting it til at least Wednesday. We really got hit hard on Saturday...I was out running errands and was driving through 5+ inches of water. Not cool at all. I'm a little paranoid when it comes to driving in water like that. When I was in high school, a friend of my sister, Stephanie, was in an accident where she hydroplaned and wound up killing a lady. It wasn't her fault, the lady wasn't wearing a seatbelt, but I think she was charged with vehicular manslaughter if I'm not mistaken. She's dealt with it but it's something that will be with her for the rest of her life. So when I see conditions on the road like I did this weekend, I get a little nervous.

Friday night I went to dinner with Mike, Sarah, and Andy (my mom and stepdad were there too of course) and for once it wasn't awkward. I don't know why I always felt awkward when I was around them but dinner was quite nice on Friday. I got home and then went over Amanda's for a little bit. I left there and headed to Torrino's where I met Maggie, Dave, and some people I'd never met before. One was Marcus (I don't think I like him that much. I know I shouldn't judge a person on their past actions but he used to be a Neo-Nazi and that bugs me. He used to be a Marine too which, coupled with the fact he used to be a neo-nazi, tells me that he's easily lead...not a good thing) I didn't say much to him. Just the formal stuff like Hi and how are you. The other people were Julie and Dawn. They seemed nice enough. It was karaoke night and there was this guy there that looked like Larry, the neighbor from Three's Company. It was a lot of fun but I was tired so I left at 12. I gave Maggie money to pay for my tab which consisted of Diet Coke but she thought it was on Dave's tab. It wasn't so it looked like I left without paying. Once I realized this the next day while looking at the receipt, I went up and paid for it. I felt bad. I wouldn't want someone skipping out on me so I won't do that to anyone else.

Saturday was supposed to be Game night...yeah I know that sounds oh so exciting but I was looking forward to Trivial Pursuit 90's Edition. Amanda called and asked me to come over so I did. I stayed for a bit and we were going to play over there but my jaw was really hurting. It's been hurting off and on for the past week but it got really bad on Saturday. Nothing was helping so I went home and put some heat on it. That seemed to help so since Maggie was still hanging out at the house, we decided to go ahead and play the game. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be but we had fun. Then I went to bed.

I dragged myself out of bed and watched a couple episodes of "Deadliest Catch". If you haven't seen it you should...it's very interesting. I don't think I would normally watch something like that but it was neat. I feel bad for those guys but they sure get paid well. Once everyone got home I got myself ready and headed to Patient First. I went in and found out that I have a really bad ear infection that spread into my jaw and sinuses. I didn't think it was that bad but the doctor said it was. So I got my prescription filled and relaxed the rest of the day. Once again we were hit hard by storms last night and this morning. A lot of the roads in the county I live in were washed away. Luckily the one's we take to work weren't. It would have been nice to stay home and sleep though.

I got around to watching "Syriana" and it's definitely a good movie. It seems a little scattered at first but it all comes together in the end. George Clooney was fantastic in it as was Matt Damon. I'd never seen either of them play such serious roles before. I know it's fiction but like they say: all fiction is based on some facts. I don't think that's the exact saying but you know what I mean. It was really really good. I started watching it again but I fell asleep. I'm going to finish it up when I get home. Very good movie...you should definitely watch it. I'm still planning on seeing "An Inconvenient Truth" on Friday but as it stands it looks like it's just going to be me and Maggie. I had hoped to get more people to go but when I asked them I got laughed at. Alison and Paul might be able to make it...it all depends on what time we go. Maggie doesn't really want to go so I might tell her to just go out with Jason and I'll catch up with them later. She said the only reason she's going is because she drags me places I don't want to go. I don't want to be like that so I think I'll just tell her not to bother. If I have to go by myself then I will. It's an important movie to see so I can suck it up and go alone. No big. "Road to Guantanamo" is still something I want to see. I don't know if it's going to come out in theaters or what but it's going to be another one of those important films. I blogged about last week..you can read that here.

Sorry for the long post. My internet at home has been on the fritz again. I don't know what the deal is. I'll have to get someone out to my house to look at it. Actually I'll see if Mike can fix it. Well that's it for now.

Environmental Issue Part 2

I've written quite a bit about polar bears, whales, and the new movie "An Inconvenient Truth". I have still yet to see the movie but I'm thinking that maybe next weekend I will. I don't know if it was because more and more people were seeing the movie or what but more theaters in my area are showing it so I'm going to trek on down to Arundel Mills and watch it. An article was posted on yahoo about how the Earth's temperature is at an all time high..at least the highest it's been in 2,000 years. If you want to read about it click here. I know there are people out there that aren't interested in learning about this and I know that a lot of people view it as propaganda but it shouldn't be. The health of the Earth is something that every human on this planet should be worried about because there is only ONE Earth. There is no other planet that we know of where we can survive and I think it's going to be many many years before we find out if there is one. (Yeah I realize that last statement might make me sound a little on the loony side but here's the deal: I would never be so arrogant as to assume that we are the only living beings in space. There is no end to space and who's to say that at some other area of space doesn't have a planet like Earth where things can live. I'm not saying aliens but living things. What if God decided to make other planets? What if there are humans on another planet but we don't know because we haven't gotten that far? I'll right about that some other time though)

I was just poking around and I found on yahoo! (because that's what I do) and they had a segment on Al Gore talking about his movie "An Inconvenient Truth". I talked about that already so I'm not going to go into it but the news anchor asked him a really really good question. The question was "What can we do now other than get rid of the SUV's?" and Mr. Gore said to go to this website http://www.climatecrisis.net/ and there you can find some of the things you can do everyday that will help the environment. The first on the list was replace incandescent light bulbs. Seems easy enough doesn't it? Another was to turn your thermostat up 2 degrees in the summer and down 2 degrees in the winter. Really, are you gonna feel those 2 degrees? Probably not. There are a whole bunch of things you can do to reduce pollution. You know what I was thinking about doing? I was thinking of rounding up some friends and family and going to see the movie. Even the ones that "don't care" about the environment. I think everyone should see it. Even if you don't agree with Al Gore's politics you can understand that he's just trying to educate people and make people aware of what's happening to the Earth.

At one point during the interview on Good Morning America, Al wishes that the president would change his mind and watch the film. Why won't the president watch the film? I don't understand. I'm sure he's probably seen X3 and maybe he might have seen the DaVinci Code (well maybe not the DaVinci Code but you never know...maybe someone talked him into it). He could take 2 hours of his busy schedule to see what is happening to this world. I know it's Bush I'm talking about but still. He can push tee time back a little and make good use of it by seeing the movie. I wish we could get it out on DVD quicker but that probably won't be for some time considering the movie just recently came out. Even if he doesn't see it maybe lots of Americans and people from other countries as well will see it and put pressure on political leaders to do something about it. That's what I'm hoping for anyway.

Newest Addiction

I love trivia...I just think it's fun. Anyway my new addiction at the moment is on yahoo. It's called Yahoo! Answers. What you do is you log in and answer questions. The other people on there ask them and you answer them to the best of your ability. Sometimes there is no right or wrong answer; some are opinion questions and some are plain stupid. It's a lot of fun though. You get points for every answer you make and you get points if your answer is chosen as best answer. I dont know what happens once you reach the top level but it sure is fun. I'm still on level 2...I'm limited to 40 questions a day. I have almost 800 points so hopefully I'll be up to level three by tomorrow. There are some really good questions on there. There were a few today talking about Bush and all that. Of course I had to put my two cents in. I couldn't help it. I couldn't believe how many people out there were defending Bush and saying that since we found a WMD, that it was all worth it. I don't think so. We already knew he had chemical and biological weapons....when I think of WMD's I think of nukes. What bothers me even more is that we have them too. What if lets just say for fun, Mexico decided they wanted to invade us because we had WMD's. Would that be allowed? Something tells me we wouldn't like that at all. I don't know...its bothersome to me. Sometimes I feel like I'm losing faith in people. For people to see justificiation in this war is scary. Anyway some of the questions on there are legitimate like who sang what song and what's best for a sunburn. It's a lot of fun. Check it out...it passes the time. I have a lot of time here at work so it's nice to have something fun to do.

Lots of Birthdays and Other Stuff

Today is Maggie's birthday. We were supposed to go to heavy metal karaoke but it looks like that isn't going to happen. So I think we're going to wind up at Sean Bolan's which is fine because they aren't that crowded during the week. There are a lot of birthdays this month. First was Josh and Claude (theirs was on the 16th), then it's Maggie's today, I think Kerry's was yesterday but I'm not 100% sure. I haven't talked to him in a while so no big deal. I think the last time I talked to him was at his dad's funeral. Tomorrow's is Mike's and next Wednesday is Heidi's. That's a lot of birthdays in a month. I thought the fall was bad with the people in my immediate family.

I found that cute picture of a baby polar bear on yahoo yesterday. If you click this link, you can see all sorts of cool, cute pictures. I like the baby Egyptian tortoises. They are so tiny and in about a hundred years or so, God willing, they'll still be around. Some of the captions, especially the one with the 2 polar bears playing, talk about how some polar bears are resorting to cannibalism because they can't find food. I know I've talked about the polar bears ad nauseum but people just don't seem to care. I know that there are more important issues out there but the potential to wipe out a species is there and it doesn't seem right. Where are the environmentalists from the past? They used to be everywhere. In other "environmental" news, Greenpeace is protesting the killing of whales at St. Kitts. Unfortunately, they lost by one vote and there will be a return to normal whaling. You can read about it here.

I finished "Derailed"....not a good movie. It was very predictable. It wasn't the actors I think it was just the story line. Hopefully "Syriana" will be coming in next. I've been wanting to see that movie for a while. I'll have to look around to see what else is out. I know last week "The Princess Bride" came out on DVD. I'll definitely be buying that. I love that movie...especially Billy Crystal as Miracle Max. He was hilarious and of course who could forget "Hello, My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father. Prepare to die!". Probably one of the most quoted lines in the film aside from "As you wish". I'm looking forward to getting that. I haven't seen it in a long time. Great movie.

About Time!

Well I did it! I finally went and got my eyes examined. I knew I needed to get it done but it was a matter of time and funds; well I went yesterday and found that my prescription had barely changed. That was good news. So instead of glasses, I opted to get contacts. Right now I have a trial pair in and they're pretty nice. I'm still going to wind up getting glasses because you can't wear contacts all the time and sometimes you can scratch your cornea and if you do that, you can't wear contacts for a while. I'm liking it though. It's been about 7 years since I've worn contacts so it's a nice change. I don't leave them in over night...I'm paranoid when it comes to that. I'm still getting used to putting them in and taking them out. They're smaller than the last set I had which is good because last time I had them one of them fell out while I was driving. Not the best time to lose a contact. So that's what I did yesterday when I went home. After that I finished "Jarhead". The jury is still out on whether I actually liked it. I loved Peter Sarsgaard's character, Troy. I'll watch just about anything he's in though. I really liked him in "Garden State". I do think it was a fairly accurate representation of what happens to soldiers when they're put in situations like that. I don't think I could do it.

I was listening to the radio on the way in and they were talking about those 2 soldiers that were kidnapped in Iraq and that they found their bodies. I know it's war and it's all part of it but I can't help but wonder why people kill each other. It's an age old question. It doesn't make sense. Now their families and friends lives are torn apart. It's something we've seen countless times since the beginning of this "war". Japan is preparing to remove troops like England and Australia already did. How long do you think it's going to take for us to get out of there? I don't see it happening any time soon...unfortunately. Pretty soon we're going to be the only ones left and then what? There is no plan in place for the evacuation of our troops. I think we're going to be there for a very long time. The House refuses to give a time table on the removal of troops even though at the beginning of the year, they said they were going to reduce the number of troops there. The way I see it, more and more of them are going in. It looks like we're going to be going at this alone. We shouldn't have been there in the first place but now that Iraq is in shambles, what else can we do? We destroyed their cities; we've taken away what they've known. I'm not saying that I agreed with the way Sadaam handled things....he's everything they say he is but did we have any right to go over and invade their country under faulty intelligence? Nope. Now we're stuck. There is no end in sight. I don't think we're going to be able to rid Iraq of the Insurgents. That's not being realistic. What bothers me most is the condition of the soldiers. The ones who had to kill or be killed. I can't imagine the horrors that some of them saw over there. I know it's their job to protect this country by any means necessary and that means killing but still. I'm sure they've seen things that none of us could possibly think of. I believe we're going to have a situation much like we did after Vietnam. Countless soldiers suffering from PTSD; having flashbacks, mental health problems are going to run rampant and for what? What have we gained by invading Iraq? The only thing I can think of is a huge debt both in money and in lives. We are destroying peoples lives for no reason. It doesn't seem right. I'll never understand the concept of war. People should fight for what they believe in but I have to go with MLK on this one: Passive Resistance. There are things that people should fight for like equal rights. But when that fight turns to violence, everyone loses.

Father's Day Weekend

Well Friday night wasn't too bad. We went to Friday's for a couple hours once everyone that showed finally did. Then we went to the local bar once again. I think the people that work there are going to know us by name if they don't already know some of us because of behavior. (Not me by the way...I'm good when I'm there. Like I said I drink Diet Coke). Finally after last call I left. I made sure everyone got home ok and I crashed. I had a lot to do on Saturday.

Saturday my sister called and woke me up at 8. I was a little grumpy but after a little while, I was ok. Her and Claude came over for a bit...he wanted his birthday present. He knew what I was getting him because Amanda told him. He had wanted to go out Friday night and get one so she had to tell him that I was getting him one. So after he left, Amanda and I went to BJ's to see if they had a set there. They didn't but I needed to get a couple things anyway. I got Mr. Mike some shirts for Father's Day and I got Claude a pair of jeans. Mom hadn't gone shopping for him so I went for her and she was planning on getting him some clothes. Maggie met us up there and then we went to Target where I found a volleyball net. We had to buy the ball separately. Got home, got showered, and went to help Amanda set up. Helped her clean up her kitchen a bit and put some stuff together. People were starting to show. Jason and Gage came which I thought was cool because they weren't planning on it. Gage was starting to get bored so he asked if we could put up the net. So he and I went out back and put the net up....well we attempted to. Those directions were terrible. I couldn't even begin to explain how difficult it was to understand them. Of course, everyone was making fun of us until they saw the directions. So Claude, Jason, and Brandon took over and got it together. Then we played a couple games of volleyball. My dad came too. I was so happy to see him. I hadn't seen him in so long. I thought we were going to get together Sunday but he had to work so I'll have to go see him some other time. There was no drama with the exception of Doug showing up. Doug is Claude's boss' son. He was trashed and there were some people there he's been known to pick fights with. Luckily, he didn't so the peace was kept. I got to see Mikayla for the first time. She's 15 months old now and I had never seen her. She was too cute. She likes to jump a lot. She was such a happy baby too until she got super tired but most people I know get like that when they're tired. But all in all it was a good time. We're hoping to do it again...maybe for the 4th of July.

Father's Day was uneventful. Mr. Mike went to church with Mike then he came home. They were going to wash clothes so I went to Amanda's to help her clean up. I knew it was going to be messy but it wasn't that bad. It was mostly soda cans and the such. After that I went home to find Mom and Mr. Mike fast asleep. I talked to Dad...he was going to Dover for a couple hours and then he was heading to work. He was stopping over Jimmy's and Doug's (my brother not the other Doug) for a little bit before hand. So I stayed in the rest of the day. I watched "Memoirs of a Geisha". That was a good movie. I don't know why people didn't like it. It stayed pretty true to the book. They left a couple things out and one of the main characters didn't look like I thought he would mainly because in the book he only has one arm but in the movie he had two. I started watching "Jarhead" but I didn't finish it yet. I'm still not sure I like the movie. I know it's supposed to be an accurate depiction of how it was back during the first Gulf War and all that but some of it is a little too much for me. I'll finish it when I get home.

This week is going to be uneventful. Wednesday is Maggie's birthday so we're supposed to go to heavy metal karaoke. I know thats a weird concept but hey it'll be something different. I might take off Thursday but that all depends. In a way I don't want to go out on Wednesday. It's the middle of the week and I feel bad for taking off work the day after but Maggie's the type to stay til the bar closes. I don't know...we'll see I suppose. Thursday is Mike's birthday and I think I'm going out to dinner with them on Friday. I don't know yet though...we'll see about that too. Well that's all for now. I've written an awful long post today but in my defense it was a good weekend.

Near Miss

Yesterday I was working like I most people do. One of my responsibilities is to assign visitor parking. One of the guys from the head of our Institute was coming up here for a meeting so I told him to park in the presidents spot (the president of the Institute). When he got here there was someone in it. Tim, my boss, came over and asked for the parking book. I gave it to him and he went back in his office and looked out the window. Now I knew what was going to happen. He was going to have the car ticketed and towed. We've had issues with parking for a while...at least as long as I've been here anyway. People think that they can just park anywhere in front of our building. I work in downtown Baltimore...parking is expensive so I understand why people wouldn't want to pay $5 for something that's going to take 10 minutes.

In my building there are 2 centers: the IHV and the one I work for, the MBC. Now IHV and MBC do not get along mainly because the director of the IHV and Tim don't get along. The director of IHV wants this whole building and he thinks that what he does is more important than anything the rest of the Institute does. That's just not right. I get along with people from the IHV. I've never once had an issue with them...well except one of the dr's. He got snippy with me because he swore he told me about a lab meeting he has every week in a certain room that I had given to someone else. He never once called me. Actually I'd never seen him before that day. Oh well...anyway back to my story. The IHV has a Clinic on the first floor of our building and their patients have a bad habit of parking there. After so asking the Clinic to tell there patients not to park out front, Tim started getting angry and said that if anyone is in our spot or the presidents spot without asking, then they would be towed. This is what brought me to what I thought would have been total and complete humiliation. Yesterday I was fairly busy and I thought that this one lady from IHV called and asked for the spot. I told her yes but I forgot to write it in the book. Later that day is when the fellow from Central was coming and I thought I got the person towed. It bugged me all night...I thought for sure I was going to lose my job or at the very least pay for the ticket and towing fee. Turns out it was the other day that that happened. I was so happy this morning when I looked in the book and saw that I got the days mixed up. That means that yes someone did get ticketed and towed but it wasn't my fault. I know that was a simple story and I made it a lot longer than it needed.

Tonight I'm going out with some friends. I'm the designated driver again. I like being the designated driver. Drinking is overrated. You do and say stupid things while drinking and when you wake up the next day, you feel like crap. So I choose to drink Diet Coke and watch everyone else make a fool out of themselves. Wednesday is Maggie's birthday so we're celebrating it this evening. Today is Claude's birthday but tomorrow is his party. That should be fun. I'm getting him a volleyball net and a gift certificate. He should like that. Sunday of course is Father's Day. I have no idea what I'm going to wind up doing for Dad or Mr. Mike. I have to get them a little something but I have no idea what that could be. I know, I know....I procrastinate but I seriously couldn't afford it this week. Actually I can't really afford it this week but I cut some corners so that I can get them both something. Well I get out of here in a little over a hour and a half. Can't wait. It's super nice out. Better enjoy it while I can...this weekend it's supposed to be sweltering. :(

Rediscovering Music

Music trends come and go and sometimes even come back again. I'm one of those people that think that what your parents listened to when you were a kid has a strong influence on what you listen to as an adult. It might mean that you avoid listening to it because your parents listened to it or you embrace it and wind up loving the music. My mom listened to a lot of Pink Floyd and the Doors when I was growing up. Eric Clapton and the Who were another staple in my house. To this day I still listen to them. Since I didn't really grow up with my dad, his music didn't have that big of an influence on me. There is only one song I can remember him singing when I was younger and that was "Every Kinda People" by Robert Palmer. I do like Robert Palmer but like I said...that's because of my mom. She listened to just about everything. She never got into country or even hip/hop for obvious reasons but she always liked classic rock. In elementary school my favorite was Michael Jackson. Say what you will about him now but back then he was awesome. I even had a purple short sleeved shirt with the cover of Thriller on it. I think the first rap artists/group that I heard was of course Run DMC and that song was "Walk This Way". The first song I ever heard by the Grateful Dead was Touch of Grey. Like most girls my age, New Kids on the Block was awesome back in 5th grade. Every girl had their favorite (Mine was Jordan...looking back I don't know why). But then came the year when I transitioned to middle school and NKOTB wasn't cool to listen to anymore. What became popular you ask? Why Vanilla Ice! "Ice, Ice, Baby" was everywhere when I was in 6th grade. I even had the video on tape...we didn't have cable back then so I saved some money to buy it. Probably one of the most embarrassing purchases I've copped to. Then came gangsta rap...N.W.A. was huge and when they broke up, Dr. Dre was it! Snoop followed and I found myself listening to more R&B than rock music. Boys II Men and Mariah Carey took over my stereo. I can remember waiting for the bell to ring outside of Southeast Middle school where I found a ruined tape of Cooleyhighharmony. I thought what a waste...what a great album.

Then high school hit. I started high school in 1993....I'm dating myself I know but it was a neat time to be alive and listening to music back then. My cousin, who is still into heavy, death, and speed metal, turned me on to music by Nirvana and Jane's Addiction. Now I know this is going to get me in a lot of trouble with some people but I didn't like Nirvana all that much. I didn't understand why there was so much hype behind this band. Sure I liked the songs...they were good but I didn't quite get why it was so life changing for people. Now when I heard Alice in Chains, that was a turning point for me. I like to think that if you were alive listening to rock music back then, you could choose from a handful of bands and pick which grunge band you liked best. Some liked Pearl Jam more than Nirvana; some preferred Soundgarden over Alice in Chains. To me though, Alice in Chains was it. To this day I listen to them...they don't get old. And while I'll never see them in concert due to the death of lead singer Lane Staley, I can look back and say "Wow! What a fantastic band". After the death of Kurt Cobain, things shifted. It was like an era ended when he died. He was a great songwriter and obviously he affected the lives of so many people. A friend of mine made me a mix tape...and like so many people of my generation it was a mix of just about everything from rap to rock to R&B. I started getting into the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Cypress Hill, and *gulp* Metallica. (In my defense, it was old Metallica...before the whole Napster fiasco) Then I heard 2 bands that truly changed music for me....Dave Matthews Band and Sublime. The first CD I ever owned was Crash by Dave Matthews Band. I listened to it over and over again. I still have it to this day...it's no longer playable but I still have it. That year for Christmas each of us got a CD. I got DMB, Ali got Gloria Estefan's Destiny, and Amanda got Journey's Trial By Fire. No offense to the Gloria Estefan fans and Journey lovers out there but I think I got the better part of the deal there. I'm still a fan of DMB and I think that will continue for the rest of my life. Sublime got popular here shortly after the death of lead singer Brad Nowell from a drug overdose. I know a lot people just think it's stoner music but I like it. I think it's something that we never really heard before.

Music is constantly evolving and there is always some genre that is being revived. New Wave is making a comeback....80's music is more popular now than it was in the 80's. Disco is now known as techno. Hip/Hop is still going strong (and they said it was a passing fad). At times it seems like rock is dead or dying but another band comes along and revives it. Over a year ago the Killers came onto the scene and totally stole the show. They breathed new life into rock. Now it appears that there is a second British Invasion going on with bands like the Arctic Monkeys and Editors hitting it big here. I guess what I'm getting at is that we are very fortunate to be living in a time where music is readily available either by radio or online. We have access to all types of music and somewhere there is a kid that's hearing the Rolling Stones for the first time and it's changing his or her life. Some of those old rock acts like the Stones are still out touring and if you look at the audience, it's not just crusty old hippies but there are a slew of younger fans out there cheering them on. Neil Young, a personal favorite of mine, is still putting out protest songs. How cool is that?! I think if John Lennon and George Harrison were still alive, the Beatles would have gotten back together and would still be selling out shows. Just look at how many albums they sell still 25 years after John's death and 4 years after George's. They still have such a huge impact on music...kids today are discovering them for the first time and some people are rediscovering them. I remember the first Beatles tape I owned: Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. I can still listen to it and be amazed at how great it was and is. I listened to that tape non-stop for months. How many acts out there can say that they have that effect on people. Not many.

Guantanamo

Most of us know about Guantanamo and what it’s used for. For those who don’t, Guantanamo is a U.S. Naval Base located on the island of Cuba (does anyone else see something wrong with the fact that we’re using a military facility on an island that we’re not allowed to visit or trade with?). There, people have been “detained” for several years at a makeshift prison. Several human rights groups and now leaders in other countries have protested the goings on at Gitmo (as it is most often called here in the U.S.) We know that many people have been detained there for year without being charged. We know that some of those people are innocent. We know that some of the people there are on the verge of committing suicide or worse. Is there a possibility that one of the people being detained is a terrorist? Absolutely! But the same could be said for one of the prisons here in the U.S. There could be a terrorist in our midst and for the most part, we won’t know the difference between that person and any other person walking down the street. Why is nothing being done about this? Well something has been done. A TV mini-series has been made in the U.K. regarding the experiences of three young Muslim men called “Road to Guantanamo”. Hopefully people here and around the world will see be able to see this and will be affected by it. I know I plan to see it. It doesn’t seem right that we are holding potentially innocent people there for years without charging them. If there is no evidence that a person is a terrorist, then why are you holding them there? It doesn’t seem right that a nation who’s practice when it comes to the legal system is “Innocent until proven guilty” is holding people illegally. The government is stomping on the basic human rights of people and no one seems to want to do anything about it. I know we are still hurting from 9/11 but that’s no excuse to treat these people this way. I’m not blaming the military either but I’m saying something needs to be done about it. We frown upon other countries when they take POW’s and mistreat them so why are we doing the same thing? It’s senseless! What makes me even sadder is that some Americans are taking part in the harassment and furthermore, Americans aren’t standing up for those people. It’s not right. We can rally together and demand that something be done about Guantanamo. It may not seem like much but every little bit helps. Call your senator, write your Congressman. Get involved. This is no time for apathy. I know people are disillusioned by the government. Who can blame them? It’s so easy with so much going wrong in the government. But if people can band together they will have no choice but to take notice and do something about it. Once again I’m sounding preachy but it bothers me beyond belief to know that there are people being tortured and sometimes feeling like there is no way out and no one is there helping them. Even the worse convicts in our prison system get treated better than that. It’s not right and something needs to be done about it.

Great News

I got a call last night from my sister, Alison....well let me back that up a bit. Paul called last night and wanted to talk to my mom. At first I thought something was wrong and she was in the hospital again. Anyway I waited around to make sure she was ok and my mom was a little teary. She said that he called to ask her if he could propose to her. How sweet! He said that he was going to ask her this weekend. No more than a half hour later Alison called to tell us that he proposed and she said yes. I was so happy for her. They were going through a rough time but things were getting better. He's been planning this for almost a year. He picked out the setting for the ring and was waiting for the right time. He knew he wanted to marry her but was afraid he was rushing into it. Well anyway...congrats to my sister Ali and Paul. Paul is one of the best guys I know and I couldn't be happier for them. Another good thing is that I don't have to be in the wedding! That's always a plus for me. I don't like to get up in front of people for any reason if I can help it.

Yesterday I spent the day at home. I must have gotten the bug that's been going around at work. Last week Tim had it and Mr. Mike had it on Monday and when I woke up yesterday it wasn't good. I'm just glad it's over. The weekend should be good. Alison and Paul are coming up and tonight is bad movie night. My movie is "Bad Taste". It's so so so bad it's good. This is one of Peter Jackson's first films. He's certainly come a long way since then. I don't know what other movies are being brought other than "Dead and Breakfast" and Maggie's bringing that one. Should be a fun evening over all though. I'm supposed to go out tomorrow night with some people but since Ali and Paul are coming up, then I might just stay and chill with them. I don't feel very up to going out anyway. I'm sick of babysitting so I would much rather be home reading or something. At the moment I'm reading two books: "Dreams from My Father" by Barak Obama and "Dispatches from the Edge: A memoir of war, disasters, and survival" by Anderson Cooper. So far both are very interesting. I'll write about them again once I finish them. So far so good.

Environmental Issue

With all that's going on here today it's hard to think about things that don't appear to affect us in our little bubble but global warming affects all of us. We know that the polar ice caps are melting. There are severe consequences to be had if they melt. Some things are already changing. One of them is the Polar Bear population. The Polar bear population is dwindling directly because of global warming. The polar ice to the North provides them a place to live and hunt. Without it they have to swim and eventually they drown. I'm almost sure that I wrote about this before but I think this is a serious problem and something has to be done about it. I was talking to my sister and some people over her house and we were talking about endangered species. I think it was Brandon who said why does that affect me? Why do we care about a species that has nothing to do with us? I thought that was perhaps one of the most ignorant things a person has ever said in my presence. It has everything to do with us. We are the ones destroying their habitat and in some cases killing them for sport. I know people hunt and yes for food that's fine. I just don't understand why someone would hunt a polar bear or any bear for that matter. I don't understand hunting for the most part when they have products that are readily available in the grocery store but even then someone has to kill the animal. Really makes me want to become a vegetarian. I've been contemplating that for a while now but that has nothing to do with what I'm writing about really. So I get regular updates from Greenpeace and yes I'm familiar with the fact that when they were protesting oil drilling they rented a boat that used oil and all that. I'm not saying they're right in all they say but some of what they say makes sense. Anyway I got an update today and it had to do with the polar bear situation. There is a video you can watch, it's only a couple minutes but boy does it get the point across. I'm going to post the link here.

Global warming is an issue that has been batted around for many years now. Al Gore has been attached to a movie out called "An Inconvenient Truth" . I hope people can put aside their politics and see this movie. I have every intention of doing so whether I have to go by myself or not. It should be interesting to see some of the issues this movie brings to the masses. I'm hoping to see it sometime soon. When I do I'll be sure to write about it here. It has the potential to make an impact on all people so that they see what is happening to the planet and maybe it will get through to one person and maybe change their perspective on the world. That's what I'm hoping for anyway. I know it's a politically motivated film but it's something that needs to be seen.

Yay!

Ok...this weekend wasn't that eventful but a good thing happened. Frankie called and said that he's coming home in September instead of going to Australia on leave. It was weird because Grover emailed me, I haven't talked to him in forever, and asked how Frankie was doing and if I'd heard from him. I let him know that I had talked to him a while ago and that he calls about once a month to let me know he's alive. I was in the process of telling Maggie that he emailed me when Frankie called. It was so good to hear from him. I'd been a little worried since I heard something about troops being moved from Kuwait into Iraq but I wasn't sure if that was him or not. It wasn't. He's been in Iraq almost the whole time he's been there. He said it's pretty boring...hot and sandy..typical desert conditions. Anyway it was good to know he's ok. It's just weird how that happens. You're talking about someone or something and then it happens.

I went to the book store and yes I found myself in the self help section to see if they had anymore Chicken Soup books. They didn't. Bummer. I got "The Scarlet Letter" and "Dreams from My Father" by Barack Obama. I got "The Scarlet Letter" because it's one of my favorite books and I didn't have it. I think I'm going to go back later on today to see what else they have. Maggie was with me and she was arguing with Longo and Jason on the phone so I just wanted to get out of there. I'll be able to have a better look since I'll be there alone.

I found a tick on my head. Not that anyone wanted to know that but I've never had one before and I flipped out. I was at the Sprint store right before we went to the movies yeah I was no good after that. I went and saw "The DaVinci Code". I have to say I was disappointed. I didn't like Tom Hanks in the role at all. I thought in the beginning it was working but it didn't get any better for me from there. Maggie fell asleep during it...she hasn't read the book yet though. I mean it wasn't the worst movie I'd ever seen but I definitely thought it would have been better. Oh well...at least I got around to seeing it. Yesterday I had to go to lunch with my mom and stepdad. We were meeting my stepdad's sister, brother in law, and their daughter, Melanie. She just got her masters. They aren't my favorite people in the world for many reasons so I think that was by far my best good deed for the year. It was painful but I got through it ;) After I left there I went over Amanda's to drop off some boxes. I thought she needed them to pack stuff away in but she just wanted it for the burn barrel. Bill, Claude's cousin, was over and he wrecked on the motorcycle. He banged his leg up pretty bad. Claude had a cap to a pick up that he was going to sell but Bill put his leg through it when he wrecked. It was kinda funny but not at the same time because he could have really hurt himself.

That brings me to today. Nothing new at the moment. More of the usual. You ever go back and listen to some songs and remember why you like them so much? I do. I think that's what I'm going to write about at some point this week. Rediscovering songs.

Accomplished for the Week

I got 2 things accomplished for the week. One was that I read a book and the other was I saw a movie. I know they might not exactly be considered accomplishments but I set out to do both and I did.

"Memoirs of a Geisha" was excellent. I haven't seen the movie but the book was absolutely fantastic. I started reading it on Tuesday and found that I couldn't put it down. It just draws you in and moves so fast. It was just really good. I would recommend it to anyone who reads. There is so much detail about what a geisha goes through just in her daily life and how some women become a geisha. The narrator of the story is also the main character, Chiyo/Sayuri. I remember reading about geisha when I was younger but I didn't really know much about it. I knew they wore makeup and kimono and that they were skilled dancers. Other than that I had no idea what they did. The story takes place during the 1930's in Japan and goes through WWII and into the 50's although not so much into the 50's. I don't want to give too much away. If you have a chance to read it please do. I'm telling you you won't realize that the book is about 500 pages. It moves so quickly you find yourself staying up til all hours of the night reading even though you have to work early the next day. I even brought it to work with me yesterday and today. I just finished it this morning. I'm kind of interested in the movie now. It got a lot of bad press but I think once again it's one of those things that I'm going to have to check out for myself. I thought it was a little weird that they had a Chinese actress, Zhang Ziyi, who is fantastic in"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", portray a Japanese geisha. I just thought it was odd.

And the other thing that I got accomplished this week was I went and saw X-Men 3: The Last Stand. Wow! A fantastic movie. I was a little leary of Kelsey Grammer in the role as Beast but I can't imagine anyone else. It was everything I thought it was going to be. I was so excited going to the theater and then finally getting to see it after I heard so many good things about it. I thought Angel would have had a bigger part but no big deal. I still wanted to see Gambit in it but I guess that'll never happen...or will it? And thanks to Lance for letting me know I should stay after the credits. It was worth it. My cousin didn't stay when he went and now he's all upset. There were a couple more people there that stayed along with us but for the most part everyone else left. We went yesterday because we figured it wouldn't be as crowded on a Thursday and we were right. The plan now is to see "The DaVinci Code" tomorrow.

Well now I have to set out and read another book. I made a list of the books that I want to read before I go back to school so tonight when I get home I'm going to go to the bookstore and look to see what they have out. I might just stick to the list but I always find something new there that I want to read. I wish there was a Borders closer to us so that I didn't have to go into Barnes & Noble. It seems too stuffy in there and that you shouldn't make any noise. I can't help but make noise when I go in there because at some point I wind up in the self help section making fun of the various "Chicken Soup for the _______ Soul". Yeah I know that's really mature but come on! How many of those books really need to be written and who buys them? I could see a couple of them but "Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul"? Really.