earlier today i got stuck on a computer that was teasing me. i would click on something, and it would work for aobut 2 seconds, and then the computer would slow down and would take a couple minutes to finish the process. i planned on posting, but by the time i was done with my homework, i had to go to class. i wondered if anyone would notice that i had just hucked the fucker out the window, and walked to a different computer.

happy halloween, by the way. we were at the store a couple days ago, and my roommates and i decided that instead of grocery shopping for candy to give to kids today, we would only spend money on stuff we wanted to eat. so tonight, we plan on using the “lights out” method and closing the gate in front of our house. if that doesn’t work, i’ll throw candy corns at the kids from my window and yell at them to go the hell home. i love halloween.

although halloween hasn’t officially come and gone, we did have a party saturday night that was pretty successful. i was a fairy (funny). we put on cheesy (and disgusting) movies on the tv, and you’d know when something really bad was going to happen, because jason (who owned the movies), would stand up and walk out of the room (apparently fearing that someone would make the connection that the owner of these said films was him). i on the other hand, knew what was going on. re-animator was one of the films.

started reading kenzaburo oe’s a personal matter again, and also started reading a little more about borges and Funes, the Memorius and c.s. peirce’s work on prescinding. fascinating stuff, really. i’d tell you more about it, but i have to go to class. maybe later.

nov. 11th, and the weblog will be 1 year old. 1 year is a long time for anything.

apparently, an electric space heater takes as much power as 40 flourescent lamps.

i had my test today, which went okay, aside from me cracking jokes in japanese that my teacher didn’t think were very funny. in fact, they aren’t especially in english. the whole point is that they’re in japanese. i think they’re only funny to those that are learning, because it’s fun to do that when you’re learning a language. otherwise, it’s equivalent to someone that doesn’t know english very well cracking a dumb joke in english, and you not laughing, because it’s not funny, it’s just stupid. in conclusion, my joke was not funny, but stupid. very very stupid (stupid = baka in japanese).

oh, but better yet: dexter, didi, and mandark.

thanks everyone (both of you) for your suggestions. i will put them in a random lottery, and pick the winner out of a hat. just kidding. i don’t know if i have the resources (or energy) to do some ot he costumes, although the suggestions are quite good. i have a lot of school work that i’ve put off for this week, including an oral test (very funny) for japanese that i have tomorrow, but haven’t started practicing for yet. we have to still write a script, and my partner didn’t show up to class today (i didn’t show up to lecture yesterday, but that’s beside the point). i also have quite a few other things to do, and yesterday i won tickets from kexp to go to don byron playing at the earshot jazz festival on friday.

my favorite suggestion thus far: the powerpuff girls.

oh yeah – happy birthday, al.

meant to update much earlier, but got sidetracked looking at some graduate schools. i registered for graduation, and if all goes well, i should be done in june with two degrees under my belt – one in comparative literature and one in cinema studies. i came upon a slew of posts that i had done a few months ago and wished i only had the time and energy to think of stuff as entertaining as i thought it was back then. unfortunately, the only thing i could think of to post was an unending trail of complaints about having nothing to post about.

in any case, i still believe that writing anything is better than writing nothing just because you have nothing to write about. i’m not sure if you out there are all better off because of it, in fact, i sincerely doubt it. if anything else, this page has grown into a forum for me to complain about everything, mostly about my peers and drivers, though. halloween is soon, how about that? anyone have any good ideas for a costume? please help! my roommates and i shallowly entertained the idea of being the a-team, although if we so chose to, we would probably have to endure an unending stream of the question, “what are you?”

Tim rocks, too. but you all already knew that.

(i was really only invited to this club so i could post updates about our trip when Tim didn’t want to. i hope i don’t get in trouble. maybe you should all send emails saying how content you are knowing that a girl is being included in the posting power. but maybe only boys read this and you don’t want to be troubled by girls anymore than you undoubtedly already are. (and i mean that in only the most understanding way.) in that case, take solace in the fact that i really only wanted to say that Tim rocks. seriously, have you seen his rock jumps?)

by the way, my girlfriend rocks.

i remember andrew posting his top places (according to a computer) to live a while ago, and i promised myself i’d do the same (for my own reference). i took the test, but don’t remember the results. i think the number one place was either somewhere in rhode island or connecticut, and portland, or was in my top 10, too. you can do it youself at findyourspot.com, and here are my new results (which seem to be almost identical to last time):

1. hartford, connecticut – looks nice from the pictures, but the “insurance capital of the world”? east coast drivers also drive me nuts, but i don’t think that would really affect my judgement. i mean – it’s just driving, right?

2. portland, or – is alright, if you’re into that. i’ve always been creeped out by the city, although i do know a lot of very nice people there. it’s just that when you cross the burnside bridge… also, the church of elvis is there.
3. providence, rhode island – 41 miles to boston and smaller than the other cities so far on the list. it looks inviting, though if the town providence is anything like the show, no thank you. lowest crime rate in the northeast, and the cheapest place to live in New England ain’t bad, either.
4. new haven, connecticut – first two sentences included “Yale University”, “first settlement” and “group of puritans.” cost of living is 22% above national average. next.
5. boston, massacusetts – population capping 3 million, m.i.t. and boston harbor. rent is probably expensive, and i’m not will hunting.
6. baltimore, maryland – only the second place on this list that i’ve actually been to. being there and driving wasn’t as great as i remember, but i did have a good time down by the harbor. cheap place to live, too. turns out, it’s probably one of the most likely (out of the top 6) places i’ll end up living in the next year.
7. eugene, or – i’ve driven through the town, i think i actually tried to get something to eat there, and all i remember was how many porn stores there were. for some reason, i’ve never really been thrilled with the idea of living anywhere in oregon (see #2).
8. danbury, connecticut – where? avg. household income $80,000 (which doesn’t mean much to me, because there’s probably no way i’ll make that much, it just means i’d be living near people that did).
9. corvallis, or – see #7
10. chicago, il – i still don’t know why chicago has this mecca-like quality for me, but my short visit there this summer confirmed it. as far as i’m concerned, this should be number 1, and actually is as far as the liklihood of where i’ll be moving. home of the first ferris wheel, you know. cost of living is only 9% above the national average, and unemployment is below the national average as well. yep. i wish i could say something bad about it – oh yeah, traffic sucked.
11. charleston, west virginia – smallest population on the list, 53K. average two bedroom apartment costs less than $500 per month though. a little inland for my taste.
12. milwaukee, wisconsin – 19th largest city in the nation, 140 county parks, and 14,000 acres for camping. 80% less crime than chicago, and housing is cheaper too. hmm. interesting.

other cities included: salem – OR, albuquerque – NM (boo!), frederick – MD, sheboygan – WI, medford – OR, little rock – AR (what?), honolulu – HI (nice), worcester – MA, bend – OR, madison – WI, eau claire – WI, champaign/urbana – IL

i hate the library. people are always in the library, talking on their cell phones, inflicting their hideously annoying rings on everyone else whilst being absolutely oblivious and inconsiderate. i noticed that i never use the “insert” key on my keyboard and would like to start doing so more often. i was in a movie a while ago – you’ll probably never see it, but tonight there’s a screening and maybe it’ll be okay. i listened to the some of the hey mercedes songs at everynightfireworks.com and couldn’t stop. i only listened to “haven’t been this happy” 5 times or so within the past few days, and now i woke up this morning with it in my head.

the thing is, i’d talk mike out of quitting if i didn’t feel the same exact way. paul seems to be in the same boat and scott didn’t even give me a chance to try.

regardless of whether or not these guys will continue posting (myself included), i’d like to think that (and take solace in this thought) we’ve all connected in some distinct manner through this garbled mess of wires and worlds.

being broke is terrible. being broke with a credit card is even worse, because you think you can just buy stuff with the credit card and hope the bill never comes (or that you’ll win the lottery, find a great paying job where you only work 2 hours a week, get financial aid, or be awarded a research grant) so that you can pay it off later. being broke, and having to sit through 3 release dates for some of your most anticipated albums all year is sucks pretty bad, too. worst of all, i look like a fucking bum to my girlfriend, ’cause i can’t afford to buy her anything. times are rough.

but who am i to complain? is that all this is for?

anyways, i was thinking the other day, about a film that i saw a long time ago. the film was not of the utmost quality, in fact, it was practically a c-movie, a bad van damme flick sans van damme, replaced with some joe schmoe martial artist who could kick realistically. the circumstances of which i actually saw the movie were somewhat unusual – i believe it was at a wake. it wasn’t necessarily the wake itself, but everyone came over to my familiy’s house to chat and eat and watch this movie, which, included a bit part played by my uncle, whom the wake was for.

it was strange to all be gathered around this tv, watching this movie no one would have ever thought to rent (save for miguel, who by far rents the worst movies imaginable) only to see my uncle get killed by gunshots in the scene. the last i’ve ever seen of him moving. strange, but it was funny to see him in the movie, because anyone that ever sees the film without the context, just sees my uncle as an extra.

he was amazing though. he was in a band, and he taught me how to play the drums. i still have his guitar that he used to play, and i recall him sitting on the piano bench at our house and me asking to play him a song, but he hesitated. he finally did, and he played a CCR song. he taught me a bunch of magic tricks where he would shuffle a deck of cards and put it in his pocked (which he assured me was empty), and then he’d pull out the deck of cards and lay them out on the table all in order. he’d teach me things and tell me not to forget.

i remember hearing a story about how ben went to some comedy club, and it was open mic, and some guy went up and wasn’t funny at all. the crowd hushed in embarassment, and then someone from the back pleaded in a whiny voice: “be funny!”

well, i was right about not getting any money. i had to apply and hopefully will get money before they drop me out of classes. i have nothing to say, really. i don’t really have anything to say, ever, now do i? crapola.