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.

i’m in trouble. i have no money for school, apparently, because they haven’t gotten an application from me, regardless of the fact that i signed a promissory note the other day. this week has been relatively long, because my bank account has been bobbing in and out of water. thank goodness it’s friday.

i went to the seattle art museum last night to see annie leibovitz’s show. it was good. i’m not an art critic, but i know what i like (and i like what i know). funny how all my critiques have become “it was good.” unless something is bad, and then i have a lot to say about it. jeese what a stupid post. my apologies.

i keep forgetting to thank everyone that emailed and wished me a happy birthday. i swear i’ll get around to emailing you personally, but right now i don’t have an internet connection at home and i don’t feel like spending 3 hours in the library to get through it all. but don’t consider me ungrateful, because i am not. thanks again.

and in related news, i feel obliged to say a fond farewell to entry ways, but not like some of you will, because unlike others that are geographically challenged, i can see scott in real life.

and re-reading my last post, i apologize for those that had to suffer through the inexplicably bad grammar and writing. i’m out of practice.

hi. i’m back. i got back on saturday, and have just begun contemplating a big project regarding our road trip, and me telling you about it. in short, it was great. the long story will take much longer to tell you, and i’ll be sure to include photographs. until then, however, you’ll have to suffer through my shit until then.

i started school today, and am excited again, because it’s that first day of school excitement where you’re going to take everything and put it under your thumb, and just squeeze it down with a simple flick of the finger, because it’s easy feel that way on the first day of school. i am engaging in some interesting things this quarter - i’ve had my first two classes, japanese 211, the one that plagued me all summer, except this time, i went into the classroom feeling like i had an advantage over everyone in class, having reviewed all this shit for two weeks during the summer, and i wasn’t lost and terrified out of my mind like this summer.

i was however, a bit intimidated when attending my next class, which is a graduate course in textual studies. i’m not a graduate student, hell, i’m barely a student, but the class looked interesting, and turns out, it is. very. considering one of my favorite professors is teaching it, i’m excited - we’re going to be creating a hypertext edition of william blake’s the four zoas manuscript. that’s all i’m able to articulate right now, but you’ll be hearing much more about it later (which may or may not be a good thing).

i’m hungry as hell, and i have another class in about half an hour. i know i spelled mellancamp wrong down there, and i also know i wrote “hopped” rather than “hoped.” my bad.