Dialogues

Me and My Speeding Ticket

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:54:01 GMT

So far I haven't had any sleep. There were those moments where I thought "Okay, okay, here I go," but I didn't drift off into Neverland. Around midnight I got this idea that if I stayed up doing the online traffic school required to nullify my speeding ticket, It would all be over and done with before I got to work in the morning.
Well, I was wrong.
The website requires you to read "chapters" outlining various rules and regulations of the road. This would be fine because I can usually get through each page anywhere between 3 to 5 minutes. However, the fuckers set up a timer at the bottom of each page which prevents me from moving further until the timer runs out. Again, this wouldn't be too much of a problem had the jerk-offs who made the site not set the timers to 1 hour per page. So, I'm left doing crosswords on the internet and talking to random people on skype.
It's an extremely ridiculous process that could be done so much better.
Gerrit told me about the site he went on where, apparently, it only took him 45 minutes to do the entire thing. I'm writing a mental post-it to myself: next time, follow Gerrit's advice.

Intelligent

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 07:44:16 GMT

Just got home.
Last night was interesting. I got drunk with my co-worker cause it was his last day, and then proceeded to get even more drunk at Toshi's place. Somewhere along the night I asked him to punch me in the face. It didn't hurt until I woke up in the morning and yawned.
Although I am tired, I want to watch a movie tonight. I have a choice between Sukiyaki Western Django, which I just bought, or Gozu, which just came in from Netflix... hmm... choices, choices...

Quitting

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 07:19:45 GMT

I've been told that the first 3 days are the worst. My co-worker turned me on to this idea she calls "The Poor Man's Nicorette." It involves wrapping a rubber band around your wrist and snapping it against your skin really hard every time you get a craving. It doesn't work very well, as the cravings would hit me two minutes after I snapped the band 15 times and my wrist was a bright, big red spot.
Quitting is hard especially when most of the people you hang around with on a regular basis are smokers. It was tough not to ask my boss or any of my co-workers for smokes today. Anyway, it's the end of day 1 and I'm aiming for 10, cause if I can do that, I'll be really proud of myself.

Wow, John... Wow...

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:44:12 GMT

So, I ended up actually passing archaeology which is amazing seeing as how I never showed up to class. The only class I'll have to retake now is statistics. I'll definitely be able to work full-time and go to school now.

Anthology of Awesome-ness

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:53:21 GMT

I just downloaded the 6 cd Anthology of American Folk Music and it's amazing. So many good songs on here.

I don't have a drinking problem; drink, talk shit, fall down, no problem.

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:33:21 GMT

I just took 4 laxatives and I'm waiting for them to kick in.

Sadly, Romania got knocked out of the Euro Cup after losing to the Netherlands 2 to 0. We would have had to beat them or draw to make it through. Italy and France would have had to draw, but France lost by 2. Mutu, our best player just hasn't been on his game. He fucked up a penalty kick against Italy and missed 3 shots today that should have gone in. My uncle told me that he was on the phone with his wife who's back in Romania when Mutu missed the penalty kick. Apparently she was crying up a storm when he fucked it up.

It would have been awesome to see Romania versus Italy one more time, but hey, now that it's all said and done, I hope the Italians make it to the finals and take the cup.

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 10:01:21 GMT

I've gotta get out of here. I need to go somewhere during the summer, get my feet off American soil for a change. I've got this crazy wanderlust that's fucking killing me.

INDY!!!!

Thu, 22 May 2008 02:56:04 GMT

INDY!!!!!!
MIDNIGHT!!!!
TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Right Before I Leave For Work

Tue, 20 May 2008 23:49:49 GMT

The boba place next to my house is doing a 1 dollar milk tea special all through May. And that is awesome.

There are two weeks left of classes and I'm praying they'll go by fast. I've got a lot of studying in Math and Archaeology lined up for me, tasks I'm not looking forward too. But hey, once this is over I'll be on vacation.

I think the Palestine plans fell through. They're dependent on my grades and I think I'm looking at a few D's or C's. Regardless, I still want to go somewhere this Summer. I've been thinking about Mongolia, but don't quote me on that.

A friend of mine introduced me to this really amazing website called Pandora. It's an Internet radio site where you type in an artist or song name and the website compiles songs from a number of artists with similar qualities for you to listen to. I'm rocking that right now, listening to a group called Calibre and Singing Fats I found through a Gogol Bordello vs. Tamir Muskat search. I definitely recommend this site to anyone with a serious interest in expanding their musical tastes.

Re: University

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 02:48:16 GMT

Just got back from a trip with some friends up north to check out Santa Cruz. The drive was long, but I ate some edibles. I was high from about 10 in the morning to around 4:00, the time of the tour.

On the way there we stopped in this very strange city called Carmel situated about 4 hours out of LA. I use the word strange because this place looks like Disneyland. Seriously. My friend was hanging out of the door of this restaurant that we ate at. It was pretty good. The cheese blintzes were fucking incredible. But he was hanging out of one of those old fashioned doors where the top and bottom portions aren't connected. The bottom was closed and he was leaning over it so as I got the image of an older woman calling the kids to dinner with one of those musical triangles. The signs were all olde-timey like, and I felt like I was walking through main street at Disneyland, or the town square in Little House on the Prairie.

Anyway, after driving for an entire day, we finally made it to Santa Cruz. Let me tell you: that school is awesome. It doesn't feel like a school at all, instead it's like a really expensive summer camp. The forest is incredible and I can't wait to take my bike on some of those paths. They have bridges that link different portions of campus. Bridges. Awesome.

I don't care if I get into any other school because it doesn't make a difference now. Santa Cruz it is.

And on top of that, that road trip was bomb as hell.

And the movie I filmed is up on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAmK-pQJjOo

My Vice

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 06:47:05 GMT

And so I begin the countdown to the premiere of the fourth and final season of Battlestar Galactica...

10 more days... I'm burning with anticipation...

Sleeping Soundly

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:31:30 GMT

I've got this real problem with sleeping, you see. I end up staying up pretty late, and since my body can sleep for an extremely long time, I generally go to bed around 3 and wake up at 2 (4 on weekends).
Tonight was one of those nights. I laid myself in bed at 4 and couldn't sleep. By 5 I decided I wasn't going to fall asleep, so I got on skype and luckily my friend was on. We both decided to pull all-nighters, so we've been chatting back and forth for about an hour and a half now.
I'm tired as fuck right now, and I hope I can pass my Japanese 3 test today.

Taxes...

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 09:13:28 GMT

Taxes, taxes, taxes.... I hate this time of year.

I'm Tired of Vlogs

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 09:28:22 GMT

Hey everyone.

It's been a while since I last posted, so I figured I should come back from the void. I guess I'll just do an update of my current situation.

I like bullet points:
- I recently updated my current schedule to the universities for transferring and, to make a long story short, I didn't realize that this semester I accidentally switched out my physical science requirement for another anthropology class. Instead of taking it during the summer, I'll be desperately trying to change classes tomorrow. I hope I can. No, I will be able to. It'll probably be a night class though.
- The above was the most important update.
- My co-worker has got me hooked on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I'm simply amazed. This show is probably the funniest I've seen in a while, not counting Curb Your Enthusiasm. It's just unbelievable what they put out. I'm thinking, I'm watching this on TV? Well, I guess it is cable... Regardless, I haven't laughed so hard since I saw the Stella tapes a year ago.
- I started biking to school because it's impossible to get my fat ass to the gym even if I'm paying out the ass for the membership. They weren't lying when they said endorphins were good for you.

That's all I can think of at the moment.
I'm gonna veg out to some Heroes Season 1 before I fall asleep.

Who's tired of reality TV, huh?

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 04:36:39 GMT

It's official world, I'm off to Palestine this summer! In July, I'll be traveling with my mom through Egypt, Israel, Palestine, and Turkey, in that order. I've been dying to go for a long time now, so I'm really excited that it's finally happening.

How The Grinch Stole Christmas:

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 04:45:46 GMT

So, my mom was supposed to go out of town today to visit her sister for Christmas. She got to Union Station and they wouldn't let her on the train because her driver's license expired not too long ago and they won't let anyone on without proper identification. They said something about "Homeland Security."

I was planning a little dinner with some friends who live in the neighborhood on Christmas at midnight, but that plan's now shot to all hell.

I don't know who "The Grinch" is in this situation. Is it my mom for getting kicked off the train, or me for not wanting to spend Christmas with my family?

Barely Making Do...

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 02:33:16 GMT

Steve McQueen was so fucking awesome. Words cannot even begin to describe it.

Harajuku Dolls Scare Me... Like Stalking Monkeys

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 08:45:16 GMT

Let today be over already!!!!!!!

Michelle, you think you haven't studied? Bitch, come to my side of the fence where the grass is scorched, and dog shit blankets whatever is left.

My two finals, the important ones, are today and I haven't studied for more than 30 minutes. I tried studying, but couldn't get my brain to follow along. I will fail at a university. My new plan is to study for an hour before each final. Hopefully I get out of my Japanese final early enough to study for anthropology.

I can't wait for today to be over and done with. I got somebody to cover my shift, I need the extra day of break.

As the story goes...

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 09:44:27 GMT

I just watched the 2girls1finger video. Think 2girls1cup, but worse. On the website there was a link to a video called "dick chop." The link didn't work, so, out of extreme curiosity, I went looking for some videos...

I found an entire website devoted to self-mutilation videos. The only way I could watch them were to be if I became a member. In order to do that, I would have to pay a hefty sum or get a free membership by making my own video.

Needless to say, I found third-party websites that had these videos for download. That shit was disgusting! Not too disgusting where I'm scarred for life, but DISGUSTING NONETHELESS. Guys were chopping their dicks off, tying them up into weird shapes, sticking metal tubing in their peeholes... I mean, I won't go into detail, but there was shit in these videos that was so much worse than what I just described.

It was mostly penis related stuff. I think there was one vagina shot in there. This can mean two things: 1) less women are into it than men are, or 2) the first fact is a lie and there is an equal ratio of women to men, but women just don't talk about it as much. Personally, I'm more inclined to believe the former, but that's because I'm sexist in that I believe men are, by nature, extremely fucked up.

Now, what's funny is that after watching these videos, I want to see more.

"It's been a long time," she said.

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 10:06:36 GMT

I haven't posted in a long while. I've been busy. It's been pretty intense these past weeks and I don't see it clearing up until school's over.
I filmed a movie this weekend. Shoot went well. I've been working on that for the past month now so it's relieving to finally get the filming done. Now it's on to the editing.
Now that I've filmed something again, I don't want to stop. I feel this incredible drive now to write and make movies. The only thing that'll keep that going is to film more movies. As if that wasn't obvious.
I'm slacking off in everything. Before this weekend, the movie was taking up all my time and now that it's over I don't want to get back into anything. We've only got two weeks left of school before finals and I know it'll go by quickly, but I want vacation to come already. I think it's the fact that I have to make up 12 hours in the language lab before school's out. One hour everyday!
I'm gonna edit the video once I'm done with applications, which should be tomorrow. I'll devote all my spare time and energy into it, and when it's done I'll put it on youtube for y'all to see. You might like it, you might not. If it turns out shitty, whatever. More practice needed, right?

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 22:25:23 GMT

I HATE SMC.

I got rejected from guaranteed admissions program to Santa Cruz because my counselor failed to give me some required information.

Movies

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 01:13:35 GMT

Finally getting the storyboards done for my movie.

I'd like to take a nap.

Camaraderie with Complete Strangers

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 09:33:57 GMT

Tonight, by pure chance, I saw The Pogues for free.

I'd been looking to buy tickets since early September, and I'd saved up the 80 bucks I'd needed for them. However, due to some money problems I've had recently, I was so strapped for cash I couldn't afford it. My boss knew I'd wanted to go and when his friend called him to tell him he had four extra tickets, he called me.

I waited with him at work for his friend to come pick us up and by the time we had gotten there, the band just before The Pogues was playing their last song. We had arrived just in time.

Needless to say, the show was great. It wasn't the best one I'd been to, but at least I know I was able to see them before Shane MacGowan dies, which very well could be tomorrow. MacGowan comes on stage in this frilly, red Victorian jacket and an eyepatch, drunk to all hell (rehab clearly didn't work). The first song was Streams of Whiskey which immediately got everyone jumping. If I Should Fall From Grace With God, A Pair of Brown Eyes, Dirty Old Town, The Irish Rover, and The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn were some of the songs they played. It was something of a letdown when they didn't play Fairytale of New York, but they played enough great songs anyway.

Like I said, it wasn't the best show I'd ever been to, but it was still great. What really struck me was not the pure awesomeness of the band, but the sense of camaraderie amongst the crowd. We were all complete strangers, but we were hanging on to each other, laughing, patting each other's backs as if we were all friends who'd come to the same show together - I've never seen that at any other concert I've been to. I was on the floor right above the pit (tickets weren't pit tickets, sadly), surrounded by a bunch of huge guys covered in tattoos, shirtless, jumping around like maniacs. The mosh pit was fucking awesome. I was dancing, jumping, pumping my fist in the air, stomping my feet, and clapping my hands. I got elbowed in the jaw a few times, and ended up limping/dancing in the pit because some guy flew into my knee when he was thrown to the ground. It was great, I didn't know any of these people, but we we all immediately connected. People were pulling out cigarettes and smoking; this one guy I ended up dancing next to pulled out a joint and we smoked it; I spent a song singing as hard as I could with this other person, arms over each other's shoulders. Everyone was just there having a good fucking time.

Listening to The Pogues is something different. Listening to them live, surrounded by that energy, is at a whole different level. MacGowan's voice reaches you in the deepest crevices of your soul, jolting you, forcing you to surrender your will into his control. He's up there on that stage, downing bottles, commanding the crowd with his frail, hunched over stance. When he talks, you listen, even if you can't understand a fucking word that comes out of his drunken, toothless mouth.

What I really loved, though, was watching all these people, myself included, close their eyes and hold their arms up, palms out, as if they were in church being blessed by the word of God.

And by the way, Spider Stacy is still fucking hot.

Oh God...

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 06:52:12 GMT

Got out of the gym at nine tonight. Moseyed my way over to Coffee Bean for some good ol' anthropology studying. I couldn't do it.

I was really trying to read my book, as I've got a midterm on 4 chapters I haven't read (I remember, after the last test, saying something about studying in advance...). I was so fucking tired.

I figured that I'd busy myself with something for 15 minutes or so before getting into studying. I decided to read The Metamorphosis (no comments about busying myself with that book please, I know it already sounds ridiculous.).

Read through the whole thing. I looked at my cell phone and saw that it was 11:06. Well there went my studying.

That was the most depressing book I've ever read.

I think I would've hated it if it hadn't been for certain parts that made me laugh out loud.'

Wouldn't mind a discussion about it.

busy busy busy

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 07:35:29 GMT

Anthropology 5 Midterm #2 - Next Tuesday
Japanese Vocab/Kanji quiz - Tomorrow (well, today... it's still tomorrow if I'm awake.)
Film Club reimbursment (long story - well no, I just don't want to go into detail.)
College Applications
Personal Statement
First 10 pages of a feature screenplay - due Monday (can possibly be extended)
Short film - to be completed by late November and producing/directing is a lot of fucking work!
The Metamorphosis - must finish reading (who read it? does anyone think it's funny? And, no, it's not for a class. It's pleasure reading.)

That's a list of all the shit that I have to take care of, all the shit that's been on my mind lately.
I have a lot of work ahead of me.