First off, a very merry/happy/befuddled Christamchanakwanzadan to everyone! And a belated Festivus to all the people who don’t believe. Believe in pan-holiday consumerism that is! Wo!
Alright there are thing to accomplish so we shall not dwell on wishing you good stuff, we’ll instead (and for a change of pace) turn our attention towards me and my haul of loot this year. Here is the list:
Scarves (many scarves, in fact 4, all of them pretty awesome. Especially the only one I got in black and lime green!)
A briefer History Of Time and The Universe In A Nutshell by Stephen Hawking
Nat’l Geographic’s Theories Of Everything (A History Of Thought From Newton To String Theory)
Note: The books were either one of two thing: my family’s way of saying “get your science requirements done you lazy fuck!” or a cruel joke as few things scare me more than the universe and the laws by which it functions.
One map of the stars (winter sky)
One shirt (very nice and patterned which I normally don’t like but this one is quite nice)
A ton of music (well music potential in the form of a bunch of gift cards to various places, I’ll start the reviewing process soon)
Two novels Forever by Mark Hamill and White Teeth by Zadie Smith (I haven’t read fiction for a while now, it will be nice to get back to made up things)
CANDY!!!!!!!!!
Money (which is nice as “I got’s to get paid”)
FF VII (the collector’s edition! Only my favorite game ever…you’re the best Nando)
An i mutha fuckin’ Pod! Black, 80 gig…dear lord! Have you seen those commercials where the little kids are spasing out over a present? Yeah that was me when I opened it…for about a day and a half.
And then there is the big screen and the Playstation…so much for a small Christmas, huh?
Alright now on to my night last night. After the gratitude of all my new junk wore off my family started driving me crazy again. In order to keep some semblance of peace I decided to get out of the house and just chill. I went to Best Buy and purchased some new music. I went and ate some spicy tuna rolls at my favorite sushi place. Then I headed over to Starbuck and read for a while, sipping a wonderful cup of “joe.” As the evening progressed I grew more calm and relaxed. It was really exactly what I needed. To cap off the evening I thought I might hop the metro down to the Mall and walk around the hopefully deserted streets for an hour or so until metro closed and I headed home. Well I got to the metro station by my house and things headed into interesting territory from there…
As some of you might know, in order to park in the Metro lots you have to have one of their Smartrip cards. I was (and this is totally me bragging cause I don’t actually live inside of DC) one of the first people to get one. I bought mine about a month after they came out. It has been a real help and of course a status symbol to end all status symbols when it comes to both city “cred” and looking cool as apposed to the damn dirty tourists…Well my card has seen better days and when I went to put money on it to get downtown it wouldn’t read. The attendant said I could buy a new one for ten bucks and that it would be fine. One problem. I only had 20s and the machine only took 10s and under. The attendant didn’t have change and neither did anyone I asked. The guy said that I could just write an IOU at the gate and get out after I freaked out for about 10 minutes quietly in the corner. But when I drove up to the gate no one was there. I went back to the attendant who said that there was always someone there and that he was either in the bathroom or patrolling the lot. So I parked where I could see the booth and waited for the parking lot man to come back. He didn’t. An hour passed and I figured that I would just ask the station manager (who was the person helping me earlier) about it. Well he started to get crazy angry. Not at me but at just about everybody you could imagine. He called the parking lot company, metro itself and then the cell phone of whoever was supposed to be there (which he got from a very scared dispatcher). Well after all of that, there was still no gate going up in my near future. Until he manager just gave up and said that he would start pushing buttons in the little box thing until it went up. In addition he was very sorry and said that everybody else was getting out of there free too that night. I thought it was interesting. Trapped in a Metro parking lot for about an hour and a half. I didn’t get mad at all either, and it was nice to be apologized to by someone who works in the service industry.
Listening to really good mixes…
Thursday, December 28
Monday, December 18
Red Letter Day
Things to accomplish by Thursday of this week:
Monday-
Work, study for US history by re-reading the last 300 odd pages, go to sleep early as the exam is at 8am and I tend to oversleep at the most inopportune times
Tuesday-
Take US History Exam, get the rest of my Christmas shopping done (cause there won’t be any crowds in the mall this close to Christmas, right? Sigh), coffee with Harry, study for Foreign Affairs by reading all of my Cold War book and making notes on Communist Aggression theory and the policies of containment and détente…goodie
Wednesday-
Work, wrap presents, cook dinner, study for exam
Thursday-
Wake up, go to work to do Secret Santa thingy (I hope I get something decent) then take exam.
Then I’m done at around 3. There is a possibility that I’ll be driving to Virginia Beach (or something like that) to pick up a dog. However I have a feeling that I’ll just end up drinking and watching Christmas movies in my pajamas. Is it sad if that sounds really good right now?
Listening to Les Masquerade by Icollide and Mass. Pike by The Get Up Kids
Reading Squee's Wonderful Big Giant Book of Unspeakable Horror (Now with Meanwhiles) by Jhonen Vasquez
Monday-
Work, study for US history by re-reading the last 300 odd pages, go to sleep early as the exam is at 8am and I tend to oversleep at the most inopportune times
Tuesday-
Take US History Exam, get the rest of my Christmas shopping done (cause there won’t be any crowds in the mall this close to Christmas, right? Sigh), coffee with Harry, study for Foreign Affairs by reading all of my Cold War book and making notes on Communist Aggression theory and the policies of containment and détente…goodie
Wednesday-
Work, wrap presents, cook dinner, study for exam
Thursday-
Wake up, go to work to do Secret Santa thingy (I hope I get something decent) then take exam.
Then I’m done at around 3. There is a possibility that I’ll be driving to Virginia Beach (or something like that) to pick up a dog. However I have a feeling that I’ll just end up drinking and watching Christmas movies in my pajamas. Is it sad if that sounds really good right now?
Listening to Les Masquerade by Icollide and Mass. Pike by The Get Up Kids
Reading Squee's Wonderful Big Giant Book of Unspeakable Horror (Now with Meanwhiles) by Jhonen Vasquez
Friday, December 15
Its Begining To Look A Lot Like Christmas
Yesterday was very strange. I woke up at 5:30 like I always do these days (no it’s cool I do it out of choice for the most part) and set about the normal morning routine. After checking mail and reading blogs I drove in to school for the last day of classes before exam week begins. I’ve been bitching about it for a while so I’ll spare my readers any more of it. Lecture was good however. Both of my professors wrapped up the class rather poetically. One (the cynic of the two) related the twentieth century and indeed all of American history to the raw and unbridled use of power. For good or ill, it was done or the good old U S of A. Oh and he basically told everyone in class that they were there to be babysat and that anyone who wanted a real education should stay the hell away from higher education. I do love that guy…
My second professor ending his lecture with a laundry list of events in the nineties. He starts with Bush the first and worked his way quite quickly through every foreign relations incident in the past 16 years. When you list them all together quickly it seems sort of scary! Then he told us to have a good break and to that he’d see us around next semester…if there was a next semester. Ah, the vague fear that can be derived from the study of history really get you going for the day.
After my classes I went back home to get a big screen TV with my dad. We found a good one and we’re then told that they didn’t have any. Which I think was bullshit but whatever, it is a longer and less interesting story than I am willing to tell. However on the way back we stopped off at the liquor store to stock up for the coming week or two. Our shopping cart contained the following:
Amstel Light (6 cases)
Heineken Light (1 case)
Killian’s Irish Red (1 case)
Fine Pinot Noir (3 bottles)
Fine Merlot (3 bottles)
Pinot-Chardonnay (1 case, yeah it sounds weird but it isn’t that bad for a white and I hate white)
Johnny Walker Blue Label (1 bottle, they now make handles of it! Ridic!)
2 Gallons of Tanqueray Gin (what, we like martini’s they way they were meant to be…without vermouth)
All this for three people
It isn’t that I even have a big family, we just really like to drink.
The best part was when I jokingly said that I should last us until Christmas Day but that we would need more after that. My father’s reply was “Yeah I hope the liquor store is open the day after or we’ll be screwed…” He was upon further investigation not kidding in the slightest.
We are Irish though…
The company Christmas party came next. Has anyone experienced an aggressively dull event? I’ve been through them twice now. Its a party or a concert…really anything, that is so boring that you almost get angry. It’s a truly strange feeling. I would categorize the Christmas thing last night as overtly aggressive in its dullness. Bad food, worse music and all of the people I see for too long during the week acting more annoying cause the shitty open bar won’t cut any of them off. Sorry venting complete.
My weekend starts right after I post this, I cannot wait! St. Mary’s and my favorite crazy Norseman.
My second professor ending his lecture with a laundry list of events in the nineties. He starts with Bush the first and worked his way quite quickly through every foreign relations incident in the past 16 years. When you list them all together quickly it seems sort of scary! Then he told us to have a good break and to that he’d see us around next semester…if there was a next semester. Ah, the vague fear that can be derived from the study of history really get you going for the day.
After my classes I went back home to get a big screen TV with my dad. We found a good one and we’re then told that they didn’t have any. Which I think was bullshit but whatever, it is a longer and less interesting story than I am willing to tell. However on the way back we stopped off at the liquor store to stock up for the coming week or two. Our shopping cart contained the following:
Amstel Light (6 cases)
Heineken Light (1 case)
Killian’s Irish Red (1 case)
Fine Pinot Noir (3 bottles)
Fine Merlot (3 bottles)
Pinot-Chardonnay (1 case, yeah it sounds weird but it isn’t that bad for a white and I hate white)
Johnny Walker Blue Label (1 bottle, they now make handles of it! Ridic!)
2 Gallons of Tanqueray Gin (what, we like martini’s they way they were meant to be…without vermouth)
All this for three people
It isn’t that I even have a big family, we just really like to drink.
The best part was when I jokingly said that I should last us until Christmas Day but that we would need more after that. My father’s reply was “Yeah I hope the liquor store is open the day after or we’ll be screwed…” He was upon further investigation not kidding in the slightest.
We are Irish though…
The company Christmas party came next. Has anyone experienced an aggressively dull event? I’ve been through them twice now. Its a party or a concert…really anything, that is so boring that you almost get angry. It’s a truly strange feeling. I would categorize the Christmas thing last night as overtly aggressive in its dullness. Bad food, worse music and all of the people I see for too long during the week acting more annoying cause the shitty open bar won’t cut any of them off. Sorry venting complete.
My weekend starts right after I post this, I cannot wait! St. Mary’s and my favorite crazy Norseman.
Thursday, December 7
Emergency! Emergency!
I do so love a good debate on social history that involves "The counter-culture" and the words "damn dirty hippies."
As Abbie Hoffman put it so well:
"FUCK!"
In all permutations, Abbie, in all permutations.
Back from the wasteland and loving life all the more
I forget somethimes that dogma and knowledge rarely go hand in hand.
Hurray for it being almost Friday and me getting a bunch of stuff done.
Productivity is all the rage...
As Abbie Hoffman put it so well:
"FUCK!"
In all permutations, Abbie, in all permutations.
Back from the wasteland and loving life all the more
I forget somethimes that dogma and knowledge rarely go hand in hand.
Hurray for it being almost Friday and me getting a bunch of stuff done.
Productivity is all the rage...
Wednesday, December 6
The Fall
Growing Apprehension. That seems to be the theme of my day. Papers, exams, closing the business quarter in like 6 day (which means all the bills that need to get paid before the end of the year have to be done by the 12th). These things are just about all I can handle at the moment. However that’s not all folk, along with fear and mild dread you’ll also get a cold (or possibly an allergic reaction to being a quitter). But wait there’s more! I know I cant believe it myself, drug side affects will abound as you take a whirl wind vacation, that you cant really afford to being with! Hurray!
It isn’t all bad though, I don’t miss smoking as much as I thought I would. Just the smell. I follow my dad around just waiting for him to walk outside. It’s kind of sad. If I thought I could be trusted I would by a pack just to smell them burning. Also even though I don’t really want one I find myself really having no clue what to do with my hand or with the, on average hour and a half a day I would spend smoking. Cause now work is really dull and I have to excuse to leave for five minutes all the time. I can now totally spend that 30 bucks a week on more productive things like cloths or other useless shit I don’t need, which is nice.
So my Christmas list was thought up in early October. My parents like to shop early and they wanted a detailed list of all the junk that I desired for this holiday season. Well after a few months I want very little of it or have already bought it for myself. That should be good. With a new car to pay off (which is still awesome if any of you were wondering), and a dead iPod all I want for Christmas is some cold hard cash . My iPod is the most crazy important. The guy said it would cost almost as much to fix my ancient model as to get the brand new spiffy one with video and 80 gigs. That’s right 80 gigs. I don’t even have an 80 gig hard drive on my computer, much less that much music While at the Apple store yesterday afternoon (slowly falling in love with the iBook or whatever it’s called) I saw they had some ad saying that you could travel between San Francisco and New York 25 times with it and never hear the same song twice! I wonder if I could fill it…
I also want to buy a PS2 really badly, I found a used one for 109 bucks but as the brand new shiny ones are only 129; I’d just as soon buy one that isn’t possibly messed up. Rock star goodness here I come. You know how I like things that are shiny, or at least have some sort of matte finish.
Wow I feel better just talking about buying stuff. Materialism is like the cure-all of a truly lost generation. I’m not even sure what that means, but it sounds appropriate. I’m on this whole 20’s kick at the moment so “lost” works for me. Whatever, I’m trying to be intellectual about falling into the worst stereotypes of my class and age group.
Such a shit post…but I haven’t done much of anything in a while.
It isn’t all bad though, I don’t miss smoking as much as I thought I would. Just the smell. I follow my dad around just waiting for him to walk outside. It’s kind of sad. If I thought I could be trusted I would by a pack just to smell them burning. Also even though I don’t really want one I find myself really having no clue what to do with my hand or with the, on average hour and a half a day I would spend smoking. Cause now work is really dull and I have to excuse to leave for five minutes all the time. I can now totally spend that 30 bucks a week on more productive things like cloths or other useless shit I don’t need, which is nice.
So my Christmas list was thought up in early October. My parents like to shop early and they wanted a detailed list of all the junk that I desired for this holiday season. Well after a few months I want very little of it or have already bought it for myself. That should be good. With a new car to pay off (which is still awesome if any of you were wondering), and a dead iPod all I want for Christmas is some cold hard cash . My iPod is the most crazy important. The guy said it would cost almost as much to fix my ancient model as to get the brand new spiffy one with video and 80 gigs. That’s right 80 gigs. I don’t even have an 80 gig hard drive on my computer, much less that much music While at the Apple store yesterday afternoon (slowly falling in love with the iBook or whatever it’s called) I saw they had some ad saying that you could travel between San Francisco and New York 25 times with it and never hear the same song twice! I wonder if I could fill it…
I also want to buy a PS2 really badly, I found a used one for 109 bucks but as the brand new shiny ones are only 129; I’d just as soon buy one that isn’t possibly messed up. Rock star goodness here I come. You know how I like things that are shiny, or at least have some sort of matte finish.
Wow I feel better just talking about buying stuff. Materialism is like the cure-all of a truly lost generation. I’m not even sure what that means, but it sounds appropriate. I’m on this whole 20’s kick at the moment so “lost” works for me. Whatever, I’m trying to be intellectual about falling into the worst stereotypes of my class and age group.
Such a shit post…but I haven’t done much of anything in a while.
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