Leap day

It's the last day of February, thank goodness. I've hated this month for a good many years, and it seems this year it's been especially bad. Not even just for me, but also for those around me. I guess that's why it had to be a day longer this year.

Last weekend I hung out with Rachel and on Sunday went over to Gus' to hang out with him and Ben. We had planned to play some music and some D&D, but we ended up just playing D&D. It was a lot of fun though, it's been about nine months since the last time I played. I'm out of practice, but my velociraptor-riding halfling ranger is getting me reacquainted.

I've been in a bit of a slump this week. Just feeling pretty tired and lackluster all the time. General symptoms of depression, they'll get better as I get back into actually doing stuff. I've been too idle. I did hang out at Chris' yesterday and had a very nice time, it helped a lot to lift the monotony.

Hopefully, today should break the streak. I'm going to go see Rach's school's production of Footloose with her. It should be a good experience, even if it can't hope to match the awesomeness of last year's performance of Sweeney Todd. Tomorrow we're going to get to see Gogol Bordello at the Electric Factory, which should just be super awesome.

Valentine's Day was okay. I meant to blog sooner afterwards, but never did. Rachel was feeling pretty under the weather and traffic was terrible so it wasn't all that it could have been. Better than last year, but there's some room left for improvement. I'm just glad I got to spend it with her. We saw Atonement which I thought was just terrible but Rachel seemed to like it.

I recently picked up Super Mario Galaxy and Guitar Hero III. Both have been affording decent entertainment, and it's good to be actually playing my Wii after about a year of disuse. I am just getting more and more excited for Super Smash Brothers: Brawl. I preordered it through Amazon, I don't know what that means vis à vis delivery times but it'll be good enough for me.

Weird things

So in the time between my last post and this my attitude towards where I go to college has changed a bit. That is to say, I'm now constantly worrying about where I'm getting in. Every college I applied to I did so because I want to go there, but what if I just don't get accepted? I know at least one place is a sure thing, but still.

A couple weeks ago I had to update GmailThis! to reflect some changes that Google made. While I was at it, I had some time to waste and added a PayPal donation button. To my immense surprise, somebody actually gave me $5. Man, if I had added that three years ago, maybe I'd actually have some cash. So I just wanted to thank that awesome dude who did that.

The weekend wasn't amazing. Friday didn't turn out really like I would have liked. Rachel and I went over to Gabo's to model for her. We went out afterwards to see some live music that wasn't terrible but wasn't stunning either. It could have been a decent enough time but the timing of the whole thing was terrible. Personal stuff that it's not my business to go into. I definitely feel responsible since I sort of planned it.

The painting came out pretty nicely though.

Saturday was okay. I spent some of the day in a Starbucks that I'm starting to have weird feelings about. I always run into people there. I didn't mind this time because it was a pretty cool person to bump into. Still, given that I never seem to bump into people I know, I feel like that place is some sort of odd nexus in my life.

Sunday was also not so great. Rachel got sick and felt pretty terrible all day. I was happy that I got to be there for her and fetch water and so on, but I hope she gets better soon. Her mom's having a party Wednesday that we're going to be waiter-ing at, and I certainly don't want to be carrying around those plates of shrimp-on-a-stick by myself.

I got my voter registration mailed recently. I wanted to register Independent, since that would be honest, but I ended up registering Democrat so I can vote in the primary. I had been previously supporting Edwards because I thought he was just adorable, but with him dropped out I guess I'm an Obama man. Truthfully I get more nauseated by Hillary every time I see her. She unsettles me on an Uncanny Valley sort of level.

Valentine's Day is coming up and I'm feeling a bit hesitant about it. I think right now my official policy is going to be "I don't need a greeting card holiday to mandate when I express affection to my significant other" but I've got a few tentative things planned that would make that seem marginally hypocritical. Shh, don't tell.

Year's End

2007 has been a most messed up year. Probably the most, at least personally. Here's hoping 2008 is a little more stable. Seems unlikely, but it would be nice.

My mom turned up a week and a bit ago. She still hasn't given me the story on what happened, and I'm a little hesitant to ask. I'll find out sooner or later though. I'm glad that she's back, even if I'm mad about other things.

Christmas was mixed. I spent the morning with Rachel and her family, and that was very classic and nice. Then I went with my dad and visited my grandmother in the hospital. I saw my sister and mom there and then we went back to my dad's place.

It was the kind of Christmas it's supposed to be, I guess. Not much emphasis on presents, more stress put on "hey at least the family's together." Aunt Patty and Uncle Chris were there too. Our tree was a series of wreathes hung on the skeleton of a dead potted plant.

I mostly got a lot of books. That works for me; I love books, and I always need more. I also got two mugs, caffeinated chapstick and soap, and a super-awesome guitar that promises to be very good for rock.

My mom also tried to give me her iPhone, and I'm probably the only person who's ever turned away one. It's not that they aren't awesome or fantastic. Partly it's because I'm really happy with my phone, and I'm not ready to move on. Partly it's because I have issues with taking people's old electronics. I actually put my SIM card in it and got it to work and tried it out for a day. The iPhone just isn't for me, not yet.

Feature-wise my w810i is comparable. Opera Mini is completely fantastic and the iPhone can't even run Java apps. I'm also faster with the keypad, data-entry-wise, than with the virtual keyboard. My phone can take video. Maybe after a generation or two I'll be wetting myself to get one.

Yesterday I went to see Juno with Ben and Lindsay. I'd already seen it a week or two prior with Rach, but it's such a good movie I didn't mind seeing it again at all. I felt a little like a third wheel, but it wasn't as awkward as it could have been. It was good to get out of the house, especially with people I enjoy seeing.

Tomorrow I'm going to go play as bassist with Tigers in the Sun (Evan, Ben, and Gus). I've been hoping to get in on the band for a while - my old band replaced me pretty fast, and went Celtic fusion without me to hold them back. I'm hoping for a more rock atmosphere.

New Year's Eve I'll spend with Rachel in some capacity. No definite plan yet, we might go to some party or another. It should be good.

So?vember

October seems to have just flown by. I'm not going to be over-specific on what I've done, because my memory's not that good and figuring what happened when would require a fair amount of effort, but: Good things about October in some particular disorder.

• Spending the night at Gus', meeting his new niece, meeting his girlfriend, and hot-tubbing.
• Going to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire with Rachel and Chris. Was a little worried, since they'd be meeting for the first time and they come from totally different parts of my life, but we had a good time and they seemed to get along.
• Finally seeing Superbad with Rachel, Gus, and Ben. Brilliant, truly the representative movie of my generation.
• Getting my new passport. Sure, the photo is terrifying but it's already making my life easier.
• Hanging out at Chris' and playing Soul Calibur 3 and Mario Kart: Double Dash with him and his brother until two in the morning.
• Went to Rachel's homecoming. I thought it was much better than last year, I was more comfortable and confident and let myself have more fun.

In general terms, things have been pretty good. I seem to be rocking most of classes with Bs and As. Greek has taken over my life and I wake up conjugating verbs. Getting home weekends has been hard and tiring but almost always worth it.

I didn't really have anything planned for Halloween, but when I woke up I had an unexpected burst of spirit and did my best to make myself look like Mr. Rogers in time for school. Unfortunately, I realized that I had no idea if Canadians ever had Mr. Rogers on TV. I sure hope they did. My costume was pretty decent though. We only got two trick-or-treaters, one of whom was our 20-something neighbor dressed up as King Leonidas. It was pretty awesome. It was a decent Halloween.

Right now I'm sitting in the international terminal of Ottawa Int'l Airport, waiting for my flight to Philadelphia. Today's Rachel's birthday, so I'm flying down so I can have a bit more time with her than usual. We don't have anything in particular planned for the weekend but I think it'll be pretty good.

Memorial Day

Sunday was Ben's family's annual Memorial Day picnic. I took a train out to Philly so I could get a ride there with Rachel. My mom was picking up a friend of hers from the airport, so if I hadn't been able to get a ride I would have gotten there about three hours late. It was a good crowd. Aside from us, Gus, Lindsay, and Evan were there, and Gabo showed up later on.

We started out swimming. Then we got food and went inside and played "Tumbling Towers" (Jenga rip-off) and Pictionary. Rachel and I probably would have won because we're awesome. The three teams (Ben and Lindsay, Evan and Gus and Gabo were the other two) were pretty balanced at least in that each had at least one real artist. We were going to go back in the pool, but there was a thunderstorm coming on and we (that is, the adults) thought it prudent not to.

I went back into Philly with Rachel because it was easier for my mom to pick me up from there on her way back from the airport. We hung out, and then when my mom and her friend got there, rather than going home they just talked forever. Which was cool, since it meant I got to stick around for longer.

Monday I started preparing for the SATs, which I'm taking this Saturday. It'll be the first time I've taken them in three and a half years. I'm not that concerned, except for the essay. When I last took them it wasn't on there, so it's a bit of an unknown quantity. Later on I took a train into Philly so I could hang out with Rachel for a bit. We had dinner and wandered around South Street.

I'd have included pictures with the post, but I forgot my camera at Ben's place. Gus has it in his position, and I ought to be able to get it back this weekend. I'll put them up then.

Spring broken

I realize it’s actually been closer to two weeks since my last post. No worries, not a whole lot has actually happened since then. Nothing happened the rest of that week or over the weekend. Easter was pretty tame. The only things to differentiate it from any other day is that I ate a lot of chocolate and candy, and was thus more disgusted with myself than usual, and dinner was a more formal affair. My sister and I also had lunch with my dad at one of the few places that was open. It was nice place, more so for not being as crowded as usual.

Wednesday was my dad’s birthday. I don’t even get home until eleven on Wednesdays, so I wasn’t able to see him. I called him up of course. So a shout-out to him, I guess.

On Friday I went into Philly after school. I hung out with Rachel. We were going to maybe check out something showing at the Film Festival but either there wasn’t anything particularly captivating or what was started too late before I had to leave. Instead I introduced her to the magic of Transmetropolitan, the best comic book I’ve ever read, with some of the best art I’ve seen, and just plain one of the best books I’ve read. As a Friday the Thirteenth it wasn’t any more unlucky than any other day in my life. I missed my van in the morning so I had to walk an extra mile. But then I almost missed my train out of Philly because I screwed up the times, and it was pretty damned lucky I was there in time.

Saturday night Gabrielle, Rachel, Mike, and I all went to see Anger Core and Meat Rainbow play. A few other bands were playing, too, but we weren’t there to see them. Anger Core was good but not great. It was their first performance and they hadn’t rehearsed much, but it’s clear enough that they’re headed for greatness. Meat Rainbow was on usual good form. Of the other bands, Space Jams blew, When Cars Ascend had good instrumentals but a terrible singer, and Univox was just all around good. I bought an exclusive, one-of-a-kind Anger Core shirt that I’m going to treasure for years. We also ran into Tucker which was pretty weird but for whatever reason not as awkward as what I would have imagined.

On Sunday my sister and I went out and had lunch with my dad. We wished him a happy birthday and distributed material goods and suchlike. It was good.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I know it was yesterday, but nevertheless.

Two weeks ago I went to see a production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street as done by Rachel's school (she was stage manager). They did a fantastic job, it was way beyond any high school dramatic performance that I'd ever seen before. Everything was well done, the acting, the singing, the music. Top-notch all around. So good I couldn't shave for the whole week afterwards.

Later that week Rachel broke up with me. I had been half expecting it for a week or so, so I wasn't that surprised. It's a little more complicated than that. We're still on amicable terms and we're still hanging out. It did bring me low but I'm getting back to myself all right. I'm either just really persistent(ly stupid) or maybe there's still something there, I'm not much in a position to say.

The Friday after that I went to see a couple of bands perform, because some of them were comprised of my friends. I invited Gabo and Rachel along, and Rachel brought her friend Mike, because he's also friends with someone I know in one of the bands. I went principally to see The Raging Pucies (warning: explicit content). They were amazing. It's interesting how having your friends in a band transforms it from being ridiculously bad to just ridiculous. I could have been their bassist but refused upon the startling realization that I have standards. Nevertheless, seeing them up there, I did suffer a twinge of regret.

The other band playing that was really good was Meat Rainbow. Good garage rock kind of stuff. They were just plain good, actual professional-like. After the show we went back to Gabo's place and hung out for a while, and then we went our separate ways.

On Tuesday I went to see The Shins with Gabo at the Electric Factory. It was a really good show. The opening band, Viva Voce, was also pretty decent, although a little bothersome. They started out having some tech issues - the drummer's mic was all messed up. After they fixed that, there was some weird feedback issue in the bass frequencies while they were playing that made the low-end intense enough to make it a little hard to breath at times. Very loud, and we were pretty close to the front. It was also bothersome because you could very clearly hear some bass playing on the songs, yet all there was on stage was the drummer/occasional guitarist and the lead guitarist. It confounded me.

The Shins were really good. It was one of the few occasions in live music where the mixing was really good. I could actually distinguish the instruments, which is pretty good considering there were two or three guitars, bass, drums, and one or two keyboards. They were also really tight. Honestly, I had pretty low expectations, just because for some reason the way the Shins sound on their records made me think they'd disappoint live. Quite the contrary. It's a really nice thing when a band can bring something to a live show that isn't there on the albums.

Friday night I had my first haircut in over a year and a half. I'm not really sure what made me do it, exactly. I've been thinking seriously about getting one and talking about it a lot, but hadn't really come close to overcoming my inertia. But for whatever reason, I ate dinner and then went into the bathroom with a pair of scissors and grabbed a hunk of hair and started cutting. Five minutes later and I declared it to be done. I've done a little bit extra since then, just trying to even it out a bit, but the funny thing is, it's honestly probably the best haircut I've ever gotten. I've gotten a lot of compliments on it, which feels very nice.

It feels amazing to have short hair, it's just such a relief in a lot of ways. It means I won't get food in it when I eat. I (probably) won't get mistaken for a female (as much). (Which I almost regret, since I find it very entertaining indeed.) It cuts my time in the shower to nearly half, as well as my shampoo usage. I don't get it caught in coat zippers or car doors. It's great.

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day and my friend Rita's eighteenth birthday. I took a train into Philly and hung out with Rachel for a couple of hours and then we took a taxi to the Clown House for Rita's birthday party.

I'm not good at parties. I never have been, and I suspect I never will be. I'm a wallflower by nature and loud music and strange people tend to make me retreat farther into my head rather than bring me out of myself. Nevertheless, I had a pretty good time, better than I expected. There were a few really great surreal moments, like when someone sat down on the couch next to me, picked up a five-string banjo that happened to be resting nearby, and started playing classical music on it.

Rachel and I had a fight at the party but it turned out all right, I think. We don't have a lot of fights, which is nice, but when we do they usually get resolved decently. I managed to relax a little and got involved in some interesting conversations. Those are stories for another time, I think.

After the party, Rachel and I went back to her place where we hung out for another couple of hours before she went to bed and I went to couch (voluntarily; there was a bed available but it was less convenient). My dreams last night were interesting. All there was to them was a map of Philadelphia, with red blinking lights representing taxis moving around it. I always find it disorienting when I dream in something other than the three dimensions I'm used to.

I managed to miss that it's been over two years now since this blog was started. Congratulations, to myself, or something, I suppose.

V-Day

Happy St. Valentine's Day everyone.

This is the first VD yet where there's been someone with whom I could legitimately spend it. Naturally, it's also the first time where, had I been alone, it would have been okay because I've just got all kinds of things to keep me busy. The irony never fails to bring a smile to my face.

At the least, I don't have to go to school because it was snowing for most of yesterday and now it's sleeting. That means I get a little bit of extra time to work on this paper that I should be putting the finishing touches on right now. It's for my university philosophy class, on Plato's dialogue between Socrates and Meno. The hardest part was not naming it "Finding Meno."

I'm doing what I can to get this Valentine's deal working out. Rachel and I have been going out now for a bit over a month, and it feels like it's going pretty well. VD might be the most cursed, and arguably the most artificial, holiday, but I'm not sure it's all bad. It reminded me that romance is something, gods help me, I enjoy. Not necessarily the Hallmark bears-with-lace-hearts romance, but an old-fashioned kind of thing.

By the way: biking to the nearest decent flower store, in the snow, while it's snowing, might be romantic (I hope) but it also might not be the best idea you'll have all day. I do love bicycling, though, and at least the snow makes for a nice cushioned fall. Plus you can make snow angels while you're down!

Happy Halloween

I hope you you get more treats than tricks. Unless tricks are your thing. Whatever.

Anyway. Here's what's happened since the last time I posted.

• School started.
• Outside of school I started taking a writing class at a university. Evidently being a college man makes me much sexier. Who thought it was possible?
• I along with Quiggy got to see Sufjan Stevens in concert. It was amazing. Photos, video.
• I escorted Rachel to her school's homecoming dance. Dancing's not really my thing but I had a good time. Photos.
• I helped Quiggy make a music video set to a Brad Sucks song, "Making Me Nervous." I more or less starred in it. If it gets online I'll link to it. Quiggy got a hundred percent on it.
• Rachel and I went to see one of my friends perform in something called Carnivolution. It's mostly explained here. It was not all what I was expecting, but in a good way, and it was awesome. The live band, The Hydrogen Jukebox, was excellent. Photos, videos.
• I took the PSATs. I think I did okay, but it'll be a month or two before I get to see my scores.
• I took Rachel to see The Prestige. The only reason to see it is because David Bowie is amazing in it. It's not a very good movie otherwise.
• Rachel and I went to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. I'm not a huge fan of renaissance faires and haven't been to one since my first time three years ago. There's something about the regular attendees that makes my fists itch. Aside from that, the anachronisms really peeve me. It is at heart in the Medieval period, not the Renaissance. I think I even saw a guy dressed in British colonial. Next time I go to one I'm dressing up as a stormtrooper. It makes as much sense as anything else there. But seriously, I had fun. Photos.
• I took Rachel to my school's Halloween dance. I went as Vincent Vega and she as Mia Wallace (characters from Pulp Fiction). Interestingly enough, the first and really only person to figure out who we were was a student who came recently from Lebanon. I should be getting the photos that the same student took at some point, so I guess I'll post a link to those if I can. It was pretty awesome.
• I went to a video game tournament at a GameStop. It was originally going to be Tetris for the Nintendo DS, which made me happy because it's one of the few games I'm really decent at. I had actually started a match with this really creepy thirty-year-old dude and was starting to win when they switched it to a Metroid Prime: Hunters tournament. I came in fourth out of five people, but my friend Chris won. Photo.

Whew! That's a lot of links. Because I'm a dork, I actually typed all of those out instead of copying and pasting. I'm awesome!

Life's been pretty busy. I've been doing my best to try and balance school work with my social life and rehearsing with my band, and I guess so far I've done okay because I haven't yet screwed up hugely.

Tonight of course is Halloween and I'm hoping that I'm going to be doing something. Really anything would be better than last year, when I didn't realize it was even Halloween until it was nine or something o'clock and I was watching Law & Order in my pajamas. Yeah that was depressing.