Three Days in the Life

My poor, poor blog. It is so neglected.

However, today is a special day. Today, I have things to discuss, and therefore I have enough material for an entry. Today, I shall blog, and be happy.

My entry today covers a span of three days. We begin with Sunday night. Upon leaving Henrietta at the end of my excellent two-day assembly program, we proceeded to Chili's for some quick food. After eating VERY rapidly, all 15 of us got in our caravan and drove to Shea's to see Movin' Out, the new musical sensation by Billy Joel and Twyla Tharp. The seats we paid for were less than amazing, but when we got there the theater was pretty empty, so we got upgraded to the middle of the front balcony. High point number one. Followed immediately by high point number two, the show itself. Not quite what you would expect from a Broadway play, since there is no real dialogue, but it was still pretty amazing. The music was spectacular, very true to the original songs, and the dancers were all incredible. The only questionable part is in the second act, with some drug use and minor bondage, which just is not very family oriented. In all, though, a great show, making Sunday pretty awesome.

Monday is historically a bad day for me. There are not many Mondays I can look back on with fondness. This week, Monday was an exception. After work, I went with Mike, Ryan, James, and Carissa to the Sabres game, which I knew would be fun, but was still not fully prepared for. After the five goals in the first period, I had a hunch we might win. I also had a raw throat and a headache from screaming. After two more periods of chanting, yelling, and general merrymaking, my team won 8-2, and we had a lovely ride home, followed by watching 24 at my brother's house.

Sabres side note: This is Jay McKee's last year under contract in Buffalo, after this season he becomes a free agent. I think they really need to keep him here, he has been here longer than any other person on the team, save perhaps Martin Biron, though I do believe he has him beat also. He plays his position extremely well and is underrated, but I hope they see his value and get him to re-sign with us.

Tuesday is not nearly as auspicious as Sunday or Monday. Today's goodness all comes from the nerd deep down inside me, and will therefore not be appreciated (pronounced uh-PREE-she-ate-id) by the general public. Today is the release date for Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children, the movie follow-up to the video game most players will agree was one of the most groundbreaking and influential games ever. It was originally released in the mid-1990's, and is finally getting closure in a full-length movie. Being stuck at work all day, I asked a friend to pick me up a copy, and he found the last copy on DVD and the last copy on UMD, and got them both for us. Very hard title to get if you failed to reserve it, as I did. However, I have one thanks to my good friend James (shout out). Again, a good day.

So altogether, it has been a successful start to the week. It should only improve as the week progresses; tomorrow, I get my crown placed, so my teeth will be pretty much fixed. Thursday night, our bus leaves for NYC, where we have a four day tour planned, which includes shopping and sightseeing in Manhattan on Saturday. When I get home next Tuesday, I will officially be working part time, giving me a lot more time for the real important things.

I forgot how much activity warm weather could bring. Here's hoping it will stay positive. Like Paul and Renee having the baby this afternoon, unless her labor goes longer than expected. Good times.

More updates to come, but I won't even try to predict when.

For the Love of Pizza

I think toaster ovens are one of the greatest inventions ever. Seriously. We wouldn't have even needed fire if we'd had toaster ovens. They're great. Which is why it saddens me when my toaster oven deliberately tries to injure/maim/decapitate/murder me. I mean, do you realize how HOT the thing gets? Apparently, I didn't respect it by giving it enough space, so when I reached in to remove my pizza, it jumped at me and singed the back of my hand, giving me a frightful burn. Luckily, I have presence of mind occasionally, and that was one of the occasions. Being right next to the sink as I was, I ran it under extremely cold water for what seemed like an eternity. We're talking seriously cold. It seemed to work, since it didn't hurt much. But this scar will always make me sad, for it taught me that my toaster oven doesn't always love me the same way I love it. I feel a moment of silence is in order for my toaster oven's lost innocence.



Thank you.
If you're a John Denver fan, I recommend avoiding www.joystickwhale.com and checking out the Recently In History link. However, if you do NOT suffer from the aforementioned severe mental handicap, you may enjoy a few moments of John Denver-mocking fun.
Battlestar Galactica Season 2.0 is now on DVD, I recommend buying or renting it at your convenience. While probably not the best for children, it is an amazing show with strong storylines and great actors, and it touches some really big issues. And don't get hung up on the sci-fi thing, because you'll forget about it almost immediately when you get into the actual show.

I feel it necessary to comment on winter, since today is technically the first day of the season. My comment is this: I hate winter. These next three months are going to be torture, and I only hope they go by more quickly than most winters do.

That's all for my monthly update, hopefully this will become a more regular occurrence. I can't always come up with a topic, so if you have something you want discussed, leave me a comment and I'll give you my take on it.

Forces of Nature

Why is it that Chinese food is always better after you reheat it? I just don't understand it. I pay to have food here really quickly, and it's never all that great. Then I'm hungry the next day and decide to finish it off, and it's the best cuisine I've ever tasted. Strange.
The Sabres on a serious hot streak, their power play is third in the league, and they have 11 of a possible 12 points in their last six games. They're currently up 1-0 over Washington, with yet another power play goal. All this while being shorthanded five of their starting players, including two goalies.
I'm so glad hockey's back.
Nothing else here, just a couple thoughts that struck me.

Vindicated

Wow, it's really been a while. Work has been really strict with the internet usage, thus the lack of updates. They've cooled down a bit now though, so hopefully I'll be able to post a little more often.
I actually don't have much to post about today, except the Dashboard Confessional concert I went to last night. Very easily one of my favorite shows ever, and if I ever see them again, I'm not sure they could surpass what I saw last night. The opening band and the guys from Dashboard are old friends that have been tight forever, so it was like a big jam-fest party up there all night, and it went on for roughly 4 hours all said and done. The pain in my legs and lower back is completely worth it.
I really wish bootlegging wasn't a crime, because you never get to see performances like that, and when you do, you forget them very fast and are forced to resort to telling people "It was awesome," but you can't really tell them why, and they therefore don't usually believe you. Holy long sentence.
Anyway, the show was really fun. Made some new friends, hooked up with some old ones, etc. I wish I could say I'd post pictures, but no cameras were allowed except disposables, which I was fresh out of. I did use my phone to record about ten seconds of a song though, that's pretty cool. Not great quality, but it's the principle of the thing.
So that's it for the day, hopefully I'll be able to post more frequently now so as not to lose all two of my loyal readers. Hi, mom.

Questions? Comments?

I recently discovered that my blog was not open to anonymous posting, which may or may not have been the reason I haven't received many comments. So from here on, comments have been allowed for anyone, even without a user ID. Just be sure to leave your name so I know who to thank for all the wit.
Feel free to go back and comment on previous posts. And stay tuned to me and Clay, we have good things in the works.

Down And Nerdy

I really don't like to rant much. But there are a few things that get on my nerves. Most of them I face at work every day; even as I type right now, in fact.
But today, we're gonna talk about one in particular. And by we, I of course mean I.
I'm sure we've all noticed how popular superhero movies are getting. Many of us even realize that most of these movies are (loosely) based on comic books that, in some cases, are older than we are.
My problem starts here: I've been into those comic books and those stories for years. But not until now has it been socially acceptable; up to this point, it was something you kept hidden unless you actually WANTED to be an outcast.
It doesn't end with comic books. A lot of people have gotten into science fiction lately, which I applaud. But they're only doing it because everybody else is doing it. Same with books. Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter caused a HUGE increase in reading, and I think that's great. But it only happened because people decided it was now cool, and therefore worthy of their attention. It's a bandwagon philosophy that drives me crazy.
I guess I just worry that I'm losing my nerd identity. It's not that I want reparations, or even recognition that I was the first to be into certain things. Most people I know that are newcomers to these fields come to me with their questions. What really happened to Jean Grey? What does VISOR stand for? So, you have to turn pages to move the story forward? I'm more than willing to answer questions like these. But it's very strange to me that being a nerd is cool all of a sudden. I don't want to be a cool nerd. Nerd defines me. Cool nerd is an oxymoron. And while all these posers might bow to my superior knowledge of all things trivial now, I know that next week when the new trend hits, they'll drop me like a Tomagotchi.
So in conclusion, keep reading. Keep watching movies based on comic books. Stay interested in sci-fi. They all have great advantages, and keep your imagination working hard. But don't try to make it trendy. That just makes me feel cheap.

Clay's Days

Poor Clayton, I think I inadvertently made him feel bad about his blog. I don't think you're a perfectionist Clay, you just do a good, thorough job. And your blog's great, even when it is a bit sporadic, at least it's always entertaining. I'm still trying to get mine off the ground, which isn't really as easy as you'd think.
I finally used my Six Flags season pass for the first time on Monday, it only took me three months. I tend to forget how much fun that place can be with the right people. I'm planning on going to Frightfest in October, and maybe the international festival at the end of the month. I have discount coupons to both, so if anyone's interesting in tagging along let me know.
Alright, nerd time. I've been playing X-Men Legends on my PS2, and I'm impressed and dissappointed all at the same time. I like that they have so many of the characters in it, and that they can all level up and gain a lot of pretty awesome abilities. I also like that when they get enough experience in battles, you can level them up immediately on the pause screen and give them their new abilities. The main problem is that battles usually end up being not much more than a lot of button mashing, which is really sad for a supposed RPG. I think the fun will eventually wear off, but not until the novelty of having so many of my favorite characters does.
And if nothing else, it fills the time until I can grab the new Zelda and Kingdom Hearts games.
That's all for nerd time today.
I'm still looking forward to a generation-spanning volleyball game. I really hope it happens this year sometime, I hate waiting through the winter to play again. I'd really like to get a chance to take on the old crew, see how we measure up. I think they'd be pretty good games. We could make a big ol' party out of it; barbecue, pool, volleyball, the whole nine. Well, maybe not the pool now, but all the rest would work still.
I'm gonna get back to work, though I truly detest being here today. People are just great.
Now go check out Clayton's blog, it's awesome.