Let's Take the Day Off

Tomorrow is Veteran's Day. That means I do not have class! So tonight, I'm going to party like it's 2009! It is 2009? I can still party like is, right? Anyways, I only have the three more days of classes and then a week of finals before I return home for six weeks! I'll make sure I'm super busy during my break. That way, I ensure that I get to 200 posts by New Years Eve. I've always wondered if it's New Year's Eve or New Years Eve. Is it the eve of a new year? Or is it the eve of new years? I just checked Wikipedia. It's New Year's Eve, not anyone else's eve. Hmmm, then why is it not Christmas' Eve? Hmmmm...answer that grammar Nazis!

A Lover's Lament

Once, there were two lovers. They had met by pure chance, but it was as if they already knew each other. They were often together. Quickly and deeply, they fell in love. Everything was perfect. Until that fateful day...

It had come time for the one lover to return home. The summer was over, and so was the romance. The lovers said goodbye, but not without regret and sadness.

So the one lover returned home, only to find his heart was not with him. He thought he had brought it, but it seems his lover had stolen it. "Why did you do this? Why did you have to steal my heart?" he pleaded, but the lover responded with nothing but silence.

Having lost his heart, the one lover wandered aimlessly through his home, the anticipation of a return eating away at his mind. He slowly descended into madness and isolation.

One day, he had a chance to return to his lover-thief. It was a treacherous journey, filled with joy and tears at the prospect of seeing the one he loved once more.

His return was not as joyous as he hoped, but a spark of hope lit a candle of anxiety. "What if I only imagined the glances, the love-filled eyes?" he thought to himself.

He returned home, bringing with him an aura of anxious feelings. As his second return drew closer, the feelings worsened.

The day finally came. He shed his anxiety and held hope. It was true! Hurrah! The love was still there. They held each other close, their love-filled eyes connected. "I love you, and I have from the moment I met you," the lover said.

Alas it was but a dream. He awoke to his empty bed, his face soaked with tears, his heart pounding in his chest trying to escape.

A dream is such a beautiful thing, as beautiful as love. Unfortunately, both are just as destructive as they are beautiful.

Possiblity of Failure

I don't know if I can make it to 200 posts by the end of this year everyone. I'm going to see a supposedly crazy play tonight, so I hope that will fuel a post. Plus I'm sure I'll write something about my uncertain future soon. That's been occupying a huge chunk of my thoughts lately.

Ingird Michaelson

So instead of staying at OU for Halloween this year, I decided to go home to see Ingrid Michaelson and then the play Franklyn Stein's Project at CSU. It was the right choice in my opinion. I had a wonderful time. I saw Ingrid by myself at the Beachland Ballroom. It was so much fun. I made friends with the two girls in front of me while we waited for like 20 minutes in the cold for the doors to open. The opening act, Matthew Perryman Jones, was amazing. And then came Ingrid and her adorable band. They were all in quickly thrown together costumes that they bought at the vintage shop below the Ballroom. She was a cowgirl. She is amazing live, and a very funny person. She threw out candy, made several sexual jokes, and was just simply wonderful. Then my mom was kind enough to drive me to CSU for the midnight showing of Franklyn Stein's Project. I was supposed to see it with Ben and Kristen, but Ben forgot to inform me that he decided to work on Saturday night. So I reserved four tickets and only used one (thank goodness I didn't have to pay for them all). The play was fantastic. It was dark, dramatic, frantic, frightening, and comically gory, perfect for midnight on Halloween. It was student writ and directed perfectly if I may say so. I absolutely enjoyed it. Afterward, I got to see my friend Chad who made the air cannons that blew up the frog and shot guts and gore everywhere. Then my mom picked me up, I ate some candy, and then fell asleep. I hope your adorably awkward handshake was a sign that we're friends again.

Together

We are all in this together.

Neverending Blog Post

I just watched The Neverending Story for like the third time in my life. How are wonderfully cheesy movies like this not still made? I would hate for there to be a remake where they have good actors and a much more constructed plot. It would just be horrible if they had wonderful environments, and great CGI instead of their awesome puppets. Screaming "ARTACKS" just wouldn't be the same if a remake was made. People would think I was quoting the new hip movie when I was obviously mocking the sheer cheese of the wonderful classic. But speaking of movies, I really want to see Where the Wild Things Are despite not having read the ten-sentence book. It just looks visually fantastic and fun. Now all I need to do is get that song out of my head. No not the Story's theme song, the Robot Chicken parody of it. Haven't heard it? Well, check it out!



And then watch this, because I kept thinking of it at the end of the movie.

Humans v. Zombies

It's Humans Vs. Zombies time again here in good ol' Athens, which means crazy kids running around with Nerf guns and bandannas. It seems like so much fun, but I do not have the time. I do like to play along, throwing in a funny quip, such as saying, "There's zombies in them thar hills," or rooting on the doomed human army. Ah to be young and killing zombies... Alas I must watch, playing the playful spectator and nothing else. The only gripe I have with the phenomenon is the yelling at one in the morning. Yesterday, I heard a girl scream, "I'm a human, I'm a human!" Shortly after that I heard a guy groaning as if zombies were actually eating his brains. Where's the video cameras when you need them? Maybe I could use that for my video for my news writing class.

The Hostage

I went and saw The Hostage tonight with my friend Lisa. It's a really crazy play, set in the 50s, and revolving around a whorehouse where an English soldier is held captive by Irish nationalists in order to win the release of an IRA soldier. It was a fascinating play, absolutely captivating (wink). At times it was very busy with many things going on. The set was amazing. There were two floors, and it was so richly detailed. There were some hit or miss actors, but overall the cast was fantastic with familiar faces from the shows I saw last year. I had to see it for class, but I would have gone anyways. I do love the theater. The best part was that they all had accents (some better than others), and because I found the British chap to have the best accent, I started speaking with a little accent after the second intermission. It was a long play, but it definitely held my attention. The weirdest part though, was every now and then they had a song. They were all pretty good singers, but the songs were odd, and I found them distracting. A few here and there for comical effect would have been grand, but the constant song breaks started to get on my nerves. Then the play ended on a song which really annoyed me. It wasn't a musical. At least I don't think it was...I'll check wikipedia.

Goodness No!

The end of the year is fast approaching! October is almost over, November is soon to move to December! Oh and long gone is September. Remember September! That's a Fantasticks reference! But I digress. I have to post 38 more times before this year ends! Clap your hands if you believe! Clap! Clap harder! Oh no! I won't make it! Not enough people are clapping! Post "CLAP" or something similar if you believe in me! Why you ask? Just humour me, okay?

Books Are Fun

I love books! I especially love buying old books and good-condition used books. Alden Library, the 7-floor library at OU, had its opening night for its semi-annual book sale (I think it's semi-annual). I bought eight books for the mere price of $16. What a steal! My book drawer is filling up super fast. The worst part of it all, though, is that I'm missing the library book sale going on back home! I have to give my mother a list of authors to look for! This is important people!

A Dream

I just finished watching a documentary called "Ballerina." It was charming. It was also captivating. I fell in love with ballet over and over again while watching. The focus was on five ballerinas in the company of the Kirov Ballet, one of the most famous Russian companies. It was wonderful, absolutely enchanting. The one looked as if she were floating. Their movements were so fluid, their bodies like liquid. It was spectacular. I now want to see a performance of any ballet, but it must be danced by the Kirov. I will go to Russia and see them perform one day. Another day, another dream I add to my endless list. Sigh...someday.

Avetts, Appear!

So, originally I was going to see The Avett Brothers with my friend Caitlin in a town two hours away from Athens/OU. This was going to be October 29. After having missed them when they were in Akron at the start of the summer, I intended not to miss them again the next chance I had. But then, lo and behold, an e-mail is sent out. In this e-mail, it says The Avett Brothers are coming to OU on the 24th of February. AAAAAAAHHHH! I practically peed my pants, almost couldn't breathe, and then let out a squeal. Then I went to The Post, and Caitlin was there. We both were like, AAAAHHHH, OMG! THE AVETT BROTHERS ARE COMING! I am so happy! I may even try to go catch them in Cleveland three days later. I love them that much! I and Love and You, Avett Brothers!

Fantastick Trip Home

My weekend home was wonderful, or to be silly, it was fantastic! I went to breakfast with my family Saturday. Then we visited relatives. Next, I persuaded my mother to let us go to Half-Price Books. It was wonderful! I got Franny and Zoe, The Stranger, the Bronte sisters' books, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, a different copy of Brave New World and Tortilla Flat, Robinson Crusoe, A Clockwork Orange, and Barbary Shore by Norman Mailer. After Half-Price, we went to Gabriel Brothers where I got some button-ups and a new vest. Then it was time for friends. David picked me up, and we went to Ben & Kristen's apartment. We ate at Scorcher's, the restaurant in their building, and walked to the Factory Theater for CSU's production of The Fantasticks. It was wonderful, it was fantastic. Then we walked back to the apartment and stayed for an hour. I left in the afternoon today, returning to Athens shortly before five. Now I must do the rest of my homework.

Are You Homing For the Weekned?

Why yes I am homing for the weekend. I'm going home for the weekend. So far, I plan on seeing The Fantasticks at CSU, but I haven't decided if I want to go tonight or tomorrow. I should probably figure that out on the ride home. If you're going to be in the 'Clid (is that how it's spelled, or is it just clid?) this weekend, hit me up!

Acting 101

I'm the most amazing actor ever! Well that's the vibe I'm getting from my acting classmates. It's soo much fun! We're doing A/B scenes where A talks then B talks, and so on. My partner Patrick is awesome! He was so happy that I was his partner. Everyone keeps asking me for feedback on their scenes. I feel so awesome. I can't wait for Monday when we do the final performance! Then we move into monologues!! I'm doing a really dramatic, high-energy, emotional monologue from All My Sons by Arthur Miller! So excited! Super happy face!

I Was Right There All That Time

And now I'm not. So goodbye first chance at happiness, I look forward to encountering my second one.

Internet Silence

I will be maintaining internet silence for a week. Only school related e-mails will be replied to. Facebook is off limits. I will not write on here unless it is absolutely necessary. That being said, after this next post I may not write until next Sunday.

Adieu

For now, I'll say goodbye. But instead of letting that candle go out, I'm putting it away. I'll let Connie Francis say it beautifully through song.



If it takes forever I will wait for you
For a thousand summers I will wait for you
Till you're back beside me, till I'm holding you
Till I hear you sigh here in my arms

Anywhere you wander, anywhere you go
Every day remember how I love you so
In your heart believe what in my heart I know
That forevermore I'll wait for you

The clock will tick away the hours one by one
Then the time will come when all the waiting's done
The time when you return and find me here and run
Straight to my waiting arms

If it takes forever I will wait for you
For a thousand summers I will wait for you
Till you're here beside me, till I'm touching you
And forevermore sharing your love

Dancin' in the Street

So Friday afternoon, I had to run to my room to get a charged battery for my camera. Since I'm not normal whatsoever, I decided to listen to MGMT on my way back to my room. I also decided to dance to the music. I was complimented many times. I was also told to keep dancing by this group of guys when I stopped to unlock the door to my building. It was very fun, and also a great cardio workout. I also have my camera back, so I can have plenty of fun taking pictures and photos! Yay! And on Oct. 9th, I'm heading home to see The Fantasticks at CSU. I would have liked to go the 16th, so I could also see Dr. Dog, but I would have no ride and I'm not paying for a $120 bus ticket.

Hello Stranger!

So I was walking back to my room after class today, and I decided to say hello to people who I did not know. So I said, "Hello Stranger!" to several people, some smiled, others laughed, and a few looked at me strangely. It was fun. I plan on doing it tomorrow and possibly Monday depending on how many strangers I greet tomorrow.

More Signs?

So your date was kind of creepy? I'm sorry, sort of. And the guy your friend tried to hook you up with wasn't your type? Well, I know I was your type because I read it on that one post you put up. I don't think you know that. But are these more signs? I don't know. The weirdest part is that after I called you last night and found all this out, it finally rained today. It's been muggy and uncomfortable down here for the past couple of days that I've been worrying and torturing myself over you. Is that a sign too? I want to stand out in the rain right now, feel its cleansing drops on my skin where once your hands caressed me and your lips burned me with ecstasy. I miss you very much, and like I told you, these weeks away from you have only made my feelings stronger. You're the most beautiful thing I've seen in my 19 years, and maybe that's a little melodramatic, a little too early to think, but I want to tell you that in person. For once my words aren't just hollow beautiful thoughts. When I say them to you, I really mean them.

Camera, Come Back!

I miss my camera! I can feel my photojournalistic skills degrading due to prolonged disuse. Can't Canon fix it any faster? It's their fault it needed to be fixed in the first place. Argh! I want to take pictures and photos (yes there is a difference)! In other news, It's already week three of this quarter. This year is already blurring past me. Soon enough, I'll be on the 4 hour trek home for 6 weeks of winter.

Dear Universe...

Dear Universe,

Are you sending me signs? I feel like you are. I'm not one for believing superstitious or supernatural occurrences, but lately things just seem too eerie to just be coincidence. So are you trying to tell me something? Because if it's what I think it is, then this will all be worth it in the end when everything works out, just like in the movies. All this crying, and worrying, and loving, and hating, and general sensitivity will be worth it, right? If you are sending me signs, can you send me one that will convince me for sure that you are? Thanks!

As always, your favourite existentialist,
John

Melodramatic

To my readers, I'm perfectly fine. I'm sorry for acting so melodramatic. It just comes with my liking of writing, theatre, literature, and good films I guess. I really will get to those posts on Lollapalooza because there are some good stories there.

New Life Experience #1 and #2

You want me to be open to new experiences, so here is new life experience #1:

For the first time in my life, I truly feel shitty enough to say that I feel shitty. I finally want to scream "Fuck!" really loud so everyone can hear me.

New life experience #2:

For the first time in my life, I truly feel jealous of someone, and am most likely breaking the commandment against coveting or whatever because I want you all to myself.

Sorry for ranting to you, my wonderful readers. Have a fantastic day!

You Have a Date Tomorrow? That's Nice. I'm Going to Go Cry in the Corner.

I hope you have fun on your date tomorrow. I hope you like each other. But I still like you a lot, and here are the many things that will always remind me of you.

When someone tickles me
When people kiss near me or on TV
When people talk about their boyfriend or girlfriend
My house
My street
My bike
My friends
Looking at myself in the mirror
When I laugh
Spanish
Ghostbusters
The Lost Boys
Tommy's
Cedar Lee Theater
Cleveland Heights
Euclid
Cleveland
Going to Simone's house
Going to Sarah's house
Passing your mom's house
Passing your house
Sufjan Stevens
Joanna Newsom
Broken Social Scene
Bon Iver
Chicago
Lollapalooza
Love songs
The Avett Brothers
Elliott Smith
Little Joy
Hellogoodbye
Kevin Devine
Vampire Weekend
Moon
Paper Heart
Humpday
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Animal Collective
Macs
Loud mufflers
Sitting outside my house
My backyard
My room
My bed
My computer
Cleveland State University
Theatre of any kind
Ben's house
Walking in downtown Cleveland
My phone
My clothes
My laugh
My hands
When I take my socks off
When I get dressed
When I drink pop
When I eat French Fries
Chili Peppers
Water
Apple juice
Facebook
My hat
My shoes
My keys
My wallet
My glasses
My couch
My birthday
The word cute
The word beautiful
Burritos from anywhere
When people play with my hair
After taking a shower
Pittsburgh
Lost
The Daily Show
The Colbert Report
Comedy Central Roasts
Michael and Michael Have Issues
South Park
Back massages
Sleeping
My facial hair

I'm sure there is more, but I just don't want to feel anything right now. I hope you find happiness, and something close to what we had. I love you, but I'll never tell you to your face. It would be too hard for me.

Inspiration

I wanted to be a concert pianist, but God didn't give me hands. I wanted to sing, but God didn't give me a voice. I wanted to dance, but God didn't give me feet. So all that was left was to love you, so I'll love you as best as this broken person can.

One of my many random spurts of creative writing. I really should have another blog devoted to my random bursts of creativity. That would be easy to write and maintain because I try to post a creative status on Facebook once a day. Hmmmm......

Backlog!

AGH! I still have to write about Pittsburgh and Chicago! So many backlog posts! Plus I have to write a story about Mr. Penguin and Mr. Zebra, the two animal magnets on my friend, Sarah's refrigerator. So much to look forward to! I'll try and get them in on slow, unexciting days.

The Lost Weekend

I watched Lost all weekend. If I hadn't, I probably would have done something more interesting to post here, but alas I started watching the 1st season Labor Day weekend, so I sort of am on a huge Lost kick and want to watch all that's online through Netflix, which is the seasons 1 through 4. I'll try and get out this upcoming weekend, but I'm not much of a party person. But since my friend Lisa has a house this year, I promised that we would throw theme parties. This way I get out more, have fun, and get used to theme parties. If you have any cool theme party ideas, leave a comment! The winner gets a prize: My everlasting gratitude. It could be worth something down the line if I become a famous journalist/photojournalist, writer, or actor, so you might want to win it. I'm just saying.

I am...an Actor!

Today in my acting fundamentals class, we played several games/exercises that were really fun. First we did Zoom again, which is a fun little game about focusing and eye contact. The first time we just had to receive the zoom from one person and then make eye contact with the person on our other side and pass the zoom by saying, "Zoom." Today we had to point across the circle and pass it, so it wasn't as easy to follow where it was going around the room. Then we played another name game to try and remember people's names better. The first person asks someone to help them, and the person who is helping says "Person, come here." Then the first person would walk toward the second person and the second person would have to get someone to help them before the first person reaches them. We didn't really get the hang of it, but we still had fun. The next exercise we did was this game where we threw our right shoes into a pile in the middle of the circle. One person would be the right shoe and another would be the left shoe. The right person would have to take a shoe from the pile and match it to a person in the circle. The left person would have to ask the people in the circle for their left shoe and match it with one in the pile. Then we ended with a one on one exercise. One person had $20 and the other person had to convince the person to give the money to them. The person with the money couldn't directly say no, or any direct variation. I did this exercise, and I was in the last pair. I had to ask for the $20, so I said I needed it for a flight to Paris, the last one for 3 years, to see my true love who left me for a French guy a year prior. I was really over the top and cheesy, but the girl wouldn't budge. Then our grad student teacher sent another student to be the boarding officer, so he was like, "Last flight to Paris is boarding now," so I had to act frantic, begging and pleading with this girl, but she still refused. Then I topped it off with a super cheesy fall-to-the-floor, "NOOOOOO!" as the boarding officer counted down the last five seconds before the plane left. The class ate it up. They all loved my acting. My terribly cheesy, over-the-top, comedic acting. Smiley face of epic proportions.

Wonderful Torture

Being separated from you sucks a little, but the joy I get from thinking of you crushes the pain into a pulp. You want me to move on. I'll try, I promise I will because you want me to. I don't want to though. I don't want to let your love slip through my hands. I don't want to look back and actually regret something in my life. I've lived so far without regretting anything because it led me to this point, but I don't want to go further if you're not there as more than just a really good friend. I don't know if you read this, but I hope you do. Writing is how I'm able to fully express myself since seeing you smile and staring into those beautiful green eyes make me speechless, unable to form even a coherent sentence. I saw you last a week ago. It's been a hard week trying to see people that can compare to you. I know I shouldn't be one of those people who refuses to get involved with other people because they compare it to their old wonderful relationship, but I can't help it. You changed my life. I'm so glad I found you, and I want to stay glad that I found you. But it's only been a week, so when I see you in 5 weeks I may have moved on. I doubt it, but there is always a possibility. I'll keep telling you about people I find attractive, but it's really just a facade to make you think I'm trying. I'm sorry for deceiving you, but I'm afraid of letting happiness get away. I miss you.

Between the Lines

Read my opinion piece I wrote for The Post yesterday! Here is the link.

200?

I'm not sure how I'm going to meet that goal by the end of this year. Let's just hope that enough interesting things happen to me. That way I can write all about it for all of you who read this. Does anyone still read this? Comment "Hells yeah I do" if you're still kind enough to read my drivel. Keep reading!

Back to Class

First day back in class and it was the usual: syllabus, some basic introductory material, and then away we went. But a major crime has been committed. Soup at Baker's cafeteria is now $2.75, a quarter more than last year! This has deeply upset me, so I have ferociously written a Between the Lines for the Post to now be featured tomorrow (originally it was supposed to be in Thursday's paper). So I'm off to finish that.

A Poetic Post

Father's day is when we met.
It's been a wild ride since then.
And if your mind is set,
I shall say farewell when
I've decided myself to let
You go...
We watched guys bust ghosts,
And laughed at boys getting lost.
We both played the hosts.
But I'll pay the painful cost
For getting involved the most.
You know...
You made my birthday wonderful.
You even drove me to the moon.
I saw plays at your school.
But sadly the end came too soon.
Yet I continued to play the fool.
I go...
You rubbed my legs and held my hands
While I held your paper heart.
We kissed goodnight on the lands
In front of the end and start.
I dreamed of laying on the sands.
I know...
We held each other oh so close.
I felt safe in your embrace.
But moving on is what we chose.
I'll miss your beautiful face,
More beautiful than a rose.
We go...
Your eyes so bright and green;
Your lips so sweet to the kiss;
Your hands rough and mean.
All of these I shall miss,
And your wet hair's sheen.
We know...
It will be hard for awhile
To move on and stay friends.
But even if separated by a mile
Or more, this is not the end.
Strong feelings don't go out of style.

Revival!

I promise that I will post more often, especially now that I'm back at school and have more motivation. Since tomorrow is a holiday and I don't have class, I will write the posts I've been meaning to write about my trip to Pittsburgh and Chicago. Stay tuned for more of my life! I want to get to 200 posts by the end of this year!

Mission Accomplished

I arrived in Athens, Ohio, 10 or so minutes after 1 on Saturday, September the 5th, 2009. I proceeded to move my possessions into Shively, room 140. After a successful transfer from car to habitation, the parental units and I headed to the bookstore. There we bought several text books and several novels for my English class. At around 2, we ate lunch at the Chipotle located several yards from the bookstore. Upon finishing our nourishment, the parental units returned me to my new place of residence. I proceeded to read and watch several of my favourite episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist. At around 1am, I was introduced to my roommate's girlfriend whereby we had delightful conversation. After her departure, I continued to read J.D. Salinger's Nine Stories. At around 2am, I retired to my sleeping quarters and snuggled with a Mr. Moose. I awoke today shortly before noon. I have entertained myself by watching Visioneers, several episodes of South Park, and the first episode of Lost. That is all I have to report.

Return to the Fobidden University

Today is my last day in Euclid. Summer's over, so it's time to return to the good old Ohio University. Normally this would be a really happy thing, but I had such a wonderful summer, so it's a little hard to return to having to worry about work and grades. I had a whole week with the house to myself. I went to Pittsburgh to see a concert the day before my birthday. I saw three amazing plays at CSU's Summer Stages. I got to go to Lollapalooza, see a lot of artists I like, and eat at the Chicago Diner. I got to see several wonderful films on $5 Movie Mondays at Cedar Lee. I got to eat a lot of delicious food with Sarah and Simone at Sarah's house. I got to be nerdy many times. I finally beat Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles with my friends. And I met someone. So as you can see, it's going to be a little hard going back to school tomorrow.

Brotherhood

Be aware everyone, here is the Anime nerd coming out in me. I just watched the first two episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, the OVA series to one of my all time favourite Anime series. I already see discrepencies, and so far 21 episodes have already aired. The episodes I have watched so far, and the preview of episode 3, all seem to be a retelling of the original series. I'm not sure how I feel about this. But I seem to have some explaining to do. OVA means Original Video Animation, and depending on the series, can be one of several things. There is the manga-faithful OVA, the "not enough source material to make a series" OVA, and the anime series movie OVA. Brotherhood seems to be taking the route of a more manga-faithful OVA series, which I don't think I'm going to like. I'm not much of a manga nerd, but I tried to read some of the later Fullmetal Alchemist mangas, and they just had what seemed to me as pointless characters and filler side plots. I'll continue watching for now, and will most likely finish it even if it irritates me. But for those of you who like Anime and have not watched the original Fullmetal Alchemist series, do so. It is a fantastic series with top quality animation and plot. And after that, watch the film Conqueror of Shamballa. It is the actual end to the series, though still very open-ended.

The Pianist

I just finished watching The Pianist for the third time. This film is incredibly sad, but yet incredibly beautiful. I can't stand watching people being shot in films. This summer at a 90s theme party at Kenny's, we were watching Saving Private Ryan, and I just couldn't handle it. The graphic instant death...it just sends chills down my spine. I need a hug after watching it, even though the beautiful piano solo during the end credits calms me down. The worst part of the film though is when he doesn't get to help the German officer who helped him. The poor officer ended up dying in a Soviet labor camp in 1952, while Szpilman lived until the year 2000. War is such a terrible thing. We're told that history is doomed to repeat itself. Then why is nothing ever done to prevent history from repeating itself? It's plain to see the conditions that start wars and genocides. I'm sorry for preaching, but I always wish I could scream loud enough for the people in the film to hear me warning them, thereby saving them. A man can dream...

Apologies All Around

I'm sorry I haven't been posting anything. I've been doing a lot of stuff that is noteworthy, I just haven't had a chance to sit down and write it all. I should be able to write next week seeing as I finished something that was occupying a good chunk of my time. What is that something? Well you'll just have to wait until next week to find out. If I don't post anything by Tuesday night, feel free to yell at me in all-caps comments. It might help me get motivated to tell you all the amazing things I've been doing. If you thought my life was boring before this summer, well wait until you read what I've been doing this summer.

The Aftermath

Hey guys, sorry I haven't written much, but I haven't really been in a writing mood. I've been playing a lot of games with my nerdy circle of friends so I haven't been home a lot to write on this. In fact I'll be going to Tom's house in an hour and a half. Nothing exciting has really happened since getting back from OU, but I still have to give you a guys a school-year-in-review post. Expect that soon.

First Year Finale

Sorry I haven't written on here in awhile, but this quarter has been pretty hectic. I've been shooting a lot more for the Post, doing a lot more busy working, shooting a lot more for class, and catching up on The Office, 30 Rock, and Arrested Development. I'll change the photo this weekend since I'll finally be done with class and assignments. This weekend's going to be crazy though. Thursday is my last Post All-staff, then Friday is Post Toasties and my boss plans on getting me drunk (she promised me wine), and then Saturday is LobsterFest where I can win tickets to the Avett Brothers concert in Columbus, which would give me a great excuse to come visit my Post friends working at the Columbus Dispatch. And as an ending note, according to the Colbert episode on right now, we now have a Death Star. Congratulations America! We did it! We will now rule the world and make it a better place...for evil!

My First Dictionary

I can no longer keep this blog from the public. My First Dictionary is a hilarious picture blog. Ross Horsley takes pictures and a word from actual children's dictionaries, then he makes his own definitions. They are often morbidly funny. In fact, they are always so. Here is today's.

Britain Belts Beautifully

First Susan Boyle, now this little girl named Hollie Steel. Britain is hiding all these people with beautiful musical theatre voices. They need to move here and be in musicals. Susan Boyle made me want to see Les Miserables, but only if she was in it.

Social Experimentation

Today I'm going to do a little social experiment. While I walk to the library, I am going to sing Avett Brothers songs. I also have thought about starting a blog called Social Experimentality. This blog will be devoted to social experimentation. I will do ones that go against social norms, and I will also experiment with conforming to social norms. Comment "Thumbs Up" if you think this is a good idea.

Wonderful Weather

It's beautiful down here in Athens! Yesterday was such a nice day. After Japanese class, I went to the Starving Artist's Lunch hosted by We Love Vegan Cooking. It was on College Green, and boy was it delicious. It was this delicious rice mix and salad. They also made vegan brownies, and since it was so warm out, the chocolate was all nice and melty. Since I started going to the Vegan Cooking Workshop, I've been eating a lot more salad. Vegans just know how to make a flavorful salad I guess. So I ate and talked with my friends in the shade of the trees. Then I noticed two puppies lying in the grass not far from where I was. I love animals, so I went over to pet them. Apparently they were rescued, and they were free to anyone who could give them a good home. They were brothers, River and Cole. They were a Pit bull-Lab mix. River was brown with a Lab nose, while Cole was black with a Pit bull nose. They both had a patch of white on their head and stomach. They were so mellow. It was sad to see these two puppies so dispirited. When they were first rescued by this girl's mom, they shied away from human touch. Eventually they got used to it, but they still were very dispirited. So when I met them, they were lying in the grass just letting people pet them. I sat for an hour and petted them. It was very nice. Eventually River started to perk up and run around, which was wonderful to see. He wagged his tail and wandered around to other people. Cole didn't perk up until their foster father came. I was glad to see that they weren't completely broken. I hope they find a wonderful home together because it would be terrible if they were broken up since they are so close.

At Least I Got Something...

I didn't feel like getting up this morning, but I did. It's a good thing too. I walked around and was lucky enough to find a softball class to shoot for my sports action assignment due today. It wasn't the best I've ever done, but I'm going to have to try and shoot sports as much as possible so I can get a better grade on the reshoot, which isn't due until the end of the quarter. But now I can relax because the event I'm shooting for the next assignment can't possibly be cancelled, and I think dictionaries should have every spelling of a word because Firefox keeps telling me that the British spellings are wrong. I'm not wrong! If you want me to spell cancelled, canceled, then spell it that way in British literature when you sell it in the US! Oh, and I forgot to wish you all a Happy Ides of March, as well as a Happy Earth day, Pi day, and some others.

You've Got to Dance Dance!

I'd like to thank my friend Jane. She posted this on her blog not to long ago. This is something I would love to do, something I plan on doing at least once in my life. This video cheered me up. Today I have my sports action assignment due for VICO 390, and the only two times I could shoot baseball, it rained, causing the games to be cancelled. So right now I have nothing, and I need a minimum of 100 frames and a print by 3pm. It's probably not going to happen, but if I get down because of it, I'll just watch this video and cheer up.

April Fools!

Not that anyone seemed to care. I am not closing my blog. Either you all knew that, or you just didn't care. Sad face. Anyways, it has been a fun first week, though I hate Monday. I have 7 hours of class almost back to back. There are some short breaks between them, but that time is spent eating a quick lunch or walking back to my room to switch books. I also tried out for Lost Flamingo Company again. I hope I get a callback again, and I'm not sure if I really want to be in Reefer Madness: The Musical. But I'm now a picture editor for the Post and my first late night will be Monday (ugh, but not really because I only have 3 hours of class on Tuesday). I have no knowledge of editing, so this is going to be a learning experience!

Farewell

After 119 posts, I have decided to close my blog. I do not feel a point to maintaining it. I would like to say goodbye to all my readers, if there even are any still left. It's been a fun ride, but it's time to get off the train. So as I take my leave, I wish all good night and good luck.

Vernal Vacation

Winter quarter is officially over as I'm done with all my finals and will be leaving within a few hours. A Happy Vernal Equinox to everyone. It is that special time of year marking the beginning of the spring season. Mine will be spent for four hours in a car, but I will be home for only a week. I hope though, that I will have bought and received all my new camera equipment before I return to OU because I need it for my first day of VICO 390. It's been a fun finals week, much nicer than last quarter where I almost went insane from boredom. I watched the documentary We Are Wizards which takes a look at the subculture created by the Harry Potter series, such as Wizard Rock and fansites. On top of that, this week's episode of 30 Rock was absolutely hilarious. I also don't know what I'll do with myself for a week with no Post to sit in and eat lunch or attend meetings. Well I do have one thing, other than visiting friends. I recently started going back on SpaceBattles. It is an online forum where I participate in story debates. Story debates are essentially roleplaying without stats, damage, HP, pretty much no numbers. It's really fun and gets my creative juices pumping. I'm getting involved in one that is about character-created deities that were overthrown and are trying to regain their power/realm. Another I'm getting involved in is a little like Cowboy Bebop. We're space cowboys/smugglers or a legitimate spaceship service. I went the route of space cowboys. I'm really excited to get involved in it again because the SD I got involved in fell apart after a month. It was really narrative heavy which ruined everything.

103%

Yay! My first day of finals is over and I found out what I got on my philosophy exam. 206 out of 200, which translates to a 103%. WOOOOOOT!! It was a really fun class. I'm going to miss it. So I end philosophy with a 99.3% because I was too lazy to get out of bed to take 2 quizes. I also skipped the class days for review because I didn't have Econ class anymore, so why wake up at 8am for only one hour of class. I'm just glad I didn't have to memorize the fallacies for the test. Well, I'm going to play some video games and listen to the Avett Brothers in celebration!

Finals Week

It's finals week for winter quarter. That means another quarter is at a close. It's going by too fast. I mean, I'm already a sophomore in credit hours. After spring quarter, I'll only be 8 credit hrs away from being a junior. It's going by way too fast. What if don't get to take all the cool liberal arts classes I want to take? Maybe I'm just going crazy from sleep deprivation, or I pulling strings to write something interesting for you all to read. Who knows? My psyche is very strange. I only worry about these things when I take time to think about them. Oh well, I think I'll play some Wild ARMS 2 to distract me. I started a new game during the time most people study. I'll at least try and study for my Econ test that's on Wednesday, but it won't really be studying, just reading the stuff I haven't read yet.

Harry Potter Weekend #8,362

The title might be a little facetious, but it feels like ABC Family has a Harry Potter weekend every month. In fact, I'm pretty sure they do, not that I'm complaining. I love the movies, even though I purport hatred of all those past the second. The first two are my favourite, the Sorcerer's Stone more so, but I do enjoy the other three. I hate that they blatantly disregard things from the books, but I enjoy their visual imagining of the books. I know the first two don't follow the books perfectly, but that is expected of book-based movies. It's just that the 3rd, 4th and 5th movies change the entire storyline, remove characters, ignore Wizarding Law (mainly the beginning of the 3rd movie where Harry is trying to read under his covers using a flickering (??!?!?) lumos spell), create plotholes that aren't in the book, and forget about key plot points from the books. Nevertheless, I continue to watch them. It's kind of like watching a car crash, horrible to watch, but you can't look away. But I'm excited for the 6th movie. The 11-year-old Voldemort actor is perfectly chillingly evil-looking.

Flight of the Red Balloon

All last year my friend Steven kept talking about this horrible French movie called Flight of the Red Balloon. He said it was horrible, especially when the little boy would go, "Balloon! Balloon!" but not really pronounce the "n." For the longest time, that was all I knew about the movie. A little boy says "Balloon!" in a funny French accent to a red balloon. Steven's commentary started when the remake was at the Cleveland International Film Festival. I was going to see it until he told me it was a remake. I decided, someday, I would see the original. Well today, that day came. In VICO 140, we watched Flight of the Red Balloon to examine the design principles of film we had learned about on Tuesday. As soon as the movie started rolling, I knew immediately it was that movie. I was like, "Oh my God! It's Flight of the Red Balloon, I need to call Steven!" Anyways, as the movie played, I sat on the edge of my seat, waiting desperately for the little boy to say his only line. When he finally said it, I laughed so hard. It reminded me of Steven and the hilarious impression he did of the little boy. It was a great class. Flight of the Red Balloon is one of those funny/awful movies that you watch to laugh at more than for story or enjoyment. At the end, when the mean little French children corner the little boy and his red balloon and then throw stones at it, I was like, "No! Balloon! Balloon!" in this sad French accent. The people sitting in my row were laughing. It was so funny. And then the little boy flies away like Curious George with a huge collection of balloons. It was like the movie we watched in AP Spanish last year where the corpse of El Cid just rides away on a horse. Mrs. Petrick was so offended because all six of us were laughing so hard. So for the next week or so, I will connect almost everything to Flight of the Red Balloon. It will most likely be my description of the movie. A red balloon leads a little French boy on a journey of magic and mystery.

Wonderful Weekend

I returned home this weekend to see the play at my high school. It was called Getting Sara Married, and my friend Julie directed. She did a fantastic job, especially with the lack of talent she was given in the two leads. I found that two supporting cast members had more talent and emotion than the two leads. The play aside, I had a nice relaxing weekend. I got my haircut, read Harry Potter, and spent time with my friends. It was a very relaxing weekend. Unfortunately, I missed the last day of dancing, but I did get to dance in Justin's car while we listened to techno.

Swirling Haze

This past week has been a little crazy. I have been reading the Harry Potter books, staying up until early in the morning doing homework, trying to budget time for Vico 222 assignments, and dancing everyday that I can. Unfortunately, my sleep schedule has gone a little haywire. I slept through my first two classes on Monday because I couldn't fall asleep until 5 am. And then yesterday, I also slept through Philosophy and Econ because I just couldn't move. Only two more weeks until finals and then this week is over. What sucks though is that next quarter I have to buy a whole new camera body and two expensive lenses for my Photojournalism class. What's even worse is that I'm unsure whether I should continue in VisCom. This quarter, I barely had time to do my Vico 222 shooting assignments because I was in class for 20 hours a week. Very rarely would I be able to apply the assignment's theme to something I would be shooting for the Post, so I would have to shoot on top of all that. I just don't like taking photos for a grade. I feel less creative and more trapped into pleasing the teacher so I get a good grade. When I'm shooting for the Post, and when it's a good assignment, I'm much more relaxed and take much better photos. I also watched way more TV this quarter because I got into shows and started watching Jeopardy again. I only wanted to come to college to enjoy the atmosphere and learn about things I like. Having to worry about grades and what classes I need to take is distracting me from life. I've started to become a little stressed every once in awhile, something I have very rarely felt in my 18.5 years of life. Right now, I just want to live my life sitting around with like-minded people discussing things. I want to read books, watch witty shows, see wonderful movies, learn to play instruments, write music, take photos, write books, write stories, write articles, write reviews, explore the world, and love someone.

Cait-a-day

While walking to my VICO 222 class today, I was passing Alden Library when one of the editors of the Post turned the corner. She said I had perfect timing as she wanted me to shoot something. There were people dancing around the corner in front of Alden. I jumped into photo mode, took some pictures, got some information, and was about to join in when the dance mix ended. I was a little disheartened, but I had found a great idea for my long term project for 222. I'm going to photograph these impromtu dance sessions and possibly join in. To catch me dancing hopefully tomorrow, go to cait-a-day.blogspot.com. Oh, and I am now starting the fifth Harry Potter book and will try and post all the reviews on The Book Shelf throughout the week.

Reading Schedule

So instead of reading the only suggestion I got (Left Hand of Darkness), I decided to read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I finished it for the sixth or seventh time, I don't remember. Now I am going to read the next one, and probably reread the rest of the series in order, and then read Left Hand of Darkness because it is very hard to get through (I tried over the summer). I also wanted to point out The Avett Brothers to my readers. They are a delightful folksy-acoustic-bluegrass band that I was introduced to through CATVision's TV guide channel. The channel streams the WOUB broadcast of NPR along with musical interludes of, often, obscure music. One time they played the Dr. Dog song The Breeze. This solidified my love of the channel and has left me leaving the channel on while I read or work on the computer. The link to their site is under Musical Tastes. I have also added Julia Nunes, who's CDs have entranced me and I thank my friend Justin for introducing me to her music. Enjoy!

New Look

If you're reading this on the main page, then you'll probably see the picture behind the title. I've decided to bring some life into my blog a little, so each month I will change the picture behind my title. I will also try to put up more photos from the stuff I shoot, but not too many because this isn't my photo blog, which I don't have one of. So look forward to the beginning of every month! And happy 110th post! Only 90 more until we celebrate my 2ooth post!

Book Poll #2

It's that time again. I've finished Neverwhere and Ender's Game. It's time to pick my next book to read. Remember, post your choice in a comment and to include any recommendations for next time's list. I can always try to find recommendations at Little Professor or the library. And if a recommendation gets enough votes, I might read that instead. So please vote this time!

Doctor Faustus - Christopher Marlowe
Eyeless in Gaza - Aldous Huxley
The Plague - Albert Camus
The Fall - Albert Camus
Ape and Essence - Aldous Huxley
A Sand County Almanac - Aldo Leopold
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Changing Planes - Ursula K. Le Guin
The Telling - Ursula K. Le Guin
The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - C. S. Lewis
Harry Potter, Book 2-7 - J. K. Rowling

Poetic Piece of Mind

This is a poetic AIM chat that Hope and I had. I started with two lines. Then Hope responded with two lines. It follows a statement-response formula. I've really been inspired lately. Hope deserves partial credit for it. Enjoy our poetic collaboration!

Dead

Let me breathe life into you
To wake you from your eternal slumber

I only wish to live again.
Rejoice in a rebirth.

What dreams will come but few.
You will stay forever somber.

Unite my body with my soul.
Return again to earth.

My soul yearns for yours.
Hear its booming beckoning call.

We shall be joined again my love.
I gain life from your breath.

No more does matter the hours.
Into your arms constantly I fall.

Forever we shall always be
Together, free of death.

Readers, Readers Everywhere

People just keep coming out of the woodwork telling me they read my blog. That makes me very happy because I had thought this blog would go nowhere when I started it. Now, over seven months later, it's going strong. I can't wait for the one year anniversary. I have less than five months to think about what I'm going to do for it. Just letting everybody know how much I appreciate their readership!

Neverwhere

I'm deep into Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, and boy is it good. It's a wonderful fantasy tale that has a similar love story to the movie Stardust, which is based of the Gaiman book of the same name. A new post on The Book Shelf should be up soon. After that, I will begin reading Ender's Game and will make note of the supposed similarities between it and Harry Potter that Orson Scott Card so fervidly claims.

Inspiration...

I felt like writing. Two poems came out. These are those poems.

Deaf

I'm listening for you
As I'm screaming in my room.
I'm stuck in a place
I can't leave.

Can you hear me?
I can't hear you.
I'm lost...
Help me find you.


Blind

I can't see you
When my eyes are open.
I can't see you
When they're closed.

So how am I to know
You're there,
If all I see
Is air?

Smiles and Social Experiments

Today I was walking down Morton hill to my room, and as usual I like to look around at my fellow walkers. Today was a little different though. I was feeling very good, and was therefore smiling. When my eyes connected with this one girl's, she smiled back. That made me feel wonderful. I had recently posted a Facebook status saying how I wanted to spread my smile because the other walkers looked so grumpy. Today it happened, and it stayed with me for the rest of the day. I began to think about other things I could do to make people smile. I thought about saying hello to everyone I pass by tomorrow. I also thought about singing songs from the Sound of Music. So tomorrow I am going to say hello to everyone I come across. On a side note, I have decided to start Neverwhere this weekend, and then, upon finishing, read Ender's Game. Stay tuned for more glimpses into the strange yet awesome world my mind came from!

What to Read Next?

Here is a list of titles and authors. Pick the one you think I should read and post it in a comment. If you have a recommendation, post that in addition to the one you chose.

Doctor Faustus - Christopher Marlowe
Eyeless in Gaza - Aldous Huxley
The Plague - Albert Camus
Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
The Fall - Albert Camus
Ape and Essence - Aldous Huxley
A Sand County Almanac - Aldo Leopold
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Changing Planes - Ursula K. Le Guin
The Telling - Ursula K. Le Guin
The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - C. S. Lewis
Harry Potter, Book 2-7 - J. K. Rowling

Have fun!

The Book Shelf

After several thoughts about blogs, and several half-hearted blogs, I deleted The Modern Eclectic and The Course of Communication (my blog for J101) and created The Book Shelf. The Book Shelf will be just that. The pages (posts) will be about literature I am in the process of reading. There will be two lists on the side, along with the archive. One is called Books on the Shelf. This is for books I liked. The other one is called Books in the Bin, which is easy to guess what that's for. The address is thebook-shelf.blogspot.com. I wanted thebookshelf.blogspot.com but some idiot named Jennifer has it. The worst part is there is nothing on her blog, and she's been a member since 2001. She's obviously inactive, and unfortuantely I have no way to contact her in order to get the domain name. Oh well.

Winter Quarter

I'm off to a good start this quarter. I'm taking 20 credit hours this quarter, so it's going to be interesting. I don't have any journalism classes (sad face), but I do have two VisCom courses which should be fun. My friend Kristen is in my Philosophy 120 class, but so is Frank. I thought I might never see Frank again. I thought wrong. My awesome grammer partner is in my Econ 103 class. Hurray! I'm glad I was wrong that I might not see Matt again. I have some familiar faces in my Japanese class, but not my cool ecletic friend Taylor. But I do have fellow Postie, Jessica-san. Speaking of Posties, I ate breakfast this morning with the illustrious Ryan Dunn and City Staff Editor, Brigitta Burks. The weird thing is that we ate breakfast together at the end of fall quarter. I'm really excited for this quarter, so stay tuned for the 2009 edition of the life of John Nero!

A Year in My View

We laughed, we cried, we sang, and we died; but most of all, we made it through another year. Congratulations! It's been an interesting one for me though. I played a lusty priest in The Importance of Being Earnest, and snagged the role of a brother in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (ugh). I survived my AP Spanish exam none-the-wiser (I got a 2). I read wonderful books in my AP English class, and performed a scene from Oedipus Rex, ending with a rap. I graduated from high school. I went to Bonnaroo with three close friends. I started this blog. I saw many indie films at Cedar Lee on many a Monday night. I got high on my birthday (never going to happen again). I danced my socks off. I watched friends leave for college. I left for college. I spent my first quarter in college. I joined The Post and Fridays Live, I saw Ben Folds twice. I read more good books. I thought more pensive thoughts. I saw plays, and lost my Rocky Horror virginity. I became addicted to Tazo Green Tea. I took Japanese. I made friends as I watched others fade away. I thought about relationships. I thought about love. I thought about people. I thought about everything. I thought about you and him, him and me, me and you (just being poetic). I forgot about the past, brushed aside the future, and focused on the present. I photographed the world around me. But most importantly, I smiled and tried to pass on my joy to others. Happy 100th post, and a bon voyage into the new year. Happy New Years Eve!

The Sound of Music

I watched The Sound of Music for the first time straight through yesterday. It was a nice end to a not great day. I slept for the most part of the day because I didn't feel so hot. Now, I've seen bits and pieces of the movie, but I have been meaning for the longest time to see it from the beginning. Usually when I see it is on, I've already missed a good chunk of it. But today, I came home from eating out with my mom and sisters to find the living room TV on. It was on ABC and a show had just finished. The speakers announced, to my delight, that The Sound of Music was next. How happy I was. I watched in my room, singing along to the parts I knew and learning the ones I didn't. It was wonderful. It so sad that Julie Andrews lost the power in her voice because of her cancer.

Lost Part Deux

Another cause of my feeling alone is my family. I love my family, but they just don't mesh well with me. I see everything through such different eyes than they do. Being at my house for six weeks has made me realize how suffocated I feel there. I feel like I can't win here, like I'm trapped. I don't know. This night has just made me think a lot. While waiting for them to decide on what to do after we had finished eating, I sat on a ledge thinking, and thinking, and thinking. I did that a lot. Once I get in my head, it's hard to get out. Being in my head is what made me feel like crap. Thinking about people who I want to be friends with, but when I'm around them I feel like those dream sequences where your chasing after someone who is slowly walking away, but you never catch up to them because for some reason you're running in slow motion. Do they act so childish because I'm not their macho man stereotype, and this threatens their masculinity? Or is it because they are jealous that I am far more a man than they? I don't know. I'm not a psychologist with a fancy chaise lounge chair. I'm just the one that asks the questions. I apologise if a lot of my blog posts get you down. I normally have a very sunny disposition, but every so often I think and it upsets me.

Lost

I feel so lost. I feel so alone right now. I should be happy because I got to hang out with my friends, but I'm not. I was really happy sitting at Mama Santa's with people who I had barely seen over my break, until they started reminiscing. They sounded so happy talking about their memories. I don't mind the ones that happened before I met them, but when they bring up stories I have heard before, I feel so distant. I could have been there too, but I wasn't invited. I understand that I haven't known them for as long as they've all known each other, but they include me sometimes and then talk about all the times I was excluded. I feel like I don't belong. I feel like I'm an impartial observer, like someone watching through a spyglass, but I'm also there so they can insult me and deride me. They all seem so fake. When they are not all together, they're nice and only tease and joke. When all the guys are together it's a huge "see who can say the meanest thing about John" contest. For people that dislike people for being fake, they sure need to take a good hard look in the mirror. The worst part is that they're not horrible people. I want to be friends with them, but they make it very hard. But I'm so different from them. Not to condescend and preach from a soap box, but I am far more emotionally mature than them. I'm not an insensitive asshole like they are most of the time. The whole world's a game to them. When I offer them a heart, they throw it on the ground and smash it. I feel so empty and lost. And they aren't the only cause.

Stormy Weather

I love and at the same time hate Cleveland weather. I was so glad to be somewhere where it snows a lot, only to have the snow be washed away. Every time it snows, a day or so later it rains and washes away any trace of the snow. I love rain, but I also love snow. On a side note, did you know that on rainy and snowy days, or just days of inclement weather, people's moods tend to be more on the gloomy side. When weather is bad, people are sad. I used to dislike rainy days. Now I love the feeling of rain, but I still dislike when it rains all day because that means I can't be outside that long because I'll get sick. Oh precipitation! You are a double-edged sword!

Joyful Non-descript-holiday Eve

Happy Christmas Eve everyone and Happy Hanukkah day four. With five posts left after this one, it's a dash to the finish line to get to 100 before 11:59pm EST on Dec. 31st. I've got seven days to make due with. Well good night, and good luck.

Confused...

Apparently I was wrong. The other doesn't like the one. Somehow I mistook an obvious show of affection to be exactly that, when apparently it was just fooling around. The other is a greater liar than I, to be able to truly show genuine affection and call it fooling around is great talent. I may not know anything about relationships because I didn't hone my skills on fruitless relationships, but damn do I know how to read people. I'm good at putting two and two together. I watch and pick up on things. I don't just guess. I back up my conjectures. I rarely over think, and when I do over analyze I usually say first that it might be a little far fetched. I'm pretty sure I hit the nail on the head with how the other feels about the one. Even if the other denies it, I will stand behind my theory. Besides, the other had a lame explanation as to why they didn't like the one.

The Holiday Season

I would like to wish all my readers a very Merry Winter Solstice. Today we celebrate the shortest day, meaning the day with the least amount of daylight. In honour of the official start of winter, I will be sacrificing a goat on this cool rock in the forest behind Squire's Castle. For those of you who would like to still celebrate a holiday with me but would rather not get goat blood on their holiday clothes, tomorrow is also the first day of Hanukkah. I was unable to get a Menorah, so if anyone has one I could borrow, I would greatly appreciate it. I have wanted to celebrate a different holiday since about 7th grade. Christmas isn't what it used to be. It's not about gifts, it's about being with my family. For the past couple of years or so that we have held Christmas dinner at our house, I remember happily helping my family setting the table, cleaning, and other things. What I don't remember is getting respect back. My mother complains that I keep a list because I complain when I have done more than my fair share. All throughout the week, I will do everything my parents ask me too even if I shouldn't have to without complaint. Once every week or every other week, I will kindly ask them to ask my brother. Unfortunately, I am usually responded to negatively and told I don't do anything, or my brother has a job and I don't and should therefore do more. I don't mean to complain, I just want the respect I deserve. But I digress. I wish all my readers a joyful winter holiday season.

BDKD Jeans

So I went to Lakeshore Coffee House tonight since Simone was working, and boy did I enjoy it. Sarah P came to visit which was awesome. Nick dropped by which was also awesome. I played Wordster and made it to 3rd place. I had brownies and tore apart a cup. It was a good night. The best part though, was when Simone gave Sarah and me a ride home. Simone was talking about how people kept talking about her big butt when her mom made a comment. She said she noticed it one day when she dropped Simone off and figured out why people call it a badonkadonk. Then Simone was talking about discussing how hard it was to find jeans for girls with big hips and skinny legs, so my mind wandered. I was like, "Badonkadonk Jeans," in a sing-song voice. Sarah burst out laughing, but I think I'm on to something and I owe Simone. A jean company that sells jeans fitted for girls with big hips and skinny legs... Badonkadonk Jeans, or BDKD Jeans for short. I claim this idea as my idea and this post is proof!

Dancing

I really want to say who these people are, but I will not even though I know one of them does not read this, at least I think he or she doesn't. I have two friends (for clarity, one refers to the same one and other refers to the same other throughout). They are dancing around each other. One, I know for sure, likes the other, and the other, I'm now 99% sure, likes the one. Both of them have had bad/weird relationships in the past, and, through my little knowledge of pyschology and experience, have deduced that both are afraid to tell the other person. One is afraid of rejection, and the other is afraid of either rejection, doesn't want to try a long distance relationship, or possibly both (I'm thinking the last). This is truly eating me up inside. I was lying in bed thinking about it, and I couldn't stop getting upset. I want them to tell each other their feelings so bad. The one is torturing themselves over this and refuses to believe the other likes them. The one keeps finding tiny holes in my theory of why the other likes them and tries to make them into gaping holes so thinking about the other won't hurt the one. As I write this, I keep wanting to hold the backspace button down and watch as everything I did is undone. I know the one will read this and probably not know how to react toward me. I don't care though because deep down in my heart I have this hard to shake feeling these two are meant for each other. If I'm wrong, than I'm just an idiot, a foolish romantic who knows nothing about relationships.

La Blogotheque

La Blogotheque is this French web blog. It consists of videos of unrehearsed performances of up-and-coming artists. I would like to thank current.com for this wonderful find. The performances are wonderful and random, and perfect. This site is wonderful.

Vegetarian In the Midst of Meat Eaters

Today was my youngest sister's birthday, so my family and I went out to dinner. Unfortunately, I was not informed of the restaurant of choice until we got there. It was Texas Roadhouse. As a vegetarian, I thought, "What were they thinking not telling me we were going to TEXAS ROADHOUSE!" That is the most vegetarian-unfriendly restaurant I have ever been to. I had a Caesar salad without dressing, some rolls, and a brownie for dessert. My mom thought I would get salmon even though I have clearly stated to my entire family that I do not consume any meat or fish. Oh my family! The worst part was the waiter was picking on me. I survived unscathed for the most part.

Goal

Alright, so I would like to have 100 posts by the end of the year. I need twelve more and have 21 days left to do interesting stuff. Nero, AWAY!

Guitar

Since I am sitting at home bored to death, I decided now would be a perfect time to start teaching myself how to play guitar. This is something I have wanted to do for awhile, along with learning the piano. I tuned the guitar, I hope right, and learned three chords. Unfortunately, I don't have a pick. I have to go buy one sometime soon, and possibly some books because I enjoy books better than online courses. Stay tuned for more!

A Beary Merry Mr. Moose

So yesterday, or Thursday if I don't get this done by midnight, I went to the Beary Merry Christmas Show with my mother. It's this quaint little crafts show with all these local people. Usually, I just go to comment and critique my mother's purchases, but this year I saw the cutest, most adorable thing ever. It was a stuffed moose made from Alpaca hair, the softest around. It was wonderful. I convinced my mother to buy it and I would pay her back later. At first she resisted, but I kept whining "moose" is this adorably sad, impossible-to-resist voice, and, when we were almost finished, she caved in. I fell in love with him on the ride home. He was the cutest thing I had ever seen. I named him Mr. Moose and thought up all sorts of things. I thought about cute children's stories, sending him around the world on some mission that would change people's lives, and everything else a college student thinks about when he or she gets a new stuffed animal. So stay tuned for the Adventures of Mr. Moose!

Dreams

I had some interesting dreams last night. The most interesting one is a reoccurring one. Well, it's not necessarily a reoccurring dream, it's more a reoccurring character. I don't know her name because no one ever says it in the dream, but she is a secret agent. In my younger days I was obsessed with secret agents because I thought it was cool (I still kind of do). I used to have dreams where she would go on missions saving people. In last night's dream, our heroine resigned and her boss sent people to capture her. When the people came, they felt bad because she was a young woman, not even an adult yet. Instead of taking her back to headquarters, the two guys and girl captors took her to a hotel room. The boss was worried this might happen, so he took the precaution of tracking them. Because they disobeyed him, he detonated a bomb in the tracking device killing the agents, but allowing our heroine to escape. Next thing I know, she is in my house, but I do not exist. Only my mom and our heroine live in my house, and they are mother and daughter. My mother does not know that her daughter is an ex-secret agent, so in order to protect her mother, our heroine turned herself in to the boss. And that is where my dream ended.

Love? Will I Find You, Or Will You Find Me?

I've been thinking about love a lot lately. My friend (no name shall be said) has been discussing his or her feelings with me about someone for awhile. This has got me thinking about my love life. I have met three people in my short 18 years that I truly love. Now I am not in love with these people, but I don't think I could live without these people after having met them. They are of both genders and share many of my interests. This is just one of the kinds of love I am searching for. I have found it, and now do to external influences I want to search for the other kind. Now, I have had little luck in finding my soulmate. I believe there is someone who is me in woman form. I also have little luck dating the possible candidates because I often pick taken women. I feel this pressure to find someone because of society. I feel this pressure to just date someone and have sex with someone I have no strong feelings for. I was once asked if I was a virgin by choice or by chance. I am a virgin by choice, but I will not save myself for marriage. If I find that person who makes me whole, I will make love to them as much as possible. A lot of my friends see me and sex as impossible because I have what seems as a very conservative attitude toward it. I just don't have the libido of all the sex-crazed teen shows on television nowadays. I was told sex with me would be like raping a puppy because I seem so innocent. Not to sound too nerdy, but I researched sex. People act like sex is something perverse to me. It's not. Not to sound cheesy or lame, but I prefer to make love not have sex. People look at me like I'm not normal, but I never have been normal and being normal is never a good thing. Normal people have to have some of the most boring lives. They probably never think about things like this and just go about living their "normal" lives. I prefer to live my "weird" life, listening to deep love songs that make me want to find that person that I can: just lay next to and know everything is right, tell everything to, follow into the dark, not care what she looks like in the morning, have fun doing absolutely nothing with, and spend the rest of my life with.

Finally Finished

I am now officially done with Fall Quarter. I have taken all my tests and said my goodbyes to the campus (I walked around talking quietly to myself, saying things like, "Farewell sweet prince! Parting is such sweet sorrow!"). Thankfully, no was around to hear me talking to myself, well almost no one. Majority of the campus is empty. How I will miss Fall Quarter. My seemingly pointless J101 class with its many guest speakers, adieu! My awesome J133 grammar-tastic class and my awesome Word Geek partner Matt, so long! My Japnese class filled with fun times, farewell! And my POLS150 with its global warming propaganda, I bid you good day! Goodbye and good break to all my new friends! And a solemn, possibly forever farewell to Ian and Frank who put smiles on my face every J101 and POLS150 class with their constant questions and opinions trying to sound smart! Oh OU, I hardly knew ye! Yet do not fret, for January is quick to come, and soon will I return home!

Farewell Fall Quarter!

Adieu to you Fall Quarter at Ohio U. Tomorrow, I shall return home for six weeks of winter break. While I look forward to this return to friends and family, I will also dearly miss the relaxing atmosphere of OU's campus. How I will miss sitting in The Post lobby eating my Creamy Tomato Tortellini soup from West 82! How I will miss my twice-weekly Photo meetings and my Tuesday Culture staff meetings! How I will miss Fridays Live, David's complaining about Fridays Live, the drunken parties of Fridays Live! Oh how I shall miss it all dearly for six weeks! But I will not be departing from it forever. I wish I could bring all my friends here though. I would stay and take some winter intercession classes, but I think I'd rather go home my freshmen year.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

It started snowing again. This time it's a substantial snow. It's wonderful and oh so beautiful. I walked to pick up some food, and it felt so nice. The feeling of snow on my skin. I feel so alive. It's so strange how much snow affects me. I never used to enjoy snow so much. I guess it's been the opening of my eyes to the wonders of life that started I think around the summer after junior year. It's probably because I took photography. Having never had an actual art class before, I think photography opened my eyes to the beauty around me. Capturing it on film is what started to awaken something deep inside me. I can't wait to get home so I can take some awesome film photos and then develop them.

Snow Makes Everything Right

Forget my last post completely. Today, right now, it is snowing ever so beautifully in Athens. Before going to my J101 final, I could see an occasional flake float down. After finishing my J101 final, I exited to find a light snow falling ever so beautifully. I've been using "ever so" a lot recently. Something about snow just makes me happy now. I have always loved the snow, but for some unknown reason, it just made me so happy to see it today. I've been told it snows in Athens, but it's usually a more rainy/slushy snow and doesn't last long. It mainly just creates a frost effect. That's okay with me, but I do prefer the heavy blanket snows of Euclid. Regardless, my favourite part of snow is watching it fall. Whether it falls fast, heavy and blindingly, or ever so slowly and lightly, I love watching it fall. I keeping taking a few seconds to watch it fall outside my dorm room window. Just now I checked outside, and it has, unfortunately, stopped snowing. Oh, well... Good things are often fleeting...

End of Fall Quarter

Well, it's already over. I can't believe how fast my first ten weeks at OU have gone by. I've made so many friends, and yet I haven't really. I've become friends with a lot of people, but I haven't really hung out with them or anything. I really miss my other friends. It's going to be like when I first came to Euclid, how I didn't do anything with anyone I had met that year. I didn't do anything with anyone until tenth grade, and even then I did little with my new friends. I love meeting new people and making new friends, but I hate how long it takes for other people to want to do stuff with me. I feel so out of place, but then I feel like I belong here. At first this didn't really bother me as I had some friends from high school to hang out with, but then they distanced. I still had some friends from high school that weren't in my graduating class that I did stuff with, but as time went on I began to feel so distant from everyone. I felt so out of place, lost in some foreign world, far away from where I wanted to be. It's not that I'm out of place, it's just that I have really close friends who aren't close physically to me. On top of that, I feel this need to find someone. I really want to get into an intimate relationship with someone, but I often reach for forbidden fruit and find possible matches in already taken women. Other times I realise they don't meet my standards. A friend once told me that I'm one in 6.7 billion. That doesn't give me much hope for finding someone to truly open myself up to. But the worst part of it all, I've been thinking about death a lot lately. I've been reading and listening to music a lot more, and I've been finding ways to start thinking about death in almost everything I hear or read. In J101 one day, we were watching a documentary on the beginning of the Civil Rights movement. It said that the murder of a young black boy was the impetus. This made me start thinking about my own mortality. I nearly had a panic attack. A chill went down my spine, my heart started beating really fast, and I was almost in tears as I worried to myself about being murdered and there being nothing after this life. I was able to calm myself down, but it was terrible. I've started losing sleep over it, and then yesterday I slept all day because I didn't want to get out of bed. I'm not stressed or mental, I just happened to reach the climax of my existential crisis as soon as I started college. I'm just worried I might go to sleep and not wake up one day. People have told me there's no need to fear dying because once you're dead, you're gone and don't care. That's what freaks me out the most, is that lose of thought/consciousness/self/existence. As Hamlet said, "For in that sleep of death what dreams may come?"

Hurrah for the World!

Hurrah for the United States of America! Hurrah for the people of the United States of America! I have lived through, as have all of you, a defining moment in the history of the world. We who have voted have elected Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States of America. I was unable to express my joy as I was in the midst of Athens County Republicans. As a journalist/photojournalist, I am unable to show bias. I had to hold it all in. It was so hard that I actually starting feeling like it wasn't really happening. As I listened to the Republicans around me, I realized it was real and just laughed at their stupid comments about socialism, Bill Heirs, terrorism, etc. (inside of course). I wanted very hard to laugh at the Republicans as they said things like where has our country gone. I only worry that intolerance is still strong and that many believe "the blacks will take over." The ignorance people have about Obama's ethnicity and what socialism really is just angers me. If they do not want to support their president, then they can leave this country. I am just happy it is over and the Messiah has won.

Racism

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081027/ap_on_el_pr/skinhead_plot

I have tried to stay away from talking about politics, but this story has forced me too. Racism, as anyone with a brain knows, is still alive and thriving in the South and Appalachia. Anyone who has been hearing about the comments of audience members at McCain rallies should be a little unsettled. There are people that do not like Barack Obama simply because he is black. This is no reason to dislike someone. Tolerance and acceptance has been beaten into me since I learned that Thanksgiving was a lie. I easily accepted people not because it was beaten into me, but because they were human. I am fortunate enough to be an intellectually gifted person, and I am not bragging, I am just stating a fact. I grew emotional and mentally faster than people my physical age. Because of this rapid mental growth, I was able to realize things that some adults don't realize until late in their life. I have not once in my life felt like I hated someone. I have always been a friendly and loving person. I forgave people for the way they treated me and tried to overcome my human nature, something I have been defining since an early age. This story saddens me because these people are cursed with ignorance and hate. They are unable to realize that skin color means nothing, differences in ideology mean nothing. Racism is a horrible thing, and no matter how hard people try, they cannot get rid of it. It is part of human nature to hate what is different from you, and only intellectually gifted people are able to overcome this ignorance and stupidity. It's a sad truth. I wish I could rid the world of such horrible thoughts, but it is near, if not, impossible to do so.

Return Home

I have returned to my home. It was a nice trip back to Euclid, but it was also strange. Being back there felt like a dream, as I believe I have stated before. It was nice to see Simone, and I can't wait for this weekend, since she's coming down! But it was strange to see how drastically people had changed. I find it interesting how people think that going to college instantly makes you mature and smarter than everyone else. I find it even more interesting how much these "mature" people make stupid decisions. I don't want to preach from my soap box, I am just stating my observations, but it just makes me a little sad. I liked people for who they were, and their new selves are not as likeable. I am not worried that they might read this. If they become offended, I will apologise, but I will not take back what I said. I am their friend, and I will be honest with them. If they don't like that, then they must not consider me a friend. I apologise to everyone for being so cynical.

Back in Town

Greetings from the good ol' Euclid, Ohio. I arrived back in my hometown late last night for a weekend of reminiscing. Actually, I just came to see my high school's fall play, Twelve Angry Jurors. Justin's mother was kind enough to drive all the way to Athens, and then drive us all the way back to Euclid. As we passed OU on the freeway, I muttered under my breath, "Goodbye Home." It sounds cheesy, but I really feel at home there. I felt like I was going to wake up from a wonderful dream and never be able to fall back asleep and dream it again. Then at some point I felt that I was in a dream. Returning home felt very surreal. Seeing people who I had only talked to through the magic of the internet was so refreshing. But it felt really surreal when I saw how some people had really changed. Nevertheless, it's nice to be back at my house, but I really miss my home. I can't wait for next weekend when Simone is coming down for Halloween! Hurray!

Lack of Blog

I apologize for my lack of posts, but it's very hard to write when I have homework everynight and then I go to sleep. The Post has slowly been consuming my life more, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but yesterday I was pretty much at the Post from 12:00 to 10:30. Even right now I am sitting at the Post on my laptop. I have 87 photos to choose from. I have to whittle those down to a few good ones. That is very hard because I have already gone through two purges where I deleted the lackluster ones. Arrrgh. I'm slowly losing my mind! Well, at least I have this weekend to look forward to. I will be returning to Euclid to see the high school's Fall Play. Expect a review from me Saturday or Sunday night.

Busy as Bee

I've been busy doing a lot of stuff and homework, so I haven't really been able to post on this lately. I apologize because I have a lot of interesting stories to tell my readers. Stay tuned for more.

Ben Folds, Missy Higgins, and Some Problems

Now, I'm really exhausted, so I will post more later today. I saw Ben Folds. He was awesome. Missy Higgins was pretty good too, but I missed about half of her show because of some complications. As you all know, well if you read my blog regularly, I just got my Rebel XTi. Now, I have been taking it everywhere with me, so I decided to bring it with me to the concert. I was shooting Missy Higgins and I got about 30 good shots before someone came up to me and asked if I had a press pass. I said no, so I had to follow her to the lobby where I was told I could not take pictures. Now I was a little upset, but I returned to my seat and did not take any more photos. Not soon after, another staff person told me I couldn't take pictures, and I was like I already was told this and I'm not going to. But then she was like we still need to talk to you, so she brought me back out to the lobby. There I was questioned by several people. I was told I could not have a professional grade camera unless I had a press pass. I did not have a press pass because I was not shooting as a member of the press. I was shooting as an individual who loves to take photos, not pictures. I was told that I could not be let back to my seat until I had returned my camera to my dorm. I also had to delete all the photos on my memory card. Now, I was very angry, so I called David because he has a digital SLR. Luckily he was still nearby at RTV, so I just dropped my camera off there, but not after missing like ten minutes of Missy Higgins. I was very mad, but the worst part was that the guy who interogated me said that they didn't care about point-and-shoot cameras, only professional because I might do something evil with good looking photos. Is it a crime to like quality and do something that I enjoy without receiving any benefit other than personal enjoyment? Apparently because they didn't care about the people with their little rectangles that use a flash. I feel like my rights have been a little trampled on by the label or company that said I couldn't take photos at their client's concert. I will write them an angry letter. But some good came out of this evening, I got my artwork and Ben Folds DVD signed. I will take photos of them and upload them tomorrow, but right now I'm going to sleep.

BEN FOLDS!!!!!!!

I GET TO SEE BEN FOLDS TONIGHT! WOOOO! I COULD BARELY SLEEP LAST NIGHT THINKING ABOUT THE CONCERT. I DID NOT WIN THE BACKSTAGE PASS, WHICH HAS DEEPLY SADDENED ME, BUT I WILL REMAIN UNDETERRED IN MY EFFORTS TO GET HIM TO SIGN MY AMAZING MIKE TAYLOR ORIGINAL AND MY BEN FOLDS FIVE DVD. I WILL JUMP ON STAGE AND BEG HIM TO SIGN IT. I'M DESPERATE ENOUGH TO DO IT, AND SINCE I DON'T LIKE TO LIVE WITH REGRETS, IT'S VERY LIKELY I WILL DO IT. LOOK FOR ME ON THE ELEVEN O'CLOCK NEWS WHEN THE POLICE ARE DRAGGING ME OFF STAGE AND THROWING ME INTO A POLICE CAR.