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For your intellectual pleasure: Cavuto’s Common Sense - Playing With Fire. Also, thanks to the genius of Jeremiah, a click for your laugh.

Again, a lot has happened this week so far. My two real exams were ok. AP Calc was easy just very long and only a few things I had no clue on. AP Gov was easy too, but then again I consider getting a 85 easy and a 95 very hard. Well, it was fun while it lasted.

Since the whole school schedule was majorly screwed due to snow inhibiting, I’ve had major time at home to get some audio stuff done. I’ve completed almost 100 cds of my ripping and have majorly been ruling in Medal Of Honor on the hard difficulty. ::sigh:: I’m trying so hard not to become a computer geek; they’re so not cool.

Tuesday I finally got around to watching About A Boy and just plain wow. That movie is great. Of course, I’d heard a lot about it and saw it made it very high on many reviewers’ top movies of 2002 lists, so I finally wanted to see it for myself. It’s incredible. Seriously. This is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. And the structure of it makes it a see-it-a-million-times-and-it’s-still-good movie. Acting is phenominally characterized, led by the great Hugh Grant (one of my favs in the industry). The storyline is so good; it’s touching, it’s beyond funny, and it leaves you with such a great lasting impression. 8.8 out of 10.

Yesterday was another b-ball game. I was just not having a good day and again I just cannot, for whatever reason, hit a foul shot. I still made several other shots though. We won though 58-43.

I woke up this morning only to look out my window and be blinded by this wonderful sheen of white everywhere and after hearing of school’s closing I went back to bed. I woke up later and went outside to take some pictures because it’s so beautiful out there. I opened the outside garage door and stood on the area where the over-hang keeps snow from getting on the brick and I just stood there. All I could do was stop. Only the calm brush of snowflakes could my ears grasp. The movement of each snowflake was so elegant, so individual, not one had the same course but each one would work together for the same purpose. I felt this enormous peace come over me, something I haven’t felt in a while, and I just halted my own world to enjoy God’s amazing creation. I hated to disturb this beauty but reluctantly I walked around to grab a few pictures that I hope will be able to preserve some sense of this majesty that I witnessed first hand this morning.

And last, but not least, Happy Birthday to Rachel!

Long weekend. Two days off from school due to inclement weather (Thurs and Fri), a weekend, and then Monday off for a teacher workday. I’m worn out from not being busy.

Friday afternoon was the first practice for the school talent show. We got some music down but still way plenty to do. It’ll be cool though.

I went to see My Big Fat Greek Wedding with Mark and Rachel Friday night. Drumline was sold out, so it was our second pick. Rachel was the only one who hadn’t seen it, but Mark and I were definitely willing to watch this masterpiece of a comedy (and true story) once more. Then we went to Ruby Tuesday’s for some food. Good times. Our waitress got in on the conversations as well and it was much fun.

Saturday was work and finding out my brother and his fiance would be home for the day. That evening we went to Hong Kong Super Buffet (the ultimate of all buffets) and then everyone went their own way after that.

I went to the movies with some THP folk to see Drumline which apparently had already sold out, again. So we saw The Ring. Oh gag, this movie was awful. Scary movies are only effective when they have a plot (hence Signs’ superior performance). The Ring absolutely had no base plot. Sure it had like a point, maybe even a storyline, but there was no continuing and contiguous plot to this film. Yes, it’s scary, I’ll give it that much. But, honestly, movies are only good if they make sense. This one was stupid. In my handheld I commented: ’salvaging actors from nowhere; barely widescreen; the sixth sense meets minority report meets eight legged freaks; can anyone say are you afraid of the dark (Nickelodeon show)’. I thought the film was dumb, they tried to scare people and then tell of the negative effects of single parenting, oh come on. 2.1 out of 10.

Sunday I went to BRCC for the early morning service so I could get back to 1stAG to play. Both services went incredibly well and was just very inspiring.

I found out that due to a misunderstanding I will only be participating in Male Vocal Solo in Fine Arts. As Rianna would say ‘Wa-freakin-do’.

The day ended with a Super Bowl party at Matt’s place. I like the color red so I was rooting (routing?) for the Bucs (I had no clue who was playing so I have to cheer for someone). Well they one so that was cool. But I actually, after noticing the large point spread, ended up going for the Raiders because I love come-back games. Come-back games make all sports more exciting, especially the Super Bowl.

My eBay days are almost over. Three of my four auctions have closed to Buy It Now and the last one is almost near reserve. After this is over with I’ll quickly start looking for my new guitar (vintage or reissue, such a tough question?).

And before I forget, I learned a new word last week: centenarian. A centenarian is a person who is at least one hundred years old. Very kewl.

I’ve had a lot of good college/life conversations lately, which is good because I only have 5 more months left of school before I’m thrown out into the darkness of the real world by myself. Also, I’ve been wondering what I’m going to do with my site once I leave for VT. I’m quickly running out of room on my hosting, so I’m not sure what to do. Oh well.

Evening: I have this bad feeling that I already updated recently, and just my luck, I updated this morning. I’m such a retard. But I do want to totally vent/get-something-off-my-chest or whatever.

I really hate being too specific with stuff in my blogs, so please excuse my generalities. Lately, I just don’t know what’s going on. Sometimes I think the whole home situation is ok and other times it’s just not cool. Sometimes I think things are in moderate order within the organizations and groups I’m a part of and other times I don’t know what to make of the situation. Sometimes I think life is good, that each breath is a gift and something to cherish for all eternity, other times I hate everything, desperately trying to find something to loathe about. Right now I’m confused. I don’t know what to think. I don’t even know if I should think anymore. Every time I take a step into the unknown it turns out to be something awful that I wished I would have stayed away from. But I hate the present. I don’t want to be where I’m at now. I want to think for myself, but at the same time there are so many things I’m just supposed to accept. I’m not like anyone I know, and the people I believe I am, in fact, most like are the ones that other people would consider my opposites. I have a future and a hope. It’s just as if there’s some enormous chasm in between my present and my future. So what am I supposed to do here? Jump for all I’m worth? Wait as if it will work itself out? Right now I’m not sure. I don’t want to make any moves that will seriously cause some horrible outcomes, but at the same I can’t just sit here and act like things are peachy. I want to run through the halls of my high school, I want to scream at the top of my lungs. But, I am seriously glad that I have the friends that I have; they by far have been such an inspiration and source of, well….friendship in my life. Oh blah, everything’s dumb…ah scratch that, a lot of everything is dumb. Well, it’s official, I’ve totally made a loser of myself for updating twice in one day.

And not to mention the factor that I’ve definitely nerd-ified myself for not wishing Jeremiah a HUGE Happy Birthday (belated). And also a big shout out to Rianna who was on Hannity’s show!!! Now everything is wicked bloody cool again.

It’s amazing how shallow I am. I can start this big ranting and raving update and by the end of it not care one bit about it. Maybe I have the hope part down pretty good already.

Morning: Well this week has been very busy thus far. Each day has provided for something new to completely dive in; not meaning that whatever it was happened to be a positive thing, just something in between a celestial pool and a food processor.

Sunday was ok. Still lots of questions regarding Fine Arts. Basically I just felt no leading to do anything and I definitely did not want to get involved just so I could that I did it.

Monday was a day off from school before exams this week. I met up with Adam, Dan, and Jessica for lunch at Macados. Then we cruised the mall as Adam explained about his recent discoveries at American Eagle (which I may check out sometime). Then we headed back over to Candler’s Station and saw Die Another Day. Bah. It’s a usual and common thing for sequels to totally suck. The bad thing is that it’s been this way for 30+ years with the Bond films. I’m not saying that each movie has progressively declined down the suck trail because, yes, each movie has it’s ok highlight scene (like the car chase in Die Another Day), but they just aren’t good anymore. 2.4 out of 10.

Tuesday was a full day at school. Not bad, only a few classes did more than review for exams. Then I had a basketball game that night. We won 60-50. I was just having such a bad game day; couldn’t control with dribbling (not like that’s unusual though) and just could not seem to accurately help the guards cut in. Oh well, there’s always tomorrow.

Which came the next day. A day of exams at school first, but I only had a long band class that afternoon where we practiced for 3 hours for festival. Then the basketball game came. This was against one of the Boonsboro teams, maybe it’s the 03 but the B teams are always the hardest (especially before they stopped letting them stack the teams). This was definitely my day. Of course I didn’t score many points but I was able to get the whole paint area sealed off from rebounds (which I got quite a few of actually). So my game was great and we won too, 59-53. But, sadly enough, I got totally smacked in the forehead with an elbow. It was an accident because the guy was going for a rebound. But I was knocked backwards and did the little drunken stagger-step for a few feet before I could realize what happened. Now I have a bruise above my eye, but that’s ok; winning always comes at a cost.

Oh yeah and after finally receiving some direction to follow regarding Fine Arts, I will now be participating in Male Vocal Solo (with serious Matt E-bass backup) and Percussion Solo. Sounds like fun? Oh it will be.

I promise I will never again update back-to-back so forgive me this one last time. A lot has happened this weekend, thus far, and I just want to write it down.

So many thoughts ran through my mind this weekend. Too many, as far as I care. I’ve noticed, in some incredible way, how the Christian music industry really does not effectively try to reach teens. Maybe it’s because there’s just almost no market for it, but from all views the CMI just doesn’t look like it’s trying. Most of their focus seems to be on the middle-aged and late adults. The model I have noticed in the past couple months is for teens to steer away from Christian music because, honestly, they can find the same values other places with just a better sound. And hey, I agree. So, anyways. Sorry Adam, I do like to rant

Last night was My Big Fat Greek Wedding with (another) Adam and Dan. That movie is all the hype says it is. Wow, such a great low budget movie by a no-name company; I’m impressed. This is, seriously, one of the most ‘wholesome’ comedies I’ve ever seen. Must see. 7.4 out of 10.

I’ve see way too many good movies lately. Since I had no forecasted plans for tonight I decided to sit in my theater and watch a DVD. I chose The Matrix, because, admittedly, I have never seen it before. Yes, yes, I know…what a fool am I for such an ignorance?! But yeah, that movie is pretty good. It’s 2 hours of me harping about everything that’s wrong with the world. Surprisingly enough, the theme revolves around my personal motto of ‘Life is what you make of it.’ And, of course, the visual work was nice; although I have seen better CG and have definitely heard better sound effects and digital panning. So yeah, enjoyed it all the way. My one complaint: for a movie with such an in-depth plot and surreal background story, why such a short and concise plot? This could definitely have been one of those 3+ hour movies you don’t mind sticking around to watch the ending. But regardless, 7.6 out of 10.

Life is crazy, but I’m ok with that. I can understand that I don’t always have supreme say over what happens in my world, but, hey, no worries, I’m not in control anyways.

The school week ended up nicely. We’re on a snow day today. They were calling for 4-8 inches. We got just less than 2, and it’s the dryest snow I’ve ever seen. I used my arm to wipe off one of the cars outide and my arms stayed fairly dry.

Not having to take many exams is good for me. But at the same time I guess it’s not such a great thing. With VT so close, I should probably start truly getting into the study habit and seriously focus on my work. ::sigh:: Life always has to begin with my decision to do something.

I cleared up most of the computer problems I’ve been dealing with (I’d stll rather have a tiBook though). The ripper works fine now and I’ve been spinning cds like crazy. Maybe by early May I’ll have this job completed.

Since I was just overflowing with extra time today, I decided to watch a movie at our home theater. Recently I went to BestBuy after hearing a lot of great reviews regarding The Shawshank Redemption and purchased it for myself for $9. Not bad for a classic. I watched this afternoon. It’s pretty good. Tim Robbins (AntiTrust) is one of my favorite actors anyways so it was easy to enjoy it. Plus Morgan Freeman. Even with only two well-known actors this movie really can develop. The plot is just great (very, very, very reminiscent of The Counte Of Monte Cristo) and the progression of characters is good too. I wasn’t in a very positive movie watching mood and I also took 5 minute breaks every half hour to continue my ripping work, so I never fully got into that movie mode. But still, this movie is definitely something to be seen. 8.3 out of 10.

Maybe I’m just saying this for myself, but "get busy livin’ or get busy dyin".

Life is just so…interesting. I’ve never had a week-beginning quite like this one. Everything has been odd and just strange.

First the uncertainties of Fine Arts hit me Sunday. Oh what fun. Although something will work out, there are going to be some major hindrances this year.

Monday, somehow a squirrel gets loose in school. It brought a rather delightful twist on a normally routine Monday morning. School was just so normal. Then I took my AP Gov test at the end of school and did surprisingly well, so that made me happy.

Getting home to a screwed up computer is just as thrilling and exciting. Especially when, in a 6 month-ish deadline, you have to rip every cd you own (in my case, that’s a lot of cds, remember I’m a dj). And it’s also even more fun when your reliant ripping utility decides to be totally stupid and not work even after reinstallations, updates, and reconfigurings. This is just fun.

And the fun doesn’t stop. When your eBay plans go hay-wire I must be there. Some folks apparently have absolutely no trust in other people and find it a foolish risk to buy things on eBay. I beg to differ. You, same people, trust 20+ year old automobiles to be safe on a day-to-day basis and aren’t even swayed from your belief when you witness a fatal accident; yet, with much heroism, you semi-commute daily and expect God to shower down upon you the safest trips available. eBay is not a risk, unless you’re stupid. Don’t tell me otherwise.
Oh, and the FP meeting was awesome. Very inspiring; left me thinking.

Then Tuesday comes with visions of flurries and wintry mixes in my head. We get something late afternoon, not much though. And still with a dumb computer to deal with these ripping issues get more intense and almost scary (I mean if I lose all this info, I’m going to have to kill mysef).

And then there’s the news of hearing that your best friend is in an accident. Not a car wreck or a pedestrian accident. No, a helicopter crash!! Now what a way to wake up!! Jeremiah’s fine though (thank God) but it stresses me out everytime I hear about it.

And life goes on, even with anal Americans sending their gas money straight to the Middle East where it is, in turn, funded into terrorist plots against ourselves. Americans are so foolish with their money, also with their pride. Most people think that because they live in America they are free from anything at anytime. This is very not true. The more ignorant we are about the world around us the more danger we put ourselves in daily. But I won’t even get into that tonight because I’m so tired and exhausted and want sleep desperately.

A snow day wouldn’t hurt either.