Date: 2009-07-15 04:52 Subject: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Review Security: Public I'm feeling pissed off

WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THAR BE PLOT SPOILERS AND NERD RAGE!!!!!!!!!!

(Also, this was written while I was super exhausted at 5 AM, so forgive the lack of coherency, grammar, and a decent thought-process.)









I am a Harry Potter fan. I have been for quite some time, I admit to having read the series more times than any other series I own, which is too numerous (and embarassing) for me to count.
I felt the need to qualify that before I begin this review.
Tonight, I saw Harry Poter and the Half-Blood Prince. The sixth installment in the Hollywood adaptation of J.K. Rowling's 7 book series. Let me be honest, Hollywood butchered this movie. Don't get me wrong, the movie has moments of brilliance, but overall, I never thought I would be this disappointed by a Harry Potter movie. Not in this lifetime.

The movie starts out with a fairly unorthodox creative liberty that quickly becomes the bane of the movie. It starts out with a scene not even written about in the books. I can understand the screenwriter's need to shorten the introduction (Harry Potter books typically have a long introduction getting to the meat of the book) however, it was as if the directors felt like wasting 5 minutes of my time watching Death Eaters terrorize London would be amusing. Amused I was not, because I would have enjoyed a REAL introduction much more than the farce that was the introduction. No matter - there was still a good 2.5 hours left, David Yates can easily redeem himself in that amount of time. Alas, it was not to be.

Slughorn is well cast in my eyes, and certainly does the best job of maintaining credibility throughout the movie, though he certainly didn't seem as slimy and conniving as I had envisioned him in the books, I was pleased with his character, and his introduction was pleasing as well. And then start the comedy gags. Dumbledore joking about Knitting magazines was just off-the-wall terrible. Yet, there's still 2.3 hours left to go, I think we'll be ok, Yates did great in HP5! *hopeful look*
Continuing with creative liberty after creative liberty, I finally gave up hoping for a semblance of the Harry Potter story I'd come to love (and re-read before seeing the movie). Missing were the OWL results, the usage of the invisibility cloak - well, they used it in 1 scene I suppose. By the time we get to Hogwarts, we even lose Tonks being awesome and saving Harry on the train. Luna Lovegood does it. Awful. So the Tonks subplot gets the boot as well. Some joking passes, and Dumbledore gives his speech at the first dinner, and things seem back on track.

Which really brings me to a few of my gripes. The movie never really seems to get into a groove. You never feel like the plot is there, or that anything is really HAPPENING. The director cuts scenes often enough to imply the progression of time, but there is very little progression of plot in the movie. Honestly, without reading the books, I'd probably be pretty lost about halfway through the movie. Most of the first half of the movie feels like they took the best filmed scenes (adding creative libery) and strung them together without regards to any of the important plots. I felt robbed. And the creative liberty taken in the first thirty minutes of the movie was shocking as well. It was hard for me to realize I was actually watching Half-Blood Prince because the things being portrayed on the screen just weren't a part of the book. It was unbelievable that J.K. Rowling green-lighted this movie to me.

In taking creative liberties, the movie employs comedy at a level that I am still shocked by 3 hours after having seen the movie. I think Rose summed it up for me. It felt like an encore performance of a high school play where everyone took the script, ad libbed to create comedy, and the director decided it was okay and they ran with it. Some of the comedy was well timed and genuinely funny. But 2 hours into the movie, I felt like I was watching some weird movie that involved Harry Potter and a romantic comedy. The jokes were so heavy handed and forced I started cringing after a while. I don't ever recall high school being this forced and awkward - and I was awkward as they come in high school!
Okay, back to the "plot." For the next 1.5 hours, you are forced into meaningless drab that just doesn't really condense into a recognizable plot. Yes, all the trappings are there. Slughorn invites people to hang out, there's a Christmas party, Ron gets "lucky," Hermoine attacks Ron (but doesn't hurt him?????), and various other scenes of importance, but they lack being strung together as a proper plot. Snape is annoyingly absent after returning to Hogwarts, Dumbledore is sparing, and the "love scenes" are layed on thick and awkwardly.

Which is another frustration to me. I know this will out my inner geek to the world, but the Harry/Ginny lovestory was AWFUL. I think that JK did it so well in the books, and made quite romantic and feeling oriented, but in the movie, Ginny doesn't even break up with her boyfriend, and it's just Harry and Ginny looking at each other awkwardly (longingly?) and having a bunch of "funny" moments together. Ginny Weasley in the books is kickass, independent, and hot. In the movies, she's just a smitten girl who shows none of her spunk. Quite disappointing.

By the time the most infamous scene in HP6 comes around - the horcrux in the cave - the watcher is so worn down by overused jokes about the awkwardness of high schoolers, fragmented plotlines, creative liberties galore, and stale performances from the main characters mostly, you really have to try and be excited. Dumbledore and Harry in the cave is a brilliant scene in the book. But in the movie it is just bland. It feels rushed, there is no explanatory backstory as to why that cave is important, Dumbledore conveniently whisks them away to an unknown locale. Which is ok - I've read the books. But everyday Joe has NO IDEA what is going on at this point. The cave is so incredibly anticlimactic I can't begin to describe my disappointment. There's no intensity. You never feel peril, you never feel Dumbledore's horror at drinking the potion, or Harry's ineptitude during the whole experience, and you miss the best line in the entire book. (Harry says "It's ok, you're safe now" Dumbledore says "Of course I am, I'm with you Harry.") For a second, you see Dumbledore's true power as he wards off the Inferi, but that's about it. There's no suspense. It's just wham, bam, done, tower scene. And even then, the tower scene is a drag. It drags on, it doesn't use the invisibility cloak, and randomly Harry trusts Snape after 5.9 movies of distrust. The whole scene felt forced, and just plain poorly written and executed.

Then Dumbledore is dead. We mourn for approximatgely 2 minutes, then Harry resolves to kill Voldemort, Fawkes flies around, doesn't do his mourning call, end movie.

In short, Harry Poter and the Half-Blood Prince lacks true pacing. The scenes feel awkward, forced, and crammed with far more humor than true character development. The romance plots feel forced, awkward, and unreal (because that's not how they happened anyways!). The imagery is good, the effects for the movie are excellent, but overall, the movie just never gets off the ground. There is far too much creative liberty, slapstick/forced jokes, and wooden performances from the cast really make this movie the worst entry in the series for me. I never felt like there was real danger in the movie. Voldemort never shows his slimy face, Snape never feels present, Dumbledore is a passing thought, and the plot suffers because the connecting pieces of the book are just quick scenes that never help the viewer get an idea of what is going on.
I really hope this gets my point across. HP6 is a dud. The book was a fantastic dark entry into the realm of what Voldemort in control feels like. HP6 the movie is a childish romantic comedy with a few dark moments, but the experience is like watered down alcohol. I can't really recommend this movie to Harry Potter canon lovers. You (like me) will go crazy at the creative liberties.
For now, these are my thoughts. Feel free to discuss. I will hopefully comment in a less sleepy manner tomorrow after I've slept off my disappointment and frustration at having paid money to see this movie.

Date: 2009-07-10 12:19 Subject: Still Alive Security: Public

I keep forgetting to write in here. Stupid twitter. Update soon, promises.

Date: 2009-06-14 02:40 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public

The thing I find interesting about 3AM is it gives me all sorts of things to look back on. I love sitting on the porch and enjoying the relative peace and quiet that is commonly rare in a larger city. But when I do finally take those moments to relax, and even think back, I can't help but be faced with the many regrets I've had, along with the many good moments I've had.

I admit that I struggle far more with the regrets, the wrong decisions, the people I've hurt along the way, and my constant inability to keep in touch with people than I ever will with the good things - not to say I don't struggle with accepting good in my life as well though.

More often than not, I look back at my college career, wondering what precise moment took me to where I am today. It's a marvel, because the path I've taken has certainly given me the perspective I've needed to be WHERE I am today. In a failed attempt not to boast, I feel more mature than ever at this very moment, and I couldn't be prouder of the things I've managed to accomplish since moving to Toledo in terms of my ability to take responsibility for my actions, and what I've learned to adapt socially in a world where I simply do not fit in many times. I think the biggest blessing to me is seeing God's hand in every step of the path it took to get me to Toledo, but then after getting here, how God shaped me via my jobs and my friends and my romantic interests (both past and present).

Looking back, I feel so much less meek about myself and my opinions. If there's one thing I've learned, it is that holding my tongue is infinitely more mature than defending myself every moment I'm able. But never speaking is just as detrimental to my own mental health, and to the relationships around me. I love the ability to speak my mind, albeit I still struggle with hyperbole and the inability to use precise language in situations, it's no longer a completely different language to someone else. For instance, Sam tends to get confused when I say things that use descriptors in a figurative sense. "Millions, really pissed, never, always" are a few that come to mind instantly. I tend to use these words as feelings rather than descriptors, and it creates endless problems for me in my relationships, because frankly, what "never" means to me is completely different to someone who hears it and interprets it literally. When I say, "I'm never getting back into college." My mind interprets this as "I feel hopeless about my college situation." Whereas people around me interpret it as a literal "never" which in turn creates a sentence that is difficult to understand without context. So I end up having to go back and play the reinterpretation game in my mind, and translate to more precise wording for the people around me.

I've always felt that words are more than their literal meaning, but they take on a feeling when you speak them. When I say the word "frustrating" it conveys a feeling and a meaning, which is well and good - and precise - yet, I find the word to be distinctly lacking in what I find to be the true feeling of the word. Frustration lacks the prerequisite hyperbole that expresses the feeling that I'm trying to get at. I go back to the word "never" here, because Sam chides me often, as I use the word as a part of my normal vocabulary, and rarely with the correct meaning in mind. Never to me implies a feeling of finality, whether good or bad is really open to context. "I'm never getting back to college" implies to me a hopeless sense of finality at the situation. It all sounds so different when written out.

Nevertheless, the whole point of this exercise was to just mention that I feel blessed by the Lord lately in my life. My computer died yesterday, and already I've managed to get the parts needed to fix it to a much better piece of computer than what I currently own. This wouldn't have been possible without some incredible coincidences that really can only be chalked up to His hand.

The complexities of life never cease to amaze me. And I'm thankful that I can sit here and enjoy these complexities - in my own life and others - to the fuller extent than I'd've ever dreamed as a kid. Even the regrets, the tough choices, the wrong choices, and the failures feel somewhat less burdensome when I take the moment to see what God has done for me in the past two years.

Sometimes life only starts when you learn to forgive yourself even before you forgive others. I'm getting there.


I can't stand the sound
Of losing control
But whenever you're around
I can't find the breath to speak at all

Date: 2009-05-20 16:18 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public

I'm heading out to work soon, but I wanted to mention a new addiction. Rose and I impulsively decided to get Plants Vs. Zombies the otherday from PopCap games. oh my gosh.

I woke up at 11:30 and next then I knew it was 4 and I had to go to work in an hour. That's a good game right there. I thoroughly enjoy it. Totally worth the 10 dollars. I'm not even through adventure mode yet.

Any of you guys played it?

Date: 2009-05-19 00:48 Subject: Cowboy Bebop Security: Public Background Theme Royksopp - Royksopp Forever

So, since I quit WoW, I've found myself with far too much extra time on my hands. Sleeping is of course, out of the question due to whatever this insomnia + being bored with sleeping thing is. I'm fine with 4 - 6 hours of sleep a night I think. I'll be ok.

So in place of WoW, I've picked up a few bad habits, mixing, playing Pokemon Platinum, and recently watching TV Shows/Anime. I've been trying to catch up on Heroes, but I decided to start watching it with Rose so I'm starting all over again. It's a great tv show.

But also I've been checking out Cowboy Bebop. It's freaking amazing. The intro to the show really captures me. Rarely do I actually want to watch the intro to a TV show. After seeing Scrubs 200 times, I am pretty tired of it, yet, seeing CB's introduction is so thrilling and jazzy that I can't help but get caught up in the brilliance. I have no true words to explain CB, but I'm just going to say that I'm in the middle of Session 5, and it's fantastic.

Date: 2009-05-17 19:36 Subject: I already slacked. Damn it. Security: Public

So. Tottenham really recovered well this season. They could finish in the top 7. That's pretty sweet.

Also, saw Star Trek. Was blown away by it.

I broke my finger a few days ago. It makes typing really annoying. It's my pinky: aka the one that hits the enter key a lot. You see my dilemma quickly I hope.

Thusly, this is a short post.

Date: 2009-05-03 06:06 Subject: Of Insomnia and Girlfriends Security: Public I'm feeling listless Background Theme The Juliana Theory - French Kiss-Off

Due to the lack of a normal sleep schedule, I find myself wanting to write at odd times in the night. Especially when I should be sleeping. Like now.

Today was quite nice. I woke up about 12:00, my roommate needed me to bring him his spare car key, I got home and jumped into some Warcraft and got my mage to level 18 or so, and I'm enjoying the levelling ride instead of the honor grind. It's a nice diversion from doing all the loan crap that has to be done. Reminder: send out loan papers on Monday. Okay.

Then I hit up CedarCreek at the 5:15 service with Rose. What a great message. The speaker was Gary Heugen (sp?) who is president of the IMJ or IJM or something. I don't feel like looking it up to be correct. I'm tired. Anyways, it was mostly about Christian leadership, and I found it encouraging but also questioning. I suck at leading, so, it's interesting to hear people tell me how I can take steps at not sucking. All in all, it was pretty sweet.

I proceeded to take Rose to Chili's for food and beer tastage. I had her try Stella Artois today, and it reminded me why i never ever drink Stella.... It's just a really ungood beer. Ah well, it happens.

Afterwards, I brought Rose back here and we read some Theology books together for fun (yeah, total dorks) and then watched the first three episodes of Heroes. Which means that now she's obsessed and it's fun to watch her try to figure out everything that's going on in the show.

I am enjoying my re-watch of Heroes too, the shock twists and turns, the revelations, even in just the first 3 episodes is quite striking. It's really easy to see how they grip people with the story. But as a critique, it frustrates me how slow-paced the story can be, and also fragmented. Sometimes the work is just...mediocre at best. But who am I to tell them what to do. I still watch it and enjoy it mad crazy.

baby's got a new best friend
he always seems to understand
and he knows just how to make her laugh
he's rich and white and full of influence

Date: 2009-05-02 05:41 Subject: I feel like blogging.... Security: Public Location: i can see your house from here Background Theme Jason Mraz - 10,000 Motherfuckers

...and since I no longer have a website. LiveJournal will suffice for my needs.

For those of you who don't remember me, I'm TK. Oh hai there.

If I told you that time breeds maturity, I think I would be overstating the obvious. Yet, it's appropriate that every time I sit down at my computer and think about life, and where I've been, what I'm doing, and where I'm going, I find myself laughing at what I thought about myself 6 months ago (and more specifically, how mature I was). It's as if I wasn't really me. The incredible sense of deja vu I feel is a byproduct of the fact that there are days when I just can't help myself but think about the past and the future, and how I know 6 months from now, I'll look at this post and laugh.

So, maybe I can have a preemptive laugh. But quietly, the roommates are still sleeping. I should be sleeping, but I enjoy this 6 AM nonsense sometimes. Going to bed as light creeps into my window. Maybe I like the comfort of knowing the sun WILL rise. Sometimes my faith is quite lacking.

But for the better (and in spite of my unimpressive faith), God doesn't really seem to want to give up on my life. And hope really doesn't give me the chance to be crushed either. There's a definite plan here, even if it's sketched out with my unfortunate lack of foresight, my misdeeds, and the moments where I feel weak, I can't help but admit that my life never seems to get so far out of control that self-determination, prayer, friendship, love, and God aren't able to heal me. In some ways, I find that thought annoying, yet it's more a comfort now that I would've ever admitted a year ago.

So where do I go from here? Faith. God provides. "Give us this day our daily bread."

My status? Well, I'm in debt, but the retroactive deferment papers are being sent in tomorrow, and then I cross my fingers. Perhaps God has a plan for me on this one too. I can only hope.

But it's nice to wake up everyday with a job, my bible, friends, and God. And Rose. Let's get into that some other day though.

The point is. Even at my most philosophical, the best I can come up with is an overwhelming sense of contentment. Life isn't perfect. An employee is stealing money from Subway right under our noses, I haven't yet applied to UT due to my loan being in default, my car is dying, and I only have sandwich meat in the fridge as my sole nourishment for the coming week. But God provides. Who would have ever thought my faith would play such an important role in my contentment? Not only faith though, but direct provision from God, that there is no other explanation for. When 45 dollars towards unknown (and now known) expenses at the beginning of the week, it would be blasphemous for me to even begin to say that anything other than God had provided me with these things. So I move forward with faithful contentment.

I suppose this is all a bit tertiary, because I don't check LJ anymore, but who's still out there? I'm enjoying this quasi-thoughtful moment, and I can't help but hope that you guys are all doing well. I've book marked the LJ update page to constantly remind myself that writing helps me pour out some of my thoughts that I keep bottled inside. Maybe tomorrow I could post something less inane? Alright, it's a goal.

And my how time does fly.

we should all keep pretending
that our dreams are patent pending

Date: 2008-02-07 16:42 Subject: Still Alive Security: Public

I am the best lurker on the interwebz.

Anyways, I'm still alive and surviving here at home. Barely.

My plans are finally moving forward, I will be living in Toledo in about two weeks. It's very exciting (and daunting!), but nice to know I'll finally have the chance to live on my own and be away from parental units and the stress that goes along with that.

Other than that, life is pretty stressful, but as long as I survive the next few years, I think everything will work out for the best. I'm terrible at LJ, I apologize.

Date: 2007-10-01 21:22 Subject: It's That Time Of the Month Security: Public

Where I post at the beginning of the month with the intentions of updating this more often, but I end up being too damn lazy.

Still doing the vending business. I've picked up a Magic: the Gathering addiction in my spare time. God help me.

Date: 2007-09-12 20:22 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public I'm feeling irritated

As an aside: canker sores on your tongue SUCK!

*burns tongue with hot liquid*

Date: 2007-09-12 18:52 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public I'm feeling melancholy Background Theme Royksopp - There Is A Light For Poor Leno (Silicon Soul Hypno House Dub)

Can you believe that I"ve never read 1984 before?

I thought I had, but I checked it out from the library today, only to find that I hadn't read it, and had tricked myself into thinking I'd read it. A bit of a 1984 contradiction I must say. Mmmm Doublethink.

Honestly, the book itself was not a hard read, though there is a lot to digest, and I'm not sure that the prospect of reading the book again so soon feels right to me. Even so, I'd like to point out that I still enjoyed A Brave New World more than 1984. There has been some debate amongst a few of the members of the DC of the superiority of 1984 to A Brave New World, and now I can say that I find myself enjoying ABNW much more than 1984. I hope that doesn't make me a bad person. It might just be my personal reaction to 1984 because of how destructive it is to my psyche to even imagine such a reality. haha.

The book took me about 2 and a half hours to read, (it's much shorter than I thought...), but I thoroughly enjoyed each section, though I will admit that I romantically loved Book II the most. For obvious reasons, if you know me.

What are some other dystopian novels I haven't read yet? I suppose I will always prefer dystopian over utopian, but I'm sure there might be some of those I enjoy as well. I don't know why I'm so fascinated with the whole genre anyways, but I guess you have to enjoy something.

That is the first book I've read in a month that wasn't a reread too, so I'm at least proud of myself for reading something at least sort of good for my literary knowledge.

Anyways, the weeks just go by so damn fast, because every day blends together. I hope to change that sooner or later. I think my life would be better if I could spend everyday with Amanda, rather than dealing with my pathetic family.

Ah well, one can dream eh? For now, I've got to go get back to the humdrum of life I suppose. Load the van, listen to mom/dad bitch and moan, hope to talk to Amanda soon. You know, the usual.

Anyways, hope you all are doing well, I haven't checked LJ in 3 or 4 days so truthfully I'm a little behind on all your lives! /stalker

take me out tonight
take me anywhere
i don't care (i don't care, i don't care)
just driving in your car
oh please don't take me home
because it's not my home

Date: 2007-08-01 19:23 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public

I feel petty, I just extended my paid-time period by 3 days for a very minor inconvenience. 3 days. *sigh*

Date: 2007-07-16 15:11 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public I'm feeling frustrated Background Theme Prodigy - Phoenus (Pop Razors)

I am almost completely burned out of Pokemon. I'm about halfway through Pokemon Emerald, and I fear I lack the heart to finish the game. Suddenly getting a 491 pokemon seems rather pointless! Especially since I know absolutely NO-ONE with whom I can play the damn game with anyways. It's rather frustrating as a whole to not have anyone around me that I can't play games with in any capacity. I crave the sort of competition that I inevitably get from playing with someone else, even if it is silly, damnit, I want to play against other people, not just be in my own shell forever.

As well, I'm trying to deal with my parents, especially momm, but she's getting more insane by the day. One day she's happy go-lucky, the next she talks about how she wishes she was dead and that life sucks, etc. It's frustrating. She's 45 not fucking 16. Jesus Christ, I thought I was the immature one?

I do not want to do this, but I feel as if I really really need to go find a real damn job, because I can't count on mom to ever get off her ass and take initiative to do something instead of bitch and moan. No wonder nobody wants to hang out with her. I was chilling with my dad last night, we were talking and having a nice time just catching up and stuff, and then mom walks out and what's the first thing that comes out of her mouth? "God it's too humid outside, I hate it out here." "Sigh, I don't know where I'm going to get the money for blah blah blah." It really is frustrating.

I wonder if I could actually survive a factory job. Getting 2nd shift would be ideal, but I'm getting to the point where I'd rather have something rather than nothing.

Date: 2007-07-15 21:31 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public I'm feeling exhausted Background Theme Utada - Animato

I feel the need to continue to start posting more often. Go me. /motivation!

This weekend was rather nice. Friday, I drove out to D-Fi, picked up Amanda, and proceeded onto my destination, Bluffton Ohio.

Pretty much, it was a good time. There was a small scheduling conflict that almost ended up having me give up my 60 minute DJ slot, but we worked it out and I played for 45 minutes. It's so thrilling to be mixing a song, and look up to see 10 - 15 people all dancing to what YOU are playing. The moment there is more fantastic than I can possibly describe. Safe to say, it's something I really love.

Saturday, I went to Amanda's camper, and we hung out there all afternoon/evening/tothenext day. Honestly, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I was very worried about being around Harold for an entire day period, and the guy is just a bit mental. Things went okay, even though I found myself a few times going mad at the whole not-having-anything-to-do, I still rather enjoyed the relaxation, and I didn't let anything get me down. Things were good all-in-all.

Today I went to Swanton and visited Amanda's real-dad, her step mom, and step-grandparents. Amanda's step-grandma has this problem where SHE DOESN'T CHANGE THE INTONATION OR VOLUME OF HER VOICE AND CONTINUES TO TALK UNTIL HER POINT IS SUFFICIENTLY MADE BY HERSELF. AND THEN A LITTLE TIDBIT EXTRA. Amanda's step-mom is the same way sort of, but to a lesser degree, and there were several points I wanted to stab my ears out. Even so, I really like Amanda's dad. He makes me feel like a human being, and I can have an opinion and thoughts and jokes without feeling as though I'm being judged for every action. He's a pretty cool guy, knows a bit about cars, and is pretty down-to-earth. Not much else to say about that. We ate and swam in the pooland relaxed some more. Good times again.

I have to say, this was a nice weekend. I would have liked a little more one-on-one time with Amanda, because we've been having a few spits and spats lately, mostly just because I think sometimes the distance gets to me and I get cranky. Something I have to work on. Even so, I still love Amanda dearly, and I had a rather good time this weekend associating with her family.

Things on the Amanda front other than that are good. I've been looking a little more at diamond rings, and it has spurred me onto getting a better paying job, so I can afford the ones that I've looked at. The price-range I've found is pretty decent, and I'm enjoying myself looking and fantasizing. I've been thinking about how I'm going to propose and stuff, and when, but those details are not going to be released to the general public just yet. :) Ah being a sneaky bastard.

And so: I think I'm going to sign off for the evening. I feel as though if I don't post for a week, I have more stuff to talk about. You know?

And yes, I am listening to Utada. No, I'm not ashamed. She's freaking awesome. I want her Japanese albums.

Date: 2007-07-09 12:14 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public I'm feeling lethargic Background Theme James Figurine - Pretend We're On A Race and I'm On Your Side

It's rather easy to say "Oh, I'm going to update my LJ this week", and rather hard for me to find the time and composure to want to sit and actually write out my current thoughts and activities.

Mostly I don't write in here much anymore because I feel as though it's all been said before, many times in fact. And I talk a lot about my life with Amanda, and sometimes it just seems like that's all that matters.

Even so, I know I should keep everyone else in my life updated too.

Mostly I'm being lazy at home, and I'm not certain why. I do help my mom on her job everyday from about 4 - 5 AM until 10 - 1PM, but I just don't feel like I'm accomplishing much right now.

Here's the crux of the matter, I am boring! At least, my life seems boring typed into simple paragraphs, and that drives me insane.

However, for posterity's sake, I'll continue.

There is a DJ show in Bluffton this Friday that I was asked to perform at, and so I have been working nightly on a new set of tracks that I can play and rock with, and it's been a very frustrating and self-demeaning process (I actually listened to that song??? /incredulous), but I feel as though it's starting to come together. I'm pretty honored/flattered that I was asked to play, considering I don't feel as though I am very good at DJ'ing and I'm rather new, compared to many other people who do this sort of thing. I like to justify myself by saying that everyone starts out somewhere, but I hate the thought of always being stuck in the 'starting somewhere' phase. Even so, I'll admit I'm a little excited (and maybe in shock) to be playing with the likes of people whom I find to be close to (if not already) very good professional DJ's. One of my DJ mentors, Thanatos, will be there, and it will be nice to see him again, and then PsysiX will be there, along with of course, Nixphonic. It should be rather interesting. I just hate the process. 10 total days-worth of hard work and music listening and mixing and fretting for just an hour of play-time seems excessive.

In other news, I managed to find a DnD campaign in the area, and I'm stoked about that. Not much to explain here.

My stomach hurts, and I'm hoping it's because I just haven't eaten yet today. I got a little bit of my life out on the screen and I feel better. So for now, farewell.

Date: 2007-06-23 13:21 Subject: Dangerous Power Security: Public I'm feeling complacent Background Theme Gabriel & Dresden - Dangerous Power (Kuffdam and Plant Remix)

I'm in a weird mood. I keep SAYING that I'm going to write in here, but I never do. I'm weird like that.

Finally beat Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, and I'm rather happy with the game, but not the ending. The final boss was incredibly hard and I had to change my entire play-style just to beat him. That's not really how I enjoy games, although I must admit the way I was playing before was pretty cheap and required very little skill.

I think I'll go back and finish Pokemon now (I never did that...) and then I need a new game to play. I discovered that we have Tetris Worlds for the PS2 so I know that I'll have something to do for a while. I was thinking of either doing a replay of Final Fantasy IX using an FAQ to discover secrets that I didn't uncover during my first game, but I'm not quite sure yet. I was thinking about getting Lunar Knights, it's supposed to be pretty fun for the DS. Barring that, I guess I need to look into getting a new game for the Wii, but I'm just not sure there's anything I want to drop 50 dollars on currently. I was also considering getting Odin Sphere for the PS2, but throughout all my research I still don't know if I'm 100% sure that I'll like it.

Unfortunately, I really ought to be saving my money for a new car stereo, the connectors in my old stereo started going out a few months ago, and now I can barely get my stereo to stay on, let alone play music, and let me tell you, that is a frustrating feeling. I found one at best buy for 199 dollars, that I'm fairly certain I'll get. It's an Alpine, which is good. I am sad because it doesn't have XM capability, and I can see myself getting that at some point, but even so, it's got the iPod connector capability, and it looks like a 100 dollar deck instead of a 200 dollar one, which means it is less likely to be stolen. Sehr gut.

Other than that, things are going fairly well here. I'm pretty much poised to take over Mom's vending business, which should be interesting, I think I can turn a fairly nice profit on that, if I can get Mom to get a new job.

Things with Amanda are going well too, we've had a few arguments in the past couple weeks, but those things seem to be smoothing out, I personally just think that we were destined to argue about things, because no relationship is perfect. But even so, I'm glad we didn't let them get insanely stupid.

I should be going, I'm working on cleaning out the room downstairs and then converting it to my room which is...going to be sweet. The room is probably close to 20 x 15 or something like that, which gives me a *lot* of room to work with, which is my biggest frustration of my upstairs room. Hurray! And it will keep me a little more independent from the family.

I know, I know, it sounds like one of those hugely nerdy "I'm going to live in my parent's basement" kind of things, but it's not. Our basement has been fully finished for 5 years, but it is basically out of use, because we have decent furniture upstairs and a big-screen TV that we never wanted to lug downstairs into the sitting room, so it's a bit abandoned. I am hoping to clean it up a little bit and use it for a year or two while I finish up college. ... Please tell me I'm not turning into a creepy basement nerd. Please.

Oh, and another thing, I've finished my reread of most of the Dragonlance Canon, except for the War of Souls trilogy which I found to be a bit lacking in the magic that the Twins and original Trilogy had. I just started into the Thomas Covenant series by Stephen Donaldson, and I'm finding it to be very descriptive. I haven't really read enough to form and opinion, but I am hoping there is a little less internal monologue on the part of the main character, I find his bitterness annoying, and his egotism an intriguing quality next to his bitterness.

So what comic is better? Pearls Before Swine or Get Fuzzy? I'm having a hard time deciding.

Like a flower, I want to be the sun that you grow to.
Dangerous power...

Date: 2007-06-10 16:35 Subject: Ocean's 13 Security: Public

I've just gone and seen Ocean's 13, and I must say I was impressed. I enjoyed the plot, and it was just twisted enough to make me grin. It is MUCH MUCH better than Ocean's 12, and I'll definitely be buying this for my collection. I don't feel like writing much of an in depth review, mostly because I'm lazy.

I've also gone and installed VM Ware in Ubuntu and then Windows XP, so I have both operating systems running AT THE SAME TIME. Very cool stuff.

Date: 2007-06-01 21:03 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public I'm feeling thoughtful Background Theme The Beatles - A Day In The Life

My allergies are killing me. They're backing up my sinuses and giving me a *major* headache. I've taken allergy medicine and even some sinus medicine to relieve the pressure, but it's not helping. I hate the stuffed up feeling that my head is clogged. Boo.

In other news, I haven't written in here in a while. Days go by so fast and I keep checking LJ, checking forums and then just letting it all go.

Truthfully though, nothing of all that interesting anything has happened.

My parents went through a phase as I was coming home talking about divorce, that kept me kind of down, and Amanda and I did have a spurt where we were being a bit crabby with each other, but time and patience and understanding seems to have worked everything out.

I can't find a job in the area. I haven't looked particularly hard, but I haven't not looked either. I'm just too idiosyncratic to find a job. I work hard, but the jobs I'm looking for are career jobs, not summer jobs. I might as well look for a career job anyways, since I don't think I'll be attending college here in the fall as it is. Even so, I hate looking for jobs. I really do. With a passion. And I don't know why.

I've been playing a *lot* of Pokemon Pearl lately (and not ashamed to admit it), and it's fantastically nice. There have been a few parts that were annoying, but nothing overly hard about it. It's simple, elegant and somehow immensely complex if you try hard enough. I like it. By chance, I picked up a Fire Emblem game today too, and I've diddled around with that. I like it, a bit simpler than FFT I think, which is good, because I just didn't have the head for FFT.

Have any of you ever seen Scrubs? Since being home I've watched it numerous times and I find that it's way better than I ever imagined. It has class, but it's amusingly sarcastic, preachy even, but amusingly preachy. I just can't get enough of it. If BitTorrent worked at home I'd be downloading all the seasons to watch, but alas it doesn't. I'll have to figure out another way to watch them all.

Have you ever noticed how the days seem to drag on, but time slips away? I've been feeling that way a lot lately. I wake up in the morning and sometimes I just close my eyes and wonder how I'm 21 freaking years old. It's getting to me. A sentiment that I've expressed lately to close friends is that I feel as though I'll never have enough experience for one thing, or I'll never be 'old enough' for another thing, and it will be a trend the rest of my life. I'm stuck in this hump of just wishing I was more of...everything and failing because I'm too worried about not being good enough, instead of just being me. Does that make sense? My head says yes.

I am going to go take some more sinus medicine, eat a cupcake and clean my room a little, followed by...some sort of gaming experience I suppose. I've been digging the games lately. A lot.

Date: 2007-05-11 21:13 Subject: It's been a while! Security: Public

Whoa I haven't blogged in a while.

Hey guys I'm alive :)