So does everyone remember my accident from 6 months ago? Yeah, it happened again. Not to me, but same time, same place, same situation.

That intersection really needs some stoplights.

( Read <u>Watchmen</u> last night. Some observations, cut for spoilers. Please excuse all spelling errors; I just woke up. )

And for a final observation that has nothing to do with the book, I realized I do, in fact, have a Boston accent. The amazing thing isn't that I have one, it's the fact I never really noticed for years. Yeah, that was silly, but I'm still sleepy and going back to bed now. Bye everyone!

If any of you have been wondering where I've been, last Friday, I was in a car accident. In order, I'm fine, both cars were totaled and I really didn't want to talk about it when it occurred.

( And now for something completely different! )

Everyone in the San Diego area say hi to my little brother!

P.S. Any advice for the clueless bachelor?

Get the water heater fixed (I've got about two inches of water on the basement floor) before the month is out.

Obama won.

Mom is bitching about it.

Gay marriage is now illegal in CA.

MA still has an income tax.

Posession of marijuana is now a misdemeanor instead of a felony in MA.

Dog-racing, however is illegal.

I'm sick. Again.

Now leave me alone for the rest of the month.

No, there really is nothing else to this entry.

Let me set the scene for you.

I come home.

My parents go out to a dinner party. Expected return time 10:30-11. A is working late, won't be back till 8:30. E is at school, will be picked up at 9. That means I'm home alone in the house. I'm not expecting anyone back till 8:30 or so.

Gets dark around 6. I go around, turn on all the lights, make sure all the doors are locked etc.

At 6:30 I start dinner. Go to the living room to watch the news (indigestion w/chicken dumplings, yay!) Just as I'm turning on the TV, I look up and see this disembodied hand clawing at the window from out of the darkness!

( The rest of the story )

Coming home, my brother A found a cat outside our house. Black, with white bib and socks. Rather large for a cat, the thing comes up to my knees.

No collar.

Of course, the first thing A does is try to pet it. And feed it. The thing is ridiculously human-friendly; it even trys to approach me and I'm notoriously bad with animals. And it likes pollock. And 2% milk more than water.

A wants to keep it as a pet. I'm not really sure what one is supposed to do in this case. Wouldn't it be better to call animal control or something similar?

(Btw, the thing is staying outside until it gets cold. Or until we figure out what to do with it.)

Yeah, 4 incidents in one year is a bit too many for me. Even if only two of them ever got reported to the insurance.

1. Getting stuck in the snow in January.
2. Blowing out my tire in . . . April? I think it was April, I'd have to check to be sure.
3. Ticket for not stopping at a crosswalk in July.
4. Draining my battery by leaving the lights on today.

My dad says it's just because I'm actually driving more this year, but still . . . Not a good record.

For fun today, my brother and I decided to count all the fake* food products in the house today. The results were a little depressing.

*Fake as in something was removed and then replaced with an artifical or chemical to mimic the taste or appearence of real food. Something that is simply free of the offending substance (i.e. fat-free, sugar-free) does not count as fake.

Fake Mayo
Fake Hamburger Buns
Fake Hotdogs (really, really bad)
Fake Sliced Cheese (ditto)
Fake Creamcheese
Fake Eggs
Fake Sugar
Fake Cola
Fake Chocolate
Fake Milk
Fake Butter
Fake Bacon

I don't need to worry about a heart attack, I'll die of cancer long before it happens!

My dad's watching an opera on PBS right now. I was watching with him for the past 45 minutes but then I left. I'm just not in the right mood for tragedy right now. Admittedly, it might have gone better if it wasn't for the fact that Isolde strikes me as a whiny teenager wangsting to her maid. If I wanted that, there are gazillions of such fics on Fictionpress.com.

So the Pops did the same wonderful job we've come to expect. The choreography between the orchestra and the fireworks was nearly perfect. The works themselves were a little dated, more geometric-shapes-on-geometric-shapes, fewer active, mobile whirligigs. The palette was a little on the green side, perhaps a tribute to this years host. This year seemed to have gotten to the organizers a little; many of the songs were in a minor key and more nostalgic, rather than the exuberance that usually marks the performance. I think I only heard one John Williams piece and even then I'm not entirely sure I was mistaken. This year also saw what appears to be a Copeland finish, rather than the '1812 Overture'.

All in all, a great performance.

Fortunately, I was already in the parking lot at work, not out on the highway. So I'm fine. On the other hand, it was on a speed bump and damaged the steering. So instead of the fifteen minutes it usually takes me to get to work, I've been taking the bus for an hour, back and forth, which usually leaves me too tired to post anything.

First of all, I'm never going to watch the movie now.

Second, a list of reasons why this movie didn't catch as much flak as Harry Potter did.
1. Setting: 'His Dark Materials' is clearly set in a fantasy universe. 'Potter' is 'what might actually be happening behind the scenes', this is 'not a chance but wouldn't it be cool'.
2. Despite setting, these books clearly aren't oriented for kids. 'Potter' started out being kid-focused, then gradually grew up. 'His Dark Materials' plunges you into adult-issues immediately. They're definitely the books your read after the 'Potter' series, not before. In other words 'Potter' is like marijuana, the gateway, 'His Dark Materials' is cocaine, the hard stuff.
3. At least 'His Dark Materials' actually mentioned religion. 'Potter', with its ghosts, is completely secular.
4. The movie bombed! No point in giving out free publicity!

Third, anyone want to take this quiz?


Finally, I really need a drink. But I'll settle for a cocktail icon instead.

Not much. Spent too much time studying. I did, however go to a teppanyaki grill for my birthday dinner. And learned that I have entirely the wrong personality for that type of thing. I felt very sorry for our server; he wasn't the usual and you could see he was having a hard time maintaining the conversation. You either need to be very outgoing or very drunk when you go, otherwise you just sit there and smile. And the food was overpriced. Good, but not worth what we paid for it.

Due to unforseen circumstances (my parents backed their car down a ravine), I'm currently looking to buy a car. Actually, my brother and I are going to split the price of one, but he'll be the one to drive it. Does anyone have any advice?

Edit:
The current front runner is the Honda Fit.

Also I hate being sick again! I just got over a cold and now I've got another sore throat! Argh!

To balance this out, last night I took my cousin out to dinner. It was nice to see her again and we talked a lot.

"Blue, Dressed in Black" CD by Eric Stuart

"Sphere" by Michael Crichton

Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust DVD

Prince of Tennis Manga Vol. 1

"Shade's Children" by Garth Nix

RG VEDA Manga Vol. 1 by CLAMP

RG VEDA Manga Vol. 2 by CLAMP

You can make an offer here if you want, but I won't guarantee that you'll get the item until after the eBay auctions are over.

While in France, ndless_mike and I happened to see the movie 'Eragon' (original language voice acting with French subtitles). It was very much a kiddie film, not particularly good or bad, rather short (good because we went to the 10 PM showing) and not really worth seeing more than once. Bad points: the plot was derivative, the dialog was stiff and there was no character development at all. On the other hand the conflict was fairly clear-cut and the actors did the best they could with their characters and the dialog.

Anyway, having seen the movie and wondering how this drabble made it to the bestseller list, I went out and bought the book. I've been reading it in between lectures and my homework, which is why this is only going up now, if you're curious.

So like I said, I bought the book. And now I see why they made it into a movie in the first place. The two are so different; it's almost like they took the theme of the book (boy with dragon), then wrote a completely different story for the movie. And then ripped off all the names for the characters.

There's plot! There's advanced conflict! World-building! Humor! There's actual character development! In other words, it's actually very good. Although the basic premise of the two is the same, the book explores the moral and political conflicts that the movie doesn't even acknowledge. Eragon isn't the naive do-gooder hero either, he starts out darker and actually grows into his role. And Brom nearly broke my heart.

All in all, I'd definitely recommend reading the book over the movie. It's actually good enough that I'm going to buy the sequel.

( Read more... )