Current waster of time...
So I installed Freedom Force on my computer a few days ago, and I totally forgot how awesome it is. For those of you not in the know, Freedom Force is a Squad based superhero action game based on some RPG system. I don't know what system, but aparently nobody used it, so they made this game. It rocks.
In other notes:
When I started writing this, Super Powers by OOkla the Mok was playing. I was going to end my post with some of the lyrics, but then the song changed to Traffic Lights by Monty Python. This reminded me that Kelsey hated the song and would get mad every time I sang it at a traffic light. There are certain upshots to being single. That is certainly one of them. Following Traffic Lights was Crayons Can Melt On Us For All I Care, a ten second ditty about wasting time and not crayons by Relient K. Now is the Finale from Rent. It should be noted that this is the first Finale and not Finale B which follows Your Eyes. Your Eyes was a bit of a let down. I said to my self "This took him a year to write?" and the actual Finale (that is Finale B) was also somewhat pointless musically. Yes (SPOILER) Mimi doesn't die, or returns from death, or what ever (/SPOILER) but that's about it. It's certainly not hummable. I like hummable music. Or at least music I can whistle to. I told Jacie about my whistling habits and for some strange reason she remembered them better then I did. The reason it's weird is because i don't remember saying them the way she said I did and they were also not exactly accurate. So maybe she didn't remember them so well after all. As I typed that last bit, Shall We Dance from Crazy For You started. It doesn't have much in the way of lyrics, but it did remind me of dancing with Jacie in front of the security camera. There are some downshots (is that a word?) to being single as well. I Should also mention that I intentionally stretched this post to this length talking about my music because I thought a short post about a five year old video game would be boring. It's now just a longer post but still relatively boring. La Vie Boheme B is playing. Hmmm, two Rent tracks that close together, how random. this is another instance of the 'B' phenomenon, as I've decided to call it. I'm pretty sure Rent is the only musical to utilize this phenomenon, but that's what makes it unique. Not very unique, but only because you can't modify the word unique. I told my father that it bothered my that people modified unique and he then started doing it whenever possible. Never show weakness. The Only Thing Worse Than Beating A Dead Horse Is Betting On One, is Relient K's short political diatribe with another long title. Jack, Jack, Jack, Head in a Sack, was a part of the introduction in the original cast of Into the Woods, but broken up on the track list for the London Cast. I prefer the connected version for the most part. For a short while the songs got ahead of me typing because they were short and I was long winded. I've now caught up and the song is Nothing Is Too Wonderful To Be True from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. I don't want to end with those lyrics so lets see what happens next. Baby's Head by Ookla the Mok. Good choice.
Baby's got a soft spot
The Lord protects his barbers.
Well I've had a whirlwind of adventure in the past few weeks.
Also It appears to have been nearly a month since I updated.
I mentioned my Spanish class going to a Mexican restaurant in the last post. This was fun. I mostly watched my class get drunk (they had $2 daiquiris.) I managed to get a ride with some of my classmates because I didn't want to drive. The two people I was riding with flirted the entire time even though she has a boyfriend. The whole thing hit a little too close to home so I just stayed shut up. I decided that the restaurant was close enough to school that I could walk back, so I did. I stopped by Ralph's Records on my way back. I've been meaning to go to Ralph's ever since I heard about it early in my freshman year, but it took two years for me to actually get there. I got three DVDs (what addiction?) Pleasantville, Pauly Shore is Dead, and Talk Radio. The first was because I just watched The Cooler and was craving some more of that delicious William H. Macy. The second because I've been meaning to see it for a long time. The third is an adaptation of a play by Eric Bogosian, which I recently read and enjoyed. The rest of the summer semester was rather uneventful, but I did manage to make an A in both of my classes.
Be forewarned that this post is going to wander from here on out.
Since I'm not currently in a relationship I've been thinking about them a lot. It started with my Final paper for Script Analysis. I wrote about the repetitive nature of relationships in David Ives's plays, particularly in the play
Ancient History. The play is about the relationship of Jack and Ruth, two characters that pop up in a few other Ives plays. The play begins ans ends the same way -- with Jack and Ruth dancing. It takes place over one evening where the two discuss their relationship and eventually decide to break up because of ideological (particularly religious) differences. They decide, however to break it off slowly because they like each other too much. They will just be together less and less until they are no longer a couple. This play resonated with me in part because of the break up I recently had (second in six months;) For longer than I care to admit, I knew that Jacie and I wouldn't end up together, but I didn't want to end it, because it was too nice.
After Kelsey, I decided that I had a clear definition of what dating was and it's purpose, that is a constant interview process for a future wife. However I've come to re-evaluate this a bit, because it now seems too strict. It is a good place to start, but what happens when on realizes that the relationship isn't going to work? There is such a great feeling in waking up next to someone beautiful (no, not just physically.)
In this year's Raider Red One Act Play Spectacular, the one thin that stuck with me the most wasn't a play but rather a dance called
Lay With Me. Even though the title is grammatically incorrect, it was a beautiful dance set to the song "Chasing Cars." I can't remember who sings it, and I only recently learned the name of the song, but it's a song that has stuck with me ever since I first heard it at RROAPS. The lyrics that matter are: "If I just lay here/ Will you lie with me?/ And just forget the world" That is what I want in a relationship. It doesn't seem like too much does it?
We'll return to our regularly scheduled schedule recap after I deal with some questions from My friends' blogs.
Lauren first because I read it first:
First I don't think you can fully understand Truth because we filter everything we know. However, there is one absolute truth and I seem to have this overpowering need to get as close to it as I can. This manifests itself in many ways, I'm Paranoid and I write. The paranoia makes sense, although the writing may not. When I write I am creating fictional relationships (not necessarily like the one discussed above)and examining how they work. This examination allows me to better understand how people work, because I step into their shoes and try to understand how another way of thinking works. (Aristotle said "For this reason, the art of poetry belongs to the genius or the madman; of these, the first are adaptable, the second can step outside themselves" I'm the madman.)
Justice is not the same thing as fairness. I'm not sure they should be. Is justice of man or God? I don't know, but I will give you my "Two Laws." These laws are what I came up with when ranting about politics and I think they should the basis for the rules of a good society. 1. Don't Hurt People 2. Don't Steal Stuff. The second, I believe, comes from the first but I thought it should be clarified.
Love. This is a hard one. There's a great bible verse on love: 1 Corinthians 13 4-7, or thereabouts. That's a good start. The Greeks had four different types of Love and those are alright too, but I think a little limited. (Look them up) I've been in love and I've not been in love and I think I know the difference. Get back to me when I'm dead and I'll let you know more.
Kaci, You're next.
How I pray:
Usually I pray silently. I start off by being thankful for everything. I Start off with the good things and move on to the bad. I try to thank God for the things I can't understand or the things that cause me pain, because I know they are there for a purpose. Often I stop here. If I go on, it's usually a conversation. A very good youth leader once asked me (and the rest of the youth group) to just listen to God for ten minutes. It's not easy. I try to focus on listening more than talking because anything I would bring up is already known. Rarely do I speak out loud, and if I do I'm in an extremely emotional state and it comes with tears or shouts.
My most recent break-up was partially caused by a difference in prayer. (Weird no?) She was strongly opposed to ritualized prayer and didn't even like the Lords Prayer. There has been many a night when I could do nothing but repeat the Lord's Prayer for hope. No other words would come. I stuck with "Thy will be done" because what else can we ask for?
I tend to end my prayers with Amen, or my slightly updated and translated version "Make it so Number One"
I don't think there is a wright or wrong way to pray. Do what feels right, God is listening anyway.
Also for the next post on your blog (after the prayer one) All we can do Love and Believe.
I got back home rather uneventfully, however before leaving My father and I went to the Lubbock Community Theatre production of
La Cage aux Folles. It was BAD. I was glad that I didn't have to take Jacie, because I would have had to say something nice about it and that would have been nigh impossible. Only one of the actors could sing. Only two were miced. (remember, the rule is: mic everybody or nobody, and if you have a choice choose nobody.) The orchestra was too loud, the chorus was painfully bad. The point of the showgirl chorus is to not be able to tell which members are man and which are women. This was the case in the LCT production, but only because they all looked like ugly men. Even the women. Especially the women. The director apparently didn't understand that the show is about beauty, not making fun of men dressed as women.
I bought a ukulele. I'm learning to play it.
I bought some more DVDs: Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, and Arrested Development season 3.
This year at Twin Arrows was my first as an adult staff member. It was very different and I had even less interaction with the participants than ever before. I got to know Mr. Price and Callahan better than I had previously, and Callahan even wanted to go on my ill planned trip to Canada. I spent a lot of the course on my computer between doing things.
After TA, was the BBQ. We went up to Castle Rock in one day. Sort of. We picked up my grandmother's van but had to return it because it was leaking fuel. Instead we took her Buick, which broke down in Colorado Springs. So we spent something like 12 hours in the car and still had to drive over two days. We spent the first part of the week in Denver, and visited a really cool half priced bookstore (not the chain.) We also spent a day trying to find a movie theatre and ended up seeing Evan Almighty. Not a bad film. Not as funny as I would have hoped, but with more story than I expected. Wednesday was my mother's birthday and we went to the Castle Rock Diner, and had fried food.
Thursday was the start of the BBQ proper. I'd rather not talk about it here because it's kind of exclusive. Ask me about it and we can talk.
I read a few books recently. "God Save the Mark" By Donald Westlake, and "The Terminal Man" My Michael Chrichton. The Westlake book was a quick and fun read in his typical comic style. The Chrichton book however made me question why I read his books anyway. I fell asleep many times reading it, and it was so horribly dated. I think reading his new ones is alright because they're only dated in the future, but the older stuff is way off base in it's depiction of what the future was going to be. I'm now typing on a computer that was, according to the book, an impossibility. I also started the Final Harry Potter Book. It's good so far. Another book I've picked up is "Soon I Will Be Invincible" I can't remember who it's by, but it's good. I tells the same story from the eyes of a new super hero and an evil genius. I really like how the narrative switches back and forth.
I started writing this post at 5:55 pm and it's now 1:27. I could probably go on, but my truncating of the last two paragraphs means I'm probably tired. This post is long enough anyway. Look for more soon. Also I'm pretty sure Kat is reading this. Please ignore anything you find displeasing. And sorry to Kaci for the grammar. BTW I might minor in English.
My senses finally blurred.
