Thanksgiving was all well and good, as far as that goes. We got to watch the special edition Lord of the Rings dvd and we ate Mom's enchiladas and listened to "Alice's Restaurant". And then we watched Koyaanisqatsi. Dang. That movie is so amazing. I'd practically grown up listening to the music, which was eerie and haunting and fascinating enough, but the movie was all that and hypnotic. There was beauty in the images, and there were shots that had some obscure meaning open to your own interpretation, and the blend of film and music was extremely well done. There was no separation of soundtrack and film, there was only the whole. In case you can't tell, it made a lasting impression.

KOYAANISQATSI
ko. yaa. nis. katsi.
n. 1. crazy life. 2. life in turmoil.
3. life disintegrating. 4. life out of balance.
5. a state of life that calls for another way of living.

Mom and Dad have been traipsing about Toronto at the AAR/SBL conference for the last few days, meaning that yours truly has been in charge of the house. Trips like this make me admire and respect my parents much more than usual. Generally things have gone well: I just stock up on movies and Pippa bascially takes care of herself for the most part. It also helps that I've been trying out a new method for keeping myself on the right track: I do not allow myself to feel sad/angry/mopey/depressed. In unavoidable situations I listen to soothing music and go back to square one. It's worked for three days, and I have high hopes for future success.

Tunes: "Three MCs and One DJ", Beastie Boys; "Slippery People", Talking Heads.

The other night I went with a group of friends and my little sister to see the new Harry Potter movie. I hadn't been expecting too much. Sequels in general tend to be the weakest part of a series, and this rule of thumb is certainly true of the book. However, Harry Potter 2 was, if not a better movie, certainly more entertaining than the first. The screenplay was relatively well adapted, but as a result of having to compact a somewhat hefty book into approximately 160 pages, the movie is nonstop action-- not a minute is wasted plotwise, excepting Quidditch. The camerawork is fairly par with last time: wide, sweeping shots of beautiful landscapes and architecture whenever possible. The acting is generally well done, especially Kenneth Branagh, but because we only see Harry at times when he is under the heavy burden of saving the world, there isn't as much variety in his character as one might like. There is also a beautifully done bit at the end (SPOILERS BEWARE) when Ron and Harry reunite with Hermione, and Hermione flings herself into Harry's arms, and turns to Ron. The moment of awkward and conflicting emotions between and inside them is absolutely perfect as they stand for a moment, and then shake hands, extending their arms as far as possible.

Tunes: "Woke Up This Morning", A3; "No Thugs In Our House", XTC.

Diagnostics check: Eyes still dilated. Pulse fast but strong. Can't sit still but managing all right. Ah, the wonders that adrenaline, testosterone, hormones, and chocolate can do. Anyweay, sorry abou the slow week. I've been behind, plus my wonderful mother discovered the text I've been screenwriting from, so I've been bingeing on that project the last few nights. But we had the first real snowfall today!!!!! I celebrated the event with some of my very close friends in a bonding ritual involving makeshift hot chocolate and candles. But wow am I wired. This is not the condition I need to be in, considering I have to get up early for church tomorrow morning, but I'll manage somehow.

Tunes: "Hiphopper", Thomas Rusiak; "Jackass", Bloodhound Gang.

This morning I roused myself at a horrifyingly early hour and still managed to have a very good day. I'll file that under "Freak Happenings to Investigate". So I took the L to church, arriving at 7:45, tied up some loose ends, and bummed around for an hour or so, during which Mom and I got the news about our new car. So that was a boost, and I then spent an hour hanging out with my friend and ex-co-head boy Mark, which is always fun. Choir went all right, and I went to lunch at Clarke's with Stu and Connor and Mr. Bee, after which I went home, kept loading up the iPod, went back to church for youth group, which was exceptionally good today as we got a larger crowd than our usual three or four. I came back home, put even more songs on the iPod (971 songs and counting), and played lots of cribbage with my online cronies, one of the simple pleasures in life.

Tunes: "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)", Nine Days; "Mambo De La Luna", Kirsty MacColl; "Lose Yourself", Eminem.

Today was a happy day. I had geometry class in the morning, which was ok. But when I got home... IT was there waiting for me. With trembling hands, I tore open the package and beheld the sheer magnificence of: My very own iPod. OK, thats where most of the drama goes out the window. It took me three hours to get it to work properly, and that was a erious bummer, but oh my was it worth it. Bearing the vast majority (914 songs) of my music library, with a gig left to spare, and only the size of a deck of cards. And i don't care about those whiners complaining about the size of the earphones. The quality more thatn makes up for any size problems (which I incedentally haven't noticed). Also, in recent events, I got a nice easy scene in drama class this go-round. We're doing the Glass Menagerie and I am one of many Toms.

Tunes: "What's Golden?", Jurassic 5; "Across the Universe", Fiona Apple

Hey there. Halloween weekend was... really fun. The actual day went fine; all the seminary kids came in a clump, and that was about it for trick-or-treaters at our house. I didn't go out, seeing as mom bought candy for many many more kids than came. Friday night I sang the Fauré reqiuem at the all soul's mass at St. Luke's, which was the most beautiful musical performance I've been a part of since last Christmas. And then Saturday. Football practice, a few hour's work at the office, and just enough time to grab a bite for dinner and throw on a quick'n'easy costume (Steve Jobs. Hey, jeans and a black turtleneck and you're set) before going out to a party hosted by some of the local homeschoolers. It was really intensely great. I'm sure that most of you reading this are familiar with party setups from your teenage or college years. I don't get to do that very often so this was a real treat. However, the morning after wasn't exactly fabulous. First off, after a really intense long party, I tend to go through a stage I call Post-Party Limbo, limbo being used in a more purgatory-esque case rather than the stick. I sit around, only listen to quiet, gentle music, and am generally listless. Now this usually works fine, I just space out for a day. However, waking up bright and early for three and a half hours of church doesn't exactly help the case. So now I'm finally back on a (relatively) normal track, and ready to face another long and daunting week.

Tunes: "Freedom", Housemartins; "Smash the Marketplace", Screaming Blue Messiahs.

For the last two weeks I've gotten server errors every time I tried to post something. So I eventually complain to Dad, who logs into my blogger account, and it started working perfectly again. So I'm back! last weekend I went to the McSweeney's vs. TMBG show down at the Athenaeum, which was awesome. The show was split into three parts: The first part was the opening band, the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, who are amazing, being a family of three: the father plays keyboard and sings, the mother runs the slide projector, and the eight-year-old daughter plays drums and sings. They are incedentally on Conan O'Brian next tuesday night, if any of you stay up that late. The second part of the show comprised readings by such esteemed literary, graphic, and radio personalities as Dave Eggers, Keith Knight, and Ira Glass. And the third section was the set. they may only have had fifteen minutes for their set, but gosh darn it, they wanted to make it one of the best fifteen-minute sets ever. And they did. With classics such as "Why Does The Sun Shine?", oddities like the 18-songs-in-3-minutes set "Fingertips", and newer songs ("Robot Parade", "Au Contraire"), it was truly a night to remember.

On a side note, I recently received a Handspring Visor from my mother, and I just ordered my iPod, so I feel the vestiges of geek euphoria coming on.

Tunes: "Bill's Rap", the Cardboards; "Follow You, Follow Me", Genesis

I had a choir rehearsal tonight for those choir memberswho volunteered to perform the Fauré Requiem for the All Souls service, and I'm still basking in the aftermath of such glorious music. I haven't had that good a musical experience since the ATBs of the men and boy's choir performed Biebl's Ave Maria last Christmas. In the way of more random thoughts, I'm excited about the upcoming They Might Be Giants concert that I'm going to this weekend, and Tim and I are close enough to finished with our script that we're thinking about agents and such. Maybe Halley can give me a tip or two...

Tunes: "Requiem", Fauré; "Ave Maria", Biebl

Blogger has been REALLY ticking me off lately. Server errors have made me unable to broadcast my (mostly nonsensical and unimportant) writing. But anyway... The last two nights I have trekked into downtown Chicago with my church choir to eat a fast-food dinner and spend three hours a night being filmed for BBC's "Songs of Praise". While the show is most unavailable to those of us in the USA, there's a decent chance our overseas friends might see me, assuming they watch tv on Sunday mornings. On top of that, I've started a goemetry course with a lot of other homeschoolers.While I have taken geometry before, this one is being taught in a very different way that involves lots of paper plates, bobby pins, and being at class for three hours on Wednesday mornings before I normally wake up. My strategy for next time is to bring coffee. Lots of coffee.

I just today watched Moonlight Mile with some very close friends. This is one of the best movies i have seen in quite a while. And coming from me, that's saying something. It is funny and sad at the same time, the story is well written, the plot is unpredictable, and the actors are phenomenal. Especially Susan Sarandon. Moonlight Mile is also the sort of movie that sucks you into it, leaving you only dimly aware of the world outside the movie. The story is about a young man whose fiance has just been killed, and he decides to stay on with his would-be in-laws. The way grief is mixed with humor is wonderful and artfully done and is very realistic. The main downer of he film is the ending, which is a bit overdone and drags on longer than necessary. But all in all it is a movie well worth seeing.

Tunes: "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", Marvin Gaye; "Unwanted", Kill Hannah

I feel kinda out of the loop with Dad and everyone at the DIDW conference, but I did heartily enjoy Gary and Steve's accounts of Volvo guy. Still, things have been really life as usual here. It's like when you go early to a fireworks display to get good seats... And then you're stuck waiting there for an hour or two until the show actually starts. For me, fireworks include activities from sleeping over at friend's houses to a They Might Be Giants concert and a requiem service. So to fill the time, I goof off, I write movies, I write songs, and I look ahead and start examining colleges, the current highlight being Wheaton college in Massachusetts. After asking a high school friend of Dad's who lives nearby there his opinion, he gave me words of encouragement: "Bon Chance! (That means 'Take a chance with this bon bon' in French)"

Tunes: "Big Balls", AC/DC; "Things I'll Never Say", Avril Lavigne

My Life: the Movie is probably a really boring concept, and it won't work anyway, but for quite a while now I've fantasized about writing the quintessential teen movie. And when I say teen movie, I'm talking more John Hughes than sex jokes, but still I haven't seen a "teen movie" that really captures the essence of teenagerdom. John Hughes does well, but Happily Ever Afters just don't happen, and while dirty jokes are common, life is not all drugs, beer busts and sex. What is needed is to find the balance between the parties and good times and the gritty real life and downers. And since I seriously doubt anyone in Hollywood is going to come to the same conclusion (or at least won't expect it to sell), the burden falls to me. So I give you a piece of the beginning of a draft of the Quintessential Teen Movie.

Fade in to sneakers plodding down a sidewalk. The sunlight splays across the pavement in mellow tones of yellow and orange. Circle around the feet a couple of times, then slowly look up along and past the worn jeans, up to the heavy backpack and t-shirt, and up into the face of a teenage boy. He has shaggy brown hair, small glasses, and a few pimples. He looks tired and slightly discouraged, his head drooping slightly. We watch him enter a duplex on a beautiful street. Inside, the house is badly in need of cleaning up. Things are strewn all over. He dumps his backpack on the floor.

Boy (loudly)
Hello!

A muffled voice comes from upstairs.

Voice (O.S.)
Hey, honey!

The boy pulls open a door and goes downstairs to the basement, which, while messy, is somewhat more organized: a pile of tapes surround the TV, a table is piled high with Legos, and one table in the corner has a computer with two prominent speakers, a printer, and other peripherals scattered around it. He sits down in front of the computer and , clicking, starts blaring loud music. He then leans back, closes his eyes, and breathes deeply. Suddenly he snaps up and begins typing rapidly.

Lately I've been listening to a favorite song of mine, "Crawling in the Dark", by Hoobastank. The lyrics really get to me, the second verse most of all, especially when I'm feeling down and confused.

"Help me carry on Assure me it's ok to use my heart and not my eyes to navigate the darkness Will the ending ever be coming sudenly? Will I ever get to see the ending to my story? Show me what it's for make me understand it I've been crawling in the dark looking for the answers Is there something more than what I've been handed I've been crawling in the dark looking for the answers"

And I at least am crawling in the darkness, fumbling my way through this twisted obstacle course called Life. So far I've been lucky enough to find friends, other explorers groping their way also, but now we have each other to cling to and reassure ourselves and each other that we are not alone and not to be afraid of what is to come. Some may lose their hold and lose their way, but there are always willing hands waiting for them if they find their way back.

Tunes "Crawling in the Dark", Hoobastank; "Smells Like Teen Spirit", Nirvana.

Yesterday was really kinda boring, so I opted for the activity that holds the all-time record on time-wasting for me: The Sims. The Sims, for those of you outside the gaming loop, is a game where you create a person or persons and pretty much run their lives for them. Right now I'm working on two seperate projects: creating the perfect sim by means of exploiting loopholes in the program, and managing a house full of sims based on me and my homeschooling friends. The second one has proved quite annoying, as we've had more than our fair share of fires, burglaries, cockroach infestations, and other such accidents. Now, any rational person would take these experiences to the conclusion that if its frustrating and eventually pointless, then one should stop. And that tought did come to me, and I resolved to quit- until my sim got a promotion at work.

Tunes: "Clint Eastwood", Gorillaz; "Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta", Geto Boys; "It's Going Down", X-Ecutioners.

OK, this blogger connection problem is starting to peeve me greatly. But I won't start ranting about that because it's pointless to moan about things you can't help. The major event of the last few days was: I learned football. I am sure some of you reading this will be shocked that a young hardy american boy knew virtually nothing of this national pastime, but I was raised into baseball and basketball and the One True Sport: Ultimate Frisbee. However, havig recently been askeed to referee the Seabury games, I found myself in a student's apartment last night, watching the Broncos/Ravens game with root beer in hand. Which, as games went, was a relative slaughter, but it served my purposes admirably, because the Broncos, who did not seem exactly on top of things, provided ample oppurtunity for me to learn foul types and signals. And to whoever the Bronco's QB was that night: even I knew that chest-slamming a ref is a really really stupid move.

Tunes: "Across The Night", Silverchair; "I Love LA", Randy Newman.

Now, before anyone starts ragging on me for not blogging: It's not my fault. I've written something every day but every time i finish writing my connection to blogger dies so i can't post or log out or anything, which has peeved me greatly. So, in summary, the last week has been relatively packed. On Tuesday, I had my first homeschool drama class of the year. We're starting with "The Odd Couple", and we've been having fun with that. There was also a dessert function at the seminary to welcome the incoming class that was pretty fun. Wednesday was mostly work, in the form of office work, homework, blocking lines, and composing more lyrics and music (finished one song and another on the way), topped off with a late night game party next door. Thursday I worked some more in various ways, watched "Barbershop" again, went to a service at the seminary, and went down to choir. Friday: Even more work *gasp* along with going out with the usual suspects to see The Four Feathers, which was fabulous, and ending the night over at Tim's house.And today I hung out with Tim for most of the morning then came back home to play The Sims and beat my Dad at Star Wars: Podracer. OK, in all fairness he DID give me a run for my money, but I did triumph in the end.

Tunes: "A Praise Chorus", Jimmy Eat World; "Wide, Wide River", The Fugs; "Rock Star", N*E*R*D

There are times when I feel like Rob in Nick Hornsby's High Fidelity, minus most of the girl trouble. I realize that detracts a lot from Rob's character, but the point I'm trying to make is that I have almost an obsession with music, I am opinionated about bands/genres/sounds, what I listen to affects how I feel immensely... In short, music is a very major part of my life. And so, in an effort to put some more quality music out into the world (and a drive to fulfill a childhood dream), I have started writing songs. Using an old electric keyboard (My brother left behind three composition programs on the computer that would work extremely well but I have no clue how to use them), I've managed to crank out some lyrics and hopefully will have some instrumentation soon. Finding people to actually perform my work is a definite problem, but I'll burn that bridge when I get to it.

Tunes: "Girl", The Beatles; "Lovers in a Dangerous Time", Barenaked Ladies; "I'm On My Way", The Proclaimers; "When It's Over", Sugar Ray

Last night I watched Aliens, with mixd reactions. While my friend Tim, who lent ot to me, assured me that it was the best of the series, I just didn't connect with it as much as Alien. I think part of my complaint is that in Aliens, they change the image of the alien from a solitary, cold, calculating hunter to an extension of a hive mind ( which seemed to seriously limit its intelligence). Also, it was hard to tell what sort of movie James Cameron was aiming for. The aliens aren't scary and creepy enough for a horror/thriller type sci-fi, and the explosions and violence aren't satisfying enough for a good action/adventure sci-fi flick. All that aside, it is a fun and enjoyable sequel; but in my mind, in falls into the pit where most sequels fall: good, but awkwardly worse than the original.

Tunes: "Closing Time", Semisonic; "In The End", Linkin Park; "Tiny Dancer", Elton John.

I just got back from watching Barbershop with the usual suspects. And it was really well done. There's a great balance of one-liners and running gags, the plot and characters develop well, and you know that every time Cedric the Entertainer opens his mouth you're going to bust a gut laughing. And I had to sit and think a moment or two to come up with these cons, but... It IS relatively predictable, and some of the jokes just fall flat on their face. But definetely a $6.50 and two hours well spent.

Tunes: "Barroom Heroes", Dropkick Murphys; "It's Alright", Big Head Todd and the Monsters; "Get Over It", OK Go

Today I was pulled in at the last minute to mind my friend Tim's house while he and his family were at a service for his recently departed grandfather, which aroused mixed feelings in me. I'm supposed to recieve people. How should I emote? Am I heavily grieving, lightly grieving, quietly sad, neutral, cheery, what? And all for a guy I haven't met and know virtually nothing about? Fortunately for me, the atmosphere was light, and the only real signs that it wasn't simply a family get-together were the muted colors and the Frank Sinatra LP playing in the background. There was much light-hearted fun and laughter. It also helped Tim and me to inspire an unrealistic idea for a reality TV show, but I'll save that for a later date. :-P

Tunes: "Absolutely Fabulous", Pet Shop Boys; "Get This Party Started", Pink; "The Megaman Song", Unknown; and "Gangster Tripping", Fatboy Slim.

Today was a very good, very busy day. I spent the morning (or however much of it I was awake for) cleaning out my brother's room (a frightening task). The afternoon was spent at work rebuilding the Seabury site and playing several rigorous ping-pong with my boss and a mutual friend, and finishing up with a sit out on the lawn with lemon water (on my part) and gin & tonics and cigars (on theirs). And this evening I was babysitting the next door neighbors, which consists of sitting around and watching them play on their ps2.

Tunes: "Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous", Good Charlotte; "Mrs. Robinson", Paul Simon; and "H-A-T-R-E-D", Tonio K.

Well, the school year has started for me, making my schedule more of a burden than it's been for several months. I have a report on early American history due Wednesday, I'm reading The Art of War, and I don't know how I'm going to balance work work and goofing off with my friends. I spent the late afternoon down at church, hanging out with my choirgirl friends, which is so refreshing. I get to lose sight of the scary big picture and have simple, pure, hilarity. On a different note, SOMEone promised she'd put me back on her blogroll if I started up again... (coughHalleycough)

Tunes: "One Song Glory", "Light My Candle", RENT soundtrack

Today was very very long. I woke up before 7 (WAY early for me), and promptly spent 6 hours at church. I arrived an hour early for the first service, waited through the first service, started choir practice, sang the second service, following which was a brunch during which my mother was to outline plans for the upcoming England choir tour. While the food was good, most of the conversation was either stuff I already knew or stuff that didn't pertain to me. S by the time we piled the four or five trays of Mom's food into the car and get home, it was already around 2:00. and to be quite honest, I don't remember too much of what happened after that. It's a sort of blur that runs from the tme I got home to now. Must've been something in those Krispy Kremes...

I'm going to start doing what Dad's doing and start listing the songs that I listen to while I'm blogging. Just remember, imitation is one of the sincerest forms of flattery.

Si's Tunes: "Someday We'll Know", New Radicals; "What Do You Want From Life?", TheTubes; and "Just Like a Pill", by Pink.

I'm having a minor case of writer's block, so I'm going to post an excerpt from the screenplay I've been writing with my friend Tim.

Tires screech. Cut to a peaceful street. A couple of cars drive along slowly. suddenly, Arsenal’s Caddilac convertible roars by, swerving neatly to avoid the traffic. Start playing “78 rpm” by the Stiff Little Fingers in the background. The other cars pull over on to the sidewalk, braking hard.

Twitch
Yeah, Weej is taking us there now...

Weej
Left at the next light.

Arsenal
Got it.

cut to: the car, looking from the hood. Arsenal is driving. Next to her is Weej, and then Tiffany. Rat, Zero, and Twitch are jammed in the back seat. Twitch is talking on a cell phone.

Twitch
...Not even three yet, so we should have a little time. Uh-huh. OK. I’ll let her know. Thanks, Sin.

Weej
Don;t worry kids. Your mother is a tough la-

Zero
Don’t talk about my mum, you... you treacherous GRIT! She-

Twitch
Zero! Listen up. Message for you. Emma, from your band?

Arsenal pulls the car into a sharp left turn through a red light. The tires screech and a cacophony of horns complain but she pulls through without hitting anyone.

Arsenal
Hold tight, everyone. It’ll be getting a little thrilling in a mo’!

Close up on Arsenal’s foot. it slams the gas pedal to the floor. cut to: a straightaway. loose newspapers litter the road. they zoom by at full speed. Zero and Rat whoop and Tiffany screams lightly.

Twitch
You missed practice-- Bloody hell, Arsenal! You drive like Da!

cut to: back street. orange cones mark off one lane where a large truck is backing up, being guided by a guy in a hardhat waving.

Twitch (V.O.)
Gig tonight at nine?

cut back to the car. Tiffany is panicking and trying to claw her way across Weej, who is somewhat stunned. Arsenal is concentrating on the road, but obviously pissed off.

Tiffany
You crazy bitch! You’re going to get us all killed!

Arsenal (tightly)
Get ‘er off me, Weej. Now.

close up on the steering wheel. Tiffany’s arm shoots across and slams the wheel hard left. cut to: the truck on the back street. the guy in the hardhat dives for safety. cut to: hood. Arsenal nails a well-place punch to Tiffany’s jaw while trying to regain control of the car. Orange cones fly.

Today was a really really good day. I woke up at a reasonable hour, worked the morning away, goofed off for the afternoon, and had my first choir practice of the year, and we didn't sound too bad. Practice was followed by a party at our organist/choirmaster Mr. Webster's house, where the coke flowed like water and the pizza passed around like... something else, I dunno how to fill that one. The only slight offset was that I rode to and from the party with my fellow choristers. They're great guys and really fun to hang out with, but behind the wheel they're like extras from The Fast and the Furious. That, and whenever I'm going fast in a car in an urban area I get hysterical for some wierd reason. So I ride shotgun in an urban rollercoaster, giggling madly while simultaneously feeling terrified and exhilirated. Now I'm too wired to slep, thanks to caffiene, pizza, and adrenaline, so it's back to the arcade game emulators for me!

I feel so much better after a good night's sleep. I heard the occasional memorial service on the radio today, which brought out the thoughts I typically get when I hear more 9/11 melodrama. They run something like: Yes, it's sad. But while I appreciate memorial services and such, I also feel compelled to point out that it's not an excuse to bomb the crap out of the neighbors of various terrorists, and that perpetually licking wounds only builds up more anger and resentment at a vague and indistinct group of "evil" peple who are only doing what they feel pride- and honor-bound to do. Fury and resentment are prime reasons that the U.S. has used for various other acts of violence such as Vietnam, and the firebombing of Dresden. Now I'm not trying to justify Al' Qaida or any other terrorist group or any government for that matter, but to point out that there are better ways to get your point across in the first place, no matter which position you're at. Now, I'd like to apologize to those who may have taken offense at this post; I don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings. I just wanted to put my two cents in, and so, having done that, I'm going to go stay up late playing video games.

I have loads of excuses for not blogging for a months, but they all sound lame and crappy so I'll spare you. So... Last month I had choir camp up in Wisconsin, which was really awesome. Singing evey day, and being around some really close friends out in the middle of nowhere... So that lasted a week, after which I quickly resumed my normal routine of goofing off and working, in alternating swings. That's when I packed back up and headed out east with three objectives: 1)relax on a Nantucket beach, 2) drop off my brother at college, and 3) rendezvouz with fellow bloggers Halley and Steve Himmer. We (The aforementioned, plus the rest of my family) met in the Boston Common, and had a nice long conversation (during which Halley threatened my life if I didnt whip myself into shape and start blogging again). All objectves were secured and I have since returned home, as of 5:20 CDT. There is an extremely condensed story of Si's August/early September. I'm sorry it's not more edifying, but I spent 12 hours in the car today and I'm not at my brightest. And I will try and keep up regular posts from now on. If not, Halley will be on the next flight to Chicago with an axe.

As I was going about numerous monotonous tasks at work today, the though occured to me that while tech problems are fairly routine at Seabury, my other place of work (U Blog) has a faculty that is least likely to need any outside tech help whatsoever. Think about it. And we don't need any security perssonnel either! While quite a few of us are wusses, between Halley and Rageboy alone, you've got enough brawn to intimidate and malefactors. And that's not to mention Eric Norlin, who used to be in the CIA. Of course, we don't have a physical campus (that I know of) in the first place, or anything really worth stealing for that matter, but that's beside the point. Is there a point? No, I guess not. Oh well, babbling is fun too.

As I was saying before, something always feels kind of off when I'm away from home. I really am a creature of habit. When I wake up, I go to the basement and check my mail and comics. I make sure to spend at least a couple hours on the phone with Tim each week, and a few more taking with more friends online. Even work, boring as it gets sometimes, fits comfortably into the jigsaw puzzle of my life.

I got home from vacation yesterday evening and I've already spent seven and a half hours out with my friends. Not bad, huh? And when I'm not out and about I have the ethernet cord sticking out of my arm like an IV. There's so many things here that I just take for granted. Kinda sad, really. But I guess it's part of who I am. vacations are fun for me, but I always feel so transplanted, because I'm not fulfilling my normal routine. I really am a homebody. And it always seems that I write these at night, which gives me a very good excuse for continuing this train of thought later. Night night.