DAY 17

Milwaukee, Wisconsin
April 29, 2009
Wed 11:56 PM

so, yesterday i gave a big thank you to mother russia for all the great hockey players she's given the capitals, apparently in dc they call this Moscow on the Potomac. Fitting. Learned this from czaban, the morning sports guy on 102.9 the hog who's from DC.

ear still not fixed. i know, i said i was gonna go the school clinic today, well, sleeping in just seemed like the better course of action this morning. i think i'm gonna go friday, less to do that day. but i gotta say, i'm a little hesitant to go to a gathering place for the sick with all this talk of swine flu going around. just today four milwaukee schools were closed indefinitely because of confirmed cases on the south side. we all know schools are breading grounds for disease... hurray for being in college and coming into contact with hundreds of people each day.

pig flu aside, today was a good day. group meeting, class, group meeting, pub. played darts again with Console, and my second throw, well, i'll let the picture speak for itself.



geez, last time i put a picture in my blog no problem, this one was not as easy, i just want to move the picture around, is that too much to ask? anyway, nice shot huh? I think that's my first double bull, and i don't think i could get any closer to center than that. i won the first game, Console won the second, and after trivia we played teams, me and Console against her boyfriend and his friend. We were winning almost the entire time then it came down to the bulls, like it always does. I hit another double, but we just couldn't close it and lost. barely though, we dominated until the end. I think sunday me and Console will finish out our current series of three. tonight we were back to the new, supposed regulation darts. i did pretty good in the first game. but those new darts man, they definitely take some getting used to.

my team did good in trivia tonight, we only missed like four questions. we swept the history & politics, geography, and music categories. for once the music clip answer was an artist i had seen in concert- joan jett (she opened for Aerosmith two years ago in Chicago). And, i was able to name all the countries that end in -stan... Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Kyrgestan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan. I own the geography category. Another question was name all the living former vice-presidents. There are five, four were really easy, and somehow i pulled walter mondale out of thin air for the fifth, i thought he was carter's vp but i wasn't sure... but it was right! and i knew the NFL combine was held in indianapolis, another answer out of nowhere. In fact, the only sports question we got wrong tonight was the soccer question, but to be fair even the pubtender who is a huge Manchester United fan (and it was a Manchester United question) got it wrong. So, in my opinion, if the british pubtender gets the soccer question wrong, it should be void. the highlight of the night was when he sang a patriotic english song in response to the answer being st. george's day for one of the questions (the question being what national holiday of britain did william shakespeare die on?). i don't know what song he sang, i think it was Jerusalem... it probably was. that's what is customarily sung on St. George's Day. I'm not sure though, all i know is that he sung it with incredible enthusiasm and i couldn't make out the words because of his thick accent. oh, and since i already put up one picture on this blog, why not make it two? In honor of my trivia team and a job well done tonight.


that picture makes me smile.


i just read on Yahoo! Sports that rumors are swirling that a certain old washed-up loser quarterback might come out of retirement (again) and play for the minnesota vikings. what an asshole. mr. indecisive... the way he's acted the past year and a half i completely understand all those picks he threw in his career.

ah, i'm not gonna let that get to me. even though i had countless posters and pictures of him on my wall as a kid, even though i owned his jersey since i was nine, even though i have his rookie card, an autographed football, and autographed card. even though he was my sports idol growing up... he holds no place in my current sports hero hall of fame. Right now it would include Michael Jordan, Ichiro Suzuki, Alexander Ovechkin, Randy Couture, Bart Starr, Kevin Seitzer (i know, random, but he was my favorite brewer as a kid, of course after...), Robin Yount, Bo Ryan, Muhammad Ali, Michael Phelps (i don't care if he smokes every now and then), Georges St-Pierre, Arnold Schwarzenegger (bodybuilders are athletes too), Oscar De La Hoya... and that's probably it. A few more minutes of racking my brain and I'm sure I could add to that list. Oh, yeah, and Tiger Woods and Lee Trevino (my golf coach used to call me Lee Trevino and said I reminded him of The Merry Mex, the dude won six majors so I'll take that compliment any day). Although, I think it had to do more with my sense of humor as opposed to my style of golf... again, i'll take that compliment too, Trevino was in Happy Gilmore.

that's it, off to bed, who am i kidding, i'm in bed. well, off the bed to put the laptop back on the desk and then back to bed to get some sleep.

salbrent

DAY 16

Milwaukee, Wisconsin
April 28, 2009
Tue 11:23 PM

CAPITALS WIN!!!!! Way to go Caps, my hockey team. And a big thank you to Mother Russia, which gave the capitals such amazing players as alexander ovechkin (greatest player in hockey today) along with alexander semin and sergei fedorov- the two goal scorers for the Capitals in this important game seven against the new york rangers. i just hope they're ready for the next series, having to play seven games must be tiring.

and yes, i am a hockey fan. today i was even wearing my sweater, but its the old black caps one and i need to get a new red one. not many people know this about me, but living in dc for two years provided the perfect opportunity to become attached to the washington capitals. wisconsin has every other major sport taken. i just realized i've blogged on this subject before... i'll leave it at that and move onto more pressing matters.

"oh my freaking ears!" those words spoken by ralph wiggum have never seemed so true to me except right now, although in my case its "oh my freaking ear!" my left ear has been plugged for the past five days and its driving me absolutely insane! i hate not being able to hear on my left side. i've never had this problem before, i can unplug my ears with ease, but i think earwax must be jammed in there or something. a friend recommened lighting a candle next to it or something, but i looked it up online and apparently that's not a good idea. it says that a health professional can syringe it with water or something, i guess its like using a mini super soaker in your ear canal. whatever works. apparently i can do this myself too, but the site recommended having a general practioner do it if you've never done it before, or if you've had an ear drum rupture in the past. check both those options for me. my ears are really small and were prone to problems when i was younger, so i'd rather not jeopardize what hearing i have at the moment. and i'd like to get this taken care of before i board a plane in a few weeks and my ears really get pissed at me. hopefully at the school clinic tomorrow they don't think i'm crazy. i really hate going to see a doctor/nurse for something this insignificant... my motto has always been if i'm not bleeding profusely or in blinding pain a doctor's visit is a waste of time (and money). the fun thing about going to the school clinic is they always try to tie everything to an STD. Everything. Oh, you have a cough, maybe its syphillis. A headache?.. we better test for chlamydia. Your arm is broken?.. you must have the clap with a side of herpes. Fortunately for me, this isn't really an issue, although last time i went there they wanted to give me a pregnancy test, and i was just going in to see about my skin problems. Seriously. I was like, look at me, do you think i'm getting any? Although, i guess STD related hearing problems are possible, if you've seen that SNL skit with Christopher Walken, Ana Gasteyer, Will Ferrell, and Rachel Dratch... all i'm gonna say is shin shi shin shi.

all that aside, as if my hearing problems weren't bad enough today my car was acting all crazy. really crazy. it was struggling accelerating from 25 to 30... and i don't know anything about cars, but i do know how my titleist should drive, and that wasn't normal. i put some oil in (it was low, i checked- that much i know how to do) of course my hood doesn't stay up on its own so i had to balance it on my head while pouring in the 10W30. i let it sit awhile, and my mechanic recommmended i drive it around the block to see how it drove. and *fingers crossed* it drove fine. so i'm hoping perhaps my car's ear was just plugged but it was able to solve it on its own, or something like that. i can't afford to send me to the doctor and my car, one or the other.

and i had a dream last night that i was being quarantined for having the swine flu... apparently the hype around this disease has become so strong it's invaded my subconscience. perhaps last week in my dreams i visited tijuana or something and that's where i contracted it.

oh yeah, and last night, i played cricket and totally owned. that's what happens when the pubtender gives you the short, heavy darts. thank you! seeing as how my friend Console was there, we finished up out best two out of three series. she won last time, so i had to win to stay in the game. and i played great. before we started the third game i handed her a dart and kept one and said "closest to the bullseye gets to throw first." two seconds later i throw, and wouldn't you know it, i hit the bull. I can never hit the bull when i want to, and BAM, I just had to declare it out loud and it was so. i threw first and got a big lead, closed all my numbers and was left with the bulls. No prob, i got this. after a few rounds of missing, i decided to try invoking the magic words again. I said "closest to the bullseye gets to throw first," and BAM, bullseye again! Apparently saying this out loud preps my brain and syncs it with my throwing hand. Console couldn't believe it, it was crazy the first time, but the second time... it was just nuts. I still had to hit the bullseye once more to win, but i decided the magic words should be used sparingly. so i kept playing, no bull, no bull, etc. So i said it again. and wouldn't you believe it! No bull. Ok, so it doesn't work all the time, but, at this point it still has over a 60% success rate, not too shabby. two out of three ain't bad, and i knew not to push my luck. A few throws later i decided, hell, one more try won't hurt. "Closest to the bull gets to throw first..." throw... BULL! 75% rate of success. Booya! Have I mentioned I love darts.

In my enthusiasm I left without closing out my tab. Oops. but that's why they hold onto your credit card. i went back today and picked it up, all i bought was a 1664 and a sprecher root beer. good times.

and i found out i get to work all weekend. but no complaints here, i need the money and like i've said, i like my job and where i work.

tomorrow is president obama's 100th day in office... and apparently when his first report card is sent home. or his warranty is now up, something like that. i can't tell what's being hyped more, the swine flu or obama's 100 days. and, if the caps winning and obama's 100th day celebration isn't enough excitement in washington, arlen spector switched teams. that's gonna be ackward next time he goes into the senate cafateria. now if only minnesota can get their act together. although, as my cousin said- this is the so-called "state of hockey" and they let their hockey team move to texas. the gop must be just steaming in their cowboy boots. and the fuhrer of the gop-rush limbaugh- apparently said that he should take john mccain with him. oh, that fat impotent druggie is so funny. as bill maher said, i love how the republicans look to the future and found radio.

for once right now i am not watching/listening to a movie. instead i'm listening to my walkman. as of right now its an interesting mix of mostly van halen, a little dash of aerosmith, mix in some seether, A.R. Rahman, Offspring, and a pinch of The Eagles. quite a combination. i still have hundreds of songs i need to add, but between school and work i just have no time. i need to get my ear fixed so i can hear this better. it really has much supperior sound quality to my old ipod. sony makes the best hardware. and speaking of electronics, i picked out all the fun stuff i want to get if i get a real job. sweet samsung led hdtv (and you thought plasma and lcd was the best it got), sony receiver, insignia 5.1 speaker set (can't go premium on everything, but insignia makes fine products), and rocketfish wireless speaker hookup. i've already got the blu-ray player (thank you ps3) and an extensive blu-ray/dvd and video game collection. oh yeah, i can see it all in my head. the ultimate home theater system in my bedroom. other girls blow their money on clothes. other young adults blow their money on beer and alcohol. give me the consumer electronics. i am truly my father's daughter, he taught me well.

that's all i can think of for now... oh, and elvis costello. he's on my walkman too. more specifically, elvis costello and the attractions. pump it up. has a great beat, great song. on that note...

salbrent

DAY 15

Milwaukee, Wisconsin
April 28, 2009
Tue 1:03 AM

i really don't feel like blogging right now. in fact, my bed just behind me looks pretty darn comfy... who am i kidding, looks? it is! my bed is too comfortable.

here's the skinny on the day... class, class, pub. and i won at darts tonight. oh hell yeah i did. i found a new secret for hitting the bullseye. i'll elaborate more later, tomorrow perhaps.

and mel kiper, jr. gave the packers an A on their draft picks, the only team to earn an A from the draft man. so that's cool, i like how that sounds. now if green bay can only win the super bowl this season.

that's all, rest assured this abridged post is not a sign of things to come.

salbrent

DAY 14

Milwaukee, Wisconsin
April 27, 2009
Mon 1:30 AM

ah, yes, a late blog post tonight. i just got back from work, and would you believe it, i got out early! i won't go into specifics, but it was an alright night. i really do like my job, and my managers let me leave early... everyone always complains about their jobs so much, and i must say i've been fortunate to never have a job i hated, and never had a boss i didn't like, or at the least respect. my current job i love and i like my managers and co-workers, so its a win-win.

i know i said i'd never talk about work, but i don't think it can hurt to mention the positives. and there really aren't negatives. anyway, a fairly uneventful day given i had to work from 5pm to, well, just a short time ago. back to the grind tomorrow. Today I did talk to my friend Q on the phone, the friend i'm staying with in california. i'm getting so excited, and i'm glad i called, because it'll come up quick and i'm gonna be there for almost two weeks! Two weeks, sitting on beaches and just being in California! Yes! But i was worried that Q would feel swamped, like she had to come up with tons of activities to keep me entertained. I am one of the most easy going people in the world, so i wanted to make sure she knew she didn't have to do anything. she can go to work, and i'll go to the beach and explore the city. in fact, my fears were resolved because Q actually mentioned that on the phone today, she called me the most self-sufficient person she knows. quite a compliment, i'll take it. i'm glad she said that, i didn't want her to go to any trouble. Q said all she had to do was hook me up with bus pass and she knows she won't have to worry about me. correct all along... thank you dc, this girl can navigate public transportation like nothing... not that its that hard, but most people in wisconsin have no experience with it. i can go along with anything. just being in the state of california will probably be enough to make me giddy beyond belief. right there, when i typed california, in my head i was saying it like arnold... kuli-four-knee-uh. too bad by the time i make it out there (i mean, move and settle out there) he won't be governor anymore.

anyway, i just checked the rest of the packers picks in the draft. not bad, like i know anything. they didn't go with any glamour picks... no qbs, running backs (well, one fullback), or wide receivers. i have faith in ted thompson, hopefully he knows what he's doing. i just thought of another reason i love the draft... the draft is all about hope. in a game, you win or lose. its great, or it sucks. the draft is almost always good, rarely does it leave you going, what were they thinking? it can, but usually you look at the positive, when a pick baffles you think, oh, maybe the gm saw something... good pick. or if they land that hyped wide receiver you get all excited. either way its usually good. except the packers 2007 first round pick, justin harrell. i knew that was a stupid pick from the beginning, and what do you know, its a little early to call, but i think its safe to call it a bust. i think i'm just excited this year because the packers got two first round picks... makes up for last years none.

ahh, again i feel like i've left something out. no matter, i shall try harder next time.

salbrent

DAY 13

Milwaukee, Wisconsin
April 25, 2009
Sat 11:45 PM

here is a new one... blogging and eating. we'll see how this goes, i'll have to do my best to not get sprouts or mayo on my laptop... thank you jimmy johns.

day 13 today... hmm, seeing as how less than 15 minutes are left in this day i feel like i dodged a bullet. day 13, perhaps inauspicious day? maybe, considering the crappy weather. cold and rainy all day. i think this isn't the case though (besides the weather), i'm not free of superstitions, but the number 13 is one i never really harbored. anyway, it was in fact an auspicious day, nfl draft day! i love how overhyped this is now, and yet i get into it. the way espn promotes this you'd think a season is made or missed inside radio city music hall. its really not that big of a deal, but i gotta admit, i think i enjoy nfl draft day more than i do the super bowl. i mean think about it, the super bowl only includes two teams, and rarely does it involve your team. on draft day each team has a stake, and while i don't even follow college football that closely, i get excited when the comish goes up and announces selections. and this year my team had the ninth pick, higher than they usually get. They selected a defensive tackle from Boston College, BJ Rajii is his name i think... the talking heads said it was a good selection. i love the commentary on draft day too, because its just everyone re-hashing what mel kiper says. mel kiper is the draft man, i wonder if he does anything else? and i love how he has his list of best players still available, it'll be the middle of the seventh round and he'll still have a list, are there really over 200 college players you can rank in order? apparently mel kiper can. anyway, back to draft day. normally i'm glued to espn but today i had to work. i took my break around 6:15 and lucky for me the packers traded with new england (via baltimore i read) for the 26th pick overall. so five minutes into my break i got to see the packers select usc outside linebacker clay matthews. i think its a good pick, i heard the pundits talking about the usc linebackers and saying only good things. needless to say, i was very happy i got to see part of the draft on espn.

done with work, called some friends cause i wanted to go to the pub and play darts. and have a drink. 1664, of course. unfortunately, the pub changed the darts, they used to be heavy, short darts i was used to now, now they're slightly lighter and longer and they've got an entirely different flight path. too quite some getting used to, not sure i really even did. i did close out the bulls pretty early, a rare feat for me, but also unintentional. my friends said the new darts are the true regulation ones, i'm not sure if this is true though. anyway, Console was beating me pretty handily, scoring on the 20s and 18s. I, however, closed everything first, so i was behind in points but i could still score on 16, 17, and bullseye. i actually hit the 17 ten times and the 16 twice before Console closed her numbers. i came back and kept it close, only losing by 40, not bad considering i was down a lot early on. and at the pub it was karaoke night. i said i'd do michael jackson-don't stop till you get enough, but they didn't have that song. its probably for the best, i doubt i could've done justice to such a classic. i love that song because i love when chris tucker sings it in rush hour 2. i'm actually watching that right now, great movie. i know i say that about every movie i watch (and i watch a lot) but this one is one of my favorites. i wish i was in hong kong, that'd be sweet. i actually didn't have a drink at the pub, so i went and played darts for free, a win win. i realized i was much hungrier than i was thirsty (all i had to eat today was some chicken for lunch and a twix and a coke on my break). and i have a few high lifes at the aparment in the fridge, and they don't cost 4, 5 bucks a piece! i figured, i take the money i would've spent on a drink and buy something to eat, and drink the high lifes at home. salbrent, you are a genious. i really wanted falafel, but that place is closed, luckily Console reminded me that Jimmy John's is open late. Of course, i'm such an idiot, i've gone there after work countless times, good ol' dependable jimmy johns. their ham sub is amazing... ham, lettuce, tomato, mayo, provolone, add sprouts on french bread... mmmm delicious. the sub and a high life... much more satisfying than an overpriced pub beer.

oh, and an odd thing happened after work today, driving home the rock station i listen to lost its signal. probably because of the rain and stuff. its too bad, i had to settle for that not as good station. in the milwaukee hierarchy of rock stations the best is 102.9 the hog, hands down. last is 97.3 the brew... most the time the brew sucks. they claim to be a rock station, but the vast majority of the time i go by their station they are not playing rock music. the hog is all rock, all the time (except in the morning when its bob and brian, but that's ok because they're hilarious). if the hog is on a commercial i'll switch to 102.1 the new alternative rock station. its actually really good, they almost always play alternative songs i like. i prefer hard rock and heavy metal to most alternative, but i like what 102.1 plays. my last resort is the brew, but i gotta say, nine times out of ten if i do like the song on the brew its probably van halen. my second favorite band, i love van halen. amazing music.

at the pub they had soccer on the tvs (surprise, surprise). manchester united was playing tottenham, and i gotta admit i've been vaguly following man u lately (and by vaguely following i mean checking the results and standings every couple of days on the Yahoo! Sports page). i have to because last time i wore my man u jersey (at the pub, actually) the trivia master started talking to me about the team like i knew what was going on with them. i did a good job of feigning knowledge, but i thought if i'm gonna wear this jersey i should know what's going on. if you asked me my favorite soccer team i'd say man u, but that's just because they're the first team i heard of, and my awesome sister got me a jersey when she lived in england. and i'm glad she did get it when she did, because their primary sponsor now is AIG. yeah, cause that's what i want to show support for and advertise all over my chest. the jersey i have says Vodafone, and not only is it a cooler logo than AIG, but apparently they're the largest mobile provider in the world and they own 45% of Verizon Wireless, which now owns Alltel, my provider. so i have no problem supporting them. even if i had an AIG man u jersey i don't think i could bring myself to wearing it... i'd want to rip it apart. anyway, man u was down 2-0 when i was watching, i don't think the game was live... it couldn't be. whoa, man u came back to win 5-2... wow, i should've stayed and watched. i just have no patience for soccer. only every four years, during the world cup. i watch, and then i get my fill of soccer for the next four years. in fact, i think i've blogged on this before, maybe i'll post that old post tomorrow or something.

i feel like there was more i wanted to talk about... next time perhaps.

salbrent

DAY 12

Milwaukee, Wisconsin
April 24, 2009
Fri 10:38 PM

a good day today, like most, yet, unlike most in the events. absolutely beautiful for an april day in milwaukee, it got up to the 80's! to celebrate such a beautiful day, this morning, a trip to the milwaukee county zoo. something to do with the sister and mother. my sis and i called up and bugged my mom last time we went to the zoo (last fall) because she said she doesn't like zoos. but we convinced her it was something to do, and it was. the red panda was cute, don't normally see him moving around. one of the orangutans was having fun hiding underneath a large rubbish bin, and a silver-back gorilla banged on the glass in front of me. oh, oh, and one of the gorillas had a broken finger (poor guy) but it was his middle finger, so rather amusing because while scratching his head it looked like he was giving us all the finger. the one downside of going to the zoo on a friday morning is you compete with the stroller brigade. i'm sure this could be said about any morning trip to the zoo, but... i think there should be an adults only day at the zoo, you know, 18+, no strollers bumping into you, no groups of students on field trips. it would be nice. now, i'm not being anti-kid here, i mean, i loved going to the zoo on field trips and all, i'm just asking for one day out of 365, not an unreasonable request.

anyway, after the zoo lunch at popeyes- best fried chicken period. i don't really ever want to have any of the colonel's chicken anymore, the one good thing about living in milwaukee is the popeye's on capitol. ohhhh, mouthwatering. and the biscuits there are pretty slammin' too.

then off to work. a good day at work today me thinks. and because of the gorgeous weather work was not busy, so i was not as busy. and on my break my hockey team was on tv. for those of you who don't know, my hockey team is the washington capitals. on account of living in dc for two years, i am suddenly, and forever, a caps fan. the capitals were really the only team i could get into in dc, i already had a football team, a baseball team, and a basketball team (not that i really care all that much about the bucks). i suppose i could've gottan into dc united... soccer, hahaha, who am i kidding?! so, nhl it was. and, hockey tickets were the cheapest and easiest to get, the arena has its own metro stop (uber convenient) and hockey is the best sport to watch live. i'd rather watch a hockey game live than a football game, although, i'd rather watch football on tv than hockey, so its a tradeoff. anyway, i love the caps, and it turns out the best player in hockey (Mr. Alexander Ovechkin) plays for their team. they're in the playoffs this year and were down 3-1 in their series against the New York Rangers, but they won tonight so its 3-2. i think they'll come back and pull it out. you know what i like about hockey though, how they retired number 99 across every team in the nhl. i think that's appropriate, with how great gretzky was, his number deserves to be retired. and i think in the nba, 23 should be retired. michael jordan did so much for that league, was so amazing in every way, no one should be able to wear that number. sorry lebron, you aren't and will never be jordan. he's the man, and his number should be retired by all teams as well. don't you think?

during my break i had a coca-cola. not overly siginificant (seeing that is all they sell at work) but odd nonetheless because i very much prefer pepsi. everyone is one or the other, pepsi or coke. smooth or chunky peanut butter (chunky all the way- smooth just lacks substance). anyway, its odd but, lately there've been days when i've really really wanted a coca-cola. something they put in their ingredients i think. 9 times out of 10 i'll choose the pepsi, but rarely if ever do i get that immense desire for a pepsi. odd, no? and, another thing, speaking of colas, why in america can we not have our soda in glass bottles? mexico get theirs in glass, so does india, so does almost every other country. you see pictures of people in africa, drinnking their coke in glass bottles. china, i've never seen an image with a plastic bottle. i hate drinking out of plastic, aluminum is better, but glass is the best! why in the richest country in the world do we have to settle for plastic? it makes no sense to me! and another thing, in other countries they use real sugar. i know, hard to believe. nothing in america is made with real suger, its all that leftover corn sweetner. in mexico they use real sugar- cane sugar. no wonder i loved the soda so much more in mexico: glass bottle and made with sugar. anyway, i just wish i could enjoy my pepsi in a glass bottle, i kept the glass bottle i had in mexico- best pepsi i ever drank! right now i'm enjoying a nice smooth miller high life in a glass bottle, why not a pepsi?

good day at work, picked up the x-men trilogy on blu-ray, good deal too. and they all come with a digital copy, so add all the three x-men films to the collection i am building on my laptop. i currently have dark knight, slumdog millionaire, and total recall (two copies actually, but that's another story). thank you digital copy, now i'll have options while i'm sitting and waiting at the appleton/detroit/minneapolis/san diego/las vegas? airports this summer.

i'm also thinking of getting new speakers in my car. they go in and out, the front ones at least- particularily the driver side one. it isn't a problem seeing as how 95% of the time i am driving by myself. but i feel bad when i am driving with someone, because i blast the music so i can hear, at the same time deafening my passenger. i'm also thinking of getting a new cd player/radio put in my car. i took my old one out and had my factory installed radio put back in, seeing as how i park outside in milwaukee. and the cd player was busted anyway, i didn't want anyone breaking into my car for that useless piece of junk. seriously, i would've gift wrapped it for the would-be thief, i just don't want someone ripping up my dashboard or breaking a window. i love my car. even if on days like today i wish i had ac.

well, i think that's it for now, man its getting hot in here, thank goodness i have a fan. ac would be nicer in the apartment though, but i can't even get that in my car.

salbrent

DAY 11

Milwaukee, Wisconsin
April 24, 2009
Fri 12:14 AM

today was a good day. well, first class- boring as usual. then back to the apartment to clean for the arrival of the parents. my job was to vacuum and clean the bathroom. not too bad, i really don't mind cleaning, i mean, i'm not gonna pretend i love it, but there are certainly other things i'd much rather not do. and at least with cleaning, the end result is worth it. i like a clean apartment.

dinner at kopps- one of the best custard places in milwaukee, and that's saying something, because there are a lot of them. their burgers aren't bad either. and it truly is a custard stand, no chairs, a few tables you can stand around, its an interesting place. and all the employees there wear bow ties, white aprons, and nice hats. the flavors of the day were chocolate chip cookie dough and root beer pretzel. of course i got vanilla, i never get anything else because i know vanilla will always be great and the day i don't get it will be the day i regret it. i am always willing, nay, eager to try new things, but not when it comes to my frozen custard habits.

then spent a little time at the casino, i had no cash but my sister and i enjoyed playing with my father's money, its a good deal, we don't lose money and he keeps whatever is won. all the slot machines i picked were a bust, but, you can't always win, and the way it is with slots you usually lose.

well, that's it, i'm pretty tired right now and i work all day tomorrow, so sleep sounds in order. sorry for the boring post, there were a few current events in the world i was going to comment on... maybe later.

salbrent

DAY 10

Milwaukee, Wisconsin
April 22, 2009
Wed 11:52 PM

twitter is not cool. period. it's not. i know nobody who is on it/uses it... whatever you call it. twittering. it is not cool. if the media thinks something is "in" it invariably is not. its like that computer game Second Life. the way the media and news reported on that thing awhile back, you would've thought everyone and their cousin was playing it. it simply wasn't true, it was, again, the baby boomers jumping onto something they thought was cool with the kiddies. and they're so off. this twitter thing could not be lamer. i don't care what ashton kutcher is up to 24/7.

and facebook, i'm sorry to say, is not cool anymore. it was years ago when it was a networking vehicle for college students. then it was cool. now that everyone and their mother (literally) is on the site it's not cool. that's not saying i'm gonna stop using it, its still a nice way to keep in touch with people, but it is no longer "in." and i gotta say, i'm glad my parents aren't on it. they don't understand it, and they shouldn't... just like i don't understand 8 track tapes. it's not my generation. and i read now that the majority of new users to facebook are in the age range of 50+. i don't doubt it, and this contributes to the uncoolness of facebook. i'm not trying to be a hypocrit, because i do have friends on the f-book that aren't college students, and that's fine, no offense to them, but it was like an exclusive club, when it was only college students. now that club has been opened to everyone and its lost its appeal, its not that its not fun or interesting anymore, but its significantly less. everything eventually loses its luster.

and in case you're wondering, yes, blogging is cool. mainly because i do it.

i really want to know what goes on in the apartment above me. it sounds like an anvil was just dropped. seriously. i must live below the roadrunner and coyote... at least that would explain the constant noise coming from above. although i've also come to the conclusion that they produce amateur porn... that would explain the constant and rythmic squeeking, and the sound of shuffling furniture... probably to set up the next scene. and it doesn't matter if its 4 pm or 4 am, the random sounds never stop. oh to be a fly on that wall... or not.

trivia night tonight, and my team did much better than we have the past couple weeks. i was especially proud that i got the following question... "which 1997 film won the oscars for best actor and best actress?" got it? the answer is 'as good as it gets,' yeah, i pulled that one out of nowhere. i also got three of the four countries (beside the united kingdom) that have the union jack incorporated in their flag... australia, new zealand, and fiji. i missed tuvalu. live and learn.

it was a good night, i was in such a good mood i even had a kronenbourg 1664 (one of the greatest beers ever) and a strongbow. then me and Console played cricket. I won, and i scored on the 19 a total of 13 times! 19 is my baby in cricket, whereas usually the bull is my kryptonite. however, i actually hit the bullseye pretty good in this game. i also have a hard time hitting the 20 and 18, i blame it on the fact that i'm short. the 16, 19, 15, and 17 are easiest to hit... because fortunately for me they're at the bottom of the board. i want a dart board and a chalkboard so i can play cricket all the time. so, overall a good time at the pub. except in between trivia and darts i went to use the bathroom, and i'm convinced that the person next to me was snorting coke or something. the lights were off (they're set on a timer) so the person was in there a long time and they kept sniffling an awful lot. you never know. either way, its irrelevant, but interesting.

oh yeah, and happy earth day. i celebrated by not driving my car to help save the earth. just kidding, i didn't drive my car cause i didn't have to work today. earth day is so useless, saving the earth takes more than one day of caring out of 365. people will continue to do what is convenient and inexpensive. so until all those "green" options are just as viable as the ungreen ones, real change won't happen.

parents coming down to visit tomorrow, better get to sleep. tomorrow i gotta finish cleaning my part of the apartment. till then.

salbrent

DAY 9

Milwaukee, Wisconsin
April 21, 2009
Tue 11:13 PM

Dr. Mary Albright: "I'll have a merlot."
Puzzled waitress: "What?"
Albright: "It's wine."
Waitress: "Well, I guess I could mix some blackberry schnapps and tap water."
Albright: "Keep them coming."

oh, 3rd rock from the sun, you are the funniest show ever to air on television. yes, in my hierarchy of television shows i put 3rd rock higher than even the simpsons- mainly because the simpsons has been on tv too long and the most recent seasons have sucked. and i gotta say that above dialogue is much funnier on the show because the look on alright's face and the waitress is just priceless. anyway, i saw that scene yesterday and it just makes me laugh so much i had to share it.

tuesday i have class all day, starts with a two and a half hour class and ends with a two and a half hour class, with two regular length classes stuck in the middle. long day. today i had an exam in my second class, it went ok, but its just a lot of random stuff to remember. but speaking of exams, today i found out i got a 100% on my financial institutions midterm last week. i'm pretty sure that's the first time that's happened in my entire college career. a 30/30, i thought it was a typo or something. i looked on the graph and the class average was around a 75%, so i really rocked it. and i gotta admit i was really surprised because i didn't exactly study my heart out. i did study, i'm not that big of a slacker, but i didn't study quite as intensive as i normally do. but you know, you take enough finance courses and everything starts to overlap. so i felt pretty good. not 100% good, but good.

anyway, good test scores aside i just really want to be done with college. now. i thought i've had senioritis since my sophmore year, but man it gets so much more intense your last semester. and i don't think it helps knowing that in exactly one month (well, one month and one day) i will depart for southern california. its kinda a happy graduation to me present. i was gonna go over spring break but it didn't quite work out, so i figured i have all the time in the world after graduation so i'll be there for almost two weeks! i can't wait!

speaking of southern california, the dvd in my player right now is beverly hills cop. great movie. i love the scene where axel first drives into beverly hills. the music, the expression of axel's face, everything is great in that scene. it doesn't matter what movie i watch, if it takes place in southern california it instantly gives me goosebumps and makes me want to move to california. i'll make it there someday, until then i'll have to settle for watching films set there and the occasional vacation. i've had some people tell me i'm crazy, and that i shouldn't live there. why? why shouldn't i live somewhere nice? i think too many people just stay where they're born and raised and never consider the fact that they can move elsewhere. and that's fine if they don't want to move, but i need more than wisconsin. and i hate snow. hate it. i love palm trees, the sight of palm trees brings instant relaxation to my body and soul. so, i get it, california isn't for everyone. but it is for me, and i want people to stop trying to talk me out of it.

california, and money. money would make me very happy. and i hate that saying, "money can't buy you happiness." what a load of crap. i'm sure for some people money can't buy them happiness, for me it sure as hell can. absolutely. 100%. that's why i'm a finance major, i like money and understanding it. money makes the world go around, and i think that saying money can't buy happiness is something rich people say to make poor people feel a little better. some people will think i'm selfish, or materialistic, or whatever. i'm just being honest, and i wish more people would be too. i'm not selfish, i'm definitly a little materialistic (but c'mon, isn't everyone in america?) but unlike so many others i'm a truthful person. and maybe i desire money because i have that which money cannot buy- a great family and great friends. maybe if i lacked those things i'd be singing a different tune, but i'm incredily fortunate to have great relationships in my life already. with money than i'd be able to do what i want, with the people i love. and i gotta say i'm already a very happy person the vast majority of the time, but being rich would be the cherry on top of my sundae of life.

that's it for now, hopefully tomorrow i get some cleaning done and a workout in before class and trivia. we'll see how that goes.

salbrent

DAY 8

Milwaukee, Wisconsin
April 20, 2009
Mon 11:26 PM

happy 4/20 to everyone out there who cares or celebrates it. i am not one of those people, but if its your thing, have fun. while i'm very vocal over the fact that i do not and have never done any drugs, most people assume its because i'm a crazy anti-drug person. i am certainly anything but pro-drug, but from what i've read marijuana is less harmful than alcohol or tobacco. the reason i have no desire to smoke pot is because it smells like shit. seriously, i can't stand the smell. and i know that's not the reason to do it, but i'm pretty sure i could never get over that. i lived in the big freshman dorm at gw, so i know what it smells like. i never quite figured out if it was the room below or next to me that lit up every night, but man, that stench just wafted its way into my closet room. and that's why i don't want it legalized, cause as much as i hate the smell of cigarette smoke, i hate the smell of marijuana smoke even more.

today was a fairly uneventful day, drove back to milwaukee. typical monday, the weekend was gorgeous and today it was in the 40s and rainy. and my windshield wipers suck, most the time its to my advantage to not turn them on because they just smear the water and make it harder to see. i guess that's the result of them being caked in snow and ice after the winter. but, regardless i made it, and in time to go to class.

and that was it, really boring day. oh, i did watch 'the office' with my sister, it was a good episode. there was one scene where dwight stripped down to his underwear to prove he wasn't wearing a wire... disturbing, but hilarious at the same time.

there was something else i wanted to write about, but now i've completely forgottan about it. oh well. there's always tomorrow.

salbrent

DAY 7(i)

Appleton, Wisconsin
April 20, 2009
Mon 12:23 AM

ok, i just gotta say this quick, but i was writing an email to my friend and she mentioned my old blog, and i remember saying i might post some old ones on here sometime, which i definitely will sometime in the future, well, i just went and checked out my old blogsite and the last time i wrote a blog there was April 12, 2008. and exactly one year and one day later i started this one on April 13, 2009. kinda a crazy coincidence don't ya think?

The greatest of all faults is to imagine we have none.

salbrent

DAY 7

Appleton, Wisconsin
April 19, 2009
Sun 11:07 PM

today was a fairly productive day i must say, but it got off to an odd start when i got up for church apparently for nothing. rare is the day that my family does not start their week off with church, but it is very commonplace for me, the youngest, to be left out of the loop. i am always the last to know. but before you think my family was just slacking off today they did have a valid reason, some good friends of my parents were staying over for the weekend and we had to leave early for lunch in green bay. and eventually i figured out that i got up too early and that church was a no go. sure, i could've gone by myself, but that's no fun sitting by yourself.

anyway, we had lunch in green bay because there was a free poker tournament we were playing in. and i gotta say, i did pretty darn well considering i haven't played poker in months. last time i played was fall of 2008. i played really tight, and it was a good strategy. i also told my table outright that i only play good cards, and i don't bluff. one guy commented that i should just show my cards after giving out so much information, but that IS my strategy, because whenever i do finally play my cards they all fold, much to my delight. and in case you find yourself at a poker table with me, those first two statements are generally true, i only play good cards and i don't bluff. i'm not saying i always have the best hand- that would be impossible, all i'm saying is if i'm betting, i have something. your something could beat my something, but if you're holding a jack high, you'd best fold before i take more of your money. i also paid closer attention to position (where you're sitting at the table in relation to the dealer, who gets to make the last move). i played a few hands that weren't quite as strong as others because i had position to push people around more. i ended up taking 12th or 13th out of i believe 32 people, so not bad. they started with four tables and i was still in with two tables left. and i didn't lose because i made a bad decision, i lost my chips to in some bad beats. but that's poker. i was chip leader for awhile cause i won a huge pot with pocket jacks that turned into a full house. my mom actually happened to be sitting at my table during that time, i played it really well and she was so proud. i joked that graduating from college is nothing, but play good poker and my mother couldn't be prouder (i guess we'll see about the former, seeing as how i haven't yet graduated from collge). but then later i lost with pocket kings to a 6-5, yeah, talk about bad beat. the cards on the flop were a 3, 4, and 7, so i thought i was golden. and i did make a big raise before the flop, 3,000 chips on an 800 blind, so why he called that with a 6-5 is a mystery to me. but i'm not gonna be that player that gets all whiney when someone makes what is technically speaking a bad call. i've played with people like that and its no fun. i got beat, it happens, its poker. eventually i went out going all in with pocket fours, and wouldn't you know it i lose to a the same guy who had the 6-5, but this time he held pocket threes. oh well, it just wasn't meant to be.

my mother did really good in the tournament though, she always does. and my father went over to oneida and won there, so it was a good day. AND we went to suburban taco bell afterwards, so i felt like i won! Yeah!

i know what you're thinking.. suburban taco bell? yes, suburban taco bell- the only taco bell worth having. this is a cold-hard fact, taco bells in the suburbs have better food than the taco bells in cities. its a law of science, not a theory. i know this to be true because the few times i had taco bell in dc, it sucked. i would take the metro to virginia just to get my fill of chalupas and quesadillas. not to mention the baja blast mountain dew. and the same holds true in milwaukee, taco bell just is not good. but go home to appleton (or in this case west de pere) and mmmmm, taco bell. a friend of mine who lives in milwaukee first put this phenomenon into words for me, "suburban taco bell." and its so true in every way. the food, the service... everything is better in the suburbs.

so, taco bell and poker aside it was setting up to be a good day. went back home and watched the amazing race with my mom. the teams were in china and one of the challenges saw them using trained birds to catch fish. pretty entertaining, i kept thinking that there was no way my sister could ever do that challenge- she's afraid of both birds and fish. after 'the race' i watched slumdog millionaire with my dad, such a great movie. had to set up the playstation 3 to watch it, cause i own it on blu-ray and my parents don't have a blu-ray player yet. but regardless, if you haven't seen this movie go and watch it. the film is put together so well, the story and the way it moves, the acting, the cinematography- you feel like you're in India (you can tell they filmed it in Mumbai and not on a soundstage), and of course the music... A.R. Rahman definitiely earned those two oscars for his work. the first time i saw the movie in theaters i couldn't breath at the end, the first time that ever happened to me watching a film. people always use that phrase "it was breathtaking" and for the first time ever in my life a movie was such; i'd describe the scene but don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen it. great, great film.

as if today wasn't good enough, i also got my laundry done... the obligatory activity of college students home for the weekend. i was even feeling ambitious enough to wash my sheets, which yes, i do from time to time, just probably not as often as some people. the only problem is i can't fold a fitted sheet, it always ends up as a wrinkled ball of cloth. oh well, tomorrow it'll be back on my bed in milwaukee and what do i care if its wrinkled or not.

oh, right, i just remembered, i was gonna talk about those stupid 'tea parties' people were throwing around the country on april 15. i'm pretty sure its just fox news making something out of nothing (such a rarity, fox news being the standard bearer of decent, honest news... sorry, sarcasm doesn't exactly translate into the written, erm, typed word. but believe me, its dripping from my typing fingers at the moment). my disdain for fox news aside, these tea parties are really really lame. oh, poor me, i pay too much taxes. shut up. be glad you have a job. and yes, i know its pretty populist to rag on taxes and say they should be cut and yada yada, but whenever i talk to people about politics and open up and they hear my postion on things, it invariably comes up when they attack me and try to get me on the defensive about taxes. but it doesn't work, because unlike everyone else i don't mind paying taxes. there, i said it. i don't mind paying taxes. paying taxes is the price i pay for living in a country where the infrastructure is second to none... well, maybe second to japan. but that's fine. paying taxes is the price i pay for police protection, public education (which i gotta say, is generally great in wisco), nearby fire departments, an excellent military, and most importantly- someone to pick up my garbage. if you don't wanna pay taxes fine, then when your house is on fire, put it out yourself. when you want to drive to work don't use the roads. and when you want to throw away your garbage, just store it in your house. and since anti-tax people are also usually big pro-military people, to them i say this- your taxes pay for those soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines, so next time there's a war go fight it yourself and buy your own guns and armor. and i know people also have a problem with the progressive tax system in this country, but to that i say this- rich people take advantage of the perks living in this country affords more than poor people. when's the last time you saw a poor person drive their mercedes to work on the interstate? or start their own business? these things are possible because of opportunites this country provides- you could say the government provides. and yes, gov't isn't perfect, i'm not saying it is, and there is wasteful spending, but look at your own spending, is it all perfect? do you not waste some money here and there... i know i do. heck, sitting in my room i can see a lot of things that shouldn't be bought by anybody: a cricket bat, lucha libre mask, romulan ale, foam badger paw, tokyo drift on dvd, and the list goes on. and say you make $1,000 a year and i make $10. if we were taxed the same, say 10%, then i'd pay $1 while you'd pay $100. i had almost nothing to begin with, and now i have 9 bucks, whereas you're still sitting pretty with 900. but say i pay 10% and you pay 25%, i keep my 9 and you still have 750 to live on. i don't know, i guess that just makes sense to me. and i guarantee if you make 1,000 versus my 10, you're taking advantage of the american infrastructure more than i am. so to all you teabaggers out there (yeah, i just went there) i say sure, go ahead and not pay taxes. but then stop using any and all things that those taxes pay for. and also, if you're gonna complain about paying taxes all the time, then i want to hear your alternative.

uh, ok, all that ranting made me tired. i know i said i'd try to keep that kinda stuff to a minimum, but i can't stop the fingers from doing their work, once they go, they go. such marvelous typers. anyway, gotta get up and head back to milwaukee tomorrow, we'll see if anything sparks me up then.

alright, this is gonna be posted just in time.

salbrent

DAY 6

Appleton, Wisconsin
April 19, 2009
Sun 12:44 AM

Yeah, so this post comes a little late to be officially saturday, but that's ok, i was out having fun at my favorite hangout. one of the main reasons i come to appleton is to watch UFC fights at buffalo wild wings. first off, its free, so no dishing out 50 bucks to watch it on pay-per-view, and second, the wings are fabulous. really, they're great. i always get a mix of mild, parmesan garlic, and honey bbq. that way i get a little spice, a little umami (if you don't know what umami is, i recommend you wiki it) and a little sweet. its a great combination, in fact, i don't even eat wings anywhere else. people assume that i love all buffalo wings, and the truth is i love buffalo wild wings, anywhere else just doesn't cut it. i've eaten there so much that my taste buds have gottan attuned to their sauce alone. and of course wash it down with a mr. pibb, or pibb xtra, whatever the hell its called now. my good friend Brass comes and watches the fights with me and we have a good time. tonight was no different, except that the title fight was boring (thanks anderson silva and thales leites). what made me angry was anderson silva apologizing for the boring fight... again. your last fight was mind-numbing too, and i should know because i was there. i left incredibly pissed off that i just wasted 90 bucks and had to drive to chicago to watch that train wreck. and if i remember correctly, and i do, you said that your next fight would be better, and you apologized again to the crowd. well, that day "the spider" lost a fan in me, and today (or rather yesterday, seeing as how its now sunday) confirmed it. not that leites did anything to help the situation, i think his nickname should be "the turtle." oh, when is georges fighting again.

oh, and chuck liddell, its time to retire. now. you've lost four of your last five fights and keep getting knocked out the same way. you're too predictable, you haven't evolved with the sport like other fighters have, and you're too old. you're no randy couture.

boring fights aside, another fun moment of the night was when one of the waiters, who is there every saturday and usually gives me the ufc poster, came up to my table (everyone who works there recognizes me as that girl who's there all the time) with another waitress and asked my advice on one of the fights. apparently this waitress was making a bet with one of her tables during the liddell-rua fight and wanted to know who was going to win. i told her to pick rua, so i was pleased when he won, and so was the waitress. the friendly staff at bww knew i was the expert on these things, and i came through and lived up to my reputation.

sorry if you're not into mixed martial arts and you didn't understand any of that, i'm surprised i was able to keep my comments regarding tonights fights to a minimum- well, i think it was a minimum.

earlier today i played video games with a young friend of mine, he had never played street fighter or mortal kombat before! imagine that, a kid who loves video games who had never played the two greatest fighting games ever. glad that i grew up when i did, i've played or owned practically every system. so, i had to educate him on sub zero, scorpion, liu kang and raiden, blanca, sagat, e. honda and ryu. i also played goldeneye earlier, gosh that takes me back. that game came out in 1997. i was ten. how insane is that? it felt good to know that i still had it, i played a few single player missions and kicked butt as 007. by far one of the greatest games ever made. too bad EA got the rights to make james bond video games after this one, because Rare did such a great job.

uhhh, i'm starting to get tired. i'm thinking now, is that all i did today? video games, ufc/buffalo wild wings? apparently. well, not a bad day at all, not quite blogworthy though is it? sorry to disappoint. oh, i remember what i was going to write about, those stupid "tea party" events people are throwing to protest paying taxes. but i really don't feel like it right now, later today i will write on that subject. till then.

salbrent

DAY 5

Appleton, Wisconsin
April 17, 2009
Fri 4:06 PM

like a termite that's chokin' on the splinters... just a little lyric drop from "i'm a loser baby" by beck. its an absolutely beautiful day in appleton, just reached 70 degrees out according to the radio. just drove up from milwaukee, and yeah, this blog's a bit earlier than my others, but who knows if i'll feel like blogging after the party tonight. besides, i have more than enough fodder to go on from earlier today. (and yes, i realize i'm not really in appleton, but technically i'm in the appleton metropolitan area and i hate saying the name of that place my parent's house technically falls in, so deal with the fact that i say 'appleton')

woke up this morning and my sister hadn't left for work yet. she was watching the daily show on the dvr and so i caught some of it. jon stewart is a genius, and so are all the writers of that show. this episode was of particular interest to me because they had on the chair of the tarp oversight committee. or something like that. for those who don't know or wonder why this sounds familiar, tarp is the name of the first bill that gave the banks billions and billions of dollars to prevent failing. i'm so glad we have oversight now after most of the money has been given away. perhaps we should've been more particular on how the money would be spent in the first place. yeah yeah, hindsight is 20/20, and this is a government program we're talking about, so there were bound to be problems. but what bothered me was the chair of this committee was a law professor from harvard. yeah, that sounds real impressive, but let's not forget we're talking about money, not law. i want somebody with a Ph. D. in accounting or finance to look at this information. no disrespect to those involved with the law, i understand its incredibly complicated and something i will never wrap my head around, but so too is finance. if you are not trained in it you don't understand it. i know this because i'm a finance major. i start a class and think, oh this is easy i get this, and ten minutes later in class i'm thinking, that makes no sense, this is the opposite of what i thought. everything you think you know about money does not necessary apply in finance and accounting. this is how madoff got away with his ponzi scheme, he was tight with the SEC and he knew that those guys were all lawyers who could pick out the illegalities in almost any document in front of them; but put an income statement or balance sheet under their nose and they can't tell you anything about it. that's why the math and stats guy who ended up busting bernie only needed ten minutes to know his numbers were wrong and two hours to mathmatically prove it. so, while harvard law professor sounds all nice, i want a chair trained in business finance and/or accounting. that's just my two cents.

i also had a group meeting today, had to go check out some stores for this retail marketing class i'm taking. a nice member of my group offered to drive so we headed off for west milwaukee in her little toyota. i think i'm pretty spoiled driving my boat of a car, whenever i get in a compact, or even a mid-size sedan it feels too small to me. and i'm pretty small! but when you grow up with your parents never driving anything smaller than a dodge intrepid (greatest car ever made i might add) everything feels small. how i love my big car.

and my big car served me well on my drive up to appleton. i very much enjoy driving the two hours by myself, just me, titleist (the name of my automobile), and my ipod. my ipod is relegated to car duty only, the thing can't hold a charge for anything. lately i've just been plugging it in and putting all songs on shuffle. great songs come up that i forget i have on my ipod. and i really have everything on my ipod- there's my staples aerosmith and van halen, but then i've got everything from german hip hop to bollywood showtunes, celine dion to george clinton & parliament funkadelic, depeche mode to the mamas and the papas. and of course michael jackson. much love to the king of pop. anyway, the drive is a great chance to just be alone with my thoughts and my varied (or if you'd rather, random) music.

it's a very nice drive, but no drive is complete without the crazed jackass who swerves in and out of traffic, who pulls behind you and tailgates because you aren't going fast enough for them (and sidenote here to all those tailgaters- you only make me go slower. if someone rides my bumper because 30 in a 25 zone is too slow for them, i have no problem dropping down to 20. i've done it, the only place i don't is on a highway cause it messes up other traffic. but on a one lane, heck yeah if five over the speed limit isn't enough for you, i'll go five under), and then gets around you and cuts you off. and then you see their jesus fish, so you know, they can't be that much of an asshole. ugh, i hate those things. i really dislike anybody who wears their religion on their sleeve (or their car). because those people invariably come off as a hypocrit. it's impossible not to, because nobody is perfect. nobody can live up to any religion, i don't care if you're christian, muslim, hindu, buddhist, jewish, whatever- you cannot be the shining example of your religion at all times. unless you're the dalai lama, then you can, but we all can't be lucky enough to be the 14th reincarnation of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (thank you to the simpsons for knowing that). i'm not raggin' on religion here, i am certainly a person of faith, but i don't go around with a jesus fish on my car acting like i'm better than you. i'm not. nobody is better than anyone, regardless of religion or lack thereof. it's a personal choice. i don't believe my religion is the right one, and i don't think yours is the wrong one. and i don't think you need one. and i don't hold someone in higher or lower esteem because of their religious beliefs. or lack thereof. i hate people who do.

and going along with the jesus fish theme, i also hate political bumper stickers, cause if you have a politician's sticker on your car that i don't like or agree with i automatically judge you and don't like you. and if you have a sticker i do like, i think, hey, this person must be pretty nice and/or cool. but i know this isn't the case. the person with the sticker i hate could be a really nice person who is just incredibly flawed when it comes to political issues. heck, they could be one step down from being mother teresa, i doubt it, but its possible. and that person with the sticker i approve of, they could be a serial killer. you just don't know, which is why i don't and will never put any political stickers on my car. the ones that are there, well, inquire what you will about the union jack.

gosh, the electricity in this house goes off all the time, i just looked up at my digital clock and its flashing 12:15. last time i was home it went off too, it was like 1 am and i was on the computer and everything turned off but the toshi, my faithful laptop, kept humming.

time to get going for the party, it's at a bowling bar, but i'm NOT bowling. i suck/loathe bowling. seriously, i'm terrible. i got a 62 once... bumber bowling. and i'm an equal opportunity bowler, i hit both gutters. so, no, avoiding the lanes tonight.

oh, and i'm changing the way i post stuff on these blogs, well, at least the time and day. the time i put above is the time i start, whereas from now on the post time will be, well, the post time. just so you can see how much effort i put into these things (or how distracted i get in the middle of writing them). oh, and i almost forgot, a big congratulations to Mr. Amitabh Bachchan who today celebrated the one year anniversary of his blog (his blog being the inspiration for this one). So, congrats to you Big B, you rock!

salbrent

DAY 4

Milwaukee, Wisconsin
April 16, 2009
Thu 11:08 PM

When all you've got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

damn you Little Caesar's pizza, closing at ten. all i wanted was a delicious, five dollar sausage pizza but you were closed. its thursday night, in milwaukee, everyone is out getting hammered and i'm pretty sure you'd do great business if you were open later. ugh, i was looking forward to that as i left work, too bad i got out of work too late.

anyway, did you like that quote just there? i heard it this morning on the radio, its so true. each morning when i get up i listen to bob and brian on 102.9 the Hog, milwaukee's best rock station. those guys are pretty damn hilarious, and i especially like listening when they talk to their sports guy czaban, he's based out of dc so i like to hear his take on stuff- it's like the best of both worlds, bob and brian talk wisconsin stuff and czabe talks about dc (and his take on sports topics is often contrary to the way mainstream media reports it... not to mention just a lot funnier). i love dc, and i miss that city a lot. not the school i attended as much, but the city, the people. i liked living there much more than living in milwaukee, although i like the midwest much more than the east coast. apparently i just can't make up my mind.

anyway, big b puts a lot of inspiration/clever quotes on his blog, so when one strikes me as worth mentioning i will. another fairly uneventful day, class, work, no pizza, blog. that's about it. right now i'm watching total recall.... greatest movie ever made, period. if you talk to me for any length of time this masterpiece of cinema will come up in conversation. for me its the perfect film- the story, the acting (yes, i think arnold is the greatest, mr. arnold schwarzenegger, guvna of california- or the way he says it kuli-for-nee-uh), the score, the pace of it (it's non-stop sci-fi action fun), the way i can watch it over and over and over again and not get sick of it, and of course the three-breasted alien prostitute... ok, just kidding on that one, but i thought it was worth mentioning because everyone who sees this movie seems to remember that part. i watch it all the time, all the time. i own it on vhs, dvd, and blu-ray. and its on my laptop and sony walkman video mp3 player. i've even seen it on laserdisc on ebay, but so far i've been able to resist. oh, and i almost forgot to mention that i own the nintendo game based on the movie, but its really hard and not that great. i practically bought my playstation 3 and hdtv just so i could watch it on blu-ray. it's also one of the last mainstream films to get an x rating (the trademarked nc-17 rating being created later in 1990) because it was too violent. however, the director paul verhoeven re-cut using different camera angles to get it down to an R rating. it's also one of the very first films to feature cg animation (the scene where arnold walks into the subway station and goes through an x-ray machine- for being the earliest cgi it still holds up today and looks good- at least i think so). and, conversley, one of the last to use miniature models, those being rapidly replaced by cgi.

enough on that, i could write everyday about that movie, and don't be surprised when it comes up again, and again, and again.

man, i'm actually getting tired, maybe i should take advantage of this rare occurence and try to get some sleep. oh, wait, before that, i gotta share this, i was so excited today because i got my sweet eddie van halen kicks in the mail. they're just like the ones eddie wears in concert and they're designed off his kick-ass frankenstrat guitar. here, i'll try to put a picture for you to see...



hahaha, that's awesome! now i know how to put pictures in here. i'll share pictures as cool stuff comes up. sweet sneakers though, right? and not a bad little camera my phone has either. you can even see my roommate homer in this pic, and see the fact that i need to clean my room. what else is new, i also need to clean the kitchen. tomorrow... of course i say that now, we'll see if i'm feeling ambitious friday before i head back to appleton. hmm, quaid is on mars now, this is where the movie really takes off. there's also a lot of product placement in this movie, hilton, pepsi and coca-cola, sony, miller lite... and i gotta say i approve of all of those things. the only real dated thing about this movie are the car props, apparently cars in the future are made out of cardboard and can only seat two people uncomfortably.

well, that's it for today, got some stuff i need to get done before i head home... oh, yes, quaid is about to enter the last resort, this is my favorite part of the movie... the way quaid and melena walk towards each other, and the music... its great, everything is excellent. i think i'm gonna back up and watch it again, couldn't get the full effect watching while typing. till then.

salbrent

DAY 3

Milwaukee, Wisconsin
April 15, 2009
Wed 10:57 PM

Aerosmith and Pearl Jam... ho ho ho! And... uh, Van Halen. Wow, Van Halen who else?! Yeah, who else? Sorry, just watching Wayne's World 2 at the moment, if you haven't seen it, go to a store where videos or movies are sold or rented. and go, and buy it, or rent it, and watch it! but, that's assuming of course you've seen Wayne's World (the first), and if you haven't, please stop reading my blog. Seriously, stop. Go, watch it, then resume you're reading. Thanks. Wayne's World is so ingrained into who I am, despite the fact that the movie came out when I was three. It was my favorite movie growing up and still is my favorite comedy and will forever be. I grew up wishing i could be like wayne and garth, jamming in the basement, going to heavy metal bars called the gasworks, attending rock concerts- sidenote here, I have been to an Alice Cooper concert (sadly, not in Milwaukee like the movie, but rather in Green Bay)... and I have been to an Aerosmith concert in Chicago- just like the second movie! and i have seen Van Halen, so, yeah. Now I just gotta go see Pearl Jam. Anyway, great movie, I actually watched the first one last night and that's why I'm watching the second one now.

pretty uneventful day today, worked this morning, went to class, then went and got a falafel wrap. damn, i love falafel. i could eat it everyday, heck, i do practically eat it everyday. There's this persian place here in milwaukee that has terrific food, the falafel, the lamb, the mast mosir (yogurt with shallot sauce... hmmmmmm mouthwatering just thinking about it), not to mention the kabobs and other dishes. The people who work there recognize me.

back to the day. post-falafel activity meant my typical wednesday night pub trivia. my team didn't do so hot today, but that's ok, it tends to go in strides. i did have my pint of 1664 like i said- so great from the tap. also played cricket, a superior dart game. my friend Console and I split, she won one game and i the other. both games were close, its been awhile since we played darts and we both surprised ourselves with our skill after the time off.

man, writing about falafel makes me want some now... so good. man, this week is going by fast. tomorrow is thursday already, then friday i head back home to visit the folks for the weekend. and do laundry. although, i did do laundry while i was home at easter, but you can always do more. few things in life are as satisfying as finishing your load of socks and underwear, knowing now that you have your pick of the best... after awhile only the bad socks and underwear are left, the ones with holes and the worn out elastic that's uncomfortable and useless. i like clean clothes, and i like doing laundry. i've been doing my own laundry since i was in middle school, and its never really felt like a chore. my mother stopped doing my laundry because she would fold it all nice and put it in a basket for me and, being the somewhat lazy individual we all are at times, i usually just left the clothes in the basket in my room. had i just put them away it would've been all good. but that's ok, she at least showed me how to do laundry, so i accepted this new rule immediately with no argument, because i was wrong in not putting my clothes away.

lots of events going on this weekend, there's a birthday party, a ufc fight to watch, and a poker tournament to play in. the perfect week to have the weekend off, considering i usually work sparingly during the week and a lot on the weekend. but its all good, its not like i have a social life outside trivia wednesdays.

oh, and here's something i wanted to mention. the brewers played the cubs this past opening weekend and one of the games was shown on espn. i usually enjoy espn, the enjoyment of sports is in my blood, growing up my mom listened to sports radio all the time and my father, well, i always joke that you could insult me, my mom, my sister, and my dad (who is the most level headed, even tempered guy i know) would just shrug it off. but say something bad about the packers (even something that's true, but just negative) and he will get so defensive. it's true! that's not to say he's one of those crazies who's life revolves around sports, because it doesn't. it just goes to show how passionate he is about his team. and its my team too, i'm just not always as positive as he is. anyway, back to espn. i don't mean to espn bash, but they were so biased towards the cubs. i get it, the cubs are from chicago and the brewers are from lowly milwaukee. thank god they weren't playing the red sox or yankees (and yes, i am aware that they're not even in the same league, i'm just pointing out how much worse the bias could've been). anyway, one of the commentators mentioned bob uecker- who was for many, many years the only reason to listen to the brewers on the radio. he is still one of the greatest things about the milwaukee brewers. their announcer is Mr. Baseball. if you haven't heard his commentary on WTMJ or one of their affiliates i feel sorry for you, because he is a master of the radio. anyway, one of these espn punks said something along the lines of 'i can't believe he's still in milwaukee.' yeah, lowly milwaukee, why would anyone want to stay there? oh, i don't know, maybe because he's from milwaukee, played for the milwaukee braves, and loves the brewers??? These are just guesses. Maybe he stays for the abundance of frozen custard stands or summerfest. either way, i think he likes it here. not every city is simply a launching pad for new york, boston, chicago, or los angeles. there are actually people who like the midwest, or the south (me not really being one of those, but i guess atlanta is nice) or those other parts of the country. I know those on the coasts are always surprised to be reminded that there are people living in the middle of the country, but there are, and they aren't all waiting for their chance to go to any of the before mentioned cities. i am not one of them, i'm very vocal about wantint to end up in LA someday. but that's me. right now i live in milwaukee and i know many, many people who genuinely like it here and plan to stay here. and that's ok. i hate the midwest always being stepped on, why would people wanna live? because its nice here, stop marginalizing us, we're not inferior.

sorry about that last little rant there, i'm really gonna try to keep that to a minimum. maybe i'll start a seperate blog for angry rants. a seperate blog where i can go off and curse and just be angry. yeah, that sounds like a good idea. i already have an idea for my first rant- dogs, and how i don't like them very much at all.

well, that's it for now, i'm gonna try to get some sleep, always quite an accomplishment if i can pull it off. thank you insomnia.

salbrent

DAY 2

Milwaukee, Wisconsin
April 14, 2009
Tue 9:05 PM

Day 2... so far so good, sticking to this blog thing. i'd thought i'd take my second blog to lay down some ground rules. first, i won't talk about work on my blog. even if something absolutely extraordinary happens... ok, maybe i will then. but i will not because i like my job, and i mean that literally and in that i'd like to keep it. being the web-savy person i am i know that what you put on the internet for all to see is exactly that- for all to see. so, my professional life will not be discussed in detail on this blog. sorry to disappoint. but who wants to hear about me working anyway... i sure don't. second, seeing as how i am not completely a hermit, ie, i have friends and family, i have decided upon using inatimate codewords for friends, and family, well, i shall refer to them by title and not name. but don't worry, the codewords will be for my reference and i won't say anything embarassing or potentially problemsome regarding my friends and family. they are just that, friends and family and i'd like to keep it that way. they will be mentioned as part of my life, such as, i hung out with Skyscraper today (I didn't actually), or I got off the phone with Ice earlier (again, not true, just an example of potential things to come).

So, today was filled with class, tuesdays being of the day i have the most classes. pretty uneventful. this morning the shirt i grabbed was my virginia tech shirt, may the victims of the shooting there always be remembered. the shirt is a way for me to show solidarity and remember them, because otherwise i honestly wouldn't think about it much. i remember i was eating lunch just off campus when i heard what happened, and later that day i found myself in virginia, it was just surreal. students just like me, going to class and getting murdered for nothing. a few days later i went back to virginia and bought the shirt i'm currently wearing. its a small token of rememberance.

anyway, sad things aside i'm currently writing this while downing a Kronenbourg 1664. Lent is over so i can drink again, not that i drink a lot, but i enjoy the occasional barley and malt based beverage. i probably have a beer about once every two weeks. sometimes in the evening its just like, hm, i could go for a beer, and i invariably grab a high life in the fridge. i am loyal to milwaukee, brew city. miller high life is usually my refreshment of choice, but i happened to have a 1664 in the fridge leftover from my birthday (i couldn't drink it then on account of Lent). 1664 is much better on tap, but the bottled variety quenches my thirst this evening just fine. Oh, and in case you're wondering, i didn't give up alcohol to be all holier than thou, i did it frankly cause it was one of the easier things i came up with.

that being said, something interesting actually happened in my second class this afternoon. the girl i sit next to said i had to read some articles written in the post, the student written campus newspaper. i used to read the hatchet when i went to gw, i found it stimulating and quite well written. i don't read the newspaper here because i'm only on campus when i go to class, so i don't know what's up most the time. the articles she mentioned were about the recent deaths of two students due to a lethal combination of drugs and alcohol. apparently an earlier written article was getting some bad feedback because it said something along the lines of these deaths were the result of irresponsible behavior regardint the use of alcohol and drugs, which is true. the responses ranged from "all college students experiment with drugs and alcohol" and "he was a 19 year-old kid." First, you're not a 19-year old kid, because you're an adult at 18. with the freedom of college also comes the responsibility and while it is sad and tragic for the students' friends and family, it was preventable. with the freedom of college comes the responsibility of being an adult, and using the excuse 'well everybody does it' doesn't make it ok. i'm not critizing what happened, we all know these students aren't the first and, sadly, will not be the last in this endless cycle of risky college behavior.

now, so you know i'm not being a jerk about this, i've done my share of college drinking i'll admit it. but, i can say that i can also count on one hand the number of times i've been drunk. seriously. also, i have never, never, NEVER done any illegal drugs. heck, i can't even remember the last time i took prescribed drugs, it was probably when i was in grade school last time i had an ear infection. anyway, i'm not saying this to prove i'm better than you or better than other students, i'm not. all i'm saying is the most important thing is, if you decide to engage in drinking or other events, is to do it responsibly. i was always with friends who looked out for one another, i always had a place to stay or a way to get back to my place and i never went too far. i never got so hammered i threw up (although some times it would've made me feel better had i), never really got a hangover (i attribute this to my overal health) and i never got so smashed that i didn't remember what i did. now, some people would read that and say, well then salbrent, you've never really been drunk. Fine, I'll accept it if I've never been drunk by your standards. I doesn't make me feel any less cool or anything, hell, i just don't care. i've had people say that to me in a sort of superior way, like, haha, you haven't been so drunk you pissed yourself in the corner? Nope. And i'm proud of that. The last time i got drunk i woke up with a post-it note on my head saying "remember, you will never drink again" cause i felt so awful (this was after leaving the bar and walking straight into a garbage can; later that night i got terrible vertigo and nausea and wound up with an ugly scar on my arm that i still don't know how i exactly got). and since then i haven't, we'll see how long i can live up to that post-it note, i sure am gonna try.

I suppose you could say i started drinking in college cause i gave into peer-pressure. but i don't like to say it that way, my friends didn't force me to do anything. i never drank in high school, so i figured i'd keep that up once i got to college. but eventually it became a sort of, well, everyone's doing it so i will, but there was no pressure to ever drink from my friends. and i had loads of fun not drinking, only one group of friends of mine drank, the other didn't drink so we did other things. i think its important to have a good balance in college. if all of your fun is derived from drinking then i pity you. no, that's the wrong way to put it, i think you're missing out. yeah, there were times i drank, but there were times that i went to baseball games, hockey games, hookah bars, rock concerts, sat around the wwii memorial waiting to see british royals (i did that twice!), get chinese acupressure massages, walk the monuments at night, just all the fun dc has to offer. and most of the best times took place when i was sober. i look at all the pictures people post on facebook and it makes me laugh, laugh because that's all they (apparently) have to live for. Getting hammered night after night, and taking lots of stupid pictures to show everyone how cool they are and how much fun they have. sure, i have pictures, but not a hundred. yes i've gottan drunk, but its hardly the highlight of my life and its near (practically at) the bottom of my list of things to do for fun.

i will say this though, the first time i ever got drunk did end kinda humourusly. yeah that's mispelled, whatever. i was over at a pal's place and we did the usual (for us anyway) jamming to music, drinking, just having a good time. there were five of us, let's call them Tiger, Prez, Slurpee, and Edge. Prez and Slurpee left, leaving me, Tiger and Edge. I was pretty sloshed, and I wanted to head back to my dorm, so I thought I'd just go in the bathroom and throw some water on my face to sober up, and then head out (i lived like half a block away). I remember I had a hard time standing up in the bathroom, it was quite difficult and i had a pounding headache to boot. as i stepped out of the bathroom, i decided to lie down in the closet across from the bathroom (it was a nice big closet and my original intent was to just lie down for a moment or two) and next thing i know Edge is pulling me up saying "salbrent, what are you doing, we thought you left." i had passed out in the closet. nice. that makes a good first story. The three of us crashed there that night, woke up late the next morning and laughed about it. No harm done, but i never lived it down that i passed out in the closet that night.

that was actually the most interesting thing to happen to me when drinking, most the time Tiger, Edge, and I would just crash there, wake up, laugh, talk (we learned that I can do a really good pseudo-German impression after a few beers, seriously, its convincing), and maybe take the metro the IHop in Ballston, Virginia. Other times I was able to make it to my dorm no problem, but I do remember one time when i had too much to drink (and this was after practically fasting and not sleeping at all due to midterms, needless to say that time it didn't take a lot to get me gone) and Slurpee and Tiger escourted me back to my dorm cause i couldn't stand, let alone walk very well. The problem was, neither of them lived in my dorm, and my dorm was the large freshman dorm with a cop always sitting at the front desk, and to get in you had to swipe your access card right in front of him. So, Slurpee and Tiger held onto my backpack (i was showing off something on my laptop that night, a good thing, cause my heavy backpack provided something for them to hold onto while walking me back) and they walked me back to Thurston and told me I had to sober up enough to get back to my room, cause if they walked in with me it'd be an instant red flag. It's amazing how you can sober up when you have to. I made it past the cop perfectly and up to my dorm. I even called Tiger to let her know I made it up there alright. She instructed me to go to bed (now I gotta admit, this part I don't remember much, but I've been told by Tiger this is what happened). I said i didn't want to because there was stuff on my bed, hardly unusual, my dorm floor was tile that never looked (and never really was) clean. And seeing as how I lived in a closet (and i mean that literally, ask me sometime and I'll show you pictures of my closet dorm) most of my books and other things ended up on my bed. Tiger told me to take the stuff off the bed and lie down. I did, and eventually fell asleep. I woke up the next morning and laughed because, while I was coherent enough to take the stuff off my bed and put on my pajamas, i apparently was not coherent enough to untie and take off my sneakers. So I woke up in my nice button down pajamas and pants, complete with my shiny Dada sneakers. Nice work.

I say these things to not glorify drinking or anything like that, i mean, i hope you find these stories amusing, cause in retrospect i do, but to point out what a great support system i had when i did decide to drink. Tiger, Slurpee, Edge, and Prez, we looked out for each other. There were times I helped them back to their dorm, just like they helped me. You always gotta have a designated walker. The important thing is to remember to be safe. My parents never told me "never party, never drink, yada yada." What I remember them saying was "be safe, be with friends, and- my mom was a stickler on this- always keep an eye on your cup!" that last one never really applied to me, i really didn't go to clubs and when i did, i was too cheap to buy anything to drink. but they taught me the right thing, if you just tell kids "don't do this..." when they do it they'll make bad decisions and they can end up in the trouble. The people who are realists and admit that, yeah, college students will drink and do stuff like this, and instead take the route of teaching how to make safe decisions have the right idea. It's like abstinence only sex education. It only leads to bad decisions, because like it or not, most teenagers will have sex. If you simply forbid them, then they'll just go on and make dumb mistakes casue they weren't given the right information to make safe decisions. Educating people doesn't give the impressions its ok to drink, its ok to have sex, it just says that hey, the best decision is to not drink and not have sex, but if you do it, do it safely. give people information and they'll make better decision. leave them in the dark, well, don't be surprised when they keep bumping into the wall. sorry, that's a lame attempt on my part to make an analogy.

well, this blog got more philosophical than i intended at the end, but, like i said, you never know where this blog will go, i even don't. i really don't sit down with an idea of what to write, i just let the fingers on the keyboard do their magic. that's it for now, i think i've covered every possible topic regarding alcohol consumption, don't expect to see it come up anytime soon. next time i'll talk about something more fun like sno cones, lollipops, and kittens. ok, maybe not.

salbrent

DAY 1

Milwaukee, Wisconsin
April 13, 2009
Mon 11:35 PM


Here it is, Day 1. I've been inspired to start blogging again, I used to blog on myspace, but slowly i stopped. my blog became slowly a rant, things that would upset me i'd write in lengths about, and cool things that happened to me i would also write in lengths about. and you know, i enjoy writing these thoughts out loud, so its not so much a blog as a daily online diary for me. i doubt anybody will really read this, but that's not the point. its for me, and if others happen to enjoy it, great, that's like me eating my cake and sharing it with others, and i like others to be happy. it's also easier for me to write as if i'm writing to an audience, so although i am writing to myself, i can express my thoughts and experiences better this way.

you'll notice it only took me about two sentences to ignore the usual grammar rules, proper capitalizing, puntuation... whatever, i'm like that poet e e cummings, he didn't need to follow the rules and neither did i. (wow, my blog is off to a great start, i'm already comparing myself to an award-winning poet, that didn't take long). this isn't for any class or anything, so i don't feel compelled or obligated to follow the rules.

why have i suddenly been inspired to blog again? Two words, Amitabh Bachchan. The Big B. He has a blog and its fascinating, I read it everyday. It's very inspirational, yet candid at the same time. Now, i know you're reading this going, who the heck is Amitabh Bachchan, well, he's only one of the most famous actors in the world, i recently have gottan into some of his films (Sholay, Zanjeer, Khabi Kushi Khabi Gham, Baghban, you know, the classics...) Not because i'm all that into Bollywood, i just enjoy movies, period. All kinds of movies that span countries not starting with United States of... If you know me you know i have an extensive movie collection and a good collection of foreign films as well. Now I'm not one of those crazed obsessed fans who only think that movies made outside america are good, or only like bollywood, or hong kong movies, or whatever. the fact is i simply don't limit myself, i have vast interests. I just happen to think that good movies don't only come from america. check out his blog sometime, its fascinating, he writes everyday, i hope that i can keep up with my blog with half of his devotion. i even thought about posting my blog on the site he uses Big Adda, but that's an Indian networking site, and i'm neither Indian nor into networking.

anyway, i like movies, so, frequently i'll be writing about that. and music, and tv... video games. I'm a fan of media in general, its where i spend my money. most college students and people my age blow all their money on beer, personally, i don't like to drink my money, i'm cheap. i want something tangible that i can keep and put on a shelf, that's what i spend money on. In fact, i'm watching a movie right now. Star Trek: First Contact- the best Star Trek movie. If you disagree with me that's alright... just know that you're wrong. I've been watching it a lot lately, its a great movie to put on and just listen to while doing computer work... work on the Toshi, the name i just now gave to my loyal laptop, Toshi.

So yeah, my blog will be random, I am random. And my interests are varied, some days I'll recount what i did (today being not one of those days, very boring, drive home from the Easter festivities, class, break, class, eat Chinese food) other days i'll talk about politics or current events. Not likely the politics one, i'm not particularily a non-political being, but living in DC for two years taught me that i just don't care, democrats, republicans, they're both caught up on the fringe issues that real, middle-class americans like myself could really care less about. and that's what i did, care less. most people go through their idealistic phase in college, i went through mine in high school. That, and business school invariably makes you more conservative, i'm still definitely left of center, but not as much as most people think.

but speaking of current events, way to go US Navy kickin' some pirate ass (i'll try to keep typed profanities to a minimum, but really, what else could i write there?). forget pirates vs. ninjas, clearly SEALs beat both. i am very proud of my country's navy today. I gotta respect that boat captain too, sacrificing himself for his crew, the needs of the many outweight the needs of the few, or the one. very noble and loyal, two things all too rare these days. i personally wouldn't hesitate to take a bullet for my friends or family. wouldn't hesitate, i hate to see others hurt or bullied. (like i said, i'd take a bullet, just don't ask me to wear a dress or partake in some formal event of yours like a wedding- i hate attention, ceremonies, and parties). In fact, going to a party where I know nobody would be hell to me, even going to a party where i do know people is often a form of torture. if i wound up at a party knowing nobody i would probably stand around the food, talking to the other randoms around the food table about the quality of the aforementioned food, or lack thereof.

well, i went from pirates and US Navy to how I hate parties... like i said, random. Maybe i should change the name of my blog from Big S to Random S. Maybe that can be the subtitle. man, my bed is comfortable. and i'm thirsty, i want some water. i find i get thirsty at night a lot lately, maybe i should drink more water during the day. hmm, will have to try that. no, i won't change the name of my blog. I named it Big S in honor of Mr. Bachchan's blog, he being the Big B and all, that media given nickname is also the name of his blog, the Big B blog, so, its an homage to his blog. however, his blogs use much better grammar and follow the rules of literature. i bet i already have five mispellings, but i don't really care, i'm okay with that. he also writes on his mac book pro, whereas i write mine on a sub 500 dollar toshiba, so, it's fitting that mine be more informal.

well, i think that's it for today, we'll see what inspires me tomorrow. and seeing as how i already have written some blogs a few years ago, maybe i'll post those on here sometime. i can see it already, i'll call those the Classics. That thirst is popping up again, i think i shall head to the kitchen for some refreshing H2O.

salbrent