Back to Modern Times

Although depending on when you read this, the title could be incredibly outdated.  So I suppose back to my current time in my existence.

Apparently I was quite productive in 2011.  I do have to assume this was also mostly related to still working at TCCI and have unbelievable amounts of free time at my disposal while at a computer.  I no longer have that at my disposal.  Not that I'm actually doing a different job now than before.  Although working swing shift is a different experience altogether.  My free time is typically limited to a couple of hours as long as a day is not busy now.  Oh well, less nonsense for me to write and you to read.

Bucket list item number 37 - Repost from sometime in 2011

Alright so my bucket list includes the making of a list of all of the bands I have seen and to keep it running. I have no idea where to begin with this but I think I'll just start listing bands I have seen in no particular order until I come up with a system. So um... yeah here we go.<br /><br />1. Chuck Ragan<br />2. Hot Water Music<br />3. Ben Nichols<br />4. Tom Gabel<br />5. Lucero<br />6. Against Me!<br />7. Tim Barry<br />8. The Get Up Kids<br />9. Pretty and Nice<br />10. Thursday<br />11. Circle Takes the Square<br />12. The Locust<br />13. Poison the Well<br />14. Throwdown<br />15. Divide the Day<br />16. Nevea Tears<br />17. Bleeding Through<br />18. Martyr AD<br />19. Calico System<br />20. Saves the Day<br />21. Say Anything<br />22. Armour for Sleep<br />23. The Catheters<br />24. Appleseed Cast<br />25. As Night Falls<br />26. With Honor<br />27. It Dies Today<br />28. Shai Hulud<br />29. Madball<br />30. Everytime I Die<br />31. Superheros of Hardcore<br />32. New Found Glory<br />33. H2O<br />34. RX Bandits<br />35. The Color Fred<br />36. Taking Back Sunday<br />37. My Chemical Romance<br />38. Melee<br />39. Stretch Arm Strong<br />40. Mc Chris<br />41. Mc Lars<br />42. The Matches<br />43. Whole Wheat Bread<br />44. Big D and the Kids Table<br />45. The Vandals<br />46. Assorted Jelly Beans<br />47. Pennywise<br />48. Bad Religion<br />49. The Bled<br />50. Letter Kills<br />51. 18 Visions<br />52. Yesterday's Rising<br />53. Anti-Flag<br />54. Guttermouth<br />55. Bouncing Souls<br />56. Atreyu<br />57. Juliet Lewis and the Licks<br />58. Rilo Kiley<br />59. Tegan and Sara<br />60. Lady Tron<br />61. Blood Brothers<br />62. Thrice<br />63. The Faint<br />64. Bright Eyes<br />65. Depeche Mode<br />66. Franz Ferdinand<br />67. Daft Punk<br />68. Panic at the Disco<br />69. Dresden Dolls<br />70. Sigur Ros<br />71. Tilly and the Wall<br />72. Fucked Up<br />73. Off<br />74. Audacity<br />75. Death Hymn Number 9<br />76. Pinback<br />77. Crystal Castles<br />78. Alkaline Trio<br />79. Cursive<br /><br />Alright so I think I have come up with a system, at least one that will help me remember shows a little better. We shall be doing this by location. So more or less ignore the previous list, which shall be deleted upon completion of the rest of this list.<br /><br />Lets start with random locations that I don't typically go to:<br /><br />The Pond<br />1. Elton John<br />2. Back Street Boys<br />3. Mandy Moore<br />4. E.Y.C.<br />5. No Doubt<br />6. The Distillers<br />7. Garbage<br /><br />Random arcade thing in Redlands/Loma Linda<br />8. F.o.N.<br /><br />University of Redlands<br />9. The Adolescents<br />10. TSOL<br />11. Breakdance Vietnam<br />12. Broken February (showcase as well)<br />13. Eve 6<br />14. Finch (SD with NFG as well)<br /><br />Club Moscow<br />15. As Tall as Lions<br />16. The Union Line<br />17. Lilofee<br /><br />Coffee Shops<br />18. Far From a Masterpiece<br />19. The Flower Thief<br />20. Red Letter Day<br />21. The B Sharps<br />22. Hobo Jazz<br /><br />Train Station<br />23. Blue Print Car Crash<br />24. As Night Falls (amongst others)<br /><br />LA Pride<br />25. Joan Jett<br />26. The Start (CSUF, and random LA club as well)<br /><br />Coachella<br />27. Thrice<br />28. Tegan and Sara (Henry Fonda, HOB)<br />29. Lady Tron<br />30. Daft Punk<br />31. Bright Eyes (SOMA, The Grove)<br />32. The Faint (SOMA, The Grove, GH)<br />33. The Blood Brothers<br />34. The Locust (GH)<br />35. Sigur Ros<br />36. Franz Ferdinand<br />38. Depeche Mode<br />39. Dresden Dolls (the Grove)<br />40. Pinback<br />41. The Futureheads<br /><br />Warped Tour<br />42. 18 Visions (Chain, SC)<br />43. Yesterday's Rising (SC)<br />44. Stretch Armstrong<br />45. The Bled<br />46. Thursday (GH)<br />47. My Chemical Romance<br />48. Bad Religion<br />49. The Vandals<br />50. MC Chris<br />51. Big D and the Kids Table<br />52. The Color Fred<br />53. Katie Perry<br />54. Jeffery Star<br />55. Guttermouth<br />56. Letter Kills (SC, SOMA)<br />57. Every Time I Die<br />58. Against Me! (GH, Chain)<br />59. Say Anything (Chain, Avalon, HOB, Grove)<br />60. Anti-Flag<br />61. Juliet Lewis and the Licks<br /><br />Sounds Like<br />62. All or Nothing HC<br /><br />Bamboozle Left<br />63. Piebald<br />64. Something Corporate<br /><br />Verizon Amphitheater<br />65. Green Day<br />66. Blink 182 (amongst others)<br />67. Jimmy Eat World<br /><br />Hollywood Palladium<br />66. New Found Glory (amongst others)<br />67. Rx Bandits<br />68. H20 (Chain)<br /><br />San Diego - some university<br />69. Further Seems Forever<br /><br />LA Shows<br />70. Hot Water Music<br />71. Strike Anywhere<br />72. City and Colour<br />73. Alkaline Trio<br />74. Cursive<br />75. Gaslight Anthem<br />76. Murder By Death<br />77. Fucked Up<br />78. Off<br />79. Audacity<br />80. Death Hymn Number 9 (amongst others)<br /><br />Riverside<br />81. Assorted Jelly Beans<br /><br />San Diego<br />82. Brand New<br />83. Rilo Kiley<br />84. Reeve Oliver<br />85. Hot Like a Robot<br /><br />HOB<br />86. Social Distortion<br />87. Lucero<br />88. Saves the Day<br />89. The Bouncing Souls<br /><br />The Grove<br />90. Hello Goodbye<br />91. Mindless Self Indulgence<br /><br /><br />I am going to stop here for today as I have pretty much have only my old stomping grounds left to do.

Book Review pt 4 - Repost from sometime in 2011

You know how this goes at this point, lets skip the chit chat and get to it:<br /><br />When you are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris<br /><br />Alright, so I finished this over a month ago, but I think I'll be good on this one anyway. This is a collection of short stories, all humorous, as the previous Sedaris books I have read have been. Half of this book were stories about him traveling. Which I found entertaining but not particularly as good as most of the rest of the book. But as he travels for a living it does make sense that he would write about it so much. I love Sedaris' style, I think the way he tells a story is fantastic and really has the ability to suck you into the moment. The ability to do so is a true talent that not many individuals have, so for that in and of itself, this is a book worth reading. But to be entirely honest if you have not read Sedaris before pick up something else to be truly entertained. This book was laugh out loud funny from time to time, and a very quick read as each story was fairly short and generally not particularly dense, which works well with his style. Rating: ****<br /><br />Hocus Pocus - Kurt Vonnegut<br /><br />This is an interesting story, and written in a very Vonegut style, which basically means not in any real order. It is constantly back and forth throughout time in the story of Eugene Debs Hartke, a college professor and Vietnam vet. The story told by Eugene follows him from high school, to West Point, to the Vietnam war, to becoming a College Professor at Tarkington College, a University for children from rich families who have learning disabilities. Like all of Vonegut's work, this novel is a reflection on societies issues and short comings. Most notably in this work is globalization and the growth and destructive powers of capitalism. But also touched upon are race and class relations, crime and violence, and war. The life story of Eugene continues through a prison break that ultimately lands him in prison. The story was interesting and of course supported my socialist ideals which always increases my chances of enjoying a piece of literature. Ultimately this was not my favorite Vonnegut novel by a long shot. That spot is still reserved for Cat's Cradle, which is fantastic, entertaining, and mood altering. This on the other hand was entertaining for the most part, even humorous from time to time, but was not particularly moving. If I had to guess why this was, I would have to say it was difficult to connect with Eugene as a story teller. He was bland enough that you could neither like and root for him, nor terrible enough that he deserved to be hated. He just was, which was probably the point of him being the narrator, but it just didn't work for me. Sorry Kurt, but this was just a bit disappointing for me. Rating: ***

Give up the Ghost - Repost from sometime in 2011

Today shall be a day of ghost or paranormal experiences I have had. If you don't believe in this sort of stuff, I don't blame you. I never did until weird stuff started happening to me. Although there has always been places that for whatever reason creeped me out. My parents bedroom in the house I grew up in, for one. I'm not sure what it was about that room but there was something about it. Whenever I was in there I always felt like someone was watching me, it just had this weird feeling I could not shake. But I suppose what do you expect building a housing tract over a location in which people were hung, and better yet naming it after this fact.<br /><br />We shall start with a story from CSUF, basically picking up from the awkward bathroom story. Same exact set up but the following night, if you have not read that story shame on you, but basically middle of the night during finals week in a pretty much empty building. This night Christen was most certainly there and we were heading downstairs to go have a cigarette. Rather then take the escalators we decided to take the stairs which means walking by the elevator. As we walked by with three feet from the wall, the doors open. This is a little weird as we assumed no one else would be up on this particular floor, so we looked in, it was empty. Odd but we walked it off figuring some douche hit all the buttons before getting off on another floor. So we go have our cigarette and its a bit creepy outside, but that was not unusual since the school decided to try and save money by turning as many lights out on campus as possible, basically turning it into rape campus as we liked to refer to it. I'm sure this saved the school a ton of money, but I really have to wonder if there was not a better way to go about cutting costs like installing lights that use solar power, or led lights that use significantly less electricity. Yes this would cost money to set up, but in the long run the school would save money for years to come without putting students at risk or in fear. Back to the story, so Christen and I come back up stairs and walk by the same elevator this time even further from the door, probably because we were already a bit scared but didn't want to say anything to each other. Well once again just before we reach the door, it opens, and once again no one is inside. We looked at each other and increased our speed to the lab. Once inside we told everyone about this creepiness and they shared that they have had the same thing occur before, but only in the middle of the night. So now we are all creeped the hell out but get back to work. An hour or so goes by and now Christen has to use the restroom, me being the excellent friend I am offer to walk with him since we must walk by the elevator yet again. Me being the rational person I am, figure it was just random luck or weird timing that we just happen to be passing by the previous times when the door was opening, so a little on edge but more or less confident that nothing would happen we head down the hallway. The hallway was silent and neither of us felt it appropriate to speak so we walked quietly and with some haste. We reached the door and yet again it opened, rational thought went out the window and we ran the rest of the way to the bathroom. Christen refused to go in alone, so I stood outside holding the door open and speaking to him the entire time to keep us both calm. Upon finishing we both stood outside of the bathroom door staring down the hallway like it was our walk to the gallows. We ran and there may have been screaming like little girls but I have no confirmation on this part. And of course that fucking door opened again.<br />This time upon entering the lab we decide to google this shit and see if anyone else has had any of these experiences. The answer to that question is a definite yes. <a href="http://www.carpenoctem.tv/haunt/ca/">http://www.carpenoctem.tv/haunt/ca/</a><br /><a href="http://www.elfmanworld.com/spookyarchive/schoolspirits.html">http://www.elfmanworld.com/spookyarchive/schoolspirits.html</a><br />Those have pretty much the same info and you can find a handful of other pages with pretty much the same stuff. So if you read those you would see that a picture of a ghost was taken on the fourth floor, the floor we were on. For the information on the professor here you go "On October 13th, 1984, Edward Cooperman, a physics professor, was shot and killed by his former student, Minh Van Lam, in McCarthy Hall." From the other information I could find, it occurred inside of his office which was in the basement floor. Of course there have been many other deaths on campus, most notably the schizophrenic janitor who shot nine and killed seven people on campus in the old library. And of course the numerous jumpers, I believe while I was in attendance there were three, two of which were not students but residents from the area, I guess the tall building just call to them. So needless to say after having read all of that and having the weird stuff with the elevator Christen and I were practically shitting ourselves that night.<br /><br />This is turning out to be quite the lengthy blog, but as it is on topic I shall continue. So a couple of years ago for about six months or so I was seeing something on my drive home. At first I didn't think much about it, but a couple of times a week out of the corner of my eye in two specific spots I would see the figure of a man in a green wind breaker. I chalked it up to me being tired, once again the rational side of me let me be a normal reasonable person. But I had some conversation or saw some movie and it got me thinking about what I was seeing, so I started trying to see it every morning to figure out what it was. Well shortly after this, and according to some because I was trying to see this figure, weird stuff started happening in my apartment. The first major thing and probably the most frightening occurred while I was in the shower. I mean seriously can you imagine a more terrible place for something bad to happen. The apartment was empty, which when you live with five people is very rare, so I was enjoying my shower and unshared hot water. Eyes closed rinsing shampoo out of my hair and I felt a hand grab my left arm, the side that was facing a wall. It did not hurt but it was a strong grip on my arm and I could feel four fingers and thumb wrap around my arm. I immediately look down at my arm and nothing is there, for whatever reason I then check the rest of the restroom which of course was empty. I quickly finished washing the shampoo out, got out of the restroom and dressed in record time. I then awkwardly stood in my bedroom trying to make sense of what just happened. When everyone came home I shared my experience and hoped that would be the end of all that. But no, a few days later, Meghan and I were laying in bed goofing around or talking or something, I'm pretty sure I stole her nose anyhow, and near my feet I felt the pressure in the mattress change. It felt like someone were putting their hand down with some weight behind it right next to my feet. I freaked, Meghan said she felt it too, we both freaked. And that was the day I had a stern talking to the 'ghost' or whatever or well likely nothing. But after that nothing else happened, I stopped seeing the figure on my drive home, no more being grabbed, back to normal living. And thankfully it has stayed this way ever since.

Back in the day, I was retarded - Repost from sometime in 2011

I very much need to get some homework done tonight so today's blog will quite short. In keeping up with weird stories from my life, we shall be going quite far back in time. When I was about three years old, my Mother thought I might be retarded. This is because I did not speak much. If you know me now, you probably know this hasn't changed all that much. Unless I am in the mood or the conversation is particularly interesting I generally prefer to listen to people speak then to speak myself. When I was three my mother had just began dating again after her divorce from my father. For whatever reason, she was taking me along with her on one of these dates. On the way to the car my mother was warning her date, who would a year later would become my step-dad, that she was worried that I was slow and that I didn't really speak. Upon arriving at the car my mother was about to load me into my car seat when I told her "its ok mom, Pat can put me in the car". I'm not sure if this was an early fuck you to my mom for thinking I was retarded, but the fact that I had not only spoke but had put together an entire sentence seemed to clear up the fact that I was in fact quite normal and just chose not to speak of my own accord. Well I guess I'm not sure if that really made me a normal three year old, but you know what I mean. So point being, I have been weird from birth so don't ever expect anything less of me.

Probably the most bizarre thing to ever happen in a bathroom - Repost from sometime in 2011

Ok so I don't have a clue how this came up in a conversation, but it recently did while at Norms with Erik. After hearing this story he said I needed to blog this because it was the best story I have every told him. So heads up, this is a gross story and if you don't want to hear about stuff that normally occurs in a bathroom then you should probably stop reading now. <br /><br />Pretty much exactly a year ago, during finals at CSUF, I was with Meghan, Kennifer, Lourdes, and I believe Christen was there, although he may have actually shown up later. The girls were pulling an all nighter in the Anthro Lab in MH (if you are not a Fullerton student or alum that is a particular building on campus, one I had many classes in). The lab was normally locked at night, but they got a professor to let them stay over night to finish some projects. I was there because, well I'm up over night anyway so why not do my homework in the company of people and get to feel like a normal person for a while. So a couple of hours go by and its probably around midnight, the building was dead quiet. So I'm sitting there doing my homework and out of nowhere I suddenly and violently have to shit. I don't know if it was what I ate or whatever, but it came out of nowhere and had to be handled immediately. Well random fact about me, I generally can not shit in a public restroom, this has since changed in part due to the following experience, and I definitely can not shit with someone in the restroom with me. Well it's midnight in what seems to be a pretty empty building, so although I was worried I would not make it to the restroom in time I was contented figuring I would have the restroom all to myself. So I cautiously make it down the three hallways to the restroom, it felt like an eternity but as I opened the door I could feel the success of not shitting myself en route. So I pick a side stall out of habit mostly, but also just in case someone were to come in they would have the obvious option of not picking the stall next to me. As I get in, put down a toilet seat cover and sit down the outside door opens. <br /><br />So now i'm sitting in the bathroom questioning my ability to hold it until the girl finishes. As I'm pondering this, what seems life altering decision, the girl takes the stall next to me. So now of course I'm forced to hold it, which is not such at easy task especially when sitting on a toilet. But I figure she will pee and be done in a minute, so I can finally do what I needed to do. But 30 seconds go by and the room is still silent. At this point I'm starting to sweat from the pain and uncomfortableness of my situation. I start reading the weird shit written on the stalls to distract myself, another minute goes by. And I start to hear this noise from the stall next to me, this repetitive motion of a noise. So I lean in closer to determine what it is that I am hearing. It takes a few seconds but I start to put it all together, when I start to hear the pattern of her breathing. The woman in the stall next to me is fucking MASTURBATING. It was at this point that I panic. What do you do in this situation. Do I get up and find another bathroom, give the girl some privacy. Wait, why the fuck did she pick the stall right next to mine knowing this was what she was going to be doing. Better yet who the fuck masturbates at school at midnight in a creepy restroom. What the fuck was going on. So I decided that I could not risk trying to make it to another restroom, and that the situation was beyond bizarre, so I shit while the girl in the stall next to me was getting off. It was loud and unpleasant and although at first i felt awkward about it, as my body began to feel better the better I felt about my decision. I hope she felt fucking awkward in her stall because I sure as hell felt awkward in mine. I finished, washed my hands and once I got out of the restroom I ran down the hallway in hopes of not seeing who it was that was next to me. When I got back to the room I was relieved to find that everyone was still there, and no one I knew would do such a thing. But the horror on my face was obvious and Meghan was soon asking me what happened. I don't think I had it in me to recount that story for a couple of hours, but by the time I did it was already hilarious.

Book Review pt 3 - Repost from sometime in 2011

Back to the book reviews, I'm not sure if this is more then a week out, but hopefully it is not and then I would have reached my goal of finishing my book reviews in a week. Just thought I should mention how much I enjoy reading my own reviews, so I believe you all should as well. Without any further ado.<br /><br />Look at the Birdie - Kurt Vonnegut<br /><br />This is a collection of short stories released posthumously a couple of years ago. I always find it odd to be reading something that has been put out by an author after they are dead. There is something about it that I find disturbing and disappointing. I mean I understand why publishers do it, fans want to read more of their favorite authors, and the material is available. But you have to think, there may be a reason why this stuff was never put out in the first place. Either they did not think the material was good enough, it was too personal, or it just did not fit with their works. So releasing it when the author has no say just feels a bit wrong.<br />Ok so that rant is done now I can tell you that I enjoyed this book. Some of the stories were not great, but some were fantastic. So even though I do not support the idea of posthumously released material, I bought this book and enjoyed it. I guess that says something about my character and moral fortitude. If you are looking to get into Vonnegut, because apparently he is cool with the hipsters right now, this is not where I would start but it is a good read. This does make me wonder how hipster I am, I'm not even sure what the hipsters are into really, but have been hearing about how hipster I really am. And this makes me uncomfortable, I mean if I were trying to be hipster that would be one thing, but I'm being put into a group that I know little about, its odd. Anyhow, be a hipster and read Vonnegut, he is awesome. Rating: ****<br /><br />Supreme Courtship - Christopher Buckley<br /><br />This is the second Christopher Buckley novels I have read, and also my second favorite from him. This book is a satire on the American Government and the hypocrisies abound within it. It was creative and colorful. Buckley paints a hilarious picture of the appointment of a supreme court justice who was a tv show judge prior to the appointment. Before having read this novel, I have read one previous one from Buckley, Boomsday, which I greatly enjoyed and would recommend, and have recommended, to pretty much everyone. In fact I'm pretty sure I no longer have a copy because I kept loaning it out and it never made its way back home. Buckley seems to enjoy writing political novels, and I enjoy reading said novels. The book is interesting from start to finish, and keeps you laughing throughout. It is a quick and interesting read, that somehow left me feeling smarter then before having read it. Rating ****

Book Review pt 2 - Repost from sometime in 2011

Alright so day two of reviewing books. Side note I did accomplish some homework last night, although not nearly enough and I shall once again need to only do a few of these before getting back to that. It was so boring although the burglary section was quite easy for me, muhahahaha, yeah thats my evil laugh, and I really wish I could do one in real life. But every time I try I just crack myself up and start laughing for real, its a pretty retarded sight that I hope you will never have be a part of.<br /><br />1984 - George Orwell<br /><br />I picked up this book after a number of people had recommended it to me over the years. I often get the impression that this is something I should have read in high school. But to be perfectly honest my high school was rather retarded and we generally watched movies more then read. I even took a Cinema at Literature class that could have counted as an english credit if I so wanted. All I remember from that class is watching movies and drawing pictures afterwards. Not exactly an intellectually challenging place to be, and I sometimes wonder how we all learned to function in society after the fact, or if we really ever did. Anyhow, the point is that I was only required to read like two books in high school, so generally those conversations about classic books that people read in school are pretty awkward for me. I tend to feel like the dumb kid in the room. So if you don't want to be a douche lets avoid this subject until I have taken the time to read all the classic books you read while you were pretty much still a child.<br /><br />Alright, so I am inclined to say that everyone knows what this books is about, but I still have friends from high school and from the above information you may know why they could be in the dark about this. This book is about propaganda and government control of society. The idea of the government is that by controlling information they control their people entirely. The government thus changes history, language, and the expectations of society to fit their needs and make them the ultimate power. So the story is of one of the lower level employees of the government who sometimes struggles to fit into society. He falls in love with a girl, they are caught and captured by the government and tortured for their crimes. It was an interesting book, but I also felt it dragged from time to time. Well more or less the first one hundred pages dragged on and on. But I do feel it was a good choice to bring to jury duty with me. I was prepared to go into a whole spiel about my distrust in big brother and the government workings. Really I was prepared to say or do anything to get me home and to bed. I would say this is a beneficial book to have read as it did change our modern vernacular. But I do not see why so many people regard this as the greatest book they have ever read. So good but overrated is where I land on this read. Rating: ****<br /><br />Books, a Memoir - Larry McMurtry<br /><br />This is a book about books. Which at first may not sound particularly interesting but do not be deterred. McMurty has a way of making the discussion of book collecting and selling quite appealing. Although I may be particularly biased as it is reminiscent of how I feel about collecting records. You may be familiar with McMurty's work already, and most likely are unaware of this fact. He has written numerous screen plays, including Brokeback Mountain (co-author of the film adaptation), Terms of Endearment, and The Last Picture show, amongst others. He is also the owner of one of the largest used book stores in America, located in Archer City, Texas by the name of Booked Up. I hope to one day make out to where ever the hell Archer city is and check out the 400,000 plus used books for sale.<br />The memoir really follows his interest in books, from his start in elementary school, through beginning as a book collector in San Francisco, to a book seller in Georgetown and eventually in Archer City. The way McMurtry writes makes book collecting almost sound romantic, but most definitely fascinating and adventurous. The stories of auctions, eccentric book collectors, and the incredible books he stumbled upon in his journeys make you feel as if you are part of his world or at least like you should be, that you have been missing out with the meager 'collection' you have on your shelf. I can not say that this book is for everyone, but every collector of any sort will enjoy this immensely and be sucked in within the first few chapters. For those with nooks, or kindles this may not be your cup of tea as the guilt for not collecting may seep into your soul and make you put down that electronic device and pick up a real book. Let the wait of it rest in your hands and truly enjoy the wonder you hold. Rating: ****<br /><br />Holes - Louis Sachar<br /><br />Yet another book turned into a movie in which I have seen the movie first. I am starting to feel like I only read things that I have already seen. This is a childrens book, I am aware of the fact that I am well into my twenties and reading it now for the first time. If asked I would be likely to say that I like to try to keep that child-like wonder about me and my life and I'd like to think this can be accomplished by reading childrens stories and partaking in arts and crafts at any opportunity. I suppose this makes me a bit of douche or at the very least a hipster in some regard. But really if a story is good, as I had heard this was, I don't care who the target audience is supposed to be, I'll try to appreciate it anyway.<br /><br />This book is about an unlucky kid, Stanley, who ends in the wrong place at the wrong time. This lands him in trouble and at a camp for troubled kids in the middle of a desert. He works and lives with a small group of other troubled kids who, by force of the camps owner, dig holes in the middle of the desert all day long. Basically drama happens and one of the kids in Stanley's group runs away, Stanley of course goes after him worried he may not survive alone in the desert. They meet up and find a way to survive, but realize that they need to return. Stanley's run of bad luck is broken by saving his friend and upon returning find a large sum of money, gets released from the camp and get the 'evil' camp owner in trouble. Basically the standard predictable ending to every kids story still told in this country. This was a quick and enjoyable read, but to be honest I think I'd rather just watch the movie. It is equally as moving and gets you through the whole story in less then two hours. If you like children's books, or want to keep that child-like wonder about you I would recommend this book, otherwise just watch the movie and pick up say... Clifford Chase's Winkie (my favorite book to date). Rating: ***

Book Review pt 1 - Repost from sometime in 2011

So I have been meaning to review the books I have read this year. Although it was not part of my original goal for the year it seems a reasonable feat and is good practice of my writing skills which I do not get to use nearly enough. Having said this I realize I have homework that I need to do, but that is not nearly as entertaining so it will have to wait. So I read some of these books a few months ago, thus the review may be a bit vague and more of a reflection of the feelings and impressions left by having read them. I am going to attempt to get through at least a few reviews tonight and intend to finish them over the course of the week or so, anyhow here we go.<br /><br />1. The Men Who Stare at Goats - Jon Ronson<br /><br />Lets start with the fact that I saw the movie before I read the book. That being said the book is almost nothing like the movie. This makes a lot sense, as the book is nearly all a collection of interviews. This of course would make for a more or less boring movie, so a solid plot line was added and action actually occurred. But the information in the movie does do the book justice.<br /><br />This is one of those books that when you are reading it you are never sure if anything or everything is true. Although as noted in the movie "More of this is true then you would believe", which really is a great set up for what was to come. As I was expecting something more like the movie when beginning the book I was at first a little bored and disappointed. But the further I read the more interesting it became. If you have neither read the book or seen the movie let me catch you up on what this is all about. Through a collection of interviews we learn how the military began paranormal research, how that has continued in various forms and how this research has been used in the invasion of Iraq. That in one sentence is the book. But the book is much more fascinating then one would expect, well if you find paranormal research or military tactics in any way interesting that is. And even if you don't there is much to be learned that is unexpected by this book. I suppose I should end these things with some kind of rating so lets say I use a five star rating: ****<br /><br />God Is Dead - Ron Currie Jr.<br /><br />In this story, God comes down to earth and takes the form of a woman in Sudan. While trying to help those around a refugee camp, God and many others are killed by the Sudanese Government. As God died on earth this leaves the world without a God but with the knowledge that God did in fact exist. The rest of the book follows multiple stories lines of how the world falls apart and is reborn without God to guide them.<br /><br />So what initially caught my attention at the bookstore with this was the fact that book has talking dogs. Which only became more intriguing when it turned out that the dogs could speak due to the fact that they ate Gods body. Having said this I realize how bizarre my tastes in literature and in general really are. Anyhow, I found this book to be a little disappointing, the idea behind the story was great, but how it was told was not as moving as one would expect for such a creative idea. It was well written and a great debut effort by the Currie Jr. I have since picked up his next novel and hope that with experience he will be able to live up to the great story ideas he has. Rating: ***1/2 (three and a half stars, if anyone is confused by that)<br /><br />Scott Pilgrim 1-6 - Bryan Lee O'Malley<br /><br />This was the first graphic novel I have ever read. And although I love it, I would not be surprised if it remains the only graphic novel in my book collection from here on out. I'm not sure exactly why this is, but I do assume that finding a graphic novel that includes a band, robots, fighting for a girl and a gay roommate to be rare. And without these key ingredients I am fearful that I would lose interest. Somewhat on that note, Mitch Clem's comics are awesome and I miss reading Nothing Nice to Say, which includes most of the themes previously mentioned but with more focus on the band as a whole, which includes a bear, and punk/indie rock inside jokes. So if you liked Scott Pilgrim you should check out Mitch Clem's work. If you like Noam Chomsky (as you all should) you should look for him in My Stupid Life, he makes a few appearances and apparently loves strip clubs.<br />Now that I have written half of this review about an unrelated comic I suppose I should get back to business. If you don't know, The Scott Pilgrim series is about well... Scott Pilgrim, a guy in his young twenties who plays in a band and is generally otherwise useless. Oh and he is the best fighter in Toronto. He falls for a girl who has seven evil exes who he must defeat in order to be with her. He has an awesome gay roommate who basically takes care of him. The story follows the relationship or on occasion lack there of, of Scott and Ramona and the battles he must face in order to get her. It is a funny and sweet romance story filled with action and epic battles. If you saw the movie you more or less read the books, but the books fill in some of the gaps in the story and also gives you recipes and the chords to some songs. Overall it was a fun read that I very much enjoyed. Rating *****

Oh why would you ask this of me - Repost from sometime in 2011

Ok so Danielle has just created a bucket list and has now dared me to do the same. It's me so of course I can't back down. Probably something I should work on though. Anyhow, here it goes: (in no particular order)<br /><br />1. Get into shape<br />2. Get into Grad School<br />3. Finish Grad School<br />4. Make everyone refer to me as Master Abeyta<br />5. Realize I'm ridiculous and scratch out number 4<br />6. Learn how to build furniture<br />7. Relearn to ride a bike (without running into stuff)<br />8. Travel to Europe (which should be crossed out come summer)<br />9. Start playing soccer again<br />10. Get better at playing bass/guitar/drums<br />11. Learn to play the piano<br />12. Learn to play the ukulele<br />13. Learn to play the harmonica<br />14. Learn to play the violin<br />15. Take singing lessons<br />16. Learn French<br />17. Use Christen to get a BA in Linguistics<br />18. Use BA in Linguistics to annoy Christen<br />19. Become more skilled at photography<br />20. Transition<br />21. Start a fight club<br />22. Win a fight<br />23. Laugh hysterically while loosing a fight<br />24. Have sex with Tegan/Sara/Ellen Page<br />25. Get into rock climbing<br />26. Learn ASL<br />27. Fly a blimp<br />28. Get a Guinness world record in something<br />29. Tour with a band<br />30. Put out a cd on an actual label<br />31. Put said cd out on many colors of vinyl just because<br />32. Visit all 50 states<br />33. While in Alaska, hunt Sarah Palin from a Helicopter(this is not for real)<br />34. Visit more of Canada<br />35. Visit Russia<br />36. Learn to ride a unicycle<br />37. Make a list of all of the bands I have seen and keep it running<br />38. Learn to swim like an adult<br />39. Never stop learning<br />40. Get a puppy<br />41. Make said puppy wear a sword<br />42. Make a short film<br />43. Attempt to write a book of some sort<br />44. Learn to accept that the non-linear thinking my brain does, does not make for a good book<br />45. Learn to cook<br />46. Find way to make money using my exquisite make out skills<br />47. Find a way to make number 46 not sound like I intend to sell my body<br />48. Get over my social anxiety

If I never started I'd be done by now

What's up world.  I'm back.  And as always I have no actual plans for what to write about.  But I'm feeling free.  Well I've been feeling free for a while now, but it always takes some time to spread to this medium.  I think to start I'm going to post up some of my old blogs since censorship is no longer an issue.  So read up, but be aware that my style may no longer be the same.  Hell I may no longer have my own style, it has been so long since I've written much of anything.  Wish me luck, I'm going to need it.