Obviously my success was minimal.

I am not going to write blogs until further notice. NaNoWriMo started today and seeing how I posted only once in October and won't really have time to post in November, I'm considering this blog done for now. Hopefully I will come back to it some day, but until then I think I'll just follow my friend's advice and get a tumblr or whatever that is. Good day, friends.

Miiiiiiichigan

I am aware that it has been a very long time since I posted last. I'm sorry about that. Currently I am curled up with a large stuffed tiger in Detroit, MI, for my fall break. I am at a friend's house and we just arrived after a 10+ hour ride, but even though it is late, I decided that I would make the time for a post, no matter how small.

National Novel Writing Month is coming up in less than 20 days. I wish you the best of luck if you are participating. This will be my first year, so I'm interested to see how well I do and how I will fit it into my busy schedule. I'm going to be writing about superheros, of course, but maybe redoing some of the back story I've already written and not really basing characters off of people I know.

I am so tired and I have to wake up in six hours to go eat lunch with my friends grandmother, so I will get on later - promise.

Phase Two of Operation: Superhero is complete

I'm not even going to play this up. It's much less sciency, and not quite as much fun to write. Also, my hero has tons of things to learn about himself, his powers, and life in general.

Here's the link: Superhero

On another note, I have also created an awesome supervillain that will create problems and challenges for Pulse. Her name is The Red Thief and Teeheehee Iamsoexcited.


I think, since I have put so much effort into thinking up all of these ideas for my superhero world, and gotten all of my college friends interested in designing their own superheros, that I may as well use this idea for my NaNoWriMo story. That's National Novel Writing Month for those of you who aren't total writing nerds.

This means I'll have to throw out anything that's not technically character design, but hey. I like to think that I'll be okay with that. Also, I need a plot outline as soon as possible.

Alrighty. I'll write more on another day. Good night. :)

Phase One of Operation: Superhero is complete.

The following document was smuggled out of Sicera Corporation's D.C. laboratories. It documents the Case Study of Harrison Given, a.k.a the vigilante Pulse.

Click the link to access the file. Please note that the information within is confidential and that you have been hand-selected to receive this file.

Link: Case File 8861

Thank you for your cooperation. This message will self destruct after reading.

EMERGENCY POST!

So right now I'm about halfway through the season 2 premier of Glee and I just have to talk about it, so I'm going to leave this draft up and type about it as I go. Obviously if you don't understand that this means spoilers, then you deserve to read on and have it spoiled.

Already, I've got some exclamations to make.
1) Will is working with Sue Sylvester! What!?
2) I don't like the Beast, because you're not supposed to like the Beast, but I kinda like the Beast. If you get what I mean. Do you?
3) I like the new kids so far. But the blond guy has a fish mouth. That's all I'm going to say about that.

It's already got me laughing. I'm so glad it's back. Sigh.

Okay, now Will is taking the natural course of action...not being Sue. This is good. But also, since I don't really like Will all that much, it's got me confused.

AWWW THE BEAST IS CRYING. That's sad.

I'm also amazed at the way Sue Sylvester can talk about "juicy, vine-ripened chest fruit" on television. Mehehehe.

Alright, on the whole the episode started out as a fun reminder of the show I missed this summer. But then it just turned into a negative ball of suck, essentially ruining some lives and making drama in the club. Not really my favorite way to start off a new season. We can ease into the problems, you know. Not get them all slapped into our faces at once.

But whatever. I saw the preview for next week and...err...really? Spears? I don't know if I can handle that. We'll see.

Alrighty then, I'm all done here. Blog more later. AHHHH.

My Pandora station is Piano.

This is an important message on Pizza and reading. Watch it.

School is hard and keeps me busy. I will blog about my superhero later this week. I am still very excited, just tiredly so.

Have you ever played Tales of Symphonia? I have. Some of my friends have as well. We are going to start a new multiplayer game soon and spend a whole weekend or two trying to play through it from beginning to end. I am tiredly excited about that as well. It will be epic. Unfortunately, my friend and co-nerd Bri is a freshman, and so has a 1:00am curfew on weekends, so we're not going to be able to pull any all-nighters to do this. I am decidedly more upset about this than my mother would be.

 Okey dokey. Bed time.

Some superheros have real problems.

So in the process of designing a superhero to call my very own, I have encountered a few obstacles that seem, at the moment, insurmountable. Surmounting them calls for me to stop being lazy, and for me to have money, respectively.

I suppose I could start by revealing the costume design for my hero. Nothing like a visual spoiler to get people pumped up about something that they know nothing about.

Obviously, his name is Pulse. I realize that the photo of the sketch (I don't own a scanner) that I drew in class on notebook paper doesn't quite look just right when digitized. And yes, the curly hair plus mask looks a bit more clownish than I had hoped. But what kind of hero has time to straighten his hair? That's just cruel. It's not my fault that tight curly hair isn't fashionable in the superhero world.

Anywho, I have a back story and of course an explanation of his superpowers, but that will have to wait for another day. Right now my problem is finding a means for my hero to get from place to place in an expedient manner without the use of magic, and as of yet I am loathe to give him something as hackneyed as a "Pulse-mobile" or the inexplicable ability to fly. And he sure as heck isn't going to ride along on a segway, no matter how cool it would be to have one in real life.

I also have to secure a mask like that in the drawing, which so far is either far too expensive or far too complicated to make. So those are my hang ups right now. Other than that, Pulse is coming along splendidly. I have the rest of the simple costume down, and the powers and story are coming together in a fairly straightforward manner. My partner in vigilantism, Courtney on tumblr from Georgia, is simultaneously designing and working through her own kinks and I am very excited to see what she comes up with.


In other news, there was a show about ridiculous riots that happened in public and displayed some of the idiotic things that people will do because of mob mentality. Not surprisingly, many of the riots were because of - you guessed it - soccer. This just amplifies my distaste for professional sports and the religious following that they amass. Join me in my distaste! Muahahaha.




Now that you think as little of sports as I do, we can be friends.

I know this has been an extremely eventful post, what with an entire drawing and all, but I have Greek prepositions and their phrases to practice, so goodnight.

Alaska is dead.

Today is not the best day. My body feels heavy. I think slowly and quickly at the same time. My throat burns with the sting of imminent sickness. I'll get through it, but I may be a little bit crazier by the time it's all over.

The poll is officially done. All four of you that voted are greatly appreciated, and even though I can't see for sure who voted, I'm pretty sure I know who did, considering one of you four is me. Dumbledore won by only a couple of votes over Jean Grey, and while everyone knows that the approximately 150-year-old wizard is just an all-around better guy, let it be known that the unstable alien-possessed psychic is cuter.

A new thing that's not so new: I'm addicted to Weezer. I have always sorta-liked them. But recently...I really like them. Here's my favoritest video of theirs. It has Jack Bauer's daughter from the first season of 24.



Heh. That makes me feel a bit better.

They're making a movie out of a book that I love. I'm nervous about it, but since the author wrote the screenplay and is also directing it, I'm enthusiastic about its possibilities. It's called The Perks of Being A Wallflower, and it's about a boy named Charlie and his perception of things. I recommend the book to the nth degree, and hopefully the movie will go over just as well.

I'm now going to go read some of the Iliad for class, and then hopefully finish up the John Green novel I'm reading before I have to turn in so that I can get some closure. Or I'll watch Amelie, because that is a very cheerful movie that always makes me happy.

There's an apple in the hibiscus pot!

Ahhh, back from my hiatus, brought to you by "Things That Make Harrison Busy or Stressed." I watched My Sister's Keeper recently in preparation for an organized movie night, and let me tell you that that is a hard movie to watch. A great movie, but definitely a tear-jerker. Check it out at your own risk. I kept asking myself, "How would I talk to someone knowing that whatever I say might be the last thing I ever say to them?" Tough question.

My desktop monitor is officially dead. Kaput. Checked out. Oh, hello, dear Mother and Father! I did not notice you there, sitting and reading this, with wads of cash in your pockets. How interesting.

On another note, I am currently sitting in my theology classroom waiting for the lecture to start, and let me tell you, I am pretty excited about my superhero. Did I tell you about this? I can't remember if I did and I also am too lazy to go back and check, so I'll just tell you now. A friend of mine and I are creating superhero identities, complete with costumes and back story. And I'm almost done with the creating! It will be bringing the costume to life that will be the problem (mainly, the mask). So soon enough you shall see my hero-man person, named, at the moment, "Pulse." Working title, obviously, but I can tell that you're interested.

My grandmother, who is indeed grand, bought me a pocket watch because I mentioned that I was looking to buy one. She is awesome, and it is beautiful. It makes a wonderful ticking noise and the bird on the face reminds me of the mockingjay pendant from The Hunger Games(←read this!). I think I might start collecting pocket watches.

I'm out of theology now (yes, this iPod loaded with blogginess just sat in my pocket and stewed for an hour and a half), and we discussed some interesting ideas about inspiration and the three major theories that encompass the interaction of God with the writing of scripture. "Inspiration" in and of itself means "to breathe into" and, in this context, directly references divine breath. My issue with the three theories of inspiration -Intuition, Dynamic, and Dictation- was that they boxed God in. While I love my theology professor, I couldn't seem to get across to her that I thought a hybrid of all three theories could be a reality. I mean, what if inspiration IS a gift or ability of artistic expression, AND inspiration is the guidance of those artists' thoughts and writings by the Holy Spirit, AND inspiration is in fact a type of dictation from God, so that we end up with a beautiful piece of literature that has the writer's personal touch and artistic expression and is still exactly what God intended us to read as verbatim from Him?

Well, I just think boxes don't always work.

Anyway, I don't mean to get preachy on this blog with ideas. I just want to put that one out there. Like with anything, there are people who feel differently or are a lot smarter than me, and as always I'm just one voice floating in a billion trying to step my way through. But sometimes I just need to use my one little voice as part of that stepping-through process. And your voice can help me do that too, because you might fit into one of the categories of people I mentioned, and I always like to hear from people who think differently or who are a lot smarter than me.

So as always, please comment and let me know what you think. Let's get a debate going! Let's keep it clean, though; mudslinging and hateful arguments detract from the Great Perhaps, don't you think?

Again, I apologize for taking so long to post again. I'm sure you understand how busy things can get. Sometimes I get home after saving an infant and three puppies from a burning building and then I have to weigh the options of blogging or going to sleep so I can save more babies and puppies the next day. And, well, you see that I have my priorities in line, yes? Yes. See you all soon. Comment!

Do you think that telling your face to stop looking creepy will have any affect?

Because I don't think so. I wanted to let you know that:

I got my copy of Locke & Key the other day. I understand that I look cross-eyed and delirious, and the corner of my mustache is quite literally terrifying, but this was the only picture I managed to take that didn't make me look like a eerie, pale Arab.

Today is September 1. Do you know what that means? That means that not only are there several birthdays coming up soon for people that I know/am related to, but also that when I post blogs today, they're going under an entirely different month than my August blog posts in the sidebar→! This makes me way too excited.

The resident cook Ben gave me some honeydew melon today that, while not so great on its own, was made exponentially more tasty with the addition of salt. My grandfather taught me that. Ben is irradiating his oatmeal with my dielectric heating appliance as we speak. A fair trade for a piece of melon, I'd say.

I posted today on Facebook that I detest Wednesdays. During this semester, this is a fact. You see, today is Wednesday, and it is causing me nothing but trouble. I have class in the morning and then from 4-6 pm, and then I have dinner and then SLC from 8-9:30 pm. And a quiz in Greek tomorrow. Eez no fun.

Basically, I'm more swamped than a Mudkip in the everglades. So wish me luck and bon voyage!

Thank you Katie.

It is because of my blogging friend Katie of Artistical Thoughts of an Artistical Girl that I have found the group that is so famous for autotuning over news clips and Youtube videos: The Gregory Brothers: Autotune the News. I'm so happy! Thank you Katie.

School.

I am extremely busy this week. I don't exactly know why. It's as if all of my professors are conspiring to make it a busy week. Interestingly enough, my theology class was canceled today, so at least I didn't have that to worry about. Dr. Stephenson still managed to assign us homework over email, though.

I fried potatoes this morning. That was interesting. I will say that my contribution to breakfast was probably the tastiest, even if I did get grease all over my R.A.'s bulletin board. It was simply one of those hey-wake-up-an-hour-and-a-half-before-chapel-and-help-make/eat-breakfast-with-everyone day. You've had those days, right?

My friend from Georgia posted a status today professing her love for superheros. I suggested we become superheroes together, and she challenged me to do so. So now I am going to design a superhero identity, complete with a backstory and costume. Then I am going to dress up, make a fool of myself, and take pictures. She is going to do the same. And then we are going to trade pictures, and then go out and save the world.
So the other day in theology we watched this video about televangelism and technology in Christian society. I found it...interesting, to say the least, and asked my professor to email me the link so I could share it with you. In the discussion that followed in class, I spoke against televangelism. I usually find that it is a mediocre idea on paper that somewhere between conception and production becomes skewed into something unhealthy or inappropriate. That "somewhere" is probably something to do with money. And I think even if your program is honest or is frugal, there are better ways to spend your time and money.

Naturally there were people who argued the against me in a logical manner, and I respect their ideas about it. And there is obviously support for televangelism or it simply wouldn't work. So if you have a say, then please, use the comments section down below and actually talk about it. I would like to hear reasons why you think televangelism is a good thing, or why you think it's not. Honestly, I think God designed us to be oriented around improving technology and working with the amazing tools that we have today. But what do you think he thinks about television ministry? And what about the people in the video, what do you think about them and their motivations? I think this is a great topic for discussion.

Alright, I'm out for the night. I will let you know as soon as my superhero is complete. See you on the other side.

Some days I'm a bad person.

Like today. I'm in Atlanta, and even though just last night I explained that I was trying to write a blog post every single day, tonight all I want to do is get some sleep. I had a wonderful evening with my  family, eating at Nothing But Noodles and watching Date Night again. So you're going to have to wait til later for more substance. Sorry. To take your mind off of my lameness, watch these:






Yes? Yes. Goodnight.

Yogurt is good for the soul.

It is Friday. Traditionally on Friday, Americans celebrate by jumping enthusiastically up and down, or going out on the town. I, being an American, considered doing this. But more probably, I will sit in my room, freshly clean from a nice warm shower, and try to come up with something interesting to blog about.

I am attempting to blog every single day. I may as well tell you why. Over the summer I found a portfolio of writings I did while in Rose Fuller's Creative Writing class in high school. Every day, she would give us a topic and have us write about it, or create a character to experience a scenario. Rereading them, I discovered that some of the writing was some of the best I'd ever done, and often I was surprised by my old self. Right then and there I knew why: I was exercising. I was writing every weekday, and many weekends: experimenting, tweaking, producing. Some days I had nothing to say, but by writing through it, I was still able to fashion something that was readable. I'm not saying that every single day I had some grand epiphany that would change the world of literature. But every single day I was at least making something that I could be proud of.

So I decided that I would start writing every day again. It was after looking at some friends' blogs and some very amazing nerdfighting vloggers (see: "Places to go." bar down there ↓), that I decided that this was the best place to start. Granted, it is not me sitting at a desk writing creative fiction, but it is me sitting at a desk writing, and for now I hope that such aspirations are acceptable, as my creativity would, I think, suffer if it was subjected to scrutiny on a daily basis. I'm all for critique, but none of you are Mrs. Fuller, and also, as far as I know there isn't a random writing prompt generator online.

Scratch that. Google comes through again. But regardless, I think for now a blog will suffice.

I have also been asked why I do not vlog. A few reasons, actually: 1) I do not have an acceptable web cam. 2) I do not have video editing software that I am comfortable with. And most importantly, 3) I don't know what to vlog about, and I'm worried that I would try to be funny, which is something that I am not.

So that is why. Maybe someday, when I am feeling especially crazy or I have something exceptionally important to talk about or show you, you will find that there is a video of me staring you in the face. Just keep in mind that this is unlikely at the moment.

I am also aware that on some days this blog functions more as a veritable diary than an informative outlet. If you dislike this, I am sorry. I am pretty sure that my family likes to hear about my life, and journaly days are mainly for them, and for my future self. Future Harrison will enjoy reading back about his college experience.

I don't know why I felt like expounding on my purposes today, but it just felt necessary. It's probably more directed to myself than to you. Speaking of college experience, here is a video that I enjoyed; take it with a grain of salt, because obviously I don't condone binge drinking. But the other topics he covers I generally feel comfortable with.



EDIT:  Also, for those of you who were wondering, the name of this blog is a paraphrase of a quote that was said while I was nowhere around. I don't even know the person who said it, just that his first name is Daniel. All I know is that he said it to my best friend Macy and it just perfectly described the way I can get sometimes. So I figured that the best thing to call a blog where I talk about my opinions would be some self-referential humor. The official quote is ""Sometimes my opinions just go LA LA LA all over your feelings." Some words were left out because Blogger wouldn't let me type anything longer. To say this quote, you must walk two fingers over the imaginary person's imaginary feelings while saying the "LA LA LA" part.

And now I'm going to close with a quote from Ben Fold's and Pomplamoose's new collaboration song, Things you Think, with dialogue by Nick Hornby.

"Did you know that Dickens invented thirteen thousand characters? Thirteen thousand! That's a character a day for the whole of his working life. What have I done today? Dropped the kids off at school, listened to the new National album, played a stupid game on my computer. That's why I'm not Dickens. Kids. Dicken's wife would have done the school run. I'm all for feminism, but it's cost my my one shot at immortality."

I hope that made you laugh out loud, or at least chuckle a little to yourself, because it did me. Although I did get to hear the man say it, and in an English accent, so of course it loses a bit in transition. Well, have a great weekend, everyone. Talk to you all tomorrow.

Do you know what this is?

That, my friends, is a Lion's Mane Jellyfish. It is the largest known jellyfish in existence, and is largely considered the longest animal in the world, its tentacles recorded as spanning a longer length than that of a blue whale.

I spent an unhealthy amount of time on Wikipedia last night, so I figured I would share some of what I learned with you. It all started with me reading about the pokemon Tentacruel, when I happened across this line explaining the origin of the pokemon's design:

"Tentacruel is similar to the Portuguese man o' war, which is not a jellyfish but a cluster of polyps."

I found this to be interesting, so I linked to the Wikipedia article to read more. I had heard someone refer to the man o' war as deadly, so I decided to look into the toxicity of its venom. It turns out that the man o' war is not deadly; sorry to disappoint you. Several jellyfish, however, have nasty stings, and it is the box jellyfish that is notoriously deadly. Specifically, this little guy:

The Malo Kingi is a tiny animal that possesses some of the world's most potent venom.

Vinegar or saltwater should be used on a jellyfish sting. Urine and fresh water will only encourage the venom to release from the cnidocytes. So don't let that lifeguard pee on you no matter how much he wants to.

Music.

I'm getting a lot better at Greek. Just keeping you updated.

I don't know if you are aware, but I love when people play the ukulele. So here's a couple of videos that I found a long time ago that I figured I'd share.

Wade Johnston


and




Julia Nunes.

Macy hates Julia Nunes. There. I mentioned you. Oh, by the way, Julia Nunes is the person who inspired me to get my Melodica.

No Ukulele, but this is the song I used in my "About Me" video last year.



This is one of the stars from "A Very Potter Musical," if that's something you are familiar with. I enjoy his cover.




And this one's hard to hear, and a lot more well known, but it's still one of my favorite songs and so gorgeous with the orchestral accompaniment.




And that is what we call an easy and lazy way of doing a long-ish blog post.

Did I mention?

Star Wars. Just thinking about it gives me chills. I should have put Darth Revan on the poll, but simply forgot. Reformed Sith vs. Dumbledore would be a match for the ages. I might redo the poll if I stop being lazy one day.

My friend/roommate had a dream about the second coming of Jesus. This may sound heretical, but it was a dream...no control granted. So don't judge him. But apparently Jesus came back wearing a Darth Vader costume. I explained it away by saying even God likes Star Wars. He likes music we make, yes? Hopefully he likes stories we write as well. And for the two people on earth who haven't seen Episode IV, here's a 3 year old who is better than you:



I've been talking with some of my friends recently about zombies and how fun it would be to try and survive a minicolypse. Maybe that's just us. I'm actually part of a group on Facebook called "The hardest part of a zombie apocalypse will be pretending I'm not excited." Truer words have never been spoken. So if you think you could help us hold down the fort or have a better bunker where large groups of people can stay in such an event, give me a shout so we can be prepared for whatever comes our way.

Also, just in case you haven't yet, pick up your copy of The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead by Max Brooks. It could save your life tomorrow.


Today Greek went from being pleasant to being AHHWHAT? when I learned that not only verbs, but bascially everything under the sun, requires conjugation in some form or another. I'm sure this feeling will subside as soon as I memorize all of the different suffixes. But that seems a ways away at the moment. It's also a bit strange to think that I have 5 Greek class periods under my belt already while only having 1 computer class and 2 or 3 of everything else. This class is so intensive that I think it might take over my life.


Just know that if one day you get on my blog and find that instead of English, I am blogging in Greek, things are probably going much better than expected. Εντάξει, λοιπόν, αντίο! 





(Yes I know that is modern Greek and not Koine but Google is limited)

Here we are again. Blurting.

Hopefully this time my monitor will stay on long enough to get a full post done. School is officially well under way, with accruing homework and events that involve me saying "no" to the sand volleyball team.

As many of you know, I am a proud and practicing nerd. Currently my major nerd outlets are Pokemon, Magic the Gathering card game, and of course, Harry Potter. I started this year with a promise to myself that I would only play Magic on the weekends this year, and naturally I have already broken this promise (but it won't interfere with my studies, mother, I assure you).

Harry Potter is another matter entirely. I spent an hour or two this afternoon reading transcripts of interviews with J. K. Rowling and reading up on quotes from the greatest wizard of his time, the magnificent Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. I love simply listening to, or in this case reading, the thoughts of the writer who inspired a generation.

As for Pokemon, I need to be very clear: I take my pokedex very seriously. If you live around me and have Pearl, Platinum, or HeartGold, I want to trade with you. Ok? Yes.


Ok like I said before, I'm still having internet problems on my laptop, and my monitor might go off at any second, and I am really very tired, so I'm off to the dreamscape. Later Gators.

Thegreatestwizardwhoeverlivedahhh!

Well, this is a bit frustrating.

I am currently typing this on my iPod Touch because for some strange reason my laptop refuses to connect to the Internet and my desktop monitor is being a baby. So today you get a short iPost. And it's sad, too, because there are a lot of cool thInge that I would like to talk all about and all of you will have to wait until my computer is being less temperamental. This is also the reason I couldn't post last night, and I didn't have time to do this kind of post either. I'm sorry for any harm I have caused you due to lack of exposure to me.

Today I went whitewater rafting with the entirety of the dorm, and it was, as always, fantastic. There is just something about riding down a river in a rubber boat that makes you feel so completely alive. AND I didn't get thrown off! Hallelujah for that. I highly recommend it.

Alright, this is extremely difficult to do on an iPod Touch so I must unfortunately draw this to an untimely end. I promise to beat my electronics into submission so I can resume my proper postings. Now off to study Greek! See you on the other side.

Fufufufufu.

I lied. I have a splitting headache so I'm not going to write much more tonight.
A very cool freshman on my hall made egg drop soup for me tonight. We watched Hot Fuzz. I played Machinarium. Goodnight.

Dorm food.

I'm on very early today simply because I wanted to share an idea I just had for a quick snack/dinner. My immediate family are probably the only people who know how weird the things I eat can be, so I decided to change that a bit and share with you. I have long been a fan of mixing cheese and nuts together, and today I decided to add a third element to enhance the experience.

You need:
1/4 cup of cashew halves and pieces
1/4 cup of fresh crumbled feta cheese
1 bratwurst or cheddarwurst

Already you're excited. I can tell.
Mix the cashews and feta together in a small bowl.
Cook the sausage in the microwave for 45 seconds, then cut it up into small slices, and half each slice.
Mix chopped sausage into the bowl with the cheese and nuts.
Eat (spoon recommended).

This last step should be done relatively quickly, as you want to experience the contrast of the warm cheddarwurst with the cold feta and the crunch of the cashews. Waiting will convince your sausage to become lukewarm, and we all know how disappointing that can be. You also have three important elements of flavor: sharply cheesey, nutty, and meaty, so you're totally set for that snack. Larger portions can be fixed for a whole meal. Maybe with a carrot on the side.

Alright, that's all I wanted to share for now. I'll be back on later tonight to blog about other things. A tout a l'heure (a.k.a. toodeloo).

I've been looking into this issue.

There is apparently a large national controversy going on right now concerning the construction of a mosque near Ground Zero. I had only heard word-of-mouth until this evening when I finally decided to do some research of my own. After reading several full-length articles on the subject, I have come to the resolute decision that I have no idea how to feel about the subject. There is simply too much going into this debate for me to really think about right now. This topic is one that I would absolutely hate to have a debate about. It's rare for me to feel that way. I'll let you know when I decide between religious freedom and respecting a national tragedy and the families who were hurt by it.

Someone or something set the fire alarm off again, close to the exact same time as yesterday. And since I did not manage an afternoon nap this time, I am feeling extremely sleepy as I type this now. I usually do a post right before I go to sleep but tonight I think I will have a cup of ramen before heading off to bed. I also did not watch a movie today, which is extremely off kilter from my normal schedule, so I might watch something on netflix before I go to sleep. We'll see.

My roommate and I went to Walmart today for cups, paper towels, and one of these -->
It's excellent.

Oh, ramen's done. Be right back.





While you probably can't tell, I've been eating ramen for the past fifteen minutes and now my R.A. and roommate are discussing majors with me.

I also got an umbrella because it rained today and the weather forecast indicated that it would do so for the next several days. This confirms that I truly am back in Cleveland.

On a school-related note, I may be changing my major from Psychology to... Psychology and English. Yes, a double major may be in my future someday soon. While this means adding an extra year onto my undergraduate experience, I have a passion for both fields and it would look awfully fancy and pretentious to have two majors when graduating. And I love being pretentious. As of yet I haven't made a decision, but I will let you know when whatever happens happens.

For my media this evening I will introduce you to a graphic novel series that I have been following. It is actually distributed as comic issues, but I wait until they put the whole chapter into a hardback book before I buy it. I guess that's how most graphic novels work, but I'm relatively naive when it comes to the comic world.

This series is written by Joe Hill, full name Joe Hill King, son of Steven King. He writes under the Hill name to avoid success based on his heritage, and I respect that. But he has inherited his father's talent for writing and his taste for the eerie, and this graphic novel is no different. It follows a family moving into an old house that is filled with keys that do strange things, and I highly recommend it. The story partly lends its excellence to the illustrator, Gabriel Rodriguez, who successfully weaves some of the most powerful scenes of the story without  utilizing dialogue. The third chapter of the series, Locke & Key, is being mailed to me as we speak and I am excited. Go check it out, even if you don't think it sounds like your kind of thing. It might take you by surprise.

Now I am off to the luscious fluff that is my mattress pad, where I will conjugate some Greek verbs before surrendering myself to the sandman. Goodnight.

Ahhgraphicnovelsareforcoolpersonsonly!

I watch movies.

 My first day of classes may have had a rough start with the fire alarm going off two hours before my alarm, but all in all the day went off without a hitch. I did miss SLC because of an upset stomach, but that's all water under the bridge, eh? I must say that I am looking forward to Greek quite a lot.

Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, Kappa, Lambda, Mu, Nu, Xi, Omicron, Pi, Rho, Sigma, Tau, Upsilon, Phi, Chi, Psi, Omega. Woo, just did all of those from memory. Did I miss any? I don't think so. I can write them too, but that's a bit unnecessary on a blog.

So today I was thinking about how this blog is really just me blurting out parts of my life on the internet. And then I started thinking about the word "blurt," and about how strange a word it really is. I suppose in a sense it is an onomatopoeia, but imagine how strange it would sound for someone to actually blurt out the word "blurt." It would be terrifying.

So I think that I have made it glaringly obvious so far that I enjoy watching movies more than Kesha enjoys her alcohol, and today was no different. This evening after classes -which lasted from 11am until 6pm, but no worries, there are three hours worth of break in there somewhere- and a nap, some of the young men on the hall invited my roommate and me to watch a movie on my R.A.'s wide screen TV. I absolutely could not pass up an opportunity to watch a movie I haven't seen before, so of course we crammed into the small room with approximately half a dozen other guys to watch what was essentially a drawn-out cat fight between Beyonce Knowles and Ali Larter in the film Obsessed. I can't say that I could recommend it to you unless you enjoy terribly eerie blonds.

I also forgot to mention that I saw Dinner for Schmucks earlier this week. While it was funny at times, some of the scenes were so awkward that they made me want to chew my own knuckles off, and the comedy was much more stupid and slapstick than intellectual. It was a bit of a disappointment coming from three of my favorite comedians; Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, and Zack Galifianakis all seemed completely typecast.

Speaking of typecasting  and my love for movies, there is a new film coming out that looks like it might be either extraordinary or a complete flop. It's called The Social Network and it documents, with however much artistic license, the story behind the creation of Facebook and the controversy that most of us have heard of at least in the periphery. It stars Zombieland front man Jesse Eisenberg, who hopefully does not play Michael Cera in this film. If they can get away from the awkardly-charming, lovable nerd typecast then we makeshift film critics will all be much happier people. Can't say I know what to think about Justin Timberlake being in it, though.

Check out the trailer and maybe let me know what you think in the comments section below. Grazie.

Goodnessgraciousanetworkingsite!

Verily.

Today I went to our local used books and media store, Mckay Books, and sold them some old textbooks. I also went hunting for a few of my books for this semester and also picked up Veronica Mars season 1 for less than 20 dollars, so needless to say I am insanely happy with that purchase. If you live near one of the McKay locations, I recommend you stop by as soon as possible.

I also watched a zombie comedy movie -Shawn of the Dead, this time- to make up for the mediocrity that is Zombieland... so today was technically a better version of yesterday. Especially since I am watching Kick-Ass once again, so as to let my R.A. experience the beauty of the movie. I for one, am in love with the music of the movie as much as the style and story of it.

Speaking of "Veronica Mars" two paragraphs ago, there is a freshman on my hall who is the spitting image of Chris Lowell, who played Stosh "Piz" Piznarsky in the show. I know that this information is relevant to exactly no one, but I still think you should go watch all three seasons right now.

Tomorrow is my first day of classes, and so I'm headed to bed very soon. But even though I am no longer a freshman, the prospect of a new year with new opportunities still makes me feel like I'm starting something fresh. So tomorrow I will head to class with the optimism of Piz and the determination of Veronica and I will kick some butt. Goodnight to you all, and I will see you on the other side.

HolysmokesitsPizandVeronica!

And here's a taste of some great music from Kick-Ass:

On Zombies and Superheroes.

I'm too tired to write a full blog just now. I promise with all my heart that I will very soon. I can, however, at least tell you that Zombieland, while humorous, simply doesn't cut it for me. Jesse Eisenberg is a Michael Cera wannabe typecast who brings the awkward "charm" on in overdoses, while the other characters neither show real depth nor give us the slightest inclination to care about their well being. The best part is Billy Murray's death. If you want real zombie movies, watch 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later, Resident Evil, or Dawn of the Dead. Those are movies about survival.

I do enjoy watching movies with other people and tonight made me excited to get to know some of the freshmen on my hall.They seem friendly, if not overly enthusiastic. And one of them laughs like a horse on Ritalin, which sounds like it would be annoying but really is just amazingly funny.

Also, the movie Kick-Ass is good, albeit foul-mouthed. That is all.

Holycrapthismoviewasmediocre!

There's a stinkbug.

Oh dear, I've missed the midnight cutoff and so I technically did NOT publish a post on Sunday the 15th. Apologies to my two followers who probably don't even care.

A few things today: I realized that I've been writing in a British accent without letting you know. Apologies. I blame Charlieissocoollike and the vast amounts of Harry Potter that I've been pumping into my brain as of late. I make no excuses for that, though. I'm preparing for November.

Also, today there is a stink bug in the urinal. And when I pee on it, which I cannot help but do, it...activates? Is that the word for it? It makes the whole urinal area smell like bug. It isn't unbearable, but is still rather unpleasant. I could, I suppose, use the other urinal, but I am a man of habit and I've been using the same one since last year. I would have thought that it would have died by now, being assaulted by pee and flushed so many times, but there it sits, clinging to the air-freshener pad for dear life, squirting bug juice at any innocent college student with a full bladder.

I always try and take pity on bugs in bad situations, but even I cannot bring myself to rescue that thing.

As a parting gift, I give you Charlie:



Cheerioitsarealbrit!

Quite.

So it didn't take long; I've already reached an evening where I have little desire to blog. But at least I have the chance to push through it and write anyway. So here goes! We're staying positive, yes? So the upperclassmen have begun their return to campus, and my roommate Garrett has moved back in with me. He's converted his desk into an entertainment center complete with surround sound, a high def TV, and three gaming systems. I'm going to have to force him to study.

On a lighter note, a girl was in my room today. Garrett's friend, Brianna, came by to see him and the three of us talked for quite a while. Then I believed we scared her off with a musical with gore in it (see: Repo! The Genetic Opera). I admit it's a trippy film, but it has Anthony Steward Head from "Buffy" in it and I just couldn't pass up the chance to watch it again. Garrett watched it over the summer and since he doesn't hate me for liking it, I assume he likes it a bit too. Brianna, poor girl, did not enjoy the movie at all, but a small crowd grew around us to watch the ending nevertheless. Hopefully the movie didn't scare her away from the dorm indefinitely.

The only other subject worth mentioning is that Steak 'N Shake has good chili and our waitress is a pro for handling 15 young men at once and still getting our orders out expediently. I expect she will be happy with her tip.

So good night unto you all. Give me your hands if we be friends, and Robin shall restore amends.

Gaspisthisproductplacement?!

Become one of the fortunate souls as soon as possible.

If you are one of the unfortunate souls who has not seen the movie 500 Days of Summer, then there's not much on your priority list that can trump that need. But whether you have or haven't, this video found by a lovely Ms. Courtney Z. will definitely give you a glimpse into the fantastic production. I couldn't help but share, and also get some multimedia started up on this blog. And now I'm going to go watch the movie again.



ZoeyisamoreattractiveversionofKatyPerry!
The song at the beginning is "Us" by Regina Spektor and the song for the actual music video is "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" by Zoey Deschanel's band She & Him.

Move In Day

What is that sound, you ask? It sounds like the breath of a thousand corpses to the untrained ear. But experience reveals a far more frightening source: freshmen. Not frightening simply because of their timid glances, pale complexions, and nauseated expressions. No, because of what they bring with them: parents of freshmen.


Maybe you know of what I speak. Maybe, sitting in your cell at a prison in Oklahoma as you read this, you begin to sweat. Maybe you're reading this before you go to sleep in Tokyo, and now you have to turn the lights on and check under the bed, and in the closet. And maybe you don't know. And if you don't, I pity and envy you. Because I know. They are lurking in the hall outside my door as we speak.

All in all, I welcome the new students. It would seem that my entire hall is comprised of the creatures except for my roommate, my R.A., and me. They might be interesting, they might be awkward. They might be funny, they might think that they are funny. We'll find out soon enough.

But the loud, demanding, obnoxious people that spawned them... it's all I can do to remind myself that they will be gone in a few hours. Until then, my campus will be swarming with them, like maggots on a piece of dead meat, like buzzing bees on a hive, ready to sting. Pushing their uncomfortable but excited children onward, taking up space in line with them (I just need my I.D., come on).

But nevertheless, they are here, and will be gone in a flash, and oh, look, my door has a lock. I am well prepared. Good day unto you all. I will see you on the other side.

 Egadlookatthemall!

Oooh. A Blog.

After the short-lived thing that was my Virb account (shudder) back when I was in Governor's School, I really never thought I would actually attempt this again. But look at that! Here we are, me tattering away at these tiny little netbook keys and you ogling your computer. Is this blog spawned from boredom, perhaps? A lack of purposeful things to do on the interweb? Most likely a cry for attention? We can only speculate. I suppose over the next few days I will either abandon this snarky attempt at blogging, or I will raise it as I would a child, with tenderness and understanding. So really, this is a test of my parenting skills at 18. So it's even like social commentary, in its own way.

Let me finish this first ever post of SmogLoyf (yes? no?) by setting up a potential outline for this project. I will be talking about Harry Potter. I will be talking about relationships, college classes, work, movies, television shows, books, music, religion, psychology, and technology. I might throw in some things about politics and current events and Strong Blond Protagonists. Essentially, all of these things make up parts of my life. A-ha! This blog is all about me? Perhaps. But it can be all about you too if you read it!

Looksomethingcutetodistractyou!