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Honorable Mention
I hate doing this, because it sounds like i'm asking for something.... but this past Friday was my birthday. There, now I can get on with my story....
(We interrupt this story to remind you that Dan always accepts presents! Please check the links on the right for my Amazon.com wishlist and more. ;-) )
So most of my friends have the tradition that we honor the person whose birthday it is. It's great, because with other people, you'd get some people who just say, "You're a cool cat, Dan." These real friends and family actually talk about the gifts that God has given me, which is a real treat to hear because I overlook them all to often.
The first that many talked about was that I seem to have an unbouding joy. I think that's true, although I'm sure you see it a lot less online because it's just me and my computer and sometimes I get a bit bored. But when I'm out hangin' with my friends, I'm always havin' a fun time. Sometimes I think it's a problem, though, because I don't worry too much about life. (It's a "hakuna matata" type of thing.) Sometimes I think that is bad because I don't tend to worry about tests or interviews and such too much, I just figure they'll go well if they're supposed to.
Oh well. They're probably right. It's a good thing.
Another friend honored me because I keep working at this job search thing. Yeah, I suppose so. Sometimes I feel like I'm doing nothing, mostly because nothing so far for almost a year has worked out. I guess it's a good thing this type of stuff doesn't get me down much, because getting rejected twenty times really does hurt. Am I good for anything in this computer industry? Or is it that I need to think past this crappy Minnesota area?
Yet another friend honored me for just being there and ready to hang out. Yeah, when it's easy, I guess I am. This friend lives four blocks away and I see him at events at least once per week, so it's easy to keep up and do stuff. But I haven't talked to anybody I knew at St. Thomas since summer. I don't know if that' s good, but it would be harder to get together with those people. Plus, I'm kinda ashamed to tell them I don't have a job yet.
Alright, I'm done with this rambling. All this double-thinking the honoring stuff is almost getting me down about life. And I can't have that!
Exchange Phone Numbers Just By Kissing?
Here's what I thought was a rather creepy article. Apprently the data goes through your skin or something. And touching people exchanges data. Pretty odd. I don't really care for touching people anyways, but I guess I might have to in the future, I guess.
More Incredible Stuff
Earlier this week I got The Incredibles on DVD, and that was cool. But my sisters just gave me for my birthday a really cool T-Shirt!
Yes, now even I look like a super! How cool is that! I would say thanks again to my sisters, but they don't read this anyways. ;-)
btw, I stole that picture from eBay, it's not my picture.
Hot(Diggity)Sync
Before I left this afternoon I put some contact information and calendar events into Outlook. Unfortunately, after I left, I remembered that I didn't sync my amazing Palm smartphone with my PC. Well, I'm not going to have that problem very often anymore.
I hooked it up so that it can HotSync over the Sprint PCS wireless network on demand (as long as my computer at home is on, which it always is). It's killer.
Ahhh, Snow...
Finally, we have the second decent snowstorm of the year. Not as big as two months ago here, but at least it's been snowing decently all day and we have some snow on the ground.
I watched my new The Incredibles DVD special features last night... very nice stuff.
Shooting Ourself In The Foot
I now officially hate Governor Pawlenty. If anybody else is marching on the capitol, I'm there.
For those who don't know what I'm talking about, it's an issue very close to my heart: Public transportation. This past year has found the introduction of the Hiawatha Light Rail line to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. It's a bunch faster than taking a bus and is lots of fun. It's almost as cool as a subway. But one stretch of track from downtown to the airport and the Mall of America hardly consists of a public transportation system, even when that system includes hundreds of bus routes.
In recent news, the system is under budget. Today it was announced that the proposed plans to put it on budget is to cut at least some part of 70% of the bus system. Some routes will be completely canceled, but some will be reduced.
This is no good at all. With the introduction of the our new rail line, people besides those without cars are finding that MetroTransit may actually be a viable way of getting around. If buses are running less often, that's not going to help. Plus, fares are probably going to be raised across the board, which is also no good.
Most of this is because of the fact that our stupid governor is getting paid off by Detroit or Iraq oil or something. He wants us to have to all drive around in our cars and pay outrageous prices for gas. If anything, right now the amount of money allotted to MetroTransit should go up so that they can expand their services. It would encourage ridership instead of discourage it. It's the only way that people besides the disabled and really poor are going to think about using buses for everyday tasks.
Gotta Get Your Phil
Whoa! I can't believe that I've gone a month with this blog and my links didn't include one to Phil Keaggy. That's just crazy!
For those who don't know of Phil, he's the most amazing guitarist I've ever seen on an acoustic, and he does pretty good on the electric too.
I just finished watching a concert of his on a webcast. You have to get past the worship band and the short talking from the pastor, but Phil's amazing. He can do so much with an acoustic and everything. And he's been making music since the '60s... wow. That webcast is almost as good as his Philly Live DVD, so if you like it, then get the DVD too.
Now I'm going to watch this church's service featuring Ashley Cleveland last week. That should be good too.
Toy Story 3 eh, Watered Down?
Although it's not been officially confirmed, it looks like they've chosen a director for the Pixar-less Toy Story 3. Let's hope it's not true. According to IMDB, the only "movies" this guy has directed is The Lion King 1½, The Hunchback of Notre Dame II, and Pocahontas II. With all that to his credit, they'd probably get a better result if the movie didn't have a director.
Better yet, they should get somebody from Jerry Bruckheimer's stable to direct it. After all, Bruckheimer's produced almost all of Disney's successful movies in the past couple years (besides Pixar movies, of course).
And now for the trailer park:
Here's more proof that Disney's lost it. Lindsay Lohan stars in a new movie with the beloved bug, Herbie.
As usual, Will Ferrell is funny. But this time, it's Mike Ditka and little kids that are forcing him to whine, Kicking and Screaming.
Yes, this one has Keanu Reeves doing his normal thing again. But the animation mixed with live action in this trailer was what caught my attention.
Not only does this trailer to The Hitchhicker's Guide To The Galaxy make me want to go read the book and see the movie, it also serves as a hilarious definition of a what a movie trailer is supposed to be.
And finally, of course, head over to StarWars.com to get your first look at the final trailer for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. I just watched it twice in a row and then went through it frame-by-frame.
Oh, and I just found this short film of Batman created by a bunch of animation students. But instead of creating a regular Batman film, they rendered it so that it looked like it was all made of LEGOs. And it looks cool.
An Incredible Week
This past week was kinda ho-hum. I didn't get too much productive done, but it wasn't just a waste either.
But this next week is gonna be amazing. First of all, Thursday's St. Patrick's Day. Hopefully that means at least a glass of Guinness. Second of all, I'm going to hang out with my family a bunch and my sister is going to be in her senior play.
But the biggest one is on Tuesday: The Incredibles on DVD! I've seen this movie in theaters three times, but I'm still looking forward to actually owning it and seeing all the special features. Seriously, if you haven't seen this movie, you'd better rent it Tuesday night, because you don't know what you've been missing. Better yet, just buy it Tuesday because I know you're gonna like it.
OK, so maybe I'm a little too excited about the movie. I tend to do that with movies I like. But, then again, I've never heard of anybody who hated the movie...
Live Music and More
Well, it's been days and days, so what have I been up to?
Hmmm..... not too much, actually. For lack of much more to do, I'm just waitin' to see if that interview develops something.
Last night I went to a show at Club 3 Degrees where my friends Hugh and Andy were playing. It was pretty cool. The band definitely has room to get better, but they were pretty good. Plus, there were cool friends to hang out with and some of the other musicians weren't too bad.
And then we watched my favorite comedy I got at Best Buy for $5: Josie and the Pussycats. Really stupid, but Alan Cumming, Parker Posy and Tara Reid are hilarious. Not that I'm saying you should bother renting it or getting it, but I enjoy it.