1/2
Went to Ryan F's for SPORTS. Dave and Barb were there, and later Akshay and Anil showed up. We played a bit of frisbee, watched the winter classic and some football, and played some Madden and Halo. Netted 9 hours of chilltime.
1/3
This afternoon Kevin came over. we went to FiveBelow and Assi and loaded up on dinner: candy and microvave tea and dumplings. We also stopped at Gamestop because apparently Skyward Sword forces you to get a whole new type of Wiimote/attachment. That, my friends, is price gouging. Kevin insisted on getting me Okami, and may I recommend that you try it yourself.
1/4
Kevin slept over, and then we went to the park to get some work done on his photo project. Albeit frigid, it was a nice day to take a walk in the park. Later on, while Mama and Eli were at the gym, she had me fry some red bell peppers. It almost made me late for the evening plans, but let me just say, I made some mean peppers today. I saw Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows with Evan, Kevin, Stephen, and Vania, and then we hacked outside for a bit.
It amazes me how quickly time can pass when you're chilling with bros. I didn't even realize until writing this that this all happened in just the last three days. And this break has four more to go, so I'd better get cracking. Maybe if I stopped going to sleep after 4AM...
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Friday, December 30, 2011
Redemption
12/29
I TOLD YOU I'D DO IT! I think I got more exercise today than I've gotten in about a month. I started out by getting outside to play pickleball with Eli. He played valiantly, but unfortunately his skills were no match. (By the way, this is pickleball. It's like table tennis, but not on a table.)
Mama, resident social studies teacher, has decided to learn all the countries and capitals of the world once and for all by doing Sporcle quizzes. (They have more than just geography, so stay awhile even if that's not your cup of tea.) I'm a bit of a geography nerd myself, so I have set a challenge– first to learn all the countries and capitals wins.
We took a family trip to the Y and I had a decent run. Afterward, we made an impromptu Wawa run, where I tried the new Jalapeño Beef Flatbread. Delicious indeed.
Afterward Eli and I chilled with our mutual friend, Lauren. (For distinction, I'll henceforth refer to her as Laurhen because she sometimes likes to spell it that way.) We went for a drive and for the longest time couldn't decide what to do. Then it hit us: Oreland Pizza.
We've dreamed about this for almost a year now. Riding the train into the city, we hear "Next stop, ORELAND!" every time, and we decided this was a place to check out. No, this was a place to fulfill our wildest dreams. Our lifelong goal was to someday make the pilgrimage to Oreland, the home of true rageosity, which until today was a mystical mirage. And at the heart of it all, Oreland Pizza. It is rumored to be a pizza joint of respectable excellence. It has become to us what White Castle is to Harold and Kumar.
Sadly, we didn't get there until 1040, so it was closed. Next time though. Today was a bright day in the history of Dash Amatash.
12/30
I think our family is a bit late for the redemption of Christmas gift cards, but then again, we're late for everything. Better late than lacking of gift cards? Anyhow, you know you're an adult when the majority of your presents were clothes, and that's exactly what you asked for. On the other hand, you know you're still in college or younger when you shop at Pacsun.
At night Eli, some friends, and I hit up the local skating rink. Well, the closest. I guess 20 minutes away on 45+ roads isn't exactly local. It's far enough that I don't skate very often. Luckily for me, I still remember how, and I think I've actually gotten better since last time! That is, when I'm not paying attention to Evan and his sister, Emily O, who have been playing hockey for years.
It was in the lounge of the skating rink that I got utterly owned. Eli, Evan, and Emily V and I were just taking a quick break. We got a couple of sodas and an order of chicken poppers and were minding our own business. So this young punk ~12 year old girl walks up to me and asks, "Is this your glove?" As the word "no" is leaving my lips, she chucks the glove in my face and walks away. I sit in complete dumbfoundification for about 5 seconds trying to comprehend what happened, while the others are roaring with laughter. Interesting night...
12/31
More pickleball today. I like this life.
I met up with Kevin in the afternoon, and we went to this place called "The Movie Tavern", where you sit in a theater and watch a film, but you have a traytable type thing and they bring you food like you're in a restaurant! It's a really cool concept, although we experienced a few order mishaps. By the way, we saw Tintin, which recieves my utmost praise.
Went to Madi's later for New Year's Eve shenanigans, which included pool, table tennis, darts, and Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin. Happy New Year, reader, and my 2012 be joyful.
1/1
I don't remember what time it was, but I do vaguely remember telling myself to just sleep for about 5 minutes on the couch before going up to bed, which explains why that didn't end up happening.
Today, I can proudly say, is the first time I have successfully remembered every country in Sporcle's quiz. I am ahead of Mama, too, which is good. Now it's on to capitals...
EVEN MORE PICKLEBALL! Sixth-grade across-the-street neighbor Connor M is proving to be quite the pickleballer lately, particularly with his returns. He and I managed to beat Eli in a shutout, which, trust me, is impressive.
The fam went to see The Descendants later at our local indie theater. Good flick.
I am trying to teach myself how to work with redstone in Minecraft. It's sort of like wasting time, but at the same time, I'm using this to learn logic concepts which will help me in computer science. Maybe. Hopefully. Maybe I'm still just wasting time. No! It's cerebral! I am developing my critical thinking skills! Right?
I TOLD YOU I'D DO IT! I think I got more exercise today than I've gotten in about a month. I started out by getting outside to play pickleball with Eli. He played valiantly, but unfortunately his skills were no match. (By the way, this is pickleball. It's like table tennis, but not on a table.)
Mama, resident social studies teacher, has decided to learn all the countries and capitals of the world once and for all by doing Sporcle quizzes. (They have more than just geography, so stay awhile even if that's not your cup of tea.) I'm a bit of a geography nerd myself, so I have set a challenge– first to learn all the countries and capitals wins.
We took a family trip to the Y and I had a decent run. Afterward, we made an impromptu Wawa run, where I tried the new Jalapeño Beef Flatbread. Delicious indeed.
Afterward Eli and I chilled with our mutual friend, Lauren. (For distinction, I'll henceforth refer to her as Laurhen because she sometimes likes to spell it that way.) We went for a drive and for the longest time couldn't decide what to do. Then it hit us: Oreland Pizza.
We've dreamed about this for almost a year now. Riding the train into the city, we hear "Next stop, ORELAND!" every time, and we decided this was a place to check out. No, this was a place to fulfill our wildest dreams. Our lifelong goal was to someday make the pilgrimage to Oreland, the home of true rageosity, which until today was a mystical mirage. And at the heart of it all, Oreland Pizza. It is rumored to be a pizza joint of respectable excellence. It has become to us what White Castle is to Harold and Kumar.
Sadly, we didn't get there until 1040, so it was closed. Next time though. Today was a bright day in the history of Dash Amatash.
12/30
I think our family is a bit late for the redemption of Christmas gift cards, but then again, we're late for everything. Better late than lacking of gift cards? Anyhow, you know you're an adult when the majority of your presents were clothes, and that's exactly what you asked for. On the other hand, you know you're still in college or younger when you shop at Pacsun.
At night Eli, some friends, and I hit up the local skating rink. Well, the closest. I guess 20 minutes away on 45+ roads isn't exactly local. It's far enough that I don't skate very often. Luckily for me, I still remember how, and I think I've actually gotten better since last time! That is, when I'm not paying attention to Evan and his sister, Emily O, who have been playing hockey for years.
It was in the lounge of the skating rink that I got utterly owned. Eli, Evan, and Emily V and I were just taking a quick break. We got a couple of sodas and an order of chicken poppers and were minding our own business. So this young punk ~12 year old girl walks up to me and asks, "Is this your glove?" As the word "no" is leaving my lips, she chucks the glove in my face and walks away. I sit in complete dumbfoundification for about 5 seconds trying to comprehend what happened, while the others are roaring with laughter. Interesting night...
12/31
More pickleball today. I like this life.
I met up with Kevin in the afternoon, and we went to this place called "The Movie Tavern", where you sit in a theater and watch a film, but you have a traytable type thing and they bring you food like you're in a restaurant! It's a really cool concept, although we experienced a few order mishaps. By the way, we saw Tintin, which recieves my utmost praise.
Went to Madi's later for New Year's Eve shenanigans, which included pool, table tennis, darts, and Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin. Happy New Year, reader, and my 2012 be joyful.
1/1
I don't remember what time it was, but I do vaguely remember telling myself to just sleep for about 5 minutes on the couch before going up to bed, which explains why that didn't end up happening.
Today, I can proudly say, is the first time I have successfully remembered every country in Sporcle's quiz. I am ahead of Mama, too, which is good. Now it's on to capitals...
EVEN MORE PICKLEBALL! Sixth-grade across-the-street neighbor Connor M is proving to be quite the pickleballer lately, particularly with his returns. He and I managed to beat Eli in a shutout, which, trust me, is impressive.
The fam went to see The Descendants later at our local indie theater. Good flick.
I am trying to teach myself how to work with redstone in Minecraft. It's sort of like wasting time, but at the same time, I'm using this to learn logic concepts which will help me in computer science. Maybe. Hopefully. Maybe I'm still just wasting time. No! It's cerebral! I am developing my critical thinking skills! Right?
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Trophy for Atrophy
I deserve a prize of some sort for letting my activity deteriorate the most. I woke up this morning with the plans and the gumption to do something great. And then I didn't.
I recently got the Humble Bundle on Steam, and let me be not the first to say, Cave Story+ is a true masterpiece. I think it's among the top 5 in games that give me hope for the future of the gaming industry.
In others' news, Molly took a train home at about 1 and Eli installed his new speakers in the garage. They're a bit scratchy and fuzzy, but they put out some nice sound and have some boomin bass. I'm sensing this is the beginning of man cave part II.
Eli joined me this evening for his first and my worst deck workout. I was having trouble completing everything, cardio and muscular alike. Maybe I ate a little too soon beforehand. Then again, maybe I'd just been living too sedentary a lifestyle beforehand. With you as my notary, this changes tomorrow.
Remind me to go outside and play some pickleball.
I recently got the Humble Bundle on Steam, and let me be not the first to say, Cave Story+ is a true masterpiece. I think it's among the top 5 in games that give me hope for the future of the gaming industry.
In others' news, Molly took a train home at about 1 and Eli installed his new speakers in the garage. They're a bit scratchy and fuzzy, but they put out some nice sound and have some boomin bass. I'm sensing this is the beginning of man cave part II.
Eli joined me this evening for his first and my worst deck workout. I was having trouble completing everything, cardio and muscular alike. Maybe I ate a little too soon beforehand. Then again, maybe I'd just been living too sedentary a lifestyle beforehand. With you as my notary, this changes tomorrow.
Remind me to go outside and play some pickleball.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
The Relazening
12/25
CLASSIC ELI... He jumps on the foot of my bed Christmas morning at 7 and shouts, "CHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS!!" I think he's been doing that for three years now. At least.
We opened up a few nuclear family presents, then packed up and hopped in the car. This was the first major road trip in the Infiniti, and the previous owner put in a Bose sound system for crying out loud. It's pretty great and we're very lucky and thankful to have it, so naturally Mama used the "I plan on reading for this car ride. And can't we just talk?" excuse. I decided to choose only one of those options, and since out loud music was out of the question, I busted out my noisecancellingishbutnotreally headphones and went under for the majority of the ride.
We got to Aunt Gretchen and Uncle Tom's house and Lela (my maternal grandmother) and Aunt Molly were already there. We unwrapped the presents from the Secret Santa, and then had dinner with special guest, Heidi (Gretchen and Tom's neighbor).
Later on, we broke out the games. Rummikub and Bananagrams, two family favorites, made an appearance, as well as The Simpsons Clue. (I was Bart, naturally.) Unfortunately, I didn't know how to declare victory, so in my infinite wisdom, I asked how right after I had stated what I believed to be, and what ended up being, the final combination. Molly snagged the win, that little cheater.
12/26
We woke up the next morning to more games. Copious snacking occurred, because all the snacks and leftover hors d'oeuvres were right in front of us. At about 5, after a dayful of lazing about, we finally got in the car for the trip home, this time bringing Molly with us.
Remember that really crowded place you went to that one time? Well the rest stop at which we rested and stopped was even more crowded than that. And apparently, Sbarro has this new thing where, if you want your pizza to go, they give it to you on a plate, and then you get a box at the drink station. Maximum codswallop achieved. Shoulda just gone to Roy Rogers... got me some fixins... The drinks from Sbarro, of course, caused three of us to require a brief stopover at he airport, because that was pretty much the only feasible place.
On the way through our town, we took the most scenic route possible (seriously, we drove down like half streets) in order to see everybody's Christmas lights.
12/27
Today began the redeeming of redeemable gifts. It started out easy. I just plugged in a flash drive given to me by Molly and downloaded dat music. I further augmented my library after redeeming an iTunes gift certificate and now I have enough trance music to last for approximately all time.
We then went thrift hopping. My gift to Eli was $40 worth of stuff from any thrift store(s), and he went crazy with it. He loves searching for used electronics, and he has recently come into possession of a couple of gigantic speakers, in addition to a couple of fly shirts. I managed to find a pretty sweet coat for myself, which I desperately need. Winters for me are going to be a lot colder than I'm used to from now on. Nothing in my life has prepared me for this. Except, you know, snow. And now that I think of it, we could really use some. It's just been cold and dry and desolate and that needs to change.
Due to the unfortunate weather, I've been staying inside a lot, catching up on much-desired-probably-not-needed vedging time. Thank goodness I jotted down what I did on Christmas and Boxing Day, because my brain was just wiped clean by about twelve episodes of Malcolm in the Middle. Netflix instant play, don't ever change.
CLASSIC ELI... He jumps on the foot of my bed Christmas morning at 7 and shouts, "CHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS!!" I think he's been doing that for three years now. At least.
We opened up a few nuclear family presents, then packed up and hopped in the car. This was the first major road trip in the Infiniti, and the previous owner put in a Bose sound system for crying out loud. It's pretty great and we're very lucky and thankful to have it, so naturally Mama used the "I plan on reading for this car ride. And can't we just talk?" excuse. I decided to choose only one of those options, and since out loud music was out of the question, I busted out my noisecancellingishbutnotreally headphones and went under for the majority of the ride.
We got to Aunt Gretchen and Uncle Tom's house and Lela (my maternal grandmother) and Aunt Molly were already there. We unwrapped the presents from the Secret Santa, and then had dinner with special guest, Heidi (Gretchen and Tom's neighbor).
Later on, we broke out the games. Rummikub and Bananagrams, two family favorites, made an appearance, as well as The Simpsons Clue. (I was Bart, naturally.) Unfortunately, I didn't know how to declare victory, so in my infinite wisdom, I asked how right after I had stated what I believed to be, and what ended up being, the final combination. Molly snagged the win, that little cheater.
12/26
We woke up the next morning to more games. Copious snacking occurred, because all the snacks and leftover hors d'oeuvres were right in front of us. At about 5, after a dayful of lazing about, we finally got in the car for the trip home, this time bringing Molly with us.
Remember that really crowded place you went to that one time? Well the rest stop at which we rested and stopped was even more crowded than that. And apparently, Sbarro has this new thing where, if you want your pizza to go, they give it to you on a plate, and then you get a box at the drink station. Maximum codswallop achieved. Shoulda just gone to Roy Rogers... got me some fixins... The drinks from Sbarro, of course, caused three of us to require a brief stopover at he airport, because that was pretty much the only feasible place.
On the way through our town, we took the most scenic route possible (seriously, we drove down like half streets) in order to see everybody's Christmas lights.
12/27
Today began the redeeming of redeemable gifts. It started out easy. I just plugged in a flash drive given to me by Molly and downloaded dat music. I further augmented my library after redeeming an iTunes gift certificate and now I have enough trance music to last for approximately all time.
We then went thrift hopping. My gift to Eli was $40 worth of stuff from any thrift store(s), and he went crazy with it. He loves searching for used electronics, and he has recently come into possession of a couple of gigantic speakers, in addition to a couple of fly shirts. I managed to find a pretty sweet coat for myself, which I desperately need. Winters for me are going to be a lot colder than I'm used to from now on. Nothing in my life has prepared me for this. Except, you know, snow. And now that I think of it, we could really use some. It's just been cold and dry and desolate and that needs to change.
Due to the unfortunate weather, I've been staying inside a lot, catching up on much-desired-probably-not-needed vedging time. Thank goodness I jotted down what I did on Christmas and Boxing Day, because my brain was just wiped clean by about twelve episodes of Malcolm in the Middle. Netflix instant play, don't ever change.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
The Five Days of Christmas
Now I know what happens when you put off posting until 3AM every day! (Hint: you fall asleep and don't post.) So I'm gonna try and recreate the past 5 days. Here goes.
12/20
Evan came over today because, like me, he was "bored out of [his] fucking mind," to quote him. We Mario Karted for a bit, but then I remembered some Christmas shopping I had to do, so we parted ways. After all that, I attended Eli's jazz band concert. I had bunches of fun with Madi, Connor B, Katie, and Suzi, crossing things out in the pamphlet to make it sound dirty.
12/21
I was texted by Dave, my acrossthestreet neighbor in the morning, and he soon came over to chill for a bit. Ryan F and Barb soon arrived, as well, and Barb brought our family an apple pie, which was delicious. We went to school to visit old pals, and I left the others to go visit the high school robotics team. Evan was there (he's the coach's son), along with just a few others. Evan and I did a Wawa run, returned to school, met with Dave and Ryan, went back to my house, played Super Smash Bros, Dave and Ryan left, and Evan and I went back to school for an evening robotics meeting. Saul and John M were there, both fellow graduates, so we caught up. Later I helped Eli with some pre-calc homework.
12/22
I woke up earlier than I have in weeks to go to a 915 dentist appointment. All is well with the teeth, aside from a stain on tooth #2 that could manifest into a cavity if I don't brush. I had a sudden and strong urge to play Megaman, so I went to Dave's to get back Megaman X: Collection, which he borrowed over a year ago. I almost beat the game; I have amassed all of the powerups and now I just have to take down Sigma's fortress. At night, Kat came over and we watched Tron: Legacy, with the intent on rejoicing in the awesomeness that is Olivia Wilde. Unfortunately, Kat fell asleep halfway through due to working at the grocery all day.
12/23
Last year's graduating seniors from the robotics team met today to catch up and to celebrate Festivus. We went to Luke's house, where Hannah flubbed about in Mario Kart, John M irked us all by playing as Diddy Kong in Super Smash Bros, I almost toppled the mighty Evan in air hockey, ping pong, and feats of strength, Dirk almost made me give him a ride home even though he lives practically nextdoor to Luke, and finally I gave Ryan M a ride home. I watched Ocean's Twelve with Eli, then went out with Little Bear and Lily to Wawa and to chill. All in all, it was a day most rageous, indeed.
12/24
I trounced Eli but lost to Papa in a three-way sudoku challenge, then the three of us finished up our Christmas shopping. Papa just got a used Infiniti with a Bose sound system, so today I finally got to bathe myself in its glorious audio nectar. After shopping, there was much wrapping, which, I must say, is a forte of mine. I wrap hard. The three of us finished up the night by watching Home Alone 3, and now here I am in bed, while I believe Santa is currently setting up the tree room. (I went to the bathroom and the lights were on downstairs and I heard movement. Seems legit.)
Anyhow, now it's the 25th, so Ima get some sleep. If you roll that way, then Merry Christmas to you and to you a good night.
12/20
Evan came over today because, like me, he was "bored out of [his] fucking mind," to quote him. We Mario Karted for a bit, but then I remembered some Christmas shopping I had to do, so we parted ways. After all that, I attended Eli's jazz band concert. I had bunches of fun with Madi, Connor B, Katie, and Suzi, crossing things out in the pamphlet to make it sound dirty.
12/21
I was texted by Dave, my acrossthestreet neighbor in the morning, and he soon came over to chill for a bit. Ryan F and Barb soon arrived, as well, and Barb brought our family an apple pie, which was delicious. We went to school to visit old pals, and I left the others to go visit the high school robotics team. Evan was there (he's the coach's son), along with just a few others. Evan and I did a Wawa run, returned to school, met with Dave and Ryan, went back to my house, played Super Smash Bros, Dave and Ryan left, and Evan and I went back to school for an evening robotics meeting. Saul and John M were there, both fellow graduates, so we caught up. Later I helped Eli with some pre-calc homework.
12/22
I woke up earlier than I have in weeks to go to a 915 dentist appointment. All is well with the teeth, aside from a stain on tooth #2 that could manifest into a cavity if I don't brush. I had a sudden and strong urge to play Megaman, so I went to Dave's to get back Megaman X: Collection, which he borrowed over a year ago. I almost beat the game; I have amassed all of the powerups and now I just have to take down Sigma's fortress. At night, Kat came over and we watched Tron: Legacy, with the intent on rejoicing in the awesomeness that is Olivia Wilde. Unfortunately, Kat fell asleep halfway through due to working at the grocery all day.
12/23
Last year's graduating seniors from the robotics team met today to catch up and to celebrate Festivus. We went to Luke's house, where Hannah flubbed about in Mario Kart, John M irked us all by playing as Diddy Kong in Super Smash Bros, I almost toppled the mighty Evan in air hockey, ping pong, and feats of strength, Dirk almost made me give him a ride home even though he lives practically nextdoor to Luke, and finally I gave Ryan M a ride home. I watched Ocean's Twelve with Eli, then went out with Little Bear and Lily to Wawa and to chill. All in all, it was a day most rageous, indeed.
12/24
I trounced Eli but lost to Papa in a three-way sudoku challenge, then the three of us finished up our Christmas shopping. Papa just got a used Infiniti with a Bose sound system, so today I finally got to bathe myself in its glorious audio nectar. After shopping, there was much wrapping, which, I must say, is a forte of mine. I wrap hard. The three of us finished up the night by watching Home Alone 3, and now here I am in bed, while I believe Santa is currently setting up the tree room. (I went to the bathroom and the lights were on downstairs and I heard movement. Seems legit.)
Anyhow, now it's the 25th, so Ima get some sleep. If you roll that way, then Merry Christmas to you and to you a good night.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Seeing Improvement?
Today went pretty much the same way as yesterday. Which would be awful except for two things. In my defense, I was intending to see Josh L's band perform in a talent show, but it got cancelled. But I was gonna do something with my life! Hooray!
Also, today I got around to that deck workout, which, surprise surprise, didn't end up happening yesterday. I feel relatively accomplished.
Earlier I started Ocean's Eleven with Eli, but he had to write a paper, so AS PER USUAL, we had to stop halfway through which I HATE DOING. Seriously, top 3 most annoying things ever, probably.
Anyhow, I saved writing this post for after I got in bed, which was a horrendously stupid idea, considering the softness of said bed. It's a miracle I'm still conscious.
Also consider the hour. HOLY SHIT it's 2:30 in the morning! What are you doing still browsing the internet at this hour. I want you to close this window and GO THE FUCK TO SLEEP.
I'm making that difficult with my linking shenanigans aren't I? :3
Also, today I got around to that deck workout, which, surprise surprise, didn't end up happening yesterday. I feel relatively accomplished.
Earlier I started Ocean's Eleven with Eli, but he had to write a paper, so AS PER USUAL, we had to stop halfway through which I HATE DOING. Seriously, top 3 most annoying things ever, probably.
Anyhow, I saved writing this post for after I got in bed, which was a horrendously stupid idea, considering the softness of said bed. It's a miracle I'm still conscious.
Also consider the hour. HOLY SHIT it's 2:30 in the morning! What are you doing still browsing the internet at this hour. I want you to close this window and GO THE FUCK TO SLEEP.
I'm making that difficult with my linking shenanigans aren't I? :3
Monday, December 19, 2011
Old habits NEVER DIE
I think I had a lucid dream this morning, but I may have just been daydreaming. It's hard to tell because they're almost the same thing. Also lucid dreams easily turn into regular dreams if you forget you're controlling them, but that might be one of those things that actually only happens to me.
This morning was just like the Sunday mornings I remember, because I started out with some coffee and challenged Papa to a sudoku puzzle and a kenken puzzle. I won both, which is surprising because Papa is a bit of a sudoku enthusiast.
Then I started playing Minecraft. This was my first time in months. It was at precisely this point that I knew the day was lost.
I tried to redeem myself by washing dishes and helping make dinner, but I couldn't shake away that dirty feeling of laziness, and the rest of the evening was consumed. More Minecraft, some websurfing... I found out Kim Jong Il died today, because facebook told me so. Also, try googling "big fishy" and clicking the first link. It's really fun, until you realize how irresponsibly you're using your time.
Eli's working late on a science project (due tomorrow, naturally), and he has been all day, so I haven't even had someone with whom to share my antisociality. And it gets worse. For a little while I was playing Mario Kart. SINGLE PLAYER MARIO KART. That's how advanced my condition is. I have become a stage four couch potato. I'm worried all my muscles are going to atrophy except the ones I use to process food, or to use a mouse/controller/keyboard.
Maybe if I do a deck workout this day won't be a total loss. Though I'm pretty tired, and there's nobody else working out, so odds of me staying motivated are slim.
This morning was just like the Sunday mornings I remember, because I started out with some coffee and challenged Papa to a sudoku puzzle and a kenken puzzle. I won both, which is surprising because Papa is a bit of a sudoku enthusiast.
Then I started playing Minecraft. This was my first time in months. It was at precisely this point that I knew the day was lost.
I tried to redeem myself by washing dishes and helping make dinner, but I couldn't shake away that dirty feeling of laziness, and the rest of the evening was consumed. More Minecraft, some websurfing... I found out Kim Jong Il died today, because facebook told me so. Also, try googling "big fishy" and clicking the first link. It's really fun, until you realize how irresponsibly you're using your time.
Eli's working late on a science project (due tomorrow, naturally), and he has been all day, so I haven't even had someone with whom to share my antisociality. And it gets worse. For a little while I was playing Mario Kart. SINGLE PLAYER MARIO KART. That's how advanced my condition is. I have become a stage four couch potato. I'm worried all my muscles are going to atrophy except the ones I use to process food, or to use a mouse/controller/keyboard.
Maybe if I do a deck workout this day won't be a total loss. Though I'm pretty tired, and there's nobody else working out, so odds of me staying motivated are slim.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Where to, Master?
Notes on 12/17
The other day, Mama was watching a video about Buddhism that explained how you never really know whether something is a blessing or a curse. This morning, I had to cart my brother around from drumline practice to home to a birthday party, yadayadaya. I've fully resumed my position as family chauffeur, and this time, I hadn't even had a chance to get breakfast, so I was getting rather cranky. But as I was pulling up to the party venue, I was reminded that there's a Subway right next door, and I soon remembered the unused Subway card in my wallet. Perhaps it's fate that I didn't eat breakfast. I didn't think too much on it though, because I was busy with my sandwich.
The evening plans were simple: laser tag in semi-formal attire. I wore a sweater over a polo, jeans, Vans, and a Gatsby cap. That seems pretty semi-formal to me, but pretty much everybody else seemed to disagree. (Comment your opinion on that one if you'd like.) Kevin and I were the only ones dressed that informally, and incidentally, the only college students in attendance. Correlation? No, causation is probably more accurate.
Eli, Kevin, Elliot, and Caroline all piled into the Saturn and we were off, followed by Josh L and his fully-loaded Volvo. Getting to the laser tag arena was the fun part. And when I say fun, I don't actually mean fun. My father and I had a bit of a miscommunication on how to exit the highway, which ended up in us lost for about 20 minutes, miles away from home. Partially my fault for sure. I was the leader car, though, so I took a lot more blame than I deserved. We made at least three wrong turns, got separated at least once, and retraced several steps.
Laser tag was delightful, just as laser tag always is. The first round, Kevin and I were a two-man strike team, and the second round I flew solo. Of the two rounds we played, I was overall top scorer for both of them. This happened once the last time I played laser tag, so it would seem I am becoming quite the phaser-ace.
Getting home from the arena was the REALLY fun part. (And in case you haven't guessed, when I say really fun, I actually mean really shitty.) This was possibly the most stressful hour of my life, because there were lots of twisty roads (some of which were highways, though I couldn't always tell), virtually no signs telling me how to get anywhere or where highways will end up, I was driving around in the middle of Wherethefuckami, United States, and IT WAS DARK. Also, when I was about to turn onto the highway home, Eli had the bright idea to suggest I take that road in the other direction. I was stressed, so I tried it, and it took us away from home for a little while. I guess roads tend to do that when you're driving the wrong direction. Also that led to another separation. Turns out Andrew G had had an iPhone the whole time. A trip that should've been 25 minutes took 75 minutes.
My navigational skills were reaffirmed when we returned to familiar territory. I took my own route that got me to the next destination a whole 5 minutes before the other car. Boss sauce. The next destination was Josh D's garage that he converted into a man cave, in which we snacked, watched TV, played cards, chilled, and generally had a smashing time until far into the night.
Thank goodness Josh D lives close to me; I don't think I could have taken much more driving. Tomorrow is to be a day of staying the hell inside.
The other day, Mama was watching a video about Buddhism that explained how you never really know whether something is a blessing or a curse. This morning, I had to cart my brother around from drumline practice to home to a birthday party, yadayadaya. I've fully resumed my position as family chauffeur, and this time, I hadn't even had a chance to get breakfast, so I was getting rather cranky. But as I was pulling up to the party venue, I was reminded that there's a Subway right next door, and I soon remembered the unused Subway card in my wallet. Perhaps it's fate that I didn't eat breakfast. I didn't think too much on it though, because I was busy with my sandwich.
The evening plans were simple: laser tag in semi-formal attire. I wore a sweater over a polo, jeans, Vans, and a Gatsby cap. That seems pretty semi-formal to me, but pretty much everybody else seemed to disagree. (Comment your opinion on that one if you'd like.) Kevin and I were the only ones dressed that informally, and incidentally, the only college students in attendance. Correlation? No, causation is probably more accurate.
Eli, Kevin, Elliot, and Caroline all piled into the Saturn and we were off, followed by Josh L and his fully-loaded Volvo. Getting to the laser tag arena was the fun part. And when I say fun, I don't actually mean fun. My father and I had a bit of a miscommunication on how to exit the highway, which ended up in us lost for about 20 minutes, miles away from home. Partially my fault for sure. I was the leader car, though, so I took a lot more blame than I deserved. We made at least three wrong turns, got separated at least once, and retraced several steps.
Laser tag was delightful, just as laser tag always is. The first round, Kevin and I were a two-man strike team, and the second round I flew solo. Of the two rounds we played, I was overall top scorer for both of them. This happened once the last time I played laser tag, so it would seem I am becoming quite the phaser-ace.
Getting home from the arena was the REALLY fun part. (And in case you haven't guessed, when I say really fun, I actually mean really shitty.) This was possibly the most stressful hour of my life, because there were lots of twisty roads (some of which were highways, though I couldn't always tell), virtually no signs telling me how to get anywhere or where highways will end up, I was driving around in the middle of Wherethefuckami, United States, and IT WAS DARK. Also, when I was about to turn onto the highway home, Eli had the bright idea to suggest I take that road in the other direction. I was stressed, so I tried it, and it took us away from home for a little while. I guess roads tend to do that when you're driving the wrong direction. Also that led to another separation. Turns out Andrew G had had an iPhone the whole time. A trip that should've been 25 minutes took 75 minutes.
My navigational skills were reaffirmed when we returned to familiar territory. I took my own route that got me to the next destination a whole 5 minutes before the other car. Boss sauce. The next destination was Josh D's garage that he converted into a man cave, in which we snacked, watched TV, played cards, chilled, and generally had a smashing time until far into the night.
Thank goodness Josh D lives close to me; I don't think I could have taken much more driving. Tomorrow is to be a day of staying the hell inside.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
The Magic of Christmas
Papa and I buried Riker a short while after I woke up. I have a feeling he had been getting weary of this life, so to me it seems he has been released from a cage of sorts. Thank you so much to those who sent their condolences, it means so much.
I broke out a game that we haven't played in ages today. It's called IZZI and it is composed of just 64 tiles with black and white patterns on them, and the object is to arrange them into an 8x8 where black always borders black, and white always borders white. Papa essentially took the day off work, so he and I spent part of the afternoon challenging ourselves to IZZI with various variations. My favorite was the center cross:
[PICTURE TO BE UPLOADED WHEN I'M NOT SLEEPY.]
Mama and Eli came home and we went on a family Christmas shopping trip. So it's only natural, of course, that the first stop was dinner. We went to Chipotle, where they make burritos the size of adult guinea pigs. Delightful.
At the mall, I was reminded how hard Christmas shopping can be. My mom's side of the family (to me, an aunt&uncle + aunt + grandma) lives generally within the same area, and we participate in a secret santa each year. My recipient's list was not too expansive, and I thought I'd be able to find most, if not all of the things I was looking for, given that the mall we went to is probably larger than the town we live in. Even after a bit of prior research though, I only managed to find [CENSORED DUE TO REVELATION OF SECRETS]. Thoroughly disappointed, but not completely bummed, I will have to continue searching this week.
Eli managed to find The Dark Knight at 5Below (score!) so we got to continue from where we left off the other night. (Did I mention we watched Batman Begins? I cannot recall.) Unfortunately, Eli fell asleep halfway through. Or maybe that's fortunate. I mean, I guess I'm gonna HAVE to watch the second half over again. Darn :)
I'm slowly remembering all my household responsibilities. There are so many lights and appliances to turn off. And since it's December, those lights include the Christmas tree. Every night, Mama says, "Don't forget to turn off the magic of Christmas!" because she loves being ironic and making fun of the perfect American family. What a hipster. She always reminds us that we have to behave like muggles so other families don't find out how crazy we are.
Tonight it appears somebody has already turned off the magic of Christmas. Looks like I've been outsourced. Oh well, some poor sucker just played right into my laziness.
I broke out a game that we haven't played in ages today. It's called IZZI and it is composed of just 64 tiles with black and white patterns on them, and the object is to arrange them into an 8x8 where black always borders black, and white always borders white. Papa essentially took the day off work, so he and I spent part of the afternoon challenging ourselves to IZZI with various variations. My favorite was the center cross:
[PICTURE TO BE UPLOADED WHEN I'M NOT SLEEPY.]
Mama and Eli came home and we went on a family Christmas shopping trip. So it's only natural, of course, that the first stop was dinner. We went to Chipotle, where they make burritos the size of adult guinea pigs. Delightful.
At the mall, I was reminded how hard Christmas shopping can be. My mom's side of the family (to me, an aunt&uncle + aunt + grandma) lives generally within the same area, and we participate in a secret santa each year. My recipient's list was not too expansive, and I thought I'd be able to find most, if not all of the things I was looking for, given that the mall we went to is probably larger than the town we live in. Even after a bit of prior research though, I only managed to find [CENSORED DUE TO REVELATION OF SECRETS]. Thoroughly disappointed, but not completely bummed, I will have to continue searching this week.
Eli managed to find The Dark Knight at 5Below (score!) so we got to continue from where we left off the other night. (Did I mention we watched Batman Begins? I cannot recall.) Unfortunately, Eli fell asleep halfway through. Or maybe that's fortunate. I mean, I guess I'm gonna HAVE to watch the second half over again. Darn :)
I'm slowly remembering all my household responsibilities. There are so many lights and appliances to turn off. And since it's December, those lights include the Christmas tree. Every night, Mama says, "Don't forget to turn off the magic of Christmas!" because she loves being ironic and making fun of the perfect American family. What a hipster. She always reminds us that we have to behave like muggles so other families don't find out how crazy we are.
Tonight it appears somebody has already turned off the magic of Christmas. Looks like I've been outsourced. Oh well, some poor sucker just played right into my laziness.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
The Rowers Keep On Rowing
Today really seemed like it was going to be a regular day. And most of it was. I did some chores around the house. At 730 I went to see the high school band and orchestra concert, and afterward I visited Eli and a bunch of my old friends backstage. Madi got into my college on Early Action, so now all I have to do is work on convincing her. That was a nice piece of news to break up this very irregular evening.
Just before the concert, Riker experienced a car accident as Papa was backing into the driveway. He's been sick several times and is unnaturally old for a cat, so it's a bit uplifting to know he probably experienced a minimum of pain and went out quickly. He's been going deaf for years, so he probably didn't even hear it coming.
The family is quiet now. We managed to make it through the concert, but now it's a somber mood around here. I don't think I've ever seen Papa cry until now. He felt responsible, even though he knows it was an accident. Mama has been in tears a couple of times since the incident. And I've certainly never seen Eli experience grief like this. He's usually the guy full of witty retorts and humor, so he's certainly out of his element. I cried a bit, but I'm still processing the event. Tomorrow, Papa and I will bury Riker in the backyard.
For now, life keeps happening for us, and for everybody. I have some leftover online submission homework, and it isn't just going to stop to let me catch up. It'll be weird not having to check the couch for a little orange furry creature, but I suppose we'll just have to get used to it after a while.
Just before the concert, Riker experienced a car accident as Papa was backing into the driveway. He's been sick several times and is unnaturally old for a cat, so it's a bit uplifting to know he probably experienced a minimum of pain and went out quickly. He's been going deaf for years, so he probably didn't even hear it coming.
The family is quiet now. We managed to make it through the concert, but now it's a somber mood around here. I don't think I've ever seen Papa cry until now. He felt responsible, even though he knows it was an accident. Mama has been in tears a couple of times since the incident. And I've certainly never seen Eli experience grief like this. He's usually the guy full of witty retorts and humor, so he's certainly out of his element. I cried a bit, but I'm still processing the event. Tomorrow, Papa and I will bury Riker in the backyard.
For now, life keeps happening for us, and for everybody. I have some leftover online submission homework, and it isn't just going to stop to let me catch up. It'll be weird not having to check the couch for a little orange furry creature, but I suppose we'll just have to get used to it after a while.
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