Sunday, November 26, 2006

Beverage of your choice

So I didn't get that job I wanted but I should have ample opportunity to expound my joyful, sarcastic commentary on life and all I see. Which is the only reason I wanted that particular position anyway. Things have a strange way of working out.

Thansgiving was fun. I drove through a snowstorm on my way home. And when I say "I drove" I mean I was driving, not the passive passenger, hiding from whatever wrecks may or may not happen. I didn't kill anyone and no one screamed. Which is good.

Also, I made my best batch of Cow Slobbers ever! Used Wild Strawberry flavor. Not only did I think they were good, but so did my sister and a few people who'd never had the pleasure of Slobbers before. So I can make Cow Slobbers and Taco Salad. Hell, That's almost an entire meal right there. I can buy soda/milk/water/other beverage of your choice, so I'm doing pretty good.

"Hey, baby, want to come over to my place for some taco salad, cow slobbers and a beverage of your choice?"

Semester is almost over, too, which means the year is almost over. I started this blog in February. Minus the months I was in the middle of nowhere, that's almost a year of intermitten posting. For my constant readers, feel free to comment on what the highlights of this blog's first year have been for you. Coming soon will be my Year In Review. I'm going to make it as positive as I can, too.

Still undecided about what I shall do over the break, though. Don't be surprised if I show up at YOUR house.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

The Wait...and wait

I'm a rather patient guy. I can sit and wait for things for a very long time. Like buses and mail and such. What I hate waiting for is news. When someone tells you they will "let you know by tonight" I want to know NOW!
Right now I'm waiting to fins out if I get promoted from Arts&Culture grunt to Opinion Editor. I really want the job. The other person being considered is equally qualified. We would each bring a wealth of experience to the position. We would do things differently, I'm sure, but either way, it is a win-win for the paper.
That is what I should focus on and probably what those deciding are focusing on. "What is best for the paper?"
It is a good question. Would it better to have someone who is an excellent news writer and probably knows more about the local area than I do? Or me, who will never back down when someone needs to be made fun of?
That is what I bring to the table: If someone needs to be kicked in the nuts, I shall do the kicking. Humor is at a premium in many newspapers these days. We all seem to take ourselves too seriously. Not me. The best part is that I'm likely to make fun of myself before I make fun of any one else.
Chicks dig self-deprecating humor. Or so I'm told.

While I wait, I'm watching all the Strong Bad Emails I can. Good times, yo.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Just an update...

Thanksgiving break is coming up as is the end of my first semester here at the University of Idaho. Made some friends, had some good days and some bad days.
Made some headway with my work, although still not finished with the novel. I have been very productive otherwise. Done some pretty good newspaper work, some damn good nonfiction works and some interesting poetry. Next semester, I will get back on track with my fiction work.
You can see I am in a comtemplative mood. Usually this is bad. Usually when I get like this I start thinking of mistakes and how things could be different. Today, I'm thinking of the things I did right.
It is a longer list than I thought it would be.
I'm waiting for New Year's Eve, then I will go back and give you the whole list of things I did right this year.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Transcript Cluster Fuck

So, transferring schools is a pain in the ass, as I was reminded again today. First of all, my finall transcript from Las vegas took forever to get here. Once it arrived, I went right to my academic advising and then registered for next semester. After signin gup for some classes, I got an email about the remainder of my transcript being evaluated and adjustments made.
those adjustments include my not having had to take a class that I am in now and not having to take one of the classes I had added mere minutes before.
The shitty part is that I'm required to have a certain number of upper-division classes here in order to graduate. Almost all of the Lit. classes I took in Vegas at 200 level transferred over at 300 level. Basically, I don't have that many more English classes to take, I just have to take a bunch of shit to meet the credit requirements.
And also foreign language, but that is another issue and one I don't feel like talking about right now.

Friday, November 03, 2006

Coincidental Scarring

I do not believe in coincidences. While I may not always be able to explain why certain things line up like they do, I do believe their is a bigger scheme at work.

Right now, I am about halfway through the new Stephen King book Lisey's Story. I had to check it out at the library but I'm okay with that. A recurring setting is a place called the Shipman Library. On the second day of my possession of this novel, I wrote an article about a 1920s era female filmmaker named Nell Shipman. So, not a huge coincidence but it caught me funny.

Yesterday, walking around town, I was sing the Johnny Cash song "Walk the Line." While singing, a truck pulled up next to me playing that exact song at the exact point I was at in my singing. Getting a bit freaking now, eh?

There's more.

For the British Literature class I am taking, we are reading Shakespeare's King Lear. One recurring theme of Lear is the so-called "duty of love." In the Stephen King book, that precise phrase is used in a similar context. Now, it isn't unusual for an author to reference previous works (King does this through out the current book) but it isn't everyday that I'm reading something one of those major references comes from.

How about this.

One major concern of the Stephen King book is self-mutilation. You know, cutting yourself because you are a bit nuts. I used to do this and have the scars to prove it. I haven't done it in a very long time but I have been thinking about WHY I used to do it. One particular incident left me with a scar about two and a half inches about my left nipple. Heart area, basically. The scar is a name. The name has to do with the novel I am nearing completion of. While this is more of a stretch than the other coincidences, it is still there.

I was going to write this last night. I didn't and now I have another bit to add. I fell asleep last night singing the song "Last Kiss" as originally recorded by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers and covered a couple years ago by Pearl Jam.
While here in Moscow, I've been listening to the oldies station more than the newer rock stations, so I've been expecting to hear that song any day now.
today I heard it while eating a burrito at Taco Bell. It was the Pearl Jam version because they weren't listening to the oldies station.

Yes, I'm starting to weird myself out. And I'm wondering just what all this is supposed to mean.