Big weekend ahead

I’m heading to Savannah, Georgia this weekend with Bebe for a little mini vacation. We’re meeting up with some old friends of mine that I went to Savannah College of Art and Design with. I’m staying at the Marshall House, which is a nice historic hotel in historic downtown Savannah. The Marshall House is near city market and provides a great location within the city, I shouldn’t have to drive much, if at all.

It will be weird seeing some of these people for the first time in a while. I left SCAD the summer of 99, opting to continue my education at University of Central Florida in Orlando, FL. I’m still unsure if leaving SCAD was the right choice or not, but it was something I had to do as there were several factors contributing to me not being able to stay there. I’ve only been back to Savannah twice to visit. Once I drove up for Spring break, another time to visit some friends for a few days during forth of July. After that I lost touch with most of my friends that went there for one reason or another.

Then, thanks to MySpace, I’ve been able to get in touch with many of them and we planned this little reunion. It should be a good time and I’m looking forward to it. Bebe and I only stayed in Savannah one night on our way to visit my parents in Charleston. We stayed on the beach and I wasn’t really able to show her around at all, so this will be nice since it’s warm out and I have the time to really show her around, as well as see all the changes that have taken place at SCAD since I left.

-Steve

New Project Underway

I’m starting to work on a new project that I think is going to be a lot of fun. Basically, I’ve got some time on my hands as a I need to let a few things simmer. First, I’m still waiting for my buddy Ryley to look over my current draft of Bystander. You hear that man? I know you’re reading. I need some feedback so I can tell if I’m moving in the right direction. Second, the psychological thriller “Syndrome” is at a standstill while I try to figure out how I want to end it. I’ve got some ideas, and about 80 pages or so down on paper, but I want to let them simmer a bit longer before wrapping up the first draft. Third, the NASCAR movie, although 85 pages in, is still not ready to move forward. I’m just not there yet, talent wise and experience wise, to properly tackle the issues that need to be addressed in the second half of the film. In addition, I’ve got a lot of stuff I need to speed up in what I’ve written. I’ll probably go back to that after I get back from the race in July.

So, here is the premise of the new film… I’ve always been a fan of the Wyatt Earp mythos. I’m also a big fan of anime, or at least good anime. I was watching Ghost in a Shell 2 the other night, good flick by the way, and got an idea. What if you were to do the Wyatt Earp story set in a Ghost in the Shell type atmosphere? So, I’m doing some research right now on a few things. First, I watched Tombstone last night (which is Wyatt Earp, but not historically accurate) and took a lot of notes on how they tell that story. I rented the Kevin Coster version of Wyatt Earp, which I’ll watch next, to get their take on the story (which is supposed to be more historically accurate). I’ve also rented the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex for some more anime inspiration, and will probably rent some Trigun DVDs as well (a quasi future/western themed Anime).

My take is this, in the future Japan is the techno industrial center of the world, and is a real multicultural country, with Tokyo as it’s central hub. Cybernetics and mixed human/android technology is the norm as most people have technological implants and enhancements of some sort. The level of enhancements varies with the average person having basically a computer type implant in their brain (an internal computer so to speak), police and soldiers more advanced implants and possibly physical enhancements as well (robotic arms, eyes, etc), and there is a serious black market for super big time enhancements that almost blur the line between what is human and what is an android (think Ghost in a Shell, not Robocop type stuff). This is far enough in the future that traditional country dynamics have broken down in favor of large city states basically run by corporations.

There was a fierce war between three city states (Neo Angeles, New Atlanta, and Republica Mexicano) in the recent past. Neo Angeles, who until the war, was a neutral trade based city, asked Japan for assistance. Japan sent over a group of super soldiers (Project Blue) created to help end global conflict. Their intelligence, and physical abilities (think hulk/super man type strength and indestructibility with professor Xavier type brains) were far beyond anything currently anywhere else in the world (Japan is not an aggressive city state, they don’t start wars, they end them quickly, and with overwhelming technology and force). These super soldiers are equipped with “whir” suits, so called because there is a brief “whirring” noise that can be heard before they power up. To the naked eye these soldiers are normal; however the technology and power they have is so secret, that no one but the top engineers in Japan’s Advanced Technology Division (ATD) truly know the limits of their power.

The war was ended quickly, with the soldiers becoming legends among men and stories of their abilities spread across the glode. However, with time, these soldiers became feared and people wanted them destroyed because of the possible threat they posed to the world and those who could use them against us. Japan agreed to disband the Project Blue, and helped hide the identities of the soldiers and create new lives for them in various parts of the world.

The story picks up with Hiro Jinkawa arriving in Vegas Proper to start a new life. It is obvious that Hiro is hiding from something, but what that is not revealed. Hiro will be the base for the Wyatt Earp type character. Basically, Vegas Proper is the world hub for sex, drugs, gambling, and all other pleasures anyone can seek (think Las Vegas times ten, almost a caricature of what it is now). Hiro figures if there is anywhere he can start over without anyone asking any questions it’s there. Shortly after trying to begin anew he is faced with a crime syndicate lead by a man with quite advanced cyber enhancements, and his 2^nd in command reminds Hiro of someone from his past. Hiro avoids getting in the way of their wrongdoings but eventually will be faced with a choice.

Within this world the Wyatt Earp story will place out with some twists and turns. There will be little concentration on telling anything in detail about how the world got to where it is, as that’s not really important. There will also not be much concentration for explaining the drastic leaps in technology. Things are just the way they are, and these people are just trying to live in it. All of the main characters in the Wyatt Earp mythos will be represented, or at least most of them, but Hiro’s past will differ, in many instances drastically, from that of Earp.

At any rate, I’m working out the story in my head and my research can only help this out. I’ll post more as I get it down.

-Steve

Entertainment News

Now, I’m a big Jason Lee fan, have been since Mallrats. I usually enjoy his characters in films quite a bit, think he’s an interesting guy in real life, and was happy for him when My Name is Earl became a success.

I’m also a big Underdog fan. I do feel bad for Underdog in that Capital One commercial though, the one where he is dumped on in the end.

At any rate, looks like Jason Lee is going to do the voice for the upcoming Underdog movie.  This is going to be live action, which means it will probably suck, and don’t get me started on my rant about Hollywood taking less risks with films and doing more and more rehashes of old TV shows and movies, but I could be wrong.

Here’s a link to Hollywood Reporter story as it appears on CNN.com.

-Steve

 

MySpace fun

So I get a “message” from barnes929davefm in my MySpace box this morning, is says the following:

 

Steven,
I was floating around MY SPACE...saw you...and wondered if you ever listen to our station? Maybe...maybe not...just wanted to tell you that we have Shawn Mullins tickets to give away this morning. Check us out, if you can!
I would love to have you in my friends network...can you hook a brother up with an "add"?
Barnes
Barnes & Firfer, 6-10, 92.9 Dave FM

 

Now, I don’t listen to Barnes, rarely listen to Dave FM, and could care less about this dickwad. In addition, can’t stand it when junk mail tries to pass itself off as a legitimate contact from someone. In addition, the sentence “Maybe...maybe not...just wanted to tell you that we have Shawn Mullins tickets to give away this morning” isn’t even a complete sentence, it’s a fragment. So, naturally, I replied back with the following message:

 

No, you’re a douche. Shawn Mullins is a douche too.

Firfer is hot though.

 

I felt that message was more than adequate in getting my point across.

-Steve

 

Mom is on her way to Belize

My mother left this morning on a missionary trip to Belize. I believe this is her tenth mission to a foreign country. Aside from the “religious recruitment” aspect of her missions, my mother basically runs the medial care centers. She really enjoys her trips and always comes back with experiences I never could have dreamed of, and I am very proud of her. My mom’s been a nurse for almost twenty years now, and does two to three missions a year with her church. I hope she has a safe trip and comes back home safely.

-Steve

Interstellar deathray not likely to hit Earth

By Ker Than, SPACE.com

Doomsayers and Chicken Little-types can now strike "deathray from a star" from their list of possible ways to die.

A new study finds that the chances of a gamma ray burst going off in our galaxy and destroying life on Earth are comfortingly close to zero.

Gamma ray bursts, or GRBs, are focused beams of gamma radiation emitted from the magnetic poles of black holes formed during the collapse of ancient, behemoth stars. They can also form when dead neutron stars merge with each other or with black holes.

It's been speculated that if a GRB went off near our solar system, and one of the beams hit Earth, it could set off a global mass extinction.

But in a new study to be published in the Astrophysical Journal, researchers found that GRBs tend to occur in small, metal-poor galaxies and estimated that the likelihood of one occurring in our own metal-rich Milky Way is less than 0.15%.

"There are a lot of people who have wondered whether GRBs could be blamed for mass extinctions early in Earth's history, and our work suggests that is not the case," said study team member Krzysztof Stanek from Ohio State University.

Destroyer of life

GRBs can last anywhere from a few milliseconds to several minutes and are one of the brightest, and potentially the most deadly phenomena in the universe.

So powerful are these events that some scientists have speculated they could help explain the so-called Fermi Paradox: If the universe is teaming with advanced alien civilizations as some theories predict, then why have we never found any traces of them?

One answer could be that events like GRBs turn galaxies into giant autoclaves that sterilize life forms on planets before they can develop interstellar travel.

Some scientists think that such an event might have already occurred in our own galaxy.

Trigger for a mass extinction?

Last year, scientists from NASA and the University of Kansas speculated that a GRB might have triggered the Ordovician-Silurian extinction 450 million years ago, one of the five worst extinction events in our planet's history.

A computer model found that if a GRB were to strike Earth for even 10 seconds, it would deplete up to half of the atmosphere's protective ozone layer and blanket the planet in a thick, brown smog of nitrogen dioxide, a poisonous compound found in air pollution.

The model estimated that recovery from such an event would require at least five years, during which time ultraviolet radiation from the Sun could kill off microorganisms and disrupt the food chains of animals around the world.

An unlikely culprit

But in their study, Stanek and colleagues found that GRBs tend to occur in small, deformed galaxies that are poor in elements heavier than hydrogen and helium.

Our Milky Way, in contrast, is a large spiral galaxy rich in heavy elements. Therefore, the chances of a GRB occurring within our galaxy are extremely unlikely, the researchers say.

It's thought that stars with low metallicity are less likely to lose mass as they burn and are thus more massive and rotate faster when they die. The more massive a star is, the more likely it is to form black holes — one suspected GRB source — and rapid spin is believed to be crucial for powering the burst.

"All models for gamma ray bursts these days require rapid spin," said supernova and GRB expert Standford Woosley from the University of California, Santa Cruz who was not involved in the study.

"Rotational energy is essentially where the energy for the burst comes from," Woosley told SPACE.com.

In the new study, the researchers compared the properties of four galaxies where GRBs had been detected with other galaxies recorded in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.

They found that of the four galaxies, the one with the most metals — and therefore most similar to ours — had only a 0.15% chance of hosting a GRB.

Our situation

Since the Milky Way's metal content is twice as high as that galaxy, its odds of hosting a GRB would be even lower. Also, not only are GRBs unlikely to strike Earth, they are unlikely to strike any planet where life could develop, Stanek said in a telephone interview.

Planets need metals to form, so a low-metal galaxy — while more likely to have GRBs — will have fewer planets and fewer chances for life.

Woosley said that while he thinks it's unlikely a GRB will form in our galaxy, he wouldn't rule out the chances of such an event just yet.

"There still may be channels of binary evolution that give the necessary rapid rotation to the star when it dies," he said.

Copyright 2006, SPACE.com Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

 

I'm a fat fatty

I don’t know what it was last night, but around 8:30 I just got this bad urge and craving for a cheeseburger. I haven’t had fast food in months, so I don’t know where this craving came from, but I needed a cheeseburger and I needed it badly.

So, I got I the car, drove to Wendy’s and got me some grub. It tasted soooo good. However, thirty minutes after eating I felt like ass.

Was it worth it, blowing my diet and eating such crappy food so late? Probably not. Sometimes you’ve just got to say what the F and do it. I’ve got the craving out of my system now, and that’s good enough for me.

-Steve

Redwings down 2-1

I don’t like the sounds of this. Edmonton should not be this tough for the ‘Wings.

-Steve

Two days until Savannah

I’m going to Savannah this weekend with Bebe. It’s reunion of sorts for me. A few months back I tracked down a few old friends I went to SCAD with on Myspace. After a bit of chatting, we all decided to do a quasi reunion at the Sidewalk Arts Festival that SCAD puts on every year. So, we’re all staying in the same bed and breakfast and it should be a fun weekend. Bebe and I haven’t had a chance to go on a vacation in a while now, so this should be nice. I just hope she can get over herself and relax enough to have a good time. However, I’m pretty sure she’s already decided she has nothing in common with anyone she will meet and therefore won’t have a good time. Oh well, sucks for her.

I never got around to watching A History of Violence. Normally I’d be pissed, but since I don’t “pay” to rent videos I’m not that upset. I’ll just re-rent it with my video pass next week sometime.

-Steve

Psycic website?

This was passed on to me at work today. Take a look and have some fun with it.

http://trunks.secondfoundation.org/files/psychic.swf

-Steve

Three day weekend comes to a close

I had yesterday off for Confederate Memorial Day, whatever that is about. It’s been a while since I’ve had a day off from work, and I must say I enjoyed it quite a bit. It was weird though, being home from work on a day that I normally would be there, something just felt off. It was like I couldn’t really relax, I couldn’t really get my head to just enjoy it.

I did put in one of those retractable hose things in the garage that Bebe decided she “must have because wrapping the hose up it just too hard for me to do.” So now, instead of this little gray thing the hose gets wrapped around we have this big mechanical thing that sticks out and takes up all this space that the hose goes around. Not to mention it makes maneuvering the left side of the garage significantly more difficult. Oh well, not my problem, I park on the right side of the garage since Bebe “doesn’t want to walk around a car to get into my house.” Sucks for her.

Watched the movie Jarhead last night, one of the two movies I rented this weekend. The other one is “History of Violence” which I still haven’t seen yet, maybe I’ll watch it tonight. I must say I enjoyed Jarhead. While there was nothing “amazingly original” in the movie, I thought it did a splendid job of showing the life of a lowly grunt in the Marines during Desert Storm. It didn’t try to make a statement about war, or fighting, or the military, it just showed some men and what their lives were like. It shows their pain, their agony, their honor, their duty, and most of all their sacrifice. One of the most touching moments for me was when they would show the “wall of shame.” The wall was a bulletin board with pictures of girl friends, wives, and lovers who had left the men while they were stationed in Saudi Arabia. For whatever reason it hit me, and I felt bad, knowing that this was inevitable for many of these men, especially the youngest of the bunch, who’s one guiding light is knowing someone back home is waiting for them. This was compounded by the main character who had a girlfriend left at home which he knew, deep down inside, would leave him, he just didn’t know when.

It was a tough movie, but not hard hitting like Full Metal Jacket. I didn’t think anything was unrealistic, and if anything, felt it showed more of what my friends who have enlisted and are stationed in Iraq right now have and are going through than anything else I have seen in recent memory. There was a tough drill sergeant at the beginning, but the movie didn’t dwell on boot camp, other than to establish it was tough. A touching scene at the end of the movie, as the men are on their bus ride home, when a vet jumps on the bus and says, “You did it boys, and you did it right this time.” The vet was older, maybe from Vietnam, maybe not, they don’t really say, but he was happy that they were getting the reception that he was never privy to, for one reason or another. Obviously this was reflective of what this vet went through, maybe what he saw, maybe the war he was in, and the reaction of the troops on the bus, their uncertainty of the importance of this event, it was a good scene…and it said a lot without actually saying anything.

The main character became a Marine Sniper, which evidently is what the more intelligent Marines are recruited to do. In his head he has glorified what killing is all about, so much so, that it is the one last ambition he has to consider his tenure in the military complete. While serving you get the sense that same emotion has been built up in the other troops he is with. There is no sick reason for this, no twisted masochistic mentality being reflected by these men; instead it is the grave realization that they are trained weapons with one reason for existence, to kill the enemy when it appears. This is their ultimate purpose, and in their heads, this is what they’ve had to come up with to come to grasps with it.

I felt the movie did a good job keeping this idea at the forefront without taking advantage of it. This could have easily turned out to be a movie about killing, taking names, shooting guns, and instead didn’t have much of that at all. There is really very little combat, if you even consider the combat that occurs as real combat. All in al I was very pleased with the film and enjoyed it very much and recommend it.

-Steve

An old friend

Every Friday the office tries to get a good sized group of people to go out to eat. The rest of the week you’ll get groups of two or three people, but on Friday’s there’s usually upwards of six or so. It’s nice, and a good way to get out of the office and blow off some steam in the middle of the day.

Monday is a State holiday, so we all have it off. That means a lot of people took off today as well, so they could swing a four day weekend. There are only about seven people in the office today, so it was just four of us who went out to eat.

We went to this place called Pangea, which was quite good. They deal in salads and sandwiches that combine Asian, Cuba, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern flavors and contents. So, basically, there is something for everyone. Me, being the adventurous person I had, got the Southwestern Salad…yes, I know, I’m boring. The other dishes all had sauces I wasn’t sure if I could trust, so I played it safe, and really enjoyed the spices they used on the chicken.

At any rate, I’m glad we picked this place because I got to see a friend of mine from SCAD.

I haven’t seen Christy in about four or five years. She’s the only friend of mine from SCAD that we’re aware of that lives here in Atlanta. The two of us have exchanged e-mails a few times, but every time her and her husband and Bebe and I tried to get together something fell through. Well, while we were eating today her and some of her work friends pulled up and I went out to greet them. It was a nice surprise and good to see her again.

Christy played basket ball for SCAD and is a big woman. Not “big” like Queen Latifa, but tall. She’s lost a lot of weight and is very slender now, she looks really good. The main reason I actually find this funny is that, beside me and her, most of our old friends have gotten “bigger” so to speak. But, I digress, as that seems to be a part of getting older (along with losing your hair I’ve come to find out).

She said she’s going to do her best to get her husband out of the house and out to have dinner with us. That’ll be nice. Christy is a lot of fun to be around and it’d be cool to share some old stories. Her husband is some sort of engineer, so he’s always trying to get some new type of certification and always has some sort of test to study for. Hopefully they can find some time.

-Steve

Is this day over yet?

I just don’t want to be at work today. Maybe it’s because I have a three day weekend. Maybe it’s because the weather is nice outside. Maybe it’s because I don’t want to work on the projects I’m assigned to. Whatever the reason, I am completely unproductive today. Perhaps when I get back from lunch I’ll feel refreshed and ready to go.

-Steve

Weight loss update

So far I’ve lost three pounds this week. I don’t expect to lose much more next week, maybe two pounds or so. After that, about a pound a week is what I should be expecting and am targeting for. By June I should be down to around 190 or so and looking very trim. When I get to that point I’ll make a judgment call on whether more weight loss is needed. I’ve already started to notice a greater level of definition in my chest, shoulder, and back muscles, so looks like I’m doing something right.

-Steve

I'm all growns up now...

I’ve come to the sad realization that I’m losing my hair. Bebe first brought up that she thought I was thinning a few years back. I was still in college and didn’t pay her much heed. I’ve always had thick hair, being that my actual hair follicles were thick, but not dense hair, being that the hair follicles per square inch were average at best. Still, I had a healthy head of hair and it looked good. Then I started to notice that my widows peak was starting to thin. I figure it was because I was wearing a hat too much, so I stopped. As time has gone on the front of my head has gotten less and less dense and now it looks like the same is the case for the crown of my head.

It’s interesting that I’m losing my hair for two reasons. First, my hair is like my mothers side of the family, very thick. No one on my mother’s side is going bald, at least not that I’m aware of, and they all basically have the same coarse hair like I do. Second, my father’s side of the family has male pattern baldness, as does my father. However, my two brothers have hair like my dad, they’re the ones who are supposed to be losing their hair, not me. Yet, here I sit, faced with the realization that I’m going to be bald, and I can’t say I’m happy with it.

It’s not so much that going bald is an issue, because it’s not. It’s that I’m not going to look very good bald. Some guys can pull it off, but that’s due to the shape of their face, which is usually round with a strong chin. Me on the other hand have a pointy head and a soft chin but with a strong jaw. I mean, I’m a good looking guy, but my head isn’t the type of shape you want to see bald. I keep looking at my head going, “This isn’t going to be pretty.”

Bebe things I need to talk to the dermatologist about it, see if there really is anything I can do about it. I said there are really only two things that work which don’t require surgery, Rogaine and Propecia. However, I only think those are successful for about 40% of the people who try them, not very good odds. I mean, do you even talk to a dermatologist about hair loss, or is that your regular doctor? I can’t afford that type of stuff if it’s not covered by insurance anyway. Regardless, I’ve got to go to a dermatologist anyway to talk about this mole I have on my neck. It’s starting to bother me, I cut it a lot when shaving, so I guess I’ll ask when I’m there…it can’t hurt.

I’m getting my hair cut this weekend, and I think I’m going to start keeping it shorter than I have been. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always thought guys with thinning hair look better if they keep it short, so that’s what I’m going to do.

-Steve

Memories

4/20, a day that for a time meant something special to me. That time was college, and to be honest it wasn’t that special either. I don’t know where this started, but almost anyone who has partaken in the illegal act of smoking marijuana has heard of the international pot smoking time, 4:20. Well, somehow that evolved into the twentieth of April being the international pot smoking day, since it’s date abbreviation is 4/20.

Safe to say, young people all over the United States are smoking abnormally large amounts of pot, and then sitting around playing video games or watching TV. Makes you wonder what is so enjoyable about that in the first place? Who knows, but I’ve partaken in my fair share when I was younger so I can’t really complain.

What I find interesting is how this whole 4-20 thing first started. I did a search for it on Snopes.com and here is, in its entirety, the entry they have listed:

 

Claim:   '420' entered drug parlance as a term signifying the time to light up a joint.

Status:   True.

Origins:   Odd terms sneak into our language every now and then, and this is one of the oddest. Everyone who considers himself in the know about the drug subculture has heard that '420' has something to do with illegal drug use, but when you press them, they never seem to know why, or even what the term supposedly signifies.

It's both more and less than people make it out to be. '420' began its sub-rosa linguistic career in 1971 as a bit of slang casually used by a group of high school kids at San Rafael High School in California. '420' (always pronounced "four-twenty," never "four hundred and twenty") came Is it 4:20 already? to be an accepted part of the argot within that group of about a dozen pot smokers, beginning as a reminder of the time they planned to meet to light up, 4:20 p.m. Keep in mind this wasn't a general call to all dope smokers everywhere to toke up at twenty past four every day; it was twelve kids who'd made a date to meet near a certain statue. It's thus incorrect to deem that '420' originated as a national or international dope-smoking time, even though the term began as a reference to a particular time of day.

These days '420' is used as a generic way of declaring one likes to use marijuana or just as a term for the substance itself. Its earliest connotation of having to do with the time a certain group of students congregated to smoke wacky tobaccy is unknown to the overwhelming majority of those who now employ the term. Indeed, most instead believe one or more of the many spurious explanations that have since grown up about this much abused short form:

 * 420 is the penal code section for marijuana use in California.

Nope. Section 420 of the California penal code refers to obstructing entry on public land. The penal codes of other states list different entries for 420, but none of them matches anything having to do with marijuana.

However, on 1 January 2004 the Governor of California signed that state's Senate Bill 420 which regulates marijuana used for medical purposes. This bill comes years after the term '420' was associated with marijuana and indeed its number likely was chosen because of the existing pop culture connection. This is the tail wagging the dog, not the other way around.

* It's the Los Angeles or New York police radio code for marijuana smoking in progress.

It's not the police radio code for anything, let alone that.

* It's the number of chemical compounds in marijuana.

The number of chemical compounds in marijuana is 315, according to the folks at High Times magazine.

* April 20 is the date that Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, or Janis Joplin died.

Though these performers were strongly identified with drug use during their brief lifetimes and the emerging drug culture after their demises, none of them kicked the bucket on April 20. Morrison died on July 3, Hendrix on September 18, and Joplin on October 4.

* The 20th of April is the best time to plant marijuana.

There's no one "best time" -- that answer would change from one part of the country to another, or even one country to another.

* Albert Hofmann took the first deliberate LSD trip at 4:20 on 19 April 1943.

This was indeed the case — his lab notes back this up. But this wasn't the source of "420," just an oddball coincidence. (For the pedants out there, Hofmann's first LSD trip, which was accidental, took place on 16 April 1943.)

* It's the code you send to your drug dealer's pager.

Yeah, right. All drug dealers recognize a '420' page as "Please be waiting on the corner with my baggie of wildwood weed."

* When the Grateful Dead toured, they always stayed in Room 420.

Untrue, says Grateful Dead Productions spokesman Dennis McNally.

Spurious etymologies and uncertain definition aside, '420' has slipped into a position of semi-respectability within the English lexicon. Various free-wheeling cities annually celebrate "hemp fests" on April 20. There's a 4:20 record label in California, and a band called 4:20. Atlanta's Sweetwater Brewing Co. sells its 420 Pale Ale in supermarkets and opens its doors to the public at 4:20 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. New York's 420 Tours sells low-cost travel packages to the Netherlands and Jamaica. Highway 420 Radio broadcasts "music for the chemically enhanced." And in 2001, the forReal.org web site of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Center for Substance Abuse Prevention put out a public service document titled, "It's 4:20 — Do You Know Where Your Teen Is?"

420s are routinely slipped into popular movies and television shows. In Fast Times at Ridgemont High the score of the football game was 42-0. Most of the clocks in Pulp Fiction are set to 4:20 (but not all — when the kid receives the watch it's set at 9:00). And there are many other instances, so keep your eyes peeled.

However, as amusing as it is to tie 420 to pot smoking and hunt for it in popular movies, the number has its dark side. Hitler was born on 20 April 1889, and the massacre of 13 victims at Columbine High School in Colorado took place on 20 April 1999.

Barbara "4 and 20 blackbirds" Mikkelson

Last updated:   19 April 2005

The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/language/stories/420.htm

 

So there you have it folks, from one of the definitive sites out there on Urban Legends and other oddball culture references. I didn’t know the Hitler thing, scary.

-Steve

Opinion on Korean food

Okay, I’m by no means a world traveler, but of all the Asian food I’ve had so far, Korean probably ranks on the bottom of the list. It’s not that anything tasted bad, because it didn’t, it just didn’t taste good. Everything, well most everything, tasted very bland, and I kept expecting a kick of flavor that never arrived. I don’t know if it’s the dishes we ordered but a lot of the food was served cold, which I wasn’t expecting either. All in all, I won’t be eating Korean again. I like spicy food, which may be why I enjoy Thai so much, and Korean food was just very, blah.

-Steve

Going for Korean food

I know I said I wouldn’t go out for lunch during the week so I can save money, but I’ve got to get out of the office today. The guys are going for Korean, which I’ve never had before, so I figure now is as good a time as any to try it.

-Steve

Breaking News

Evidently, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan just announced his resignation. Can’t say this comes as much of a shocker. Just looking at the guy gives you the feeling that he hates his life. How can you not in that position? Your administration is in shambles, yet you have to keep a straight face and keep spinning and spinning until you’re all spun out. It’s jobs like that which drive people to drink, a lot.

I’ll miss Scott, and his whitty retorts. He seems like a guy who probably isn’t half bad if he didn’t work for a bunch of jackasses. On second thought, scratch that. He knew what he was getting into. That’s like having sex with a fat chick and then acting surprised when you find out she weighs a lot while she’s on top of you.

-Steve

Good night, and good luck

I watched “Good Night, and Good Luck” last night and enjoyed myself, although I must say I felt a bit let down. The movie was very intriguing for many reasons, but most importantly because it showed me what good journalism can accomplish. However, I never got the true feeling that Murrows “took on” McCarthy so to speak. To me it seemed more like several well placed editorial pieces that helped to influence popular opinion on the matter, and vocalize the views of the silent majority in America. Regardless, what Murrows did was unheard of at the time, to the best of my knowledge anyway, and he did much to secure and bring American back to its people, for whatever that is worth. His views of television as a medium not only to entertain but to inform still rings true in today’s fast paced MTV world. Perhaps the most telling statement he made in the movie was when he mentioned his fears that media, especially news media, would become nothing more than a propaganda outlet for corporate conglomerates and the government.

While watching “Good Night, and Good Luck” I kept thinking about the movie “Network” which I felt did a better job of portraying just how evil television could be. However, these are two movies that were made in two very different time periods. One documents historical events, while another portrays fictional events of a likely future. “Network,” a movie made in the seventies, predicted much of what American media today has become, a very powerful tool that is in existence solely to provide an avenue for someone to sell you something. Although I find myself very often wanting to stand up, stick my head out of the window and say, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!”

Perhaps my issues with “Good Night, and Good Luck” were because I was expecting something that the movie never intended to be, a real stick it to the man story. It wasn’t about showing the epic struggle about what’s right in the world. It was about men who weren’t scared to take a stand for what they believed in. Murrows didn’t take McCarthy down, McCarthy took himself down, Murrows just helped prevent the extent of some of the damage McCarthy was causing. It’s a good movie, and I recommend it to anyone who would like to see what media was like post World War 2.

-Steve

New diet

As I’ve noted here before, I got a gym membership and started working out again back in February. Here we are in mid April and I’ve gotten back a good deal of the muscle mass I once had. Believe it or not, my 6’3” frame once weight close to 240 pounds. I was bulky but not ripped, and still looked good with my shirt off, but I wasn’t going to be on the cover of “Underwear Model Monthly” if you know what I mean. When I stopped working out, I dropped down to 220, and slowly with exercise and diet got back down to around 195 or so.

I’ve been lifting pretty seriously again and eating right and got about 10 pounds back. I look much leaner now than I did before, and have concentrated my training better to give me a more well rounded look. However, I still don’t have the definition I want. So, I started to diet a bit differently now, something I’ve had a good amount of success with in the past.

Basically, it breaks down like this; I try to avoid sugar at all costs. This is actually easier than it sounds. First, change my bread to low-sugar bread. I usually eat about two loafs of Nature’s Own whole wheat bread. This provides me tons of complex carbs, whole grains, and a good amount of fiber. Problem it, it also has a good amount of carbs and still more sugar than I’d like. So, switching to the low sugar brand cuts the calories of each slice down to 40, and ups the protein per slice from 3 to 6. I still get a good amount of fiber ad the whole grains. Second, no more potato chips. Starches are turned into sugar in your blood. Potatoes are very high on the glycemic index, so they turn really fast into sugar. I recently bought a four pack of Better Made potato chips from Michigan, while they were very tastey, they’re not something I need. I don’t normally eat chips anyway, so not eating them anymore won’t be a big deal. Third, no more baked Cheeze-its for lunch. I have a small bagful of these during lunch. It’s not a lot and won’t make a huge difference, but every little bit helps. Fourth, no more pizza. This will be tough, since I enjoy a good calzone one a week or so. However, the mount of starch I get from the white bread is enough to cancel out all the ret of the day, and I can’t afford that. Other than the four items I mentioned above, the rest is just trying to minimize random sugar encounters. These can be bread rolls with dinner, pasta dishes when you go out to eat, the random French fry, and other non normal items. I figure by following this routine, I should lose a good five pounds by June, which will help cut me up a good deal.

I’ll keep training hard and eating my protein, and the results should speak for themselves soon enough.

-Steve

Uncle Sam's hand in high gas prices?

In contrast to the oil article I posted, this article talks about what, or lachthereof, the federal government has done to increase gas prices.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/04/18/news/economy/gas_prices_ethanol/index.htm?cnn=yes

While oil going up is generally an indicator of a higher price at the pump, our current price has multipliers added in that have little to nothing to do with oil prices.

It’s an interesting read as well, and can make you sound smarter when talking issues with people who have no idea what they are talking about.

-Steve

It's a record: Oil tops $72 overseas

For a pretty good explaination of why oil prices have risen so sharply in the last month, check this article out:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/04/18/markets/oil.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes

It does a good job of explaining the geopolitical reasons going into the increase in oil, and in terms most people can understand.

-Steve

A second mortgage for gas?

I feel like I’m going to have to take out a second mortgage just to have enough money to pay for the gas it takes me to go to and from work. I thank God every day (well, not literally) that I got this new job at TRS, the extra money I make now makes it much easier to absorb. Add to this that Bebe hasn’t been working full time while student teaching and you can see we’re in a bit of a pinch. Surprisingly, we’ve done much better than I expected. Removing going out to eat once or twice a weekend and that’s 30-60 bucks saved. No going out to eat while at work, other than Fridays, that’s 15-30 bucks saved. A low electric bill since it’s cool enough to open the windows instead of turning on the air, that’s 30 bucks saved. It was the perfect storm, so to speak, this month when it came to saving money. I’ve got about 100 more in the bank than I usually do, and surprisingly found out I can cover all the bills on just my income. However, I also found out that I wouldn’t be able to do anything other than sit with my thumb up my butt if I had to do that, nor could I pay down any of my debt. Fortunately, we won’t have to do this much longer since Bebe starts teaching a new slew of online courses next month, and unexpectedly she’s gotten a lot more work subbing at the high school than we anticipated. Still, this price of gas is getting out of hand and it doesn’t look like it’s going to get any better.

I bought a ticket to the Pepsi 400 yesterday. This will be my third year going. This time Lesko and I put up a pretty penny for out seats, but they should be awesome. We ended up having to pay for a two days pass to get these seats (Daytona is a scam when it comes to buying the best seats, they force you into two or three day passes), but fortunately we get two tickets instead of one pass that covers both races. So, we’re going to sell the Busch seats to get a bit of extra dough. I’m not too keen on going to Daytona two days in a row, and I don’t think I’d make it down there from Atlanta in time anyway. Should be fun and I’m looking forward to what is becoming an annual trip for me.

I beat Kingdom Hearts 2 last night. I can honestly say I’m a little let down. Although the game was top notch, it just felt like it was missing a little something, like it wasn’t quite as deep as the last game was. I think the story was much better this time, and don’t get me wrong on the game; it was a five start title. However, if you have to compare the first one and the second one, I’d say the first one is better and more complete. The ending was nice, and it appears as though the Heartless/Nobody story arc is over. They immediately hinted at a third one as the three main heroes received a letter from the king (Mickey), no doubt informing them or some event that the third installment will revolve around. I look forward to seeing what the characters look like on the next gen hardware of the PS3. There was a secret video at the end of the game as well, they did this on the first one too, that was sort of interesting. There were three people in neato armor with keyblades standing on the giant metal dragon thing you fight. They turn, and there is this shadowy figure off in the distance. The camera zooms out to reveal thousands of keyblades. Looks like the next one will be about the “Keyblade War” or something…looks promising.

I turned RAW on for about five minutes last night and was reminded why I don’t watch WWE anymore. Shawn Michaels is evidently a born again Christian, which I could care less about. Not because he’s legitimately a born again, which I don’t have a problem with, but because they use it on TV which I think is an insult to born agains and other Christians. Anyways, last night God protected Shawn from Vince McMahon’s attack by “striking the ring posts with lighting” and “putting up a wall of fire.” Or at least that is what we are supposed to believe. These are the types of storylines that made me turn away in the first place. TNA, while still minor league wouldn’t do something like this, and fortunately don’t have too to get their wrestlers over. It’s just sad that WWE would do something like this. They were once soooo much fun to watch; now they just suck. Fortunately, I have TNA to watch to get my fix, and quite frankly they have more interesting wrestlers to me anyway.

-Steve

They pay these people?

Here’s one from the “duh” files. Evidently, believe it or not, Goth people are more likely to try to kill themselves and/or otherwise hurt themselves. I could have told you that without having to waste any money on it.

Here’s a link to the article:

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/Parenting/tb/3098

-Steve

Coming to a close

I bought the game Kingdom Hearts 2 a few weeks ago, I’m pretty sure I mentioned it on here. I’ve put around 40 hours or so into beating it, give or take. Well, it appears as thought I’m at the final boss. I spent about forty minutes fighting him on Sunday before Bebe and I left to go to her parent’s house. Evidently, each time you beat him, he changes form and you have to fight him again. This proved to be a royal pain in the ass.

I did very well up until his final form. At that point the battle changes to just you and your friend, versus the boss. At one point, the boss uses some sort of energy move on you, and you get trapped, forcing you to take temporary control of your friend, of which you must use to free your character. It’s at this point I was killed. When controlling your friend the normal control scheme for the game changed, and you are limited to the commands you must use. While fighting my life got low, and evidently, unlike any other point in the game, I was unable to use any form of healing, so, I got real dead.

Its not so much the fact that I lost which makes me upset, it’s that I have to fight 30 minutes again to get to that same final form and go through that weird battle again, and there’s nothing preventing me from making the same mistake again.

I’ve never been a fan of the multiple form bosses, but will let it slide if they use two. Once you get into three forms of more, without a spot to save in between, it just looses its luster. There should be one big epic battle, not fifteen small battles.

I’ll give it another go tonight, and hope I can beat it. If not, I’ll wait a day or so and try it again. I’d like to beat it this week so I can trade the game in. Final Fantasy 11 comes out for the 360 this week and I’d like to pick that up.

-Steve

Rummy's a dick

With all the hoopla over retired Generals asking for Rummy’s resignation it was only a matter of time before article after article came out talking about it. MSN/Newsweek had a good article today that talks about how the “revolt” against Rummy took shape and is moving along. It’s worth a read. You can get it here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12335719/site/newsweek/

Personally, I think they want him out because the guys a prick, but that’s just me.

-Steve

Welcome, to the machine

So here I sit, Monday morning, in a small box, inside a large box, in the middle of a big group of boxes. Every now and then I get an unusual amount of perspective of my surroundings and life. Today was one of those days.

I couldn’t help but notice, once more, the mundane aspects of my life. Morning commute, 4 hours of work, lunch, 4 more hours of work, commute home, gym, shower, maybe an hour of TV or video games, perhaps some reading, and then bed. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Fortunately, unlike my predicament a year ago, my time spent on the job is much more enjoyable. Still, sitting in traffic in the morning, looking at all the other faces that contain the same pathetic, tired, dreadful faces, making bodies that are just shells of what they could be, it makes me wonder why we do it at all. Is it so we can buy things? Is it so we can be “powerful,” “wealthy,” “successful?”

I’ll probably never know the answer to those questions, and if, for some odd reason, I do figure it out, the odds are it will be far too late in my life to truly take advantage of it.

-Steve

Universal health care? What's that?

I will always remember a conversation I had with a very drunk Republican who ones asked me, “Where does it say I have to provide health care for everyone else?” I was taken aback by this, self stated religious conservative, who added to his point with the statement, “That’s not my responsibility.”

Aside from the Christian belief that you should take care and look out for your fellow man, I was flabbergasted by someone who, by all accounts, should have been the most compassionate about other people of the group I was drinking with. He wasn’t interested, in the least bit, about paying into something that would cost him “more” but not give him any increased benefit.

I’ve always found this idea amazingly stupid. A universal health care system will, if looked at from a comparative perspective to today, benefit the poor more than the rich. See, the rich currently (and by rich I mean people who aren’t poor or the working poor, not necessarily the top 1% of the income bracket) have health care, and they pay handsomely for it. The poor, in general, do not. Therefore, with universal health care, the poor would be getting something they don’t get now, while the rich continue to get what they already have. Thus, his argument could be viewed as true since he gets nothing new and millions of the poor get health care.

I don’t see it that way. For one, it costs us so much more in health care premiums to cover the uninsured than it would if everyone is covered. If everyone is covered, you don’t have to worry about someone coming into the hospital for care that can’t pay for it, which would save the insurance sector billions in lost charges, not to mention public hospitals as well. Second, by allowing the poor access to preventative health care it will help decrease the costs of reactionary health care with someone really does go wrong. If you can allow someone access to a doctor when an infection first happens, you won’t have to pay for an extended stay when the infection incapacitates them and causes their whole family to lose their savings trying to care for them. Being proactive about health care is the surest way to save money on it long term.

Besides, I have this thing called a conscious, and for whatever reason this thing makes me give a hoot about how other people are doing. Sure, I won’t stop to give a homeless person a ride, and I probably won’t give them change, but if I could take measures to help prevent them from ever having to be homeless in the first place, I’d do it. Most people don’t realize, or just ignore, the fact that the majority of personal bankruptcies in this country were due to medical bills? Sure, the media and congressman will cite the person who lives beyond their means and then uses bankruptcy to get away from their responsibilities, but what they don’t show is the maintenance worker who gets lung cancer and can’t work, is taken care of in the hospital for a year before they die, and then leave their spouse will hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.

I could go on and on, but I won’t. It seems Massachusetts might be taking a stand. It looks like “Gov. Mitt Romney signed legislation designed to guarantee coverage for virtually all residents by July 2007, including an estimated 550,000 people who are now uninsured.” I know, believe it or not, most people in America would support national legislation like this because….most people really can’t afford insurance.

This is a difficult debate, but one I think is worth considerable more time and money than welfare reform or tax reform. This is stuff that deals with real people’s lives, real situations that at one point or another will actually affect you. Most people won’t ever be on welfare, most people really won’t see that much of a difference in their lives if their taxes are different, but all people get sick, and more people than should get really sick. I would like it if my kids can grow up in a world where everyone they go to school with can see the doctor, and their friends don’t have to stay home from school because they can’t afford the antibiotics that would really help them get over the step throat infection they’ve been fighting for two weeks. That’s the reality of the situation, and I think it’s a very noble cause.

For more on what I feel will be a large debate that will be lost as soon as the next scandal starts, you can read the CNN.Com article here:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/04/13/mass.health.ap/index.html

-Steve

Breakfast not so hot this morning

I was a bit rushed this morning and was forced to have a peanut butter sandwich, a banana, and a larger than normal protein shake, instead of my usual breakfast. My stomach feels like it’s full of cement.

-Steve

The tables have turned

While I’ve slept very well the last two nights, Bebe has not. She’s not sure why either. Personally, I think its stress. She’s got a lot of variables going on in her life right now, and a lot of uncertainties. While I’m able to just accept when I don’t have control on some things (although it takes a lot of work on my part) she cannot. She’s functions best in a highly structured environment with few variables, and right now, her life is full of variables.

I think, for the most part, there are two big contributors to her worries that are interrelated, money and a job. Right now she doesn’t have a contract for a full time teaching position in the fall. While we’re certain she’ll get one, hopefully at the high school she was student teaching at, until it happens it’s still an uncertainty. That relates directly into the money situation. While student teaching, Bebe didn’t get paid, as is the rule when student teaching. See, most student teachers are still in undergraduate courses when teaching, and therefore get heaps of financial aid to help support them. Since Bebe went to an online college for her teaching degree, they didn’t give cost of living expenses in financial aide, which is dumb considering to student teach full time you can’t work. So, things are tight right now, but not harsh. We’re not able to go out to eat as much, and can’t buy some miscellaneous items, but by no means are we having trouble paying our bills. But, to her, it’s the end of the world, the sky is falling, you know the routine.

I figure once she gets that contract, and the light at the end of the tunnel shows up, some of her fears will calm down. She’ll be teaching online quite a bit this summer, but there are no guarantees she’ll get a full load of classes to teach, or that any the classes won’t be cancelled. While we can count on her getting some money from that, we won’t know how much until a week or two before the classes start. I feel bad right now, because I can see that she’s tired, but there’s not much more I can do but keep telling her everything will be okay. In addition, she has a meeting at a local college about teaching some courses for them as well, although she said if it’s large lecture style classes, she won’t do it. That I don’t understand. She can teach high school, where there are 25 kids who can bombard you with questions and require large amounts of interaction, but can’t teach college where there is a huge class, with little chance to ask questions and very little interaction. Doesn’t make sense to me, but then again, I’m not a woman, so maybe that has something to do with it.

I saw that NASCAR is miffed at Greg Biffle’s girlfriend for getting all up in Kurt Busch’s girlfriends face. I missed this whole ordeal when I was watching the race this weekend, I think I was taking a shit or something. At any rate, I think it’s kind of funny. Two women, with little to no impact on any aspect of their significant other’s careers, other than to look pretty and not have to work, are all up in each others face. There are some NASCAR women who are true significant others in their men’s relationships. Women that have been with their man since the dirt track days, been with their men when they had to stay at seedy hotels race weekend, women who’ve stayed in un-air conditioned campers in the middle of Kentucky in the heat of August, then there are models who’ve decided to date NASCAR drivers. Needless to say I don’t look highly upon the second type of woman. I remember once hearing Busch’s girlfriend, now fiancée, saying “It’s been a tough year for us, but we’ve worked hard to get us to where we are in the Chase for the Cup.” I couldn’t help but think, what have you done other than be carted around in a private jet and hang out in an RV the size of a mid town loft? You can take you dyed blonde hair and bionic breasts and go back to L.A. And seriously, how can you even have sex with someone who has the face of Kurt Busch? Don’t tell me you’re with him because “he’s funny.”

That’s the life of a NASCAR driver now. They get to drive cars really fast for a living and bang models. Considering most drivers still look like goobers (Kenseth, Biffle, Busch, Busch 2, and even Jr. look like goobers) that’s not a bad life to live. Maybe I’m just bitter because I sit at a computer all day and the closest thing I come to a model is watching the hot chick at my gym do dumbbell curls.

-Steve

Detroit Sports Round-Up

Here is the Detroit Sports Round-Up:

Red Wings – Coming off a scorching season (54-15-8) the ‘Wings are looking at home ice through the playoffs. However, home ice really doesn’t mean too much for the tough as nails ‘Wings who’ve lost just once outside The Joe since early January. The ‘Wings tied a league record for most away victories in a season Saturday, the record was set by the Devils in the 98-99 season. Look for the ‘Wings to continue their hot streak for the last few games and roll into the first round of the playoffs with a strong head of steam. Let’s hope they don’t repeat the debacle of the ’96 playoffs, losing to San Jose in the first round when they were expected to sweep the series and probably win the cup.

Pistons – Do you know how hard it is to win eighty percent of your games (62-15), it’s incredibly hard, especially in the NBA. The Pistons have put the pedal down and ripped through just about everyone this season. Shaq? Sit down and shut up. Duncan? Eat is fanboy. Iverson? Go back to the ‘hood. Bryant? Go bang a white chick. Few teams have had any success against them this year and that doesn’t look to change as they roll into the play offs. The Eastern Division looks like ass, with several teams getting into the playoffs with records that put them under .500. This hasn’t happened since the 90s if I’m not mistaken. My money is on a Piston vs. Spurs final again this year, and I don’t see a problem with that. The past series have been great and there doesn’t really look like anyone else out there who can hang with either of those teams.

Tigers – Right now the Tigers have a winning record, 5-2, but who knows how long that will keep up. Fortunately, the only team in Detroit worse than them doesn’t play in the MLB, so they’ve got that going for them too. Look for the young team and old franchise continue to try and figure out how to get things going this season. They’ve got some decent talent now, not all star material but certainly enough to get them to the playoffs. The challenge is to keep the pitching staff healthy and the fielding strong. You do those two things, the hitting will take care of itself more often than not, it usually does. I expect to see them stay close to .500 this season, flirting with putting decent streaks together here and there. It’s too early to put together much else of a prognosis, by the middle of May we’ll really see what they’re going to be playing with.

Lions – Thank God the NFL is off season. This way, I don’t have to hear about how bad the Lions are each week.

-Steve

Boy, did I get all worried for nothing

I talked to Bebe about the sleeping issue yesterday. I should have done so much sooner. She felt bad that I hadn’t said something because I thought I’d upset her. Bebe was totally understanding about wanting to go to bed earlier. We decided that if it becomes an issue with her watching her shows, we’d just put the cable box out in the living room. Right now most of what she watches is live (Prison Break, House, etc) but on the odd occasion she doesn’t catch her shows live (like Grey’s Anatomy) she’ll watch from our DVR, which records them just in case. If she’s having trouble keeping up with her shows because of me going to bed earlier, as I said, we’ll just move the box out into the living room. Looks like I got all worried for no good reason. By the way, I slept like a rock last night since I was able to go to bed earlier.

I’ve been chomping on some Better Made Potato Chips the last few days. I ordered some from Bettermade.com last week. For those of you outside the greater Detroit metro area, Better Made is a brand of chips and snacks that are only available there. How do they make money, you ask? Simple, everyone in Detroit eats them. Sure, there are Lays and Ruffles and Tostitos at the stores, but most everyone I know buys Better Made. While Bebe and my neighbor John say they can’t taste the difference in the regular chip, both agree that the sweet BBQ and sour cream and onion did taste better than the regular name brand chips. You can get a 4-pack from BetterMade.com for about 11 dollars plus shipping. I got my order three days after placing it.

On the weight lifting front I’m back over 200 pound for the first time in about six months. I look good too. Unlike in the past when I was seriously lifting, I have a kitchen now, and therefore can eat much better. My build is much slimmer than a few years ago, so my muscles are more pronounced. I’ll keep downing the protein and eating the whole grain carbs probably until the end of this month. Then, I’ll switch my diet around a bit to drop some weight and trim up even more when it comes time to start going to the pool again.

Bebe got a call this morning to sub at the high school she student taught at. Unfortunately she’s going to look at a location for our wedding today with her mother. However, she has already agreed to sub for the department head on Friday, which will be nice. I know she already misses teaching. On the plus side, her old host teacher called yesterday to tell her another position in the social studies department was going to open up, and not to take a position anywhere else until she hears back from them. Bebe was excited about that, she’d really like to teach full time there.

-Steve

So freaking tired

I’ve been having trouble falling asleep lately, which is weird since when I’m asleep I feel like I’m sleeping more soundly. I’m not sure why I’ve been having trouble, although Bebe says it’s because I’m playing video games up until I come to bed. Personally, I don’t think that’s it, since I’m not doing anything different than I did before.

She, on the other hand, is doing something different, she’s not getting up as early since she’s now finished with teaching. This means, she doesn’t go to bed as early. Now, don’t get me wrong here, but I don’t hang out in the bedroom unless it’s time for bed. I’ve never been a TV in the bed type of guy. Even on Sundays, I’m usually up and walking around while I have Meet The Press on. Nicole, on the other hand, sits in bed basically all day. She rarely leaves the bedroom, other than to do school work, and now that she has her laptop, she won’t even leave to do that anymore.

This puts me in a predicament. When I come downstairs, I’m ready for bed. I don’t have and “process” I have to go through to go to bed, I just take my clothes off and get under the covers, end of story. Bebe has a whole ordeal she goes through. She takes the dog out. Then she takes her makeup off. Then she puts stuff away that’s lying out. Then, when she gets to bed, she wants to talk. I wouldn’t have a problem with any of this, if she started before I came to bed. I figure, I’m loosing around an hour a night to her “activities” prior to sleep. This might be part of it.

Usually I come to bed around 9 or so, which results in me getting to bed around ten or so, since by then she’s done with her stuff and is finally ready to sleep. Lately I’ve been coming to bed later, around ten, hoping to skip the hour process I deal with now, and thus get another productive hour in my evening. This idea hasn’t worked, since it just delays her getting ready for bed.

What I can’t figure out is how she isn’t tired. Even when she was getting up at the same time or before me she still did this in the evening. I think it’s because she still takes naps, almost every evening, for at least an hour. I’m not one to tell someone when they can and can’t sleep, or how often, but it’s starting to take a toll on me. I’m less patient in the afternoon, lose my temper more often, and am overly groggy in the morning, and it’s not fair. Getting Bebe to leave the bedroom for me to go to bed early is such a hassle, the guilt trip and all the other shit I have to deal with, just isn’t worth it. This is going to stop. I’ll bring it up to her tonight, and after she gets all pissed and says I’m dumb, I’ll keep pressing until she gives in because she really doesn’t have a choice.

I don’t think asking someone who isn’t going to bed to leave is too much to ask. Lord knows I don’t ask much else of her. I don’t think having some rules about using the bedroom more for sleep, and less as her office, is absurd or “dumb.”

I’ll let you know how this goes. Something tells me it won’t go smoothly.

-Steve