I live cement

I have had an uneventful, but not unpleasant weekend. Saturday the snow was gorgeous before it turned into sleet. I love waking up and watching it snow, it's a small pleasure that I relish. I spent the day playing WoW and eating Hostess products ... oh and the rents fixed chili, which I also ate far too much of.

Sunday the snow had disappeared and the ice storms predicted didn't pan out. Corb picked me up and we headed to Trip's for fun and frivolity. We watched The Pixies (my all-time favorite band) on Austin City Limits (PBS is cool?). That was awesome. They don't look the part of rock stars, but the music is simply amazing. They ended with Caribou, which is one of my favs.

After that we ran some Halo 2 and my skills seem to be returning somewhat. I'm still not at my peak, but I'm not as obsessed with that game as I once was.

So far today I've applied for two jobs, one for a research asst./writer and one for a proofreader. Here's to hoping something panned out.

I love you cause I have to

It's funny, only now do I really realized the amount which my former posts owed to commercialism. All laden with what movie I saw or what new game I bought. And now that my purchasing power has diminished greatly I have nothing to write about. Oh Karl Marx, how I've betrayed you...Harpo too.

Anyway I did go to Danville yesterday and watched Trip shop. He got Mercenaries, which looked fairly cool, lots of explodey stuff. This was after watching him play Manhunt for a while. Manhunt is the game that parents have nightmares about. Essentially it's a gritty mass murdering movie with a chocolatey interactive shell. It has all the vile realistic killing and cursing and even a gang called the Bigots, who aren't afraid to ramble on about racial purity (at least they are the "villians").

Anyway I know a game like this is bad for kids, but why does that mean it shouldn't be made? I'm not a kid and I was amused with it. Can't adults have something for themselves, even if it isn't socially redeeming? But that's just me, the outspoken believer in freedom of speech, talking.

Checking in

Yesterday I went to Trip's and we watched the Rundown. I was pleasantly surprised. It had some fun moments and decent action. Sean Patrick Scott (aka Stifler) was funny and Christopher Walken did what he does best. He can make the most odd statements in a movie and make them flow perfectly. All in all I'd say it was +1 chainmail, with Walken receiving a filet mignon rating.

Other than that I haven't been doing a lot at all. Still deeply entangled in WoW. I wonder if it will ever loose its grip on my time. Not that I have anything else to use it on.

Not much to say

Haven't updated in the last couple of days because I've been in mourning for the Steelers loss. I can't say it comes as a complete surprise. It's hard to beat a team as good as New England twice in one season. Of course, that doesn't make it any easier to swallow. But anyway, football season is now officially over. I may watch the Super Bowl, but the urgency has diminished. At least I can root for Gabe's Eagles and not feel bad about it.

I continue to be stymied in my job hunt. It seems like there is a conspiracy to keep me unemployed. Maybe it's just me and my negative view of things.

Ya know I'm trying hard to come up with something interesting, but I got nothing. So I'll let you people get on with your lives.

Hellfire

So I spent the day playing WoW, it comes as no surprise. I also watched The Chronicles of Riddick with the fam. It was better than the reviews, I thought. Of course I played WoW through most of it, so I'll not give it a full fledged rating just yet.

It is super cold outside right now. I can hear the wind (that's possible because the new fridge doesn't roar like a bear all night like the old one). I think I'll go snuggle up on the couch and read Dry.

All things blizzard

So it's gonna be a blizzard type of day. With wintry conditions hitting the east coast adn ice and snow hitting Martinsville it's gonna be cold, which I love. Also Blizzard is the company that produces WoW and I plan on doing plenty of that while all that ice and snow is hitting the roads.

Yesterday I hooked up with Corb and we hit Trip's and watched Spiderman 2, which was ok. We then played Halo 2 and man, did I suck. You take a couple of weeks off and all of the sudden your skills have deteriorated. Danny, who hooked up with us online, walked the dog on me. I might need to get some practice in, but I doubt I'll drag myself away from WoW.

I'm also slowly reading Augusten Burroughs' Dry, which is a story about his struggles with alcoholism, but funny. It's pretty good so far. His Running with Scissors also takes a lot of tragedy and makes it humorous as well.

In honor of the snow

Now listening to: Classical webradio

Oh the weather outside is frightful
and setting people on fire is so delightful
since I've no work to go
my life blows
my life blows
my life blows

That is the end of music time. Moving ahead, not much is going on. Same old crap. Lots of people are trying to talk to me about jobs and whatnot and I don't want to hear it. It's making me crabby... that is to say, more crabby than normal. It's not their fault. My friends are simply concerned and I appreciate that. But I'm trying to maintain a bubble of denial here. Everytime this stuff comes into my mind I feel a rock forming in my stomach and depression ensues.

Anyway I do love the snow. Driving home from Trip's tonight was wonderful. The roads were fine and I love the way the snow looks when I'm cascading down the asphalt.

... and the flavin

So we finally got our new fridge today, which tells you how exciting my day has been since this is the lead. It only took the guy two weeks to get it here. Still it is nice to have a fridge built in the last 20 years. It runs quiet and the whole house has cooled down by 10 degrees.

In other news, today was Kevin's B-Day and I gave him a call. He was lounging and so all was well. He may be helping me get a job with his station, if I can't find anything else. It's good to have friends that don't suck. (Well don't suck all the time :)

My parents watched the sequel to the Princess Diaries and I tried my damnest to not listen. I put on the headphones and tried to tune out, but I still heard plenty of the horror. At least Anne Hathaway is hot. You know I didn't see the first one, but I think i was able to puzzle together the in depth story line. I must be some kinda of genius.

Come join me in my fantasy world

Well I have been reprimanded for not keeping this a daily affair, but honestly I don't have a lot to write about. I know my adventures throughout the wonderful land of Azeroth are not exciting to most and so I keep them to myself, by and large. Other than that I'm not doing a lot. I continue to try and find a decent job, but at this point I may start looking into getting a clerking job at a convience store. I'd quote the movie Clerks liberally ... wonder if that'd cause problems?

Any I did finish the new Terry Goodkind book Chainfire this weekend (when I couldn't log into the WoW server). It was good, a nice return to form after his last departure. My only problem is that it is essentially half of a story. Now I know that this type of fantasy writing involves lots of sequels and stories of an epic nature that require more than one simple book, however this is taking it to the extreme. I read nigh 700 pages of self doubting and delusion that couldn't have been true (it would have rendered the first 8, 9... 40, however many books are in this series void and that can't happen).

Anyway after reading all that we get to a starting point really and the book ends. It's too much to take. Now I have a year or more to forget the lead in before the next book comes out. It's why you should only read books by dead authors. Anyway I'm giving it a +1 chainmail rating as it is the only rating that seems appropriate.

I think my next post will be about the number 1.618... but who knows when that will be.

Incompetent at being continent

So winter has come back with a vengeance. After a few weeks of annoying lukewarm weather, Jack Frost has gotten off his lazy ass. It actually snowed here tonight...ok it flurried here, but it's a fair step up from the temp. being in the 70s like last week. I am pleased and hope the cold keeps coming. I'd like blizzard conditions, especially since I have no where to go. Of course if the cable goes out my opinion could shift.

Not much went on today, the cursed Pats topped the Colts. Manning will never beat them...never. His only hope is that he can stay in the league longer than Belichek does. The Eagles also won and didn't really look all that challenged. Next week we'll see how they handle the mad rush of the Falcons.

I'm not sure if the Steelers can pull off two wins against New England in one season. It ain't gonna be easy. On the up side, no way can Roethlisberger play any worse than he did this weekend. Plus home field advantage is always nice, so there is hope.

Muy feo

Now watching: Eagles-Minnesota

Yesterday's game led me on an emotional roller coaster that I'm not sure I want to ever ride again. The Steelers managed to overcome the upstart Jets in overtime, but man was it ugly. Roethlisberger finally looked like a rookie and offensive mistakes kept the Steelers struggling. Fortunately Pittsburgh's defense completely shut New York down. Well that and the Jets kicker decided to double down on being the goat. That guy will not be playing next year.

Throughout the game my heart was in my stomach and I knew, just knew that the Steelers season was over. Somehow they came through with the win and I can't say that everything sucks. Now the question is how will Big Ben react to this game and play against a huge challenge next week?

I watched the game at Trip's, after planning to watch it at Danny's. Danny's son Austin didn't take kindly to the change in plans. He wanted me over there, but it's for the best. I would have been a bad person to have around a child during that game.

After the game, I had to leave Trip's because his mom went back to the hospital. She's had heart problems this week and I know it's been tough on Trip. Here's to hoping that she feels better and has no more problems.

Don't touch other people's things

Now watching: Real Genius

So I'm still wallowing in depression. Nothing like letting your worst feelings of anxiety and antipathy run your life, it's freeing.

Yesterday I drove out to the resevoir to read in the presense of a large mass of water. It was nice, for the 20 minutes I was there before they closed it. The last time I was there a drought was in effect and the water was extremely low. This time the water actually came all the way up to the goosepoop covered dock.

There was also a big tornado warning last night. The mentioned Horsepasture, Spencer and Preston specifically on the news. That's a bit disconcerting. But all was well, I suppose. I was forced to step away from the electronics because of lightning. So I finished reading Salvatore's The Lone Drow, which was ok, but not my fav.

I also hit the library last night and checked out the new Terry Goodkind book. I'll probably try and read it over the weekend. I agree with Nick in hoping that it's better than the last one, that kinda derailed from the series.

Bark twice if you're in Milwaukee

I'm currently bouncing back and forth between complete denial and abject depression. I'm sure it'd be a fun thing to watch from the outside, but I'm not sure my stomach is really up for it. I've got to find a job soon and it sucks.

Other than trolling the interweb for employment, I've continued my WoW fixation (escapism is good). Yesterday I also watched several movies while I played WoW. I started off with Snatch, which I love. I honestly could just listen to the accents and the cool slang all the time. I then moved on to American Splendor, which is really well put together. I love the juxtaposition of the character of Harvey Pekar and the actual Harvey commenting on him.

I then spent some time watching what I thought was the Biggest Loser finale, but it turns out they are having another show next week. I think that's a bit much, personally, but I understand they have to milk it for all it's worth.

I ended the movie watching with Anchorman, which I love. It's wonderfully silly and absurd. As I've often said I love surreal humor and this has it, in abundance.

Ante up partner

Now listening to: The Killers

So I applied for an editorial writer job at the Roanoke Times and I really want this job. Of course, that means that I have no chance, but it's nice to dream. I need to get back in the habit of writing (I've even been slack on the blogging and this requires minimal effort).

Not much else happened today. I wandered about town a bit this evening and ended up at Trip's. We watched some Deadwood, which continues to interest me. Watching this and playing Red Dead Revolver has kindled a bit of an interest in things western for me. I used to pretty much hate the whole "western" genre on principle, but I'm starting to come around. I credit Joss Whedon's Firefly for a lot of that.

bitter and depressed

I haven't really been in a good mood for the last few days, so I haven't written much. Let's just say I'm poor and unhappy.

Yesterday I got to hang with Kev, Corb and Trip and we had good time. We played a lot of Red Dead Revolver and that was cool.

Today I watched football and played WoW all day. The landlady had said we were going to get a new fridge today and so the rents rearranged the house to expedite the moving in and out. So the living room was in disarray all day and guess what? The guy never showed up. So that's fun. We got a call around 8p.m. and she told us he would be coming on Friday. Isn't that special?

Anyway I'm gonna go read and try to indulge in escapism for the rest of the night.

Irritating me like a porcipine suppository

Now watching: Drew Carey

I am poor. I keep getting more poor each week, it sucks. I gotta find a job ...or hit the lottery. Hmm.

Anyway I finally reached 40th level with my warlock last night and got my mount. Woo. The felsteed is sweet. It's a nice little prestige item within the game.

I also finished reading The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove and it was hilarious. I can't recommend Moore's book to you enough. He never fails to make me snicker.

Not no way to play

Now listening to: Fugazi

So not much is going on, up to my usual tricks: playing WoW, doing a little reading (The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove, which is very funny) and watching tv with Trip. Trip and I watched the penultimate episode of The Biggest Loser tonight and that was fun. I know I'm overweight and have absolutely no room to insult anyone for being fat, but damn the fat jokes are easy while watching that show.

We also watched House, which was pretty good. The lead is a guy from The Black Adder, which is cool. I was entertained. Oh and we watched Committed, which was funny. It was quirky and made me think that perhaps NBC is kind of trying to emulate the Garden State vibe with the show...except maybe a little more wacky.

My problem is there were all these ads for shows coming on soon that seemed kind of interesting, but I really don't want to watch more tv. I need to spend less time in from of a tv/computer screen. That said, I go off to spend the rest of the night playing WoW, because I needs my fix.

Fuck us as the limber dick cocksuckers that we are

Well the Steelers finished with one of the best records the AFC has ever seen (15-1) and kept their win streak alive. All is well, at least for a coupla weeks. I was impressed with the way all the backups (or J.V. as they've been dubbed) picked up and put it on the line. The Bills were playing for a playoff spot and still couldn't match those guys' intensity.

In other news, I continue to spend inordinate amounts of time playing WoW. What can I say, I am hooked. There is always some fun new possibilty in the game and I continue to find myself staying online for "just a little longer."

I am now going to unveil my Top Five Moments withing the game so far. Drum roll please...

1. Finishing the felhunter quest with my warlock. I honestly felt a sense of accomplishment. I solo-ed the whole thing and got it done. It wasn't easy, but it was a good feeling afterwards. (Those of you out of the know, warlocks have various demons you can summon to aid you. The felhunter is the one you go after at level 30.)
   
2. Fighting the dragon Narrillasanz and killing him. He's a level 42 elite and was badass. My guildmates and I put the smackdown on his ass, with extreme prejudice. This kind of thing provides a real epic sense to the game.
3. The first time I took a zeppelin to the other continent. When you start in one place and explore it and it seems huge the world is awesome. When you realize that the huge part you've played in is really a small fraction of the possibilities it's awe-inspiring.
   
4. My guild went into a high level instance dungeon and stayed there for five hours. During one of the boss fights we knew we were going to be mobbed afterwards and had a planned strategy. We figured that some of us would die in the course of events. When we killed the boss and were bumrushed we killed them all in a matter of seconds. It was hilarious. (I know, you probably had to be there.)
5. During the course of the undead quests, you come across several that require you to hunt down ingredients for a plague. Once you get them sometimes you get to give the plague to various prisoners to test it on. I just love that whole evil plaguing of the Alliance vibe.
   

Anyway that wraps up the nerd moment for now. I know some of you are bored out of your skull, but there may be someone who gets what this is about. Plus you're supposed to write about what you know and I've got WoW on the brain.

Went to Trip's tonight and we watched the first two episodes of HBO's Deadwood series and it was great. I haven't heard cursing like that since Reservoir Dogs. The title of this post is an actual toast given in the show. I love it when cussin' is taken to its highest level.

Are my eyes bleeding? No. Then I'm not done gaming yet.

I lost the last two days to video games. On Thursday, Kev rolled down and we got the whole crew together (Kev, Trip, Corb, Danny and myself... Langdon also showed up late) and we played Halo 2 all damn night. I left Trip's at 5 a.m. But we had a good time. Goofing off and running and gunning. I knocked some of the rust off, it's amazing how quick the skills can fade when you don't play everyday.

Yesterday (New Year's Eve) I did nothing but play World of Warcraft. I think I ended up with over 12 hours logged in for the day. That's right, no parties, no kisses at midnight, just me and my computer being nerdy. To be honest it was one of my better New Year's Eves. That holiday usually sucks for me, it's all about disappointment. This year I wasn't disappointed...just lame.

Anyway I'm hoping 2005 works out better for me than that bastard 2004. As for resolutions, I don't really have any other than find a decent job. Here's to hoping I can fulfill that one.

I may try to leave the house today, but I make no promises.