Scientific Research

I came across an article on yahoo about a class of 8-10 year-olds, in England, who published a paper in a scientific journal.

After probing a little bit deeper (by clicking a link in the yahoo article) I found the actual report done by these children. I found it to be a fascinating exploration, not only into the intelligence of bees (the subject of their research), but on the intelligence and capabilities of children.

Seriously, this is really cool. The kids did some groundbreaking research. While they were supervised by a competent scientist, they created the experiments and did the research themselves.

So, here's the link to their research:

http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2010/12/18/rsbl.2010.1056.full.pdf+html

Enjoy.

Yes, I've been pretty Stupid.

I discovered recently that I am an idiot. Here is why.

You see, I always thought of being single as a kind of curse. As if my success in life is dependent on if I can get a woman to love me, and thus being single equals failure.

But I've been so wrong. Being single is a blessing. An opportunity. I will never be more free to pursue my dreams than I am right now. I've intended all through my college career to pursue my goal of being a successful published author after graduation. And so here I am, free to do just that. No wife, no kids, and no job to interfere with my writing (I manage to distract myself enough as it is). I can't believe I didn't see it before.

So here's to hoping that I can turn this freedom into a meaningful word-count.

Updates

I've known that I need to post something, but I haven't had any relevant ideas for a good blog topic. I still don't, but I figured I would post today just to keep my blog alive.

So, onto business.

Congrats to the BYU FOOTBALL team for actually making it to a bowl game this year! Through the first five games of the season it looked like BYU was dead. However, they made one of the greatest about-faces that I've witnessed in a sports team and won 5 of their last seven games (with their only two losses coming to top 25 teams). They were basically a different team during the second half of the season. So thanks to them for making this season a pleasure to watch(the second half of the season).




And thanks to the BASKETBALL team for being awesome right now. Unfortunately we need a more consistent inside game to take the pressure off JIMMER (because everybody knows who he is since he was on the cover of SI). Unless we develop one, I don't know if we'll go very deep into the NCAA tournament in March.




No thanks to WOMEN for being utterly confusing; at the same time demoralizing, but utterly intoxicating.




Cheers to PROGRESS! Over the last couple weeks I've actually written a few pages on one of my writing projects. Sure, it isn't that much, but it feels like I'm starting to break through my writing funk. Of course, I am now three months behind schedule. I wanted to have it finished by Christmas. I suppose it's possible, but I'd have to write about 75,000 words in the next three weeks (as opposed to ~2,500 in the last three).

And my favorite place to be right now? 24 HOUR FITNESS. I think I'm starting to turn into a muscle-head. I love working out. Not only do I FEEL different, but I LOOK different. I think after about 10 weeks of working out (5 days a week) I've put on at least 10 pounds of muscle. I confess that I end up flexing in front of the mirror a lot more than I used to : ) Seriously, I think everybody should spend consistent time at the gym lifting weights. Even girls, here is why:

http://health.yahoo.net/experts/healthieryou/why-guys-lose-weight-faster-women-and-how-steal-their-secrets

Anyway, that's life right now. The end.

Pet Peeves

Here's a little rant on things that annoy me.

1) Girls ignoring calls and messages--This happens to guys (not just me) a lot. It takes a lot of courage for a man to call a woman and ask her on a date. But all too often girls ignore that effort. This is rude. And it just encourages repeated calls from the guy anyway. Just answer the dad-gum phone and say "no" to whatever he is offering.

2) Lack of Punctuality--I don't know why this irks me so. But people showing up late to any sort of appointment/meeting/job/class really bother me. I don't know why. I hate being late myself too. I am also annoyed by people leaving early as well (especially from home sports events, that's just disloyal!)

3) Driving SLOWER than the speed limit--This is usually done by old people. I can understand being old and not feeling the constant need to rush everywhere. But at least drive the speed limit so you don't drive younger generations (like myself) out of their minds.

4) Not pulling all the way into a turn lane--This happens a lot around here. People pull into a turn lane but leave half their vehicle in the other lane so traffic has to swerve around them. This is definitely a safety issue. And it vexes me.

5) People ranting about stupid stuff on their blogs--Mindless rants are stupid. I don't know why people feel the need to air their nit-picky grievances in public, but for some reason they do. And it's annoying.

(#3&4 are what inspired this post. For some reason I've been really annoyed by other drivers lately. Grrrrr!!!!)

AA

I thought this was funny.


AA Destroying The Social Lives Of Thousands Of Once-Fun Americans

Men vs, Women

Here's a popular youtube video that discusses the differences between men and women:



Very true!

Modern Marriage

A friend posted this article on my Facebook wall. I found it very interesting. What do you all think? Feel free to comment here and on my Facebook page.

http://www.the-spearhead.com/2010/10/08/stop-looking-for-a-wife-you-wont-find-one/



When I have more time I'll write a post on my thoughts about this.

Space is Cool

I found this on the Yahoo homepage. I thought it was super awesome, and adventurous. Basically this kid and his dad sent a video camera into the upper levels of the atmosphere to record the earth from "space." Talk about the best science project ever.

If this link works it takes you to the actual article. But I've also posted the video below.

Homemade Spacecraft from Luke Geissbuhler on Vimeo.

Fit

Writing isn't going well.

However, I did buy a membership to 24 Hour Fitness, and so far I am loving it. For the last two weeks I've been in a perpetual state of soreness somewhere on my body. It's strange that while I can't make myself write at will, I can manage to drag my bones out of bed and go work out every morning (morning being relative). I've developed what I believe to be a pretty thorough workout routine that I can build on as I become more fit. And I've started a chart so I can record my progress. Already, I've seen increases in every workout. And I just finished week 2!!!

Week in Review: Epic Fail

My first week as a professional writer was no slam dunk. An air-ball would be a more appropriate description, or a fumble, since it is football season. Yup, my transition into self motivated employment is failing horribly, so far. Over the course of the week I have written less than 1000 words on two different projects. The actual number is probably around 700. That is pathetically low. I think 5000 would be a good goal to start with.

On the other hand, I've got a lot of reading done. I've certainly been blogging a lot more (as you may have noticed). And I saw Inception, which was unbelievably awesome.

Let me repeat that with a few added superlatives: Inception was unbelievably awesome. Amazing. Well conceived and brilliantly executed. Incredible. Genius. It is literally one of the best movies I have seen. Period.

And I should add that Resident Evil: Afterlife (in 3D) was quite entertaining as well. I'm quite impressed by the new 3D technology. It works much better than the old 80's and 90's bit. Very cool.

So there it is. I'm failing my new profession. And I didn't even get any dates this week, which is a shame, because there is a plethora of date-able ladies here.

But on the other hand, I can sleep in every morning, until the sun gently wakes me from my slumber as it shines through my window. And any time I read a good book, I'm doing "research."

Ford Fiesta Stars in Gymkhana Video Series

Ford Fiesta Stars in Gymkhana Video Series

A very cool sequence of excellent driving stunts.

Mockingjay

Was a terrible conclusion to a pretty admirable series. I don't know what happened.

OK, yes I do. It died.

My first gripe against the concluding novel of The Hunger Games is that the characters, built so well through the first two books, were replaced with static puppets. Katniss, whose head we are in FOR THE WHOLE TIME, is reduced to a status symbol that spends all her time hiding in corners and weeping and other such drivel. Seriously, with the option to spend time in the head of Katniss (in Mockingjay), or Bella (in Twilight), I really think I would seriously consider Bella. Katniss has a few opportunities to shine, to react with violence and power as only a survivor of the Hunger Games could, but the author never allows her to do so. On top of Katniss' destruction, Peeta is turned into a government experiment, and essentially removed from the greater portion of the book. When he returns he is a broken wreck who either tries to kill Katniss, or spends his time begging for death. Gale is the only character that takes on more life in this book, but it's really just to fill the hole from the absence of Peeta. All the other characters are minor.

My second complaint is that the plot felt very jumbled. Outside of the time Katniss spends being pathetic, there's a lot of discussions and conferences about tactics. And no good action sequences. Even the infiltration of the capital seems unrealistically conceived and executed.

Actually the entire "War" is completely ridiculous. Collins seems to be trying to expound on the terrifying effects of war, but THERE IS NO WAR IN THE ENTIRE BOOK!!! Through the first two books, the Capitol is supposed to be an all-powerful machine. They crush rebellions easily with their sophisticated arsenal of weaponry. But in book three, District 13 (the rebels) waltzes through the entire country without any resistance at all. Of course, none of this is shown. As far as I know, the war never even happens because there are no real visual sequences of it, and the effects of it are never shown. Except for the jumbled sequence when they finally assault the Capitol, which is one big booby trap.

Another, smaller, thing that really annoyed me was the incomplete concept of Katniss' special bow. Which somehow recognizes her voice so she can turn it on and off, but what does it do? Nothing. The arrows are explosive, but we've seen that in Rambo. I don't think the author even knew the real capabilities of the bow.

The biggest problem with the book is the absence of resolution and catharsis. Katniss has a chance to be a noble hero, to stem the flow of blood that has been spilt, but instead she encourages the idea of a new version of the Hunger Games (which could be argued as gambit that allowed her to kill the new enemy, but it's a hollow argument), and then murders the leader of the rebels. Right. She murders the rebel leader, not President Snow, who has been built up as a snake in the grass for the rest of the series. Forget everything you know, the Rebel leader, whose name I can't even remember right now, is the enemy who engineered the death of Katniss' sister. And then Snow dies naturally.

And the love triangle resolves itself because Gale conveniently disappears and Peeta conveniently returns. Katniss never actually has to choose. Then there are two-ish pages devoted to the rest of Katniss' life with him. After 350 pages (in this book) of scarring Katniss (and the audience) Collins only gives us two pages to heal. Which isn't enough.

Story: D
Characters: F
World: B-
Writing Style: B

Total: D+

Catching Fire

I just reviewed the first book last night. Catching Fire is more of the same, though unlike what the title suggests, the book tends to mostly be a cooldown from the first.

It is still a very enjoyable read, even though the the concept of the hunger games isn't as fresh.

Unfortunately I feel Katniss departs from her characterization in the first book, she still has a dramatic voice, but where the heck did all this emotion come from? The girl should be fairly level headed. Right? Apparently not.

I'm coming across negative, but that's not really the case. The book is good, gripping even. And Collins adds a few really brilliant touches. The End.

Story: B+
Characters: B+
World: A
Writing Style: B+

Total: A-

The Hunger Games

I've been hearing this name thrown around for a couple years now in association with books that "must" be read. I don't know why, but for some reason the idea of these books never really appealed to me. Really, I can't put my finger on it, so don't ask. I just wasn't that interested in them, even when friends told me that I HAVE to read them.

Well, finally I have succumbed.

At first I was determined to find faults with the book. Suzanne Collins is by no means a perfect writer. Her use of the present tense, a gutsy move from the norm of fiction writing, struggles at times when transitioning between things that happened in the past to things that are happening now, which on occasion, can leave the reader slightly confused. Paragraphs seem to start on one subject and end on another (not unusual or bad, normally, but somehow I found it annoying, because the paragraphs were taking great leaps instead of small steps). And her overuse of sentence fragments is jarring, to say the least.

But, I started the book when I sat down for my dinner of Ramen noodles and didn't get up again till I had finished it four hours later. Yes, writing flaws aside, the book is that gripping. Once the story gets going, the sentence fragments and meandering paragraphs aren't noticeable (unless the paragraph starts with an explanation of something that never really gets explained).

The pacing of the book is excellent, with gradual details and strange twists adding to the landscape of the post-apocalyptic world that has been created. The characters are quite like-able (unlike a certain other popular series recently, cough, Twilight!), though the main character, Katniss, has a definite flair for drama. The story itself, is fresh and compelling, though not entirely unpredictable. I do admit that Collins left a character alive that I was certain should/would die, and killed a character that I was somewhat certain would live--in a most unexpected fashion. I actually had some problems with the unexpectedness of this scene. I felt that it was contrived by the author to move the story forward, rather that an event that would have happened when truly governed by the capabilities of the characters involved. And, to avoid giving away too many plot details, I shan't say anymore about that!

I think I've rambled on to the end of my review. The book isn't perfect, but the story is excellent. Oh, the ending was ridiculously horrid. Really? That's what you leave me with? Ok, next time just beg people to buy the sequel.

Story: A
Characters: A
World: A
Writing Style: B

Total: A

State of Emergency

I think this is definitely blogworthy:


Obama Releases 500,000 Men From U.S. Strategic Bachelor Reserve

I personally think this move was a bit unnecessary. Panic move indeed!

Anticipation

This is just going to be a quick post because I am sitting in the airport waiting for the magical bus of the skies to take me back to Utah. I am excited for a few reasons: A) This is the advent of a potential writing career. Either I will succeed or fail, either way I get a small step closer to finding my niche in the world. B) I get to extend summer a little longer. Alaska has been cold and wet and I'm looking forward to some Utah sunshine. C) I thought I was done with ballroom dance. As mediocre as I was at this art form, I find that I miss it terribly. Perhaps I am still done, but at least now I'll be around people (girls) who won't mind breaking out into a random Cha-Cha with me. D) Girls should be reason number 1. In short, it has been a lonely summer. The End.

Books

I've decided to keep a list of books that I've read during the year on the side of my blog. It has come to my attention, that I've read tons of books, so many that I can't remember them all. In an effort to combat this, I've started keeping a list of all the books I've read since mid-summer, with a short analysis (though you won't get that). I intend this to make me a more thorough reader. Also, I just think it will be cool to see how much I actually read on my own time.

In addition to this book list, I'd like to give a rating for each book, or perhaps a short review. Is there a gadget that allows this? Or must I write a separate blog entry for each book? Does anybody know of a slick way to do this?

Horizon, Come Swiftly!

I am frothing at the mouth to get back to Provo, Utah. I am ready to see (and date) attractive women, and I am excited about the freedom that I will have now that I am no longer a slave to homework, classes, and other such ilk.

My goal for the rest of the year (starting once I return to Provo and get comfortably moved in to my new pad) is to live as a full time writer. As of right now, that means treating writing as a full time job. I'm not sure exactly how I shall pursue this, but essentially that means I'll have to hit a certain word count or time limit for writing every day. Right now I'm thinking at least four hours of writing and close to that amount of reading every day (Stephen King says that a good writer reads as much as he (gender neutral) writes, essentially). This will be hard, because I'm horribly lacking in self motivation. I'll have to make certain that I abide by a schedule and go somewhere to write where I won't be distracted by internet, etc. . . . It will be hard, but I look forward to it. I've had a couple writing projects riding on my back for quite some time now, and I look forward to finishing them. Don't be surprised if I put up a couple progress bars somewhere on my blog.

People, I am on my way.

Peace? I hate the word, as I hate Hell. . .

I'm going to take a moment to go off on a little rant. Before you are exposed to my venom, watch this:



One of my friends posted this on Facebook. He was, as I understand, a little bit shocked by the content of this video. I think I am even more horrified than he was.

In short, if this video disappears from youtube, it contains an obvious religious "Christian" zealot who is proposing an international burn a Koran day (because of September 11th). At the end of the video he actually does what he is proposing.

This is wrong in all kinds of ways. First of all, the very idea of burning books is anathema to me. Probably because I'm a writer and a student of literature, and a lover of the idea of the knowledge that books contain. But even more horrifying, is the very violation of the teachings of Christianity displayed by this man. Was it not Christ who taught us to turn the other cheek? To love thy neighbor. . .and thy enemy? When did Christ ever teach the religious zealism and hate displayed by this man? (Barring the event at the temple--when Christ drove out those violating the sanctity of the temple--Christ always taught humility and charity).

The sad thing is that some of the responses to this post on Facebook contained, not supportive statements, necessarily, but justification for this hatemongering on the grounds that the Koran contains commandments to kill heathens etc. . .that because the Koran contains such clearly "wicked" statements it is justifiable to burn another group's religious text.

Christians who adhere to this idea clearly haven't studied the Old Testament enough, or if they have, they blatantly ignore some of the things that the Lord has commanded in the past (I can find some references to all this, but it is late at night, so I'll do it later).

I don't care if you disagree with another people's religious ideals and texts, but never is it Ok to defile them in such a way. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) I think I am a little more tolerant of other religions because of all the hardships that the early Mormons went through at the hands of so called "Christians."

There is no room for hate in Christianity unless it is the hate of sin. This man is advocating hate. And it is people like this that will destroy the world, should the world ever be destroyed in a global war.

Children are Devils mostly.

My sister has had the opportunity to babysit a few children who have experienced a very disfunctional family. This is my off week from work so I was able to experience a solid 10 hour stretch of constant whining and tantrums. I can not believe that kids could act like this. SPANK THEM, SPANK THEM!!!! That was what I wanted to do at least. Good thing I'm not a father yet, eh? Anyway, that experience reminded me of this article from the Onion. Since the link won't work, I've copied and pasted the text of the article below the link.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/new-study-reveals-most-children-unrepentant-sociop,2870/

MINNEAPOLIS—A study published Monday in The Journal Of Child Psychology And Psychiatry has concluded that an estimated 98 percent of children under the age of 10 are remorseless sociopaths with little regard for anything other than their own egocentric interests and pleasures.
Enlarge ImageData shows that many seemingly innocent children—such as this one—are not to be trusted.

According to Dr. Leonard Mateo, a developmental psychologist at the University of Minnesota and lead author of the study, most adults are completely unaware that they could be living among callous monsters who would remorselessly exploit them to obtain something as insignificant as an ice cream cone or a new toy.

"The most disturbing facet of this ubiquitous childhood disorder is an utter lack of empathy," Mateo said. "These people—if you can even call them that—deliberately violate every social norm without ever pausing to consider how their selfish behavior might affect others. It's as if they have no concept of anyone but themselves."

"The depths of depravity that these tiny psychopaths are capable of reaching are really quite chilling," Mateo added.

According to the Hare Psychopathy Checklist, a clinical diagnostic tool, sociopaths often display superficial charm, pathological lying, manipulative behaviors, and a grandiose sense of self-importance. After observing 700 children engaged in everyday activities, Mateo and his colleagues found that 684 exhibited these behaviors at a severe or profound level.

The children studied also displayed many secondary hallmarks of antisocial personality disorder, most notably poor impulse control, an inability to plan ahead, and a proclivity for violence—often in the form of extended tantrums—when their needs were not immediately met.

"Children will use any tool at their disposal to secure gratification," Mateo said. "And as soon as the desire is fulfilled, be it some material want or simply an insatiable and narcissistic desire for validation, they quickly become bored and lose interest in their victims, all the while thinking only of satisfying whatever their next hedonistic craving might be."

Mateo added that even when subjects were directly confronted with the consequences of their inexplicable behavior, they had little or no capacity for expressing guilt, other than insincere utterances of "sorry" that were usually coerced.

Because children are so skilled at mimicking normal human emotions and will say anything without consideration for accuracy or truth, Mateo said that people often don't realize that they've been exploited until it is too late. Though he maintained that anyone can fall victim to a child's egocentric behavior, Mateo warned that grandmothers were especially susceptible to the self- serving machinations of tiny little sociopaths.

Despite the overwhelming evidence presented in the study, its findings have been met with heavy criticism from people who associate with children on a regular basis.

Batavia, NY resident and 38-year-old mother Mary Corcoran echoed the sentiments of many other adults who refuse to believe they are sharing their homes with merciless predators.

"Not my Jimmy. Just this morning, he told me I was the best mommy in the whole world," Corcoran said of her son, 5. "In fact, he's been such a sweet little boy this month that Santa just may bring him everything he asks for."

According to renowned child psychologist Dr. Pritha Singh, author of Born Without Souls, diagnosing preadolecents as sociopaths is primarily a theoretical interest, as the disorder is considered untreatable.

"We've tried behavior modification therapies, but children actually learn from our techniques and become even more adept at manipulating others while concealing their shameless misanthropy," Singh said. "Sadly, experience has taught us there is little hope for rehabilitation."

"Just look at the way most adults act," Singh added.



So, there it is. And IT IS ALL TRUE!

And, if you know anything about Lady Gaga, you might find this next blurb entertaining as well.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/lady-gaga-kidnaps-commissioner-gordon,17789/

Final Fantasy Top 10

(WARNING: This post might lead you the think that I am a geek. While this is true, to an extent, I assure you that my participation in video games has been marginal, and I have not been adversely affected by this hobby, socially or mentally. I am normal. . .and cool, really.)


I had so much fun doing my top 5 of current female superstars (which I think I will come back too in another post, later) that I want to do another list type blog. The motivation for this one comes with my recent accomplishment of beating the latest Final Fantasy game (XIII if you must know).

Final Fantasy XIII is the first offering from Square-Enix for the Final Fantasy franchise on the latest generation of console systems (PS3, XBOX 360, Wii). Considering that they have a track record of releasing excellent games for new systems, I had very high hopes for the newest game. (If you plan on playing the game later I shall spare you plot details. So I guess it's OK to read on. I'm not going to be that detailed anyway).

Final Fantasy XIII (hereafter FFXIII) does not disappoint when you play it. The graphics are phenomenal, which is to be expected from the PS3. The music is great. And the story is good. All these things are good. However, the best part of the game is the cast of characters. I think this is one of the most likeable casts for a FF game that I have ever seen. And the main character, Lightning, is AWESOME. She's pretty hot. What really helps here is the excellent cast of voice actors. In the past FF games some of the characters came across as annoying (Tidus from FFX anyone?) but here that isn't the case. Everyone comes across well. And Fang and Vanille have Australian accents. Awesome.

I do have some complaints. I think the game suffers most from the notable lack of side quests and exploration. There aren't really cities and towns to go visit in this game, which I find rather saddening. Shops are done through the save menu, which reminds me of shopping online: pretty pictures, but none of the actual thrill of shopping. Thus you never really get a sense of the world/people that you are trying to save. Because there isn't anything to really change the pace of the game (besides the awesome cinematic sequences), it often feels as if you are playing through one dungeon for the entire game. On the other hand, it's pretty hard to get lost or forget where you are going.

Anyway, I think that's all I wanted to cover in my description of FFXIII. Now, where does it fall in with the best FF games of all time? This is where my list comes in. It's going to be a top 10 list, just because I like FF that much.

10) Final Fantasy 1--This game, released for the original Nintendo, essentially created a new genre of game. It was pretty cool in its time.

The story was fairly lame--the characters had no story period!--but it was a start. I should add that the original (they've remade it a couple times) was incredibly hard.









9) FF 5--For the most part the Final Fantasy games 1-4 followed the same general format. But Final Fantasy 5, never released in the US until recently, changed that with the introduction of the job system (to the US market. FF3, released only in Japan until very recently actually started the Job system). This little function introduced the possibility of character customization. It was awesome. You could change character classes between things like Knight, Black Mage, White Mage, Samurai, Thief. . .things of that nature. Awesome. Especially for geeks (Really, I'm not!!!).











8) FF 8--This was the second FF game for the original Playstation. The graphics were a significant step up from 7, and the story was pretty good. However, the Junction system was too complex and time consuming for most gamers, though I enjoyed the flexibility and potential it offered.

It also suffered from a rather weak cast of characters, though I did like Rinoa and Squall. It was a love story, which I liked. The ending movie was pretty long and very satisfying.










7) FF X-2--This was part II of Final Fantasy 10. On fist glance it seemed like this game was just riding the 10 cash cow, but it proved to be much deeper, and better than that. The game plays like Charlie's Angels meets Final Fantasy--which in my book is pretty cool. It also brought back the Job system from FF 5. And it had an all female cast, though there were only three of them. Once you got through the first 1/4 of the game things really picked up. It did kind of annoy me that they changed Yuna's character into kind of a skank.












6) FF XII--This game came with very high expectations as the second standalone FF for the PS2. The graphics were superb, and the new gambit battle system was actually really good. The world was grand, large and well populated. The story was a little bit weak, though the characters were cool. I think my main gripe was there less of an emotional attachment between the characters than some of the other FF games.








5) FF XIII--I've already spieled about this earlier. It's graphics and battle system are top notch. The story is good. The characters are awesome. But the absence of cities, and side quests/games is a real let down for me. I don't think the world is as immersive as it could have been.














4) FF 4--One of best old gen FF games, Final Fantasy 4 was originally released in the US as number 2. The story is excellent with a strong cast of characters (Except for the Bard. He sucks). Its music is also some of the best that I can remember coming out of tinny super Nintendo game music.














3) FF 6--Once we reach this point it's really a toss up between all these games. Final Fantasy 6 (it was 3 when originally released in the US) was as perfect as a FF game could have been. The music, story, characters, and development system are all excellent. Throw in one of the coolest bad guys ever, the largest cast of any FF (that you can move in and out of your party at will), and an opera scene. . .nothing can get better.














2) FF 7--Oh, wait, I guess it can. Final Fantasy 7. . . take everything good about 6, and add better graphics, materia, and a freaking twisted story, plus your favorite character dying midway through, plus a darker villain, plus two secret impossible bosses, and the best collection of side games ever (snowboarding? a motorcycle game?) And you have the best Final Fantasy ever, right?














1) FF X--Maybe not. FFX was not a perfect game. It was a little too linear. The freedom of the world map was lost. But it made up for that in the sinister nature of its story. Come on, the bad guy's name is Sin. . . how's that for a complex allegory? The characters were awesome, and there was a real love story, which was heightened by the fact that one of the characters was on a quest which she knew would claim her life. There is no other Final Fantasy that evokes the same emotional response as this one did. The ending was sad, which made me love it. Plus it had a great battle system, and a pretty fun little sidegame called Blitzball. It also introduced voice acting to the FF franchise, which in retrospect was a real good idea. While this game was flawed, this is the one that I felt the most. And it had some awesome music. I could listen to the ending theme all day long.

Locked in Iso.

So here I am in Alaska. An outdoor paradise, right? I should be happy about that, and I am. The problem is that I spend every moment of my job out enjoying this paradise. I literally live in the wilderness for eight days in a row. Thus when I come home for my six days off, I'm actually a little tired of living in a tent and eating camp food. What I really want to do is get out. But I can't. I'm stuck in the social black hole of the world. There is nothing to do here, in Glennallen, besides doing outdoor things. And that sucks. I miss Utah.

Basically, I'm suffering from a minor melancholy because I'm extremely bored right now. I would like to go see a movie, do some ballroom dancing. . .things of that nature. But I can't, because this place is the place where bachelors go to die (or turn into crochety old mountain men).

A Bachelor's Dating Scale

I think I should explain why I have a picture of Megan Fox on the side of my blog with a caption that reads "so beautiful it hurts." Before I had a picture of a Ford GT. (I know. You car enthusiasts out there are cursing my name. I was really torn up about changing that picture myself, but I did it for a change of scenery). Anyway, a couple weeks ago, while I was on an eight day sojourn into the wilderness with a bunch of crazy Alaskan bachelors, I was asked which current female star I found the most attractive. I actually had to think about this for a while. In the end Megan Fox won my vote.

I remember when the first Transformers movie came out one of my friends went and saw it. When I asked him how it was, he told me it was a fun movie. Then he went on to say something like this: "and the girl, Megan Fox, is super hot. I mean really, she's so beautiful it hurts." I kind of laughed at him. But once I saw the movie I realized his description was completely accurate. I had the same feeling (ironically the same feeling I have when I look at a Ford GT). No other female star has had the same impact. Close runner ups are (not in order): Charlize Theron, Angelina Jolie, Natalie Portman, Jessica Alba, and Katherine Heigle.

With that said, I don't have a high opinion of actresses. There's more to my rating system than just attractiveness. I don't think any of the aforementioned actresses would score higher than a 7.5 on my personal dating scale--which is only good enough for a couple dates. Nothing long term.

Ok, that's a lie. After sitting here for a moment and thinking, I have to be honest with myself. If I had a chance to date Megan Fox, I would totally do it. But I still don't think she'd score very high on my long term dating scale. However, I know a good many girls at BYU who I think score much higher than these so called superstars (but they're all getting married while I'm stuck lumberjacking in Alaska).

Anyway, I don't know why anybody would honestly care about this. But I'm a bachelor and I felt like responding to the question. In fact, I guess I'll just do an official top 5 (with pictures :).

5) Jessica Alba: Jessica Alba scores low (here) because she has never been in a good movie. And she might be a bimbo. I would give her a couple dates to prove otherwise.












4) Angelina Jolie: Angelina is widely recognized as the best female action star. She is good, but I think she's too popular right now. I wouldn't date her because of her age and her obsession with Brad Pitt.












3) Charlize Theron: I dated a girl that looked exactly like this picture. I think I made an idiot of myself while doing so. Looking back on it, I think I understand why I had such a difficult time talking to her. I'd have the same problem with Charlize Theron.















2) Natalie Portman: Natalie is Israeli. She gets a lot of points for that. I think she's the only girl on here who I would seriously consider dating, if I knew her. She doesn't seem egotistical or snobbish to me. And she is rather beautiful. And she acted in Star Wars, that's worth a good bit.












1) Megan Fox: Gets the #1 on looks alone. If I knew her, I don't know that she'd stay here very long. She seems pretty condescending to her fans. But she is very, very HOT!




Feel free to disagree with me.

P.S.-- I realize that this was a really shallow and selfishly gratifying post, but like I said, I'm a bachelor. I'm a bachelor living in Alaska with a very minimum exposure to estrogen. The idea that somewhere out there, not here, but out there. . .somewhere, exists an unbelievable amount of beautiful single women to be dated and wooed, gives me hope and courage to survive until I leave this arid wasteland (metaphorically speaking).

The Mormon Proposition

Just when I though that I had nothing to say I find this on the Yahoo movies homepage.



Obviously this made me a little bit angry. And here are my refutations of the movie without me actually watching it.

1) Mormons were not the only ones pushing proposition 8. In fact, financially speaking Mormons were not the greatest contributors. The Catholics and various other Evangelist Christian organizations also made significant donations.

2) While I do remember letters encouraging donations for Prop 8 there was never, at any time, a requirement for members to do so. I did not donate money or time to Prop 8, and my church membership was never questioned.

3) The LDS church does not hate gays (or any other group with variant sexual orientation). The church DOES believe in a strict code of morality in regards to human sexuality and guess what. . .gay sex is outside of that. It is a sin. But so is adultery, so is sex before marriage. I could go on, but suffice it to say, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is against sin, of any kind, and any time the allowance of sin is legislated in state or national laws the Church will be fiercely opposed to it.

4) Even from the trailer for this film, you can tell that the director is blatantly misrepresenting statements by Church leadership. This is the power of film. And it's easy to forget that context matters very much when an individual makes a statement. Also, it's funny how you can take a film image of say, Elder Ballard, and make it a little grainy, slow down the image a little bit, to make the image seem a little bit creepy. In the same case, the people shouting in the streets against gays aren't necessarily Mormons (some of them could be, but I'd wager most aren't). Also, the guy who said that gays are "the greatest danger to America" was a Utah politician, and in no way related to the leadership of the Church.

Anyway, I'm just mad. This "documentary" is a stupid attempt to attack the Church.

Blog Redesign

I'm starting a major renovation of my blog formatting and layout. Just changing the look of things. Since I haven't had much to say lately this gives me a sense of still being an active blogger.

Smokes

Here's a pretty funny article from the Onion.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/new-ecofriendly-cigarettes-kill-destructive-human,17529/

Ramblings of a Wandering Man

This is really just a post to announce to the world that I still exist. This has been one of the longer dry spells as a blogger, and what I am offering with this post is nothing more than a tiny drop of relief (for me, not necessarily for you).

I am back in Alaska for the summer. After the whirlwind finish to my last semester of college (EVER!), my summer home is a refreshing dip into a slower paced, relaxed world. Unfortunately, a week in Glennallen, Alaska is enough to make me want to go back to the other one. This place is a dead end for me. I love it, and I hate to dog on it, but I can't live here, yet. As soon as the summer is over I'm taking my money and running.

But that brings up the question of where exactly I am going. My original intention was to return to Provo, UT. I like it there; I have both friends and family in the area. And there are lots of girls. But on the other hand, I'll be hanging around in a college town with no real possibilities for good employment. Plus, the one girl who really made Provo an intriguing option is now engaged to the boyfriend whom I hoped she would. . . disengage.

Ack! Curses!

But where else would I go? I can't stay in Alaska without turning into a depressed and crazy old hermit. I've considered Georgia, I spent a couple years there and liked it a lot. It would be nice to go back, but I can't think of any specific reasons to return other than nostalgia.

My list of other options totals a big fat zero.

Any suggestions?

(In theory, I can go anywhere if I achieve my dream of making my living as a writer).

I no longer have to spend money on school

Now that I am graduating from BYU (after 7 long years) I find myself in a strange situation. See, all my money for the last 10 years of my life has been going mostly to school (and a mission). Since I am still single and uncommitted that means I have all sorts of marvelous opportunities before me. Here are three of them:
















So yeah. That's a 2011 Ford Mustang (on the right). It has the new 5.0 Coyote engine which literally sends chills down my spine. Oh, and there's a house up there too. And a Honda Shadow Phantom.

Now, I never thought I'd be a motorcycle kind of guy, but lately I've found the idea very appealing. I can't really define why, though it may have something to do with being a free man (in other words: bachelor).

And of course I'll be able to afford all these things because I'm going to be so rich once I graduate. An English degree is pretty much guaranteed money, right?

Poem of the Month

Greater Love


Red lips are not so red
As the stained stones kissed by the English dead.
Kindness of wooed and wooer
Seems shame to their love pure.
O Love, your eyes lose lure
When I behold eyes blinded in my stead!

Your slender attitude
Trembles not exquisite like limbs knife-skewed,
Rolling and rolling there
Where God seems not to care:
Till the fierce love they bear
Cramps them in death’s extreme decrepitude.

Your voice sings not so soft,—
Though even as wind murmuring through raftered loft,—
Your dear voice is not dear,
Gentle, and evening clear,
As theirs whom none now hear,
Now earth has stopped their piteous mouths that coughed.

Heart, you were never hot
Nor large, nor full like hearts made great with shot;
And though your hand be pale,
Paler are all which trail
Your cross through flame and hail:
Weep, you may weep, for you may touch them not.


Wilfred Owen

School-Homed

http://www.theonion.com/articles/increasing-number-of-parents-opting-to-have-childr,17159/



This is funny because it is true.

I kind of miss having a fake tan. . .

I have survived, once again, one more Dancesport competition. Actually, that wasn't hard to do because I didn't dance anything. Well, that's a lie, technically I danced in a class competition; I mean, I was there in it. However, it wasn't something that I practiced for or anything. Anyway, since I am graduating, I chose not to compete in any serious manner for dance this semester. The result was actually quite interesting because this was the most low stress Dancesport that I've ever experienced. On the other hand, the atmosphere was still magical, and I kind of regret not dancing.

Instead, I did my service behind the scenes running the registration table in the tunnel of the Marriot Center.

The coolest thing that happened the whole weekend was when this REALLY SMOKIN' HOT Amateur Latin dancer from New York came up to my table. She was dressed in her costume, a slinky black dress with rhinestones and a kind of drapey/flowy thing. Anyway, she came up to me and told me she had forgotten to bring some fishnets. Now, why would she come ask me, a casually dressed male sitting at a table, about fishnets? I mean, she couldn't have even known that I was a dancer. So basically, she thought I was such a stud that she just had to find some way to talk to me.

I directed her to the OBVIOUS source of information, one of the two costume ladies that was patrolling the hallway. STUPID!!! Why didn't I get her number? Or something.

After that, she was my favorite dancer for the evening. Couple 636. I think her name is Evgenia, and she kind of had an accent, but not much. I DID kind of talk to her as she passed by later in the evening. And she warmed up right in front of my table. Yum. Did I mention that she was very attractive? Anyway, I got a couple pictures of her while I was snapping pictures of Amateur Latin, none of them are very good, but I'll post them anyway.

Ok, that wasn't really the highlight of my weekend. There were tons of other cool things that happened at Dancesport, but I've written about such things before.

Gender Bending

Maybe this is affecting more species than just froggies. . .

Weed Killer Radically Alters Frog Reproduction - US News and World Report

Posted using ShareThis

Just a Few General Notes

My whole family is visiting Utah for almost the whole month of March. I'm pretty excited about this. It'll be nice to see them and I think we'll have lots of fun. Of course the reason that they are coming isn't very good. My sister decided to grow a big nasty thing in her stomach.


Of course, since I'm a bit of a geek this is the first mental image I had of her. . .growth.



Yes, every time I'm around her I'm half expecting a super cool scene from a sci-fi movie to take place. Unfortunately (?) her growth doesn't seem to be near this exciting, thus she actually has to have it removed manually--via doctors and stuff--which is why my family is coming down.

All joking aside this is actually a pretty serious tumor that she's growing. It's huge, and could possibly threaten her ability to have children. Obviously this whole situation has been pretty hard on her, but she's tough and will deal with it fine. She hasn't actually said very much about this to me because I've been spouting off and getting all whiny lately, for which I now feel very stupid.

Speaking of which, I have a new vendetta against returned missionaries. Well, not so much against them all, but against those who come home feeling like they're entitled to get a little action from the first girl they come across. You can make an educated guess as to why this is getting my goat. And I definitely don't like hearing returned missionaries brag about how quickly they made out with a girl after they returned home. Listening to those kinds of conversations makes me feel kind of like pulling out my red lightsaber and opening up a can of Darth Vader. Making out with a girl two or even three weeks after getting back just seems a little shallow to me. On the other hand, I may have a pretty skewed perspective on this. I'm a writer, a romantic if you want, and I still believe in the idea of true love. And here I am trying to find that one girl, the one who is my BEST friend, so that I can devote myself to her forever. . .but here I am also, 28 and still single. Which just makes me wonder if I've been doing this all wrong. I'm pretty frustrated about all this. Sure, I feel annoyed that I got beat out by some hoser who just got off his mission. But mostly I'm really just frustrated with myself.


The End.

Game Over: Part III

And I should add that the game really isn't over. Maybe I'll retire for a bit to gather myself together again, but there is some good advice in this song by Carrie Underwood.

Whatcha gonna do when the show is over?
Whatcha gonna sing when the song ends, yeah?
How you gonna cope when there is no closure?
Where you gonna reach when the goal gets higher?
How you gonna make it through when you think you lost your chance?

Chorus: Play on when you're losing the game
Play on 'cause you're gonna make mistakes
It's always worth the sacrifice
Even when you think you're wrong
So play on, play on

Even when the floodgates swing wide open
Never let current take you down, no
Even when you're not sure where you're going
Swimming through a mess and you can't get out
Just going through the motions and trying not to drown

Chorus

Even through a storm on the darkest night
Don't you ever give up the fight
Even when you feel you're all alone
Play on, play on

Chorus

Anyway, so the game isn't really over.

Game Over: part II

Here is a section from Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest that I found particularly interesting today. I've turned it into a a short-short play.

Vexation

Tia Dalma: You know of Davy Jones, yes? A man of the sea. . .until he ran afoul of that which vex all men.
Will: What vexes all men?
Tia Dalma: What indeed?
Gibbs: The sea?
Bald Pirate: Sums?
Wood-eyed Pirate: The dichotomy of good and evil?

Jack: A woman.

The End (and amen).


Of course there is more to the story. According to the movie a woman broke his heart, so Davy Jones cut it out and stuck it in a box.

There comes a point in every human life, or so I imagine, when that doesn't sound like such a bad idea; the idea of being able to separate oneself from the vulnerability of emotion (not so much the cutting out of the heart)...but I'm just being dramatic right now.

I've been spending the last couple weeks wallowing in despair, and I'm sorry that you've encountered it, even in a highly diluted form on my blog. I think I'll be somewhat back to normal in a day or two. Thanks for everybody who's been willing to listen to me blather on about what has been vexing me (same as what vexes all men).

Game Over

Lyrics from a song that are hitting the spot right now.


Lyrics | Silversun Pickups lyrics - Rusted Wheel lyrics

Erm, yes, this means that I lose.

And here is another song that also hits the spot while also being ironically appropriate.



Lyrics | Carrie Underwood Lyrics | Undo It Lyrics

Bl-ah-gging

My sister pointed out, yesterday, that it's been six days since my last blog post. I don't know what she wants from me, but here I am bl-ah-gging, because I can't force myself to do more productive things (like study for that English 451 Literary Criticism test, which I am going to fail, tomorrow).

Yes, I said bl-ah-gging. Maybe I can shorten that to blah-gging

Basically my life over the last couple weeks has been very blah-esqu. Blah, blah, BLAH!!!

I suppose, if anybody even reads my blog (I can't tell because nobody COMMENTS anymore) that you would like more of an explanation. Here it is: Girls are frustrating. They make it so that I can't sleep or eat according to the course of normal, natural human function. Not only that, but they are confusing as well, giving you one message one day, and then the very next day they are sending very different--even opposite--signals. Nothing makes sense anymore.

Blah!!!

Of course I tend to build things up in my mind much more than I should. Every little event seems to have drastic consequences for good or ill. Which is stupid. I'm being stupid and I know it. But I can't help it, and that is super frustrating.

Even worse: Valentines Day weekend = super sucky. And not just because I'm an emotionally constipated mess. This could have been an awesome weekend! There was a large group of my ballroom friends who went to California for a competition this weekend. And it was just one big fat party. I was invited along, multiple times, and I almost went before I remembered that I committed to dance (as a substitute) for a show on Saturday. Naturally, after everybody had left, the guy whom I was filling in for showed up on Friday and asked if he could have his spot back. Therefore, I was suddenly uncommitted from that, but too late for me to do anything about it; too late to change my plans.

Also, I was invited by a girl to Big Band Night, which sounded like an awesome party on Saturday night. It would have been awesome! But once again I thought I was committed to this dance show so I had to turn her down.

Basically I missed out on two super cool events because of this. I still went to the dance performance (as a van driver) and that kept me occupied for Saturday night, but that wasn't near enough to save this three day holiday weekend from being extreme BLAH!!!

I feel like I missed out on some pretty good opportunities. Instead I've been moping around my apartment trying to kill time. I've dabbled at watching the Olymics, pretended to do homework, played at playing guitar, and otherwise been completely unproductive.

Blah!!! I can't focus on anything, and haven't been able too for the last three weeks. Blah, Blah, Blah!!!

The End

Conversations on Sex

For the last several summers I've had the privilege of working with a pretty crusty group of guys, and when we are out alone in the wilderness their conversations often turn towards the things of the "natural man" (yes I am speaking about sex). I don't mind this so much because I know that their values are much different than mine. But when I encounter the same type of conversation on campus at BYU, I am much more disturbed.

This happened to me almost two weeks ago. A group of my friends and I were sitting in the hall studying between classes when the conversation began to take a turn in this direction. It was mainly directed by one young man who took it upon himself to "educate" those sitting in the hall on the nuances of human reproduction. He was very proud of his expansive knowledge, and he acted as if he was doing us all a favor (though he said nothing that I hadn't already heard before). Several of the people he was speaking to were 19-year-old freshman girls, and this is what bothered me the most. How could he have the audacity to take it upon himself to educate these girls? Granted, some of what he was saying was true (in regards to the importance of knowing what exactly is going to happen after the wedding) but the hallway on BYU campus, with none of us even approaching marriage, is not the appropriate time or place to gain this knowledge. He was way out of line. But what frustrates me the most is that I just sat there and stewed. I did nothing to curb the conversation. I should have stopped it, but I didn't, even though I could tell that some people (one girl in particular that I am trying, clumsily, to woo) were uncomfortable with the conversation. I went home that day and I felt guilty because I had let the conversation run on. I was the oldest there by a significant margin, and therefore I felt that it was my responsibility to protect the innocence of those freshman girls, but I didn't. For which I am sorry.

But this is an illustration of why I love Utah, Provo and BYU in particular, so much. So many people speak negatively of the so-called Utah "bubble," but it is really a great thing. It is so refreshing to be here among people with standards. To not hear cussing on a constant basis, to not constantly encounter base discussions on sex. For instance, when I was a freshman in high school on a long bus ride for a basketball trip, I overheard a conversation from two girls who were 14 and 15 years old in which they were discussing, quite casually, how they liked to have sex with their boyfriends. I never would have heard that in Provo.

Or at least, I shouldn't have heard that in Provo. It really disappoints me that I did. And the attitude of the young man disappoints me as well. He was proud of his knowledge. I for one, wish that I knew significantly less about sex. I'd much rather find this out sometime before my wedding night, through the appropriate channels, rather than all these random conversations that I encounter all the time. I don't hold it against the people that I know back home, but I lost a lot of respect for this young man at BYU. But, once again, I'm more disappointed in myself because I was the good man who did nothing.

Sick, sick society.

It's a bad sign when you can't even trust the members of your own family. Stuff like this-- http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100125/od_nm/us_italy_stabbing --has been happening way too much. And it isn't just an American issue, as this article demonstrates. The pathetic thing is that this kid stabbed his dad over a VIDEO GAME, and not even a bad one like Grand Theft Auto. They were playing a soccer game, good clean fun, and the kid was getting out of control, so the dad turned it off. But what really makes this creepy is the way the kid washed the knife off in the sink afterwards. That's such a creepy and odd detail I would expect to find it in a Stephen King novel.

This kind of thing really, really makes me sad.

TV illiteracy

I didn't know that this was such a problem in our culture. But it does explain why I don't seem to have as much fun at social functions. I don't get near enough TV!!!

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/study_watching_fewer_than_four

Avatar II

This is ridiculous.

The people who are claiming that Avatar is a "racist" movie are more racist than the people they are accusing.

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/movies.ap.org/some-see-racist-theme-alien-adventure-avatar-ap

Avatar = SUPER AWESOME!!!

I saw Avatar in the theaters on Saturday. It was easily the best movie that I've seen on the big screen since I saw The Fellowship of the Rings back in 2001 (of course I missed a lot of great movies while I was on my mission and living in Alaska, but that is beside the point). Basically, Avatar is the best movie that I have seen in a long time.

The reason that it is so good is because the world created and brought to life by James Cameron is full of rich detail. The plants, animals, ships, characters, cultures, etc. . . are all very well thought out. I'm a sucker for rich universes, that's why I like Tolkien and Robert Jordan.

What is really impressive though, is the seamless blend of live action and CG animation. Usually I hate CG in movies (very few movies actually make it feel authentic, LOTR was probably the last one that impressed me) but in Avatar, it sucked me in. It felt real. Even though 90% of the movie was in CG (I made up that number, but it feels right) it still felt authentic!

People have complained about "political" messages in the story, but I really didn't notice anything super blatant politically. I wasn't satisfied with the motivations of the main antagonists--all of their actions seemed to be made for the purpose of driving the story. In other words, all the villains are static characters who make unreasonably stupid choices (because that is what James Cameron wants them to do) because that is what will lead to the big confrontation in the end. But that's really a negligible complaint, I'm just being a picky English major.

I've said enough. Watch Avatar in the theater (yes you Alaskan people, go to Anchorage and watch it).

Somebody up there Likes Me

I think I already talked about how the current semester looked a little iffy as far as my graduation was concerned (because I couldn't get into the classes that I needed). Well things have worked out better than I ever imagined. Somebody is ready for me to graduate I think.

This all started last semester when BYU forgot to e-mail me to tell me when I could start registering for [this] semester. In short, by the time I remembered that registration was approaching, all of the classes that I needed were full. I was slightly worried that I wouldn't be able to add these classes, but I assumed that all the teachers would add students on a seniority basis--thus with my 7 years, I shouldn't have too much trouble.

Well I was wrong. When I went to my classes Monday and Tuesday, none of my teachers cared about how long I had been here (because everybody trying to add these classes was doing so for graduation). Basically, it looked as if I wasn't going to get ANY of the classes that I needed because I ended up very far down on the waiting lists. I was very sad. But I persisted by sending one of my teachers an e-mail that explained why I needed her class (basically I said I was awesome). She added me right away. Another class I was able to add on Thursday because it seems several people dropped (I'm assuming they dropped because A: The class will be hard. And B: The teacher seems boring), so I got in (I am afraid of neither pain or death).

But the third class was the kicker. Brandon Sanderson, author of Mistborn and the new Robert Jordan books, teaches one creative writing class per year at BYU, a creative writing class that caters to Fantasy and Science Fiction authors. Since his commercial success, the popularity of this class has exploded. When I showed up to add Thursday night I was expecting five to ten people who would want to add. There were almost 100. And he chose by drawing five names out of a hat. Mine was the last one drawn.

In short, at the beginning of this week I was as distraught as I have ever been, worried about my future, etc. . . . But by Thursday night everything was in the bag, I'm ok, and I'm going to graduate this semester.

Either I have been very, very lucky, or somebody up there likes me.

Out with the Old, in with the New

Once again I am writing out of a sense of obligation. It's hard maintaining a blog. It takes a great deal of effort to find relevant things to say, and once you do, you have to fight off all the other things that take up time to actually write about them. But, this isn't an impossible task, and I could be doing better than I have been. Still, I guess in the big picture I am not doing so bad. There are a good many bloggers (yes you!) who blog less than I do. So there!

Anyway, I know it's kind of late to do an end-of-year/beginning-of-year blog. But that's what I am going to do.

In short last year ended on a high note. The reason for this was because I think I actually started figuring things out with ladies. (A surprise as much to me as it is to you). The crazy thing is that for the last month or two of the semester I actually had a plethora of girls in my dating pool which has never before been the case. (Because I have been clueless, doh!). There's nothing like a couple of solid dates to put a positive spin on things*. On top of this strange phenomenon, I passed all of my classes and aced all of my finals even though I am the laziest student in the world! So that made me happy too.

My break was good as well. I admit, that at times it was boring and I lacked things to do. But spending more time with my niece and four nephews made everything worth it (and I guess my siblings were fun too, kind of). Plus I went on a couple more hot dates. Holy crap! I am turning into a dating machine!

For the new year I hope to continue this trend. Things are looking a little sketchy as far as classes go--I have to rely on the mercy of a few teachers to get into the classes that I need, which is never that safe--but other than that I expect this to be an awesome semester. It will be my last, possibly.

Since graduation is looming so close, one thing I really need to work on is finishing my book. In a happy scenario, I would finish before the end of the semester, edit it through the summer, and submit if for publication towards the end of the year. Then, of course, I will get offered a big contract, I'll get paid a lot of money, I'll buy a house, and then I shall live in it as a successful writer. Naturally I shall continue to produce marvelous blatherings in various subjects and genres. In my career I hope to become successful in these genres: fantasy, sci-fi, normal fiction, historical fiction, western, narrative, drama/film, and in the words of a friend, "real." With all that dreaming out of the way, I have committed to work on writing more. I think I shall take my laptop to campus a lot more this semster so I can force myself to write. The last time I did this I cruised through 150 pages in one semester. Good luck.

To put it succinctly here are the three things I am working on for this year: Dating, Writing, School. I don't know if they are in order or not. Probably so.

*Lest you should get the wrong idea, I went on six dates this semester. A personal record (triple my previous semester record), but some people do that in a week.