All the colors fade...

It was about 6:30 or so when it hit me; one of those moments when all the energy just seems to evaporate from you and you want nothing more but to collapse and sleep for twelve hours. Unfortunently, at 6:30, I was in the middle of putting a number of Borders issued classics into overstock, with the store telephone ringing and several customers milling around.

Yeah.

Today was one of those days. I was actually awake for most of my two classes, making some points in American Short Stories, got some paperwork signed by a teacher so the Tactical Club will have a staff advisor and trying to stay awake during the movie Dracula, which after the book was a bit of a letdown. To top it off, I still don't have a bike helmet, which adds on another 5-8 minutes to my commute. Also had my student for geology tutoring not show up, which gave me another mile to walk unnecessarily.

LOST isn't working on the ABC website for some reason, so I've seen the first couple minutes. Supernatural will be on later and I've got Jericho on inbetween homework breaks. On top of that, Facebook isn't working, so I can't message various people about meetings and what have you.

And Eye in the Sky is saying that the first snow is expected in the higher elevations. Finally! I think that this time of the year, as well as early spring, after the leaves have gone, and before everything turns green, when it's grey out, is the more interesting. Something about driving along the highway watching the scenery like that.

Editl: Supernatural - I think it had Summer Glau in it this episode, but I'm not sure.

Cranberries are the Ninja Fruit

Probably one of the best commercials I've seen, a cranberry farmer claiming that Cranberries are the 'Ninja Fruit'. Unfortunently, I can't seem to find it online, but if I do, I'll throw up a link.

The Berlin Mall is definently an odd place. There's a number of interesting people that I've seen, ranging from redneck mall rats to the random guy who walks back and forth - for my entire 6 hour shift in the calander kiosk. There's a number of regulars that I see, and usually at clockwork. The people in Citizen Bank leave at about 5:30, and LenseCrafters closes pretty close to 7. And the people at Walmart are scary, not just some of the employees, but some of the people shopping there.

While on break, we had a truck pull up to take back some returns from our outlet. I helped the driver load some boxes after finishing my sandwhich. He mentioned some of his routes and 12 hour trips that he takes every week. I don't know how drivers do that. After 4-5 hours, I'm starting to go crazy.

I was able to finish Matriarch today and man, right up to the end, some surprises. Spoilers: The Isinj are at civil war, Shan and Ade, although sterilized, somehow became pregnant and which Shan aborted with a grenade (yikes), Ryhat is still annoying although starting to be a reasonable character, the Ben'zari are Nazis and now infected with Cha'naat , Vissiji blew himself to pieces, and Lindsay is a bitch. And transparent, literally. (Sarah, correct me on the names, because I can't remember them for anything.) Makes me really wish that the next book (5/6) will be coming out soon. Also got a huge chunk out of Dracula after I finished Matriarch. We discussed it in class, as being the root for a lot of the modern horror/supernatural stories, and it's really proving to be so. I'm liking it a lot, more so than Frankenstein and Dr. Jeckle / Mr. Hyde.

I don't know if I ever mentioned it, but I won second place in the Lexia Photo Contest, 2006 for my picture 'View from St. Paul's'

(Click to enlarge)

It was a welcome surprise a couple weeks ago, and I only learned (probably two weeks after I got the prize money) what the photo was. I like this picture, but I didn't peg this one as one that would win a photo contest, not that I'm complaining. I liked a couple others more, that's all. Lexia has put a profile online, and I was able to see the other contest winners and submissions. Lots of good photos there.

Okay, and now off to bed.

And the skies opened up

I'm wet, pretty chilly and wondering why the hell the closest telephone that I have easy access to is nearly a half mile away. Worth it though.

Work was slow for the first half. The calanders are boring, although sales will probably be picking up soon with the holidays and things happening soon. Things picked up towards the end of the evening, when my supervisor came out to chat about random things and I got all but thirty pages done in Matriarch. It's a good read, and the series is amazing. Karen's one of the best modern Sci-Fi authors out there.

And, got one of the first random/weird stories out of working in a book store:
Me, to man looking at Sports Illustrated calander: "Sir, can I help you find anything?"
Man "Nope. Just looking at the sluts."
Me "..."

For other random stories, visit here: http://kempa.com/articles/bn/

Now, to catch up on some homework, reading, as well as last night's episode of Heroes, on NBC. Veronica Mars is on later tonight.

Edit: Crap! My usual source for TV show times, Yahoo says that Veronica is on at 11, but it's currently baseball, which isn't listed on there at all. Maybe it'll be pushed back a bit? Arg.

Life through a telescopic lense

I still have my cast on. No, it wasn't taken off, like I'd hoped that it would be, but no, I have another week to go with it on. It's infuriating and I'm about ready to take the damn thing off myself, if I hadn't already been warned by someone that that's probably a bad idea.

Arg.

On top of that, nobody showed up for my geology tutoring session. Now, this is somewhat usual, I sit in the Geology lab for two or so hours, waiting for someone to show up with a question. Hell, any question would do, but nope. Two hours of my time wasted, where I didn't have to leave a meeting early or hell, even miss the latest episode of Heroes. At least I got a bit of my reading for English done, although I need to finish Dracula for Gothic Lit tomorrow. I also got another couple of chapters done in Matriarch (I'm going Sarah...). Brilliant book from Karen Traviss, the forth book after City of Pearl, Crossing the Line and The World Before.

I've been spending some down time working on the blog. New appearance, but Blogger also added a tagging option, so one can create a theme for each post, and if so inclined, someone could search for related entries. Great, but I have another 250 posts to go to finish up... some other time. Any thoughts on the new layout?

Studio 60 rocked. Go watch, if you haven't yet.

There's not a whole lot that I can talk about really. I took my sister out to dinner the other night. It was fun to hang out with her and catch up a little, because I don't see my family members as often as I did. Freaked my mom out, as we got home to find 4-5 increasingly frantic messages from her. We had a good laugh about it later, along with talk of what my asperations are for the future, time management and other random school things.

Overall, aside from the cast still being on my arm, things are going well.

Clarification

Okay, despite my TV viewing habits, work load, job and late nights, AND, despite the fact that I forgot two papers, I am doing fairly well, and for the most part, staying on top of things. I'm still sane, alive and working, and actually having a good semester.

So please, stop worrying.

Finally! Someone notices!

The New York Times just did their review of The Nine, which starts this week, and included an interesting paragraph:

This year, suspense is the new forensics: instead of grisly crimes that are neatly wrapped up by episode’s end, many of the new dramas stretch the plot through an entire season, holding viewers’ attention by withholding a denouement and ending each episode with a cliffhanger.

Anyone with their eyes open could have told you that - it's nice to see some bigger recognition of this though. TV has gone from standalonish episodes to longer story arcs. LOST is commonly assosiated with this, but it goes further back, to Babylon 5 and to the new Battlestar Galactica. LOST, Smith, Veronica Mars, Battlestar and numerous others are taking this on. It's a good change.

In other random happenings: I found my camera, got my iPod to work, turned into a zombie at work and am now back on my bike. Wee!

Flight

I'm back on my bike, and picking my cast apart, little by little. It's getting irritating, in many ways. Doing simple things around the house is now a chore, such as buttoning up a shirt or zipping my jacket. Cans are problematic, as are keys. And typing! Such a pain now. I'm thinking that I'm going to visit the doctor to get a simple splint, so that I can continue to type.
Random other things have been going on. Picked up a couple of comics after I dropped off my paychecks and paid off part of my credit card bill. Finally, my hours at Waldenbooks will be increasing so that I'll finally be able to pay my bills and roommate. And, finally, Spiderman has come to his senses about what side of the Civil War he's on. FINALLY!

Blarg

Yay for setting my alarm on time, but at the same time, also setting the clock an hour early. Not really sure how that happened. As a result, I'm to class an hour early. Does this mean that I get to skip a day?

Also, in this day in history, the Hobbit was published in 1939, with reluctance from J.R.R. Tolkien.

And, the trailer for Frank Miller's 300 was released on some random website today. 300 is a graphic novel that Miller (Who also wrote the brilliant Sin City and the Dark Knight Returns comics) about the 300 Spartan warriors at the battle of Thermopylae, where they held off an entire Persian army of thousands. I learned about the story in 3 Democracies in High School, and I got such chills hearing some of the lines in the trailer. "We shall fight in the shade."

See the trailer here.

Today is a Good Day

The reason: Serenity came out on DVD today. And, exams are over for me. So, for an entire semester, I'm through with Norwich, and am not officially on Winter break, until the 5th, whereupon, I'm leaving the country. So, it's a good day.

However, I had to run around throughout the entire campus to try and find a number of people to get approval to study abroad. I hate paperwork. First, to the Bursar's office. Then across campus to the Study Abroad office. Then to Financial Aid and the Registrar, to my advisor and the department head. Then I was given another slip of paper that made me repeat most of that. Now, I'm trying to fill out a transfer of credits form with no one around to sign off on it. I'm really hoping that I can get this finished this week.

Now, Serenity. The best movie of the year + No Class = JOY!

AND - The Supreme Court ruled the Intelligent Design theory unconstitutional to be taught in classrooms. Another point for intelligence.

Year in Review: Travel

I’ve developed a taste for travel. This year, I traveled even more about the States, visiting Nevada, Utah and Arizona. Hit some major landmarks, such as the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, the Hoover Dam and Zion National Park. Visited some not so common places that you’ll never hear about, such as that little convenience store, run by three Mormon women in dresses, where I was able to call home for the first time in a week. I slept over in an airport after a seven hour drive down and through New York City to get out there in the first place, and that first campsite at the Valley of Fire, surrounded by ten meter tall dune cross beds.
I took off from school for half a week and flew out to Indianapolis, Indiana to attend a Star Wars convention, dressed up as a Storm Trooper. I stayed out in a hotel right across from the Convention and every morning was surrounded by thousands of fans of the series. I met some of my favorite authors, Timothy Zahn, Matthew Stover, Karen Traviss, Jan Duursema, and Joe Corroney, as well as the other workers on the Clone Wars Site that I work on. I met some crazy people there, some interesting ones and some people that I still talk to, even after several months. I went with my family to New York City, to Carnegie Hall, not once, but twice, to watch my brother perform with first the Vermont Youth Orchestra and then a national wind ensemble that he was accepted into. I found, each time that I was there, that I really enjoyed walking around the streets with such a large number of people. I also found that I especially liked Central Park, and walking in general.
Those were the major trips. My geology class took a day and we drove out to Central New York, looking at the rocks and examining a progression of strata as the mountain ranges shed material off. I went to Maine to visit my friend Sam at school, taking a much needed break from Vermont. 400 miles and a hundred dollars on the credit card later, I still maintain that it was a good idea. Then of course, there were the spontaneous trips up to Burlington with Eric or to meet with Rachel over the weekends. Then there were the times when I hiked around my house, ten miles at a time.

Year in Review: Introduction

Someone mentioned to me that the end of the year is a perfect time for reflection. Every year brings about a number of new changes in ways that one cannot anticipate, and along with it, a number of gains, losses and hopes for the future. I guess this year is no different. It’s been an interesting year thus far.
I’m nostalgic. I like to remember things, and one of the best things, I’ve found, it reminiscing with friends about games we’ve played, history, life, politics, other camping years, school and everything and anything that comes to mind. I’m a history major, and I’m finding that a lot of that carries over to other things. I look back to see where I messed up and to try and fix it, but also to the good times. So here, where I rant and rave and talk, it seems like a good place to look back on the year, for it’s good and bad things that have happened. Funny thing is, despite everything that’s happened; I don’t know that I’d trade it for anything. 2005 In Review.

iPod

Taking a quick break from studying. Apple sent me my iPod back - a brand new one. I'm amazed at how fast they shipped it back and got to my problem. It broke a week ago today, I got the box on friday, shipped it out on Monday, they worked on it tuesday, shipped it back on Wedsnday and now I have it. Woohoo!

Just when you thought things were weird... they just got stranger...

Found this article on Yahoo- Very strange.

Former Canadian Minister Of Defence Asks Canadian Parliament Asked To Hold Hearings On Relations With Alien "Et" Civilizations

(PRWEB) - OTTAWA, CANADA (PRWEB) November 24, 2005 -- A former Canadian Minister of Defence and Deputy Prime Minister under Pierre Trudeau has joined forces with three Non-governmental organizations to ask the Parliament of Canada to hold public hearings on Exopolitics -- relations with “ETs.”
By “ETs,” Mr. Hellyer and these organizations mean ethical, advanced extraterrestrial civilizations that may now be visiting Earth.
On September 25, 2005, in a startling speech at the University of Toronto that caught the attention of mainstream newspapers and magazines, Paul Hellyer, Canada’s Defence Minister from 1963-67 under Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Prime Minister Lester Pearson, publicly stated: "UFOs, are as real as the airplanes that fly over your head."
Mr. Hellyer went on to say, "I'm so concerned about what the consequences might be of starting an intergalactic war, that I just think I had to say something."

Full article up in the link.

And in other news, Banks/Money issues suck. Competely.
As do exams. Rest of the week until the 20th will be exam time, with several in the next couple of days. I shall be hiding under a rock for that period of time. Hopefully.

End of the Year reflections

End-of-year meme from Mastadge
1. What did you do in 2005 that you'd never done before?
Worked as a Village director. Kissed someone for the first time. Visited Utah and Nevada.
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
One of them, another no. And maybe.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Not that I know of, although my Aunt had a baby towards the end of last year.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, although I know someone who was in a bad car accident.
5. What countries did you visit?
None this year, although next year, January - London, England, and hopefully a whole lot of other ones.
6. What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005?
Hm, a couple things.
7. What dates from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
End of June, saving several campers from getting crushed by a runaway wagon. Couple of random things from camp. Getting stuck in Burlington Airport after finding that our tickets weren't there, and then driving down to New York City that night. Seeing my brother play in Carnagie Hall in New York City - Twice. Waiting in line for Star Wars in Armor. Meeting Matthew Stover, Timothy Zahn, Karen Traviss, Troy Dennings and a ton of other people at Celebration 3. Seeing Carbon Leaf in concert.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Not messing up too much as a Village Director.
9. What was your biggest failure?
A couple select moments over the summer as Village Director.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Twisted my knee pretty badly this fall, but nothing more than that.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
My iPod. Best investment that I've ever made.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
Hm.. Quite a few people over the year.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Several people over the summer - complete failures as counselors at times.
14. Where did most of your money go?
That is the question isn't it? Books, movies, comics, food. Too much on things that I probably shouldn't have.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Serenity coming out. Hanging out with a couple certain people.
16. What song will always remind you of 2005?
A couple- Life Less Ordinary, by Carbon Leaf. Burning in the Sun, Blue Merle. Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight, Amos Lee and Best of You, The Foo Fighters.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? A mix of both. It's been a rough semester at times, but I'm looking forwards London.
b) thinner or fatter? Probably a little heavier. I haven't gotten out to exercise (Rock Climb) in a long time.
c) richer or poorer? Poorer.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
I wish that I was more realistic. Maybe a little less worrisome and paranoid.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Too much.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
With family.
21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?
Probably Rachel or Eric.
22. Did you fall in love in 2005?
Yes.
23. How many one-night stands?
None
24. What was your favourite TV program?
Battlestar Galactica. Stargate and Arrested Developement as well.
New program?
Also Battlestar Galactica.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
No one that I can think of.
26. What was the best book you read?
Hm, there's been several. When Egypt Ruled the East, by George Steindorff and Keith Seele, a definitive history of Ancient Egypt. The World Before by Karen Traviss. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis, Travels with Charley, by John Steinbeck, Americana by Hampton Sides, America: A Narrative History, most likely a couple others.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Oh boy. Quite a few new artists and CDs. CARBON LEAF, John Butler Trio, Blue Merle, Mike Doughty, Amos Lee, Great Big Sea, Nickel Creek, Zero 7, Foo Fighters. Carbon Leaf was the greatest though.
28. What did you want and get?
My jobs at Abnaki and KAS.
29. What did you want and not get?
A girlfriend.
30. What was your favourite film of this year?
SERENITY!
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Turned 20, didn't do anything.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
NOT having a string of bad luck with women.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005?
My coat, cargo pants, boots, a couple of button down shirts.
34. What kept you sane?
Hm. My friends.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Jewel Straite, Kate from LOST.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Probably the recent news on regarding the secret prisons in Europe used by the US. FEMA's response to Katrina. Various other things that the Bush Administration has done.
37. Who did you miss?
Rachel, Sarah, Sam.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
Hm. Probably Naomi at Climbing the other day.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005.
Probably to relax.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Live a life less ordinary
Live a life extraordinary with me
Live a life less sedentary
Live a life evolutionary with me
Well I hate to be a bother,
But it's you and there's no other, I do believe
You can call me naive but...
I know me very well (at least as far as I can tell)
And I know what I need
The night you came into my life
Well it took the bones of me, took the bones of me
You blew away my storm and strife
And shook the bones of me, shook the bones of me
By the way, I do know why you stayed away...
I will keep tongue-tied next time

Live a life less ordinary
Live a life extraordinary with me
My face had said too much
Before our hands could even touch
To greet a 'hello'
(So much for going slow...)
A little later on that year
I told you that I loved you dear
What do you know?
This you weren't prepared to hear
I'm a saddened man, I'm a broken boy
I'm a toddler with a complex toy
I've fallen apart, since the ambush of your heart

The night you came into my life
Well it took the bones of me, took the bones of me
You blew away my storm and strife
And shook the bones of me, shook the bones of me.
By the way, I do know why you stayed away
I will keep tongue-tied but...

Honey understand, honey understand
I won't make demands
Honey understand, honey understand
We could walk without a plan.
Honey understand (honey), honey understand
I won't rest in stone all alone
Honey understand, honey understand
I'm all ready to go
But you already know...

Live a life less ordinary
Live a life extraordinary with me.
If I could name you in this song
Would it make you smile and sing along?
This is the goal: to get into your soul
If I could make you dance for joy
Could that be the second-chance decoy?
The bird-in-hand I would need
To help you understand?

The night you came into my life
well it took the bones of me, took the bones of me
You blew away my storm and strife
And shook the bones of me, shook the bones of me
By the way, I do know why you stayed away
I will keep tongue-tied next time

Whiteouts and Meetings

I had a very busy day yesterday - Up to Burlington and back, a couple trips around Central Vermont, through all types of weather.Had Math at 9 to 10 and we finally got to things that I actually understand - some geometry and things that I can remember in high school. From there, I drove up to Burlington. My friend Rachel had finished her senior thesis project up at UVM, and was presenting it before a committe of teachers there. She invited me up a couple of weeks ago. So I went up and walked around Church Street for a while, then walked up and met up with her at UVM. I didn't get lost while I was up there, which was a plus, given all the construction that they have on campus there. The presentation went over very well, I think. I'm not entirely sure if I completely understood everything that she was talking about, because it's biology, and I haven't had a bio class for years. But she got through it well enough, and we waited outside for her and the committee to talk privately, while I talked with her roommate for a while. She came out pretty happy and relieved, and we went had some refreshments. I left a little later because I was afraid of getting a ticket where I was parked, (Fortunently didn't get one) and headed home. While I passed Waterbury, I stopped off and visited Eric, who'd just gotten up. We talked for a while and decided to hang out for the afternoon. We drove off to the Berlin Mall and walked around there for a while, then got dinner, headed to Norwich for the Tactics meeting that we had. It actually went over well, with some games locked down for the future, some procedures for those games and some other things like that. Probably one of the most successful meetings that we've had in a long time, which I was really happy about. Then went over to the Library with Eric to show him the Pirates of the Caribbean 2 trailer (Now online at http://movies.yahoo.com) and then we headed home, where we hit a bit of a whiteout. Visibility went down to almost zero and we had to really show down. We got to Waterbury okay, but I ran into troubles as I got home. Backroads were okay, if slightly slippery, but the big hill a couple miles from my house was immpassble and I started spinning about halfway up and couldn't make it to the top. I had to back down a mile or so, almost going into a ditch, and turned around, went back through Montpelier and got home almost an hour later. Wee!

Random Acts

One of the things that I really like about some of my friends is the extremely random things that we do. Take my friend Eric for example- One of the many things that we completely agree with is that we should never plan anything out. A) It never works, and B) it's never any fun. I think that we both like seeing where randomness takes us.
This is about what we did today- I ran into him today when I went in to drop my sister off at her piano lesson. Eric and I decided to hang out for a while. We then decided, that after I dropped my sister off at her friend's house, we'd go up to Burlington, just for the hell of it. So we did. We stopped up at Bestbuy, where I found a copy of Amos Lee's newest Album, which is outstanding, and that Best Buy was giving out copies of HBO's newest series, Rome's pilot episode. Pretty cool. We then went up to Church Street, walked around for a while there, in Borders and Quarterstaff. Ran into Rachel and her friend Kara, talked with them for a while.
It was good to be among proper villians again- Eric and I are extremely alike, and it was great just to talk for a while about everything. We don't see each other much, so it was good to catch up again.
On the way home, I picked up a hitchhiker, dropped her off down the road. Never done that before, felt good to help someone out. She was kinda weird though. Large vocabulary for a highschool girl.

Passport!

Had a couple welcome surprises when I arrived home this evening. First, the power was back on. Always a plus. Second, I got some financial aid for travelling abroad, and most of my paperwork is ready to go out tomorrow. Third, I got my passport, several weeks early.

Nightfall

It's amazing what happens to a group of people when the power is cut to something like a college campus. Vermont recieved several more inches of snow last night, and as usual, the power cut out. I was over the for the night anyway, because my car doesn't have snow tires yet, and that's a bad thing, especially here, with soft, wet, heavy snow falling. So around 10, everything went out. Lights, computer network, everything, except the library, which for some odd reason, was completely powered, except that it didn't have internet. Nothing came on until 6 this morning. So, no progress on several projects, and no returning home to get things that I needed.
What was also disturbing was the amount of trouble that the blackout caused. First, there were two injuries that I heard of- one broken arm, caused when someone was sliding down a hill and smashed into a railing. The second case was someone doing the same thing and slammed into a tree with their back, and couldn't walk afterwards. The other thing that I heard about was that the UP (Upper Parade Ground) turned into a huge snowball fight, but also that some people were carrying around rapiers and baseball bats, trying to order Civilians around. Probably exaggerated, but who knows.

It was funny, because my friend Matt voiced the same thing that I was thinking: It's just like in Nightfall.

It came!

Woohoo! It came! I'm now the proud owner of a shirt emblazened with the Serenity logo! A while ago, I joined the official message board and fan section, and through various contests and polls, I gathered points. Four weeks before the movie was released, the powers to be opened up the official store- and I found that I had enough points to get a shirt with the logo. So, four weeks go by, doesn't come, movie hits theaters, don't have it. I was a little worried that it wouldn't come. Then today, I come home to pick up some work and walla! It's on the door. I'll try and get pictures.
In other news, Karen Traviss's latest novel, The World Before, is due out today, according to her and Amazon.com, although the local bookstore that I called said that it's not due out until November. Gah! I'm really looking forwards to this book, because the last two have been amazing, right at the top of my favorites list. At least it's not being released next year like I thought that it was earlier...

Snow

It snowed here. Seems a bit early, but winter is coming. It's kinda scary. Now, everyone's going to complain about it, and how cold it's getting. I can't wait for a change.

Having trouble sleeping again- I keep getting awoken by a dream- similar most of the time, where I'm in a car accident. But it's not the accident that I keep seeing- it's me in the hospital afterwards, with various injuries and visitors, some welcome and some not so welcome. It's beginning to creep me out.