tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85023078825900164182024-03-14T09:25:48.127-07:00Confessions of a self-nicknaming AssholeA blog for people who are too bored to stop reading what I was too bored to stop writing.TheDannyDingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03429880755430952880noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502307882590016418.post-52545047101606160732010-02-23T20:31:00.000-08:002010-02-24T01:43:58.892-08:00A Tale of Two Book Reviews<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So another few weeks have passed, and I've managed to finish another few books. Both were along the same genre being murder/suspense thrillers, however that is there only real similarity. The first book I read was "The Whitechapel Conspiracy" by Anne Perry, and the second book I finished was "Big Red Tequila" by Rick Riordan, the author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:DRd3JrlNpsNkvM:http://www.elliottbooks.com/ebayimages/Whitechapel.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 86px; height: 129px;" src="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:DRd3JrlNpsNkvM:http://www.elliottbooks.com/ebayimages/Whitechapel.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Now I first purchased this book way back when I first joined a book club called Mystery Guild Book Club. The offer was 12 books for a penny plus S&H, and this was one of my choices. My initial thoughts back then that this was a true accounting of some murder mystery from back in the day but one I started reading, it was simply a fiction book about a murder mystery from way back in the day. In actuality I discovered this is actually the 21st book in the series of 25 involving the main character Thomas Pitt written by Anne Perry so far. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The story begins in the late 1800's with Thomas Pitt heading to a trial to testify against a man he believes has murdered another man. The original conclusion was that the murdered was not a murder, but an accidental death. The main issue facing Pitt and the prosecutor is the fact that the accused is a high-standing member of society, as well as being a good friend of the deceased and seemingly having no motive to kill. Even with these hardships the killer is convicted and the decision is upheld during the appeal. Even though Pitt got his man, his troubles have just begun. He is shortly thereafter removed from his position and placed in an undesirable post away from his wife and kids. From there both he and his adventure seeking wife look for clues as to why this good friend of the deceased killed him and why it would provoke the rest of the "Inner Circle," a group of high level people throughout the society, to remove Pitt from his prominent place within the London police. Their discoveries eventually lead to the answer and even a possible Jack the Ripper cover-up. All in all, a fairly good story with plenty of twists and turns to keep your mind guessing. I would recommend this book and it may have even inspired me to pick up some of the others in Perry's series involving Thomas Pitt.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><img src="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:39EL1Zrn96G4QM:http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n15/n77108.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 79px; height: 129px; " /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As I stated before, Rick Riordan is the writer of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, which just had a movie come out. However, before all the writing of Greek gods, his first work was "Big Red Tequila." This book is also a book in a series, the 1st of 7 that's he written so far. The series follows a detective Jackson 'Tres' Navarre III. The book starts with Tres coming home to San Antonio after being away for 10 years. He left to escape his past, his father Jackson Navarre Jr., former police chief of San Antonio, was shot and killed right in front of him. He comes back for the girl he left, who remained behind. Once he gets back into town, he's hit with memories both good and bad, as well as people both good and bad who are surprised, to say the least, to see him home. Although it wasn't originally part of the plan, Tres starts digging up the past to see if the unsolved murder of his father is still unsolvable. The main spark for his desire to learn the past is the sudden kidnapping of his girlfriend. From there, he's learning bits of information, none of which really connect together, but all that tell him there's something wrong. Through mafia hits and constantly being attacked by the new chief of police, the ex-fiancee of his current girlfriend, and his girlfriend's former work partner, he manages to not only stay alive but keep his sense of humor throughout. The story itself wasn't fantastic, but Riordan writes in a style that I love. He brings the character's sense of humor into the story, making it part of the book's theme, which is something I try to do when I write stories. I would definitely recommend this book and I look forward to finding and reading the rest of this series.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Well, that's all for me today. I know I said in my last book review that I was going to start planning out some writing time for myself, and even though I haven't had time to sit down and just write, I have had ideas going through my head quite a bit, and I plan to have something started by the end of the week. Whether it's the start of a story or just more poetry, I don't know yet, but as soon as I do you will too. Otherwise, I hope all is well for everyone out there and that your 2010 is going as planned. If not, don't worry, there's only 311 days left till you get to start all over again.</span></span></div>TheDannyDingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03429880755430952880noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502307882590016418.post-37294870108323577102010-02-06T20:51:00.000-08:002010-02-10T20:16:46.051-08:00A pair of book reviews<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Well I've read 2 more books and they couldn't be on more opposite sides of the spectrum. The books I'm reviewing this week are "Are you there God? It's me, Margaret" by Judy Blume and "Crash" by J.G. Ballard. So if you have no wish to have the plots of these stories explained to you, I suggest you don't read anymore of this entry unless you don't mind knowing the plot. In that case, please feel free to read on.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:OIpkdavPtmtAWM:http://jezebel.com/assets/resources/2008/02/areyoutheregoditsmedodai020.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 78px; height: 124px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">First off, Judy Blume is an author I've heard of but never actually read anything of hers. What I thought was going to be a book mainly focused on religion due to the title is actually a book that is mostly about the perspective of a young adolescent girl. The story follows young Margaret as she arrives in a new town shortly before starting 6th grade. The plot isn't really focused on any one issue that Margaret eventually encounters but the only 2 themes that are more or less focused from beginning to end of the book are her talking to God and her and her friends' obsession over getting their periods. I was never a young girl, but I am venturing a guess that Blume did a fantastic job of assimilating what young girls talk about and do and fret over. It was an okay book but I probably wouldn't recommend anyone to read it unless they were a young girl worrying about getting their period or having trouble with their relationship with God.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://books.google.com/books?id=TAasDXOm1dsC&dq=cover+picture+of+crash+by+j.g.+ballard&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=5" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 54px; height: 80px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I've read a Ballard book before called "The Day of Creation," which was a good book, but that's not why I picked up this book. I bought this book due to my fascination with books turned into movies. However, I was pretty surprised when I started reading this book to find out it had nothing to do with the Ang Lee film. It starts with the main character explaining how another character he meets later in the book has just died in a car crash in an attempt to kill himself and Elizabeth Taylor. The beginning of the book is set up Tarantino-style where they start with the end of the book and the rest of the book is a prequel to the beginning of the book. The actual chronological story starts with the main character Ballard getting in an auto accident and finding his life opened to the </span></span><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">beauty</span></span></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> of car crashes and how it opens up his sexuality. Eventually he meets the character who is obsessed with Elizabeth Taylor, Vaughan, and his own obsession with car crashes and sex is taken up to Vaughan's level. After I started reading the book, I ventured to look at the back cover and read that the book was Ballard's critique of technology and how it's taking over our lives. But after reading the book, I don't see how that critique stands unless I missed a major metaphor because the entire book is dedicated to people who have been in car crashes, who purposely get in car crashes solely for sexual pleasure and I didn't see what it had to do with technology unless Ballard assumes that we are all erotically turned on by crashing automobiles. The story was weird and unless you like weird I wouldn't recommend this book either.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">That's all for now, not much new to enter into the mess that is my life except for maybe I'm becoming an alcoholic. Okay, not really an alcoholic but my tolerance for beer has risen quite dramatically and it takes quite a bit to get me drunk now-a-days, which isn't horrible but it's definitely not good. Plus on a somewhat unrelated note, I just may start posting some of my writing on here. It's been a while since I've written anything but recently being featured in a friend's blog and seeing a pretty positive response to my stuff, I plan on taking time out to write some new stuff. Otherwise, I hope everyone's year is going well and if not, only 326 more days until 2011 gets here.</span></span></div>TheDannyDingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03429880755430952880noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502307882590016418.post-50769837185700250562010-01-26T03:41:00.000-08:002010-01-26T23:25:40.282-08:00Dreams and other things!!<span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">The other day, Sunday to be precise, I only slept for about 3 hours. So, I'm not quite sure how far into a dream cycle I got, but I do remember something very unique and a first for me in terms of dreams I have had. First off let me start by telling you that I rarely remember my dreams, and if I do remember something, it's usually only certain specifics. Secondly, a lot of my dreams are reoccurring, and when they do occur again, they usually follow the same pattern with only subtle variations.<br /><br /></span><div></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Anyways on to this most recent and bizarre dream. I had a dream that not only was I married, but that I had a daughter. Now, I've always envisioned myself as having kids, and I've even day-dreamed about what my future kid may be like. I usually see myself having a son, but deep down I would prefer to have a girl. But, I've never had a solid vision of a child or any particular idea of what they might look like. In my dream, which I vaguely remember taking place in a multi-story parking garage, something inevitably happens that draws my daughter away from me. The only part of my dream that I really truly remember well, is when we're finally reunited, I take her face in my hands and tell her how much I love her and how important she is to me. I remember that she looked as if she were in the 7 to 10 age range and she had shoulder length auburn hair. The only reason I can remember what my wife in the dream looked like is because our daughter fairly resembled her.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">I normally don't get emotional over dreams regardless of what they might entail, but this one I literally stayed in bed for a few additional minutes pondering about the different possible meanings of such a dream. I was almost stunned from the general idea of me having a child. As I said, I've always seen myself one day having a kid or two, but never have I had such a vivid experience that made it seem like this desire was in any way at all possible. The worst part about this is that even though I had only gotten 3 hours of sleep, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't fall back asleep. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">So, what else would I do with a lazy Sunday since I couldn't sleep? I decided it was an opportune time to go see a movie that had just come out that I had been waiting to see, Legion, with Paul Bettany. The basic premise of the movie is that a rogue angel, played by Paul Bettany, comes down from heaven to fend of hordes of angels coming to kill the last chance humanity has in the form of a unborn baby. Now the majority of acting in this movie is pretty bad. Dennis Quaid, Lucas Black, Tyrese Gibson and Adrianne Palicki are mediocre at best and at worst are outstandingly horrible. However, Bettany not only made the movie worth watching, he re-enforced some of my beliefs oddly enough. Due to the sub par acting by most of the cast, I wouldn't necessarily recommend seeing this film, but if you were already interested in it, the action sequences and Bettany are more than enough for a reduced priced seating offered by most AMC Star theaters in the SE Michigan area before 6 P.M., Monday through Thursday.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">As usual I'll end with hopes that everything is going well in your lives, and that 2010 is everything you expected it to be. If it's not, 2011 is only 340 days away!!</span></div>TheDannyDingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03429880755430952880noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502307882590016418.post-56114140692478165172010-01-21T12:48:00.000-08:002010-01-23T22:36:26.738-08:00A slew of book reviews<div style="text-align: left;"><b>SPOILER ALERT: I DISCUSS IN DETAIL THE PLOT OF 3 BOOKS/MOVIES WHICH ARE THE DA VINCI CODE, ANGELS AND DEMONS AND THE RUNAWAY JURY.</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Well, I've managed to read 3 books so far this year and I've read through 1/3 of a 4th book and started a 5th. The 3 books I've already finished are a pair of Dan Brown books "The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels and Demons," as well as "The Runaway Jury" by John Grisham. All 3 books have been made into movies, which has been a trend I've been going through over the past few years. I'm currently reading another Grisham book turned movie, "A Time to Kill."</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I'll go over the books as I read them. I started my year with the Dan Brown and went in movie production order of his 2 biggest selling books. Although "The Da Vinci Code (DVC)" was made into a movie first, it was the second in the series following Harvard symbologist, Robert Langdon. Now, if you want to read both books and you're wondering about which one to read first, after having read them both, I would say it doesn't really matter. Although Brown wrote "Angels and Demons (A&D)" first, there's only a minor mention of that in DVC, so it doesn't really affect the story. </span></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:QStaoEa8EatNnM:http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n11/n56931.jpg"><img src="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:QStaoEa8EatNnM:http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n11/n56931.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 84px; height: 129px; " /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Without trying to spoil the story if you haven't seen the movie already, the main gist of the plot is that Langdon is in Paris for a conference. He's thrust into a 1000 plus year battle between two sects of catholicism fighting over a secret that could crush faith around the world. He's accompanied on his adventure by a French cryptologist named Sophie Neveu. As they struggle to understand the hidden clues laid before them by Sophie's murdered grandfather, they must also fight against the Opus Dei, a strict sect of catholicism that believes in the bible as law not suggestion. The movie stays fairly close to the book, but there are some glaring differences, in my opinion. First off, when Langdon first seeks the help of his friend Sir Leigh Teabing, in the movie they show Langdon and Teabing having serious riffs about the story of the Holy Grail. In the book, they seem to agree on all points when explaining to Sophie the story. Another big difference between the book and the movie is that there are two cryptexes in the book and the one in the movie is actually stored in the first, much larger cryptex. There are other smaller differences such as Fache is never contacted by Bishop Aringarosa, that there is no Council of Shadows at all, and Aringarosa, head of the Opus Dei, is actually getting a $20 million Euro buy-out because the Pope plans to no longer support the Opus Dei as a Vatican supported sect. All in all, it was a wonderful book and seeing the movie first didn't take anything away from the fun and excitement I had while reading it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:w1C6RWw4wiPWDM%3Ahttp://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n5/n25631.jpg"><img src="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:w1C6RWw4wiPWDM%3Ahttp://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n5/n25631.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="cursor: pointer; width: 85px; height: 129px; " /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Dan Brown's prequel to DVC is the wonderfully constructed "Angels and Demons." Now, in terms of movies made from books, A&D is one of the most different translations that I've ever read. I don't mean to say that the movie is completely indistinguishable from the book, but they change and remove quite a few major plot points in the movie, once again in my opinion. The main plot of A&D is that Langdon, a well known symbologist from Harvard, is contacted by a man from a Swiss science research facility asking for help involving a murdered employee that occurred within their complex. From there, Langdon is lead on a chase of an ancient supposedly dead secret society, with the help of an attractive female scientist who happened to be the partner, as well as adopted daughter, of the slain employee. In terms of excitement, A&D definitely did a much better job of keeping me excited in comparison to DVC. When you read a book after already seeing the movie based off it, there is some lack of suspense because you have a general idea of where the story is going, but with A&D the story is different enough that you're kept on your toes more or less throughout the entire story. The obvious issues I had with the book as usual are the glaring differences between the movie and the book. The biggest and most important difference is that they fail to communicate the real relationship between Vittoria Vetra and her slain adoptive father, Leonardo. It brings a whole new level of her determination to find his killer throughout the story. Secondly, the assassin in the book is actually a Middle Eastern man, who is descended from a whole tribe of assassins. Thirdly, and not nearly as important to the actual story line, but in the end when the camerlengo flies the anti-matter up in the helicopter, Langdon goes with him and is left to jump out without the assistance of a parachute. This last point is what I would consider a normal movie edit of the story, but I feel it would have been such a better movie if they had stayed a little bit more true to the story in this case.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:68KCg9fbnaYiPM:http://www.booktopia.com.au/covers/9780099410218.jpg"><img src="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:68KCg9fbnaYiPM:http://www.booktopia.com.au/covers/9780099410218.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="cursor: pointer; width: 64px; height: 103px; " /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I've read about 4 or 5 Grisham books in the past, and found them quite pleasing books about Law and lawyers. This is the first Grisham book I've read that became a movie and it's special in that it is the first book turned movie that I can recall where I enjoyed the movie more than I did the book. I don't say that with the intention of making anybody think the book wasn't good, it certainly was entertaining. I just more enjoyed the premise that was presented in the movie. I think the idea of an individual suing a corporation in the gun industry is more presentable case than that of an individual suing the tobacco industry. The book narrates the story of Nicholas Easter, a resident of Biloxi in Mississippi who is notified that he is required in court due to a jury summons. He works diligently to make sure he is part of the final 12 jurors that get to partake in the trial of Celeste Wood v. Pynex, a tobacco corporation who produces the cigarette brand that her husband had smoked for 30 years before his death caused by lung cancer. His main job is to get control of the jury's opinion of the case so when his associate, Marlee who is in contact with Ranking Fitch, the jury consultant of the defense team. Fitch has been hired by the Big 4 tobacco companies as a slew of litigation has been brought up against them over the past few years including 16 straight decisions in their favor, 8 of which Fitch has been a part of. Marlee and Easter work together to show Fitch that they can persuade the jury to vote against a Plaintiff's decision and make it 17 in a row for the defense. However, Marlee and Easter are only playing Fitch to get a $10,000,000, which they use to short sell tobacco company stock and make a fortune of their own. They do this because prior to Marlee becoming Marlee, she was Gabrielle and she had two parents, both of whom succumbed to lung cancer from smoking cigarettes. Ever since Gabrielle met and fell in love with the then Jeff Kurr, they have been traveling around the country in an attempt to get on a jury involving a tobacco case. The most glaring differences from the book have already been stated. It's not a case about a gun death, but rather a case involving a man who died of lung cancer from smoking for 30 years. Some of the other big differences that I think should have been in movie were the fact that they bumped 3 jurors not just 1, including Frank Herrera and Herman Grimes, the blind foreman. In fact, Nick poisons Grimes to make it look like he has a heart attack although in the end he is perfectly fine. Thirdly, the movie makes Wendell Rohr look like a saint by telling Marlee that he doesn't want to taint himself by buying a verdict when in the book Marlee never contacts him, although Rohr on his own attempts to by the vote of Angel Weese through her boyfriend. Lastly, unless I was just too tired to understand the situation, Marlee and Easter keep the money they make from the stock transactions for themselves and make no point of it to donate it or anything, although they reimburse Fitch the $10,000,000 he gave them to begin with. I enjoyed the book quite a bit, but overall if you've seen the movie and you're on the fence about the book, I would just stick to the story the book tells.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">That's all I have so far this year, although I should be able to get you another 3 reviews in a week or two. Again, I hope everyone is doing well in the New Year and if your not, you still have 342 days to turn it around.</span></span></div></div>TheDannyDingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03429880755430952880noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502307882590016418.post-76685380844532225312010-01-13T00:34:00.000-08:002010-01-13T00:56:41.093-08:00First post of 'OH' TEN!!<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Well another year has passed and looking back, I'm not sad to see it go. Last year was a pretty tough year for me, and I'm hoping that 2010 will bring a better scene to my life. My biggest enemy last year was myself, and I'm planning on rectifying that situation this year. I have some normal goals as well as some new ones.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As this time of year rolls around, people plan resolutions like clockwork. I don't like to plan for resolutions because I feel it gives the connotation that there is something wrong with who I am. Even if there is something wrong with me, which I'm fairly sure there is, I don't like the negative impact of the word resolution. So, I have set some lofty goals for myself this year, and in an attempt to make sure I follow through with them, I have purchased a daily planner for the first time in my life.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I only have 3 goals that are year long at this point and they are as follows:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">1) Lose 120 pounds.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">2) Drop 25% of my debt.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">3) Read a new book per week.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Now, I've been slowly gaining weight ever since I graduated high school and although it's never been a huge burden, I've never been really happy with myself, physically. I don't plan to be one of those super skinny peoples, but I want to be in a situation where I don't have to wonder if I'm going to make it past 40.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Financially I've been a wreck ever since I got my first credit card at 18. I've slowly built up my debt like my weight and it's starting to become a scarier number month after month. I was able to cut about $3000 off my debt in 2008 when I worked a 2nd job for about 6 months, but I was fairly beat on a daily basis, and I would like to leave that as a last resort for bring my overall debt down. I'm fairly certain with a solid budget plan, I should be able to do this.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lastly, I've always been a hobby reader with highs and lows in terms of consistently reading. From high school to 3 or 4 years ago. I didn't really read much at all if any at all. Over the past few years though, I've been slowly building up a collection of books reading most of them. I still have about 30 or 40 books from recent book sales at local libraries that I have yet to read but that is what this goal is all about. Pretty much all of these books are books I've never read before and I hope this goal can be accomplished and kill 2 birds with one stone.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">That's all for now. I hope everyone's 2010 is going spectacularly, and if you make any resolutions or goals, I hope your progress is going as expected if not better. If for whatever reason they're not going as planned, remember we still got 353 days left so don't get down. If they're already completely ruined, remember that there's always 2011.</span></div></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwn27BlBzBSArhLEuDXZ9Nlonowi6Dp3E6DDWbLuVRzdUUx3YGnN3DrAf5_hf8lcNwpX75BDZCA4Ze2q3zvg5wJNywHaL39SekoZiwvVzJgpYiUM4sNXpMEl9K6hubThq31EUBpOPI3hP1/s1600-h/Smile+001.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 148px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwn27BlBzBSArhLEuDXZ9Nlonowi6Dp3E6DDWbLuVRzdUUx3YGnN3DrAf5_hf8lcNwpX75BDZCA4Ze2q3zvg5wJNywHaL39SekoZiwvVzJgpYiUM4sNXpMEl9K6hubThq31EUBpOPI3hP1/s200/Smile+001.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426145496946870882" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Here's to a grand 2010!!!</span></b></div><div><div><br /></div></div>TheDannyDingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03429880755430952880noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502307882590016418.post-48897492906761410192009-12-22T20:37:00.000-08:002009-12-22T21:38:08.789-08:00(500) Days of Acting<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><div>Warning: I may give away parts of movies in this blog. The movies discussed are: (500) Days of Summer, Lord of War, Tin Cup, </div><div><br /></div>I'm currently at work and I just started watching (500) Days Of Summer featuring Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It's a very good movie about a relationship, and I would definitely suggest seeing it if you haven't. Wonderfully acted on both the main character's parts, and a wonderfully sad story.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">What this blog is about is acting, though, and not so much the movie itself. One of my beliefs about acting, whether it's good or not, is your ability to feel a strong emotion towards a character or not. In (500) DOS, Deschanel does a phenomenal job of making you want to hate her. Just as well does Gordon-Levitt do an excellent job of making you feel so sorry for him. If you have never liked/loved someone and the feelings weren't reciprocated, and you want to know what it feels like, watch this movie, and you'll have a more than vague feeling what it's like.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Speaking of acting that I found to be wonderful, Nicholas Cage in Lord of War. I've never been a huge fan of Nicholas Cage, but his portrayal of a arms dealer in the black market arms trade makes you loathe the core of him. There is a scene towards the end, where he literally lets his brother die just so he can keep making money. Why does he let his brother die?? He lets him die because he tries to stop him from selling weapons that are going to kill innocent refugees. Now my brother and me have never had a great relationship, but there is no way I would willingly let him die for anything let alone because he was trying to stop innocent people from dying.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I've always been a Kevin Costner fan, but one role in particular that is something that always make me feel better is his depiction of a down and out golfer in Tin Cup. He spends the almost the entire movie trying to become good enough to steal away Renee Russo from an old acquaintance/lifelong enemy. He tries to prove that he's the better man by winning the U.S. Open which he painfully loses on the 72nd hole. Luckily, he wins the girl and he doesn't really have to change himself. Why I think it's a superb acting job is because if Roy McAvoy were a real person, I would hope he's just like Costner's version of him.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A side note, while watching the movie (500) Days of Summer, one of my favorite parts just came up where Tom's little sister, played awesomely by Chloe Moretz, made a comment about a fictional man Summer might meet with Jesus' abs. I love the fact that a girl right around her teens fantasizes about a guy with a body like Jesus.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">There are plenty of great acting jobs, whether they be in bad or good movies. These actors are what make movies wonderful, and I enjoy watching them. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Hooray Movies!!!<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span></span></div>TheDannyDingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03429880755430952880noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502307882590016418.post-19377246064528310222009-12-21T21:02:00.000-08:002009-12-21T22:03:49.751-08:00Tween Book Obsession<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I've spent the last week rereading the Harry Potter series, and even though I'm 26, it's quite possibly one of the greatest book series I've ever read. It has a great storyline, and great character development, and J.K. Rowling does a phenomenal job of taking the series from a kids series in the first 3 1/2 books and turning it into an for-everybody series over the past 3 1/2 books. I haven't been reading a wide range of books lately, but Deathly Hollows could be the best book I've read in the past few years. A few weeks before that I reread the Twilight series, and was in the same situation of not being able to put the books down.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><img src="http://a6.vox.com/6a00c2251fecfa8fdb00fa969746be0002-500pi" /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><img src="http://www.audiobooksonline.com/media/JK-J-K-Rowling-Harry-Potter-and-the-Deathly-Hallows-unabridged-compact-discs-Jim-Dale.jpg" /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Which brings me to my next point. I'm slightly worried that at my age, maybe I should be reading slightly more advanced books. I'm not completely worried, because I have at least 2 more friends who have immensely enjoyed the Harry Potter series and another one who loved the Twilight series and they're all in my age range. I guess the thing that really scares me is that I've reread both the Harry Potter series and the Twilight series in the past few weeks and they were the only books I couldn't put down. I literally stayed up all day to read a few of these getting no sleep between work shifts. None of the books outside of these 2 series have captured my mind like these. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Maybe my immaturity has slowly dug in and stayed longer in my reading selections than in any other part of my personality. I wish I could say I've been pulled in my Hemingway and Thoreau, but alas I've been allured most by Meyer and Rowling. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I guess the only thing that makes me not worry about this is that none of the Harry Potter or Twilight books are in my top 3 books of all time. My top 3 is still On the Road by Jack Kerouac, The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Right now I've moved on to one of the many books in my need to read box, The King of Torts by John Grisham. After 40 some odd pages it seems like a standard Grisham novel, so it should be enjoyed. But not in any similar sense that I have enjoyed either Harry Potter or Twilight. Hopefully one day I will grow up and enjoy reading books like A Tale of Two Cities and War and Peace as much as I like reading Harry Potter, but until that day comes, I will have to make due with Potter and Vampires.</span></span></div>TheDannyDingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03429880755430952880noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502307882590016418.post-77178787179990600962009-12-09T22:24:00.001-08:002009-12-09T23:19:21.908-08:00An usual, unhappy realization<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I've felt very odd of late. I don't want to say that life has kind of settled into a blur lately because that sounds too depressing. I also don't really want to admit that I've been fairly depressed as of late, but only because I feel it like I would be insulting people who are truly depressed. I have a decent life. I have a job, and a car, and a place to live, and friends. Even though it's not my house and I don't prefer to live there, it's still rent-free, and even though I don't get to see my friends as often as I like, and even though my job has become more of a hassle, all these things I am very grateful for. </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The reason behind this blog is not so much a declaration of my problems or of the fact that I'm not exactly thrilled with my current lot in life. More so it is an announcement that I'm not happy with who I think I'm starting to become. I've never been a huge go out and see the world type of person, although I've always wanted to explore more than I do. As of late I have noticed I've become even more shut in than ever, grasping harder to things that our comforts.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The instance that made this obviously aware to me happened just recently. I loaned a book to my friend, a series of 4 books actually. He had a lot on his plate, so I wasn't really surprised that after a long time passed he had yet read them. During his time with my books, another mutual friend asked to borrow the 4th book of the series as she had read the first 3 but didn't have a copy of the 4th. I agreed and noted the transfer of the one book from one friend to the other. The subsequent borrowing was asked at a Halloween party a week prior to Halloween, and I'm guessing the book switched hands shortly after that. I don't want to drag this explanation in such detail, but I feel it's necessary to understand as much of my psyche on the subject as possible. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As I said above, I've become more closed off lately and one of the things I have tried to occupy my time with is reading. I've never been a fast reader, but I've always been able to get through books pretty well when I focus on them. One thing I like about myself when it comes to my reading is although I'm probably slower than most, I tend to get fully engrossed in what I'm reading. Feeling the emotions of the characters, imagining the visuals in my head, letting my imagination take over while I'm reading. If you've ever been around me while I'm reading for pleasure, you will most likely frequently hear or see me react to what I'm reading. I consider this a gift, as I see, allowing me to enjoy reading even more. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So, I have been reading more lately than I have ever in my life. The easiest comparison to make would be to state the facts. I don't have an exact time frame to relay or exact numbers, but I would estimate that from birth to about 19 or 20, I hadn't read more than 30 books, including school. That number of course is not counting the number of children's books that we all read as we're learning the skill. I mean, I probably hadn't read more than 30 books from cognizant age forward, and this is a high estimate. I never took too many English classes in school and the one that involved the most books had me read about 5 or 6 books one semester. However, I've read more than 30 books this year alone. When I really focus on my reading I can pop out a book a day. Since I've really aimed at reading more, I've probably read close to 100 to 150 books, and grown my collection quite considerably.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Finally to bring these two points together, I decided to re-read the books I had lent my friend. When I asked him for the books back so I could absorb their story again, he informed me that he only had the 3 and that the 4th was with our mutual friend. I noted that and figured I had time seeing as how I've been trying to not focus all my time on personal reading. Unfortunately once I started reading this particular story, I couldn't stop. I went as far as to completely change my sleeping patterns to finish these books. I got through the first 3 books in a little more than 3 days. As I finishing the 2nd book, I asked my friend to see if he could retrieve the 4th book seeing as how I would need it soon. He told me he would, and I felt satisfied that I would have my book back shortly seeing as how they worked together. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Over the course of the next 3 days, I hammered my friend with another 4 text message inquiries and more back and forth responses asking about the book. He told me it was coming but for some odd reason that wasn't a gratifying response. I tend to think I have accrued a reasonable amount of patience over the past 26 years that I've been alive, but for some odd reason, I was really unhappy by the fact that I couldn't get my book. Finally after stewing and moping about, feeling like I was forced to read another book in the absence of my much needed 4th installment of the series, which I did read another book, I started to come to this realization that I initially started this blog about. I started to realize how sad it was that I was getting mad at my best friend over a situation that he had no control over. I was blaming him for the fact that I couldn't read that book, to the point where I considered never loaning out a book of mine again. Once I <b><i>f</i></b><i><b>inally</b></i> got the book back, and have now finished it, I really wonder where this path in life is taking me. I'm not going to lie, reading that book was immensely pleasing, and there is still a part of me that was glad I kept pestering him to get it back to me. But the very vast majority of me is starting to worry about myself.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I don't know, maybe this is all part of life. Learning to find a balance of sorts, I don't know. But I just wanted to get these feelings out of me.</span></span></div>TheDannyDingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03429880755430952880noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502307882590016418.post-82604374497992449942009-11-19T08:30:00.000-08:002009-11-19T08:36:48.384-08:00A book review<span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Ever since I decided to leave facebook, I haven't really missed it at all with the exception of having a lot more down time at work. One thing I do miss is my virtual bookshelf which gave me the opportunity to show books I was reading, books I read, and one thing I really enjoyed, reviewing books. Over the course of this past semester, I haven't had too much time for personal reading, but with my semester ending last Tuesday I finally got the chance to finish a book.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">"The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald was a wonderful dark story. It seems to be a character focus for the majority of the book, focusing on the little detailed Jay Gatsby. Nick Carraway, the narrator, moves to a Long Island community known as West Egg, and his neighbor just happens to be the mysterious "Gatsby." After finally meeting him at one of Gatsby's social functions, the next few months are full of excitement, adultery and many rumors of Gatsby's past. It was slow to start, but once the plot started involving Gatsby, I had a hard time putting the book down.</span>TheDannyDingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03429880755430952880noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502307882590016418.post-76097261767540104482009-11-05T07:37:00.000-08:002009-11-05T07:38:12.941-08:00Haiku Heaven<span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Well, I haven't really been inspired to write much lately, but generally speaking when my mood gets angry or sad, I tend to write better, and lately it's been a whole lot of one or the other. I've never been a fan of writing in a haiku style, but these came to me pretty quickly, and I like them. So here goes </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><div align="center"><br />Haiku for Happiness in an Upside-down World<br /></div><div align="center">Pointless existence<br />Wandering through the darkness<br />Empty soul, alone.<br /></div><div align="center">Unstable<br /></div><div align="center">I am without peace<br />Rage, hate, anger boil inside<br />No chance of release.<br /></div><div align="center">Roadways Bound<br /></div><div align="center">My home is nowhere<br />Searching an endless driveway<br />Homeless today, still.</div><div align="center"><br />Nothing too fantastic, but they captured my mood fairly well at the time they were written, and I kind of like them.</span></div>TheDannyDingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03429880755430952880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502307882590016418.post-15854304420715645832009-10-14T23:10:00.000-07:002009-10-14T23:59:14.767-07:00Hey totally random question<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I ran into an old friend on Facebook the other day, and we got to talking. I shouldn't really say friend, we were in high school together, and we knew of each other, but we weren't really friends, and 8 plus years of no contact surprisingly didn't bring us closer.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Now I am usually only online to talk when I'm at work, and I work from 11 PM to 7 AM at a hotel, which limits who I'm able to talk to. So, this conversation that begins around 1:30 AM starts where we're doing the normal catching up questions, like what have you been up to lately?, where do you work?, do you smoke pot?..... Wait, how did the conversation get here?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">It was a pretty normal catch-up conversation, at least in terms of my experiences with conversations with people I haven't seen in nearly a decade. The question caught me so off-guard that I just threw a semi-casual, semi-funny response at it, "No, unfortunately I'm only high on life."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Now, normally that would end that specific part of the conversation, and it would move on to another area, or it might go to the other person's reasoning for smoking, or why they like it, and why it should be legal, and f**k the government for not legalizing it, pretty much a conversation that I could add my two cents on, as I can make comfortable conversation with just about any topic.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">However, this person retorted with the totally unexpected, "Why unfortunately?" I've always been anti-drug, even though as I've grown older, I've been more susceptible to trying new things, taking any kind of illegal substance has never come up. In all honesty, I would love to go back to my more youthful days, and try drugs, have it be one of the few things I could shrug off later in life as being part of my youthful existence.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Here's my response to the "Why unfortunately?":</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; "><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">well, there have been plenty of times where drugs made sense, but my inner monologue always said no. I've realized as I've gotten older, you only get one chance to experience a lot of things, and it's a lot easier to look back to your younger days and just shrug something off as a fad</span></span></blockquote></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I'm not sure what's worse, the fact that I referred to doing drugs when I was younger as a fad, or that I referred to my own inner monologue guiding me. The conversation eventually moved on, even though it got stuck when I asked her why she wanted to know if I smoked, and she replied because she was looking for a connection, and that she liked it, smoking weed that is.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Once again, Dan "Mr. Awesome Conversationalist" rang in with another generic, "I can imagine." The next few minutes entailed some of the most painful internet messaging I've ever been a part of, and trust me when I say I have had some awkward conversations via IM. We go through a whole mess when she wonders via a '?' response, and I reply that I can understand why she likes it because TV and the media make weed seem like a pretty good drug. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">She promptly responds by saying she's not affected by the media, and I say that I wasn't trying to say that she was. We go back and forth a few more times, so I try to spell it out. I said something like, I'm not saying you like it because of what the media says, I'm saying that I can see why you like it though, because the movies and TV shows usually put a positive spin on it. Since the message box isn't open anymore, I'm just guessing what happened next. I ask something to see if we're on the same page, and she says "different page, different book."</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Now, the sarcastic side of me wanted to ask if the book was in a different library, but I'm not quite sure she would've caught on to the metaphor. We finally move away from the pot portion of our convo, and chit chat about a mutual friend for a few minutes before she heads off for the night. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 14px;">What I'm wondering if what I said about the pot being held in a good regard as far as TV shows and movies go was a good thought, or was she right and I just wasn't making any sense.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 14px;">Hit me up with your thoughts.</span></span></div>TheDannyDingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03429880755430952880noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8502307882590016418.post-51862016345411377472009-10-13T21:28:00.001-07:002009-10-13T22:02:17.329-07:00Ode to Bob<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Long ago, in a universe just like this one, my sister got a cat and named him after her current boyfriend, calling him "Baby (Insert any generic boy's name here, because I wish to be honorable and not mention his name)." I refused to call the cat this, and instantly renamed him Bob. Not to brag, but it seemed to me besides my sister, everyone called the cat Bob. </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Bob was a great cat. Everything you expect from a cat when you go to the pet store or animal shelter to get one. He was completely self-sufficient, eventually to the point where he never came inside apart from 5 to 10 minute spurts when he just wanted water or warmth.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Unfortunately, Bob was hit by a car a few weeks ago, and even though I only saw glimpses of him running around outside, or squeaking in and out of the house, I have started to notice the differences in my new Bob-less world. First, let me preface the next part of this story by saying, not too many birds, squirrels or mice used to ever dare roam around or near my house. I can't count how many times I've either seen Bob taking down one of the previous mentioned animals, or seen our dogs fighting over his leftovers. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The other day I literally counted 40+ birds congregating on the front lawn, as well as recently spotting anywhere between 2 and 5 squirrels using the tree in our front yard as their base of operation. While I was counting birds I couldn't help but to smile, which as of late with school and work being really hectic, along with not seeing my friends much at all, has not happened much.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The first thought that popped into my head after counting the birds was, "I hope there are birds and squirrels in Cat heaven, otherwise Bob is going to be really pissed off." For a cat that would rarely let you get close to him, and even more rarely ever pet him, Bob and his death had a rather profound impact on me, and my feelings about the positive light that can be placed on death.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Every time I see a squirrel now prancing along the front lawn, or a bird pecking on our pool deck in the back, I can't help but think that the local neighborhood fauna are rejoicing in the death of poor Bob. And that fact surprisingly makes me smile every time I think about it, because it makes me realize the tremendous impact Bob had on the area surrounding our house. Over the course of the past 5 years or so, I'm sure our house has become known to many local animals as being a death trap for any who get to close. Knowing that animals can now travel around and about my house, as I have seen since the week after Bob's passing, makes me think of Bob, and how great a cat he was.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">What surprises me most is how much I think of him now, after having no real attachment to him while he was alive. I end with saying again how great a cat he was, and I hope he's having fun stalking animals of all sorts where ever his spirit is now.</span></span></div>TheDannyDingohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03429880755430952880noreply@blogger.com0