The Surgeon General has issued this warning:
ATTENTION: AVOID GENERAL MILLS MONOPOLY CEREAL AT ALL COSTS!
No joking, this stuff is TOXIC. I kid you not, when you pour out the cereal a bunch of granulated sugar dumps out with it. I LOVE me my sugar, but this is DIABETES in a box. Serious crash cart stuff here. Within 15 minutes of emptying the bowl, you will slowly slip into a sugar coma and not be the same for the rest of the day - like, not be able to form a coherent thought (I'm struggling right now...) or keep from staring off into space. Holy cow, this stuff is unreal. It's limited edition. It has marshmallows in it (who doesn't love Lucky Charms?). It's based on a much-loved board game. Most importantly, it was onsale, and I didn't think that I could go wrong. WRONG.

So, the DishNetwork repairperson came today. He was here for an hour and a half, and it was incredibly awkward. The guy really didn't talk, and when I tried to explain what I understood to be the problem he seemed completely uninterested. Honestly, early on I said, "Well, I switched out the two receivers that we have and the problem moved with the one receiver. It's not an issue of wiring or the dish being out of alignment, it's a bad receiver." Half an hour later, after much tinkering with the wiring on the dish, he turned to Brian and said, "It seems to be a problem with the receiver." Ya think? I only spent half an hour on the phone a couple of days ago explaining the whole problem to a customer service guy. OH, and the repairperson DIDN'T BRING A REPLACEMENT RECEIVER. It was the first thing that I noticed when he walked in the door. "Oh, maybe he has it out in his truck..." Uh-uh. Didn't bring one. Oh, am I livid. I WAS PROMISED OVER THE PHONE THAT THE REPAIRPERSON WOULD BE BRINGING ALONG A NEW RECEIVER BOX. I even peeked at the repair guy's order-slip-thingy and it clearly said "Bring replacement receiver". LIARS. So, they are sending us out a replacement receiver - to be received in 2-3 BUSINESS DAYS. Then, we'll have to box up the old one and go down to UPS to send it back. The repairperson had me talk to someone in customer service over the phone so that I could get all of the instructions on sending the box back and a lodged a BIG 'OL complaint.

We did laundry today. Don't we feel all accomplished?

Let's all take a moment to reflect on JUST how much Shrub (a.k.a. "our loser president" - I refuse to capitalize any of those words because he doesn't deserve it) BLOWS. How can he do THIS? How is this legal? Really, how is it legal to SO horribly discriminate against a group of people? HOW? I cannot express enough my EXTREME distaste for this man and everyone in his cabinet who are slowly (well, kinda quickly...) dragging this country down into a White, Male, Christian, Heterosexual, Wealthy, Conservative Hellhole.

Who elected this bastard? Oh, that's right, NO ONE.

I just got off the phone with an old high school/college pal, Kelly. We talked for over an hour and it felt really good. Can't explain it, but it just energized me. As we were getting off the phone, we half-started talking about how our respective families screwed us up, but decided that that would be a topic best left for another time. One of the best things about Kelly is that she is so freakin' hilarious and just seems to have this "see the humour in everything" mentality. Very refreshing and something that I vow to work on doing myself. Also, she has been a Spanish teacher (High School this Fall, but Middle School up 'til now) for the last 10 years and I got a good pep talk about how great teaching is. And, I know it will kick ass, and I know that I'll be kick ass teacher, but... the whole self-doubt crap starts creeping in (which is how Kelly and I started talking about familial scars). Keep it positive. You'll be great. Chin up, Kid.

I'm listening to New Order's "Brotherhood" right now. Classic. Probably the album of theirs that I've listened to the least, and not quite sure why...

I finally mailed off the CDs I made for Aaron (the 'zine guy) today. Whew - another thing to check off the list of things that have been hanging over my head. Plus, I got feedback about the Sylvian piece and emailed him back some changes. Years ago, I remember being in a poetry class at IU (Indiana University) and thinking, "This is all such BS. Why do I need to be in this class? How can someone who doesn't even know me and wasn't inside my head when I wrote this piece be giving me feedback? Why should I make any changes? I wrote what I wrote when I wrote it and I can't possibly get back in that mindset again in order to edit." So naive. So 19 year old rebel.

See! I'm moving forward!

I called about the satellite dish yesterday. I told the guy that we tried to adjust the dish ourselves to which he replied, "Ok. We can send a repairman out. However, if you mess with the dish yourself you void your warranty and we charge you a $99 housecall fee. Otherwise, the housecall is free. Now, I'm going to ask you again if you have touched the dish at all..." Damn. I love people like that. There's someone who knows how it is in the real world and how big business is trying to screw us all over. I want to deal with customer service people like him ALL the time. A repairman is coming FREE OF CHARGE on Thursday. Just in time for AMAZING RACE 4!

Oh, Brian and I did a "Buy a Ticket to 1 Movie, See a Second for Free" deal at our local megaplex on Sunday. Oh, come on! We're broke! Cut us some slack! We saw "28 Days Later" and then snuck in to see "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" - which should've been called "Full on Sensory Assault". Yeah, I'm TOTALLY of the Atari / MTV generation, and often like my quick cuts to keep my attention, but... this was ridiculous. All in all, kinda silly and just too fluffy for me. Now, "28 Days Later", on the other hand, kicked butt. What a fantastic movie - TOTALLY worth the half-price we paid to see it. I just wish we had seen it second. I'd rather have a lasting memory of people barfing up blood in a well-made film than Cameron Diaz twisting her pigtails while on a mechanical bull...

Oh, "Boy Meets Boy" is on tonight. Even though I'm REALLY ticked that there has to be a "some of the guys are secretly straight" twist, I'm still going to watch. A gay dating show - history in the making here people...

Ok, I don't mean to come across as all "Paranoid Schizophrenic"-y, but, there are forces out there that are keeping me from communicating with the outside world. You may recall that I'm having DSL problems. Well, obviously (as I'm typing this right now at blooger.com), I can get online. However, whenever I try and send an email (through Yahoo, .Mac, or SFSU webmail - yeah, I've tried them all) - NOTHING HAPPENS. I can read all about which CDs and movies will be coming out soon until the cows come home, but I can't send any email. You may be saying to yourself (IF this thing posts...), "Well, I can read this and it is, technically, outside communication." Well, technically, it isn't outside communication because I haven't given anyone I know the URL in order to read this thing. Really, for right now, I'm just talking to myself (therapy, here I come...).

I finally "finished" (please, I could self-edit that thing until the end of days - or, until it slowly morphed into a review of a completely different album - whichever came first...) the Sylvian piece for the friends 'zine. I'm trying to get it off my hands - get RID OF IT - and I CAN'T! I've tried two different browsers, an entirely different Airport card, and, NOTHING!

Last night, since we finally caught up with the modern world on "Sex & the City", we went to this bar in the Castro called The Mix to watch last nights all new episode. A tear came to my eye when Harry proposed to Charlotte. Obsessive, eh? Oh, but that doesn't compare to Brian - he's STILL upset that Berger left Carrie a breakup Post-It... I think, though, that Brian decided he is content just to download new episodes instead of hiking to a foreign bar to watch them. Whew.

Damn, I'm bored. One can only play so much "Jewel", "Double", and "MacSolitare" (yeah, I picked up another addiction...) before their hand cramps up. And, no one to sue for CTS.

Add to everything, that our DishNetwork box is on the fritz - I'm thinking that the bastards who removed our back steps (without telling us!) nicked a cable or something - I've tried to record this weeks "League of Gentlemen" 3 TIMES! (Did you SEE last weeks with Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen? When he took off the wig?! Hilarious!) I tell you, if the Dish had gone on the fritz Thursday, and I had missed "Amazing Race 4", there'd be MAJOR hell to pay. MAJOR HELL TO PAY. It's bad enough that I didn't get to see what the guy thought of his Caribbean Patio on this weeks "While You Were Out".

Plus, my DSL has been SLOW AS HELL (it'll be a freakin' miracle if I can even get this post to post). How can I find out what's going to be on "The Two Towers: Extended Edition" when pages take 20 minutes to load?!? I thought this whole DSL thing was supposed to make it so we never had to wait for anything? I tell you, someone is trying to steal away everything that makes me happy and drive me insane...

And, no, I'm still not done with the Sylvian review. SO STOP ASKING!

Need to post something everyday. Need to post something everyday...

I only have a few minutes here. The boyfriend is in the other room reading the newest issue of Entertainment Weekly (a.k.a. The Bible). Still don't want anyone to know that I'm doing this yet...

OH!! I know!! Why didn't I watch the first three seasons of AMAZING RACE? Is this not the best show, or what? All other "reality" shows be damned (except for Real World, Road Rules, Real World/Road Rules Challenge, Changing Rooms, Survivor, A Makeover Story, Making the Band II, A Dating Story, Trading Spaces, What Not to Wear [um, UK version only], etc.). All hail Amazing Race! Goodbye to the Crazy Christian Virgins who wouldn't wish Reichen and Chip a Happy Anniversary!

Oh, yeah, still not done with the Sylvian piece...

Well, I told myself that I wanted to post SOMETHING everyday (well, maybe every WEEKday). So...

Hi.

Actually, I'm freaking addicted to these two games that my boyfriend dropped onto my desktop. One is called "Double" and it's some kind of MahJong game (I guess), where there is a mountain of stacked bricks that have pictures on them. The idea is to match bricks, but only ones that are suitably exposed, until there aren't any left. Addictive. The other is called "Jewel" (and has nothing to do with bad poetry, Ang Lee westerns, or glaring image changes). This one is kind of Tetris-y in that there is a grid of different jewels and you've got to swap neighboring jewels in order to get 3 or more of a kind in line - when that happens, they disappear and new ones take their place. Addictive. Like, HOURS DISAPPEAR kind of addictive.

Oh, and I watched the Mines of Moria sequence from "The Fellowship of the Ring" (EXTENDED EDITION, of course...) this afternoon. WHEW! Even seeing it for the 8th or 9th time, my heart still races and a tear comes to my eye. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I'm not that upset that (stupid) "A Beautiful Mind" won the Oscar for Best Picture, because I KNOW what the best movie of 2001 was.

That still doesn't mean that I will EVER watch "A Beautiful Mind", though... (stupid piece of...)

I suck. I'm telling you, I suck. I am the biggest procrastinating loser. Got a very important form to fill out and send in and want it done at the VERY LAST MINUTE? Call me. Have a paper that you need written THE NIGHT BEFORE IT'S DUE? Drop me a line.

What is my problem?

A friend of mine is starting a 'zine and asked me A MONTH AND A HALF AGO to write a review of a favorite CD. I love music - I've got 1000 CDs - my life has a constant soundtrack and could talk ad nauseum about any of my favorite bands/CDs. The article is due next Wednesday and I'M NOT DONE WITH IT. Yeah, I've got a rough outline - even some rough paragraphs. There's just too much pressure. The friend sent me a mock-up of what the cover of the 'zine is going to look like and it teases my article. PRESSURE. We've been marathoning episodes of "Sex & the City" and Carrie Bradshaw is just so f-ing witty. PRESSURE.

Anyone have any well-written words about David Sylvian's "Secrets of the Beehive"?

Today is my older brother's birthday. We don't talk much, and he probably will never see this, but, Happy Birthday, Patrick.

A note of interest (at least to me), the History Channel link above says that on this day, in 1934, John Dillinger was shot outside of the Biograph Theatre in Chicago. This is the theatre where I saw "Last Temptation of Christ", amidst the shouts of hatred from a bunch of clueless Christians, in 1988. I actually asked one of them if they had seen the movie. They answered, "No". Stupid ignorance.

Oh, I just fed the cats and realized that I forgot to mention them in my initial post.

We have two cats, Macon and Sam. They are loves. Brian (the boyfriend) refers to them as "Stinky" and "Chunk", respectively.
If you met them, you'd know why...

Ok, it all begins here (well, technically it all began with the "Testing" post, but...).

So, in short, I'm trying to become a teacher. It has always been my dream, and I hope to post all of my trials and tribulations toward this end on this very page for the amusement and sadness of all who stumble upon it. To be honest, I began to compose a whole history of who I am and where I come from a few minutes ago, but I hit a wrong button and it was all deleted (SEE! The trials and tribulations are already starting! And it's only my first day!!). Therefore, I'm going to skip the history for now and just jump into the present. Don't worry, I'll give you the backstory another day soon. Think of this as an episode of "Alias" where we jump right into the action and then suddenly, when things get really exiting, yet slightly confusing, we cut to black and get a "24 Hours Earlier" title card. You know what I'm talking about, right?

Here I am, waiting for August 25th, 2003, when my student teaching experience will begin - for the SECOND time. Hopefully, it will be in a Kindergarten or 1st Grade classroom, and be WAY more positive an experience than my FIRST time. (Confused? I'm telling you, we'll get to it another day...) Am I beginning to freak out? Sure. Am I trying to go all "Oprah" on my own ass and convince myself to turn that fear into excitement? Oh, yeah. I've got to do this, and I've got to make it the most positive an rewarding experience of my life (no pressure, eh?). Well, I'm 32 years old, broke, slightly unhappy with the way my life has been heading for the last few years (ok, a little more than "slightly"...), and I want to be doing something that energizes me and FEELS RIGHT.

Ok, I'm going to post this before it's all lost. Here's what you need to know for now:

1. I'm going to be Student Teaching this Fall and intend to post here everything that goes on (my memory is shot to hell for some reason and I want to have a record of it all...).
2. A couple of my friends also post blogs... But... for right now... I'm not going to let anyone know that I'm doing this. Why? Well, I really want to do this for ME right now, and I think I would feel A LOT too self-conscious if I knew that people I know were reading this.
3. My boyfriend and I (oh, I suppose the whole "being gay" thing should have it's own numeral) are currently addicted to "Sex and the City".
4. I'm gay (see, it got its own numeral).
5. We're broke.
6. I'm collecting unemployment for the Summer.
7. I'm bored.
8. I'm concerned with my future. By this I mean that I want to be more proactive (again with the "Oprah" speak...).

Ok, really, that's all I'm posting for now.

Bye.

Testing