Me and Julio Down on the Reservation.

Got home on Thursday night. Went to a concert of Jamie's on Friday night. It was great except that the way that the seating worked out, the entire front row was made up of Jamie fans. This may sound nice in theory, but in reality I think it might have freaked people out. I was a little freaked out that my parents came to show their support for the Jamester, but it was all very sweet too. The singing group was nice -- well done Carleton Singers!

The family also went to the beach house for the weekend. So I drove us there, but when I got there I my dad told me to keep driving...and driving...and stopping at a rest stop...and driving...and driving...until we got to an INDIAN RESERVATION. First of all, I had no idea that there were Indian reservations so close to the coast. I had always thought the government had set aside the very worst pieces of land for cultivating or what-have-you in Utah for Indian reservations. Second of all, my parents are both GAMBLORS. But we knew this.

So yes. We went to an Indian casino. Which was an experience. My parents had thought that Jamie was going to come to the beach house with us, and so had planned to spend the evening in the casinos so that Jamie and I can have some alone time. When they found out that he was going to sit this trip out, my mom had already had her heart set on spending some time with the penny machines. Normally, I might be a little offended, but then I thought that I will be spending 124 hours with this woman while driving across the country (have I mentioned that I was doing that? Expect some very panicked blogs) and so, what's the big deal if she'd rather spend some time with a slot machine.

I came out on top in the end, profitting about $50. I have yet to lose in a casino. Yeah, baby. But, the most exciting part of my night came when I noticed that Julio Iglesias was planning on singing in the showroom later this month. While I'm not going to shell out $70 to see Julio (nor would I really shell out $10), it was still nice to know that he was still alive. I seriously thought he was no more.

On another note, looking back at my last post I realize that I had already kind of screwed myself over for the night (what with the papers and all). May I just say that that probably ended up being one of the sadder (of many sad) all-nighters in my time at Williams. At around 2am I got a phone call telling me I had a last-minute meeting the next morning at 7am. Also, the papers I turned in were really really REALLY poor. Also, I hadn't packed by the time I had left for class the next day. Hooray for sleeping on the plane.

Smelly Pants.

While I'm all for the environment and composting -- big fan here -- I do have a problem with it festering outside my window. Yes, it's only Tuesday nights...but today it's especially horrid. Like, bile and vomit horrid. To compensate, I sprayed my room with some Lysol that I had in my apartment this summer and now I can't stop thinking about this summer. It's true what they say about smell being the more powerful senses when it comes to memory. Well, I guess my dad did spray MY MATTRESS with the stuff so it was sort of all over and overwhelming.

Guess who has a couple papers that she has no desire to write. I'll give you a hint: she likes long walks on the beach and smells like Lysol (Mountain Spring) and detritus...

w00t!

Just got out of my last Selection Committee meeting ever! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT! No more ten til two in the morning meetings...no more Hopkins 401. Let the drinkage of the Selection Committee keg begin.

Save the Pinata.

I've been meaning to link people to these videos since they're pretty great...but I wanted to wait for a lull in the posting. My personal favorites are the Nintendo one, the Nutrigrain one, and the Budweiser one. Enjoy.

Anyway, the test yesterday wasn't too horrible, although I don't know if I managed to pass. I don't remember anything from my elementary education. Way to go Mirman. I totally don't have a handle on explorers, the French Revolution, or Eurasia. The most exciting part was when Abby's car decided not to after getting gas during our 20-minute break. With five minutes left on the clock we managed to push the car to safety and jog back in time. Wahoo for standardized test madness. It was almost like that time sophomore year that I got to my AP Spanish exam 20 minutes late because I couldn't find a place to park my car.

The car ended up being okay...after waiting an hour for Triple AAA, and having AAA futz around with the battery for a good forty minutes afterwards. Nothing really worked and the guy was getting really frustrated when we found this teensy-tiny little switch hanging down by the passenger seat floor. Apparently it was a security system of the "flip-this-switch-and-your-car-will-play-dead" variety. We flipped it and the car started. And we were on our merry way. No idea how the switch got flipped in the first place, nor what it was doing on the floor by the passenger seat but no matter.

As soon as we got home I took a monster nap for about an hour...only to wake up with a migraine. I seriously thought I would die. But I didn't. (Yay).

I'll Learn Those Kids Good.

It is much too early in the morning. But, after a mere three hours of sleep last night off I go to Albany to take my Praxis II's. Wish me luck. Expect a full report when I get back -- which sadly, is several hours from now.

Bum BUM.

Study Break.

So when I first heard that they were releasing yet another "Batman" movie, I rolled my eyes and got annoyed. Because, OF COURSE what the world needs is another campy Batman flick. However, the cast has left me somewhat perplexed. They're actually respectable, good, actors...why would they sign on? Am I the only one who thinks that "Batman Forever" was pretty crappy? Still they managed to get:

Michael Caine -- who was nominated (and won, I believe) an Oscar a couple years back for Cider House Rules. Although he did do Goldmember in that time so maybe his standards aren't all that high...

Gary Oldman -- who's awesome. AWESOME.

Katie Holmes -- who I have to sort of like because of my love for DC (sorry Jess). But, to tell you the truth, I actually do respect her movie choices/performances ("Ice Storm", "Wonder Boys", "Pieces of April").

Ken Watanabe -- who I have never actually seen in a film but got nominated for his role in "The Last Samurai" this last year

MORGAN FREEMAN -- who I am going to marry because he is the best actor ever. No one can play pensive, wise, sad, old man better than him. And I have no idea what he's doing in a Batman movie but I'm gonna trust that he knows what he is doing.

Liam Neeson -- who I sort of have a crush on after "Love Actually". He's so tall!

Christian Bale -- who I definitely have a crush on after "Newsies". Incidentally, he's going to play Batman. I wouldn't have thought of him in the Batman role...but then again, I guess the theme of this post is: what the hell are these actors doing in a Batman movie?

Who would have thought that the same character (Batman) could be played by Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, and Christian Bale?? Not me.

Last, the guy who is directing also directed "Memento" -- which I really liked...in some twisted, f-ed up way. Anyway, I'm still scratching my head about this one...

The Return of the King.

It appears that I was too eager to express my surprise and awe of a news story when I posted that water had been found on Mars. Something bigger has come along. Much Bigger.

Yes, that's right: "The Family Guy" is coming back to television. Not that I ever watched it while it was actually "on" television...my obsession with the show came with its cancellation and subsequent release on DVD and (shhhhhhhhhh!) even some bootlegging via the Network. However, to show my full support of this show I am now going to purchase a DVD box set...and you should too. This show is that good. Let me explain:

This show is comparable to "The Simpsons". While it may not have sparked the cultural craze that "The Simpsons" did in its prime, I definitely have many more laugh-out-loud moments per episode with Family Guy. It's genius. It combines all the best attributes of various pop cartoons: the pop culture references of the Simpsons, the movie/television parodies of "The Critic" and a general lack of good taste and plethora of offensive humor. This show was made for me. You wanna fight about it? Make my day and comment.

P.S. And by "King" I mean Stewie.

Mission to Mars.

Whoa. Apparently, there is evidence that Mars used to have water on it. That sort of blows my mind. I say "sort of" because my mind is currently in a state of mush due to lack of sleep and excess of work. Also, after my bout with the stomach flu I think I may now have strep throat. I'm gonna go to the Health Center later today so they can stuff that oversized Q-tip down my throat. But, in the meantime: water on Mars. Whoa.

Woot.

Sweet Jebus it's a new Teen Girl Squad.

Also, it is 54 degrees outside. Life is good again.