Pulp Fiction and playing the guitar

I enjoy the movie Pulp Fiction. It just has a coolness about it, for lack of a better term, though coolness is an actual word, and it is a playable Scrabble word as well. Then, I was on www.imdb.com checking out more things about Pulp Fiction and it has these trivia and goofs sections. They are very interesting as well. It makes me want to go back and watch the movie again (not that I didn't want to already), since now I know things like the bullet holes in the apartment wall are already there prior to the crazy kid coming out of the bathroom with his gun blazing. And so on. Check out: A) the movie if you haven't seen it, and/or B) all the various "goofs" listed on the internet. I'm sure it was picked out by nerds who watched the movie over and over, frame by frame, but for their efforts, I shall reap the benefits.

And the real question is, should I learn to play the guitar? It is quite an undertaking (the decision to play left or right-handed alone is a difficult decision, since most guitars are right-handed but i'm left-handed, but i'm sure instructional books and things of that nature are geared towards right-handers. yet, i've always air-guitared left-handed. vexing indeed.) I didn't fare well attempting to learn the harmonica, an assumably easier task, so this will take some pondering. And a guitar isn't cheap, either. You can't just stick that guitar in the drawer after spending 10 bucks and forget about it like the mouth harp.

The reason for learning would be to play famous songs I know, definitely not to write my own music. Ween is the music that I want to know how to play the most; of course, Dean Ween is one of the most badass players in the land, so learning the songs he can play is probably harder to the Nth degree. It was just a thought. I'll see how bad the yearning gets.

Well, now, I shall pick out new CDs to bring in to work to listen to (since the radio reception in our metal shed building sucks the big D). It's a 24-CD book, so I must choose wisely from the 275 CDs I currently possess. So far, those who have made the cut include: Ween, Clutch, Flaming Lips, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Big Star, and Neil Young.

Man, I haven't written this much in a long while. My wrists are hurting. But for my (four) faithful readers (if that), I'll do anything.

are you a buff?

I consider myself to be a "buff" of a few things. Do you?

A buff is a synonym for fan or enthusiast of a particular topic.

To be specific, I consider myself to be a buff of baseball, astronomy, and Scrabble.

Until next time,

www.civilwarbuff.org

bratwurst

I won't lie. I love bratwurst. I had it for dinner last night. And soon, I will go home and have it for lunch. It's bursting with flavor. It is amazing. My mouth literally is watering as I type this.

I might even like them more than hamburgers and steak. No lying.

Check out this badass vehicle. I think it puts the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile to shame. I think it would be awesome for a monster tailgate at a K-state game.

http://www.johnsonville.com/siteconf.nsf/Lkp/about-l2-bigtaste.html

no one at work, so I'm doing this

Everyone has for the most part gone home at my office already.

I'm leaving at 4 (normally I leave at 4:30), but I came in early at 7 this morning for a meeting at 8 (which was actually at 8:30), but nonetheless. You can't be motivated on a Friday, unless there is a dire urgency for you to get certain things done. Nothing's pressing at this point.

Work's been good. I'm learning as I go. It's a little bit of everything. Some paper-pushing, phone calls left and right, digging up info to answer a question, meetings now and again.

I'm doing project management stuff right now, and it's decent. I look forward to working more on estimating on projects. There's more coloring involved, and you get to use a digitizer. But it's going well. And the paychecks are quite nice.

Just getting used to the real world.


Play this game. It's intense.

http://www.hurtwood.demon.co.uk/Fun/copter.swf

SCRABBLE

I will not lie. I adore the game of Scrabble. I was once a "vocabmaster" in my day (I don't believe that was self-proclaimed either, to your chagrin I'm sure), so this love for the deemed "crossword board game" is understandable.

Recently, I've been playing online (an excellent site is www.isc.ro, where you can download the program and play with others, free) and reading up on tips and strategy. I've even been reading some competitive Scrabble player biographies. They are riveting.

I can't totally explain what makes it so great. Yes, it's word-related, so that's one reason. Two, I love the sheer impossibility of two games being exactly alike. Unless people try it, and even then it will be an undeniably vexing task, there will never be two exact Scrabble boards seen by ANYONE in their entire life. Amazing, no?

I'm sure there will be many other blog entries on Scrabble, but for now I'll leave you on the edge of your seat.

Kansas City and scrabble

Just recently, Barrett reminded me of my neglected weblog page. I was surprised I had dedicated readers (at least one anyway) who noticed I wasn't keeping up. So, after totally forgetting about it, I'll do my best to keep posting.

I'm officially a resident of Kansas City. Well, Overland Park, to be more specific. But just like I live in Fenton, a suburb of St. Louis, the similar situation applies. It's a nice area, with everything convenient, though traffic can be rather vexing and the area as a who is a bit boring and lacking "personality" in a way. Since it's all very new, it's a lot of house after house situated on zero acre lots and not much variation in the way of buildings and streets. But it's nice.

The drivers really are terrible. Man, it's awful. On that note, I will soon have my Kansas driver's license. From the preview, it actually looks like I might have a decent picture. My prior license pics look like disheveled orphan and a serial flasher wearing lipstick, respectively. This one, at this point, has no derisive description as of yet.

So, as I get used to becoming a Kansas Citian (is that right?), I will soon become more familiar with the athletic luxuries this area has to offer. Namely, I need to scope out places to play: racquetball, softball, indoor soccer, and badminton, among other sports. And, I need to get my library card. I like libraries.

Until next time, good day.

no more studio

I have just completed my final studio project ever. I have a couple of loose ends to tie up, but my schoolwork load has just gotten a lot lighter.

Things left on the agenda:

have several beers
take two exams
write graduation speech
play sports (probably basketball and badminton specifically)
graduate

The real world is getting closer and closer. Lord help us all.



This is the website for the World Footbag Association, an excellent site: www.worldfootbag.com

job is found

Today, I met the president and vice-president of Environmental Mechanical, Inc. for lunch today. We met in Lawrence, Kansas at the Free State Brewery. The turkey sandwich with Swiss and cream cheeses (a nice touch) was quite tasty.

We discussed my possible employment. They said they like to "move fast with these things." So, they asked me to wait outside while they spoke about the future.

After five minutes, they came out. It was like await the verdict to my trial.
If I recall, Tom, the president, said, "Here's what were going to do. We're going to e-mail you an offer on Monday. 36,000. 1,500 for movie expenses."

I am a happy man. I plan on accepting this job. I will move to Kansas City to enter the real world. Gretchen is happy, as she is close to acquiring a job there. My family is not in the greatest of spirits, slightly perturbed that I won't be moving back home like originally planned. They're playing the old, "I don't want you to sell yourself short," and, "don't put all your eggs in one basket" routines. (They say this because I am taking the first real offer I received. I do feel poorly about that, but I need to do what is best for my future and career. The money is good to start, and before this, I hadn't gotten my foot in the door at all at any of the construction or contracting companies I contacted (at least 8 or 9).

And, it's only 3 hours from Wichita and St. Louis, and 2 from Manhattan. So, its location is also a plus.

The real life will soon begin.

Strange, eh?

www.environmentalmech.com

Dean Ween and his Olive Garden critique

I bow to Dean Ween today, and his tirade against Olive Garden.

"As an Italian-American nothing offends me more than the commercials on tv for the Olive Garden. You ever eat there? What a bunch of dogshit. The food sucks and a real Italian wouldn't be caught dead ordering "the never ending spaghetti bowl" even if it were free. The food is devoid of any real flavor whatsoever and only the whitest motherfucker could possibly be tricked into believing that they're experiencing anything "authentic". The commercials usually show you some typical looking Italian family with Brooklyn accents bonding over the free breadsticks at the Olive Garden but that's just not where it's at. The Olive Garden can suck my New Jersey dick."

Well-spoken, Dean. Well-spoken.

- excerpted from www.ween.com, the Waste section

haven't blogged in a while

I haven't blogged in a while, so I thought I'd catch up on things.

I now have a WaterPik, so I can fiercely wash out old food chunks from my wisdom tooth sockets.

I just saw Sin City. Very cool-looking movie. Unnecessarily violent, but I'm not complaining about that. Dialogue is lacking (probably because it is adapted from a comic book). Overall, awesome movie, if only for the sweet cinematography.

The Association is an unbelievable band. Underrated band from the 60's. Check them out. "Cherish" rocks.

Badminton, as I always state, is an amazing sport.

www.fark.com