Bears Rule
Watching the Bears game today was just about as miserable as being kicked in the nuts by a really ugly girl. Ok, so I don't know what the difference is between being kicked by an ugly or pretty girl, but whatever. I just can't believe that week after week, I continue to stupidly tune in to watch their crap and have three and a half hours of my life mercilessly ripped away.
In case you missed it, Bears built a 21 point lead in the 3rd quarter against the Patriots, only to end up losing their 7th straight game this season. It was pretty bad, I would have rather watched them get blown out 41-0 instead of making me feel like they might possibly win, then choke at the end.
So there I am, having watched about two and a half quarters of some pretty impressive Bears play that made me think we might actually win this game. We're up 27-6 in the 3rd quarter, our defense looks solid, and John Shoop is actually showing off plays designed to gain more than 5 yards on offense. Of course, my enthusiasm was somewhat tempered by the voice in the back of my head saying "hold on a second, let's not forget that we suck." That, and the stupid announcer guy kept reminding viewers "don't count out the Patriots, there's plenty of time left!" I swear, if he said "there's one way for them to come back: one play, one first down, and one touchdown at a time" another time, I was going to take a bat to the TV set. Someone who thinks such a dumb cliche thing to say is cool enough to mention 4 or 5 times in one broadcast does not belong in the booth.
Anyways, at that point I was basically just waiting to see the Bears find a way to give the game away. First drive, they basically let the Pats march downfield with no resistance. I think I saw Tom Brady dump off about 6 short passes to the same part of the field on that drive. It's like our defense was saying "here's 7 to 10 yards for you, we don't want it." I don't even like a team playing prevent-style defense late in the 4th quarter, let alone halfway through the 3rd, but that's pretty much what they did. Result, Touchdown New England, 27-13 Bears.
So then the Bears get the ball back, and no more than 2 or 3 plays later, Jim Miller throws a pick. It wasn't one of those fluke interceptions either, where the ball is tipped, or like when you lob a hail mary. This one was pretty much delivered straight into the other team's hands, like well short of the intended receiver. I don't know if it's because of his severe elbow tendinitis, but if it is, I don't know why in the world he is in the game if he can't throw right. At least don't call a passing play then, or better yet, put in Marty Booker at quarterback, he seems to throw rather well (more on this later). Anyways, defense actually holds for 3 plays but the offense basically just handed out field position like nobody's business. Result, field goal, 27-16.
Next Bears drive, 3 and out. No big surprise there. Punt, then defense goes back to giving up short passes so that the Pats can march down the field again. This time, they tighten it up in the red zone and prevent a touchdown. But still letting up 3 points with relatively little fight is not good. 27-19.
By this time, I'm pretty pissed because the Bears look content in just putzing around the rest of the game and hoping that 27 points will be enough to win. But on the next kickoff, we get a big return, followed by a short conservative drive. Of course, we don't reach the end zone, heaven forbid, but a field goal, we'll take it. 30-19.
With a little momentum back on our side, it seemed like we might win after all. But the next drive is what really puzzled me. The Bears defense plays conservative, prevent-style in the 3rd quarter and early 4th, then on a critical 3rd and 4 late in the final quarter, they decide to blitz 3 guys and leave the secondary wide open for a 36 yard touchdown pass. Way to go, idiots. Yay, we're gonna send in all our guys and not even touch the quarterback.
One thing that might have seemed good on that drive was stopping the 2-pt conversion. But honestly, I think we would've been better off giving them that so later on the Pats would maybe be content to tie with a field goal instead of being forced to win on a touchdown (which they eventually did, of course). Twisted logic, but when you are a Bears fan, that's what happens. At this time, it's 30-25, time to really start worrying.
Of course, Bears get the ball back, and did we actually think they would be able to run out the clock? Hizells no. 1st and 10, A-train gets 9 to set up 2nd and short. Looks good so far, but the next two plays they try to go up the middle twice, and get stuffed twice. Can we be a little more predictable please? I can't stand it when you see the defense loading up everyone in the box, and you still try to punch it through, knowing that there is almost no space there to begin with.
Just over 2 minutes left in the game, Bears punt, and New England gets the ball at almost midfield. I'm really just waiting for this disaster to unfold. I know it's gonna happen, only a matter of time. Except that they couldn't just lose, they had to piss me off some more before doing so. After a couple plays, the Brady Bunch reaches the 30 or so, then the gayness ensued. Bryan Robinson had what looked like an interception, which would have locked up the game for the Bears. Time to celebrate, eh? Unfortunately, for some reason he decided to start running before he had the ball, and after reviewing the play on tape, the refs declared it was just an incomplete pass. He never had full control of the ball. Now, I don't really understand why the guy feels like he needs to try and return this interception given the game situation, instead of just securing the ball where he was, but hey, this is Bryan Robinson we're talking about, so we can't be too surprised.
Alright, so Tom Brady gets a second chance, and a few plays later, David Patten finds single coverage and schools Todd McMillon for the game winning touchdown. 33-30 Patriots. Yeah, there's still 20 some seconds left for the Bears to come back. Right.... First, we have tendinitis elbow at quarterback. And second, we like to let 10 seconds run off the clock before calling timeout. It's more fun and exciting like that. Nope, no comeback, did you really think there would be one?
So basically, this was the most infuriating game I have watched in a long time, and that's saying a lot because here in Chicago I get to watch the White Sox and Bulls putz around a lot too. The one nice play the Bears had was the trick play when Marty Booker threw a touchdown to Marcus Robinson. Even that, I couldn't really celebrate because I am probably gonna lose my fantasy game because of that fricking play. Or maybe it won't end up being that close, then I won't feel so bad.
Missy Works It
Has anyone heard the remix of that song, Missy Elliot's "Work It" when she does a verse promoting the radio station it is being played on? She goes something like "This is a power 92 exclusive... Is it worth it, lemme work it, cause 92.3 will serve it... it's yer adlkjgsflkj eiughdn dkjwnvkd, it's yer welknv dnewkng nwkngne..."
Well, I have heard this on 3 different stations so far here in the Chicagoland area. Isn't the word "exclusive" supposed to mean something?
Sunday, November 10, 2002
Saturday, November 09, 2002
Men, Women, and the Economy
It's been a while since I have made any controversial remarks about male/female differences, so it might be time for one of those entries.
I was just thinking about how different our lives would be if there were only guys in this world, besides the obvious of course. Consider that entire shopping malls would not exist. Anyone disagree with that? Walk into Marshall Fields and take a look around. The store is dominated by makeup counters, Coach purses, women's shoes, women's dresses (casual, formal, etc.), and Godiva chocolates. None of that is for men, now is it?
But, you might point out that there is a men's shoe section, men's apparel, men's fragrances, which are all for men. Well, that may be true, but I still believe that none of that would be there if there were no women in the world. Without a mother to bring us up, or hot chicks to impress, every single guy would end up wearing a white t-shirt and jeans, if even that much, I can almost guarantee you that.
Ok, so look elsewhere in the mall, what would you find? More women's clothes. The Build-a-Bear store. Jewelry shops. Some place selling freshly ground guava juice. Out of all the stores you typically find at shopping malls, I think only a few of these would exist if it was a men-only world. The Sharper Image, and Foot Locker, that's about it.
This doesn't only apply to malls, malls are just sort of a microcosm of the rest of the world. Women commonly claim that this society is so male-dominated, but I don't believe this is fully true. Ok, so maybe in terms of political and industrial power, men are still ahead for now. But when you think about it, this economy would be even further in the dumps if there were no women to buy stuff.
Speaking from a guy's perspective, I would say that my life is pretty simple and I don't need many things. Other than a fairly expensive car, I don't think I spend that much money on anything. I eat sandwiches every day for lunch. I have one pair of shoes for work, one pair of shoes for playing sports, and sandals for the summer. If it weren't for my sister and Olivia buying me stuff, I would probably still be wearing all my clothes from high school (when I was 6 inches shorter and 30 pounds lighter). Then all I really do other than work is watch football, write blogs, or talk to people online. None of that really costs any money either. I used to at least buy Nintendo games and baseball cards.
Compare this to girls. I could write a whole long blog on how many shoes girls "need," but I'm sure others have already done that so I will spare you. Not only shoes though, it's coats, hats, sunglasses, earrings, jeans, black pants, gray pants, sweaters, rings, etc. Too much is never enough.
Or you could think of it in terms of drinks when you go out to a bar or club. Guys drink beer - $4 or 5 bucks a pop at most. Girls don't like beer (typically), that means $10+ mixed drinks, amaretto sours, midori sours, long island iced teas and the lot.
Basically, because of girls, we can't all walk around in just our underwear, watch TV, and eat Taco Bell or McDonalds every day. We gotta be "cultured" and attend musicals, eat at French restaurants once in a while, buy jewelry, and shop at the Hallmark store now and then. Our clothes have to look "presentable."
I guess I am not a very good active consumer in this American economy. I would feel bad for not contributing more of my disposable income in this time when businesses need it, but honestly, it wouldn't bother me at all if jewelry shops and Hallmark stores went bankrupt in this world. Those are such bogus industries to begin with, taking advantage of helpless boyfriends and husbands around the country. Flower shops are aiiiight though, they can stay, because they are usually run by nice, sweet hometown ladies who like flowers, instead of being a multi-million dollar corporate giant.
It's been a while since I have made any controversial remarks about male/female differences, so it might be time for one of those entries.
I was just thinking about how different our lives would be if there were only guys in this world, besides the obvious of course. Consider that entire shopping malls would not exist. Anyone disagree with that? Walk into Marshall Fields and take a look around. The store is dominated by makeup counters, Coach purses, women's shoes, women's dresses (casual, formal, etc.), and Godiva chocolates. None of that is for men, now is it?
But, you might point out that there is a men's shoe section, men's apparel, men's fragrances, which are all for men. Well, that may be true, but I still believe that none of that would be there if there were no women in the world. Without a mother to bring us up, or hot chicks to impress, every single guy would end up wearing a white t-shirt and jeans, if even that much, I can almost guarantee you that.
Ok, so look elsewhere in the mall, what would you find? More women's clothes. The Build-a-Bear store. Jewelry shops. Some place selling freshly ground guava juice. Out of all the stores you typically find at shopping malls, I think only a few of these would exist if it was a men-only world. The Sharper Image, and Foot Locker, that's about it.
This doesn't only apply to malls, malls are just sort of a microcosm of the rest of the world. Women commonly claim that this society is so male-dominated, but I don't believe this is fully true. Ok, so maybe in terms of political and industrial power, men are still ahead for now. But when you think about it, this economy would be even further in the dumps if there were no women to buy stuff.
Speaking from a guy's perspective, I would say that my life is pretty simple and I don't need many things. Other than a fairly expensive car, I don't think I spend that much money on anything. I eat sandwiches every day for lunch. I have one pair of shoes for work, one pair of shoes for playing sports, and sandals for the summer. If it weren't for my sister and Olivia buying me stuff, I would probably still be wearing all my clothes from high school (when I was 6 inches shorter and 30 pounds lighter). Then all I really do other than work is watch football, write blogs, or talk to people online. None of that really costs any money either. I used to at least buy Nintendo games and baseball cards.
Compare this to girls. I could write a whole long blog on how many shoes girls "need," but I'm sure others have already done that so I will spare you. Not only shoes though, it's coats, hats, sunglasses, earrings, jeans, black pants, gray pants, sweaters, rings, etc. Too much is never enough.
Or you could think of it in terms of drinks when you go out to a bar or club. Guys drink beer - $4 or 5 bucks a pop at most. Girls don't like beer (typically), that means $10+ mixed drinks, amaretto sours, midori sours, long island iced teas and the lot.
Basically, because of girls, we can't all walk around in just our underwear, watch TV, and eat Taco Bell or McDonalds every day. We gotta be "cultured" and attend musicals, eat at French restaurants once in a while, buy jewelry, and shop at the Hallmark store now and then. Our clothes have to look "presentable."
I guess I am not a very good active consumer in this American economy. I would feel bad for not contributing more of my disposable income in this time when businesses need it, but honestly, it wouldn't bother me at all if jewelry shops and Hallmark stores went bankrupt in this world. Those are such bogus industries to begin with, taking advantage of helpless boyfriends and husbands around the country. Flower shops are aiiiight though, they can stay, because they are usually run by nice, sweet hometown ladies who like flowers, instead of being a multi-million dollar corporate giant.
Wednesday, November 06, 2002
Going Overboard
Kind of weird, but it seems like while our economy was so good not too long ago, it also seems that people have been saying forever that we are gonna snap out of this recession any day now. Nobody really seems to have an explanation as to why the economy has sucked so much for the past couple years, but everyone seems agreed that in no time, we'll be back to our glory days.
Well, I am no economics expert, but I personally think that this recession happened because of one thing: human nature. People are so irrational, greedy and stupid, and it makes me so mad. Back when the economy was expanding, everything was growing uncontrollably: the internet, the cell phone industry, professional sports leagues, and the NASDAQ 100, nobody ever thought it would all crash and burn like it has since then.
So what did people do? Anybody who knew half a thing about computers went out and started their own Internet company. Lucent built itself a little city out by the Naperville/Lisle area. Major League Baseball, already overexpanded with the Rockies and Marlins, went out and got the Diamondbacks and Devil Rays. Enron and other companies nobody had ever heard of spent millions buying the naming rights to stadiums or Bowl Games just so people knew who they were. And every common schmoe went and bet their savings accounts on whatever stock looked good at the time, having seen their friends around them get rich quick.
Now, did anyone back then think to themselves, "gee, there's no way these industries can keep growing 800% per year or at some crazy exponential rate"? Probably very few. No, most people and most companies, having made a hefty sum off the economy's expansion, went out and bought themselves more stock, built more fancy office buildings, and put out as many products as they could, expecting that demand would continue to skyrocket and meet the supply. The classic mistake of "counting your chickens before they're hatched" was one that just about everybody was guilty of.
So then what? The economy started to sputter. Or, the way I see it, people bought all the computers they needed, and got all the cell phones and digital cameras they could use. Companies upgraded their servers already and the country didn't need a million consulting firms or network advisors. Rather than realizing the fact that people weren't gonna need to buy a new [fill-in-the-blank] every other month, they tried to shove more down our throats. Everything snowballed from there, and before you knew it, all of the new internet companies that were so hot went bankrupt and disappeared. The bigger tech companies like Lucent and Motorola went on layoff sprees as their profits plunged. Soon enough, Major League Baseball was talking about contraction, while Enron Field stood as a symbol of the gigantic failures the country was experiencing and the uncontrolled greed which had brought the failures about. And the stock market continues to make new long term lows each day.
They say hindsight is 20/20, but wouldn't it be nice if we didn't have to set ourselves up for disaster? Wouldn't it be great if people had foresight for once? It's sad that human nature is so hard to overcome. Did you know that something like 90% of people who try daytrading come away unsuccessful? It is because of human nature. We are greedy and irrational, not to mention hopelessly stupid at times. Don't even get me started about how normal, educated people can actually have problems figuring out how to vote using a ballot.
Why did I just write so much on this topic, you might ask? Well, one reason is because I have problems writing anything short and concise. But honestly, this is something that really pisses me off. An economic depression sucks for everybody, but I think it is really nobody's fault but our own. I guess maybe I won't be able to change the world and make people smarter by this blog, but at least I can vent a little and throw out some irritable thoughts.
Kind of weird, but it seems like while our economy was so good not too long ago, it also seems that people have been saying forever that we are gonna snap out of this recession any day now. Nobody really seems to have an explanation as to why the economy has sucked so much for the past couple years, but everyone seems agreed that in no time, we'll be back to our glory days.
Well, I am no economics expert, but I personally think that this recession happened because of one thing: human nature. People are so irrational, greedy and stupid, and it makes me so mad. Back when the economy was expanding, everything was growing uncontrollably: the internet, the cell phone industry, professional sports leagues, and the NASDAQ 100, nobody ever thought it would all crash and burn like it has since then.
So what did people do? Anybody who knew half a thing about computers went out and started their own Internet company. Lucent built itself a little city out by the Naperville/Lisle area. Major League Baseball, already overexpanded with the Rockies and Marlins, went out and got the Diamondbacks and Devil Rays. Enron and other companies nobody had ever heard of spent millions buying the naming rights to stadiums or Bowl Games just so people knew who they were. And every common schmoe went and bet their savings accounts on whatever stock looked good at the time, having seen their friends around them get rich quick.
Now, did anyone back then think to themselves, "gee, there's no way these industries can keep growing 800% per year or at some crazy exponential rate"? Probably very few. No, most people and most companies, having made a hefty sum off the economy's expansion, went out and bought themselves more stock, built more fancy office buildings, and put out as many products as they could, expecting that demand would continue to skyrocket and meet the supply. The classic mistake of "counting your chickens before they're hatched" was one that just about everybody was guilty of.
So then what? The economy started to sputter. Or, the way I see it, people bought all the computers they needed, and got all the cell phones and digital cameras they could use. Companies upgraded their servers already and the country didn't need a million consulting firms or network advisors. Rather than realizing the fact that people weren't gonna need to buy a new [fill-in-the-blank] every other month, they tried to shove more down our throats. Everything snowballed from there, and before you knew it, all of the new internet companies that were so hot went bankrupt and disappeared. The bigger tech companies like Lucent and Motorola went on layoff sprees as their profits plunged. Soon enough, Major League Baseball was talking about contraction, while Enron Field stood as a symbol of the gigantic failures the country was experiencing and the uncontrolled greed which had brought the failures about. And the stock market continues to make new long term lows each day.
They say hindsight is 20/20, but wouldn't it be nice if we didn't have to set ourselves up for disaster? Wouldn't it be great if people had foresight for once? It's sad that human nature is so hard to overcome. Did you know that something like 90% of people who try daytrading come away unsuccessful? It is because of human nature. We are greedy and irrational, not to mention hopelessly stupid at times. Don't even get me started about how normal, educated people can actually have problems figuring out how to vote using a ballot.
Why did I just write so much on this topic, you might ask? Well, one reason is because I have problems writing anything short and concise. But honestly, this is something that really pisses me off. An economic depression sucks for everybody, but I think it is really nobody's fault but our own. I guess maybe I won't be able to change the world and make people smarter by this blog, but at least I can vent a little and throw out some irritable thoughts.
Monday, November 04, 2002
Life As Joseph Y. Chen
People often say to me, "Joe, you got it made. Good looks, millions of dollars in stock holdings, and Britney Spears stickers in your wallet." To this, I usually reply, "Yah, I know."
Actually, nobody has ever said anything remotely like that to me in my life. And I don't really have millions in stock holdings.
But anyways, since I havent written anything in about a week, I thought I would drop down some of what has been going on in the wild and wacky world of dudo509.
I've finished about 4 weeks at the new job already. Life is becoming routine, which is good and bad. Good, in that I have regular sleep and eating schedules, and I feel healthier than I have been in a long time. Bad, in that I miss the freedom and chill atmosphere of school. Basically, this is my day in a nutshell:
[6:30-7] Wake up
[7-8] Drive to work. Listen to morning radio shows, which are all basically made of a bunch of crank calls by the hosts with a little bit of music sprinkled in here and there. Kind of dumb and pointless if you think about it, but I listen anyways. Sometimes I learn interesting facts. Did you know that some civilizations used shells or corn cobs before toilet paper was invented? sweet...
[8-4:30] Work. Eat lunch. Talk to my coworkers about sports. Work.
[4:30-5:30] Drive home. Listen to my CDs or my Rio because I don't feel like hearing that Nelly and Kelly song or some Eminem song that is on every station every 5 minutes. Although me and Olivia are planning to go see 8 Mile because we are ghetto. Actually just her.
[5:30-6] Talk to people on IM, Check email, Read ESPN.com Page 2
[6-7] Eat dinner. Sit down and chill for a bit.
[7-10] Watch football/lift/write blogs/read blogs/talk on IM
[10-10:15] Make my lunch: a turkey or roast beef sandwich, a bag of chips, a pack of Capri Sun (or can of Sprite if I'm feeling extra spicy), and some fruit that my mom secretly shoves in my lunch bag when I'm not looking
[10:15-11] Shower and get ready for bed
[11-11:30] Sleep
(actually, this is my day in a nutshell: "help! I'm in a nutshell! how did I get in this bloody great big nutshell? what kind of shell has nuts like this? this is crazy...")
Basically, if I decide to do something with a friend on any weeknight, that wipes out pretty much anything else I would normally do on that night. Makes me appreciate weekends that much more, which is exactly what some working folk told me before. I am thinking that eventually I am gonna have to move closer, which will save me up to 2 hours a day.
The drive kind of sucks. I hate stop and go traffic, it makes me irrational and irritable. Like, I know it's not the fault of the car in front of me, but I start hating whatever car is in front of me because it keeps stopping. Unless the car in front of me is a G35 sedan, of course, but I haven't seen too many of those on the street. Yay for me, I like having a semi-unique car. I guess Maximas and M5s are also exempt from my irrational anger. But anyways, I am really surprised that more rear-end accidents don't happen. At least 2 or 3 times a day, I have to slam on my brakes because traffic suddenly goes from 60 mph to 2 mph. That ain't cool.
So this past week was the birthdays of 2 of my favorite people in this world, which was part of the reason for cramping my blogging flava. It's all good though. Thursday was Olivia's 22nd. Yes, she is a Halloween baby. I never celebrated Halloween before, it seemed like a dumb thing that white people made up because they were bored and scaring themselves seemed like a good idea. Then I realized when I went to Taiwan that Asians do that kind of crap too.
But yeah, I still don't celebrate Halloween, though the day is now a day of horror which I dread for weeks or months in advance. I suck at buying gifts, it's so hard figuring out what to get for her. I wish that her gifts for me sucked, so I wouldn't feel bad if my gift for her sucked. It's too bad she has to be the most thoughtful person in the world and notice things I say which I don't even realize I said, picking up all these awesome gift ideas along the way.
For her birthday, we went to eat at Rosebud on Thursday night. It's a pretty good restaurant, good food, nice atmosphere and not that ritzy or expensive. I hear that her friend who used to work there would see Italian mafia-looking guys come in and head towards the back room with some suitcases, that's pretty cool if it's true. Oh yeah, it's the original Rosebud on Taylor, don't blame me if you go to one of the other ones and it sucks.
Friday I went to dinner with her and her friends, then the Bulls game. It was the home opener against the New Orleans Hornets and we sat in literally the last row. So I couldn't tell if Candice was among the Luvabulls. She is on the website though, so I guess the rumor is true. Bulls won, even though Jamal Crawford and Marcus Fizer blow. It's been awhile since we started a season 2-0, but I don't think we should get too excited just yet.
Then Saturday was the P-man's birthday. We watched Jackass, which was hilarious except for a couple parts which were downright wrong. Watching a movie like that is twice as funny when you are with people who appreciate crass humor. I was kind of mad for getting asked for ID twice (once at the ticket booth and once by the guy who rips your stub), but then I talked to Caddy and she told me how she got carded for the Nutty Professor (PG-13) so I don't feel so stupid. Then, we went out for a bit and I saw a whole bunch of the old peeps from U of I. Pretty nice, made me miss school a little more.
It seems like a lot of people have birthdays around this time. I guess January and February were the times when our moms and dads needed to keep each other warm the most, twenty-some years ago. eeewwwwwww
I don't think the concept of a birthday is that meaningful, and I personally don't care if nobody even says happy birthday to me on my birthday. My ideal birthday would be to sit around and not be stressed about anything. But birthdays are still good to celebrate, because everybody has one, and it's like one day of the year where you can kind of show appreciation to a friend that you don't usually appreciate the rest of the year. Kind of in a Mother's/Father's Day sense. But it's weak if they try to milk it for all it's got, like make people buy them dinner and drinks for a whole week and demand awesome presents. Good thing I don't know anyone like that though.
Ah, I got off track from what I was originally writing about, like always. That's my life though, aren't you all jealous? Women want me, men want to be me...
People often say to me, "Joe, you got it made. Good looks, millions of dollars in stock holdings, and Britney Spears stickers in your wallet." To this, I usually reply, "Yah, I know."
Actually, nobody has ever said anything remotely like that to me in my life. And I don't really have millions in stock holdings.
But anyways, since I havent written anything in about a week, I thought I would drop down some of what has been going on in the wild and wacky world of dudo509.
I've finished about 4 weeks at the new job already. Life is becoming routine, which is good and bad. Good, in that I have regular sleep and eating schedules, and I feel healthier than I have been in a long time. Bad, in that I miss the freedom and chill atmosphere of school. Basically, this is my day in a nutshell:
[6:30-7] Wake up
[7-8] Drive to work. Listen to morning radio shows, which are all basically made of a bunch of crank calls by the hosts with a little bit of music sprinkled in here and there. Kind of dumb and pointless if you think about it, but I listen anyways. Sometimes I learn interesting facts. Did you know that some civilizations used shells or corn cobs before toilet paper was invented? sweet...
[8-4:30] Work. Eat lunch. Talk to my coworkers about sports. Work.
[4:30-5:30] Drive home. Listen to my CDs or my Rio because I don't feel like hearing that Nelly and Kelly song or some Eminem song that is on every station every 5 minutes. Although me and Olivia are planning to go see 8 Mile because we are ghetto. Actually just her.
[5:30-6] Talk to people on IM, Check email, Read ESPN.com Page 2
[6-7] Eat dinner. Sit down and chill for a bit.
[7-10] Watch football/lift/write blogs/read blogs/talk on IM
[10-10:15] Make my lunch: a turkey or roast beef sandwich, a bag of chips, a pack of Capri Sun (or can of Sprite if I'm feeling extra spicy), and some fruit that my mom secretly shoves in my lunch bag when I'm not looking
[10:15-11] Shower and get ready for bed
[11-11:30] Sleep
(actually, this is my day in a nutshell: "help! I'm in a nutshell! how did I get in this bloody great big nutshell? what kind of shell has nuts like this? this is crazy...")
Basically, if I decide to do something with a friend on any weeknight, that wipes out pretty much anything else I would normally do on that night. Makes me appreciate weekends that much more, which is exactly what some working folk told me before. I am thinking that eventually I am gonna have to move closer, which will save me up to 2 hours a day.
The drive kind of sucks. I hate stop and go traffic, it makes me irrational and irritable. Like, I know it's not the fault of the car in front of me, but I start hating whatever car is in front of me because it keeps stopping. Unless the car in front of me is a G35 sedan, of course, but I haven't seen too many of those on the street. Yay for me, I like having a semi-unique car. I guess Maximas and M5s are also exempt from my irrational anger. But anyways, I am really surprised that more rear-end accidents don't happen. At least 2 or 3 times a day, I have to slam on my brakes because traffic suddenly goes from 60 mph to 2 mph. That ain't cool.
So this past week was the birthdays of 2 of my favorite people in this world, which was part of the reason for cramping my blogging flava. It's all good though. Thursday was Olivia's 22nd. Yes, she is a Halloween baby. I never celebrated Halloween before, it seemed like a dumb thing that white people made up because they were bored and scaring themselves seemed like a good idea. Then I realized when I went to Taiwan that Asians do that kind of crap too.
But yeah, I still don't celebrate Halloween, though the day is now a day of horror which I dread for weeks or months in advance. I suck at buying gifts, it's so hard figuring out what to get for her. I wish that her gifts for me sucked, so I wouldn't feel bad if my gift for her sucked. It's too bad she has to be the most thoughtful person in the world and notice things I say which I don't even realize I said, picking up all these awesome gift ideas along the way.
For her birthday, we went to eat at Rosebud on Thursday night. It's a pretty good restaurant, good food, nice atmosphere and not that ritzy or expensive. I hear that her friend who used to work there would see Italian mafia-looking guys come in and head towards the back room with some suitcases, that's pretty cool if it's true. Oh yeah, it's the original Rosebud on Taylor, don't blame me if you go to one of the other ones and it sucks.
Friday I went to dinner with her and her friends, then the Bulls game. It was the home opener against the New Orleans Hornets and we sat in literally the last row. So I couldn't tell if Candice was among the Luvabulls. She is on the website though, so I guess the rumor is true. Bulls won, even though Jamal Crawford and Marcus Fizer blow. It's been awhile since we started a season 2-0, but I don't think we should get too excited just yet.
Then Saturday was the P-man's birthday. We watched Jackass, which was hilarious except for a couple parts which were downright wrong. Watching a movie like that is twice as funny when you are with people who appreciate crass humor. I was kind of mad for getting asked for ID twice (once at the ticket booth and once by the guy who rips your stub), but then I talked to Caddy and she told me how she got carded for the Nutty Professor (PG-13) so I don't feel so stupid. Then, we went out for a bit and I saw a whole bunch of the old peeps from U of I. Pretty nice, made me miss school a little more.
It seems like a lot of people have birthdays around this time. I guess January and February were the times when our moms and dads needed to keep each other warm the most, twenty-some years ago. eeewwwwwww
I don't think the concept of a birthday is that meaningful, and I personally don't care if nobody even says happy birthday to me on my birthday. My ideal birthday would be to sit around and not be stressed about anything. But birthdays are still good to celebrate, because everybody has one, and it's like one day of the year where you can kind of show appreciation to a friend that you don't usually appreciate the rest of the year. Kind of in a Mother's/Father's Day sense. But it's weak if they try to milk it for all it's got, like make people buy them dinner and drinks for a whole week and demand awesome presents. Good thing I don't know anyone like that though.
Ah, I got off track from what I was originally writing about, like always. That's my life though, aren't you all jealous? Women want me, men want to be me...
Monday, October 28, 2002
Daylight Savings Time
A couple days ago, all of us got to turn our clocks back one hour because of daylight savings time. (Or is it, because daylight savings time ended? how does this work anyways?) It's one of those things that everybody loves and nobody would ever complain about. Whenever someone finds out they get to turn back an hour on a Saturday night in October, usually a wide grin comes over their face and they are like "sweet, more sleep for me tonight."
As well they should, because you simply can't beat being able to gain an hour for no good reason. Actually, I hear the reason is because some gangsta farmers (or should I say farmahzz) bullied the government into shifting the official time for a few months of the year. But whatever the reason, I like it.
Of course, it's gonna suck in spring when we gotta "spring forward" and lose that hour right back. Most of us don't think about that until the time comes and when it does, you usually see a lot of people conveniently "forget," sleep that hour anyways, and be late to class, work, or watching Jerry Springer. That's how I am.
But this year, I am thinking of the future, months ahead, when I am gonna be robbed of a precious hour of beautyrest. So, I am thinking, we should make some drastic changes to the country to maximize the amount of wide grins and minimize the trashy daytime TV show missage.
Since everyone loves turning their clock back, and hates turning it forward, I would like to propose a plan that will eliminate the latter while multiplying the former. The math or logic minded readers out there are probably already saying, that's impossible, you can't gain an hour of time without giving it back!
Ah, but you can. See, I think every other week of the year, we should turn our clocks back one hour. That means, after a year, we will have turned our clocks back 26 times, having gained about 26 hours of sleep in the process (not to mention the many smiles that go along with such a benefit). Of course, the catch is that we lose about 1 day each year, and that we have wacked out schedules all the time (waking up when the sun goes down in the summer, for example), but that's a small price to pay. How many of us really are gonna miss that one day out of the year anyways?
Yeah, I know that 26 hours a year means that we lose more than one day a year, so for the sake of order, we would probably have to have a "leap day" every 12 years to account for this. Who cares.
Seriously, it would work. I am thinking of running for office using such a platform to build my campaign on. Since it doesn't really save daylight anymore, I guess it would have to be called "sleep savings time" or something. But I'm sure a lot of people would vote for me if it meant more sleep for them...
A couple days ago, all of us got to turn our clocks back one hour because of daylight savings time. (Or is it, because daylight savings time ended? how does this work anyways?) It's one of those things that everybody loves and nobody would ever complain about. Whenever someone finds out they get to turn back an hour on a Saturday night in October, usually a wide grin comes over their face and they are like "sweet, more sleep for me tonight."
As well they should, because you simply can't beat being able to gain an hour for no good reason. Actually, I hear the reason is because some gangsta farmers (or should I say farmahzz) bullied the government into shifting the official time for a few months of the year. But whatever the reason, I like it.
Of course, it's gonna suck in spring when we gotta "spring forward" and lose that hour right back. Most of us don't think about that until the time comes and when it does, you usually see a lot of people conveniently "forget," sleep that hour anyways, and be late to class, work, or watching Jerry Springer. That's how I am.
But this year, I am thinking of the future, months ahead, when I am gonna be robbed of a precious hour of beautyrest. So, I am thinking, we should make some drastic changes to the country to maximize the amount of wide grins and minimize the trashy daytime TV show missage.
Since everyone loves turning their clock back, and hates turning it forward, I would like to propose a plan that will eliminate the latter while multiplying the former. The math or logic minded readers out there are probably already saying, that's impossible, you can't gain an hour of time without giving it back!
Ah, but you can. See, I think every other week of the year, we should turn our clocks back one hour. That means, after a year, we will have turned our clocks back 26 times, having gained about 26 hours of sleep in the process (not to mention the many smiles that go along with such a benefit). Of course, the catch is that we lose about 1 day each year, and that we have wacked out schedules all the time (waking up when the sun goes down in the summer, for example), but that's a small price to pay. How many of us really are gonna miss that one day out of the year anyways?
Yeah, I know that 26 hours a year means that we lose more than one day a year, so for the sake of order, we would probably have to have a "leap day" every 12 years to account for this. Who cares.
Seriously, it would work. I am thinking of running for office using such a platform to build my campaign on. Since it doesn't really save daylight anymore, I guess it would have to be called "sleep savings time" or something. But I'm sure a lot of people would vote for me if it meant more sleep for them...
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