Friday, December 24, 2010

You know it's Christmas Eve when you're doing 80 on 395 and there's 60 jet trails going into the setting sun.

T'was One in the Morning Before Christmas

     Well, it's the first, well I suppose second day now, of winter break, and I've gone batshit insane.


     Proof:

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Optimism

     So, in English, we're reading Lord of the Flies, about how human nature is the downfall of civility. I beg to differ, human nature is intrinsically good, and human compassion is one of the most powerful forces in our understanding. These are two especially strong examples learned from the night and early morning of last Saturday and Sunday.

     I was in the crowd at the 9:30 Club in downtown DC, waiting for George Clinton to get on stage. Me and my friend Clydefrog had really good spots, about 4 or five rows of people away from the main stage, and they were all fairly short, so visibility was no problem. I felt the side of some man's arm press into my right side, just beyond my peripheral vision. My experience in other concerts told me to move forward, be considerate of other people. I begin to move forward, and as soon as I unlock my knee, the man falls forward, beer bottle and all, sending me sprawling into the crowd in front of me. I was initially shocked, but I got back on my feet and turned around to see what had happened. And in the time between him hitting the ground and me getting up, people had already cleared a space, someone was checking his pulse, and multiple people were waving down club staff. All of that had happened in ten or so seconds. After what seemed like an eternity in the span of 45 seconds, the man  moved around, was helped back onto his feet, and I assume ushered out of the facility.

     Later that night, Clydefrog's parents went to see a friend who owned a nearby bar, which was only 21 and up. So Clydefrog, his dad, one of his parent's friends and myself waited outside under an awning an out of the freezing Two Am rain. A man with some boxes in his hand and his girlfriend who had recently come out of the bar were walking back in, and a guy who was clearly drunk and his tipsy friend were walking out of the bar. The two groups of people collided, and the drunkest of the four called the man's girlfriend a cunt. The man with the boxes was clearly disgruntled, but kept walking. The evidently drunk one decided it would be a good idea to escalate the situation, and yelled repeatably that the man with the boxes should "stand up for his girl", until the man turned around to confront him. The drunkard's friends, and the man's girlfriends both tried to get the two to split up, but to no avail. All of this was happening all of five feet in front of the group I was in, and Clydefrog's parent's friends stepped forward and intervened. She told the man with the boxes "not to be an asshole and ignore him," and the drunken man "go home." Thanks to her, the fight broke up, and the man and his girlfriend continued on into the bar, and the drunken man's friend started to apologize, but was interrupted by her, saying, "Please, don't say you're sorry, just take your friend and go home."
I find it hilarious that I can't go a week without being yelled at by some member of the school faculty.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

What time is it? Time to make a Chicago reference. I realize in advance that probably no one will get this.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Taking Inventory

     So, over the past weeks and months, there has been a pile of folded up peices of notebook paper building by my computer, and tonight I plan on posting as many of those as I can before I got insane or pass out. Here goes.

     Abstract words time.
     Green, blue, brown soft flannel, lumberjack, axe, trees, pine, forests, woods, green, moss, fields, hills, rolling, pin, bread, food, hungry, hamburger, ketchup, mustard, yellow, stop light, red light, stop, hammertime, dance, party, Cheetos, cheetah, Africa, Kenya, Savannah, wildebeest, watering hole, alligators, green, Kermit, moppets, TV, shows, tells, understands, sleeps, pillow, soft, comfortable, flannel, lumberjacks, log cabin, snow, pine trees, ski trail, cold, icy, freezer, dinosaur chicken nuggets, dinosaurs, asteroid, space, adventure, pirate ship, Caribbean, blue waters, sandy beaches, palm tree, coconut, mail, catalogue, sweaters, wool, cotton, flannel, plaid, Scottish, bagpipe, funeral, sadness, rain, clouds, blue skies, outside, bicycle, freedom, America, statue of liberty, green.

     Uh, next is just a random piece of paper with, "Sadness, no. Neither joy nor sorrow, but emotional purgatory." Scrawled on it.

     It's eyes grew brighter. I stood transfixed on them, when an image of me following it broke my concentration. Then, the creature seemed to nod in response to my unspoken question, I obliged.
     What it took me too looked unlike a spaceship in any human aspect, but when it led me inside, I realized that it wasn't a spaceship, it was a commune. We passed through another set of doors, and the creature took off the dome surrounding its head. The sensors on my helmet read oxygen, and I cautiously took it off. The air was bitter, and it felt different on the lungs than ours, but it was air alright. The creature was staring at me this time, and I noticed that its skin had the slightest tinge of brown. It made a noise, deep, but in no way guttural, and motioned for me to follow it deeper into the massive room we were in.
     I stood in front of seven of these creatures. One of them pulled out a sheet of metal that looked like the tablets which had tried again to take the market back on earth. A four-fingered hand grabbed mine and pressed it to the sheet. For a brief second it glowed, in a shade not too different from the creature's eyes.  I pulled y hand off, and the screen showed an image of a human, Earth, and was accompanied by some text which was indiscernible to me, The creatures turned to the image, then to each other, and then finally to me. The second shortest one, to my far right spoke, "You are from," hesitated for a moment then continued, "Earth?"
     "Correct," I replied. The one who had spoken to me turned back to the others. The mumbled together, then the tallest one silenced them, and turned back to me.
     "We, require the aid of," a pause, followed by a deep noise, "Earth."

    Well, that's disappointing, I had hoped to get more done, but I am about to pass out in front of my computer, so I will have to continue tomorrow.