30.6.02
Been a boring weekend so far. Watched a lot of Braves baseball (they swept the Red Sox - woo hoo!) and played a lot of Grand Theft Auto 3. What else happened... oh yeah, NOBODY WROTE ME ANY COMMENTS! I give and I give and I give to you guys, and what do I get in return? No feedback. Rectify this situation immediately. (Heh heh. I said rectify.)
Oh yeah, one more thing - I'm trying to plan a trip to the DBAP to watch the Bulls play on July 11 - that's next Thursday - at 7 PM. The tickets will be no more than $7 plus tax. So give me a call or drop me an e-mail if you want to come. Whaaaaaaa
27.6.02
That whole 9th circuit ruling that the pledge of allegiance is unconstitutional is bullshit. Bullshit. It's not a prayer. It's part of our national motto and an admirable sentiment, whether you're talking about the Christian God, Jewish God, Muslim God, or whatever the hell else you believe in. Because it says that the government isn't the be-all end-all authority. There's something else there that holds you and me and everyone in the country accountable, including congress and the 9th circuit court of appeals. And fuck, if you don't like it, just leave that part out.
What I'm reading: The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper
What's in my CD player - Cool Songs 12
Song(s) of the day: Weezer - Suzanne
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
26.6.02
Judging by my past experiences, I should be sunburned right now. But I'm not, and there's a very good reason for it: God hates me. This weekend my family left Apex, where it has not rained significantly since I don't know when, for sun and fun at Myrtle Beach. Where it rained the entire weekend. We got in maybe 20 minutes of actual sitting on the beach time. And before we left I was all like, no, I shouldn't take my PS2, I won't use it. I'll be out swimming and stuff. But no, my life sucks.
Also: Comments, people. Comments. They're what I live for.
A prostitute killer does not require social skills --William Beadle, on Jack the Ripper
Southwest Airlines has started enforcing a policy of making the severely overweight pay for two seats, and I for one could not be happier. However, I know that there are many who think I'm a heartless bigot for feeling that way. Well, tough. Honestly, I know I speak for most people (in fact, the 99% of people who wouldn't be affected by SW's policy) when I say that I am sick of paying for my WHOLE seat on a flight, then having to scrunch myself into half of it because somebody couldn't refuse that fourth double-bacon cheeseburger with extra lard at lunch. And this is not discrimination, as many NAAFA members would like you to think. It's just simple economics. If you're going to use two seats, then you should pay for two seats, not make the person in the neighboring seat extremely uncomfortable for the duration of the flight. They paid for their seat just like you did, and it's very rude to ruin their flight. They charge you for two seats if you've got, say, a large, fragile musical instrument with you that you can't store under the plane, so why not because you're unable to fit into one seat?
I'd just like to note that if you're overweight and you're offended, it's 99% likely wasn't talking about you. We're not talking your standard overweight people here, they fit in planes just fine with no disruption to the other passengers. I mean the sloppy-fat 400 pound porkers that you just KNOW don't have glandular problems, they're just fat because they're too lazy to move. The elite 1%. So if I made you mad, I'm sorry, and you can flame me in the comments section if you want, or even flame me by email at sburney@email.unc.edu.
18.6.02
Hey, I've finally maybe got a job. I'll be doing usher-type things over at Regency Park and for some Carolina Courage games. Not too shabby, I'd say. Also, I think I'm going to buy a Playstation 2 at last. I've only been waiting, what, 3 years now? Well, I can't hold out for Metal Gear Solid 2 any longer.
But now, the bad news. My wisdom teeth are coming out, and they're coming out soon. I have a consultation appointment tomorrow afternoon, and then not long after that comes the pain. Oh, Lord, the pain. I expect to do nothing for several days afterwards but drool, moan, and watch movies. I'll let you guys know when it's going to happen, so you can come over and laugh at me.
Finally, I'd like to encourage you people to click on the NRO link in the sidebar and read something by John Derbyshire. He rocks. Thus endeth the worst blog entry in recorded history.
17.6.02
My Latin-learning plan is turning out to be more difficult than I expected. I'm hampered by the fact that ancient Romans didn't have much in the way of entertainment when there were no Christians to screw around with, so they spent their free time making their language as impossible for other people to learn as was practical. Frequently snickers and whispered conversations passed between senators on the way to the vomitorium. "Marcus! I just made up XVII new kinds of nouns! That makes MXCDII in all, there's no way college students will be able to memorize all this." Then they would exchange high-Vs.
What's in my CD player: No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom
Song(s) of the moment: Dave Brubeck - Blue Rondo Alla Turk
What I'm reading: John Irving - The World According to Garp (side note: John Irving is the greatest living writer)
16.6.02
I've decided to learn Latin this summer. I figure I know a lot of Spanish and Latin's kind of like Spanish, so it shouldn't be too hard. Plus if I teach it to myself, I don't get graded or have to take tests or anything like that, so it will be far less stressful. So by the end of the summer, I should be effectively tri-lingual. And in the spring semester, I think I'm going to start taking Russian. I doubt I could teach that to myself since I don't understand the cyrillic alphabet so I couldn't read it on my own. That means by the end of college, I should be quadri-lingual. Look out, job market, here I come.
What's in my CD player: Car Music
Song(s) of the moment: They Might Be Giants - The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas
What I'm reading: Joe Connelly - Bringing Out the Dead
Every man has a right to a Saturday night bath. —Lyndon B. Johnson
15.6.02
I wish I had enough talent to be a real writer. I mean I can do OK on papers and on the webpage and stuff, but I could never write a whole book that somebody would want to read. I can barely even craft a respectable short story. It pretty much sucks to be mediocre at something you love so much. Ahhhhh well.
What's in my CD player: Me - Car Music Mix
Song(s) of the moment: Blink-182 - Going Away to College
What I'm reading: John Irving - The Hotel New Hampshire
There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact. —Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
10.6.02
I am SO FARKING BORED. I need a job. Somebody hire me please!!!!!!!111one. In other news, my dog smells like pee.
If you're wondering why updates to this thing are few and far between, it's because I spend every waking hour glued to my laptop playing Jedi Knight 2. That game is so beyond cool it's not even funny. You get to have a lightsaber and you can hack off people's hands and blow shit up and stuff. It's fun.
Anyway, I'm really really ready for school to start back up again. I'm taking some interesting classes this semester, but anything would be an improvement over last semester. Comm 9 was horrid, I had a flakey socialist mud hut guy for Psyc 10, Physics was hard, and Phil 21 was at 8 am. The only good classes I had were the history of Rome with this really cool British guy and Intro to Greek Myth, which was interesting and I had it with Jared. Next semester I'm not taking so many hours so it should be less painful. In fact, let's take a look at my schedule, shall we?
M/W/F
9AM: HIST30 - History of Russia pre-1861
12PM: ENGL58: Shakespeare
2PM: HIST63B: History of Air Power
3PM: Anth 10 Recitation (Wednesday only)
T/R
9:30: ANTH10 - General Anthropology
12:30: SPAN21 - Spanish literature
As you can see, I am a history major. I also apparently enjoy literature in several languages. Actually, thanks to Mata (or as we called her in Spain, Evil McSatan), I knew enough Spanish to place into 21, which is the equivalent of AP Lit back in high school. Gee thanks, Mata, I really wanted to take a challenging Spanish course in college. But here's the good news. All my classes are in the lower quad, so no more forays up to Franklin street every time I have to go to class. Unfortunately, that means I have further to go for Sakura Express lunch. Oh well. You have to take the good with the bad.
What's in my CD player: Blink-182 - Enema of the State
Song(s) of the moment: Dashboard Confessional - Hands Down/Badly Drawn Boy - The Shining
What I'm reading: Michael Connelly - Black Echo (I had to give up on the Barzun. So sue me.)
Life is one long process of getting tired —Samuel Butler
6.6.02
Ah. I am happy and content. I have a new Spongebob t-shirt and a new Big Trouble t-shirt, the second courtesy of Jenny and her hookups at the theater (thanks Jenny, you rock!). I'm wearing my hoody and my pajama pants. I'm warm and comfy and lazy and life is good.
And since I'm in such a good mood, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank every single one of my friends and family members for being such wicked cool awesome people. I am so lucky to be surrounded by such a kind, caring, supportive group. So guys, always know that you're appreciated and I love you all. And I want to make out with most of you. Bezoya!
In other news, the Canes won Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals last night. Woo Hoo! Unfortunately Adam and I never made it to the ESA to watch the game on the Jumbo-tron. All because I was too stupid to go back and get the directions that I printed out then left on the desk. Sigh. It's ok, though, I'll go Thursday.
In other other news, I saw Undercover Brother tonight with Jenny (it was free, thanks again to Jenny's theater hookup). It was actually pretty good. Almost Austin Powers-esque. Very pedestrian in its hypertextuality, and filled with a certain perspicacity that I found refreshing.
What's in my CD player: Guster - Lost and Gone Forever Song(s) of the moment: Led Zeppelin - Rock 'n' Roll/Cowboy Mouth - Love of My Life What I'm reading:Jacques Barzun - From Dawn to Decadence: 1500 Years of Western Cultural Life (still)
The mind is its own place, and in itself / Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven. —John Milton
What's in my CD player: Weezer - the Green Album Song(s) of the moment: Weezer - Island in the Sun/David Bowie and Queen - Under Pressure What I'm reading: Jacques Barzun - From Dawn to Decadence: 1500 Years of Western Cultural Life
We have two lives—the one we learn with and the life we live after that. —Bernard Malamud
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