Tuesday, June 30, 2009

A Few of My Favorite Things...


Imagine Dragons
Originally uploaded by KelsieMoore
(In no particular order) Favorite Thing #1: Discovering a new band that I really enjoy. My most recent band is especially cool because they're local. Even more than discovering a new band that is signed to some big label, I really love finding a band that hasn't quite taken off yet. A couple guys from my high school and some others started a great band some time ago called IMAGINE DRAGONS. I've known about the band for quite a while, but never heard their music until today when I checked out their MySpace page. It's good stuff! It complements my new-found appreciation for The Killers very well, as they're somewhat comparable to the sound of the Killers. This group has a great sound, and I'm excited to get their new EP that they're apparently working on in Las Vegas this summer. They are apparently a big hit around campus at Brigham Young University. Fun stuff. I hope I get to see them live sometime. Anyway, check out the songs on their MySpace, it's good stuff.

Favorite Thing #2: Gandolfo's breakfast sandwiches. The Gandolfo's New York-style Deli brings me a lot of joy whenever I have the blessing to pass through their doors. I know it sounds crazy to speak so dramatically about a sandwich joint, but wow... I LOVE IT! I'm 90% sure that I'm going to head out the door right after writing this and grab an Upstate sandwich. (At my Gandolfo's here in town they serve breakfast until 6 pm! WOOT!)

Favorite Thing #3: Days off. I love finally having time to do things that I need/want to do. And plenty of time to just relax, too. Not that my job is super strenuous, but I'm sure everyone agrees with me that Days off are a good thing. I'm enjoying mine right now. Now I'm going to stop wasting it and go get a Favorite Thing #2! Woohoo!

Um... k, see ya.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Tennis. Oh, tennis.


Roger Federer 1
Originally uploaded by ucayman
I'm a big fan of professional tennis. I don't really know what it is, but it's awesome to me. I think I just like the personalities that you get with tennis. And they're always pretty classy. Not to say that they're never cocky, but they are reservedly cocky. They won't boast too much. They're classy folks! Roger Federer is a great example. He's very confident in his interviews (and why not, he's won as many majors as anyone ever has,) but he's always very gracious and shows great respect for his opponents. That's incredibly impressive for someone who's arguably the best in his sport. The Williams sisters are the exact same way. Confident, but classy. I know all of these players might be jerks off the court and away from cameras, but at least they stay good examples when in the public eye.
Wimbledon is going on right now. I love it. However, I haven't watched any of it this year! It's killing me. But it's on live at 7am. That's an awkward time for me. The only way I'd ever see 7am is if I came at it from the night end. I don't get up that early. Haha, I have sleep issues. For sure. I've just been watching all the updates and the highlights on ESPN. It's really exciting to me. I really hope that Roger Federer wins. I wouldn't mind if Andy Roddick could win. He's always in the tourneys pretty deep, but has only won one major. (Random, I just flipped the channel to the classic movie channel and the old King Kong movie was on. Wow, that's some pretty AMAZING stuff. Anyway...) I can't decide which Williams sister will win. I like both of them, and I'm pretty positive one of them will win. Although, I think it would be cool if Dinara Safina could get her first major.
The point: I really love watching tennis. You should, too. It's a classy sport. The end. K, see ya.

P.S. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are the two best male players in the world right now, and here's footage from just one of their many incredible meetings.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Not a great night. Transformers 2 gets a D- at best. LSAT... not great.

Hmm... well... this wasn't really the best day off. It was ok, but it wasn't great. I should say that today was ok, but tonight was NOT ok. Not great. First of all, I went to go see the second Transformers movie with a bunch of friends. I have to say that as soon as I heard there was a Transformers sequel, I didn't have any strong desire to see it. I thought the first was ok. I think I once gave the first one a four out of five stars. It was entertaining, but fairly weak. However, if I had to give the second one a rating... I'd struggle to give it one and half stars! It was AWFUL. OK, to be fair, it does have some great special effects and I did enjoy many of the action scenes. I also thought there were a few decent jokes, and I think Shia Labeouf is a good actor. However, my appreciation of these few glimmering bright spots was SERIOUSLY depleted when I got to the last hour of the movie, and was fully replaced by a BURNING desire have the film come to a freaking conclusion! This movie had about an hour and half's worth of potential for a decent plot. It DRAGGED on in the worst way. The writing, oh... wow, the writing. Ok, I know I'm not in the movie biz, and I don't really know what it's like to write a movie... but I honestly believe that I could have written a better plot than the crap that these people (who probably got paid handsomely) churned out. This was some serious crap. The biggest problem I have with this is that there is actually quite a lot of potential, but these people resorted to some of the lamest cheap trashy jokes and a plot that deserves to be in one of those one-dollar-thin-cased-crappy-DVD movies that you can buy at Wal-Mart (perfect for white elephant gifts!) Hmm... are you understanding that the plot sucked? The dialogue was awful. It made me gag so many times. While a few in the theater were laughing at the garbage-can-sludge jokes that were in the film (like a tiny robot humping a girl's leg like a dog), I was groaning. And while the film tried to dramatically connect with the audience, I was laughing. This film is just wrong on many, many counts. Not to mention that I was visually violated by sleazy attempts at humor far too many times. I've never wanted to get out of a theater so bad in my life. On the way home I kept mulling over how terrible it was, and I even came to the conclusion that I actually enjoyed Hell Boy 2 more than this movie! And I had to get dragged to Hell Boy 2! My friend even had to offer to pay for me to see it in order to get me to go. Yes, I liked that better than this. Ugh. To steal a line that my cousin once said in reference to Stephen Spielberg's A.I.: I wish I could take each penny that I paid for that movie and throw them at the writers over the course of the two and a half hours that was stolen from my life by that movie. I know that many people will probably enjoy this movie. There will be many that will say that it's ok, or worth seeing. I am NOT one of those people. If ALL you care about is a few cheap laughs, many many action scenes that are similar, and scantily-clad women... then this is probably a GREAT movie for you. If you care at ALL about a plot that is decent, doesn't have SERIOUS holes, if you care at ALL about dialogue being half-decent.... DO NOT SEE THIS. Waste of money. Ok... enough about that.

I know that I probably sound overly harsh, but really, that's how I feel about that movie right now. I really didn't enjoy it. It was really hard to find the good in it.

I got home in this mood and discovered an email I wasn't expecting. My LSAT score. I couldn't bring myself to open the email because I was already in such a bad mood from that movie, but I of course couldn't resist my curiosity's tugging at me. I got about what I expected. It's not good enough for me. I just seriously hope that the September 2009 LSAT will go a bunch better than the June LSAT did. I WILL be taking it again. At least I know what to expect from it next time. I'll hopefully be better prepared by then as well. I plan to keep studying and maybe do one practice test a week at least until then. That would be good. Anyway, I still need to exercise and go to bed. I'm seriously nocturnal lately. It's not healthy. Um... k bye.

P.S. After writing this entry I just discovered that I'm totally not alone in my feelings. I just read this review by one of the rottentomatoes.com reviewers, and he speaks many of my thoughts.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Ok, see ya./Wednesday Weirdness

Wednesday Weirdness: A Zambian leader was giving a press conference outdoors and was greeted in a rather unfriendly manner by a monkey in a tree above him. (The BBC has the footage here.) The poor guy got peed on by a monkey. He seems pretty awesome though, because he just laughed and joked about it. Rock on, dude.


My good friends Andy and Ty introduced me to a phrase that can be used in awkward situations that I think is hilarious. If ever they say something and whoever their audience is doesn't really respond or clearly isn't interested, they say, "K, see ya." (This is why many of my posts end in that phrase.)
Today at work I had just gotten there and I was next to one of my supervisors when another supervisor leaned over to say something to her and when she didn't respond he said "K, see ya," and went back to work at his desk. I laughed and said, "You use 'K, see ya,' too? My friends and I use it all the time," assuming that he knew that he'd used it for an awkward situation that I had noticed. He didn't respond to me at all, and I, feeling like a moron, said, "K, see ya."
As if that wasn't enough proof that I occasionally (haha) lack social ability: I was on break today and I was alone in the break room. Just as a girl that I didn't notice came into the break room I said something to myself! She looked at me and smirked and I quickly started humming a song trying to pretend that that had been what I was doing. This all happened within a couple seconds so I think it actually worked, but I still felt like such an idiot for having been talking to myself. Wow, I'm special.

Jeff's Revamped Top 100 Favorite Songs List


U2!!!!!!!!
Originally uploaded by soyucito
I know it might seem that this is an intense undertaking, but actually I've already compiled my list of my top 100 favorite songs, so this is just a revamped version of the list I made in February of this year. Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, the list...

1. "One" U2
2. "Hang On" Guster
3. "War Was In Color " Carbon Leaf
4. "Running To Stand Still" U2
5. "Where Are You Going" Dave Matthews Band
6. "Falling " Ben Kweller
7. "Square One" Coldplay
8. "Brick" Ben Folds Five
9. "Writing To Reach You" Travis
10. "Diane" Guster
11. "With Or Without You" U2
12. "We Both Go Down Together" The Decemberists
13. "Needs" Collective Soul
14. "Bridge Over Troubled Water" Simon & Garfunkel
15. "Call And Answer" Barenaked Ladies
16. "Title And Registration" Death Cab For Cutie
17. "The Space Between" Dave Matthews Band
18. "None of the Above" The Weakerthans
19. "A Long December" Counting Crows
20. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" U2
21. "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" Death Cab For Cutie
22. "Every Breath You Take" The Police
23. "Sundress" Ben Kweller
24. "You're a Wolf" Sea Wolf
25. "Such Great Heights" The Postal Service
26. "Side" Travis
27. "Hummingbird" Wilco
28. "The Distance" Cake
29. "Telling Lies" Great Northern
30. "Butterflies & Hurricanes" Muse
31. "Left & Leaving" The Weakerthans
32. "Bad" U2
33. "For What It's Worth" Buffalo Springfield
34. "The Group Who Couldn't Say" Grandaddy
35. "Strange Condition" Pete Yorn
36. "Ugly Love" Eels
37. "Anecdote" Ambulance LTD
38. "Somewhere Only We Know " Keane
39. "Paper Bag" Dear & The Headlights
40. "Losing My Religion" R.E.M.
41. "Don't Panic" Coldplay
42. "My Eyes" Travis
43. "Pride" U2
44. "Plea From A Cat Named Virtute" The Weakerthans
45. "The Crane Wife 1 & 2 " The Decemberists
46. "Viva La Vida" Coldplay
47. "Fruit Fly" Nada Surf
48. "Theologians" Wilco
49. "Come Downstairs and Say Hello " Guster
50. "Run" Collective Soul
51. "Silent Sigh" Badly Drawn Boy
52. "Just Another" Pete Yorn
53. "Amsterdam" Guster
54. "Trouble" Coldplay
55. "Dime" Cake
56. "How It Should Be (sha sha)" Ben Kweller
57. "Run" Snow Patrol
58. "Don't Wake Me Up" The Hush Sound
59. "What About Everything?" Carbon Leaf
60. "Honey Don't Think" Grant Lee Buffalo
61. "Wonderwall" Oasis
62. "Fa Fa" Guster
63. "Expo '86" Death Cab For Cutie
64. "Under The Bridge" Red Hot Chilli Peppers
65. "O Valencia!" The Decemberists
66. "Concrete Bed" Nada Surf
67. "Now It's On" Grandaddy
68. "Extreme Ways" Moby
69. "Halloween" Matt Pond PA
70. "Somebody More Like You" Nickel Creek
71. "How We Operate" Gomez
72. "Burrito" Pete Yorn
73. "The Cold Side Of The Pillow" Halfpenny Marvel
74. "Life Is Wonderful" Jason Mraz
75. "The Cold, the Dark & the Silence" Sea Wolf
76. "Race To The City" The Cinematics
77. "Beautiful" Borne
78. "The Sound Of Settling" Death Cab For Cutie
79. "Starlight" Muse
80. "Closer" Travis
81. "24" Jem
82. "Inaudible Melodies" Jack Johnson
83. "One Headlight" The Wallflowers
84. "The Crane Wife 3" The Decemberists
85. "Cut Down Sideways" Fair
86. "Buildings & Mountains" The Republic Tigers
87. "Stray Dog and the Chocolate Shake" Grandaddy
88. "The Comeback" Shout Out Louds
89. "Nice Guy" Starflyer 59
90."Black Balloon" Goo Goo Dolls
91. "Lost!" Coldplay
92. "Don't Cry Out" Shiny Toy Guns
93. "Hitchhiker" Teitur
94. "Quicksand" Travis
95. "Beautiful Day" U2
96. "Promise the Bite" Matt Pond PA
97. "See These Bones" Nada Surf
98. "Personal" Stars
99. "Wildcat" Ratatat
100. "Accidental Deth" Rilo Kiley

I didn't change much of anything from my February list except for the last dozen or so. Perhaps my music isn't your cup of tea, but I think this is a kick-trash consortium of tunes. I hope that you'll find something you love on my list of faves of all-time. Enjoy! K... bye.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Thoughts on videos of the violence and protests in Iran...

I'm always having those moments that are serious reality checks. (Because I generally go right back to worrying about my minor troubles.) I have been watching a lot of CNN's coverage of the protests in Iran and the turmoil over their recent election. (Haha, really bad time for this, but my foot just fell asleep, in a bad way.) Anyway, there are so many dramatic videos that have been captured there on people's cell phones and put on all these social networking sites that we have these days. It's very sobering to see them. I'm so grateful for my country. I really am. So many nations across the world claim to give their people their human rights, but restrict them in so many ways. While the U.S. has issues, it's a wonderful place to be. I count it as a serious blessing to have so many freedoms here. I'm glad that we have so many checks and balances here, it really does a lot to lessen the corruption. I can't imagine what it would be like to have a country where my vote in an important election vanished.
Anyway, I'm glad that the social networking sites (that are destroying the social abilities of our society) can provide a GREAT outlet for the people in Iran to show what is really going on. They DO serve a good purpose! (JK) Normally, It's hard when every video you see usually has been filtered through media outlets. When things are put on social networking sites and YouTube it's coming straight from the people themselves. Information travels so differently nowadays. It can be very raw and real. I think it can be an effective utility for democracy. I hope it can be used more and more to help people like these protestors in Iran to acheive more freedom.
Meanwhile, I'm here whining about my boring job, my inabilities in blogging, and even my lack of a girlfriend! It's amazing the dramatic contrast between the lives of individuals on this earth. It's funny that I blog. I don't know why I think there's anyone out there that sees any great reason to hang on my every word. I guess I'm glad if I can at least evoke the occasional chuckle, or encourage at least one person to look at things differently.
Blablabla, there's enough of this blabla in cyberspace. I guess my point in all of this, is that if you haven't seen it, you should watch some of the footage of Iran and count whatever blessings you have as demonstrated by that footage. The end. K, bye.
Here's one that I watched...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7zTF1isERI

Friday, June 19, 2009

ALBUM REVIEWS (4 of 4): "Back and Fourth" by Pete Yorn


Pete Yorn
Originally uploaded by DaveyWilson
(I just now discovered the play on words in his album title. It's his fourth album. How fitting that this is my fourth review.) I really, really like Pete Yorn. He's been in my top ten artists and bands since his first album came out. His music has matured a lot. His first couple albums were a bit more poppy(for instance his second album "Day I Forgot" featured a song called "Burrito" about a 7-11 store burrito), he was never too poppy though. His third album and this one have both mellowed out a good deal, and they have a more adult sound. He's also written more songs with a good deal of twang (a move in the wrong direction if you ask me.) But I still thoroughly enjoy Pete's music. This album was only just barely released, but I already have found a few songs that I quite enjoy. "Don't Wanna Cry" is a great song. Some songs, like "Social Development Dance" and "Thinking of You," demonstrate the more folksy sound of Pete's latest efforts. It's a bit cheesy, but I enjoy the hopeful sound of "Four Years." There's a lot of depth to this album, and it takes a while to get to know, but it has already grown on me a lot. I'd give it a 7/10. If you're new to Pete Yorn try his first or second albums first, unless you're into more mellow folksy stuff, then this one for sure is where you start.

ALBUM REVIEWS (3 of 4): "A New Tide" by Gomez


Bonnaroo 09 Gomez Band
Originally uploaded by wfuv
Gomez is a newer favorite of mine. I now own both this latest album and the previous album called "How We Operate." I think this album may become on an equal level with "How We Operate" if I give it enough time. However, for now it doesn't quite match up to me. It is a quality album from a band that I think will be among my favorites for years to come. There are quite a few songs that I've been impressed with since buying this new Gomez album. His voice can bother me in some songs, but for the most part I really enjoy this band. They're generally unafraid to use interesting and different sounds within their rock music. The absolute best song on this album to me is "Little Pieces." I love it. Other stand-outs include "Mix" and "Airstream Driver" which is really fun. One song that I recommend skipping is "Engine." His voice BUGS, and I just don't like the song. Anyway, this is a band that deserves to be noticed. If you're just starting with them though get "How We Operate" first. This one is worth getting for sure if you enjoy "How We Operate." I'd give it a 7/10 on this arbitrary rating system I've invented.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

ALBUM REVIEWS (2 of 4): "The Hazards of Love" by The Decemberists

I always think of The Decemberists as a performing group like no other. They're not really your typical rock band, and they're not quite your typical acting troupe, but they should rightly fit in a category somewhere between the two. Their most recent album seems to be their most theatrical effort to date. They have incredible story-telling abilities within their tunes. Generally their albums are collections of various fascinating stories, but "The Hazards of Love" is one united story with separate scenes, if you will, described by the individual songs. It's hard to pick out favorite tunes as the whole album has a unified theme and sound, but for some reason "The Rake's Song" was my stand-out favorite. The lyrics are quite disturbing, but the song rocks, and does it well. That's one thing that really surprised me about this album is that there's a LOT more electric guitar and ROCK in this album. The song "The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)" would probably be the most accessible song for most people. I enjoyed it a lot. I like this album as a whole. If you're just looking to take away three-minute snippets of great stuff, it's not really the album for you. But if you have time to take in the whole album, I really recommend it. It's very different indie rock music. As I said, The Decemberists belong in their own category of rock. I'd rate it as an 8.5/10, only marking it down a bit because it can't be broken up, and basically needs to be heard straight through.

ALBUM REVIEWS (1 of 4): "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" by Phoenix


phoenix
Originally uploaded by mitzi palenke
I was just privileged to discover a new band this evening via David Letterman's talk show. The French band, Phoenix, made an appearance and played "1901" from their new album called "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix." I checked the song demos out on iTunes and bought the album. It did not disappoint. I at first figured that the single "1901" would be my favorite. It is, with the exception of the song called "Rome," which is quite frankly my favorite song I've bought in a long time. This album is like a combination of the sunny pop sounds of Rooney, Of Montreal-ish vocals, and the musical experimentation of Rogue Wave... but Phoenix comes out better than all three of these bands. It's upbeat and fun, but isn't too over-the-top. I really enjoy the first three tracks, and of course, "Rome." If I had to rate this album I'd give it an 8.5/10. In other words, I loved some songs, other's were ok, and as a whole it's a worthwhile buy.

Wednesday Weirdness/Exercise Update/and Just Jeff...


Rat races
Originally uploaded by Ofer Gelmond
So I am not going to accept anyone mocking me for actually missing Wednesday by a couple hours for my planned Wednesday Weirdness, but I'm calling it that ANYWAY! The BBC is reporting that rats understand the concept of gambling. Apparently they've discovered rat casinos under Las Vegas. No, but really, there was a study on rats where they could win big or small if they sniffed around different holes(the rat version of slots?) of four different holes. (They're gambling with food.) But they would also lose big on the same holes that paid out big, and they'd lose small on the same holes that paid out small. The rats over the time of the experiment apparently understood that they'd get more by taking their chances with the holes that had smaller payouts and punishments. So rats get gambling. They understand it. They get that they should not risk their food supply foolishly. Hmm... why don't PEOPLE GET IT?!! Actually, the article continued to explain that for people who've had damage to their frontal lobe or something like that they don't stop going for the risks that have higher payouts and very high losses. Apparently a healthy portion of the human race have damage to their frontal lobes because Vegas is quite the thriving city. Anyway, that's Wednesday Weirdness.

I'm still exercising! Woot. It's been 4 weeks now. While I'm actually a bit heavier than I was when I started, I think it's actually muscle weight. (Audible gasp!) I've been measuring my arms and I've actually added an inch to my biceps/triceps. Cool, eh? Not really, it just means that they're active for the first time in their lives! While I'm proud of muscle gains, I haven't lost fat. Why? I still eat junk. Yes, junk. I dig through the trash. No, but I might as well be with how unhealthy the stuff is that I eat usually. I need to eat better. Less fat. Yup.

Hi. I'm just Jeff. I seriously love "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" I could watch this show for days on end. I always watch the re-runs on ABC Family. Anyway... I had a great day. I finally got to play racquetball again. My Georgia Atlanta Mission friend just moved up here from Arizona and he and I went to play. It was fun. I lost of course, but I'm the kind of person that can still have loads of fun even when I lose. K bye.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

British Airways, work there for free?!


British Airways
Originally uploaded by bribriTO
Wow, I thought I'd heard it all with the recession going on. But apparently British Airways has launched a program that asked its employees to work for free! The employees apparently have been asked to volunteer to take unpaid leave for a week or a month, OR to actually work unpaid for a week or a month! The great thing about this story to me is that the CEO is actually walking the talk and has volunteered to give up his 61,000 pound month's pay while still working. (If this all happened in America I have the feeling CEO's wouldn't give up their own salary. In fact, they'd probably use the savings to pay for a big spa retreat for the top employees!) Obviously many of the employees at British Airways are not enthused about the program, but there are many who agreed to the program because having a job a month from now seems a better solution than taking a week or month's worth of pay now. Anyway, it just surprises me what crazy things companies are reduced to these days. With things like this going on, I'm shocked that I even have a job. I'll count it a great blessing though!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Interesting story about a member of the Castro family...


Fidel Castro
Originally uploaded by BABAK.MOZAFFARI
Antonio Castro, the son of Fidel Castro (the one pictured here, in case you've never seen him before,) was tricked by a Cuban refugee blogger in Florida named Luis Dominguez into thinking that Dominguez was a 27-year old woman and started a fake online relationship. Luis Dominguez did it to try and get information from Antonio about the Castros. While Antonio didn't let any state secrets out or anything, Dominguez was able to hear many different things about the daily lives of the Castros and Antonio talked about his travels with his uncle Raul. Luis Dominguez is contending that the "opulent lifestyles" of the Castros is not befitting members of a communist country. He raises a very valid issue with communism under dictatorships. Despite the sorts of equality that the doctrines of communism are supposed to encourage, it seems that the dictatorships over these communistic attempts always end up giving themselves way more than they give the nation.
Anyway, I just thought it was really funny that this guy pulled off such a crazy stunt to penetrate the Cuban government, and judging by his blog he's very dedicated to his work. (If the 8-month off-and-on pretend romance wasn't enough to prove it.) His alter-ego was named Claudia, and she was a sports writer from Colombia! The BBC quotes Dominguez as saying: "I'm a Cuban and I'm a Cuban American and I have not been able to go back to my country since 1971 when I left.
I use whatever tools I have to be able to get back at these people. In Cuba people are put in prison for no reason at all. Their rights are violated... So, why can't I do the same thing to them? I have no remorse whatsoever." Anyway, I don't think I can fault him for invading the guy's privacy. It's so hard for me, an American with many protected rights, to understand what it's like for people in these situations. Honestly one of my biggest fears is unjust imprisonment, and I can't fathom having a government that I can't even trust to give me a fair shot at avoiding imprisonment. I would go crazy without at least some form of justice-assurance.
Apparently Claudia and Antonio have broken up recently, sad news! Shocking, too.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Song portion...

Do you ever get just one phrase from a song stuck in your head? Sometimes for me it can just be a long word or phrase not even from a song. I once had riboflavin stuck in my head. (I know, crazy, right?) I currently have the phrase: "Like a book elegantly bound, but, in a language that you can't read, just yet." It's from a Death Cab For Cutie song. It's called "I Will Possess Your Heart." It's kinda a weird song. Kind of stalkerish. Anyway, I like that phrase, I think it's cool, so it got stuck in my head on the way to work. So there ya go. I'm just bored at work with one phrase stuck in my head. Ah, life is awesome.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Antsy boredom causes diary entry freedom...

I'm super bored at work today. I've only taken two calls thus far and I've been here more than a half hour. It's a little nuts. To pass the time I've been writing sentences whose words each start with the consecutive letters of the alphabet (A,b,c...), and I tried to make it flow... but it didn't work beyond even one sentence. Here's what I have so far:
"Arg. By coming down 'ere for good, Harry is just knowing Leslie might not offer popcorn. 'Quit raising sales taxes!" Ulysses vomitted. Wendy x-rayed Yancey's zebra. After baking cookies daily, Ella freely gave, happily. I just know letting Mark navigate only promulgates quite ridiculous sales threats under 'very white xylophones.' You zealot! Already bored. Can't dance extra frequently. Gary hates it. Justice knows liberation's most needed. Only parties quickly resolve, sadly. 'Thomas underestimated very wildly!' Xzibit yelled zealously."

There's three times through the alphabet. I'm done with that. It's SERIOUSLY slow at work today though. Oh well! Well, that's about it. OH! I just realized that I never did Wednesday Thoughts again... I'm afraid that missing two weeks in a row might have killed Wednesday Thoughts. Hmm... perhaps I need a new Wednesday tradition as this entire blog is mostly about my thoughts. Any ideas? Wednesday Poetry? Wednesday Web-search? OOH! Wednesday WEIRDNESS! I'll find weird news articles! Boom. There's the idea. Ok... next wednesday I'll do it for sure. K bye.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Digitisation and Its Asian Discontents

About the title of this post, ya see, I couldn't decide what to name this post. You know how the computer will predict what you're going to type when you're filling in a search box, or in this case, a title box? I typed a D and that title popped up. Apparently my computer remembers that from when I wrote my paper on censorship in China for my Chinese History class this last semester. Anyway...

Now that the LSAT is done for me for the next few months at least, I don't really know what to do with my free time. It's odd. Oh well. Any great suggestions?

Perhaps I'll actually read books? I really need to. I'm half-way through three of the books sitting on a desk in my bedroom right now. It's summer, so there's nothing on TV. Of course, I AM watching the NBA finals right now. But they won't last long. If the Magic lose this game though I'm going to be very upset. I really want the Magic to win the championship. Haha, I think most people east of California feel that way. Ya know, I really do think Kobe Bryant is an incredible player. He gets a LOT of crap. I don't hate him, but he's just not as easy to like as other players. I think if Dwight Howard wasn't on the team facing the Lakers right now I wouldn't like him nearly as much either. Fishing! The only problem with fishing is that I work in the evening, and that's when I'd want to go. My one day off a week is usually very jam-packed with things I want to get done. Oh well, I need to find a way to get fishing in. There is Racquetball, but that could get expensive, and Spencer is gone a lot. I guess I do have quite a few options!

Hmm, interesting, they're just talking about how an estimated 300 million people in China play basketball, and how it's getting really popular. Craziness! That's the population of the U.S.! And that's just a "growing" sport in China. Well, I'm done rambling.

K, bye.

Monday, June 8, 2009

LSAT, done.

Hahaha, I know it's kind of morbid, but this picture made me laugh. I don't feel that I was bludgeoned by the LSAT or anything, but I do feel quite brain dead. It took 5 hours. 5! I thought there were only 4 multiple choice sections and the writing section, each 35 mins. But apparently now there are 5 multiple choice sections! Ugh. It was long. *EDIT: I just found out that one of the five sections is actually an experimental section that is unscored. The fifth section of the LSAT is apparently there to test out possible future types of questions.*

I was able to make a couple interesting observations amidst my test taking though. I was reminded of when I did Sterling Scholar in high school. When we went to the regional Sterling Scholar interviews there were all sorts of dorks that were using intimidation tactics to try and fluster the other people. Like the dude that started asking me and the other social studies people which court case was our favorite. He then proceeded to give a detailed outline of Marbury vs. Madison. Dork. Anyway, today some dude was strutting around during the break saying, "Dude, I'm slaying this thing!" Dork.
There was also a kid that reminded me of elementary school. When the teacher asked the class to read something in class there were always those kids that wanted to show off how fast they read by getting to the page turn as fast as possible and turning the page with the most conspicuous and loud flip as they could muster. I sat next to that kid, all grown up today. He turned his pages SO loud. Dork.

I'm kind of jerk today. Haha, oh well.

As for how I feel score-wise, I think I did about as well as I have on most of my practices, but not better. It's hard to know though, because I've only done practices that had the 4 sections instead of the 5. Gotta wait three weeks, then I'll know how it went. Ugh.

I can be happy though. IT'S DONE! Nice. K... bye.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Lima Sierra Alpha Tango


LSAT Usage
Originally uploaded by jessrawk
Can't help but think of the military alphabet because it's used each day at my job. I kind of like using it. Anyway, I'm not way excited about the LSAT. It's on Monday. I finished my DVD course and now I'm just practicing all weekend until the big show. I was laughing so hard because I was reading the requirements and what you're allowed to bring with you and they only let you bring a little Ziploc bag with your stuff in it. I even would have to put my wallet in there with my pencils and stuff. It's pretty strict. Anyway, wish me luck. I'll need it.

Exercise update: Yes, I've actually still been working out EVERY DAY (except Sundays) since I started my most recent exercise regimen. This is probably the longest I've ever lasted! (I think I'm to almost 3 weeks, haha.)

About the picture above: It struck me as humorous. I wonder what will become of my 5 or 6 LSAT books.

Yeargh! My family room reeks of popcorn, but it doesn't smell buttery, it doesn't smell good. It's weird. My niece and nephews were eating it in here today.

Wow, I bet this is one of my MOST fascinating entries ever.

I was going to stop, but then I decided to write about "UP." I saw it yesterday, and I really like it! I have to be honest, I've never seen a Pixar movie that I didn't like. They are very talented folks!

Well, I'll see you later. This entry should've ended a LONG time ago. Um... k bye.

Friday, June 5, 2009

A post from work!

I was going to text this post to the blog, but it would have had to split it into two entries. That would be a bit obnoxious. The calls are coming slow, and a fellow co-worker just let me know that you can actually get to blogspot.com on our computers! (Many other sites are blocked.) Anyway, yesterday evening I pulled into an almost completely deserted gas station. As I emerged from my vehicle, I discovered why there was virtually no one around. Mosquitos. HUNGRY mosquitos. So, alas, here I am today: Bored due to very few calls, writing in my blog, and scratching the giant bumps on my thumb and arms like crazy-cakes. That's about all. Ok, bye. West Nile.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Not that any of you would have noticed, but...

I decided I don't really feel like doing a normal Wednesday Thoughts tonight. I think I'd rather have a FILE-DIVING ADVENTURE! Here is my very first map that I created in my cartography class. It sucks. But here ya go nonetheless...

It wasn't originally this pixelly, but I made it bigger so you could see it a bit better.

Ok, well, I don't have much to say. The north arrow wouldn't work in Adobe, so it's the line on the right. There's crime in Alabama? *Jeff runs away.*


Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Interesting day...


Billboard at Night
Originally uploaded by belle07
I just drove home a while ago and noticed something I've never seen before. You know it's very late at night when advertisers have given up and they turn off the lights to their billboards! There were probably only two of them with lights on. Apparently the late-night crowd isn't worth their light. I felt a little worthless, but don't you fret, because the next random thing I saw cheered me right up. I was going down a road that is a major road in town, and my attention was drawn to a small blue light flashing very close to the road about a hundred yards ahead of me. As my headlights got closer I realized that it was some dude sitting cross-legged on a long board just cruising down the road while holding the light. It was weird, but it made me laugh.

Anyway, today was my day off, and I had a bunch of stuff that I needed to get done. I got a lot of it done, but I still never studied for the LSAT. That's not good. I was supposed to at least do a practice test, but I didn't. Ugh. Instead tonight I went and hiked to the big Y on the mountain by BYU. AWESOME!!! Ok, it wasn't amazing, but I did really enjoy the view. And we did it just after sunset so it was nice and cool. It's a very steep hike. I enjoyed going up there with a bunch o' friends. Fun stuff.

Random: I know I'm officially on the "rapidly balding" side of things because usually if I joke about being bald with people cutting my hair they'll say, "Oh, you're not bald." However, today the girl cutting my hair asked if I wanted "product" in my hair (I hate that they call it that, it sounds so unnatural), and then grabbed some pomade and put it in my hair and said, "This stuff is really nice because it shapes the individual hairs instead of clumping them together. It really makes your hair look more full and thick." I responded, "Oh, because I NEED that!" She laughed. There ya go. I'm bald. As much as I complain about it though, I'm really ok with it. It happens. I just have to joke about it to cope with the fact that my hair is disappearing. So for all of you that get to see me, enjoy it while it lasts!

Monday, June 1, 2009

Steak Gum


secret steak at spruce
Originally uploaded by bittermelon
I love steak. It's my favorite food ever. I just ate some steak when I got home, and it was heavenly. I love it medium rare. (Medium Moo) I'm really not sure why I thought of this, but someone shouted "Gross!" about someone chewing gum and eating jerky at the same time. I announced that I thought steak flavored gum would be a great idea! A million dollar idea! Although I know it is a fabulous idea, I'm afraid I don't have to money to develop it and cash in on the value of such a kick-trash thought. So, here you go inventor/entrepreneur who happens upon my humble blog. Have at this glorious idea. I just ask that you let me try a slice.

T-minus one week until the LSAT. Ugh. I'm behind on my studies, but I think it's going to be ok. I'm just glad that I can take it again in September.

Work is going alright, although it's a little interesting when I start getting sugar lows and say things like "A, as in echo." Or "E as in well," when I was trying to say, "E as well." I'm a little bit ditzy.

Mega-random quote: "Harriet. Harry-ette. Hard-hearted harbinger of haggis. Beautiful, bemuse-ed, bellicose butcher. Un-trust... ing. Un-know... ing. Un-love... ed? "He wants you back," he screamed into the night air like a fireman going to a window that has no fire... except the passion of his heart. I am lonely. It's really hard. This poem... sucks." Thanks "So I Married An Axe Murderer." The only reason I thought of this is because I was thinking, "This post sucks." The end. Ok, I need to stop now. This is some serious rambleage. Bye.