Banned Books and a Surprise Party

So a couple of days ago, I stopped by the library and picked up the books from my list (see previous post + a few others from a different list) that were available:

Candide
The Bluest Eye
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Lolita

I also checked out some good old Douglas Adams. In fact I finished Life, the Universe, and Everything before I started Lolita.

And I came upon the Spring Awakening soundtrack and I have to say, it. is. amazing.

I've found my new obsession.

.....

So everyone knows how hard it is to keep a secret right?

Well take that difficulty level and multiply it by 100 to understand how [almost]impossible it was for my friends and I to keep one of my best pal's surprise party a... well, a surprise.

Luckily, somehow we all managed to keep our mouths shut and it worked out just splendidly.

Here was how it went down:

I told my friend Taylor that we should go see Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and I offered to pick her up and take her to the theatre. However, after she got in the car, I told her that my dad wanted us to pick up some Hunan Garden. (one of the best pseudo-Chinese restaurants in like the world.) She didn't know however, that I had gotten about 15 of our friends to come to the back room to surprise her when we walked in.

Who's a great friend? (me.) :)

So what's [almost] better than House Chow Mein?

New times with old friends.

Today is Count Your Buttons Day.

I'm not sure if this holiday applies only to those individuals who collect buttons, but I still decided to count the number of buttons I had on today. (None, actually.)

It's been one of those elusive days that don't produce much homework so I've been wasting the night away as viciously as I can. So far, I've signed petitions on http://www.care2.com/, whored friends on Facebook, Picniked some photos, matched socks in my sock drawer, had a conversation with a telemarketer, and been confused by my horoscope.

And here's a Halloween costume idea. It's pretty intense though.
http://www.wikihow.com/Do-It-Disney-Princess-Style

Anyways, I was on www.time.com and I came across a list of commonly banned/controversial books in the US. Some of them sounded pretty interesting so I've decided to attempt to read all the ones Time listed.

Candide by Voltaire
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (I've read this book, it's pretty bizarre.)
1984 by George Orwell (I attempted to finish this when I was in middle school but I couldn't get through it, I'll have to start again!)
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling. (I've already read these of course.)

Any ideas on which one I should start with?

Yoga Balls and Chilli

Anyone watch the debate?

I was planning on watching it with some friends on mine, but you know...

friends+junk food+yoga balls (does not) = political debate watching.

And that's the way the ball rolls, yo.

I would also like to share a poem that a friend of mine wrote while we were "watching" the debate.

The Chili Song.

Chili,chili,chili chili peanut

Chili,chili,chili chili corn peanut

Chili,chili,chili chili corn carrot

Chili,chili,chili chili corn carrot PEANUT!

Chili,chili,chili chili corn lemon peanut

Chili,chili,chili chili grape peanut

Chili grape tomato, carrot corn potato

Pulitzer Prize anyone?

Falling

I recently discovered some work by a French photographer of the name Denis Darzacq.
... there really is no introduction to them.

The photographer did not use Photoshop or any other program to manipulate these works of art. Can you guess how he took them?
http://denis.darzacq.revue.com/actualite.shtml

Minnesotans: We're Really Not THAT Ignorant

I really am embarrassed.

We Minnesotans are already made fun of enough. Yes, I have heard people actually say, "Yah, you betcha" in a real conversation without a hitch. And sure, I've gone trick or treating in a Pocahontas costume under a pink parka with Gore-Tex gloves and snowboots; but really this is going to convince the rest of the United States, hell, the rest of the world, that all of us up North are a bunch of ignorant lumberjacks with bad hair.

What am I talking about exactly?

Well if you're not living under a rock, you've probably heard about the whole McCain defending Obama issue.

Here's the scoop: Senator John McCain (the Republican Presidential nominee, for those who are living deep inside a hole) was speaking to quite a large group of his supporters in Lakeville, MN. One man stood up and (speaking in a grey t-shirt and blue baseball cap, oh dear), spoke of how he would be afraid for his unborn child in an Obama administration. Here was his reasoning: "I'm concerned about someone who cohorts with uhh... domestic terrorists such as Ayers, and who he will choose for the Supreme Court, should those openings become available,"

Okay for one thing, Ayer may have stated that he does not regret bombing government buildings, however, he was 40 years old when he committed these crimes... Obama was 8 years old.

That's right. It's true, Ayers and Obama were in cohorts and planned bombings. Ayers provided the gunpowder and Obama brought cookies and milk.

Seriously people. However, I am not saying that Obama and Ayers never came into contact with each other. In fact, they both served on a committee called the Woods Fund Board, an anti-poverty group in Chicago and both are distinct members of the city's intelligent crowd. Oh, and Ayers made a mind boggling, unprecedented donation of $200 to the Obama Campaign. [insert sarcasm here].

Think about it.

But here's the kicker. The real reason why I'm rolling my eyes and planning to move to a more intellectual state (I need suggestions here): Gayle Quinnell of Shakopee who said, "Uhhh... I can't trust Obama. I, I have read about him and he's not, he's, he's not, he's uh, umm..., he's an Arab."

If I were dead, I would be turning over in my grave. WHAT? What is this? This scares me. This almost (almost) makes me want to give up hope in the democratic system. If there are voters out there who are so ignorant as to believe every piece of shit turned up about Obama, then that's just sad. (And I am also curious, what has Gayle been "reading." Graffitti on the bathroom stall of the local bar?)

Props to McCain for doing the right thing. I gained respect for the guy after he shook his head no and took the mike from the woman. (Of course, I'd be considering becoming a straight up McCain supporter if he'd smoked the woman with the mike and commanded the crowd to read some real news.)

And he even found a way to disagree with Obama, but still send the message that both candidates for the Presidency are respectful, capable men.

Good job man.

As for the crowd at Lakeville. Not so good. I mean, booing your own candidate? And then bursting into applause less than 5 seconds later... wishywashy much?

Oh and Gayle? If I see you on the stranded on the side of the road because it's snowing in May and you didn't think to put the snow tires on, don't expect any Minnesota Nice from me.

[http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/02/obamas_weatherman_connection.html]

The Great Nacho Spill of '08, The Office, and the Versatility of the Word "skadoosh"

And it was just that. Epic.

So I'm walking through the lunch room towards my table holding my black lunch tray. On this lunch tray (that I noticed is only hosed off with a stream of water and wiped off between uses, gag.) was a scoop of canned pineapple, cold pasta, and of course, a paper red and white checked basket of nachos.

And these were no wimpy nachos. Nosiree, MY nachos have chips, salsa, cheese, meat sauce, and diced tomatoes. So basically, what nachos should be.

Anyways, as I'm strolling along, two hands holding the tray, one of my friends Mike, gives me one of those tough guy half nods and waves, "hey!" I raise my right hand to return the greeting but instead, succeed only in flipping the tray, catapulting the entire thing of nachos across the floor

... and all over someone's backpack.

Whoops?

Thankfully, the situation wasn't as mortifying as it could have been. The guy whose backpack I had turned into a fondue mound simply turned to take one look at his bag ... and then continued on eating.

I must say, guys aren't complete tools all the time.

And while there was certaintly plenty of laughter... hey, I can say that I was laughing with them.

Because you've got to admit it, it was pretty funny.

I'm trying to write a little faster here because the new episode of The Office is on in 5 minutes.

But quick let me tell you what my new favorite word is.

skadoosh.

I've gone through phases where everyone's either a "tool" or a "douchebag", but skadoosh is in a league of its own.

For one thing, I made this one up, and that gives it automatic points.

PLUS, it means anything and everything.

Yes that's right, skadoosh can be a noun, a verb, an adjective, a prounoun, an adverb. Whatever you want it to be. AND, it can have both a positive and a negative connotation. If that doesn't sufficiently blow your mind, then I obviously don't know what the word sufficiently mean.

Example of a Positive connotation:
1: "So how do you think you did on that algebra test?"
2: "It was way easy! It was a definite skadoosh for me."

Example of a Negative connotation.
1: "Hey dude, that dance move you did was totally rad."
2: "No way man, I totally skadooshed that ending."

As a comeback.

1. "Hey man. Your face is ugly. Did your neck throw up or something?"
2. "Your mom. Ska - DOOSH."

Ya get my drift?

The Office is on, I'm going to sign off.

Peace out peeps
skadoosh!

Do What Someone Did For Me

Today was not the best day of my entire life.

Drag self out of bed. Wait for bus. Sit through school. Swim practice for two hours. Volunteer at literacy center for one hour. Do homework for two hours.

It's a pretty monotonous schedule.

And when you add in the fact that for more than half of the activities up there, I was hungry... yeah, not enjoyable.

Oh and plus the annoying brother.

That all equals head bashing against wall sort of day.

But then I opened my e-mail.

And paged through spam, newsletter, update from website that I have an account under but never visit, Daily Show/Colbert Report, urbandictionary word of the day, Facebook updates... and found something different: a Hallmark e-card.

Okay, stop groaning. I know that the very word "Hallmark" induces so many butterflies and warm fuzzies, it makes you feel like you're going to throw up pink frosting and sunshine.

And the e-card itself was pretty much just two cartoon characters singing off key for 60 seconds.

Why did this bring so much joy to me?

I'm not sure. Maybe it was the fact that the sender was someone I hadn't talked to in a while, or that that person took the time to send me an e-card with a personalized message at the end.

I don't know what the exact reason is, but right now, I'm feeling pretty good.

Why don't you make someone feel the same way today?