The Drive Home
I left the cafe late. It was early morning and the parking lots had emptied. Locking the door behind me, I stepped out the door into a silent street. There was a slight drizzle and the lights reflected off the pavement - exactly the reason that it's wet in so many night shots in films. I unlocked my car and the characteristic boop-boop noise breaks through the cool air. I live for that noise. When the battery on my remote dies, it's never quite as fun unlocking my car. Musing on the artistic nature of the weather, I climbed into my car seat and sunk into the leather. I feel safe in my car. Maybe that's unwise. It's probably one of the more dangerous places that I'll find myself day-to-day, but I can't help that feeling of safety. It's that same sort of feeling that I have in bed and in the shower. Perhaps they're the places that I feel most alone with myself. I can think without much distraction.

As I drove up the winding roads, the drizzle continued. Half-way up, I hit a wall of clouds hanging heavily in my path. If I hadn't driven the road so many times, I could've easily lost my way. The fog on the mountain is both a quaint, familiar feature of home and also something quite unwelcoming to the visitor. It's almost like a protective shield...a floating moat. Driving through it isn't particularly fun - turn your brights on and a wall of white will hit you. However, it does lend itself quite nicely to reflection. I zoomed up and down and around the Covenant curves. On at a night like this, they had to be taken a bit more slowly. From the college on, there are more hills than curves. The fog gave way to momentary lapses. One second, greyness was all that was apparent beyond ten feet. The next, the clear blackness was illuminated by the headlights. It was as if you were zooming in out of dreams.

Eventually, I turned up our driveway and began my trek through the dark woods. My car, speeding between the trees, offered a contrast between civilization and nature. Nature often sees fit to take shots at my vehicle through the form of puddled potholes. As I broke the top of the hill, I felt the typical sense of peace - I was home, and the weather was perfect for sleeping.

Introduction
I really have been meaning to update for several days. It just gets late so fast, I realize how long it will take, and I put it off. The above passage ought to show you that I have been thinking about what I wanted to say though. Not sure why I wanted to write about it...maybe I just wanted a small glimpse into my head. I suppose that's the purpose of this journal, but I know I often fail when I merely recount some of the events that have transpired. That's why...I'm going to do that now...

Competitions
So, bowling got better the week before last. Managed my second best score ever. This week was really more blah than anything. I didn't suck, but I was a little under average. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to lose 3 of 4 points by as close of a margin as we did. I was hoping to climb above .500 this week. Looks like it'll be at least a little while longer.

In other competitions...my brother and I have been going back and forth setting high scores on the DDR machine. Within the several months or so, he started playing doubles (both pads at once). That really used to be my domain. Actually, the whole thing used to be my domain. Seems he's managed to get better though. I'm not as smooth as he is...my crossovers suck (I fall back on my ability to move my feet at blazing speeds). Despite the ugliness that I lend, we're actually fairly evenly matched at this point. Cue the resident bad ass. This guy...he seems nice enough, and maybe I just feel threatened...but he showed up a few days ago. My brother and I are used to being the best in town...and well, he's a lot better. The one thing that bothers us though...he stomps the hell out of the pads. Like, it shakes the entire room and we're worried that the sensors are going to go out.

Movies & Music
I've avoided movies for the most part lately. There just doesn't seem to be much good stuff in theaters at the moment. I think I forgot to mention that I saw "The Italian Job" several weeks ago with Glenn though. It was good for a caper movie. I'd probably put it slightly above "Gone With 60 Seconds" (which I own). The acting isn't particularly stellar despite a great cast, but the story is at least inventive despite the preview giving a lot away.

Oh, another mildly interesting story...I needed to get a fan for work, because it gets quite hot upstairs. So, I headed down to Wal-Mart. Then, I decided to stop at Big K-mart since it was closer. I couldn't recall why I never went there anymore. Upon walking in, I realized why. It feels rund-down. Despite the "Big" on the front, it's rather small - low ceilings and no grocery section. Everything seems to have a worn, yellowish tinge to it and their selection isn't that great. However, they did offer some decent prices. I grabbed a big fan, bought a couple of CD's on impulse, and picked up the DVD for "Punch Drunk Love". I'd planned to buy the movie, but the particularl purchase was upon impulse (I noticed it at the counter).

The CD's...AFI's "Sing The Sorrow" and Simple Plan's first album turned out great. Some of AFI's stuff is a little too metal for my taste, but the other stuff is quite nice. I mainly bought it for the single "Girl's Not Grey"...probably one of my favorite songs of the year. Simple Plan is fairly generic, juvenile pop-punk...and I really like it. It's quite catchy, and reminiscent of a lot of other bands. Doesn't mean that I don't like it though. Overheard some people watching MTV the other day and remarking how they disliked punk these days because it all sounds the same and that they like "real" punk. The problem is...that's tough to define. I appreciate punk from every era, particularly the last decade or so. So what if some of it is cheesy, romantic, and upbeat?

The Geek Part
More from the media front...I've been indulging the geek in me lately. I had a discussion with Travis about the X-Men a couple of weeks ago. That led me to look back through my comic books from 1995. I probably read about 30 of them. It was nice because I really did enjoy them originally but had mostly forgotten a lot of the particular stories. Kind of disappointing that there's too much for them to ever do everything in the X-Men film series, and the new cartoon is pretty distinct. In case anyone is particularly interested (and I only know one person who might be), I reread the Age of Apocalypse story arc. I only collected for a few months outside of that...about a year or so.

The other "geeky" thing...we've been playing quite a few computer games late into the night - mostly Battlefield 1942. Ray and I have played on the same team the past few nights, and we usually do quite well as far as kill count goes. Unfortunately, we seemed to be plagued by really stupid computer players, so our team quite often lost.

One last note on media...Strong Bad's E-mail was really freakin' hilarious this week.

Social Stuff
Remember I mentioned I had a date? That fell through. Apparently I'm "too old". How sad. Cassie consoled me though. That reminds me...we've had a lot of good talks recently. Glad things seem to be getting back on track in the friendship department. I've also had a chance to hang out with some of the guys recently. I feel bad when David A and Jordan occasionally drop by though. Feel like I've been too distracted and haven't been giving them much attention.

One final note...we're having the usual 4th of July party up at my house. We're hoping to have the pool open by then. Yes, it's the middle of the summer and we're pathetic. Worked on it today though. Anyway, if anyone reads this, feel free to come hang out. I'll be putting on the usual fireworks show and there ought to be some good eats.

Anyway...I think I've exhausted all the things that I wanted to mention...so I'll call it a night.