| The Chronicles | The Delusion | ||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
|
- H.L. Mencken, Sententiae (1916) who has had any experience with them." - H.L. Mencken, Prejudices 4th Series (1924) The above quotes are from the Cassell Dictionary of Cynical Quotations. They're not indicative of my true feelings, but they're humorous nonetheless. =)  Saturday Night CelebritySaturday Night Mafia carried through without any games of mafia. Instead, we occupied our time with yet more Mario Kart, conversation, and Celebrity (think fast-paced Charades/Catch Phrase). I don't recall anything particularly eventful until the season finale of Survivor the next night. We were quite pumped that Jonny Fairplay (who would love the quotes) got booted and that Sandra beat Lill. Too bad Rupert couldn't win, but he'll be back for the All-Star version. I've considered sending in an application to the show. I might do it if I get a video camera for Christmas this weekend. I also look forward to working on short films. Just another project to distract me from school I guess. School Wrap-Up The last four exams went better than the Electromagnetics one that I mentioned in the last entry. English went well despite being the last one to finish writing. My professor heaped compliments upon me like "clearly the best writer in this class". That's flattering, but at the same time, it worries me a bit. I mean, "clearly"? That doesn't give me a lot of confidence in my classmates and throws some doubt upon my university education. The final paper that I wrote in the class proved that I'm capable of screwing up though. I rambled for roughly 7 pages and it was quite apparent. To make a B while lacking focus...well, I'm grateful for that. The exams in Linguistics, Phonetics, and Spanish American Civilization proved fairly easy. My final grades were worse than I hoped at the beginning of the semester but better than I figured towards the end. I suppose that's how it usually works out. Next semester: two EE classes, one Spanish class, one Science class, and one Theatre class (Beginning Acting with my brother).  Egg Nog Tastes Like a Banana SmoothieTuesday night, a bunch of us went over to Scotty's for a Christmas party. He really decked the place out with Christmas cheer and even bought presents for everyone. He gave Ray and I a cool game that we haven't been able to play yet. We also played dirty Santa. I hoped to get Darrin's Dance Grooves, but Amber stole it, and I ended up with a couple of calendars. After a while, we played Celebrity and then a more localized version. Eventually, improvisation came up as a topic. I mentioned that I'd taken classes a few years ago. They mocked the idea of "improvisation classes," but I proved their worth by recalling a couple of improv games. We started playing the "question game" as a warm-up and ended up playing for quite a while. The idea of the game is that you go around in a circle while only asking questions that relate to the topic. It's difficult to overcome the urge to answer. Kev, D, and Natalie gradually improved until the game became quite lightning-paced and continuous. Following that, we tried acting out a few skits with pre-written phrases that we had to integrate into the action. Scotty and Paul were pretty funny as they acted out Boy Meets World (BMW) in a time warp with a stuffed moose and penguin. Geekin' Immediately following my last exam on Wednesday, several of us got together to watch the extended versions of the first two LOTR movies. I was in and out most of the time, particularly when Amber came over to announce that she and Paul got engaged. Most of us had expected it for a few weeks. I think I fell asleep late into the second movie. Soon after I awoke on Thursday, Kev, Ray, Michael, and I headed over to the movie theater to watch the third installment. The film was quite good and nicely rounded out the epic nature of the trilogy. I can't really imagine any effective parallel. The only unusual part of the movie seemed to be that it ended quite a few times. I was glad that they included all of the extra "endings", but it seemed like the tearful reunions/goodbyes went on for quite some time. That evening, Ray and I packed up and headed for our cousins' where we played 5-player Mario Kart. I can't wait until we get another tv hooked up at our place for some 8-player action. We stayed up for a while afterward watching amateur short films. Ray and I attempted to convince Dixon and G that they should enter their hilarious interpretation of Beowulf into Auburn's film festival. We figure it could at least snag the high-school third place prize of $275.  Cold MountainWe left the next afternoon and arrived back on Lookout Mountain early in the evening. Everyone had plans for the night so I headed over to Evan and Alex's cabin to hang out with Alex and Patrick. We spent most of the time talking and watching "28 Days Later". I'd been wanting to see the film for quite some time. I have to say...it's certainly the best post-apocalytpic zombie movie. The questions that it raises about the savagery of civilization (during the scenes with the soldiers) were interesting. Patrick and I don't think it's mere coincidence that a "primitive" black guy was chained up in the back yard. The other major issue it raised was the justification for abuse of women. Randomness Tonight, I'll be hanging out with a bunch of the guys...so I'm looking forward to that. I'm considering watching the somewhat personally-relevant "Sabrina" before they come over, but I'm also trying to keep Philippians 4:6 ("Do not be anxious about anything") in mind. Oh well. More next week. | |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| talk to me |
 |
