[Usual comments involving apologies for not blogging very much recently. Explantion of busyness due to trying to balance work with wedding planning.] Ok that's out of the way. So I'm back in the Roasting Co. again, my prophecy coming true. It's a little odd coming here since quite a few of the people who work here are people I went to church with back in day. And the great part is that with the exception of this one guy who I used to be reasonably ok friends with back in the early Scones era, I'm not entirely sure that any of them recognize me. Which could not really please me more. I like being a cipher. There is comfort therein.

I don't really have that much to say at the moment. The most exciting things I've got going for me at the moment are the imminent arrival of my skateboard, which will be amusingly mismatched colorwise, and a visit from my sister and brother-in-law and niece this weekend. If anyone wants to know just how mismatched my board will be, well, I've got the Element Bam Margera Forces deck (which I am crazy about due to its happy bat design), with black Destructo trucks and heh, Habitat Gall Mass Transit wheels. so, basically I've got a monochromatic red and white deck, with black trucks, and denim, yellow, and orange wheels. I mean, who knows it might not look too weird, but no, I think it will be gonzo. That is the only word I believe will do it justice. I am rather looking forward to the familial visit, I haven't seen them since Christmas I don't think, and Ed (bro-in-law) and I can perhaps get a good round of video gaming in. I haven't had a good round of two-player gaming in awhile, you know? I was even thinking of picking up Soul Calibur 2 (since it's only $20) and an extra controller for the Xbox (so awesomely given to me for my birthday by Matt). That could be loads of fun. Or maybe we'll just do some NWN. So yeah, amidst pain-inducing wedding registering, technical difficulties on the invitations, trying not to remember that we still have not acquired an apartment, etc, that is my life at the moment. (It's the etc. that kills you). Now you know. Exciting, no? No? Well, you may have a point.

Matt on 07.29.04 @ 01:56 PM PST [link] 

Ok, so, I lied. But it's only a couple days later so I guess that something eh? I'm sitting in the Roasting Co. in Ashland right now, an activity that I suspect will be a frequent one from here on out. I don't really dig the whole lack-of-broadband thing, so I'm going to be trying to grab WiFi where I can until I get moved and hooked up. So, it's been one of those weekends that don't really seem to have any purpose in existing whatsoever. Lynnea has floated off into the ether (or gone to Portland as some call it) until monday, and the entirity of my plans for the weekend were cancelled for appearently no reason at all last night. (I'm looking at you, Jereb). Which was alright I guess, it just caused me to break my cardinal gaming rule and install Shadows of Undrentide for NWN, despite not having gotten around to finishing KOTOR yet. Plus I chatted with my dad for a couple hours, which is good. Bonding type stuff, you know. Definitely not quite what I had in mind though.

Let's see, I had a couple things I wanted to make sure I mentioned on the ol' blog at some point. Ah, well, first of all, I picked up the new Magnetic Fields record the other day (I believe it's just called "i"), and I really don't know if I can recommend it enough. I guess the Magnetic Fields are a bit of an acquired taste, but i is really a fantastic record. Lyrically you just can't get much more witty and sardonic than Stephin Merritt. I'm pretty sure I had something else to say, but I really can't think of what it is. Ah well, if I remember it will give me an excuse to post again later. So I've got a joy filled afternoon ahead of me of scouting out apartment locations and the like. Which is, um, fabulous I guess. Ah well, I think I'll cut this off for now. Although, I'm feeling farily comtemplative so I'll probably post again before too long. Heh, yes, I realize that I always say that. Alright well, vaya con dios, eh?

Matt on 07.25.04 @ 12:15 PM PST [link] 

Ehm. Yeah, I know I haven't blogged in a bit. I'm not going to apologize. I was busy moving and the like. And actually, I wrote a post a couple days ago but I didn't have a net connection at the time so I haven't gotten around to posting it yet. Maybe I'll post it tomorrow, although that doesn't work well chronologically in my mind. so, I'm ridiculously lonely tonight. I don't know that I actually know why, I had a fine evening with Lynnea but once I started heading home from her house I just got horribly lonely and depressed. Which is where I am now. Well, I mean techinically I'm in my room at my parents house typing on my computer not just broadcasting this telepathically from inside some kind of psychological realm of lonliness. honestly, you read too many comic books. eh, whatever, this kind of thing happens a lot. I'll be fine come morning. so really I don't know what to talk about. just trying a little blog therapy, which doesn't seem to be working. also trying to resist the urge to just scrap this post as yet another in a long line of angsty, lonely, depressed late night posts that would be better off avoided. but the hell with it, I'm guessing that some of you will be at least momentarily think "ah, a new post!" which will give you at least the millisecond of vague interest (I was going to say pleasure but, well, obviously not pleasure) in seeing that there's a new post. joy. so, now that you've read this, sorry to disappoint. I'll try kicking a couple sentences at you tomorrow, or I guess more accurately quite a bit later today. perhaps life will seem a little more friendly by then.

Matt on 07.23.04 @ 12:54 AM PST [link] 

You know, every now and then you're going along having not so great a day, like, the kind of day where you're really not sure it's worth it to keep breathing, and then suddenly you see something that just makes the world a beautiful place full of life and meaning once again. I had to look something up on WikiPedia today and noticed that the featured article was their entry on Vampires. Always being a fan of vampire lore I gave it a click. I was skimming happily through the article when I came to the following bullet point in the section listing "other vampiric weaknesses":

Such small items as rice, poppy seeds or salt, which can be strewn in a vampire's path. Possibly caused by OCD, or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, it is a common facet of many vampire myths. Thus the hanging of many cloves of garlic, or the scattering of small objects is said to cause the vampire to have to spend much time counting the exact number of spilled (or hung) objects before moving on. This can keep them out of mischief until morning. Possible origin of Count von Count (also see Sesame Street). This varies by tradition. (My emphasis)

Matt on 07.13.04 @ 05:45 PM PST [link] 

So, does anybody know what it means when you go the DMV to renew your license, and (after sitting for 45 minutes of course) they say they're going to have you take an 18-question test then pass you off to the camera window where they simply take your picture and tell you you'll get your new license within 30 days? And there is no further mention of any type of 18-question test? Does it mean that if you just wander out of the DMV rather confused you are going to be chased down and jailed very soon? I don't want to go to jail. I suppose I could have asked but, you know, that good 'ol social anxiety disorder and all. I'm hoping that it has something to do with my having just taken the 18-question test about 2 years ago. Also does anyone know how to get rid of the unlikely (to my mind at least) symptoms of a sore thoat and clogged ears? Cause it's been a few days and the novelty is fading. Spicy vietnamese food chased with scotch didn't seem to do the trick either. Ah well, I will have a fun time sitting deafly in icy cold jail with my sore throat. Perhaps it will keep me from being quite as tempting to my cellmates.

Actually, the main reason I wanted to post today was to point of that my good friend Tim (of The Hurting) has posted a very nice write-up of one of my favorite comic books of all time, Quasar (since his blog doesn't link individual posts, it's one entitled "Remember The Maine"). Now I will confess that it has been quite a few years since I cracked open a Quasar comic (note - if a comic book ever makes a cracking sound, put it down carefully and walk away), but even so I think I can say that it's one of the most underrated superhero comics of all time. I very recently tracked down the entire run (last week actually), and I'm looking forward to happily rereading it.

Well, I guess that's it for now. I'm off to see how my last weekend in San Diego goes. Hopefully it will be happy time, and I'll not be plagued by these blasted tiny monsters in my throat. Last weekend though, definitely a bittersweet thought. There are so so many reasons that I'd like to stay, but one that makes it worth going. I guess that's something to be happy about. Ok, I'll stop being sentimental now. Hmm, can't end on a sentimental note... Let me think of something funny. Eh... no. Mm... sorry, I got nothin.

Matt on 07.09.04 @ 06:01 PM PST [link] 

I realize that I don't think I've gone an entire week without blogging for a while now, so if you're one of my few frequent readers, well, sorry about that. Quite a bit has been going on lately, but nothing I can really blog about at the moment. Maybe later. If you're good.

So I was rather annoyed/bemused to wake up this morning to discover that my right thumb is quite bruised at the joint. The funny thing being that this is nothing that I did while awake, I just somehow managed to bruise my thumb in my sleep. I seem to very hazily remember whacking it against either the wall or my futon frame at some point and muttering "ow" (I like that I actually muttered "ow") before lapsing back into unconsciousness, but why I was flailing about in my sleep is simply beyond me. I am generally not the flailing type, and certainly not to point of causing myself injury. And before you jump to conclusions, no, I haven't had any alcohol in a couple days. Not much else to say at the moment really, I do believe I'll post again tomorrow though.

Matt on 07.08.04 @ 04:02 PM PST [link] 

As of about 10:20 this morning, I guess I'm a college graduate. One might think that after 7 years of undergraduate studies I would be ebullient at the moment. But really, not so much. I don't want to be done with school. School is what I do. I believe I sighed a time or two as I walked away from campus this morning. I mean, I've been at that school for a long time. It seems like most people look at finishing school (completing school I mean, not Finishing School) as finally being able to get on with their real lives. I can't help but look at it in the opposite way, that not being a student is almost an interruption in my real life. Of course it's not as though I wasn't planning on going to grad school and getting my master's, but now I'm thinking maybe doctorate. I don't like the concept of not being immersed in academia. It's been four hours now and I'm already feeling weird about it. I think I have chalk dust in my blood or something. Ah who knows, it's probably best that I take some time off, I've got a stack of slavic science fiction nearly as tall as I am that I haven't had time to even touch in the last year, for just one example. And I seriously need to do some writing of my own. Nevertheless, I think that after a year or two of hiatus getting back to school is going to be a bit of a relief.

Matt on 07.01.04 @ 02:24 PM PST [link]