The One With the HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Hello, hello, hello! And Happy Halloween to you all!!! Have I mentioned that Halloween is one of my favorite holidays? I know, I know. Christians shouldn't like Halloween. Welllll, I do not ascribe to that view. :-) Anyway, I have neither the time nor the money to truly celebrate. Maybe next year. I AM, however, going to the Halloween Organ Recital at the music school. Last year's was SO MUCH FUN! They play all kinds of creepy music (played best on the organ, you know) and dress in crazy costumes and act out skits and pull pranks and stunts. It's GREAT! I hate organ music and I loved it, that ought to just tell you right there.

ALSO, in honor of Halloween I thought that I would share a little story with you. For the past two weeks, I have been counting down the days to Halloween over on the Haygoods message board by writing a little bit of a Halloween tale every night. It has been well received, so I thought I might share it over here too. Now, if you have no idea who the Haygoods are, please ignore the the fact that the story revolves around them and just enjoy the narrative. Actually, if you have no idea who they are, go explore their website and find out. MUCH FUN! The story is pretty long, so I will not be offended if you get bored and do not want to read it all. But I WOULD value your feedback. Let me know what you think! Okay? :-) Here are the links...

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Showdown: Part 1
Showdown: Part 2
Showdown: Part 3
Showdown: Part 4

The final part of the story is designed to look like a post on the message board. Read it HERE

The One With the Unplugging

So...I've decided that in the spirit of change, I am unplugging my life.


That's sounds life-support related. Wait, that's not what I mean. ;-)

I have been in something of a state of flux lately. I love it when things start to change, you know? Some people hate change. I think that humans, on the whole, are extrememly averse to change. I am not like that. Actually, if we are extending the generalization, I suppose that makes me not human. Hee hee hee. I can live with that! Me=alien! WOO HOO!!!

Anyway, a lot of stuff has been moving around in my life and today, I decided to make one more change. Did you know that I used to read? I mean, REALLY read. In my lifetime, I've read hundreds of books. Maybe even thousands.


I said maybe.

Anyway, the point is, I don't anymore. More and more of my time is taken by school and othe pursuits and it seems like technology is stealing more than it's fair share too. Now, instead of reading, I am more likely to watch television or a movie, or play a video game, or mess around on facebook and myspace, or pour over the message board like a person obsessed, or any number of eletrically powered activities. And while there is certainly nothing wrong with those things, I don't think they are really helpng me become the person I want to be.

So I am taking steps to remedy that.

1. My main computer is sitting on my desk completely powered down. That may not seem like a big thing to you, but that computer has not been powered down for more than a few hours at a time in years. YEARS! It houses most of my major editing software, some of my games, and all of my television episodes. It's a big deal. Plus, it sucks up electricity like a mother (what a weird phrase. Why do we say that?) and since our bill last month was TWO HUNDRED NINETY DOLLARS, turning it off can't be a bad idea.

2. I am leaving my cell phone in the car. It is no longer going into the school with me, because it only serves as a distraction.

3. I am closing my laptop when I am home. Unless I have a specific task on which to work, I think I'll do something else.

4. I am limiting my internet browsing time to once a day. I'll check MySpace, Facebook, e-mail, and the message board once per day unless something important comes up.

So what do you think? Noble effort? Possible? I guess we'll find out. :-) Not that this will affect my blog readers (again...both of you), since I write so rarely anyway. Hahahaha. Ah well. Catch ya' later!

The One With the Sister

I know that the majority of my readers (all both of you) are acquainted with my sister, Jenn. She's an interesting individual. Right now, her life is in a bit of turmoil because she is trying to figure out just what she is supposed to be doing with her life and she is finding that difficult. She now feels like she wants to go to Cosmetology school, but needs our father to pay for it as it's somewhere in the realm of $9000 for the six month course.

He is somewhat reluctant. I can't fault him for that. He has been remarkably understanding as she and I have grown up and dealt with switching colleges (four between the two of us, not including Cosmetolgy school) and majors, my taking a year off to work, her eventually dropping out to work, etc. At this point, he is wary about shelling out more money for a new school when Jenn's track record does not instill confidence as to the possibility of Jenn's graduating.

All this to say, Jenn tends to follow a pattern. She gets a new idea, talks it over with Dad who promptly shoots it down in as inconsiderate a way as he can manage, and calls me to vent about it and figure out how to change his mind. I'm fine with that, that's why I am here. The problem is that the last two (that I recall, probably more than that) of these phones call have ended with an angry *CLICK* in my ear for not telling her exactly what she wants to hear. I can't fault Dad for being trepidatious about her newest endeavor, nor do I have any right to change his mind. He was not completely without grace. He told her that if she kept a job for six months to show him that she was serious, he would consider sending her to Cosmetology school (I have no idea why I keep capitalizing that). She, obviously, thinks his requirement insulting. I can understand her point of view, but I also understand his. And, truthfully, I am on his side. He wants to see if this desire is going to fade in a month like previous ones had and I think that's a wise way to go. I told her that it wasn't an unfair request and since she has no money to pay for school herself, she has no other option. I said it nicer than that. Anyway, that earned me the latest hang up.

I have since decided that to continue these conversations with her places me squarely within the glutton-for-punishment category and sent her a text message telling her not to call me anymore. Does that make me a bad brother? Perhaps. I mean, it IS a little harsh, but I am tired of this stupidity. She refuses to learn to be respectful, so I am going to treat her as I would any other person on the planet. You hang up on me, you lose the right to speak to me on the phone.

Maybe I'm just mad. Although, I don't really feel mad.........Tomorrow, I'll probably feel differently.






Or probably not. Sorry, Jenn. Talk to you wen next I visit Dallas.

The One With Today

Hello, world!!!!!!

I really miss blogging, how ridiculous is that? Actually, I REALLY miss spare time!! Remember those days when you when get home and be able to veg out on the couch for an afternoon and just watch whatever bad television show happened to come on? I haven't gotten to veg out in twenty-eight years.

Yes, I am a little dramatic, are you new here? :-)

This week was psycho nuts, so why don't I just walk you through it. Good mixed with the bad because THAT'S HOW LIFE IS, MY FRIENDS! On Monday, Jenn and I decided to go to the fair because she doesn't have a job and I realized that Baylor can live without me for a day. We had a BLAST!!! In fact, we recorded the first Road Trippin Short, but I haven't had time to put it together yet. In fact, it's really not very good, so I may not put it together at all. I don't think anybody would enjoy like Branson. Gosh, that one is hard to live up to. We went through evyerthing we could, even though it was raning like nobody's business. And they had BUMBLEBEE there! Chevy brought out the actual camero that played Bumblebee in Transformers. It was so cool! So I stole it. Tuesday was spent in the slammer with a smelly guy named Shirley who talked to his shoe. It's okay, though, because they don't have any proof. I hid the car in my drievway. I know that sounds like a horrible hiding place, but the best place to hide something is in plain view, right? They'll never figure it out.

Actually, Tuesday meant heading back to school and then staying up all night studying for a Greek test on Wednesday morning only to find on Wednesday that the test had been moved to Friday. GRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!! Not only did that mean that my all-nighter had been wasted, but that put my Latin and Greek tests on the same day....again. Sooooo not fun. And now you know how my Friday went.

BUT Friday evening was fun. Truett and I went out to the OCS parking lot and recorded some sound effects for my upcoming television pilot, then he and I, Kyle, and Jenn watched The Game. I LOVE THAT MOVIE!!! So many twists and turns, it's GREAT! Then I spent a few hours working on a story I've been writing and went to sleep.

Which brings us to today. Today is the day of NOTHING!!!!!! My responsibility load is lessened today, so I am enjoying it. I think I am going to get my oil changed since it's 5,000 miles overdue, then work on the song that Diana, Suzy, Emily, Mellie, and I are singing sometime in the next month or so. OH! And I am going to read a book! And watch Drake and Josh! And maybe do a TINY bit of homework IF I feel like it.

But right now, I am going to take a shower. Adios, readers (not that I have any readers anymore since it's been so long)! Hasta luego!