CenterLeft.net

It’s amazing how my desire to do other things is directly linked to the amount of work that I probably should be doing.

I’ve run across another amazing online comic that has sucked up all the time in my life. MegaTokyo is awesome. I’ve read their entire archive this week. It was a bit frustrating how slow the website was to load, but once I figured out that the images are all sequentially numbered and can be accessed directly it was a breeze.

If you haven’t heard of it before I definitely recommend checking them out. Of course they have been around since 2000, so you’ve probably heard. But if not, good luck reading the back story, there is only a little over 830 pages of comic.

My roommates think I’m crazy. But I’m not.

Running around with your pants on your head and a pair of metal tongs in your hand would be crazy. But I wasn’t doing that.

It’s too cold outside to take your pants off.

I cooked something for dinner tonight.  I would like to try and describe it to you, but I am unsure of where to begin.

Imagine that we are sitting down to dinner together. The first part of our meal is pasta. Simple enough; I managed to cook that without any problems. On top of said pasta I would like you to now put a neon-orange meat and cream sauce. Yes, that is correct. The sauce has a distinctly vibrant orange colour. Not to worry though, I let all of my roommates eat it first and not one of them died or grew violently ill.

Perhaps I should explain a little further. I like to cook, but I can’t afford cook books. What I have procured for myself though is a stocked kitchen, a few pots and pans, and the internet. It’s really quite amazing the variety of recipes that you can come across on the internet. Why just the other day I was on the lookout for cheap and tasty meals and what should I come across but a recipe for Cheap Beef Stroganoff.

The recipe looked good, with lots of tasty ingredients and not too expensive, so I thought I would give it a shot. Everything was going splendid too as I was cooking it all up. But at one point it did make me pause when I realized that what was simmering in the pan before me would probably make a very tasty meal of Sloppy Joes. Resolute, I continued with the recipe. The defining moment came, I believe, when I was instructed to mix the pint of sour cream into the meat and tomato sauce.

A very definite orange colour.

Probably the best part about the whole deal was when my roommate later recounted her thought process as she tried the sauce for the first time:

And yes, she is right, it did end up being very tasty. But I am under strict orders, after telling Beth about the meal, to never again call it Beef Stroganoff.

Two new picture galleries went up this morning. One from my birthday party last week, and one from the drag show last night.
Congratulations to Count for being crowned the new Queen. Her act was fantastic, though I thought all of the performers were great. I just wished the mc’s would have shut up 2 hours earlier.

It’s been a busy week around here. There was lots to prepare for and lots to do. Beth left early Wednesday morning. It was really great to have her here; sad it was so short though. We’re both really excited that this should be the last long distance stretch.

The birthday party last week was a great success. A lot of people came and hung out, and I’m amazed to say that not one of them drank the beer that I bought for them. That’s just unheard of. We all had a lot of fun with the game. It’s too bad it didn’t start earlier, and next time I’ll give each person more chips at the beginning.

Marshal and Bree were the proud winners of the fantastic prize. They certainly earned it, doing among other things a hand stand while singing I’m a Little Tea Pot!

It’s strike night for Gypsy over in the theater. The show was a wonderful performance by the actors and all the designers and builders did a great job. The lights were amazing and the set is probably one of the most complicated that has been built at Coe so far. I have volunteered my time to tear it apart tonight and have been elected a crew head. So that means I’m going to have underlings. It’s always exciting being given power.

Happy Birthday to Me. I turned 22 today and I’ve been working hard to eat my age worth of cookies. We’re going out for dinner tonight with a few friends which will be nice. It was pretty easy to choose a place to eat at, but explaining it was kind of interesting:

Beth came in Tuesday night without much trouble. Her plane was a little late, but no big deal. It’s very nice to have her here and we’ve been spending a lot of time hanging out.

I’m putting the final touches on the plans for the party tomorrow night. It sounds like quite a few people should be coming. Connie has made some great cookies and I am going to pick up a bunch of skittles and M&Ms so that we can serve S&Ms. We’re going to mix up a big bowl of leprechaun punch and some Jell-O shots too.

But the entertainment is really what I’m looking forward to. I’ve dug up another game. In the invitations I sent out everyone got a poker chip with the date on it. This wasn’t just a fun little reminder; it is going to be an extra point for the game we are going to play. To clear up any confusion about what the game actually is, I’ll lay out the rules here:

I know it sounds vague, but that’s the point!

If you’re in the area, see you Friday.

I’m in such a good mood today that it is nearly unbelievable. I’m bouncing off the walls. I can’t stop chattering inanely to everyone around me. The weather is beautiful, Beth is flying in tonight, and I have clean clothes to wear. There really is nothing more amazing than putting on underwear that is still hot from the dryer. I think when I get money I’m going to either buy or build a heating drawer so that I can wake up every morning and experience the bliss of slipping on warm boxers.

A few moments ago I just got back from talking with the Dean of Campus Life. I’m throwing a birthday/St Patty’s day party here in my apartment on Friday. As a part of the process of getting that approved the party needs to be registered and that means sitting down and talking about responsibilities and policies for a bit. But, I was even in a good mood there, I guess he’s supposed to be some sort of authority figure but we ended up shooting the shit about different types of drinking games and how they aren’t allowed anymore on campus. How things change, even in just the four years that I’ve been here.

And my roommates did the dishes today… how cool is that?

I went and saw Ultraviolet this afternoon. I laughed, I cried, I laughed even harder so that I wouldn’t cry anymore. Let me save you the pain and the suffering. It’s just not worth it. It’s not even worth it for free. The opportunity cost of your soul’s suffering is worth more than those two hours of my life that I will never get back. Perhaps if someone were to pay me, I could stand to watch this beautifully rendered travesty again. But, I am a poor college student and the money offered would have to be at least enough to cover the medical bills that I would incur from chewing off my own legs to escape the sticky floors of the theater.
The action and sexiness of the first 5 minutes left me breathless and enthralled. But like a swooning prom queen I soon found the skills of my partner, shall we say, lacking. The only saving grace was that Milla Jovovich’s pants were nearly tight enough to distract me from her terrible, terrible acting. So, all in all I think the true stars of this show were the teams of costume designers, choreographers, and countless personal trainers behind the scenes. Take a bow, with this cast, you certainly earned it.

Stuck on Stupid

Tuesday, March 7th, 2006

I know that I am way behind the times, but I am on spring break this week. I finally have time to look up all that interesting crap that I wonder about but never get around to.
This might be far enough in the past that I am falling into the same trap that VH1 seems to be stuck in. I might have so little independent thought that I need to rehash a bunch of stuff that just happened and call it “I love [insert subject here]” I think really what is going on with VH1 is that their program directors have come to the jarring realization that they are getting old.  That they aren’t the hip, trend setting, 20 somethings that they used to be. In a desperate attempt to revive their miss-spent (and possibly vaguely remembered) youth, they are producing programs enshrining their culture and “accomplishments” for the new TV generation. But as the attention span of our children becomes shorter and shorter there will be less interest in history, less interest in the 80s and 90s.  I can see a day coming soon when VH1 will be packaging and selling “I Love September” and soon after that “I Love Last Tuesday”.

In an unlikely bid to beat them to the punch I am going to post the following files on my website:

• Don’t get stuck on stupid (CNN Video)
• Don’t get stuck on stupid (Full Sound Clip)

I sure do love hearing generals giving press conferences.  They seem to have a way of getting to the point.  If you hadn’t heard about this yet, I’ll let the guys over at LevelTen Design explain it in their own words:

Yes, I am aware that this all took place in September of 2005 and is long past, but it’s still damn funny.

Happy Birthday Mum!

Have you ever looked at something and wondered if there would be any possible way to make it more garish and tacky? If you answered no to this question you probably just didn’t think about it long enough. There is always a way. Though, it occurs to me that perhaps it is not out of lack of effort but perhaps an innate sense of self preservation.

My roommate is what you would call a stereotypical air-head artist. It’s a cold day down bellow when she remembers all of her necessities at the same time. To help end the ritual of waiting outside in the cold because she forgot her keys she decided to leave a permanent note on the door. All of my roommates have been chuckling as they go by it. One of them stopped to ask “Could that note be any bigger?” I stopped and thought about it for a moment and said “Yes, of course it can.” So now when you walk into our apartment you will be greeted with a great big sign reminding you to not forget your keys. I’m tempted to run out and get some butcher paper so that it can be made even bigger.

Spring break starts after classes end today. But after this long stretch of mid-term exams I’ve already checked out. I’m sure there was some homework or studying or something that I should have done for today. I hope no one will mind if I turn it in after the break.

I need a nap.