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Come on, let's go blow up stuff!
Jul. 6th, 2003 05:28 amI tried to go to bed early on Thursday night, honestly, but I couldn't do it. Why is it that class wears me out so much, but then all of a sudden I'm parked online downloading stuff and then awake until 6am!? o.o Kathleen and I hadn't really established a time when she'd pick me up (saving me the trouble of taking GGT, thank god), so I just slept (around 8am ^^;) until I got a call. I asked her to pick me up around 2pm, giving me 1 hour to be awake and do the dishes, clean up, whatever.
I vaguely recall watching TV and getting real bored, real fast-- not much to do. I might have been online a while, can't remember. All I know is I was napping on the couch when Kathleen came, and we headed out to Petaluma. Blah blah, day goes on. I finally meet Elise, Kathleen's daughter, who's supposedly younger than me, but already drinking and smoking. And her mom has no problem with it whatsoever. -.- Not that it's any of my business or anything, but euch, that just strikes me as bad parenting. Social drinking is one thing, but she was smoking at least 4 cigarettes in the few hours we were there. =P Even around the horses. And despite her smelling like cigarette smoke and cow, she still got more affection from the horses than I did. Feh.
Elise had to go home after that, so Kathleen drove her home-- but Kathleen had been nice enough to bring an air bed and comforter for me, since the only other option was a sleeping bag (I brought a pillow just for that reason). =D It didn't come with a pump, so Kathleen filled it up with her hair dryer! She's so innovative! She also was going to give me a box of sample lipsticks and such, but when we had to clear the table, Elise put them all back in the box (and I'd gone and meticulously sorted them out, too!) and I dunno what happened to it after that. Blah.
Dad and I left to go to see the fireworks at Luchessi Park after dinner (yummy chicken! But I'm not a fan of peas or macaroni salad, so...) but it turned out that they'd been the night before, and Dad plumb forgot. -.- Why were they the night before? Apparently the dumbass contractor had been booked for both Petaluma and Santa Rosa, and they didn't have enough resources or whatever to do both on the same night. It was awfully disappointing, but Dad and I just went to one of the many fireworks booths. I used the $20 mom gave me (and thank god for that... she was under the delusion that my Dad makes more money than her. *laughs* 1) he's a teacher (that should say it all, you know), 2) he's always paying back one debt or another; 3) he lives on a friggin' horseranch with RICH people. Suffice it to say, rent is HIGH!) and got a small pack of fireworks. Damn the fact that they were so small-- the best sets were around $80. No discounts either, even though it was the night of the celebration. Probably because the organization selling them (Extreme Faith Ministry...?) had TONS left.
Lots of people were at Luchessi Park "blowing up stuff." So we drove around a while and watched some families and their fireworks. I thought a few of them were pretty stupid for blowing fireworks up right next to their cars (paint damage, you know?) but whatever, they were pretty to watch. Dad and I set up camp not far from the lake, watching other people, and in the distance, someone OBVIOUSLY had illegal fireworks, like the kind the pyrotechnics actually use for big displays. So it was even better than watching simple fireworks put on by a contractor, because there were more fireworks, more variety, and less time to wait. ^_^ The fireworks we got, unfortunately, weren't that great. In a laughable twist, most of them were "white" fireworks. I figured it had something to do with us having purchased them from the "Extreme Faith" ministry. Hehe. They were still pretty cool though, lots of sparkly, snapping ones.
I wish we'd gotten more Ground Blooms, the ones that spin around on the ground at 25MPH or something, like neon balls of fire outta hell. =D A family near us had a bunch of them, and sometimes they threw them into the water (dumb!) and sometimes they spun INTO the water and spun ON TOP of the surface before going out entirely. Quite a spectacle. I lit a few of the fireworks (come to think of it, we never used the pinwheel, which you have to nail to something) using the "punk" (looks like an incense stick), and one time the fuse wouldn't light, so I kept getting closer to the explosive. When it finally lit, I was so surprised I practically fell on my butt backing out of there, and Dad asked if I was trying to kiss the fuse, or maybe get its DNA? Hehe. =D
We watched a few other families as we left-- one group had these LITTLE kids running around with sparklers, acting like ravers. Another firework looked like a strobe light, and it looked pretty cool reflecting off the weeping willow trees hanging off the lake. It was pretty fun. Hmm, after that we headed home-- since the place is 4 miles outside of town, it seemed like a bit of a drive. Lots of deer on the road at night, for some reason. Why don't they ever learn that road = dangerous, and the grass doesn't taste any better closer to being roadkill?!
At home, Dad and I were pleasantly surprised to find the air bed all set up and comfy-looking for me. Kathleen also brought out the VHS/TV (I'd watched "Gone in 60 Seconds" on the DVD/TV earlier, and I kept comparing it to 2F2F... let's just say I liked the latter much better) since there's no TV signal in those parts. And the fastest Internet connection my Dad can get is 32.1KBps. ;_; It was slow, even for me!
We watched this Pierce Brosnan movie "Dante's Peak" for a while. I kept asking Dad questions about volcanos, so I had to keep pausing it. At some point, Dad fell asleep in his chair, so when I woke him up, he went to bed and shut off the lights while I continued to watch the movie. It was pretty good, and even scary at parts. Still, a slice bit unrealistic. But still, did you know we have an active volcano here in CA? Hehe. BEWARE!
Tried to fall asleep after the movie, but I woke up around 3am, thinking it was much earlier. I peeked out the window (ah, the sounds of wildlife...) and almost got paranoid-- I kept on closing my eyes and seeing this demonic-sunflower thing. After watching a volcano movie. Yep, I'm weird. Tried to fall asleep to no avail, so I sat up reading "Wired" magazine. Pretty cool stuff. >) I read all about how they made "The Burly Man" fight scene between the many Agent Smiths and Neo. They hyped it up a lot more than it should have been; when I saw the movie, I could immediately tell when it wasn't the actors anymore, and it was CG. I couldn't pinpoint the EXACT moment when this happened (which I guess it what they were bragging about) but I could tell they weren't real. Still, the effort they made is pretty commendable. I mean daaamn, they invented a whole lot of new things just to bring the "Matrix" trilogy to life.
Ooh, read about Doom III, too. The monsters are pretty scary looking, but I dunno, I guess I really just liked the old designs. The game sounds pretty challenging-- it's not just your run of the mill first-person-shooter with various cheats (you HAVE to use cheats in Final Doom, you'll die without them). You can accidentally shoot out the lights, and everything you see is based on an actual first-person perspective, instead of a generated screen of what's right in front of you. You ever notice errors in games like Doom, when you "clip" and walk through walls-- and everything turns blurry and multiplies itself? Oh, and guess what? The monsters can jump through grates in the floor. The game will scare the shiza out of people, but the new graphics engine is made for the best of the best computers... so unless I get myself an XBox when it comes out, chances are I won't get a chance to play it. *whine* Doom is the best!!
I finally managed to go to sleep (dreaming and scheming of new chapters of "Dream a Dream," which I worked on earlier, revised some, and am going to continue working on soon). Next morning, I wake up, and it's almost noon. I was still feeling tired though, but I wasn't sore. The air bed was fun to roll on, even if it wasn't totally filled up. Hehe. Dad made me some scrambled eggs and toast (YUM! I miss Dad's good 'home cookin') and we made plans for the day.
Went to Fandango to get tix for T3, and we were both surprised that it wasn't sold out or anything. Maybe it was because it was Rowland Blvd. Cinemas, or maybe because it was 4th of July weekend, and most everyone saw it when it came out on the 2nd, or on the 4th? Or heck, maybe it just wasn't that popular (poppycock)! Dad and I went into town and went into Reade Moore Books-- Ruth, the bookstore owner, remembered me, and she still had that huffy cat of hers, Lily. But Lily didn't seem to hate me that day, so I wandered over to the teen section with the cat and looked at books. I wanted to get a couple, but figured it'd be best to save my cash for snacks or games at the theater, since Dad didn't have any cash.
Went to Copperfield's, too, and I sat down reading KareKano (have I mentioned how friggin' COOL Copperfield's is?!) but I got cut off midway through volume 3. I still need to get my hands on those! Downstairs in the used section, they had a collection of some REALLY old manga, from the 1960s or something. It was adult manga, not like shoujo or shounen, aimed at kids or teens. Something to do with war back in the feudal ages. It was mostly in kanji, so I couldn't read it. =P
After that, we headed to the library. Saw Kio, the nice Japanese librarian again, and I wandered around aimlessly for some time. The main window in the kid's section was PLASTERED with those paper flowers and stuff that they put up every year for the summer reading "competition." I remember I was crazy about that, and one year I volunteered at the library and got to work behind the scenes! That was fun. Kio suggested I try and work for one of the libraries here in SF, which is an amazingly good idea. Not only could I really get stuff done, but I'd be in one of my favorite places in the world! =D Ooh, especially if I could get hired at the Main Library. But we'll see how this whole AuctionRoad eBay reseller thing goes. Who knows, I might make a few grand in a week with that. =D
I was parked in the Metaphysics section when Dad found me (he said he KNEW he'd find me there-- the only part of the library that isn't part of the Dewey Decimal System, because it's all modern topics). He said he'd promised Baba to tell me about something, so he sat me down in the reference section, in front of all these grant books and told me I HAVE TO (HAVE TO HAVE TO HAVE TO!) look for grants, because I will most definitelty need the money. So that's something I'm going to start doing, and maybe this week I'll reserve a day to go to the Main Library and just sit down and do some research.
Did you know Bill and Melinda Gates have to give away $6,000,000 A DAY to maintain their non-profit status? Hehe, neither did I, but I'd sure like a piece of that! =D There's also possibilities for other things I might minor in (Creative Writing, Japanese, etc.) other than the obvious, which is Journalism.
After that, we headed to the movie theater-- it looked pretty different from how I remember it, seeing as how Century Theaters took it over (I think it used to be United Artists?). Not much of an arcade (shucks, no DDR!) but I did play Bust a Move. It ate my token (yes, TOKEN!) at first, so I got one of the guys to fix it for me-- and he gave me 4 tokens worth! I played for as long as I could, using up all my continues. I didn't want to spend my $5 on tokens, when I knew I'd want a snack or a drink later on. So I only spent the $1, giving Dad 75 cents so he could play Beach Head. He sounded like he was having fun! ^_^
The movie wasn't due to start for another 20 minutes, but we sat down in the theater anyway. Not crowded AT ALL. Got an overpriced Cherry Coke from an apathetic concession stand worker (they're more expensive in Novato than here, if you believe it. $3.15 for a SMALL!). Some of the previews looked pretty cool (I want to see "Cradle of Life." Lara Croft is starting to grow on me. Or maybe it's Angelina Jolie, she's hot!) and others ("The Whole Ten Yards," a sequel to the pretty funny "The Whole Nine Yards") looked pretty stupid. =P
Ah, and when the movie finally started-- let me say that I don't like Voiceovers. If you can't tell the story with action, then you're telling it wrong. The point of a movie (as per my definition) isn't to recite something that's been written down, but to bring viewers INTO the action, even if it's set 200 years in the future, or somewhere in a galaxy far, far away. ^.~ Besides, it wasn't consistent with the rest of the movie, which wasn't entirely in our hero's POV.
( i said 'i'll be back' )
Hey, someone help me out here-- I'm trying to find a 275 x 375 (roughly) image of Kristanna Loken, the girl who played TX in T3. But I need it to be an image of her WHILE she's TX, not one of her many modeling pictures, or shots of her from Mortal Kombat. =P You know, the slicked-back hair, tight red suit-- anyone help me out? o_O I don't know of any image search engines besides Google.
( ordinary miracles )
*cough* Okay, I've babbled long enough, don't you think? This entry has been hours in the making, so maybe you've appreciated some of my endeavors. -.- Damn Terminator site keeps taking forever to load. AAAUGH! At least I'm getting inspired for "Dream a Dream" by the repetitiveness of my 23-item playlist. *snore* My knees, ears, and stomach are starting to hurt. I think I need something to eat other than brownies and cereal. *wanders off*
I vaguely recall watching TV and getting real bored, real fast-- not much to do. I might have been online a while, can't remember. All I know is I was napping on the couch when Kathleen came, and we headed out to Petaluma. Blah blah, day goes on. I finally meet Elise, Kathleen's daughter, who's supposedly younger than me, but already drinking and smoking. And her mom has no problem with it whatsoever. -.- Not that it's any of my business or anything, but euch, that just strikes me as bad parenting. Social drinking is one thing, but she was smoking at least 4 cigarettes in the few hours we were there. =P Even around the horses. And despite her smelling like cigarette smoke and cow, she still got more affection from the horses than I did. Feh.
Elise had to go home after that, so Kathleen drove her home-- but Kathleen had been nice enough to bring an air bed and comforter for me, since the only other option was a sleeping bag (I brought a pillow just for that reason). =D It didn't come with a pump, so Kathleen filled it up with her hair dryer! She's so innovative! She also was going to give me a box of sample lipsticks and such, but when we had to clear the table, Elise put them all back in the box (and I'd gone and meticulously sorted them out, too!) and I dunno what happened to it after that. Blah.
Dad and I left to go to see the fireworks at Luchessi Park after dinner (yummy chicken! But I'm not a fan of peas or macaroni salad, so...) but it turned out that they'd been the night before, and Dad plumb forgot. -.- Why were they the night before? Apparently the dumbass contractor had been booked for both Petaluma and Santa Rosa, and they didn't have enough resources or whatever to do both on the same night. It was awfully disappointing, but Dad and I just went to one of the many fireworks booths. I used the $20 mom gave me (and thank god for that... she was under the delusion that my Dad makes more money than her. *laughs* 1) he's a teacher (that should say it all, you know), 2) he's always paying back one debt or another; 3) he lives on a friggin' horseranch with RICH people. Suffice it to say, rent is HIGH!) and got a small pack of fireworks. Damn the fact that they were so small-- the best sets were around $80. No discounts either, even though it was the night of the celebration. Probably because the organization selling them (Extreme Faith Ministry...?) had TONS left.
Lots of people were at Luchessi Park "blowing up stuff." So we drove around a while and watched some families and their fireworks. I thought a few of them were pretty stupid for blowing fireworks up right next to their cars (paint damage, you know?) but whatever, they were pretty to watch. Dad and I set up camp not far from the lake, watching other people, and in the distance, someone OBVIOUSLY had illegal fireworks, like the kind the pyrotechnics actually use for big displays. So it was even better than watching simple fireworks put on by a contractor, because there were more fireworks, more variety, and less time to wait. ^_^ The fireworks we got, unfortunately, weren't that great. In a laughable twist, most of them were "white" fireworks. I figured it had something to do with us having purchased them from the "Extreme Faith" ministry. Hehe. They were still pretty cool though, lots of sparkly, snapping ones.
I wish we'd gotten more Ground Blooms, the ones that spin around on the ground at 25MPH or something, like neon balls of fire outta hell. =D A family near us had a bunch of them, and sometimes they threw them into the water (dumb!) and sometimes they spun INTO the water and spun ON TOP of the surface before going out entirely. Quite a spectacle. I lit a few of the fireworks (come to think of it, we never used the pinwheel, which you have to nail to something) using the "punk" (looks like an incense stick), and one time the fuse wouldn't light, so I kept getting closer to the explosive. When it finally lit, I was so surprised I practically fell on my butt backing out of there, and Dad asked if I was trying to kiss the fuse, or maybe get its DNA? Hehe. =D
We watched a few other families as we left-- one group had these LITTLE kids running around with sparklers, acting like ravers. Another firework looked like a strobe light, and it looked pretty cool reflecting off the weeping willow trees hanging off the lake. It was pretty fun. Hmm, after that we headed home-- since the place is 4 miles outside of town, it seemed like a bit of a drive. Lots of deer on the road at night, for some reason. Why don't they ever learn that road = dangerous, and the grass doesn't taste any better closer to being roadkill?!
At home, Dad and I were pleasantly surprised to find the air bed all set up and comfy-looking for me. Kathleen also brought out the VHS/TV (I'd watched "Gone in 60 Seconds" on the DVD/TV earlier, and I kept comparing it to 2F2F... let's just say I liked the latter much better) since there's no TV signal in those parts. And the fastest Internet connection my Dad can get is 32.1KBps. ;_; It was slow, even for me!
We watched this Pierce Brosnan movie "Dante's Peak" for a while. I kept asking Dad questions about volcanos, so I had to keep pausing it. At some point, Dad fell asleep in his chair, so when I woke him up, he went to bed and shut off the lights while I continued to watch the movie. It was pretty good, and even scary at parts. Still, a slice bit unrealistic. But still, did you know we have an active volcano here in CA? Hehe. BEWARE!
Tried to fall asleep after the movie, but I woke up around 3am, thinking it was much earlier. I peeked out the window (ah, the sounds of wildlife...) and almost got paranoid-- I kept on closing my eyes and seeing this demonic-sunflower thing. After watching a volcano movie. Yep, I'm weird. Tried to fall asleep to no avail, so I sat up reading "Wired" magazine. Pretty cool stuff. >) I read all about how they made "The Burly Man" fight scene between the many Agent Smiths and Neo. They hyped it up a lot more than it should have been; when I saw the movie, I could immediately tell when it wasn't the actors anymore, and it was CG. I couldn't pinpoint the EXACT moment when this happened (which I guess it what they were bragging about) but I could tell they weren't real. Still, the effort they made is pretty commendable. I mean daaamn, they invented a whole lot of new things just to bring the "Matrix" trilogy to life.
Ooh, read about Doom III, too. The monsters are pretty scary looking, but I dunno, I guess I really just liked the old designs. The game sounds pretty challenging-- it's not just your run of the mill first-person-shooter with various cheats (you HAVE to use cheats in Final Doom, you'll die without them). You can accidentally shoot out the lights, and everything you see is based on an actual first-person perspective, instead of a generated screen of what's right in front of you. You ever notice errors in games like Doom, when you "clip" and walk through walls-- and everything turns blurry and multiplies itself? Oh, and guess what? The monsters can jump through grates in the floor. The game will scare the shiza out of people, but the new graphics engine is made for the best of the best computers... so unless I get myself an XBox when it comes out, chances are I won't get a chance to play it. *whine* Doom is the best!!
I finally managed to go to sleep (dreaming and scheming of new chapters of "Dream a Dream," which I worked on earlier, revised some, and am going to continue working on soon). Next morning, I wake up, and it's almost noon. I was still feeling tired though, but I wasn't sore. The air bed was fun to roll on, even if it wasn't totally filled up. Hehe. Dad made me some scrambled eggs and toast (YUM! I miss Dad's good 'home cookin') and we made plans for the day.
Went to Fandango to get tix for T3, and we were both surprised that it wasn't sold out or anything. Maybe it was because it was Rowland Blvd. Cinemas, or maybe because it was 4th of July weekend, and most everyone saw it when it came out on the 2nd, or on the 4th? Or heck, maybe it just wasn't that popular (poppycock)! Dad and I went into town and went into Reade Moore Books-- Ruth, the bookstore owner, remembered me, and she still had that huffy cat of hers, Lily. But Lily didn't seem to hate me that day, so I wandered over to the teen section with the cat and looked at books. I wanted to get a couple, but figured it'd be best to save my cash for snacks or games at the theater, since Dad didn't have any cash.
Went to Copperfield's, too, and I sat down reading KareKano (have I mentioned how friggin' COOL Copperfield's is?!) but I got cut off midway through volume 3. I still need to get my hands on those! Downstairs in the used section, they had a collection of some REALLY old manga, from the 1960s or something. It was adult manga, not like shoujo or shounen, aimed at kids or teens. Something to do with war back in the feudal ages. It was mostly in kanji, so I couldn't read it. =P
After that, we headed to the library. Saw Kio, the nice Japanese librarian again, and I wandered around aimlessly for some time. The main window in the kid's section was PLASTERED with those paper flowers and stuff that they put up every year for the summer reading "competition." I remember I was crazy about that, and one year I volunteered at the library and got to work behind the scenes! That was fun. Kio suggested I try and work for one of the libraries here in SF, which is an amazingly good idea. Not only could I really get stuff done, but I'd be in one of my favorite places in the world! =D Ooh, especially if I could get hired at the Main Library. But we'll see how this whole AuctionRoad eBay reseller thing goes. Who knows, I might make a few grand in a week with that. =D
I was parked in the Metaphysics section when Dad found me (he said he KNEW he'd find me there-- the only part of the library that isn't part of the Dewey Decimal System, because it's all modern topics). He said he'd promised Baba to tell me about something, so he sat me down in the reference section, in front of all these grant books and told me I HAVE TO (HAVE TO HAVE TO HAVE TO!) look for grants, because I will most definitelty need the money. So that's something I'm going to start doing, and maybe this week I'll reserve a day to go to the Main Library and just sit down and do some research.
Did you know Bill and Melinda Gates have to give away $6,000,000 A DAY to maintain their non-profit status? Hehe, neither did I, but I'd sure like a piece of that! =D There's also possibilities for other things I might minor in (Creative Writing, Japanese, etc.) other than the obvious, which is Journalism.
After that, we headed to the movie theater-- it looked pretty different from how I remember it, seeing as how Century Theaters took it over (I think it used to be United Artists?). Not much of an arcade (shucks, no DDR!) but I did play Bust a Move. It ate my token (yes, TOKEN!) at first, so I got one of the guys to fix it for me-- and he gave me 4 tokens worth! I played for as long as I could, using up all my continues. I didn't want to spend my $5 on tokens, when I knew I'd want a snack or a drink later on. So I only spent the $1, giving Dad 75 cents so he could play Beach Head. He sounded like he was having fun! ^_^
The movie wasn't due to start for another 20 minutes, but we sat down in the theater anyway. Not crowded AT ALL. Got an overpriced Cherry Coke from an apathetic concession stand worker (they're more expensive in Novato than here, if you believe it. $3.15 for a SMALL!). Some of the previews looked pretty cool (I want to see "Cradle of Life." Lara Croft is starting to grow on me. Or maybe it's Angelina Jolie, she's hot!) and others ("The Whole Ten Yards," a sequel to the pretty funny "The Whole Nine Yards") looked pretty stupid. =P
Ah, and when the movie finally started-- let me say that I don't like Voiceovers. If you can't tell the story with action, then you're telling it wrong. The point of a movie (as per my definition) isn't to recite something that's been written down, but to bring viewers INTO the action, even if it's set 200 years in the future, or somewhere in a galaxy far, far away. ^.~ Besides, it wasn't consistent with the rest of the movie, which wasn't entirely in our hero's POV.
( i said 'i'll be back' )
Hey, someone help me out here-- I'm trying to find a 275 x 375 (roughly) image of Kristanna Loken, the girl who played TX in T3. But I need it to be an image of her WHILE she's TX, not one of her many modeling pictures, or shots of her from Mortal Kombat. =P You know, the slicked-back hair, tight red suit-- anyone help me out? o_O I don't know of any image search engines besides Google.
( ordinary miracles )
*cough* Okay, I've babbled long enough, don't you think? This entry has been hours in the making, so maybe you've appreciated some of my endeavors. -.- Damn Terminator site keeps taking forever to load. AAAUGH! At least I'm getting inspired for "Dream a Dream" by the repetitiveness of my 23-item playlist. *snore* My knees, ears, and stomach are starting to hurt. I think I need something to eat other than brownies and cereal. *wanders off*
