Everybody's working for the weekend

Yeah, we had yesterday off. It was nice. It started off with me sleeping in, always a good thing. After that, I did some reading. I then went to the library and did some writing. After that, I went and met Dollar, and we saddled up to go find us some examples of African-American film for our presentation. We decided that we would get Spike Lee's Malcolm X. Easier said than done. Our first stop was the Newport Blockbuster. They don't carry it. We then hit the Hollywood store nearby. They carry it. But they could have fooled us. In fact, they did fool us, as we were unable to locate it. We then went to the Wandermere Blockbuster. No luck, but they did send us to the Northtown Blockbuster, which did in fact carry it. So we had to drive all the way up to Northtown, braving Division traffic and the usual perils of Spokane. At any rate, we got our movie, and returned to my flat to watch at least half of it over a few beers.
After that, I dropped Dollar off back at Whitworth, and returned to hang out for a bit.

In the evening, CYT was putting on a production of The Wizard of Oz. One of our youth group kids was performing in it, so we went out to show our support. The play was okay, though they did suffer from a few technical glitches related to digital projections and the like. Let's face it, it's hard to take the "great and powerful Oz" very seriously when he's represented by a blue screen bearing the "Sanyo" logo. The performances were good, though, so it was okay. Our youth enjoyed it, and the girl who was performing really appreciated our presence. However, there was a minor SNAFU regarding the driving arrangements. Somehow, five kids ended up riding in a car with only four seatbelts. Damn. I felt so crappy when I found out about that. I should have said something, or done something, but I didn't. Thankfully, everybody made it home safely, but it did piss my boss off (understandably). I then went home and slept. And now, here I am.

Update! I'm not kidding. Superman really is a dick! And they started up a new site.

Rabbit DJ Fidel Castro

Today was, well...uneventful. And that's the way I like it, damnit! I've considered taking a vow of silence, wherein I shun all meaningful human contact before the hour of noon. However, it never fails that around 11 AM, somebody I actually care to talk to shows up. That's not a bad thing, mind you. It makes my life just that much less pathetic. Classes were normal, so I suppose that's good. Corliss Slack has continued to show her affinity for that timeless holiday film classic, Blade: Trinity. I heartily approve of a prof who is unafraid to like a bad action movie. My English prof. continues to be a frightening man. My room-mate and I have been discussing frightening professors recently, and have concluded that there are two types, roughly analogous to two Marvel comics characters: Wolverine and the Incredible Hulk. Your Wolverine-type prof is just always intense and frightening. Though somewhat unnerving at times, the Wolverine-type is always mildly pissed off, so you can sort of surf the currents of rage and emerge relatively unscathed. Then there is the Hulk-type. This is the prof who is mild-mannered, unassuming, and the nicest guy on earth, until suddenly he erupts into a towering inferno of rage. The Hulk-type is the one to watch out for, as you never truly know where or when the rage will emerge, and at whom it will be directed. The Hulk is the most frightening. Fortunately, my English professor is more like Wolverine than the Hulk.

At any rate, my LS-250 group finally got a chance to sit down and brainstorm together. It seems to be a fairly mellow group, which is good. Some might say too mellow, but that's all I'll say about that. At any rate, we had a good bull session, and had some interesting conversation. It'll be interesting to see how it all turns out. I won't tell you what we're going to do, because you don't need to know.

Death, Dying, Dead

Okay, so I'm not really feeling that morbid right now, but it was something of a rough day. A guy that I worked with over the summer is now a youth pastor in Bremerton (of MXPX fame). Apparently, on Sunday night, four of his youth were driving home after a youth function and got into a car accident, killing one of them. These weren't just random kids. These were kids that he had worked with for some time, and gotten to know and care about. To have this happen is a true tragedy. My heart goes out to Ted and also the families of the youth of the church. Kids aren't supposed to die like this. It's sickening to me. This actually kind of fits in with a notion that has been rolling around in my mind. Hemingway said that we all die the same way: alone. I've come to the conclusion that this is true. However, even if we all die alone, that's not how we're meant to live. As much as it pains me to admit it, we all need other people. Even I do. Some people need more than others, it is true, but the fact of the matter is that we all have relationships with other people. It is my belief that these relationships are what drive our lives, make us want to be better people, make our lives worth living. So, I urge all of you, find those people you care about, and let them know how much they really mean to you. Yes, we all die alone, but we live together. We come screaming into this world from our mothers' wombs and are suddenly with others. It's like that until we die. Let's make the most of that time, eh?