The Universe Hates Me

Yeah. Just when things are starting to go well, it seems as if the powers that be decide to hit me with a cosmic bitch slap just to remind me of where I really sit in the grand scheme of things. After a good interview yesterday and a fun evening with Decken, I woke up this morning to volunteer with our church youth group to feed breakfast to homeless people downtown. However, on my way back home, I got into a car accident. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and the damage appears to be purely cosmetic, but I feel like shit. This could not have happened at a worse time for me, just as I was getting ready to go over to Seattle to spend some time with my dad. I must say that this is slightly depressing. Maybe it's because I shaved off the beard, for the first time in almost three years.

It's called "EVIL," kid.

So today has brought about a spate of good news, which has been, in my opinion, a bit overdue. For one, tomorrow is my interview with Best Buy. But you already know that. The other is that I am interviewing for a potential job as a technical writer. This excites me, as it would provide some interesting experiences for my future career. Plus, it would be with a company that works with AI. Those of you who have taken philosophy of mind will understand my interest in the subject. While Chalmers's response to Searle's Chinese Room (dancing and fading qualia) is an interesting take on things, I am not entirely convinced. That being said, even if AI can only ever achieve the level of a simulacrum of consciousness, it must be stated that it is a very convincing simulacrum, as the field continues to progress. We shall see what comes of this. Hopefully I get the job, but I'm not betting on it just yet.

In other news, I went into a bookstore today and decided to just sit down and do some reading. I picked up a new novel entitled The Historian, and found myself thoroughly engrossed. As many of you know, history is my secondary field of study and something in which I am a passionate dabbler. The novel itself is the tale of a girl who follows her father around the world on a quest to uncover the mysteries of Vlad Tepes (aka Vlad the Impaler, or more popularly, Dracula). I won't say that it is particularly deep in the intellectual sense, but the story is immensely fascinating, and the characters invite the reader to empathize with them in the best way. The relationship between the girl and her widower father is particularly poignant and warm, even as there are deep gulfs between the two of them. I haven't finished it yet, but at this stage, I recommend it to fans of horror, fantasy, history, or any combination thereof.

WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE!

Ye gods, but it has been a hellishly busy weekend. First of all, the room-mate's girlfriend was over. Nothing wrong with that, but it did mean that everybody and their goldfish decided to drop by. Again, nothing inherently wrong with that. However, it was also parent's weekend at Whitworth, meaning that my family was over to visit the sister, and I got stuck on "Andrew Duty," basically acting as a source of entertainment for my obnoxious and obstreperous younger brother. Fun. At any rate, Thursday night, who should call but she of infinite misery. Apparently she broke up with the guy she left me for upon discovering that lo and behold, he was neglectful and basically a dick. The words "I COULD HAVE TOLD YOU SO BUT I DIDN'T BECAUSE I'M SUCH A NICE FUCKING GUY" screamed through my brain as I heard this news. She then made subtle inquiries into my relationship status. By subtle, I mean she asked me directly if I was seeing anyone. My answer was "No, my life's a mess, and I don't really want to invite anybody in at the moment." We then had an argument, which I was enjoying, and then she accused me of being cold and distant, a side of me she had not seen before. Well I wonder why that could be? It couldn't have anything to do with the way in which a certain individual who we shall henceforth refer to as "Benee" toyed with my affections and then just plain old left me. No, why, that would be silly. However, I maintained polite composure and managed to laugh it off. I basically told her that if she wanted to build a friendship or anything at all with me, the onus was on her, but there was no way in hell that it would be anything like what had been. This whole exchange put me in something of a sour mood for the rest of the weekend. Saturday was my day as my brother's keeper. We ended up paintballing, which was okay. However, he really needs to stop walking in peoples' blind spots. It's annoying and inconsiderate. Sunday night at least provided some respite from the swirling maelstrom of chaos that is my life, as Justin came over and we watched some MST3K, and then went to Shari's. While there, the waiter randomly accosted us about last night's baseball game. Figuring that he must not have seen the whole thing and just wanted the score, I mentioned that I had in fact caught the end of it. He then started gushing about it. Damn. After a bit of this, he began to tell us all about his ongoing relationship with one of his co-workers, at which point both Justin and I began to feel a bit awkward. And by "a bit" I mean "very." When total strangers decide to bare their souls to you, it just doesn't feel right. As soon as he was gone, we booked for the cashier and payed the bill and split. It was...odd, to say the least, but it was entertaining.

Oh, and I might end up with a job at Best Buy. We shall see what comes of this.