iTunes-related landmarks
~ Engima - Look of Today (10,000th song added to iTunes library)
~ Bright Eyes - The Biggest Lie (10,000 song played on Audioscrobbler)
~ Jeff Buckley - Live At Sin-é (1,000th album added to iTunes library)

If you're a fan of 24 and haven't seen this yet, you're in for a treat. Props to Ricci for passing this along. I think my favorite is "Jack Bauer can get McDonald's breakfast after 10:30."

Random Jack Bauer Facts

The Great Blizzard of '06
We got a teensy bit of snow the past couple of days. You may have heard about it on the news. It's not that there's a lot of snow or that it's really cold, but the fact that it all came down in one 24-hour period and aburptly stopped that got me. I'm used to the residual lake-effect crap that lasts basically the entire season. I thought I'd share:







This one's for Michelle...

“George Bush doesn’t care about black puppets.”

Long live AD.

Arrested Development 2003-2006

Alright, let’s pull the car over to the side of pretentiousness turnpike…
(This is a response to Jeeber's last post. I am not posting it in my own journal in order to reach a wider audience or anything like that, but because I was honestly unable to post it as a reply to his entry.)

Mike, I’d like to question two facets of your entry: the logic of your assumptions and the motivation for posting them.

“Everyone I know aside from aforementioned individuals don't actually know what love IS, rather they lust after what they want.”
Are you truly qualified to make such a boastful statement? How can you begin to know the feelings and emotions of the people around you in regards to a covert set of behaviors such as “love”? In my experiences, I’ve found it’s hard enough to qualify one’s own feelings in a romantic relationship, let alone beginning to speak for another. I would be curious to know how to operationally define such an emotionally complex and messy concept as love, and qualify, quantify, and rank it such as you do here. And let’s say for a minute that your love for Amanda is as strong as you say it is… why does it have to be mutually exclusive with everyone else’s? Why can’t we each strive for our own level of happiness, each working to be content if our own situations, everyone reaching to attain our own conceptualization of “true love”? Why does your guys’ love have to be stronger than ours? Who are you trying to convince? And what about those people who aren’t looking for such things in the first place? Does that make them bad people? Does that make them incomplete?

All of these purposely rhetorical questions don’t mean a damn thing to me though, as compared to my fundamental problem with your entry: what on God’s green Earth would possess to post such a thing? Let’s go with the assumption that you actually believe every word you wrote… did you actually believe such arrogant statements would go unchallenged? I cannot imagine, no matter how much passion and intensity drove your entry, that you didn’t stop at one point and consider that your public statements would be considered inflammatory to the uninitiated reader. The only logical explanation I can come up with is that you were trying to provoke for some reason, or retaliate to some outside threat. Many times on Woohu, I’ve found that a user will encounter some distressing person or experience during the course of a day, and then fire back in an entry, projecting their frustrations into a sort of Woohu-black hole. But even that is the case (which I don’t think it is), it does not even begin to account for the vicious volleys that your entry shoots out in this seemingly unprovoked attack against the values, beliefs, and intelligence of your readers. Because I don’t see how your entry is anything other than exactly that: an attack. You are mounting an offensive against the self-perceived clueless inferior masses, in the process isolating you and Amanda at the top of the pile. Well, Mike, I hope you are as sure of your feelings as you say you are, because they say it’s lonely at the top and it’s a helluva long fall to the bottom. If your love is as strong as you guys say it is, then you two should be able to revel in that knowledge privately, without publicly demeaning your peers by stating that you think you are better than them. If you plan on sticking around with this Woohu thing, I think you’d be wise to take a page in Woohu-etiquette from our pal JediBumblebee. Here’s someone who presently has us all trumped… she just got engaged. But instead of trying to rub our noses in it as you are, Stef is quietly bemoaning the difficulty of putting a wedding together and asking our opinion on dresses. The thing that a lot of people don’t seem to grasp about Woohu, and all blogs for that matter, is that it is a community. It may be your journal and you are free to post whatever you want, but just like society at large, respecting other’s dignity and feelings is just as important as your own personal freedom. After attempting to extend that same courtesy to you in the past few paragraphs, I will now throw said even-temperedness to the wind in my concluding thoughts for effect:

“They can't help it though, they're a product of the society and situations they put themselves in.”
You know, in the past couple of years I’ve been accused, sometimes by the people closest to me, of having a pretty big ego. Whether they are right or not, I’ve always been able to justify it as a mechanism of my survival, a necessary evil to make it through the day. But in my efforts to build myself up, I have strove to never achieve such self-confidence at the expense of others, as you do here. All things aside, now matter how you may feel, that was an extremely pompous and asshole thing to say.

Quotes
"Then there are those who care not about extraterrestrials, searching for meaning in other human beings. Rare or lucky are those who find it. For although we may not be alone in the universe, in our own separate ways, on this planet, we are all… alone."
- Jose Chung, 3x20 "Jose Chung's From Outer Space"

Denise: "I thought you liked being alone."
Alan: "Oh, I love being alone, I just prefer to be alone when there are other people around."
- from Tuesday's Boston Legal

Scully: “You know, one the old mariners’ maps, the cartographers would designate uncharted territories by writing ‘Here by monsters.’"
Mulder: “Oh, I got a map of New York City just like that.”
- from 3x22, Quagmire

So, I haven't had a proper update in quite a while, but I chalk it up to the fact that every year or so, I go through this period of "what's the point in updating?" I may come up with a topic or two here and there that I want to write about, but by the time I get myself in front of a computer and start considering what I want to compose, it's all seems like unnecessary work. Nonetheless, I check the site regularly, and I do enjoy updating my journal style rather frequently. (By the way, if you haven't noticed, I put up a new layout a few days ago... ::pats self on back for HTML code/photo manipulation competence.)

Life is relatively good as of late. I do stress that word "relative," the semester is starting off with a great deal of promise compared to my largely stagnant and transitory fall semester. Going home and then coming back here, it didn't take much at all to readjust to the city and I find myself quickly becoming more proficient, identifying the cogs that make up the larger wheel. I've been pleasantly surprised how much (aside from my first week back) I've been able to get out since I've been back. Hit up ESPNzone, Nintendo World, a couple bars, and Madison Square Garden all in the past couple of weeks. Thanks to Steve and the good people at the German American Chamber of Commerce for the latter, hooking me up with a free ticket to a NY Rangers game this past Tuesday. They lost, and to be blunt, they pretty much looked like shit (although I've been pampered for quite some time on the Red Wings' absolute dominance), but it was still a lot of fun. Mmm... overpriced beer-battered onion rings and mismatched souvenir cups. As promised, pics:







I've also been taking advantage of my membership to the Museum of the Moving Image, spending quite a lot of time with their interactive video game exhibit (NBA Jam or Mortal Kombat, anyone?) and watching their weekly film screenings. Saw Brazil again for the first time last week and I'm going to see Once Upon a Time in the West as soon as I finish up this entry.

Things are getting pretty serious with Michelle... an amazing development considering our positions. I don't know what's going to happen there in the long run, but I have faith things will work out how they are supposed to. I could say more, but this isn't really the place.

Believe it or not, I only started school yesterday, but things are looking promising there as well. I'll know more after next Tuesday when I start my other two classes.

< /train of thought> Off to the museum/movies. Good day, y'all.

I should update. Seems like there's a lot that needs to be said.

Going out tonight to the Brass Monkey on 14th Street. Brass Monkey, that funky monkey...

"Helping someone move is like oral sex. Once you do it once, they owe you for life." Scrubs

"You can’t fire me. I don’t work in this car." Dwight, The Office

What if what I want and what I need are the same thing?

Back to NYC.

Can I use you as my shield? Will you protect me from the world?
I will make it happen, just tell me how.

Alanis Morissette - Head Over Feet
I had no choice but to hear you
You stated your case time and again
I thought about it
You treat me like I'm a prince
I'm not used to liking that
You ask how my day was

You've already won me over in spite of me
Don't be alarmed if I fall head over feet
Don't be surprised if I love you for all that you are
I couldn't help it
It's all your fault

Your love is thick and it swallowed me whole
You're so much braver than I gave you credit for
That's not lip service

You are the bearer of unconditional things
You held your breath and the door for me
Thanks for your patience
You're the best listener that I've ever met
You're my best friend
Best friend with benefits
What took me so long
I've never felt this healthy before
I've never wanted something rational
I am aware now
I am aware now



Just thinking about you makes my troubles melt away.

Best of 2005 Lists
Top 15 CDs
1) Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine
2) Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
3) The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
4) Beck - Guero
5) Jonathan Rice - Trouble Is Real
6) David Gray - Life In Slow Motion
7) Coldplay - X&Y
8) My Morning Jacket - Z
9) Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth
10) Foo Fighters - In Your Honor
11) Garbage - Bleed Like Me
12) Imogen Heap - Speak For Yourself
13) Eels - Blinking Lights & Other Revelations
14) Sigur Ros - Takk...
15) Death Cab for Cutie - Plans

Top 15 Songs
1) Imogen Heap - Hide & Seek
2) Foo Fighters - Best of You
3) David Gray - The One I Love
4) Fiona Apple - Parting Gift
5) Eels - Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)
6) Coldplay - Fix You
7) Garbage - Bleed Like Me
8) Kanye West - Gold Digger
9) Nine Inch Nails - Only
10) Hot Hot Heat - Middle of Nowhere
11) Kaiser Chiefs - I Predict A Riot
12) Audioslave - Be Yourself
13) My Morning Jacket - Off The Record
14) Franz Ferdinand - Do You Want To
15) Beck - E-Pro

Top 15 Movies
1) Munich
2) Cinderella Man
3) Batman Begins
4) King Kong
5) Rent
6) Walk The Line
7) The 40 Year Old Virgin
8) Good Night, and Good Luck
9) Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
10) Broken Flowers
11) The Constant Gardener
12) The Aristocrats
13) Jarhead
14) Shopgirl
15) Everything Is Illuminated

Rockefeller Center X-Mas Pics & More

FOOOOOOOOOOR MEEEEEEEEEEEE!
HEY! Guess what?! You know what's fun?! A CITYWIDE TRANSIT STRIKE! WOOHOO!!

I'm walking into "GR drama" starting tomorrow. ::packs empathy hat and listening ear::

Done and done. LET'S DO THIS THANG! I'm going ROCK THIS BITCH like the BITCH has never been ROCKED before!

without you, it's not as much fun to pick up the pieces pizza...
I missed "Pass the Ace" at the Rad X-Mas party today. That makes me immeasurably disheartened. Some random boyfriend of one of my step-cousins won. And I missed seeing my step-uncle Rich who lives in Cali. I'll have to visit him if I ever get around to visiting Leeder.

oh lord we break so easy/oh lord we shatter like glass...
OK, so it might be a couple days early, but it occurs to me today that I made it. I lost my fair share of the battles, but the war continues. I did something that I never doubted that I could do, but once I got here there, realized would be a hell of a lot tougher than I had anticipated.

NYC Jason, you broke me so many times over. Now it's a chance for me to stop, lick my wounds, and see how much ground I've covered in the past four months.

Three weeks, and then I'm back into battle. This is a war I'll never stop waging.

who sucked out the feeeeeeeeeeeeeling??!!
You know, as much as I've had some transitional problems with this school and personality clashes with some of the faculty, I've got to give props to a program where I receive an e-mail like this... keep in mind, this is the head of the program talking here:

"It's not clear how much beer we will have tomorrow, so at this late
date, let's treat it as a BYO party.

See you there,
Bruce"

Look Ma, I made a collage!
::following Michelle's lead::

OK, I think this is all of the icons I've used over the past (almost) three years. I'm pretty sure I've used all of them at least for a short period of time, but correct me if I'm wrong. I was going through my folder and I realized I still have three icons that I made, but have yet to use. Just too many good ideas.



Dana, my money's on M&S (how can I say no??), with you and the duckie pulling a close second. Joe, enjoy the current (although I'd probably like anything after the ostentatious O.C. one). Stef, like the change of pace, but the cherubs will always be you. I told Leeder I was going to give him an icon for Christmas, and he told me if I did, he'd return the favor by giving me a golden shower... like I said before: how I can say no??

(edit 12:54pm) After tonight, the Lions are officially dead to me. Long live the Giants.

Top 50 Albums
1) Pink Floyd - The Wall
2) David Gray - White Ladder
3) Green Day - American Idiot
4) Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
5) Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
6) Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape
7) Radiohead - OK Computer
8) Moby - Play
9) Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell
10) R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
11) Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory?
12) Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness
13) Nirvana - Unplugged in New York
14) Elvis Costello & the Attractions - This Year's Model
15) Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP
16) Pearl Jam - Ten
17) Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar
18) Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
19) Garbage - Version 2.0
20) Dave Matthews Band - Crash
21) Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head
22) Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
23) A Perfect Circle - Mer De Noms
24) Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
25) Barenaked Ladies - Maroon
26) Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antarctica
27) Beck - Sea Change
28) Eve 6 - Horrorscope
29) Badly Drawn Boy - About A Boy Soundtrack
30) Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - The Boatman's Call
31) U2 - All That You Can't Leave Behind
32) Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile
33) Filter - Title of Record
34) Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
35) Jeff Buckley - Grace
36) Cake - Fashion Nugget
37) The White Stripes - White Blood Cells
38) Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News
39) Eels - Beautiful Freak
40) TV on the Radio - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
41) Poe - Haunted
42) Ben Folds - Live
43) The Postal Service - Give Up
44) The Killers - Hot Fuss
45) Franz Ferdinand
46) Everclear - So Much for the Afterglow
47) Incubus - Make Yourself
48) Fiona Apple - When the Pawn...
49) Dido - Life for Rent
50) Snow Patrol - Final Straw

is here to last...
Shitty things about today:

- It's cold
- I needed my parents to (temporarily) bail me out of my financial situation
- I found out that my step-uncle had a brain aneurysm on his way back from Florida last week. The goods news is he picked the best place in the country for it to happen; Indianapolis has the best facilities in the country for that type of thing. The bad news is they couldn't get at the problem with the first surgery, so they have to go back in on Monday with a new procedure. He could recover, he could die... won't know much until Tuesday. Seems like everytime I talk to my Dad lately, it's bad news.
- Part of my permanent retainer broke off and I can't do anything about it until I come home. Now I have the pleasure of running my tongue over dried cement for the next couple of weeks.

In spite of all that, my spirits are decent. Parents will do that to you. I find myself reacting to some things people say in ways that I never have before. Desperation will do that to you. "It's only after we've lost everything that we are free to do anything."

I just want to bottle this feeling and return to it when I need it. I just want it to last a little while longer. I want this to be it. Not need anymore.

All I've ever wanted is to be happy and content. Simplicity is my drug of choice.

Wish you were here.

For the first time in my life, I am officially a poor college student.

This sucks.