Flossing Sucks

We all know that flossing is a vital part of your dental hygine routine, but lets also be honest with ourselves, flossing sucks ass. I decided this today when I thought it might be a good idea to floss, after eating popcorn. I hate the small pieces of corn shell that lodge themselves like bastards into the gums and crevaces between your teeth. I despise them. I attempt to dislodge them with my tounge, creating a constant irritating distraction. I drink soda, hoping the fizziness will flush the offending particles clear of my gums. But none of these actions is successful, so the last resort becomes the only option, and I break out the REACH floss that I'm sure my dentist is disapointed to see used on such an infrequent basis. I really hate this activity. Why does it have to suck so much to wrap some string around your finger and put it between your teeth? Why is it so hard to get all the junkass shit out of the gaps, and why must it be a bastard and a half to reach the back teeth? Listerine claims it is now as effective as flossing, to which I am very skeptical. If a 20oz bottle of Mountain Dew cannot dislodge a particle, how will my halfhearted gargling with Spring Mint succeed? Also, the wintery mix was a terrible disapointment, again. Winter weather will never come to us in the triangle, I have decided this much. We can get an inch, but we cannot get any sizable accumulation. All we get is stupid freezing rain, which is the worst of the wintery mix variables that could occur. Yay, our power will go out and we will all fall down and get bigass bruises, but in a day there will be no signs left of the precipitation! My sister told me today that she cried for 30 minutes when my mom told her smokey got ran over, and that dad is still upset about it as well. I guess I wasn't the most affected of the family after all. The real problem is that now whenever we think of getting another dog, the worry of getting run over or hit will bother us. This is the 2nd dog that we have had this happen to, and it doesn't get any less upsetting the next time around. Well there has to be a positive to every day, and for this day, it was the almighty asskicking delivered to UVa. by our basketball team. The effort was led by Jawad, who decided it was Fuck Virgina day. He promptly went to town, and the result was 110-76. A road win in the ACC quickly makes up for any Flossing related negativity in my book.

Stick with hookers...

Some of the very fine relationship advice I recieved today from the ever-sagacious Maloree. As if there was any other option, haha. It was a good day of interesting occurances, and at this point I must make a distinction. It has been pointed out to me that I constantly seem to claim having interesting days; it must be impossible that so many days can be good and interesting consecutively. In response to this I make the obvious point that perhaps my standards for "good" and "interesting" are just so damn far below the norm that what most would consider a average, or perhaps even shitty day, qualifies as a noteworthy experience in my book. That is what you get when you come from a town with no Wal-Mart. Today work was easy and slow, as mornings usually are at the union. Philosophy was long and there were far too many names to remember, with the added difficulty of sitting in a lefthanded seat. Needless to say, not many notes were taken, but I did practice writing my name lefthanded. The real gem of the day was Poli 80, where Prof. Sullivan reaffirmed my faith in the ability of profanity to enhance any lecture, regardless of relevance. Not only was badass used around 10 to 15 times, shit, holy shit, and damnit made an appearance. The lecture consisted of a sheet of 6 questions on the prisoners dilemma; in a normal class this would have taken 15 min. We made it to the 2nd question when the mornonic girl next to me asked a question about dominant strategies, the easiest and most obvious part of the problem. Sullivan took this as an opportunity to launch into an unclear analogy about buying a car, a mitsubishi mirage, for $19,000. After about 10 min of this, with the girl none the wiser as to dominant strategies, David "your boy" Moses attempted the bail out question, asking if there was an equilibrim in the problem at hand. Then began the most amazingly unnecesary metaphor for prisoners dilemma, ever. It began with Sullivan pointing out that he prefered the Kurt Russel version of Wyatt Earp, as portrayed in Tombstone. This proceeded to the fact that the town suffered from a collective action problem, that was, dealing with the Cowboy Gang. All was good to this point; enter the Earp brothers. "They had to prove they were the real Badasses of town, they had to go around kicking ass to make sure the gang knew they ran the show now." Continue to the shootout at the OK corral:"They didn't let anyone go, they dragged this guy out of a barn by his boots, and shot him in the face. This guy that got shot in the hand, he was begging to not be killed, and they just shot him, like 'Fuck you and your Fuckin mother too." That's right, he dropped the F-bomb in class, much to the amusement the guys, and the horror of the easily offended students who thought they were taking a serious class in political interaction. Easily in the 10 ten all time moments of in-class events in my book, right there with the time that the girl passed out in my History 11 class and we all got to go home, and the time the red phone rang in russian history and Prof. Griffiths said "I don't know who the hell that is." in response to a question about a student. As for after class, I ate a burrito from cosmic with Jimmy then walked home to take a huge nap, which explains me staying in on this cold as damnit night. Would have been a great night to read some of the hated book, but it turns out that the book has beaten me. I have been defeated on this night, as I only read 7 pgs. It gave me a chance to have a conversation with alison confirming my opinion that being unbalanced adds character and depth, two qualities I strive for. Unbalanced is a nice euphemism for crazy. I also got a chance to read a few articles on Iraq, at which point the attitude became more somber. I know people hate hearing about Iraq anymore, but I think it is something that should be discussed on a daily basis, it is our friends and family that are there dying. Whether or not you agree is irrelevant at this stage in the conflict, and I am beginning to see why my parents were so worried when the war first began; they had seen a similar situation in Vietnam devolve into everyone's favorite example of how not to conduct a war. I am certainly not saying the situation is the same, they are quite different, anyone that tells you we are in another vietnam is more than likely still hot over Kerry losing in November. But a few points from the two can be comparied, because that's what history is for. What strikes me most about the two is the difference of reaction to the situation in the general public and the administration. The difference between the way Bush and LBJ/Nixon delt with the stress of the job shows the personal involvement and Presidential involvement of these two conflicts. Vietnam basically killed Lyndon Johnson, crushed his dreams of a "Great Society", and stained whatever legacy he could have had continuing the Civil Rights reforms started by JFK. In direct reaction, we recieved Nixon, an amazingly political man who managed to turn his name into a political curseword. The war crushed both these men, deep stress and mental problems resulted from dealing with this great dilemma and the resulting casulities. True they were not the finest men of our time, but the proof remains. Contrast this with Bush, who seems to be blissfully unaware that anyone has yet to die in Iraq, and presents a positive outlook and a happy-go-lucky approach to the presidency. LBJ and Nixon were both intimately involved in policy planning around Vietnam; LBJ basically created the justification for escalation of hostilities, but the role of Bush seems much less involved and almost detached. Of course all of this is pure speculation, and I'm sure at some level the President is deeply affected by loss of life in Iraq, it just strikes me as interesting to compare the difference. This might be the longest damn post I've made yet, and I'm amazed you read it all, so let's all go drink to the use of profanity in lectures everywhere. Fuck Yeah!

You win some, you lose some

In case you didn't notice, duke lost, which is magnificent. It has been a long time coming, and there are not many things which can make up for a shitty day better than a big duke loss at cameron. We'll put that one in the positive. As for the negative, IM basketball turned into a great example of how our team hadn't played toghether at all until the first game. Chemistry was off, the offense was basically chaos, and on defense, we got killed on the boards. But there was potential, and with the Tyrell/Dan scoring machine and the secret weapon of Taylor Payne, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It has also become obvious that I am in danger of falling behind already this semester. As usual, my motivation for keeping up with readings is waining, but 2 tests are lurking next week, one of which requires quite a bit of bookwork. But, I have an ace in the hole; I can still pass/fail one of these classes, because they are all electives and do nothing for my graduation champaign except for raw hours.

Old Brown Shoe

Ok so old brown shoe really has nothing to do with this post, but it is the title of a Beatles song that I am listening to and enjoying. As for posting, the sizable day of signing the lease, eating at cosmic and watching the graduate in film criticism class really held no major events. Work also provided little entertainment, as Preston and I spent the time speculating on the nature of addiction to caffeine and why no one will ever want to work on Friday nights, regardless of his or her position on alcohol consumption. Really, working on a Friday is a kind of defeat; it is as if you have surrendered your most personal and sacred night of free time to a job. The Job has taken control of your life. That is why we are not doing Fridays. Also, they have damn late night parties that last until 2:00 AM, which puts a dent in your after work plans. After seeing the graduate, I think that maybe Simon and Garfunkel might just be something I need to download some of. True, it seems weak, but in context, the songs in the film nailed the mood and added a lot to the experience. I have 600 pgs of Rwandan Genocide to read by next Thursday, quite a happy assignment. It is not a book I would read for fun, but I am glad it is a class I am taking; at least I am right now. Not happy about the class, but I appreciate the goal the professor has for us in teaching it. If you have never taken a class where this connection is made, then either you are sadly inadequate in forming a schedule, or you are a person for which college is worthless. Enough of this asscrap philosophy, it is time to leave you with the best comment I have seen in a blog, ever. Dan Findlay, in his finest and most descriptive prose: "He kicked me in the balls. It hurt bad." And I bet it really did.

57 inch TV

The past weekend brought forth many interesting occurences, not the least of which was the discovery of a place to live next year for the 4 man team of Myself, Chris, Dan Findlay, and Jimmy Leak. Mill Creek will be the new home, barring some new disaster on the way to signing the lease. The real dealmaker was the tv included in the deal, the aforementioned 57-incher. Other than that, it is not a terribly impressive apartment, but I am not a terribly selective man. Work also provided some special memories, as I opened AND closed the building on Sunday. Perhaps the pinnacle of my Union career came when I found the ground floor snack machine bashed open with a metal chair, and the entire contents stolen. This firmly emphasizes the lesson, "Don't go to the Union. Ever." As for the actual content of work, I learned a little about catholicism, on which I am painfully ignorant, and also I ate free wings and pizza, and drank 3 mountain dew's. Saturday was quite the uneventful day, as I spent the daylight hours laying around the house and watching donnie darko then playing San Andreas. Action finally occured about 12, when the decison was made to go to La Rez. As I have never been there before, I was fairly excited, but the first person I saw should have been an indicator of how it would be. I walked up, only to be approached by Conneticut Alex, a kid I have known since freshman year only because we have the same first name, and bum cigaretts off each other while drinking. Well after the customary cigarette exchange, he informs us that the line is really long, it has a cover, and is mostly a sausage fest inside. This not being what we were looking for on that particular night, (or any night for that matter) the obvious destination was sought, Top of the Hill. Walking across franklin, with a Walk sign on, the girls in front of me are almost plowed over by a maniac driver.
The moment was almost surreal, and after it was obvious they weren't hit, it was pretty damn funny that the bitches kept walking even though the car had no intention of slowing down. After getting to the stairwell, we see that Top O also has a line, but while waiting in it, I see another friend from freshman year, Dan Tracy, this friend held in much higher esteem that the alternate Alex. Then came getting the beer and making the rounds, seeing about 100 people that I knew, a good night on any scale of top o-ness. After speaking to a former community service kid from the union, and dustin the Key West bandit, a move was made for cosmic and then home. All was well, and seemed that the night would end so, until I made the fateful and amazingly ignorant decision to jump up on the rock wall to take a "shortcut". All that was achieved for my brash decision was a quick and violent visit to the ground, landing directly ass to rock, in a breathtakingly painful manner. The cold and alcohol dulled the pain that night, but when I awoke sunday morning, I felt like Forrest Gump after being shot in the Buttocks. Interestingly, the bruse pattern follows the outline of my wallet, which might have protected my ass from even more serious damage. But you take the good with the bad, and sleep on your stomach for a few days.

Goodbye Smokey

This post is dedicated to the memory of Smokey, our dog that got ran over yesterday when he ran under the wheels of the cattle trailer. Personally I feel shitty about it, because not only was he a cool dog, he was still a puppy. He was lazy and somewhat chubby, but had a very cool disposition that you don't see often in dogs. Guess that’s how shit goes.
On a critical note, what the hell happened in Raleigh? This snow episode is perhaps the most ridiculous thing I have heard about, ever. 1 inch of snow, that was it. True, it was cold as fuckdamn, but 1000 accidents? Easley declaring a state of emergency? Come on. All it takes is some salt and smart driving. To be fair, I bet there are days in the middle of summer when the traffic is just as bad, because 40 around 5:00 PM might be the purest form of hell I have ever known. What might be even worse than the actual situation is the reaction of the journalists and newspeople on TV. This has reached epic natural disaster proportions, and it was only 1 INCH! Seems like they would have some sort of plan for dealing with snow in the Triangle, since it has become obvious we are not immune to winter weather even if we did have 70-degree days in January.
Personally, I am a snow fan, and I would love to see it grind to a stop around here more often, but since UNC does not believe in canceling classes, that is going to be a cold day in hell.

Interesting Day

This morning, as happens every Thursday, I awake to make the journey to the union for the good time that is Operations. I take the A bus to do this. In the past, I have been gun-shy about buses, because I had a bad experience, called the NU. We all know how bad the NU is, running 30 min late, 15 min early, drivers taking smoke breaks the stop BEFORE the PR lot, but I had faith in the A. As Chris and I approach the friendly Hillsborough street stop, the horde of other riders began to create a slight level of concern on my part. At least 15 waited in front of me. Still, I had faith in the A. So here it comes, right on time, 9:05. All is looking good until the bus actually stops and the door opens, when it becomes obvious that everyone else all along the A route had decided to ride it as well on this fine coldass morning. The frantic shuffle began, and as I approached, I felt that there could be no way the A would let me down today, I was already on the yellow steps, almost to the isle, and bus riding freedom. Then, it happened. The line stopped, the people halted the crush towards the back, and the old gray man driving the bus turned directly to me and said, "Looks like you're not getting on." That motherfucker. This left us 15 minutes to do the epic trek up the hill, in full cold weather gear. That sucked. Work was not that bad, because Stuart had miraculously returned to help put out the pit tables, and as always, Liz was there to supervise and generally do no work. As for the classes, we watched a movie on the Rwandan genocide of 1994, which was a real sobering moment. It provided the day's best dose of political irony; President Clinton giving a speech at the opening of the holocaust museum about never forgetting the lessons it taught, while 800,000 died in 100 days in Rwanda.
On a lighter note, today I saw this really short girl, perhaps a midget even, and she was amazingly hot. First time that has ever happened that I can remember. It is time to drink a Milwaukee’s best and reflect on what this day has taught us.

here it goes

so i'm starting this blog mess, hopefully it will go better than the failed "butts update" that chris produced. Either way, i refuse to allow the blog to become another compulsive addiction that is quickly dropped, such as facebook.com has become for me. either its gonna be all in or i will just not do it anymore.