I have been a little scarce around the web community of late. I recently got transferred to a project in middle-of-nowhere Ohio, and they're trying to lock me in for another year or so of the same stuff I've been doing. That really doesn't interest me, so I'm considering employment options elsewhere. My plan this week is to schedule tours of facilities that I might like to work in and see what an average day in the office would be like...or even if that career path is something I'm interested in. I can always fall back on my technical experience if need be, but this might be a good time to explore my options.
When I return next weekend, I will post pics of the Cards game I went to for my birthday, my roommate shaving a mutual friend's head, and hopefully the Smucker's HQ near where I work. Next weekend I plan to attend AB's "beer school", a portion of the brewery tour! I'm pretty excited about it, but for now...ciao!
In an hour, it will be my mom's birthday. To show my gratitude for her putting up with me for 25 years, I made a little video. It's nothing fancy. I have no video editing software, and I'm shooting video with an Olympus Stylus 710. At any rate, I hope she likes it better than a card.
(Movie courtesy of Kelroy at goathouselives.blogspot.com)
I have never really dated for any significant amount of time. I always say I'm going to, and then I agree to be exclusive and end up in a 5+ month relationship. With that said, I suck at chatting up girls and getting myself put on the "real ladder" as opposed to the "friends ladder". If you're unfamiliar with the ladder theory, read up. Let's look at a couple of this week's failures and learn from my mistakes.
Scenario 1: Neighbors from downstairs Overall Attractiveness: 7/10 Scene: I have just arrived home from picking up The Beatles Rock Band, and I see that my neighbor has taken her dog outside. (They just moved in too.) I am wearing clothes from the day before with a Cardinals hat covering my crazy morning hair that I haven't cut in over a month. Hawt! Dialog:
Girl - Hello.
Me - Hi, who do you have there with you? ... How are you settling in? ...
Girl - Beatles Rock Band, huh? I hear that game's pretty fun.
Me - Well, it just came out today. I'm about to take it for a spin. You and your roommate should come hang out later if you get bored.
*end of dialog* Thoughts:
- I have no idea how much small talk I need to make to be polite, especially in those random meetings.
- My invitation to hang out was pretty weak, and I could have worded it better. Telling her that we're in need of a singer or something might have worked better. Maybe offering beer would have helped too. Who knows.
Scenario 2: Tivoli Snack Stand Attendant Overall Attractiveness: 6/10 Scene: As you might have guessed from my previous post, I went to see nine with a few friends of mine. One of my female friends, we'll say M, was chatting with me as I stood in the concession line. Finally, it was my turn to order something. Dialog:
Girl - What can I do for you?
Me - I'd like a Schlafly Pale Ale.
Girl - That'll be $4.50. *gets drink*
Me - Talks to M.
*group goes to sit down*
Other friend - I just needed to mention that the concession attendant was alternating between checking you out and giving M the stink eye.
The attendant was not there when we got out of the movie. Thoughts:
- My glasses give me super tunnel vision. I have no idea what my posture is like when I wear them, but I generally don't look at people because I focus on my auditory sense. Maybe it's best to stick with my contacts.
- Should I have chugged down the beer and gone back to chat her up? What do you say to someone that's working that won't make you seem like an ass? I need to think on this one.
Scenario 3: Two Female Neighbors Overall Attractiveness: 7.5/10 & 6.5/10 = 7/10 Scene:
My roommate and I get home from hanging out with our mutual friend J. Two girls that I've never seen before are out back with their dog. I jump out of the car to introduce myself. My roommate is sulking by the staircase up to our place. It's about 11:30 at night. Dialog:
Me - Hi there. Do you guys live here? I'm Lancifer from 3W next door. Do you go to school around here?
Girls - Wash U and SLU.
Me - Cool. Well, I won't keep you out, but I just wanted to say hi.
Roommate - That was awkward.
Me - It didn't help with you standing over by the stairs. Thoughts:
- My roommate needs to be a better wingman when I actually have the courage to talk to women.
- I'm not sure if I should have approached them considering that it was night, and I might seem like a creeper. I don't know when I'll see them again though. *shrugs*
Overall considerations:
- At least I'm trying a little. I need more practice though.
- Wear the damn contacts.
- Look your best from the moment you walk out the door. You never know who you'll bump into.
- Pay attention to your surroundings, or you'll miss opportunities you didn't know you had.
- Still not sure how to have an effective small talk conversation. I need to work on that.
If you don't want to ruin the surprise, don't read this.
I had high hopes for the movie 9 once I heard that it was a Tim Burton movie. The animation was well done. I'd say beautiful, but we're talking about a post-apocalyptic landscape here. The soundtrack was pretty killer. Check out track 13 "The Aftermath" here.
On the other hand, the ending was cheesey, and I was disappointed with the good guys' character development. I'll concede that many of the characters experienced a trial of sorts, but their overall demeanor remained unchanged throughout.
The villains, on the other hand, were pretty wicked. The foremost villain reminded me of Dr. Wiley meets a matrix sentinel. This thing is a robot that creates other robots to do its bidding. Originally, it was intended to serve mankind, much like Wiley did when he worked with Dr. Light. Then the government turned on its master, and it went on a rampage.
(image borrowed from imdb)
There are a host of other villains that I thought were cool. The hound was pretty basic (see below). There was also a raven and snake that I can't seem to find pictures of. The raven and snake were by far my favorites, too.
I want to use an image for the background, and I was thinking something comic book-esque, so I made this from some pictures on my computer. I may try some other stuff later.
Several weeks ago, I pre-ordered The Beatles Rock Band. It arrived today, and I have already beaten the game. I didn't know much about The Beatles until my friend Asher showed me the movie Across the Universe, which has a truly amazing soundtrack. I digress.
The video above is a morph between the incomparable John Lennon and myself. I checked out several morphing applications, both freeware and shareware, and found that Morpheus Photo Morpher rendered the most desireable results. Enjoy!
"How can I tell," said the man, "that the past isn't a fiction designed to account for the discrepancy between my immediate physical sensations and my state of mind?"
-The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
