Okay, time to kick off this rant with a hotlink. My fiancee showed me this article today and I just about died laughing when I saw it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10897027/from/RS.4

Now, once you’ve finished laughing your head off you’ll probably do the same thing I did. Stop and think to yourself. How pathetic is it that a celebrity will sell a kidney-stone for charity? As happy as I am that Shatner gave the money to charity and didn’t put it in his own personal account, it still seems a little . . . stupid.

More so, how ridiculous is it that a site will purchase stupid things like that for so much money, and even moreso, how ridiculous is it that MSNBC finds it necessary to tell us when the nasty thing was passed! Who cares? So Shatner suffers from kidney stones . . . that’s about as normal as he gets.

Is it not possible that maybe we’ve lost sight of true heroes and so we choose to elevate the shallow pedantic attempts of a celebrity to break into the realm of eccentricity? I will admit that Shatner’s quote is actually more humble than I portray it here. Perhaps we should start taking a serious look at GoldenPalace.com.

Ah, college.  A myriad of experiences that can be frightening and frustrating for the incoming freshman.  Unless of course, you go to Texas Tech university, in which case the frustrations continue well into senior year.  I’m talking of course about the parking situation on campus.  No, I’m not about to gripe about the lack of student parking lots – enough people have done that in the past.  What I’ve noticed is a distinct lack of VISITOR lots.  In a park and pay lot, certain TTU permits are allowed to park at any time.  However for some stupid reason, parking control likes to shut a lot of them down for no good reason.  The parking lot next to the foreign language building is a prime example.  It’s a designated park and pay lot but it’s also what’s called an R-11 lot.  Anyone with an R-11 sticker has an assigned spot.  Now, the lot next to the theatre is an R-3 (same story).  They are both designated park and pay, but the theatre lot is the only one of the two that will not garner you a ticket if you park there.

WHY?!?

They both are assigned lots, they both have park and pay booths, and the foreign language building is NEVER full, whereas the theatre lot is NEVER available.  What is the point of allowing visitors to park, (and believe me they make it seem like you can park anywhere, I had to ASK parking control if it was allowed) and then turning around and ticketing them for following the apparent instructions?

Idiots . . . every last one of them.

To be quite honest, I can’t wait to graduate.  Not because I’m tired of TTU, I love it, but rather because if I’m a graduate research assistant and/or teaching assistant, I MIGHT be able to get ahold of a parking sticker instead of hiking a mile and a half to class.

At last.  The end of the semester approaches, and I couldn’t be happier about a semester ending unless I was actually graduating.  Ugh . . . this semester has been one of the roughest of my career.  I’m so very glad that Christmas break is coming.

In other news, I finally quit my job.  Yeah, the horrendous consumer-driven retail monstrosity that was driving me slowly into insanity . . . is gone.  I’m actually moving into a better job in the call center at a local bank.  This is going to open up so many doors for me.  I’ll finally have all my evenings off in order to spend time with my beautiful fiancee, and I’ll have more time to work on my comic strip.

I’ve been praying about that a lot lately.  I really feel this is where I would be happy – working on comics and such.   And I’m hoping that this will eventually turn into something big.  My writer and I have been talking, and we’re hoping to have two or three books written and published within 7 years or so.  Now I just need the patience to wait for this stuff to work out.

Oh well . . . anyway, check out the link to my art blog on the sidebar if you want a taste of what I’m doing.

Because most of what I’m going to talk about is already in my other blog, I’ll be sure to keep my thoughts in this post as original as possible.

There’s always quite a bit going on in my life around this time of year, and this year is no different.  Well, I take it back – it’s very different.  This is the first holiday season since I moved out of my parents’ place and I’ve gotta say . . . it can be a bit depressing.  Yeah, I know, a lot of people will look at me funny for saying that.  I don’t know how many times I’ve heard “but . . . you’re free to do what you want!”.

Yeah, I am.  And I want to be with family.  Be it my folks, or my fiancee, I’m a little tired of school and living with a roommate.  Don’t get me wrong, I like my roomie, but I can’t go into what frustrates me about him for fear of being sued for libel.  (If you’re reading this, Travis . . . well, I’ll probably be halfway to Tijuana . . . .)

So . . . yeah.  I’m a little blue.  I’m sure this will all change soon enough.  These past weeks have just been frustrating.  My computer fried.  My windows partition on this computer bit the dust.  I had to shell out more money than I wanted to in order to replace my PC, and the post office has really been giving my writer and me a lot of crap over the shipping of a single package that should have been here a week or two ago.  Oh well.  I’m sure I’ll feel better once my PC gets here (it’s SUPPOSED to be delivered today).

I dunno, there’s a part of me that wants to sit by a fire (campfire, fireplace, burning building, old tire, I don’t care) and roast marshmallows with a homeless guy.  For one, I’ll bet no one has given him more than 30 seconds of attention in the last year (and you can meet some really incredible people who are just down on their luck), and for another thing, it’ll allow me to get away from the fast food, microwave generation who are so wrapped up in instant gratification that they won’t do anything without being paid in advance.

I’m not old, but I’m starting to sound that way.

I could go on, but like Solomon said, “many words makes for little understanding.”

Hey guys, sorry I haven’t been updating the blog in forever.  It’s been super busy.  I’m finally settled into the new job at the bank, and I’m thoroughly enjoying it.  I would take the time to write a review of a film for you right now, but I’m still kinda swamped with classes and such.  So . . . lemme just say this:

The Illusionist.  Go.  Buy it.

Well, I’m sitting here at work (hurray! our internet service doesn’t block this site!) and I’m feeling really blue.  I figured the best thing to do would be to talk about it.

I wish I could actually pinpoint this feeling.  I know the latest thing that has contributed to it, but I also know that it isn’t the only thing.  I received upsetting news last night.  It seems that one of my two best friends has joined the United States Air Force. 

 Now . . . I’m from a military family and am in full support of his decision to join up.  The thing that bothers me is the timing.  I’m getting married May 12th.  He’s standing in my wedding.  In fact, he was second in line to be my best man.  Now he’s shipping out to basic training on May 1st and he won’t be able to be there. 

This is only the latest thing though.  I’m just getting so burned out on everything.  Class is a burden rather than an interesting experience.  I don’t really get much chance to hang out with friends because of planning for the wedding and work and homework.  When I DO hang out with friends, I’m bored within a few hours and just want to go home.  My busy time is cutting into one of the two things that I love: the comic.  (The other is spending time with my fiancee, but she lives out of town, so my busyness doesn’t cut into time with her nearly as much.) 

I’m ready to be finished with class for a while.  I’m not sure what I’m going to do.  I’m frustrated, and pulled in eight million directions, and tired, and occasionally unhappy, and I just need a hug. 

I know there’s always someone watching over me, and I am constantly growing in Him.  But man . . . life is rough.

 Sorry for being so melancholy.  I think I’m going to work on a couple of paintings when I get home.  Hopefully that will help me feel better.

Well, it’s been a week since my days started going downhill.  Fortunately, all things come to pass (be they good or otherwise).  I’m finally starting to feel a little less melancholy.  I still have a lot to work out, but I’ve been finding myself enjoying the simple act of doing stuff.  I sat down to sketch for the heck of it and had fun.  Instead of it being a chore or a job, it was fun.  Now I’m enjoying a chess-by-correspondence match with a friend in Dallas (who I miss and really wish he was still in town so we could play HALO together.  And by play, I mean I’d beat the ever-loving tar out of him).  It’s an interesting concept.

I also happened to challenge my dad to a game.  Haven’t played with him in years.  We’ll see if he’s got time though, he’s a busy man.  Oh, and Dad, if you’re reading this – check your email for the invite. 

If anyone is interested in something like that, the website is http://www.redhotpawn.com

Hey guys, sorry I haven’t written a post in a little while.  It’s been a really really crazy couple of weeks.  Just an update.

A few days ago it was decided that I will NOT be attending ConnectiCon this year.  As much as I’d love to, I can’t afford it this year.  Oh well, there will always be other cons.

I’m hanging in there as far as classes go.  So far, so good – although Numerical Analysis is trying to get to me.  It’s doing a pretty good job.  Don’t worry though, I’m doing better.

Hope everyone is having a great day!

Okay . . . so I stopped off at the men’s room in the Agricultural Sciences building today before class to take care of some business, and I discovered something . . . well . . . creepy.  Whoever designed this restroom has no brain.  First off – there are no privacy barriers between the toilets.  Men can attest to the fact that it’s a little unnerving when this happens but no big deal.  Now . . . there is a massive window in there to let in natural light.  This window is positioned such that any man in there would be . . . easily visible.  Now, clearly the designer intended this window to be translucent, letting light through, but it would be impossible to view anything through it.

Some genius put transparent panes in it.  Which means that the men’s room is basically a peep show waiting to happen – the window is eye level with the outside world, about 6 feet tall and 4.5 feet wide.  Now, if someone were to make this mistake in a women’s room or a girls’ locker room, there would be a national inquiry.  Yet, this window has been like this for I don’t know how long (the glass is pretty old).

Nothing I like better than trying to perform a private act in full view of the public.

Have these people lost their minds?

So I’m sitting in the Student Union between classes and a group of freshmen sits down at a table some 10 feet away from me.  Now . . . I’m already feeling old because most of the occupants of the Student Union Building are younger than me, but suddenly they got into a fairly loud discussion of politics and such.

Now I feel like the old man who listens to popular opinion and is appalled by what he hears.

Seriously though, in listening to their conversation, I heard reference to how much the government sucks, how Mein Kampf was a fascinating read, and even how LBJ may have been behind Kennedy’s death.

Okay . . . when did Oliver Stone get ahold of these kids?!?

I swear, these kids are too young to have formulated a valid personal opinion and are spewing what they’ve heard their parents say.  Now, I’m not saying that I’m allowed a personal opinion yet either, since I have only a few years experience on them, but for the love of Pete . . . LBJ ordered Kennedy’s death?  Come on!  Who are we allowing to shape our kids?

Apparently, Adolf Hitler.

The thing that really irked me about the whole thing is that these kids sat there and said “someone should do something about the corruption in our government.”  You’re right, someone should, and when something is done, the people who should be held accountable for having allowed it to progress are the people who sit around saying something should be done and don’t actually do anything.

I know it’s kind of cliche, but if you can’t walk the walk, don’t talk the talk.