spike

It’s been several months now that I’ve gone without fast food. I’m in the mood for something really bad for me from McDonald’s (or Mickey D’s as the kids call it these days).

In other news, my horoscope for the day is pretty uplifting:

When nighttime electrical lighting was new, it was the poor who burned common candles. When electricity became easily accessible and practically free, candles at dinner became a sign of luxury.

This New York Times article is an optimistic view about how new economy and technology are shaping the music industry, just like it has for the last 120 years.

Rejection Massively Reduces I.Q.

A new British study shows that rejection can dramatically reduce a person’s analytical reasoning and increase a person’s level of aggression.

The way I see it, when it comes to kids, two options to counteract this would be to eliminate as much as possible the chance of rejection or to find a way to teach kids to understand rejection and how to deal with it. Since rejection exists in adult life, it shouldn’t be taken out of children’s experience; they should be taught how to handle it without aggression.

The thing is, this study does not mention children at all. It does not go into detail about the ages of the subjects and only goes so far to say that they are “students.”

So, I saw Lewis Black at the Stress Factory in New Brunswick last night (see previous post). Josh was also there.

The opening acts weren’t too bad, actually. But Lewis was very funny; I haven’t laughed that much in a long time. It was a very, very nice feeling.

Earlier today I went apartment shopping. It seems like this is a ritual I go through every few months. Yet, I keep coming to the same conclusion, which is:

I CAN’T AFFORD TO LIVE HERE (by myself)

So apart of randomly choosing someone to live with off the internet (we have discovered this is not favorable), I really don’t have much of an option of staying in New Jersey. But I have to stay in New Jersey because I can’t afford to leave. Argh.

The job I get at the company where I’m temping will probably be some sort of administrative assistant type thing, which may not be enough to pay the bills with my outrageous car insurance… I just would like to have a job like Josh where I can use my brain and get paid well for my skills.

After three weeks, I get my own cubicle. It comes with a fancy-black IBM Pentium 4 1.6 GHz computer (with a seven-year-old Sony Trinitron 15″ monitor). So, there’s that.

And the word from the boss is he’s doing what he can to get me hired somewhere within the company. It’s all good.

On the books for tonight is seeing Bryan, M-D and Lewis. Hilarity is sure to ensue.

Last night was fun. Yes, I ended up going to the St. Patrick’s Day party and event (a benefit for the Fallen Heroes Fund) at the New York Stock Exchange. It wasn’t a bad way to spend my birthday, considering I don’t see friends anymore. Plus it allowed me to delude myself and pretend that all those CEOs and Very Important Persons were there to see me.

In any case, I spent most of the day preparing things for the performing musical groups. We had an Irish rock band (The Gus Hayes Band), an Irish folk band (Aoifa Clancy Band — I’m working on procuring a CD of theirs), Irish Tenor Ronan Tynan, an a capella group, and the daughter of one of the company’s vice presidents (a singer–the daughter, not the V.P.).

Well, that’s my story. All in all I’m pretty happy, and I’m looking forward to this, my twenty-seventh year on the planet.

Also, happy birthday to my little brother, who turned 21 today.

Also, in an unrelated note, I can now play DVDs and DivX movies on my linux laptop. I am very happy, very happy am I.

It was nice to get out and drive a bit–that is how I spent yesterday. I visited my storage area in south Jersey to find a book I had borrowed a while ago. Unfortunately the boxes I needed to get to were behind large pieces of furniture as well as other boxes, so instead of making a mess of the storage area and taking a hour or two, I decided to just go to the mall and buy a new copy. It was only a few bucks.

While I was at the mall, I called a friend and made plans for the evening. I also spoke to my mother which is always nice. Nothing much has changed out there in California.

Anyway, I decided it was time to give myself a little present for my birthday since I’ve been a good boy (and since I have a job and I am making some money). I picked up the soundtracks to O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Lord Of The Rings, and David Byrne’s Look Into The Eyeball. I wandered around the mall some more, and eventually decided to get myself a fancy-new haircut.

After my adventures at the mall, I went to Borders to waste some more time before my eventual dinner and movie.

I saw the movie I Am Sam. It was a bit slow at parts, and a little long, but overall it was a decent movie. Sean Penn did a good job, and Michelle Pfeiffer reminded me of someone I know, but I’m not sure who.

Well, I hope that was informative.

Well, work has been pretty interesting and busy lately–except for when it’s boring and slow, but that doesn’t happen too often. We’re preparing for a big St. Patrick’s Day party on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. 350 people will be there next Monday, mostly CEOs in the finance industry and their major clients. Fun stuff… don’t think I’ll be there, though. They haven’t decided who from the office will be attending, and we’re pushing our limint of guests. All the work I’ve been doing here in the past few weeks has paid off quite literally. I got my check which included all of last week’s overtime. Sweet. I’m on my way to reducing my debt and saving money for an apartment for myself.

In other news and somewhat related, my old work place is commissioning me to do some reworking of their website. While we’re talking about the place I used to work, it turns out they continued paying for my health insurance even after I left. That was nice of them, although they didn’t mention in to me until a few days ago, so I missed any chance I would have had to get a check-up.

Well, only a few days before my birthday. The St. Patrick’s Day party happens to fall on my birthday, and it kind of sucks that I might not be going. It would have at least given me something to do to celebrate the next anniversary of my birth.

It’s not fun to miss the train home by one minute and having to wait a half hour for the next one. Speaking of transportation, I need to find a place to drive to. I’d like to use my car.

Differences in Perceptions Fuel Mistrust. My favorite quote in that USA Today article is as follows, and I quote:

”They [Muslims] get a lot of propaganda that doesn’t allow them to see other cultures in a clear light,” says Frank Recco, 46, a teacher in Parma, Ohio.

I sure hope this guy knows more about foreign cultures than what he sees on American television. American TV is a propoganda machine.

I’m not trying to say I’m completely against American television. I like Cheers and The Cosby Show.

Oh no… I just realized I’m a product of the ’80s! Somebody help me…

I was inspired by Beth‘s post to use the internet to see what my high school friends have been up to. Here’s one who has been doing voice-overs for Pokemon.