The New Musings of a Quiet Geek

Friday was my church's annual Chicken Barbecue. It was sparsely attended due to the weather and the fact we don't advertise it really in order to not get the attention of the town's health department which would make it more trouble than it's worth. Traditionally it's the least favorite fundraiser of my family as it used to have Flintstone -size pieces of chicken that only a trucker could love but this year they finally went with normal-sized pieces after what seemed like three years of complaints about it. The chicken was good although mine was a bit too dry. (My father felt he's rather sacrifice moistness to not have pinkness. I feel I'd rather risk throwing up for a couple hours to avoid choking to death on a dry piece of chicken but maybe that's just me.) The corn was pretty good for a mass operation but was a bit overcooked as well. The cole slaw and roll, however, was spectacular not to mention the desserts. Last night, my father and I joined...

Find your Celestial Choir

I went to bed last night after getting a rather huge surprise: I was told a friend is pregnant again. The announcement isn't really that mindblowing given all the facts such as her age etc, but my reaction to it was admittedly overblown. I think if a woman told me she was pregnant with my child I may seriously have a cerebral hemorrhage and die... This morning I wake up to this not-so-surprising surprise . Anyway, I went to see My Super Ex-Girlfriend with my father. It was a simple mindless romp that is a great diversion in a place with A/C. It seems like a chick flick but it's such a guy film in reality. No woman I want to know would get more than a chuckle out of this bit of dialogue: Jenny: I'll buy you a new one. Matt: A new bed or a new penis? The ending was terribly clique and the comic book geek in me must ask why the meteor changes hair color and boob size and why the same meteor both giveth and taketh away powers and hair color... One more thought on the movi...

Why do I keep watching movies with her in it? I have no idea. Sure, I think she's a great actress and pretty to boot ("I think I want to fuck you." she says at one point...) but I can't say I find her any more attractive or talented than many other actresses. Anyway, this film was Derailed also with Clive Owen, Melissa George who plays his wife here but I will always think of her as the evil Lauren from season 3 of Alias and Xzibit of Pimp My Ride . (Why do they always put a plasma-screen TV in the trunk?) This movie had three big twists. In no particular order of occurrence: One was bloody obvious, another should have been obvious for someone like myself who can kick major ass on the new pop culture competition on VH-1 but was still a surprise nonetheless and a third surprise that was genuinely shocking. Given the sometimes excessive violence and inclusion of a severely diabetic daughter, Mother wouldn't have liked this movie but I recommend it to all those ...

This is all I seem to be writing about lately but nothing of import is really going on with me as usual. I can say I was finally paid for the May photocopying with the assurance this will never happen again. We'll see how long that promise lasts when I possibly start a new job on Tuesday. My mother left for Tennessee on Friday morning so my father and I rented a couple movies she probably wouldn't like. The first was the Woody Allen picture Match Point . It's been awhile, if ever, where I saw a non-funny Allen movie or one he wasn't in. If you like intrigue and really surprise endings, I highly recommend this movie. I do not recommend it, however, if you don't like morally irrehensible people as my mother does not. We didn't expect this going in but we're glad after the fact she didn't see it. This afternoon, as my father was busy with Korean Partnership stuff, I watched the movie we rented just for my viewing pleasure: Underworld: Evolution . I liked...

I was really in the mood for a quiz so I'm glad I found this and I'm glad I'm not a woman! You scored as Will Turner . You are a bit mysterious and secretive but when your loved ones need you, you are there without hesitation. You try really hard to be good and to deny your blood but the call to be ruthless sometimes takes over. Will Turner 83% Black Beard 58% Captain Jack Sparrow 50% Sinbad 50% Captain James T. Hook 50% Captain Barbosa 42% Mary Read 42% Long John Silvers 42% Morgan Adams 25% Dread Pirate Roberts 17% What kind of Pirate are you? created with QuizFarm.com

It began when my father, without really consulting my mother and I, decided to rent the new Pink Panther movie. Remember how I said I really didn't know how I felt about serious Steve Martin? Well, I now can say I can take or leave stupid/lame Martin. There were a few parts in this movie where I laughed very hard and there was one scene in particular that was put-the-piece-of-watermelon down funny but over all, I think the funniest part was watching my father's reaction while he read the lyrics of Beyonce's "Check Up On It" off the close captions... Afterwards I had IM chats with three women. The first was with the woman I last tried to have a serious relationship with, the second was with the woman I had an internet relationship with in college who apparently, as I found out later, was lying about her age and hadn't talked with for about two years and the last one was with the woman I had lunch with over vacation. To get the full effect of how weird it was, ...

The Stargate television series are back with new episodes. Stargate SG-1 impressed me at times and depressed me at others. The overall story of Adria is interesting but there were two occurrences in this episode that were not original at all. Yes, I did say that there was nothing original anymore any way but these two things could have been avoided. I refer to Daniel being presumed dead then (Surprise, surprise.) being found alive on the enemy vessel. How many times has this happened over the ten years? Many many times and it's always Daniel or Jack... Also, I believe this was the third, or even fourth, time Teal'c was tortured. C'mon people! Atlantis , on the other hand, rocked! My one complaint is that they consistently find cool Ancient ships and then trash them before they can become a significant part of the show. Why? Yesterday, after church where I was once again placed in charge of our summer church school program, my parents and I went down to the shore and...

The other night, my parents and I watched the third movie we rented: Proof . It was pretty deep and emotional but very good. Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins are such good actors. I think you'd enjoy the movie best watching it with a mathematician as some of the math humor you won't entirely get yourself so it's better when you can see someone who actually does. What is it with Jake Gyllenhaal and getting older women? Paltrow's character is only a year older but I'm pretty sure she's older than that in real life. In other news, doing PT, I feel really good about myself. Why am I so unmotivated to exercise if I'm not forced to? As my father points out frequently, I am very good at finding ways to complete a task using the least amount of energy possible like a sloth. (Aren't fathers great for pointing these things out?) Yes, I really can't afford the gym and still have no desire to go to the gym (I'm not a morning person at all) but I'...

On Monday, I had two appointments. In the morning, I went to the orthotist to see about getting my shoe orthotics replaced. One acts as a leg lift and the other will act as a brace of sorts stopping my right ankle from turning inward. This problem is probably only partially responsible for my frequent knee dislocations but if it even reduces the frequency, it's definitely worth it. In the afternoon, I went to physical therapy and got several exercises, all some kind of leg lift, to strengthen my knee and other muscles such as my calfs. I do them twice daily. As you might imagine, the morning session yesterday was easier. In addition to exercises at home, I have to go in to see him twice a week. Yesterday, I saw two movies we rented from Blockbuster. In the afternoon, I watched Aeon Flux which is quite far from The Devil Wears Prada as you'd imagine but I enjoyed that quite well. My problem watching science fiction movies is that I harp on originality a little too much. ...

On Friday, my parents and I went to see The Devil Wears Prada . I realized this film was the most chickest chick flick I have ever seen and still really enjoyed it. The biggest problem was really when my mother, who had read the book, went on and on afterwards about how different the book was and how the movie didn't have certain characters and subplots all of which would, in my opinion made the movie like 4 hours. Also the gay characters were apparently super stereotypically gay in the book which I hypothesized was changed to curb protest. Speaking of whom, Nigel was one of my favorite characters. I also loved Emily. I don't know if I've lived here in Snootyville too long but I realize I'm getting to be very much like them...Meryl Streep reminded me a lot of her character in The Manchurian Candidate although this time she just killed people's careers not actual people... The other day, maybe also Friday, I finished reading Book 5 in The Chronicles of Narnia se...

Over vacation I read Orion's Hounds by Christopher L. Bennett which is the latest installment of the Titan series. I liked this book much better than the first two books in the series. The plot, with reappearances by the "Starjellies" and Crystalline Entities, was better and the character interaction and dialogue was more interesting than the first two books of the series. One of the problems with the first two books was that the authors seemed to fill the books by creating new alien species each more fantastic than the last then when they ran out of ideas they said this character is human but gay! This book didn't bother with that instead fleshing out many of the characters already introduced. I also liked how Alyssa Ogawa didn't appear at all so I didn't have to be reminded of the misuse of her character in this series! This book almost made me like Tuvok. That's a fantastic feat! I saw the orthopedist today and am out of the immobilizer. I need t...

Thursday June 22nd-I'm carrying my laundry down the stairs and my knee, the left one, decides it had been in place for two and a half years and that was enough. Thankfully, my father had returned from Maine so he was here to call the paramedics. I think this was the farthest my knee went over since the very first time in 7th grade. Anyway, it's still immobilized and I see the doctor tomorrow. Friday June 23rd-My father and I stay for the night at my aunt's in New Hampshire before going to Maine to the woods. I'm the cool cousin now apparently but more on that later. We watched The New World with Colin Farrell who did a very good job I think. My aunt was busy putting my cousin to bed and my uncle slept through the whole thing but my father and I enjoyed it for the most part. My only complaint was that they dragged it out in a few places for artistic reasons, I think. Sunday June 25th-I come out of the woods briefly to meet my date at the food court at the Maine Mall. ...