The New Musings of a Quiet Geek

1. Last Saturday night I was invited to a party by a student at the Seminary where I work. He's housemates of sorts with a couple I know from church but most everyone I knew there was from work as the others from church had the "dual identity" as did. As the house was in my neighborhood, I walked down. I gave myself about 25 minutes and ended up being the first to arrive. I also ended up being one of the last to leave as the 9pm stop time happened and the dancing to Van Morrison happened. The there was an impromptu jam session so the party really didn't end until almost 10:30. Great time. 2. As some of you may remember we had a bed bug problem awhile back. Our movie-loving cook friend decided it was time for us to get furniture again so we went out recliner shopping. (Hey, if she was willing to pay...) We ended up getting a recliner AND a Canadian rocker. Both are awesomely comfortable. 3. On Sunday, we watched The Gift with Cate Blanchett. Given this was directed b...

Wednesday was the Seminary's end of the year party. Despite no homemade feast this time, this was more fun to me than the last Christmas party. Once again, graduating students rang the bell for every semester they attended. This year, we had two 16s! But, Josh, you work on Wednesday night. Yes, I was working I just didn't get the money I'm used to. The dance group was canceled so we could use the space. The seminary gives more money to my church in terms of rent so there you go... The family crisis group still met so I had to give directions. To both groups actually. My mother and aunt came down to visit their mother as my aunt was on vacation this week. I went over for dinner on Monday and then they took me, my cousin and my other aunt out to lunch. (Well, actually, only me and my roommate hadn't actually eaten yet but whatever...) While they were down, their brother's cat was very sickly so they offered to pay to have him (the cat, not my uncle) put down. It wa...

Thursday, I drove up to Bangor to see the play "A Year With Frog and Toad," which my second cousin was in, with my uncle and grandmother. My aunt and parents met us there. A drive that would normally take like 2 and half hours took about 5 because, well, the weather was just so awesome... The musical was great, as I still love the stories, with, honestly, the best parts thanks to my cousin as Snail and "The Terribly Huge and Hugely Terrible Frog." The best part of the evening came when we were going to our cars. (I and my traveling companions were going to my parents for the weekend.) My uncle goes to his car and can't unlock the door. We all assume the lock is frozen. My father down the street opened his car just fine so he didn't know what was going on. My uncle kept kicking the door with the side of his foot to no avail. By now, I'm sure you smart readers have deduced that it wasn't his car! Good times... I was intending to drive back down on Fri...

Two "major events" have happened to me recently that I thought I'd share with you all and I'll throw in a couple reviews too because, well, why not? On Labor Day, I was invited to the seminary's picnic up at Camp Mechawana which is the state's Methodist camp. Though apparently built about 10 years before, it reminded me a lot of Pilgrim Lodge the summer camp I went for many years as a child. There was a good group in attendance but few of us from the Portland campus. The food was good especially this red-skinned potato salad. I'm not sure what was special about it. (Maybe the mayonnaise?) The second piece of news I wanted to share was that my first royalty check arrived in the mail and I've officially sold 10 copies of Winter Storm as of July 31st. I guess retailers have 90 days to give the publisher the money from sales so the actual number of sold copies is probably much greater... I recently finished The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper. This is ac...

I can't believe I didn't discuss this in detail but about a week ago now, the seminary had their end of the year party. This included a reception and then dinner. The graduating seniors were recognized symbolically by each ringing a bell for the number of semesters they attended. Some had to ring it as much as 12 times! Friday, I went up to Ellsworth with my grandmother and uncle. The trip was long but I did enjoy being able to discuss and listen to music with my uncle. That night, the five of us, including my parents, went to see two of my second cousins in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown! at the Grand. I discovered later that this was not the original production that starred Gary "Radar" Burghoff but the 1999 revival with Kristin Chenoweth as Sally Brown. (She won a Tony for it...). The difference is that the original version had a character named "Patty" which is not to be confused with Peppermint Patty. This character was replaced with Charlie'...

During my dance class reading on Wednesday, I finished another Star Trek book. The Buried Age by Christopher L. Bennett, whose Orion's Hounds was the first Titan book I truly enjoyed, was another Lost Era novel; this one filling in the gap of Picard's life in between the so-called "Battle of Maxia" where the Stargazer was lost and his taking command of the Enterprise-D prior to "Encounter at Farpoint." As with most of the "Lost Era" books, my interest in the actual plot of the book, in this case finding a member of a extremely ancient race and falling in love with her, paled in comparison to the geeky references found within. For instance, you know exactly why Picard gets so irritated with Phillipa Louvois in "Measure of a Man." Another small reference I enjoyed was that the Galaxy -class was supposed to launch on 2361, the bicentennial of the Federation but of course was delayed until 2363-4. Was that Bennett's doing or the Oku...

This past Saturday, I went to a Christmas party held at the home of one of the seminary students. It was a small gathering but fun. We drank homemade hot apple cider and each decorated a gingerbread man for the tree. Mine came out pretty well. After a lunch of pie, (Did I ever tell you the story of going to my mother's cousins? Where I was told their would be dinner and we just ate the pie we brought ourselves?) we put together a gingerbread creche. My sheep sucked. Damn fine motor control problems! As of this past Sunday, I am officially a member of my church. I received a certificate, a rose and a piece of cake for the honor. I also had more than one comment about how they already thought I was a member. It was somewhat funny. I've watched more Christmas movies recently. I watched Home Alone 4 . I don't think I even bothered watching the third film but this one was not bad. Loved Clare Carey now playing Kevin's mom and the kid now playing Kevin wasn't bad althou...

I used to live in CT and come up here to Maine to watch movies but now my situation is reversed. It's kind of weird. I went down to CT for the holiday weekend. I was a good time and I was able to see my kitty so great. Thursday, my father and I rented two movies. That night the three of us watched Night at the Museum . It was a pretty funny movie. I will say, though, that the ending was too stereotypical kid friendly. It was too forced. I will also say that Mickey Rooney made the movie for me, Lunch Box! Friday morning I watched the other movie we rented. Looking at the cover, it said Mission Impossible III was the best Mission ever. Going in to it, I was thinking "We shall see" but I think now maybe that statement was correct. Here's why, Snack Shack: this edition is the most ensemble of all the movies. Both TV series were ensemble. It was never "The Peter Graves" show. (Heck, Steven Hill was the original star...) The movies, especially the second one, was...

Your Homicidal Rampage! by crash_and_burn Your name: Weapon of Choice: Flamethrower Your Favorite Target: Nuns Your Kill Count: 1,384,752,251 Your Battle Cry: "Touch me, I'm happy!" Years You Spend in Jail: 31 How Much Money In Damages You Cause: $186,144,475,298,461 Your Homocidal Insanity Level:: 7% Created with the ORIGINAL MemeGen ! Did three things today. When to a Greek Festival in Hartford then took a nap before going to a pool party. At the Festival, I ate tirokopeida which translates as "cheese pie." It was sooo good. It was, perhaps not surprisingly, like Bosnian cheese pita but infinitely better. I also learned that MGD goes well with rice pudding... Yes, I did indeed say I went to a pool party. (Heated, of course.) It was the end of the year party for the youth group (6th-8th graders) of my mother's church. It wasn't that bad. A major topic of conversation was the new Harry Potter film...