The New Musings of a Quiet Geek

My regular readers, if you're still around, may remember that at least twice in the past I've gone into my "I'm going to die poor and alone" mental state. It happened again about a month ago now. In the past, as you may remember, this feeling coincided with getting dumped or rejected from a job. Sure the latter has happened but, truthfully neither event coincided with the feeling this time and that really bothered me. (Still sort of does...) This may lead to real psychoanalysis later down the road but, for now, I've started vocational-related, but not vocational-specific, rehabilitation. So far, it's revealed a handful of things I never realized about my choices, which does not suggest they were bad choices but that they were simply done without me being aware I made them; like going to college. (Sure, grad school was conscious decision but college? Who knew?) I also, apparently, do not like the fact I'm only above average in math...Also my couns...

So far, my Thanksgiving weekend has been quite different. My roommate and I had my parents, grandmother and uncle over for the actual meal. My aunt/his mother had to work but she provided the chocolate cream pie and got a plate later. As is usual when my family gets together, we laughed a lot. My father told this story he heard on the radio where astronauts have this machine that turns their urine into drinkable water but it's still being perfected so it's still 10% urine. They compensate by using Tang! Supposedly, it tastes good... Yesterday included going to Applebee's for lunch with more family followed by going to my grandparents for more pie and conversation. That was nice actually and devoid of annoying weirdness so yay! Last night, we went down to see the annual "Lighting of the Holiday Tree Ceremony." They call it thus to be PC but aside from "The Dreidel Song" and the universally accepted "I Love Mud." It was all Christmas. Be acc...

Literary Drama: Last night, I finished the Star Trek novel Uhura's Song by Janet Kagan. It was a very good book if drawn out a bit longer than it needed to be. There was one subplot of the mysterious new doctor that really was unnecessary in my opinion. I think it was included to give Spock more to do but I think he had enough to do as it was. The plot involved finding a cure for disease affecting a planet of felinoids. I'm a cat person as my readers should know so this book was right up my alley. As you might imagine, I was pleased that all of the crew played a part in the story with the exception of Sulu. The Spock subplot wouldn't have made sense with Sulu but it still doesn't seem fair... Family Drama: Yesterday afternoon I took bus out to my aunt's for a cookout. When I get there, I discover the reason my uncle, who doesn't live with my aunt, wasn't there was that he had a stroke! That obviously dominated the conversation and colored the mood. The ...

Our movie loving cook friend came up this past weekend. No, we didn't watch any movies this time. Instead we watched the complete first two seasons of Sex in the City . My roommate had never seen any and she had never seen the original unedited versions. I had seen about three unedited episodes prior to this. It was an experience for us all. After she left I had to check to see if I was still male... Though it's just a stupid show and, in many ways, not related to my life ever, it did make me think about a few things. In one episode, Charlotte, who I think was the character I liked the most for many reasons, asked a man out. Though they all considered themselves "modern women," they seemed to feel doing so is "being the man" in the relationship. Is this typical for the average "real" woman? And, if so, why? In another episode, Miranda and a bartender broke up because she tried to buy him a suit and he felt emasculated. The class issue was also awkw...

I don't think either women read this any more but, if you do, I apologize for this in advance. Awhile back I discovered that a woman I attempted a relationship with was getting married. I was a little bummed for awhile that not only was I not The One, I was seemingly The One Just Before The One. Recently, I discovered, basically the same way, that this "phenomenon" for lack of a better word has happened again. Do I give women greater insight into what they want? I can be cosmically pessimistic and interpret this as a reward for attempting a relationship with me but even I'm not that bad. (Well, not any more anyway...) I suppose in reality it's just some rather cruel coincidence. Please don't get me wrong. I'm very happy for both of them/you but I needed to get that off my chest. Some clarification wouldn't go amiss either... In less, well, just lesser, news, I've decided to join Technorati. Will it give me more readers? Probably not but really why...

Music: "Driver's Seat"- Sniff'n The Tears First, let me describe my final day at work before the holiday. I went, did a little ILL and then, when really nothing was going on, I went home. While I'm writing an important, or at least possibly important e-mail, that I don't want to discuss right now but may later, I get a call from my pastor who is also an adjunct faculty member. She needed help finding some material and wondered if I could come back. So I do; after finishing the email, of course. When I got there, she gave me the list of books she wanted to find and made me tea and a plate of animal crackers. I actually found most of the books in our collection and was able to request the others through ILL. This was the first time I had done that for a patron, although I had done it for myself, so it was kind of cool on a certain level but all this trudging back and forth has made me a little tired. Thankfully, I can rest tomorrow... I close on a personal note....

Since there seems to be no rhyme or reason to which of my posts get comments and which don't, I'm going post whatever I feel like. Sure, I love comments but I must face facts that I'm not going to get them. No, I'm not going to review every episode of every TV show I'm going to watch this new season again simply because it doesn't appeal to me any more. To be sure, I will write about some of the new series since that does still interest me but not every episode... I am going to go back to complaining about my love life occassionally though because, if I can't discuss it here, where can I? Remember that workstudy student I mentioned being interested in? Yeah, well she's married apparently and I think even has at least one child so even if she didn't commute from such a long distance, nothing is going to happen with that. (Boo!) This is the first time I've discovered information of this nature before I made a complete ass of my self so this is go...

Wednesday night, I went to the Opening Convocation worship service at the Seminary where I work and the dinner afterwards. I had a good time and was able to help a work study student I've become interested in put away the hymnals...The dinner, put on by the ladies group of my church, was awesome: ham, rice and beans, and salad followed by apple crisp. Yesterday after work, I met with my pastor about joining the church. I won't bore you with everything that was said but I may help fill in for the secretary when she goes on vacation next month on a most-likely volunteer basis, of course... Today, my boss took me out to lunch to the Mexican place I frequent. I go there so much that the waitress, whom I also am interested in despite the fact I know she's a smoker, listed what she thought I'd order and then explained to my boss when she gave a quizzical look, that I was "her buddy" whatever that means. I'm sure it doesn't mean what I want it to mean, howeve...

Ok ladies, read this Now back to your regularly scheduled silence...

From Tuesday until yesterday we were in Maine. We started off in the Portland area visiting with relatives both who still live there and others up from NJ. We gathered for lunch twice. First at Two Lights State Park then at the mall. We then went up to Bangor where I was scheduled to have a breakfast "date." She never showed up. She had left an e-mail for me saying there was a complication at work but I didn't read this until I returned back to the motel. We were headed back to Portland the next day so we weren't able to reschedule. Oh well... As per usual, we saw three movies. The first was Arlington Road with Jeff Bridges and Tim Robbins. On the whole, this was very good with great acting and gripping suspense but, alas, the ending majorly sucked. The second film was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory . This film was typical Tim Burton bizarreness but, as is also typical, it somehow works. I think I like Johnny Depp's interpretation of Willy Wonka more than Gene...

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, ...

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. ...

The other movie I got out of the library, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou , was watched yesterday. It doesn't not need to be said but I'm going to say it anyway: definitely not the best film I've seen with Bill Murray or Willem Dafoe and probably not the best film I've seen Cate Blanchett, Owen Wilson, Jeff Goldblum or Anjelica Huston in either. (Yes, even The Addams Family could be better than this.) Murray should stick with real comedies. He really should have been in Charlie's Angels II . The David Bowie songs translated into Portuguese started to get monotonous fairly quickly. It was cool the first time but... I guess I may have liked this film better if I watched it at another time but it really isn't a movie one should watch after, or before for that matter, watching a really good film because it will pale in comparison. Tomorrow I leave for Maine to spend a week in the woods with my parents. I hope for minigolf and cheap CDs...Oh, and I have a lun...

Have you ever been in a situation where you have a friend, or, more accurately, a former friend who has cut themselves out of your life for reasons unknown, who was not doing well yet all you can think of to say is a statement that could very easily be interpreted as selfish and unhelpful. Added to this, the situation is none of my business anyway. It's aggravating. The best I can do is write what I just did here in case she comes across it. Speaking of former friends, I discovered last night a person I tried to start a relationship with is moving in with the guy she met about the time we ended things this past summer. My mood has nothing to do with who has moved on and who hasn't. Hell, I myself even had a whole other "attempt" since. No, I guess it's the speed all this has happened that bothers me. Not only am I not "the one," but I could be seen as "the one just before the one." This really shouldn't bother me and I did ask her how ...

So I woke up rather early again this morning. For some reason, I've only been sleeping about 6 hours a night. I'm unsure if it's because my sleep cycle is still screwed up or my allergies haven't adjusted to spring pollen yet or maybe both. Oh well... I went downstairs and saw mail that apparently I wasn't given yesterday at my place at the dining room table. It was a rejection letter from that university in Scotland. Honestly, this isn't surprising after getting more info on exactly what the job entailed. I don't think I'd want to work for them if they thought I was qualified! OMG! So now that I'm less interested in pursuing anything, the woman seems more interested. For now, I choose to interpret this as her wanting to remain friends with me which we all know I could use as well...I think I've said this at least once before but this would be the first time something like that has ever happened, really. I mean many have said it but they h...

You Are Likely a Third Born At your darkest moments, you feel vulnerable. At work and school, you do best when you're comparing things. When you love someone, you tend to like to please them. In friendship, you are loyal to one person. Your ideal careers are: sales, police officer, newspaper reporter, inventor, poet, and animal trainer. You will leave your mark on the world with inventions, poetry, and inspiration. The Birth Order Predictor The odd thing about this is, much of what is said here is actually true. Does that say more about this quiz or me? I'm concerned about the silence from my POI. Well, silence is not really the word. She comes on AIM when I'm Away says hi and then immediately logs off. She doesn't seem to be on at our usual conversation time anymore yet never suggests we change the time through e-mail or whatever. Should I take this as a sign she's no longer interested or does this imply she wants me to do all the damn work and suggest a time ch...

Yesterday and today, since the agency has found nothing for me so far this week, I've been helping my mother. Yesterday, I helped her with an e-mail project and today I did some research for her. As I predicted, UHart lost pretty badly but they did hang in there for about three-fourths of the game so that was kind of impressive. I think Connecticut, the state as well as the team, will have it's revenge against the Georgia team in the next round as Mel Thomas seems to be back in typical form to give one reason. Once again, and this is when the comments seriously disappear, I need a little advice. I've finally figured out what it is about the woman I've been conversing with that intrigues me. Like Heather and Nicki before her, this person shares their high level of compassion/empathy. I'm also realizing that, unlike them and more like my mother, she cares way too much what others think of her and doesn't seem to be able to let go easily. Even though this bothe...

Time for another installment of nobody's favorite show, Good News, Bad News. The bad news is that the date didn't happen this weekend and may not any time soon but the good news is that it will happen at some point as I talked with her last night after I went to the Big East Tournament; more on that later. The good news is I have a job if only temporarily through that agency I signed with a couple weeks ago. I have a second shift job filing and removing staples. (As it was described to me.) The upside of this is obvious. The downside is that, really, my life, as I currently know it, is second shift so the next 2 weeks to 2 months will be an adjustment. The tournament session we went to yesterday was awesome as UConn won it's game. It's a bit surprising we were able to just call up that day to get tickets since it's a conference tournament but why not? Our seats weren't the best but they could have been much worse. It was great hearing all the different band...

I wanted to share with you all that while I still don't have a job or "that special someone," I realized during the sparsely attended Ash Wednesday service the other night that I feel really positive about how both searches are progressing right now. I tell you this not to rub it in for those who are struggling as I've been and probably will again. I tell you this because I just wanted you to know. In that light, I may actually be meeting someone I met online tomorrow. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. I'll be sure to let you all know how and if it went. I meant to tell you about this days ago as it happened this weekend but first, I forgot then, the site was acting wonky but I read the next book (Book 3 as I know it) in the Narnia series: Voyage of the Dawn Treader . I attempted to read A Horse and His Boy first since that is the new book two but I really couldn't get into it. Anyway, Dawn Treader was a great book and will be an awesom...

On Thursday evening, we used the last of our special Hartford Stage ticket things and saw A Raisin in the Sun. Of the three plays we saw this was the only one I had heard of before and actually seen. (I also read it.) It is such a great play and the acting here was great although one does wonder how they fair in the new house. Someone should try and obtain the rights to write a sequel. I originally saw it as a taped performance in college with Ester Rolle and Danny Glover. I think it was done in the eighties. At the time I saw it, I think Rolle was doing commercials for some psychic hotline. Remember that financial crap I mentioned about the cancelled spyware software. Well, I received my bank statement today and they refunded my money! This means I have a little money in there if that date actually happens next weekend...