My therapist says I'm a bad kisser...

Okay, the title is a line I stole from something, but I can't remember what it was. I think it was The Simpsons, from one of the episodes that they project into the future, and I believe that it was uttered by Milhouse. But, as always, I could be wrong.

So, I had a pretty good week. I got an ovation at work for being the most flexible person on the school's payroll (I don't think it's entirely true, but I have done all that's been asked of me since I started working), and was applauded for being able to take charge and control stressful situations after being in the environment for only two weeks. It's good to be back, and even more importantly, it's great to feel wanted.

I took 7th in a Magic tournament on Friday, too. Could've had taken 3rd, but I made one innocuous mistake in the 3rd game of the final round, and lost because of it. My opponent went on to finish in 3rd place; it was fun, and I met some new people. I also found a comic book version of George R.R. Martin's The Hedge Knight, as well as an art book devoted to Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series.

Not too much is going on. I've had time to think about the choices I've made in the past six months, and understand myself a little better, along with what my emotional needs are, and how to best fulfill them. A lot of it's intensely personal, or torturously boring, so I'm not going to bother to blast my epiphanies throughout cyberspace, but I feel emotionally enlightened. The only one I'm going to bother to print is this: I'm done dreaming big, I'm going to get back to planning big. (This mostly means that I'm applying to PhD programs this year, to start in the fall of 2008, once I get accepted. I need to get a move on opening my own family therapy clinic.)

Later.

The Weekend That Was

Hey all! The biggest part of my weekend was attending a local Magic: The Gathering tournament on Saturday, wherein I took 5th out of 24 players. The coolest part was my first round, however, because I got to play against Elizabeth. She was smart, and willing to improve her game, and asked all kinds of questions-- all the things you'd want to see in a nine-year-old who's learning to play Magic and expand her circle of friends.

And she beat me in the second game, and forced a draw due to time for the round! In large part because I was explaining every aspect of a turn, as it progressed, and helping her find the best play in some standard situations, our 3rd game didn't begin until minute 48 of the 50-minute round. And I couldn't have had more fun. Her next opponent was "in it to win it," and treated her like seasoned vets treat one another when playing for $25,000... which is pretty much the opposite of how you're supposed to play against a nine-year-old kid in a tourney that has 8 booster packs ($32 value, before taxes) as the grand prize. But hey, she had fun, and legitimately beat someone in the last round, too.

Now, I also want to complain about the erosion of social graces and fashion sense in today's youth. I understand the tight clothes, the celebrity parroting, and pushing to look older than you are. But walking around a mall with some of my friends, I saw probably a dozen kids (both genders) who very much looked like characters from an anime flick. Wacko hair, nauseating clothing color combinations, and that intense/vacant/clueless look that every cartoon character gets when there's nothing special going on. These kids clogged passageways, darted through other groups, and did all the things that we fossils get mad at youngsters for doing. But then, as I work with teenagers, I know that they're not all amoral, brain-dead spoiled brats, so I'd love to know how these kids in the mall grew to be that way.

Also, where the hell were the parents of the three kids age 4-6 who were sliding down the metal railing of a set of concrete stairs? And they were using the handrail as an amusement park for at least 20 minutes, because I passed by them a few times. That's definately what I expect from kids that age, and therefore I want to beat up their parents for being stupid.

So yeah, it was a fun weekend. Won some cards, reminded myself that I'm good at solving problems through logic, and just kicked back a lot. Finally, Transformers was fun to watch, but you'll be okay waiting for it to come out on pay-per-view, if you have an HD TV available.

Hmm... I can't title this one due to some silly computer glitch or other. Anyway, I'd have titled it And there it is!, because I've been working my new/old job for over a week, and I'm loving it. Didn't realize how much I missed the people, and the comfort of knowing that the hell is going on. I even had a blast working a 12 hour overtime shift this weekend, during which time I spent over an hour outside playing touch football (I was the all-time quarterback) and coaching volleyball for 45 minutes.

So yeah, I'm liking things in life pretty well now.

Huh, time to update this thing...

Well, it's been too long. Okay, the new/old job is going great, and I'm very happy to have returned to it. My 4th of July was lame, as I was awake at 6am to get to work, but I went out with friends after work and had too much to drink. I skipped out on the fireworks because I have to get up at 6 every day this week, and I was kinda sleepy (I feel so old now!). But as a side bonus, I'm getting a raise for "cost of living" in Denver, which means I'm making more hourly now than I was at the job I left... and I still have options for holiday pay and overtime! Now, as long as that lottery thing pans out, I'll be in good financial shape!

Doing okay, aside from the tiredness. Playing video games, watching TV, and doing a little house cleaning... and reading a lot. Almost finished with A Feast for Crows, after which... I have no idea what I'll be reading. Maybe I'll just be writing again by then, I'm not sure.

And I've been going to the gym. My BONES are freakin tired! The muscles are just liquid, so my bones have to hurt now. Feels good, though. Oh yeah, and my left knee's doing better, well enough that I can jog across the street without a limp now. I hope to be running and playing volleyball/Ultimate soon.

Yay!

So, I started my new/old job today. I'm going to be a teacher's aid again, but apparently I'll be working with my favorite of all the teachers once the summer semester is over in three weeks. That makes me happy! Also, a lot of people dropped by to welcome me back... certainly making me feel wanted, and a little bit missed.

Things went well, and I'm even going out with the guys from work this weekend. Should be an adventure... keep your fingers crossed that I come back in one piece!

Eh, this was the past few days...

Nothing much is going on here. Well, I can't say that... I greeded myself out of a lot of money in the lottery. There's an amazingly good random number generator in my head, but I don't trust it when I should; I picked some number, and then some more... and it turned out that I'd picked 5 of the 6 powerball numbers correctly, but spread them between 2 tickets; total winnings of $7. Oh well, it was fun to daydream.

My roomie's in Seattle, safe and sound. Well, he was safe and sound when I talked to him two days back. At least I've got a place to stay when I come visit, and I'm penciling that in for the first full week of September, so I can also see my sister in Bend and a friend in Portland. Hopefully it'll still be warm enough for a little bit of camping on the coast. God, I miss actual bodies of water...

Hmm, what else? Been gaming too much, but I've also dragged my butt to the gym two days in a row. Today was actually useful, because I walked there (6 blocks in the triple-digit heat), and managed to lift for an hour. It'll be the same thing tomorrow, but mostly leg work instead of the arms I did today.

Also, been reading more today. George Martin's getting a little better, because he gave me some characters to hate about 3000 pages ago, and it seems that they're finally starting to pay their dues. Of course, the way this guy molests a plot line, they might end up as the heroes!

Finally, I've rewatched Lady in the Water twice in the past 36 hours. I love that movie, but I don't know why. I think the "pushed over the edge" fantasy of the flick, plus the horror movie shades are the things that draw me.

The last thing is that I can't start work until Wednesday. My immediate supervisor is on vacation until then, so apparently there wouldn't have been anything for me to do. But I'm kinda excited for it now. At least I know exactly what I'm getting into this time!

Random updates, thoughts, and venting

Well, it's Friday night. I'm at home, alone. Wasn't invited out to anything, so I'm messing around on the computer... primarily because Oblivion got tough again (I was killed about a dozen times today, compared to about three times all of last week), and I needed to give my eyes a break.

I had my orientation for the rehiring of my new (old) job. I actually felt missed, and that I was welcomed back with open arms; to the point that one of the therapists interrupted our meeting because the thought that was me out in the lobby, and wanted to say hello. I should get a promotion in about a month, because I get to skip a lot of the training process... I'm still annoyed that I have to drive 26 miles to go to work every day, instead of walking 5 blocks, but at least people want me to be working there.

Hmm, no new movies to critique, sorry.

Internet dating is such a total crapshoot. I'm only dabbling in it now, because I'm too old to go out to loud bars and try and get lucky on any kind of consistent basis (not that I'm looking for a one-night stand anyhow, but evening going in order to meet new people is essentially impossible). So the online scene in Denver is lame; I've made contact with some awesome-sounding women, but only one has gone as far as meeting me. Now, here's the peculiarity to internet dating: nobody wants to meet in person. If I got someone's e-mail address in the grocery story, a bar, at the gym, etc., future meetings would be easy to coordinate. But online, despite sending e-mails back and forth for months, getting a whole profile on the other person, and all that crap, people are terrified of actually meeting. Kind of contradicts the idea of "dating," if people never get together for a date...

So, I've got to try and plan some things for the weekend. My dad's out of town, my roomie's in Seattle (have fun, don't fall off anything too high, and give everyone a hard time!), my brother's busy getting ready to move, and the friends I'm in contact with in town are all working this weekend. Blah, people suck! So, it's going to be a combination of fishing, the gym, reading and gaming. I really should get back into writing, too... the break on that's been way too long. But I have a line of a poem stuck in my head... just need to write the poem to surround it now:

You cares for the scars that life has left behind?