Across the Water and Still Uneasy

Between the Chinooks in the skies during the day and the blue-blinking dots on the waters at night, I should feel relatively safe - even though the biggest target in the nation has decided to come to a city that logistically can be no more secure from terrorist attacks than a house with holes in the foundation can be secure from field mice.

The RNC should be interesting - from the odd protests to the rich men preaching from their bully pulpit of fear, the four day convention will be interesting indeed. The fact that the intolerant Republican party, led by the hateful and war-mongering President, has sought to bring their dividing message to a place like New York City - a home of tolerance and freedom from oppression and suppression of messages - has me a little angry.

Bush doesn't belong here. He abandoned this city when he cut federal funding to first responders, fire fighters, police officers and paramedics. He used this city and its post-9/11 trials and tribulations as a means of furthering his own selfish and greedy agenda. He should be ashamed of himself to come tout his lies and fabrications here now. I have no doubt that his PR plan is going to backfire and lose him any possible support he could have hoped to gain by coming to this city.

Lesson Learned

Liquor before beer, have no fear
Beer before liquor, never been sicker

If you remember one single rhyme in your life, remember the one above. I was not paying attention tonight and realized far too late that it might be a bad idea to follow up my Rolling Rock with some mixed beverages. My stomach is reminding me of that important lesson by incessantly kicking me and rolling around inside. I haven't vomited yet, but that doesn't make the feeling any less unpleasant. As it stands, I'd much rather vomit and be done with this than stand another half hour of nausea.

JJ spent a week and a half painting the common room and the hallway. Tonight, in just less than five hours, there are enough scuff marks to make me want to cry for JJ. I stand by my earlier comment that there is definitely some respect lacking in this room. Certain people are apparently unwilling to be concerned for the well-being of their roommates' belongings and efforts. Thankfully, Dave overstocked on beer, so I believe a few nasty scuff marks can be overlooked.

Respect has taken on a new meaning for me in the past few weeks. My respect for my family has grown, especially for my father. My mom and dad do what they can, and I appreciate that. My respect for some of my friends has grown. I have a friend who recently found the courage to admit when he was wrong - he ended a bad relationship and kept himself from becoming officially bankrupt by going home to his family. He sees both as failing resolve or will. But they are neither. He did the right thing ... and I respect him for that.

Other people, however, have begun to lose my respect. People who don't treat their roommates as equals in the deal. A two bedroom apartment with the rent split three ways is not a dual party system - three people have votes. Other friends make promises that they can't keep ... and when they can't keep them, they don't even make excuses - they simply don't call.

When all is said and done, I can't wait for the school year to begin because I'm tired of doing nothing. I want to start getting my creative juices flowing again - I want to be around like-minded individuals. Other people with a sense of the creative. I want to be with my friends again. Thankfully, I've only got a week left. And with school comes ... A BED! :-)

Oh, and BTW, most of Dave's friends weren't dorks. They were really cool. Some even helped clean up after everyone else had left. Hell, most of them did more to help clean up than even DAVE did. Those people are welcome to come back whenever they want.

Cool Names and Halloween

I was reading a blog on some guy's site about cool stuff from the 80's (he's nastalgic), and he's gearing up for the Halloween season already. He asked what some of the coolest costumes others had worn were. I posted this:

1. The Joker - following the release of Batman in '89, I just HAD to be the Joker. My mom made the costume ... the makeup crusted - as most cheap store-bought official character makeup does.

2. Two-Face - following the start of the '92 Batman: The Animated Series cartoon, I couldn't help but try to be the really cool looking, half-ugly villain. The makeup again crusted, but I didn't worry so much this time because, hey, it was Two-Face. Oh, and my mom sewed together two different suits to make the black and white combo suit that Two-Face wore in the cartoon. God bless my mom.

3. Superman/Clark Kent - when it came time to don the tights and go out as Superman in fifth grade ... I didn't. I wore the tights under a suit I wore for my first communion (I was a little late there). I wore glasses without lenses, and a reporter's fedora. I looked ... like a dork - and absolutely nothing like Superman. Oh, and this costume coincided with the start of the Lois and Clark TV series. My mom again sewed a S logo onto some tights ... notice the pattern here?

I think that was the last time my mom made a costume for me ... and I think the last time I wore one. Oh, no ... nope, I'm mistaken. In my junior year of high school, I dressed up as the Joker again ... and the makeup crusted again and someone spilled wax on me. I could have put an exploding cigar in their mouth ... if only I had had one.

Now, I also remember wearing an Undertaker costume in sixth grade, complete with an official Undertaker coat that cost like $80 and I never wore again after that.

This year, I wanna be something cool for Halloween. Maybe Link or one of the characters from one of my screenplays. I think the latter would be fun - perhaps I could make one of the flight suits for my as-yet-non-existent Silver Team. That would be cool.

Oh ... and Dave invited 120 people from work to a party at our place tomorrow. I'll repeat that, because it bears repeating. Dave, my roommate, invited 120 people to our apartment, a small three room section of space in a two-tower building in New Jersey. We have 6 coasters. We have about 20 glasses. We have 12 large plates, 12 small plates, and 12 bowls. 120 people! 120!

120!!!! What the hell was he thinking? ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY PEOPLE!

I'm gonna go start drinking now.

Paint and Doom

I'm sorry I haven't written in the past ... 13 days ... but I've had two visitors, Kate and Dan, and I've been unpacking stuff ... still. Hopefully, once I get my refund from NYU, I can get a bed and a desk and we can finish with this room. That'll be nice.

The living room and hallway are almost completely painted. There is only one wall left. Of course, I haven't painted anything. I just sort of comment on how nice the paint job is. JJ has painted everything.

Matt lent me a copy of Doom 3. I just spent five minutes standing in the exact same spot shooting into the shadows to make sure that there were no monsters hiding there. The game is fucking scary. I can't play it, I'm so scared. This is like the time that my dad and I went on the Alien Encounter ride at Disney World where they have the speakers and steam vents and stuff all around you to stimulate your imagination and scare the bejeezus out of you ... I don't remember what I was talking about. Oh yeah ... Doom 3 is like that ... it's dark and scary and the sound freaks you out.

On a lighter note, I spent an hour and a half at the DMV today ... at 8 in the morning. And for my efforts I was rewarded with a license that makes me an official resident of the state of New Jersey. Anyway, I have nothing to do, so I'm not gonna waste any more of my waste-able time writing on a blog that only I read.

More Noise and Small Dogs

The noise resumed today. I was highly upset. Stupid noisemaking people. I think they were on this floor, too. Down the hall. Thankfully, the building was made with lots of metal so as to allow noise to reverberate through the entire tower whenever someone decides to power drill on the 3rd floor.

Rob asked me to watch his dog and 2 parakeets while he is away visiting his grandfather. The birds don't like me yet, but Ritchie loves me. It's cause I'm a nice guy. He can tell. That's why I think Miramax or New Line should give me money to make a film. I'm a nice guy. If only that was all I needed.

Quote of the {Insert Time Period Here}:
"Creativity is bullshit." - W.E.S.

Noise

There is someone drilling or power sanding or something somewhere nearby in the building. I can't tell if it's above, below, to the left or to the right. The entire room is noisy. It's irritating.

Here I Am

Alrighty, John's off to Ohio again and I'm gonna try not to lapse into some kind of laziness while he's gone. We've painted (meaning he's painted and I've stayed out of his way), and we've put together most of the furniture. The room's still a mess, but I think I'd prefer to be productive in the form of screenwriting. My current projects can use some touching up. BTW:



That's the view from my apartment here on the other side of the Hudson River. I couldn't even see that from my NY apartment. Nice, eh?

STUPID BLOG MOMENT
I'm Listening to: Five for Fighting - 100 Years (thanks Kate!)
I'm Watching: Democratic National Convention speeches ON-DEMAND! (screaming dork)
I'm Reading: The Movie Business Book
END STUPID BLOG MOMENT

Long Day

We spent the day renting a U-Haul and shopping for furniture at IKEA. It was fun. We have dressers, DVD shelves and other assorted fun new things. It'll be nice to clean the room up a bit - have a little more space. Renting the U-Haul sucked ass cause they made us go to one that was far enough away that it was a bitch to get to: we took the PATH to Journal Square, then walked about a mile and a half to the U-Haul. Rob went with us. Quite a nice adventure.

Chance Favors the Well-Prepared Mind

I'm hoping chance will favor my family's well-prepared minds soon. We could use a little good luck.