I accomplished one of my major goals for the week and today is only Monday. I introduced myself to the cute girl at work. “Nice to meet you,” and then we both walked away.

I’m doing the Netflix thing. And the satellite TV thing. It’s probably a good thing I got my last paycheck today from the previous employer — ten days late, but who’s counting. (I am and I was pissed.)

So far I’ve watched a couple movies. “Before Sunset” “Before Sunrise” is 100% worth watching. It’s an excellent romantic film. The plot is simple (an American meets a French girl on the train and they hang out for the night), but portrayed excellently. It’s one of the better jobs I’ve seen of actors conveying emotion through body language.

Tonight I watched “Beautiful Girls.” Somehow I think Rosie O’Donnell was supposed to be one of these “Beautiful Girls.” If they’d scrubbed her role out of the movie, it would’ve been good. It’s not one of those movies you watch and feel satisfied and more alive after watching. You see it, get done watching, and think: “Yeah, that’s kinda how it goes.” People live, screw up, and get some sort of lesson out of it. This movie was just an example, and probably not the best one, but it was alright.

Going to bed by 10pm is kind of a drag. It makes me feel old. Then again, watching a movie wherein the main characters discuss love/marriage, and the perceived difficulty of finding love when approaching 30… well, it’s not exactly something I’ve ever wanted to be able to relate to other people about. And this will be what I’m thinking about while I try to fall asleep.

Or maybe just impossible spaceships and planets and aliens. I will hide in science fiction for at least a few minutes.

Categories: Books, Life, Movies
Tags: Beautiful Girls, Netflix

Waiting patiently, I finally had a random invitation to lunch after church! Yes! The family is pretty nice and considering I’ve now spent Christmas, Easter, and Nick’s 18th birthday with them… well, it’s kinda nice to have a family here to hang out with. It’s a big family, too, consisting of Matt and his wife Heather, Matt’s brother Nick, and Matt & Nick’s parents. Oh, and don’t forget the babies. Babies are good for many things: drooling and other bodily functions, crying, but more importantly they’re also cute when they giggle and make for excellent objects to poke and tickle.

I also went and saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix yesterday. I’d say they had to rush it at least as much as the fourth book to fit everything in, but they did the best they could considering movies can’t be six hours long. I recently preordered book #7 and am awaiting its arrival on Saturday. If UPS dares to deliver the book later than when I leave for work… DOOM!

Categories: Life, Movies
Tags: Harry Potter, holidays

I continue to spend copious quantities of time playing chess. Wikipedia has a chess portal with more information about the game then you could possibly retain.

Unfortunately, most of the games I’ve been playing end with my king dead. Needless to say, the valiance of my men and women in battle means nothing when the king makes tactical errors.

I got out of the house today. Today marks my furthest excursion from home since New Year’s Day. I met the assistant pastor for coffee (frappuccino!). We tend to talk about movies, and the high points of today’s conversation revolved around 2001: A Space Odyssey and Dr. Strangelove.

I played chess and had dinner with El Martin and his roommate tonight. Thai food rocks (peanuts, mmm). We’ve talked a bit about splitting an apartment at some point in the near future. The place I’m living is alright, but I’m looking for something at least slightly less bacheloresque. I just hope I can afford it. I need a pay raise.

As far as work goes, it’s been fine. I’m getting used to the job, but still have much to learn. I can learn a lot about interacting with people by doing this job; however, I have no intention of staying long term. At least not in the position I’m in. It’s one of those jobs where you’re paid decently, but expected to suffer in other ways.

Categories: Life, Movies
Tags: chess, coffee, Martin

I had a great day, actually. Around one o’clock I met up with The Preacher’s Daughter. She showed me the town. We stopped by Lake Washington and walked for a bit before she showed me some of Bellevue. Ultimately, we ended up in Redmond. We had lunch at a fancy restaurant and then went to the movie theater and saw “Pursuit of Happyness.” I enjoyed both the movie and the lunch. We were able to talk for quite a bit during the six hours we spent together. It was a lot of fun and I’m glad to have new friends here.

I watched “Love Actually” tonight. I love that movie. I first saw it on TBS a while ago and enjoyed it quite a bit. The actual version is a bit more risque, but still a good movie. It’s one of those movies that gives hope to those of us who tend to feel undeserving of it. The movie has great actors in it and the lines and plot shape up decently, too.

My night went downhill after that point, however, but I will not go into the details here.

Categories: Life, Movies
Tags: Love Actually

I went to Borders (book store) tonight to peruse the music section. Tonight, however, happens to be a holy day for fans of the Harry Potter book series. The sixth book, “Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince,” is released tonight and that means all the witches and wizards in town head to the bookstore to enjoy a party and wait until midnight for the release of the book. Of course, this means many parents as well.

I wish I had my camera with me. The parking lot holds more cars than I’ve ever seen in it before. People crowd every inch of the store. Children cruise around gabbing and wondering what activity they can partake in next. Middle-aged men pretend they’re at Borders for a reason other than Harry Potter, but they look skiddish and as if they’re hiding a terrible secret. Yes, oh yes–even middle-aged men like Harry Potter. And such a dark secret fits well in the world of Harry Potter where secrets are common place.

What dark secrets does a man such as me hide? For one, I’m not middle-aged, so it�s nothing so ghastly as to be unimaginable (such as being a fan of Harry Potter). No, my greatest secret on a Potteresque level is this: I�ve only read ten chapters of the first book, and I didn’t like the third movie.

As I said, I was there for music. I bought 200′�s release by The Postal Service “Give Up” and a new release from The Early November “The Acoustic EP.” The Postal Service album is an alternative/electronic release by Benjamin Gibbard (of Death Cab for Cutie fame) and Jimmy Tamborello. The Early November album, as the title implies, is an acoustic release of seven tracks which ends up sounding quite a bit like Dashboard Confessional but with a different vocalist.

Categories: Life, Movies