A Few Pointers on Being a Complete Ass

You know, I thought it strange that this past year I didn't really find anything ridiculous to blog about. But maybe that was it--I was in Boston, likely one of the most liberal cities in one of the most liberal states. The only crap I had to deal with were Greenpeace treehuggers blocking my path and chasing me down the sidewalk as I'm on my way to class or back home. But in retrospect, they weren't that bad. They weren't malicious. Not like the people I forgot I had to deal with here back home on the so-called traditional Republican stronghold of Long Island.

So I was at Costco with the parents just now and there I encountered the biggest asshole I've seen in a while...

Step 1 - Drive a Hummer. (BONUS POINTS if you make it red.)

Really? You found it necessary to spend X amount of money on an obnoxiously large vehicle that does nothing but piss people off and harm the environment? I'm not telling you to get a hybrid, but come on. And nothing screams the need for attention than getting one in a cherry red color. Well, whatever you're trying to do to show off, it's not working because all I see is stupidity on your part. (Have fun fueling up this summer!)

I'm sorry. Perhaps that seems uncalled for unjustified. I'm sure not everyone who drives a ginormous [red] Hummer is completely selfish and stupid. Let's move on.

Step 2 - Drive that Hummer badly.

Shall we define "driving badly"? How about: driving with a complete disregard for the rules of the road and those around you. I was approaching a stop sign in the parking lot when suddenly he (as in that same guy) turns left from the perpendicular street and cuts into my lane. Fortunately I was going slow and letting pedestrians pass, so I had not yet reached the stop sign when he decided to haphazardly come barrelling down the road. But whatever, I thought that would be the last I saw of him.

Step 3 - Think you're better than everyone else.

There was a Hispanic family beside us as we were leaving. To get our receipts checked, they moved to one person as we moved to the other. Suddenly I here a slow, disgruntled voice say, "So that's it? You walked faster than me just so you could get ahead of me?" I turned to my side and saw a large, redneck-esque man with a disheveled gray moustache, his beady little eyes locked on the family ahead of him. The father of the family turned around with a confused look on his face and of course said, "I don't know what you're talking about," to which the other man so ingeniously responded, "Yeah, I think you do." I stood there and watched with an incredulous look on my face. Racist bastard.

Step 4 - And care only for yourself.

As I pulled out of the parking lot, I saw the same guy leave his cart behind someone else's car and climb into his--you guessed it!--big red Hummer. (It's funny when things come around full circle, no?) What a total and complete asshole.

Oh well. I trust karma to come and send a nice flying kick up his ass.

And there we go!

Prop Shop Stops

Dress the Set With Tears: It's a Wrap

Slideshow here.

Ugh, what a shame. Even Hollywood has a little guy to take the hit. Damn recession.

Until It's Gone

So I just woke up not too long ago to discover that my house was completely empty. Or I didn't really "discover" it since I knew it would be empty, but I felt that lonely feeling you get when you're surrounded by people one moment and then completely alone the next, if you know what I mean.

My brother left for California today--permanently--and I admit that I'm just realizing this now. Yesterday (my family was at a wedding reception), a relative of mine commented how I must be so sad to not see my brother after today, and in response I laughed and told her that there was a period of eight years (college and then dental school) when I rarely saw my brother anyway and that I was used to it.

Maybe it's because California isn't a simple few hours away or maybe it's because it seems like such a foreign land to me (I've never been there), but honestly, I'm already proving myself wrong right now--I'm definitely not used to it. It upsets me now to know that when he came into my room this morning to say goodbye and I half-assedly sat up and hugged him, it was the last time I would see him for a while. I didn't realize that it was different this time. It was a one-way ticket--he wasn't coming back.

Up until today I really wanted to go to Thailand this winter break, but now the other option of visiting my brother in Cali suddenly became so much more appealing. It's true what they say: You don't realize what you have until it's gone.

The Hangover and More

So I had a relatively eventful weekend. I finished a week of classes (one down, eleven more to go), and on Friday I went to go see The Hangover with a group of people. It's definitely not my type of movie, but Kait wanted to see Justin Bartha (whose character is the groom that goes missing). In case you were wondering it's basically every high school/college frat boy's dream experience on the big screen. It was probably the crudest, most ridiculous, and most vulgar thing I've ever seen (especially when the credits roll), but I have to admit that the story was actually put together... quite nicely, surprisingly enough. (Don't get me wrong; it's complete nonsense. But the nonsense makes sense... if that makes sense.)

Anyway, I spent the remainder of the weekend at Robert Moses with Kait and Brit yesterday and at my good ol' local beach with Loo today. Yesterday it was kind of cool for the beach, but today it was perfect.

In other news, this morning when I was running errands with my family I lost my heart-shaped locket. (Loo gave it to me for my 16th birthday, so I was naturally very upset). I spent the entire morning looking for it, and by sheer chance, an hour or two later and after we had driven back (on a whim) to the first place we visited, my dad checked where we had parked before and found it! I was so relieved. Unfortunately, it was flattened slightly so it won't close anymore, but I was grateful that I had it and that it was still intact. I put it away in its little box for now and I'm a little upset that I can't wear it anymore, but I was thinking that maybe I could frame it or something nice like that.

It definitely sucks too since I was actually contemplating wearing a different necklace today. Oh well, I suppose that's life.

Twenty Years Later

Hong Kong Pays Tribute to Tiananmen Protesters While Beijing Stays Silent

Now that's a little sad, don't you think?

Makes me wonder if I should be proud of my heritage or detest it.

Maybe someday...

Parlez-vous français?

I started my "Intensive Elementary French" classes today. They run from 6:00-9:30 PM, Monday through Thursday. Parlez-vous, "Eff my life?"

Though of course, since I've taken french before it's pretty easy so far. It's definitely coming back to me somewhat. Plus the professor seems pretty nice. She let us go early today since not everyone had the book, which was good since it wasn't completely dark out yet and I wanted to make sure I knew how to get home. I probably shouldn't get my hopes up, but it would be nice if she always let us out early (three and a half hours is just ridiculous, n'est pas?).

In other news, my laptop came back to me today, but since I had to leave early to pick up my textbook I wasn't home to receive it. Oh, what a pain...

Slightly Grown Up

So I had to go to work alone today for a meeting since FatMan skipped out for training for his new CUTCO job (I apparently have a few friends who are selling knives now). To be honest, due to various circumstances this was actually my first time driving with no passengers, so I was somewhat paranoid, but I obviously made it through okay and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, it was somewhat empowering being able to control where to go and when to leave. Driving to work and back, making sure everyone had a ride--it's long overdue, but I actually felt somewhat more grown up doing those things, haha.

Anyway, the meeting was as expected. It was good to see the old interns (and by "old" I mean the ones I've met, since I'm one of the oldest interns working there now--scary). They gave me a warm welcome and asked me how college was. The new interns seem nice too... for the most part (according to a trusted friend/coworker, but maybe I should wait to see for myself before letting bias get the best of me). They seem like they'll be competent though, so hopefully this summer will run much smoother than my experiences these past years.

It definitely seems like there's going to be a little more discipline this summer though, not that the prospect of that stopped everyone from screwing around last summer, but honestly the lab could probably use some of it. It should be better this time around though, since the new interns seem like they'll take things more seriously and, not to be conceited or whatever, but I'll be one of the people in charge. As a "college intern," I actually have the authority now to ensure that everyone gets everything done, and I don't have to feel bad or wonder if it's my place to put people in line. I don't think there should be a problem though. Last year, I feel like no one listened to the college intern because he was a stranger to almost everyone (he was very old, and all the interns that would have bridged the age gap didn't return). This year, there's three of us, and we've all worked together before during the year as high school interns, so it should be fine... hopefully.

Oh well. We're just going to have to wait and see. It's my last summer there anyway, so regardless I'm just going to have to make the best of it.