MTG Salvation

Y'know, I just thought of something. How exactly am I supposed to draft Innistrad? It's pretty much impossible to protect the backs of the double-sided cards from view. And what happens if I make one my first pick? Free info to the entire table. I disapprove.

I joined the Navy. They sent me to Great Lakes, IL in January for two months of boot camp. After freezing my ass off there, though, they sent me to Pensacola, FL to do my job training for four months. Upon completion of that, they gave me Kunia, HI as my first duty station.

So now I'm getting paid by the US Government to live and work in Hawaii, and I just bought a BMW Z3 as my first car - ever.

GET ON MY LEVEL. UNNH.

I'd like you all to go view this Flash animation.

Being a Libertarian, it helps to have handy tools like this to show people why you're awesome. This is a basic explanation of the philosophy of Liberty, one of the only things that matter to me.

I encourage you all to go watch it. Many people are Libertarians without realizing it, identifying with Republicans or Democrats because they see no other choice. Many people have told me that they, too, associated with the ideals of the Libertarian party when they were my age, but gradually aligned with one of the two parties, and I feel that, even if I can only prevent that from happening to one other person, I should still do what I can to promote the best third party in the world.

I will be voting for Obama this November, for about fifteen thousand good reasons, and not Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate. That's not to say I won't vote Libertarian on a regular basis in the future, I just feel an absolute compulsion to do my best to keep McCain and Palin out of the White House, and Barack Obama is an acceptable candidate to replace Ron Paul or Bob Barr in my heart and mind. I'll go into this with anyone that wants to debate the topic.


Love, Loss, and Liberty always.
♪

I'm going all-out livejournal because I can, and naming my blog entries after songs. So Google my blog entry names and diversify yourself.

My roommate and I had an interesting conversation tonight. Poor guy's girlfriend of two years broke up with him after he took the LSATs last weekend, and he only told me now. He was talking to her online I guess.

He began it by asking me to name the last time I was truly happy and content. It was in August, when Sarah and I looked to be giving it another go - but of course, a day later that fell through and became nearly more painful than ever. If you don't know the history of Sarah and I, well, you'll just have to ask, I guess. It's a long story.

So anyway. Our Homecoming week is next week, and my fraternity, ΖΨ, got matched up with a sorority of high repute on campus, ΑΧΩ. So there's a great chance for either of us to make a connection, since we hang out with the girls every night all week. But the question we asked each other tonight is, should we?

I made a conscious decision several months ago to de-prioritize romance, because Sarah was coming back from England and we'd get another chance. Until then, I reasoned, I wouldn't be able to get her out of the back of my head, and my heart wouldn't be in any relationship. Which would be fine and logical, but now that she's told me she can't be in any relationship, I should be moving on, right? Except I can't. Maybe it's because I'm apathetic due to my aforementioned de-prioritization (I believe I just made that word up). Maybe it's because it's that stupidity that love is reputed to give you. In other words, it's either genuine love or me being a dumbass. I think it is either way, actually.

But my decision doesn't necessarily fit for Jon. And he pointed out that my decision doesn't necessarily fit for me. We talked about priorities. What's more important for us? And what are we looking for in a relationship? Neither of us is looking for marriage until probably our early 30's, but I pointed out that you don't want to be out of the game for too long, either. It doesn't make sense to just sit back and wait until the years where we think it'd be acceptable to get married to begin looking again. I pointed that out. As soon as I said it, I saw the hypocrisy.

What am I doing? I've not had an official "girlfriend" since mid-2006. More than two years ago. I chased quite possibly the most beautiful, charming, and enigmatic girl I've ever known for a while, in the process committing and butchering the most romantic act of my entire life. I reconnected with the most perfect match for me I could ever see as possible, and haven't really gotten over her yet.

And here I sit, using academics as an excuse to avoid re-entry into the social scene, using straightedge as the reason why I don't go to parties. Really, I'm just awkward. I just function in the Magic environment, whereas the fraternity drinking scene is my kryptonite.

Occasionally I hope that at some party, I'll meet some other girl just as uncomfortable as me, and we can connect over that. But girls like that don't go to parties I go to. They just don't. My sister thinks I'm an awful person for disqualifying any girls that show up to our parties, but I only did it as a logical conclusion. I always feel out of place at parties, and girls that are uncomfortable at parties don't go to them, so any girls at the parties are into partying. And I'm not. A bad start to any relationship.
Note that I'm not one for hookups or one-night stands.

A conundrum! And I know not what to do. Jon's getting really fed up with the straightedge thing, he really wants me to drink. Obviously that's not going to tilt it. But I will be attending these homecoming functions, because nearly everybody goes to them. Hopefully, that applies to the ΑΧΩ girls, not just my brothers.

This should be a fun two-week stretch.


Love, loss, and Liberty always,
♪

I take it these blog things didn't really take off. A year later and I still have the second-most entries, behind only Alacar? Anyway, this is the most appropriate space to post an announcement:

I'm coming back.

Allow me to explain. About two weeks or so ago I was in a bad way. I don't like to trumpet such things, but it's the story of my return. I've been here at the University of Maryland now for a few months; this is my second semester here. In my first semester, I pledged and was initiated into Zeta Psi, a fraternity here on campus. There were a few reasons for this, including my dad's membership and my status as a legacy, but mostly it was because I was living in the house and didn't have any other social circles to become a part of. I'm not really a Greek Terp so much as I am a Zete. Anyway.

I returned this semester to live in the house again, this time as a full-fledged brother. I began adjusting to life on campus as opposed to my life back home during the summer. It was tough. Very tough. Brothers were drinking around me, partying the night away during rush week, and I was sitting in my room, addicted to Madden '09. I've always been an outsider, but my recent re-commitment to straight edge has made me even more so in a party-based society. Sitting around my room on one of these days, I realized that I wasn't happy at all. I didn't fit, and I had lost the chance to fit better because I transferred in after my freshman year. It didn't help that my heartstrings were just about all tugged out after a very complicated ordeal with a longtime crush of mine.

Alone, broken, depressed, I needed stability. I needed to backtrack. And in this frame of mind, I realized that the one time I was truly happy was when I played Magic. When I hung out with the dorks, the dweebs, the outcasts. That society is where I fit in. It's where I could relax and enjoy myself. Maybe I should be growing up, but at this point in my life I need to take a few steps back.

I'm not too happy that I'll have to invest a few too many dollars to get back in, but that's okay. That's how Magic was when I quit. Remember the double-digit dollar values of each of the dual lands in Ravnica? Yeah. I played a lot during that time, too. And when I came back for Lorwyn I always had one foot out the door. But not this time. I'm back now. I can't escape this Magic stuff. It's in my blood now.

I hear that blue and black Faeries dominated Standard right after I had to leave during the pledge process. Ha. Excellent. I knew it would happen. That deck is phenomenal. Now everyone's crying out that it'll die with the rotation of Ancestral Visions. I don't understand that. I never played a build with Visions in it and I won nearly every game. Sure, the metagame shifts, but Faeries was never a metagame player, just a solid tempo deck. The true loss is Rune Snag. I remember playing the metagame and running Rune Snag sideboard under Flashfreezes in the main. That was awesome. Successful, too. Also hilarious. Countering a Cloudthresher evocation when they were expecting the first Rune Snag of the game is just terrific. Quick 'N Toast does not scare me, it's a Rock-like deck, and even if it's a bad matchup, Rock decks never have unfairly good matchups.

Hello there, Salvation. How are you feeling this fine evening?

(P.S. I don't know if you saw this blog entry before, but I'm re-posting it because I'm not sure how the draft system works - if it does.)

I'm leaving - for real this time.

Block season's two weeks from being over, and I'm going on vacation in one week for the rest of the season. My commitment to the admins at the original time of retirement (back in like April or whatever) has been fulfilled. So I'm out of here.

I'll sticky this, and the "goodbye" entry, then let this sit here.
I'll continue blogging at http://feuerdrache.mindsay.com. If you like reading my thoughts.

It's been a fun two-year ride. Watch your six.

[This is the best song in the galaxy, currently.]

I hold on so nervously
To me and my drink
I wish it was cooling me
But so far, has not been good
It’s been *****ty
And I feel awkward, as I should
This club has got to be
The most pretentious thing
Since I thought you and me
Well I am imagining
A dark lit place
Or your place or my place

Well I’m not paralyzed
But, I seem to be struck by you
I want to make you move
Because you’re standing still
If your body matches
What your eyes can do
You’ll probably move right through
Me on my way to you

I hold out for one more drink
Before I think
I’m looking too desperately
But so far has not been fun
I should just stay home
If one thing really means one
This club will hopefully
Be closed in three weeks
That would be cool with me
Well I’m still imagining
A dark lit place
Or your place or my place

Well, I’m not paralyzed
But, I seem to be struck by you
I want to make you move
Because you’re standing still
If your body matches
What your eyes can do
You’ll probably move right through
Me on my way to you

Well, I’m not paralyzed
But, I seem to be struck by you
I want to make you move
Because you’re standing still
If your body matches
What your eyes can do
You’ll probably move right through
Me on my way to you

I’m not paralyzed
But, I seem to be struck by you
I want to make you move
Because you’re standing still
If your body matches
What your eyes can do
You’ll probably move right through
Me on my way to you

You’ll probably move right through
Me on my way to you

You’ll probably move right through
Me on my way to you

So I'm just gonna ramble until something makes sense.

Woke up this morning with nothing to do, so I didn't do anything.

Finished American Gods. It's a great read. It's not an instant classic or anything of that sort, but it's a fun story. Gaiman did a great job crafting the world. After I finished American Gods, I went back and read the last short story in Fragile Things, which was set in the same world and took place after the events in the novel. So now I can say I've finished both books.

Next on my list of things to read:
-> Good Omens (by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman)
-> Brave New World (by Aldous Huxley)
-> Anansi Boys (by Neil Gaiman)
-> Slaughterhouse-Five (by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr - already read this once, but the plot is so odd it deserves another read)
-> The Works of Billy Shakespeare
---> Henry V
---> Twelfth Night
---> Romeo and Juliet
---> Comedy of Errors
---> Much Ado About Nothing
---> The Tempest
---> King Lear
---> Midsummer Night's Dream

I've got a lot of years of neglect to catch up on...

Mind Control with Derren Brown is redonk. Of course there's no guarantee it isn't all fixed, but he's a pretty awesome cat.

I got a new fedora, and I be rockin' that *****. Hell yes.

Cannot wait for my vacation to Martha's Vineyard. The car ride up there is going to be the best thing ever, pretty much. It's going to be a whole day, at least. That's what it was every year of my childhood. So I'm gonna have a whole day to sit in the back of a car and read. ******* genius. Then there'll be the car ride home.

I love long car rides. I'm ridiculously weird like that. I love sitting in a confined space for long stretches of time, as the road and world flies by at highway speed. The one problem I've always had is that they never last long enough for me to do all the things I plan to do. I always want to read, maybe do a little writing, listen to some music, stare out the window, and generally occupy myself with activities that I normally am too distracted to perform at home. There's something special about car rides for me. Although, now that I think about it, I guess it's not just car rides; it's transit in general. I don't really have any bad memories from car rides. It's always good memories. That's probably what it is. But I also enjoy the confinement.

You don't have to tell me I'm weird. I already know. It's something I enjoy about myself.

Hollywood, we never going down
Hollywood, we never going down
Hollywood, we never going down

And all the kids in the hood, come on wave and shake your hands,
Hollywood we never going down.
When you're drunk, shake that ass like you know how to dance,
Hollywood we never going down.

Start gettin' loud i wanna party now,
If you hate on Undead that's a party foul.
I only drink mickeys, I can't afford the cans.
I drink so much they call me Charlie 40 Hands.
If the keg is tapped, then you're gettin' capped,
Take your girl to the sack and I'll take a nap.
Ladies, drink 'em fast so I could have a blast.
You got your beer gogs on and I'm gettin' ass.
(Like, oh my god, is that Charlie Scene?)
Ladies show me your treats like its Halloween!
You got a fake I.D. and you're seventeen!
I'm a complete catastrophe,
Buzzing around you like a bumble bee.
So let's take some shots!
Do a beer run and flip off a cop!
Girls give me props and there on my jock.
Paris Hilton said "That's hot" when she saw my ****!
(That's hot!)

And all the kids in the hood, come on wave and shake your hands,
Hollywood we never going down.
When you're drunk, shake that ass like you know how to dance,
Hollywood we never going down.

I'm about to serve it up for all you party-goers.
Scene kids, meatheads, alchies, stoners.
Dancin' around like a bunch of *******s,
Funnier than- **** you cab ask Bob Saget.
I never claimed that I knew how to dance
But I'll get drunk, get high, and pull down my pants.
So **** 5 bucks just fill up my cup.
Don't kiss me *****, you just threw up!
Now I'm drunk as ****, about to pass out
(Destination your mother's couch)
Dude is it true you screwed my mom?
**** YEAH BRO, THAT ***** WAS BOMB!
So I'm hopping, jumping, sipping, and skipping.
It's nights like these that we all love living.
So take out your hands and throw the H.U. up!
Now wave it around like you don't give a ****!
(Check please!)

And all the kids in the hood come on wave and shake your hands,
Hollywood we never going down.
When you're drunk shake that ass like you know how to dance,
Hollywood we never going down.

Can't stop, won't stop, Charlie make the booty drop-
Can't stop, won't stop, Server make the booty drop-
Can't stop, won't stop, J make the booty drop-
Can't stop, won't stop, Shady make the booty drop-
Can't stop, won't stop, Charlie make the booty drop-
Can't stop, won't stop, Kurlzz make the booty drop-
Can't stop, won't stop, Funny make the booty drop-
Can't stop, won't stop, lemme see the panties drop,
Producer's on the floor let me see your booty pop

Grab your drink, get on the floor!
Grab your drink and get on the floor!

Let's dance
in the Hood
shake that ass
Hollywood

And all the kids in the hood come on wave and shake your hands,
Hollywood we never going down.
When you're drunk shake that ass like you know how to dance,
Hollywood we never going down.

There are currently three movies I am really looking forward to: War, Superbad, and Stardust.

War is an action movie starring Jason Statham and Jet Li. That's all you need to know right there. Jason Statham is a divine gift to the silver screen.

Superbad looks to be just about the funniest movie ever created. It is going to rival some classics, and become one itself. This I predict.

Stardust is a movie based on a Neil Gaiman book, with a character portrayed by Robert De Niro. You cannot not see a movie when it has these characteristics.

Speaking of Neil Gaiman, I'm currently in the middle of reading his American Gods. Next up is Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, and after that Good Omens by Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. And after that I don't have anything set in stone, but I expect a reread of Slaughterhouse-Five and then a dive into Anansi Boys. Oh, and I skipped over one of the short stories in Gaiman's Fragile Things because it was set in the American Gods universe, and I hadn't read that book yet. So I've got to go back and read that.

I got a job. At the college bookstore. Training starts tomorrow. Just happy to be working again.

No more guitar classes makes me a sad panda, but I guess now's the point where I start teaching myself new things. This is where I get to find out if I'm really a musician or if I just play one on TV.

Got bug bites all over my feet. No idea why.

Mom came into my room this morning and woke me up. So of course I tried to communicate with her in my sleepy stupor, which for some reason led her to believe I was in need of medical assistance. Which I refused because that's retarded. Then it happened again this evening, after I took a nap. Or maybe it didn't happen in the morning and I had a spot of deja vu. Whatever. Recently I've been really in tune with spiritual whatchamacallits. It's actually rather exciting, because I know something's about to happen. Something really big. Because things are aligning weirdly. Of course I couldn't tell you what was going to happen if I tried, but I'm excited to find out what. =D Although I hope it's not, like, a death or something. That would ****in' suck...

Oh, *****! Just realized I napped through Scrubs. Dammit. Guess there's always tomorrow.

I'm off to read some more American Gods now. Enjoy your evening, kids.

I'm all excited about this, I haven't had a screen name epiphany in forever (it's the only way I create new screen names).

My new AIM screen name is: perfectidealist

Every last one of you who reads this should IM me because I'm a friendly fellow. Actually, that might be too much for my buddy list. Eh, who cares, do it anyway.

Goodnight.

I don't know how many of you have seen the advertisements for this movie on television. I'm going to sound off on this real quick. It's about time I turned this into a *real* blog...

Skinwalkers is apparently a vampire movie? I assume. I'm not interested enough to check it out, but between Minnie Driver and her provocative line in the trailer, and the banner ad on Facebook, I can tell that there's some vampiric influence.

Okay, so it's a thriller movie in the summertime, based on vampires. I could accept its existence, although I'd never waste my money on it. Here's the kicker:

It's rated PG-13.

This can only mean one thing: they're targeting the kids coming into high school with vampire "thriller" movies. Nothing in this world is more retarded than a Hot Topic vampire/high school freshman.

"lol let's drink each other's blood"
"hehe ok"
Suddenly I bust in through the wall like the Kool-Aid man.
"OHHH NOOOOO!"

Oh man, and what the Hell is Minnie Driver doing in that movie? How awful do you have to be at life to pick fracking Skinwalkers to star in? After Grosse Point Blank and the Riches I was all over the Driver bandwagon (yes I see the opportunity for innuendo here but I am not touching that...), but after Skinwalkers... man...

And can somebody tell me how a movie can properly accomplish the goals of the thriller genre when it's rated PG-13?

Some times, man, some times...

EDIT: Apparently it's a werewolf movie. This changes nothing.

Numero uno: Super Fantastic Movie Night (as it were)
I went out with my friend from high school and a bunch of his friends (there must have been 20+ people there, we reserved an entire row of seats) to see the Bourne Ultimatum. The movie was fantastic. The best fight scene in recent memory happened about halfway through (when it was over, I said "Matt..Damon" like in Team America). And Julia Stiles. Er, I mean, Julia Stiles!!!

Afterwards we went to one kid's house in quasi-rural western Howard County, Maryland. He has a huge house on a four-acre plot. Wow. Nice. House.

So we chilled out there for a while. We bought out the Bawls from the local Royal Farms. My friend Christian and I rode on Razor scooters while Kyle and Amanda sat and talked. Lamers. His dog was awesome.
At some point soon I'll upload the pictures I took to Facebook. Check regularly. The link is to your right.

Nummer zwei: My stepdad turns 55 soon. Tomorrow, I think. He's all happy now that he'll be a senior citizen. It means he gets to move into a house in Heritage Harbour (aka Olde Peoples Towne) and eat the senior citizen's meal at Denny's. My stepdad is weird, y'all.
Anyway, hopefully this will put him in a good mood and he'll leave me alone for coming in at 5 AM this morning ( =D/-< =D\-< =D/-< =D\-< ).
And just a few minutes ago, my mom went to get his birthday gift (5 $50 Best Buy gift cards so he can get his own digital camera; get it? 5 $50 cards... $50x5... kinda close to 55... I dunno my mom is really weird too). When she left, he asked her where she was going because he's nosy, and she told him she was going to the grocery store.

Bob (stepdad): To get what?
Mom: Um, hamburger buns.
Bob: There are hamburger buns in the pantry!

This continued through several different food items, until eventually she gave up and said:

Mom: I'm going on an errand. Do you need anything?
Bob: Where are you going?
Mom: Nowhere. Just around the block.
Bob: (points at dog) Why don't you take him if you're just going around the block?
Mom: No! I can't!
Bob: Why not?
Mom: He slows me down! just- look, I'm leaving, do you need anything?
Bob: Where are you gonna go?
Mom: Anywhere you need me to go, if you need anything.
Bob: No, I don't need anything.

Goddammit, my parents are fracking hilarious sometimes. Almost makes up for the extreme boredom I experience in this house.

Kaiser Chiefs
Shiny Toy Guns
Hollywood Undead
Say Anything
MUSE
CAKE
Robert Palmer
Postal Service
The Shins

feel free to yell at me

So I've managed to absorb an obsession of sorts from urzassedatives: We Need Girlfriends.

Fun stuff.
Go look it up on YouTube if you're bored.

Had to change a car tire today. That was all kinds of fun. Spent the last $20 in my wallet to fix the damned tire. Oh well. I've got a job interview tomorrow, hopefully (aka definitely, I'm so employable...) that'll pan out and I'll have more than a few dollars a day.
I also get $100 today from my dad, so I'm not completely broke. Just mostly.

No Standard tournaments for me. At least, no participation in them.

Jimmy Young got DQ'd for cheating at Nats. He might be suspended. If he is, that'll shake up the leaderboard at GCS. Enough that I might have a shot at winning. That doesn't change the fact that I can't afford to play the ******* game. I should be saving up my money. Not just so that I'll have it when I need it, but so that I can buy nice things like a nice electric guitar, and pay people off like my stepdad. That's my first priority, I think. And I owe him like $800, too. Joy.

I'd watch Garden State again but it's already 1:30 AM. At this point I'd have to stay up all night, I think. I'd only get like three hours of sleep. Or I could spend that extra time doing something productive while hopped up on caffeine... no. I've got an interview tomorrow. Can't walk in there crashing.

****, I wanna watch that movie so bad, too. Gah. Shouldn't have watched Pan's Labyrinth.

I really gotta buy the Garden State DVD. I've watched it like five times now, and I keep wanting to watch it. I don't know if I'll ever return it to Netflix...

Happy August, kids.

LOVE
JIM