Against my better judgment, I saw Dawn of the Dead last night. The only showing that wasn't sold out was the 12:30 am one. What better time to catch some zombies?

I enjoyed the movie, but it wasn't as good as I had hoped it would be. It lacked a lot of the wit that made the original so good. And I didn't wet myself in terror, which some might say is a good thing.

I just got home from work. I took some cold medicine after the movie got out around 2:30. Then I couldn't fall asleep. Curse you, Day-Quil! I read The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath for a while. I'm thoroughly enjoying it. But then, I haven't gotten to the parts that send everyone who reads it into a spiraling depression.

Miguel has disappeared somewhere for a few days; I forget exactly where. I'm not going to lie, it's kind of nice not finding the soy milk left out all the time.

Donaldo got back to his unit safely.

Luis posted.

My niece and I shared a sandwich. I didn't think she would like spinach, tomato, and cheese, but she kept coming back for more.

I still have a lot of homework to do before school starts back up. I know I'm not alone on that, though.

Oh, right. Taxes. I should do my taxes.

And I think I have to renew my registration on my car. After I get the emissions test.

I kinda sorta started writing a story. We'll see how it goes.

I haven't seen most of the people I regularly see all week. I kinda miss 'em.

And now it is that most wonderful of times...

Nap time.

Have everyone else's schedules been shot to hell by Spring Break?

I know mine has.

Except for the not doing homework. That is still going as strongly as it ever has.

Donaldo leaves tomorrow morning. It was fun having him here. It's odd to think that his three year stint will be up in a few months and he'll be home for good. I wonder what will happen then.

There hasn't been much break for me this week. I've been working more, and just today I worked from 9-2 with Nunemacher at a local theatre company doing some old-school tech stuff. It was fun, and I hadn't realized how frikkin' well it pays. The downside is that the work has odd hours. At least, some people might consider that a downside.

My back hurts, though. I think I did it the other night lifting a passed-out Donaldo out of the bathroom and into his bed. Or during a volleyball game with my co-workers. Or maybe all that sort of hurt it and today's hauling around massive wooden structures was the straw that broke the camel's back.

After work at the theater ended at two, I had to be at my regular job at three. I got off at 8:30, came home, ate dinner, and went out with Donaldo, Jay, and Boston. We didn't do anything too crazy since we were all tired and both Jay and I are pretty sick.

I've been sick at least once every month since January. I'm starting to think that I must have destroyed my immune system a long time ago, and the only thing that was keeping the bacteria and viruses in check was my elevated blood alcohol level.

Irony abounds.

I'm exhausted right now, but hey, it happens. I feel pretty good, I'd say. All the work will pay off soon, and I will buy my shiny new loft bed, a computer desk, and a high-speed internet connection.

Then I'll be able to do some serious surfing/sleeping.

Speaking of sleeping, I have to see Donaldo off at 7 or so, then help my mom with the progress reports at her school. If I bust my ass I should be able to finish in time to catch a nap before work at 4.

Good night.

The Bad Girl/ Hipster: More than anything, you
bring a certain beauty, style and flare to
being a superhero. Generally skilled in the
finer arts of seduction, gathering information,
and guile as well as butt kicking for the
greater good, you have a roguish streak or sexy
style that makes others naturally gravitate to
you. Though generally a good guy, you are not
totally adverse to working outside the law if
it will achieve heroic or just ends. You tend
to have a decent sense of humor or high
intelligence that makes you an equal to any
hero, and you also tend to have your fingers in
a whole lot of pies, so to speak. You also
often have contacts in low places, which while
occasionally offending other hero types, tends
to be very useful. Famous Comic Bad Girls/
Hipsters include Catwoman, Gambit, Grunge and
Shi.


What Type of Kick-Butt Super Hero Would You Be? (images)
brought to you by Quizilla

But today, on St. Patrick's Day, everyone is Irish as well as being a superhero.

I won't really have any powers. In fact, the irony will be that I'm sober when I'm fighting.

My alter-ego will be loveable and affluent drunk-about-town, Pat McRotch.

Two Incidents Involving People I Don't Know:

Incident 1:

Last night, Miguel, Donaldo, Jay, Boston, and I went out to play pool. After we finished our last game and headed to sit at the bar, I saw my friend Matt that I used to work with at Rustler's Rooste.

I hadn't seen him in three years, so I ran over all excited and punched him in the arm to get his attention. He looked pretty surprised to see me. "Hey man! What's up!" I said. I stuck out my hand, shook it vigorously, and gave him a hug.

"Uh, just hanging out, what about you?"

"I'm here with some friends; we just got done playing. How are things, are you still working at the Rooste?"

"The what?"

What did he mean, the what? I looked at him more closely and realized that while his profile looked exactly like Matt, face-to-face he looked less like Matt and more like someone I didn't know at all.

"Eh, uh, I mean, where are you working now?" I asked him, committing myself to the charade.

He told me, and for about a minute we conversed. I could tell he was desperately trying to figure out where the hell he knew me from, but I don't think he could tell I was desperately trying not to let him realize that he didn't know me at all.

It's a good thing people aren't honest with each other, otherwise he might have admitted that he didn't recognize me and asked who I was. Then I would have been screwed.

I didn't wait long to make my escape. I extended my hand and said, "Hey, it was good to see you, take care." We shook hand again, and to further confuse him I hugged him again. It seemed to work, he still looked pretty confused.

Then I got the hell out of there.

No real harm done. He will maybe feel like a jerk for not recognizing me. I'll learn to be very careful to make sure I know who people are before I run up and bear-hug them.

Incident 2:

Tonight, we three brothers and Boston went out to a bar Miguel knew of called Rogue. It's a punk bar and they had a live band playing that night. It was fun.

One of Miguel's friend's friend was celebrating his birthday there tonight. His friends wanted to "punk" him and have Donaldo, Boston, and I go up to him, shout obscenities and threaten to beat him up, and then him and all his friends would burst out with "Happy Birthday To You."

This isn't the kind of thing I normally approve of; triggering someone's fight-or-flight instincts in a crowded bar, but I figured his friends knew what was best for him so I agreed.

The band is almost done with their set so we wait for them to finish. When they do, I take point, stride up to him and begin my verbal barrage. I was thrown off in the middle of it when he turned and started walking away. I circled him again, shouted "We're gonna do this right here, right now!" Then I began to caterwaul, "Happy Birthday toooo yoooou! Haaaappyy Birthday tooo yoouuu!" All his friends joined in, we finished our song, and he looked very relieved.

I considered it my good deed for the evening.

Luis has posted.

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Source photograph provided by Joey Moore. Image Manipulation by David DoBell.

"Excuse me miss, I'd like to have an argument, please."

I found it cumbersome to respond to my brother Miguel on the commenting system so I'm putting it down here.

I've been reading too much Ayn Rand?

I don't think you've read enough, then. The system you're thinking of where you deserve something because you need it is Communism.

I was using that argument because it is closer to your values system.

The Red Cross provides a service to soldiers to transport them home should an emergency arise. That is their criteria.

Since this is not an emergency, it is not an accordance with that criteria. (Analogy here:) Like writing a wheelchair off to your health insurance because you don't feel like walking.

After discussing it with Donaldo, it seems The Red Cross is smarter than I thought. Because it wasn't anything dire, they didn't actually pay for his travel; they only authorized his leave from his unit.

If you wish to argue further, you're going to have to stop saying things like:

"put your money where your mouth is by paying that so called soldier back,"

Your constant attaching of emotions to my statements is annoying. I didn't say I was sad about it. If the money is there, I say use it. Just don't pretend it isn't needed by someone else, in this case, other American soldiers.

"You think that the system is so ill designed that its sapping someone elses resources??"

Oh, is it one of those systems that magically uses its resources without using any of its resources?

"Also your analogy is erroneous as is your logic.

you think I would be pleased if Anya had stubbed her toe and someone called me and said hey Anya is hurt please call back....??"

Eh...I said "I would wonder how pleased you would be" and then made my analogy. You misread it. I know it can be hard to detect sarcasm in print, but please, make an effort. You wouldn't be pleased, which is my point. You would be frantic with worry. Which is what you did to Donaldo when you called him.

"you made a comment about how I should calm down because it wasnt like he was in the intensive care unit or dying."
"You made your assnine comment before you had the facts in front of you."

I was just waking up, but I think I did say that you should calm down because he wasn't in intensive care unit or dying. I made that "asinine comment" because, well, he wasn't in intensive care at the time. Is that what you mean by "not having the facts?" By your logic (here comes another analogy,) if I described someone as "alive" while they were alive and then they later died, I would be wrong for ever calling them alive.

When he did go into intensive care, I was right there with him. I helped move him from his old room to the IC Unit. I stayed there for some time speaking to the staff. They informed me that he had stabilized and was already improving before I left that afternoon.

"annoyed at worrying over a loved one?
seriously.."

I said I was annoyed because everyone was "acting like he was dying". That statement is what the kids call "hyperbole"; an exaggeration to emphasize a point. It was made off-hand. I mean that some people believed that Luis was much worse off than he is without any basis for it.

And finally:

"let other people worry about what they think they should do."

Just like you're doing right now, right? (That was sarcasm.)

"heres a spoon to eat your words."

I don't need a spoon. You've been putting words right into my mouth.