Soundtrack of Your Life

Ok here’s the deal: My friend TemporalParadox (remember him from Goofus, Gallant and Gus?) posted a fun exercise on his Facebook page about creating a soundtrack for your life.  Basically you turn on your music collection on shuffle and get ready to write. As a song comes up you fill it in the first slot. Second song, second slot and so on.  I fiddled with it a little and got an interesting little thingamajig.  It may not be completely indicative of my life but it’s definitely indicative of my musical tastes. Enjoy.

Opening Credits:  Alice Cooper –  No More Mr. Nice Guy

First Day of School: Tenacious D – Beelzeboss (Final Showdown)

Falling in Love: The Ramones – I Wanna Be Sedated

Fight Song: MC Frontalot – Penny Arcade Theme

Breaking Up: Roger Miller – Atta Boy Girl

Studying/Working: They Might Be Giants – Experimental Film

Life: Depeche Mode – Lie to Me

Mental Breakdown: Rage Against the Machine – Guerilla Radio

Sunny Day: Sex Pistols – God Save the Queen

Rainy Day: Red Hot Chili Peppers – Under the Bridge

Party/Dance Music: The Blues Brothers – Rubber Biscuit

Sleeping/Dreaming: Charlie Daniels – Devil Went Down to Georgia

Nightmares: AC/DC – Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

Flashback: Citizens of Halloween – This is Halloween

Wedding: Steeler’s Wheel – Stuck in the Middle with You

Birth of a child: Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc.

Final Battle: Harvey Danger – Cream and Bastards

Death Scene: The Bird and the Bee – Preparedness

Funeral Song: Lynyrd Skynyrd – Simple Man

End Credits: Ozzy Ozborne – I Don’t Wanna Stop

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Expelliarmus!

I have an admission to make. I love Harry Potter.  There are many reasons why I am a little… hesitant to admit this.  For three years I campaigned against the Harry Potter series.  I never was one of the crusaders that believed it was satanic.  I was part of the group that thought that since it is popular it’s crap.  Also the first movie was absolutely wretched. And why hadn’t Lord of the Rings been a topic of public conversation?  This Rowling woman couldn’t be be better than Tolkien. No way.

Well, I still think she isn’t.  However, after I saw the movie version of The Goblet of Fire I started to really get it.  I delved into the mythos… down the fanboy rabbit hole I usually frequent.  I was sucked in after an hour of research.  I read The Prisoner of Azkaban and gave up hope of escaping.  I embraced it instead.  Then I watched The Order of the Phoenix and resolved to read all of the books before reading the last one.  I read or listened to The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire, The Half-Blood Prince, The Order of the Phoenix, The Chamber of Secrets and finally the Deathly Hallows.  It’s all pretty good. And yes I did read them out of order. I also saw the movies out of order.

It’s true that I like the magic and fantasy of it. But even better than that is the relations between the characters and the way that magic is treated often as an everyday occurence.  The Wizarding World, as it’s called, is plagued with a lot of the problems we all have. They have the O.W.L.s which are like our S.A.T.s, they have beauracracy and stupid politicians, they have terrorists and laws.  I often thought that if I had magic powers things would be easier but perhaps I’m better off just dreaming about it.

I urge people to get over themselves and check this out. This is not a book just for kids. I’m 25 and I enjoy it. I know a 50 year old who loves it so age means nothing.  My favorite characters are the twins Fred and George Weasely who are very much like the jokers and goofballs I end up being friends with. I can recount a history of these types of people.

Anyway. Read a book!

Learn to Drive, New Jersey!

(Post Dated September 9, 2007)

Today’s entry is about driving in New Jersey.  See, the skills are a little lacking in this region driving-wise.  I come from Baltmore, Maryland where driving is about the same as many cities on the Eastern Seaboard.  Baltimore is pretty much ok as traffic goes.  Yes, it has its traffic jams and jellies but overall, I never had much problem getting from point A to point B.  I knew a lot of the back roads and shortcuts which made things easier.  Driving is much less stressful if you travel the road less traveled.  Also, people are fairly courteous in Baltimore and I found myself being afforded leeway in strange times.  For instance, I was waved on by countless good samaritans who seemed to honestly believe that (surprise surprise) they would get to their destination no quicker by not being polite.

I’m sorry if this offends people I know but the people I care that I offend are not the offenders here.  New Jersey drivers are not polite. New Jersey drivers are not even safe drivers for the most part.  Drivers around here are aggressive and blessed with this misplaced sense of entitlement.  Yesterday I started to play Bad Driver Bingo. It was either that or get angry or cry.

Witnessed yesterday in one 15 minute drive:

— Two ladies who nearly wrecked me in the same parking lot by driving down the center of the road.  If I had not been paying attention I would have hit their cars or swerved into a parked car.  Just because you are in a hurry does not preclude your responsibility to drive safely.

— Minivan tailgaited me for several blocks.  I looked in my rearview mirror and saw that it was a lady on her cellphone.  Shut the phone off. Is it an emergency or are you having a chat that can wait?

This may not seem so bad but it unnerves me.  Because of a stomach bug and a tight work schedule I am not so well rested lately.  I already have to deal with raccon rings near my eyes, I do not need to worry about getting into a wreck on top of that.  This is not meant to be a negative post. I do not want negative posts on this blog.  This is a cry for responsibility and actually giving a flying fig about yours and others’ safety.  Oh and I’m aware that traffic in DC and New York City can be infinitely worse.  North Jersey doesn’t have the excuses of these cities. Suck it up and drive safely. Thank you.
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This post was made more than a year ago. Know what? I totally still agree with it. I hate driving in New Jersey. Especially the afternoon.  In fact, I’ve almost stopped driving altogether because of bad traffic. That and gas prices. Ugh. More positive post next.