You have reason to believe again!

I know this a little uncharacteristic of me, blogging at such an early hour! Blogging in the sunny afternoon! I think the reason I am doing it right now is because I was up later than usual writing a paper last night(if you followed me on Twitter  you would have been given live updates on the paper's status) and this morning I had to get up at 7. In order to get through my 8 am class I purchased a delicious caffeinated coffee drink! So now I am buzzing( funny I say that, I just  had to chase a bee out of my room) with energy. I already organized and reorganized my Bookmarks bar a few times. Also I went Google Reader crazy. Google Reader is great. It's like blog-stew. And I RSS-ed my Hulu favorites (speaking of Hulu, ABC/Disney is now a part of it! I am excited about that). 

I'm in the mood for a Michael's Media Throwdown. A smash-attack of music, movies, books, and television.  

I sort of already touched on the TV with the Hulu mention. As for any other new or interesting tidbits.... Heroes finale was sub-par. The whole show has really slipped in my PROFESSIONAL opinion. Season one will remain its stand alone legacy. LOST on the other hand has continued to blow me away. Episode after episode. I am going to be really sad when the show ends next season but am glad the show has continued to provide excellent television. And for all of you non-Lost watchers...... I'm sure it will be a show that is re-run a lot. I could see ABC starting the whole series over and playing it on Fridays or weekends. By that point I should have all of the DVDs though.

You know how I said I probably wouldn't see any movie until school got out for me? Well guess who saw MONSTERS vs. ALIENS last weekend! Me! 3-d IMAX(by AMC's standard which is below Regal's I must say.) It was funny. I took my little cousin and he liked it a lot. Especially when he got home and decided that he was Insectasarus and his dog was an Alien. One thing that I was a little worried about was the strain the 3-d had on my eyes. Im not the biggest fan of the whole 3d thing, and this was not really a good step in the direction of changing that view. Of course, I am holding out any final judgement until I see Avatar. 

I am looking forward to seeing Star Trek next weekend! J.J. Abrams is awesome in my book. 

Speaking of books...... actually I don't have much to say. But I guess this time of the school year is one where I think about books in some regard. Now is when I make the decision of which books(non-textbook) that I want to keep and not sell back. Last semester I kept In Cold Blood and I know I am for sure keeping the Short Story collection book we got. Will any of my Philosophy books make the cut? I think a few might. 

In order to talk to you about Music, I must switch into DJ mode. And the DJ name I came up with for myself last night as I tried to fall asleep is.........MiKE Robota! 

I'm still toying with the Robota part. I'm worried people will read the last o in Robota as a long o. But when you say robot its generally a short o. But when I see the a at the end even I start to think long o! Oh well, I'll re-address the issue if infact I ever start DJing. 

But lets see what's interesting in my music world. 

Passion Pit! I posted a music video of theirs a few Sundays ago and I must say I am really taking a liking to them. Their first real album (non-ep) is coming May 19th. I might have to go buy it! 

I am quite pleased with the fact that this new band that I heard before others is becoming so popular. Its every music listeners dream. Actually probably more in my realm/genre it is. 

You can't take my happy feeling away! Here's their site. 

Another song that I have had repeating for the last few days is this one--->v

Suckers - “It Gets Your Body Movin’”

It has a end of the year/time to leave, but not to fast kinda vibe to it. Perfection in my present standing. Give it a listen. 

And finally I really enjoyed this interview between Rainn Wilson and Rivers Cuomo 

One of the best things about Weezer is how they really can't be defined by just one genre. They really do whatever they want and it works extremely well. 

I just wanted to switch the topic one more time. Over the past few days I've started to notice something different about my appearance. Maybe its my lack of shaving and the tiny patches of facial hair that results, and maybe its my hair that hasn't gotten cut since spring break... but I feel like I'm starting to look more grown up! And it's not a bad thing. On top of that I feel that I am finally starting to appreciate my mess of hair that grows on my head. I have struggled with it in the past(freshman year was certainly hil-hair-ious....I'm sorry that was godawful.) But I starting to not always be overcome with the urge to chop it off. Oh course for the summer I will probably cut it short my obvious reasons...but in the fall and winter months maybe I'll keep it long and start to appreciate the Wavy goodness. 

What do you think? Do I look any older? Or am I just the same old little Michael you remember. 

 

Well...This may suprise some of you...but this is my 2nd to last Thursday blog from my dorm in the freshman hall. I leave on the 8th so the night before I will have some sort of goodbye to dorm blog/tribute. Then I kick into SUMMER MODE!! 

But before that day comes I have a big weekend of studying, then finals and a few more final assignments. So wish me luck with those! 

Ok that should have kept you folks busy for a good while. Final week! Here I come. 

UPDATE* I just realized we've completed a Second Month of Blogging! Congratulations to all.

EARTH SHATTERING UPDATE(2.0)!!!!

This just came out today!!! Yes! YES! YES!

 

Cheddar Bunnies

Is the name of the box of cheesy snacks on my desk.

It's funny. After I started making this last movie, I've been seeing bunnies everywhere. Coincidence? Probably.

I applied for two jobs today. Blockbuster and Borders. They have a knack of asking the most spot-on questions that I would not like to be asked.

Do you like talking to people?

...

And there are only two selections of course: yes. no.

I mean.

Really now.

Let's define people.

Also, this is worth noting, they had a question that said "When someone does something that annoys you, do you get angry?

Yes. No.

In short, I don't plan on hearing back from anyone ever.

Also.

You guys are going to love this, but I used you as personal references. I don't know what that means, but if you get a call. I don't know. It was kind of weird.

I had an extraordinary experience last night. It requires a diagram.



lovely. I know. Don't ask me why my floor is in pink. It just turned out that way.

Okay, so what you should take away from this is that there is a staircase in the rear/sides of the dorm. However, if you take it all the way up you get to that red X, a place where no one goes because no one ever goes to the top of Henley. Which makes it the perfect getaway from annoying roommates. Anyways, me and Katie were watching Avatar at the X, when all of the sudden we heard the door open below us. I quickly turned off the volume (mistake) and we start hearing this black kid rapping to himself. He's using an unruly quantity of explitives. The one that sticks with me is "goddamn pork pussy." Katie and I are DEAD silent. If you haven't figured out yet, this kid is represented by the blue guy. Anyways, he starts really getting into it, and it's like he's trying to memorize it or something. Well, he starts pacing up and down the stairs chanting this monologue of profanity, and he keeps getting really close to our staircase. Katie later told me she saw the sleve of his t-shirt come around the stairwell several times. All of the sudden, nearing the climax of his rant, he bursts up the stairway and our paths meet at last. Turns out he was a short asian kid with long hair. He says "Oh, wow." And me and katie just say "yeah."

"wow."

He excuses himself, then comes back and says he was just practicing lines. But for what? I do not know. I think that will be a question that continues to haunt me for years to come.

Let's talk movie

I'm still coming up with the script, but I'm pretty close to being done. And when I say "script" I really just mean "What's going to happen." You probably knew that. Anyways, here's the deal.

I'm going to need people some day between the 10th and the 12th. Like 15. 15 would work. Can we make this happen? Here's the idea: John walks into a surprise Birthday party. Yeah? I need people to be there to say "Surprise." That's all. It's a lot to drag people out for. But. If you know someone, invite!!! The more the better.

A shining light of good news in a time of certain death

Hello all. Today is Tuesday, but yesterday was Monday. And Monday was good in the end. Usually Mondays are long and painful, but yesterday I got good news. Yesterday I had Finance Association as usual every Monday. Yesterday was the Finance Association elections and I decided to run for a spot on the board. I was worried all day for this event, which was at 4:00pm. I had to give a 5 min speech and ask about 15 mins of questions. I volunteered to go first, so after I went I had to wait for a bunch of other people to go before we were sent outside so the board could make their decisions. After that, they brought us back in and gave us the news. Ladies and Gentlemen, I am happy to say that I am the new Director of Advertising for the CSUF Finance Association. I am pretty excited about it. All that work payed off. One girl accidentally told me that I have the most attendance of all the non-club board members and that they are going to give me an award for it at the banquet this Saturday. Award! That is awesome. When I made my resume last weekend, I used the CSUF career builder website to help me make one. It had a category for awards and achievements. It made me realize I don't have any real awards. Sad. Well now I will have one! Oh what a good day that turned out to be. Plus the 97% on my sociology test didn't hurt.

So yeah it had been a while since I did a corn update. I'm happy to say the corn is growing good. It is hard to take a good picture with the fence around it, but hopefully you can see the growth.



Currently:



Good old corn. Should be tasty. It's organic!


Foreigner song of the day:

"Waiting for a girl like you"

This is one of the most famous and popular Foreigner songs next to Juke Box Hero and Feels like the first time. It is a very good song. A good melody and rhythm to it. The title is pretty much self-explanatory for what the song is about, like pretty much all Foreigner songs.

A Matter of the Mindless

I remember once when I was about 9 years old. I was on a vacation with my family and another family in Palm Springs. Somehow the question arose asking, what is the biggest whale. I considered myself a bright little child and started pondering my answer. One of the girls in the family we were staying with said that the Blue Whale was the biggest whale. For some reason that did not sound right to. I think, I thought, the humpback whale is the biggest whale. I was sure of it. I had some distant memory of a whale video I watched while my dad getting his teeth cleaned at the dentist. The humpback whale. I proudly gave my answer. A debate emerged between the two of us and our answers were brought before the parents. I took my defeat quietly and withstood the expected little bits of taunting. In my mind I felt like I had fought so hard for the humpback whale. I had stood by him. It was then that I concluded that because I had done this for the humpback whale, now the humpback whale owed me. For all of my defense and unflinching devotion.  I engrained this notion into my mind, that the humpback whale would be indebted to me for my actions. And I still feel that way to this very day. 

Will any sort of restitution come my way from these mammals of the sea? 

Will I forever be gawked at by their larger whale cousins?

I cannot really say. I don't think you can either. 

I had a dream last night. That I was back in 8th grade theatre production. I was standing backstage and it was the opening night of the show. It was a Shakespeare play and for some reason I was one of two guys who was cast as the Queen. I was talking with people backstage and they told me I didn't have a costume. And then they told me that I never got a script. So they handed me a script. What was I supposed to do? It was opening night and I didn't know any of my lines. Before I could figure it out I woke up. 

This past Thursday night/Friday morning I had another dream. I remember that it was animated. Like old hand drawn animation and it moved quickly. The colors had to keep up with the figures. And there was a sword fight between the hero and some villain. Then it flashed back to the hero crawling in the rain. And eating mud. I remember the mud eating explicitly. Then it revealed that he was crawling towards a humansized owl. The owl was yelling at him like he was training the hero. It was raining a lot. When I woke up I thought this was the most amazing thing I had every dreamt. But it wasn't, however it was still a great dream. 

I honestly wish every dream I ever had could be stored in some brainfile that I could open any time I wanted. And I could just watch them. I guess thats part of what makes dreams significant, the ones that you remember at least. The whole fact that you only remember certain ones for no particular reason at all. 

Its all just something to consider. 

this too.

Pt. 2

Is this cheating? Maybe. But I did get a lot of sleep.

MOVIE

is turning out well

At least the first bit is.

And I just finished the animation that goes into it, so things should be wrapping up here pretty quickly now.



My parents are funny. I don't think they know it though. It seems that the only thing they really care about anymore is what's for dinner. Their entire day revolves around a meal, and it's starting to get on my nerves. I woke up this morning and my dad asked what sounded good for dinner. At like, 10. I said "I don't care," a phrase which I have been using more often for some reason. Jake, my roommate who found God a couple weeks ago, asked me what I thought about religion. I don't care I responded, and he got offended. But it's the truth. So. Wait, no, this is about dinner. My dad then called me a couple hours later and asked if I was starting to get hungry for dinner. No, I say. My mom asked if I wanted anything for dinner and I said no. She said I could come to the market and pick something out. NO.

And I get the feeling I'm coming off as a brat child with no respect for my comfortable lifestyle, but this is honestly driving me insane. It wouldn't be so bad if it didn't happen every. single. day.

And they always get so hurt when I tell them this.

But.

...

It seems like most people I've come across have their priorities out of whack.
Not just about dinner.
Although that is an example that comes to mind.

I don't know.

Summer.

It's still really far away. 4 weeks.

4 weeks is a long time, and yet it feels like summer is so soon.

deceptive

I don't know if anyone remembers that huge watch I wore in 9th grade, but I went to a watch-fixer today to get it fixed. For sentimental reasons.

Oh, and that picture I drew..:



Apparently some guy on DeviantArt selects a couple hundred pictures each year and puts them in a collection called 200X unknown talented artists, and he chose that picture of mine. So that's cool.

Although I'm still unknown.

But hey.

Well I just got back from the Opera. I didn't plan on it taking that long, and now it's already Sunday. Technically. But honestly, for all intents and purposes it could be Saturday. So blog. Let's do this.

MOVIE

Yeah.

It's a difficult one, but I made it through the first act pretty well. I need to do some more fine-tune editing and some careful song selection, but other than that it's pretty much in the bag.

Today was my last picture a day. What is this emptiness that is pervading my soul? Just kidding. I'm glad it's over. That was a really bad idea of mine. A blog is totally different, because I almost always have something to say. But to draw...I think not. I wonder if that means anything. probably not.

In any case, I can now return to my normal life.

You know what. It's late.

I have a lot to say.

But tomorrow is Sunday.

So.

...

Short and Sweet

Today will be another short blog. Sorry to disappoint. I just did not get around to it today and I'm running out of time right now.

Today I did a New York Life office tour with the Finance Association. It was alright I guess. Nothing special. It did not really drive me to want to be an insurance salesman. Maybe in the future. It was supposed to be two hours, but it ended up being 1 hour. After though, I went and got lunch with some of the other club members at a Thai place in Irvine. It was surprisingly good.

I really am getting into starcraft again. fun stuff. I can't wait for the second starcraft to come out. Hopefully early 2010. you never know with Blizzard though. I've been thinking about buying stock in ActivisionBlizzard. I did my hw and they seem to be a pretty stable and good company to invest in. So i might invest a little of my Roth money in there soon.

Alright time to go. Hopefully I manage my time better on tuesday and do a decent blog. I'll try to find some pics to post for now.



Foreigner song of the day:

"Woman Oh Woman"

Just another Foreigner song.



This pic has a story but its dumb so I'm not going to talk about it.

All the things I knew...

Well that was funny. Earlier tonight I was a little worried about finding a time to blog. But then this thought popped into my head: Once I put the kids to sleep. 

KIDS! When did that happen. By kids I do mean my little cousins. Those who I am babysitting tonight and this weekend. But isn't that just a funny thought. One that many parent bloggers probably find themselves thinking. Which makes me think about parent bloggers. Here's to you. Keep doing what you do. 

Well it's practically another week down. Which means two to go. For me at least. Slowpokes around the world curse me! But don't you dare forget about your 5 week winter break. 

Well lets see. The past few days I had a few assignments due and I went to an art museum. Our teacher decided that we should take a field trip. But that we should go on our own time. I miss the old high school field trips. I was lucky with Diablo Heat seeing as I was field tripping it well into my senior year. But back to this museum. LACMA! I have to say, it was well worth the drive and cost of parking. The next time people/ MVamigos come visit me and they say..What should we do? I will suggest LACMA. Another valuable thing I got out of the trip was the realization that I could still be a painter if I wanted to. To this day I've done about six paintings. Two of a light house, two of flowers, one weird mashup of color and hearts and handprints, and then one sailboat. They were really good when I was in 5th grade. When I tried again I realized my talent stayed in the 5th grade. But LACMA gave me hope. Contemporary art is for lovers! You can literally produce anything and it can be art. I like that. I could see how people wouldn't like that, but I like it. The fact that it's so subjective. So changeable. Also if I could interest a Contemporary-loving new money Dutch hippie who takes an interest in my "creative works" then I would be pleased as well. But I don't want to get ahead of myself. First I have to put paintbrush to canvas. Then we shall see. 

I've also been stuck in a mindful daze this past week. Aiding that daze or possible influencing it heavily would be the music I've been listening to. 

Dear Cat Stevens/Yusaf Islam. Your songs make me realize that if I ever needed a soundtrack to a dramatic and tearful revelation in my life I would need to look no further than those very songs. 

P.S. How's the name change working out?

I will supplement that little letter/quip with two music videos posted at the end(or After the Jump, as they would say on other blogs...except that it doesn't work that way here) 

Also Alexi Murdoch has been doing wonders for the mental mindfulness as well. Look him up too. *Hint* his song is featured in one of the movie trailers I posted a few weeks back. 

I think this is how I get when I reach the conclusion of things. (Probably having to do with my movie influences, seeing as these songs are perfect for that third act!) 

Contemplative states and all. Can you believe that We are already 1 year deep into college. 

I mean really. Think about that. What about 6th grade. Wasn't that like yesterday? No. No you say. Well it still feels that way. 

The process continues. 

Well I think that's all I can crank out for the night. 

Maybe I'll throw up a funny picture. 

Videos:

not exactly a funny picture but it was one that I had never noticed before because it was so dark. So I iPhoto-ed it up a bit. Gave it a nice golden touch. 

You can say what you want. 

On the manner of things

I've been trying to stay on top of things. I worked out, I made appointments, I discussed things with my peer animators, I drew my picture a day, I wrote this blog, and I did my macroecon homework. And yet, despite these great strides of trying to get things done, I keep ending up way behind.

Still without job
Still haven't been actively pursuing a job
Still way behind in visual storytelling
Do not have a script for visual storytelling
I think my teacher is starting to catch on that I just keep making Friend Melodramas
And I really need a toenail clipper. But that's unnecessary information.

And I don't feel busy, per say. More that I'm just coming up short.

I don't know. This weekend is going to be tough.

3 more picture-a-days for those of you who've been keeping track. I have garnered more attention than I was expecting, and I'm not quite sure what to do with it all. Everyone wants a finale. But I'm just one kid drained of enthusiasm .

I've been trying to figure out how to upload my animation onto the Chapman animators website to show my support, but the darn thing is just so hard to figure out.

I don't have anything worthwhile to say I guess.



Stupid Jessica. I had a meeting with her again today. She asks me if I wanted to do InsideTrack next year, and I was just like yeah. no. that's okay. And she smiles and said she thought so and that I didn't seem like the type of student. And I smile back. And beneath our smiles are frowns. And beneath those frowns are weeks and weeks of pent up rage of poorly designed meetings and personality clashes.

Apparently I was smiling when I was typing that. Jake asked what I was smiling at, and I said nothing. He asked if it was the blog, and I stopped for a second. I remembered we had had this conversation a while ago, and as a result mentions of Jake dwindled there for a while.

Because you just never know who might read this.

I hope Jessica does.
whore..

Whoa, what. no.
Sorry.
Sometimes things like that just slip by me.

Ode To Yosemite

Oh Yosemite. You mean so much to me. Every summer you shine a little positive light on my summers year after year. You are a green and gray masterpiece carved by God's glacial hand. A land where the bluest sky meets streaks of granite minerals surrounded by century old trees. A place of beauty, adventure, and history. Without you Yosemite, my life would not be the same. For you have bestowed so much upon me in my childhood years, running into my adolescent and young adult years. Yosemite you are my past, present, and my future.

Yosemite is a marvelous place. I could talk about it for hours, but don't worry I won't. Yosemite has had a tremendous impact on my life personally and everyone who has entered its gates. In the presence of its beauty for the first time it is hard not to be.

Let me tell you a few things about my history with Yosemite. I am not sure how many times I have been officially, but I know its over 10 for sure. I have always gone in the summer, but one of these days I would love to see Yosemite in the snow. I was 2 years old when I first went to Yosemite and I have the scars to prove it. I got chicken pocks when I was two when I went to Yosemite that year. I still have a few scars from it on my face if you've never noticed. So my first trip to Yosemite was an interesting way to start my Yosemite vacation tradition. One trip to Yosemite I embarked on was with James' family a couple years ago. That was a notable year. That was the year I successfully climbed Half Dome. More importantly, that was the year I drove a knife into my thumb before the Half Dome hike. I had never bled so much in my life. James remembers it very vividly. The third trip that was very notable was the first time I went without parental supervision. Last year I did the trip with 3 of my friends and not with family members. That was definitely a memorable year for me because It was new, different, and exciting. Every time i go to Yosemite I encounter new experiences and no two trips are the same. However each year I go, the only thing that does not change is my love for the park and the fun I have.

Yosemite is such a remarkable place. Huge granite walls and domes encompass the valley floor of the park. These granite structures are not just boring old mountains you can find anywhere. These mountains are very interesting to sight see. Half Dome, El Capitan, North dome, Sentinel Dome, they are all amazing. and that's just to name a few. Yosemite is not just in the valley where the main tourism takes place. Thousands of square miles encompass the valley to protect the valley's beauty. This is thanks to John Muir who discovered the park, and fought to hard to protect it. John Muir is also a personal hero of mine. He convinced the hunting enthusiast Theodore Roosevelt to declare Yosemite valley and miles around the valley a state park. Yosemite has such a rich history too. Did you know the Buffalo soldiers were stationed to protect Yosemite?

There is so much I can talk about Yosemite and I know I will leave out major details, but for time purposes I will be brief. Yosemite is a great place. It has been very influential in my life personally. Every year it has hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the globe (especially Japan and Germany). Yosemite is also a very historical place as well. Mountains, domes, hikes, meadows, waterfalls, deer, bears, camping, rock climbing, rafting, Yosemite has it all. I could do one liners all day. I believe everyone should go see Yosemite at least once in their lives. Even if you are not the nature type, you will like Yosemite. So go dammit!

Foreigner song of the day:

"Urgent"

A classic song. I'm sure you have heard this song, you just don't know it. It has been used in thousands of commercials.

Mondaisy.

My oh my did I have quite the Sunday. The Lakers game that came out of nowhere! It was a fun experience. You know I'm not the sports-y guy(more on this later)but there is no denying the energy that comes about in these games. I yelled at the players. I commented "we should have had that!" As if I knew anything about the We or the Should's havings. Nonetheless(wow this may have just become my favorite word) I had a fun time. Thank you Grandpa and all of your connections. I suppose this is later enough to address that 'more on this later,' I have begun a process of AmericanMaleization. To be a proper American male, one must follow a baseball team! It is a requirement. Am I doing it because I truly desire to be the adequate American male? Am I doing it because it's funny? Am I doing it because the CoRo's are the most bad-ass team in all of baseball? Yes, to the last one. It takes real champs to accept defeat as well. It's not alway about winning. It's about being ironically hip and cool by liking a baseball team. I need to find ways to express myself creatively that also play against society but not in the usual anti-societal ways. 

Moving on/away. Another week. School+schoolwork+other troubles=Right Now. 

But child don't you worry, Soon you will be done. Soon. Done.

Now lets see what's funny:

Wiggle your ears. from Michael Heffernan on Vimeo.

Hey! that last one was me! Did you know I could do that?

Ok well I know we are all busy and such so this will have been a quick read/lol/sigh. 

Now you're getting it!

Procrastination on a Sunday.

Some of you may have seen my latest flick "Call Me Cool." For those of you who haven't, well here's your chance! It's no AMFAD, but it gets the job done.



You may also go ahead and guess at the parts I had originally picked out for you. I think it should be pretty apparent.

Drawing!

I've been a parched lakebed of creativity lately. Not just creativity though, I'm having a tough time actually drawing. Which is bad.

But it happens periodically, so I usually don't stress too much and just wait for the creative juices to precipitate into my well of inspiration.

It goes without saying that Picture a Day is taking a hit though.

Here's what you've missed out on if you haven't been to facebook recently:





The middle one isn't that bad, but it is riding on two of my most commonly used stock ideas: trees and snakes.

And of course the circle. That one got me a lot of frowns.

But back to my movie.

Okay.

So I wrote, directed, acted, and edited the whole thing on Wednesday. This required me to ditch class, dinner, and a meeting with Jessica. I finished burning the cd around 2.

Later the following day in class, it turned out my DVD didn't work. Well it did, but..it's hard to explain. The entire picture was squooshed into a 5 inch by 30 inch box. That wasn't so hard. I know what happened too!I saved it as a 16:9 format which works on any DVD player except for the ones at school. Frustrating.

Well, whatever. I have to bring it back on Tuesday.

I'm in an art history class this semseter. I've been having a blast, and the teacher is such a bamf that I've grown to appreciate Chapman more. Tomorrow Katie and I are going to a Japanese Tea Garden near South Coast Plaza.

I'm starting to actually mentally prepare myself for applying to a job. I know many of you have already had jobs, but I have been exposed to little other than the inside of a classroom my entire life and I'm beginning to feel the stress of not being more proactive earlier.

Starcraft II

I've been playing starcraft a little lately. For some reason I just got the urge to break it out again. Its amazing how fun it is still to play it even though it came out about a decade ago. A lot of hype had been going around in anticipation for the new Starcraft II release. It seems that the release date keeps getting pushed back and currently they don't even have a release date. It is going to be crazy when it comes out though. Millions of people are going to go buy it. Idk why they've taken so long to release/create the second starcraft in the series. Either they are lazy, or the really really REALLY want to make it good. However, for 10 years, it would have to be super extraordinary to make those expectations and I dont think it will be able to meet those expectations. So hopefully it is really good. The screenshots scare me though. The game looks totally different from the original. So much more colorful/dimensional. It just seems hard to focus on the frenzies.



I don't have much going on other than school this week and pretty much till end of school. The only for certain other things I have going on is Finance Association activities. Elections are this monday and next monday and I think i'm going to run for the Board. However, I don't know what position I am going to run for, and I am waiting to hear back from some of my contacts who are on the board for some help. They are taking there time so i'm nervous.

Foreigner song of the day:

"At War With The World"

I love this song. It has the most plays out of all the Foreigner songs on my itunes. That doesn't mean its my favorite (JBH), but it means it is one of my favorites. I have no castle to defend or attack. I'll have to fight to be free.

That's it!

You made it to another Thursday. Which means tomorrow is Friday. Congratulations. 

But wait? You're on a boat filled with homework, textbook readings, upcoming projects, essays, and finals? And that boat is sinking!?!?! 

Well my friend. Best wishes to you. And I hope the rescue team arrives quickly. 

Summer.

thats the rescue team. Un-subtling my metaphors. 

Ok who wants to read a story

Short Story!!! 

It's actually pretty long. And looks kinda weird all smushed up on the blog page its on. 

Well enjoy. It's in phase 1 right now. 

With the story, the most important thing for me is that I actually created and completed a work. This is something that hasn't been done before. I am really just full of ideas and some notes scribbled out in various journals. But putting together a complete story was a great new challenge.

This has been the big focus of my week. Tomorrow is the day of class discussion. Should be fantastic.... actually they are kind of nice to each other. No teeth. No claws. Only hugs. 

People are polite. 

in class at least.

Ok. My week hasn't been much of anything. It went by fast but it was really nothing stuck out. Maybe because my mind is a little too stuck on May 8th. The days of the end. Can you believe it?

Unfortunately my new media flow has been reduced to a trickle. I haven't started a new book(probably wont until summer and will most likely be All the Pretty Horses). Haven't really got any new music(U.O. blog did release a LSTN4 recently. BTW John did you listen/like any of those songs or did the CD even work?) and as for movies...I don't think I'll get the chance to see any until I'm finished with school. But I guess it's not too bad. This year has been good to me in all 3 areas. Movies may have taken a hit but I still feel pretty satisfied with all that I got to see. As for Books, I've got some great reading done on a personal level but there were not any big/new book revelations. But not all years can be like that. I just remember also, the tragedy of the Rushmore screenplay. How did I lose it? I do not know. Why? It's been missed. Maybe the RT screenplay was jealous! The one thing I am very proud of this year is the Musical growth. When I got the laptop my Ipod restored itself and I had to reload all my Cds. And by Cds I mean a few Weezer, Coldplay, Wes Anderson Soundtracks, and a few mixed Cds. And then the birthday rolled around. A Cd from James, again Thank you! A Cd from Johnny, Thank you!!

and then a few itunes gift cards. I can now happily say I proudly own 940 songs. It's amazing to see how far my music has come. Two years ago I was only dipping my toes in the water. Now I am proudly submerged in the pool. 

And as another thank you and a tribute to my Music accomplishments 

I give you 

:-$

Raped

Today I film my next movie. here are issues.

To begin with, it is due tomorrow. We've had "two weeks" but really we've only had since Tuesday. So, the pressure is on, not to mention I'm not starting nearly as early as I'd like to. 4:30. 4:30!!! IT'S HORRIBLE.

And I'm doing it in a pair right? Like with another person? Well I came up with his amazing script. Honestly, it was like my little baby and you guys would have been perfect for the parts. I sent it to my partner who said it was too complex and that we should do something else with phones and "Epic Fails" I couldn't make this shit up. I swore in this blog. Is that allowed? or am I making history here? And not the good kind.

It could have turned out so well though. I had the music picked out and everything.

Oh I got back "all my friends are dead," and my teacher loved it.

"Wonderfully bizarre, great musical selection and choice of images. This evokes the Wes Anderson style, without ever seeming derivative. I enjoyed the tone, which alternates between playful and outright cruelty. Such is life!"

That was his review and it made my life.

And the directly afterwards my art teacher gave me a D on my project.

Such is life.


I gained some animationeducation of my own last night. We had an event here at chapman where we watched a bunch of the best animated shorts from all of the festivals over the past year.

So, without further ado:

ANIMATIONEDUCATION

KJFG #5

I don't want to spoil it's brilliance with my trite comments. But watch it. If you watch nothing else I ever put on here, watch that.

I have nothing to do until 4:30 other than find props I need. I'm skipping all of my classes and my meeting with Jessica. I don't even know if I'm going to get something to eat today.

I'm a nervous wreck. Films were made to be made on weekends, and I feel like I'm going against the grain every step of the way on this one. I have bad feelings.

The juju is negative.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I'm have an outgoing week. Weeks like these are so rare, and yet often the most memorable.


People are saying this looks like a self-portrait, but I don't have the heart to tell them.

My picture-a-days are getting more and more ..bad. Well I liked the one I just did, but it's getting more and more..difficult I should say.

I think it's because I'm buckling under pressure. I went into my visual storytelling class and people I've never talked to before were saying how much they liked my pictures and they thought I was really talented.

I like attention, I'm not going to lie.

But I originally set out just to make a quick 15 or so minute sketch every day, and now I'm spending an hour or so. My need to impress and garner affection is a beast that I have little control over.

The Ultimate Showdown

Remember this?



Man the end always gets me. Why does he do that?! Oh. Mr. Rogers. I recently remembered this song/video and remembered that at one point i could recite all the lyrics without music. Just like i can sing the entire Handlebars song without music. I'm kinda weird when i comes to music. I guess you could say i stick to what i like for a long time. I find a song i like, then listen to it 300 times straight if not more. I do not know why i do this i just do. It does not mean i will eventually get bored of the song at some point, it just means it takes a very long time for me to get bored of the song.

Fullerton is having a free consort for their students at my school this month. They got Three Six Mafia to come play. yeah...I don't think I'm gonna go. No offense to 3 6 Mafia or anything.

I really do not have much to say today. I took a two hour nap when i got home from the gym. They say you should not nap for more than 20 mins, but frankly, who can just do 20 mins? However, i agree with them. When I wake up from a nap (2 hours especially), my body is destroyed. It feels like waking up at 5:15 in the morning all over again. Plus it messes with your stomach too. Well at least it does for me.;

Ok i need to go do my homework and make myself dinner. Sorry for the short post.

See ya!

Foreigner song of the day:

"Headknocker"

You better not mess around with the headknocker. He is one bad motha. Also, if Blake had a Foreigner song, this would be it.

Marathon and on

Hello. Hi. I am filling this post with a strong sense of urgency! Just so you know. Know that. Ok. 

In case I didn't already tell you, I only have 4 weeks left of school. This might just be the 4 busiest weeks of the entire year. Including first semester. So yeah. Details aren't fun to give so lets just accept that its going to be an intense few weeks. I just did my taxes as well. Take that Obama!(btw, cute dog, the girls are really going to love it. life in the white house can be so tough on the children. I know you're doing your best to keep them feeling at home.)

I had a good Easter, I hope all others did as well. Hunts for easter eggs. Ham. There always seems to be ham on easter. And I always remember, Oh I like ham. 

Of all the assignments I have to do, and I mentioned this before but I felt an update would be good, the Short story is coming along nicely! I'm happy with what I have got so far and I have a pretty good idea of where I want to take it. Scary thing is though, the in class workshopping. The class will all have read my stuff and tell me all about what they think. We did our first one today and it was really weird. Like a lot of complimenting but no real constructing. It's way too impersonal to get any real help out of it. Oh well. I just do as I am told by my teachers. Hopefully the written works of Michael will impress. I will probably be posting it/linking it to the blog  on Thursday. So you people can all get your chance at reading it. 

Ok. I feel like I've said all I can for today. It's back to the homework! To the reading, to the writing, to the College way of life. 

Ok

4 weeks

I'm pretty sure this was a picture I drew of Jacob in the 9th grade

???????????????????????????????

ok that's enough. Have a good week People. See you around. 

Happy Easter

my chocolate bunny melted a little on the drive home.

April 11th, 2009

It's about 12:30 there. Which means it's about 3:30 here.

I've been pretty sick this past week. I could complain that it seems unfair that I managed to get sick during spring break, but honestly, I'd rather be sick during a break than during school. It's awful being sick in the dorms. It doesn't get much worse than that, come to think of it.

So, I've just kind of been bed-ridden in Virginia. Which means...MOVIES. Yes, I've been catching up on my film history. I watched Dr. Strangelove, finally. This is Spinal Tap. The Animatrix (sucks.) The Incredibles. The Squid and the Whale. Yeah.

So, now I'm ripping some music from my sister's collection. Havesting one might say. Buddy Holly, The Beatles, Yo-Yo Ma.

Some of you may have noticed I have a Picture a Day on facebook. Some of you also may have noticed that I post those pictures in advance here. So. That's kind of cheating. I don't know. I'm too tired to think about it.

So here's the one for today, which I will post on facebook after I finish this blog.



And the one for tomorrow, since I'm going to be on a plane all day anyways.



SUPER proud of that last one. I think I'm starting to overdo the portraits on white backgrounds with people that look pensive.

Maybe I'm just overdoing pensive in general.

NEWSFLASH:

Apparently Demetri Martin is in D.C. today, and he's doing a show.
So we're trying to get tickets.
Of course this does bring in the question of whether my parents and I have a mature enough relationship to enjoy sex jokes.


This next movie I'm doing is a beast. And the bad kind of beast.
It's a "pursuit" although apparently it isn't supposed to be a "physical"pursuit.

So I'm given the task of making a two minute film with a partner that's three thousand miles away demonstrating a "emotional" pursuit. Awesome. At least I'm assuming it's an emotional pursuit. Whatever that means. Maybe a..mental pursuit!
No.
I don't know.
A..sensual pursuit. Oh my, that sounds juicy.

This is kind of a cool factual experience.

I've always liked this comic. I think it can speak to all of us.

This one brings up an interesting debate.

This one is appropriate for the time of the year. Happy Easter (tomorrow)


Okay, enough of that.

Whenever someone asks me if I play an instrument, I always say no. But that's really more of a half-truth. The fact it that I plays many instruments, poorly. Maybe I'm being to hard on myself. I can putter around on guitar/piano/drums a bit. Well, not so much drums. I took lessons though! For two months. I haven't retained a bit.

Actually that brings me to my point: I have retained a bit! Like today I played piano. It was rough at first, but eventually I got it to sound decent. At least to the point of skill I was at when I was taking lessons.

So whatever that means. I'm just bored out of my skull and I don't want to end this blog because then I'll have nothing to do.

Once Again

I've got nothing much to say. I used up pretty much all my latest thoughts and events in my last blog and nothing has happened since then. I word counted my last blog on Tuesday and it was over 1,200 words. Currently its the largest blog post (word count wise). So yeah I have nothing good to talk about today. Once again I'm falling into that bad hw/weekend pattern where I procrastinate on doing my hw assignments till the end of the weekend. I don't have school fridays so i have 3 days to do my hw + thursday night, but every weekend is the same story. Thursday night is like my friday night and i just want to relax from the school week. Then friday i wake up at 12, and end up deciding to take an extra day to relax from hw. Now i got saturday and sunday to get the job done. Something always comes up on one of those days whether it be a holiday where i have to get together with relatives (Easter), or i'm helping a friend shoot a video, or I'm just hanging out with friends or just being super lazy. So each weekend i try to not fall into this pattern, but I never succeed. Which is bad, because then it has negative repercussions later down the line in my school life. But hey, it's college.

On april 24th I'm going to do an office visit at new york life insurance company in Irvine with the finance company to see how a business-type office works. Should be cool but i have to dress up and stuff. Maybe i can get an internship with them one day. Networking! this stage of my college career is starting.

Foreigner song of the day:

"Heart Turns to Stone"

A very well crafted foreigner song. She tried to love you, you failed to see, her heart turns to stone.

Here's that "johnny pic" doodle i was talking about earlier. except this particular picture features more than just johnny. Hopefully you can zoom in to see it better:

I'm not sure when i made this one exactly. sophomore or junior year most likely.

See ya!

Some of things

It's like I'm at my home away from home away from home. I am at my Grandparents house. And we just got back from a nice dinner and now I am abloggin! So lets get the ball rolling

Current Interests(I felt obsessions were a little strong)

This is one amazing song. Just wait until you see/hear it to images and video of US! (coming soon)

:) 

Movies!!!

I just watched this trailer and I like it.

This one looks good too.

Well I don't have much more to say for you tonight. I have to get up early and go to an event with my grandpa so I'm going to bed rather early for my standards(This weeks Office and 30 Rock will have to be Hulu-ed) 

I know I had mentioned before that I wanted to write 30min-1hour daily. Thats not really working out. I blame school. But it's still a goal for the future. I am going to have to churn out a decent short story this weekend for my class to read on Friday. Scary stuff, peer review. However I have been reading my book daily, so I happy about that. Almost finished with the Re-Read! I have grown so much since my last reading. The painful is fuller and the brilliant shines. Again, my highest recommendations. Or just slip me a hint and your next birthday/bat mitzvah/wedding/or civil ceremony  you will be gifted with this choice literature.

Ok. Happy Easter on Sunday. Hope you all enjoy time with your family or time contemplating Jesus' awesomeness. What? Did the blog just get religious? I think its kinda nice. 

Oh I wonder, I wonder so, just how many years ago, my little rabbit and his floppy ears came to fill me with both joy and tears.

That was my Easter memorial poem to my bunny rabbit Flopsy. I think Butters would have liked him. In the friend rabbit kinda way. Not the Butter/Sea Otter kind of way. 

We got him as an Easter gift and he lived a long time in a hutch in our side yard. But sadly he died and I was absolutely destroyed. My first death. One never to be forgotten. 

Well on that happy note. See you later.!. 

Thank goodness for timezones

Or I would be in a world of trouble right now. Well, maybe not. It's about 11:20 here. I'll probably be done before that.

I've been in Virginia for the past couple days. And I'm going to be in Virginia for the next couple days. Things are okay. My parents went on a two day excursion to one of the renovated pilgrim settlements, and I just thought it would be best for me to pass. Which means...I've been doing not much of anything. A little lonely. It's kind of cold outside. I watched The Incredibles. I opened the basement door twice to look at the cats. I've looked for food. I drew a little. I facebooked a little. I shaved. I read some blog.

So here's some art



I thought I drew more than that. But I suppose I didn't.

The REAL kicker is that I'm home alone tomorrow too. Boredom: check.

Although I was sick today. So I couldn't really do much anyways. Maybe tomorrow I'll go paint the town, as they say. As a pedestrian. A tourist pedestrian. Does that even count? I don't know.

So, what have I been doing here you ask? Well, I went to vineyard. I went to an art museum. I partook in a backyard tree-removal. And I went to this really shady Thai restaurant that was really just more of a basement that served Thai food. Tomorrow night, I'm going to a concert at the Kennedy Center.

Pleasant Surprises

I'm going to start by saying that today was a good day. No big single major reason for it, but rather multiple pleasant surprises. It's been very nice. and it's about time! I've been stressed out a lot lately and have had a lot of bad days in the past month so today was a refreshing redeemer day. So where to begin? i guess i will start by talking about my day in depth, which i frequently do in this blog. You know you love it.

My day

I woke up at 5:15 as usual today. Got ready faster than usual cause i needed to get gas before my 7:00 class. Went, got gas, made it to school on time. Geology time. We got our mid-terms back today. I was scared. I thought i bombed it. Geology is surprisingly pretty difficult. I got an 86%. Beautiful. I am so relieved about that. I really needed that strong B and i got it. Now the tone of the day is set. So now i go to history class. Mid-term today. Scary-ass shit. My second half of spring break was ruined because of this class. 90 questions + essay. It took me the entire 75mins, but man did i nail that test. There's nothing like feeling good about the test you just took. My day is official good in my standards. Even if the rest of the day is shit it was still a good day for me. After history i did some ping pong. I wiped the floor with Vinay. Another good ping pong match. Then after that i gymed. I was worried that the gym was going to destroy me because i hadn't been to the gym in two weeks. Well, it was just the opposite. I crushed the gym. I had unexpected energy. Did 25 or 26 mins on the stair climber, beating my record. 1800 steps. 250 more steps than the empire state building. I'm on a roll! So now i go home. I made myself a protein shake, watched an episode of 24, and relaxed a little. Time for my 3:00 veterinary visit. For those of you who don't know, let me tell you about the one thing many people don't know about me. I have a snake. A ball python to be precise. His name is Shibby. I've had him for close to 8 years now, and I've never had him checked out by a vet before. So i decided to get him looked at and get some questions i had answered. So i took him to the vet and learned some very interesting things about Shibby. Im sorry, did i say him? Well ladies and gentlemen, today i found out, SHIBBY IS A WOMAN! I'm kinda glad shibby's a girl because female ball pythons get longer than males. Almost up to 6 feet. Shibby is 3'3'' right now. The vet also said that I've been keeping good care of him because he is really healthy. Just yet another, Pleasant Surprise. After that i went home, took a 2 hour nap, ate dinner, and now I'm typing this blog. And that was my very good Tuesday.


Tid Bits

Ok moving on. I just have a few more little topics i wrote down a couple days ago that i wanted to discuss. I want to start by talking about the increase in picture posts in the blog. I'm loving the new large increase in the amount of pictures the blog has been getting. I think the pictures add a nice look and touch to the blog. Good stuff. I found myself using pics as a way to fill short blogs at first, but now i just think it livens up the blog. I always seem to have a picture section at the end of my posts and I think i will try to keep it up until I run out of cool pics to post.

I've run into a self dilemma lately. Last month I was bored in class a couple times and i had nothing to entertain myself. Then i started to think about what i used to do in high school before i had my ipod touch and stuff. DRAWING! I remember i used to draw all the time. So i got out some paper during my boring seminars and put the pen to the paper. My hand shook. Nothing came out. I was perplexed. I could not think of anything to draw. My art ability has always been challenged but i could always think of something to draw. Now i fear I am losing all creativity in myself. I am turning into a business man too quickly. I am losing creativity and fast. It's very quite sad. I look at my close friends and realize this is becoming true. I guess i can't compare myself to all my friends though. One of them is an art major so its his job to be creative and artistic. I just recently noticed this new development in myself and i hope to reverse it to some degree. My art teacher last semester said that she hates the educational system right now because it does stunt children's creativity and artistic ability at a young age. I believe it. The only things that i know for sure i can draw anytime is tanks and my "johnny" figure. Damn i thought i had a picture of that handy. I guess not. O well maybe another post.

I know I've been lacking some things in my blog that i promised. Such as a lot of Seinfeld references and tank of the week. Well all i can say is my life is not Seinfeld, even though i wish it was sometimes. As for tank of the week, i just haven't been getting around to it. I hope you don't mind. But if you have been waiting to see that new tank of the week and it is just killing you than by all means let me know and I'll make sure i get around to it. Also I've been lacking a little in the financial advice, but that's just because nothing much is happening there for me to update on. However, I must remind you all that it is TAX TIME! Tax returns are due April 15th. SO if you worked at any point in 2008, you best be getting your tax return done soon. Or pay the consequences. Big fines!

Alright i think I've been talking for too long so its time to call this post to an end. Thanks for reading! I'll leave you on a high note with some pictures i can come up with.

Live life, Love life. Just remember, when bad stuff happens to you, it just makes a great story to tell later. People rather hear a story where something bad happens than good. What a sick world. I love it!


LIFE:





Well i guess the Shibby pic is death....but death is a part of life!

I almost forgot,

Foreigner song of the day:

"Juke Box Hero"

MY FAVORITE Foreigner song and possibly the . A boy becomes enchanted and learns guitar. He triumphs and makes it to the top. He will never be forgotten. He is, The Juke Box Hero.

Thoughts Wearing Thin

This blog is in continuation of the previous post. Why? Because it will be more fun that way. 

First: sundæ=sunday=punday

Second: PLEASE WATCH THE MUSIC VIDEO/cry with tears of happiness. I want tears! But really, that song has me rather obsessed. It's so not my traditional style but then it really is. Explain that one.

Third: Kim Jong Il. Bad man, very bad man. Also his "people" posted that comment. 

Learn English! -the Anglo in my shouts! 

Fourth: Lovely little doodles we have there. I have a robot fascination. They are so fun to draw. So if anyone is wondering how to fascinate me…just draw a picture of a robot. Maybe one thats just fought in a robo-battle! 

Fifth: I realized that I put a lot of things in my post that require a good amount of commitment.

Examples: A link to a brilliant, but 2 hour long Australian movie, lengthy youtube videos, links to long interviews, and pleas to download big playlists of songs.

Well. Deal with it. I was thinking about saying, "I'll try to cut back." but I realize that I won't!

In the end we will all benefit I'm sure. 

If I did have to pick anything at this point, the most important of these Commitment Links, I would have to say its the Movie. Watch it this weekend. Or some night where you are thinking, "What the hell am I going to do with my life and/or I wish I could talk with an Australian accent."

Sixth:Happy Birthday Billy Dee Williams and Paul Rudd. 

                          

So awesome.

Ok.

Seventh: 

Today marked the Weezer revival for me. I love that I can always go back and they are always happy to have me back. Not that I ever leave...it's just those Arcade Fire kids need a lot of attention! 

Also there is a professor at my school who I swear could be Rivers Cuomo's twin. I always give him a look when I pass him on my way to class(it happens tri-weekely) that says, "I'm listening to music created by a guy that looks just like you!"

essentially this:

Eighth: I saw this picture in a yahoo article. All I could think was..."Hand_of_God"

Ninth: 

..... 

and finally

Tenth: I don't have school on the 10th! Good Friday=great friday. 

I do however have a rather large, and personally very important, assignment coming up.

The Short Story!

I consider this a challenge! This is it. This is my chance to prove myself(to some degree) as a writer. I have high hopes. I think I will end up proud of the work I've done.

Now what part of my post will you comment on?

Ralphs....

Well I know the other editors were putting me up for sundays, but work once again has dragged me through the mud and made me work late. So not to steal anyone's thunder... but im getting to make a short blog before midnight strikes.

Well i guess ill rant about Ralphs. There are several things you must understand about Ralphs was a very easy going grocery store. The good old days when i first started at Ralphs we had this awesome manager named Steve Frasier. He was a professional pokerplayer and was the most relaxed boss i have ever known. Considering ive only had 2 bosses in my life he was the best. Everyone was great life was fun, yes we worked, but we had a good time. O yea did i mention that one of my best best friends worked their? Well anyway, thats when everything changed. Steve was transfered to another store and a new Store Director came to town. Jim Mirsch became the uptight boss that everyone hates. He forced everyone to become serious, and drove John out of the store. The store became a military camp. It is kinda funny how when Jim isnt there that we all party.

Anyway, im getting sleepy and i need to go to bed. Sry my post wasnt very exciting like i had planned. Goodnight.

IV/V/MMIX

get it?

Current Obsessions:

if anyone knows who Mo Rocca is, that's who i think the face I drew looks like. 

(I drew/doodled these things while 

watching this movie -> 

http://www.hulu.com/watch/61163/the-rage-in-placid-lake)

it's australian. and the main actor is actually a singer. this is the only movie he's ever done.

More! Tomorrow

yes?