Festivities.

I've been working on this damn animation all day. I think I mentioned it before, it's the one I'm not getting paid for and is taking up a lot of time. Not to sound cynical or anything. Today was pretty much devoted to it. I'm like 95% done. I have to finish before I leave for Venice, but I'm shooting for before Christmas. The last 5% is essentially tying up the end and adding sound effects. Sound effects are really hard for me unfortunately, so it might take longer than I anticipated.

Let's see. So fall semester is done, that's pretty cool. I had to write 8000 words for creative writing, which consumed a lot of my life. I wrote some of the worst stories I have ever even imagined I could write. I even got an e-mail from the teacher telling me they were bad. I'm serious. You want to read them, you say? Well then...here's one that didn't suck quite so hard. It's short, so you really don't have an excuse not to read it.

http://courageousturnip.deviantart.com/art/Coonskin-Cap-Bill-147338880

I got the blue screen of death today. I was so scared. I think everything's okay. I just don't want my computer to pull a John, as they say.





To 2010!

An Update in the Life of James

So yeah. The blog. I guess it's time for an update. Everyone's so busy this time of year, but then you hit mid/late December and everything's better.

This semester has been such a drain, and not the fun kind of drain either. No, no, no. Mainly, I don't know why I thought it was a good idea to take two classes based around writing a lot at the same time. Screenwriting and Creative Writing; one might even confuse the two based on their names and the work they give.

What I'm definitely NOT happy about is that I have not been animating, AT ALL. Except I did today for the first time in a long while.

ANIMATIONEDUCATION

Last night I went to a animated short-film mini festival. It's becoming a tradition at Chapman, I think. Anyways, some of them were amazing, and are definitely blog worthy. I'm going to do three at once, based on what kind of mood you're in.

IF you are in an artsy-fartsy mood, and feel like staring at some beautiful drawings of birds I recommend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCzq_8MCk2M

the title translates to "According to Birds."

IF you are in the mood for a funny guy complaining about his job at a photo archive:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zve2chDhB_4

(That one is my personal favorite)

IF you want to watch a really creative one that makes you chuckle at its cleverness:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SATRAOVYMGM

unfortunately that last one is just a snippet of the full.



Do you want to see some of my drawings? Of course you do.



That's a snippet of animation I'm doing for that job I'm not getting paid for and am soon quitting after I finish this project.





Those two are projects for school.



Mithaniel Marr is going to be so jealous.

An Update on Johnny's Life

I should really be doing a countless number of things right now. Homework/studying in particular. So much to do in two days it is ridiculous. But I feel I needed to blog since my last post was two weeks ago. So yeah lots going on in my life.

Lets start with the school problems to get that out of the way early since it is the same old shit. I have one more midterm to go. It is on Wednesday. Good old health science. To be honest, this class has taken the back seat to my business classes pretty hard the past couple weeks and now I am feeling the repercussions. I need to do some serious reading while trying to do my usual major hw load from business classes. It is near impossible to get everything done before wednesday, and I am really not that focused. It is going to be a fun tuesday night.

So yeah school is bad. Moving on....FA has been pretty good. Not to much work for FA right now. It's the end of the semester pretty much for FA. Just one more elections sessions on Monday and then banquet and it is over. I still have the retreat but that is in late January. If I had not already mentioned this to you guys before, I am the new Executive Vice President of the Finance Association. Not to shabby, huh? It has a nice sound to it. I think I am going to like 2nd in Command. I feel the power growing already! On saturday FA had a volunteer event for the Walk Now for Autism: Autism Speaks event at Angels Stadium. That was really fun. There was a lot of free stuff and a lot of Star Wars characters walking around. We got to walk on the baseball field too. That was cool because I had never gotten to do that before. They filmed me walking on the Jumbo-Tron too. That was a nice bonus.

I'm trying to exploit banks for money right now since I don't have a job. I opened up a bank account at US Bank for a $50 reward. All I have to do is keep it open for 6 months with no minimum balance required. So I'm going to leave like $10 in there and after six months close that sucker out! I already marked my calender the day to close the account out in May. Easy money. My next target is Nuvision Credit Union. Another $50 here I come!

On a different note, I applied to Sears Holding Co. for a seasonal winter job. I had my first interview and it went very well. Hopefully they call me back for the next two parts of the interview process.

My computer's hard drive has officially been announced corrupted/dead. It has been a big disappointment in my life. I didn't do anything to it either. HP Support made it worse. I have really lost a lot of respect for HP. Now I don't know who to trust for my future computing needs.
Tomorrow my computer is being shipped via Fedex to HP for fixing. At least they are doing it for free. It just has been really hard without Left for Dead though. I had the LFD2 demo preloaded on my computer and everything. Then my computer died...it just wasn't meant to be.

I registered for my Spring semester on friday. Yet another registration gone wrong. I guess it could have been a lot worse, but still I got fucked over again. Pretty bad this time too. Tuesday I only have 1 class and it is a 4:00pm. Blah! that's lame. and then thursday I have class from 4pm to 10 pm. Night classes? This is new. Monday is fine and normal, but wednesday is the big mother. I have morning classes till 11:15am then an eight hour break till my night class at 7pm. EIGHT ****** ******* HOURS!!!!! Wow. So pretty much I would come home for 6 hours and then go back again. But that is a pain and more gas. I am wait listing a class to try and move that night class to tuesday night. If that happens then my schedule is very symmetrical and good. Let us hope I can make that happen. If not, I am going to be very angry on wednesdays.

Lets see did I mention everything major in my life right now?

-School? Check
-FA? Check
-Bank Exploitations? Check
-Getting a Job? Check
-Computer fail? Check
-Registration fail? Check

That is pretty much me in a nut shell right now.

Other random things on my mind:
-Foreigner
-Why do my stocks suck right now?
-The future Mrs. John Kisling. Who will she be?
-College. Am I doing it right?
-Why can't I focus on school right now?
-Casper's
-Christmas shopping. I am so going to procrastinate this year I can feel it.
-Damn I keep forgetting to look for internships for the summer.

The mind of Kisling. It never rests!



Ok time for some fun.

I love this.



Jerry Seinfeld you know so much about people.



I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. Probably the funniest Simpson's moment for me.




Thank you for reading.

I'm writing so much now, it's crazy. I have to write 60 pages in two classes alone before the semester is over. I'm serious. I'm going insane, but as a result my stories are becoming that much more awesome. I have to write a script for my screenwriting class, and I will be sharing it here when I get it finished. I'm pretty happy with it so far (I haven't started.)

Things I feel bad about: 1.)I like the new weezer album. Well, I like most of it.

2.)I want to play call of duty modern warfare 2. I want to buy modern warfare 2. It's an empty dream; I care not.

3.) I've been using online fortune cookie generators to come up with ideas for stories even though it isn't working.

4.) I went running today. Not that far, but too far. I am the most out of shape I have ever been in my entire life. I saw a picture of my on my 16th birthday and I was so buff because I had been doing Kung Fu and because I was still in P.E.

I need a healthier life style.



NOVEMBER IS SO TIGHT THOUGH.

So much stuff is coming out. I want to buy it all up. Video games, music, movies. MOVIES. THE ROAD. Fantastic Mr. Fox!

But then I think about Christmas and I realize I have not that much money to be frivolous with it.

And I don't know what to do. I'm torn.



Torn like a piece of paper.



This audio class I'm in is the most amazing thing ever. But I'm really bad at it, so I don't know how my grade in the class is going to add up. That's something about college that's been really hard for me. In K-12, I got used to at least the general subject matter. Math, History, English, Science. Okay. Cool, I can do that. But you through in some new thing like boom-op or Pro Tools and it messes everything up. My groove, it is thrown off. I'm out of my element. And that acting class I'm in-W.T.F. I feel bad doing any work for that class because I know it's such a huge waste of my time and yet I still really suck at it. There are two people in that class that are 30. THIRTY! The closest person to me is 22. 22! Worst choice of my entire life to take that class. That's not true. But it was pretty stupid. NO. Not even stupid, just unlucky. I didn't want to take it. I wanted to take f-ing microeconomics because I WAS SUPPOSED TO MY FRESHMAN YEAR AND I FINALLY HAD A CHANCE OF GETTING IN BUT I GOT BUMPED BY SOME DWEEP TARDHOLE THAT SHOWED UP 20 MINUTES LATE.

But I motherfucking digress.





I think I'm going to write every line of my script in haiku. It would be really hard, but so awesome beyond reproach. It would be like an instant A for all current and future screenwriting classes.






hahaha poor kid. You can't blame him though. They probably paid him pretty well and just told him "Hey brush your teeth enthusiastically." And he was probably like "this is dumb," but then his heinous asshole mother, ignoring his pleas, started scolding him and telling him to use more tongue on the inside of his cheek so he could be a big famous actor one day.

I am so excited about what I just figured/found out.

Ok. Twilight is not my kind of movie. Or book.
BUT this new movie has a pretty good soundtrack. Really good.
And my favorite song from it is this:

No Sound but the Wind by the Editors.


Now at first I just thought the fact that it had strong similarities to The Road was just a coincidence.
But after a while I started to think, This guy must have been influenced by the Road. It had to be!
So just now I researched. And I found this.

A fan posted this in a comments section of a lyrics website:
"This is the version of the song, played in the summer of 2008 at Paredes de Coura (Portugal) This song was inspired directly by the book "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. Is a post-apocalyptic novel in which a father and his son travel along a road surviving after what looks a nuclear disaster. The ashes surround everything and the dust is so dense the sunlight can't pass through it. The few human survivors succumb to primary instincts such as cannibalism. But it's also a touching and deeply emotional book because of the relationship between father and son. Like a tiny ray of light in the middle of hell. Tom Smith said that he read the book around the time he found out he was going to be a father himself, so the book affected him in a special way."


AHHHH-HAA!

it so perfect.
except for the fact that its in the twilight soundtrack.
but at least it exists.

So to re-cap
I love The Road
I love this song.

Actually the whole twilight thing makes me a little more mad then I am letting on or realizing.
But it doesnt matter.


The Road.


that matters.

November, We Meet Again

This weekend went by so fast. Even with the extra hour of time. Last week was very stressful for me with a combination of massive FA responsibilities and midterms. So this weekend was very good stress relief fun for me. On Friday night I went to the Queen Mary "Shipwreck" and the Long Beach Yard House with the FA Board for a night of fun. It was enjoyable and a great way to start the weekend. The Queen Mary was not too scary so that was good. I've never really liked to whole "I love to be scared" fad. The Yard House dinner in downtown Long Beach was the best part. Lots of talking, laughing, and eating.

Then saturday was Halloween. Halloween 2009 ranked pretty well in the spectrum of all my halloweens. It was really fun, especially the Murder in the Dark game.

So yeah i've been writing this blog for a while now. My computer has been having problems lately, so it has been a struggle to get this post posted. Either I get an internet connectivity problem or my computer just crashes. Thanks Vista. Windows 7, you better be good!

Untitled (which can actually be seen as a title)

I owe you a blog.
Do I?
I can talk about the usual.
Good and usual.
Hopefully you watched those WTWTA featurettes. Truly amazing.
I wish i could read the Book. But Grapes of Wrath needs finishing.
And it's turning out to be a pretty great read.
But I think the sad stuff has yet to come.

oh yeah.
Bon Iver
amazing a million times yes please.



please notice that the announcer in that last video matches my enthusiasm for this song/artist.

Oh.
just realized the Road is about a month away. I can/can't wait.
Finally.
I want/need a haircut.

and a new backpack/bag.

And i just saw this

robot are awesome.
especially ones that are Stable when pushed.

cool?

TGIFF

I have a habit of premature nostalgia. It started in High School and it's only gotten worse from there. It's really silly. Honestly, I feel stupid everytime, but it doesn't change a thing. When I was deciding where to go to college, I actually took this into account. "Where will I like to reminisce about all of the good times?" Definitely not USC, Rhode Island isn't for me, and UCLA is overdone. Music is one of those things that I choose on this basis too. Middle School was about catching up to everyone else, High School was all about Pop Rock, and College is all about folk. I think folk is a good choice for college.

Of course, this brings up questions about what will be tastes I choose for other important times in my life? Country music for my wedding? Rap for my firstborn child? So many choices.

I'm listening to my music library and an Amber Pacific song came on and I was reminded of Sophomore year. See how it works?

I'm going to Venice this January. I don't know if I've told you, but I'm telling you now. I'm going to be there practically the entire month. I had a meeting today with the professor who's taking all of us, and now I'm scared shitless. It's apparently going to be the least supervised group of teenagers in a foreign country ever. For instance: we are in charge of getting ourselves to Italy. All by ourselves. And no, not JUST to Italy, we have to get ourselves to the specific university in the heart of Venice all by ourselves. Maybe I'm just overreacting, but this seems to be way beyond my level of competence. And we have to go grocery shopping by ourselves. In Italy. And then on the weekends he and his wife are just going to take off and leave us kids to do whatever. He suggested we take a train up to Germany. I chuckled. He has so much faith.

I've been so freaking busy with stuff. It's gotten to that point in the semester where I just want to curl up in a ball and go to sleep and not wake up until it's all over. It wouldn't be so bad if I was taking more classes that were not just vaguely related to my major. "Acting for Non-Actors" this is aimed at you. "Screenwriting," you may want to take notes too. Twenty-twenty hindsight, I probably should have taken an Italian class.

Everybody do the Furlough!

Ok so I am officially the least active blogger now. This is my first post for October (yikes). I blame my inactive blogging on a combination of things, the major two reasons being I feel like my posts are very repetitive in info, and I am just really lazy. When I post I generally like to try do a good job and try to make it a little lengthy if possible. However, that requires work. And work requires time. And that conflicts with the laziness principle. So, you know.

So this week is my President's mandated furlough week at my school. Due to the massive budget cuts in the CSU system, teachers and faculty have to take mandatory days off. My teachers get to choose a couple days over the semester in which to take their furlough days and then the president makes a week where all the teachers have to take the week off. So every once and a while I will get a nice surprise with a teacher taking a random furlough day. So this week is a good week. I had to go to school monday, but it was not too bad. The "furlough week" is not actually the whole week. It is only tuesday through thursday. So I still have school on monday and friday this week. However, on friday I only have two classes normally. And one of my classes is taking a random furlough day in honor of furlough week. Might as well, right? So I still have one class on friday. Econ 201. A 50 minute class. But she lets us out early on fridays, so its only a 30 min class. It takes me 30 mins to get to school....and then I wait 2 hours for class...then 30 mins of class...then 30 mins to drive home........Doesn't sound worth it, huh? So with that said, I think I am ditching. GASP!!! I know, I know. That's so wrong and horrible, right?

Before entering college I thought college was laid back, grades didn't matter as much, teachers never took attendance, it was all just fun. Boy was I wrong. I've done more school work in 1.5 years of college than probably 4 years of high school. It's funny how that worked out huh? Every new school I have entered my GPA has gone up about 0.3. I guess more and more responsibility makes me a more academically oriented student. However, I never intended it to be this way. A long time ago I planned on trying to live a fun and traditional college life. That including missing a class once and a while. So with that past memory in mind in addition to all the reasons of time wasted getting to class, I justify my absenteeism for friday econ. Gotta live those old dreams every once and a while to make it all worth while. And those who object and say I should go to class, well they can all just go to hell.

:)

______________

it gives me chills
i want to see it again.

Treasure Hunting

I've been discovering things. Chapman has tons of resources, but they aren't always that easy to access. There a hidden nooks filled with treasures, crannies loaded with priceless artifacts. And they're all for the looting, if one knows how. What am I talking about? I'm talking about the library. I suppose I knew this before, but we have music and movie library's at our school. Now, I wouldn't say that they have everything, but they do have a lot of the stuff that matters. I checked out 5 cds of Tchaikovsky, Akira Kurosawa's film "RAN," and Star Wars Episode V, and am I going to go back soon to load up on some more goodies.

In other news, I did audio on that movie set last weekend. It was pretty intense. There were about 10 people, a dolly, and camera crammed into the back of a rig truck whose walls were decorated with zombie blood. We were originally going to film at Saddleback, but our permit fell through halfway through the day and we got kicked off campus. So they came up with a script that night that took place entirely inside a truck. Fabulous.

But, I didn't get yelled at too much. I don't think I dropped the boom into frame once. So that was nice.

I've been trying to play Company of Heroes all morning, but it keeps telling me I need to update. And then it updates. And then it freezes.

...

okay, I'm going to go eat something. I have one bagel left.

Today is Michael's Birthday.

Happy Birthday Michael! You are 20 now.

To commemorate my Farewell to Teenagerdom, I give you this post:

What do we know about teenage Michael.
Teen Mike.
He was born 10/10/2002.
That seems too long ago, but remember, I've always been the oldest.
In numbers that is.
I never ever considered myself the oldest in categories such as age perceived by appearance or action.
I always did like to think that my little brain was ripe with a few months more of knowledge and experience than my younger friends.

For me, being a teenager meant dressing the part.
That consisted of wearing name brand shoes. From my multicolored chuck taylors to my vans to my nikes.
Typical but expected.
And the hooded sweatshirts. By god. It was just such a perfect fit. Complimented of course by my Jacket Green. (which I wore yesterday). And then there were the t-shirts. From plain colored to House of Pez, they were a prized collection. I would have to say that buying new t-shirts were one of my biggest teenage expenses.(Disneyland and Heritage aren't cheap!)
Then there was my portrayal.
I felt normal. Completely absolutely normal. So normal it wasn't normal.
I was the median. If you had one end as freakish and absurd then one to perfected and predictable, I would be exactly between the two.
If I had to pick a favorite year of high school(where the teenaging gets good) it would be sophomore year.
That was the year of Enlightenment. Cinematically and Literarily.
There was Wes Anderson and his movies that any self professed movie lover could immediately clutch onto as understandings in this imperfect world.
There was Dave Eggers and his words. They were so fast and so true. It made me want to believe in the greatness of Youth.
And then there was you, Mr. J.D. Salinger. You did it. You made him. Him who we wanted to be, to know, to gaze upon, to fight, and to relate to. And don't let the non-believers call it cliche. Don't they know it's cliche to do so?

And there were friends. And there were adventures. We owned that town. We really did.
That town breed rebels like us!
Only there could you safely navigate the sewers and reach new heights. if you know what I mean.
And the entire time there was always a safeness. One you may have resented back then but look back at now and kinda smile and shake your head for.

This is getting nostalgic as hell.
But I guess that what I am eventually getting at is that I will always be a teenager.
They are probably the most fascinating literary topic so expect plenty of them in my future writings.

Just think of it as an upgrade.
Which gives me whole new opportunities
I can have my youth and wisdoms too!

And it will be a different feeling, On that Saturday. It will be something promising.

So that's that.
Just thought I would give you some finely crafted feelings towards my coming of age.
I still love Star Wars and laugh at Spongebob. I still make spaceships explode in my mind while my professors tells us that one day our earth will run out of resources.

And I'm still one of the coolest guys you know!

Afterthought

You know what was a good sign that today was going to be a not so great day-
(sidenote: initially this was going to be considered a bad day but things got a little better, and technically the day isnt over yet but now im really just distracting from the original point i was trying to make)
-Not having any hot water for a shower. At first I didn't know who to blame. But then I got an email later in the day from Housing apologizing for this problem.
It was. So cold.
So add that to the fact that its Monday and HELLO you've got Me. Tired and grumpy.
If i was any of the 7 dwarves I would be a combination of Bashful and Grumpy.

I think you should go here http://www.mergerecords.com/store/store_detail.php?catalog_id=660 and Click on the No Cars Go Arcade Fire remix and listen to it.
And cry like a baby being born into a new world of fear and wonder.
Seriously.
I think Im going to play this song while my child is being birthed. And then Ill take him or her to the top of the hospital and hold him/her up to the world and shout! HEY!
then sing some sort of Lion King-esque glory song.
Glorious glorification of glory

Ok back on track.
I got this book.


its a nice collection of short stories and other good reading bits.
I got the one from 2008 for christmas but this one just jumped out at me when I saw it. A must buy.
Can you see why?
Also its funny because I told myself....I don't need another book to read right now. I have Grapes of Wrath and then the Road after that. But whats the perfect solution! Short stories.
Oh how clever I am.

I think I'm starting to develop an appreciation for this modern Alternative Folk/Art Rock genre.
Basically:
The Tallest Man on Earth and Lightning Dust
(admittedly both from the U.O. playlists, but hey who can argue with great music.)
And then the Suckers. I posted one of their songs on here before but they have a few more that are good. (not that they have any bad they only really have 5 songs out)
I suggest going to their myspaces.
HA! who knew myspace could actually be worth something in this day and age.
Seriously. its perfect for musicians.

And
happy birthday


You are very missed.



See you again 10/9/09 for my last blog of my teenage BLOGSPERIENCE
It started with AIM buddy profiles. Then livejournal. Then myspace. Then facebook. Then blog attempt 1. Then blog 2. Then blog 3(thats us!)
and on from there.
This really has been a good time to grow up in. Children of the Internets!

October 3nd, 2009

Hello my compadres. How are all of you fine gentlemen and lassies today?

So school has finally sunk into my life schedule. It always takes a couple weeks. If I had to estimate, I would say five.

Of course, there's always a trade-off. I haven't been drawing, I haven't been reading, and I haven't really been showering. And, you might have guessed, I haven't been blogging. My apologies.



Everyone should go to my website

http://jamesbeckart.webs.com/

Not as if I haven't already shown you all of that art work before, but there it is again just in case.


I've been reallllyyy lazy lately. And it is well known that laziness yields more laziness so I've been trying to not be lazy.

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1770138

Does this guy look like me? I think he does.



Let's see. What movie am I most pumped for that's coming out before 2010? I think it would have to be fantastic mr. fox with where the wild things are in a close second. The Road is number 3. And I don't really care much for anything else.

Cool

Happy October!













I'm King.

What Are You Doing Here? And Why Didn't You Bring Me Anything?

I'm really happy about some things. And some things I am really mad/upset about.
But I am really happy about the one thing
Essentially it's a breakthrough
Which led to a rush of creativity
Which makes me happy

Did you know I used to consider myself a morning person? I my current self could see my old morning person self I think he would cry.
In an ideal situation/fantasy I would wake up 2 hours before my first class. And I would exercise (mentally or physically).
Then eat. Then shower and go to class.
In my current situation. I awake. I look at my iPhone for 10 minutes. I stand in the shower for 15 minutes. I sit and wait until 10 minutes before my class starts. Its a dangerous routine. I have one chance to fix it. And that is when DST ends. Or begins.
Which is it?
I have so much reading I want to do. But I feel like I can't. I feel like if I am reading I'm not doing something I should be.
Terrible feeling. Working on it.
Also here is a list of all the movies I want to see in October.
I think I am going to see all of them
I know I won't
I wish I could
I will try

A Serious Man
Whip It
The Invention of Lying
Zombieland
Michael Moore+Capitalism
An Education
Where the Wild Thing Are

Ok I thought it was going to be longer than that. I guess I thought that because the first 5 all come out next week.
Oh WTWTA. You will be an amazing movie.
Look for the soundtrack streaming online. It's there.



and I can easily say I am ADDICTED to this video/song/feeling



And that's what my Mondays are made of

Short and Sweet

I'm 19 and Feelin' Fine. My birthday has finally come and gone. I am finally part of the 19 team. My birthday and birthday week turned out much better than I expected. The federal reserve tour was awesome, FA threw me a surprise birthday party, my b-day islands dinner was excellent, and the saturday hangout was very exciting. 19, You may just be a good number after all. Thank you all for helping me celebrate and giving me great gifts. It goes a long way in my book.

Instead of going into my problems of school work and tests that I have going on the next couple of weeks, I think I will just end this post on a good note. This may just be my shortest post. I am going to try and stay in this good birthday mood for as long as possible. Thank you all again.

Carry on my friends!






This is a spider I found in my backyard today. He's awesome because of his distinguished facial character.

Either Way

First off Happy Birthday John.

Second. It's thursday, and by the state of California law i am required to make a post. What can I say to that.

This is an amazing trend




You may not know this but I was quite the Bambi fan as a child. But then who wasn't. It's just a great movie. With deer. And that Owl. WHOO-HOO!

I want to watch Coen Brothers movies in a marathon like fashion. Like an adventure timeline movie extravaganza.
But I might just end up watching No Country for Old Men.
I was on its IMDb page today and I saw the message board thing at the bottom. One topic was
"Worst Coen Bros. Movie to Date."
That was the title. Their post............"Discuss."
That's a pretty dumbass way to piss me off.
But once the initial anger subsides you realize a Troll is a Troll. And they must troll. Its what they do.
It's kinda crazy how much it happens. And kinda sick.
But if you want you can hear Kevin Smiths explanation of what he's had to deal with as far as internet comments and such go.


√

Now and Then

........
....
..
.
Must keep trying.
Struggling to find the point.
Carries on nonetheless.


Another monday. I realize how tiring mondays feel. Today I finally napped in between classes, well it wasn't a true nap.
it was one of those naps where you dont know whether or not you actually fell asleep.
but when you wake up you realize there was some loss of consciousness. maybe

And that reminds me of that time I was a kid. I was a kid!
No this has a point.
I was a kid and I had a book. And in that book it told me that dreams can be manipulated by surrounding environments while you sleep. So I think, if I sleep on some books will I dream that I am on rocks on a big mountain?
Turns out parents don't like their kids sleeping on books. Probably for the child's sake. And knowing me I probably wouldn't have been able to get comfortable enough to sleep anyways.
There it is. There's that childhood ambition. Bring that back.

Genius

This week feels like it lasted forever. Seriously! Is it over yet?
Now?
oh
well at least Thursday night has regained some of its importance!
TV! You may shake your head at me since I have my whole night planned out for this epic TVfest!
So there's some SNL thing at 8 then Parks and Rec at 830
THEN the OFFICE at 9 and Community at 930. I've already seen the Community pilot but its pretty funny/potential-able
Oh and then Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia is on at 10pm EST so that means 7 here. Bless the phenomenon that is LMU Direct TV service and its EST miracles.
I started a new book.
Well I put The Road on hold until mid-October and my history teacher is telling us to wait to read Grapes of Wrath.
So I started on another Cormac McCarthy book. It's pretty short compared to others and the chapters are short too.
It's some of his earlier stuff, written back in the 70's so you can detect the differences.
Less South/southwest, more Appalachia.
I know how much everyone loved the pictures in last weeks post. So here are some more that I have stumbled upon in my Intronets wandering.




The hardest part is deciding which is better.

On a personal note; I shaved my desperate facial hairs today. Better luck next time guys.

Professionalism with a Twist of Cool

I'm watching Seinfeld right now. It's a really good episode. Jerry just caused Kramer a Pod. Oh Kramer. Ok commercial.

So yeah as you may have heard or have realized I have been pretty busy and Blog absent. Between school, hw, and the Finance Association, I have had much spare time. The 5:30am wake-ups have been compounding rough, but the FA social events have been very rewarding. They are surprisingly a lot of fun. As you may have seen the explosion of Facebook pics I posted online we played volleyball at the Alumni BBQ last Sunday. I love volleyball. I got a few good spikes in on sunday. So awesome. I wish I would have been more into it in high school and been on the volleyball team or something. Maybe I will join a community volleyball league someday.

My accounting teacher today sighed during lecture and said "But I Digress." I wasn't paying attention playing on my ipod so I don't know why he said it, but it made me laugh. Reminds me of James' old blog.

I'm loving my new laptop. 17'' of glory. I've been dying to play some games on it but haven't had the chance the past couple weeks. When I first got it I played FEAR on high and it was awesome. Can't wait till we get Left 4 Dead and Lan. That will be sweet.

I'm still rocking out hard with my Offspring playlist. They're effect on me still hasn't wore off yet. They are pretty much my second favorite band of all time, with Foreigner still at #1 of course. Foreigner defined my High School years and Offspring is defining my college years so far.

Yesterday I presented at the Finance Association kick-off meeting and gave a speech about what the marketing department does in the club. It was pretty fun. We got pizza too so that was a bonus. We had a turnout of about 55 people so that was pretty average for a kick-off metting so i'd say my advertising skills didn't make FA go under too much haha. I dressed up all nice with a shirt and tie and dockers but I had my brown vans on and classic "john" belt with sunglasses and it created this awesome twist of professionalism and coolness. I thought it was badass.

Ok I've been talking a lot. I pretty much gave you all the lowdown on things going on right now in the life of John so I think i've done my job. My birthday is coming soon too. I'm looking forward to that.


Volleyball!


......In case you missed this one on Facebook. Yeah.....don't ask me what I'm doing cause I don't know.

That's Something

AH-HA!
For the last hour or so I had a feeling like I was forgetting something. I even said in my head, "I feel like I am forgetting something.....but there can't possibly be anything....its just a Monday night."
But what do we have here! A post!

I'm sort of sensing that this blog gets about 1 and 1/4 views a day, so for my sake I'll keep it short.

I came home last weekend but you probably didn't see me. I was very sneaky! And busy.
But I did go visit my 2nd Home aka Regal. And guess what! I saw a movie.
I saw Extract and I enjoyed it. It was a simple comedy. And I think thats what they were going for.
On a tragic Mike Judge related note; I watched the Series Finale of King of the Hill last night.
It wasn't a special or anything like that. Just a couple episodes they still had to air. I think at the end of the last one they did change it so all the cast of characters came over for a barbeque. It was simple. And it was nice.
It's funny, I had started to wonder a while back when the show was going to end and noticed that it had started to feel tired. But then as soon as I found out it was being canceled I got all angry about that. Then it got un-canceled, then it got re-canceled.
In the end all I have to say is good luck to Fox and their animation shows. Too much Seth McFarlane is not a good thing. And Simpsons aside, that's all you've really got.

Well it's week 3 of school. When things start to get real. The quizzes have started coming. I smell an essay not too far away!

I think that's All I am going to get in word wise. Lets supplement the rest of this post with outlandish photographs.

September 10th. 2009

Crikey. College is weird. I think I knew going into college that I wasn't going to be much of a college person and two years later this hunch is becoming more and more realized. I just don't make a very good pseudo-adult.

So where is this pessimism coming from? Well, I started tutoring yesterday. I don't feel comfortable jumping to the conclusion that I'm a bad tutor, but I can say I am a very new (unqualified? maybe) tutor. I got all nervous and my voice was cracking, and I just had no idea what was going on. I tutor tomorrow too..BUT THIS TIME IT'S A SUBJECT I ACTUALLY KIND OF KNOW. So, it should be better. Really. It's okay guys.

I've been having quite a decent output of shit lately. Wow that did not sound like what I thought it would. Uh. I've been producing things. That's more..wow. Yeah okay. So first up, I did a short story for creative writing.

http://courageousturnip.deviantart.com/art/way-of-the-coast-of-texas-136603544

We had to focus on a certain setting that made a character uneasy. So, that's mine.

Next, visual arts!






Yeah. So that's my output.

I just started reading the 7th harry potter again. It's the only one that I don't really remember so it's nice to revisit.

Things I regret not bringing to my grandpa's house:

Stapler.
Tape.
Shoes other than converse.
Extra computer ink.

Also it would be nice to have more socks, but that isn't really necessary.

http://w928.wrzuta.pl/sr/f/67h5E53Wc6O/mumford_sons_-_dustbowl_dance.mp3

Triviality

Me again.
I'll keep it short and hit you with the hardFACTS
The Road(movie) got pushed back to November 25th, So I know what I'll be doing over my Thanksgiving break.
I know I am going to really like this movie so I doesn't matter if I need to wait just a bit more, as long as I get to see it!

I wrote my poem. I have a bad feeling that I am going to have to re-write it due to lack of imagery. I felt I did good for a first time/no real skill for this sort of writing. Oh and it didn't rhyme. So i guess that makes it easier.

In my Human Geography/Ecology class the teacher was talking about Globalization. When the subject of cars came up he asked who drove/had an American car.
I raise my hand.
And I alone.
I was honestly a little shocked by that. I expected a few more people. I think he did too.
Reminds me of Gran Torino when the family visits Clint Eastwood and they drive off and he says "I told him to buy American!"

On my post last Thursday I said I was almost halfway in my book. Well I finished it on Monday, I think. Monday or Tuesday.
Great stuff. I have officially concluded the Border Trilogy. Now I am re-reading The Road and after that I'm not sure what I'll do. I can keep reading McCarthy or maybe jump to someone else. All the possibilities! Aren't you excited!~

ok well that's it for me for today.


But what would a post be without a video

Fill in the Blog

Looks like it's a back-to-back/double feature/POWERPLAY.
Well it's labor day. So I tried to do as little labor as possible. Does that mean I'm still in bed? Unchanged from the night before?
No, no it does not. You could say I "took it easy" today. I "didn't strain myself." I "kept my list of activities short."
(Directors Note: When reading the lines in "Quotations" please be very overdramatic)

I bought the Kings of Leon album on iTunes. Amazing stuff.
Shall we?
1.

2.


They sure did put on one great show at Weenie Roast 2009. And they had the best set time.

I just got finished reading poems for my Language of Poetry class. Who knew it could be so fun.
I have to write like 3 poems for that class. EEEEK! I think I've written like two poems in my entire life.
I almost just wrote a poem just now, for you. But you get no poem!

I re-watched Pan's Labyrinth this weekend. It might be my favorite foreign film ever. And some of the Spanish I can understand without subtitles.
Uh-oh, we just stumbled upon a pet peeve(as much as I hate to you that term).
But it relates to people and subtitled movies. If you are of reasonable age, lets say 13+, and you can't/don't watch a movie because it has subtitles, We have a problem. I seriously felt angry when I had to give a customer a refund because they came to see Letters From Iwo Jima and didn't want to "read" a movie. But then there is some part of me that isn't too mad about it. Maybe it's a system to weed out those less deserving of such fine cinematic treasures.
But if you consider yourself deserving and have not seen Pan's Labyrinth.....GO see it. You will be very captivated.

Ok. I feel like two blogs in a row(even though three days apart) might give people a Michael OvERLOAD

Yes?

Visualization and Representation

Now we're talking! Back in business and baby that's how I like it!
Unnecessarily necessary blog energy just kicked in.
So I'm back. You're back. We are all back. But before we get into all that is new in the life let's give summer a nice little wrap up.
Goodbye Regal, goodbye house, goodbye sleeping in, goodbye wasting time, goodbye HangoutCity.
In case anyone had forgotten or not know.....I WON AT MONOPOLY. It was either the best worst idea, of something to do at 11pm, or the worst best idea. But I still won. And I think it was all thanks to Paul Revere aka the guy riding the horse AKA the greatest token in Boardgame history. This may be the only thing that gets commented on but oh well. I still won.
Summer is gone though. So lets move ahead. Im in a new building this year. The room is bigger, the halls are calmer, the view is very cool, and its a definite upgrade......
Photographic evidence to support my claims!

OooooOOoo


My station of work!


My closet...


The VIEW!


Ok. As for my classes, I satisfied with them. Which I suppose at this level is the best you are going to get. By this level I mean GE classes and random major-required classes (a la Language of Poetry.) And British Literature 1. We've only had two sessions. And its been about about the Beowulf. I might be shot for saying this or frowned upon by the Literary Gods/snobs, but I have to say I am all about the Contemporary. I had the same problem with Dickens. Of course I recognize the impacts and groundwork laid by these classics(except that you could argue that I do not because I do not enjoy reading them/take on a full and loving comprehension) but I think I can safely blame my enjoyment of movies and the fast(er) pace of books from this century.
But it doesn't change the fact that I have 1000 lines of Beowulf to still read.
As for my personal reading, I am almost halfway through Cities of the Plain. Another McCarthy classic! I need to finish it soon so I took can start/finish the Road before the cinematic adaptation premieres. Speaking of that, the first reviews are in! The movie has already been shown at the Venice film festival and has a few more film festival appearances coming up. This is where the buzz picks up again. Good or bad. But so far its been good. One thing that is a challenge for the film is that the book left a lot of things for the reader to imagine. The whole Visualizing Thought process. But the whole purpose of the film to to provide that image.
In the end I know I'm going to like the movie. And most likely the movie will enhance my opinion about the book.
Well it's good to see September kicking us into gear and getting the blog's blood pumping.
Welcome back and welcome forward!

Here we go again (but worse this time)

Hooray for blogging again. So yeah i'm tired so i'm going to keep this blog a short one. It's been a while blogging for me.

This semester is my busiest semester yet. Between getting my class schedule all mangled and being a board member on the finance association, I am knee deep in crap. I go to school monday through friday now. All 5:30am wake ups. That extra day on friday is really the icing on the cake. These first couple weeks has been very busy with the Finance Association too. It is our membership drive these first 3 weeks so I have to run the table 7 hours a week spread out over 3 days a week. Plus all the finance meetings every couple days it has been very time consuming. Last thursday I got home at 8pm. The earliest I have gotten home this week is 4pm. Needless to say school is taking a lot out of me. I went to bed at 8:30pm on tuesday that's how tired I was.

On a lighter note, I do like most of my classes. Accounting and ISDS are totally awesome. Political Science not so much. But 4 out of 5 ain't bad. However this is going to be a major reading semester again. But do not worry, I am on page 213 of the road, and I am sure I will find time to finish it before the movie comes out.

Ok it is time for dinner so I am cutting this short. Till next time.

Johnny

September 1st, 2009

Well, the wheels of the blog are beginning to turn again, after a somewhat unexpectedly long intermission. But college has started, and it seems appropriate to pick up where we last left off.

College is a clusterfuck. I absolutely abhor being a commuter, especially with all of the city driving around Orange. There are some really scary off/on ramps that cause me to have an adrenaline rush everytime. Because there's always traffic.

Interesting note: my school is not a morning school. My classes began on Monday and Tuesday at 9:30 and 8:30 respectively, and if I get there are 8:30 there are hundreds, of parking spots open. But at 11:00 that number goes down to a much lower number. Today that number was 4. That's low. Mighty low.

My classes are alright. I have this one teacher for 6 hours on Monday who's pretty chill. He kind of reminds me of a fatter, older, more Jewish Jacob Gibson.

I'm living at my Grandpa's house in case you haven't heard. So far, it's been mutually understandingly awkward. I couldn't have asked for anything better I suppose. You see, my grandpa and I haven't really talked. Ever. I've seen him plenty, it's just neither one of us really understands one another very well.

Tonight is my first night off. And no homework. Score.
I can't wait until I finally start tutoring people. I have so much freaking open time. I need to plug up the time holes! NEED!! I'm taking a creative writing class with one of my high school friend's dad. It's kind of trippy because he recognized me and I was really hoping/expecting/banking on him not. Now it's just awkward, but I already bought the book, so I guess I'm sticking with it.

Blog mobile!

Hello hello. This blog just got mobile. I'm writing this from my iPhone. It's kinda late and I have nothing at all to say. Except expect more of me in a couple of weeks. This blog will be back in full swing.... I hope. Adios!

July 30 2009

First off, a new band has approached on the horizon. Technically they aren't new, as I've known about them since I was introduced to Urban Outfitters playlists, but since that one song "hellhole ratrace" which was featured in "how I killed my bunny," things had been pretty quiet from the band titled "Girls."

Until I found



First thirty seconds or so are just high girls screaming, which usually wouldn't bode well. But this time they got it right. It's definitely an impressive group of musicians.

ANIMATIONEDUCATION

Are you ready for some awesome German stop-motion animation featuring rocks?!

It's titled "Das Rad" which totally looks like it would be called The Road BUT IT ISN'T. It's actually "The Wheel." So that's nice. Anyways, it was Oscar Nominated (2003 I think..? maybe 2001.) And after it didn't win...well. Not much happened. It only has 600 something views on youtube, which is a shame since it is such a fabulous film.


Speaking of animation..I've been animating! A new short film, which is kind of bad because that means I have little incentive in finishing the last one I started. I just grew out of the story really quickly, and it was hard to keep it going.

It's About Time

I know, I know. I have been the king of blog laziness lately. I really have been meaning to blog, but I just never get around to actually doing it. This is the long awaited blog by John. I'm not sure how much I actually want to write about in this post, so I guess we'll just see what happens.

So yeah summer has been up and down. I get busy for a couple of days and then I have nothing to do for the next couple of days. I would say it has been a good summer though. Summer is coming to a close however. Only less than 4 weeks left. June is dead and gone, July is almost over, May was so long ago, now we just have august. I hate august. Just a bad month in my opinion. I just do not like the name and now that I am a college student I do not like what it brings. I still need to go about some Finance Association duties. That is also why I am dreading august. July is just so sweet.

Registering for classes this semester was even more stressful than last semester. I have a feeling that the semester after next semester will be even worse trying to register. It is a bad pattern. This semester I found out how truly bad and impacted business classes are at Fullerton. The classes I want fill up before I can register. Not the just the time I wanted, but all the times available for that particular class. It is amazingly sucky. So for this semester I had to settle big time to get a barely decent schedule. When I say settle I mean I have to go to school everyday, Monday through friday. AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!. That is a commuter's worst nightmare! Not only commuters, but every college student! For me, if I lived near my school or if I lived on campus it would be alright. But I commute, and I commute earrrrllllyyyy. So yeah it sucks but I'll live.

Here is my schedule for next semester:

MWF Posc 100 (Political science) 9:00am - 9:50am
MWF Econ 201 (Microeconomics) 10:00am -10:50am (I have this class with Vinay)
MW Hesc 101 (Health science - Personal health) 1:00pm - 2:15pm (sounds easy)
TuTH Hist 180 (American History) 7:00am - 8:15am
TuTH Acct 201a (Financial Accounting) 8:30am - 9:45am

Ok I am tired and my mom keeps distracting me, so here is an informal writing list of other thoughts I was thinking about sharing in the blog:

1. I still have the goal to read the Road this summer but have not started said goal.
2. I have lost 12 pounds since schools end.
3. I have been slacking on the gym.
4. I stopped playing starcraft and have not found a steady new video game obsession. I keep bouncing around on different games.
5. Damn you ActivisionBlizzard will you just go up already.
6. I am thinking of selling tetratech stock.
7. I am fet up with college bookstore crap so I want to buy my books online this semester. anyone know any good websites?
8. I can't wait to try and make another group video.
9. The Mr.Noodle Hey ya song is stuck in my head.
10. I still like The Offspring.
11. It was my Mom's birthday on friday and I finally saw Harry Potter.
12. My bank account gets lower every day.
13. I saw this cheap but good laptop in a best buy ad and I am thinking about buying it.

Now that is a post.

James the Sloth. Jaloth. Slames. hahah slames.

It seems I've fallen into quite a slump of productivity. Partly to blame is Avatar the Last Airbender which I have finally gotten around to watching. Age of Empires/Advance Wars takes up a big piece of the pie chart too.

But this had led me to larger questions. Like what is there exactly to be productive about? Beats me. In any case, it seems I've lost the precious attribute of being okay with doing nothing. Those days are long gone.

I recently purchased 45 shares of Activision Blizzard, and so far it's been treating me pretty well. Apparently they announced a World of Warcraft movie tonight, so maybe it will go even higher tomorrow! It's exciting stuff. Especially when I'm not losing money.

School is coming down the road again. For the first time since last year I'm excited. Why? Well, I feel I somehow managed to botch my freshman year. I mean I could have done a lot worse, but it's just that there were so many opportunities to make friends and suck up to teachers that I feel I let pass me by. This summer has been filled with thoughts about things like that, and I now feel I could relate to a eager dad awaiting to bring his newbornchild to a crib from where to share with him all of the glorious wonders of the world. Eager, but not desperate. I'm beginning to think I should have signed up to be a Orientation Advisor. I could gather and herd all of the freshmen, and then I would have friends. Or better: a posse.

(I like blogging, it helps me clear my thoughts.)

Over and Over

It's super freaking hot out. The sun has gone to bed but I cannot. Luckily I don't work in the AM tomorrow.
As a result of this inability to sleep(i wouldn't call it insomnia because I know Im not cool enough to be an insomniac)
I give you this post. And these videos


Original



Acoustic

Silversun Pickups - New Music - More Music Videos

This band has really been my GO TO for late night listenings.
I like that.
One other thing that I always think of when I listen to this band is how awesomely cool they were at Weenie Roast. Not just in rocking out, but they really had a casual and humble demeanor. And I think, if this band were a person/its essence became embodied, this MANifestation would be a person that I would be very pleased to associate with.
Make sense.
I like how I made that not a question but a statement.

Incase you were wondering......the yosemite videos on the flip cameras are on standstill. I havent really had time to look/work on them. BUT because for some reason.....my computer made thumbnails of the first images on the videos so heres some of those......you know because we could always use more yosemite pictures!











Yeah?

Haven't had much time dedicated to reading. I could see that changing soon.

Oh also....I'm onto season 3 of AD. :)

You got it!

Independence!!!

Happy Fourth y'all.

This is going to be (most likely) the final scheduled post. The gang is going to meet and discuss options for the future of this blog. But do not fear! This does not mean less and uninteresting posts (well, no it does mean less) but the blogs are going to be much more worthwhile. Exciting!

On the flip (and funny/sad) side, all of that animation work I did for those people earlier this year evidently got scrapped. They took down the website and everything, and I'm worried it might be the end for those wonderful backgrounds and characters I created.

North Korea! Stay out of our country.

I watched W. last night. I really appreciated it. Josh Brolin was amazing. He's a good actor.

Okay, time for some fireworks!

Influenza Majorisims

I have been sick for the past two days. It has really taken a toll on my productions and goals. I have hope that I will be well by tomorrow night though. I agree with Michael that we need to lower the blog production whether it be once a week or blog when you want. We should have a meeting about that soon.

Word Wars

July. June is gone. July. May is ancient history. July.We still have two good months to go. July. It's July!
As fast as time is going, time doesn't seem to be going that fast.
Like I feel that plenty of time has passed but plenty of time remains. Good and plenty.
So I've been thinking.
I've definitely been thinking. Lets see if I can give you any gracious examples of these funderful topics.
Youth/age/years: I know this has been a magically reoccurring theme in recent get-togethers but man oh man, we really don't fit the age we are. Or the preconceived notions of our age group. Thats something of a bittersweet victory. On the one hand we are of the most rebellious sorts! and rebel we must from Expectations and/or Predictability. But then on the flipside we are seen as youngish and naive. Of little worth or status. So you can see the conundrum created. At this point and time I suppose it is best to just wait it out. Take it for what its worth and in the end we will probably enjoy the lasting effects of a lasting youth....(cue the music!)
blah blah blah
i just considered erasing everything I wrote and just posting somewhat nots and whocares.
I guess ill skip the erasing but keep with the mindless posting.
but now I am mad.......embedding disabled upon request makes me mad.
that just means no weezer music videos for you.....
but now this makes me think....when I post a video who actually takes the time to watch it...Im going to guess that you click it...it plays for a tad....and then it is stopped. and then forgotten. So is there a point? I would like to think so. I might actually still think so. but there is always doubt.
eh im not really worried though. because that would be
pointless.

I think...we should switch to a blog when you want type deal. Personally I feel like it would bring about more interesting and fruitful posts. Just a suggestion.

if you couldn't tell I ran out of things to say back at the young stuff part.
I like ice cream. I wish i had some ice cream to eat right now.

ok. I've got to go. this has been rather comical/lackadaisical
I think I just figured out that this whole post has been an opportunity for me to use big words. BIG WORDS

but then I saw this