Oh Goodness

This thing is going to be about 30% longer than I initially expected.

I guess that's not a terrible thing, just a...

NARM NARM NARM NARM NARM NARM.

*strokes. dies.*


"Yours to Keep"
Teddybears

FOOTBALL ARF ARF ARF

The Pats certainly looked like a beatable team tonight. If the Boys see the Pats in the Super Bowl, and I think that's probable, it'll be a tight contest. I've never rooted for the Eagles before, but I found myself cheering for Emo Quarterback of the Future, AJ Feeley. McNabb is done in Philly. He'll be in Chicago this time next year, giving the Bears a breath of fresh air in the QB department.

Speaking of the Bears and quarterbacks, Rex Grossman didn't throw the game away against the Broncos at home today. Color me impressed, but color me even more impressed with Devin Hester. Goodness gracious. 27 games in the NFL with 10 return touches, come on. He passed Gale Sayers as the Bears' all-time return man. Good company.

I could probably write a novel about everything that's wrong with the NFL Network and the fact that millions of football fans will miss Thursday night's game between the Pack and the Boys. The biggest issue, no surprise here, is Jerry Jones. He's the new President of the NFL Network. He's the one going around telling people to drop cable and switch to satellite so they'll get the NFL Network. Now, if my team were 10-1 for the first time ever, and we're going into a home-field-advantage-deciding game against the 10-1 Packers, I'd want as many people as humanly possible to see the game. But no, not Jerry. Jerry wants you to switch to Dish Network so you can see the game on the NFL Network. It's a crock of shit and the NFL should be way fucking embarrassed about this. I'm not torn up about missing the Indy-Falcons game the other night, but someone is somewhere in the United States. If the NFL wants to branch out to China, Mexico, London, and so forth, they should reach out to their American fans first. I was a rabid supporter of the NFL Network before they started buying rights to more and more games each season. I think guys like Chris Collinsworth and Brian Baldinger, who work for NFL Network as well as NBC and Fox, respectively, should be embarrassed that they're playing both sides of this thing.

It's bullshit and it needs to stop, end of story.



"Money for Nothing"
Dire Straits

Remember Those Old Xanga Rants?

It does worry me, admittedly -- the idea that I can't write shit unless it's the low light of winter, I'm exposed to extended interaction with many people at once, or I'm depressed.

Of course, I'm certainly more content with being happy than depressed. There isn't much I can do about the people thing. I'm working from home, I have no desire to spend time on campus, and writing in a coffee shop really is a laughable move. I'll only have about a month of the low light of winter before I have to close shop and send everything in to UT.

Then, my stuff actually has to be good enough to get in.

Not much I can do about that, either. Not much I can do about not being 28, the average age of applicants to the schools which I'm applying.

I haven't felt this powerless in a while. Not much to get depressed about here, though. I'm planning a wedding with the woman of my dreams and watching the Cowboys have the best season they've had in nearly 25 years.

There just isn't time to be moody and nostalgic with all of this happiness floating around. Maybe I missed my shot back in 2004 to be a stellar writer. Did I miss my shot to be moody and nostalgic for a lifetime and make oodles of cash doing it?

What am I going to do? It's not like I woke up and couldn't express the things I want to express. I'm just not terribly concerned with expressing them. I think about them, sure, but when it comes time to strap down and write -- that's a losing battle most of time.

Chances are, this bout of new-found honesty here will fuel some good writing. It couldn't come at a better time. I'm just so worried about blowing my chance to get into grad school. Maybe I'll swallow my pride and start writing at a coffee shop. I should probably just embrace that part of me that gets a jolt from working in public. Who knew I was such a voyeur?

Peter did say something to me the other night after watching Knocked Up and discussing the future DVD release of Superbad. He expressed disappointment that he'd never be able to write anything as funny as those movies. That prospect totally terrifies me -- it's definitely something I think about every time I see something I love (the aforementioned, Six Feet Under, Arrested Development, etc.).

I just need to clear my mind of the irrelevant. I need to remember why I wanted to write in the first place. I need to start thinking in terms of who would see/read what I write instead of those I'm writing it for. Does that make sense?

I think maybe I'm terrified of what the people I'm writing it for will think. I need to abandon that.

Quickly.


"Savannah Smiles"
Okkervil River

The Ineffable Feeling

I'll probably post this on the 'ol Xanga, but I'll post it here first. Can you name any movies/TV shows that really capture the ineffable feeling of falling in love? Can you think of any scenes in particular? What about other realistic representations of profound emotions?

It's not that I can't think of any, but I'm interested in knowing what everyone else (pretty much meaning Jeremy, Shelley, and Lauren) thinks.

Watching the third season of "The Office" caused me to remember how wonderful DVD can be for TV shows. I watched almost every episode as they aired, but DVD makes the show (and many shows) exponentially better.


"Homecoming"
Kanye West

Oh, the Spending

I need to start working 35hr weeks to pay for everything I want for this year (better internet, digital cable, videogames, and, most importantly, wedding stuff). I need to get on that.

Bioshock is easily one of the best games I've played in a long time. I've never been one of those people who thinks it's permissable to buy a system for one game, but this game comes pretty close to me hanging that idea up for good. My shiney new Elite looks pretty sweet on my parents' HDTV. It's so weird sitting so far away from a TV to play a game. Ah, the wave of the future. I may go up to Sherman tomorrow just to get Madden so I can play it on the awesome TV.

I like the new Rilo Kiley despite some horrible tracks. The new Eisley is alright in my book--it'd be hard to ever top Room Noises. Haven't jumped head-first into the new Architecture, yet. The new Mae is OK. It's been a while since I've gotten really excited about Mae, so it doesn't surprise me that I'm not trembling about the new album.

I am also quite excited about "Dexter" on DVD.

Oh, also, remind me not to ever wear eye makeup for the hell of it. I think it looks like balls on 99.9% of men.

But yeah, BIOSHOCK. Get it. Now.


"Silver Lining"
Rilo Kiley

Matt Groening Took 87 Minutes Away From My Life

I'm quite excited for Lauren's arrival here in the Dallas area. We're really starting to get the ball rolling on this wedding stuff.

On a different note, I have a feeling that everything leading up to James and Erin's October 5th nuptials will be quite turbulent. I hope not, but when you run with a lie for that long, something's got to give.

I've been getting my ass spanked by some kid online in All-Pro. Clearly something needs to change. Maybe I'll make a new team. I need some blinding speed.

The Simpsons was really one of the worst movies I've ever seen. I wish I was exaggerating. It was just terrible. Ben and I didn't really laugh at all. They ruined the funniest part (Spiderpig) by putting it in the trailer. Bourne Ultimatum was pretty good. I enjoyed it less than its predecessors, but it was still awesome in it's own way. Matt Damon is a bona fide action star in my book. Who knew?


"In the Aeroplane Over the Sea"
Neutral Milk Hotel

Patch, Pill, Turkey, What Have You

I think I got my parents to quit smoking tonight, starting on September 2. I'm pretty excited about it, but we'll see how long it lasts.

"The Gymnast, High Above the Ground"
The Decemberists

Blegh

I was at www.rollingmeme.blogspot.com, but I have a new Google email address, so here I am.