Things to Remember: Shelley, Part One

Remember when we all went over to your dad's place for a summer barbecue thing? Remember how much fun that was?

What time did we all go home that night?

I think that might have been the first time we all hell of gossiped for that lengthy amount of time.

I find fighting nostalgia with nostalgia works alarmingly well. Does that make sense?

It was a red-letter night, that's all I'm saying.

Feel better, Shellphone.

Things to Remember: Mike, Part One

I can recall a day between second grade and fifth grade that Mike and I had a very, very heated discussion (read: pissy argument) about which conference the San Francisco 49ers belonged to.

He insisted that it was the AFC, but I knew better. It wasn't enough that I knew better, though. It was that I was a huge, dicky brat about it. I stormed into the kitchen and asked my mother and father. They backed me up, of course, but I could tell even then that they were appalled at how demonstrative I was about something so inconsequential.

In my defense, Mike was being a dicky brat about it, too. He just wouldn't let go of the idea that if the Cowboys and 49ers played each other in the playoffs, it meant that the 49ers were in the AFC.

It wasn't horrible logic for an elementary school student who knew the Super Bowl was always played between the NFC and AFC and that the Cowboys and 49ers almost never played each other during the regular season.

I wouldn't let it go, either.

I really, really doubt he remembers that. Maybe I'll post it on my Xanga to see if he does. In a way, I still feel bad about it to this day.

It was the kind of stubbornness that brought us back together after a year of fighting in fifth grade, though. I have to be thankful for that.



"Here Comes Your Man"
Pixies

The Band

1) A male singer.
2) A female singer.
3) A guitarist.
4) A bassist.
5) A keyboardist/pianist.
6) A drummer.
7) A violinist.
8) A brass/woodwind player.
9) A good songwriter.
10) People with eclectic tastes.

Obviously, there can be some overlapping here. I'm sure we can compromise on what's necessary and what isn't.



"Squalor Victoria"
The National

An Inconvenient Poop

I got in touch with the co-producer of An Inconvenient Truth today so she could help me with an email campaign for The Unforeseen. It's just bizarre. I sent off this email to a woman who made millions for this documentary and I got a reply in less than ten minutes.

It makes me feel good about the industry, I guess. I guess I know that some of these people still check their email, aren't dicks, etc.

I dunno, I just thought that was neato torpedo.

Ah, Folklore. If you like a more strategic Devil May Cry with Pokemon/Kingdom Hearts elements and stellar dialogue and art design, then the game is probably for you. I'm enjoying it a lot.

I think I'll get Lost Odyssey when it comes out next week. I actually enjoyed Blue Dragon quite a bit, so Mistwalker hasn't totally left my radar as far as good 360 JRPGs go. And can you really go wrong with Uematsu? I hear the story is pretty fucking trite, but show me a good RPG that hasn't already been done to death in some fashion and I'll show you twenty more where that came from. It's ultimately all about writing and design for me at the end of the day. Ultimately at the end of the day. Come on.

Anyway!

I've had a love/hate thing with the Devil May Cry series. I'm intrigued about the new entry (as well as the new Penny Arcade strip about the PS3's installation thing, which I approve of, by the way), but definitely not enough to buy it until a drop in price. I enjoyed the first entry and the third entry (which I haven't played through yet), but the second was so absolutely vanilla, but gross and heavy vanilla, that it's been hard for me to go back to the series with open arms.

Also, listen to The National. Please. Thanks, Peter.



"Slow Show"
The National

Seeking Brass Bolts

Maybe the honeymoon will be over soon, but so far I'm actually quite happy to be back in Sherman. I hooked up my computer to a little TV monitor so I could have my iTunes on one screen and the rest of my shit to the computer monitor itself. I like this setup. I actually think it'll help me be more productive.

Cool story, John!

I'm really happy that everyone (except maybe whiney Pats fans, of which there are many of those in the known universe) is finally seeing Belichick for the sore loser shit he is. Even Randy Moss was being a gracious loser. Incredible. Having said that, I could probably go forever without seeing either of those teams win another Super Bowl. Here's to hoping the Cowboys wise up and try to sign Randy Moss out of free agency instead instead of trading Marion Barber to the Dolphins for a totally untested rookie RB. Jesus.

My plan is to have a totally finished, "not gonna touch it again until after I hypothetically sell it to a big movie studio" copy of my first screenplay, tentatively titled Nerdy Hopeless Romantics, ready for everyone's reading pleasure by next weekend.

Cool story, John!

Oh yeah, maybe you can answer me this one, Ben, but why the hell would anyone actually do Prestige Mode in COD4?

That Big Scary Moment of Thinking You're Shit

I know Shelley can empathize here. I'm sure most of you can empathize, but I've heard Shelley echo some of the following rather recently. I'll make it rather short.

I don't want to be a TV writer because I know I'm not Ricky Gervais. I don't want to be an actor because I know I'm not Clive Owen. I don't want to be a novelist because I know I'm not Kingsley Amis. I don't want to be a musician because I know I'm not Stephen Jenkins.

I know all of that is just fucking stupid, but it's really hard. Complain, complain, complain, I know. But Jesus, I'll never be that funny or insightful or piercing. I'm not even sure I want to be that funny or insightful or piercing because they do it so well.

It's just hard to get over that. Admiration is just hard to get over.

I definitely still want to be a TV writer, though. I just need to get some tougher skin.



"Can't You Hear Me Knocking"
The Rolling Stones

Flat Panels and Terraforming

Did anyone else here recently wake up and realize your childhood vision of the future was coming to fruition?

How many of your life goals can you mark off at this point?

Does anyone have life goals?


"Sleep"
Azure Ray