Stone Alone
After a long period of slow progress, I've finally got back up to speed and am nearing the end of the Rolling Stones auto-biography Stone Alone, by bassist Bill Wyman. I'm anxious to finish it mostly because it's not my book, and I've had it since probably around Thanksgiving. The content is unquestionably fascinating, but it's a very tough read. The chapters are really long, and being a history as opposed to a narrative, the flow at times can be challenging. But if you're up to the task, the book provides endless insight into the early era of the band, covering their rise to prominence in the sixties, and, judging from how much is left of the book, probably right up to the death of founding member Brian Jones. That's something that just struck me when I realized it - I had originally thought that the title 'Stone Alone' referred to Bill Wyman, since it was his book. But no, Brian Jones is the Stone Alone, and this book paints a fairly detailed picture of his journey from proud leader of the band to paranoid outcast - without ignoring any of the other important angles on the band. It still amazes me how many girls those Stones had access to...
Burning Man - Travel Plans
In other news, I spent a lot of time the other day mapping out the route to Burning Man on Google Maps. Playing around with maps like that really fascinates me, although it's frustrating when Google Maps starts slowing down and taking forever to respond. I'm not saying I have the route finalized or anything, but I've got a good idea of what the journey will include. Luckily, in this age of interstate highways, driving across the country doesn't have to be terribly complicated. Turns out, I-80, which is less than an hour north of Pittsburgh, runs straightway across the country, right through Reno, Nevada, the closest major city to the desert playa where Burning Man takes place. Here's what I've worked out so far:
Chicago appears to be about an eight hour drive from Pittsburgh. That seems like a good start to me for the first day of travel. I'm not entirely certain about the logistics of stopping over in a major city, but I have to admit I'm intrigued by the idea of maybe dining at the original location of Uno's, if that's a possibility. From there, it looks to be 27 hours of driving to Reno, through Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming (where I-80 reaches its highest elevation), Utah (straight through Salt Lake City, then across the Great Salt Lake Desert), then finally into barren Nevada. I don't know that there's anything along that path particularly worth taking note of, beside the scenery in general, so I figure we can take it from city to city, stopping at a few places along the way to sleep (not counting breaks). I'm thinking 27 hours is quite probably too much to do in two days, but three days should be doable. I will undoubtedly work out more specifics later.
As for the way back, I've already mentioned the Rachel, Nevada plan (visiting, and, ideally, staying at, the Little A'Le'Inn). To get there from Reno is a good 6 hour drive. From there, the best path seems to be an alternate route that cuts across the lower part of Utah, into Colorado and through Denver, before meeting back up with I-80 just across the Nebraska border. From Rachel to Denver is about 12 hours. Maybe doable, maybe a bit long, I'm not sure. I don't know of anything important in Denver, anyway. Other than that, it's about 14/15 hours back to Chicago, and about 8 more hours from there to home. Four days should be enough, although, if we pick a slower pace, I don't see that being a huge problem, since there should be no terrible rush to get home. (Basically I'm setting my comfortability limit here at 10 hours of driving a day - that's 10 hours worth of miles, not including breaks and maybe traffic and stuff. It's hard to say for sure, since this will be the first time I've taken on a driving challenge this extensive, but I've done 8 hours in a single day before, and I'm fairly comfortable with that. Of course, in this case, it'll be multiple days in a row of long hours on the road. But that's what it's all about, isn't it? I think I'm up to the challenge, provided the car does its part...). I considered picking a different route back home to expand the experience, but at that point, after the festival, I think getting home will be looking like a good plan. At any rate, it will definitely be a pilgrimage.
Sleep Patterns
My sleeping patterns have been a little irritating lately. Just a little bit back, I was tired enough that in the small hours of the morning, I could fall asleep quite easily (and quite comfortably) for something of a nap. But even now, when the morning comes on, I have a hard time falling asleep. My body gets exhausted, and I reach a point around 8am where I can't stand sitting at the computer anymore and I have to crawl into bed. But even when I do - and it feels great - my mind is still running wild, and I have a hard time shutting it off. It's like, I can easily get my mind to rest during the night, but while my body gets exhausted when the sun rises, my mind seems to be running at full power. It's troublesome. Do you know how much I wish sleeping was as easy as flipping a switch? Imagine how much easier it would be to get a good night's sleep!
I partly wondered if my trouble had something to do with the light leaking in through the blinds on the huge window in my room. I've mostly gotten used to it, but sometimes it still bugs me a little. I also happen to have gotten into the habit of only sleeping lying on one side - facing away from the window, which is unfortunately right next to my bed anyway. The worst part is the slit at the edge of the window, along the side - that's where the most light gets in. The blinds block the light coming straight in, but it's like a solar festival along the edges! Anyhow, last night (yesterday morning, to most people in this area) I put up some blankets across the whole face of the window, just to see if the darkness would help me sleep. There's still some light that seeps through the blankets, but the room's a lot darker now than it was, and I put up a blanket over that pesky edge, blocking out the most annoying area. We'll see if it makes a decided difference after a few days trying it out.
You might ask why I didn't have the blankets up in the first place - well, the main reason is that I love windows, and it really goes against my intuition to block a window up. Even though the blinds stay closed and most of my days are at night when there's nothing to see out the window anyway. And even though my window has a terrible view. Not only is it facing north, which means the least direct sunlight (I had a room in college that got some serious direct sunlight in the evenings - so I understand what a pain direct sunlight like that can be, but honestly, I liked that situation better than getting *no* direct sunlight - certainly, in the colder months, that sunlight could really help warm up my room, don't you think?), but there's also the matter of the neighbor's big ugly brick side of their house all up in my view. To see anything but brick and other people's windows, I have to lean in close and look out to either side. It really sucks. And it has a real impact on my psychology - being disconnected like that from the outside world. Since I spend so much of my time indoors, despite having a natural affinity for nature, I've come to respect windows quite a lot, since they're my everyday connection to the outer world. I also happen to enjoy sitting in, or even just standing at, windows, just looking out, watching the world, and the weather. So the window situation frequently depresses me, but, and I think I've said this before, there are other things about this room that make it nice, so it's a matter of compromise (not to mention a lack of options - considering my fear of going out into the world and being independent).
Showing posts with label driving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label driving. Show all posts
23 January, 2008
21 January, 2008
Aliens
Xenomorphs aside, little green (and often times grey) men have played a large role in my formative years. Although a skeptic at heart (though not in the philosophical sense), I am a very curious individual. The unsolved mysteries of life have always intrigued me, including aliens, ghosts, and all forms of cryptozoology. Despite Steven Spielberg's capitalization on the alien theme (with Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and E.T., both of which were a little before my time), it was the harsher characterization of aliens, like that in Fire In The Sky, and all the popular TV specials about UFO's and alien abduction stories, that formed my impression of intelligent extraterrestial life. To my young mind, these were very real possibilities, that both frightened and intrigued me.
It should be no surprise that The X-Files is one of my favorite TV series of all time, with its exploration of these themes, focusing on aliens and the government conspiracies that relate to them. I remember when The X-Files first started. I didn't watch it then, but I remember seeing commercials for it - specifically the episode where Mulder arranges a bunch of papers from a fax machine along the floor, then climbs a flight of stairs and looks down on the arrangement to notice that the random binary characters form the shape of a face. At first I thought The X-Files was a movie, but when the commercials persisted, I realized it was an ongoing series. I still didn't start watching it, but my older brother did. I remember him making comments over the phone to one of his friends, as they each watched it in their respective homes.
Like with most things, I was a late bloomer in my fandom for The X-Files. Between the fourth and fifth seasons, I learned that FX had arranged to air the first four seasons of the show nightly, in their original running order. The moment was ripe, and I realized this was my chance to finally jump into The X-Files. So I started watching it on FX, and when the fifth season started up, I taped the episodes to watch them after I had caught up, which I think occurred somewhere around the middle of that season. Turns out the first four seasons was the best of it, but it was nice to catch up and be right on the ball when the movie came out. That was an exciting moment for me. Then, the series continued to decline, and when Mulder dropped out, I lost interest. One day I'll make a point to watch those last couple seasons, but I'm in no particular hurry. I'm even more interested in going back and re-watching the first four seasons, since it's been a while now. I remember trying to collect the series on VHS. Luckily I didn't get very far, as DVD is totally the way to go, and worth waiting for. I saw the X-Files DVD Boxset at Best Buy recently. That's definitely the thing for me, but considering there's like, what, nine seasons? - it's rather expensive, and would represent quite a time commitment. So again, I'm not in a major hurry.
Getting back to aliens - like ghosts, my belief is that *something* is happening to give people these genuine experiences, but it's not necessarily what it appears to them to be. Just like Scully, I try to look for a rational and scientific explanation for these things. A great example is a flyer I got in my chemistry class in high school, debunking sightings of the Loch Ness Monster as nothing more than atmospheric conditions (it was a pretty convincing read). But I don't think every situation is that easy to explain.
One question that intrigues me endlessly is the notion of government conspiracy, like that in The X-Files. Area 51. The Roswell crash. Has the US government had contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence? Have they performed alien autopsies? Do they have remnants of alien spacecraft in some secret hangar somewhere? Were some of the inventions we use today inspired by extraterrestrial technology? Naturally, my skeptical mind finds all of this rather hard to believe. A very convincing argument is the realization that many important government "secrets" don't remain secret for very long - think of Watergate, and I'm sure you can come up with many more examples. Now, if the government did know something about aliens, do you think they could have actually kept it secret this well for at least half a century, if not longer? It's rather hard to believe.
And yet, the idea of it is fascinating, and you want to believe that if it was something this huge, they would go to extreme measures to keep it secret. Still, I tend to believe that it's more a dream than a reality. The fourth season cliffhanger to The X-Files - the Believe The Lie arc - fascinated me. And it was major - it even got Mulder to doubt his own faith in the existence of extraterrestrial aliens for a time. The idea is that the government indirectly fuels the alien conspiracy myth. They'd be fools to step right up and admit (falsely) that they have had contact with aliens (not to mention that they'd be lying outright). But instead, when their denials and cover-ups fuel rumours of these things, they like to encourage it in a roundabout, untraceable fashion. The reason is that, as long as people are postulating alien possibilities, the real truth of the government's top secret programs goes unnoticed.
That's why Mulder got as far as he did. If the government really had secrets to cover up, they would have eliminated Mulder had he ever got as close as he did all those times. But instead, Mulder was very important to the conspiracy. It's a two way street. If somebody claims to know of some connection between the government and aliens, they can easily be dismissed as a loony, their story discredited. But this doesn't convince the believers - in fact it only encourages them to believe that the government is trying to hide its dealings by appealing to people's sense of what is too bizarre to be true. So carefully orchestrating situations where a person like Mulder can witness something profound, while not realizing he's been set up, gives fuel to the believers. And that propagates the lie behind which the government hides the much more mundane, but still secret, truth.
But then you have to ask yourself how deep the government will go? Is the operative that revealed this scheme to Mulder just another one of their tricks, to get him to disbelieve because he got too close? It's a spiralling argument, and you soon find yourself in the midst of a game of wits against a Sicilian, with death on the line. And perhaps that confusion is another part of the strategy. Whatever happens, there's always some room for speculation. The truth is out there, somewhere.
And then there's the topic of alien abductions. How do you explain this phenomenon? I happen to be very skeptical of hypnosis. I don't really know all the details, but what separates a dream from a memory? Still, I believe there are people that have had experiences they can recall, to some extent, without hypnosis, so you have to believe that something is going on. I have heard citations of certain conditions created by some kind of magnetic, or perhaps electromagnetic, field disturbances - this sounds like something worth further research and experimentation. If we could reproduce an alien abduction experience in the safety of a medical lab, that would be a breakthrough.
Traumatizing as it is, I can believe something like an alien abduction experience can be entirely within the head, induced by any number of physical and psychological factors, but not involving any real aliens at all, or even necessarily the victim leaving the bed. There's a phenomenon called sleep paralysis, which I've actually experienced, that goes back a long way in history, where a person partially awakens while their body is still in a state of paralysis. This experience is accompanied by the feeling of a presence in the room, visual and auditory hallucinations, and extreme terror. During my experience, I actually questioned to myself if this was an alien abduction, which is something I feared the chance of experiencing all throughout my childhood. But no, I looked at the face of the figure kneeling beside my bed, and it looked more like the faceless assassin in The X-Files than your typical grey. And there was no medical experimentation.
Whether or not this phenomenon could have something to do with alien abduction experiences is worth looking into. I believe there are probably other factors, though. I love the idea of associating the alien abduction experience with the historical 'revelation', where a religious person might experience a visit by an angel, and maybe even be taken on a tour of heaven. Although one is decidedly divine, while the other rather terrifying, can there be some connection? Again, worth exploring. I've always been fascinated with psychology and brain states and the barriers between reality and illusion. Dreams most definitely included. Fascinating stuff. Learning how the mind works is a lot more insightful than learning the laws of nature, ultimately. I mean, if more is possible by imagination than by reality, then wouldn't it be more interesting to learn the laws of that world instead? I certainly think so.
I had a somewhat interesting experience last night. I got up from my chair, and I looked back at it, and I noticed it was turning ever so slowly. If I didn't know better, I might attribute the motion to some sort of poltergeist. I stared at it amusedly for a few moments, resisting the urge to push the chair and spoil the experience. Postulating the idea of the existence of a ghost in my room was somewhat frightening, and when I moved my arm toward the chair, wondering if I would feel a "cold spot", my arm got quite tingly. Of course, this was just a side-effect of allowing my mind to accept such an idea. Like the feeling you get when you're sitting in the dark and you start thinking about the things that could be hiding, and then your blood runs cold and your skin tingles. It's not evidence of anything more than your own thoughts. But it's interesting that you can think yourself into such a vulnerable position. Most times I walk through dark rooms, and even through the yard at night, without a second thought about those kinds of things. But the moment I take a minute to think about what ungodly things might be lurking in the shadows, the entire arena changes form, and suddenly I feel scared. Maybe a lot of this hokey pokey has to do with people projecting their emotions onto their environment. Some would argue that this very thing is a legitimate method of conjuring certain types of attention, by loosing one's aura and energy into the air. But that itself is questionable, I think.
In any case, the genesis of this strain of thought was the realization that Area 51 is in Nevada. Burning Man is also in Nevada. Obviously, Area 51 isn't quite a tourist destination that you can just take a tour of, but I *have* long been intrigued by the idea of driving down the Extraterrestrial Highway, and staying at (or at least visiting) the Little A'Le'Inn. And what better chance? Honestly, when's the next time I'm gonna be in Nevada? It would be a shame to pass up the opportunity. I'm thinking that on the way to the festival, we'll be anxious to get there on time, while on the way back, we can pretty much take our time getting home, as long as we have provisions (remembering that money *can* buy food and shelter outside of Burning Man).
Wow, one thing I'm noticing is that the western states are HUGE. It's almost like the surface of the Earth expands as you move westward across the country. And there's bound to be a lot less people, out in these desert-y and mountain-y parts, compared to the urban concentrations of the east coast. I wonder what the population density is like. Sure enough - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/USA-2000-population-density.gif. You'd think a little trip from Reno to Rachel, from one side of Nevada to the other, would be like a few hours drive at most. But it's like 6 hours. Still, if it means an extra day of traveling, I think it would be worth it. And a 6 hour drive the day after the festival is probably better than going for like 10 hours or something.
It should be no surprise that The X-Files is one of my favorite TV series of all time, with its exploration of these themes, focusing on aliens and the government conspiracies that relate to them. I remember when The X-Files first started. I didn't watch it then, but I remember seeing commercials for it - specifically the episode where Mulder arranges a bunch of papers from a fax machine along the floor, then climbs a flight of stairs and looks down on the arrangement to notice that the random binary characters form the shape of a face. At first I thought The X-Files was a movie, but when the commercials persisted, I realized it was an ongoing series. I still didn't start watching it, but my older brother did. I remember him making comments over the phone to one of his friends, as they each watched it in their respective homes.
Like with most things, I was a late bloomer in my fandom for The X-Files. Between the fourth and fifth seasons, I learned that FX had arranged to air the first four seasons of the show nightly, in their original running order. The moment was ripe, and I realized this was my chance to finally jump into The X-Files. So I started watching it on FX, and when the fifth season started up, I taped the episodes to watch them after I had caught up, which I think occurred somewhere around the middle of that season. Turns out the first four seasons was the best of it, but it was nice to catch up and be right on the ball when the movie came out. That was an exciting moment for me. Then, the series continued to decline, and when Mulder dropped out, I lost interest. One day I'll make a point to watch those last couple seasons, but I'm in no particular hurry. I'm even more interested in going back and re-watching the first four seasons, since it's been a while now. I remember trying to collect the series on VHS. Luckily I didn't get very far, as DVD is totally the way to go, and worth waiting for. I saw the X-Files DVD Boxset at Best Buy recently. That's definitely the thing for me, but considering there's like, what, nine seasons? - it's rather expensive, and would represent quite a time commitment. So again, I'm not in a major hurry.
Getting back to aliens - like ghosts, my belief is that *something* is happening to give people these genuine experiences, but it's not necessarily what it appears to them to be. Just like Scully, I try to look for a rational and scientific explanation for these things. A great example is a flyer I got in my chemistry class in high school, debunking sightings of the Loch Ness Monster as nothing more than atmospheric conditions (it was a pretty convincing read). But I don't think every situation is that easy to explain.
One question that intrigues me endlessly is the notion of government conspiracy, like that in The X-Files. Area 51. The Roswell crash. Has the US government had contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence? Have they performed alien autopsies? Do they have remnants of alien spacecraft in some secret hangar somewhere? Were some of the inventions we use today inspired by extraterrestrial technology? Naturally, my skeptical mind finds all of this rather hard to believe. A very convincing argument is the realization that many important government "secrets" don't remain secret for very long - think of Watergate, and I'm sure you can come up with many more examples. Now, if the government did know something about aliens, do you think they could have actually kept it secret this well for at least half a century, if not longer? It's rather hard to believe.
And yet, the idea of it is fascinating, and you want to believe that if it was something this huge, they would go to extreme measures to keep it secret. Still, I tend to believe that it's more a dream than a reality. The fourth season cliffhanger to The X-Files - the Believe The Lie arc - fascinated me. And it was major - it even got Mulder to doubt his own faith in the existence of extraterrestrial aliens for a time. The idea is that the government indirectly fuels the alien conspiracy myth. They'd be fools to step right up and admit (falsely) that they have had contact with aliens (not to mention that they'd be lying outright). But instead, when their denials and cover-ups fuel rumours of these things, they like to encourage it in a roundabout, untraceable fashion. The reason is that, as long as people are postulating alien possibilities, the real truth of the government's top secret programs goes unnoticed.
That's why Mulder got as far as he did. If the government really had secrets to cover up, they would have eliminated Mulder had he ever got as close as he did all those times. But instead, Mulder was very important to the conspiracy. It's a two way street. If somebody claims to know of some connection between the government and aliens, they can easily be dismissed as a loony, their story discredited. But this doesn't convince the believers - in fact it only encourages them to believe that the government is trying to hide its dealings by appealing to people's sense of what is too bizarre to be true. So carefully orchestrating situations where a person like Mulder can witness something profound, while not realizing he's been set up, gives fuel to the believers. And that propagates the lie behind which the government hides the much more mundane, but still secret, truth.
But then you have to ask yourself how deep the government will go? Is the operative that revealed this scheme to Mulder just another one of their tricks, to get him to disbelieve because he got too close? It's a spiralling argument, and you soon find yourself in the midst of a game of wits against a Sicilian, with death on the line. And perhaps that confusion is another part of the strategy. Whatever happens, there's always some room for speculation. The truth is out there, somewhere.
And then there's the topic of alien abductions. How do you explain this phenomenon? I happen to be very skeptical of hypnosis. I don't really know all the details, but what separates a dream from a memory? Still, I believe there are people that have had experiences they can recall, to some extent, without hypnosis, so you have to believe that something is going on. I have heard citations of certain conditions created by some kind of magnetic, or perhaps electromagnetic, field disturbances - this sounds like something worth further research and experimentation. If we could reproduce an alien abduction experience in the safety of a medical lab, that would be a breakthrough.
Traumatizing as it is, I can believe something like an alien abduction experience can be entirely within the head, induced by any number of physical and psychological factors, but not involving any real aliens at all, or even necessarily the victim leaving the bed. There's a phenomenon called sleep paralysis, which I've actually experienced, that goes back a long way in history, where a person partially awakens while their body is still in a state of paralysis. This experience is accompanied by the feeling of a presence in the room, visual and auditory hallucinations, and extreme terror. During my experience, I actually questioned to myself if this was an alien abduction, which is something I feared the chance of experiencing all throughout my childhood. But no, I looked at the face of the figure kneeling beside my bed, and it looked more like the faceless assassin in The X-Files than your typical grey. And there was no medical experimentation.
Whether or not this phenomenon could have something to do with alien abduction experiences is worth looking into. I believe there are probably other factors, though. I love the idea of associating the alien abduction experience with the historical 'revelation', where a religious person might experience a visit by an angel, and maybe even be taken on a tour of heaven. Although one is decidedly divine, while the other rather terrifying, can there be some connection? Again, worth exploring. I've always been fascinated with psychology and brain states and the barriers between reality and illusion. Dreams most definitely included. Fascinating stuff. Learning how the mind works is a lot more insightful than learning the laws of nature, ultimately. I mean, if more is possible by imagination than by reality, then wouldn't it be more interesting to learn the laws of that world instead? I certainly think so.
I had a somewhat interesting experience last night. I got up from my chair, and I looked back at it, and I noticed it was turning ever so slowly. If I didn't know better, I might attribute the motion to some sort of poltergeist. I stared at it amusedly for a few moments, resisting the urge to push the chair and spoil the experience. Postulating the idea of the existence of a ghost in my room was somewhat frightening, and when I moved my arm toward the chair, wondering if I would feel a "cold spot", my arm got quite tingly. Of course, this was just a side-effect of allowing my mind to accept such an idea. Like the feeling you get when you're sitting in the dark and you start thinking about the things that could be hiding, and then your blood runs cold and your skin tingles. It's not evidence of anything more than your own thoughts. But it's interesting that you can think yourself into such a vulnerable position. Most times I walk through dark rooms, and even through the yard at night, without a second thought about those kinds of things. But the moment I take a minute to think about what ungodly things might be lurking in the shadows, the entire arena changes form, and suddenly I feel scared. Maybe a lot of this hokey pokey has to do with people projecting their emotions onto their environment. Some would argue that this very thing is a legitimate method of conjuring certain types of attention, by loosing one's aura and energy into the air. But that itself is questionable, I think.
In any case, the genesis of this strain of thought was the realization that Area 51 is in Nevada. Burning Man is also in Nevada. Obviously, Area 51 isn't quite a tourist destination that you can just take a tour of, but I *have* long been intrigued by the idea of driving down the Extraterrestrial Highway, and staying at (or at least visiting) the Little A'Le'Inn. And what better chance? Honestly, when's the next time I'm gonna be in Nevada? It would be a shame to pass up the opportunity. I'm thinking that on the way to the festival, we'll be anxious to get there on time, while on the way back, we can pretty much take our time getting home, as long as we have provisions (remembering that money *can* buy food and shelter outside of Burning Man).
Wow, one thing I'm noticing is that the western states are HUGE. It's almost like the surface of the Earth expands as you move westward across the country. And there's bound to be a lot less people, out in these desert-y and mountain-y parts, compared to the urban concentrations of the east coast. I wonder what the population density is like. Sure enough - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/USA-2000-population-density.gif. You'd think a little trip from Reno to Rachel, from one side of Nevada to the other, would be like a few hours drive at most. But it's like 6 hours. Still, if it means an extra day of traveling, I think it would be worth it. And a 6 hour drive the day after the festival is probably better than going for like 10 hours or something.
03 January, 2008
Journal 001
Although I prefer the topical entries by principle, I figure I'm gonna have to start writing some generic journal entries if I want to keep this blog active. I love discussing weighty issues, but I can't wax philosophical every single day. My brain needs a rest sometimes, too. Anyhow, here's what I did today.
I got up, showered, and had dinner as usual, which places me at about a quarter to 7. Unlike most days, I had a reason to go out, and I didn't feel like putting it off. A couple days ago, I had raced out to the Circuit City over by Century III Mall to pick up a hard drive enclosure before the stores closed down for New Years. I ended up buying an enclosure that was incompatible with the drives I have, so I was left with the need to return it. Going to a store and returning an item is something I've never done before. I have to say, it wasn't so bad. But first things first.
I had a couple other errands to run, while I was out. First of all, was filling up the van (with gas). There's one particular Exxon station I always use, just because it's the first one I used and it's the only one I'm really familiar with. So instead of risking an unfamiliar environment and potential unfamiliar customs, I like to drive out there whenever I get gas. Unfortunately, the weather was blistery cold today (lousy Smarch weather!), so standing there in the cold while the van filled its twenty-some gallons of about $70 worth of gasoline was not a pleasant experience. But you gotta do what you gotta do, right?
While I was filling up, I saw a cop car drive into the station area. Not an unfamiliar sight, but seeing a cop car always puts me on edge. It positioned itself at an angle in the corner, just to the side of the entrance back out onto the road, obviously in prime position for a quick getaway (or chase). I was optimistic, but I didn't rule out the possibility that he was waiting to run after me for some reason, so I nervously exited the gas station after filling up, and kept my eyes on it as I made the turnabout and headed back in the general direction of home. The cop car actually did move after I had left, but I checked, and it didn't look like it was headed in my direction. No sweat.
Next order of business was stopping at the ATM on the way over toward the South Hills to deposit a very generous Christmas check that I probably don't deserve, but couldn't come at a better time. That was pretty uneventful, except that the envelope adhesive didn't stick very well, likely due in some part to the cold.
Then I headed on over toward Century III, which was a bit longer of a drive. Maybe about 15 minutes. Having gone out there once a few days ago, again a few weeks ago while Christmas shopping, and a few other times in previous years, I'm starting to get used to the way, and getting better at catching those easy-to-miss turnoffs. Tonight, I had Fleetwood Mac's Vaudeville Years Box Set (Disc 1) playing on the CD player in the car during the trip.
I got to Circuit City, and the line at customer service had only a few people, but they each took a long long time to get their business done. There was only one guy at the counter, and a bunch of guys elsewhere in the store (particularly at the Verizon Wireless 'island') were doing nothing, so one of the guys in line (right behind me) started making a fit about it taking so long. Somebody came along and dealt with him. I myself was okay with waiting. Some of these people, you wonder if they've had to wait for anything ever in their life? Like, do they always get what they want right when they want it? I dunno, but patience has always been one of my virtues, I think. Plus, while I was standing in line, Derek and the Dominos' version of Little Wing came on over the store speakers. It was quiet, but it was still fantastically awesome to hear that great song in a store.
Finally my turn came, and the return was harmless, and quite quick. I collected my cash and moved along. I also wanted to pick up some blank DVD-R's, since I had run out while backing up data recently after my old computer died, and space was running out on my newer drive, so I needed more media. I probably should have just got some at Circuit City, but after standing in line for so long, when I finally got my return taken care of, I felt like it was time for me to move on. Besides, my original plan was to get the DVD's at Best Buy because I have some Best Buy gift cards I got for Christmas - but I ended up forgetting to bring the gift cards... I still ended up getting the DVD's at Best Buy, though, back over in the South Hills (although not terribly out of the way, on the path to going back home).
I didn't dawdle atBest Buy, it was a business trip, not pleasure. I got my stuff and moved on. Besides, I was anxious to get home and finish putting all my data onto one drive. I think I've finally managed to complete that process. Although now my 110-some GB drive that was only half full a few days ago is now close to capacity. Ah, technology is expensive, though. And I don't have a job.
The rest of my day I spent watching two movies that other people in my family got for Christmas. But they were sitting on the table as if up for anyone to watch, and one of them had at least been recommended to me. And the other one was a movie that I had wanted to see, so I figured I'd take my chance and watch 'em both while they were sittin' there.
The first one was American History X. It was a pretty intense racial drama. Really interesting, depicting a family getting involved in the whole white supremacy scene, and the consequences of that. Very good, for what it is, I'd say. The black guy in jail that helps turn the main character to the good side was a pretty swell guy. Man, the rape scene in the shower was disturbing. And of course, the scene where the main character kills the two black guys trying to steal his car in cold blood, is very powerful. Good story.
The second movie was American Psycho. Very good. Not really a horror movie, although there are definitely elements of that, but kind of more of a social commentary. The emptiness of the corporate world, and the sheer insanity of living such an empty life, and the things a person might be driven to. Very well done. I have to admit, though it was inspired by a comment recently made on another blog, I totally couldn't help relating the main character in this movie to my one friend from college. There's an absurdity to the way the character gruesomely murders these people, and has orgiastic sex, while maintaining this very calm and well-adjusted mindset, going on and on about certain details of a well-groomed high-profile lifestyle, and the merits of popular music. Very bizarre, and it leaves some important questions in your head at the end when it leaves you.
And that's about the most of it. I was gonna (once again) try to get to bed a little bit earlier this morning to try and make up some of the sleep I've been needing to regain lately, but it doesn't look like that's gonna happen. Oh well. I might head out of the house again tomorrow, as I still have those Best Buy gift cards, and one of the things I had wanted to pick up, I completely forgot about. (That would be a splitter cable so I can have *both* my speaker inputs as well as my FM transmitter all running simultaneously from one source).
I got up, showered, and had dinner as usual, which places me at about a quarter to 7. Unlike most days, I had a reason to go out, and I didn't feel like putting it off. A couple days ago, I had raced out to the Circuit City over by Century III Mall to pick up a hard drive enclosure before the stores closed down for New Years. I ended up buying an enclosure that was incompatible with the drives I have, so I was left with the need to return it. Going to a store and returning an item is something I've never done before. I have to say, it wasn't so bad. But first things first.
I had a couple other errands to run, while I was out. First of all, was filling up the van (with gas). There's one particular Exxon station I always use, just because it's the first one I used and it's the only one I'm really familiar with. So instead of risking an unfamiliar environment and potential unfamiliar customs, I like to drive out there whenever I get gas. Unfortunately, the weather was blistery cold today (lousy Smarch weather!), so standing there in the cold while the van filled its twenty-some gallons of about $70 worth of gasoline was not a pleasant experience. But you gotta do what you gotta do, right?
While I was filling up, I saw a cop car drive into the station area. Not an unfamiliar sight, but seeing a cop car always puts me on edge. It positioned itself at an angle in the corner, just to the side of the entrance back out onto the road, obviously in prime position for a quick getaway (or chase). I was optimistic, but I didn't rule out the possibility that he was waiting to run after me for some reason, so I nervously exited the gas station after filling up, and kept my eyes on it as I made the turnabout and headed back in the general direction of home. The cop car actually did move after I had left, but I checked, and it didn't look like it was headed in my direction. No sweat.
Next order of business was stopping at the ATM on the way over toward the South Hills to deposit a very generous Christmas check that I probably don't deserve, but couldn't come at a better time. That was pretty uneventful, except that the envelope adhesive didn't stick very well, likely due in some part to the cold.
Then I headed on over toward Century III, which was a bit longer of a drive. Maybe about 15 minutes. Having gone out there once a few days ago, again a few weeks ago while Christmas shopping, and a few other times in previous years, I'm starting to get used to the way, and getting better at catching those easy-to-miss turnoffs. Tonight, I had Fleetwood Mac's Vaudeville Years Box Set (Disc 1) playing on the CD player in the car during the trip.
I got to Circuit City, and the line at customer service had only a few people, but they each took a long long time to get their business done. There was only one guy at the counter, and a bunch of guys elsewhere in the store (particularly at the Verizon Wireless 'island') were doing nothing, so one of the guys in line (right behind me) started making a fit about it taking so long. Somebody came along and dealt with him. I myself was okay with waiting. Some of these people, you wonder if they've had to wait for anything ever in their life? Like, do they always get what they want right when they want it? I dunno, but patience has always been one of my virtues, I think. Plus, while I was standing in line, Derek and the Dominos' version of Little Wing came on over the store speakers. It was quiet, but it was still fantastically awesome to hear that great song in a store.
Finally my turn came, and the return was harmless, and quite quick. I collected my cash and moved along. I also wanted to pick up some blank DVD-R's, since I had run out while backing up data recently after my old computer died, and space was running out on my newer drive, so I needed more media. I probably should have just got some at Circuit City, but after standing in line for so long, when I finally got my return taken care of, I felt like it was time for me to move on. Besides, my original plan was to get the DVD's at Best Buy because I have some Best Buy gift cards I got for Christmas - but I ended up forgetting to bring the gift cards... I still ended up getting the DVD's at Best Buy, though, back over in the South Hills (although not terribly out of the way, on the path to going back home).
I didn't dawdle atBest Buy, it was a business trip, not pleasure. I got my stuff and moved on. Besides, I was anxious to get home and finish putting all my data onto one drive. I think I've finally managed to complete that process. Although now my 110-some GB drive that was only half full a few days ago is now close to capacity. Ah, technology is expensive, though. And I don't have a job.
The rest of my day I spent watching two movies that other people in my family got for Christmas. But they were sitting on the table as if up for anyone to watch, and one of them had at least been recommended to me. And the other one was a movie that I had wanted to see, so I figured I'd take my chance and watch 'em both while they were sittin' there.
The first one was American History X. It was a pretty intense racial drama. Really interesting, depicting a family getting involved in the whole white supremacy scene, and the consequences of that. Very good, for what it is, I'd say. The black guy in jail that helps turn the main character to the good side was a pretty swell guy. Man, the rape scene in the shower was disturbing. And of course, the scene where the main character kills the two black guys trying to steal his car in cold blood, is very powerful. Good story.
The second movie was American Psycho. Very good. Not really a horror movie, although there are definitely elements of that, but kind of more of a social commentary. The emptiness of the corporate world, and the sheer insanity of living such an empty life, and the things a person might be driven to. Very well done. I have to admit, though it was inspired by a comment recently made on another blog, I totally couldn't help relating the main character in this movie to my one friend from college. There's an absurdity to the way the character gruesomely murders these people, and has orgiastic sex, while maintaining this very calm and well-adjusted mindset, going on and on about certain details of a well-groomed high-profile lifestyle, and the merits of popular music. Very bizarre, and it leaves some important questions in your head at the end when it leaves you.
And that's about the most of it. I was gonna (once again) try to get to bed a little bit earlier this morning to try and make up some of the sleep I've been needing to regain lately, but it doesn't look like that's gonna happen. Oh well. I might head out of the house again tomorrow, as I still have those Best Buy gift cards, and one of the things I had wanted to pick up, I completely forgot about. (That would be a splitter cable so I can have *both* my speaker inputs as well as my FM transmitter all running simultaneously from one source).
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