Rock Band Addiction

For my birthday, I received a copy of Rock Band for my PS2. It is a great game to become addicted to, taking time away from schoolwork and the like. I have played games like these before and they always interest me and raise questions. Personally, it makes me want to play my REAL guitar after I play a few songs. Does this happen to most people? I hope so. Just because you can play "Dead or Alive" on expert does not mean you can play it on the guitar for real; but isn't that the point of the game, to give those who have no musical gift to feel like they do? I'm not trying to be critical, considering I don't have much musical talent, but I hope that games like these create an interest in people to pick up a real instrument and learn it.

Bday

Today is my birthday, the big 2-5, the big quarter of a century. Days like these get me thinking about what a friend means. Facebook and MySpace are great tools to reconnect with old friends or keep up with what is going on in peoples lives, but it has also blurred the meaning of "friend". Some people's sites have 1000 or 2000 "friends" but how many of these people do they really know? It is quite easy to send a happy birthday when the site tells you when a birthday is. Is it really heartfelt? Personally, if I only get a happy birthday wish from a few close friends and family, then that is worth more than 2000 phony friends sending it on Facebook.

Winter Passing

I have had the hardest week in a while. Work has become steadily more stressful, school is kicking into high gear, with tests seemingly every week, and little time to process it all. And on top of it all, it is winter...technically anyway. I have lived here for close to nine years and I am still not used to sixty and seventy degree winter days. Warm winter has kind of saddened me, which seems to be the opposite of everyone I speak to. I feel like a curmudgeon, raining on everyone's good weather mood. At work, I have to fake liking it, which eats away at me, since I wish I could be honest and tell them, "No, the weather outside sucks, and I hate it. See ya latte, have a grande!"

I have decide that some day in the near future, I am going to have Honesty Day. If someone at work asks how I am, I will answer with the mosy honest answer possible without getting fired. So, if on this holiday, it is a particularly rough day and someone asks "How has today been?" I will simply answer, "Crappy. A lady was rude with me, the high school kids have annoyed me to the brink of insanity, and I dumped hot coffee on my arm and burned it. How's your day?"

I have observed that people say "How are you?" out of sheer politeness, not out of care. I am just as guilty as anyone else. I would be just as shocked if someone gave me an answer that was different than "good" or "alright". Why can't we say we aren't good or alright? Would it be considered lying if you say good when you are obviously not?

Second Guessing When the First Guess is Unknown

So, I sit here, eating mincemeat tarts and playing Spider Solitaire when I have a Bio101 test tonight that I am nowhere ready for (typical student?) and I start to think about Saturday. Yes, Saturday is Valentine's Day, big deal. I'm cooking dinner that night, a Beef Au Voir with honeyed carrot salad and some sort of risotto, finished with a French Berry cheesecake. It sounds way more complicated than in reality.

What comes to my mind is a simple question. I graduate this fall (YAY!) and my plan the last year and a half has been to attend culinary school. This is where the question comes in: is that really what I want to do?

I know I am not the only college student that wonders this, probably most do, unless they have already lined something up after graduation. I know that I love to cook, but does that mean I want to go to school for it, or make it my life? I believe that all people on earth have a purpose to fulfill, a reason to be alive, and it's discovering what that purpose is that turns us into the people we are.

Which brings me to my next question: what is the difference between a dream and reality? As a child, I dreamed of playing in the NBA, shot baskets in the corn shed, dreamt I was hitting the game winning shot over Michael Jordan, and to me at the time, it was reality. As I got older, it became apparent that this was not going to become reality and I moved on. So was I wrong to dream this?

I dream of cooking in a restaurant I may or may not own, traveling the world, learing how to cook from the actual regions rather than the books. Frankly, I don't have a backup plan because this is what I hope to do, but is this reality? Do moments of self-doubt show that maybe this isn't what I want, a warning to not go down that path?

There is no easy answer, just hope that for once I am in reality and not another dream.

What is in a drink?

Tonight, I was at my job, Starbucks, and found myself in a very interesting conversation (interesting to me, anyway). Us baristas are commonly asked if we judge people based on the drink they order. Personally, no, I do not judge someone, but I have concluded that certain drinks have an implied personality, per se. I would like to share my thoughts on this...

Any espresso drink (con panna, macchiato, or straight shots)- this person knows coffee, considering that these are pure espresso shots

Latte, no flavor- not quite the above category, but respectable

Straight coffee- again, respectable...add a shot of espresso...now we're talkin

Cappuccino or Americano- these are the "higher class" drinks; americanos are better than brewed coffee, and cappuccinos are the fancier version of the latte

vanilla latte- now this, sorry to say, is the boring person, the indecisive one who wants a latte, but with some cover

frappaccinos- this is the one we were a little confused on...this is typically reserved for the children (certain ones have inside names, like the Hannah Montana, the Jonas Brothers, or the Mickey Mouse...why? Because the kids love them!) but an adult ordering one? The conclusion was that, although not a true coffee drinker's drink, these were ok...add a shot? That's much better

Happy Birthday Ella

Today is my puppy's/dog's first birthday. I have never been a dog person until this last year, when I somehow ended up with a dog; let me explain...

My ex-girlfriend, Brooke, worked on the movie "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt" as an extras wrangler and other movie term positions. One of the locations just happened to be the Caddo Animal Shelter...oh joy. While taking a break between filming, a lady pulled up with a box of Australian Shepherd/Black Lab puppies in her van. Ohs and Ahs ensued as these were the cutest puppies anyone had ever seen (aren't they all?). One of the stars of the movie, Amber Tamblyn, saw one especially rambunctious puppy; while all the others were sleeping or resting, this particular puppy was biting their ears, jumping on them, trying to get out of the box.

She instantly wanted to adopt it, but wasn't sure if she could have dogs in her hotel. Alas, the perfect idea came up: lets adopt her and alternate the nights she stays between the hotel and Brooke's apartment. Then she can come to set during the day and play with her siblings, since they all were adopted by the crew. When the movie is done shooting, Amber would simply take her home and live happily ever after! The first night was Brooke's, so she took her to the apartment, which had a strict no dogs rule. Ella was the puppy's new name, after the character Amber played in the movie. It soon morphed into Ella Michael Douglas (in the movie, Ella's godfather) Metcalf (Jesse Metcalf, in the movie) Moore (Joel Moore, also in the movie) Cross (David Cross, dating Amber).

That night was the first Ella spent away from her siblings, so whimpering, peeing, and pooping took place. The next night, she stayed with Amber, in the hotel that had a strict no dogs allowed rule. The following night is where I enter this story. After a night of the same, Brooke called me at three in the morning, asking if I would pick her up, since I had that day off. I obliged, knowing that my mom had a strict no animals allowed in the house rule. The first part of the morning, I slept in the car until about 4, when my mom went to work; I then came inside the house and we slept in my bed until I had to take my sister to school at 8. An interesting note...she never once whined or whimpered, peed outside, no problems. I then took her to Brooke so she could take her to set. Amber said that she was going back to L.A. for the week so she wouldn't be able to take the puppy...translation...I would be sleeping with the puppy each night.

When Amber got back, she took Ella for the week, so I thought my job was accomplished. Unfortunately, I had grown fond of the little girl. Amber soon discovered the place where she lived did not allow dogs and that she wouldn't be able to take her home...translation...I would now have to convince my mom we could take care of a puppy, which was simple since my mom had melted over her as well. Brooke and I broke up not long after, and Ella has been with me ever since...and I have become a dog person.