Mid Semester Break, Also Known As: Game Time

Hey, you there, with the eyes.

Yes you, the one reading this, you know who you are. You know what time it is? No, it's not Adventure Time. It's Game Time. It's officially Mid-Semester break, and since I just finished my essay for Film Western literally 25 minutes ago (it is now 8:40), and The Legend of Korra  is on, all I have to do before I can play los video juegos (Spanglish on yo asses) is watch the rest of Korra and all 42 minutes of Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. 

Tomorrow, Pokemon X comes out, and I found out earlier that the usual 3 PM shuttle to Walmart on Saturdays does not exist during Mid-Semester break. So it's another hour and a half round trip to Gamestop for me in the AM. I am so thankful that I won't have to do this trek to Gamestop for the rest of the semester, unless I decide to get the new Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS, and I'm not sure if I will, at least not day one. What? You think I'm kidding? Look at me.

Do I look like I'm kidding? Do I look like someone who enjoys four mile walks just to pick up a game? No. No one likes doing that. NO ONE. Especially lil' ol' me, who likes nothing. That was a lie, I like things. I'm sorry I lied to you, here, have a cookie. Sorry, he got to it first. He always seems to do that.

So I've been trying to beat Pokemon Black 2 before X comes out --- Oh shit, Korra has amnesia. Why are these children's shows so damn good. They're better than a lot of other crap out there on television. This is coming from a guy that watches almost everything television has to offer. You know, aside from the no good worthless schlock. 

I don't have a prejudice over what can be good television, anything can be good television. Anything. And I mean it. They just have to try. Take the new show The Millers for example. With that cast, the sky was the limit. I figured the show couldn't possibly be anything less than good. But the writing, the sheer horridness of the writing, words cannot describe just how bad the writing is. I don't know how it hasn't been cancelled yet. Maybe it got better, maybe episode two wasn't as terrible as episode one. But when episode one makes you want to cry because you actually know you could have written a better episode of television in your sleep, you don't even want to find out how good episode two turned out. That being said, the only two new shows that have been cancelled so far, are We Are Men and Lucky 7. 

The former I quite enjoyed, while admittedly the latter didn't find it's standing yet, and had the worst possible ratings a show on ABC could have had. We Are Men, despite having rather poor critical acclaim, and poor ratings, was not that bad of a show. I honestly don't know how it didn't do better, considering Tony Shaloub was in it. But now I'll never know how the show will end. I hate when a show gets cancelled just a few episodes in, because they don't even have the capability of finishing a season for the million or so who actually liked (or just watched) the show. I need to know how it was going to end. Why are shows cancelled so Early? I want to know why, tell me why. TELL ME!

In other news. My list of movies, its still at 106. If you missed the drop from 107, it was Prisoners, I saw Prisoners, it was good. I recommend it. A lot. It was fantastic. Go Watch it. If you want to know how good it was in three words, ask Dr. House.

Sometime later tonight I'm going to watch Much Ado About Nothing and The Croods. The latter to shut my suitemate up who keeps telling me I have to watch it. You know who you are, you can stop telling me to watch it now. Seriously. Stop.

In case you also missed it from my previous post. I mentioned a little project that my Advanced Poetry class was doing involving a typewriter, my jaw, and dropping said jaw.

Here you see the thirty pound beast in its natural habitat. The Dr. Pepper can runs away in awe of the typewriter's majesty. If you recall, the assignment calls for the students to write a long, linked poem, in the style of Japanese Renku. We were given seven rules (they are labeled rules, but they are really guidelines), which I will list below verbatim.

Rule #1: There are no rules. Write what you want, in any style, any voice, any manner, but do keep in mind that you're (we're) writing a poem, not a long, thing block of fractured prose.

Rule #2: In the spirit of Ammons, the shape of the poem (the lay and play of lines) will be dictated by the width of the paper (3 1/8 inches). As a group working together, we should be "listening to" eachother, but no one should feel limited by another person's poetic trajectory.

Rule #3: Like improvised music, your lines should be written "on the spot," and not "pre-written." The poem must be typed, and no words or phrases can be erased. Think by typing. Type by thinking. Follow the clackety keys.

Rule #4: The typewriter may not be kept by anyone for longer than one week. It must be returned to class on the Monday after you took it away. The exception is that you may pass the typewriter off to another member of the class during the week if you work out the logistics (but please let me know). Also, you might want to organize a group "type-in" where several people get together to work (this, in the more traditional spirit of Renku). Finally, if you'd like to drop off the typewriter early to me, feel free to do so, I will then contact someone else about picking it up.

Rule #5: Just as Basho, considered the master of haiku (and a great practitioner of Renku poems), had many disciples working with him, you should consider Ammons' Tape your masterwork: think about the way he works with the limitations of the paper roll, how his use of the poetic line makes the paper's width both inevitable and invisible. If you get stuck, turn to Ammons. Let him be your guide.

Rule #6: You may write as much as you like (there's plenty of "scroll" to go round). Please date the start of each new section. When you're done with your section, please type your initials, not your full name. The paper roll is rather delicate, so take care that the paper is not torn. Roll up the poem when you're finished with your section. But of course everyone can and should read what's been written.

Rule #7: Write like you mean it. Go wild.

So those are the rules. There are not that many of them, and they are pretty basic. But yeah, I had the thing from Wednesday after I wrote my blog post. I had no idea I was actually going to be the one to take it Wednesday, and then took I it back on Thursday. This was the email I sent out to let the class know it was in the English Department Office - Our drop off/pick up zone. "Attention Alpha Team, the eagle has returned to its nest, intercept at your own risk." 

So the other day my ex told me to go read a recent Tumblr post of hers. I hadn't been on Tumblr in ages, ages being weeks, and I don't really plan on going back to Tumblr. I just don't get it. It doesn't appeal to me. Any way, the post was basically her taking the blame for our relationship ending. As we both suffer from depression, it's practically impossible for either of us not to think it's anyone's fault but our own. So really, I respect that she is saying it's her fault, but come on, I mean, I'm the man right, it's never the woman's fault. Am I right ladies... heh... hehe... heh... God I'm so terribly awkward. But yeah, relationships man.

I don't understand them, they kind of freak me out, and I don't think that is normal. People typically aspire to be in a relationship, and so do I. But gah am I terrified to start a relationship, to be in one just... I can't even think about it. The way the last one I was in went, I'm afraid of what it would be like with anyone else. Literally. She understood me and the way I was before we started the relationship, she knows I'm terrible with communication, and most people aren't. So when I think about getting into another relationship with someone, or whatever. I just think, okay, when I don't tell them that I have free time, or whatever I don't say, it's just going to end the relationship before it can really begin because that's how pathetic my life is.

Who knows, maybe by the time I'm 30 I'll have worked through all this bullshit and I'll be able to properly communicate everything to everyone. Hell, the only reason I'm able to do it here, is because my writing is the only way I can express my emotions and what-not. Seriously, and the only reason that is is because I'm writing this while nobody else is reading it. If I know somebody is able to read this as I write it - which come to think of it, someone probably is - I wouldn't be able to write it. That's how hopelessly hopeless I am. For reals.

I'm not that awkward with conversations though. I can talk to anyone about anything really, as long as I know the subject. But I can't start a conversation with people I barely know. If they instigate, sure, I'm able to talk to them. If they don't, I'll be damned if a word is ever spoken between us. I'm the same way in class too. As a creative writing major, I'm in a lot of workshop classes, which are basically submit your work to the class, and then discuss the positives and negatives. I can write everything that is good and bad about their work with great ease, but I have trouble speaking up unless called upon. It's just the way I am wired. I can't help it, and it has negatively affected my grade in every workshop class I have been in. Here's Emma Stone using a Shake Weight: 

That's how we move on here, we post pictures of attractive celebrities using Shake Weights. God I love her. Back off Spiderman, she's mine now.

True, I can't really compete with that. You win this round Spiderman.

So. I have to go watch Once Upon a Time in Wonderland and Much Ado About Nothing. So here, have this amazing video: