Imagicon

So, I've finally found a convention in Alabama. It's in Birmingham, and it's called Imagicon. It takes place too soon to use my Brooklyn costume, but my Joker and Willy Wonka outfits are ever-ready to grab the attention of every random passer-by.

Unfortunately, my girlfriend can't go with me. =( Work, and all that jazz. Oh well- at least she'll still be able to come to Dragon*Con in September.

Imagicon is pretty small, but that's probably a good thing. A small con will probably be easier to start with than a large con. Plus, I might have a better chance of competing with other artists if I set up an art booth in a smaller con.

Last Week!

This is the last week of classes; after Tuesday, all we have left are finals.
Despite the fact that passing my Math 0800 class is no longer necessary (and the class doesn't affect my GPA), I don't really need to show up to take the final, but I will anyway. It'll be nice to know exactly how much I've retained before heading on to Finite Math.
Frankly, I'll be glad to be out of Reading 0700. I understand that I had to take it as a provisional student, but they should really take a good look at the English Placement scores before deciding a student -has- to take that class.

Remedials-Be-Gone

Well, I was in Math 0800. I was passing the class, but a few absences were keeping me from passing the Math Lab, which has to be taken and passed simultaneously. So, since I pretty much knew what I was DOING with the math, I went and retook the Math Placement Exam. I placed in Finite Math, so I no longer have to worry about any remedial courses! My next semester will be my last as a provisional student, so then I'll be good to go after that, since I've completed all provisional requirements! Awesome.

Suggestions for Not-So-Well-Known Movies

If you like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firestarter, or anything else Joss Whedon, I would suggest Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog. Bonus points if you like musicals, because... well, it is one. Neil Patrick Harris (that's right- Doogie Howser) plays the titular character, Dr. Horrible, in his attempt to become a successful super villain, take over the world, and get the girl! Really, it's a good movie. Only problem is you probably either have to watch it on YouTube, order it online, or special order it from Movie Stop in Prattville. It's also available for an iPod download, but I don't know how that all works.
It's got an interesting story behind its creation. Pretty much, it was done during the Writer's Strike in like, 2008 or 2009 or whenever, to somehow prove a point that it doesn't take huge budgets to make something totally awesome. All cast and crew did the musical under the contract that they only get a percentage of the profit. Further decreasing their pay, it was originally released for free on iPod. Of course, it caught on well, and now they reap the benefits from merchandise as well as the few people who now buy the movie (including me!)
Another neat thing about the DVD is that there are two sets of commentary. There is the standard commentary with the director and cast. Then, there is "Commentary! The Musical", in which the entire cast and crew sing about the making of the film. It was a pretty innovative way to get people to buy the DVD, as Commentary! The Musical is not available otherwise.


Next movie!!

Suicide Club
An independent Japanese film that gained a small cult following. It has a very strange take on Japanese society, loosely based around a real-life temporary extreme increase in suicides that plagued the country for a few months. A lot is lost in translation, but it's still a good watch. It actually has the most sadistic character I have ever seen in any media, in that he is realistically sadistic. He is not a genuis, although he fancies himself as one. (Real sociopaths are not Hannibal Lecter- they are Buffalo Bill. Hannibal is more interesting due to his intelligance, but usually the part of the brain that controls right from wrong also helps govern one's rational thought).
It's something you'll really have to see to decide whether or not you like it, because the plot turns from typical mystery to extremely surreal very fast.

The next one is not a movie, but a 12 Episode Anime series.

Elfen Lied
First off, be forewarned. Blood, nudity, torture. The first five episodes are meant to draw in every typical anime-loving nerd with its sex appeal and gore. However, it begins to gain plot halfway through, and becomes VERY good.
Be further forewarned. It turns from gorey to pretty damned depressing. After I watched this series, I decided to go to bed for the rest of the day. After talking to other people who have seen it, I was not the only one.
Apparently, the director did this on purpose. He found a bloody, gorey Japanese comic book, and intentionally drew people in. He then twisted the plot take drive his audience to tears. D=

Others will come~! Class is over.

Young People!

I know 24 is far from old (but not far enough! D=)

But in any case, I got annoyed working with some younger people last week.

Starting from the beginning, and being as vague as possible so no one gets offended.

I was cast in a local play that's JUST far enough to drain my gas-guzzler of 3 gallons a round trip.

I've been getting hammered by papers.

I've got a brain block. One second....

Okay, yeah. Pretty much, I'm down in the dumps and busy and have to save money. So, I dropped out of the play.

Aside from this, there was one thing that was bugging me about the play. With the exception of two people, all of the cast members were a few years younger than me... and even with a few years, there was a LOT of behaivoral difference. With the exception of one of the younger people (who happens to be an AUM theater student, so he knows better), most of the cast was running around like chickens with their head cut off, making immature jokes about everything, and being generally unprofessional. I mean, I'm annoying sometimes, but I swear I saw the director have an annuerism at one point, and he's usually a pretty mellow guy.

Anyway, I've discovered I don't like working with a lot of people younger than me. I don't even like working with people that are my age! Something I guess I'll have to get used to it, because as I get older, there are gonna be more people younger than me.

ARGH!

I just checked my e-mail, and realized that I missed an important theater meeting yesterday at AUM. ARGH. Oh well. I wouldn't have had anything to contribute, anyway. I don't really have good ideas. Hell, even if I did, I'm just a freshman- why would they listen to my ideas? They have been doing this longer and know what they are talking about.

Besides, I'm so out of the loop from the theater now that it's not even funny! I have no clue what's been going on. And I'm pretty sure that I annoy most of them, anyway. Yeah, I annoy them on PURPOSE ( it's kinda funny when they give me that "I don't know if you're kidding us or not" look), but still. Annoying is annoying. Kind of like Annoying Orange. Ooh, you should search for Annoying Orange on YouTube. I think it's hillarious. Most of my friends think that it's just plain annoying, though, so that's funny, too.

Anyway, I digress~! Like usual~! I need need need to get better organized so I don't keep missing things like this. I also need to start exercising more. Like, I'm rocking back and forth in my chair right now, and each time my stomach touches the desk, there's more of a squish involved than there should be. I ran like three days ago, but that was the first time in a month. Chin ups are a good idea, too. I mean, I DID buy that chin up bar and all!

Hopefully I won't miss the next meeting.

You know that feeling?

You know that feeling you get when you see someone you instinctively don't like? The sight of their face fills you with hate, the sound of their voice makes you wann hurl.
There's a guy in this class I feel this way about. In fact, he's on all three of my classes today. And I don't have to worry about him reading this because only one person reads this blog! He keeps running his mouth, even now, and it sounds like he's bragging with every word he says. God, I hate his face.
Now, I'm not wishing this upon him at all. I'm just saying I wouldn't MIND if he got mangled in a car accident.

Of course, knowing my luck, his face would be left intact.

Uuugggghhhh...

I didn't sleep last night. Didn't want to. Couldn't really. Too much to do. FINALLY figured out my thesis for a Sociology 1010 paper due three days ago. I swear, all my other 1010 classes are doing papers on ideas that already exist. This one is more along the lines of mixing alot of old ideas to create completely new ones. Isn't that like, 1020 material? Ugh.
I don't have any excuses. I'm just three steps behind on everything. Trying to figure out how to fill the rest of my journals in a week in a way that doesn't just make useless posts. I don't think useless posts are the point behind this.

I think I ticked off my girlfriend by staying up. Of course, I've stayed up the last few nights as well. Probably screwing her sleep up just as much as mine.

This blog is slowly turning from "Sarcastic Optimist" to "Depressed Soul-draining Guy".

Emperor Joker? D=

So, the way blogs are supposed to work, the blogger (me) researches all sorts of information on relevant subject material, and the bloggee (you) goes "Oooooh, Ahhhhh! Thanks for the information, omniscient blogger!"
Unfortunately, I'm finding slim to no information on what I want to talk about. Yes, I manage to suck at Google.

Apparently, Batman: Brave and the Bold is going to do a story arc of the Emperor Joker storyline. From what I've heard, Bat-mite will be in the episode. I'm not sure if he will be replacing Mtsl... Mytzy... Mjhasjkflghfkgsd. That GUY that bugs Superman all the time, or if he'll just happen to be in the episode for another plot point.

First: Information! I can't find much. Will it be an animated film? A one episode plot, maybe a two-parter? I wanna know!

Second: Speculation! Emperor Joker is not my favorite story arc. Far from it. There were a few witty one-liners, but otherwise the entire concept was slaughtered with bad writing and inconsistent artwork. If this plot were taken seriously for an animated adaptation, it would likely suck horribly.
FORTUNATELY, it's Brave and the Bold we're talking about here. It has the zanney-ness of the 1960's show, with a few dark Batman aspects thrown in. If anything could make this story fun to watch, it's BATB. Here's hoping it's good!

Falling Apart

I don't think I planned well enough for this semester. Last semester came so easily that I think I underestimated how difficult things can become if you let just one aspect begin to slip. The difference was that last semester was my first semester, and I was expecting college to be a billion times harder than it was, so I had prepared for the worst.
I did well enough until this point, but now things are falling apart at the most crucial part of the year. I don't have anything organized to write halfway decent papers. I've lost most of my class syllabuses, and I don't even know most of my professor's names, much less their e-mail addresses.
It just goes to show that I am going to have to go into each semester with a game plan, and prepare for the worst. I may have been bored last semester, but there are worse things to be than bored. My GPA will probably drop to like a 3.2. It will take a lot of work to get it back up.

Can our society continue to sustain itself?

Okay, I may do a really bad job of explaining what I mean. Also, in order to understand what I mean, you MUST think about thinks on a very broad basis, completely ignoring seperate companies as seperate entities for the sake of this thought. Yes, some businesses will do well while others fail.

Here's the thing. In order for our semi-capatalist (we do, though some would not like to admit it, have some strong socialist concepts governing the way our lives are led)society to work, the majority of the people in such society must be consumers. In order for people to be consumers, they must have an income. Even those that are dependant upon others (such as family) have an income provided by someone.

So, let's think of this in three entities.
-Government: A pretty simple concept- the entity which governs and watches over our lives.
-Companies: In order to understand the argument I am trying to make, we must think of the companies as a single entity, "the companies", rather than each individual successful or unsuccessful company.
-Consumers: For this to work, consumers must have an income. Thus, most consumers are employees of companies, or dependants of employees of companies. There are, of course, consumers that are dependant on support from government as well, but we will focus more on those that depend upon income from companies.

Let's say that companies, in general, recieve money from consumers for their goods or services. While I realize that this is a very low amount, but let's say, for the sake of example, all companies recieve $100 from their consumers. Scaling the operation down will let me explain this better.

In order to make a profit, the companies can NOT give their employees anywhere near the amount of money they recieved from consumers. Across six employees, they pay $60, giving each employee $10.

These employees become consumers. In order to live a "successful" life, they cannot spend nearly as much as they made. Thus, each consumer spends $4, putting it back into the economy and saving the rest.

$4 x 6 employees = $24.

$24 has just been put back into the economy, or the companies, in comparison to the $100 they received before. Even with the $40 profit the companies made before, that is only $64, and they must now pay the employees- the consumers- out of that amount. This does not even begin to compute taxes that affect and reduce the amount of money involved in each transaction.

Even if we scale these amounts to trillions of dollars and millions of employees, the concept of how our society works remains the same. Consumers cannot put nearly the amount they make back into the economy. Thus, the economy would normally be under a constant and heavy decline.

So, how does our society sustain itself? From what little research I've done, as far as I can tell, it has a lot to do with banks. Banks can actually loan more money than actually exists. Of course, there are legally-enforced guidelines on exactly how much they can loan out. As long as our society accepts such loans as real money, our society can continue to work. The legal guidelines to how much a bank can loan actually help to prevent a severe depression. These guidelines were developed after the Great Depression, shortly after the U.S. Governments was forced to seive all gold.

For now, these loans should help to sustain our society, but how long will this last? How long until banks can stop giving such loans due to poor economy?

Sticking with it?

Would I stick with my career field after researching it? Well, given that I had already given a lot of research into acting, yes. That is not to say I have not learned anything. I understand how difficult (and essential) it is to become an equity actor in order to have a decent career as an actor.

Post-crazy!

So, we've got like a week and a half left of school, and I have a little more than forty blogs posted here. I will try and fill these slots with worthwhile posts and such.

Here's my critique for the whole "writing across the curriculum" program:
I believe it is a good, helpful program that will help students become used to writing. This is especially useful to students such as myself that have been out of high school for years. It re-acclimates us to writing again.
I do, however, believe that 70 entries is a bit much. I'm not just saying this because I haven't yet met this requirement. While it is nice to get so much practice writing, it shouldn't interfere with the already-busy schedule of students. I believe that making worthwhile entries(rather than filling the journal/ blog with crap) should involve some thought. I think 55-60 entries would suffice. It would show that effort has been put into the entries, without flooding students with yet more work.

Rewards for Reading

I feel that the concept of rewarding children for reading more than the required amount or scoring above and beyond the average is a great idea. While some argue that it is a bribe for children to do what they should anyway, I feel that it reflects the adult world quite well.
In life, those who excel in their field are given rewards, are they not? From raises to promotions, hard work in the right direction pays off. What better direction is there than reading? Reading is a skill that children will need for every class they take, and without that basic building block, everything else fails.

Cosplay!

I'll be planning on attending Dragon Con this September. It will be my first convention, and I'm pretty excited to go. Going with me will be my girlfriend, Nicole, and a few friends. Naturally, one of my costumes will be my Joker. Another will likely be Johnny Depp's version of Willy Wonka, mostly due to already having the costume. Since I already have two costumes, this gives me spending money for my third.
My girlfriend suggested Brooklyn from Disney's Gargoyles.

She's been doing most of the work. This is more due to her biting my hand if I dare touch her baby, rather than me being lazy or busy. And honestly, I'm glad she's doing it; it looks friggin' awesome!


It has yet to be painted. It's carved from high-density foam (which happens to be EXPENSIVE x.x) Anyway, it has a working bottom jaw (as in I open my mouth, the mask's mouth opens). We have to make some finishing touches, as well as find a wig, and then we can move on. Since Nicole has already decided how the digitigrade legs will work, and probably won't let me touch the ideas for the wings, this only gives me one real freedom- do I want body dye, or a skin-tight jumpsuit? I personally think dye would look better, but it presents many problems. No matter how secure the make up is, after hours it WILL begin to come off, and the fact that application onto my body could take hours would make it difficult.
The suit, on the other hand, would be easier to slip on, and would only need to be made once, rather than applied every single time.

Overload!!

Well, I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew. I have papers due, I need to start looking for a summer job, read a book I borrowed, and what did my dumb butt do? Audition for another play. Now I've got four rehearsals a week in Prattville. I have to spend extra time and gas driving. x_x That was smart of me, huh? Oh well.
Currently finishing up a rough draft for a report of information on Non-Equity acting tours. It took me forever (and a few e-mails to actual professionals) to figure out what I was gonna write this paper on. Honestly, this paper is serving one of its purposes. The research I've done for this topic has let me know what I'm going to need to do to hope to be successful as an actor.
Now, if I could only figure out how to re-word all this. Honestly, this paper is crap. Oh well, good thing it's a first draft. I guess my professor will give me guidance on how to fix how screwed-up it is, and then I can rewrite it all NON-sucky.

Discipline

I used to think that spanking was the most effective form of punishment, due to the way I've seen parents that don't use this form of discipline treat their children in public. Countless times have I seen a child running around a restaurant, shoving past people as he or she laughed loudly, and countless times have I seen the parents react to this by... counting. "One... Two..." The child still laughs, still cuts up. Why? Because they know three isn't coming, and even if it does, nothing will happen to them anyway.

However... while I hate to be influenced so heavily by one simple telivision show,having watched a few episodes of "Super Nanny" has changed my feelings on spanking a little. I still see nothing wrong with it (in controlled amounts), but if discipline and good behaivior could be taught without it... why not? I think the most important thing I've learned with the show is to get the child's attention. Bring yourself down face-to-face with them, look them in the eyes, and tell them straight-forward that you mean business.

Of course, I've also noticed a trend in this show. The worst of the children have parents that simply do not pay attention. From the mom that won't stop watching soap operas long enough to tend to her children, to the father that does nothing but get online all day, to the parents that go on business trips and don't even care to call their family, it seems the worst of behavior problems are due to parents not giving their children parents.

When analyzing the situation at Oxford High School in Decatur, Alabama, one needs to forego emotional responses about the absurdity of the punishment when deciding whether or not the concept and enforcement of the dress code is fair. (Yes, I do know that was a terribly long sentence with way too many preopositional phrases, but I'm feeling too lazy to fix it.) While it was the form of punishment that garnered the national attention of this particular case, it should have no effect upon arguments on whether the dress code should have been placed. It is my argument that the dress code in itself was perfectly acceptable. It was the students' and parents' responsibility to maintain this dress code. Such dress codes are set to protect students, not to stiffle their rights.
To begin with, this dress code had to have been announced and news had to have been spread quite easily. If this were not the case, it would be likely that much more than eighteen out of the two-hundred-something students would have been in violation of this dress code. It is the responsibility of the students and the parents to ensure that the clothing they wear is well within school policies.

I WAS totally gonna write a whole argumentative paragraph here about keeping students safe about dress codes, but I'm out of time and I know I'm not gonna come back and re-write it.

So...err.... insert conclusion here!! \o/

Prom Paddling Predicament!

So,recently, in good ole Alabama, 18 students got in trouble for wearing too-reavling prom dresses. While this may be a tad bit conservative for a public school, that doesn't sound TOO odd. Only just a little ridiculous.

But HERE'S the good part. The choice in punishment was 3 days suspension... or PADDLING. Given, these are juniors and seniors we are talking about: Far too old for paddling punishment, for sure. That's not what disturbed me. What disturbs me is the fact that somewhere along the line, someone thought it would be appropriate to spank 17 year old girls that the school had already deemed as "under-dressed". Really? Did anyone THINK about how that would look? Creeeepyyy. Well, that aside, 17 of the 18 girls prefered paddling to suspension. For some reason, I get the mental image of some eager middle-aged man carrying out the sentence, but hey. I don't know that for sure, so I can't judge, right?
Honestly, I don't know what else to say about this. I don't do well with talking about recent events. There were things. These things happened. I wasn't involved, so aside from the creepy mental images of said spankings that I can't get out of my head, what else is there for me to really have an opinion about?

Uhhh...

I came in late for class today, so I only caught a little bit of what the blog's supposed to be about. Apparently, some girl killed herself due to severe bullying, and criminal charges were filed against the bullies.

What can I say about this, really? I don't think anyone's gone without being bullied or picked on. Sure, I had to deal with it a lot growing up. It led to many, many fights, and I didn't always win. Sometimes, I got in trouble for it, despite the fact that I had been defending myself.

Bullies are and always will be an issue. It can get rough some times. It can get physical, and on rare occasions, it can get dangerous. That's when you file charges, not kill yourself. Yes, I do believe those who harrassed her should be criminally punished. However, this should have happened long before she decided to take her own life. It may seem easier said than done, but it's got to be easier than taking one's own life.

I don't really know what else to say. People die every day, and I'm not really moved by one more person's death.

Kuk Sool or Fencing?

I have a choice before me: On one hand, I can take Kuk Sool, a martial art that seems to mix concepts of Hapkido and Tae Kwon Do, as well as a little influence from Chinese martial arts. The benefits of this would include being in much better shape and learning self-defense. The class meets four times a week, and I can show up at whichever ones I choose. The downside? The $90 a month fee, and the pain. D=

My other choice would be fencing. It's not nearly as physically strenuous or painful as Kuk Sool would be, but it would still give me some good physical exercise. Also, as a theater major, learning to fence could be an advantage in auditioning for Shakespeare's plays and the like. The cost is only $40 a month. However, they meet only twice a week. This can be a good or bad thing. I don't have time to make four classes a week with the martial art, but the two specific days fencing takes place on my occasionally mesh horribly with my schedule.

Further complicating things is my girlfriend. We had decided to do one of these together, but she was quickly discouraged from doing either. I really wanted this as something to do WITH her. =(

Alternate Blog

I decided to keep up a blog based on my TheJokezOnYou YouTube page. The URL is http://thejokezonyou.blogspot.com/ . Unless you're a diehard comic book fan, I'd honestly say that it's not really worth reading. In any case, it's just going to be in-character blogs for the Joker. There will be reviews of comic book-based films and news on such films (for instance, did you know that Sony is rebooting the Spider-Man franchise?).
In any case, I'm actually trying to find a way to take advantage of the hundreds of YouTube subscribers I have and find a way to make profit on it without breaking any copywrite laws. Thus, I've monetized the Joker blog I have. Hopefully, it will work to SOME degree. I still do it as a hobby, but just like theater, it's sometimes nice to get even the smallest of paychecks with a hobby.

Status with Classes

So far, I'm making either A's or B's in my classes. The exception to this is math lab. I have fallen behind on my work there. If I do not catch up, not only will that class period have been wasted, but my Math 0800 would as well. That's totally not a good thing. I just feel pressured to get perfect scores on everything due to a change in policy this semester. Pretty much, we now have to score 90-something percent on the homework assignments. Given that we can retake homework assignments indefinitely, one would think this would be no large deal. Unfortunately, it instead pressures me to constantly retake the homework assignments, and I don't move on as far as work goes.
Anyway, there's no room for excuses. I have to get it done. I'll just have to focus more on it than other things right now.

Religion in My Childhood

Growing up, it would constantly switch between a strict "You WILL go to church every time the doors are open" and a lazy "we don't feel like driving you there tonight". We were taught Santa Claus and Tooth Fairy, but I'm not entirely sure we ever -actually- thought the Easter Bunny was real.

I can't remember what age I was when I was told Santa Claus wasn't real, but my mother tells me I not only took it well, but had already figured it out. Oddly enough, however, I still believed in the tooth fairy for a very long time. This was probably due to my mother's clever ploy of sealing my tooth in an envelope. When I woke up, a dollar would instead be sealed in the "same" envelope instead, fooling my young mind into thinking it had been done by magic. I never once figured out that the darned tooth was never under my pillow to begin with. My mother had already switched envelopes long before the envelope was ever put in place.

I don't think I'll teach my children Santa Claus. There is just too much strife caused by the eventual "you lied to me!" rant that is very typical of the revelation scenario. However, I might just tell my kids about the tooth fairy. Why the tooth fairy and not Santa Claus? I'll tell you- bribes. That's right: even when I tell them the tooth fairy isn't real, they'll still be getting that dollar when they lose a tooth.

You can't complain about something like that when you're still getting a dollar just for growing up. ...Er, right?

Movie Night last night

So, my girlfriend and I decided to watch Disney's Hocus Pocus last night. After watching it for the first time in AGES, I came to the realization that the main characters really didn't matter. They were kind of boring and very typically written.
No, it was very obvious the Scriptwriters put all of their love into the Sanderson sisters- the antagonists of the story. And you know what? I like that. =) The witches are what made the movie fun. Yes, there was some fourth-wall breaking moments, but that made them even funnier. Better yet, it was a movie both my girlfriend and I really liked.
In any case, probably gonna be stuck watching "The Animal" next night we watch movies. I -might- convieniently have to study for something big that night.

Computers 'n' Stuff.

Well, I never really owned my own computer until I was 19, but I was definitely addicted to the internet by age 16. If I could use someone's computer to get online, I would. The website I would go to most would be an anime/ video game website called "Animeglobe.com", which had a chatroom and a forum. I grew out of that site around the time I got my computer.
After that, I began using computers purely as entertainment. Whenever I got out of final formation ( I was still in the army at that point), I would head to my room and immediatley get on my PC. My interests then including online role playing, Doom 3, and Guild Wars (the later two being PC games).
I've become rather computer literate due to role-playing and constantly having to fix the "oopsies" I've done to my computer over the years. My family, of course, thinks "computer literate" means "computer genius" and expect me to be able to do anything with them.

Now, I've started mixing business with pleasure when it comes to computers. Some of my hobbies include in-character video logs on YouTube, and voice acting for animations made by others (also on YouTube). This requires skill in media-editing software such as Audacity and Movie Maker. Although these are hobbies, the reason I consider this partially business is due to the fact that it helps me practice my acting skills. Those will need some serious work if I am ever to succeed with a Theater-oriented major.

If my internet went out, I would usually be fine under the circumstances that I've already printed out all of my assignments, and that the outage didn't last more than a few days. I don't have a printer, so I usually do my assignments on my computer, then move to the computer lab to print them out.

Movies

I bet that title got Ms. Simms' attention.

I was right, wasn't I? Huh? Huh? Yyyyeah, I knew it.
Unless I was wrong. Then I just feel silly.

In any case, I have quite a few movies I've yet to watch. Nicole and I have been bargain-bin movie shopping over the last month or two, so I'm trying to decide which ones I should watch. I've seen many of them, even if it was a long time ago, but there are a few I haven't seen. I'm trying to figure out which one to watch next time I have a chance to. Here are my options.
-The Animal (The Rob Schnieder film... THAT was Nicole's choice. -.- Not a big adult comedy fan.)
-Some other Rob Schnieder film. Also Nicole's choice.
-Dawn of the Dead... the original oldschool Romero film.
-Diary of the Dead ( I like zombies. D= I bet Nicole hates it as much as I dislike her Rob Schnieder stuff, which is understandable.)
-Nightmare Before Christmas
-Hocus Pocus

I know most of these aren't exactly the shining example of what a film should be, but it's the ones I have that I have yet to watch recently. Thus, it shouldn't be a very hard choice to make. However, if I actually find the time to dedicate an hour and a half to sitting in front of a TV watching something, I want it to be time I won't have regretted spending.

Summer?

I don't even want to think of summer, yet. The only place I can really go when I leave the dorms is my mother's trailer. People think college is stressful? Ha! One of my primary reasons for going to college was to get the hell out of there.
The trailer leaks horribly. The doors are practically falling off their hinges. The bathroom sink barely functions. There's no heat during the winter, and no air conditioning during the summer. Worst of all, my mother won't let me bring someone in to fix it all for her! She's "embarassed" for anyone to see how she lives.
Then there's my mother herself. I recently called her, asking if she would like to go out to eat with me- my treat. Her response was screaming her head off for calling her while she was driving ( because I TOTALLY knew she was driving). Imagine living with someone who goes off screaming for such little things. While I lived there, I practically remained cramped up in my little room so I wouldn't bump into her and make her start screaming like a two year old over whatever random thing I did wrong THAT time.

I don't know what I'm going to do over the summer. If I get an apartment, I won't be able to afford moving back into the dorms in the fall. My best bet is probably to ask some friends if I can stay with them, then pay whatever rent I can afford without draining the money I've started saving for dorms next semester. I also need to find a job for the summer. Ha, yay, I get to compete with high schoolers looking for ways to pay for entertainment through the summer.
Okay, so maybe I'm being more of a sarcastic pessimist instead of a sarcastic optimist today. Just thinking of moving back into that trailer gets me into a heavy negative mood. Anyway, leacture is starting, so I gotta go.

Spring Break

Okay, okay. Since I slept through my alarm on Monday and didn't make it to class, I figure I'll try to take a guess at what Ms. Simms wanted us to write about in our blog for Monday. My guess is what we did on spring break.
At first, I'd say I did a whole lot of nothing, but that's not entirely true. I found out a friend of mine teaches fencing at the Montgomery armory, so I dragged my girlfriend to try it out with me. It was pretty fun, but I don't think Nicole seemed to interested in it. It's kind of a drag... we're looking for a fun activity to do together that would give the two of us exercise and get us out of the house. We considered martial arts first. We both agreed that we didn't want Tae Kwon Do, but she wasn't satisfied with one of the few decent dojos here that taught something other than that. When we tried fencing, it was the same thing. She wasn't happy, and since I'm looking for something to do with her, it feels pointless to do it if she's not happy with it.
We bought a lot of movies from Movie Gallery when we found out many of the local stores were closing. We had hoped to find some major Disney classics, but no luck. Guess I'll have to try ebay if I want Lion King, Aladin, and Beauty and the Beast. Ended up picking up Land Before Time, Hocus Pocus, Nightmare Before Christmas, and Saw VI.
I took Nicole out on a few dates, which was nice, and we watched some of the movies we bought. Other than that, time was spent trying to contact people for the Profile assignment interview (you have NO idea how many people I went through til I found one!), playing a couple video games, and sleeping the days away. I didn't really feel like being awake, for the most part, especially after the idea of taking fencing with Nicole was shot down.
Don't get me wrong- she's not lazy. In fact, both martial arts and fencing were mostly her idea. However, she doesn't like spending money, and once she sees how much something costs, she doesn't care much for it anymore. It's totally understandable, and I know it's good to be conservative with money, but I just... need to get out and do something.
Meh. This blog article isn't anything like it's supposed to be. That's what I get for typing while tired. NIGHT!

Out of the loop?

I feel like the flow of information isn't trickling down to me, no matter how hard I reach to take a sip of it.
For the fifth time this semester, I went to one of my classes, only to find it either rescheduled or canceled- I still don't know which. For most courses, this would be no major deal, and, in fact, a break. However, attendance in this class is semi-optional, and you are graded based on how many hours you spend in the course. I cannot get these required hours if I am continuously left out of the loop. Most school days, I have another class during the available hours of this course, so I have to use my time well and schedule things in a way to get there when I can. This is difficult to do when hours are suddenly changed or it is canceled without me knowing.
Further more, there have been some specific opportunities for those to become further involved with AUM activities dealing with my major. Know how I eventually found out about those activities? I stumbled into a group doing them during what I THOUGHT was supposed to be hours set aside for the fore-mentioned course that constantly eludes my grasp and my schedule.
In any case, I think I'm getting depressed and discouraged. I am sleeping much more than normal, and I sleep right through alarm clocks and, even worse, a fire alarm during a drill. Last semester I had apparently developed the habit of sleep-walking (much to the humor of friends that would find me doing so), but that was due to a lack of sleep.
I keep putting off the fact that I think I need to see the counselor at AUM. I need to get that done... I swear, it's SOMEWHERE on my To Do list. Along with wash the dishes, do laundry, and reading.

Carpet Cleaning, Presentation, and Employee Happiness.

I've been a carpet cleaner for both [large well-known carpet cleaning company, henceforth labeled "Company A"] and [small local carpet cleaning service, henceforth labeled "Company B"]. It's an interesting experience, and I actually learned a thing or two about business and presentation between those two. Company A treats their employees very well, at the expense of treating the customer like nothing but a paycheck. Uniforms were new, vans were clean and shiny, and equipment was well-tended.
However, I noticed that very often, the equipment just didn't get the carpets very clean. Despite this, the customers smiled and often tipped us. I could never figure out why they acted like we had done an excellent job until I worked for Company B.
At Company B, we were given uniforms that were old and occasionally had holes in them. The vans were drove were old and dented, and our equipment was decades old. The employees were treated horribly in comparison to Company A, and we were enforced with a "Customer is always right" business style. This showed. Instead of the two smiling carpet cleaners with bright new uniforms greeting a customer at their door, there would be one guy in a ratty uniform forcing a smile at best. Behind him would be the carpet cleaning van, engine sputtering and smoke coming from the tail pipe. ( I would like to point out that this was due to the manager, not the owner of the company.)
The owner of Company B knew what he was doing as far as chemicals went. Company B was able to get carpets much cleaner than Company A, with half the manpower and in less time, while charging half the price. However, customers were always grumpy and never seemed satisfied with the job, no matter how good it was. It made me realize that people apparently are more impressed with presentation than the quality of work they receive, and their perception of presentation affects their perception of the job itself. It also made me realize that a company that focuses treating the employees well is more likely going to succeed. A happy employee will be more inclined to greet a customer cheerfully and treat them well. Meanwhile, a company that focuses only on the customer while ignoring an employee's needs is counter-productive. It is the employee that interacts with the customer, and if the employee is not happy, it shows.

URRRGGGGHHH.

My mom. Broke. My car.
Don't ask me how, but within 24 hours of letting her borrow the vehicle, she messed up my car. MY vehicle started fine beforehand, but she's somehow ruined the starter. How do you mess up a starter?
Well, I know how: continue to excessively attempt to turn the key when it won't crank. She said that the battery cables had come slightly loose, so my guess is that she couldn't start the car, cranked the [explicit deleted] out of it, THEN finally looked under the hood after she had already screwed it up. She does things like that.

In the meantime, I'm relying on my girlfriend to get around, which bugs me. It doesn't bother me that I'm dependent on her in a fragile-ego-kind-of-way, but more in a "I don't want her to be inconvenienced the way my mother is inconveniencing me" way.

I just can't help my mom anymore. She's hopeless. She refuses to change her ways, and expects me to bail her out every time. I'm tired, and it's dragging me back into the hole I've been working so hard to get out of.

Auditions

Over the weekend, I auditioned for a local indie film, "Life-Like Movie". I think I did well in the auditions, and I feel confident I've gotten at least some part, if not a major role.
It was a little different than auditions I've been to, and felt more like an interview. Rather than keep all questions related to the auditions, I was asked about myself, and what sort of movies I like.
Unprepared for those things, I stammered a bit at first, but warmed up to it quickly. I mentioned "Stir of Echoes" as the type of movie I like- not in genre, but in style. It's a very plot-heavy movie with little action and more subtle hints towards what is going on.
In any case, I hope I can get a part- another film would look good on my resume.

Reading rewards?

I believe rewarding younger students for reading is a great idea. While some would argue that it merely rewards them for something they should do anyway, I believe this reflects the adult world well. Is it not true that those that excel in their given tasks are often given better rewards such as pay raises job and promotions? By giving the children something to look forward to, it gives an idea of short term goal-setting. While reading and doing well in classes may have long-term rewards (better grades in high school due to greater prior underestanding, college scolarships, etc.), it is likely that a 3rd grader is not yet thinking seriously of these things.
Furthermore, reading regularly for the sake of getting good grades could get a child mocked by their peers. While it is frustrating to admit that this may influence a child's decision to do well, it is a factor nonetheless. However, giving rewards may give peer pressure a more positive direction. For instance, a pizza party for the class that scores the most in an Accelerated Reader-like program would instead enforce a positive view of those that like to read.

Mild Frustration

Yesterday, BOTH of my mother's vehicles had trouble. One's fuel tank busted, while the other began over-heating.
I love my mom. She's done a lot for me. But I'm sure you can feel my frustration when I was guilt-tripped into lending her my car for a week, as well as give her $500 for repairs. I get the feeling that no matter how hard I try,I be in the same place financially as I started out as long as I am constantly taking care of my mother. She needs to learn to save money and stop eating out, just like I've had to learn over the past year. The entire reason I was able to help her is because I've learned better money management skills, but those management skills won't help if she keeps borrowing money from me.
Even worse, she becomes severely hostile and defensive if I offer to help her help herself- for instance, tell her how she could improve her finances. She lives in a broken-down trailer with a leaking roof and appliances that don't work. However, when I suggest having a friend of mine come over and teach the two of us how to fix things, she becomes angry at the idea. She is "embarrassed" to have someone see her living conditions, but she will STAY in those miserable conditions until she lets go of her pride.
I think I'm finished helping her. She doesn't help herself, so why should I?

Wal-Mart TLE

So, for the third time in a row, I have gone to Wal-Mart Tire Lube & Express to get my oil changed and tires rotated, and three times in a row I have ended up with a hubcap that would not stay on afterward. Even worse- and I WISH I were exaggerating- it took three hours for them to finish. There were two vehicles in front of me, and one of the two was already being worked on. Now, I understand that Wal-Mart is legally inclined to provide a certain number of breaks for their employees. That still doesn't justify the long wait. Next time, I will just pay the extra ten dollars and take my business elsewhere.

Protest!! D=

I just looked at the review for my textual analysis paper, and you know what!? "Plethora" is a perfectly acceptable word! It's one of my favorite words, and I like using it!!
Okay, I'm being a little silly now. I'm actually surprised I'm making A's in this class. I'm usually a B student. It's nice to see that years of being a bored geek on the internet has attributed towards halfway-decent writing skills. Oh, and then there's that whole "learning better writing in college" thing, but that totally doesn't count.

Edit after having left class: And I can mispronounce "plethora" all I want, too!! D=

Guess I need to sleep better

Last semester, I had a slight... problem. I had classes in the morning, rehearsal in the evening, and work at night. This, of course, meant I was only getting a couple hours of sleep a day. While it was alarming, it was no conceptual surprise when I was woken up on two occasions by friends as I wandered the halls of school. Through sleep deprivation, I had developed the habit of sleep walking.
I thought that by quitting my job and getting more sleep, this problem would just vanish. Unfortunately, I learned yesterday that one of my friends found me sleep walking again last week. Even more alarming, she was not actually able to wake me up, this time.
So far, I don't appear to have been in harm's way. However, the fact that I'm still doing it after I thought my sleeping habits had improved is probably a bad thing, and I can eventually end up somewhere that could put my health at risk. Perhaps quitting my night job threw my sleep schedule off, and now my body is compensating for the change. Either way, it tends to happen when I fall asleep in class. This isn't often (...anymore), but perhaps I should start drinking small amounts of caffeine during the day until I get used to sleeping at night.

Halo

No, not the best-selling (and highly over-rated... not bad, just over-rated) video game.

Halo is a play intended as a Black History Month story of four black soldiers tasked to protect Jewish refugees after Allied Forces had driven the Germans from France. Unfortunately, scheduling problems prevented us from performing during February. Due to its delay to the 12th of March, I guess one could no longer call it a Black History Month play. However, its message can still be strongly delivered.

The central story of the play revolves around SGT Mills of the U.S. Army, and his black platoon. The platoon has been given an undesired assignment as punishment for an incident caused by one of their members. The assignment consists of guarding a large group of Jewish refugees in an area that was supposedly devoid of enemy contact for several days.

The platoon, consisting of Mills, Wade, Johnson, and Percy, are assigned under the openly racist Lieutenant R. Cornknocks. Further adding to conflict, Percy is heavily disdainful towards the assignment, and is being just as discriminating towards the Jewish refugees as their lieutenant is to them.

The play explores comparisons between segregation laws in the U.S. and the laws holding Jews down under the rule of Hitler. While historically inaccurate, the play covers ideas I've never heard discussed before, and I believe it is worth a watch.

If anyone is interested, ask me about tickets.
March 12
7:30 PM
Davis Theater in downtown Montgomery
Ticket prices: $12 for single, $10 each for groups of two or more.

Vacation

I've never had any vacation that came out any different than any other vacation. To me, summer was just a time in which I had to struggle to find things to do that didn't cost any money. Usually, this meant playing video games my grandmother had bought from my Uncle Jerry (who had a habit of buying things he could not afford, then selling them to his own mother once he realized he couldn't afford to keep them anymore). Once I got out on my own, vacations consisted of being online during the day and sleeping at night.
If you've never had a very long time in which you had absolutely no schedule, I'll tell you what it ends up feeling like: one very boring, drawn-out, day. The days and nights blur into one another, since time really seems to lose its meaning. You sleep when you're tired, eat when you're hungry, and it feels like there's no cycle. I guess I do need a schedule to remain sane.


Because of this, I've never really considered what a really good vacation would be. I guess, go to Disneyland or something? ...Or is it Disney World? Which one is it in the southeast? Anyway, I've been to Six Flags a couple times, but it was usually church-sponsored.
Of course, Disney Land might actually depress me. I want to be a voice actor for Disney animations, and that's a one in a million shot. I'd also like to be one of the street performers you always see in photographs, imitating Disney characters next to rides. That, however, requires you to actually LOOK like the characters. I'm too short for anyone other than Peter Pan, and even if I were to dye my hair blond, I don't think I'd look close enough to the character.

I'm getting horribly off-topic here. I guess what I'd really like most for a vacation is to spend it with someone I care for, making strong and magical memories.

Little-known Information on Ninjas

When one hears the word "Ninja", the image that usually comes to mind is a faceless deadly assassin clad in an identifying black mask, able to pull off many awesome stunts and fatal feats.
Would you believe, however, that the concepts of ninjutsu are more heavily related to monks, rather than simple killing?
The first and most common misconception about ninja is the black mask. In reality, this concept came from Japanese theater. In many traditional Japanese plays, tech crew is dressed in black outfits with masks, to signify to the audience "ignore this person- they are not part of the story". However, it was found that having a "ninja" character clad in similar clothes could really startle an audience by "coming out of nowhere", because no one expects the crew they are supposed to ignore to suddenly stab the protagonist. Thus, ninja were soon clad in black outfits to signify they were in "stealth" mode.
This is not to say ninja never worse masks, but when they did, the colors were more "earthy" colors that blended in with terrain- much like modern camouflage, only less advanced. However, more often than not, a ninja would dress... just like anyone else. Why? Well, how could you tell them from anyone else in a crowd? The best way to hide is in plain sight. This same tactic is observed in the insurgencies in Iraq. A soldier cannot tell a civilian is, in fact, a hostile until after he attacks.
Another misconception is the "ruthless paid killer" stereotype ninja seem to receive. While later in ninja history, the most infamous clan ( the Iga ) became this to some small extent, ninja actually believed in balance. This meant both balance in one's self, and balance in local government. Ninja thrived most in feudal Japan, and more often were hired by peasants that had no protection against the samurai of Daimyo (feudal lords) that opposed the Daimyo of the land they lived on. Eventually, these Daimyo realized the prowess of the ninja, and some clans "sold out", so to say.

Unfortunately, history favors the victor. A very famous name in Japanese history is Oda Nobunaga. This man feared ninja society, and made it his personal goal to wipe out any clans that he could. Because of his actions, ninja villages were burned down, and much of their history was lost. During his reign, utterance of the word "ninja" was punishable by death. It is probably obvious, by now, that he ensured any depictions of the ninja were negative and villainous.

The successor of Nobunaga hired one of the strongest surviving clans- the Iga- for protection during and after his rise to power. However, this was near the end of the feudal period, and soon the ninja's services were no longer needed. They ended up becoming glorified door-holders for lords, and very few remained to pass on what true ninjutsu really was.

I started a webcomic! \o/

I've started a webcomic. For those that don't know, a webcomic is pretty much what it sounds like- a comic strip on a website. Some are comedy, others are serious, and some fail at both. Mine is better than these ones that fail at both, because I don't try to be serious. Thus, it only fails at comedy! \o/
The webcomic tells the story of Kitty as told by a ten-year-old with a dry erase board. Kitty is everyone's friend... until Kitty ends up becoming a zombie computer virus with inbred demon grand-kittens. D=
As you can tell, this is probably for people with a bit of a twisted sense of humor. If you believe you have such a sense of humor, here you go.
http://dryerasekitty.thecomicseries.com/comics/pl/30241

You just click "next" to continue through the pages. Have fuuuun. =3

Letter to a Bad Teacher

This blog's SUPPOSED to be about a teacher that gave us trouble in grade school, but... I dunno, I guess I block out bad stuff because I can really only remember the teachers I liked. Instead, I will write a letter to my least favorite teacher here at AUM, [name deleted so no disciplinary actions come my way].

Dear [name deleted so no disciplinary actions come my way],

In my Communication 1010 class last semester, I learned many elements that form a decent speech or lecture. You have absolutely none of these elements in your class. I learned that a good "attention-getter" that, while entertaining, must relate to the class material should be used to retain attention. A lecture should be relevant to what we will be tested on. Visual aids must be used, and effectively so. Paying attention to your audience will help one realize how things are going, and appropriate measures must be taken to retain their interest. Most importantly, one should be interactive with the audience to further interest them.

First off, you should try a better attention-getter. You start each class by announcing you are going to tell a joke- this already ruins the joke. You then read the joke off of a sheet of paper without making eye contact with the class. Worse, the joke has very little to do with the lecture. That is a major flaw, because even if you somehow manage to pull the joke off, you've only gained your students' interest in the joke rather than the lecture material.

You then start your lecture. During this, you sit down, and remain almost perfectly still. You begin speaking about [insert course subject here so no one can figure out who I'm talking to], but thus far your lectures have not been reflected on the tests. Instead, all of the test material is pulled from the text book, effectively making your class period useless.

You have used visual aids a total of three times in our class. These visual aids were black and white handouts, and with two of them, you did not even go over the visual aids and explain their significance to the lecture. In the one exception to this, you explained how the visual aid related to the class, but didn't actually have us look at it.

You know something is wrong, because at the end of class, nearly half of your students are asleep. You have commented on this, and asked the class if there was anything you could do to improve. When one of the students mentioned one of your problems, you responded with, "Well, I've been teaching like this for [X] amount of years, so...." This shows that you know a problem exists, and when presented with what the problem is, you refuse to make any changes. You will simply continue to be disappointed in your class's disinterest in your lectures for the rest of your teaching career.

Every now and then- VERY rarely- the class does, in fact, become interested in the lecture material. When this happens, many of the students begin asking questions and discussing concepts. When this happens, you get a deer-in-the-headlights look, and then attempt to quell what I guess YOU think is chaos. Instead, you personally slaughter any interest anyone had in your class. Smooth move.

Over all, your teaching method is not only flawed, but lacks any proper elements that a good lecture should have. Your method of attempting to get your student's attention is just sad. You remain still during your lectures, and the lectures have nothing to do with the test material. Your use of visual aids needs heavy improvement, yet you refuse any suggestions for improvement in any area when you ask for such suggestions. You are not able to interact with your target audience, and that is the best way to keep their attention. If I were grading your speeches as forgiving as my Communication 1010 teacher had, I would give you a C- at best.

Your former "student",
Mark D.

(( I hope I remember this blog's password after a graduate, because I am so sending this to [gender-identifying pronoun deleted to further hide identity of poor teacher] once I know I can't be penalized for it.

A Way To Fund Everyone?

As I mentioned in my last blog, I believe college is a personal venture. Thus, it should be personally earned. However, "earned" can be a very vague term. There are many programs that exist and many programs that could be established in order to earn this.
The way the G.I. Bill works, you actually pay for a small portion ( I'd say less than 10%, but that's out of heavy guess-timating) during your first year and a half in the military, if you decide you want the G.I. Bill. Once you get out, you have a set number of years to utilize the G.I. Bill, or you lose it. The thing is, so many soldiers pay for this and never actually use it. The G.I. Bill, while not quite self-sustaining, has quite a bit of help from these people who pay for its use and later decide they do not need a college education.
Government programs could be set up like this through other government jobs. Local prisons are practically always looking for new guards. A program similar to the G.I. Bill could help recruit prison guards while offering a way through college.
Achievement-based and GPA-based scholarships are also a way to earn your education, but the question comes to being on how to fund more scholarships.

College Costs?

So, with this whole "proration" thing going around, schools are having to scramble to retain the funding needed to maintain programs and professors- one which way is to increase tuition.
On a side note, I guess none of the $130k that was spent causing hundreds of people to lose their jobs at Victoryland could have gone towards education instead. I don't personally support gambling, but people in power need to get priorities straight. If idiots want to waste their money at slot machines rather than waste their money buying entirely unnecessary high-tech toys, let them at it.
In any case, this leaves us with a question: who should be in charge of putting people through college?
Fortunately, we do not yet live in an age where a college degree is a prerequisite for winning a meaningful job... but it does help, and that age is quickly approaching. As much as it sucks to say so, I really feel that it should still be up to students and their families to earn their way through college. Now, when I say "earn", do I mean pay out-of-pocket for all expenses? No. I believe that scholarships based upon achievement and ability are a way of earning one's college education. On top of this, more people could, heaven forbid, join the military and take advantage of the Montgomery G.I. Bill or the newly-created Post 9-11 G.I. Bill. This, too, serves to earn one's college education. Frankly put, while the local government is cutting funding, the local and federal governments (as well as various organizations) still allow several options towards earning one's further education.
Of course, student loans are still an option, though it is one I feel should be a last resort rather than the first crutch one picks up. There are still programs to help students. The Pell Grant may not give much money to those from families that are more well-off, but every few dollars help.
In any case, while it isn't happy news, college is still a personal venture, and I believe it is personally up to each of us to earn this education.

Key Players in My Life

Naturally, I've got all sorts of people that are a part of my life. Some are negative influences, others are positive. Some are even very bad people who have a positive effect by showing me what I DON'T want to be.
This brings me to my father. I'm honestly surprised he hasn't died of a meth overdose or hasn't been beaten into a coma by people he owes money. He lives in a trailer park, and for several years was supplying my little brother with drugs. He's ruined the family's life on several occasions over his own selfish whims, and is the epitome of what I don't want to be. Thus, he is probably the most positive influence of my life, because I know to avoid doing practically anything he did.
Next is my mother. She's more of a neutral aspect in my life. She means well, but she's practically been driven insane by my father. She is caring and supportive of the choices I make, as long as I don't get in her way. By "get in her way", I mean do anything she doesn't want me to do, or don't do anything she wants me to do.
What I feel is my most important influence in my life right now is my girlfriend, Nicole. I know most people seem to think that their significant other is extremely important (until the break up), but even if things go bad between us, she's helped me in ways that will affect me for the rest of my life.
For one, it was her influence that helped me to decide to get away from my mother and go to college. She continuously reminded me that I could do much better than the cold, leaking, broken-down home I was sharing with my mom, and I could avoid the stress my mom's constant screaming (occasionally at nothing at all) was causing.
She lent me the money I needed to move into the dorms- My G.I. Bill would handle the rest. She helps keep my mind on track towards school, and is a very supportive person. I only hope I can return everything she's done for me some day.

Cryptogram

E landyehmo ruba dryd oui teth'd dyga dra desa du yldiymmo cumja drec. Ed tuach'd naymmo luhdyeh yho esbundyhd un icavim ehvunsydeuh. Ruhacdmo, E zicd druikrd drec fuimt pa y vih drehk du tu eh so pmuk. Ev oui fahd drnuikr dra dnuipma uv lusbmadehk drec, oui sicd ryja ryt duu silr vnaa desa. Uv luinca, E cbahd dra desa du yldiymmo lnayda dra luta, cu E sicd ryja ryt duu silr vnaa desa yc famm. Famm, rana'c y rehd vun oui dryd femm uhmo ramb oui uid YVDAN oui'ja cumjat drec: Eh dra luta E icat, jufamc nasyeh jufamc, fedr ullyceuhym aqlabdeuhc eh dra lyca uv "o".

Possible Future?

Well, as you could guess by my major in Communications with Emphasis in Dramatic Arts (aka Theater major, but if Val Winkelman hears me call it that, she'd eviscerate me or something), I want to have a life involved in theater or performing in some way.
Now what, exactly, I'd want to do in theater is up in the air. As long as I am involved in it, I think I will be happy. My top wish is to become a voice actor for Disney, but that's a very long shot. There's something about voice acting that I really enjoy. Your own body's limits are gone; it doesn't matter if you're 5'0", you can be the lead rather than the comic relief. It doesn't matter if your appearances are not ideal for the role. Only your voice has to match up.
This is not to say that it is, in any way, easier. Bad voice acting can entirely ruin a production- even the extras have to sound professional (as many theater-types would say, "there are no small parts- only small actors"), or all anyone will ever remember about the production is that one guy that sounded like crap.
Being able to support myself as a film or broadway actor would be nice, as well, but these, too are very long shots. In fact, it would be harder to do this than it would to become a voice actor. Cost of living in New York would be very difficult to support, and competition is fierce. As for film acting, it seems nearly entirely luck-based to get a role, and someone of my height of 5'6" would not likely get anything to brag about. Not to mention, filming is a very tiring and long process. In the one film I've been in, it took several hours to shoot a five-minute scene. I think the frustrations of screen filming are not worth the benefits unless you're getting paid like Johnny Depp or something.
Failing to become a voice actor, I would be happy being a high school theater teacher. To do this, I will have to take a specific amount of certain classes after I receive my BA. It will be difficult and expensive, but I believe teaching and inspiring children would be a great use of a life. I'll just have to have all of my students sign yearbooks for me. That way, if THEY ever get famous, I'll at least get some money off of that. =P

Internet Opinion

The internet is a double-edged sword, in my opinion, when it comes to its effect on the ideas of its users.
It's probably pretty obvious by now that I do not hold much faith in people, and to me, the internet seems to be a place where the teeming masses join together to agree on entirely uneducated opinions passed down onto them by their mommies and daddies.
Let's take this as an example: on one of my vlogs, I used to make very neutral political statements after days- sometimes weeks- of researching platforms and political history of candidates. I would try to be fair when mentioning both positives and negatives in all parties involved.
Of course, this got only negative attention. Conservatives flamed me for being too liberal. Those on the far left bashed me for being too far right. Apparently, the only opinions the majority of people online can comprehend are black and white, one extreme or the other. People assumed that because I did not agree with everything about their chosen party, I was against their party. Never did I get a comment or video response dealing with arguments supported by facts or research. Instead, most of the responses were from those using slogans and jargon often quoted from heavily-biased news channels. Even worse, these people seemed to attempt to claim these ideas as their own, as if they were intellectual enough to consider the possibilities and come up with original or clever analogies. Eventually, I closed down my political vlog and opened up one for something that seemed to cater more to these people: Entertainment.
However, out of all the crap, one can occasionally find someone else that seems to have a more casual, yet calculating mind out here on the net. The internet- when used by someone that's trying to do more than repeat the cliche phrases they've heard a thousand times- can be an invaluable and irreplaceable tool. People with new ideas can share them, and in turn learn from one another.
Honestly, I think the negatives I've mentioned have less to do with the internet in itself and more with American society in general. We are used to having information spoon-fed to us, and combining this with internet's ability to make uneducated ( yet well-spoken) opinions more accessible, everything looks like it's just going to hell.

Warning!! The following blog may contain ideas and comments offensive to Southern stereotypes.

While I've lived all over the east coast, I was too young to remember most of it. My father was in the military, but got out before I was old enough to start forming long-lasting memories.
Through most of my childhood, I lived in Prattville, but due to my father's inconsistent work habits, we were moved all over Alabama during my High School years. This made school difficult, as we went to multiple schools a year.
I remember my absolute worst time in moving was when we moved to Sylycauga... if I'm even spelling that name right. As we were heading towards our new home, we stopped by one of the few gas stations we came across in the middle of the woods. This gas station displayed a brightly-colored posterboard sign in the window that read, as if it were a big deal, "WE NOW SERVE PIZZA!!" I almost started crying at that.
Soon after, we moved to Blountsville, Alabama. Now, don't get me wrong. I don't have a problem with Southern stereotypes. However, the majority of the population in this town were not just typical southerners; they were complete ignorant hicks. The rest of the population were Mexican immigrants, so given my choice in people to hang out with... well, I learned Spanish. Given, not all of the white population there were total hillbillies, but everyone at least hung out with people of those type. I figured learning a second language would be MUCH easier than trying to get along with people that couldn't understand half of the things I tried to tell them anyway.
We moved back to Prattville after my father was caught cheating on my mom with a toothless trailer-park-bound redneck woman named Teresa. There I remained until I joined the army. After six months training in Kentucky, I was stationed in Ft. Hood, TX.
The only reason any of the area around Ft. Hood flourished at all was because the most-populated military base in the U.S. was there. Because of this, almost all of the businesses catered or advertised to military personnel. Living there was neat. Because of the military, you had people from all walks of life and all areas of the U.S. Unfortunately, this also meant you had people with driving habits from all over the U.S. You could almost guess by looking at a liscence plate just how long the light would be green before someone finally decided to go, or if the guy was gonna even going to stop at the red light.
I was deployed to Iraq for a year, so you could say I practically lived there. Of course, the fact that people were constantly trying to kill me may have slightly negatively affected my opinion, but I honestly liked many of the customs in that area.
Anyway, after that, I was sent back to Ft. Hood, then when I got out of the military, I moved back to Prattville. I kind of need to wrap this blog up, so no pretty shiny all-inclusive ending statement of this blog for you!!

YouTube Benchmark

My YouTube page ( http://www.youtube.com/TheJokezOnYou ) now has five-hundred subscribers. I'm glad- that vlog takes a good deal of effort, and there's no telling how much money I've spent putting costume and props together.
This isn't THAT big of a deal; some of the more popular people on YouTube have thousands of subscribers. However, I get no endorsement from YouTube as these more-popular channels do, so I'm pretty satisfied with this.

C&C

We've gotta do another comparison and contrast-kinda thing. Alright, alright. Here we go: Johnny Depp and Gary Oldman.

As an actor, I of course have role models that inspire me. Among these, I believe it was Gary Oldman and Johnny Depp that had the greatest effect on me.
In a way, the two are very similar actors in that they could both play practically anything, and play it well. I had watched The Fifth Element, Leon: The Professional, and Batman Begins long before I realized Gary Oldman had played major roles in the two former films. In the same way, it is difficult to see the same actor behind Willy Wonka, Sweeney Todd, and Jack Sparrow. The two are both very superb actors capable of tackling extremely different roles.

However, they greatly differ once publicity comes in. Ah, yes, the teeming masses whose collective opinion sadly effects so much. Johnny Depp, despite being in his forties, looks much younger and more dashing than the aging Gary Oldman. Because of this, Johnny Depp is much more widely known. While Willy Wonka and Jack Sparrow may hardly look the same at all, people still know precisely who is behind the makeup and vastly-different smiles.
Oldman, on the other hand, does not seem to garner much attention. You can practically sell a movie simply by casting Johnny Depp. Only people that actually pay attention to more than big names in their movies would even know who you were talking about with Gary Oldman (until you mention what roles he's played in several of their favorite films).

While I believe they are equally talented actors, public opinion does have its effect: Johnny Depp is much more wide-known than Gary Oldman.

Food Comparison

Uh-oh. You got me started on food. I'm going to have a hard time deciding what to compare and contrast, because there's just so many foods I love. I guess instead of comparing two similar restaurants, I'll compare apples to oranges and instead compare my favorite Asian place to my favorite Mexican.
Jose's is a restaurant chain with three local places- one in Montgomery, and two in Prattville. The second store in Prattville opened a few months ago, less than a mile from my home. You can probably tell that this made my stomach happy (and my wallet miserable). Jose himself is very active in greeting customers at whichever restaurant he happens to be overlooking that day, and that gives the place a very down-to-earth feel. For the price, you get plenty of food (my favorite being quesadilla con pollo- a chicken quesadilla). However, it's the service I like most about this place. Waiters are friendly and learn your name if you are a constant customer. I can usually walk in to my sweet tea already on the table I'll be eating at.
My favorite Asian place, however, is much different. It is a buffet, and the staff doesn't seem to recognize you from one visit to another. I guess the thing that keeps me coming back to this place- Buffet City- is the Mongolian Barbecue. You get to choose your uncooked ingredients, and hand them to a chef who will cook it in the sauce of your choice. This is included in the price of the buffet, so you get a lot of quality for the price.
I guess in comparison, I like the service of Jose's better, the food at Buffet City better, but they are both definitely worth the price.

Minor Update, I guess.

Classes are going alright, I guess. I really need to refocus myself, though. During my first semester, I was extremely eager to succeed in class. That motivation doesn't seem to be their anymore.
I guess this is mostly due to my Reading 0700 class. Despite the fact that I passed my English Placement Exam (with flying colors, none-the-less), I still have to take Reading 0700 as a provisional student.
During the first day of this class, the instructor read out-loud to us a sixth-grade level picture book. I find this irritating. I do have some learning difficulties, but those difficulties lie in mathematics. My English isn't perfect, but no one's really is.
I guess I find this annoying mostly due to the fact that I feel it is a waste of my limited G.I. Bill. Furthering the irritation is the fact that the class cannot affect my GPA due to its remedial status. URRRGGGGHHH. I'm taking an easy "A" course for nothing!! I talked to my advisor about it, but the class cannot be waived (she was, however, very apologetic about this).
This has me somewhat unmotivated in my classes. So Meh.

I kinda-sorta hurt myself yesterday. I can't really think straight right now. Supposed to write a story in a factual method first, then in a more descriptive narrative. I think that's what professor Simms is saying. I just really can't think right now. Probably should have gone to the E.R., but I can't afford it. I'll do the assignment later at home. Probably this weekend. I'll feel better by then.

BLAH!

Okay, so this blog is supposed to be about what our topic will be for a literacy narrative. Here's the problem: I don't care about reading, nor do I find it difficult. It's just something to do, sometimes. I don't care about reading for the same reason I don't like to watch television. It's not interactive. It doesn't matter how I read the book; the words on the page will not change. Can I still watch television? Yes, easily. Can I still read a novel? It is much more time-consuming, but just as easy.
This is why I like video games. The games I play do involve a lot of reading, but I actually have much more influence on what occurs in the game. It is interactive, not something set in concrete like boring books, movies, or television programs.
I guess I'll just have to make some crap up for the literacy narrative. After all, I need to do it to maintain my GPA.

If I were in charge?

Our blog today is supposed to be a "if we were in charge of our High School" kind of thing, or if High School was a little too far back for us, "if we were in charge of our job". Well, high school was seven years ago for me, so I'll have to go with the whole job thing.
Unfortunately, posting negative aspects about one's job can have a negative effect on one's job searches in the future. I am really not comfortable discussing something like that on a public blog. I don't really have anything positive to say about my job; I do it because I feel that as a member of society, I should be active in society and have a job. Hell, honestly, I make more money from the excess left over from my G.I. Bill than I do working overtime at my job. If I did it for the money, I would have quit long ago.
I guess the main thing I would do (that I am not uncomfortable posting) is fire people much more often. I feel that lazy and uncooperative people are given way too many chances, or even occasionally given special treatment so they won't quit.

Movie thing

Okay, I'm supposed to be writing about disagreeing with critic or popular reviews. Here's the problem: in all of the movies I'm looking up, I agree with the critics, and most of the movies I watch are not high-profile enough to garner mass public attention. There are a few exceptions to watching well-known movies, but I only watch well-known movies if a good deal of people or critics have already deemed it a great movie. Otherwise, I don't waste my money.
I guess the closest thing possible would be Twilight. While I am glad that the book is getting young girls to read, I hope that they grow to realize that is a very bad book. The fourteen year old girls I can understand, as the story seems to appeal to the taboos and sexual frustrations of females in that age range, but it heavily disturbs me to see grown adults reading- and enthralled by- this book.
Anyway, I can't really concentrate on writing in this blog during class due to loud discussion. I probably won't do much blogging during class, despite the fact we are supposed to do ten minutes of it there. I will have to do it in the relative privacy of my dorm room, where it's not so loud.

Dot dot dot

I guess I need to keep writing in this in order to make the seventy posts required of me by my English Comp class. I'm not really sure what to write; I pretty much put everything about myself in a nutshell within my last two posts.
I would say classes are going well, but they're not really "going", yet. MLK day put a two-day pause in classes, and it really feels like things are taking forever to get started. I'm not really complaining. I'm not able to go from full-time to part-time at my security job until tomorrow, so the slow pace works for me for now. I am sure things will pick up soon, but by then my job's workload should be significantly smaller and I should be able to handle it.

Unnecessary Exposition, Continued!

Well, then. Last we left off, I was grumpily explaining that I didn't need the military. Well, I lied. You see, I had signed up for this nice little thing called the Montgomery G.I. Bill, which in the fall semester of 2009 was altered to allow the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill. I had been living with my mother, working a dead end job in a highly stressed home. I found an ad in a newspaper for Prattville's WOBT- Way Off Broadway Theater- mentioning auditions for Little Shop of Horrors. Now back in grade school, I was very active in school's theater, but I was a terrible actor. However, during my time in the army, I watched a few movies with actors such as Gary Oldman and Johnny Depp. I realized that in many of their roles, they were almost unrecognizable between roles. I think that this made me "get" acting. It wasn't about the actor at all; it was about the character they played.

I decided to audition for Little Shop, and... I ended up being the puppeteer for the gigantic plant puppet that ate up the characters. However, due to scheduling conflicts, I was also given an understudy role as Orin Scrivello, the sadistic dentist. This lead to several more roles at Prattville WOBT, my favorite being the spoiled Prince John in James Goldman's Lion In Winter.

Well, I had this nice little lump of money from the military waiting for my college education, and I had nothing left to lose. I decided to major in theater. This has already been a great move, even in my freshman year. While my unaccredited high school diploma meant I had to be a provisional student ( putting limiting factors on what classes I can take in my first three semesters), I have already built a large network in the local theater groups. This networking allowed me to land a role in my first professional play, S.K. Folks' Halo (Playing February at the Davis theater- ask me about tickets!) , as well as a speaking role in Spike Lee's "Son of the South" (coming 2011 !)

When I am not cast in whatever play, I keep my acting in practice with my two YouTube accounts, http://www.youtube.com/MADasinger and http://www.youtube.com/TheJokezOnYou . ( This post is just full of shameless plugs, huh?) The former YouTube account is where I do personal vlogs and practice monologues I plan to use for auditions, and the latter YouTube account, I imitate the Mark Hammil interpretation of Batman: The Animated Series' Joker. Seriously, you guys should go check it out or something.

Well, I've got other stuff to do in this English class. Ciao, Ja ne, See ya, and bye bye!

Well then, hey.

So, I haven't blogged since I was a teenager. I found it somewhat annoying, honestly, and didn't like the idea of anyone and everyone knowing what I was doing and thinking. However, I bravely decided to face my fears of exposure and do it again. In other words, it's a requirement for one of my college courses- I wouldn't be bothered to do it otherwise. Oh well!

I guess I can start with a little information about myself. Unnecessary exposition, here we go! My name's Mark. I was born in the totally awesome year of 1985, in the nice, warm month of July. I am 5'6" and 130 lbs soaking wet. That's right- I'm one of those lucky individuals that can eat what I want, exercise as little as once a month, and not gain a single pound. Don't you just love me now? I have brown, curly hair and blue eyes.

I goofed around in High School and ended up having to swiftly transfer to a private school in my senior year to ensure I had enough credits to graduate on time. This resulted in an unaccredited diploma, but it- along with a fairly high ASVAB score- was enough to get me into the U.S. Army. I signed up as a tanker, went to OSUT (One Station Unit Training- a tanker's version of Basic Training), went almost directly from OSUT to my first deployment in Iraq. Once our unit returned stateside to Ft. Hood, TX, this total jerk of a hurricane named "Katrina" popped up and said hello to the shores of Louisiana. Unfortunately, the Louisiana National Guard was doing that whole "war" thing back in Iraq, so my unit was deployed as one of the first units to aid in the Katrina aftermath relief efforts. It was there that I learned people suck.

Anything we did over there- despite our efforts to help people- was seen as wrong by the media. We were made out to look incompetent. Our efforts to help were publicly minimized by news stations in an effort to sell a story: "The government doesn't care". I would see corpses stacked outside a giant sports dome, and later see people stealing flat-screen televisions from the ruined homes of the deceased. These looters carried weapons. We, too, were given our rifles: With no ammunition or magazines. We were told that the way the media was treating the relief efforts, the last thing they needed in the headlines was "Soldier kills U.S. Citizen in New Orleans". Due to this, our only option for response if fired at was to duck and wait it out. Fun, huh?

After this, I was soon given a medical discharge. You could bet your bottom dollar I didn't do much to fight it. Although I felt I had been used and then thrown out by the military, I decided I didn't need them, just as they didn't need me.

The rest? To be continued!! Dun dun DUN!