It’s very amazing what the folks at the Columbia Daily Tribune can dig up on a person… Apparently, I was in an article on June 25, 1995…a full 10 years before my wedding… Scroll down the page to the June 25th listings…
Thanks, Dad, for pointing out this embarrassment… 😛
Yup, I’m married…crazy, eh? Brooke and I have moved into our new place in St. Louis and are almost done putting everything where it needs to go…by the end of tomorrow, we should be mostly done…until the next volley of wedding presents arrives this weekend… That, and I start at SLU for graduate school on Friday. I’m glad that things are starting to settle down a bit, since these last few weeks have been absolutely insane…but a good “insane,” I guess… 😛
Brooke and I went to Hermann, MO for Saturday night and Sunday night to stay at a B&B (…we hope to take a “real” honeymoon in mid-August, of course…suggestions as to where?), which was pretty cool…they upgraded our room to a suite for the two nights at no charge, so we actually had a living room, bedroom, bathroom and kitchen to ourselves; we’ll have pictures up eventually… We also toured the Stone Hill Winery and the Adam Puchta Winery (after sampling their excellent wines, we both had to take a nap…heh…). Overall, great wine, great food and a great time…nice and relaxing!
We just got DSL hooked up today after SBC got their act together… This $15/mo DSL service is great, though…moves a bit quicker than I expected, honestly…hopefully it keeps up… Therefore, we’ll hopefully both be online a bit more often now, although I’ll likely be somewhat busy at school…
Keep in touch, everyone!
So yeah, the so-called “bachelor party” was last night…and my head hurts tremendously now… We went to Flat Branch, but there was an hour wait (…and we went at 7:30 pm, mind you…on a Thursday night…), so we went to Grindstone Brewery instead… The food was pretty decent there, actually…maybe slightly expensive, but not by much… After that, we went to Harpo’s for the rest of the night…and thus, my headache may never go away… 😛
We’re about to leave for Hannibal, so I won’t get to make updates until June 28th now, since I won’t really have internet until then. The rehearsal and dinner are tonight, so the busy-ness continues…
Here we go!
“If his words hold wisdom and his philosophy is honorable, what does it matter if he returns? What is important is that we follow his teachings. Perhaps the words are more important than the man.”
— Kahless, ST: TNG
In the episode “Rightful Heir” of Star Trek: TNG, religious leaders clone their Jesus-type character, called Kahless (they’re Klingons…w00t…), in order to speed up his prophesized return. He finds out he’s a clone later and says the above quote…I thought it was very appropriate to Christians in today’s day and age…especially the more conservative ones…
Ironically, I drove by Woodcrest earlier today, where on their sign I see: “Where one visit can change the way you view church.” I have long disliked this church and many “mega churches” like it because what they call “church” becomes more of a production and presentation, rather than an opportunity for learning, communing and fellowship. Granted, I’m all about contemporary worship, but there’s a fine line where the congregation begins to expect entertainment rather than the true purpose of worship.
So yeah, I’m going to rant about the stupidity of the teeny-bopper generation… I was at the Columbia Mall three times today, for various reasons, but I only shopped for clothes the first time. I bought a pair of khaki pants at JC Penney for $15 (on sale…w00t…)…which was a great deal, of course…but they all had this rip along the left ankle cuff of the pant leg. Now…I looked at another of the same type of pants…had a rip in the same place… I tried another…same place… I even looked at American Eagle at similar pants…they all had a small rip right below the left-hand pocket. All of them.
Now, this brings up a few points… First of all, aren’t these pants supposed to be “cool” because they look more worn? Well…wouldn’t they look more authentic if the rips and tears were at more randomized locations? Is it really that difficult to accomplish? How is it a “style” thing if they’re all the same? Is anyone “cool” if everyone wears the same style? I thought the whole point of being “cool” was to be different, yet if you wear the same clothes as everyone else, then you are the same as everyone else, therefore, not allowing for the capacity to be “cool.” It all seems counter-productive.
The more important point, however, is how absolutely stupid the American consumer is. We, the consumers, listen to what we are told looks good. If someone told us 20 years ago that, “hey, wearing pants with holes all over them looks cool,” we’d say, “damn, you’re stupid.” Now, though, Tommy Hilfiger tells us it’s cool…so everyone should wear clothes that have holes. We, the American consumer, have been told by Cosmo and Seventeen and GQ what looks good…and we believed it…and now we buy our clothes, etc. based on their “recommendations”…when these “recommendations” are surely “suggested” by every name-brand retailer and clothing designer in the world. And how are we propagating this? By shopping at Abercrombie and Gap Kids. Let’s have our kids wear their clothes from Day One…then, when they’re old enough to complain about clothes from Target saying that they’re not “cool” enough…since “cool” can only be found at Gap and Abercrombie…
Our culture is entirely programmable by commercials, TV, and celebrity (and this all explains why the hell over 50% of our country voted for quite possibly the dumbest person ever to walk the earth in the last election). We have no minds of our own, no individuality, and cannot think for ourselves. We have to look to our neighbor to see what is acceptable in the eyes of everyone else. Those who get tattoos and piercings try to evade our consumer culture by going against the grain of everyone else, and yet they have even formed their own groups who shop at certain stores and buy certain things like everyone else they know… No one is safe.
Indeed, humans are social creatures who like to fit into the crowd…but that doesn’t mean we have to be lemmings…
P.S. Happy Birthday to me… 😛
So yeah, we spent all day yesterday moving to St. Louis…the hard part’s done, I guess… Brooke and I didn’t stay up too terribly late last night unpacking, but got up relatively early this morning and moved most of the boxes out of what is to become “the office” (complete with 6′ table for the computers and a twin-size bed (i.e. “couch”). We walked around the complex and found the laundromat, exercise equipment and swimming pool, and there are quite a few trees around there, making it a very pretty place to be. The next hurdle involves learning all the roads in St. Louis, etc… I went by Missy/Sharon/Shannon’s place today and it took me a good 30 min…pretty sure I could have driven to their old places last year in Kirksville in under 3 min…but whatever… 😛
Anyway, I added a few pictures from the move to the Photos section of the site, listed under “New Apt”…check ’em out… After we get settled in St. Louis (after June 27th), we’ll take more pictures and post what the place is supposed to look like…
I’ll be in Columbia until Friday, and then I’ll be heading to Hannibal for the rehearsal and dinner…and getting married in T-minus 6 days… Married life, here I come… 😉 Regardless, gimme a call if you’re around Columbia and wanna hang out…
Needless to say, I’ve been looking forward to this movie ever since I heard they were making it. As you know, I’m a fan of comic movies, but those last two Batman atrocities were too much to bear…and thankfully, this one was about as far from those as is possible…
Batman Begins, quite simply, is probably the best movie I’ve seen in recent memory (eat your heart out Episode III…). This movie marks the return of the Dark Knight to where he belongs: as a brooding, vengeful hero who’s willing to bust some heads for what he thinks is right. Christian Bale even takes it to the point where we believe Batman, as a character, actually has a reason to do what he does…something besides just avenging his parents…something more than that…something beyond himself, which is what the previous Batman movies really centered upon. Previous portrayals of Batman, even including the Michael Keaton version (widely considered the best…), simply pitted Batman against some evil villain, someone who threatened the people of Gotham City. This movie, on the other hand, goes much deeper into Bruce Wayne’s reasons for doing what he does: not only revenge, but also in an effort to live up to what his parents believed and the lives they led, and also realizing that setting an example for the people of Gotham is more important than just beating up the bad guys and bringing justice to the masses.
So yeah, I’m not going to spoil the movie or anything…just gonna say the following: Batman Begins restores any and all lost faith in the Batman franchise, delving so much deeper into the character of Bruce Wayne and his background, as well as offering a few twists and turns throughout the movie to entertain just about everyone. The one complaint I have is, much like Episode III, many of the action sequences are a little too close up and don’t show you a full view of what’s going on…but that is minor compared to how well this movie blows you away…
Go see it. It’s awesome. You’ll love it. And if you don’t, I probably hate you anyway. 😉
Yeah, I’ve been packing up everything I own…and this is no small task… Bear in mind that I’ve lived here for 3 years now…and I’ve been collecting an insane amount of stuff throughout that time, most of which I’m throwing away (or giving to Nathan and Jerry for their new place…). I had to figure out how to take apart my desk again today, had to unplug all of the electronics in my room (a small fire hazard…), remove the stuff from my closet (I officially have too many clothes…), and am finding live dust bunnies under my bed (never seen one? they’re like jackalopes, but without horns and their made from dust…no…seriously…).
So yeah, the other part of this is that I’m going to have to disconnect the web server on Thursday morning and transport it to Columbia, where it will remain until after the wedding…whenever I can come pick it up… We won’t have DSL set up in St. Louis until after the wedding’s done, so we need an internet connection for the server to operate… Therefore, the server will be down for most of Thursday while I take it down there, set it up, etc….I’m sure you’re all worried…but you’ll live…
Oh…and Batman Begins starts tomorrow…and I’m ever so excited… 😉
Yeah, I’ve been packing up everything I own…and this is no small task… Bear in mind that I’ve lived here for 3 years now…and I’ve been collecting an insane amount of stuff throughout that time, most of which I’m throwing away (or giving to Nathan and Jerry for their new place…). I had to figure out how to take apart my desk again today, had to unplug all of the electronics in my room (a small fire hazard…), remove the stuff from my closet (I officially have too many clothes…), and am finding live dust bunnies under my bed (never seen one? they’re like jackalopes, but without horns and their made from dust…no…seriously…).
So yeah, the other part of this is that I’m going to have to disconnect the web server on Thursday morning and transport it to Columbia, where it will remain until after the wedding…whenever I can come pick it up… We won’t have DSL set up in St. Louis until after the wedding’s done, so we need an internet connection for the server to operate… Therefore, the server will be down for most of Thursday while I take it down there, set it up, etc….I’m sure you’re all worried…but you’ll live…
Oh…and Batman Begins starts tomorrow…and I’m ever so excited… 😉
That was the title of the final episode of Star Trek: TNG, widely regarded as the best of the Star Trek franchise television shows…and it is representative of where I sit today… As of 3:30 pm this afternoon, June 10, 2005, I will no longer be employed in the Truman ITS department… I think this is of significance for a few reasons. First of all, this is the longest amount of time I’ve ever worked at a job (4 years, almost entirely without stopping…there was one summer I didn’t work up here…). Secondly, this is the highest I’ve ever advanced in a job (…promoted to “lab manager” after my first year…worked in that role ever since…).
The third reason, however, is the clincher… This marks the cutting of my final umbilical connection to Truman State. After today, I will not attend class here, will not work here, will not need to be at Truman State for any reason (besides visiting folks, of course…). Today marks the first day in 5 years that I will never have to be here…ever…again… Today marks the end of an era of my life, the final chapter in perhaps the most exciting volume thus far… Subsequently, the next volume promises to encompass a much wider scope, including marriage, graduate school, and insurance in my own name…and it’s going to be weird…
…but in the end…it’ll still be a good read…
