Back From The Dead Part 1
Wow, my journal was really getting decrepit there. So much stuff to catch up on. I think I'm going to have to break all the damn stuff into multiple entries (don't worry Korric, I'll try to stagger them).
First of all, had a really great summer, even though I got up at 5:30 every day. I had this wonderful job, you see. A forty-hour-a-week painting job, doing the dorm room walls in Southwest-South. Great money though (at least for me, I'm not too world-traveled). There were some really nasty rooms in some of those buildings, and Sarah, I believe I painted your old room. One of the corner ones on Washington 19th floor right? IIRC, it was in almost no need of new painting at all. There were some really great people there. One guy, named Gorki (yes, after the Russian) was this crazy guy from the Dominican Republic. He still takes classes here in fact. Anyway, he and I would have all sorts of discussions about everything while we painted, often yelled from one room to another. His favorite topic was how terrible a president Bush is, which I agree with on some aspects, but I was willing to engage him in a lively debate just because I like to argue. Overall, I found his beliefs were not a carbon copy of every other college liberal you find around here, plus he had a lot of real experience out in the world, both of which made me gain a lot of respect for him. We didn't just talk about stuff like politics though. He joked around a lot about my constant reading of fantasy novels during lunch breaks though. "Oh what does 'Harry Porter' have today? Some story about a talking horse and a magic treasure?"
I also saw a few movies over the summer. I really liked King Arthur, and I think it gets a bad rap from people. Perfectly enjoyable medieval movie if you ask me. Plus, Keira Knightley raises just about any movie she's in a few notches. I also saw Resident Evil: Apocalypse, which a lot of people also hated but I loved because it actually followed the video game quite a bit, and it was awesome to see Jill Valentine and Carlos Olivera on the movie screen. So, enjoyable despite the fact that the Nemesis was completely misused and there were a few parts where they made Jill look like an idiot so Milla Jovovich's character could look badass. All I have to say though, was that poor reporter's death was disturbing as hell! I also bought a few movies too, mostly Dina Meyer ones because I remembered that yes, I did like Dina Meyer about four years ago and I still do now. If you get a chance, watch "Stranger Than Fiction". It's an extremely underrated movie that is hilarious dark comedy for the first two thirds and dead serious for the last bit. Very strange, actually. I would have liked it to just stay funny the whole way through, but those are the breaks. I bought a ton of manga too. I'm noticing I'm buying less and less anime nowadays and more and more manga. Not least of the probable reasons is the price. Those DVDs are too damn expensive! Plus, I'm just not as big an "anime freak" anymore, which there are probably multiple reasons for.
So there you have it. A very busy summer, but when I did get the chance to relax, it was very nice. Spent a lot of time together with the family, which is always fun. Hanging out, going places, the works. It really was good to spend time with the family, but I looked forward to coming back to UMass...
First of all, had a really great summer, even though I got up at 5:30 every day. I had this wonderful job, you see. A forty-hour-a-week painting job, doing the dorm room walls in Southwest-South. Great money though (at least for me, I'm not too world-traveled). There were some really nasty rooms in some of those buildings, and Sarah, I believe I painted your old room. One of the corner ones on Washington 19th floor right? IIRC, it was in almost no need of new painting at all. There were some really great people there. One guy, named Gorki (yes, after the Russian) was this crazy guy from the Dominican Republic. He still takes classes here in fact. Anyway, he and I would have all sorts of discussions about everything while we painted, often yelled from one room to another. His favorite topic was how terrible a president Bush is, which I agree with on some aspects, but I was willing to engage him in a lively debate just because I like to argue. Overall, I found his beliefs were not a carbon copy of every other college liberal you find around here, plus he had a lot of real experience out in the world, both of which made me gain a lot of respect for him. We didn't just talk about stuff like politics though. He joked around a lot about my constant reading of fantasy novels during lunch breaks though. "Oh what does 'Harry Porter' have today? Some story about a talking horse and a magic treasure?"
I also saw a few movies over the summer. I really liked King Arthur, and I think it gets a bad rap from people. Perfectly enjoyable medieval movie if you ask me. Plus, Keira Knightley raises just about any movie she's in a few notches. I also saw Resident Evil: Apocalypse, which a lot of people also hated but I loved because it actually followed the video game quite a bit, and it was awesome to see Jill Valentine and Carlos Olivera on the movie screen. So, enjoyable despite the fact that the Nemesis was completely misused and there were a few parts where they made Jill look like an idiot so Milla Jovovich's character could look badass. All I have to say though, was that poor reporter's death was disturbing as hell! I also bought a few movies too, mostly Dina Meyer ones because I remembered that yes, I did like Dina Meyer about four years ago and I still do now. If you get a chance, watch "Stranger Than Fiction". It's an extremely underrated movie that is hilarious dark comedy for the first two thirds and dead serious for the last bit. Very strange, actually. I would have liked it to just stay funny the whole way through, but those are the breaks. I bought a ton of manga too. I'm noticing I'm buying less and less anime nowadays and more and more manga. Not least of the probable reasons is the price. Those DVDs are too damn expensive! Plus, I'm just not as big an "anime freak" anymore, which there are probably multiple reasons for.
So there you have it. A very busy summer, but when I did get the chance to relax, it was very nice. Spent a lot of time together with the family, which is always fun. Hanging out, going places, the works. It really was good to spend time with the family, but I looked forward to coming back to UMass...