i'm not going to the movies in lubbock anymore. brandon, amy, and i went to see Lord of the Rings: Return of the King at Tinseltown on 82nd last night. that movie theater sucks. that's three movies in a row i've seen there that were out of focus, and there were vertical lines across the screen, and you could see the film track running on the right of the screen. what is this, the 1920s? are the people at Tinseltown not accustomed to these fancy newfangled "moving picture machines" or what? seriously, i have a small tv and a relatively cheap stereo and i play dvds through my playstation2, but, even considering all that, i have more of a "quality" movie experience sitting in my living room than i do at the movie theaters here in lubbock.

well, enough complaining...i've got to make a mix cd for mine and amy's drive to dallas.

it is Christmas Eve, so i am in good spirits. we opened the presents from my grandparents today, and they gave me a really nice Canon 35mm camera. i've already snapped some really good shots (several of my niece and nephew and three of a wicked awesome sky-aglow-with-orange-and-red sunset). that's all i've got for now, so Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight.

so i'm home for Christmas and feeling crappy that i ran out of time to get gifts for everyone. i made cards for the family members who would be here, and i got something for everyone but my sis. maybe i can take a sneak trip to wal-mart tomorrow and get her something. shopping options are limited here in my hometown (population: 4,000).

and i just found out that my brother-in-law will be sleeping in the tv room on the fold-out couch/bed because he snores so loudly that if he sleeps in any of the other rooms, he'll wake the baby. yeah, the tv room is right next to my room. in fact, my room shares a very thin wall and a very thin door with the tv room. i mean, i'm not complaining exactly, i'm just explaining because it's humorous, kinda in the same way that self-deprecating jokes are humorous.

last night, amy and i had our christmas. it was awesome. she gave me some stylin' banana republic boxers and this james avery ring i've been wanting for a while. oh yeah, she also bought my meal at Tokyo Steakhouse and made me coffee this morning. she makes the best damn coffee i've ever tasted. i can see myself with her for a long time. well, most of my family is about to go to sleep, so maybe i'll go read or something.

this is how i know i'm getting more out of touch with popular music:

i just recently discovered that Outkast is actually some rapper dude AND Andre 3000 (who sings "Hey Ya"). I still think "Why did they put out a cd together? I only want the Andre 3000 songs and not the gangsta rap songs that the other guy does." And it's not like the first half of the cd is one guy then the other half is Andre 3000...the songs are all mixed up. Or maybe i'm just all mixed up. any hip hop experts out there, let me know what's up here.

i got a lot done today, yet the day was pretty much uneventful. i feel like i'm getting old. i'm tired too much, i'm not rockin out with a band, i get sleepy during the conan o'brien show. instead of planning which movie i'm going to see next, i debate which novel i'm going to read next. speaking of...the new subtitle to this blog is a quote from Invisible Man (by Ralph Ellison).

i'm on a wierd energy rollercoaster, and i can't figure out why.

i'm sitting and grading papers in my apartment with the smell of dirt assaulting my nose. Here are a few pictures of the Lubbock Dust Storm (winter 2003). This one is worse than any i've seen since....well...summer.


the sky should be more blue-ish right?

(above: yeah, that's the sun)

today was my first day to substitute at friendship i.s.d. i substituted for the class "metal trades." yup, that's right...mr. i'veonlyusedpowertoolsonceinmylife stood in for the metal shop teacher. i ended up letting one class (all guys of course) take turns riding a skateboard in the shop. i got to leave at 1:15, so that was nice too.

then i made crazy progress on applying to Ph.D. programs. more news on the specifics of where i'm applying in the next few days...

and probably the most insignificant thing i did all day is what i'm most excited about. i downloaded itunes not long ago, and today i bought my first mp3 online. for the longest time, i was incredibly skeptical about buying individual songs (or even buying mp3s for that matter) but now i'm all about it. i mean, i did pay 99 cents for one mp3, but come one, i bought "Hey Ya" by Outkast. it's already moving it's way to the top of the "most frequently played songs" in my library. so yeah, if you're serious about the way you listen to music, get itunes. as soon as i have the money (or can talk a family member into giving one to me for my birthday), i will have an ipod. viva la manzana!

believe it or not, i've actually been busy. i've been applying to grad schools...which entails the gathering of a LOT of information. for example, i was on the phone to california, arizona, new jersey, ohio, and various places in texas for most of the day yesterday.

today i had an interview at Friendship I.S.D. to substitute there, cause quite honestly, i'm pretty sick of substituting at Lubbock I.S.D. Why you ask? Well, for one...I subbed at the jr. high on the really really bad side of town, and two girls got in a fistfight outside my room then stumbled into my room. one girl slammed the other up against the chalkboard and was punching her in the face repeatedly. i yelled at them a couple of times and nothing happened, so i had to grab one girl by the waist and pull her off the other girl. yeah, i don't get paid near enough to have to do crap like that.

looks like Plan for Landing's "Jalapenos New Mexicos mini-Tour 2003" is not going to happen--at least not in 2003. (For those of you who don't know, Plan for Landing is my band.) well, maybe i'll go play some naked hoops or something.