Long Beach County

Finally, after a long day of driving and waiting, I'm here in Long Beach with my dad. I'm staying for about 6 days, through New Year's. I'm pretty excited to be spending a few days with my dad, just him and me. Thing about my dad is, as funny as he intentionally is, he's usually funnier unintentionally.

My father was considering letting me stay home tomorrow while he went to work so that I could sleep, relax, maybe go to the beach. I regretfully mustered up the courage to ask him if I could take a quick bus ride to the movies that are less than a mile away. The Long Beach buses are all clean and usually extremely empty. I knew I'd be able to handle myself, as I already know the bus lines in LBC from the previous rides I've taken on it. Of course, he shot me down, being the somewhat overprotective man that he is, not that I can blame him for it.

Not 5 minutes later, I hear escape from his mouth, "Hey, can you go get me some milk at the liquor store down the street?" Of course, any reason to go for a walk, I accept, and walk the total of maybe, 200 feet to get to the store. In that time, I see numerous drunk gay men walking down the street (Long Beach is a huge gay city), loud noises, screeching tires...the works. I step into the store, and I get the milk, next to the bourbon and Hennessy. As I approach the counter, the smell of weed enters my nostrils more and more. I pay the stoned clerk quickly and leave.

I walk back to the apartment, another 200 feet, if that, encountering the same things as I did when I left the apartment at first. I walk in the door, and I honestly feel as if I had just endured an adventure of Harrison Ford proportions. Being back in that apartment where the heater had been left on for five straight days, and where I'm currently sweating profusely in, was the only place I wanted to be during Long Beach Nightlife. Can't wait for New Year's!

It's come to my attention recently how much of, how do I put this, well, a complete jerk-off I am. I mean that with the most self-respect that I can possibly muster out of that statement. But, in memoriam of all the people that I've had the pleasure of pissing off this year, I'd just like to publicly post some of the completely awful things I've said in 2010.

"What was the name of that guy you used to date, the one with the 9/11 sounding name?"

"It's like, I spend my entire day avoiding human beings, but when I need to talk to someone, everyone disappears like I'm the kid at the birthday party who has lice."

"Of course I'm waiting for you, what do you think I've been doing here this whole time, trying to stick my fist in my ass?"

"I swear, my phone makes all voices sound like a hungry mexican child dipped in hot water."

"I can't believe this, people are missing a golden opportunity to make me look like a complete ass!"

Those are the only ones I can legally publish (kidding), but if you want the full list, just message me on Facebook, and maybe even contribute to the list and remind me of an offensive thing I said this year.

That's all I've got for you now. Thanks for reading :)

Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all had a great one! I'm writing this on my new laptop! I'm excited to finally have my own computer to put all my music and writing in. I named it Darby after the singer of the band The Germs. I even put my Germs sticker on it. I also got a new ipod and Kindle. I'm pretty much set for life.

So, in honor of the new rapidly approaching, I decided to release another Top of 2010 list. I picked my top 5 songs of the year. Now please, please, please note, that this is my opinion. Not yours. Thank you. Here it is.

5. "Tighten Up" By The Black Keys


4. "No Love" By Eminem Ft. Lil Wayne

3. "We No Speak Americano" By Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP

2. "Monster" By Kanye West Ft. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, and Bon Iver

1. "Little Lion Man" By Mumford & Sons


So there it is. Agree, criticize, debate. I really don't care.

Another list I made were the most influential people of the year, in all aspects. These people may not have effected your life personally, but have definitely changed whatever field they work in.

Nicki Minaj-Not many, if any, female rappers have done what Ms. Minaj done in her three short years in the hip-hop world. Nicki also rhymed some of the best verses of the year, blowing away the veterans of hip-hop.

Mark Zuckerberg-2010 has been a great year for Facebook. A movie, Time magazine's "Person Of The Year", and over 550 million users. Zuckerberg, youngest, and smartest billionaire in the world, continues to stun the world with what he can really do.

X-Box 360 and its affiliates-Kinect, the revolutionary new gaming tool. It's what Wii wants to be, and everyone wants to own. It truly interacts the player, your body being the controller.

Amazon-Kindle, although released prior to 2010, has taken off more this year than any with the 3G. Also, many free book options, and fun games makes Kindle...awesome.

Banksy-Banksy is probably the best street artist on the planet, and 2010's Exit Through The Gift Shop showed Street Art's roots, and its inevitable demise. One of my favorite, if not my favorite film of 2010, ETTGS is a revolution, as is Banksy and his art.

Apple Inc.-The release of the iPad, forever changed the way we look at computers. Basically being a cooler looking tablet, or an enlarged iPod touch, the iPad is the next big thing. Literally.

So there's my other list of influential things in 2010.

Thanks for reading everyone, and I hope to get at least two more posts in before the end of the year. Also, thank you to the readers because we officially broke last month's page view count. Thank you guys!!!

Bittersweet Symphony

Last night, I had the privilege of seeing the film The King's Speech. The film follows King George VI, brilliantly played by Colin Firth, and his rise to power, while also chronicling his fight against his unbearable stammer. Enlisting the help of an unorthodox speech therapist, also excellently played by Geoffrey Rush, the two fight the battle of ridding of the King's stutter. The King's Speech is a film that will always stay very near and dear to my heart, only because I too have to deal with the burden of stuttering. I admit, that after the ending of this film, I cried for almost 1/2 an hour afterwards, not because I was sad, but because I had finally found something that truly understood how hard it is to have stutter.

While I agree that stuttering can be a horrible burden to have, it's also taught me a lot about tolerance and being a good person. Without stuttering, I don't think I'd be a writer, or be funny, or understand people as well as I do. It's true, I'm almost inable to speak in front of a group, but I don't think I'd trade all of the great things that stuttering has taught me throughout my life, just so I can talk in front of people.

I can't possibly give The King's Speech a letter grade, it'd be completely too biased. But what I can give it, is a thank you, for reaching out to a minority of people who's voices needed to be heard.

On another note, today was beautiful outside. Slightly rainy, cloudy, not too windy. Perfect read-in-the-park weather. So that's exactly what I did. I took my copy of All Quiet On The Western Front and went on a walk in the park, sat down, and read a chapter. It's times like these that I remember how blessed I am to have the liberty of being able to just go do stuff like this. But now, it's raining, hailing, windy, and thunderous outside. That all equates to awesome.

Today is also my good friend Alana Arcaro's birthday. Happy 15th birthday Alana! I can't believe I've known you for almost 2 years already! Crazy how much time flies by kiddo. Have a good one, I know you already did :)

Tomorrow, I get my cast, and then it's Christmas Eve/Christmas. I actually forgot that Saturday was Christmas, until my friend Rayna reminded me. I'm losing my Christmas spirit folks! I guess it kind of comes with age.

That's all I've got to say for now :) Thanks for reading.

A White-Hot Juggernaut At 200 Miles Per Hour!!

That, for those who aren't Tarantino fans, is the tag line to my favorite Quentin film, Death Proof. Just a little fun fact. I totally realized that I forgot to tell the Black Swan story!

Andrew, Simon, Daniela, my mom, Tom, and I went to go see Black Swan. The only theater playing it was Camelview 5 in Scottsdale and every rich Jew in Scottsdale seemed to be at this theater, because we waited in line for almost an hour just to get into the theater. My stepfather Tom isn't what you'd call the most patient man in the world, so in line to get the tickets, he must have said, "Forget it, we're not going," at least seven times. The man tires us out sometimes.

We finally get the tickets, and now we're waiting in this sardine can of a line, packed in there as tight as possible. Now don't forget, it's Andrew, Simon, Dani, and I in this line. We start telling these nasty jokes and stories, and all the people in the line are staring at us, completely disgusted by what we're saying. We kind of notice this, so what do we do? We get louder, and dirtier.

Fast forward thirty minutes, we're sitting in our seats, waiting for the previews to start, and all Andrew can talk about is "going to town" on himself, while Simon eggs him on, and Dani just sits silently, waiting to leave I presume. As for myself, I'm laughing at their jokes, but I'm also a little more conscious of the people around me that are looking at us.

The movie started, and it was freaking all of us out the entire time, especially Andrew. He was like, jumping in his seat and kept saying "Dude!" and all that stuff. The movie was extremely haunting and scary. Black Swan is the year's scariest, most beautiful, and haunting film. A+. But the story really starts on the ride home. The entire ride home, my mom and Tom got into a massive fight over forgettable things like bills, greediness, idiocy, etc. I'm not going to describe the entire fight, but when we got home, Tom stormed inside, and my mom and I drove around Anthem in circles for almost 1/2 an hour. We talked about everything that happened, and I tried to give her a new perspective. When we got home, I pretty much sat them both down, and talked to them about it. In the end, we all agreed on the fact that fighting isn't the best answer. That's my story for today.

Last night, I watched the Joaquin Phoenix mockumentary I'm Still Here. This film, being recieved with negative reviews, I thought it wouldn't be good. But I watched it, and realized the genius and irony behind the whole thing. It really was an excellent film. I give it an A-.

Also, I want to take a little time to give a shout out to all the devoted fans, and people who have inspired me to keep writing this blog. Without you guys, I don't know what I'd do.

Simon Gutkin-You inspired and co-founded the blog. You're the reason I'm here.

Willow-You've read every single post I've written. You represent the fan base I've had the chance to accumulate. Thank you.

Mom and Dad-For always reading and never editing/censoring what I say. Without you guys, I'd never have been a writer at all.

Piera and Quetzalli-For being the best advertisers ever, and actually reading.

Aya and Dani-My awesome "business associates" (they're really just interns). Just kidding you guys, you help me more than you'll ever know.

Also, thank you to everyone who's even taken the time out to read this damn thing. Every page-view counts, and I love you all for it.

Thanks for reading :)

The best of the best...and the worst of the worst

2010 has been a year that's flown by pretty quickly. There's been some good, some bad, and a lot of decisions to be made. I feel like every year, I evolve more and more as a person, learning more about the world around me. 2010 holds a lot of memories for me, and I admit that I will miss it a lot. But with less than two weeks left in the year, it's time for me to release my 2010 Best and worst lists. This year is very special because it's the end of a decade, so I can also release my best of the decade lists. This is going to be a pretty long post. I can tell.



Let me start out with my 20 best films of the year. 2010 had so many good films I couldn't narrow it down to 10. I'm going to list them all in alphabetical order, so that I don't have to actually pick one favorite.



127 Hours
The American
Black Swan
Cyrus
Easy A
Exit Through The Gift Shop
Get Him To The Greek
Greenberg
How Do You Know
Inception
Jackass 3
Kick-Ass
The Kids Are All Right
A Lonely Place For Dying
Machete
Piranha
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
Shutter Island
Tangled
The Town

There you go. You can like it, hate it, whatever. I wish I could've done 25, but no. That's too much. Ok, now, on to the best films of the decade. I picked 10 films from each year to represent that year in film, and here's what I picked.

2009:
(500) Days Of Summer
Adventureland
Antichrist
Inglourious Basterds
A Prophet
A Serious Man
A Single Man
Up
Up In The Air
World's Greatest Dad

2008:
Burn After Reading
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
The Dark Night
Doubt
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Frost/Nixon
In Bruges
Role Models
Wall-E
The Wrestler

2007:
Before The Devil Knows You're Dead
Bug
Control
Death Proof
Hot Fuzz
Juno
Knocked Up
Ratatouille
There Will Be Blood
Zodiac

2006:
Borat
Children Of Men
Clerks II
The Departed
The Devil Wears Prada
This Film Is Not Yet Rated
Hard Candy
Jackass 2
The Last Kiss
Little Miss Sunshine

2005:
The 40-Year Old Virgin
Batman Begins
Broken Flowers
Crash
Green Street Hooligans
Hustle & Flow
Mysterious Skin
The Squid and The Whale
Walk The Line
Wedding Crashers

2004:
Before Sunset
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
Garden State
I Heart Huckabees
Man On Fire
Mean Girls
Million Dollar Baby
Napoleon Dynamite
The Notebook
Shaun Of The Dead

2003:
Bad Santa
Elephant
Finding Nemo
Holes
Kill Bill Vol. 1
Lost In Translation
Mystic River
Shattered Glass
Something's Gotta Give
The Triplets Of Belleville

2002:
8 Mile
Chicago
Gangs Of New York
I Am Sam
Jackass
John Q.
Minority Report
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Punch Drunk Love
The Ring

2001:
Amelie
Donnie Darko
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Monsters Inc.
Mulholland Dr.
The Royal Tenenbaums
Session 9
Snatch
Training Day
Zoolander

2000:
Almost Famous
American Psycho
Gladiator
High Fidelity
Me, Myself, and Irene
Meet The Parents
Road Trip
Scary Movie
Traffic
X-Men

So there it is, my top movie lists of the decade. I couldn't have made this list without a little help from www.flickchart.com! Thank you flickchart, for making my life easier. Now, I have to go recover my eyes after staring at a screen for two hours. Thanks for reading!

Do you feel blame?

"Do you feel blame? Are you mad? Uh, do you feel like wolf kabob Roth vantage? Gefrannis booj pooch boo jujube; bear-ramage. Jigiji geeji geeja geeble Google. Begep flagaggle vaggle veditch-waggle bagga?"-Charles Manson (Craziest man alive)

I wrote a couple of stories this week for school, and I kind of want to share them with you guys. One's about a man who loses his wife and child in an accident and how he copes with it. The other is a "diary" of a soldier in World War I. Both are about 5 and a 1/2 pages on Word 2007, so hopefully they won't be as long here. Yikes. If anything, I can just post one now, and one next week.

Entry 1-August 16, 1915

I enlisted in the war, thinking that everything would be fun and great, like I wouldn’t have worries. I wouldn’t feel pain, and I’d kill some of the Devil’s spawn at the same time. Little did I know, three weeks later, that people were dying, my friends more specifically. My name’s Jean Lacroix, and I’m a French soldier in World War I. I got involved in the war after a few friends of mine convinced me to enlist with them, telling me that we would have a great time. I foolishly believed them, and now I’m stuck, scared to breathe without being shot down by German troops. I want nothing more right now than to leave and go back home where I know that I am safe, and free from all burdens. Nothing is scary or frightening compared to this experience.

On the train ride over to the barracks, I met a man named Zackary. His path was similar to mine, enlisting in the war for a grand adventure through foreign land. Little did he know the risk he was taking, nor the lives he would see crudely taken right before his eyes. Zackary is my only friend as of late, and hope we can both make it out of the war together. He’s a good man who’s beliefs and morals remind me of my own. He’s a man that I can trust, and that I will know will be there for me in times of trouble and grief. For him I am thankful.

Entry 2-August 21, 1915

Our barracks are particularly clean, with no dust or dirt on, under, or around them. For this, we can thank our drill sergeant for that, Sergeant Blanc. Every morning at 5 exactly, we are abruptly woken up and told to get dressed and make our beds within a 7 minute time slot. From there we do 20 push-ups, 50 push-ups, and 3 laps around the camp. We do training exercises all morning, and have lunch at noon. From one to three, we do more exercises, and from three to seven, we must do work and have an opportunity to send letters home to wives, girlfriends, family, and children. I feel blessed to have an understanding Sergeant like Blanc, but sometimes wish I didn’t have to wake up so early to clean and exercise.

Tomorrow, they send a new group into battle, with me being a part of it. I’m very scared, and not able to sleep. I’ve heard many stories from returning soldiers, and it seems like nothing I’ve ever had to encounter in my life. If I’m lucky, this will not be my last entry. I ask those who read this whilst I am gone to pray for me, for I will need it now more than ever.

Entry 3-August 24, 1915

I have just returned from the Battle Of the Frontiers, and I’m lucky to have come back with my life, let alone in one piece. The horrors I have just witnessed, I do not wish to record, but I know I must. Civilians have a right to know what is going on.

From the moment I got there, all of the new soldiers were carelessly thrown into the trenches, and told to go at the blow of the whistle. One of the men was so scared he actually urinated in his pants and refused to go. Two extremely long minutes later, the whistle was blown, and the soiled soldier refused to go, while the rest of us ran. I looked back and saw the man pushed against the trench wall and shot in the head, his brain matter spraying all over the dirt.

As soon as I made it over the wall of the first hill, I witnessed mass carnage. Not knowing who was who at this point, and ran in full speed, surrounded by what I hoped were my allies. Every enemy I could see, I tried to shoot at. I looked around, seeing the constant flow of blood. It made me somewhat sick to my stomach. There was a particular shot that rang in my ears more than the others, and I quickly turned around to see what it was. The man next to me, my friend Zackary, was shot right in the heart, with his throat slit. He lay on the floor gasping for air. I didn’t quite know what to do, but I saw his killer running in the opposite direction. I took aim, and fired an entire magazine of bullets on this man. The bullets hit and he fell to the ground, a small spray of blood coming out of his back.

I snapped back to reality, reloaded, and went into the middle of the battlefield. I began to shoot aimlessly, realizing I was hitting nothing but air. I finally decided to take aim at something and fired. Men dropped at the sound of my bullets, not getting back up. In shock, I clumsily dropped my gun. Realizing the mistake I made, I quickly picked it up and took cover. I noticed a sniper on the north side of the field, but knew he was too far for my bullets to reach.

The horses that were ridden in by French soldiers were used as a decoy to distract my allies. After a few minutes of carelessness, the horses were pushed down by their riders and gutted as a form of shielding from the barrage of bullets surrounding them. Their screams were like nothing I’ve ever heard, and haunted me more than any man’s screams could.

Before I knew it, night had fallen, and it was time for me to go back into the trenches to try and get some sleep. I was sent to the back of the lines and told to get some rest. This seemed impossible due to the non-stop barrage of bullets invading my hearing. The constant screams of dying men didn’t help either.

The next day, less than five minutes of being on the frontlines, I was pinned by a bullet in the ankle. I crawled back to the trenches, where I was picked up by stretcher boys and taken back to the barracks. The bullet barely pinned by skin, being mostly stopped by my boots. I should be back on my feet in no more than a week or two.

Entry 4-September 3, 1915

Today during battle, one of our allies, not a friend of ours, but nonetheless a soldier, was shot in the stomach today. It was obvious that he was not going to live, and wanted us to put him out of his misery. At first, I couldn’t bring myself to do it, knowing that there may be a small chance that he would make it. As time went on, the hours passed and his condition worsened. By late afternoon, he was no longer talking, barely breathing, and I knew what I had to do. I took out my rifle, and shot him in the head. It slammed to the floor, his eyes wide open, and a small grin on his face.

In retrospect, I know what I did was right, but I can’t bring myself to think of reasons why. If the man had made it, he’d be a psychological mess. A vegetable, or recipient of extreme shellshock, not to mention the physical condition that he’d be in. Probably drinking everything through a straw, no stomach lining left to work with. Who knows, better to let it go than to wonder. What’s done is done.

Entry 5-September 30, 1915

Today in battle, my life was almost taken in an instant. If I had been a mere foot to the left, I wouldn’t be here right now, writing about it. Unbeknownst to me, a French soldier threw a bomb next to my feet, and by mere chance, I stepped barely out of its range before it exploded in the dirt. If I hadn’t decided to move, I know for a fact that I’d be dead.

This event has forever made me believe in the true power of fate. I know that God planned my survival today, giving me another chance to save myself from foolish decisions such as this one. For that, I thank the Lord for forgiveness. Never again will I make a foolish choice like this. I know now my place in this war, and what I must do to survive. The next time I turn my back to the enemy, I know that there will be consequence.

Entry 6-October 15, 1915

I’ve just returned from more than two weeks straight in the trenches. This time spent in the trenches, very few experiences compare. Since the rations aren’t near enough for us, we’ve been trying to store as much food as we possibly could without dying of malnutrition. Water is somewhat plentiful, not always being totally clean though.

One of the men in the trenches with us died of food poisoning. He ate bad meat infected with dirt, and it, in simple terms, ate away at his stomach. The body was put on a large pile of other bodies that we used as shields from the French troops. We just hope that they don’t cough the infections onto us.

We spend most of our hours playing cards, talking about our homes, making plans for when we do get home, and things of that nature. Every so often, some French troops try and sneak up on us, rarely with any real damage done. Only once did one of the troops actually get into the trench, killing one of the men in front of me. I caught him as I was falling, using his body as a shield as I shot down my enemy in front of me. As I dropped my dead comrade to the floor, my heart rate more accelerated than ever, I sat down, reflecting on what had just happened.

The smell in the trenches is that of dead bodies and cow manure, with nothing but the cigarette smoke to possibly drown it out. I taste nothing in the air but death. For those who have no idea what death may taste like, it’s nothing pleasant or desirable. The taste of decaying body matter fills the air. I must live with the fact that the dead man in front of me may be a man I had once talked to, had once gotten to know, only to find him here now, staring at me blankly. He’s asking for help, but he doesn’t know how. He’s trying to speak but he can’t move his lips.

I had an interesting conversation with a man named Friedrich Müller. He was a writer from Germany who decided to enlist in the war to learn more about the outside world around him. He said that after this experience, he’d be content staying in his living room for the rest of his life. I laughed, agreeing with him, to hungry to think of something clever to say in return.

The day after next I was brought back to the barracks where I was allowed to sleep a full 24 hours, which still seemed like a small amount.

Entry 7-October 31, 1915

I’ve returned to the barracks, arriving in time for our Halloween “celebration”, but have many other things on my mind. No less than 7 hours ago, 7 hours before my trench time was up, a French troop had the opportunity to drop into the trench. I had nothing on me but a small knife. He ran out of bullets, and came running after me with fury. I grabbed him by the arm, snapped it like a twig, and stabbed the man in the heart. He fell to the floor as quickly as he had run after me, and began gurgling his last few breaths.

I began to feel pity for the man, as he would not stop persisting, trying to live. Finally, I gave in, walking over to him to give him some water. He looked fearful, as if my intention was to harm him in some way. I had no logical way to comfort him, except for feeding him the water available to me. I tried to ask his name, but nothing came out of his mouth but blood and mumbles. I reached into his pocket, digging for his wallet, and finally found it. I read the man’s information, and saw his wife. She was very beautiful, and as I looked back at him to tell him that, he was dead; eyes staring aimlessly into the sky, his chest unmoved.

When I came to this realization, I sat down next to him, afraid to touch or move his body. I spent the next four hours of my rotation creating a fake back story for the man. Who he may have been, where he may have worked. What he may have done. The friends he may have had. The family. The children he and his wife may have been expecting. I was so caught up in this dream lifestyle, that I almost missed my name being called when my shift in the rotation was over. I quickly stood up, and climbed out of the trenches as fast as I could, happy to be back in a bed soon.

Entry 8-November 24, 1915

I have been relieved of my duties as a German soldier in the war, but at a costly price to pay. During battle, I had my back turned. I was pinned by a bullet that lodged itself into my spine, paralyzing me from the waist down. I’m going home with a medal and a wheelchair, never to walk again. If only I had stayed where I was supposed, done what I had vowed to do. Always be aware of my surroundings.

I am not the only one, veterans I mean. There are many of us walking the streets, some rolling in my case. Some are more apparent than others. We’re not all psychos you know? Mind you, many of us hold it in; refusing to admit that there’s more out there than we care to admit. More evil, more carnage, more destruction than we thought human hands could ever commit. There’s an animalistic instinct that is released when a man must choose between life or death. When the black hooded demon himself is staring you in the eyes, luring you even, all you want to do is run in the opposite direction. But as soldiers, we cannot run, all we can do is hope and pray that death will be distracted for a moment, to give us a chance to escape His clutches.

When a soldier comes home, nothing is ever the same. All the food tastes bland, colors are dulled, dreams are invaded by the darkness that is memory. No more do we smile at the children running and playing, we fear the life that they may have to live. The problems that they may have to face, even worse, the wars that they may have to fight.

All I can hope for, is that we, as a nation, have learned our lesson. Learned that nothing good can come from this, only bad, me being the proof. The real thing. The vision of war. The face of war. The blood, sweat, and tears of all those who have fallen before me. May their memory live on forever.

I hope that I can soon find work suitable enough for my condition. Nothing too strenuous or heavy. All of the strength and ambition I had when I left has now been stripped from me with my uniform and gun. I can now only live in the past, never the future, or the gift that we call the present. All I can do now, is ask God for forgiveness, and hope that one day I can wake up, my mind cleared of all burdens. But for that, I’d have to sell my soul to the Devil, because no such thing exists.

I refuse to partake in physical therapy for veterans, as it will do no use. If the bullet lodged in my spine were to be pulled out, my entire spine would collapse, rendering me lifeless.

Enclosed with this diary are 5 artifacts in memoriam of the fallen angels that served this war so well. They will never be forgotten, if not by society, then by me. For these are the men who, although they escaped the shells, were destroyed by the war.

So there it is, I hope you enjoy it guys. I really did love writing it a lot. Now, let me tell another story. My friend Aubreya got off the lightrail yesterday so we could hang out, and she had a band-aid on her head. This struck me as a little odd, so the first thing I did to her when I saw her was pull off the band-aid. I really wish I hadn't. Her face had like an extra face on it. Her forehead looked like Megamind. Sorry, Aubreya.

Now onto a couple movie reviews: Love & Other Drugs, How Do You Know, and Tangled.

Love & Other Drugs-Jake Gyllenhal and Anne Hathaway star in this extra raunchy, very funny, very sad, romantic dramedy. I really enjoyed it, contrary to most critics, but whatever. I think it's a good film. B+

Tangled-NPR said that Tangled was the best film of the year. I hate to say it, but they were right. Tangled is pretty much a perfect movie. Original, hilarious, sweet, and with some great action, Tangled is about as good as it gets at the movies. A

How Do You Know-James L. Brooks' new romantic comedy is very good, with Paul Rudd stealing the show (as always). But he's got some competition in Jack Nicholson who is also very good. How Do You Know is the perfect holiday romantic comedy. B

Also, last night was my good friend Alana's party. I'm not going to publish everything that happened, because it's a long, long story, so just ask me.

That's all for now, thanks for reading :)

What A Weekend...

Before I start, just know that I'm typing with one hand. At my birthday party I fell and fractured a thumb/wrist bone. This just goes to show my 110% dedication to this blog. With that being said, I'll probably be typing like this for the next 3-4 weeks, worst case scenario. Wish me luck.

As you can probably gather from my one hand-ed typing skills, my birthday party was yesterday. After a night of more stress than necessary for a party, we got to Encanto Park to set up our crap. Mine and Simon's band, Street Clothed, played for a little bit, but due to practice, or a lack thereof, we sucked. I was extremely frustrated by our inability to have that "click" that bands need, so after a couple songs we just stopped. By that time, about 20 people had shown up, so I decided to mingle and try to start an actual party. The first hour or so of the party showed little life, and I was getting sort of scared that no one was having any remote fun. But being the teenagers that we were, we found ways (i.e. watching geese have sex, making Mason vomit after chugging 2 liters of fruit punch, etc.)

We started a game of football that I was definitely not excited for, and ended after 3 touchdowns by each time. Thank god.

At around 4:00 PM, two of my best friends Willow and Quetzalli (nicknamed Q-Tip) showed up after a weekend of camping in the middle of nowhere. I was happy to see them, even if they only caught the tail end of the party. We ate a couple cupcakes, and I took a little bit of frosting off the top of Willow's. She then proceeded to shove the cupcake right in my face. I got up with another cupcake and went running after her. When we got onto the concrete though, I slipped and fell right on my left wrist, and the right side of my head. It was pretty funny until the pain started to kick in. I sat down, put it in scathing cold water, and let it sit. The pain did progressively get worse so my mom finally caved and took me to the hospital. We waited for a little bit, and finally admitted me in.

One of the nurses took my vitals and gave me some ice. I was talking to my mom at this point and said, "Mom, it's broken. It's more broken than the average American marriage." Another nurse came and pronounced my name Ho-Sway. I kind of knew how this night was going to go. They wheel-chaired me over for X-Rays (I still ask myself why), and I got my stuff done. The last one was particularly painful because they had to spread my hand open right where the bone was fractured. I was wheeled back, and we waited for another 1/2 an hour or so. They confirmed the fracture, and gave me some Motrin. When the nurse asked her if I was Josef, I said no. She looked a little concerned for a second, and then I said I was joking and she started laughing. I'm a sick man.

The two main nurses who had been helping us the most put on my splint and sling, giving me instructions on how to handle it. My mom decided to be the paparazzi for the night and was taking pictures like crazy. Even the nurses were into it and threw up peace signs for the camera. It was honestly like an episode of Scrubs. We left about 3 hours later tired and in pain. I realize now that everything is harder to do with a broken bone. Everything.

All in all, it was a good birthday and I thank everyone who was there. It means a lot to me.

On another note, I finally saw the film 127 Hours. Starring James Franco, the film follows Aron Ralston and the 5 days that preceded him cutting off his own arm after it was trapped in between a boulder. I was scared to see this movie, not because of the graphic amputation scene, but because I thought it might not be as great as people thought it would be. All I can say is, James Franco does an excellent job portraying Aron and I thought that the film overall is extremely well done and inspiring. Everyone, man, woman, and child needs to see this film.

That's all I've got for now. I'll have pics of the party and the splint up soon on facebook.