And That's All Folks

That was my entire time at Job Corps. Take my story, learn what you can from it.

May. 3rd, 2006

Well, it's been four weeks or so since I last posted.

I wanted to have this long drawn out post, but too much time went by and I think I should have made shorter posts instead.

But what the hell. Let me bring you up to speed.

I've been in Burlington, VT the last four weeks, trying to find a job and a place to live. I finally got the job at the Coyote Cafe washing dishes, and yesterday I moved into my new place which is a basement apartment.

Well, that's the short of it. I'll be writing out a whole series of short stories in the next few days that will basically fill in the blanks. If you want to read them they'll be on http://www.hubpages.com/ and my screen name there is NateSean.

Mar. 16th, 2006

Well, after a year and a half at Job Corps, I'm going back out on my own again.

Monday I'll be going back to Burlington, Vermont where I left from. There I'll be getting a Job Interview the very next day and hopefully the actual job.

Whew. Hope I'm ready.

Mar. 10th, 2006

Well, my exit date has been set for April 5.

I'm a trade completer now and Job Corps wants me gone. But the road to finding a place to live is riddled with obsticles.

I have profiles at three different sites for finding roommates, but I can't access much more than basic profiles unless I want to pay twenty dollars a month for an account.

Mar. 8th, 2006

I called my parents last Friday. After talking to them I asked to talk to Mollie.

Mollie: Hi Nat. Me: Hi Mollie. Mollie: I love you. Me: I love you too Mollie. Mollie: (Off phone) Talk Nat! Talk Nat! Me: That's right, you're talking to me. Mollie, are you my sister? Mollie: Sistou. Me: Am I your brother? Mollie: Bruther. And Daral. Me: That's right, Daryll's your brother too. Charlie. Mollie: Chalee. Me: And Quinn. Mollie. Qinn. Me: An Mollie, where's Alex. Mollie: Ayex in the Hoomy.

I thought she said, Alex is not home.

Me: That's right, Alex isn't home. He's in the army.

Mollie: The hoomy.

I can hear mom, Dave and Daryll laughing in the background and I am too when I figure it out.

Me: (smiling into the phone) That's right Mollie! Alex is in the army. Good job Mollie.

Mar. 1st, 2006

Why is it fanfiction writers can never respect it when an author asks them to stop writing fanfiction about her own characters? Yes, I'm dropping the subtlty so I can talk about Anne Rice.

Anne Rice is a wonderful writer. She has had her following since before the Internet was even a glimmer in Al Gore's eye (joking). Her following comes from her ability to weave a beautiful story into a world of eroticism, the supernatural and timelessness.

She doesn't need fanfiction to help her following along!

That said, she has made a reasonable request that fanfiction not be written on her characters. Do people listen? No, as certain inconsiderate people on fictionpress.com can prove.

If you ask some guy with a camera not to take pictures of you and your kids, should they respect your wishes? What would you do if they went ahead and did it anyway? You'd probably press charges on the grounds of harassment, which you'd be in your rights to do because no one has the right to invade your privacy like that.

True. Anne Rice cannot stop anyone from writing fanfiction in secret. But she is not the only author out there to make that request. She is one of a dozen or so novelists who do not like people writing stories about their characters.

So if the readers are truly her "fans", they will respect her wishes. And if not they can deal with the cosnequences and I will not feel one iota of sympathy towards them.

Feb. 28th, 2006

The Job search continues. It's a toss up between Sitel and a place called Atex. At least with Atex it would be handling inbound calls and I would be reading out of a how-to-manual.

I'm trying to see if I can improve my options.

Working on a new writing project. Not sure what do think of it though.

Feb. 21st, 2006

Feb. 21st, 2006

This is a true story that happened last year during summer break.

My brother had given me seasons one and two of Highlander on VHS. Naturally I skipped right to Season 2 because I wanted to see the Richie takes-a-head episode.

Anyway, I was watching An Eye for an Eye and Mollie was sitting in the living room with me. She was only 18 months at the time and not yet very talkative.

During the scene where Richie is riding his bike to get away from Annie Devlin, Mollie hears the motor, looks up and goes: "Vroom, vroom."

10:39 am

subtitle: I'm too fucking lazy to type anything today so I'll just copy and paste from IMDB.com.



Steve: What is this?
Susan: It's a cushion.
Steve: Right. Yes. Thank you for that. Very informative.
[to Jeff]
Steve: You got any of these?
Jeff: No.
Steve: Of course you haven't.
[to shop assistant]
Steve: You - are you married? Living with anyone?
Junior Shop Assistant: No.
Steve: Got any of these?
Junior Shop Assistant: No.
Steve: Of course not. Okay!
[to the women]
Steve: You bring these things into our homes. They sit on our chairs. They watch our televisions. Now, I just need to know, on behalf of all men everywhere, I just need to ask, please... What are they for? I mean, look at them! Look at the chubby little bastards! Just sitting around everywhere! What are they, pets for chairs?
[to shop assistants]
Steve: Come on, you sell them. What are they for?
Junior Shop Assistant: Well...
Senior Shop Assistant: You sit on them.
Steve: Ah! Ha ha ha! You see, that's where you're wrong! Nobody sits on them. Okay, watch this. Here's the cushion. I'm putting it on the sofa. Now watch me. I'm stting down. And what do I do on my final approach? I - oh! - move the cushion! You see? It's not involved! It's not part of the whole sitting process. It just lies there. It's fat litter! It's a sofa parasite!
Jane: It's, you know... padding.
Steve: Oh, padding! Now, that's interesting, Jane. See, I like padding. If I was, say, an American Football player, and all those big bastards running at me, I would say "give me some of that padding and be quick about it." If my job involved bouncing down jagged rocks I would say "in view of those jagged rocks down there, I'll have some of that padding, thank you very much." But Susan, Sally, Jane, this is a sofa. It is designed by clever scientists in such a way as to shield the unprotected user from the risk of skin abrasions, serious head trauma, and, of course...
[drops behind sofa, then sticks head out]
Steve: Daleks. Trust me girls, trust me on this one: you do not need padding to tackle upholstery. So please - once and for all, tell me why on Earth you would want me to sit on one of these?
Susan: Because, if you pressed it firmly against your bottom, it might stop you talking!

Feb. 16th, 2006

Planning to move the hell out of here.

Possibly to Utah. But if I can get my Web page certification and get my money from Northlands, I'm going to aim for Manchester, England.

I've got an account at uk.easyroomate.com and I know there's a ton of legal crap I have to go through to move there. If I can just get a visa to be there for a few months I'll be all right.

A job will be the tough part, but I know I can do it.

More to come on this.

Feb. 14th, 2006

Over the weekend there was a [i]Coupling[/i] marathon on BBC America.

For my American friends who don't have BBC America, Coupling is basically what we could have if the writers of Friends and Will and Grace ever got together. Even then I'm doing the show terrible justice.

It stars the devilishly handsome Jack Davenport, whom many will remember from [i]Pirates of the Carribean[/i]. He of course has a special place in my heart for his performance in the TV-miniseries [i]Ultraviolet[/i].

Anyway, this show was fucking hilarious. There were risque moments that American shows just don't have the balls to try to pull. For example:

In one episode, one of the main characters Jeff, does a striptease blindfolded. He thinks he's alone and waiting for his potential girlfriend to jump him, when in fact all of his coworkers, friends and parents are there waiting to surprise him on his 30th birthday. He goes entirely buff before his mother cuts in with a dissapproving, "Jeffrey!"

If this had been done in America, he would have gotten to his boxers before they stopped him. Why America? Why do you tease me like this? Grow some balls like the BBC!

In other news: I've begun my level B work. I'm working on learning how to use Photoshop, Fireworks, and Flash. Shoot me now.

Feb. 13th, 2006

Tried to apply to Sitel, the telemarketing place. It didn't work out.

I got halfway through their online application before I realized that I don't have a single thing they want. Why train some Job Corps student who won't be around that long when you can have an employee with so much more knowledge than I'll ever have right?

And according to the rules I can't get a work based learning job at a place that doesn't involve computers. WELL WHAT THE FUCK DID I LEARN HERE THAT ANYONE WILL HIRE ME FOR!

Web page design? Nope. They're phasing that out in a month for a reason. Wep page design students don't get hired out of Job Corps, so there's no need for the trade.

To top it off I was taught out of date stuff. Most people are being trained in XHTML and I only learend HTML, Dreamweaver and Frontpage.

Now, if the fates are done fucking with me I'd like to die now. And I don't give a shit if it sounds like I'm whining because everyone does it.

Feb. 9th, 2006

08:14 am

Almost finished with my Level A. This week I'll be applying for a job as a telemarketer at a place called Citel. They're right up the street from the Loring Center, so it's a relatively short walk. And since I'll be finished with my Level A I'll be able to do Work-Based learningn for six months.

That just gives me six months to figure out what the hell to do back home.

01:12 pm

I completed my Level A in Web Page design. Now I can get a job and save enough cash to get the hell out of here.

Feb. 1st, 2006

Mollie: "Hi Nat!"
Nat (AKA Me): "Hi Mollie."
Mollie: "Hi Nat!"
Nat: "Hi Mollie."
Mollie: "Hi Nat!"
Nat: "Hi Mollie."
Mollie: "Hi Nat!"
Nat: "Hi Mollie."
Mollie: "Hi Nat!"
Nat: "Hi Mollie."
Mollie: "Hi Nat!"
Nat: "Hi Mollie."

Nat: "Mollie, what did you do today?"
Mollie: "Hi Nat."
Mom: (In the background) Tell him about the brownies.

Mollie: "Brownies."

Nat: "Oh, wow! Did you help mommy make brownies?"
Mollie: (To Mom) "Talk, Nat."
Mom: I know you're talking to Nat.

Nat: "Mollie, I had for lunch? Applepie."
Mollie: "Applepie."

Nat: "Mollie, I love you."

Mollie: "I love you Nat."

I miss my sister.

Turns out my teacher's an incompetant wench who doesn't understand the program she's supposed to be teaching.

Okay, so I'm building a website with Dreamweaver. It's a biographical site for a staff member who works in the Community Center of the Job Corps campus. This particular staff member, Dr. Dina Winslow is a published writer who has written a book titled: They Lynched Jim Cullen, about the very first lynching to happen in New England.

Now, let's break this down. No one has ever researched the phenomenon of lynching on its own. Most people who think of it are reminded of the racially motivated lynchings in the South. But lynching itself has happened throughout the United States and is, according to most researchers, unique to America. That means Dr. Winslow is, infact, a pioneer in this kind of research.

To date she has all ready run into some controversy over her book which has led to further it's popularity. The trouble is, she doesn't have a website and she doesn't know how to build one.

So I took the project.

This is a major career move on my part. Publish a website by a researcher who's bringing to light, one of the most horrifying aspects of American history. Not to mention I now have a viable networking opportunity through a real live published author.

Since I have to do Dreamweaver as a part of my Level A TAR, I decided to use this as my project. At first I thought Sue, the instructor, was fine with this.

So I have a few pages of the website going and it's looking okay, if you ignore the fact that a twelve-year-old could have done it. I'm trying to figure out how to create tables using the Dreamweaver program so the site looks a bit more organized and focused. But the button that it tells you to push in order to draw the table, won't work.

So after several frustrating tries I ask Sue. Even though I show her that the button clearly doesn't work, she implies that it's because I Don't know what I'm doing. Nevermind that she's seen Dr. Winslow's site several times and has told me that it's coming along great. She sees the website, which I've been working on with the Dreamweaver program, and she tells me that I don't know how what I'm doing. Why? Because I didn't do the other projects.

All of the projects in the book are basically a rehash of what I did in the html book. That said, I figured out very quickly how to 1: Create text and change its size. 2: Change background colors and text colors. 3: Create links between pages, outside websites, and e-mail. And 4: Import images. All using the Dreamweaver project.

So inspite of the fact that I do that very clearly, without having to read the book, I don't know what I'm doing. Because I didn't do the MY FAVORITE DOGS or the TRAVELING SOUTH projects.

So we get into an argument about why it's relevent for me to do the EXACT SAME THING I did with HTML, and she gets into pointing out how "Selfish" I am and how I expect her to "wait on me hand and foot" and that there are other students who "need her help".

Funny. Do they need her help to chat on AIM, look up their MYspace accounts, and play online games? Nope. They have that covered. And last I checked it wasn't part of the Web Page Design TAR.

Have I even asked her for help that much? Nope. Cause most of this stuff is child's play and I can figure it out on my own. When I do ask her for help, however, I'm usually polite and courteous. Accpet, of course, when she takes one of her many sabbaticals away from the campus in which she deals with the personal life that I have to hear about over the phone when she's here in class. Sound familiar? Yep. I had to put up with this back at Northlands too.

I spoke to her supervisor Tom and explained the problem. He was pretty much on the same page with me in that she clearly doesn't know squat about what she was teaching me. However, he suggested I take some shortcuts with the projects and just do them enough so that she can be convinced in her own little world, because the odds of her admitting she was ever wrong are nill or less. (He earns my respect so much more for his bluntness and his honesty)

So, taking heed to his advice, I basically copied and pasted all of the HTML from my old projects, pasted it on to the Dreamweaver (Which for all she knows I could have copied from a previous student anyhow) and handed them to her. The Dreamweaver translated the HTML to it's own programming and I had to rework some of the links, but she didn't notice otherwise. So I'll have to redo all that until I get to the section that tells me how to use tables.

When that doesn't work, I wonder, will she blame me or will she just admit she was wrong? I doubt it'll be the latter because ancient monolithes like her are never wrong.

On a positive note I will be seeing Underworld: Evolution tonight and I can't wait. The reviews have been nothing but golden, not that I pay much attention to them. But what can I say, I want to see a good vampire movie. Since Bloodrayne is likely to be a very sucky vampire movie (I've seen trailers. Joss Whedon should be drawing up the papers to sue anytime now) Underworld: Evolution is the only way to go.

Jan. 26th, 2006

Yahoo Vidoes is being bi-polar today. I've been able to drown my mundane sorrows in a total of four videos today. Yay.

My options are running thin. I could take Culinary or Medical transcriptionist as a trade and use that to kill time until September. September is when I can enroll in the ACT program, but in order to do that I have to take the TABE test and get five more points on the Math test.

What is this basket I'm in and where the hell am I going in it?

Current Music: 45~Shinedown

Jan. 25th, 2006

Well, recently there was an election here at Job Corps, involving paying for cable. See, the Student Government pays for the cable on the Loring Center and now they just don't want to front the bill. Their solution? Have the students pay for it. This means I get two dollars taken from my payline every two weeks. So it's bad enough that I have barely six bucks left when I've paid my credit card bills, but now they want to take money out of something I don't get to use that often.

So, I voted against. But evidently everyone else voted for.

So now they think they can take two dollars out of my pockets and last I checked, Hell still hasn't frozen over

Jan. 23rd, 2006

Well, I've started the Dreamweaver book for my web page class. This is supposed to be easier than html. That's utter bullshit.

To top it off, the Web Page design class is getting phased out. I have until March...or June...or fucking whenever they tell me a solid fucking date.

Oh yeah, and our instructor has decided to take one of her regular sabbaticals so god only knows when she'll actually be available to help.

All I know is that this stuff is NOT easier than html and it's going to take me longer to master.

Jan. 18th, 2006

It was a real quick thing. I can't go into detail about what went on for two reasons:

1: I'll no doubt post this both in my normal journal and on the Job Corps community. Students who post in the Job Corps community would have every right to call the Loring Center and tell my superiors how I'm violating confidentiality and then I'd have my ass kicked back to Vermont.

2: It's a matter of respect towards the people involved.

Suffice it to say these two were no-brainers. They got termed in less than two minutes. Tomorrow I'm told we'll get more of a challenge.

Current Music: Shimmer ~ Fuel

Jan. 17th, 2006

Well, in recent events I began the long and arduous process of applying for student leadership. There were three positions open on my wing and I applied for the Assistant Wing leader possision originally.

I filled out the application and got the letters of recommendation. The entire time I expected to blow the thing. God knows I'm not the most patient person in the world, and more often than not I can be extremely difficult to get along with. Hey, I never said I was perfect.

But just this once, I figured that maybe the RA Deb, and the other students who were responsible for interviewing potential leadership would focus only on my negatives. And of course, who could blame them since my negatives definitely outweigh my positives by a ton.

Well, the interview was yesterday. I didn't get the Assistant Wingleader position since I've never been on leadership before, but they did offer me the position of Safety Leader. And it took five weeks less than it took at Northlands.

Current Music: Precious ~ Depeche Mode

Jan. 10th, 2006

Well, I've managed to salvage some of my New Years resolutions.

I've started working out just a little at a time.

Also, I've updated my website by adding a book review page. I'll be looking into the market for a forum soon and hopefully I'll have a reasonable enough following to get it going.

Check it out and tell me what you think.

Jan. 6th, 2006

Nothing much to add here.

I'm in the process of breaking six of my ten resolutions all ready, but I'm working on salvaging the one where I work out for an hour each day.

Started reading Nick Hornby's About a Boy. More thoughts on that when I finish it.

Planning to make updates on my website very soon. Oh, and if you read this entry, you have some time and nothing better to do, do me a favor and click on this link. I know I'm getting too old for these online games, but what the hell. It's fun.

http://www.kingsofchaos.com/recruit.php?uniqid=5y3tpx4b

Dec. 28th, 2005

Before now I don't think I could have ever appreciated the Chronicles of Narnia in film form. Queen of the Damned and the Harry Potter movies taught me not to nit pick at every little deviation from the book. Because when you do that, you fail to enjoy the true work of the director.
And yet, if the director has any respect for the source material, he tries to show something of the author in the movie.
I went to see The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe with guns blazing. This was my childhood story, something I have loved and adored since I first saw the BBC miniseres, and I was ready to defend it to the death if it was in anyway scarred or maimed.
But to my surprise, Andrew Adamson actually did a job beyond any word I could find for it.

For instance, the scene where Aslan goes to sacrifice himself on the stone table, in place of Edmund, every moment in the scene was captured perfectly. From the merciless bantering and baiting of the demons and goblins right down to the White Witch tormenting a bound and gagged Aslan.
Then, when Lucy and Susan are mourning over his body, the field mice come to undo his bonds.
This was one scene I was so sure they would leave out, and yet they did it perfectly. Tt was as if Adamson really wanted this movie to be a tribute to C.S. Lewis' great work, and he actually understood that this tiny little detail (among others) was the way to do it.
Then there were the actors. The guy they got to play Mr. Tumnus was absolutely amazing, and he had the character down perfectly.
And what great cast would be complete with out the Liam "Qui-Gon Jinn" Neeson as the voice of Aslan.
But to be more specific, I have to focus on the kids who played the Pevensies. Every moment I expected the same amateurish mistakes that the Harry Potter Trio were making all throughout the first two movies. Instead we get four very decent child actors that not only fit their parts perfetly, but seemed to take on the heart and souls of the Pevensie children.
From Peter slaying Maugrim (voiced by the very talented Michael Madsen I might add), to Susan and Lucy crying over Aslan's vulnerable and lifeless corpse, to Edmund redeeming himself by destroying the source of the White Witch's power, those kids took the weight of this movie on their shoulders and carried it like seasoned veterans.
I'm sorry, but Mad Magazine has it right by saying that Daniel Radcliffe will always be remembered as the boy wizard. Those kids will be getting roles long after the Harry Potter children are retired from a life of fantasy/sci-fi conventions.


To put this in more simple words, thank you Mr. Adamson. Thank you very much.

Dec. 19th, 2005

Well, I've been in Bennington for a couple days now and I'll be here until the 3rd of January.

The trip down was by bus and therefore long, arduous, and life consuming. But on the way back up I'll be stuck in Logan airport for six and a half hours so I'll be bringing a good book.

Alex and Daryll and I went to see Goblet of Fire Sunday evening. It wasn't too bad, all things considered.

Talk more later.

Dec. 9th, 2005

Christmas break is coming up, so they'll be flying me back to Burlington again. And then all this crap with planes happens.

My heart really does go out to the family of the boy who was killed, but it sends chills down my spine knowing that this could have been avoided.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051209/ap_on_re_us/midway_accident

Dec. 7th, 2005

I doubt anyone who knows me that well would ever expect me to sign up for a Texas Holdum tournament.

But as it turns out, this one is offering big prizes. Like gift cards for Subway and McDonalds, which I could really put to use when I go home to Bennington. Plus, Texas Holdum actually requires a lot of psychological warfare to win at.

Basically it's a slightly easier version poker, with a few variations.

I'm getting my practice in.

Current Music: Remembering You-Steven Curtis Chapman

Dec. 6th, 2005

If anyone recalls that I've taken an interest in British television lately, you'll rememebr that I've been watching a show called Ny*Lon, about a New Yorker who falls in love with a Londoner and forms a transatlantic relationship.

You might also recall the fatal attraction I had to the vampire mini-series Ultraviolet. Turns out the guy who plays Michael in Ny*Lon also played in Ultraviolet.

http://imdb.com/name/nm0610459/

I had a feeling I knew the guy, but I couldn't place him. Thank you IMBD.

Dec. 6th, 2005

For the record, I want it clearly stated. There is nothing I want more than to see this movie and I don't think anything someone as articulate as I can say could possibly describe how much I have longed, since childhood to see this movie.

Yes. When I first saw the BBC version of the Chronicles, I was moved. I'm seeing it when I go back to Bennington for winter break.

Dec. 6th, 2005

Beatrix Kiddo (Black Mamba)
</font>Kill Bill: Which Deadly Viper Assassin Are You? (Vol. II spoilers... results with pics)

Gonna call the family up tonight. Anyway, my birthday list is as follows.

Clay Aiken showing up at my dorm with a six back of Guiness, singing Invisible and asking me to unwrap his "present".

Orlando Bloom in a tub of Baileys Irish Cream, surrounded by scented candles. Preferably dressed as Legolas.

The Chronicles of Narnia to be a beautifully crafted film, totally respectful of it's source material.

Oh, and a watch.

That's about it.




You're the Bride! Strong and determined, you can do anything once you set your mind to it. You long for vengeance and for a happy ending, and will do anything to achieve them.

Dec. 5th, 2005

Clay Aiken walks into my room during my birthday party, sings Invisible and asks me to open his package.

*Sigh*

If only I could be so lucky.

Dec. 5th, 2005

Another birthday draws nigh and I turn another year older come 6:30 tomorrow morning.

But on a happier note :p I was watching a show on BBC America yesterday called Teen Angels. It's one of those shows where we see how crappy a family is because the parents have no control of their kids, and a couple TV shrinks walk in and tell them how to raise their kids.

A glowing tesitment to how TV is all ready telling us how to raise our kids. But it was interesting to see kids in another nation acting just as stupidly as we do here in the States.

I think every other word out of this one kid's mouth was fuck, or fuck off, or the like.

Plus, one of the kids wanted to be a "techno" singer. Is it just me, or does anyone else think that techno is essentially the English version of rap? (no offense intended to techno listeners or to my friends in England)

Ny*Lon has also gotten pretty interesting.

Amazing how watching British drama has actually become more interesting than half the shows I watch here in the US.

It looks like I won't be through with Web Design as fast as I thought I'd be. It's okay though, since I basically have no where to go when I get out of Job Corps anyway.

Nov. 28th, 2005

I don't think I was ever happier than when Mollie said my name, clearly and loudly on the phone. "Nat!"

She's saying all her colors too. "Green, Yellow, Red," etc.

*sigh* The world just stopped when I heard her voice. She has such a pretty voice.

I called the family sometime Friday evening, after Thanksgiving. My brother Alex is still there and I can't wait till Christmas break when we can catch up on the last year or so since I last saw him in Alabama. Mollie has another brother to wrap around her finger for a couple weeks, at least until he gets his own place.

Web Design is coming to a crawl at this point as I try to master javascript. Somehow I think I'd have better luck learning to conversational Babylonian.

Nov. 23rd, 2005

Even though not everyone celebrates it, I thought I'd say it anyway.

This will be the first Thanksgiving I've spent so far away from my family, and it really bites. Alex has moved up from Alabama and is currently living with Mom, Dave, Mollie and Daryll. Job Corps is giving us Thursday and Friday off, which means four days of me being lonely and wholed up in my room.

I'll be spending the time constructively though. Finding out how long it will take to make the 12 mile walk from the center to Presque Isle, sewing up the cuts and tears in the quilt I'm passing on to Mollie come Christmas, writing letters to family. I'll probably only get to do two out of three, but the important thing is it's what I want to do.

The Level A work in Web Page design is getting into some grittier areas. For instance, it tells me to view the source code of a website that doesn't even exist any more. So instead of just telling me how to write source code it tells me to do the impossible.

I'm calling it quits for now. We're getting a four day weekend and I'm spending all of it sleeping. Maybe I'll see if there's any place in Maine where I can get some egg nog and some pumpkin pie.

Nov. 16th, 2005

Well, I got this really odd offer from my instructor today.
She asked me if I wanted to train to sit on the Behavior Review Board.

Basically, this is where a student gets sent after he's been particularly bastardly. If he's done something where the possible result is termination, this board decides whether or not the kid gets termed. The center director has the final say of course, but usually if the board says the kid is good to stay, he won't override it.

So, it's some small conselation that I could be the deciding factor in such a decision. The difference between a slap on the wrist and a just desert. And it would be an enormous honor after all of the crap I've seen students get away with, between both Northlands and Loring.

It would be like a huge slap in the face to the people at Northlands who said I wouldn't make a decent student leader.

Nov. 14th, 2005

I saw my very first live moose on the way back from a mall trip Saturday afternoon.

It wasn't a very cathartic experience, since I barely caught a glimpse of it out of the bus window as we were moving along at 50 miles an hour. But since the moose wasn't in front of us I think it was a plus. Still, nothing would move me more than to see a moose for a longer period of time, preferably on one of my walks about the campus. I hear they frequent the campus quite a bit, since we're surrounded by national forest.

Still trudging along at Web Design. I think I've got the HTML stuff down, so now I'm going go try to move on to Flash.

One of the perks of being at the Loring Center is that we have real cable in the dorms. So I've been able to watch BBC America a bit more frequently.

During my viewing of the channel I've started to watch a series called NY-LON. It's about this banker in England and a record store owner in New York who fall in love while the latter is vacationing in London.

Edie, the New Yorker, is bogged down by her own personal entanglements. She's got an ex-boyfriend who's brother just died and is trying to rekindle the relationship.

Micheal, the Londoner, is also bogged down by personal entanglements. Specifically he has a nephew whom he takes care of alot because the kid's bastard of a father apparently split the nest. And Mike's feelings about his own brother, who happens to be the father, is actually something I can identify with. As someone who's father left him at an early age, I'm overwhelmed with anger towards any prick who has the dick to knock up some woman but doesn't have the balls to take care of the result.

Anyway, I don't know what it is with romance plots, but this series actually has my interest. And since it's on Saturday night at 6 PM I can actually watch it for however long the Loring Center has the money to front the cable bill. With my luck it'll be another two weeks.

Nov. 10th, 2005

I was watching Walker: Texas Ranger this morning, before I went to breakfast. It's not something I normally watch, but Walker kind of reminds me of the Texas version of MacGuyver...if MacGuyver used guns that is. Also, it's worth it to crank out a few MST style bowflex jabs at the famed karate champion.

Anyway, the episode was actually pretty decent. But in the end the characters were talking about a movie that was being made based on the events of the episode they had experienced. So they're all guessing which actors are gonna play themselves.

And who do you think Trebeck picks out to play Walker? Chuck Norris. What are the odds right?

Then Chuck Norris-excuse me-Walker goes on about how "Chuck Norris" has never won any awards, so why should he play the part of "Walker".

Is this his idea of being funny?

Now when Kevin Smith did it with Ben Affleck in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, that was funny as hell because it was essentially a joke between two good friends. And most of the popularity of Kevin Smith movies derives from inside jokes.

When Norris does it it sounds like an off handed whine to the viewers to vote him in for an emmy. I think he should just shut the hell up and be thankful he has any screen time at all after dropping cinematic bombs like Sidekicks.

Nov. 9th, 2005

Well, angelfire only allows 20MB of free space for your website. But I did find another website that gives you 100MB of free space, so you can have almost as many pages as you want.

I may just use the angelfire site as my autobiography and then build the website for promoting my books and showcasing Daryll's artwork on this other host site.

Nov. 8th, 2005

More updates.

Also, Daryll is sending me some artwork I can use to spiff up the site. I'm going to use it in Daryll's Artwork so I can finally get that link out of the way.

Since this is largely an autobiographical site it may not seem like such a big deal. But right now it's more of an exercise in applying what I've learned in practical terms. If I can pull off this really decent website then I can do other better things as well.

Also, I plan on marketing all of the books I publish at lulu.com through this website. Since alot of the more successful author websites are done by the authors themselves I figure this is the best way to promote my work and gain new readers.

I still need to get in contact with my brother Alex to see if it's all right for me to put pictures of his daughter and wife online. It's easy to say he wouldn't mind, but I want to show him that I respect his privacy and the privacy of his family by getting permission directly from him.

That's another reason my siblings page is a little behind. Charlie, Quinn and Mollie are all minors, and I can't put their photos up without permission from parental units. Fortunately with Mollie it's just a matter of asking Mom and Dave. But I have to write to Charlie and Quinn (which isn't a problem) and they need to ask their dad if it's all right. (And he and I haven't exactly been on communicative terms lately)

I know it seems like a lot of trouble to go through for a few lousy photos. But it's something I need to do. Anyone who knows me well enough knows how much I love my family and how much it would please me to show off my brothers and sister to anyone who wants to know. Plus it's a way for me to get over my homesickness, which I find gets stronger when I think about them too much.


In other news we have a three day weekend coming up for Veteran's Day. So I won't be able to update the site on Friday. Thursday I'm a booked agent.

Nov. 7th, 2005

The Links page is up on my website.
I'll work on more later today but I need to knock off some words on my nanowrimo project.


My roommate Richard and I took a walk all the way to the convenient store. I, more for the exercise since I had no money, and Richard cause he needed a new water bottle so he bought some Mountain Dew. It was a good two miles one way, so we got our work out and I slept pretty well.

Also, we're so close to the Candadian border now that if you pay with a Canadian quarter, they actually calculate the amount of exchange. I was utterly baffled by this but fortunately Rick still had enough for the soda. I guess that means I won't be spending any Canadian pennies either, heaven forbid I'd come up a halfpenny short.

Nov. 5th, 2005

Yeah, so, I was doing laundry today. And the stamps and letter labels that my mother sent me in the mail were completely destroyed.

Oy, the fates they test my patience.

Nov. 3rd, 2005

Yeah, the image in my avatar is actually a picture taken of me at the Bread and Puppet Theater in New York.

I wish I could make it bigger for the avatar or even insert it here in the journal entry

Nov. 2nd, 2005

Today is our sister's birthday. She'll be a little happier this year with Daryll there, but I still wish I could be there to celebrate it with her.

*sigh* That's two birthdays that Job Corps has made me miss.

I can't wait until Christmas break when I'll have two and a half weeks to spend home.

Nov. 1st, 2005

Well, it's a new month and tonight there's a chess meet at the rec center. I'm going to try to improve my game before the next touranment on Sunday.

Mollie's birthday is tomorrow and I'm desperately trying to get someone to let me call home. Unfortunately, they moved room majors to Wednesday and it runs from 6-8 pm. We're not allowed to use the phone at that time. It's like such perfect timing you know.

Oct. 31st, 2005

Yay. Another holiday I could be spending with family and friends but instead have to spend working away at the computer trying to put together a website about traveling to the Midwest. As if I'll ever develop the urge to go to Des Moines, Iowa anytime soon. (Would anyone really?)

Well, some highlights from Friday to present.

Friday: Got hijacked on a special "newbie" field trip into what passes for civilization up here in Assend, Maine.

We spent an hour wandering through the Arostook county, "Mall". Have you ever entered a building and felt it utterly devoid of life, energy, and the presence of humanity? Well, the "mall" was no where near as pleasent.

They had a B.Daltons, which is basically a poor man's Waldonbooks. It's mute testimony to the franchise when I realize that this "mall" is the only place on Earth where I have seen a B. Daltons. Although I know it is a chain owned and operated by the Borders empire I couldn't help but feel as though I were walking through an impoverished Third World soup kitchen.

There was an "arcade" with no patrons, no attendents, no counter full of cheap plastic items to obtain in exchange for the points you win in skiball. I even saw a cheap knock off of Hot Topic, but it was brightly lit, there was no insense in the air, no displays full of lewd yet utterly hilarious refridgerator magnets, nor was there even a clerk at the counter. People could have run in and shoplifted the entire fucking store and no one would have been there to stop them. Incedently there were no security guards to speak of either, not that anyone would cause much trouble in a place like this.

*sigh*

Ironically, I take a small comfort in knowing that my paylines will be entirely devoted to my credit cards, so that I have no need to go to the "mall"...ever...ever.

The weekend actually wasn't bad. Saturday evening I went on a rec trip to the community college in Presque Isle. It was a presentation given by this "Ghost Hunter", documenting his thirty years of experience as an investigator into the paranormal. I wish I could remember his name now because he also announced that he had a book due for release this november, and I would love to read it. He showed us all of these cool pictures of places he had visited and of objects in his musuem that had been cursed. It was really quite awesome.

Sunday I entered a chess tournament. I got my ass kicked of course because in the first round I was too busy making fun of a kid who was playing Yu-Gi-Oh and telling us all about his "martial arts training" by a "martial arts master". He sounded so much like Bigly from "Lilo and Stitch" that it was damn near impossible not to say, "Haff you seen little girl and 626?"

I would have done all right my second game, except I was so focused on getting his queen to run that I ended up actually losing my own queen in a move I should have been able to block.

So, all in all, aside from being forced to go on a "special trip" that I would have gladly traded a week's worth of wisdom teeth operations for, I made it through my second week at the Loring Center.

In other news I haven't had anywhere near my required allotment of pumpkin pie this fall. I'll have to make up for it on Christmas break when I go home.

Current Music: Wake Me Up When September Ends-Green Day