Savings Accounts, Roth IRAs, Growing Up, Oh My!

So I think I'm finally starting to grow up a little bit, and although it's going to be beneficial to my future, I'm not quite sure how it happened. One day I was trying to figure out how to buy all of the seasons of Aqua Teen Hunger Force on DVD and still have money for beer, and the next I'm talking about opening a 5.05% savings account with HSBC and discussing the tax benefits of starting a Roth IRA versus a traditional one.

Wow. Life comes at you fast.

Moreover, I've been contemplating saving for a house. It's one of the reasons I started the high-yield savings account. I even impressed my boss with my savings-savvy.

And it only took me twenty-five years to get this far. I'm what psychologists like to call a "late bloomer". It usually happens with kids who have affluent parents. They continue to leech off of their parents until either A) the parents cut them off or B) they wake up and realize, "Hey, I'm a f**king loser!"

Option B) very rarely happens.

It wasn't the case with me. I leeched off myself for far too long, ignoring that there is such a thing as a future and that I should be planning for it.

So I think I'm slowly freeing myself from the state of arrested development I've been in my entire life, and I'm happy. I used to be very anti-establishment, like, Hey, leave all the money-saving to bankers on Wall Street. Just give me METAL!

Now, I've realized just how dumb it was to just blow all of my money because I wanted to enjoy it.

And, to be honest, understanding markets and percentages and stuff really isn't that bad. In fact, I'm kind of enjoying this new knowledge.

90,000 Words in the Third Novel

Tonight I hit the coveted 300-page mark in the third novel - tentatively titled "Beast of Burden" - and also the 90,000 word mark. Simultaneously. I'm stoked!

It appears as though the book might be another hundred pages or so, but don't fret. It's paced well, and I'm thinking that it's the best book I've written thus far.

Besides, there being a "Bratz" movie coming out this summer gives me hope that SOMEWHERE there is a market for my writing. I mean, if Paris Hilton can get a recording contract, then maybe. . .oh, well, nevermind. I guess I'm not a millionaire heiress now am I?

The Vampire Guide Mar 23, 2007 - May 1, 2007 Win $500.00, 2nd Place: $200.00, 3rd Place: $50.00

The results still haven't come through on the "Vampire Guide" Writing Contest, but I'm still optimistic. I found out this morning that, were I to win, I'd get $500 and an article on the front page of the web site.

Despite that, you can read my work - as always - at Writerscafe. Click on the link below. You can read my story "Hostile Takeover", which, I'm hoping, is going to win the Vampire Guide Contest. It's pretty good.



Let me know what you think about my writing. I'm always glad to get criticism.

- T. Blake Braddy

I've Been Tagged (By Jackson Pollock)

I know. Sounds freaky, doesn't it?

Um, I got tagged for a linky-thingy - what are they called - in which you draw a "Pollock" from the web site and then post it on your site and tag people.

Obviously, I'm a moron to not be able to do this.

But - hey - I can get away with that, right? You, too, can create your own Pollock painting at Jacksonpollock.org

I'm going to tag other people in hopes that they might be able to help me not be stupid. I would post my painting, but since I don't know how to save it and post it, you'll just have to trust me that it's great!

Who is tagged?

Tink, over at Pickled Beef
Fiwa, over at Every Day is Friday Eve
Klyde-Lanta, Over at Klyde-Lanta(Post, damn you!)
Claire, Over at ClaiderBaider Methodology
Brian, over at Textual Amusement

Hope you guys enjoy it.

Nintendo 64 YAY!

I found this really interesting video, and I thought you might like it. This is exactly how I acted when I got my Nintendo 64. Not.

Entourage - A Teenager's Dream

Entourage is really a great show, and I've always associated it with shows like The Sopranos, which, at times, can be extremely violent and filthy.

Thinking back on it, I don't know why I thought that. Entourage is nothing more than a (male) teenager's fantasy. I mean, what guy watches that show and then doesn't want to A) be a movie star or B) have a friend who is a movie star and be a member of his posse.

There's a lot of profanity, but so what? It's intended for adults. And, I don't think that it's excessive. Then again, I don't really think that any show has an excessive amount of cursing.

No violence, unless you count Johnny Drama nailing a dude in the face during a scuffle with Seth Green's own entourage. No nudity, as far back as I can remember. There are lots of girls in bikinis, but that's no different than, say, CSI: Miami. Not that I've ever watched that show.

So what it comes down to is perception. Because it's on HBO, I - and many other people - think that it's inherently a bawdy program. But it's not. I'll repeat: it's a teenage fantasy wrapped up in a big budget.

And I love it.

I only hope that it's able to stick around for a few more seasons. That's the one problem of HBO shows. It takes around ten years for a six-year program to air. See The Sopranos. Entourage has already begun doing the cryptic Season ?/Part 1/2 thing. Which is what Sex & the City, among other shows, did as they finished up.

Of course, I hope this isn't the case with our friends out in Cali.

Tina Fey is the Real Victim Here

This is the Reason His Daughter Won't Speak to Him

Someone pretty please make sure that Alec Baldwin gets some satisfaction in the custody battle for his - "12, or 11," as he puts it - year-old child, Ireland. Kim Basinger. Yes, you. Fellow Georgian. QUIT IT! Leave Alec alone, or at least tell Ireland to call him once in a while. The two of you play nice with Baldwin.

Why?

Because I love "30 Rock." I want to see the show on the air for another few years. You know how hard it is to find sitcoms that are actually funny these days? I would sell your children into slavery to make sure that Alec Baldwin stays on "30 Rock." To me, it's just that damn funny.

According to the NY Times,

Alec Baldwin said on “The View” yesterday that he wanted to quit that NBC sitcom to write a book about “parental alienation.”

Come on. Even Carrot Top wouldn't make that joke. In either case, it's not funny, even though I doubt that Baldwin is joking.

So he called his kid a incosiderate pig. At least he didn't call her a pig f**ker. That would have been overboard.

Besides, how many of you watch "30 Rock?" It's Tina Fey's finest hour. I think it would be horrific if the show were to tank without it being her fault. So, I think it goes without saying, Tina Fey is the real victim in this whole mess.



You should be ashamed of yourselves for blasting Baldwin so badly. Nice alliteration, huh? He's only a pawn in the right-wing media's scheme to end good television and replace it all with CSI spinoffs.

Don't you get it? Liberal actors make for great shows. Not in all cases, but isn't Alec Baldwin the poster boy for everything that (Republicans think) is wrong with America? Are you going to let them ruin a great show and put such a talented writer on her ass?

Also, Tracy Morgan-Jordan is fantastic on the show. There's not a better racial satire on television. Are you a racist? Okay, then, support Alec Baldwin and "30 Rock." Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan-Jordan.Or it will be all your fault.

Fall of the House of Soprano - Future of HBO

Needless to say - or maybe not, if you don't know me - the Sopranos is one of my favorite television shows ever. If not for kick-ass comedies like Arrested Development, perhaps it would be my favorite show ever.

But, sadly, the Reign of the Sopranos is coming to an end, as the last episodes are winding down the series.

Which is fine. I expected this to happen someday. But, my question is: what is going to replace the Sopranos as the flagship show for HBO?

There has to be a franchise on which to hang the cable network's hat. The brand will only suffer if a similarly great show cannot take its place. The Sopranos and Sex & the City were the two shows that made HBO Television great. They were smart, hip, funny, YEARS ahead of their time.

And, in a few weeks, both of them will have gone the way of the dodo.

What's next? I like Big Love, but I honestly don't see it becoming the number 1 program on the network. It's a good idea, but it just doesn't have the ooomph that 'THE MODERN MAFIA' does, in reference to the Sopranos.

The truth is, you've got to have something epic to wave at the public, to say, "Look! This is the best we've got, and it's better than everyone else."

Entourage, too, is a good show, but not a leader for the company. Deadwood is gone. Rome is gone. Six Feet Under, kaputz. Same with Carnivale. Ditto Oz.

Curb Your Enthusiasm is coming back, too, for a sixth season, and I'm glad about that, but there has to be something else. What is going to be the big guy? The Wire? I don't think so.

2nd Place is 1st Awesome - The Writing Contest

I'm a winner, sort of! Today represents the first real indication that my fiction is leading somewhere.




Let me give you all of the news. At first, when I got home last night, I checked my profile and saw that I'd received a few new messages. Turns out, I placed 2nd in an online writing contest called "How Bizzare!"

I was so happy, I could have wet myself.

So, the gal pal and I picked up some celebratory items: cheesecake, beer, her new Simple magazine, and my leftover Japanese food.

Good times, right? Well, when I checked my account again, to revel in having actually placed in something, I found that I had placed 2nd in a Fantasy & Horror contest with another one of my stories. I was elated, to say the least. Not one, but two bits of good information in a single day.

So, for all of you who have been wondering where my time has gone, this is the reason. I've been working on getting published and getting reckognized. You can read my stuff by clicking on the link above. Or by clicking on the "Read My Writing" link below on the table.

Read My Writing at WritersCafe.org
Read My Writing..

Go See "Hot Fuzz" Cold Turkey

"Hot Fuzz" is opening today, and though it's not a horror movie, Slasher Central is covering it. Why not? Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright, and Nick Frost made one of the best zombie movies in the last two decades with "Shaun of the Dead" in 2004.

The big question coming into "Hot Fuzz" was, Can these guys go chameleon and conquer another genre of movie, in the form of the American action flick?



All appearances say yes. E! Online reviewer Alex Markerson says, "It's hard to imagine having more fun in a theater without being arrested." He gives the movie an A overall. The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive for those guys, and we here at Slasher Central are glad to see that.

Unlike other sites, though, I won't bother to spoonfeed you the plot for the sake of beefing up the post. Suffice it to say that it's "Agatha Christie meets John Woo" (it's what Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg called it on the Morning X).

I'm sure there will be lots of explosions, car chases, and hopefully - because it's Pegg, Wright and Frost - blood. If they can at all replicate the sort of "thinking dude's humor" that they nailed in "Shaun of the Dead" then this should be a must-see.

Opening today.

A Repost from Slasher Central

It Just Pisses Me Off So Much. . .

. . .That Arrested Development is no longer on the air. Lady Protocol and I have been watching Arrested Development lately, and something about it being canceled really gets under my skin. It may be the fact that it's one of my favorite show ever - probably my favorite comedy show ever - but it also has to do with what got it canceled.

A) FOX's incompetence and B) People who were too interested in American Idol to care. Both of those are sad, if you ask me.

I mean, I guess you can't lament the downfall of a television show, and I won't go into how much I love it, but come on! Arrested Development was just such a smart show.

Oh, well.

On a lighter note, people are calling the more than 5 million e-mails missing from Karl Rove's files the "15 minutes of missing tape" of this era.

How can somebody lose 5 million e-mails. Well, I can tell how it happened this time - rapidly pressing the delete button - but I can't believe that more people aren't outraged.

I mean, really, how much crooked shit can this administration do before people wise up?

Turn! Turn! Turn! (The World)

So, a lot has been going on in my world in the last few days.

And apparently in the world as a whole, especially today. I can't even imagine the pain that the people in Virginia must be going through at the moment. It's awful.

Beyond that, I don't know how great I feel talking about the successes of my book and such tonight. I did make it to the 60,000 word mark tonight (finally), and I have entered some contests on a writing community to which I belong. I'm excited about the prospect of having people actually read my work, so that's good.

Saving money, paying off debt, all of that. Things are moving ahead. Oh, and an annoying girl from work quit abruptly today, so I guess it's not all bad.

God Bless You, Mr. Vonnegut

I read Harrison Bergeron in high school. I thought it was a great story, but I also didn't have time to read a great author back then. I was forced to read the classics, old tomes I understood but about which I could have cared less.

But, during my first trip Out West, Spring of 2002, I read Breakfast of Champions on the way back. It was not the first book I ever read which changed the way I thought about life, but it was probably the most important in my overall development.



Kurt Vonnegut passed away last night in Manhattan. He was 84. On another, similar yet unrelated, note, I entered a writing contest for the first time in my career. I only hope that it was not that fact which ultimately killed Mr. Vonnegut.

I think he would have appreciated that joke. God bless you, Mr. Vonnegut.

Yay! Humor About Red-Staters

There's a guy on a web site called Renew America - I'm not kidding - who's talking about the new Kevin Smith "horror" movie, Red State.

Here's a little tidbit:

Red State, huh? Can you just guess what that means? "Red" as in Republican, "horror" as in the horror of Conservative ideals? Along with another Smith attack on religion, I can imagine how badly he is going to treat the average American in "flyover" country with this one.

I can just imagine this guy - there's a picture of him on the blog itself - with one of those super-deep Southern accents. I'm not picking on the guy, but he seems to have a major problem with filmmakers. I guess of the NOT Steven Segal type.

I'm sorry, but I get so sick of the way that Southerners say they get misrepresented in the media. I'm a Southerner and, personally, I don't feel offended by most representations. People still talk about the imminent "Rise of the South", Vote Republican, and refuse to believe in Evolution.

Also, the new movie by Kevin Smith is sort of about Fred Phelps, the biggest bigot in the whole country. If you don't know Fred Phelps, he's the preacher/proprietor of godhatesfags.com - I refuse to link to it - and he and his "posse" like to go to the funerals of soldiers who have died in Iraq. To taunt them. I'm not kidding.

So, to me, if you defend Fred Phelps, you're a closet queen. That's the worst insult I could come up for you homophobes.

I Guess I'll Have to Talk About Don Imus, Too

Personally, I'm not horrified by what Don Imus said. I have come to expect that sort of thing from him, and it doesn't surprise me. He's the same as Rush Limbaugh or any of the right-wing piggies who often have denigrating things to say about Blacks in this country.

I don't get it; it doesn't surprise me.

Now, I definitely disagree with what he said. He attempted to make a bad joke, step over the line for comic effect, and he most certainly did one of those things. As Patrice O'Neal said yesterday, "he bombed." It wasn't funny, not in the least, and he should most definitely apologize to the girls of the Rutgers Basketball Team.

And maybe he will get fired. But I will argue that what he said has actually been positive, in a way. His ignorance has shown that people just don't tolerate that nonsense anymore. It's not an inside joke for whites to pick on blacks, and I'm glad.

Don Imus may lose his job over this, also. That he said something so dumb and racist is bad. That people have responded positively is good. It has caused a media flap, and with good reason. But I also think that this shows we are making progress as a country. We'll always have people who oppose it, but I think in the end we're all moving forward.

Have a good day!

Be My Friend on MySpace!

I've been doing a lot of updating to the MySpace page over the past few days, and if you would like to be my friend, just visit:

www.myspace.com/jinxprotocol

I'm really proud of the work I've been doing to it. I only wish that I could modify the Jinx Protocol blog page a little more. Ideally, I'd like to turn it into a 3-column blog, so that my many, many, many links could be viewable from both sides, rather than one crappy column. It's a waste of a whole third of the page. Don't you think?

Anyway, I hit the 50,000 word mark last night in the book! Yep, the third novel is going well, and I hope to be done with the first draft by the end of the month.

Also, I think I might try to write a quickie story for the 1st Best Horror Writer Contest on WritersCafe. I just don't know that I could crank out something that would place in, oh, about two days.

But maybe I'll try.

I Want a Liger

Just a thought.

Also, I have a post on global warming just below this. You know, just for substance on the site.

Just Watched: An Inconvenient Truth

I just got finished with An Inconvenient Truth - OnDemand is great - and I have to say that my views haven't changed, but they have definitely been reinforced.

Like, it definitely wasn't a wow movie for me, because I already support VP Gore's plight.

Watching it did make me think that perhaps other people should wake up to this problem. I mean, who doesn't think we are at least partially to blame at this point?

I mean, there are people who think that methane gas produced by cows is as big a threat as CO2. Now, I know that downplaying CO2 is a big part of denial, but come on.

What is easier? Ridding the world of car exhaust, or lowering emissions from bovines? I would think the latter, not the former, would be easier. I'm not trying to downplay cow exhaust - ha! - but we've always had cows, horses, etc. We've not always had cars, so I would guess that cars are more integral to preserving the balance we have in nature.

Of course, I know people who think that Global Warming is bunk. Yeah, I know. You should be surprised that I'm friends with Republicans.

Just kidding.

Today Was a Good Day - Thanks, Ice Cube

Well, today didn't really have anything to do with the formerly great rap artist, but I did, in fact, have a great afternoon/evening.

First of all, I got to leave work early - I begged off of work - to go see the new QT/RR double feature Grindhouse.

In two words: Fan Tastic.

I really liked both movies. AND the trailers in between, which I have been raving about incessantly. Well, the movie exceeded expectations on all fronts, which was great. It was gory and funny and tongue-in-cheek. Sheer fan stuff, but if you like horror, this is the place for you. I loved it, for God's sake!

And then I went out with my friend Bendy. Bendy, it should be noted, is a composite of my friends Ben and Wendy. Anyway, we went to Wild Wing Cafe and got a platter of wings. 25 wings; 5 wings with five flavors. It was great.

See, here's the thing you might not know about me. I love hot food. Spicy is awesome. SO, tonight, I convinced Ben to order five of the Braveheart wings. They're the hottest flavor that Wild Wing Cafe has, so it's customary that I get them.

Needless to say, they were impressively warm and hit the spot.

But, alas, I'm about to hit the hay. I've got a long day at work tomorrow. Tomorrow is the annual G-Day game for the UGA Bulldogs, and they have a scrimmage in the Spring. So, working at a bookstore which sells Bulldawg apparel, I am obligated to work on said day. Boo.

GrindHouse - Also, Taco Bell's Beans!!!

Okay, so I've been looking forward to the new Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez collaboration since it was announced sometime last year.

Two of my favorite directors making cheap, 70s-style schlock? What's not to love there?

But seriously, the movie looks like it's going to be full of debauched fun. Although I want to look at the current reviews, I'm trying to hold off. The Yahoo! Movies section has it as a B overall, but I don't know that it's accurate. I mean, come on. This is a purely genre movie(s)(?), so you can't really quantify it with an objective score, I don't think.

Anyway, that's the fanboy coming out in me.

Yesterday, I partook in some delicious - and supremely unhealthy - Taco Bell for lunch. I try to eat fast food once to twice a week for the strange things it does to my body.

But, until yesterday, I had no idea just how bad it is for you. Well, I did and I didn't. I've seen Supersize Me, and I know the dangers of eating fast food over and over. I'm sort of a healthy guy, so it is kept to a minimum for me.

But yesterday, when I got back to work, I mentioned what I'd gotten - a "few" cheesy bean and rice burritos - and almost had a heart attack when I saw how much each has in calories, fat, etc.

490 calories, 22 g fat, etc. Might as well have been a million! I freak out all the time - it's just how I cope - and this sent me into a health shock. I mean, yeah, cheese isn't that good for you, but I didn't think beans would be the death of me.

This is how I came to the conclusion that the beans are the killer: the plain bean burrito has 12g fat! I know they're refried and all, but the refried beans that I get from the store - Vegetarian beans - have only about 1g fat per can. What the hell are they doing to these beans, man?! You could cook those in pure lard and nt get that sort of result. Jesus.

I resolved that if I ever eat Taco Bell again - who am I kidding - that I just have to get the cheesy-bean-and-rice burrito, hold the beans. The cheese and rice will have to suffice, I suppose, as they are the healthier of the two ingredients in that concoction.

Gar!

Working Hard, not Hardly Working

There's so much going on in the world right now that I hardly have the time to comment on it all. The Bush Administration is crumbling around Dick Cheney. Luckily, Bush hasn't really had enough to do with it to warrant any sort of criminal investigation.

The Supreme Court has finally upheld a ruling on the way Bush and his cronies have (mis)treated the environment. I bet Robert F. Kennedy is throwing a Happy Fit somewhere still, even a few days after the fact.

Alberto Gonzales and Karl Rove might be out of work this year (as if they've ever done any in the first place)! I'm on fire tonight!

I have no joke for the Pat Tillman thing. It's just sad that he died in Friendly Fire, which, according to David Cross, is the most unfortunate euphemism. I agree.

But yeah, there's a lot going on, to say the least. I'm not positive about this, I'm really not. It's a shame that the office of the president has been sullied like this. But do any of you get the feeling that the bully's secret is finally out? Like, it's been revealed that the one kid in school who always made everyone else feel stupid can't read, or something?

Phew. For a long time there, I thought this administration was bulletproof. I'm glad/not glad that it's not.

What's confounding my sadness is that I'm reading a book called The Price of Loyalty. It's about the Bush Cabal, starting with its inception in 2000. Gosh! We had such a great f*cking chance to save Social Security, change the tax system, fund education, give a 1 trillion dollar tax cut, and then have some money left over. Oh, Jesus, that makes me so mad/sad/cynical.

So that's what I'm going through right now. I know I promised that I wouldn't talk politics as much, but this just had to be said.

Oh, but on a lighter note, I'm 140 pages - or 42,000 words - into the third book. I'm going to attempt to have it done by the end of the month. I've been pacing myself at 2,500 words a day. That's 75,000 words a month, or nearly an entire novel a month. If I could write 6 books this year, I'd be stoked.

But anyway. I hope you all are doing well.

Piven Banned from Nobu; 'Nobu for You' says Owner

I heard about this a few days ago from my roommate and I thought that it would make a pretty nice piece, since I'm a fan of Jeremy Piven's.

Apparently, Piven took 12 or so of his best friends to one of the most exclusive restaurants in Aspn, Nobu Sushi.

According to Defamer:

"He came in with a large group of 12 or more without reservations and asked for a table. It was a very busy night, but a table, although cramped, was provided. On his way out, he made a nasty comment to the manager: 'Thanks for nothing.'"

Piven was at the HBO-sponsored festival to appear on a panel with fellow "Entourage" stars. Allegedly his tip also left something to be desired.

"He left a DVD of the first year of 'Entourage' to one of the waiters. [An employee] ran up the stairs and hurled it at him as he was leaving."

That's sad, because I really like[d] Jeremy Piven. I thought he'd be different, maybe, since he's been struggling at getting to fame for so long. Oh well. That's what I get.

At least he didn't leave a DVD copy of Judgement Night or Very Bad Things on the table. That would have sent to wrong message, I think.

You Know What Really Irritates Me?

All right. Here's an interestingly personal issue that really drives me crazy, and I hate to say it, but it's an entirely important thing.

Or so I thought.

I've always had the perception that education - or learning - all implies the same thing. I always thought growing up that having a secondary education would involve people who all held the same belief: that education was important.

Boy, was I wrong.

At least in the state of Georgia. I hate that my own personal assessment of the intellectual world was so off that no one really cares about what happens in the world, and what is right or wrong. That really disappoints me.

Now, tonight's incident is an entirely subjective and unimportant issue, but it speaks volumes for the world around us, and - frankly - it pisses me off. I'm so entirely sick of college students, especially those attending the most popular state school in Georgia, making a mockery of education by being so oblivious to the truth.

Now, what happened tonight was so minute that it doesn't matter, but it's such a significant symptom of the disease that is anti-intellectualism that I can't ignore it.

Again, I'm sorry.

At a party tonight, someone mentioned something about a bridge. I, as always, disputed what was said, calling the structure an "overpass" and not a "bridge". One girl, who shall remain nameless, said that it was an overpass. In fact, she insisted that it was a bridge, and, when a few other people agreed with her, she resolved that she was right.

Fine, I said, and I wen to look it up. Pretensious, I know, but that's just the way that I am. If something is going to get contentious, I just want to know the facts about it. What harm is there in that?

Well, when I found out the difference, which is minute but still present, I walked outside and said something about it. The party involved said, "Oh, we're so over that topic," as if if were never up for discussion in the first place.

Arrrrrgggghhhhh! I hate conscious anti-intellectualism. People who go to college should not be so lazy, especially when it comes to knowing something. Now, the person in question is not necessarily that smart in the first place, but I expected more out of my fellow academics.

And, to end this post, it's not that she was said way tonight; no, indeed, she has been that way about just about anything in which she has no knowledge, which covers a great number of topics.

It drives me crazy, and I hate it. I'm sorry, but that's just the way I feel. Wait, I'm just about to go back out there and cause more trouble. Wish me luck.

Have a good Saturday night.

Writing the Great American Third Novel

So my posts have been fewer and farther between lately, and I blame it all on my new writing schedule, which places me at a coffee shop directly after work until later at night.

I know, all of you out there are so, so, so sad at that. But it's the truth.

And, my Mac doesn't have a wireless card, so I can't just willy-nilly jump on the internet. It's a cop out, but I really have been working hard.

I'm 95 pages into the new book, and if I had to describe it, I'd have to say that it's a hit-man-tries-to-hunt-down-and-kill-a-serial-killer-for-killing-his-partner sort of novel. I don't know. We'll see how it goes. If not well, then there's always the fourth book, eh?

I go to a nice little coffee shop downtown called Hot Corner. It's nice. And big. There's the main room, for ordering coffee and whatnot. You can even check out games like chess and Connect-4 (of course!) to play while you drink your coffee or soda. They even sell these humorously big cans of Jolt! Cola. I had the audacity to drink a whole one a few weeks ago and I was bouncing off the walls afterward.

Beyond the main room, there's a middle breezeway, where all of the smokers go to hang out. This place is often crowded, as there are lots of smokers in Athens. But hey, some of them are attractive, so that's not big deal.

And, wait for it, Hot Corner also has a third room! Isn't this place great? It's an unofficial quiet room. There's no sign up, but it's pretty obvious that it is a quiet room.

For instance, last night, as I was working on my book, the only other guy in the room kept sighing really loudly, as if he was unhappy with my typing. "Uuuuughhhhh," is what it sounded like. I was in the far back corner, as far away as I could be, and I tried to keep my typing noise at a minimum. Besides, there were three or four sets of people screaming at each other at the bar next door. I don't see how I could have distracted him.

But it's a cool place, to say the least. It's like my very own version of Central Perk, only not in New York City.

The third book is going well, though, and I really do think that, so far, it's better than the first two. I hope so anyway.

Another realization I've made lately is that I don't like Matisyahu whatsoever. I don't know if you've heard of him, but Matisyahu is a Hasidic Jew faux-Jamaican white rap artist. I know. And I didn't mind him. He had a song that was very popular on 99x for a good stretch there, and I kind of liked it.

Until I heard the whole album. I did not buy the album, thank God, but I had the pleasure of hearing it twice in one day for about a four day period last week, courtesy of an employee who can't get enough of his stuff. It's ridiculous. And annoying. And just plain bad.

If you get a chance to listen to him, don't. I don't highly recommend him. Have a good day.

Working Sniff

Like the pun above? I do, too, and it illustrates my current working condition right now. I'm getting sick from the pollen count down here in Georgia. Everything has been dusted in yellow, and I've got a fever and the chills and damn the stupid weather!

This blog will be little more than a veritible parade of free-floating thoughts from my world. First of all, I wanted to see if you knew that in Califonia - most notably Silicon Valley - that gas prices exceed $4.00 a gallon? In others it's well over three. That's craziness.

I understand that the gas price is all about supply and demand and people are paying what the market will allow. But this isn't a pizza from Papa John's. It also isn't your cable package, which, sorry Americans, is expendable. Gas is more like a commodity for the people of our great country. Those of you who live in small towns know for a fact that there's no public transportation.

Athens, GA, for example has the second largest public transit system in the state (next to MARTA), which says a lot for the state of public travel in the Peach State, if you know what I mean.

I don't propose that we have a windfall tax on oil companies - excuse me, OIL COMPANIES - but I think that there's a better way that the price of gas can be fenagled.

Windfall taxes, however, are not the way to go. As much of a socialist as I may or may not be (depends on who you ask), I still don't support them. To quote Clark Howard, "That [the proposal of windfall taxes] is a perversion of capitalism."

So where do you find a balance? Ostensibly, you'd think that oil companies - damnit, OIL COMPANIES - would have had enough by now and allow a price drop. In a perfect world, that would be great. But I don't know how much power the companies even have over the price.

So, in a practical world, what we do is head up a grassroots campaign to cut out using so much oil, cutting out the demand. It won't work, but that's what we SHOULD be doing. NOT, as others have said, create a tax for making money. That's ludicrous. Paying for gas sucks, but putting the government in charge of taking that money away sucks even worse. Don't you think?

PS:

I would just like to include one little tibit: Everyone who talks about the case of the Emergency Appropriations Bill, with funds going to the troops, seems to include Republicans' assessments of the pork attached to the bill. What they don't seem to cover is the fact that the pork issues, including money for Katrina victimes, is something left over from the last Congress, which did not get done what it needed to before ending. Go figure.

And should the President veto a bill with necessary emergency funding for the troops, if he says that it is desperately needed? Shouldn't he sign it into law, or at least allow it to become law?

March "Mad"Ness

Why is it that the year that I forget to do a bracket for the Final Four that everyone I know does one but me? It sucks, man. And, to be honest, when I don't have my own bracket (shrugs), I don't even really watch The Tournament.

Oh well. There's always next year. I will give you my undying strategy in the Final Four, though: I always pick the favorite. There's no reason not to. Everybody likes a Cinderalla story.

Not me. I like the best teams playing in the Championship game, although I really, really, really, really, really want Florida to lose. They've had their moment in the sun and it's time for them to move on.

Plus, I'm a UGA graduate and there's nothing more obnoxious than a UF grad talking about sports. Blecch.

Hell, I'm even tired of blogging about the Tournament right now, so I think I'm going to stop.

I developed an anology for why I support withdrawal from Iraq, but no one wants to read that, so it will forever remain in my Draft section of the blog. You're Welcome.

So, then, I guess there's nothing left to talk about. March is the month for March Madness, so if I don't have anything insightful to say about it, then I guess I shouldn't say anything at all, in deference to the NCAA. Hmmm.

There's another scandal involving the Bush Administration. I guess I could talk about that. I've got to be honest on this one: I don't really know what the big deal is over the firing of some U.S. Attorneys. And, as much of a vendetta I have for the Bush Administration, and even I don't care about this issue, is it really that important?

But, really, I'm beginning to wonder if Right-Wingers are playing up the following line for comedic effect: "U.S. Attorneys serve at the pleasure of the President."

Not that funny, no, but I also have the brain of a thirteen-year-old, so of course I'm going to think it's hilarious.