Article: The science behind butterflies in the stomach (and a new love drug!!)

Well....this is a real downer. Apparently, some scientists have isolated a molecule in the blood which they believe can be associated with the sensation(s) experienced when someone "falls in love". People who recently have fallen in love have high levels of this molecule and those levels subside over the course of a year.

Man...what a bummer. That's almost as dream-shattering as when George Lucas tried to scientifically explain the dynamics of "the force" in 'The Phantom Menage'! (Yeah...I know. I'm a geek.)

Read about it here.

ALSO, some folks have come up with a new drug that they believe will be a type of viagra for women (those are my words...not the scientists'). My favorite excerpt from this article is...

"Data from lab animals was pretty convincing. In female rats, PT-141 “stimulated solicitational behaviors,” which is lab speak for “made horny girl rats.”

Now tell me that that's not funny!! :)

Read about that one here.

Website: Cute comics

I just stumbled on this site with some pretty cool comics. Just thought I'd pass this one on.

They can be found here.

Book: Andromeda Strain

I really enjoyed this book. 8.5 out of 10 stars. Also, the movie had the benefit of being very similar to the book (unlike most other movies inspired by his works).

I'm actually at a loss for words for this book. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing. There wasn't really one part that really stood out and grabbed me as being good. The technical details seemed pretty sound (at least the ones that I am qualified to debunk are). It has everything from jet aircraft to killer viruses to satellites. The only thing that it's missing is women!! (just kidding) :)

After reading this and 'Congo' (both of which were written in the 60's and 70's), I appreciate that Crichton has a very keen understanding of the technologies and methods required to achieve certain goals and I really do wonder if such things were available back in the 60's and 70's.

Anyway...good read! I read the whole thing in 1.5 days.

Article: Kiss of death

A girl in Canada literally died after kissing her boyfriend.

I am sooooo glad that I don't have that peanut allergy that everyone else seems to have these days. :)

Linkage

Article: Man dumps mother's ashes on football field

OK...now this guy could fit into either one of the following categories...

1. He really loved his mother and wanted to do it for her
2. He really loves the Eagles and used his mother as an excuse

Either way, he's got his 15 minutes of fame. :)

Here's the link.

Entry: My trip to CA

The trip to CA was pretty cool. I enjoyed it (minus, of course, the trip back).

Dad and I had a blast taking out his ATVs a couple times. It was really cool zooming through the woods/mountains on those things. Plenty of obstacles to play with and get hurt on. ;)

We also went out and did some shooting while I was there. Granted, I'm not really a big firearms person, but it was nice going out and squeezing off a few with the ol' man. In the past, I've preferred to not shoot anything larger than a .22. His glock was a different story, but still, it wasn't too bad. I discovered that my future in armed law enforcement is hardly ensured. I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn if it were attacking my mother!!

We also went Xmas tree hunting. Why do I call it "hunting" you ask? Well....this is mainly because my father has this thing about driving miles out of town and up the most remote snow-covered moutain to find the "perfect tree". By the way...his trees hardly qualify as perfect. Honestly, the last two that I've helped him collect could easily have qualified as Charley Brown specials. Yeah...they were that bad. Then again, I'm also biased. My idea of the perfect tree has always been the typically conical and unblemished fir tree. Dad has this thing for trees that are healthy on one side and lacking on the other so that it can be easily placed up against a wall.

One thing that I really enjoy about being out there in NoCal (particularly in the Mt. Shasta area) is the complete lack of light pollution. Walking out at night and looking up, one can see a view of the sky that can easily rival those that I've seen on perfect nights out on Folly beach here in Charleston.

We also enjoyed some awesome weather while I was there! Now, granted, I hate cold weather (and it was still cold there), but it was nothing like the last Thanksgiving that I spent with them. It was in the 60s the first day that I arrived. Now that was a blessing! And, of course, the day after I leave, the weather breaks and the snow starts plummeting down. How's that for timing! ;)

There's so much more that I could write about my truly excellent trip, but I'm tired this morning and going to cut this short. I'll try to add on to it later.

Entry: Stuck at the airport (part 2)

If you didn't read part 1 of this exciting story of my return to Charleston, please read below. Otherwise, enjoy the second installment! :)

Yeah....so my flight finally left Portland ~1am this morning. The delay was longer than the actual flight was.

I got to Chicago and, lo and behold, the flight was actually arriving on time! Woohoo!! After my 2 hour layover, that was good news.

Well, the plane lands when it's supposed to. However, someone dorks something up and they realize that they are unable to open the door to the baggage area of the aircraft. So, they had to bring a crew in to literally remove the back wall of the passenger cabin so that they could access the luggage area from the inside. Well...that was an extra 30 minutes right there.

We are finally allowed to board the plane. I take my seat (next to a guy whom I can only describe as "young and angry"). I get my stuff situated and then I tilt my head back and gently drift off to sleep. I wake up, maybe 25 minutes later to find that we haven't moved an inch. I was like....WTF??? The captain gets on the horn and says something to the effect of: "We're waiting for our turn to take off. This is going to take forever. This is O'Hare....this is what happens here. Thank you very much for your patience." (assuming, of course, that we actually had any). So, we finally start taxiing out and went about half a mile before the aircraft stops again and the engines are shut down. The captain comes back on: "Sorry again folks. We're going to be here a while waiting for our turn. We've killed the engines so that we can save fuel while we're in line.". He wasn't kidding either. There were planes that had to give up their spots in line so that they could go back to the terminal and refuel!! That place was absolutely nuts. I not only saw lines of planes....I saw lines of lines of planes! It was like a 2-dimensional line of planes waiting to take off!

Long story short (err....shortER), we ended up taking off in Chicago about 15 minutes after we were scheduled to land in Charleston. Sonofa....

Anyway, I'm home now. I'm unpacked, fed, and just waiting for the sandman to take me away.

Details of my trip to follow.

Movie: Ice Harvest

Saw this today. 6 out of 10 stars. I really didn't care for it too terribly much. However, I didn't give it a five because it simply wasn't my kind of movie. There really wasn't anything wrong with it. I was under the impression that it was going to be a bit more comical than it was. It had its moments, but they fizzled quickly.

The good news is that I got to see it with dad. Any time spent with the ol' man is time well spent as far as I'm concerned! :)

NOTE: TOO MANY ENTRIES AT A TIME IN A SINGLE NIGHT. I HAVE TO STOP!!!

Movie: Jarhead

I've actually seen this movie before, but I saw it again with my dad and felt that it deserved a review for my audience.

8 out of 10 stars. The part of this movie that I think that they really captured well was the agony that what's-his-name fealt when he realized (or at least, suspected) that his girlfriend back in the world was cheating on him. Anybody who has ever felt like that knows that he pretty much nailed that part perfectly!

I loved the music. The sexual humor was a touch much, but was still hilarious (mostly) It's one of those movies that kinda transcends the storyline and delves more into the human condition and how it tries to survive its endless descent into war.

Well....either that, or I'm on crack! :)

Book: State of Fear

One thing that I have noticed about Michael Crichton's books is that they're very easy to read. They may be jam-packed with information and other miscellaneous goodies, but it's very easy to keep reading them once you've started.

I give this one 6 out of 10 stars. I wasn't really all that enthralled with the story. I'm not much of an eco-geek. Although, I must admit that this story did bring a lot of interesting issues to the foreground.

My biggest beef with this book would have to be that Kenner (the uber scientist who knows just about everything about everything) knows too d**m much! Every time someone has something to say, he'll attack them with an endless scientific argument and the literary references for each off the top of his head. Man...if only we could all do that!

Honestly (and scarily), what I most enjoyed about this story was the dynamic that Peter Evans had with the various females in his life. He had Sarah (his co-worker whom he initially wanted), Jennifer (the lawyer with a strange aptitude for special ops combat), and Janis (is lusty "uncomplex" FWB). It's kinda interesting watching Sarah and Jennifer interact with each other, and also watching when Sarah meets Janis. Yeah...I know. This was supposed to be a very insignificant part of the storyline, but it's the part that I found the most entertaining.

Entry: Stuck at the airport

Good evening/morning! For anyone who's awake at this very moment (and if you are, you should be shot for being up so late on a work night), I figured that I'd throw an entry up here since I really have nothing else to do at the moment.

I'm currently in Portland, OR, and am waiting on yet ANOTHER delayed flight. All of my flights have been delayed today! ARGGHHHH!!!!!! Something tells me that I'm going to be missing work on Monday. Blah. I was thinking that I could show up for a half-day or something, but I get the feeling that I'm going to feel smashed when I finally get back to Charleston. Man...I hear my bed calling to me as we speak. "Jason....Jason....come lay your head down upon my soft pillows and slumber and dream of bountiful women." Oh well...I guess the best I can do at the moment is try to catch some Z's while my shoes are off and my feet are freezing. Oh well. Good times! :)

By the way...free wireless internet access in airports really rocks!! Kudos to the my peeps here in Portland.

So, you're probably asking yourself....what does a 28-year-old single whiteboy stuck on the wrong coast do on a computer in a weird airport in the middle of the night. That's simple. He....

1. Discards ~400 spam messages (since he hasn't checked e-mail in a week)
2. E-mails work and tells them that he won't be in on Monday
3. Cleans out his eHarmony account. (why the hell he still does this is beyond him)
4. Writes in his useless blog
5. Tries to find anyone....ANYONE....who might be on IM to talk to
6. Checks all his voice mail
7. Sends random e-mails

etc, etc

Man...what a charmed life I lead.

Entry: Off for the week

Well folks....it's that time. I'm getting on a 6am flight in the morning (after what I'm sure will be an insufficient night's sleep). Destination? Beautiful Mt. Shasta, California!

Never heard of it? Don't worry....most haven't. I honestly don't recall ever having seen a stop light in the entire town the last couple of times that I was there. It's a very nice place though. Very quiet. It's one of those one-with-nature kinds of places. They sure know how to do forests in NoCal. It's not like the brush and weeds that we have here in the lowcountry. The forests and mountains of that area are of such majesty that it simply inspires just to look at them.

I'm probably going to be fat when I return. Delores (my step-mother) has this horrible habit of making pies, cakes, and pastries just about every night that I'm there. Plus, add to that the fact that this is Thanksgiving week and you've got a wonderful recipe for weight gain.

Oh....by the way....did I mention that it's COLD AS HADES over there?!?! Ick. I hate the cold. I love visiting the folks though. Good times will be had by all. :)

It might be a week before I can post to my blog again. If I hit an internet cafe or something while I'm there (as if the town would have one!!) , I'll try to throw a few worlds out to the world. I will be back next Monday though.

Anyway....luego!

Movie: Prime

Gooood evening! It is Monday and my work week is officially over! Sweeeeet!!

Anyway, I just saw the movie 'Prime'. Had you ever heard of it? Me neither. Needless to say, it was actually...."cute". Yeah...I know. That doesn't exactly sound like the most heterosexual description that one could give to a movie like this (since it really should be classified as a chick flick). It had some really cute one-liners though that really saved the day. If you can't see it, don't stress about it. If you can, it's worth it. Overall, I give it 6.5 out of 10 stars.

Man...some of the comments were just FUNNY!!!

Article: Woman tries to exit plane for smoke break

Here's an interesting article. An Australian woman who was drinking, had taken sleeping pills, and has a history of sleep walking, tried to open the emergency exit on an airplane so that she could step out for a smoke break. Yeeeeehawwwww!!!

Click here for the story.

Entry: Yet another weekend

Another weekend is behind us. I FINALLY got to see the new 'Harry Pothead' movie yesterday at the IMAX theater. There's just something really cool about an IMAX movie....I can't put my finger on it. Although, I will admit that I am rather tired of the monologue that preceeds every showing at that theater. "Just sit back and enjoy the Charleston IMAX experience.". Blah blah blah.

I don't know if I would say that this movie was the best of the series thus far, but I will say that it was by far the funniest. I think that the whole dance thing and the scene in the bath were the best parts. The dance was so true to life. It was hilarious when you see Prof. McGonigall (sp?) announce to the Gryfindor (sp?) house that they're having a dance. You see all of the girls' faces light up with excitement and you see all the guys just kinda sink into their seats and start grumbling.

Anyway....all in all, I would say 8 out of 10 stars. Definately worth the see.

Entry: Funny thing to see

Anyone who knows me knows that I've never really been into the whole sports thing. I mean....as far as I'm concerned, rioting basketball fans should be shot and NASCAR fans should require a passport to get into this country.

I must admit...I really do think that the football fan is a special breed of sports fan. And, beyond that, the COLLEGE football fan is probably borderline psychotic when it comes to flying their colors proudly. The reason that I mention this is because tonight I had the privelage of seeing a tailgate party for the Clemson/Carolina game. "A tailgate party in Charleston??" you say? It was funny. I was walking by the Omar temple downtown this evening and they were having a tailgate party. They had a giant big-screen TV pulled up to a window to the outside with a bunch of trucks backed up around it. They even had the tiki (sp?) torches everywhere. I thought it was hilarious and just thought that it was worth mentioning. :)
Personally, if they could find a way to make both teams lose, I'd love it! ;)

Went to the aquarium today. I must say that it was as impressive as always. I was disappointed, however, that their Sargassum exhibit is STILL plastic!!! What's up with that?? I still haven't heard from the aquarium folks yet about the volunteer position. I was told today that that was kind of unusual. So, I'm getting kind of antsy (is that a word??) now.

I cleaned out Fishy's tank today. Talk about one p*ssed off little fish!! Today marks the second week that he has survived in my care. I'm actually starting to feel just a little bit like a responsible adult right now (he says proudly). :-D

Book: Congo

OK...just finished Congo. All in all, I give it 7 out of 10 stars. I really liked it up until the end. It's rare that you see climax-building done so well. Unfortunately, the climax wasn't nearly as good as the climax-building.

I enjoyed the level of detail that was showed. It was consistent with what must have been a mind-numbing research process. Like other great authors, Crichton knows to google what he's writing before he writes about it.

My problem started when I realized that the interaction with the gray gorillas was really not very exciting once the author established that they were the ones responsible for the deaths of the people in the expeditions before them. Also, I think that the resolution with the gorillas should have been a completely seperate event from the volcano eruption in the end. In other words, I wish that the author would have given closure to the hostility between the expedition and the gorillas (whether it be that one kills all of the other, or a common enemy is discovered, a peace is brokered, or something) instead of just having the eruption wipe out everything in the middle of the melee. Oh well. Can't have everything! :)

Good book. Great read. Definately recommended!

Entry: Cats

While I was reading the following comic, I had a hard time paying attention to the plot because I couldn't keep my eyes off of the cat. This is so true to life though!! You know the old saying....cats are most attracted to people who don't like them.

(click to see larger image)

Entry: TGIF (part 2)

OK....'tis Saturday morning. I had a lot of fun at that Oak place downtown. (I keep calling it that because I don't remember it's full name - just that it's on broad street). The live bad played some wicked cool music. There were also some very impressive dancers there too. I think I danced a lot better last night than I did that first night at Toucan Reef. I might actually get some fun out of this yet! ;)

Article: 'Saudi Aramco World' now available online

Saudi Aramco has started to publish its 'Saudi Aramco World' publication online. The September/October 2005 edition can be seen HERE.

Chances are that 95% of you aren't going to have a clue what any of this stuff is about. Don't worry...you're not alone. ;)

Entry: TGIF

I know that I shouldn't post a TGIF until tonight (when Friday's actually done and over with), but I'm in the mood to write.

Unfortunately, I won't be seeing 'Harry Potter' this evening. I'm hitting a matinee showing at the IMAX tomorrow. This evening, I will spend, instead, dancing at this Oak place downtown. Pssshhhh. Hope I do better than I did last time. :)

Fortune smiled upon me today (if you even care about this kind of stuff). I was fortunate enough to see a EA-6B, an AWACS, and a C-130 (although this one isn't too terribly scarce) flying around Charleston. Granted, any of these isn't realy all that special in and of itself, but all in the same day is pretty cool (for someone like me who is easily entertained).

I discovered a very nice series of albums called 'Cafe del Mar'. Check them out if you have the chance. A lot of them are very relaxing.

Today, I was reminded about that wonderful thing known as karma. Honestly, more often than not, what goes around really DOES come around. At some point, the bully is bullied, the heartbreaker has his/her heart broken, the fortunate knows misfortune, and the envied becomes pitied. It's funny how that works out, especially in relationships. For every odd or uncomfortable situation that you can be in with another, it is almost a certainty that that other person will eventually find themselves in your shoes. For everyone who breaks your heart, they will have theirs broken the same way. For everyone who ever wants you in vain, they will eventually be wanted in the same way (again, in vain) by somebody else. It's interesting to be able to sometimes follow a chain of similar circumstances between groups of people. Have no idea what I'm talking about? You do....you just don't understand how I'm making my point. But you do. Oh yes...you do (or WILL). And remember....the grass always seems greener on the other side. Maybe it's time to get out the ol' fertilizer and start making due with what grass you have. ;)

Wow. That was some of the more incoherent rambling I've done. I've never tried so hard to get a point through and fail so miserably. Oh well...it's Friday. Who cares!!! <:D

I signed up for Vonage today. Thus far, I am impressed. I'll let everyone know how that turns out.

Luego!

Entry: NEW PHONE NUMBER!!!

>>>>>>>>>> IMPORTANT <<<<<<<<<<

For those who didn't receive the spam e-mail that I sent out earlier, I have a new HOME phone number. My mobile number is the same. If you need to know what the number is, e-mail me.

Article: Are women ready for the 'Stud Farm'?

OK....comical or scary? Heidi Fleiss is opening up a new business. Maybe I should get my resume ready! Then again, I doubt I could pull off such a gig. ;)

The article

Entry: While I'm at it...

By the way, while I'm talking about salsa, I might as well mention the people who run the class. Here's an excerpt from their news letter...

"Papus and Lee are professional instructors at the MUSC Wellness Center in Charleston, SC. They have received awards for the Corona Salsa Contest and the Hispanic Festival Contest.They recently danced with the Latin Groove Dancers in the Piccolo Spoleto Dance Block Party and Festival Hispano and have done many performances for other special events."

Beginners/Intermediate - Thursday nights at 8:00-9:00pm at the MUSC Wellness Center; open to the public and $5 per person

Advanced – Wednesday nights at 8:00- 9:00pm at the MUSC Wellness Center; free for MUSC members and open to the public for $5 per person. The class structure will be much more focused on learning more complicated steps and combinations and will be smaller to allow for more individualized attention.

There are also private lessons available upon request.

Entry: Salsa night

One day closer to my vacation next week. Awesome!

Just got back from my salsa lesson. Afterwards, I ended up going to the Coffee House (or whatever it is called) down on East Bay street. Walked by Southend Brewery a couple of times. What is it about latin dance places that don't have ANY room to dance in at all?!?! I swear...amateurs like me require room to trip, fall, move, and various other things. I'm going to some place tomorrow called The Oaks (I think??) which is yet another salsa place. I'll be taking another lesson with the same people who do my class over at MUSC. Blah I say. I forgot my knee brace again tonight, but luckily it didn't bother me at all this time.

Other than that, today was pretty uneventful. Yet another 10.5 hour work day. I'll probably pull another one again tomorrow. Again, I have gotten home at such an hour that I do not have enough time to make my lunch for tomorrow. Go figure. I deserve to get fat. ;) (gotta stay away from the snack machines!!)

'Harry Pothead'.....err....'Potter' is coming out tomorrow. I'm wondering if it can hold its own against the book.

Book: Eaters of the Dead (Michael Crichton)

Ok....before anybody starts yelling at me for my taste in literature, this was actually a very good book (that had very little mention of eating anybody at all). This is the story that the movie 'The 13th Warrior' (starring Antonio Banderas) was based on.

All in all, I give this book 7.5 out of 10 stars. It wasn't the conflict with the Wendol (the bad guys) that really maintained my interest here. Instead, I rather enjoyed reading about the clashing of two cultures - namely arab and norse. I have read about some parallels to 'Beowulf', but the story is mostly based off of the accounts of Ibn Fadlan and his adventure with the 'Rus' (Norsemen) which were documented in his writing, 'Risala'.

If the accounts in his 'Risala' are accurate, then I have a new-found respect for the men of the north. They're outlook on life was admirable at best and interesting at worst.

Some memorable lines...
----------
- "The rain is cold."
- "How can the rain be cold? You are cold and you are unhappy. The rain is not cold or unhappy."
----------
- "Allah was wise enough to put death at the end of life instead of at the beginning."

Entry: My Wednesday

Another hump day has come and gone. Can't say that I'm all that sorry for it either. I'm really looking forward to getting on that plane next Tuesday and getting my butt over to CA to see dad. Of course, to make up for some of the missed time from work, I'll be working long hours every day until then. Blah! Speaking of which, I really need to be in bed right now, but I'm waiting on something and figured that I had a little time to do this entry.

I went to go see my first opera this evening. As the picture would indicate, it was 'Madame Butterfly'. I find it extremely funny that I went to see a show that is about a Japanese woman, sung in Italian, and performed for an american audience. Talk about an identity crisis. However, I must say that it was a cool experience. I enjoyed my first opera! I really think that I need to brush up on my skills of formality though. And yes...I wore a suit. I don't think I've worn one of my suits since my last job interview 3.75 years ago. Oh...I also ran into that 10-year-old girl and her father (whom I mentioned in an earlier post). Fortunately, she didn't have time to molest my scalp this time.

There was this one moment during the show that a very elderly woman (and I do mean elderly) fell at the steps leading downstairs. She had a gaggle of people rush to her aid. It's amazing that she didn't break anything (like a hip). It was nice to see such a display of human kindness, though. It's often rare these days. Now....the drivers trying to get out of the parking garage all at the same time...THAT'S a VERY different story in and of itself!

Article: Sparrow shot for downing dominos

This is an article worth reading. Now...granted, I would never have condoned the shooting of this bird, but what followed was just funny. Here are my favorite quotes...

"The company is considering some kind of memorial or mention for the dead bird during the television broadcast Friday, he added."

"A Dutch website called Geenstijl offered a $1,200 reward for anybody who knocks over the dominoes ahead of time to avenge the bird."

Here's the link

Article: Woman on couch

I found this last week and figured I'd post it. It's odd to me how some people will allow themselves to fall into such a state of lethargy. Basically, this woman spent six years on a couch and ended up dying. The details are pretty....err...."interesting".

Linkage...
http://www.jengajam.com/r/fat-woman-in-couch

P.S. It may be a good idea to read this before or after lunch. ;)

Entry: Chicken Little (and other stuff)

OK. Went to see 'Chicken Little' this evening. I give it 7 our of 10 stars. Definately worth seeing at least once in a theater. Although, if you do see it and decide to do so with someone else, make sure that they're into the whole disney thing. I gotta say though....there was a 2-second spoof of 'Lion King' at the very beginning that had me cracking up.

Again, I just need to talk about what a cool mom I have. How many women would enjoy going out to see an animated Disney flick with her 28-year-old son and enjoy herself. She rocks!! (regardless of the fact that she's giving me grief about the sheet that's covering my couch - see the MillerCam for details)

Also, someone has mentioned to me that I should put something a little more cheerful underneath the turkey on the right side of this page. I feel the need to explain what is written there. Firstly (and most importantly), NOVEMBER DOES NOT MAKE ME DEPRESSED! I am merely stating that, compared to the rest of the year, November is kinda drab. It's cold (well....in most parts of the world), all the plantlife is dead or dying, the world is draped in ugly pastelle (sp?) colors, and the official colors of Thanksgiving are orange and brown! Tell me that's not just blah!!! In October, you have really cool scary stuff (or, at least stuff that TRIES to be cool and scary). In december, you get Xmas feasts for a week straight followed straight by New Years. What do you get in November? Pictures of Pilgrims. Bleh.

Picture: Bridge demolition

Here are a few quick snapshots (courtesy of Tracy Bates)...

Website: Everything about the bible

Ok...just so you people know, I am not condoning the following website as a bible-killer or anything and am certainly not making any religious statements. I just thought that it was a very interesting read (what parts I did read).

Linkage....
http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/

UPDATE: Here's the bible illustrated with Legos!!!
http://www.thebricktestament.com/

Article: Did King Kong exist??

Well...maybe 10,000 years ago. It's interesting (to me) how many creatures used to co-exist with early man that would be considered "monsters" by today's standards. Of course, this primate may not be that spooky, but things like the Megalodon certainly were. Then again, today we have things such as the giant squid (and other various creatures that go bump in the night). I should have been a cryptozoologist!

Check out the link....
http://www.mcmaster.ca/ua/opr/nms/newsreleases/2005/rink.html

Entry: Another weekend come and gone

Well....Sunday is over and I can't complain one bit about my weekend.
Spent most of today reading 'Congo' (man...I am loving that book) and fiddling around on the ol' 'puters trying to get some more geek stuff to work. Details to come later (if I can ever get it to function correctly).
Just got back from tonight's installment of the 'Stained Glass Series Concert' with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. It was held at the beautiful Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul in downtown Charleston. Those episcopalians (sp?) really know how to build a church. A couple of my friends (Xtina D. and Daphne H.) sang in the choir. It was an awesome performance. I think that they really carried the CSO folks pretty well. If I had half of the talent of either of those girls, I would be....well....very talented! ;)

After the concert, we went to a restaurant downtown that I cannot remember (let alone pronounce). It was there that I had the fortune of conversing with a 10-year-old girl who was kind enough to inform me that my hair looked like "dog's hair". She then proceeded to rub my head so fast that the static discharge could probably light New York City for an hour.

Oh....I also had a very odd dream last night that was kinda reminiscent of the 'Saw' movies. Oh well. It was definately better than the one I had the night before about enlisting in the Marine Corps! :) Ask for details. They're good!

Entry: Yet another Saturday

Well....here I am. My first blog. Let's just see how long I can keep it up. It doesn't seem like the kind of thing that would hold my interest for very long, but I guess it's worth a shot.

This marks the end of my third week working for SRC. So far, nothing uneventful (with the exception of the Halloween costume contest). I'm interested to see what they come up with for the Xmas party.

Today was rather uneventful. Did some miscellaneous chores around the house and read some more of my book. I'm currently reading 'Congo' (Michael Crichton). Thus far, it is MUCH better than the movie was. Then again, isn't that usually the case? I just got back from another four-hour card game downtown. Good times, as always.

My fish (currently called "fishy") is alive and well. This makes the 7th day that he has survived under my care. For those who don't know, my last fish survived for only three days. That was quite sad. This one's really neat too. He's a beautiful gradient of dark red and dark blue. I don't think that I could have found a better fish.

I'm looking forward to my upcoming trip to California. I always enjoy going over to see dad up in the mountains. The only thing that I don't really care for too much is the weather. It gets cold pretty early over there. I'm also not a very big fan of snow.

Picture: Halloween

Here's one of the halloween pictures. Pretty pathetic....even for a last minute costume. Guess I won't be turning any heads this year. :)

Article: Lowcountry Destinations on CNN

Charleston has once again graced the CNN website. Click here to check it out.

Entry: Happy birthday USMC!

Today, the United States Marine Corps (pronounced "core", not "corpse") celebrates its 230th birthday.

A little blurb from General Hagee....

"On November 10th, 1775, the Second Continental Congress resolved to raise two battalions of Continental Marines marking the birth of our United States Marine Corps. As Major General Lejeune’s message reminds us, the ensuing generations of Marines would come to signify all that is highest in warfighting excellence and military virtue. Each November as Marines the world over celebrate the birth of our Corps, we pay tribute to that long line of “Soldiers of the Sea” and the illustrious legacy they have handed down to us."

OK. Enough of this foolishness. Back to work...