No Chelios - Late for Class

I had a class last night in the middle of downtown Houston to have a CD Rom and a website explained to me. I'm taking AP II online and the teacher wanted to be sure everyone understood how to do everything.

Not a usual problem except I was 30 minutes late and was the last student to enter the room and figured out I needed to buy a stupid access code in order to do things properly. :-(

I can see the future a bit and in relation to college textbooks, the paper versions are going the way of the dinosaur and publishers are having more things online and what not. I would love that as doing CTRL+F in order to look up something is a grand sight better than hoping a word is in the index and flipping pages.

I like the track this is taking but being in the middle where I still have to drop a couple of hundred on textbooks AND $60 on an access code really blows.

NHL Playoffs Detroit vs Pittsburgh Penguins

I'm sure many people will wonder why a born and reared Texan would have a passion for hockey. I'm not married or dating a transport but rather I love the Olympic games. Winter Olympics 1980 was a major year.

The time was in the middle of the Cold War. Jimmy Carter was president, Americans hated/feared Russians and vice versa, and the US had never done well in hockey during the Olympics. If you look at the NHL roster you'll notice a propensity towards consonant letters and thick Eastern European accents. But in 1980 a near miracle occurred when the US beat Russia and eventually took gold against Finland. I remember watching that and thinking hockey was the coolest sport ever. I didn't have cable but as soon as I got it, I got hooked on ESPN and fell in love with hockey.

Advance a few years and I'm watching hockey and it's their mid-season joke around fest where the MVPs of everything come out and perform for the fans and there being interviewed is Chris Chelios.

He was so cute and playful like a child and I fell in love.

Before this hockey crush came the one I had with the greatest #2 ever - Jaromir Jagr.

His hair was A LOT longer and wilder when he played for the Pens but that's why I loved him. I used to have a pic of him as my screensaver and no one understood why I liked a wild mountain man. See how childish and innocent his smile is, that's what I like.

(But let's be honest, my crush on the Nelson twins was also based on their long wild hair.)

Strange what trades will do to you. When Lemieux and Jagr were ruling the roost, Pittsburgh was my favorite team but when Lemieux retired and Jagr cut his hair, my loyalty shifted to Chicago and Chelios with only occasional strays. Now, I'm fully committed to the Chelios cause as he gets less and less playing time and I have to strain and play to see him skate.

So this playoff season is a little wierd as I was not on the Ov bandwagon when Detroit was winning and I practically hated the Wings. Now, I'm nuts about them and hope they take home the cup.

In a sport where momentum means nothing, and home advantage means everything playing the final game in Detroit I'm sure they will.

Go Wings!!!!

The Storyteller

So today was a good day today. The weather was nice though it was warm which is awesome for me. My body is 2 degrees below normal so I HATE the cold but LOVE the heat. Thank God I live in Texas!!!

I'm debating going to summer school since I'm buying a house right now. I had to drop a grand on summer school tuition and will need to get books but I'm $2900 short of the down payment I need for the house. Technically I can get this money but I'm a little worried.

Also there is the tiredness factor. I'm getting really sick of working and going to school and would like a break from the whole cycle. Then again I really don't because I'm a homebody who loves to read and other than the tests and papers to write this is how I normally roll.

I also want to start going out more and maybe do some dancing. Now that the Vit D thing is fading or being under control I could do that.

I don't know how I managed to lose 30 pounds but not drop a dress size. Mainly it's because I lost the weight in my face, arms, and legs. My stupid stomach stayed the same and that affects everything I wear. Hopefully soon this will stop and I can go shopping and look a bit slimmer.

Rambling On

I got a B in Anatomy & Physiology I. I wanted an A to make Fall Semester easier but I didn't get that.

I did get an A in Psychology and my professor's encouraging words really influenced me. So much so I decided to major in Psychology as well as International Business/Finance. I sent her an email telling her what her kind words did to me and she responded with thanks but then went on to say I should join Psi Beta, the psychology honor's society.

Umm... yes please. I would dearly want to get some scholarships and like many other academics I want letters by my name and the acceptance of my peers (you know the intelligencia). Always nice to know you're wanted.

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At work, Paula has moved over to the numbers side. At work Accounting (the dept I work in) is on one side of the space and everyone else is on the other. Paula D. has moved over to the numbers side and it's great. She's so sweet and funny and she puts up with me. I just simply love having her here.

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Now that I don't have to drive into another city for school 4 days a week I have the time and inclination to go to the movies. Here are my thoughts on the movies I've seen recently.

Dark Knight

Rocked balls. They wrote a really great script which is 90% of the great movies and they sensibly kept the special effects as only frosting to a well made cake of a movie (only 2-10%).

I really think Albert is underrated in this movie ashis speech about how some men just want to see the world burn is totally true. I liked how they mixed real personality with the characters and didn't lose focus by getting caught up in the cartoony nature of the villains.

Rating: A+

Stepbrothers

More Will Ferrell retardation which I love. He's one of the few actors whose movies I must see the first 2 weeks they open but I'm in no way inclined to see it again. This movie will be added to that list.

Really good script and I like how they mocked the Peter Pan men that roam the earth. The white poop licking wasn't necessary but made the ending make more sense and let's face it if you can't end a movie by using children to beat other children then you're not in America.

Rating: B

Pineapple Express

Seth Rogan et al. are growing on me. He's the new Will Ferrell in that he knows his body isn't the best and he knows just how to reveal it to get a laugh but not seem like he's making fun of himself. The script rocked balls and made the movie. The script was 95% - 98% of the movie and the special effects were virtually none exsitent. The other percentage was the acting and how these crazy people all fit together.

I didn't want to see this movie because there was little released about the movie and I don't like Seth Rogan flicks but I'm going to have to go to Blockbuster and rent some because I have new respect for him. The entire reason I saw this movie was because James Franco was in it and I just love the way he gives face to the camera.

You know how Johnny Depp manipulates his face and Jim Carey over does it? That's James Franco and he simply rocks. I love him and he's the reason I didn't waste $8 but spent 2 lovely hours cracking up in the theatre.

Rating: A+

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Really cute but absolutely predictable and I didn't like the acting at all. None of the girls really stood out except the goth chick and that was only because she was dating that really cute Asian guy that was in 21 (The Vegas card counting movie).

Absolutely nothing special. See this on video or give it a miss.

Rating: D

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I've been trying to lose weight for many moons now and haven't been able to lose an ounce. Earlier this year I was diagnosed with a severe Vitamin D deficiency and it impaired my ability to lose weight. Once it was corrected I suddenly lose 20 lbs overnight for no reason. Then I started eating grits and gained back 10, so I threw out all the grits and haven't eaten any sense.

I'm a huge fan of the BBC America show, You Are What You Eat and decided to look to see if there was a book at my libarary from the show and sure enough there was. I really like this plan as it's something I can do for the rest of my life and lets me eat a variety of foods and doesn't require me to look like a fool if I go out with my friends.

So I'm going to buy the book from Amazon and incorporate it in my life and hopefully I will lose weight.

However, a major part of losing weight is exercise. I meant to start working out on Monday but keep forgetting to get on that first thing when I wake up. Without that I don't get it done and so I'm berating myself. I really want to lose weight... but am afraid I am not committed to doing what it takes to lose the weight.

That's about it.

Laters

Still No Exercise But Learning is Occurring

So I still haven't managed to get to the Y to work out but I'm aiming for tomorrow. I really want to work out more but I just don't have the time. Two jobs and full-time school can put a crimp in someone's schedule.

When I'm done writing I'm going to finish watching Family Guy (Stewie's into gymnastics, Mr. Pewterschmidt has lost all his money, and Peter is showing his strict Catholic father's neglect by being all needy around his super-mean father-n-law. [Why would someone keep salt and barbwire together in a jar?]), put out my clothes for tomorrow, then go shower and go to bed. My energy is highest in the mornings so I need to be ready to go in the morning and then head out or else I'll never work out.

I decided against testing out of my computer science course and taking it. It's uncertain if the college I want to attend will take the credit without the grade as that's done on a case by case basis. If I take the class I'm pretty much guaranteed an A since I know the majority of the material already. That's a win-win situation whereas the testaking leads a stress-maybe win- possbily lose-situation. Gambling's only fun with other people's money.