a history of me

When will someone say "no" to Paris Hilton? She was born into a life of privilege and stands to inherit a fortune. So she became famous because she's famous, then parlayed that fame into a cheesy TV show playing on the fact that she's rich and dumb. Magically, a homemade porn surfaces at the same time as that show debuts and suddenly she's one of the most recognizable people in the world. Right now I'm watching her exert no particular talent while hosting SNL.

I know SNL has been hosted by people who aren't actors or comedians, but they've always achieved some level of notoriety in some means of performance or another. Musicians, athletes, models, politicians, even George Steinbrenner had a success story that preceded his appearance on SNL. I'm not saying she doesn't have the right to explore her interests, but when will someone, anyone, tell her that wealth and a nice figure do not constitute entertainment?

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It seems that gay marriage could be coming to New York City. Obviously there will be some legal wrangling over the issue, but the first step has been taken. I honestly don't see why gay marriage scares so many people. It is fear, by the way, not anger that drives anti-homosexual thought. I just don't see what's so scary. Am I 100% comfortable with homosexuality? Not really, it's still kind of a new concept to me. Growing up the only gay people I saw were on TV or in movies, although I later learned that my art teacher in elementary school was gay. Flaming, really, but when I was a kid I didn't know (or care) what that meant.

As I've matured and come into contact (figuratively) with more homosexuals I've gotten over any illogical objection to their behavior. Frankly, I question the need for a dichotomy in this matter. Do people fit into "homosexual" or "heterosexual?" When did we start using these terms? In fact, when did we decide that you had to choose at all? And can anyone argue against homosexuality without citing the Bible as a reason?

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Last night Aziz started sleeping in his new room, so I had a glorious evening of uninterrupted slumber. He's not 100% "moved out" because he left a lot of random shit behind. Some of it I guess he wanted me to keep, like a dustpan and some soda, but some of it is just garbage. We'll have to sort this out. I appreciate gifts but not when they are specifically for me to throw away.

I've taken advantage of my new solitude. I was able to do homework in my room again (using the other desk, as my computer completely occupies my own) while playing music at full volume. I took a shower this evening after I spent a little time in the gym and right now I'm unencumbered by clothing. For some reason Kazu is bugging me via MSN to come over but that would mean getting dressed. It's not like we have anything to talk about right now, and if we did we could just use the MSN.

I hope this lasts.

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Yesterday I was super jazzed about Aziz moving out. Today the sobering reality has crept in. I cannot afford to "buy out" this room to prevent the University from inserting another person as the cost would be double my already outrageous housing fee. This new person could easily appear at any time and potentially be as irritatingly friendly as Aziz was, or maybe he'll just be a raging psychopath. Of course there is a slim chance that nobody's coming. It is February after all. Surely there are no students still stuck in the limbo of "temporary housing" (which is where Aziz was until he was sent here) and I doubt anyone would willingly choose to move from the main campus to this Quadrangle of the Damned.

I suppose Murphy's Law is lurking around the corner, eager the reap horrible vengeance upon me for wishing my overly-nice roommate away. So I must try to enjoy whatever solo time I have and hope for the best. At the very least I've got Super Bowl weekend to myself.

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Remember the film Groundhog Day? Bill Murray finds himself living the same miserable day over and over. During the film, he laments that this particular, unhappy day is the day he's reliving rather than a really great day he had once. Well, today happens to be Groundhog Day and it just happens to be a pretty awesome day for me all around, one I wouldn't mind living again if need be.

My classes were business as usual. We watched some Kyôgen in Japanese Drama, I got another A in Japanese 102, and I asked a good question in Japanese Religious Studies. Then I was hit with a flurry of hotness. First, I just happened to run into a girl who I've been trying to get in touch with since returning to school. She felt the same way and wasn't trying to avoid me at all (which had been my pessimistic assumption). Indeed, when I returned to my room I discovered she had already left a message with me trying to reach me.

But wait, there's more. Today also happened to be the day I received my official certificate acknowledging my Dean's List academic performance last semester. Check it out (click on it for large version):



What's even cooler is that the certificate includes a form so I may notify my local paper. You heard right, I'm going to alert the media, press release style. My hometown paper prints these kind of stories all the time. Somebody's kid is going to Harvard or somebody's kid just graduated from West Point. It's my turn, dammit! I can even advertise my blog while I'm at it.

Not a great day, you think? Could be better? It is. My roommate is moving out! No more sleepless nights listening to his snoring or country music or Christian music or phone calls in Nepali or Indian or whatever. No more watching Jay Leno or Cricket matches or derivative Bollywood movies. Best of all, this heralds a return to the absolute freedom of casual nudity. After more than four months of awkwardness, I can finally be naked in my room without anxiety.

Play that victory sound! I'm FREE!!!

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I live in the past sometimes. As a rule, I maintain an abnormal emotional investment in video games, particularly the classics that I grew up playing my basement back home. One way I enjoy this fantasy is through listening to the music from those games. In recent years I've found a number of websites of musicians who also love these tunes and spend time remixing them. One site even has a monthly contest where 'net musicians compete in a given theme. Tonight, I spent most of the evening (after I did my homework, of course) over at the Dwelling of Duels enjoying this month's submissions. This month's theme was Metroid. If you remember, rock out with me.

I should probably make a list of these types of sites over at my links page. I might, but I offer no promises. I'm really busy right now.

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Today is Aziz's birthday and we had a little party for him last night. It was kind of a surprise party which made me very uncomfortable because there's nothing I want more than my own surprise party. I've been begging for one in recent years to no avail. But I digress, we had a little party here in the dorm before someone had the good idea to go bowling. We went to a nearby establishment called Playdium which had lots of flashing lights and very cheap drinks ($2 pints).

I love bowling but I am terrible at it. I ended up using a four-fingered ball which was quite comfortable despite its extra weight. I guess the extra finger makes all the difference. We played two games for just $10, not counting the drinks & pitchers of beer of which there were a few. I think my total score (for both games) was around 100, with about a dozen gutterballs and one spare. We came back to our room for a few more drinks and a couple laughs. I had two Smirnoff Ices, which is not Vodka but a malty, Zima-kind of drink. It all petered out around 3 in the morning. Photos are available here.

I woke up early this morning to the unmistakable sounds of fucking next door. On any other day I might be amused but today I felt nauseous. I rushed into the bathroom and spent most of the morning in there pacing about and dealing with the excesses of last night. At one point I dealt with the hangover in a particularly clever way but decorum prevents me from blurting it out; e-mail me if you want to learn my self-medicating method. This kind of thing has happened before, but never without hard liquor. I'm a little bit worried, frankly, that I lost control of myself so easily. I can only assume that something in the Smirnoff disagreed with me because I've drank plenty of beers in my time and I have never gotten sick from them before.

I know some out there will judge me a drunk based on my antics, especially in light of the Boxing Day debacle last month. All I will say is that these are accidents and that I do not spend my weekends getting hammered for hammered's sake. I will admit, however, that the sudden frequency of these incidents have given me some mild concern. If you're worried about me, I'm worried too. And if you think I'm a fuck-up, well, then the feeling's mutual.

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