My Earthlink DSL

Okay. I just got off the phone with Earthlink, my DSL provider, and I am so pissed right now, but also kind of happy. Let me explain...

My roommate asked me last night if I could set up a wireless router in my room so he could leech my DSL service. I told him I'd do some research and find out if that was possible. I log onto the Earthlink website and discover this page. It says you need to purchase the Home Networking Service for 8$ a month in order to share a wireless internet connection, but it won't let you sign-up without also purchasing an 80$ wireless router that ends up being free after a mail-in rebate.

The thing is, I already own a wireless router. I get transferred to some 3rd-world country where it is SO OBVIOUS that the guy on the phone does not speak English as his first language. I spend 10 some odd minutes on hold as he tries to set up my account for the new service. He comes back and starts asking how I want the equipment to be shipped.

N: What equipment?
A: We are going to send you all the equipment necessary for your home networking service.
N: I already own a wireless router.
A: We are going to send you a wireless router.
N: I don't need one.
A: Let me explain this, the equipment will be free of charge after a mail-in rebate.
N: Okay, let me explain this. I don't need your equipment. I already own a wireless router. I only want you to press the button that charges my account 8$ a month for the home networking service. Mmkay?
A: One moment. Let me speak to my supervisor.
(HOLD MUSIC FOR 8 MINUTES)
A: Hi, Noah?
N: Yes. I'm still here.
A: Yes, I talked to my supervisor, but the equipment is packaged with the service, and in order to sign-up with the service you must be sent the equipment.
N: I'm not sure I understand why I must be sent equipment I already own.
A: We only support the wireless router that we will be sending you.
N: I own the exact same wireless router you won't be sending me.
A: We won't be able to support that router.
N: I won't need support.
A: Sir, the service comes bundled with the hardware.
N: (closes eyes, and lets out a long sigh) May I speak to your supervisor please?
A: Yes, one moment.
(HOLD MUSIC FOR 3 MINUTES)
A2: Hello, Noah? I am the supervisor.
N: Hi, I'm sorry. What country are you in?
A2: Your call is being routed to (unintelligible).
N: I see. Could you transfer me to someone in America?
A2: Can you repeat that?
N: Could - You - Transfer - Me - To - Someone - Who - Lives - In - The - U - S - Of - Fracking - A... please?
A2: Yes, hold please.
(HOLD MUSIC FOR 5 MINUTES)
A: Hi, Noah. Before we transfer you, we need to change your account security question.
N: Ooooookay?
A: What is your father's middle name?
N: (gives answer)
A: Okay. Now we will transfer you.
(HOLD MUSIC FOR 3 MINUTES)
P: Hey, is this Noah?
N: Yes it is.
P: I understand you want to sign up for the Earthlink Home Networking Service, but already have a wireless router?
N: That is correct.
P: Well you do know, you don't actually need the service if you already have a router. We won't be able to support it, but your connection should already work on multiple computers.
N: O RLY? I was unaware of that fact.
P: YA RLY! As long as you set it up properly, it should work with no issues what-so-ever.
N: NO WAI! Well then what is the 8$ charge for?
P: SRSLY! That is actually a warranty service for the actual equipment we would send you. That way if you ever have any issues, we can troubleshoot it, and you won't have to worry about anything.
N: Wow, thank you very much. That's all I've been trying to find out for the past 30 minutes.
P: You're very welcome. Have a great New Year!

I kid you not, I was THIS close to cancelling my service before I spoke to the American. Grrr. Okay, just had to get that off my chest. I'm off to Best Buy to purchase a wireless router now!

PS. A stands for a-hole #1. A2 stands for a-hole #2, and P stands for pleasant American.

My Christmas story

I feel bad for all my Jewish friends during Christmas, and I mean that in the nicest way possible. Sure, you guys have Hanukkah, which lasts 8 days... but then again, IT LASTS 8 DAYS! When you win the lottery, do you choose the "payout over 50 years" option? Heck no! You choose the "lump sum" option! I'll go ahead and take all my presents right now, thank you very much.

All right, onto the good stuff:

In this picture I would like to point out the Veni, Vidi, Lusi t-shirt (which is the name of my WoW guild), as well as the three Publix gift cards. It seems as if my family REALLY wants me to start shopping at Publix. My sister picked me up the Robert Ludlum book, which was exactly the one I asked for (she called to find out).

In this picture* you'll notice the Narnia calendar and the Mario Kart DS game from my grandmother. The Omaha Steaks (yum) are from my mother. Near the top left you'll notice an old Russian WWII cap with a bunch of buttons pinned to the side. My grandfather asked to see it this morning, so I handed it to him and left the room to finish packing. I came back to see this!

It must have brought back memories. Anyhoo, I'm typing on my second favorite present of the year, a Saitek Eclipse keyboard! It's trés chic because it lights up in the dark. Check it out!

Now I can check my email at night without turning on the lights! Boo-ya! Plus it just looks cool, and besides John needed a new keyboard, so he can have my old one. See, it works out great for everyone involved.

I saved the best gift for last however. I found this bad boy in my stocking last night...

Can I get a hells-yeah? It's like a chocolate delight on my lips 24/7. *drools* All in all? This Christmas ROCKED. The registry worked like a charm, I got 10/14 items. That's a passing grade, and I'm quite happy with it.

How was your Christmas?

*Not pictured: A red Eddie Bauer backpack, two Narnia books from my Father, and a Harry Potter themed Russian doll. You know, the wooden dolls that have more dolls inside, and they keep getting smaller and smaller? Yeah, that's the one.

My holiday absence

As many of you may know, I have been absent all week due to the holidays. I always find it interesting when people fail to read my away message on AIM and thus continue to message me over and over and over and... well you get the picture. Here is what I returned to find today:

[10:57] NeoBhario: Hello+Are+you+there?
[10:57] *** Auto-response sent to NeoBhario: Merry Christmas, and God bless us. Every one.

45 minutes later, not here right now.

[11:44] NeoBhario: Hello+Are+you+there?
[11:50] NeoBhario: are you there

35 minutes later, sorry.

[12:31] NeoBhario: Hello+Are+You+there
[12:42] NeoBhario: can you hear me now

7 hours later, what is this, a phone commercial?

[19:26] NeoBhario: Hello are you there
[19:35] NeoBhario: Noah please answer me this is about the realm
[19:48] NeoBhario: Noah I know that I am not using the address I signed up under but, I can only access to it at school.
Please respond to me.

2 and a half hours later, I'll respond as soon as I get home.

[23:10] NeoBhario: answer
[23:11] NeoBhario: noah I really need to speak to you about this whole Mr. Intellgence genako thing. I just found out from a friend inside the realm and I want some answers,please respond
[23:15] NeoBhario: Noah I know you are there I I need you to understand what happened so please get back on the realm and read your PM's

1 hour later, still out of town.

[00:24] NeoBhario: are you there?
[00:26] NeoBhario: noah we need to talk
[00:28] NeoBhario: why are you ignoring me?
[00:32] NeoBhario: If you weren't there the computer would have told me by now you know.

2 hours later, I'm sure you do...

[02:32] NeoBhario: Noah I need to talk to you now!!!!!

9 hours later, sound asleep, IN SAVANNAH.

[11:45] NeoBhario: Noah I was wondering if you as are willing to speak to me regarding the Mr. I/ genako inccdent.
[11:46] NeoBhario: please IM me when you are ready to talk to me.

1 hour later, still asleep.

[13:44] NeoBhario: Noah can we please talk?
[13:56] NeoBhario: Noah if you are going to ignore me at least check your PM's at the realm
[14:03] NeoBhario: are you there noah?
[14:39] NeoBhario: noah are you there I would like to talk about what happened in the Mr. I / genako inccident
[14:39] NeoBhario: this is leon_geeste, by the way
[15:00] NeoBhario: noah I don't understand why you refuse to talk to me about the termination of my account at the realm. I was not a part of genako's plan and I only helped out Mr. I because he was new. I helped other people also and I really miss the realm. So please answer this IM or one of the emails I sent you.

1 hour later, isn't vacation fun?

[15:56] NeoBhario: noah will you answer me.

I am so glad I stayed logged on AIM at my house. Otherwise I would have been getting text messages from this tool all weekend long! Hopefully he thinks I have blocked him from AIM, so with any luck he'll never message me again!

Anyhoo, so yes, I am back for the night. Saturday and Sunday will be spent with my family. Monday will be my day off, and Tuesday is the day of my free lunch at Mazzy's for myself and 9 of my "co-workers." Here is the guest list so far:

1. Timoree Bauer
2. John Beerman
3. Ashley Alyassir
4. Aaron Melson
5. Elizabeth Duncan
6. Mike Daniel
7. Lynsey Free
8. Jessica Brewton
9. Noah Kronemeyer
10. [YOUR NAME HERE]

If you'd like to fill the 10th spot, and have free lunch at Mazzy's at 1:00pm on Tuesday, please let me know so I can RSVP you! See everyone next week!

My New Year's Eve plans

Marissa Furman called me tonight to invite me to a New Year's Eve party she and some of our friends have decided to attend. It's being held at the Renaissance Hotel downtown. Tickets cost $30.00, but here's what you get for that price!

1. 3 Ballrooms, each with a different DJ.
-- Hip Hop/R&B
-- Old School Classics
-- Crunk/Dirty South
2. Complimentary appetizer buffet
3. Champagne toast at midnight
4. Valet parking & coat check
5. "2000 beautiful people, looking their best" (the website says that, but Marissa and I are going to be there so of course it's true)
6. Special room discounts

And speaking of special room discounts, we've reserved 2 rooms in the hotel for everyone to crash at. So far we have 13 people coming, so that's only $20 for the room each, but if more come it would be cheaper. There are only 2 double beds, which the girls will get, but Marissa said if she ends up passing out on the floor, I get her spot on the bed. So here's hoping to that!

Just teasing, I wouldn't leave a girl passed out on the floor, especially a good friend like Marissa. (brownie points, what?). Anyhoo, I already convinced both Mike Daniel and John Beerman to come, and it would be awesome if more would like to join us! I mean, do you really want to be stuck at home on New Year's Eve!?

Give into the peer pressure! You can buy tickets HERE. They claim the price will go up after the 20th, but I doubt it. However, it can never hurt to purchase the tickets early, right?

The music really isn't my style, but we're all going out to dinner before hand, and we'll have the hotel rooms to chill out in, so I'm just excited to spend the evening with everyone! It will be a nice, relaxed New Year's Eve with friends.

I thought a nice Christmas-themed song would be a nice change of pace, so if you haven't figured out who is playing the above song, it's none other than the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I'm sure you've heard of them before! I'll be out of town this entire week leading up to Christmas, so no promises on regular updates. Other than that, I wish everyone a wonderful Holiday!

Click image to download song...

My top 8

Myspace added a feature a few months ago that lets you choose who your "top 8" friends are. I absolutely hate this feature, even though I use it religiously. You get in one little argument with a friend, and boom, you're off his or her top 8 list forever, or at least for a few weeks. Should it be that easy to cancel a friendship? Shouldn't there at least be a phone call involved? This reminds me of the Facebook breakups I've gone through in the past. Here's what happened.

Tonight was the December College Crew. We had been planning it for over a month. Originally we were going to do dinner & karaoke, but then someone gave me the idea to go ice skating instead, with it being winter and all. I thought about it, asked a few CC members, got positive responses, so I decided to change the plans earlier this week. I informed most of the CC members a good 3-4 days prior. The only person I forgot to call was Jana Dakubovic, which worked out fine because she called me the night before. I told her the change of plans. She sounded disappointed, but when I asked if she wanted to come, she told me absolutely.

Fast forward 18 hours or so to Saturday afternoon. Farissa Murman calls from Athens saying that she wasn't going to be able to make CC tonight because her old roommate was throwing a graduation party, and she simply must attend. Greg Gimpelevich sends me a text message saying he has a birthday party dinner to go to, so he can't make dinner but he could make ice skating. Okay, so far so good, sure Farissa can't come, which sucks, since she's a founding member, but hey Greg and Jana will still be there, albeit late. Greg then informs me that Jana is not coming to CC... not to dinner, not for ice skating, not for Scrubs afterwards, not for anything. Whaa...?? I call her to find out what's going on. I leave a message. She returns my call an hour or so later. It goes something like this...

Jana: Did you call earlier?
Me: Yep.
Jana: So what's up?
Me: I just wanted to know whether or not you were coming to CC tonight.
Jana: No, I'm going to hang out with my friend Alle instead.
Me: Okay, that's all I wanted to know.
Jana: Well I...
Me: (click)

She calls back. I don't answer.

She calls back again. I answer. Going off on her follows...

Me: Yea?
Jana: Are you mad at me?
Me: Well you told me last night you were coming to CC, and now you're not?
Jana: Well you changed the plans.
Me: No, CC hasn't changed. We've been planning this for a month.
Jana: We were going to do karaoke, not ice skating. I don't even like ice skating.
Me: Well you told me you were coming. I was expecting you.
Jana: Sorry, I'm going to hang out with Ally instead.
Me: The least you could have done was give me a call, but no, instead I had to find out from Greg.
Jana: Well, I was going...
Me: So whatever, I don't care. I just wanted to find out if you were coming or not.
Jana: Blah Blah Blah.
Me: So yeah, thanks again for calling to let me know you weren't coming. I REALLY appreciate it.
Jana: ...
Me: Alright, well I gotta go. Bye.
Jana: Whatever, bye.
Me: (click)

Which brings me back to the top 8. I log on Myspace tonight, view her profile, and sure enough... I am off not only her top 8, but her top 10 list. So what-the-frack ever. Grow up & learn some common courtesy. If you RSVP for an event, then change your mind, you really should inform the host of your change of plans. If you forget, that's one thing, but when you do it knowingly, that's quite another. Consider it your helpful hint of the month.

Onto happier news...

I tried to cook some Hotpockets last night in the oven, on a plastic oven sheet. I thought it was oven safe. It wasn't. Here were the results:



I blame it on my hair. And finally, here is a short 15 second video of the CC gang having a BLAST ice-skating tonight, especially Greg when he zoomed past everyone! Too bad you missed it. Let the controversy begin.




PS. Thanks to those of you who did come chill with everyone tonight, including Mike, Greg, Laramie, John, & Amanda.
Jen: We'll do something solo next time, don't worry.
Meliss: Sorry we couldn't make it to your party tonight, thanks for calling!
Jess: Stop being such a good RA!
Megan M: Just because you never get a shout-out. Hope you're having a wonderful holiday break!!
KC/AC: Maybe next time!

My top 25 movies of the year

By popular anonymous request here are the 25 movies that I have seen in the year 2005, ranked in order of best to worst. And when I say worst, I really mean, "ZOMG I watched it so you don't have to", because they were so terrible, horrible, boring, and/or so stupid that I probably didn't even finished them!

1. King Kong - Peter Jackson directed this. WETA Digital did the effects. Naomi Watts stars in it. Need I say more?
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - These movies keep getting better and better!
3. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - I've been waiting years for this to come out. It did not disappoint.
4. Saw II - After the first edition I was hooked. This one had a twist I never saw coming either.
5. Batman Begins - I loved the re-write of the original Batman. Christian Bale was awesome.
6 The Island - I liked this movie simply because of the premise. Matrix slash 1984 slash MI.
7. Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith - Anakin turns evil. Oh ya.
8. Wedding Crashers - Definitely the best comedy of the year. I don't even know what a quail is!
9. Flightplan - Liked this b/c my mother is a flight attendant, and b/c I thought Jodie Foster gave a brilliant and smart performance.
10. Ring 2 - I was a late-coming to the original, but once I saw it I was hooked. The bathroom scene with the water was the best, despite the ending being super confusing.
11. The Corpse Bride - Huge fan of Nightmare Before Christmas, "ehh" fan of Corpse Bride.
12. Hide and Seek - Has my favorite actress in it! Elisabeth Shue of course. She got killed off early. Boo. Predictable ending.
13. Derailed - Saw the twist coming VERY early, but still an on-the-edge of your seat movie.
14. Hitch - Not really sure what all the hype was about. I did learn about the 90/10 rule though.
15. The Interpreter - Don't exactly remember what happened in the end. Nicole Kidman had a sexy accent.
16. War of the Worlds - Effects were good. Emotion was there. Ending was lame and forced.
17. 2 For the Money - A betting movie. Yawn.
18. Sin City - Eh, didn't really get into the whole comic atmosphere. Too many characters for my tastes.
19. Hostage - Unmemorable. There were explosions and I think it had Bruce Willis in it.
20. Kingdom of Heaven - Three hours of Gladiator, only not nearly as good.
21. The 40 Year-old Virgin - Had great potential, but definitely lacked spunk. No pun intended.
22. Constantine - Too much religious nonsense for me. Special effects were confusing and overwhelming.
23. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Watched half of it. Turned it off. I don't care what the secret to life is.
24. Jarhead - Was there a point to this movie? I want my two hours back!
25. White Noise - Worse movie of the fracking year. I can't believe I Netflix'ed this!

Anyone agree or disagree with my list? Anyone seen more than 25 movies that were released this year? I mean that's 50 hours of movies released "THIS YEAR" that I have seen! I don't think I've even spent that much time writing all my sociology papers combined this year! Sheesh... no wonder I have over 1100 movies rated on Netflix.

My midnight movie madness

I was having dinner with my father and Mike Daniel last night when Mike suggested we go see the premier of King Kong. I thought the movie did not come out until Friday! Of course I agree'd. I tried to get a few people together, but it was very last minute and everyone seemed to be busy with something called work and finals. I dunno.

Mike and I drove down to Atlantic Station, which has turned out to be THE place to go for midnight movie madness. My friend Nancy Graves and one of her friends were supposed to meet us in theatre 7, however upon arriving they decided to take a seat near the entrance instead of calling me to find out where we were saving seats for them at.

Now before I talk about the movie, I must mention that we saw the world-premier trailer of none other than: Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code... which I present to you now in mini-HD.

I had no idea Tom Hanks was starring as Robert Langdon, so THAT fact combined with the controversial nature of the book & film, I believe, will make this one of the top box office movies of the year.

Now onto the main event of the blog: My review of King Kong.
Please note, there may be possible spoilers.

Story: I was a little weary at first. Could a story about a giant gorilla let loose on NYC have an actual backstory? After watching the first 10 minutes of the movie the answer is a resounding YES. The first 45 minutes of the movie could be called by some slow and boring. I call it marvelous and essential. The tale of Ann Darrow, aspiring actress, down on her luck, who by chance of fate runs into producer Carl Denham who is making a film written by her idol, Jack Driscoll, is simply enchanting. The story only gets better as the cast and crew of the film reach their shooting location, Skull Island, home to King Kong himself. I won't say anything else, except for the fact that the story was surprisingly deep on multiple levels.

Characters: I thought Jack Black gave a brilliant performance as over-aspiring, under-achieving producer Carl Denham. The role fit him perfectly given his unique sense of humor. Sure, some of his lines may have been cheesy, but they were cheesy on purpose! Adrien Brody, whom I loved in The Village, played the writer Jack Driscoll very good as well. His onscreen chemistry was subtle, but noticeable. The flirting back and forth between the lead actress Naomi Watts was perfect, and totally believable. The star of the evening was of course Andy Serkis who played two roles, both Lumpy the Cook and King Kong himself. You may recall that Andy played the physical actor Gollum in the LOTR series. I would not be surprised if Andy gets a nod as Best Supporting Actor in the coming actors. I highly expect Naomi Watts to receive a bid as Best Actress, I absolutely loved her heart-breaking performance.

Special Effects: They were, in a word, top-notch. The effects were on par with Lord of the Rings, and MUCH better than the recently released Chronicles of Narnia. Which is interesting to me because Peter Jackson's WETA Digital team did did the effects for King Kong, while the Industrial Light and Magic group did the effects for Narnia. IL&M has done the effects for movies such as Star Wars: Episode III, War of the Worlds, Harry Potter 4, & The Island. WETA Digital of course has done all of the LOTR movies, as well as I, Robot. After watching both movies, the effects were really night and day, with King Kong taking the lead. I am guessing it was a time & money issue, as King Kong reportedly cost $207m to make, while Narnia only cost $180m.

Costumes: King Kong was a period movie, and the costumes everyone in NYC were wearing was right on target. Both Narnia and King Kong made use of Peter Jackson's other company division called WETA Workshop. They did all the prosthetics, clothing, weapons & armor for both movies. That is why I think they each might be up for an Oscar in Best Costumes & Makeup.

Overall: This is the must-see Oscar movie of the year. Peter Jackson will get nominated for Best Directer, and he just may win for the second year in a row. The strong mix of the acting & action scenes give the movie a wonderful sense of flow. You will laugh, you may shed a tear, you'll get shivers up and down your spine, and you'll be on the edge of your seat the last 30 minutes of the movie, this I guarantee! Out of 5 stars, I give King Kong a 6.

After the movie, I arrived home and promptly fell asleep wearing all my clothes. Oh and PS. I only block stalkers on AIM. If I answer your phone call at 4:05am, it means you are not blocked on AIM. Mmkay? kthx.

My free lunch

I get a phone call from someone named Jamie House earlier this afternoon. She says she drew my business card from a pool of a few hundred and told me I had won free lunch for me and NINE of my co-workers. My reply was "interesting!" She laughed. I have scheduled the free lunch for Tuesday, December 27th at 1:00pm. The proposed guest list so far includes: Mike Daniel, Timoree Bauer, Kristen Cooper, Greg Gimpelevich & Ashley Alyassir. That means I still have room for 4 more friends for a free, catered lunch at Mazzy's in Roswell, GA! They have surprisingly good food for being a pool/darts bar. If you're interested, just RSVP by posting a comment.

On the way home from my last final of the year, I stopped by Barnes & Nobles and picked up two new books that I think are absolutely amazing! One is called "Wicked", and the other is called "Synthetic Worlds." Wicked has been out since 1995 (who knew) and is a revisionist retelling of the story of the wicked witch of the west, and how she was just misunderstood in life, and not really wicked at all. I've been hearing about it for a while now, so I finally decided to pick it up and give into the craze myself.

The second book I heard about on the NPR Technology podcast. It delves into the economics surrounding MMOGs such as Everquest & World of Warcraft. It discusses the business & culture implications for the gaming industry, and goes on to outline the economies inside these worlds to show how they might dramatically affect real world financial systems, from potential disruptions of markets to new business horizons. Ultimately the book explores the long-term social consequences of online games, meaning that if players can inhabit worlds that are more alluring and gratifying than reality, then how can the real world ever compete? VERY INTERESTING! Well, at least to a sociology major like me. If you're still reading this paragraph (and there's a good chance you're not), then you will most likely be interested in reading this paper the author of Synthetic Worlds wrote, called The Theory of the Avatar, available for download in PDF format.

Click a book to see more detailed information!

I just wanted to point out that I love Wikipedia. Especially since I just got away with adding my latest entry: Xuqa. This guy tried to challenge my entry saying it was 'not notable', but I gave evidence which stated the contrary, and he finally gave in. Wow, it feels good to win. I also saw that the Talcott Parsons article was lacking some references, so I went ahead and added 19 since I had written a 12 page paper about the guy just a few weeks ago.

There is this new service I have subscribed to, called CNN Pipeline. It's live, commercial-free, broadband video, and it rocks. I get alerts whenever a news story breaks or there's a live press-conferences, high-speed car chase, elephant giving birth in the highway, et cetera. It's perfect for me since I don't have cable in my bedroom, and tend to dislike the local news in general. I can choose from a multitude of clips to watch at my convenience, and it doesn't take up too much CPU resources. Plus, it only costs 7 cents a day. I can afford that, despite being a poor college student who lives under the umbrella of his parent's income bracket.

Finally, Mike just informed me that season 5 of Scrubs starts on Tues. January 3rd, with two back-to-back episodes from 9-10pm. Awesome. Make sure to get off work, because there's gunna be a party at my house that night!

My friends proposal

I just got a text message from my friend Kevin Eves saying, "I just proposed. She said yes! I can't talk now, but I wanted you to know." The lucky lady is none other than Erin Holwerda! You may remember her as Zelda from the Kilter Dance earlier this year. If not, here's another picture of them together:

I went to go see Chronicles of Narnia last night with Mike Daniel, Greg Gimpelevich, and Dana Jakubovic. Out of 5 stars, I give it a resounding 5. I thought it was a wonderful adaptation. The themes from the original book by CS Lewis really shown through in the screenplay. The acting was marvelous. I was a little weary about the child actors at first, but my doubts were unfounded. The only downside of the movie was that the special effects could have been slightly better. It was fairly obvious when green-screens were being used as backdrops, but other than that, the animation was flawless, especially Aslan the Lion. I thought he looked terrific, even if I couldn't help but think of Star Wars when I heard him speak.

We arrived at the theatre in the middle of the previews, so of course the place was packed out. The only place 4 seats were together was either on the front row, or the back row. We chose the back row. Greg saw the seats first and yelled at me to hurry up and grab them. I noticed there were two obese women trying to get to the seats as well, but from the opposite side of the theatre. The ladies were making people stand up in their seats so they could pass in front of them. Thankfully, I am in the best shape of my life, so I sprinted up the steps 3 at a time and got to the 4 empty seats mere seconds before they did. Do I feel bad about it? Not really.

During the movie there were two men sitting to my right who kept getting up to go to the bathroom or something. The thing was, the guy sitting closest to me would go first, then the other guy would go a few seconds later. They would both come back together. This happened on 3 separate occasions. Now normally I wouldn't think anything of this, but I overheard one of them say "Damn, she's hot", in regards to the child-actor Susan (played by Anna Popplewell who is 16), to which the other guy responded, "Yeah she is." Is it too wild-fetched to think they were leaving the theatre to have a (opposite of square) (beef-jerky, minus the beef)?

Anyhoo, in regards to the December College Crew (tm), I have discovered there is only 1 location in Atlanta that does karaoke on Saturday nights. USPlay in Kennesaw. I've been there once before. Generally it is 21+, but I remember getting into the lounge with people under 21. If worse comes to worse, we could always go bowling at the same location. So in short, mark your calendars for December 17th, because no matter what happens the College Crew is going to go out and have some fun that night.

Finally, I was speaking with Kristen Cooper this afternoon, and we've decided we are all going to go see the Christmas Lights either at Lake Lanier or Callaway Gardens. The night we go depends on the evening Kristen doesn't have to work (which will hopefully coincide with a night Ashley is available). Depending on how many people want to come, we can take either 1 or 2 cars. More details forthcoming!

PS. Good times scaring Dana at Scary Hill.

My final paper

Today, was an AMAZING day. Why? Because I have finished writing my final sociological paper of the semester! I am going out to Mazzy's to celebrate with Mike & Laramie. Greg may stop by later if he stops being so jewish.

Anyhoo, another reason why today rocked was because I got a $200 check in the mail for a website I completed about a month ago... which I totally forgot about! I mean, this is akin to finding a 20 dollar bill in your jean pants pocket after its been through the wash a few times. Sure it's wrinkled and slightly faded, but Target is going to accept it all the same!

I have also completed more of my Christmakah shopping for this year. I have presents for my mom, my dad, my brother and sister, Laramie, Timoree, Jessica, John, Greg, Mike, Kristen, Ashley, Marissa & Jess! I have cards for some more friends I didn't mention. Good times!

My world domination

First, I would like to apologize for having such a long period of time between the last blog and this one. I have simply been so busy with school work, I am lucky to have an hour of free time for myself. With that being said, I have just completed my most recent paper entitled, "Euthanasia: The right to live or die?" It is 10 pages long, uses 18 sources, and clocks in at 3,300 words. Total time required to write: 13 hours.

Last weekend I went to Chattanooga for Madrigals. Which was surprisingly fun! I finally got to meet John's girlfriend, Amanda Smith. The other people at our table included my very lovely date Allison Buckner, Matt the Faun, Palmer (not the President), and his date Julia Stiles, err... Amber VanVuren. Matt had a date, but I don't remember her name.

Anyhoo, here is the group shot of everyone standing in front of the giant Christmas tree, but not as giant as Palmer... well maybe not:

And here is one of the me and my date!

Aww. Isn't that sweet? Yeah, I thought so too. After dinner we went back to Palmer's apartment to play a game of RISK! We taught the girls everything we knew and plowed right into the game. I basically had an alliance with everyone in the game except John & Amanda (because they were the debils!). I was situated in Asia, and I talked Kevin into not attacking me from North America as well as giving up 2 countries he controlled in Asia (O.o). I promised Palmer Australia wouldn't be touched if he would give me Asia. I was going to give Europe to Amber for the time being, which would let me concentrate on massing an army to take out Amanda in Africa & John in South America. Palmer ended up taking over Europe, and parts of Africa, so I decided to plow through North America. I did. In one turn I completely wiped out Kevin. BWHAHA! John gave up, since Palmer and I would have destroyed him the next turn. And because Palmer was weakened from attempting to take Africa, and I would have turned in cards for more armies the following turn, he conceded as well. That left me, Noah David Kronemeyer, the undisputed KING OF THE WORLD! Leo style. Here is a screenshot to prove my victory:

Oh yes, good times in Chattanooga, good times indeed. I might be going back up there this Friday for a White Elephant Gift party, but I haven't decided yet.

On the way home, I decided to call Ashley Cooper (KC's sister). Rumor was she was in town for the weekend and was going to eat dinner at 3DC on Sunday night. That's my tradition you see, every Sunday night I go in to eat dinner in Kristen's section. So we decided to go have dinner together. According to Kristen I'm supposed to say "Ashley is just as lovely as Kristen," and of course I think it is true. The Coopers rock, period.

And ZOMG, can I just say that I got schooled in Harry Potter by Ashley. I thought I knew the books pretty well, front and back... little did I know. Ashley is the QUEEN of Hogwarts. I am humbled by her Harry Potter knowledge. Seriously. Our conversation got cut short by KC... apparently she was in a rush to go see a guy she's dating or something. *grin*

Speaking of KC, here's an interesting story retold by Ashley. Did you guys know that when KC was little, she'd used to get on all fours and ask family members to use her as a footrest if they were sitting in a chair or on a couch? Not only that, but KC would get upset if you DIDN'T use her as the footrest! Haha. Awesome.

Oh, and just so you know who I'm talking about, here's a picture of KC and Ashley standing together somewhere cold it appears.

I know it wasn't in GA, because I honestly can't remember the last time it snowed here. Speaking of, how cool would it be if this was the year another blizzard came running through Atlanta!? Wishful thinking, I know.

One more 6 page paper to write, and one more final to study for, then I'll be done with this Fall semester! I'm quite excited. The next blog post (which will be up MUCH sooner than this one was), will details everything you need to know about the December College Crew gathering!

My well deserved break

Week 1 of "ZOMG THE SEMESTER IS ALMOST OVER BUT I STILL HAVE 20 PAGES OF PAPERS TO WRITE" is complete. Week 2 starts on Monday, so this weekend is my well deserved break!

I am going to Chattanooga on Saturday for Madrigals as mentioned in a previous blog. I was informed yesterday by John Beerman that I will be partaking in a game of Risk after dinner on Saturday. I will so own everybody in that game, especially since I'm going to be in secret alliance with someone. *insert evil laugh here* Plus, I just spent about 2 hours playing Risk online, so I think I have my strategy down pat.

One of my many lost sunglasses has found its way back to me! Today when I picked up my tux jacket from the dry cleaners, low and behold, was a pair of sunglasses attached that ran away many moons ago. I'm glad it decided to come back, but now I have a dilemma. I have to hide the old pair from my "new" pair, because we all know what happens when sunglasses get jealous. *shudder* Just ask story #3...

Today is a good day, n'est-ce pas?