A Few Steps Forward, A Few More Back

What was that about having goals and sticking to them?  Actually, I did achieve one of my previously set goals: I finished Child of God.  And I must say, Cormac McCarthy, sometimes you creep me out.

But I did it.  I bought the book, read the book, enjoyed the book (in a very particular uncomfortable kind of way), and have moved on to achieve new things.  So maybe I haven't picked up any of the other books I said I would finish, and instead of playing Final Fantasy IV like I wanted, I went out and bought Final Fantasy XIII, but what can you do.

I have achieved a different.  A new goal.  I bought and read Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games.  The up side to this is that I've read another book and it was great, the down side is that it is the first book in a trilogy, so now I need to have the attention span that will hold out for two more books...

FFXIII is another thing entirely.  This game is said to be long, like crazy long.  And I have a bad habit of getting many hours into a game then becoming distracted by the next thing that comes along.  As time goes by and I return to the game, I find that I have forgotten what it was I was supposed to be doing.  The I start over.  This is why I have never finished FFIV.  So will FFXIII fall victim to my inattention, or will it prevail and become one of the few games I finish?

meh, we'll see.

One Final Try, Or Give Up And Die

If you go by the dates on these posts then I'll look pretty up to date.  Today is August 22nd, the last post was August 12th.  Not bad save that those Augusts are not in the same year.


So!  One year and ten days later here I am again, and what a year it's been.  With a new apartment in which to live and a newly received college diploma hanging on the wall (not my wall of course, I think my mom has it or something), it's time to set some damn goals and stick to them, damn it.  So this morning I went and bought a book with the intention of reading it, finishing, and enjoying it.  It's got big font, wide margins, fewer than 200 pages, critical acclaim, and an author who has never let me down, so maybe I'll be able to achieve at least this one goal.  Other goals include finishing the four other books I'm currently reading, finishing Final Fantasy IV, which I have failed to finish three times prior, and keep up to date on this silly blog.


Speaking of this blog, I need to apologize briefly.  A few posts back I made a comment about Randy Newman, and would like to use this time to officially retract said comment.


Randy, if you are reading this (and who am I kidding, of course you're reading this), you are not dull.  I was young and foolish.  I have since learned that you are a righteous dude and I respect you greatly.  My sincerest apologies.










(The book by the way is Cormac McCarthy's Child of God)

Lots of Used Stuff . . .and a couple new things.

I stopped at a used-bookstore on my way to dinner the other night and got Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. A few days later I got a pre-owned copy of Dragonquest IX which I thought was odd since it had only come out a few days earlier, so why would there be a used one already? But whatever, it saved me $5.  Later I bought a new Mr. Coffee coffee pot for my apartment (sale: $45), the Arcade Fire album (sale: $7), Battlestar Galactica Season 2.5 (sale: $20), and Xenosaga Episode One (used: $6).

Sunday was flea market day, and all season long I have been looking to re-buy my Disney VHS collection on a more modern medium, but because of the capitalist geniuses at Disney and their Vault it is really hard to find cheap Disney DVDs.  So guess my surprise when I found The lion King and Lilo & Stitch for 2 and 4 dollars each!  I found Weezer's first album for $3, The Man with the Golden Gun for $3, and a whole mess of used books including all three volumes of a sci-fi trilogy by C.S. Lewis and Shakespeare's Henry V, Macbeth, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Twelfth Night, Richard II, and Julius Caesar.

A Slightly Later Present

I went to the super-market this evening and bought a 10" by 14" bamboo cutting-board because the one I've been using is roughly the size of a ping-pong paddle.  I also got a knife sharpener because all of the knives in my apartment are duller than Randy Newman.

I WILL NOT FALL BEHIND. . . again!

Friday July 23:

It was rainy and over-cast and the air was cool.  I loved it.  I went out to the mall for new pants and new shoes. I found neither.  I recently discovered that Levi's makes a 511 pant in corduroy and I want one, but every store I go to told me that corduroy is not a summer thing.  I don't like the people that told me that.  I finally found them at JC Penny's but they only had them black and tan; I'm looking for something less traditional, so whatever, I'll keep looking.  As far as shoes go I found a cool pair at Banana Republic but didn't have my card on me so I decided to wait.

After not buying anything at the mall I went over to Borders to get the final Scott Pilgrim and to use a 40% off coupon. As it turned out they were already sold out.  One day after it comes out and they were sold out.  I ended up using the coupon on Battlestar Galactica Season 2.0, not a bad buy.

Final stop of the day was at Barnes & Noble for another shot at Scott Pilgrim. . .NOPE!  They were also sold out.  However, I did find Susanna Clarke's The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories.  It is a collection of fairy tales that take place in the same version of England as her first work, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.  If you haven't read that go find a copy and read it. Go. Now. I'll wait. . .

Monday July 26

GOT IT!  I went to a different Borders and was able to get a copy of Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour.  They lady at the check out told me that they were sold out but they got more in over the weekend.  I also got M.I.A.'s Kala and Janelle Monáe's Metropolis. When I got home Baccano! volume 2 waiting for me in the mail.  So now I have to re-read Scott Pilgrim volumes 1-5 and re-watch Baccano! vol. 1, so that I can thoroughly enjoy my new purchases.

Tuesday July 27 (the present)

Nothing bought so far but it's not even five yet so we'll see.  Since yesterday I've read Scott Pilgrim volumes 1-3 and watched Baccano! vol. 1. Looking forward to the next ones.

Family Shopping

Family was visiting at my parents house this week so I spent a few days home to see everyone. However, I forgot to pack any of my belts for my trip so I just had to go out to the mall, what a shame.  I got a tan leather belt at H&M and put it on in the mall restroom to keep my pants from falling down every couple of feet.  I also bought a new hat at Banana Republic.  My grandma had a coupon for Kohl's that she wanted to use so we shopped around for bit and I got two t-shirts: one bright-orange, faux-vintage Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and the other a light- and dark-brown ringer with Smokey the Bear.  Our final stop was at Borders where picked up LCD Soundsystems' "Sound of Silver."

End of the day I had a pretty good haul and it was nice to see the family.

It's Official: I'm an Adult

So yesterday morning I went out to the mall to use one of my Banana Republic coupons and had a very successful trip.  I found a silk/cashmere sweater that was pretty rad, and while I was in the fitting room trying it on the sales lady kept talking to me. . .it was a little awkward.  But it was made right by her telling me that my coupon was actually good for 40% off two items!  How 'bout that?  So I looked around some more and found some socks on sale for $3 and picked up another elephant-logo t-shirt (this one navy, my one from the other day is white).  On top of my coupon savings Karen, the sales lady, tells me that I can save another 15% by opening a Banana Republic credit card.  I figured I would give it a try though I had low hopes of being approved, but I guess college kids with part-time employment and no credit history are exactly who they are looking for because I got it.  I have to say having a Banana Republic credit card makes me feel pretty sophisticated.
Total Savings: $39.16

I then went to Best Buy and picked up MGMT's Ocular Spectacular and Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix at $10 a piece.  Not bad.