Kill The Lights

So its been a while since I've spewed some nonsense onto this computer. Things have been hectic, and I generally haven't had the time or motivation to write anything. But today my lack of motivation to do real work is overtaking my lack of motivation to do other things, and typing makes me look busy, so I'll spend (waste) some time doing this for a while.

First off, watched the Oscars (edited because I'm an idiot). That was fun. I was mostly happy with the winners in each category. I must say there were some good movies battling it out this year. And its a shame that some really good films (The Assassination of Jesse James..., Sweeney Todd..., Atonement, etc.) got overshadowed by some great films (There Will Be Blood, No Country for Old Men). But all in all I was glad that the blockbuster films were left in the dust by and large by the more artsy films.

In a few days we head down to Los Angeles to help out at a turnaround for about 10 days. I'm not really sure what to expect but I imagine it will go smoothly. Catherine is coming with me, which is nice, but she has to stay mostly in a hotel room the whole time. From this distance is sounds rigid and horrible, but I suspect that once we get down there it will be less so and we might actually have some fun somehow. Who knows though.

In other news, the wpt Bay 101 Shooting Stars tournament starts in two weeks. I will not be able to play in it, which sucks. I didn't try to get in but I never really had a clear opportunity. I guess there's always next year or perhaps the World Series if situations permit.

So I did a nerdy thing and reserved a video game I had been wanting before it came out. I did it mostly because it was a present that I was given a few weeks ago and I couldn't think of anything else I wanted, so I did this. It was a weird experience because I purchased the game and then walked out with nothing. To assuage my desire to play this game I started playing the demos you can get for free on XBOX Live and found some games that I thought might be good. So I got the first one used and decided I didn't like it. Then I returned that one and got another one I thought I'd like, and this one I didn't like (for reasons I'm too ashamed to admit...ok, its because the game was scary and I'm too much of a wuss to play it. It stressed me out. Are you happy now?), so I figured that when I picked up my game that I had preordered it would be just in time to return this other game I didn't like and I could use that money to get something else for me or for Catherine.

As we are picking up the game and doing our exchange the clerk, who was dressed up, so he was probably a manager, informs us that he notices that I've already returned a game recently and that his store "isn't Blockbuster", obviously implying that we're trying to cheat the system, buying games, playing them until we've had our fill and then returning them to get another. This clearly isn't the case and the charge is so absurd that I just start laughing. Now, if that was all he said I would be fine with it, but then he says after a minute of silence (filled intermittently with my laughter) that its even more suspicious since we waited until the maximum amount of time before returning it. Ok, now I'm annoyed. This guy is clearly accusing us of unethical behavior based upon what? His hunch. This skinny little gamer named Logan (how perfect is that?) sits in his world and, in his defense, probably does see a lot of people cheat the system and it peeves him. So what does he do? He accuses customers who are innocent. The whole situation was laughable, but irritating. It was one of those ones though that only gets more irritating as time passes. As a result I didn't say any of this at the time, although I wish I had. Needless to say I most likely won't be shopping at that store any longer. Fuck them.

Currently Listening To - Silversun Pickups
Favorite form of Entertainment - watching Curb Your Enthusiasm