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2001-06-29 10:55 a.m.

recent history, movie ratings system, weezer, etc.

I know, I know. It's been a long time since I updated. I've been busy.

Last week I had finals, plus 600 dollars of work on my car over three days, plus my brother going into the MTC (if you don't know what that is (which chances are you don't), I don't feel like explaining it, because it would take away from the relatively anonymous unspecificity I try to maintain here. ya dig?), plus finding a place for my sister to stay Wednesday night. And that was just Monday through Wednesday. Thursday my sister and I left for California. Sunday we came back. Monday I drove my sister home and then drove back here. All in all, over a period of three days I spent over 30 hours driving, adding another 2100 miles to my odometer. It was fun.

Anyway, I went to California to visit Kelly and David, just as an excuse to get the hell out of here for a few days between terms. I saw three movies in the theater while I was there- Dr. Doolittle 2 (fun), Moulin Rouge (probably destined to be one of my all time favorites- I bought the soundtrack the next day and then saw it again two nights ago), and Memento (very interesting- one of those films you go watch just so you can say you did- you feel all well-versed in films when you can say, "Well, of course I've seen Memento! Do you take me for an absolute philistine?"). Anyway, I give 3 stars to Dr. Doolittle, Moulin Rouge gets 4 stars, and Memento gets 3 stars. I don't think I've ever explained my movie ratings system, but it goes like this:

0 stars- not worth watching under any circumstances (like, say, Babe: Pig in the City)

1 star- worth watching if it's on TV and you're really bored (like, say, Tremors 2)

2 stars- worth renting if there's nothing better (like, say, Jerry McGuire)

3 stars- worth the money you'd pay to see it in the theater (like, say, The Mummy)

4 stars- worth owning (like, say, Fight Club or Popeye)

Getting a 3 star rating from me isn't that hard, but getting a 4 star rating is.

Yeah, I like Moulin Rouge a lot. If you were to make a movie based on why I learned French, it'd be something pretty similar to that. Just remind me not to fall in love with a prostitute who has tuberculosis. ... Cuz I tend to forget things like that.

Also, I've been a huge Weezer fan this last week. I've been listening to Pinkerton and the green album (which I just bought on... Tuesday, I think) over and over and over. When I first heard Pinkerton, I hated it. I thought it sucked. I liked El Scorcho and Pink Triangle a lot, but... the other songs just seemed like crap to me. It was just so... harsh and depressing compared to the blue album. But over the years since then I've come to realize that every song on that album KICKS ASS and so does the album as a whole. It's all cohesive and stuff. One of my favorite albums. I don't know the green album that well yet, but it's a great album to just have on permanent repeat. Weezer in a nutshell: "I've sold two million records, I've toured around the world singing in front of thousands of people. And there's a girl sitting across from me in English 101, and I just look up at her every once in a while and put my head back down. I'm still a pathetic fool. No matter how many records I sell, I'm never going to be in Kiss." Weezer is music for pathetic losers. I love Weezer.

Today's words of wisdom: I've found over the years that the best way to improve at something that requires practice is to get yourself out of your comfort zone. Surround yourself with people who are way better than you. You'll feel stupid or slow a lot, but you'll improve a lot faster. Sacrifice ego on the altar of improvement. I don't know about you, but my ego can always use some deflating. And it's being deflated as I write this. I'm taking a Japanese class now where I am the only person in the class who hasn't lived in Japan for at least 18 months, and they all speak a lot better than me. I feel like a complete baka, so to speak, but my Japanese is progressing rapidly. This strategy works for sports as well- I always improved the quickest in swimming when I was practicing with people who were faster than me to an embarrassing degree...

Oh. Yeah. I got one of those emails that says "someone has a crush on you, give us the email addresses of everyone you know to see if maybe one of them is the one (and in the process send all of them an email saying someone has a crush on them)." In the event that the perpetrator is a reader of this diary, hear ye this: greyarea don't play that.

Oh, the other night I met a possibly cool girl, and then last night I CALLED her. We might go do something this evening. Aren't you proud of me? Little ol' greyarea CALLED a GIRL because he was INTERESTED in her. greyarea hates feeling anything resembling infatuation, but maybe he's learning what to do when it happens. Momma always told me, "When you see something you like, you have to do something about it." But of course, the little white bat of my soul keeps saying to me, "This can only end in tears, sir!" And he's probably right.

holy cow i think i got one here
now just what am i supposed to do?
i've got a number of irrational fears
that i'd like to share with you

why bother?

i ain't no mr. cool,

greyarea

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