If I were to rank my favorite Pixar movies, it'd probably go:
1. WALL-E
2. Finding Nemo
3. Toy Story
4. Cars
5. Monsters, Inc.
6. Ratatouille
7. The Incredibles
8. Toy Story 2
9. A Bug's Life

Is that all of them? Guess so. Regardless, to me, WALL-E dominates what is already a stellar Pixar lineup. The key is in how the company managed to finely craft and polish a story with so few words; and with limited-expressive robots, no less! There are themes, of course, but they all meld into the overall story perfectly; nothing seems to beat you over the head.

Simply amazing, and I hope it gets the credit it's due.

This week was another in which I further confirmed that the nice people I talk to on the Internet are also nice people in real life and not, in fact, robots that are trying to give me a false sense of security until they find a way to steal my soul.

Devon and Gloria from Wyoming were kind enough to take several days from their two-week vacation to visit me. Devon, unfortunately, had injured his ankle prior to coming, which is a bummer of a thing to have happen to you on vacation, but he didn't let it slow him down more than it could--or probably should--have. I showed them the local sights, from Allegany State Park to Niagara Falls, picking up geocaches along the way. And on the final day we went on a caching trip with local geofriend Dave, where they picked up 29 caches! The grand total: 40.

We also went birding everywhere we went, which meant that every now and then Gloria would put the binoculars around her neck up to her eyes and say, "Hello; you're cute!" Then she and Devon would talk about what bird we just witnessed, using names that I never would have thought up while trying to identify a bird. I'm not complaining, though. That was actually really fun! I'm sure they'll post a few photos they took, including a nest of baby sparrows peeking out from under the roof of a state park general store.

Devon and Gloria also have fun matching hats.

And the common tern are not the most common tern. Go figure.

Alas, my own vacation time is up and I go back to work today, but it's not so bad. I get two days and then my natural weekend pops up. I can't really argue about that.

(stolen from emilylime)

Your Debut Album

1 - Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to Random quotations: http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

(If you want to do this again, you'll hit refresh to generate new quotes, because clicking the quotes link again will just give you the same quotes over and over again.)

3 - Go to flickr's "explore the last seven days" http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

John Burgess Karslake - Wish him to listen

A recent release of census data shows that the population of New York City has grown while Upstate cities have decreased.

Some people are spinning this as to say that this still means New York State, as a whole, is doing all right. However, when there are different parts of a "body," so to say, and one benefits while the rest suffer, is it not unwise to question whether that one part is a parasite?

Q: What do A-Rod's and Christine Brinkley's divorce cases have in common?

A: NO ONE SHOULD GIVE A CRAP ABOUT EITHER.

Seriously, what is so intriguing about it outside of their celebrity? You want to hear divorce stories? Talk to some of the people you live near; odds are one of them has one or two to relate to you.

Oh, and I don't care that Angelina Jolie is still pregnant, either. I'm glad she's doing okay and when the kids come? Sure, that'll be pleasant to know; call me then. But for now, just let it go, okay?

I saw a nice fireworks show last night; probably the best I've seen in years down on Lake Erie. It was great even when one of the fireworks exploded directly on the ground. Actually, that made it even awesomer. No one was hurt, of course.

Anyway, I've been thinking about something. I know I'm not very happy with my situation in life right now, but in the end, are people going to remember that more than how I reacted to it? Even if I don't end up very successful, I can still be loved as a good, happy person instead of one who broadcast his misery whenever he felt like it. That's something I really need to work on.

July always means the anniversary of the last time I was in a relationship or even on a date: in 2001. I joked with some friends this year that the seventh year is the "fruitcake and stale beer" anniversary, and lo and behold, I open up my mail yesterday to see that the lovely Daniel and Bonnie had sent me a fruity brick!

So welcome to July. I'm incredibly fresh off of being scammed by a rare job opportunity I had started to invest a lot of hope and effort into. Let's do this.



Since I'm not a drinker, and it was 10 in the morning anyway, I substituted the stale beer. Coke Zero was appropriate in my mind.

I would like to begin this ceremony by thanking my virginity, without whom I would likely not be here today.

Thank you as well to the benevolent liars who instilled within me the notion that anyone who only works hard, receives excellent grades, gets a college diploma, does what they are told and follows the rules will have the future clear and open for them. I know they meant well, and I am not bitter toward them.

Thank you to Women Who Share a Certain Name, who are good, nice women and absolutely blameless, but of whom I've learned that it's just better for all should I never try to pursue anything more than a friendship with them, ever.

Thank you to the friends who have had to listen to me complain the same things over and over -- and then listen to me complain that I realize I complain the same things over and over -- for the past seven years. It can't be fun, and in all seriousness I truly am grateful that they have found some reason to stick around.

But above all I thank myself, the only common denominator in this all.

I've never actually had fruitcake before, but it tasted exactly as I imagined fruitcake to taste like, which is unfortunate.



That concludes the ceremony for this year.

I spent the past two days working to create writing samples for a job position I saw listed on Craigslist; one for writing "entries in a Q&A format on a variety of topics... Must have an inquisitive nature and a writing style that is both irreverent and informative." A great-sounding job.

I prepare the two samples and a cover letter, emailing it all with my resume to the Craigslist address noted. Less than an hour later, I get an email in the same account called "Re: In Response to CL Position You Applied For" that gives me more information on one of those dumb jobs where you "work from home" typing out responses from online ads. Not the one I was looking at at all.

Please, please be unrelated to the email I just sent. Please don't tell me I just wasted this much time and hope on another scam...

I hate it when people say, "This too shall pass." They obviously don't realize we're living on a circular track.