I remember a time when I suffered from blog diarrhea.

So, what’s been going on? (Updated with new gross spider bite wound picture goodness!)

My t-shirt buying has dwindled, partly because I haven’t seen anything I’d like to buy (and my wanted list is largely ignored) and partly because I was spending way too much money on them.

I finished Atlas Shrugged. Overall, I did not enjoy it. The last 200 pages or so were very much a chore to read, which is why it took so long to finish. The ideas are beaten into you, over and over again, to the point where you’re skipping 30 pages at a time because you don’t want to read the same speech reiterated 3 more times. I kept wanting to scream out “I GET THE FUCKING POINT!” The story was interesting, and the characters were… well, kind of two-dimensional. It could have been better. It just went to such extreme lengths to make it’s point so fucking obvious that a three year old could have understood it, it was almost abusive to me. I’d like to read a book and use my brain a little bit. Anyway, it’s done now, all 1200 pages of it, and I can’t imagine I’ll be reading anything else by Ayn Rand.

I also read Brave New World Saturday, which I enjoyed.

Laura’s moving out. I don’t think I’ll be getting another roommate right away. It’ll be nice to have the place to myself again, without the echoes of Teamspeak chatter flooding the halls and invading my dreams.

Dad’s birthday was this past Monday. I bought him some RAM, since his measly 256 megs were no longer sufficient. In doing so, we had several hilarious conversations about computers and the internet. My favorite quote: “Do you need to have the internet to get to Yahoo!?” Oh, out of the mouths of senior citizens…

In regard to the last entry here: Floris was home for a couple of days, and I agreed to go to The Wave. While there, she showed up. CJ and Floris tried to get her to leave in an effort to protect me. They thought I didn’t notice, but of course I did. I thought about it, though, and while the idea of running into her is not appealing to me at all, to put it lightly, I was the encroacher in this situation, not her. She did nothing wrong. I was the one who was out of place. I was the trespasser. I appreciate the thought behind my friends’ actions, but going there was my mistake, and she didn’t deserve to be harassed. I hear she wrote something nasty about the whole thing on myspace. C’est la vie.

I’ve seen my grandparents out in public a couple times in as many months. It provokes several emotions in me, none of which are pleasant. I’m not sure what to do with it. I guess the whole thing is out of my control, but it still fucking sucks. I wish people would grow up, and I’m immediately disgusted that I am wishing people would grow up. I’m a 25 year old toddler. If I’m telling you to grow up, something is wrong.

I went to mom’s last night for dinner. A small child punched me in the face. It was very, very loud, and there were people there I don’t really know, so it was uncomfortable, but the meatloaf was delicious and I got to watch the House marathon for a while. The universe balances out once more.

I know a girl named Trish. She’s going through a rough time, and I’ve been trying to keep her afloat. She has a lot of the same social phobias as I do, but hers are worse. It’s a difficult situation, at times. Two people who have severe social anxiety trying to survive in very social situations is almost tragically hilarious to observe. I find myself having to be the semi-social one, and it’s not a duty I relish. Still, I do it, because she needs a friend.

I’ve seen some movies:

The Departed was pretty good, but I think I liked the original Infernal Affairs (yes, I know, it’s not a typo; no, I didn’t know it was a remake either) better. One of my favorite Chinese actors, Eric Tsang, was in it. I call him the asian William Shatner.

Saw 3 was better than I expected. The acting was hammy, sure, but the gore was magnificent, and the plot was actually interesting. I’m not saying it was great, but I am saying it didn’t suck.

The Prestige was good, but I was disappointed. The story was extremely predictable. There wasn’t a terrible amount of depth to the characters or the plot.. Still, it was a decent movie. I might have been expecting too much.

Thank You For Smoking was fantastic.

I’m very much looking forward to seeing the Borat movie. I heard that they slashed the number of theaters showing the movie in half, and that makes me sad. I hope it’s playing somewhere near here this Friday.

Work has been alright lately. I got to work on a new project (for a whopping 2 days) which staved off stagnation temporarily. I have to pay taxes on the stock I own in that other company, which is awesome. I’ve been trying to find a decent zen garden for my desk, but so far, the only good ones I’ve found come from South Africa and they haven’t responded to my emails, so I’m worried they’re either scammers or out of business.

I’m not planning to do anything for Halloween. To me, it’s a holiday for kids and drinkers, and I’m neither anymore. My porch light will be off tomorrow night.

I got bit by a spider, or some other kind of poisonous insect.

I wasn’t worried at first, it was merely a bump. So I fucked with it, as I’m wont to do. Then it started to hurt, and I thought that was a little weird. Then it became very red and a little swollen, and it hurt more, and it was painful to walk. A thought occurred at that point: maybe I’m dying? So I resolved to have mom look at it. She seemed concerned. I told her I’d go to the doctor if it didn’t start to improve, and sure enough, the next day, it seemed better. Then it stopped hurting, and I cheered, for I was surely on the path to recovery. Then it got bigger, redder, and towards the center, purplish. Then it swelled a little more. It does not hurt, but it does feel a little numb, and a little itchy, and at the center, at the bite mark, it’s kind of hard. That’s where we stand. Pinetree mentioned necrosis, which has inspired terror within me. That terror has yet to overcome the terror of making a doctor’s appointment, though, or even picking a new doctor since my health insurance has changed twice since my last visit.

In other words, I may die for a very silly reason, or at the very least, be scarred for life. Fun.

In less depressing news, my preorder copy of Final Fantasy 12 should arrive soon. I’ve heard very good things. After 8, 9, and 10, the franchise has much to make up for in my eyes. Don’t expect to hear much from me for the next week and a half to two weeks.

Final Fantasy 7 is one of my favorite games of all time. Final Fantasy 8 was a terrible game. I didn’t even bother finishing it. Final Fantasy 9 was a disappointment, I didn’t bother to finish that one either. I did watch Joanna beat it, though, and it was less than fulfilling. Final Fantasy 10 was way too short, had too many cut scenes, was fraught with bugs, and just… didn’t feel like a Final Fantasy game. The reviews for this one, so far, have been stellar. Let’s hope it lives up to the hype.

The afore-mentioned Trish wrested my watch from me in exchange for a bit of culinary experimentation. My wrist feels naked. As a consequence, I’ve been shopping around for a new one. I’ve taken a liking to Skagen watches, but they seem a bit small. I may just go cheap and pick up another Fossil gauntlet-like watch, like my last one. I do not intend to spend $500 on a watch.

To sum up, I’m bored and feeling a bit restless, but overall I’m happy. It’s probably just a side effect of the spider venom wreaking havoc in my brain.