We've moved to a new location!

Other People's Blogs and Such

My girlfriend
Bob Scott
Craig
Erin
Kristina
Mark
sarah
Suzanne

See Also:

My livejournal
My homepage
My links page

E-mail me
AIM: Fablesto

Archives

 
I'm wondering what I should do about my web page. I've been meaning to do some serious editing to it for some time, but I'm not exactly sure what kind of editing needs to be done. I DO think it would be a good idea to move it, since it's impossible to access a Geocities page without a zillion ads popping up. I don't want to pay for space, though (the site isn't that important), and I don't know of any free server that doesn't have the pop-up ads. I'm pretty sure Comcast, which my dad uses, has web space, but I don't know how much longer I'll have access to that. Any ideas?
posted by Nathan at 6:40 PM

 
I had a dream that I had an interview at a school library, and I showed up for it in my pajamas. Oddly enough, the lady interviewing me didn't seem to care, but I was afraid afterwards that I didn't get the job because of that.
posted by Nathan at 5:40 PM

 
The other day, I got a call from a nearby library system saying that they had no positions available. Just recently, however, that same library system advertised several positions, and the ad was still up a few days ago. I guess it's possible they've already been filled, but that's really a shame. I'm starting to think I'll never find a job.
posted by Nathan at 5:51 PM

 
Now playing: Sloan, Between the Bridges

I got the new Sims expansion pack yesterday. You can buy pets now, and it's pretty cool how it works. Dogs can drink from the toilet, bark at the doorbell, and apparently chase the mail lady (I haven't actually seen that last one yet). Cats can use scratching posts, annoy birds, and hunt mice (although I don't think the mice will appear unless you have a cat). A few of my families have gotten pets, and it doesn't seem that difficult to take care of them, but I haven't quite mastered training them as of yet. There are also bigger neighborhoods now, and community lots that your families can visit. I think Unleashed is probably a better expansion pack than the last three. House Party and Vacation are fairly narrow in scope, and Hot Date was a good idea, but rather poorly executed. The downtown area is so complicated, slow-running, and full of bugs that I hardly ever send my characters there, except occasionally to buy stuff. I do have a few minor gripes about Unleashed, but nothing really serious. For one thing, the intro is back. This isn't that bad, since you can skip it with the push of a button, but it was absent from Vacation, and I was glad to see it go. I have no clue why they would have put it back in for this expansion pack. Also, as with Vacation and (for the most part) Hot Date, all of the new residential and community lots are exactly the same for every neighborhood, and none of them are vacant. I realize that I can bulldoze and start over, but I'd like to keep the stuff the programmers put in AND add my own. The original game provided both ready-made houses and vacant lots, and Livin' Large put some new stuff in the second neighborhood. Oh, well.

If anyone who reads my blog has never played The Sims, that last paragraph will go entirely over their heads. Sorry about that.

I got another job interview, which is a good thing. I just hope I don't mess it up. And yes, I realize I might not get the job even if I DON'T mess up, but I don't want to feel it's my fault if I don't get it.

I wish those things I ordered would come in the mail.
posted by Nathan at 7:20 PM

 

What Stone Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

posted by Nathan at 11:19 PM

 


posted by Nathan at 4:41 AM

 
Okay, let me see what I've been up to recently.

On Friday night, I got a membership at a Blockbuster near Beth's house, and we rented The Other Sister and Ghost World, the former because Beth wanted me to see how crappy it was, and the latter because she liked it. The Other Sister was about two retarded people falling in love (and having sex, in one particularly disturbing scene). One thing I noticed about it was that it seemed the writers felt obligated to provide some minor characterization for the retarded girl's two sisters (perhaps so the title would fit?), so they made one of them gay. The family was very rich and conservative; at one point, the dad (actually the more likeable of the two parents) said he was glad his kids hadn't become Democrats. I liked Ghost World, and thought it managed to have an artistic feel and a theme of teen alienation without becoming too pretentious.

On Saturday, Beth and I saw Mr. Show at the Electric Factory. It was really funny. They did one sketch I recognized from what I've seen of the show (the first two seasons), but the rest of it was new to me. There were some technical problems (pretty much par for the course with Philadelphia shows), but the cast impressed me by doing some improvisation and making fun of the venue when this happened.

Last night, we saw a few videos on M2 that had been selected by Courtney Love, and I was somewhat disturbed to find that I actually liked most of them, up until she decided to show the Alice in Chains Unplugged special in its entirety. It was the first time I had seen a Pixies video on TV, and while the video wasn't very good (I've heard that they made most of their videos to be purposely pathetic), it's always cool to see a band you like being played.

Okay, I suppose that's all for now.
posted by Nathan at 4:37 PM

 
J.K. Rowling is apparently pregnant. She'll use ANY excuse to not finish that fifth Harry Potter book, won't she? {g}
posted by Nathan at 4:05 PM

 
Stuff I want:
The Camper Van Beethoven box set
The new Sims expansion pack

Stuff I don't have:
Money
A job
posted by Nathan at 7:06 PM

 
I wonder why AOL Yellow Pages doesn't include zip codes in their listings.
posted by Nathan at 3:36 AM

 
I'm terrible at taking phone messages. It's not really that big of a deal, since most of the messages people give me are unimportant (Gold Card days at GNC) or something people should know already (dentist's appointments). Still, I should probably keep some writing implements near the phone. People like to call and leave messages when I'm half-asleep, though, which makes it kind of difficult.

Is it weird that I like to eat ham sandwiches on Jewish rye bread?

My Internet connection was down a little while ago, but it seems to be working okay now. I just hope it isn't like the last time I had problems, where it worked for a little while and then stopped.

I have to call about the civil service test today.

Is it pathetic or normal that I got out of graduate school in March, and I still haven't found a job?
posted by Nathan at 1:14 PM

 
Kmart sent me a paycheck for $3.76. I wonder what it's for. Oh, well. Getting an unexpected $3.76 isn't a bad thing.
posted by Nathan at 7:17 PM

 
Yesterday, I ate at Taco Bell. This was only the second time I had had their tacos, and I was somewhat surprised to find that I liked them both times. I generally don't care for Mexican food because I don't like things that are hot and spicy, but the tacos really weren't either. I did develop a bit of a stomachache afterwards, but I can't tell if it was from that. I guess I would go back to Taco Bell again.

In the evening, Beth and I watched A Clockwork Orange, which I had never seen before. It was pretty interesting. Beth decided that the movie was anti-behaviorism, and I guess that's true, but I've never had the film and psychology classes that she has.
posted by Nathan at 5:36 PM

 
I drove Beth to school today, only to find that the foreign language lab had already closed. Beth's school sucks. I remember when I took German in college, and the foreign language lab was for extra credit. I tried to do the exercises there once, couldn't figure it out (couldn't figure out how to work the tape recorder, that is, not the exercises themselves), and gave up on it.
posted by Nathan at 3:51 PM

 
I just called a few temp agencies. When I was on hold with one of them, they played that song "Get Here" (the one with that rather offensive lyric, "You can get here by caravan, across the desert like an Arab man"). Thanks to American Idol, I can't hear that song without thinking of Justin "I have to coax my hair" Guarini.
posted by Nathan at 4:22 PM

 
I went to the Ford dealer today, and they said they'd have to order a new hubcap, and it would be a few days.
posted by Nathan at 5:14 PM

 
I didn't get the job at Mount Laurel. Oh, well.
posted by Nathan at 8:20 PM

 
Well, I did go to Pizza Hut this evening. I wish I had remembered to bring a book for while I was waiting, but, fortunately, the wait wasn't that long. While I was waiting, I took a look at the jukebox, and, while I was there, some little girl wrapped her arms around my legs. I wasn't sure how to react to that; I think I just said, "What?" and she left. I had a large pan pizza with extra cheese all to myself, which means I have leftovers, but I like leftover pizza. I tend to prefer NOT having leftovers at some restaurants, especially the TGI Friday's/Chili's/Ruby Tuesday variety, because their food doesn't reheat all that well, but pizza is different.

I wonder whether the few people who read my blog prefer pointless entries like this, or no entries at all.
posted by Nathan at 7:57 PM

 
I called the Ford dealership too late in the day, and service department is closed. I guess I'll call them again tomorrow morning. I'm sure I can survive without a hubcap, but I hope they can do something about it.
posted by Nathan at 5:46 PM

 
I'm back home now, and I got back without much trouble, except for hitting another (probably small) pothole, and pulling up too far to the right at a tollbooth.

Beth has been lending me the Lemony Snicket books to read. I recently finished the fifth one, The Austere Academy, and I must admit that I was more anxious to get into the sixth (The Ersatz Elevator) than I was for most of the others, since the fifth ends on a cliffhanger. I have a suspicion that the sixth book won't actually reveal what "V.F.D." means, though.

Maybe I'll go to eat at Pizza Hut this evening. I haven't been there in some time, and I've been wanting to. I do tend to eat a lot of pizza, though.

To get serious for a minute, I really hope the anniversary of September 11 tomorrow doesn't lead to any new terrorist attacks. I know the fact that the date is the same doesn't necessarily mean anything, but it's still scary. Of course, there have been plenty of scares throughout the year, and nothing in THIS country of the same magnitude (I'm not trying to be disrespectful of other countries, but it's always worse when it's close to home), so maybe my worries are for nothing. I hope so. It's just that hearing about a heightened sense of security and all that isn't really that reassuring, especially considering the surprising nature of last year's attacks. I'll really never understand what motivates terrorists. Yeah, their excuses are sometimes found out, and there's probably some merit to the idea that the United States is being careless with other countries and making a lot of enemies, but I just can't see what anyone would hope to accomplish by blowing up a building, you know?
posted by Nathan at 1:28 PM

 
I drove to Beth's house. I thought it would be really scary, but it wasn't that bad. The worst part was when I took the wrong exit twice in a row and got lost. While lost, I hit a pothole, and my hubcap fell off, but I didn't realize it until later, so I couldn't get it back. I still need to get a new one. I wonder if the dealer could help with that. I drove around Beth's area a little bit, and it doesn't seem so bad, although there was a lot of traffic this evening, when I took Beth and Mark to Denny's. Tomorrow, I'm going to hand in a résumé and cover letter for a nearby library. I'd be glad to get a job there, since it's so close by, but I don't know what the odds of that actually happening are. Probably not so great.
posted by Nathan at 9:17 PM

 
I don't think my interview yesterday went all that well. I actually talked to two ladies, and the interview with the first one was okay, but the other one (who actually worked at the library; the other one was just in human resources for the school) gave me the impression that I wasn't what she was looking for. It didn't help that I didn't know how to answer most of her questions. Oh, well.
posted by Nathan at 9:28 PM

 

How Are You Smart?

I don't think that's true, though. I don't even go outside very much, except when I have to. I used to like to sit outside and read when I was at college, but there really aren't any good spots around here for doing that, and that doesn't have anything to do with nature anyway.

I didn't know April March covered the Pixies' "Alec Eiffel." That's pretty cool.
posted by Nathan at 9:25 PM

 
Today, Beth came over, and we drove around to various places. She says I'm not a bad driver, which is reassuring. Anyway, we went to eat at Ruby Tuesday's, and saw Spy Kids 2, which was good. I still need to see Signs, but Beth had already seen that (and said it was enjoyable), and I didn't want her to miss this one. We also went to the new Walmart, and to Target, and saw where I used to live. Parts of the driving were scary, since I went to some places I hadn't driven before, and wasn't exactly sure how to get around. I guess I handled it pretty well, though, and I'm sure I'll get better.
posted by Nathan at 9:18 PM

 
I went ahead and got the Ford Focus. I'm going to drive it to Chili's this evening.

I need to do laundry tonight.
posted by Nathan at 4:14 PM