Busy, busy, busy

I was the social guy this weekend, let me tell you.

Friday night was career Bible study. And I even led worship. I've resisted up to this point because I don't attend that church and I wanted to be led in worship sometimes. It's a way to learn new songs. :) But there's only one other person willing to do it, and he can't be there for a few weeks, so I said I'd fill in. Went well until we got to one song. Which I need to practice tonight, don't I?

Of course, I wasn't feeling well. When I got home, I took my tempurature, and it was 99.3. Went to bed, and couldn't get warm. Finally dropped off to sleep about 1.

Saturday, I woke up and took my temp again. 98.4. Over the course of the day, it ranged from 98.0 to 99.1. I took it easy and finally decided to go to the game night. There were five of us at Debbie's and we played Catch Phrase in rotating teams with one person guessing for both teams. We had lots of fun.

Sunday I was still feeling a little off, but my temp was down to 96.8, which I swear is normal for me, so I headed to church. After church, we had a youth staff meeting. Lunch and planning for the rest of the school year. Lots of fun just hanging out. Then it was back to church for worship practice and the evening service.

Of course, Sunday is also when I found out I can't take one roommate's word for what the others are doing, even if they are all moving out together. One will give me 30 days notice after they've found a place. Another is planning to move out March 1st. You think I would have learned by now they aren't all on the same page.

So that's my weekend in a nut shell. And the dryer just buzzed, so I can get my first load of the night drying. Guess I should head out.

Word Association for January 30th

Thanks to the find folks at Unconscious Mutterings.

1. Coroner:: Dead body
2. Mystify:: Puzzle
3. Corroborate:: Verify
4. Misinterpret:: Confuse
5. Humorless:: Boring
6. Calculus:: Evil (Isn't that right, Chris?)
7. Eye for an eye:: Tooth for a tooth
8. CPR:: Heartattack
9. Stitched:: Together
10. Facility:: School

It's Wet Out There

The only way that I'm posting this from "Sunny" Southern CA is if you call rain liquid sunshine. I hadn't paid much attention until I left the condo today. That's when I discovered it was pouring. It's been raining mostly all day. Hopefully, those who were hurt by our floods had enough time to try out that today's rain won't make things worse. It's supposed to be back to sun tomorrow, so I'm not too worried.

I was right. I stopped procrastinating yesterday. Actually got quite a bit accomplished in the last couple days.

And I forgot to mentioned I've started working out again now that the fitness center has opened for the semester. Went Monday and today. And boy, can I tell I haven't lifted weights since October. Even at the small amounts I lift.

Wednesday night, things came to a head with one of my roommates and he and I had a nice long talk after I brought Matt back from watching two disappointing Enterprise episodes. Turns out some of the comments I've been taking personally were meant sarcastically. And he thought the games nights sounded like a great idea, not the bad idea he made them sound like when I came home that Sunday night. Not that this is changing anyone moving out.

Of course, that's still a problem I'm having. See, I really can't make any plans for the next six months or so, like Trixie Camp or visiting my brother and sister-in-law, if I don't have roommates. My roommates keep promising to give me 30 days notice before they move out. The problem is, until I get that, I really can't start looking for new roommates. And until I know how many roommates I'm going to have and when they're going to move in, my hands are tied. You know, this whole landlord thing is a royal pain.

I had some other rant to go off on at this point in my blog. And it was vital. :) But I can't for the life of me remember what it was, so I think I'll post this and maybe get a couple reviews written for Amazon before I go to career Bible study tonight.

This Week's TV Tuesday and Thursday Threesome

But first, the TV Tuesday from Tuesday. (Almost forgot I still had to do that.) A subject that used to be near and dear to my heart - Nick and Nite. I used to watch all the time, but hardly turn it on any more. Of course, most of their current crop don't do much for me. And the shows I like are on so late.

1. Of the many shows that run on Nick-at-Night, what is the one that you would most enjoy sitting down and watching a marathon of?
I always liked Murphey Brown and Wings. And I would gladly sit through a marathon of Mary Tyler Moore or I Love Lucy, which used to be on.

2. What classic show from yesterday has not made it to Nick-at-Nite yet, but you'd like to see it there?
It's not quite time, but I hope Home Improvement shows up eventually.

3. Have repeat on Nick-at-Night given you a new appreciation of an older show? Which one?
I didn't grow up watching a lot of TV so I used Nick at Nite to catch up on what I missed out on. That's how I watched many an episode of I Love Lucy and Mary Tyler Moore. It also introduced me to Newhart, Happy Days, and Laverne and Shirley.

4. What show that is currently on the air do you think our kids will be watching in 20 years on Nick-at-Nite?
Everybody Loves Raymond, Friends, and Frasier leap quickly to mind.

5. What is one show that Nick-at-Nite currently runs that you question if the classic label applies to?
Unfortunately, it is a classic, but I have never understood the appeal of Rosanne. The person of the sitcom.

~ BONUS ~ Are there some shows that don't repeat well in later years because they rely on topical humor? (For example, a lot of the Murphy Brown jokes rely on a knowledge of current events when they were produced) Do you sometimes find yourself getting the jokes that younger generations don't? Do you think this topical humor helps or hurts shows from having a long life in repeats?
I think Murphy is a good example. (And it's on now? Must watch!) I think it's a trade-off. Makes for great humor at the time, but it does hurt a show in repeats. Then again, look at The Brady Bunch. The show isn't topical, but the styles sure are. Yet it thrives in reruns.

Now we can get to the Thursday Threesome, brought to us by electricity (at night anyway) and The Back Porch.

Onesome: Light-- Light chocolate or dark chocolate? ...or no chocolate at all?
I'll eat either, but I prefer light chocolate.

Twosome: or-- Yeah, easy stuff this week : Coffee with cream or black as night? Or maybe: colas or clear sodas? ...or just water, thank you?
Just water please. Some of my friends even joke about my love of water above everything else.

Threesome: Dark-- Light-colored clothing or dark clothes? Which do you prefer to wear? Angel to goth, we're curious?
I'm about split. I wear dark jeans (blue and black) but many different color shirts. I never wear all black or all white.

Tomorrow I'll Stop Procrastinating

Really I will. I'll have no choice. My boss will be back, and I have stuff I absolutely have to get done before the end of the month so that the government doesn't come after us with fines.

I got so little done today it's not even funny.

And I'm in a funk over my roommate situation. The reality of loosing the income is starting to sink in, I think. Yet I truly don't want them to stick around. Friday, they went out and didn't bother inviting me. And it's something I've mentioned liking to do. And things keep coming back to mind. Like one roommate saying "While you were gone, we had our first roommate dinner." Excuse me??!! I live here, too! Or, being told twice by the same one, "We are not friends."

I have decided that either way, I don't want to share the master bedroom. Yes, the money would be nice, but I think it'll be nicer to have my own space.

Just talked to a guy looking to move down here. He wants to take a look at the place, and I think he'd prefer to have a room to himself for what I want for half a room. He's supposed to call me back Friday with his work schedule so we can discuss when he can take a look at it. We'll see what happens. If he doesn't call me back Friday, I'm not interested in having him as a roommate. He claims to be responsible, but if he can't do this, I don't want him to move in.

Yes, I want to be more selective this next go around. No, I don't expect these people to become my bestest friends ever. But some common decency would be nice. And I don't think it's asking for too much, either.

There's Some News in There Somewhere

Not much new going on in my life in the last few days.

Thursday night was Bible study. Friday night we had a movie night for the youth at church. Watched a video of a drama production that a church in Woodland Hills had done a few months back. It was very, very good.

Saturday lazed around the condo and then headed out to our game night. Played Mexican Train Dominoes. Came in a close second. If we'd played one more round, I might have won!

Yesterday, we had a SNYF after church. Went very well. At least I had lots of fun.

Saturday afternoon, two of my jr. high co-workers stopped by. They'd been looking at condos in my complex. First time they'd seen my place. I'd really like them to move in when they get married. It would be fun living so close to them. Hope it works out.

And I finished Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels over the weekend. I read the first book back in October when Matt and I went to Vegas. I loved this book just as much as the first. Can't wait to get my hands on the third.

Meanwhile, I'm going with a little change of pace with the new FoxTrot collection. Should finish it up tonight. Then it's a reread of O' Artful Death for my mystery group at Delphi. We're doing a book discussion on it, and I'm the moderator, so I thought it would be a good idea to review.

But right now, it's dinner time. (You saw that coming, I know.) So I'm off to eat!

Word Association for January 23rd

Time once again for this.

1. Material world:: Junk
2. Satin sheets:: Smooth
3. Blizzard:: Snow
4. Real estate:: Taxes
5. Dress up:: Adult Clothes
6. Wesley:: Crusher (just saw a reference to him at Jix.)
7. Robber:: Friday's Monk episode
8. Saliva:: Eating
9. Slave:: Trader
10. Shift:: Key

Thursday Threesome for January 20

Brought to us this week by Fox and The Back Porch.

Onesome: The next- What would be your idea for the next great reality tv show?
Haven't quite got everything figured out, but it should be based on books. Hey, they've got one based on famous movies scenes, why not?

Twosome: American- What do you think of as typically American? Mom and apple pie? Afternoons at the ballpark watching baseball?
All of those sound good. Or how about fireworks and picnics for 4th of July. Or watermelon. For some reason, that feels American to me as well.

Threesome: Idol- Who's the one person you admire the most and why?
The hard question this week. My parents (two people I know.) Because of all their sacrifices to raise us and teach us over the years since I was homeschooled some and my brother all the way through.

Did I Need That!

Just got done with dinner. My friends (if I can call people who leave town when they graduate friends) Brandon and John were back. Plus my friends who are still students were back as well. We sat around making each other laugh. It was wonderful!

Not much new in other fronts. I have a feeling I'll be loosing all my roommates come March 1st. They have decided to rent a house and try to get 5 or 6 guys in there. Probably be enough of an incentive to get those who only want to move out if it's cheaper to move out. I don't want to try to find new roommates, and I'm already starting to hope they don't go.

Of course, at the same time, I'm planning what I could do with the place if I didn't have any roommates at all. It would require not eating. But then again, I keep saying I want to loose weight.

I must say, trying to keep 5 or 6 roommates? And I thought I was crazy trying to keep four of us around! They'll be looking for roommates even more frequently then I am. And they're rent will change each month, making them very sorry. I'm the only one who suffers from an increase in rent when someone moves out at my place. All in all, I think the two who want to decrease their rent are being stupid, but they haven't asked my advise.

And we'll see if we get any visitors here in the next couple of days. I found a discussion on teaching Intelligent Design in schools along side Evolution today. The guy's point is that ID is a religion, but Evolution isn't. I couldn't let that stand. You see, the US Supreme Court has ruled that Secular Humanism is a religion. Evolution is a major belief of Secular Humanism. Therefore, we are teaching religion in science class whether we want to call it that or not.

TV Tuesday for Jan 18th

Today's subject over at TV Tuesday is Jumping the Shark.

1. What is the worst Jump the Shark moment for a show that you've faithfully watched? Did you continue to watch after the show took the jump or did you give up in disgust?
It takes a lot for me to give up on a show. Buffy and Angel both jumped, but I kept watching. I must lean toward the worst moment being when Angel took over Wolfram and Hart. Or when they killed off Fred. Either of those was pretty bad in my opinion.

2. Is there a show that you're currently watching that you think has Jumped the Shark? Any show that currently is putting on a life vest and strapping on water skis?
Alias. To be honest, I think it jumped the shark when they took down SD-6 in season 2. It's been enjoyable sense then, but it's not nearly as exciting or entertaining.

3. Is there a show that has never taken the jump?
I don't like to say never when the show's still on, but 24 is no where near jumping yet. And I'd argue that I Love Lucy and Newhart never jumped.

4. Is there a show that got close to jumping but then came back?
I'm going to tweak this slightly. I think Mary Tyler Moore jumped when Rhoda left. While I certainly enjoy the show after that, it's not the same as when Rhoda lived above Mary. It just seems to be missing something.

5. What elements do you think most contribute to a show making the jump?
Age of the show. Loosing major characters for whatever reason. A drastic change behind the scenes or in storyline.