The Weekend Grab-Bag: The Freedom Version

Yep, you guessed it: SCHOOL'S OUT!!! But I do apologize as I did last week for not blogging on a Thursday night. It's just more work for me, as I have to remember 4, count them, 4 days of thoughts, events, and memories. That's why I do this for a liv- o wait - this is for fun. Shoot. O well. And remember folks, this is not chronological, so don't ask! . .

- Ok, so work. Last time we talked I was getting into more trouble with the one manager and starting to test the patience of the General Manager, although trust me, I was not trying to do so. Well I worked yesterday (I didn't work one of those over-extended hours days) and tonight and overall had a good weekend at work. It's better when a certain two managers are there, as they like me, and for some strange reason, I don't get into any trouble with guests and such. Isn't that amazing! Well tonight, we had two, count them, two parties of 20 and one party of 28 as well as the usual three or four parties of 8 and 10 and such. So me and Jennifer (the nice manager) worked side-by-side to get together these tables and she actually listened to me and went with my idea for the seating. This was cool. We'll see what happens this week. I don't work again til Saturday (I'll get to that later) and the axe was supposed to come out some time around now, so it'll be interesting to see what happens. O yeah, I got paid on Saturday! Yes! Christmas money!!! Now, that's a whole other story.

- Tonight is the first night since Wednesday night that I've been alone. On Thursday, George came over as we had wanted another night of working on the ol' script. Well we did accomplish some stuff (the entire opening credits is mapped out - it's cool when I visualize it in movie form) but the best part was introducing him to DANE COOK. For those of you who don't know DANE COOK, he is quite possibly the most popular stand-up comedian right now. His latest CD was something like number four on the BILLBOARD charts its first week and has since gone platinum. He is also the first stand-up to host SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE and not have another medium that he was supporting (movies, TV, etc) and is one of my favorite stand-ups out there. Check out www.danecook.com or just go out and buy RETALIATION right now. Caution: the man can get rude and crude, but it's very worth it. High comedy. . . O yeah, so me and George (I know, I know - it's "George and I" - leave me alone) listened to him for about an hour on my computer and we were laughing hysterically the entire time. Good stuff. Friday was Long Beach day (also more on that later) and Saturday night I hung out with my bud Kevin. He was bored and gave me a call and so we hung out at my house for a few hours. We played some MADDEN (he tried at least, which was cool) and chatted a bit about what was going on in our respective lives. We made an IN-N-OUT trip around 2300 and he headed home at 0100, making it another late night. Good catching up, though. So now I'm alone tonight, which is something I more or less prefer. I am not a person who minds being by himself. O yes, it's true.

- That was a long ramble

- I get my Wisdom Teeth pulled out on Tuesday. Dangit. I was kinda growing attached to them (ba-dum-chuh). You know, I think I already made this joke in a previous blog. O well, it's funny. I'm sticking with it!

- As I said before, I went to Long Beach on Friday (from now on, it will be called THE LB - yeah, it's kind of a nudge towards THE OC, but not entirely) and had just a wonderful day. I got there about 1300 as there was mucho traffic on the 405. We had a movie planned for 1615 so we decided to kick back and ended up taking a nap. You know, I always sleep better when Heather's curled up with me. This bodes well for my future sleep patterns. Anyway, we woke up and headed to the Howard Hughes Promenade, which is about 20 minutes from her apartment. It's where we saw THE WEATHER MAN last month. Anyway, we went to go see (take a breath, it's lengthy) THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE. I have never read the books, but I do know a bit about C.S. Lewis since I went to Desert Christian High School and read one of his books (The Screwtape Letters) for Bible class. I was marginally to partially interested in the movie going in. I was pleasantly surprised. I would put it right up there with those pesky LORD OF THE RINGS movies, maybe just under RETURN OF THE KING, but better than those first two. I like the fantastical worlds that men like Lewis and Tolkien create. This is a true escapist movie. Go to the world of NARNIA and you won't be disappointed.

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE - (B+)

- After the movie we went to CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN and got our favorite Margherita Pizza. We ate the whole thing and then headed back to her apartment and watched IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, and for me it was my first time viewing it. I know, that's gotta be sacreligious or something, but it's true. Overall it was pretty good and I can see why it's revered as a classic. I would be okay never seeing it again, but I also wouldn't mind if I saw it every Christmas or something you know? I had to return home shortly after the movie and this sucked more than ever before. Why? Well, Heather and I are just growing closer together every extra day we're a couple and it's harder each time we say goodbye. At least she's done with school after this week. And speaking of school. . .

- IT'S OVER! Well, at least the Fall semester of this year 2005 is finished. On Thursday, I took my only final of the day (MATH) and that was that. We had a group final (Thanks Tran) and our group finished first and correctly, or so we expect. I'm excited, cuz I think I got an A in that class, which would give me a 3.75 GPA for this semester. That's cool. School resumes on January 9, 2006 and that means this is gonna be a good month. No school! Yes!

- So I finished the regular season of my FRANCHISE mode on MADDEN. I went 16-0 (remember: Rookie level) and am now in the Super Bowl. I might do that tonight or tomorrow, I haven't decided. I know you don't care, but Peyton Manning threw 81 touchdown passes for me! That's incredible! Bring it Seattle! And in other sports news, I went a respectable 11-4 in the football pool this week with Monday night's game remaining. I went into this week tied for sixth place and I'm so close, yet so far away. Story of my life. .

- I was just thinking that this was a shorter Weekend Grab-Bag, but then I scrolled up and found that not to be the case. And this makes it longer. Yes!

- I need to do Christmas shopping. Bleh! What do I get!!!???!!!

- Well. . . I can't think of any fun thoughts for right now, but if you ask me of my opinion on something, I would be more than happy to share my opinion with all of you. Comment please. Anyone can do it! Yes, even you Grandma! And no, I don't think that this is a desperate plea. I find it endearing. But, again, that's probably just me. Tired, wisdom-less (at least after Tuesday) me. And that's that.

- - - Sentry Centaur: "Numbers do not win a battle."
Peter Pevensie: "No... but I bet they help."
- - - Pre-Battle Discussion in THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA YOU KNOW THE REST OF THE TITLE

Laughing maniacally,

JUSTIN