The Weekend Grab-Bag: The Cinnamon Storm Version

Alright, lots to get to. . . I'm gonna jump right in on everything that's been going on since Wednesday night (the last time I posted). I've lived Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and today and a lot has gone on in those nearly 96 hours. So let's get to it! (This one might near the chronological nature, but, as always, it will not all be that way):

- I worked nineteen hours between Thursday night, Saturday night, and this morning/afternoon at JC. I made ok money (any money is good money, sure, but I would always like a little more for my efforts). Nothing all that exciting happened over those three periods (or at least that I can remember now) and I now don't have to go back to JC until Thursday night. Nice. I'm down to two days next week, which is ok, I guess, by me. As long as I'm working both jobs consistently, I'll be doing just fine.

- Speaking of the other job, the medical center thing is going just fine. I'm putting in the hours I am just to help with my payments and whatnot. I don't necessarily like doing what I'm doing, and my boss (not Cy's mom, but my direct supervisor) kinda annoys me, but it's definitely good for the time being. I like money. So sue me!

- I took a copy of my co-produced (with Cy, of course) magazine from my AP Language class (back in HS) in to show Mr. Carter (or Gary, as the other editors call him. . . I find it kinda awkward) what I had accomplished. I was, of course, proud of what we had done, but I showed it to him asking for pointers (almost a private lesson about making a newspaper/magazine) and did he ever show me some things!!! I learned a lot about the makings of a newspaper/magazine! I'm looking forward to the rest of my semester in this class. I'm sure to learn a lot!

- I watched KISS KISS, BANG BANG twice this weekend. I watched about 3/4 Thursday night before I fell asleep and then finished it Friday morning. As soon as I finished it, I put it back on and watched it with the commentary by stars Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer, and writer/director Shane Black. It was very funny to listen to all the things these three men had to say. I never got bored (even though I had just watched it) and I was throughly entertained for a good while. I had not sat down and relaxed in about a week, so it felt good to do nothing. Plus, it's a great movie. Can't go wrong there. If you haven't seen it, and you have a penchant for dark comedies with a wicked sense of humor (nothing is too obscure!), then go rent this movie now. Well, at least tomorrow. It's Labor Day for goodness sake! Take a load off and have some fun! If, in the chance that one of my other readers has already gone out and rented it (hey, it's possible - - -) then allow me to give you two other recommendations in the realm of film. You actually have to go to the movie theatre to see these, though. The two best movies of the summer were late arrivals, in that they weren't released (or at least widely distributed) until later on in the season. LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE and THE ILLUSIONIST are two independent movies that are absolutely fantastic! I honestly can't decide which one I liked better. Either way, I recommend you see them both (SUNSHINE is for a more mature audience - there is some potentially objectionable content, whereas THE ILLUSIONIST is seeable for all ages with its PG-13 rating) as soon as possible. I'm gonna write a dual review for the EXAMINER tomorrow, so I'll try to post whatever I get on paper here tomorrow. However, I give them both an A-, so enjoy that for now.

- I'm kinda bumming right now. I got off of work at 1700 and have done nothing noteworthy since I got home. Right now, of course, I'm blogging (while watching JURASSIC PARK 3, of all movies) but I wish I was curled up with Heather watching a movie, or playing poker with a big group of players, or playing PLAYSTATION with some friends. Something. Anything but this. . .

- I interviewed Dr. Jaffe Friday morning for the article I'm doing on him. It was very interesting to learn more about him and what makes him tick. I'm looking forward to writing this article so that the rest of the campus (reality shock for me right now - the whole AVC campus will be able to read my writing - kinda scary) can see more about how much Jaffe loves teaching and loves the students. Very cool stuff indeed.

- Ok, so the hours between 1600 on Friday and 1600 on Saturday were quite possibly the best 24 hours I've had in a very long time. It was that great! So I'll take this one bit at a time. First, Heather got home around 1530 so I headed straight to her house to see her. What a sight! That girl is incredible! We were kinda bored at her house, so on a whim, we rushed to the movies. We were just in time to see THE ILLUSIONIST (o man, it was so good!) and then we went to Cy's. We picked him up and headed to the Antelope Valley Fair (it was $15 night - you pay admission and get a bracelet that gets you on all the rides and the show, which that night was some sort of racing at the track, but we didn't go). We got some food and then continued to walk around. We hit some rides (I was skeptical of anything that spun - I've gotten sick one too many times on rides like that) and then Chels met us there a little bit later. We were kinda bored walking around, and Cy had already mentioned to us that we should go see a hypnotist show. We looked at the event schedule, but there was no sign of one. Bummed out, we walked towards the entrance/exit and came across the stage where the hypnotist lady would be performing later. It was 2115 and the show started at 2200. We got a little bit more food, and then found some good seats near the front. Right before (and I mean right before!) the show was about to start, Heather and Chelsea decided to get a caramel apple and they left to go get that. Right after they left, the host got up and announced that she would be picking volunteers next. Both Cy and I were very skeptical (us, skeptical?) about the whole process, believing that the volunteers were "predetermined" so that the hypnotism would "work". Well I was holding seats, so Cy started jumping up and down trying to get chosen. Shockingly to both of us, he got picked! He handed me his camera and hopped up on stage. What followed was one of the funniest 45 minutes of my life. Cy got the crap hypnotized out of him! It was so good, that I even bought the $20 DVD of the performance as a form of blackmail if my best bud ever crosses me :D . . . The best part, by far, was when Cy thought he was a contestant on America's Next Top Model. He strutted his stuff up and down the stage and claimed his name was Cinnamon Storm (a name I later learned was a joke about a female counterpart of his at HOBY, and that was her so-joked-about stripper name - adds a bit of humor to the story). The entire audience ate it up, and he ended up winning the contest based on the applause of the audience. If you want to see this performance (and man is it priceless!), just let me know - I've got the DVD. Cy told us that he remembered nothing about what he had done. That's incredible, if you ask me! It was so much fun, that we left almost immediately and went directly to his house to watch the performance again, but this time with Cy. It was tons of fun! Heather and I left his house after midnight and went to her house. I was staying the night over there (why wouldn't I? - when you're only six miles apart, it'd be silly not to be close all the time!) so we headed over there and went to sleep, thankfully, soon thereafter. It had been a long day for both of us, and we already had plans for Saturday, so we did that. We woke up and went to breakfast at KAREN'S KITCHEN. However, we were only there for a half hour (I didn't even finish my breakfast dangit!) because LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE started early and we didn't want to miss it. After the movie (that one was fantastic too!) we had to go back to my house so I could do homework (online stuff due on Saturday). That was the end of our fun, though, as I had to work at 1600. An absolutely fantabulous day, though! I will always carry those memories with me! Thanks Cinnamon Storm!

- Well, I'm spent for the night. I'm watching THE MUMMY now and I think my friends Tom, David, and Alex might come over for a little bit. . . We'll see.

Have a good Labor Day!!! It's ok to labor, though - - Don't take off the whole day!

- - - "Do what you love. F*** everything else."
- - - Dwayne (Paul Dano) in LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE; sorry about the language, but I found the quote to be pretty powerful.

Nighty nighty night,

JUSTIN