The Month Grab-Bag: The My Terms Version

Wow.

That's all I really have to say about how long it has been since I have done this. It will be a month tomorrow since I have blogged (although it will actually only be a day since I have last blogged tomorrow since I'm blogging today, but you know what I meant). The last month has been, in a word, exhausting. It has also been exciting. And lesson-bearing. And interesting. And helpful. And strenuous. But never monotonous (that is, if we are not talking about some of my classes. . .). So what I'm gonna try to do is give you a quick review of all (or some) of the things that have happened to yours truly, the deeply apologetic Rambler, since the 14th of November. And believe you me, there has been much to report on!

So, here we go!

- Let's start with school, shall we. I'm done! My Fall semester (the third of four at AVC) was officially over as of Thursday, December 7th. I don't get to find out my grades until Saturday, but I believe they are as follows: History (A); Journalism (A); Psychology (B); English (B); Biology (B). That would be good for a 3.4 GPA, which is about where I've been in all three semesters. The last three or four weeks of school were extremely hectic! I wrote so many papers (the page number total has got to be close to 30) that I started going a little nutty there towards the end. Either way, I finished it all out strong and I believe that I got the grades I deserved. I didn't work as hard as I could have, but as long as the GPA is good, then I'm happy with my performance. And hey, at least I'm consistent. I enjoyed a lot about the classes I took, but I also disliked some elements as well. I am so glad to have met some new people (especially Gary Carter, my Journalism teacher who I will be taking again next semester, and John Toth, my English teacher who challenged me very often to do better - I was lazy in English - talked with me a lot about sports, and even went so far as to compare me to Oliver Miller, which was a brilliant comparison at the time - non-sports fans, don't worry about it!) and I can't wait to see what next semester brings! I'm off to my final semester! Wow, time has sure flown by! It seems like just yesterday I was pleading with my fellow graduates to go and be the best they could on a Thursday night in June. Now it's December of 2006 and I'm already working on plans to move out in (gulp) June of 2007! That's only six months away!!! Don't tell Aimee, she's not all too happy about that :D

- What about work? Well now, that is an interesting thing to bring up! It is official: I no longer work at Johnny Carino's Italian Restaurant. After nearly 16 months (yep, it's been that long) I have finally had enough of a plethora of things, namely Charlie (my, I swear bipolar, General Manager) and his bullshit. I was sick of it. This is simply my opinion, but I have many people that agree with me on this theory, so go with it: Charlie wanted to fire me. I may have started out a little difficult to deal with and as kind of a thinks-he-knows-it-all, but I realized that I didn't. I turned it all around. I became a hard-working employee who simply disagreed with a lot that went on at that place. A lot of people did. Either way, I was a good employee. I was rarely late, called in sick only once, and was usually available to pick up shifts and was frequently flexible when it came to different scheduling things (I even gave some ideas about the schedule, one of which Charlie really liked). I believe that Charlie just didn't like me (call it personality conflicts) and was honestly partially intimidated by someone who did not back down to him, despite him being about 6'6'' and weighing in around 350 (a guess). Charlie would constantly poke at me, trying to get me to say something back at him, thus giving him a reason to fire me. Once I realized this, I simply returned his remarks with witty remarks that made him look silly, but at the same time were light-hearted enough to not be considered disrespectful. I'm good like that. Either way, a few weeks before I quit, he decided to throw about four of five more responsibilities on the TTs, which were absolutely ridiculous. They would result in us being there way too late and I didn't feel they were necessary. So, I made a decision one Sunday night: I was going to quit. I wanted it to be on good terms (and, more specifically, on my terms) so I would turn in my two weeks notice, work during that time, and then leave quietly, with only hugs goodbye to all those people I will truly miss working with.

So I left. No mas, as they say. I talked to Manny (who, as you remember, works at Finish Line) and he said they were hiring, or at least he thought so. I filled out an online application on Sunday, my last day at Johnny Carino's. Manny called me that night telling me that I had an interview the next day! I went in (dressed all sorts of snazzy and looking a little like Justin Timberlake from his new cd cover) and was told (by Manny) that I didn't need an interview because he had vouched for me as a good employee. That was cool of him! I actually begin work there tomorrow, and I'm pretty darn excited! A new thing for me to learn! I'm looking forward to gaining a new kind of experience in the working world and can't wait to see what pisses me off about this job. . .

- Let's see, another thing I can tell you about is my wonderful Heather. We are closing in on our three-year anniversary (end of January) and we couldn't be happier. Well, actually we could be way happier if we could either be a) Engaged or b) Married. We are suffering from what I refer to as "Futurenow," a disease that affects those young adults who just want to be adults already. You may have heard of it and thought it didn't exist. You were wrong if you thought that. It does exist. And it hurts. Anyways, we have been working on moving her stuff out of her apartment in the LB to prepare for her move to Cal Poly Pomona (referred to, by me, as PoMOOna because of the multitude of cows around) on January 1. She got her dorm room number, roommate's name and number, and all that sort of jazz, so I guess she is ready. I'm excited as can be for her, but I'm still dealing with the fact that she's leaving the LB. I love the LB! O well. Guess I gotta learn a new town!

- Basketball is going very well right now. As you might remember, I am an assistant coach at Desert Christian High School (my alma mater) for the girls Varsity team. We have o so much work to do, but I love the girls and only want them to get so much better. We are 4-2 right now and have a game tonight as well as Saturday night. All in all, the girls seem to respond to me really well and I am enjoying coaching alongside my coach, Mr. Thomas. I am really having a blast and don't mind at all the amount of time that it is taking out of my schedule. Come by and see us sometime! Tonight we play at 1800 and Saturday our game is at 1600 at home as well.

- I got some movie recommendations (and some to avoid) for you all:

Whether You Want To Or Not:
- - - CASINO ROYALE (I've seen it twice and all I can say is "Fantastic!" If you have not seen Daniel Craig do his thing as Bond James Bond, then you need to stop reading this right now and go watch it. You won't be disappointed!)
- - - STRANGER THAN FICTION (one of my top 5 films of the year - o yeah, a list of my top and bottom films of the year will be coming soon - beautiful, odd, and just a lot of fun)
- - - LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN (rent this sucker if you are a fan of witty banter, Tarantino-like violence, and enjoyable movie experiences)

If You Want:
- - - HAPPY FEET (as I said in my review that appeared in the EXAMINER, "Happy Feet is not the greatest movie of all time, does not feature the world’s greatest performances, and will not win any screenplay awards, but I dare you to walk out of the theater without a smile on your face, a song in your heart, and a bad case of the “taps,” a refreshing disease that attacks the feet of its victims." This film is a lot of fun to watch and that is all I can really say)
- - - WORDPLAY (an interesting documentary about the New York Times crossword and those who excel at completing it - not at all boring, actually, and pretty entertaining)
- - - THE HOLIDAY (A true, by-the-book, chick flick with some entertaining moments for the males out there. I liked the teddy-bear-like Jack Black and the end was pretty sappy and good like that. Take your girl out to it and hug her while she cries! You'll get brownie points, trust me ha ha!)

Hide Your Eyes:
- - - MIAMI VICE (call me very disappointed in Michael Mann. I could not even finish this garbage imitating as cinema)
- - - STRANGERS WITH CANDY (I guess it's an acquired taste in humor. I didn't get it.)

Some other entertainment recommendations:
- - - SPORTS NIGHT (I am so unbelievably hooked on this show. I can't believe it only lasted for two seasons! I'm already done with four out of the six discs - thanks Netflix - and I'm looking forward to finishing it up next week. If you need a last-minute Christmas gift for me, go ahead and get the entire series at Best Buy - it's $50. I'll be happy. . .)
- - - THANK YOU FOR SMOKING (the novel and the film - I finished the book a few weeks ago and then re-watched the film. The book is incredible and the film is almost as good. They are different, though, so be prepared for a much different experience with the book)
- - - Amos Lee, The Exit, The All-American Rejects, Justin Timberlake, Audioslave, and Marty Stuart (all of these musical artists have been played thru my computer the last couple weeks).

- Ok, so now realize that the year is almost over and that means several things. But one thing it definitely means is that my FIRST-THIRD MOVIE PREVIEW will be coming shortly. It won't be as long as the others, but it is still coming. Look for it in the first couple weeks of 2007.

- O, my football picks! Well right now I sit in a tie for fourth, just a game out of third. I'm so close, even after a dreadful 8-8 week last week. I only have three weeks left, so we'll see how that ends up. . . And Fantasy Basketball? I'm in first in my league, have won every matchup thus far, and have no signs of being stopped. Which leads me to. . .

- My Phoenix Suns!!! Last time we talked they were struggling at 2-5. They now sit at 14-6 and are going to DESTROY the defending champs (without Dwayne Wade) tonight in Miami. This will be their 12th straight win and with it, the Suns will be in a tie for first in the Pacific Division (Finally!). And you heard it here first: We won't again be in second! The division is ours for the rest of the year - even if the Clippers trade for Allen Iverson, which I don't think they will do. Keep it up boys!

- Well I have some more news (including some AWESOME news about me and my boys, Cy and Justin) and my football picks, but I'll save that for tomorrow or Friday.

I'm back everyone! I missed blogging and I won't be gone that long again for awhile. So check back in every other day or so for the next installment!

Hope you enjoyed it all!

Talk to you again soon (I swear!) - -

THE RAMBLER