it's so skewed that im screwed

I would have a better chance of going to a good college if I could trade four years of extremely hard work and dedication, for ten more math questions right on my SATs.

Something doesn't add up.

Education is the process of casting false pearls before real swine.
-Prof. Irwin Edman

done

I'm finally done. Well, not really done. More like will be done at 6:00am tommorow morning, the first day of school. And by the way, in case your wondering, I'm refering to my summer reading.

AKA:
Catch 22 Joseph Heller
Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
A Gesture Life Chang Rae Lee
Typical American Gish Jen
Invisible Man Ralph Ellison

All in all, the books were bearable. I'm glad I read them for the added bonus of being able to converse intellectually, however, I'm not sure they were as enjoyable as the books I chose to read on my own.

AKA
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince JK Rowling
Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs Chuck Klosterman
Extremely Load and Incredibly Close Jonathan Safran Foer

I list these books not to brag or make myself out to be a reading machine (I'm really slow by the way), but instead to reccomend some quality fiction and (in the case of Klosterman) non-fiction. If you decide your on the prowl for a book but can't decide which one go with Foer's. You won't regret it.

when you say it like that

Harry (a fisher) gave no indication that he'd heard. He scowled at a picture of a French girl in a bikini.

Fred, understanding that he seemed a bleak, sexless person to Harry, tried to prove that Harry had him wrong. He nudged Harry, man-to-man. "Like that, Harry?" he asked.

"Like what?"

"The girl there."

"That's not a girl. That's a piece of paper."

"Looks like a girl to me." Fred Rosewater leered.

"Then your easily fooled," said Harry. "It's done with ink on a piece of paper. That girl isn't lying there on the counter. She's thousands of miles away, doesn't even know we're alive. If this was a real girl, all I'd have to do for a living would be to stay home and cut out pictures of fish."

***
"God Bless You Mr. Rosewater
Kurt Vonnegut

a blast from the past

Imagination is Overrated

I saw a beautiful woman at the gas station today, and I've been thinking about the event ever since. I've probably been thinking more about my role and less about hers. (She is to me, of course, just like all the others). So there I stood, filling up the tank, in the middle of one of the coldest days of the year. She pulled her car in next to me and I pretended not to look. When she popped the trunk instead of the gas tank cover, I almost caught her eye, almost. I wanted to say something, or at least smile, but I didn't. I just stood there freezing my ass off, staring away and pretending that I was content in my thoughts (I wasn't). I don't feel bad that I didn't act (what could I do really?), but I just wish I had something to write about. I guess the point of the story is that there is no point. There is never any point.

shucks

A while ago, when an MSN Space was the cool, hip median for the average Joe's thoughts, I broke the ice on my new blog by posting a short anecdote. This anecdote detailed a trip to the movies and my quirky, and thoroughly ignorant thoughts about the world of gas and war. Now, with fuel at over 3.20 a gallon, it just doesn't seem at all funny (not that ever was) and I thought that it would be a sorrowful look back if I posted it here.

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"Oil Tycoon"
When looking to detail the discrepencies between American and European cultures, one need not look further than economics; than a simple trip to your friendly neighborhood KB Toys. On a recent escapade with a friend, mainly Dan, to see 'Ocean's Twelve' (which I reccomend by the way), we found ourselves at the Loop with a little bit over an hour of free time before the movie started. So what do you do with that time besides stuffing your face at Wendy's: go to KB Toys of course. Upon entering the store, and searching around in vain for a disk for a few minutes, we found ourselves in the electronics section. What I found perfectly American about this electronics section is, that amidst rumors from history class that Europeans pay about $5.00 a gallon for gas and amidst all the accusations hovering over the head of Halliburton, you can still buy Oil Tycoon for your computer for merely $4.00 and no sales tax. Needless to say we purchased it without hesitation. Later that night when my new oil company (Enron-Haliburton Jr. Co.) was claiming bankruptcy and 'Freddy vs. Jason' was providing a nice backdrop to the disaster, it struck me just how funny the whole situation was. Europeans couldn't drive for a gallon on the money it took to get this game. I love it! Absolutley beautiful! Life may be crazy, but America takes the cake. God continue to bless the USA because I wouldn't have it any other way.
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I'm happy to see that by recording my thoughts every once and a while I have a testament to my growth.