The Second Super Entry
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: King of the Hill on KTVI (Ch. 2)
I defeated Super Mario Bros. 2 in one go this afternoon. It was fairly simple, and I had about 35 extra lives to spare when I finished the game. That one’s definitely the “lesser” game in the Super Mario Bros. series. I’m not that enamored of the Lost Levels, either.

I did some more cleaning ‘round the place today. It’s looking slightly more presentable than before. Before long, it will be a magnificent showplace. Right now, what I need is a new chair. That’ll give me something to look for tomorrow afternoon.

Uh, that’s it, really.

The Super Entry
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: SportsCenter on ESPN
Oh, man. Michigan was ripped off. Completely ripped off. Nebraska football, always winning with the underhanded tactics.

I boxed up my TV Guides earlier today. I decided the bookshelf they were occupying would be better served for my other twisted plans. I moved the bookshelf over to the other side, where I’ve created a little shrine for memorabilia from the play, sports items, and so forth. It’s not much, but I like it. I still have no prime spot for the life-sized photo of myself from the play. I enjoyed every bit of the play process, but even if it had been a disaster, that life-sized picture alone would have made it all worth it.

I don’t care what anybody else thinks, but that blue football field they have up at Boise State is awesome. Awesome, I tell you.

I had never beaten Super Mario Bros. in one go; that is, start the game at World 1-1 and finish it without having to hit “continue” after all my lives had been killed off. (I know, you knew what I meant, but just in case somebody didn’t, there you are.) Never beaten it, that is, until last night. I “wisely” started the game around 1:30 in the morning, and not only did I beat the game, I beat it four straight times before losing my final life in World 5 of Game 5. My 2,000,000+ points simply crushed my old record of around 400,000. I brought this tale whilst speaking with Chris earlier, and I freely admitted to taking full advantage of the Warp Zones to accomplish my feats. Thus, I played it again earlier this evening. This time, the goal was to go through each and every world and win the game. I’m pleased to announce I did just that. I just won the game once, I had no interest in sitting around for another several hours like I did last night/this morning.

Wow, what a great story. I’m only halfway through my winter break. Heaven knows what kinds of monkeyshines I’ll get myself into in the next week-and-a-half.

The Teeth Entry
Mood:  caffeinated
Now Playing: The Blues losing to Anaheim on FSN Midwest
The dentist visit went well yesterday. Since I hadn’t been there in a good long time, they took some x-rays of my teeth. Apparently, I have two teeth I didn’t know existed. That’s due to them being below the gums. The previously-unknown wisdom tooth in my lower right mouth is coming in/has come in completely sideways. It’s under my gum, so it’s not noticeable to the eye. It sure made for a creepy-looking x-ray, though. The dentist said that as long as I’m not in any physical discomfort, there should be no worries regarding it. I have no physical pain, but now there’s that mental situation that tells me there’s an errant tooth, lurking down there below the gum line, clearly plotting its strategy to strike when the other teeth are vulnerable.

Oh, I have to get a new mouth guard, too, but not as interesting as a lurking, stray tooth.

One random thought now. Perhaps I'm still bitter about the 2004 World Series, but I think it's utterly hilarious that Johnny Damon dropped the Red Sox like a bad habit and signed that $52,000,000 deal with the Yankees. Evil Empire, indeed. I say the Yankees are the lesser of two evils there. Either that, or it's better the devil you know. Or something. I'm not a Red Sox fan, and Joe Torre is an A-OK guy, so I think the Damon deal is brilliant. Har-dee-har-har.

I have no negative thoughts about the Cardinals signing Sidney Ponson. Isn't it great that a potential $2,500,000 contract can be considered "low-risk" financially? If a fat, underachieving 29-year-old can get that kind of deal in St. Louis, I get the feeling I chose the wrong profession.

And that’s about it. As someone once said, “Bye for now. Keep your teeth clean.”

The Funeral Entry
Mood:  lazy
Now Playing: 10:00 News on KMOV (Ch. 4)
Today was the first “real” day of Christmas vacation. Well, “winter break” is what they call it at the college, but we all know the truth. So, what better way to spend this day off than go to a funeral? Dad and I went to Aunt Pat’s funeral this morning. I rather enjoy funerals, at least I find them preferable to visitations. At funerals, there’s plenty of time for silent prayer and reflection. At the visitation last night, my time was filled with standing around chatting with people I didn’t really know, and who really know who I was. Fortunately, I took the liberty to eavesdrop in conversations and found out a little more here and there about Dad’s side of the family. I should be able to match some more names with faces in future.

On the plus side, my scale informs me I lost five pounds in 24 hours. Mind you, that means I’m still 241, and I could stand to drop plenty more. Still, I am just one pound over where I was in 2000 when I started drinking less soda and more water. Since the, my lowest weight was 216 pounds in the summer of 2002. In that time, my diet didn’t really change, I just cut down on the sugary sodas and drank more water. In the past year or so, my soda intake increased sharply as my water drinking decreased, thus the poundage grew. The way I see it, if I can revert to more water/less soda, and trim down from “obese” to merely “fat,” I shall be happy.

But that must wait, as I still have some regular sodas to polish off. You know, waste not, want not, and all that stuff.

I guess those peanut butter & rice clusters they sell at Target don’t help, either. But they’re just so delicious.

I go to the dentist tomorrow. Yee-haw. That’ll be a trip, I’m sure. That follows a visit from some plumber in the morning. Hey, I can show you exactly where that leak is coming from, but you can bring in a plumber to caulk the tub anyway. Doesn’t offend me one bit. Bleah, what a vacation so far. Once I get the dental visit out of the way, I should be able to enjoy my time until the 9th of January. By then, I should be properly sick of vacation and eager to go back to work. But all of this can be better discussed in future weblog entries. Take care until then.

The Questionable Entry
Mood:  quizzical
Now Playing: The sounds of the heater a-blowing and Twotone a-eating.
So, since Mike Farrell, Bianca Jagger, Jesse Jackson, etc. have gotten all worked up demanding justice for Tookie, do you think they'll be just as happy, eager, and willing to spend as many hours on the streets and over the airwaves demanding the same for a certain D.W. on death row in that same state?

Nope, I didn't think so.

The Birthday Entry
Mood:  silly
Now Playing: Late Show with David Letterman (He's interviewing Regis, who's pretending to be Oprah)
So, this is my birthday, then. Thirty. I feel much better than the last day of twenty-nine. Going back to work after the lengthy weekend made for a tired, cranky fellow. Today was fun, though. I received a few presents, a few phone calls, Steve and Tate each promised to buy me a Bloody Mary in the future, and I spent most of my free time relaxing. I'm already sure the thirties are overrated, but I'm also certain most everything nowadays is overrated.

I guess we did have tornadoes 'round these parts Sunday evening. Apparently, one hit Maplewood near their new shopping center. Sure, it was an F-0, and the most it destroyed was a tool shed, but hey, a tornado's a tornado, and there hasn't been one so close to this location since 1896.

Yeah, that's all for now. There's more I could type, but I'm going to do my best to fill up this new weblog with multiple entries until I get tired and find some other new hobby/toy/interest.

Tornado Entry
Mood:  loud
Now Playing: The tornado sirens outside
Yes! The tornado sirens are blaring outside as I type this! Apparently, the part of the storm that would cause tornadoes has just passed over us. Yeehaw!

My Thanksgiving Weekend Entry
Mood:  sharp
Now Playing: "Only Fools and Horses" on DVD
It is impossible to dislike a four-day weekend. This one has been enjoyable. Thanksgiving dinner was delicious, Friday was a great time to sit back and do little, and I went to the hockey game Saturday night. Once again, the Blues blew the lead and lost 4-3 to Columbus, of all teams. I do believe they are, in fact, the two worst teams in the NHL at this time. Smashing stuff, that. It was still fun nonetheless.

Dad and I went to Biggie's before the game. All you need to know is their spaghetti and meat balls is an excellent dish. Their potato ham soup is good stuff as well. There, I just had to let that be known.

Chapter 1: My New Weblog
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: The rattling of the heating system
Finally, I've revamped and redone my weblog, which naturally means I've started up a new one. That's all I have to say for now, because it's too bloody late, and all decent folk should be in bed at this hour, even for a weekend.

Okay, one little thing before I nod off. I work at a college, of course, and our college theatre stages four or five plays per school year. I was fortunate enough to work on the first play, which was staged in October. The latest play, the musical Annie Get Your Gun, is playing this weekend, and I went to the Friday night show. I've never been one for musicals. Thus, when I say the show always came to a screeching halt when songtime arrived, I could say that about most musicals I have seen in my lifetime. There were some noticeable microphone problems, but I can't fault the actors and actresses for that. They did a splendid job, but then, I knew half of them from my time working on the first play.

Was it worth it? Yeah, sure, why not? It was free, so you can't beat the price. Still, I'd like to think we packed in more awesomeness into an 18-scene, 90-minute show with no intermission last month than this 8-scene, 2-act, 2.5-hour musical. Eh, maybe it's me and my arrogance showing there.