... archive for December, 2007

dianetics

i heard a knock at the door, or rather, i heard daisy yelping and barking like a banshee guard dog. i cautiously went to the door and opened it. there were two people, male and female. the guy said that they were in the neighborhood talking to our neighbors and he asked if i read the bible. i told him no and both of them lit up like they hit the jackpot. he clarified by asking, “you’re not a bible reader?” then he asked if i wanted to take a look at a little book and again i said no. he got my message and they both left before i could convert them to the wonderful world of devil worship.

something about the whole door-to-door salesman selling god just doesn’t sit right with me. i’m not much of a religious anything, but i like even less the idea of people trying to catch you unawares in your own home with the gift of a little redemption booklet. after they were gone, i started thinking up witty retorts for my next encounter, which will hopefully never come. things like: “all you religious people need to go home and stop starting wars in foreign countries. god doesn’t like it when we kill in his name.” or “if there is a hell, i’d rather go there than to have to look at your ugly face again.” and my personal favorite: “i don’t know about all that, but i saw jesus’ face in my bowl of oatmeal this morning. it was delicious.”

xmas

merry christmas!

yesterday, i fixed a sweet old lady’s flat tire. it was a wonderful feeling.

here’s how i made out:

  • socks
  • big brain academy wii degree
  • craftsman rechargeable drill and flashlight set
  • olive green michael cera-esque zipper hoodie
  • “brighter than the sun” heavy-duty flashlight

ask for flashlights and you shall receive. this was a great christmas.

tamales

today, we went over to lady friend’s parents’ where we helped make the yearly christmas tamales. it was like a tamale factory. we started by pulling the beef apart. i was elbow deep in meat. then i cleaned some corn husks while the others assembled the ingredients. i’ve always loved the taste of tamales, but before today, i never really knew all that went into making them. now i know why they only get made once a year.

if i spend the rest of my life making tamales and drinking egg nog at this time of year without a single snowflake on the ground, i will be happy.

egg nog

one of the good things about working for a large corporation is the holiday feast. i brought my healthy choice frozen dinner to work and noticed how everything was set up for food distribution. throughout the day, all the other guys in the shop were walking around with plates of food and getting yelled at for eating instead of working. ’tis the season to be jolly.

well, i decided to get my eat-on just in time before they were packing it all in. i got some ham, mashed potatoes, a roll, and some cake. i sat there in the break room eating, thinking about how it’s sometimes nice to feel appreciated. after all, it’s the little people who work crap hours while the seasonal profits roll in.

i have come to a new realization this christmas that the only good thing about the holiday season is egg nog.

now, drink it.

dan in real life

steve carell is great, but i was hoping for a dramedy with the same greatness of “little miss sunshine.” instead it was a formulaic snoozer that was only mildly passable.

stardust

based on a neil gaiman novel, “stardust” could have been a huge hit. part of the problem was bad marketing, even though it is a great movie. it’s almost like “the princess bride” meets terry gilliam meets douglas adams. definitely worth a viewing if you’re into fairy tale fun.

wrong turn 2: dead end

what was i thinking? i knew it was direct-to-video, i knew it was going to be crap, but somehow i wanted a glimmer of what made the first one so much fun. no glimmer to be found. i should have just watched the first one again. come to think of it, the first one wasn’t that great to begin with.

balls of fury

i laughed at one scene. it’s like that ben stiller movie “dodgeball: a true underdog story” in the way that you expect it to be really funny but it just ends up being a crappy movie about a crappy pseudo-sport.