--Haven't seen Spider-man yet. I'm just about going crazy!! Seeing it tomorrow. Reports are flooding in. Response is overwhelmingly positive! The best Superhero movie ever, by a factor of ten (Batman 1989 was good... until the Animated Series came along and we realized how hard the movies bit). Special effects are magical. Defoe and Dunst and the guy who plays J. Jonah Jameson are flawless. The 'dance' as Spidey swings through the air is amazing. Downsides would include the cheezy bubblegum thrash music and some aspects of the Green Goblin character. I'll let ya know. Sam Raimi: 1, George Lucas: 0. Oh and what would you all think of Drew Carey as Doc Octopus in 2?

--Tonight is Game One. Mavericks vs. Kings. The series the NBA has wanted to see all year. The two most exciting teams in a seven game duel to the death. GO MAVS!!!

--I have changed my major. Or rather, I've dropped my specialization, which was Economics (by way of Business, not Liberal Arts). I'm considering Finance, Accounting, Human Resources, and Logistics. I've ruled out BCIS, at least for the time being. If I went for that it would be my second major, rather than part of my concurrent, double major. I'm not ruling out Marketing and Entrepreneurship, nor have I totally abandoned the idea of a Minor in Political Science. I got some very good advice from my Accounting prof the other day. She's a hip lady.

--I realize I miss my Landmark Gardens apartment. That place was the best I've ever lived. Oh, Quail Court had washer and dryer and a kitchen the size of my whole current apartment. But Landmark Gardens... The place was brand new and I was the very first tenant in the whole complex. The inaugural tenant. Man that place was so nice. Carpet of the gods. Free cable. High quality details everywhere. A huge, full size refrigerator/freezer. A beautiful dining room with chandelier and exotic-looking tile. A closet that even dwarfs the one I have now, and THREE other smaller closets! A built-in, very nice desk. THREE rooms. I miss the three rooms. Being able to hang out in the spacious living room/den area and then retire to the bedroom. My own water heater. The biggest bath you ever saw in a very good size bathroom. Quiet! It was very secluded. There was a nice fountain outside. A sliding glass door and patio. Powerful as hell AC.

And it wasn't just the apartment itself. It was two other things. First, I had just bought all this new stuff. New lamps, a new subwoofer, a beanbag chair, a new dining-room table, a computer, a plant, a TV, a VCR. And I kept it immaculate (easy since the place was absolutely new inside and out). I even made the bed and kept the sink free of dishes. Vacuumed twice a week. I was proud of my place. Second, I had just extricated myself from M (though it took many more bouts to achieve ultimate success). I was revelling in the exquisite feeling of being alone and independent once again. My home. My money. My time.

It's a shame it was $600 per month and I was only able to stay for ten months. Just musing about future plans and thinking 'where do I want to live in the 'in-between' time?'

--I've decided I'm going to buy a telescope one of these days. One of the ones with automatic mechanical tracking.

--Couple posts ago I talked about bicycle gear and why I wear gloves. Well, case in point: I went down in a low-speed high-lean maneuver just a couple days ago. Ripped open another pair of jeans, put another quarter-sized cherry on my knee, and somehow got a huge lump on the arm about two inches up from my elbow (but no pain). And my gloves took all the potential abrasion off my hands. Again.

--Have you seen the Dow lately? Oh my Gawd! I'm not going to have a DIME left in another year at this rate. This crap is having the same effect as Jimmy Carter era inflationary rates. Why save? Why invest? Dang, can we put the money in a savings account, please?!?

--A few days ago, maybe Tuesday, we hit 95�, which was a record for the date, and by several degrees. Almost crazy for late April. It raises the question, what will mid-August be like then?

--By now, some of you know that we are headed for mandatory vaccinations in the US. Refusing to submit to their chemical cocktail will carry a penalty along the lines of a $10,000 fine and nine months of prison time.

--Zhizhi Wang of the Mavericks has to send half of his pre-tax earnings to The People's (Communist) Republic of China. He gets to keep a very small percentage of what he earns here. China is very resistant to its people going out into the real world and making something of themselves.

--Thunderbolts is, bar none, the best comic book produced today. Can't believe this thing comes out every two weeks. How?? The art is so fluid, the story so layered and dynamic. I'm not real impressed with much of what's out there today. I prefer my late 80s/early 90s Marvel staples. But Thunderbolts is wonderful.

--Add another one to the list. We have Hulk, Daredevil, Iron Fist, and X-Men 2 on the Marvel side and a new Batman and a Catwoman on the DC side. Well, amazingly, Namor the Sub-Mariner is apparently getting his own movie too. Hmm. Iron Man?? Silver Surfer?? Cap?? Avengers?? Sheesh, I didn't know Namor had such star power. On the plus side, though, the filming of the Hulk is coming along swiftly and they've got a preview before the Spider-man flick.

--There are two-story Wal-Marts going up all over.

--Aberrant is the only role-playing game cool enough to quote Aimee Mann in big letters on page one.
And I warn you now
The velocity I'm gathering
Will knock you down
Send the chairs and lamps all scattering

--Nothing against Vegans in general, but this story came out last week about two Vegans raising a baby daughter on an all-Vegan diet from birth--no mother's milk, no formula, no baby food, just their soy goo or tofu and such. The kid is sixteen months old and has severe problems with virtually every organ and tissue in her body. Fortunately, she was rescued from these imbeciles and put into foster care. I can't understand what a Vegan would have against feeding MOTHER'S MILK to her BABY. What on earth could be more right and more natural than mother's milk?

--Well, watch your mail for pipe bombs, guys. It's the newest thing.
--Andrea Yates, convicted killer of her five young children, has inked a deal to bring her 'story' to US televisions. Don't you sometimes wish there really was a Hell?
--At least Northern Exposure made the list of top fifty US television shows ever. I think it would be my number one. Have you seen how well that show has aged? What an amazing high point for television programming.
--Steve Nash went on David Letterman this week. I heard most of it.
--When do we get to vote for or against EPA representatives? How do these guys wield so much power? How have they eluded the concept of Checks & Balances? What happened to the Ice Age they were predicting?
--A 1% Science Fiction Tax has actually been proposed. All revenue would go to fund NASA.
--Now THIS is what I call a gun.
--A very amusing story came down about a municipality which put in speed camera boxes, with a limited number of cameras rotated around, intended to supplement the efforts of officers. The thing is, they were complaining that it has caused most everyone to stop speeding. Revenues are down. Whatever shall they do? They certainly didn't put the cameras in in hopes of having everyone NOT SPEED. No. It was a way to make the big bucks. Oops. Stupid cops.

--What happened to Enterprise? Did you know a few of the Next Generation cast are trying to gain control of the rights to the series? Here's what happened in a recent episode of Enterprise. Engineer goes to alien ship. Enterprise sends over information on human food, so they can prepare stuff for him. Aliens are super-advanced lizard people, with warp drive and cloaks and a friggin' HOLODECK. In Enterprise tech terms, they are ROCKING. They have digital watches out the wazoo. They have capital-T TECH.

Along comes super-advanced lizard girl holding a bowl of little crystal things. "This is as close as we could come to water" says she.

As CLOSE as they could come to WATER.

WATER.

H fucking 2 O.

TWO molecules of Hydrogen, ONE of Oxygen. Shake well before serving. Sheesh.

--I have taken one Final and have five more to take. Summer School starts on the 3rd of June.

--I have discovered Renderosity. I'll never be the same. I'll have a bunch of stuff from that in my next diary post, which will probably be my last before the wedding. Goodbye.