Round 6: Witty rejoinders are my stock in trade

Kay so.

The gap between these past two entries easily likely comprises the biggest gapo between entries in the history of this bad boy. Not that I've missed a great deal of massive eventage here on SWP, but at the same time, the lack of updates isn't for lack of material. Call it a lack of motivation. It's been quite a week for yours truly and managing work, blogs, comics, CX-Mafia, daydreaming, Lost, christmas shopping and the occasional exam makes my to-do list a lengthy round-up of things I don't utterly have to do, and so don't... until at long last, we come to now, when the nothingness becomes oh so tiresome. Y'know?

Consider Wednesday, the first day in a very, very long time I was up before the sun, deliberately no less, to take my long-awaited exam on Sci-Fi film. I took the good ole 9:58 train - now apparently direct from Oakville to Union rather than Oakville to Clarkson to Union. Good times. I got off the subway at Queen's Park and walked up College a little ways to the Exam Center, which sure beats having an exam in the gym. I met up with my friend Chelsea and we gabbed a bit. Seemingly in every class I have a person - usually a female (fancy that) I end up sitting next to most or all the time. The crazy vastness of the average lecture hall seems to beg the need for this kind of continuity. There are exceptions, but yeah.

There was kind of a weird saga all year with Chelsea. She's cool and everything but I never saw myself as in a position to get anywhere. Mostly I just made lameass chit chat about class, and she didn't seem all that into me. Anyway - around the second day or so, when we were talking (having just spoken for the first time the previous day, after having the same tutorial last year,) we ran into this other guy in our class, Brandon, who worked his way into our conversation. And I'm just like, "Whatever," and go on with my life, but as the semester went on, I really began to suspect Brandon a) disliked me, b) dug Chelsea, and/or c) perceived me as a potential rival for her. I have no idea how far off base I am on any of those assumptions is, whether he dud dig Chelsea, whether he disliked me, where there was anything at all but a dude trying to be a friend with a girl. I don't know. But I did always get the sense of a cold shoulder whenever he'd be around both of us. Like I said, I'd written off getting anywhere right off the bat anyhow, partly because my early attempts were blocked by his presence, and I got into that pattern and moved on. But Chelsea and I remained friendly, and in fact sat next to each other in nearly every screening, for what it's worth. Every screening, that is, except the last one, for the Japanese film Pulse. I walked into hat screening to find her already in there, with Brandon on one side, and Brandon's friend on the other side. Call me paranoid, but I perceived this as an attempt to deliberately box me out. But then again, I'm pretty damn self-centered and expressing this opinion ain't news - I've got about 1080 entries that reflect this.

So I arrive for this exam and Brandon and his friend are across the room while I'm gabbing with Chelsea. Dunno what that's about, if anything, but usually when I'd be chatting her up, they'd be nearby to come on in and chat her up with slightly more conviction. I have to give them that - rivalry or not, Brandon was a little better at composing himself. Me, I've been a tad distracted all semester anyhow.

The exam itself was a fine example. I had put off studying to the point where I might as well have walked into the test utterly cold, but I had read at least one excerpt, something I'd skipped over during the course and seemed necessary. It turned out to be just a tad exaggerated in vitality, but I'm glad I read it anyhow. The first 40% of the exam was multiple choice, which I'm sure I did very well at. Then there was quote attribution, short essay, and long essay. The short essay I whipped up a little sweetness about the alien encounters in Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. For the longer one, I talked about the nature of exposition in Stalker and The Day The Earth Stood Still. That last one might be my achilles heel, because by the time I got to the last page I was so eager to go I prematurely ejaculated my conclusion and said "Fuck it" and handed that bitch in. Also, my thesis wasn't terrific anyhow. I was in such a hurry to leave that, after collecting my term paper from the TA, I left my bag and coat behind as I walked out of the room. Then when I went to collect them, I forgot my T-Card.

This Essay was one of the four big stressors of my life in late November, and given it was for a half-credit course it was slightly more pressing than the other three, two of which I'd gotten back already in the form of 72 apiece. I was getting kinda bummed to find myself falling into that pattern and wanted to prove that I could break away and get a better mark - or failing that, a much worse one. Somehow that might've been comforting.

It was a comparison between the protagonists of the Matrix and Dark City - admittedly not the most original two films to compare. After handing it in I knew immediately I hadn't shed some of my earlier problems, that my under-reliance on quotes and attributions would probably cost me, and some of my points might not make any sense or be well-supported anyway, also my rhetorical style tends to slip into the abstract when I try to make a really important-sounding point.

Well anyway. The final mark was a 79, a B+, which he described as very good considering the essays were by-and-large marked harshly (not surprising - everyone aced the midterm test and seemed fated to do so on the final.) He liked my opening paragraph, where I did listen to Testa's advice, sort of. A lot of the points my prof gave me on my first paper stuck in my craw and stupid and worthless, but I took this one for a test-run, even though I considered it among the worst offenders: that when I was writing about Back to the Future, I ought to have put it in the context of Spielberg's mid-80's sci-fi revival. I have absolutely no idea how mentioning that the producer of BTTF had directed Close Enounters 8 years prior and ET 3 years would've enhanced my point, but Testa saw fit to point it out. So I adapted that point into my Matrix/Dark City paper by pointing out some of the late-90's films that dealt with themes of identity and memory - among them Being John Malkovich, Memento and Fight Club - before diving into a close reading of the two films. Adam proved himself one of my favourite TA's ever (right behind Stew Cole) by saying that rather than docking me for the lightness on referencess, he praised my close-reading of the films. Wooo!

In the end, I probably could've benefitted some, maybe gotten a letter grade, an A- or so, by visiting the writing center, but there was no real time for that. I had two late papers and that one was done a half hour ahead of time. No time for frivolities. Getting a B+ this semester on my own is an accomplishment enough for me. Shows me I still have potential for growth.

I got back to Oakville and kicked around a while before working. I blooped a little bit here and there, blaming the messes on my lack of sleep. All the same, I was able to provide my usual level of banter with my co-workers.

At one point, a guy came to my register to buy a CD by a band I'd not heard of, called Locksley. He talked them up some, and convinced me to check out their stuff. I downlodaed some stuff; It's an extremely bright pastiche of British Invasion (early Beatles/Hollies) mixed with modern rock (OK Go/Jet/Weezer.) Check out All of the Time, All Over Again, and Don't Make Me Wait. You heard it here first, kids: Locksley. Highly recommended by Scotto.

Anyway, that was Wednesday. Thursday, I made arrangements to go into the city to pick up my T-Card from Adam, who had e-mailed me after I left the exam. So that was my day there. Eric went out that night to dinner in Burlington to meet this chick he's casting in a video. I just find that intriguing. Really, I always find my family's romantic endeavours intriguing, because we are so few and far between with them.

Julie told me recently that she didn't understand me. That it seemed like I should have no trouble at all getting a girlfriend in real life, that I should have no need for online dating. There's a great backstory as to why that came up, but it's not really my place to repeat it (Hi Julie!) I told her I was just in the nasty habit of making friends with girls, getting comfortable. That's the easy answer. The hard one is slightly more self-loathing: I suck, I'm a coward. I could say that about myself, lord knows I've got evidence, but I don't feel that way these days. True, my circumstances haven't changed in forever, but I do like my life. I like my job, I'm okay with school, and I like the people in my life.

Friday was snow. Hellstorm. That meant shoveling, which meant bickering with the bros. They sleep late (later even than I do,) which means they're very hesitant to get up and at 'em in the afternoon when mom was coming home early. somehow we got it sorted out. John did his part - he's an inscrutable good guy. Eric, true to form, resisted all the way.

I went to work after that. Unsurprisingly, it was a slow day... few people felt the desire to leave their homes. I was $20 short on my till, probably because Cooper had told this older couple the price of the Special Wedding Album edition of the Sex and the City movie (yack) was not $56.99, but $36.99, which was the price of the nearby Star Wars boxed set, which had a shelf-talker. So I rang it up, you see $56.99, and the ccouple gets confused, "But we were told it was cheaper!" And Cooper, hero he is, marked it down for them. And I suspect that's why I was about $20 off. But I didn't realize it until later. Maybe I'll tell Mandy - I felt kinda lame about it and it showed. I sometimes get angsty at the end of my shift because all I wanna do is go home.

Very few shifts these days. HMV is feeling the recession, I suppose, and so has to cut back on shifts, temps feel it first. Some people work not at all next week, which includes Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. Me, I'm only in on Tuesday Night. Life goes on. I just wish there'd be a job waiting for me when I get done.

Saturday, I traveled the town to run errands... last-minuteish Christmas shopping, picking up a prescription for Eric, renting more Lost DVD's, (fair to say, Eric's really digging it,) and coffee. not with Amanda - she's out of town - but just with compulsion. I was even at HMV, which prompted the usual "Are you here to work? You're always here!" for the usual co-workers, particularly the temp girl who also works at Shoppers, who's always there on Saturdays.

Late on Saturday night, as I was giving up hope of anything going on, I got an urgent MSN from Chris, saying "RISK." I sprung into action, thinking... finally! It had been so long since our last Risk, and so long before that. Earlier this year we were hanging out every weekend, but that was a lifetime ago, before people moved way off, leaving me to my own devices in this town. Anyhow. Pat, Chris, Cary and I got the game going, popped on HIMYM Season 3 disc 2, and let er roll. Ryan was apparently too tired to partake. His loss, his loss. I even called up CB, but he was passed out in preparation for an early start at work the next day. I sent him my best wishes and let him off the hook.

The game was a decent one, if slightly formulaic. I got Europe and Chris focussed on the Americas. Cary and Pat had an early war in Africa, ending with Cary on top but the continent in dispute the whole game. Pat worked the CB Australia angle, all he had left. Cary was gone first, lacking motivation or a real strategy, and preferring just to watch and enjoy the show. Chris then took Pat out, and offered me a chance to cede victory to him. I declined at first, then took stock of my options... very bleak. So I shook his hand and let him win. It was actually better than I usually do, since this time I had the opportunity to take Africa, which I don't usually. Fun times.

By the time we were done, Cary and I stuck behind to watch the last two eps of HIMYM. It was like that one time we missioned season 1 back in April. The last one finished around 4, and as I was getting ready to go, we observed the weather was far from friendly - angry gusts of snow peppered the velvet purple sky. So I crashed on the couch downstairs with It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 3 disc 2 as my nightlight. I woke up after 11, with nobody but Rob around, and went on my merry way.

Got home, did some more snow-shoveling, contemplated life over coffee, then spent the rest of the day watching Lost Season 2 with Eric (three discs in one day, way to go.)

Like I said, life is good. I just can't stand up for falling down.

Whatever that means. Let's just keep on rockin'
-Scotto

(Let's not wait so long before next time, hey? Recapping all that stuff made my fingers hurt.)