excelsior!

So, I'm still trying this whole "social life" thing that everybody's been talking about. It's weird, being around friends that aren't in my dorm room. It's nice seeing girls, though. How did I ever go without them? And yet, from time to time, I'm bored of people. Luckily, it behooves a nerd to have video games. You may be saying, "A nerd? Trying to have a social life? That's ironic."

HAHAHA. Funny. The way I see it, nerds are cool. Off the top of my head, Jared natsis and I are both good examples of this. No joke. We're both good at video games and crazy intelligent, but we're still two cool dudes. But there's more to being a nerd than just those two areas. You have your music nerds, computer nerds, video game nerds, and nerds who do well in school without trying. Just because some of them aren't the most athletic doesn't make it wrong.

But then there are those who go too far. I like to call those, "geeks". You know, the kind that get mad when you tell them that algebra is stupid or get excited while reading Popular Science magazine. THOSE are the true outcasts.

Not much of a point to this, is there? I guess I should go do homework... That entire one assignment. That I accidentally already did for lack of anything better to do. Anyways, I'm off.

Auf wiedersehen, baby.

mashed potatoes and gravy.

Actually, we're having mac 'n' cheese and grilled hot dogs for supper. That was a metaphor for how it's going. Anyways! Keeping up with my blog like a good little blogger! (Kayla, aren't you proud?) In my last blog, I talked about how I was going to get rid of my tendency to think thoughts that are very depressing, despondent, woeful, and other synonyms for sad. I actually meant it this time, and man, was it hard that first day. I couldn't do what I wanted for the weekend, I noticed that a certain girl I like was pretty good friends with another guy, I found out a certain girl I like got asked out by another guy, I found out that a certain girl I like is now going out with another guy (yeah, it was a pretty big deal to me, but I'm not bothered by it anymore) , and I'm sure there was something else that bugged me at the time.

I think that thing with the certain girl was actually what helped me along. Normally, I would have just thought about how that guy was a great guy and extremely likable so it's no wonder she picked him especially because I don't hang out with her that much.

But! After thinking for a while about looking in the mirror and changing myself for the better, I realized it was my fault. I wasn't hanging out with her (or a lot of other people, for that matter) and I pity myself often enough that I'm not at my happiest, funniest, most impressive self. Being a pessimist isn't all it's cracked up to be either (you know, the whole "you're always only pleasantly surprised" thing). Turns out, I was ignoring a lot of things, like the date I have with another girl I like, and how I ignored the fun I had throughout the day, like when I played soccer outside in the beautiful weather (finally) or heard something that cracked a smile. Also, My weekend plans were still on because I thought this weekend was May 2nd (which it's not), so I'm probably still good for that coffee shop band thing. 'S'awesome.

Yay! Jelly beans! Thanks, mom. My day is going great.

I should probably talk about what happened more recently. Today was Arbor Day at MLS, which was kinda lame because that's a free night wasted for dorming students and we don't get out of study halls on Sunday. Also, in the middle of the week makes a week so much easier. It was still nice, anyways. It was beautiful today and my mind appreciated the chance to justlisten to music for a while and do mindless labor (like picking up leaves or impressing girls) so that I could think about whatever dandy things I wanted.

We were actually using a friend's computer and speakers to listen to music. Not knowing what playlists he liked best, I just played all. I started dancing to one song with someone that was also not working. She said, "Ya know, the first time I heard this, I thought it was a guy singing." Turns out, I was dancing to Katy Perry singing "I Kissed a Girl and I Liked It".

The first time I kiss a girl, I'm going to start singing that song.

it's a brand new day.

All right! Figured out how to get on from the school computers! Awesome! Thank you, public school kids! This is awesome! Now I have a way to spend the next thirty minutes of my study hall! So I'm back from Easter break. I went to Wisconsin for a few days, got to hang out with my brother Josh and some of my cousins. My soon-to-be brother-in-law changed his name from Josh to Josh X because it sounded more awesome, I played Halo 3 on XBOX Live and got to pwn people I don't know, and Levi showed me Maple Story, which I've already written about. A good time was had by all.

Now I'm back. No more sleeping in past lunch or staying up later than is sane. No more getting away with thinking that not exercising will be easy to make up for when I get back, no more snacks whenever I get hungry... But, then again, now I have a social life again. Kind of. When I feel self-confident enough. Which I'm not, usually. That might explain the lack of girlfriend. Stupid self-destructive habits. Does that make me a hypocrite for giving other people advice?

I was in a bad spot last year with one of my friendships. I got out of it during the summer, but did I really? It's not as bad, but old habits die hard. I've been doing this for years. My best friend in gradeschool alienated me a little bit, but he was my best friend, so I figured I would just stick with him. After he moved to Africa (no joke), I just existed. I didn't miss him so much, but I had nobody left, and I just accepted that. I didn't even bother trying to bring myself into the other side of the lunch table. Only until recently, I hadn't realized that I could have been friends during the time when people are most accepting. I'm starting to realize it was my fault for being lonely.

Writing this has helped me make up my mind. I'm going to work for a happier me. I'm not going to avoid looking at the metaphorical mirror anymore. I'm going to stare myself in the face, and I'm going to like what I see, whether I want to or not.

i'm on a boat!

I kinda forgot about my blog for a while until Kayla mentioned that I should keep up with it... hehe. I've been busy with vacation and lying around... Actually, I've spent most of my time playing a game called Maple Story. It's a game with tiny adventures going on epic quests! Pretty addicting (then again, most RPGs are). It's a class-based character-building game. I have a lot of fun with it. I have a Mage lvl 25 and a Swordsman lvl 17.

I got into this game because the Korean student that my family hosts saw me playing Runescape and said, "AJ, you never find anything good on the internet." I'm really glad he' here. he's shown me Korean sites where I can download games for free and Maple Story. That's not the only reason. He's a fun guy, but I'm just saying that without him, I'd be wasting my time on a lame game.

Well, my mana is fully recharged now, so you can catch me later.

If I...

Not too long ago, a friend of mine recommended to me that I should check out a stand-up comic on youtube. I didn't have much else to do, so I searched for his name and started watching the first thing I came upon. Now I'm tuning in to his show every Wednesday night on Comedy Central at 10:30 p.m.

Once I started watching one gig he did, "If I," I couldn't stop. He took the word 'if' and based an entire comedy routine around it, telling the story of his life in the context of different meanings of 'if'.

His show, "Important Things With Demetri Martin", takes one theme each week that he will design skits and songs for, like power, timing, or brains. I've walked away happy every week.

There's no way you can possibly understand without seeing it firsthand, so I'll just tell you now: go watch it. Now. Shoo. You'll love it. Guarantee, or I'll buy you a Coke.