What's going on with me?

7-22-06 - I have been on a terrible losing streak in racquetball for the past few weeks, but things have been getting better. I went from losing three games 15-1, 15-8, and 15-8 to losing two 15-10 and 15-13. Today, I lost 15-5, won 15-5, and then lost 15-7. I was keeping Chris at 14-7 for a while and then I just happened to walk into the ball as it was falling from the ceiling. It was no one's fault but my own. I told Chris that it was the worst way to lose. Oddly enough, he told me it was the best way to win.

Things have been going quite well with Wes's group of friends. I've been seeing them quite regularly and I'm kinda starting to cultivate more individual friendships instead of just being a group friend. I grabbed Andrew's guitar yesterday and I was surprised that I knew so many songs that people were wanting to hear. I've been wanting to make a list of songs I know how to play, knew how to play, and want to learn for quite a while now. I think I'm gonna do it now. The DuckTales theme song was a big hit with them, which prompted them to request other theme songs, so I guess that's gonna be my schtick. One thing that REALLY surprises me is that I've kinda gotten over my fear of singing (even on songs that aren't funny ones, which I've always said are easier to sing just because they're fun), even though I tend to get out of tune at times. I've known for a while that showing off a talent is only difficult in a group that's known you for a while and you've shyed away at it. These people didn't know that I didn't like singing in public, so as far as they knew, it's something I just did regularly. It's pretty much the same concept that got me to actually do a bunch of karaoke songs almost a year ago.

I was testing Andrew's musical trivia knowledge a couple weeks ago and inadvertantly came up with a great band name. I, for some reason, sang one line from "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tommy James and the Shondells. He started singing it too and then I asked him who sings it. He wasn't sure, so I gave him the hint, "Some Dude and the Somethings." After I told him who it was, I said, "Whoa, that would be an awesome band name!" Score.

Continuation: Ok, so I made the lists just now. I must say that I'm totally amazed by the length of the lists of the songs I know and the songs I knew. The lists can be found here, and the page is also linked on my home page.

7-12-06 - This was a great weekend, despite how it started. I can�t remember if I wrote about racquetball last time, but I beat Chris 15-2 in one game and ended up winning the best-of-three we normally do. Well, Friday morning, he beat me 15-1, 15-8, and 15-8. It was awful. I don�t know what my problem was. Oh, well. I didn�t hide the fact when I got to work. I probably told more people than he did, just to show I�m equal opportunity when picking on whoever got whooped.

Friday night, I went to Wes�s apartment to play some games with his friends. I met a ton of people there and it looks like I�ll be hanging out with them on occasion, which is awesome. They�re my age and share my sense of humor, so things went quite well. Friday night, we played Apples to Apples. One card that someone picked was �Babies� for the word �Appetizing.� That started a slew of dead baby jokes.

The next day, we went hiking to Rainbow Falls. It�s a 2.7 mile hike that ascends about 1500 feet. I�m sure there are much more difficult hikes around, but that one was rough for me since I�m not used to hiking and I�m out of shape anyway. Once we got there, we climbed to the top of the falls, which was rough. I ended up with very sore calves and Achilles� tendons, and spots around my shoulders were sore, as well. I got off lucky :-)

When we got back, we took a break and then met up at Macaroni Grill for dinner, followed by more Apples to Apples and then Three-Headed Sphinx (!) at Wes�s apartment again. Two other good matches people picked during the game were choosing �At my parents� house� for �Sensual,� and �Going to Grandma�s� for �Touchy-feely.� Much merriment and revelry was had by all. I introduced the other game to them and it seemed to be a hit.

At some point right before I left, I went to show Wes�s roommate Andrew the Clownfish video. People came into his room to say goodbye to him while we were watching the video and he told me to start it over to show them, as well. After it was over, I told them how I got the e-mail telling me I was on the show about five minutes after my girlfriend (Liz) broke up with me. They laughed, as I expected them to do. Well, that night, I added pretty much everyone I�d met the day before as a friend on Facebook. Lo and behold, Andrew actually knows Liz!

On Sunday, I went back to watch the World Cup final with them, though I don�t really care for soccer. We had mucho fun, though. I asked Andrew how he knew Liz, and then I informed him that she was mentioned the night before, but not by name. He looked confused and then I said, �She�s the one that broke up with me five minutes before I got the e-mail.� He just burst out laughing and I said, �Sure, laugh at my feelings.� That didn�t get him to stop :-)

They went to play ultimate frisbee after the game, but I decided to take a break and rest. I played volleyball with them last night, though. I wasn�t awesome by any stretch of the imagination, but I did get at least one good play in. The team I was on (not because of me, necessarily) won the four games in which I participated.

They�re going to Six Flags this weekend, but I�ve already got plans to go home. Oh, well. As much as I�d like to go, I�m excited to see people from home this weekend. It�ll probably be a couple months before I go home again, so I might as well go and enjoy it.

7-2-06 - This is something I wrote (I thought I put it on this site, but I didn't) on March 28, 2005:

So I was listening to "Flagpole Sitta" by Harvey Danger earlier today (don't ask why, I just was) and I noticed something I'd never noticed in the song before.

A little after a minute into it, at 1:14, right around when he says "crazy," you hear a creepy noise. I listened to it a couple times to make sure it was on the track and it is.

I isolated that section of the song, reversed it, and sped it up a bit and it almost sounds like it says "Harvey Danger."

I know it's nothing special, but I thought it was neat and I figured I'd share.

A couple months before that, I was sitting in the basement of my parents' house, chatting with people and listening to music. Dad was at work, I'm not sure where Gus was, and my mom and Liz had just left to go somewhere, so I was there alone. At some point, "The Business of Getting Down" by Ozma came on. Well, as I'm sitting there, I hear this weird whistling sound from behind me. It scared the crap out of me. I paused my music and listened for it again, and nothing. I then realized that (in key, not tempo) the whistle kinda fit with the song, so I backed it up a bit and listened again.

Sure enough, at the 2:04 mark there's a quiet little whistle in the background. I thought I knew that song. I usually know every little aspect about every song I have. It scared the crap out of me that I'd never noticed it before, especially since it sounded like it came from behind me (the first and all subsequent times).

Well, today I was listening to "You Get What You Give" by the New Radicals (seriously, Chris, this song is five minutes and two seconds of concentrated awesomeness, regardless of what you say). At the 3:46 mark, I heard something that I hadn't heard since I started listening to it when it was released in 1998 or so. When he holds out a high note, you can hear a quick inhale and someone quietly ask "Why?" I hate noticing these things years and years after I first hear songs, because it always makes me realize I'm not as perceptive as I believed I was.

On the 23rd, I filled out a sheet of my medical history for my allergist appointment on the 30th. I felt that one blank on the back was out of place. It asked for hobbies. I filled it in anyway. When I went to the allergist, I turned in my sheet like a good little boy. I got my test done, found out that I'm allergic to dust more than I am cats, and I'm also allergic to some pollens and molds, as well as slightly allergic to dogs, though they've never bothered me.

So afterward, I go back into the doctor's office and he discusses certain things with me and then whips out a recording device and dictates something to be typed later. He reads through certain things on my medical history and flies through it while I sit there wondering why I had to be present for it.

When he got to the hobbies section, he read, "His hobbies include guitar, music, board games," and then he stopped the tape and started laughing. I couldn't remember if I wrote video games on the list, but I was thinking, "Ok, dude, a lot of people play video games," but then he looked at me and said, "Annoying people?!" I forgot I'd written that. I laughed and said something about putting stuff on forms to see if people are paying attention. He laughed and said something about keeping him on his toes. I know, this was a pointless story, but I enjoyed it >:-o

Few of you will know what I'm talking about from here on out: I bought Battlefield 2 and the Special Forces expansion in a box set a little over a week ago. My first time playing as commander was early this morning. I knew that dropping trucks on people is frowned upon on some servers, but I was doing it and saw nothing about it. Well, at some point, I dropped one and then I got kicked. A message appeared on my screen about how I'd gotten a warning about doing it (which I didn't see), but I didn't care, because it was fun and it was definitely worth it.