The standard issue at St. Thomas is the semi-clear plastic cardholder, with a ring for keys. Nearly everyone has one, or a variation on it - it is enough to get you food, laundry, dorm access, room access, books, and groceries on campus. It is your life, encapsulated in a card and a key. That said, I lost mine today, if only for a short time.
My shorts had no pockets, so I did what anybody would do - hooked the keys around a shifter on my bike. This had been done many times before, and without incident. In this case, unfortunately, the keys popped off as I bounced off a curb and crossed Cretin Avenue. 200 yards later, I realized their usual jangling was absent and that I suddenly was no longer in possession of anything important from St. Thomas. I just lost all ability to eat, sleep, and identify myself.
Great.
Doing an about face, I kept my eyes to the ground, scanning for card and keys. I found them, in the middle of Cretin Avenue. During an interminably long green light, I watched helplessly as cars ran over my keys. Caught for a moment by the rapidly moving tires, the keys would fly up into the air, making a graceful arc, and then pound back into the road again. This repeated several times, and during each I hoped that the card case would not land on it’s side, to be blown to smithereens by the next car. A city bus approached. “Great” I thought, “the thing’s made it through three 3000 pound cars, but there’s no way a bus the size of a couple of elephants can do anything but annihilate what is left of my stuff.” With a turn signal, the bus left the intersection, and I received the “it’s a good time to walk” signal.
With the notable exception of a destroyed key ring, everything survived. Thankfully.
UPDATE: Picture of the keys.
Firefox: Always Use Protection - What a great wallpaper.
Bad things have happened at the Binz before, but recently my old standby has taken a beating. That is to say, I generally eat cereal if there is nothing else good to eat at the Binz. However, management at this fine cafeteria has left the same cereal in bins for the entire summer. Do you understand that? The entire summer. That means that, yes, the Apple Jacks I usually eat are not crunchy. They taste dusty. And when you bite them, they are chewy. CHEWY APPLE JACKS ARE NOT TASTY.
Though, mooshy sugar bites that do not even taste like their namesake are not enough to merit a Food at the Binz post. Nay, yesterday I experienced something even worse. As you can imagine/assume, the granola has been subject to the same fate of the other cereals, and has essentially coagulated into one massive gran of ola. I chipped away at said pile this past morning, and dumped the contents into my bowl - good preparation for the winter ice scraping season, I figured. Walking back, I popped a large chunk of the cereal into my mouth, hoping (as any sane person would) to munch on it whilst walking. This was not an option. Why? I could not bite through the cereal. I steadily increased the pressure of my molars on the wet piece of concrete in my mouth, but mastication failed utterly. Embarassed, I furtively looked around, and then quickly took the piece out of my mouth, leaving it to soak in milk. After a couple of bowls of cereal, I contemplated the rocky mass in the bowl. I took my spoon and attempted to push the tip into the center of my bane. I could feel the other end of the spoon driving into my palm - it hurt. A lot.
I never managed to break up that granola, and left feeling let down and hurt by my old cereal friend.
Lens Reversal: Take Awesome Macro Shots - A great explanation of the lens-reversal technique used to photograph very small things.
Take better pictures of fireworks - Given my horrible track record with fireworks, this is extraordinarily helpful.
This past Friday night, I was scared by this movie. Based on a true story. I have yet to investigate the extent to which this movie is true, but as this exorcism was recognized by the Catholic church as real … it does make you wonder. One more quick note: it may been declared “real” to help the priests involved (who, ultimately, were judged guilty). Hard to say. Regardless: this movie was not a jumpy horror movie in the traditional sense, with one important exception. It has the single-most spine tingling special horror effect you will witness for some time. Warning, spoiler (skip to the end of this paragraph to avoid): Emily, pursued by the devil, makes eye contact with people around her, and without any warning at all, their faces begin melting off, like the worst mascara-in-the-rain you’ve ever scene. Except the eyes come with it. And a demonic face emerges. Fun.
The movie tosses out the accepted horror format: main character enters house/location. Outside communication greatly decreases. Becomes intrigued. Finds something deeply wrong. Goes to get help. Goes back (I hate that part). Dies in a horrible, sudden way. Indeed, the horror parts of the movie are all flashbacks, rooted in the court trial taking place, a trial which attempts to convict the Priest who performed the exorcism.
Get this, though. This movie, to me, was far less darkly horrifying than, say, Skeleton Key. See, Skeleton Key ends on a hopeless note: no justice will be served, the cycle will perpetuate, the horror will continue. The focus of the Exorcism of Emily Rose, however, is on justice (quite literally). Centered in the courtroom, the movie and some characters in it focus on “telling Emily’s story.” This serves to warn people about demons, to put some “good” back into the world. To me, this made the movie more believable, and more visceral. Caveat: I am easily scared. If you are going for a cheap non-intellectual thrill and have no imagination, this movie will not be for you.
Best OS X Third Party Software - What-a-list. I’ll be referring to this if I ever get a Mac.
Get your Windows Product Key - Because someday, you’ll have to reinstall.
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