JONIZZLE

In Europe. I want to live in Lyon. And now Barcelona aussi. Blogger instructions are in espanol here too. But yea. Great time in Europe. It´s hard to describe how pretty everything is. I´ll do it later.

And for all you doubters, horseshoes are AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS.

I'm off across the pond. Have a merry holiday season everyone. Love love love.

I bought a lot of books today for 40% off. My local B. Dalton bookstore is closing. Sad for them, but yay for my mind. My purchases reminded me of a quote a good friend of mine liked to say,

"Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind."

I bought two books by C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity being one of them, and then, ahem, Stephen Hawking's Brief History of Time (yea, we'll see if I can comprehend that...) and a history book entitled Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies, which is quite interesting so far. It won a Pulitzer, so I figured it deserved a shot. My head is about to get pounded with religion and science, but that should be interesting and stimulating, I hope. And I already read it, but I also got the 5th Harry Potter book in paperback to add to my collection :)

This recent splurge in the written word is a change for me. I dare say I'm excited to be a little bit more scholarly with the history books (teaching myself as opposed to being taught from a set curriculum), and hopefully more enlightened by the philosophies of Thoreau (Walden Pond) and the stories from Kerouac (On the Road). And aside from my already read Harry Potter book and OTR, I've only purchased one other fiction novel of the eight books (yea, eight...) I've bought in the last week, Don Quioxte. Did you know the adjective "quixotic", meaning "idealistic" (and "impractical"), is derived from the protagonist's name? Hmm...idealistic. Don Quioxte. Or JON QUIOXTE?!?!?! Indeed.

I must admit, a little of me likes to buy books because it makes me look smarter. They look good on the ole' bookshelf ya know? But don't think of me as smart. I can't remember if it was Socrates or Plato, but he said he was the most unwise of all. To cut it short, we could all be so much wiser, and there is so much more to learn. Ah yes, tis the thirst for truth and knowledge! But yea, don't think I'm cool or anything because I read. At least don't let me think that.

Got horseshoes at Darcy's tonight with Brian and Erika. Ran into Jill Nash and her parents. Great family. Jill is getting married, to not my roommate but a different Tyler, this August. Another wedding for me to attend this summer. That makes THREE weddings, and I can call all three of the brides and all three of the grooms friends, some being good ones at that. THREE groups of friends, my age, binding together in marriage forever in a few months. I don't know what to say to that.

1) I am old?
2) They are young?
3) I need a girlfriend.

I took a picture of the horseshoe tonight for those of you who wonder what it is:



Underneath all that cheese and fries is a hamburger patty and Texas toast. Delicious.

Went to see Spanglish afterwards. Refreshing and entertaining. Adam Sandler's daughter is a good young female actor, and Tea Leoni is scary. And Paz Vega is pretty. Be Happy.

Back home for the first time in four months. I saw a new Gold's Gym being built as I got into town. Weird. Came home, went online...and then slept from 7pm-1130pm. Indeed. Its 8am now, and I'm going to go help my sister open up the Formosa Cafe for a day of ice cream scooping. Oh the bane that is holiday store hours.

Leaving for Europe on Thursday. Hoping to see a lot of old faces in between now and then. Illinois vs. Mizzou Wednesday night. I'm going to have to holler at the Julie Ashenfelter (even though she never hollers back) and see if she's up for watching it at Damon's with everyone else like last year. That'd be nice. Horseshoes too. Mmm.

It's cold outside.

Holy nuts. I'm going to Europe. My dad managed to find tickets with his miles today. Le cool.

Sidenote: I bought a 19" monitor yesterday for $500. I bought it because I thought I wasnt going to Europe.

Oh nut...haha. I need to win a poker tournament before I leave...

U of I meter maids need to get a life. It's 4:15am, and you're giving me a ticket for my car being parked at a meter in an empty lot. Yes it says No Parking from 2 - 6am, but really. Calm it down.

I'll be home soon. Home. It has been so long (well only 4 months). Interesting it'll be. A little weird. A little happy. Old faces I hope I will see. But you know me. I might escape to some far off place. Europe or Taiwan? Or maybe just this time, neither. I've always been more of a homebody. Springfield it is! I think...

Best thoughts and wishes.

Hallelujah.

A mathematical portrayal of Brian's poker style. Don't try this at home:

iPods rule. And dinners with the fearsome foursome. And those little xangazon things. And Spiderman 2. Good moral lessons. Good character development. A sprinkling of Asian faces. Funny and cheesy lines.

Raindrops keep fallin on my head.
But the sun will shine brightly over a new dawn.
Afterall, tomorrow is another day.

L'iPod is here!

I went to Red Lobster and Ocean's Twelve with , , & . It was alright, not as good as the first one, but not bad. Came back home. made a delicious chocolate cake, and brought a piece down for me. Later on, came over and watched me cut up the remains of the Thanksmas turkey. Indeed.

That was fun. Too bad it looks odd.

Um. Yea...I spent 11 hours playing with my Peeps Page. Addicting? I think so.

Hehe, this is from Christine:

"at recess today, a little girl says, "glasses are for geeks" to a little girl in my class. the "victim" then goes around the entire playground and tells EVERYONE with glasses about what the offending girl said. pretty soon, all of the kids with glasses on the playground hunt her down and confront her. when she sees the mob of angry near-sighted children, she is overwhelmed and bursts into tears.

lesson learned: don't mess with kids with glasses"

Randoms:

- I wish Satchel Paige would have been able to play in the major leagues earlier than he did. For those of you who don't know who Satchel Paige is, which I assume is everybody who might read this other than Brian or maybe, impressively since shes a girl, Erika, Paige played in the Negro Leagues since blacks weren't yet allowed in the majors. He finally was able to pitch a game after he was 40 years old. I would like to see what he could have accomplished if he were in the majors in his prime.

- I've been spending time searching for a Jack Kerouac quote that came back into my mind from long ago. I can't find it though, so I'll recreate it for you:

"I see myself in the center of a high plateau. I want to venture out towards the edge and experience everything along the way, to look up and stare at the clouds and look down and touch the flowers. And then when I get to the edge, I want to lean over the cliff as far as I can and see everything down below, without falling off."

That's what I kind of remember from the quote which I only heard once many winters ago. And actually, it might not be Kerouac at all (but I'm pretty sure it is). I also remember thinking that the quote is about drugs, but whatev. I like the quote a lot. To go from the safety of the middle and venture out and see everything there is to see. To go to the limit. To experience everything. But no drugs. A lesson for all you kids, Kerouac ended up doing too many drugs (he leaned over too far) and died young. I'd like to read his book "On the Road" though. Maybe I'll buy it at the local B&N tomorrow.

- I value my friends greatly. Super super much. But this is a little thing about me. I won't remember your birthday. Sure, I'd like to be super-thoughtful, and I probably remember your birthday a few days before it, but I will forget the day of. Consider yourself lucky if I actually remember. I only know like five birthday's off the top of my head anyways. I always get Brian's and Tyler's (sometime last week...) wrong. Don't feel bad though. I forgot my own birthday two years ago I think.

- Currently Listening To: An obscene amount of music. It is in preperation for the arrival of my personalized iPod next week. "Jonizzle" will be laser-inscribed on it.

Songs:
Halloween, Alaska - All the Arms Around You
The Album Leaf - Eastern Glow
Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
Green Day - Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Britney Spears - My Only Wish (This Year)
Jars of Clay - Little Drummer Boy
& multiple versions of Carol of the Bells
& everything else. I wasn't kidding when I said obscene.

- Currently watched last night: Amelie. I bought it on a whim in NYC. And because the DVD box was kinda cool (I'm a sucker for "special" DVD cases). It's odd. Every person who has seen it has said it's been great, they looved it. But all those people have also been girls. It wasn't bad, and I got to work on my French, but I think my Y-chromosome inhibits full enjoyment of the film. Also, I have six DVD's next to me of movies I have never seen, yet still saw fit to buy. And then I have probably fifteen to twenty DVD's of movies I have seen, but have never watched on the DVD itself. I'm addicted to buying DVD's.

That a long random.

Herry Thanksmas for all of us! I hope you have a great Thanksmas Eve.

Yea! I was just saying how he was my favorite character earlier tonight!


Which Family Guy character are you?