Go Eagles!...guess not

I'm blogging right now in the comfort of my living room while watching the mighty Eagles play the racist Redskins on Monday Night Football. The first half has been pretty mild but I'm hoping for a big second half out of the Eagles. I got a hefty chunk of my mass communications reading done today so I'm giving myself an unnecessary and unearned break. I say this because over the weekend, Friday included, I didn't do jack squat, so now I'm even further behind in my reading.

I was thinking today while I was eating my dinner, why do human beings need to eat so god damn much? When I say "much" I mean both the huge quantity of the food we eat and how frequently we need to eat. While microwaving my frozen noodles it felt like it was only a few minutes ago I had eaten lunch. Albeit it had been roughly 5.5 hours since my last meal, it still feels like I eat much too frequently. Why do humans need to eat so much? That is kind of a rhetorical question because I don't care to hear your scientifically fundamental answer, "It's because we are warm blooded creatures," cause I will just come back with a youthful, "Why?" and when you handle that one I will once again ask, "Why?" I think I've been paying attention to frequency of my meals more closely since tasty food is more difficult to come by now that I'm without the maternal safety net of my mother and since I am a college student with the stiffest of budget. I don't really know where I'm going with this topic but I was thinking about it while eating and I felt like I had to document it.

There has recently been two exceptional CD releases in As I Lay Dying's "An Ocean Between Us" and Chiodos' "Bone Palace Ballet." At first listen I gave As I Lay Dying's CD the higher grade, but just like their first CD it took a bit for the Chiodos CD to grow on me, and now that I've run through it about 25 times, I think it's safe to say it has grown on me. Right now my favorite song of the album has to be "Intensity In Ten cities." I think this Chiodos CD is definitely a progression and has lots of musical growth compared to their first CD. I love how they incorporated strings into their songs, I love the backup vocals (or I guess backup screaming would make more sense in this case), and I think the keyboards are more prevalent in this album. I think who ever is screaming now for the band is much better then Craig Owens as a screamer. When Craig does scream, it sounds like he is scared he is going to hurt his pretty throat. I get this vibe from from Mr. Owens that he fears straining himself when yelling because he to beautiful. This may not be true and just a misinterpretation, I don't know the guy personally, but just from his live performances and You Tube videos I get that vibe. So the new screamer who actually screams/yells is very refreshing to me. I think this CD would have made a better rookie album because I think it is easier to understand for the general public. The first CD is little more complex in my opinion. That doesn't mean the second album isn't bigger and more grown up (because that would just negate what I wrote above), because I do think that the second CD is much more dense and a lot more rich, but something about the second CD that makes me think it would have made a better first CD. I think it would be cool to see the CDs swapped in time periods but the growth between the CDs remain the same. But isn't that how it is with artists today - when they first come up its all about doing what they want and the artistic value of the music but once the music business starts coming into play it affects the music. I guess it really isn't their fault.

Before I end this blog and get ready to go work out I want to write about one more topic. I know I've written about my struggle to adapt to moving in with 3 other guys with abundance lately, but I haven't really written about it with detail so this will be my last bitch-fest unless something new comes up. I have a list of things that I've noticed since my stay and I plan on hitting all of them quickly. I must insert a disclaimer before I start that I am a little bit frustrated at the moment due to reasons I do not care to mention for the safety of peoples feelings. So if I write a little more directly and without cushioning my comments to accommodate to peoples feeling, I apologize in advance. One thing I have listed is the trash bin. Many times I've found the garbage over filling, yet no one has the courtesy to dump the receptacle. I don't see how someone doesn't get the message that if something is over filling, it needs to be emptied. It's so confusing to me because back at home, when the trash is full and you were the one to put it over its brim, it is understood that you need to toss it. I mean, if you don't do it when its full, who are you expecting to do it? Mommy? Min? I've decided that bringing the trash out is one thing I will not do during my stay here because I am responsible for so many other chores around the house. Rather, I will leave the trash bin out as a hint for the others to empty it. In fact, the trash is out in the open right now and has been out since the afternoon and guess what...it's still there. After a while I even opened the top to give another visual clue that it needs to be tossed but instead someone decided to put the lid back on. Hopeless. It's frustrating to say the least. I wish I could be more vocal about it but it's just not my nature to call people out on their short comings. I just don't understand how it doesn't register automatically. Did their parents not teach them the meaning of house work? I'm glad I understand how lucky I was to have my parents support me for so long. I really appreciate everything they did and still do for me and I think my peers take all the benefits of their parents for granted. It's a shame. They still expect someone to do everything for them and being the only person that understands this, the person that does all the house work will be me. (I just walked out to grab a cup of water and the trash is still there...sigh). Another thing that bothers me is how bad these people are at paying attention to details. I've grabbed a dish or cup out of the cupboard with stains all over it or is still wet. Stains mean someone just didn't wash it good enough and it bothers me when our dishes and cups aren't dried yet stored because the moister gives bacteria a necessary environment to cultivate. So I one day built up enough courage to propose that I am willing to clean the dishes alone and the response was incredibly disappointing. Actually, a response doesn't even exist. All I got was mumble from Dean, Mitch kept switching through the TV channels and Zak just sat their accompanying Mitch. I mean how fucking rude is that!? Here I am trying to get some guidelines figured out and offer to clean all the fucking dishes alone and they just brush me the fuck off? That really upset me and made me even more critical of them. Let me remind you that this is only two weeks into our year lease. I plan on having lunch with my Mom on Friday of this week and I plan on venting with her and apologizing for being a slob back at home. My friend Roshani has actually been helping me out a lot just by giving me someone to talk to which has been uplifting. She even came over and called some people out for me (intentionally or intentionally I don't know) which made me feel 100% better. Anywho, I guess they must not have heard my proposal because I often find dishes out of place and strange dishes in the washer that I don't remember washing. It's so obvious when others do it because I always put things in a certain direction and in specific places. Oh! That's another thing that bothers me, nothing ever stays consistent, everything is in a new place each time I look for it. Whether it be the items in the fridge, or items in the cupboards, or things that are layed out else where, etc. Also things never remain strait. I mean if you knock something out of place, put it back into fucking place, is it that fucking hard? Another issue I have with these guys are crumbs. If you spill something, CLEAN IT THE FUCK UP!!!!! Who the fuck do you expect to pick things up after you!? Mommy? Min? I don't get it. If something is spilled, it is obviously not going to move and clean it self. So it just sits there. I hate when someone makes a sandwich because there will be bread crumbs everywhere and I hate when people make ramen because there are broken pieces of ramen all over the stove top and kitchen floor. I must be the only one stepping on these crumbs because no one else seems to mind their new niche. So, if anyone wants some free ramen, please steal some from our place. I hate having to clean the tops of everything and the kitchen floor everyday because there are so many fucking crumbs. Clean up after yourself! Oh, and it is sooooo obvious who does what. I mean one time I watched someone make a bowl of ramen and right after the floor was littered. Not only that, they left the ramen packing out on the counter top. That amazed me. I even know who overfills the garbage cans because I see someone eat something and thats what I see overfilled ready to fall out of the bin. I mean these guys don't even try to hide it which makes me think they are completely oblivious to what they are doing. Which in turn gives me no hope. Another issue along with crumbs are stains. If you spill sauce or something, wipe it because it'll just sit there and dry. One time someone spilled a little jelly on our table and just left it. When I came home from class, I cleaned it, duh, who else? On top of being filthy, they are awfully loud at night. This one doesn't bother me as much and I think I'm just critical about this because so many other things are going wrong, but I mean they could be a little more observant and considerate since I usually go to bed at the same time every night. For some reason the guys think the best time to pump up the TV volume is when I go to bed. The best time to do laundry is when I go to bed, which sucks because the washer and dryer are connected to a wall that is next to my bed. On top of that, a couple of my roommates asked me for some of my music and I was very reluctant to assist them because this just meant more ammunition for them to play at night. So is being independent fun? Yes. Is having your own place fun? Yes. But I think the next 11 months will be a struggle for me unless I can slowly change these guys. With all that said, I know Dean is trying and without his help, I probably would have already snapped. (I think I just heard a new garbage bag being expanded, and this is right after Dean left the room. Surprise that Dean does it...no. I actually think he is the only other person that has dumped the trash other than me). Dean has offered to help clean the dishes, and I personally think his dish washing skills are up to par so I wouldn't mind letting him do it but I would never force it on him. He offered to help me this one day but I couldn't find a way to make it a efficient two man job so I declined and I don't know if I did it in a respectful manner. Just knowing that he cares and actually thinks about doing the dishes is good enough for me. Plus he takes out the trash and he actually wipes the counter tops and observes spills and stains. He even managed to clean out the microwave once, something I forgot to clean. So much respect to Dean. But really, if I had to guess before the move in, would I have guessed all this would happen any other way? I don't think anyone would have guessed Mitch being the hard worker and clean one over Dean. Oh, and we've had guests come over on weekends that haven't helped much either. I saw someone grab items and move it to another area for no obvious reason. There was no significance in the move other then it made the desktop messier. My favorite guest is Andy or Dick easily. Andy comes over, puts his shoes in line with the others, minds his own business, doesn't beg for attention, cleans after him self, is fun to be around, etc. Dick comes over and just plays games haha. Roshani is also a fun person to have over and she is totally someone I can talk to about my struggles. I don't know...I feel bad that I have to scrutinize my friends and maybe I am to critical and to much of a neat freak. I feel bad sometimes that I am like this, but I don't think being clean and considerate is to much to ask of any human being. More the considerate part that bothers me. I wish Jon were one of my roommates because that would make it 3 people who could look after each other and clean after them selves because I know Jon's parents taught him how to clean after he eats. I've seen him do it and he even cleans after all of us after we eat over at his house. Dean usually gives him a hand, and I try to give him a hand when ever I can. But enough bitching, plus its late and pasted my bed time. I must admit it feels good to vent.
I wrote this quickly towards the end so sorry if it's undecipherable.