It Never Rains in Southern California

So here I am in Chicago, no... wait, I take that back. Do over.


So here I am in fucking O-Hare. I hate O-Hare. I italics then bold hate it... that's right. The only thing that makes it particularly special today, other than my connection actually being within 2 miles of my arrival concourse, is that on the cover of the USA TODAY I just purchased O-Hare is prominently depicted. Let me see if the article is online, it is, awesome:

Most fake bombs missed by screeners

Subtitle: 75% not detected at LAX; 60% at O-Hare. LINK

I fucking hate O-Hare. BUT, my connection, knock on wood, is on time and by the time you're probably reading this I should be in Disneyland. Thank God for some R'nR, I need it. I especially need it after a day yesterday that felt like a week. At least it ended with some LOST.

Whole New Tank

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Fish might not have eyelids, but they do sleep, and some suffer from insomnia, scientists reported on Monday.

California scientists studying sleep disorders in humans found that some zebrafish, a common aquarium pet, have a mutant gene that disrupts their sleep patterns in a way similar to insomnia in humans.

Zebrafish with the mutant gene slept 30 percent less than fish without the mutation. When they finally drifted off they remained asleep half as long as the normal fish, the researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine said.

Bullets (Stream of Consciousness)

• TV Workshop went great
• The first 4 episodes of LOST are amazing
• LA in 4 days
• Making a mix for the flight
• Listening to music more lately
• Song right now: Josh music, track 6

We'll Fix it in Post

Today begins the TV Workshop-- an interesting but weekend absorbing master class in television lighting. I'm looking forward to learning something of the craft... and craft services (I know, awesome segue).

More signifigantly this officially begins my month of hell, as far as scheduling goes anyway. There's some fun in there-- California and LDI, but the hecticness will not end until then. Add to that extraneous stressors (people paying close attention know what I'm talking about here) and life's a little crazy for a bit. Partly because of this, and partly because I'm retarded, yesterday I dropped the first class I've ever dropped... seriously, ever. It does NOT make me happy to have done this, but the subject matter is far from what I excel in and I do not want to deal with the ramifications of struggling to get my grade up to where it needs to be right now. Its funny that the first "C" I ever would have gotten would come in the only place where that's a failing grade.

Robbie Williams

I had originally intended this to be a theme park review of Cedar Point. However, Cedar Point was so unusually packed that I think I'll hold off on that review until I can more properly evaluate it. We averaged 90 minutes of waiting per ride because there were over 40,000 people in the park by 2pm and it only got busier as the day wore on. The one slight disappointment is that its not a theme park-- its an amusement park. Amazing coasters, but next to no themeing to speak of.

But one thing really knocked my socks off-- the world famous Millennium Force coaster. That initial 310' drop gets you moving at 93 miles and hour. Woah. It was absolutely exhilarating... beyond words. Despite my heights wimpiness I was able to go hands up after the initial drop. Part of this was because the ride was so smooth you felt like you were flying. This was all heightened by the fact that I was riding it in the dark-- right after midnight to be exact. So the new Top-5 roller coaster list looks like this:

1) Millennium Force (Cedar Point)

2) Dueling Dragons - Ice (Islands of Adventure)

3) Sheikra (Busch Gardens Tampa)

4) Hulk (Islands of Adventure)

5) Superman Ride of Steel (Six Flags New England)

Score One

First perfect day in a long time... check.

Schedule

• Last day at the Public today.
• Phantom Fright Night at Kennywood tonight.
• Cedar Point tomorrow.
• LOTS of work on Sunday morning.
• Patriots rout--errr-- play the Browns on Sunday
• Some more work Sunday night.
• Monday-- phone call with awesome job offer, J leaves building screaming "See you all in Hell!"
• Tuesday-- J checks caller ID, realizes it was a prank.

GOOOOOOOAL!

Patriots had an amazing game last night, next week is another cupcake before we get a real match in Dallas. Anyway, here's a non-career based list of things I need to do before I die:

• See a Patriots game in Foxboro (see, not a complete nonsequitor)
• Ski in the Rockies (Josh, I'm looking in your direction)
• Ski in the Alps
• Drive across the US East-West (North-South is already checked off)
• Go wine tasting in Napa
• Go to the following places, in no particular order: Norway, Italy, Paris, New Zealand, Australia, Japan. Currently my passport has el-zero stamps in it... sad.
• SCUBA dive
• See at least one major league baseball game in every ballpark in the country
• Go on one of those jungle zip-line things
• See "perpetual twilight" on the cusp of the Artic circle in winter

I'll take suggestions on things that need to be added to the list.