Jacob Rains' Journal

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Jack and Bobby
TheWB OnDemand has Jack and Bobby available, I think they just put up episodes 1-3. I stayed up way late to watch the first episode again. It remains my favorite television show, and I highly recommend that you check it out.

Now, sleep....

I got into work tonight with an email from my boss speaking of a team building event in July and asking us all if we had suggestions. Seriously?!?

MySpace is starting to get weird. The random porn "friend" requests were annoying, but at least I understood the motivation. Lately I've been getting requests from women that I have no friends in common with, and no shared interests. There is a part of my brain that flips out because it seems to make no sense.

I made the decision a few weeks ago that if I was indeed laid off, I'd do whatever it takes to make it to Burning Man.

I have a Suburban and time off. I know how to camp, including camping in the desert. Let's make this happen, yo. I'm highly useful, promise. I'd rather not go/camp alone, who's got some room in their camp for me?

August 28th, I too will be joining the ranks of the unemployed.

Yes folks, I got laid off.

Unfortunately, this is what I'm groving to today.

Stuck in my head while I was sleeping.

David Eddings
Goodbye Mr. Eddings. Rest in peace.

Not the greatest, but one of the most entertaining. He knew how to keep attention. He was possibly my favorite author, not because of the greatnest of the work, but because it was easy to read, and the ease as which I was able to relate to different characters at different times as I've read through the Belgariad/Malorean several times since I was a teenager.

I checked regularly on his health; since about the time of Gary Gygax, Arthur C. Clark, and Erick Wujcik all became ill and themselves died. I think we're seeing an end of an era.

Thank you, sir.... for Silk, Garion, Belgarath, Polgara, Durnik... and yes, even Mandorallen.

Off to see if I still have a job.

Yah LAY-OFFS!

Edit: I still have a job.

Still have a two week shut down in August to deal with.

I have an oncoming headache of a severe nature. I am under epic pressure at work. And now, comes school work. Blah.

This weekend had better not suck.

Friday night, I'm catching a 7pm showing of the new Terminator at Pacific Place. I will go alone, but I think I may have convinced a person or two to come along. Afterwards, la Turtlegrrl is dropping of Kaia with me and she is heading up the Hill to celebrate Cajun's birthday. (Sorry to miss it Cajun, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, regardless.)

Saturday; I'm heading out bright and early to catch a ferry out to Bremerton to spend the some family time during Memeorial Day weekend. Kaia enjoys spending time with her grandparents, and I think that my cousin Dan will be there with his daughter Emma, who is about Kaia's age.

Sunday; I'm heading out to Eastern Washington for some sightseeing before being herded into the music festival masses. I really only care to see Nine Inch Nails play, but given my current mode I'm not looking forward to crowds. If I have the energy, I may check out Deadmau5 in the dance tent/stage/whatever. Maybe we hang out if you're going to be there?

Monday; I'll probably sleep away the day, it's obligitory to have one of those during a four day weekend. However, that night I'll be heading down to Studio Seven to see VAST perform, AND SO SHOULD YOU. :)

So, there's my plans for the weekend, yo.

Student Grades

Spring 2009
Course Description Credits Final Grade Comment
ENGL368 AMER NOVEL 03 A
HIST422 HIST PAC NW 03 A
POL S101 AM NATL GOVT 03 A-
HIST102 MOD EUROPE 03 B+

Term Notes: PRESIDENT'S HONOR ROLL

Sem Hrs: 12.0 Sem GPA: 3.75 Total Hrs: 94.0 Cum GPA: 3.63

Hmph... I thought it was a week between the end of Spring semester and the start of Summer. I was mistaken. I finished my finals for Spring on Friday, I begin Summer semester yesterday. I guess that's why they're harassing me for tuition, I better get that taken care of.

Someone had mentioned that about having dreams while in college in which they showed up late for their final, or showed up completely unprepared for the assignment. I related to them that I hadn't had dreams like that, but I still have dreams in which I'm still a Marine and show up to work with my uniform somehow messed up or in the wrong uniform.

Over the weekend, I pulled double duty on the "freaking" out dreams. I dreamt I was still a Marine, and showed up to work completely unshaved (which is a pretty huge thing), and while in the same dream I dreamt that I recieved my final grade for a class in which, causing me to fail the class.

Completely neurotic. They could at least give me my final grades for Spring so I could stop internally freaking out about my grades.

On a completely unrelated, yet equally "freaking me out" note... On Friday there was an all-hands meeting, which is fairly normal, scheduled at the beginning of the month. Despite being "all-hands", working graveyard shift means I'm exempt from showing up. I heard about it word-of-mounth from co-workers over the weekend, and yesterday morning my actual boss pulled us into a meeting to tell those that weren't at work on Friday.

Anyhow, in the meeting the VP-Operations announced that there's going to be layoffs coming in June, and that the company is closing down operations for two weeks in August. Those that keep their job are expected to take vactation during that time, and if they don't have vacation time available, it will be unpaid time off. Yah, the economy fucking blows.

It's not really that suprising, I didn't go into work Thursday or Friday of last week because there's nothing to do. I'll likely sit around part of this week with nothing to do as well. My coworkers seem to be able to handle this, I just tend to go a bit crazy going into work, sitting around for 8 hours doing basically nothing.

I'm actually hoping to get laid off, collecting a severance package and taking the summer off preparing for the move to Baltimore sounds like...not horrible at all. At the same time it's bothersome.

I wrote this, as part of a discussion for my American Lit. class, in an examination of two different books that we had read, McTeague and Sister Carrie--

I thought it was very interesting that McTeague and Hurstwood shared very simular fates in their respective novels. True in American society today, we identify so much of who we are by what we do for a living. When McTeague and Hurstwood lost that source of income, they lost their sense of identity. McTeague became brutish and nasty, while Hurstwood became sullen and depressed.

In my own life, I've seen very simular things happen as well, my own father was forced-to-quit/retired, and afterwards we saw him fight with depression and alcoholism. When he was idle, he lost part of who he was. I think that part of the American Dream is that, having what we do be something that we can identify with, so that we can feel, "I am worthwhile, I can take pride in my work as doing this."

:: edited out a bunch of half-formed thoughts :: To summarize, I took a lot of satisfaction in fixing things; and I'm not sure how being laid off, dealing with school, and dealing with the move is going to affect me. But it has, and it is.

Anyways, I feel like I've been a terrible friend lately. I'm sorry for that. I having trouble finding motivation getting out. A lot of stuff has been weighing on me.

While I'm thinking music and people...

Next Friday, the 15th, I'll be celebrating the fact that I have no home work by lounging out in front of my TV. Starting at 6pm or so I'm loading up The Fountain, followed up by Repo!, followed up by Let the Right One In.

If you want to join me, that would be awesome.

Also, Monday May 25th, VAST will be playing at Studio Seven. You know I'll be there. I have tickets to the Nine Inch Nails show at Sasquatch the previous day, and I haven't worked any logistics out. I was considering/hoping to catch more than one VAST show on this tour, but that would mean Salt Lake City on Saturday night for VAST, the Gorge on Sunday for Nine Inch Nails, and then back in Seattle on Monday for VAST again. If I had a wingman/girl for the roadtrip insanity, I might contemplate it, but as it is, I can't imagine that much driving and concerting is a good idea.

the promotion at work went through. A little bit of training next week, and it will all be official. No extra money (didn't expect it, hard to explain). It does come with some authority and just a little responsibility. It is most definitately something that I can add to a resume, and makes me a lot more hire-able.

Finals are the week after next. Here's to hoping for another semester carrying an A average. I got instructor feedback in a perfect assignment that I barely remember writting. Hopefully, when this is all done, I can enjoy a slower pace in life.

I should try to make this quick since I need to finish up some homework before running off to get my hair cut and go to con. It's another reason I love San Diego.

I was living in San Diego during the summer '98-'99, and the mid-day DJ on 91X (the local "alternative" station) was Robin Roth, who was quite happy with the nickname "Robin Goth". She quickly became my favorite DJ, she would regularly slip into the mid-day show Peter Murphy and Echo and the Bunnymen. She was also the DJ who played the first VAST track I'd ever heard, "Pretty when you cry." You could tell that she pushed the limits of what the radio-station woud allow her to play, or... considering I don't know exactly whow the system works, she certainly had an influence on the mid-day format that the other DJs didn't have.

Fast forward to last weekend. While I was in San Diego, I was intent on listening to my iPod the whole time. But I did take a moment to tune into 91X during the mid-day hours to see if Robin was still DJing. I was a little dissappointed that the voice wasn't Robin's. It was that Friday night that by some 'instinct' I turned off my iPod and tuned into the "metal" station down in San Diego, 105.3. In the first three words, I recognized that it was Robin on the station, she'd left the station, but not the industry. But then, then I began to recognize the format that she played.

You can click over to - http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=26483102704&topic=4084 to see the format.

I think it's awesome. Anyways, I'm going to send out an e-mail to Robin and let her know as much. After I party this weekend.

Back from my vacation.

Blah... work tonight is going to SUCK.

Ya'll miss me?

Hearing about the snow in Seattle has only increased my love affair with San Diego. Current weather, 70's with a comfortable marine breeze. Not a cloud in the sky. I forgive the sun for the burns from yesterday, as long as the ersther continues like this the whole week.

----
Might edit this a few times.

( Things that make me happy )

Spring, you fucking fail.

The snow in December, and on Christmas, was wonderful and welecomed. In March? Not so much.

Blatantly stolen from Templar_46_2

This has got to be the greatest song I've heard of the last... 30 minutes. I liked it so much that I went and watched the movie, too.

Love it.

The past tense of "seek" is "sought"....

why my brain kept trying to tell me it is "souk", I'll never understand.