this is all i really want out of life.

octagonal cages and other things

14 seconds. that's how long it took alex to pummel him. his name was john, and he was chubby. when he stepped into the ring he looked like a scared rabbit, and that he'd rather just go home and watch seinfeld re-runs. the ref brought them together and said quiet words, and then it started. they hopped around oddly for a few seconds, and then alex took his first swing at him. (if i knew really technical mma terms, i'd use them now. but i don't.) they exchanged a few punches, and then john fell into alex, and alex took him to the ground. with john laying next to him, alex punched him in the face a few times. he looked up at the ref to see if he was going to stop him, but he wasn't. alex then punched john about six more times, and during this punching, the ref tackled alex weirdly. i guess they let them go as long as possible before stopping them. alex, with an extreme excess of adrenaline and testosterone running through his veins, hopped weirdly around the cage screaming weird things. after that was when the cheesy part happened, and the ref held up alex's arm, and john looked dead. it looked like john was missing a chunk of his eyebrow and had a bloody nose. alex escaped unscathed, except for two jammed fingers (from punching the other guy so hard). we left around the time john left, and i barely recognized him. his head was wrapped up with bandages, and he looked like he had gotten into a serious accident or something. i felt really bad for him. i don't really understand the desire to hurt someone like that.

i was sitting next to alex's mom for his fight, and she was really nervous. this did not, however, keep her from being funny. she got out her camera, and, with a really sarcastic happy voice, uttered the quote of the night:

"well, these will be great pictures for the scrapbook!"

the curious case of benjamin button

i just finished the last few pages of f. scott fitzgerald's "the curious case of benjamin button." before i read it, i figured i'd be able to write a bit about the differences. now it's not even worth it. it's barely the same story. here are the three similarities:

-benjamin is born an old man, and consequently grows younger
-it takes place in the south (in a confederate state)
-he served in some sort of of the military (wasn't the same in book and movie)

tah dah! everything else is different. EVERYTHING. i guess i don't mind, but perhaps they should have called the movie something else, considering how unlike the short story it is. i really enjoyed the movie. brad pitt did a really good job portraying the different ages, and i would say it's as good as his role (tyler durden) in fight club. except i'm not sure if it deserved quite as many oscar nominations as it received. it was good, but not life-changing. one of my favorite parts took place in probably the sixties and seventies, when benjamin and daisy are just chilling and happy and they have one of those cheesy montages. also, when that old man would randomly talk about when he got struck by lightning. they looked so content. it was lovely. oh! the thing i hated: the fact they had that back story of the old woman and her daughter (randomly in a hurricane??). it was like the back story of princess bride, only worse, because they didn't have a little kid complaining about cooties. another part that bothered me was the fact that elizabeth abbott (tilda swinton) was also the evil lady from the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe movie. i kept expecting her to abuse small animals, and she never did.

some pleasant quotes (courtsey of imdb):
"For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again." -benjamin button

"Along the way you bump into people who make a dent on your life. Some people get struck by lightning. Some are born to sit by a river. Some have an ear for music. Some are artists. Some swim the English Channel. Some know buttons. Some know Shakespeare. Some are mothers. And some people can dance." -benjamin button

"Did I ever tell you I been struck by lightning seven times? Once I was just crossing the road to get the mail." -mr. daws


also, it is profusely snowing outside. and it is beautiful. as much as i'm looking forward to spring, snow has a special place in my heart.

currently listening: "pigeons" by page france
currently reading: i-six nonlectures by e.e. cummings (i love love love his poetry. it's pure and beautiful and simple)
current sock color: red

and finally. tonight (in about half an hour) i'm leaving to go to alex's very first MMA fight. yeah, that's right. mixed martial arts. i'm actually a little scared. i'm hoping he doesn't break any bones and/or die. i may end up writing more about this later.

have you heard about the mania?

ah, show choir. i genuinely enjoy playing for combo. i'm the only clarinet player, so i have little non-difficult solos, which is nice. the music isn't completely lame, no one can see us. oh, and we're actually good! most band groups at kennedy aren't, erm, the best... combo, however, is. we do well, the show choir does well, and it's general critical success all around. the only part i don't like is the fact that in the prep show choir (mostly sophomores and juniors) sing about being in love in their ballad. i know that's all over-analyze-y of me, but seriously. what fifteen year old truly knows what love is? they're mostly worried about whether or not their hair looks okay, or if they'll get their ap world homework done (oh my!). enough of that. the point is that i don't mind having two hour combo practices. unlike marching band, where i hoped i would fall and break my leg to spare me from the inner pain our epic fails caused me... and combo competitions are pretty dece, too. except for the overpriced food thing, but whatever. i mostly sit around with people and play cards or talk about snooty indie music or laugh. and play. that too.

currently listening to: "everyday" by vetiver (really cute stuff)
currently reading (besides mr. denisovich): the curious case of benjamin button by f. scott fitzgerald
currently petting: my lovely dog, tori. (collective aw)

a note about this picture: she doesn't always look this disfigured. she is (adorably) shaking snow off of her fur.

leaves

every time i have a birthday, i go through these cheesy questions about my year. i liked it because i could go back and see what i used to listen to, read, etc. i didn't do it this year. i don't know why. well, yes, i do know why. every time i wrote them, i'd write what i thought was a cool answer, not necessarily the truth. i wanted to create an alternate me that i could look back on and be like "wow, i was a cool kid." i remember when i first joined the world of facebook i felt this way too. i needed to seem interesting to other people. how pathetic is that? why do we feel the need to create ourselves for other people? that was a few years ago, luckily, and i've had time to reconsider. sometimes people get so into "i don't care what you think me!!one!1" that they end up still trying to fulfill some expectation. i went through that stage too. how obnoxious. now i stick to simplicity. and it's freeing.


what i'm listening to (for realz): "lullaby mountain" by the acorn
what i'm reading (ditto): one day in the life of ivan denisovich (russian names are really entertaining)

tree houses!

http://www.treehugger.com/galleries/2009/01/tree-houses.php?page=4.