(I figured it was time to do a real entry)

Things that went through my mind while waiting for my turn to play pool at the GW/AU social:

-As a movie buff (read: geek), the one thing I always notice that separates the good characters from the great is the entrance. Sure, you can have a Charles Foster Kane who shows up first in a very mysterious way that means absolutely nothing for the vast majority of the movie. You can also have a Maximus, whose entrance lasts for a good ten minutes into the movie. I think the best ones, though, are those that are relatively quick, make an immediate impact on the viewer (to let them know that they’re important), and immediately give you a sense of who they are and what they’re about. Bonus points go to those whose entrances mean even more on a second viewing. I’m trying to come up with a list of ten, of which I’ve only been able to figure out five so far (in no particular order…yet): Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean), Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Rocky Horror Picture Show), Darth Vader (Star Wars), Rick Blaine (Casablanca), and Tyler Durden (Fight Club). I’m open to suggestion for the other five. Once I get my list, I’ll probably post it in the extras section. (/nerdiness).

- Normally I stop following baseball once the Phillies (and to a lesser extent the Red Sox) are eliminated, but I did happen to catch what happened at the end of ALCS game two. For those that missed it, the score was tied 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth with two outs. The Angels’ pitcher threw the ball to the White Sox batter, who swung and missed for the third strike. The ball was low and it was difficult to tell if the ball hit the dirt or not, meaning it was hard to tell if the third strike stood on its own or if the catcher had to throw to first base. The umpire, while signaling the strike, never signaled to either the batter or the catcher that the batter was out. The hitter, noticing this, runs to first as the Angels are going into the dugout. The hitter is ruled safe, and the next batter drives in the game winning run.

So fine, controversial calls happen. That’s not what bothers me. The umpire did the job to the best of his ability, the batter made the smart move by running, and the catcher screwed up by not throwing to first. Fine. At that point, the score was still tied, there were still two outs, so it really didn’t mean much until later. Why, then, is this the umpire’s fault? I’m no fan of officiating (trust me, I’m a Penn State fan), but who told the catcher it was okay to throw the ball away when the umpire obviously didn’t call him out? The umpire later copped (under pressure from a public that still can’t hold the right people responsible) to not giving as strong of a signal as he should have, but to focus on that misses the point. The Angels were lauded afterwards for handling the situation, and they should be. They had the right read on it: they needed to keep playing and they didn’t. It’s just a shame that they couldn’t be appreciated for telling the truth, rather than “rising above a loss caused by the umpires.”

- I’ve been in DC for two months now. What I’ve learned so far is that I can do the work at this level. That’s very refreshing. Even though I haven’t gotten fantastic grades yet, I feel confident that the worst of my efforts is behind me and that my grades will only improve. That’s the way it worked in undergrad and I know what I have to do to succeed. My apartment finally feels like home, even though I lag a little when it comes to doing food shopping. It’s also nice to know that I have fun whenever I see my sister and brother in law (though, as seen below, not always when they talk to me online) and that, within a four hour drive, is the Penn State experience in condensed, weekend sized portions.

The worst thing I can say about all of this, though, is that I’ve been trying for ages to fix some of the weaknesses I have. Some will never be fixed: I’ll never have great hand/eye coordination, I’ll never be a great athlete, and I’ll never be completely organized. I don’t have a problem with any of those statements and couldn’t care less about them anymore. There are, though, some things I still feel I can fix. Not only that, but some of these were things I thought I HAD fixed. When I left Penn State (especially after the awesome grad party I had) I figured my days of social awkwardness were over. I was president of ILH for a year and a half for crying out loud. I had to deal with all sorts of people, whether I liked them or not, and never really had a problem doing so. This even carried over (to a degree) to my summer job. So when I got to DC, I figured I could pick up where I left off without much of a problem.

Though the first few days looked promising, I started getting in my own way again. The two biggest instances of this were the two listed in the “Pulling an Andrew” section. Forgetting about the dating aspect of those, the biggest effect they had was to undo the work I had done (assuming it had been done in the first place) over the last few years at Penn State. While I loved the time I spent last weekend (and the weekend before), and as much as I can’t wait to go back, it’s kinda bad that my socialness seems to flick on and off at the town limits of State College. Was I ever really good, or was it an aberration incurred by a few enthusiastic friends and me feeding off of them?

Note: This is just me venting. If any of this concerns or upsets you, sorry in advance.

-Onto lighter matters. It’s interesting the things you pick up as a student studying politics in DC. I recently subscribed to Barak Obama’s podcast. This is an actual quote from his latest entry: “With all the serious topics we’ve been discussing over the last several months: the issue of the avian flu, the problems with Katrina and our response, today I want to focus on what I consider to be one of the most important issues facing the country, and that is whether the Chicago White Sox are going to the World Series.”

Its stuff like this that makes me glad I got on the Obama bandwagon early. Ladies and gentlemen, your future Commander in Chief!

For the record, he was talking about the White Sox in part because he threw out the first pitch before the aforementioned game. Also, to add an air of legitimacy, he did spend the second half of his podcast discussing Harriet Meiers. Still, I like that he takes the issues, and not himself, seriously. Such a combination is often lacking in politicians. Hopefully, Obama is around in some capacity for a long, long time.

-For those that care about my recommendations: "My Name is Earl" is the best sitcom NBC (or for that matter, ABC or CBS) has had since Seinfeld was still good. I'm a huge Jason Lee fan, but the premise and writing alone should be good enough to convince anyone to watch. Also, though I obviously haven't seen it yet, "Good Night and Good Luck" looks amazing. I can't wait to see it.

-One last thing (I can hear the groans already! I know it’s too long, but deal with it): I’ve gotten some comments lately regarding the content of the site. Not complaints (at least not as I interpreted them), but simply comments. With viewership of this website being much larger than I anticipated when I opened it (double digits!), I’d like to give you all some control. Is there anything you’d like to see more of? Is there anything you want me to get rid of? It should be noted that, as its my site, I still have final say on what stays and goes. Also, to anyone who suggests more eulogies…appreciate what you have (greedy bastards…).

Marc-Hey man,

I wouldn't worry too much about the social aspects. You're not the only one who's struggling with it, just talk to Kat. I'm also kinda worried about what will happen with me socially come May 2006. I'm sure that you will find people in DC. Just keep trying. And I really didn't think you were just feeding off of us. For god's sake andrew, if you were trying to feed off of me, dubbs, or jeremy, don't you think you would have starved?

The commercials for My name is Earl look good. I'll have to check it out.

I do have to agree with the comments that your site needs more content in other areas. Otherwise, you might as well just have a livejournal or something, as it would confuse less people with the comment feature at least. Maybe post more pictures or something. You don't have to be in the pictures.

That's all I got to say.

--Andrew-Blasphemer! Telling me to move to livejournal!

I do get your point. The commentary is the easiest part of the site to update and is going to be worked on more than the other parts just by its nature. I like having everything here, though. With moving and school work, I haven't had a lot of time to add other stuff (the "Pulling an Andrew" section was written in one shot at 4 am because it was on my mind). Don't worry, there's more stuff coming soon. I promise.

As far as pictures go, I don't have a camera and no one has sent me pictures to put on the site. PSU people need not worry...I'll take care of that when I go up there next. I've been begging for pictures for the site for ages and still haven't received any. Though...I could just steal from facebook...

----Marc-No stealing off off the facebook!! NO! That's a bad Andrew!!!

Eh, this comment will prolly cause you to do it anyway. :-)

Valerie-You know, I hardly see how it's greedy of me to want a eulogy, considering how I am one of the few long-standing members of our group who you did NOT write one for. The only message I can take from that is that you don't love me as much as you love everyone else.

*smug grin*

--Andrew- Yes it is greedy. Appreciate the work that's been done and be happy with it. As long as you're entertained, that's the important thing.

It's not all about you, Val. :-P