Fare thee well, for now.

Sorry for the lack of posts, everyone. My health problems continue to confound almost everyone I talk to, so for the time being I'm going on a little blog-iatus. Hopefully I will return forthwith, and in better health. Until then, my lovelies, I hope all is well with you.

The obsession with bullet points continues.

OK, it seems that, once again, I must apologize for the lack of updates. I'm sure you all wait with breath that is baited for each and every entry, but my devotion to the crowd is sadly not that strong. There have recently been some pressing issues on my plate, so updating the blog has been a bit of a hassle of late. But, I have set aside a bit of time today to fill you all in on the fantastic goings-on of the life of Jason with...wait for it...BULLET POINTS! YES!

-My friend's visit was a lot of fun. We took a couple of road trips while she was here, including Freeport, Maine on Friday and Providence, Rhode Island on Saturday. She and I usually take a random spur-of-the-moment road trip. She likes driving, mostly because it gives the two of us time to listen to some good tunes (which we talk about A LOT), and to chat about things. Saturday's trip to Providence was to see the Providence Water Fire, which was actually quite nice. They light a bunch floating pyres in the Providence River, and play music as people stroll along the walkways of the river. I never thought of Providence as a particularly nice place to visit, but this trip was really lovely. I also got a chance to meet her new boyfriend, as he came up to take her out for her birthday on Sunday. He's very nice (and super cute). We actually had a very interesting conversation because he went to Christian Academy for his entire (non-collegiate) education. We talked about evolution, and whether or not he feels he missed anything by going to school with all Christians. I have to say, it was very enlightening for me in many respects. I tend to think of fundamentalists as rigidly dogmatic about their religion, but it's really isn't that way. He seemed very open to other people's ideas, and was never judgmental about people's lives as he recognized that he, himself, is far from perfect. Nice guy, I hope he sticks around. Oh yeah, and the Providence Place Mall? What a monstrosity.

-Work and school have been incredibly busy. Like I've said before, I've been trying to get everything in order for my course this fall, including my new office, revising the syllabus, ordering books, and trying to write some lecture material. And then my day job is getting crazy as well because the international students are starting to arrive and they all need to be registered, find housing, get Social Security numbers, etc. It's a mad house around here lately, and I barely find time to have lunch, let alone my usual quality internet-surfing time.

-I've been having a bit of a health issue. For the past three weeks I've been having this pain in my chest that my doctor keeps telling me is acid reflux disease. It comes and goes throughout the day, but it happens every day no matter what I eat. And the medication really isn't doing much except making me lightheaded and drowsy. So this Friday I have yet another doctor's appointment to see how I'm progressing, and they might suggest that I get an endoscopy in case I have a hiatal hernia or an ulcer. Lots of fun for Jason.

Well, that's the news for now. I hope you're all doing well!

Friends & Enemies

Well, so far my friend's visit has been a lot of fun. Last night we had Mexican food (which we both love), and laughed for quite a few hours before finally hitting the sack. Tonight we're heading off to karaoke so we can both belt out some rockin' tunes, and tomorrow I have the day off so we're taking a road trip to an as yet unspecified location (suggestions, anyone?). Yay for friends.

Sadly, today I am stuck at work while my friend and two of my other high school friends in the area are getting together for lunch. I feel a bit left out, but since I just had to pay through the nose to fix my stupid car, I really couldn't take a second day off this week. Anyway, my lunch plans were just as pleasant...one of my friends from the history department works in the library for the summer, so we have a standing lunch date every day. Today, we took our shoes off and dipped our little piggies in the campus fountain just in time for one of the prospective student tours to pass by. Good times.

If you don't read Harry Potter books, now is your chance to stop reading. You were warned.

OK, so I realize I'm a bit behind on the new book because I just started reading it this week, BUT..

WHAT IS UP WITH SNAPE GETTING THE DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS JOB?

Now, I grant you, Slughorn seems a little sketchy to me, but I don't trust Severus Snape any farther than I could throw him with a Shield Charm. And his meeting with Bellatrix and Narcissa in the beginning of the book really has me worried. Methinks something wicked this way comes...

OK, have lovely little weekends, my precious cheese doodles.

"I'm gonna learn ya my philosophy..."

Well, yesterday was something of a surprise. I had fully intended to post something by the end of the day -- I'm very busy and important, you know, but I made it a top priority -- when out of the blue the fire alarm in my building went off. Thinking it's a drill, we all grabbed our stuff and trundled down the stairs so we could sweat outside and wait for the pointless arrival of Boston's finest firefighters. Fine summer fun. Well, we get outside and immediately we're hit with the wreaking stench of gas. And not just a whiff, but full-on, in-your-face gas. Most of us got nauseous on the spot, so we quickly abandoned our posts and headed across the street to the White Mountain Creamery for milkshakes while the authorities tried to stem what was obviously a major gas leak. When, 45 minutes later, they were still not letting people into the building, my boss very graciously told us all to go home about an hour and fifteen minutes early. Happy Tuesday to us! Of course, I did practically nothing with my newfound freedom except go home and delve once more into the new Harry Potter, but still, time off is time off.

Later last night my roommate and I ran about like...um...things that run about (sorry, brain fart) trying to clean our apartment. My best friend from high school is coming to visit for a while, and we needed the place to look spiffy, so in anticipation of her arrival this evening we got out the mop and the vacuum and the Lysol. We always have the best times at my apartment.

Anyhow, I'm very excited about the arrival of my friend. She's an amazingly fun person to be with, and we get along famously. This might not seem odd for friends, but what is odd is that she's a religious fundamentalist and I'm a liberal homo, so the fact that we're friends at all is bogglesome (is that a word?). Nevertheless, our differences of opinion have never seemed to get (permanently) in the way of our friendship, and though she has been living in New Jersey for the past 8 years, I still miss her terribly. It's always a treat when she comes to visit.

Now it's back to work with me, but before I go, I leave you with the random thought of the day:

I think that "Sex Type Thing" by the Stone Temple Pilots is one of the GREATEST. SONGS. EVER. That will be all. Thank you.

"Hey, you're just too funky for me..."

Hello once again, everyone.

I'm sorry to have been a bit remiss in my blogging duties of late, there has just been a lot of stuff going on. I was having a bit of a health issue last week (nothing serious, mostly just annoying), but it appears to be getting better. The good news is that, because of the antibiotics, I lost like 5 pounds in 3 days. I'm now officially at 190 lbs., for a grand total lost of 18 lbs.! Go me! I would like to thank the bacteria that so graciously caused me to have no appetite whatsoever...

Besides being a bit laid-up, I'm also quite a busy boy these days. Not only am I starting to write some of the lectures for the first few weeks of the class I'll be teaching in September, but I've also become quite the social butterfly. A friend of mine from Poland is going to be here until next week, as will my best friend from high school, and this weekend I drove to my parents' house for an impromptu visit with another friend who now lives in South Carolina. It's very difficult being so popular! It is wonderful to have so many great friends, though. I mean, who else would cheer and holler enthusiastically at my awful karaoke rendition of George Michael's "Too Funky"?

While I was at home this weekend, I went to see The Island with my sister. All I have to say is: eh. I guess it was entertaining for a couple of hours, but there were a couple of things that really bothered me. For example, the plot holes the size of Canada. And the not-too-subtle message about cloning and stem cell research. But whatever...it was nice to look at Ewan McGregor for a couple of hours. Yum.

In other news, not only did I just have to spend about $400 getting my car fixed, but while it was parked in front of my parents' house Saturday night, someone egged my friggin' car! I mean, c'mon people. This is 2005...who the hell eggs someone's car? What kind of brain-dead troglodyte gets his jollies that way? Thankfully the car wash was able to take care of it, but add another 20 bucks to the tab for my poor '96 Cutlass Ciera. Seriously, she's an old girl...she can't take much more of this.

OK folks, I have to get back to work, and I think I've rambled here long enough. Happy Monday!

"The fortune queen of New Orleans..."

It pains me to admit it, but it looks like this year's camping trip may be dead in the water.

I know, I know. I hate the heat. I get sunburned. I am deathly afraid of insects. Why would I go camping? Well, the camping trips that we take ("we" being my Mom, my sister, my aunt, and myself), are really just an excuse to sit around, play games, and eat crap food -- including buckets of my sister's awesome snickerdoodles. Every summer we pitch a tent in the woods, light up the campfire, and let the good times roll. We always come away with some really good laughs, and we still tell stories about camping trips from years past. I think everyone else in the family is jealous that we don't invite them.

Anyway, this year we can't do it because we're all in the middle of some really important business and we can't find two or three days to just take off into the woods of Massachusetts. Instead, we've opted for a "game day" where, basically, we will do what we would have done camping: play games, eat junk food, and laugh. Somehow, it just won't be the same without the tent and having to fight with the dog for room in the sleeping bag. I'm sure we'll have a good time anyway.

In other news, I'm thrilled that one of my good friends is in town visiting! She moved to Poland last summer after she got her master's, and has been living in Krakow for the past year. It's kind of a prerequisite of friendship with me that you have to be a little off-kilter, and she's probably the standard for weirdness against which all others are measured. We were at dinner last night and she (in typical fashion) whipped out some Mad Libs in the middle of the appetizers. We laughed uproariously and probably annoyed the hell out of the other patrons, but I don't care. It was great to laugh like that again. Welcome home, buddy! I see some karaoke in my future...and it will probably include my rousing rendition of "Dark Lady"...

Happy Tuesday!

Weekend Round-Up: 2 movies, some PJs, and an empty pizza box.

The fun never stops with me, I tell ya.

Friday night I got duped by my roommate into seeing a midnight showing of The Princess Bride at the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square. I have to admit, even though I was reluctant to go, I had a very good time. We met up with some of her crazy theater friends and took up two whole rows inside the movie house. I've seen the movie about a gazillion times, but this time was different. It's such an experience seeing a movie you love on the wide screen, but it's even better when you see it on the wide screen with about a hundred people who love the movie as much as you do. People were laughing at lines that we all knew by heart, and even though it's cheesy, I really feel like we all bonded for a couple of hours though we may not have spoken to anyone but the friends we came with.

Although I enjoyed my midnight movie experience, I realized only too late that it was a bit of a mistake, seeing as I was going to meet up with Karl early on Saturday. I got home from the movie around 2:30 AM and fell asleep somewhere around 3 AM, knowing full well that I would have to get up at around 8:30 AM to make it to Karl's place in time. Miraculously, I pulled it off, but I'm quite sure I dozed off on the bus for a few minutes.

Karl and I went to see the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. I had heard some mixed reviews of it, but I will say this: I am sorry to have ever doubted the genius that is Mr. Depp. And plus, I love almost everything that Tim Burton does. Willy Wonka was suitably creepy, and the chocolate factory looked just as wonderful as it should have been -- all with a distinctive Burton-esque veneer of the strange and mysterious masquerading as normalcy. The movie was followed by lunch in Beacon Hill and then some hanging back at Karl's place before I had to dash. Thanks again for a lovely outing, Karl!

Sunday's activities involved me practicing my imitation of a sloth. I think I succeeded relatively well, as I didn't leave the apartment (and rarely left the couch) all day. What can I say? My pyjamas are just too comfortable. Honestly, I think it was just what I needed to regroup...it's been a long time since I just took a day and relaxed. So I ordered take-out, drank gallons of Diet Pepsi, and watched about 8 hours' worth of DVDs -- and had a marvelous time doing it. Yay for me.

I hope everyone's weeks are off to a great start!