I have seen the future, my friend, and it smells...

I had a fun night out with Megan last night. We lounged at Barnes and Noble, reading their overpriced art and design magazines for free (with the occasional men's mag, Seventeen (Megan), and fashion mag thrown in). After their verbal kick-out at about 10:45, we walked to Walgreens to find cosmetics (Megan) and a newspaper (Me), of which we found neither. Well, we did find a newspaper on the way out the door, but the idea of going back in line and paying 50 cents with my debit card didn't ring my bell.

Ding.

So, off to the local alt. cafe, Stardust, where we mooched off their "things to do" listings and realized that Orlando has nothing to do on a Friday night after 10pm. We improvised - after a quick call to SAK Improv Comedy Theatre (downtown - they were closed), we went to "Venus and Mars", a futuristic-raver-meets-ironic-gen-xer-meets-punk-and-fashion-hounds store that was, thankfully, open until midnight. Let's just say our "we must, at all costs, find something to do" impulse was high, and from my dealings with one salesperson - so was the staff of this store.

Which brings me to the stinky main point - the over-incensed stench of this place is still lingering in my Exploding Dog t-shirt, which is now infiltrating my room. The scent of good ol' traditional incense never really bothered me. Instead, they've got a hundred different scents (including "Watermelon" and "Ocean Mist", no doubt) all mixing together into one thick whiff that feels like breathing water. We made the most of the trip, however, and picked out some nice red hair dye (Megan - for later) and a new wallet (Me - now) with a monkey on it.

More improvising - we took a leisurely walk through the newly renovated Thornton Park/Eola Heights district. This has to be the most amazing example of urban decay turned yuppie chic that I've ever seen. It's all very clean and safe now, but it's very disconcerting to see a Starbucks where the old drug sales used to take place.

Keith and Megan night was quite fun and spontaneous - and everyone (Megan) was back home by curfew. Does it get better than that?

Really good interview with Hal Hartley in The Onion's AV Club. I really wasn't expecting him to be so down to earth and informative. I've been proven wrong. Go Hal! =)

"Have you seen my good intentions?"
"I believe they're in the toilet."
"Thank you." <---this is the first person again.

So, I didn't go to my first two classes. HA! Just like that! One minute I say I'm gonna go...the next minute I'm doing something else. I'm a student on the edge! Don't try to catch me.

Seriously, though, I have to go find a lot of coffee and read "Cyber Marx" as quick as possible.

A not so great "West Wing" tonight - kinda pointless and sentimental. Oh well.

I finished "Wakefield". Oh my gosh! What a great work! (Thanks, Juan). Very unsettling, though - if ever I wanted one of Hawthorne's pat, pessimistic endings - a neat bow to tie on - it was at the end of this story. I'm sure that some literary professor somewhere is writing about how Hawthorne wrote the first piece of American postmodern metafiction with "Wakefield". While he or she is doing that, I'll be reading it again. =)

Oh, I'm not done...It's like Hawthorne was writing an anti-Hawthorne story. Fun, fun, fun. I should try an anti-Keith story someday...once I figure out what the "Keith voice" is. =)

Tomorrow: Robot-like attendence to my first two classes. Then a fun foray into modern marxism during the afternoon with our current book, "Cyber Marx" (not dirty in any way). Then it's the actual Marx class. Will the fun ever stop?

Finished Franny, starting Zooey. True to form, I'm also starting Wakefield. Although there are projects that need working on later this week, I just can't seem to start them ahead of time - I'd rather read while I've got downtime and reenergize my mind with good stuff.

Who am I trying to convince? Myself, whatever. =)

I went to that "Founders Day" thing and stood up twice for getting good grades. How embarrasing. I then made a fool of myself because I thought someone was graduating this year and they're not. The only thing I could reply was, "Oh. Then maybe you can win an award again." Can someone bury me alive?!

At least I got to see my cousin's thesis get first prize in the University's Honors Thesis competition. I was so proud of him. He's at Oxford University right now doing all sorts of technical things with science, so his parents had to accept the award on his behalf.

I just realized that my blog title could be read a variety of ways:

Don't fool with Mr. Zero
Don't fart with Mr. Zero
Don't flog with Mr. Zero
Don't four with Mr. Zero (okay, not as compelling or gramatically correct, but it fits the missing letters)
Don't fish with Mr. Zero

And the best thing of all - they're all fun and safe for the whole family!

I think that the reason I think this is cool is because it's 2am and I'm not asleep.

Buying clothes is a waste of money...
...compared to buying cheap paperback books of established authors! For $20, the price of half of a Gap shirt, I was able to get Franny and Zooey by JD Salinger and a collection of Hawthorne short stories (I finally get to read "Wakefield", Juan =) ) to replace the one that I loaned out to some forgotten person who apparently forgot where they put my book. Ooo, and I also got the new New Yorker...all that for the price of five venti Frappaccinos! Ink and paper is here to stay, baby.

Today: Got caught up on a lot of things. Got my st*ff in order. Also had a very nice chat with my creative writing prof at Borders - she approved my revising plan for my short stories. Yipparooni.

Tomorrow: Must go to a thing at school and stand up at a certain part of the ceremony because I am smart and/or made good grades.

I used to be very blasé and ungrateful about making good grades - I thought that they only showed that I could play the school game well, not that I was smart. I still kinda think that, but I'm very thankful for good grades as they're opening doors and providing money for school.

Be cool, stay in school. Okay, kids? =)

And the paintings on the walls here are the best we've ever done An experiment
in abstract dreams
And the colors are colliding in strange redemptive hues
What we got here is a good slow burn
What we got here is a good true thing
-- Sarah Masen, "Stories in My Pockets", off of her album "Carry Us Through"

That's about how I feel in this strange time between now and graduation. Writing is good. Friends are good. The weather is good to boot.

You should really listen to Sarah Masen. Minus the horrible labels such as "Sacred" and "Secular", her albums sit in that wonderful category, "Beautiful".