Stuck in Payne

I'm in Athens for the night, not a whole lot to do.

I'm going ice skating tomorrow. It should be a lot of fun.

I wish I had a VCR right now so I could watch An American Tail.

It's almost 2008. I hope I do better.



I need a haircut

Pickle 2007

Christmas has come and gone, but I must say that it was a good Christmas. After what would end up being the longest search for Christmas Tree preserved cucumber in Johnson family history, I ended up being the pickle victor this year.

With two new additions to the family stepping up to compete, the odds were tougher. Minute after minute went by with no success. Overcome by hunger, Kathy was forced to withdraw from the search, but her husband and the other four pushed on. Dan's massive non-Johnson physique and ridiculous desire to reach for false fruit provided a distraction while his wife's keen eye darted here and there, seeking to once again be crowned champion. Adam, after recently recovering from sinus surgery, hoped to obtain what he claimed to be his first pickle victory. Now, the record books do not show whether or not Adam truly has never found this elusive pickle, but none of us felt the need to argue with this statement. Austin, who has been successful in the past, was not so this year. With the fear of breaking the glass ornaments on his mind, perhaps he was more tentative than usual, but it can not be certain what was going through the mind of the young monk that day. For it is never certain what is going through the mind of that young monk on any day. Alex, the youngest yet just as experienced as the others, never gave up. Listening to every word Moms said, trying to decode the simple sentences into what they truly could mean he began to search more quickly. Knowing that it is often a similar colored ornament that the pickle is hid near, Alex looked behind everything that could possibly contain that strange combination of green and gray. After Papa was berated several times for getting in the way and Dan almost broke at least two ornaments, Alex looked behind a grayish green butterfly to discover the hidden treasure. Moms verified that it was indeed the true pickle and the match was over. Alex "Deuce Magoose" Johnson took home the $26 prize and the title of Pickle Champion 2007.

Untitled: December 24, 2007

I woke up at 6 in the morning. That's unusual. I don't really have anything that I want to do. I thought about going running, but my brother and his wife are sleeping in my room so I can't get to my clothes. That pretty much eliminates taking a shower as well. My mom just went to sleep, so she'll probably be out for a decent portion of the day. My car still is screwy, so I can't trust it to get me anywhere and back safely. It's a little chilly outside for what I'm wearing, and as mentioned before I can't get to any of my warmer clothes.

I just watched A Christmas Story with my mom. I really like that movie. I think that may have been the first time I've watched it all the way through.

Tomorrow is Christmas. This is probably the least excited I've been ever in my life. I'm not disappointed or anything, gifts just aren't a big deal. I really just want to play board games.


Published: June 12, 2010

Road to Paradise

My mom was crying when I woke up yesterday. It made me want to jump out of the window. Of course I'm sure that wouldn't have made her happier. Life is frustrating. People are so passionate about certain things that just don't make sense to me. I don't understand arguments. They just seem pointless. I've spent most of my life avoiding strong confrontations. I don't mind discussing how I feel about certain things, but honestly I've found that it's often better just to keep your mouth shut. Let people think how they want to think because I'm not going to be able to convince them. What makes me right anyway? Even if I am right, they don't need me to tell them.

My dreams scare me. To think that somewhere there is a place in my head that comes up with these events that take place while I'm asleep does not sit well with me. Sometimes they're funny or happy, but what is it that determines the story? I hate dreaming about high school. I really prefer to not think of such things. The dreams about friends and soccer always make me sad when I wake up because I know they aren't real. Things aren't how they should be. I love the memories, but it only hurts when I think that I've actually returned to those years.

I do enjoy life.


Published: June 12, 2010

Lucky Charms

My last post was pretty dumb. This one probably will be too.

These Lucky Charms don't taste right. Oh well, I'm fine with being disappointed.

I didn't do anything today. Or yesterday. I went over 24 hours without wearing pants twice in the past 7 days. Yes, despite whatever you are thinking right now, you DID need to know that.

The phone is ringing?!? It's 12:43. Come on people. I hate the phone so much. I hate hearing the phone ring and I hate talking on the phone. Maybe I'll become a boxer. Naw, I'm a weak sauce. Oh yeah, I was going to work out today. That was 12 hours ago. Time is really scootin on by.

Yep, that was dumb.

Twaddle

toss and turn, unable to sleep. Random thoughts, many thoughts. School, always school. Others, me. Morons, gorons, chandeliers rising with people on top. Tossing and turning. No sleep. Stomach pains. Im not fully awake. Not sleep. Heart burn. So much heartburn. Amish? Heartburn. Taco Bell. Zucchini still alludes me. Wikipedia. Antichrist. Thought progression. frightens me. Mumbo Jumbo. Jumbo Mumbo. Big Bertha. Cocktail sauce. How bout them dawgs. Victory. Failure. History. My story.

I think I will continue to avoid the shooting range.

Holiday

It's over. The first semester of my college experience has come to an end. I packed up my stuff and am now comfortably back at home. Christmas break has begun.

I am looking forward to relaxing most of the next few weeks. I am sure poker, video games, and movies will take up a large portion of my holiday, but I'm also looking forward to spending time with family and friends. Everyone should be getting back to Georgia soon, and I'm sure there will be plenty to do. I really want to play some board games. I should count how many different games my family plays this Christmas.

The stars were beautiful tonight, I wish I could've taken a picture. I like pictures. I sometimes write on this blog just so I can post a new picture. I don't know if I'll ever go back and read some of the ramblings I write, but I know I'll always go back and look at all my pictures. I just think it's fun.

I should be sleeping, but I'm not really tired. I have no idea how much time I actually spent asleep this past week. One thing's for sure, it wasn't enough. I really should be exhausted right now. I'll probably crash around noon and wont wake up until 3:00 in the morning. Meh, whatever happens today is going to be a great day.

one day I'll have something interesting to say.

It's midnight. I have my last final in eight hours. I'm not as concerned about it as I should be. I'm ready for this semester to be over. It probably won't take me long to get bored once I get home.

I want to play soccer. I'm really going to miss playing once the high school season starts. That was one of the few highlights I remember from school. I was never as good as I should've been. I didn't try hard enough. Well, I should say I didn't work hard enough. I played hard but my body was never as strong as it should've been. I can't remember the last time I truly tried to do my best at something. Probably 10th grade. Maybe. I've wasted so much time. I waste so much time. I really can't complain though, my life is so easy. I do feel pretty pointless on occasion; I need more ambition. I regret a lot of things... Like those hashbrowns on Tuesday.

This pizza has too much crust. It's 1/3 of the slice!

In The Light

Led Zeppelin and Poker. Today was a flashback to early high school. I think I'm going crazy. I left for Atlanta at 4:30 in the morning. I'm not a spontaneous person. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I wish it would snow.

The Legend of Captain Alex: Page 1

Introduction
I first met Captain Alex at the Sultan Abdul Samad Building in Kuala Lumpur. He seemed fascinated with the building's clock tower, which I believe must be at least 40 meters high. Anyway, that's besides the point. The point is this. He was drinking Teh Tarik Peng. No, no that's not the point either. Why am I writing this? Oh right, money. I don't get paid to stand here and roll quarters. Although I'd be good at that job. Well, until my shoulder goes out. Which would probably take 55 minutes. Being not a highly skilled job, this rolling quarters, I probably wouldn't get more than minimum wage. And that is why I, Argee Leroy Johnson IV am a writer. Writing this story of the semi-famous Captain Alex. What's that you say? You've never heard of the semi-famous Captain Alex? Ah well today is your lucky day... Unless you can't read. In which case you can't tell that I'm making fun of you right now while typing this worthless paragraph. Although I guess you wouldn't be able to tell anyway, since this isn't a video or tape recorder. I'm actually not even making fun of anybody right now, I just thought that needed to be said. Although it didn't really need to be said. But does anything really need to be said? Not by me probably. Anyway YOU! YOU have purchased this book! Hopefully from Borders or Amazon, but I won't judge you if you happened to get it from another location. I get paid either way. And so we begin. And by we, I mean I. And of course Captain Alex. For it is his legend in which I choose to speak of.

Hey! Hier Kommt Alex!

I'm unreasonably sad right now. I don't know why, but it's making me believe that sadness is an inevitable part of life, which in turn makes me less happy. Why does it seem like so many people are miserable? Life really shouldn't be that bad. If I think about it logically, I should be pretty content right now. I'm at my house, in my own bed, and I don't have to go to any classes tomorrow. Yet I'm finding myself unable to sleep and not in a particularly good mood. The depression that seems to come with the night is getting kind of old. I think I worry too much about the future and the past. I also worry a lot about others.

A student died from Meningitis recently. That's really scary, especially since I never got the vaccine. I don't believe that I'll get Meningitis, but I guess it's better to be safe then dead. It really sucks when people die. I think I'll stay alive as long as I can just so that other people in my family don't have to go to my funeral. Because funerals suck too. I don't know if I want one. Besides the fact that people who care about the dead person are all sad, people that don't care about the dead person don't really want to be there. I don't want anyone who doesn't care about me to be at my funeral. I'm sure there probably is going to be some 4 year old kid there who may have met me once in his life, but doesn't really care about me at all. He would rather be at home playing his Playstation 15 and I would rather him do that.

It was my 19th birthday this past weekend. I had a whole bunch written about the craziness that was Thursday through Sunday, but apparently my computer decided that it's better off not being posted. I really hate when my computer messes up. My distaste for dealing with computer problems is also making me second guess the major I have chosen for my education. Actually, I think I'll enjoy Computer Science once I get all these initial crappy classes out of the way and can really focus on it.

I really don't know the purpose these Posts serve. I didn't even really feel like writing this one. I just did it because it seemed like the thing to do.

*Note to self: Use the word "really" less often.

Countdowns:
Last day of class: 2 days
Last day of exams: 10 days
Christmas: 21 days
New Years: 28 days
Trip to Vegas: 728 days

Season 19

Well, I actually had stuff written here, but now it's not. That sucks.

Untitled: November 30, 2007

Blogs are supposed to be written from 11:31 P.M.-5:59 A.M. I don't feel like I'm ready for this.


Published: June 12, 2010

Struggle

I'm really not doing too well right now.

...Can I help you with something?

I love my dogs, but I sometimes wonder what they think of me. I don't know why, but I occasionally feel the need to just grab my dog's face. I'd be pretty annoyed if someone randomly came up to me on multiple occasions and grabbed my face, but honestly it doesn't seem to phase my dog. Maybe he thinks, "well maybe I'll get a treat after this." I'm actually pretty sure those are his thoughts on a lot of things. It would be so easy to be one of my dogs.

I think it's interesting that dogs look you in the eye.

McRib vs. Turkey: Round 1

Happy Thanksgiving!

I woke up to the "Thanksgiving Feast" today. We had turkey, dressing (i always thought this was a strange term for that weird stuff that goes with turkey), grapes, pineapple, rice o roni, and some nasty spiced peaches. I don't really eat much, and I also don't really care all that much about food, so Thanksgiving isn't really that great of a holiday for me**. In fact, I don't see why food is that big of a deal. Maybe it's due to the fact that I grew up solely on cereal and never had any home-cooked meals, but honestly a good meal just doesn't have the same affect on me as it does other people. I personally hate spending lots of money on food. I think it's wasteful. I can't stand going to nice restaurants because I never want to spend that much money on something that I won't get that much joy out of. I know it's unhealthy, but I have no problem getting a $2 meal from a fast food place or staying home and eating a $0.33 pack of ramen. Cereal still dominates though. I wonder how many bowls of Cinnamon Toast Crunch I've had in my life. Probably 2 billion.

Speaking of food, I had a McRib today. Yes, I had a McRib on Thanksgiving. No, I didn't drive to McDonald's, I already had it in my fridge. We had plenty of left over "real" food, but I just wanted some boneless pig. Unfortunately, it got the better of me. I don't think I'll be eating much more of those any time soon.

I put up my Christmas tree today. It'll take a while before all the ornaments are on it, but it still makes me happy.

Countdowns:
19th Birthday: 9 days
Last day of class: 13 days
Last day of exams: 21 days
Christmas: 32 days
New Years: 39 days

** Dear Students: Don't use run-on sentences

Drought (noun):

It's Thanksgiving break now, and I just watched Ocean's 13 with Papa. I went to Madison for the first time in a while today. I didn't really see many people I knew.

Going back there really made me think about all the people that have just sort of disappeared since college started. I used to see them everyday, now I don't even talk to many of them. Obviously you're going to miss some people more than others, but I really expected to stay more in touch with some people. There are the one's that really stand out too. I miss them. You think, well maybe people just change, but I think I may have changed a lot too. I wonder how many people will just vanish from my life after college. Or even after this year. I don't think I would have any interaction with people if I didn't live on campus.

I don't have any real close friends. There's no one that I'm completely comfortable with. I used to have friends like that. It's strange hanging out with people that I don't really see myself having much in common with. It's frustrating too. I feel so different sometimes. Maybe that's why it's so hard for me to keep in touch with people. Maybe I'm the one not worth keeping in touch with. That's a depressing thought, but I'm not a real exciting person.

I'm a little bit bored. This is going to be the first Thanksgiving of my life that I spend only with my parents. I miss the rest of my family.

Ramen and Spork

Yeah...I don't really have much to write. I just am sitting here... eating noodles... with a taco bell spork...


Published: June 12, 2010

The Logic of American Politics

I am putting off writing a Political Science term paper right now. It's kind of important, 20% of my grade. I don't enjoy writing papers. I'm not convinced they really make me smarter either.

Once again, I am playing poker. I think it's safe to say that I have been dominating the $3.40 Turbo Sit and Gos on PokerStars. I've placed in 6 out of my last 7 with 4 1sts, 1 2nd, and 1 3rd. If only I could put this effort into my school work. I'd have at least all Bs. Of course, everytime you think you're actually getting good at poker you start losing. Which is what seems to be going on right now. I've lost 2 tournaments since I started writing this. And It's not like I wasn't paying attention. Things are just going the wrong way. Maybe this is God's way of telling me to write my friggen paper.

goombas?

So, I just used the pencil sharpener that's in the bathroom of my dorm. That pencil sharpener made my day when I discovered it. I want to take a picture of it, but I'd feel strange since I would half to bring my laptop into the bathroom because it's the only "camera" I own.

Published: June 12, 2010

I don't like noise

I do not feel well. I'm very tired and I've been irritable lately. I think I need a break from school. I'm not really the kind of person that gets mad often, but I am really starting to get tired of some people. I hate feeling like this, but I can't help it. I've started playing poker again just because I'm so bored and it lets me avoid interaction. I can't get a good hand. It's probably not a good idea to be writing this while I'm playing. A5s to 109s. I lose. Awesome. Oh well. I want to play Mario.

Letting the days go by.

I guess this picture should have gone with my previous post, but meh. I don't actually own a camera.

This might turn out to be the least productive year of my life. I'm taking 3 classes, and not doing well in any of them. That's pathetic, but I just can't bring myself to do it. I dread going to each class, and I never leave thinking that I've really accomplished something. Nothing interests me. Time has been flying.

On a different note, I just won $3.30 playing a $1 single table poker tournament. I rule.

Thirty-Six Cans of Mountain Dew

The idea of a blog seems pretty foolish. Well, maybe not for everyone. I can see why someone would read a famous person's blog... or even maybe one of their close friends' blogs. But seriously, what can I possibly say that someone will really care about? Chances are, if YOU are reading this, YOU are possibly more bored than I am right now. And for that, I am sorry.

Bored...I don't think that's the right word. I have plenty I could be doing, plenty I should be doing. Naw, this is more fun.

My iPod is broken. It was bound to happen, one night it did. It sucks because the only CD I have on my computer is the soundtrack to Across the Universe. Yeah, songs by The Beatles that aren't as good as the originals. I really liked the movie though. I rarely go see movies while they are still in theatres, but this one I happened to see twice.

I'm sick of school. I'm going to lose HOPE. I just want this semester to be over. I can't wait for Christmas. I love Christmas. It's the most wonderful time of the year. Can you imagine Christmas at Disney World? The most wonderful time at the happiest place on Earth. What a combo. I want to put up a Christmas Tree in the lobby of my dorm.