NOT my Drug of Choice

Hmmm...I almost titled this post "Getting High," but that didn't quite sound right, plus I don't think that this will fulfill the normal definitions of drugging ones self into happy oblivion. Plus I didn't want to get in trouble with the IRS...I mean, well, whatever. I guess the IRS is more widely feared.

It all began last night while a friend and I were discussing weird beeping noises that emit from air freshener dispensers when they happen to be out of, well, air freshener. This got us on the discussion of things that irritate little noses when we landed back on our dear friend, air freshener. My friend walked into a room in her church that had just been exuberantly sprayed with air freshener and had to immediately sit down.

She got a "happy high" from air freshener.

~~

It all began with a tournament where there was no partner nearby to stop him. It was then that he decided to experiment. Three days and 48 cans of Coke later, he finally had to quit--cold turkey.

He got a "happy high" from Coke.

~~

It all began with my partner telling me that we really should do well at this tournament. Actually, it didn't begin with that. It all began when he told me it would be best for me to be awake before we went to our first round. As I was tired, I got a coffee. One venti with an extra shot or two has been a necessity.

I got a "happy high" from coffee.

~~

It all began when Halo III came out. He played until he could conquer. He lost a night's worth of sleep. He has re-conquered the game yet again.

He got a "happy high" from Halo III.

~~

It all began when she decided to bring "Apples to Apples." She made us all play, and play and...well, play. We got together with friends, and she brought the game. We went home, and she brought the game. We played that night. We would have played in the car, but I can't read in the car without getting sick.

She got a "happy high" from that game.

~~

It all began when he first set eyes on the little Emergen-C box. That, my friends, was the beginning of the tale. The little packages are supposed to give you an energy boost and have waaaay over your daily requirements for vitamin B. He used about a dozen packets in one day.

He got a "happy high" from the dietary supplement.

~~

It all began when she asked to bake cookies. Actually, it began long before that, but I first witnessed it when we baked the cookies. She decided we should make snickerdoodles. And put peanut butter in them. She used a lot of peanut butter in the cookies. She also ate a lot. Every physical malady can be solved by using peanut butter, in her estimation.

She got a "happy high" from peanut butter.

~~

It all began while he was searching for a snack. But a munch here, and a munch there, and suddenly, the whole box was gone.

He didn't get a "happy high" from Taquitos.

Study Music, Part 2

Yesterday I had mentioned that there are two types of people: those who can study while listening to music, and those who cannot. As I am not in the latter group, I have lumped them together as a bunch of people who are easily distracted…like I’m not, but that’s beside the point. (Just so you know, right now I’m listening to Martha’s Dance/The Russian Dervish, which is a very frenetic song. In a moment I will be listening to The Battle from Chronicles of Narnia, which is much more relaxing and uplifting. I simply know that is what I will be listening to as the player just switched over to that. I would tell you what I would be hearing next, but that would require my switching windows to look up the title, so I’ll leave you with the clue that it’s a slightly longer piece, and wait until it switches on to tell you what it is. Isn’t iTunes wonderful? You can tell it to play songs by shortest to longest or visa versa.) The former group, that of people who are able to study while listening to music (and, by my previous fallacious reasoning, those who are NOT easily distracted), can be further divided into two more groups: Those who simply ignore the music, and those who actually listen to it. There is a very fine line between the two.

Those who ignore music have been gifted with the ability to focus on only one thing. Kinda like Annie, who could only focus on zoning during class. But I digress. Like (Ah! The track just switched. I am now listening to Reel Around the Sun….) those who cannot listen to music while studying, I do not fall in this group, so I will move on to the group I find more interesting; those who can actually listen to music while studying.

Those parentheses really mess up that sentence.

Ah! I’ve found out what we are. We are multi-taskers. How exactly that differs from being easily distracted, I don’t know, but it does, somehow. Perhaps just by the fact that it makes me feel better.

Actually, Zack, if you want the bare bones truth, I’m just very hyper and sensitive, and nice relaxing Catholic Masses seem to soothe my nerves. And, once my hyper-sensitivity is soothed, I can actually focus on grammar, logic, and intensely complicated problems of any type, be it Algebra or C.S. Lewis’ more complicated and deep writings.

That said, I do not really care to listen to La Musica Notturna Delle Strade Di Madrid Number 6 Opus Whatever-it-happens-to-be (30) by Lugi Boccherini. Although, from about 4:15 to 6:32 is a really neat cut. It also happens to correlate to a really neat scene at the end of Master and Commander: Far Side of the World.

But I digress. More music notes tomorrow.

Study Music

Throughout my life, I have found that there are two types of people: Those who enjoy doing studies while listening to music, and those who cannot study while listening to music.

I fall in the former group. In fact, there are times where I cannot concentrate if I do not have music playing. Most of my study music sounds like what is playing right now, or is a nice, relaxing soundtrack. For me, music is a stimulant for thought and a catalyst for the written word. Just nice and softly in the background. Not blaring. I just turned my tunes down because, at the moment, they were blaring.

Another favorite, besides Catholic Masses (no, I am not Catholic, but I love their music), is Into the West, which is the song that has been played most on this computer's iTunes player.

Isn't music great?

That was a rhetorical question, Zack.

I've found that study hobbits...I mean, habits, vary, depending on the studier. When I went to Ohio, my cousin and I would often find ourselves working on differing projects in the same house, usually my aunt's house. In fact, always my aunt's house. My aunt's house is quite open, so that unless you're sitting on a bed to study (not the best when the definition of study includes a computer), you will be hearing everyone else's work.

I was reduced to listening to music through a single ear bud.

It was hard, I tell you. Especially once another cousin decided to turn on the TV.

Two girls working and one boy watching TV=one boy turning TV off.

Music is an integrated part of my life. The simple fact that I, on average, buy more than one CD per month ought to be witness to that.

:)

~A City

She'll be Come'n Round the Mountain When She Comes

Sit tight, peoples. Surprises in store...I just have to unwrap them.

BTW, just so you know, all backgrounds unless otherwise specified are from arwen-undomiel.com . Check it out, especially if you happen to be a LOTR fan.

Revisiting the Untitled Rodent Project

I saw it again.
Gasp.

And I discovered the one minute-thirty long bit that changes a whole lot of the movie.

Its not as sweet anymore.

That one minute-thirty second part was when Remy let the entire rat colony into the kitchen to raid the fridge. Linguini had realized he shouldn't have gotten mad at the rat for wanting Linguini to say that the great cooking wasn't "just in my blood, I guess" but was really from a little chef who pulls on his hair like stings attached to a marionette. But because Remy had decided to retaliate and raid the fridge, their relationship got worse. Linguini got mad at Remy for stealing, and Remy got offended that he had been told that he was doing something wrong.

Sure, it all worked out in the end, but that change the whole perception.

I suddenly can identify more with Linguini. How many times have I gotten mad at someone for something that wasn't major, and been ready to make up, only to find out they've done something twice as bad to me?

I can also suddenly identify better with Remy. How often has someone forgotten about me when they suddenly got good at something? How many times have I looked for a way to retaliate before either of us had time to cool off?

Speaking of cooling off, my grandmother just died. Do not expect too much updating during the next week.

~Dresden