The past week has been busy at work. I haven't done much at home as a result, because I'm always tired. The Christmas(tm) rush is similar to the battle of Helm's Deep in the Two Towers, except with most of the orcs replaced with wandering shoppers. It's amazing how people with average body types can obstruct an aisle so I can't get by when I'm trying to help a customer. How many times have I wished I could do the wall run from Jedi Outcast to get past these human drain clogs. They range from staggeringly intelligent to sub-moneran, but as long as they pay with American currency and leave promptly with minimal fuss, I have no quarrel with them.

I finished wrapping my gifts to my nuclear family just now. There are some people who can wrap with the precision of a Swiss watch maker, and I am not one of those people. My wrapping jobs are more of a Matisse style. This is to say that if the paper covers most of the item and any obvious logos and stays taped together even under mild shaking, I count it a success.

To all (three of) my blog readers, I wish you a happy eight consecutive days in December (possibly including the first day of January) that encompass your respective celebration. And a lump of coal for Saddam, since we took all of his oil.

I just got back from the midnight premiere of Return of the King, thus completing the third part of the longest movie ever. I thoroughly enjoyed it, all three and a half hours of it. Tomorrow I'm going to drive all the way to Gambier and back. I think after that I'll do something simple, like fall off a log or eat pie. I hope to get back home early enough to get a decent amount of sleep, as I have to be at work at 7:00 AM the next morning.

I'm quite tired, so this will be a short post. This morning I helped Dawn move from point A to point B by way of point Q to pick up a couch. I didn't actually pick it up, someone else did, but I was there to offer moral support. Then I went to work (blah blah, register, blah blah) and after work I bought "Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman and terry Pratchett, and a little photo album that I want to fill with little 2"x3" ink drawings. I haven't decided on a theme, but I might make a series of updated versions of sketches I did in high school. I also bought tickets for Return of the King for me and other people from USF I'm meeting at the theater.

It's kind of funny- I was really busy today, but I don't have anything else to write about. I think I'll be happy when my hours are cut back after the holiday business rush ends.

It's been quite awhile since I last updated here. Truth be told, I've been pretty boring. I had a couple days off work that I intended to use productively, but I just slept a whole lot and played video games. Today it was back to being productive at B&N. I got to the mall at 7:00 AM and they already had the Christmas music playing at full blast. There weren't any shoppers due at the mall for at least an hour or more, but the chorus of divine commerce was blasting away regardless. That, and the wind this morning was colder than a well digger's ass in January. Once I got inside, things were better. Around 10:00 my friend in the music department put on a reggae CD that put me in a good mood for the duration, then it was back to the same old crap that I've heard day in and day out for weeks now.

I had planned to just go home and put my feet up after work, but there were coupons for a couple mall merchants in the breakroom. For some reason my good sense left me and I took a coupon to its corresponding merchant: Aeropostale. Ick. I do own a sweatshirt with their name on it, but I bought it in the basement of the OSU student union, miles from the store. And it was on sale. So I decide to venture into Aeropostale because I'm tired and a little curious as to what I could get for %20 off.

I suddenly appreciate the music that Barnes & Noble plays so much more. As much as hearing "oh come all ye faithful" as a wailing power guitar ballad makes my skin crawl, it's still better than hearing the insipid pop holiday tunes that I was subjected to in the five minutes I spent in Aeropostale. Everything in the store is perpetually 16 years old, the employees included, and myself included, hence I hated everything about my surroundings. Everything but a decent looking belt I found. It's just a greenish belt with no logo that looks like it might last a few years, so that was my purchase. I brought the belt to the register to pay and escape into the far preferable bitter cold, and the ageless proto-youth behind the counter tells me that belts, stocking caps, boxers, and socks were all buy one get one half off. If I was a Cobra Tele-Viper, the text across my visor would be a bold WTF? I don't need another identical belt, I look like a tool in a stocking cap, the boxers didn't roxor at all, and the socks were too small and drastically over-priced. Anyway, I declined to purchase more. Then there was a guy working there (an anomaly to be sure) who asked me where I worked. I told him, and he said I looked like a book person. I couldn't really think of anything to say to that. I don't think I'll be going back to that store.

More work tomorrow, and Saturday I'm helping a co-worker move into her new house before more work. Maybe that'll provide some blogfodder.

I learned how to make lots and lots of coffee this morning at work. I think it's a sign that I'm going to be a permanent employee when they decide to train me in this sort of thing. I can now make all sorts of beverages, something like eight or nine variations on coffee. Still no cure for cancer. I got to taste all of my creations, too, so I went from slightly groggy to wired over the course of half an hour. The rest of the day was easy, as I effortlessly floated four inches above the ground because my molecules were vibrating in harmony with the natural energy fields of the earth.

Outside of work, I haven't done too much. I found a correct tab file for Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees" and learned to play it fairly well. I got new shoes and gloves for the cold weather. This is the exciting personal journalism that people read blogs for.

One last note, check out the new link in the top right portion of this page. The RIAA radar is where I can check my potential purchases to make sure that none of the money goes to a bunch of soulsucking entertainment lawyers and executives. I'm happy to report that all of my purchases since I began my boycott early last summer have been from independent labels.