Venti is twenty.

I loathe Starbucks coffee. Well, I loathe U.S.A. Starbucks coffee. The one in London was much better. But the point here is this: If I'm on campus and PJ's and CC's are both closed--leaving only the Seattle-based coffee shop--I'd rather nurse a caffeine headache.

But at LEAST their word for an extra-large coffee means something. Venti means 20 in Italian. At CC's, it's infuriating enough not to be able to say "large," but to have to say "Super-grande please!" Come on now. It feels like there was so little thinking involved in the naming of their huge cup of coffee.

And HEY! Community Coffee is a Louisiana company, so why don't we at least use French? If we're going to hop on the complicating-coffee bandwagon, we might as well use the language of our ancestors. Oh well. Grande is still grande in French. No one would bother to pronounce it differently. This is where I tell myself to pick my battles carefully.

PJ's coffee is mild and mediocre, but I like going there. I'm allowed to say "small, medium, large" without being stoned with stale muffins.

Lost and found

I'm having one of those moments where doubt leaves me and I'm 100% convinced that there is an afterlife. It feels good. I'm thinking about a few people right now that I've lost. If they are gone forever, there's no comfort for me at all in this world. But they've never felt closer to me than now. Thank you for the peace. I'm ready for bed now.

The sadism bike of sneaky tripping

So I'm walking to class this evening, and this man speeds by me on a bike. It looks like a bar is poking out from one of his wheels. When I look closer I realize it's a single training wheel on one side. But this was my thought process before realizing that:

"What kind of sick bastard has a stick poking out of his bike's wheel? He could trip someone! He's passing an old woman; what if he.... that sneaky.... oh, it's a training wheel."

I liked my hypothesis better than the truth even though it's horrible.

Letting stories end.

I challenge Hollywood and its workers to not make any sequels or remakes for a full year. I'm so tired of a movie coming out and hearing, "Oh, I saw the original when you weren't even ALIVE" or "This might be even better than the first one!" Cowards!

The first preacher of the season

If I remember correctly, the fire and brimstone preachers always crawl out in the Spring semesters. At least the man I encountered today didn't bring his children. It's unfair and a little cruel to subject kids to the level of mocking that skeptical students are capable of.

He held a sign that said "YOU DESERVE HELL" in yellow and green letters. A Methodist, he assured us that he did not represent the Methodist church--only the kingdom of God. I'm sure the Methodists are grateful. I respect him more than the others--not only for coming alone and not using children for his cause, but for opening his ears to our questions. Sure, his answers were slanted and did not satisfy the crowd, but he answered everyone as well as he could.

It takes resolve and courage to do what he does. Those are great qualities in theory. I don't agree with much of what he said, but I his actions remind me of one of my most solid beliefs: God knows and has mercy on those who truly want to help the world. This guy might not be helping, but he's taking action the best way he knows how. I would have used a more positive approach. You know what they say--you catch more flies with honey. It's difficult to ridicule the man, because that's what he'll have to listen to all day. Why throw another comment on the pile?

I've argued with myself about that "solid" belief of mine. George Carlin did too when he said that motivated people are the most dangerous. Of course many of them are. But when a misguided person does more harm than good, who comes forward to tell them so?---a person who is motivated to do so. So it's somehow, sometime going to even out, at least in my mind. And if it doesn't well, at least there will be people who can say that they tried.

Good luck, angry Methodist man, on your own path to clarity. I don't think that every student deserves hell. Maybe God gives everyone a 4-year grace period. We're bombarded with information, and it feels almost arrogant to assume which path is best when so many look promising. My four years are up. Good thing I believe in forgiveness.

Sometimes half empty is better.

For example:

My mp3 player is still half empty!

Edit:

Well, I'm back on the payroll. I don't have very many hours, but I can pick up extras that people need taken now. I couldn't have been a freelance shift-pick-upper without the couple of hours I'm working now. All is well again for now. I'm still hoping to tutor a bit.