Journals - The 1st Amendment at its worst.

It's been a little over a week, and I am sure there have been BIG developments, but I don't really remember them all. Let's see what I CAN remember...

Toward the beginning of the week, Stacy got a hold of me on IM, and we talked some. Apparently she didn't mean everything she said. So we talked, without arguing, (which was achieved by not talking about relationships) and it was....nice.

Then, some time later in the week, I decided that I was GOING TO LEARN PHP. So I reverse engineered the forums pages, and pulled code from a couple files, and merged them into one file, and made the home page. After much deliberation with the computer, I created my first project in php - the tsn3 home page. Fully functional, it displays a list of forums on the left, as well as the newest posts in the middle of the page, and the area to log into the site on the right. It also sports some of the past features (i.e. Weekly photo, Rants, Radio, etc). Next is the Journals feature that I will have to pull more coding from the files, but do the "conditional" coding myself.

Because of the site's production, I have put off a couple things concerning tsnII, which would be this journal, and the journals from the past...as well as the weekly photo, and the rants on the home page. There is also the PDA version that I still have to work on, but that has been put on hold.

In other news, I got The Matrix on DVD...the first one. I have had it on CD for a long time now, but I wanted to see the extras, so I bought the DVD. See, burning CDs is not so bad...it makes you want to buy the DVD for the extras. Now I don't know if you can download the extras from Kazaa like you can the movie, but it doesn't matter anymore, I have the DVD. I went to the mall today, and found out that there is also a Matrix: Revisited -  which is the making and delete scenes from the first movie. I didn't get it though. I did see some models of Trinity, Morpheus, and Neo in GameStop, but I didn't get those either. I did consider becoming a Matrix geek, but I chose not to. I will just get the movies, and some of the apparel that they wear, and leave it at that.

On the female front, I have noticed that I have a ton more options than I thought at first. There is a new girl at work today that goes to college with me. I only know her name, but that is because I have only worked with her once. The former interest that I had in another girl has returned to friendship. I overheard a phone conversation she had, and apparently she is still with her boyfriend. So, I will not be pursuing that. In fact, I don't think I am going to try to date any of them. I have decided to focus my energies on my friends. The lack of friends has started to get to me. When I have days off, I have nothing to do. Like tonight, I would have taken Natalie to the movies or something, but it was Charlie's birthday. I know she probably would have rather gone to the movies, but she had an obligation to be with him on his birthday. They're not doing so well right now. And Dunson, I invited her to the movies, but she was already at the mall, looking for a sweatshirt...and she has a curfew on school nights. OH WELL! I will just wait for Natalie to have some time off, and we'll go do something then.

Six Flags...I was  finally invited to do something with the Youth Group at my church. I have considered changing churches because of the lack of...well, friendship and spiritual application gathered from the sermons. However, this past Sunday, I got both. There was a good sermon, and afterward, I hung out with Natalie and her friend Taylor. The Youth group is going to Six Flags on 12/6/03, and I will be going with them. They are also going to an Acquire the Fire-type convention for college-aged, young adults in January. I will be going to that too. Perhaps this will work out to my benefit finally. It's been about 7 months that I have been waiting.

I gave my hermit crabs a new cage today. Yes, Nix and Will are still alive and well in their cage atop my entertainment system in my room. I have had them since I moved into my Dad's, and their relationship to me lasted longer than Stacy's. They both started about the same time.

Anyway, let's see...what else is new. OH yeah, I found my Chilly Chan'Oobi costume from last Halloween, and I will be wearing it to work on this Friday. It's going to be difficult since it's a hot costume, and the restaurant can be hot too.

I guess that's all. Not much drama this week...I don't have anyone to be dramatic with. Later.

This entry only covers from Thursday to Sunday. There hasn't been much that has happened in here. But I do have some good, bad, and neutral news to report here.

The bad news...well, forget the bad news, I am not going to focus on that right now. The good news is that my step mom doesn't have cancer. It was classified as a benign tumors or something...the point is that it is not cancer, and will be treated (not cured) by steroids - which are better than chemo-therapy, but are still a bad deal in themselves. More good news, I am not as concerned about dating anyone at work. Forget them all. I don't have time to date anyone there, and I don't like my options. Tomorrow is one of the hostess's birthday - Happy 16th Birthday Chelsea!

More good news, I got the Matrix 2 DVD, and have watched it 3 times in the last 3-4 days. I have gotten to where I can give quotes from parts of it. I mainly just watch it for the fight scenes. I learn quickly by watching and seeing. I am confident that I could handle myself reasonably in a conflict, at least on a defensive end. I don't like to do much of the hitting.

Also, I have an unset date with a girl from my website. Her name: KD. I've been knowing her for the past couple years, and she is UPS's sister. Hey KD! (I told her I would mention her in my journal this week. For those that are reading this, and others that aren't...if you don't want it mentioned in my journal for all to see, don't do it to me, or don't make it such a big deal that I remember it at the time I write my journal - just a helpful tip). She lives in Nacogdoches, and will be going with us on the trip to ETBU this fall. If you would like to go with UPS, KD, Comter, Spiffy, and I, let me know at Neo@the-spot.net.

And now for the neutral news...first, the thing that happened to just pop into my mind, Stacy. She has decided that she doesn't want to talk to me anymore. Wow, so fickle. Oh well, I will be going to get my things P.D.Q. and then it will be done with. I will still maintain my website, and she can still email me, but I don't think that she will...at least not anything useful, except to complain about something in my journal. But that's her prerogative - I'll answer what she asks, but that is my prerogative.

And I have recently re-discovered my journal from when I left ETBU, until I got the first version of the site going. I am currently working on transposing the paper journal into the computer and posting it to the internet as I get each entry done. This will allow people to see where I am coming from in my current journal, and why I do the things I do - or like the people that I like. It will also provide people with a glimpse into the frustrations I dealt with when I went home from ETBU, and how my home life in the beginning of the year was. So check it out. I am starting in December, and going forward to April when I got the site up. It is VERY interesting - even to me, who has already lived it. And I think that it is a pretty good story in itself...with a cliff-hanger every day, since my LIFE was a cliff-hanger: not knowing whether or not I would have a house at the end of the day. You'll see what I mean when you read it. It's got something for everyone: romance, sci-fi, drama, mystery, action, twists in the plot, and life-like characters. Check it out and let me know what you think, or if you can relate - in the forums.

In other news, I finished my Government class last Wednesday, and I am kinda glad, and kinda not. I wish I would have recorded his lectures, and I would have played them on the radio. They wandered across all kinds of topics during class, and still he managed to somehow end up back on topic. I would have rather ended my Spanish class, since it is right in the middle of the day. But now my first class is at 5:30, which means that I get to sleep REALLY late, if I need to.

That's all for tonight. I've lost my train of though. And I don't feel like doing the bullets anymore. Not now at least. There is too much other stuff that I have to take care of right now.

This tops all the other "news" in this journal, and was the primary reason that I didn't post the journal on Sunday. I got a call from Stacy today, and she informs me that she has been seeing someone else. I guess she thinks I am stupid, that I didn't figure it out since she always talks about this guy named Quincy that she has been hanging out with lately. I saw it coming, and I knew it had happened, and I was prepared to break up with her anyway, since my step mom is going through some difficult health problems (i.e. a form of cancer), and there is an uncertainty about a lot of things in our family right now. I was kinda hurt that Stacy did this to me, but I'm kinda not. Dah well...kids - you can't expect them to be mature. And so ends the saga that was Stacy - experiment #132 :: Getting a girlfriend, and keeping her - it lasted 157 days. It was a success, if measured by goals, except for one small mistake at the swimming pool - though it was not any where near my longest relationship.

(It's only fitting though that it correlates with my website design - if you have kept up with the cycles of girls in the past, you will know what I mean. Every time I create a new website, there is a new female interest. And depending on the success of the website, determines the success of the relationship. At this point, my website was a success, and so was my relationship. Now that I am creating a new site, I have a new female interest in mind, and Stacy just made it easier, and confirmed the trend. So I don't anticipate acquiring another girlfriend until around the 1st of the year, though that does not exclude dating...since website design is a process, and so are relationships.)

So, another week. A lot has happened this week...but I don't really feel like detailing it all out. I learned that my journal is being read by someone that takes a serious interest in what I do each week. But I informed that person that this is merely "what you need to know" about my life. Dah well, "and so, he continues writing, to quench the addiction of the masses that are obsessed with the life of Neo."

So, last Monday, I learned why a phone call wasn't returned for Thursday night...she fell asleep at her friend's house. We were supposed to go see a movie or something on Friday. Well, that's twice, and regardless of whether or not she meant to do it, I only let it happen twice. It doesn't matter to me, I will find someone else to spend time with, if it seems like I am not able to get in touch with the person. But this Monday was better, I finally got my surround sound speakers in the mail, and I have been jammin' to music all week, and playing some UT with them. Good stuff.

As for the girl at work, I briefly switched my interest (because I can do that) to a different girl at work, since the first one had some stuff to take care of this weekend...it would have been a sure "no" if I asked at this time. But the second one has play practice for their play they are putting on on the 22nd, which I am going to try to go to - she invited me. So I don't have a date yet for the movies on Tuesday, but that's ok...it will be filled when Tuesday comes - I guarantee.

Tonight, however, I went to the movies also, and saw School of Rock. I went with two girls from church, and it was a great movie. Lots of fun. Both girls, coincidentally, very cute. But I may switch churches soon. It's just not doing much for me at this time.

When I was at church tonight, we started off singing, and I zoned out for a bit, and my mind wandered. It wandered across many subjects, and when I returned, I was disappointed to find out that we were still on the SAME, SLOW, DRAGGING song, that no one had ever sang before. Then when the Praise Team came up to sing, their songs were slow too. I thought to myself "why would anyone from the outside want to come to this church to hear these slow songs, and stay for the rest? This church doesn't have the right frame of mind if they want to grow." So I will check out the church of one of the girls I went with tonight. It's a Bible Church...meaning it's non-denominational. This could be interesting...and I don't know what their church believes...but I guess we will see.

Hmm...during the week, at work, after I had my break from work, going to school, I felt I was ready for them to "bring it" with the tables. I finally got the time-table of how things are supposed to go, even when you get three tables at the same time. Just take them one at a time, and make a round to all the tables performing your tasks according to each table at that time. It's hard to explain, but as long as I am feeling all right, I can do it with no problem. They tested this on me extensively. I closed two of three nights, but I worked that third night until all the closers left anyway. And each of those nights, I had several instances where they sat more than one table at a time, or what appeared to be at the same time. I did end up making the expected amount to pay off some of my credit card bill though, and that is good, since that was what I was needing to do.

Hmm...what else do I have to say...I remade my necklace, but it didn't look right. I tried to make one with the coral necklace pieces, but people made fun of it, so I just remade the original button necklace today.

Well, it's Sunday. That means that another week has finally finished, and tomorrow it starts all over again. But first, to recap this week starting with the 1st of October...

Nothing has happened this week. I have been incredibly worn out from allergies, I think. I don't know what my ailment was, but I have been taking allergy medicine, and it seems to be getting better...slowly. I still went to work, and drug my butt around to make the money, which showed me a good lesson in responsibility. I can skip school if I am sick because I am paying for it, but I can't skip work, because I have to have that money. The stupid thing about it is they didn't want to cut me much slack, even though they knew I was sick, but they didn't mind offering the girls there the ability to go home a little early if they were having a bad day. Smurfers! I'm over here losing my voice, eyes watering, coughing, and stuffy nose, and they don't say a word...someone else mops around and they offer them to be first cut...how gay. How freakin' GAY!

One good thing came out of working today (I say it's good...it's really only good for my chances...) the last remaining girl that I like at work is pretty much convinced that her and her boyfriend's relationship is over. Now if only I wasn't so sick! It was killin' me this whole week because I have been trying to find an appropriate moment to ask her to the movies or something, and what happens? I get sick. Can we say "ew, gross?" So, needless to say, I didn't. I have gained a little insight into her life, and that is that she works two jobs, and goes to school, and supports/lives by herself. She is also moving apartments this weekend to North Arlington. That's all I know for now...and if I find out any more, I may or may not tell you...hence the slogan: "What you need...to know." I do know that she and I have the next three days off...and I also am supposed to have plans with Brynn, assuming I feel better by Tuesday. I don't know if I can do anything though - I'm not feeling so hot right now.

I finally wrote my mom a letter...I was sparked by meeting someone that we used to go to church with before we moved to Hubbard, and he actually remembered my parents. So I edited the letter that I had been holding on to for about 2 months, and sent it to her yesterday. But it won't get in the mail until tomorrow afternoon. As I was reading it, there was a lot of dated information in there, like plans for my brother's graduation, and stuff like that. I hope they email me back instead of writing, because I find it much easier to send off a short email, than to write out a letter (even on computer) and send it in the mail. They are worried that my dad will read the letter though. They are too paranoid. If my parents are going to read something, there isn't much I can do to stop them. They pretty much have access to everything in my room, and even more so when I am at work. But they rarely come upstairs, so there isn't much to worry about.

I still have yet to receive my sound system for my computer, and the second Sega Genesis...as well as my digital camera pen, or my Matrix ScreenSaver. I don't know what is up, but I had better receive them by Saturday, or I will be contacting some people. It's ridiculous...I paid for those things over two weeks ago, and they should be here by now.

I think that is about all for now...so I will end this entry, and let you know how things turn out next week. Later.

• Song in My Head: Put a smile on your face - Lyn

• Food on Thought: Strawberries?

• Thought of the Day: "I'm sooo close, but I don't have a chance right now..."

• NEW!!! 1992 Journal - This is my journal from 4th grade...see the difference?
  The happiest day of my life was when I went to Six Flags and rode on all the rides.

• New Word of the Day: bastante - means "later" in Spanish (i.e. Habla mas bastante - Talk later.)