I'M DONE!!! OH YEAH!!!

Seventeen years of formal education and all I have to show for it are these ramblings? Better step things up. Well we're moving on into the new millennium people (wait, what is this, 2001?) and I'ma outfit this blog with all kinds of technology!

There is one big problem, though. I don't know how to do that.

....yet.

And the guy who would have the answers is the one who has been paying the annual 6 buck fee for me to run this site. So the conundrum is - do I ask for his help, admit that (more or less) I've still been using the site, and pay the required TWELVE DOLLARS??? Or do I suck it up, channel the alpha male inside me, and try to figure it out myself? Hmm.... this could take a while.

Final thought: I always forget something when I leave the apartment. Luckily, I usually remember relatively soon after leaving (because I know I forget) . But even though it's rarely a problem, it's becoming increasingly annoying.

So the work load isn't nearly what it is back at NU, but still I find it hard to bring myself to do even the simplest assignment. Seriously, I just have to write a couple pages about a movie we watched last week, but it's just so difficult to get motivated! Plus, the fact that Liza and Emily peer pressured me into having a glass of Don Simon isn't helping the case for homework.

So it just dawned on me that I should jot down a record of all the people on this trip (for posterity if nothing else). So here are some names and brief descriptions:

Me - Coolest.
Ronen - Roomate, brothers in Lambda Chi
Chris(UNC) - First guy I met after I got here. UNCer and creeper to the extreme.
Alex Ta(UNC) - Our resident little gay Asian boy. Can shotgun a beer with the rest of them, but the .5L beer cans were surprisingly difficult for him the first time around
Mark(BC) - Kinda reminds me of Kellen. Well, a gay Kellen. But just as funny. Likes to videotape him and others singing along with popular songs and then posting them on youtube. Funnier than it sounds.
Alex Stevko - Haven't hung out with him as much. Parents saw several of us in our collared shirts and boxers(the Chris Donahoe look) with glasses of wine. I figure it's a good story for them.
Charlie - Chris Danzig's twin. And he's had multiple people tell him this. Don't know as much about him or his roomate...
Kaan - From Turkey. Likes lifting weights and protein drinks apparently.
Emily Motley(UNC) - Dear Diary... and Wanna know a secret? Promise not to tell?? That's really all I can say for now.
Molly(UNC) - The two loves of her life: cereal and running.
Maura - Likes to stay out till 5:30am and yell at British guys.
Veronica - Really cool, reminds me of Chrissie Reitmeyer. More cynical than I think she lets on, and that makes me like her more.
Jessica - Goes out till the wee hours of the morning with Maura a lot. Art theory/Figuring out my life Major
Megan(WashU) - One of the Fashionistas. Though apparently I didn't know which group of girls it was that made up this demographic until recently. Goes to WashU, doesn't know Kelly though.
OTHER SIDE OF THE HALL (some of these people I know less)
Matt(UNC) - All the girls think he's really cute, but sadly for them, he's gay. Seems nice enough, but I don't know him too well.
Julia(Scripps) - One of the CA girls. Long legs and fabulous hair. Hangs out with Stephanie and Annie a lot. Loves to dance.
Kevin Block - Cynicism personified. Hilarious results.
Jack - Large man who often wears a shirt that reads on the back "Shut up and Drink your Beer!"
Lisa - Jack's main flame. I mean, it's pretty cute they decided to come to Prague together.
Amelia - Amelio, if you address her in Czech which makes me just think of Emilio Estevez.
Annie - Go Factors!
Ms. Jackie Hunzinger - JEDNA. Praha treasure. Babies with buckets on their heads. Peanut dances. Boycomehere.
Liza(UNC) - Ballerina, but she hates Julia Stiles in Save the Last Dance. The best at beguiling Harvard boys.
Stephanie(UNC) - The aptly named Stephanie Shorts. Getting cooler every time I talk to her.
Allison - Fashionista. Nebe's best DJ, and used to go out with Byrum.
Fitz - The final in the triumvirate of Fashionistas. In Theta with Allison. Plans to change her hair color even though she shouldn't.
KC(CA school) - Explored the Castle Quarter with Ronen and me when everybody else was out of town.
Sarah Neal(UNC) - Has two names. Don't know her as well.

And that's it. Wow, geez, I'd feel bad if I've left somebody out, but I think I got everyone. Oh well. Hardly any of them will read this anyway. So onto the exploits of the weekend...

With practically everyone out of town and my roommate sleeping till 5:30pm, I found time to do a little exploring. Once again I climbed Petřín Hill, and once again, it was amazing. I got lost several times and accidentally stumbled on a couple homeless caves. It was a little sad. There would just be a very shallow cave in a cliffside that would have mattresses in them and a lot of food wrappers. Part of me wanted to buy them sandwiches, but part of me didn't want to encourage the obvious evolution into hill-people.

After getting lost I found my way to the Castle quarter, which was great cause I hadn't been there yet. Prague Castle is truly gorgeous and it'll be great to go back there with Ms. Rifkin when she gets into town this weekend. In fact, I ended up going back there the next day with KC and Ronen (this time with my camera) and we ate dinner at Cowboys.

Wow. Cowboys is an American-style steakhouse that's right next to Prague Castle. It was ammmazing food. I had the Rib-eye steak in a red wine sauce with maple glazed carrots, mashed potatoes, and a glass of Pinot Noir. The three of us split a bottle of white wine before ordering dessert. I personally had a glass of sparkling white wine to accompany the cheesecake with chocolate sauce and strawberries. The main reason we had so much was because we wanted to stay until the sun went down. We got reservations and were able to get seats on their rooftop terrace that overlooks the entire city. The best part was that around 9:30, there were fireworks in the city that we had some of the best seats in town for. It made the meal certainly worth the sixty dollars I paid (Mom and Dad, don't pay attention to that).

I'm sure you're tired of reading all these ramblings so I'll cut it off here.

Max's Featured Video of the Day!

The baby's face cracks me up every time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pihygVBjAYU

Final thought: On Sunday night, I went to the 650th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of Charles Bridge. When was the last time you went to the 650th anniversary of anything?

Final final thought: Even though I know neither of you read this, and even though I've given you a lot of crap over the years, I offer the sincerest congratulations to Dan and Jessica on their marriage this past weekend. I'm mostly just sad Dan didn't ask PIE 3:14 to play.

So here we are once again, and I find myself compelled to post another Moosac rambling mostly due to the fact that one of the guys in the program here in Prague boasting his two-post-a-day blog. Not that this is a competition or anything, and not that if it were I'd totally beat Chris Donahoe if I even tried just a little!!! It's not that at all. I just feel I owe to... myself, I guess. I don't think anybody reads this but me. Even so, I'd like to one day look back at these posts and remember my fond time in Prague.

The students here that are in the history class are required to keep a journal of their experience here, and I've heard a number of them say things like "Well, even if it weren't mandatory, I'd probably do it anyway, it'd just be harder to keep up with." I feel I do share their sentiment. However, being the illustrious film major that I am, it's not imperative that I do so, and as a result you all have to put up with my (maybe) two posts a week.

And for all those people back in the states to whom I missed the chance to give Independence Day wishes, I hope you had a happy Fourth of July! Though that might sound strange coming from me, perhaps one of the least patriotic Americans. Just last night, I deliberately chose to sit in my room listening to music while a chorus of students in the kitchen started a ...beautiful... rendition of the American national anthem. Thinking about it, however, a lack of patriotism might not have been the only thing keeping me in my seat at that moment thanking the good Lord for headphones.

For today, however, the only task I must endure is finding a hostel/hotel in Paris. I hope to fly there the last weekend of the program to visit my good friend Jules who is studying there for the summer. I found a relatively cheap flight, which was nice, but in looking at Paris hostels, it became evident that (much more so than in America) there is a very direct, very dramatic correlation between the cost of a hostel and the apparent quality of the stay. Most of the ones I could find in my price range ran quite the gamut of failings. Whether it was a failure to provide linens (thus requiring me to go out and buy bedsheets that I would use only once), or a lack of indoor WC + shower facilities. Needless to say, it wasn't long before my search turned into one leading to hotel websites instead. It's a little more expensive, but I'd pay the price for a little cleanliness.

The weekend ahead will be filled with what I'm sure will be exciting adventures into Prague and attempts to cook in our less-than-adequate kitchen. I'll do my best to keep you posted.

Final thought: Left behind bobby pins and hair ties are not good for keeping my ego in check.

So I had one of the more amazing experiences in my life this morning. I woke up at 8 despite having stayed out at Dog's till about 1:30. The sun had come out, and there was a big truck in the alley right below our window fixing shingles on a roof across the street. I could get used to this waking up early thing, though. It was nice to still be able to catch breakfast downstairs while they had it, and even though I ended up eating by myself (a lot of people in our group went out to a club in Old Town after drinking at Dogs), it was nice.

Since Ronen (the roommate, one of those who went out) was still asleep when I got back upstairs, I decided to just go for a walk. There's a big hill across the National Street bridge pretty close to our dorm and I had been wanting to go up there and explore since I got here. So I grabbed my bag, my camera, and my iPod, and set out.

I was surprised at the low number of people who were out even though it was by this point already 9 or so. But I continued on over the bridge and found my way to the bottom of the giant hill. Now, when I say hill, we're talking about a MOUNTAIN of a hill. This thing is huge. I start my climb, and not 10 minutes into it, I catch what will be the first of many breathtaking views of Prague. I quickly get my camera out of my bag and snap my first photo:

....hmm... I can't seem to get the photo to work. Well damn. Ok, I'm gonna go figure this out and finish this post probably later today.

Final thought: to be continued.................

But anyway, Prague is pretty amazing. All the buildings here are old and you can't help but sit, looking out from your window sill and be taken back to the 1930's. With all the red shingled rooftops and cobblestone streets, it's really quite beautiful.

The language, though extremely badass, is very difficult. We had a rather intense introductory session yesterday morning for those students not taking a Czech class while they're here (I, of course, am taking the class because I really want to do my best to master this language as best as I can in 6 weeks). There's one letter that sounds like a very short rolled "r" combined with a "zh." .... apparently it takes Czech children 6 years to get right.

But on to the good stuff. I'm instating a new feature here at the Moosac. It's Max's Featured Videos of the Day! I've really gotten into youtube and collegehumor.com and subsequently found several great videos that everybody should see for they're own benefit. And since this is the inaugural posting, I'm going to post two - that's right - TWO videos you should watch. So without further ado...

Max's Featured Videos of the Day!!
Video 1 - Ad for a new line of energy drinks
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1761896

Video 2 - The tagline for this video is "The best five second video on the Internet." They may in fact be right.
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1764124

Ok, I hope those work. If there's a problem, I'll get it fixed because I like this section.

Final thought: WHY THE HELL DO I CARE????? Yep. That's it.

Obviously I stood up immediately to assess what the hell had happened, and almost as quickly, blood started gushing out my knee. And I know it sounds like an exaggeration when I say "gushing," but this was actually pretty close. Only later did I realize why there was so much blood. It's the can-opener effect. Stick with me. You know when you have a large can of, let's say, tomato sauce? You poke holes on either side of the top of the can so it pours out more easily. Now think of my knee as a can of tomato sauce... a staple would inflict two wounds... I think you get the picture.

So like I said, I'm bleeding fairly profusely from what I had assumed (based on the pain I was feeling) was not a very big wound. So I'm a little confused. And as I hobble out of the studio, the blood continues to run down my leg, so now it looks like I've hurt myself REAL bad. I was, in fact, bleeding so much, that there was a pretty constant stream that had reached my ankle sock, which was now soaking up any excess. Now I'm in the bathroom of Louis Hall, my leg up on the sink, and I'm wiping away blood from a wound that is annoyingly persistent.

I grab some paper towels and apply pressure so that I can make my way over to the security guard to ask if he has a first aid kit of any kind. He doesn't. I limp over to the WNUR DJs. They have nothing as well. So, realizing I need to continue the pressure on my knee in order to stop the bleeding, I walk back into the studio, a man with a mission. In true film major fashion, I grab a roll of gaff tape, and wrap it around the paper towel covering my knee so that it stays in place.

Fifteen minutes go by, and it appears that my make-shift bandage is working. I excuse myself to the bathroom to redress my wound. I remove the tape - HOLYMOTHEROFGODOUCH - and much to my surprise, not only has the bleeding completely stopped, but there are only two very small puncture wounds. I say I was surprised because if you had seen the blood covering my leg, you would have assumed there'd be a really cool scar to match. Nope. Not the case. Apparently I just bleed a lot.

And that's what I did today.

Final thought: The latest episode of The Office, in my opinion, wasn't as good as others. But maybe that's because it looks like Jim and Pam are drifting apart, and I really want them to get together. If you care to comment, do you think the show will/can make a third season?

I hate calling this a blog. Even though in a contemporary context blogs are everywhere, to me, the word 'blog' sounds ridiculous, even juvenile. 'Blog' conjures up images of 12 year old girls writing in their diaries, or on their xanga and myspace pages. And I know what you're all thinking - "Max, didn't you have a xanga page not 2 years ago?" Yes, in fact I did. It's not an aspect of my life back then that I'm particularly proud of, and I'm much happier with this page.

It's like when you think about a girl you used to have a crush on, or a girl you were reeeally hung up over. In hindsight, all you can manage in your head is a simple mantra, "What the hell was I thinking? What the HELL was I thinking?" And then you realize you're completely over the whole thing and you continue moving on with your life. Such is the case with this website. *ADVICE FOR ALL BLOGGERS OUT THERE AND THEIR PAGES*- This site is not meant to be a private haven for all my secret desires and despairs.

Quite the contrary, this is a place for all things public. Those thoughts birthed in my mind that I feel everybody would benefit from. I have these thoughts. Often, in fact. Actually, I don't know why I stopped writing entries for this page. I mean, the easy answer is that I just got really lazy and stopped caring. It's not that I didn't have anything to say. Those who know me best know that I always have something to say.

So to those of you who find themselves on this website, able to make it through to the end of this entry, I offer this as a welcome to a place where i hope to continue entertaining you with my musings, thoughts, and of course, ramblings.

Final thought: I just realized that those people who read this site who may never have been here before don't understand my concept of the final thought. I think they'll be able to figure it out.

So I'm sitting in the editing lab with all my film cherub high schoolers, and I'm really finding it hard to muster up the motivation to move. Today for lunch, my "supervisors," Jim and Kevin took all us counselors out to a lovely restaurant called Hot Doug's. As you probably have guessed from their name, they serve mainly hot dogs. No, I take that back. They serve baskets of buttery goodness, both fried and grilled.

I went there with high expectations, which probably isn't the way to go, but by gum, those expectations were met - nay - exceeded. I ordered two regular dogs with everything (everything meaning mustard, green relish, tomatoes, caramelized onions, and a pickle), a large order of fries (which is HUGE), and a small soda. After getting my food, I realized there was no way I'd be able to finish the entire bag of fries, so I concentrated more on the hot dogs. And damn. I think the Chicago style hot dog may be the one thing Chicago does best. It was so delicious.

Anyway, my plan was to come back to the dorm and enter into a hot dog induced coma for the afternoon, but I decided to earn my paycheck and actually watch the kids. I mean, the kids are cool and all, but I gotta be honest. I'm so ready for this program to be over. I need to unwind. I need more than 6 hours of sleep a night. I need to hang out with people who aren't still going through puberty.

4 more days.

Part of me is interested in seeing the kids' final projects, but part of me keeps remembering that it's going to be 6 hours of screenings on Friday. Oh well.

The important thing to remember is, though, that I'll be in Missouri for 2 weeks starting August 1st. I have no responsibilities, and I have every intention of sleeping in till noon, playing tennis in the afternoon, and watch movies/play video games all night long. It's going to be a good two weeks.

Final thought: Now that I'm an RA for high schoolers, I now have 30 more high school friends on facebook(which is, admittedly, pretty sad), and I really hope some of them stumble onto this site from my profile and read about how I'm sitting here, right now, blogging while they're working in the same room. It's all very meta.

WHAT THE HELL DID I SIGN UP FOR???

Sigh... c'est la vie. (Note I definitely used to put that phrase into papers when I was in middle school. Of course, I would spell it "say la vie." I wonder if my point still got across.)

Honestly, though, I don't want to harp on the negative aspects of this NHSI job. It should be a lot of fun, and at least I'll be doing something with my life. Right now, I don't do much more than wake up at noon, play video games, go for runs, and help people move. That's... quite literally all I've been doing. I figure the good cancels out the bad.

Damn, I was hoping this entry was going to be a lot cooler than I think it turned out.

Final thought: The trailer for "Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning" is only viewable between 10PM and 4AM. This is either extremely stupid or a stroke of genius. True, they're cutting out a big chunk of potential theater-goers who won't go to see the movie because they missed the trailer, but it could happen that those who did see the trailer were extra scared by it because they watched it during the "scary hours." Only time will tell with this one, I suppose.

*I think it's about time I publicly addressed an issue that's been bothering me for quite some time, but one that I've only recently come to acknowledge. Whenever people use phrases like "Man, that's one big ass dog" or "She doesn't fuck after the first date? What a tight ass chick." or "This lecture is taking such a long ass time that it's hard for me to contain the urge to punch old ladies in the face. Anyway, when people use such phrases, it annoys me that they forget to complete the adjective. It's not "long ass," it's "long-assED." When describing something using these delightful idioms, it's important to remember that you are describing that particular thing's ass. It's a "big-assED dog," a "tight-assED chick," a "long-assED lecture." Please, readers of my blog, I ask that in the future you take delicate care to fully complete adjectives you use, and feel free to over-emphasize the "ED" so people know that you care about grammar.

Ughh... I'm at work right now, though, and there doesn't seem to be anything to do. Wait, let me check if there's any mail....

...

Yep, there was. And it took all of 7 minutes to do. Hmm... God, I can't wait to get back to my room and play some Zelda. That game is so good! Damn!

So, yeah. That's all I got.

Final thought: Did anybody actually go out and see The Omen last night?

Hmm... that'd make an excellent birthday card. I've thought about going into the birthday card writing business. It honestly doesn't seem that difficult. I mean seriously, after years of searching at least 3 times a year (mother, father, sister), I've definitely seen some shitty cards. You know the ones I mean. Those cards with a picture of baby next to a mildly spilt trash can, sitting and looking sad with a banana peel on its head. Then, when you open it up, the card says, "Don't get down in the dumps, it's your birthday!" I would feel better giving someone a piece of construction paper covered in gold stars, pissed on it, and wrote "Remember that guy Greg? Yeah, he was such a better friend than you."

I've been thinking about next Monday over the past few days. It'll be weird to be 20, you know, not a teenager anymore(thank god for that). But from what most of my friends tell me, after the day is done, you just end up feeling really disappointed. Oh 20, the cocktease of birthdays.

Final thought: my motto applied in real life - The Da Vinci Code. Lots of hype, horrible showing at box office. The lesson? Low expectations = a better future.

4) Whenever Dan's asleep and he's snoring loudly, I get up out of my bed, walk over to the door and repeatedly slam it until he stops snoring and wakes up.

5) I *only* pick up pennies if I see them on the ground heads up. I absolutely refuse to pick up a tails up penny. There's currently on in the middle of our room tails up, but I don't think Dan sees it and I will NOT pick it up, so there it remains.

6) As many people can attest to, I listen to Christmas music all year round.

Real Final thought: I've changed my mind. I'm not going to tag people. I've come to the realization that I don't think I know 7 people who could answer this.

You must needs write a web-log post containing six weird things or habits about yourself. In the end you need to choose the 7 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave the cryptic phrase "you are tagged" in their comments and beseech your fellows to read the list you've posted.

1.) I'm actually OCD about a lot of things. Crooked pictures, and stacks of things offset from themselves are the worst. They need to be fixed.

2.) Whenever I take a drink of water from a water fountain, I always wipe my mouth with two fingers and then flick the water down. Truly badass.

3.) I want to sell out as soon as possible.

...I'll finish this later. I'm at work, and they're making me go somewhere.

Final thought: Is this really a final thought, since i'll be coming back in a few minutes?

I'm mostly concerned with the midterm I'll have to take for my film authorship class on Alfred Hitchcock. I actually just got out of that class about a half hour ago, the professor leaving us with the thought that the midterm was going to be "harder than we expect."

Now I don't know how easy he thinks I expect this midterm to be, but I can darn well assure him that I had been bracing myself for a pretty tough exam. This foreboding closing note to Prof. Olsson's lecture has now nearly convinced me completely that I'll be shitting myself as I sit to take the exam one week from now. What really makes me nervous about this class in general is the fact that the professor had originally planned the course solely for graduate students, and now I'm afraid he's going to hold us to those standards. Crafty Europeans.

But enough about the future. This past weekend was pretty nice. I somehow managed to do quite a lot without feeling very busy for the past few days. Friday night I went to go see a play with Anna and Aaron, How to Wake Up. It's a student-written musical put on by one of the theater groups here on campus. Needless to say, there were times when this fact seemed rather obvious. The music in it was actually ok, and the performances were good (especially my friend lauren - what a sassy bitch!), but the play just seemed to drag on, particularly the first act, which ran upwards of an hour and a half. But this of course was trumped by the fact that the lovely Sarah M. was there and oh-so cute. And of course this gave me a conversation starter just in case I saw her Saturday night at...

The New Pornographers concert. It was ok, I only recognized one of their songs, and everybody in the crowd was kind of just standing there sporadically bobbing their heads or swaying(keep in mind i was most definitely one of these people). Maybe things picked up for My Morning Jacket's set, but Anna and I didn't stick around to find out.

And as it turned out, Sarah was there at the concert, crewing in some way, and I ended up having about a 30 second conversation with her(by far the longest), and we talked about the play the night before and what she thought. As we talked, I got the distinct feeling that there were no feelings there, and even if there ever were, they had long gone, leaving not the sparkling conversation I had hoped for, but rather the dull dribble I should have grown to expect. It's time to move on.

But I've said that before.

Final thought: I'll do another post tomorrow with the story of my zombification.

Besides baseball, my life mostly consists of planning for this summer. I'm filling out an application to be a faculty associate at a film and video production course being taught here at NU, and I think it would be a lot of fun. I could yell at high schoolers, and that would be really funny.

Fuckin' a, we had crispitos for lunch today at the house. SO GOOD. I got to a personal best today - 8. Next time I'm hoping for double digits, but we'll just have to see when we get there.

Final thought: I used to think that if a light bulb jingled when you shook it that it was burnt out. I found out last night that they jingle regardless. WERE YOU AWARE OF IT??!?!