Book Review: Lemony Snicket

Amy and I saw Lemony Snicket at at the dollar theatre the other day. It was pretty good, so I thought I'd check out the book too. It's written for children and although I've heard really good things about it I thought is was rather dull. Knowing everything that happens because you've just seen the movie will do that to a book though. Same thing happened with Harry Potter.

I thought afterwards I'd read book 4, as I heard the movie encompasses books 1-3, but I just haven't been able to bring myself to do it yet. The series has kind of a fun twist, in that none of the books are supposed to be happy. I'd recommend it to anyone who either 1) likes children's lit or 2) is an aspiring Goth.


Bonus: If anyone out there can tell me what the whole spyglass thing in the movie was about, I'd love to know.

President's Day

So I had a weird dream last night. George W. Bush had just won re-election and about a dozen or so members of congress were throwing a big celebration-party. Only this wasn't your usual champane and tuxedos, Dick Cheney rambling on party, oh no. This was more like a executive-branch-breaks-meets-frat party- party.

Our noble legislators were wearing characature masks of the president while singing, dancing, and swinging a giant effigy of dubbya himself on a huge pulley over a cheering crowd. It was pure pandemonium, reminded me of the Pistons-Pacers bru ha ha back in aught-4.

Apparently Dubbya was also thinking of said bru ha ha, because he came running out of nowhere and told everybody "bring it down a notch". The senators gave a collective "AAWWWWWWWWW", just like a bunch of girls at a slumber party who are told to go to bed. The party subsided until three or four crowd members ran up to the stage and started ska dancing, and Dubbya had to lay the smack down.

Then my alarm went off and I woke up, got out of bed, and realized that it's President's Day.

A coincidence that I would have this very dream on this very day? I think not! Most likely it was some sort of sign, a foreshadowing of the not too distant future. Just remember, when someday you see footage on CNN of congress dissolved into an orgy of violence: you heard it here first.

Then Amy and I drove down to beautiful St. George, about 50 miles away. St. George is a city of old retired people and Californians attempting to flee the heat, drought, and over-population of their home state by moving to a hot, dry, and overpolulated city in another state.

Had an enjoyable day in St. George; went to the temple, jump-started a car, and bought a furnace igniter. I then came home and fixed our furnace, and am quite proud of myself for doing so without being consumed in a giant fire-ball.

Our House

Here's the house. We live in a wonderful small town. I was dissapointed in the size at first, but now I love it. No traffic, no pollution, large enough to keep you entertained, but small enough to be comfortable. It's also great if you love outdoors stuff--plenty of places for mountainbiking, rock-climbing, hiking, camping, etc. Then there's the Shakespearean Festival, great if you're a theatre buff.

My Job

I work as a recruiter for a large insurance brokerage. Never thought I'd work for an insurance company--in fact if my 8 year-old self found out that this is what his future job would be instead of making video games, I'm sure he'd be disgusted. Not that it's any of his business, anyway. Little brat.

Anyways, I really like my job. Basically whenever my company needs to hire someone they tell me and I set up job postings, interview applicants, administer assessments (apparently it is not PC to give someone a "test", it must be an "assessment"), make recommendations, then call up everyone who didn't get hired and break the news to them. It's all pretty fun, except for the last part. I've worked on accountants, graphic artists, salespeople, customer service reps, bookkeepers, secretaries, bank officers; all different kinds of jobs. It's a fun job but not as easy as you would think.

The funniest part is that I'm a 26 year old just out of college interviewing people almost twice my age...and I make them nervous. Weird, huh? I never thought of myself as particularly intimidating, but apparently being percieved as the man who holds the key to their financial future makes me a little scarier.

I love my company and the people I work with. They pay well too, though it's the type of place you stay at for the people. Sometimes I go to career fairs across the country and I occasionally travel, but most of my days are spent at a computer looking over resumes and doing interviews. I've been working here a year and have got some good stories already, but unfortunately I'm not allowed to share most of them.

Here's a pic of my office, though it's subject to change at a moments notice (my third office in a year).

The Fam

This is my wife Amy. We have a lot of fun together; she's spunky, adventurous, and quite possibly the most adorable person on the planet. Serious.

We've been married about 2 years now. It goes pretty quick- 2 years is an entire mission. We both look pretty young for our age; I'm 26 and she's 25, but most people think we're just out of high school. I think it's pretty amusing and like to have fun with it, but it annoys her.

No kids yet, though when we get together with a large group of people it's fun to casually say something like: "Here, take these potatoes honey, you are eating for two now," or "Hey, should we tell them?" and wait for the awkward silence that inevitably follows. I know, I know--it's a cheap, weak joke. I think my mom just about had a coronary the first time I did it, though she's wised up by now.