Evil because they can be.

What causes people to act be evil?

Has the internet, in it's very essence that provides anonymity to the weak that cannot act in such a manner when face-to-face with someone, created a place where the weak can unleash all their anger and hatred by being an ass?

I mean, there's always rude people, but what about the people that -are- nice, and they wouldn't hurt a fly face-to-face, but when they've got a shield of anonymity... Is that who they really are?

Kids

Well, I found out something interesting these last few days... I like kids!

Not in a creepy pedophile-ish way, but that I think that kids are fun... Even if they can get a bit annoying.

The circumstances leading to this particular conclusion would be that my moderately estranged half-sister and her three daughters came to visit! I thought it would be awkward, but the girls are having a blast, and I think that their enthusiasm is rubbing off on everybody else.

Regardless of cause, it's going great, and there's nothing to worry about. It was worth all the carpet work to have them here.

Back.

Hm, finally back home.

I spent the last few days on a great trip to Bozeman, Montana for my brother's college orientation.

In addition to figuring out that my brother is actually a bit more grown up than I thought he was, I'm also kinda happy to note that he found courses that he's genuinely interested in. I mean, he's taking 'Introduction to Arabic' and he's excited for it! I know I'd jump for a class like that at my school, but I guess I'm just glad to hear that he is going to be able to adjust well.

Also, on the entire trip I read through three Dean Koonts novels, 'The Husband,' 'The Good Guy,' and 'Velocity.' While they were obviously good books considering I read all three of them non-stop, I'd like to recommend his novels to people. I mean, they do get a little graphically violent, but it's not much worse than you'd hear on a daily news program in the USA anymore.

Though, that could just be a testimonial to the slippage in quality of news in America.

Old Friends

Well, let's hear it for Facebook!

Out of the blue, an old friend that moved away in like third grade found me on there, and we've gotten to talk. It's nice to reconnect with people you'd almost forgotten, like a little reminder of those long-gone Days of Innocence.

...Then again, I'm certainly one to talk about innocence, considering that most would consider a person of my age to be innocent all the same.

Living on junk food

So... A week into the epic floor re-carpeting, and we've finally got carpet completely down in one side of the basement! It's been a huge pain, and I don't think I've had an actual healthy meal since I cooked a few days ago, but still, it's half-done already!

In other news, now that there's less work that I can do, and more work for people that are paid to do this work, I've gone back to Taekwondo! It's weird, but even a week away, and I was a pretty sorry sight today... Felt a bit sick a few times, but it was an easy class, and TKD is always fun.

Oh well, I feel great now, even if we did have to make a stop to Mickey D's after because there's nothing to eat at home that's any better...

License

Fun note on this... It appears I read to deeply into the initial refusal. I guess my parents are simply convinced I need to drive borderline-obsessively for a few days, then I can get the license.

Let's hope they keep their word.

I HATE CARPET

So, after all the flooding in the basement, family decided to start tearing up carpet early... And, that has sucked. We got all the carpet up, after moving several very large things, but, then we had to take out the rotted tack strips because they're old, and mud + water + old = ROT.

Do you know what an annoying process that is? You have to take a small chisel, and then force it with a hammer under the glued down wooden strips, hoping you'll get something up. Yeah... No fun.

At least it's done....

After doing that for a mind-numbing few hours, I cooked dinner! My mom watches over constantly, but she let me do most of the actual cooking today. Honestly, I am really surprised I haven't set anything on fire yet...

I keep expecting to mess it up and burn dinner, but no such misfortune so far. I guess I'll just keep trying it, and if I can learn how to do it right, that should be a great help for college/later life.

Besides, It beats ripping out the freaking carpet.