blakerson.com

Over the last few months, I've had ideas of parenthood pop into my head time and again. I guess it's an aging thing when you decide to get into your 20s. Of course, every parent worries about their kid's safety, and I think I've found a way to kill two birds with one stone: the cars they drive, and the 21st birthday. Here's my idea:

16th birthday: kid gets an old beater Volvo. They're reliable, slow, comfortable, practical and safe as all hell. Exactly what a 16-year-old needs. There's no performance to be found in these cars so there's no way for them to go exploring the car's limits. That, and they're far from cool. So that keeps them from getting in with the wrong crowd, and it's a little lesson in humility. You have to always be *willing* to drive the beater car, else you end up spoiled your whole life. I've never agreed with the policy that kids get the cool car right when they're 16 (like everyone I went to high school with) because it leaves them spoiled and they don't know how to handle their own cars, resulting in wrecks.

21st birthday: kid gets the awesome new car. BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, whatever company is making the best cars 30 years from now. Whether it's new or used, they should drive away from the dealer with it on their 21st birthday to give a real strong impression that this is their car. This also might have the effect of stopping them from binge drinking, 'cause they'll be too excited about their new ride. If they do decide to get their drink on, the newness of their car that they just got should be enough to stop them from driving.

Knowing my luck, they'll probably lower the drinking age to 16 or something equally stupid by the time my kids are 16.

And that means it's the weekend.

UH-OH! What's this?! It's the return of...

VAN DAMME FRIDAY!

The weekend started with Japanese. I walked out of my super-cute TA's class content with the world and everything it had to offer me this weekend.

I was productive.

Friday night, I went to the first Plan2 party of the semester: the graffiti party. Everyone had to wear a white shirt and bring a marker. By the end of the night, I was covered in writing from Sharpies and highlighters and I had the pleasure of dancing with the cutest girl on the dance floor (who just happens to be a dear friend), who had on a whim decided she no longer felt shy at parties. I'm keeping that shirt as a memory of how cool the night was.

Saturday: I was productive, despite the fact that Small Paul came over and I introduced him and Mikey to Counter-Strike. The boys got their first rounds in as terrorists on Office and the new Militia (which I have to hand it to Valve, they've done it again: it's the only modern game that looks good and runs well, AND is well designed, on my antiquated hardware). Never before has watching suicide missions with Paras and Dual Berettas been so much fun. That night I passed on a night clubbing downtown and spent the evening at Rick's instead, doing what always goes down at Rick's: watching wacky Internet videos and playing obscure new games.

And Sunday I was productive yet again: it's really amazing how much I got done this weekend without feeling a bit overworked. I think the easy Friday has a big part to play in that. When I wasn't doing homework or playing through We Love Katamari again, Tim and I went to the Drafthouse (a place I'm starting to love chillin' at) to catch the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen: I'll link it to save us all some time. All I can say is this: Go get 'Trapped in the Closet.' It's a fucking riot.

But what am I to do now? It's midnight on Sunday. Thankfully, classes don't start until noon tomorrow, and all my work's done, so it's time to wrap up the weekend in style: I'll be watching Hustle (my recommended TV show this year) and sipping on a highball of amaretto.

Oh, wait. That'll happen after I try to finish the weekend with Japanese. See, my TA from last semester, this awesome native guy named Wakao, has a Facebook account, and he's friends with his students who are his biggest fans. So when he asked in his profile how everyone's new classes are, I wrote on his Wall (in Japanese) "my new teacher is pretty." And I just got a message in reply to that writing. It said (translating from Japanese): "Your new class is fun? Who's the 'pretty' teacher? :)" Talk about being connected to your teachers. UT's Japanese department rocks.

So in the end, I hope your weekends have all been as good as mine, because if they have been we'll all be in a dandy mood this week. Oh, and don't get trapped in any closets.

and that must mean it's Friday.

But wait. No, it's not Friday.

It's...

VAN DAMME FRIDAY!



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WHOA WHOA HANG ON A SEC
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I have to edit this post really quick to say I just got out of my last class of the week, which was Japanese. Fridays are TA days. And I have the cutest TA ever. Not hot, like I'd get distracted in class, but just really damn cute, which means I pay perfect attention. And when she asks you what 'ass' is in Japanese, you can't help but answer immediately. This semester is going to rock.

Last semester, school was decent fun. I had really cool classes, Japanese was as fun as ever, and I even looked forward to working on my law school class of death, which I ended up getting a solid A in.

This time around, school is starting to be no fun anymore. This could be the early onset of senioritis, people.

I've been to 4 of my 5 classes, and here they are in nutshells:

Modern Japan: Boring history crap. Like every lame history class ever: full of essays and doesn't cover the modern day. It's required for my Japanese degree, so no bueno.
Japanese: This is fun! My group of fellow students is outstanding - a few acquaintances from last semester and my good friends from a year ago. I miss my old TA, but such things happen.
Plan 2 Psychology: Way fun! Only because the professor is really, really amusing and I have tons of friends in the class. Oh, and because it's a psych class, I'm required to participate in psychological research as a guinea pig, which might end up being kind of fun.
Politics in Japan: See Modern Japan. Despite different titles, different people and professors, it's the same crap.

But blakerson, half of those classes looked fun to you! How is school no fun anymore? Well, my days aren't quite so fun because my first and last classes are no fun, which means I wake up dreading class and I finish the day exhausted, getting out of a class that sucked. Beyond that, it's boredom in a bigger context. Since the end of last semester, I've just been bored with life as it is. There's just not a whole lot of excitement. But as I predicted, there are a lot of things that will fix that: new extracurriculars, new school stresses, and of course the womens (giggity).

That, and Katamari Damacy. God, I'm so stupidly hooked on that game.