A Relaxing Weekend

Boy... I didn't do S#!^ at all all weekend. For the love of... (listening to "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus)

So.. Far be it from me to call MYSELF a lame-ass. But.. seriously. You've got to hear this. About two months ago, a buddy of mine from work went and planted trees along the Mississippi river gorge to help out the enviroment... or something. Really, the only reason we were there was to win White Stripes tickets. Which we did. This weekend. However. I, being the super-genius that I am wrote down on my calendar that the concert was Saturday, when in actuality.... Friday. Yeehaw for the bonehead society.

So, yeah.. no concert. Instead, I played poker at a local bar on Friday, cleaned my apartment and saw Comedy Sportz on Saturday and hung out around the house and hung out with Ender all day today. *sigh*

Somebody, anybody, please save me from myself. On a higher note, when spending copious amounts of time alone, you get to find interesting websites. I've never been a huge fan of the online "find your match" quizzes, but I found one that was really strange. Caught my eye. I think it works on numerology and something else with the birthdate, but I haven't been able to figure it out. Anyway, it's a pretty accurate "crush" test. Basically, you give it your name, and answer the questions, and it spits out a short little synopsis of your dating and crush tendencies. Kinda neat. Here's the link:
Click Me

Let me know if you can figure it out. Until next time!

WELCOME HOME!

Welcome the newest addition to the Madjai family. His name is Ender. It's a poor picture, I know, but I promise to add a better one when my digital camera stops acting like a petulant stepchild. (listening to "Shy" by Ani DiFranco)

I was talking to Scorcho today online, and told him that I had to bail on him to go to my saturday ritual: Going to Petco to their "Last Hope" pet adoption day. I've been there a few times, and found kittens that I liked, but none of them had ever quite captured my attention like Ender. As I walked past his cage, he was napping. I walked around the corner of his little wire home and he perked up and looked up at me. I looked down at him, and knelt to get a closer look. He sat up, and extended a paw out of his cage. I couldn't help thinking that this was pretty strange behavior from a cat that must have seen dozens of kids sticking their chubby fingers in his cage all day. I let his paw come to rest on my finger, and he pulled it towards him. I rested my finger on the wire, and he nuzzled up against it, itching his whiskers on my outstretched finger. He and I spent a few moments like this, until he roller over on his back, a clear sign that he wanted his belly rubbed. Well, this was too much for me, so I asked one of the foster moms to come over and open his cage.

She came over, and little Ender walked over and allowed me to pick him up. I held him for a while, and he just laid on my arms, purring away, content with the world. I spoke to his foster mom for a while, and she told me that he loved to sit up on shoulders. So... of course I let him. As it turns out, she was right. He does indeed like the vantage point up there. After a while, I picked him off my shoulder, and moved to put him back in the cage. As he figured out what was going on, he turned around and latched his claws into my shirt, holding on to me for dear life. That was it for me. I was hooked. 20 minutes later, he was on his way home with me. He's now watching me blog from the top of the reclining chair back, staring at me as if to say, "Well, actlete, I'm home. What now?"

Good question, Ender. Let's find out.

Can You See What I See?

Ahhh.. a blog post inspired by a comment. Got to love it. (listening to: "Killing in the Name," Rage Against the Machine)

A very valid point was brought up after my last post, and I was very suprised that I hadn't thought of it myself first. The question is: Are the superhero/sidekick roles defined? or are they fluid? The example given was that if someone sees themselves as a sidekick, but to someone else they are a superhero.. who is right?

To that, I had no immediate response. I mean, that's an excellent question. Normally, I would just come right out and say, "Well, it's relative, I guess. If you see yourself as a sidekick, then that's what you are. If someone sees you as a superhero, then to them you are one." But that didn't seem so sit right for some reason. And then, today, I was scouring the internet for movie quotes, and I came upon a classic from Woody Allen, and everything made sense. Here it is: "I would never want to join a club that would have me as a member."

Of COURSE. THANK YOU, Mr. Allen. See, the simple nature of Superheroes is so unbelievably larger-than-life, that anyone who thinks of themselves as a sidekick can not possibly have what it takes to be a superhero. To fight for truth, justice, and the American Way, a person must believe inside of them that they're the ones who make the differences so that anyone who thinks its their job to assist, to be the mirror that reflects, is almost immediately disqualified.

Having said that, there are a few very rare cases. Superman himself grew up in Smallville as a young boy, raised by adoptive parents. I doubt very highly that he thought of himself running around in a red and blue spandex suit saving Ms. Lois Lane someday while walking the halls of Smallville High, no matter what the WB might tell me.

So, in these rare cases, it turns out that by having someone believe in them, by finding a sidekick to back them up, to always pick them up when they fall, to iron their capes on the off days; these superheroes become so BECAUSE of their sidekicks. That's irony.

So, to answer the question at hand, I would say yes. The roles are flexible, but only very slightly. And, as it turns out, with enough mirrors it becomes hard to tell which is the candle, and which is the illusion.