A Day In The Life Of A Peanut Butter Cup

Listen Up!
So after giving you an extra week to read the worlds longest blog post, it's time to get back to talking about stuff.
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I've uploaded a new batch of art to my deviantart page, I'd really suggest checking it out, for two reasons. All that stuff I uploaded is REALLY good, and because it seems like every time I upload a new batch of anything I get less and less views on it all, and it's really making me not want to do it anymore. So yeah...
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JOB SEARCH! Well, I'm focusing on three major places right now for jobs. Fed-Ex, Blockbuster, and UPS, in that order. I've already had an interview with Fed-Ex and am waiting on the final yes or no, but I'm 75% sure it will be a yes because of all the low requirements and the connections I had. Blockbuster I've yet to interview with, so I've got to call them back soon about that. And UPS I've got set on the backburner right now, because I'm waiting to see if I get a yes from Fed-Ex before I go there. Bottom line, I'll be working again this semester.
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Jugglers On Juggling. Yeah. I've gotten a few more episode ideas, and I had planned on recording an episode or two last week after coming back from WJF5, but somehow, as soon as I walked in the door, I caught a really nice cold and couldn't speak for all I was worth. So I had to postpone, and then I got better about 5 days ago. Then, after doing all the job hunting stuff and catching up on all the internet stuff that needed catching up on, I was going to record another episode, and I can feel myself getting sick again! DAMNIT! And Luke released another episode of Juggling Podcast, so it's good to know he hasn't stopped, but he's making less episodes than I am, and that's kind of sad.
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No college right now, so I'm happy there. Grandma's back in Florida for the next couple months too, so I'm happy about that. And to clarify, no I don't hate my family, it's simply that the fewer people are in the house at any time, the more comfortable I am. On days when my sister, grandma, father, and mother are all here in the the house, I get really nervous and uncomfortable. I have no idea what it is or where it comes from, and when I'm alone in the house, and I know that nobody's going to be back for a few hours, I am absolutely ecstatic. I guess it must be some kind of phobia I have or something, I have to look it up sometime...
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So I said last post I'd talk about some of the ideas I've had for new videos, so let's get that out of the way right now. Remember Pot Manipulation Ideas? Well, I've come up with a BUNCH more ideas for it, and will be making a routine video for it as soon as it gets warm enough to film outside for more than 20 minutes. I've also released Club and Ball, which was a video for a few ideas I was kicking around, and I've recorded some more tricks of the same type after a few suggestions, so expect Club and Ball 2 to come out sometime. I'm also going to make a few more ring tutorials, especially a flat front reverse tutorial, because I didn't get the chance to teach Sondre at WJF5 and it's a move that's so easy that not enough jugglers do.

Daily Life:
So! Having turned 21, I am now legally able to make a rant about alcohol. I've been in a ranting mood lately, and I've already had a bit of experience with alcohol (not in all the different tastes of different beers and such, but I'm talking about alcohol in general, not specifics), so I'm going to give my thoughts about it.

I don't like alcohol. Plain and simple. I like what it DOES to you, but that's the only real reason I ever want to get drunk is for those effects of being relaxed and uninhibited. I kind of look at it like I would look at cold medication. There's a time and situation when you need it's effects, and your choice of flavors ranges from crap to "It tastes ok". Simple as that. Wow, that's really the quickest I've explained my opinion in a while. Let's go a bit deeper.

Alcohol is GREAT for if you're the type of person that HAS to put up a facade and barriers around other people. Why do I have to do this? You guessed it, A.D.H.D. But it's not about the hyperactive portion, it's about how one of the things about the disorder is the impulsivity. It used to be, for the longest time, that if I had a thought, or an idea for a joke, or wanted to be in on a conversation I had nothing to contribute to, it would go straight from my brain to my mouth without me even realizing it. Or what's even worse, is that if I felt like doing something, regardless of the situation or who was watching, I would do it (well, to a POINT. I'm talking about wiping sweat from my head, adjusting my balls, picking my nose, etc). I don't think this is one of the reasons I was unpopular, but it lead to a LOT of embarrassing situations through middle and early high school. So to deal with a lot of that (the talking part), I had to develop inhibitions with my conscious mind. Basically, I had to learn to FORCE myself to stop and think before I said anything. Doesn't sound that tough, but that's because you know how to do that much more easily. So now I've got this barrier in my head that I have to live with constantly, whether people are there or not, because that's the only way to make it all work. So Alcohol demolishes that barrier, and it's very nice and liberating to just blurt. I like doing it, and the best part is, I can be myself, but have an excuse that people WILL UNDERSTAND. When I say "Sorry, I got ADHD", they don't believe me or don't accept it as an excuse, as where everyone accepts "Sorry, I'm drunk". That's the BEST thing about alcohol for me, of course the problem is that I have to get absolutely SHIT FACED before that happens. (Note: I'm assuming that the basics of this point, that alcohol allows you to be yourself and have an excuse, applies to EVERYONE, but I think it hits me harder because I do have to have a bigger mental barrier than normal folk)

Now, I really tried to think of something else that I like about alcohol, but I can't think of anything, so it's ON TO THE NEGATIVES! First off, I absolutely HATE how a few hours after you start drinking, it hits your digestive system hard near the end? You know what I mean, there are 2 things, you can't stop going to the urinal, and then when you have to go to the stall, it's warm and nasty. That's all I'm going to say about that because it grosses even ME out.

I already said I don't like the taste of alcohol, but let me clarify. I HATE THE TASTE OF BEER AND ALCOHOL. I only have found one beer that I can come CLOSE to liking, and that's Yuengling. Otherwise, I like Vodka especially Smirnoff, but either as a Shot, or flavored. That's IT. Give me anything else, and watch me wince as I drink it. I find it miserable to pretend to like alcohol at a bar or social thing, and the only other alternative is to feel like a pussy ordering soda or a wimp ordering water. I HATE social drinking.

Another thing I don't like about alcohol, is how much I have to drink in order to GET DRUNK. Yes, that has to do with my body weight, but even considering THAT I'm really resistant to the stuff. I once had 5 shots of straight vodka and couldn't feel a damned thing (and I hadn't even been impaired yet, I could still juggle up to 6 balls). And couple that with my first point of being drunk is the main reason to like alcohol for me, and then factor in how much alcohol COSTS, and I'm basically paying 10 bucks to get anywhere NEAR drunk and happy. Thinking about that makes me like it all even less.

I really think that's it for what I don't like about the stuff. So to sum it all up again, I LOVE the net result of being drunk and what it does to you, but what it takes to get there, especially depending on the situation, is absolutely the worst thing and I do not like doing it. Yup, next week I'll be ranting about how ADHD affects SEX! lol.

MY NEW CAMERAS:
Well, since The New Steve broke my camera at WJF5, I had to get a camera to replace it. As I was there, and seeing as how the ONLY camera's I could see were all these consumer models (basically cameras with NO manual settings, NO video mode worth talking about, not even high iso and F-stop ratings), I figured then that I would spend the money on something I'd been meaning to get for quite some time. A camcorder. So as I said in my last post, I spent about a half hour looking at the rack, until I had it narrowed down to the Panasonic and the Sony. And then i realized I was looking at Sony, and instantly went for the Panasonic.

Now, having used it for a few weeks, I've got some SERIOUS gripes about it, but first, let me get the great stuff about it out of the way. The screen is wonderful, I can finally see whether I'm in frame or not quickly by just turning the screen around to face the subject! So happy about that! Battery life seems to be awesome so far, it's lasting for about an hour constantly each charge without needing more. Finally, the sound from it's microphones are boss! I could almost record an episode of JoJ without using the external mics, almost.

The bad stuff. What burns me the most is that, despite recording directly to SD cards, which I specifically made a priority as I was buying to avoid importing clips (a completely arbitrary and useless process meant for IDIOT consumers), I NEED TO IMPORT THE CLIPS VIA THE SOFTWARE! GAH!!!!! HATE IMPORTING! JUST RECORD THE FILE AND CONVERT IT TO EITHER AN AVI, MPG, OR MOV INSIDE THE CAMERA SO I CAN PULL IT STRAIGHT OFF THE CARD!!!!!! It's the main reason I really am not using this camcorder that much. Another thing I hate about it is the pictures it takes. For the love of the non-existent god, it records video at 800x600, BUT IT ONLY TAKES 640X480 PICTURES! WTF IS THAT!?!? It's bad enough that the camera doesn't give you ANY control over manual settings in both taking pictures AND video, but you can't get good resolution pics anyways! ARGH! Another gripe, when I import clips recorded in 16:9 aspect ratio, which I was so happy to finally be able to record 16:9, the imported clips are squished sideways, making the 16:9 mode about as useless as an escape slide on a helicopter! FUCK!

Other than all of those, however, the video I get from this thing is WONDERFUL. It's clear, crisp, and is very good with maintaining it's framerate, so for juggling videos, the footage I get from this is awesome. BUT! It's not any faster of a framerate than my OTHER new camera...

Kodak Easyshare V803. After I'd used the camcorder for a while and realized what crappy stills it took, I knew I needed a new still camera, but I figured I'd go look on craigslist and wait for a good Kodak to pop up, because they record videos directly to SD cards as MOV's no converting or importing needed, and they usually have really good settings. So I wait a day, then this one pops up for $80, because the guy had sent it to Kodak to get the LCD screen repaired because it shipped broken, and during the wait time he bought a different camera, and then got it back and sold it to me. I am VERY happy with this camera. But I still have some major complaints about it.

Firstly, it has NO MANUAL SETTING CONTROLS. FUCK! Yes, I can change the shutter speed to a slower speed and manually choose the ISO, but it's completely unwieldy to get to through the menus, and it's shutter and aperture that I REALLY need to control. That and the F-stop only goes down to 2.8, which is dismal at best, but hey, it's a point and shoot, what do I expect. OH! And as to be expected, the video microphone sucks to all hell and back.

What I DO like about this camera, is that the flash works, for now. My old camera lost it's flash basically, a few weeks after I got it and the return policy ran out, it's not the "OMG LOOK AT THIS CAMERA IT'S AS THIN AS A CREDIT CARD" style that WAY too many camera's are being made as now, And I really love how quickly it boots up and is ready to take a shot. Excellent for my street photography. Other than that, it's got the same kind of stuff as my old camera, which was PERFECT in terms of what I needed, but a POS in terms of a camera. This one is exactly the opposite, it's a wonderful camera, but has only about 75% of what I need. We'll see what happens with these two later, but for now, they seem to be working well, so no complaints yet.......



So I was going to post about what my juggling skills are like now, but they really haven't changed all THAT much since WJF5. I AM going to rant about finding the right juggling balls next week. And I may still review Heroes Season 3, but who knows. For now, it's winter, I must go back to hibernating to try and fix my sleep schedule (still fucked up from PRE-WJF5 crap). Live long and prosper, but only if you really DO believe in logic and common sense.

A Day In The Life Of A Peanut Butter Cup ~ Reeses2150