Things That Annoy Me

I know that blogs are supposed to have a few topics that they write about consistently, and I am trying to do that. But I have to break the rules (they are more like guidelines anyway) and make an exception one time. Today, I’m going to write about things that annoy me.

There are many things in a regular day that annoy or irritate me. Some are small things, some are large things, but whatever it may be, they still, unfortunately, exist. Most of these things, other human beings do. I’m not trying to be a downer, pessimist, or old mean guy, but some of the things people do are just downright annoying/stupid.

I am going to start with people who walk very slowly or stand in the middle of hallways. There is a simple solution, mover over to the side. I know it’s a revolutionary idea, but you could be considerate of other people who actually want to get someplace.

One of the major things that annoys me is people who tell me what to think. These people need to go live in a cave somewhere. I will come back to this one later (it has political implications also), but I just need to say, you have your opinions, I have my opinions, and that is perfectly acceptable.

My number one most annoying thing is incompetent drivers. Most of the people that are driving, should NOT be driving. They should either be in a passenger seat, sitting at home, or on a bicycle. They do not know what is going on around them, and sometimes I get the urge to just run into them. This actually happened to me today. I wanted to turn right at a stoplight and I was sitting behind somebody who also happened to be turning right. The light was red and there was nobody coming for a mile. But I’m still sitting there. I sat there until the light turned green. I was actually sitting there until about fifteen seconds after the light turned green because the car in front of me refused to go. I don’t know if they didn’t see the light change or if they just couldn’t find the gas pedal, but I let them know that they were making me wait for nothing. So then this person turns, thankfully it’s a two-lane road that we are turning onto so I can pass them. But no, this person has to turn then basically stop (I think we were only going about 8 mph) in the middle of the road. Wow was I mad. When they finally realized what they were doing, they moved over into a single lane so I could pass them.

Maybe I’m doing something wrong. Maybe I’m not a good person. But those kinds of things just set me off. I try to at least be aware that there are other people living on this planet.

The New Mr. President

I don’t know why I’ve waited this long, but I am going to talk about the new president of the United States of America. Barack Obama along with running mate Joe Biden, beat out the old guy and his Barbie doll.

I have been for Barack since the very beginning. If I was old enough, I would have caucused for him, and I am relieved to see that it is finally over, with him coming out on top. I think he is a good guy, with his morals, ideas, and character in the right place. I respect his opinion, even though I may not agree with it all the time (isn’t that the whole point of your own opinion, to think what you want and not what other people tell you to think?). I think he will do an excellent job in the white house, started to get the economy and debt on the right track, and start to pull the troops out of places they should not have been in the first place. He may not live up to all the expectations set for him, which is fine, at least he wont lie to the people and run the country into the ground like somebody else…

Now, I have said all along that whoever wins will do a far better job then our current president has done. I even felt that John McCain would do better. People said that they feared he would just be an extension of the Bush administration, and I agree somewhat, he is a republican. But I do believe he is smarter and has dealt with issues in a mature manor before, so he wouldn’t have been bad.

When John McCain selected Sara Palin to be his running mate, I thought that wasn’t a bad idea, he was just trying to get the woman vote. But after a couple of weeks, and the vice-presidential debate, I was dumbfounded. First, because they had actually found somebody that would be a WORSE president (if anything happened to John, like, maybe passing of old age) than Bush. She doesn’t speak in complete sentences, talks in a condescending, smug voice, and hasn’t answered a question that was asked directly to her, ever. Second, because of how the campaign tried to build her up. They basically set her up to fail. They tried to tell the American people she was an old, experienced maverick, just like John McCain. I’m sorry, but you don’t go from being the governor of Alaska for a couple of years, to an experienced political leader overnight. That was my biggest fear about this election, Sara Palin. If McCain had won, and something happened to him and Palin took office, I would have moved to Canada. This is my serious face. I’m not joking. Palin in office is more scary then anything ever in the history of the world, even the comet that destroyed all the dinosaurs.

My Relaxing Weekend

This past weekend was a nice relaxing weekend for me. I’m going to enjoy it while I can because basketball starts in a week, consuming everyday with almost no time to breath. Fun right?

I brought up this because on my nice relaxing weekends I have nothing better to do then to watch movies. I think that I watch a lot of movies, and most of that movie watching comes on weekends. My dad says how I need to be “movie educated” and watch all of the good old ones. I agree. I think that to understand and enjoy a good movie, you have to know what you are looking for.

Last weekend I watched The Shining (it was close enough to Halloween). The classic horror movie with Jack Nicholson and Shelly Duval in which Jack becomes the caretaker of some far off hotel for the 5 month winter and goes crazy. The original trailer for this movie is the elevator doors with the blood running through them. That’s all. After I saw this trailer, I couldn’t not see the movie, I was intrigued. I could not have pictured anybody but Jack Nicholson in that role; he plays the best crazy person, just watch One Flew Over the Coo Coo’s Nest. It is hard to explain why, but some parts are just plain creepy and make you never want to be with JUST your family again. There is just one last think I need to say about this movie, “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” was running through my mind, like it was running through the typewriter, for the at least week.

The movie that I saw this weekend was Apocalypse Now. Martin Sheen in the Vietnam War going up a river to kill an American officer gone crazy. It has many famous actors around Sheen, including Marlon Brando, Robert Duval, Dennis Hopper, and a 17-year-old Lawrence (“Larry”) Fishburne. I have seen my share of war movies, and I think this does one of the best jobs of showing the thought process going though soldier’s minds during the war. Insane. That’s all. It shows how war basically makes men go crazy. Robert Duval, as a commander early on in the movie, who wants to surf while an attack is taking place, and Lawrence Fishburne opening fire on a woman who just wants to save her puppy. These are small instances of insanity, but they are evident as you watch the movie, we see the characters go through the transformation from sane to crazy. There are two acts to the movie, and I liked the first act better. I think it was because there was more action going on, and the second act was just weird, it was when the craziness really showed its true colors. But the movie was really good overall, and it left me thinking, which is what I look for in a movie. 

Hawkeyes Upset Penn St.

I am a huge football fan. But, even though I live in the heart of Hawkeye country, I am not a big Iowa fan. I don’t really have a reason for this; it’s just that I never got around to liking them. I wasn’t born here, I moved here when I was in kindergarten, and I don’t have a favorite college football team. If I did, it probably would not be the Hawkeyes. I don’t have anything against them, they didn’t do anything wrong, I just don’t have a fondness for them like most of the other people that walk through the halls of my school do.

But I must admit that their win over Penn St. was miraculous. Penn St. is a good football team. I was looking for them to get into the national championship to give the Big Ten some representation, but that is out of the question now. I thought that they were just going to overwhelm the Hawks and beat them just on pure talent alone. But this was not the case. The talented Penn St. team did not shine verse the Hawks. But Penn St. has nobody to blame but themselves. They threw the game away. Iowa played like they usually do: turning the ball over on key possessions, making penalty’s that give the other team first downs when they were going to punt the ball away and give the Hawks decent field position. Penn St. just didn’t convert when they had the opportunity. They did get the Hawks down and keep them down like they (and everybody else in the nation) know they are capable of doing.

Now on to more college football.  Texas vs. Texas Tech. I was convinced that Texas was going to win this game. They had gone through a grueling schedule up to that point, and they had succeeded. They had overcome ever obstacle in their way and, I thought, were going to make a run to the national championship undefeated. This was not the case. It was close, as everybody expected, but Texas Tech found the way to pull this one out. Maybe it was the Harrell-Crabtree combination, or maybe it was just Graham Harrell. I think he is the best quarterback in this country. No doubt. If you just look at his staggering numbers, he blows everybody else away. But it’s not just the numbers. As you can see from that game, he also has the leadership to lead his team and come out victorious. But don’t doubt Colt McCoy, I think he is the second best. Just watch him play a game, its pretty impressive. He would have won the Heisman if Harrell didn’t beat him.