Bonsai Blog

I didn’t say it, but my favorite author in the world did.  And you know what?  If you read the whole paragraph in which he says it, you’ll see that just maybe he does in fact have a  good idea.  Go read it!

To think, I actually used the glass in my hotel room in Mexico.  Never Again.  Just watch this undercover video of how hotels actually ‘wash’ those out for the next guests.  It’s absolutely disgusting, and I regret now that I used it.  I’m already germaphobic enough…

So it’s Thanksgiving tomorrow, but unfortunately our party is on Friday.  Big family thing.  That will be very fun and of course the food will be wonderful.  It will be odd though to watch the Macy’s Parade without the smell of Turkey.  Hmm…

Hillary, your lips are moving and you’re lying.

If anyone gets the song reference, kudos.

I guess what why I’m updating my blog is to ask anyone who’s a part of the ‘Zune Social’ to add me as a friend, because I don’t honestly know many people on it.  So if you’re on it, feel free to add me here.

Anyways, on Friday I went to see Beowulf with some friends.  We were very close to going to the community play, but last minute decision resulted in a cinema trip.  It was pretty weird to see tons of violence, sexual innuendo, and general adult behaviors coming from Polar Express-esque CGI animations.  Actually, Beowulf’s animations are very lifelike (and at times you could forget that it’s actually an animation), moreso than the previews for PE.  I never even watched the actual movie, but I sure did see enough TV commercials for it.  Angelina Jolie was by far the best modeled character out of the lot, but she isn’t seen on screen that much.  However, when she is on screen…you will see a lot of her.  The coolest scene by far though is Beowulf fighting Grendel (an awesome monster) naked.  What a brave man.

And while we’re on the topic of the cinema, I will take a moment to say how disgusted I am at how ‘The Bee Movie’ is getting whored out so much on TV.  It seems like I see at least 10 adverts per day for it, and about half of those are integrated into shows!  It’s getting to a ridiculous point.  No, no amount of advertising is going to save a movie that chose a name like that.  Or chose a racist unfunny actor as its lead voice.  Sorry, I’m just not in with Seinfield.

I really am digging the new Zune software, and I can’t wait until the Zune 80 actually gets majorly stocked…  Awww.

Last week before Thanksgiving!  Yay!  And that, of course, means only two days of school!  What could be better?!  Ok, yeah, sure, the whole week off.  Later~

Ok, so I’m actually in 2nd hour right now.  I forgot my book again, which means I can’t measure the dimensions for the book cover I’m supposed to be working on.

First of all, the Zune 80 (which I want so … bad) is out of stock.  And the awesome Zune Originals site doesn’t offer it until December.  This is almost unbearable, after I’ve been raving about it and waiting over a month!  Obviously this is just trivial, but yeah.

Oh, and I got a 28 on my ACTs.  My scores were all in the top 10% range, but that’s really disappointing.  If I would’ve stayed in America, I could’ve gotten in the 30-32 range for sure.  This academic year has been kind of difficult coming back and just focusing on stuff.  I’ve gone of solidified my idea to apply to the U of M, so hopefully 28 is acceptable for them. 

Class is almost over.  I’m using my last like 5 minutes.  5 more hours left. 

I’m writing this as a plane takes me back to the United States.  No use wasting time in getting a blog up.  Plus I have nothing else to do at the moment.  In a word, I would have to describe my vacation as phenomenal.  There were things that could’ve gone better, but that’s life.  Overall it was a look into a culture I had never experienced firsthand and also a time to relax and have fun.

My family and I stayed at the Crown Paradise hotel.  It was an all-inclusive sort meaning the food, drinks/bar, and tips were all included.  Plus there was tons to do with its multiple pools, mini golf, tennis courts, and more.  It was an all around fun time.  In Mexico it’s legal for me to drink, so Sarah was jealous that I got the red bracelet which gave me access to alcoholic drinks.  Luckily I’m already pretty addicted to my drug of choice, Diet Coke.

Mexico was much different than America.  It had the feeling of a poor neighborhood if you got out of the glitz of the strip with all the hotels and tourist spots.  Everything had a pretty grungy look to it and it wouldn’t be a place I could live.  I feel bad that their government can’t come up with a suitable way to turn the country around.  We didn’t go too far into Mexico (it can get dangerous…) but we did go about half an hour away from Cancun by public bus to visit a marketplace.  It was still a tourist marketplace, but it was a bit different than the hotel area.

One thing that really really bothered me in Mexico was the business philosophy.  If you go into the marketplace, the people really pressure you into buying stuff.  It’s also not a fixed price, so you can bargain for whatever you want.  I LIKE fixed prices though, and the comforting structure they offer in any business model.  The fact that they abuse the emotional tie you have with them is disgusting.  I really hate feeling both pressured and like I’m letting people down.  Two for two for Mexican tourist traps.  Obviously I did not have too much fun in the marketplace.  Got some decent pictures though.

Another thing I don’t like about making money in Mexico is the people who work for tips.  They don’t have a real job, they do various things that you probably don’t actually want them to do and then have the audacity to ask you for a dollar or two.  I’m just not into that.  Again, it just gets me that they expect to take advantage of people.  What is wrong with a good hourly wage job?!  I can understand if they can’t get a job, but using that as an excuse for hassling people is just not acceptable in my view. 

I went to the bathroom at the airport and this Mexican guy shook my hand and asked how I was.  I answered and kind of (naively) just thought the guy was being friendly.  Then when I was coming out he got me a towel when I was washing my hands.  I’m sure a lot of you can see that he’s simply setting me up for giving him a buck, but I tend to not be cynical and think people have an overall decency built into their humanity.  As I’m walking out the door though, he did in fact ask for money.  It really through me for a loop, but I’m not sure how I couldn’t have seen it coming.  I told him I didn’t have any money.  I actually had $80, but it was in $20 bills and it’s not like he has change.  The point though is that I felt used and taken advantage of in the end.  Where people would just SIMPLY BE NICE in the US, people here expect money for it.  Even if I had all the dollar bills in the world, I wouldn’t have given him any.  It just made me pretty sad about the already downward trend of the world.

Ahem, anyways.  It was a good vacation.  I’m not happy to miss school so much, but I guess that just happens sometimes.  I think I gained at least 7lbs there because of the buffet that was open for about 14 hours each day.  Free food buffet style never makes for weight loss, true life fact.  While I was in Mexico though I thought up a few more things to write up in my blogs, more than just daily coming and goings, so I want to start tackling those issues that plague our society.  Mmm, mmm, good!

LOTS of pictures and vblog later.  Ciao.

PS- Danny and Gina’s wedding went really well yesterday.  It was pretty fun to see them get married on the beach.  Congratulations to them!!

Oh, and 3 DAYS UNTIL THE ZUNE COMES OUT!

So, I leave in t-minus four hours for Mexico.  I do NOT want to wake up at 3AM, but I must.  At least we arrive in Mexico early.  Um, details as soon as I can!

I DID however update my gallery with some ‘Back in Minnesota’ pics, and I also updated my YouTube thing with a super short ‘goodbye’ video for the week I’ll be gone.  You can get to those using the links on the left side of the blog.

Pray for me to be safe, thanks!