Note to self, don't kick the reset button in your obsessive compulsive shifting of your legs while you are typing a post. Now I have to try and rephrase.

The parents are about 45 minutes away now. I promised them I would have something cooked. I imagine hamburger helper is about the best I can do. I'm not exactly a chef. Dad gave the impression that he is not thrilled at the thought of moving in with us, but Mom is quite excited about it. The feeling is symmetrical. I am also not exactly thrilled, but Liana is elated. I think she is happy to have someone besides us to do the dishes. I positively hate doing them, and now she will have a respite from the siege of cluttered counterspace and paper plates.

Man on Fire looks really cool in high definition. I'm really only saying that because it's on my mind and I want to make everyone without high definition feel jealous. In reality, it's not that big of a TV. Anyone with a respectable income can easily afford something twice as big. It does quite well for me, being the first HDTV I've ever owned. I like the whole concept of high definition, since it is widescreen by default. Now all those morons who bought fullscreen DVD's because they hated seeing the whole image on the screen will be bitching about the black bars on the sides. Ha Ha assholes. It's your fault for not buying widescreen to begin with. Sorry, it's just that working in retail and seeing people complain because we don't have something in fullscreen makes veins pop out of my head. Here's a tip for you fullscreen die hards out there. In order to format the movie to your square TV, they have to crop 50 % of the image. That's right, you are actually missing image in fullscreen, not the other way around. Duh. Here's why you should have known that. When you go to the theater, is the screen in front of you square, or is it wide? Piece it together.

Got a call today at 7pm from my parents saying they were in Jackson, Tennessee. That's 605 miles, which according to yahoo maps will take 9 hours and 18 minutes. I'm calling that 12 hours in an attempt to be reasonable. They should be here at 6pm tomorrow, depending on when they leave.

I feel oddly like I've just moved in to this place, now that the computer room is empty. The house has a different smell. It also helps that this was the first day of the year when it was permissible to open the windows. I know I'm from New York and 40 degrees isn't shit, but damnit, 40 degrees is cold for inside the house watching Waiting, the highlight of which was making fun of Forrest Gump. "Momma said they'd take me anywhere. 'Course, Momma used to beat me with a rubber hose and call me a retard."

Maybe I just feel better about the house because I've cleaned the shit out of the two rooms that I spend the most time in. I did it at a medium pace while intermittently playing Halo 2. I don't recommend this if you're in a hurry, but it makes any job that much more fun when you can stop and kill Brutes.

I watched The Aviator the other day. I liked it a lot. I really think Scorsese needs to get like Speilberg and start cranking out movies. As good as these movies are that he makes, there should be more of them. I hope he can work with Michael Mann again soon. I know I sound like a real fanboy here, but there aren't many movies by either man that I dislike. Even if I don't like the story there is something technically excellent about every movie they make. Michael Mann is the master of character development, and Martin Scorsese knows how to take characters that are really despicable and show you their point of view. He makes them much more likable, or at least he makes them understandable.

That having been said, this movie will forever be remembered for "Show me all the blueprints. I'm serious now, show me all the blueprints." There is also "The way of the future," and that pullback shot that reveals the bottles of urine. It must have stunk in there. It's really worth it though to put up with the "this man is one crazy son of a bitch" sequence because the interview with the Senator is awesome. To cap it off with the way Alec Baldwin says fuck is just brilliant. I also love the idea of a business negotiation with a man in a business suit and calm demeanor on one side of a door and a naked man flipping out and pacing on the other side of the door. In the commentary someone said that that was how they pictured big business behind the curtain.

For those of you over the age of 25 and still living with your parents, I have something for you. See, I'm 27, and I've lived outside of my parent's walls since 21, unless you count the army. Living on your own isn't that bad, as long as you have a decent job and a friend here or there to spend time with. Now, for some strange reason which doesn't need to be detailed here, I moved away from Ithaca to this lovely retirement community in North Central Texas. (This means it's full of old people who hate young people and are generally against any sort of business that relates to fun. As a result, we are stuck with Pizza Hut, McDonald's, Dairy Queen, and Wal-Mart. Guess where I work? I think there's a Radio Shack somewhere, and a shitload of car repair shops, along with a dozen or so closed up store fronts. Translation: Wal-Mart is the only thing to do). I moved in with my sister, which has led to the retarded assumption by most acquaintances that we are married. It has forced us to alter the introduction to the mighty presence of the two of us at once.

Now things are about to be flipped on their ass. This house will become like a house of a family that owns the King Buffet in Ithaca. My parents are moving down here on Tuesday. This is not a visit. They will be staying here for who knows how long, and it has led me to an awkward position. I'm not moving back in with Mom, she's moving back in with me. Does this mean Dad is still in charge? Or are we all equals in this endeavor to combine powers against our collective debts? Or will this small 2 bedroom one bath house explode due to our proximity? One thing's for certain, I can never watch Kill Bill again. Wedding Crashers must be hidden. I probably won't be able to watch any non-Christian entertainment in my house until this is over. Well, I mean I won't be able to watch it on the HDTV and surround sound in the living room at least. I can always watch shit in my room, but that's like trading your Jag for a fucking Pinto.

So, if you still live with your parents take heart. At least they're not living with you.

On a side note, this doesn't mean that I don't want them to move in. They are in a tight spot and I'm happy to be in the position to help them out. God knows they have certainly rearranged their lives for me. It certainly won't kill me. I just hope it will be better than the above paragraph describes it. I want to be able to watch a Harry Potter movie if the need comes up. They do not suck, and if you can get over yourself for a moment, you can even draw excellent moral conclusions from them.

I finished reading a book called Pour Your Heart Into It by Howard Schultz and Dori Jones Yang a couple of weeks ago. Howard Schultz is the CEO of Starbucks, in case you didn't know. The part that stuck with me the best was where he was looking for investment capital to start a coffee shop called Il Giornale he talked to 242 people, and 217 of them said no. Il Giornale was essentially the Starbucks we know today, but he had to start that company since Starbucks didn't want to sell drinks in the stores, they only wanted to sell beans. Eventually, the creators of Starbucks moved on to other things, and they sold the company to him.

Anyway, the point was, how do you continue to pursue something you believe in when so many people say no to helping you? I guess you have to develop a really thick skin. The only thing I can relate it to is applying for 15 or 16 jobs before one hires you. You get really good at job interviews in that situation. I could write a book on the subject called "Don't Say Fuck If You Want To Work There." I mean, the interviewer might have a 30% usage rate of the word fuck, but he or she won't tolerate that from you during an interview. The usage rate meaning that 30% of all words spoken or written are either extensions or derivatives of fuck. This is not the same as the Weather Channel forecasting a 30% chance of fuck. This is saying that 30% of your day will be fuck. There is a 100% chance that 30% of your day will fuck or be fucked.

I was going somewhere with this at the beginning of the last paragraph, but it seems I got sidetracked. I realize I had no intention of answering the last question of how do you keep from giving up. I guess it depends on how fired up you are about it, and if you have someone to turn to for encouragement. I know most people will say "You can never depend on anyone but yourself," or some such drivel but you honestly can't get through life with any accomplishments under your belt without some help.

On another note, if you aren't reading Achewood, now is an excellent time to start. The current story arc starts at the strip before this one. Ray will beat the asses of 3000 men.