Sunday, October 11, 2009

My Grandpa

So as many people are aware, my grandfather (who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer in the end of August) passed away on September 28t. I never got on here and talked about it because I didn't know exactly what to say about the whole thing. I'm usually pretty open about how I feel, and the fact that I couldn't bring myself to talk about it was kind of confusing for me. I know I loved him, but for some reason it wasn't something that I wanted to talk about all the time, or even at all.

But finally, one day after his memorial service, I have decided to write about the things I will really miss about him.

His unique sense of humor. "you might as well just finish your dinner, it's just gonna go in the garbage anyway." And "I beat her (grandma) up every morning." Oh, and then, "The other day I was walking down the road and a saw a monkey turning into a people!"

His stories, ranging to his mischievous childhood and teenaged years to his exploits at American Linen, where he worked as a delivery man.

Just talking. I could often go to Grandpa and tell him stories of my own and we would just talk about stuff for as long as it took.

His music was wonderful. Playing the banjo while also playing the harmonica and singing. He even had a belt buckle with a banjo on it.

His example was one of a kind. He was the least hypocritical person I ever knew.


Josh is getting into all sorts of mischief now so I have to cut it short :(

Saturday, September 12, 2009

URGENT WARNING: Internet Purge Immenent!

So just as I was signing into blogger I realized that I really didn't have anything that I wanted to say. Now I feel like just signing out and saying "forget it, I'm too empty-headed and frustrated to post anything today." And if that wasn't enough, there is also the fact that nobody will read this anyway! Why bother writing things that nobody will read? Maybe writing is just therapy for me, maybe it's a way to organize my thoughts. I really don't know for sure, but for some reason I just keep on typing nonsense into cyberspace, overcrowding the internet with a lot of useless junk.

That brings me to something worth speculating about. So what if ten years from now, it is almost impossible to find what you are looking for on the internet due to overcrowding information? Say you look up "Toyota Corolla" and instead of finding a nice review written by a professional, you find a whole lot of nonsense written by little kids about Toyota Corolla's crashing next door, or stupid stuff like that. This is a very real threat ladies and gentlemen, someday the internet might need to be wiped clean of all nonsensical and non-nonsensical information for the good of mankind. All blogs and YouTube videos that are not immediately beneficial for humankind will be purged from cyberspace... I wonder if that is even possible. Too bad Nobody will read this, so my warning will go unnoticed.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Blog Food

The reason I don't post too much anymore is because for some reason I make a bigger deal out of signing in to blogger than I should. For some reason I think it will be a pain and take forever when in reality I know it won't. My mind is weird! Hopefully nobody has completely deserted my blog in search of greener pastures.

Today on my way home from work I stopped for a red light and the guy following me at a safe distance thought I should have gone through. He promptly whipped around me to zoom through the red light after I had come to a complete stop. The guy who stopped next to me at the light (2 lane road) looked over and made a face as if to say "yeah that guy was a moron". we both agreed with each other using nonverbal gestures and then continued driving. Don't know why I felt the need to share that... but there it is.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Our Video!



Just a fun time.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Early Morning Adventure

Scroll down to pause the wasp video!

As some of you may know, my sleeping habits have been known to be a little irregular at times. I am an insomniac, and this can be very frustrating to live with, but I learn to cope somewhat.
Anyway, last night while lying in my bed awake at almost 3 am, I was thinking I was soon going to fall into a deep sleep. My eyes were tired, I was comfortable under a thin layer of blankets, and my thoughts were just beginning to wander off into the realm of the unknown and mysterious unconscious realm... yeah, that about sums it up. All was quiet, the room was dark but for a few lights from the computer indicating that it was on. Suddenly, out of the still quiet nighttime air, my ears detected the distinct sound of crunching metal, followed by the even more distinct sound of squealing tires. My calm night had just been shattered. "That sounded pretty close," I thought to myself as I got out of bed. I briefly debated whether or not to go out into the blackness of 3 AMishness and try to find the source of the disturbance.
If this had happened during the daytime hours, I would have decided to stay home and mind my own business, but since the thought of somebody crashing along a dark lonely road in the middle of the night was not the most reassuring, I donned some clothes and headed out to investigate. Some would call this "rubbernecking" but, as I explained in my Josiah style, I was not sure anybody else had heard anything, seeing as most of the civilized population was soundly snoozing.
I jumped in my car and headed down the road south, toward where I thought the noise had come from. After a while I turned around, figuring that perhaps the noise came from the more well traveled and sometimes dangerous route 104. I circled back to 104 where I drove the stretch nearest to my house. I began to think that perhaps I had just imagined the whole thing, after all, I had been nearly asleep; maybe it was part of my pre-sleep thought cycle thing. I rolled my window down and listened carefully. Sure enough, I heard the fire whistle. Good to know I wasn't crazy, but still a little scary that somebody had been in an accident.
I decided to go into the town of Sodus. Perhaps the noise had come from farther away than I previously thought. I cruised down the lonely roads of the sleeping village. Then I saw an ambulance driving toward me from the other direction. Then it made a turn onto Maple st. in the village. I was relieved that crews were on scene, but at this point my curiousity had been aroused too much to ignore. Perhaps against my better judgment, I followed the ambulance down Maple. There I saw a police officer leading a handcuffed kid toward the newly arrived rig. "Well that's odd," I thought to myself.
In the distance there were what looked to be dozens and dozens of emergency vehicles. As I drew closer I realized that they were all gathered in the Sodus school parking lot. You can probably piece it together yourself from there. I turned and left the scene. I guess I'll have to read the Wayne County Times to get the rest of the details, wether they are embellished
or not.

My theory right now, is that some kid (drunk or not) was joyriding at unreasonable speeds in the school parking lot where he crashed with some amount of force. He then bailed and ran up Maple st, hoping to elude responsibility. But who knows.

What I find fascinating is that I was able to hear the crash from that far away! Maybe the wind was blowing just right....

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Amazing Skyline!

I think I have discovered the most amazing skyline ever! Does anybody know what city this is?







How inspiring! It looks so futuristic too! Any guesses?

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Friday, March 20, 2009

Original Ideas

I don't know whether to love it or hate it. I can come up with the most original story ideas and I love that, but I hate the fact that they are so original I feel like if I tell anybody they will recognize the originality and steal my story! Last night I came up with an astoundingly 0riginal st0ry idea. I want to tell everybody but then they will steal my idea and become famous!I guess I will just begin writing then... sigh.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Unprofessional Review of Slumdog Millionaire

Please Scroll Down and Stop the Wasp Video if You do Not Wish to Have it Play!

Today I would like to take a moment to rhapsodize on the astounding qualities of the film "Slumdog Millionaire." Although this film received an R rating, it appears as though the Director, Danny Boyle, was almost attempting to achieve a PG13 rating. I believe it is rated R solely because there are references to the child prostitution businesses that exist in India and such places. There is also some subtitled language and a heavily accented "f-bomb" that a lot of people evidently didn't catch.

OK yes, after reading that section it does seem as if this movie is the most terrible movie ever; however, I thoroughly enjoyed it and think that it was well deserving of the 8 Oscars it achieved. If you are thinking of seeing it, go soon because it will soon be out of most theaters. Just keep in mind: Rated R for some language (PG13 kind), Violence (PG13 kind), Child Slavery, and brief sexuality (Brief as in passing by a brothel on the way to rescue a girl from it... PG13 kind).

It has a happy ending, so don't worry.

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Massacre!

This is truly a scary video. Watch and tremble with fear as your worst nightmares are realized before your very eyes.

Watch more MySpace videos on AOL Video



I hope this works.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Another Pointless Post

I am bored. I am at school. I will fill out applications online. I will try to get a job. I am a loser. The End.


As an aside, I have been writing more stories in my "spare" time. I try to get my ideas refined, I work on a screenplay, I collaborate online with Facebook friends, and I throw around ideas with Joe Slocum. We came up with some pretty cool characters for a story last night. The Anti-hero who calls himself "The Scientist" and the US Marshall that is hot on his trail. And the psychotic assassin who is trailing them both. Oh we have good details about the lives of these characters too, but nothing that I will divulge over the internet. Suffice (it) to say that it is cool... unpolished, but it's that way on purpose. It has a gritty feel rather than a smooth flowing style, and I like that about it because it makes it feel more real to me. But maybe I'm just a weirdo.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

My Day So Far

I woke up, took a shower, ate cereal, jumped on Facebook for a few minutes, then went out to get wood for the fireplace, and that is where my first story starts.

Molly was at the door begging to go outside with me while I got wood for the woodstove. Just look at those puppy eyes, how could I refuse? I slid the door open and walked outside after her, carrying the old recyclable bin in one hand. Molly frolicked over to the little swingset and danced around for a minute while I began to load up the bin with irregular sized chunks of wood because all the normal ones have been burned up already.

I glanced up at Molly who had now begun to wander off toward the pine trees in the neighbors yard. "Molly!" I warned sternly, "Don't you run off now, I have to leave in not too long." She perked her ears and pretended to listen. I stared her down until I thought she got the point, then I continued to load up the wood. When the bin was full I picked it up and started toward the back door to the house. "Molly," I called, "come on, time to go in." I scanned the yard but she was nowhere to be seen. How long had I been out there, 3-5 minutes? I hollered a few more times before turning back to the house. I went inside and down to the basement where I unloaded the wood. I went back upstairs and opened the back door where I called out "MOLLY!" for 10 minutes straight. After that failed, I went outside and walked around calling out her name. But I had to go to school. I got my books, went out the front door, and started my car. I circled around the block once, but no Molly was to be seen.

As of this minute, Bethany has notified me that Adam has found the sinister pooch. She was enjoying a nice walk in the orchard all by herself.

Upon arriving at school, I went into the student lounge and glanced over somebody's shoulder while they read the Democrat and Chronicle newspaper. I skimmed through the editorial section when lo and behold, I saw my own name! A little over a week ago, I read an editorial about how stricter gun control laws could bring salvation to a city plagued by gun violence. I stole the article from Orbakers restaurant (with permission) and typed up a response when I got home. My preference was to have the letter be about 250 words long, but 175 words is the limit. Narrowing my topic wasn't easy, as there was so much I wanted to say, but I did it nonetheless and e-mailed it to the newspaper.

I thought they were suppose to call and notify me if they wanted to use my letter, but when they didn't I thought that they ignored me. But there it was this morning, right there in the DnC! My grandma and grandpa knew before I did, and I never even told anyone I sent anything in.

Coincidentally, it appears on the same day as a front page article about a murderer who got a pistol permit... I think they did that on purpose.

Saturday, February 07, 2009

An Exciting True Story

As you all may have already known, I have been becoming increasingly discontented with my job as a pizza delivery guy. It is the same every day; wash dishes, get my shirt dirty, slice meat and veggies, deliver pizzas to the same five places that ordered (Mott's shipping, Mott's security, Route 88 barn, Pitts Ford, Middle or Elementary schools), and sometimes get a grouchy costumer. My boss, Chris, would yell at me for various petty things. I would often overhear different employees say my name while talking amongst themselves. They never let me know what they were talking about though... but I heard my name, so logically I could draw conclusions.

A couple of weeks ago, my boss got into trouble with his boss. We all knew who told the franchise owner about our supposed "less-than-par standards" because he came in all the time. He was a snoop, and he seemed to thrive on making stores other than the one he owned look bad... probably in an effort to climb the corporate ladder, if there is such a thing in this business. But my boss took it very seriously and began making a billion different revisions about the shop, including uniforms and recipes and such.

Previously at Cams, a delivery driver had to wear a white button up shirt with a bow tie. This summer when I went back to work there after a 1 1/2 year absence, the rules had become slightly more relaxed. The white shirt policy was still in effect, but the bow tie was no longer a requirement.

After the run-in with his boss, Chris reinstated the bow tie rule, which was tolerable I suppose. Unfortunately he soon demanded that I buy myself a new shirt and started getting extra grouchy about it. If I didn't buy a new shirt by a certain time, I would be fired. At this point I had already been feeling some pressure to quit, but not having any other job to go to, I had to give in and buy a brand new white shirt for myself, knowing full well that it would be completely wrecked within 2 weeks. The shirt I bought was nice, and it cost me $25.00. I didn't have enough time to look for anything cheaper, Wal-Mart doesn't believe in white button-up shirts. Further confounding the matter was the fact that only the delivery guys had to buy their own uniforms, other uniforms were standard issue.

I had this new white shirt for about a week when I went into work on Wednesday. Upon my arrival, my boss said to me, "Hey, where are your khaki pants? Didn't I tell you to wear khaki pants?"

"No Chris, you didn't tell me."

"Well, you gotta get some khaki pants before too long."

So I worked throughout Wednesday and on Thursday I went to school and forgot about khaki pants. In reality I didn't think it was a big deal, plus I had already spent $25.00 on a new shirt, so why would I want to spend more on pants for a minimum wage job that I didn't even like? I had also noticed something rather suspicious on the schedule the day before; Chris had a new guy scheduled to work some of my normal hours. What could this mean? I let that stew around in my brain for all of 5 seconds.

Friday rolled around and while on my way to work I realized that I had no khaki pants. "Oh well, not a big deal" I mused to myself. I pulled into my usual parking spot at work and grabbed my shirt and hat before getting out of my car and going in the front door to work. I entered like I normally did, greeting my boss with a smile. He was working at the bench making pizzas alongside the scumbag who had ratted on him. Chris looked up from his pizza making and said hello, then I watched his expression change. He looked at me with a rather stern face and said, "Hey Josiah, where are your khaki pants? Didn't I ask you to get some khaki pants? Remember that conversation we had?"

I looked at him with a strait face and said, "Oh yeah, I remember."

He continued, "So... what's the problem here?"

I stumbled over my thoughts for a second and mumbled something that wasn't even important enough for me to remember what it was. Chris pressed me for a strait answer. I looked at my feet for a minute before remembering my interpersonal communications class the night before. We had briefly discussed how well we conveyed our thoughts and ideas to others, even when it might be hard. I struggled with this for a second, the cannons raged in my head as the battle was fought. "Should I tell him what I am thinking... or should I just try and skirt the issue as I had been doing for the past 2 weeks?" I finally decided to just lay it out there plain as day and risk my job... it wasn't like it would be a huge loss to me anyway.

I looked him strait in the eye and explained, "Well, here's what I think: This is a minimum wage job, and I already spent $25 on a shirt, and quite frankly, I really don't feel like spending any more money on a minimum wage job that I don't even like anyway."

Without a single moments hesitation me gave me the news that I knew was coming anyway; "Well then, you're done." he stated rather matter-of-factly. I smiled and said "OK" and walked casually out of the shop. I got into my car and laughed. Then I realized that I probably had a paycheck inside on the counter. I waltzed back into the shop and kindly asked for my paycheck. Upon receiving my check, I turned around and walked back out the door.

So now I am jobless. I am currently waiting for news on any internships or jobs that FLCC might be able to offer me. If nothing turns up there, I may be able to score a job with a temp agency. If nothing else works out, I could always go back to Orbakers... but I hope it doesn't come to that.

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

I'm Too Smart for My Own Good

Today while thinking of various nervous systems that are supposedly inside the human body (Central Nervous System, Peripheral Nervous System, Autonomic Nervous System, Sympathetic Nervous System, and Parasympathetic Nervous System), I thought of a funny scenario in which a mechanic instructed some pupils that there were different types of gasoline used in cars at various times, Acceleration Gasoline, Deceleration Gasoline, and Cruising Gasoline. He explains:

"Acceleration Gasoline is what the vehicle will use when we apply extra pressure to the gas pedal. When we ease off the gas and drive at a consistent speed, the engine switches to Cruising Gasoline. And finally, when the driver downshifts, or apply the brake, the engine will switch yet again, this time to use Deceleration Gasoline. Not any of these types of gasoline can be used during a time when another is in use."

I thought it was interesting and entertained that concept throughout my psychology class this morning. What if all these nervous systems, or at least one or two, were really the same thing? It is true, you can't use gas with which you are decelerating for accelerating again, right? But in reality, all the gas is exactly the same, it's just being used differently.

Another thought I had was about my Interpersonal Communications textbook. Do we really need a 400 page textbook to tell us how to talk to each other? I can understand that some people lack communications skills, but taking 400 pages to teach us how to talk??

I think I should consolidate it into a 30 page booklet that would be much easier to read, access, and carry around. People could just whip it out at the first sing of a communications error. I will call it "The Handbook for Life's Misunderstandings" and it would be a bestseller until people realized that it was plagiarized.

Monday, February 02, 2009

Nobody Will Read This

Hi all of you who never read my blog anyway! How are you?

On Tuesday or Thursday... I think it was Thursday, I ate some peanut butter nutty buddy snacks from the vending machine at school. Over the weekend I have felt very weird and sick, almost like the flu but a little bit different. I looked up the symptoms of salmonella and I guess it isn't always severe enough to be lethal, and the symptoms I have match rather well. I was unable to find the exact snack on the FDA website, but I don't know how you are supposed to find anything on there. I also tried looking them up on google, but all I got were Betty Crocker recipes.

Anyway, on another note, I hate my job. I like writing, and I got some good comments on my story blog. I have been writing a never-ending story with some dudes on facebook as well and it is going pretty good so far. I'm genuinely interested in this story now.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

UGH!

I feel like I need to puke somewhere.

Anyway, I may lose my job very soon. I got sent home today because my shirt is not shiny and new. I need to buy a brand new shirt for my job or I will get fired. I don't even like my job, so why would I want to buy a brand new shirt? The shirt will just get dirty in a week anyway, plus the job is minimum wage and there is gas expenses, tire wear, oil changes, etc. Ugh, why bother eh? I put in applications before I went into work today anyway.

My public speaking class was last night and we had a substitute teacher already. When he read my name off the list, he said "That's a very nice name, the name of a poet." Something I had been thinking anyway. I always knew my name was nice... OK, so there was a short period that I wished to change it, but I was young and naive then.

I tried to put my CD player into my car by myself yesterday because I was tired of being musicless in my car. I hooked everything up the way that made sense to me, but nothing worked. This is getting very frustrating! Music is therapeutic to me. I REALLY need to ease my stress and get my mind off of... things. I try to sing to myself with no music, but the music is what controls my voice and keeps it from going places it shouldn't go. Plus something about certain types of music make me sing in ways that I otherwise can't figure out how to. I mostly need the music for stress though... I miss Five Iron Frenzy.

College is going to be tough for a while, and not because of the work involved. I have no first semester friends in any of my classes, and not only that, but they aren't even at school when I am! Some would rather have it that way I guess, but it's still tough for me. The smell of the college is killer.

I really need to go on that cross-country trip this summer... I really need it. YES I DO!

Ramble ramble ramble....

Friday, January 23, 2009

Cross Country Adventure!

Yesterday I had the amazing idea to take a cross-country trip this summer. I will get a friend who also likes the prospect of adventure and we would take a video camera along as we drove from NY to California! Along the way we would have to stop and visit friends and relatives of course. In order to make the most out of the trip we would probably go out to Cali taking a northern route and return via a southern route, or vice verse. The idea excites me even now. Haha, it would be so much fun and would add to my memories for when I am old and dying. I really have to do something like this while I still can ya know.

So, I have to be sure not to get scared and decide not to go because that would be dumb and right now I really want to do it. It will be good for me! ithink

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Update

Unfortunately, I have to start preparing for school. Classes begin the week of the 26'th but my first class of the semester is on the 27'th. Books are available beginning today, so I have to make some time to get down there and get them... yay. I'm taking Psychology, Public Speaking, and Interpersonal Communications.

My car is also being fixed in Canandaigua so when it is ready I will go down to pick it up and then go get books if I have time. I am kind of disappointed at how winter break went, I had hoped to do more and have a fun time. But whatever, there's always summer, eh?

Sorry, my thoughts have been rather scattered lately so this isn't the most well thought out post.

Oh, I have a rental car for now while my car is being fixed, but unfortunately, the rental place (Enterprise) failed to check the tires before renting me the car. My Rio has never been stuck in the snow, but this Optima got stuck right away. It has near bald summertime slicks on it >:( Now why would they do that to me?

Friday, January 09, 2009

Things to do in My Lifetime

I think I have been developing a more evident sense of adventure lately, but I don't know how to have fun. I need ideas for doing fun and maybe slightly mischievous stuff as long as it isn't illegal... not too illegal anyway, ha ha. Even if it's just driving around with a couple friends all night long being totally innocent. Now that I am 21 I can legally purchase alcohol, but I honestly can't seem to find the fun in getting smashed drunk. I have yet to purchase any alcohol despite the encouragement of a couple friends to do so.

Anyway, I have been thinking of things that I need to do in my lifetime and compiling a list. Here are a few of my aspirations.

Ride the L-train in Chicago.

Ride the subway in New York City.

Drive all night long and in the early morning stop at a small cafe where I don't know anyone and order breakfast (why does that sound enticing? I don't even know, but it does).

Visit London and walk the streets late at night.

Sing in a rock band, preferably one that actually rocks.

Drive a ricer (fast and the furious car) on a highway in Los Angeles.

Have a Guinness in a small Irish town (I know, I'm evil).

Meet at least one famous person.

Learn martial arts... if I can. :/

Fire a fully automatic weapon.

I would like to have a good girlfriend at least once in my life.

I've always wanted to go to Australia... but I don't know what I want to do there.

Roadtrip with friends across the country... maybe to LA where we will drive ricers down the highways.

Thwart a robbery. >:D

Make at least one movie, even if it stinks at least I tried, eh?

There will probably be more to come, but that's all I can think of for now.

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Public Information

There has been a whole lot of stuff on my mind lately... but because of the sheer volume of how much there is it would make it very difficult to describe.

For one, I have finally identified the root cause of my pessimism. I used to think of it as a curse of sorts but I have realized now that I use it as a defense mechanism. By not allowing my hopes and expectations to get too high, I keep myself from falling too far and getting hurt too much. I also use pessimism as a means to get attention. I never before thought of myself as one who craves the spotlight... and I really don't think the spotlight is what I want. Instead, I just want to be noticed and appreciated. Someone else can take the spotlight, just so long as I don't get shoved to some dark corner in the process. Is that a bad thing??

I guess people use many different methods of calling attention to themselves, I just happen to use self degradation. I want people to tell me that I am appreciated... without telling them to tell me.

But somehow I still manage to make myself feel blah even after being told that I am appreciated. Then what am I looking for? I think I am looking for a deeper sense of appreciation than what I get. I'm starting to feel lost... I don't want anyone to think I'm turning "emo" or anything... I think I'm just saying out loud (or on paper) what everyone else feels but feels like they can't say for fear of being labeled "emo."

I think that's enough for now.