Have you ever been alone in a crowded room when I'm here with you?

Have you ever been alone in a crowded room; well I'm here with you...

Oh no no no no no. York Region badminton tournament is the day BEFORE the SSAF tournament... so April 14th is YRAA and the next day is SSAF. Man, SSAF being the less competitive one should be PREPARING us for York Region!!!!! Not the other way around. This is notwithstanding the fact that I'm talking strictly for seniors. The YRAA junior tournament falls on the exact day as SSAF. So if we had any junior members that were going to partake in both, well it becomes kinda impossible. Oh man, trouble.

“To laugh often and much,
To win the respect of intelligent people
And the affection of children,
To earn the appreciation of honest critics
And endure the betrayal of false friends,
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others,
To leave the world a bit better,
Whether by a healthy child,
A garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded!”
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Little Chad was a shy, quiet young man. One day he came home and told his mother that he'd like to make a valentine for everyone in his class. Her heart sank. She thought, "I wish he wouldn't do that!" because she had watched the children when they walked home from school. Her Chad was always behind them. They laughed and hung on to each other and talked to each other. But Chad was never included. Nevertheless, she decided she would go along with her son. So she purchased the paper and glue and crayons. For three weeks, night after night, Chad painstakingly made 35 valentines.

Valentine's Day dawned, and Chad was beside himself with excitement. He carefully stacked them up, put them in a bag, and bolted out the door. His mother decided to bake him his favorite cookies and serve them nice and warm with a cool glass of milk when he came home from school. She just knew he would be disappointed and maybe that would ease the pain a little. It hurt her to think that he wouldn't get many valentines - maybe none at all.

That afternoon she had the cookies and milk on the table. When she heard the children outside, she looked out the window. Sure enough, there they came, laughing and having the best time. And, as always, there was Chad in the rear. He walked a little faster than usual. She fully expected him to burst into tears as soon as he got inside. His arms were empty, she noticed, and when the door opened she choked back the tears.

"Mommy has some cookies and milk for you," she said.

But he hardly heard her words. He just marched right on by, his face aglow, and all he could say was: "Not a one. Not a one."

Her heart sank.

And then he added, "I didn't forget a one, not a single one!"

"Madame Mosbenskias: Come to me, Werewolf Boy.
Cory: You know.
Madame Mosbenskias: I know many things, I know you were bitten by a wolf.
Cory: It's true.
Madame Mosbenskias: I know you are now becoming a wolf.
Cory: That's amazing.
Madame Mosbenskias: I know you are recently divorced.
Cory: What?
Madame Mosbenskias: You're not Billy Joel?
Cory: No.
Madame Mosbenskias: Well, then, you're just a wolf."
-- Boy Meets World

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Imagine, for a moment, if you will, the time when you were a child. Imagine your happiest dream. You're there, youth restored; a child again. As you soar through the air on a strangely floating bed frame and mattress, you see everything you've ever lost, everything you have, and everything that could be possible. Your high-school girlfriend/boyfriend is there. So is your pet from childhood. There is the mystical ruins of the Cloud City you may have heard of in childhood.

This is the scenario set up in Little Nemo, a tour de' force through the dream world as seen through the eyes of a ten year old boy in pre-civil war era New York. Based on the turn of the century comic strip serial- and more recently the wonderful video game classic for the NES- Nemo revolves around Nemo, who lives in a pre-World War era New York. Coinciding with the arrival of the World's Fair, Nemo's dreams begin to transcend reality, and one night he gets pulled into his own dreams-boy and mind.

From there Nemo is brought to the reality-or unreality- that he now lives in Slumberland, a Renaissance-like world of perfect harmony. Everything goes great with his new adoptive father, the king, and his step-sister, the Princess, to whom he grows fond of, and she in return. Then he encounters Flip, voiced by the loveable Mickey Rooney, who is an ex-con on the run in Slumberland for his reckless gambling and black market trading of bizarre Kitsch. From here, Nemo's life becomes a somewhat perverse combination of mindless, Yellow-Submarine inspired romping with the princess and reckless parading with Flip. Nemo's happy little wonderland is burst, however, when Flip finally convinces Nemo to do the ultimate crime, which consists of opening the gates to Dream Hell (Nightmare). With the century-sealed gates now open, Dream Demons – Nightmares - parade around, slaughtering the palace guards and making off with a girlishly screaming King as Nemo and the Princess watch in horror. From here, the Nightmares begin to screw around with the dream world as well as the real world, sending Nemo on a mind blowing journey, bouncing him between the real world and the dream world until he ends up marooned in the middle of the dream world ocean. From this point Nemo, Flip, the Princess, as well as some outcast and slightly psychotic Nightmares must travel into the realm of Nightmare Land, rescue the king, and kill the Nightmare Lord before he can combine and twist the real and dream worlds into his own perverse fantasy.

Ok ok, granted that I've probably made the movie sound more subtle and complex than it actually is.

"Slumberland, Slumberland
Joys without number-land
Rainbows end
Kingdom of dreamy times
Starbeams and valentines
Where everyone is a friend
Here's where lost wishes
Are granted
Cast away dreams all come true
It's fun to be under the
Slumbering wonders of
Slumberland"
-- Slumberland Medley, Little Nemo Adventures In Slumberland

I just saw that movie today... it was my all time favorite childhood movie. I think I've seen it more times than any other, plot and music were very imaginative.

“People will forget what you said.
People will forget what you did.
But people will never forget how you made them feel.”
-- Anonymous

Apparently, due to the shape of the North American elk's esophagus, even if it could speak, it could not pronounce the world "lasagna".

In other news, guess what movie I watched today on the movie network? AGENT CODY BANKS!!!!!!! Well... that and the Animatrix but the latter didn't make much sense to me. I was running on the treadmill while watching the Animatrix so I was too busy breathing to actually pay attention too much... even after I got off the treadmill after 17 minutes, I was busy hyperventilating so I still didn't focus too well then either. Right after the Animatrix was Agent Cody Banks... which I found to be an amusing movie. Frankie Munitz (sp?) always has this completely perplexed look on his face... I think it's the fact that his eyebrows always seem to be inexplicably raised. And for some reason, Hilary Duff always seems to look better when she's portraying another character.

“A kiss is just a kiss until you find the one you love. A hug is just a hug until you find the one your always thinking of. A dream is just a dream until it comes true. Love is just a word until it’s proven to you.”
-- Anonymous

Just as a side note, many of these quotes that are coined "Anonymous" are probably not really unknown authors... some of them are just quotes that I find on pages in which the author of the site doesn't bother to tell you who it's by so for the records, they're deemed "Anonymous"

“Sometimes you have to stand alone to prove that you can stand.”
-- Anonymous

"I like Michael Genin's house"
"Who"
"Michael Genin"
"Who's that?"
"He is a man... named Michael Genin"
"No kidding!"
-- MSN Conversation

Ah, the irony...

"Stress is when you wake up screaming and you realize you haven't fallen asleep yet."
-- Anonymous

True Story:

When Apollo Mission Astronaut Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon, he not only gave his famous "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" statement but, followed it by several remarks, usual com traffic between him, the other astronauts and Mission Control. Just before he reentered the Lander, however, he made the enigmatic remark, "Good luck Mr. Gorsky." Many people at NASA thought it was a casual remark concerning some rival Soviet Cosmonaut. However, upon checking, there was no Gorsky in either the Russian or American space programs. Over the years many people questioned Armstrong as to what the "Good luck Mr. Gorsky" statement meant, but Armstrong always just smiled. On July 5, 1995 in Tampa Bay FL, while answering questions following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26 year old question to Armstrong. This time he finally responded. Mr. Gorsky had finally died and so Neil Armstrong felt he could finally answer the question.

When he was a kid, he was playing baseball with a friend in the backyard. His friend hit a long fly ball, which landed in the front of his neighbor's bedroom window. His neighbors were Mr. & Mrs. Gorsky. As he leaned down to pick up the ball, young Armstrong heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky - "Sex! You want sex? You'll get sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!"

Am I trying too hard? Maybe. I'm tired of being blown off... tired of being pushed away.

The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid term. The answer was so profound that the professor shared it with colleagues, which is why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law, (gas cools off when it expands and heats up when it is compressed) or some variant.

One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate that souls are moving into Hell and the rate they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, lets look at the different religions that exist in the world today.

Some of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religions, you will go to Hell. Since there are more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.

Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand as souls are added.

This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

2. Of course, if Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by Ms. Teresa Banyan during my Freshman year, "...it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you", and take into account the fact that I still have not succeeded in having sexual relations with her; then, #2 cannot be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and will not freeze.

The student received the only "A" given.

“It's funny how big of an impact you have on me. It's like when I see you, you don't even have to speak; all you have to do is smile, and it can make my day… and that's my reason for loving you.”
-- Anonymous

“There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, no tonic so powerful as expectation of something tomorrow.”
-- Orison Swett Marden

"'When you truly love someone, you don't break up because of a mistake or misunderstanding.'
'So if me and Topanga are truly in love, why did we break up?'
'Because you're in high school... and you think you're supposed to'"
-- Boy Meets World