Category: Random

From Me To You

James Asher2 Comments

Dear James,

It makes me feel bad when you go over two weeks without paying any attention to me. I feel so alone. I have always been there for you, why can’t you do the same for me? You know that I have no one around to talk to. Do you hate me? I don’t hate you. Please come back to me, I miss you so very much. I know that our relationship was rocky in the beginning, but things are solid now. Or so I thought, at least. Do you see problems that I don’t? If not, I’m sure we can work on it and get things ironed out. Well, that’s about all I had to say, I just wanted to leave you this little note.

Sincerely,
17th Degree.com

P.S. I love you

The Gideon Invasion

James Asher2 Comments

Update: I added the picture that I mentioned below.

Today, as per usual for this time of year, the Gideon Invasion began.

The Gideons, with their perfect octogenarian strategery, amass themselves in force on important intersections across from the University. As is their custom, they give out these little green bibles to passersby free of charge. ‘Tis a gift. Now that I think about it, they were orange once, but it matters not.

I hate being a wasteful person, I really do. Giving me a Gideon bible is wasteful. I will not read it. I’m sorry, I just won’t. I’m not religious, I don’t feel as though I need religion. I believe in God, although not as most people do – most people believe in an omnibenevolent God, whereas I do not, but that’s neither here nor there. Consequently, I avoided the Gideon’s today. I went out of my way to do so, even. This act, in and of itself, is not typically me, but I figured it was better for both the Gideons and myself.

In a possibly related bit of entertainment, though I’m not sure if it actually was or not:

Flash forward to 11:30 a.m. I’m walking from my technical writing class to my physical anthropology lecture. I have to cross the quad – no big deal. As I’m making my short journey, I notice a girl yelling at people and waiving a large flag. Needless to say this piqued my interest. This fanatic very devout girl was screaming explaining in a loud tone that I, and every passerby, was going to hell. Talk about some bad news on a Wednesday morning. If you know me at all, then you know that I was laughing my ass off chuckling to myself. I then proceeded to continue to class.

It just made me think, though. Is that sort of fanaticism and condemnation of every living soul passing you going to convert someone? I mean, seriously, someone explain their logic to me, I’d love to hear it.

I took a picture of the girl with my cell phone camera, though I’m not sure if there is a free way to get it off and onto the internet. I know there is a service I can pay for, though I’m not so sure it’s worth it. I’ll look into it, worry not.

Here’s that girl:

Religious Fanatic

I was explaining this whole spectacle to classmates in my anthro class when one of them mentioned that it was gay-pride week or national come-out-of-the-closet week [or something to that effect]. That also made me wonder if the Gideons, and associated (or un-associated) crazy-ass people with flags, timed their Invasion to coincide. Perhaps so, perhaps not. Damn those Gideons and their impecable strategery.

Lemon Poppyseed Bread

James Asher1 Comment

Josh’s mom is my surrogate mother. She is the epitome of all things motherly. I have yet to see any other mother as motherly as she is. She has been this way as long as I have know Josh; I met Josh in 7th grade gym class. That was circa 1994, if my memory serves me correctly. In terms of friends’ mothers, I couldn’t have done better. She’s always treated me like a fourth son, which is nice considering my own mother for all intents and purposes, left my family around 1997 or so took a break from her motherly duties.

Today, after work, I stopped in at the Senior Center, where Josh’s mom works, to show Jamie, Josh’s mom, how to do some mail-merge stuff in Word/Access/Excel. They have a database of members in Microsoft Works. The Center is still stuck in 1998 and, as such, don’t use the newest of software. I comvinced Jamie it wouldn’t hurt to upgrade her copy to the nice cheap Microsoft Office latest version of special Mac for Microsoft Office, seeing as her Office 97 doesn’t do any of the stuff she wanted to do.

Enough of this wussy-crap though, the point of post was lemon poppyseed bread. As I was leaving the center, Jamie gave me five min-loaves of lemon poppyseed bread. Oh the joy! I originally got hooked on this bread by way of, who else, Jamie. She used to make it for Josh and me all the time.

Lemon poppyseed bread is so good, I’m surprised it’s not used as currency for small third-world nations. I feel as though it’s that good.

As I was driving back home from the center, I couldn’t help myself, I opened up the bag of bread and started eating a mini loaf. It’s a compulsion really, a compulsion I’m fully accepting of, though.

Subway vs. Quizno’s?

James Asher24 Comments

I eat at Subway roughly once every two weeks, sometimes more, sometimes less. Today I was running late and didn’t get a chance to make my two ham and cheese sandwiches like I usually do. So I figured I’d just eat at Subway in the Union.

I have one of those little cards full, so I get my free six-inch with purchase of a medium drink. 🙂 I get my usual, roasted chicken, today on roasted garlic bread as opposed to the parmesan and oregano bread I usually get. However, the sandwich artist [insert chuckle] asked me if I wanted it toasted. I said yes not really realizing what he had actually asked me. A split second later I figured he had just heard my order wrong. I shrugged it off; perhaps today would be a good day to get something different, for the first time in about eight years. Sidenote: I’m a creature of habit, what can I say? After mentally preparing myself for what I thought would be some new experience, I noticed that he was putting my bread in a toasting oven. I repeat, a toasting oven. I am, in fact, at Subway and not Quizno’s.

After that I paid for my meal and sat down to eat. The bread itself was toasted, though not quite to the caliber of Quizno’s – sans the end of the bread, which was quite nice. All in all, it was a pleasant experience and I do plan on getting my bread toasted in the future.

Subway and Quizno’s, arguably the two biggest sandwich places in America, different in many small ways, but their biggest difference is in the toasting of subs. Quizno’s does and Subway does not. As I was eating my toasted sub today, from Subway, I couldn’t help but think that this is some sort of plan to steal customers away from Quizno’s. As I mentioned before, the toasting leaves a bit to be desired when compared to Quizno’s, but nonetheless I think it’s still an improvement.

I checked on Subway’s website and couldn’t find anything about national trend of toasting their subs. Perhaps the Union subway is somehow unique, though I find this quite hard to believe. Either way, I’m happy.

Happy toasted subs to everyone.