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So, I'm trying out "Windows Live Writer", a non-browser based client. I usually use "Scribe Fire", a firefox add-on, to write this shit... but, I've been less than happy with the way my posts have been coming out using that thing. This one is kind of nice, though. It has a really smooth interface, and everything feels pretty tight. I'm probably going to keep using this sucker to update from now on.

My computer has been acting up lately, and it's getting on my nerves. The lappy has been serving me pretty well for a over a year now, but, it's starting to get a little sluggish. I need to hook myself up with an external hard drive and move all of my music downloads... Hopefully that'll speed things up a little bit. It'll have to wait until I come back home though, as I don't have the money to blow on something like that right now. God, I wish I could get a job.

So, this past week or so has been a struggle trying to get my rent paid. They were able to take the money from my account on the first, but, it was returned because about half of my funds were put on hold by the bank when I deposited my check. When I got my lovely "Pay Up, Bitch" notice on my door, I hiked down to the bank and asked the woman at the teller if it was possible for her to take the hold off. She told me that she couldn't, because apparently I had deposited the check through the ATM. I insisted that I had done it through the branch. She just gave a "Whatever, kid" look.

Look at me, lady. I can't shave properly, let alone deposit a check through a fucking ATM.

But, she was at least able to tell me that the funds would clear on the 13th (yesterday, as of seven minutes ago)... One day after the hardcore "Give Us Your Money, Damn It" date. I didn't make too much of a big deal out of it... I figured, I'd hide out in my apartment, and avoid my landlord all of Tuesday... Then go down the next morning right when they're opening the office up-- You know, before they can file any paper work, and be like: Double you tee eff, mate?

So, the plan seemed to be working without a hitch. I woke up early, I got my ass downstairs, chilled out with a book until the office opened, and proceeded to go through with a debit transaction.

Insufficient Funds. You've got to be fucking kidding me.

So, I haul ass once more to the bank and get myself in front of the manager. I explain my situation: That the hold on my money was supposed to go through today, it hadn't, and it was urgent that the funds become available. She takes a moment to explain to me that when they say the funds will become available on the 13th... they really mean the 14th. The money doesn't go through until midnight.

...Then why the fuck don't you just say that the funds will be available on the fourteenth?

I'd like to say that I gave the bank a piece of my mind, and that they eventually caved to my sharp tongue to bowed to my every command ( and threw in a couple hundred dollars for my inconvenience)... But, really, I just looked grim and mumbled "Shit" under my breath.

That was enough for the chick to decide to help me out. She said that she couldn't make the hold disappear entirely, but, she could change it so that they only held one cent-- The rest of the funds would become available immediately. It took everything I had not to jump the counter and hug this fucking woman to death.

Luckily, my landlady is damn near the sweetest woman alive, and accepted my profuse apology with a smile.

God bless Canadian generosity.

Allison recommended "I Am The Messenger" by Mark Zusack (I think that's how you spell it) to me a few days ago... So, I went down to the library to pick it up and give it a read. I'm a little torn on how I feel about it. Zusack's writing style is really solid, and often times, very funny. He hasn't mastered minimalism, by any stretch of the imagination, but the pages generally flow pretty well.

The first chapter is pretty great-- But, it gets bogged down by some poor pacing, bad story editing (there are entire bouts of fifty pages that I would shave down to ten, or take out entirely), and increased preachyness. It's also clear that Zusack has no idea what audience he's writing for-- Seeming to direct it to older teens, while pacing the novel at the level of pre-teen reading.

I still kind of like it, though... and there's enough for me to see it through to the end. (Which is rare for me, I'm in love with both 'No Man's Land' and 'Goodbye Lemon' -- but, don't have the time to finish either of them.) It's not a 'bad' book by any stretch of the imagination... I just don't think it deserves a lot of the awards it received. I'll have this one finished this weekend-- So, if anyone has any other suggestions (easy reads are nice.. Nothing classic... or British)... I could use something to hold me over until Harry Potter comes out next month.

Speaking of, if I have the money, I think I'm just going to buy Harry Potter up here, rather than wait until I'm back home. Yes, the cover and size are completely different, and won't match the rest of the set on my bookshelf... but, I figure, if I don't pick it up right away, the end will somehow be spoiled somehow. Now matter how hard you try and avoid it, something always ends up getting spilled about the books somewhere.

...And how is it that 'Order of the Phoenix', the longest book of the series, has been adapted into the shortest movie adaptation? It doesn't bother me all that much, though. 'Azkaban' and 'Goblet' were much less literal adaptations of the book than the first two movies-- and they were fantastic. (I'm disappointed Newell didn't return as director for this one... but, I felt the same way Curan didn't return for 'Goblet', and look how that turned out.) I don't care how far they stray away from the book, as long as whatever they do makes sense for the story as a film.

That's right, I said it. Fuck you, fat chicks in robes and Gryffindor ties.

...I read a news article earlier about a chick who got into a fight with her ex-boyfriend after a party... she then proceeded to rip off his left testicle and tried to eat it. She choked on it, spit it out, and the dude's buddy handed it back to him, just like, "This is yours."

How fucked up is that? The article had me cringing and laughing simultaneously. I don't have the link right now... But, I'll see if I can find it.

All right, well, I intended for this post to just be a couple paragraphs-- But, it didn't exactly turn out that way. Consider it a "fuck you" to everyone who reminded me that I hadn't updated in awhile.

Good night.