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I really don't know what's with me these days....Maybe I'm kinda falling out of the whole journal deal. Even in the real world, I can barely push myself to write a single entry a week.

Not sure what to think of it really.... I think most of it has to do with the simple fact that, well, my life is pretty friggin' boring. Guess it doesn't help that my social life is once again near-nonexistant (wow, something I'm actually MISSING from Disney), a fact that isn't helped by my middle-of-nowhere living location, and the fact that I still can't be bothered to earn a driver's license.

I got my diploma in, FINALLY, last week from BR Community College. It's only an Associate's of Liberal Arts, but it's a start, and I'm sure any degree looks better than none at all on a resume and the like.

Speaking of jobs, I'm currently trying to apply at the local Suncoast. Not exactly my dream job, but at the moment, I just need a tolerable place that pays well enough for me to, hopefully, get my own place within a year or two. Or at least get me somewhere where I can live (I can think of two places I wouldn't mind staying at currently).

I got a new (sorta) computer a couple of weeks back. It's a Pentium 4 (not that I really pay attention to specifics....just tell me if it runs fast and can maintain a good connection, and that's all I need to know : P), so it's a tad faster than my laptop. Only problem now is that my moniter is freakin' HUGE...so big that I don't have room for much else on my desk. I wonder if there's any cheap flatscreens...I need room if I'm to get a scanner.

Nothing much to report in the art department, either. "Angel Kiss" is on a temporary hiatus until I can get that scanner and start working on an online version of it. Plus I gotta find a place to put it...not sure if people will find it well on DeviantArt (I'm Sea-Salt on there, btw; look me up ;p).

New Sonic game should be out today. In about an hour, I'll be heading out to hopefully pick up my reserved copy......Yeah, I know; I doubt it'll be a sellout, but I wanted to get that little figurine that's supposed to come with it for pre-ordering! razz

Yeeeep, I need to post more often.....

I forget where I was when I last updated, but I seriously doubt things have changed all that much. Though, I'm now at a different fork in the road, so to speak.

Today I took my final exam in my math class. And, hopefully, I passed it, and therefore be eligible for my associate's degree, which, at least for now, should end my longer-than-expected journey through college. So, I guess right now, I'm in my "spring break" of sorts, or whatever you'd want to call it...

Once Mechacon, a convention themed around anime and Transformers, comes around in a couple of weeks, I'll have to begin my search for a job so that I can start saving up for my personal bachelor pad. I'm still hoping to land a job at Nergyzed, the local video game company that started up earlier in the year. Wish me luck on that, as I really have no clue what those guys are looking for. : p

As usual, there's nothing much to report on the dating front. Not that I really care...after seeing the experiences and reactions of both my younger brother and my best friend involving relationships, I think I can wait a bit longer to deal with more stress and aggravation. Course, I suppose things could change come Mechacon...not like I'm getting my hopes up, though!

Anyway, I'm going to try to get into a more weekly schedule of posting, so if there's anybody out there who actually reads this, stay tuned, I suppose....

Until next time...

It's felt like forever since I last posted. Guess either things haven't been that wonderfully eventful for me, or I just haven't felt in the mood to type an entry.

It's been over three months now since I've returned home. Nothing seems to have changed, mood-wise, since I've gotten back, unfortunately.
I know lots of people out there have it much worse, but it just feels like everything's falling apart around me. I don't want to say I was better off in Orlando...I'll miss my friends, but my God, I never want to work for Disney again.
Maybe it's a sign that it's time I move on...start looking for my place in life. I know what I WANT to do; it's just a matter of HOW I get there. And it's not like I'd be leaving much behind- Most of my friends here have moved on themselves, and in general, the state's been going downhill ever since Katrina hit last year.

My brother and I are still putting together plans for a joint senior trip to California this summer. I may see about looking into the job market there while visiting. Besides, with my brother constantly rambling about joining the army (a moronic idea, considering his views on the war, and the fact that he has dollar signs in his eyes), I won't let it seem like I'm the dependant one, still living with my parents.

When I think about it, life is just like a book, with all of us going through our own chapters. I've already gone through several now, and I'm thinking it's time I closed another in my life. I want to start a new life, find somewhere I belong, and maybe, if God allows, finally find someone to call the love of my life.

Sorry for the drawn-out, most likely angst-ridden post, for any of you folks reading this. But hey, journals are meant for venting, right?

Until next time...

Wow, didn't realize my first post of the new year would be so late...

Anyway, I'm finally back in home sweet (sorta) Louisiana, and quite frankly, the first couple of weeks felt like I was coming back from the dead. Heck, the whole Disney thing seems almost like a dream; for the most part, everything's exactly how I left it those seven months ago.

Still, I was expecting a bit more...I was hoping to have caught up with all my friends here, but they're all scattered about, so the once-weekly hangouts we used to do are about impossible now. So now my weekends have been spent mostly hanging out at one of the malls, usually alone; although I did have the pleasure of chilling with Oran a couple of weeks back.

Classes leave a bit to be desired. Maybe it's because I've been taken out of the loop for so long, or maybe it's how the entire college's system changed drastically ONCE I wasn't here...but I'm finding myself very under-motivated (is that even a word?). Could also be from coming onto the realization that my graduation will be put off for yet another semester, due to the fact that I'm in the wrong math class....

I'm glad to be home, yes, but it just doesn't feel quite the same. I don't want to say that I wish I was still in Orlando, because there's nothing for me there. Everybody I know there is now on their separate ways.

Still....is there anything for me here?

Until next time....

Well, Christmas passed by with little fanfare (mainly because for me, it didn't FEEL like Christmas at all); composing of the usual drudgery of the Tragic Kingdom and fighting to keep myself from breaking down from loneliness.

One good thing did happen, and I'd like to take the moment to, despite the fact that I'll never see them again, thank the lady who showed me so much kindness at Mass on Christmas day. Sitting in the pew alone there, I didn't expect for her and her family to treat me so nice despite me being a total stranger to them. She treated me as if I were family, almost, and it meant alot to me, especially on that day.
Chances are I'll never see her or her family again, but thank God there's still good people left in the world. I suppose there is a bit of hope left in humanity after all.

Anyway, getting back up to speed, here we are at the end of another year. It's definitely been a roller coaster ride, now that I think about it. Full of good times and bad, joyfullness and heartbreak, and a long, yet somehow short, journey. I really think this is the year that has truly affected, and perhaps changed me, the most.

With the start of a new year, I'll soon be off on yet another journey; unsure on where the path will eventually lead me. And I'm more than ready to leap into this unknown head first.

So to everybody on Gaia, and the internet, and in reality, Happy New Year 2006!

Until next time...

Well, whattaya know, I managed to squeeze in another entry before Christmas. Seems like I've been rushing in quite a few things to get done before then, though I'm not sure if I'll manage to get in all in in time.
I went out to Animal Kingdom the other day for the first time in months; mostly because I had to get in at least one more ride on "Dinosaur" before I finished the program. Riding it a total of three times, I have enough for a decent summary, but that's for later.

One thing I've learned from participating in this program is this...human beings, for the most part, are FRIGGIN. PATHETIC. Whether it's the rudeness, cruelty, or just plain stupidity, it's really a wonder to me now how we haven't wiped ourselves out.
I'm still trying to figure if it's just tourists, or just DisneyWorld visitors, or what...But I can say I've never had a greater urge to just go on an all-out rampage- think I need to play some violent games to get it out my system...
And I'll spare you readers the angst of my thoughts of overly-shallow women. Besides, I rather not remind myself of THAT reality.

Anyway, on to tonight's Disney ride review....and this is one of my all-time favorites!...

DINOSAUR
Definitely the best attraction in all of the Animal Kingdom park, and definitely among the best in the entire resort. Besides the fact that it features dinosaurs (which is reason enough to like it), it's also one of the few Disney rides that older folks can enjoy (probably the scariest thing since Alien Encounter, I'd bet).

The journey starts after traversing through the winding halls of what appears to be a normal museum, before descending into an underground 'time rover' loading area. The "mission" of the whole trip is to bring back an iguanodon that Dr. Seeker (the paleontologist in the preshow video) had placed a homing beacon on. Only catch is, the little joyride is set to take place about three minutes before the meteor that theoretically wiped out the dinosaurs hits.
Yeeeep, I think you know how well THIS is going to go wink ....

Upon transporting to the late Cretaceous era, you pass by various species of dinosaurs, such as a styracosaur, and then an alaioramus choking down one unlucky crocodile.
Suddenly, your tracker picks up the signal of a large dinosaur...The rover races off towards it, only to find....
A close encounter with a hungry carnotaurus! And it won't be the last run-in...

I don't want to spoil much of it, but the last thirty seconds of the ride is an exercise of extreme hauling-@$$ that's just too cool for words. : P

Anyway, as sleep beckons me, I should take the wise choice and go with it...

Until next time...

Man, it's felt like forever now, and yet, everything's gone by so fast.

I've survived six months in this god-forsaken Disney college program, and I'm down to the final stretch. I just need to get through this last month, and by the first week of January, I'll be home free!

Though I'll really miss all my friends here and the fun times we managed to fit in between those overly busy, lowly paid workdays, I'm really anxious to see all my friends and family back home again.

All that stands now in between me and home sweet home is the trip into the very bowels of hell......also known as the Christmas and New Year season at Disneyworld...
I'm definitely not looking forward to that...In between the extremely discourteous crowds and the inevitable breakdown from loneliness during the holiday season, it'll definitely be a test for my nerves.

Anyway, there's not too much else going on in my life that's new anymore. Just the usual cycle of work, sleep, draw, play games, go online, etc. like it has been for the past six months...

In case this is my last post before the holidays, I just want to wish everybody out there a Merry Christmas. Hopefully yours will be much better than mine...

Until next time...

And, now, it looks like it's Florida's turn to be pummeled with a hurricane this year. Though, quite frankly, the timing couldn't be worse. Figures one would head this way instead of back home in Louisiana NOW that I've got something planned.

Hoping that it passes before Tuesday, so I can NOT have wasted my money on a ticket to DisneyWorld's "Not-So-Scary" Halloween party...

Anyway, that's about it as far as new stuff goes here, without going into the rest of the angst and stress that seems to be my life these days. So, without further ado, here's the Disney attraction review I promised last time...

Stitch's Great Escape

Lovingly called "Stitch's Great Mistake" by many people who work in the attractions field, this particular 'show' in Tomorrowland is a less-scarier remake of the Alien Encounter attraction from years past.
From what I've read, the premises are similiar, except that the 15-foot-tall carnivorous alien is replaced with a 2-footer animatronic Stitch.

The "story" is quite simple: the guests are the latest recruits to be guards for the Galactic Federation. Upon entering the attraction, you're briefed by both the Grand Councilwoman, and Captain Gantu, before being sent before Sarge. Sarge (who is an update of T.O.M. from Alien Encounter) fills you in on the details of the Galactic Federation's prison teleportation center. Another remnant of SGE's former life, Skippy, can be seen in this chamber.

From there, the audience is led into a circular room, filled with several rows of seats. Upon being seated, harnesses are lowered onto your shoulders (in order to "scan your DNA" wink and the latest prisoner is teleported in....I've give you one guess as to who it is.

As the title suggests, Stitch gets free of the two ion cannons locked in on him, similar to his escape in the actual 'Lilo and Stitch' movie. The little guy then proceeds to wreak havoc around the chamber; bouncing on people's shoulders (the harness pushes down on you slightly), burping and spitting on them, all before hijacking the teleporter's navigation system and beaming himself down to Earth.

In perhaps the more groan-inducing segment of the show, Stitch lands in Florida...in the Magic Kingdom....on Cinderella's castle. Don't tell me you AREN'T whoring your own park, Disney...
Anyway, as Captain Gantu ponders where Stitch could be next, the audience exits, passing by a rather humorous "No escapes in *insert decreasing numbers* days" sign on the way out.

All in all, it's not that bad of an attraction, so much as you're a fan of the little hellraiser. It's barely got the potential to scare anyone besides smaller children, and that's only due to the short segment in total darkness.
The animatronics were very impressive, I've found, from Stitch's curious yet mischievious expressions, to the fluid movements of the ion cannons hanging on the ceiling. Like I said earlier, the ending's pretty cheesy, but everything before that is just a thrill to watch.

Anyway, that's it for today, so everybody have a nice boon-chocky, and until next time....

(Wow, I gotta get back in the habit of posting regularly...)

Well, what can I say....It's hard to believe that I'm almost finished with this whole Disney college program. After this month, it'll be about two more months until I return home, a (most likely) changed man. It's going to be wierd, that's for sure; getting used to a life after Disney...but that's another story that has yet to happen.

This month has been rather busy with the Halloween season. DisneyWorld's annual "Not-So-Scary" Halloween party is currently going on, and once again I live a life of late nights, and little sleep.
Some of my relatives were down this week, so it was nice to see some familar faces from back home.

Speaking of familiar things, I really hate the fact that I haven't been able to do something I loved to do on a normal basis...and that's spending time with my games. I suppose once I get ahold of the ones I'm anticipating (Ratchet: Deadlocked, Shadow the Hedgehog, Kingdom Hearts II, etc...), I'll get a little more time in, but I still feel as though I'm falling out of the loop.

Every now and then the pain of loneliness kicks in. Seems like everybody I know either has someone, or has their eye on someone. I've been jaded enough times already, so I haven't been the most eager lately to enter another relationship, but I still wouldn't mind finding that right girl who cares for me.
Also doesn't help when one's object of affection is practically off-limits. I'll spare you the details on that situation...plus it's too big of a risk to mention.

So, in short, things have been the norm...could be better, could be worse. Sorry folks, no extra reviews today...But expect one the next go 'round, assuming I'm not feeling sleepy then, either. : p

Until next time...