Madison Monroes

Just when you think there’s nothing good to be found on the internet…

It’s a Wonderful Life in 30 seconds, re-enacted by bunnies

This is just too funny. Well it used to be.

Last night I watched the movie American Beauty with my family. It’d been a long time since I’d seen it, and I’d forgotten how much I like it. The story does a pretty good job of showcasing just how fucked up the world can be, yet still be beautiful. Still, I can’t help thinking the ugly is slowly overtaking the beauty in the world of today and it’s pretty sad. I wish more people would remember these kinds of things:

I had always heard your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die. First of all, that one second isn’t a second at all, it stretches on forever, like an ocean of time… For me, it was lying on my back at Boy Scout camp, watching falling stars… And yellow leaves, from the maple trees, that lined my street… Or my grandmother’s hands, and the way her skin seemed like paper… And the first time I saw my cousin Tony’s brand new Firebird… And Janie… And Janie… And… Carolyn. I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me… but it’s hard to stay mad, when there’s so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I’m seeing it all at once, and it’s too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that’s about to burst… And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can’t feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life…

Currently Playing: Simple Plan – Perfect World
Without you I just can’t find my way

It’s been a good day for me. So far the break has been nothing but good to me. I’ve enjoyed having little responsibility and just being able to relax and do things at my own pace. Today really wasn’t much different. Some of my relatives are in town, and I was not really sure how that would affect our Christmas morning routine (if at all). Nothing really changed except the process might have taken a little longer than usual due to conversation on the side.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had trouble sleeping on the night of Christmas Eve. When I was younger it was due to excitement for Santa and all the presents that the morning would bring. But even into high school I’d still get that rush of excitement as I tried to go to sleep that inevitably meant I was going to wake up early (or at least lay in bed as long as I could stand it). The last few years the problem hasn’t been with falling asleep or even sleeping well. The problem has become going back to sleep if I wake up during the night. If I wake up much at all, the thought of presents pops into my head and that’s all it takes. I’m usually wide awake. Well, this morning I woke up about 8:10. And in keeping with the trend, there was no point in trying to go back to sleep. And that’s actually a decent time, unlike years past.

So we did the present thing. My parents decided to try a different tactic and gave us the big stuff first…

This is what makes the rest of these pictures possible.

While not unexpected, digital cameras are always awesome! My sister got an identical one that just happens to be the same model my dad got about six months ago. Imagine that. Of course, that means I’ll be taking lots more pictures, and I’ll probably post (some of) them when I get around to it.

My dad replaced my keyboard for me. If you never heard about it, I had an unfortunate accident with some keyboard-frying juice over the summer. This makes me very happy

My sister decided to get creative and designed this cross stitch pattern based on something we both enjoy: the world of Harry Potter.

So as the day wore on, I decided to test out the new camera and took some pictures around the house. Here’s a taste.

Albee is our oldest dog. He got a new collar today.

He may be old, but he still knows a trick or two.

Mirabelle got a new bed.

You’d think she has a rough life or something.

Boomer belongs to my aunt and uncle. She got to tag along on their Christmas road trip.

I leave you with a little Christmas spirit. And look, there’s still a few gifts under the tree. We’ll save those for a little later. Merry Christmas!

Currently Playing: Coming Home by The Appalachian Christmas Quartet

…with projects, finals, Christmas shopping, birthday shopping, wrapping presents, and done going out into the craziness that is the world in the week before Christmas.

A recap of the last few days: got to see the Appalachian Christmas Quartet for the second time. Still awesome. I’ve spent way more than I anticipated for Christmas, but then again, what else is savings for? My mom’s birthday was yesterday, and we saw Spanglish, then had a nice meal at Scotch & Sirloin last night. Things have been crazy, yet at the same time the thought of having absolutely nothing school related makes everything very relaxing.

I leave you by describing one of the best laughs I’ve had in a very long. Here’s how it went:

Obviously joking: “I think when I grow up I’m going to open a restaurant called ‘Flaccio’s’.” (flatch-ee-o)

What I (and my parents) heard was “Felaccio’s” (fuh-latch-ee-o). I burst out laughing.

“It would be like an Italian eatery.”

At this point things are only getting worse and I don’t think she even realized what we thought she had said. By the time the difference between “flatulence” and “fellatio” was explained, it didn’t matter because I just couldn’t stop laughing.

The moral of the story: if you ever come across a place called Flaccio’s, steer clear my friend.

This song speaks for itself.

Currently Playing: Simple Plan – Crazy

Tell me what’s wrong with society
When everywhere I look, I see
Young girls dying to be on TV
They won’t stop till they’ve reached their dreams

Is everybody going crazy?
Can anybody tell me what’s going on?
Tell me what’s going on?
If you open your eyes
You’ll see that something is wrong

Two of my favorite shows both got picked up for another season. While it’s not really surprising for Stargate Atlantis (highest ratings ever on SciFi Channel), Stargate SG-1 will go for season nine to tie The X-Files for the longest running SciFi show ever. And while the show has definitely changed since the beginning, it’s still pretty damn good. I’m still excited for the movie and the continued success of Atlantis.

Needless to say, after watching an episode of Atlantis and looking up a few things online, I’ve had no trouble staying awake during this 12-3am shift (for a change). Tomorrow starts early, but gets relaxing after work. Leisurely studying (yeah right). With half my finals done, I won’t be working too hard for the next two days.

Just one hour to go.

Currently Playing: Live – Heaven

Edit: Holy crap! It’s 17 degrees outside and on its way down to 9 for the low!!

I’m finding it very hard to get motivated to study for finals. I put so much effort into class projects in the last month, why can’t I just be done with everything now? It’s not like I haven’t proven I understand the material by using it to complete the projects…

*grumble grumble*

Yes, this is just one more tactic to put off the inevitable. And so what?

Currently Playing: Relient K – Deck The Halls, Bruise Your Hand (Awesome!)

Sometimes the littlest things seem to be the most important. Why can something so insignificant make such a big difference?

Edit: Penn State tells students to dump Internet Explorer. It’s about damn time.

College town + radio show contests + waking up early = winning!

So Z96.3 is doing this giveaway called The 12 Days of Christmas, where they give away prizes donated by local businesses. Every day for 12 days…well, you get the idea. Today was the 6th day of Christmas. Pizza hut donated four $25 gift certificates. So I heard this morning that they were registering people for the drawing. The 3rd, 6th, and 9th callers to be more specific. So I dialed. And I got registered. Simple enough. Well, not two hours later, they’ve called my room to tell me I won. Silly me, I thought they would take registrations all through the day. Anyway, it hasn’t even been announced yet, so if you wanna hear it, listen in around 5pm.

The irony here is that I won something a little over a month ago. Same station, same general time of day. Only all I had to do was call. There was no drawing. So yeah. I like calling the radio station in the morning. I’m thinking there just aren’t enough people awake to call in.

Class today is basically a formality. Reviews and wrapping up. Woohoo!

For the first time in weeks, I’m sitting here not regretting the time it’s taking me to write this post. Yes, that’s right. I have nothing better to do. I worked most of the day on finishing my programming assignment. The database project time limit was our meeting at 8 tonight. Yeah, we didn’t get done, but who cares! It’s over. The programming assignment is stalled while I wait for more parts to implement and we agreed tonight that the end of class tomorrow will be our cutoff. So in less than 24 hours I’ll be done with classes and just have to worry about finals. Not nearly as big a deal in the whole scheme of things.

So now I’m going to enjoy the rest of my night. Later!

Currently Playing: Trans Siberian Orchestra – Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)

It’s so close. I can almost feel the freedom taunting me from next week. I shouldn’t really be taking the time to post, but I just saw something that lifted my spirits considerably. It’s the type of book for discerning, intelligent readers.

Anyway, this week has been insane so far and it won’t really get better until after class on Thursday. Assuming everything gets done. This is supposed to be “dead week,” but it’s turning out to be more like “I wish I was dead” week. Finals week should be a cakewalk after this.

The weekend was a nice escape from reality. Spent Friday with Amber which was lots of fun, then went home Saturday to get a tree with the family. Took the longest it ever has, but we ended up with a nice one.

Postings should increase after hell ends. More later.