is it possibly to be 40 and 16 at the same time?  i would say yes.  i find myself in these “adult” situations more and more these days.  and i’m not talking about work, or paying taxes or things of that nature.  i’ve always been sort of ahead of the game on those things, working at an early age.  heck, i knew what i was going to go to college for and what field i was going to work in when i was a freshman in high school, and it’s pretty much been spot on.

but i mean more like, sitting around at a bar or coffee shop with friends talking about work, the weather, and gas prices.  the other day it was so bad, because i found myself with some of my nearest and dearest at a restaurant and we were talking about the show “friends.”  i never liked that show, but i did work at a tv station that aired it for an hour a night during my shift, so i can’t pretend i don’t know about it.  i was in that conversation too.  when did this happen?

now to the kid part.  last year i had two must-haves in the spring: a bike and a nintendo ds.  i now have both and when you combine that with the manga i can’t stop reading, i’m totally a kid.  i guess it’s a nice balance because i’m not sure if i have ever been happier.

staying in that vein, while it’s been a while since i’ve bought any legos, i still can’t help but get really excited when i see something like johnny 5 made from those magical bricks.   (ps. short circut 4 is rumored to be on the way)

speaking of movies, i watched the trailer for “choke” this morning and you can do if you click that link.   it looks pretty funny even tho the lead guy seems slightly annoying to me.  his best friend in the quasi-creepy neighbor in “me you and everyone we know.” back and forth forever, indeed.

uncrate also took me back today with the unfortunate return of british knights.  i can’t completely hate on this development because i had a pair.  they were like the ones pictured but yellow and white instead of black.  and i mean, highlighter yellow.  that’s the price you have to pay to be the coolest kid in fifth grade.

and finally, i’m not uncovering any real secret here (lol@ me.  i’m clever), but each sunday i really enjoy reading postsecret. frank warren started this project a long time ago.  maybe you;ve never heard of it.  maybe you just forgot about it.  also, his new facebook page offers bonus secrets!  don’t tell anyone or do.

so im terrified to open my rss feed reader. not because of bad news, but because i know i won’t sleep for hours. there hasn’t been a web dump lately because honestly, it would become a web explosion. between obama getting the nomination and being just less than a week away from metal gear 4, there is too much goodness going on. i won’t be able to sleep because of the unadulterated joy i will get from reading all of this. plus, to be honest, if i read much more about mgs 4, i’m going to drive to wal-mart at 3 am and buy the ps3. watch out for falling prices and emptied savings accounts!

i started to think more about why i’ve been slack on the posts and i guess i have just taken an internet break. i’ve been reading more. trust me, i was just as suprised as you to know they still print words on paper, bind them, and sell them as books. i’ve also gotten back into some comics and that has been really fun. it reminds me of some of my really happy times from high school and college where i could finally just dive into something totally mindless and fun because it was summer and i had no prior responsibility. of course this only applies now to the hours outside of work, but it’s still satisfying.

then also, there has just been a lot going on irl. friends coming and going, vacations, trips, people getting sick and then getting much better, bikes, food, shows, writing, lunches, playing with cats and dogs all over the city. good times. but i have decided to wait for now on the metal gear 4/ps3 purchase. i just figure, with a three day trip to nyc, and an already mounting pile of things to digest (read: books, movies, tv shows, podcasts, music, anime, manga, and video games i already own and have yet to complete or in some cases even play), my money and time can be spent more wisely.

and a good example of that is what i did today. in the ever competing world of internet content, both free (podcasts!) and stolen (stop all the downloading!) , i decided to pay for something that i didn’t have to, but that i greatly enjoy. “the sound of young america” is this great podcast that is also aired on some pri and npr stations around the country. jesse thorn is the host, and he refers to himself as america’s radio sweetheart, which i think is hilarious, but also makes me jealous that i didn’t think of it first.

while i missed the deadline, i e-mailed jesse and found out i could still donate to the maximumfun.org drive. that is the site that that distributes tsoya. if you like what you read here, i know you would enjoy jesse’s work and the guests he talks to as well. either way, my t-shirt comes in six to eight weeks. ^_^

while i finished the book weeks ago, i’m finally getting around to telling all you drinkers of the internet punch, about “the adventures of johnny bunko.” back in april, i posted the trailer for this book. yep, a movie trailer to preview a piece of literature. i thought it was an extremely creative marketing device, and the product did not disappoint either.

i enjoyed reading about the adventures of johnny bunko a great deal (and i’m not just saying that because the author commented on my blog. but he did! check it!) i think what dan pink does, is really simple yet extremely ingenious. the book is a manga, that has all the style, humor, and antics you would expect in that style of comic, but uses it as a tool to offer career advice. the balance of invaluable information and artistic exaggeration of situations (one’s we’ve all seen if we’ve ever had a job in an office…or really anywhere.)

i don’t want to spoil the tips, because i expect all of you to read the book for yourself. some of the things in there you might be doing, some you might not have realized, and some may seem obvious but even if that is the case, the advice and this abstract career guide offers is great even if it is just a reminder.

if you are a fan of manga or comics, it’s neat to see the style applied to something a little more practical. this book is by no means sesame street, but who says we can’t still learn with our fun? and speaking of the style, kudos to rob ten pas for his artwork. good characters, and all the right touches in the right places. there is no doubt, he is a student of the style. i hope to track down more of his stuff in other manga as well. to save you the googling, hit up www.johnnybunko.com for more info. also, it just hit me that with this being graduation season, it would make a really fun gift.

as far as the lack of posts lately, i wish i knew why that was. i was trying to think of why today, before i wrote this post and i can’t really think of any one thing. if it is an consolation to the handful of loyal readers, i’m behind on laundry, tv shows recorded in my dvr, podcasts, and songs i check out at stereogum as well. i guess the combination of early summer and bikes has kept me outside. i’ll balance things out and keep the posts coming soon enough. promise.

in honor of me being really tired from camping and pretending to sleep outside on the ground in a tent, because really sleeping like that is impossible, i give you nintendo stuff painted on things.

in a double shot form boing boing, we have the mega man bedroom and the mario car.

nothing says happy memorial day like japanese games painted on things.

to the four of you that read this (hi mom!), my apologies for not posting much. life outside of the internet has been getting in the way, but all is well now. i am heading out for some camping tomorrow, but when i return, i will get back into the swing of things with some good punch and also my official johnny bunko review. enjoy the memorial day holiday.

all the best,
jels

the teen sexscapades/college adventure/party thing has been done to death a million times now. it’s scary to say, but in my generation, it’s become a genre. maybe it was in the eighties too, when you think about the molly ringwald and john cusack movies, but those some how have a different feel. and i really have no room to criticize because there was a time and place for today’s teen ragers with me too. (no, it wasn’t last week.)

but back to my point. in perusing some of the new movie trailers apple fed me today, i came across american teen. i was a little skeptical becuase for me, it’s been 10 years since i graduated high school, and i keep hearing rumblings (that i try very hard to avoid), about a reunion.

i didn’t have a bad high schoolexperience, and any struggles i did go through were not really about school so much, but just working through lingering issues with my dad peacing out and stuff like that. i actually did really well in high school academically and socially. but i have no desire to go back. i was happy then, and i’m happy now and everything in between is just that. so i think if i can get my hands on a copy or find a theater within 150 miles of here showing that movie, i’m going to go see it on the night of my reunion.

even tho i still think this will play on the typical themes in a more realistic way, i guess that is sort of how it was. it’s just hard to generalize it because we always live in the details. the facebook profile for the movie makes my stomach turn a bit, the poster makes up for it. but still i would almost assuredly bet the house that it will be a much better time.

between the weather, smoky parties, and not sleeping enough, my sinuses have officially kicked me in the face. so i’m home sick today, waiting for the meds to get me back to working fashion. i have to say, that i’m starting to doubt this socialized medicine thing. i mean sure, i’d love free health care. However considering how long i waited today at a private practice where my insurance is accepted, i would probably be seeing a doctor sometime next week if things were socialized. sure it’s selfish, but isn’t that really what this country is all about? i knew you would see it your way!

and i have to share this reader commentary from across the pond. i love great sarcasm (see above paragraph), but when it is published in a newspaper, even better. you might have to enlarge the image once you click it. now i’m off for some sleep. if you hear a loud pop and you are in the mid-atlantic, it was probably me. my head asplode.

sorry i haven’t posted much this week. getting back into the swing of non-vacation life has proved to be more hectic than expected, but with my moms days responsibilities now behind me, i have a lazy weekend left to surf the web and share.

being born in 1980, i have come to the realization that simpsons references will hold significance for the rest of the my life, and i’m very ok with that. but the fact that one of my all-time favorites has become a reality, makes me realize what is possible now that i am in the adult part of life. best week ever has discovered good burger (bonus points for the kenan and kel movie reference). june’s trip to nyc just got a whole lot more intense.

with our currency constantly getting the reality-tv makeover treatment, props to this guy over at flickr, who is taking it to the next level. i recommend taking advantage of the sideshow feature.

considering i went back to the country to see mom and grandma today, i should have gotten this belt over at boing boing to fit in.

that is great, but it’s not ultra awesome. however, it is fitting that a blog called ultra awesome, is responsible for an ultra awesome nes coffee table. and this isn’t just style, it’s function. the thing actually works! if you only follow one link today, make sure it’s that one for the full break down.

and finally, cnn is reporting that obama dwindled hillary’s superdelegate count to two. which makes this pic that my buddy jason sent me from icanhascheezburger significant yet again in this race. and now, we must part ways by saying, kthxbai.

internetpunchacon was awesome, but unfortunately it is over.  i returned back to the river city on saturday night, and spent most of sunday riding bikes and catching up with friends.  i forget where we last left off.  i think the memphis zoo.  it was great.  without a doubt the best zoo i have ever been to.  awesome animals and a cool layout.  and on the way home, the super sweet special edition of gta 4 was purchased.  we were going to do an exclusive, but we figured there were a bajillion diggs with the same thing, so we spent more time playing it.

wednesday the fishcapades continued with onerythym and i moving up to catfish. he caught two, one being the biggest in the pond probably.  and i was just happy to get the one i got, take the hook out of his mouth, and get him back to the water safely.  his name was winston by the way.  the other two were trevor and denise (her parents, big cosby show fans).

on thursday it was back to memphis for some baseball.  but first, a sneaker quest.  for those of you who know me, and as the rest of you who stick around to read this will learn, i have a shoe problem.  i like sneakers a lot.  i don’t buy a ton of them.  i’m pretty restrained, but i love looking at them, reading about them, and seeing all the cool designs.  but when i do decide to buy a pair, i will go all out to track them down  (including calling a puma outlet store in hawaii.)

so anyway, on the way back form the zoo, we stopped at a galleria.  what is that you ask?  a mall, with a fancy name.  i found this pair of puma’s i liked, but they didn’t have them in my size.   i thought, oh i’ll just track them down when i get home, but when i checked the web later, i found out none of the stores within 100 miles of home had them in my size.  and only one store in my half of tennessee where i was at, had them either.  so at that point, i knew, these shoes would be mine.  and they are.  and when i got home, i realized, they match my cat exactly.  it’s pretty amazing.

so anyway, the baseball was magical.  get at me on facebook for a full gallery there.  i don’t even want to think about the baseball situation in my town after visiting such a top-class facility.  on friday, the week of greatness was closed out with iron man and some steaks on the grill.  go see iron man.  i’m not even going to tell you how great it is.  just effing go.

a super special thanks to onerythym and his family for putting me up for the week.  it was an absolute blast.  everything we did was awesome and i’m already looking forward to the next time.

if the river was a pond. no, i’m not talking about the nintendo fishing classic. (but it is being revamped for the ds and releasing tomorrow) but internetpunchacon has had some fishing action. onerythym is my spiritual guide. today i made it to level 11. i went from a spinning caster to a spinning reel and i even caught a fish!

other than the great outdoors, we started a group on rock band for the xbox 360. our band is called “time fuxorz” and we are currently in amsterdam on tour. today we also at amazing bbq because this is tennessee and that is what you do here. the pigs were smoked for 12 plus hours then drenched with amazing sauce, and served with baked beans, potato salad, and mac and cheese. magical.

yesterday we saw harold and kumar and that was funny. really silly, but good. then we went to my roommate’s 15 minute b-day party thanks to skype and the webcam. also we had a really weird experience at this chinese place. no matter what we did, pay the bill, say thank you, leave a tip, the lady would not stop standing at our table alternating between saying bye and thank you.

saturday the flying part was pretty chill. slight delay in charlotte, but smooth for the most part. on the connecting flight from richmond, a friend of mine from one of the fm stations in my cluster was also headed for a connecting flight in nc, and then i talked with a psych professor from memphis on my connecting flight. he was a really awesome guy. tomorrow is the zoo.