Happy Birthday to my dear friend, Shane. If I were a good friend, I'd be up in San Luis Obispo right now, helping him celebrate the anniversary of his birth. If I were a good friend, I'd be there eating dinner and watching Gangs of New York with him tonight. We'd be up until the wee hours of the morning playing Risk and Monopoly. We'd giggle like little school girls while watching Simpsons reruns. But...since I am a horrible friend and did not drive up there for his birthday, I'll just have to wish him happy birthday here on my weblog.

Well, there's not much going on at this time. I'm working on getting my resume and a cover letter ready to send out to local school districts in an effort to get a substitute position somewhere. I have a friend who knows somebody who is in charge of hiring substitutes at South Pasadena High School, so maybe that will lead somewhere.

I'm amazed at how hot it is today. At the moment, according to the Los Angeles Times website, it is 80 degrees here in my zip code. My apartment is most likely significantly hotter than that, as it is on the third floor and in direct sunlight all day. Sure enough, I just glanced at the thermostat and it is about 87 degrees in here, in spite of the fact that the windows are wide open.

I'm looking forward to watching the AFC Championship game this week. Normally, as a Chargers fan, I'd rather be killed than be caught rooting for the Oakland Raiders but, honestly, my dislike for the Titans is that strong. Plus, I think it'd be really cool if the Super Bowl were a face off between the Raiders and Tampa Bay. Then we'd have a contest between pirates! Aaarh. Shiver me timbers.

It took me five months to do so, but I finally finished Desolation Angels by Jack Kerouac. Of course, I did take a break for quite a while to read Watership Down, and decided to return to Desolation Angels a couple weeks ago. Normally, I'm a huge Kerouac fan...but this one just didn't do it for me. I've now started reading a book recommended by Nathan Lundblad, called Name of the Rose, but I'm wondering if it will have to be put aside once I start school full time on January 27th.

I just remembered something that I'd been meaning to post about for a while. Last Tuesday night (actually it was early Wednesday morning) while Shane Ross, Ryan Cox, Nat Idontknowhislastname and I were driving down Santa Monica Boulevard after having seen 25th Hour at the Arclight in Hollywood and having eaten a late meal at the Yukon Mining Company, we saw this car speeding toward us in the opposite direction, followed closely by about 15 police cars. Overhead, news helicopters and police choppers were circling, following the progress of the chase. And there we were, in the midst of all the action. So, after three years of living in Los Angeles, I finally witnessed a police chase up close and personal. Frankly, I'm surprised it took that long. When I first moved up here, during my first month, I saw three SWAT operations in progress. As a country bumpkin from rural San Diego County, it was rather strange. I thought it was the norm to see that kind of thing that often but, since I haven't seen any since then, I guess not. Or maybe they continue to happen all around me, and I am now completely densensitized to them.