Day Two.One

I had initially intended to update this blog daily, in the hopes that doing so would promote the gathering of a larger audience. However, I see that for the time being, "daily" will have to correspond to my day, which starts at 1PM and ends at 4AM. This bizarro-world scheduling comes courtesy of my employment as a petrol station attendant at a local BP (favorite of Britain's Alan Partridge). A number of anecdotes related to my job occurred to me today as I was pondering what to write about, and since I see little way to connect them in a fluid and logical manner, I think I'll just lay them out here:

1) I've discovered that I may have some mild OCD tendencies, or perhaps just an overdeveloped sense of symmetry and style. To give an example, I've taken to sorting the lighter selections into colors based on the classic ROY G. BIV format. The effect is similar to that of those pleasing crayon pictures:


(Credit goes to 'thefonz148' of deviantART)

Except that these 'crayons' are

used to support a deadly habit,
and therefore take on a more
menacing tone:

On a similar tangent, I've found it distressing coming to terms with the fact that I am catering specifically to man's many vices. I am familiar with the exact location of every kind of cigarette. I know the alcholic content of most of our liquor cabinet. I've discovered that far more people than I care to admit are both alcoholics and future lung cancer sufferers. Especially gut-wrenching are the 20-something females who don't seem to realize that they are slowly destroying their good looks and charm. On the other hand, I'm getting paid and it's their choice, so...eh.

2) Novelty Lighters:

3) I'm honestly surprised that the check as a form of payment has not been phased out by now, replaced by the more widely accepted electronic card. At my gas station, in order to pay with a check one must first fill out an 'Application for Check Writing Priveleges', submitting your name, address, vital statistics including blood type, shoe size, and bank references (two of these are mild exaggerations). Following a thorough examination by the corporate office:



- you are then bestowed the 'privilege' of being able to write checks. Those poor souls who are not already on this list are usually not in a position to wait this long to pay for their items, and even if they were, the gas station is ill-equipped to accomodate their stay. The ridiculousness of this situation is further compounded by the availability of cards which can be used exactly like a credit card except using money from a checking account, thus making the check almost completely obsolete.

---

Straying away from the hilarity to be found at your local gas station, I also wanted to mention some movie-related items. You might not know it, (who am I kidding, of course you do!), but I am a filmmaking student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. As such, I'll probably be talking about movies from time to time. Anyway, to the heart of the matter -

Last night I was perusing Apple's selection of movie trailers with my wonderful girlfriend, and many of these are now on our 'Must-See' list. One in particular caused my heart to go all aflutter with anticipation - Michel Gondry's new film The Science of Sleep.



For those unfamiliar with the name, Gondry was the visual genius behind Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which happens to be my favorite movie ever. Especially appealing is the main character's confusion of dreams with reality, a theme which Gondry has already proven himself adept at visually representing. Also of note - The Fountain, Little Miss Sunshine, Children of Men, and The U.S. vs. John Lennon.