So, Friday night I headed to a local screening of the Rocky Horror Picture Show.  I had been to one of these before when I was in high school, but its been some time, and  that screening involved more alcohol.  I was very sober for this one, which may have actualy been disadvantageous.  All in all, Rocky Horror is a fairly dumb and poorly done movie, but that’s what truly creates cult hits.  The Evil Dead-Army of Darkness series don’t have popularity because they are really good movies, but because they are so truly bad.  That aside, the sheer atmosphere in which you watch the movie makes it pure enjoyment.  Though many people there were RHPS virgins, the local “actors” still yelled enough to make the show entertaining.  Through all the well timed vulgarity and innuendos, the movie suddenly had a ton more laughs than expected.  It also helps that Jake knew many of the lines, and having someone in your group who knows their stuff is definitely worth it.  So, if you haven’t wasted a late night seeing the movie at a local theatre, do it… you will be entertained… and a few drinks beforehand never hurts.

Those who know me know I am a freak. I am the very definition of a ‘jack of all trades, and a master of none.’ Ever since I was young I’ve constantly sought to be adept, knowledgible, or skilled at multiple facets. I mean, let’s run down the high school list: Varsity Football (captain), Soccer (captain), Baseball, Lacross, Musical Theatre, Stage Theatre, Chorus, Ballet, Dance Troup, Math and Science Club, Chemistry Club, Beta Club, directed senior theatre, even had a mini-ska band on the side. I was, as you may assume, quite busy. I always enjoyed it, as well, because it made me feel versatile.

To this day, this is still how I function. I try to know my way around any skill, though I can’t always say I succeed. I have tried Tennis. I am terrible at it. I am the nerd/dork/geek who can hold a conversation about comptuer, video games, or comics but still likes to go out dancing in Buckhead and shops at Urban Outfitters. I am the Jock who enjoys going to see good theatre and going to art festivals. There’s very little that I would say no to participating in. Even my faith is that way. I take my faith very seriously, but have no problem laughing about it all as well.

Multiple times in my life I have had to take personality profiles, psych exams, or interest analyses, and they always come out the same way: “Your results are not typical. This usually happens when the test taker answers how he or she thinks we want to hear.” I just tell them that I am strange. I guess they are expecting people to be extreme about things in their life. I am neither overly stoic or overly emotional. I am neither overly practical nor overly abstract. I just tend to often be the middle of the road. I just took a new test like this and for the first time, I really liked the answers. It labled me as an “Animated Leader.” That my emotional capacity allows me to lead well, but that I also have a dynamic personality that likes being amonst people and relating to people. I like this assessment and, I think, agree. I encourage others to try this test and let me know if you agree with my results and what you got.

If I never hear about the DaVinci Code again, I think I’ll be good.  You want to know what kept me out of the Church for so long?  This crap that is going on with Churches now.  I get so damned frustrated by the way Christians react to culture, and I’m once again at that point.  Its as if American pop-Christianity views this book/movie as the anti-Christ somehow and that is going to have the final say on the faith if they don’t act now.  Lets see, a cultural phenomenon that challenges the very tenents of the diety of Christ, his relationship to Mary, and does so from a perspective that some secular historians would back… sounds familiar.  Oh wait, maybe Martin Scorsese’s Last Temptation of Christ. 

I think Christianity did fine making it out of the clutches of this previous media phenom, I wouldn’t imagine that Dan Brown’s book, which I remind you is found in the “Fiction” section of all bookstores, is going to have much resounding damage as well.  Who is buying this book, I repeat in the fiction section, and reading it as historical fact?  Now, I know it raises questions about the Knights Templar and Prior of Sion, and that’s fine… questions are good.  Learning, despite what the Church would have you believe, is a good thing.  Asking questions… a good thing.

Here’s the thing that gets me the most.  Out of all the thousands of Christians that are out lambasting the book, I can bet that most have never read the book.  They are against it because Pat Roberson or some other popular figure that they blindly follow told them it was some devilish attack on Chrsitianity.  Ok, if you want to believe that, its cool with me, but read it before you make that decision.  I had to sit through a whole presentation today on how to combat the DaVinci Code questions, but I can be sure that most of that room had never read the book or seen the movie.  If you want to boycott the movie and remain silent about it, that’s fine… its your perogative.  But for those who want to attack the book and criticize, you better have read the book, or you have no dog in that fight… and ultimately make Christians look even less interested in understanding non-Christians than ever before.

So, when I first started working with Tech students I definitely did not know what to expect.  I mean, having gone to a large state university, I knew the very standard college student.  Even the few engineers I knew did not fully live up the stereotype of the supernerd.  I mean, I readily admit that I have my incredibly nerdy side, but I am not sure there is a side i dont have (straight, gay, smart, dumb, athletic, lazy, religious, hedonistic, etc, etc).  A lot of Tech students definitely live into the stereotype.  I mean, they have Dungeons and Dragons tournaments on campus, Chess Club battles in the student center during lunch hours, LAN parties, and so on.

What I have thoroughly loved is that they are unashamedly this way.  I am so thankful that there is no pretentiousness and no facade with the students there.  Its mostly a come-as-you-are mentality that says, “Hey, I know I’m a nerd/dork/geek/etc, and I’m ok with that… it’s who I am.”  There is nothing mroe refreshing than being around people with that mentality.  I mean, even one of my previous students auditioned for Beauty and the Geek.  He made it to the final group, only to be removed by one of the Producers of the show.  In honor of him, here is his audition tape:

Well, got back last night from my weekend trip to Charleston.  It was a much needed getaway from me to hang out with folks and get out of town for a few days.  Otherwise, I would just sit on my ass and watch tv all weekend.  Here are some highlights:

After a five hour drive filled with 90s hip-hop and low brow humor, we arrived in the Charleston area.  We started taking some surface streets as we searched for the Tamsberg Palace, home of Prince Edward.  Our directions suddenly said stay on the road we were on for 17 miles, thus effectively removing us from the Charleston area and putting us in a very remote intercoastal area.  We passed a ghost car and some other lovely sites and turned onto the road upon which his house was located. It was here we found that we actually possessed no address for Edward’s house. So, 11pm at night, driving down a dirt road, surrounded by a dense coastal forest, spanish moss as the curtain for the sky, wondering when some deranged knife wielding man will jump through the bushes.  Cell phones are of no use out here, so we can’t reach them, neither can they reach us.  Luck would have, the Tamsberg’s have their name painted in large letters on the mailbox to their house.  Just about our turnaround point, we find the box and pull in.  We then proceed to play games, drink beer, and have a good ol’ time in a barn.  It wasn’t red, so I do have a hard time coining it as a barn, but oh well.

On Saturday, we spent the day at the beach, which was enjoyable and uneventful all at the same time.  I didn’t get sunpoisoning, so the term ‘uneventful’ really appeals to me.  The only thing eventful was Jake referring to his younger sisters breasts as “the goods.”  I guess that is just more disturbing than uneventful.  Saturday night we went to a seafood dinner in the downtown Charleston area.  We followed it by heading to a chocolatier and candy shop.  The candy shop had these metal tins for children that you could fill with any of their assorted candies, so I purchased two for my girlfriend’s two kids.  Nothing makes you feel more like a man than carrying around a Disney Princess lunchpail and filling it with Laffy Taffy. 

After sitting out by the water and grabbing some beers at a local brewery, we headed over to Wet Willies for some more drinks and dnacing.  Upon finding out it was a cash-only bar, drinking became out of the question, so we headed over to the dancefloor in this fine Charleston establishment.  I have to admit, I do love to dance.  The music was fairly top-notch, ranging from 80s Rock (i.e. “All Night Long,” “Pour Some Sugar On Me”) to ridiculous dance songs (i.e. “Jam on It,” “Jump Around”) to modern hip-hop.  At first, it was just our crowd dancing in our little circle.  After some time, the crowd in the dance room changed very quickly.  Lets just say, by the end of the evening, our group of 4 white guys may have been the only white guys in the room.  Not that this bothers me, just funny to find myself in that situation.  Here is a fact that I learned from the experience: black women love this white boy.  On multiple occasions through the night, I had various ass grabs and pinches as I was out on the dance floor, entirely of black women.  At one point in the evening, a larger, heavy-set black woman proceeded to grab me, turn me in her direction… and put her junk all up in my biz-nas.  Well, being the gentleman that I am, I of coursed danced with her, not wanting her to feel rejected.  It was soon after this experience that we decided to head home.

To quote the weekend fully, “that’s what she said.”  I think we used up our quota for that quote over a 48 hour period.  Oh, and to explain the picture, we stopped at a gas station on our way back… with that sweet sign.  Gotta love rural Georgia.