So you do need the million Rubees, there's just a much faster way to get them.  I was retarded!

…of the stupidest game task of all time.

I started playing Super Paper Mario the other day; it's a whole lot of fun and pretty funny too. So far so good right? Well, sort of. It was all good until I get to the second chapter and I break this chick's vase (it was on top of a question mark block…what was I supposed to do?). So the thing breaks into two even halves, a clean break. Instead of letting me apologize and just put it back together with some Gorilla Glue, she decided to declare me her slave and make me work off the cost of her precious vase — 1,000,000 "Rubees". ONE MILLION! In order to work off this sum I have to jump up and down hitting a block, which gives me one or two Rubees per hit. I find out there's a VIP prisoner room to make a lot more Rubees for your work but you need the access code. So I get the access code from a dude for 100 Rubees and then get into the VIP room. I now have to run in a hamster wheel (read: hold right) to make Rubees. I run in this hamster wheel (hold right) for about 10 minutes and only make like 30,000 Rubees. To get to 1 million is going to take way too freaking long. WTF Nintendo? I love your game so far, but why a million? I better get something totally sweet for holding right for that long. I'm just gonna get a rubber band and let it go for a while. At least the longer you go before cashing out your work, the more Rubees you make. But seriously, that's a lame task.

Joel and I went to hear David Sedaris read last night at the Clayton Center in Clayton, NC. It was freakin' hilarious. It's only the second reading I've ever been to (the other being Chuck Palahniuk) though, so I don't know if it's typical for the author to be that hilarious. I'm gonna venture to say that it's not the norm, but it probably is normal for the authors I read.

While waiting in line to meet David and have him sign my copy of Me Talk Pretty One Day I was thinking about how I can never think of anything clever or lasting to say when I meet these kinds of people. I think it's because I'm never very comfortable talking to people I don't know well, especially famous people I don't know well. He stays after his reading to sign all these books for people, the least I could do for him would be to give him something interesting to hear. But alas, I cannot. Joel did point out something that helps put it all into perspective though; no matter what you tell someone like that, they'll always have a story to trump you. So true. In the end it doesn't matter because he's probably already heard whatever clever thing you thought he might like to hear.

Regardless of that, it was still totally awesome to have met him and hear him read.

I was thinking again about things I would very much like to do some day, and I thought I'd write them down on the old internet here so there's at least some measure of personal accountability.  Keeping them in my mind gets me off the hook too easily.  Here, in no particular order, are a few of my personal ambitions, what are your's?

1. Backpack across Europe
2. Visit Russia
3. Become a millionaire
4. Visit Australia
5. Write a book
6. Have that book published
7. Visit Japan
8. Stand on the Moon
9. Create a decent video game
10. Own a book store