Don't ask me how I got there (it REALLY wasn't pretty, believe me...), but I was looking at the IMDB page for "Garfield" the movie, and I had to share this discussion post about how much it was going to make at the box office (vs. "HP" or Harry Potter).

"Re: Box-Office Predictions
by - abobrow-1 5 days ago (Sun May 16 16:05:27)

Hp is has good movies and books but come on already. Same setting, same characters, always, danger, saves the day, wakes up in the hospital wing, wins house cup.

Then look at Garfield. People have seen the comic but never a live action movie. Plus HP is always the same, this is new! When I first saw the trailer at the "Cheaper By the Dozen" (I love Steve Martin) sneak preview. I thought it was going to be so *beep* horibble. I thought in the theater "What the *beep*?! A cat that dances liek he's a gay guy?! Then it said "Garfield: The Movie" then I waited waited. Finally, I saw the new Garfield trailer and (NEW)thought that it might actually make money.

I'm just saying that it maybe a blockbuster (a flim that makes over 100 million) But coming out a week after HP. I bet HP will make only 500 million. And Garfield 216 million. If you didn't know, there are over a 1,000,000 (I think so) Garfield fans who still love Garfield and will probally see this movie 3 or more times. Do the math. $6.00 a ticket, times 1,000,000 by 6. 6,000,000. Then times 6,000,000 by the first 6,000,000. Which is 36,000,000. Finally times 36 million by 6 million which is 216 million.

P.S. THIS WAS ONLY A GUESS AND I PUT A LOT OF HARD WORK INTO IT ALSO."

I can't tell how old this poster is, but they are serious about Garfield. I think.

In other news, the motorcycle started yesterday, but it wouldn't keep running. I'm currently charging the battery with a trickle charger, hoping I can start it AND RIDE IT this weekend. I got my helmet this week, and I passed my permit test.

I do have more important things to do that ride a motorcycle around, but I do need to MOVE the motorcycle next week, so I'd like it if I could at the very least ride it into the back of my pickup and drive it up to Carrboro.

Bored of staring at endless Google search results listings? Try Kartoo, which will map your results and show you connections you never knew about.

Don't worry Google, you're still my #1.

Val's folks were in town this weekend for Val's graduation. It's actually her "half-graduation", as she is done with the Public History section of her program and continues on to the Library Science section. The ceremony was Saturday afternoon, and then we drove out to the coast and stayed at a bed & breakfast on the beach. The Atlantic OCEAN beach. We got out of the car, walked in to the house, and walked out to the ocean. It was perfect. We got up the next morning, sat out on the sand, Val and I went out in the water (with a boogie board) and swallowed a few gallons of saltwater. We checked out, drove down the coast and took a ferry across the Cape Fear river. Lunch in Southport, coffee in Wilmington, and then the drive home (2.5 hours, coast to home).

I have been online chatting regularly with some of my friends (you know who you are!) using a chat room script that I modified for one of my web sites. It's a lot of fun, and it works pretty well.
Sometimes there are two people, sometimes six. The best part is that we usually have a coast to coast (and beyond!) chat. We've been chatting Monday nights at 9pm EST for the last few weeks. Check out the chat.

WHOA! not that you can see it on this page, but they changed Blogger on me! Google bought it, I support that, then all of the sudden, the site interface is completely different. I'm sure I'll adjust.

The reason I got on here is the "news" that schools across the nation have awful foods in their vending machines! What goes in vending machines? Crap food! What do you expect? Why don't we talk about the USDA Grade Z beef in the school lunches? How about the Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC in the cafeterias? What the CRAP?!?!??!?!?!?

Now that I got that out of my system, I feel much better. Maybe I'll go have a Twinkie.

Hippies! I mean, CARRBORO!

Val and I signed a lease on friday for our new apartment. We'll be less than a mile from such Carrboro delights as the OCSC, Elmo's Diner, Weaver Street Market, the Open Eye Café, and the Carrboro Farmer's Market, just to name a few. We're also gonna be within range of three thrift shops, and at least one "junque" shop (junque="antique" junk). We'll live right on a bike path, but also on a dead end street, so it should be pretty quiet.

Our new place is small, but we'll be so close to all this good stuff that we won't have to stay in our cozy little apartment when we don't want to. We have a 2 bedroom in half of a side-by-side duplex. The floorplan is basically a big square, with the front half being the living room and kitchen, and the two bedrooms in the back half, and a bathroom between the two bedrooms. There is one other building on the same property, and total there will be six resdients, including ourselves. The buses in Chapel Hill/Carrboro are FREE, and the UNC campus is a short walk into Chapel Hill.

Chapel Hill has all it's own wonderfull offerings, but I won't go in to those here. We'll be happy. As long as we can keep the cats happy.

The househunt begins in earnest this weekend. We have five places to check out today up in the Chapel Hill area. Two houses, one duplex, and two apartments, although I'm not entirely sure what kind of buildings the apartments are in so they might be duplexes too. The best parts are that we might actually find something today, so we can just worry about moving and not about looking, AND everything we're looking at is cheaper than what we're paying now. I'm excited to move but the looking process is always a little nerve wracking.

We have someone lined up to take our house when we move. Not that we had anything to do with the lining up. I do like to think that our chiap (chic and cheap, pronounced "sheep") decor influenced them to take the place, but it was probably just the size of the place.

This move probably also means a change in jobs for me. Yes, I am still working for Northland, but my other part-time job here doesn't look too promising, especially if my commute is going to get longer AND is going to include rush hour traffic. We're supposed to be moving into a new building sometime this year, and there's some sort of bizarre profit sharing plan in the works, but nobody is getting a raise (or even their annual review) because "money is too tight". My coworkers are fine, but I never really liked the job anyway.

This looks to be a very busy month. This week, house hunting, and Val has an interview for a Duke internship. Next weekend, Swedish Pancake Party. A week later, Val graduates from the Public History portion of her program here at NC State, and her parents will be here for that. The following week, packing (moving in early if we're lucky!) and something I'm forgetting, and then the final week, my dad is coming to visit/help us move.

Just keep your fingers crossed that we find a place this weekend. That would make the rest of the month SO much easier.