Wednesday, March 27, 2002 :::

i need to just write everything down whenever i think about it from now on. the other day, i thought of something significant that had happened that should have been put in this blog...but now it's gone. "Leonard syndrome."

UPDATE: 5 HOURS LATER, I remember what it was that I wanted to write about. I found an ideal wedding song, which i hope will someday be my own: "A Whiter Shade of Pale." Originally done by Procol Harum - Annie Lennox, Sarah Brightman, and several others have done their own renditions of the song, and most all of them are fabulous...but if i had my way, i'd have a select group of my musically-inclined friends perform an original arrangement of it - I already have a list of individuals going, and it's soooo freakin' cool so far. But man...I was such a sappy mess when I was downloading all the different versions, thinking of what a perfect song it would be. Drew shared in all of it, and we both got all mushy and teary and such. SO, everyone go download one or two versions of the song and revel in its beauty. I cannot wait...it's going to be a fabulous wedding. Now, all i have to do is find a wife...

I DO, however, remember going to witness Gene Simmons (!!!) give a speech last night at the O'Connell Center (on campus). Very cool individual... - i'm not gonna' go into detail, cuz you really had to be there to understand, but he had several great stances on important subjects, and an overall interesting outlook on life. I bought his book, and he signed it after the speech...and we shook hands...and it was awesome. i shook hands with a rock and roll legend/millionaire/man who has had over 4,600 liasons (girls that he has slept with). pretty rad to say the least...

drew has gone to Dr. Overbay's funeral service today, at St. Mary Magdelens' Church in Altamonte. It's definitely a sad occasion, and i'm sure that i'd be sad if i had gotten to know her - or maybe i wouldn't? i'm really not sure. the more i think about it, death really is nothing to be afraid of...nothing to mourn. of course, it would be tough getting through times without the person that passed away...but the memories live on, and the belief (if you believe) that the person has ascended to a better place should be extremely comforting. the only real thing i can think of that's associated with death that deserves mourning is suffering on the dying person's part. and i don't agree with the whole idea of mass-mourning at a funeral. if anything, there should be joyous celebration of that individual's life...a freakin' party, man. i can't conceive of the idea that a spirit, watching his or her funeral from high, would be filled with happiness at the site of all of his or her friends and loved ones crying because this wonderful soul achieved a respectable, well-lived life and finally rose to his or her place in heaven. -just doesn't make sense to me. I'd definitely prefer an awesome, no-holds-barred celebration in memorandum. and everyone would NOT have to wear black.

::: posted by AJBrotz at 4:55 PM

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Monday, March 25, 2002 :::

10 Days Later...

Much has happened, and I'm far too tired to recap it all. Highlights only...

I believe it was March 13th when the Lataliano household was invaded by many, many friends of drew's and mine. let's see...how many kids? it must have been more than eleven, and all of them spent the night! WE HAD A BLAST, though, and it seriously reminded me of how freakin' awesome my friends are, and how vital a roll it is that they play in my life. I feel very, very sorry for any person who does not realize and appreciate the worth of friendship...*coughexdookiecough*. That night, 3 of Rob's fellas came over, along with Mr. Cohol and friends. Chaos ensued - but at a manageable level. Several games of darts were played, and resulted in the puncturing of stools and kitchen tile - but the sacrifices were definitely worth the high entertainment value!
Some acoustic jamming here, a little cigar smoking there, a little alcohol throughout, lazer tag wars around the apartment complex...it all made for an untterly fabulous time. This was the sort of thing that teenage years are supposed to consist of. I wouldn't trade it for the world...and if ever needed to, might even trade the world for it. THANK YOU!

I remember having a really awesome day...-it was March 15th, the same day as my last post. I actually made 2 new, real friends here at college, so that's freakin' awesome. Cesar and Rebecca are their names - they rock it hardcore alongside Drew and me in Astronomy. Rebecca is nice...but Cesar is my SOUL-BEST-FRIEND. that kid is awesome...hilarious, smart, and just straight-up cool. Plus, practically every male in his family is named Cesar. How crazy is that! Cesar kicks ass. Drew and I also discovered that my soulmate, a sweet, attractive young girl, is living in the room directly above us. What does this mean? It means that my soulmate sleeps on top of me every night. I often wonder if she's sleeping on her stomach while I'm sleeping on my back...

The new Korn album has leaked, and I was fortunate enough to download every track off of it. UNfortunately, I am hardly impressed. Korn has always been a huge chapter of my life, but...the band has just started off in a direction that's too dark and depressing for me to follow. There are about 3 tracks that I dig, but...that's not enough reason to purchase the cd when it's released in May. What does this mean? It means that "Untouchables" will be the first album from Korn that I will refrain from purchasing. 'Tis sad, I know...but it's a step in the right direction.

I wrote an entire freakin' ten-page paper for Human Sexuality last night and this morning. TEN PAGES, plus a title page and a reference page, over the course of about ten hours - this, of course, means that I did not sleep but 2 hours last night. To make things more interesting, I apparently slept through my alarm, which is very curious, because the simple clicking-on of my stereo usually serves as enough noise to wake me up. Anyway, my Human Sex class begins at 10:40 in the morning, and since I slept through my alarm, I did not wake up in time to make it punctually. However, "Jesus loves me, yes he does." God smiled upon me by causing Rebecca (remember, my new friend?) to call and wake me up at about 11:15 in the morning. "What the FUCK," I exclaimed aloud, as I realized that I had slept through my alarm and would consequentially miss my Human Sex class (CUZ BUS TRANSPORTATION IS INCREDULOUSLY SLOW). I literally jumped out of bed, threw on my shoes, and ran out of the apartment (luckily, I had dressed myself before going to bed 2.5 hours earlier.) I didn't stop running until I reached the bus stop, and for me, that's a pretty good run, being the lazy, out-of-shape bastard that I am. So the bus finally comes at about 11:23, and we arrive at school at 11:40. RIDICULOUS amount of time to get to school, since it hardly takes 5 minutes by car. Fortunately, my Human Sexuality discussion group meets on Mondays at 11:45, so I ran there, heart pounding with fear, hopeful that my TA would accept the paper. Ironically (and to my HUGE relief), Rebecca (the TA, not my friend) accepted the paper with no resistance, and even added that she would be accepting papers until the end of class. I collapsed into my seat.



THE BEST PART OF THIS POST IS RIGHT HERE:

-OPERATION: COVERT OPERATION Briefing - Part One-

Drew Bagley, Juan Chirinos, and Alan Brotz (also known as 3 of the 4 Latalianos) combined their efforts, and over the course of approximately 3 insanely long, drawn out days of work, achieved a truly amazing accomplishment. The working title for this project is Operation: Codename Operation,
while the official title is PRICELESS. What exactly this astonishing work of blood, sweat, and tears entails, I cannot reveal. There will come a time for each of you when the Latalianos will unveil their masterpiece, and rest assured that your time will come soon. Appointments with at least two of the Latalianos must be made in order to experience the Latalian phenomenon. In the meantime, prepare yourself with intensive military training, exposure to Soviet montage, strainuous exercise routines, and, of course: SEX, DRUGS, AND ROCK AND ROLL. Further briefing may or may not commence in the near future. END TRANSMISSION.

I'll end this post with a question I was tossing back and forth at around 7:15 this morning when I was trying to fall asleep:
Do you view achieving a place in Heaven as a life-purpose and goal, or as an awesome consequence of living a good, decent life?

love always

::: posted by AJBrotz at 3:32 PM

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Friday, March 15, 2002 :::

gone are the days when the completion of crossword puzzles and word searches rewarded me with exceptional grades and proud smiles.

::: posted by AJBrotz at 1:51 AM

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