The escapades of summer vacation...

My summer vacation is rapidly coming to a close. Instead of three weeks off like I had at the beginning of the summer I am only getting two weeks and two days. Not that big a deal because by the end of three weeks I go a little stir crazy but this time I feel like it has gone by way too fast. I didn't really get a chance to do anything of things that I originally set out to do which is essentially draw my balls off. This coming quarter I start my first sequential art class. It is going to be a real "gutcheck" as to whether or not I will be able to hack the program. I sort of feel like I am going off to Marine boot camp after sitting on the couch eating McDonalds for the 20 years of my life. But a kick in the teeth never really killed anyone and I am planning on rising to the occassion.
So what did I do on my summer vacation? Last time I built an antenna out of pringles can that I can't really confirm if it works or not. This vacation started off with a bang. I was notified by my employer that my services were no longer needed. Now it wasn't as if I as making big bills working for them, but it was a somewhat steady income that I was relying on. Truth be told I knew it would happen eventually. Nothing last for long in the land of World Courier. After learning of my ending employment and finishing up classes my friends and I headed to Atlanta to see our friend, Adam's, house. We had a blast! We arrived on Sunday and immediately went to Six Flags. The timing could not have been better because the end of the summer saw little or no crowds which allowed us to pretty much walk onto any ride they had going. Actually the longest line we waited in was to gain admittance into the park!
After Six Flaggs we basically hung around Adam's house. Hurricane Katrina was moving in and so we would get hit with really nice weather and then it would rain for the rest of the day. Not a big deal, as we sat around drinking and playing Xbox. Eventually I will beat Adam at Halo, but for now I am content at kicking everyone else's ass. We did go to Stone Mountain. For those of you not in the know, Stone Mountain is the area just outside of Atlanta. The "mountain" as it is called is actually one giant piece of rock. It is supposedly the largest exposed piece of granite in the world. In other words I climbed up God's favorite pepple. Normally I am all about that type of stuff; climbing, hiking, etc etc, but I was not feeling it this day. However, once we got there I said to myself, I am going to climb this thing as fast as possible so that I dont' get caught in the rain and I can get it over with. In the end I was glad I did. You get a hell of a view of Atlanta from up there. I am still not sure if the Rock Mountain is actually a mountain, it felt a little too easy compared to some of the others I have climbed.
Anyway we basically sat around, drank, played Halo, swam the rest of the time we were at Adam's. All in all it was probably one of the best times I have had in a while.
Before I continue on my summer vacation story. I should note that my parents came down a few weeks earlier. It was good times seeing them and because I was so far along on my schoolwork I was able to actually spend time with them. That quality time resulted in me getting a brand new car! To say I was speechless and shocked is actually an understatement. I don't surprise easily and I am never speechless but this time was an exception. Anyway I got a brand new 2005 Mazda 3 SE 5-door. IT KICKS ASS! The trip to Atlanta was its maiden voyage and I must it handled exceptionally well.
Continuing on with summer vacation...
For the most part, upon my return from Atlanta, I spent my time looking for a new job. I hit the usual places, the book stores, the mall, etc etc. However, a few weeks back I happened upon this new company called Kinetic Tours of Savannah. They give tours of Historic Savannah while riding around on Segways! I happen to think that that is the coolest thing going. So I took a chance and knocked on the door and met the manager. She told me to fill out an application and give her my resume. Well the next day I returned and she called me shortly thereafter. I have an "interview" of sorts tommorrow. That doesn't mean I got a job or anything but it is a pretty damn good start and I think I would really like the job.
However, all this job hunting hasn't exactly left me with a lot of time to clean my studio and work on some projects that I have in my head. This really bums me out. I feel I should be doing more than just school work. So when winter break comes a long I am going to try and kick it into a highgear and get some extra stuff done and out of the way.
I did have one really interesting experience this break. I went shooting. Yes, shooting, you know with a gun. I have never shot a gun before and have wanted to learn how for a while. Once my car got shot up and my bag was stolen, I pretty much decided I had to. Well let me tell you, what an experience. I was driving down Hwy 170 heading towards Savannah and I noticed a new building that said "Indoor Shooting Range". I said what the hell and I stopped in. There was a very nice lady behind the counter who asked if she could help me. I told her I wanted to learn how to shoot and did they offer instruction. She said yes they did but she wanted the owner/instructor to come out and talk to me and let me know about pricing and stuff. Well out walks this skinny tall guy smoking a cigarette and missing some teeth. He looks me in the eye and says "What's your name, your age, and your intentions?" Two things struck me when he said that, one he didn't have a twang and two he said it blazing fast, which means he wasn't southern. I took this as a very good omen. I told him about myself and that I just wanted to learn to shoot. We talked about what I knew of guns, which is very very little and then he proceeded to tell me for 50 bucks I get an hour and a half of his time. So I waited for him to finish his lesson and then mine started. It was cool because it was just me and him. He is a pretty funny guy too. Originally from upstate New York, he moved down here a while ago. He is a big time "sportsman" and loves living down here. I told him I wasn't as keen on the South but it was pretty. I can't think of anything better though than a New Yorker teaching you how to shoot.
First off, he ran me through all the rules about safety. Normally I would be like screw this let's rock and roll but to be honest, guns scare the living shit out of me. He had me practice loading a dummy round into the gun and exercise the proper stance and saftey. After about 45 minutes of this it was time to hit the range and boy did I hit the range. Shooting is a lot more difficult than you think. Now I did ok, never missed the target. But I wasn't exactly accurate either. According to the instructor, Ed, I have elevation problems but my windage is good. That's great Ed...what the hell does that mean? If someone came up to me and told me I had elevation problems but my windage is good I probably would have thought they were talking about my johnson and telling my I had gas. But I took it on Ed's experience that wasn't what he was refering too. Either way, I got to keep my target and I will no doubt hang it in my studio. If I ever go again (which I plan on) I will definitly take the new target and compare. Either way I can now load and operate a Glock 9mm, a .38 special revolver and .45 ACP (aka Colt 1911). Hooyah, get some!
Other than that vacation was pretty quiet. I explored the Island a little bit with my neighbor Gary. Read a great comic by Alan Moore called V for Vendetta which is coming out in movie form soon and I got to watch a lot of great movies and anime that weren't on the big screen. I tend to spend a lot of money when I get bored and that usually goes to buying DVD's of movies that I never got see or ones that I found that look good. I picked up this one anime called Samurai Champloo and it is the best damn thing I have watched in a long damned time. It is very funny, lots of great action and the animation is top notch. I think it is playing on the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim but if you get the chance buy the DVD's because you get all sorts of cool extras.
Anyway that is it for me, another Friday night sitting on my ass in front of the computer. I think I will try and draw something...