How Hollywood destroyed the X-Men (warning: spoilers)

So I went to go see X-Men 3 earlier today. I was so excited that I was going to see Phoenix in all her righteous glory that I about wet myself on the way to the movie theater. I was so pumped at the idea of another mutant movie that it never crossed my mind that it might not be the best movie of the summer.

Zach and I argued a few days ago (yeah, Zach and I arguing; go figure) about how this may or may not be the last X-Men movie made and what we thought would rock and what, by way of previews we thought was going to suck (I thought they should have made Jean's Phoenix costume a little closer to the one in the comic book, but that's just me.) And, again, I state, it never crossed my mind that the movie might suck.

The movie didn't suck.

It was so horrible, so foul, so offensive to a long time fan of the comic books, I was tempted to get up and leave the theater half-way through, about the time Phoenix turns Xavier to dust. Literally. Dust.

Yes. They killed off Charles. But, oh no. Not just him. They also iced Cyclops too. It took all my willpower to not shout out in a crowded theater, "WHAT THE FUCK!?" I am now a firm believe in the fact that the director (who's name escapes me, but feel free to look it up) should be tarred and feathered, ran out of Hollywood, and summarilly shot upon hitting the city limits.

It was that bad. I honestly felt violated by the man who took years of wonderful stories and mashed them together and managed TO FUCK UP EVERY SINGLE ONE! I'm surprised half the cast didn't bow out of the movie once they'd read the script. I wasted six bucks, and two hours of my life on the piece of filth that littered the screen at the theater.

If you know anything about the comic books, don't go see this movie. At least wait until it's out on DVD and rent it. I'd never buy that piece of trash if someone handed me the money. I hope it bombs. I hope those that saw it at the same time as me ran home to tell their friends, "DON'T GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!" But, my hopes are probably in vain. It'll most likely be the number one box office seller of the weekend and that's just depressing.

I should have gone to the The Da Vinci Code instead. Proably would have sucked less and I wouldn't have walked out with nothing more than an emptier pocket and a sore ass.

Just so you know, Zach's gonna have a fit when he reads this

So, mom took me out car hunting earlier today. A perfect time to go looking for a car too, what with tornado warnings, hail, and intermitent rain the entire time. She took me to the same dealer she'd gotten her car from two years ago. A nice enough guy, even though he's a car salesman and hense, suspect.

So, we went looking around the lot at a number of cars. The first few we saw were good enough. They met the basic requirements I wanted for a car (automatic, cruise control, A/C) but they just didn't feel right, really. We looked at a few Cobalts and a Malibu and a couple other cars. Most of them were in the $12,000 to $15,000 range and that's about the area I was looking for, with the understanding that Zach was going to kick my ass for spending more than I should. We were still looking for a new car, though, one that was a program car or something were the price was taken down a bit for various reasons other than they found it on the side of the road and took it in.

Half an hour into looking around, the dearler showed us an SUV. Yes, I know, bad gas milage suddenly creeps into your head when you hear that and that's what I thought too. But, I took a closer look and actually read a bit of the material that went along with it. Turns out, it get's pretty good milage (mid 20's in town) and then he told me the best part. A week ago, they had a 2006 brought back in from a stint as a student driver car. Imagine my horror when he told me that. Why the hell would I want a car that was whored out to a bunch of teenagers, doing gods only know what unspeakable acts to it in the process of trying to learn how to three-point turn. But, he showed it to me and it looked pretty new. Actually, it looked like it'd never been touched. Of course, you gotta expect that at a dealrship. But then we took it for a test drive (test drive #3 for the day) and it felt right. It handled real well considering it was front wheel drive. It was very nice. I loved it, and I wanted to take it right then and there. But, I held off. Mustn't piss off the Zach too much.

So, we went in after driving it and talked price. MSRP for it is a little over $22,000. Kinda ouch, but at the same time, it's an SUV, what more do you expect? So, we talked it over and came down to $15,900. Oh, milage on the car right now is 4,746 miles. It's got everything I wanted, plus a little more. We discussed it, put a deposit on it (if you listen real close, I think Zach just had an episode) and went home to go look over insurance costs, and wonder if the bank going to give me a loan for three months while I wait for my settlement to come in. Pretty sure it is with mom co-signing the loan on this. Payments are going to be around $300 a month, but don't start for 45 days. Not sure on insurance yet, gonna have my insurance company run the numbers tomorrow. If everything works out right, I'm probably going to drive it off the lot Friday, maybe Saturday (I think Zach just passed out).

Now, I'm making fun of Zach because, well, he's anal about buying cars and that there's a certain process one should take to avoid being rolled by a dealership. I'm well aware of this and understand. If I had the luxury of holding out and forcing them down farther, I really wouldn't care all that much. I know Zach really wants me to wait it out and see if he can't get the guy to go down farther on the price. But, right now, I'm thinking about how I'm going to get back and forth to work for the next few days and wondering how much longer I can hold out on luck since the first shift people where I work are notorious about being late, which in turn will make mom late for work because I can't go home in the morning until someone is there. Personally, I give it until Monday before someone decides they want to sleep in another fifteen minutes. So, Zach's going to have to take a back seat on this one because I really can't afford to jeapordize my job or mom's. On the plus side, the back seats of this thing have great leg room!

So, with all that in mind, in a few days, I'm going to be driving a 2006 Chevy Equinox and driving people nuts. This works out real well too for another reason (Megan, this is the part where you sit up and pay attention because I'm making you an offer now.) A few nights ago, Zach and I were discussing. And we decided that with Alex coming to visit his grandparents for a month, wouldn't it be cool if he and I went and picked him up and brought him back to Illinois? And, while Zach's car is a great road trip car, wouldn't it be even better if we were in a brand new car? See, I'm thinking ahead here.

So, with all that said, most of the drama of the sudden and tragic loss of a devoted friend is nearing a close. I'll miss my camry. She was a good car that did the impossible in my opinion. I feel lucky that it lasted as long as it did. But, it was time awhile ago to get a new car and now, it's just something I have to do in order to survive.

Hope everyone likes it. I know Mom sounded more than a little jealous. She does that whenever I've gotten a new car. Strange.

Whoops

So, how was everyone's weekend? Mine was great! I got to out shopping for Mother's day and picked up some new dvd's for myself. Also, I got to work a second shift instead of a third shift on Sunday so I kind of had a full day off and stuff without actually having a day off.

Oh, yeah. One other thing happened: My car died.

I don't mean it broke down and requires repairs. I don't mean it ran out of gas. I mean, the spirit that once inhabited my car finally realized that it was no longer a living spirit but a lich in total denial of it's death some years back and finally shut down for good. Not that this should come as any surprise seeing as the car was 17 years old and it's time was finished a while back. It's just only slightly annoying because I was hoping it would hold on just a few more months so that I could get my settlement and just buy a car out right without having to go through the painful process of getting a loan.

But, yeah, here in a few days, I'll probably be getting a new car (brand new, not used. Fuck that) and I'll be able to show it off and get lots of young cute boys into it with the promise of a quickie around the block.

A giant leap forward

Well, I finally did it. I broke down and succumbed to the numerous wails and whining for me my own cellphone. Yes, America, that's right. You can now call me any hour of the day and not risk the wrath of she who doesn't-really-sleep-as-much-as-she-used-to-because-she's-cutting-back-on-estrogen-but-oh-gods-don't-call-her-anyway-in-the-middle-of-the-night-because-it-seriously-pisses-her-off.

Yeah. Run on sentance. Suck it.

Now, you may wonder what the big deal is and/or why it took me so long to get one. Well, unknown to most people I once owned one many years ago not too long after they came in a size slightly small than a small club. If I remember correctly, it was the first year I worked at the first hotel I worked in, not long after starting up playing on New Bremen (oh, gods how I miss that, but I really don't.) Most people who'd even only slightly had heard of me had the number and most people knew they could call at almost anytime and it was perfectly fine because the only time I'd try to hurry you off the phone would be if I don't like you or I'm "busy."

I had the phone for about a year. Number of calls recieved: 4. All from a person I really didn't want to talk to and who, because she lived out of my calling area managed to turn my $20 monthly bill to $80. Because SHE WOULDN'T SHUT UP ABOUT HER LOSER LIFE AND HOW SHE WAS WAITING FOR A GUY WHO REALLY DIDN'T WANT HER ANYWAY BUT SHE THOUGHT HE DID. It was hard being polite to her. Really hard. So hard, I eventually just didn't answer it whenever she called (thank you, caller ID.)

So, since I had basically bought a glorified accessory that's primary function was to make me appear up to date, I just let it die a quiet death. I actually still have the phone. I figured no one else would want it, so there was no point in taking it back.

I'm kind of worried that that's going to happen again with this phone, and that I'm going to basically be carrying it around in my pocket for no other reason than to have it there. But, that's my paranoia playing with me.

My other small issue that's kept me from getting this thing any sooner was the fact that, in a way, I was kind of surrendering some of my freedom to the world. Now, anytime I want a few hours alone somewhere where no one can find me, all they have to do is call. And, I'm not so insensitive as to ignore a call just because I'm wanting to have a private pout or some thinking time. So there's that possibility that I could be sitting somewhere enjoying the world in the simple things like trees and the sky only to have the world intrude on me wanting something or another. Oh, I'm not talking about the people reading this. I'm more or less referring to the person who I'm sharing living space with.

She'll be able to call me. Anytime. Gods. Kill me.