I'm writing this because, well.. I haven't updated in quite some time.
a LOT has happened to me in the last month and a bit since my last real update. I've written in a private journal once or twice, but I don't think I can keep doing that. One of the main points I started this thing was to have people be able to keep up with me at their leisure, instead of always saying to themselves "I wonder what Kyle is up to..."
who am I kidding? I should quit with the mindless self-indulgence and get down to the point. LOL
So, quite a bit has happened in the last little while. Mentally, spiritually, and even physically believe it or not. I never really talked about this with anyone other than Anna because, well... I don't really talk to many people other than her these days (thanks sweetie for being there for me by the way *k*). I'm of course talking about the funerals. It was such a surreal time for me that it confused me on a whole different level than it may have for many of you. My struggle was more of an internal one, dealing with my own personal conflicts rather than the thought of me just having lost two very special people.
Have you ever read the book or seen the (made for TV) movie The Five People You Meet in Heaven? Check it out if you haven't. It really is one of the sweetest stories I've seen in a long time... very thought provoking. Basically it deals with the five people you think you're going to meet in heaven. Duh. If you think it's your mother... father... true love... think again.
My mom saw how I was taking the real-life events of the day, and suggested the story to me.. We have the book kicking around here somewhere. Apparently it's a thin book. One you could cut through in a couple of nights... But what's funny is after talking to me about it, a few days later it was actually on TV.. I didn't even know a movie existed. I figured, out of everything that could have been on TV, because it was THAT specific movie on at that point in my life, I'd give it a watch...
After rambling for two paragraphs there, my point is that after watching that movie, I'm convinced... beyond a shadow of a doubt.. that Andrew is going to be one of the people waiting for me when it's my time to go. A lot of people ask me why I have such 'perfect' depictions of the 'afterlife'.. My only response is that I choose to believe it because, well.. to put it bluntly.. if I'm wrong, I'm not going to know about it! So why cloud my vision with anything BUT perfect thoughts? lol
Andrew was a very special person to me. I've tried so many times to sit down and write something for him... I cant. I have txt files among txt files on my computer that I've started things for him and they all just turned into mindless rambles... much like this journal entry.. I know people will say that it's ok.. that it's the message buried within the rambles that is important... Even so... I've never been able to bring myself to do it.
For those of you who don't know, I've talked about Andrew in my journal quite a bit before. He was the guy that helped me with my car when it was being bad... He was the guy that, more or less single handedly, taught me most of what I know about cars.. Still not a tenth of what he knew, but he shared what knowledge he could with my very limited ability to grasp the concept of "Brute Force and Arrogance" (the motto he lived by whenever he worked on a car... It's even in big red letters on the windshield of his Camaro... He didn't like the typical "Brute Force and Ignorance" line because, well... if you knew him, you'd know why he chose the arrogance over ignorance.)
The knowledge about cars and such was very trivial, though, when it came to things he gave me. I first met Andrew in grade 10. I had a group of kids that I used to hang around. I had coordinated my lunch hour with theirs so I had people to eat with. During my first lunch period, I wandered around the caf looking for them... I couldn't find them. It turns out that they all changed back to the period that I originally had as my lunch period, and forgot to tell me about it.. No worries - it was really the last time I was social with them.
In my wander around the caf, I was stopped by Gordon. He told me to sit down and play a game - Car Wars - with him and his friend Andrew.. I declined, not really knowing Gordon that well at the time. Andrew told me to shut up and sit my ass down. He being older, loud, and seemingly crazy (or so I thought at the time from that ever so popular look in his eye) I sat down out of fear of what might happen to me.
To fast forward a bit, Andrew forcing me to sit down and be social with him and Gordon led directly to me being social with Gordon and his lil group of people when Andrew wasn't available for a lunch time car wars session. Christa.. James.. And the list just exploded from there, expanding to eventually include Jessica, and SO MANY other people that I just could not have gone through high school without. Sure I would have known you all through band and such, but how many people did you know in band, but not really *know*? Probably most... I would have been one of those people to you... Think about that. I know if I think about it, it quite literally blows my mind, and makes my heart skip a beat to know how easy it could have been to just have coasted through without getting to know the people I did... I mean, there's always the potential for me to meet you by another means, but just as easily, it could have happened the exact opposite way.
How many people can *pin point* the exact instant... the exact event.... the exact person to cause so much change in their life? That was probably, hands down, the greatest thing Andrew ever gave me. Otherwise I may still be with that other group of guys.. the ones that eventually ended up getting into a lot of trouble... I like to think Andrew saved me from that life that I was leading, or heading towards... I will always stand by the notion that he, very literally, saved my life. I will never forget you... Thank you.
Well look at that.. I ended up typing something after all. I actually came here with the full intent of writing a review of Superman Returns, and a short paragraph or two about my new job.... but it didn't turn out that way pretty much from the onset. It's funny, once the words start to flow through your head, how fast it is you type... And how easy it is... it's just taken me nearly 2 months to get it out... but i'm glad it's finally out.. it's something i've wanted to say for a while now.
Now, to change gears for a moment (nice transition phrase, no?) Superman Returns.
Superman was a huge part of my childhood. I was a great fan of the movies from a young age, later getting into the comics... especially the death of superman series. I have to say that this movie was entertaining for me, and brought back a bunch of butterflies when I heard the main theme and saw the scrolling blue text of the opening credits... Nostalgia to the n'th degree. I do, however, have a couple of gripes.... Of course, because there are SO MANY different versions of Superman out there, I'm basing my gripes on the movie canon. I'll try not to give any spoilers away that aren't in the previews.
- Lois Lane was too young. - Superman was too robotic. - Clark Kent was a great character, but needed more lines and screen time. - Ditto for Superman - more lines. - Lois always played the mentor to Clark in the early movies, but in this movie she was less reporter, more health-crazy house wife. I realize this could be attributed to character development with the introduction of some new characters and all, but read next point. - The two main characters that were introduced in Lois' little circle were a complete joke. Richard White ok.. but the other one? come on... - When did Lois become so health-crazy? At the end of the second movie, she smoked, and ate hamburgers with "the works" at 9am... I suppose her Orange Juice, freshly squeezed, was a bit of foreshadowing... but the rest trumps the OJ. - Clark would never have gone to a bar, let alone drank beer out of a bottle as if he's drowning his sorrows.... come on... - The over all tone of the movie was just too dark.. not in the way that Batman Begins was 'dark', I mean very literally dark... The colour tone was way off.. Could have just been the theater I was in, but I've read reviews confirming it.. Right from the new suit (which I don't have a problem with at all... except for the tint choice... oh, and the lack of yellow 'S' on his cape..) Maybe they were going for an Empire Strikes Back effect, where the physical appearance of the movie was darker to give more depth to the darkness of the story? but the story wasn't all that dark... either way, I didn't approve.
Those are my main gripes... They're not major and didn't really prevent me from liking the movie any less.. Hey, I'm a guy that lives off of sequels. I love 'em. I'm excited for Rocky 6 that's coming out this year, so I surely cant be disappointed by a Superman sequel!!!
Either way, I'm seeing it again this week probably. I mentioned it to Justin tonite, and he said he'd be down for a repeat showing.. My first showing was in IMAX 3d (don't waste your time if you're excited about the 3d aspect.. although it's cool, and the bigger screen is awesome... but the 4 scenes that are translated into 3d aren't worth it if that's what you're paying for.) I wonder if I'll like it even more the second time around...
anyway, this has turned out to be quite a crazy little (big) post... maybe I should break it up... nah.. too much work - I'm sure you can deal with it. LOL
Until next time....... *fade to black*
:: Eldorado ::
Monday, July 17, 2006 ::
3:01:00 AM
