Allergy Season Is Destroying My Respiratory System

For those of you that have allergies, I am sure you can relate in some way to the picture to the left. 

Man, I thought that this summer I was going to make it through without any sinus headaches, or any sneezing, and itching, but I guess I was being facetious.

Usually, every May I get really bad sinus problems/itching issues. Last May before I left to teach in Italy, I had a sinus headache literally for 3 weeks straight. I am not even being sarcastic. Literally when I woke up and when I fell asleep I would have a throbbing headache...for 3 straight weeks. Finally, right before I left for Italy, something snapped and it went away. But, I remember being so scared because I thought I was going to get on the plane and my head was going to explode. That's how it has felt the last couple of days too.

For those of you that are reading this and have serious sinus issues like I do, let me recommend a product that actually seemed to work. Now it could have just been that my sinuses were finally clearing up anyway because I had been dealing with them for about a week and a half now. But, yesterday I ran up to Wal Mart and I saw Benadryl Severe Allergy and Headache. I came home and took one pill and ate a sub from Subway and literally in like 3 hours I had NO sinus pressure in my head. It was amazing. I wish I would have known this last summer because I was literally crying every night because my head hurt soooo bad. 

Now, before this year, I was usually taking Allegra for my allergies/sinus issues, but it didn't really ever help. I think my body sort of built up a tolerance because it worked the first time I used it and then never again. Hopefully I have helped someone out by posting this. I would hope that I would run across a blog like this if I were up in the middle of the night with an excruciatingly painful headache to help me out too.

Also, for the record I think that Danny, Jackie, Kim, and I will be traveling to New York City near the end of July, so that is going to be fun. I hope that Kim reads Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by then because I am going to want to talk to someone about it. 

Anyway, if you are having allergy problems I wish you the best of luck. Maybe my advice will end up helping someone out! 

Peace the FUNK out ya'll!

My Thoughts On "The RG"

Well it has been a little over a week since I posted the first episode of "The RG" on YouTube, and so far it has been a raging success. As of this post there are only two episodes created, but if you're a fan, stay tuned because the last 3 episodes from this season are going to electrify your mind, and blow you away! ;)

As of this post, Episode 1 has received 145 hits in 1 week, and of my 17 videos on YouTube, is only 9 hits away from becoming the No.6 video. My No.1 video is of course "Chucky - Touch," which at this time has a choke hold on the No.1 position of my videos with 1,755 hits in the 11 months it has been on YouTube. Not far behind Episode 1 is Episode 2 which was added a day after Episode 1, and has 131 hits. 

Based on this I really think that "The RG" will end up being the top videos. They seem to hold everyone's interest a lot more than the Chucky video. That being said, look out for the next Chucky video in the coming days. Danny and I have a lot of REALLY amazing ideas to build on. The Chucky phenomenon has really been amazing. I've been out with Danny a few times and people have stopped and asked him if he is the one from the Chucky video. It's kind of insane really but it's so much fun to watch people laugh and be entertained by something that I absolutely love! 

I can't say much about the last 3 episodes of The RG. I have written out the storyboard for the last 3 episodes and not even the actors know what's going to happen. But, it will be really exciting, let me tell you that.

I've linked all of the media, throughout this post, so if you are wondering what the hell I am talking about just click on the links. 

Is it fair to call you all my fans!? I think I can.

So, to my fans...stay tuned because there's lots more in store! :)

-John

World Wide Developers Conference

So, as a Mac enthusiast, I feel that it is my duty to have an opinion about what will be happening at the upcoming World Wide Developers Conference on June 11. Below are some of my predictions about new things from Apple.

iMac - I think we're definitely overdue for an upgraded iMac. I think the price points will probably stay the same, but I expect a brand new industrial design. Macrumors.com and Appleinsider both have had tips on a new design, and what a better time than now to release a new model. I'm excited to see what it looks like.

MacBook Pro - Recently, Apple updated their MacBook line with larger hard drives, and faster processors. I expect that we will see a new 2.33 standard, and a 2.4 for the top MacBook Pros. Maybe we will see something new in the application department, but I doubt it.

iPod - In light of the new iPhone, everyone believes that the newest iPod will be a touch screen, wide screen display. I disagree. In the past Apple has gradually built up its products, instead of just throwing up the ABSOLUTELY newest technology...for instance the iPod photo that was out for like 5 months, and was upgraded to the iPod video. Because of this, I believe that we will see a new widescreen display iPod, but not with touch sensitive controls - probably at the 50, 80, and 100 GB models. I do, however, think we will see the touch sensitive displays by November, just in time for the holidays. Also, the fact that Apple has released iTunes Plus, seems like a new iPod would just make sense.

Leopard - Mr. Jobs has already said that the first Leopard Betas will be available at the WWDC, so I expect that there will be a lot of focus on this OS. I expect some new "top secret" apps to be at least mentioned, if not displayed. Because Steve has said that we won't be seeing Leopard until October, I really don't know what else he could mention or bring up as regards Leopard...but then again he's always full of surprises. Maybe he'll give us an early present, and say it's going to be released in July!? We'll see!

iPhone - As of today, the iPhone has been officially slated for June 29. This information is via the ads posted on Apple.com. That being said, I think we'll get some more info about 3rd party developing as well as other specifics that Jobs never really hit on during the Keynote introduction in January.

Apple TV - I'm not sure what could be left to talk about as regards Apple TV. A few days ago, a 160GB hard drive option was released, which makes me a little more excited about it. When they released the 40GB hard drive, I wondered exactly how serious they could be introducing a product that has less hard drive space than some iPods. I do expect new things in the regard of its future (upcoming apps that can be installed, accessories, etc.).

MacMini - I believe the end of MacMini is near, based solely on site rumors. The fact that they are still using Core Duo with much slower processor speeds, makes me think Apple is digging itself a hole as regards the Mac Mini. Compared to the idea of adding $400 and getting an iMac with brand new, up to the market specs, just makes me think the MacMini is either going to get severely upgraded, or discontinued. I guess we'll see.

iLife '07 - A few days before MacWorld was set to begin, Amazon.com had 4 pre-orders available, titled: "MacWorld Announcement Product No.1" through 4. Most people thought that it was iLife, iWork, and maybe some other stuff. However, neither of those products were released at MacWorld, and soon thereafter, the pre-orders were taken off of Amazon. I think that we'll see the intro of iLife '07, but I also believe that it will be named iLife Leopard. This just makes more sense to me. Maybe we'll also see iWork Leopard.

New Product! - At first I thought that maybe there would be a new product or something we have never seen, but I really doubt that now. There just seems to be too much going on at Apple, with the Apple TV, iPhone and Leopard all being launched within a 9 month period it just seems like adding something new to the mix is very unlikely. However, that being said, it IS Apple, and we are to expect the unexpected.

In closing, I just want to point out that Apple DID just upgrade their MacBooks with faster processors, and larger hard drives, and did the same thing last week with the Apple TV. Why would they do this so close to WWDC? My thought is that they have so much to talk about during the Keynote, that they wanted to get the little things out of the way! That's just me though. I'll post again after the Keynote on June 11, to analyze my thinking.

P.S. My MacBook Pro will be here tomorrow! WOOOOOO!

Brittney Tyler Is NOT a Guitar Heroine

Brittney is really bad at Guitar Hero. Don't be fooled.

Panthers, Tigers, and Leopards

So, apparently Facebook has decided to start importing my blogs again, so I don't have to do it the cheap way, through Facebook "Notes."

I finally upgraded my operating system to Mac OSX 10.4 Tiger. I've been running Panther since I bought it last February. My good friend Alan helped me with getting it installed. My CD drive broke the week I bought it (actually I think the guy I bought it from had broken it), so Alan did the firewire thing and it was exciting!

I have Widgets!

Anyway, how is everyone? Like is everyone taking care of their minds? I hope so. Let me know how things have been. Release yourself in a comment or something!

American Idol Prediction

Well, not to brag but I called Fantasia winning American Idol the first time I saw her audition during the first couple weeks of the show during that season.

I just watched the end of Hollywood week and I was extremely unimpressed, overall. I don't think anyone really stuck out, or really had any kind of soul in their voice.

That is except for Laquisha Jones. Her voice is one of the few voices that really stuck out to me, just like Fantasia's did that season. Her voice is very smooth, and comforting. She has one of those voices that I can rely on. What I mean is, even at her worst, she is still a soulful, power house singer. You don't have to worry about her cracking or singing something badly.

The only guy that really stuck out to me was Phil Sly. I think that was his name. He was a pretty good singer...but I don't see a guy winning this competition. They were all pretty boring. Not to mention they weren't really that attractive overall either.

Laquisha Jones is my early pick to win this competition. So, when she does, look back at this post and be like "Wow he's 2 for 2!"

:)

Screaming for Summer

Really, there is no reason that it has to be so cold. I want the summer to be here so badly. This summer is going to be so exciting!

Although, nothing will be that exciting about it until June. It looks like I'm going back to Milan to teach again! This is very exciting for me, because Rachel seems to be just as excited. However, it's been very difficult to get ahold of the administrators over there to let them know we're accepting the job again. Maybe it's an Italian thing.

Once I get back from Italy at the beginning of July, my attention will be focussed 100% on Harry Potter. The fifth movie Order of the Phoenix comes out on the 15th and then the FINAL book Deathly Hallows comes out one week after that, on the 21st. I am so excited but at the same time so sad. All of the Harry Potter adventures will be coming to an end by the end of this summer. I for one know that I will not be able to put the book down. It kind of sucks for me because I haven't been able to be so excited for each of the book releases, because I wasn't a Harry Potter fan until RIGHT after Half-Blood Prince came out in 2005.

But anyway there's a lot to be excited about this summer for me. On top of Italy, and Harry Potter...lots of fun times with friends, and LOTS of tennis! I want it to be summer every day.

How about the picture of Harry Potter!? This is a picture of Dan Radcliffe in a play that he's in called Equus. Pretty intense huh? This is one of the more censored pictures too!

1780 - Romantic Mountains

So today ended up being my first day of actual classes. I had some scheduling conflicts (and alarm clock conflicts) that have since been resolved.

My first class was British Literature 2. It was with a professor I have never had before, and I was unusually nervous for some reason. Anyway, there was a girl standing outside of the classroom with me, and I asked her if she had British Lit 2 in this room at 2:30 and she was like, "HEY!!! YEAH!" A little twitch of terror went through my body at first because she was so excited that I asked her a question, but it soon subsided. She goes on to say, "So what did you get in the...ugh...you know..." and gestures towards a classroom on the other side of the hallway. Turns out that that classroom was where I had my Non-Western World Lit class last semester. Then, suddenly it hit me that she was in that class with me, and that is the reason she was so "OMFG" about me asking her a question. So I figure everything out in my head at the same exact instance, to which I reply, "Oh yeah...I actually got an A in it," and gave a polite smile.

So her "OMFG" attitude dimmed to a frown and then just as quickly back to a smile and she says, "Oh really!?!??!!?! I freaking failed it! I didn't even go to the final, it was at like 8am, and I'm like fuck this."

It doesn't process in my head what she is saying because the whole time she was just talking to me, my eyes were fixed on her shirt which read, "You looked better on MySpace." Still completely amazed that someone would have the audacity to wear a shirt like that, I followed her in to the room and recounted what she had just said to me.


So, class started and it seems like it is going to be a pretty difficult class. I end up sitting next to her, and being in a group with her. We had to take the book that 1 out of 5 of us had, and answer questions on this sheet that the professor handed out to us. Fittingly, she had the book. So, she looked for the answers. The first question asked, "What is the time period of Romanticism." You know...dates.

As in numbers.

After about 10 minutes of no one talking, I sit there (annoyed mind you because I don't have a book and can't find the answers myself...not to mention the wireless wasn't working in the room so I couldn't even get my iBook out and Google the shit) and notice that she started to write something. Naturally, everyone in the group looked up to see what she was writing. One guy asked, "Oh so, like, what did you get for the time period of Romanticism."

I look down at her paper, and she has written (and I swear to God people, I don't make this shit up),

"1780-Romantic Mountains"

"What the hell does that mean?" mumbles the scary bush faced man behind me that was in my group.

"Well I don't know, I was just looking through the preface [pronounced pree-face] and...it just looks right. I don't know it just looks right," she says with confidence.

I couldn't believe it. What does this mean? I couldn't even come to a hypothesis about what she was writing. It asks for dates and she writes "Romantic Mountains!?!?!"

Finally by the mercy of God, the professor was ready to discuss answers before I started embarassing this girl by laughing in her face. She definitly made my first day of classes to say the least.

Person of the Day: Johnny Cooper (My Brother from Another Mother)

Honestly, words can't really describe my emotions when it comes to Johnny because I love him that much. And I'm an English major, so that's saying something.

Johnny has been one of the few friends in my life that has stood beside me consistantly without rebuttle, since probably 8th grade. We have been through so much together. We had the privelege to officially consider each other family as of last December when Dayvion was brought in to our worlds. Although, I think I had always been a part of his family. He has been blessed with the most amazing parents in the world that would do anything for him, no matter what. Because of this, Johnny is more than generous and will do anything for his friends.

All we do is sit around and make fun of each other and then laugh uncontrollably. I talk to him more while I am at school than I do most of my friends that are here with me. It's kind of ridiculous.

Johnny is also one of the most ambitious people I have ever met. He knows what it takes to achieve the goals that he sets in life, and that's one thing that I admire about him. He knows how to set trends, and examples and is classy in doing so. He is gonna do big thangs in life, so if you all don't know him yet you better get to it. He's going to take the music industry by storm and you're all gonna wanna piece of it just because you know me but you don't actually know me like that. HAHAHA!

We are closer now more than ever and I can honestly say that he is my best friend. I am blessed to have such an amazing, generous, talented, supportive, understanding, open-minded best friend in my life.

He's going to change the world.

Person of the Day: Tanya Sanders (My Therapist)

Well, Tanya isn't my actual therapist, but she might as well have a doctorate in the damn study because she is the best advice-giver and listener I've ever met.

How do I know Tanya? She is my last roommate's best friend. Tanya just exemplifies what it means to be a friend in every sense of the word. I first met her while I was at Frostburg, when my last roommate introduced me to her. Since then, we've hit it off, and she has really been one of my best friends.

Anytime I have a story I need to tell, she listens, and laughs, and gives me feedback. Anytime I am having a bad day and I call her, she is there to listen and give me support and advice on how to make my day better. I'm sure some of her skills were achieved during her training to become a teacher. However, her huge heart, unmatched personality and soothing voice are intangibles that can not be denied.

Tanya, living hundreds of miles away in another country, never lets the distance be an issue for her friends. She is more than willing to travel to experience that human interaction that seems to be lost with a lot of people these days. Last year, Tanya even remembered my birthday and sent me a card which arrived on my birthday! ! She is so amazing.

Another thing that will bring Tanya and myself together in the afterlife is that we are both infatuated with Harry Potter. I can recall many in depth analytical conversations about Harry Potter with her. Unfortunately, I am not able to find these with many people in my life. Thus, I appreciate this friendship to a whole other degree! ;)

Many people reading this probably will never have the opportunity to meet Tanya, as she lives in Canada. But let me tell you that you are definitely missing out in life if you don't know her. I can't say enough good things about her. She is just one of the most all around amazing people I have ever had the privelege to know.

So, Tanya if you are reading this, I hope you and your family have an amazing holiday! Thank you so much for being one of my best friends in life. I love you! :)