pleasently surprised.

two things i didn't expect to be great:

1. kung fu panda - easily the funniest movie i've seen in a long time. i was in tears for parts i was laughing so hard. it was also great trying to figure out the voices behind the characters in the movie. ChaCha helped a little, mostly just to confirm the ones we already knew - but we got most of them anyway. please go see it. i was so skeptical and only borderline wanted to even go see it, but it was beyond worth it. super clever and super hilarious.

2. britney spears's new single "womanizer". i just listened to it once through and i'm extremely impressed - it's now being played a second time...a good sign in itself - maybe she's had better singles in the past (slave 4 u and toxic come to mind) but this is much less nasty than either of those two. i really do hope her album lives up to the hype its been given. she probably doesn't deserve more success, but i'm tired of nasty skanko brit.

just further proof that life is more fun with low expectations.

-ap.

another moron moment.

just moments ago i was leaving my test and walking to my bike.

as i approached my bike, i unhooked my keys from my belt loop, aimed the remote keyless entry at my bike, and hit unlock.

what. an. idiot.

-ap.

sticky note experiment.

these are the same guys that did the diet coke + mentos experiment. couple of geniuses.

-ap.

twizzlers is the taste.

-ap.

shown to me by grant "motown" morris.

makes no cents.

New Lincoln penny designs revealed

i understand the importance of honoring Honest Abe, but this is not worth our time.

first of all, i would like to point out that our coins are becoming near indistinguishable beyond their size and color. starting in 2000 with the addition of the Sacagawea gold dollar coin and going through 2016 with the final presidential dollar coins added, we will have a minimum of 102 coins added to our pocket change. there have been no new values added, but there have been 50 new quarter designs, 6 new nickels, at least 45 gold dollars (by 2016) - and now this Lincoln commemorative penny. why is that the slightest bit necessary? anyone who has immigrated to the U.S. in the last few years has to be extremely confused by our currency. it's almost like our coins have turned so insignificant that we're just playing games with them.

secondly, it currently costs something like 1.7 cents to make a penny, so what on earth is the need for the added cost of producing new cents? we ought to remove them from our currency system entirely and round everything up or down to .05 - no way it's beneficial to add to the coin. again, i understand that 200 years ago one of our greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln, popped out in a log cabin somewhere, but we ought to be able to come up with another way of honoring the guy than a new form of a meaningless coin - he'll already be getting his own dollar coin in 2011 - but i suppose thats not really an honor...especially if guys like LBJ, Nixon and everyone's favorite president Millard Fillmore also get coins. heck, grover cleveland gets TWO for being the 22nd and 24th president.

if this is going to happen, they should at least add a top hat to his profile.
thats all i have to say about that.

-ap.

vegas vacation.

a few nights ago i was having a rather unfortunate evening.

i was hanging out with my roommates and we played settlers of catan in the afternoon and then played monopoly later that evening. i felt i had strong showings in both games, but i wasn't aware that nick would have the luckiest games i've ever witnessed in my life and win both rounds.

after a 3 hour game of monopoly i came back to my room feeling pathetic and, well, unlucky. i sat down at my computer to release a little steam in an extremely sarcastic and slightly exaggerated blog about my history of unluckiness...when i was jarred out of my cynical streak by one of my roommates frantically alerting me of a geyser in the bathroom.

yes. a geyser in the bathroom. our toilet intake valve had busted loose from the can and was spraying everywhere creating a puddle that had leaked out the bathroom door and had engulfed a large portion of our living room as well.

there it was - proof that i was the most unlucky man alive.

and then the next day i was in class - still sulking - and i get a call from an 877 number. i was like what.* they left a message, phew. i listened to it after class and this is what it said:

"hello adam paul cooper! my name is stephanie, and i'm happy to inform you that your name has been selected in the Royals' Vegas Giveaway drawing you entered, and you and another will be awarded airfare and hotel accommodations upon claiming your prize. please call back at 877-777-1618 as soon as possible to claim your prize. thank you so much and congratulations!**"

again. I WAS LIKE WHAT.***

and in the course of that 24 seconds i went from the unlucky doldrums to being one of the luckiest individuals on the planet. others in contention:

- anyone remotely related to michael phelps.
- who ever is dating mandy moore nowadays.
- todd palin.
- brad and angelina's adopted kids.
- carson daly: no reason that no talent clown should have ever been successful.

maybe i'm not quite in their league. but i'm feeling pretty lucky nowadays. hopefully it carries over when i hit the cheapest blackjack tables on the strip.

so in a few weeks my father and i will be embarking to LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, for a couple days' fun. i've never experienced anything like this in my life. i'm taking my camera.

-ap.

*i have always ALWAYS wanted to include that in a blog. best line ever.
** - verbatum. i saved the message.
*** - yes. a twofer.

political rant.

up until this point i've been trying my best to give both candidates a shot at my vote. i like McCain's energy ideas, but i like Obama's health care and his stance on social justice issues. i'm personally in complete support of Obama raising taxes for the wealthy. who cares if the richest people in the country get taxed more?! if you're making $500,000 a year you could be taxed half of that and still be making WAY too much. what do you even do with $250,000 a year!? i couldn't spend that money if i really tried to.

in first grade we did a fun activity called the Million Dollar Project - essentially, what would you do with $1 million bucks? you know what i decided?! i decided that i'd build a TREE HOUSE. a really big one with a fire pole and a rope swing. and then when that only encompassed about $1,000 bucks i decided to add electricity and put in a N64 and a TV and bought all the other electronics i could think of, and when i was done - i decided to donate the remaining $957,600 dollars to charity. and here i am 17 years later and i still don't understand what people would ever do with that much dinero. even 1/10 of that - i don't understand how you could spend it.

so when McCain blasts Obama about wanting to raise the taxes of the upper class - i tell the upper class to cry me a river and fork it over. if you can't be happy with tax deprived yet still bloated salary then you've got bigger medically addressable problems outside of governmental issues.

that ends my first rant. like i said. i've tried to contain myself and agree as best as i can with both candidates, but today in my Wealth Power and Privilege class i was presented with two military fellows who started in on how great McCain is and then when asked about Obama they were completely ignorant. They had no idea what they were talking about - but, boy, did they hate the man. did they know what his stance was on....anything? no. but they knew he wasn't republican and they knew he hadn't been tortured in the military in his past life like the MAVERICK.

from their perspective, it makes pefect sense. they're in the military so they're supporting the guy that supports the military. this is not to discount McCain's service, but we're not electing the person most like us - there are 305,179,081 other people in this country that are getting this president too. i'm tired of people supporting the candidate who is best for themselves. we're selecting the person most suited for the country. (it is unfortunate that - republican or democrat - 100% of congress is extremely wealthy).

i'm tired of a having a militaristically minded President instead of a socially conscious one, and that's the vibe i've been getting from McCain, and now from McCain supporters and i've had enough. i'd like a President that is going do address race and class issues in this nation instead of in war zones abroad.

i'm still going to watch the debates with the most open mind i can possibly muster, but I'm supporting Barack Obama until McCain proves he has more to offer than being "America's Maverick" - cause he's losing ground with me every time he boasts it. I didn't want to get emotional about politics this year, but Johnny Camo pushed the right buttons today in class and i'm currently on fire.

-ap.

Something Beautiful for God.

there are few people in this world that are truly Christ-like. that is not to say that there aren't many people that exhibit Christ-like qualities, but there aren't many that i could easily refer to as being truly Christ-like.

Mother Teresa is one of them. I've heard of her for my entire life and what a saint she was, but i'd never actually looked into it myself. sorta like when people tell me that the Empire State Building is tall or the Grand Canyon is breathtaking - i believe it, but i've never really experienced it or felt it for myself. such is the case with Mother Teresa.

Mother Teresa moved to Calcutta from Yugoslovia when she was a teenager to live among the poorest in the world. She set up Homes for the Dying for the social outcasts with nowhere to go but the grave and addressed what she believed to be their most important need: the need to be wanted. she took in the thirsty, poor, naked and sick and treated them as Jesus would, but more imporantly she did so with extreme joy that allowed every dying leper to get a glimpse of Jesus before they passed.

this is remarkable, yes, but the thing that i truly love about Mother Teresa is not how that she had such joy, but it was where that joy came from: through sacrificing something great for Jesus in order to be truly joyful in the life you're living. if life is easy then you're not truly serving as Christ intended, and Mother Teresa was the epitome of a life in Christ - and that is what brings true joy.

this book inspires change. she cncourages people to do "something beautiful for God" no matter how small it may seem. it isn't about how grand scale or how successful you are in doing it, - "what matters is the life of the individual." when asked about the significance of her ministry she said the following:

"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is but a drop in the ocean."

everyone who already owns a Bible and stil wants to see more of Jesus should read this book. buy it now. i got mine for $4 after shipping...which is like 1/5 of the money in my bank account.

-ap.

robert m. franklin

"Well-paying low-skill jobs in the manufacturing sector were disappearing and in their place came low-skill, low-paying jobs in the service sector, often many miles outside the city. And increasingly, the better jobs required education and technical skills that were virtually out of reach for most of the urban poor. America has ceased to be a place of opportunity, upward mobility, and personal improvement."

- Robert M. Franklin, Crisis in the Village: Restoring Hope in African American Communities (emphasis mine)

-ap

manhattan public library (say shhh).

before we start...you can just listen to this while you read.

The Seed (2.0) - The Roots

so today i decided to hit up the library. this turned out to be somewhat troublesome after i left with 4 books and 6 albums that i didn't have when i got there. so now instead of 4 books to read, i have 8 books. i'm not sure i have the time for that in the upcoming weeks, but i'm going to make time.

the brightside is that i loaded up on the blues and some gospel, and i'll have plenty of time to digest all my new music as i digest my new reading material simultaneously. the books i'm starting with:

1. The Scandel of Evangelical Politics (Sider)
2. Crisis in the Village: Restoring Hope in African American Communities (Franklin)

i added some al green, patti labelle, and smokey robinson to my collection today too. i'm currently obsessed with libraries and may just spend all my free time there this semester. it's not just interlibrary loan anymore. the whole atmosphere of the situation straight up rules.

i think i've devoted these last couple semesters to reading and planning for my future. i'm not certain i'll ever have another part of my life with so much time to research the things i want to learn. plus it'll provide me with something to do while all my roommates enjoy their lady friends' company - i'm much more interested in books and music than women right now.

actually, what am i talking about "brightside"? this whole situation rules.

ap.