It's been a long while since I've blogged and I'd hate to do the "gee, guys, I've been abscent a long time so I've gotta explain myself" entry and just go into all the things I've wanted to talk about online but haven't had the chance to since the computer lab I normally go to is closed.  Hey, if anyone out there wants to send me a computer or lap top so I can get online everyday, feel free to donate it to me!  Uh, yeah, right, like any of us can afford to do that?  I wish.

Regarding the LOST finale

Well, after watching it a few times over and over again while I attempt to finish my comic book, I have to say a few things about what I think is going to be revealed next season...  First off, I think Hurley should kick Michael's ass.  I was just telling miyamom that you can just see the fire in Hurley's eyes when he realized that Michael would've killed Libby anyway.  I also think Michael is up for some major heartache when he realizes that his boy is going to catch on to what he went through to get him.  Heck, the Others might have pulled the wool over Mikey's eyes anyway, considering that it's hinted at that Walt can be in several places at one time.  So next season I bet that secrets about Walt's powers are going to come into play.

But what about the whole explosion thing?  Are Locke, Eko, and Desmond dead?  My bet is that they're not dead and that they will come back with weird mutant powers or something like that because they were so hotly exposed to all that magnetic force.  I predict Locke is gonna become God of the Island.  I still want Desmond to hook up with Danielle, but after seeing that Dezzy boy got his heart broke over a blonde who left some secret message for him in his Dickens' book (anybody else see a joke in there?) I think he's gonna be a crazy, drunk, lonely Scotsman for a long while. 

Is Charlie going deaf?  Possibly.  It's obvious he's suffered some damage to his ear drums after surviving the blast and it's good to see that he's back with Claire.  And, speaking of Claire...  I believe that Claire is Jack's half sister.  In the episode where Ana Lucia hangs out with Jack's dad, we saw that he went to visit some blonde aussie woman and demanded to see his daughter.  Since Ana Lucia got geeked, we don't know how it will be revealed to Jack that Claire might be his sister.  Someone somewhere has a flashback that will help put the missing pieces together. 

Watching LOST is kinda like watching the movie SAW or CUBE; each character is brought together for a reason, it can't just be fate.  If they'd stop for a moment to sit down by the fire and start sharing their stories, maybe they'd all figure out how everyone is connected and maybe we, as an audience, will finally put some of the mysteries to bed.

I hate public computer labs during the summer

Sure, I love it that I have free internet access but the hours during the summer are crap.  I work all day or night on the comic book and want to spend my relaxation time online, but I can't because the lab is never open longer than four or five hours.  Worse yet, they've shortened the hours because of renovations at the university center and there's always some security guard kicking me off the computer or kicking me out of the building.  They're trying to crack down on computer theft at the university, but it makes it harder for real people with real lives who work nine to five to get online.  It just pisses me off.  I can't wait until I have my own computer at home, then you all would hear from me 24/7!

My goal for the summer: planning a visit to Milwaukee

Milwaukee is my home away from Point.  I consider myself to have two home towns; Stevens Point and Milwaukee.  My friend Greg is chomping on the bit for me to visit and I have to say that I really miss him.  He's the only straight guy I know that I can go shopping with and it isn't a hassle.  I like playing "dress up" with him.  He's just the right size and hieght where you can treat him like a doll.  I also miss my pals Jenn and Damien who are getting married in August.  I've been promising them that I'd come down for a visit.  These three friends of mine are simply the best!  They're the only people I currently know that I can sit and watch a good movie with and it's an event.  They have similiar tastes and rarely do we bore each other.  My only problem is picking the right time to visit and how the hell am I going to get down there?  With gas prices the way they are, it's not a simple matter of just getting a ride with a friend.  I might go greyhound or do the train thing, but there's always some idiot I end up sitting next to who spoils the ride for me.  So before I make the trip, I'm gonna have to invest in an iPod.

I've been getting into being ultra feminine in the way I dress

It's been a long while since I've really dressed like a "girl" and by that I mean over the last year and a half I've only been content to wear a simple frock or dress in basic black.  Lately I've indulged in getting "girly" again in the way I dress.  Frankly, it's that whole Bohemian look that's got me going through my old clothes.  Now that big beaded necklaces and lacy skirts and dresses are in style this season, I have an excuse to wear what I used to.  It's funny how styles end and come back.  I'd like to see the whole New Romantic look from the early 80's come back, now that I think of it.  Mainly because I love baggy pants and big earrings and silk scarves. 

I have become a Spider magnet!

One of the unfortunate things about living in a basement apartment is that I've had to encounter a lot of spiders.  Normally I don't like hurting the little devils but I have to discourage them from making webs over my bed.  I hate that creepy-crawly feeling of bare skin meeting gossamer when you're indoors.  It's okay if they keep their shit outside, but I don't like it inside because it forces me to do housework.  I live a very simple life.  I eat out or reheat take out -- therefore eliminating washing dishes -- and keep my housework down to just doing laundry or cleaning the toilet once a week.  With spiders hanging about, I have to vaccuum, dust, and do laundry twice a week.  Maybe the spiders are just there to remind me to be active?  Still, I can't help feeling guilty whenever I have to kill one.  The other day I accidentally, with my bare foot, stepped on a BIG ONE.  It was initially un-creepy because I thought maybe I stepped on a grape.  When I realized that I couldn't have stepped on a grape because I haven't had any grapes in the house lately, I painstakingly lifted up my foot to see the squashed remains of a fat spider.  I don't know what kind it was, but it was a horrible job to get the sticky guts off my foot.  I immediately swabbed alcohol on my foot and, on top of that, put on some anti-bacterial cream just to give my mind rest that my foot would be completely clean afterwards.  When I told one of the ladies in town about the accident, she told me that there must be something mystical behind my recent encounters with spiders.  Who knows!  Grandmother Spider was the originator of language and design and I am a freelance illustrator, so go figure.  Maybe besides reminding me to do more housework, the spiders are there to keep me from getting artist's block! 

Alan Rickman and Weird Al are my new gods...

I know what you're thinking, "Val, what are you on?"  But I have come to the conclusion that Alan Rickman, no matter what role he plays, is an incredibly hot actor who I would never kick out of bed.  Besides making a great Professor Snape in the Harry Potter movies, I recently watched him in MESMER.  He is absolutely hypnotising as the late 18th century charlatan.  Check it out if you can find it. 

And, on a completely strange note, I've noticed that Weird Al Yankovic is really kinda attractive when he isn't hiding behind his crazy pop song parodying persona.  Without those glasses and curls, he is hot.  I don't know why I've recently found him attractive.  Maybe I'm just, I don't know, horny?  It's something I've been doing lately.  I'll watch a movie or tv show and I start noticing men I don't normally find immensely attractive more interesting than I normally would.  I even developed a crush on Craig Ferguson, whom I think must give great head.  I think it's the long nose and how he jumps around during his opening monologues.  I recently watched his movie, THE BIG TEASE where he plays a gay Scottish hairdresser trying to fit in L.A. and, in one scene, he wears a kilt with a leather jacket, a look he dubbed "Brav-erace" (a combination of Braveheart and Liberace).  When he teases a tranny by exposing himself, I have to watch it several times.  Yeah, I think it's been more than a long while since I've been on a date...  let's blame it on that.

I dreamt about old boyfriends and lovers giving me gifts

I wonder what this means...  For the last three days/nights I've had dreams where old boyfriends were sending me flowers, all except for Andrew who sent me a Chamomile plant with a note.  I read the note and it simply said: "On this day, the 30th of May, I, Rev. Andrew Jacob, hereby sent the most excellent Valentina Kaquatosh a gift so she can stop complaining about me.  Yeah, Val, I sent you a gift.  Don't say I never did anything good for you."  Attached to the note was a lock of his hair braided with a blue ribbon.  I took the plant inside and left the flowers outside.  I worried about where I would put the plant.  Since I have a basement apartment I couldn't keep it inside, so I'd have to plant it outside where it could get some sun.  My landlady keeps a garden, but I worried that there would be no room for the plant.  The chamomile plant was really big, too.  I woke up thinking that I still had the plant.  In that early morning daze where you're still half in and out of dream, I rose to get my mail and there was a box for me at the door.  I really did thought that perhaps Andrew did send me a gift, but it was only my copy of Xena: Warrior Princess season five dvds!  Nice gift to myself, nothing from Drew.  Oh, well.  In any case, I took the dream as a good omen.

Well, that's all I have time to spew about today.  I'll check back later.  Hope you all have a great summer!