It’s been a busy month. I’ve gained some fun lessons of absolutely no consequence.

1. I hate C++. Maybe once I learn it, it’ll be more fun, but I can’t believe how hard it seems to be to return an array. Stupid pseudo-object-oriented languages.
2. I hate OpenGL coordinate systems. Who had the bright idea to make GLUT window coordinates different from GLU viewport coordinates?
3. Massively multiplayer games are evil. Especially when they’re still in beta, because then you have to deal with lots of server outages and debug messages.
4. You can, indeed, make a film in four days. In fact, depending on who you’re working with, you might not even have to contribute much in the way of effort or creative input. You might think that this is a good thing if you’re said person. It’s not.
5. Yes, Virginia, everyone has a significant other except you, especially all the people who you’d love to date.
6. But cheer up, because drinking is still fun.
7. Never count yourself out of a race too soon, especially when there’s a good chance you’ll win.

That’s it for now. Tomorrow, I’m buying a damned C++ book. *sigh*

Well, that was an exciting episode of 24. Jack turned the tables on Nina again, Sherry’s been having conversations with Stanton, and Marie finally unmasks herself and shows her badass side. Oh, and two of my friends are now engaged.Really. They’re engaged. There’s a ring and everything. And I had to actually see it before I understood that they weren’t joking.They’re not close friends of mine or anything, so I didn’t know exactly how far they’d kid around on something like that, but there it is. Phone calls to relatives and a bit of crying and such. I don’t really know what to think, to be honest. Oh, I have no doubts about the two of them. They’re both good people, and it’s hard to imagine them not being happy together, from the outsider’s point of view. It’s just that there’s a date set: August, after they both get out of school.Here are two people, who have apparently dealt with the proposition of being married. They’ve stared it straight in the face and they didn’t flinch. Meanwhile, I’m sitting in the sandbox at the local playground, trying to build sand castles out of dry sand. How are people my age getting married? How is it possible to concieve of someone much like myself making such a huge and important commitment to another person?And yet, I fully believe that they’ll be able to see it all through to the end. Even at the age of 21. It’s scary sometimes, how people play at being grown-ups and actually get it right.

I cannot communicate properly, without spending far more time than its worth, the extent to which I am disappointed by my complete loss of momentum in life. It’s almost as sad as the guy outside my window in the Grand Am, trying for all his worth to get moving in the deep snow. Poor bastard.It’s been quite a week, though, and the summary of what’s gone on is far more interesting. I can take solace in the fact that half the people I know have seemingly endured meltdowns of their own, exacerbated by the fact that computers everywhere have been acting up. One person’s new laptop will shut down, only to be found later in a fully awakened state and running Windows Media Player. Another computer has been spotted by several people uninstalling software by itself. On top of the massive brick wall that the beginning of 2003 has thrown in our midst, the computers have picked this precise moment in history to launch the first stage of their organized revolt.Anyways. Not a good start to the year.

Star Trek: Nemesis. It was even-numbered, it looked like it had a darker tone, and it was probably going to be the last movie from this crew (especially if the tagline had anything to do with it), so it must’ve been good. Right? Well…There were a lot of elements that worked well, especially at the start and the finish. The first couple of scenes with the Enterprise crew were far better at capturing the lighthearted tone that Insurrection tried to attain and failed miserably. I also can’t find too much to fault with the ending, and if I had one major beef it’d be[ spoiler ].The big problem, then, is that even with all of the requisite plot elements, the story didn’t convince as much as it should have. Considering what was at stake in the second half of the film, there was surprisingly little weight to anything in the film. A good example is the treatment of the Romulans, who have displayed a great deal of cunning, intelligence and aggressiveness in the past. None of these traits were in evidence at all throughout Nemesis. From the existence of the Scimitar to the lapdog role they play to the Remans to the [ spoiler ], the Romulans are portrayed as somehow being a shadow of their former selves. Thus, even the bone of ‘friendship’ thrown to us at the end of the film after the great fight scene seems meaningless.In fact, the lack of gravity seemed to permeate everything in the film. Practically none of the Enterprise crew were utilized in any sort of role beyond that of moving the plot along and beating up people along the way. Even Data was given short shrift, which is a travesty unto itself. When something unexpected and seemingly momentous did occur, it made for some exciting moments. More often, though, we got scenes that were telegraphed in the previews, like the Enterprise ramming another ship. You don’t want to know how that event came about.What is especially disappointing is that First Contact hit the high notes that Nemesis could not. The Borg posed a real threat to Earth’s safety, and it was of the utmost importance that Cochrane get his warp ship up and running on time. There was tension, excitement, and a real sense of the consequences of losing (the scenes with Lily and Picard, especially when she first sees Earth from orbit, were key to creating this sense, although seeing the Enterprise in real trouble certainly didn’t hurt.) Here, there seemed to be no consequences. Case in point: [ spoiler ]Better than Insurrection but a far cry from First Contact. Sadly, the lightweight adventure tone remains. Some really cool scenes, though, and it’s still better than The Phantom Menace.