So, I was having a conversation with my stepdad about this the other day about this. My main use for the iPod is to keep me occupied on the hour and a quarter to and from college on the bus every day. Most of the kids who go to the college come from the other direction (I'm going up the valley, they're coming down it), so a lot of days I don't see anybody on the bus that I know. This is the simplest situation, you put in your headphones and you're set all the way. All you have to worry about is if your headphones leak sound and a loud song comes on that makes people look at you strangely. Last week I bought some £30 Sennheiser earbuds (reduced + discount), so that's that problem pretty much sorted out. I guess it's everybody else's loss that they can't hear my awesome music now.

Next: when you're listening to your portable music player of choice when you see a friend. My reaction in this situation is to turn off the music altogether, take out the earphones and strike up a conversation.

What about when you see an acquaintance? For example, a friend's girlfriend, a classmate who you aren't close with, or somebody you recently attended a maths competition with. This is much more difficult. There are several options:
a) Pretend you haven't seen them.
b) Nod at them, possibly adding a perfunctory greeting. Don't remove the headphones or adjust the volume. After this, pretend you don't see them.
c) Turn the volume down or remove one headphone. Say hello.
d) Turn off the music and take the headphones out altogether. Say hello.

There are problems with all of these. For a), obviously, if it's not believable that you haven't seen them, like if you've made eye contact or they sit down next to you, then you're going to come off as rude. To maximise believability I find staring in the opposite direction simple but effective. Of course, that's only going to work up to a point.

With b) it depends heavily on how much the other person wants to talk to you. Sometimes you'll both just nod and then be content to just ignore each other. If the other person speaks to you, however, you're in trouble, especially if you couldn't hear what they said. This means you have to take out one or both headphones and politely ask them what they said, which puts us in the same position as c) and d). (If they speak and you don't react or remove the phones, this can also seem rude).

Option c) and d)'s main problem is that you have to wait for the exchange with the acquaintance to finish before you put your headphones back in, and it can be very difficult to tell when that is. If you put them back in and then they say something else to you, you have to take them back out again. Once this happens, you're reluctant to put them back in again, which tends to lead to awkward silences. Several times I've gotten stuck wanting to put my music back in but feeling too awkward to do anything except stand there and be awkward.

This is even worse when someone you don't know starts speaking to you on the bus. These are generally older people, who'll remark to you about the weather, insist on touching you on the arm when they talk to you, and tell you about their prescription and their pets that have died. They don't understand about headphones and don't seem to realise when I have them in it means I'm listening to noise. And as soon as you think they've talked themselves out and put the headphones back on, they start talking again. Don't get me wrong, I give up my seat for an elderly people on the bus, I'm cool with old people, I'm just not big on talking to people I don't know on the bus, especially when I just wanted an hour to myself to listen to You Look Nice Today to cheer myself up.

So what do you do? Man, the sooner I learn to drive the better, it's going to solve all manner of problems.

Also, space was in the news today. I like it when that happens.

Good news!: I'm back to my old depressed and dysthymic self. Yippee. And all of that missed sleep that didn't affect me before has come down on me like a lorry. Carrying bricks. Being driven by Michael Moore.

I saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Lost Skull today. It wasn't as good as the Last Penultimate Crusade, but there are extremely few films that ever will be. *mourns Sean Connery* And before any people are like 'OMGSEANCONNERYISDEAD?*HANGSSELF*' as I know I would be, he's not dead in real life. Just in Indiana Jones. But still, I am very disappointed with everybody who made the film for allowing that to happen.

Also, if you guys were expecting some face-melting (as I was - can't have an Indiana Jones film without some face-melting!), Cate Blanchett gets owned. And Shia LaBoeuf tries to do the whole symbolic thing at the end of the film by picking up Indy's hat and trying to put it on. So Indiana promptly jacks the hat from his hand and puts it on his own head. That's right, bitch. Try and come back for a spin-off now.

Now, I'm a freak and I enjoy watching the credits of films. Why, I hear you ask? Because I like trying to find funny names in the credits. I know, it's cruel. But I feel that otherwise, nobody would read the names of the people who put time and effort into making that film, who feel proud at having their name on the credits. The least I can do for them is read the credits; even if I don't remember their names at least I'll have read them. And in return, they provide me with mild humour. The best name in the credits I ever saw was when I went to see Mr Bean's Holiday: 'Christian Blood'. I don't think I will ever see something that good in my life again. But the disclaimer at the end of Goblet of Fire ('No dragons have been harmed in the making of this film') comes pretty close. A couple of humourous names that I read today included the surname 'Labiana' and 'Yurih Fuks'. Childish, I know. Sometimes I wonder if film-makers put in weird names to reward the people who read the credits. I'm not a bully, honestly.

I did two perfect three point turns and a perfect reverse around a corner today, according to my driving instructor. If I'm so perfect give me a license already!  *look of daggers*

In other news, somebody beat me on ebay. I was trying to buy a copy of the Fountain for £2... the winning bid was £2.01. *facepalm* I'm so lame I can't even win on ebay.

And finally. Rock Band (Xbox 360) is, at long last released tomorrow here in the UK. But because in work we're so freaking awesome like that, we set it up on the shop floor today to let everybody have a go. Which all of the staff did, meaning that none of the customers got to have a go. When I finished at the record shop I went and played it some more, then I had to go have lunch before my afternoon shift at the menswear shop of doom. But I came back for more after lunch. It goes on sale tomorrow. It wouldn't even fit in my attic room. But then again, who needs savings? I mean, I don't really need an Aygo... or food...