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3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 28,July,2004 | Ok, so I was stocking the shelves with various cds and music dvds when a thought came over me. If you knew that people only went to see you as a joke and they were all laughing at you, none of them appreciated what you did for 'quality work', then would you still do it? I think I was looking at some hair band dvd first when I was thinking about it. The thought was cemented later when I was stocking William Hung cds. Ok, for those of you that don't know, William Hung is the guy from last season's American Idol. He is the 'She Bang' guy that sings really bad, dances really bad, and proudly proclaims 'I have no formal training in singing or dancing'. Well no $#!t sherlock, it didn't take Mattlock to figure that one out. So this guy gets a cd deal, has played many talk shows, even played the halftime of many of the NBA games this past season and playoffs. He is a serious flash in the pan, but making really good money considering he didn't even finish his performance for the screening of American Idol. Hell, he was so popular that the WB created a show to find the next person like him. Superstar USA. Gawd. That show was so sick, but after watching the second to last show I had to watch the final to see what happened.. and I will always live with that shame. So my question to myself is, if I knew that people were only buying my cd (and geez, why do so many people buy his crappy cd?...), and watching me perform, and all of this stuff, would I keep doing it as the butt of a joke? Ya know, I think I probably would. Hey, he gets to live the life of a rockstar, travel around, perform, record, get treated like royalty, and not have to worry about the downside. I mean, there is a downside, but you're prepared for it. You know that the public will get tired of you. You know that you will be criticized for not singing well. You know that people are going to make fun of you. Heck, that's about all you're going to get. But it may lead to something else. You could get into acting and be a great bit player and make a great life like that. You could offshoot into so many interesting things that it's hard to see why you wouldn't want to get your 15 minutes and then some... |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 24,July,2004 | Ok, so I converted it and ran the a/c. At first it was successful. Then it was warm air. The pressure went down. So I recharged. It worked. Then it went dry. There is a leak somewhere. I put some dye marked freon in. It worked. Stayed working longer. But it still stopped working. At least since I have the UV dye in the system I should be able to track it down and figure out what is the problem. But for now, I'm in the Texas heat with no a/c. That is ok for now, but come August, I better have it working. blaugh. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 19,July,2004 | Ok, so on Tuesday we went to play some basketball. My knee still felt great. I was chasing Reggie Miller all around the court, through multiple picks each time. The knee felt good. Unfortunately not everyone knows how to throw a legal pick. Moving screens each and every time. At least one person if not more. One of the illegals screens put a knee in the back of mine just as I was sliding over. Crrcckk. Knee did not appreciate this. The knee was ginger but alright for the rest of the night, but very sore the next day. So now there is at least another week off from doing anything and then we will take a look. The positive is that it seems to be healing instead of staying exactly the same. Time off is what injuries need. Here's hoping that it gets better soon. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 19,July,2004 | Ok, so today Garett came over to play some music. We used to be in a band with Adam just after high school called Penguin. It was a punk band (well I guess pop punk) consisting of Geeb's Billy Jo styled vocals, Adams Metallica influenced solos and NOFX influenced riffs, and my sporadic and ever changing drum lines. Ever changing meaning that each time the songs were played there was no guarantee that the same fills would be played. So since the days of Penguin were long gone, we decided to do these covers to get the creative juices flowing and also to get used to playing together again. We decided to play Major Tom by Peter Schilling. It actually went pretty well. Garett learned it pretty fast (from what we could hear on a sample online) and we meshed pretty well on it. Of course this is considering that neither of us have played in a few months at least. Well I think Geeb played earlier this week in anticipation of we were going to do. Later on Chris brought his bass. One day he will learn to play it. Heh. But it was good just to have another influence. So this is where the day goes horribly wrong. We were taking a break and decided to fix the loose knobs on Chris's bass. Garett took off the pick guard and tightened the knobs onto the bass. So far so good. I suppose he was feeling good about himself because he decided to try and fix a short in his guitar. So he opened it all up and was goofing around. He somehow yanked a wire out of place. Luckily I had a sodering iron and some soder. So the guitar was put back together, unlike Humpty Dumpty. The incident effectively killed the music for the night, but now there are talks of learning new songs and playing again sometime soon. This is god news.. very good news indeed. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 19,July,2004 | OK, so as I have stated prior, I have multiple jobs now. So I was going from training at one job to work at the other job the other day. For the training I'm allowed to wear flip flops. These are my foot attire of choice for the summer months in Texas. If you don't understand, then just come here in any shoes anything less than running shoe breathable and you will understand why. Even running shoes get to be stiffling on your feet if you are not able to take them off for the entire day here. So I went to change into my work uniform for my other job. I had the pants. I had the shirt. I had the socks. I didn't have the shoes. Where were my shoes? I left my shoes at home. So it's fifteen minutes until work time. Anyone who knows me knows that shoes are a hard to decide item. I didn't have time to go home and get them, so I did the next best thing. I went to the academy next door (a sports and outdoors retailer) and went shopping for shoes. There were some really cheap canvas shoes like the old school vans except a much cheaper version. That might have been ok. I thought about it and decided I wanted something that I would want to wear normally. After much deliberation (quickly) I ended up purchasing some basketball shoes. Since it was raining by the time I left the store, I went into work in my flip flops and changed inside. Since I am so picky about shoes, I decided that I ma return them. Even after wearing them. Because I'm cheap. Ridiculously cheap. But that doesn't make me a bad person. So I suppose I will try and do that tommorrow I guess.. Or maybe I will just decide to keep a second pair of basketball shoes. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 19,July,2004 | Ok, this is going to be a quick one. I know I'm from the south and we're supposed to like them anyhow, but biscuits are just so good! I delayed dinner just so I could have a tray of biscuits. Mmm mm good. I know mere likes bread and anything carb related.. so maybe it has rubbed off on me. Or has the latent biscuit love layed low until I could truly appreciate it? Or am I just a little to dorky about a freaking wad of dough? Hmm... you decdide... |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 11,July,2004 | Ok, so for those that don't know, to the right is a little area that you don't have to be a member of blogspot to comment on. You can remain anonymous. Or make up a random framp arse name that you want to be known as. That's cool, that's what it's known for. Here is my response, which is redundant because it can be viewed to the right... Flowbie Dear Hugo.. what, no way to comment directly to you? That is not what I say at all. Maybe some. And I know lots of indie people address being in best buy as selling out. Not me. I'm happy for their success. What am I moaning about? Not being able to go to their shows. You don't have to be a huge commercial success to make going to the show not as fun. NOFX is a band that I will probably love forever, but I will never go to another show of theirs. For one the crowds are too rowdy for my aging body. Secondly I just don't want to be at a show of 300 or so people. It is too big. I like the intimate shows. So I might muster the energy and stamina to fight a Sleater-Kinney show, but there is no way I'm going to do battle with crowds larger than that. It's too much. I perfer smaller crowds, and seeing Ben Kweller and Death Cab for Cutie at a 500+ person crowd kinda sux. Just my view. So I like to lord the fact that I know about cool bands that no one else knows. And yeah, I play them for everyone I know, but these are people that I deem worthy of knowing, not just flavor of the month poser jerks.. whatever.. maybe I will write more as a post. So does that clarify it? I don't care if there are a million poseurs, it just makes it harder to go to the shows where the band is actually a really good band that I like and everyone else knows about them. I don't want to fight huge crowds to listen to music. heck, no one really puts on a 'show' anymore anyhow (Go Aquabats!) so might as well just listen to the cd if there are going to be a million people at the show. My days of leaving the show in a sweat soaked t-shirt are long gone. My days of mortal kombat in the pits will never return. I'm almost (not quite...) to the point where I am going to want to sit in (gasp) assigned seating to see shows. But I'll leave that for when I'm listening to Ravi Shankar vs Zampir and his panflute... rock out! Anyhow, the biscuits I've been eating are going to my head.. must stop typing... |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 11,July,2004 | Oh, joyous occassion! So I was hanging out with Chris this weekend (actually not playing video games... how strange...) We were just sitting around watching tv like a couple of high schoolers when he gets the bright idea to go shoot some hoops. Now I am running on 1.5 hours of sleep (thanks to Need For Speed Underground and needing to be at a lame meeting at 7 am.. blaugh) and have a little queeziness from eating a little more than half of a large bag of beef jerky (guess who ate the rest. heh..) So the idea was to go to a local court and just shoot around. I'm wearing cargo shorts, my work shoes (low tops, bad for the ankles, these have never even been laced tight) and my calvin and hobbes t-shirt (which I would not have chosen to sweat in, but hey it's ok...) Anyone who knows me knows that I like to wear the proper gear for the proper sport. This is definitely not how I would have chosen to go shooting. We get to the court and there are a bunch of people there. So we're shooting around. Next thing I know someone is asking if we want to run threes. Now bear in mind I don't have my knee brace, am not wearing anything to prevent another injury to my recovering mcl, and have not done anything athletic for about two months to rest the knee so it can heal. Some thing got in my head and I said sure. The first game I matched up on one of those speed guys and he got a few layups on me. Same story in the second game. My shooting is ok, but not great. My knee is holding up. Good stuff. Third game, there are more people and we repick so we have fours, and somehow we get the tall guy that just showed up. Not as tall as me, but since we already had the second tallest, we are dwarfing the other team. I shot horribly in this game, but I was getting kinda Rodman on the glass at times and my team was picking up my slack so no worries. Last game (cause after all I didn't want to play until I hurt my knee) something changed. I was blaming my poor shooting (even little four footers) on my lack of legs. I didn't have it. No lift and no quickness. Something changed a few points into the game. I went MJ in his prime. Kobe in the third and fourth quarters. Stevie Franchise when the pressure is on. I guess I should throw in McGrady since he is our new acquisition. I don't know what happened, but I was just getting the ball and letting it fly. Hitting. Curl off a screen, turnaround, net. Man in my face, didn't matter. Seriously, after one of my shots someone said 'now you have to sign the ball'. About that time my lack of any activity in two months caught up to me and I let my team carry the offensive load for the rest of that game. But it was great to feel like an NBA player, getting triple teamed whenever I touched the ball and passing it off to my open team mates. Good stuff. So the story is that I think my knee is almost healed. It was only mildly sore after playing, and I didn't even feel it that much the next day. good stuff. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 11,July,2004 | Ok, so 'Hugo' made a comment on my blog. Interesting. It's definitely a valid view point. I'm glad that it is becoming more of a dialogue on the blog. Interesting. My only complaint is that there is not direct way to converse with this Hugo. I can only write on my blog a reply and maybe Hugo will return or maybe he won't. I guess i don't like not being able to respond. I know most people don't use ICQ, so maybe if it lets you then you can put in an AIM / AOL membername or at least your own blog that I can go to and sned a direct comment. Anyhow, no matter what I am really excited that someone other than people I know in flesh have read my blog and not completely pooped on it. Yay. Ok, Fear Factor is on and somebody is about to fall off a cab in midair in the rain. Hmm... |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 11,July,2004 | So we're at the rock show and a band is on stage that we can't hear very well so we are goofin' to ourselves (and apparently irritating some couple that was near us, but that is another story that I won't go into...) and we decided that we needed to make up a word. After a few attempts I offered FRAMP. Yeah, we should just start saying framp. We can go into malls and just start using it and see what happens. This is an amusing prank and also a great psychology experiment. We had to decide what it meant. We decided it could be something negative. Leave it wide open. So you can use it as an adjective, verb or pronoun.. whatever you want. Man, this food is so framp. I think I'm going to hurl.. We went on an on about ways to use framp. Don became enamoured with ways to market framp, like t-shirts and stuff like that. Some of the ideas for shirts included '(upside down spanish question mark) framp?', 'framp yo mamma', 'framp happens', and 'you're so framp'. A late entry that doesn't really make sense in context of the term but made us all laugh nonetheless was 'framp like ya know'. At first Chris was saying fram until we realized and told him the correct word. 'Like Peter FRAMPton?' Yeah, exactly. So we had so much fun goofin' with framp that I think it will be in my head for a while. Especially after my experimentation. I decided to just say it to random people and see what they thought. To date I have said it to four completely different people. Not one person so far has questioned framp. The closest I got was from someone (who shall remain nameless, but fairly evident) that knows every word I use and when I am saying something strange. Now this isn't like when I was saying jenky all the time. That is a real word that is used by the.. umm.. english? Canadians? Oh, well someone really uses it and it's a fun word to say. But I threw out framp to describe something and what was this persons reaction? 'Did you say spramp?' The thought was about the phrase that Jack made up on Will & Grace. Now thinking of a made up word from a tv show should have tipped off the fact that I was just making something up. So when I responded that I said framp not spramp, it was just acknowledged it and moved on. I tried again later and still no reply. So next time you want a fun experiment try using it. If you don't, you're so framp. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 11,July,2004 | Ok, so I went to see some bands recently. They were Green Circles, Honorary Title, the Prids and either Foxtrot or Voxtrot... I'm confused on the name apparently. So Honorary Title was decided were a group that were good for relaxing, taking a bubble bath, or laying your woman down by the fire. If your woman is a little bit skanky and likes lyrics like 'I can taste the cigarette smoke on your tongue while we're swapping spit...' They were second up and were just two people from New York, a mullet tuffed guitarist and his sometimes keyboard companion. (I guess it's ok to have a mullet and still be cool if you're from NY but not cool in any way if you're from NJ. That was the group consensus.) I would have liked to hear a drummer and better EQ.. about all I could hear was the vocals and that prompted the framp incident (to be discussed in it's entirety later). The first band we saw (and unfortunately walked in on during their performance) was Green Circles. I'm not sure, but I think they are a local band. They were really good, and almost did enough to be 'the band of the night'. This title was tied and later outright taken away. More details later. They were very upbeat and peppy. I think only one song did not meet my approval, and it wasn't so much that I disliked it as it wasn't something that made me happy to be hearing it. So it was ok I guess. Great indie pop that had some touches of the eighties (imagine Chris swooning to this part... domo arigato Mr Roboto.. err, not quite...) The lead guitarist had so much energy that he had to be a freak of nature or on some supplemental narcotic. He had this quirky dance style that was later mocked by someone in the audience, but hey, it takes guts to dance in public let alone onstage... Good show. Third band was the Prids. I think they were from Oregon. The bassist was a fire fingered gal who Don likened to an Amazon that he would not want to meet in a dark alley. Jerk move dancer with plenty of energy and even more talent. The lead guitarist had a kidna bleach blond mohak / high crew cut that would be something you would see in a fighting video game or in some anime... Once again the EQ was suspect b/c I couldn't really hear the vox very well. The band itself was great. I really enjoyed their performance. I would like to hear some of their recorded info to find out what they noramally sound like. I bet it is much better and probably something that you would want to hear a lot. The final band was Foxtrot or Voxtrot.. I dunno.. I'll have to clarify later... You have to appreciate any band that has one person that only plays tambourine and occassional vox. And like any Austin band (including Green Circles) they like to change guitars and sometimes switch people around on instruments. Heck, if you live down the street why not bring every guitar you own, right? Gotta show of f the collection. You also have to talk a lot in between songs and have clever inside jokes that you have to be cool enough to get or pretty much just know the band. Blaugh. But seriously, this band was worth the price of admission alone (in this case it was $5 and well worth it). They were introduced to us (our group of people, not the show) as a kinda Belle and Sebastian band. That they were not. Unless B&S were super happy and on speed and didn't feel like ranging as much. Now that is no insult to Oxtrot, b/c B&S is a super group and no one is going to be exactly like them... or even close. But they were very good in their own way. They got everyone in the crowd rocking. I even stood up off of my bench to passively nod my way through their songs. It was a great vibe for a local show and it was definitely something to look forward to again. If they are coming to your city you should check them out. Just because I said so. And they are so not framp. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 11,July,2004 | Ok, so I haven't written in a while. Why? The answer is simple. Need For Speed: Underground. What is that you may ask? It's a tuner video game where you get to choose a car, make modifications to the appearance and the performance and get points for how well you race as well as how you look. Interesting, no? So anyone who knows me knows that I once had a substance abuse problem with Tokyo Extreme Racer Zero. I would play for hours and hours. Lose sleep. Miss meals. Ignore loved ones. Live for the game. I recently joined gamefly, a game rental version of netflix that had a free trial period. I ordered Tokyo Extreme Racer Three and NFS:U at the same time. Somehow I got Underground first and have been playing it since. I did take two days off this weekend and did not play at all. Didn't even turn the PS2 on for a movie or anything. But now the smack is calling to my veins, and I will dive deep into the abyss of Underground... until I beat it. And heck, I'm only half way there. I don't even own a Skyline yet. I could trade for a Supra, but somehow my turbo / nitrous RSX is performing as well as I could want, except my drag launches are not as fast as I'd like. Oh well, we'll get to that later... Anyhow, I thought I would write a little before I get back to it so I have some new material to chronicle what I've been doing. Enjoy. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 11,July,2004 | So as I have seen before, a music that I enjoy is being commercialized and will soon lose what made it good. Indie music is being coopted. Many indie bands have recently been sighted at Best Buy (and I'm sure other stores too) for purchse. Not just a couple of cds on the shelves where you have to dig to find them. Large displays on feature walls and endcaps where it states that the store or the industry or both are trying to make indie big business and turn a profit from it. Hrumph. What does this mean? That means bands will come out with the intention of sounding indie and maybe even indie radio stations. On one hand it is good. I wouldn't mind flipping on the radio to something other than the college station and hearing indie. Truth is I don't listen to the radio because there is not much that I want to hear there. If I had the opportunity to listen to indie on the radio I might be more inclined. But there is the downfall. Once something gets too big it has to restructure or reinvent itself. And it will lose the values that got it to where it is today. What will happen? Well, people on the mainstream level will either not catch on or will abandon it at some point. Then when the crest has fallen, the wave of bands trying to sound indie will fall out. Most of the bands that were indie to begin with will have either been overlooked in the surge or have gotten more popular, but inevitably they will change styles to create something new that was more what they were trying to do with the escence of indie. And like 'Alternative Rock' preceding it, and others as well, indie will die as we know it. Maybe it is good for music. To keep things stirring and changing. I'm just sad to see the beginning of the end. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 09,July,2004 | So if you're looking at the times on these recent blogs, they are very late / early. I stayed up too late again and had to be at work too early and then got home and took a nap. That always screws me up because now I'm not able to sleep and I have to be up too early again tommorrow. Maybe I can hit myself with a mallet and wake up in four hours to go to work. Maybe I will one day learn from my past lessons and not make these mistakes again. Maybe... |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 09,July,2004 | So Geeb tells me that his mom wants to look at my blog. I didn't even ask the context. How did she know about it? Well obviously Geeb told her about it, but in what way did he bring it up? What piqued her interest enough to see it for herself? Is she going to find anything worthwile here? Hmmm... But when Geeb told me that she asked I said 'sure that's fine' and then went into my ramblings about how there is nothing important here anyhow. Then Garett said 'well if it's nothing important you wouldn't waste your time on it. You don't just put effort into something lacking any value' or something like that. The memory is not so good these days. Anyhow, I guess after that conversation I thought about it later. why is this important to me? Because I find it easier to talk with a keyboard than with my vocal chords. It's been like that for a while. When I first started college and found out about the internet (geez.. that was a long time ago...) I soon discovered chat rooms and IM. I began looking for people worth talking to and forged what I like to think were very strong relationships. Yeah, I even met a few of them along the way. It was great. I guess because no one is looking you in the face you can type whatever you want. You have a built in protection. If you say too much and are too vulnerable, who cares? This isn't someone that is going to use it against you. This is someone whose only purpose as far as your symbiotic relationship goes is to be your friend. I know someone can be your friend in real life, but it's just different. When you interact with someone in the real world things change. You get to read into things. You get to assume things. With text on a screen you have to clarify. Are you being sarcastic? Was that a joke? Sometimes it is silly to say things like thar in real life and you just have to guess what someone meant. Other things also make it hard to talk to peaople. Well, for me anyhow. So talking to people online was so much easier. It's just easy to confide in people when you don't really know them. Sort of like going into a confessional booth. You have complete anonymity. You can use it as you choose. It was like a spiritual cleansing talking to people. What does chatting have to do with this blog? Well, I don't meet people online like I used to. And the ones that I do meet are usually kids. Ok, not like little kids.. but high schoolers or young college kids. We aren't the same people. I guess people like me don't really chat online much. Too busy with the real world and real jobs and whatever. So since I don't get to talk to people online as much, I talk to myself. And anyone else that wants to listen. Blogs are like a little diary. I get to take a though that is in my head and get it out. I get to craft it with words and throw out a few details of it to create an image. It's never complete, nor would I want it to be. Then I can forget about it. But if I want to know what I was thinking about, then I can go back and see. It's nice. Some people think that I say things to get a rise or to make something happen. This is the exact opposite. Instead of making something happen, I just want to leave things how they were. In my mind. At one point in time. Not necessarily now, just some place in the past... |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 09,July,2004 | Ok, for those of you that don't know (which would have included me yesterday), r-132a is a coolant used in newer automotive a/c systems. It is much cheaper to buy than r-12, which older cars have. It is also not an ozone depleted substance like r-12. why do I know this? Because my a/c is not blowing cold air. One day when I was killing time in Targer, I saw this kit to convert your a/c. Wait, first I saw the refrigerant to recharge the system so you can have cold air. i was getting all kinds of questions in my mind about if this was safe to do or not. I had always heard before that you have to have an authorized mechanic work on your a/c and everything. So I was really skeptical. After reading several of the cans I found a kit and decided to open it up and read more about it. I guess this is common because the employee that started stocking the shelf near me didn't say anything about me rifling through the box looking at the instructions and whatnot. The instructions are simple and straight forward. The procedure is ridiculously simple. Or so it seems. Everything that I do it beyond easy. Just like the enclosed video states (yeah, they are 'super high tech' with a little video to watch and all...) The part in the video that isn't mentioned in the manual (which is crucial to not screw up your system...) is that it has to be evacuated. The video describes this as an easy proceedure that most mechanics will do for free since the r-12 is very expensive and they get to keep it. Armed with this knowledge (oh yeah, I bought the kit after talking with my local honda dealer for a little bit on the phone.. fast forward... shww shww shwww...) and a phone book, I called around to see where I could go to get the r-12 out and the cold air back into my car for summer. Texas + Summer = Hot. I usually don't use the a/c except for late July and August, but no harm in getting started early. Everyone I talked to wanted to charge goofy amounts ranging from $30-90. Ridiculous. One mechanic even tried to tell me that it was a very intensive process that would take a few hours and that is why the cost was so high. I know something is fishy about this guy because he said the cost was 120. When I mentioned that I just wanted evacuation and not a recharge his price only went down 30. The high cost in this scenario is the r-12, not the labor. Don't you hate when someone tries to get over on you? So anyhow, I did find one place that said no charge, but their 'a/c guy' is not in until Monday. If I wait until then I might as well go to the shpo that I trust because they do a/c work too. And I have to go there for the accord (see other post). Anyhow, this is step one of the process. I guess I will update on what happens next. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 09,July,2004 | Ok, so Jim sends me this urlLink link in an IM. I didn't know what it was and I opened it while Mere was sitting here. Needless to say she was not amused. The site is definitely bizarre. I don't know if i'm offended or just think it's funny. I'm kind of middle of the road. I don't know why I'm even encouraging it. Maybe to see what other people think? If you're not a member and you want to let me know what you think, use the doodle board on the right hand side of this page to let me know. I'm curious. Answer the question: Is Jim perve or just finding humor on the net? urlLink '> |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 09,July,2004 | Rrrr.. So there is a problem that is now semi-major but it could have been avoided all along. There was a problem a while back where one of the lugs on the accord wheel came loose and it was causing the others to be loose also. We figured it out before we lost a wheel, which was good. We were on a trip to Houston at the time so it was bad. Still, no damage had been done at this point. We needed to get a new lug because the one went awol, but those are a couple of bucks so no bid deal. Still. Here is where the kicker comes. I don't drive the car and I don't really remember these things unless I am reminded about it or have made an explicit point to do something about it. So lots of time goes by and I am riding with Mere and am reminded that the wheel is not completely on because it is making lots of noise. And Mere is driving at least 70 on it in a 65 area. If you know your wheel isn't on very well, would you speed on it? Rrrr... I have a set of rims that I used to have on the accord but took off because the tires are too expensive and one of the rims is slightly bent. I told Mere that I would put those on until we could get the lug and then she wouldn't have to worry about losing a wheel or something (the rims take different lugs so I had all of those...) When I go to remove the loose wheel, I run into an obstacle. The bolt snaps. Ouch. So now a couple of dollar problem means replacing the entire hub. I don't know how much it's going to cost, but this is something that I'm going to let the mechanic do instead of myself just for time constraints and tool availability. And I think I'm too upset about it for now. Why am I upset? I guess because sometimes it feels like I am doing the maintenance on two vehicles instead of just one. I have to change all the oils and filters and fix whatever is wrong on them or make the decision to get whatever repaired. The problem is that I am not in one of the cars that often, and some of the things I don't know unless I am told about. Like I need to know ahead of time that in a day or so the oil needs to be changed. Not when it is past due a few hundred miles. I need to know that the break pads are wearing out before they are to the point that they are starting to cut grooves in the rotors. Blaugh. And how do you never know how much gas you have? I check my gauge religiously. I know I want to fill up at about half a tank, so when I am closing in on 200 miles for the trip odometer then I start making mental notes. 'If I drive another 40 miles then I'm going to get gas'. Then when the forty miles is up I get gas. Unless it's an inconvenience and then I make a note that I'm going to do it later. I don't constantly end up at the bottom of a tank of gas and not realize it until the empty warning flashes. What's more, she should be paying attention to this since there are some mechanical problems now. I think it is something to do with the fuel line. I don't believe the fuel pump is working correctly and is causing the engine to stall at times. Not to the point where it dies, but where it is in a jerky acceleration. It doesn't do this on a full tank of gas, but does when it is lower than half a tank very frequently. So it stands to reason that you are doing yourself a favor by making sure you have at least half a tank of gas. Not to mention you get better gas mileage on the top half of the tank to my experience. It might even be the dent in the oil pan is causing oil starvation. I want to replace that too. Then once again I'm in the repairing two cars at once kind of thing. It's not that I think Mere does these things on purpose or anything like that. It's just that these things are annoying to me. I have a view on cars and how I think they should be treated and maintained. I don't like to see any car not maintained to those levels, especially one of mine. I think Mere is going to get a new car in a few months so that would be the end of that problem. She will have a maintenance schedule and she will have to take it in or void her warranty. That will make her more aware. Also a professional will have to do it so I can just concentrate on one car. We'll see how that works out. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 09,July,2004 | There is nothing more American than mowing your lawn. Why? Let's look at other countries. Western Europe is so old that people live on top of each other. Most are in apartments from what I've seen, and the ones that aren't are in the country where I guess their cows or livestock handles the grass responsibilities. Africa has plains, where you would rather not go out onto because of the wild animals and it's mostly dusty from what I've seen. Asia has either the vast rice fields or the technological jungles from what the media tells me. Australia has desert like areas and Russia and the caps have snow. Lots of snow. South America has rainforest (which of course is very American to cut it down, ridding the world of possible cures and whatnot.) So there is nothing that says American like having a huge lawn to care for and show the world your skills at keeping a 'little piece of nature' for your very own. There is nothing more Texan than having to cut it every weekend or every other weekend during the summer. As a kid I guess I complained a little but I didn't have much else to do so I really didn't mind. Now it seems to sneak up faster than I am ready for it. Maybe I'm just too old. It was warm out today and I had to drink a gatorade when I finished. You have to keep hydrated in these warm Texas summers. So to all you other countries that don't worry about keeping a piece of well landscaped nature of your own... why would you want to? Go to a nature preserve, not your front lawn. My lawn has weeds and ants that I can't get rid of. I don't even like to go out there when it is freshly cut because our neighborhood has mosquitoes and bees / wasps. Why would you want to spend time out there? I'm trying not to find out if I'm allergic to these things. You know? So anyhow, enjoy your freedom from the rigors of maintenance. To all that have to do this, want to do my lawn also? |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 07,July,2004 | I'm all for celebrating and partying and enjoying time with friends, but some people go too far. We live in a cul-de-sac and our neighbors decided to have like a partial block party. So all the parking spaces on the street were full before we left our house to go see the fireworks (this is around 6 and I can only assume that they had already started drinking at this point.) We thought, annoying but no big deal. We go to watch the fireworks and come home. They now have the street barricaded at the turnaround part of the street and are using the street as their launching grounds. There are more cars than ever and they are parking the cars on the grass all over the street. Best part yet, someone decided to park right in front of our driveway so we can't get inside. Classic. After ten minutes of hunting for the person that owned the car someone is fumbling for keys and coming to move their car. Of course they are drunk out of their mind. They open the car with the keys only to have the alarm go off while they are inside. It takes them a few minutes to shut off the alarm. (Geez, you just press the button on the keypad...) Then I thought they were going to ram the car in front of them, but they didn't. Much to my dismay I didn't get to witness some idiotic accident damaging some of the partiers property. So we went inside and watched a movie. By the way, we got home at about ten at night. So the movie is over and it is two in the morning. They still have music blaring. They are still yelling loud. They are still shooting fireworks. My only guess is that someone lost a finger that night because the kids were running around the street throwing them at each other when I got home. Maybe I'm too old, but you have to respect the fact that some people have to work and some people have to get some rest. After midnight you just have to turn the music down and move most of the party inside. This is not true if it is a college party (you keep it going as long as possible and don't stop until the cops come). But in a suburban neighborhood, people move there to get away from annoying people and loud kids. Hmph. Maybe I'll start hitching my pants up to my stomach and shaking my fist at everyone, but that's just how I feel now. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 06,July,2004 | Ok, so I haven't really even been near a computer in July. Until today. It has been a nice change of pace I must say. I didn't stare at random artifacts and information for no reason other than entertainment. I actually interacted with real, live, reach-out-and-touch people. Woo hoo! Better than that, I got to hang out with an old friend that moved away, an old friend and family that didn't move away (I did), and my cousins and a bazillion other not-quite relatives. Ok, so for the fourth of July weekend we went out of town. First we visited with an old friend who happened to be an old boss. It was nice to catch up. I think she misses being in tha ATX b/c where she lives the mentality is a lot different. Not as open thinkers. Not as different from person to person. Not as open as far as what you can buy and where you can go to get it. But hey, this is Texas, so what do you expect? We got to hang out with my friend and his wife and kids. Kids are fun. As long as you can give them back. I like to play with the kids and get them really excited and crazy. Then their parents get to get them back in control. Ha ha. I don't know why, but throwing kids is really fun. I think it is because you get to pretend you have super human strength or something. Why do kids keep their mouths open when going into the pool? I don't know. I worked up quite a sweat throwing kids around the back yard. I think that is the most excercise I have had in months. Dang mcl! My cousins were in town for a baby shower for my not really cousin. It's funny how family works. You don't have to be related blood wise to start calling someone your family. That can be great. You just get to pretend the bond is stronger than it is and then like magic... it is stronger. I missed out on actual family ties growing up because we moved away from the family when I was an infant. It is nice to feel that bonding that I usually only felt when going back to the bay here in TX. I wish I could do things like that more often. I would also like to hang out with family in the bay more often. Oh well, time and money is all I need to do that. Ok, that is all I'm going to write for now... hope you had some time off this past weekend and enjoyed it. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 15,August,2004 | Ok, so I was going to leave it alone, but they are just bothering me now... I just got a call from an HEB asking which seats are better. WTF? You have a map to look at and you can zoom in on individual seats, not to mention that you can see where the stage is and where they are in relation to each other. So my calm answer is 'if you put in the number of tickets and price level the system will automatically select the best seats for you.' Now the reply is, 'so which seats are better?' I just told you. Didn't I just freaking tell you? Still calm. Restate info in a way that seller should understand. 'So which seats are better in row...' Are you serious? Are you freaking serious? 'Do you want me to pull up a map and tell you definitively which seats are better?' I asked her this. Her response? 'Well I just want to know which are better.' Load the armament, I have a few morons to meet up with. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 10,August,2004 | Ok, so one of my jobs is to help HEBs with ticket selling issues and other things. I don't work this job very much so I don't get all of the info very quickly. So today I go into that job and get a surprise. That HEB lied to me! I got a call last time I worked about refunding a ticket. It was a valid reason to refund the tickets. I had them check the tickets to make sure that the ticket was sold at their location. They said it was. The normal refund process wasn't working and I made a mistake and didn't see that the event was open so I thought it was closed. I told them that if it was closed then they would need to contact when upper staff was there to refund the tickets. That guy freaking lied to me! When he said that they checked the tickets, and I told him where to look, he didn't check or he didn't make sure that the seller was one from his location. So I get a mass e-mail talking about how we are able to help with refunds and whatnot. So they lied when they called back too! I'm sure the story was much more 'this worker didn't help me' than 'sorry, my guy is a liar and a moron too...' But whatever. I know the story and this job is crap anyhow. So screw you lying HEB customer service guy! Blaugh! |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 10,August,2004 | Ok, so I have listened to the new Palomar a few times through.. and the verdict? It's good! I really like it. But in a different way. The vocals are geared more towards being smoothe than the quirky vocals of previous albums. The guitar riffs are geared more towards being discernable than being indie awe inspired. The instrumentation was diverse as opposed to being consistent. So it is with changes like this that it feels like a whole new band. It's a turning point in their sound, but yet it is not better or worse. It's just.. different. I like the old cds. I like the new cd. It's just good stuff. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 10,August,2004 | Ok, so I got the new palomar. Pleased? Yeah. Super stoked? Not really. Why? They changed their sound. Now after a few listens, maybe I will think the new sound is better. But I was all excited about hearing a newer / different version of the sound that they had before. They straightened out some of the jenky riffs and smoothed out the sound engineering. It's nearly pop now. Not that that is bad. Sure, I like some pop. I actually prefer a pop sound of indie music. It's just that I wasn't ready for them to change. I can't really write a review of the cd yet, b/c I only listened to it once in the car on the way to and from work, driving around town... maybe I will start doing that. I don't know why, cause if you know me you probably know the same cds I do, and if not then you probably don't care about them. Anyhow, it's a thought. So no persecution of the almost MTV friendly new album until I listen to it thoroughly and have a better base to make an opinion with. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 09,August,2004 | So, I have the new Palomar, and it comes out on Aug. 25th. I was pretty happy and didn't even need to listen to any tracks before purchasing because I have been pretty durn pleased with their albums to date. (And yes, you know you're not a southerner if you paused at durn. You know you're from the deep south if you didn't realize there was anything out of the ordinary with that statement until I pointed it out.) So I got an e-mail to pre order and get it before the official release date. I thought about it and decided that it was a good investment. So I waited with baited breath and it finally showed up snail mail. I was pretty excited. Then it dawned on me. I'm excited for what? Because I get to have the cd nearly 3 weeks before anyone can have it? Am I lording this over lesser people that have to wait for the store date? Or don't even know who they are? I'm excited about the privelage to purchase. How weird is that? I guess we get excited whenever we feel special. Whenever we feel that we get to do something that not everyone else does or when we know what other people don't know it gives us something to feel happy about. I guess. It could be knowing how good something is before everyone else does... it could be doing something in a way that makes it easier for you to do or more fun than other people realize... or changing something to make it better. It's all sorta tied together. So nevermind why, I feel special and good about being able to buy this cd before other people. And isn't our happiness all that matters? |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 09,August,2004 | Ok, so I am filling in for JP on the softball team. I'm sure I'll be in the outfield. Previously I have had problems judging long fly balls so I think I'm going to *gasp* wear glasses to play. I think that will help. Well some cleats would do wonders instead of trying not to slide in running shoes. But hey, I'm only playing one game. So whatever. I have a blister on my inside thumb from going to the batting cages. I need to get some batting gloves so I don't reinjure it during the game. I think I was hitting pretty well for most of the practice though. My little cajun would be proud I think. Another in park home run in store? I don't know... but I'm going to try and get on base every time. I've never struck out and I don't plan on doing it now. No pop ups and no long flies. Just good solid grounders me thinks. Maybe I will have mere's fam take some pics so you can see how well the team does. Or maybe that is just too much. We'll see. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 08,August,2004 | Rrrrgh.. Getting confused with all the schedules and different start and stop times. Was supposed to be at work at 6 but thought it was 7 like weekends so I came home for just an hour of sitting here. What a waste of gas. Blaugh. And it is going to get much worse because I will be working three jobs (one of them full time) while starting school at the end of the month. I will be happy when I get to go to my part time schedule. Blaugh. Squared. Times infinity. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 08,August,2004 | This is completely unrelated to the other post, but there just aren't enough reasons to use the word HO in a post. So, I'm in training for the state job and the worst part is here. Not for me personally, but for sitting around waiting for everyone else to catch up. There is nothing wrong with not knowing things like alt+tab which is a wonderful shortcut. There is nothing wrong with not knowing a lot of things. But when you double click everything instead of single clicking and can't follow along with a screen at the front of the room (or the freaking written directions in front of you for that matter...) then you need to go take a remedial computer course. Now if you've never had a computer I guess that is a viable excuse. But not really because every job these days requires some computer use. Ok, maybe not like cleaning or cooking or something. But even then it is a good idea to know how to use stuff. So what did I spend my time doing today? In between doing stuff (basically the times when I was forced to wait..) I discussed Chris Mihm and the Lakers, Shaq and the Heat, the Rockets (going deep into the playoffs in 'o5 baby!), and Quincy Carter getting cut (thith thuckth!). I also made a failed attempt at a bat signal (the light wouldn't go through the scotch tape) and then another larger open air version of the signal (didn't get a chance to try it out yet, but I'm sure I will have time to do that tommorrow..) All I can say is.. get on my level, HO! |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 08,August,2004 | Ok, I had to write this one down before I went to bed b/c I will forget. Now bear in mind it is not nearly as funny without me doing the voices, but it is still funny written down. Or so I think. Ok, once again, working at BB stocking cds and whatnot when this younger kinda goofy looking white guy comes and asks for help with a song. So one of the funniest parts of the story is talking to this guy. Now bear in mind his grandfather or whoever his guardian is that kept checking in on him looked like an old white diary farmer. That made it funny too. Because rap is the new rock. Oooh, I need to do a post about that to explain what I mean. Look for that one later. But anyhow, since rap is the new rock I guess it is popular enough that this kid likes it. He told me he watches BET a lot. Well at least someone does. I can't say that.. lot's of people do, but not me. I don't have cable. Now the first thing he said is 'do you know that song that says 'you could never get on my level.. HO..'' Now at first I was awestruck. I mean, I have never had anybody come up to me like that and say something that caught me offguard. Maybe it was because I didn't expect anything like that coming from this fairly young white guy. He looked, hmm.. how do you say, blandly suburbian. By the second time he repeated the song lyric and from talking to him I came to realize that this young man had mild retardation. Now that isn't what makes the song funny. It's just the picture of this kid liking this song. And someone yelling 'ho' at me in a way that I couldn't possibly get mad at them for. And the way he said it. haha. I couldn't figure it out at first because I guess he listens to the unedited version and the only time I hear it is on the radio. But then I remembered more of it... so now in my head all I can hear is 'you can never ever, ever ever, get on my level.. what.. get on my level.. what..' and from the 'what' I'm thinking this has to be lil John. No one else would say what so much. So I'm looking through his albums trying to find what song it might be. So I'm searching by song titles trying to find 'get on my level' or 'never ever'.. Finally I just said, you know what, it's probably on the Trillville Kings of Crunk cd.. so I pulled that one up and while I looked through the album there it was.. the Neva Eva track.. mission accomplished. Hilarity ensued. In my mind at least. Then he also said 'I have a twenty, two fives and two ones. Can I get another cd?' So I was thinking what else this guy might like. I asked him if he liked anything else or just rap. He pretty much just likes rap, so I was thinking of what our specials are. Juvenile's cd Juve the Great was on sale, so I played that for him to. 'In My Life' was all he needed to hear and he was hooked. That part wasn't very funny at all... Ok, I don't think this is coming out as funny as when I told mere.. and I'm sleepy. So I should rest some.. but when you read this and then listen to a rap station, just try and keep that out of your head now... 'you can neva eva, neva eva, get on my leval, WHAT, get on my level, WHAT...' |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 08,August,2004 | Ok, I don't really remember my rants by the time I get to the computer these days. So this is where I want help from you. I want you to post your ideas for topics that I can discuss or just email them to me. Then I will try to write about all of them. That will be my challenge. You will be my muse. Unless you are a moron. Then perhaps you can be my idiot savant. Help my blog fly higher than an eagle. You can be the wind under my wings. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 05,August,2004 | Ok, so I think that I finally found out why there is water leaking into my car on rainy days. You see, fixing an old car with very little time is like how a poor fisherman fixes a boat. You find one hole, you patch it. You take it out the next day to see if the problem is solved. You leak again the next day, you try to find another hole and patch it. So I have done a few repairs and leak patching to try and solve the problem. I've even cleared some drain tubes and other options that should have fixed the problem. Today I think I found the culprit. The only problem is that I need to get some materials to fix the problem. I either need to get the factory seals for the tail lights or go and get something similar, which I think can be found at fabric stores. And yes, I have spent some time in fabric stores prior. That doesn't make me a nancy boy. That makes me a rennaissance man. So I guess there is an update needed on that one as well. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 05,August,2004 | Ok, so I was thinking that since I don't have time to make new posts and whatnot that I will try to make posts at least on Wednesdays. Why Wednesdays? It's an arbitrary day. That way all of my comment posting friends can just expect there to be new stuff on Wednesday night or at least Thursday at some point. So you don't have to leave comments about how I'm lacking in posts. There ya have it. Wednesday New Releases. True Dat. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 05,August,2004 | Ok, so I was writing another post and mentioned height. It dawned on me that I need to address something very serious in our culture. Men and women need to stop lying about their heights. I'm 6'2'. No need to lie about it. I would like to be taller, but I'm not. What bothers me is when someone that isn't even 6' even tells me that I'm not my height b/c they are my height. No frickin' way. People lie to themselves so much that they don't even know their own height. People will measure themselves with their shoes on, thick soled of course, and then round up to the next inch to use as what they call their height. I take my height from going to the doctor, taking off my shoes, keeping my back and neck as straight as possible, and letting a professional tell me how tall I am. Same height since the ninth grade. No changes. You're just shorter than you think you are. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 05,August,2004 | Ok, so I'm working an 8 hour shift at Best Buy and I'm working like normal.. Now since I'm 6'2' (or higher b/c people lie.. see * below) I am not used to people much taller than me. I was surprised to see someone towering over me in the rap section. I walked over to see if he needed help.. and I was shocked to see it was Chris Mihm. Ok, so no one outside of NBA fans (prolly not too many of them) and UT Basketball fans (a lot since he went to hs here and played college ball here) would recognize him. They would be thinking that there was just some tall guy in their store. So anyhow, he didn't want any help and I said something stupid like 'are you ready for another great season?' At the time I said it I was still trying to remember the details.. cause my brain takes vacations when I work at BB. For some reason the fact that he graduated like four years ago eluded me and when I said it I was thinking college. Right after I said it I remembered he went pro early a long time ago (I thought he needed another year, but what do I know). He said something about heading out to LA. That probably also helped trigger my memory of him not being a college guy anymore. I just looked at the NBA page to see he is now a Laker. Hmm, do I cheer for him or against him? Decisions, decisions. I guess since the Lakers imploded I can cheer for him.. And plus his NBA career so far has been pretty limited and a role player mostly. Which is good. Work ethic will take you a long way. I guess more important than meeting someone semi-famous was how I reacted. I always thought I would treat them like a normal person and not treat them any differently. I helped him find cds just like anyone else (He likes Lil Scrappy and Trillville and lots of other rap stuff.. he owns Talib Kweli and likes Blackstar and stuff like that...) So I'm not one of those moron lame-os that rushes over to people and make them feel like they wished they didn't leave the house. I am super laid back treat 'em normal guy. And I rule. *I was going to put a footnote in this post, but I will just make a whole new post titled '*' |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 05,August,2004 | Geez.. so I had a book a long time about about html coding. Apparently none of it stuck with me. I wanted to put a link into that post about Jon, and it took me forever to figure out. There is a little blogger help that I went into. It had some 'cut and paste' stuff that you can just put into your blog. That stuff was not working. I guess it was user error. But wtf, it was not how I wanted to do it. I tried modifying their stuff so it would work the way I wanted it to, but not luck. So I ended up just opening the code on a page, hunting through it for some code that looked right, changing it to what I wanted, and test driving it on that post. It worked in the testing stages, so I hope it still works when someone wants to see it. Pooh. Maybe I should have just called Geeb. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 03,August,2004 | Here is a urlLink link to some pics of Jon and friends. Jon is my cousin, and the one in the green civic hatch. You can see pics of him, his girlfriend and his engine bay there.. It was at an rx7 meet somewhere out in cali... Jon got dusted by the convertible rx-7. He blames it on having two passengers while the convertible had just the driver... Hmm.. sounds reasonable. But what would the outcome have been if he didn't? Like how many licks to get to the center of a tootsie pop, we may never know. Enjoy the eye candy... |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 03,August,2004 | Ok, for those that don't know, that is the famous ending to the Dave Chappel Show. Why does that apply to me? Because I'm doing what the rich guys do.. putting money towards my future! I opened my very first IRA today (well one that wasn't set up by an employer or something like that.) Actually I only did it b/c an IRA that I had with a former employer had to be rolled over or cashed. There were penalties involved with cashing it and no fees to open an IRA. Since I am not hurting for money now (what with the three jobs and all) I decided that I could just roll it over. It wasn't much, but maybe in time it will grow.. I guess I have to contribute to it to make it grow.. whatever. So now I have a little chunk of change that I will probably just leave alone forever and it will be like a pleasant surprise. One day I will open it and say 'wow, it grew all by itself'... or maybe not. I am no financial genius. But anyhow, I have one.. and I'm rich. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 03,August,2004 | Ok, so I went to have the a/c looked at.. again. The leak causes all of my precious r134a to leak out of the car and into the atmosphere. Now, before you get all greenpeace on me, r134a is supposed to be non harmful to the ozone and all.. That is why any joe schmoe can buy it. And it is cheap. But not if you have to refill it every day. Ok, so they put the car up on the rack to take a look at it and all... There is a seal that is leaking. I'm thinking, good news.. just a seal. But then it gets worse. Much worse. Turns out that my car has an a/c part infamous for getting rusty and trapping leaves in a pool underneath it. I guess that is what happened. The parts alone would be about 360. With labor and all it would be about 600. RRRrrrr.. So, it's already August, and I've already dealt with most of it. It will be really hard to keep going in August and the beginning of September without it, but I just didn't want to spend that much on it right now. So I'm going to sweat instead. Good trade off? Probably not. But I don't have to go to the spa to use a sauna. I just need to hit rush hour traffic and let the pounds melt away. Blaugh. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 03,August,2004 | Ok, so this past weekend was Marshal's bachelor party weekend... I was quite surprised to find out. I got a message from Adam on my phone when I got out of work Friday night. If you know Adam then this was quite a surprise to me because Adam has been working in France for over a year now. So I went over to the bar they were hanging out and and had a few drinks. Ok, a lot of drinks. And a few shots. In a short period of time. But hey, you have 2.50 Long Island Iced Teas and a designated driver as well as a short time before you have to leave, then you might as well take care of business. And then I went to the Voxtrot show, as we had been planning to do prior to learning about the festivities. And drank a little. But I don't do that stuff all the time, so I'm not an alcoholic or anything. Saturday it started as more of the same. This time, more shots (a lot more shots) and more drinks (about the same.. which was still a large amount). Feeling good at this point might be an understatement, but let's leave it at that. Feeling good. Then we entered the surreal. The bachelor party moved to a .. ahem.. gentlemen's club called 'Perfect 10'. Umm.. dunno about that, but let's just agree and move along. Somebody knew somebody and we got in free. Which I am guessing would normally be a hard thing to do. Or maybe not. So, there is this huge room of chairs and naked people walking around. Kind of like a poor man's Playboy Mansion. And of course everyone takes turns buying the groom lapdances. Unless his fiancee is reading this. Which she wouldn't. But if she is, we just stayed at the bars. Or something. Back to the point, afterwards I talked to a few random people about their experiences because I had never been to one before. It seems that there are a ton of moron guys out there that will go to one of these places and spend like 4 -600 in a single night. And brag about it. And possibly do it again. Why? How sad is life that you would end up spending that much money on a stripper? Is it filling some void in your life? If so, I would need to find a less expensive vice. Even if you are making pretty good money, that is probably a weeks salary. Unless you are making very good money and above.. which I'm not. So my frame of reference is limited. But anyhow, that is way too much to spend on something that frivolous. The only thing that I can think of is that the clients think that they have some connection with the entertainers. They think that they are soul mates because they are so interested in them and spending so much time with them. Here is a public service announcement to anyone who believes this: You are a customer. The dancers are just there to make money and you are an ATM to them as far as they are concerned. They are only thinking of how they can take the money out of your pocket and put it in theirs. Well I guess not pocket, because they don't have any. Or if they do I didn't see any. But maybe I wasn't looking for them. So anyhow, the sooner you realise that there is no bond, no connection, no specialness to you except that you have money that they want the sooner you will be able to let go of this craziness. Then you can start to build a real relationship with someone. Then you can truly experience a real human relationship. But of course it will take more effort to some someone naked. You have to take the good with the bad. |
3,624,654 | male | 27 | indUnk | Leo | 03,August,2004 | Ok, so some wise acre told me that I am lazy and need to update my blog. Yeah yeah.. so I do.. but not 'cause I'm lazy. Here is an update on my day to day activities. I work. I eat. I sleep... well not so much with the sleeping. Three jobs. What is wrong with me? Tommorrow I get the discount at Best Buy so I could just go on a shopping spree and then quit. Or I could just not work at the ERC, but the work is so easy usually and it actually pays more than BB. And the state job is pretty great so far but it may only be temporary unless a fulltime position opens up. Decisions decisions. I am freaking tired. I need to go back to school to take a break from all this work. |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | [ this possibly pertinent profile was made possible by a link found at urlLink Metafilter ] Per urlLink What Career Will Suit Your Personality? : You would be very happy in a career that utilized your level-headedness, and allowed you to work mainly on your own. You want a career that allows you to stimulate your senses and your mind, without having to be involved with lots of people. Some careers that would be perfect for you are: Novelist Photographer Vet Medical Technician Paralegal Geologist Marine Biologist Graphic Designer Online Content Developer Webmaster Computer Security Producer Computer Programmer Technical Writer Systems Analyst Meteorologist Artist You like working and being alone. You like to avoid attention at all costs. You tend to keep to yourself, and not interact much with the people around you. You enjoy spending time with a few close friends. You like to listen to others, but don't like sharing much about yourself. You are very quiet and private. You like to focus on the here and now. You enjoy completing projects. It is important for you to achieve and succeed. Therefore, you believe in working hard and playing later. You like to set goals and work towards them. [There was more to this, but it got bulloxed up between editors somewhere, and I didn't feel like retaking the whole bloody test again -- sorry...] |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | I actually concocted this idea for myself to do (despite still battling the Migraine from Heck That Wouldn't Go Away for the last couple of days), but then I thought: Why not try to start a meme with it, instead? Well, why not indeed? (Other than the risk of being completely ignored, but then what's new about that, hmm?...) So here is urlLink your mission (should you decide to accept it) : Write a blog post including all of the following 20 words [extra credit if it makes any form of narrative and/or logical sense (and for these porpoises, 'dream logic' counts as a form of logic...)]: ruble, Gus, braces, singly, potty, metaphysical, airs, poaching, estuaries, Burlington, levy, sandwiches, inquest, recruited, dragon, ivory, Coleman, sore, meter, commissioners Please leave me a comment if you decide to take a stab at this -- I'd be interested in what yawl come up with... |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | [ first seen over at urlLink she said her name was Maybe ] urlLink Category V - The Lone Wolf Though you'd be welcome in most groups, you prefer a more solitary path. urlLink What Type of Social Entity are You? brought to you by urlLink Quizilla |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | I fear ominous horrors indicate old sentience aids ill luck (since Hades evolves returning satchels with electric dimmers in stylish hours), so kind underpants like licking really intelligent nighttime gods soon... |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | [ this quiz found by way of urlLink Bullet Holed Messenger ] Freudian Inventory Results |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | If you had your choice between this and that, what would you do? 1. Skipping and Running Since the urlLink fibromyalgia took over, I can't say I've missed running (which I think I haven't really done since a touch football game in 1981), but now that I've thought about it, I *do* rather miss skipping... 2. Coke or Pepsi I spent the first 29-or-so years of my life drinking Pepsi, but I'd have to say I've fully converted to Coke over the last 15 years of marriage... 3. Rock or Hip Hop Rock, easily -- for me, at least 98% of all rap (or products containing rap, such as hip hop, etc.) is crap... [see also urlLink Sturgeon's Law ] 4. Laptop or Desktop I've not had much experience with laptops, but I can't see where I'd be much into them (of course, I am fully prepared to eat those words if and when I ever decide to enter the current millennium and get one...) 5. Cold Weather or Hot Weather Hot weather -- I have not been referred to as ' urlLink a cold-hearted snake ' *entirely* without reason... 6. Swimming or Bicycling Since I never learned how to swim, this answer seems relatively obvious... 7. Chocolate or Vanilla ...gee, everything has to be one or the other? Milk, ice cream, power drinks...? (sigh) Fine, then -- chocolate (under protest)... 8. Day or Night Night -- what *is* that urlLink mass of incandescent gas in the sky?... 9. Looks or Brains For me or in a partner or both? Well, in the spirit of #7, I'll say brains for both, but it's another awfully wobbly decision that could fall the other way in the morrow... 10. Cable, DSL, or Dial-Up Never had DSL (unless it's at work, which I urlLink know nothing about), so between cable and dial-up... well, I'd like to know who picks dial-up, so I know who to keep a safe distance from... |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | [ both via urlLink Reflections in D Minor ] urlLink The Borg of Heaven urlLink Number 103 - My Little Borg Pony |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | My wife J has been talking about getting a puppy since at least when our (then 6) cats were all confirmed as carrying the antibodies for FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitus) and (mistakenly) all given six months to live. It's been about 18 months now (if memory serves me correctly), and while we did lose 2, the remaining 4 cats have all been doing pretty good, all things considered: Climate is okay for a 15-year-old, Smokie for an overweight 5-year-old with asthma and a heart murmur, Cutesie for a mildly 'autistic' 2-year-old... and then there's Angel, a 5-year-old who was certainly the runt of his litter to start with, and is currently the only one of the 4 who shows any obvious signs of FIP whatever (mostly cloudiness in the eyes, although he still runs and jumps at 80% or more of his original capacity). Anyhoo, since one of the two we lost was Cutesie's primary playmate, our discussions about puppies had tended to center around finding her a suitable 'replacement', along the lines of a dachshund or such. Fast forward to last Thursday afternoon. I come home from work to find J has brought home from the pound -- not a puppy, and not a dachshund, but a 3-year-old collie-beagle mix named Daisy. Now Daisy is *extremely* well-behaved (her previous foster home was apparently a mix of cats and dogs, so she's used to that), and shows some evidence of having some obedience training: she understands some basic standard commands when on a leash, and is fairly well house-trained. But you know there's adjustments ongoing. The only one of our cats who's hissed at Daisy has been Cutesie (which was surprising, since Angel has always been the most ill-mannered of the lot -- actually, Angel is the only cat currently brave enough to stand nose-to-nose with Daisy) -- well, that's not counting the only near-dustup to date, when Daisy and Angel lunged for the same food bowl at the exact same instant, but that confrontation lasted about 1.5 seconds and, in the playground vernacular: 'No blood, no harm, no foul.' So now we're trying to re-educate the cats into eating and drinking from dishes on top of the kitchen table out of Daisy's reach (which, as one might imagine, is currently going over like an osmium dirigible...) Nonetheless, we signed the papers for Daisy a couple of hours ago, so she's family now. So if I seem a bit more discombobulated than usual for a while, well, as that country song put it: 'That's my story and I'm stickin' to it...' |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | Sleep:: urlLink Therapy Stats:: the fact that I've been avoiding setting up a Sitemeter (or something similar) on this here blog... Portfolio:: urlLink Stock Lipton:: urlLink Iced Tea Telly:: urlLink Savalas Immigrate:: urlLink the INXS tune 'Mediate' Viable:: urlLink Fetus Serene:: urlLink Serena Williams Mountain:: urlLink Man Natalie:: urlLink The Facts of Life |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | [ found via urlLink Blogdex and/or urlLink Metafilter ] urlLink The Name of This Comic Strip Is: Fleep ... |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | [ this dangerous (well, fer that Lil Ole Married Man *me*, anyhoo) memeage found via urlLink mikerzz (yeah, that's right -- so it's all *his* fault [place grin here]...) ] INSTRUCTIONS: You have seven days of dream-dates (all of which, of course, end in mind-blowing sex, hence the title of the game). You are allowed to choose one celebrity date for each night of the week and one alternate for each night, in case your first choice dream date is, say, arrested or is away on location. The remainder of the rules are as follows: 1) The definition of 'celebrity' varies according to the group with whom you're playing. Basically, everyone in the group needs to be able to pick your choices out of a police line-up. 2) No time-traveling. [You might] like to date Paul Newman, circa Cat on a Hot Tin Roof , but that's against the rules. Everyone you date, you date right now . 3) It doesn't matter if you and your friends all have George Clooney as your Saturday night. This is bound to happen and it's fair within the rules of the game: having to cross check your schedule with your friends will add a level of difficulty to this game that you don't need. It's hard enough to decide whether So and So is a Tuesday or a Wednesday without having to make an Excel spreadsheet to make sure you're not stepping on your officemate's toes. You'll see. 4) You can't use, say, 'the cast of Band of Brothers ' as one night. One man or woman per night. Nice try, though. AND NOW, MY CHOICES: SUNDAY First choice: urlLink Lindsay Lohan Alternate: urlLink Jennifer urlLink Love urlLink Hewitt MONDAY First choice: urlLink Michelle urlLink Branch Alternate: urlLink Chelsea Clinton TUESDAY First choice: urlLink Melissa Etheridge Alternate: urlLink Portia de Rossi WEDNESDAY First choice: urlLink Katie Couric Alternate: urlLink Kelly Ripa THURSDAY First choice: urlLink Reba McEntire Alternate: urlLink Ashley Judd FRIDAY First choice: the WWE's own urlLink Stephanie McMahon Alternate: urlLink Carmen Electra SATURDAY First choice: Survivor 's urlLink Jerri Manthey Alternate: 80's pop princess urlLink Tiffany (still have that Playboy issue, yes I do...) THE BULLPEN: urlLink Catherine Zeta-Jones , urlLink Madonna , urlLink Kelly Osbourne , urlLink Sharon Osbourne (most every *other* TV mother-daughter tag-team [now *there's* another list idea...]that came to mind for inclusion here would've also required some time travel [usually in addition to some interdimensional shifting, but let's save that for the fanfic, shall we?...]), urlLink Misty Mundae (link probably NSFW), urlLink Emma Watson (which would probably be a lot less creepy if for the purposes of this list I could consider time-traveling a 20-years-younger self 5 years into the future, but oh well...), a host of additional country singers left off mostly due to consideration of rule #1 -- and of course there were a number of others who were considered that, given slightly different constraints (or a different week, or a different breakfast...), might have made this list as well... |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | [ this new version of an old favorite meme found by way of urlLink Kristín's Weird Existence ] 1. What color ink pen do you like best? I'm very attached to my medium point black pens, thank you very much... 2. Do you prefer plain paper or paper with lines (notebook paper)? Of late, I've mostly been writing on the back sides of things I run off the printer at work. When I do use lined notebook paper, I much prefer wide rule, as I can get a hand cramp by just looking at college-ruled paper... (I suppose all that is at least in part a function of the fact that I ranked 3rd in my high school graduation class for worst handwriting: there was once a rumor that after graduation the guy at #2 got a job in encryption for the CIA; and as for the guy at #1 -- well, the first time I ever saw a JPEG of the urlLink Voynich Manuscript , the thought crossed my mind that it bore a significant resemblence to his usual inscrutable chicken-scratchings...) 3. What's better: books from the library, or reading online? Real books are undoubtedly better for the eyes (unless, like me, you make the mistake of looking back and forth between the book and the TV), but, due to accumulated inertia, I've been sticking mostly to on-line reading of late... 4. Which would you rather get, e-mail or snail mail? I suppose I prefer e-mail, only because a snail mail carries the potential pressure of responding in kind, and my average creation time for your basic old-school letter is about 6 monthes... 5. Do you have a paper weight on your desk? A couple of things on my work desk that *could* be paperweights: a beer stein with the logo of the community college I got my Associate's degree at a Magic 8-Ball that I got at my Uniface training a while back (which has a Uniface logo on it) a foam coaster with my current employer's logo ...hmm, seems to be lotsa urlLink logos here (there may be a good reason for that, but I haven't a clue what meaning there might be behind it, and so I have no more words...) |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | [ via that veritable crayon box known as urlLink The Other Side ] You're a Black Crayon . Dark and Mysterious. At times sexy. You can be conservative and elegant. The bad thing is that you represent rebellion, darkness, and mourning. urlLink What Color Crayon Are You? brought to you by urlLink Quizilla |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | urlLink How to wash a baseball cap [ via (obviously) urlLink Cruft ] |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | 1. Do you prefer to be out in the sun or in the shade? I'm a shade person -- any more fair-skinned and I'd be an honorary Goth... 2. Regarding the walls in your house, do you prefer neutral colors or bright colors? My personal preference would be bright colors (with the exception of the bedroom and bathrooms) -- as with many projects around this house, the status of painting the south wall of the 'studio' purple is officially PENDING... 3. When hanging pictures on your walls, do you like things symmetric or asymmetric? I tend to start with a goal of symmetry and eventually settle for something along the lines of a Zen-like asymmetrical 'symmetry' (if that makes any sense this time of the night...) 4. How about where you'd like to live; country or city? I kinda like living on the fuzzy DMZ betwixt the two, meself: handy access to late-night Taco Bell without the worst of the rush hour congestion... 5. Your blog; Blogger, Blogdrive, Blog-City, or another one altogether? Been on Blogger since Day One of my blogging career -- not so much out of brand loyalty as sheer laziness and cheepnez, but still... 6. Email; Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, or other? 2 Yahoos, 1 Gmail and 1 other -- my first Yahoo email is more and more just a repository for spammage these days, but I still use that one whenever I'm required to give an address for comments or such... 7. Air conditioning or just a fan when it's hot at night? I *loathe* having fans on at night, particularly if they're pointed anywhere near me (tends to fire up the nasal passages rather fiercely) -- if absolutely necessary, I leave the AC on, but it's rarely for my benefit (usually because She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed decrees it...) 8. Dinner; seafood or steak? Out of those options: 1st choice, breaded shrimp; 2nd choice, chopped steak; 3rd choice, breaded fish patty square thingamajigs -- given J's aversion to all forms of seafood (and most non-poultry meats), not standard options at home... 9. Your all-time favorite music media; CD's, cassette tapes, or vinyl (or 8-tracks)? I think I've finally come to like CD's best for the flexibility of programming the CD player around songs-I-can't-stand (although I still miss the interesting effect when an 8-track would start to break down and simultaneously play two sequences of songs at the same time; or the ability to manipulate the playback speed of a turntable so that a Beatles album could be slowed down into something sounding like The Jesus and Mary Chain on barbituates, or a Stevie Wonder ballad sped up into a hyperkinetic Chipmunk...) 10. When learning a new software program, do you find it easier to follow a book or an online tutorial? This old man, he reads the book (often again and again and again...) |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | Nostalgia:: the perfume ads in urlLink Watchmen Irreplaceable:: urlLink Heirloom jewelry Odd:: urlLink Numbers James Spader:: urlLink Sex, Lies, and Videotape Flamboyant:: urlLink Hugh Jackman as urlLink Peter Allen Intense:: urlLink Camping [c'mon, you know I gotta do at least *one* bad pun a week...] Simple:: urlLink Man Septic:: urlLink Tank Ton:: urlLink China [...and I never said *just* one, either...] Turkey:: urlLink Shoot |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | [ inspired (if that's the proper term here) by urlLink The Word Foundry 's rather more formidable list o'projects ...] My Geocities website (see 'home' link over in the right-hand column) -- I have rough working HTML drafts of most of the pages for the Music section and a handwritten draft for the CD's page, but the Poetry pages from the old site no longer exist in even a rough format and so will have to be redone from scratch from all of Ye Olde Typewritten Pages (suppose something like urlLink longbets might be an appropriate venue for wagers on any of this?...) My X-Men: Evolution fanfic -- still in shuffling-research-notes-stasis mode, but hopeful the birthing contractions for the long-anticipated (well, at least *I've* been anticipating its arrival) Chapter Five will start to kick in earnest soon... my 8-part 'modern classical' piano piece -- yes, long-time readers, that damn thing *still* hasn't reached final draft status (so I suppose I'll have to mark it as something like 'copyright 2002,2004'?) -- I'll scan a page in sometime soon... Add to all of the above a new jazz tune that I (literally) dreamed up the algorithmic composition programming logic for a couple of days ago, another jazz tune (this one in 7/4) that I've been tinkering with (both in my head and in fragmentary MIDI form) since sometime in 1993 (!!!), and the long-deferred goals of cutting a CD of original music and forming a new band -- and still procrastination continues to have its strange and oddly compelling, almost hypnotic, inertial appeal... |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | [ via certified (or is that certifiable? I always get those confused...) Book & Language Snob urlLink Maximum Verbosity ] Your CD collection is almost as big as your ego, and you can most likely play an instrument or three. You're a real hit at parties, but you're SO above karaoke. What people love: You're instant entertainment. Unless you play the oboe. What people hate: Your tendency to sing louder than the radio and compare everything to a freaking song. urlLink What Kind of Elitist Are You? brought to you by urlLink Quizilla |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | Last night (after staying home from work with the kind of headache that makes you wish you could puke for a couple of hours until whatever is making you hurt is expelled, but that never happens, of course, of course...), I dreamed I was on an on-site tech support call. In an automobile repair shop [note to newer readers: I work for a computer software company that specializes in county court systems]. With Michael Moore (no, I'm not using cute pseudonyms here, I'm talking the real deal here...). As the dream begins, I'm sitting with my face in my hands. Looking up, I find I am in the middle (physically and chronologically) of a discussion between Moore, a male and female employee of the repair shop, and one of my female co-workers (I can't tell who because I never see them clearly in the dream, and they barely get a word in edgewise with the others doing a perfect version of vintage Robert Altman dialogue). The female repair shop employee is talking in the kind of right-brain manner that lowers the life expectancy of support personnel: instead of discussing her actual *problem*, she's talking on and on about how the problem makes her feel and how it's affecting her ability to do her job. Simultaneously, the male repair shop employee (apparently her supervisor) is apologizing to us for this woman's inability to stick to answering our questions: he says he knows we don't support the machine under discussion (something that, despite the paper feed, looks most like an EKG machine gene-spliced with a toolbox); he knows they don't even have a *support* contract with our company; he knows it's all her fault -- it's something she's doing wrong but he can't watch her every minute of the workday... yadda yadda, etc., ad infinitum . Finally, to my relief and surprise, Moore seizes control of the conversation by making the seemingly-sensible suggestion that they put the machine in self-diagnostic mode, and then we'll read the printout. I decide to use this break as an opportunity to extract myself from the midst of a conversation I wasn't really following anyway, but as I'm circumnavigating around Mr. Moore, at roughly the same spot Magellan died, my right knee gives out (and when I say gives out , I mean it in the sense of a dry tree limb breaking under baseball-sized hail -- it's loud, it's ugly, and it hurts like hell...). I manage to crawl the rest of the way around Moore and prop myself up against the wall of the shop, everyone around oblivious to my situation. Moore, apparently killing time while the machine is self-testing, is now recounting all the things he says he left off his job application: that he was born in Germany, the journalism awards he won in junior high, and so on. I briefly consider fabricating a story about winning some college science competition in Connecticut while still in grade school, but decide I'm neither in the mood nor the physical condition to play either side of the 60 Minutes Interview Game (home version). I look over my shoulder at the shop's break room (which more resembles a bus station) and see an upright piano in its midst. My brief glimpse of sunlight at the possibility of playing it is quickly darkened when I notice two adjacent white keys about a third of the way up the keyboard appear to be permanently stuck in the depressed position (ooh, there's something Freudian right there, eh?...). |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | urlLink Klingon Songs [ via urlLink Reflections in D Minor ] |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | urlLink DECEPTICONSORT: Transformer Porn [ via urlLink memepool ] |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | [ pried from the cold cold hands of urlLink Ecce ] urlLink You are the Atcama Desert , the driest area on Earth. Your annual rainfall is roughly the depth of a dollar bill. In fact, often you can go for several years without any precipitation whatsoever. If you wanted to fill a pint glass by rainfall alone, you would have to have started in 1704, five years before the invention of the piano; to get enough water to drown a man of average height would take 3600 years, or the time between us and the Hittites. You really put Canadian 'dry' ginger ale into perspective. urlLink Which Extremity of the World Are You? urlLink From the towering colossi at Rum and Monkey. |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | It is possible to have a sinus headache *and* a migraine simultaneously. A concussion is *not* the only type of headache that you can still feel while you're asleep. It is possible to make a migraine worse simply by going to the bathroom too forcefully. |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | urlLink Why No One Want Make Hulk 2? [ via urlLink Naladahc ] |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | [ once again via urlLink The LLama Butchers ] Impenetrable Prose Highway Mt. Happiness 5 Tower of Commitment 16 Loony-Bin Lane 64 Bog of Eternal Marriage 112 Lake Love 326 Please Drive Carefully Username: urlLink Where are you on the highway of life? From urlLink Go-Quiz.com |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | urlLink A Small Victory has come up with urlLink a replacement for the urlLink soon-to-be-obsolete 'food pyramid' . (What scares me most is the fact that her graphic looks like she somehow used the hidden government webcam inside my PC to document my own personal diet...) |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | Idea purloined from urlLink Impudent Strumpet : on your Blogger profile, answer the Random Question *AND* check the 'Give me a new question' box before you click 'Save Profile'. This should show up on your Blogger profile with your answer to the old question paired with a new question. I did it, and I liked urlLink my result ... |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | True or False?: 1. I like my job. True -- I'd phrase it more like 'I'm comfortable with my job' (Lord knows it's not like I'm back working on the sewage system of a church-based wilderness camp or anything), but I'd *love* to be working on something that combined computer programming, music, poetry, aesthetics, psychology, chaos theory, string theory, fuzzy logic, the properties of concrete... 2. I find time to 'smell the flowers' so to speak. False -- I don't *like* the flowers, I'm *allergic* to the flowers, and I can't smell anything anyhoo with my current set of sinuses... 3. I have no problem thinking of things to write about in my blog. False -- check the past week for evidence... 4. 'Organization' is my middle name! True -- although 'overly-endlessly-organizing-to-the-point-of- urlLink OCD ' might be more apropos... 5. If 'Plan A' doesn't work, there's always a 'Plan B.' True -- but when you're down to 'Plan Z', it might be time to reconsider your goals... 6. I adjust easily to new surroundings. False -- I adjust to where an outside observer would *think* it was easy, but internally, it rarely is... 7. I'd rather work 'behind the scenes' than 'in the spotlight.' The terminology used in this question incline me to want to answer False: in the contexts of 'performance' (concerts, theatre, etc.), I tend to gravitate towards the spot -- in an everyday-life context, though, I'd tend to answer True (in the words of Adam West's Batman, ' urlLink I shouldn't wish to attract attention '...) 8. I'm happy where I am, at this point in my life. False -- I can relate a little too well to urlLink Woody Allen 's urlLink oft-proclaimed sense of self-suspected urlLink anhedonia ... 9. I can wake up in the morning without an alarm clock. True (I *can*, but no bets on if I *would*) -- I don't typically use an alarm clock myself now, but J does, then she makes sure I get up -- in her absence, if I want to get up on time , then the alarm clock becomes a necessary evil... 10. I can function pretty well on less than 8 hours of sleep. True, if we emphasize the phrase 'pretty well' -- I typically function on less than 8 hours... |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | [ located via the cannibalistic urlLink Dust from a Distant Sun ] urlLink |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | [ acquired oh-so-innocently from urlLink The Other Side ] Cunning . Through use of many of life's faculties, you've managed to succeed greatly. It may not seem so to many, but isn't that the point most times? It's only a matter of knowing more then the others, right? I'm scared of people like you, but in the same time, admire the ability to see more then just the big picture; you see yourself in it every time. You survived the end by knowing who to knock down so you got that last spot in the bunker... nicely done. urlLink How would you survive the end of the world? brought to you by urlLink Quizilla |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | Crippling:: urlLink Headache Tough:: urlLink Guy Slinky:: urlLink 'It's Slinky, it's fun for a girl or a boy.' Slogan:: urlLink Dead cowboy [ one, two, three - *groan*... ] Stuffed:: urlLink Animal Instructions:: The ever-impossible 'Inset tab A into slot B' type that seem to have been translated from Sanskrit to Chinese to English by some defective auto-translation algorithm (can you tell I've been working on a new computer chair?...) Expletive:: urlLink Deleted Cartoon:: urlLink Network Toddler:: The urlLink modal age of my office co-workers' offspring... Insinuation:: urlLink Insulation |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | [ recovered via urlLink The Monkeys Will Win! ] urlLink Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | [ via the similarly-Kermit-like urlLink Maximum Verbosity ] urlLink What Color is Your Brain? brought to you by urlLink Quizilla At work or in school: I work best by myself. I like to focus on my ideas until my desire for understanding is satisfied. I am easily bored if the subject holds no interest to me. Sometimes, it is hard for me to set priorities because so many things are of interest. With friends: I may seem reserved. Although my thoughts and feelings run deep, I am uneasy with frequent displays of emotion. I enjoy people who are interesting and of high integrity. With family: I am probably seen as a loner because I like a lot of private time to think. Sometimes, I find family activities boring and have difficulty following family rules that don't make sense to me. I show love by spending time with my family and sharing ideas and interests. |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | urlLink Which generic smut novel character are you? (With somewhat relevant pictures!) The Burly, Surly Stable Hand Do you enjoy heavy lifting, heavy eating, and heavy drinking? Are you good at picking up bales of hay and fine-looking women? Are you wearing flannel at the moment? If you answered an affirmative grunt to any of the above, then “The Burly, Surly Stable Hand” category has you profiled. urlLink urlLink Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by urlLink YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests. [ via that well-endowed kitchen wench urlLink Maximum Verbosity ] |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | Your Type is INTP Introverted Intuitive Thinking Perceiving Strength of the preferences % 89 22 44 11 ...well, *close*... I still think I'm an urlLink INTJ , although I will allow that the J/P dimension is wobbly, depending on the situation, time of day, what I had for breakfast, etc.... [ found via urlLink All Things Jen(nifer) ] |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | 1. UPN or Fox? UPN has urlLink Smackdown , so it gets my vote... 2. roller derby or WWE? urlLink WWE -- I liked the old-style derby, but the new inline-skate version of recent years never worked for me... 3. Loretta Lynn or Tammy Wynette? Always preferred Tammy (although what I've heard of urlLink Loretta's newest album so far has been great...) 4. Tony Lama or Durango? Durango, as I'm drawing a blank on the former... 5. fried Spam or fried boloney? Bologna ( urlLink 'I don't like spam!' ...) 6. Buck Owens or Porter Wagoner? Buck had a better voice, better songs and a better TV show; Porter had better performances on his TV show -- slight advantage: Buck... 7. fiddle or banjo? I will suffer mediocre banjo ( urlLink George Seagal ) far easier than mediocre fiddle (Jack Benny)... 8. Texas or Tennessee? Loved Six Flags over Texas; didn't like the job interview I had in Tennessee... 9. Ford or Chevy? (pickup of course) Not a pickup fan -- no answer 10. extended cab or long bed? I like sleeping in roomy beds better than long rides in cabs... oh, you meant pickups again? No answer 11. Tabasco or Texas Pete's? Tabasco (being unacquainted with Texas Pete's...) 12. Saints or Cowboys? Cowboys ( urlLink you'll never make a Saint of me ...) 13. baseball cap or cowboy hat? Baseball cap (as evidenced by J's continuing campaign to get me to relinquish my current one...) 14. double wide or single wide? No answer 15. Wal-mart or K-mart? Dead heat 16. 'Your Cheatin' Heart' or 'I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry'? I once heard urlLink Gary Morris do the most dramatically dirge-like version of 'Lonesome' imaginable (which is probably why he later got hired for Les Miserables ...) 17. Gunsmoke or Bonanza? Bonanza -- the only memorable redeeming features of Gunsmoke for me were William Conrad's narration and urlLink Miss Kitty 's wardrobe... 18. Johnny Cash or Merle Haggard? (ooooh... tough choice) Cash 19. catfish or buffalo wings? Wings 20. Charlie Daniels Band or ZZ Top? ZZ Top (though Daniels is a hot fiddle player...) 21. Velvet painting: Elvis or bullfighter? Elvis 22. Plastic sunflowers or plastic flamingos? Giant plastic flesh-eating zombie bunnies (oops, did I say that out loud?...) 23. Lawn chairs: molded plastic or aluminum frame? Aluminum 24. John Wayne or Clint Eastwood? The Duke for acting; Clint for directing -- for porpoises of this, we'll assume acting... And so my Trailer Trash Culture score (# of first answers divided by # of questions where either the first or second answer was chosen) = .42 (to two *very* significant digits [grin]...) [ this particular variant strain of memeage created by urlLink Reflection in D Minor ...] |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | [ via the newly-hopeful urlLink Maximum Verbosity ] You are The Phantom Menace era from Episode I! You come from humble beginnings and have a knack for pod racing. You may have a great destiny before you, but for now you are content with being oblivious to the politics of the galaxy. However, when push comes to shove, you will fight for what you feel to be right. No Sith will stand in your way for long. Actually, they'll be in pieces! urlLink Which Star Wars Era Are You? brought to you by urlLink Quizilla |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | [ via that young whipper-snapper urlLink Maximum Verbosity ... ] In 1961 (the year you were born) John F. Kennedy becomes president of the US An estimated 1200 anti-Castro exiles aided by the US make a failed invasion of Cuba's Bay of Pigs Navy Cmdr. Alan B. Shepard Jr. becomes the first US spaceman rocketing 118 miles above the earth Hurricane 'Carla' wipes out Texas gulf cities, claiming 46 lives Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin makes the first manned space flight Wayne Gretzky, Henry Rollins, Fabio, George Clooney, Dennis Rodman, and Diana, Princess of Wales are born New York Yankees win the World series Green Bay Packers win the NFL championship Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians is the top grossing film Catch-22 by Joseph Heller is published The Miracles' 'Shop Around' becomes Motown's first million-selling single urlLink What Happened the Year You Were Born? More cool things for your blog at urlLink Blogthings |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | Here's the rules: 1. Take five books off your bookshelf. 2. Book No. 1 -- first sentence. 3. Book No. 2 -- last sentence on page fifty. 4. Book No. 3 -- second sentence on page one hundred. 5. Book No. 4 -- next to the last sentence on page one hundred fifty. 6. Book No. 5 -- final sentence of the book. 7. Make the five sentences into a paragraph. Here's my result: The position of the arts in the scale of human knowledge is, perhaps, the most eloquent symptom of the gulf between man's progress in the physical sciences and his stagnation (or, today, his retrogression) in the humanities. A complex problem like portraying the production of hydroelectric power in the Pacific Northwest called for a dozen different solutions -- until one evolved which told the story with greater clarity and drama. Their flight was made at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903. Politicians use it to attack opponents. The more dense the coat, the better. Books Used in the Commission of This Mutated Abomination (listed from smallest to largest): 1. The Romantic Manifesto by Ayn Rand 2. Art: An Approach by Robert C. Niece 3. Fuzzy Thinking: The New Science of Fuzzy Logic by Bart Kosko 4. The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy by E. D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil 5. The Complete Cat Book by Richard H. Gebhardt (and now for 5 points worth of extra credit toward a Null-Prize™: anyone wanna guess which sentence came from which book?...) [ this little bit o'nonsense via urlLink The LLama Butchers ] |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | If you had to choose: 1. Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly? Gene Kelly, because I once stole as much of my freestyle dance moves from him as I was once physically capable of... 2. The Great Gatsby or The Sun Also Rises? Never read either, sorry... 3. Count Basie or Duke Ellington? Gotta pick Duke for the intricacy of some of his arrangements, although it's a close call in terms of piano technique... 4. Cats or dogs? Was a dog guy pre-marriage, cat guy since, and my spouse J is still pushing for a new puppy... 5. Matisse or Picasso? Picasso (although Matisse ain't chopped liver...) 6. Yeats or Eliot? Eliot by a hair; I do like the more apocalyptic bits of Yeats... 7. Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin? I gotta go with Keaton for sheer balls-to-the-wall physical comedy, but The Dictator and Modern Times have their moments... 8. Flannery O'Connor or John Updike? Since I know I've read O'Connor (and can't place anything I've read by Updike), that gets the nod... 9. To Have and Have Not or Casablanca? Casablanca by the same logic as #8... 10. Jackson Pollock or Willem de Kooning? Oh hell, this is a close call -- Pollock by a paint droplet... 11. The Who or the Stones? early Who over early Stones, but for total career (and my final answer): Stones... 12. Philip Larkin or Sylvia Plath? (aarrgghh!) Split decision... 13. Trollope or Dickens? Dickens, because I have no idea who Trollope is... 14. Billie Holiday or Ella Fitzgerald? Neither, I'm afraid -- I respect their respective skills, but I don't feel any visceral connection to their recordings... 15. Dostoyevsky or Tolstoy? My Russian Lit skills aren't refined enough to distinguish the two... 16. The Moviegoer or The End of the Affair? I saw a few minutes of the latter film, but not enough to give an informed answer... 17. George Balanchine or Martha Graham? You know, if it isn't Fosse, I generally can't tell... 18. Hot dogs or hamburgers? Tend to prefer hot dogs... 19. Letterman or Leno? Letterman by a margin wider than the gap in his teeth... 20. Wilco or Cat Power? More acquainted with Cat Power, so there's my choice... 21. Verdi or Wagner? Even though I'm nigh unto pathologically averse to opera, I'll go with Wagner here... 22. Grace Kelly or Marilyn Monroe? Marilyn... 23. Bill Monroe or Johnny Cash? Johnny (but I like Bill too...) 24. Kingsley or Martin Amis? Who?... 25. Robert Mitchum or Marlon Brando? Mitchum... 26. Mark Morris or Twyla Tharp? Despite what I said in #17, I know and like most of what I've seen of Tharp... 27. Vermeer or Rembrandt? Calling this a tie, since I can't mentally pull up a single picture from memory that I *know* is by one or the other... 28. Tchaikovsky or Chopin? Chopin easily (Did I tell you I think Thelonious Monk was the reincarnation of Chopin? Did I? Huh?...) 29. Red wine or white? Prefer red (but white works sometimes too...) 30. Noël Coward or Oscar Wilde? Wilde (but only just...) 31. Grosse Pointe Blank or High Fidelity? I watched Grosse Point all the way through; I couldn't do the same with Fidelity... 32. Shostakovich or Prokofiev? I tend to lean toward Shostakovich... 33. Mikhail Baryshnikov or Rudolf Nureyev? Baryshnikov... 34. Constable or Turner? ?... 35. The Searchers or Rio Bravo? Rio Bravo... 36. Comedy or tragedy? Comedy... 37. Fall or spring? Summer... 38. Manet or Monet? Minnie Mouse... 39. The Sopranos or The Simpsons? Simpsons... 40. Rodgers and Hart or Gershwin and Gershwin? The Gershwin boys... 41. Joseph Conrad or Henry James? Neither, actually... 42. Sunset or sunrise? Sunset (if I'm up at sunrise, I'm not a happy camper...) 43. Johnny Mercer or Cole Porter? Johnny Mercer (close, though...) 44. Mac or PC? PC... 45. New York or Los Angeles? Only barely been to either, but I think LA is more my speed... 46. Partisan Review or Horizon? No clue... 47. Stax or Motown? I can almost certainly name more Motown tunes, but I also know I love the Stax sound, so Stax gets the vote here... 48. Van Gogh or Gauguin? Very close call to Van Gogh... 49. Steely Dan or Elvis Costello? I imagine that if I reached for a random recording of one or the other, I would be more likely satisfied by something from the Steely Dan stack than the Costello stack, but I also think if I had to choose between my favorite recording of each, I'd go with Elvis, which is what I'm doing here... 50. Reading a blog or reading a magazine? Well, I do both pretty dernded frequently... 51. John Gielgud or Laurence Olivier? Gielgud, entirely on the strength of Arthur ... 52. Only the Lonely or Songs for Swingin' Lovers? No preference... 53. Chinatown or Bonnie and Clyde? Chinatown... 54. Ghost World or Election? Only seen a few minutes of each, but Election looks like the kind of movie I hate, and Ghost World like the kind I don't... 55. Minimalism or conceptual art? Dead heat... 56. Daffy Duck or Bugs Bunny? Bugs... 57. Modernism or postmodernism? Postmod... 58. Batman or Spider-Man? Batman... 59. Emmylou Harris or Lucinda Williams? Close call to Emmylou... 60. Johnson or Boswell? Not a fan of either... 61. Jane Austen or Virginia Woolf? Woolf, but only just... 62. The Honeymooners or The Dick Van Dyke Show? Slight edge to Van Dyke... 63. An Eames chair or a Noguchi table? No clue again... 64. Out of the Past or Double Indemnity? I know Double Indemnity and not the other, so there you go... 65. The Marriage of Figaro or Don Giovanni? Didn't I already say I was *pathologically* averse to opera?... 66. Blue or green? I once spray-painted my tennis shoes green. That answer yer question?... 67. A Midsummer Night's Dream or As You Like It? Not inclined one way or the other... 68. Ballet or opera? (gak!) My two least favorite art forms tangentially related to music (yes, I said opera is *tangentially* related to music -- I'm in a bad mood now, okay?...) -- given the forced choice, I'd rather go to a ballet; I could then close my eyes and pretend it's a concert... 69. Film or live theater? I'm inclined to go with film; the only advantage that immediately comes to mind with live theater is that the audience generally doesn't talk all the way through it (at least in my experience...) 70. Acoustic or electric? Sorry, my ideal is mixing the two... 71. North by Northwest or Vertigo? Vertigo... 72. Sargent or Whistler? Not enough background to say... 73. V.S. Naipaul or Milan Kundera? (see above...) 74. The Music Man or Oklahoma? Music Man 75. Sushi, yes or no? *HELL* no... 76. The New Yorker under Ross or Shawn? Not a consumer of the New Yorker... 77. Tennessee Williams or Edward Albee? Williams... 78. The Portrait of a Lady or The Wings of the Dove? Portrait of a Lady (by the thinnest of margins...) 79. Paul Taylor or Merce Cunningham? Merce (because of the John Cage connection...) 80. Frank Lloyd Wright or Mies van der Rohe? Wright... 81. Diana Krall or Norah Jones? Krall by a landslide... 82. Watercolor or pastel? Watercolor... 83. Bus or subway? Bus (being mildly claustrophobic...) 84. Stravinsky or Schoenberg? (hate forced choice, hate forced choice, hate, hate, hate...) Can't choose... 85. Crunchy or smooth peanut butter? Smooth... 86. Willa Cather or Theodore Dreiser? Cather (only just...) 87. Schubert or Mozart? Mozart (no question...) 88. The Fifties or the Twenties? Gotta pick Happy Days over The Untouchables ... 89. Huckleberry Finn or Moby-Dick? Finn (that whale story is one tough read, dude!...) 90. Thomas Mann or James Joyce? Joyce (of course, so is Ulysses ...) 91. Lester Young or Coleman Hawkins? Hawkins by a hemi-demi-semi quaver... 92. Emily Dickinson or Walt Whitman? Whitman... 93. Abraham Lincoln or Winston Churchill? Lincoln (we share a birthdate, you see...) 94. Liz Phair or Aimee Mann? Liz (but I like Aimee too...) 95. Italian or French cooking? Italian (but not by much...) 96. Bach on piano or harpsichord? Hate to commit apostasy, but I prefer piano... 97. Anchovies, yes or no? Prefer no (but I will eat them, nonetheless...) 98. Short novels or long ones? Short (I have the attention span of a... ooh, look, shiny!...) 99. Swing or bebop? Bebop (although most swing is good, too...) 100. 'The Last Judgment' or 'The Last Supper'? I'd rather have supper than judgment, thank you... And so my urlLink Teachout Cultural Concurrence Index score (number of choice A's picked divided by number of questions where either A or B was picked) = .50 ! [ found this bit o'entertainment via urlLink Reflections in D Minor ] |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | Under the assumption that someone else might like to read this kind of stuff: urlLink In Defense of Impenetrable Zombies |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | Your Ice Cream Flavour is... Neopolitan! You aren't satisfied with just one flavor. They say variety is the spice of life and this shines through in your Ice cream of choice! Just don't eat all the chocolate and leave the strawberry and vanilla behind! urlLink What is your Ice Cream Flavour? Find out at urlLink Go Quiz [ via fellow Neopolitan urlLink Maximum Verbosity ] |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | [ via urlLink The Other Side ] I scored a 40 on urlLink The Type A Test : You seem to be in the middle between the Type A and Type B personality. In this case, the middle ground is good. You know how and when to cut loose, forget your daily pressures and simply relax. Nonetheless, you realize that taking on challenges and being competitive is necessary to reach your goals...but you don't want to take it to any extreme. Generally, you are easy to be around, and people tend to feel relaxed and comfortable in your presence - with the exception of the occasional stress attack or highly charged day. The equilibrium you have achieved is healthy; so don't let your hostile, aggressive, and competitive alter ego take over too often...or things could get ugly. |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | [the questions are in bold; my answers are not -- most of you already know the drill...] 1. I usually clean my house on _________, or about every ____ days. I'm a married guy, and even when I was single, it was like, *housecleaning*?... okay, now that I've probably offended most of my remaining readership, we really don't tend to follow any sort of strict schedule on that sort of thing (principally because my wife J tends toward the right-brain end of the behavioral spectrum...) 2. My favorite Sunday night program to watch on television is __________. Historically, my main Sunday-night must-sees were Good Eats , Iron Chef and/or WWE Sunday Night Heat , but I've been working on weaning myself from the TV (with some, albeit limited, success), so I don't have any current 'gotta's. A few hours ago, I was watching mostly the BET Jazz network (with the typical cliched male remote control flipping through the premium channels during the commercial breaks...) 3. Monday morning I usually waking up thinking, '__________.' 'F&$%, I gotta go to work again ?...' 4. To wind down at the end of a busy day, I like to ___________. Achieve a state of catatonia via TV-channel-surfing, web-surfing and legally-prescribed medication... 5. I try not to call anyone on the phone until after ______ a.m. I generally *can't* call anyone before 9, mostly because I'm seldom together (in terms of mental capacity and/or morning hygiene) before then... 6. And I NEVER call anyone after ________. If we exclude the hours of the day when I'm at the office, that sentence would end 'I breathe'... 7. When I don't have to get up to go to work or school, I sleep in until _____. On average, between 11 am and 1 pm (although 2 or 3 is not unheard of...) 8. I have ____ telephones in my house. 3 functioning ones (that I'm aware of) -- I'm pretty certain that, if we have any cell phones about, they're not much more than paperweights at the moment... 9. I usually answer the phone on the ____ ring. At work, one -- at home, I generally let it ring four times, then the voice mail picks up; if it's really something important (or someone who knows me well enough), then it'll ring again right away, and *then* I'll answer it... 10. When I know I should be sleeping, but am having a hard time falling asleep, I usually _________. Zone out on the Web (gee, will you look at the time), or the soft-core pr0n on Showtime... |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | Resignation:: urlLink Nixon Coupling:: urlLink Horrible American remakes of British sitcoms Grounded:: urlLink For Life Habit:: urlLink Forming Chainsaw:: urlLink Massacre Rental:: urlLink Video Deleted:: urlLink Scenes Online personals:: Desperation [*way* too many choices for links on this one, folks...] Penguin:: urlLink Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot Offend:: urlLink Humor |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | ...I'm still messing with the template, etc., etc., of course, of course -- hope to be up and posting incoherently very soon... |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | So this challenge (as I originally read it) was ' urlLink fifteen tracks in your own record collection that you hate the most ' but by your favorite artists... I'm going to take a slightly different tack and list the one track that I invariably skip over on each of these CD's that I would otherwise play straight through on a pretty frequent basis (I know it's a short list -- the total time's about 44 minutes -- but I wanted to stick with just those cuts I *always* skip on CD's I otherwise like...): 1. Theme from Flood - from Flood by They Might Be Giants 2. Counting Blue Cars - from Pet Your Friends by Dishwalla 3. And God Said....... - from World Party's Bang! 4. Mademoiselle Mabry - from Filles de Kilimanjaro by Miles Davis 5. One of Us - from Joan Osborne's Relish 6. Mr. Webster - from Headquarters by the Monkees 7. Me and a Gun - from Little Earthquakes by Tori Amos 8. Ramshackle - from Beck's Odelay 9. Untitled Blues - from Talkin' Verve: Roots of Acid Jazz by Roland Kirk [ DISCLAIMER: I have tried in the past to work past my dislike for #'s 5, 6 and 7, and expect to try and do the same with 4 and 9 as well at some point in the future -- right now, though the first three and #8 are all not ones I *ever* envision getting over -- although I have been wrong before (though I can't remember when...) ] |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | 1) What animal best represents you? urlLink Duck-billed platypus ! 2) What color best represents you? urlLink Purple ! 3) What season best represents you? Chili powder! (oh, right, that's a seasoning ...) urlLink Antaeus ! (no, that's a 'son of the sea'...) Of course (of course)! The urlLink new fall TV season ! 4) What emotion best represents you? Dunno -- maybe I'm urlLink alexithymic ... 5) What flower/tree/plant best represents you? I'm a Pansy! The bloom of thought. Thoughts are my haven. I prefer solitude and quiet places so I can ponder uninterrupted. urlLink What bloom are you ? by urlLink Polly_Snodgrass [...I was originally going to say 'Dandelion', but oh well...] |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | [ found via urlLink Reflections in D Minor ] 1. I have never voted for a Democrat in my life. False - I voted for Bill the first time he ran; I've probably voted for other Dems as well, since I don't vote by party: my strategy in the booth is mostly based on the theory 'If you're an incumbent, you had your chance - buh-bye...' 2. I think my taxes are too high. Sure, doesn't everyone?... 3. I supported Bill Clinton's impeachment. No (although I did wish Paula Jones had trained more seriously for her Celebrity Boxing match with Tonya Harding...) 4. I voted for President Bush in 2000. No, didn't vote -- period... 5. I am a gun owner. Not at present (unless J's hiding one from me); used to have a BB gun when I was younger, though... 6. I support school voucher programs. No (but then, I don't actively oppose them as a whole, either -- this topic would probably fall under the heading of evaluating the particulars on a case-by-case basis for me: some yea, some nay...) 7. I oppose condom distribution in public schools. No (but I do think urlLink taste tests are a little outside the acceptable norm...) 8. I oppose bilingual education. No (but mastery of English should be considered a primary goal of the American educational system; any bilingual curriculum that subverts that goal, I would not favor...) 9. I oppose gay marriage. Wrong -- I have yet to hear a non-faith-based argument against gay marriage that passes for anything approaching logical... 10. I want Social Security privatized. Nope -- I could see partial privatization as a possibility, but doing it 100% that way always sounds to me like throwing the 'Security' portion out with the bathwater... 11. I believe racial profiling at airports is common sense. Yes, within reason (and urlLink there's the rub -- finding and defining an objective criteria that most of us would agree is 'reasonable'...) 12. I shop at Wal-Mart. On occasion... 13. I enjoy talk radio. Yeccchhh, @#$& no! Gimme some tunes , man!... 14. I am annoyed when news editors substitute the phrase 'undocumented person' for 'illegal alien.' Almost *all* forms of PC annoy me... 15. I do not believe the phrase 'a chink in the armor' is offensive. Agreed, and 'a urlLink niggardly amount' is likewise a perfectly acceptable term (to anyone who reads beyond a fifth-grade level...) 16. I eat meat. Yes (mostly poultry, bacon and bologna, with a burger or chopped steak every once in an odd while; with adapting myself more toward the urlLink Zone Diet being on my ever-growing 'to-do' list, that should be increasing...) 17. I believe O.J. Simpson was guilty. Certainly by the ' urlLink preponderance of the evidence ' (which is how the civil trial ruled), and for me personally, ' urlLink beyond a reasonable doubt ' as well... 18. I cheered when I learned that Saddam Hussein had been captured. I don't cheer over much o' nothing -- I suspect I pointed my index finger in the air, drew a couple of small circles, and that was that... 19. I cry when I hear 'Proud to be an American' (God Bless the USA) by Lee Greenwood. Only when I'm forced to listen to the whole thing (which would require duct-taping me to the chair and/or nailing my kneecaps to the floor...) 20. I don't believe the New York Times. I don't believe much of anything or anybody, actually (yes, I may have some issues with urlLink faith ...Faith Hill, not so much [other than that whole married-to-Tim-McGraw business, but whatev...]) [...gee, did I cover enough controversial topics to get some flamethrowers?...] |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | For future reference: if the cotton swab feels like it's inside your eyeball, you're putting it too far inside your ear... |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | Are really even (or uneven) rules to overcome our lot such selfless obstacles, pouring histamine into size twelve isolinear cutoffs and tying ethical dilemmas effectively (not often) under great heights, to overcome complete osmosis meant precisely like elfin totems, especially before each fawn or reindeer eats custard-haired rhizomes in semblance to massive atomic structures? |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | Will Ferrell *is* urlLink The Man in the Yellow Hat ! urlLink Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl urlLink Gabrielle from Xena urlLink Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman urlLink Jennifer Garner in leather gear urlLink Big Van Vader urlLink Agent Scully urlLink Kim Cattrall in Big Trouble in Little China urlLink Being and Nothingness as it might have been written by Wile E. Coyote (okay, okay, I'll stop, put the knife down...) |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | 1. I always exercise my right to vote. (If you are under 18, 'I will always exercise my right to vote as soon as I am old enough to.') False -- from 1980 to the present, I've gone to the voting booths twice: Carter/Reagan and Clinton/Bush (and the only one of *those* four I voted for was Bill...) 2. I pay little or no attention to the campaign ads aired on television prior to a presidential election. As True as is humanly possible, given the saturation rate and the amount of TV I watch... 3. I can see myself running for some type of political office someday. Oh, *hell* no, definitely False -- too g@&$@#* many skeletons in this closet, yawl... 4. I believe we will see a woman become president in my lifetime. True (although the optimism of that answer is still buried under a few layers of skeptical cynicism...) 5. I try to keep an open mind regarding all political issues. True , if we define 'an open mind' as being 'I ain't deciding who I think's right until at least *one* of you makes an attempt to give me an intelligent answer!'... 6. I believe the drinking age should be raised. Kinda True (yes, now that I'm officially Old , I can say that -- if I was still in the college dorms, I'd naturally argue the other direction...) 7. I think the legal age to vote should be raised. I kinda like the idea that guy in California had about letting urlLink 14-to-17-year-olds vote , so I guess that's a False ... 8. I thought these questions were interesting. Well, certainly not in urlLink the Chinese sense , so: False ... 9. I will be back to play again! Oh, so True ... [and I'm skipping the Bonus Question this week because urlLink I have nothing interesting to say, and no way to say it ...] |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | [ courtesy of urlLink All Things Jen(nifer) ] You're an Audi TT ! You're not the fastest, nor the most nimble, but you're cute and you have style. You're not intensely competitive, but when you pass by, everyone turns to look. Take the urlLink Which Sports Car Are You? quiz. |
516,574 | male | 43 | Technology | Aquarius | 02,juillet,2004 | Testicles:: urlLink Mick Foley 's frequent references to ' urlLink testicular fortitude '... Ribald:: urlLink Joke Auction:: urlLink this particular country song ... Inch:: urlLink Worm Tony:: urlLink Stark Phony:: urlLink Baloney Stool:: urlLink Sample Coyote:: urlLink Wile E. Cinderella:: urlLink Story Battery:: urlLink Powered |
1,759,489 | male | 25 | Technology | Cancer | 24,June,2004 | I started my new workout regime today. This regime seems more legitimate than my previous ones, which for the past two weeks has been no regime at all. The method I am using is one I stumbled across on the 'net called HST, or more specifically urlLink HyperTrophy Strength Training . It is based on scientific research, and after reading about it I felt blinded -- by science. Today was the day I figure out my maximum loads for each exercise. Having not been to the gym for two weeks I felt nearly dead after working out. I'm sure tomorrow when I wake I will be unable to move a thing. I have lost 8 pounds in the past two months, mostly due to my diet. Now I am ready to build up some muscle. Sitting at my computer working all day is incentive enough to get up and do something physical. We'll see if I can last the summer on this. |
1,759,489 | male | 25 | Technology | Cancer | 21,July,2004 | Row-deo This weekend was hot, hot, hot. It was really the best weather we've had all year and despite the vicious hail storms and having to work, I managed to spend most of the weekend outside. Friday night I went to the infamous 'Red Mile' (aka. 17th Ave.) for drinks. Last time I was there with 100,000 Flames fans and a few floozies. Even though there were a lot of people celebrating the Stampede, it wasn't quite the same experience. We ended up at Ming with some friends sweating and drinking. One of my friends in town from England with her boyfriend and they're on a Bubble-Tea marathon, drinking over 20 in a week and a half. Apparently the Bubble-Tea in London is not easy to find and not very good tasting. In Taiwan (where it originated) and Hong Kong Bubble-Tea vendors are everywhere like Starbucks in Vancouver. I think they just might be more refrshing than beer too. Saturday night my girlfriend and I hosted a BBQ at Edworthy Park. The BBQ's there are wood-burning, which proved to be quite uncomfortable in the evening heat. On top of that, we forgot to bring wood and so I had to carry a large bag of pine across the length of the park. This year I vowed not to attend the Stampede because attending it every year for the past 25 years has made me want to hurl. Sunday, the last day of the Stampede, we visited some friends on the outskirts of the grounds who were staging a rather small protest of the Rodeo. It was the Rodeo finals that day and the protestors dropped a massive banner on a hill overlooking the grandstands. Most of the people walking by were true Calgary hicks and hurled unrecognizable profanities at the protesters. Later that day my girlfriend and I went to the Glenmore Reservoir and rented a Canoe. We both ended up with sunburn. And then it was time for more Bubble-Tea! We ended up sitting on Cresent Hill eating candy overlooking the city until 3am. I ended up taking a few good shots that day of a very green city. I'm going to Toronto next week for 6 days. Pretty excited about it. Elbow River Glenmore Reservoir Calgary from Stampede Park |
1,759,489 | male | 25 | Technology | Cancer | 08,July,2004 | The Stiffy near the Liffey I went to the travel agent today to get some information on working visa's to Ireland and it got me thinking back to last Spring when I was there. I started thinking about the General Post Office on O'Connell Street in Dublin and the bulletholes in the pillars. I don't know why, but I did. The bullet holes remain from when the Post Office was the headquarters for the 1916 uprising. In case you are rusty on your Irish history, like me, then the 1916 uprising (Easter Uprising) was when the Irish Citizen Army proclaimed the Irish republic. But then, suddenly, I began thinking less about the bullet holes and more about the big spike. Street fighting on O'Connell Street during Rising O'Connell Street 1940's A 134-foot pillar, topped by a statue of Nelson and inspired by Trafalgar Square, dominated O'Connell Street for many years until it was blown apart by the IRA in 1966, marking the 50th anniversary of the uprising. Recently, and to replace Nelson after almost 35 years of sad emptiness, came the urlLink Dublin spire ; yes, a 120m tall silver spike. It is 3 meters thick at the base and only 15cm at the top -- ouch. It was still in construction when I saw it in 2003, and three years late for the millennium celebrations. What remained of Nelson The spike, out of Nelson's ashes Photograph by Al Geraty. Image courtesy educate-yourself.org There are urlLink some who claim the spike harnesses energy, or at least provides mild electrical thrills. This wouldn't surprise me, considering it is a 120 meter metal rod in a country with frequent storms. I'll have to try it out myself. Of course, in good Irish literary tradition renaming monuments is a fun pastime. Here are a few unofficial names for the spire: The Stiffy near the Liffey The Stiletto in the Ghetto The eyeful tower The Gleaming Tower of Pizza-land Bertie's Erection Now the Dubliners have a tendency to dislike tall building and rightly so because there are so few in the city. So, it seems strange that they would choose to build a 120m spire in the centre of the city, and draw attention to it by lighting it up at night. Especially considering that the tallest building in Dublin, Liberty Hall, caused a general fuss over its height and ugliness, which resulted was a law restricting the maximum size of any new buildings in the city. If you look to the right, you can see why this law might have been passed. Regardless, the spike seems to have been accepted and I, for one, can't wait to get electrical thrills from it. Liberty hall All other images, courtesy urlLink http://www.fantasyjackpalance.com . |
1,759,489 | male | 25 | Technology | Cancer | 06,July,2004 | Personal Hemingway Adventure Hemingway. D. Levine © dell'Autore urlLink http://www.museosatira.it/1999/levine.html#i I just finished A Farewell to Arms , which is the second book in my personal Hemingway adventure. I've really gotten into urlLink Hemingway since reading The Sun Also Rises in my Fiction class a few months ago. Hemingway himself was much like the characters in his book. He fought on the Italian front in World War I, was a mean boxer, drank like a fish, patrolled the coasts of Cuba for U-boats during World War II, and hunted lions in Africa, who ran from him holding their tails between their legs. Hemingway's life must have been more interesting than those of his characters. Such a life would be fertile with stories, I imagine if my life were nearly as interesting I would have enough stories to write for the rest of it. Too bad it's not. I think perhaps I should spice up this blog a little bit. Having now done some web development I think it would be a good place to play around. I am doing some web work for an organization called urlLink WildCanada.net , which is an online conservation organization. The project will spawn urlLink Actionworks.ca . Organizations that promote social action share a common goal and therefore are a tight community. The people genuinely believe in what their work and are more than willing to share their resources with each other. This goes against all training I have received in Computer Science, where programmers are tools and their code is the product. Corporate bitches is perhaps the correct term. If the world really were a stage, then we would be the lighting technicians. Then again the A/V club would likley be more accurate. |
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