hollow win
2002.10.31 18.31
Tonight will be lame. Nothing planned. Tomorrow night I will be at #'s. Hello Renee and yes, I understand the power of The Force. Only saw Clones three times so far this year. There are no IMAX screens near me here that will be playing ''Attack of the Clones.'' The closest is in New York across from Lincoln Center where I saw Harry Potter last year. Weekend plans getting booked up. I'll be glad when November 22nd rolls around and I'll have nine days to spend in H-town.
Went to La Vita Bella, 914 Limekin Pike, Maple Glen, PA for lunch. Had the casareccio with an some freaky appetizer and diet coke. It came with fries. That doesn't seem right. Big ass bottle of ketchup went unused. Waitress actually dropped one of pieces of casareccio, but that's okay. It was too huge and I only ate half anyway. Got a $4 manager comp. Gravity saved me four bucks.
Drawing close to zero debt. A few more months and I'm there. Not bad considering. Closed all my department store cards last week. Easy. Today closed my VISA card and they were begging and pleading with me. ''Let us just reduce your credit'' and ''How can we stop you?'' they begged. Already made up my mind, sorry. I want just one card. Less headache. Did I mention that last week I went to Pat's Cheesesteaks? I bought a large Diet Pepsi, and then like a dingbat I forgot it on the counter. I was halfway home when I realized I had nothing to parch my thirst. Sucks. Went to Circle-K and bought 2-liter of Diet Coke for 83 cents. Mmmm. Liquid candy. So, anyway, why should I trust myself with two or more credit cards if I can't even remember to take my Pepsi off the counter? Looking at retirement home brochures... just in case.
After two minutes of searching I have found a possible idea for tonight -- Dracula's Ball. This place is right around the freaking corner from me. Well, around two or three corners, but I can walk there basically. Wondering if that's a great idea since I'd be walking home at 2 AM. Hmmm. Danger. Maybe I'll run home. Sounds safer. Not sure what to wear. Own two masks -- a Michael Meyers from Halloween mask, and a Batman Beyond mask. Think I may cut off the ears on the Batman mask and turn it into some kind of gimp mask. A hetero gimp mask. Ahem. Will try to bring camera and report back tomorrow morning.
what is real?
2002.10.30 6.58
Yo Bush Man. I'm there and got your directions for your place. See you at Number's Night Club. Blue pill or red pill? Follow the white rabbit. Go out on the ledge and wait for instructions.Just wanted to wish Winona Ryder a happy belated 31st birthday. Being on trial must be a major drag. I give her a 50/50 chance on getting acquitted, although I think the guy who supposedly saw her do all the really incriminating stuff in the changing room will turn out to have a checkered past. That's my take. Remember what I said about The White Van not belonging to the sniper? You've got friends on the jury, anyway, so just stand around and keep looking pretty. If you get busted and go to the crowbar Hilton, I'll visit and bring you a cake filled with files and hammers.
It got really freakin cold here in the last two days. Had to wear my knit cap for the first time. Never wore one before, but it's nice. Keeps the ears warm. Have strange feeling when I look in the mirror. Oh, yeah, right. Here. I'll have to show you a side by side comparison sometime.
silent frigidity
2002.10.29 6.26
Been trying to get a caption on StarWars.com. Every Wednesday fan submitted captions are posted and for some reason all my clever zingers have gone ignored. Wondering who is picking the best ones. I imagine George Lucas must see that section at some point, although I'd bet he's too busy. If I make it then you'll know tomorrow. Check back. Back check. Bad check. Heh. I know. I'm like Eminem, only less blonde.Changed my morning alarm clock music from Men At Work's ''OverKill'' to the Harry Potter opening theme. Decided in my head that I'd go to another Madonna concert if she tours again. Made mental note that car needs serious interior cleaning. Committed to memory that I should organize my videotape cabinet this weekend when I'm in Houston. Unsuccessfully searched my memory regarding whether or not I remembered to leave a payment for Olga The Super Maid. Don't like the word maid. Too demeaning. Trying to think of more P.C. word. So far I've come up with the following: Entropy Architect. Chaos Manager. Disorder Orderly.
No plans for Halloween again this year. Batman uniform is back in Houston. Yes, I said uniform. Had weird dreams the other night about the suit and what I had to do to fix some flaw. Spent a lot of time in the Radio Shack during this dream. Wondering what the record is for waiting in line during a dream.
communication breakdown, takedown, you're busted
2002.10.28 2.17
Been slacking on updates. Last week filled with classes. Learning new things. Fascinating tools out there. The new wardrobe is great and came just in time. Wish I had something happen to differentiate the days, but nothing comes to mind. Weekend was quiet. Got dreaded expense report turned in on Friday and off to FEDEX. Got goofy while tracking it towards its destination. Sometimes there's such a thing as too much information. Meant to see movies but stayed in with the puppy. Fire alarm went off Sunday morning. After two minutes decided I had to go outside in case real flames were drawing near. Dog got bonus walk as a result. Only 25 or so neighbors came out. Wondering if that is everyone there. Fire department and city cops came and checked it out. False alarm. Considering renter's insurance now.Finally going back to Houston this weekend. Then it's back here for three more weeks. Then off for Thanksgiving. Then back. Then off after December 13th. Going to destroy my old master bathroom and replace it with something along the same lines as the hallway bathroom. Must check with Oktober for consultation.
Lots of photos I need to post on here. Goal for end of year is 1000 page views on this site a day. So far up to 300 per day. Plotting how to rent out DeLorean to Best Buy so I can park it *inside* in the middle of their store. My goals are weird, as you can see.
uneventful horizon
2002.10.21 10.11
Weekend didn't have much of anything interesting transpire. Got a new fall wardrobe for totally cheap thanks to weekend sale at J Crew (30%) plus signup bonus for their credit line (10%). I am now fashionable once again, mostly thanks to the consultation powers of my aforementioned neighbor. Pictures are coming. I owe pictures of NY with my sis, however, so they've got precedent. Tried to switch the dog to new dog food. Failure. Liquidy. Eeew. Going to buy a bag of Eukanuba tomorrow. Solid. I hope.Taking classes all this week to learn how to use this letter writing system for the client. Had fun in class today. Instructor is French so I am getting a sudden retro feel that's cool. Took two years of francais in high school. First year instructor was super mean and called my parents when I didn't do my homework. Second year instructor let me sleep on my desk. Didn't care if I passed in and out of consciousness. How the hell do you that? When I was teaching I couldn't imagine letting a student sleep while I was doing anything. Second year teacher looked like Betty Boop. Talked like Betty Boop. Probably was Betty Boop. Saw her 8 years after I graduated and she hadn't aged a day. Thinking of her suddenly making me sleepy.
in a new york minute
2002.10.18 6.20
Back from a long and blustery two weekday trip to NY City with the sis. Originally we were going to see the ''Truth About Charlie'' premiere there. Bought a ticket off Priceline.com but then the venue changed. It was at a small theater so I didn't even get tix. My sis flew up here anyway on Tuesday night. We started Wednesday with breakfast at Silk City Diner. A stop at Target to buy umbrellas and maps. Then off in the car to New York City via I-95 N. I found my way to the turnpike thanks to the new maps. It turns out last time I went up to NY I stayed on 95 too long and did a loop and was actually going the wrong freakin' way. Maps rule. Drove in through the Lincoln Tunnel. Checked into Crowne Plaza off Broadway. Walked through Times Square in cold rain. Got Letterman tickets thanks to intern who stopped us. Bought tix to ''The Producers'' from hotel concierge. Bought hiking boots for sis as she was wearing open toed shoes. Bzzt. Letterman was great -- Guiliani and Naomi Watts were on. Naomi was nipplicious. Producers was also great. Next day we hit Empire State Building and Ground Zero. Zero now has a nice gate and no more digging vehicles around. You can see the old sidewalks and how cracked and deformed they are. Freaky. Drove back into Philly and stopped at Pat's for cheesesteaks. Kicked sis out at the airport and picked up Chew Chew from the kennel. Whew. Back to work this morning. Mo later.So far this month check out what keywords people use on each search engine to get to my site. People are freaks!
AOL NetFind
1: mardi gras 2002 flashers
1: girlfriend thong
1: topless girlfriend
AllTheWeb
1: watch
Altavista
1: rig or bellmen or captor or transcend or shields
1: halloween+parties
1: jenny garth
Dogpile
1: dance with the devil in the pale moonlight
1: halloween party photos
1: back to the future 4
7: mr.+fusion
7: back to the future 4
4: laura
3: mr fusion replica
2: artcars
2: photos of girlfriend
2: batmobile replica
2: chinese+food
Lycos
2: halloween costume
2: cheese steak
1: the batmobile
1: batmobile
1: halloween characters
1: location of poison ivy
1: picture of betsy and oliver north
1: cheese steak sandwich
MSN
1: action auto 4 sale
1: playmates tng
1: toni and guy
1: richard simmons pics
1: mark of genius
1: pat's cheese steaks
1: auto action 4 sale
1: you kicked my dog
1: 1989 batmobile
1: daughter kicked dog
Yahoo
4: back to the future 4
3: your daughter kicked my dog
2: ex photos
2: pats steaks
2: delorean for sale in texas
1: porta-poddy
1: topless 16
1: christopher walken audio files on snl
1: richard simmons pics
1: bathroom remodeling pics
iWon
1: philly steak and cheese
back to the philly
2002.10.14 6.14
Back. Got hair cut yesterday by RedKat. Looks awesome. Experimenting with others to see if anyone notices the new color. So far nobody has known til' I told them. Still had dye stains around ears during basketball game on Saturday. Hair is so black the first 24 hours after the dye that I look like freakin' Elvis.Got to airport late and had to sweat it out while they found someone to give up a seat. Pondered taking them up on the offer: free hotel, free food vouchers, and a $300 travel certificate. Did that once back in 2001 while in Jacksonville. Never used the voucher. D'oh! Had to sit in the middle seat on ride back. Felt like punishment for sitting in first class seat 1A on flight in. Continental is now withholding the soda can during meal service. Usually they give you cup with ice plus the can. Now you don't get the can. Demanded can. Got can. Passengers on left and right of me were jealous of my can. Drank several refills and giggled happily.
Took forever to find a parking spot upon my return to Center City. Settled on spot way down Wood street near 5th. I live between 3rd and 4th. You do the math. Scary factor isn't as bad as you might think. Dog is still in bondage until final release later this afternoon.
Planning to hang out with Mr. Bush in Houston upon my return. Found out I'm going back November 1st. Can't figure out why I thought three week travel gaps were a good idea. Having security check my water supply for crack.
back to the houston
2002.10.12 19.27
Pissed. This is the second time I'm typing this.Plane arrived at 8 PM on Friday. Dad drove me home. Dad rules. Got home and went through bag of mail. Spam. Bills. Bling. Not enough bling. Remembered box of blue black hair dye I bought last year. Found it. Dyed hair blue-black after deciding, ''What the hell.'' Drove to Number's Nightclub dressed in black (as usual). Chatted with old friends, listened to hardcore 80's tunes and drank fine champagne. Err. Heinekin. Hung out til' 3 AM then drove home. Got mud on boots during walk to car. Must remember to take alternate route.
Played basketball with friends at the Jersey Village park basketball court. Park has some other name, but I'm still calling it the JV park. Bleah. Got beaten three times. Must practice. Friends agreed to meet again to play another game soon... hopefully when I return in two weeks.
Drove Corvette around later on after finally cracking the ''battery won't start car'' issue. My solution was to put the battery on a charger for three weeks. Problem solved. Took Corvette to Touchless Car Wash place for severely needed cleaning. Water splashes up on me even though window is closed. Woo. Cold water = good. Drove car amid usual stares and open mouthed gaping of fellow drivers. Put car back in storage and draped it in it's cover (which I'd never used before).
Not sure what plans for evening are. Hoping to do something. Evening at Chuck E. Cheese is my least likeliest choice.
thoughts on psychos
2002.10.11 12.45
Media finally came up with name for the sniper psycho that has been offing people at random: The Gas Station Killer. Find it odd that this creep appears just as ''Red Dragon'' has hit screens. Wondering if there's truth to media influencing violence. Probably, but this wack job leaves notes to cops, not the media. Profiling mind makes me think he hates authority. Use weapons to control others. Probably has prior weapons violations and conflicts with authority. Thinks this is all a game. Probably is picking locations by how easily he can conceal his coward ass. They say he is driving a white van, but I think he's picking locations BECAUSE a white van is there. Look for yourself. White vans are freakin' everywhere. Just my hunch. Cops need to plant lone white vans across from gas stations that have expanses around them. Sit, wait and loser boy will show up. Go get 'em.come on baby...
2002.10.10 11.49
Was walking dog on the crappy fast 10 minute walk. He hates the short walks. Just before minute 9 rolled around, a little old lady across the street yelled something my way. First thought she complimented the dog. Wrong. Still inaudible, she repeated herself. I say, ''Huh?'' Inaudible message gets repeated. I relent and cross the street to figure out what she's saying. Me: ''Say what?'' Her: ''Excuse me sir, do you have a light?'' Pfft. I'm on a schedule. Don't have time to ignite things. Pointed to sun and said, ''There's a light. Right up there. Didn't you notice it?''all text no pictures
2002.10.09 23.17
Enteman's and Tasty Cakes' packaging resemble one another. Take a look at the grocery store aisles and you'll see store-brand products that try to look like the real thing. Suzy Household may end up with Target brand glass cleaner thinking she picked up Windex brand. Must happen a lot. Wondering how far I can take this. If I dress up like Johnny Depp, will I get all his groupies with impaired vision?Planning trip to New York without taking a car. Last trip featured Mark Shields in Lost in New York 2. Averse to asking for directions. Did it once and got two pages worth of instructions, all ending with, "...and then head straight for the FDR and you're freakin' there!" Must buy map.
My mom's nursing agency got busted by the FBI. You think your boss is okay but in reality he's a terrorist funding little bastard. I can think of some bosses I had in the past that were pure evil. Most of them were Authority Figures at the school I worked at. Anyway, mom is applying for work elsewhere. As a good friend said, ''that's whack yo.''
billing
2002.10.08 7.31
Got two piles of paperwork staring at me. Momma pile and baby pile. Baby pile filled with receipts for expense reports. Momma pile filled with bills and paperwork I need to look at. Put both piles on bed so I can see them 24/7. Proximity to paperwork tricks my mind to think I'm just about to do it. Same standard applies when I'm talking to a cute girl. Heh. Okay, okay. Bad taste creeping into journal. Onward.Loud satanic noise outside suddenly stopped yesterday. Operator of said loud ass noise making device must have weekend-only permit. Sanity returning. Now, only hear distant sound of I-95 and maybe A/C compressors on top of adjacent building. Every apartment gets one. Funny to see 200 of them strapped together up there. Lucky hurricanes never find their way here.
Got window open. Chilly outside, like 50 degrees. Doggy curled up on ball on his mat. Threw in my extra pillow for him to curl up on. Get a lot of people pulling up to red lights and yelling, ''Hey, great dog!'' as we walk by. Briefly considered responding with, ''Oh, no, he's a vicious killer. He bit off the hand of a two year-old last night. Stay away!'' After moment's hesitation, shook it off and kept my mouth shut.
What happens when you have three pinball machines and live alone.
Shoved momma and baby piles into my bag. Listened to Howard Stern on way to work. Stern interviewed Steve Crane, Bob Crane's kid. Bob Crane was Hogan from Hogan's Heroe's. Bob Crane also made stag films for years before doing so became the industry it is today. Crane's kid is torked new movie from Paul Schrader made his dad sound like a super pervert. ''He was just a regular pervert, dammit!'' screamed Steve Crane. Interesting thing, Steve sells web vid of his dad's old ''art'' films at BobCrane.com. Reporter came on and asked Steve why he even cares about how his dad is presented in the movie. She also couldn't believe Steve sells his dad's old pr0n. Steve was like, ''MY DAD WAS NOT INTO S&M! He *did* make naughty movies, however, so BobCrane.com! Go there! Bring $4!'' Howard didn't get it. Robyn didn't get it. Bob got it. A lot, apparently.
rebuilding my workspace
2002.10.07 11.20
Using an app called IBM Websphere Application Server Developer. Complicated. Called IBM WSAD for short. Took a couple weeks to get swing of it. Swing is a graphic class of Java. Not talking about Swing. Learned JavaScript before Java. Feeling deja-vu. Did I already mention this? JavaScript got me around Object-oriented learning curve. Bought a Java book last week. Can't find it today. Stupid Java book thieves. Got perfectly good rock CDs and DeLorean shaped mouse for them to steal. Do they steal those? No. Considering using a java pamphlet as bait and using webcam to nab the bandit.Spent weekend in apartment. Realized loud noise outside window never stops. Went outside to investigate. Sounds like someone runs a broken generator on their roof. Freakin' loud! Like, 100 decibals. Wondering if I should move my bed away from window. Tried to blast Rammstein with window opened to drown out generator. Failed. Shopping for those headphones those airport guys wear when they park the jet with their little handheld cones. Also considering earplugs. Dog doesn't seem to care about noise. Giant floppy ears suddenly seem like good idea.
Don't know if I get to go to next premiere for Wahlberg. Waiting for ticket allocation. Curious how far down the totem pole I am in Mark's entourage. Betting someone must be lower. The limo driver, maybe? Wonder if Mark ever shops at Target. Not sure why I'm wondering this. Going back to rebuilding my Websphere environment. Bleah.
wakey wakey
2002.10.06 8.39
Good morning. I'm playing tag with my new domain hosters today. PROHOSTERS.com. They are amazing. They have an IRC server set up and just sit there live waiting for anyone to come in with a problem. They also have a great ticketing system that I can use. I need to pass these ideas along to my old team at The Large Computer Company I used to work for. They are working 24/5 these days. I'm not sure what has changed for them in the last two years. Hard to believe it's been that long. [checks hands for age spots].I am a member of the OktoberNight book and wine club. So far I've read Youth In Revolt, The Lover and currently I'm starting Fast Food Nation. Revolt is basically the journals of Nick Twisp, 14 year old super genius with super libido to match. A lot in common, Nick and I have. Okay, except for the 14 year old part. I'm older. You know, like 22. Heh. The Lover is a stream of consciousness type novel about the emotional impressions that the past can make on everyone, especially when you look back on a relationship that deeply affected you. I should have brought that up at the meeting, but I was too busy being fascinated by my host's immaculate apartment. That, and the table we were sitting around kept blocking my view of everyone. The third book which I am now reading at a feverish pace is about the hidden secrets of fast food. Where does it come from? Who kills all those animals that we eat? How did we wind up spending 6 billion a year on fast food in 1970, whereas in 2001 we spent 110 billion a year on it. Wow! Didn't notice that, huh? I am lucky that downtown Philadelphia is covered with hundreds upon hundreds of independent businesses and restaurants. There is nary a Chili's or Bennigan's around. It's nice. There are even *three* independent movie houses within a few blocks of each other. They are all called The Ritz, but their secondary name varies by geographic location. I saw ''Salton Sea'' there a few months ago. Good movie. Go buy the DVD. You'll be glad you did. Okay, right. Back to fast food. I'm told that I will soon be grossed out by the truth of it all. We'll see. It takes a lot to gross me out. I think the last time I got grossed out was a few weeks ago when I was walking Chew Chew and he suddenly decided to shove his face and ears into a giant, cold pile of poop. At first I didn't know what he was doing, nor that there was poop on the ground. When he came up for air... well, let's just say he wasn't rewarded with a scooby snack. Even 10 baths later I still don't wanna smooch him on the nose just yet.
Just now while I was looking at Amazon I noticed that you can post a review for something and your review's rank can be judged by how many people clicked YES in response to, ''Was this review helpful to you?'' Maybe I should recommend that we book club members post a review on there, sort of to immortalize the monthly meeting. Speaking of which, I believe this month's meeting is not scheduled on a weekend that I'm in Houston. I goofed up and didn't request my flight itinerary 21 days in advance, so I've been here in Philly for two weeks straight so far. This is a first, believe it or not. It isn't a big deal since I've got Chew here, but of course hanging out with friends and family in Houston is something I always look forward to. Bleah. I'll stop right now before I get sentimental and start looking for beer.
about damn time
2002.10.05 19.54
After several months of prolific wanting to do something about my blog, I've finally taken the plunge and installed MovableType.org blog software. You can thank Mr. Wil Wheaton for this. Yeah, that's right. Wesley Crusher. Also known as That Kid Who Got The Leach On His Pee Pee In That Stand By Me Movie. Yikes! Okay, so I'll work on the other templates for this later tonight. Right now I'm starvin' marvin, man. I'm hitting Pat's Cheesesteaks and I think I'm gonna buy three of them. I'll let you know how they keep in the fridge.Today I also managed to vacuum everything, clean the dog, clean myself and clean the bathtub. It was lookin' freakin' grubby in there. There is still some hard work ahead, particularly in the area of ''Errant Hair'' that seems to cover the bathroom floor. I had no idea I had this much hair. I'm not sure where it's coming from. Perhaps my arms are shedding more often than I realize.
I attended the red carpet screening for ''Red Dragon'' in New York City this past Monday with my aforementioned neighbor. We had a blast and of course I have many digital photographs in case you'd like some proof. It was a little odd that Wahlberg wasn't there since every other screening I've ever attended was courtesy of Mark. In this instance, Ed Norton's grandfather runs a charity called The Enterprise Foundation which offered the premiere tickets, albeit for a tidy sum. Did I have any interaction with Ed Norton? Yup. He told me "Not right now" in response to my asking if I could take his picture. He was too busy hugging on Salma Hayek. Can you blame him? The afterparty was held in a wing of Grand Central Station. The Norton Brushoff didn't bother me as I was enjoying the open bar and the awesome food. Giant shrimp with a spicey guacamole dip! There was a lot of food (and people) there that I didn't recognize. I think Chelsea Clinton gave me the eye at one point. She then leaned over and whispered that she had a box of cigars in the trunk of her car. Of course, I ran away.
