The Electric Wire

Now, would you file this under "Ironic", "Post-Ironic" or "Heh heh heh--no hard feelings, ay?"?

Iraqis Offer Tips Over U.S. Blackout

Yes, I'd be pissy and cranky, and (like my father whom I spoke with this morning) I wouldn't have gotten home until sometime 'round midnight, or later. But think about it:

The largest city in the world, without lights. The New York Times called it "a huge, mandatory slumber party". I saw the pictures on CNN--throngs of people clogging the streets. But there was no rioting, no major looting. You could stand in Times Square and see the stars. Imagine Central Park this afternoon; with power still not restored and a humid 90 degrees, where else could you go? Christ, if I could have been there with my camera....

Something tells me I'm not going to see Mary Fahl tonight. I've been trying to reach the club all afternoon and I keep getting a busy signal. With power still not completely restored, and Bloomberg already telling people to take the day off, I may just stay in and enjoy the air conditioning.

But, still. Crazy as it was, chaotic as it is, given how calm everyone in the city was . . . it would have been something to simply be there.

Well, that was one of my more interesting birthdays...

(a brief [ha!] aside: it's midnight, I have work in the morning, yet I am online to write for my blog. Why, yes, I have an addictive personality; why do you ask?)

As most of you know, something caused a shutdown of a power-station somewhere near upstate New York and Canda, which stared a chain reaction of some twenty other power-stations also shutting down. (Things are still pretty sketchy. First it was lightening, then it wasn't. It was the Niagra station; then it wasn't. I hear now mention of a nuclear plant that shut down, but who knows. Only thing we do know is it wasn't terrorists [nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more]).

The day started well enough. I brought donuts for the people in the office, and the brownies my mother baked for me on Sunday (which, as is usually the case with my mother's brownies, were a huge hit; fortunately, being the birthday boy I snagged the last one.) Now, the original birthday plan was to have a semi-large dinner at the TGI Friday's in Wayne. When I got home around 5:30, power was out in Bloomfield, cell phone services was spotty. I couldn't get through to the Friday's in Wayne so by 6:00 or so I started calling people up to cancel, which really sucked. I was so looking forward to having fun this year. Needless to say, I wasn't happy, though I figured, karma-wise, it would put me in good shape for next year.

My friend Lauren lives in Bellvue and her complex had power; she invited Sean and I over so the three of us (and Dave, of course. And their cat. they got me Jenga for my firthday. Well, Lauren and Dave did; not the cat. At least, I don't think so.) ordered pizza, shot the shit, and watched CNN for comedic value. (Gotta love that President of ours. Poor guy didn't know what to say. And why he kept having to pause before he said the word "blackout" I have no idea. I mean, OK, so on the first try he could have been searching for the right word, but to do it every time?? How the hell did this guy get elected??)

Lauren started falling alseep around 9:30 so Sean and I headed home. Thankfully the power was on, but we were both antsy so it didn't take much for us to decide to go to Lace. (Just one week after last going. Not a good sign.) But it was fun. Not exactly how I wanted to spend my birthday, but certainly an acceptable consolation prize. Sean treated me to a couple of dances. Now, dances can be hit or miss, even if you are with a girl you consider the best looking in the place. But the two women I was with were both friendly and . . . talented, so it was money well spent.

Even better, when talking with Pandora, she mentioned her boyfriend is in a band and they're looking to have a website. Well, say no more! Hopefully, when we meet up at Tori next week, I'll be able to talk to him and drum up some business for Bright-Matrix. Keep your fingers crossed.

Meanwhile, it looks like the power is here to stay on in Jersey. Much of NYC is still without. My father works in the city and I finally got in touch with him around 8:00 this evening. (Interesting how initally I wasn't worried but by nightfall I was started to really wonder.) He was still at his office and debating whether he'd stay the night or take a bus to the airport and catch a cab ride home. I haven't heard from either him or my mother since so I'm thinking he probably stayed in the city. I'll call home tomorrow to check. Either way, he was safe, and not trapped in the subway or the tunnel like I was worried he might be.

My friend Miller is OK too. He called me 'round 4:30-ish. Had he left work five minutes earlier he would've been trapped in the subway, but as it was he was in his office and figuring he wouldn't see Jersey 'till tomorrow (which is Today; damn that midnight hour; it never is "tomorrow" until you get sleep, is it?) Everyone I know Jersey-side was fine.

Interesting day, though. When the power went out at the office and we started hearing about Conneticut and Canada being out we all started worrying. And of course we all thought it could be a terrorist attack. I try and keep the "terror factor" low, personally, but there was no way I couldn't wonder. I'll be really curious to see how the explanations--and accusations--are handled over the next few days. But I think Dave is right about the repercussions. If the Sept 11 attacks didn't improve airline security, this isn't really going to change the power grid system. God bless America.

and the funny thing is, earlier today Sean sent me an e-mail with a list of notable birthday's and events that happened August 14th. Who knew there'd be a new one by the end of the day?

Well, I should probably get some sleep. I have some links I want to post but that'll have to wait. Busy weekend--city-bound tomorrow to see Mary Fahl and then my cousin's wedding--

Holy shit! My cousin Robin was flying in tonight! Damn, I wonder how her plan was. (One more call to make tomorrow.)

Right. It's after midnight; birthday officially over. Sleep and dream time....

Just watched an interesting special on NJN. Apparently, as far back as 1976, a theory regarding the cause of the Salem Witch Trials is thought to be Ergot Poisoning. Ergot is a fungus that's the main ingredient in everyone's favorite hallucinogenic, LSD. Ergot, on its own, is powerful enough to produce convulsions and hallucinations. In 1976, Linda Caporael presented the theory that the young girls in Salem thought to be possessed by Witches were actually suffering from Ergot Poisoning.

The TV program I saw was an episode of the series Secrets of the Dead which focuses on how modern science can unravel mysteries of the past. (I saw a fascinating episode of this series a few months back where scientists linked a rare natural immunity to the Black Plague as being equally immune the AIDS virus.

You can check out PBS's website on Ergot and Witchcraft here. This page reprints Linda Caporael's original article in its entirety. And this site quotes from a book about molds and poisons affecting history, with focus on Erogt poisoning in Salem.

In the interest of fair time, this site talks about alternate theories explaining withcraft, while this article by Nicholas P. Spanos and Jack Gottlieb, published a few month's after Caporael's initial paper, refutes her claim.

The PBS show I watched didn't mention counter-theories to Ergot poisoning, though it seems to have presented evidence supporting the Ergot theory not found during the initial examinations in the 70's. Either way, it's fascinating reading.

So this is the current version that I've created. Not 100% happy, though I think it's an improvement. Might need to get rid of the "cubic" look--your eyes can easily lose focus and look at is as a diamond rather than a cube--but I'll see what Zav thinks. I think the angeled cut-away works better than the curve, though.

The big issue is the text. There's a lot to put there--the company name, the URL, the persons name and thier address. I think leaving out the URl actually looks neater . . . the cut-away forces everything off to the left and takes up a lot of space. But I know I'm onto to something with the design.... Maybe centering the text, putting the name off to the right instead of the left.... hmmm.....

Oh, speaking of design, let me ask you something: What do you think of she-is-kimba.net?

Relax, it's not porn--it's actually a Tori fan's site I found while surfing. Technically, I think it's really cool; she does some neat tricks with layers and backgrounds; definitely something worth studying (for us web design geeks, that is). But in terms of aesthetic . . . I mean, look how tiny her nav bar is, it's practically hiding. And I think her font-size is a poor contrast with the background, and a bit on the small size. But it's a funky site and if you've got some time to kill--and if you're reading my blog then obviously you have time to kill--check it out..

I sent this to Rob, Sean, and Mia the other day, but I like this too much not to post:

Molly Knight is a Tori fan who is following Tori across the country for the Lottapianos Tour. She has a website to chronicle her journey.

(Not-so-brief aside: how the hell do people do it? Follow an artist on a tour? I mean, I'll have see Tori six times inside of a year and, honestly, that's way more than enough for me. Yet some people do it for whole tours! I love tori's music to death, but even I have my limits. What is it that drives them?)

Any way: At the Chicago concert Molly managed to interview Matt Chamberlain, Tori's dummer. Admist the interview, the following exchange took place:


Molly:What song do you think we are going to hear any time soon?
Matt: Well we're working up "Sweet Child of Mine."
Molly: What?!
Matt: (laughs) "We're working up "Can't Get You out of My Head"..But I guess Flaming Lips already did it..."
Molly: ..(laughs) You had me going there.
Matt: I think we might do some Rush covers also...


Now, granted, it's a bit of a backhanded compliment, but just to see Rush get mentioned made my day. So a tiny, tiny flicker of hope exists that my dream could come true. I mean, when I first got into Ben Folds I thought how cool it would be for him and Tori to tour--and their approach to the piano is as different as you can get, but here they are, touring together. Tori could so cover a Rush song. (Just imagine her doing "Natural science" Come, you know it would sound fantastic!)

Ok, so the day Rush and Tori co-headline a tour will be a sign of the Apocalypse, I know, but, hey, I can dream....

So I get to work today. You know, first day, gonna make some changes. Gonna improve response times, this that and the other thing, right?

My boss, Mike, calls Linda, our office manager, around 8:30. He won't be in until 11:00. He comes in sometime around 11:30. I don't get the baclog--the list of jobs on order that tells me how many parts are allocated--until close to noon.

Change or die. T.

Uh-huh.

You know, considering how skeptical I am; really, you'd think I would've seen this one coming....

Jesus, where does the day go? It's already 20 to 11:00 and I've still got e-mails to send out. Something tells me I'm not going to get to them all.

So I cleaned up the copious spelling/typing errors on the last few entires. I'm pretty flagrant when it comes to typo's. You'd think this thing would have a spell-check (which, even if it did, wouldn't correct the shoddy grammar; but, officer, I have my poetic license in my other jacket, I swear....)

Of course, it's all a bit moot as nobody knows about this blog yet. I want it to go public but I'd like to get the design down. Considering I've been trying to revamp my V for Vendetta Shrine for ther last... two years or so, and I'm a month behind on the six-month update to Available Light, something tells me I'm better off just speading the word about this site before I die of old age.

(and I want to be a professional web designer! :)

Speaking of which, I did get a decent working version of the Bright-Matrix business card. It's not 100% there. I want to show it to Mike so he can critique and we can tweak as needed. For some reason I'm getting a horrible sense of deja vu when I look at it. Which means I've either shamelessly ripped off someone else's design or my brainwaves are just picking up vibes from the fututre and recognizing that which I was destined to create.

. . .

Re-thinking that last bit; I might skip the e-mailing and go straight to sleep.

I feel like there was something else I wanted to mention but I'm blanking completely. Sleep and dream time.....

This was supposed to be Part One, but Hannah's e-mail sent me venting, so here's your originally scheduled Blog Entry.

Work got interesting today. It seems our business model is no longer effective. We're losing business, fast, and if we don't adjust, we may not be a business. Which isn’t to say I am going to be jobless in a few months, so much as to say that if things don't change at LoDan, then that could be a possibility.

So things are going to change in the way orders are processed. Brenda's being promoted to Scheduling, taking over from Sana, our production manager. Orders are funneled directly through her, through me. Needless to say, the idea of having to work more closely with Brenda certainly counts as a plus in my book.

The bottom line is: response time has to drop to 30 minutes or less, and an average response time of "within minutes". As it now stands, orders generally take an hour to go from question to answer. And that's a good average. Sometimes it can take over a day.

It should be interesting. The head of customer service, Laura, is clearly not crazy about the changes. Brenda is more than ready and both Pete and I are looking forward to things, too. Mike was talking, broadly, about other changes in the way various departments are run, and hinting that those that can't change will have to go (or we all do). Curious to see how that plays out. There's a constant grumbling between operations and production, with each side pointing fingers at the other. So, theoretically, if Customer Service and Purchasing can straighten out their act, it'll be on Production to straighten out theirs. it's always interesting to see how the realities of profit can alter office politics, so I'm curious to see just how much changes and what the actual casualties, if any, will be. (Hopefully, I won't be one of them.)

So, naturally, as Mike talked about how things have to be changed "or else" (my phrasing, not his), I thought about 'Change or die" because that's what's going on. Now, working at WebMedia was a very static thing. Sure, the company went from print to internet well enough, but then it froze and shriveled up when the dot-com bubble burst. LoDan is in a different position: the fiber-optic market isn't hemorrhaging, just changing. And our staff is capable enough of adapting, theoretically. So I'm actually looking forward to the change. If nothing else, it'll keep me busy.

I genuinely like my job. It can drive me to drink--hell, today alone I scared myself half to death thinking I ordered 30,000 meters of the wrong cable (I didn't), but the people are great and I like my responsibilities. And I seem to be handling them well enough because I keep getting unsolicited compliments from my boss, so obviously I'm doing something right. And, honestly, I want to improve the way things are done. Not just to save my job, but because I want to do it well.

Which is funny, because I don't see this as a career. I mean, Pete's been with the company 12, 13 years. Our office manager, Linda has been there about as long, and Laura isn't too far behind them. They're all in their middle age; these positions can be considered "career" jobs. And yet it doesn't feel like it to me. Maybe it's because I'm only 28, and the prospect of being at one place seems to foreign and far-away. And of course there's the desire to do web design. So, theoretically, LoDan will not be my final place of employment.

But, still, a place doesn't have to be a Final Destination to be a place worth taking care of while you're there. So it's going to be very interesting over the next few weeks.

Change or die. (moo hoo ha ha ha)

And yet I'm not worried.

However, I am extremely hungry. Time to go eat.

OK, I have to vent now. Strike that: this will be a full-on bitch session. Enjoy.

I just got an e-mail from Hannah.

She writes:

Hello All,

I will be leaving for Aruba on Friday morning and I would like to send you all postcards, so if you could get back to me with your addresses that would be wonderful.

Always,
Hannah


Now, the last time I spoke to Hannah, she was away on a business trip and had completely forgotten that we had scheduled an accounting meeting that evening to discuss incorporation options for Bright-Matrix. Things had been pretty dead friendship-wise at that point already, but to be brushed off when it came to business, well, that was enough for me. Neither of us have contacted one another directly since.

(Wait, that may not be true: I think I did e-mail her about donating to one of those charity marathons she does; that was back in the Spring.)

Despite this, I still am on her mass-mailing list. So while I have no contact with her, I am informed that: she's left her old job; is starting a new one next month; has a new cell phone number; is going on vacation to Aruba. And, really, I have to ask: WHY!?!?

I mean, were not friends! Things died a semi-quiet death long enough ago that, really, is it that hard to prune off the e-mail addresses of people you don't talk to anymore? I'm often changing the list of who I mass-e-mail and who I don't based on who I actually stay in touch with. How hard is it to go: "Oh: Craig. I don't talk to him anymore" and click delete? Or, if she actually gave a fuck, to actually write a quick note: "long time no speak; what's new?"

Shit, I hadn't seen Pete since October, I missed his friggin’ Birthday, but I got my ass down to help him move because, as infrequent as we talk/get together, he's a friend I want to stay in touch with. I haven't seen Noah in about a year but we manage to e-mail every few months. Is it too much to ask that contact be maintained with only those you truly want to stay in contact with?

And I know she doesn’t want to stay in contact with me because she made it quite clear she didn't want me around, so as I am no longer a part of her life, why the fuck do I keep getting updates about it??

Yes, I'm still bitter. I'm fucking griping about this on my Blog; obviously issues are in need of closure on some scale. Because I am pissed. Because I thought, even if we couldn't be more than friends, at least we were friends. That I didn't spend three months on the the phone with her nearly every night just because there was a legitimate connection and not because she needed a sucker to bitch to.

But for fuck sake, let me take care of me and if you want nothing to do with me, then leave me the fuck alone.

"Change or Die"--which I believe will be my new catch-phrase for a while (I'll get to that in Pt 2)--is not an original phrase, but to me it refers to the three-part story Warren Ellis wrote for the comic Stormwatch Long story short, it dealt with the realities of change and how far you can go to change something, what happens when you can't change something, and that those that do not change will ultimately stagnate, and die. Change or die. You deal or that's it.

I almost did not celebrate my birthday this year because I seemed to prefer wallowing in the miserable memory of last year's birthday. Which is bullshit, and I know it, and thusly on Thursday I shall be with people who actually are my friends, and not worry about the people who don't give a fuck about me. I can either sit and wallow in my misery, or move on. Change or die.

I suppose I could actually write this to her--in a far more tactful manner, obviously. (I'll wait for the muffled laughter in the audience who are amused to consider the concepts of "Craig" and "tact" as somehow co-habitable.) But the thing is, there's no point. 'Cause the irony is that the only one who really cares about the situation is me. Therefore involving Hannah becomes moot--she don't care. The closure/satisfaction/payback I'd be looking for . . . would be a smoke screen. Because I don't really want to lose contact at all.

But that's the way life goes. You can't always get what you want. Change or die.

OK, I think this one's run its course. Gotta dig out those issues of Stormwatch....

Are there any paranoids in the audience tonight?
Is there anyone who worries about things?
Pathetic.
This is for all the weak people in the audience....

I've been listening to Pink Floyd's The Wall lately. The live version, the one they released for the 20th anniversary of the album. It's really not that different from the studio, thanks to all the effects; but it's got a great version of "What Shall We Do Now?" and the above intro to "Run Like Hell." It's fascinating to hear the audience cheer along when being told they're weak and pathetic. I'm sure some people there fully realized the irony of their applause, but, I'd bet ten-to-one the majority completely missed it. Which of course was the point.

The album holds up well. I first bought the album about ten years ago, and it's still a phenomenal piece of work. Not perfect, of course. The beginning of the second half is a bit repetitive and, like many concept albums, the narrative doesn't flow perfectly even. (Things get really wonky with the second half of disc one, where he jumps from childhood to adolescence via "Blue Sky" and "What Shall We Do Now" only to jump back to adolescence with "Young Lust", and full-on adulthood with "One of My Turns." My current theory is that "Young Lust" is really Pink's "current hit" as a rock star, harkening back to his youth while not being part of the linear narrative. But then again, it took me years to realize Pink was a wife-beater so my interpretation could be off.)

It's no surprise I can really dig the combination of fear, mental anguish, paranoia, subversion and outright rebellion (not to mention a mental breakdown or three) that's on the album. I suppose that's why at 28 it still hold as much appeal for me as when I was 18. Some albums don't hold. I'm going through that with a lot of Tori Amos right now. Stuff that very clearly no longer resonates because I'm past "that stage". Which, by inference, means I'm still going through a combination of fear, mental anguish, paranoia, subversion, and outright rebellion (the mental breakdowns are kinda over, I think). Personally, I think that's rather healthy.

The Wall holds an interesting place in my youth. I really got interested in the album because of a high school class I never took. There was a seniors-only course called Western Civilization, and it was kind of the "cool" brainy class to take, because you got to look at a bunch of things other classes did touch: You got to study "2001: a Space Odyssey", "Monty Python and Quest for the Holy Grail" and you studied The Wall. I had a bunch of friends who took the course. And at 17, to be in school and listening, in class to a rock album was just cool, so there was a good amount of buzz about it. Interestingly enough, when it came to watching the movie, the teacher either skipped or fast-forwarded through the "Young Lust" segment because it apparently featured Pink getting head. Not pornographic detail, but explicit enough. (I still have yet to see the movie so I can't comment on what exactly was shown.) This always struck me odd. Supposedly, the whole point of the course was to present you with a way of looking at things and thinking for yourselves. And if you're studying stuff like "2001" and The Wall you're not exactly starting off talking about babies and kittens. Considering how sexuality, not to mention the subversion of individuality and thought by an oppressive educational system is very important to The Wall it seemed bizarrely ironic to purposely edit out sections. Mind you, the neo-Nazi hate riots were shown without much fuss. (It's like the old joke: Violence on the television? That's OK. Sex on the television? Only if you can do it without falling off.)

Anyway, hearing about the album piqued my interests, but I didn't get into it until I dived head first into (almost) all things Floyd my Freshman year of college. And let me tell you: when all you know of Floyd is the post-Dark Side era, listening to Piper At the Gates of Dawn or Ummagumma is a real eye opener. :)

But The Wall still works. I think it's a stronger album than Dark Side, though perhaps not as technically brilliant. This guy I went to college with, Brian Jude, said he'd love to turn it intp a proper musical. On the one hand, I think it would work. If they could do it for Tommy there's no reason why they can't for this. And unlike, say, Moving Out there's a story of actual substance that would make this an actual musical and not just a musical revue.

(I still shudder to think that Queen allowed their music to go the Moving Out route. Yes, they're flamboyant and operatic enough for Broadway, but god dammit, if you ain't Freddie Mercury what's the point of even trying?).

But by the same token, I don't think the album is really Broadway fare. Sure, there's stuff like Cabaret, but I really think some music was meant to played only in the style it was written.

Ah well. enough rambling. Just remember, boys and girls: if they catch you in the backseat trying to pick her locks, they're gonna send you back to Mother in a cardboard box. You better run...

John Ashcroft is hitting the road to convince people the Patriot Act isn't an unconsitutional atrocity. (Not that I'm biased or anything.

It's not the idea of a politician stumping across America to support his policies that amuses me. But the phrasing of it all; a "multi-city tour" . . . given that the Summer is traditionally a big Concert time, I keep having visions of Ascroft in a rock band. "Ashcroft and the Storm Troopers" has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

A few quickies, because I love Armchair Commentary:

1) Writer Peter David has an amusing Top Ten List on his choices for who should be running for California Governor. David, who lives on the East Coast (Conneticut, I believe; drat, I should know this) has a tendency to be sterotypically liberal in his political commentary, but I think this particular blog entry of his should amuse just about anyone. My favorite is #7.

2) Find me a reason and I'll make fun of this one, too. But for right now, I'll remain midly impressed. Georgy Russell is a 26 year old Californian running on the ballot. She's irreverant (besides the usual "Georgy for Governor" shirts and hats merchandise sold on her site, you can also purchase a 'Georgy for Governor" thong and a T-shirt that read "I asked Georgy out and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt".) but there is a serious campaign there. She's listed as a Democrat, which dissapoints me, but she's gives off less of a "ha ha, look at me, I'm running for governor" vibe than Flynt and so far has given more opinions on the Issues than Arnie.

3) And for you smokers out there, there's always The Smokers Party. this guy needs someone to design him a webpage. Hmmmm......

4) Oh,and here's the State of California's official website regarding the Recall Vote.

I should have known it was going to be an off day when Sean beat me to the shower. Now, understand, I get up at a quarter to seven. Sean normally gets up around around 7:15-7:30, so normally there is no conflict. Imagine my surprise, as I stumble half-consciously out of my room, to find the shower already going.

Work was brutal. A never ending pile of things to do. My Excel crashed on me, so I had to re-do thirty minutes worth of work. Then our netowrk went down for about three hours this afternoon. Which wouldn't have been so bad except for the mound of work I had. Worse, there werte things I could've done that didn't require me being in our netowrk, but my brain didn't register this until I was back in the netowrk and realized I had to do X, Y, and Z off-network.

I am so very glad I don't have rehearsal this week. I have to cook, and my brain would much rather slump at the base of my skull and sleep until tomorrow, so we'll see what I wind up doing.

On the bright side, Bobby just called and told me the check for two of the comics I sold through him on E-Bay just arrived. Still have to re-list the Spider-man's I want to sell, but at least some of it had come through.

Brain shutting down; must go now.

Mary Carey's campaign website is up and running.

"Sure lots of other candidates can wrap themselves in the flag. But how many would you like to see take it off completely? . . . And how many have beautiful natural breasts you'd like to see unwrapped right now?"

Fucking brilliant.

(And way better than Arnie's site.)

Go here and check it out. Nevermind California, get this woman in the White House, STAT.

My parents got me a picture of them with Elvis.

They had gone to Las Vegas over the July 4th weekend and apparently (as I had forgotten) I told my mother to bring me back a picture of them with Elvis. And sure enough, when I saw my parents this afternoon, there's a little 2x3 picture of my parents with an Elvis impersonator. It's the classic, 50's Elvis, not the rhinestone Shazam-inspired Elvis, or even fat-and-doped-up-Elvis, which, admittedly, would have made the kitch value of the picture that much higher, but it's in a tacky Elvis-Extravagance-esque frame and it's sitting atop my dresser.

Now, in 199. . . 5, right before my brother moved to Minnesota, the four of us took one last "formal" family picture. My mother gave me it in a frame (black, of course). And it's been sitting in one of my drawers ever since. But this shot of my folks with Elvis; that gets the public viewing. Make of that as thou wilt.

I was home today in celebration of my impending Birthday, as the following weeked (when my birthday falls during the week, the formal celebration is usually held the weekend after) is my cousin Lou's wedding, and the next few weekends will be Party Time, so this was the best time for me to be with my folks, and my grandmother.

It was a fun day. My mother gave me cash in denominations of two-dollar bills. Do you know the looks people give me when I pay with a two dollar bill? I gavce my friend Mia a two dollar bill a few weeks back, she nearly handed it back to me. Now, my mother gave me a generous amount of them. I can't wait to go buy something and pay with these suckers. I should bring a camera and take a picutre of the cashier's reaction.

Hanging out with my parents is always a wonderful experience. It makes me glad to be their son and completely embarrased at the same time. I suppose that's the case with a lot of people, though at (almost) 28 I'm starting to wonder just how long this phase is going to last. I'm sure, down the road, I'll realize I should have appreciated them more. But for now . . . well, it was a good visit. enoigh Joking and arguing to keep the quota filled for a while. Next Saturday is going to be very interesting. The Klein family in full effect. If only my brother could make it. Is it too latew to fly out to Minnesota to stay with him?

Now that was a rambling paragraph.

One other odd item: I picked up the 'Lord of the Rings" edition of Risk today. It's Risk set in Middle Earth. Cheesy, I know, but it's Risk. So I'm at the check-out of the local Toys R Us and there's a kid there, about 20. He takes the game, rings it up and looks at me. He says "xcraig?" And I look at him, and I don't recognize him at all. Which, of course, is what he says. Turns out it was Rich, the song of my parent's next door neighbor. I used to babysit the kid when he was seven years old. Now he's entering his sophomore year of college, doing the retail summer job thing (which really brought me back as I spent a summer working at that very Toys R Us the summer after my sophomore year . . . eight years ago. I turn 28 on Thursday and I feel impossibly old.

<elvis>
Thank you. Thank you very much.
</elvis>

This morning I'm browsing through my spam and I see the following:

Fantastically Hard Dicksucking Videos

Now, I don't think this is as catchy as "Staggeringly Nasty", but if I'm going to get variations then I'm curious to see just how creative these spammers can get. I'll have to collect some of these and post a list once I've gotten enough.

Now that you mention it, I have been spending a lot of times indoors; why do you ask?