Ramblings

I'm eating Rice Crispies for dinner, and I am ok with that. That's the first sign that everything is going to be all right.
I've decided not to watch the state of the union address, so now I'll just be killing time until the arms of sleep grab me. Sleep and I get along fairly well if we can meet on a level playing field.
I think I will look for some happy music for now.

Whoa

I just saw the last half of the strangest, dumbest movie ever, the sequel to Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, called Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey.
I'm not a critic in the least, but the only thing this was was a money grab, and I doubt they were able to grab that much money.
I'm not going to get into "plot," but watching this have given me a new goal for the next year...step aside, "climbing Mt. Everest."
I will go to Hollywood to star in a successful blockbuster. I will then proceed to ask for a ludicrously large sum of money to star in a sequel, which I will make sure plumbs even deeper depths of worseness than "Bogus Journey" could ever hope for.
That's an achievable goal, no?

Myspace

I've done more work on my Myspace profile. I think it's sites likes these that were the hope of the Internet back in the 90s. I know it was the hope of the one I used to work at, OnTap...to be able to create a community online...Didn't quite work back then.
However, myspace seems to. It has gotten that word of mouth that marketers and advertisers crave yet can't create on their own. Myspace wasn't even the first of these community sites to appear on the Web. I remember filling out a Friendster profile years before I even heard of Myspace. However, it's Myspace that has the brand name and the momentum, so I'll be interested to see what this company does with that advantage. They offer so many features on their one site, it's amazing. Their back-end support needs to play catch-up something quick to keep up with the usage demand.
While more sites pay for use and access, it's sites like these that keep alive the idea of the Internet as a gathering place and a store of information.

Of food and dead people

I've spent the weekend at my brother's place...nice to get away for a bit, even though it's only 45 minutes from from the "Home by the Sea"-metery. Ok, that was a very poor allusion to a Genesis song, but the urge struck me. Can't help there's a 250 year old cemetery across from where I live. That cemetery gives me the creeps.
Anyway, over the last few weeks, I have started working out at the free gym provided by the office complex where I work. A nice place to work off some excess energy before I head home in the evening. This has somewhat disturbed my eating habits as of late.
A friend I work with says this is normal. On Friday, I got a slice of pizza at the cafeteria, and I basically had to force myself to eat it...couldn't even finish the slice. The grease was just nasty. Also, for the first time in like ever, I got fruit instead of french fries. The insanity! I don't have the best eating habits as is, but I'm still kinda skinny. Now that my favorite foods aren't appetizing, who knows what will happen.
I rewatched the movie Garden State with my brother tonight. He'd never seen it, but he liked it. As for me, I love that movie. Makes you realize that connection is more important than attraction, because attraction can fade real quick, but if the connection ain't there, you have nothing. No sense spending your thoughts and your time on nothing, right?
I feel I haven't written anything personal on this blog for a while. It's all been links to this or that, and maybe some short snippets of what's going on, but nothing especially meaningful. For some reason or another, I feel I may have been censoring myself. That's pretty stupid, I suppose, because if I can't write something personal here, where else can I?

IMHO

To paraphrase Nick Hornby, am I miserable because I listen to pop music, or has listening to pop music made me miserable? At any rate, music has served as the perfect solace this week.
Apropos nothing, and merely hypothetical:
If you are a shy, non bar-scene-digger guy, where is one of the better places to meet women? Work. Conversely, and I have been told this many times from my friend J., where is the one place you should avoid forming relationships? Work. (His words: "No, No, Noooooo! Run Forrest Run! How many times I have I told you this?!")
See, even if you end a relationship on the bestest of best terms, it never really ends, does it? You still have to see the person everyday. Then, following that logic, and to make the horror complete, you have to see that person everyday after they have started new relationships. Fun stuff, brutha.
His is some of the best advice I've ever received. I shall plant it in my head and bind it with cement. Maybe it'll stop me contemplating what I am contemplating.
This week has been brought to you by Ben Folds, Jeff Buckley, the Cure, and the number 2.

A typical January mix

I made a rather good mix, if I do say so myself, on Monday evening:
1. Southern Cross - Crosby, Stills, and Nash (To put the image in my head of being elsewhere...in this case, a sailboat in the South Pacific.)
2. You Don't Know Me - Michael Buble (A classic standard, done especially well by Ray Charles, among many others. Not my typical style, but if it isn't already, it should be the anthem for shy people who suffer from unrequited love. It hits the nail on the head.)
3. Lilac Wine - Jeff Buckley (Wow. Every song on Grace is a classic.)
4. Isn't it a Pity - George Harrison (And this guy was the third songwriter of the Beatles. Talk about an embarrassment of riches.)
5. The Only Living Boy in New York - Simon & Garfunkel (Just for the beginning chords, and then Art coming in from the background.)
6. Crying - Roy Orbison (No one has been able to come anywhere close to his version.)
7. Fade Into You - Mazzy Star
8. Landslide - Fleetwood Mac
9. A Letter to Elise - The Cure (See my previous post.)
10. Too Much Heaven - Bee Gees
11. Go Walking Down There - Chris Isaak
12. That Voice Again - Peter Gabriel (The drummer is sick good.)
13. Northern Sky - Nick Drake
14. Purple Rain - Prince & The Revolution (The movie might have sucked, but it's 8 minutes of Prince going nuts on the guitar. Sends chills up and down my spine.)
15. A Pirate Looks at Forty - Jimmy Buffett (This lyric: My occupational hazard being my occupation's just not around I feel like I've drowned, gonna head uptown.)
16. Pocahontas - Neil Young (From his Unplugged concert. Perfect mix of acoustic guitar and harmonica.)
17. Creep - Radiohead (I love it when guitar sounds angry.)

As you can see, I was in a fantastic mood that day.

Jan. 24 called worst day of the year - World News - MSNBC.com

Jan. 24 called worst day of the year - World News - MSNBC.com
I bet you'd be really disappointed if you killed yourself on Jan. 23rd.

Not so much a fortune as a cookie.

Two songs I heard tonight, and I figured I'd post a part of the lyric from both.

There was a time when you let me know
What’s really going on below
But now you never show that to me do ya
-Hallelujah (L. Cohen)

I let the dream go
And the promises broke, the make believe ran out
-A Letter to Elise (The Cure)

I met up with one of my old roommates tonight for Chinese food over in Princeton. His mother passed away last fall, and we talked about how he was able to go back to Bangledesh for the first time in ten years to be at her bedside while she was sick. It's little consolation, but it's consolation that you have to take, I suppose. He was able to say his goodbyes and make her life as comfortable as possible for the final few months. Can't ask much more of your children.
It's going to be something we will all have to face at some point or another. It will devastate me, I'm sure, so I try not to think of it. Regardless of if you think of it or not, we will all have to face the greatest unknown human kind has to offer.
So, don't live your life too far in the future, because you aren't guaranteed it.
On that note, there's only one way to end this, and that's with a joke. Stephen King wrote it:
What did the Zen master ask of the Hot Dog Vendor?
Make me one with everything

Skewed view

Mitch Hedberg died too young. Wicked funny:
They say the recipe for Sprite is lemon and lime, but I tried to make it at home and there's more to it than that!
"Want some more Sprite?"
"Not until you figure out what the fuck else is in it!"

One time someone asked me if I wanted a frozen banana. I said no; but I want a regular banana later so...yeah.

Rice is great if you're really hungry and want to eat two thousand of something.

Do you believe in Gosh?

I tried to walk into Target, but I missed. Damn. I think that the entrance to Target should have people splattered all around, then when I finally make it in the guy will say, "Can I help you, sir?" and I'll say, "Just practicing."

Man.....phone numbers are confusin'!! All those numbers to remember...It would be a lot easier if you could pick your own number. If I could, I'd choose 222-222-2222.......That way, all I would have to tell my friends is "Just dial 2 'til I say 'hello'."

I opened-up a yogurt, underneath the lid it said, "Please try again." because they were having a contest that I was unaware of. I thought maybe I opened the yogurt wrong. ...Or maybe Yoplait was trying to inspire me... "Come on Mitchell, don't give up!" An inspirational message from your friends at Yoplait, fruit on the bottom, hope on top.

I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to, too.

So, I'm wearing a V-Neck shirt. I can't wear regular shirts, because I have a sensitive neck. I can't stand turtlenecks, either, it's like a really weak guy choking you, all day. If you wear a turtleneck and a backpack, it's like having a midget trying to take you down.

I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it.

Man, I think Pringles must've been a laid back company. I think they were originally going to make tennis balls, but a truckload of potatoes showed up. They were like "Fuck it. Cut 'em up."

I bought a doughnut and they gave me a receipt for the doughnut. I dont need a receipt for the doughnut - Ill just give you money and you give me the doughnut. End of transaction. We dont need to bring ink and paper into this. I cant imagine a scenario in which I would need to prove that I bought a doughnut. Some skeptical friend? Dont even act like I didnt buy a doughnut, Ive got the documentation right here. Oh wait, its back home in the file under D, for doughnut.

Mr. Pibb is a poor imitation of Dr. Pepper. Dude didn't even get his degree

I went to see Monster Magnet last night. Man they were heavy. The lead singer came out and said "How many of you feel like human beings?" Then he said "How many of you feel like animals?" and the audience went crazy. But I started cheering after the human beings part, because I did not realize there was a second part to the question.

My manager says that I use alcohol as a crutch. But that is not true. Because a crutch is something that helps you stand up, while alcohol is more like the step I didn't see.

A severed foot is the ultimate stocking stuffer

I was at this casino minding my own business, and this guy came up to me and said, "You're gonna have to move, you're blocking a fire exit." As though if there was a fire, I wasn't gonna run. If you're flammible and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit.

my apartment is infested with koala bears. It's the cutest infestation ever. way better than cockroaches. when I turn on the light a bunch of koala bears scatter. and I don't want them to, you know, i'm like, "hey, wait, come back. let me hold one of you...feed you a leaf."

"I like buying snacks from a vending machine because food is better when it falls. Sometimes at the grocery, I'll drop a candy bar so that it will achieve its maximum flavor potential."

I went to see a doctor and all he did was suck blood from my neck. Man, stay away from Dr. Acula.

When I was a boy I had a paper route. I used to go to 2,000 houses.......or two dumpsters. Which ever came first.

I was staying in a hotel and my buddy asked to use the phone. He asked if he needed to dial 9, and I said ...yeah.... especially if it's in the number. You could try doing 4 and 5 back to back really quickly, but I don't think that'd work.
Robyn - If you ever get lost in the woods, fuck it, build a house. You would have severely improved your predicament.

I like to play blackjack. I'm not addicted to gambling, I'm addicted to sitting in a semi-circle.

A minibar is a machine that makes everything expensive. When I take something out of the minibar, I always fathom that I'll go and replace it before they check it off, but they make that stuff impossible to replace. I go to the store and ask, "Do you have coke in a glass harmonica? ...Do you have individually wrapped cashews?"

I don't have a girlfriend, but I do know a girl who'd be pissed at me for saying that.

I saw a jar of jelly beans and a sign that said guess show many and win a prize. I dont want a prize, I just want some jelly beans. Guess how many I want- if you said a handful, you'd be correct.

"Last week I helped my friend stay put. It's a lot easier than helping someone move. I just went over to his house and made sure that he did not start to load shit into a truck."

"An escalator can never break; it can only become stairs. You would never see an 'Escalator Temporarily Out Of Order' sign, just 'Escalator Temporarily Stairs. Sorry for the convenience.'"

"I don't want to be a race-car driver. I want to be a race-car passenger. Just the guy who bugs the driver. 'Say, man...can I turn on the radio? You should slow down. Why do we have to keep going in circles? Can I put my feet out the window? Boy...you really like Tide.'"

I went to a restaurant with my friend, and he said, "Pass the salt." I said, "Fuck you! Sit closer to the salt!"

"I was gonna get my teeth whitened, but I said Fuck it, I'll just get a tan instead!"

"I saw a wino; he was eating grapes. I was like, "Dude -- you have to wait!"

" I got a new hat a few weeks ago. Noticed a label on the inside of it. It read, in big red, white, and blue lettering: "CAP AMERICA" ...then in smaller blue lettering..."made in china".

I hate dreaming because when you want to sleep, you want to sleep. Dreaming is work. Next thing you know, I have to build a go cart with my ex-landlord.

When I think of a duck's friends I think of other ducks, but he could have like a beaver in tow. Because if you're an animal, you want a beaver as a friend, because they have some kick ass houses. That shit is on the lake. Lake side? Fuck that! Lake ON!

"If I had a friend who was a tight rope walker and one day while walking down the street he tripped, I'd find that completely unacceptable."

Today started out well...

...with a cup of tea at the cafe in town. The day lay before me, with the sun shining through the trees that hang over the sidewalk.
I love this Bob Seger quote: "Sometimes I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then."
A late-summer afternoon at dusk, standing in the shallow depths of a river, I had a choice to make, the ramifications of which have lead me here. Should I have stayed or should I have gone? I wasn't sure if I made the right choice then, and I'm not sure I made the right choice now. Somewhere in between, life happens.
I'm on my second glass of wine. I will make even less sense later.
Cheers.
Fuck! I should have just gotten drunk along with everyone else yesterday.
UPDATE: Oh Mikey Mikey Mikey...shut it. You made the right choice then. Damn wine and self-pity.

Gators undefeated...

...no more. It was a nice run while it lasted, but tonight was the end of it. They lost to Tennessee (Erg. Tennessee...) 80-76. The game was close to the end, and I guess a loss had to come at some point or another. Better now than a loss in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Can't win every game, eh? So, I'm not as pissed as I would be as I would be if this were college football, where losing one game can kill a season.
Go Gators!
Tonight, the roommie had a party here, and it seems to have been pretty successful, as it's still going on. It was supposed to be a "movie marathon," but everyone watched only one movie, Wet Hot American Summer. Some others started with The Big Lebowski, but I was the only one that really finished watching.
However, no group singing of Born to Run yet...

Car Wars

One of the weirder things I've seen recently:
There was an old BMW in the parking lot of the neighborhood Best Buy. On the inside of the rear window, the driver had strung up tiny models of the Millenium Falcon and other Star Wars jets with fishing line and hung them off of suction cups to give the impression that they were "flying." I suppose when the driver stops and starts that these models would swing as if on a pendulum.

Wilson Pickett

We should bow down and give thanks to the Wicked Pickett.
Wilson Pickett Dies of Heart Attack at 64
Rock on.

Clean

Weird dream. I was stuck in Cuba with no passport. I went down to Cuba to clean one of Fidel Castro's castles, and I arrived at the airport with a pail and a broom. The security people were impressed with the broom, and that was apparently enough for them to let me through. I did have to fill out some annoying paperwork though.
Of course, I was still in Cuba with no passport, so I didn't know how or if I'd be able to leave. I wasn't able to resolve the dream either, so I have no way of knowing if I made it out. I was surprised by the amount of BMWs down there. (Can't say the dream was factually based. Castles and BMWs in Cuba? Me holding a broom?)

Another Super Bowl for commercials

I am apparently football kryptonite, as all the teams I was rooting for, and especially the team I wanted to win the whole thing, lost this weekend. So, I won't really have anyone to root for next weekend. I guess I could go for the Broncos, but I don't have a compelling reason to do so.
Drag.

Ode to Hot Dogs

The payoff for having days when you feel like crap are days where nothing can bother you. Mi madre(who's in k-ville with the new parents and baby) needs me to go to the poconos to pick up mail? No problem, as one the way back, I can go to Hot Dog Johnny's. Have to go to my nephew's birthday party at a bowling alley where you are reminded how loud kids can be? No problem. Getting my ass handed to me by my brother in ping pong? There'll be other games.
I suppose it started friday, when I went with folks from work to play pool and eat at Applebee's. Pool was great and the company engaging. As for pool, knowing a nice place to play close to work and home and with regulation tables has re-enthused me about playing pool, so I will try to go again this week. At one of my apartments in Gainesville, there was a pool table in the common room, and I played everyday with Javi.
I listened to Beethoven's Ode to Joy on the way up to the mountains and back to the bro's place. It's hard enough getting four chords and lyrics together, I couldn't imagine how hard it would be to write music for an entire symphony and chorale. I am as always amazed when I take the time to listen to that music. It blows me away.
Play it loud and let it envelope you.

Grace

I picked a perfect day to finally track down my Jeff Buckley CD, as it fits with the foggy weather we're having. Especially so with the final minute of Grace and the intro to Hallelujah. Has a way of giving me some much-needed clarity.
On to the work day.

Box of Moonlight

As I've remarked here previously, I love tennessee, and I kinda harbor a dream of eventually moving down there, specifically the knoxville (eastern tenn.) area. The area just seems to work for me...the smokey mountains, the rivers. Plus, the added benefit of being close to my sister, Julian, and the new arrival, Giovanni.
I bring this up because I just happened upon the movie Box of Moonlight tonight, which was filmed around the Knoxville. I remember that Margaret, Julian, and I rented this during one of my several trips there. We had no idea what it was about, but she had heard it was filmed in the area and was curious.
I gotta say, i dug the movie, and it was nice to see it now, as it's a great respite from the unrelenting gray of the northeast during January.

New Apple machines

Apple announced new machines fitted with Intel processors. One is a laptop, which they tout as being 4 times faster than the one it replacees, and the other is a new iMac, which is two times faster.
Check out Apple for more. I'd really love to get my hands on the new iMac, considering I already have a laptop I like. However, it's gonna be a while before I get a new computer, so I think I'm gonna throw some more RAM in this one and then maybe get the newest operating system, Tiger, just to give the machine a bit of a freshening up.

A boy!

At 7:37 pm, my sis Margaret and her husband Julian welcomed their first child, a boy, into the world, name yet to be determined. WOOHOO! All the toes and fingers are accounted for, and I'll have more news as I get it. (He shares the same birth day as my oldest niece, who turned 13 today. Wow.
Update: I got a name! Giovanni Edward. Check out some photos! Everybody's healthy and happy.

Apple

I'll be playing geek today and tomorrow as I wait anxiously for Steve Jobs to come out with another cool electronic device that I'll want but can't afford. The rumors are floating about ahead of his keynote address, but I find the most interesting one to be an Apple iBook with an Intel processor chip. We'll see what comes down the pike.
Check out the Unofficial Apple Weblog for more info, and of course, Apple tomorrow evening after his presentation.

Carry the one, squared

It seems as though I've let my blogging responsiblities go for a few days. There is a good reason.
Researchers discover largest prime number
I found this interesting and intriguing, so I've spent the last few days brushing up my math skills, doing some adding and subtracting, and of course carrying the ones, but I came to the same conclusion the researchers did, so you can trust the reliability of this particular story.
As for me, I have a rather big headache (you try figuring out the largest prime number and not getting one), so I'm gonna spend the rest of the weekend chilling.

Happy New Year!

It has been a quiet weekend, so that was nice. As for resolutions, it didn't even occur to me to make any. I guess it's become like any other day, except that this one requires me to buy a new calendar to remember the correct year when I write the two or three checks I need to write every month.
I did go see the movie Munich. I just don't understand Spielberg. He can make horrible movies like War of the Worlds, and then come right back with a Munich. This movie was so rich in detail and in scope, with beatiful cinematography. I also didn't feel hit over the head with ideology; it wasn't as one sided as I thought it might be, and it goes with the theme that treating violence with violence doesn't cure anything and only hinders eventual peace(not a new idea, by far). Very gory, though.