Don Blog

Well it's definitely been a while since I've updated. Mostly because I've just been hanging in the holding pattern trying to get ready for the software release at work and I've had an incredibly nasty sinus infection for the past couple of weeks.

There have been a couple of nifty events. First we made a pilgrimage to that home of many cheap versatile solutions for modern living, IKEA! I love their storage/decorative stuff. I'm not so keen on their seating/bed stuff. It's definitely a fun trip. Cliff and Julie, Simon and Erika, and I went. Simon and Erika didn't buy anything but eyeballed a lot of good stuff. Cliff and Julie picked up a lot of storage stuff. I also picked up storage stuff. My living room is a lot less cluttered but I couldn't afford the bookshelves this time out so maybe there will be another trip in the fall. (The glorious girlfriend didn't get to go due to the end of the semester and she really likes IKEA, she said she needs more stuff to match the boxes I brought back for her. She loves boxes. Hmmm, idiosyncratic.)

In fitness news, I picked up a mountain bike from Dick's during their grand opening. It's not as nice as the ones I checked out at the local bike shops but it was $100 less and good enough for now. I've gotten to ride on the Rail Trail three times since then. (I've only ridden the southern part of the trail, which connects to the Clear Creek trail.) It's really nice, there's plenty of trees (on the gravel part that's the Rail Trail) and on the Clear Creek side there's an old trestle and you ride by both cow and horse pastures. Now that's the way to spend government money. :) Hopefully, I'll get more time on the bike in the coming weeks.

I've been kind of a grumpy guss lately. Probably because I've been doing too much of the same stuff ltately. So I'm going to try varying my routine some and maybe bitching a little less and doing a little more. On the positive side, I've definitely been reading more. I picked up the latest issue of the Atlantic today as well as the Utne Reader and "Freakenomics" (which I saw on the Daily Show). I've also been reading some fiction but it's usually slower going than the magazines and non-fiction.
Currently working on "Heart Breaking Work of Staggering Genius" I'm not sure about it (it's a little too self-aware for my taste) but I'll keep going.

I definitely need to spend some time deciding what to do next. I don't think programming here at IU is going to be a permanent career path. Maybe after we get done with this release I can take some time off and think.

Brief update ended. More tomorrow I think.

-burlydon

Seriously I haven't updated since a little after the first of the year and it's sad how little has changed. I've wrapped myself up in the warm comforting blanket of complacency and kept warm with the hot cup of mediocrity that is my current direction in life. *sigh*

Suprisingly, I did actually call/get in touch with/email or otherwise communicate with the people I said I would in January so that was pretty cool. Everyone is doing well, life continues on it's merry way. Edd & Anne had their first baby, an adorable girl named Margaret. Cliff and Julie have settled into their new home and are quickly approaching their first anniversary. Everyone's life keeps moving forward, and I suppose that's what happens as you get older. There are less parties and clarity and more mundane everyday events that make life more mystifying by the moment. (This is not my beautiful house, this is not my beautiful chair, this is my stunning example of alliteration, more specifically consonance.)

I suppose this happens to every generation as they move from their young adulthood to the more generic "grown-up". It's just bizarre to think that the same guy who somewhat inebriated accepted an award for a game he didn't design (which in itself is perplexing since we were at Game Developer's Conference on shady press credentials we had created ourselves) now is a fully-fledged parent, professor, and outstanding member of his community. :) I think the thing that bugs me the most is that when we were younger we had a roadmap, "got to college", "get a job", "get married", "have kids" that you assumed revealed the secret like a treasure map in a story when you found each spot on the map. "We've found GO TO COLLEGE and it points the way right to GET A JOB! Can you believe we finally made it?"

Unfortunately real-life has a habit of not doing that at all. As one very wise woman I know pointed out, "It's like when I turned 25 I expected them to hand me a key, you know the key that would explain it all so that it would make sense." And then you figure, well maybe they don't give you the key till you're 30, 40, 50, 60 till one day you realize that their isn't any key at all and you've wasted your time waiting for one. As another wise person once said or wrote, "Anyone who claims they've got all the answers is either a liar, insane, selling something, or any combination thereof". With that in mind it seems foolish to want answers that will not be forthcoming. Of course, the flipside of this realization is that I've used it as an excuse not to figure out what I want to do with myself. I think it's the difference between being satisfied and satiated.

On the positive side, I've been good about going to the YMCA, playing guitar (I'm actually paying for lessons as further incentive to play), reading (just finished, "Wild Sheep Chase" (Japanese absurdist fiction) and "The Best Awful" (Carrie Fisher)), and trying to get-in-touch, keep-in-touch with people. (Mostly, there are a couple of people who are hard to get a hold-of, Anna, and my paternal grandfather).

Work is the slow-grind. After months of code-monkeying they've finally given me something interesting to work on. Unfortunately, it's critical to production and requires a ton of my time as well as traveling between different building on opposite sides of campus 2-4 times a week. I'm not really sure about this job, and programming as a career in general. I like programming when I'm in charge or at least have some say in the design of applications but code-monkeying someone else's design isn't really my thing. I'm free to apply to other IU jobs in about a month though so we'll see how it goes.

Quick interim media reivew:

Movies - I purchased Goodfellas and the remastered version of Raging Bull and I can't believe they've never given the Best Director Oscar to Martin Scorsce ("HE MAKES THE BEST FILMS, HE MAKES THE BEST *#&^*@# FILMS, I #(@#&*$(# LOVE HIM!"). Seriously, it is beyond ridiculous.

TV - I finished off The Prisoner and all I can say is the last episode is beyond crazy, almost to the point of being absurdist/surreal for no other reason than to be so. Still some of the best television I've ever seen.

Books - Finished the Invisibles by Grant Morrison. Mind-altering without chemicals. Extremely well-done and thought provoking as well as incredibly hard to get a handle on. Good stuff. I might order the companion guide that details all of the references and then re-read it.

Games - nothing earth shattering here. Just the same fun stuff we've had for a while. A quick shout-out to "Champions of Norrath: Return to Arms" for being the only videogame I know that will have 4 guys worried more about their "look" then they every will be in real life.

5 thanks:
1. Most Excellent girlfriend who made delicious quiche for me this week and is taking a much-deserved break from school.
2. Tax return! Wooo money!
3. Easter. (Not for the resurrection, but for the chance to go home and see my grandma.)
4. Ham and dark rye with swiss cheese and brown mustard.
5. Mexican wrestling masks that were on sale at Hot Topic, and now have a happy home with me. (Soon I shall unleash "El Diablo Loco" upon the unsuspecting masses in Bloomington....but no one knows how and when. Not even me. :)

Just a quick update to try and keep in the habit. Been a pretty uneventful couple of weeks. Just working and going through the routine. Trying to cope with the endless soul-crushing reality that I will be paying my student loans for about the next decade or so. blah. Work is still pretty dull but I really like the people. I hope if I keep banging away at it I'll suddenly realize I LOVE programming financial management systems but somehow I have serious doubts that will happen. One can always hope though...lol.

I have been a little more inspired lately despite my misgivings about work. I've been the YMCA with increasing regularity. I've been going to yoga twice a week followed by light weight-lifting and some kind of cardio. Then I've been lifting and cardio and Saturday as well as cardio and abs Monday and Friday. I feel better (I've been doing the yoga for about 3 years now but I'm just starting to get in the regular lift/cardio habit) but I'm still a fat bastard...lol. I read in the Utne Reader (and no that doesn't make me a folk song singing hippie....at least not yet...) that they found people who vary their routines tend to lose weight so I'm going to have to try some new things to break up the routine. My current favorite plan is to buy a Mexican wrestling mask, wear it to work on certain days and refuse to answer unless I'm addressed as "El Santo Magnifico".

Boss: "Don, what are you doing wearing that mask?"

Don: "There is no Don, only...(dramatic paues)..El Santo!"

Boss: "Uh...Don I really don't think that's work appropriate."

Don: "You refuse to acknowledge El Santo? I shall ply my trade elsewhere. Good Day."

Or something along those lines...I really don't think they could fire me and it would be amusing for a while. Of course, it would probably upset the very kind older gentleman I share my office with...so maybe I'll wait till he goes on vacation at the end of February. ;)

Cool media I've been reading/watching/playing:

Reading:
"Postcards from the Edge" - loaned by awesome girlfriend. Interesting stuff.
"Invisibles" vol 3 & 4 - one of the coolest stories I've ever read, comic book or not.
"The Things They Carried" - Tim O'Brien's collection of short stories about his experiences in Vietnam.

Watching:
"The Prisoner" - very cool, 60s British tv show focusing on the struggles of a resigned spy to escape "The Village" where he has been taken while they try to find out why he resigned. It's never explained who is running the village or why it's so important to find out why he resigned. No one has names, only numbers, and you can tell it's futuristic because their are lava lamps everywhere. :) Seriously, it's fascinating. Each episdoe usually covers a topic such as education, or politics and uses this framework to examine the struggle between the individual and society's need for conformity.

"Simpsons Season 5" - excellent. "Let me be the first to welcome our new alien ant overlords." - Kent Brockman

Playing:

Xbox - "Knights of the Old Republic II" - Interesting story, cool characters, and a fascinating good/evil gameplay dynamic.

PS2 - "Taiko Drum Master" - Oh yeah...beating on a drum while playing a game. Quality.
PS2 - "Karaoke Revolution Vol. 3" - Karaoke returns with duet mode! Singing "I Got You Babe" with the awesome girlfriend just makes her even more awesome!

Well that's the brief update. Hopefully, I'll come back with a longer more thoughtful entry later in the week. But I wouldn't hold my breath or anything....

5 thanks:
1. "Damn the Booty Don't Stop" - one of the greatest songs ever - hip-hop done as coffehouse rock from Found magazine
2. Chicken curry for Monady Night Raw - hmm...wrestling (which has very unsubtle about it's homoeroticism tonight, oh my) + delicious chicken curry = much happiness.
3. Cliff and Julie for going to see "Phantom of the Opera" with me. Music: most excellent. Movie: fair at best.
4. "Super Milk Chan" on adult swim...crazy Japanese cartoon.
5. Utne Reader - satisfying my inner progressive.

Well I'm actually updating less than a month since the last update (barely), whoo!

Holiday Report:

1. Trip to meet girlfriends parents - would have been great if I didn't get so sick I threw up everything I ever ate on the way to south georgia. My calamitous upchucking resulted in an unplanned overnight stop in Atlanta and a bag of vomit being left serreptitiously in a volvo dealerships trashcan. I believe the highlight was in my delirium claiming I'm going to eat only lettuce and dry cheerios for the rest of my existence. Mmmm....cheerios.

2. Girlfriend's parents - very nice, very southern. The food would have been utterly delicious if I could have eaten any of it. Her parents are a little older than mine. Her dad is already retired and her mom works as a vice principal at a local high school. They were incredibly nice and generous and send me home with a variety of pecans, cane syrup (quite different from maple), and some boiled peanuts! I did take them some pizelles but I was hoping to make a blueberry cheesecake for them but I didn't get to it sadly.

3. Flew back to Indianapolis the day after the snowstorm of doom. Fortunately, my flight wasn't cancelled or delayed. Ended up having to take the shuttle back to B-town, since Cliff was snowed in. Actually the shuttle is not a bad deal and I may use it again in the future. (You can read and play gameboy!)

4. Hung out here on Xmas eve and ate soup and grilled cheese. Drove out to Ohio on Xmas day and visited the family for a few days. My mom seemed to really enjoy Xmas. I myself was sort of nonplussed by the whole affair. I was glad to get to spend time with Grandma watching Mr. Bean. I usually take my Mr. Bean dvds home when I visit for some reason she loves him, so there you go. My dad ended up buying the waffle-maker he showed me at Thanksgiving and then didn't tell me so I had to go get him a bread machine instead..lol. This was the most practical Xmas ever as I got a kitchen-aid style stand-up mixer (super useful since I bake a lot) and a crock-pot and ice tea maker with money from dad...lol. I guess the main reason I wasn't as excited by Xmas was because I was sick and I was tired from all the travel. Also, I'm just not really part of anybody's routine in Ohio so I was just sort of on my own most of the time. It's sort of disappointing when your mom is more excited about hanging out with her niece (not to disparage her niece who is a great young woman), than her only son....eh..whatever. Plus, Xmas just isn't the same without my Grandpa who died about this time 4 years ago. He really got a kick out of Thanksgiving and Xmas so it still feels like somethings missing. On the plus side, I did get to spend a fair amount of time with Dad and he did seem to like his Xmas presents so that was fun.

5. Back to Bloomington and a few days of lying around being lazy. New Year's was pretty low key. I went over to Simon and Erica's which was fun. There was sort of a low-level stream of people coming and going. Unfortunately, I didn't know many of the people and none of the people I knew came...lol. It was fun anyway and really nice of Simon and Erica to invite me.

6. Got back into the work habit last week. I like the people at work but it's really boring right now. I'm essentially code-monkey doing routine work. It needs to be done but I wish there was something more interesting to work on. I'm glad to have this job since it allows me to stay in town but if it doesn't improve in a couple of months I may have to start looking for other stuff.

7. Been feeling sort of blah lately. Just the same feeling that everyone else's life is going somewhere while I'm standing still. I went to my Chris Rice's new house last night to watch wrestling pay-per-view, and there he is married (to a very nice gal by the way), with a new house, a cute dog and a good future. As long as I stay here I'm pretty much condemned to apartment living and the same income I've had for about 3 years. (The drawback of working at the university is good benefits, but low pay). Plus, I missed the deadline for the LSAT which means the soonest I could realistically go to Law School is 2006. Blah. I could use some inspiration or direction or something.

8. Due to illness, I didn't really gain much weight over the holidays, but I could still stand to hit the YMCA a little more often. I'm pretty good at going Tues/Thur for yoga and my workout but I definitely need add a third day of activity somewhere. Maybe that's what Sunday will be once football season is over. I am definitely eating better though. I've actually managed to eat breakfast every day the past week or so (cheerios, yogurt, bannana) and I've only eaten lunch out 2 times since I've gone back to work. If I keep this up I should drop a little weight when my exercise routine gets back into gear.

9. Forgot to mention baking Xmas cookies with Anna which was totally awesome. Anna is so cool, and now an aunt! Go Anna! You guys who don't date her are stupid...seriously.

Well I think that's the short list for tonight. We'll see if I update again this week....

5 thanks:
1. Awesome girlfriend - cool in an emergency and great all the time!
2. New mixer - cuts baking time in half
3. yoga - starting tomorrow thank goodness I've missed it
4. Grant Morrison's "The Invisibles" - I picked up the next two volumes today
5. Sideways - by far the best and most grown-up movie I've seen this year..highly recommeded.

5 hopes:
1. I will get some direction.
2. Exercise will once again become a regular part of my routine.
3. I will get in touch with Matt, Cyndi, Paul, and Jennifer D.
4. Work will suddenly become much more interesting.
5. Football will be throughly enjoyed by all this weekend and I will bake tasty treats for it!

Poll #403168 Man-Chair Love Questionnaire
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 2

View Answers

Throne-like, let's us pretend we're kings - hmm divine right
0 (0.0%)
Once reclined, physics prevents us from having to get up quickly...for anything
0 (0.0%)
Keeps us from using less masculine 'bean bag'
0 (0.0%)
Sates our primordial need to sit better than couch
0 (0.0%)
Enveloping sense of comfort substitutes for real feelings
2 (100.0%)

View Answers

the love of a good woman
0 (0.0%)
nookie
1 (50.0%)
a throne
0 (0.0%)
a lifetime supply of scotch
0 (0.0%)
ham....delicious ham
1 (50.0%)

View Answers

Space age polyester-dacron blend
1 (50.0%)
Fine corinthian pleather
0 (0.0%)
Soft touch of pseudo-suede
0 (0.0%)
That stuff cheap throw rugs are made of
0 (0.0%)
bearskin
1 (50.0%)

View Answers

pro wrestling - despite undercurrent of homoeroticism
1 (50.0%)
pro football - like jousting without the horses!
0 (0.0%)
sitcoms - hmmm fabricated reality - homely guys with hot wifes giving us all hope
0 (0.0%)
food network - rachel ray is hot and she can cook!
1 (50.0%)
comedy central - because 5 year old stand-up is funny!
0 (0.0%)

Whoa nellie it's been a long time since I updated despite my good intentions so I will hit the highlights and hopefully elaborate in future postings....

I found a new job, whoo! allowing me to stay in Bloomington yet another year and continue my slacker-style existence. I will be doing java web programming on a new fiscal management systeme project for UITS. Fascinating I know, but I'm sure it will definitely help my programming skills. Plus, I get to work in poplars (on 6th St. near the public library) with an excellent view outside of the big window in my 7th floor shared office. It ought to be fascinating at least for a while.

Cliff and I celebrated our 31st birthdays. Whoo! In what was largely viewed as a measure of our enabling/co-dependent yet strictly "heterosexual life mate" relationship, we bought each other (unknowingly) Xbox Live which will allow us to play videogames together from the comfort of our respective homes, because you know it's like to much effort to drive the 1/2 mile to each other's houses (which is in reality my apartment since I've got the big TV). Anyway, lots of fun at the mega-party including:

1. Our older friend Brian Voss and I exchanging the lyrics to "The Real Slim Shady" by Eminem to the shock of all
in attendence.
2. Massive amounts of Karaoke Revolution 2 - my personal performances including , "Hit Me Baby One More Time" and "I've Got Friends in Low Places".
3. A t-shirt made by my lovely girlfriend emblazoned with my new motto "Feel the Classy."
4. A most lovely Aqua Teen Hunger Force T-shirt featuring Carl and the phrase "Freakin' Ladies Man"
5. Excellent Irish whiskey.

I attended roughly 4 birthday parties during the first three weeks of September leading me to the conclusion that people are going to have to quit doing it during the holidays. I'm sorry...we've got to spread these birthdays out for statistical purposes if nothing else.

Okay, on the topic of my lovely girlfriend we've been going out for 6 months now and I'll be damned if it's not going great. I even survived the "I love you" part which was the best/worst thing. It's hard to describe but I'm pretty sure I'm in love. That's definitely a new thing. I think it seems odd because I think I used to confuse lust with love. Seriously, pretty much everybody has had someone who drives them to distraction with "hot monkey love" but is totally inappropriate for them to date. (And this isn't to say we don't have "hot monkey love", because we do as the people in the apartment next to us can surely attest!) But this time I genuinely enjoy spending time with her, she's funny, cute, sexy and very very intelligent (working towards a Ph.D will do that I suppose). She also laughs at my jokes no matter how retarded/silly they are and really what more could an idiot like myself ask for?
Lovely girlfriend = best thing ever! I think that sums it up. I won't write any more googley-eyed feeling things here. (At least not tonight).

Got to get in touch with some people I haven't seen in a while, between the endless birthday parties and job hunt I've lost touch with several people including Anna, (one of the coolest available single ladies in Bloomington, you guys who don't go out with her are stupid.) my friend Cyndi, who dropped me an email this week so hopefully we will be able to visit early next week, and my buddy Matt down in Alabama who is also on Xbox Live and who I've been playing phone tag with for about three weeks. On another old friend note, my friend Jennifer and her husband are moving from Florida to Kentucky so perhaps I will get to reacquaint myself with her and meet him as well. Vive la friends!

I've also taken to reading lately, which is an old habit I'd gotten out of, I've read "No Logo: (interesting, but I don't necessarily agree with the author's very PC point of view on some things but it's definitely worth reading), "Sex, Drugs, & Coco Puffs" by Chuck Klosterman which has to be my new favorite book of the moment, and "America, the Book" from the Daily Show which is hysterical. I also am going to subscribe to the "Utne Reader" which of course, makes me a hippie/new age/alternaperson but I'm still "burly" enough to beat-up Anne Couture and the rest of her ilk can officially suck it.

So I've decided to add a new list to my thanks/hopes top 5, it's the personal growth list! (I'll drop down to why I can't be president at the bottom so those of you (who do I think reads this?) who aren't interested can skip it. Of course, if you've plowed through all this "word vomit" (picked that up from watching "Mean Girls" last night, teehee) you might as well slog through the rest of it. :)

5 things to work on for personal fullfillment:
1. Finish cool "fire" mirror mosaic I started last weekend.
2. Play guitar, learn new song
3. Actually find a java based web host and redesign my repost jollypopcorn.com
4. Start doing some writing, I was thinking I don't think very much about why I like certain things and a reflection on the things I like might be enlightening or grounds for psychological counseling. I'm not sure which really.
5. Keep going to yoga (despite anguish at being next to flexo-girl, who makes me look like a walrus with arthritis), doing exercise. Contemplate whether a martial arts class could be added 1 or 2 days a week.

5 thanks:
1. Lovely girlfriend!
2. Awesome friends who buy you enabling videogame based presents, including all the friends who gave me videogame gift-certificates. (Rick: "It's better than money because it's money you can only use at the game store.")
3. Fall is here! Whoo! Let the pumpkin ogling and baking of treats begin!
4. Finding a job in Bloomington.
5. Purchasing of my man-chair. (This will be eludicated on in a future post.)

5 hopes:
1. I will actually do at least one of the things on the growth list by this time next week.
2. My bamboo will live. (It's been struggling since being replanted inside a ceramic parrot)
3. The thrift stores will reveal secret treasures when I go shopping on Sat.
4. Hawaiin shirts never come back in style so my wardrobe will remain iconoclastic. (reaching)
5. The Colts will crush Oakland on Sunday while I watch in HD, eating snacks in my man-chair.

Why I can't be president: Because I wouldn't do what my "handlers" (thanks to aethyric for pointing that out) told me.

Why I'd still be better than "W": My handlers wouldn't include, Rumsfield, Rice, Cheney, or Ashcroft these people are a sad, sad reflection of the state of American politics.

Lame I know but it's kind of late and I haven't posted in a while. Next post: Man-Chair! Possibly with a poll!

Not much going on lately. Just working on the project. I actually did update my resume today. I sure hope I can find another job with IU but I may have to seriously consider jobs elsewhere if I can't find anything in the next couple of months. :(

On a positive note, my mom and stepdad came out this weekend for a visit! We went out to eat at Shanti's and it was spectacular (their first ever Indian meal) and we had a lot of fun. The next morning they wanted to eat breakfast at Golden Corral on their way out of town. (hmm...useless details). It was a great visit and I got caught up on all the family gossip. It makes me glad I live in another state lol. That way my foibles and adventures don't provoke speculation among the folks at home...lol. (+5 points for using the word "foibles")

Other than that not much going on. The students will be back in a couple of days and I'm seriously considering hiding at home this weekend and having a "kung fu" movie weekend. I've got several good ones (Iron Monkey, Drunken Master I & II, Once Upon a Time in China) and I'm going to pick up Shaolin Soccer tomorrow on DVD then we could get all ramped up for "Hero" opening this weekend. Who's interested? :)

On to why I can't be president #4:

Gay marriage is cool by me. Seriously, opposition to this is beyond my comprehension. Who cares? If you're so worried about it because God says it's wrong, won't God take care of it. It's no skin off your nose. This applies to the whole concept of "victimless crime". Stuff that doesn't directly affect you (i.e. what consenting adults do in the privacy of their own homes) is none of your business...regardless of whether or not it upsets your delicate sensibilities.

Unfortunately, anyone who expresses this reasonable view is regarded as "weak on crime" and /or "morally suspect". Lame. Totally lame.

Why I'd still be a better president than "W":

I wouldn't make political hay out of what essentially is a non-issue. Constitutional Admendment against gay marriage? Disregard for Constitutional protections when they get in the way of "security"? This administration sucks. Flat out. People are being cowed into believing they'll give up their rights and get "security" in concern. This is ridiculous. "War on Terror"? Unwinnable. Here try these out as well: "War on Poverty", "War on Drugs", and those have been massive successes too, eh?

(I need to get better at these, or at least more humorous?)

Anyway I updated. Yea!

5 thanks:
1. Pro Wrestling (Kane and Lita's 'wedding' tonight lol)
2. Parents for visiting.
3. Shanti's - most excellent and my parents loved it!
4. Madden 2005 - Whoo videogames!
5. yoga...it's good for what ails you. :)

5 hopes:
1. I will be able to get another IU job and stay here this year.
2. I'll start applying for jobs this week.
3. Cliff's birthday present will magically appear in my brain this week.
4. I'll get my housing situation sorted out this week.
5. I'll start getting in touch with some old friends this week. (It's good to have goals!)

Well I just got done watching the DNC close-up. And I came to the realization that these conventions are just like Wresltemania. Check it out:

1. Pre-entrance video package? Check. Every wrestler has this and it plays on the big screen while they make there entrance. They also run a "story" video package to show you the backstory for the match. All I could think about was how the John Kerry package reminded me of these.

2. Gratutious use of rock music. Check. Kerry came down to a Bruce Springsteen song and went out on U2. Wrestlers also due this though generally to hardcore/metal/punk style rock and occassionally hip-hop.

3. Promos? Check. During his speech Kerry took a few digs at 'W'. Wrestlers do this constantly and especially at big events. They call it "cutting a promo" and the idea is to denigrate your opponent and to drive interest in your match.

4. "USA, USA!" chants? Check. I though this was weird. A couple of times during his speech, the crowd broke into "USA, USA". They do this on wrestling all the time (wrestling loves to play the jingoistic wrap yourself in the flag card using the 'evil foreigner' of the moment. Currently it's tag team, La Resistance to take advantage of anti-French sentiment lol). We call it "USA No. 1" syndrome. It was very strange to hear it at a political convention. But it was there.

5. Confetti/Balloon Drop? Check. (Though it's possible political conventions did this first, I honestly don't know.) When Kerry finished, he walked up to the various edges of the stage and held up his hands in victory, U2 kicked in, and then the balloons/confetti came down. This is exactly what happened when Chris Benoit won the WWE Heavyweight Championship (okay, he didn't really 'win it', but still). He posed with the belt at all 4 corners of the ring as confetti rained down on Madison Square Garden.

6. Promo for website? Check. Kerry did it. They do it during every wrestling event. :)

We were one Dick Cheney sneak-attack chair shot and a steel cage away from Wrestlemania. Seriously. (I'm all about that word lately, I hear Eric Cartman's voice every time I type it...lol).

And the brunette Kerry daughter could definitely be my valet...unless Jenna Bush is available...lol.

And as promised:

"WHY I CAN'T BE PRESIDENT #2"

I'm technically a batchelor. I know that some time in the distant past we had a batchelor president but we haven't for the past 50 years at least. I think this has something to do with how stupid men can be. I think we assume a married guy isn't going to do anything that would make his wife mad thus preventing the extremes of idiotic man behavior. :) I suppose we worry that a single president could easily be swayed by Natasha (of "Rocky & Bullwinkle" fame) - style foreign agents. Also, a guy who is married probably projects as more responsible. Plus, after a certain age we tend to view single people as 'weird/eccentric'.

"WHY I'M STILL BETTER THAN 'W'"

Hmm...I'm stumped on this one...anyone have any ideas about the advantage of a single president (either sex)?

5 hopes:
1. I'll get the error-checking stuff done tomorrow so FLI will be ready to test on Monday.
2. Helping Cliff & Julie install hardwood flooring will not be utterly painful.
3. I will actually cook something to eat this weekend (as opposed to having wine and cheese for dinner).
4. I'll come out with a post-fli employment plan.
5. Ann will be back soon. :)
6. (Bonus hope) Cliff will cease being tortured by his job and we can actually have game night next week (Whoo Madden 2005).

5 thanks:
1. Diet Cherry Coke...it gets me through the day
2. www.javaboutique.com - very informative and helpful
3. David Jiao my most excellent co-worker who helped me solve a tough problem to day.
4. ATHF - Shake-zula, tha mike rula makes me laugh at the end of the day.
5. Hershey's Kisses with caramel - oh so wrong but definintely tasty.
6. (Bonus thanks) Nike mp3 player - making my workout oh so much more musical

I just watched Obama's speech to the Democratic Convention and all I can say is wow....the Dems got a rising star there.

Today was pretty straightforward. I finished implementing the 'full record' option for email/print/save of citations. Whoo! Still a little buggy but hopefully I'll have it cleaned up by the end of the week. On a sad note, a former colleague Dan (last name escapes) passed away from cancer last week. He was only 43. It really makes you think about how you spend your time. 43...I mean that's only 13 years older than me. When you're young that sounds like a lot but as you get older you realize that's hardly anytime at all. It's not enough time to see your children graduate from high school, pay off a mortgage, etc. I didn't know him that well but he was a nice guy and I'm sure he'll be missed.

Note: I'm just free-forming thoughts here so if I seem cold or brusque I apologize.

I came up with a new game to play for entries between now and the election! For every entry I write in LiveJournal I will write 1 reason while I cannot be president. And 1 reason while I would still be a better president then our current one. Feel free to join in and play along in your journal or comment in mine! :)

WHY I CAN'T BE PRESIDENT #1:

I am not 35 years old. It's a constitutional requirement that anyone who holds the office of president be at least 35:

With thanks to www.usa-presidents.info,

Section one of Article II of the U.S. Constitution establishes the requirements one must meet in order to become President: The president must be a natural-born citizen of the United States, at least 35 years of age, and a resident of the United States for 14 years.

If you think about when the Consititution was written this makes sense I suppose. 35 would have probably been advanced middle-age (unlike today when it is the "new" 25) and they probably figured you would have accumulated a lot of wisdom by then (and of course you were a grand old man since only men were considered lol). I'm not sure if this makes sense in the modern age but tradition holds apparently. And to the best of my knowledge we've never elected a 35 year old president.

WHY I WOULD STILL BE BETTER THAN 'W' #1:

I'm still young enough to be hip...or something, and I could appeal to a younger demographic. I'm still virile enough that my ego could be sated by resolving international conflicts via videogames on Xbox Live instead of using real soldiers and armies and hey, we can use any videogame you want. :) Plus instead of "Hail to the Chief" I'll have them play 'Flashlight' by Parliment. Seriously.

Lame for a first attempt but there you go at least I'm trying...lol.

5 thanks:
1. Got the 'full record' stuff done..whoo!
2. Actually did yoga/lifting/cardio today.
3. Updating livejournal twice in one week.
4. Leftover pizza = no cooking.
5. Hershey's kisses with caramel....hmmm.

5 hopes:
1. Have FLI ready for testing starting on Monday.
2. I'll redo my resume this week.
3. I will be able to renew my lease (depending on job)
4. We will actually have game night tomorrow.
5. I'll be able to pick up ATHF Vol. 2 this week! Meatwad make the money see!

Finally, trying to get back into the habit of updating this journal. I've been in a massive rut lately and just haven't found the time. So here is the news in a nutshell:

-Cliff and Julie got married (most excellent), we had a bachelor party which was excellent and Cliff tapped out to the irish whiskey in a bad way....lol

-I met A and have been dating her for a while. :) Things are going well.

-My job runs out in 3 months and I've done nothing about it. (D'oh!)

We went bowling last night to celebrate Jan and Julie's birthdays. I actually am not sure how old Julie is...I think it's 29 but I'm not sure. Jan turned 36 and is still smoking hot...seriously what's with all my friend's and their hot wives/girlfriends...lol. Lucky bastards.

I made two chocolate cakes and two tile mosaic mirrors for presents. I hope they like them. I told them they could always sell them at their next yard sale if they didn't and I wouldn't be offeneded. They didn't turn out to bad but I definitely need some more practice at mosaics.

Other than that I don't have much to add right now. I more or less just wanted to get into the habit of writing again. I will add that I drank 3 large long island ice teas during bowling. I haven't done that in a while. Fortunately, I wasn't in too much pain today...lol. I stayed up for about two hours after Jan and Tim dropped me off and drank a lot of water. Thus illustrating one of the few advantages of getting older..experience.

So on to the finish:

5 thanks:
1. Jan and Julie's bowling party--fun for all and there was cake and mirrors!
2. Watching Cliff bowl 206...I highly doubt we'll ever see that again but it was awesome.
3. New episodes of SeaLab 2021 on adult swim.
4. No more birthdays till September.
5. My apartment is mostly clean.

5 hopes:
1. I'll keep updating this journal.
2. I'll figure out job stuff in the next month or so.
3. Painting/Flooring Cliff and Julie's new house won't be too draining.
4. I'll manage to get my laptop development environment finished this week.
5. I'll keep working out and doing my yoga.

Whoa...it's been a hella long time since I updated so I'm going to break april down into the main parts...

Part 1 - "Higgins"
----------

"There are certain things men aren't supposed to know." - me

April began with the first of many Cliff-Julie wedding events. The bachelorette party. Now normally, being the best friend of the groom excuses you from bride-related events....unless you own a van when the bachelorette party organizer wants to take the party to Indy.

So...they looked into renting a limo and it cost too much...they wanted to take Julie to Nicky Blaine's which is a fancy martini/cigarette bar up in Indianapolis (they all secretly want to feel like they're on 'Sex in the City' I think) so they needed a vehicle which could hold everyone and someone to be the designated driver...so I agreed. *sigh*

Now this party was sort of a combination bridal shower/bachelorette party. Since Cliff and Julie weren't having a traditional wedding she didn't have the traditional shower. So they sort of combined the two. I had agreed to drive them and thought that was it but the organizer had other plans.

"Higgins, that's what you'll be. You'll be our Higgins." I didn't know and honestly still don't know exactly what "Higgins" refers to. That guy on Magnum P.I.? At any rate, they got me a t-shirt with the silk-screened tuxedo top on it. Hmm...feel the classy. We also decorated my van on the inside with crepe paper and stars, bubbles, etc. On the outside the organizer painted, "CAR FULL OF SEXY LADIES", "HONK FOR JULIE!", and a few other choice phrases. (Note: Bloomington is full of nice people as I got several honks when I was driving around by myself..lol).

So here I am driving my space wedge chevy lumina with "CAR FULL OF SEXY LADIES" and "HONK FOR JULIE" on the side wearing a tuxedo t-shirt. One word. Winner. I proceeded to the organizer's house (from here out referred to as M). M had set all this up and had all the ladies dressed in stylin' sexy outfits just like 'Sex and the City' (so it's not all bad...lol). From there we gather the posse and head over to Julie's.

Julie comes out and is very surprised (and looking lovely. :)) but doesn't seem to mind my Y-chromosome so all is well. We head inside and I pour the champagne and serve the shrimp cocktail and strawberries while the ladies chit-chat and then move on to the presents.

Now normally you would think watching an attractive woman open up a variety of "romantic" and/or "erotic" presents surrounded by other attractive women (all dressed to the 9s) would be awesome...and you're right...except for the fact that this attractive woman happens to be the future wife of my best friend Cliff. MY overactive and tough to control imagination forced me to at least briefly visualize every outfit/gift in that context. The lingerie not so bad..the handcuffs, lotions, and toys...not so good. And I learned more about Cliff, Julie, and icy hot then I ever needed to know.

The trip up to Indy was pretty uneventful. Nicky Blaine's was very cool and of course there was at least one more bachelorette party (sans "Higgins" of course) and everyone congratulated Julie wherever she went (the bathroom especially). The martinis we're excellent (or so I was told) and the food tasty. The bill reflected it though...lol.
Julie also made the acquanintance of an elderly gentleman (whose name escapes me) who told her about how he had been married for 40 something years, a women who was married with two kids and also a model, and of course the bride from the bachelorette party next door who gave her a straw with a penis on the end you suck out of.

Then there was the drunken carriage ride around the circle. I rode with Julie's mom and family friend and her sister-in-law. I imagine the other buggy had much more naughty conversation...lol.

Overall, it seemed like everyone had a great time especially Julie and that's what matters...lol.

5 Highlights:
1. Getting to hold Dana V's leg while we took a picture. (Dana V = hotness).
2. Icy Hot and the law of unintended consequences
3. Driving a van with "CAR FULL OF SEXY LADIES" written on it.
4. Taking a carriage ride in the cold windy night around the circle in Indy.
5. The discovery that lingerie comes in the color orange.

Next update (tomorrow probably): "Meeting A"

On a continued tangent from yesteday...I forgot to mention the cruel irony of actually having an office where someone could visit during the workday for a quick make-out session...when am I ever going to have that again?...lol. Oh, well.

I need to expand on my "right" comment as well..

Not much going on this past week, lots of work, a little swing dancing and the realization that I need to lose some weight. (Too much yoga not enough cardio apparently or too many snacks...hmm).

This weekend was pretty laid back especially compared to last weekend. Friday just worked late and hung out with Cyndi a little bit. We had fun. Just talked and played some "Karaoke Revolution". Saturday just did some shopping with Cliff and Julie (countdown to wedding = 4 weeks). Then swing dance lessons on Sunday. Kudos to Adult Swim for "Home Movies" I about lost a lung laughing during the laser eye surgery instructional video...yikes.

Work continues its downward spiral. The good news is that the project will be done on time the bad news is weather or not we will be able to work with Albany going forward. *sigh* Well, I suppose that is for the directors to decide.

I got my first batch of digital photos on the computer today so that was fun. I really like the convenience of the camera but going through the photos and deciding what to save and having to rename the files is kind of a drag. Now I want to build a quick photo album application for my website to make it easy to put up photos for people to download.

I noticed on my last post I had more to discuss but I'm pretty much sure it all revolves around sex and relationships. Seriously, the spring time is evil...I thought my libido was supposed to be on the wane since I turned 30...apparently not. Seriously, working in the library when it's warm is like watching a parade of hot coeds going by..granted I wouldn't want to date them but it's hard telling my genetic code (which wants to survive) that I shouldn't have sex with them...lol.

So seriously, how do people meet, date, and/or make-out around here once you're over 25? Any suggestions? Thoughts?

Topic Switch

The conversation I had with Cyndi on Friday was interesting. She's gone back to her very conservative christian church but we are still able to have mostly rational discussions about various issues. I was commentating on the idiocy of people (on both the political right and left) who just have to be "right"...people opposed to gay marriage and that guy who wants to remove "under God" from the pledge of allegiance for example....are these people considered with rational debate/discussion or about stroking their egos by being "right" and thus better than their opponents. Just a thought.

5 thanks:
1. Cliff and Julie's wedding is less than a month away.
2. Swing dancing - it's fun!
3. Adult Swim - comedy rocks
4. Guitar playing - at least every other day
5. My libido isn't waning...lol.

5 hopes:
1. I will survive the wedding. (cake-baking, swing-dancing, present-transporting is hard work.)
2. Work issues will somehow be resolved.
3. I will eat more salad.
4. I will come up with a plan for Cliff's man party.
5. Yoga won't kill me tomorrow.

Okay time for ab work I'm looking a little chunky in those swing dance practice photos.

Wow...it was one busy weekend followed by a stellar MONDAY NIGHT RAW! (whoo!). I would have updated last night but there was just too much going on during my man soap opera...lol.

Friday was really fun...I took the day off of work and went clothes shopping with my friend Michelle. I got to watch her try on a lot of clothes and give my honest opinion. She was buying clothes for conferences and everyday so it was a veritable fashion show...lol. Our friend Julie joined us about midway through and the fashion show doubled...I even broke down and bought a couple of button down short sleeve shorts...Michelle and Julie are bad influences....lol. Then there was a surprise grill out at Robin and Austin's. They just got a new Weber grill and they wanted to try it out. Unfortunately, Austin read the grill instruction and tryed to cook with exactly 58 briquettes arranged in the prescribed pattern from the manual...lol. Cliff and I quickly straightened him out...number of briquettes is dependent on amount and type of meat to be cooked. Once we got that straightened out we got the food done and had a good time. Then everyone decided that it would be fun to go to my apartment and play videogames. (Done when I was out minding the grill mind you.) So, we moved the entire party over and shaked the maracas for "Samba de Amigo" and played "Mario Party". It was hysterical...I love watching people shake maracas...worth every penny. But I lost Mario Party to Erika..oh well. I will have to be the "PARTY STAR" another time...lol.

Saturday I got up late (no yoga...whoo!) and went to lunch with Cliff and then bought a digital camera. I've wanted one for a while so now I can take pictures of all my friends and maybe attach some new ones to various personal ads...lol. I also want to get some current family pictures since there are almost none from the past two years. I especially want to get some with Grandma. :) Saturday night Becky from LETRS came over and we just hung out and watched cartoons and muppets and had stir-fry. It was a lot of fun. She's very smart and cool person to talk to, I really enjoyed talking to her. She's undateable alas, but I got to practice my social skills and you can never have to many cool friends.

Sunday was pretty laid back. We had swing dance lessons for two hours. I got a lot of practice and actually looked like I partially knew what I was doing. Rock. I also got a couple of nice photos with the digital camera.

Work is going so-so. We're making a lot of progress on the tech front but our relationship with Albany continues to be rocky. I think when we talk about the issues they're concerned with it will be all right but it's very difficult since they have no idea how technology works..*sigh* I'm sure it will all work out.

I had some other interesting topics to discuss but it's late so I'll save them for another day. ;)

5 thanks:
1. Yoga class - back from spring break and I didn't die.
2. Abs - I actually worked them today.
3. Anna - cool woman..good friend. I'm glad I got to talk to her today.
4. Rain - it's doing it right now.
5. Raaga.com - for giving me a constant stream of hindi film music.

5 hopes:
1. We can work it out with Albany.
2. I will start the application process for the teaching job in Pottsdam.
3. I'll get to talk to my buddy Matt soon.
4. I will achieve balance.
5. I'll keep playing guitar and learn some new songs.

If I only knew...lol.

It's been pretty quiet the last week or so. IU is on Spring Break so the library is basically a ghost town. It's nice but I much prefer it with the students there it seems so much more lively.

I talked to Becky at work today twice. I really like her. She's very intellectual (trying to finish her Ph.D) but down to earth, she's kind of a hippie-leftish-intellectual...and she likes Muppets! We talked about hanging out in passing so maybe this weekend I can entice her with Muppets, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Bugs Bunny, and Space Ghost on DVD. And some homemade thai stir fry. That's worth a shot. It's so nice to talk to someone who knows what they want out of to life. I wish I was focused like that. I tend to not plan for the long term and I think that's starting to catch up to me. It's so easy to conceive of the future as something invevitable, that just happens. But I like to think that the future can be conceived and then created like art. (Of course this is a chicken and egg argument...lol...does the painter create the painting or was it there already just waiting for the artist to come along?) If I knew what I wanted it would be much easier to take steps to make it happen but I'm still not really sure what it is that I want to do. Teach? Law? Programmer? Other than my daily desires for food and sex I haven't really thought long-term.

Wrestlemania XX was Sunday and I had a houseful of people over to enjoy it. It was 4.5 hours long and with the exception of a couple of dud matches pretty spectacular. I'm working on an ode ot it. :) We had great snacks and some excellent comic commentary provided by myself and Chris. Hmm..crescent doughnuts.

5 thanks:
1. Radha for loaning me bollywood movies.
2. Cyndi for coming over to watch them.
3. The gang for coming over for wrestlemania WHOO!
4. doughnuts
5. All the fascinating LJ people who let us peek into their lives.

5 hopes:
1. Becky will come over for stir-fry and Muppets.
2. I will practice swing dancing this week.
3. We'll be able to squeeze in an extra game session this week since Tim
has to miss Game Night tomorrow.
4. I will get the oil changed on my car this week.
5. I will watch less television.

Just got back from watching "Broken Lizard's Club Dredd"...not very good. I wasn't expecting a whole lot and I was still sort of stunned by how mediocore it was. Plenty of T & A but way short on laughs which is the whole point. "Super Troopers" was much better. Hopefully, this is the 'sophomore slump' and someone will give them another chance.

Yoga went really well today. I think I'm going to shift my swimming off of Monday. I think it wears my legs out too much for yoga. I'll have to rethink my schedule a bit but it shouldn't be too hard to work out.

"Witch Hunter Robin" on Cartoon Network's anime block is most excellent. It's very cool sort of X-files'ish..there are 'witch of the week' episodes but also 'mythology' episodes that tell the story arc of the whole series. Very moody and effective. It also has pretty nice music...which helps a lot since the animation while good is limited.

I finally got my bollywood movie "Taal" which I've been waiting on for a week or so. It's one of my favorites. My friend Cyndi and I will watch it on Friday.

3 thanks: (because this is just a brief update)
1. We got the full-text indexing on Oracle working today
2. Yoga becasue it was great today.
3. indiaplaza.com for giving me a cheap place to get bollywood stuff

3 hopes:
1. Work will keep sailing along
2. The guys won't trash my apartment during game night.
3. I'll start going to the movies more.

More of the same with some new twists.

So first off, I didn't go to Stimuli because I didn't have anyone to go with. I know that's lame but I couldn't see spending the money and making the effort if I was going to end up drinking by myslef. Oh well..maybe next time...lol.

I've been doing swing dance to get ready for Cliff and Julie's wedding. I'm doing a lot better. Unfortunately, the class only has like 5 people in it and I often get stuck dancing with this surly teenage girl who thinks she is in rhythm (she isn't) and doesn't like to be led. *sigh* I'm sure she's nice but I think her mom (who is also in the class) is forcing her to do it. Hmm...if I ever have kids will I torture them this way?

Went to Robin's birthday party Saturday. We all brought drinks/ingredients for the letter of our names so I brought ingredients for "Dr. Funk" which is a dark rum shooter with pineapple and sweet & sour, very fun. I also brought stuff for sloe gin fizz since Cliff and I had been talking about last week. Now that's the proper drink for southern gentleman...lol. I also brought a chocolate cake I made from scratch..I'm pretty baked out right now. I made two pies on Thursday for guys at work, then had to bake cake...people are going to have to do it without generating offspring in June/July seriously. I had fun...Cliff brought "Karaoke Revolution" and I sang "Son of a Preacher Man" for Robin...and right before I left I crushed "One Week" by BareNaked Ladies. Take that karaoke! The crowd was impressed...lol. I did some socializing but sure wish these parties had some single ladies. But I did have fun talking to some of my friends I hadn't seen in a while.

Yoga is going well. Started a new level 2 class on Saturday (at 8:30 am no less) it's with a different instructor. Every instructor does different things. I really like that since you learn different ways of approaching the same poses and flows, as well as their different philosophies about the practice of yoga. Pretty good stuff. I need to swim more frequently to keep my weight down though.

Chris and his fiance Katie came over to watch wrasslin' to get ready for WrestleMania XX on Sunday! 4 hours of top-shelf wrasslin' I can't wait! Whoo! We were trying to decide on a propos snacks. For past wrestlemanias (minus 17 which we attended in person) we've done everything from grilling brats to $30 worth of doughnuts...mmm...doughnuts. We didn't decide anything for sure but I'm sure we'll come with a plan by Sunday.

Work is going well. If I can get the full-text stuff finished this week I can start on speeding up the return of results. Hopefully, I can get this stuff done by July and figure out what to do next.

Oh, and I remembered what it was about sex that I forgot last time...lol. I read that men age 30-50 who masturbate frequently have less chance of prostrate cancer.
One word....excellent lol.

5 thanks:
1. Karaoke at Robin's party.."The only one who could ever reach me..."
2. Sloe gin fizz.
3. Adult swim - consistently good animation both comedy and action. Two new
dvds this summer and the resurrection of 'Family Guy'!
4. Finally getting stuff to come together at work.
5. Research that proves masturbation is good for you.
6. (BONUS) Cyndi for calling me Saturday to go check out the new Target.

5 hopes:
1. Wrestlemania XX will be excellent on Sunday.
2. Work will continue to gel and get better.
3. I will be organized enough in the morning to take a salad for lunch.
4. The DVD I'm making for Cliff and Julie's wedding will get done.
5. There will be more guitar playing as the weather gets better.

Well lots going on this weekend..yikes. Tomorrow night I have my first swing dance lesson at the YMCA, followed by Michelle's b-day party at Suburban lanes (with a very fancy white chocolate/raspberry cheesecake I might add). Not to mention the very fine film, "Mildred Pierce". You go Joan Crawford! Then yoga painfully early on Saturday morning (8:30-9:45). Then I plan on going to Stimuli on Saturday night. I just tried to order online but I didn't get a confirmation...I may have been a little late on the order. If I don't get an e-mail reply in the morning I'll head over to Axis tomorrow and get a ticket. I may also head over to the costume shop since I lack 'erotic attire' at home. I may send out an email to people to see if anyone else wants to go but I'll probably have to go by myself. Oh well perhaps it'll force me to work on my social graces.

Lots of stuff on "gay marriage" in the news today. Julie and I talked about it during lunch. I tried to play devil's advocate and come up with good reason why gay & lesbians shouldn't be allowed to marry but I couldn't come up with any. :) Seriously, I don't understand the uproar about this...it seems like a convenient political issue for the right to distract from Iraq, the economy, etc. It's a chance for all the people whose self-esteem derives from being "right" to beat their drums but that's about it. To those people I ask, What harm does it cause you if two consenting same-sex adults in a committed relationship want the same legal protections/responsibilites (which are seldom mentioned in these arguments by the way) as two consenting different-sex adutls? I mean seriously just because it upsets your sensibilities doesn't make it illegal. I firmly believe what consenting adults do in their homes is their business...I mean surely all of us like something sexual which could be considered offensive to someone Do you really want the state legislating this stuff? Are you insane? It might look good now while an administration with views like yours are in charge but how would you feel about this idea if a militant left-wing administration were in place? (legalization of drugs, gay rights, etc.) Anyway, that's what I think. If you're in love and want to spend the rest of your life with someone (all consenting adults) then rock on...

Sex...hmm...I remember it fondly. I'm pretty sure I liked it...a lot. I wasn't half bad at it with the right partner. And I was plenty willing to give it the old college try until I got it right (or at least satisfactory). So now the question is...would I have a one night stand? A few years ago I wouldn't have batted an eye..but now I don't know...I'd sort of like it to have some meaning other than "I'm horny, you're horny and we're the last two people here" sort of thing. On the other hand...I don't like treating it like it's the end-all be-all either. I guess we'll just have to go on a case-by-case basis. Stimuli will be tough going by myself though since I'll be basically surrounded by sex for a few hours...oh well...too much fun to pass up...I'll just have to suffer.

I think I had more to say about sex but it's late I'm tired and the last cake just came out of the oven so I need to sleep.

5 thanks:
1. yoga, it's awesome
2. The cute girl at border's (who smiled when she caught me checking her out)
3. the chocolate cake for turning out well
4. white chocolate reese's cups...hmm...
5. I had an extra 9 X 13 cake pan since Tim still has mine from his birthday

5 hopes:
1. Michelle will like her cakes and present
2. I will survive swing class
3. I will survive yoga at 8:30 am (what was I thinking)
4. I will make it to Stimuli and have fun
5. I will finish the mosaic I started for my grandma before easter.

Ah...Monday night...most frequently updated night of the week (usually during MONDAY NIGHT RAW!!!).

Been feeling better lately. Had a laid back but fun weekend. Friday Cyndi came over and we watched "Rangheela" my new Bollywood movie. The music was really good and the movie was...well a typical Bollywood love story...but good fun. We had pineapple and ham pizza (she's the only person who likes it beside me) and then played "Karaoke Revolution" for two hours. She did really well scoring 47,000 points on Norah Jones' "Don't Know Why". She is one really cool person.

Came down with some kind of weird sinus thing on Saturday and didn't do much but struggle through yoga and then slept most of the day. Hooked up with Cliff and Julie for dinner at Azuka and the ice cream at Maggie Moo's. Very cool.

Sunday I went to swing dance lessons to get ready for Cliff and Julie's wedding. It was really fun. I hadn't done any dancing in forever...even though I'm not particularly good at it I really like it.

This weekend is shaping up to be fun. Michelle's b-day is on Saturday but we're celebrating on Friday at Suburban Lanes by bowling and drinking Long Islands. I'll bring a delicious cheesecake (white chocolate/raspberry with raspberry sauce) and hopefully I'll think of a good present by then. Saturday is 'Stimuli' at Axis and I definitely want to go to that. I haven't gone in a while and the last time I went it was totally fun. The only drawback is that 'erotic attire' is required and I have a hard time imagining myself in any attire that would result in 'erotic'...lol. Well, I'll just have to use my imagination and do my best....Anna suggested body paint...I'll have to think about that. (Flowing jesus robes, sheik outfit, clown, I dunno...lol).

Work is putzing along. The Albany people are totally pissed about how things are going but to a certain degree I don't really care. I'm sure we'll work it out eventually. They are really nit-picking about details that make no sense in an online environment and they are arguing about features that are standard on other online indexes but hopefully when they see a more functional prototype their fears will be somewhat eased. But I've been pretty productive in the mean time adn I'm sure IU's end will be done on time and be very good.

I also went to the YMCA today and signed up for more swing lessons and an extra Saturday session of yoga...unfortunately it's at 8:30 in the morning...I've never done one that early but hopefully I'll be motivated enough to get up and go.

That's enough of an update for this particular Monday and Mr. McMahon is getting ready to fight Eric Bischoff on RAW...

5 thanks:
1. Michelle at work for being very very good at her job...they should appreciate her more for all the hard works she does. She is our usability/interface specialist.
2. Getting 1/2 of the database work done today.
3. Bollywood for the fascinating "Rangheela"; Borders for having a copy of "Lagaan"
4. Azuka for providing us with a hibachi experience here in B-town.
5. Jen at work for explaining "library" stuff to me.

5 hopes:
1. I'll be able to finish the database stuff by Wednesday.
2. "erotic attire" will manifest itself by the end of the week
3. I can convince someone to come home and try out the "trance vibrator".
4. My new schedule of swim, yoga, yoga, swim, dance, yoga doesn't kill me.
5. I will cook delicious stir fry tomorrow night after yoga.

Today was much better than yesterday. Hopefully, that was just some Valentine's Day angst working it's way out. Got quite a bit done at work for a change, actually too much as it made me late for yoga. Yoga was just a blur since I got their late and didn't have time to stretch out before hand but I'm really glad I went. If I get perfect attendance in that class and my Saturday class I get $8 dollars off the next sign up...Whoo!

I did manage to burn my first DVD this weekend. It was from when we lived at 916 W. 11th St. and it was the footage from when Cliff's younger brother John visited us! It has us hanging out, engaging in shenaningans (oh how I love that word), and playing "Samba de Amigo". It's awesome to see us 4 years ago shaking our maracas to "Livin' La Vida Loca" and an excellent ska version of the classic A-Ha track "Take on Me" (which had a very cool music video if I remember correctly). Plus, I have footage of Cliff and Julie. I'm going to scour all of my tapes for footage of just them and then burn it on a DVD as part of there wedding present. :) (Sappy, I know...but despite my bitterness of the past few days I really like romance.) Also, I am significantly fatter in the video than I am now so that's a good sign. Plus, there's some footage of ex-Cyndi when she has a shaved head so that's good for a smile. (I had a girlfriend with a shaved head...how cool is that?)

5 thanks:
1. The DVD burner works! Now I can make DVDs of all the footage I have of my friends.
2. Marsh for having "Double Stuff" Oreos on sale. I love those things.
3. Gloria, my yoga instructor, for not giving me a hard time about being late and for being an awesome instructor.
4. "Samba de Amigo" for being one of the coolest videogame experiences ever.
5. Having footage of everyone making complete fools out of themselves playing "Samba de Amigo"

5 hopes:
1. I will get more DVD work done this weekend.
2. I will go to Robin's salsa dance workshop even though it's basically right after yoga on Saturday.
3. My tax return will get processed before the end of the month.
4. I can take a little extra time off at Easter to spend with my Grandma.
5. I will take video footage of my dad's side of the family. Since I don't have much footage of them.