how'd you sleep last night , John...?
I didn't watch any of the convention last night, I watched my man Andre Agassi whoop some ass at the US Open instead. But I did hear the "highlights" of last night's speeches on NPR this morning.
Would someone kindly get John McCain a mint after all that kissing of G.W. Bush's ass?
Jesus.
Was it just me, or could you HEAR that he didn't believe a word he was saying? I know you want to be President in '08, but damn... have some self-respect.
Monday, August 30
the scary thing is that the last guy will actually be AT the convention...
I was listening to NPR today and they were previewing the Repulican Convention, and I'm trying to decide if I'm going to watch any of it. I know it will just make me yell at my TV, but I think it's probably important. I was reminded what Sun Tzu said about "knowing your enemy". Which got me to thinking about similar sentiments by great thinkers about one's proper attitude towards one's enemy. I present the words of three such great thinkers below...
I think Sun Tzu's view is probably the closest to my own, but seriously... wouldn't it be nice to hear the lamentations of these women come November?
I was listening to NPR today and they were previewing the Repulican Convention, and I'm trying to decide if I'm going to watch any of it. I know it will just make me yell at my TV, but I think it's probably important. I was reminded what Sun Tzu said about "knowing your enemy". Which got me to thinking about similar sentiments by great thinkers about one's proper attitude towards one's enemy. I present the words of three such great thinkers below...
Jesus: "Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you and pray for those who mistreat you."
Sun Tzu: “Know your enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles, you will never be defeated"
Conan the Barbarian:: “Crush yooah enemies… See dem driven befooah you… And heah da lamentation of da women.”
I think Sun Tzu's view is probably the closest to my own, but seriously... wouldn't it be nice to hear the lamentations of these women come November?
lost week…
It’s hard to imagine I’ll get any work done at all this week, thus it’s difficult to convince myself to even TRY. Today was yoga, so it’s almost 1:00 and I’ve done very little so far. Tomorrow my wife and son leave for Chicago, so I have to drive them to the airport in the morning, and then pick up my daughter from school in the afternoon. There goes Tuesday. Then on Wednesday, my daughter and I leave for Chicago. Complicated, I know… but the idea was to make her miss as little school as possible. Seems to be that missing 2.5 days of school vs. 3.5 days of school really wouldn’t have mattered – especially to a kindergartener who can already read, but… whatever. Anyway, we leave in the early afternoon, so… another half day of work is lost there. Then we’re gone Thursday and Friday.
By my count that makes MAYBE 15 hours of usable work-time this week… MAX.
What the hell is the point, I ask you?
Jobs… pfft.
It’s hard to imagine I’ll get any work done at all this week, thus it’s difficult to convince myself to even TRY. Today was yoga, so it’s almost 1:00 and I’ve done very little so far. Tomorrow my wife and son leave for Chicago, so I have to drive them to the airport in the morning, and then pick up my daughter from school in the afternoon. There goes Tuesday. Then on Wednesday, my daughter and I leave for Chicago. Complicated, I know… but the idea was to make her miss as little school as possible. Seems to be that missing 2.5 days of school vs. 3.5 days of school really wouldn’t have mattered – especially to a kindergartener who can already read, but… whatever. Anyway, we leave in the early afternoon, so… another half day of work is lost there. Then we’re gone Thursday and Friday.
By my count that makes MAYBE 15 hours of usable work-time this week… MAX.
What the hell is the point, I ask you?
Jobs… pfft.
Sunday, August 29
darwin’s little joke...
150 millions ago, small plant-eating dinosaurs found themselves engaged in an evolutionary arms race with some of the most fearsome carnivores that ever walked the Earth, including - but not limited to – the ferocious hunter, Tyrannosaurus rex.
Some relied on speed. Others, like the sauropods – brontosaurus and diplodocus – relied on sheer size. Still other relied on imposing and impenetrable armor. The jagged dorsal plates of Stegosaurus served as a visual deterrent to all but the most determined attackers. The Ankylosaurus – it’s rock-hard shell covered in 8-inch razor-sharp spikes – was all but impervious to a bite from above.
Alas, the dinosaurs, well-adapted as they were, did not survive. Theories regarding their extinction abound, the most popular involving global climatic change brought on by a catastrophic impact by a large meteor or comet. But whatever the reason for their extinction, the plant-eaters of the Cretaceous can rest assured that their evolutionary legacy survives, and that the defenses that once protected them from their flesh-eating adversaries continue to fend off larger and more powerful foes, in the form of the feet of parents of toddlers, who, despite their considerable size and supposed position of authority, can be brought to the brink of tears several times a day by a 3-inch plastic Ankylosaurus.
Worst of all, it was MY idea to buy the damned things.
150 millions ago, small plant-eating dinosaurs found themselves engaged in an evolutionary arms race with some of the most fearsome carnivores that ever walked the Earth, including - but not limited to – the ferocious hunter, Tyrannosaurus rex.
Some relied on speed. Others, like the sauropods – brontosaurus and diplodocus – relied on sheer size. Still other relied on imposing and impenetrable armor. The jagged dorsal plates of Stegosaurus served as a visual deterrent to all but the most determined attackers. The Ankylosaurus – it’s rock-hard shell covered in 8-inch razor-sharp spikes – was all but impervious to a bite from above.
Alas, the dinosaurs, well-adapted as they were, did not survive. Theories regarding their extinction abound, the most popular involving global climatic change brought on by a catastrophic impact by a large meteor or comet. But whatever the reason for their extinction, the plant-eaters of the Cretaceous can rest assured that their evolutionary legacy survives, and that the defenses that once protected them from their flesh-eating adversaries continue to fend off larger and more powerful foes, in the form of the feet of parents of toddlers, who, despite their considerable size and supposed position of authority, can be brought to the brink of tears several times a day by a 3-inch plastic Ankylosaurus.
Worst of all, it was MY idea to buy the damned things.
Saturday, August 28
one more...
We got our new sofa today. (In camel... not red.) The IKEA sofa has been banished to the playroom. Suddenly it looks like adults live here. Of course, the word "adult" may seem a bit less appropriate when THIS arrives.
Ok... I know that seems like a crazy purchase, but I can explain. We use our Discover card for almost every single thing we buy, and we pay it in full monthly. As a result, we accrue CRAPLOADS of "2% Cashback Bonus" every year. And one of the things Discover will do is DOUBLE your cashback bonus if you agree to take it in the form of Giftcards to certain retailers. We usually just get it all in the form of Barnes and Noble gift cards. But this year, they were offering to double your money on Sharper Image purchases.
So... $350 in cashback bonus, times two... equals an $800 massage chair that only cost us $150, shipping included.
Don't hate me becuase I'm beautiful... hate me because of my access to unlimited Robot Massages!
We got our new sofa today. (In camel... not red.) The IKEA sofa has been banished to the playroom. Suddenly it looks like adults live here. Of course, the word "adult" may seem a bit less appropriate when THIS arrives.
Ok... I know that seems like a crazy purchase, but I can explain. We use our Discover card for almost every single thing we buy, and we pay it in full monthly. As a result, we accrue CRAPLOADS of "2% Cashback Bonus" every year. And one of the things Discover will do is DOUBLE your cashback bonus if you agree to take it in the form of Giftcards to certain retailers. We usually just get it all in the form of Barnes and Noble gift cards. But this year, they were offering to double your money on Sharper Image purchases.
So... $350 in cashback bonus, times two... equals an $800 massage chair that only cost us $150, shipping included.
Don't hate me becuase I'm beautiful... hate me because of my access to unlimited Robot Massages!
Thursday, August 26
it's a THERMOSTAT, not a roulette wheel...
I was FREEZING at work on Wednesday morning. I'm sitting at my desk huddled over my cup of tea... rubbing my hands together. I had already turned the thermostat up from 62º to 72º, but it wasn't helping. So Thursday I brought a light jacket to keep hanging in the office.
Warning. Do not tempt the climate control Gods thus...
Thursday they were doing work on the compressors or something, I don't know. I just know that I finally left the office when the last ball on my "Gallileo Thermometer" sank, indicating that it was now NINETY FUCKING DEGREES in my office.
So I went to the library. There was a workshop I was going to go to that afternoon anyway, so I just hung out with my laptop for a few hours. The workshop was on this grant-search software that they have at the library - courtesy of the Foundation Center. It's a big deal - not everybody has this program. It's a comprehensive database of every grant-giving organization in the US. Very useful for work. So the program was great, but the workshop was unbearable, since it was mostly attended by people who didn't know how to use a computer. There was a lot of this.
I tried to ignore it all and just search on my own.
Anyway.
Back in the office today, and the temperature seems to be well within the range of human habitation. We'll see how long that lasts. I should go make sure that nobody set the thermostat down to 60º yesterday.
Dave
(Postscript: Yes - indeed... the thermostat was set on 61º. Dammit.)
I was FREEZING at work on Wednesday morning. I'm sitting at my desk huddled over my cup of tea... rubbing my hands together. I had already turned the thermostat up from 62º to 72º, but it wasn't helping. So Thursday I brought a light jacket to keep hanging in the office.
Warning. Do not tempt the climate control Gods thus...
Thursday they were doing work on the compressors or something, I don't know. I just know that I finally left the office when the last ball on my "Gallileo Thermometer" sank, indicating that it was now NINETY FUCKING DEGREES in my office.
So I went to the library. There was a workshop I was going to go to that afternoon anyway, so I just hung out with my laptop for a few hours. The workshop was on this grant-search software that they have at the library - courtesy of the Foundation Center. It's a big deal - not everybody has this program. It's a comprehensive database of every grant-giving organization in the US. Very useful for work. So the program was great, but the workshop was unbearable, since it was mostly attended by people who didn't know how to use a computer. There was a lot of this.
INSTRUCTOR: "Now we're going to click here where it says GRANT SEARCH. Ok? Now these are the criteria you can select for your search - you've got the grant type and the grantmaker's state, and-
OLD LADY BEHIND ME: "So I click on GRANT SEARCH?"
INSTRUCTOR: "Yes. Ok? Now go ahead and enter ALABAMA as the state and then select - "
LADY ACROSS THE AISLE: "How did you get to this screen?"
INSTRUCTOR: "Just click where is says GRANT SEARCH."
LADY ACROSS THE AISLE: "Here where is says GRANT SEARCH?"
DAVE:"YES! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, YES! CLICK ON GRANT SEARCH!!"
I tried to ignore it all and just search on my own.
Anyway.
Back in the office today, and the temperature seems to be well within the range of human habitation. We'll see how long that lasts. I should go make sure that nobody set the thermostat down to 60º yesterday.
Dave
(Postscript: Yes - indeed... the thermostat was set on 61º. Dammit.)
Mr. Soprano, sweetie? Your tax returns are ready...
So I bought this dark grey, glen-plaid suit for the wedding in a couple of weeks, and I wanted to get a really bold shirt and tie to go with it so I didn't look like a car salesman at a funeral. I chose this purple shirt (oh, is it purple!) and a blocky-purple tie. It's not really something I would normally wear myself, but I really liked it. (The Queer Eye Phenomenon again.) Well I tried on the whole ensemble last night, and three words immediately came to mind.
Gay. Mafia. Accountant.
So I bought this dark grey, glen-plaid suit for the wedding in a couple of weeks, and I wanted to get a really bold shirt and tie to go with it so I didn't look like a car salesman at a funeral. I chose this purple shirt (oh, is it purple!) and a blocky-purple tie. It's not really something I would normally wear myself, but I really liked it. (The Queer Eye Phenomenon again.) Well I tried on the whole ensemble last night, and three words immediately came to mind.
Gay. Mafia. Accountant.
i got the itch...
I spent a good part of this evening engaged in the o-so-masculine pursuit of Putting Crap In The Attic. I’ll leave aside the discussion of why this is MY job. That is neither here nor there.
The point is, we have a tiny little attic area over the garage. Meaning – the area in which we can put stuff is small, but it’s open to the whole damned roof/eaves/upper part of the house, which just so happens to be filled with blown insulation.
Oh, the blown insulation! Great flowing white drifts and dunes of blown insulation... fluffy, white, potentially airborne, unthinkably itchy blown insulation.
*shudder*
The sight of it... the THOUGHT of it makes me itch. You see... I had a traumatic childhood experience involving blown insulation. When I was a young teenager, my Dad built an addition to the front of the house, and tore two rooms off the BACK of the house. (I have no idea.) I got to help with the tearing-down parts. I don’t remember much about it other than the fact that the walls were insulated with blown insulation. And when you tear down a house built with blown insulation... well... you can imagine... you’re just standing there sweating in a cloud of the shit. Never have I itched like this... not before.. not since. Never have I showered so long and so coldly. I itched for days
And now... I can’t even stand to LOOK at the stuff. (I’m itching right now, typing this, and I’ve already showered!) So tonight I went up there and swept the stuff back away from the viable-storage area of the attic. My future plans include the construction of a 3’ high retaining wall of cardboard or Styrofoam to hold back the encroaching tide of...
Ok, I can’t even talk about it anymore.
I spent a good part of this evening engaged in the o-so-masculine pursuit of Putting Crap In The Attic. I’ll leave aside the discussion of why this is MY job. That is neither here nor there.
The point is, we have a tiny little attic area over the garage. Meaning – the area in which we can put stuff is small, but it’s open to the whole damned roof/eaves/upper part of the house, which just so happens to be filled with blown insulation.
Oh, the blown insulation! Great flowing white drifts and dunes of blown insulation... fluffy, white, potentially airborne, unthinkably itchy blown insulation.
*shudder*
The sight of it... the THOUGHT of it makes me itch. You see... I had a traumatic childhood experience involving blown insulation. When I was a young teenager, my Dad built an addition to the front of the house, and tore two rooms off the BACK of the house. (I have no idea.) I got to help with the tearing-down parts. I don’t remember much about it other than the fact that the walls were insulated with blown insulation. And when you tear down a house built with blown insulation... well... you can imagine... you’re just standing there sweating in a cloud of the shit. Never have I itched like this... not before.. not since. Never have I showered so long and so coldly. I itched for days
And now... I can’t even stand to LOOK at the stuff. (I’m itching right now, typing this, and I’ve already showered!) So tonight I went up there and swept the stuff back away from the viable-storage area of the attic. My future plans include the construction of a 3’ high retaining wall of cardboard or Styrofoam to hold back the encroaching tide of...
Ok, I can’t even talk about it anymore.
Tuesday, August 24
new content bonanza...
I set up a page @ Audiostreet.com today where I can showcase some of the nifty music I've been composing of late. I talk about it so much, I thought some of you readers would be interested in hearing a little of it. None of it is in a very polished state - everything is really just a 2:30 demo right now, but eventually I'll put some more "finished" music up there. It only allows me to post 3 songs at a time, so I'll try to rotate them frequently.
I may also start putting up an "Audioblog" post every now and then. One of the bloggers I read has started doing it, and you know me... can't let anybody have a gadget that *I* don't have, so... be on the lookout for that. I've got the account all set up, I just haven't tried it out yet.
I set up a page @ Audiostreet.com today where I can showcase some of the nifty music I've been composing of late. I talk about it so much, I thought some of you readers would be interested in hearing a little of it. None of it is in a very polished state - everything is really just a 2:30 demo right now, but eventually I'll put some more "finished" music up there. It only allows me to post 3 songs at a time, so I'll try to rotate them frequently.
I may also start putting up an "Audioblog" post every now and then. One of the bloggers I read has started doing it, and you know me... can't let anybody have a gadget that *I* don't have, so... be on the lookout for that. I've got the account all set up, I just haven't tried it out yet.
yoga update...
Awesome session yesterday - Cute Instructor was as cute and bendy as ever. New pose this week - the Camel ("Ustrasana") - which is definitely being added to the daily practice. Backward bends rock.
Not so fond of the "Gorilla" pose, where you have to stand on your hands. I don't mean a "handstand", I mean, you bend over and STAND on your hands. No thanks. And it's not that I'm not almost bendy enough to bend over that far now, it's that IT FUCKING HURTS YOUR HANDS TO STAND ON THEM.
Dave
PS> I couldn't find a picture of the gorilla pose, but I did find an unfunny satirical treatise on microeconomics featuring a gorilla. (I should probably say "unfunny - UNLESS you happen to be an undergraduate Econ professor" in which case, I'm sure it's a hoot.)
Awesome session yesterday - Cute Instructor was as cute and bendy as ever. New pose this week - the Camel ("Ustrasana") - which is definitely being added to the daily practice. Backward bends rock.
Not so fond of the "Gorilla" pose, where you have to stand on your hands. I don't mean a "handstand", I mean, you bend over and STAND on your hands. No thanks. And it's not that I'm not almost bendy enough to bend over that far now, it's that IT FUCKING HURTS YOUR HANDS TO STAND ON THEM.
Dave
PS> I couldn't find a picture of the gorilla pose, but I did find an unfunny satirical treatise on microeconomics featuring a gorilla. (I should probably say "unfunny - UNLESS you happen to be an undergraduate Econ professor" in which case, I'm sure it's a hoot.)
routine…
I haven’t felt much in the mood for the Blog Thing for the past couple of weeks. I’m not sure why, but I think it may have something to do with The Routine. Somehow, I find myself with a life that has fallen into one of those soul-sucking Routines that never varies from day to day. The 5-day, 9-5 job was bad enough, but now I have to take my daughter to school every day, which means NO variation is allowed in the daily ritual. I can’t be early to work, I can’t be LATE to work, I can’t stop at Starbucks, I can’t decide to take this road instead of THAT road… it has to be The Same Every Day.
When I worked as a college prof in Manhattan, I had early classes some days and not early classes on others… I could take this train or that train… I could walk or take the subway… I could get off at this stop or that stop… I could stop at B&N or New World Coffee… I had CHOICES! I’m not used to routine.
And it’s weird, because if you had ASKED me if I liked routine a few months ago, I would have said YES! But this is beyond… this is the kind of thing that makes Guys-in-Suits just jump out of their office windows after 20 years.
Ok… I’m overreacting. But you get the idea.
My point is… I have nothing to write about because Every Day Is The Same. There are no hot women on the subway or street-corner crazies or cool ethnic restaurants or walks to the library or classes that suck or students that I want to have sex with. There is just me, and a desk, in an office. I sit and I type. All day. Then I go home. I bathe and feed the kids and put them to bed. I watch TV. I go to sleep.
Lather. Rinse.
Repeat.
I haven’t felt much in the mood for the Blog Thing for the past couple of weeks. I’m not sure why, but I think it may have something to do with The Routine. Somehow, I find myself with a life that has fallen into one of those soul-sucking Routines that never varies from day to day. The 5-day, 9-5 job was bad enough, but now I have to take my daughter to school every day, which means NO variation is allowed in the daily ritual. I can’t be early to work, I can’t be LATE to work, I can’t stop at Starbucks, I can’t decide to take this road instead of THAT road… it has to be The Same Every Day.
When I worked as a college prof in Manhattan, I had early classes some days and not early classes on others… I could take this train or that train… I could walk or take the subway… I could get off at this stop or that stop… I could stop at B&N or New World Coffee… I had CHOICES! I’m not used to routine.
And it’s weird, because if you had ASKED me if I liked routine a few months ago, I would have said YES! But this is beyond… this is the kind of thing that makes Guys-in-Suits just jump out of their office windows after 20 years.
Ok… I’m overreacting. But you get the idea.
My point is… I have nothing to write about because Every Day Is The Same. There are no hot women on the subway or street-corner crazies or cool ethnic restaurants or walks to the library or classes that suck or students that I want to have sex with. There is just me, and a desk, in an office. I sit and I type. All day. Then I go home. I bathe and feed the kids and put them to bed. I watch TV. I go to sleep.
Lather. Rinse.
Repeat.
the dave show...
I told you I bought a suit the other day at JC Penney, right? (Ok, well... maybe I didn't admit at the time that it was from Penney's but... now it's important to the story.) So, I get an email from my wife today saying - "Guess what store just put all of their suits on sale for 50% off?"
Fuck.
I know I can just go get a price adjustment, that's not the point. The point it - this happens to us WAY more than you can possibly imagine. Seriously - EVERY week, whatever majorly expensive thing we just bought goes on sale the following week. It's beyond normal and beyond coincidence. I swear it's a conspiracy. It's like some sort of "Truman Show" thing where we're really like the ultimate Neilson Family and everywhere we go, everyone is really a spy for some retail chain, and all of their promotional decisions are based entirely upon OUR purchases.
Wait a minute... maybe all of YOU are spies too!
I told you I bought a suit the other day at JC Penney, right? (Ok, well... maybe I didn't admit at the time that it was from Penney's but... now it's important to the story.) So, I get an email from my wife today saying - "Guess what store just put all of their suits on sale for 50% off?"
Fuck.
I know I can just go get a price adjustment, that's not the point. The point it - this happens to us WAY more than you can possibly imagine. Seriously - EVERY week, whatever majorly expensive thing we just bought goes on sale the following week. It's beyond normal and beyond coincidence. I swear it's a conspiracy. It's like some sort of "Truman Show" thing where we're really like the ultimate Neilson Family and everywhere we go, everyone is really a spy for some retail chain, and all of their promotional decisions are based entirely upon OUR purchases.
Wait a minute... maybe all of YOU are spies too!
Monday, August 23
i wanna shoot the whole day down...
I was planning on coming in here and just JUMPING right back into work and getting my narration finished. That was before my son decided that a 45 minute screaming crazy fit at 5:00 AM would be just the way to start the day.
Fuck...
Three pre-emptive Advil later, and I can still feel the headache coming on.
Not much else to say. I bought a suit yesterday, that was exciting. BAM! $280! And that's not even counting the shoes. (A concession to my wife, who loves these kind of shoes. I think they look a little gay.) I guess it's nice to have a suit. Now I can go get arrested for something so I can wear it to court.
Actually it's for a wedding. My wife is a bridesmaid in her sister's wedding in a few weeks, and our kids are flower and ring persons, so... I have to be as dressed up as they. Yay. A charcoal-grey suit at an outdoor reception in August! Woo-hoo!
That's it for now. Maybe I'll post an update after yoga/lunch.
D.
I was planning on coming in here and just JUMPING right back into work and getting my narration finished. That was before my son decided that a 45 minute screaming crazy fit at 5:00 AM would be just the way to start the day.
Fuck...
Three pre-emptive Advil later, and I can still feel the headache coming on.
Not much else to say. I bought a suit yesterday, that was exciting. BAM! $280! And that's not even counting the shoes. (A concession to my wife, who loves these kind of shoes. I think they look a little gay.) I guess it's nice to have a suit. Now I can go get arrested for something so I can wear it to court.
Actually it's for a wedding. My wife is a bridesmaid in her sister's wedding in a few weeks, and our kids are flower and ring persons, so... I have to be as dressed up as they. Yay. A charcoal-grey suit at an outdoor reception in August! Woo-hoo!
That's it for now. Maybe I'll post an update after yoga/lunch.
D.
Sunday, August 22
olympic notes... part three...
I caught a little Women's Beach Volleyball on TV yesterday. A little later they ran some of the Men's competition, but... I dunno... There must be some subtle difference in the level of athleticism or style of the gameplay between the men's and women's games.... I just couldn't get into it for some reason. It just didn't grab my attention.
I caught a little Women's Beach Volleyball on TV yesterday. A little later they ran some of the Men's competition, but... I dunno... There must be some subtle difference in the level of athleticism or style of the gameplay between the men's and women's games.... I just couldn't get into it for some reason. It just didn't grab my attention.
Saturday, August 21
dad's day...
It's not even 9:00 AM and I'm already ready to start handing out some beatings. I am just NOT in the mood today. I'm TRYING to y'know... PLAY with them even, but it never fails to just dissolve into - "AAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH". So for now I've handed them over to "The Magic School Bus" (A show which I fucking HATE, btw) while I try to get some caffeine into my head.
I know it would help to get them OUT, but like I said... I just don't feel up to it. Today is gonna be a pajamas-until-lunch day at the very least. (If not "pajamas until NEW pajamas.")
It's not that I'm incapable of going into SuperDad mode when it really counts. But I think that today SurvivalMode is the best I can do.
It's not even 9:00 AM and I'm already ready to start handing out some beatings. I am just NOT in the mood today. I'm TRYING to y'know... PLAY with them even, but it never fails to just dissolve into - "AAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH". So for now I've handed them over to "The Magic School Bus" (A show which I fucking HATE, btw) while I try to get some caffeine into my head.
I know it would help to get them OUT, but like I said... I just don't feel up to it. Today is gonna be a pajamas-until-lunch day at the very least. (If not "pajamas until NEW pajamas.")
It's not that I'm incapable of going into SuperDad mode when it really counts. But I think that today SurvivalMode is the best I can do.
Friday, August 20
Thursday, August 19
2 small observations...
(Thought earlier this week while watching the news:) Have you noticed that the older Tom Brokaw gets, the more he sounds like a person doing an impersonation of Tom Brokaw? You have to hand it to him, though... it must be hard reading the news with a mouthful of marbles.
(Thought earlier today while looking at DVD's at Wal-Mart:) Hmmm. I've alwyas kinda wondered, actually. How DID Stella get her groove back?
(Thought earlier this week while watching the news:) Have you noticed that the older Tom Brokaw gets, the more he sounds like a person doing an impersonation of Tom Brokaw? You have to hand it to him, though... it must be hard reading the news with a mouthful of marbles.
(Thought earlier today while looking at DVD's at Wal-Mart:) Hmmm. I've alwyas kinda wondered, actually. How DID Stella get her groove back?
Tuesday, August 17
olympic notes, part two...
The "Best Foreign Name" award of this Olympics goes to swimmer Pieter Van der Hoogenband from the Netherlands. And why? Because if you had come up to me a week ago and said – ”Hey, Dave! Come up with a name that sounds Dutch, but is really just made up” - I would have blurted out, without missing a beat - ”Peter Van der Hoogenbagen!” Or something very, very close.
The "Best Foreign Name" award of this Olympics goes to swimmer Pieter Van der Hoogenband from the Netherlands. And why? Because if you had come up to me a week ago and said – ”Hey, Dave! Come up with a name that sounds Dutch, but is really just made up” - I would have blurted out, without missing a beat - ”Peter Van der Hoogenbagen!” Or something very, very close.
nothing title-worthy...
I'm not sure I could have done less work yesterday if I had tried. Kindergarten orientation, Yoga Class, new synthesizer... and today wasn’t much better. Now it’s 3:00 and I’m sitting in a “Fundraising and Grantwriting Workshop” at the public library. I plan on being bored stiff (**), but grantwriting IS part of my job description nowadays, so I figure, if I pick up even a single useful scrap of info, it’ll be worth it.
So, to recap yesterday. My daughter’s kindergarten teacher is just insanely nice in that way that only kindergarten teachers can be. Her classroom is festive, if a bit shabby, but I think she’ll enjoy it. The reading-resource teacher seemed really great too... she said lots of things that just sounded – “right” – which is good, since my daughter will probably need lots of individual attention. (She’s easily reading at a first, if not second grade level already)
Yoga class was awesome. Cute-Regular-Instructor was back after a long line of lame substitutes. She really is good. And cute. Did I mention that?
The synthesizer I bought for work is fucking amazing. The sounds are just SO rich and complex, and the built-in arpeggiator patterns are SO well composed... The damn thing practically plays itself. (Well... I mean, once I figure out the sequencer, it WILL play itself!) I’m just composing little 3 minute snippets of Space Music (aka Yoga Music) like there’s no tomorrow. We could go into business selling yoga/meditation/relaxation/massage CD’s on the side!
I’ve got to move the damned thing out of my office, though – or I’ll never get any work done. It’s just too much fun to play with.
Anyway... that's all for now.
Dave
(** The giveaway? A PowerPoint presentation straight out of the default blue-gradient template. ATTENTION, BUSINESS-PEOPLE OF THE WORLD: For god’s sake... it’s not against the law to do a PowerPoint using another template! And oh! Look how the words drop in one at a time! THAT makes it easy to read.)
I'm not sure I could have done less work yesterday if I had tried. Kindergarten orientation, Yoga Class, new synthesizer... and today wasn’t much better. Now it’s 3:00 and I’m sitting in a “Fundraising and Grantwriting Workshop” at the public library. I plan on being bored stiff (**), but grantwriting IS part of my job description nowadays, so I figure, if I pick up even a single useful scrap of info, it’ll be worth it.
So, to recap yesterday. My daughter’s kindergarten teacher is just insanely nice in that way that only kindergarten teachers can be. Her classroom is festive, if a bit shabby, but I think she’ll enjoy it. The reading-resource teacher seemed really great too... she said lots of things that just sounded – “right” – which is good, since my daughter will probably need lots of individual attention. (She’s easily reading at a first, if not second grade level already)
Yoga class was awesome. Cute-Regular-Instructor was back after a long line of lame substitutes. She really is good. And cute. Did I mention that?
The synthesizer I bought for work is fucking amazing. The sounds are just SO rich and complex, and the built-in arpeggiator patterns are SO well composed... The damn thing practically plays itself. (Well... I mean, once I figure out the sequencer, it WILL play itself!) I’m just composing little 3 minute snippets of Space Music (aka Yoga Music) like there’s no tomorrow. We could go into business selling yoga/meditation/relaxation/massage CD’s on the side!
I’ve got to move the damned thing out of my office, though – or I’ll never get any work done. It’s just too much fun to play with.
Anyway... that's all for now.
Dave
(** The giveaway? A PowerPoint presentation straight out of the default blue-gradient template. ATTENTION, BUSINESS-PEOPLE OF THE WORLD: For god’s sake... it’s not against the law to do a PowerPoint using another template! And oh! Look how the words drop in one at a time! THAT makes it easy to read.)
Monday, August 16
Sunday, August 15
maybe tuesday...
Remember when I said on Friday that I was going to get a lot of work done...?
Oh well... so much for those grand plans. And with Monday featuring a yoga class, “Meet the Teacher” day at kindergarten, and the probable delivery of a cool new synthesizer, and Monday isn’t looking too promising in the work department either.
I want to work... I really do!
Remember when I said on Friday that I was going to get a lot of work done...?
12:00: Co-workers knock on office door, invite Dave out for Thai food.
1:00: Finish lunch, Stop with co-workers at The Guitar Center
2:00: Leave Guitar Center, Dave returns to work.
3:00: Co-worker brings Dave a USB interface that allows you to plug a guitar or bass directly into your Mac.
4:45: Dave finally stops fucking around making multi-track recordings on his Mac and goes home.
Oh well... so much for those grand plans. And with Monday featuring a yoga class, “Meet the Teacher” day at kindergarten, and the probable delivery of a cool new synthesizer, and Monday isn’t looking too promising in the work department either.
I want to work... I really do!
with, one would presume, genuine fleas...
Yesterday was SUCH a nice day, we decided to try to get OUT of the house for a change. We’ve seen ads touting the fact that “Alabama’s Largest Outdoor Flea Market” is located just a few miles from our house. So we figured... why not? My wife’s assessment of the experience....?
”We certainly seem to have more than the average allotment of TEETH.”
Dave’s assessment of the afternoon...?
”I have NEVER seen so many 15 year olds pushing strollers!”
Welcome to the REAL Alabama. It’s a very scary place. People selling chickens. A tattoo-and-body-piercing trailer. (Which I immediately dubbed “The Hepatitis Express”.) A goat an a leash. Sparkly back-lit Jesus Art.
Can we go back to Target now?
Yesterday was SUCH a nice day, we decided to try to get OUT of the house for a change. We’ve seen ads touting the fact that “Alabama’s Largest Outdoor Flea Market” is located just a few miles from our house. So we figured... why not? My wife’s assessment of the experience....?
”We certainly seem to have more than the average allotment of TEETH.”
Dave’s assessment of the afternoon...?
”I have NEVER seen so many 15 year olds pushing strollers!”
Welcome to the REAL Alabama. It’s a very scary place. People selling chickens. A tattoo-and-body-piercing trailer. (Which I immediately dubbed “The Hepatitis Express”.) A goat an a leash. Sparkly back-lit Jesus Art.
Can we go back to Target now?
Friday, August 13
beep, beep?
This has happened to me several times since I moved down here…
I’m driving my car, and I’m sitting at red light – there is a long row of cars in front of me, and a long row of cars behind me. Since it looks like I’ll be stopped for a while, I take the opportunity to look for a CD or some Altoids or my sunglasses or something and take my eyes of the road for a few seconds. Then I look up to find that the cars in front of me have moved 30-50 yards ahead. Clearly the light turned to green – I dunno, three, maybe five seconds ago. And I look in my rear view mirror at the long line of cars behind me, and what are they doing??
NOTHING!!!
They’ve just been sitting there for 5 seconds waiting for me to move. What the FUCK?
”Well now, I reckon he’ll move when he’s right good and ready…”
For God’s sake, people… BEEP YOUR FREAKING HORN!!! How else am I supposed to know when I’m being an idiot.
Stupid southerners.
Five seconds!! It blows me away. In NY State you get maybe 2 seconds. In Manhattan you get about 1/2 a second. It makes me want to conduct a cross-country research project where I would just travel the country sitting at green-lights with a stopwatch and timing the average beep-lag-time. I’d like to see the resulting map. Do you think the Department of Transportation would fund something like that?
This has happened to me several times since I moved down here…
I’m driving my car, and I’m sitting at red light – there is a long row of cars in front of me, and a long row of cars behind me. Since it looks like I’ll be stopped for a while, I take the opportunity to look for a CD or some Altoids or my sunglasses or something and take my eyes of the road for a few seconds. Then I look up to find that the cars in front of me have moved 30-50 yards ahead. Clearly the light turned to green – I dunno, three, maybe five seconds ago. And I look in my rear view mirror at the long line of cars behind me, and what are they doing??
NOTHING!!!
They’ve just been sitting there for 5 seconds waiting for me to move. What the FUCK?
”Well now, I reckon he’ll move when he’s right good and ready…”
For God’s sake, people… BEEP YOUR FREAKING HORN!!! How else am I supposed to know when I’m being an idiot.
Stupid southerners.
Five seconds!! It blows me away. In NY State you get maybe 2 seconds. In Manhattan you get about 1/2 a second. It makes me want to conduct a cross-country research project where I would just travel the country sitting at green-lights with a stopwatch and timing the average beep-lag-time. I’d like to see the resulting map. Do you think the Department of Transportation would fund something like that?
zipadee-doodah…
What a morning… the weather here is unbelievable. If this is what it feels like every time a couple of tropical storms breeze through the Gulf – bring it on!! It felt like it was 50º when I left the house this morning – which probably means it was 62º, but still… a definite Sunroof Day. Yay for that.
I’m in such a good mood, it seems a shame to WORK. So instead I’m ripping the background music off of one of my Yoga DVDs (aaaaahhh… soothing Yoga Music!) and enjoying some Earl Grey tea with lavender – which is a little flowery (and gay) for a morning tea, but nice.
Part of my good mood this morning might also be related to having a pretty relaxing evening last night. Both kids were asleep by 8:00 – the wife was asleep by 8:30 (!!) – so I just made a frozen pizza and watched The Matrix. And the little one slept through the night without waking, which he’s doing about 50% of the time nowadays. (And it only took 19 months!) So, I’m even bordering on “well-rested” for a change.
Also, our house is clean, which I think gives me a sort of sub-conscious sense of well-being when I’m at home.
As a result of all this “well-being”, I plan on doing some actual work today. I have a “Letter of Intent” I want to finish up for a grant proposal I’m writing. And I want to edit the text of the DNA video my boss is working on. And boy, does it need editing! Not sentence-grammar-level editing, but… idea-flow-structural editing. Hello? Ever hear of a transition? Jeez.
So – given that it’s nearly 10:00… I should probably get started on some of that.
Sigh…
What a morning… the weather here is unbelievable. If this is what it feels like every time a couple of tropical storms breeze through the Gulf – bring it on!! It felt like it was 50º when I left the house this morning – which probably means it was 62º, but still… a definite Sunroof Day. Yay for that.
I’m in such a good mood, it seems a shame to WORK. So instead I’m ripping the background music off of one of my Yoga DVDs (aaaaahhh… soothing Yoga Music!) and enjoying some Earl Grey tea with lavender – which is a little flowery (and gay) for a morning tea, but nice.
Part of my good mood this morning might also be related to having a pretty relaxing evening last night. Both kids were asleep by 8:00 – the wife was asleep by 8:30 (!!) – so I just made a frozen pizza and watched The Matrix. And the little one slept through the night without waking, which he’s doing about 50% of the time nowadays. (And it only took 19 months!) So, I’m even bordering on “well-rested” for a change.
Also, our house is clean, which I think gives me a sort of sub-conscious sense of well-being when I’m at home.
As a result of all this “well-being”, I plan on doing some actual work today. I have a “Letter of Intent” I want to finish up for a grant proposal I’m writing. And I want to edit the text of the DNA video my boss is working on. And boy, does it need editing! Not sentence-grammar-level editing, but… idea-flow-structural editing. Hello? Ever hear of a transition? Jeez.
So – given that it’s nearly 10:00… I should probably get started on some of that.
Sigh…
Thursday, August 12
as school approaches...
And the spectre of actually WAKING the eldest child begins to loom (Waking a child?! The horror!) we are attempting to nudge bedtime backwards from 8:30... to 8:00... to 7:30...
Tonight, both kids were in bed by 7:50.
That, as Martha Stewart would say if she weren't incarcerated, is a Good Thing.
And the spectre of actually WAKING the eldest child begins to loom (Waking a child?! The horror!) we are attempting to nudge bedtime backwards from 8:30... to 8:00... to 7:30...
Tonight, both kids were in bed by 7:50.
That, as Martha Stewart would say if she weren't incarcerated, is a Good Thing.
Wednesday, August 11
explaining it to the poor aussies...
Elanor over at Symposiasts posted a rant about G.W. Bush and one of his inane campaign speeches today that included the words - "I just don't get this guy." And I was gonna leave her this note, but the notes on her site were down, so I decided to post my note here.
There's is nothing to "get". Our President is as dumb as a box of hammers. I'm tired of people making excuses... "Oh, he's just plain-spoken"... "Oh, he's just not a good public speaker".... No. The guy is just not particularly bright. One look in the guy's eyes and you can TELL that his pilot light is just not on. You can TELL!! Can't you tell, in real life, after talking to someone for 60 seconds if they are a smart person or NOT a smart person?? Yes - you can! And every time I see Bill Clinton on Letterman or John Stewart lately, it makes me SICK that we have gone from having a president who is that smart and that eloquent to having a president who is a bona-fide BOOB.
Democracy SUCKS. You should have to provide proof that you scored at least a 1000 on the SAT in order to vote. Then we wouldn't have problems like this. And maybe that makes me an "elitist" but to paraphrase the good folks at Get Your War On - if by "elitist" you mean "Not the dumbest motherfucker in the room" - then yeah, I'll cop to being an elitist.
(Oh - Get Your War On fuking ROCKS, by the way)
Elanor over at Symposiasts posted a rant about G.W. Bush and one of his inane campaign speeches today that included the words - "I just don't get this guy." And I was gonna leave her this note, but the notes on her site were down, so I decided to post my note here.
There's is nothing to "get". Our President is as dumb as a box of hammers. I'm tired of people making excuses... "Oh, he's just plain-spoken"... "Oh, he's just not a good public speaker".... No. The guy is just not particularly bright. One look in the guy's eyes and you can TELL that his pilot light is just not on. You can TELL!! Can't you tell, in real life, after talking to someone for 60 seconds if they are a smart person or NOT a smart person?? Yes - you can! And every time I see Bill Clinton on Letterman or John Stewart lately, it makes me SICK that we have gone from having a president who is that smart and that eloquent to having a president who is a bona-fide BOOB.
Democracy SUCKS. You should have to provide proof that you scored at least a 1000 on the SAT in order to vote. Then we wouldn't have problems like this. And maybe that makes me an "elitist" but to paraphrase the good folks at Get Your War On - if by "elitist" you mean "Not the dumbest motherfucker in the room" - then yeah, I'll cop to being an elitist.
(Oh - Get Your War On fuking ROCKS, by the way)
forgot to write...
Every other Wednesday is kinda busy at work - we have a Science Team meeting and I usually have to rush in and burn some stuff to DVD to bring to the meeting and I skip my yoga and I forget to write in my weblog. Then we got into an hour-long discussion/argument about whether there is-or-is-not any relativistic gravitational time dilation in a UNIFORM gravitational field. (There is - I was wrong - and I'm still not happy about it. Fucking general relativity) So now I'm back at my desk with some time to write.
I'm burning some CD's I took out of the library yesterday, not to mention THREE Yoga videos that I'm going to rip to my hard drive for later viewing. So nice to have an empty 250 Gig HD on my desk! One of the Yoga videos features an instructor named "Rainbeau Mars". Rainbeau? Do you think Mr. and Mrs. Mars KNEW she was going to grow up to be a yoga instructor? Hmmm. She's pretty fucking hot, I will say. ANYway, I get easily bored, so it'll be nice to have some additional videos around.
I'm doing it... I'm talking about yoga again. Dammit.
I spent a good bit of yesterday evening (re)hooking up all the video components to the TV, using cool fabric cable-guide stuff to tame the CableOctopus behind the new AV-shelf we just bought. We're almost done buying things, I swear.
Then to test the home theatre system, I popped in "2001: A Space Odyssey". Oh my GOD that looks nice on the new TV. I decided I had to watch the whole thing, and stayed up too late as a result. I woke up this morning with a headache - I suppose I can blame "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite" for that.
It's lunchtime and I want OUT of the office, but I don't know what to do. Hmmm. Maybe it's time for a massage again. It's been three weeks? Maybe only 2. Hmmm. Still... it feels like time!
Every other Wednesday is kinda busy at work - we have a Science Team meeting and I usually have to rush in and burn some stuff to DVD to bring to the meeting and I skip my yoga and I forget to write in my weblog. Then we got into an hour-long discussion/argument about whether there is-or-is-not any relativistic gravitational time dilation in a UNIFORM gravitational field. (There is - I was wrong - and I'm still not happy about it. Fucking general relativity) So now I'm back at my desk with some time to write.
I'm burning some CD's I took out of the library yesterday, not to mention THREE Yoga videos that I'm going to rip to my hard drive for later viewing. So nice to have an empty 250 Gig HD on my desk! One of the Yoga videos features an instructor named "Rainbeau Mars". Rainbeau? Do you think Mr. and Mrs. Mars KNEW she was going to grow up to be a yoga instructor? Hmmm. She's pretty fucking hot, I will say. ANYway, I get easily bored, so it'll be nice to have some additional videos around.
I'm doing it... I'm talking about yoga again. Dammit.
I spent a good bit of yesterday evening (re)hooking up all the video components to the TV, using cool fabric cable-guide stuff to tame the CableOctopus behind the new AV-shelf we just bought. We're almost done buying things, I swear.
Then to test the home theatre system, I popped in "2001: A Space Odyssey". Oh my GOD that looks nice on the new TV. I decided I had to watch the whole thing, and stayed up too late as a result. I woke up this morning with a headache - I suppose I can blame "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite" for that.
It's lunchtime and I want OUT of the office, but I don't know what to do. Hmmm. Maybe it's time for a massage again. It's been three weeks? Maybe only 2. Hmmm. Still... it feels like time!
Tuesday, August 10
bored warrior one...
I've been to this yoga class three times, and never had the same instructor (or seen any of the same people) twice. Yesterday's substitute was clearly not a yoga expert, since she clearly did not know enough poses to fill an hour class. Which means she would just make us hold a pose for like, 15 fucking minutes. And even THEN she had to repeat herself. The only part that didn't suck was the 15 minutes of savasana/meditation at the end. I was losing my concentration and drifting into these weird waking dreams. Or maybe I was just falling asleep. It was strange, but in a good way.
The other thing is - there was another guy in the class yesterday. And as much as I've complained about Alabama, and how men don't DO yoga in Alabama, and how weird and New Yorky everybody thinks I am... the thing is... I kinda liked being the only guy in yoga class. It made me feel... I dunno... weird and New Yorky.
Anyway, the other thing that was weird about it is that as soon as there is another guy in the class, you immediately get this atmosphere of male-competitiveness. "Oh yeah? I can yoga better than YOU, dude... check out THIS "Tree" pose... Huh? Huh? Whatsa'matter? Getting a little wobbly there? Yeah... you WISH you were as centered as ME, chump!"
This could not be MORE missing the point of yoga.
Anyway, I'm sore from all the hour-long Downward Facing Dogs, so I skipped my morning practice today. Maybe I'll do some side-stretchy things after lunch or something. Did I mention that I touched my toes the other day? I mean - from a totally standing, legs straight posistion... I bent forward and my fingertips actually touched my fucking toes. I'm not sure that has EVER happened before, and if it has, it hasn't been since puberty. That's the cool thing about yoga... 2 or 3 weeks and you actually start to notice that something is WORKING.
(Do I talk about Yoga too much all of a sudden? I'm I turning into one of THOSE people?? Yeech!)
Anyway - it is thunderstorming like a motherfucker outside. It is 9:30 AM and it is PITCH-DARK outside. Living in NY for so long... I've forgotten what a really nasty thunderstorm is like. There is certainly no shortage of them around here.
Ok... time to make some tea and then put together some scanned artwork into an "animatic". Look at me! I'm doing "pre-production"!
I've been to this yoga class three times, and never had the same instructor (or seen any of the same people) twice. Yesterday's substitute was clearly not a yoga expert, since she clearly did not know enough poses to fill an hour class. Which means she would just make us hold a pose for like, 15 fucking minutes. And even THEN she had to repeat herself. The only part that didn't suck was the 15 minutes of savasana/meditation at the end. I was losing my concentration and drifting into these weird waking dreams. Or maybe I was just falling asleep. It was strange, but in a good way.
The other thing is - there was another guy in the class yesterday. And as much as I've complained about Alabama, and how men don't DO yoga in Alabama, and how weird and New Yorky everybody thinks I am... the thing is... I kinda liked being the only guy in yoga class. It made me feel... I dunno... weird and New Yorky.
Anyway, the other thing that was weird about it is that as soon as there is another guy in the class, you immediately get this atmosphere of male-competitiveness. "Oh yeah? I can yoga better than YOU, dude... check out THIS "Tree" pose... Huh? Huh? Whatsa'matter? Getting a little wobbly there? Yeah... you WISH you were as centered as ME, chump!"
This could not be MORE missing the point of yoga.
Anyway, I'm sore from all the hour-long Downward Facing Dogs, so I skipped my morning practice today. Maybe I'll do some side-stretchy things after lunch or something. Did I mention that I touched my toes the other day? I mean - from a totally standing, legs straight posistion... I bent forward and my fingertips actually touched my fucking toes. I'm not sure that has EVER happened before, and if it has, it hasn't been since puberty. That's the cool thing about yoga... 2 or 3 weeks and you actually start to notice that something is WORKING.
(Do I talk about Yoga too much all of a sudden? I'm I turning into one of THOSE people?? Yeech!)
Anyway - it is thunderstorming like a motherfucker outside. It is 9:30 AM and it is PITCH-DARK outside. Living in NY for so long... I've forgotten what a really nasty thunderstorm is like. There is certainly no shortage of them around here.
Ok... time to make some tea and then put together some scanned artwork into an "animatic". Look at me! I'm doing "pre-production"!
Monday, August 9
dude, where's my keyboard...?
I ordered that music workstation last week, and according to the site's webpage, the damned thing hasn't shipped yet. It's kind of a small retailer - I should know better. It's really worth the extra $50 to deal with somebody large and reputable who actually has stuff IN STOCK, or will at least TELL you BEFOREHAND if the thing you ordered is OUT of stock.
So, I called them today to see what was up, and my call was transferred to a guy who introduced himself as "Tango".
Tango??
Oh, now my confidence is just soaring, knowing my order is being handled by a guy named "Tango"!
Anyway, "Tango" assures me that the keyboard will ship today... or maybe later this week... if they come in.
Thanks, Tango... that really clears things up for me, dude. Rock on...
I ordered that music workstation last week, and according to the site's webpage, the damned thing hasn't shipped yet. It's kind of a small retailer - I should know better. It's really worth the extra $50 to deal with somebody large and reputable who actually has stuff IN STOCK, or will at least TELL you BEFOREHAND if the thing you ordered is OUT of stock.
So, I called them today to see what was up, and my call was transferred to a guy who introduced himself as "Tango".
Tango??
Oh, now my confidence is just soaring, knowing my order is being handled by a guy named "Tango"!
Anyway, "Tango" assures me that the keyboard will ship today... or maybe later this week... if they come in.
Thanks, Tango... that really clears things up for me, dude. Rock on...
just five more weeks, mom?
Public school started here today - can you believe it?? The second week of August? Damn. My daughter starts next week, I thought that was bad. It's draconian enough that they make the poor kids wear uniforms to public school, at least let them have a freakin' vacation!
Although - really, what do I care?
Yoga class today. Then... who knows? I'd like to get another 5:00 of narration written today, then maybe think about storyboarding chapter 4 of the video. I've taken to tacking up 4x6" index cards onto the wall next to my desk with colored pencil drawings of the shots I'm planning. It's more fun making educational videos if you pretend you work at Pixar.
The weekend was about as productive as one can hope for. We cleaned the kids' rooms... or tried to anyway. The boy's is at about the 90% level, but the girl's is no more than 50%. What a freaking disaster area. And then there is the playroom, which... I dunno. It seems to me once you cram so many toys into a room that there is no room to play, it ceases to be a playroom and just becomes a big giant closet. It's looking like a "before" picture from Clean Sweep in there.
I also hung the ceiling fan in our bedroom - finally. There was a snafu with the builders whereby they didn't double-wire the ceiling fans in the LR or the Master BR. They claim it's because there were already recessed lights in the ceiling, so there was no reason to have the fan light on a separate switch. Ummm.... no.... what if we want the FAN on and the LIGHTS off? Like in the middle of the day? How the fuck are we supposed to do that when the ceiling is 14 feet high? So we got them to install remotes on the fans. Anyway, after hanging that fan, I have to say... electricians must develop pretty serious shoulder muscles. I can NOT hold my arms above my fucking head for that long!
Anyway - it looks nice. We are having our first "houseguests" on Thursday, which means we must consider our house to be almost ready for public consumption. And yet - there are still boxes.... always boxes.
Ok. That's it for me. Time for our Monday Morning Meeting at work. I need to make up a list of things to pretend to have accomplished last week!
D.
Public school started here today - can you believe it?? The second week of August? Damn. My daughter starts next week, I thought that was bad. It's draconian enough that they make the poor kids wear uniforms to public school, at least let them have a freakin' vacation!
Although - really, what do I care?
Yoga class today. Then... who knows? I'd like to get another 5:00 of narration written today, then maybe think about storyboarding chapter 4 of the video. I've taken to tacking up 4x6" index cards onto the wall next to my desk with colored pencil drawings of the shots I'm planning. It's more fun making educational videos if you pretend you work at Pixar.
The weekend was about as productive as one can hope for. We cleaned the kids' rooms... or tried to anyway. The boy's is at about the 90% level, but the girl's is no more than 50%. What a freaking disaster area. And then there is the playroom, which... I dunno. It seems to me once you cram so many toys into a room that there is no room to play, it ceases to be a playroom and just becomes a big giant closet. It's looking like a "before" picture from Clean Sweep in there.
I also hung the ceiling fan in our bedroom - finally. There was a snafu with the builders whereby they didn't double-wire the ceiling fans in the LR or the Master BR. They claim it's because there were already recessed lights in the ceiling, so there was no reason to have the fan light on a separate switch. Ummm.... no.... what if we want the FAN on and the LIGHTS off? Like in the middle of the day? How the fuck are we supposed to do that when the ceiling is 14 feet high? So we got them to install remotes on the fans. Anyway, after hanging that fan, I have to say... electricians must develop pretty serious shoulder muscles. I can NOT hold my arms above my fucking head for that long!
Anyway - it looks nice. We are having our first "houseguests" on Thursday, which means we must consider our house to be almost ready for public consumption. And yet - there are still boxes.... always boxes.
Ok. That's it for me. Time for our Monday Morning Meeting at work. I need to make up a list of things to pretend to have accomplished last week!
D.
Sunday, August 8
Saturday, August 7
everything zen... i don’t think so...
I did some more office decorating today. Besides dropping $600 of the boss’s money on a new sofa, I made a trip to BB&Beyond to pick up some candles and little rocks and whatnot. Then when I got back to my office I proceeded to set up my “Zen Fountain”. You know those little motorized trickly water things that are supposed to soothe and relax you, but really just make you have to pee twice as often as normal?
Anyway...
It’s a sort of black plastic bowl with fake plastic rocks. But I took out the fake plastic rocks and replaced them with these big chunks of real obsidian, and some smooth black river rocks. The real rocks look much nicer. Bit when I set the thing up, and turned it on, I noticed that the hum of the little pump was louder than the trickle of the water. There’s nothing particularly relaxing about a little motor going “BRZZZZZZZZZ” so I spent about an hour fucking around with the thing... adjusting the water level, repositioning the motor, changing the pump speed, moving the rocks around. I was getting pretty pissed off.
Is it missing the point when you find yourself getting pissed off at your “Zen Fountain”?
Yeah. I thought so.
I finally got it working quietly. Then I burned my thumb lighting one of my scented candles.
Yeah... Relaxing sucks.
I did some more office decorating today. Besides dropping $600 of the boss’s money on a new sofa, I made a trip to BB&Beyond to pick up some candles and little rocks and whatnot. Then when I got back to my office I proceeded to set up my “Zen Fountain”. You know those little motorized trickly water things that are supposed to soothe and relax you, but really just make you have to pee twice as often as normal?
Anyway...
It’s a sort of black plastic bowl with fake plastic rocks. But I took out the fake plastic rocks and replaced them with these big chunks of real obsidian, and some smooth black river rocks. The real rocks look much nicer. Bit when I set the thing up, and turned it on, I noticed that the hum of the little pump was louder than the trickle of the water. There’s nothing particularly relaxing about a little motor going “BRZZZZZZZZZ” so I spent about an hour fucking around with the thing... adjusting the water level, repositioning the motor, changing the pump speed, moving the rocks around. I was getting pretty pissed off.
Is it missing the point when you find yourself getting pissed off at your “Zen Fountain”?
Yeah. I thought so.
I finally got it working quietly. Then I burned my thumb lighting one of my scented candles.
Yeah... Relaxing sucks.
Friday, August 6
Thursday, August 5
2 hour lunch...
I just do NOT feel like working this week. So I went shopping. I need shirts.
Now, I buy most of my clothes from the mid-level department stores… Target, Kohls, sometimes JC Penney. But for the past few years, it’s been Kohls. They were close to my house, they had good prices, and their clothes were fairly nice. Well – they don’t have Kohls down here. They have them in Atlanta, and they have them in Pensacola… but not here. So…
So I figured now that I have a bit more money, I might take it up a notch to the Macy’s/Dillard’s level. Dillard’s is the big anchor-store at the nearby mall, and let me tell you… shopping at clothes there is fucking EXHAUSTING! Because at the cheapo department stores, you’ve got your shirts pretty much all in one place and you jeans pretty much in one place, and your t-shirts pretty much in one place, and your dress shirts…
But at the upscale places, everything is by department and by designer. You’ve got your Hilfiger (**) department and your Ralph Lauren department and your Nautica department and your Calvin Klein department… ”Oh look, there are some shirts over there… Oh look! More shirts… hey… look way over in that corner… SHIRTS! And oh! Look…” I feel like I’ve walked a hundred fucking miles, and I only wound up buying ONE FUCKING SHIRT. And it took OVER AN HOUR!!
Then I went to Target and bought 3 shirts. It took 10 minutes.
And this is the other thing. While I was at Dillard’s walking around in the Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein sections, I kept finding myself drawn to shirts that I would NEVER wear, and yet I’d see them and think “Hey - that's nice. Ooh, I like that!” And yet these shirts are totally not my style. And who is to blame for this phenomenon? It’s the fucking “Queer Eye For The Straight Guy”, that’s who. Somehow, my subconscious self has developed better taste than my conscious self, and it’s all because of that TV show. Damn you, Carson Kressley!!
Anyway, I guess I’m stuck with my suburban-cheapskate fashion sense for now. At least until I can stop cringing at the prospect of paying $65 for a pair of pants.
Dave
(** By the way – Tommy Hilfiger makes some ugly fucking clothes, people.)
I just do NOT feel like working this week. So I went shopping. I need shirts.
Now, I buy most of my clothes from the mid-level department stores… Target, Kohls, sometimes JC Penney. But for the past few years, it’s been Kohls. They were close to my house, they had good prices, and their clothes were fairly nice. Well – they don’t have Kohls down here. They have them in Atlanta, and they have them in Pensacola… but not here. So…
So I figured now that I have a bit more money, I might take it up a notch to the Macy’s/Dillard’s level. Dillard’s is the big anchor-store at the nearby mall, and let me tell you… shopping at clothes there is fucking EXHAUSTING! Because at the cheapo department stores, you’ve got your shirts pretty much all in one place and you jeans pretty much in one place, and your t-shirts pretty much in one place, and your dress shirts…
But at the upscale places, everything is by department and by designer. You’ve got your Hilfiger (**) department and your Ralph Lauren department and your Nautica department and your Calvin Klein department… ”Oh look, there are some shirts over there… Oh look! More shirts… hey… look way over in that corner… SHIRTS! And oh! Look…” I feel like I’ve walked a hundred fucking miles, and I only wound up buying ONE FUCKING SHIRT. And it took OVER AN HOUR!!
Then I went to Target and bought 3 shirts. It took 10 minutes.
And this is the other thing. While I was at Dillard’s walking around in the Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein sections, I kept finding myself drawn to shirts that I would NEVER wear, and yet I’d see them and think “Hey - that's nice. Ooh, I like that!” And yet these shirts are totally not my style. And who is to blame for this phenomenon? It’s the fucking “Queer Eye For The Straight Guy”, that’s who. Somehow, my subconscious self has developed better taste than my conscious self, and it’s all because of that TV show. Damn you, Carson Kressley!!
Anyway, I guess I’m stuck with my suburban-cheapskate fashion sense for now. At least until I can stop cringing at the prospect of paying $65 for a pair of pants.
Dave
(** By the way – Tommy Hilfiger makes some ugly fucking clothes, people.)
a peek into my inner sanctum...
Certain readers have been whining about the absence of recent photos, so today I finally got around to posting some pictures of my office to my photoblog. Nothing terribly fascinating, but it should give you a good idea of what I do all day.
Or don’t do, as the case may be.
Certain readers have been whining about the absence of recent photos, so today I finally got around to posting some pictures of my office to my photoblog. Nothing terribly fascinating, but it should give you a good idea of what I do all day.
Or don’t do, as the case may be.
Wednesday, August 4
no work today...
Got to work a little late today, did my yoga, wrote in my weblog, made some tea. It is now 9:05. My wife is bringing the Little Guy to my office at 10:30 so she can go to a doctor appointment. She'll bring him back just in time for me to go to lunch, I suppose.
Maybe I'll try to do a little work around 1:30.
I ordered a Korg Triton LE-88 for work last night ($1799). (It's the BIG one.) You think it's hard for me to get anything done NOW... wait till I have THIS puppy sitting in the corner of my office!
Got to work a little late today, did my yoga, wrote in my weblog, made some tea. It is now 9:05. My wife is bringing the Little Guy to my office at 10:30 so she can go to a doctor appointment. She'll bring him back just in time for me to go to lunch, I suppose.
Maybe I'll try to do a little work around 1:30.
I ordered a Korg Triton LE-88 for work last night ($1799). (It's the BIG one.) You think it's hard for me to get anything done NOW... wait till I have THIS puppy sitting in the corner of my office!
a real review… if anyone cares…
The Rush concert in Atlanta was good, but not great. The acoustics were pretty awful… really BOOMY bass that muddied up everything. The bass drum was actually feeding back (feedbacking?) for the first 5 songs or so. Outdoor arenas… bah! The trio played nicely, as always, but I felt like they were a bit *tighter* on the last tour – especially the vocals. Geddy sounded a little strained for a lot of the first set. Better after intermission.
The song-choice was pretty predictable (“Gee, I wonder if they’ll play Tom Sawyer?!”) with only a few surprises. They’ve put “Subdivisions” back into the rotation, and they dusted off “Between the Wheels” which was really nice to hear. There was a bit of a 1984-1987 ghetto after intermission wherein they played a few too many songs that I’ve heard them play a zillion times live, back in the day. At one point after three late80’s songs in a row, I leaned over to my friend Sam and said – “Hey, do we have any homework due in Social Studies tomorrow?” But they opened with a nice medley of stuff off of their first three albums, and they threw in “The Trees” and “Xanadu” near the end, and closed with “Limelight” so… can’t complain really.
I was surprised to see young people there… 18-22 year olds. All I could think was – “Just how old IS your older brother anyway??” It’s the only explanation that makes sense. Otherwise, I’m not even sure how an 18 year-old even knows that Rush EXISTS. (**)
So… all in all, a nice way to spend an evening. It was fucking HOT, though. Damn. I have to remember not to go to outdoor shows down here. Up in MD and NY it actually COOLS OFF after the Sun goes down. I don’t think that happens here until November!
So… there you go. Apologies to those of you who couldn’t give a crap.
Dave
The Rush concert in Atlanta was good, but not great. The acoustics were pretty awful… really BOOMY bass that muddied up everything. The bass drum was actually feeding back (feedbacking?) for the first 5 songs or so. Outdoor arenas… bah! The trio played nicely, as always, but I felt like they were a bit *tighter* on the last tour – especially the vocals. Geddy sounded a little strained for a lot of the first set. Better after intermission.
The song-choice was pretty predictable (“Gee, I wonder if they’ll play Tom Sawyer?!”) with only a few surprises. They’ve put “Subdivisions” back into the rotation, and they dusted off “Between the Wheels” which was really nice to hear. There was a bit of a 1984-1987 ghetto after intermission wherein they played a few too many songs that I’ve heard them play a zillion times live, back in the day. At one point after three late80’s songs in a row, I leaned over to my friend Sam and said – “Hey, do we have any homework due in Social Studies tomorrow?” But they opened with a nice medley of stuff off of their first three albums, and they threw in “The Trees” and “Xanadu” near the end, and closed with “Limelight” so… can’t complain really.
I was surprised to see young people there… 18-22 year olds. All I could think was – “Just how old IS your older brother anyway??” It’s the only explanation that makes sense. Otherwise, I’m not even sure how an 18 year-old even knows that Rush EXISTS. (**)
So… all in all, a nice way to spend an evening. It was fucking HOT, though. Damn. I have to remember not to go to outdoor shows down here. Up in MD and NY it actually COOLS OFF after the Sun goes down. I don’t think that happens here until November!
So… there you go. Apologies to those of you who couldn’t give a crap.
Dave
(**)Anybody who suggests “their Dad” gets fucking slapped.
Monday, August 2
the drive...
I got an early start this morning... left Atlanta around 7:00 AM. I was holding out for a Denny’s for breakfast, but I finally got too tired to and hungry and had to settle for a Waffle House someplace between Atlanta and the state line. I halfway expect I may be the first person to ever use a laptop in this place!
(One technology they seem to have mastered, however, is the air conditioner. God damn people... can you say “overcompensate”?? It’s only 8:00 in the fucking morning!)
One thing that never occurred to me yesterday was that I would be driving across a time-zone boundary. I told Sam I would arrive at 3:00 yesterday. I thought I was a half hour early, when in actuality I was a half hour LATE! I suppose the plus side is that the 5 hour drive back will magically only take four hours today.
--- --- --- ---
I managed to make it to the northern outskirts of Montgomery... all but falling asleep. Luckily I remembered spotting a Starbuck’s at an upscale mall around here. I decide to stick with a “grande” tea today. Because, although yesterday’s “venti” served to keep me awake for the drive, I had to stop and pee every 45 minutes.
What kind of backwoods Starbuck’s doesn’t have wireless Internet access? A: the kind in Montgomery fucking Alabama! God, I can’t believe I live here.
Oh, by the way... my “BIGBANG” license plates came in the mail the other day. They make me very happy. But the funniest part was the return address on the envelope they came in. They weren’t mailed from the DMV or the department of transportation. The plates came straight from the Alabama Correctional Facility: Holmden Tag Factory. How cool is that?! I thought that whole “prisoners-making-license-plates” thing was just a cliché. Apparently not.
Welcome to Alabama – the land where clichés are born.
I got an early start this morning... left Atlanta around 7:00 AM. I was holding out for a Denny’s for breakfast, but I finally got too tired to and hungry and had to settle for a Waffle House someplace between Atlanta and the state line. I halfway expect I may be the first person to ever use a laptop in this place!
(One technology they seem to have mastered, however, is the air conditioner. God damn people... can you say “overcompensate”?? It’s only 8:00 in the fucking morning!)
One thing that never occurred to me yesterday was that I would be driving across a time-zone boundary. I told Sam I would arrive at 3:00 yesterday. I thought I was a half hour early, when in actuality I was a half hour LATE! I suppose the plus side is that the 5 hour drive back will magically only take four hours today.
I managed to make it to the northern outskirts of Montgomery... all but falling asleep. Luckily I remembered spotting a Starbuck’s at an upscale mall around here. I decide to stick with a “grande” tea today. Because, although yesterday’s “venti” served to keep me awake for the drive, I had to stop and pee every 45 minutes.
What kind of backwoods Starbuck’s doesn’t have wireless Internet access? A: the kind in Montgomery fucking Alabama! God, I can’t believe I live here.
Oh, by the way... my “BIGBANG” license plates came in the mail the other day. They make me very happy. But the funniest part was the return address on the envelope they came in. They weren’t mailed from the DMV or the department of transportation. The plates came straight from the Alabama Correctional Facility: Holmden Tag Factory. How cool is that?! I thought that whole “prisoners-making-license-plates” thing was just a cliché. Apparently not.
Welcome to Alabama – the land where clichés are born.
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