Meh, I'd've guessed higher

83% Geek

Chicago Dating

Does Anyone Know Where The Love Of God Goes

When the waves turn the minutes to hours?

In memory of the crew of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald

iPod Shuffle!

Laugh if you must... cry if you want to:

The Way-Clay Aiken
The Severed Garden (Adagio)-The Doors
Midnight Star-Weird Al Yankovic
Black Beauty-Duke Ellington
Original Faubus Fables-Charles Mingus
New World-Björk
Gypsy Eyes-The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Operation Spirit-Līve
Operation: Mindcrime-Queensrÿche
Highway 61 Revisited-pj harvey
'Round Midnight-John Coltrane
Overblown-Mudhoney
My Last Words-Megadeth
Candy's Room-Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Sure Know Something-KISS

Hmmm... I can explain the Clay Aiken. Wait, nevermind... let's just call it a spur of the moment thing. I certainly got my share of umlauts and diacriticals up there, eh? Especially with Op Spirit rolling onto Op: Mindcrime. I'm pleased that my jazz fetish is beginning to show up on the shuffle, as is a track from my favorite live (as opposed to Līve)album: BS&TESB: 1975-85.

Diwali

Today, Kathy, Ian, my mom and I went to Agnes Scott to attend a Diwali dinner sponsored by the campus South Asian society. It was okay, although I had to deal with Ian's diminishing temperament when the food was late in coming to the hall.

While we were sitting there, eating our meal and bopping along to the Bollywood videos they played during the meal, I was struck with a thought. When I was about Ian's age, I had none of the cultural exposure that he has had in his life. There were no South Asians around us, nor were there any Hispanics in our neighborhood that I was aware of. The neighborhoods were almost entirely white.

I didn't get much in the way of cultural enlightenment in those early days; it wasn't until I was in high school that I had much exposure to any "other" culture aside from African-Americans. After I moved to Florida, however, I truly got a sense of the diversity of the world's people. I learned about them, spent time with them, and learned to appreciate them. I grew up on the trailing edge of the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, and I'm grateful that I have learned to love my fellow man regardless of where they come from.

I hope and pray that Ian can continue that trend and see the world as something other than a racial battlefield. I think he's off to a good start, though. Have a beautiful Diwali, and love all around you.

Just a One-Sentence Blog Post

Whatever happened to Crystal Harley?

A Story I Shouldn't Tell, But Must

This is a story that I have been meaning to tell for almost a week. WARNING! This may contain some unsettling imagery, but you're big enough to handle it, methinks.

Halloween, Ian and I had gone to Decatur to meet up with Kathy and celebrate the day with the students on campus. We had started home, and Kat decided to take the boy back home in her car. I gave her his necessities bag (his rapidly becoming former diaper bag) and said I'd meet them back at the house.

When I got home, I noticed that it was taking longer than usual for her to make it in from ASC. When she finally got here, I asked what had taken so long. This is what she told me.

Kat was making her way from Decatur to I-20 and availing herself of some of Ian's Halloween chocolate. For some reason, she had grabbed onto a chocolate bar that had partially melted in the sun, and it smeared all over her hands. Wanting to get things clean ASAP, she pulled over off of Candler Street, which runs through some pretty rough areas in East Atlanta.

She rummaged through Ian's bag for a wipe, only to find that we had run out. Desperate to clean up the chocolate, she reached for the next best thing - one of Ian's pull-ups. She grabbed the chocolate, wiped her hands, then got out of the van to toss it in the garbage.

For whatever reason, Kat decided to not let the rest of the chocolate go to waste, so she began to eat the remains of the chocolate bar out of the pull-up. Around that time, she looked up to see a woman staring open-mouthed at her... eating something brown... out of a diaper-like object.

Kat then said she very sheepishly placed the pull-up in the trash, calmly got back in the van and walked away. She felt embarrassed about it, but said that it might have saved her life if she ever breaks down in that part of the town. "Anyone crazy enough to eat something out of a diaper ain't worth messin' with," she imagined the conversation the woman might have had with anyone who might have been listening.

Indeed, my sweet, indeed.

Mondays... I could never get the hang of Mondays

Actually, it wasn't too bad today, considering. The worst thing that happened was that the daycare that we thought had an opening available didn't, although they did take our paperwork should an opening present itself.

Ian got to play in his sandbox today for the first time, and even as I grumbled over having to sweep up the outflow after him, I felt good that he was able to go and play outside on the deck. I got a couple of interesting job-related calls as well; keep your fingers crossed.

In The Midst of Life, We Are In Death

Today was All Saints' Sunday at our church - a time to reflect and remember the friends and loved ones we have lost over the past year. As part of the service, our choir performed John Rutter's Requiem. If you've never heard it, find a copy and listen. It's a stunning piece of work.

As we sang though the oratorio this morning, I couldn't help but think of the people I've known, and the people that my own friends have known, who have passed on in the past 12 months. I thought of them, smiled a little, came near to tears at more than one point, and said prayers for their souls.

Bob Hankins
David McLaughlin
Helen Apperson
Suzanne Messick

I remember.

Filling Up My Closet

This morning I was doing my laundry and putting my clothes in my new closet when I took a look at what was in there.

Shirts. Specifically, dress shirts. Shirts that I could be wearing to a job, or at least a job interview. Shirts that would look pretty darn spiffy in the fluorescent glow of your typical high-rise cubicle. Shirts begging for a stain from some sloppily-eaten Chinese food. White shirts. Green shirts. Blue shirts. Yellow shirts. Even a pink shirt.

Alas, it seems that my shirt collection is destined to be worn only for church, reunion and family portrait occasions. It has been over a month since we moved here, and I've only had one bite on my resume. It's as if I'm invisible here. I need to find a job soon or else we may very well lose our house. Having to foreclose on your house two months after you move in? That would not be a very good thing, especially at Christmas.

Hopefully, something good will happen soon, and I can start taking my dress shirts out of the closet on a daily basis.

iPod Shuffle-NaBloPoMo edition

I realize this may seem like fudging on the NaBloPoMo event, but I feel I need to do this before I go on to more important issues.

1) Revelation (Mother Earth)-Ozzy Osbourne
2) I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man-Prince
3) She Loves You-The Beatles
4) Every Night-Paul McCartney
5) Parker's Mood-Charlie Parker
6) Lakini's Juice-Līve
7) The Odd Ball-Henry Rollins
8) Stone Free-The Jimi Hendrix Experience
9) I Can't Watch This-Weird Al Yankovic
10) Gingerbread Boy-Miles Davis
11) Never Enough (Big Mix)-The Cure
12) Goodbye Pork Pie Hat-Charles Mingus
13) Take The Long Way Home-Supertramp
14) Snake-pj harvey
15) Got The Time-Anthrax

Hmmm... I gotta ruminate on that shuffle. More later.

NaBloPoMo-Yr Tw

As I see, it is once again National Blog Posting Month. And again, I shall endeavor to entertain the mass(es) by posting once a day for November. The trick this time is that I shall be posting different content to both this blog and to my MySpace blog thingie.

I can't promise it'll be exciting, or even worth a minute of reading, but I promise there'll be something for at least thirty days.

Cheers!

Flippin' Cats!

I know that I have had my share of embarrasing moments in my life. Heck, you ALL know I have had a special gravitational attraction to catastrophe. But yesterday morning just beat it all out.
I had been up 'til about 3 Friday night/Saturday morning trying to get Ian to bed. He just refused to go to sleep, and frankly I can't remember if he passed out first or if I did. In any case, I didn't wake up 'til about 9 Saturday AM. To make things more interesting, I had forgotten to herd the cats into our garage for the night.

Kathy was already up and rehearsing music for a requiem we're doing at our church in a few weeks. I had passed out in our guest room after unsuccessfully coaxing Ian to come sleep with Daddy, or just to sleep, period! When I woke up, I decided I needed at least a few minutes in my own bed and I went to the master bedroom.

For whatever reason, I decided to crawl into bed on Kathy's side. I don't know what made me do it; I attribute it to Murphy's law. In any case, I had just crawled into the sheets and pulled the quilt over me when I rolled on my side and felt a distinctive "squish" on my bare leg.

In an instant, I decided it had to be one of three things:
1) a washcloth Kathy had been using and discarded on the bed for some odd reason.
2) a hairball horked up by one of our cats
3) "Oh dear God, no."

I lifted up the quilt and top sheet and looked down at my leg. Sure enough...

A cat had pooped in our bed.

I don't know why I didn't smell it when I walked in the room. I don't know why I had to think of other possibilities. I just know that when I realized what it was, I jumped out and bundled up all of the bed linens to take to the washer for immediate processing.

The offending cat (we know who it was since she's done this kind of thing before, but not to this degree) has been banished from the living area, and may be headed to a rescue shelter before the week is out. It sucks because this cat is Ian's favorite. She snuggled him in his crib back when he was a newborn, and she has basically been by his side ever since. She's also a very sweet cat, which makes it that much harder. With the bed poop incident, however, it may be time for Lovecat to find a new home.

I'm taking offers.

Moving On

We've moved. Outside of Atlanta. More later.

Ipod Shuffles for Peace

Or something like that. Actually, I needed to put one of these up, 'case it's been a while:

1. Once-Pearl Jam
2. The Best Of Times-Styx
3. When The Levee Breaks-Led Zeppelin
4. I'm Not In Love-10CC
5. She Hates My Job-Local H
6. Hand Of Doom-Black Sabbath
7. Many Meetings-Howard Shore (from LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring)
8. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)-Metallica
9. Scandalous-Prince
10. Nothing Else Matters (live)-Metallica
11. The End-The Doors
12. U Got the Look-Prince
13. Nookie-Limp Bizkit
14. Hedwig's Lament-Hedwig and the Angry Inch
15. Y'all Want A Single-Korn

Hmmm... I was afraid it was going to be all old, OLLLLLD stuff, and then Local came along with the Hand Of God and livened things up. Two Princes, two Metallicas, and an instrumental break from Lord of the Rings. Y'all wanna single? Fark that!

On the Edge of History

Tonight I'm sitting here watching the Dodgers and Giants on ESPN, as Barry Bonds is looking for home run #755, which is the major league record set by Hank Aaron. I'm a bit divided on the inevitability of Bonds breaking the record. On the one hand, records are made to be broken. However, I'm not all that anxious to see Barry become the new Home Run King, and not simply because of the steroid allegations.

My reticence to cheer Barry stems from the fact that I remember when Aaron hit 715. I didn't see it, mostly because we were lucky to have a color TV back in those days. I do remember reading it the next day in the paper, and even though I was 7 and just barely getting into baseball, Hank Aaron immediately became my favorite player. The fact that he was playing for the Atlanta Braves, my de facto hometown team, only made it that much sweeter for me.

It wasn't until I was an adult that I fully understood the full implications of Hank Aaron's achievement. The color line, the hate mail he got for an entire winter before breaking Babe Ruth's long-standing record - even the fact that he broke it in Atlanta, a city in the heart of a former Confederacy only beginning to rise above the sludge of racism; it all made the story so much more incredible. It made Aaron's record that much more precious.

That's what makes Bonds' chase so painful to me. Not so much the question of banned substances; it's the potential loss of one of the great stories in sports history. The story of Hank Aaron's mom running out to home plate and embracing him to shield him from potential snipers will be replaced by a sullen Barry Bonds sitting at his locker, stonewalling reporters who ask him pointed questions about androstenone. Sure, there'll still be old and aging farts like me who'll remember the story and try to pass it on to our sons; I just hope they'll listen.

Update from Stonewall Country

It's been a while, so I decided to update y'all on what's going on in my life, and that of my family.

• I am no longer working at the newspaper. Those of you who keep in semi-regular touch with me know why. I'm looking for work, and while I haven't found anything new yet, I do have a couple of irons in the fire. I'll let ya know what happens.


• After a brief flirtation with moving to Alabama, and then Georgia, Kathy and I have decided to stay here in VA, at least for now. We're currently scoping out some property on which to put a house. Depending on job situations and the mode of housing we choose, we could have a house-warming some time in the early fall. (crossing fingers)


• Speaking of kicking it in the country, Kathy has decided to start up a new blog dedicated to her interest in home decor, cooking, and all things domicile-related. It seems only natural, seeing as how she only has subscriptions to some 127 home-decorating magazines.* Check it out at http://kathysmagicwindow.blogspot.com/.


• Ian is still growing, although his interest in all things Thomas is augmented by worship of Tweetsie Railroad. We went to see the 'Road in June, and since then Ian plays with his model Tweetsie almost as much as he does Thomas and Friends. He has even taken to singing "I've Been Working On The Railroad" as "Tweetsie Is The Railroad".

That's all I got for the moment. Now that I'm unemployed, I guess I can/should update more often, eh?

How you?

*Figure slightly exaggerated. Slightly.

Somehow, I've always known...

Your results:
You are The Joker

The Joker 67% Magneto 62% Mr. Freeze 58% Mystique 58% Apocalypse 54% Dr. Doom 52% Riddler 51% Venom 50% Poison Ivy 48% Lex Luthor 46% Dark Phoenix 46% Two-Face 46% Catwoman 43% Green Goblin 42% Kingpin 34% Juggernaut 30%

The Clown Prince of Crime. You are a brilliant mastermind but are criminally insane. You love to joke around while accomplishing the task at hand.

Click here to take the Super Villain Personality Test

Too Close To Home

I was thinking about posting something here about the weekend, maybe something to do with the Don Imus situation, but all that was thrown out the window this morning.

Someone (or some people, I'm not entirely sure) has shot up the Virginia Tech campus, and as of this moment, at least 22 people are dead. People here at the newspaper are listening to radio broadcasts and streams, and awaiting news of any local casualties. Frankly, I'm praying that's not the case. I'll try to keep a running commentary as I hear anything new on the situation.

1:50 pm

Now hearing on WVTF that between 20-30 are dead.

2:23 pm

Someone in the office just said the toll's up to 32.

2:35 pm

Now the New York Post has as its top story 32 dead, 21 injured.

I have to share this story from this weekend, but first, in case you didn't know, I have a phone interview with a software company tomorrow morning Wish me luck, and pray that I can get out of the newspaper business before it does me in. Anyway... Yesterday, Da Kat, Li'l Ian and I went to Harrisonburg to look at modular homes and scope out some land a Realtor had told Kathy about. The first part of it was pretty cool, although the prices that we had heard were so low start to add up once they decide to add on A/C ductwork, basement, etc. Still and all, we have a better idea of what we want in a house and land, and what we DON'T want. Which brings me to the land looksee. Kathy had called a Realtor about finding a decent size lot where we could put a modular home. The Realtor suggested a place about 10 miles outside H'burg that she said would be nice because "there's a lot of other people with modulars out that way." However, she couldn't get away to show us the property, so she gave us directions. After lunch, we set out for the lot, which was located near a town called Singer's Glen. After driving about 15 miles (not 10), we decided to stop at a little country store in Singer's Glen to make sure our directions were right. It turns out they were mostly right, but somehow we were missing a few key turnoffs to get to the property. The store clerk's wife set me straight and, as I was walking out the door, she wished me "good luck". I assumed she meant that in a navigational sense. Boy, was I ever wrong. After following her directions, we got to Mayberry Drive. Sounds nice, doesn't it? Well, it was except for the fact that there was a free-range chicken farm on the road. And by "free-range", I mean that there were chickens all over the friggin' road! There were also a multitude of empty bread wrappers blowing through the chickens' de facto coop/shelter yard, and across the road. It reminded me of this guy who lived near me when I lived in North Carolina, only instead of 5-6 chickens running loose, this guy in VA had about 30 at the moment. Once we cleared that hurdle, it was onto the next task; finding the turnoff road. We went one way, and all we saw were a couple of guys working on their cars, and some pretty wormy looking kids walking down the road with no particular aim or purpose. We got to the end of the road and turned around, hoping it would be at the other end. As we came back, we noticed one of the kids walking a rather sizable pit bull. I slowed down to let the kid move to one side or the other, but he just kept walking towards us. I thought, "OK, I realize this is a little bitty Prius, and I have some hippy-dippy stickers on the back of it, but if you don't move, you and your big dog are gonna get a hurtin'!" Finally, the kid moved, but he shot me a look like I was twice as old as I am. We kept going and finally reached the other end of Mayberry, and our destination: Copperhead Road. Now, I should have realized that a road named for a song about moonshiners/pot growers who make lawmen "disappear" might not be the best road in the world, but we had come that far, and by God, we were a-gonna see this friggin' lot if it killed us! We should have turned around at the sign, but we didn't. We should have turned around when we saw the steep grade of the narrow dirt road, but we didn't. We should have turned around when we saw the trailer covered over with plywood and a crudely-lettered sign saying "All we are saying... give Jesus a chance", but... we didn't. We thought about that one, but we didn't turn or back out. We kept going another 50 yards, and then it happened. A HUGE dog lunged out at us, and snapped its jaws at my driver's side window. It made us jump, but we recovered when we saw that Redneck Cujo was chained to his doghouse. Then I noticed something else lying beside the doghouse. I nudged Kathy and said "hey, look over there." At that moment, our jaws dropped when we realized what it was. What we first thought was another large dog sacked out on the ground beside the Attack Dog From Hell's clapboard kennel was in fact a full deer carcass. It was at that moment that Kathy and I looked at each other, mouths agape, and said to one another "Aw, Hell no!!!" I put the car in reverse and we headed back to Harrisonburg as best we could. We were laughing all the way back over this, especially after I came up with my three theories of how the deer had ended up a tasty snack for Damien II: Electric Boogaloo. They are as follows: The owner found the deer as roadkill and decided it was cheaper than buying a 50-lb. bag of dog food. The owner shot the deer on a hunting trip and decided "Hell, I'll give it to Dolchstoss Jr. He'll eat it up!" That dog was the meanest sumbitch ever put on God's Green Earth BTW, we think that when Kathy told the agent that we were looking to put up a modular, she thought we meant "trailer". We looked, and along Mayberry/Copperhead Road, it was wall-to-wall trailers, and not one true modular home. Craziness.

Just that kind of week

Just call it diarrhea, cause it's been the... well, you get the picture. I'll just give you some lyrics from Ani DiFranco, to give you my mindset at the moment:

Every State Line

Got pulled over in west Texas
So they could look inside my car
He said are you an American citizen
I said "Yes sir,
So far."
They made sure I wasnt smuggling
Someone in from Mexico
Someone willing to settle for America
'cause theres nowhere else to go

I broke down in Louisiana
And I had to thumb a ride
Got in the first car that pulled over
You can't be picky in the middle of the night
He said "Baby, do you like to fool around
Baby, do you like to be touched?"
I said "Maybe some other time
Fuck you very much"

I'm in the middle of Alabama
They stare at me where ever I go
I dont think they like my haircut
I dont think they like my clothes
I cant wait to get back to New York City
Where at least when I walk down the street
Nobody ever hesitates
To tell me exactly what they think of

A little town in Pennsylvania
There was snow on the ground
I was parked in an empty lot
Where there was no one else around
But I guess I was taking up too much space
As I was trying to get some sleep
'cause an officer came by anyway
And told me I had to leave

And every state line
Theres a new set of laws
And every police man
Comes equipped with extended claws
Theres a thousand shades of white
And a thousand shades of black
But the same rule always applies
Smile pretty, and watch your back

Shuffle Off To iPod-land

Fifteen songs, all on my iPod:

1) Erotic City-Prince
2) A Girl Like You-Edwyn Collins
3) Get Off Of My Cloud-The Rolling Stones
4) Riviera Paradise-Stevie Ray Vaughan
5) Take It To The Limit-The Eagles
6) Nobody Told Me-John Lennon
7) Indifference-Pearl Jam
8) The Long Grift-They Might Be Giants
9) Love Song-Tesla
10) Tear Me Down-Spoon
11) Rid Of Me-PJ Harvey
12) Interstate love Song-Stone Temple Pilots
13) Don't Cry (Alternative Lyrics)-Guns N' Roses
14) Animal-Pearl Jam
15) St. Cecilia Mass: Credo-Gounod

Clintster -- Now 87.5% Pain Free

Recovery continues apace. Mom went home today, so much of my day was spent puttering around the house, watching MST3K ("Tormented"), and harvesting marigold seeds from the dead plants in our garden. Hopefully we shall be planting those seeds in the next few weeks.

I'm not sure what to say about the Oscars, except that I won the family betting pool and found myself one Cadbury bar richer for it. Yeees, we McGuires know how to live la vida loca. I was quite glad to see Jennifer Hudson, Martin Scorsese and Forrest Whittaker win Oscars, and seeing the very short clip of West Bank Story made me want to see it. Unfortunately, we just don't have that kind of cinema here in The Lex.

I've always thought that it would be a great idea if the Academy got the nominated short films (features, animated, docs) and put them all into a compendium for sale to the general public. I'd definitely shell out $20 American for a DVD of this year's nominees. Does anyone know where I could get something like that, or at least see the short film nominees online? Lemme know.

Gettin' Better All The Time

Sorry I haven't been posting updates the past couple of days, but... well, it's been a rough couple of days.

Things were going well when I posted Thursday morning, and then PPHHHHBBBBTTT!!!

WARNING! The following couple of paragraphs should not be read if you have a weak constitution. If you think it's gonna bug you, skip ahead to the next red text you see. Just sayin'.

That afternoon, I began feeling very headache-y and nauseous. I had dinner and then promptly brought it back up. I thought it was the antibiotic I was taking, but oh how wrong I was!

That night I was vomiting about every two hours. I also noticed that it seemed to happen not long after I gave my nose a saline bath. Kathy called my ENT and he suggested laying off the saline and codeine for a couple of days, which I did. Thursday night, I was in AGONY! I couldn't sleep, I was drinking a bottle of water an hour to keep hydrated and promptly chucking it every two hours. Also, my nostrils had become completely blocked up and I couldn't breathe through my nose at all. Not a good night

The next day, my mom took me to the ENT and he checked me over. I told him what was going on, and he advised me to spend the weekend at home, resting comfortably. The doc determined that it was the bits of blood and tissue coming out of my sinus cavity that was making me so ill. He also evacuated my nostrils (most expensive nose pickin' EVER), and sent me home with his cell number in case I had any more trouble. On the way home, I threw up in my mom's car. I've only done that one other time in my life (sorry, Brian).

Friday was a great big restless sleep cycle for me. I caught naps when I could, drank plenty of water, and watched "Star Trek" in between. I still had a few vomitous episodes that night, but nothing like Thursday.

Here endeth the grossness

Saturday was a bit better. Although my head was constantly aching, my stomach was less upset. I finally managed to hold down a meal for the first time since Wednesday, and last night I got a relatively restful night's sleep. We'll see how today goes; although I feel better than I did, I'm still not 100%.

Post-Op, or "I'm Still Alive"

Well, it's been a day since I regained consciousness from the septoplasty, and aside from the swelling, the stuffed up nose, a bit of pain that can't be masked by codeine, and a strict order to sleep propped up, I'm pretty good.

We went in about 7:30 yesterday morning, and I had to have some blood drawn to start off. After I got my gown and cap on (pic to follow), I went into OR and they gave me anesthesia. I was listening to a baby screaming a couple of beds down from me (I think she was having tubes put in), and suddenly I dropped off.

Apparently it took over two hours for the doc to work on my septum; it was that bad, he told Kathy and my mom (who came up for the op). After I woke up, I had some lunch (my first food or drink since the previous night; man, meat loaf never tasted so good!) and after letting the anesthetic wear off a while longer, I was discharged and came back home.

I'm having to haul around a bunch of gauze and tape to put under my nose in case of nosebleeds. When I have it on, I look kinda like Earl when he worked at the fast food restaurant, and he was made to wear a hair net for his mustache. I'm woozy from the drugs, but I'm feeling relatively strong. Hopefully, I'll be back to work in a few days.

Thanks for all the well-wishes, good thoughts and prayers. I could feel it as I was going under.

Randomities

Yep, it's one of those days...

• Do I really need to say anything about Britney Spears' follicle follies? Why yes... yes I do. After a week of seeing every two-bit hustler line up to claim to be the baby-daddy of Anna Nicole Smith's semi-orphaned child (Gah, you know this is gonna end up on "Maury" eventually), it was nice to get this little diversion. I'd be a little happier if Britney were aiming to go off on a "Ani DiFranco/Sinead O'Conner vibe" for her career, but it seems more like she's hoppin' the crazy train for the Chateau Marmont and looking for the John Belushi Memorial Suite.
• Speaking of ingenues heading down a one-way road, I finally watched "Mean Girls" last night, and I have to say Lindsay Lohan was pretty good in it. She might even be able to develop into a first-rate actress if she can ever conquer her demons. The scene where she drinks herself into vomitory bliss was more than a wee bit ironic, given her current situation.
• T-two days until my septoplasty, and I'm feeling a bit nervous. I know it's a fairly common procedure, but I am still nervous about being anesthetized and having someone mess with my honker.
• The Endor Holocaust. Discuss.

Everybody have fun tonight.

Finishing Up the Week With a Few Things

So I'm a day late on this. Meh...

• Our power problems continued Thursday evening, when I came home for lunch and the lights were out again. I picked up Ian that night and went to Kathy's office in anticipation of the three of us "camping out" that night. Kathy called about 7 to tell me that the lights were back on, and I went to pick up a pizza in celebration. On our way home, Kat called me AGAIN to tell me the lights had gone out again! Went back to the pizza parlor, Kathy joined me and Ian to eat the pizza, and then we headed back to get the supplies we knew we'd need for the night, only to find that the lights were on AGAIN!!! At that point, we said "fark it", and stayed home. Luckily the lights stayed on.
• Y'know, the word "again" looks a little weird. Don't know why; the thought just struck me.
• I spent much of Thursday afternoon and Friday morning cataloging my blog posts into categories. I noticed that so far, the most popular category for my postings is "Meme". I gotta stop taking so many online quizzes.
• Britney Spears shaved her head last night. Now, I'd like to chalk this up to trying to establish some indie cred for her music comeback, but given that she just went through the Lindsey Lohan Revolving Rehab Door, methinks Ms. Fed-Ex is on her way to a stay at a somewhat more stringent institution.
  

Just Another Shuffle Through Friday

1) Desperado-The Eagles
2) Yuri-G-PJ Harvey
3) Outta Me Onto You-Ani DiFranco
4) Professor Nutbutter's House of Treats-Primus
5) Electric Eye-Judas Priest
6) Heartache Tonight-The Eagles
7) Numb-U2
8) Wicked Little Town-The Breeders
9) Evenflow-Pearl Jam (live, Saskatoon 2006)
10) Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love-Van Halen
11) Ghostbusters-Ray Parker
12) Godzilla-Blue Oyster Cult
13) Help!-The Beatles (Love version)
14) Hot Hot Hot!!! (extended mix)-The Cure
15) Tumbling Dice-The Rolling Stones

Well. The Beatles return to the shuffle list after a hiatus. And for some reason, The Eagles come up twice! O, #8 is from the "Wig In A Box" tribute album.

I have stories to tell of last night, but I'll wait until this afternoon to regale them. In the meantime, have fun.

Spiffing up the Jernt

OK, I gave in and went whole hog on the new Blogger designs. You like?

I'll be gradually adding back all my old blogs from the blogroll, and adding new features as I feel like it, so sit back and enjoy CS-CL 2.0.

Where's Daniel Powter When You Need Him?

Not that I really want him around me; I just have that friggin' "Had a Bad Day" song running through my head this evening, and I want to "thank" him upside HIS head for putting it in there.

It started around 3AM. We had an ice storm move through our area, and thanks to a combination of ice buildup and reckless drivers, power was knocked out through most of the rural parts of our county, including my house. By the time we woke up this morning , the temperature inside the house was 60°.

As a result, Ian's daycare was closed, so Kathy took him with her to work, since I had deadlines to meet on our weekend paper. I got to work, and realized that several of the ladies in our office had brought their kids into work, because their schools were closed for the day. They set up shop in our layout room and watched movies for the better part of the day.

When it came time to deal with the Weekender, I did not go into the layout room, opting instead to check pages in the advertising department. Around 2:30, I got the last page from the print shop across the street, and sent it on its way. A little while later, the kids went home with their respective moms.

A little after 4pm, when most everyone had gone home, I was walking around the office, and by the layout room, when I noticed a light was on. I looked inside, and my light table had been left on. There was a negative on the table. When I went over to look at it, I discovered to my horror, that it was a negative for the Weekender.

I went into a panic and looked for anyone who could tell me what that negative was doing there. I figured a) someone had taken the negative out to inspect it and neglected to return it to the stack, or b) there had been a change made to that page, and no one had bothered to tell me about it.

I discovered it was in fact the latter, and I ended up having to take it to our printers to make sure the correct page made it into the Weekender. Unfortunately, the presses are in a town about 40 miles west of here, and Kathy had to use the car to get to her teaching gig, so I had to bundle the boy in the van with me, and drive all the way to Covington to deliver one freakin' negative.

Needless to say, I was pretty damn exhausted by the time Ian and I made it home. Luckily, the power had been restored to our home by the time we got there. This wasn't the worst Valentine's Day I've ever had. It wasn't good, but definitely not the worst. That VD was still 1989, when I had my heart ripped out and ground to a pulp before my very eyes. I'm not bitter, though. Nope. Not a bit. Nuh-uh. No way. Zero bitterness here.

Saturday Night's Alright for Bloggin'

What's been going on in my life? Glad you asked...

I'm going to finally get my operation to correct my deviated septum. A little more than a week from now, I'll go into the hospital and have the nose corrected that has been giving my endless trouble for the past couple of decades, at least. From all indications, it'll be a week of hellish recovery, followed by sweet, sweet nasal bliss. I'm just hoping it leads to a much softer snore and a healthier me.

I traveled over to help out another paper this week. They were having problems getting their photos to come out well, or at least as well as ours. I helped out as much as I could technically, but I think the problems may stem from something a bit deeper than that. I'm not saying my work environment is perfect, but I definitely sensed a bit of tension and ill will in their workplace, and it wasn't necessarily just cause I was there.

Meanwhile, I've been battling a cold for the past week, and as a result, my exercise program has gone south a bit. I'm hoping to resume Monday, but I don't know what shape I'll be in for the 5k in March. We'll see. We'll see.

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Do The iPod Shuffle

'Cause it's Friday (finally):

1) Wayfaring Stranger-Johnny Cash
2) Jump (For My Love)-Pointer Sisters
3) Let Love Rule-Lenny Kravitz
4) Calling All Nations-INXS
5) Tear Me Down-Hedwig and the Angry Inch
6) Velvet Goldmine-David Bowie
7) When The Music's Over-The Doors
8) Hold On Tight-ELO
9) San Diego Serenade-Tom Waits
10) Eruption-Van Halen
11) Small Town-John Mellencamp
12) Science-System Of A Down
13) The Needle Lies-Queensrÿche
14) Angry Inch-Hedwig and the Angry Inch
15) Baby Come Back-Player

Hmmm... no Beatles, I mean absolutely NO Beatles!!! Man, I don't know what happened there. However, I did get two Hedwig songs, and some K-Tel pop in there (don't judge me). Let's see if I can motivate myself into blogging about my life this week.

Another Freedom-Hating LED Terrorist

I am Frylock from Aqua Teen Hunger Force!!

Which Aqua Teen Hunger Force character are you??

You'd Prefer An Astronaut?

Oh. My. God!

Astronaut Arrested On Attempted Kidnapping, Battery Charges

You know, when I was a kid, I used to dream of being an astronaut. I wanted to go into space and contribute to the advancement of mankind. I wanted to wear a spacesuit and step outside my craft for an EVA. To me, men and women like Glenn, Armstrong, Young and Ride weren't just people, they were wonky role models who could do no wrong.

Of course, I've become a bit more jaded as the years have gone by, but for some reason I never really applied the same criteria to the US astronaut corps. When I saw this story pop up on the news this morning, though, it made me think a little bit about the classification of people into good and bad, based on ridiculous criteria like race, religion, national origin, or even profession.

I guess it just goes to show that even an astronaut can go crazy if the circumstances warrant it. Good thing this little show didn't blow up in orbit, eh?

Eine Kleine Updaten

OK, a few things to start of the month of February:

• My good friend Josh has started a new blog, dedicated to politics. He says it'll be a bit Boston-centric (seeing as he's from Woosta), but it should make for a good read. Link is in my blogroll, or you can go here.
• Speaking of people who make provincial politics interesting, I was saddened to hear that Molly Ivins has passed away. I first got into her when I was in college. Her columns on the Texas Legislature were classic, and she was the first to refer to The Only President We Have as "Shrub." Goodnight, Molly; hope you and Claytie are knockin' back a few in the great beyond and laughing over old times.
• I'm being treated for sleep apnea. A couple of weeks ago, I went to a sleep center to be analyzed, and found out yesterday that I am borderline high on for apnea. My ENT wants me to get another study (this time with a CPAP), but because of my deviated septum, I need to have that fixed first. I'll keep you updated.
• I have lost 10 pounds over the past month, as part of my New Year's resolutions. I am also training myself to run in my first race in many of years. It's a 5k, so it should be relatively low impact for me, but I'm keeping my eye on running in a marathon in September. Wish me luck.

More later.

Clints 100 To-Do List

On a message board for my college theatre group, someone challenged the rest of us to come up with a list of the 100 things we'd like to do before we die, and post it on New Year's Day. I'm pleased to say that I was able to compile such a list, and now I'm sharing it with you. Have fun!

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1. Leave this world a better place than when I came in.
2. Run a marathon
3. See Ian graduate college
4. Learn to play guitar and piano
5. Write a play or novel for publication
6. Go to Ireland
7. Have a luxury weekend
8. Spend a holiday helping the poor
9. Orbit the earth
10. Collect coins from every nation on Earth
11. View a total eclipse in person
12. Shake hands with a current President
13. See Willie Nelson in concert
14. Learn to speak fluent Spanish and Latin
15. Bring my brothers and sister together for a party
16. Have another child
17. Build my own furniture
18. Have a photo exhibit somewhere
19. Start a theatre company
20. Climb a Rocky Mountain
21. Go coast to coast in a convertible
22. See Bruce Springsteen in concert
23. Read the Iliad and Odyssey
24. Preach a sermon
25. Call a pro wrestling match
26. Drive a motorcycle
27. Hang glide off Grandfather Mountain
28. Learn to dive properly
29. Create a sculpture
30. Visit Lenin’s Tomb
31. Teach Ian to play baseball
32. Watch every Oscar winner for Best Picture
33. Make friends with someone from a completely different culture
34. Try mushrooms, just once
35. Own a basset hound
36. Live with the Amish for a year
37. Publish a comic book/graphic novel
38. Walk the Via Dolorosa
39. Ride a horse long distance
40. See the Great Pyramids
41. Win a blue ribbon at a county fair
42. Have a speaking role in a major film/television series
43. Sport a Mohawk
44. Learn a martial art
45. Get another tattoo
46. Deliver a baby
47. Celebrate an anniversary in Tahiti
48. See a Steelers game at Heinz Field
49. Dance with Kathy at a ball
50. Learn how to drive a tractor-trailer
51. Make it into the Guinness Book of World Records
52. See Prince in concert
53. Participate in a battle reenactment
54. Run for public office
55. Sing a solo in church
56. Be a CNN expert
57. Go on an archaeological dig
58. See a major league game in every baseball stadium in a season
59. Learn calculus and physics
60. Be grand marshal in a parade
61. Appear and WIN on Jeopardy
62. Host a dinner party for my best friends
63. Fire off an RPG (on a PRACTICE RANGE!)
64. Hang out with Eddie Vedder for a night
65. Ride in a hot-air balloon
66. Grow up without growing old (or is it vice versa?)
67. See one of those freakin’ Magic Eye things
68. Let everyone I love know that I love them
69. Play Santa Claus for kids
70. Throw out first pitch in a baseball game
71. Plant a flag at Omaha Beach
72. Settle things with my first two unrequited loves
73. Streak a major public event
74. Vacation in Cuba
75. Travel in a submarine
76. See KISS in concert
77. Participate in a political rally in Washington
78. Play Macbeth, Lear, Cassius, and Falstaff
79. Thank Paul and Ringo for being Beatles
80. Have a HUGE Christmas with family and friends
81. Be a redshirt in a Star Trek movie or TV series
82. Retrace Ferris Bueller’s day off
83. Send my mom to the Bahamas with a 25-year old Dominican
84. Learn to ski or snowboard
85. Watch a bullfight
86. Do a reunion with Andrea and Diona
87. Direct a mainstage play for UTP
88. Appear in an opera as a supernumerary
89. Go to Niagara Falls
90. Give a huge sum of money to a charity for abused and neglected children
91. Go to help out during a disaster
92. Achieve my ideal weight for my height
93. Attend every play on and off Broadway in one single trip
94. Write a joke for “The Daily Show”
95. Celebrate Christmas in London
96. Race a car along the track at Daytona
97. Look at myself as others see me, and be comfortable with it
98. Watch a sunset in Key West
99. Learn to rollerblade
100. Enjoy life