My Maine gal

So, Kathy's in Maine right now for a HEDS conference. She left Friday morning and won't be back until Wednesday evening. And she's called me at least 3 times a day since she left. Good thing too; I think I'd've gone nuts if I didn't hear from her at least once a day.

Last night she called me as I came home from Ruby's, and she was crying, saying she wanted to come home. She misses me that much. Wow. I never thought anyone would ever become that attached to me. Never. It's just an amazing feeling, after all the years I've pined for various women and cried their names in anguish at night as I lay awake in bed at 3am.

19 days and counting...

T-22 Days

Yes, I am counting down the days until the wedding. Kathy's still looking for a dress to wear during the rehearsal, but otherwise it looks like we've got everything planned. :)

Days like today are why I hate the fact that we've temporarily given up cable. I only found out this morning that Strom Thurmond passed away last night. I will not speak ill of the dead here, especially given that I went to the same church he did for a while. I may speak about this in more depth later. In the meantime, lemme talk about...

*whispering* sodomy.

Yesterday morning, the US Supreme Court struck down a Texas law forbidding the act of sodomy between gay and lesbian couples. I was pleased with the decision, since I believe what you do in the bedroom is your own damn bidness, so long as it's consensual. Beyond that, I really have no stake in the decision.

However, to hear the radio talk show Gang of Idiots tell it yesterday, this decision was the worst thing to ever happen on US soil. Sheesh, you'd think that the Supremes had decided that Al Gore really WAS the president after all.

Limbaugh rattled on for 45 minutes at the start of his show about the decision, saying that the Court was legislating its own personal feelings instead of strictly interpreting laws. He compared them to a "City Council" and the old Soviet Politburo. He decried them for usurping the power of the states. When callers finally got through, they chastised him for being against personal freedom, which he denied. It was hilarious to hear Rush lambaste the same Court he couldn't whip up enough praise for back in Dec. 2000.

Later on last night, Michael Reagan had on the president of Concerned Women for America, who denied she had anything against gays, then spent 30 minutes railing against the "homosexual agenda" that led to the decision. She saw this as a gateway for the legalization of polygamy, incest, bestiality, and pedophilia. Then came the topper.

She claimed that Ancient Greece and Rome fell because of their acceptance of homosexuality. REALLY? Funny, but I always thought that Greece fell because they couldn't compete with the military firepower and tactics of the Roman armies. I thought that the regionalism of Roman rule in the 5th Century, and a bad case of lead poisoning in the capital, led to the Empire breaking up in 476. And let's not forget that the Roman Empire became Christianized in the 4th Century, thanks to Constantine, and we all "know" that Christianity and homosexuality can't mix, right? *slaps forehead*

It amazes me that in this day and age, so many people can find little better to do with their time than to worry about whether everyone is following the Victorian script for copulation (man/woman, tab "a" in slot "b", missionary style, no accoutrements). Then again, I guess it's the bedroom busybodies that keep life intersting, give it some color, keep us feeling good about ourselves, keep America strong.

On second thought, no they don't; screw 'em.

And in case you were wondering...

Yes, I am workin' like a big dog to get this perfected. Don't mind me. :P

Ch-ch-ch-ch-chaaanges!

Okay, as you can see, I've altered the template for my blog. You like? I hope so.

Well, here we are, 23 days until the wedding. I'm bummed, however. Not because of the wedding, but because Kathy is headed out of town for the next few days. She has to go to a conference in Maine tomorrow, and won't be back until Wednesday. However, we have endeavored to have ourselves a butt-kickin' Fourth, so we got that going for us. :)

Not much else to report on at the moment. The head count for the wedding is 108, I think. It was less until Kathy's mom decided to invite a bunch of people she knew. Oh well, at least she can't invite people to go on the honeymoon with us. Or can she? AAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHH!!!

In any event, leave me some comments and tell me how you like the changes, mmmkay?

This or That Wednesday (I was busy Tuesday. :P)

1. Surf sites at random, or have a set list of regular reads?
I tend to stick to regular reads.
2. Do you visit mostly blogs, or news or other sites?
I visit a variety of sites; blogs, news, politics, entertainment...
3. Do you go online every day, or just a couple of days a week?
Every day, baby!
4. Do you allow comments on your blog, or not?
I allow comments, and I welcome them. Whether I get them, though, is another story. :P
5. Do you shop online at all, or at regular stores?
I've done some online shopping, but I mostly stick to the brick-and-mortars.
6. Have you ever done online bill-paying/banking, or not?
I have done online bill-paying, but it was kinda disastrous for me.
7. Which news site do you prefer... MSNBC.com or CNN.com? Or do you prefer some other one?
I prefer Yahoo! News and Google to the above, but if I had to make a one-or-the-other choice, I'd go with cnn.com.
8. Live chat rooms, or message boards?
Message boards. I can get my point across easier.
9. Instant messaging or e-mail?
I started off e-mail, then I got into IMing, now I kinda balance the two. It's much easier to reach me via e-mail, though.
10. Yes or no: have you ever met, or at least talked on the phone with, another blogger? If not, would you want to? Why or why not?
Ummmm, most of the bloggers I've talked to have been people I knew otherwise, so's I can't really answer the question.

That's all. More later.

Harrymania's running wild, brother...

Err...

Ohhh, I'm just wild about Harry, and Harry's wild about...

So, I joined in the madness, after documenting it for all time. Eh.

What a day! I woke up at 7 this (Friday) morning and after dressing, I got in the car and headed to Boone to a) get my tux measured, b) track down invitees (mainly at Horn) to see if/how many were coming, and c) take a break from my jobs. This was the first day off I had in a month, and I spent it going 500 miles round trip. Coulda been worse; I might have been rained on the whole time.

Anyway, I got back home about 8:30 tonight, and after Kathy and I ordered some pizza, we talked for a while and then I went downtown to photojournalize the Harrymania. When I got to the paper at 11pm, there were 3 people standing outside the bookstore across the street. I called Kathy and told her, and she snorted, "Figures. This is just a small town."

About a half-hour later, those illusions were shattered when I went over to the other bookstore selling HPatOotP (that just looks weird!), and they had a good 100 people cramming the aisles. I looked over at Books & Co., and they had well over 200 standing outside the store. I took plenty of shots, and I hope a couple of them make the paper.

Well, I got a double shift at Rubys in the morning, and I'm losing precious sleep. Night, all.

OK, then, we are now counting down to the wedding. The last 31 days of my bachelorhood or so. We've gotten some 60 guests confirmed so far, but we're still waiting on respond cards. Hopefully people will send them in before we have to break out the bats and start crackin' skulls! :P

On the news and info front, Kathy's been sick the past week, with some kind of virus (not SARS, not monkeypox!). Anyway, it's killing me, 'cause I haven't been able to kiss, hug, or even touch her for fear (hers, not mine) that I might get sick. Truth be told, I have been sniffling the past couple of dsay, but I think it's more from allergies acting up than anything.

The jobs are going all right. Obviously I like the paper more than waiting tables, but waiting tables at Ruby Tuesday isn't SO bad, except when they have the restaurant badly understaffed on FREAKIN' FATHER'S DAY!!!! But I'm over that now, so there.

Been talking to several people over the phone recently, mostly friends of mine who are planning to come to the wedding. I talked to Shane for the first time in over a year; he's coming in from LA with his soon-to-be-roommate Ian. He seems to be doing well in California; hopefully Kath and I can go see him out there one of these days.

Also talked to Diona last night, for a while. I've also heard recently from Chris Booth, Brian, Steve Palmer, and Joy. I think the thing I'm looking forward to the most, aside from marrying my HBB, is seeing all these disparate factions from our lives come together. My family and her family. My friends and her friends. Our fellow "Horn" alumni rubbing shoulders with other theatre folk. It should be a groovin' time for all. :)

The Geek Test I scored a 42.20907% (major geek). Why am I not surprised? :P

So, lemme tell you about Saturday.

I am working at Ruby Tuesday at the moment, so's I can get extra moolah for the wedding. Anyway, I was supposed to go in at 11:45 on Saturday. At 11:30, as I was about to walk out the door, I get a call from Ruby's asking where I was. The manager said "You were supposed to be here at 10:45." I told her I'd be right there, jumped in my car, and headed out the door.

As I was traveling down my street, a couple of birds flew directly in my path. I hit one of them, sending its... err, fecal matter spraying all over my hood and windshield. That's right; I knocked the shit out it, literally.

I kept going, and when I reached Ruby's I realized that I had left my key card at home. I went in and apologized profusely. The manager said it was okay, and I relaxed a little. Then another guy came in, complaining that he had been called at 11:30, when he thought he was supposed to be in at 11:45. We both checked the schedule, and lo and behold, we were supposed to be there at 11:45. Someone had made a mistake in filling out the daily schedule.

I got on the floor, and it was slow. I mean sloooooowwwww! As in I only had one friggin' table the entire afternoon slow! And I don't even want to go into the trouble I had with that table. The only good thing that came out of it was I got a $5 tip on a $22 check. Trust me, it cold have been much worse.

So, how was your weekend?

So THIS is Purgatory!

Well, after the nine... TEN circles of meme quiz (see below), it seems only natural to take one based on the REAL 9 circles of Hell. Guess what?

The Dante's Inferno Test has sent you to Purgatory!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very High
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	High
Level 2 (Lustful)	High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Moderate
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Very Low
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very Low
Level 7 (Violent)	Low
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Low
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Very Low

Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test

Lovely.

Smeg!

Finally, I found my niche quiz. :)

Lister - You are deeply misunderstood. You have
dreams and ambitions - it's just that people
can't see them past your slovenly, lazy, crass,
unwashed, beer-guzzling exterior.


The Ultimate Red Dwarf Quest towards Self-Discovery
brought to you by Quizilla

Aren't we all just workin' hard for the Friday Five?

1. What brand of toothpaste do you use?
I'm a Crest man, myself. Actually, I'm pretty content with Aquafresh, as well.

2. What brand of toilet paper do you prefer?
Charmin. C'mon, it's squeezably soft!

3. What brand(s) of shoes do you wear?
I don't really go by brands. If I had a choice, though, I'd wear Converse Chuck Taylors 24/7/365.

4. What brand of soda do you drink?
Coke. Specifically, Vanilla Coke.

5. What brand of gum do you chew?
Again, I don't have a strict loyalty, but I do like Wrigley's a lot, particularly Spearmint and Juicy Fruit.

Whine Line Time!

For those of you who are former Augustan/Aikenites, allow me to fill you in on what you're missing in this week's MetSpirit Whine Line:

(in order, and summarized for your pleasure)

*The GA legislature sucks
*The Chronicle and Austin Rhodes both suck at predictiing elections.
*Lowell Grenbaum (and local Democrats) suck.
*Teenagers suck
*Organic food sucks
*Gov. Perdue sucks for "betraying" conservative Repugs
*The dating scene sucks
*Trash pickup sucks
*Greenbaum sucks (again)
*Leadership Augusta sucks
*Segregated proms suck
*Sen. Joey Brush sucks
*Columbia County Repugs suck
*Dubya sucks
*Nightclubs for teens suck
*Frank Spears sucks
*This Modern World sucks
*The water department sucks
*Texas Dems and the Augusta commisioners suck
*Paving the canal path sucks
*Dubya, corporate nepotism, and ignorance about Iraq and 9/11 sucks
*The right-wing media suck
*Columbia Co. Sheriff's Dept. sucks
*Whiners about "lawn men" suck
*Not being able to see into publicly financed facilities sucks
*Not buying from local farmers sucks
*Not stopping liberals and Negroes sucks
*Privatized (and public, even) probation sucks
*Young teenagers throwing stuff sucks
*Dubya still sucks

There, I saved you about 10 minutes. You can thank me later.

Nine Levels Of Meme

All in all it's just another meme to do...

The way this one is structured reminds me of the line in Shrek about ogres having layers. Do they? Let's find out!

LAYER ONE
-- Name: Clint
-- Birth date: 08-07-66
-- Birthplace: Louisville (pronounced lew-is-vil), GA
-- Current Location: Virginia
-- Eye Color: blue
-- Hair Color: brunette with some gray streaking through to say "howdy!"
-- Height: 6'1"
-- Righty or Lefty: Righty, handily. Lefty, politically.
-- Zodiac Sign: Leo

LAYER TWO:
-- Your heritage: Lots of Irish, some English and French, a dash of German. Your standard Euromutt.
-- The shoes you wore today: Sandals
-- Your weakness: chocolate
-- Your fears: Death.
-- Your perfect pizza: Mmmm... pesto sauce, grilled chicken, artichoke hearts, and lots of mozz, feta and asiago cheese.
-- Goal you'd like to achieve: Learning to play a musical instrument.

LAYER THREE:
-- Your most overused phrase on AIM: I don't use AIM as often as I used to, but when I IM, I sometimes use LOL a bit more often than I should.
-- Your thoughts first waking up: Usually, it's "Hit the snooze button, Kathy!"
-- Your best physical feature: Well, I'd say it's my eyes. My fiancee has a different opinion.
-- Your most missed memory: Wait, does that mean one I've forgotten, or one that happened in the past and which I wish I could relive. I'll go with the latter and say it's memories of grade school. I could do with more coloring time. :)

LAYER FOUR:
-- Pepsi or Coke: Coke
-- McDonald's or Burger King: BK. My first job, and I LOVE their chicken sandwich.
-- Single or group dates: Single date.
-- Adidas or Nike: Converse. Chuck Taylors, baybee!
-- Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Lipton. You gotta brew that stuff, bee-yotch!
-- Chocolate or vanilla: Chocolate!
-- Cappuccino or coffee: Actualy, I'm more of a Mochaccino kinda guy, thanks.

LAYER FIVE:
-- Smoke: Once, once in a while. Now, no.
-- Cuss: Not too often, but still more than I like.
-- Sing: Sundays, Thursdays, and when I'm in the car.
-- Take a shower everyday: Try to. More often than not, I'm in the bath, though.
-- Do you think you've been in love: I am right now! (cribbed from Ombra)
-- Want to go to college: Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.
-- Like(d) high school: Wasn't a fan, really. (4 schools in 4 years'll do that to you)
--Want to get married: Boy, do I! Fortunately, I found someone else who wants to, too. To ME! :D
--Believe in yourself: I try to. It's difficult, sometimes.
-- Get motion sickness: When I was a kid, yes.
-- Think you're attractive: Pleh!
-- Think you're a health freak: Nope. I just keep from dying.
-- Get along with your parent(s): Definitely!
-- Like thunderstorms: I like 'em except when I'm outside and the lightning is closing in.
-- Play an instrument: guitar (barely)

LAYER SIX:
In the past month...
--Drank alcohol: One beer last night.
-- Smoked: Noper.
-- Done a drug: Just Aleve and Sudafed.
--Made Out: Yeah, baby! Yeah!
-- Gone on a date: Yeah, kinda.
-- Gone to the mall?: Once, in Roanoke.
-- Eaten an entire box of Oreos?: Sadly, no.
-- Eaten sushi: Nuh-uh!
-- Been on stage: Lest you count the church choir, no.
-- Been dumped: No, thank God(dess).
--Gone skating: No, but that's a good idea. Thanks, Meme!
-- Made homemade cookies: No. *pout*
-- Gone skinny dipping: No! Dammit, Meme, stop putting these ideers in my head!
-- Dyed your hair: No.
-- Stolen anything: On advice of counsel, I invoke my Fiftn Amendment rights. Hey, it worked for Ollie North!
-- You sound boring: :pesci mode: Boring? How about I bore a drill right through the middle of your freakin' skull? Does that sound "boring" to you?:/pesci mode:

LAYER SEVEN
Ever...
-- Played a game that required removal of clothing: I practically made a career out of it!
-- If so, was it mixed company: Yepper!
-- Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: About a dozen times too often.
-- Been caught "doing something": :raises eyebrow: Define "doing something", please.
-- Been called a tease: Never.
-- Gotten beaten up: A couple of times, when I was a kid.
-- Shoplifted: When I was really, really young.
-- Changed who you were to fit in: unfortunately, yes.

LAYER EIGHT:
-- Age you hope to be married: 36 years, 11 months, 12 days, and about 14 hours.
-- Numbers and Names of Children: I'd like to have two, maybe. Names? Dunno.
-- Describe your Dream Wedding: Planning it right now. There's no better dream than marrying someone who truly loves me.
-- How do you want to die: surrounded by family and friends.
-- Where you want to go to college: Finished, at least for now.
-- What do you want to be when you grow up: Slightly older.
-- What country would you most like to visit: Ireland

LAYER TEN:
-- Number of drugs taken illegally: 1 (maybe with another unknowingly mixed in)
-- Number of people I could trust with my life: At least 6
-- Number of CDs that I own: When I moved in with my fiancee, I had over 300.
-- Number of piercings: 0
-- Number of tattoos: 1
-- Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper?: Before I got my present job, about 2 dozen times. Now, it's every week!
-- Number of scars on my body: 5 or 6
-- Number of things in my past that I regret: Several, but I don't want to get into that.

BTW, I know there's no ninth layer. I'd take it as a tribute to Dante, frankly.

If I show you This, will you show me That?

1. Large or small family?
I grew up in a large family, but I'd prefer to have a smaller one.

2. Potato chips or pretzels?
Potato chips. Or are we talking about soft pretzels, in which case SOFT pretzels, definitely. With mustard. Brown, if you have it.

3. House or apartment?
House, by far! I don't think we could get squeezed into an apartment.

4. Zebras or giraffes?
I like giraffes better.

5. Candles or potpourri?
Candles! Romance, warmth, illumination. What more can I say?

6. Flowers or trees?
Trees are better for climbing, but I can always take a flower home. :)

7. Right or left-handed?
I like being right-handed, but I always wanted to be ambidexterous when I was a child.

8. Model trains or dolls/stuffed animals?
I love me some plushies, now.

9. Comedy or drama?
Hmmm, I don't want to have to choose. Comedy for watching, drama for performing, howzzat?

10. Thought-provoking question of the week: The city of Boston has recently banned smoking in all restaurants and bars. Would you want to see such a law passed in your city/town/country, or not?
Wait, wasn't that NYC? In any case, despite the obvious health benefits for non-smoking areas, I'm kinda against the spread of this kind of measure. I think there should be non-smoking areas in all public houses, and if a restaurant or bar wants to go smoke-free, I will patronize it all the more. However, I think a bar isn't a bar (sometimes) if there isn't a wafting of burnt tobacco products in the air. Just my opinion.

Friday Five later this evening, but first:

Can man live by bread... I mean, Guinness (and milk) alone?

Go. Read. Come back. Comment.