October 1998

Entry... 10/15/98 7:30pm

Thursday. Church night. The house is quiet. It's a big place when no one is here. I am eating candy smarties they gave out today at work. I have to set the VCR to tape Fraiser. New NYPD Blue is on next Tuesday. I can't get the new tv schedules right... I keep missing shows cause they moved them all around. I used to be able to sit still for 2 hours and watch them all in a row, and now it's a mess. Pretty soon, I won't watch anything anymore and the cycle will start again. I am not even sure if I will watch NYPD Blue after they get rid of Jimmy Smits. The promos have him in a hospital bed. Maybe Mattaboy shoots him. Now that would be interesting. Ok...Two words and I leave the NYPD Blue subject: Ricky Shroeder?

My Brother had a birthday this week. Happy Birthday, big guy!

Finished Tom Robbins' Jitterbug Perfume this weekend. Of course, I am still working through Tom Clancy's Executive Orders (a 1400 page tome mocking our government. Gee, just 48,600 pages short of that Ken Starr mocking our government report...) Well, Clancy reads like a mini series. I can come back to it and be right where I left off. I am 2 books away from completing the Tom Robbin's collected works. I tend to devour an author once I get hooked on them. Although (strangely enough) I never finished all of the Kurt Vonnegut novels. His book, Timequake, came out last year and I bought a copy when I saw him... but I can't pick it up. He claims it to be his final book. Maybe I am not ready to give up yet. I still hold out hope for more. Kurt, I'll read it when you're gone.

My portable phone seems to be on its last legs. Poor old thing. Now I have to take calls in my bedroom, where I have maybe a foot and half of phone cord. So if I try to talk, I have to sit up, or lay on my bed funny. You would never know I string wires for a living. Oh yeah, if you flick my light switch, no light comes on, but my alarm clock gets reset. Figures....

Ok, shhhhhh.... I maintain a list of some of the OLGA sites that haven't been killed yet. Most of them are out of the country. No guarantee though! See them at Don's OLGAS

Entry... 10/16/98 3:36am

Does South Parth crack you up as much as it does me? Although show quality is up and down, I still can't stop laughing at it. However, I would like to see some return to earlier themes. Cartman's occassional from 'out of nowhere' outbursts, Kenny needs to say more, How about some more teachers, and of course, more hunting episodes. He's coming right for us!

The fish is staring at me again. I have a fish with an attitude. Staring back doesn't work. He charges the glass.

CD Worth a Listen: Liz Phair's new one, WhiteChocolateSpaceEgg (or something like that...) Track 14 has the boys from REM on it (except Stipe), but don't run out and buy it if you are an REM fan. The songs is just 1:47 in length.

Random Observation: Alex Trebeck must die.

I want to work for the company that writes "You Don't Know Jack". It's great! If you haven't tried it, get over here. I need an opponent.

Entry... 10/19/98 12:58am

Thank God for the 49ers. A bright spot today. There was a world of hurt in the NFL. Too many upsets. I don't like that. Tosses everything out of balance. But - Steve Young threw over 300 yards for his 6th straight game. Jerry Rice tied the all time consecutive games played with a reception. Nice job guys. Way to come back from a 21 point deficit and win. But, I maintain that if you are planning to win at this game the right way - don't get so bloody far behind in the first place and give us ulcers. Thanks.

Disappointments? The Padres. Come on guys. That sucked.

Low spots? A 150 mile wide monsoon over the New York State Thruway. Can we make life harder?

High spots? Snickers candy bars, because they 'really satisfy you.' Is it because of that song? - "Too Tight! Too Tight!" - "Angus" - Helen Slater - welcome home mail.

Oh! My wish came true! You faithful readers know that I asked for You Don't Know Jack Partners right here in this log on Friday at 3 in the morning, and lo and behold, my Father and my Brother and I got a game in on that very afternoon. Sweeeeeeeet....

Recent Movies Rented: Great Expectations (I told you expectations lead to trouble!), Lost in Space ("Danger, Danger there's no plot!"), Billy Bathgate (Ah, Dustin... you really want to be Al Pacino, don't you?)

Entry... 10/19/98 4:53pm

"I love you, Eliza," I said.
She thought about it. "No," she said at last, "I don't like it."
"If I touch you, you promise you won't die?"
"Yes," I said.
"Maybe *I'll* die," she said.
- K. Vonnegut, Jr., Slapstick

Entry... 10/20/98 4:37pm

Tuesday. I was goofing around with a friend today and I scratched out a really odd poem off the cuff, but I dug the cadence so much I kept it. If you are curious, click here

Desk pop can count: 37

Entry... 10/21/98 1:31am

I have the South Park characters on top of my monitor now. I love looking up and seeing Eric Cartman frowning back at me. I am just home from Volleyball and the subsequent trip to the bar afterwards. Did OK in Pool. Padres lost again. One more game for them. I guess we should just root for the Yankees and end it now before it goe too much longer. What a disappointment.

I taped the new NYPD Blue, but I won't get to see it till after band practice tomorrow night. I hear Simone gets stabbed by the suspect in a teacher-murder. That's all I know. I'll know more later tonight after band practice. Stay tuned to this channel!

Entry... 10/21/98 10:34am

Brite and fair.... It really is a beautiful day, though. I encountered the CEO of my firm wandering the hallways like some predator, and made small talk with him. I was able to glean that he loves days like this from him before we parted. Notice to your industrials spies: Use this knowledge well. Use it wisely.

Last game of the World Series tonight (Thank God). Yankees in a sweep - that's my prediction. Bet heavily, my friends.

Everybody loves Snoopy. Don't you?

Entry... 10/21/98 2:48pm

Went to the CD store at lunchtime and treated myself to a few discs. Nothing like music to lift a cloudy spirit. I picked up Mitch Elrod's latest CD "All Hallow's Eve," by his project "The SpellHounds." I miss the days of seeing him play live with the Swim Team. They covered a Swim Team song - 'Heavenly Love Subject Verb Disagreement.' Overall, I like it. Very funky. Normally, I would point you to their website, but it's been under construction for about a year. I don't want to waste your time.

Licorice twists. I penned another song lyric thing. It's on the Random Page. Click here

Entry... 10/22/98 5:12pm

I stare into the light, all through the night, it's somewhere all the same, until I heard my name, spoken in a rhyme, but I didn't have the time, to track down the source, and kill it with some force

Entry... 10/25/98 3:06pm

Hey! Everyone remember to turn those clocks back? Good, good.

Been a busy few days. Lots of household chores, lots of driving to Rochester. I had the strangest dream last night. Anyone out there a dream analyst? I am going to see a friend play in a Chamber Orchestra tonight, and my dream last night concerned that. I arrived at the concert hall, expecting something small and intimate, but instead found a huge auditorium packed with people. I saw my friend on the stage, but oddly enough, her whole row was reversed - facing the back, instead of facing forward. The rest of the orchestera was facing forward. I could just see the side of her face, and her hair. The conductor walked on stage, and he looked exactly like a snake venom collector named Mark from the United Kingdom I had seen on the Learning Channel last night before I fell asleep. So they started playing the program, when suddenly this woman who was just sitting in the audience stood up and started singing over the music. She sang so loudly, she drew all attention away from the music. Trouble was, she was a little flat, and it was very annoying. The dream just got wierd from there, with Mark the snake venom collector, attempting to reason with this woman, who would not stop singing.

Went out for lunch today to a local diner today. The place was empy, but the waitress acted as if she had 4 tables all screaming at once. Not entirely rude, but borderline. Very quick, in and out fast - almost spilled my water plopping it on the table as she hurried by, barely turning her head. Very odd. She came over once to refill a coffee, and noticed I was eating my french fries with mayonaisse. It was like a complete mood swing. She was suddenly all friendly, talking about her morning, her son, touching my shoulder, etc. Interesting that she changed her attitude as tip time approached. I wondered to my friend if she was a cancer. We're subject to incredible mood swings.

I popped a few more unfinished songs on the random page. Click here for Undone4 and here for Prone

Entry... 10/26/98 12:26am

I found an old batch of unworked verse in my desk today. So I typed it into my trusty notepad, and did some editing and adding just now. I'll toss this up on the Random Page, too. Click here for What The?

Entry... 10/26/98 2:12pm

Only one PC at work didn't roll over to Standard time from Daylight Savings today. Actually, it rolled, but the poor thing thought it was in Indianna.

I found two old verse attempts in my guitar case at home, and remembered that I wrote them at work a few years ago. Rather than key them in (since I am basically lazy), I waited until today to post them. Click here for yru, a fairly angry examination and here for Bombed.

Today's listen at work CD's: Natalie Imbruglia, Green Day, Neil Young, Sister Hazel, and Sheryl Crow.

Desk pop can count: 41. (Added two in one day)

Entry... 10/27/98 10:12am

Today's listen at work CD's: Neil Young (again), Matthew Sweet's Girlfriend CD, The Cure, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Entry... 10/27/98 2:48pm

Emotional rollercoaster today. I am not sure where my head is at. At all.

Entry... 10/28/98 2:51pm

Happy Hump Day!

Today's listen at work CD's: Morrissey, Sons Of Elvis, The Velvet Underground, Mudhoney, Happy Rhodes, and Sugar

For the last 3 days, I have been slowing hacking away at my desk. Well, you see, I'm moving from one cubicle to another here at work, and I suppose most of you don't know that my desk at work was a bit of a conversation piece. I never threw anything away. Quotes, faxes, magazines, catalogs, software, spare parts. They all ended up on the top of my desk. I am up to 3 full trash cans (the big ones) with a fourth three quarters full. If you are a steady reader of this page, you may have noticed a "pop can" count increasing every now and then. Simply, it's the number of empty pop cans on the desktop, along with anything else. Trust me, they slowly became more functional when I used them as structural support. The quandry? Shall I start afresh, or bring the cans over to my new cube, and perhaps make them back into a statement, or do I give in and go for the 2 dollar yield?

I am leaning towards "Statement."

Entry... 10/29/98 11:26am

Desk pop can count: 42! Yes! They are still here!

3...2...1....Ignition! We have liftoff! John Glenn. American Hero. Can you imagine being first at something? "Son.. we is gonna strap you in this heap of metal and blast you a few hundred miles straight up, and you will whiz around the planet a bit, and fall back to Earth exactly where we say you will. You ready?" That's what he did in Friendship 7 some 36 years ago. And now he is up there again, spinning around our planet in a huge white albatross with 6 other people. He may regret it. The first time up he got to stare at our planet in a way no man ever had. This time, he gets to be poked and bled and rotated and prodded about by helpful mission specialists. They are probably measuring his poo output. Probably have some neat acronym for it. PS2POL ("Payload Specialist 2, Poo Output Levels"). Well, anyway, good job Senator. I'd be there if I had the chance.

In more exciting news, there were not one but two shuttles on launchpads this morning. Endeavour was sitting in the shade of Discovery today, loaded with the first module of the new 'International' Space Station aboard - "Unity." Unity is a 25,000 pound central hub that will be launched in December and hooked to a module from a Russian launch due to go up in November. If you want to see some neat fireworks, the Leonids meteor showers are due to start on November 17th, and are to be really spectacular this year. Keep your eyes on the stars.

Entry... 10/30/98 4:11pm

Happy Day before Halloween! I am at work, dressed up in my costume, one of only 2 people who actually dressed for Halloween here. To mark the spooky occassion, I penned a spooky poem. See it here