1/31/03

AAAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHH!!! WEDDINGS! Sorry, had to get that out.

So yesterday, I did it. I stopped by the barber shop and got my hair cut. But for those of you paying attention, it was Leroy's day off. Yes, Tricia cut my hair yesterday. I couldn't stand my hair any longer and I had to do something about it. Yes, I could've waited until Saturday, but I wanted to see if Tricia could cut it Aside: No pun intended. To be honest...it wasn't the experience that I was expecting. I guess I was sort of scared because it's like cheating on someone I guess and I was pretty much sweating through the entire event. Is that truly bizarre? That I would be in a strange way because I switched barbers? Still, she was very nice and my hair looks pretty good. I just don't think I could cut out on Leroy. Not to mention, I'd have to get my hair cut on Thursdays from now on.

For a moment this week, I thought my life was spiraling out of control. I couldn't get a handle on any one thing that I'm involved in. However, yesterday I had moments of extreme productivity and I was able to finally focus on things that I needed to do. However, I still feel like I don't have a grown up job. I feel like I'm still working in a position that doesn't require any particular learned skill and I don't write reports or plan events or attend meetings Aside: or at least meetings that mean anything. I just don't feel like I'm prepared for the real world. I wonder if any one ever does.

And now...for the FRIDAY FIVE (feel free to answer in the forum)

  1. As a child who was your favorite superhero/heroine? Why? I always liked The Flash. He had a cool red suit and he could run really fast. I never was a Superman or a Batman kinda kid. But Flash was cool.
  2. What was one thing you always wanted as a child but never got? Unfortunately, I can't remember much of anything I wanted as a child that I didn't get. Not that I always got what I wanted, but I just don't remember not getting anything that I couldn't live without. I suppose the closest thing would have been a Nintendo game system. Everybody I knew had one, but Mom didn't want me to have one because she thought I would never turn it off.
  3. What's the furthest from home you've been? Let's see, I've been to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, that's as far south as I've ever been. I've been as far west as San Antonio, TX and as far east and north as Boston, MA.
  4. What's one thing you've always wanted to learn but haven't yet? I've always wanted to learn a 3rd language Aside: English and Spanish are the first two. like French or Russian. Maybe even Hebrew.
  5. What are your plans for the weekend? Big plans for the weekend include nothing for this evening. Saturday is the UofL/IU game for which some of the guys are coming over. Sunday as usual is church, but it's also Paula's birthday for which Carrie and I will be cooking.

Still reading FOUNDATION at the moment. Very good series. I guess that's why it won the Hugo Award for best sci-fi series ever! Also, planning on joining the Mile Club today. Aside: NOT THE MILE HIGH CLUB! You pick a university (more than 80 miles away) and you begin exercising (walking, rowing, stairclimbing, running). Each week you total up the miles...when you reach your university, you receive a t-shirt. I know, just what I need...another t-shirt...but it will spark my goal to exercise more. I've chosen Pittsburg State University. It was Melisa's alma mater. Also, the only school in the nation to have the gorilla as its mascot. And, it's 580 miles away...so it's a great exercise goal.

1/24/03

Sometimes you just need to talk about EVERYTHING with the person you love. Last night, after seeing Jesus Christ Superstar, Carrie and I talked about many things in our lives. That's something I've always enjoyed about our relationship is the ability to communicate and discuss and enjoy talking to each other. She brings out good things in me and I'm thrilled that she's in my life.

Anyway, so we went to see Jesus Christ Superstar and, unfortunately, I wasn't really that impressed. Sebastian Bach spent a little too much doing his Skid Row impersonation to be really convincing as Jesus. You know...the scream...and the stance...and the hair flip, but hey...a guy's gotta make a living. The show itself is a bit confusing. I would imagine that when this show first came out, it was shocking and exploitative and all that, but now, it's not really a big deal. Which would bring up the following: Is there anything that can shock the world anymore? The sound seemed to be less than good on some of the louder portions of the show, but there was a shining star in the production. Natalie Toro as Mary Magadelene was simply amazing. Second to the Herod portion of the show, she was my favorite part of the show.

The wedding date is fast approaching and things are progressing smoothly. We're still looking for 2 midgets and a carousel, but other than that, we're in pretty good shape. Does anyone know where we can light orange and seafoam green carnations.

And now for the FRIDAY FIVE...

  1. What is one thing you don't like about your body? My nose...never have cared for it. I think it's too big.
  2. What are two things you love about your body? Love? I don't know so much love...but I like my legs, they look good in shorts. And second thing...I like my fingers. They're good for playing the piano.
  3. What are three things you want to change about your home? Well, number one would be to get a new home. Carrie and I have too many books and too much furniture for my home. Number two would be to clean up the back bathroom. Half the wallpaper's off and you can only cover so much with Britney Spears posters. Number three would be to rearrange my bedroom somehow. It seems boring in there. Maybe I need some sort of feng shui.
  4. What are four books you want to read this year? Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton, The Masks of God by Joseph Campbell, Night by Elie Wiesel, Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver
  5. What are five promises you have kept to yourself? To believe in myself. To think for myself. To work ahead of deadlines. To be involved in wedding plans. To finish school.

See you in the funny papers!

1/22/03

What was it about high school that everyone wants to relive and enjoy? My class (1992) failed to elicit any response to a call for a 10-year reunion last summer. They sent out some 140 letters (which is less than half the class) and only received 12 back. Now, over the last couple of days, I've received emails from 2 people trying to ramp up some interest in various online activities designed to get the Class of '92 back together. One was an online forum, the other was another attempt to gather a reunion. Did I miss something while I was in high school? Aside from parts of choir and some parts of the musicals, high school was merely a necessary evil. I don't look back through my yearbooks often Aside: once every 10 years or so and when I do, I really don't recall that many fun, exciting moments. The last time I talked to any of the guys from my class, Mike said "I can't wait for the reunion to see if all the people I thought would turn out to be losers really did." I mean, obviously, this is not a desire to get back and kibbitz with all your buddies from the lunchroom.

Still, I have to assume that there are people out there who wish to relive their high school moments, or maybe it's simply a desire to brag about how well you've done since high school. Neither is a good reason, in my opinion, to spend money to get back together with people you may or may not remember. I know a woman, Mary, who just went to her 60th high school reunion. Now, there would be a reason to get together with the friends you had in high school. Maybe they just shouldn't have reunions until after about 30 years. Maybe then I'd be interested.

In other news, I talked to a friend yesterday who is apparently reading my mind. Bryan said that he now considers himself a Buddhist Christian. I nearly dropped the phone when he said this. The reason: not 2 days ago, I was toying with that exact description to detail my current position in my faith journey. Buddhism, as I understand it, is not a faith system, rather, it's a way of life. So being a Buddhist Christian is not inherently contradictory. I've become more and more interested in Buddhism as of late and those of you who receive the Words of Wisdom would note that the "Quote" of the Moment has been of a Buddhist slant as of late. I'd like to get together with other Buddhists and discuss what might be done to further my education in this particular way of life.

And now...RANDOM THOUGHTS

So there you have it...currently I'm in the midst of Nick Hornby's High Fidelity which is a wonderful book that made a great movie. Tomorrow, or maybe even later today, I hope to change the music. Also, there's a new quote...see you in the funny papers!

1/17/03

I'm feeling vindicated by the lack of snow yesterday. Never in all my years of "lower education" do I recall getting out of school for snow BEFORE it even started snowing. I even called my mother to verify that fact. I'm not sure who dropped the ball on that particular event, but somebody made a serious error in judgement. As well, everyone at work went into your basic Louisville Snow Frenzy where we all panic and spend all day watching Weather.com and blathering on about how we should get to go home. It didn't even start snowing yesterday until 3:25. I mean, come on...at worst you had another hour and a half. It's just stupid. So, we got maybe 2 inches and hopefully we can all go back to normal. I'd love to see a study done on how much money we lose in productivity for snow warnings.

Don't get me wrong...I love snow, but unless you're actually going to get a foot or so, it's pointless.

In other news, I got an internship with the Louisville Bats this summer. Aside: No, I cannot get you free tickets, although I do encourage you to come out and see a game. I'll be working in the press box with the radio and television crews and sometimes I'll be working the scoreboard. I'm very excited about this opportunity, although it means I'll be spending quite a bit of time at the ballpark. But, honestly, can you think of a better place to spend your summer?

I'll be on retreat with Voces Novae this weekend. If you haven't gotten a copy of our latest cd, you can get a copy at earx-tacy, Hawley-Cooke, or Barnes & Noble (or this is at least in Louisville. To buy online, click the link for the CD). It's called Recollections and it's a mighty fine CD. Enjoy!

And now, for the FRIDAY FIVE

  1. Where do you currently work? I currently work at the College of Business and Public Administration (unofficial "sponsor" of this website) at the University of Louisville.
  2. How many other jobs have you had and where? Well, I also worked at Physical Plant at the University and I worked at Melton's Food Mart down on Old Third Street for a few years.
  3. What do you like best about your job? The best part of my job is that I get my own webpage and I can spend countless hours updating and redesigning.
  4. What do you like least about your job? I hate working with faculty because even though they're mostly Ph.D.'s, that doesn't afford them any common sense. They're about the most inane creatures on the planet. (Most of them, there are a few exceptions.)
  5. What is your dream job? I'd love to either be a margarita tester in the Bahamas or a major league baseball player.

I completed Destiny's Way...and I picked up the dreaded Atlas Shrugged again. I just can't get into it. It's like the story the never ends. So I may move on to another book sometime this week if I have time. See you in the funny papers!

1/15/03

Basic traffic laws no longer need to be followed. Yes folks, you heard it here first...go ahead and mark it on your calendars. Obedience of general traffic directives and signals is no longer necessary. Why, you might ask? Well, this morning as I drove to work, I saw a car zipping along at an accelerated speed Aside: which we've all done, not the point of the story, keep reading and it was heading into the turning lane across the intersection from myself and another car. Just as the light turns green for me, the speeding car, slashes through the turning lane, across the intersection, crossing in front of myself and the car next to me. Obviously the speeding car had run the red light (in addition to speeding). Now...I was not shocked at this really because I know this is how people drive. However, the car next to me was an unmarked police cruiser. So, the speeding car almost ran into a police cruiser Aside: L/P F0567 and the police officer, who seemed to be on duty, simply watched as the car continued speeding on down the road. So, this is good news for all of us who seem to be unwary that traffic laws are necessary.

"Why is it that everyone driving slower than you is an idiot and everyone driving faster than you is a maniac?"

I also went back to school last night. All in all it was a good experience. Based on the syllabus, I shouldn't have too much outside work to do other than studying for exams. The lecture was interesting as was the professor. She's an older African-American woman from the Bronx. Aside: John, she's a brother! She was unable to get the sound to work for the videotape, but the lecture was decent anyway.

It's fucking cold man. It's like 16 degrees out today. I really dislike cold weather. I had to be out in it last night walking between buildings and stuff. Not pleasant. I can't wait until spring. Just another 2 months to go. Sheesh. We may even have 3 to 5 inches of snow by Friday. If anybody wants any, bring a bucket, you can have anything that falls on my car.

With all that, check out the new music selection and new quote. See you in the funny papers!

1/10/03

The new job is keeping me hopping. I have had very little time to deal with major issues such as keeping this page updated. Not to mention I had a Merlin's Ale and a Skullsplitter last night which has somewhat impeded my progress this morning. I must be getting soft as I get older...either that, or that <Scottish accent> WEAK AMERICAN BEER! </Scottish accent> has dulled my senses and I need to be drinking more import brews.

As for the new job, I'm enjoying it. I mean, the best part is probably that I have a window. It's fun to look out. I would imagine that it will be even more exciting when I'm able to actually open the window without freezing to death. I came to the realization yesterday that my job really hasn't changed that much. I'm still serving the same ignorant customers, I'm still performing the same services; I'm just not dealing with the external idiots anymore. I'm strictly an in-house moron bouncer.

Classes begin on Monday. I'll be starting my Cultural Anthropology class on Tuesday evening. I'm rather excited about going back to class. Not extremely so, just excited enough for me not to hate it as much. I think that's the best we can hope for.

Oh, forgot to tell you I started the Slim Fast diet yesterday. We'll see how it goes. "A shake for breakfast, a shake for lunch...and then a sensible dinner." I think the sensible dinner might be where I get fouled up. There's still too much Christmas candy at the house for me to truly diet, but I'm only hoping to lose about 10 pounds. Yes, I know...it's the first 10 pounds that's hardest to lose. I think I can do it, I just need to stop eating out so much. I don't intend to do a triathlon, or climb Everest. I'd just like for my jeans to fit a little better.

Oh well, new quote, hopefully new music next week...see you in the funny papers.

1/6/03

I know, you're wondering where I've been. Truth is, I've been extremely busy these last days. Not that it makes any difference, because you can't read this anyway. The server is down. You haven't been able to view this page for the last week and half anyway. And yet, not a single person has emailed me to ask about it. *laughing* It's okay, it's no big deal. You know what else is funny, I just had to go up and change the date to 2003. I always do that. I wonder why people have such a problem changing the year.

So this year, rather than bore you with tedious details, I've decided to invigorate my journal writing by trying to be a bit more philosophical, maybe less cynical. Who knows, it might be the kind of journal that you might enjoy reading so much that you would email the author if you didn't get your daily dose. I'll still try to add Random Thoughts and Music Choices. I'll keep you updated on my reading choices and other things as I find it necessary, but here's to a new year. (raising a glass of Guinness)

To start off, I'm in a new office. I no longer work at the front desk. This place is a pit. It hasn't been cleaned up since the Carter administration and I'm still organizing things. If my mother reads this, she's probably thinking "Well, that's a first". I didn't say it would last, only that I'm doing my best to clean things up as they are now. It's a brand new position. I'm the assistant to the Facilities Coordinator. I've traded phones for furniture which is an oversimplification, but it's an apt description without too much detail. Today I received a call from a lady downstairs who needed someone to empty their garbage can because they couldn't find a custodian. I hung up, stood up, looked out my new window and proclaimed: "I am not the person who empties garbage cans." Then, I went and found Gregg who said he'd take care of it. I felt that was useful in my new position.

As for books, I've finished "Rebel Stand" and I've dropped "The Silent Life" from the reading list. It was too much a handbook for the monastic life and as such was not terribly interesting. I'm stubbornly leaving "Atlas Shrugged" on the list. I've begun "Destiny's Way" and I'm really enjoying it...though there are parts that I don't care for. The dynamics between Jacen and Jaina and other starfighter pilots are good, but the Han and Leia sexual relationship is taken to extremes. So is the Mara and Luke relationship, but not as much. I suppose that it's a normal enough milieu, but it just seems out of context for the Star Wars universe.

I heard a new author, Sarah Vowell Aside: no relation on TV the other night. She's witty and intelligent, not crass, and sticks her points. She reminds me of me. I can toot my own horn, it's my website. She has 3 books out and she's a regular contributor to This American Life, a regular show on public radio. If you get a chance, check out her website.

I do hope that you'll be able to read this soon. There's a new quote, which I hope will continually be an area that is topical. In the mean time, enjoy the silence. See you in the funny papers.