pseudodementia in absentia

Quick Outburst

2006-07-31T21:33:00.000-04:00

Oh, what the fuck? All Isreal promised was a 48-hour suspension of air strikes. Nothing about artillary, groud ops, and everything else. They couldn't even make it to 24. But in response to attacks by Hezbollah the Isrealis bomb bits of southern Lebanon. Were you expecting Hezbollah to stop attacking because you promised to stop bombing?! C'mon, already.

Stargazer

2006-04-11T00:33:00.000-04:00

The stars:
their beauty and brightness dazzle from afar!
Alone at night I watch them.

We wink at 4+ lightyears;
39 trillion kilometers-
40 quadrillion simple steps
is nothing for us,
for one who burns as brightly as they.

We dance the dance of glance
and twinkle, twinkle and glance.
Dance the dance from dusk til dawn,
til we battle against our intense intents,
til we battle with our daily lives.
With sol's fury afire so close,
the more distant we grow.

The distance is blatent; our insignificance acute.

Yet no matter how far we get,
each evening we win some small reprieve.
From one twinkle, sometimes with the aid of Mars,
the tides turn!
Every night I rejoice to talk with the stars once more;
how I love them so!

Mad Times

2006-04-07T11:30:00.000-04:00

Mad times on the internet, indeed! Two folk whom I thought would never have blogs now do. In effort to get the word out I present Geoff Chaucer and Scopi, aka Scoot Oo [sic]. They both have fine livery.

Name That Book*

2006-04-04T13:45:00.000-04:00

*a new game from the people that brought us that smash-hit game show, "Haiku for Jews."

Lecherous linguist--
he lays low and is laid low
after laying Lo.

Colonel Freeleigh

2006-03-27T23:41:00.000-05:00

And then there is that day when all around, all around you hear the rain beating the petals, one by one, from the dogwoods. At first it is one here and one there, and then it is two and then it is five and then eight and thirty, until all the petals blow fiercely in the wind, plummet with the rain, fall like down feathers to the soft surface of the moon, and you are the last petal on the tree; and you wait for the next stiff shake to knock you swiftly free from your hold upon the sky, and drift you up and around as the rain weighs you down, and drops you down and down. Long before you hit the grass you will have forgotten there ever was a tree, or other petals, or a spring, or greening grass below. You will fall in darkness...

Stumbling Through the Internet...

2006-03-19T12:53:00.000-05:00

One year ago, to the day, I attended a spring celebration in Charlotte. There we played croquet. I even took a few photos. One of them follows.

I've had it posted on flickr for nearly the whole year it's been since I snapped it. On Wednesday, shortly after returning home from my new job at Panera, I took it upon myself to start browsing the internet for real jobs. As usual I got quickly side-tracked at CERN's site. Following the old link trail, and being perpetually curious about croquet being played at real events, I clicked to this little tidbit. Follow that link and look at the photo next to the article. I thought it was awesome that they even followed the rules and gave me credit!

I Would Also Have Voted For Orson Welles

2006-03-06T23:45:00.000-05:00

The Third Man is about the best movie I've ever seen or heard. Zither music: who knew? Christopher Walken, please--I mean really, please--do this*. You'd have my vote.

ears: weapon of choice - fatboy slim
eyes: something wicked this way comes - ray bradbury
feet: new vintage adidas
mind: the world is flat - thomas l. friedman

*rumor is that it's a hoax site :(

Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels!

2006-03-02T00:34:00.000-05:00

I heard the phrase for the first time ever tonight. Totally caught me off gaurd. No idea what that meant. After a bit of quick research--Thanks be to Google and the Internet--I've come up with a short answer. Well, really the answer is kinda obvious as to why one shouldn't take wooden nickels--they're made of wood!--but the real question is where did the phrase come from and what does it mean to actually tell someone not to take wooden nickels.

On December 5, 1931, the Citizen's Bank of Tenino, Washington failed thusly creating a shortage of currency in the town. This left the merchants of the area unable to get change without traveling about 30 miles over mountainous roads that were built for horses. The average round trip was about four hours. Much too long for merchants to be gone from their stores. A meeting of the Chamber of Commerce resulted in the local newspaper printing up the first issue of wooden money in the United States.

In 1933, Blaine, Washington issued round wooden coins when their bank failed. These were the first issues of wooden coins in the U.S. Several other places, mostly in the Pacific North-West, issued wooden money after that. Some followed the flat format of Tenino and others used round pieces.

The Century of Progress in Chicago in 1933 was the first place to use wooden money as souvenirs. Several issues of round coins were made ranging in size from a silver dollar to about three inches in diameter. Then someone got the bright idea of combining the use of the wooden coin as advert/souvenier for some celebration and curreny. Binghamton, New York was one of first places to embrace this concept. Wood continued to be used to enhance civic celebrations through the mid 1930’s and really started to be cranked out in 1938 when the J. R. Rogers Company of Fostoria, Ohio obtained a copyright on their design for wooden money. [Random-er aside, thanks to my folks penchant for dish-collecting, I know that a lot of good dishes, especially glassware, came out of this small Ohio town and is as a style generally called, oddly enough,Fostoria, though it should be noted that not all "Fostoria" was produced by the company of the same name. I have many pieces, if anyone is truely that interested. Long ago it was a fantastic sand deposit or something...]

Just when the adage "Don’t take any wooden nickels!" was added to the American language is unclear, but the reasons are easy to understand. First of all, it's wood, and as such not widely asccepted as money. Secondly, each wood had an expiration date and generally even a specific final redemption time. If you were in a possession of a handful of wooden nickels that expired at noon today and your best customer came through the door at five minutes to noon, it would be difficult to get to centennial headquarters to cash them in. Many wooden nickels also said they had to be unbroken to be exchanged. They are fairly fragile.

Really, I've decided that the Rogers Company’s use of wooden money should be studied as one of the great marketing schemes of the 20th century. They had the wooden pieces printed up sometime prior to the actual celebration. They then sold the woods to area merchants for face value and the merchant in turn gave the wooden nickels, wooden dimes, and wooden quarters to their customers in change. The woods usually carried the time, date and place of the celebration. So in effect you had paid to take home an advertisement for the event. Kind of like paying for cable to watch their ads in today's world.

It became common at one point (when?) to tell somebody not to take any wooden nickels when they leave--to tell them to be careful and to take good care of themselves. So "Don't take any wooden nickels!" Tell someone when they walk out your door instead of "so long', etc. Having never before heard of wooden nickels or the title phrase, I call this another case closed. There it is. Next time I'll kick it up a notch with a blast from my spice weasel. Bam!

eyes: mythbusters

One Stop Spacewear Shop!

2006-02-06T02:22:00.000-05:00

Greenwood Space Travel Supply

I Did Absolutely Nothing This Weekend

2006-02-05T15:57:00.000-05:00

It was all I imagined and more! Really, the most important accomplishment to which I can lay claim is that I watched Battlestar Galactica.

Evening-Mike--much to morning-Mike's hatred--stayed up too late, drank too many champagne cocktails, and purchased way too much music on iTunes. This morning I awoke on a couch. In the distance I could hear the sweet stylings of Styx. On the coffee table stood a flute bearing something that smelled like juniper and wine. I mused for a bit on this new-fangled juniper wine. I'm pretty sure they don't make that anywhere. Where is this music coming from? Who is this singing "Come Sail Away" that is most definitely not Cartman? I have a couch?

ears: mr. roboto
eyes: cryptonomicon (still - it's a hell of a thing)
also: gin topped of with asti (who knew!)

The Hippest Country to Be Seen In Since Tibet

2006-01-29T09:44:00.000-05:00

Bhutan

You got to respect a kingdom that measures happiness instead of/as an indicator of productivity. You got to respect a country that only allowed in about 9000 tourists last year. And you really got to respect the Land of the Thunder Dragon.

Bhutan's like the newest, coolest nightclub to open in Manhatten and everybody who's anybody has got to get in. Mostly because if I get in, then I can rest assured that I really am better than everybody else.

My favorite proof that everyone must be having a grand ole time comes straight from the CIA's World Factbook. (i) Industries: cement, wood products, processed fruits, alcoholic beverages, calcium carbide; and (ii) Labor force: NA; note: massive lack of skilled labor. I'm farily certain there's a subtle relationship between at least one of their major industries and the lack of skilled labor. My kind of place.

Que Sera Sera

2006-01-29T00:56:00.000-05:00

I found a regular trove of old CD's today. Many purchased or gifted, but most I burned in my wee youth of 4-5 years ago. Back when Napster was cool and I a freshman. When I'd spend the hours from midnight to six every night chatting away my life on AIM, downloading every seemingly fun song, audio clip, and stand-up routine, and drinking Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper, and rot-gut tequila. Mind you, this all occurred just before/as Red Bull imprinted itself upon my consumer conciousness. I have no real concept of how long it's been out there, but I never bought it before college.

Anyway, one of these discs I found has a rather embarrassing-to-admit, yet fun list of tracks that I just felt I had to share. I can't believe--well, I can believe I made it--I just can't believe I made it. So, as a testament to my past self, here's the lineup:

1. Somewhere Over the Rainbow - Judy Garland
2. What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
3. Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs
4. Minnie the Moocher - Cab Calloway
5. It Don't Mean a Thing - Louis
6. Mack the Knife - Bobby Darin
7. Jump in the Line
8. Dream - Cranberries (it gets worse)
9. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
10. If I Only Had a Brain
11. Que Sera Sera - Doris Day
12. Caribbean Amphibian - Jimmy Buffet and Kermit
13. Twisting the Night Away - Rod Stewart
14. Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits
15. Mandolin Wind - Rod Stewart
16. Ghost Riders in the Sky - Johnny Cash
17. Fire and Rain - James Taylor
18. Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash
19. The Rainbow Connection - Kermit
20. Over the Rainbow/Wonderful World Medley - Isreali something

So as scary as this list may appear taken altogether, I really like each and every song on it. I mean most are no big deal. But I don't think I'd ever have called myself a big Rod Stewart fan. My mom's a Rod Stewart fan. Not me. Not me? Regardless of how it strikes me as not-so-much-what-I-often-listen-to, it's all great stuff that makes me feel happy and appear very gay. I mean, the Cranberries? But sure, everybody secretly loves the Cranberries so that's not even far beyond the left field line. And I totally make up for Judy Garland with Louis Armstrong or Dire Straits. Johnny Cash is always great. I'm fairly certain it's anathema for an American to not like him these days. But besides all that, he was pretty awesome.

First there were Elvis impersonators. Now we have Joaquin Phoenix.

Michael Knight, a lone crusader in a dangerous world.

2006-01-09T02:07:00.000-05:00

The world... of the Knight Rider.

Knight Rider Hasselhoff

You are Knight Rider Hasselhoff. You kick ass, you're dead sexy, AND you are the proud owner (or perhaps life partner) of a talking black Trans-Am. What else could one ask for?

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Of course I could have told anyone this without taking the quiz.

Last Minute Beach Trip

2006-01-08T02:42:00.000-05:00

I headed to the coast of South Carolina with Matt and Cara last tuesday. There we joined some of Matt's family. All in all it was fun trip. I must say I got tired of the "garden city" of Hilton Head Island real quick-like, but other than that the beach-air refreshed and a quick dip into the ocean rejuvenated.

I found a starfish one day. It scared me a bit when it arrived at my feet; it still lived at the time. We played around with long exposures at night with a light/prop.

One night we took a little road trip south to Savannah. It's amazing how great an actual city feels after spending a few days on Hilton Head. I didn't realize that the island was sucking my soul dry until after I left. If you go to Hilton Head, just stick to the beach and whatever condo/beachhouse you happen to stay in. Don't venture out into the city. Savannah is a very fun place to just walk around and look at old or urban stuff. Gaslights, container ships, cobblestone streets, spanish moss, a unique street grid, everyting else that's great.

I've Finally Finished Flickring Scotland

2006-01-08T01:42:00.000-05:00

Here I am at the top of Ben Nevis.

Top-10 Flicks of 2005

2006-01-03T02:36:00.000-05:00

Though I'm not an expert, and not quite a film-lover, I am a movie-goer. Though last year I saw relatively few films at the cinema I feel a top-10 list is in order. In fact you might say that because I'm dealing with fewer flicks than normal I feel more capable of rating what I've seen. Without further ado I give you my...

...top picks:
10) Mr. and Mrs. Smith
9) Four Brothers
8) Aeon Flux
7) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
6) Sin City
5) March of the Penguins
4) Wedding Crashers
3) Syriana
2) Good Night, and Good Luck
1) Munich

I've also got to say that Revenge of the Sith should probably be #1. It's hands down the best of the new Episodes and I am that much of a Star Wars fan. But Star Wars doesn't count like every other movie, so I've left it off the top 10. Other new films of 2005 I managed to see and enjoyed more than the rest are...

...in no particular order:
War of the Worlds
Kung Fu Hustle
The Island
Batman Begins
The Brothers Grimm
The Ice Harvest

Just for the record I've not seen King Kong, the Chronic--WHAT--cles of Narnia left me feeling a little disappointed, and I saw Episode 3 no fewer than 4 times at the theatre--more than any other movie I've seen in the past 3-4 years--and enjoyed it more every time. I'm sure I'm leaving something out, but until I remember consider this baby definitive:)

Family Guy Still Makes Me Laugh

2006-01-03T02:26:00.000-05:00

Be forewarned: It's posts like this one that make me think I might just be a wee crazy. Well, just what triggered it all. Not so much the post itself.

So, I'm watching a little late-night television and one itsy-bitty little line got me all nostalgic for my grandfather's banana pudding. I loved his banana pudding. As far as I know there was no great secret recipe, but I've never had a better banana pudding and I doubt I ever will. I eat banana pudding all the time. I love it. I normally can't get enough! But the meringue, the Nilla® wafers, and the pudding itself are never put together just right. Or one of the ingredients is off. Or all too often there's no meringue at all! That's the worst. I haven't tasted those little shortbread wafers in some time. I think I might have to purchase a box of Nilla wafers tomorrow.

I've not been hit with a bout of nostalgia that really made me think about the past in quite a long time. It was probably around the very beginning of 2004, after that New Year. Last year I was too busy cruising around on a big ship to stop and think about what times were like over the course of the year previous. I feel like I'm playing catch-up tonight. A lot's happened this last year. A lot happened the one before that. People coming and going, coming back and leaving again. I really can't wait (in a way) for the day when I realize that I've been spending time with basically the same group of people for years (i.e., a family, a job, and the friday night poker buddies) without all the emotional hassle of constant change. But right now I wouldn't trade the excitement and uncertainty of my future for true stability and the false feeling of security that probably comes with it. I'm enjoying the adventure. I guess it's good to stop every now and again and think about everyone and everything that's meant something to me and affected the course of my life. Right now, it's my grandfather att he top of the list. I've not stopped and thought about all the good times with him in far, far too long.

You know, mother, this could almost have passed for a palatable banana pudding, but without Nilla wafers it's just another one of your wretched culinary abortions. Now clean it up! - Stewie Griffin

Photos From the Isle of Skye

2006-01-02T20:20:00.000-05:00

2006 Here I Come

2005-12-31T17:49:00.000-05:00

T-06:11... Happy New Year's Eve!

Resolutions:
1) Try more kinds of pie,
2) Be more punctual to lunches,
3) Think of a few more ways to improve myself by next year.

Scottish White Trash

2005-12-31T17:46:00.000-05:00

Just in case you missed it: I travelled Scotland last fall. It looked like this.

2005-12-30T05:37:00.000-05:00

New Design? Nah.

2005-12-30T05:21:00.000-05:00

I gave up on some sort of 'cooler, newer-looking look' for now, but I did get my old layout working a lot better! Plus I designed my very own flickr badge. Now all I have to do is post something, right?

Merry Christmas

2005-12-25T02:00:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I haven't finished this page yet. Merry Christmas!

New Rants, Same Old Boring Prose

2005-12-24T02:37:00.000-05:00

It seems I have neglected my presence on the interweb for some time. Though hardly a reason, my main excuse is that I busily traveled about. After that my excuse is that my comment-thread service was full of bunkum. Rather than try to change the old commenting system around it's far, far simpler and quicker for me to simply start up a new blog with new comments. Because without comments--even if I don't get any feedback, the principle remains--what's the point? Besides all that, I've been wanting to try my hand at making a cooler, newer-looking look for my blog. Just not tonight because it's late and I'm tired. But soon enough this template will change! Mark my words.

I've Decided to Go with a New Blog

2005-12-24T02:36:00.000-05:00

The newest novelty, but really just shiny, new packaging for everything that happened here. It's not been built yet, but I'll have plenty of time tomorrow, so by the time anybody reads this, it'll be up and running! The big thing with the new page is workable commenting! Huzzah!

I've Done It Yet Again...

2005-08-11T22:22:00.000-04:00

I've googled "Mike is" for about the umpteenth time. I'm always something great and novel! Also, it's a great way to pass the time. Without further ado I give you the 31 things I happen to be today:

Mike is the sex.
Mike is both lazy and gay.
Mike is a big gold star.
Mike is finally made of metal.
Mike is the Peter Pan.
Mike is a man of immense talent.
Mike is in Da House.
Mike is a professional charter boat.
Mike is booked so often.
Mike is an idiot.
Mike is now accepting applications
Mike is one of the pioneers in the abstinence education movement.
Mike is also a voting member.
Mike is a sea shell.
Mike is able to simulate either a male or a female sexual identity.
Mike is open.
Mike is also in great demand.
Mike is the funniest thing to come out of Canada.
Mike is the puzzler.
Mike is snubbed.
Mike is feeling fine.
Mike is an enjoyable fantasy, especially for children.
Mike is Mayor.
Mike is Chairman.
Mike is great family entertainment.
Mike is a Class 8 auditor.
Mike is right.
Mike is one of the most experienced kettlebell instructors in the US.
Mike is Busted!!!!!!
Mike is actually Modern Message #7.
Mike is closely tied to LSU football games in Death.

More Like Re-tardyon

2005-08-07T02:49:00.000-04:00

tardyon (n.) a particle that always moves slower than the speed of light, i.e. anything--er, anything but a luxon (photon, gluon, gravioli) or the hypothetical tachyon

It's funny, you live in the universe, but you never do these things 'til someone comes to visit.

ears: plava laguna - lucia di lammermoor part two, act two, n. 14 scena ed aria, "o giusto cielo!"

Confession: I Didn't Read The Source in High School

2005-08-06T15:32:00.000-04:00

I’ve read plenty of books this summer, but this lazy saturday marks the first I picked up almost at random and finished by midafternoon. Journey by James A. Michener proved to be an easy yet insightful, thought-provoking read. I’ve heard over and over that Michener is a great author but I’ve never been disposed to read him. Now I’ve got dozens of fresh works I want to read.

Journey is not a long novel. Concise and engaging it chronicles the adventure of a small band of well-to-do Victorians as they rush for Klondike gold. Michener effortlessly includes subtle insight into the British collective conscious of the era, the follies of the human spirit under pressure, and the vast, desolate grandeur of northern Canada.

Using the band of wealthy Brits as a vehicle for objective observation Michener brings into focus the hardships encountered by those who dreamed of striking it rich. He paints a striking picture of the oft-fatal deception, greed, and irrational behavior of those stampeding towards the supposedly quick riches of the frozen north. Throughout there’s the feeling of imminent death, be it just down the river or by the hands of one of many who prey on the poor and undereducated headed north.

I highly suggest everybody who enjoys history at all read Journey. Frontier adventure is hardly my cup of tea, but I couldn’t put this book down.

ears: ella and louis
eyes: bruce almighty
also: jelly free fish zone

How Can We Dance When Our Earth Is Turning?

2005-08-06T00:11:00.000-04:00

An afternoon of History Channel left me thinking about supertankers (Modern Marvels is about the best thing to ever air, well, ever), oil, the cost of transport (which isn't really that high on every road: the supertankers do allow for a huge economy of scale), the ridiculousness of it all, etc. Nothing really came of all the thought but there you have it. Tonight I saw a bumper sticker: no blood for oil. It struck me as a true visual irony. Not merely something unexpected or unfortunate. But a literal contradiction between what I witnessed and the phrase I read. Surely one driving a car around can't be totally unwilling to spill a little blood for the very fuel that drives the vehicle. Or contrapositively (and better phrased), if one won't spill blood for some fuel, then surely one wouldn't be driving around (especially with said bumper sticker). The bumper sticker must have been a visual joke.

I'm sure the driver was and still is against war for our most beloved resource. I doubt the driver has little choice but to drive and spend oil. Then I remembered Oil Wars by Tim, an entry sparked by the very same slogan as my little rant. I read it some time ago intending to respond point by point. Now I'm irked and motivated and a little pissed at the state of things. To think I was driving around, combusting gas to go from one place of entertainment to another. Nothing remotely useful came of the gallon or so I burned. I was rather content--happy even--until I started pondering that rusty bumper and its salient message.

The roots and consequential results which yield the overall state of things are generally intermingled--nay, entangled, often reciprocal, and difficult to actually bifurcate into the categories of 'root' and 'consequence'. Regardless of how our love/dependence on oil came to pass, it has led to a current and total infrastructural necessity for oil to live life. Not just for average Joe Americana to live a more posh lifestyle, but to actually earn a living to get food to his table, to stay warm, to stay clothed, so on. As Tim stated modern agriculture, modern transportation, modern energy production for household use, modern anything totally depend on oil in some fashion or another. But just because I and the driver of the car I saw earlier this evening are not "starving naked hippie[s] living in a clay hut" doesn't mean we should "stop screaming about the fuel that powers [our] lifestyle". I thought Tim jested, but there's a tone of seriousness at the end of his rant. I'm here to say that an America without it's current oil supplies might not be as apocalyptic as I (and I'm sure he) generally think. Also, though I drive a gas-burning auto I'm more than entitled to my right to not like needing to do so nor the idea of fighting for the very stuff that makes it go.

Modern agriculture heavily depends on gas, diesel, and other oils of all kinds to grow crops and livestock en masse and transport them cross country if not intercontinentally. I say this constitutes a huge problem for my future diet. Yet there exists an obvious though initially expensive and complicated solution. Food prices would probably sky-rocket if the transition isn't handled properly. The ideal farm needs to shift away from the huge factory mode back to a far smaller and scaled back, yet diversified local mode. Simple example: instead of two 1000 acre plots growing a single crop each in different regions, shift to twenty farms of 50 acres (10 in each region) all of which grow both crops cutting on shipping needs and on big mechanized equipment (the fields are far more easily managed manually if need be). Yes many more people will need to spend far more man-hours making the same amount of crop. And yes the prices of the crops might need to be raised to cover the cost of production, but produce prices rarely reflect their production costs accurately. The US heavily gives tax breaks and subsidizes farming. It's just not a profitable big business in a lot of ways. Smaller-scale farming might actually be better for prices somehow. I don't know. The economy of scale card in agribusiness creates all sorts of environmental problems to save money that will surely later be spent correcting the problems. Or something like that. But it seems like the real value of food would at least be better represented at the local grocer.

Modern livestock raising would really have to change. Americans eat too much meat. Livestock is a huge energy draw that we really wouldn't be able to sustain in a totally oil-less society. But again we'd be far better off with every [small] farm and suburban residence having a chicken coop than one single huge centralized chicken factory. The energy needed to raise all the hens is dispersed amongst many people. The labor can be done manually and there's no electricity need for many many small chicken coops. That's just one idea.

Modern good-getting: the way we must go about obtaining our consumables is stupid. We have to drive to the supermarket. It's never within an easy quarter to half-mile from home. Modern American towns aren't scaled for people. They're scaled for cars. Older downtowns and a handful of major cities survived the automobile revolution, but they represent a small percentage of urban dwellers. Most older downtowns are kind of run-down and without residents let alone grocers. Everyone else has to drive to get anywhere in a reasonable fashion. Transit sucks in most American cities that have it, too. This (urbanish planning) is probably the one point I'm most knowledgeable and passionate about and could go on and on and on, so I won't. Region design is next. Why not localize, diversify, and have more smaller farms around smaller (in area), centralized towns? Food doesn't have to travel as far to the grocer. And average Joe doesn't have to travel far to get his food. Maybe he *gasp* won't even need to drive a long commute to work? Who knows what wonders might abound?

Modern construction: a whole lot could be said about how to improve this. Most of it's probably covered by some website that lists requirements for certification for the platinum, gold, and silver standards. A big one though is that we don't need to use wood where wood doesn't abound. Also, be sure to manage the forests we harvest for the future. Use locally produced building materials. Pretend huge gas-guzzling trucks don't exist to bring everything cross country. Sure, some things need to be shipped far. But why ship bricks in from Raleigh when there's a brick factory in Knoxville?

Tim's last few points are really about shipping again, the need to use far less electricity, the need to use far fewer huge fossil fuel plants (nuclear pound for pound of pollution is about a zillion times more efficient), and the need to de-centralize the grid and have thousands of tiny cleaner producers (wind, solar, small scale hydro, biomass, etc). Also, I think that we could probably still mine coal (with coal-powered steam equipment), use coal-fired engines to ship the coal to coal plants, to produce electricity. Tim is just flat wrong there. We still have plenty of that stuff lying around and the know-how to produce more (quickly if necessary). With electricity we'd still have the Internet. I don't think anything could make it go away now. Mail, water, and sanitation are bigger problems that would probably be a lot better off with better city planning, more environmentally friendly farming, so on (remember the whole root, consequence, and which is which thing).

So there we have it, a short rant about another rant I once read and a bumper sticker I eyed today. We don't need more oil. We need to get away from our usage levels as fast as possible. Diversify. Don't privatize Iraq's supply and pump more out faster. We'll just use it and run out of oil all the sooner. We'll be less prepared to deal without it than if we focused as a whole on changing our oil-necessary lifestyle, including how we get around, the scale of everything, how we grow what we subsist upon, how and where we build, our electricity use, our electricity production, and (who knows?) maybe even reducing the amount of plastic we use and throw away. It all might make some small impact. But for now most have to drive to live any sort of life in America. Many might not like it even while they're driving. Oil is a stupid resource to go to war over. Fresh water or food (land or fishing rights) might make sense. But our oil-driven economy, lifestyle, and war-machine is now a de-funct, unneeded, empty shell. It keeps itself going, but only as long as oil keeps flowing. If we're suddenly cut off the shell will crumble. It's now time to drastically shift before our hand is drastically forced.

Ambigrams on the Mind

2005-07-26T03:17:00.000-04:00

Here's a cool game I found. I wasted a good many minutes beating every level. Challenging without being too hard.

Persnickety: A Fun But Irrelevant Word

2005-07-25T01:24:00.000-04:00

Ever have one of those weekends full of reunions or full of goodbyes? This last one has been a big heaping scoopful of both. Also, I ate way too many raisins, but that's a disgusting tale I'll never speak of again. You shouldn't either. I arrived home for the evening to find that a good high school chap of mine is in town! Roshitha and I caught up a bit. I've not really seen or spent time with him in years! Twas great fun hearing of his recent escapades over a beer. Seeing him really brought back a lot of fun high school memories. I usually only recall the mediocre or terrible ones!

I can't pinpoint when or why, but sometime tonight reality barraged me. My life will change greatly within a few weeks. Tim, too, seems to have had the same bombardment by reality. I called and we talked for a while after Ro left. Mid-August is not far off. It's almost unreal how people have found their paths (for the time being at least) after months if not years of indecision. It's also quite odd how the politics of quitting a job can get so darned finicky. It should be a simple enough matter.

The big reality: the Mike+Matt divorce has begun. Moving out has become emminent; the threat of much work looms. We began the discussion of who gets what. He can have everything that might be kinda both of ours. So it's been easy. But it still strikes me as very strange. I've been living with him for nearly a year. And most of the years previous we lived pretty much together. But not in the same apartment or, more aptly, dorm room. Next door is pretty close though. It'll be way too much like the longest relationship I've ever had is coming to an end. I'm going to miss living with my heterosexual male life-partner. We've had a lot of good times here together.

Friday night was a great night out, though I can't believe I slept through half of the Empire Strikes Back. It's only about my favorite film ever. I blame a few drinks and a comfortable couch with comfortable company. I was just too damned comfortable not to nap! Before that though the Downtown Grill was about the most fun it's ever been. I met Erin there, but not just her! Christine and Weston and Bethany and other people I don't really know well were there too. I even managed not to utterly stink of smoke afterwards. A first for that bar! Even after the movie, the night proved to be more fun still! Of course I'm pretty sure the party raging until well after dawn upstairs should have been annoying all night, but I barely noticed.

ears: miles davis - the doo bop song
eyes: mystery men
mind: history as a system
also: harry potter and the half-blood prince

Like, reach the man, Good good good let us counter-attacking

2005-07-15T00:53:00.000-04:00

Obi wan, space battle strategist and so much more! Check it: The Backstroke of the West. It's fun shite.

Nothing But an Ordinary Fly

2005-07-14T14:35:00.000-04:00

An OJ Martini

2005-07-14T02:23:00.000-04:00

I find myself awake at, oh, about 2 in the morning. I ponder, think, prove the existence of God, quickly rethink, fart once, prove the non-existence of God, and find myself totally befuddled by this inherent paradox. Farting is no grounds for an utter lack of God. If anything, what is the idea of 'God' but a lot of hot air spouting out someone's ass? Thusly, if I can fart, then God must surely exist. Really, I've shown I should be drinking and not thinking. I decide to stop attempting sleep, rouse myself, and quickly shake up a martini.

Bringing us here. I had meant to write up another chapter in my exciting 'Michigan: It's a State!' journal, but then I decided I should go to bed. And we all know how bed worked out. It led me to drink, just like Michigan. So no Michigan stories tonight, kids.

Instead, something completely different. It might be my sore throat, the fever, and the hellish warmth my room holds, but I feel like writing something a bit unusual. On my blog I tend to shy away from really opening myself up, sharing truely personal experiences, my opinions on personal matters, and feelings in general. I'm more than perfectly comfortable to rant about news, movies, lunch, photos people have taken, and amusing things. I'd not really thought about it before, but as much as this blog is about me (no other agenda) I keep my gaurd up here far more than I do in any other situation. The idea that just anybody might simply read how I feel unnerves me and I'm not sure why. I'm more than willing to talk with generally anybody about me. I like me. I like what I do. So why not tell the world at large how I feel? Beats me.

I find myself at odds with 'love.' I don't know what it means. I thought I had it down once, but it kicked a bit, the situation reversed, it got me in a half Nelson, and we've been duking it out since. I love plenty of different people. I love them all for being wonderful, wonderful people. But I've only loved a small handful. And really, I still love them of course; I don't know why past tense makes that particular statement make sense. But it does. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?

Since love and I became aware of one another, the line between falling in love and simply loving a good friend have become less and less distinct. I feel that this is a common, healthy, and rather normal phenomenon. What bothers me lately is this: I've only loved one both as a good friend and as someone I just totally fell in love with one day. In regards to her, I have quite a time disentangling any sort of rough line between the two sensations. For the longest time, years even, I thought I had done it. All the emotions, all the memories, all the experiences became completely meshed. Friend and lover were one. To truely seperate one from the other would be near impossible, but I thought I had done it. Now, I'm not so sure. I'm even less sure it matters. But despite my better judgement I hope it does. Why? Because most of that paragraph was bullshit beating around the bush. Summed up, I'm a little weirded out by feelings for someone. Feelings I once had, but thought I'd never have again. Except now the feelings are different-fresh, more mature, I don't know what, but different and the same all at once. I've developed a new crush on a rather old one. It's a new feeling for me. I doubt anything will come of it, but it doesn't matter because everything has just been fun on the way to attaining this new weird feeling. But here's to hopping. To hoping. Ah, hell, to hoping while hopping!

Regardless of what it all means--that's not the point here now is it--it's a relief to spell "how I feel" out in rough terms. Don't fret; this isn't becoming one of "those" livejournals. It's just that I've not really told anyone who might read this yet, and it's a bit relieving to overcome a small fear and expose myself this way to potentially anyone. Even the one person I'm talking about, but I don't think she knows about my blog or at least not the url, so no one tell!

Well kids, the martini is gone, a couple martini glasses of OJ are gone, and it's getting close to half past two. It's time to tackle the whole existence of God thing until my head either stops or starts hurting and I fall asleep.

ears: the decemberists
eyes: legally blonde
mind: so long and thanks for all the fish
also: it's bastille day

I'm Gonna Miss Those Guys

2005-07-11T13:30:00.000-04:00

If you've never been to Michigan before (or even if you have!), go and be sure to check out Frankenmuth. It's this really fucking weird town in the middle of fucking nowhere. I absolutely adored it. Why is there a Bavarian [sort of] village between Flint and Saginaw? Why is it a tourist destination? I never thought another town could put Pigeon Forge to shame. I never thought any town could have a Christmas Village-esque mega-huge shopping mall/hotel/warehouse/indoor water park/etc. My only disappointment is that the wait-staff at Zehnder's didn't wear lederhosen.

"Why," you might ask, "were you in Frankenmuth, Michigan last monday?" Well, lucky reader, I shall enlighten you. The long and the short of it adds up like so: I convoyed (one moving van, three autos (two japanese), and one sailing boat) to Lansing assisting in the moving of two dear friends, Anna and Randy. I'm gonna miss those guys. As it happens, Randy has family dotted around Michigan. His grandparents live just outside of Frankenmuth. If not for those two events coinciding I probably would have lived out a long and happy life totally unaware that such a town as Frankenmuth--it's really fun to say aloud; give it a try--that such a place exists. My only regret is that I didn't have my camera on me that night.

I'd Better Chickity Check Myself...

2005-06-23T23:01:00.000-04:00

Before I wreck myself. I make me happy.

tuning in: life in a glass house - radiohead

Their First Dance!

2005-06-20T17:11:00.000-04:00

Anna and Randy pulled off a fabulous wedding. But of course, with my help how could it have been otherwise? More great documention can be found here, here, and of course here.

Only My New Powers Can Save You

2005-06-17T14:17:00.000-04:00

I really don't have time to write anything now. But I really didn't have the time to go to Durham a couple of days ago either. I didn't have time to lie poolside and stare at the sky for a couple of hours. I didn't have time to stop my car to enjoy yesterday's sunset. I didn't have time to stop in Asheville for dinner. I didn't have time to to pause and take a photo.

Who Made Heaven a Place on Earth?

2005-06-14T04:44:00.000-04:00

The newest addition to the White family is now available online for your viewing pleasure! (Still reeeeeally cute.)

Tim is ditching his own server for a more portable system of blogs and such.

I jet-skied for the first time ever today. I only almost capsized the one time. I blame the gaggle of annoying waterfowl. And also the slightly submerged silo. It distracted like few things could. The way home proved to be a whirlwind site-seeing adventure!

WARNING

Around midnight with approximately the third group of people in slightly more days I traveled through Alcoa, through Maryville, through Townsend. Tonight we went as tourists. Tonight I saw more fireflies. It's become an interesting experiment to see how drastically different the show can be. Figuring out why is far more perplexing.

ears: softcell - tainted love

eyes: the restaurant at the end of the universe

awesome mind candy: inappropriate airplane jokes: do they actually exist?

Improbable Watercraft Antics... and MORE!

2005-06-13T13:15:00.000-04:00

The week past was chock full of interesting goings-on. The least of which being that last thursday Scott and I took it upon ourselves to seek out those quirky synchronized fireflies once again. Last year's trek ended dismally with us running from a largish animal, purportedly a bear. No firefly viewing even really took place that day. Well, nearly 12 months later we attempted again. This time it was dark, really dark. We didn't even think to bring a light. But we talked loudly. We hummed and sang. We ran into no bears in the dark. We discovered these flashy bugs up in their happy little clearing. We enjoyed the light show for some time and left. Hardly the event we had last year, but far more sublime. The synchronized strobing mesmerizes and inpires a real sense of the mystic and unknown in the universe. It's not nearly as bawdy as our primitive human mating rituals.

Which reminds me...

Though it amazes... nay! Stupifies me to imagine creating new life, Andrea gave birth to a son, Aiden, on friday. Huge congradulations! She and John both beamed with glee the next day. Aiden is reeeeeeally cute. I can't believe I held a tiny not-even-a-day-old person!

simply reading: the restaurant at the end of the universe

Ecto Plasma-tastastic!

2005-06-07T17:54:00.000-04:00

The next drink I'm ordering at a bar, in loving memory of those Hi-C juice boxes, will follow this recipe:

2 oz Midori melon liqueur
1 oz Blue Curacao liqueur
1/2 oz vodka
1/2 oz Southern Comfort peach liqueur
1/2 oz amaretto almond liqueur
1/4 oz pineapple juice
1/4 oz sweet and sour mix
1/4 oz grapefruit juice

Some guy named Anton claims it should taste like an Ecto Cooler, but with alcohol! Since I'm writing it down here, there's less chance I'll be somewhere where I can't find this recipe. Hope it works.

keeping sanity at bay via: a rousing game of email chess

~soberness via: yet another 03 pinot grigio

continuously: arrested development

oh yeah: fight club, a good 2.5 hour read

Episode III

2005-06-06T17:53:00.000-04:00

I've not written a thing about anything! But most of all I've not written anything about Star Wars. Episode III (my opinion after three viewings) is great. Hardly perfect, plenty of bad lines, bad scenes (George Lucas really can't write a love scene), etc. All in all though, it was the most fun Episode III could have been. So, without further gilding the lily, my official ranking of the six flicks goes something like a this: V,IV,III,VI,II,I. And I feel like that's a little unfair to VI and II. I really think they're both almost as good as III. I'll opine more completely later.

not sleeping my way through: fight club

five fifty-five am

2005-06-06T17:31:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by theparadigmshifter.

Probably one of the most exhilerating and exhausting moments I've ever had was standing on this beach for a half hour. Twas cold, windy, and I hadn't really slept. It was wonderful!

a good day

2005-06-06T17:28:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by theparadigmshifter.

I feel like my entire week at the beach can be best summed up by this photo. Even better than words.

mike!

2005-06-06T17:26:00.000-04:00

Originally uploaded by theparadigmshifter.

My first self-portrait with my brand-spanking new Canon SD400. Oh how I love this camera! I took this a few weeks ago. I've been meaning to post about a lot of things, including this camera!

In the Vein of All Things Vader

2005-05-12T10:33:00.000-04:00

I've yet discovered more from the wonderful world of Vader. A gargoyle carefully reproduced in his image adorns Washington's National Cathedral.

My only regret... is that I have bonitis.

Right, well...

2005-05-12T02:41:00.000-04:00

I just used my own computer to get online for the first time. I've been chatting and surfing like I did back in the good old dorm days. I'm feeling rather shitty, so surfing might just seem more fun than I remember, but I'm havin' a ball! Point being that the best Star Wars thing I've seen in awhile: Darth Vader's Blog.

why? jumping into: crime and punishment

Kingdom of Heaven

2005-05-09T13:13:00.000-04:00

Orlando Bloom: You march to certain death.
David Thewlis: All death is certain.
Me (under my breath): This movie is riddikulus.

Then I looked at my watch for awhile.

Well kids, I better be getting back to the 1800's in my time steamboat.

My First 'Two Propositions In One Night Out On the Street' Night

2005-05-06T04:18:00.000-04:00

Right, so it's about 4 am now. In the past 15 minutes I was propositioned not once, but twice, by fellow students. An unheard of feat in my years here at UT. I suppose the story begins with me getting home from Andrea and John's rather cool Fifth-of-May party. A bit over an hour ago I was dropped off, I came inside, stood around for a few minutes, then decided I was really bored, alone, and very awake. I can't even sit on my couch and play a video game or watch my fave The Office or Futurama episodes until sleep comes. The couch was/is taken. No big surprise really. So I decided to take a walk.

Most of the walk happened as most of my late night, dreary weather walks go. I felt like I could have been in London, but everyone else had died and there were no cool monuments or old things. It was foggy and no one else was out. I made a big loop around Fort Sanders and a bit of downtown. On the return path, on 11th street this red Chevy something-or-other slows down, actually stops, and there's this guy in the driver's seat. He leans over and asks quite politely, "Would you like a blow job?" I simply answer (as if this happens all the time (it doesn't)), "No thanks." Also quite politely. He nods and drives off. One, I was confused, surprised, and I managed to answer quickly and correctly. For that I give myself cool points. Two, I stood there afterwards a bit dumbfounded. I think I've heard that question stated just so maybe five times in my life; I think I've been dumbfounded each time. This is the first time this particular query came from another man.

For several blocks on the path down Highland back to my place I'm pondering what the whole incident means. Because, with me, everything must mean something, but really I believe nothing really means anything unless you don't know it does, but when you realize it, it's too late to change certain things, but a life lesson is learned, and you've learned and know better the next time around. Except of course for the bits forgotten. Which happens. Anywho.

Closer to my place, in fact right next door, this girl asks me if I want a blow job. I'm totally confused. I mumble maybe later, then duck around the corner of my house. I have no idea what happened in the universe tonight but something is way off. Of course I want a blow job. No I don't want one from that guy. First off he was a guy. If I could've gotten past that, he had a really itchy looking mustache I would not have been about. The girl, though rather attractive, seemed drunk, either has or knows someone with stupid dogs, and really asked me at just the wrong time. I mean that guy really weirded out my universe. Strangers don't offer sexual favors. They ask for them. To be offered twice within fifteen minuted means it's time to lock myself up until after the second coming. Or at least til morning, when I'll want breakfast.

Hmmmmmm... bacon.........

2005-05-04T23:28:00.000-04:00

It's weird. I want to post, but I really have nothing useful to say, point out, or even link to. That is, nothing other than this.

sort of listening to: return of the king

Done.

2005-05-03T16:44:00.000-04:00

All done. Now, sleep.

One Down.

2005-05-02T17:44:00.000-04:00

Two to go.

Oh My, Yes

2005-04-29T11:09:00.000-04:00

Two quick items on ye olde agenda:
1. Somebody from fucking Adelaide checked out a teeny part of my blog because in a search for Matt Damon on some funny Austrailian engine my post about The Brothers Grimm was result number 11 or some such. Also, if you search for 'Matt Damon' + 'creamed my pants' then I'm result number one! I am now inextricably linked with Matt Damon.

2. Also, I think I'll link to the best photos I've seen from The Brother Grimm right here. No, here. Agh. Here. Most I've seen before, but the first shot, I don't know where that came from, but it's pretty great. I want to go to Praha...

prepping to watch: hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy
whilst listening to: s'il vous plait as done by miles davis

Neverending Story?

2005-04-29T02:45:00.000-04:00

So, I guess it was two nights ago, though it feels like one hell of a long day, I found myself enjoying About a Boy with a lovable Hugh Grant and some fun tunes by Badly Drawn Boy. Well, today felt like a 'Hugh Grant a la About a Boy day'. I fell asleep (passed out, totally exhausted) last night at the wonderfully early hour of midnightish. I didn't wake until 4:30 this afternoon. I immediately spent one unit of time showering, spent 2 units at Oodles (during Sundown) whilst enjoyed Mac & Cheese and thouroughly enjoying a 2003 Pinot Noir, checked out Market Square for a unit, and then headed back to the Oodles wine bar. I think I was theree for 3 units of time. Awesome. It was awesome. Thw wine selection was ok. But the atmosphere and crowd was awesome. I spent no less than 20 minutges chatting with Mike Gibson, the movie guru (of the week at least: see the article on Kung Fu Hustle). I was well oin my way to drunk. He seemed aimable. We talked a great deal about Kurosawa. Also, he wasn't all that familiar with the ouevre of Stephen Chow (especially Shaolin Soccer (the best kung fu film. ever.)). Parenthesis gonw widl! Everybody ever needs to see Shaolin Soccer.

Plus all those individual glasses of varoius varietals added up. Though it is a scant 11 hours since I awoke, I feel as if I had a full day, way too much to drink, and then some. And really, that's totally that last cab sauv talking. I'm going to bed.

Chapter Six Hundred and Forty-Three

2005-04-27T16:11:00.000-04:00

Right, well, this article is the silver-lining to an otherwise sadly stupid day. Legions of unrelentless, seemingly unrelated, and rather silly events concatenated in a 'profoundly stupid way'. This one article of serious journalism saved my day from being a thoroughly impeccable write-off. I'm not the first to link it, and I sure as hell hope I'm not the last. Cheers!

reading: rousseau's confessions

Turing Machines Gone Wild!

2005-04-27T05:08:00.000-04:00

Who now [finally] knows all about the logical operator "√~ "? That's right; it's me. I now [kind of sort of] understand all it's implications too. Make the hurting stop!

done read: mother night

Gentlemen. I Bring You... More Corn!

2005-04-25T22:12:00.000-04:00

You haven't lived until you've seen Ricky Gervais (as David Brent) singing If You Don't Know Me By Now. He looks a lot like Jonathon Frakes just before he's about to teach alien women to love. I've just watched the specials. Again. They make great background noise for a longish session of studying. Again, I'm really just wasting time right now. I've been doing it all day whilst trying to be productive. When will the distracting stop!

currently muddling through: mother night (scroll down a bit to see why)
(not really) listening to: yesterday

This Do Be Me Avoidin' Me Homework, Ye Be Seein'?

2005-04-22T00:33:00.000-04:00

Thar do be two kinds o' swabbies. Swabbies who talk like gentleman o' fortunes an' them that do be nothin' but landlocked lubbers. And' they be nothin' more than scurvy bilge rats. Arrr, avast wastin' me own time. T' query o' the day do be: which o' them scallywaggin' muppets do ye be seein' yersef bein`? That be, if a muppet ye must be bein'.

The World Just Kicked Me When I'm Down. Again. I'm Going To Stop Reading the Internet.

2005-04-21T07:45:00.000-04:00

You're Mother Night!

by Kurt Vonnegut

Nobody knows what to believe about you, and you know least of all. You spent most of your time convinced that the ends justify the means, but your means were, well, downright mean! And the end is nigh. Meanwhile all you want is to travel back in time, if not to change, then to just delight in the way it used to be. You are who you pretend to be. Oh yes, you're the great pretender.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

And I am...

2005-04-20T23:55:00.000-04:00

high as a kite. How stereotypical.

And I am...

2005-04-20T11:55:00.000-04:00

high as a kite. How stereotypical.

Hawaiian Friday

2005-04-20T02:08:00.000-04:00

Rules
1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog/site with the answers to the questions and leave the answers as comments on my blog.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Questions
1. What about the Thing, is his dork made of orange rock?

Many have wondered if Ben Grimm has orange rock testicales. Indeed, I am geek with a working knowledge of Kevin Smith's films. At any rate, after extensive internet research I could not find a nude photo of The Thing and have come to the conclusion that no one has yet to check. Though I believe on blind faith alone (of course what is faith but blind; we're allowed to be redundent) that the whole package is made of rock. The color is more difficult to reckon: for what if The Thing is actually naturally much more yellow. He might just spend a lot of time in a tanning bed. I'd bet he's got a tan line. If he tans... Maybe yellow. Maybe orange. Definitely rock.

2. What song would you like playing as you drive a sixteen-wheel truck through a horde of zombies?

A question I've long pondered and experimented with while playing one of many various video games (you know the ones I mean). Really, I've got a few soundtracks' worth of song ideas off the top of my head. Some make for a more Tarantino-esque moment, some just rock, some have oddly appropriate lyrics, others don't make any sense at all. The first song I can think of is Here Comes the Sun as performed by The Beatles. If it's a slo-mo montage of me hitting zombies with a big truck then I'd have to go with Life on Mars?, David Bowie or Everybody Hurts, R.E.M. Some other runners-up in no particular order are:
Atomic Bounce, Carl Sonny Leyland
3rd Dead Cat, Chuck Brodsky
Special, Garbage
Take the Power Back, RATM
Right Next Door to Hell and Live and Let Die, Guns N' Roses
Espionage, Green Day
P.E.T.R.O.L., Orbital
Too Tough to Die and Blitzkrieg Bop and anything Ramones

Let it be known that it's heart-wrenching to pick one song. Also, there are plenty of great songs not immediately recallable. I suppose if I had to pick one song, just one song, it'd be the classic Bad Moon Rising by none other than CCR.

3. Why should anyone watch "A Christmas Story" ever again?

If nobody does, then no one will watch TNT for the month or so around Christmas when all it airs is A Christmas Story over and over. What would the world be like if Teddy didn't make as much money? I'll tell you. Three words: about the same (what has the UN really done recently...)

4. Who is your daddy, and what does he do?

That's a rather personal question, don't you think? By the way, is she a goer? Know what I mean, know what I mean. Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink...

5. When is enough enough?

Soon enough. Unless of course, that's not soon enough.

2005-04-17T00:30:00.000-04:00

It's weird that 5 days feels like a long time since I've posted. Once every 5 weeks used to be fine with me. Anywho, in the past week I've lost a car, felt (and still feel) like rubbish (a cold methinks), and NyQuil'd my life away. I've been out of both the social and academic loops! I have, on the plus side, slept a great great deal.

I also had the oppurtunity to spend a great deal of time with Tim, staying up late, chatting, playing JK2 and watching Stargate. We found some pictures from last summer that I didn't even know about and Tim was too drunk to really remember taking. Example:

They're from John's bachelor party. A lot of craziness happened. It happened nearly a year ago so my memory is understandably not all that clear on the order of events...

And now it's more certain than ever before that upon my way-to-imminent matriculation from the very fine institution of UT, I will venture into the business world. Instead of the bar/microbrewery idea, now we're thinking liquor store to start off with. I already pretty much know how to own and operate one. Little risk involved! It's too soon for grad school, I don't really want a job, so how about a small liquor store venture! The reasoning do be sound.

spending my saturday night: drugged up, drinking Coors, and watching Bond films

Best Headline Ever*

2005-04-12T13:15:00.000-04:00

The title says it all.

*since yesterday

Gosford Park: The Drinking Game

2005-04-08T16:09:00.000-04:00

Requirements:
-01 copy Gosford Park
-10 bottles beer per person

Rules:
-01 swig(s) beer per smoking or drinking event witnessed on screen
-02 swig(s) beer per molestation or other inappropriateness directed towards the wait-staff
-03 swig(s) beer per slow pan reveal of bottles of poison (or any other subtle murder weapon reveal)
-06 swig(s) beer per incident in which Elsie yells in defense of William at dinner (because, well, damn)

Winner:
It's always Sean Connery. Don't ask why.

listening to: the entertainer from somewhere upstairs. again.

Terrorists? Where?

2005-04-08T04:56:00.000-04:00

Oh, an Ray, this means you. But only because you're from there. Not that you are a terrorist or um... well, anyway, you're not. I gotta go. Something. Bye.

I'll Take Pleasure In Guttin' You, Boy

2005-04-08T04:00:00.000-04:00

Southerners just really seem to strike the right nerve. I normally don't like a fight. Plus, Bruckheimer+Bay's The Rock is cinematic genius. Welcome to the Rock. I guess it's really a Michael Bay film. Pearl Harbor. Ben Afleck. Still vomitting uncontrollably. But still, Bruckheimer. But still, Pearl Harbor. Why with the memories. Agggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggh...

They Drank My Beer!

2005-04-07T02:09:00.000-04:00

I don't know who drank the last of my beer, but I'll have you know that I was saving that for tasting every month for a few months. You could've at least asked. I only needed three more. You could have had one or even two. I could've gotten by with just two more! Well, whomever did it had better give me good notes on it's flavor, texture, etc. If I'm to take starting a microbrewery seriously (and I am) I should think I need to know how to make beer, how long it'll last, when it's reached it's best age, and so on. The nuances aren't nearly as complicated as they might be with a good merlot, but I still would like some first hand experience with what happens with beer. Just because I was in my bedroom didn't mean you couldn't ask. It meant the cooler, British The Office was playing far too loudly for me to hear my phone... Errrr, two months of waiting and I'm back to square one.

still escaping reality via: Snow Crash

On Ricky Gervais

2005-04-06T02:43:00.000-04:00

My side of the pond now has it's very own The Office as everyone I know is probably aware. I watched it earlier tonight. It was the first episode I've seen. I laughed a lot more than I thought I would. I might even go so far as to say I liked it, which seems to against the way I normally do things. What's happened to me!

Oh, and Sin City rocked my cock off! Ebert and I see eye-to-eye once more! Except I just maybe could have gone without Bruce Willis forcably removing that pedophile's genatalia with his bear hands... That made my cock cringe. That part didn't rock.

escaping real life via: Snow Crash, Scrubs, and a dancing Jessica Alba

Gypsy Hacks and Insomniacs

2005-04-04T18:45:00.000-04:00

I swore I saw a body wrapped up in a bloody, dirty sheet along the highway last night. I swerved a little bit to avoid hitting it. At first I thought it might have been plastic or a sheet going where the wind takes it. At the last moment I decided it was something much more substantial wrapped up in a dirty sheet, and thus swerved rather rapidly to avoid hitting it. The breeze of my passing car didn't stir it. It looked awfully human sized and shaped. The sheet had red stains showing in a couple of places. I was morbidly curious, but in the end decided not to turn around and investigate further. Scott was also inclined to not investigate; we trucked on. So, as far as I know, I had to avoid running over a stray cadaver last night. That's the story I know and I'm sticking to it.

Parallax Reflection

2005-03-31T17:58:00.000-05:00

parallax reflection originally uploaded by theparadigmshifter.

Disillusionment occured at 4.5.

Grim Days Ahead, I Do Hope

2005-03-30T03:12:00.000-05:00

I found myself looking up Monica Belluci on imdb to confirm if in fact she played roles in The Matrix Reloaded, Brotherhood of the Wolf, and Passion of the Christ. Shortly after reading some articles about the Passion Redux (including pics) I happened to watch both of the other aforementioned films. She plays the hot-Papal-spy-prostitute-fembot in Brotherhood and Magdalen in Passion, so of course my interest had been picqued.

Point being I noticed she plays 'Queen Mirror' in this tiny already-completed, soon-to-come film, The Brothers Grimm directed by none other than Terry Gilliam, my favorite person of all time. Thusly, I creamed my pants.

I would have guessed he was done with the whole movie thing after the nightmare that must have been The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. After that failed I hadn't heard about any of his projects. Apparently I missed two, the Grimm one and another titled Tideland. I haven't looked up much on Tideland because The Brothers Grimm has captured my entire imagination. When I looked through the cast I, again, creamed my pants.

Heath Ledger and Matt Damon (he reminds me of a young Malcom McDowell (circa Caligula) in every production photo I found) are cool and all as the stars, but everybody else is better. Beginning with none other than Jonathon Pryce, my other favorite person of all time.

I suppose Brazil and the Adventures of Baron Munchausen come to mind first, but other movies I love him in include Carrington, Ronin, and Unconditional Love. Also, he takes the Bond villian to a megalomaniacal height unsurpassed in the franchise before or since Tomorrow Never Dies. I think I've written on this before...

But wait, there's more! The next name I noticed is none other than Mackenzie Crook, whom I immediately recognized as Gareth of The Office fame. Which reminds me, I'd take a bullet for Ricky Gervais. Nobody had better mess with him, even though he probably should go to hell.

Peter Stormare is name number three. The best part of Constantine, i.e. Satan, nihilist #1 opposite The Dude, and the go-to eye-guy of Minority Report, he livens up any film with wonderfully cynical if not villianous humor.

No trailer or website exists for The Brothers Grimm yet, but all I really found other than the imdb synopses states that the release date is slated for this July. The snippets and pics and premise sound and look incredible. The story can and probably will range throughout the Grimm folklore via Gilliam's wonderful, wicked, visual imagination. It's the most exciting news I've ever stumbled upon, ever. Ever. I just creamed my pants again for good measure.

Watching: Press any button.

What what?

2005-03-29T02:39:00.000-05:00

M: Alright. 'Where do Walmarts come from?'
M: What? Where do Walmarts come from?
M: *no response*

Perhaps I'll learn another day... Oh, wait...

M: They come from BSW International, 'a firm in Tulsa Oklahoma that doesn't care what you think.'

They've done an incredibly large number of 'Wal*Marts' according to the website. Also, they've done work for Taco Bell, Hertz, and many other fine repetitive, car-based, sprawl-inducing clients. I guess somebody has too. Ironically enough they seem to have won an United Nations Earth Summit Award for Global Sustainability. Maybe for some sort of eco-friendly, ultra-urban Walmart? No where on the web does it say.

Bored -> Exciting -> Exhausted

2005-03-28T04:22:00.000-05:00

lightning originally uploaded by theparadigmshifter.

It's rather amazing how quickly I went from being bored out of my mind yesterday to not, from then until now in no time, and also that I photographed lightning. Cheeze-its are also amazing; I have seen the light. Actual writing to come later.

Who Ever Heard of Sociables?

2005-03-22T12:19:00.000-05:00

Spring Break has [officially] sprung. It began with a weekend excursion to North Carolina. Ostensibly to visit Tim (be sure to read his rants), but also to drink heavily and play croquet with some of Scott's extended family and friends. The party was a blast; it was a wonderful spring day and the parts of Charlotte I frequented leave the impression that it's one of most beautiful cities I've been.

Tim met us in Charlotte to party with Scott S.'s family. I laugh at his joke! Be sure to notice the Champagne bottles scattered about.

Croquet in action. A game that's always worth a 6 hour drive, croquet provides reason to drink on a mild, early spring day.

We began with an overnight stay in the mountains. I forgot that drop camping can be a lot of fun. Really all it takes is a fire, hot dogs, 24 or so PBR tall boys, and enough whiskey to stay warm. John provided some quality comedic entertainment, once he had a few drinks and our antics really got rolling. My only regret is that we didn't have enough stuff to burn. This night marks the first of only sleeping for 4-5 hours. I awoke at the crack of first light, went hiking, watched the sunrise from atop a small mountain, and came back to camp well before anyone else got up.

The Scotts and I parted ways with John before we continued on our trek towards Charlotte. Once there though we immediately met up with Tim who arrived exactly as we did. I mingled, Champagned it up a notch or three, hobnobbed, played a spot of croquet, and wrote some refrigerator poetry before we took our leave and headed off to exotic Raleigh!

This night was spent at Tim and Katie's place. They showed us around to the extent that we ended up at a cool tavern, Mitch's. Apparently it appeared as a locale in Bull Durham. Since the Scotts and I had not seen it before and they had it, much later on that night I watched a movie about sports and sex... And I thought it was going to be a boring baseball flick! Tim Robbins is always awesome. This marks the second night of sleeping for approximately 5 hours.

Sunday we took our time brunching. Afterwards, we went to one of the larger wine store I've seen. Plus they could sell non-alcoholic things. Wine doesn't belong in liquor stores in NC. How novel! Tennessee always feels even more backwards when I return from anywhere else. We had wine and ate cheese and stayed at Tim's much later than we should have. No one was looking foward to a 6 hour drive. Eventually we left, made our way back to Knoxville, where I fed Torpe around midnight, before Scott, Matt, and I watched movies all night. Surprised around 5 that it was around 5, I went to bed. Marking the third night of sleeping about 4-5 hours.

This trip left me feeling like I'd never sleep in my bed again I think. I have a hard time sleeping a full 8 hours unless I do sleep in my own bed. Of course, my bed hasn't even felt like my bed since Sunday last. The week before Spring Break is always the worst, but it was especially terrible this year. So here's to 6 more days of doing almost nothing when I should be doing much more!

Newfound Night Sky

2005-03-18T06:08:00.000-05:00

A view from Newfound Gap.

Night sky plus automobile in the mountains.

I took these photos a week and a half ago. I just figured out a way to post them in the blog. So I did! I keep learning new things every early morning. I can't always be a genius; perhaps I'll write later today, perhaps not. For now I think posting photos (as many do) will have to suffice. I really don't like to listen to business news in the morning.

Listening to: Morning Edition on NPR

Like, That's Just Your Opinion. Man.

2005-03-17T22:12:00.000-05:00

The ancients who wished to demonstrate illustrious virtue throughout the kingdom, first ordered well their own states. Wishing to order well their states, they first regulated their families. Wishing to regulate their families, they first cultivated their persons. Wishing to cultivate their persons, they first rectified their hearts. Wishing to rectify their hearts, they first sought to be sincere in their thoughts. Wishing to be sincere in their thoughts, they first extended to the utmost their knowledge. Such extension of knowledge lay in the investigation of things. . . . From the Son of Heaven down to the mass of people, all must consider the cultivation of the person the root of everything besides.

I stumbled upon this passage in the most unexpected of places: a sci-fi novel, hardly the normal venue for a kernel of Confucian philosophy. It succinctly put my feelings and musings on my personal philosophy in a way I've never considered. My great ambitions are rather abstract; I seek to somehow improve the world...somehow. As for how I study and learn I feel like I must investigate everything. I jump around from topic to topic, from class to class, from book to book, and never spend enough time to become a bona fide expert in any specific field. I tend to connect thoughts, ideas, and concepts in ways no expert can (due to the restricted proscenium, i.e. his field of expertise, with which said expert views the world). I'm always seeking to extend my knowledge.

One can never fully extend one's knowledge. Knowledge really means a lack of ignorance. I tend to veer from negative definitions. In this case, I'm showing that knowledge might not be the best measure of intelligence, or rather, the best way to define one attempting 'to be sincere in their thoughts.' Wisdom gleaned through experience coupled with a ceaseless extension of knowledge thus becomes a more true method 'to be sincere in [one's] thoughts.'

Before reading this Confucian kernel, I'd always assumed the garnering of knowledge was the sole goal. I could never make the leap to 'demonstrating illustrious virtue throughout the kingdom' or even the small step of utilizing knowledge to simply be more sincere in my thoughts. Along these lines, the Master is wrong in a way regarding how one can go about achieving better honesty and clarity in their thoughts, a key step in the progression from the 'root of everything besides' to a better world. Knowledge can never be fully extended and as wisdom is gained through experience and mediatation, only then can I go out to better the world. But as I am always gaining experience I need to at least attempt sincere thinking. Whether I am sincere or not is irrelevant. Striving for sincerity by continuously extending my knowledge as I further experience life is how I become more sincere in my thoughts.

As corollary: projecting this reasoning over the course of the Confucian passage above one can deduce that one must strive for all the orderings, cultivations, rectifications, etc. concurrently. When knowledge, wisdom, a sincere mind, a true heart, a cultivated self, systems for positive family-, state-, and world-systems are all sought after, a time will come when more of these steps are actualized.

I've been writing too many papers over the past three days. It's gotten me all philosophical on things... and shit. I'm kind of enjoying it I guess. It's helping with my goal of writing [almost] every day. This bit was relatively short, incomplete, full of wholes and all, but at least I'm thinking about what I'm trying to do with my life. Something I keep putting off and ignoring outright as I finish my undergraduate degrees. The next step is easy enough to ignore, but I'd much rather decide to complacently go with the flow of things before I let it happen.

Watching: The Big Lebowski
Listening To: Matt on cello

I Found the Lord in Myself on the Internet...

2005-03-16T04:59:00.000-05:00

MichaelSewell.Com is for born-again Christians. Some, er, interesting stuff there.

MikeSewell.Com, on the other hand, is much more my style. This guy has a 'Nemesis List'; it doesn't get any hipper than that!
MikeSewell.Net has got a very cool dog photo. That's it.

MikeSewell.Co.Uk is easily the most boring of them all.

Anywho, that's all that I could quickly find. I sure did learn a lot about how Christian or how uber-almost-graphic-design-guy-cool I can potentially be. Well, most of the photos MikeSewell.Com has give the impression that he's way too into living the American Dream. But he sure does look like he's got himself an attractive wife, more than enough booze, and a couple pairs of good dancin' shoes. It might not be all that bad to go out there and get a job. Who knows: maybe I'll know more definitively in a few years?

Once again I find myself computing in the wee hours of the morning instead of studying. I did already re-read most of Huis Clos last night. And I've sort of started writing that paper about it. It's a real bloody shame I have to write the paper in French. It's a bit rusty.

It's one of those skills I need to work on and keep in shape every day. There was a time that I did practice French as well as writing English daily (dangling, gasp, modifier). I used to write at least two thousand words a day. It only lasted a semester but every aspect of my writing life greatly improved for the duration. I could write and write and while away an hour or so. And that would be that. A thousand+ words an hour on whatever the hell I felt like.

It's a practice Scott convinced me I should take back up. He sat there and listened as I convinced myself. He also had a couple of beers. I did too. A fantastic break in my routine it did be. I'm thinking I'll get the old writing routine down daily again as soon as I set some ground rules. It's how I kept it up for an entire semester! All those years ago, le sigh. Rule 1: writing in the morning is always easiest for me. I know it, yet hardly write until the wee hours of a long night. So, writing finishes before breakfast is allowed to begin. Now that's motivation. Rule 2: the work must be no less than about a thousand words. Guesstimate. No need for actual counting. Rule 3: focus on something at least kind of specific and stick with it. Rule 4: perhaps it's time to modernize and blog each day's ramblings, so I'll do that. And maybe then I can post more often than the people are accustomed.

I should also continue playing at least one game of chess each day. I feel like there's something else I'm forgetting about. Well, when I remember what it is, I intend to keep at it daily also. Wow, this is boring. I should be writing anything else. It's not like I've got stuff to do or anything. Sheeesh!

listening to: nothing
watching: Goldeneye
looking foward to: posting for a third day in a row
weather: it's dark
i bet it's: cold too
procrastinating via: the wonders of cyberdom

This Morning's Distraction Brought to You By the Internet

2005-03-15T09:43:00.000-05:00

By 'You' I mean 'me.'

And by 'Distraction' I mean 'well, hey, at least I'm not staring off into space...'

I did get out of bed (well before noon! gasp!). I did drag my ass all the way up that there hill over there. Ya know the one I mean. The one with academia perched atop. So now that I'm here, I of course climb up a few more interior stairs and begin studying. For the big test.

And by 'studying' I mean 'let's show Bob here that Star Wars III trailer that I think kicks ass.' Then the interneting begins! Yes, his name is really Bob. I'm not disguising anything for any innocents no matter how innocent Bob thinks he is.

The trailer proved difficult to download officially and I was too lazy to get it otherwise. Moviefone is suckin' it up all over the place this morning. But instead I discovered this lovely bit o' digital film: Star Wars Episode III: A Lost Hope. I do have to share it with all the peoples. I wish I had made this movie.

Geeky greatness it do be.

This Is Vergon 6

2005-03-05T05:00:00.000-05:00

I can *not* believe I just woke up. I fell asleep around an hour ago. I slept well. Now I'm perfectly sober, chipper, and suffice it to say, way way too awake. It's 5 in the friggin' morning! I'm not going to sleep any more tonight. I absolutely abhor this realization.

On the plus side, there's no way I'll miss the Car Talk Puzzler a little later on in the morning. I love those things. I rarely correctly figure them out. I think that's what I love about them. This week's is simple though. I knew it immediately, but only because I already knew it. No pondering required!

Earlier tonight I watched the trailer for Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I feel like this could be the best of all possible movie adaptations imaginable for the book, but I won't know how I feel about it until I see it I suppose. What I can glean from the trailer seems very big bugdet and more slapstick than quirky. But all I already know about how much Douglas Adams himself poured into the project and also about just how perfect Martin Freeman of 'The Office' fame is for his role, both make me feel more excited about this movie than any other in a long while. I'm almost, hell, I am giddy with anticipation! So to all the naysayers about ruining the wonderfulness that is Adams' book, I say even if the movie sucks it doesn't affect or tarnish the original story AND I don't think it'll suck. Disney has made a handful of fun sci-fi flicks. Let's not forget Flight of the Navigator after all!

Which somehow reminds me that I climbed the Cumberland Escarpment a little over a week ago. The 'Smoky Mountain' segment of the Cumberland trail or at least what's finished of it offers quite a challenge. The segment connects Cove Lake and Frozen Head State Parks. Cove Lake is at the bottom of the Cumberlands just inside the Valley. The first couple miles of the finished trail climbed a rugged and steep 2000(?) feet to the top of Cross Mountain. I think it's awesome that my retired forester grandfather suggested the hike. Even better, after we discovered that the finished trail has hardly been used (if at all) in the past 6 months or so (probably because it isn't a complete trail), he suggested that rather than perpetually losing the trail some more we just start walking down the mountain. And then we did. It was steep. I bruised, scraped, and cut myself repeatedly in an [almost] controlled fall down the mountainside. The 2.5 miles of trail that actually climbed the mountain reduced to a mere mile and a half on the way down. Fun fun. I hope the section to Frozenhead gets completed this summer...

How I do go on about the oddest assortment of topics. I really should try getting more sleep. I could complain about my sleep patterns, but I'm pretty sure I've done that before. Complaining never helps fix them anyway. However, something complaining should help fix, but doesn't seem to have any bearing on whatsoever, is my lack of remembering to send my netflix back. I need new ones! Every day this past week, I've said, 'Damn, I meant to return those netflix today. I'll remember to do it tomorrow.' And every day I forget until well after the post is closed for the day. I don't even walk to the nearest drop because I know I'll walk past it the next day. Why make a special trip when I can do it on my way later? I think I may do just such right now. A special brisk early morning walk might be just what I need.

Loki Is Messing With Me On Behalf Of All Of Asgard; I Know It

2005-02-23T16:36:00.000-05:00

Sleeping. Not. Dreaming. Not. Waking. Not. Dazed. Clarity. Not sleeping. Not waking. Always dreaming. There's no decipherable order. I can't believe it's wednesday afternoon. Just a little while ago it was monday morning. Why can I not just pick a time to sleep every day, and stick with it? It's always so fun at the time, but with some retrospect I always find my memories all confuddled and befused. I suppose the past is a very ethereal thing that really only exists in my mind anyway, but it would be nice if it had more structure. To order my past few days requires some causality calculations. How come I can't just recall the order of my workings, sleepings, and recreatings? Huh? Is it so much to ask? Not that anything will change after I write this. I'll still stay up all night. Get up too early the next day. Go to a class or two. Go hiking. Watch a movie. Sleep for far too much time at once. And repeat, just in a different order with different activities. The one thing I know with any certainty is that it's wednesday. It's five. It's burger night. It's about the one thing I do consistently every week without fail. It's kind of like the anchor that helps me figure out the order of happenings through friday whenever I think about them. So really, none of the above bullshit means anything. I'm going to get my carnivore on. Fuck it, let's go to Burger Night.

A Dozen Dinner Dates Later...

2005-02-17T03:51:00.000-05:00

NO! The rumors are not true. I am not, in fact, dating Scott Sigmon. Albeit, we two have been about much chicanery of late. Hell, even Matt was disappointed last night when Scott was not here. But nevertheless, we're only partners of a business sort.

Elves Cannot Change the Will of the Gods

2005-01-20T02:06:00.000-05:00

Here's to the best line ever said on TV! Now raises those pints high my lads...

Cheers.

Here's to Scott rubbing my ear!
Here's to Scott rubbing my other ear!
Here's to OtheR Scott passed out in my chair once again!
Here's to rubbing that first ear again!
Cheers. Cheers, Cheers? Cheers!

There might have been one too many toasts tonight...

I Heard It Was Time For My Monthly Blog

2005-01-18T13:12:00.000-05:00

January always sucks around now. And now that I'm not drinking to get over it, it's worse. Eh, whatever. Let's pause for a moment, forget about all the shit I need to be doing instead of writing this, and reminisce...

Highlights of my wonderful winter of wacky merriment: eating Magic Wok on no less than three occasions (even though I live in K-town I can only ever make it when I'm on holiday), basicly living with Scott Sigmon when I've hardly seen him since high school, the view from that mountain I hiked just off of I-75 at Cove Lake, the fact that I can't remember what happened between the 23rd and the 1st with any lucidity, getting drunk with my little brother at some spring-break-esque bar in Nassau, everything else about that cruise (best gift ever), sleeping late, more often than not next to some drunk reeking of smoke who passed out in my bed without me knowing, once or twice next to someone much prettier and infinitely more snugglesome, Anna's pre-birthday dinner, watching methed-out mice with Matt, attending my first class only to fall asleep and miss the next two, everything about last weekend--getting wine with Ray 3 or 4 hours before sundown, expensive scotch, movies all night, watching Cara punch Randy in the eye, Cara-wrestling in nice clothes outside (the stains came out), Cara-wrestling inside, finally getting drunk enough to have a hangover (I'd been trying for a week!), meeting my first 3-legged cat, watching it snow while waiting at Cracker Barrel, being sleepy, hung-over, and content to do nothing all day Sunday, forgetting that monday was a holiday on monday morning and trying to go to class, going back to bed after that, and finally waking up to look at the 'mice' Matt 'captured'.

I want to write more but alas time has run out. Oh, but before I forget, I'm going hiking at Virgin Falls next saturday and I'm looking for anyone who might want to camp that night somewhere near there and hike more on sunday. Also, since this is the fourth time I've tried uploading this post to this server in the past 24 hours(it's been real bitchy for a few months), I'm going to move this site somewhere else this week. Don't know where yet. Ciao!

A Happy December To All!

2004-12-21T02:03:00.000-05:00

Wow, the past couple weeks have been chock full of good news! Grades were good, in fact they were better than good, redeeming myself to some extent. I feel useful to the world and quite creative to boot with this screenplay I'm writing. In the end I'm sure it will be a second rate sci-fi flick that never gets made, but I don't care! But I'd say bestest is that two wonderful people and greatest of friends announced their engagement! I'm ecstaticlly exuberant (that's a word, right?) for one of my favorite Elliot Circle friends, Anna(!) and one of the few non-Circles I am glad to say I love and call friend, Randy! That saturday I found out had already been one of my best days (ever) but once this bit of news topped it off I became as giddy as a school boy. And I think I remained that way for at least 6 hours. Talk about exhasution. I hadn't laughed like that in... in well... well more time than I can remember!

Plus I've been generally ignoring the news of the state of the world. At first I was simply busy, then I kinda like being in the dark. Let's ee how long that lasts!

Anyway, it's december and much free time abounds. I'm the Ridge/Knoxvegas metropolitan area (as always) and would very much like to know when others will be and whether or not they like me enough to hang out, party, date, sleep together, whatever. I know that this is really just my monthy post, so I don't expect anyone to read this regularly, let alone respond in any sort of quick (from my POV) manner. Regardless, there it is. Happy few weeks off fromt he world (if you have it)!!!

They Just Had To Pop My Dingleberry Cherry

2004-12-17T16:56:00.000-05:00

After the end of the semester and a pleasantly eventful weekend, I feel compelled to share my life with whomever might be reading. Inspiration abounded over the past week; idea after idea (most of them ways to make some money, do a little good to the world, etc. via a business) just kept popping in there. Most of them were a little wacky and might not work, but a few of them might. I really can't remember any of them specifically right now. Go figure.

Anyway the big news of the weekend was that I had way too much sparkling white wine, none from Champagne. No wait, that's not quite right; it's second biggest. The big news is that after some delay I finally got in on some mysterious news that Anna wanted to tell me. I admit I was insanely curious from that point to the point where I learned said news, guessing, internally debating, and even dismissing the actual news. SO I was really thrown for a loop when she gushed out that she and Randy are now engadged! Well, not that big a loop I guess. Once I first guessed it and quickly dismissed it as news the idea gew on me that it was highly possible. Still though, my asides aside, it's awesome! It made my weekend! Well, that and the non-champagne. I feel like my life is complete; it is just that fabulous!

They Just Had To Pop My Dingleberry Cherry

2004-12-13T16:56:00.000-05:00

And Half a Day Later

2004-11-19T15:30:00.000-05:00

Despite my best efforts to the contrary I've managed not to play on the internet for nearly twelve straight hours. The real downside to doing nothing last weekend and next to nothing most of this past week occurs late thursday night when one tallies up all the postponed problems and delayed work. I didn't think I'd make it through the heap of homework in time, yet I somehow pulled it off with over an hour and a half to spare. As the computer analyzes my final problem's data I write this very entry. Just waiting was getting to be a bore. I'd like to extend a big thanks to my friends coffee and Dr. Pepper for helping me through this tough time. Also, big props go out to Gus's and Petros (the one downtown) for feading fuel to my midnight fire and um, lunch. Oh look at that. I just have to save this, send it in, then I can go home, and take a nap. Wake me up if something cool is going down in a few hours.

Thanksgiving huh?

2004-11-19T03:23:00.000-05:00

I didn't even notice November happen. How is Thanksgiving a week away? The wonders of time will never ever cease to amaze my unworthy brain--all I ever 'see' are paradoxes, but time somehow works.

I was hoping to host a Cranium party this weekend, but there's still mud (mostly dirt now) in the kitchen. I'm pretty sure it'll never go away on it's own and I can't seem to clean it up very well. I got a one-by-one foot section fairly free of this freak accident whose cause will probably forever remain unknown. I can't believe it's been nearly three weeks since it happened and more importantly three weeks since the landlord hasn't called me back about it. I've left messages, detailed ones. What's the deal anyway?

Oh! Oh! The first night of sleep on my new bed was all I imagined it would be and more! I didn't wake up once until my alarm went off. I even had rather vivid, life-like dreams that I can still recall without any difficulty. It's odd, one of them was definitely in greyscale. I don't think I've ever dreamed in black and white before. At least that I remembered upon waking. I think I should start keeping a dream log. Perhaps I'll dub it 'mlog' for short. Pronounced 'muhlog' except the 'uh' is hardly there, the 'ml' should practically sound like one consonant. 'M-log' sounds too cheesy. Well, that ought to do 'er. No more news from this homefront.

Stretched Out On My Brand New Bed: Napping

2004-11-17T18:09:00.000-05:00

That's what I did this afternoon. I'll also go to bed early tonight...

The New Nerdiness

2004-11-17T12:25:00.000-05:00

If one would like to witness the new level of geekdom for which I voluntarily enrolled, check this site out. It's a play-by-play blog of an email Diplomacy game that will probably take forever. I'm playing Germany. This is mostly for my own reference, but there it is in case anyone else is curious. Now, to see about a mattress...

Revenge of the Sith: A Title I Can't Top

2004-11-17T01:16:00.000-05:00

After a couple of weeks of what has felt like the worst unmerited hangover I've ever had extended ad absurdum (which are finally under that bridge over there), I'm once again ready to project out into the ever-pervasive ether that is the Internet. Which by the way is apparently still a proper noun and must be capitalized. I really don't know why computers keep telling me to capitalize it. It's not a brand name. It's not some sort of unique one-of-a-kind object. Well maybe it is in its way, the way that one-god believers' God has a capital G. It's a machine conspiracy, I tell ya. They want to be a oneness, an omnipresent being, an internet with a capital I. The God of our future. I guess it wouldn't be any worse than most religions, and a bit more tangible to boot! Whatever. I digress.

I was talking about how shitty the past weeks have been and how wonderful the past few days have been. Or I was about to, one. I can't remember and I'm too lazy to go back and look. Between that flu-like disease which I strongly suspect was a flu, the post-election blues... I'm getting really tired of hearing that phrase. It's got to be one of the worst puns ever devised. I don't want to hear anymore 'Blue State Blues' ever again. From now on I'm not even going to think about it. Don't get me wrong I love puns and double entendres and whatnot. But right now I jump every time someone says 'blue' or I read 'blue.' I think 'oh god' and I sigh. Not another person using that pun in the media. Word plays become a lot less amusing when everyone is using them all the time. Had they just tossed it out there occasionally, maybe just a dozen times over as many days, I'd be fine with it. I might still chuckle when I hear about that color in conjunction with a state. Look! I digressed again! And this time it was a rambling complaint. I really didn't mean to do that. Ok, forget the shitty stuff.

Last friday I drank myself silly, and it was wonderful. I even had hiccups for what must have been two hours. And I found them fucking hilarious. I laugh even now thinking about them. I drank myself into hiccups! It was so cliche, but I'd never experienced it first or even second hand, so it all felt quite novel. They didn't stop until I downed two giant glasses of water just before I fell asleep. Having achieved my goal of drinking til reaching blissful contentment friday night, I decided to follow through with another quasi-goal. I just did nothing all weekend. Sunday was the one filled with more respectable non-activities. I went on a walk. I walked until I reached the woods. Then I walked through hemlock groves, sunny clearings, and more kinds of undergrowth than I knew existed until I was quite certain I was alone in what passes for wilderness these days. Once as alone as I imagined possible I sat down and just stayed there for a couple of incredibly comfortable afternoon hours. I cleared my mind. I filled it again pondering clouds. It took what felt like forever, but took only a couple of minutes to really experience clouds. They're almost always there, adrift; always different but the nuances go unnoticed and even their presence unacknowledged. I thought about anything and everything that just popped up, but I did so quite tenaciously, deliberately, and with a great deal of attention to detail. The experience was rather absurd, but in a twisted, slightly roundabout way that sort of deliberate thinking cleansed my mind of all the mindful/less thoughts that built up and clogged my being. It refreshed me just to experience fall. Also, the whole deal was a self-enforced video game detox clinic...

I played Diablo II for the majority of saturday. I don't think I even put on pants until I went out around midnight to get food. It was so refreshingly mindless. I must've pointed and left-clicked some thousand-score times. And I don't think I'm hyperbolizing, come to think of it. I've seen a handful of results from 'clicking studies.' I only interacted with one other human on a personal level that day, Matt, and probably only because he too played a lot of Diablo II. It really helped that my phone didn't ring that day. It beeped around one telling me I had voicemail. I thought it very odd indeed to discover I had five missed calls that left voicemail. [Apologies to everyone I missed that day!] Who knows how many people might have called and not left messages! It must have been divine intervention. Or rather, I bet it was the doings of The Internet.

I Heart Jonathon Pryce

2004-10-28T01:39:00.000-04:00

I have a flu or something like it. I've either been reading, writing, or watching movies all day today and most of yesterday. I flixed Carrington on the rumor that it was a good movie; I had no idea what it was about or who would be in it. I was surprised to see two of my favorite actors named in the opening credits. Jonathon Pryce was second-billed. I chuckled. When I saw him, rather, when I heard him a moment later--I didn't recognize him with that ridiculous beard he sports throughout the entire movie--I laughed aloud for a couple minutes. The beard was just that ridiculous. I think I first fell in love with him as Elliot Carver, one of the more original Bond villians in Tomorrow Never Dies. Then I watched one of my absolute favorite movies last year for the first time, Brazil. I can't describe enough how much I love this movie and how I often find absurd similarities between that movie and my life. Or between me and Sam Lowry, especially when I'm fever-dreaming. Anyway, love that guy.

Rufus Sewell is the other surprise actor in Carrington. Sure, sure, one might say that I think he's a really cool guy because we share a last name. But that's hardly why; they're are plenty of Sewells out there that I don't care for very much. Rufus just has a certain flair for being an ass that I really adore in A Knight's Tale (which I think is gernally underrated). He also did a great job as hero in Dark City, another of my absolute favorite movies. As for Carrington itself, I thought it was a great flick if not a little predictable at times (for instance the end is no surprise). Ok, I'm going to get back to watching movies and taking my meds. I also got Trainspotting, which for some reason I've never seen before. Let's see if I enjoy it as much as I think I will. Just thought you should know...

Che cosa accade qui, rimane qui.

2004-10-25T20:38:00.000-04:00

Ok, reiterating something that I think I've already once mentioned, Matt and I are throwing an Intergalactic Kegger Down Here. Here being our basement apartment in K-town. The official invite is that link back there. Be patient; it's kind of a big page. Everybody who's anybody will be elsewhere being boring. You and all the other cool folk I know should come. All are welcome. Let me know if you need directions. Costumes are welcome but optional. Kegs will be here. Party on!

The Smudge

2004-10-22T01:30:00.000-04:00

And so the wisdom has been passed: when magic swords fail, you must believe in yourself. Sometimes believing is all you have. Well, that and hope... hope that your sword gets its magic back in time for the big dragon fight at the end.

And so it came to pass that I read this article. I'm sure everyone I know has read it but the piece is one of the more entertaining I've read at the Onion in a few months, so I'll link to it anyway!

And so it came to pass that I divined The answer. To briefly answer Scott, though he has not yet thricely asked: Vasco Nunez de Balboa was the first European to see the eastern Pacific shore. He had led an expedition across the isthmus of present-day Panama in 1513 in search of gold; finding the Pacific instead, Balboa claimed the entire ocean and all its shores for Spain--much to the consternation and misfortune and utter conquest of the relatively local native inhabitants. Balboa's ultimate reward for his acheivements was a beheading at the hands of an envious colonial governor, Avila. Of course in Avila's defense, Balboa was still facing drawn-out charges of usurpation and just happened to be betrothed to Avila's daughter. Apparently that didn't go over very well.

And so it came to pass that the dragon attacked at the end. Look out! Ahhhhh!!! It's Trogdor!!! Run for your lives!!!! No, wait! Hopefully you believed just enough... if we're lucky enough... yes... YES!! The sword has remagicked! Goith thee forth and smite the mighty Trogdor and saveth thine peasants fromith evil! Ith!

[EDITORIAL NOTE: Tecnically one cannot defeat Trogdor within the game due to the fact that the character played is said Trogdor himself. But one can die quickly at the hands of the knights which is just as good. Also, one can enjoy the theme song.]

Matt Damon

2004-10-20T13:44:00.000-04:00

Ok, ok, I'm going to see Team America: World Police TODAY. I caught maybe 10 minutes of it last night and I fucking literally fell over laughing. I couldn't believe it. I was skeptical, even after EVERYONE on Monday exclaimed and spewed praise for everything about the movie. Not anymore. Now I really really really want to see what it's all about. All I caught was something about F.A.G. and Kim Jong Il conspiring together?! It was fucking great!

Who da thunk I'd live to see 23?

2004-10-19T13:00:00.000-04:00

Fall Break [un]officially ended at 9:40 this morning.

Ugggh.

The Greatness of 18 October (and 16 and 17 and maybe 15)

2004-10-18T13:51:00.000-04:00

Hey, hey, what does everyone say? It's me. I've returned to the internet. The past 5 days or so have been a blast. I've consumed more beer in the past week than the rest of the semester and probably half the summer combined. That small stat alone makes these past days noteworthy. Yet partaking in a drop or two... score was a mere backdrop to all the fun I'd been missing out on by regularly attending classes, working, blah, blah, that whole drill.

I finally made it camping again. It'd been something like a month since I last spent a wet, cold night in some wind-filled woods. It was great! The colors were spectacular in the highlands of Shanandoah NP. Plus it was some good quality time with Chris and Scott; we hiked, we slept, we played with fire, uh... oh, we had a few beers. I climbed up and around a couple of decently sized waterfalls. Ya know that sort of slippery rock, craggy bottom kind of waterfall where had mom been there she would have killed me. Of course Chris fell attempting some stupid long jump from rock to rock. All to keep his shoes dry. They got wet. And his feet, and socks, and so on.

Better than the camping in the highlands of Shanandoah, though, are all the beautiful lowland valleys just outside the park and all the wine produced therein. The real point of camping so far away was to visit this one meadery. Smokehouse Winery, an establishment devoted to the fermenting of honeywine, turned out to be real adventure on its own. It was the closest one I could find to K-town via my online research. And it was run by some sort of wired ex-stoner, ex-crack-addict, ex-grunge-hippy, etc. depending on the decade. He was a fucking awesome mead-making, dulcimer-collecting, Rappahannock-residing character that does a real half-assed job of running his business. And as we found out a bit later, he even had a reputation of sorts amongst other vintners in the area. Really, he's almost a hero of mine. But all that aside, he makes good mead. At least having never had mead before, I liked it quite a bit, though it might really suck when compared to other meads. Though I doubt it given all the negative remarks people have made regarding their own mead experiences.

Other wine in the area was very top-notch, though the operations are so small that they generally only sell out of the house or online. Of course, this being Tennessee, I can't order alcoholic beverages from outside the state. Er, rather, I can order wine but it cannot be sent from out of state. So, I'll just have to go back sometime:)

Saturday was a perfect precursor to a birthday (that's really what Fall Break is about, celebrating my birth unto existence). Fresh from three nights of camping, I arrived just in time to take a shower and head towards Brewer's Jam. It was as I expected! Friends, people I know yet rarely see, people I haven't seen in years, more brews than I could possibly drink, even just trying each one, and of course, me actually trying to taste each one and failing by the time 9 rolled around. And then there was a quick whirlwind of parties. Thankfully, Matt and I stuck together or else I might have really lost myself in the Fort. I vaguely recall Cavanaugh's art'n'arch thing with the lips, Sam's party store, a short encounter with Chris, and I even thought I witnessed Tank, the mythical figure of some tales John and the Desciples shared with me at the Fest. After a couple hours of that, some fun I didn't expect came along.

I found Holly's place and then there was dancing! Somewhere, um, Blue Cat's, no Tonic, no Fiction, yes that's....arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggh! Yes, and people were there! Those words are pretty true to how I remember that part of the night. Well, no, I'm a liar. I guess I can remember a lot more detail than that. Plus there was no bridge gaurded by the one known as Tim. Though there were some Smithvillites present. Though I don't think Cara and Anna were gaurding any bridges. Maybe. But it was probably a metaphor anyway, and I'm no good with those. They're good dancers and cool people anyway. I'm happy to have been there for a club cherry-popping and a fellow mid-October birthday celebration! Happy birthday, Anna Rockanova!! <--sp? Last year I turned 22 the day Brewer's Jam happened. I know from experience how much fun it can be!

Anyway, the dancing. I love dancing. I don't think I'm very good on my feet like that though, and often enough it keeps me calmly to the side of the dance floor for a few minutes while I rage with inner conflict. This night I was totally uninhibited for some reason. No fretting on the sidelines this time. The booze had done it's trick. I danced like I hadn't in many moons. And I hadn't, so I was honestly moving and sweating and grooving away amongst my fellow revelers. I'm very glad to have been there that night amongst those friends. In fact that's true of the whole weekend and the Fall Break before. Now I'm looking foward to the rest of the day. Tonight, I eat well. Then I'm going out to actually celebrate me, or at least that I'm now 23. Twenty-three, that's a good number. I'll be glad to be with anyone and everyone who wants to go out and celebrate.

And here I am.

2004-09-09T14:39:00.000-04:00

Let's see. It's thursday 9 September 2004. About 3 in the afternoon. Way too much time has come and passed since I last spent any real amount of time amongst the wee folk (they call themselves "pages", I call them friends) of the internet. I've been sitting here for nearly an hour! Egads! It's been long enough for me to start creating a new friend it seems.

I spent yesterday watching the last half of season one of Stargate: SG-1. I always hated that title. I think that's why I never watched it before. Anyway that only took 9 hours of my life away. Thankfully it was commercial free and there were no pesky cliffhangers til the end. It's a damn fine show. Especially when one immerses his entire existence into it. That and a really comfy chair with an ottoman. The stool, not a Turk. Great way to recover from a long weekend that overran into Teusday. Now, I just need to learn how to make mead for the next festivities. Come fall break, I'll have a batch ready by any means it takes.

Bye the way, thanks to all who helped me have way more fun than a guy should have over the course of a single weekend! ;)

Moving, i.e. New of the Weekend Issue 3

2004-08-19T10:41:00.000-04:00

I've got a few minutes between classes. The 9:40 got out a bit early. I've missed Hodges Library all summer long. It's always a fun place to chill. So starting sometime last weekend (I can't remember when) I began packing up all my stuff. A lot of it was still packed which was nice. Since then I've made about half a dozen trips from OR to Knoxville and back. And there was that one to Clinton. Granted it might not have taken so many except that for two or three of them Matt and I were riding together so the moving would be more fun and less boring.

Now, I'm more or less settled into my new house on Highland. Well, I'm not really unpacked at all. But we've got a clean kitchen with a really nice cabinet full of glassware and cups. The biggest slow down now is that the semester snuck up on me and began yesterday morning. I didn't even have a full schedule until Teusday. The days themselves have been full of activity and individually felt quite long and exhausting, but now I feel like the week has flown by. It's almost another weekend!

Yesterday I got a cell phone. I know. I know. Ever since the first one all those years ago (has it really been 3 years!!!) I've been clamoring abut how much I don't really want one. But now I don't have a landline. And I do like having a phone of some sort. A cell phone was the easiest, cheapest option. I also made sure it was an older model. That way, I'm not giving in completely. I wouldn't mind one with a nice 'wow' value but it would be too much that I don't need. It's a bit of an inner conflict really. I'll work my way through it somehow.