tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-98235402024-03-07T06:15:11.940-08:00fucked in californialet's see how long blogger lets me get away with this description.jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.comBlogger261125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-86313397597147103472010-02-13T16:21:00.000-08:002010-02-13T16:35:45.002-08:00my bad.<span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">yeah, i know... i suck. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">but fuckit. this blog is still here, and i haven't posted in like 2 months. been a crap couple of months. my grandma died 3 weeks ago, and i'm smoking again. i need to get my head right and quit that filthy fucking habit before it costs me anymore money. it's already cost me my ability to smoke my big, beautiful bong comfortably. being a returning member of the no-lung clan sucks all conceivable ass, you know?</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">so. the weather is incredible today. i think the high was about 75°. sunny. a little smoggy too, but given how ache-free i feel i am not going to bitch. that's another thing that chaps my ass. i'm not exactly old, but i'm old enough to ache all fucking over when it's cold and damp. add that to the seasonal affective disorder my mom saw fit to pass on to me, and i fucking hate winter. but the days are getting longer, and when the weather is like this, i feel 10 years younger. i bet i'd feel awesome if i weighed what i did back then.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">so that's my next project. i want to get down to what i weighed when i was 31. one thing i know for sure is that i am not going to be able to lose weight just by altering my diet anymore. yeah, another example of getting older sucking... my metabolism took a big shit all over itself when i turned 40, and then it did it again when i quit smoking. i am huffing away again and i've noticed my clothes getting a little looser on me. which means to lose weight while being a non-smoker is going to involve lots of fucking exercise.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">i actually should weigh less than i did 10 years ago, but perhaps it won't seem so daunting if i break it up into smaller goals.</span>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-81208238788414793882009-12-11T13:49:00.001-08:002009-12-11T14:10:36.136-08:00*tap tap*<span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="color:#ffffff;">is this thing still on?</span><br /><span style="color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="color:#ffffff;">so it's a dreary, cloudy, wishitwouldfuckingrainalready kind of day. that means i'm listening to primarily british music, typically sung by tenors with a penchant for falsetto. i think listening to music like this is actually the reason i don't lose my shit on days like this. </span><br /><span style="color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="color:#ffffff;">see, i'm one of those dipshits that doesn't do well without lots of sunlight. it's totally genetic btw. anyhow, today is not the natural state of things here in california. here, even when it's "cold" (and before ya get all in a snit, i've felt wind chills in the 20's right here in greater los angeles) it's usually sunny. we get a lot more sunlight here than most people. konagod said austin gets all "seattley" in the winter. i've been in seattle in the winter. it's just like it is here today. </span><br /><span style="color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="color:#ffffff;">ahh. an american. but one with an amazing voice. cee-lo green. and fuckit. i'm going to listen to this whole album. "st. elsewhere" . if you don't have it you should be ashamed of yourself. too many people made out like "crazy" was all this band had to say. and granted, that song is perfection.. but it's not even my favorite song on the record. </span><br /><span style="color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="color:#ffffff;">you see, everybody is somebody</span><br /><span style="color:#ffffff;">but nobody wants to be themselves</span><br /><span style="color:#ffffff;">and if i ever wanted to understand me</span><br /><span style="color:#ffffff;">i have to talk to someone else</span><br /><span style="color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="color:#ffffff;">anyhoo, i have some shit i need to get done while we're getting a break from the rain, so i'm out.</span></span>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-61237067248627128102009-09-11T17:35:00.000-07:002009-09-11T17:52:14.635-07:00short 4 teeth<span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">i do not miss my 3rd molars. i had them yanked a week ago. i still have vicodin left. the oral surgeon gave me 16. i hit them pretty hard for a couple days, and i haven't had one since wednesday at this point. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">i also found out i really kinda like being knocked out on purpose. i got 2 drugs, i.v. versed and fentanyl. i don't remember going under. i came to about 10 minutes before it was over, and i didn't give a shit. of course, i couldn't feel a thing anyway. they shot me up like a motherfuck with novacaine too. that wearing off was the shittiest thing about the whole experience. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">i think i'm healing up really well. i got some stitches, that i think have dissolved by now. i can't feel them anymore, anyway. i wonder how much easier this would have gone when they started to come in. i was 28 when i got my wisdom teeth. i *barely* had the room for them. the upper 2 were in sad fuckin shape, and they had to go. the bottom 2 never fully erupted, and they'd been a bitch in their own way the whole time. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">i had insurance then. i haven't had insurance for just over 2 years now. the insurance i did have denied the claim i submitted to have this done 3½ years ago. o, they were pathological alright. i saw them. i praise the flying spaghetti monster that my other 28 teeth are in fine shape. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">anyhoo, something has occurred to me: wen'l and i are doing some very serious investigating into moving to australia. like, immigration policy has been well-researched. the employment situation has been looked into. their pm has made some moves which are encouraging, like adding a certain number of green jobs. wen'ls skill set is rather unique. there aren't enough people already there to handle the increased work load. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">sorry for rambling, but i'm waaaaaaaaay hi. i've become a much cheaper date in the ganj dept. the thing that's occurred to me is this: i have to write a book and get it published before we get out of here. i need to do this so i can have a wee book tour and meet a few peeps i've come across on my virtual travels. it'd be sweet getting to do it on someone else's dime, too. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">k i gotta bounce.</span>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-74969084306577406012009-08-15T17:55:00.001-07:002009-08-15T17:59:39.101-07:00isn't she purdy?<span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">got this for wen'l. eventually we won't be living with my bro anymore. when that happens, wen'l would have been w/o a guitar. the one he's been playing belongs to my brother, see? it was our late cousin stephen's axe.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><span style="color:#ffffff;"></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">couldn't have wen'l be w/o a guitar. so, while i knew money was ok, i went ahead and bought one.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBl9Dwt1tD7UIIUDMDn0gramrLqWFxt-cggGDe3HajVxp9OhG3I9bqxfDCgHgo1wjd4t7wTxamS9RCxK5AnVMnyfsv78yTS-Y5-RX3vrwd3hgiJPv2bXYmF26mGeT_D5OCJUvc/s1600-h/3822236324_0d772bde06.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 300px; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370359544040790146" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBl9Dwt1tD7UIIUDMDn0gramrLqWFxt-cggGDe3HajVxp9OhG3I9bqxfDCgHgo1wjd4t7wTxamS9RCxK5AnVMnyfsv78yTS-Y5-RX3vrwd3hgiJPv2bXYmF26mGeT_D5OCJUvc/s400/3822236324_0d772bde06.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">and yes, that's the back of my head. lol</span>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-52107526759197226342009-07-19T13:28:00.000-07:002009-07-19T13:34:32.815-07:00another thing...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0pB4D0fICiQLkvsbctUCMyUwd_0JxVP0NH1XIc5y8QN0VhOzYNvP509mW46ti5pnf9ssAGI7AhygQy5-Mpyam4R0l4PTqlcmuvKeFyplOlIDolRDtn9BHS01rm8adSHvUmqgj/s1600-h/romo_wedge.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 250px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360271872425699490" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0pB4D0fICiQLkvsbctUCMyUwd_0JxVP0NH1XIc5y8QN0VhOzYNvP509mW46ti5pnf9ssAGI7AhygQy5-Mpyam4R0l4PTqlcmuvKeFyplOlIDolRDtn9BHS01rm8adSHvUmqgj/s400/romo_wedge.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">they're predicting 20' surf at the wedge later this week. all south facing beaches are going to have large surf. i might have to go have a look.<br /></span>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-59537379301846812222009-07-19T13:05:00.000-07:002009-07-19T13:26:19.640-07:00scratch that<span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">well, fuck me dead. please disregard my last post. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">the house is in foreclosure. not because of anything i did, mind you. my dad has a heloc on this place. he hasn't made a payment on it since last october. so, the bofa said enough is enough. understandable, right?</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">thing is, we didn't find out from him. we found out because wen'l decided to open a piece of mail marked "resident". i never open that shit. it's how we found out about this foreclosure. my dad probably wouldn't have told us about it until we had a week to be out of here, and i'd have kept paying the goddamned mortgage in the meantime. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">the real kicker, however, is this - he's declared bankruptcy. he had to borrow the money from my brother to do it. my mother left him about $400k when she died, three years ago today. add the aforementioned heloc, and he's burned through approximately $450k in those three years, plus fuck knows how much more debt that i have no idea about. she also left him the sole owner of this house, which at the time she died probably would have sold for about $600k. if he'd sold it then, and he knew he was going to move to michigan before she died probably, he'd have walked with about $350k. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">i praise the fsm that i didn't get his head for $. my brother got a wee bit of his impulsiveness, but it hasn't cost him anything, really. and i definitely didn't get it. i drive a 13 year old car with 134,000 miles on it. i've babied it its whole life, and *knocking wood* i'll get a few more years out of it. i'd like to pay cash for my next car, or at least have a huge down payment and get the thing paid off in like 2 years. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">the bankruptcy could potentially buy us some more time in this house. i need to somehow impress it upon my father that he needs to let things drag out a bit. it could potentially be a year (well, a year from 06.29.09 anyway), with me paying no mortgage. i'd be sitting on a pile from that. moving would be painless and i'd have a nice rainy day fund AND a high def tv. so keep your fingers crossed, k?</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">speaking of electronics, wen'l cashed in his cisco rewards points on a ps3. :D not even all of them, actually. the next "purchase" will be a nikon digital slr. i cannot wait.</span>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-68061870356436221142009-07-05T19:34:00.000-07:002009-07-05T19:57:10.089-07:00another round of home improvement<span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">so i've decided to undertake some projects around the house. i don't even own this dump and lord the work i've done on it! anyway, i'm going to paint the bedroom. the amount of light that room gets is just insane for most of the day, and while the room is pretty small, i'm going dark on the walls. i mean <em>really</em> dark. i bought paint today. a valspar color called *crucible*. i'm hoping that it will suck up all the light in that room and make it easier to be in there. plus, it'll look really rich on the walls. i love what dark, zero sheen paint looks like. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">i'll get that done this week, and then next weekend i'll get the trim and ceiling (and closet! it needs it bad!) done. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">and then even more painting!</span>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-1983810891727768372009-07-02T12:30:00.001-07:002009-07-02T13:12:49.046-07:00lately<span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">so i've been listening to a lot of oingo boingo lately."wild sex (in the working class)" is probably my favorite tune. oddly enough, i was really into them right from the beginning. i don't know how many of you out there (all 3 of you... lol) are aware of a radio station here in LA called KROQ. well, back in the day it fucking ROCKED. the police, r.e.m., u2, i can't tell you all the bands i heard for the first time on KROQ.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">anyway, back to the mystic knights of the oingo boingo... i think my introduction to them was around 1980. it was party music. some of it was a larf riot. the thing that strikes me now is how well-crafted a shitload of these tunes were. plus, they had a horn section and broke out the xylophone on many occasions. those things alone make them totally kick-ass. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">what got me in this frame of mind was hearing them during the fade to commercial on mike malloy's radio show. i was on my way home from target, and there it was. so i came home and dug out the cd. i probably hadn't touched it even since the last time i took all the cd's out of their holders and cleaned them. (i really should take a pic of this thing on the wall behind me... ikea's dirigent, and they don't make it anymore, the fucking bastards!) anyhoo, it makes me think i should rip everything i own and get rid of the hard copies. *lol*</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"and i may be greasing the wheels in a noisy factory</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">oh, i may be hunched over metal machines</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">watching the gears as they move </span><br /><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">just reminds me of bodies in motion </span><br /><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">the sweat and the sound"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">- "wild sex (in the working class)", oingo boingo</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">so now i'm listening to orbital. i like the cadence of this song for typing. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">i think i'm going to tell wen'l to start leaving the guitar here during the day. i think i am going to give it a try too. even though i'll be forced to keep my fingernails short, which in my case is no small feat. i guess i should be glad that my circulation is so good, eh? i use my fingers a lot, and my fingernails grow wicked fast. like, they're practically to the quick right now. in about 10 days, they'd be a quarter inch past the ends of my fingers. to keep them this short, i gotta file them every couple days. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">but, my brain needs a challenge, and i can't afford rosetta stone at the moment. </span>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-12148494413444325842009-05-18T15:37:00.000-07:002009-05-18T15:55:11.887-07:00um..<span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">i finally talked to my dad's wife. it's probably a sign of my immaturity to have the word stepmother bounce around my brain so unpleasantly. i actually think i might like her, and it's still weird to hear "my stepmother" in my mind when i think about her.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">she called my brother, actually. i just wanted to say hello, and ended up talking to her for like 45 minutes. about my dad mostly. i didn't blog about what he's been going through, but i'll give the cliffs notes here: he ended up in the hospital. one totally dead kidney, and the other about to fail. the dead one's been needing to come out for like 2 years, but he had other shit to do... like sturgis and a "bike" ride to florida and stuff. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">and this time, he was like a day from death before he could be convinced to go to the emergency room, at a legit hospital and not the one in his podunk hometown. he needs to lose 40 more lbs, he needs to cooperate with his nephrologist, he needs to get real about his diet. he's doing none of these things, and went so far as to rip out his own fucking foley. doc says he'll be on dialysis in a matter of months unless he shapes up.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">i talked to him once when he was in the hospital. he apologized to me for the way he's been behaving towards me since my mom died. for dumping the shit in my lap that he did. i had to let him go (a doc needed to give him a poke somewhere), and it was a good thing. i was too floored to go on. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">anyway, he's not getting his shit together. kelly (that would be the sm) called joel to ask him to give dad a call. when she got me on the phone, she asked me to do the same thing. i'm wondering how i'm supposed to accomplish all this without it coming off like i'm telling him what to do. she wants more years out of him than it looks like he's got in him, and i can understand feeling that way about a husband. but the shit she told me about him, and the way he is, is so completely unreal to me. why'd we have to get the years with him we did if to her, he's gonna be all that and a bag of chips?</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">i got issues. enough to offer subscriptions. i'd like some answers while i still have a parent alive to give them to me. not so i can judge him for those answers, which is the thing i'll never get through to him. the older i get, the simpler the thing that makes things make sense. just knowing <strong>why </strong>would help immensely. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">i'll tell you one thing: when i heard people had been after him for weeks to go to the damn doctor, i wanted to kick him in the balls. my mom did that once, and it almost killed her too - it was a hernia gone extremely bad - he gave her a total ration of shit. but now that she's gone, he gets to be all la-di-da about making my brother and i parentless? </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">i want to make this call. i'd like to extend his olive branch back to him. what do i say?</span>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-68984968736620078882009-05-14T20:52:00.000-07:002009-05-14T21:00:35.054-07:00a new (to me) computer<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">so wen'l calls me from work the other day. do i want an apple? apparently, his boss's kid got a new notebook and offered the old (this) one to us.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">it's the last iteration of the iBook G4. i read gripes about the iBook on the internet, but this is the most stable computer i've ever used. i'm definitely sold. the design is elegant and spare. everything on the internet looks so much better. sites like tastespotting.com are breathtaking.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">i just wish that they weren't so fucking expensive.</span> </span></div>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-45082868711711882582009-04-19T11:41:00.000-07:002009-04-19T11:44:18.498-07:00k this is ridic...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikU5KTPaeZJwQhiuV_iRfxDuCfym_9cBoVKACfy6R525CdCsWAtgJ9VUA7SclHYsJLKVF_MYxrbRUbZ1V-R3Hf8y5IecxxtBOhplagTPgS8D-cmV3VdDATsMPW_xyWFk6OarUa/s1600-h/ridic.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326474906932752642" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikU5KTPaeZJwQhiuV_iRfxDuCfym_9cBoVKACfy6R525CdCsWAtgJ9VUA7SclHYsJLKVF_MYxrbRUbZ1V-R3Hf8y5IecxxtBOhplagTPgS8D-cmV3VdDATsMPW_xyWFk6OarUa/s400/ridic.JPG" /></a><br /><div> </div><div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">also, i haven't had a smoke since last sunday. :)</span></div>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-69708167073590968722009-04-12T22:10:00.000-07:002009-04-12T22:25:22.872-07:00still 39 dammit<span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">well for about an hour and 50 minutes anyway. ain't it a bitch that i have to turn 40 on a monday?</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">anyhoo, we had a few peeps over for dinner tonight. carnitas and margaritas and a cake that gave me a belly ache. apparently i am too old for pastries that rich. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">got some kick-ass swag. my darling wen'l got me "message in a box", the complete recordings of the police and a pair of silver earrings from coach. they're little peace signs, and i've had my eye on them forever. he's the kind of guy who files things away for future reference. i love that about him.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">my auntie dee got me a watch. alas, it was a bit too small, so we're going to hook up later in the week and go get me a different one.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">julianne and erik got me a gift card for bed, bath and beyond. it'll be fun figuring out what to get with it. :)</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">my brother got me a bevmo! gift card and 2 pair of kicks from his company, creative recreation. one's a pair of white high tops. the other ones i've had my eye on for months... he gets free shooz every season, and these other ones are from their hi-end line which is made in italy. he'd been yanking my chain about how he couldn't get the italian sneaks. they're carried at barney's and retail for $345 a pair. how fucking cool is it that my first pair of italian shooz is a pair of sneakers! they're suede and have hidden laces, and apparently i could get a grip for them on ebay. but fuck that! they're the first shoes in like 10 years other than flip-flops or birkenstocks i actually want to wear.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">and... probably my biggest present i won't get till tomorrow. it's a present i'm giving myself. i am going to quit smoking tomorrow. well, actually i'm going to stop smoking in about an hour, when i have my last (HOPEFULLY!!!!) cigarette. i've got nicotine gum, and i'm going to use it. i'm going to sweat this out and get off the damn things. i'm going to have oral surgery before too much longer, and i've heard that dry sockets are worse than the pain of the actual extraction. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">besides, my mom died of lung cancer. and i love my husband and i want to be with him for as long as i fucking can be, and smoking isn't compatible with a long life. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">wish me luck kids!</span>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-34716129443505413872009-03-15T13:55:00.000-07:002009-03-15T14:05:33.316-07:00BBC's 100 Books (?)<span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">Saw this on Tense Teacher's website. I've bolded the ones I've read. </span><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#ffffff;"><strong>2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen</strong> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman</span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">4. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling </span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee </span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#ffffff;"><strong>8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell</strong> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis </span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë </span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#ffffff;"><strong>12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë</strong> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier</span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame </span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens </span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#ffffff;"><strong>18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott</strong> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">19. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, JK Rowling </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling </span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">26. Tess Of The D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">27. Middlemarch, George Eliot</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">30. Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson</span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett </span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#ffffff;"><strong>36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson</strong> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute</span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">38. Persuasion, Jane Austen</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">39. Dune, Frank Herbert</span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">40. Emma, Jane Austen</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">42. Watership Down, Richard Adams</span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald </span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">46. Animal Farm, George Orwell </span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens </span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#ffffff;"><strong>52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck</strong> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">53. The Stand, Stephen King</span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">56. The BFG, Roald Dahl</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden </span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">65. Mort, Terry Pratchett</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">67. The Magus, John Fowles</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#ffffff;"><strong>70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding</strong> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">74. Matilda, Roald Dahl</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">75. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins</span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">78. Ulysses, James Joyce</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">81.The Twits, Roald Dahl</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">83. Holes, Louis Sachar</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson</span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">89. Magician, Raymond E Feist</span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">95. Katherine, Anya Seton</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer</span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot</span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">100. Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie</span></strong><br /><p><strong><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span></strong> </p><p><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">I kinda agree with TT. This list is a bit too heavy on the Brits.</span> </p>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-86749966539611698602009-03-05T16:21:00.000-08:002009-03-05T16:34:47.469-08:00not feeling it<span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">really, i'm not. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">i've got about 5 weeks of being 39 left. i've decided i'm going to bite off more than i can chew during those 5 weeks, and i'm going to get off the coke. my friends, i have an atrocious coca-cola habit. seriously. i'd lose 3 lbs a week just not consuming all that HFCS. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">i am going to find a store that's got kosher for passover coke, though and stock up. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">i've also got some shit i'd like to get done around the house. first, i'd like to repaint the kitchen cabinets. i've got enough white paint to more than do the job. it's just that i don't want to paint them white. i'd actually like to paint the uppers a different color than the lowers. i just don't want to invest that kinda dough. not my house, and i've spent enough on it lately. i know they'll look a whole lot better shiny-ish white than they do right now. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">it's like when the granite countertops had just been done, and the walls were this nasty yellow (that i would have never <em>ever</em> picked) and it was affecting my ability to cook. i shit you not, the clash made me ill. the granite's sorta taupe, white and black mostly. there's some gray too, obviously. i wanna paint the cabinets a really dark gray. sorta charcoal. i wonder what a tube of lamp black pigment goes for. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">anyhoo, i'm having a party. i'm making the invites even. i'll post a pic of one, and if you see it, consider yourself invited.</span>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-53237958857118648262009-01-15T15:46:00.000-08:002009-01-15T15:59:38.336-08:00i hate packing<span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">and i hope i don't end up regretting car-tripping with my aunt dolores. she, wen'l and i are headed for small-town northern california this weekend for a 50th anniversary party. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">we hosted my aunt and the happy couple for dinner about a year ago (and got shitty drunk with them!), and wen'l and i vowed to make it to the fiesta this year. until about 2 weeks ago, it looked as though we wouldn't be able to make it... but shortly before xmas, my aunt said she was thinking about going... would i like to go with, she doesn't like traveling alone, etc. well, it ended up being the three of us when all the plans were made.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">apparently, she can be a bear to travel with. she gets lost frequently and doesn't take direction well. lovely combo, eh? i'm going to cut her a bunch of slack, but i'm going to try to make it so i'm the one doing the driving north of slackamento. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">i'm leaving my brother a clean house (how nice of me, no?). i'll finish packing as soon as wen'l gets home and picks out some shoes. i think we're going to have pizza for dinner tonight. she's supposed to get here somewhere between 6:00 and 6:30 tomorrow morning. she was thinking we'd leave after our traffic died down, but that would put us square in the teeth of slackto's rush hour (which apparently can be a bitch). praise jeebus she would listen to reason, and we're leaving before our traffic.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">anyhoo... i'm hoping it'll be a lovely weekend. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">o! one more thing! if you're in dire need of luggage (as we were, seeing as my father ganked ours when he moved to michigan... lovely weather they're having!), hit your local discount retailer, a la ross, marshall's, etc. i got a big, like i'll have to check it on an airplane big, samsonite suitcase that was originally like $250 for a tick under $60. nothing wrong with it. i went over it with a fine-tooth comb before i bought it. it was obviously overstock somewhere. and what a screaming bargain, no?</span>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-4965948090437931602008-11-27T17:17:00.000-08:002008-11-27T17:26:42.366-08:00the holiday table<span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">will be groaning under the weight of tonight's feast. which is:</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">roasted turkey breast (w/ oil and herbs and wot not under the crispy skin)</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">sourdough sausage stuffing (not in the bird tho, that's a hospital trip waiting to happen)</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">my figure-friendly mashed potatoes (ha! heavy cream <em>and</em> butter?)</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">wild mushroom gravy (made w/ chicken stock i made myself!)</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">butter-braised baby brussels sprouts</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">cranberry sauce (see my previous post... the black pepper is the making of it, trust)</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">butterflake rolls</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">pumpkin pie w/ maple whipped cream</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">yeah... i'll be eating nothing but salad for a few days probably. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">i hope you and yours have a lovely meal, wonderful conversation, and a long list of things to be thankful for.</span>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-24982342190521712972008-11-27T11:44:00.000-08:002008-11-27T12:17:47.731-08:00much to be thankful for<span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">i've seen people list ten things they're thankful for. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">1. i'm thankful i've had wendell in my life for five and a half years. life has made sense in a way it didn't before i knew him. there's been lots to get through, and we've brought out the best in each other. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">2. i'm thankful that i can laugh so hard i can't breathe. it happened last night. my brother came along for the ride. we were gonna invent a gluten-free tofu turducken. turns out it's call a tofucken and it HAS to have gluten. but thanks for the smoke stef!</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">3. i'm thankful that someone with half a brain won the election on the 4th. i'm also glad he's been doing a press conference or fireside chat every day lately. the country needs assurance right now, and our current occupant's only official activity yesterday was pardoning the damn turkey. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">4. i'm thankful i have my health. oh, i've whined aplenty lately about my various ailments (and i'm adding arthritis to the mix... my right knee's been causing me grief lately), but i'm really fine. no major problems, and i could have a grip of them with the genes i inherited. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">5. i'm thankful i've finally worked up the nerve to quit smoking. smoking killed my mother at 62. i have a marriage that isn't miserable and i'd like to get to live as long with wendell as my mom was stuck with my dad. they were married almost 39 years. that'd make me 74, and that's not long enough. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">6. i'm thankful i learned the trick about adding just a wee bit of black pepper to my cranberry sauce. that and vanilla, again just a skosh.. like a capful. oh, and grand marnier. or cointreau. but especially the pepper. going back to the shit in the can that jiggles isn't an option.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">7. i'm thankful my brother has decided he likes brussels sprouts. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">8. i'm thankful the house hasn't fallen in on us. there's any number of things wrong with this place, shit that should have been dealt with before it was (re)listed. if it sold it wouldn't pass an inspection. but it's still here, even with the wind and shit we've had lately, and for that i'm thankful. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">9. i am thankful that my dad lives in michigan. i don't have to explain that one, do i? </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">10. i'm thankful i still have my three loyal readers. they're all people i'd have a beer with if they didn't live at least 2,000 miles away... have a beer and listen to some tunes... perhaps burn one. they provoke me in ways they'll never know. make me think things i might not have otherwise. stretching out is good for more than just the body.</span>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-55318925027708346092008-11-19T14:56:00.000-08:002008-11-19T15:43:24.875-08:00grrr!!!!!!!!!!<span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"><a href="http://konagod.blogspot.com/"><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">kona</span></a> <span style="color:#ffffff;">is to blame - </span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="color:#ffffff;"><span style="font-family:arial;">the roolz:</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">1. post your list of the seven best albums, the seven bloggers you will tag, a copy of these rules, and a link back to this page. (what page? see #2.)</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">2. the trackback links for these things are always fucking broken, so fuck the rest of the rules he posted. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">4. post a link back to the blogger who tagged you.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">k, seven's a bitch. i could easily name 70. these are 7 that i listened to today. they are in no particular order, and some of them might have a comment or 2. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">1. louder than bombs - the smiths</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">2. fables of the reconstruction - r.e.m.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">3. rage against the machine (they opened for pearl jam at the palladium and tossed out copies of this on cassette. i was floored.)</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">4. nevermind - nirvana.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">5. doolittle - pixies</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">6. 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 - midnight oil (this is what opened my eyes politically speaking. i think i was 13 when i first heard it... it had a <i>huge</i> impact on me.)</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">7. dummy - portishead (omg the times this cd got me laid.)</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">now comes the hard part... picking seven peeps to foist this upon.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">1.<a href="http://konagod.blogspot.com"><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">kona</span></a> <span style="color:#ffffff;">ok... give me seven more!</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">2.<a href="http://inevitabletruth.blogspot.com"><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">bizza</span></a></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">3.<a href="http://piggyhawk.wordpress.com/"><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">eden</span></a></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">4.<a href="http://ballsandwalnuts.com/"><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">dr. doug</span></a></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">5.<a href="http://lebowskiurbanachiever.wordpress.com/"><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">lebowski urban achiever</span></a> </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">6.<a href="http://thatrudegirl.blogspot.com"><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">heidi rude</span></a></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">7.<a href="http://anamericaninmelbourne.blogspot.com/"><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">american guy</span></a></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-10737628819226010922008-11-15T14:15:00.000-08:002008-11-15T14:39:28.746-08:00the devil wind<span style="color:#ffffff;"><span style="font-family:arial;">it's actually the santa ana winds, but i think i understand why they're sometimes called the devil wind... it smells rather like hell. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span><br /></span><div><div><div><div><div><div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">we're about 12 mi from the westernmost parts of the two fires burning locally. one started in the west end of corona, and cinders from that fire caught in yorba linda. a separate fire started in brea, and given the topography out there, they could very well merge. </span></div><div><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">we won't ever be in actual danger from these fires, ie we're ordered to evacuate... but fuck is it ever nasty here. the house is closed up, and the a/c is coming on about once an hour for about 15 mins. </span></div><div><span style="color:#ffffff;"></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></div></span><div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"><span style="color:#ffffff;">check out these pics:</span> </span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"><br /></div></span><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3KCTuVqppO6b4Dzdl8txkCw93QqEYg8MyIiYPtP6aRIyE5eXLYfevCtVZ7Ey2q7ZSZf3DNyvhZJjI9dOnECCr7hUeh7DWTOezenh4MNKcxICosTvuEMK61bF9xxxc10cz4n2_/s1600-h/Picture+002.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269013498600007858" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3KCTuVqppO6b4Dzdl8txkCw93QqEYg8MyIiYPtP6aRIyE5eXLYfevCtVZ7Ey2q7ZSZf3DNyvhZJjI9dOnECCr7hUeh7DWTOezenh4MNKcxICosTvuEMK61bF9xxxc10cz4n2_/s320/Picture+002.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"><br /></div></span><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQguhSJZJiZ4WkVU2jKU5vUgD9YYQb_XtXQXgVLl0kb8q_Kok3OSJ0figb0pRNgJbCpD82otaVpu4cgXykYlnbsoTliYx4UGHIHeM-VyB6MzpNS8a7R73PYOcEASKcoM-7UvEl/s1600-h/Picture+003.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269013785109165650" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQguhSJZJiZ4WkVU2jKU5vUgD9YYQb_XtXQXgVLl0kb8q_Kok3OSJ0figb0pRNgJbCpD82otaVpu4cgXykYlnbsoTliYx4UGHIHeM-VyB6MzpNS8a7R73PYOcEASKcoM-7UvEl/s320/Picture+003.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"><br /></div></span><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy_CookCfoFwsAj5NXP4ih0fOC5bKowH6QLpPLrAx-YNPf_8b8CQe-SFiRTSIq9tTm_JvW4B-NknLP7cgnCQpUUbaWuhQgXKOzzOBVNu9E6EorbZapouEvYKwZ30dwONktZjYp/s1600-h/Picture+004.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269014162811078882" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy_CookCfoFwsAj5NXP4ih0fOC5bKowH6QLpPLrAx-YNPf_8b8CQe-SFiRTSIq9tTm_JvW4B-NknLP7cgnCQpUUbaWuhQgXKOzzOBVNu9E6EorbZapouEvYKwZ30dwONktZjYp/s320/Picture+004.jpg" border="0" /></span></a></div><div> </div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiBYA1kfM78jxkheD94NICZtOEB2AP4XTskrAD9FdJUnoefbGK6H1Gs5Dg3I_-HVYe1-o5bpz3d0fg-48KNgF52vFFPvPY-uKUpITRMgERT1n2zr1jW-YU_8Ul0nEklJh4zaBI/s1600-h/Picture+005.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269014416286545202" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiBYA1kfM78jxkheD94NICZtOEB2AP4XTskrAD9FdJUnoefbGK6H1Gs5Dg3I_-HVYe1-o5bpz3d0fg-48KNgF52vFFPvPY-uKUpITRMgERT1n2zr1jW-YU_8Ul0nEklJh4zaBI/s320/Picture+005.jpg" border="0" /></span></a></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">the above pics were taken about 12:30. notice the ash gathering in the corner of my bro's back window? notice the palm tree blowing? </span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"><br /></div></span><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9hwbWmCBusJtWvNoq7l4l-6elLFFF29Zm4PzsojXhYRXf9b8o_VuLOe3igC5cqcG4L6pMDXhmNX3Gfq1qPI18OvPV6o9itJLClKgfEYv7mNTDIqwSCROlSz4oZepimQYsPyRa/s1600-h/Picture+007.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269015311029954818" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9hwbWmCBusJtWvNoq7l4l-6elLFFF29Zm4PzsojXhYRXf9b8o_VuLOe3igC5cqcG4L6pMDXhmNX3Gfq1qPI18OvPV6o9itJLClKgfEYv7mNTDIqwSCROlSz4oZepimQYsPyRa/s320/Picture+007.jpg" border="0" /></span></a></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwYGqWKqMT3MuteOLJVaD3NCkIAzOvwURSWZy5ntIVQ34I_Jc7HRV1OvoMo5mrTDkwmbiR76BZQ_3JU2o-Epx_T60h3JeJF8iBKHPf6z3nK3nBBMbPnF6OxfhBfDY_NMfRZazU/s1600-h/Picture+008.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269015534088060930" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwYGqWKqMT3MuteOLJVaD3NCkIAzOvwURSWZy5ntIVQ34I_Jc7HRV1OvoMo5mrTDkwmbiR76BZQ_3JU2o-Epx_T60h3JeJF8iBKHPf6z3nK3nBBMbPnF6OxfhBfDY_NMfRZazU/s320/Picture+008.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"><br /><br /></span><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqJTca2YV0nqH-iPV8WPwoAEKPxYDktaS4_fETDNNdEF4vIL_iGCuZuihsg_LGBvEBEhqTbsAaBUduGv7arnHXDO1AUoippQcx_Wx_S801eXsszqTGjZEC719TQjpNXFWjRVOE/s1600-h/Picture+010.jpg"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269015697231153986" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqJTca2YV0nqH-iPV8WPwoAEKPxYDktaS4_fETDNNdEF4vIL_iGCuZuihsg_LGBvEBEhqTbsAaBUduGv7arnHXDO1AUoippQcx_Wx_S801eXsszqTGjZEC719TQjpNXFWjRVOE/s320/Picture+010.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">the last three were taken about 2:00 pm. notice how much nastier it got in 2 hrs time? and how the area of blue sky has actually gotten bigger? wen'l thinks there's some sort of weird inversion happening. i think he might be right.<br /></span><div></div></div></div></div></div></div>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-56746296893667130162008-11-02T17:35:00.001-08:002008-11-02T17:53:40.316-08:00november 4th<span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">two days from now. if you haven't already voted (and aren't planning to tomorrow), make sure you get out and vote. i know most people say something like, "i don't care who you vote for, just vote." fuck that. i care who you're voting for. i want a president who says it's ok to have a lover's quarrel with your country. (wish i could remember who said that on maher the other night. i'd give em snaps.)</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">november 4th is also my 4th anniversary. wen'l and i got married 2 days after the chimperor was "re-elected". i want more than anything else to celebrate barack obama having won the election. we're poor, and about to be more so, what with the medical and dental bills i'll be racking up. we're exchanging presents, but we had a small budget. we're staying home for dinner and i'm making spaghetti con polpette. part of me wants to say fuck it and buy a bottle of champagne, even though i'd have to massage my budget for the rest of the month. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;">so i will be there, at lord baden-powell elementary, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, tuesday morning. i am not a morning person, and i will have to get up about 530 i think. much coffee will have to be consumed, and probably a bracing shower too. but i wouldn't miss this for anything. not only do i have to vote for obama, i have to vote no on a proposition on our ballot. the state of california cannot be in the business of making denying an entire group of people's civil rights part of our constitution. i haven't noticed more straight people filing for divorce since same-sex marriage became legal here. apparently, the institution isn't in danger as a result. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">so, i better go get dinner out of the oven. if you live in california, please vote no on proposition 8, and no matter where else you live (in the US anyway), please vote for barack obama. if my 70 year old, lifelong republican aunt is, so can you.</span>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-33167756530820591782008-11-02T15:17:00.000-08:002008-11-02T15:28:02.016-08:00i admit it. i choked up.<span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">don't mind the credits.</span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AfvTjFZBcVI&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AfvTjFZBcVI&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-18399436682241904032008-10-30T17:48:00.000-07:002008-10-30T18:01:26.936-07:00when it rains, it pours<span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">indeed. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">i have to have my upper wisdom teeth extracted. i had a dental emergency the other morning, and went to dr. papazian. he sed they had to go. referred me to an oral/maxillofacial surgeon over in long beach. my consult and panoramic x-ray is the 12th. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">get this - the thing in my parotid gland will probably show up in this x-ray. i will definitely be informing the doc of all my recent medical adventures at my consultation.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">i wish i'd had the damn things taken out when i was a kid, before they ever came in. my ma had killer dental insurance back then. they paid like 75% on my orthodontia killer. instead, they started coming in around the time i was 27. my bottom ones have never fully erupted, but the upper ones did.I probably haven't been as diligent about the hygiene as i should have been, but these teeth are right against my tonsils (another relic i'm still equipped w/), and i gag like a bitch most of the time. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">the bottom ones should come out eventually too, but thus far they're ok. no cavities or much decay, and they can wait. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">i tried to have this all done a couple years ago, when wen'l and i had dental ins. the damn company denied my claim. that pissed my dentist off to no end. "they weren't pathological?" he almost seethed! the place the ins. co. would have wanted to do the damn procedure scared the shit out of me though. perhaps it's a good thing i'll be having it done by this guy. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">i heart my dentist. i always have. he didn't charge me for the visit, or for the x-rays he took to give this surgeon. i just hope the dude will work out some sort of payment plan with me.</span>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-34104656515634189532008-10-28T17:14:00.000-07:002008-10-28T17:20:37.663-07:00primus sucks<span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">too many puppies are being shot in the dark.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">too many puppies are trained not to bark.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">at the sight of blood that must be spilled so that</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">we may maintain our oil fields.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">too many puppies</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">too many puppies are taught to heal.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">too many puppies are trained to kill.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">on the command of men wearing money belts that buy</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">mistresses sleek animal pelts.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">too many puppies.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">too many puppies with guns in their hands.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">too many puppies in foreign lands.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">are dressed up sharp in suits of green and</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">placed upon the war machine.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">too many puppies are just like me.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">too many puppies are afraid to see.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">the visions of the past brought to life again,</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">too many puppies, too many dead men.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">that's from 1990, people. located on "frizzle fry", an album that was called the bastard child of dr. seuss and frank zappa.</span>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-11082333674287285382008-10-20T20:43:00.001-07:002008-10-20T20:57:49.447-07:002K<span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">lest you think my mind is all on myself tonight, it's not. tonight i heard the number i've been dreading for months - keith olbermann said tonight that it was the 2000th day since the declaration of mission accomplished.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">i have a cousin over there. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">there are much worse things in the world, even in my tiny one, than a tumor in my parotid gland. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">sometimes i wish i were the kind of person who prays. sometimes, when things are really bad, i have a conversation with my late cousin stephen. (who died from a lack of health care btw. i remember all too well and it makes me scared in a way i can't adequately explain.). this conversation occurs only in my mind, but i remember having a very frank talk with him a few weeks before he suddenly died, and it brought me a very profound peace. i suppose it makes some sense that an atheist like me would have to have a vent (if you will) like that. i haven't yet had that conversation with him, so things can't be as bad as i was afraid.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">stephen's been gone for 14 years now. the ache i feel at his absence is much deeper than what i feel for my own mother. that may sound pretty fucked up, but i'd known for 9 years that it was going to happen with her. he was alive, and a day later he wasn't. i think it's his being snatched away from us like that left a mark on me that will never go away. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">i got to (just) long enough to say that life is long. trust me, even when i'm whining about how fucked up things are, i am incredibly grateful i've gotten to be here long enough to earn saying that.</span>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9823540.post-78365040553222145282008-10-20T17:57:00.000-07:002008-10-20T18:16:39.399-07:00fuck me<span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">well, the doc called this afternoon about quarter till five and said i need to get a ct scan of this thing, my "suspicious" parotid gland. too bad i had to blow the $ on the damn ultrasound to find that out. it might have provided me with a down payment on the damn thing if nothing else.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">so i have to go pick up the report from her and take it an ent, who will invariably schedule the super-expensive test. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">two things: </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">1. i'd be considerably less fucked if i lived in los angeles county. they have hospitals up there where i could receive treatment regardless of my ability to pay for it. no such safety net exists here in orange county, because they don't give two shits about poor people... i suppose back in the day if you didn't have insurance it was because you were poor. for whatever reason, you were poor. these days though, you can have a decent paying job, and not have it. or be eligible for it but not be able to afford it (our current pickle... it would run us in the neighborhood of $700/mo and that just not doable). there are supposedly some low-cost "alternatives" here in the OC, but sliding scale isn't going to be cheap for me. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">2. i also wouldn't be in this pickle if the governator, mr. schwarzenegger, hadn't vetoed SB 840, which would have provided californians a single payer system. from the los angeles times, dated september 6, 2006:</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ccffff;"><span style="color:#ccffff;">An analysis commissioned by Health Care for All California, a nonprofit group that favors universal health insurance, estimated that universal coverage would have cost an extra $17 billion, but the state would have saved $25 billion through bulk purchasing of drugs and eliminating the multiple bureaucracies now required for hospitals and private insurance companies. The report was prepared last year by the Lewin Group, a Virginia-based healthcare consulting firm</span><span style="color:#000000;">.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;color:#ffffff;">i wonder how much insurance company money has flowed in ahhhnold's direction since he took office. (*) this is going to become an even bigger problem in this state, and sticking his head in the sand and refusing to be the one to deal with it was the behavior of a very girly man.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;color:#ffffff;">* - apparently it's over a million dollars.</span>jOoLzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02608527500388715596noreply@blogger.com2