Bela Lugosi is dead

At this point I'm pretty sure that no matter what I do at work, I'm gonna be told it's wrong and I should redo it. Every decision I make, every page I layout is somehow wrong and needs correcting to the way they want it. It's causing a big knot of frustration to build inside me and strangle off my desire to do anything.

I am completely without ambition and initiative. If I seem indifferent, it's only because the world is indifferent to me. Nothing is ever good, not for any length of time anyway.

Trip was talking about opening a video game store... it would certainly be better than what I do now, but I'm not sure I'm prepared for either the risk or the effort that goes into a new business. Particularly in Martinsville.

Bam Thwok

Now listening to: The Pixies new song!!!!!!!!!!

A new single from the Pixies..and it's good! ROCK. If there is one band I love, it's the Pixies. Hopefully this means they will be recording a new album. I wish I could see them live. Oh well.

Last night I didn't manage to stay away from COH and ended up playing for five hours solid. I didn't get to bed until 6 a.m. I got into a really good group...it was impossible to leave a gang of competent players after being saddled with so many morons for so long. I managed to get rid of my 5K debt and am now a mere three bubbles from 19th.

I also reread The Stranger. It was as good as I remembered it, but I got something different from it this time. I'm less sure Camus was on Meurseult's side. I still appreciate his notion that one life is as good as another, there is no real difference. That you have to take the small pleasures where ever you can.

Gabe emailed me. He just returned from Spain, the bastard. He seems to be pretty happy. I miss the little goof.

It doesn't matter if we all die

Q:If you could be any type of animal, what type would you be?
A: You are an animal.

Today has been one of those days where I never feel like I fully woke up. I just kind of drifted through in a haze and got through somehow. Not that I really did anything. I wrote a story and had dinner with Trip, that about sums it up.

Actually I did finally finish Lost Souls by Poppy Bright. It was ok...maybe in the upper echelon of the Meh. territory. It just seemed a little too in love with itself, as gothic style horror novels often do. Just a bit too pretentious and self aware.

I think I'm gonna reread Camus' The Stranger. It's one of my all time favs (headcavingly orgasmic) and I need some inspiration. Maybe it can help me put the indifference I feel towards everything right now into perspective.

I bet you say that to all the girls

Now watching:Harvey Birdman & Sealab

A total slackass day, which I needed. Actually I could use a couple more. All I've done is watch Citizen Kane, play COH and watch TV. Citizen Kane did live up to the hype. It's an excellent film. I'd say Filet Mignon.

COH on the other hand has been a huge pain in the ass. I teammed up with a bunch of boneheads adn we got slaughtered by the Tsoo. It was unpleasant. I'll probably play some more a little later on, just to put a dent in my 4K of debt. It bones.

I forgot to mention that I did see Kev's daughter Eve yesterday and she was an adorable child. My urge to kill children didn't even kick in. A pleasant surprise.

Give me a sign

Now listening to: P.J. Harvey

Spent the day at Trip's ahnging with he, Kev, Corb and Reed. Goofed off, watched some Aqua Teens and played some video games. It was a pretty good time. Seemed like the night shot by tho. Actually the whole day flew by. Anytime I don't have to work, the time flies. At work, it goes into a standstill. It's irritating.

Don't really have a lot to say. I'm just gonna go hit COH hard now.

The return of the Swollen Goat

Now listening to: Clutch (Blast Tyrant)

Well tonight was fun, but it also sucked. We played some poker at Andy's house and I lost my ass. I didn't see a lot fo good hands and when I had something is was usually the second best hand. Just brutal. That's what I get for playing weak-tight.

Not much else went on. I wrote that story, but I still have to go in and file it tomorrow. But hopefully after that I'll be seeing Kev, Courtney and their daughter, Eve. So that should be cool. I'm definitely looking forward to it.

I just want to bang on the drum all day

Man I do not feel like writing a column today. I don't have anything really good to write about and I'm gonna end up banging out some crap that is barely coherent. (I know you my loyal readers, both of you, are used to this incoherency, but I try to write understandably for the rest of the world.)

I suppose I could call someone and put together an actual story about something, but that is too much like real work and I don't feel like it. So I will just bang out a crapladen column for the masses.

Boob scotch

Now listening to: The Shins and downloading the new Sonic Youth album

Well work was mind-numbing as always, although at least I had stuff to do. Too much to do, I am now the de facto editor, all the little bullshit I get to pick up and do because no one is there to do it. It's irritating.

After work I went to Wal-Mart (the only time to go is after midnight) and got some grub for the weekend. I also bought a cheapo digital camera, the one I mentioned before. BIG mistake! I forgot the age old adage that you get what you pay for. So far I have been unable to get my computer to recognize the camera or download photos. Not that I can take many as it requires soo much light or it doesn't take it at all. I'm returning it.

I also checked out the company's website, looking for tech support on getting my comp. to recognize my camera. They told me to buy a memory card for it... A) it doesn't have a slot for a memory card. B) I bought a $20 camera so it would be cheap...not so I could invest more into it. I give up.

I had a good time on COH last night. Finally reached level 17 and managed to not accrue any more debt. I'm getting ready to try and recreate that.

Oh and the new P.J. Harvey album gets only a Meh. I'm highly disappointed with it. It still has a couple of moments that aren't bad, but all in all it is not what I had hoped.

NO YELLING ON THE BUS!!!!

Now watching: Dave Letterman and The Family Guy

SO after a short afternoon of work, Trip and I jaunted to Danville for a meal at Ruby Tuesday's. We then tooled around the mall for a bit, where I managed to resist buying anything. We then hit blockbuster and I had to buy a copy of American Splendor, which is a damn fine movie. It too is in the gray area between +1 chainmail and Filet Mignon. I've been trying to think up a good rating for that, but haven't figured one out yet.

OK, let me just say that I'm not obsessed with it, but with broadband I have had a brand new opportunity to download porn. So I occasionally take advantage of it. OK fine, I'm a fuckin porno freak and I download gigs of it every night. WHATEVER! The point is, why is so much porn so abusive to women? A lot of it is all about tricking stupid women into having sex or basically forcing them into it. It's just lame and I find it disturbing. Just because I want to see beautiful women and fantasize about them doesn't mean I need to belittle them to make myself feel better.

I just find it kinda infantile and really question any man who needs that type of thing to get aroused. I guess it just goes back to the double standard that a woman can't like to have sex outside of marriage. If they do, then they must be slutty and not deserve any respect. I find it annoying.

Now I'll get off my porn soapbox and watch some Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Woo!

Honey, have you checked our shitters?

Now: downloading P.J. Harvey's new album

Everything I have tried to do the last two days has went wrong. At work, the editor just left so we are without any organization whatsoever. I refuse to do it since I'm not the editor and it's not my job. I tried that once and all I got for my trouble was a dumb look. So I expect the next month to be nothing more than a trial.

I haven't been pleased with anything really. Hell even COH is being a bitch. I've been dying like mad the last two days. I played for an hour this afternoon and because of the bonehead group I was in I am actually now farther away from leveling up than I was when I started. It's lame.

I'm reading Poppy Bright's Lost Souls. It's ok, but really it's not suiting my mood. The gothic horror vibe isn't making me feel better. I need to read something with a happy ending so I can fool myself into believing those exist. At least for a little while.

I can't decide if I want to play COH now or not. I don't know if I can stand getting into more debt.

Black mood

Now: in a fairly foul mood

I didn't post last night as every activity I involved myself in conspired to make me more and more botter, angry and depressed. In fact, I'm still feeling like that really, although it is probably just leftovers from last night.

I really don't have much to say, as if I do start, all that bile will flow out of me like a raging river. So I'll just let it go and not depress the fuck out of both my readers.

Win one for the Gipper

Now listening to:Tortoise (Standards)

Well I've been reviewing the Ronald Reagan post over at EvilAvatar and I have to say the country is so polarized right now it's ridiculous. It's a hodge-podge of people saying conservatives rule, liberals rule and that you shouldn't say anything bad about someone who died, even if their policies were completely unethical. I'm tired of people saying you're a traitor if you disagree with them. I don't care which side you're on, just let me have my opinion. That's one of the biggest problems I have with conservatives, you're with them or completely evil. They never stop to think about why you believe what you believe. It's sad.

Work was dull, I spent most of the time reading gaming magazines.

I downloaded this Tortoise album yesterday to listen to while I played COH (I'm now level 16 btw). I ended up listening to it like four times last night and it's pretty good. Nonlinear and not afraid to throw a little noise out there. A +1 chainmail rating will serve it well. It reminds me of Stereolab.

I'm considering buying a cheapass digital camera so I can post some photos here and perhaps sell some crap on Ebay. Of course I'd have to figure out how to post photos on this page. How hard could it be?

In my humble opinion Ronald Reagan's greatest accomplishment was his role in Knute Rockne: All-American (Filet Mignon). It's a classic film that I'd rate as one of the best football movies ever. You do have to put it in historical perspective tho, as it's definitely not from the modern school of filmmaking. But the fact that it has Pop Warner and Amos Alonzo Stagg in cameos is definitely cool.

Fuck Die Hard, fuck it right in the ass

Went to G-Boro today with Trip and Corb and did our thing. I managed to not spend too much money, just enough. Went to see the new Harry Potter movie, which was pretty good. It's now my new favorite of the series. Cuaron brings a vision that Columbus just didn't have, he was too slavishly faithful to the books. Cuaron brings not only a a cohesive theme to the movie, but also puts Hogwarts in a very scenic world that helps bring you into the story. I'm saying Filet Mignon right now.

Oh I also learned a valuable lesson tonight, just because you can upgrade your beverage for only a quarter, doesn't mean you should in a long movie. Yesh.

While cruising around I told Trip that I had never seen Die Hard (Alan Rickman was the cause I believe) and had little inclination. Trip then went on a tirade about me being willfully ignorant. The entire drive home we playfully argued this point. At one point the conversation became so convoluted that Trip was exhorting me to choke him and kill us all. That's how out of control our discussions can go. The saddest part was that I was considering doing it just to prove him wrong. I can play Devil's Advocate a bit too hard sometimes. Of course I knew that when I was arguing for the Chinese government while talking about the Tiannamen Square incident. I blame it on being terminally bored in a lame philosophy class and just trying to make things more interesting for me.

Heavy traffic

I just noticed that Friday was the biggest day I've ever had here at incoherent rambling. Over 20 page views in one day. Nice. Some of you people should come back. I can start advertising and make millions and fulfill my lifelong dream of being rich without actually working hard for it.

On a related note, Kevin was visiting the site earlier and remarked on not being mentioned a lot. So here's another mention. Kevin is a little bee-atch who whines a lot! YOU LIKE THAT? HUH? Yeah take it.

I'm sure he'll be thrilled with that. Hehe.

Guatemalan pool boy

Now listening to: my Gritty mix

A pretty slack day. I slept in until around 2 p.m. I couldn't wake up, the rain and of course I stayed up until ungodly hours playing COH. I got Brody up to 15th level and then switched over to Jotun, who I got up to 12th. I tell you it is a huge pain not having any movement ability. At least Brody had hover so I didn't have to go around everything, I could slowly float over things. Jotun is just slow. Still it is nice not fearing death in almost every encounter.

Went to Trip's and hung out most of the evening. Played a little Tiger Woods and I sucked it up. Trip now owns me at it. A sad state of affairs. Of course Danny won the skins match we played, so I was the worst there. I did manage to get some of my dignity back by handing Trip his ass in Tony Hawk Underground.

After that we watched some Celebrity Poker, where Danny Masterson lost to that Dule guy. It was sad, since he more or less outplayed him, but Dule was the card man. He pulled three of a kind out of his ass a lot. Still it was interesting to watch them play, I'd forgotten some of the lessons I learned from the last show. I need to get back on my game man, I'm already forgetting crap.

Sound off like you've got a pair

Now listening to:my extraordinarily diverse COH megamix

Woo, I have the next two days off and I'm looking forward to it. Work was decent today as I watched the Martinsville soccer team put together a masterful performance and wrote a couple of decent stories about it. So that's pretty cool.

I just finished Raymond E. Feist's Magician:Master and it was pretty good. It falls in that gray area between +1 chainmail and Filet Mignon. I'm going to have to address that situation soon... Anyway the book is the sequel to Magician:Apprentice and both made for a pretty good read. A nice cohesive world, I'll probably come back to some of Feist's other books after I get through some other stuff I've already bought.

I think tonight will be a COH night. I'm pretty close to 15th after hooking up with Nick the other night. We kicked some ass. I'm hoping to bust up to close to 16th level tonight. Off to defend Paragon City!

You know when you grope for luna

Now listening to: the Grey Album

Well I gave COH a break and headed back to the online poker tables. Where I was kicking ass for about an hour and then took it on the chin. I should have quit while I was ahead. I went up $30 and then midnight hit, all the fish went to bed and I started to lose money. I ended up down $12, which means I am down $8 total online. Blows. I got some bad beats and managed to break about even in the ring games. Then I tried a couple of Sit and Goes, but couldn't catch any kind of hands and went out in both pretty quick. It's very frustrating.

I'm going to have to review some poker texts before getting on again. My wins at Nick's pad had given me some (apparently unmerited) confidence.

Tomorrow i get to cover the Region IV boys soccer semis, woo. Then I'm off Friday and Saturday, barring any unforseen scheduling problems. I'm looking forward to catching the new Harry Potter flick this weekend. I've heard it's pretty cool.

I always wanted to be in one of your plays

I just read a kickass article over at HDouble's blog. It takes quotes from Rushmore and turns them into poker advice. It's pretty cool. He did the same thing with The Big Lebowski a while back and that was pretty sweet too. All in all, it's one of the best poker blogs on the web.

Lucky at cards

I'm feeling kind of blah right now. Yesterday had it's ups and downs and I'm just feeling kind of moody. I very nearly had to work late a the Bulletin and it was only through Dollar's good graces that I got the night off. I went down to G-Boro to hang with Mike and Nick and hit the poker table again. I won $12, despite some loose calls late. I'm considering hitting PartyPoker now... I may wait.

Nick and his crew may be aplaying again tonight and I'd like ot get in on the action. The problem is do I really want to drive to Greensboro again. Hell, I have to win around $8 to pay for gas.

I also finally reached 14th level yesterday in COH. Flight is awesome. Now if I could just find a way to get my controller to do some decent damage... Probably not to be.

I finally finished watching the original Dawn of the Dead yesterday. It was pretty cool. I'd say +1 chainmail. I did like the subtext of the zombies wandering around the mall. Very nice.

I am so tired, so tired

I'm ready for bed. A long afternoon of COH, followed by an entirely long night of work, followed by more COH. I reached 13th level tonight, only one more and I will be able to fly. Woot!

Went to G-Boro with the crew yesterday and had a pretty good time. Went to this club, Much. Upstairs is their rooftop club called Heaven and I hated that. It was cock to ass all the way across the roof and I was honestly contemplating homocide. But we went downstairs fairly quickly and hung out in a much more sedate bar area that was cool. I few drinks and my urge to kill had faded.

I watched His Girl Friday today and I have to say, it wasn't that great. I mean Cary Grant played his role well, but I didn't like the story. A woman comes to quit her job at a newspaper and tell her ex-husband that she's marrying a new guy. Ex doesn't like it and is crafty, lures woman into covering big story before leaving town. Tricks new beau into beign arrested repeatedly and ultimately wins back the heart of his wife. Sounds good, except the ex was an asshole. Of course it's true the hot women always do go for assholes... Still it wasn't great for me. I say Meh.

Hailing Satan since 1991

Now watching: Friends, for some reason...

A whole day of COH??? Why yes, of course. I reached level 12, only two mroe and I'll be able to fly. Such small hopes for me. I watched North By Northwest, which is actually the first Hitchcock movie I've ever seen. (I watched the Psycho remake, but technically that wasn't Hitchcock.) Anyway it was pretty good. It's in that odd place between +1 chainmail and Filet mignon. I'm going to have to address that soon.

I am considering trying to fit His Girl Friday in before we head to G-Boro tonight, but not sure I have time. I should probably just shower...off to the tub.

Feeling the flow, doing the bull dance

Now: preparing for bed

Had a good time in G-Boro tonight. Had an excellent meal at the Greene Valley Grill (I think that was the name). My pork chops were nice and the string beans were exceptional. Maybe the best I've ever had. So I give hte meal a definite Filet Mignon rating.

After that we tooled on down to Nick's pad for a friendly poker game. It went pretty well, with Mike going down quick, but managing to hang on for the rest of the evening. Well, until the very end when he gave me $3-odd just to finish up neatly. I ended up the big winner for the night, taking home $21.50. Nick was second with around $13 I think.

At one point midway through I thought Nick had taken me down in a big way. I had AQ and Q,six,x flopped. I don't remember exactly how the beating went but a six came on the turn and an ace on the river. I thought my two pair would be good, but Nick's boat took me down a notch. He played it just right, I have to give it to him. A couple of times I got burnt on two pairs.

I got back above my buyin when my pocket aces turned into trips on the flop. Nick's brother in law, Cal had bottom pair after the flop and stuck around. He caught a third five on the river, but it gave me the full house and I bet $6. He came over the top, going all in and I made out like a bandit. From there I managed to collect a few more pots and stay up. It was a good night.

Plateauing

Now: preparing to go to G-Boro.

It's been a pretty slackass day. I played COH until around 5:30 last night and slept in, despite the nextdoor neighbors best attempts to wake me by hammering on something for two solid hours. I then got right back on the COH horse and played until just now. I am a goon.

I have finally reached 11th level, but am finding it incredibly difficult to get much experience now without dying all the time. I'm a little stunned with that. I am finally out of debt and working forward on 12th level.

I'm gonna hook up with Mike and Nick tonight and have a nice dinner. Maybe play a little poker, whatever. Should be cool.

The world is full of crashing bores

Now listening to: Morrissey (You are the Quarry)

ANother grueling night of work. A nice, confidence shattering night. I found out that not only am I not going to be the sports editor, that I was no better than the third pick last time, since they gave it to their second choice this time. That's nice, thanks for killing any belief I had that you consider me a valuable employee. I am merely a cog and am easily replaceable.

So that set a fun tone for the night. At least I'm off for the next two days. That will give me a chance to get a little break and not kill everyone I see.

The new Morrissey kicks ass. The more I listen to it the more I like it. Great lyrics and Morrissey's voice seems to be getting better with age. I'm saying it's Filet Mignon. I also bought the new Clutch album (Blast Tyrant) and after only two listens it's excellent. Nothing really new for the band, but up to their high standards. They've just got a great sound, combining metal and southern rock and somehow managing to make it funky. It's really nice. I'm not sure I'd give it Filet Mignon status just yet, but it's close. I may have to make a step between Filet and +1 chainmail. Not sure on that, but it's a consideration.

Anyway I'm gonna try to log some quality time with COH now. After dying twice this afternoon I need to get my ass out of debt. Perez Park, here I come.

Beaten with a sack of oranges

Now watching: Late Night Poker

I'm feeling beat. Tonight was unpleasant. I'm just tired of doing everything at work. Nothing seems even a little entertaining at this point. I think I'm going to have to take a vacation soon, just to get away from the job. I desperately need a break. Of course, with us being understaffed as of next week, that could be a problem. Nothing is ever easy at the Bulletin.

I'm currently downloading the new Morrissey album (You are the Quarry). I've heard nothing but good things. I'm not sure what I plan to do with the rest of the evening. I think I'm gonna take a break tonight on COH. Maybe read this new book I bought the other day by Raymond Feist. I've read the first 20-odd pages and it's pretty good so far.

Had a nice dinner with Jeff tonight. It was good to see him. He's also talking about having kids, but not a father yet. Apparently he's working on it. This glut of children is too much for me. I'm way too immature to have kids, how can people my age or under even think about it? I dunno, kids just scare the hell out of me.

Zug, zug

Now: preparing for work

Man I don't feel like working tonight. The weather is nice, COH is calling, I have a book to read. Pretty much I am feeling lazy. Nothing new, right.

I've spent the afternoon goofing off, reading about World of Warcraft. That game is gonna kick so much ass. If i wasn't so addicted to COH I wouldn't be able to stand the wait.

I think I have to carry my headphones to work tonight. I won't be able to stand it without them. The call ins have dwindled and so it's much more sedate. I don't have to answer the phone every two minutes to take a track brief (fuckin track).

Anyway I'm off to the salt mines. On the upside I do get to have dinner with Jeff, who I haven't seen in a while. So there is that. Woo.

the girl who lives on heaven hill

Now listening to: Electric Six and Ugly Casanova

Another night full of City of Heroes. It's jsut too much to ignore. I don't mean to be boring, as I'm sure reading about my online nerd life isn't exciting, but I can't stop playing. I want to take a break and do some reading, but no I feel the need to level up. I just got Brody Ramone up to level 10 and earned the resurrect ability, which is sweet.

But enough about that. Tonight work was boring as all get out. My only respite was the internet. So I spent half the night going through webcomics. You should check out Angst Technology if you feel nerdy enough.

No respect

I just read a cool article on Rodney Dangerfield in Entertainment Weekly. I've always dug Rodney, since I first saw Caddyshack (Headcavingly Orgasmic) The man is simply funny.

But in the article he seems a little bitter and like an unhappy guy. I think the best humor comes from people disatisfied with life. They aren't afraid to point out the stupid shit. You'll note that most consider Bill Murray surly and he's one of the funniest motherfuckers ever to walk the planet.

Anyway the article has a great line from Rodney's new book, that I may have to get. The line is "I tell ya, I know I'm ugly. My proctologist stuck his finger in my mouth."

He will kill for you

Now: too groggy to care

Yesterday was an odd day. I got up early (!!!) to cover a baseball game. It was fine for two innings, when the sky broke and a deluge hit the field and didn't let up. There was thunder, lightning, HAIL! and an astounding amount of rain. The game was moved to Ferrum COllege, so I didn't have to cover it. Yay.

During all this bad weather my jeep (with the sieve-like top) had the windows down. This meant I had water standing in the floorboard. It was above my ankle. After figuring out my work thing, I had to bail out my jeep for fear it would sink.

Other than that, Corb, Trip and I hung out for a while, playing Tiger Woods (Trip won again, becuase I couldn't stay out of the aqua). Then I came home, settled in and played COH until I couldn't sit up in my seat anymore.

This morning I was roused by someone next door hammering, for over half and hour solid. At that point I just got up. So here I am tired and wishing for the death of my neighbors. Nothing new.

Ghost of a smile

Now listening to: Sleater-Kinney, Pogues

I'm putting together a COH mega mix to listen to while I play, It's gonna be a freeform floating list of things I'm currently listening to. So I got that going for, which is nice.

Work was a bear today, I went in early and busted ass for most of the night. I have to get up early and go to a baseball game tomorrow. I'm rooting for Salisbury State, because if they win I don't have to cover a second game.

I did make a new character, his name is Brody Ramone and he's a controller. I got tired of the whole tanker thing, although I may play Jotun at some later date.

It's gonna be such a long week, man. I'm gonna have to pay the price for having those days off last week. I'm on desk for most of the week and not looking forward to it. Arrgh.

Shiver me timbers

Now listening to: Tom Waits

After spending most of the afternoon playing COH I packed up my comp. and let Trip play at his house while I covered a girls soccer game. The game was ok, a dull first half, but the 2nd was decent.

After that I went back to Trip's and we goofed around for a while. Played Tiger Woods, but my heart wasn't really in it and Trip took an easy five stroke win. Now I'm back at home and considering playing still more COH or just going to bed. Who am I kidding I'm gonna be playing in a minute.

I'm considering making a new character with healing powers, since those are always in demand. I should at least get Jotun to level 14 before I start someone new, but I'm intrigued by different powers.

Oh on a completely unrelated note, my mother had dinner with Kelly (my brother Gabe's wife) on Thurday and Kelly is pregnant. So I'm soon to be Uncle Eric. That's some scary shit, man. Too many people I know having kids. I'm not sure how to react. I still equate children with death, of course I have been indulging in an evergrowing antisocial behavior pattern of late. SO that could be related to that. I dunno.

It's also odd to think about these guys I have really silly memories of having kids. Like Kevin with his pants around his ankles and a prosethic penis strapped to his head doing a Wolverine impression for a drinking game. Or Gabe running about doing his gimpy man impression. These people will be responsible parents. It's almost too weird a concept to grasp.

Condoms are the glass slippers of our time

Now listening to: Ugly Casanova

Another slackass day, I spent most of the afternoon in the thrall of my crack addiction. I did manage to roust myself enough to shower and go to see Shrek 2. It was ok, nothing exceptional and definitely not as good as the first one. I'd say on the low end of the +1 chainmail end. I will say that Eddie Murphy came through with Donkey again. He's gold.

After that, Trip and I had some dinner and played some Tiger Woods (in which I took him down, despite his regularly practicing). We then goofed around and watched the motion video from the Futurama game, which was pretty cool. It did a good job of working in the video game cliches. All the same I'm glad it was Trip that played it and not me.

We then fooled around with Garageband for awhile. It's a pretty sweet program and given the time and effort you could really make some cool music. I dropped some science, and then bailed.

I figured I had better write an entry before I delved into Paragon City or I wouldn't write one at all.

The stomach, scenic gateway to the bowel

Now watching: Futurama

Well it's now 11 p.m. and I've played almost seven hours of COH today. Crack, I tells ya, crack. I finally managed to hook up with Nick and we dispensed justice for a while, although I was in over my head. Jotan Heimdall is now level 10, which is cool. Although level 14 is where it's at i.e. you can get either flight, leaping or superspeed to not slow you down as much. I'm probably gonna go with leaping as I have enough of an endurance drain normally.

Anyway, that's about it. I've been a total nerd today (no surprises there). Ohh, Trip notified me that this site is the top response for incoherent rambling on google. Woo. I'm the king of incoherence.

I think I'm going to catch Adult Swim and then try to do some reading. I'm not sure what I'm gonna be reading. Perhaps Dostoyevski, maybe something else. I still need to read up on some poker strategy, especially since Mike is coming in next weekend. I dunno. I'll probably stick with fiction.

You want a piece of my heart?

Well I intended to post last night, but the lure or COH was too much. So I meant to post after playing, but I blinked and it was 6 a.m. and my bed was calling me. That's right I played until 6 a.m., this game is pure crack. I can't stop...I'm an addict. I joined a supergroup called the Mean Old Drunks (MOD) and we grouped around the Perez Park area, where I got mad experience. I also sidekicked with this guy so I wouldn't get owned. It was pretty cool.

Before I was pulled into the black hole of COH, I watched Tim Burton's Big Fish. It was pretty good. Some cool imagery, but not spectacular. I'd put a +1 chainmail ranking on it.

I have today and tommorrow off, which is both good and bad. Good because I'm not at work. Bad because after that I'll be on for like 10 days solid, which will blow ass. It's the busiest time of year at work and I'm swamped. On top of that, my editor is leaving soon and the job is anything but mine. I don't know, I'm kind of stunned with the whole work thing.

Today I'm planning on nerding out and playing COH all day. I also need to finish New Spring, which I've been reading slowly. It's pretty good, but I would have prefered the next book in the Wheel of Time series as opposed to a prequel. (+1 chainmail)

Must...get...life...

Now: getting ready to go to sleep

Well after roughly an hour break I played COH until after 5 a.m. That's right, almost eight hours in a single day. Oh yeah I'm hardcore. I spent the second four hours doing lots of exploring around and only completed a couple of missions. As such I am only about halfway to 7th level. Too much slowass wandering around. Oh how i need to get a super leap.

Anyway, before I collapse in front of the computer, I'm going to bed.

Knock off all that evil!

Now listening to: Air

Well I did make the trek to Danville today to procure City of Heroes. The drive up sucked, as it started to rain about 10 minutes into the trip and didn't stop until after I got to the mall there.

Notable people I saw in Danville: The Chatty Cowboy- a talkative crazy person in a partially purple cowboy hat, apparently chatting doesn't require anyone to talk back for this guy. The Fragrants- a middle aged couple that really really likes nasal stimulation. The man was wearing one of those horrible generic colognes, Old Spice, or Brut or something and the old woman was combatting that with a cheap perfume of her own. It was enough to almost put me off my lunch sitting in Quizno's.

Anyway I made it home and installed COH and played for four solid hours. It would have been longer, but the lag go soo bad that I had to give it a rest. I may go back a little later. My character is a 5th level tanker with stone-based powers. His name is Jotun Heimdall (obviously I'm pulling from Norse mythology) and he's on the Liberty server.

I was considering making a controller, but figured I'd go with a character heavy on the hitpoints to start so I can make mistakes and not die every minute. I may make a controller at some later date.

So far I have to agree with Nick's assessment of the game as Filet Mignon. It's pretty damn sweet. My only problem so far has been the lag and I can't really blame the game for that, I suppose.

Sin thine ass off, with my blessing

Now listening to: Sleater-Kinney

Another slackass day, Watched the original Ocean's 11 this afternoon...not good. I give it a Mudbutt. (yay, my new rating system rocks). After that I hooked up with Trip and Corb and we saw Troy, which was pretty good. Nothing fantastic, but decent. It landed safely in +1 chainmail land.

After that we debated about where to eat for a while and it nearly came to blows. Ok maybe I was the only one contemplating violence, but it coulda happened. If there is one thing the Bush Administration has taught me it is that violence is always the answer.

Anyway we ended up grabbing a pizza (only after Corbin fenced me a new watch) and heading to Trip's to watch some Zim. I then went to Walmart in the hopes of picking up City of Heroes, but of course they had none of it. I've given up resistance at this point. I may drive to Danville tomorrow to pick it up, if the weather is nice.

The rest of the night I've spent planted in front of the tube, watching Adult Swim. The Aqua Teens were excellent and the Harvey Birdman was genius, it was about environmental abuse. One of the jokes was Harvey asking how much difference can one make for the environment and Dubya was in the background...he he, political subtext is nice.

Random ratings to things: Sleater-Kinney (All hands down on the bad one)=Filet Mignon. Scent of rotting animal mixed with blooming honeysuckle=Shaq-Fu. Van Helsing=Mudbutt.

You say you quote love unquote me

Now listening to: The Magnetic Fields and Sleater-Kinney

I've decided to institute a rating system on this site. I plan on keeping it as incoherent as the rest. It's a seven point system starting at 0 and working up to six. Here is the system and how it works:
6-headcavingly orgasmic. The best ever. Reserved for stuff I use in my personal top five lists, like the Pixies, Frank Herbert's Dune, Fight Club, breasts and so on.

5- filet mignon. Things that are exquistely done and make for time well spent. The Empire Strikes Back, Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time and Mike Doughty fit into this category.

4- +1 chainmail. Good stuff, but not superb or something that was good, but you don't want to see again. Has some flaw that detracts from the overall effect. I'd put Clerks, Jackass and Dostoyevski's The Brothers Karamazov here.

3- Meh. Mediocrity abounds. It's not bad, but it's not good. If it's on I'll watch it, but I would seldom seek it out on my own. Too bland to bother hating. Will and Grace, Taco Bell and most movies with the Rock belong here.

2- Shaq-Fu. Time spent with this you want back. Not bad enough to make you feel betrayed, but not good. Universal Soldier, cheap vodka and Caddyshack 2 fit in here.

1- Mudbutt. It's pretty stinky down here. Rank things to avoid if at all possible. I'd say Silas Marner, Dracula Dead and Loving it and Ray Romano.

0- Torn colon. The most horrible of all things. The people responsible for these vile acts deserve to suffer. Hideous examples are the Holocaust, Achy Breaky Heart and willful ignorance.

That about sums it up. You'll note the list on the left, complete with illustrating links. Hope this will help to clarify my thoughts on some things. If not, at least I found it moderately entertaining.

I'm dancin' like a monkey!

Now watching: Invader Zim

A Zim-filled afternoon, snuggling under a blanket as the AC pours waves of cool comfort over me. Ahh, that blissful state of near sleep and partial consiousness. But alas now I am headed for the dreaded work beast. (Invader Zim speak has infiltrated my brain).

I also read part of the new Entertainment Weekly, which had a cool interview with Morrissey. He seems like quite an interesting person. I'm looking forward to his new album.

I'm tongue-tied and useless again

Now listening to: The Magnetic Fields (I)

I'm tired, I think the scotch I drank earlier is starting to wear me down. A decent day, got up goofed off, watched some Invader Zim (although my DVD is scratched and I'm annoyed with that), went to a softball game that went really quickly and then wrote that story. I then headed to Trip's to dominate the Halo realm. Actually there was no real domination by anyone, we only had three people (Trip, Danny and I) and so the lone wolf invariably won. But it was fun.

After that I came home and fooled around in the iTunes store until I decided to buy The Magnetic Fields new album, which is pretty good. Not many albums that can boast having both a banjo and a harpsicord on them and still be good. iTunes is really dangerous to have, I can download weird stuff at any time and I'm prone to impulse buys. Oh well...I still need to get an iPod so I can enjoy all these MP3s on the go...well that's one excuse to buy one. In reality I'm just a gadget whore, who loves having the newest gear.

Oh tonight we also watched the Daniel Pearl beheading ...which was unpleasant to put it mildly. On one hand I'm horrified that anyone would do that to another human being. It's simply appallling. On the other, if I was in Iraq and felt completely controlled and helpless against a foreign invader mistreating POWs (and they are POWs, whatever euphemism the White House decides to call them) I would probably consider resorting to those tactics as well.

We're gonna flash fry this motha!!

Now listening to: Mike Doughty

Another trying day at the office, but I did get to meet Al Groh and Debbie Ryan (Virginia's football and women's basketball coaches). They were pretty cool, but I always have trouble knowing what to ask coaches like that. I got to stay late again and help close out the paper.

I also found out that my editor may be moving on to another job soon, leaving a crapton of work for me to do. That means I may be up for the editor position again, which is good and bad. Good that I could finally get a real paycheck. Bad in that I would have more responsibility and need to spend more time at work. Also there is the chance that I will get dissed on the job again and feel like shit. A distinct possibility knowing the way things work at the Bulletin.

I finally finished A Storm of Swords, which had some nice twists at the end (hell the whole thing has had interesting twists). So I can put that on the shelf and move on to new things.

I think tomorrow we are going to try and hook up some Halo multiplayer at Trip's. LET THE CARNAGE BEGIN!!! I'm so gonna suck, I haven't played in so long, of course neither has anyone else really. I'm now off to slay untold hordes of baddies in Diablo 2, now.

The finglonger

Now listening to: Air

Kind of a stressful night. My soccer games started late (because of lack of refs) and then went long (because of OT). So I left the field at 10 p.m. and had to write two stories before 11 p.m. Some fun. Then I had to help finish out the paper, which annoyed me. When I'm on desk everyone gets to leave after they write, but when I'm writing I have to be there all night. Irritating.

After work I hit Walmart for some groceries and the new Invader Zim DVD (which I haven't watched yet). I ran into Reed and invited him to Trip's on Friday for some video game action.

Once I got home i made a little soup for dinner and watched the WPT Aruba, which Eric Lindgren won by getting monster hands for most of the final table. I could have won with those hands, I swear. Pocket aces all over the place and Big Slick in full effect.

Anyway I think I'm gonna try to wrap up A Storm of Swords tonight. It's getting pretty good at the end, but I'm kinda tired of the series for the moment. Three 1,000 page novels in as many weeks will do that to you. Up next is Robert Jordan's New Spring. Oh and some poker reading.

One, two, fo, five ...count these rocks bitch!

Now listening to:Ugly Casanova

Please note my new counter to the right. Isn't it special? Now i will know exactly how few people come through this sad little blog and read my blather. I can feel the depression coming on.

I'm starting to figure out some of the minor html things now, although I still have tons... tons to learn. But a few things are starting to make sense, especially when dumbed down for me.

My rhymes come funkier than your grandfather's feet

Now listening to: Method Man and Tom Waits (how's that for eclectic)

I had a busy afternoon and wasn't feeling really well, but made it through. Got off early and came home for some chill time. I've pretty much wasted the rest of the day. I did watch part of the Thrilla in Manila, which was cool. Mohammad Ali was amazing in the ring. I also played a little Tiger Woods and listened to loads of Tom Waits. I borrowed three of his cds from my lovely coworker Talia and the two I've listened to so far are excellent.

I'm being assaulted by E3 information right now. Lots of Halo 2 stuff and EA and Xbox Live making nice. It's cool. I'm really considering selling my PS2 now. There isn't anything I'm really interested in besides Final Fantasy XII and i don't know if it's worth keeping for that. I dunno.

I'm also hearing a lot of stuff about both Sony's new handheld, the PSP, and the Nintendo DS. Both look kinda interesting, but will either live up to the Game Boy Advance? Both have lots of bells and whistles, but I'm definitely gonna wait and see which emerges on top before spending any cash. There are plenty of GBA games I can catch up on in the meantime, not to mention XBox and PC games. Of course I say that now, but when the things come out my reason may go out the door.

Dog cologne landmine...nose army

Now listening to: RadioioRock (webradio)

Just watched Steven Soderberg's Schizopolis, it was pretty good. Very odd, but in an interesting way. Lots of completely surreal dialogue, a la the title of this particular blog. Some cool tricks with language and visuals. I enjoyed it.

Today was decent, went to a godawful baseball game, but interviewed NY Giant Delvin Joyce, who was cool. The problem was I just didn't feel that great and definitely didn't feel social. So I may have come off as a little short with him. Social skills fading...

I also got out of work early, which allowed me to kill most of the evening doing nothng much. I did get to see Aqua Teen Hunger Force, which was nice. Gotta love Shake's hijinks. Did I mention I need a life?

Terrorism sponsored by the U.S.

I was listening to a variety of webradio stations tonight and tuned in to a speech by Arundhati Roy giving on an NPR station (I think it was NPR) on Sept. 11. It was really awesome. I don't normally listen to speeches or anything but this caught my attention. She was amazing, I listened for over 40 minutes. She had this quote:

"The American way of life is not sustainable because it doesn't recognize that there is a world outside of America."

She documented several instances of American sponsored terrorism throughout the world and touched on a lot of Western expansionism and hegemony. She mentioned that the CIA helped Pinochet to overthrow a democratically elected government in Chile on Sept. 11, 1973. How's that for historical significance? I tried to read her book "The God of Small Things" when it came out, but couldn't get into it. I think I may try again.

It barely reads as a moon

Now:wishing I had a fourth day off

A decent weekend. My poker prowess has turned to dust, tho. I am now a mere four dollars to the good after paying for an hour last night. I made some horrible calls and realized how bad I was playing, so I'm staying away from the game until I can figure out how to get back on track.

On Saturday, Trip and I made the Danville scene and watched Van Helsing...steamer. It's just sad really, I know Hollywood blockbusters require a lot of suspension of disbelief and I wasn't expecting oscar caliber writing, but cmon. This was shitte. Why can't they make a good movie that pays homage to the horror villans of years past. Are Frankenstein and the wolfman condemned to horrible writing in films forever?

Sunday I stayed in the whole day and watched Futurama, Season 3 and played Diablo all afternoon. It was funny, I was doing well until a predecided point where I started to die and die and die. It got annoying. Then of course when I tried poker that sucked as well. When my luck goes, it goes all at once.

I did manage to watch Adult Swim and that was excellent. Aqua Teen Hunger Force gets better with every viewing.

Your sauce will mix with ours and that'll make a good goulash baby

Now listening to: Jay-Z (The Black Album)

I have to say that Jay-Z isn't as good without the help of the Beatles and Danger Mouse. It's nto bad but some of the beats are humdrum. I've often said that more of the rappers need to get with better DJs to make their albums pop better. A lot of my fav. hip hop songs start with a solid drum and bass DJ (Tricky, Roni Size, Goldie) and then add a good rhyme over them. The typical hip hop beat is flavorless, I suppose that's so it doesn't detract from the rapper, but for me music is about more than lyrics. You should be able to dig deeper.

I just finished going through all my hotmail messages I had left and deleting them. It was pretty cool as there were some messages over a year old in there. Plus it helped me notice how awesome some of the friends I have are. I swear the way Vishi, Karen and Dana support me is incredible. It's a small wonder that I think of college as the best time of my life. With those three giving me positive reinforcement all the time it had to be good.

But yeah, now I'm down to three email accounts. I may try and get it down to two, but dissing my yahoo account will be harder as I will have to go to some other sites I signed on through them and change my email address, like ebay and paypal. Maybe I should do that now. The lure of Tiger Woods is kicking in tho. Hmm...

Good money after bad

Now watching: What's eating Gilbert Grape

Man has today sucked ass. I am down $40 at Party Poker. None of my hands held up, I suffered some horrible beats and couldn't do anything. It started bad, I went on tilt and lost a bunch. Then I stabilized and played better and that's when the bad beats kicked in. I'd chaulk some of it up to simple variance, but that whole tilt episode was entirely my fault. The thing was I knew I was tilting, but kept playing anyway. I think I'm going to stay away from the tables for the rest of the night, catch up with some Diablo.

This movie is good, but depressing. Man is it a downer, still I have to appreciate the performances. Johnny Depp is simply the man.

All alone in the danger zone

Now listening to: The Ramones

Wow it was rough out there. Tonight was hard on a brother at the poker tables. I managed to win $10, but it was a struggle. I didn't see a lot of hands early and dropped back a lot. I couldn't find a passive table to save my life and ended up sitting with a bunch of rocks. Then i tilted slightly and started playing loose-aggressive. It was not a good idea. I was down a lot before I managed to catch a break on the river after betting my top pair all the way with two callers. One of them I had beat on kicker anyway, but hte other caught bottom two pair on the flop and I lucked out. Still I made like $30 on the pot and made it into the black. So not too bad I suppose.

I still haven't seen a pocket pair bigger than jacks and the pairs I have seen never turn into trips. It's like a 7-1 shot that a pocket pair will hit on the flop and I've probably had 14 pocket pairs, I'm owed some. Plus I can't get big slick or AQ to hold up. It blows.

On to less complainy topics, I have a three day weekend!!! Wooo. I think tomorrow I am gonna try to filter through my old hotmail account and get everything i need from it and let it go. Four email accounts is way too many.

This weekend I also intend to re-read some poker books to refresh my memory on what I'm doing wrong at the tables. I need to tighten up and stop playing trash and calling bets when I'm in the blinds with crap. So much money thrown away...

Schoolin' the fish

Now listening to: The Grey Album

Whoo. In 5.5 hours I have over doubled my money at Party Poker. I won $24 in and hour and a half tonight. I'm honestly amazed by how bad some of the players at the .50/1 tables are. It's sad, well sad in a good way for me. I only had one hand I thought was a real winner not stand up, but I made it back quick. I also took a nice fat pot when my nut flush came through. I've been on the prowl for passive tables and have been pretty good. I only have seen one maniac at the tables and I ended up whipsawing him out of the game with another rock. We ended up chopping the pot and the maniac went broke. He he.

Part of me is considering trying the 1/2 tables, but I'm not really sure I can take losing at this point. My bankroll is tenuous to say the least and my confidence can't handle a lot of beating. I may wait until I've got a longer sample of the real money play. Two nights could just be luck I suppose, although I don't believe it judging by the scrubs I've seen.

I got a new gmail account from google which will be the official email of incoherent rambling. It's listed above, feel free to drop me a line.

I found out I have the weekend off, so I'm not sure what I'm gonna do. I need to get mom something for mother's day, but who knows what would be good. She's incredibly hard to shop for. Maybe I'll talk trip into a shopping excursion...not that I need to drop the cash for that.

I managed to resist the iTunes store tonight, but it was close. If it hadn't of been offline for awhile I'd have succumbed to the urge to buy something new.

All your thoughts, they rot

Now listening to: Ugly Casanova (Sharpen your teeth)

Well I finally did it. I started playing cash games at Party Poker. I made a $50 deposit, and man was that a pain, and went to work. I was planning on doing $100, but really I don't need to spend that much right now. So after filling out several online forms, having three credit cards refuse the transation (apparently most credit cards aren't big on the whole netteller thing), giving them bank info and paying $5, I made it into action.

The poker was good, I played fairly well, made a few lose calls that cost me and need to buckle down on my starting hands. Of course I did end up profitable. I won over $20 on the night, which is around 5 big bets/hour, not too bad. Plus I satisfied the bonus requirement for the code I entered from Iggy , so I'm up $30 in one night. Not too shabby.

Work was a drudgery tonight, it went slow and nothing was going on. Bored, bored, bored. I just read a bunch of crap at salon As you can tell I figured out how to link stuff in the text, which was ridiculously easy when I noticed it.

I downloaded Ugly Casanova from the itunes store and it is mighty. It's the lead guy from Modest Mouse, so of course it's really good. I didn't know that before or I would have got it earlier. I also put together the beginnings of a mix, I made for poker playing. It's gonna take some work.

On the corner of Fifth and Vermouth

Now listening to: Tom Waits

Well I spent the last couple of hours hitting the poker tables and listening to both the Grey Album and the White Album. Time well spent I do believe. Of course the poker was play money, but I did win a Omaha tourney (first time I've ever played the game) and placed second in a hold 'em tournament.

I've got to stop eating Oreos. I don't want any more, but they are sitting there on the table and I have them in my mouth before I think about it. Jesus, I'm compulsive.

I'm still fighting the urge to buy an ipod. I don't technically need one, but they are super sweet. I am a technology whore. I saw a voice recording peripheral, that would work as a recorder for work, which would kick ass. Also my portable cd player has been a pain lately, shutting off in the middle of a cd for no reason. I don't have the $300 I need to get one, but man do I want one. I may have to start a slush fund.

I'm like Che Guevara with bling

Now listening to: DJ Danger Mouse (The Grey Album)

I've spent the day slacking as planned. Watched a considerable amount of Angel, Season 3. It's been pretty good. I'm now enjoying the illegal stylings of DJ Danger Mouse. It's interesting, to say the least. I suppose it's not really smart to listen to the amalgam of the Black and White albums without ever having heard the originals, but what am I gonna do? I could probably figure out how to do a mix like that (maybe not as good to start), particularly with Trip's help. But I don't know if I've got the dedication to deconstruct and build again like that. It would take a lot of effort, probably more than actually creating something completely original.

There is a lot of talk about the copyright infringement. Personally I believe art is part of the word once it is created, particularly music. I understand why an artist wants to get paid for his creation and talent and I also understand that you don't want songs used to pimp products without the permission of the artist. But when it comes to remixing or the like, it stifles new artists when they can't crib from the past or even try to adapt, particularly in this age. The fact of the matter is that music is moving forward with the remix, that's the evolution.

Also copyrights need to end at some point. It'd be nice to own the rights to a popular song, but c'mon you can't hold on to them forever. I blame Disney, pushing those laws for as long as possible. Let something go into the public domain. I suppose it just comes down to the money again. Art be damned when there is a buck to be made.

Just not a lot going on. After reading several new blogs the last couple of days, I realize that my life is way to dull to write about. Maybe I should just create a fictional blog about the life I want. That might be interesting. I dunno, I need to live less in a fantasy realm, not more.

Say I'm your momma!

Now listening to: more ambient web radio

A slack day, which was nice. Got up at noon and finished A Game of Thrones. It was good, although the ending left a little to be desired. Hopefully A Storm of Swords will get off to a good start to get me back into the story.

After that I fiddled around on the internet and watched part of The Fisher King, which I finished later and was exceptional. What a great movie, I'm sad I waited so long to watch it. It had great lines, kickass performances from Jeff Bridges and Robin Williams and was overall awesome. Hell it even had Tom Waits! You can't deny the beauty of that.

But I did break it up by going to Trip's this afternoon and drinking a nice '99 Pinot Noir. We sat on his porch and enjoyed a overcast/rainy spring day (my fav.). We then grabbed some dinner and watched some Upright Citizen's Brigade and 2 Skinnee J's DVD and the Simpsons. Not bad. I came home, watched the end of the Fisher King and Adult Swim. Then I watched a Robin Williams standup, that was ok, but seemed a little predictable.

I'm probably gonna continue my slackness tomorrow with more sitting in front of a screen. I need a life sooo bad.

FREE!!!!!

Now listening to: Classical net radio

When I walked out of the Bulletin this evening I caught a whiff of the most wonderful flowers. I love rainy spring days. The humidity makes the flowers smell heavier and pervasive. I also enjoy the way the trees and plants look soo green against the gray skies. Add the color of the flowers against the backdrop of the overcast horizon and it's like my own personal art movement. I love it.

I was feeling the bliss of an impending weekend as I left the building. I always think of the scene in Half Baked when Dave Chappelle leaves his job on the weekend and stretches both arms above his head and yells "FREE!" That's pretty much the way I feel on Saturday nights.

Of course this feeling is increased by the people I have to deal with to end the night. They are (in no particular order) an obese guy with bad teeth who, while a decent guy, is the laziest person I've ever met. And I'm in the know about lazy. His daughter, who's got a really bad attitude and isn't afraid to talk about her female problems (note infection). A mostly deaf guy who looks like a rat. This guy has clearly been so abused throughout his life that he has no idea how to relate to anyone who's not making fun of him or abusing him in some way. He's like an animal in a cage that hasn't been fed in days and has been poked with a stick, just angry. There is also the incredibly chatty kid, who refuses to go away. He makes stupid and overtly racist remarks regularly and is clueless.

I got a fever and the only prescription for it is more cowbell

Now listening to: an ambient webradio station

Well it's been a pretty decent day. Slack afternoon followed by covering a decent baseball game. Of course I went to the wrong place and had to bust ass to get across town to the actual game, but it turned out ok.

I then hit Trip's and we played a little XIII and some Tiger Woods. I finally managed to win one from them, despite a late charge by Danny and a solid run by trip. I think the more difficulty we add the better off I'll be with my conservative tendencies.

Danny bailed and Trip and I watched some TV, caught Penn and Teller's Bullshit, which is awesome. It's informative and funny. Can you ask for more than that? We then watched some Invader Zim on his computer. Oh man do I love that. We watched like three episodes and I couldn't stop laughing. Gir kills me. I love his absurd actions. It's genius at work. Figures the show got cancelled, it was too good to last.

Anyway I only have one more day to survive before the weekend. I plan to follow through with more slackness and try to really power out some Diablo 2 time so I can beat it and move on...possibly to City of Heroes. I'm a total nerd, I know, but I'd like to be able to talk about a game made this millenium. I checked the monthly release guide for May and it's pretty bleak. Not much new coming out that is interesting. Not that I need anything new to come out, I have plenty of crap I need to catch up on.

This ambient station is pretty cool. Very mellow. I think it's called Drone Zone, which certainly fits.

All Shaq-fued up

Now listening to: my loudass air conditioner

Well today was pretty sweet. Got to work early, worked for a couple of hours, chugging out a coupla stories and then left for the day. Nice. Trip and I jaunted to Danville, where we did some shopping. I managed to resist the allure of City of Heroes for the moment. I have to beat Diablo 2 before I am gonna buy a new game. It's a must do. But City of Heroes does look sweet, I like the super hero vibe, too. But it has to wait.

I did get some new clothes and some new sandals. Whoo sandals. Not hippy sandals, more like soccer player sandals, really. I got a coupla cheap new hats, which is always good. I also hit the grocery store on the way home for some snacks and beverages. I got the new golden Oreos, while not as addictive as the original (or their double stuff variant - my personal fav.) they are pretty good.

Hoping for another slack day tomorrow, just have to cover a baseball game. Hoping for good weather (i.e. not bonechilling winds and cold) and a pitchers duel. After that I plan to drink a few beers (or maybe get some scotch to sip) and chilling out at Trip's.

Fuck the champagne, we want gin

Now listening to: Les Savy Fav and the Raincoats

It was cold as a bastard tonight at the baseball game. I got to cover my alba mater and watch them lose a 10-9 game despite a rousing comeback. You know covering college sports is pretty sweet, but man do I suck at baseball. I have no idea how to write about it and make it even the least bit interesting. It's definitely a weak spot for me, I suppose it doesn't help that I tend to be bored by the games and lose focus.

But it was cool hanging with Gary, my old boss at Ferrum. He's a good guy and we clowned around all night. Plus Scoop was there, a sports writer that covers Ferrum. He's funny is a weird way, kinda off kilter, but a good guy. Just keep your hands away from his mouth when he eats. It's scary. He looks like a fuckin weedeater.

Tomorrow will be another long night, as I'm hitting the soccer beat again. I'm hoping it warms up some, I don't feel like freezing my nuts off again. The girls game should be interesting, but the boys game will be a foregone conclusion.

Growing and expanding or maintaining the status quo

Now listening to: Fugazi (live)

Finally saw Kill Bill 2 today, it was pretty good. The first was a little better I think, more action. This one was a little indulgent on Tarantino's part. He seemed to embrace the excessive with this movie, particularly when it came to face and feet shots. Plus some of his lines are a little odd and off beat, sometimes working and sometimes not. But all in all it was well done, the training sequences were nice, although I would have liked more of them.

I got my live Fugazi stuff in the mail today, which was really quick. They have a couple of nice little handwritten notes, which I thought was a nice personal touch. Plus so far these things have rocked. Thier first show could have been recorded better, but how can you fault them for production on thier first ever show? Fugazi is one of the best bands of all time, plain and simple.

I've been thinking about this blog a bit lately and not sure it's living up to what I want. A month or so ago I showed this site to Kevin and he asked me who it was for. He meant was it accessible to everyone on the web (which it is) but my response was that it was for me, i.e. I'm the one who I'm really interested in satisfying by writing it. It's been a boon, it helps me organize my thoughts about stuff and get a perspective. However, it often does live up to it's name of incoherent rambling.

What I'd like is to start posting more coherent statements on things and less boring chatter on how my day went. Of course, sometimes getting that crap off my chest is theraputic so I'm not sure which way to go. Maybe I'll start another more serious blog to keep more organized and keep this one as it is. The question is can I keep up with two blogs, particularly if one is going to take more dedication than my thoughts sprayed out in shotgun splatter form.

Life sucks no matter what, so don't be fooled by location changes

Now listening to: Les Savy Fav and Elliott Smith

Well I did make it to Greensboro today and was relatively good on the money spending tip, not perfect, but better than usual. I resisted the urge to buy any video games. I did buy the Matrix Revolutions and a Tom Waits album, (Nighthawks at the Diner).

Let me just say that Tom Waits is awesome. This album is one of the best things I've heard in a long time. It's smooth piano jazz with Waits' scratchy voice and cool sense of humor. It's recorded live in a nightclub somewhere and it's incredible. I'm going to have to buy more of his older stuff just to see if it's even close to this. I liked his newer stuff, but this blew me away. It's more traditional and laid back. The other stuff I have seems more out there and maybe more bitter, not that that is bad, it's just different.

Our foray into Greensboro was relatively uneventful. Had lunch at The Macaroni Grill and mine wasn't that great. The chicken parmesan didn't live up to what I had imagined, although the house chianti did compliment it well. I also made the mistake of ordering desert, a desert ravioli with diced Snickers bars in it. It wasn't that great and I was stuffed when we left.

After returning to the bountiful lands I call home (note sarcasm) I hung at Trip's and watched some TV. The new season of Viva La Bam and Wildboys had me laughing my ass off. Those goofy bastards always are doing something silly. After that I came home and goofed off for a while and I just watched Daria: Is it fall yet? which kicks ass. I love Daria. Wish they'd release the series on DVD.

Tomorrow I'm probably going to lay around for most of the day and then may see Kill Bill 2 with Trip, if I can drag my ass off the couch. I intend to watch the Fisher King and perhaps the newest Matrix movie. I also have Angel: season 3 and Futurama: season 3 I borrowed from Trip.

Gads I need a life, not more DVDs. Maybe I'll also try to work on some writing as well. ...no guarantees on that tho.

My nerves jump like a boiling pan

Now listening to: Mike Doughty

Well another work week in the books. I finally get a couple of days off and can relax. Wo. I'm now chilling out, drinking a beer and looking up all the new video game news, which isn't really a lot at the moment, with E3 looming so close.

Trip and I are heading to Greensboro tomorrow (he's forcing me to get up before noon!). Should be cool, we'll spend too much money and buy stuff we don't really need. But that's what we do, all hail my consumerist tendencies. I'm probably going to get the Kill Bill DVD and give some video games a good hard look. I don't really need a new game, as Diablo 2 is still pretty hot on my agenda, but I'm not good at resisting shiny new things.

I also would like some new music, but am not sure what is worth purchasing at this point. I have all the new stuff that I like really or that I've heard of actually.

PLEASE, bury me with it

Well I just finished up a nice five hour marathon session of Diablo 2. What brought it to an end, you ask? Well I died for the first time. So after sorting through and getting my character back I decided to call it quits. I had intended on doing some other stuff, but Diablo played his sweet song and I was captured.

Today went pretty smoothly, I minimized my time at work (although not as much as I would have liked. I intended to see Kill Bill 2, but work went longer that I wanted) Hand a nice dinner a la the Kiwani's Pancake Day and then came home and watched a little tv. I watched one of the final Friends episodes and have to say, I don't give a fuck. God the show is on cruise control. Same jokes as a decade ago. Give me a break. Taking it off the air is a mercy killing, of course, I'm sure there will be mourning in the streets when it's gone. What a sad world we live in.

After leaving work I stopped at the bookstore to pick up A Clash of Kings and Greg was working. He owed me $10, but I wasn't gonna sweat him about it. But he offered it up immediately without any reminder or anything. It was a smalll, but important statement about the kind of guy Greg is, straight up. You've got to respect that.

I have to rise before noon tomorrow so I'm headed to bed.

Kelly watch the stars

Now listening to: Air

Well it's been a pretty uneventful night. Covered a couple of soccer games, got a couple of burgers and watched Chappelle's show and South Park. Chappelle's Show was a clip show, which sorta blew as I've seen them all. Of course even after seeing it a lot, it's still the funniest thing on TV.

After that I kicked out a little Diablo 2. I also tried out a demo for the new FPS Painkiller. I like some of the features, but man do I blow at it. I got owned by the computer at the normal difficulty. Sad, really.

Found out that my fellow sportswriter, Joe, is leaving the Bulletin for greener pastures. I can't blame him, but I hate to see him go. He's a cool guy and never left my ass blowing in the wind work-wise. Plus now I'll end up having to train another new guy, who will undoubtedly be a complete douche bag. That will suck ass. Of course I shouldn't worry about that since they won't hire anyone until just before football season. We'll get to make due all summer short-staffed. Which probably is for the best as there is never anything that really needs covering. The only time we'll really suffer is at the end of spring sports when all eight sports finish at the same time. That's gonna blow.

I'm gonna go and read some now and try to finish A Game of Thrones, so I can buy the sequel A Clash of Kings tomorrow. I'm silly.

Oh I'm also gonna kick the Kiwani's pancake day tomorrow. Got a free ticket from work (apparently someone likes the sports department). Might try to cajole trip into meeting me there for dinner perhaps. C'mon Trip, it's pancakes and sausage for $5. You can't say no to that.

f3ar /\/\y 1337 ski11z

Now listening to: Sonic Youth (Evol)

well i've pissed away the night agian, nothing new. I have been surfing around and listening to music. Spent most of the time reading webcomics. My nerdiness knows no bounds.

Trip and I were going to see Kill Bill 2, but we were the only ones there and didn't want to annoy Tracey, the manager at Movie Town. Damn knowing the people that work there and having to take their feelings into account. Maybe I'll get to see it Thursday.

There is an old guy who lives across the street from the Bulletin. When I walk by he says hello and I have asked him how he's doing in the past. His response is always "I ain't doin no good. Just waiting around to die." Now while I appreciate his forthrightness, I have no real way to respond to this. I suppose I could be the guy who gives him a pep talk, but really I'm not positive enough to do that.

Maybe I should just tell him that it's for the best since life is a sucking pit that drains you of your creativity and soul one day at a time. That death is a sweet embrace of nothingness that makes the suffering stop. That would one-up him I suppose.

March of Death

Now listening to: Tortoise

I just finished playing a couple of hours of Diablo 2, which I broke down and bought at Walmart tonight. I have no self control. But so far it's been lots of fun, most of the same stuff I did when Danny let me play at his place for a while. I'm playing as the necromancer (Fear my undead legions!!) and having a good time with it. I also signed up on battlenet, but I want to play through the single player game before I really try to get in on that. The graphics are a little dated, as you would expect from a game released in the last millenium. But I love wandering around and slashing stuff or having my skeleton cronies do it for me.

Work was ok tonight. The girls soccer game was kinda dull, but the boys was hard fought throughout. It went into double overtime and ended tied 1-1. Excellent soccer. Of course all that overtime meant I didn't leave work until 11:30, which blew, but it's the price I pay, I suppose. Could be worse, Corb was still at school when I left I do believe, poor bastard. He's only got like two weeks before the spring production and it's crunch time.

The Game of Thrones is really good. I highly recommend it, I still have like 300 pages left, but it has offered up some nice twists. I'm intrigued to see where it all goes. Of course that means I'll have to get the next two books. Oh well.

Tomorrow I'm hoping will be fairly slack. I'm just supposed to write a fluff piece on a soccer team that broke it's seven-year losing streak. I fear I will be coopted into going to a baseball game as well. That would bone. I need slack after race week.

Fetch me cleansing chunk

Now listening to: Gimme Noise web radio

In a stunning development I don't feel like working tonight. At least it's just a couple of soccer games. Those are fairly low maintenance. Plus it's a nice day so sitting outside won't be bad.

After work I'm still debating getting Diablo 2. I'm trying to keep a decent budget and have been fairly successful so far, but this indulgence is hard to ignore. I still need to play some more Balder's Gate 2, but that game is so frustrating. Keeping characters alive is a real challenge. Plus there are some new games I might like to try. I read a fairly good article on City of Heroes and that sounds pretty cool, although the whole MMORPG thing is a little bit scary. It's the monthy fee that hurts you.

In non-gaming news, web radio is a nice new thing for me. I get to listen to a cool variety of things and not the usual crap that gets played around these parts. The Gimme Noise station is pretty sweet. Lots of punk, indie and new wave vibes. I mean they just played an Eels song from Shootenanny. How sweet is that?

Of course as soon as I type that some problem occurs and I can't get to the music. Troublesome. I've switched over to some ambient station that's not bad so far. Soothing.

Flagrantly silly

Now listening to: Air (Moon Safari)

Well I closed out one race weekend paper, only one more to go. Tonight went relatively smoothly until the very end, where a couple of mistakes caused everything to slow down. Kinda boned. We did have a siting of our publisher/owner so that was special. He brought some of his rich friends down from Loudon Co. to see the press run. Fuckin tourists. Must be nice to be wealthy and have nothing else to do but watch a newspaper press run.

Anyway I'm now destressing some. Chilling out, reading some blogs and listening to still more Air. I'm looking for some other interesting stuff to download and sample. I think I'm gonna pick up some Tortoise and perhaps some Stereolab. I'm feeling cool electronic ambient thing right now.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

A rhino on a tricycle

A baby eating a grapfruit

High Emperor George Clinton

Cheese attacking your city

Dental floss decapitation

Urine in convenient pellet form

Enjoy.

Frollicking Dirt Child

Now listening to: Air (Talkie Walkie)

This Air album gets better with every listen. It's sooo soothing. I'm kicking back in my chair and enjoying a moment of peace. A nice respite after the annoyance of my neighbors earlier. I was risen by their loud and odious conversation outside. I really don't care if someone paid $50 to get a baby sitter. After I got up they moved back indoors and cranked up the bass-laden music. So nice of them.

Anyway, they've quieted down now and I'm enjoying a couple of quiet moments before work. I expect tonight to suck, a lot. I am carrying my cd player tho, so maybe that will help calm me and keep me from killing someone. Better leave the Ministry at home.

Unfuckwithable

Now listening to: The Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Well I had a fairly productive day. I put together my laptop desk and cleaned up the living room after all the computer detritus had accumulated from the last coupla weeks. I also got all the trash out of my room, so it was fairly successful.

I also watched Fritz Lang's M, which was excellent. It was surprisingly well paced, especially considering how old a film it is. Peter Lorre is excellent as the killer.

After all that Corb picked me up and we went to Trip's, whose backyard has become neck-laden. This occurs semi-annually and is the price he pays for living a stone's throw from the race track.

We basically played Tiger Woods (Trip won, he was stroking the putts, lucky bastard) and fucked around. Nothing special.

I'm not looking forward to working the rest of the weekend, I've had about enough layout for a coupla weeks. I'm not sure how I'm going to spend the rest of the night. I've just been fucking around on the internet since I got home. I might jump back into A Game of Thrones, which has been pretty cool so far, although I'm still figuring out the characters. I guess that's the price you pay for three book epics.

bad beats all night long

Now listening to: Air (Talkie Walkie)
Now reading: A Game of Thrones (George R.R. Martin)

Tonight was pretty much as I expected, an essay in annoyance. Initially I thought work would turn out to be ok, as I kept focused and designed what I thought was a pretty sharp looking sports page. Of course when I took it to be proofed at 9:30 it had to be remade to put the two racing stories together. Never mind the fact one of them didn't have art and was a stupid quote story. So my pretty page got tossed and moved about until it was unrecognizable. And my editor wonders why I don't go the extra mile on the regular basis. Every time I try to do a good job, someone comes along and fucks it up, so why bother, it's just going to be fucked up anyway.

Anyway, after making it though the night I come home and settle in and try to install some of the games that trip hooked me up with. I installed Halo with little trouble, but when I tried to play online it forces me to download a patch that makes it deny my cd. Bummer. I also tried to install UT2K4 but it won't let me because I don't have an access code. It's like these companies don't want me to steal their software. Damn.

So I gave up on that and played some poker at Partypoker for play money. I learned that I don't know much about pot limit holdem and felt brutalized when my big slick fell to 43 suited. I had two pair, he had the wheel. Brutal.

This air album is very good. Soothing. I recommend it to anyone relaxing with a good book.

Tomorrow I'm debating getting going early and seeing a matinee of kill bill. That way I won't get sold out by trip this weekend, when he invariably goes to see it. I do need to put together my new laptop table tho. I dunno. Maybe I'll wait on the movie until next week.

Nobody hates me more than me

Now listening to: Modest Mouse

Well I'm feeling kinda depressed. All this rain is bringing me down, well that and a few other things. I just feel separate from everything right now. I'm caught in a circle where I live for the weekends and those aren't that interesting really.

Couple that with the fact that I don't really get a weekend this week and I'm pretty fucking glum. I'm only off Friday and I know that's gonna stun me.

Plus I'm thirsty and need something to drink. And so on and so on... I think listening to Elliot Smith earlier also brought me down. He's kind of depressive.

I've been up all night not doing anything in particular, downloading Invader Zim episodes (which are hysterical). I can't get enough of them. Gotta love Gir, although Gaz is my favorite. She's the most antisocial, hence I can relate.

Reality TV killed the American Dream

A lot of people are offended by living a modest life.

America was founded on the belief of bigger and better. So being happy with less is anathema to “The American Dream.”

Of course “The American Dream” has changed. It’s gone from “working harder so your kids will be better off than you” to “I hope I can get find a way to get rich quick or become famous.” The hard-working American has been traded in the quick buck and fast living.

That explains the fascination with reality TV shows and the abundance of frivolous lawsuits, people imagine that they could do that. I could be the girl getting rich for eating boar penis or the guy who sued his job for not putting a safety guard on his stapler.

I can’t say I‘m much better, I’d love to be rich and not worry about it. But I’m not going to sue someone for no reason and I will never be on a reality TV show. Not that I really subscribe to the old American Dream either. I’m not really a hard worker and pretty sure I don’t want kids.

This leaves me with the question of what I want to do with my life. I’m not really sure. I currently float through doing a job that isn’t all that rewarding. It’s best feature is that it is relatively low stress and I can drift through without too much thought.

But sometimes that really feels unfulfilling. I want more and think about moving on and getting a better job, working my way up the ladder. But that seems like far too much effort. I’m not a go-getter. I don’t look for something to do at work when everything is going fine. Why should I? I’m already surrendering my time to make some rich guy richer, why put forth more effort than the minimum? It’s much easier to coast and take my pleasure where I can.

So I cut all the corners I can at work to come home and play video games, watch movies and TV and read a lot. Classical escapism. I get by and try to not be bothered too much.

So there you have it. I’m not living the American Dream. My way is more Buddhist I suspect. Cut out desire and enlightenment will follow.

OK so I still desire plenty of things and can’t claim enlightenment. I want the newest CDs, books, movies and games all the time. I also want a relationship and love and a house to myself, but part of me is scared of those things as well.

Will a relationship change me? Will I be able to get the me time I need on the regular, will I even want it? If I live alone will I become so isolated that I forget how to act around other people? Would I be able to take care of my own domicile or would my slackness let it recede into decrepitude?

Am I somewhat happy or satisfied or just experiencing inertia?

I dunno. But I don’t need a reality TV show or someone telling me to get my ass in gear. I just have to figure it out for myself. I have to decide what my American Dream is.

Fight for your right to use the N word

Now watching: Scarlet Diva

Sometimes I wish I could use the word nigga. I know that will never happen, as it's just too much of an issue. A white guy like me utters the word and an assbeating isnt far off, which is probably merited. But when I see Dave Chappelle or Chris Rock using the term it just seems to fit. White guys don't have a term like that.

I'm not doing a lot today, just fucking off really. I'm watching Scarlett Diva, staring Asia Argento. It's not that great of a movie really, but lots of sex. Still I can't recommend it as it just seems to amble on aimlesly. Not unlike me of late.

I should probably be trying ot write something, I'm feeling fairly verbose at the moment.Which explains this entry and the email I've written today. Maybe part of that is trying to reclaim some of the time I spent laying in bed all day.

I beat my dick like it owes me money

Now listening to: Modest Mouse (Good news for people who love bad news)

I actually had a good night at work. Minimal stress and everything went quickly. Nice. Now I can get on with my slackass weekend. I intend to watch some movies, improve my Tiger Woods game and possibly play some Balder's Gate 2. Very eventful. I'm hoping it rains, because there is nothing better than having nothing to do on a rainy day, but stay in and goof off. I guess it's vindicating.

I have to say that broadband has revolutionized my life. It's so nice being able to go and get exactly what I want immediately. I suppose the whole Windows thing has something to do with it, but I'm giving the credit to broadband. I downloaded bearshare tonight and got some choice songs. Funny how the minute I try to think of something I want, my mind goes totally blank.

This Modest Mouse album is excellent, but of course that is expected from these guys. Consistently awesome stuff from them. I like a lot of the new indie rock stuff that gets raved about, but sometimes it lacks a real human edge. Modest Mouse has that edge.

Note the title of this comes from Chappelle's show, the puppet episode. It's Charlie Murphy singing his fuck it song. Man I love that, I laugh out loud everytime I see it. That's good comedy.

We are consumed by society

Now listening to: Fugazi (13 Songs)

Well I have spent another eventful night fiddling with my new computer. It's so much fun piddling around and finding new stuff I can do. The doors seem wide open with my Windows capability. I have such mixed feelings. On one hand, The Mac operating systems are sooo much easier to use and more intuitive. On the other, the PC has so many more options availiable to it. I can go to almost every site and be sure it will work with minimal effort. If only Mac could regain it's market share to the point where everything was mac compatitble, it would be a perfect world.

Work was busy as fuck tonight. So many callins. I had to do a stupid track call in. Man I hate track, it's the worst. Plus the coach was an annoying douche, who insisted I take the times as well as the winners. That put me behind a half an hour. I ended up sweating deadline (which I rarely do) and it pissed me off. Work blows, I need to be independently wealthy.

I watched Mona Lisa Smile (note new bolding courtesy of PC features not available on the mac) today, wish I hadn't bothered. Aside from the plethora of hot women in the movie, it was quite dull. It so wanted to be a female version of Dead Poet's Society, but failed miserably. Too many subplots and not enough story to really carry them.

I also bought a mouse for the comp today and it's been well worth it. The track pad is a nightmare. Well it's late and I'm beat.

Need for speed

Well I am now officially a member of the high speed community. I hooked up my cable modem and have ran with it. I haven't had a chance to set up the wireless yet, try to get to it tomorrow. I'm loving the blinding speed of things, although working on a PC is taking some getting used to.

Anyway I'm trying to go through and add all my bookmarks for ease of use now, so I'm gonna get back to that. Ta.

It's a sad and beautiful world

Now listening to: Blonde Redhead

Well I survived the NCAA tournament. Thank god the game finished relatively quickly. Will the women's be as easy tomorrow? Probably not. Work was busy all night, tons of calls, waiting for the game. It was troublesome.

Been a while since I actually posted eh. Well let me catch you up on my less than exciting activities. Saturday Trip and I did go to Danville to see Hellboy and shop. Hellboy was pretty good. I liked the villans and the whole Lovecraftian elder gods revived motif. I did manage to spend too much money, as is usual. I got Tiger Woods 2004 and that is pretty sweet. I haven't played it as much as I should, but I'm probably going to kick it after I finish checking out all the stuff online.

Sunday I did very little. I decided I wasn't leaving the house early on and resisted the temptation to drive to Greensboro to play poker with Nick and his friends. I probably should have gone, but was feeling really lazy. I still need to call that cat and tell him what's up. I do like getting the invites and don't want to blow him off.

So instead of raising, calling and folding, I stayed at home and had a Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathon, watching the remaining 10 episodes in season 5. I've got to get a life, but that show is highly addictive. I now have to blast my way through season 3 of Angel and I will be caught up with all the DVD stuff.

I also watched Jim Jarmush's Down by Law, featuring Tom Waits, who just kicks ass. The movie was decent, not great. A little too slow, but Waits was good. I want to get more of his early work.

Today I just bummed around playing video golf until work and then hit the office. I'm gonna try to get my broadband set up tomorrow so I can kick the high speed tomorrow. I've still got to figure out if a typical wireless adapter will work with my imac.

The chicken told me to destroy her

Now listening to: The Notwist

It turns out I have the weekend off. Which is pretty odd, since I just had a weekend off. My softball game was cancelled for some reason. So I ended up writing some awful column just to have something done.

With all my extra time, Corb, Trip and I jaunted to the big city of Eden for some chinese food. We then walked around a sad excuse for a mall and hit the arcade, which was pretty cool despite being totally devoid of life.

After hanging at Trip's for a while (and writing the aforementioned bad column) we watched Wonderfalls, which kicks ass. I then deposited my column in the proper receptacle and came home. I am now sipping on a gin and tonic and eating Cheez-It's new Twisterz (the z makes it cooler) snacks. The Hot Wings and cheesy blue flavor, they rock the house.

Not sure how I'm going to spend the weekend. Trip and I may head to Danville tomorrow to catch a movie. Maybe Hellboy, maybe somethign else, I dunno. I should probably try to find some cheap wireless stuff for when my comp gets here. I may also trade some games in for something new. I shouldn't spend a lot of dough tho.

I am a cesspool

Now listening to: On a Whim mix

Well another evening killed with nothing to show for it. It's funny, sometimes I feel like I don't have enough time to cram all the things I want to do in. But sometimes when I have no commitments and plenty of time to kill I don't want to do any of those things. Tonight I got off work early and milled about the house. I watched a little tv and the 1928 Russian movie "Arsenal" about a Ukrainian uprising. It was ok, I liked the ending where the a Ukrainian socialist worker proved to be immune to the evil capitalists bullets. Then I watched a couple of Buffy episodes. I'm one away from finishing the third disc.

After that I kinda lost interest and glazed. I kinda wanted to play a video game, but couldn't settle on one and stared at reruns for a while. Finally I gave up and played fake money poker online. Which was wholly unsatisfying. I dunno I've just felt a malaise all day really. I need to find a game that enthralls me. I'll probably try and trade in a few old games and get something cool for my PC when it comes in.

I'm supposed to go to a softball game tomorrow, but it's probably going to rain. That means I have to be creative and come up with something. I may write a column on deciding where sports end and games begin. We'll see.

List of comp. games I'm interesting in: Final Fantasy XI, Balder's Gate 2, Icewind Dale 1 and 2, Diablo 2 and World of Warcraft (when it comes out over five months from now). I'm sure there are more I'm forgetting, but that's plenty really. Oh and Magic online. That could be cool.

I think I'm gonna try and hook up some broadband tomorrow and get the wireless action going. That'll be pretty sweet. I could network with trip and kick his ass at starcraft or something. I talked to Danny for like five minutes tonight and mentioned I was getting gonna get broadband and he was right on me to get on XBox Live and play Counterstrike. Which probably would be cool, but I'm just not that interested in hte whole terrorist thing. When Halo 2 comes out I'm definitely hooking it up, but there isn't a whole lot that really interests me on it now. PLus if I do end up with FFXI I'll have plenty to occupy me with that. Oh and online poker, there is that.

If I could do anything, I'd be doing nothing

Now listening to: Cap'n Jazz

While sitting in the press box at an extremely cold, wet and nasty soccer match I got the pleasure of sitting in a roomful of 8th-10th graders from the opposing J.V. team. I now know why I hated those years. So many idiots talking way too much. I was already stunned by dealing with my least favorite parent from the school (thank god his son graduates this year) who wouldn't shut up. He's like Rodney Dangerfield without the talent.

Anyway the game blew, the weather was awful and both the Chappelle's Show and the WPT broadcasts were disappointing. I mean both were better than 90% of everything else on TV but they weren't exciting in relation to the rest of their episodes. I only saw moments of South Park, but it didn't seem that funny. Maybe I'm wrong about that, we'll see.

List of stuff I am currently interested in: poker, the upcoming P.J. Harvey album, getting broadband for my new computer, actually taking the time to work on my novel, being debt-free (he said after buying a new computer), Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 5.