Random Access

Friday
A Jedi Shall Not Know Anger. Nor Hatred. Nor Love.
A Jedi Shall Not Know Anger. Nor Hatred.
A Jedi Shall Not Know Anger.

I have a long way to go before becoming a full-fledged Jedi, it would seem. Today, I knew anger. Intimately. It wasn’t an anger focused at any particular person or thing. It was more like a shroud that descended upon me over the course of the day. It was an odd thing: The day started and proceeded nicely, but sometime around 4:30 PM, I could tell that something was amiss. I couldn’t put my finger on “what” it was, though. That, too, was troubling. And, I think that it possibly set into motion a cyclic pattern, much like the Ouroboros (1, 2) biting its own tail – An irritability that could not be defined turning to anger… which created an irritability…. which fueled an anger… The shroud had lifted somewhat by the time I left work (nearly 9:00).

I went to Borders to escape into a world of paper, graphite and caffeine. and were there, so we sat and talked. And read. And drew. And drank coffee and chai. The shroud had disappeared by the time that we left. I felt much better.

Song of the Day
Closer to Fine by The Indigo Girls

Stray Toasters

• I’m going to work tomorrow. For a few hours. Am I looking forward to it? Not really. But, things need to get done. And so, I will surrender a few hours to the common good.
• For some reason, writing about tonight’s mood reminded me of the line “I am Jack’s raging bile duct.” Thus, I present to you: Quotes from Fight Club.
• Chinese President Hu Jintao has ordered officials not to cover up information about SARS cases in China. Many have said that the successor to Jiang Zemin was merely another follower of the traditional Party line and a fairly strict adherent to the methods and policies of his predecessor. Could this really be the start of a new era in the Chinese government, after all?
• Scott Peterson: Guilty or not guilty? One would think that a man whose wife and unborn child went missing would show signs of some emotion. Instead, he went fishing. Allegedly alone. 90 miles from home. Was it just a coincidence that the bodies weren’t found too far from where he said that he went fishing? Things that make you go ‘Hmmm…’

I’m tapped. It’s time to call it a night.

Namaste.

Thursday
One step closer to the edge the weekend. Amen. On the whole, it was a pretty good day. A little cooler than I would have liked, but not unbearably so.

There was a/another note on the door this morning from the neighbors across the landing. It was written on the bottom of the note that I left last night. And, she (I’m taking a leap and figuring that it was the wife who left it) apologized about the note that was left last night “…if it sounded rude.” And she even “hope[d] you didn’t burn yourself when it spilled.” (I didn’t.) Vindication is a good thing.

Song of the Day

• Good Golly Miss Molly by Little Richard
• Valerie by The Monkees
• Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac

Stray Toasters

• Harry Chapin’s Cat’s in the Cradle came on the radio this afternoon; I’d never really given the lyrics much thought before. I listened to them and the lines
  

  When you coming home, son?
  I don’t know when…
  But we’ll get together then…
  You know we’ll have a good time then

  stuck out and reminded me of conversations that my mother and I have along those lines. It made me smile.

• I have seen two new Snapple commercials tonight: One was with the bottles performing a at a synchronized swimming competition; the other showed bottles “running with the bulls” in Pamploma. But they weren’t bulls… they were guinea pigs. O_o
• Thanks to everyone who commented on this morning’s post. I enjoyed the feedback. (And, sorry that I trumped you on posting it, Matt!)
• Cats can – and will – fall asleep just about anywhere, it seems.
• Backwash. Unusual name, good site.
• I decided to take a spin at uroulette and wound up here. *shrug*

That’s it.

Namaste.

I know that it’s Utah.
I know that driving while impaired/intoxicated is against the law.

But this is ridiculous.

Life in the Land Behind the Zion Curtain. I can’t say that there’s never a dull moment, but they do their damnedest to make it “interesting.”

Wednesday
This started off as “a day,” but wound up well.

After a fitful night’s sleep, I woke up in something of a mood. And, it only got better: On the way out the door, I dropped my coffee mug and watched as the sweet gift of the Lords of Caffeine splashed all over the door, welcome mat and the landing.

::: braincramp :::
Then, the strap on my backpack broke and the pack dropped to the landing. Normally, it wouldn’t have been a bad thing… except for the fact that my laptop was in it.
::: clusterfuck:::
A little of the coffee got on me, but I didn’t have time to go back inside to change. Nor did I have time to clean the mess. And so, it would have to wait until after work. Whoop-de-damn-doo.

Then things got really weird: After I got to work, the day did a complete 180° and it wound up proceeding very smoothly. And, there was no apparent damage to/problem with my laptop. While I was glad for the turnabout, it was a little… odd to think that a day that started so poorly could finish so well.

After work was dinner and beer at The Bayou (yes, it’s another “private club for members”). They had over 100 beers on their menu. ::: bliss ::: Just what the doctor ordered. I even called home to consult my “Go To” guy as to which beer I should have. Co-dependent? Maybe… but I can live with that. Their Jamabalaya was good, too.

Arriving at home, I found a curt note from the neighbors across the landing asking that I clean up the “garbage mess” that had gotten “under our matt.” No… it didn’t get under anyone; they meant their “welcome mat.” O_o As I mentioned above, I was planning on doing this anyway; I got the mop, bucket and some Pine-Sol-enhanced water and got to it. Took a couple of minutes. Then came the difficult part: Writing the response – part apology, part “get your head out of your ass and unclench.” It took a couple of tries to get (most of) the venom out of it. But, I managed to do it.

Song of the Day
Mustang Sally by the wicked, wicked Wilson Pickett

Stray Toasters

• ::: covet mode :::
• Someone made a Micro based on this picture. Not a bad likeness.
• I am not a fan of AOL, but was a fan of The Six Million Dollar Man. I have to confess that I think that their commercial that parodies the opening of that show is funny. Not just because it is a spot-on spoof, but also because they got Richard Anderson to do the voiceover – he acted and did the voiceover on 6MDM.
• And on the flip side of that coin: Fruit Harvest cereal is using the theme from The Waltons. *shiver*
• I never knew that Todd Rundgren sang Hello, It’s Me until I saw him perform it tonight on The Late Show with David Letterman… and then looked it up.

That about wraps it up. Time to kick back and relax for a bit before bed.

Namaste.

Tuesday
15 April 2003.
Tax Day.

The day when you can hear puckering of the collective recta of They-Who-Waited-Until-the-Last-Minute as they realize exactly how much they owe Uncle Sam. I am not counted among that group (… thankfully. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I barely had to use a writing implement and paper – I filed using the IRS’ Telefile option. It was amazingly simple: Telefile form on the table, pencil in one hand, phone in the other and ten (10) minutes. That was it. Quick and painless. Not bad at all.

NPR/PRI Stories

• In a pleasant break from news of the war in Iraq, Talk of the Nation and All Things Considered had a interesting segments about tax day and related items.
• All Things also had a nice story/remembrance of 1960s singer Little Eva, best known for her #1 hit song The Loco-Motion.

Song of the Day

• Money by Pink Floyd
• Taxman by The Beatles

Stray Toasters

• Google’s news server had a link to an article that offers a different look at the exercise myth about the benefits of walking vs. jogging. Here are some other links that went along with it.
• Click here. No coersion. Just… “a friendly suggestion.”
• According to this article on Slashdot, it seems that both DC Comics and the folks behind Sliders (at Fox and the SciFi Channel) may have been right about parallel universes, after all.
• It seems as though Russia has committed to seeing to it that the International Space Station remains in orbit.
• A DJ on one of the local radio stations was talking about an upcoming scene on the popular ABC soap opera All My Children today. It seems that there is going to be a lesbian kiss on it. Oh, my stars!!! At first, I thought that the DJ was going to get up in arms about the scene and denounce it as a “bad thing.” I was pleasantly surprised: His attitude was “What’s the big deal?!” He made a good point that heterosexual kisses don’t get the kind of media attention that this seems to be generating. We won’t count the “Will they…/ Won’t they..” questions about Mulder and Scully, in this instance. It’s two actors portraying two people who care about each other (or are at least in the midst of discovering how they feel about each other). It’s being hailed as “groundbreaking” for daytime television. How about just saying that they have finally decided to depict an act that anyone can see in their daily lives… and then get on with our own lives.
• Northern Snakehead fish, where have you gone?

Quote of the Day
Today’s QotD is an encore presentation of a quote from Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency…

The electric monk was a labour-saving device, like a dishwasher or a video recorder. Dishwashers washed tedious dishes, thus saving you the trouble of washing them yourself. Video recorders watched tedious television for you, thus saving you from looking at it yourself. Electric monks believed things for you, thus saving you… thus saving you what was becoming an increasingly onerous task – that of believing all the things that the world expected you to believe. Unfortunately, this electric monk had developed a fault and had started to believe all kinds of things, more or less at random. It was even beginning to believe things they’d have difficulty believing in Salt Lake City.

It’s early and I have to get up later, so this will suffice for tonight.

Namaste.

Monday
Time flew by today. I went in at 10:00 and the next thing that I knew… it was almost 4:00. Unglaublich! On the whole, it was a good day, too.

Song of the Day
Minnie the Moocher as done by Cab Calloway

Stray Toasters

• I got to listen to a bit of A Prairie Home Companion yesterday; I like that show. But, I missed Guy Noir, Private Eye. Dammit.
• I think that it’s pretty common knowledge that I am a fan of Justice League and X-Men: Evolution. I had forgotten that Cartoon Network had added those shows to their evening lineup. Until tonight. I got to see an episode of Justice League that I had missed earlier in the season and to see a first season show from XME.
• Kidz Bop CD. There was a commercial for this during Adult Swim, I think. Something about hearing kids sing some of these songs just seems… wrong. In a ‘sick and twisted’ sort of way. Soak Up the Sun… no problem. Dilemma (by Nelly) or Britney’s Oops, I Did It Again aren’t exactly what I consider “kids’ fare.” Maybe it’s me. *shrug*
• For the first time in at least 7 years, I made Kool-Aid tonight. And almost the entire time, I kept “hearing” a song that a comedian did in an old stand-up routine on either Def Comedy Jam or BET’s Comicview about a mother making Kool-Aid for her family. It made me laugh quite a bit.
• The Fifth Element was on (yet again) today. I watched it as I ate dinner. Not the most cerebral of cinema, but it’s fun. And, it has some rather random – not to mention amusing – quotes.

“Powdermilk Biscuits. Heavens, they’re tasty.”

Namaste.

Sunday
I slept in a bit this morning and didn’t do much when I did get up. Ahh, the joys of a day off. When I finally got moving, I decided to head to Borders and do some drawing; Angela (former co-worker) and her sister stopped by and chatted for a while.

After that, I came back home to tally the votes for what tonight’s movie fare would be and email/post the results to the usual suspects. Jess and I headed downtown to me Robert and at Salt Lake Coffee Break. Nice place. And it was in a location that I have driven past many times, but never noticed. And, added bonuses: It’s open late and it’s 2 blocks from the Main Library.

For tonight’s movie, we saw Anger Management. I’m not a huge Adam Sandler fan (I don’t dislike him, but I don’t necessarily go out of my way to see one of his films), but this wasn’t too painful. I did enjoy Jack Nicholson – it reminded me of why he made such a good Joker in Tim Burton’s Batman.

Came back home, caught up with a few online happenings and then went back downtown to meet and Brad at… you guessed it: Coffee Break. The late night crowd from The U was there; it was quite an eclectic mix of people. Deciding to have a Cafè Mocha at 11:30 PM may not have been the best of all possible ideas. Oh, well. I’ll deal with that when I try to sleep… Hopefully, the sage words from Yoda will apply: “Do or do not. There is no ‘try.'” We shall see…

Stray Toasters

• Talked to Bret and Rana today. Both were brief conversations, but they were good.
• The skies have been… dirty. It’s not quite the same as the normal inversion; the winds have been kicking up dirt and other particulates. It’s been hazy, but there is a different quality to it than the standard inversion-induced haze.
• For Nyx: “There once was a maggot from Nantucket…”
• Late night coffee shop GOOOD!!! ::: gesture :::
• Middle Fold. A local band started by a couple of friends of mine. Click. Wander. Enjoy. And, if you happen to be in Utah (especially in the SLC-Provo area) and have the opportunity, check out one of their live performances. Hell, see them all! Tell them that I sent you and learn the super-secret Middle Fold password for extra bonus material.
• I just remembered that I was going to post about yesterday’s happenings in this post. Okay, here’s the Cliff’s Notes version:
  • Woke up.
  • Watched some ‘toons.
  • Faded in and out of consciousness for a couple of hours.
  • Got up and went to a meeting.
  • Frisbee.
  • Dinner.
  • Bowling.
  • Breakfast.
  • Home and bed.

  In that order. Aside from the post-frisbee soreness, it was a good day.

And now, I should call it a night and get some sleep. That would be a good idea. Very good. So good that I shall do so now.

Namaste.

Saturday
I was too tapped to post last night, so I’ll fill in the gaps later tonight.

That is all.

Namaste.

Friday
Another wonderful blue sky day in the neighborhood. Great weather and clear skies. This is a radical departure from last week. I think that the coming week is supposed to be a mixture of good and not-as-good weather, but I’ll take what we have for as long as it lasts.

The rest of the day was good, as well. Yes, there was a little bit of dragging about this morning after too little sleep, but after that… the day moved along quite nicely and we made a good bit of headway on some projects at work. After work, Jess and I took in an off-bowling night dinner at our traditional post-bowling V.I. When the regulars saw us there they seemed more surprised by the fact that we were “early” than by the fact that we were there on a Friday night (rather than a Saturday).

The only relative “low” spot in the day: The power in the apartment complex went out around 11:45 tonight. I was a little disconcerted by it because my computer is connected to a UPS and thus stayed on when everything else went off. It took me a second or two to fully grok what had happened.

Song of the Day
Renegades of Funk by Rage Against the Machines (Although the ‘lyrics’ that a friend misheard “Redneck Kings of Funk” still makes me laugh.)

Stray Toasters

• It’s the weekend. ‘Nuff said.
• I think that I might have to get my bike ready for a ride this weekend. I’m not sure how pleasant it will be, though; it’s been at least 6 months since I’ve ridden and I’ve been on Winter hiatus from the gym.
• Empire Earth. MechCommander. Railroad Tycoon. So many games, so little time. I won’t even mention the Xbox…
• Pacers game rebroadcast on ESPN. From Indiana.
• Radio controlled mini tanks. Who knew?!?

I think that I’m going to make it a relatively early night. For a non-school night, that is.

Namaste.

Thursday
Work was also pretty good today. And tomorrow is Friday. And, following that: the weekend. A weekend whose forecast looks rather nice, for a pleasant change. Warm, clear weather. That is what Spring is all about, in my book. It looks like we may have another cold snap next week, but I can deal with that.

Song of the Day

• Close My Eyes Forever – Lita Ford and Ozzy Osbourne
• Eyes Without a Face – Billy Idol
• Eyes of a Stranger – Queensryche

Stray Toasters

• Today was the birthday of one of my best friends. Over the course of the past few months, we’d lost contact with one another. Today, I rectified that situation – something that I have been intending to do for the past two or three weeks. “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions” as the saying goes. I called him at work… and he was actually there. I think that I could have gotten his mobile number from someone there since I know/knew most of the people there, but it was nice not to have to do that. We talked for about :10 and gave each other the Cliff’s Notes versions of what we have been up to during the communications gap. It was a nice way to start the day.
• commented that Baskin-Robbins has changed the name of their “French Vanilla” ice cream to… that’s right: “Freedom Vanilla.” :::boggle::: Yes, friends and neighbors, there IS such a thing as “taking something too far.” They have not, however, changed it on their website. Yet.
• The Augusta National Golf Club/Masters golf tournament issue has been making the rounds (no pun intended) in this week’s news. When I first heard the name “Hootie” associated with it, my first reaction was that it had something to do with Hootie and the Blowfish. I was mistaken. The name – or more appropriately: nickname – of the club’s chairman (William Johnson) is “Hootie.” Given the fact that the band has a new (one month old) CD in stores, I wonder if there will be any problems with sales due to confusion with the club’s officer.
• Managed to catch CSI tonight. I must admit that and another friend of mine were right about it – it’s a well-written and well-produced program.
• Late night coffee with , Brad and Wookie. Some of the people that you see in restaurants in the small hours of the night can be rather… interesting. Or disturbing. Or both. Either way, they make wonderful fodder for “Make Up Your Own Dialogue.”
• Pennies, knives, strawberry shakes and crayons. Not necessarily in that order.

And now that this order of business has been taken care of, it’s time to initiate an inner eyelid study.

Namaste.

Wednesday
It’s the middle of the week. A couple of more days and it will the weekend once more. And I will be glad when it arrives. Not that this week is going badly; I’m just tired. And ready for some “down time.”

Song of the Day
Subdivisions by Rush, from the CD “Signals”

Stray Toasters

• “The Real Folk Blues (part I)” is tonight’s episode of Cowboy Bebop. That means that tomorrow’s ep is the end of the series. *sigh* I wonder if they will loop the series again or if they will air something else in it’s time slot next week.
• Anime Lyrics
• It seems as if Lisa Marie Presley inherited her father’s lip curl – I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a “sneer.” (She was performing on The Late Show with David Letterman.) Of course, it could just be an affectation to cash in on a little bit of Daddy’s schtick. I don’t really know. At least she wasn’t trying to cop his hip-swiveling gyrations. She looked a little “temporarily not all there,” too. Maybe the apple really doesn’t fall too far from the tree after all.
• “The Battle for Baghdad.” That was the title that NBC News gave to the special report that interrupted Law & Order tonight. It’s probably the same title that they have been using for the past few days, but as I have said: I haven’t watched much coverage of the war. Now, I remember why. I wonder if the powers-that-be were trying to go for something along these lines when they came up with that title.
• And while I’m on the subject, it seems like (most of) the aforementioned battle for the Iraqi capital city is over. There are reports of minor skirmishes, but the city seems to be under the control of “Coalition Forces.” I think that is the first time that I have used that phrase since the war was initiated. But, I digress… Now, the real struggles will begin: The rebuilding of the nation and the search for the as-yet missing former ruler.
• Creed. The band. The Christian rock band – I find it funny when people discover that fact and get the “deer in headlights” expression. I’m also more than mildly amused by something that I’ve recently noticed in the Creed song Higher. The chorus contains the lines:
  

  Can you take me higher?
  To the place with golden streets

  But, it sounds like he is singing

  Can you take me higher?
  To the place with golden streams

  …which isn’t too much of a mental leap from golden showers. And it almost always makes me laugh. I’m going straight to Hell. In a handbasket. And, most definitely wearing gasoline-enhanced underwear.

I believe that I shall now seek the gates of The Dreaming. Until next time…

Namaste.

Tuesday
Fairly run of the mill day at work today. And, it was a rather productive day, to boot.

After work, I had dinner with Jess and . After dinner, we went out for coffee and dessert. And talk, talk, talk.

NPR and PRI Stories
I think that I had an epiphany today while listening to NPR: While I’m not overly enamored of the whole concept of the current war in Iraq and while I tend to tune out a lot of news items about it, I find that I do have an interest in the technical news that stems from it. Go figure.

I also found this item from today’s production of The World to be interesting.

Song of the Day
Since hearing a version of A Whole New World, from Aladdin, this evening, today’s “Two-fer” will come from the movie’s soundtrack:

• One Jump Ahead
• Prince Ali (Reprise), sung by Jafar (Jonathan Freeman)

Stray Toasters

• While looking up information for a product this afternoon, I came across this comment/review. Somehow, the title (and “The Bottom Line”) juxtaposed against the fact that it was a child’s toy was just a combination of “sick and wrong” and “terribly funny.” Everyone at work thought so, too. There was another page of reviews; the title of the next one was “How much do you like to blow?” Oh, the directions in which the mind spins…
• …and so, I mentioned the first link to someone else and they countered with this. Uhhh… Okay. “URL Ping-Pong” can be a dangerous thing.
• Since I was at work until almost 9:00 PM last night and in a movie theatre on Sunday night, today was the first time since the time changed that I was able to fully enjoy some late afternoon/early evening sunlight and sunset. Sure, it’s not “much,” so to speak, but sometimes (in fact, more often than not) it’s the simple things that are the most worthwhile.

Idiotstick of the Day
Being Tuesday, why should Song of the Day be the only section that gets all of the “Two-fer” fun? It shouldn’t. And so…

• On the way home from work, exiting from I-215 onto Redwood Road, a car (already on Redwood) came up behind me as I was merging onto Redwood. (Note: The distance from the end of that ramp to the first traffic light is roughly a quarter-mile.) Apparently, this person needed to make a left at the traffic light. This meant that they needed to cross one lane in order to make it to the left-turn lane. A quarter-mile away. There was minimal (read: “almost NO”) other traffic on Redwood Road, so getting across should have been a piece of cake. It wasn’t. First, they were VERY indecisive about getting to the far lane. When another opening appeared, they passed on that, too. So, from the “middle” lane, they swerved into the far right-hand lane to turn right at the light. What in the Nine Hells?!? After making that turn, they proceeded to make a fast U-turn so that they could go straight through the light in the direction that they had originally wanted to go. *sigh* I wonder about people sometimes…
• After coffee, we were heading south on State Street, in order to drop off Nyx. We heard a siren, but couldn’t see the source. So, we dismissed it. The sound got a little louder. Still, there seemed to be no emergency services vehicle in sight. There was a truck about 10 – 15 car lengths behind us, but that was it. The truck got closer… and, oddly enough, so did the siren. When it got about 5 lengths behind us, the driver FINALLY had enough of a coherent thought process to turn on the flashing lights. It was an ambulance! Imagine that. It barreled past us in the far left lane. It also had its right blinker on. *shrug* Sometimes people forget to turn off the signal lights when they change lanes. No big deal. It got to the intersection of State and 33rd South and turned right… from the far left lane!!! I could be a little off with this, but I seem to remember hearing rumors about something known as a “dispatcher” who tells the driver where to go. And, isn’t a EMS vehicle driver supposed to have at least a vague clue as to their destination? You would think that finding Point B from Point A in a city whose streets are laid out in an almost Cartesian coordinate system wouldn’t be all that difficult.

Okay, now that I have put away my soapbox, I think that I’ll call it a night.

Namaste.

Monday
From grey and drab to clear skies and a lovely sunset. Mondays can be full of surprises. Of course, that didn’t stop it from being “a day.” It was… trying. That’s a good word for it.

Song of the Day
Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing by Chris Isaak

Stray Toasters

• Kwick22a is back on Comics2Film’s Digital Concept Gallery. His latest piece.
• In response to an email about this item that a friend of mine sent, someone retorted with this.
• I’ve been watching Trigun on Adult Swim for the past week. The best way to describe it would be like a “space western.” And, it’s quirky, to boot.
• I Was a Teenage Faust… Oh, Nyx, what have you done…?
• Mark Knopfler on Conan O’Brian. Indeed.
• Cher is apparently having her “farewell concert” televised on NBC tomorrow. How many other performers have had similar concerts… only to “emerge from retirement” a few years later.
  

  Let’s use my favorite example: Celine Dion.

  Not only did she “un-retire,” she got a cushy (and I do mean cushy) deal at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Not only did they build a new amphitheatre, called “The Colosseum,” just for her, but the damned thing is even equipped with humidifier vents on the stage so that she has an “optimum performing environment.” Granted, Vegas is in the middle of the desert – and therefore, very dry – but this equipment is supposed to keep the theatre (or at least the stage area) at a constant 68% relative humidity. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!?

  So, how long before Cher gets her own venue in Vegas or Atlantic City? And maybe, if we’re lucky, she’ll perform in the outfit that she wore in the video for If I Could Turn Back Time. *shiver*

That’s enough for now. Tune in tomorrow for more random musings.

Namaste.

Sunday
I was a little off in my prognostication: I woke up a little before 1:00 this afternoon. But, as I said last night, that was fine with me. I spent the rest of the afternoon doing as little as possible. I was rather successful at that endeavor.

Headed to The Gateway for coffee and a movie; we saw Phone Booth. Why? Because that was the democratic choice for our cinema fare. That’s why. It was a pretty good movie, especially when you consider the fact that it focused on one character for most of the movie. Okay… okay, you could technically say that it featured three characters, but Colin Farrell was the primary focus. I was also rather surprised to find that the movie was shot in ten (10) days! I found that pretty impressive.

Stray Toasters

• I called my father yesterday just to tell him that it was snowing here. We both found it amusing. He called me today to say that Rana had called him to say that it was snowing where she is, as well. We laughed about that, too.
• I had to call my mother (again) to relate some news that I had forgotten to tell her yesterday. She went straight into “mother mode.” She even made a comment about it. It was cute.
• Thanks to for helping me to maintain a measure of balance and sanity this afternoon.
• For : Fear the madness…
• For : “Because he had no attachments.”
• “Use 30 authentic ninja weapons…” So says a commercial for Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven, a game for the PS2. I seem to recall something about ninjas being a secret cabal of assassins in feudal Japan. The operative word: “Secret.” I think that I remember reading that they were only spoken of in hushed whispers and never referred to overtly. Granted, ninjas gained “notoriety” during the 1970s Kung Fu movie madness, but they seem to have achieved a new level of popularity today. My question is: Whom did they ask about what is and is not an “authentic ninja weapon?” Just wondering.

I think that just about wraps it up from here. I’m going to finish watching The X-Files and wait for Stargate SG-1 to come on. Maybe I’ll even get in some drawing time, too.

Namaste.

Saturday
Mother Nature looked down upon the face of Utah, smiled, and blew frozen kisses across the land. It snowed again today. Wet, sticky snow. Not like the “dry,” powder-like snow that is normally seen here. It reminded me of winters back home.

When is it that snow ceases to be something “fun” and becomes something… else? Is it at the age when one becomes “old enough” to wield a shovel and use it to clear sidewalks and driveways? Is it when we discover that the halls of post-secondary academia don’t adhere to the same “snow day” policies as elementary/middle/high schools? Or, is it when we become part of “the real world” and discover that our employers look at snow and “summer vacation” are things to be relegated to the “Former Legitimate Reasons for Being Able to Stay at Home” list?

I don’t really have an answer to that. I still enjoy watching it fall and cover everything in sight. I still think that it’s “neat” the way that the sounds of a city (and especially the country) seem muted after snow is fallen. And I still enjoy a good snowball fight. I don’t necessarily like the fact that I have to brush or scrape it off my car. Shoveling snow is definitely not on my “Top Ten” list. Nor do I enjoy driving among people whose nominal driving skills (in dry weather) become comparable to those of the Keystone Kops when snow meets asphalt and concrete.

It’s just a matter of degrees and perspective, I guess.

Stray Toasters

• After sleeping in, I woke up this morning (this is usually considered a good way to start the day) and proceeded to do nothing for a couple of hours.
• I spoke with a good portion of the family unit today: Mom, Dad and Kris by phone; Adam online. By all accounts, everyone is doing well.
• Television options were a bit limited this afternoon, but I managed to find a few things to help pass the time. Among them:
  • The high school and college basketball challenge (slam dunk and 3-point shot competition) on ESPN
  • 50 Sexiest Video Moments on VH1
• I saw a Kia ad that made me laugh: The setting was a child’s birthday party. A man adjusts the bandana on a little girl, turns her around and then points her in the direction of a pinata. The little girl takes a hesitant swing and then steps forward taking home run swings. She nails a little boy in the kidneys and gets another in the stomach. As the picture fades to black, you can hear the surprised screams of the partygoers and the words “Protect them while you still can…” appear on the screen before an image of a car appears. The stick-wielding little girl and her grim determination made me laugh each time I saw that commercial today.
• New Balance had a couple of new commercials, as well. The most interesting, to me, was one featured a man on his morning run. In itself, that’s not unusual. He was pacing himself by “following” a taxicab. He started when it picked up a fare and raced it through the streets (and sidewalks and alleys and walkways) of the city. When it reached its destination and the fare exited, he stopped to rest… until the next person climbed in. And then he was off again. Fade to black.
• During one of the lulls in TV entertainment, I started looking at random journals. In one, I found a link to this site. Like driving past a bad accident, I found myself staring at the screen in slackjawed amazement… and amusement.
• This link came to me by way of . It’s work safe and rather funny, too.
• During the aforementioned 50 Sexiest Video Moments on VH1, Carlos Santana spoke about making the video for Smooth. He made comments about dancing that perfectly summed up what I was trying to convey in last Friday’s post about going to Sanctuary. He said that dancing was about being free and the freedom of expression. Voila! That was perfect. And that was why I felt that I needed to reassess my opinion of what should and should not be considered “dancing.”
• Even though it had snowed and continued to snow intermittently throughout the afternoon, we played Ultimate today. Sort of. Most people ditched, because of the weather. It wound up basically being “throw the frisbees around.” It was fun, despite the cold and the wet ground.
• We had a good turnout for bowling tonight; I think that there were 15 people bowling and three or four people who came to hang out. Of that 15, only four of us went to breakfast, but we were joined by , Brad, Spydr and Wookie. Jaysin (our former favorite waiter) also put in an appearance.

And now it is nearly 6:00 AM, thanks to the wonders of Daylight Savings Time. It’s probably a safe bet that I will sleep until somewhere around noon. And that’s fine with me.

Namaste.