Saturday : 01 October 05
First off, “Happy Birthday” to my fellow October LJers:

Today’s been pretty good, despite the fact that I kept waking up during the wee hours of the morning.

After spending the time getting the living room prepped and painted, I made a grand discovery this week: The color was horrible. Period. It looked bad. And I don’t mean “Bad” as in “good.” I mean “bad” as in “bad.” As in Huey Lewis and the News’ Sometimes Bad Is Bad. Yeah. Like that. If you’re familiar with the green color of an Andes chocolate mint candy, you have an idea of the shade I’m talking about. While that color’s great for confectionery, it’s not so keen for walls. It looked so promising on the paint sample card…

I went to Big Kids’ Toys ‘R’ Us… I mean, “Home Depot,” in search of something that would look better. I was in search of something a little more muted. I got a paint card with the old color on it and compared it to other cards in the green family. Unlike Bono and The Edge, I found what I was looking for. I took the paint card, got a can of base paint and took them to the counter to have an associate mix the color into it. A few minutes later, it was ready. I will admit that when I saw the final product, I was still a little leery – it still looked a bit light. But, I had taken the plunge, might as well see what was in store.

I came home, stirred the paint, got the roller and went to work. The difference was immediately apparent, even while the new coat of paint was still wet. It looked good. Very good. $5000 shopping spree in IKEA good. It was more in line with what I had expected the previous color would look like. I was so jazzed at the effect that I finished the bulk of the job in roughly an hour. I still need to do the corners and some edging, but by and large: It’s done. Selah.

A shower and change of clothes later, I was off to Red Lobster (not my choice, but I could deal with it) for dinner with , , Heather, Staci, Matt and Pat. I arrived first and put my name on the list for a table. “The wait will be about forty minutes.” *sigh* So, I sat… and waited. A short while later, I saw a couple of familiar – but unexpected faces: Monica and Brian. They told me that and Jen were on their way as well. We wound up commandeering another table and all sat together. It was a fun dinner… even if it was at Red Lobster.

Next on the agenda: Breakfast.

::: intermission :::

Breakfast was good, but again, there was a small turn-out.

Stray Toasters

  • I actually remembered to tune into Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me this morning. And, as an added bonus, I even listened to A Prairie Home Companion while I was painting this afternoon.
  • Once again, I neglected to tape Justice League Unlimited. I’m about this far from breaking down and getting a DVR receiver for DirecTV.
  • From boingboing.net: Laundry: 416-page “How To” for clothes-washing fetishists
  • Also from boingboing: Black bumwad
    I really don’t think that I could say anything more about this one.

  • I was listening to Me Ol’ Bam-Boo while driving today. Damn and a half if it isn’t just a fun song to sing along with!
  • From (with a nod to a quiz that Nyx shared with us):

  • For some reason, Peter Gunn is running through my head. Not the original version. Not even the Art of Noise version. But, the midi version from the old Spy Hunter game.
  • From the L.A. Times: This just in: Flops Caused Box Office Slump
  • Vintage Skivvies: Archives

I’m tired. That’s plenty for now.

Namaste.