Random Access

Saturday
It was a great day, but I am far too tired to attempt to relate it now; that will be done after an appropriate amount of sleep.

Namaste.

Friday
This has been an interesting day. And a damn good one, too.

I woke up this morning at 9:07. In and of itself, that’s not too bad. The “odd” thing about it is that 9:07 seems to be my built-in, during-the-week failsafe time. I’ve turned off the alarm before (like this morning), and ::: bing ::: I wake up at 9:07. No idea why.

Work wasn’t bad. It was another fairly slow day, so I got some more admin things taken care of. And, I’m taking tomorrow off (more on this below). We also moved some fixtures around in the warehouse; we’re “thinking ahead” for a couple of months down the road – it’s easier to move things while we have the time and space rather than wait for it to become a critical issue.

After work, Jess and I went to the new Main Library (1, 2) to see Neil Gaiman. That building is amazing, the picture doesn’t do it justice – I’ll try to remember to take some decent ones tomorrow. We met and there; we even ran into and a few others there. We didn’t get a seat in the auditorium (too full), so we sat out in the gallery/atrium. We got front row seats at the projector.

Neil Gaiman is not only a gifted writer, but his talents extend to oratory, as well. His overall talk, including the Q&A session, was just shy of two (2) hours. And there was not a wasted moment in that time. He talked of wanting to be a werewolf (childhood aspiration), gardening, myths, his thoughts on fan fiction (he likes it, but he doesn’t like being told that he “should read and like” a given fanfic), Delirium’s daughter¹, superheroes, why he writes about the things that he does, American Gods (as a title and a concept) and many other things. It was great. Fantastic. It made me want to write again, so, I guess that “inspirational” would be a good word to use, as well.

He’s doing a book signing tomorrow morning (which is why I’m taking the day off). I still have no idea where my Preludes and Nocturnes has decided to hibernate, so I bought a new copy. And a copy of The Wake. And a copy of American Gods (to get signed for my friend who introduced me to Mr. Gaiman’s work). Those items, along with Smoke and Mirrors and an issue of The Sandman for , shall go under the pen. And maybe… just maybe, the Sandman figures that I got last week.

Song of the Day
Dolphin’s Lullaby by Firefall from their self-titled CD

Quotes of the Day

• Bill Gates couldn’t guarantee Windows, how are you going to guarantee my safety?!
  – John Crichton, Farscape

• [23:27] : So… I have “saving” rights, just not “bitching” rights?
  [23:27] : i don’t make these rules o.O
  [23:27] : Who does?
  [23:27] : …and are they written in crayon?
  [23:28] : I have no idea. the rules just happen around me 😛

I should probably make an effort to sleep since I intend to be downtown before the lines get too outrageous. Yes, it was a good day, indeed. And, I suspect that the weekend shall follow suit.

Namaste.

¹: Delirium, of the Endless, was based to some extent on Tori Amos. Neil read a poem that he wrote for Tori’s daughter before she was born. Before he read it, he asked that people not record it and/or if they did, not to post it online. He said that he liked the fact that it could not be found on the web via a search. I liked the fact that he wanted it to stay personal.

Thursday
Four days down, one to go. Maybe one-and-a-quarter… but, we’ll see.

Song of the Day

• Black Cat by Janet Jackson, from “Rhythm Nation”
• Cat People (Putting Out the Fire) by David Bowie, from the Cat People Soundtrack
• The Siamese Cat Song from Disney’s The Aristocats as covered by Bobby McFerrin on the “Simply Mad About the Mouse” CD.

NPR and PRI Stories

• Talk of the Nation
• All Things Considered
• Clint Eastwood and Robert Rodriguez will be featured on Friday’s Fresh Air

Stray Toasters

• I can’t find my copy of The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes. I’m not too worried about it. Yet. I think that I loaned it to a friend a short while ago; I’ll find out tomorrow. If not, I’m not above buying a new copy tomorrow night. And, if all else fails, Smoke and Mirrors will still get signed.
• I managed to catch tonight’s CSI. There was a scene where two of the investigators (aside from Grissom, I’m still not familiar with who’s who) were examining an insect colony on a tree. They did a CGI sequence with a cicada walking up the tree’s trunk and molting it’s exoskeleton. Pretty well done… even if it wouldn’t have happened that quickly in real time.
• For : Big huge openings and manual trannys
• It looks like DC Comics is bringing back Firestorm. According to this interview, it looks like the new series might make for an interesting (and fun) read.
• This is a new condo complex downtown that is now leasing. Not too bad looking.
• Wolverine’s Revenge This is a “will buy.”
• Someone posted a URL for this on IRC earlier. It’s a flash version of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It’s irreverent, crude, and rather funny. “Nothing can prepare you for the end of Angel Heart….” this version of Hamlet.

I’m tired. Time to remove the secondary optical enhancers, perform the pre-repose hygiene rituals and then render myself inert for the next 6 or so hours.

Namaste.

Wednesday
Just another day in the neighborhood. It was a bit cold and blustery today, which made being indoors rather nice. Work was rather uneventful, but that allowed me to get a few things done.

Song of the Day
Tiger Bay by Golden Earring, from “No Promises… No Debts”

NPR and PRI Stories
Talk of the Nation
All Things Considered

Stray Toasters

• I got to talk to the foreign service sister tonight. She’s doing well.
• Went out to coffee with some friends tonight. One of the first things that I did, after sitting down, was to spill my mocha over the table. It was lovely.
• I asked Beth if she knew about Neil Gaiman coming to town this weekend. She did not and the look that I got in response was akin to “deer in headlights.” Quite amusing.
• For : @_@

I think that I might have to stop for a frozen mocha in the morning. And mini-bagels. Yes, that would be a good thing. But for now, I think that I shall call it a night.

Namaste.

Tuesday
Slow and fairly quiet day at work. This was a “good” thing, as it allowed me to get a few things done and not have to worry about putting out proverbial fires.

Song of the Day

• Birdland by The Weather Report from “Heavy Weather”
• Birds Keep Smacking Up Against My Window by SnagLoopDog¹, from “Mumblefish”

NPR and PRI Stories
Talk of the Nation had a good piece about “Intellectuals on Campus,” featuring Dr. Freeman Hrabowski (President of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County).

Stray Toasters

• Last night’s/this morning’s mondo bizarre dreams:
  • One featuring my great-grandmother, who has been deceased for… 13 years
  • One where a bear, about the size of… a baby elephant, was chasing horses.
  • Same dream, but later: A midget/leprechaun who looked FAR too much like Corey Feldman was riding a horse with horns on its snout like a bull.
• While this morning started off with clear-ish skies, there were flurries tonight.
• Once again, my friend from home called me this morning, pre-alarm. If he wasn’t “family,” I think that I would have been upset; as it was, I found it amusing. I called him back later; he didn’t answer (but he did call me back a short while afterwards).
• Jess and I went out to dinner (at The Mayan) and coffee (at the nearby B&N) with and Brad. Some of the items of note from the night:
  • The hostesses calling for the “Troy” party about six or seven times… to no avail.
  • Noting that flash photography is prohibited during the cliff diving at The Mayan. They say nothing about thrown objects, shouting/yelling, BB/pellet/dart guns or strobe lights, however.
  • Sexually-stimulated hot sauce.
  • Heather, our server (not to be confused with our workstation).
  • Animatronic fauna… not always a good thing.
  • Gorilla in a codpiece. (Don’t ask.)
  • Man in gold lamee cape and sombrero (Again, don’t ask.)
  • Kids wearing the shoes with skates in them.
• I even managed to get in a little bit of solo HALO tonight.

Quote of the Day
Today’s quote comes from . We were at work and wound up talking about our apartments. She mentioned that she wants to move to a place with a larger kitchen:

I have a one-ass kitchen. I usually figure out how big a kitchen is by how many asses will fit in it. Actually, it’s more like a one-and-a-half ass kitchen…. Cailyn² fits in there, too.

And that’s it for now. I think. No, I’m pretty sure that’s it. But, even it that is not it, as Barenaked Ladies sang: “This is where it ends.”

Namaste.

¹: One of the members of this band is a friend (and former co-worker) of mine from N.C.
² – Cailyn is her 2½-year-old daughter

Monday
After a particularly slow “trying to wake up” phase, I got ready to face the day. Work wasn’t too bad. Actually, it wasn’t bad at all (I know that this is setting me up to go in tomorrow and find out just how bad it was, but I’ll deal with that if and when it comes up).

Song of the Day
The Dogs of War by Pink Floyd from the “A Momentary Lapse of Reason.

NPR and PRI Stories
Talk of the Nation
All Things Considered
The World
Fresh Air

Stray Toasters

• It’s snowing now. There’s something about the silence that blankets a city when it snows. That same sound in the country… almost eerie. But to have the urban sounds muted and muffled the way that they are after a new-fallen snow settles in… I can’t describe it adequately, but it’s rather cool.
• Black Tie Mousse Cake from Olive Garden. Damned tasty.
• Interesting Tuvok and Neelix episode on Voyager tonight. I know that many people have said that Voyager has copped a storyline (or twenty) from the other ST series and that may be true. I have to admit that tonight’s episode reminded me of the way that Spock and McCoy got along on ST:TOS
• Johnny Cash on MTV2. Who would have expected this?! The years are showing, but he’s still the original Man in Black.
• I was just about to close out the ‘Toasters when something came on the TV that I found interesting. A commercial for Victoria’s Secret: Angels in Venice was starting (it ran for three – five seconds) when it suddenly switched to a commercial for The Today Show. I don’t know for a fact whether it was due to the fact that the local NBC affiliate is owned by the predominant religious body in this state (the LDS Church), but I’d hedge towards that as a possible reason. After all, they did do this (Stray Toaster) last year.

And so, this entry ends. Now.

Namaste.

Sunday
You have to love it when not just one but both cats decide that they want to get onto the windowsill directly above your part of the bed. Early in the morning. I finally rolled out of bed around 11:00. I lazed around for a while, including some time actually playing my bass… something that I had not done in a long time before yesterday afternoon.

Dee came down and we whooped-up on HALO aliens. Unfortunately, they seemed more than happy to reciprocate. We killed a lot of them. They killed us. Often. We did clear a few levels, so there was a sense of accomplishment.

We went to see Cradle 2 the Grave tonight. It was not a great movie, but it was entertaining. If I were rating it, I would probably have to put it on the “Cool World-Long Kiss Goodnight” scale… but it would be near the top of the list. It was fun and it didn’t take itself too seriously.

That’s about all. Time to watch Stargate SG-1 and consider the benefits of a good night’s rest before work tomorrow.

Namaste.

Saturday
After going to bed far later than I should have, I had a horrible night’s sleep. I seemed to wake up almost every time that I turned over or moved. Then, one of the cats loudly knocked something over around 7:30… and again a few minutes later. And, one of our neighbors was hammering something around 9:30. I was actually glad for the hammering – it roused me from a post-snooze button sleep.

I dragged myself out of bed and made my way into the bathroom. I followed the proscribed rituals d’hygeine and got dressed. I gathered my things together to head out to work. And that is when I noticed it.

It was snowing. Again.

I went outside, started the car and proceeded to brush the snow from the car. I went to work, took care of a few things and left after 2½ hours. There is nothing that compares to a short and uneventful day at work.

When I got home, Jess showed me something on DirecTV’s Freeview: Rush in Concert, specifically the A Show of Hands concert.

::: bliss :::I ran into the office and turned it on. I was deliriously happy. I even got out my bass – which I haven’t played in far too long – and muddled through the songs that I nominally remembered how to play.

After that, we went out for lunch and wandered around for a bit. We went out to dinner and a comedy club with Heather, , Jen (his fiancee), and Heather’s parents. We had a ball. In fact, if you ever hear that Bengt (pronounced “bent”) Washburn will be performing in your locale, go check out his show.

Then it was off to bowling: and Jen joined us. All-in-all, I bowled at new levels of mediocrity… but had fun doing so. Post-bowling breakfast was, as usual, at the local V.I. Tonight, there was something a little different, though. The place was packed! There was a group (a LARGE group) from some MLM-style company. They took up at least 30% of the dining space. “Curiouser and curiouser…”

And now, we’re back… and I’m tapped, so I think that I shall call it a night.

Namaste.

Friday
Fairly quiet day at work. Of course, oversleeping made for a rushed pre-work morning. I did, however, stop at a Beans & Brews for a cup of espresso-laden frozen mocha goodness… and mini-bagels.

NPR and PRI Stories

• Talk of the Nation – Science Friday
• Fresh Air
• All Things Considered

Song of the Day
Triangle by Herbie Hancock, from “Inventions and Dimensions”

Stray Toasters

• I was trying to define “grok” to a friend of mine… without having to find my copy of A Stranger in a Strange Land. Fortunately, the folks at whatis.com had a definition. I was rather shocked by that; I had checked there on a lark. Nevertheless, that had a definition.
• I had dinner with my friend Tamarah tonight. I haven’t seen her in… hmm… probably two years, but she called me (quite out of the blue) this afternoon. We went to Mi Ranchito in American Fork (or “American Fark,” as some of the locals pronounce it). We ran into and his fiancee, Jen. What made that funny to me was that I had said “I wonder if I’ll see anyone that I know here” just before we walked in.
• “C” is for “cookie.” That’s good enough for me.
• Funny.

As I’m going to work for a couple of hours tomorrow, I should probably get some sleep. Yes, that would be a good thing.

Namaste.

P.S. for
Her name was Lola.
She was a showgirl..

Thursday
On the whole, today was a pretty good day. Indeed.

Now, let’s get down to brass tacks.

NPR and PRI Stories
Talk of the Nation
All Things Considered

There was sabre-rattling news today, but the story that sticks out the most was not about Iraq or North Korea. It wasn’t about stem cells. It wasn’t even about corporate scandals and misdoings.

It was about a man. The man was Fred Rogers, more commonly known simply as “Mr. Rogers.” He died today at the age of 74. Like many others in my age group, I spent many afternoons in his neighborhood. Some called him corny or out of touch. I wouldn’t go that far. Think about it: There had to be something behind what he said – the show did run for over 30 years. And, as popular as it was with kids, I know a few kids-at-heart who would tune in every once in a while, too.

Tomorrow, Fresh Air will rebroadcast Terry Gross’ interview with Mr. Rogers; check your local NPR station for the time.

Fred Rogers
1928 – 2003

‘Bye, neighbor.

Songs of the Day

• Oval Cast as Circle by 33.3, from “Plays Music”
• Oval River by Licorice Roots, from “Melodeon”
• Oval Office by Third Bass, from “Cactus Album”

Stray Toasters
Just one thing. Before I left work, I was trying to decide what to have for dinner tonight. I considered cooking (steak) versus going out. I came home and still hadn’t figured it out. Fortunately, I had the wherewithal to look in the refrigerator. And there I saw it: Leftovers from Macaroni Grill. My hunger would be sated! But I was still tempted by the prospect of the steaks…

What did I do?

I cooked both. I ate the Macaroni Grill food and wrapped the steaks for dinner at a later date. I can easily deal with 0:05 of reheating versus 0:30 when all that I have to do is prepare vegetables to go with the steak. And, when prepared properly, reheated steak does not have the consistency of beef jerky or shoe leather.

Quotes of the Day:

• From yesterday’s coffee with :
  It’s a good thing we’re not professional. I’d have to kill people.

• From work today: I was working on a network problem and had to check behind a desk where a mini-vacuum was standing against the wall. I placed the vacuum on the floor…
  

  Me (to vacuum): Just lie there and look pretty.
  Erin: I bet you say that to all the girls.
  Me: No, just the ones who… (looking down… )
  And it was at this point that I realized that there was no good way out of this… and so I shut up. Until we both burst out in laughter.

And now, it’s time for bed.

Namaste.

Wednesday
Another quiet day. No fires to put out. It was nice.

Song of the Day
Pentagon Afternoon by Frank Zappa, from “The Yellow Shark”

Stray Toasters

• Bill Maher was on Larry King tonight. I find him an interesting figure; I like him. I’ve also been asked “how” I can like him. That’s easy to answer: I may not always agree with what he says, but I respect him for standing behind his views. No, he does not always say or do a popular thing and he can be quite an ass, at times. But, I like the fact that he doesn’t change his mind mid-stream just to make everyone like him. Also, if he is proven wrong about something, he is willing to admit that he was mistaken. To me, that’s honorable and worthy of respect.
• I met for coffee tonight. We went to a place called “Brew’d Awakening,” which I thought was an amusing pun. Their mochas are triple-laced with espresso; I think that I am finally coming down from the rush.
• I was listening to random mp3s at work today… mainly because KUER’s streaming NPR was being very temperamental. When You Wish Upon a Star, as done by Billy Joel, came on at one point. In the middle of singing along with it, I realized that I like the song. It’s Disney. It’s a bit syrupy-sweet. But I think that it’s a good song.
• Draw. Draw. Draw.
• They did air the first ep of Cowboy Bebop tonight. Looks like I’ll get to catch all/most/many/some of the episodes that I missed.

And now, time to seek the lands beyond the Waking World.

Namaste.

Tuesday
I woke up to snow this morning. The local forecasters said that there was “a chance” of snow. That “chance” turned into 0:10 of clearing off my car. Other than that, it was a good day:

• It was a light day at work… and tomorrow looks like it will be another fairly light day.
• Dinner at Macaroni Grill.
• After-dinner coffee and conversation at Borders.

Song of the Day

• Square by Stevie Wonder, from “Jazz Soul of Little Stevie”
• Square Roots by Cassandra Wilson, from “Point of View”

NPR and PRI Stories
There were segments on both All Things Considered and The World that featured Shazia Mirza, a female comedian who happens to be Muslim. I found her interviews (The World) to be good and a delightful counterpoint to this post that was shown to me last night.

Quote of the Day
I was walking around the office this afternoon and discovered a roll of Life Savers in my jacket.

Me: Finding Life Savers in your pocket is like finding a little ray of sunshine.

Stray Toasters

• Mary and I engaged in a round of people watching at Borders. I had almost forgotten how fun (and entertaining) that could be.
• Tonight was the last episode of Cowboy Bebop on Adult Swim; I’m not sure if they will loop the series and restart from the beginning. But, I digress… It was not what I expected… and at the same time, it was exactly as it “should” have been. (I’ll come back to this later in this post.) Not too surprisingly, there is a link for the show on IMDb. There are a number of quotes from the show, as well.
• They are (still) accepting applications to be on Junkyard Wars this season. The main difference, however, is that they are not accepting team applications; you sign up individually and get matched with a team, chosen at random.

As I mentioned above, the final ep of ‘Bebop aired tonight. There was a sense of finality to it. And giri. For those who don’t know what that means, it translates as “duty,” “obligation” or “justice.” It’s more than that though. There is a measure of personal honor that comes along with it. More than a measure, really, but you get the idea. (For the comics buffs out there, think Wolverine and his code of honor; Cartoon Network viewers, think Samurai Jack.)

That’s something that I’ve noted about many anime works: Unlike many (most) of their Western cousins, the characters (even the “bad/evil” ones) have complex motivations and drives. They are often three-dimensional characters, not just archetypes. It seems that many of today’s Western toons are watered-down eye candy. Yes, there are exceptions, but some are just fluff and pabulum (Def. 3). Something to keep the kids quiet and entertained and out of Mom and Dad’s hair. *shrug* And people wonder why cartoons (and, by association comics) are often looked down upon.

It comes down to the writing and creating not only a believable world in which the characters live and interact, but also believable characters. Some things are meant to be over-the-top and/or fantastic, but if you build it with structure and give it a bit of plausibility, there’s no reason that it couldn’t be “real.”

::: gets down from soapbox :::

Anyway, I hope that they do restart the series. I’d like to see how it began and how it arrived at the conclusion that I saw tonight.

But, for now… it’s bedtime.

Namaste.

Monday
Not a bad way to start off the week. No fires to put out. Even went on a minor field trip about midway through the shift.

Song of the Day
Circle Dream by 10,000 Maniacs, from the CD “Our Time in Eden”

NPR/PRI
Refer to previously posted links for the national shows.

KCPW talked about the new movie Poolhall Junkies on today’s “Talk of the City.” The movie was conceived of and shot here in SLC. Who knew!?

Johnny Doyle: The poolhall’s a great equalizer. In the poolhall, nobody cares how old you are, how young you are, what color your skin is or how much money you’ve got in your pocket…It’s about how you move. And I remember this kid once who could move around a pool table like nobody had ever seen. I mean, hour after hour, rack after rack, his shots just went in. The cue was part of his arm and the balls has eyes. And the thing that made him so good was…He thought he could never miss. I know, ’cause that kid was me.

Stray Toasters

• Thanks to and for their cat-related comments yesterday. I laughed. A lot.
• Sam Cooke. If I need to say more than that, you just don’t (and won’t) get it.
• The Pacers will be in town on 14 March. I should look into getting tickets to go. Yes, I know that this is the home of the Jazz, but I’m not a fan. I have attended one Jazz game and that was because the former Charlotte Hornets were playing here; I was still living in N.C. at the time, but was here on vacation. It was more than mildly amusing to be the only person (not on the court) rooting for the away team in a venue like the Delta Center.
• I think that I want (although not quite “covet”) this. Geeky? Sure. But definitely different.
• Looks like this month’s SLC LJ Meetup isn’t going to happen. *shrug* I was looking forward to it. I may just go to the location and have a cup of coffee and watch the ice skaters… and do some drawing. Or, I could go to the advance screening of Poolhall Junkies. Decisions, decisions…

I should probably do more than just think about getting some sleep. Something more pro-active. Like actually going to bed.

Namaste.

Sunday
I got to sleep in a bit this morning. That was nice. Somewhere around 10:30, Sissy decided that she wanted to climb into the window directly above the bed. Through the blinds. The racket of her picking at the blinds was enough to bring me out of my reverie.

I was planning on having an afternoon full of HALO-playing with Dee. Unfortunately, it seems as though something happened to a member of his family, so he won’t be able to make it. That is a matter of giri, for which I needed no explanation.

Stray Toasters

• I mentioned last night that there were a couple of things that I saw at Comics Utah that couldn’t live without. This (1, 2) is one of them. The other was an unofficial “guide” to DS9. Go figure.
• I should do some cleaning. I don’t feel the motivation to do so, however.
• There isn’t much on TV today. ::: BLAH ::: I actually watched some bowling on ESPN. BOWLING! And that was one of the “better” options. I’m watching the Wizards and Mavericks game now. It isn’t too bad. (Update: FINALLY!!! There’s something decent on Boomerang to watch.)
• If you have never listened to (or for that matter “heard of”) Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me, check this out. Listen for the question about “Operation: KFC.” It’s an interesting bit of military planning. That’s right: Your tax dollars at work.

I suppose that I should do something that could be considered “productive” before I go out to play.

Namaste.

Saturday

• I worked (longer than I had intended).
• I went to the soon-to-be-closed comics shop to have my subscriptions transferred to another store… and to see if there was anything that I couldn’t live without. It turns out that there were a couple of things. *sigh*
• Dinner at the Olive Garden. Correction: The very crowded Olive Garden.
• Some down time at B&N before bowling.
• Post-bowling breakfast at our favorite V.I. and then…
• Home.

Not so surprisingly, I’m winding down pretty quickly. That might have something to do with the fact that I slept poorly last night. Just maybe. There were probably a few random things that I wanted to add to this post, but I shall forego them until tomorrow. The realms of sleep sing a siren’s call that I cannot ignore.

Namaste.