October 2005

Bed And Breakfast Mode.

Earl and I are very excited about our friends Steve and Tim coming to visit from Buffalo. They’re spending the weekend with us to get away from it all and we’re looking forward to seeing them.

It’s also a wonderful reason to clean the house and spend money redecorating.

The spare bedroom has never looked so good. The bed is made, the scented candles are lit to give it a warm, homey feeling. I’m a little disappointed that I don’t have mints for the pillows, so I’m going to leave a couple of Butterfingers instead.

Yesterday I went to the local Kohls to get new towels and bathroom accessories. They had the ideal shower curtain on display that matched the color of our bathroom perfectly. Of course our mini-me version of Kohls didn’t have any of what was displayed actually in stock, so we jumped into the car last night and drove to Syracuse to go the real Kohls. While we were in Syracuse we also went to Carrabba’s for some pasta fun. Whenever we go to Carrabba’s we shun waiting for a table and opt to eat at their pasta bar instead. I had a couple of glasses of wine, Earl ended up driving home after a stop at Wegmans to grocery shop. Wegmans is grocery nirvana and can not be duplicated by any chain, regardless of how many times they try. (I should get paid by someone for all these retail endorsements.)

So now we’re armed and ready for fun with our friends. I might even cook breakfast in the morning!

The Rhythm of Circadia.

My ass has been dragging all day long today. Last night I wound up my latest bout with on-call, and this involved a customer “cut” (telecommunications jargon for bringing a new customer onto our phone network) at midnight last night. The cut took until just before 3:00 a.m., I was in bed at 3:15 a.m., having wedged myself between a surprisingly silently sleeping Earl and a cat with surly claws.

I was to be to work at 9 a.m. today, but I opted to take some comp time and go to work at 10:30 instead. I was relieved to awake at 8:30 a.m., having slept straight through since going to bed without being interrupted by additional on-call pages, but that still only amounted to a little over five hours of sleep.

So I yawned my way through work today. Our team leader suggested I take Friday off with comp time, as I had accumulated quite a bit of it, but no, I was going to tough it out and take the overtime instead. After all, Apple did come out with new products this week.

After work Earl and I met up with my mother and sister for dinner in Syracuse. While we were on our way, I started falling asleep in the passenger seat of the car (Earl had wisely chosen to drive), and it was then that I decided that I need to take tomorrow as a comp day after all.

Hello three day weekend!

So now we’re back from supper. It’s a little after 10:00 p.m. Fueled by five hours sleep, you think I’d be exhausted by now. But no, I’m wide awake. I’m ready to take on the world. I’m ready to make another movie.

All of this energy just reinforces what I’ve known forever; I was not meant to live as a “morning person” or even a person that works the traditional 9 to 5 shift. No, I’m meant to be a second shift kind of guy. But that’s not going to happen in the forseeable future. I dread the sounds of alarm clocks. Maybe I should get one of those natural light, nudge you awake type of alarm clocks that play a few bird noises, simulate a breathtaking sunrise and arouse with a pleasant aromatherapy type gas.

I blame part of this schedule unsynchronization on the time of year. This is when the air feels full of wonder and mystery. Darkness blankets the day earlier and lingers longer. The winds are crisp and cool, yet I find them comforting. I thrive in the magic of the wind this time of year.

I can’t wait for daylight saving time to end. I’ll feel more in sync then.

Halfway through the work week.

Sometimes you have to just take it all in stride. It helps if you smile, and bitch about stuff on your blog.

I also downloaded the latest iTunes and Quicktime, both announced today in concert with a bunch of goodies from Apple, including a video iPod. Music videos, movies and tv shows, among other things, are now available from iTunes. I tried it out by downloading my first music video, “Deeper and Deeper” by Madonna. I enjoyed the video so much I downloaded a second Madonna video, “Rain”, one of my favorite tracks of all time.

Jinkees I’m Cranky In The Morning.

This morning I woke up in a bad mood. I don’t know why I felt rather surly; Earl and I had gone to bed at a reasonable hour. I slept the entire night through, save for Earl getting up at 5:30 a.m. and Tom deciding to comb my beard at 6:30 a.m. (apparently 6:30 a.m. is kibble time). But I slept through until 7:30, hopped out of bed, made my lunch and got ready for the day.

While I was cranking around the house and through the early part of my workday, I was formulating a rather cranky blog entry that I never got around to actually typing. I was going to just RANT about things that are driving me crazy these days. I can’t recall the majority of my beefs, but here’s a couple, o.k., here’s a bunch:

1. I’m sick of hearing about the judicial nominee that I call “Raccoon Woman”. She looks evil, as far as I’m concerned, she is evil and she shouldn’t make it to the Supreme Court solely on the basis that she has not been a judge in any capacity, including raping people from their hard earned money over a parking ticket. End of story.

2. I’m also sick of seeing Bush-lite’s dumb ass face up on the television screen. He always has this bewildered, “I Can’t Believe I’m President!” look on his face. I’d have any easier time believing him saying “I can’t believe I’m not butter!” I suspect that he’s Animatronic, but then again the puppets in Disney’s “It’s A Small World” attraction don’t even look that stupid.

3. I’m tired of paying school taxes to our local school. The powers that be want to make damn sure that I don’t ever have kids (through adoption) to send to that school, so why should I pay? I’d rather take that money and give it to a children’s charity instead.

4. I’m sick of this coddling of children. If your child is screaming in the middle of a restaurant, a smack on his or her fanny is not going to scar them for the rest of their lives, damage their id or even make them vomit their dinner. It may shut them up and teach them something in the process. And don’t get me started on “unsafe playgrounds”. I swung around metal monkey bars over a cement pad for years and I will proudly show you the one scar I have on my leg, and that was my own damn vault for trying to turn left when I should have swung right. I learned not to do that again the hard way.

5. While I’m ranting about the school system, any school that forbids the use of red pen because it may upset the student needs to be shut down. And the notice needs to be written in red.

6. I believe all movie theatre should be retrofitted to reject any and all wireless communication, just as new theatres should be constructed without the ability to receive these types of communications. You want to talk on your phone or IM your friends? Stay home. And don’t get mad if I dump a giant slurpee in your lap while you’re chatting on your cell phone.

7. I’m sick of a local ambulance company urging people to REFRAIN from dialing 911 and calling them instead for help. In a similar vein, I’m tired of advertisements for medicines that I will never take. And while I’m on the subject, I have had it up to here with all these new syndromes. “He has failure to thrive syndrome.” “She has tired feet syndrome.” “I think you have Adult ADD syndrome.” You know what? I have “Shut the fuck up syndrome.” I run around telling people how stupid they are and I don’t even need a med that may cause explosive bowels to deal with it, just stop being an asshat and we’ll both be fine.

8. And lastly, I’m tired of the government trying to save us from ourselves. I don’t want to be forced to wear my seat belt, I don’t want to be forced to wear a motorcycle helmet and I sure as shit don’t want to be forced to drive 55 MPH on a four lane highway that is 10 miles from the closest inkling of civilization and 5 miles from the closest tree. If you can’t drive it, park it. Simple as that.

Wow, I feel more energized after getting all that off my chest than I did after my naked nap yesterday. Thanks for listening!

Pride In Yourself.

Today is National Coming Out Day, the day in which closeted gay men and lesbians are urged to come out of the closet and announce to the world, “yes, I am gay.” The tradition is led by the Human Rights Campaign, which has designated this day to show others that there is a huge support mechanism for LGBT folks.

National Coming Out Day started in 1988, three years or so after I came out to myself and started peeking out around the closet doors. Who am I kidding. I had always known of my attraction to the same sex. It was late in 1985 that I actively began admitting it to myself. I’m not going to go into my whole coming out story this year. If you’re interested in the sordid details, feel free to read last year’s Coming Out Day entry.

I just know that someone, somewhere is doing a Google search on being gay today. Perhaps he lives in a country where he could be shot for his homosexuality. Perhaps she is being forced to marry a man because that’s how she was brought up, when she’d reallly like to marry her female teacher or pal from high school. You’re afraid. You’re afraid that you’ll be shunned by your friends, disowned by your family and burned at the stake at the next neighborhood barbecue. And I’m sorry you feel that way. The world is a scary place and there’s a lot of ignorance in the world. But know that you’re not alone. Know that while there is a lot of hate and negativity out there, also know that there is even more positive energy, love and acceptance, often in places that you wouldn’t expect to find it. We know that you didn’t *choose* to be gay, regardless of what others may say about that fact, and we know that you don’t have to live a certain lifestyle simply because you’re attracted to the same sex. Do what your heart tells you to do. Do what feels right to you. If you’re not ready to live your life “out loud” and admit to everyone and anyone that you are gay (I can just picture Billy Bob stopping Thelma the hairdresser on some rural street and saying “I like those queer boys!”) then just do one thing today, actually go ahead and do two things. Look at yourself in the mirror and be honest with yourself. Look at yourself long and hard, reach for your true inner feelings, without any masks, without any fear, without any worries of reprisal. Then say it out loud. “Yes, I am gay.” Then follow it up with “And that’s o.k.”. It’s a baby step. But you’ll feel better for being honest with yourself. Allow yourself that dignity today.

Nap.

Today is an early workday for me, meaning I had to get up at 5:30 a.m. Not a terribly difficult venture, unless you’re a definite “night person” (I am) and you worked on call the night before (I did).

I think I’m going to eat my lunch at my desk today. Then I’ll go home at lunchtime, get naked (I’ve slept in the nude since I was 11, much to the chagrin of my mother when I was a kid) and take a 1/2 hour nap. I don’t know which will be the biggest recharge, the nap or the naked, but nevertheless I’m looking forward to it.

If We Took A Holiday.

Today is Columbus Day here in the United States. Today is the day that we honor Christopher Columbus’s discovery of the Americas. At least, I think that’s what today is all about.

Truth be known, today is one of those weird holidays. Official businesses like the post office, banks, government offices, etc. are closed for the day. Schools are closed. However, many businesses are open and conducting business as usual. Which is sometimes difficult because of the “pick and choose” nature of this holiday. Banks are closed, but the stock market is open. The restaurant down the street from the office is closed, because the state office building is closed, but the rest of the businesses are open and there’s no place for the workers to eat. (Thank goodness for a homemade turkey sandwich!)

What’s kind of odd is that Columbus Day is actually October 12, but today is only October 10. So it’s actually another “relocated” holiday. I think that’s rude. How would you like to be George Washington and have your birthday relocated to February 18 (from February 22) because you were careless enough to not but up properly against a weekend. Same with Memorial Day. And how come Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday? Who came up with that rule? I heard a woman talking in the supermarket commenting that Halloween should be moved to May so that the kids don’t have to go out in the cold in their costumes. I’m sure the spirits would love that.

All I know is that I’m working today while bankers are fanning themselves with their money. Tomorrow we’ll have twice as much junk mail to throw away because our mailbox will be empty tonight. What am I going to do? I’m kiss the ground out front, thank Christopher Columbus for his discovery and then move along.

Google Powers, Activate!

I heard a piece on NPR over the weekend on how popular it has become to Google someone. If you’re not familiar with Google, it’s a search engine that allows you to search web pages on the internet and a whole lot more!

Here’s how it works. Say you’re going on a blind date with someone named John Doe. You go to Google and type “John Doe”, including the quotes, and then type the name of the city John lives in, like “Walla Walla”. There’s advantages and disadvantages to including the city name. First of all, it narrows down the search to “John Doe” in your city, rather than every John Doe in the world. However, if John Doe is on the web but that page doesn’t mention what city he’s from, Google is going to skip over it. This will turn up various results, for example what interests he may have, any criminal records that have appeared in newspapers and if he’s been really liberal with surfing, any sexual activities he may be in to.

Anyways, I’ve been Googling people for years and have passed many a night looking up old friends, old romances and everything. It’s particularly fun when you look up an old flame on Google’s image search. At times you can revel in how haggard that young stud has become!

My old college roommate recently found me through a web search. We haven’t talked in nearly 20 years and have been exchanging e-mails back and forth for the past week catching up on a little bit of our lives. I mentioned an old mutual college friend that was from his hometown (so he knew her much better than I did) and he said that she had become a opera singer. I haven’t even thought about her since college (except maybe fleetingly) and now I’m interested in hearing some of her work. That’s kind of cool.

I must admit that I’m vain enough to Google myself. This blog often ranks high up on Google’s search results, especially if you Google the title “Life Is Such A Sweet Insanity.” I even beat out the television show I stole the title from (it’s a line from the theme to “Valerie”/”Valerie’s Family”/”The Hogan Family” starring Valerie Harper and then later Sandy Duncan.) If you search the same phrase through Google groups, you see newsgroup entries I made as early as 1994.

I guess the moral of the story is to always be aware of what you’re typing on the internet. Anyone, anywhere, can find it at anytime.

Alone With A Camcorder.

So I’ve been messing around with our camcorder and video software on the Mac Mini. I’ve done a little eight second movie to share. I’m being chased by bad guys and need to be beamed up and out of the way.

It’s not nearly as flashy as I would like to be, but we haven’t bought AfterEffects or Motion 2. That’s going to take some convincing on my behalf.

I’m pretty happy for my first little project. Now, on to the Oscars.

Here’s the movie. It requires QuickTime 7.