Life Is Such A Sweet Insanity.

Overloaded Geek.

O.k. I admit that I’ve O.D.’d on technology over the past couple of days. I’m at the point where I want to throw out all the non-Mac computers I have in the basement. (I’ll probably just give them out to family members as presents though.) I’m selling off unwanted clocks in my collection. I haven’t turned on my cell phone in quite a few days.

Pretty sad when your job is technology based, isn’t it?

I think I’m going to read a book instead of surfing the internet tonight. Perhaps Earl and I will play a board game. If we watch the State of the Union we could call it a Bored Game. I won’t watch the State of the Union though because I can’t stand Bush Lite’s “I can’t believe I’m President!” look whenever he speaks in public. I read his expression as “These dumb asses voted me in!” I’ve seen more intellectual expressions on roadkill.

What was I saying? Oh yes, technology. I’m in the mood where I don’t want to touch tone my way to a phone call. I want to DIAL the phone. There’s too much in the way of beeping and flashing lights going on around me today. “Thank you for calling Diggem Funeral Home. If a family member has died, press 1. If you’re still breathing, press 2. If someone close to you is ready to flat line, press 3.” Why can’t people answer the friggin’ phone anymore? Don’t screen me, I’m important.

Now I’m babbling. On a computer. Maybe I’ll shut the Powerbook for a while.

31 January 2006 by J.P. Geek 0

Paths.

I’m feeling all spiritual today. I don’t know if it’s because I slept surprisingly well last night, because I had a rather sedate weekend or if it’s because maybe I have indigestion or something, but I’ve been thinking this morning about this whole chaotic existence we call life.

As a reincarnationist, I believe that we all have a journey to follow down a pre-chosen path. We are here for a reason and that’s to experience all we can experience and then learn from what we’ve encountered. As we reincarnate, we subconsciously know what we’ve learned in previous lives, though we can’t remember the specifics, and then we add more to our “knowledgebase” as we continue to move down our chosen course.

Remembering these beliefs helps me curb frustration I feel towards people that I view as acting rather idiotic. The person that drove through the red light. The woman that pushed an elderly man out of the way in the grocery store. The man that seems to be stumbling his way through life, making one bumbling mistake after another. I just tell myself that these people are learning, just as I’m learning how to be less frustrated and more tolerant of others. Some of us have reincarnated more, jumping into the pool with both feet and swimming to the other side so that we just get back up on the diving board and do it all over again, while others stick their toes in, try the water out for a little bit and then sit and watch from the sidelines for a while before doing it again.

Some people don’t like the idea of a pre-chosen destiny. “You’re destined to be smart.” “He’s going to be rich and famous.” “She’s going to die at a young age.” When these things occur, not only is the subject learning from the experience, but those around them are learning from the experience as well. LIfe is a great puzzle where all the pieces fit together in an intricate pattern.

Next time you’re sitting somewhere, depressed because whatever is happening doesn’t seem right, instead of thinking about how dreadful the situation is, try to concentrate on learning from what’s wrong with it and what you need to do to make it right.

Gosh, that previous paragraph sounds quite preachy and bossy. But it’s something that I’ve just figured out for myself over the past couple of months. And I just needed to share.

30 January 2006 by J.P. Spiritual Stuff. 1

Zoom.

You know, I find it a little humorous that I was sitting at home on Friday night thinking, “Gee, the entire weekend is stretched out in front of me and I’m sitting at home on call.” Next thing I know, it’s Sunday night and I’m in the midst of preparing for the work week.

I wish I could tell you what we did this weekend that made it fly by so quickly.

Looking back, I don’t really know what I’ve done that made the time pass. Laundry is caught up. I even washed the sheets for the second time this week. (Usually we wait until Tom makes burying motions with his paws, then we know the sheets are getting kind of gross.) I’ve sorted out the junk in the basement enough to know what computers are going to the dumpster and what computers are staying in my lab. I had eight computers down there. Only three are worth anything. The trash man is going to love me this week.

Last night we watched “Brother Bear” on DVD and then followed it up with an episode of the Superfriends, followed by the more cerebral but no less entertaining “SportsNight”.

I don’t feel like anything has been accomplished, but I do feel quite good about the weekend I guess. I just have no idea where it went.

29 January 2006 by J.P. Ponderings and Musings 0

Practice Makes Perfect.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a huge “Bewitched” fan. I absolutely adore the show and have ever since I was a little kid. As a fan, I’ve often participated on the message boards at a website devoted to the show, Harpies Bizarre. There’s currently a discussion going on about who can twitch their nose like Samantha did and who can’t.

I’ve got about 30 years of practice behind me, but I am proud to say that I can twitch my nose with the best of them. And for the first time ever, this amazing feat is available for the general viewing audience.

If you have Quicktime, you can this wonderous act here.

Enjoy.

29 January 2006 by J.P. Video. 1

Serious Geek.

Serious Geek.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

As I whittle the day away playing on the computer, taking care of work stuff and catching up on laundry, I’m finding that my eyes were getting a little tired.

So here I am in my Clark Kent persona. Savor the picture, it’s rare that I wear my glasses.

28 January 2006 by J.P. Geek 0

Fab.

With traditional television having little to offer these days, Earl and I often find ourselves watching Logo, the “all-gay” channel owned by Viacom, parent of CBS, MTV and that whole bunch of stuff. One of tonight’s offerings was “Kyliefever 2002”, Kylie Minogue’s 2002 concert in Manchester during her “Fever” promotional tour. What a fun concert to watch! Energetic, colorful and full of catchy tunes, I really feel the need to go out and grab the DVD so I can see it without commercial interruption. I wish I knew about this concert sooner!

Kylie Minogue

Kylie Minogue has been around since the late 1980s. She began her career as a star on the soap opera “Neighbours” and then hit the charts as a female vocalist for the production team of Stock, Aiken and Waterman, who also produced a bunch of other music at the time including “Together Forever” and “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley, “That’s What Love Can Do” by Boy Krazy and Donna Summer’s late 1980s album “Another Place And Time” which includes the single “This Time I Know It’s For Real.” Her early singles included “I Should Be So Lucky” and the number one remake of “The Locomotion”.

Kylie’s fame was then pretty much limited to Europe and Australia, though she maintained a gay following here in the states. In 2000 she made her comeback here in the states with the album “Light Years”, which featured the single “Spinning Around.” It was popular in the clubs, but not that big on the radio.

I have always been a fan of Kylie Minogue, so I tried to help her along here in the states by programming “Spinning Around” into heavy airplay back during my radio days. The song is fun and was very “Wow Worthy” at the time. I didn’t even get an autograph for my efforts. (At least Madonna sent me a gold record for helping out with “Ray of Light”.) Oh well.

Kylie then released the album “Fever”, featuring the songs “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” and “Come Into My World”, the former being written by a dance diva from my baby DJ days, the wonderful Cathy Dennis.

Cathy Dennis

Many remember Cathy Dennis for her 1990 album “Move To This”, which includes “Touch Me (All Night Long)” and “Just Another Dream”. Side note: Contrary to popular belief, Rick Astley did NOT sing the male backups on “Just Another Dream”, they were sung by D-Mob’s Dancin’ Danny D.. Cathy stepped out of the limelight and became known for her songwriting. In fact, if you’re a fan of American Idol, you hear her ever week; she co-wrote the theme song and she’s the voice of the “Oh Whoa Whoa”.

It’s music like this that gets me jazzed about being a DJ. It’s totally fabulous.

27 January 2006 by J.P. DJ 1

Close Up.

I was just interviewed on the street for a segment on a local talk show.

Them: “What excuse do you like to use when you call in for work?”

Me: “I don’t want to work.” (Leave it to me to state the obvious).

Them: “So you tell your boss you don’t want to work.”

Me: “Yeah, I say ‘I’m not in the mood to work.'”

Them: “What if he’s not in the mood to pay you?”

Me: “Then I go to work.” (Again, leave it to me to state the obvious).

The interview then did one of those television chuckles. Ah ha ha ha ha ha. Where the mouth moves up and down abnormally. They then said thanks and moved on to their next victim.

I’m ready for my close up.

27 January 2006 by J.P. Ponderings and Musings 0

Lucky Cat.

Lucky Cat.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

When work gets a little too hectic, I simply look over to the corner of my desk and gaze upon my few pictures, my two paperweights and Lucky Cat.

He’s from Epcot at Disneyworld. I picked him up during our trip in 2000. This is the second desk he has lived on.

I believe that one’s work area should contain just enough personal items to make the space feel comfortable, but be sparse enough that it can all be picked up in five minutes or less in case of lay off or other employment catastrophe.

Here’s another picture of my knick knack corner.

26 January 2006 by J.P. Flickr 2

Odd Time.

Being somewhat obsessive-compulsive about most everything in the world, I am having a bit of a dilemna at lunch today. It’s no big thing really, but it has me completely thrown off my game.

I started my lunch hour at 1:53 p.m.

This means I have to be back at my desk by 2:53 p.m.

This has me utterly befuddled. I must leave our home precisely 15 minutes before the end of my lunch hour so that I can be at my desk at the proper time utilizing a comfortable pace to get there. I can’t leave 16 minutes before because then I get there a minute too early, I can’t leave 14 minutes before because then I have to rush due to the fact that I absolutely hate being late.

“So? Leave at 1:38 p.m.”, you say to yourself.

You see, that doesn’t fit right with me because I like to do things on an “even” time. If it’s not divisible by five, it’s not happening. I don’t know why I’m like this when it comes to time, but I am.

I set my alarm for x:30. I lie in bed until x:35. (The ‘x’ is variable due to my rotating shift at work). I take a shower at x:00. I leave for work at the following x:40. It’s all on the mark when looking at a clock. I once dated a guy that told me he sets his alarm for 6:33. I didn’t see him again after I found that out.

I used to shriek at my sister when we were kids that she had “five minutes” to get out to my car if she didn’t want to ride the bus to school. I declared this threat at precisely 7:30 a.m. every school morning and I had all the clocks in the house synchronized. (By the way, this threat was worth something as she apparently felt much ‘cooler’ in a ’74 Vega.) Thinking back, it’s a wonder I made it through school following a bell schedule constructed so that 5th period went from 11:37 to 12:18. In fact, all eight periods were off-time like that and I won’t bore you with the entire schedule though I could recite it from memory if prompted to.

I’d like to say that all this is probably due to the fact that I have a very organized, regimented mind and that I need structure.

Nah, I’m just odd. (And proud of it!)

26 January 2006 by J.P. Quirky. 0

Hmmm.

Earl and I went to see the national tour of “Oklahoma!” at the local theatre tonight. We had been “Broadway Theatre League” members years ago but after a couple of years we dropped out and hadn’t been to a production in quite a while. I bought these tickets as a Christmas present for Earl, thinking we could make a date night of it, which we did and enjoyed very much.

It’s unfortunate that we didn’t really enjoy the performance.

Both Earl and I are very familiar with the show. My high school performed “Oklahoma!” when I was in 8th grade and though I was just an audience member for that production, I remember the energy radiating from the stage inspired me to become involved in local theatre and the following high school productions. Earl is very familiar with the movie version of “Oklahoma!”. I sang tracks from the score in a dinner theatre/ensemble type setting in college. A number of years ago we attended another high school production of the classic musical.

We both agreed that the high school productions we had seen in the past were better than the national tour version of the show tonight.

Tonight’s production just lacked energy. Period. The set was sparse. A stalk of corn, a windmill, an old woman and a butter churn was all that was on stage when the show opened. The backdrops were wrinkled. The lighting was not good, creating shadows where shadows should not be. The pacing was mind numbingly slow. The majority of the cast seemed like they were simply going through the motions. And the actor playing Curly sang through his nose. The show started at 8:00 p.m. on the dot. Intermission didn’t come along until 9:45 p.m. One and three quarter hours for the first act! There were some bright spots in the production; the actress playing Laurie had a beautiful voice and Gertie Cummings’ obnoxious laugh was played to the hilt. And luckily, there was a very handsome dancer on stage with a nice full beard who was wearing a pair of chaps and a cowboy hat (and some other clothes too). That held my attention during the crowd scenes.

Intermission finally rolled around and Earl and I did something we never had done before. We left before the second act. Sadly, we weren’t alone by a long shot, evidenced by the relatively large number of people that headed to their cars when we did. We went out and got a bite to eat.

We still had a nice time together. We were just disappointed in the show. Perhaps the second act surpassed the first in energy and pacing, but I somehow doubt it. Tonight was the second night of the two day run here; I had heard rumors that the review in the paper this morning was not good. Now I know why.

25 January 2006 by J.P. Fun and Games Dept 1

Overloaded Geek.

Paths.

Zoom.

Practice Makes Perfect.

Serious Geek.

Fab.

Close Up.

Lucky Cat.

Odd Time.

Hmmm.

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