Saturday, July 31, 2004
Time For Change
It's time for a change. Yes, indeed. So now, I'm naked.
 I mean, part of my face is naked. Face. Look at the face. Right! You'll notice some other things are different too. But, that's just details. Details are not important. The core of things are what's important. My ethereal muse visited me in the shower and gave me a great idea for a sci-fi novel. A GREAT idea. A stupendous, wonderful, wacky, wild idea. And so I have to jot it down real quick-like before I forget it. In other news, my younger daughter spent the night in the hospital out in California with an infection. She should be okay, but I haven't heard if she's out or not. It's still early out there, so I haven't called. Besides, the Beckster will get a hold of me post-haste if there are changes. Get a hold of me if you want to send cards or letters. Bear in mind, though, that she'll be wanting at least a $5 bill enclosed. She is only a kid, you know. ;-)
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Meow
"Meow," said the beautiful blonde.
"Meow?" I said, then gave the orderly a strange look.
The young balding man shrugged. "She's Heather Clarke, the actress."
"Meow," said Heather Clarke. She licked her hand and used it to smooth out her hair.
"What happened?" I asked.
"She snapped last week. Been playing the part of Jemima in Cats for seven years, and now she can't get out of character."
"Hmmm," I said, then turned and did the only thing I could think of. I barked.
Immediately her head dropped, her shoulders raised, and she spat then hissed at me. The hackles at the back of my neck rose, and I growled.
Quick as light, she unsheathed her claws and slashed. I stumbled backwards in pain, blood streaming down my face. I gave her one, long canine gaze, then turned and left. I knew her smell. I could find her again. Anytime.
On the next full moon, I'll get my revenge.
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Some Wine?
When the waiter at the authentic Italian restaurant brought out my dinner, I was shocked to see an enormous meatball covering the entire plate. Swear to God the meatball was as big as my head. Bigger. It eclipsed the spaghetti it was so large. And, cutting into it, imagine my horror to discover a human face inside.
"Waiter!" I exclaimed. "The head of Jimmy Hoffa is inside my meatball!"
The waiter shrugged. "We had to do something with him. He's been in the freezer for years and frankly we're tired of looking at him."
The waiter and I struck a deal. He brought me some complimentary wine, and I didn't make a fuss. Besides, the meal tasted pretty damn good with a '94 Chianti.
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Sugar Baby
She closed her eyes and leaned forward, and whispered "Give me some sugar, baby."
"I only have NutraSweet," he told her.
She pulled back, blinked a couple of times, then tried again. Eyes closed, leaning forward, she said, "Give me some NutraSweet, baby."
He opened a little blue packet and poured the white chemical on her tongue. It tasted sweet enough, but not quite the same. She sighed.
"I can't get used to this modern love," she told him.
"I'm plastic," he replied.
Monday, July 26, 2004
Embrace Emptiness
There is no such thing as an empty room, because the open space is full of possibility.
Monday, July 19, 2004
Bad Patient
I had problems sleeping last night, so I slept through the alarm and consequently am now late for my doctor's appointment. Bad patient. Bad. No free pills for me.
I played with Mandrake 10 this weekend. Loved it. LOVED IT. I think I've finally found a Linux that can truly be used to replace Microsoft on the desktop. We'll see, though. I haven't had the time to run it through it's paces
Sunday, July 18, 2004
Oh, Just Shelve It!
I'm 9400 words into my current "short story" and have finally decided I need to just shelve it. The darn thing would make a good novel, and so I'm just going to save what I have to use as detailed notes for writing that novel. Later.
It's been about 6 months since I've finished anything. I think that qualifies as a fiction writing slump. It's not a block, because I have no problems working on stories. But finishing them... Not good.
I'm wondering if it might have something to do with the Zoloft I've been taking. Since it works on compulsions, it stands to reason it might mess with my compulsion to finish things. I hesitate to stop taking it, though, because while I'm on it I'm a pretty happy guy.
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Firefox Kicks
Mozilla Firefox kicks ass. That's all I have to say about that.
I'm beginning to suspect that I have a female police officer stalking me. On one hand is kinda flattering, but on the other...
Been playing with Linux again, ever since two very nice guys from UTD's Linux Users Group gave me a version called Knoppix Linux, which boots from, and runs completely on, a CD-ROM disk. No installation necessary. It's tres cool, oui! Making me think about giving the new Mandrake 10 a try.
I'm sharing my Internet access with my neighbor. Poor guy is a techie like me, but has been out of work for a long time after being laid off from the Telecom Corridor. He pulled me aside yesterday to tell me he was picking up my network on his wireless laptop, and so I gave him access to the Internet. Makes it easier to search the job sites now that he doesn't have to use slllowww dial up. In gratitude, he gave me a really nice bottle of wine.
Cool! Wine, as you may well know, is good for you. A good example of good karma coming back to you.
We could all use a little of that.
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Live From UTD
I'm writing to you "live" from the University of Texas at Dallas campus. They're having an open house and I'm helping my girlfriend "man" her department's table. [That's actually a pun, but only she would get it.] It's been an interesting weekend. I've been catching up on my Buddhist studies, and am once again struck by how I've been a Buddhist all along and never knew it. We were at Lake Worth yesterday, sitting in a little picnic table at the top of a cliff overlooking the water, and I did my studying while my girlfriend did her jewelry work, and I kept on exclaiming "That makes sense!" and "That's been my philosophy all along!" Meanwhile a student film maker and his cast were making a movie around us, and they, in turn, were being frustrated by their scenes being interrupted by huge military airplanes that were flying practice runs right overhead out of the nearby Air Force base. Last night, I was watching Sex And The City (or is it Sex IN The City?) with my girlie-girlie-girlfriend and kept finding examples in the plot line that fit in with my Buddhist studies. Lots of examples of "suffering." Yeah, it works. Cool. I've definitely found my religion. Yeah. Groovy. I hope all you writers out there are getting some writing done. I've been doing quite a bit but don't feel I'm making any headway. I've got a lot of side projects to keep myself distracted. Hmmm. Why do I do that to myself? Anyway, have a good week, be brilliant, and find some happiness.
Friday, July 09, 2004
Hold That Cell Phone In Plain Sight!
Okay, I figured out a compromise.
When I use my cell phone with the ear wire, I will hold the cell phone in plain sight so that it is obvious I'm using it. That way I won't be one of those special people who walk around talking to invisible friends.
I can't believe how much better the phone works with the wire. It even seems to help the signal reception, like it's an antenna extension.
Another Friday! The weekend is here!
Thursday, July 08, 2004
Irony
irony: n. - Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs.
You know what I hate? I hate having someone walk up, talking to me, and I have no idea what they're talking about, and I feel I've missed something and am revealing my stupidity, and then it turns out the person isn't even talking to me. There's a wire sticking out of the person's ear leading down to a hidden mobile phone.
Man, I really hate that.
My new mobile phone came with one of those wires.
I love it.
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
RUN AWAY!
This is what happens when you let your girlfriend talk you into letting her give you a facial.
Monday, July 05, 2004
Flash Bang Magic Jewelry Shop
Sitting on the front patio, listening to birds and feeling a wonderful, caressing breeze, I sit here typing away on my little high tech gadget and, just now, my girlie-girlie-girlfriend brings me out a cup of coffee and says, "It's pretty out here." We kiss, and tell each other how much love we're feeling, and she goes back inside to finish cooking breakfast.
Now, I tell you, there is no better way on Earth to spend a Monday morning.
Lauren makes jewelry...
...and Friday night we were at Cafe Brazil sharing some coffee and cheese potatoes...
...and my sweetie pulled out some of her bracelets to show our waitress...
...and within minutes we have a crowd around us, and Lauren has opened what I have come to think of as her "flash bang magic jewelry shop" which, like the Spanish Inquisition, nobody expects, and which just appears out of nowhere. She makes quite a bit of money all at once, enough to pay our tab several times over, and then flash-bang-boom the jewelry shop is gone again, and we're just sitting there sipping coffee and watching the space aliens that tend to show up every night.
On July 3rd we went to Addison and celebrated "Kaboom Town" fireworks, sitting on the lawn in front of a Bank-of-America with several dozen others, and we got goofy and I started taking pictures of us together. So here I present to you, me and my girlfriend...
Hope you had a happy July 4th and, for all you out there who don't have the day off today, don't work too hard!
Friday, July 02, 2004
From Inside The Cave
Friday! Yes, oh yes! And a three day weekend to boot! Wahoo! And my wonderful, awesome girlie-girlie-girlfriend took Monday off too, so we can just laze around together and be silly. Now that is a wonderful way to spend an otherwise dreaded Monday.
Tomorrow I'm supposed to be getting my much higher speed, lower cost Internet access at my apartment (otherwise known as "The Cave") and so I'll be dropping my DSL (I have nothing but irritated, nasty things to say about SBC Yahoo DSL) and then, toward the middle of the month, I'm going to sign up for Vonnage, which will give me unlimited telephone access via the broadband line, after which I'll drop my SBC account entirely and save another chunk of money.
I know, I know ... what if the power goes out? I'll have no phone. Well, being that I have nothing but cordless phones anyway, that's already my problem. But, now, anyway, I have a mobile phone, so that won't be a problem regardless. If I got better reception in The Cave I wouldn't even need Vonnage. As it is, if I want to use my mobile phone from here, I have to walk up the hill. I tell you, I live in a hole. I don't get any TV reception down here and barely any radio, either. I have to listen to Internet radio.
But it's weird, I kinda like it this way. It's like I'm an Internet hermit, or something.
Thursday, July 01, 2004
Not a happy guy am I
I'm doing something wrong.
For months I'd step out of the shower, stand on the bathroom scale, and be consistently rewarded with a number lower than the time before.
For the past two weeks, however, this has not been the case.
Like, bummer dude. This is totally bogus. Not a happy guy am I.
Or, well, maybe not ... I am actually quite happy (winking at Lauren) ... which is perhaps why I am no longer losing weight? Is it happy fat?
So be it. 
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