65 days to go
Part II: Elation

I'm in about the best state I've ever been in. Happy. Content. Thrilled.

Why? Because my loans and grants outweigh my tuition. This time around, it's a nice, nice, nice check.

Drinks, my friends, are on me.

65 days to go

This entire week, I've waken up before the alarm goes off. This morning, it was a whole hour before. That's just not cool. Fortunately, I was able to get some more sleep.

They say that classical music stimulates the mind. This is a dangerous thing for me, as I don't think you need to stimulate it further. I've been listening to classical as I fall asleep. I think it's starting to effect my dreams, but I haven't been writing them down lately, so I'm not sure. More on that when I get more curious.

Sam Phillips. What a guy.

That's all for this morning.

66 days to go
Part IV: The happy and the sad of it

I was at a friend's house a bit ago listening to the Sox game, and realized that their score would be a palindrome if they scored 1 run in the 8th inning. They did, and I found out about it about 15 minutes ago, and just had to call my friend.

Then, I find out that Sam Phillips died today. Kinda put a downer on things. After all, my hero was found by Sam way back in the day, and I have always loved Sun Records. Rockabilly has a special place in my heart. My condolences to the family, fans and friends of Sam.

66 days to go
Part III: What a weird, wild life I've lead.

I just read about 8 months of my life that I haven't really thought about in a while. It was a really turbulent time for me- that's about the best explanation I can give. There was a lot of sad stuff, a lot of happy stuff, and a lot of weird stuff.

I got a little misty, but not until I walked over the to coffee table and bumped my knee on it. Before that, I was just plain amazed at how I've managed to get here from then.

Amazing.

66 days to go
Part II: People's Gas

Never showed up. I even waited an extra hour. My job, although has its benefits, is getting tiresome. I waited for 3 hours for these guys. Guess what I did yesterday? Waited for the building inspectors. Guess what I'm doing tomorrow? Waiting for the door manufacturer's truck to show up to pick up all the doors that they incorrectly ordered and sent us. I'm sure I'll be rapt with glee tomorrow afternoon, when they show up at 3:30, when I have to get ready for my big Senior Project meeting.

Sorry. I guess I'm not even gleeful now.

Ah. The Mana Mana song from the Muppets just came on my MusicMatch Jukebox. A nice little pick me up, to be sure.

Plus I stopped thinking about tomorrow and all the just plain doldrums I'll walk through before tomorrow night.

I was just writing my friend Wendy, and moved some e-mails around, when I noticed I have 299 e-mails from her saved up. Wow. They go all the way back to April of last year. Of course, we tend to write each other about 3 times a day, I guess that's not so shocking then.

Still- wow. I'm finding them extremely fun to read- a kind of diary that I didn't expect to find, telling each other about how crazy our lives were back then. Wow.

That's all for now. Simpsons is on soon and I'm hungry and grumpy. Listening to old Asia songs makes me feel funny.

Sniffle for the 80's. Man. Good times.

66 days to go

It's almost August. Wow. Time flies.
I'm almost thirty. Wow. Time flies.

I'm sure that's what my parents and grandparents are thinking. After all, they remember everything about me being born and the like. Me, I don't get solid memories until I was about 2 1/2- at least stuff I really remember, like my brother coming home from the hospital. He, of course, is finishing the bar exam today. Good luck to him.

He's getting married in 73 days. Again, good luck to him.

I'm ready to hit the road today. Getting to work means I can get out of work earlier, I hope.

That's all for now. Go forth and enjoy your day.

67 days to go
Part II: Baby, it's alright now.

The Redhead who wears crimson did something very odd to me today. She made me happy and turn a little crimson myself at the same time. She's good at that.

My day has drastically improved from all the swearing and angriness there was earlier. The ice cream machine at school gave me two strawberry cheesecake ice cream bars instead of just one. My meeting with my senior project team was amazingly productive.

Now, I need dinner. I think I earned a beer for myself as well. Sounds like a trip to the Osco is in my future. Maybe, just maybe, I'll get some Thai food. I'm in the mood for spicy. Although tacos sound good now, too. Oh boy, the decisions I have to make.

67 days to go

I got home for lunch and realized that I neglected to blog at y'all this morning. I'm sure it rocked your world. Sorry. Sarcasm doesn't communicate well when I type.

Today has been a frustrating day. I need to download a huge file from Sun Microsystems, and I can't get the damn thing to work. I'm getting to be rather pissed off. Their download manager doesn't seem to want to work on my system, either, making this really tiresome.

Eureeka! I've figured it out. Smart guy that I am, I finally get around to reading the readme.txt, and discover that in order to run the handy-dandy download manager, you need to have installed(drumroll please) JAVA on your system!

How the f**k am I supposed to download the 77.1 MB JAVA platform if I need to have the download manager, which doesn't work without the platform?

Oh wait, there's another goddam hoop to jump through. There's always another.

Man. All this for an education?

68 days to go
Part II: long day's journey into night

Hard to motivate myself this day. But, now that it's over, it's getting easier to want to do stuff. I think I'm going to get some work done around the house. Spruce up the old homestead, right?

Of course, my attitude improved dramatically when I started breaking up drywall with punches and kicks.

Ah, the wonders of breaking stuff.

I'm getting sick of debit MasterCard commercials. They're boring.

I'm rambling aimlessly today.

68 days to go

I love having friends who care about me. It's a good feeling.

I fell asleep listening to Mozart last night. That's a good feeling as well.

I woke up long before the alarm this morning, though. That's not a good feeling.

Well, that's all for now. I figure I'll be more inspired to write later on.

I hope.

69 days to go

I'll say it again, just because it's funny:

69 days to go

You gotta love that.

My friends, I'm tired of single life. I have been for a long time, and I keep thinking that I've found the right person and that person keeps thinking differently from me, or some other thing happens to screw things up. Enough on that. Relationships are usually more hastle than they're worth, with rare exception. So, when you find that exception, run with it, baby. Run like hell.

It's Sunday morning, muggy as hell. I think the air is going to come on in a couple minutes. My sinus problems are now just a bad cough, and there's cold pizza for lunch. Gross.

At the rate I'm going, I'm only a couple steps away from quoting Liz Phair lyrics all over my blog.

Maybe I should quit while I'm ahead.

70 days to go
Part II: Wasting time

I'm good at it. I needed a brain off day, methinks. No thinking, just relaxing. Downloading songs. It's fun.

I earned it.

Now, I should start figuring out what I want to do tonight. I still think that movies and my sofa are in order.

Of course, I should also get around to doing the dishes and cleaning the apartment. One of these days.

Maybe tomorrow.

70 days to go

Wow. Only 70.

I woke up with a start at a little before 7 this morning, realized my alarm was off, and went running to the bathroom. I had already brushed my teeth and started the water in the shower before I realized it was Saturday.

Life's funny like that. So's my brain.

The Sox won last night. It was fun. I can now say that I saw Frank Thomas hit his 400th home run. Too bad I don't like Frank Thomas. He whines too much.

I think that tonight will involve movies and my couch. I need a night in, after the last couple nights. So does my wallet.

I found the ultimate birthday gift for me, for those looking to impress me with their generosity. Macallan makes a 30 year old scotch. Macallan is my favorite scotch. I'll be 30 this year. Works out well, doesn't it?

There you have it!

71 days to go
Part II: Happiness

I don't usually feel so happy, but I do right now.

Of course, I'm listening to the songs I downloaded this morning, eating Burger King and I have money in my wallet.

I'm also headed down to Sox Park tonight to watch some baseball. As I've said, I'm not really a fan. I just like the atmosphere and the friends I have. Of course, the group of people I'm going with could make a dog show interesting to me. That says a lot, considering I don't like dogs.

I had a good day, except for the lingering sinus problems I'm having.

There you have it! I have to hit the showers so I can get downtown to meet up with the cronies.

71 days to go

Just because you stay out really late after seeing Dave Attell, it doesn't mean that he's going to show up.

Repeat that a couple thousand times, and then think about me.

Then throw a biscuit at my head. Or a used tire. That would probably hurt more. I might learn my lesson then.

MIGHT.

The TTPAAS has been dropped to yellow. I'm too tired to freak out today.

Off to work!

Oy!

72 days to go
Part II: The wonders of Zanie's

My friend who works at said comedy club, who knows Dave Attell, got us on the list for tonight. Thanks, of course, to her, but also to Dave, for putting us on his list.

That's one hell of a guy.

72 days to go

Go to see my little brother last night. Always a good time. Crashed the company party. What fun.

Ran into a couple old friends, and avoided a couple old non-friends. Amazing who shows up at these meetings.

TTPAAS has retained its orange status. I feel a little old this morning, after playing 5 games of air hockey. Plus, I couldn't quite get to sleep last night, so I'm tired.

Not really looking forward to this morning's work. I've got nothing but boredom slated for my workday. Hopefully, I won't go crazy. Hopefully I'll get ahead on my JAVA learning.

Speaking of which, I should be on my way.

73 days to go
Part II: something witty this way comes

Ok, maybe not, but I'll try.

Sorry, used up all the wittiness I had on a phone call while this page was staring at me. Such is life.

Current status:

A little stuffy
A little hungry
A little tired

The TTPAAS has just been upgraded to Orange. Don't ask why. Just accept.

I'm off. JAVA is still out there.

huhuhuhuhuhuhuh... I'm hunting applets.

73 days to go

73. It's a good number. A good year to be born.

Ironically, today is my brother's first official day of full-time work at the company I worked for for 10 years. Today would have been my 14th anniversary.

Irony.

My under the weather feeling has gotten a little better. Slightly.

That's all I got this morning folks, the brain still isn't all there.

74 days to go
Part III: JAVA anyone?

It's going a little slower than I expected, but I'm hammering through it. I'm not so dumb.

At least, not when it comes to computer languages.

There's some other stuff that I'm really good at, but I won't get into those right now. I'm feeling a little under the weather. Like allergies are starting up for me, but WGN's own Tom Skilling(Chicago's greatest weatherman) tells me that there isn't much pollen in the air.

Back to the books, folks.

74 days to go
Part II: Why I left corporate America

Most everyone I know knows that I was in corporate America a few years ago, and left it. I was disgusted with the company I was working for, and I hated them for all the things they did to me over the years. Now, I know, I could/should have quit long before it got that bad, but let's face it. Human beings long for comfort. We like to know that that next paycheck is going to be there if we keep out mouths shut for another 2 weeks.

My brother is about to enter into a full-time position with the same company I wasted almost 10 years of my life working for. We had a nice bitch session earlier today.

Such is life.

He's got the right idea though, only work there for a year or two. Best way to handle them.

Anyways, that's my lunchtime blog for today.

Blog on, you crazy diamond.

74 days to go

Odd night followed by an odd feeling... and a weird dream. Why, oh why, would I think to make Meow Mix shaped like chinese characters?

Yeah, if you let it go every once in a while, you'll see how weird my imagination can be.

I applied online to a job yesterday. It sounds like fun, I hope it is what I think it is(the ad wasn't terribly specific) but it sure seems to fit my skill set.

It's something IT again, that's what's important. Getting back into the field is what's really important to me. It wouldn't hurt to start making real money again, either.

Not to mention having insurance. That would be nice.

Hopefully, I'll hear from them later.

Hopefully.

75 days to go
Part II: Life, the Universe and Everything

It's all on my mind today. Remember when I was explaining how I'm always thinking about 10 things at once? Well, it was going on today. Here's some of the highlights:

I want a real job again. I really do. I love what I do now, but I think it's time I got back to making money again. It's time.
I want to move into a condo. I know. It's expensive, but we just bought a building in my neighborhood. I'm hoping that I'll be in there.

Ok, not a lot of highlights, but I'm hungry, so I can't think straight.

I'm off. I need food.

75 days to go

We got our butts kicked at pub quiz last night. Worst part was, it was a "Guy Thing" night, but I don't know anything about college football, so we got killed. I did, however, have the line of the week, potentially the best joke of the year.

I am the king of off-color remarks.

Yeah. It's hot. I'm unhappy.

Time for work.

76 days to go

I quit. I'm done. I go out for a nice, easy night, and it turns into a nightmare of barhopping. It was just running into people I knew at just the right times, or wrong times, depending on how you look at it. Amazing, though. I got to know my neighbors a little better, though.

Gotta get back to JAVA.

Oy.

77 days to go
Part III: The internet is the coolest thing ever.

I just downloaded the Muppet Show theme song. That's not the amazing part, or even the point. It's in Hebrew. I sh!t you not. Hebrew.

Tell me that's not cool.

77 days to go
Part II: Ray's day

I've been getting stuff done. Well, not really. I just got off my ass and went shopping. Bought some CD's. I'm happy now. Here's what I bought:

Sandinista! by the Clash. It's the only Clash album I didn't own.
Hail tot he Thief by Radiohead. I figured I was going to eventually buy it, so I might as well.
Come Down by The Dandy Warhols. I read a good review on this one, and I've listened to them since college.
This Business of Art by Tegan and Sara. If you haven't heard them, get to know these twins from Canada. They're good.

My brother is going to be in town this week. That's going to be fun!

The Minnesota Wild are playing the hated Dallas Stars the night before Thanksgiving this year. Guess what I want to do the night before Thanksgiving. Hockey season starts 4 days after my birthday. Hockey is very much on the brain today. This is appropriate, as I am dedicating my day to Ray Bourque.

I think I'm going a little crazy with the links again. Too much?

I'm off. It's shower time.

dave

77 days to go

My day today is dedicated to Ray Bourque. Although I'm still bitter about Colorado winning the Stanley Cup, I do have a warm, happy place in my heart for good ol' Ray.

Someone shoud write a song about him. That someone shouldn't be me.

It's late. I'm hung over. I'm too old to be staying out all hours and trying to be human the next day. I'm just not up to it anymore.

Someone should write a song about me. That someone shouldn't be me.

Friendster is a confusing mess. I can't figure out what the hell is going on there. I need someone to explain it to me. Just not in song format, please.

I think that tonight should be a karaoke night. Why? I'm not sure. I just think it should be. I'm going to practice my best Jim Morrison and take a shower. Maybe I'll practice while I'm in the shower. Just you wait and see.

Be excellent to one another.

dave

78 days to go
Part III: Ok, I've got absolutely nothing today.

I really don't. I joined Friendster today, long after a friend of mine asked me to join, and after Wendy joined herself. Not to mention I heard it on WGN News this morning.

In case you haven't noticed, I'm going a little nuts with the links today. I'll try to cut down. Promise.

I'm off to take a shower. I could use one.

That's all for now!

dave

78 days to go
Part II: I don't wanna work. I just wanna bang on me drums all day.

I love coming home for lunch. The food's cheap. The chef is a bit of a grouch, but if you can get past that you're ok.

I ate out yesterday, that was cool, too, as I know the chef where I ate. Ginger's has been very, very good to me.

Very.

Anyways, I'm eating, and I'd like to concentrate on that.

Be good! I'll blog later.

dave

78 days to go

It's Friday. It's dreary out. Such is life.

I'm hungry. It's still dreary out. Such is life.

This morning's theme? Such is life.

That's really all I have this morning. I know, it's not terribly inventive, but I don't think my mind's awake yet. Still reeling from the idea that I'm project manager for this project. Work, work, work.

I have a good team, though. I have confidence in them, and they're crazy enough to believe I can run this thing.

I think we can pull it off. I really think we can.

I'm off. Shower time, then work, then I'll blog something more coherent.

dave

79 days to go
Part III: How do I get myself in these positions?

I walk into Senior Project, a class I wasn't feeling too confident I should take this term, and lo a behold, 30 minutes later I'm Project Manager. We're doing a website. In JAVA. This would be ok, if I knew JAVA. Guess what I'll be doing this weekend?

That's right, learning JAVA.

To quote A Mighty Wind, wha' happen?

dave

79 days to go
Part II: I wish I had Bubbleshoes on instead of my wet shoes.

It rained, or perhaps still is raining, really hard here in the city by the lake. My shoes are really wet, and that makes me unhappy. It also brings up the rare occasion where I wish I had a car again. Mostly so I could still have dry feet, and not feel so miserable.

Not to mention that I'm early for class. Again. At least it's only 30 minutes instead of a week, right? Silly me.

I spent my morning preventing people from walking underneath a crane carrying drywall into a 3rd story window, ya know, just in case something heavy fell on someone's head. It's amazing how absolutely idiotic some people are. I had barriers set up on either side of the building, right in the middle of the sidewalk, and stood by one end. Get this- people still went around me and tried to walk under the crane! Not just once or twice, but six times! What kind of idiots are walking Wrigleyville these days?

Yes, things did fall, but fortunately no one was underneath them when they fell. I guess Darwin wasn't planning on idiots having good timing.

That's all. I've got class to get to soon.

dave

79 days to go

Ah, the life of a farmer. Ok. It's not that early, but somehow that's what I feel like.

Of course, if I want to get anything done this morning, everything has to be hurried. I don't like that much. I like to settle into my day. Maybe it's an age thing.

The AHL won't be starting their season until October 8th. They'll miss my birthday. I have to admit to being somewhat saddened by this, but there's really nothing to be done about it. I may just have to miss the home opener for the first time in 3 years.

Oh well. Sometimes the fates have other plans for us, no?

dave

Around to thirty in 80 days

Sorry, I don't have anything really important or even pressing to talk about, I just finally worked out a way to incorporate Around the World in 80 Days into a title for my little part of cyberspace.

I stink. I'm dirty from all the junk I was hauling around the worksite today.

Don't worry. The shower is coming up in about 5, 4, 3, 2, 1......

dave

80 days to go
Part II: Pennies from heaven

Well, more accurately, from the trees above. Still more accurately, it was birdcrap, not pennies. A bird was kind enough to crap on my arm as I was biking home for lunch. Kinda summed up my mood, though. Elation is nowhere near my house today.

It was last night, briefly. I got a call from a friend of mine from college. She's so cool, and I miss her. She asked me if I still loved her. Of course I do. She's a good friend, and an amazing woman to boot. I tells ya, if she weren't already married, I'd try to woo her. And woo I would.

Enough on that. It was fun to talk to her, however briefly. I get to see her in 2 months. I'm looking forward to it. She's going to be my date to a wedding. I think I might get a tattoo afterwards, just for fun. I'm kooky like that.

Remember that come-to-work-early call I got? Well, the folks I had to show up early for didn't show. That's fairly typical in my line of work. Doesn't make me less pissy, though.

Ah well. I'm supposed to be eating, and I'm typing instead. I'm going to remedy that.

dave

80 days to go

I'm sure I'll start freaking out a lot more often, especially since the number is getting small. 80 days. Damn. That ain't that many to go. But as I told some friends the other night, I'd much rather by 30 than 29. At least I won't have that looming birthday anymore. Of course, will there still be my highly entertaining blog? Maybe. I haven't decided if I'll keep it running or let it fade into obscurity. I'll decide later.

Well, I got one of those phone calls this morning, gotta go into work extra early, so I'm cutting everything short so I can get there. Including this.

So, I'll be working close to home today, so I'll probably write more around lunch time.

dave

81 days to go
Part III: All stars and stand-up

I'll give you four American Dollars for your jacket!

As I have mentioned before, I am not the biggest baseball fan in the world. Not anymore, and even when I was, I wasn't that big a fan. So, instead of watching the world's most boring baseball game, I watched Last Comic Standing to see if I could get a laugh out of it, which I did, because the people on there are funny as hell. Well, most of them are. Let's say that my personal favorite was ousted tonight. I switched up during commercials to see if anything remotely interesting was happening during the game. I saw something that made me mad.

What the hell is it with fans? Why do they feel the need to go after baseballs? I can understand if you want a souvenir, that's acceptable, but if you're so dumb as to not know that the umpire signaled that the ball was fair, you don't deserve the seats you're sitting in down the 3rd base line, folks. I hope the offenders went to baseball jail and were thrown out.

Of course, this is the All-Star game, invented right here in Chicago. No empty seats allowed. I'm sure they got yelled at, but they didn't go to baseball jail. I've been there. ONCE. Only one visit. What made me mad is that last summer I was at a game at Comiskey, and a fan interferred with a ball in play, just like the ENTIRE WORLD saw tonight, and it took security almost 90 second to get the guy, who didn't even move! He was right there, in his seat. According to everything I've read, you're supposed to be thrown out of the game WHENEVER you interfere with a ball in play.

I, on the other hand, was thrown in baseball jail for doing something honorable. I spit beer in the Cleveland Indians dougout once. It took all of 10 seconds before I was flanked by security. So, which is the worse offense? Interferring with a ball in play or expressing yourself rudely?

Anyways, I'm just mad about that. Seems like a double standard to me. Something like that.

I'll return you to your regularly scheduled web surfing now.

dave

81 days to go
Part Two: Hot!

Yes, it is. My old boss used to say that you can only complain about one kind of weather, meaning either heat or cold. Me, I wear shorts year round. So guess which one I bitch about. Of course, heat usually causes me to take two showers a day, and I like taking showers.

Prior to today, I had only once installed a window air conditioner. Today, however, I did it 8 times. I'm pretty good at it now. It's almost a shame that I have central air.

Wendy had a funky dream which she sent to me for interpretation. I, being the person who I am, believe that the only person who can interpret a dream is the person who had it- something I wrote about extensively when I was a Psych major who wanted to focus on sleep and dream research. I have since privately sent her my interpretation, but I figured it would be a good time for me to share my theories on dreams.

So, here it is, in about as concise a way as I can put it:

Throughout the day, your brain filters out a lot of the things you notice, we'll say subconsciously, so we can function. We concentrate on what's important to the particular moment, say you're walking down the street, you'll notice the pile of dog doo on the sidewalk and move around it, but won't notice that there's a person wearing brown shoes walking next to you. So, when you dream, your brain spouts back some of the stuff and you didn't realize that you noticed. Of course, practiced dreamers can dream lucidly- something I highly recommend everyone learn to do. You can do a lot with this. I've got a book that can help you to use dreams to solve waking problems- something I've tried a couple times, but never got too into it.

So, here's how you lucid dream- easiest way, according to Dave. When you start to dream, realize that you're dreaming. I know, sounds stupid, but it works. Try to say it in the dream. Say "I'm dreaming." Next, try to look at your hands. Once you've done this, you can usually start to do things on your own, all kinds of jazzy sh!t. Practice, but be patient. It takes a while. Personally, I almost never have nightmares, because I can manipulate my dreams so easily.

That's enough on that. In a couple more minutes, I'll start getting all philosophical.

There you have it. I'm hungry and going for food.

dave

81 days to go

So, I'm all ready for class last night. I bike over to school, realize I'm late, start to hurry to the classroom, only to find out that the course had been cancelled. It seems as though the fates are trying to keep me out of school. So, I'm stuck trying to find something else. Oh well.

Bowling was thwarted last night. I'm extremely disappointed. Would up sitting around my friend's house drinking beers. My friend's cousin was there, too. He's only 17. That being said, the TTPAAS is going to be orange today. I may raise that alert status as the day goes on. I have the feeling that I'm not going to get happier about life.

Life, don't talk to me about life. Sorry, throwing in a Douglas Adams reference is a little non sequitir, methinks. I'm just in a random mood.

Ok... I've got to hit the shower and get to work. It's that time. Y'all have a nice day.

dave

82 days to go

The late ride has obviously screwed up my sleep schedule. I'm sure glad I told my boss I was going to take today off. Otherwise, I'd be really, really late for work right now.

I guess I'm getting too old for the all nighter.

We won pub quiz last night. It was glorious. Who knew we knew so much about Bastille day?

There you have it.

dave

83 days to go

I'm happy to report that my first ever L.A.T.E. Ride was a success. The ride itself was easy. What took so long was waiting in line at the break stations to get the food(which was crappy). My only other complaint is that they really didn't think the route out it seems. 10,000 people trying to share the bike paths on the way back down the lake was silly.

Yeah, it was fun. I really, really enjoyed it, especially seeing the sunrise over the lake. The moon last night was full, too. That was nice to see. I've got pictures, well my friend has pictures. We'll see if we can get them online later.

So I broke my promise to you all. I didn't blog when I got home. Don't worry, I had good reason to just head to bed. I needed it, too. TRUST me on that. Sleep, for a change, came very easy to me.

So, I'm awake, I'm alive, and the 2 areas on my body that were sore are healing up. One area was the base of my neck, the other, well, let's call it a sensitive area. You figure it out. Time for a new seat.

Well, for now, good luck to Lance Armstrong, and I'm going to get some lunch. Food is good.

dave

84 days to go
Part III: Almost time...

The late ride is in 3 hours and 45 minutes. I'm excited. I'm hoping to be done by 4, hopefully home by 4:30 or so.

Those are my hopes. Will they become a reality? Who knows. We'll see. I'll blog when I get home.

Promise.

The t-shirt is on, the number is ready to be pinned on, the ankle is well wrapped, the painkillers are in the backpack.

It's about time.

Imagine if you crossed the T-101 with Yoda. That would be funny.

dave

84 days to go
Part II: Terminator 3

It's not that great, but it's not bad at all. There's some really cool stuff in there, and I don't just mean sh!t blowing up.

I occurred to me that the hardest thing I'll do for the L.A.T.E. Ride is take a nap. I should be sleeping right now, as a matter of fact. I promise I'll try. I figure putting on a dull movie might do it, but I could be wrong.

I'll be back.

dave

84 Charing Cross Road

Wait, no, I mean days to go. That's right.

Sorry, I know, lame joke. I tried, at least. It's too damn early, anyways. So, why am I awake so damn early on a Saturday? Well, you see, I'm trying to make myself as tired as possible so I'll take a nap this evening before the L.A.T.E. Ride. 'Nuff said.

Let's see... I was going to have something to talk about, but I don't. I'm still just incredibly amused with something Wendy sent me this morning. She's got that invaluable talent of being able to bring a smile to my face without trying too hard. And trust me, I don't like to smile that much.

I talked to a friend of mine last night who I haven't seen in quite a while. He was fool enough to bet, get this, a bottle of scotch(mind you, good scotch) that he could beat me at air hockey. I asked him over and over if he was sure he wanted to make that bet, and he was. I guess it's good to have that amount of confidence. However, near as I can remember, the only person who has ever beaten me at air hockey is my brother. Needless to say, when I pasted my friend 7-2 He told me last night that he has the bottle, and that I'll have it soon. Remind me to hoist a toast to him when the time comes.

How's that for an amusing yarn?

dave

85 days to go
Part II: Hockey?

I've been waiting all week for the AHL Board of Governors to get around to setting the schedule for this year's season. I'm starting to get a little ancy. All I really want to know is, when is opening night? I'm hoping that opening night will coincide with a certain blogger's birthday. That would be about the greatest present ever. Of course, if it's a week later, I'll be at my brother's wedding.

Week after that, and I'll be starting finals week.

Wow. October is going to be busy.

Mull over that.

later.

dave

85 days to go

What a glorious day! I can tell it's going to be beautiful, as it is already. The only thing I can't figure out is what I'm doing awake so early. Ok. It's not that early, but I was hoping to sleep in a bit, at least until 7:30, when the alarm is set for, but no.

Sorry. I seem to be b!tching about sleep way too much lately. I'll be it's getting mundane.

I got to do my new favorite training ride yesterday. It's a straight shot down Damen Avenue, from my apartment to the United Center. It's almost all bike laned, and it's all safe, with the exception of right around the center, where things get a little shady. It would have helped if we looped around the UC itself, instead of going into the surrounding neighborhood. Lesson learned.

Good news so far this morning: my ankle doesn't hurt nearly as much as it did yesterday.
Buzz killer news about that: I haven't done anything yet, except put in a load of laundry.

So, we'll have to see, maybe I'm better, maybe not. More on that later.

More on everything later. I, for some reason, really need to eat breakfast, something I rarely do.

dave

86 days to go
Part II: What an interesting day.

I do believe that the fates are against me riding in the L.A.T.E. Ride this weekend. Between the ankle and my first run-in with a car(yep! it just happened!), I'm starting to think that last year's broken finger(the day of) wasn't just bad luck.

About the "accident"- don't worry. The only thing that was hurt was his bumper and my front tire is a little low on air now, but that's all easily fixible. Lesson to be learned is that when you're driving and someone wants to turn left, it is NOT safe. There could be a bicycle coming up that you didn't look for, and the other driver can't see at all(especially when you're in your completely unnecessary SUV. This IS Chicago, people, the nearest real mountain isn't for hundreds of miles). Just my two cents.

Like I said, no one was hurt, I'm fine, he's fine, except for his scraped bumper and my slightly less than full tire.

I'm not even that mad. The guy was cool about it.

Oh well. I'm off to find a shower, a beer, and some Simpsons action. Not necessarily in that order.

Yep!

dave

86 days to go

I may have blogged myself out yesterday. I can't think of anything important, or even unimportant to say. Must be the ankle, which is still painful. Ice doesn't seem to help, either, which is a bad sign. Pain killers do some of the work, but really, nothing has helped. What still really bugs me is how there's no acceptable explanation.

Plus, it's hard to type with my leg draped over the desk.

Oh well. I hope to be more inspired later today. Stay tuned!

dave

87 days to go
Part IV: Liz Phair

Ok. I try not to get too excited when I'm around famous people. I always remember that no matter what, they still have to wipe their own butt, so they're just as human as me.

Speaking of butts, Liz Phair touched mine. We were doing a group picture of staff at Tower and well, folks like me who don't work there any more but can still get in the back without any trouble. She just happened to link up with me. And just happened to touch my butt.

That's all folks. I'm off to watch a movie. Maybe I'll interrupt it for Simpsons. Ok, I will, but only if it's one I haven't seen 14 times in the last week.

dave

87 days to go
Part III: Blogging up, before I go-go

I felt like writing something before I made myself look pretty for Liz Phair. After all, I still have a little crush on her. She's my type, after all.

Suppose she'd go for a nearly-30, shave headed guy with a moustache and glasses? Maybe? Isn't she still married?

Ok. I'll cut it out now.

I'm off to make myself look pretty, at the very least. She deserves it. After all, I shaved for Elvis Costello Sunday, why not Liz Phair on Wednesday?

dave

87 days to go
Part II: As promised...

So far, today has been an average day.

My ankle still hurts, but not as much. Guess the painkillers are doing their job. Let's hope they can hold out on my bikeride down to Paulina & Wabansia.

I do, however, get to meet Liz Phair tonight. That should be really cool.

Did you know that you can send someone a Bastille Day card? Me neither. Why do I now know this? Well, this week's pub quiz's theme is Bastille Day, and I'm doing a little research so I can be extra smart. Besides, one of the other teams has a son who lives in Paris, so I can't let them have an edge. It's all for fun, though, really.

Wow. My system just flickered. It's probably about time for me to head back to work, anyways.

Blog on, you crazy diamond!

dave

87 days to go

I know what you're thinking. 87 seems like a prime number, but it's not. It's factorization is 3, 29. So, 3 being the "magic" number(according to School House Rock), and 29 being my age, this should be a good day, right?

Not so far. I woke up and my ankle hurts like I sprained or twisted it. The pain actually woke me up early. Problem was, when I went to bed last night, I felt fine. So, I ask you, what the hell happened?

I watched Office Space and Lolita last night. I like movies. I kinda got mad when I watched Lolita, though. I've seen it before, just not in years, it seems. It seemed to me that every african-american character was portrayed as a bumbling idiot. Just an observation. Watch it if you want to and let me know what you think.

Of course, Office Space just makes me laugh. A lot. I guess I needed that.

It's about time for me to hobble to work now, which should be fun as all get out.

I'll blog more at lunch, I promise.

dave

88 days to go
Part III: Odds and evens.

Ah. The karmic circle. I was in a good mood for hours. Then I wasn't. Then my absolute favorite Simpsons episode was on(it's El Viaje Misterioso del Nuestro Jomer, for those who didn't already know it- guest voice by Johnny Cash). Now the best thing to watch is Donny Osmond's Pyramid. Of course, I'm not really watching, I just need some background noise to keep my brain from focusing on whatever it was that upset me earlier. It's a neat trick I play on myself.

Time for a movie, methinks. Of course, I should do some laundry. I figure the wash cycle should last the entire time I'm trying to pick out a movie. Mind you, this is at my house, not at the video store. Too much selection?

dave

88 days to go
Part II: Cruel and Unusual

Ok, so I found a condo I want to buy. Is it the kind of place where you can raise a family? No. But until then, it would be one hell of a place. First problem is, I'll need about $200K to get it. Anyone got that laying around? Me neither. Good news is, it's in a building owned by the company I work for.

It's also only 2 blocks from Wrigley Field. I'm not trendy enough to live around there. Does this mean I won't try like hell to get it?

We all know I would try. I really would. Unfortunately, I would probably have to win the lottery to get a place like that, and if I won the lottery, I'd get a nicer place than that, ya know?

When, oh when, is the big money and fab prizes going to come? I'm getting impatient.

Sorry. I just used the word fab. I'll have to go kick my own ass now.

dave

88 days to go

Bowling is fun. Especially when you do well at it.

I did ok last night- I had a game where I marked in every frame but one. That's pretty good. And for those who don't know, you mark when you get either a strike or a spare. Unfortunately for me, most of those were spares, so I didn't get a huge score, but a good one none the less.

I'm confused this morning, and it's probably for the best. I can't figure out certain things. More on that if I see fit.

I'm also tired. I didn't sleep well, and I thought I would be up early so I could go for a nice long bikeride. Nope. Hit the snooze for the hour that I was planning on biking. Oh well. Hopefully tomorrow will work out better, especially since the L.A.T.E. Ride is Sunday morning.

We'll just see how I do.

Anyways, I'm off to work, have a good day, and go bowling.

dave

89 days to go
Part III: If you can't laugh at yourself...

then you need serious help.

I am currently enjoying a good chuckle at my own expense. I didn't read my school calendar right. I'm a week early. One more week of vacation? I'll take it!

Damn straight!

dave

89 days to go
Part II: School is not out for summer.

That's right. I have class tonight. First night of the summer term. Bollocks to that. I hate summer classes. It's so hard to be motivated to go, especially since I already have central air at home, there's really no point in sitting through a boring lecture. Is there?

Not to mention that I have a hard schedule this term. I decided to take Senior Project. I'm going to be really, really busy, so I'm trying to find really easy classes to take with it. Psychology and English. Let's rock. Now, if I could just get into an American History class or something. That would really make it easy.

Four people have already sent me the google search for WMD joke. I've decided I'll actually try it, in the hopes that I won't be sent it again. Hm. I must not have done it right, because I'm not laughing. I'll try again, if I decide to care.

Apathy, my friends, I am full of it. Why? I'm not sure. I'm not on any mood altering medication that would make me like this. Perhaps I'm just exercising my aloofness.

I double-checked the google thing. I did it right. Either they fixed the problem, or I just don't get it. Oh well.

I reread my favorite book today. Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. I love this book. I read it in less than 3 hours. Maybe I should make it into a movie, seems like I could have saved myself a few minutes, yes? I figured I should read it today, before all my reading becomes scholastic again. Such a sad day.

Alas, I need to eat. I might just, if I have time, blog later on about that. Maybe. Can you handle the suspense?

dave

89 days to go

I think I might stop doing the countdown. It's starting to make me freak out a bit. I almost feel like I'm on death row or something.

Elvis Costello was great. Plus, it was Steve Dahl's 25th anniversary party, and my friend who works at Zanie's on Wells got us into the VIP party. Free food & booze from 2-6:30. Needless to say, my head hurts this morning. Such is life. The show was really good.

I am 10,868 days old today. I decided that if the countdown freaks me out, why not crunch more numbers to make the situation worse?

I promise to not think about it for 5 seconds. There. I feel better already.

That's it folks, sorry to not ruminate too much, but I'm a little headachy this morning, and I think I deserve a long, hot shower.

dave

90 days to go

There are basically lots of things going on in my head this morning. I'm in a very, very bad mood. You see, friends, I'm angry with someone very important to me, and I don't like that. Oh well. I'll get over it.

At least I hope I will.

Today will be a first for me, my friends. I'm heading to the Taste of Chicago to see Elvis Costello. Should be fun.

At least I hope it will.

Ah yes. I think I'll take a shower now. I deserve to get the bar stink off me. Nothing like the scent of cigarettes to bring me down.

dave

91 days to go

This is silly. I still can't sleep. Oh well.

I watched High Fidelity for the I-don't-know-how-many-th time last night. I love that movie, I truly do. I still laugh myself to tears when they beat up Tim Robbins. It also makes me think about relationships, my career(what there is of it), and music. Now, I've been known to screw up relationships. I'm good at it, but I'm working on making them work again. It's tough, as I'm sure we're all aware. I don't like dating. It's kinda bullsh!t to me, because you tend to be "on" instead of your true self. At least, that's what I've noticed. I do, however, love to watch dating shows on TV. It's something late night that makes me laugh. Relationships, on the other hand, they're important to me. Sadly, you have to date someone before you can be their significant other. It just doesn't work the other way.

Oh well. I don't want to get into a whole thing about relationships. It's High Fidelity, after all, kinda inspires.

Yeah, I've got things on my mind, friends. Too many things.

The TTPAAS for today will be orange. I made the mistake of listening to the CD from my HS reunion. Made me feel old.

That's all for now!

dave

92 days to go

Even on a national holiday I can't sleep. Someone should look into that. I had a bizarre dream about being a cruise ship director, well, I call it that. It was really just a floating hotel. Anyways, the big, unhappy, recently rattling around skeleton was there, which was odd- I don't usually have dreams about that one. I'd go into more details(don't worry, they're not lewd or anything) but I'm still trying to figure out some other information given to me yesterday, which has most of my brain all atwitter.

Let's talk about my brain for a second, after all, it's kinda neat.

I've heard it said that the human brain can successfully hold 7 things in its consciousness. I like that theory, but I think that mine might have more layers. If you know me face-to-face, you've probably had the experiece of having a normal conversation with me when I suddenly go off about how I've figured something out, or remembered something completely silly. That's because all the while I've been talking to you, my brain has been working on some silly problem. It happens a lot when I'm taking programming classes and trying to figure out a solution to some program. This could explain why I have such a hard time sleeping, as it's hard to quiet the ol' noggin every once in a while.

For instance, I've finally nailed downt he Turning Thirty Panic Attack Alert Status color guide:

Flashing Red- Run for the hills. I'm going to go on a manic depressive rampage.
Red- If you live close by, have comfort food and alcohol in your apartment. I'm more than likely going to flip out.
Orange- Still a good idea to have the aforementioned supplies on hand, because the wrong thing will set me off.
Yellow- My armor is thicker than orange, but I'm not invincable.
Green- Someone I know is probably turning an age much older than me, 'cuz I feel fine.
Blue- It's all good.

That's all for right now, kids. I've got a couple other things on the brain that need some attention. For instance:

How am I going to code the SQL for the football picks league's database?
Where did I leave the grocery list?
Where is my map of Chicago bike routes?
What other class am I going to take this term?
Am I ready to take Senior Project?
I'm, of course, still disseminating the bomb dropped on my by my friend last night.
I'm still trying to figure out my weekend.
What, exactly did that dream mean?
When can I finally go camping?

So, you see, I'm fairly occupied.

Signing off- Happy fourth!

dave

93 days to go
Part II: Cool online toy!

This is kinda cool. Go here. Check it out. Play.

Ah yes, the beginning of a wonderous three day weekend. Of course, thanks to rent, I am, well, let's say, keeping a tight lid on spending. That's a nice way of putting it.

In your face Milwaukee!

Sorry. Simpsons brainfart. It happens.

My friends, I smell. I stink like a guy who biked too much today when it was too hot out. Guess what? I'm gonna do it again tomorrow. Tomorrow, I think I'll ride down to the Field Museum. Just for fun. I'm crazy that way. Maybe I'll do some grocery shopping, too. Stop by Tower, pick up some movies to rent, that kinda thing. Just try to stop me.

I'm feeling younger now. Let's drop that nasty TTPAAS to Yellow. I'm more contemplative about other things. More on that later. For now, I need to eat. More on that later, as well, I'm sure.

Be good!

dave

93 days to go

I'm not turning off the AC. Nope. Not today. It stays on. Too hot out.

Enough on the weather. Let's talk about Ice-9.

Again, sorry to switch topics, but I read Cat's Cradle yesterday. I know, I should probably lay off the Vonnegut for a bit, but hey, if I can read a book a day, I feel good. You just can't get that reading Cervantes.

Ice-9, by the way, destroys the world by teaching water a new way to solidify, to freeze. It's such a cool way to freeze that all the ice molecules want to do it, and the world comes to an end. Some things are better left alone, yes?

I'm feeling moderately panicked about turning 30 day. Let's set the TTPAAS to Orange.

I promised at some point to make a chart explaining those colors to everyone. I should get on that.

Maybe later.

I suddenly feel like breakfast.

Good day!

dave

94 days to go

Sorry there wasn't more yesterday. I was playing with my new game. I know what you're thinking... how could a 29 year old man spend that much time playing a game on a computer when it's so nice out. Answer... the entire time he's doind laundry, about 6 hours.

So, maybe that's the solution. That's why I was so tired last night and went to bed at 10:15. I was too exhausted from playing a stupid game.

Ever try to cancel a free AOL account? It takes most of your free 45 days to do so. Gotta love that.

So, I'm going to see T3 ASAP. Anyone else?

It's silly really. I still haven't figured out how they're going to tie it into the series, I mean, it was easy to see how they tied T2 onto the end of T1- with the leftover pieces of Arnold left in the factory and all. But I was pretty damn sure we took care of all the loose ends at the end of T2. Or are we being taught that invaluable lesson, that the future is set, and there's no way to alter it? It's all relative. After all, our future is someone in the future's past.

Ok. Don't let me get on the time travel bit, except to say that my friend thinks the biggest problem with time travel is germs. That our bodies wouldn't be able to handle the common cold from 1520, nor from 2525. Talk amongst yourselves.

A holiday weekend approaches. 3 days off and one last blast before I have to go back to school. Don't cry for me, Argentina. I'm ok.

That's all for this morning. I'll probably go on that time travel bit later on. Maybe.

dave

95 days to go

There was a distinct lack of bowling last night in my life. That was sad. They just weren't ready for bowlers, so we took off. My friend and I finally go around to drinking the bottle of wine she won as "favorite underage employee" from Tower's holiday party last year. Ah, good times.

Hence, I'm tired this morning. It happens. I'm getting older, remember? The party hardy gene has shut off. It doesn't want to try anymore. Me neither.

Has the porch collapse made the news in other cities? It's big news here. For those who don't know, a bunch of people were at a party in Lincoln Park, and the partygoers were on the back porch, something like 100 of them, and the porch collapsed. Thus far, 13 people are dead(one died overnight in the hospital), and something like 35 injured. It's a sad thing. This is what y'all get when I blog and have the news on in the background.

That's it! It's time to take a shower and get my day started. More blogging later? More than likely.

dave