Announcement

I'm without internet on the homefront until sometime early Saturday*. Consequently, I will not be able to reply to any emails that are sent after business hours. (Which, for me, is usually after 6 or 6:30pm.)

All other lines of communication are open, savages.

*"Unless the problem resolves itself." I love tech support.

Another Year, Ya Lucky Bastard

Grand and happy birthday wishes to Dr. C. Enjoy yourself!

-Archbishop Vega$

I Love You, Egg

Go here, please. Then click on the "Egg Song" in the upper right corner.

That is all.

When the blogging slows down to a trickle, there's really no point in trying to fill in all the gaps between posts. Trying to remember it all is often pointless (for me, anyway, since years of sleep deprivation has fried my memory) and it is even worse when there is little to report. I'm going through the latter.

Not entirely true, of course. I went north last Wednesday afternoon to spend a nice long weekend with EF, coming back by train today. I could let rip with a bilious rant about Amtrak, but I'm already over it. That thing is never on time when making the return trip (going north is always on time or close to it), and not only is it late, but it's late by hours and hours. It's a good thing I was able to sleep through most of it, or I would have been seething.

The trip was nice and relaxing, as long weekends tend to be. Highlights include:

-Exchanging Valentine's gifts on my first night there.

-Spending quality time with EF and her mother.

-EF and I going into Pittsburgh a couple of times so that I could indulge my record store addiction. We hit Eide's Entertainment and Dave's Music Mine, where I went on a nice little buying binge like I haven't done in quite a while. I picked up The Essential Fishbone and two Prince discs from the latter (Come and The Love Symbol album, or "O(+>" as it is shown on iTunes), while grabbing Zatokrev's self-titled disc, SunnO)))'s Black One, Destroy Erase Improve by Meshuggah, Torture Killer's Swarm, and a tribute to the Melvins called We Reach, which features a number of metal's bigger names (Isis, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Mastodon, High On Fire, Pig Destroyer, etc.) at Eide's. I hope to hit Brave New World the next time I go to visit. I'm ripping all of the into the iPod as I type this. If I manage to find a spark for writing any time soon, more about this music and much more could be found on my music blog.

-Had a great dinner with EF, her cousin and his wife at DeNunzio's in Latrobe.

-Meeting up with a couple of friends of theirs after dinner for drinks at a private club near where EF lives. $0.80 drafts! Cheap booze on all levels.

-Brief text fun with The Driz on Saturday afternoon.

-Getting EF hooked on Guitar Hero (on the few times we were in the house long enough to actually sit down and veg).

And that's about it. Now I'm home, wishing I was still up in PA, and not at all wanting to go to work tomorrow. Same as always, eh?

Inane, Sexist Question Inspired By The Olympics

Do female hockey players get in as many fights as their male counterparts? And if so, is it as hilarious as I imagine it?

Thank you, Torino!

ZZZZZ...

You ever have that somnambulist feeling? Do you...you feel like I do?

I haven't been feeling the blog thing lately. Usually, I'll go through periods of non-blogging but still make mental notes of things I'd like to write about, hoping that enough material would pile up and force me to write something here. Sometimes it happens; most often, it does not. Of course, considering that most of the fodder for my blog is personal experiences and work has managed to limit that lately, the saturation point that triggers blog-writing has not really been approached.

Beyond the work thing (which is actually, finally, honestly approaching the point of being manageable), I haven't even been thinking about blogging much, with the exception of a piece that is half-formed in my mind about recent unique gaming experiences (covering three titles in particular: Indigo Prophecy, Shadow of the Colossus, and Guitar Hero) and the slow trickle of titles that are trying to move beyond or at least expand upon traditional game forms. But, as is usual when an idea occurs to me, I find myself unable to get beyond the note gathering phase and actually hammer something out. It's a combination of factors, most boring and predictable, so there's no need to elaborate.

I can tell you that things have not been completely devoid of social activity. I've returned to the gym after a lapse in attendance; EF came down for a long weekend a couple of weeks ago, and I've managed to hang out with The Drizzle (new nickname pending) the last couple of weekends (football and beer!), with Mr. O on board last night. I've also returned to my favorite bakery a couple of times the last few weeks. Honestly, folks, if you happen to be near one of their locations any time soon, I suggest you swing by and pick yourself up some Pesto Asiago or Cinnamon Swirl bread (or both; who says indecision is bad?).

I've also been spending way too much time ripping my music collection into one of Xmas gifts. It's been a great chance to listen to stuff I haven't pulled off the shelf in ages. At the same time, it's only three weeks into the new year and I already feel behind new music. One notable exception: the new release from Pearls and Brass, who will be playing in DC in March at DC 9. (Another good show coming in March for all you noiseniks is Whitehouse with Pig Destroyer, and Wolf Eyes. Um, bring earplugs. Tinnitus can be a bitch.)

The next couple of weeks will see the Super Bowl happening, as well as hitting Fado for some Six Nations Rugby action. I'll also be heading back to PA to see EF. I'm sure other plans will materialize, but that's all that's on the radar at the moment.

This would be even cooler if they were also developing an R2 unit to fix the thing when it went on the fritz.

The Year In Monkeys!

Actual Quote

Unfortunately, I was unable to get the butter stains out of my shorts.

That's It?

It's been quiet, as always, around these parts. The holidays, as well as 2005 itself, have come and gone and with them, some new perspectives, inspirations, and aspirations have been gained. Plus, I now have a subscription to Sheep! (Thanks, Driz. I'm sure I'm now on Homeland Security's watch list.) So I got that going for me.

Christmas was spent with the family, and it was quite a wonderful time, up until the call on Christmas evening informing my mother that she had lost another sibling. My uncle's passing was unexpected and gave a bleak ending to what was an otherwise great holiday weekend. I hadn't seen this uncle since my grandmother's funeral about eight years ago, and that was the only time I'd seen him since I entered adulthood. I didn't know him that well, so I didn't have a strong reaction to the news. Honestly, my thoughts have been more on my mother since finding out. The good thing is that, even though I haven't seen him in nearly a decade, he had actually been in contact with my mother semi-regularly the last year or so. She had actually spoken to him the week before, and she's glad she got to tell him she loved him when she did. Not everyone is that lucky.

On a more upbeat note, I did get a nice digital camera, and managed to take some pictures with it. They're not the best quality (still haven't sat down with it to find out what it's capable of), but they'll do. For instance, here are two of my niece and nephew.



My niece in a rare calm moment. (Mit Pooh!)



My niece turning around to push her brother out of her picture. She is such a spotlight hog.

The New Year was spent in the company of EF, who flew down on Friday night. We cabbed back to my place, did the gift exchange (no, that's not a euphemism), had a delicious late dinner at Afterwords, then basically came back and crashed. We slept in on New Year's eve, grabbing a late lunch, then some relaxing before we decide to go the Black Cat for their New Year's Eve Ball. You know, in all of my years of living in the D.C. area, I've never been to the NYE celebration featuring Peaches O'Dell and Her Orchestra at the Black Cat. And, this year was no different.

See, what ha' happened was, we went, and we bought tickets, but it was early.

Me: She's doing four sets, plus there's some DJ action on the backstage. Since it's early, why don't we get a drink first?
EF: Okay.

So we went to the Red Room, got ourselves a couple of drinks, and soon after a couple of stools. And, well, we just drank and had a good time. It was great to be there, since I haven't been there since my birthday celebration back in September. And EF and I were having such a good time that going to check out the music seemed unnecessary.

Here are some photos of the evening (linked instead of put into the post for space purposes):

EF at the bar.
People in costume!
Bunnyhead!
Gingerbread! (Notice the bunny ears in the frame. Bunnyhead got all up in my grill.)

At some point, we decided to pack it in. While settling up, I offered one last chance to justify the ticket purchase, but I think we were a bit too to' up, and the fresh air was more inviting. So we left.



From the walk home. Fortunately, even in her inebriated state, EF was able to talk me out of Yum's. However, she did not deter me from fresh donuts at 7-11. Success!

And that is that. Happy New Year, bitches.

Nothing Can Just Be Funny Anymore

So, I saw that Chronic of Narnia rap in CO's Del.icio.us list. (Lord knows I don't really watch SNL any more.) Then I saw this and this. (Oh, and don't forget this. Merchandise!)

Jesus.

That Aaron Burr line does own, though.

All PA, All The Time


Finally.

I won't really get into the usual excuse making. Blame my job, laziness, fatigue, indifference, or whatever tickles your fancy. Be creative. "He just escaped from a parallel universe where people throw ducks at balloons and nothing is what it seems." That sort of thing.

The problem with delayed blogging is that details become hazy, especially when sleep deprivation already wreaks havoc with short-term memory. So, as best as I can remember, this is what happened during the last two weekends, both involving trips to Pennsylvania.

PA Trip #1: Monongahela

I took a few days off from work to go stay with EF. I went up on Wednesday, the 7th, via our country's reliable railroad system. The trip up was very uneventful, involving sleep and more sleep. I tried to get some hot wi-fi action going up in the mountains, but it was a pointless endeavor.

I got to the Connellsville, PA "station" around 10pm. I suppose all stops that aren't actual stations are like this, but this was like a Fotomat beside some train tracks. Ridiculous. I was met by EF's mother, making this one of the strangest first meetings with a parent I've had. Only more ludicrous was the time I met my second girlfriend's mother while she was getting her grind on with two men on a dancefloor in Youngstown, Ohio. But that never happened.

The drive back to the spot wasn't awkward at all, which immediately set the tone for the rest of the weekend. About a half hour later, we reached the house, which was lit up tastefully for the season, and unloaded my bags. I had myself a tasty beverage and we talked and waited for EF to get home from work. EF showed up about thirty minutes later and we had a late dinner, which included a wonderful potato soup. Now that's the reason for the season!

The unfortunate thing about this trip is that EF had to work every day that I was there, so we didn't get to hang out as much as I would have liked. Thursday, I went into town with her when she went to work and I spent most of my day window shopping and reading/nodding off in a book store, with a nice quick lunch together somewhere in between. I also went to the movies that night, marking the first time I've been in a theater since The Aristocrats. I saw Aeon Flux, which, judging by what I saw when I was awake, was a decent action flick.

Friday, I just chilled out in the house, getting more sleep and recovering from the slight cold I woke up with on Wednesday morning. With all the snow that fell the night before, I definitely enjoyed the chance to just be warm for most of the day. That night, EF and I went into town for a nice little dinner.

Saturday was spent hanging with EF's mother and Bailey, the most energetic rat terrier in the world.



That's him in one of the rare, still moments on my lap. Normally, every second we were in the same room together, he would try to jump up on me. And then, when I'd sit down on the couch, he'd hop up there and try to go to town on my arm. I knew switching to the dog hormone body wash was a mistake. Anyway, that night, all three of us went out for a quick meal and inadvertantly wound up on the set of one of The Drizzle's movies, as we were surrounded by the attendees of the local junior high winter formal in the restaurant. I capped off that evening rather embarassingly, as EF made me tell her mother The Worst Joke In The World. (I've only told the Driz this one, and I won't repeat it here. What made telling this joke even more awful is that EF's mother works for children's services. Comedy!)

Sunday was another day in town killing time while EF worked. Sunday is also football day. So, I grabbed a spot at the bar of The Roxy Cafe and watched the Steelers/Bears game. (Alan Faneca fans everywhere!) I also proceeded to get lit up real proper-like, which made the rest of the day comedic as I tried to stay awake. What can I say, I got caught up in the drama of the dismantling of Baby Admiral and the Bears. That night, we had another very late dinner downtown and did not manage to get home until midnight. That's not too bad until you consider that I had to be awake at 4:30am to catch a 5:55am train in Connellsville.

Sadly, this train ride was not as uneventful as the first. We got there with about 20 minutes to go and waited. And waited. And waited. EF slept a little while I continued to play the waiting game. When 7am rolled around, I decided to find out what the heck was going on. So I fired up the laptop and went to the Amtrak site. A three hour and change delay. Well, that sucks. And now it's starting to snow/sleet some more. We decide to drive all the way back, though EF considered just getting a hotel room nearby just so we didn't have to go all the way back to her house. In retrospect, that would have been smarter, but I somehow reasoned with her that it would be better to go back home. So we went back, napped a little, then woke up to check the schedule. The train has lost another hour in transit, but could "make up time" between stations. Right. Still, we decide to leave a little early, just in case Amtrak manages to pull it off. Fast forward to when I actually board the train: almost 11:30am. Amazingly, we managed to lose another hour on the ride down, getting me home at 6:30pm, instead of the noon arrival I was hoping for. On the plus side, I did get to spend a few more hours with EF, so it wasn't that bad. All told, I had a really good time, despite not doing much outside of the house. Obviously, I'll be going back again. Next time, I will try to make it during a weekend where she has some time off and it's nicer outside.


PA Trip #2: Harrisburg

I made a return to the mighty Keystone state this past weekend, this time as a celebration of The Drizzle's XXXI-st birfday. The guilty parties on this trip were: me, CO, JW, and The Driz.

Things kicked off the night before, actually, with a pre-holiday gathering at Chez O, with Mr. and Mrs. CO hosting The Driz and me for a night of MST3K, gift giving, and fried chicken. Lots and lots of fried chicken. Strangely, Friday night seems to be fried chicken night down in Alexandria, as there was a substantial line inside the restaurant as well as in the drive through when The Driz and I tried to pick up vittles. But, we were undeterred and declared victory some twenty minutes later (having waited in line that long) and made our way to Los O's House of Love. The evening was quite nice, with much chicken consumed, much laughter, and a little bit of homespun comedy...

While flipping through channels, I made Mrs. O stop on the awful Mark Linn-Baker/Melanie Griffith vehicle, Twins. (Well, it's probably more a Sara Gilbert vehicle, but that's not as funny to say.) During the brutal scene, Mr. Linn-Baker makes a funny with "Toblerone" in the punchline. Toblerone, as it turns out, makes Mr. O laugh every time he hears the word. A minute later, Ms. Griffith is on the screen, and we start to debate her beauty (or lack thereof). I said something to the effect that she's "one facelift away from being Madame. This led Mr. O to declare that the name "Madame Toblerone" was comedy gold. We even defined who Madame Toblerone is: she's the woman in the bar/club who is clearly too old to be there.

The next day, The Driz picked me up at the King Street Metro station in the early afternoon, after which we picked up Mr. O, bag full of chicken in hand. We hit the road and basically nattered on about this and that, eating some of our leftovers on the way. We stopped for fueling of the auto and personal variety in Gettysburg. While we're sitting in the parking lot of Giant, I decide to fetch the soda I had in my bag in the trunk. Without thinking, I started to open it up, sending forth a nearly fatal spray of Dr. Pepper. Fortunately, I was able to tighten the cap on my drunk-ripened soda quick enough to avoid true catastrophe, and the bulk of the overflow went into my donut bag.

From there, we rolled out of Gettysburg to pick up JW, and finally reached the hotel in Harrisburg around 6:30. After some settling in, we make our way to the first stop of the night, Molly Branigan's. That's a nice little place, with decent food and an atmosphere very conducive to conversation and socializing. We had dinner and a couple of drinks before departing, catching up with JW, whom we had not seen since...well, honestly, I don't remember. But it was a loooong time ago.

From there, we hit The Hardware Bar, Harrisburg's finest tribute to Coyote Ugly. That was a good time. We got there before the place was packed and were able to secure a nice spot in the balcony. We hit it just in time to take full advantage of the happy hour, too. And take advantage we did. Beer after beer seemed to hit the table, leaving us nice and lubricated when the crappy cover band started playing. To amuse myself (and CO, to some extent), I began to make requests that the band would never play in a million years, like pieces by Coltrane, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Louis Armstrong. Additionally, I danced like a meth-addled lunatic and played terrific air guitar during their take on Guns 'N Roses. Oh, and before I forget, the Madame Toblerone of the evening made her way to our table to chat one of us up. I won't use names. Try to guess which one; I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Many hours and beers later, we left and went to The Saloon. Not much happened there, except this:



That's a mirrorful of ketchup right there, courtesy of CO. Because, what else are you going to do with a giant mirror and a squeeze bottle of ketchup in your hand.

After tiring of The Saloon, we moseyed across the street to The Spot (I think that's what it was called) to get some foodstuffs. On the way out of The Saloon, it should be noted, I grabbed a handful of peanuts and stuffed them in my pocket. JW also grabbed a handful, giving me some for my nut stash. For some reason known only by the beer demons and my own budding insanity, I started to talk loudly in the creepy, pedophilic old man from Family Guy voice. "I gots a pocket full of peanuts. Who wants some?" And, etc. This amused me and countless others, or so my memory would have me believe. I do think I alarmed a couple of people, and I'm sure the chef at the diner teabagged my hot dog, but that's life.

The next morning was typical after such a night, a tight, banged-up feeling. Now with 10% more headache! Fortuntely, this went away when we hit Hoss's on the way back. The rest of Sunday was spent watching football (Go Chargers! Legacy!) and trying to catch up on sleep.

A fine couple of weekends, I'd say. And more to come.

So, have you seen that "Hamster Dance" site?

The latest in things on the internet that amuse me that has probably been amusing everybody else for months.

Two From PA



I took this after leaving the movie theater yesterday, using the camera phone. (I saw Aeon Flux, but fell asleep for about a half hour during the movies first half, missing some key plot points. Subsequently, I cannot tell you if it was good or not.) That's a real tree, but it looks oddly fake, due mostly to the quality of the camera, I'm sure.



This is an Antwan Randle-El onesie. Lordy. Though, I admit, I wouldn't mind dressing a future Little Vegas in a Marino onesie. I would have also taken a picture of a Dan Kreider jersey for CO, but I couldn't get a good shot of it with the camera. Foiled!

World's First Musical Sammich

They have been working on this for decades; the first one killed Mama Cass.

Quick Wrap Up

Friday: Worked until 9 at night (making it the second night in a row I had to do that), much to my chagrin. So enraging. Nearly put my head through my monitor at work. (Seriously) Especially difficult because I had plans for that evening (drinks with The Drizzle) to which I was looking forward. The Driz agreed to come into the city to pick me up so I wouldn't have to deal with the Metro ride down. When I got home, I discovered that the old (ooooold) laptop was not functioning properly. It was also making a horrible, horrible sound. To be dealt with later. I did manage to have many beers with The Driz while we played catch up. We also chatted up our usual waitress quite a bit that evening. Plus, I played text-message tag with "AF" from work.

Saturday: Laptop is completely dead. This was the backup to the computer that crapped out in September that I have been too lazy (and overwhelmed with work) to properly fix. So, I did something I was planning on doing eventually: I bought a new laptop. Now, I didn't go all out, because I am also going to be buying a rather high-end workstation very soon. (Within the next month; I have the cash, but I would rather put it off until after the holidays.) Buying the new laptop took up most of my day, what with running around the city, going to stores to see what was available and doing comparisons. Normally, I would have just done online, but, well, that one is self-explanatory. Irony! But, I'm really enjoying this new machine.

Sunday: Sloth. Video games. Laundry. And, of course, football. I can't believe the Dolphins pulled that out. Sage! Unfortunately, the Steelers lost a tough one to the Bengals. I usually wouldn't care, but because EF is a Steelers fan, I'm a bit obligated to not hate on them as much.

And speaking of EF, I wil be leaving on Wednesday to go see her. I'll be back next Monday. Not that I have been doing much blogging, but now there will be an excuse for no posts next week. But I shouldn't get ahead of myself. I still have Monday and Tuesday to reckon with. I'm hoping that my visible rage on Friday will buy me a bit of a break, but I doubt it.

Thank Deez
A Holiday Wish and Two New Letters

Just a brief message before I head out into the cold to make my way toward Big Lou's place, where I'll be gorging myself on all things traditional or Filipino. Recognize, bitches.

I'd like to take this opportunity, in the spirit of the holiday, to say a bit of thanks. I'll try to keep it as serious as possible. I hope you all appreciate the effort that takes.

Most importantly, I'm thankful for having my family close by and still going strong. I'm particularly thankful that my brother-in-law seems to be doing well after his second surgery. His recovery will be long and arduous, I'm sure, but he will recover.

I'm thankful for being employed. I'm not very enamored with my job (duh) or its increasing impact on my schedule, but I do appreciate the fact that I've got a steady income that is actually helping me accomplish things, slowly but surely.

I'm thankful for my friends. Whenever I get to that state where I'm wishing mass harm on everyone and everything within a 20 mile radius of me, I remember that there are actually some good and decent people out there, some with whom I've actually managed to become friends. Funny, supportive, inspiring, intelligent, and reliable, the lot of ya. I'd continue, but I've already compromised my reputation enough as it is. *pounds chest* Got ya'll in here.

I'm thankful for this blog bringing a couple of new people across my path, as well as helping keep a dear friend closer than geography permits. It will never land me a book deal, it will never be one of those hip blogs with a million bloggers linked to it, but this blog serves my purposes just fine.

And speaking of technology and friends, I'll wrap this up by saying I'm also thankful for EF, aka "My Boo." (tee-hee) Yes, I know. Who? Once again (some of you may remember MC), the internerd pays off. I hadn't mentioned anything previously because there wasn't much to say until recently. All I'll say is that things are very good, even though there is, as with everything it seems, an obstacle. But it hasn't been much of one so far. So I got that going for me, which is nice.

I'm sure I could rattle off a few more reasons to be thankful, but I'm keeping Big Lou waiting. Happy Thanksgiving, people. Stay safe, stay warm, and stay full.

-The Management

On The Job

I'm still at work, which is pretty typical these days. Because it's been forever since I've blogged, I actually miss doing it, even though there were much larger gaps back in the day.

Same old story, of course: hours worked are too long, and when I get home, I don't feel like doing much of anything that requires my brain. Naturally, that means vidja games and pr0n (and the gym, when I'm home early enough), a winning combination. I have learned two important things from this: 1) Fable actually is overrated, but still a fun game. 2) Nick Manning's "I'm dropping loads" line is the most hilarious thing in adult film since Jonathan Morgan's heyday.

The holidays are approaching, which is nice, but I already feel like I don't have enough time for them. I'm going to be in town for Thanksgiving weekend (I'm having dinner at Big Lou's), so if anybody is around, I'm down for whatever. I should probably use that time a bit constructively, but you know me. I'll blow it all on penny whistles and moon pies. Or, better yet, maybe I'll actually watch my Netflix movies, which have a fine layer of dust on top of them.

A sports aside: can the Hawks be any shittier? It's outrageous. This is not a good year for my favorite professional sports franchises. Perhaps I should start learning myself some hockey. Ovechkin!

That's all.* My brain is starting to shut down, and I'd really just like to get out of here. And so I shall. Peace, god. One.





(*That's not really all, but other news is not blog-appropriate.)

Swiftian!

"Doesn't every girl deserve liberation through Web site branding of her sexuality?"

In a word: yes.

(This is why I stick with pr0n of the non-alt variety.)

Running Down

The days are starting to bleed into one another. Work has swallowed up my daylight, leaving me disoriented and having only enough energy to eat and get to and from work (and hit the gym, if I manage to get out of work early enough). From an unhappiness standpoint, it's not even close to the level reached just two months ago. It's just grinding.

Pile on top of that a couple of ailments the last two weeks (general sickness, plus a horrible backache) that have also neutered few attempts at enjoying life outside of work (missed concerts and happy hours), and it's enough to make me want to pull up stakes and blow out of town.

But, you know, I won't. Not yet, anyway. Right now, it's about handling my business and keeping focus on larger matters that go beyond work. It's also about getting my creative juices flowing again; worse than the way it wrecks my sleep and social schedules, this grind is completely obliterating any attempts at creativity.

In short, I need recharging. I think it's time to plot myself a little vacation. We'll see how that goes.

In the meantime, I've got a three day weekend to sit on. Concerned citizens should abandon all hope of contact for the next seventy-two hours. I'm deep cover.