Geek love: the Sharpies of our desire

So I was at Barnes & Noble today and I noticed the young woman who was serving as the check-out was using a green pen. In a chit-chatty way she commented that she really liked using that pen with green ink because is was distinct from all the other "boring black ink pens."

I commented that I, too, liked using pens with different colored ink, like purple. She came back with something to the effect that she really liked purple pens too.

Then, sensing a fellow pen geek, I confessed that my writing utinsels of choice were fine point Sharpies--to which she smiled and took out a black Sharpie and, waving it in the air with a slight flair, said, "Me too! It's cool that they come in so many colors now." I said,"Yeah, I like the olive green ones and the magenta ones." She said she had a pink one to do invoices.

We then stopped for a beat and sort of smiled at each other in smirky, knowing way, realizing we were both pen geeks. In a way it was awkward, but in another way, comforting, as in finding out "it wasn't just me."

I really enjoy life moments like that. Hmmm.

How can we go on?

Brace yourself. First it was Ben and J-lo, then it was Brad and Jennifer, now we learn that Nick and Jessica are breaking up. I just watched a nearly five-minute segment about it on the Today Show. I don't know if I can handle this. (I wonder if she is to blame? Damn, you, Angelina Jolie!) I just feel like crawling into bed and never coming out. How can we live in a world where celebrity relationships and/or marriages don't last?!? How can that kind of life be even remotely worth living? I will wear black today in honor of the love and convenient career advancement opportunities that no longer exist between Nick and Jessica. I don't know how I'm going to make it through the day without bursting into tears. Oh, the horror!

Okay, now I'm over it. Thanks. I'm sure there will be more celebrity marriages and break ups. What else would our news media do with all their time? Happy Thanksgiving!

Thankful part 1

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, let me begin to offer a short list of things I am thankful for...

>> I'm thankful that the people of Dover, Penn., voted out all eight members of their school board who supported the forcing of science teachers to adopt intelligent design into their biology curriculum. Thanks for keeping God out of schools and keeping him in the multitude of churches that abound in this country. (Don't get me wrong, God is good and all, but religion just doesn't belong in science classes. I would be supportive of teaching a world theology course in all high schools so we could also better understand Islam, Buddism, Judiasm AND Christianity as well as other religions. Imagine how that would help America!)

>> Oddly enough I'm also thankful that goofy old Pat Robertson spoke up and said that since the residents of Dover, Penn., "voted God out of their city" they shouldn't come crying to him when a tornado or a hurricane or the bird flu (or maybe all three) destroy their town. [Sarcasm alert: Whew! Thank goodness there ain't no homosexuals living in Dover, or there just might be some fire and brimstone from the heavens too.] It just shows what a lunatic he is (and that he believes in an angry, vengeful God of the Old Testament). I'm sure the people of Dover are just as good or bad as they were before and are happy with the church and form of worship of their choice.

>> I'm thankful that my nephew Dan looks like he'll be making it out of Iraq in one piece and will be home for Christmas!

>> I'm also thankful that 'king W.'s approval rating continues to plummet. Can I say it one more time: Wost President Ever!

>> I'm thankful for my friend Charlie in Lincoln, Neb., for Chris & Heidi and the kids in Solon, Iowa, for Karl & Jody and the kids in St. Joseph, Minn., for Alex & Holly, Peg, Sheila & Marcel, Doc, Jeff, Owen, Pam, John & Deb, Sue & Paul, Rose, Stacey & Dan, Don & MaryBeth and everyone else in Crookston, Minn., for Doug S. in Las Vegas, and for Tim & Shannon in Houston, Tex. Thanks friends.

>> I'm thankful for Steve, Jane, Trevor, and Jon and EVERYONE at the Washington Pavilion. You are a great group of people to work with.

>> I'm thankful for all the GOOD music that came out this year [and that there was a bit less crap]... and most recently for the great remasters of all the classic Eurythmics albums. Look for a best of 2005 list soon.

>> I'm thankful for chocolate in all its wonderful forms!

Big Oil is the winner!

Wow, what an eye-opener! I just read that Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips, two of the biggest of Big Oil, have raked in their biggest profits in history! Exxon Mobil's profits were up 75% and ConocoPhillips' profits were up 89%. Hey, at least someone got something out of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita!

It's hard not to somehow feel taken advantage of, however--personally and collectively as part of the Middle Class (not to metion those who have even less than the Middle Class). It's just kind of hard to take when we hear of things like pensions being cut or frozen for workers at General Motors, like hurricane-displaced people struggling to make ends meet, and like the big cuts in health care programs for the poor and elderly. Oh, you didn't hear that the Senate Finance Committee's 11 Republicans outvoted the 9 Democrats to cut MediCare and MedicAid by $10 billion? Who says Republicans aren't compassionate conservatives?

I understand that natural gas prices are expected to increase 30-50% for this coming winter. Yeah, more profits for the energy companies! You'd think with such historic profit margins, they could cut us all a break. So much for all Americans pulling together in times of trouble. Oh, yeah, that's not an American ideal, that's either more of an ideal for the poor and/or socialists. Here in America, it's everyone for himself, Big Oil not excluded, eh?

Hammering nails and speaking in tongues...

Don't really know what the title of today's entry means, but sort of sounds cool together...It's a line from "Doesn't Remind Me" by AudioSlave.

I was really busy today at work, as usual. Never seems to be any time to breathe deeply and/or process information. It's always on to the next thing and then the next after that. I guess that's the benefit AND curse of working for a non-profit entity.

Decided not to head to Crookston this weekend, even though I'd really like to. The Halloween Party fell apart and I just have so much work to catch up on that I can't take this weekend AND next weekend off. If I can go in to work on Saturday I think I can make a big dent in the budget work I need to get done. That way it won't be hanging over my head.

I happier news, Miss Jane Hathaway brough delicious filled pastries to our meeting this mornign in celebration of my B-day. Thanks, Jane, that was very nice of you!
I will now go and read a magazine and drink a beer. Whoo-hoo!

Thanks to everyone who sent birthday well-wishes!

One last piece of "wisdom"

Okay, so in the last minutes of 38 I just have to say that from my observations when people break up, it's almost impossible to be friends. Does anyone know of a situation when that actually happened? Okay, now on to being 39. Goodnight and have a pleasant tomorrow...

39 is really, really old

Okay, so it's almost midnight and I am hitting the realization that 39 is really quite ancient. In fact, in the middle ages I'd probably be dead by now... Okay, now I'm over that brief bit of insecurity. 39 is great! (but it is really, really old)...

Oh by the way...

Oh by the way, I really like cinnamon rolls. Really. A lot. Just thought you should know.

39 and counting...

So, in a little more than 14 hours I will turn 39 years old (my mom told me I was born around 9 a.m.). One more year before that milestone of 40! Don't really have any problems with 39, or 40 for that matter, but it is a little odd to think about time and lifespan. Most of my friends have been married for a number of years and many of them have children who are as old as 10 or 11 or older. I don't have much to show for the carrying on of the ol' genetic material, but that's okay. There are plenty too many people in the world as it is.

Upon reflection I'm thankful for the many friends I've made in 39 years, most notably Charlie, Karl & Jody, Chris & Heidi, Alex & Holly, Peggy and so many more. Overall I'm thankful for my experiences at GHS, UMM, UMC, and now the Washington Pavilion. I'm thankful for my family--mom and dad, sisters and brother, nieces and nephews, cousins, aunts and uncles...

My wish for the coming year is to gain more confidence in my job and to try to eliminate debt. Here's to 40-minus-1!

...and I feel kinda crappy...

Yeah! October is here! My birthday month! Woo-hoo!

...and I feel kinda crappy... September is one of my favorite months; October comes after that. And despite the fact that it's my birthday month, I kinda always feel crappy in October--and let's not even talk about November, the worst month ever.

I'm sure it all has something to do with the diminishing length of the day. It's darker each morning and darker sooner each evening. Then daylight savings time ends, and it's even worse. I really hate late autumn and the resulting seasonal affective disorder it brings.

I also miss friends and relatives. My social life here in Sioux Falls hasn't really materialized. I don't really have anyone I can just hang out with here in town. Occasionally friends come to visit: Charlie from Lincoln every so often, Karl from St. Cloud once a year, a few relatives maybe once a year or so... Alex and Holly from Crookston came down in the spring.

Sorry, I know I'm wallowing a bit, but this is the most depressing time of the year from now until January 1. Only 80 days to go. Woo-hoo! >Sigh<

Cool music video alert

It's been quite a while since I've seen a music video that ranked as notable in my book. (MTV doesn't play music videos anymore, and VH1 only plays them during the later hours of the a.m. Anyway...) But early this morning on VH1 I saw the new video by that new new wave group the Killers: "All These Things That I've Done" It instantly brought me back to those days in the 1980s when a cool new music video was a major topic of discussion.

The video, shot mainly in black and white, is a surreal pastiche of women throwing boomerangs, band members as suburban cowboys, and falling. Not surprisingly, it is directed by Anton Corbijn, a verteran video director who also brought us the nifty video imagery of U2's "One" and Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence." You can see these videos along with the Killers' latest on a compilation DVD "The Work of Director Anton Corbijn" on PALM DVDs. Go out and buy it now.

I've had the Killers' CD in my collection for well over a year and, actually, about a year ago "All These Things That I've Done" was pretty heavy on my personal playlist. Glad to see it received a great video treatment. COOL BEANS!

Ah, TV, what would I do without you?

Okay, so I'm really sort of hooked on that TV show LOST now. Tonight's new episode was really gripping... What was down in the mysterious quarantined hatch? I didn't expect a computerized nerve center. Weird. Now I have to watch next week. Resistence is futile. I have been assimilated.

Also, Battlestar Galactica's season finale is this Friday. Gotta watch it!

Two new really guilty pleasures: My Fair Brady and Breaking Bonaduce. Sad to say it, but these two reality shows have totally sucked me in! Argh!

I missed the season premiere of Arrested Development because it is now on Mondays. So I'll have to try catch next week's episode.

That is my TV report for now.

The stars sing; I've got their song in my head

My new favorite song of the moment is "Ultimatum" by the Long Winters.
It speaks to me somehow...

You can download a free MP3 at Barsuck Records site.

Ultimatum
Student, why do you dream of me
When you dream of your acre of trees?
It was agreed, I came to burn leaves.
It's all I ever claimed to do.
A plowman I'll never grow into...

My arms miss you; my hands miss you.
The stars sing; I've got their song in my head.
Ahhh....

Blue in the broad light of day
As claws snagged on my face.
Say it: I wish we were naked,
And I wish I could take it
When you turn on me...

My arms miss you; my hands miss you.
The stars sing; I've got their song in my head.
I don't want my words twisted.
I don't want you to listen too closely,
Or wait for me impatiently,
And I hope I can keep seeing you
As long as you don't say you're falling in love...

Crave translates into slave.
No one can harness the rain.
And I can make myself into rain,
Can you feel me on your cheek
And on your sleeve?

My arms miss you; my hands miss you.
The stars sing; I've got their song in my head.
I don't want my words twisted.
I don't want you to listen too closely,
Or wait for me impatiently,
And I hope I can keep seeing you
As long as you don't say you're falling in love...

But I can feel you're about to forget.

Yes, I can feel you're about to forget...

Visited States

I've been to 22 as of Aug. 2005. It would have been 23 this weekend if not for Hurricane Katrina and what it did to New Orleans... My thoughts and prayers go out to all who died there and all who have been displaced...




create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

A fun activity

This is fun: Go to Google.com, enter the word "failure" and hit the search button. Notice the first result that is generated. I love it! I agree! Worst _______ ever! A total failure in every regard!

Thank you, Pat Robertson!

Self-righteous Christian and former presidential candidate Pat Robertson yesterday called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has been very critical of the Bush administration and America in general. According to the Associated Press, Robertson on his 700 Club religious show said "We have the ability to take him [Chavez] out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability," and added, "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war ... and I don't think any oil shipments will stop."

This comes shortly after Robertson earlier this month, again on his 700 Club show, called for his audience to pray that there would be additional vacancies on the US Supreme Court. Since Supreme Court justices serve a lifetime term, the only way there would be a vacancy would be because of death or some other health related issue (Sandra Day O'Connor stepped down to spend more time with her husband, who apparently has Alzheimer's Disease). In essence, Robertson was asking people to pray for death or some other bad thing to happen to additional justices.

Mr. Robertson, what kind of Christian are you? Do you even hear what you are saying? Do you know what the Fifth Commandment is? Why don't you call for your rich buddies and your audience of devout Christians to do something constructive like give to the poor or pray for world peace? Thanks for exposing your true colors--the colors of a self-righteous hypocrite. Bah!

DDSDDS

Walking down the street this afternoon I noticed a truck pass by. On its side was Dakota Data Shred Document Destruction Services. It struck me with an odd mixture of feelings: amusement, pensiveness and security. First I laughed at the thought of exploding piles of paper. Next came to mind thoughts of monks in Europe during the Middle Ages and how they often spent many hours hand-copying books. Would they be appalled that documents were so plentiful in this day and age that we freely destroyed them on a very regular basis? I guess information these days is cheap... I know we destroy documents these days to protect privacy, etc. and, in the end, from my 21st century perspective I guess I was glad that an organization like Dakota Data Shred Document Destruction Services exists. Still, I wonder what it was like living in time when even being able to read was a skill that only the very rich and those darn monks possessed... Confetti, anyone?

The Mom vs. the 80% President

You go, Cindy Sheehan! Thanks to this mother of a young soldier killed in Iraq, someone is finally having the persistence to ask a simple question. That question is: why are we in Iraq? All she is asking for is a direct, honest answer. It's no wonder that 'king W. is avoiding her...he doesn't have an answer because his state rationale has changed with each revelation that the previous reason given by his administration doesn't hold water.

So how does one ask such a question when the supposedly liberal media has all but given up on true investigative journalism? This solitary mother simply decided to camp outside his driveway as he takes the longest presidential vacation in 30+ years. He truly is the 80% president, since he has spent approximately 20% of his entire time in office on vacation at his Crawford, Texas, ranch, according to Mark Knoller, a CBS Radio reporter and as reported in the August 3, 2005, edition of the Seattle Times. And, according to that same edition of the Seattle Times, "Weekends and holidays at Camp David or at his parents' compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, bump up the proportion of Bush's time away from Washington even further."

Let's say the average person works 52 40-hour work weeks or 260 days. Now let's subtract 7 days for holidays like Martin Luther King Day, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas, and New Year's Day. That's 253 work days for the average American worker. At his rate of 20% off, 'king W. takes about 50 days or 10 weeks of paid vacation per year--which means he works about 203 days a year. I'd love to have a job where I could take 10 weeks off and still earn my full salary.

To be fair, his aides say during his vacation he receives daily briefings and signs required paperwork, etc.--sort of a work at home atmosphere. I don't really buy that as "working" as I often check in with work on days off or on weekends to see how things are going.

Since I've begun to ramble, let me finish by acknowledging the two issues here. 1) One solitary mother can do more to be persistent in order to ask a question than the entire U.S. Media and still be ignored by 'king W. and 2) 'king W. has what could be the most complex job in the Western World and, yet, apparently spends far less time at it than the average American spends at his or her job. Man, this guy must be like the best president ever! (Please read that last line with a strong tone of sarcasm.)

Can't talk, angry...

Okay, I haven't posted anything for about two weeks. Why? I'm trying to get over being politically angry.

Angry at 'king W's appointment of John Bolton as US ambassador to the United Nations and Peter Flory as assistant secretary of defense--both of which via a constitutional provision enabling him to bypass the Senate and install directly a nominee who had been blocked in the Senate.

Angry at 'king W. for his endorsement of the push by many of his conservative Christian supporters to give intelligent design equal treatment with the theory of evolution in public schools.

Angry at 'king W. not firing his lackey, Karl Rove, for revealing the name of a CIA operative.

Angry at the U.S. Congress for passing an energy bill that gives big oil companies billions of dollars of tax breaks and that does very little to lessen our dependency on fossil fuels.

Angry at the U.S. citizenry for letting this all happen without any sense of public outrage.

Honestly, I'm not normally an angry person, but it just goes on and on with no end in sight. So I guess I should talk about something positive.

Sufjan Steven's new CD "Illinois" is excellent with quirky, joyous, sad and often beautiful moments.

Okay, now back to being politically angry, at least until the 2008 election...

Lyrics of the moment

This song recently struck me for some reason. It's obviously about loss and regret.
It's on the soundtrack to the snow farce Out Cold.
Band: Jimmy Eat World - Song: Hear You Me

There's no one in town I know.
You gave us some place to go.
I never said thank you for that.
I thought I might get one more chance.
What would you think of me now,
so lucky, so strong, so proud?
I never said thank you for that,
now I'll never have a chance.
May angels lead you in.
Hear you me my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.

So what would you think of me now,
so lucky, so strong, so proud?
I never said thank you for that,
now I'll never have a chance.
May angels lead you in.
Hear you me my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.
May angels lead you in.
May angels lead you in.

And if you were with me tonight,
I'd sing to you just one more time.
A song for a heart so big,
god wouldn't let it live.
May angels lead you in.
Hear you me my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.
May angels lead you in.
Hear you me my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.
May angels lead you in.