Monday, March 31, 2003

The Core

1) The core movie review
2) Skiing again!!
I have been waiting since Saturday night to write this movie review. Let me just say I wasn't expecting it to be great and was looking forward to how bad it would be. It didn't disappoint. It all started when 35 people died suddenly in a small area around Copley, that's right the movie starts in Boston. The typical college professor was then called in to determine the problem and he does, while at the same time adding his comic relief and light hearted humor to the serious government types. The movie proceeded to gather random people from all over the planet, all of which are different and have there own quirks. In a short amount of time they are forced to come up with a plan and create a ship to solve the problem. Upon building the ship and coming up with the plan, midway through the mission they realize the plan isn't going to work and must try to come up with another plan before the military uses there ultimate solution, which apparently won't do anything but make the situation work. What does this sound like? Oh yeah every other blockbuster we have seen over the past five years ie. Armageddon, Independence Day, Deep Impact... It was great how everybody kept dying, I forgot how much they like to kill off the crews in these movies. I must say the funniest thing about the movie was the ship, it looked like a giant poo. No joke, it was six cylindrical compartments all attached end to end. As the ship tunneled towards the center of the earth it either looked like a poo making its way through the intestinal tract or a poo in the sewer system. It was quite amusing. What disturbed me most, yes something disturbed me more than the S.S. Shit, was the fact that the government never announced the problem to the public and to prevent anything from getting out they brought in a computer hacker to control the internet. First of all would our government actually keep something as serious as the end of the world secret. I hope not, you wouldn't believe some of the things that happened on Earth, from complete destruction of Rome to the melting and collapse of the Golden Gate Bridge. I don't know what there explanation was, but I think the government would be under a ton of pressure to explain it. My second problem is the controlling the internet, now I know it isn't possible, but just the thought of the government censoring everything on the internet makes me queasy. So overall the movie was terrible, but if you are in the mood for this type of movie like I was, check it out.

My weekend was great, as the ski season winds down I find I ski less and less every week. Yesterday was my 50th day of the season. I did some calculations and over the last 149 days I have skiied on 50 of them. When put in that perspective it seems like a ton. We got a ton of footage for my movie, I just need to figure out how to edit it. Next week is the last up at Sunday River and then only Tuckerman's after that and my season will finally be finished. I can rest my weary muscles.

Now let the week begin.

Stay or leave
I want you not to go
but you should
It was good as good goes
Stay or leave
I want you not to go
but you did

-David John Matthews

Lyrics to Stay or Leave.

Thursday, March 27, 2003

Fire at DTC



So Julie came in this morning and said there was a fire down at Downtown Crossing. I checked out the news and Boston.com and there wasn't a thing about it and decided to go down and check it out for myself. Turns out there was some sort of fire and the fire department was on the scene. We were able to go underground and check it out before they booted us out of the subway. We didn't get any new information, but did smell smoke and saw some strange people including the bug lady. Check out the photos.

Not Myself

1) Not Myself
2) Bocano Recap
3) Howard Stern

As it was pointed out yesterday I have not been myself lately and I agree. It is weird there isn't really one event that has caused this, but I am acting in a different way then normal. It is most notable to me at work in the morning when I try to write in this journal, I try to find things in society that have caused me to think twice, but I am unable to come up with anything. It used to be easy for some reason and now "not so much". Perhaps this is good because less things aggravate me, and perhaps I am just being more opened minded. However, I feel it might be a memory thing and for some reason I can't seem to remember things as well. Or maybe I am just so tired the part of my brain which normally comes up with that stuff has just shut down. Whatever it is let's hope it passes soon, because it is actually aggravating me, perhaps that is why I am writing about it. Ironically in writing this I have stopped the writer's block which I am complaining about. To be continued...

After such a nice day, we had BoCaNO last night at the Grand Canal. Something about the food there doesn't agree with me, because even before I finish my meal my stomach is all upset. It happened the last time we were there when I ate way too much, but this time I only had a sandwich and fries. The food wasn't the only thing to upset me, we also talked about the relationship hierarchy and of course had to discuss if the "Special Friends" category is valid. The attempt to have a quorum and vote it in was quite lame. Theories aren't decided by popular vote. Are you kidding me? I am sure a lot of the laws of physics were voted on by physicists all over the world. The formula for Kinetic Energy K=1/2 mv^2 was only chosen over K=4mv^6 after a runoff vote and the current formula only won by ten votes. "Special Friends" is not a valid box because using the rules of the hierarchy it can't exist. I think it is time to concede.

I know I have been going on and on, but I have one more thing to say. I have a question to ask y'all out there who cringe at the mention of Howard Stern. Have you ever really listened to the show? It is very annoying to me when I quote something from the Howard Stern show and people roll there eyes. I think I finally had enough last night when somebody at BoCaNO gave the typical sigh and eye roll. I can certainly understand if a person has listened for more then two minutes and decided you don't like it, but please don't judge it because of things you have heard from other people. Yeah the show is dirty sometimes and the topics aren't your typical everyday conversation topics, but most of the time it is funny and for once somebody is actually speaking there mind and not holding back to keep society happy. I think it is kind of refreshing. There is nothing worse than a celebrity interview by Jay Leno, because he doesn't ask any good questions for fear of pissing off the guest. Howard asks the questions everybody wants to ask but is too afraid. You also may listen and here some racist comments or slurs, but the thing to keep in mind is that they are so extreme, you are almost forced to take it lightly and realize they aren't the actual views of the people on the show. Mostly they are just making fun of the ignorant people that would say these comments in real life as opposed to in a comedy setting. So please open your mind's give it a listen and then decide if you want to roll your eyes. Or it would be better if you rented his movie, "Private Parts", because seeing that would definitely change your mind.

They say I'm great, but I'm not sure
My whole life sucks, each minute blows
This gangely body, this monsterous nose
This droopy ass, this tiny shween
No wonder I get on the air and act so mean

-Howard Stern
Lyrics to Tortured Man.

Wednesday, March 26, 2003

Spring is here

That's right I am writing another mid-day entry. I just got back from lunch and just have to say it is a beautiful day here in Beantown. I totally forgot what it was like to be in nice weather, and I must say I like it. I grabbed a sub at Super Subs and decided to eat it in the Common. Yeah I know the common is kind of ghetto and all, it is by no means PO Square, but its close. Sitting by myself and eating, reminded me how I miss eating lunch with the work girls from the past, including Jurate, Veronica, Niamh and especially Emily, those were good times. Awwww! They all seem to be in better places now, then again what isn't better than State Street. So after eating I decided to walk around, I ended up on Boylston and walked by Emerson, however, I didn't see Britt or Vanessa. They must have been hard at work studying at the library or in class. Yeah right, that'll be the day you guys. So now I am back here at my desk still waiting for my most recent program to finish, it has been running now for a total of ten hours in the last two days and it is only half done.

Almost forgot, I meant to put in this morning that I have recently abandoned Dave, John and David in the car and rocking with some old school Cd's in my collection such as Hootie, Snoop, Dr. Dre, the Beatles (your favorite KDH) and even Alanis Morissette.

Have a great day and get outside if you can.
KWS

Short one hopefully

1) Work
2) Coding again
3) AIM new toys

So you might have seen my away message yesterday afternoon, but basically work has me working on a project I started a while ago, and want me to start up on it again. They just don't get that it takes me a little bit of time to get adjusted to all of the old stuff I wrote. It also isn't helpful that I don't receive an exact declaration of what I am supposed to do. What are ya gonna do?

I wrote some code last night and made some progress. My first task was to actually see if I could run a simple "Hello World" program and after a while I got that too work. Next I wrote a program to test the networking capabilities of Java. It basically runs and justs waits for somebody to log in and via telnet. It will then take in the input from the user and echo it back until they type 'BYE'. Unfortunately I can't seem to get it to work from work, but I think it might be due to a firewall at some point in the system. Bottom Line: I wrote some code last night and it is actually working. Woo-hoo!!

Finally some IM news. I was looking around and found some cool things this morning. First for those of you who don't know about the IM bot, ZoeOnAOL, you should check it out. Basically just add the name ZoeOnAOL to your buddy list and then you can IM the buddy and ask for weather or movies or stocks. You can also chat with the AI engine or play hangman. Second, Britt told me about the DeadAIM add-on for AIM. Basically it adds some functionality to your AIM such as a single window for all IM's with separate tabs for each user, MSN style pop ups when a user logs on and a transparency option for your buddy list. Try DeadAIM.

Tuesday, March 25, 2003

Wired Again

1) New network card
2) Help in stores

Yesterday I bought a new wireless PC card for my laptop, it was plug-n-play, best $136 I have ever spent. I put the card in and within a minute I was whizzing along the information superhighway on my old Sony Vaio. It had been so long and I had to update all of my favorites, because I wanted them to mirror my work favorites. Yeah it is kinda silly, but I like to have continuity. I also had to upgrade my AIM because I was about five versions behind the curve. Does anybody else with two computers in their life have the problem of having files on one PC, but not the other? I wanted to look at a file last night and then realized it was at work. How frustrating!! Time flew by last night because I was chatting with a bunch of people because apparently all of the collage girls come online after I go home from work. You may be wondering why I spent all of that money, the reason is because I am now going to try and get back into programming in Java. I have a couple of projects I want to work on and also have a couple of projects I have to work on.

I went to a bike store yesterday looking for some parts to improve my bike and the guy almost talked me into buying a new one instead of fixing up my current bike. It was weird I used to be against getting help in stores, but now I actually go to these people for advice. It just seems they probably know what they are talking about and if they don't it is likely they no more than I do. You certainly have to think about what they say because they are also trying to sell you stuff and it may sway their answers. For the most part though I hope they are being honest.

Hey,
How did I come to this?
I dream myself a thousand times around the world,
But I can�t get out of this place

-David John Matthews

Lyrics and audio to Grey Street.

Monday, March 24, 2003

This just in!! I didn't watch all of the Oscars last night, but I was just informed that Eminem won the best song award. I think it is great, though it does strike me as weird that Marshall Mathers now has an Oscar. I do like the song though, but don't know if it was really better than all of the Chicago songs. I am sure the voters know more then I do though.

That is all.
Peace

Seesaw Weekend


1) Weekend Report
2) Head Lice?
3) 8 Mile Review

It was quite a busy weekend spent with three different groups of friends. Boy has life changed a lot in one years time. Friday night I hung out with the "Collage Girls". Saturday I stayed in all morning, watched 8 Mile (see below for review) and played the guitar. In the afternoon I picked Sarah up we went to the beach and Margaritas before returning to Grafton. It is was great to go to the beach and not have to wear a jacket. The weather wasn't perfect on Saturday, because it was cloudy, but it was still warm and these longer days are excellent. Margarita's was so yummy I hadn't eaten there in months, so I was excited when my chicken quesadilla arrived at the table. Margarita's definitely has the best mexican food I have had so far, I mean the chicken guadalajara at Border is good, but it still doesn't compare. After leaving Grafton it was still fairly early so I decided, what the hell why don't I go skiing. I drove to Amesbury filled a small bag with some clothes jumped back in the car and headed for Bethel. I made it to Bethel from Amesbury in two hours and one minute. A new record, in retrospect it probably wasn't a great idea since it is dangerous to drive so fast, so I think this record will stand for quite some time. The skiing yesterday was fantastic, the snow is getting so heavy and soft. It was fun and I was able to work on my speed in the bumps. Every weekend I tweak something and change my style a little bit and I think I am slowly getting into the correct form for the bumps competition. DOH!!

Argh! There was so much stuff that went on this weekend and for some reason I can't seem to remember what it was. I mean like annoying stuff, or observations about people in public that are just hilarious. I think I need to start writing this stuff down when I see it. Breaking News!! Be careful the next time you go the record store you might want to think twice about listening to music at one of those sampling stations. A recent report has shown that a lot of head lice has been spread via the headphones in the stores. Apparently the lice can live on the headphones for 24-48 hours before it can't be caught by somebody else. Just a heads up for y'all. It is weird how something so obvious just goes overlooked for so long.

8 Mile movie review
Now going into this I had mixed expectations on the one hand I couldn't see how good Eminem's acting would be, but I had heard several good things about it from other people. Bottom line is that I did enjoy this movie. Eminem did a great job and the story was interesting, I was actually hoping for more once the movie ended. Kim Basinger was great in the movie and though I feel like she is old, she was still looking good. Of course there were a few scenes which could have been removed without effecting the film especially the sex scene between Eminem and Brittany Murphy, it just didn't fit into the movie and caused you to lose faith in the protaganist Bunny Rabbit. I definitely recommend it for renting though, my grade is a B.

Friday, March 21, 2003

Friday Off

Summary
1) My day off
2) More war talk

I intended to go skiing today, but the forecast said it was going to be raining up North so I decided to take the day off anyway and just rest. Well I certainly did that. I woke up at eight, went downstairs realizing only my brother was home and went back upstairs to watch some taped shows. After that I decided to go back to sleep and I napped on and off until the afternoon. It felt great to do NOTHING. Around 2:00 I realized it was a nice day and I should probably get outside and enjoy the weather, so I hopped in the shower and got dressed. I gave Emily a call and we went to the beach and then Newburyport, back to Amesbury and then back to Newburyport to pick up Britt. I got to have my first beach pizza in quite a while and also got to see the new and improved boardwalk in Newburyport. It is nice, you can't see between the decking anymore which is a great new added feature. We picked Britt up at the train and brought her home where we played a few games of cards while waiting for Becky to show up. We had dinner at Wendy's, which is where Em and Becky got in a debate about some actor and whether one of the gay guys in "Best Of Show" was the same guy as the father in "Home Alone". I decided the only way to resolve the issue was to go to Blockbuster and look at the big old movie book. Sure enough Becky was right. It was funny. I am now home just watching more war coverage with my family, because as much as I like music I didn't want to join the "collage girls" for a local bands' concert.

It is starting to get boring, just like after the fourth day of the 9/11 attacks footage. I wonder how long they are going to show the war coverage on network television. It is kind of good because it means we aren't subjected to the lame ass repeats, which would normally be airing tonight. Once the war coverage over, they are going to have to show new episodes of all the shows for the rest of the television season. It was crazy being home today and seeing just how many channels were covering the war. Aside from all of the networks including the WB, there were at least six cable networks as well as the French and Spanish channels. I wonder though through all of this where have the terrorists been and why haven't they struck. It just seemed like within a day of our first attacks in the war I though for sure the terrorists would be at it destroying lord knows what in lord knows what way. Don't get me wrong I am not complaining, it makes me wonder if they are up to something or if we really have stopped the threat. I hope it is the latter.

Thursday, March 20, 2003

Love the desktop LJ updater

I just received this link and many of you LJsters may find it interesting. Away Message News Article. The reporter should get into the LJ scene since the away message is more of a mini LJ. Enjoy guys or more like girls.

-KWS

PS - Net Lingo Acronymns & Short Names takes it all too far. Challenge to anybody who can write an entire whack using just acronyms and most importantly have it make sense. YMMV!!

Deadline Passes

Summary
1) War talk
2) Border Cafe seating issues

I went to BoCaNO last night expecting to see a war on TV, but instead the deadline for Sadaam to leave passed without any action in the skies over Baghdad. Well at least not while I was watching, at some point on my extra long trip home from Cambridge we did drop some bombs. I am left wondering now when the real bombardment is going to begin. Is it wrong that so many people are so excited for it to begin? I feel bad for looking forward to war and all the attacks that are going to occur, but I can't help looking at the tv or internet every five minutes to see if anything else has happened. I find it very interesting that this is the first real war since the internet has become woven into our daily lives. Most people don't even realize the first Gulf War happened before the internet age. We have just so accustomed to the internet we don't even realize it has only been widely used for about the last 6-8 years. I remember when I was in high school we had only one computer with a modem and only about a half dozen people in the school were allowed to go on the internet, luckily I was one of those people. I think it is definitely a case of something we take for granted. Now I have shifted topics a bit, but I feel our new constant thirst for information is what has created our recent excitement for war. We don't care about the war and its ramifications, but look forward to seeing the footage online, reading about it on Boston.com and having something new and interesting to talk about. I think it is great to have people interested in international issues although it does annoy me to hear people talk about some issues and really not have any idea what they are talking about. Just because you heard some random guy on the awful Fox news network say something doesn't mean it is actually true. I will admit sometimes I probably have this problem, but not as much as some people do. If you don't know what you are talking about bow out of the conversation, please. Lets hope for a short war with a ton of footage available on the internet and also a small list of casualties. Maybe tonight. Late revelation. Perhaps we are all excited because in this oversaturated reality show environment, we are finally going to get a REAL reality show.

One more thing. Last night we went to the Border Cafe in Harvard Square and there were four of us, but we usually get a table for a couple more then who shows up at 5:30. We asked for a table for five and the guy said he couldn't give us a booth until the five people were all there. So we waited and hoped for a fifth person to show up. After a half hour Amy showed up and we went to the guy and said our five were now here, could we please be seated. He said he needed to see all five, in case we were lying. At the time one of our party had gone outside to place a phone call, but that excuse was not good enough for him. Finally were all accounted for and he brought us to our table. Okay now that was quite irritating, the worst part was that as soon as we sat in our booth for more than four people, they sat a party of four in the booth next to us. Come on people do we really need to do a head count before sitting down.

Wednesday, March 19, 2003

This is way better than sleeping

Summary for today
1) Went to Fire+Ice with my family
2) Made collages with Becky and Emily

Last night I went to Fire+Ice for the second time ever and this time I was more prepared for the whole experience. I met Vanessa and Britt in front of Burberry and headed straight for F+I. My mom and aunt were driving in and called at least three times to update me on there location and to ask for directions. They finally showed up and we enjoyed a great meal, I piled the food high in my bowl because I remembered how much less it seems like once it is on the huge plate. After dinner they went to Mama Mia, but I was tired and didn't have a ticket so I went home. Apparently the show was great, but I had a great time at home anyway.

Once again I shut my light off to go to bed and there it was again. Ring, ring, ring! It was Emily at Wal-Mart wondering if I wanted to join Becky and her for some collage making. I once again thought for about a second and was dressed and on my way to Wal-Mart. The only problem was that we didn't have a place to make them since we all live at home and have the constant fear of disturbing the parental units. I suggested we go to my aunt's house, because she wasn't home and she is cool and doesn't mind a bunch of people hanging out at all hours of the night. We got there around 11:00 and worked on the collages for a couple hours. I just kept cutting and when I was finished I could have covered about a square foot of my posterboard. It is going to take me forever to finish it. Carol came home from the show and we only stayed a little longer before deciding to call it a night. I am tired, but I still had a great time.

I'm tweaking
onto a whole new level
G-Funk
step to this
I dare ya
funk
on a whole new level
the rythmn is the base and the base is the treble
chords
strings
we brings
melody
G-Funk
where rythmn is life
and life is rythmn

-Warren G
Lyrics to Regulate.

Tuesday, March 18, 2003

Just when I thought it was safe to go to sleep

It was a busy Monday and I am paying the price for it today. I started yesterday off by driving my mom's car to work, because my car had to go in to get an oil change at the VW dealer. It turns out the Jiffy Lube in Seabrook really messed something up when they changed my oil and I had to pay thirty dollars to correct the issue. Grrrrr!!! Work was okay yesterday, we are all quite interested in the upcoming war and have had a number of discussions about it. I left work at 5:30 because I forgot to go home after nine hours like I normally do, I need to set a reminder to tell me when to go home. Apparently it is a good thing I left when I did because at around eight I went online and a bunch of people were still at work, I am sure they will all be in great spirits this morning. On my way home I got a call from an old friend and met her for ice cream at Friendly's, we only had ice cream, it has been so long since I have actually had a supermelt there. The turkey club supermelt is quite possibly the best grilled sandwich out there, yum. Turkey, cheese, bacon and thousand island dressing, what a great combination. Everything else there is just gross, so gross in fact they can't even make it look good on the menu. I finally got home and watched some of the ski video again and then stopped it to watch Mr. Bush give us a time and date for the war. Apparently we will begin our quest for Sadaam at some point during BoCaNO, I am hoping we end up at a bar with a television. The war will probably be very distracting and I just hope we finally get to iron out the relationship hierarchy, especially the most recent debate over the "special friends" box, before it starts. So after our fearless leader finished speaking I went upstairs and practice the guitar and around ten decided to hit the hay (now that is a lame saying). My light wasn't off more than five minutes when all of a sudden.

Ring, ring, ring!! I answered and it was Emily wondering if I wanted to join Becky, Melissa and her for a trip to Friendly's. I thought a second and decided what the hell why not, I am sure to have a good time with these crazy kids. So I said sure and put on some clothes and waited for them to come and pick me up. We headed over to Friendly's, luckily they were still open and I was able to have my second ice cream of the night. I decided on the Snickers sundae this time, just to mix it up a bit. It was a GOOD time, of course a lot of the times I was out of the loop since I don't actually know most of the people they talk about, though I do know a lot of those peoples' older siblings. We finished eating and paid the bill, which reminds me of how the waitress brought me back a ten dollar bill for change. Why do some waitresses only bring you back big bills? In most cases I think they do it to try and force you into a bigger tip. It is stupid just make it easier for me and you will receive a nice tip. We went out to the car and the girls asked me if I wanted to go and watch their senior class trip video over Melissa's and I said sure. So we headed over there and on the way listened, danced and sang along to some Blues Traveler. Em you definitely get the award for best in car dance sequence. We actually had to drive around a little extra just to finish the song Hook. Their video was pretty funny, it was white water rafting in Maine. After the senior video we watched a AMS talent search video from 1997. The acts were terrible, well except the two Jackson 5 numbers ;o) I then realized how old I was since the girls were in seventh grade and I was a freshman at Maine when the video took place. Oh well, even if I am a good six years older, I still have a great time. At around one, it was time to go home and even the ride home was funny, because we had to drive through Woodsom Farm in the fog and I swear I saw the ghost of the farm. Thanks for calling me ladies, its always good times!!

Suck it in suck it in suck it in
If you're Rin Tin Tin or Anne Boleyn
Make a desperate move or else you'll win
And then begin
To see
What you're doing to me this MTV is not for free
It's so PC it's killing me
So desperately I sing to thee
Of love

-John Popper
Lyrics to Hook

Monday, March 17, 2003

Wow where should I start

So of course my weekend was amazing again because I was in Bethel and not in boring Massachusetts. Skiing yesterday was one of the best days so far this year at Sunday River. It was in the forties and the sun was out all day long. I started at 8:45 and skiied straight through until four o'clock without lunch, the scary part of it was that I could have skiied for at least three more hours and not thought twice about it. We also did a ton of filming for my ski movie, well of course it is going to be the worst most boring film ever, but we sure do get a kick out of watching it every Sunday night. There has been a lot of learning what not to do with the camera, such as don't ski with the zoom on. So bottom line, skiing was kick ass now on to other stuff.

I love the IRS!!! I went to the ATM this morning (I know me at the ATM what a surprise) and took out some money, I grabbed the receipt and checked the balance and was shocked to see my account had three times as much money as I thought it did, yippeee!! So I checked online and I must have done my taxes incorrectly and ended up receiving almost twice as much money as I anticipated. I am thinking of putting all the money directly into a savings account or maybe opening an eTrade account and getting into the market OR I could use it as a security deposit and first/last month's rent on an apartment. Who knows?

I do have an update on my Dave Matthews concert going for the next six months, it appears Dave has now become less of a priority, because I am only going to three shows. Two shows in Mansfield and one show in Columbus. I seriously thought about the Gorge shows in Washington state, but I think the cross country drive will have to wait until next year. It would have been expensive and its not exactly fun to do the whole trip alone. My car thanks me for the decision. Speaking of my car it is headed to Seacoast VW today for its 10,000 mile service, I want to thank my mom and brother for taking it up there for me. Hopefully Precious will be okay and ready for another trip to Maine on Thursday night.

I have a couple links for y'all to check out. First of all Maddox has updated his site with his articleWho would make a better president Bush or a box of Tic-Tacs?
An objective analysis.
The second link is to a funny video of the Trunk Monkey.


i am HoLDiNg youR PhOne hOsTAgE. IF you Ever wANt tO sEE YoUR PHONe agAIN LeaVE 1,000,000 tURkish lIrA iN a bRiEfcAse On the PLatFOrm Of THe reD LInE AT PaRK strEeT statIoN Near the haND. IF YoU NOTiFY tHe pOlice i wILl Let THe bATTeRy Die.

Take these chances
Place them in a box until a quieter time
Lights down, you up and die

-David John Matthews
Lyrics and audio to Ants Marching.

Thursday, March 13, 2003

TGIT

The end of the week is finally here for me, I will definitely try to sleep in tomorrow, the skiing is going to have to wait for a little while. Keep in mind sleeping in for me means 8:00, so I won't be missing out on too much skiing. I actually was exhausted this morning and slept in for an extra hour, which was nice, though I felt so late even though I was only leaving an hour after I typically leave.

So BoCaNO last night was rather interesting, there ended up only being four of us and we had quite the discussion. I think it may even top the triangle table discussion from Fajitas and Ritas. We discussed the different levels of relationships and the definitions of each of those types of relationships. Now I know some of you (John) are going to have a ton of shit to say about our discussion, and criticize us by saying rather than discuss it why don't you actually do it. Yeah yeah I know, part of the problem is that I am too busy trying to figure it out before hand rather than just jumping in and figuring it out from the inside. So I will acknowledge my flaw and save you the trouble of a nasty comment. I won't go into much detail about the whole "relationship hierarchy", because I think Tasha and E are working on something, but it basically defines the different levels and types of relationships. Starting with friends and casual dating, then flowing up to dating, then to bf/gf, followed by engagement and then marriage. Oh yeah and don't forget the hook up box, which can lead to dating, but in most cases doesn't go anywhere except to relationship purgatory. Now while moving up the chart the commitment and obligation increases. The most difficult parts are below dating on the chart because the status of the relationship is not clearly defined and since we don't live in a universe with perfect information, most people never really know which category there relationship is in and that can cause issues. Now there is a ton more, but you will either have to talk to me in person about it or just show up at the next BoCaNO and we can continue the theorizing. I am going to have to start a book of all of the new theories that have been created in my presence. Coming soon to a live journal near you the KEgan alfabet I am dEtermind to cAnj thE wA pEpl komUnikAt. ;o)

Wednesday, March 12, 2003

Wash the car


I decided it was time to wash my car for the second time yesterday. It was such a disaster from all of the trips to Maine and the daily commute to Malden. I went to our local car wash and got about five dollars in quarters for the vacuum cleaner. I started by pulling out all of the floor mats and beating them against a cement pole in the parking lot. The vacuuming took forever, I must have sucked up ten pounds of dirt from the inside of my car. Using the vacuum at the car wash is so frustrating because you never really know how much time you will need. I started by putting in six minutes worth of quarters and did the typical rush job in case time ran out, the thing started beeping and I wasn't even finished the front seat, so I added a couple more minutes to the total and continued my rushed vacuuming. It is so annoying to have to battle with the countdown timer. Eventually the time ran out and I put the mats back in and headed for the next great timer battle with the manual car wash. Most of you are wondering why I would subject myself to the manual car wash and the reason is the ski rack doesn't really get along well with the automatic car wash. So I pulled into the bay and got more quarters and loaded up the machine with six minutes of car washing fun time. Now the washing is much worse than the vacuuming, because not only do you have to race against the clock there are several different activities you have to partake in from the pre-soak to the final rinse. They have about seven different stages you are supposed to go through including the tire wash, final wax and engine degreaser, but I think it would take about twenty dollars worth of quarters to successfully get through all of them. I can just barely clean off the soap before the timer runs out. So let the battle begin, I start off with what I think is the pre-soak, but since one of the two lights in the bay is out it turns out I was just spraying degreaser and tire cleaner all over the car. Once realizing my error I switch to pre-soak and run around the car trying to spray every inch of it. Next comes the soap from the high pressure hose, it takes a while for the soap to actually come out, but this stage is easy compared to the foam brush which is now sitting in the on deck circle. I switch the dial over to foam and grab the brush, now the tricky part begins. It is not hard to use the brush, but I am very anal about the hose banging up against the car and possibly scratching it. So I am forced to use odd tactics, such as holding the hose and trying to use the brush. Just as I finish doing the passenger side the timer beeps and I have to run over and put more quarters in, otherwise I would have been forced to drive around with a foam covered car. I rush and try my best to get every inch of the car, because since it is dark and only one light is on in the bay I can't really tell how I did. Finally, I turn the dial to the rinse cycle and once again grab the high pressure hose and begin rinsing. The process takes a couple minutes and I actually end up with the dreaded extra couple minutes of time and instead of wasting the minutes I continued to spray the car down. Once the water stopped I left the bay with a giant smile on my face because I was happy to be driving around in a clean car for a change. My happiness only lasted until I got out of my car and checked out my work. I did a horrible job and missed some of the hood and much of the bottom on the passenger side. I can't wait for the warm weather so I can wash my car with a sponge and get every single inch of it. So that's my story.

Now my novel is finished and I must get back to work. l8r sk8r!!

I seem caught in time
My head leaves me behind
Body falls cold
And I see heaven

-David John Matthews
Lyrics and Audio to Rhyme and Reason.

Tuesday, March 11, 2003

Can't get enough rest

I don't think I have been more tired then I was yesterday afternoon. I could barely keep my eyes open on the drive home, but luckily I made it in one piece. I considered taking a nap, but I was weary of the possible repercussions of napping so late in the day. You know how it works you nap for a couple hours in the evening and either can't go to sleep at your regular time or even worse you wake up in the middle of the night and aren't able to get back to sleep. So I opted for trying to stay awake and I made myself dinner. That's right I made dinner of course it wasn't anything exciting just some penne ;o) and sauce. It was perfect though the sauce did have a little more green pepper then I prefer, but I ate it anyway. After dinner, I remembered that I haven't seen my dad in over a month and figured it was time to go pay him a visit. It was great to see him and as usual I just talked away about everything that was going on with me, which mostly involved skiing. After that I headed towards the gym, despite my exhausted state, I lifted some weights (beefcake, BEEFCAKE!!) and ran for a little bit, but my knee was really starting to bother me so I stopped.

Check out some more South Park sounds at South Park Sound Archive wav files. Some of them make great system sounds.

Does anybody have any insight as to what the song Drops of Jupiter by Train is about? I was thinking it is about some woman who is unsatisfied with her current relationship/situation and goes out to find something better, as in "the grass is always greener" syndrome. Upon finding the grass isn't so green, she goes back to the original relationship/situation and the song is asking her about this experience and whether it was worth it. Does that sound right? Complete lyrics to Drops of Jupiter

Tell me did you sail across the sun
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated

-Train
Lyrics or Audio to Drops of Jupiter.

Monday, March 10, 2003

Move aside Warren Miller

Guess what I did this weekend? You guessed right I went skiing, but it was different because some of the skiing took place at Sugarloaf/USA. Whether or not there is a Sugarloaf/Canada, Sugarloaf/Switzerland or Sugarloaf/Iraq, they still attach the USA to the end, which I don't really understand. The weather was amazing and I finally got a chance to use the video camera and film some skiing movies, nothing to exciting, but it was good to test it out, I just need to find something to hold the camera in besides my backpack.

We had a funny experience yesterday when leaving Sunday River, yesterday. After skiing, I grabbed the car and was waiting in the load/unload zone for the rest of my party, when all of a sudden the giant buses full of kids parked behind me and trapped my car in the load/unload zone. There were two openings wide enough for my car, but one had about a six inch drop and the other one involved a large icy bank and I probably would have either bottomed out or slid into a bus. After several failed attempts to leave, we finally asked one of the bus drivers to move his bus. It was just so funny that we were trapped with no way out.

I got home last night and it was nice for about five minutes before my family got home and then of course the peace and quite ended. It was actually going fairly well until I started using the internet at the kitchen counter and the kitchen all of a sudden became Grand Central Station. My stress level soared and I had to retire to my room. Aaaaargh!!!! I then grabbed the guitar and tried to practice and I played horribly. I guess that is what you practice for anyway.

This morning on my way to work I saw my first Honda Element on the road. I glanced in my rear view mirror and had to do a double take. It looks so strange and the guy driving it just didn't seem to fit the demographic group they are trying to sell to, but maybe he is a closet extreme sports junkie. Another weird thing I saw this morning was a police truck driving through Downtown Crossing at about fifty miles an hour. It was just so strange to see a vehicle drive so quickly through such a busy part of the city. Luckily it was seven o'clock and nobody was there, but it was totally strange. Okay that is enough for today, I also want to give Em a shout out, I hope you are having a better day today :o)

One sweet world
Around a star is spinning
One sweet world
And in her breath I'm swimming
And here we will rest in peace

-David John Matthews
Lyrics and Audio to One Sweet World

Thursday, March 6, 2003

Quick Entry Today


Look out Mona Lisa and Whistler's Mother here comes Auntie Babe. My aunt recently volunteered to be the subject in one of the Amesbury Public School's art classes. I just had to put the picture on the lj, because it is pretty classic.

Anyway, BoCaSoNO last night was fun, there ended up only being like five of us, but it was still a great time. Redbones is a cool place to eat and just hang out at. I did get home at a relatively late hour and am now quite tired, but it is finally Thursday and that means only one more day until Bethel. Work looks to be busy for the next few days, so if you don't hear from me don't be too surprised. It looks like it will be snowing today, which should help to make the day a little more peaceful, unfortunately it will mostly accumulate south of Boston.

Have a good one!!!

Hi ho
Hi ho
It's off to work we go

-The Seven Dwarfs

Wednesday, March 5, 2003

I had a sick day yesterday and didn't do much except sit around and hang about the house. I did see a movie and then did a little shopping for a care package for Sarah. I wanted to get her something for her clinical rotations and decided on a pen and a card. Once I got into the stores I ended up getting the card, a pen, a key chain, another pen, and a pair of socks. I also threw in a copy of the latest live John Mayer CD. I watched "When Harry Met Sally" yesterday and it made me think about how I am acting. I do really want to focus on our friendship now and worry about what relationship might occur later. It probably wasn't the best idea to send the care package, but I think she will appreciate it anyway. Can't wait to hear from her.

Summer Planning

Much to my surprise this morning I received an email announcing all of the tour dates for the Dave Matthews Band this summer. I can't believe they are releasing the dates so soon nothing like planning for a Tuesday concert in September now. I now have a week to decide which shows I will be going to this year. I would like to keep my tradition of going to the first show of the tour alive and once again that will land me in good old Columbus, OH on June 17. It would make it five years in a row: '99 Tampa, FL, '00 Columbus, OH, '01 Charlottesville, VA, and '02 Washington D.C. I had planned on going to the Gorge shows in George, WA so it looks like my cross country trip will be in the first week of August. Finally, they will be coming to Mansfield on September 9th and 10th. So there we go $250 right out the door and so many other shows I would like to go to. Yeah I know I don't HAVE to go, but it is something I enjoy so much. It is at least a micro 9 at every show I go to. I still feel it is definitely worth the cost, perhaps once I grow up things will change, but for now still gotta go to the shows.

I didn't post yesterday and probably should have since I didn't have anything to do all day at home. I called in sick because over the past few days I had a sore throat and just didn't feel right. I figured it would be a good idea to take a day before I became any sicker. It was boring at home, my mom was there, burning brownies and trying to learn how to type. I sat down and played with the typing program and struggled a bit, but did end up beating a game they have for learning. I was able to get some ironing done, dusted my room, and opened the windows since it smelled like a coffin in there. Overall I am feeling better and am glad to be back at work and doing some programming today. Speaking of my health I have added a new component to my current mood it is the health percentage. It isn't as complicated as the Micro/Macro mood system, it is just a percentage of how I am feeling at the moment I do the journal. 100% is feeling perfectly, 90% is feeling good, but tired and as the percentage goes down so does my health.

Maddox explains How to become an obnoxious webcam whore.

Have a great day, and try to stay out of the rain. Apparently it is really going to come down this afternoon. Spring is nearly here, then summer and DMB.

I wonder sometimes
about the outcome
of a still verdictless life
am I living it right

-John Mayer
Complete lyrics to Why Georgia

Monday, March 3, 2003

Like Night and Day

It was a nice long weekend of skiing. Saturday was unbelievably nice with clear skies and temps in the mid 30's. Sunday was unbelievable but the complete opposite of Saturday, it was cloudy and snowed all day long. The skiing was great yesterday with up to six inches by the time we left the mountain at four o'clock. However, I will refrain from the actual skiing talk and focus more on the other part of the weekend. I had some guests this weekend, John and Suha. It was great to have them up so they could finally see where all of my stories come from. The highlight of the trip would have to be when John got dropped off from the bar by one of the workers at the bar. Upon getting into our apartment building he didn't know which apartment was ours so he proceeded to enter different apartments until he found the correct one. So CLASSIC!!! Those guys were so sore from snowboarding all day long and to top it all off Suha fell down our stairs officially crowning him as the first person to fall down them, though I am sure he won't be the last. I think a good was had by all.

I did have one annoyance from the weekend, the American Skiing Company has brought back the Prime Time season pass. For only $199, you get an All East pass for the rest of the season at five mountains. It is frustrating for me, because I paid $1500, and I am sure it is not exactly the best news for the people who recently spent $500 on a MeTicket. They can use four of their tickets for a pass, but the rest of the tix have to be used by friends and family. I guess if it helps them to make money and allows them to someday add more trails it is for the better.

It was tough coming back to work this morning. I am truly lacking in motiviation especially since I had such a great weekend. Time to focus and get cracking though. Wish me luck only five more days until Bethel. :o)

Check out Maddox latest posting Jenny Jones Cancelled.

Now he's falling hard
He feels the falling dark
How he longs to be
Beneath his dreaming tree

-David John Matthews
Audio and lryics to The Dreaming Tree