Last Sunday, my sister-in-law gave birth to my second niece, Skye Morgan Knowles, a redhead just like her big sister, Ember. She's about 22 inches long and some where between nine and ten pounds. I want to pick her up and hold her so badly but she is always asleep when I come over. Right now, she sleeps a lot which is really cute to watch, she REMs like crazy and is constantly yawning and stretching and letting out little moans. Little hands, little feet, little nose, she's a sweetie

Since day one, there has been plenty ado over what is and isn't proper cell phone ettiquette, how dangerous it is to drive while on the phone, answering your phone in the middle of a conversation with a friend, talking too loud, etc. Today, I had a cellphone experience that takes the cake or at the very least, cuts the cheese.

I was just in the restroom when some one sat down in the stall next to mine. He settled himself in, I could hear him pick up the sports section that had been left in there by another patron and then I heard him dialing. I thought, 'alright, he's a busy man, doesn't have time to worry about where he is making his calls from, he's on the go (bad pun, yes) has a lot on his plate, chop, chop, time is money.' He barely starts talking to the unfortunate soul on the other end before he begins letting loose all the thunder his kettle had stirred up inside it. He barely finishes a whole sentence without the accompaniment of flatulance, strong exertion and ensuing plops. I felt so sorry for the other person being forced to listen to this god-awful orchestral movement.

I finished what I set forth to do, removed myself post haste after all, it is rude to eavesdrop and got out of there before my giggling became any louder then it already had. Was this man making an dire business call, making an important decesion, no, nothing like that, he was talking to his dear mother about the plans they had for getting the family together this weekend for dinner. I guess they are very close or maybe his childhood home was very small and intimate.

This morning I noticed things were different. The air didn't taste as sweet, the wind wasn't as soft, the sun didn't feel as warm and yet, the clouds above were full and lustrous and shining ever so brightly. It wasn't until I logged on to the site that I learned why, an angel had been called home....

Farewell Benni..go and give heaven some hell!

Son of a biiiiiii-otch! I wanted to head down to Indio, California to go see Rage Against the Machine who is going to be there with their orginal line up now that they've lanced the boil that was Chris Cornell, let's face it, the man has pipes and all, but lately, he has sounded terrible live and what the fuck was up with that James Bond song!?, at Coachella Music & Art Festival but, when I went to buy tickets they were sold out for that day. So, I can either blow $250 on a ticket for the whole weekend or just go on Friday where the biggest artist performing is Bjork. Hmmmm...I tink dat I vill vait onteel next yar. Que sera, sera. I guess that's what happens when you wait too long to either shit or get off the pot, I totally get that saying more then ever now

I was readin' the employee exchange page at work and saw this, made me wanna :

"Subject: Have you seen *Peet's new customer of the week?

Because it is one of our own...Michelle McKenzie! (And so photogenic) If you have yet to see the delightful photos of Michelle up at Peet's, please go there immediately!"

Oh, sure thing, I'll get right on it. Holy shite, are you kidding me with that?

*Peet's is a small chain of coffee houses located around the SF Bay area mostly and thereabouts elsewhere

Saw 300 last weekend, was alright I guess. Reminded me a lot of one them old arcade games where you're the hero and you're kicking major ass, blowing tons of shit up, rackin' up points like mad, the thrill of the carnage hogging all of your attention, the feeling of power and domination until you get to that one level that gobsmacks you back to your senses. However, by that point, you welcome it because the novelty of it all has worn off and sure, getting a good score is nice but otherwise, all you are getting out of the game are sore thumbs so you see that large monster, impenetrable war machine, whatever and you go at it swinging with just half your heart in it and encourage the axe to fall on your neck ending it swiftly. The Spartans were dominant motherfuckers, they took no prisoners and went into battle always in the search of a "beautiful death" and that's grand but watching them bludgeon their way through hapless masses over and over got boring after a while and the ending was abrupt and flat all at once. Maybe I am finally evoloving, growing up, or catching up as the case may be, or maybe I've seen enough movies with gore as it's basic draw to realize I need more to be enterained now. If I had to rate this thing, I'd give it two stars maybe, two stars and a half since most movies I would give such a rating leave me feeling like a sap for paying to see it in the theatre, and while 300 wasn't what I had hoped, I didn't regret tyhe cost of my ticket stub souvenier as I left.

Oh, this is great, let me tell you, my company was recently bought by another, or at least the majority of our vendor contracts were, pretty much the same thing, and now my fellow staffers and I are waiting for the other shoe to drop. What's going to happen, what's going to happen? Picture about 100 people calmly going about their daily work meanwhile, in their heads, they are scurrying about like decapitated foul. Well, as I just heard the other day, if we get laid off, there's no severence package, neither our old mother company or the new one will honor one. Luckily, I've got enough vacation hours in the books that if I do get let go, once I am re-cooped, recouped the word is, I'll have enough to get by for a little while. The whole thing sucks ass so much it's lips are permanently stained brown.

To all those out there who are thinking of joining the ranks of the corporate drone or already are one, beware, always have an eye open for other jobs, network, build a savings because unless you're the ceo, you're gonna eventually get screwed. Anyway, if some one wants to start a SAVE HAPPYBOY trust fund or just buy me dinner or a cadillac or pay my rent for a while..that'd be cool

I recieved the news today, the matriarch of my clan is no longer. She was as spirited as any wild mare that roamed free. She danced late into the night and into the early morn urging the band to play on for as long as they could. The music has faded away now and the lights that once shone upon the dance floor have long since dimmed. This gentle woman has returned to the home she has been away from for many years. Although I was not the best grandson, a fact I will have to bear, I loved her still in my own way. Katherine "Patty" Knowles was ninety-four years of age and I will miss her.

If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit

Gotta just love UPS! I mean really, those guys are absolutley the best! It's about 11:30am and a package I am just dying to get that was supposed to be delivered today hasn't shown up. So, I track my package on the UPS website and it says that my business is closed today (that's funny, I guess I forgot to tell myself) so I'll have to wait another day. I called customer service to ask what the deal was and they told me that since I wasn't open on Martin Luther King Day it was automatically assummed by their system that I wouldn't be open today. So, even though my package shows as being on the truck, they aren't going to deliver it today even though they now know I am here. Is that fucking stupid or what?