News in all directions makes me heartsick. Nothing makes me feel more defeated and angry in listening/watching/reading the petty reasons that thousands of lives have been ruined and washed away. Tonight I've been cooking and washing dishes to news podcasts. What can you day in response to Republican think tank officials who are in agreement of what organizations are at fault and trying to find the most polite ways possible of saying, "I told you so..."
Today I trying following up, yet again, to the human services agency I've been dancing circles around... Dead air.
It's almost now to the point that I'm taking their lack of enthusiasm personally. I've indelibly bad luck when trying to pin somebody down via voice mail, et al. Maybe I'll give AmazonRed13 a week-owed phonecall & a promise of coffee for some intel on the inside.
AlienPrincess literally ran across the flat at the sound of me practicing last night... I was noodling, varying some scale intervals and having a spot of fun making noise. The corner-lurker started coy commentary of the usual absence of my playing...ever and my hands and guitar pick withdrew. It's only fun if others' don't listen...pesky (musical) performance anxiety.
Perhaps more tomorrow, or the next day.
Today I trying following up, yet again, to the human services agency I've been dancing circles around... Dead air.
It's almost now to the point that I'm taking their lack of enthusiasm personally. I've indelibly bad luck when trying to pin somebody down via voice mail, et al. Maybe I'll give AmazonRed13 a week-owed phonecall & a promise of coffee for some intel on the inside.AlienPrincess literally ran across the flat at the sound of me practicing last night... I was noodling, varying some scale intervals and having a spot of fun making noise. The corner-lurker started coy commentary of the usual absence of my playing...ever and my hands and guitar pick withdrew. It's only fun if others' don't listen...pesky (musical) performance anxiety.
Perhaps more tomorrow, or the next day.
Long time, no see, friends! I'd been without internet for a few days so, visiting the site and leaving comments has been a great sputtering of energy. Let's see if I can't fill you in proper.
#1 - To clarify, I am not married. I am not/was not getting married. The persons who did was my sister, chiquitabonita and my now illustrious brother-in-law PornStarGuy. And their wedding Sunday was great! As it was a low-fi, quickly planned affair, there were a few rough edges, a few ruffled feathers but it was otherwise smooth and pain-free.
Throughout their near week in-town, I was really pleased how well both sets of my parents got on... They'd divorced 20+ years ago and everyone's remarried since so, that's some measure of equal playing field.
The other benefit to the exchange is my Aunt Rhoda. She my step-father's sister-in-law, a southern baptist, a gruesome houseguest and an intollerable pain in the ass. Happily relatives seem to get along when they can identify that there is a far greater asshole in the room than the person they'd normally have beef with. She and my Uncle John vacation at my parents house, literally. Some people choose Europe, otthers St. Bart's...not them. They'll call my parents and inform them that they are inviting themselves to stay the week of the such-and-such and move in.
The first thing my Mom had said aftern announcing she'd be arriving a near-week before the wedding was, "I don't want to hear it. She's here to help me with the wedding and will be completely innocuous." This woman is the bull in a china shop of good houseguest form.
Anyway, she did provide to be a fantastic photostalking victim of the lovely AmazonRed13.
After the dinner table, when she wasn't taking pictures down her shirt or of me and AlienPrincess, she would creep behind Rhoda and pop a flash two inches away from an eye and dash away. I'll have to sort through pictures and find a picture of this to post...and maybe of boobs, too. 
As I'd last talked to her, chiquitabonita will be arriving in Charlston today. Due to the poor planning of PornStarGuy's mom and his needing to move his family down there (as well as himself and CB), there wasn't time for a proper farewell party. In the next couple of weeks or so, the two newlyweds will be settling into their new apartment together down there and will get back on-line here. For anyone interested in phone numbers or adresses, drop a note in my 'contact' tab and I'll set you up.
And perhaps that's all for now. The future of work stuff I'll update on in the next week. News on the greyed DarkRabbit and what he's been trying to do to rejoin our ranks will be touched upon, as well.
Oh! And as a brief aside, gas prices! Yes, they're miserable... As the guy who drives everyone, everywhere, this has hit me hard. So friends I have six words for you: discount club cards and the internet. I've been a member of Costco and Sam's Club for years because of my former job. Both of their business models are not to make money on the items they sell but on anaual membership fees. This relays as gas 5-10 cents cheaper at the pumps. The other resource for buying gas are consumer websites such as Gas Buddy, Gas Price Watch, the enterprising Google Map hackers at My Wikimap and locally at Connecticut Gas Prices. Pay what you find but you've no excuses not to pay less.
#1 - To clarify, I am not married. I am not/was not getting married. The persons who did was my sister, chiquitabonita and my now illustrious brother-in-law PornStarGuy. And their wedding Sunday was great! As it was a low-fi, quickly planned affair, there were a few rough edges, a few ruffled feathers but it was otherwise smooth and pain-free.
Throughout their near week in-town, I was really pleased how well both sets of my parents got on... They'd divorced 20+ years ago and everyone's remarried since so, that's some measure of equal playing field.
The other benefit to the exchange is my Aunt Rhoda. She my step-father's sister-in-law, a southern baptist, a gruesome houseguest and an intollerable pain in the ass. Happily relatives seem to get along when they can identify that there is a far greater asshole in the room than the person they'd normally have beef with. She and my Uncle John vacation at my parents house, literally. Some people choose Europe, otthers St. Bart's...not them. They'll call my parents and inform them that they are inviting themselves to stay the week of the such-and-such and move in.
The first thing my Mom had said aftern announcing she'd be arriving a near-week before the wedding was, "I don't want to hear it. She's here to help me with the wedding and will be completely innocuous." This woman is the bull in a china shop of good houseguest form.
Anyway, she did provide to be a fantastic photostalking victim of the lovely AmazonRed13.
After the dinner table, when she wasn't taking pictures down her shirt or of me and AlienPrincess, she would creep behind Rhoda and pop a flash two inches away from an eye and dash away. I'll have to sort through pictures and find a picture of this to post...and maybe of boobs, too. As I'd last talked to her, chiquitabonita will be arriving in Charlston today. Due to the poor planning of PornStarGuy's mom and his needing to move his family down there (as well as himself and CB), there wasn't time for a proper farewell party. In the next couple of weeks or so, the two newlyweds will be settling into their new apartment together down there and will get back on-line here. For anyone interested in phone numbers or adresses, drop a note in my 'contact' tab and I'll set you up.
And perhaps that's all for now. The future of work stuff I'll update on in the next week. News on the greyed DarkRabbit and what he's been trying to do to rejoin our ranks will be touched upon, as well.
Oh! And as a brief aside, gas prices! Yes, they're miserable... As the guy who drives everyone, everywhere, this has hit me hard. So friends I have six words for you: discount club cards and the internet. I've been a member of Costco and Sam's Club for years because of my former job. Both of their business models are not to make money on the items they sell but on anaual membership fees. This relays as gas 5-10 cents cheaper at the pumps. The other resource for buying gas are consumer websites such as Gas Buddy, Gas Price Watch, the enterprising Google Map hackers at My Wikimap and locally at Connecticut Gas Prices. Pay what you find but you've no excuses not to pay less.
"Waiter, I'd gladly take another piece of your pecan pie..." "Pecan pie..?" "Pecan pie." Desset leftovers have me swooning! 
Hello, hello! The family has landed and everyone seems to be getting on just fine. The wedding (as these things are) will be interesting to serve as a reunion of my Dad's entire family from NYC, the reunion of his seeing my Mom's side of the family, whom he's been divorced from for 20+ years...he was especially close to my two uncles.
Last night we had the rough equivalent of the rehearsal dinner... Three branches of family, a sister who was playing the happy hostess remarkably well and a poor PornStarGuy who came under the spolight as the groom whom no one's met.
Today chiquitabonita is taking our Dad and our Step-Mom, Tammy, out to Mystic for seaport viewing, schooner climbing and crab eating. Tammy's never stepped foot in New England before so, we've been trying to huddle on what she'd care to see while in town. Tomorrow they're likely to take the commuter train down to the city and stomp around for the afternoon.
Well, I had that third interview for the human services agency and of course, it went very well. I'd originally hoped to've received a greater insight in how soon I'd start, who I'd be working under, fun details like that. Well no one had really informed the woman I met for the interview what she was supposed to be talking about with me. So we had ourselves a very brief entry-level chat about the organization, the work and other minutiae that had been ably covered in the previous two interviews.
I meet with the president of the agency (hopefully) next week at some point for the official offer of the job and the discussion about benefits, my salary scale and how much I rock!
Hello, hello! The family has landed and everyone seems to be getting on just fine. The wedding (as these things are) will be interesting to serve as a reunion of my Dad's entire family from NYC, the reunion of his seeing my Mom's side of the family, whom he's been divorced from for 20+ years...he was especially close to my two uncles.
Last night we had the rough equivalent of the rehearsal dinner... Three branches of family, a sister who was playing the happy hostess remarkably well and a poor PornStarGuy who came under the spolight as the groom whom no one's met.
Today chiquitabonita is taking our Dad and our Step-Mom, Tammy, out to Mystic for seaport viewing, schooner climbing and crab eating. Tammy's never stepped foot in New England before so, we've been trying to huddle on what she'd care to see while in town. Tomorrow they're likely to take the commuter train down to the city and stomp around for the afternoon.
Well, I had that third interview for the human services agency and of course, it went very well. I'd originally hoped to've received a greater insight in how soon I'd start, who I'd be working under, fun details like that. Well no one had really informed the woman I met for the interview what she was supposed to be talking about with me. So we had ourselves a very brief entry-level chat about the organization, the work and other minutiae that had been ably covered in the previous two interviews.
I meet with the president of the agency (hopefully) next week at some point for the official offer of the job and the discussion about benefits, my salary scale and how much I rock! So...tired... I woke-up uncomfortably early today as I had to launch an elaborate plan to miss a little work tomorrow. I scheduled a third interview at the foot-dragging human services agency that AmazonRed13 is working for. I phoned into work placing a little white lie about needing to pick up relatives flying for chiquitabonita and PornStarGuy's wedding on Sunday. In reality, I'll be freshly-scrubbed and wowing my future employers with my charm, wit and my willingness to exceed expectations (and in doing so, make twice as much money). Needless to say, my fingers and painted toes are crossed!
Speaking of wedding news, my father and step-mom will be in town for the event and we're trying to schedule some time together. I had flown out to Iowa to visit them this past Thanksgiving and may do so again this year. While they're in town, it looks as if I won't be able to do much with them. The register jockeying position is horribly scheduled in hanging out with others. I'm also cashing in a number of favors in order to make that interview tomorrow so, stretching myself more isn't likely to happen. Originally when considering the problem, I planned on giving notice at my job... The new position is hopefully due to start on the 1st, my family will be around just prior to that so, why not cut myself lose, visit casually for a few days and start a new job immediately thereafter. Hopefully the meeting tomorrow will shed a little more light on what my future and this week holds for me.
In the shear spontaneous delight catagory, I received a call from my dear friend Tamsyn on Sunday... Monday marked her five-year anniversary w/ Barnes & Noble, my once employer, as well. As I had been one of her close confidants on the job, as well as the person who'd first handed her the job application, she called my ass out to drinks at the Playwright in Hamden. Our former supervisor (and happily unemployed man-about-town) jesusslack drove the six blocks to close the bar and drunkenly admit to the need to update much more. Now knowing where T works will hopefully allow me to bug her to hangout before chiquitabonita moves away, maximize the odd free coffee and discuss some custom framing work.
Rather than my usual longer weekly entry, I'm going to be cutting it somewhat shorter. I've been wanting to update more often again in seeing others make efforts to do so, as well. Perhaps next time I'll remember the details of some of the Smart Playlists I've been dabbling with...perhaps.
I woke-up uncomfortably early today as I had to launch an elaborate plan to miss a little work tomorrow. I scheduled a third interview at the foot-dragging human services agency that AmazonRed13 is working for. I phoned into work placing a little white lie about needing to pick up relatives flying for chiquitabonita and PornStarGuy's wedding on Sunday. In reality, I'll be freshly-scrubbed and wowing my future employers with my charm, wit and my willingness to exceed expectations (and in doing so, make twice as much money). Needless to say, my fingers and painted toes are crossed!Speaking of wedding news, my father and step-mom will be in town for the event and we're trying to schedule some time together. I had flown out to Iowa to visit them this past Thanksgiving and may do so again this year. While they're in town, it looks as if I won't be able to do much with them. The register jockeying position is horribly scheduled in hanging out with others. I'm also cashing in a number of favors in order to make that interview tomorrow so, stretching myself more isn't likely to happen. Originally when considering the problem, I planned on giving notice at my job... The new position is hopefully due to start on the 1st, my family will be around just prior to that so, why not cut myself lose, visit casually for a few days and start a new job immediately thereafter. Hopefully the meeting tomorrow will shed a little more light on what my future and this week holds for me.
In the shear spontaneous delight catagory, I received a call from my dear friend Tamsyn on Sunday... Monday marked her five-year anniversary w/ Barnes & Noble, my once employer, as well. As I had been one of her close confidants on the job, as well as the person who'd first handed her the job application, she called my ass out to drinks at the Playwright in Hamden. Our former supervisor (and happily unemployed man-about-town) jesusslack drove the six blocks to close the bar and drunkenly admit to the need to update much more.
Now knowing where T works will hopefully allow me to bug her to hangout before chiquitabonita moves away, maximize the odd free coffee and discuss some custom framing work. Rather than my usual longer weekly entry, I'm going to be cutting it somewhat shorter. I've been wanting to update more often again in seeing others make efforts to do so, as well. Perhaps next time I'll remember the details of some of the Smart Playlists I've been dabbling with...perhaps.
"Soon I discovered that this rock thing was true.
Jerry lee lewis was the devil.
Jesus was an architect previous to his career as a prophet.
All of a sudden, I found myself in love with the world
So there was only one thing that I could do
Was ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long."
Four words describe my thankfulness at this moment: "I have air conditioning!" Originally the plan was to work on that painting project for the Cranky Aunt. 8+ hours of sanding, prepping, taping off and maybe painting out of the kindness of my heart. Since I've found out that I'm not actually being paid for such a tedious project, I could henceforth declare the conditions of my labor...not working in 90 degree+ weather being a biggie!
This week off is drawing to a close and I'm both happy and a bit disappointed that I've nothing really to show for it... I did accomplish a few projects that required some minor form of intervention. It's just that everywhere I turn in the apartment there's something else in dire need, usually not of my doing. *le sigh*
In the scope of actually getting out and doing something worthy of my time, I happily succeeded. Wednesday was MisterSalt's weekly Kickball & BBQ extravaganza. I'd originally planned on attending the Juliana Hatfield show at Cafe Nine, which I ended up bowing out of. Having seen her twice before, I thought I'd actually try and make the kickball game, as there'd be a number of SGCT'ers there. And it was fun! There was the common realization that the last time anyone had played this was junior high. Team CinderOla closed the gap in the last inning to have our asses handed to us by a much smaller margin.
Earlier this week I finally got around to contacting a close friend at my former job... I've been gone now since May and the longer I'd waited to give this cat a call, the more difficult it became. Excuses were made, the legality of my being at the former jobsite was questioned and ultimately, I knew I was still fundamentally missed there. I stopped by for afternoon coffee as folks were heading in and out by their schedules and I was able to properly catch up. It turns out that I'd left a huge vacuum behind when I resigned. This associate had been purposely left in the dark of the conditions of my departure as he would've taken my side. Hearing him say that in person felt good. His is an opinion that's very well-seasoned and full of depth, something that I'd turned to frequently in my 3+ years at that job. Visiting again made me happy to re-establish that connection and look forward to reading the recommendation letter he's promised!
There's been no huge musical acquisitions as I've been away from the computer (and AlienPrincess has been near it)... A little 300kbs bird delivered a copy of Sin City to my computer but, I may put off watching it. The quality is so/so and it does go on sale on Tuesday. I mean, the special features segment will be the DVD price of admission alone! Perhaps I'll chime back in to inform which '5 minute film school' Rodriguez has included this time!
And did you get the memo? T.P.S. Report Cover Sheets are now available.
Jerry lee lewis was the devil.
Jesus was an architect previous to his career as a prophet.
All of a sudden, I found myself in love with the world
So there was only one thing that I could do
Was ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long."
Four words describe my thankfulness at this moment: "I have air conditioning!"
Originally the plan was to work on that painting project for the Cranky Aunt. 8+ hours of sanding, prepping, taping off and maybe painting out of the kindness of my heart. Since I've found out that I'm not actually being paid for such a tedious project, I could henceforth declare the conditions of my labor...not working in 90 degree+ weather being a biggie!This week off is drawing to a close and I'm both happy and a bit disappointed that I've nothing really to show for it... I did accomplish a few projects that required some minor form of intervention. It's just that everywhere I turn in the apartment there's something else in dire need, usually not of my doing. *le sigh*
In the scope of actually getting out and doing something worthy of my time, I happily succeeded. Wednesday was MisterSalt's weekly Kickball & BBQ extravaganza. I'd originally planned on attending the Juliana Hatfield show at Cafe Nine, which I ended up bowing out of. Having seen her twice before, I thought I'd actually try and make the kickball game, as there'd be a number of SGCT'ers there. And it was fun! There was the common realization that the last time anyone had played this was junior high. Team CinderOla closed the gap in the last inning to have our asses handed to us by a much smaller margin.
Earlier this week I finally got around to contacting a close friend at my former job... I've been gone now since May and the longer I'd waited to give this cat a call, the more difficult it became. Excuses were made, the legality of my being at the former jobsite was questioned and ultimately, I knew I was still fundamentally missed there. I stopped by for afternoon coffee as folks were heading in and out by their schedules and I was able to properly catch up. It turns out that I'd left a huge vacuum behind when I resigned. This associate had been purposely left in the dark of the conditions of my departure as he would've taken my side. Hearing him say that in person felt good. His is an opinion that's very well-seasoned and full of depth, something that I'd turned to frequently in my 3+ years at that job. Visiting again made me happy to re-establish that connection and look forward to reading the recommendation letter he's promised!
There's been no huge musical acquisitions as I've been away from the computer (and AlienPrincess has been near it)... A little 300kbs bird delivered a copy of Sin City to my computer but, I may put off watching it. The quality is so/so and it does go on sale on Tuesday. I mean, the special features segment will be the DVD price of admission alone!
Perhaps I'll chime back in to inform which '5 minute film school' Rodriguez has included this time! And did you get the memo? T.P.S. Report Cover Sheets are now available.
Return of the Son of Late-Night Updating! It is late as I had a late start to a re-mastering project I wanted to undertake... I'd brought up to someone the fact that I had an old gig of mine on tape, buried in a box and in dire need of it being transmuted into mp3. It was my last public performance, co-headlining an scholarship funding event in honor of a girl I adored. Milk crates were rummaged through, boxes and tape torn through but it was found along with other old projects of mine circa 1996-1998 (The Berklee Years). Some it was studio session work that I'd gotten paid for, some student projects that were worth saving, a few actually listenable & all of them amusing as hell.
In other random news, I have this week off from work... I've been helping out at a local retail business which pays me horribly. So poorly that what I make now is less than what I'd collect in unemployment for my former agency.
Anyhow, it's only transitional and included in its stint is this vacation. It'll give me enough comfortable time to touch base w/ my *knocks on wood* future supervisor at the agency I just interviewed at and clean house like a mother-fucker. Between my hanging out w/ SGCT on a regular basis and AlienPrincess' school schedule, there is a small armada of laundry baskets encroaching on all flat surfaces. Tomorrow will most likely be the re-claim the kitchen and bathroom, armed to the teeth w/ sponges, paper towels, Comet, random sprays and an iPod.
MisterSalt's Sleeping Giant event was terribly fun! In hindsight, the hiking was worth it, especially when capped off with fist fulls of burgers and beer. The next planned hangout is Wednesday Night kickball, which I believe I'll be attending. Originally, I'd planned on catching Juliana Hatfield at Cafe Nine but current finances and car noises say, "Uh...no." I have caught her a couple times before so, all is not lost.
Along with Laerkai & CinderOla's housewarming party, Sunday served as another break away from the camera. Baby_Donut was able to make her first event in one of the largest turnouts we've had this year. While not firing off evidence to her meeting up w/ us, she gave KareBear a run for her girl talk money and contributed to our staying awake unti 6am+. Seantastic and Yillie were great to put names to faces and hopefully convert to travelling north far more often!
Perhaps after that, not much else has been happening... chiquitabonita continues to pull out hair when thinking about her wedding and its very-speedy approach. I'm still trying to debug some issues w/ my Xbox and some, *ahem* backing up I'd care to make. Tomorrow will most likely be flashing its bios and installing Avalaunch's dashboard. Comments and Lake Compounce water park photos will appear in the morning.
Sleeping Giant chin sitting...
In other random news, I have this week off from work... I've been helping out at a local retail business which pays me horribly. So poorly that what I make now is less than what I'd collect in unemployment for my former agency.
Anyhow, it's only transitional and included in its stint is this vacation. It'll give me enough comfortable time to touch base w/ my *knocks on wood* future supervisor at the agency I just interviewed at and clean house like a mother-fucker. Between my hanging out w/ SGCT on a regular basis and AlienPrincess' school schedule, there is a small armada of laundry baskets encroaching on all flat surfaces. Tomorrow will most likely be the re-claim the kitchen and bathroom, armed to the teeth w/ sponges, paper towels, Comet, random sprays and an iPod.MisterSalt's Sleeping Giant event was terribly fun! In hindsight, the hiking was worth it, especially when capped off with fist fulls of burgers and beer.
The next planned hangout is Wednesday Night kickball, which I believe I'll be attending. Originally, I'd planned on catching Juliana Hatfield at Cafe Nine but current finances and car noises say, "Uh...no." I have caught her a couple times before so, all is not lost.Along with Laerkai & CinderOla's housewarming party, Sunday served as another break away from the camera. Baby_Donut was able to make her first event in one of the largest turnouts we've had this year. While not firing off evidence to her meeting up w/ us, she gave KareBear a run for her girl talk money and contributed to our staying awake unti 6am+. Seantastic and Yillie were great to put names to faces and hopefully convert to travelling north far more often!
Perhaps after that, not much else has been happening... chiquitabonita continues to pull out hair when thinking about her wedding and its very-speedy approach. I'm still trying to debug some issues w/ my Xbox and some, *ahem* backing up I'd care to make. Tomorrow will most likely be flashing its bios and installing Avalaunch's dashboard. Comments and Lake Compounce water park photos will appear in the morning.
Sleeping Giant chin sitting...
The clouds of exhaustion are swiftly moving in so, I may make this a shorter entry than usual. First off, SGCT's 2nd annual trip to Lake Compounce was amazing! I'd secretly hoped for a higher turnout but we still faired better than last year. For 2006, I'm looking forward to our getting 20 people, getting the half-off group discount and extending the difference to renting a picnic area stocked w/ grilled goodness and a keg. A tall order but I think well within reach. Pictures are up in the group with my underwater roll to make its appearance by week's end.
There's what looks to be a busy SGCT week ahead... MisterSalt is up and running is regular kickball game and BBQ on Wednesday. I discovered that this conflicts with Article10's Hartford Advocate Band Slam. Both are bound to be amazing amounts of fun though it's uncertain if I can make either. Laerkai and CinderOla are hosting their housewarming party at their place on Friday. I'm now dying to see what is in store for my former video game cabinet. By descriptions of the other projects Laerkai has been rolling out, I should've sold him that unit ages ago!
Sunday turns out to be two engagements... The first is chiquitabonita's bridal shower. Criterion Cinemas hosts a Movies & Mimosas event - Movie for $5, drinks $2! Better yet the movie is Some Like It Hot! A couple hours later will end up being a recently planned hike and BBQ at Hamden's Sleeping Giant Park. I used to walk this walk on a very regular basis but its fallen out of favor in recent years.
I've also begun plotting on changing up some odd and ends on the hacked XBox front... I'd been considering changing dahboards from EvoX to Avalaunch. Team Avalaunch produces tons of good freeware to best combine using your Box and your computer...game management through your PC, easy interface FTP ripping from one machine to another, etc. Some of this stemmed on a brainstorm on how best to support network play w/ DarkRabbit who lacks the hard copies of our favorite titles. Experimentation may move ahead next week when I have a week off of work!
Perhaps that's enough for now, true believers... I'll be huddling with those parties interested in carpooling to the afforementioned events and on other randomness. Until then...
Pictures are up in the group with my underwater roll to make its appearance by week's end.There's what looks to be a busy SGCT week ahead... MisterSalt is up and running is regular kickball game and BBQ on Wednesday. I discovered that this conflicts with Article10's Hartford Advocate Band Slam. Both are bound to be amazing amounts of fun though it's uncertain if I can make either. Laerkai and CinderOla are hosting their housewarming party at their place on Friday. I'm now dying to see what is in store for my former video game cabinet. By descriptions of the other projects Laerkai has been rolling out, I should've sold him that unit ages ago!
Sunday turns out to be two engagements... The first is chiquitabonita's bridal shower. Criterion Cinemas hosts a Movies & Mimosas event - Movie for $5, drinks $2! Better yet the movie is Some Like It Hot!
A couple hours later will end up being a recently planned hike and BBQ at Hamden's Sleeping Giant Park. I used to walk this walk on a very regular basis but its fallen out of favor in recent years.I've also begun plotting on changing up some odd and ends on the hacked XBox front... I'd been considering changing dahboards from EvoX to Avalaunch. Team Avalaunch produces tons of good freeware to best combine using your Box and your computer...game management through your PC, easy interface FTP ripping from one machine to another, etc. Some of this stemmed on a brainstorm on how best to support network play w/ DarkRabbit who lacks the hard copies of our favorite titles. Experimentation may move ahead next week when I have a week off of work!
Perhaps that's enough for now, true believers... I'll be huddling with those parties interested in carpooling to the afforementioned events and on other randomness. Until then...
The news of the next couple of days is I have a second interview at that human services agency that AmazonRed13 had directed me to ages ago... I report there tomorrow at 10am and face a friendly two-person firing squad. My insider has been putting in the good word for ages now and by all accounts, unless I have some unforeseen Tourette's episode, I most likely have the gig. I'm not going to jinx it too much but, I'm in dire need of making more than the near-nothing I'm taking home now.
Yesterday I hung out w/ DarkRabbit, taking a dunk in the pool I had some small hand in helping with... Due to some of his temporary parole restrictions, he's not able to post his usual entries though we'll be addressing a bit of that in the next week. DR's also intersted in having a few people at his place for the odd non-commital pool/bbq type thing. That may be brought up for discussion in group or on his page.
Sunday also found me performing house painting favors at my cranky aunt's house... I say favor as at one point, I was to be paid for my time, supplies and gas (at times, a round trip is 60 minutes of driving). The humidity of last week prevented me for knocking off of a fair amount of work that I'd wanted to just finish. Our next huddle will most likely be covering times that I'll be able to get inside to clean tools, etc. Hopefully another topic will be her working full-time again leading to throwing for my gas expenses. I'd hold my breath but, I might die before it gets me anywhere.
The past week has had some interesting introductions to familiar faces... I'd been a fan of the Tech TV channel, and specifically the show The Screensavers, prior to their being absorbed by G4. Some of the former on-air talent has popped up in podcasts which seems to be a logical enough transition for the geek set. 3rd gen hosts, Kevin Rose & Alex Albrecht, started the Diggnation Podcast for Digg.com, a tech news website that depends on social-bookmarking and non-hierarchical editorial control for stories and content. The pre-buyout cast returned to form (and theme song) with This Week in Tech.
As a undoubtedly more interesting aside, the other podcast I'd been listening to and thought well worth bringing up is Coverville. I'd had a discussion w/ (the hopefully temporarily greyed) RxQueen. She'd introduced me the site, The Covers Project, which is a huge database of cover songs and the original artists and those who've covered them. The basis on the aforementioned Coverville is a 30-45 minute radio show based on cover songs...that's it. The hosts spins stuff on themes sent in by listeners, new releases or randomness pulled out of his ass. Ultimately I have five words: Tons of Cheap Trick covers!
Lastly is a brief shout about this Sunday's SGCT trip to Lake Compounce... I've mentioned in-group about carpooling, meet-ups, who's coming and who's being remarkable vague. In the next week, I'll be dropping by member pages throwing out inquiries of attendance and the like. If you like me, you'll either beat me to it by posting here or inserting your name as watching the event. Those who don't will be disappointed when they wander around the park by themselves.
I'm not going to jinx it too much but, I'm in dire need of making more than the near-nothing I'm taking home now.Yesterday I hung out w/ DarkRabbit, taking a dunk in the pool I had some small hand in helping with... Due to some of his temporary parole restrictions, he's not able to post his usual entries though we'll be addressing a bit of that in the next week. DR's also intersted in having a few people at his place for the odd non-commital pool/bbq type thing. That may be brought up for discussion in group or on his page.
Sunday also found me performing house painting favors at my cranky aunt's house... I say favor as at one point, I was to be paid for my time, supplies and gas (at times, a round trip is 60 minutes of driving). The humidity of last week prevented me for knocking off of a fair amount of work that I'd wanted to just finish. Our next huddle will most likely be covering times that I'll be able to get inside to clean tools, etc. Hopefully another topic will be her working full-time again leading to throwing for my gas expenses.
I'd hold my breath but, I might die before it gets me anywhere.The past week has had some interesting introductions to familiar faces... I'd been a fan of the Tech TV channel, and specifically the show The Screensavers, prior to their being absorbed by G4. Some of the former on-air talent has popped up in podcasts which seems to be a logical enough transition for the geek set. 3rd gen hosts, Kevin Rose & Alex Albrecht, started the Diggnation Podcast for Digg.com, a tech news website that depends on social-bookmarking and non-hierarchical editorial control for stories and content. The pre-buyout cast returned to form (and theme song) with This Week in Tech.
As a undoubtedly more interesting aside, the other podcast I'd been listening to and thought well worth bringing up is Coverville. I'd had a discussion w/ (the hopefully temporarily greyed) RxQueen. She'd introduced me the site, The Covers Project, which is a huge database of cover songs and the original artists and those who've covered them. The basis on the aforementioned Coverville is a 30-45 minute radio show based on cover songs...that's it. The hosts spins stuff on themes sent in by listeners, new releases or randomness pulled out of his ass. Ultimately I have five words: Tons of Cheap Trick covers!
Lastly is a brief shout about this Sunday's SGCT trip to Lake Compounce... I've mentioned in-group about carpooling, meet-ups, who's coming and who's being remarkable vague. In the next week, I'll be dropping by member pages throwing out inquiries of attendance and the like. If you like me, you'll either beat me to it by posting here or inserting your name as watching the event. Those who don't will be disappointed when they wander around the park by themselves.
A pretty quiet week in the grand scheme of my now full-time schedule... My hours are now running 2-8p Monday-Friday, 12-7p Saturdays. Not so much the problem except AlienPrincess' schedule has her operating at wholey different hours. Our paths meet for the odd meal, having a brief nuzzle while one sleeps and the other leaves for school, upon return from work and the immediate flop on the couch. The lack in time has also run down the contents of our pantry... An almost-always source of culinary pride, my cooking readiness has me thinking about Googling cooking sites that suggest dishes based on ingredient-at-hand selections. "Hmmm...soy sauce and cornstarch makes me...a soy roux which can be added to make peanut butter soup."
Earlier in the week, the bane of my existence was the lack of getting Foo Fighters' - 'Everlong' out of my head... Traditionally the cure for such things is breaking down and listening to the song - at times difficult if purchase is necessary. The next progressive step is learning how to play the particular tune and, you can find the tablature here. All this seems to do was exacerbate my condition. I've since re-harmonized the tune to derive it's correlation between a couple of Police songs and Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir". Too much time on my hands..? I'd be the first to agree as at work I can now read (or sneak in sheet music and construct chord-scales) for at least two hours every shift.
On a far less...strange music front, ElmCityDrunk, RxQueen and I were able to catch Drag The River Sunday at Cafe Nine. This is less than amazing except that the band's new lead & pedal steel guitarist is Casey Prestwood. Notable projects of his are the obvious Hot Rod Circuit and The Only Children featuring his wife, Kate and his stint at Willoughby's working w/ chiquitabonita and AlienPrincess. Back when the sister started working there, Casey and I used to talk about Pedal steel and how best to retrofit our beat-up guitars to best comp tones and the occaisional solo. At the Nine, he spied me & showed off both his David Crosby-like mustache and his Fender custom Tele w/ B-Bender. Awesome set and further reason why I need a Tele ASAP and should eternally catch him locally when passing through.
Upcoming plans are finding the time to hangout w/ AmazonRed13 & hug the Lyme's disease out of her, kick DarkRabbit's ass at Ghost Recon 2 and get catering ideas from chiquitabonita on a project I'll allow her to es'plain. And OH, how much do I want to purchase these and spread the love throughout New Haven!
Earlier in the week, the bane of my existence was the lack of getting Foo Fighters' - 'Everlong' out of my head... Traditionally the cure for such things is breaking down and listening to the song - at times difficult if purchase is necessary. The next progressive step is learning how to play the particular tune and, you can find the tablature here. All this seems to do was exacerbate my condition. I've since re-harmonized the tune to derive it's correlation between a couple of Police songs and Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir". Too much time on my hands..? I'd be the first to agree as at work I can now read (or sneak in sheet music and construct chord-scales) for at least two hours every shift.
On a far less...strange music front, ElmCityDrunk, RxQueen and I were able to catch Drag The River Sunday at Cafe Nine. This is less than amazing except that the band's new lead & pedal steel guitarist is Casey Prestwood. Notable projects of his are the obvious Hot Rod Circuit and The Only Children featuring his wife, Kate and his stint at Willoughby's working w/ chiquitabonita and AlienPrincess. Back when the sister started working there, Casey and I used to talk about Pedal steel and how best to retrofit our beat-up guitars to best comp tones and the occaisional solo. At the Nine, he spied me & showed off both his David Crosby-like mustache and his Fender custom Tele w/ B-Bender. Awesome set and further reason why I need a Tele ASAP and should eternally catch him locally when passing through.
Upcoming plans are finding the time to hangout w/ AmazonRed13 & hug the Lyme's disease out of her, kick DarkRabbit's ass at Ghost Recon 2 and get catering ideas from chiquitabonita on a project I'll allow her to es'plain. And OH, how much do I want to purchase these and spread the love throughout New Haven!
Yep, awake too late...something that is becoming an increasing trend. I'd stayed up particularly late on Friday... The qualifiers not being seeing Bent w/ SGCT at Toad's Place, nor was it going back to ElmCItyDrunk's for a Dio after-party. It wasn't continuing to the CatWalk to visit baby_donut or to finally meet Anarcha.
It was getting home at 3am, dehydrated & voice lost from screaming bad 80's metal and randomly bumping into Starisea on-line. I was able to play e-mail tag with my very first SG friend and we basked in having near-live communication. Next time - phone call as we won't have to worry about my degrading spelling drunk and in dire need of sleep an hour into our conversation.
I received a call back from the human services agency I'd first applied to when I reckoned my former job was on it's last legs... At my interview, I answered all the right questions with all of the correct fleshed out and engaged responses one would hope for. I felt I did quite well until I never heard back from them again.
AmazonRed13 works for this same agency and as she only can, tore her agency a new one after they complained out loud that there was a lack of people working there who fit my near-complete description. She'd been the person to direct me in interviewing there and their HR dept dropped the ball. Within the next couple of days, I'm aiming to keep it in motion through a second interview and some better idea of what my employment options are after all. As much as I enjoy the gig I've stumbled into, the pay is atrocious!
The one thing about this sales associate position is working evening hours allows one to read...lots! Prior to my bringing a book in, counter help normally passed the time droning on about how slow things are....how many hours until break, let alone the shift's end. I started toting short story collections, culinary writing and a couple of graphic novels. Thus far I've reread In The Devil's Garden, The Exes and The Golden Compass. Waiting in the wings are: The Big U and The Sheltering Sky.
When not scrambling to get a few minutes of computer face time, I been catching up w/ DarkRabbit and picking up on our old video game habits...dinner at my place with a 6 hour binge of hacked Xbox usage. With the announcements of specs on the upcoming XBox 360, it leaves me thinking of what uses I could devise for our current unit. I'm thinking of turning it into a Linux box for running Myth TV on...it basically a Linux-based PVR/Tivo substitute. All the functionality, none of the cost! *ponders*
Perhaps lastly, many apologies on being poky posting event pics... Computer time with my new schedule has been scarce and conflicts with other interests and other's interests. I'll see about having them up for the weekend by the latest.
It was getting home at 3am, dehydrated & voice lost from screaming bad 80's metal and randomly bumping into Starisea on-line. I was able to play e-mail tag with my very first SG friend and we basked in having near-live communication. Next time - phone call as we won't have to worry about my degrading spelling drunk and in dire need of sleep an hour into our conversation.
I received a call back from the human services agency I'd first applied to when I reckoned my former job was on it's last legs... At my interview, I answered all the right questions with all of the correct fleshed out and engaged responses one would hope for. I felt I did quite well until I never heard back from them again.
AmazonRed13 works for this same agency and as she only can, tore her agency a new one after they complained out loud that there was a lack of people working there who fit my near-complete description. She'd been the person to direct me in interviewing there and their HR dept dropped the ball. Within the next couple of days, I'm aiming to keep it in motion through a second interview and some better idea of what my employment options are after all. As much as I enjoy the gig I've stumbled into, the pay is atrocious!
The one thing about this sales associate position is working evening hours allows one to read...lots! Prior to my bringing a book in, counter help normally passed the time droning on about how slow things are....how many hours until break, let alone the shift's end. I started toting short story collections, culinary writing and a couple of graphic novels. Thus far I've reread In The Devil's Garden, The Exes and The Golden Compass. Waiting in the wings are: The Big U and The Sheltering Sky.
When not scrambling to get a few minutes of computer face time, I been catching up w/ DarkRabbit and picking up on our old video game habits...dinner at my place with a 6 hour binge of hacked Xbox usage. With the announcements of specs on the upcoming XBox 360, it leaves me thinking of what uses I could devise for our current unit. I'm thinking of turning it into a Linux box for running Myth TV on...it basically a Linux-based PVR/Tivo substitute. All the functionality, none of the cost!
*ponders*Perhaps lastly, many apologies on being poky posting event pics... Computer time with my new schedule has been scarce and conflicts with other interests and other's interests. I'll see about having them up for the weekend by the latest.
