My Addled Brain

I have to say I have a touch of respect for good ‘ol Ronnie, despite the fact that his domestic polices sucked royally and his administration lied about a few insignificant things. And I understand the desire of those who admired him to honor him. But this is just silly. His truly devoted admirers are a rather rabid bunch, apparently. He’s already got 52 dedications, and they show no signs of stopping until we see images of Hopalong Ronnie everywhere in the US of A, in sort of a Hussein-on-every-streetcorner-in-Bagdhad sort of way. But someone put the kibosh on at least one project. Sadly, there will be no Ronald Reagan University. And who put a stop to it, you might ask? Why, Mrs. Just Say No herself, Nancy Reagan. While I sincerely doubt it will end the crusade to Reaganize this great nation of ours, it’s a step in the right direction. And the shock of the guy who was behind this whole thing is hilarious.

I’d like to thank Ol’ Dirty (Quarter) for the last, and biggest, hand of the night last night, which capped an otherwise wholly unspectacular evening full of wins with Jack highs and a freaking pair of twos. Good thing I took all my pennies out of my Duff Beer Can O’ Loot, I needed the extra space.

I’d also like to thank Jefe for the GMail signup - but considering how prolific he is with the updating, I’d hardly call myself a mentor. Slacker, maybe, but not mentor. Then again, I guess you could say I’m the Master Kan to his Kwai Chang Caine - I just sit there and observe while he’s in the courtyard blocking spears with his bare hands. He’s just gotta rip the stone from my cold, dead hand to prove he is truly ready.

I’d also like to thank Palm for revitalizing my interest in PDA’s. As I sort of glossed over yesterday, I seem to have this superhuman ability to forget things, almost to the point of comedy. This even occurs mid conversation, where whatever it is I’m talking about will slip out from under me, Mr. Short Term Memory style. So, I figure something portable might just help me out. I used to have a Visor, which I enjoyed while I needed, but put it aside after a short time. It seems that I need something to help me remember things, so until I get an SD card slot for my cranium, this will have to do. Order isn’t in yet, but it might be Real Soon Now™. If any of you have any other suggestions though, let me know - but I’m not dropping ducats on a PDA/cell phone, because as geek as I am, I’m not about to go uber techno geek and hold up an oversized calculator to my grill to talk to anyone.

Bunch of new movies out, and I haven’t seen a damn one of ‘em. Will be correcting that post-haste, because I know you kids can’t go another day without some good poetry.

It’s Thursday night - and Thursday night is poker night. I started playing with a regular group of friends about two months ago, more or less every Thursday. Texas Hold-Em all the way. Yeah, it started because a few friends of mine got into them poker shows on TLC or whatever, and it got them hooked. I got interested after watching Rounders and playing a few nights during a weeked to Biloxi, MS, home of the nation’s youngest age of consent - not that I would know anything about that, mind you. We play for about three hours, dime minimum, you bring ten bucks and there’s no buy in if your money runs out - helps to keep those who perpetually lose from losing more. There’s a couple interesting house rules (the Dirty Quarter is my personal favorite), but other than that, it’s a straight up game. Drink a few beers, have some laughs, and slowly rob your friends of their financial independence - isn’t that what male bonding is all about?

Finished up my last project, more or less. I say more or less because there are always reports they need that they didn’t mention, and could I add these categories to the list, and maybe change the font on the title, perhaps change the order of these three things, and change this procedure in such a way that it breaks the entire program. No, I tell them, it’s not that big a deal. Honest. It’s a good thing I’ve learned to spend my time thinking about design by working on other things, like system errors, other projects, etc etc etc. This may explain why I forget important scheduled things - I’m constantly jostling things around in my head so I can do my job.

Hmm…when in doubt, blame work. I like it!

Haven’t mentioned Out of Focus for a while - mainly because it’s been Out Of Order, and I didn’t know it. MCG brought it to my attention last night, and after some jury rigging, and changing some things I didn’t expect to have to change, I got it running again. I even put up a few pics from the trip to Chucktown for you to peruse - more as I get around to it. This gives MCG no excuse not to update the last several months pics of HRC. Chop chop, bitch!

See? Even CNN agrees. I think I may have to get Teh 1!!1 into a twelve step program. Maybe she needs a new hobby. Doing something like this might be an idea.

Happy Take Your Daughter to Earth Day, two of my least favorite holidays.

Now, before those of you out there start calling me an environment trashing mysoginist, hear me out. My problem with TYDTW day is that it’s…well…sexist. I understand the need to encourage women to seek a profession and excel in it. I understand that women are, by and large, not compensated as well as men in the same field and position. I think both are valid grievances that need to be dealt with. But with all the attention focused on girls, it seems that boys are being left behind. Equality, the last time I looked into it, was as follows:

equality

\E*qual”i*ty\, n.; pl. Equalities. [L. aequalitas, fr. aequalis equal. See Equal.]
1. The condition or quality of being equal; agreement in quantity or degree as compared; likeness in bulk, value, rank, properties, etc.; as, the equality of two bodies in length or thickness; an equality of rights.

A footing of equality with nobles. –Macaulay.

2. Sameness in state or continued course; evenness; uniformity; as, an equality of temper or constitution.

3. Evenness; uniformity; as, an equality of surface.

4. (Math.) Exact agreement between two expressions or magnitudes with respect to quantity; — denoted by the symbol =; thus, a = x signifies that a contains the same number and kind of units of measure that x does.

Equal means equal. Equal does not mean tipping the scales in the other direction. Two wrongs, as I was often told as a wee lad, do not make a right. If this were Take Your Child To Work Day, I wouldn’t care. And it seems that those who come up with these ideas are starting to lean that way. Now you just need to slap the press around and get them to acknowledge the change.

As for Earth Day (you’d think the website calling itself the “Official Site of International Earth Day” would not look so crappy) - what a joke. I also understand the value of treating our environment well. I mean, we’ve already seen the results of what can happen when man screws around with Mother Nature - bad movies are made about them all the time, so I, for one, try and respect the environment whenever I can. But if the people who go to these Earth Day events practiced in their everyday lives what they’re supposed to be celebrating, or raise consciousness for, or pat themselves on the back for, or whatever…well, we probably wouldn’t need Earth Day, would we?

Comments are now open for haters everywhere.

Saw this on CNN.com, and was not just the least bit creeped out by the similarity to this story from not terribly long ago, although it almost feels like a lifetime. My condolences to the respective families involved, and La Femme Chocolatier and Punk Gucci is always in our thoughts.

Good trip to Cackalacky, one that was rather uneventful, except for some kick ass barbeque (which Teh 1!!1 wasn’t very keen on for some reason). Her mom is pretty cool, and damn near her twin - albeit, one with shorter, darker hair - and her sister isn’t very far off from her either, so we definitely know we have the mom right. Didn’t get a chance to see her dad - perhaps next trip, which may or may not be in a few weeks (!), depending on a couple things. Charleston was gorgeous, from Rainbow Row to the University to Market Street to Folly Beach - if I didn’t like Florida so damn much, I might be inclined to move there.

Pics later. Reviews? NOW.

The Girl Next Door:

Never take pills from
strange porn directors. Risky
Business, but funny.

Hellboy: (yeah yeah yeah)

That sound you hear? The
simultaneous climax
of nerds the world over.

There is no planned pregnancy/wedding in the immediate future. Those among you who read into things too much can stop now. Trust me, if something like that were coming, you’d know it. Can’t a guy be wistful without panic breaking out?

Anyway.

Everybody’s going out of town this weekend, apparently, and I’ll wave to Jefe out the window as we pass through the spawling hick metropolis that is Jacksonville as we head to Charelston, South Cacalacky to visit Teh 1!!1’s folks. Rented a beauty of a car for the roadie, a 2003 Dodge Neon, which seems to have some pep for something that’s roughly the size of a golf cart. Not that I’m gonna run out and buy a GM vehicle, mind you, cause that ain’t happenin buster. Should be a good weekend - so while we’re gone, be sure to take care of yourselves…and each other.

JERRY! JERRY! JERRY!

My back is killing me today. Every once in a while, it likes to remind me who, exactly, is in charge of who, and today happens to be such a day. The half bottle of Advil I’ve guzzled isn’t really helping things, unless you call the translucent technicolor points of light floating before my eyes as therapy. It certainly doesn’t help to have the project I have to get done after the one I’m working on now breathing down my neck. It seems, like the song says, I got 99 problems, but Buddy Holly ain’t one. What do you mean, that’s not how it goes?

Well, now that he’s established a real name, and a prolific writing ability that seems to dwarf mine these days, PDB is pretty much a daily stop when I need to take a breather from dicing up spaghetti code. You’ll go for the witty repartee, but you’ll stay for the design. (Sorry, had to do it.)

Actually, he mentioned something the other day that I feel the need to touch on, and something that has become a bigger and bigger part of discussion between myself and Teh 1!!1 these days - gaming. For those of you who don’t know, I met my lovely lass on EverQuest about a year and a half ago; a game, in the words of one observer:

“so addictive that you will let your baby die while you work toward your next level. There’s just something pure about that.”

It’s something that we enjoy playing to this day. Well, myself a little more than her these days, since she has rapidly become addicted to Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates - something about Dr. Mario/Puzzle Bobble style swordfights has really grabbed her interests. Yes, you read that right. It’s a good bit of fun, I just don’t know if I want to plunk down money for it yet. But I digress.

If our course holds (get it? Course holds? Pirates? Pretty clever, eh? Oh, piss off.), and there’s currently no reason to believe it won’t, there’s a future for us around here somewhere. And where, exactly, is that future supposed to fit with a potential child? I look at MCG, and see how happy he is with Princess Em. His PS2, once his pride and joy, a machine who’s well being he personally supervised when moving into his house, sits unused and lonely in his entertainment center.

And that pretty much says just about everything I need to know about priorities.

Best. Breakup. Letter. Ever.

Boy, do I feeeeeeeel greeeeeeeat! (Thanks Frotty.)

I’m glad to know I’m not the only person who think The Darkness rule. They might be the only group, besides AWK that can get away with making me like the glam rock sound and leather pants without me feeling dirty. And any group that can write a song about genetal warts, and make it rock, is OK in my book.

In fact, I have to say I like the current trend of alternative rock - after the rather disappointing (not to mention boring) run of Linkin Park-esque rap/rock/poor spelling bands that have come down the pipe recently, hearing bands like The Vines, The Stills (a fav of Teh 1!!1), Modest Mouse, Jet, and Velvet Revolver have renewed my faith in good ‘ol fashioned “alt” rock. Hopefully, the trend continues, and I can finally get over my need to flinch every time I feel the urge to turn on the radio.