Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Bitter The Clown's LiveJournal:

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Tuesday, February 14th, 2012
6:10 pm	Rise and Shine! Nothing starts off Valentine's Day like dreaming about hate-fucking an ex. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, October 6th, 2011
9:54 am	Long Story Short Every entry I make starts with "It's been forever since I posted." To boil the past several months down: I lost my job at Farmers. Didn't care too much since I hated that job and it made me utterly miserable. I got a new job doing tech support for H&R Block. I start the 31st. I still have all of my limbs and organs. I am currently starting work on an experimental creative podcast. I don't know when/if it will see the light of day. Once the job/money situation is stable again, I'm thinking about going back to school for a Masters. I'm thinking Library Science. Parker, is this is any way a good idea? Other super-awesome things have happened that I don't need to go into detail about here. The past is dead and buried. May it never haunt me again. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, August 6th, 2011
10:35 pm	Adventures in the Michigan city that isn't Detroit Update on the Grand Rapids trip so far: Woke up at 3:00 on Wednesday to get the airport on time. Made it there with very little time to spare. I may have some trouble finding my car in the parking lot when I get back to KC. I was in such a rush that I don't remember exactly where I parked. I have a vague idea, and if all else fails I can walk the aisles for a little while. The first flight was OK, nothing particularly noteworthy. Flew from KC to Detroit. The a very long walk through the enormous Detroit airport to catch my connecting flight. Detroit's airport is actually quite nice, even if it is spread across approximately 50 thousand square miles. The flight from Detroit to Grand Rapids was on a very small, very cramped plane, and I was seated at the very rear, right next to the engines and the bathroom. Luckily, the flight itself only took about half an hour, so my senses weren't assaulted for too long. Got into Grand Rapids, met up with my co-worker Ashley, and then proceeded to the rental car area. This is where things start to go wrong. I had been told all along that the rental car and hotel would be charged to my manager's credit card, since I really can't afford a month's worth of expenses on my own personal card. I figured when I heard, "Everything is fine, it'll all be taken care of," that everything was actually fine and would in fact, be taken care of. This was not the case. Instead of two rental reservations, one for me and one for Ashley, there was only one for Ashley and it was not under that manager's card. after a lot of phone calls, I learned that the department assistant who was supposed to handle all the reservations and payments did no such thing. In the end, I had to put two rentals on my personal card with a vague promise that it would be "taken care of" soon. So that was $1500 I wasn't planning on spending. At this point, a week and a half since, I've been assured that the necessary arrangements have been made to move the charges from my card to the manager's. We'll see this Friday when I return the car. After that little fiasco, Ashley and I got into our cars and headed to the hotel. When we arrived - guess what - the hotel reservations were screwed up too. A few more phone calls to the department assistant - who is now firmly entrenched on my bad side - and the hotel stuff was worked out. So tired and frustrated, Ashley and I head off to the office to put in a few hours of work. We find the place with no problem, get in and meet the folks we'll be working with, and get a brief overview of what we'll actually be doing. Then back to the hotel for sleep. The next few days are training and work. Since our new software is designed to work seamlessly with all the various companies Farmers has absorbed over the past few years, we first have to learn the old systems so we know if the new system is working. So we learn those and get an introduction to the new system. Also during this first week, I got a text that I assumed was an emergency and that I could not return since the office is in an area with sparse cell reception and the part of the office I work in is below grade. There is literally no way for me to use a cell in the office. So I sat there and worried for a few hours until I got off, made a phone call and found that there was no emergency and that I am just paranoid. Oh well. Since last Monday, we've been actively testing the new software. This involves a lot of doing the same thing over and over with slight variations to make sure that everything works as designed. The frustration comes when something should work but doesn't and you're not sure if it's actually broken or if you're doing something wrong because you're not too familiar with the program. That said, I am the least stressed about work I've been in a year and half. I haven't been yelled at by an insured or claimant in two weeks, and I don't have to pick up a phone for every idiot who thinks that their claim is my number one priority (Hint: I'm working 50 claims at a time and everyone thinks that theirs is my number one priority. It's not.) The hotel I'm in is fairly nice. There's wi-fi and a small gym, so I'm happy enough. I haven't tried the pool or the hot tub yet, but I'm sure I will at least once. I eat breakfast in the hotel restaurant, lunch in the office's cafeteria, and dinner at whatever restaurant I feel like. I'm allotted $37 per day for food expenses, and I'm doing a good job of staying below that. I get the $37 regardless of how much I actually spend, so eating cheaply helps to pay for other things, like the laptop I'm typing this on. Sometime Ashely and I go for dinner together, but mostly we don't. She's nice enough, but she's resoundingly normal and I am very much not. We have few common interests or life experiences, so conversation is kind of awkward. We're pleasant and civil with each other and we carpool to work, but that's about as far as it goes. I'll be flying back to KC this Friday and flying back to Grand Rapids the following Monday. They fly people back home every few weeks so we can take care of the usual domestic stuff like paying bills and making sure we haven't been robbed. It'll be nice to be home for a day or two, although I suspect most of that time will be spent on house maintenance, bill-paying, and laundry. Speaking of which, I attempted to do laundry for most of the day today. I was thwarted twice: once by weather and once by stupid business practices. Grand Rapids gets short, intense storms, and the rain came down so hard while I was looking for the laundromat that I literally could not see well enough to find the damned place. Then, when I finally found the place, it was closed. Yes, on a Saturday, when people would have the time and inclination to go to a laundromat. Idiocy. I finally did find a place that was willing to take my money, and I do have clean clothes again. I miss my cats. They're staying with my folks in St. Louis while I'm gone, and by all accounts are adjusting well. Mom sends me photos every now and then, but I won't see them in person until the end of the month, when I take them back home. So no Surly Cat or Chaperone Cat for a few more weeks. I think this entry has gone long enough. In fact, it's probably the longest post I've made in months, if not years. Mostly, I'm just writing to fill the time and chase away the boredom, since there's not much to do here in the hotel. I have books to read, but I don't really want to finish them before my flight on Friday.  So that is that. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 12th, 2011
7:32 pm	Movin' Right Along So, updates. Date with the OKCupid girl was on Saturday. It was OK, but not terrific. We met up for lunch at Kona Grill, and then (at her suggestion) went to the art museum for a while. We saw Monet's water lillies, which are on special display. She seems nice and smart, and she didn't run away screaming, but I don't think we really clicked. Sometimes you meet someone you're instantly on the same wavelength. That didn't happen with this girl. I'm all for another date, since we got along just fine, but I doubt it'll go anywhere. We exchanged friendly e-mails afterwards, but in very noncommittal "We should do this again sometime" terms. This is not to say that there's anything wrong with this girl. She's super-smart and very pretty, I just don't feel like my life would be incomplete without her in it. I may be spending most of next month in Michigan. Exact dates are still to be determined, but I'll be up there for a while, testing Farmers' new claim-handling software. I got the assignment because I basically bullshitted (bullshat?) my way into a few meetings that were way above my pay grade and let my manager know I was interested in the software. So when the opportunity came up, he put my name in for consideration. I have no idea what exactly the testing will involve, save that it'll be a 40-hour/week job. More details to come, I suppose. Bought an iPhone. It's pretty awesome. Only a few people will understand this next paragraph. As some of you may or may not know, I had a short long-distance relationship with X. It was casual, and I went into it knowing that it was probably going to be just a rebound thing for both of us. Since we'd been friends for near a decade, I figured it was worth the time. It ended, as these things do. No hard feelings. The downside is that X has cut off all communication with me. She has her reasons (none of which involve being angry at me) and I understand them, it just bums me out that I don't get updates on her life anymore. I guess I'm saying that I miss my friend and I hope she will resume being my friend when she feels enough time has passed. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, July 8th, 2011
8:10 am	By Request for Anna Quick updates on my life recently: I have a date this weekend with a girl I met via OKCupid. She sent me a message after reading through the vitriolic screed of hate that is my OKCupid profile. We're doing lunch tomorrow, and we'll see how it goes. She seems smart and I don't detect any signs of creeping madness yet. Farmers is sending me to Grand Rapids, MI for a week and a half later this month to help test the new version of our claims-handling software. If nothing else, it gets me out of handling claims for a while, which is the major source of stress and aggravation in my life right now. Should be an interesting experience, and it'll look good when applying for other jobs within Farmers. On that note, I broke down and bought an iPhone. I've been wanting to upgrade my phone for a while, and I figured this was a good of a time as any. I want to have some source of entertainment/internet while I'm away and I doubt that Farmers will be giving me a laptop. So the purchase is sort of justified. Now I just have to spend forever and a day to get everything on the phone the way I like it. So that's all. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, June 30th, 2011
10:02 pm	Affirmation Team happy hour happened tonight. I will not drunk-dial my exes. At all. For any reason. This is the truth. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
6:25 pm	Batsignal! My SIM card exploded and took all of my contacts with it. If you want me to have your number, please e-mail me at bittertheclown AT gmail DOT COM. (Comment on this)
Sunday, June 6th, 2010
6:28 pm	Sir Apropos of Nothing So every so often, maybe once every two or three months, I have the same recurring nightmare. Maybe to call it a nightmare is a bit excessive. There's no actual terror. While the dream is going on, I don't feel like I'm going to die or be dismembered or cause the end of the world. It's really just unsettling and unpleasant. The dream always follows the same pattern, but the details vary from occurrence to occurrence. I always dream that for some reason or another, I have joined the military, and the dream takes place after all the paperwork has been signed and Uncle Sam officially owns my soul for the next (insert large number here) years. The dream itself consists entirely of the realization of what a massive mistake I have made. I don't want to leave my home. I don't want to give up years of my life. I haven't made appropriate arrangements for the care of my cats or the paying of my bills. But it's too late. I'm committed. I'm shipping out, and I'm going away for a very long time. Sometimes I try to get out of it. I jump off the truck that's taking me to boot camp and run through the hills, knowing that I'm just making things worse by doing so. Sometimes I just sit there and wait and panic.  Sometimes there's someone there to explain things to, but who cannot help me. The last time I had the dream, my subconscious played a nasty new trick on me. I was deep into the dream - wanting to get out, not having a way to do so - when I started talking to Tim, who was in the dream in the same way other people always show up in dreams. I told Tim what a terrible situation I was in, and I mentioned that I'd always had nightmares about this exact scenario, and so I knew it wasn't a dream because I was explaining the dream itself, and you can't explain a dream in a dream, can you? Well, you can. My dreams are getting smart, self-aware and recursive. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, May 2nd, 2010
7:58 pm	Time and Tide Melt the Snowman Well, it's been a while. At least, it's been a while since I posted anything here; Facebook gets most of my attention recently. So, the quick capsule review of the past few months: I got laid off from Weight Watchers. I was startled but not surprised. The NY office had been taking all of our work, we were losing people that weren't being replaced, and the people we had left weren't exactly the cream of the crop. Luckily, I'd had a job interview the very day we were told, so I wasn't as stunned as I could have been. To their credit, WW did the layoff right. We were given about six weeks' notice and a month or so of severance pay. I proceeded to spend those six weeks going into work, applying for jobs for an hour or so, and then surfing the internet, reading, and taking very long lunches. Not a bad way to make money. Shame about the looming unemployment. WW also set me up with an outplacement service, which was a gigantic waste of my time. The service consisted of three phone sessions with a "coach" who would give me gems like, "Did you know you can apply for jobs on the INTERNET?" Yes, I fucking knew that. The service was really more geared to middle-aged folk who hadn't been in the job market for 20-something years. Lockton, the company I'd interviewed with, decided not to hire me. Their loss. The news came three weeks after the interview, and it kicked my ass in gear. I made a decision to do at least one thing every day to get a new job, whether that be applying for a job or going on an interview. No days off from this project. I busted my ass every day to get as many applications out there as possible. This strategy started to pay off about a week before my job went away. I got an interview with Garmin which I thought went well. My last day of work came and went. I blubbered a bit on my way out, but I don't think anyone noticed. I made my rounds and said my good-byes. I really am going to miss a lot of the people I worked with. There are a lot of good people in that call center, and they deserve better than what WW will probably give them. Starting in April, I had phone interviews/face-to-face interviews with Williams Lea, USA-800, GE Capital, Farmer's Insurance, BalancePoint and PGI. BalancePoint offered me a job that I turned down. It was a six-month contract position, which I just couldn't justify to myself. I didn't want to go through the whole joblessness process in another six months, so I had to refuse, even though it would have been good money. To cut a long story short, PGI wanted me to work for them as a Tier I tech support rep. They made me a verbal offer and I took it. There was much rejoicing. Three days later, Farmer's Insurance offered me a job as a Claims Representative. This job came with more money, better hours, and actual chances for advancement. This was the job I really wanted, so I contacted PGI and withdrew my acceptance. For those of you who have never done this sort of thing, it feels a lot like jumping off a cliff, what with the uncertainty and all. I accepted Farmer's offer and started with them last Monday. So far, it's been good. There is an eight-week training program, and it feels a lot like being back in college. I've been in classrooms for eight hours a day for the last week. I'm learning quite a bit, and there is much more to come. I aced my first exam, and there is another one (an important one) coming up on Tuesday. I have to have a license to do my job, and Tuesday's exam will determine if I get that license or not. I am not worried. It's a 150-problem multiple-choice exam that I have to score at least a 70% percent on to pass. In a nutshell, I can miss 45 out of 150 questions (which I won't) and still pass. I also bought a new dishwasher. It's nifty. The old one never worked well to begin with, and it stopped working entirely a few months after I bought the house. The new one does everything a dishwasher should do. I also got it for a very good price. Missouri had some sort of tax-free holiday, so there was no sales tax. I also got an additional 10% off since the model I chose met certain energy requirements. Also, there is a $75 rebate for some reason or another. So the grand total for the dishwasher, delivery, and installation was $375 total. Not bad. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
10:12 am	With A Quickness Phone interview yesterday went well. Got a call a few minutes ago. Face-to-face interview is Thursday morning. That was fast. (10 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, February 14th, 2010
8:56 pm	Shedding Skin So, long time, no post, blah, blah, blah. So why, you may well ask, am I posting now, after vanishing into the void of Facebook? Well, the simple answer is that I can't talk about job stuff on Facebook, since I'm friends with some co-workers. I've applied for another job at Lockton, the same company I interviewed with around this time last year. Different job this time. The official job title is Insurance Rater. I know very little about what the job actually entails, but a co-worker of mine has the same job and he thinks I might be well-suited for the job. From what I gather, it involves lots of processing of forms and information. Most interestingly, it involves a lot of not having to talk to people very much, which would be a nice change of pace from my current job. It's becoming more and more clear to me that I can't count on Weight Watchers as a long-term prospect. My group is being given less and less to do. When we lose people in KC, they're replaced in NY. I hear from my boss maybe once every two weeks. There's no concrete proof that my job is in danger, and I'm not afraid of being unemployed in the immediate future, but I don't want to wait around wasting my time until it's decided that they don't need me. There are other reasons I'm tired of working for WW. I'm nominally in charge of the KC crew, but I have no authority to make or enforce rules. The other divisions in the KC office don't keep my boss informed of anything (and she wouldn't much care if they did), but they won't talk to me. I manage people who should never have been hired to do the job, people who are incompetent or incapable of using their brains. In a nutshell, I feel like WW in Kansas City is a sinking ship that I have no intention of going down with. I don't think there's anything they could offer me that would make me stay. They can't promise stability. They can't promise me a future, or prospects for advancement. The Lockton job would be a lateral move in terms of pay, hours, etc. The culture is a lot more professional. (Read: shirt-and-tie, enforced 1-hour lunch breaks, getting hauled to HR if I tell inappropriate jokes) but there are many advantages. I would have a boss in the same state! Defined expectations! Actual work to do! I wouldn't be a lead or in charge of anything except my own work, which is nice. I'm not a natural leader. I can lead when I have to or when no one else will, and I do a fine job of it, but I don't want to have to do it. Lockton is a big company, and I feel like I could actually work my way into other things if I have the ability and desire. The phone interview is tomorrow. Based on the outcome of the phone interview, I may have a face-to-face interview. So wish me luck, if you are so inclined. If any of you are from the future and know that this is a terrible mistake, please A) let me know and B) let me borrow your time machine. (11 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
10:14 pm	I Choose To Recite A List Things I have done since getting off work on Friday: Worked out Read Book 18 of Iliad Installed a router Set up LAN Worked out again Went grocery shopping Mowed lawn Read book 19 of Iliad Installed programs on new computer Bought a spade bit Worked out a third time Rearranged furniture in living room Tired. Ready for sleep. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, June 7th, 2009
9:47 pm	It's True, You Know The world doesn't end if The Doctor dances. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, March 7th, 2009
6:35 pm	From caravel: 1. KMFDM KMFDM is my favorite example when I say that the things you like are not always things that are good. KMFDM is often cheesy, sometimes repetitive, and totally fucking awesome. KMFDM was the first band I discovered for myself, and I have a lot of good memories that have a KMFDM soudtrack. When I first got to Lindenwood, I saw a car that had a KMFDM: XTORT bumper sticker, and I knew that I had to find out who owned it, because that were obviously my kind of person. That car belonged to Tom, though I didn't find out for a few days. I like that KMFDM has a sense of humor about themselves. Songs like "Sucks", "Bitches" and "Inane" are abrasive, hard-thumping songs about how KMFDM sucks, are in it for the money, and churn out albums because they know you'll buy them. KMFDM has done some great covers, like "Material Girl" and "Mysterious Ways." In a nutshell, I like KMFDM. 2. Coffee I started drinking coffee when I was fifteen. I took it with two creams and three sugars, because I was a pansy who didn't know to drink it black. Now I drink four cups a day, minimum, and I am never fucking quitting. I've tried quitting before to see if I could do it. I found out that I can, but being non-caffeinated surgically removes my personality. I can't think fast enough, and I can't make those split-second connections that make for great jokes and intuitive leaps. Coffee wakes me up in the morning and gets me through my workday. The best cup of coffee I've ever had was in Springfield at Tropical Breezes. It was Kona Blue Moutain, ground and brewed to order. I often hear people say that they like the smell of coffee, but not the taste. This coffee tasted as good as coffee smells. The worst cup of coffee I've ever had was at a Denny's. It tasted like soap. I own a coffee grinder, a coffee press, a drip machine, and espresso machine, and a large selection of mugs, each with it's own story behind it. I have too many memories associated with coffee to recount. Suffice to say that many of the best times of my life have involved coffee. Coffee in diners, apartments, houses, and dorm rooms. Coffee with Sarah and Anna B., coffee and smokes with Tim and Sabrina, coffee with Tom and Anna (even though they don't drink it often), coffee with Angry Brian at Ginghams, coffee at Java, Jazz, and Blues. 3. Max's Terrifying Head The history of MTH goes back to 1998, when Tom and I laughed at the line "Max's terrifying head is an international symbol for something or other" from the Sam & Max comics. We agreed that it would make a great band name. Many years later, it did. As a fun way to kill time, Tom and I wrote down the lyrics to the worst possible metal song. "Murder Bulimia" was posted to LJ with little fanfare, and then nearly forgotten until I decided to actually record the damn thing. A few days later, Max's Terrifying Head had it's first recorded song, and it was...a recorded song. I gave it to T&A just before or just after their wedding, and I hear it stayed in Tom's head for quite a while. Murder Bulimia was followed shortly by "Baby on a Stick" and "Christ Puncher," both classics in their own right. The files exist for one more song, entitled "MTHOK", but the sound quality of the lyrics is abysmal. At some point, they'll need to be re-recorded with better equipment. MTHOK, by the way, is the best song I've ever arranged. There are also a few rarities, like "Baby on a Stick (Live in Osvlakia)" and "Baby on a Stick (Tom's Shame Mix)", which I find hilarious, but Tom doesn't. 4. Solitude I'm a private person. I'm introverted by nature, and I like peace and quiet. Some people are extroverted and recharge their batteries by being around people. I'm the exact opposite. Social situations are kind of stressful for me. It's not that I have a phobia or that I don't like my friends. It's just that I can only really relax when I'm alone. Being around people is fun and exciting, but I need a few hours of alone time every day, or I'll go crazy. 5. Exercise I work out a lot. It keeps me sane, improves the quality of my sleep, and staves off the eventual age-related disintegration of my stupid corporeal body. Today, I ran 2 miles, did 20 pull-ups, and 30 sit-ups. Yesterday, I rowed 1000 meters, did 50 thrusters, and did 30 pull-ups. The day before that, I did my first clean & jerk. My favorite lift is the deadlift. My workout proram is called CrossFit, and it kicks my ass every day. It's intended for people like firefighters, soldiers, and policemen. I am none of those things, and I often have to scale down the workout to fit my fitness level. I have a lot of contempt for people who misuse the gym. If you're reading or watching TV while on the treadmill, you're not running hard enough. If you spend more time talking with your buddies than actually working out, you need to leave. If you do curls in the squat cage, you should die in a fire. It blows my mind that people would spend money on a gym membership and then do quarter-assed workouts that aren't going to accomplish anything. No matter what your level of experience or age, there are lifts and movements you can do that will make you stronger and healthier, and ambling at 3 miles per hour on the treadmill for 15 minutes isn't going to cut it. Do your research, have a specific goal in mind, and then get off your ass and do it. If you're not tired and sweaty when you leave the gym, you're doing it wrong. Working out also appeals to my vanity. I'm proud of what my body can do and how it looks. Maybe one day I'll (sniff) be attractive enough. (10 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, December 29th, 2008
9:50 am	The Year In Review 1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before? I bought a house. 2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't make resolutions. If there's something that needs to change, there's no point in waiting. 3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yep. Sarah had a kid. 4. Did anyone close to you die? Joey. 5. What countries did you visit? None. I stayed home this year. 6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? Normally, this is where I'd say  "a girlfriend," but that gets old after a while. I tried dating a little this year, but it didn't work out too well and it pissed me off more than it made me happy. So to answer the question: shitloads of money. 7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory and why? September 23rd, when I closed on my house. 8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? I bought a house. 9. What was your biggest failure? I let my job get to me more than I should have. I let myself get more stressed out than I should have. 10. Did you suffer any illness or injury? No. 11. What was the best thing you bought? A house. 12. Whose behavior merited celebration? All of my friends have been good to me this year in varying ways. Some make sure that I get out of the house, some feed me, some take care of my cats, some let me help with house-fixing stuff, some let me call them drunk on election night. 13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Mine, when I overreact to little things. 14. Where did most of your money go? The house. 15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Painting, mowing, trimming, and fixing my house. I like being handy. 16. What song will always remind you of 2008? On election night after it was certain that Obama had won, I played "Song of Freedom" over and over again. 17. Compared to this time last year, are you: i. happier or sadder? A little happier. This time last year, I had crashed my car and I was still living in an apartment. ii. thinner or fatter? Pretty much the same, give or take a pound or two. iii. richer or poorer? Poorer. I make a little more money than I did last year, but more of it goes to mortgage and bills. 18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Calling people when they (or I) needed it. 19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Worrying. 20. How will you be spending Christmas? It's over already. I had Xmas with both side of my family. 21. Did you send out Christmas cards this year? No. 22. Did you fall in love in 2008? No. 23. How many one-night stands? None. 24. What was your favorite TV program? Doctor Who wins by default, but I also watched a lot of Mythbusters, Dirty Jobs, and How I Met Your Mother. 25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Hate is a bad trap to get into. When being around someone makes me unhappy, I just stop being around them. 26. What was the best book you read? I read too much to answer this one. 27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Not really a discovery, but I found a copy of album that I've been looking for since at least 2004. 28. What did you want and get? Peace and quiet, with no annoying neighbors. 29. What did you want and not get? More money. More time. A phone call. 30. What was your favorite film of this year? The Dark Knight. 31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I had birthday beer with Tim and Sabrina. I turned old.  32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? More thorough explanations from a number of people. 33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? Jeans And A Shirt. It's the newest thing. 34. What kept you sane? Drinking and smoking w/ Tim and Sabrina. 35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? N/A 36. What political issue stirred you the most? Winning the election. 37. Who did you miss? Tom and Anna. 38. Who was the best new person you met? I don't think I met anyone I hadn't met before. 39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008: It needs to be done and no one's going to do it for you, so you'd better get to work. 40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: It wouldn't be make-believe if you believed in me. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, December 13th, 2008
8:13 pm	Things Accomplished Things I have accomplished in the past few days: 1. Repainted the closets in the second bedroom. Instead of green, now they're white to match the surrounding trim. 2. Replaced the pulls on the second bedroom closets. Instead of flowers, now they're silver knobs. 3. Put up blinds in the second bedroom. A disappointment to my stalkers. 4. Rearranged the furniture in the living room. Much more open and useful. 5. For shits and giggles, attached the TV to cable. Found out that I have expanded basic that I don't pay for. Must send cable installer an Xmas card. 6. Picked up paint swatches. Decided to move the office from third bedroom to second. Intend to repaint walls from yellow to dark red. Keeping the white trim and white closets. 7. Watched the original "The Day The Earth Stood Still." It's the science fiction movie that every B-movie after it tried to be and failed. It's very much of its time and a little ridiculous today, but like the Model T, we wouldn't be where we are today without it. 9. Hung a mirror in the living room. It was just sitting there in the basement , and there were already hooks in the wall. Looks nice. 10. Fixed the latch on my bedroom door. Now it (gasp) closes! This is all stuff I've done in my spare time. I have a nice long vacation coming up in a week and a half. Imagine what I can accomplish in 13 days. Current Mood: accomplished (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
10:19 pm	Phew. We won! Good job, everyone. Now let's not fuck this up. This is not the end. This is only the beginning. (Comment on this)
9:16 am	Avoid The Face-Stabbery I voted. Did you? If you didn't vote, you have no right to complain about anything for the next four years, you are a bad citizen, and I want nothing to do with you. If you didn't vote because you're "registering your outrage by not participating in the system," grow the fuck up. Every person who doesn't vote empowers those that do just a little bit more. The point of democracy is peaceful compromise. You pick the candidate who closest represents your ideals and values, even if it's not a perfect match. Anyway, I don't want to get off on a rant. Go vote. Do it now. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008
11:07 am	Of The Utmost Importance So I've acquired a kitten. For the short term, at least. It all depends on whether or not Tess can get along with it.  I'm pretty sure it's a female, but I'm not great at determining these things. I've had three very good suggestions for names in the past day. In the interest of fairness, I'm letting you, the reader, vote on the kitten's eventual name. First, see the kitten at http://www.flickr.com/photos/28309294@N03/?saved=1 Next, choose from the following choices: A: Gizmo B: Tidbit C: Trivia D: A write-in choice (Unisex, just in case) Thirdly, leave a comment with your choice. (15 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, October 12th, 2008
8:42 pm	Look At Me! I've added post-move pictures to my Flickr account. Most are from last weekend, but a few are from today, when I did my first homeowner-type project. I repainted the built-in shelves in the great room to match the rest of the room. I think it looks pretty damned good. Sadly, I only have my crappy cell phone camera to take pictures with, but I think you'll get the gist. See the pictures at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28309294@N03/ Don't know if that will create a link or not. Just copy and paste otherwise. Click on the "9826 Harrison" set to see all the new stuff. My birthday is tomorrow. I'll be 30 and that's OK. I've been mentally preparing for 30 since I was 26. In celebration, I have taken the week off from work, and I refuse to check my e-mail during that time. I've already accomplished two of the three projects I had planned for the week. The only project I have left is to buy a washer and dryer, and I doubt that will take me seven days, so I may go a bit stir-crazy by next Monday. Food awaits, so I go away now. (7 Comments |Comment on this)