Red Zeppelin
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Saturday: October 04, 2008 - 101 Years
Although I should make it so, this is not a stock entry--one to be trotted out each year somewhere between October 3rd and October 11th: The Cubs were eliminated from the playoffs and will not win the World Series for the 100th time in a row. I got back from poker to see most of the game and you could tell right away they were going to lose. You could see it on their faces. You could see it when ever-calm Derek Lee slammed his helmet into the ground after striking out. I don't really understand a lot about Lou Piniella's decision-making. You're going to pitch All-Star Ryan Dempster in Game 1. I'm totally on board with that. Then you're going to pitch Zambrano who gave up like a billion runs in his last two outings (granted, three outings ago was a no-hitter), and round it out with (another righty) Bad-Dan Haren. Good-Dan Haren would have been good of course but even Chompy knew that he hadn't been Good-Dan Haren in two months. You're going to leave your only left-handed pitcher (and 17-game winner) on the shelf. Piniella also left 0-MYLIFE Fukudome in although he did manage to get a hit last night--raising his playoff batting average to something like .050. Oh well, we're really good at waiting until next year and this is no exception.
[Comments: 3]· permalink · 
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Tuesday: October 07, 2008 - Mega-Entry
It's been a long time since my last update so here's a really long one to make up for it. Starting with news...FSU beat Miami, I finished at the bottom of Pick 'Em (again), and the Cubs are hitching their hopes to 2009. Here's a little Cubs section from Steve. If you want to scroll past it won't hurt my feelings but there's more "real" entry at the bottom.
1. Radio was invented; Cub fans got to hear their team lose.
2. TV was invented; Cub fans got to see their team lose.
3. Baseball added 14 teams; Cub fans got to see AND hear their team
lose
to more teams.
4. George Burns celebrated his 10th, 20th, 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th,
70th,
80th, 90th and 100th birthdays.
5. Haley's Comet passed Earth... twice.
6. Harry Caray was born... and died. Incredible, but true.
7. The NBA, NHL and NFL were formed, and Chicago teams won
championships
in each league.
8. Man landed on the moon, as have several home runs given up by Cubs
pitchers.
9. Sixteen US presidents were elected.
10. There were 11 amendments added to the Constitution.
11. Prohibition was created, and repealed.
12. The Titanic was built, set sail, sank, was discovered, and became
the
subject of major motion pictures... the latter giving Cub fans hope that
something that finishes on the bottom can come out on top.
13. Wrigley Field was built and becomes the oldest park in the
National
League.
14. Flag poles were erected on Wrigley Field roof to hold all of the
team's future World Series pennants. Those flag poles have since rusted
and
been taken down.
15. A combination of 40 summer & winter Olympics have been held.
16. Thirteen baseball players have won the Triple Crown; several
thanked
Cubs pitchers.
17. Bell bottoms came in style, went out of style, and came back in
style.
18. The Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, and
Florida Marlins have ALL won the World Series.
19. The Cubs played 14,153 regular-season games; they lost the
majority of
them.
20. Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Oklahoma, and New Mexico were added to
the
Union.
For 1/2 of my birthday present to myself I bought a new TV stand (pictured). After extensive assembly I came to discover that there was no glass top for the top of it--rendering it useless. I sent a semi-angry email to the company asking how they could forgot arguably the most important piece. When I hadn't heard by the next day I decided to call. Like most people who are either passive or aggressive (note: this is not the same as passive-aggressive) I started right in on the aggressive side, safely bypassing assertive. As I laid into the woman on the phone she interrupted me after I took a huge breath to tell me the glass top was strapped to the bottom piece of the console. I went to go look and sure enough. I apologized for being an idiot and she just "yeah" and not in a funny way. That pissed me off even more but I was able to refrain myself from asking her how much life-joy she gets as a Best Buy Furniture Customer Service lackey. I'm nice like that (it's the passive). [Comments: 1]· permalink ·
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Wednesday: October 08, 2008 - That's a Big TV
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Thursday: October 09, 2008 - Happy Birthday Me!
Happy birthday me! Nothing says "you're 29" quite like eye black. At first I tried making me look like a clown but that got too creepy so I settled for a football player (one of the elite 160-lb variety). I spent my birthday working until around 3:45 when I picked up Kathy from GW and then Jamie for a birthday dinner in Georgetown at a little pub where Chris and I ate when he was en route to Lowell. After dinner Jamie went shopping and I dropped Kathy off at the metro for a night of playing with Chompy and enjoying several bottles of High Life. Steve indulged me in a game of online football and even let me win since it was my birthday. Pretty excited stuff. Steve sent me a Cubs flag and my parents rounded it out with an almost ironic Cubs 2008 NL Central champions t-shirt. Apparently they were sold out of the "Haven't Won A Playoff Game since 2003" ones.
The big goal of my 29th year of not-dying is to take more chances. Although I don't have a traditional job, life is still pretty boring so I'm really going to milk the HGA for all they're worth in the coming months. I don't plan on doing anything reckless like getting a motorcycle or trading in the Taurus for a Jaguar but I am firmly committed to having more fun. That's taking a chance right? Fun? Does it make you old when you have to schedule fun? [Comments: 2]· permalink ·
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Weekend: October 12, 2008 - Birthday 12 of 12
10am: Starting my special day off with some new episodes of Always Sunny.
10:30am: Chompy getting ready to stick it to my landlord's dog. She tracked in a lot of clay--extra vacuuming for me (Hooray).
11am: I didn't realize Georgetown had a Flea Market. Apparently they do. I saw a portrait of John Adams and, after considering buying it as a Christmas present for Steve, trotted back across the street to do some grocery shopping.
11:15am: I don't have much junk food anymore so I had a lot to buy (and a ton of beer).
12:30pm: Chompy in the sun--begging for attention. Little did she know much she was going to get later.
12:45pm: Chompy and the dying Gingerbread Man. It sounds like a zombie.
2pm: The ice I bought did not qualify as a "Ding Dong Deal". Who does their marketing? I bet it's the same people that write the dialogue for Olive Garden commercials. "While you do the math, I'll do the pasta!!!!!!"
4:30pm: Taking a break from vacuuming to make some more post-birthday brownies.
9pm: Brian drawing a Cloodle after playing some Settlers. Wild Hoopla!
1:30am: With the party whittled down to three, walking was becoming a hassle so Mike carted us around on his back.
3:45am: Annie the gifted artist's work. I added the misshapen treat.
4:27am: With Mike sleeping safely on my couch and Annie headed home, it's time for bed. Happy Birthday Me!
Bonus: Extra picture of Chompy who is waiting for Briecca to arrive.
Brian has some more party pictures here. [Comments: 4]· permalink ·
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Thursday: October 16, 2008 - Shitty
[Comments: 1]· permalink ·
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Weekend: October 19, 2008 - Big Weekend
This was a pretty exciting weekend. On Friday night I hooked up online (good thing this sentence doesn't end right there) with T-Chris for some football. We played a couple of games and he beat me 2/3.
On Thursday I went out with Becky to see the first half of Savion Glover at the Warner Theatre before we bailed at intermission to watch FSU come back against NC State at some bar. The guy sitting next to me was an NC State and White Sox fan. Somehow I was able to restrain myself from killing him (I think it was because he too had an iPhone).
Jumping forward to Saturday, I watched a lot of college football and was able to win the week in Pick Em with my new strategy based solely on the perceived victor if the two mascots got in a fight. The only big loss was Pitt not losing to Navy. I assumed an armed Midshipmen would be able to win against a panther but I was apparently wrong about him being armed. I guess the only thing a midshipmen can beat is a Demon Deacon.
I worked all morning on Sunday until around 3pm when I decided to clean up my living room. I came across the Lord of The Rings DVDs that I bought on sale in March that were still in their shrink wrap. I went to put them in my rarely-used DVD booklet when I came across some speaker wire. I set up my speakers and decided to try to them with a movie. A few hours later I was fast-forwarding through them to watch the fight scenes. I wish they'd just make fighting movies and skip all the boring stuff.
I've got a busy week including getting my green man costume for the series of Halloween parties that are coming up. Green Man! [Comments: 0]· permalink ·
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Tuesday: October 21, 2008 - STFU
I wish every morning each member of America would get a set of three STFU Cards (Shut the F* Up) that you could use throughout your day. Each card could only last five minutes and when you were out, you were out. Additionally, when someone played a card on you, you had to STFU for five minutes. Because they would be so prevalent, no one's feelings would be hurt when you used them. It would be even better if people teamed up to permanently close the pie holes of certain "celebrities" (like anyone from Fox "News").
It would not be recommended you use these on friends or family but undoubted they would be. I would imagine their largest use would be at work, when you're trying to do something but keep getting interrupted by someone who feels their whatever should be the focus on your attention. BAM, hit him with one of these cards to keep him at bay for 5 minutes. At least then you could get to a good stopping point to be interrupted.
I think they'd make the world a better place. [Comments: 10]· permalink ·
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Wednesday: October 22, 2008 - By David Sedaris
I stole this excerpt from the New Yorker but it's by my favorite author so I hope he won't mind as I've lined his pocketbook both with book purchases and tickets to hear him speak.
I don’t know that it was always this way, but, for as long as I can remember, just as we move into the final weeks of the Presidential campaign the focus shifts to the undecided voters. “Who are they?” the news anchors ask. “And how might they determine the outcome of this election?”
Then you’ll see this man or woman— someone, I always think, who looks very happy to be on TV. “Well, Charlie,” they say, “I’ve gone back and forth on the issues and whatnot, but I just can’t seem to make up my mind!” Some insist that there’s very little difference between candidate A and candidate B. Others claim that they’re with A on defense and health care but are leaning toward B when it comes to the economy.
I look at these people and can’t quite believe that they exist. Are they professional actors? I wonder. Or are they simply laymen who want a lot of attention?
To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?”
To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked. [Comments: 0]· permalink ·
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Weekend: October 26, 2008 - Halloweekend (Part I)
Not being centrally located, my most recent attempt to have people over resulted in two small parties. The first one ended around 8pm but fortunately Marc and Annie salvaged the night around 9 and we stayed up until around 2am watching football, drinking wine, and gossiping about the potential size of Briecca's babies.
Saturday was Brian's famed Halloween party and I went as Jimmy Page after ruling out an S&M ghost and Robert Plant. I picked up Rebecca's friend from somewhere not in Georgetown (or as I like to refer to it, "hell") and we arrived fashionably late after taking a brief tour of the Reagan Airport. Using my brother's tried-and-true Beer Pong techniques, Brian's co-worker Jack and I went down to last cup against the undefeated-on-the-night team of Ben and...some guy whose name eludes me. Things started to wind down around 1:30 and we made the long drive back to the isolation chamber that is DC.
Before the party I watched the FSU/Virgina Tech game. You Hokies are lucky that Mickey Andrews called off the blitz-dogs when you were down to your third-string QB and the game was wrapped up.
Before watching the game I put in nearly a full workday. Boo.
On Sunday I did nothing but work on scores and work-work. Exciting. When 4:30 rolled around I trotted out to Centreville for a night of HO Poker where I kind of learned how to play Omaha poker. I really didn't have any fun because the guy next to me was such an asshole. Amazingly, he's the first person I've met that I've truly hated in my seven months up here. At one point I was trying to decide how much money it would take for me to pay him to leave. I quickly realized that the $10 I had in the pot was much less than the sum in my head, went all in to Chris (who co-won; hooray Chris) and then got the hell out of there.
One Halloween party down, one to go. [Comments: 4]· permalink ·
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Monday: October 27, 2008 - Funny or Not?
Steve and I have been having a family feud over if this concept is funny or not. One of us thinks it's hysterical and other thinks it's absolutely stupid. Please leave a comment with your vote so we can settle this.
A guy is semi-secretly in love with a girl who does not love him back. Somehow, he convinces her to attend a party. While at the party he asks her to blow up some balloons, which she reluctantly does. After everyone has gone home from the party, he sets aside the balloons she blew up and gently unknots one of them. He then proceeds to close his eyes and release her air into his ear and imagines that it's in fact her blowing in his ear.
Funny or not?
[Comments: 11]· permalink ·
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Tuesday: October 28, 2008 - Call from the Republicans
In case you didn't know, when I lived in Florida, I was a registered Republican. When I moved to DC I was careful not to put any party affiliation because even though I've never actually voted for a Republican for a major seat, they call me a lot and I didn't want anyone to call me at all.
On Friday I got a call from some 850 number that my called ID displayed as "FL Repblican Party". Awesome, I thought to myself and answered. It takes some skill to have someone hang up on you without swearing at them but I got the job done. I first started in on Sarah Palin, arguably the dumbest person alive and the rebuttal was "She's not the whole ticket." Uh, she very well could be should John McCain pass on. Next up was "Obama This, Obama That"--uh, if you're trying to sell me on the Old/Stupid ticket why not talk about...them? No, I do not agree with many of Obama's tax policies (ok, any) but at least he has a plan beyond "get Main Street back in its feet [my friends]". I think the worker finally lost it when I told her that I outgrew being a Republican because as you get older you're supposed learn new things and apply them to your life. I then went on a little bit of an attack that can't really be reprinted here and she hung up.
Go Obama/Biden: Because you're not McCain/Palin. [Comments: 11]· permalink ·
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Wednesday: October 29, 2008 - Coming Soon: Friends
Making new friends is fun but after having been at it for over half a year now, I'm ready to see some (more) familiar faces--the people who have not been yet fated to the greater Washington DC area. Fortunately for me, that day is coming in a little less than a month when FriendFest 2008 converges upon our nation's capital for the FSU/Maryland game. I was reminded of this yesterday when I got the email FINALLY telling me they were going to send me the damn tickets. Don't get me wrong, I'll be happy to see you guys but not nearly as happy watching it with you on my enormous TV (pronounced T-v) as I would be watching it at the game with you. For you fence-sitters, I need to know asap so I can get you tickets.
Wow I wrote just a scathing couple paragraphs (removed for decency's sake) on how I'm discovering more people supporting McCain--so to you new readers, don't forget to vote November 5th! [Comments: 7]· permalink ·
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Although I should make it so, this is not a stock entry--one to be trotted out each year somewhere between October 3rd and October 11th: The Cubs were eliminated from the playoffs and will not win the World Series for the 100th time in a row. I got back from poker to see most of the game and you could tell right away they were going to lose. You could see it on their faces. You could see it when ever-calm Derek Lee slammed his helmet into the ground after striking out. I don't really understand a lot about Lou Piniella's decision-making. You're going to pitch All-Star Ryan Dempster in Game 1. I'm totally on board with that. Then you're going to pitch Zambrano who gave up like a billion runs in his last two outings (granted, three outings ago was a no-hitter), and round it out with (another righty) Bad-Dan Haren. Good-Dan Haren would have been good of course but even Chompy knew that he hadn't been Good-Dan Haren in two months. You're going to leave your only left-handed pitcher (and 17-game winner) on the shelf. Piniella also left 0-MYLIFE Fukudome in although he did manage to get a hit last night--raising his playoff batting average to something like .050. Oh well, we're really good at waiting until next year and this is no exception.
[Comments: 3]· permalink ·
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Tuesday: October 07, 2008 - Mega-Entry
It's been a long time since my last update so here's a really long one to make up for it. Starting with news...FSU beat Miami, I finished at the bottom of Pick 'Em (again), and the Cubs are hitching their hopes to 2009. Here's a little Cubs section from Steve. If you want to scroll past it won't hurt my feelings but there's more "real" entry at the bottom.
1. Radio was invented; Cub fans got to hear their team lose.2. TV was invented; Cub fans got to see their team lose.
3. Baseball added 14 teams; Cub fans got to see AND hear their team
lose
to more teams.
4. George Burns celebrated his 10th, 20th, 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th,
70th,
80th, 90th and 100th birthdays.
5. Haley's Comet passed Earth... twice.
6. Harry Caray was born... and died. Incredible, but true.
7. The NBA, NHL and NFL were formed, and Chicago teams won
championships
in each league.
8. Man landed on the moon, as have several home runs given up by Cubs
pitchers.
9. Sixteen US presidents were elected.
10. There were 11 amendments added to the Constitution.
11. Prohibition was created, and repealed.
12. The Titanic was built, set sail, sank, was discovered, and became
the
subject of major motion pictures... the latter giving Cub fans hope that
something that finishes on the bottom can come out on top.
13. Wrigley Field was built and becomes the oldest park in the
National
League.
14. Flag poles were erected on Wrigley Field roof to hold all of the
team's future World Series pennants. Those flag poles have since rusted
and
been taken down.
15. A combination of 40 summer & winter Olympics have been held.
16. Thirteen baseball players have won the Triple Crown; several
thanked
Cubs pitchers.
17. Bell bottoms came in style, went out of style, and came back in
style.
18. The Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, and
Florida Marlins have ALL won the World Series.
19. The Cubs played 14,153 regular-season games; they lost the
majority of
them.
20. Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Oklahoma, and New Mexico were added to
the
Union.
For 1/2 of my birthday present to myself I bought a new TV stand (pictured). After extensive assembly I came to discover that there was no glass top for the top of it--rendering it useless. I sent a semi-angry email to the company asking how they could forgot arguably the most important piece. When I hadn't heard by the next day I decided to call. Like most people who are either passive or aggressive (note: this is not the same as passive-aggressive) I started right in on the aggressive side, safely bypassing assertive. As I laid into the woman on the phone she interrupted me after I took a huge breath to tell me the glass top was strapped to the bottom piece of the console. I went to go look and sure enough. I apologized for being an idiot and she just "yeah" and not in a funny way. That pissed me off even more but I was able to refrain myself from asking her how much life-joy she gets as a Best Buy Furniture Customer Service lackey. I'm nice like that (it's the passive). [Comments: 1]· permalink ·
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Wednesday: October 08, 2008 - That's a Big TV
[Comments: 4]· permalink ·
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Thursday: October 09, 2008 - Happy Birthday Me!
Happy birthday me! Nothing says "you're 29" quite like eye black. At first I tried making me look like a clown but that got too creepy so I settled for a football player (one of the elite 160-lb variety). I spent my birthday working until around 3:45 when I picked up Kathy from GW and then Jamie for a birthday dinner in Georgetown at a little pub where Chris and I ate when he was en route to Lowell. After dinner Jamie went shopping and I dropped Kathy off at the metro for a night of playing with Chompy and enjoying several bottles of High Life. Steve indulged me in a game of online football and even let me win since it was my birthday. Pretty excited stuff. Steve sent me a Cubs flag and my parents rounded it out with an almost ironic Cubs 2008 NL Central champions t-shirt. Apparently they were sold out of the "Haven't Won A Playoff Game since 2003" ones.
The big goal of my 29th year of not-dying is to take more chances. Although I don't have a traditional job, life is still pretty boring so I'm really going to milk the HGA for all they're worth in the coming months. I don't plan on doing anything reckless like getting a motorcycle or trading in the Taurus for a Jaguar but I am firmly committed to having more fun. That's taking a chance right? Fun? Does it make you old when you have to schedule fun? [Comments: 2]· permalink ·
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Weekend: October 12, 2008 - Birthday 12 of 12
10am: Starting my special day off with some new episodes of Always Sunny.
10:30am: Chompy getting ready to stick it to my landlord's dog. She tracked in a lot of clay--extra vacuuming for me (Hooray).
11am: I didn't realize Georgetown had a Flea Market. Apparently they do. I saw a portrait of John Adams and, after considering buying it as a Christmas present for Steve, trotted back across the street to do some grocery shopping.
11:15am: I don't have much junk food anymore so I had a lot to buy (and a ton of beer).
12:30pm: Chompy in the sun--begging for attention. Little did she know much she was going to get later.
12:45pm: Chompy and the dying Gingerbread Man. It sounds like a zombie.
2pm: The ice I bought did not qualify as a "Ding Dong Deal". Who does their marketing? I bet it's the same people that write the dialogue for Olive Garden commercials. "While you do the math, I'll do the pasta!!!!!!"
4:30pm: Taking a break from vacuuming to make some more post-birthday brownies.
9pm: Brian drawing a Cloodle after playing some Settlers. Wild Hoopla!
1:30am: With the party whittled down to three, walking was becoming a hassle so Mike carted us around on his back.
3:45am: Annie the gifted artist's work. I added the misshapen treat.
4:27am: With Mike sleeping safely on my couch and Annie headed home, it's time for bed. Happy Birthday Me!
Bonus: Extra picture of Chompy who is waiting for Briecca to arrive.
Brian has some more party pictures here. [Comments: 4]· permalink ·
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Thursday: October 16, 2008 - Shitty
[Comments: 1]· permalink ·
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Weekend: October 19, 2008 - Big Weekend
This was a pretty exciting weekend. On Friday night I hooked up online (good thing this sentence doesn't end right there) with T-Chris for some football. We played a couple of games and he beat me 2/3.
On Thursday I went out with Becky to see the first half of Savion Glover at the Warner Theatre before we bailed at intermission to watch FSU come back against NC State at some bar. The guy sitting next to me was an NC State and White Sox fan. Somehow I was able to restrain myself from killing him (I think it was because he too had an iPhone).
Jumping forward to Saturday, I watched a lot of college football and was able to win the week in Pick Em with my new strategy based solely on the perceived victor if the two mascots got in a fight. The only big loss was Pitt not losing to Navy. I assumed an armed Midshipmen would be able to win against a panther but I was apparently wrong about him being armed. I guess the only thing a midshipmen can beat is a Demon Deacon.
I worked all morning on Sunday until around 3pm when I decided to clean up my living room. I came across the Lord of The Rings DVDs that I bought on sale in March that were still in their shrink wrap. I went to put them in my rarely-used DVD booklet when I came across some speaker wire. I set up my speakers and decided to try to them with a movie. A few hours later I was fast-forwarding through them to watch the fight scenes. I wish they'd just make fighting movies and skip all the boring stuff.
I've got a busy week including getting my green man costume for the series of Halloween parties that are coming up. Green Man! [Comments: 0]· permalink ·
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Tuesday: October 21, 2008 - STFU
I wish every morning each member of America would get a set of three STFU Cards (Shut the F* Up) that you could use throughout your day. Each card could only last five minutes and when you were out, you were out. Additionally, when someone played a card on you, you had to STFU for five minutes. Because they would be so prevalent, no one's feelings would be hurt when you used them. It would be even better if people teamed up to permanently close the pie holes of certain "celebrities" (like anyone from Fox "News").
It would not be recommended you use these on friends or family but undoubted they would be. I would imagine their largest use would be at work, when you're trying to do something but keep getting interrupted by someone who feels their whatever should be the focus on your attention. BAM, hit him with one of these cards to keep him at bay for 5 minutes. At least then you could get to a good stopping point to be interrupted.
I think they'd make the world a better place. [Comments: 10]· permalink ·
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·
Wednesday: October 22, 2008 - By David Sedaris
I stole this excerpt from the New Yorker but it's by my favorite author so I hope he won't mind as I've lined his pocketbook both with book purchases and tickets to hear him speak.
I don’t know that it was always this way, but, for as long as I can remember, just as we move into the final weeks of the Presidential campaign the focus shifts to the undecided voters. “Who are they?” the news anchors ask. “And how might they determine the outcome of this election?”
Then you’ll see this man or woman— someone, I always think, who looks very happy to be on TV. “Well, Charlie,” they say, “I’ve gone back and forth on the issues and whatnot, but I just can’t seem to make up my mind!” Some insist that there’s very little difference between candidate A and candidate B. Others claim that they’re with A on defense and health care but are leaning toward B when it comes to the economy.
I look at these people and can’t quite believe that they exist. Are they professional actors? I wonder. Or are they simply laymen who want a lot of attention?
To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?”
To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked. [Comments: 0]· permalink ·
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Weekend: October 26, 2008 - Halloweekend (Part I)
Not being centrally located, my most recent attempt to have people over resulted in two small parties. The first one ended around 8pm but fortunately Marc and Annie salvaged the night around 9 and we stayed up until around 2am watching football, drinking wine, and gossiping about the potential size of Briecca's babies.
Saturday was Brian's famed Halloween party and I went as Jimmy Page after ruling out an S&M ghost and Robert Plant. I picked up Rebecca's friend from somewhere not in Georgetown (or as I like to refer to it, "hell") and we arrived fashionably late after taking a brief tour of the Reagan Airport. Using my brother's tried-and-true Beer Pong techniques, Brian's co-worker Jack and I went down to last cup against the undefeated-on-the-night team of Ben and...some guy whose name eludes me. Things started to wind down around 1:30 and we made the long drive back to the isolation chamber that is DC.
Before the party I watched the FSU/Virgina Tech game. You Hokies are lucky that Mickey Andrews called off the blitz-dogs when you were down to your third-string QB and the game was wrapped up.
Before watching the game I put in nearly a full workday. Boo.
On Sunday I did nothing but work on scores and work-work. Exciting. When 4:30 rolled around I trotted out to Centreville for a night of HO Poker where I kind of learned how to play Omaha poker. I really didn't have any fun because the guy next to me was such an asshole. Amazingly, he's the first person I've met that I've truly hated in my seven months up here. At one point I was trying to decide how much money it would take for me to pay him to leave. I quickly realized that the $10 I had in the pot was much less than the sum in my head, went all in to Chris (who co-won; hooray Chris) and then got the hell out of there.
One Halloween party down, one to go. [Comments: 4]· permalink ·
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Monday: October 27, 2008 - Funny or Not?
Steve and I have been having a family feud over if this concept is funny or not. One of us thinks it's hysterical and other thinks it's absolutely stupid. Please leave a comment with your vote so we can settle this.
A guy is semi-secretly in love with a girl who does not love him back. Somehow, he convinces her to attend a party. While at the party he asks her to blow up some balloons, which she reluctantly does. After everyone has gone home from the party, he sets aside the balloons she blew up and gently unknots one of them. He then proceeds to close his eyes and release her air into his ear and imagines that it's in fact her blowing in his ear.
Funny or not?
[Comments: 11]· permalink ·
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Tuesday: October 28, 2008 - Call from the Republicans
In case you didn't know, when I lived in Florida, I was a registered Republican. When I moved to DC I was careful not to put any party affiliation because even though I've never actually voted for a Republican for a major seat, they call me a lot and I didn't want anyone to call me at all.
On Friday I got a call from some 850 number that my called ID displayed as "FL Repblican Party". Awesome, I thought to myself and answered. It takes some skill to have someone hang up on you without swearing at them but I got the job done. I first started in on Sarah Palin, arguably the dumbest person alive and the rebuttal was "She's not the whole ticket." Uh, she very well could be should John McCain pass on. Next up was "Obama This, Obama That"--uh, if you're trying to sell me on the Old/Stupid ticket why not talk about...them? No, I do not agree with many of Obama's tax policies (ok, any) but at least he has a plan beyond "get Main Street back in its feet [my friends]". I think the worker finally lost it when I told her that I outgrew being a Republican because as you get older you're supposed learn new things and apply them to your life. I then went on a little bit of an attack that can't really be reprinted here and she hung up.
Go Obama/Biden: Because you're not McCain/Palin. [Comments: 11]· permalink ·
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Wednesday: October 29, 2008 - Coming Soon: Friends
Making new friends is fun but after having been at it for over half a year now, I'm ready to see some (more) familiar faces--the people who have not been yet fated to the greater Washington DC area. Fortunately for me, that day is coming in a little less than a month when FriendFest 2008 converges upon our nation's capital for the FSU/Maryland game. I was reminded of this yesterday when I got the email FINALLY telling me they were going to send me the damn tickets. Don't get me wrong, I'll be happy to see you guys but not nearly as happy watching it with you on my enormous TV (pronounced T-v) as I would be watching it at the game with you. For you fence-sitters, I need to know asap so I can get you tickets.
Wow I wrote just a scathing couple paragraphs (removed for decency's sake) on how I'm discovering more people supporting McCain--so to you new readers, don't forget to vote November 5th! [Comments: 7]· permalink ·
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Good Things Take Time...
-6 days until FSU Football (2010)
Random Picture...
Here's me and Jamie leaving the stadium. Go Cubs!
Here's me and Jamie leaving the stadium. Go Cubs!
Time Machine:
09-10-2009
· 09-10-2008
· 09-10-2007
· 09-10-2006
I took the day off blogging but only because I was thinking of you.09-10-2008: It seems like just yesterday I was dreaming about Dr. Spencer and the Corkasaurus. Turns out it's been a whole year. Last night I was talking to Chris Green and he's going to do a guest entry next week to catch everyone up on his life so get ready! Later in the evening I was thinking to myself that it would nice if a bunch of people would write "catch-up" entries so that we could find out all of the exciting things that have been happening since we interacted on a daily basis. Even the people that I've seen/talked to somewhat regularly, I don't really know the full-blown details of what's going on with their lives. Here's where you come in--you too can write an entry to catch everyone up. Send me an email and I'll give you a date from which to start. Then you can post on here in the next few days/weeks. Just think--between 150 and 200 people reading all about your interesting life! And to think I get to live that each and every day.
09-10-2007: Apparently Britney is back after performing at the MTV Music Awards over the weekend. Everyone railed against her out of shape body and poor performance. While I won't comment on performance (I didn't see it, although I'm sure it was a abysmal), she just had two kids. She's not a miracle worker, she can only look so good.
In sadder news, it looks like my mentally-vacating grandmother is headed for an assisted living facility. That sounds really cold but for the past year my dad has dutifully driven over there to attend to her every day and took a sabbatical from work the past six months and she apparently can't even remember that he visits at all. There's been some speculation that since she's lived alone for so long her memory deteriorated into nothing because she never really had to use it; she's at the point now where she can easily ask you the same question six times in ten minutes. It's really sad. I really don't envy the decision my parents have to make at all.09-10-2006: Chompy, what's this? jamie and I scored some tickets from her sister's husband's parents for the Troy game so naturally we went. The game even more horrible in person than it could have been on TV. FSU couldn't hold onto the football to save their lives. De'Cody Fagg was the only trustworthy receiver and there were no, and I mean no, trustworthy rushers. I wish I knew what went on in Lorenzo Booker's head. I bet it's something like, "'Lo, listen" (it should be pointed out that Lorenzo sounds strikingly similar to Alex) "don't dance this time. Just run straight ahead." Then he gets the ball and his feet take over. "Damn it, feet. Stop doing this, we've been over this a zillion times!" And that goes on like that every play.
Their damn band would not shut up. They played under our band the whole time since of course the eight members of the TSU band could not be heard over the Marching Dorks. They played when we had the ball...or Troy had the ball...or there was a timeout. However, the largest trigger to their playing was...our band playing. Which was funny because there were so few of them that you only realized this after FSU's song stopped and the Troy band kept going. Anyway it was horrible. Next week is Clemson and I'm going back solely to beat the shit out of their fan who kept tapping my head last time. I know Jamie doesn't believe it but after eight months of fighting at least twice a week I'm feeling pretty confident I could kick some frat-ass.
In sadder news, it looks like my mentally-vacating grandmother is headed for an assisted living facility. That sounds really cold but for the past year my dad has dutifully driven over there to attend to her every day and took a sabbatical from work the past six months and she apparently can't even remember that he visits at all. There's been some speculation that since she's lived alone for so long her memory deteriorated into nothing because she never really had to use it; she's at the point now where she can easily ask you the same question six times in ten minutes. It's really sad. I really don't envy the decision my parents have to make at all.09-10-2006: Chompy, what's this? jamie and I scored some tickets from her sister's husband's parents for the Troy game so naturally we went. The game even more horrible in person than it could have been on TV. FSU couldn't hold onto the football to save their lives. De'Cody Fagg was the only trustworthy receiver and there were no, and I mean no, trustworthy rushers. I wish I knew what went on in Lorenzo Booker's head. I bet it's something like, "'Lo, listen" (it should be pointed out that Lorenzo sounds strikingly similar to Alex) "don't dance this time. Just run straight ahead." Then he gets the ball and his feet take over. "Damn it, feet. Stop doing this, we've been over this a zillion times!" And that goes on like that every play.
Their damn band would not shut up. They played under our band the whole time since of course the eight members of the TSU band could not be heard over the Marching Dorks. They played when we had the ball...or Troy had the ball...or there was a timeout. However, the largest trigger to their playing was...our band playing. Which was funny because there were so few of them that you only realized this after FSU's song stopped and the Troy band kept going. Anyway it was horrible. Next week is Clemson and I'm going back solely to beat the shit out of their fan who kept tapping my head last time. I know Jamie doesn't believe it but after eight months of fighting at least twice a week I'm feeling pretty confident I could kick some frat-ass.