My Journal Archive

Wednesday, August 30th

My Rokenbok came today.  I'm happy.  Well....semi-happy...keep reading.

I've edited an entry or two.  No other journal entries will be made until I get some stuff moved around and password protect either my journal, or my entire site.  If you want to contact me about access, email me at:  Bubba@mooville.net and I'll be happy to set you up.

::sigh::

Monday August 28th

Being sad kinda sucks.  I think it's official, my roller coaster is on the way down.  The worst part is that you never know when it's going to stop.  Eventually, one hopes, it'll bottom out and start back up.  At least...that's how it's always worked in the past.  "When" is a good question.  Another bad part about it is that on the way down, it's so easy to find things to help you make the trip all the more crappy and miserable.  Everything that happens, for whatever reason, is your fault.  Everything anyone says to you or about you contributes to the load of BS  you already feel like you have sitting on your head.

No....this isn't any sort of warning or "suggestion" to you lovely visitors to my journal, nor is it an attempt to excuse what will likely to be a week or so of lovely interludes with me or a week of me simply being quiet and bummed out....it's simply an attempt to explain where I am and where I'm going...or at least where I feel like I'm going and maybe an "apology in advance".

Well, I've written a  paragraph about 10 times and deleted it every time because....well...just because....so I'll just not write it.  Aren't you glad I shared that with you?

::sigh::

I need to go to the store.  I need to do laundry.  I need to shave.  Heck, I need to go to bed.  I was tired enough to sleep about an hour and a half ago, but I moped around watching TV til I stopped being tired.  Then I felt like I needed to do SOMETHING productive so I got on here.  

Is this "productive"?  I dunno.  Maybe a lil therapeutic.  I'm in the same boat with  Melissa, though, I think.  I'd never do this if it was something I just wrote in a book.  I feel a little creepy knowing that lots of my friends (and a few non-friends) read this.  I guess it's up to me what I say, though.  It sucks having to edit myself...or censor myself...

It also sucks wanting to say things on here and feeling like I can't, or shouldn't...this is turning into a tough update for me to finish...maybe getting it out of my system will get my lil coaster car on another track faster....I dunno...I just need to change the subject, I guess...

Smells?  OK....I'll play along;

The old Johnson's Baby Shampoo.  The bastards changed it and the new stuff smells crappy.

Baby powder...no, there's no "baby" theme here...move along...

Babies....seriously...no theme....but babies smell good...usually.  I love babies though...

Victoria's Secret has two perfumes that absolutely take my breath away.  Wish I knew what they were called.  

So how about "feels"?  I have a few of those...

An old, broken in T-shirt...a fresh pair of cool, clean socks...old broken-in blue jeans, especially cold ones (they're the closest thing I have to a security blanket I suppose)...a hot (almost too hot) shower...

There are more...but those are for me to keep for myself...they're ones I miss though...

::sigh::

Saturday, August 25th

It has been awhile.  It's good to see you're still coming to see me though.

I'm going to try to set up Blogger.  I think I'll be able to update more frequently if I'm able to just "do it" (as the old commercials say) without having to a) be at home, b) be in the mood to fight with FrontPage, and c) commit to the time it takes to go through all the steps to update the website .

Melissa, men aren't all like that.  Trust me.  I know coming from me, that's hard to buy, but as I've said before, the "outside me" and the "inside me" aren't quite the same.  I guess that makes it just as bad though, if not worse.  I don't qualify for "male chauvinist pig", but I'm a hypocrite.  Bleh...I think I'll stay out of this discussion before I make myself feel any worse.

Speaking of...As I sit here redesigning my site (I like the green a lot better than the blue), I'm noticing that I've been  feeling sad all day for some reason.  I don't really know why, I guess that's what makes it worse, but I really just feel down today. 

For those that don't know, I'm "blessed" with the extra special "double depression" which is a combination of "dysthemic depression" and "major depression".  Double your pleasure, right?  Something like that.  The way it works, is that I'm generally "blue" thanks to the "major", but on those extra special occasions when the dysthemic depression kicks in (it's like a roller coaster...up and down mood swings), I'm navy blue, that extra dark kinda blue that works great for suits and ties and socks, but kinda sucks for moods.  Maybe this is the start of one of those drop-offs, or maybe I'm just in a crappy mood.  Only time will tell.  I've had a lot going on lately...so perhaps it's just finally built up enough to hit me on the noggin.

One of the biggest things on my mind right now is a phone call I got a couple weeks ago.  A "head-hunter" gave me a call and asked me for my resume.  After I got over my initial shock and spastic flailing around, I sat down and thought about it.  The question it all boiled down to was:  What happens if I send my resume in and actually get an offer? 

It actually scares me just thinking about it, because at this point, I'm in a bind for a lot of things.  My car is falling apart for one, but my biggest problem is something Bruce pointed out to me last week.  As we sat and chatted about stuff, he pointed out that I was "such a damn consumer".  It doesn't help that some of the people I hang out with can pretty much do anything and buy anything they want without even batting an eyelid.  I don't hold that against them, but it's rough for me because unfortunately I'm someone that wants so hard to fit in and be on the same level with my friends.  The biggest problem is that, aside from being crappy with saving money, sometimes I screw up.  I see something cool, I want it.  I lose all brain-function.  You see, shopping makes me happy.   Listening to new music, buying clothes, watching a new movie, playing with a new "toy" keeps me from thinking about a lot of things that would otherwise overwhelm me.  While my job is not the most stressful job in the world, it's certainly not easy, especially considering some of the things I am continually forced to put up with.   Personally, I'd love to be able to take a vacation where I'm able to relax and not think about work.  So far, every "vacation" I've had this year had something to do with work.  Even if I COULD take the time off, I couldn't afford to go anywhere but back home to Tennessee for a long weekend.  Heck, I'm trying to buy a new car and that's going to kill me.  Not only will I have to deal with higher insurance and car payments, but I'll also be having to pay back the loan I'm getting from the company just so I can afford the down payment on the damn thing.  The more I think about it, it almost doesn't seem worth dealing with.  So I get hit with the big ol' double-barrel problem.  I have to be able to save, but I feel pushed to spend money to "keep up" with everyone. 

Suz asked a big question last week...how far would you go or what would you do to get something you wanted?  For me, it depends on what that "something is.  As I told a few of the Mooville crew, if we're talking about that one special thing we all fantasize about, "taking one for the team" would be well worth it.  I wouldn't think twice about it.  The end justifies the means, no pun intended.

So now, I guess it's my turn to pose a question: 

What would you do if someone offered you a job doing "sort of" the same thing you're doing now, for a yet-to-be-identified company in a large sunny west-coast state,  supposedly making almost triple your current salary?  Could you  leave what's effectively been your entire life for the past 5 years?  Could you walk away from undoubtedly the most important non-family people in your life, the job you've dreamed of having, the safety of the "familiar"?  Would the lure of the money be the deal-maker/deal-breaker for you?

I ask this question and I agree with you...I don't know, either.

::sigh::

Wednesday, August 9th, 2000:

Very odd....I've not been sleeping well for the past couple of days and I'm not sure why.  Last night I went to bed at a little past 11, which is pretty dang early for me, but I woke up at 2:30 with the covers kicked off and, as "The Boss" would put it, "...with the sheets soakin' wet and a freight train runnin' through the middle of my head, mmm hmmm."

Luckily, I was NOT on fire. ;)

Anyway, we hit yet another potential SimuCon hotel today.  I'm not sure how I feel about it this year, but I'm very positive about the hotel for 2002.  I think it will have exactly what we need then, but right now it's simply too small.  They did invite the selection committee to stay at the hotel some time (on the house) so we can get an idea of the services they offer.  Heck, I was joking when I suggested it, but the lady thought it was a good idea.  Who am I to argue?

As you can see, I'm putting some banner-links up on the site.  If you feel like it, check them out.  If I didn't think they were interesting, I'd never put them up...at least check em out....never hurts to click on a link. :)

I think this is going to be a short update today...I've been pretty active on the update thing lately and I'm more in the mood to watch TV and clean up a little.

Don't fret...it's almost Friday.... 

Tuesday, August 8th, 2000:

Well, well, well.

As I sit here and munch on my Frosted Cheerios and toast, I'm sure it will surprise you if I said I'd been awake for two hours now.  That is, if you know me.  Heck, if you *didn't* know me, you'd probably be surprised that I have NOT been up for two hours.  Anyway, my goal is to be so tired after my meeting tonight, that I go right to bed and MAYBE I'll be able to do this again tomorrow.  It's not likely, but anything is possible.

As I sit eating my cereal, I'm reminded of how wonderfully anal-retentive I am about some things.  Wait....does "anal-retentive" have a hyphen?

I eat cereal weird.  I *hate* soggy cereal.  There's nothing worse.  Next to soggy cereal, cereal-y milk is the worst.  To prevent both of these things from happening, about 15 years ago or so, I started eating cereal strangely.  Actually, I'd love to know if anyone else does this...maybe I won't feel so goofy.  Anyway, I reach into the box and grab a bit of cereal and then pop it into my mouth.  Then I take a sip of milk and...voila!  No more soggy cereal!  No more sugary milk with (soggy) cereal bits floating around in it.

Hey, at least I admit it.

I had at least one weird dream last night.  I was at a very very large mall, underground I think, and I was hungry.  I'd seen a commercial for Hardees yesterday and they had some new "Big Burger" for .59 (limit **20** per customer).  So luckily, I made my way through this HUGE maze-like food court at this underground mall, through some very weird restaurants.  I can't remember what they served, but I think one of them served roast boar (this comes from visiting a potential SimuCon 2001 hotel last week that was having an open house and one of the things they served was roast boar).  Anyway, I get to a place that I know wasn't Hardees, but they were close enough for my dream.  I ordered a burger, fries, and a small drink.  The total was something like $6.19.  I started to argue with the lady at the register, but she said yes, the burger was .59, but the drink was $2.19 and the fries were $3.29 and I should have looked at the menu before I ordered.  Then I went to get the food and there were all sorts of old, un-picked-up orders on the counter.  Some of the buns looked like they'd been torn apart by the people in the back, other burgers were well-well-well-well-done...super crispy.  I can't remember what I did...

I finished Icewind Dale, btw.  Yes, I cheated, but it was their fault.  The game had a bug in it.  I sent my savegame files in to Interplay so they could fix the bug.  It took way too long for them to release the official patch and when they finally did, I was already so far past the part with the bug, I didn't want to go back and have to fight my way through everything again.  Problem was, I wanted to get the item back from where the bug was.  End result was, I found some really neat utilities and used them to cheat.  At least I finished it, though.  I think it had a wonderful story and outstanding music.  I'm actually hoping to find the music available for download somewhere, or even available to purchase on a CD.

Anyway...tomorrow I get to try to get my bowling ball drilled again.  Seems that every pro-shop at every bowling alley in the Greater St Louis area is only open from 3:00 to 3:12 on every fifth Wednesday during the summer.  It really amazed me to find that these places weren't even open on weekends, or if they were, they were only open for 2 hours, usually early in the morning, or at least closed by the time I called to see if they were open.

I need to start playing more pool again, too.  I used to go out to the Pink Galleon with a couple friends on weekends.  Given the name, I wasn't expecting as neat a place when I first heard about it.  Honestly, I thought it was a gay bar or something, when Curtis told me about it a long time ago.  Don't misunderstand me. It wouldn't have bothered me at all if it had been, but I was just all the more surprised when it ended up being kinda the opposite.  They do have pink pool tables though.  No blue chalk allowed.  Pink chalk *only*.  They're located on Olive, right up from Software Plus, for all you local pool playing types.

OK....time for me to get ready for work.  I think I'll surprise Melissa today and show up early.  Maybe even surprise Bruce and end up at work before he gets there.  Only time will tell.

Monday is long past over...and there was much rejoicing.

Monday, August 7th, 2000:

Yup.  Something was wrong. ;)

I knew it wouldn't last, but hey, at least I'm updating now!  Cut me some slack.

After I do this, I think I'm going to go to bed.  WAY early for me, I know, but I've not had a good day.  Monday's are usually just like every other day for me, but this one wanted to be special.  At least it's over!

If you saw my main page, you can see I was thinking today...I have a LOT of CDs.  I watch a LOT of movies.  I pester the snot out of people when it comes to recommending both to them.  In fact, I got a movie back from Bruce today that I loaned him that I knew he'd like.  "The Natural" with Wilford Brimley, Glenn Close, and Robert Redford.  A darn good baseball flick and I was surprised to know that Bruce had never seen it!  Add that to the fact that David still has my "Safe Men" video and I've been dying to watch it again, another friend asked me about my movie recommendations today, someone was asking me about CDs, AND I was listening to some of my favorite tunes this afternoon and it all hit me at once.

THIS will give people yet another reason to put up with your rantings and ravings and actually provide some sort of service.

So, thus I begin....

I just need to come up with a gimmick...maybe a rating system or some "thing" like "Two thumbs up!" to make my reviews  original...

Hey, did I mention I have a cable modem now?  Vroooooooom!  I love it.  I can't see how I survived without it.  It's the best thing since sliced bread.

Did you ever wonder what the best thing was, BEFORE sliced bread?  Was it just bread?  Or something else?  When someone actually sliced the bread, did everyone just stop and say, "Holy crap!  That's, like, the BEST thing!"  Or did they say, "Hey, that's the best thing since something!"

I always wondered about that.

Maybe I can do some kinda tie in with my whole Kevin Bacon thing...

Does anyone know of a good, easy to use, low maintenance GuestBook to put on here?  I'm dying to see who all's peeking in on my site.  On that note, does anyone know how to BLOCK people from a site?  ::wink::

We went bowling Friday night.  I did fairly well the first game (165) and then the other three were at least consistent (128, 135, 136, or something around that).  I'm thinking about getting more into bowling and maybe try to get a team started with me and Bruce and Johnny and Mike and maybe Dave Metzener.  I'd only do it if we call wore those cool shirts and we got our names on them.  Oh, and we'd have to have a cool team name, too.

I'm looking more and more forward to the day I get my new car.  Alan says the 2001s are almost out and then all I need to do is go through all the insane paperwork for the registration and insurance and all that.  Not looking forward to that part, but it's a requirement, I suppose.  I keep telling Melissa she needs to learn to drive on my current car.  If she can drive THAT, she can drive anything.  At least it's reliable and it gets me where I'm going.

Well, it's about to rain.  I can tell because my Satellite dish is going bananas.  I better upload all this before something weird happens.  Good thing is, I have a cable modem now, so it takes about two seconds.

Until next time!

BTW, Stephen King is selling his new book on the web, a chapter at a time.  Publishers are going nuts.  Get it here and remember to pay the freakin' dollar for it or he'll stop writing. 

Tuesday, July 25th:

Wow.  Two days in a row?  Something must be wrong.

I got home last night and was surfing around checking out my eBay stuff, making sure no one had the audacity to outbid me and noticed I was getting a little tired.  I glance over at the clock and it was 9:30.  Generally, for those that are wondering, I tend to go to bed at about 3 or 4 am.  I also tend to get to work late, too.  Go figure.  

If I can get into this habit of going to bed at a more appropriate time, getting up earlier in the morning, having a shower (without worrying if my room mate is going to decide to try to make a coup for the hot water), and then comfortably update my website, and still get to work on time, then this might be, as Martha would call it, "A Good Thing."

Yeah, I watch Martha Stewart.  I also watch a lot of Food TV.  Scoff if you want, but I can cook.

Tonight is meeting night.  I sure hope I can stay awake through the meeting.

For some reason, I feel like I'm rambling this morning, so I'll take a cue from Melissa and make up for yesterday's rant and just mention a few things I love...

I love (most of) the people I work with
I love sharing new things I've found with my friends
I love being the only person to have something
I love, even more, being able to share that with someone or even give it to them
I love everything about my job (except those reports and charts ::shakes fist::)
I love my new cable modem....vrooooooooommmmm!
I love the Internet
I love music...one of these days, I'll pester Bruce to tell me about that CD lister again and share my collection with you
I love cooking, although I should do it more...I've been lazy lately
I love my family...they've put up with more, given more, let me get away with more, and supported me more than they should have...maybe that's why I turned out so damn perfect ::hides::
I love that I have a co-worker that I can share an office with so well...thanks Melissa!
I love old, cold, broken in blue jeans sometimes I leave em on the floor so they can get cold and then I just curl up with them while I watch TV....yeah...that's kinda weird I guess...consider it my security blanket
I love (probably too much) using parenthesis and ellipses when I write...see?
I love technology...I can't imagine living in more exciting times

OK....I think that's enough...maybe I'll talk about crap I hate tomorrow, just to keep things interesting.

Monday, July 24th:

"Reputation is in idle and most false imposition, oft got without merit, and lost without deserving."

Ya gotta love that...so many people are worried about their reputation and yes, gentle reader, that includes me. I've chosen that for my topic today, because I've spent a lot of the weekend thinking about it.  (Hang on my feet are cold...thanks for waiting.  Big-ass socks rule, btw.)  

As I was saying...

Worrying about what other people think is one of the things that takes up far too much of my time, but for some reason, I still do it.  I took that Color-quiz that Suz was talking about and it was pretty creepy.  I like how it defines each section...I particularly like the way it refers to "Your Actual Problem".  For some reason that just makes me chuckle.  Anyway, my 'Actual Problem" was:

Works to strengthen his position and bolster his self-esteem by examining his own accomplishments (and those of others) with critical appraisal and scientific discrimination. Insists on having things clear-cut and unequivocal.

And then (if that weren't enough), I have an "Actual Problem #2":

Needs to be valued and respected as an exceptional individual, in order to increase his self-esteem and his feeling of personal worth. Resists mediocrity and sets himself high standards.

SO...not only am I hung up about what other people are thinking about me (not just SAYING mind you, but THINKING!  Sheesh...what kind of pressure is THAT to be under?), but I set myself up to "high standards".  Nice combination, eh?  The rest of that quote that I mentioned above is important too, though, at least for me...

"But he that filches from me my good name, robs me of that which not enriches him, but makes me a poorer man indeed."

I dunno...I'm pretty sure Bruce knows what I'm talking about, but constantly having to look over your shoulder, constantly being in a state of hoping you're doing the right thing (even though you know you are), hoping that you don't make a single mistake because you know that will just give those filchers one more thing to write in their little books...well, that pretty much sucks and it's a good thing to waste a weekend thinking about.  What makes someone SO hung up on themselves that they have to go around trying to find things wrong with other people?  Or, is it that they're hung up on themselves, or just that painfully unhappy with their lives?  Why can't people be happy with supporting others and not go around behind their backs trying to knock them down?  

What sort of goobers take pleasure in this sort of thing?  Yes, gentle reader, that's a rhetorical question...

OK...I guess that was my first rant, but I guess it's theraputic to get it out.  I don't want to start a Monday with all that bottled up in me.

The rest of my weekend

Anyway, I made a cake over the weekend.  I'm taking in it to work, else I'll eat it all.  It would take me a year to eat the whole thing.  I can only manage "half a small slice" at a time, so I figure I'd take it in and not waste it.

I also finally finished Dungeon Keeper II.  Yes, I cheated.  So what.  Sue me.

I've also been sucked into the evil world of eBay and Amazon.com auctions.

Oh.  Yeah.  I put up part of my Color Quiz.  Here's the whole thing:  

 (Melissa often compliments (complains?) about my ability to stay relaxed even when confronted by people who need forks shoved in their foreheads.  Repeatedly.)

 (This one confused everyone (except me).  That "mystical fusion of erotic harmony" thing has become a sort of catchphrase around the office now.  Go figure.)

 (I have NO idea what that second sentence is talking about.  ::hums innocently::  No really.  I'm serious!  Stop rolling your eyes at me!)

 (Note:  It's hard living a life resisting mediocrity.  At least on my salary.  ::chuckle::)

Anyway...I guess I've babbled enough for today.

Sunday, July 9th:

::cough::

Ok....so it's been a while!  Gimme a break!

I've been frightfully busy lately.  At least that's what I'm trying to convince myself of.  Actually it's been more like "too lazy to update my page", but let's not go there, ok?  Thanks.  I knew you'd understand.

Anyway, just because I've admitted that it's been sloth that has been my 'Deadly Sin" of choice these days (at least, it's the one I'll admit to), that doesn't mean I've not been actually occupied with actual work.  I've had SimuCon to deal with (630-something players of Simutronics games, gathered in St Louis for a long weekend of fun, for those that don't know),  I've been to Los Angeles for E3, long-overdue visitation of some close friends,  and some *really* good food, *lots of DR-related stuff that I am not gonna talk about and you don't wanna hear anyway, and various and sundry other things that I can't remember now, but I'll mention as I think of them.

E3 was outstanding, but note to self: Don't wear E3 shirts when you go to Babbage's or Best Buy, unless you reeeeeeeeally want to spend three hours telling the nice folks there everything that was at the convention.

DO expect some photos from E3 soon, I just need to get Tracy to scan them for me amidst all the other things she's working on.  Did I mention the booth babes?  Or all the Playboy Playmates walking around?  Ain't technology grand?

SimuCon was a success, at least as far as the convention goes.  As far as it goes "personally" it was not a good weekend for me.  ::sigh::  It was a rough time, but I guess I survived.  I had to pretend like a lot of things didn't bother me, which I think I'm fairly adept at doing, Lord knows I have to do it enough so I get a lot of practice, but it was hard.

I just got through watching "American Beauty".  Damn, what a good flick.  I just love Kevin Spacey, he's outstanding (not to mention he was in "Usual Suspects" with Pete Posthelwait (sp?), who was in "Brassed Off" with Ewan McGregor, who was in "Star Wars: Episode 1" with Samuel L. Jackson who was in "Pulp Fiction" with John Travolta, who was in "Broken Arrow" with Christian Slater, who was in "Murder in the First" with Kevin Bacon.  Yes, I know that was a long one, but I'm showing off.  It was six links.  Hush.).

I want my new car.  Yet another thing I'm being lazy about, but I need to start looking into new insurance and such.  Let this be my guilt trip to myself.

I finally titled in GemStone, now I kinda feel weird when I log in and try to think of something to do.  I guess I need a new goal over there or something.

I've been playing a lot of games lately, too.  Most recently I've been sucked into "Icewind Dale".  Lots of fun, but my steam may be running out, mostly because I found a game-threatening bug and I've been having to NOT play until I hear back from Interplay to see if they were able to fix it.  Seems like an item I was supposed to give to an NPC triggered his giving me "an artifact", but the bug made that not happen.  So now I don't know if the "artifact" is something I will need to finish the game, or if it was just a cool weapon or something.  So my dilemma:  Do I keep playing, getting farther and farther into the game, risking the chance that I'll get stuck, or that Interplay will send my saved games back to me with a bug patch and then I'll have to backtrack and go through allll that stuff again, or.....do I sit and wait on them, and let the game's hold slip on me?  Tough choice, and I guess by not choosing, I'm choosing to sit and wait on them.  Actually I tried to keep playing the other evening, but I kept thinking to myself, "Do I REALLY want to get this far into the game knowing that I may have to do this all again?"  The answer was "No" so I started playing SimThemePark instead. ::grumble::

Well....no promises on further updates.  I think I'll just write what I can, when I feel like it.  Hopefully, that will be more often than not, but I'm a slothful little man and we all know how that goes...

Sunday April 2nd: Well! I got a lot done this week, which means one thing I didn't get done was updating my site, so this update is gonna be large.  

I've been working pretty hard at getting SimuCon stuff set up!  This year I'm in charge of Games and Entertainment, the Reception Night on Thursday, and DR Seminars.  At some point, I think I'm supposed to do my regular job, too....

Mike, Beth, Melissa, David, Annie, Tracy, and Candy and I went out to Union Station on Saturday.  We were going to go see "Romeo Must Die", but when we got there, the lines at the concession stand were so slow, that by the time we got into the theatre, there were no seats where we could all sit together.  Scrap that idea!  Then we decided to roam around Union Station a little and look at shops.  We ate at Hard Rock Cafe, which wasn't too shabby and then went to a comedy show after that, which was a blast.  Annie wasn't feeling well, so she and David left and they missed a lot of fun.  The show was a TheatreSports type show, sort of like "Who's Line is it Anyway?" which plays on Comedy Central (the original, UK version) and also on ABC, hosted by Drew Carey.  I got picked to be a judge and we all had a great time.  I'm planning on going back soon.  They were looking for bartenders and I'm actually considering looking into that.  Would be a cool way to have fun on the weekends and I'm pretty good at it, actually.  Maybe I could even try to see if I could get in on the show sometimes....I used to do that stuff back home and we had a LOT of fun.

I also got a new cell phone.  It's pretty spiffy.  Voice Activated calling, all kinds of cool alarms and rings and beeps and stuff.

I'm looking forward to this weekend, too.  AirSoft time!  B Company and, supposedly, Merc Factor are all going to be there.  Should be fun.  I heard B Company was "surprised" at the amount of firepower they were up against the first time they played with us.  Hopefully, we'll give them more of the same.

I want to start keeping a dream journal on here, but need to start remembering my dreams longer before I start doing that.  Perhaps I'll leave my Digital Voice recorder on my nightstand and that way I can talk into it when the dreams are fresh.

Vegas Con came up in the red.  I'm out about $750 all total, but I think a lot of folks that went are trying to collect enough to send it to me.  We had a problem with lots of people not showing up and then out of those that did show up, a good number didn't donate. :\

I'm sure everything will work out in the end.

Damn, I need to do my state taxes still.

I spent today at the store getting groceries and organizing my room (something that was LONG overdue).  I got my IKEA catalog in the mail Friday and am planning a nice re-design of the whole place soon!  Yay! :)

::pant pant::

More soon!

Saturday, March 25th: Well, today was generally

We went to see "Ghost Dog" last night.  If it that movie had been any slower they could have filmed it on Poloroid.  It really let me down.  I was expecting a lot more action, but this was what can only be described as an "artsy" film.  Lots of symbolism, lots of deep imagery, lots of silent, contemplative moments.  ::yawn::  I mean damn, the guy didn't even use his samurai sword!  This was a lot  like "The Professional".  And what was with that whole "waiving the gun around before he stuck it in his holster" thing?!

Tomorrow we are going to go to a paintball field somewhere up I-70 and do a little AirSoft demo for them.  Hopefully we'll succeed in convincing them that they need to let us use their fields.  That will definitely be a good thing.

I'm looking forward to "Gladiator" being released.  I really need to see a good movie before I die.  I'm not very pleased with everything I've seen lately.  Maybe I'm being a little too picky.  Well, not with "Mission to Mars", that one officially sucked, but "The Ninth Gate" was a let down as well.  I've already shared my opinion of "Ghost Dog".  "Ready to Rumble" seems like it would be fun, but I'm worried it's gonna be a stinker, too.  Ah well, such is life.  I'll just have to cross my fingers and go for it.

Wednesday, March 22:  Today was dragging by so slowly!  I don't know what it is, but have you ever had one of those days that it feels like it should have been over right after you got out of bed?  I sat in my office working away and noticed I was a little peckish, so I figured it must have been around 3:00, since that's when I usually start to notice I need something to nibble on.  I glanced at the clock and much to my surprise it was only 12:45.  Needless to say I was less than thrilled.

My sister is getting married in April.  I'm not sure if I want to drive to Tennessee, or fly.  Both have good and bad points.  I expect I'll have to make a decision soon since the longer I wait, the more likely it is that I have to drive.  If I DO drive this time, I'll make sure to use a radar detector, since I got a ticket last time I drove back home.  $135!  Poetic justice was served, however, when the officer that gave me the ticket (two days before Christmas...can you say "Humbug!") was arrested for DUI and Hit and Run and was (of course) fired.  Karma, man...karma!

I just got done watching (or listening to) the movie "20 Dates".  The premise is that a guy films his search for love, documenting each of his 20 dates.  Rather cute film.  I dunno if I would have the nerve to do that, myself.  (Not to mention the fact that I'd need to find 20 dates.)  It was kind of funny because about 12-13 dates into the project, he found "the one" and she was getting pretty fed up that he kept going out on dates!  I won't tell you what happens, but I kinda liked it.

I talked to one of my best friends, Steve, today.  I haven't spoken with him in a few months due to his being tied up with some serious work situations, but it really made my day to hear from him.  Just thought I'd share that.

Tomorrow night for dinner, I think I'm going to try to experiment with some Panko crumbs that my friends bought for me at the Asian market.  I saw something about a year ago on Food TV that that looked really good with chicken and cheese and Panko crumbs.  I hope I don't end up like my Sims, though.  Poor things burst into flames the last time they tried to cook something.

More tomorrow...I've updated you with enough boring information, I think.