randomness personified

go speed racer

I could always try this!?

stein way

This entry should really be on the critic blog, I guess, but it kinda spans the content of both so I'm gonna splat it here...

I watched "Kissing Jessica Stein" tonight. I'd meant to see it in the theater but some how missed it. Thanks to my friends at Netflix I'm starting to catch up on movies I missed when I was sick in the spring. Quick aside - does anyone else use Netflix? Their service has gone from good to bad and newly phenomenal. They have a warehouse now here in Stamford and my movies come super, duper speedy. But I digress...

I loved it as a New York movie. It owes a lot to Woody Allen and "Sex in the City" in that it makes the city a crucial character in the plot. From my favorite little antique market on Houston to the roof of the Met, the scenery was all very familiar. The only complaint, as I've mentioned before, were their apartments. Jessica had a gigantic place in the UES on a copy editor's salary? Uh, no.

Obligatory spoiler alert - skip the next paragraph if you haven't seen the film. You can pick up in the para after that just fine.

I had a really depressing response to the plot, I have to say. I mean, I was totally buying their happiness and comfort and then blam nothing changes but everything's changed and that, I felt, was just completely glossed over. Are we supposed to now think that it was Jessica's little "experiment?" Is she not gay and it all was a big mistake? Are we supposed to believe that she really would be happy after all with her former boss? I mean, that just seems like a depressing cop-out. Like they're saying "Aw, c'mon. You didn't really think she realized she was gay, did you?" Well, yeah. I was happy for her. They were great together. Damn.

It really made me depressed, though, as these sort of movies often do. At 29 she's "running out of options." Hmm. I'm 33. I guess I might just as well hang it up. That sarcasm, I assure you, but sometimes it feels that way.

I've been reading a lot lately about people using internet dating sites (Nerve.com seems to be the one for artsy folk) and wonder if that's really not as pathetic as it seems. I mean, they're writing about it in New York Magazine. It's almost the mainstream thing to do these days. I don't know. I'll have to think about it.

Cassie and I have vowed to make 2003 a better year. "2003 - The Year For Me" That's our motto. I just have to make sure I stick to it.

sunday randomness

• The hallway in my building smells horrible today. Like someone's baking a big pot of yeast, garlic and onions.

• When do you take your Christmas tree down? How about your decorations? Are snowmen permissible all winter?

• Do you peeps actually check the other pages here like the critic blog?

• Is it just me, or is that new picture scary and should be hidden away?

Discuss amongst yourselves...

i love sake

Please pet this innocent tissue to be used without any complain every day.

so here's to missed beginnings

so here's to missed beginnings and things that never start
for these are the ghosts that rush around in my heart
when i see where i'm going isn't where i want to be
i get the urge to look you up, to see if you will come and see me
-slaid cleaves

where to begin...

Well, here's a whirlwind synopsis of my long holiday weekend thusfar...

Monday Spent the morning cleaning and putting up my sad Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Picked the parents up from LaGuardia. It was very nice to see them.

Tuesday Went into the city. Began to realize that my parents are really, really midwestern and don't do well in NYC. My mother works at the Law Library at the University of Georgia and now is a total library freak. As a result, she wanted to stop at the New York Public Library. I really like the building and got this great shot of the Empire State Building out one of the windows. Then went to look at Christmas windows before we went to Radio City. This is what Christmas windows look like to me. Wound our way over to Radio City after a short diversion to St. Patrick's. Also saw this great grafitti. Word.

Went to my mother's long-awaited fantasy, the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. It wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. They had a real cool 3-D movie of Santa flying around Manhattan at the beginning and the rest was just so cheesy that it was enjoyable. Wasn't particularly fond of the camels and donkeys that the brought onstage during the nativity bit. The copious use of "little people" was also a bit odd. There was a crazy bit where the Rockettes pulled Santa's sleigh complete with glowing antlers. I had two funny movies of this but when I renamed them before I downloaded them they went bye-bye. Damn. They were really good. I did manage to keep this bizarre one. It looks like some weird marching aliens and a giant spider. Then again, we've already established that I'm basically insane...

Had dinner at Josephina (or "Guiliani's," "Googenheim's" or "Julliene's" as my mother kept mistakenly calling it all weekend.) and headed back to Stamford. Oh, at some point my mother decided that wearing new boots was a good idea and ended up limping with blisters. It was a fun walk...

Wednesday Made my mother really upset because I wouldn't eat Nisu, traditional Finnish Christmas bread, that she makes every year(her parents emmigrated from Finland). Egg, milk. Nope.

Spent the morning opening gifts. Nothing very exciting. Shouldn't I still get at least one toy? I mean, I like clothes and shoes and all, but damn... Okay. Sorry. Continued the Christmas tradition of putting antlers on Ali. Doesn't she look pleased?!

It began to snow at around noon after raining all morning. By 7:00 we had about 10" on the ground, the most snow to ever fall in Stamford on Christmas Day. The parents were very excited and decided to take a walk. They made it about a block before they remembered that snow is very cold and slippery.

Thursday - Got my car back. It looks great. Smacked the mirror on the Intrepid. See below. I don't want to relive. Went to Ikea to look for CD shelving. Went to see Two Towers again with the parents.

Friday - Literally spent the whole day putting these together. Now I have a lot to organize.

More details later. Really! There's more!

Hope everyone's having a great long weekend.

luck runs out

Bad luck, that is. That is, I hope...

No time for a full recap, just enough to share my pain. Yeah. I know. I'm pathetic... Anyhow...

1) Got a letter yesterday denying my appeal for my wheelchair. I'll start working up the food-chain on Monday. That's just ridiculous but I'm afraid I may be stuck. Any insurance veterans have advice? Paige? Christy?

2) Received this letter after backing out of the parking garage in the rental car and SMACKING THE FUCKING MIRROR THAT STICKS OUT 50 MILES ON THE PILLAR NEXT TO THE CAR. FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK. Sorry for the potty mouth. Paige, is Geico gonna drop me? I did NOT pay for the rental insurance. If it's not much more than my deductible I don't think I even want to report it to Geico. There's no door damage or anything, I just tapped the mirror and it POPPED RIGHT OFF. Unfortunately, Enterprise insisted on getting my insurance info. I need to start in with Enterprise on Monday, too.

So basically I added $4500 to my credit card bill this weekend. Yaaaaay. I love debt.

Somethings DID go well. Had a nice holiday, got my car back and they did a beautiful job.

Updates on that tomorrow after I take the parents to LaGuardia. I just need some help here, kids.

happy holidays!!

No time to fill you all in on a crazy, crazy NYC Christmas Eve. One little teaser of stories and movies to come. Two words. Rockette reindeer...

Just wanted to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday. May it be filled with good tidings and cheer. I'll be relaxing at home with the parents and seeing what the weather brings us. One minute it's 6-10" of snow, the next it's a deluge of rain. We shall see.

I also have a whole list of New Year's resolutions, a couple of which revolve around randomness, to share with you. But that'll come in due time. Until then...

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night...

this is what it sounds like when heroes die

I've never really "lost" a musical hero. I wasn't really aware of the full splendor of Jeff Buckley until after his tragic drowning. I was only 10 when Lennon was shot in 1980. Sure, I've prepared myself for the day I hear the news that Johnny Cash has left this mortal coil. Unfortunately, that day probably isn't that far in the distance.

However, today I was driving when I felt my heart sink. I don't know what to say. The world's a much lesser place. Joe Strummer is dead.

I'm all lost in the supermarket
I can no longer shop happily
I came in here for that special offer
A guaranteed personality

And it's not hear
It disappear
I'm all lost

christmas wishes and heavenly tunes

I'm not sure how much time I'm going to have over the holidays to post. My parents arrive tomorrow and are here until Saturday and we're all booked up with events. Should be fun. Certainly a recap will be in works next weekend.

Just wanted to wish you and yours a happy holiday. No white Christmas here. Perhaps some of you will be luckier.

Also, Dean has a tradition of making holiday CDs for friends and family. I look forward to it arriving in my little mailbox each year. Actually, last year's was hand-delivered. Whatsup with that, Dean? Shouldn't you and Deb fly out here just to bring me mine? Geez...

At any rate, Dean's running a little late this year with making CD copies so here's a way to hear the songs before the holiday. I have some extra space around here I was more than happy to oblige and he's been kind enough to allow me to share them with you. If anybody would like a burned copy you can send Dmmm your mailing address but it will be arriving a tad late. Thanks, Dean!

So, point your browser here and feel free to take a listen to Homey's Holiday 2002. Please save them to your hard drive rather than stream them since my bandwidth usage is metered. Dean intends each year's edition to be a complete work so you should download all the tracks (~80 meg) and create a playlist or burn a CD. His liner notes are also up there.

Of particular note, to me, is the beautiful sentiment of the Ron Sexsmith track, "Maybe This Christmas." That, to me, is what the holidays are about. Family, renewing ties and letting bygones go. I also highly recommend the CD of the same name. The proceeds go to Toys for Tots and it features interesting tracks from randomness favorites Coldplay, Neil Finn, Ben Folds and Bright Eyes, among others.

So... Enjoy. Be safe. Have fun. Relax.

Maybe this Christmas will mean something more
Maybe this year love will appear deeper than ever before
And maybe forgiveness will ask us to call someone we love
Someone we've lost for reasons we can't quite recall
Maybe this Christmas

these are the people in your neighborhood

From a Wall Street Journal article on how to find interesting blogs:

NYCBloggers.com (www.nycbloggers.com), for example, lists 1,591 bloggers by which New York subway station they live near. "NYCBloggers, of course, is the best place to find the blogs of the most opinionated and interesting group of people on the planet: New Yorkers," says co-creator Mike Everett-Lane. "You can find who's blogging at your subway stop; maybe that guy you see on the train every morning has a noteworthy blog."

I wonder if the old white dude with cornrows who I always see on the train drinking a Yoo-Hoo has a blog cuz I'd totally be into reading that.

The full article is here...

columbus ver. 1.0

Wow. This is from a history textbook published in 1889. The kind, benevolent Chris, I guess. These stories are clearly complete fabrications, right? They don't even sound like folklore. I think the author was just inventing them. I particularly like the "simple creature" line.

This entire site is fascinating. It's full of 19th Century textbooks.

doing 'em proud

I've now received three Christmas cards, all from members of my Mother's family, that say something to the effect of "we're proud of you." I smell some sort of conspiracy. What could my Mother be saying to them? That I've reinvented the wheel? Or is more of the generic crip-makes-good story? Whatever it is, I find it quite disturbing and my Mother will be receiving a very through debriefing over the holidays. Believe me, I ain't nothing to be proud of.

I also received the best handmade card (complete with lots o' stickers) from the lovely Patricia. Thanks, pea!!

we can dance if you want to

'cause your friends don't dance
and if they don't dance
well, they're no friends of mine

Wow. Well worth the download time...

yuletide

This cute little wreath seems to be making its way around some of the blogs I frequent. So, who am I not to play along? Happy holidaze!!

holiday cheer!

So I get home from work last night and have a whole stack of Christmas cards to open. As I'm opening them I notice that there's an envelope from my insurance company. Even more cheer, I think! Surely it's the reimbursement check for my wheelchair.

Um. No. I go into a fit of panic when I open the letter to find that my claim had been denied. The whole $3009.00 was mine alone. Seems that I didn't get the required "pre-approval." Mind you, the office manager here called to find out what I needed to do. They simply told her to send in the receipts afterward, which I did. They never mentioned any pre-approval other than that phone call.

I think it may work out. The first person she spoke with saw her call in their system. We still have to go through an appeal process. Wish me luck.

show me the, um, whatever

My buddy Colin Powell is now running around saying that Iraq's weapons report constitutes a "material breach" of U.N. Resolution 1441 and that there are "material omissions" in the report.

Okay. Fine and dandy. I'll never support this conflict. Never. But it just seems to me that we're, yet again, being the cowboy. "We're gonna kick yer ass cuz we can and we're entitled to because, well, we're the U.S."

It just seems to me that if there truly is "overwhelming evidence" that Iraq has nasty things in their cupboard then we as a country need to show our hand. I have to believe that we really don't have that evidence. If we did, what would we have to lose if we showed the world? Not a thing. We'd have everything to gain. We could use that evidence to build the coalition that our so-called leaders drool over. Sad. I just think we think we're entitled to do whatever we want, wherever we want.

when the stars align

Nick Hornby, McSweeney's and music criticism? Oh my. This is SO me and I SO deserve to buy myself some holiday yule.

simple pleasures

Who knew that they still made Lincoln Logs? I can't begin to tell you how many hours I spent playing with those as a kid. Now that I think about it, that's kinda sad. I never really liked Legos but I loved my Lincoln Logs. Does that mean I was a stupid kid? I mean, they only have two notches. There ain't a lot you can build with your Lincoln Logs other than, well, log cabins...

joy in repetition

I am the only one who automatically assumes tragedy when a radio station plays songs from the same artist back-to-back-to-back with no interruption? Like it's some sort of tribute?

Mind you this immediate reflex has only been correct once. When I lived in Atlanta I went out to lunch and heard a bunch of Nirvana songs in a row on the radio. It turned out, of course, that Cobain had killed himself.

Imagine my paranoia when WFUV played a bunch of songs from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in a row. What happened? Had Wilco hit a patch of ice and skidded into a giant ravine? No, no. They were just playing every track from the best album of the year. Whew.

the best present ever

My little car is finished!!! Yay! Tomorrow's shaping up to be a great day -

* I get my car back
* I only have to work half a day (we're having our company Christmas lunch)
* The geek boys and I are going to see The Two Towers in the afternoon.

Yay for me!

days of yore

When I was kid I couldn't wait to have another birthday. The fact that it was so close to Christmas actually never worked against me. My parents, sensing that December birthdays could really stink for a kid, always went well out of their way to make sure that mine was celebrated properly.

Now, I never got great gifts. I always received my birthday gifts with a disclaimer. "Now, I know this isn't much but Christmas is just a week away!" I was always fond of pointing out that it wasn't really a week away, it was eight days. The sucky gifts, however, never stopped them from making a big to-do over my birthday.

I think it's always a difficult time for my parents. They remember what it was like all those years ago when I was born. In 1969 no one really knew a whole lot about Spina Bifida. No one knew if I'd live to see my first birthday, let alone my 33rd. They had a lot of fear and uncertainly hurled their way. I know it wasn't easy. They were incredibly brave when some doctors told them that the surgeries that the "new guy" wanted to perform were foolish. Well, that "new guy" is now considered the country's expert on SB. I was his first patient.

So, now, I have another birthday. Another milestone, another year to reflect upon. I don't make a big to-do about it. I leave that for my parents. Instead, I choose to make a big to-do over them.

33

bad luck wind been blowin' at my back
i was born to bring trouble to wherever i'm at
got the number 33 tattooed on my neck
when the ink starts to itch, then the black will turn to red

i was born in the soul of misery
never had me a name
they just gave me the number when i was young

got a long line of heartache, i carry it well
the list of lives i've broken reach from here to hell
bad luck wind been blowin' at my back
i pray you don't look at me, i pray i don't look back

i was born in the soul of misery
never had me a name
they just gave me the number when i was young

i was born in the soul of misery
never had me a name
they just gave me the number when i was young

they just gave me the number when i was young

-danzig/cash/wolf

givin' the peeps what they really want

No more of my ramblings. How 'bout some more singing kitties?

time keeps on slipping

So my parents arrive here a week from today. They're here until Saturday. A bit long but it'll be nice to see them.

Tuesday night they're dragging me to the damn Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Yep. On Christmas Eve. I figured it was better, at least, than having to find a church. Yep. I'm evil.

Anyhow, I have to find a restaurant for dinner. Easy, right? There are literally tens of thousands of restaurants in NYC. Not so fast. I have to find something near Midtown, open Christmas Eve and has vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. I'm having trouble.

So now's the time for all my Tri-State readers to help me out. Anybody have any suggestions?

sound & vision

So the rental car doesn't have a CD player. That's right, the base model Intrepid sells for somewhere close to $22k and has only a cassette deck.

It's okay. We have the best radio station in the country here to keep me company. It also gives me an excuse to pull out the gigantic box of cassettes that I've had in the closet for years. Most of these, as you might imagine, were bought in the mid-eighties and are interesting to re-live.

This weekend's listen was The Alarm - Standards. I dunno. I still like a lot of these songs. "Unsafe Building," "The Stand" and "Rain In The Summertime" are good tunes. However, they just make me want to listen to U2's "War" or "Boy" because, well, they're pretty much cheap knock-offs.

I was completely taken aback, though, when I ejected the tape this morning and had AM radio on. Coming from the speakers of the gigantic, basic boat were the dulcet, whiney tones of Atlanta's own Clark Howard. I had a brief flashback and had to change the dial post haste.

give us dirty laundry

So, despite literal wall-to-wall media coverage, a transit strike has been at least temporarily averted. Last night the newscasters really seemed saddened by the developments. It's like they'd been promised Christmas in the form of this story and then **bam** it was all lost.

The city did spend five million bucks making contingency plans. This weekend there was non-stop coverage of those plans. They were pretty crazy. You were only going to be allowed to cross the river if you had four people in your car. The mayor suggested picking up "urban hitchhikers" if you did have a car. Yellow cabs were going to have to allow, egads, shared rides. The best to me, though, was that the Metro North was erecting a "temporary" station at Yankee Stadium since their tracks go right by it. Umm. Yankee fans have been asking them to put a stop there for, literally, decades.

heigh ho

It's off to finish shopping I go. I never wait this long to finish. I'm always pretty early, thankyouverymuch. I'm blamin' it on the crash but that's probably just a lame excuse.

I'm going into the city because there are several things that I can only get there. I'm expecting the worst as it really looks like there's going to be a transit strike tomorrow and I bet a ton of people will be taking advantage of the fact that the buses and subways are running today.

If worse comes to worst, I'll just get everybody these. Yummy! It could be worse. You could be getting this.

"if you start out depressed everything's kind of a pleasant surprise"

Word to the wise, if you're in a funk - in a sort of depressed, self-loathing mood, "Say Anything..." is probably not the best film to watch to help bolster your spirits. Maybe it's just because I can relate to everything in that film - timeframe, relationship, etc - but it always "gets" me. Always.

After watching the ten different versions of the landmark boom box scene that are on the new DVD, though, I'm convinced that Crowe chose the wrong one. There's a version where Lloyd doesn't hold the boombox over his head. Instead he sits next to it on the hood of the car. I think that not only is it less cheesy, but it's also much more powerful.

what's in the stars?

Patricia provides yet another fun link. This time a list of things that your birth month says about you. Here's mine. Remember, my birthday is next Tuesday. I like gifts...

DECEMBER

•Loyal and generous - Yes. To a fault.

•Patriotic - Uh, no. Not in any conventional sense.

•Active in games and interactions - That makes it sound like I should belong to a bridge club, or something. I like people. Is that close enough?

•Impatient and hasty - Ha! Absolutely.

•Ambitious - Sure.

•Influential in organizations - I don't really belong to any right now. In the past? Sure.

•Fun to be with - Hell yeah. Right? RIGHT?!

•Loves to socialize - Yup.

•Loves praises - As opposed to hating praise?!

•Loves attention - See above...

•Loves to be loved - Is that so wrong?

•Honest and trustworthy - Yes.

•Unpretentious - Sure. Right. I'm unpretentious. Uh. No.

•Short tempered - Has anyone here seen me mad? I mean, really. No.

•Changing personality - What, like multiple personalities? I wish!

•Not egoistic - bwaaaa haaaa

•Takes high pride in oneself - I hate me.

•Hates restrictions - These are dumb.

•Loves to joke - Yup

•Good sense of humor - Isn't that what you just said?

•Logical - But, of course.

a capper

It's 3:15 a.m. The fire alarm is going off in my building. It's shrill, it's ear-piercing, it's apparently false. Or at least that's the impression I got when I opened my door and the firemen just gave me a friendly wave.

where in the world?

Take this quiz, please. There are 20 questions.

How many did you get right? I got 19, Meredith got 18. I was embarrassed by the scores of Americans. Almost 10% can't find us on a map? Wow.

so, where were we?

Here's a whirlwind synopsis of the last few days -

Sunday Spent getting belongings out of my poor little Sebring in case it was totalled. You haven't laughed until you've seen a guy in a wheelchair carrying another wheelchair. Like a bad clown routine. I should take it on the road.

Monday Worked from home in order to get the rental car arranged. "Hand controls" must sound like "Hot Muppet Love" to people because they clearly don't understand what I'm talking about.

I finally track down a car at Enterprise and it's in stock only two blocks from my building. Sweet! I tell the guy that I'm walking down there. I get outside and it's literally 20 degrees. When I get to the Enterprise office there are 1.5 billion steps. The guy I spoke with comes out and tells me "Oops! There's no accessible way in. You can stay here and I'll process your paperwork." He leaves me outside for forty minutes. I'm not exaggerating. I was livid but too numb and frostbit to express it. I get in the gigantic Intrepid and immediately go get coffee.

Tuesday Off to the city. I can't park at the train station because the rental boat doesn't have wheelchair tags. I decide to call a cab. I wait 30 minutes for a cab to take me what I could have walked in 15 minutes. Nice way to start the day.

I pull out my hair at the client's site (Note to John - No offense. You have to agree that those two days were excruciating. Note to everyone else - John is my pal at this client site who also reads the ol' blog) and then go have a splendiferous meal at Candle Cafe which was inhabited, inexplicably, by man wearing a giant peapod suit. It is a vegan restaurant but that, well, was weird.

Got back to Stamford to experience the Running Of The Cabs. Thirty cabs lined up and people literally running off the train to get one. I lost. I walked home.

Wednesday Back to the city. Decide to walk to the station. Much better idea. More pain at John's. Get out to find that it is not only freezing cold outside but it's also raining. I mean, it's just pouring. Pretty miserable. Walk about 10 blocks before I can find a cab. Find the best damn cabbie ever - he's had his Hack License since, get this, 1964. His number is like 00007453. Insane. Oh, and his name is Johnny Smallwood. The twelve year-old in me loved that, too.

Thursday Back in Connecticut. Get police report, work too late, etc...

ciphering

Light tables are good things...

You can read what was blacked out and I've been assured that the reason it was covered was because DWI is a felony and the other charges are misdemeanors. That whole proven innocent crap we hold so dear.

Highlights include...

at 1420 hours subject blew .193

at 1447 his results .180

Sweet geezus! This dude was tanked! That was almost two hours after the accident.

bastards

1. he had no insurance. none. nada. zilch.

2. all the references to dui are crossed out with black marker on the police report.

3. called maria and she didn't call back.

not very pleased...

good news?

Well, I found out today that the car is not totalled. The damage comes out to somewhere around $7600 and the value of the car is somewhere close to $14000. I'm not really sure how I feel about that. The guy at the body shop said that there really isn't any structural damage short of some "sway" at the top of the frame. He says they can repair that quite easily. Other than that, it's all cosmetic.

I guess that's good news. Part of me was looking forward to shopping for a new car, though. Okay, a large part of me was looking forward to that. Oh, well. I can always trade this one in and probably be better off than if it was totalled. No clue how long it'll be in the shop. I'm not expecting it until after Christmas, at least.

Got back home late from the city tonight. Back tomorrow, too. Updates. I know. Soon.

sigh...

Nevermind. I won't even contemplate attending. despicable. They fake everything else in films but the decide to really kill bulls. See below...

El Deseo admits four bulls were killed in the bullring at Aranjuez but insists it had the proper permits to carry out the slaughter.

"We haven't done anything illegal. The bullfight was conducted in the least painful way possible."

Asshole. Let me stick fucking blades in your back until your spine is severed, then. I'll do it in "the least painful way possible." Promise!

talk to me

Will someone please go see the new Almodóvar film "Talk To Her" for me? I really want to see it, I love his work, but there's bullfighting in the trailer and animal rights boy can't go see that if it's a critical plot point. I shouldn't even consider it, but if it's minor I'll go. Flame if you must. I know it's a cultural thing but, damn it, it's barbaric.

I did go see "Far From Heaven" today and liked it muchly. I owe you kids a review of that and of Aimee Mann but, frankly, I'm trying to stay busy and not at the computer today.

when life hands you lemons

so, let me ask you this...

Is there any politically correct way to ask some one out with whom you shared a fairly bad accident? The other girl who was hit, Maria, is so super sweet and obviously loves animals (she had her puppy with her in the car - see my comment below). Those are two major requirements. Also, I already called her once this afternoon to tell her that I gave the insurance company her home number (but not her cell, I'm keepin' that for me) and make sure she made it home okay and, again, she was just too sweet for words.

Whoa. This is just all "wrong." Forget I mentioned it...

my poor baby

more for posterity than anything, here's some pictures of the aftermath. Fuck.

still shaking

my car was hit by a drunk driver at an intersection this afternoon. i'm okay. shaking like crazy now that i'm home. my car's fucked. off to call insurance.

more later but please let me stress two things -

1 - always wear your seatbelt. please. i'd be very hurt right now if i didn't
2 - never, ever, ever get behind the wheel if you've been drinking. really. i could be dead right now.

we're the kids in america

Wow. I'm so out of touch with what the kewl kids listen to these days. It's sorta depressing, I feel like my parents.

That said, I came to this realization by hearing about a band that is apparently packing 'em into the larger club venues around the country, Mindless Self Indulgence. Ever hear of them? You probably all have. I'm behind the times on this stuff these days.

When I was a teen GWAR was about as disgusting as rawk got. However, these fine upstanding folks apparently, um, fling their excrement into the audience and drink their own pee on stage. Now that's entertainment...

cigarettes and red vines

First, let me apologize to anyone that believes that I met M. "through a friend." I know I've told some people that, but probably no one who reads randomness. If I did, I apologize. It was a little white lie because the truth was a bit too geeky for some. I met M. when we both belonged to the Aimee Mann mailing list. God. That really and truly seems like another lifetime.

I went solo tonight to see Aimee at the Beacon Theatre. I never really thought about whether or not it would bring back bad memories. I don't know why, but that possiblity never even entered my mind. Well, it did. Big ugly memories and sadness and anger and resentment and some more sadness for good measure. Plenty to think about on the long walk back to Grand Central. On the 15th it will be one year since I last saw her. It's completely mind-boggling. I can't even begin to form the words to describe how I feel. It creeps in when I least expect it. Certain places, things, sounds, even smells. Afterward for minutes, hours or sometimes even days I'm trapped in thinking about what could have been, what I thought would be.

Of course, it's pretty easy to snap out of by just remembering some of the absurdities and lies. I mean, we're talkin' big epic lies on top of lies.

Wow. Sorry to be so melancholy. Thanks for listening.

Anyhow, the show was great. I got some really, really good pictures, too. Pics on A Day In The Life and a review on Critic later this weekend.

And, no, I didn't see her there. I imagine that she was. I slipped in and out as quickly as I could to minimize the potential.

good one, shecky

Note: Asking me if I have snow tires for my chair is neither funny nor original. I'd imagine that this is true for anyone you see in a wheelchair. Resist the seemingly overwhelming urge. Thank you.

i mean, really...

CNN currently is showing this in a big banner at the top of their page...

BREAKING NEWS Actress Winona Ryder fined, ordered to take drug and psychological counseling, and sentenced to three years probation and 480 hours community service in shoplifting case. Details to come.

Breaking news? C'mon. I mean, really.

all things must pass

Meredith asked me to post my feelings about Tom Glavine joining the Mets. As a former resident of Atlanta, a current resident of the NYC area, a huge baseball fan and a Michigander (as is Glavine) I think I have an interesting perspective.

Believe it or not, I think the Braves made the right decision. Glavine signed with the Mets for three years for $35 million and an incentive option for a fourth year. Glavine will be 37 years old on Opening Day and had a lackluster second-half last year. Even though his first half was excellent, logically all signs point to his better years being behind him.

The Braves initally offered Glavine a two year deal, something that seemed very sensible considering his age. Glavine really wanted a guaranteed third year. He thinks he can pitch into his forties. More power to him. I, like the Braves, would want to see how the next two years pan out and go from there. I'm sure that's what the Braves were telling his agent.

In the end, the Braves reluctantly gave him a third year with portions of that third year deferred. The Mets offered more and gave Glavine the fourth year if he can pitch a plethora of innings in the third year. He thinks he can, he thinks the Mets deal was a better package so he chose the Mets. It's a business. You can't choose with your heart, you have to choose with your head.

It'll be interesting to see how this pans out. The Mets have a distinguished history of bringing in big names late in their careers and watching them flounder. George Foster and David Kingman stunk up the '80s, Mo Vaughn and Jeremy Burnitz continued the tradition last year. As for the Braves, this clears their books to go hard after Greg Maddux. Certainly they won't let him get away now.

Ah, the hot stove league. Gotta love it.

hi. i'm insane.

I think people will actually like that shot of my atrium in the previous entry. I have a few shots from last weekend that I need to get up on the A Day In The Life page, too.

I also have a few odd shots. I like them muchly. However, I don't think anyone will "get" this, this or this. Right? I thought so...

Oh, and this movie of a Bush press conference is a bit "out there..."

lynchian landscapes

This is the scene in the atrium outside my window. The bars are from my little French porch thing. Creepy...

I'm learning how to adjust the exposure on the digital camera with some interesting results. That may be one of my favorite shots thusfar. No flash, just the ambient light from the hallways.

weather update

Well, for the first time in a loooooong time the weather predictions weren't wrong. It's snowin' like a mutha (a phrase I used in my Thanksgiving recap that I really like). We've probably got three inches already and it's supposed to keep it up until like 10:00 tonight.

It's a weird day in the office. I was here until about 7:30 last night showing the bonehead boss the demo that I wrote for him. He and the other boss were driving to South Jersey, the heart of this storm, this morning to show the demo. Well, they made it there but the employees that they were showing it to didn't. Needless to say, they're both pissed but certainly aren't coming back here.

The weather report says that the evening rush hour is going to be nightmarish. I'm a Michigander, I'm used to this stuff, but I hope we leave early. I don't want to deal with the other drivers who aren't used to snow. They haven't had this much snow in Coastal Connecticut in several winters.

the weather outside is frightful

Yikes!!! 5-7 inches of snow tomorrow late morning - late afternoon. Supposed to snow for 12 hours. Luckily I'm in the office tomorrow. I go to the City on Friday.

endless stalking opportunities

I was informed today by a cow orker that one Claire Danes is currently attending Yale. I'm in the the same state as Claire. Think she'd remember me from the Elvis show? Yeah. Me, either.

Oh, and help me solve an debate. Who has had a more successful post MSCL career? Jared Leto or Claire. You probably can guess which side I support.

In another somewhat related discussion... I'm nearly 33 years old and I think I finally have a "type." I, Mike Wolf, like smart and sassy girls.

hot damn

As a public service, y'all can find this page translated for my Georgia friends here courtesy of the Universal Translator.

Note: It does take a bit to load. Cypherin' all them words ain't easy, y'all.

filibust and hesitate you say

filibust and hesitate
you say i procrastinate
and that my heart beats second rate
to one you'll recognize

i know that you are drawn to it
so all I am is counterfeit
it pulls you so you must submit
like ant to honeydew
-Michael Penn

first we take manhattan

In 1994 I was 24 and had just moved to Atlanta. I was feeling a bit like I do now in the NYC area. I didn't really know anyone outside of my cow orkers and was beginning to adjust to my surroundings. I was trying to get out, trying to meet new people. In the end, I made dozens of what I hope are life-long friends. Most of them sure as hell better be reading this blog...

In 1994 Claire Danes was a scant 16 years old and starring in what, in my so-called opinion, is perhaps the best drama ever written for television. Every episode of "My So-Called Life" that year literally moved me. Never had I seen such realistic depictions of the characters that inhabited those hellish years of high school. I was Brian Krakow but I always wanted to be Jordan Catalano. Sure, it ain't the most macho show but, I'm tellin' ya, it's incredibly written and amazingly acted.

Why the parallel? Well, tonight I started watching my shiny new MSCL boxset. It brought back not only a lot of those MHS Class of 1988 feelings but also those Atlanta feelings of six years later. Then I felt desperate, pretty unsure of myself. Now that's not the case.

I need to get my foot out. I need to make NYC what Atlanta was to me. In many, many ways it's a lot more than Atlanta ever could be. However, it's time to make new acquaintances. I'm ready...

speaking for the animals

Say what you will about PETA (and I have at length on my blog and others - sorry :-0), but they do make some damn good advertisements. If you missed the kitty party one last year you should hunt it down. This turkey one is also priceless.

I try not to get on my high-horse over Thanksgiving but it's pretty damn hard. The average turkey in the wild lives about 70 times longer than one raised for consumption. Think about that. The dumbest bird in the world (believe me, they're pretty much all retarded) can live years longer than one in captivity. Also, they're so fattened up for slaughter that they literally can't stand. I mean, do you really think that 22 pound Butterball is natural? Methinks not.

this just in

"How come?" doesn't make any sense as an English construct. Don't use it. It makes me violent.

snap to it

Lots of pictures from the weekend. I'll work with them and put something up on A Day In The Life this week. In the interim, this one of the sky over the Upper West Side and this shot of the Chrysler Building are a couple of my favorites.

ponder

Would I regret it for the rest of my life if I got a tattoo? Part of me really wants one. I don't know what. I don't know where. I just want one.

i just want to be loved...

I can always count on Patricia to track down the groovy quizzes.

I just tried one, the inkblot test. It claims to "reveal your unconscious mind." Hmm. This is disturbingly accurate.

Mike, your unconscious mind is driven most by Love

Though your unconscious mind is driven most strongly by Love, there is much more to who you are at your core.

God. I sound like such an annoying sap, don't I?

reality tv

I had "King of the Hill" on in the background this evening. It was about a dog dancing contest. I thought it was completely absurd. Fact is often stranger than fiction...

unreality tv

A favorite pastime for many New Yorkers is to study and laugh at the homes of Manhattanites on television. They're all huge and the characters couldn't even begin to afford them. Those on "Friends" are particularly absurd. Those on "Seinfeld" were a bit better size-wise but you can't exactly afford to live alone on a mail man's salary.

It turns out the the folks at Sex & The City actually thought this over. The homes of Samantha, Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte are all designed down to the very last detail. I don't know, though. I still think Carrie's pad is more than she could afford. It ain't small by Manhattan standards and it seems to be in the 80's off Madison.

mr. cranky says hurry up

I'm normally a proponent of anything self-serve. Anytime I can be responsible for myself I'm all for it. I love the self check-out at the Stop & Shop, for instance. However, I witnessed a really bad idea this afternoon.

I went to the Angelika to see "Personal Velocity" because, well, it stars Parker. You can find my review on Always the Critic.

I bought some yummy, yummy Twizzlers and a Diet Coke. After I coughed up my $7.50 I was handed my Twizzlers and an empty cup. That's right. I had to fetch my own drink.

On the surface this might seem like a good idea. It's not. All it does is double the wait for refreshments. After you stand in the annoyingly slow line for people to get their popcorn you then have to stand in another line while people figure out what drink they want and contemplate their ice content. It literally turned out to be a twenty-minute ordeal.

Any other theaters out there have this setup?