Never Play Pool With A Telekenetic

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2006-06-30T14:24:00.000-05:00

Planes & Monkeys

2006-03-04T11:45:00.000-05:00

So, haven't posted in a while. Opps, again. My deal to myself was that I'd write daily, and that's so not happening. So, I'll adjust that, and I WILL post atleast once a week.

I just got back in from Florida last night. A week in the sun with about a hundred sales and marketing people, with a bar right across the street from our hotel, and about ten different people with a corporate credit card. I paid for about two of my drinks and one of my meals theentire time I was down there. And I drank A LOT.

This trip marked the first time I'd ever been on a plane (I lead such a sheltered life). Somehow, I managed not to freak out too much, except for the take of and landing out of Portland.

And I hear NIN was postponed. Can't say I'm sorry to hear that, so look forward to going to the show wither everyone whenever it's been rescheduled.

Oh, and there was this...the results made me happy:

Your 2005 Song Is

Feel Good Inc by Gorillaz

"Love forever love is free.
Let's turn forever you and me."

In 2005, you were loving life and feeling no pain.

What Hit Song of 2005 Are You?

Hardcore

2006-01-31T19:17:00.000-05:00

So, I saw this guy on the 7:15am mall bus drinking a Budweiser.

That's what I want to be when I grow up.

And A Month Later...

2006-01-27T12:14:00.000-05:00

I get around to updating. Oops.
I've been a little bit busier lately, betwwen work, and finally going back to school. I've also been posting a bit more on myspace, but I don't think I'll use the blog system there as much.

So, anywho...odd thing happened to me as I was walking home from class the other night. I ended up walking three or four paces behind a young woman. And I think she thought I was following her, and she seemed a bit nervous about it, reaching in her bag, quite possibly for mace. Now I'm not really an intimidating figure, at 5'10" and 140 pounds, but I was wearing a long black overcoat and my hoodie, with the hood up.
I decided the best course of action at that point was to all but run past this girl, get ahead of her and not look back, as I didn't really feel like getting a face full of pepper-y aerosol.

Good Riddance!

2005-12-27T12:34:00.000-05:00

I am soooo much looking forward to raising a glass and thumbing my nose at the backside of '05. '06 looks so much better already.

Cheers!

I've Change My Mind

2005-12-15T12:19:00.000-05:00

That's it. I'm done. One of the things that I've been saying, in light of my last post, is that I actually enjoy Christmas, even as an atheist. Of course, I don't celebrate the whole religous aspect of the holiday, but more the family and friends aspect of it (I know, I know, "What about the rest of the year!?" and all that. I guess I just like the spirit of the whole thing). And even if I didn't celebrate Christmas, I understand that other people do. I would never even concider saying that another's religous observences are bad, evil, harmful, etc (unless they involved, say, human sacrifice).

But I've also been saying that the "war on Christmas" shit was pushing me to the limit. Where's the limit? Oh, its this line, right below here...

----------

See? There it is. Now I'm past it. Why? This. A fucking resolution "Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the symbols and traditions of Christmas should be protected."

Yup. Nothing about a state sponsered religion there at all.

So, I am done. We've taken yet another perfectly nice, innocent idea and turned it into yet another way to polarize the country. I now officially hate Christmas.

Good job all around.

"No, Dad, It's Completely Baked."

2005-12-13T12:17:00.000-05:00

I always forget how much I like The Graduate. I caught the very beginning and very end on cable last night. Quite possibly one of the earliest "banter" style dialog movies (think Clerks or Sports Night) that I can think of. Maybe not exactly the same style, but definitely a precursor. And Simon & Garfunkle all through out.

{***}

And now, the political-
This "War on Christmas" shit has to stop. Now. I'm not talking about the stores that tell their employees to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" or even the schools that aren't having Christmas parties or allowing images of Santa Claus. I'm talking those that are made necessary by having ninety-seven 24-hour news networks: The Pundits.

Now the pundits need to be stopped on every level possible. But this is just getting fucking ridiculous. Are you trying to find every issue that used to be a fun exercise in debate and turn it into a divisive argument that turns the family dinner table into something closer to Australian parliamentary procedure? I mean, for fuck's sake people, I remember seeing advertising when I was a kid that used "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" back in the eighties. This is NOTHING NEW. This is not an attack on you personal beliefs. This does not warrant entire half-hours of analysis on CNN.
What it is, and any right winger who happens upon this blog should see this and celebrate this point, IS PURE, UNADULTERATED CAPITALISM. It's not ignoring the twenty or so percent of your client base that DOESN'T CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS, and may observe ONE OF THE MANY OTHER HOLIDAYS THAT TAKE PLACE IN DECEMBER. From the pure business perspective, if its possible that saying "Happy Holidays" might just bring in more people, YOU FUCKING DO IT. If saying to each and every person that comes into your business "HI. I HAVE A WEASEL IN MY SHORTS" increases business by 5-10%, of course you're gonna do it. You'd be really fucking dumb not to.
And if I'm ever in the physical presence of a Christian who says anything close to something indicating that Christians are being persecuted in this country, or that there's a war on religion in this country, be warned, I WILL HAUL OFF AND DECK YOU. Hard. (Well, OK, as hard as I can. I'm a little guy. But I will make it hurt.) I don't use threats of violence that I mean that often. This one I do. If you can look at our government, and see that something like ninety percent of our elected officials are Christians, and that fifty-one percent of the population would not vote for an atheist for president, and still say the there's a war on religion, and there is a great Christian persecution, then a simple beating wouldn't cure you idiocy. What you, my friend, would need is to be dropped off in a Muslim run dictatorship, with a cross and a Bible, and see persecution first hand.
Realize, instead, that yes, atheists, agnostics, and others with "alternative" beliefs are being a bit more vocal. That is all. A lot of us have just gotten tired of hearing that Atheists can't have morals, aren't "True Americans"(tm), are evil incarnate, are the cause of every problem in this country. That kind of talk has been on the rise for the past five years or so. And you're surprised there's a backlash?
I can only speak for myself, so here it is:
Do I want a ban on religion? No. That would be hypocritical of me. I would like others to respect my beliefs, so I have to respect theirs.
Do I think that the world would be better off without organized religion? Yes, but see above.
What do I want from Theists? Don't try to convert me. Think about how you'd feel if I told you over and over again that you're going to Trenton because you believe in God. You'd be pissed, right? Well, don't do the same to me. If you want to have an actual debate, that's fine. Remember, standard debate rules apply, the burden of proof is on you.
Oh, yeah. I have my morals that I have pieced together from what I have learned in the twenty nine years I've been on this Earth. A lot of them, you'll see, actually match up with yours. But if you going to claim that you're a Christian, or Jewish, or a Buddhist, or whatever, keep in mind that the rules have been pretty much laid out for you. Make sure you actually believe in the dogmas and rules that your flavor of religion holds true. If not, consider using a different term. Or no term at all. JUST BELIEVE HOW YOU WANT TO BELIEVE.

I think that sums it up.

Grrrr...

2005-12-05T12:07:00.000-05:00

Yup. No post for a while again. I've really gotta stop doing that.

Just mostly the fact that there's nothing that I want to write about. Which really isn't a good excuse. I should be writing more. The blog really hasn't forced me to do that. And I still haven't done any creative writing at all. Hmmmm...maybe it was the drugs that kept me writing.

I'm also realizing that I'm getting to how I was before marriage. Craving social interaction. I get so bored on Mondays now, as there's NOTHING going on. Just reruns of Law & Order. That would have done a year ago, not so much now, though. Dammit, there's enough people that I know IRL that must be bored on Mondays. Let's take over bar somewhere. Or something.

On the up side, I did start pricing out vacations in Vegas in March. A mere two grand gets me a week at the Belagio, with airfare. The Belagio would be nice, but maybe outside my price range. Maybe the Luxor? Anyone that's been to Vegas that knows the hotel, any help?

I should also be able to take a class next semester, try to do the whole school thing again. Last class I took was Intro to Sociology. Boring as hell, and at 9am on Saturdays. Needless to say, I dropped it pretty quick. I'm hoping that a computer science class will hold my interest a little it more, and it;s in the evening, so I shoud be a little more awake when I go.

I guess I should start working again. And trying to figure out what to do to keep myself occupied. Else, it's L&O again tonight.

Grrrr....

Gabe & Tycho & Jack

2005-11-08T20:29:00.000-05:00

First, the good:

I added a link to the Child's Play web site. I mentioned this in a post several weeks ago. Child's Play started as Gabe & Tycho's (from Penny Arcade) response to the negative press that gamer's tend to get. The general idea is to buy toys and games for pediatric wards. If you go to the site, you'll see a map of participating hospitals, and each hospital has its own Amazon.com wish list. Again, I'm planning on at least doing something on my own, but I'd really like to see about getting a group together, and doing something fairly substantial. Let me know in the comments if you'd like to join, or have an idea, or anything (maybe talking to one of the clubs in the area and doing a special night or something? Just one thought.)

Second, the funny:

Remember Jack Thompson? Well, it seems that he's recused himself from the Strickland v Sony GTA case. Basically, the Stricklands are suing Sony because their son shot up a police station, killing an officer and a dispatcher. They say their son learned how to do this by playing Grand Theft Auto.
Also, at the same time, Thompson may lose his practicing privileges in Alabama, for possible ethics violations. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean he'll be disbarred, as his license to practice originates out of Florida, but it could be the first step.
There's more here at IGN. Poorly written article, but more info.

Names

2005-11-07T21:23:00.000-05:00

A little pet peeve of mine:

If you're introduced to someone, use the name that they introduced themselves with. Don't use a frigging nick-name, unless they tell you to!

Sorry, just needed to get that off my chest.

Darth Wally

2005-11-05T19:37:00.000-05:00

Goth Ball 2005

2005-10-30T20:10:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post:

I got some neat pictures at the Goth Ball, and also the Big House Halloween party.

Let me know in the posts if you want me to burn a disc for you, and how you want me to get them to you. I don't want to email them because there's a lot of them, and they're pretty big.

But here are a few:

Update:
Chrisjust sent me a link to some Halloween pics here.

The Continuing Saga of Jack Thompson

2005-10-17T20:20:00.000-05:00

"I'm not interested and won't be commenting on the mod. The satirical piece entitled 'A Modest Video Game Proposal' was intended to highlight the patent hypocrisy and recklessness exhibited by the video game industry's willingness to target cops, women, homosexuals, and other groups with some of their violent games. To be fair, though, you can't expect a bunch of gamers to understand the satire if they think that Jonathan Swift, the author of 'A Modest Proposal,' is the name of a new Nike running shoe...

...I will say this though, the 'video game community' (what's next, 'the necromancy community'?) surely seems exercised about someone who is a 'joke' and who is accomplishing nothing. You all seem rather bothered and worried about a nonentity. God is in this battle, and I am privileged to be a foot soldier. You all should be concerned, not about me, but about Him."
--Jack Thompson, in an email to Game Politics.

Yup. The gamers did it. They took Thompson idea and ran with it. A group of modders known as the Fighting Hellfish (I'm not linking, as their server is down, apparently due to high bandwidth usage. I guess that makes sense, they did make the front page of Slashdot.) made a Grand Theft Auto mod, complete with Jack Thompson look alike as the main character.

Alas, Thompson won't pay up. As you can see above, he's trying to pass the idea off as a joke. And that gamers are too stoned to catch his sublime comic genius. And of course, it typical fashion, realizing that he got caught, he uses the opportunity to throw around more insults.

But, have no fear, Gabe and Tycho are here. They've stepped in and donated $10,000 to the Entertainment Software Association Foundation. In Thompson's name. These guys are quickly becoming my heroes.

As a side note, while I was doing research on Thompson, I found that this is the same guy that sued 2 Live Crew for obscenity in the '80s.

Geek Post

2005-10-12T18:23:00.000-05:00

Remember me ranting about that guy Jack Thompson? The guy bent on saving the world from the evils of pixlated people having sex? Well, he's got a new gimmick. He wants to donate $10,000 to charity if anyone will develop his video game idea. His idea, shockingly enough, is copious amounts of violence directed at people in the video game industry.

Here's my proposal to any video game exec out there that might happen to stumble across this blog: Do it. Make some crappy 8 bit shareware rendering of his game, and make Thompson eat his words and keep his end of the bargain.

In short, someone shut him up.

Other than that, Penny Arcade is starting the Child's Play Drive. They raise money to buy video games for children's wings of hospitals. One of my favorite ideas for a charity, and I really want to something for them this year. I'll be at least hitting the Amazon.com list, but if anyone wants to get together and do something bigger, let me know.

Schism

2005-10-05T17:23:00.000-05:00

So, I found this on Fark the other day.

So, this is at we've degraded to. This is what now passes for civilized discourse and debate. We've resorted to calling each other ugly.

The extremes have pulled everyone to the far left and far right. There is no middle any more. The left is picking on Bush for a shirt that doesn't look quite right (while there are plenty of perfectly good reasons to make fun of Bush). The right calls Michael Moore fat (See above).

If you're a Democrat, then you're an arrogant Godless commie bent on killing fetus'. If you're a Republican, then you're an ignorant religious zealot out of touch with the rest of society.

We're now living in a country where being "intellectual" is a bad thing. Where people are trying to force schools to teach faith in science class.

Where we're so concerned about people's feelings, that we punish a Little league team for being better than the rest of the teams in the area. But parents are punishing there 7-year-old kids for dropping a flyball.

We are so divided on every level that we can't have a debate with our families around the dinner table without it breaking out into an all out fight. Politians that may disagree with the president are too afraid to speak out, for fear of being labeled unpatriotic traitors. We've turned personal crisis and national tradgedy into methods of political gain.

The six o'clock news into entertainment, a verbal WWF.

We've separated, polarized, and let the fringe from both sides take over. We've forgotten that there is a middle ground and most people live there.

In short, we've fucked up

Finding Serenity

2005-10-04T16:53:00.000-05:00

So, I mentioned earlier that I saw Serenity on Sunday, and that I actually felt a little sadness after it was over. What it was was that about four hours later, I realized that it will be some time before I get to see more to this story, and, more importantly, before I get to see more of these characters. I had spent the week before preparing for the opening of the movie by watching the entire series,Firefly, in one week. I had never seen an entire episode of the show, but I had heard so much about it, and I was very much sucked into Joss Whedon's previous outings, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel, that I felt pretty safe going out and dropping the money to buy the series on DVD.

I knew how Whedon tended to write, and that he had a knack for writing, even taking unbelievably stupid concepts (Come on, a teenage girl who fights the undead between English finals and dating. Are you high?) and taking them in unexpected directions. And, along the way, getting the viewer not only believe, but also care about the characters.

Firefly was no exception as far as the stupid concept goes (Space outlaws who ride horses? Joss, please, put down the dube). And when Fox aired the show, they did everything they could do to, short of burning the original tapes, to make sure the show didn't succeed. They aired the second episode first. Then preempted for baseball playoff games, so those that did enjoy the show was never sure when it was on. Then, they just decided to drop the show all together, before the entire season had a chance to air.

Then something happened.

Fox released the series (in the right order, with missing episodes) on DVD. The fans found it, and told their friends, and so on. And the DVD sales were, all of a sudden, phenomenal. Enough so that Universal decided to acquire the rights, and green light a movie.

Ya see, what I think happened, was that Whedon took everything he learned about character development from doing Buffy and Angel, and applied it to Firefly, and nailed it. Only speaking for myself, by the end of the second episode, I really wanted to know more about everyone of the characters. And, every episode, Whedon gave a little bit more. And more, and more. He had me more excited about this crew in thirteen episodes then I was about the Scooby's from Buffy.

And then the movie.

The movie played like an extended fourteenth episode. The cast picked up like they had never left the set. (Oh, yeah, in all of my Whedon fanboy-ism, I forgot to mention the actors. They all, every one, nailed Whedon's dialog.) The story picked right up (well, OK, there's a bit of a gap between the series and movie, explained in a three issue comic book series. Anyone know where I can get it?), and is furthered by the movie. By the time the movie ends, more becomes clear about this universe that Whedon has created. And when something horrible happens (I won't say what or when or how or who for those of you who haven't seen the movie) I don't think anyone in the theatre didn't react as if it had happend to their own friend.

So, now I have to wait for more from this storyline. And from all indications, it won't be another incarnation of the series (apparently, Fox's deal with Universal includes a clause saying that it can't be brought back as a series for ten years, and Whedon is against doing more TV for now). So, it'll probably be another movie. Which means a longer development period. More waiting.

But, take your time, Joss. We want it to be good, not quick. And, oh yeah. Let me light that for you.

Adventures In ADD

2005-10-04T11:42:00.000-05:00

So, its been a month since my last post, so just a quick summary:

Serenity: Saw it Sunday, after watching all of Firefly in less then a week. Good stuff. I actually now feel a bit of sadnessm, which will be one of the things that I'll expand on later.

Red Sox: In the playoffs, first game against the ChiSox tonight. Pizza and beer and the game for anyone interested. The end of the season should not have been this close. The Yankees should not be in the playoffs. But hopefully that'll be all of the choking the Sox will do for the rest of the month.

Wireless network: Set up, after swallowing my pride and calling Belkin tech support. Which was actually really good, despite the fact that it was all automated. But, now, I can post updayes while entrenched in the living room, watching the play-offs. So, I got that going for me.

All Else: Eh.

Other than that, expect a rather distracted post later on tonight.

New Digs

2005-09-08T17:51:00.000-05:00

Oh, yeah...I finally have an actual workspace in my appartment.

So Much For Truth In Advertising

2005-09-08T17:34:00.000-05:00

OK, a little bit of Simon Says, but follow along at home for a minute:

Website for a "miracle skin cream"

Newscientist article debunking skin cream website's claims

Skin cream's problem solved!

Amazing, really, that people think this is a good idea.

It Takes A Squirrel

2005-09-04T23:05:00.000-05:00

So, my post yesterday...I don't think I really got my point across as well as I could have. So, here's Foamy.

Yup. That's it.

Oh, yeah...and another thing:

Last month on CNN, right-wing pundit Robert Novack snapped "This is bullshit" and walked off the set in response to former Clinton advisor James Carville's line of questioning. It shouldn't be shocking, that people are complaining about it, but the depth of human stupidity never ceases to amaze.

Katrina

2005-09-03T20:16:00.000-05:00

OK, this is all I have to say on the matter:

A natural disaster of this magnitude is not an opportunity to further any sort of political agenda. So cut it out.

The fact that Fark actually had to have a separate thread for "political" comments regarding the hurricane disturbs me in ways that I can't even describe.

Maybe this would be more productive

Thank you. That is all.

Oh, yeah...

2005-08-22T18:50:00.000-05:00

Some Stuff From Fenway.
Three Wallys.

Press Box.

No New Tale To Tell

2005-08-22T18:33:00.000-05:00

So, what, another two weeks between posts? Awesome. Slacking in ways I never thought possible.

The good news is that I don't have to be anywhere until 8 am, a week from today. Ahhh...vacation.

Also, as of today, I have avoided death for twenty-nine years.

Yup. It's my birthday. Its also Ray Bradbury's, Norman Schwarzkopf's, Carl Yastremski's, Bill Parcells', Cindy Williams' (Shirley, From Lavern And Shirley), Vernon Reed's, Roland Orzabal's (from the band Tears For Fears), and Tori Amos'.

It also happens to be C.S.'s b'day as well. So happy birthday, Sparky.

So, In summation, if you see me out this week, there's about an 85-90 percent chance that I will be drunk.

Ah, alcohol, the cause of and solution to all my problems.

Guitar And Video Games

2005-08-08T11:23:00.000-05:00

So, I think I may need to explain a bit going into this post. First off, this is my first non-personal entry in a while. I keep trying to get away from personal stuff, but then something happens that just needs to go somewhere.

All right, first off, a little needs to be said about Jack Thompson. He is, as you can see on his website, a Miami attorney who seems Hell bent on stringing up any game developer, designer, writer, retailer, player, or really any one who has ever known of any video game that has offended his delicate moral sensibility.

Now, over in my "Comics" links section. See VG Cats? Go there. Now. Read it. All of them. I'll wait.

OK, all set? Good.

Now, Scott, the mind behind VG Cats, took a swipe at Mr Thompson, especially the whole hubbub around the GTA:SA "Hot Coffee" thingy. (Google it. It'll make sense. Unless you already know about it. Then don't. It'll be redundant.)

Email-larity ensues.

Now, if you read those e-mails, or Mr Thompson's own web site, one thing is perfectly clear. Jack Thompson is a raving lunatic.

However, there are still a lot of rational people out there who think that video games are meant for kids, and no adult content should ever enter into these games. And that's the problem. A lot of games aren't meant for kids.

Now, I know to a lot of you reading this, that is painfully obvious. But keep following me.

For some reason, the vast majority of people over, say, forty-five, see a video game, and think, "for kids". Same with anything that's animated. When I worked in a movie theater, there were soooo many parents who would show up with their seven-year-old and want to see the South Park movie. The staff would look at them as if they were insane. The parents would invariably respond "But, it's a cartoon!"

Yup, it is. And video games did start off as mainly as kid-stuff. But those kids who played video games in the beginning, are now the ones making the video games. And guess what? THEY'RE GROWN UP!!!

I guess my entire point is that I actually like the ESRB, the group that gives video games ratings. They do a decent job of saying, "This game is appropriate for teens, but not little kids, and here's why." They actually list why a title might be considered objectionable right on the box. And if Rock Star games pot the "Hot Coffee" bit into GTA as a "Ha ha, look what we got away with", they should be held accountable for that, even though someone would find the bit by "accidentally" modding their Playstation, downloading the hack needed, while standing on their head whistling the "Star Spangled Banner", which is what you need to do to see computer animated people getting it on.

But more than likely, RS had the code for that scene in a pre release version of the game, and forgot to take it out. Or hid it because it was easier than taking it out.

And parents need to get past the idea of video games being kids stuff, and actually looking at what they're buying their kids.

And I think all of us gamers need to e-mail Jack Thompson, and let him know that all gamers aren't stoned idiots, and we can put forth our arguments with out resorting to threats, name calling, or generally sounding like morons.

And if he threatens you with a law suit, point out the fact that he has a link to his e-mail address on his web page.

Oh, yeah. There's no guitar in this post, the title is a Sunny Day Real Estate reference.

Sick Of Myself

2005-08-01T18:50:00.000-05:00

Ah, crap. No post in a long time. Again.

I guess I just suck.

So, here's the deal: I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing (writing, if you haven't figured that out yet). But so far, I've only been mocked twice. Ah, well, such is life.

So, anyhow, most of you know this story already, but here it is again.

A few Saturdays ago, I ran into a girl that I dated very briefly in high school. She decided to break up with me by ditching me at the Elvis Room (dating myself a bit there, I know).

Well, we went out for a movie the following week, and a drink after. Sat down at the bar, and just happened to pick the seats right next to another ex girlfriend of mine, who I'm still very attracted to. Amazing.

I did manage to ignore any awkwardness this may have caused, by doing the best thing possible, in my eyes: completely ignored it.

So anyhow, a week later, the first girl calls me, and we decide to meet at the Better Then Ezra show that night on Monument Square. About fifteen minutes into the show, she says, "Hey, I've got to go find a restroom, I'll be right back". An then proceeds to not show back up.

So, before it dawns on me that I've been ditched, I'm wandering around looking for her. That's when the highlight of the evening occurs.

Ya ready:

A fucking bird shits on my head.

Yup.

Now, I really wasn't expecting, really, anything to happen with this girl. I was looking at it as sort of "practice dating". I now realize that I need a hell of a lot more practice.

I also didn't manage to go to Foxwoods this weekend to play poker, as the Maine DMV seems to be caught in some sort of temporal anomaly. No new state ID, not chancing bussing to Connetcutt only to be told that I can't play.

Ah well.

Sorry that the first time I've posted in two weeks (three?) is just me whining, but hey, why the hell else do blogs exist?

A few good things:

I do get to go down to Fenway this season, something I haven't done since the third grade. And my computer is up and running. And like I said before, It rocks. It's great having firefox, and word open at the same time and not having everything slow to a crawl.

And I have tomorrow of, so I get to go out to spooky night, and not have to worry about the effects tomorrow.

And I have to bags of my mom's spaghetti sauce in my fridge, defrosting as we speak. That almost always makes everything better.

I'm Trying. I Really Am.

2005-07-18T11:11:00.000-05:00

OK, so maybe I'm not. I do have an excuse this time.

My computer is in pieces.

Or a piece. One big non-working piece.

I ordered a new machine online a few weeks ago, figured I'd use the Harddrives and optical drives from my old system. New Athalon 2900+, a gig of RAM, new case. Its dead sexy.

It just won't turn on.

So, I'm waiting for a new mother board, and UPS is taking their sweet time delivering it. Apparently, its been en route from Chalmsford, MA, for about 72 hours.

I think they're shipping by donkey.

Oh well.

So, here's the good news (I figure six months into this, I should have some good news). It looks like I'll be going on a date in the next few days.

Four years is a long time not to have been on a date, so I think I'll be a little out of practice. I forgot even the basic part. I forgot how to call a girl.

Again, I hadn't done that in four years, so, I forgot what to do. But I pushed through, over came adversity, or not, and ended up with a date some time in the next few days.

OK, so I guess, that's more like a plan for a date. Hmmm...Sounds less exciting that way.

And then there's the poker. I've been really enjoying the regular Friday night games I've been playing, but I'm really looking forward to a trip to Foxwoods with D8 and Dave in a few weeks, to see how people really play poker.

No offence to any one who reads this and plays in the Friday games. I just think It'll be weird to actually see people raise substantially before the flop. See how good my nerves really are, calling a bet that's a good chunk of my stack, knowing only that I have king-ten off-suit. Or raising triple the blind with JTs.

So, I think just between those two events, I should have plenty to write about over the next few weeks. So I will, as long as my damn motherboard gets here before I have to upgrade my system again.

One Week

2005-06-20T11:22:00.000-05:00

So, I've gone and gotten myself all depressed. Looking at the calendar, realizing that stuff happens, or should be happening this week.
Yesterday, of course, was Father's Day. Saturday is my father's birthday. Unfortunately, I lost my father to cancer when I was in high school.

For the past few years, there has been a good day in the middle of all this.

But that would be my anniversary, which is tomorrow.

Not much help there.

I'm usually not too effected by these types of marks on the calendar, but these just seemed to be lumped too close together. And its really knocking me for a loop.

But it should just be for a week.

Then I'll be my normal, cheery self.

Hurray.

This is just too funny

2005-06-15T22:49:00.000-05:00

Curt Schilling Is A Geek!

I found this just seconds after my previous post, so there it is.

Attitude

2005-06-15T22:09:00.000-05:00

So, I mentioned that I went to see VNV Nation in Boston on Sunday. I did want to say a few words about that, and like I said, these words needed their own space. I'm not gonna give an overview, because you can read many thoughts about the show on many of the blogs I've linked to, or those blogs link to.

I'm gonna be cheesy and say that I had a bit more of an altering experience at the show.

Now, when I decided to go to the show, I really didn't know anything about the band. I had heard some of their stuff, and honestly, it made so little of an impression that I couldn't pick any of it out of a line up. Second, I, for the most part, hate electronic music. My taste in music tends to run more in the R.E.M. vain. (Also, a lot of Britpop/shoegazer type stuff, but you get the idea.) I figure I'd go, be social, get the fuck out of Portland, look at some cute goth girls, etc, etc...

When we actually got to the show, yup, there were the goth girls...part one down. The the opening act came on. It was indeed everything I hate about electronic music. One guy, standing on stage, jumping around like a moron, playing with a computer and a mixing board. The only other time I saw an act like that, it was Aphex Twin, and I walked out of the show. Yeah, he was good at what he did, but it was boring as fuck to watch, or even listen to. Dear god, some one please tell me I'm not in for three hours of this.

Thankfully, that guy got off stage pretty quickly, and the second band, imperative Reaction (?) started. Yeah, they were all electronic, but the played as a band, with the electronic kit set up. And they sounded good. O.K. I can deal with this. And there are still girls around...

Then VNV started. And about three songs into their set, I realized that A, I found a new (to me) band exciting and enjoyable and b, I was where I needed to be, at that exact moment, and in life in general. And this huge grin crept across my face. And I was truly happy, right then and there.

I know I keep bludgeoning the deceased equine, my life took a huge one-eighty two months ago, and I did hit a low. And I could have kept going down. And I almost did. But where I am is where I need to be. And now I close the book on that subject, but leave a bookmark there, because the experience is now indelibly part of who I am, and will shape a lot of me from here on out, and I can't entirely ignore it.

And, if anybody in the VNV Nation camp happens upon this blog, thank you. You got me excited about music for the first time in about five years. That means a lot to me.

Whoops...

2005-06-14T21:31:00.000-05:00

I noticed that I haven't posted in a while. And I should have. There's been a fair amount of things that have happened over the past two weekends that are fairly noteworthy (at least to me. Your mileage may vary).
Paradoxically, these things have either left me no time, too drained, or both, to do any sort of meaningful post. So here I go now. Quick one before bed:

Last Friday, ended up at Amigo's. Don't know why, really. Just no one else was around that wanted to go drinking, and had no money to leave Portland. Oh well. I did happen to run into my ex-wife, which I was kinda at the time not wanting to. Not that I am trying to avoid, but it just threw my balance off a little.
So, had my customary two beers, and wandered off down Wharf St. Figured there are lots of bars in Portland that I never go into, and it was high time I reminded myself why. And it just so happened that as I reached the top of the street, an ex-girlfriend of mine was standing there, waiting to go into the Penguin, or Iguana, or one of those places. (Just realizing now that Wharf St. may be the only place an Iguana and a Penguin can exist just a few doors down from each other. Huh.) So I end up bar hopping with her, ran into a girl she knew from high school, and I knew from Zootz (yup) and more barhopping ensued. Got very shitty, embarrassed myself to some extent (Really don't know how badly, not that I blacked out. Just that all my behavior seemed reasonable at the time.) Met the ex-gf's new boyfriend (shucks). Thrown in a car, and taken home. Ran past roommate, puked and passed out.

Good Times.

Saturday was the Carnivore Party. Good time had by all. Record turn out from what I understand. Won't go into too much detail here, cause if you're reading this, you probably were there, and if you weren't, try to do better next time. That, and nothing to eventful happened directly to me, so there. (Although, I am pissed that I missed the body shots. I always leave just before the real fun happens.)

Sunday was the Old Port Festival. Again no big deal, nothing eventful, just much gluttony. Then Kris, Dan and I want to the Old Country Buffet. If there was a Palace of American Excess, OCB would be it. (I think over the course of the weekend, I ate twice my body weight.)

Monday, of course was spooky night. At this point, I'm now feeling everything that's happened over the past, well, four days. But, being the social creature that I am, I can't stay away from the potential mass gathering. I did manage to find my ba...um, nerve, and actually talked to the girl I may or may not have referred to in an earlier post. I'll just say, it was encouraging. Yup.

Fast Forward...
Thursday, I got divorced. Officially. Done and over. Again, I've said it before, here and in Real Life(tm), it's good. It needed to happen. But, wow. What a way to start a Thursday.

So, now to this past weekend.

Saturday was the usual suspects. More drinking. And Denny's! I had not been to Denny's in about four years. I had no idea the wonders of the Mini-Burger. Thanks, Chase for introducing me to that culinary marvel. (Of course, I was drunk, so, I may have remember them being better then they actually are. Most things are like that.)

Sunday. Finally got out of Portland, at least for a few hours. Went to Boston to see VNV Nation. I'll write about that later, as that needs a separate post. I'll just say, though, wow. That was exactly what I needed.

Sorry for the long rambling recap. Especially cause, like I said earlier, if you're reading this, you probably know all this all ready. But, this is for me, not you, so deal. (Wow, hostile all of a sudden.)

Yup.

Yet I Can't Seem To Break Out

2005-06-05T10:58:00.000-05:00

I am a Breakout Bat.

I am an abstract sort of creature, who dislikes any sort of restraint. If you try to pigeonhole me, I'll break the box, and come back for more. I don't have any particular ambitions, I just drift, but I am adept at keeping life going along. What Video Game Character Are You?

Thanks, Baron_, for pointing this out.

Out Of Practice

2005-06-03T10:51:00.000-05:00

So, it seems that I've forgotten how to flirt. Not tat I was ever really good at it, but after four years of not having to do it, I'm even rustier. I can't quite tell the difference between the "Hey, your kinda cute" smile, and the nervous "Why does he keep staring at me" smile.

Not that I need to hurry. Or not that I even should hurry. Take a break, relax. Let the bitterness subside.

The weird thing is that while I was still married (OK, so, I'm still technically married, but look at how well that's working for me) I notice girls looking at me more often. I truly was a case of you notice it more when you're unavailable kind of thing. I'm still in the mind-set of I shouldn't be looking, really shouldn't be flirting, and then I realize that, oh yeah, I can now. It is fun, but scary at the same time. The agorophobia thing again.

On the flip side, because of fun with bank accounts, direct deposit systems, holidays, and the USPS, I didn't get my paycheck in time enough to have the money to go away this weekend. Dammit. I'm still restless, and need to get out of Portland for a while, and soon. Need to do other things for a while. Be somewhere where there's something going on more than two or three times a week. Bah. Over compensating for the four years that I wasn't social.

But this weekend at least looks promising as far as stuff to do in Portland. Lots of places and events to get drunk at.

And girls to smile at.

A, S-S, H-O, L-E

2005-06-01T10:51:00.000-05:00

Yup. So I was an asshole Monday night. Grade A, First Class, USDA Choice Ashley.

But it was fun.

Setting the scene, for those of you who were not around, or didn't hear the story:

A few of us were out having a smoke outside the club the other night. A few guys come up and ask what kind of club it is. I could actually see De8 take in a breath to say some thing along the lines of "Well, normally, it is a gay club, but tonight they have a goth/industrial night" or something along those lines. However a certain jackass has to respond "It's a gay club. Want me to suck your dick."

Brilliant.

One other guys starts flipping out, basically saying, in a much more aggressive tone than I can capture here, "How dare you ask me to suck your dick".

Of course, being drunk, I had to correct him, reminding him that the jackass had actually asked if the redneck wanted his dick sucked.

Also brilliant.

The guy flips out some more, and we manage to get him calmed down to the point where he'll actually leave. (Realizing in retrospect that D8 had more tact than me at that point. I think that's one of the earlier signs of the apocalypse.)

So, flash forward to the end of the night, and many stories about the jackass (the one that was actually in the club) being, well, a jackass.

Jackass was talking to the same person I was talking to, and something came up about something, and I chime in "Tact, you need to learn a little bit of tact." (Irony defined?) So jackass goes off about not changing who he is, not holding back comments, etc, etc.
Fine, I say, that's all well and good, but keep in mind that other people around you may not want to deal with the fall out. "Well, Wally", he says, "This is a bar, not the Christian Science Reading Room."
"Yep, you're right. And the point of us being here is to have fun."

Then he tried to make it a point about the gentrification of Portland, saying I don't know the real Portland, because I grew up in North Deering (Actually, I grew up in East Deering, but whatever), etc, etc...

Yup, that's it. Your being a jackass is absolved because people from out of state are moving to Maine.

I've always disliked this person. A LOT. Now it would be a full fledged hatred. There aren't too many people that I even really dislike. I think there are about two others. And I can't even think of them right now.

But now, I say FUCK, you jackass. Eat a rock, piss off. I wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire, and would piss on you if you weren't on fire.

To everyone else that may have been involved, I say, "Sorry about that."

But it was fun for a while.

A Little Disappeared

2005-05-31T11:12:00.000-05:00

Bored. Restless. I think I'm gonna get gone this weekend. But the question is, where?

Thing is, do I not want to be in Portland more than I want to be at Carnivore's? Decisions, decisions.

I may just go down to Boston for a night. I don't think I'll go for a full weekend unless I can just GO. But I am trying to create that opportunity.

Anyone want to go with?

-----------------------------------------------------------
Update: Boston, it is.

Keeping The Faith

2005-05-26T10:50:00.000-05:00

Not too long ago, just as the whole divorce thing was happening, on of the advices I recieved was along the lines of "Its a lot easier if you have faith in Jesus". Now, I don't want to say at all that this person who said this to me hasn't been helpful to me in other ways, or that the whole "get saved" message was the bulk of her advice to me. It's just that I've never quite understood the "put your faith in Jesus" thing. Maybe its just the athiest in me. But even if I was religious, I'd think having faith in youself would be more importaint.

And the usuall responce to that? "Well, there are just some things that are to big for you to handle on your own."

And I guess that's true. But isn't that when your faith in your family and friends comes in?

I just can't see putting faith that a mostly unknown entity wil be able to help you out, when the people that know, like and respect you are right there. People that are able to actually help, whether that's giving you a place to crash, helping out financially when they can, or just listening to you ramble on, and sometimes giving you there input.

I guess also, that this goes against alot of the arguments that I've had with D8 about twelve-step groups. I have seen them work for people that are very close to me, and did attend many meatings growing up (Ah, if they could see me now). But, it is true that one of the steps that is required is admitting that there is a "higher-power". Almost saying that "It's not my fault, God handed me the bottle opener". I gues that boils down to, hey if it keeps you from drinking, more power to ya.

But, I am looking for help here. Anyone of the spiritual persuation care to give me some insight? Why does it seem that persons of faith seem to place more stock in faith in Jesus than in themselves, of their loved ones? How about the people that actually read this? Have you had similar questions/conversations?

Just so its clear: I'm not talking down to any one, I truly want to know. And No attempts at conversion, I know where my faith lies, and it's happy there.

INXS-ive

2005-05-25T11:28:00.000-05:00

So, INXS is looking for a new lead singer. And the forum being used? Reality television, of course.

One Bad Apple

2005-05-22T21:00:00.000-05:00

That's what I need to learn how to do sometimes. Less in Real Life than in the anonymous wasteland that is the internet. Ya see, I have this irrational need, it seems, to mock people for certain trivial things. Especially things they may own. SUVs are a great example of this. If I know someone (or sometimes, even if I don't) who buys an SUV, just as a commuter vehicle, I will berate them. "Why?", I ask, "why would you spend twice as much on an SUV as you would on a comparably equipped sedan, and then pay twice as much to fill the fucker up twice as often? Are you going off road? Are you hauling shit? No? Then you have no fucking need for something that big."

I like to think that the SUV mocking is me caring a little bit about the environment, rising price of gas, other people's safety.

But no. I just hate the fucking things.

Sometimes, or more often than not, my object of ire is so trivial, so pointless, that I come across more of a raving lunatic. "Why do you care about THAT?" people say. "Why do you give a rat's ass about anything having to do with that?"

And I have to answer, in all honesty, I don't know.

And where the hell is this all coming from, you ask?

The iPod.

Yep. That little playing-card-deck size lump of plastic and silicon. I see one, hear someone talk about one, and I immediately must insert my foot into my mouth. Like I did here.

But I can't help it. I hate them. Not that I have anything against mp3 players in general. In fact I do own one. I purchased a Creative Labs Zen Touch at the end of last year. I love it. Don't know how I managed without it. And it makes me even more pissed about the iPod.

So, because this is my space, here are my arguments against the iPod. It really breaks down to two things:

Price
My Zen ran me about two and a quarter on Amazon. No granted, it was on sale, and they usually run about two-fifty. An Ipod (from here on out I will not use aPple's stupid capitalization) with the same size hard drive is (or was at the time) about three hundred. Hmmm...

Flexibility
If you buy an Ipod, you're locked into Itunes. Both as a vender (if you purchase music legally) and as the software to run it. With my Zen, I can choose from many, MANY vendors, and almost as many pieces of software to manage my music. And most of the places that I can go to have less DRM restrictions than Itunes.

Now, here's the kicker. Those two issues feed into each other. It's the snake eating its own tail. And Apple has been doing this for a long time with their computers, too. If you want to run the MacOS, you have to buy a Mac. And they set the price. If you want to run Windows, you have probably thousands of different places to go to, many different brands of PCs, or you can build your own. And the competition keeps the price down. On the other side of the coin, if you want to buy a Mac, you have to run MacOS, or fuck around with it to get another OS on there. If I decide tomorrow that I want to run, say, Linux on my PC, I just reformat my drive, and install Linux. Done. So you may say "Well, PCs suck cuz Windows sucks, and Bill Gates is evil", but remember, I'm running Windows by choice.

Even better than all that, lets say I want a new video card. I can walk into Best Buy, point to a card, and say, "I'll have that one." Done. I don't have to check if it's "Windows compatible" (Unless it's made by Apple). Then I install it. Yes, yes, with a Mac, when you plug something in it just works.

As long as its Mac compatible. If it's not, then it just doesn't work.

Well, this was meant to be an apology for those I may have miffed by my unthought out comment. But its not. I will apologize to Psichron for starting a mini-flame war on his blog. But not my hatred for the Ipod.

"Ton Of Bricks For A Wally Fenderson?"

2005-05-17T11:02:00.000-05:00

So, I guess it just may be the reality of the situation at hand, but I seem to have more moments of "Holy shit this is really happening. What the hell am I going to do?" I'm still, for the most part, happy. But every now and then something will hit me in just the wrong way. A song, phrase, thought. A whole list of things, really. It does make me realize that I'm not going to get over this quickly. And I need to accept that that's just fine. I can't force myself to be normal in eight weeks. It just ain't gonna happen. And if I do try to force it, I'll be even more screwed up an the other side. And that just won't be good for anyone.

But I will be getting a roommate at the end of the week, I hope. He's agreed to move in, its just a matter of when. That will take care of the whole "empty-rooms" problem I've been having. Along with the "I-Only-Have-One-Set-Of-Silverware-That-I-Borrowed-From-Downstairs" problem.

So, in conclusion, denial is not the way to go, I have been through a complete uprooting, and that's gonna fuck me up for a while. But at least I don't need to buy a new vacuum.

Drunken Ramblings

2005-05-15T00:51:00.000-05:00

So, I didn't do a full post yesterday. Commence mockings.

Fuck, I'm in for it now. You fuckers are relentless. Not so much here, but in "real life". Bunch of swine.

So, yes. I am a bit drunk. Looking around for other stuf to drink. But I know there's nothing here. Fuck, I barely have any food in the house. The damn cat has more to eat than I do.

Lucky for you I'm drunk. The best stuff comes out when you have a bit of the ol' "liquid courage" running through your system. A drunk man's off the cuff remark is the sober man's secret. Or something like that.

Horny as fuck. I think that has a lot to do with the fact that I know there's noone here when I get home. Anti-Placibo effect. Knowing that you're down to one last smoke, but you don't want to get your ass out to get more. You want that last smoke that much more. I guess I'll have to settle for late night internet porn. God bless Al Gore for inventing the internet.

Quick One

2005-05-13T11:02:00.000-05:00

So, based on yesterdays diatribe, imagine how suprised I was to see this in the funnies this morning.

Great, now I'm thinking along the lines of Gary Trudeau.

And for those that will be mocking me, no this doesn't count. I'll post a longer rant later in the day.

Counter Coulter

2005-05-12T15:02:00.000-05:00

Its all the Hippies' fault.

There. I've said it.

But, really, think about it. What age group is in power right now? That would be the "Boomers". They who's formative years were right in the middle of the height of Hippie-dom. The Hippies. The ones who were supposed to bring down the system. Destroy the status quo. Rise up. Take over. Peace and love and fuck-all else.

Look where it got us.

forty years later, and we're a lot worse off. Yeah, the sixties had Viet Nam. And we have the Gulf War, Part II. But the level of jingoism surrounding the current skirmish has increased exponentially. You're either with us, or against us.

And again, lest you forget, The demographic with the most power right now is the Boomers. The Hippies. The ones who said "Down with the institutions: government, schools, business, church."

Guess what. This is God's Country, folks.

We're going to legislate morality, beliefs, make our education system as restrictive and creatively stifling as possible. Rights of the multinationals above its workers.

A full one-eighty.

I read a quote somewhere that basically said over the course of twenty years, a liberal will become a conservative without changing a single opinion. But this is overkill.

Its as if our parents, aunts, uncles, et al, decided at some point "Hey, everything we believed was wrong, and we better not let our kids make the same mistakes we did. But, damn, we sure had fun, didn't we?"

And they've ruined it for the next generation. Look around. What counter cultures do you see with any sort of societal, political, or moral impact? Think about it.

Take your time.

I'll wait.

The closest our generation has come to the Hippies is, arguably, the Ravers. But they discovered E. And lets face it: E isn't really conducive of intellectual debate. So, the ravers quickly became Hippies with glow-sticks and less fashion sense.

And now, any other potential subcultures are quickly marginalized, as the ex-hippies know the power they could wield if allowed to reach critical mass.

And the generation behind us is being numbed into submission. That may just be me getting old, but I'm not optimistic about an entire demographic that think that Eminem and Jackass are high art. Watching as those in power use the word "intellectual" as an insult. Being taught that what's on the standardized test is important, and critical thinking isn't. Don't think, just do.

If you think, the terrorists win.

I'd always been bugged by the idea of the hippie. I had no idea why, however. I wrote it off to not being there, being too young, and only being exposed to the neo-hippie (all the aesthetics of the original, none of the ideology). But it just hit me the other day: At this point, we should be living in the Hippie Utopia. If this is it, they were (and are) the biggest group of hypocrites in modern history. If not, shame on them for wasting all of that momentum, idealism, and optimism.

Either way, you've all fucked up.

Get out of the way.

Its our turn.

Deep Slacker Jazz

2005-05-08T21:21:00.000-05:00

The last new band I remember getting really excited about was the Fountains Of Wayne when they released their first album in, oh, 96 or 97. Oh, and the Sheila Divine in 98-99. But other than that, there hasn't really been a new band that has really caught my attention. I must just be getting old.

That being said, I haven't stopped listening to the new Doughty album, Haughty Melodic since my co-worker Rob burned it for me. Really fucking good. For those of you that I haven't extolled the virtues of M Doughty to, and don't know who he is, Doughty was the lead singer for the now-defunct Soul Coughing. When I heard him drone the line "He flicks an ash like a wild, loose coma" on SC's first album Ruby Vroom, I knew that I had found my first major influence in my own writing. (I would love to say that Douglas Adams has that honor. However, I cannot, for the life of me, write even basic dialog. Let alone what DA was able to do. It might be that I'm just not British.)
Enough tangent. The new Doughty album is a lot more sing-songy than anything he did with SC. Its his first solo album with a full backing band, and it does make the whole piece feel more Singer-Songwriter. A style that I usually avoid like the plague, with the possible exceptions of Michael Penn and Aimee Mann. But on this album, it just seems to work. And like his first solo album Skittish, I find more to like about it with every listen.
It might just be enough to get me excited about music again.

In a completely unrelated note, I may have a roommate here soon. I think I'll find out tomorrow. It'd be good. Save some money. Have some company.

And to quote Pete Abrhams, that's it. I'm going back to bed.

<./marriage>

2005-05-03T21:15:00.000-05:00

So, it's done. All but the actual part of a judge saying "You're no longer married. Congratultions, you're a statistic". And I do have to say that it was a lot easier than I would have thought to seperate my life from someone who I shared it with for four years. We pretty much spent a total of ten hours together, in our old apartment saying "Hey, do you want the microwave? Can I take that set of towels your aunt gave us?" and I think both of us wanting to yell "Can we just get this over with".

We did talk. We do miss each other. The comfort of getting home, sacking out on the couch, watching the news, and going to bed. But we also realized, we were content. We weren't happy. Huge difference. But it will take a lot longer to seperate that part of my life from her.

Happier? Absolutely. Content? Not so much. I think that's a Good Thing. I'm happy just taking some time to my self. I'm now comfortable enough to spend the evening alone, watch bad movies, eat dinner, write...what ever.

I've mentioned before that I have been writing as much as I should be. That needs to change. And looking at the last update here, I'm not off to a good start. So, I'm taking a couple of weeks to get my shit straight in my head, relax, get my shit straight in my apartment, do the dumb things I gotta do, touch the puppet head. Then I start beating myself up. Daily. Every day. Something. I think it will usually be here (I'm kinda an exhibitionist when it comes to my writing). Expect a lot of crap.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

I've also lost a lot socially. I guess it make sense. I haven't been going out with my friends for three years. But it seems I used to know everybody, and they all knew me. If I wasn't "Wally" to them, at least I was "The Coat Check Guy" or "The Gut Who Had A Staring Contest On TV" or something. I miss that. My ego needs that (I think its the whole Leo thing). So I'm working on that as well. Easier task. It just means I go out more. Socialize. Again, expect a lot of crap.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Getting Back Into Rhythm

2005-04-23T18:44:00.000-05:00

Not into what most people would concider a normal routine, but definately feel better about a lot of things. But I do have work to do on myself. My big thing is that I haven't been writing anything. For years. Nothing. That's bad.
So, here is my resolution. By the end of the summer, I am going to write enough stuff to start putting it to music. I want to have an albus worth of material by the end of fall. Then work on the whole, "oh yeah, I don't know how to write music, play music, or anything along those lines" aspect of my plans.

But I'll have the words.
And that's the important part.

Random Connections

2005-04-19T12:11:00.000-05:00

I had a lot of dreams last night that had to do with bacon and sex. My mind is just doing random shit to me. I've started having nightmares, as well. I don't have nightmares all that often, but the past two weeks they've been more frequent. I haven't woken up screaming yet, but pretty damn close.

In other news, it seems that there's a new Pope. And its not any one who read D8's post.

Lot O' Space

2005-04-13T19:04:00.000-05:00

So, now that I've moved in to my new place, and don't have all my stuff, my apartment is REALLY empty. I've now got a huge two bedroom place all to myself, but i have nothing to put in it. So I'm only using one room out of five. I figure I'll fill up the place as time goes on, but for now its empty. The cat loves it...he can tear around the place at will.
I do get to hold off and be pretty damn selective about who I let move in with me, though. Its a great feeling not to have to rush to find a roommate, and when you finally do, they turn out to be a psycho-bastard. I've already done that.

But I feel good. I'm calm. I think this should be fun. Just as soon as I get enough nerve to relax.

-Wally

All My Friends Who Rock, Rock

2005-04-12T16:17:00.000-05:00

So, as most of you who know me personally know, the past two weeks have been kinda interesting to say the least. You see, my wife and have decided to part ways. Its something thats been kind of creeping up for a while, but it just came to a head last weekend.
So, I'm gonna use this entry to thank everyone that I can think of that has helped my get through to this point with all my body parts intact.
De8 & Inge, and Brant, thanks for use of the couch and your home, and for letting me be your new wacky nieghbor, Conrad & Suzy, for helping me get some of my shit up here, my Mom & Tom, Matt Todd, Psichron for almost becoming Psi-Corn just now, Aaron and Robyn, Bill, Jill & Bugle, Tallon, C.S., Merrie, AZ & Lisa,and my coworkers, Rob, Ray, Kathy , Jeff And Paul, thanks for granting me some leeway these past weeks.
De8 said to me the other night that I've been a rock dealing with this. In all honesty, I haven't. It's been everyone on this list (and many more that I forgot that I'll be adding on as I remember them) that's been the rocks. And all of you do rock.

On the same topic, but different: In a way, honestly, I'm kind of breathing a sigh of relief. I'm realizing that the whole world is still in front of me. But, unfortunatly, I'm realizing at the same time that I'm agorophobic. It'll take some time, but I'll get over that.

Well, on to the next adventure...

What The Fuck Is Going On In Florida??

2005-04-06T17:21:00.000-05:00

So, how would you feel if you wrote a letter to the editor critizising a local official, only to have a response show up, in your mail, accusing you of slander? It happened, of course, in Florida. A local sherrif in Orange County responded, rather nastily, to Alice Gawronski's letter printed in the Orlando Sentinal. Gawronski was critical of the excessive use of tazers by the police. Ya see, an Orlando police office Tazered a suspect, who was handcuffed to a hospital bed to obtain a urine sample. Now, I know some people pay good money for that, but when the cops electricute a restrained person to get them to piss their pants, I think there's cause for concern. And the police responded. And rather amazingly, I might add. Sheriff Kevin Beary allowed himself to be shot with a Tazer during a press conference (and, yes, there's video of that in the link).
This is where Gawronski stepped in. After seeing the press conference, she wrote to the Sentinal. She said that Beary was "in obvious distress" and that should be argument enough against the Tazers. She also stated that Beary looked so overweight and out of shape that she doubted he could catch a suspect without the aid of a Tazer.
Beary didn't like that. So he did what any responsible member of the police force would do. He looked up Gawronski's DMV records. And the he sent Gawronski a nasty letter accusing her multiple times of slander.
If that's not police intimidation, I don't know what is.
However, Orange County Shariffs Officials are saying that Beary did nothing illegal. They say that responding to Gawronski's concerns are part of his job.
But a gentle reminder of "We know where you are, so you better stay in line isn't.

I'm So Confused

2005-04-05T17:50:00.000-05:00

GOP attempts hostle take-over of another cult?

Three Things That Need To Be Said More Often

2005-04-03T17:17:00.000-05:00

"This seems like a potentally bad idea."
"Hey, where'd they get the Amish guy?"
"Can I put the bacon on, or would that be too loud?"

Thursday Night Post

2005-03-31T19:48:00.000-05:00

I felt that Mitch needed his own post. He was a funny, funny man. He will be missed.

In other up lifting news, Terri Schiavo has died. My sympathies go out to the family, no matter which side of this debacle they're on. Hopefully, this circus can come to a close, and the juggler can go home.
But we all know that its not gonna end here. There are rumors that the Schindlers have filed a motion that Terri's not dead, she's just pining for the fjords.
I hope that after the autopsy shows that yes, Terri's brain was pretty much mush, and, no, there are no signs of physical abuse from Michael Schiavo, that the family will offer an apology. But I doubt it will happen.
The Republicans will have some cleaning up to do if they want to prevent a schism in the party. I have the strange feeling that the Social Conservitives will pretend that there is no dissent with in the ranks, and move even farther right. The more moderates, on the other hand, may realize that the Grand Old Party has been hijacked, and respond, perhaps (and hopefully) viciously.
Now, not to be overly optimistic: This is how third parties get a foothold. To every one who says that third parties will never stand a chance, remember that as late as the turn of the century, the Demacratic Party was the third party.

Well. That just about wraps that up then. I'll try to make my next full post, on Sunday, a little less political, and a little more coherent.

But no promises.

-Wally

Thursday Night Entry

2005-03-31T19:16:00.000-05:00

Its filed under "D". For doughnut

2005-03-31T16:02:00.000-05:00

RIP, funny man.

Bacon Up That Sausage, Boy!

2005-03-30T17:20:00.000-05:00

We call it...the Good Morning Burger!

Quickie

2005-03-29T12:20:00.000-05:00

So, Tom Delay doesn't want to talk about pulling the plug on his father.He says it's a PRIVATE issue, and completely different from the Schiavo case. The big difference? Delay's dad had a better chance of making a recovery.

And from the Right Call, Wrong Reason Department: A Colorado court overturned a jury's decision to sentence a murderer/rapist to death after it was discovered that the jury consulted and used the Bible to come to their decision. Now, don't get me wrong, I personally believe the jury came to the right conclusion. Just not under Colorado Law.

Keep driving that wedge!

-Wally

Would Someone Please Think Of The Children

2005-03-28T20:36:00.000-05:00

When demonstrations interfere with education, it's time to go home, folks.

Oh shit, I'm a blogger

2005-03-27T14:21:00.000-05:00

So I guess I better get started.

I never thought I'd end up setting up a blog. When I first heard the idea behind blogging, I sort of thoght it was a foolish, self indulgent waste of time. But then I got to thinking, "Ya know, if I set up one of them there blogs on the intraweb, it'll force me to sit down and do some writing on a regular basis." And then other things started happening. I started reading other peoples blogs, posting responses on other message boards, etc.... And then I got curious. Are there people that think along the same way I do, or am I just bat-shit insane? I guess that having other people agreeing with me may acctually prove both points, but so be it.

Just so you know who I am, this post is just the obligatory "Getting to know you" post. So just who is this Wally Fenderson asshole? And why should I pay any attention to anything that he says? Well, you shouldn't. Half the time, in conversation, I'm talking out of my ass. I have no reason to expect I'd do anything different on the web.

So, again, Who am I, anyway?

I guess one of the first points that I'd have to make, since I'll probably get all political every once in a while, is that I tend to lean to the left, politically (oddly, though, I dres to the right. But that's for another time). I'm not as liberal as alot of people think with a first meeting. I don't like the idea of any sort of "legislated niceness". If people don't like you for what ever reason they have, fuck em, you don't want to be around them anyway. However, I do realize the need for said laws and rules, because, unfortunetly, the problems of discrimination is way too out of control.

On the same token, alot of people need to lighten up, and see when a joke is a joke. And the person making the joke needs to see the line where the joke ends, and being mean for meaness sake begins. Its a fine line, but often, if you take a beat before blurting something stupid out, you'll see the line. It may throw off your "comedic timing", but its better than being an asshole.

I'm an atheist. I just can't wrap my head around the idea of some all knowing being that waived his hand and created everything. I understand that early in our history, God was the best answer we had for most anything. However, at this point, the existance of God would raise a hell of alot more questions than if God dosn't exist. Feel free to try to convince me otherwise. Just remember that the burden of proof always falls on the afermitive argument.

On a personal note, I'm in my late twenties, married, and living in the north east. And somehow ended up in sales. Quite a change of my dream job in highschool, writing for Spin magazine.

I'm gonna try to update this page a couple times a week. Hopefully, my next post will be on the fun I'm having watching the Republicans fall apart.

Gotta love it.

-Wally