December 31, 1997
Rah rah rah. It's a new year.
Resolutions? Pfah. I resolve to do a lot of reading. Donne, Austin,
Chandler are currently at the top of the list (and, indeed, at my desk).
Strunk and White. Probably Room with a View again, I can't
help myself. Any suggestions?
See The Philadelphia Story finally. I could use a good laugh
and all.
And that is as insightful as I plan to get tonight.
December 28, 1997
So, why the hell did I wake up at 6:30 this morning?
More importantly, why am I not tired?
December 22, 1997
Being the only person in my apartment, being in sole control of the
thermostat in here, the only person showering and cooking and
listening to music and bouncing around in the living room--this is
all quite nice.
I cranked up the thermostat to almost 80 degrees before i went to
bed last night...none of that nasty getting out of bed into 55
degree apartment...(though it most certainly did not make it up to
80 degrees in my room...crummy window seals).
Seals...arf, arf!
By the way, what the hell is wrong with me? Oh, sorry.
December 11, 1997
Not that this is extrodinarily special, but struck me as funny and
characteristic of life at the moment:
Telephone call:
me: Technology Classroom Support.
caller:.......Hello?
me: Hello? Yes?
caller: Hello? Did I get a wrong number?
me: Well, are you trying to reach Technology Classroom Support?
caller: Oh. No.
me: Then, yes, you did.
caller: Oh. Ok. click
December 8, 1997
Dawn found my glasses!!!!!!!!!!!
ALL HAIL DAWN!!!
December 7, 1997
rac3:~:man you
No manual entry for you.
Sorry. Saw about 50 minutes of David Cronenberg's Crash last
night. It also inspired me to write a short poem about how a carwash
....ahem, well. Anyway. I thought it was rather clever last night, but I
was in quite a strange state of mind. I got home and hardly rememberd
the drive; then, as I was brushing my teeth, I was convinced that my
pupils were not changing size as the room got darker and lighter
(yeah, I told you I was not thinking straight).
December 6, 1997
To wit:
The magician's got her hat
The doctor's got her bag
You've got a terrible haircut
And a girlfriend who's a drag
I could make the diagnosis
I could conjure up the cure
I could yank the life support on her illusion of allure
You've been to the grave and back and you've been sawed in four
Get thee to a Hair Cuttery, honey, and call me when you're back
from the tour
Because you're talking cheap
When you're talking so withdrawn
Yeah, your talk is so terribly tired that it's verbal chloroform
In this casual police state
In this public forum
Where the meat of our desire is the milquetoast of decorum
Valentines and alchemy, save us from the drudgery
Cause you're talking me cheap and it's sincere insincere
"Cheap Cuts", Liquorice
I like this song, the way it sounds (has a banjo in it! Baaaaanjooo!
Anyway...). I like the magician/doctor thing going on in the beginning,
but somewhere midway through, the songwriter loses clever things to
do with the two elements. And loses focus, and flounders to something
else clever to say. It's really a little disappointing, though
fun to sing along to. How about that.
I was just thinking about similarities betweeen this song and
the way my writing is currently going. You see how it is.
December 2, 1997
I will never again try to make hummus without a food processor.
Thank you.
December 1, 1997
So, on Thanksgiving, I got to see all of the episodes of South Park
that I had missed since I don't have cable at school.
My god.
I finally get to hear for myself the "Why do you make me dress up
like a mailman..." line. I shall never be the same.
James, Judy and I also had a lovely discussion on the balcony about
what James would do if he knew a nuclear bomb was coming for D.C.,
and Judy told the touching story of the father who was just trying
to teach his daughter the difference between good crack and bad
crack (is that so wrong?).
November 30, 1997
So, in the scheme of half empty/half full glass as an indicator of
whether one is an optimist or a pessamist, where does, "There's
some in there, but I'll probably want more soon" fall?
Of course, this is mostly due to the fact I am almost always thirsty.
Also, I found a really marvy (that's right, marvy) keytag today
as I was walking to my car after reading random journals in the
library. It's see-through green, and has a Hitachi 10" saw on it.
November 29, 1997
Thankfully, the ringing is gone.
It seems that when I am in PGII in front of a Sun, I lose the capacity
to sense if I am hungry or not. I know I should be hungry. I have
had one bagel with cream cheese and 3 cups of coffee today.
About 7 hours ago.
But here, I feel no hunger.
I think a brilliant diet plan lurks here, except for the lack of
physical activity bit.
<*shrug*>
Though not eating in front of a Sun is cheaper ...
Whatever.
This is ridiculous. I am about to start a stupid argument with myself.
One of those arguments that if two other people were having it, I would
feel an unbearable need to break it up, just cuz it was so stoopid.
Good gravy.
November 24, 1997
I am having a tremendous ringing in my left ear. I feel like I have
been at a concert or something.
I have no point here (I can't even summon up the will to be witty
or anything), I just want to bitch.
So there.
November 20, 1997
I wish my hair was shot through with silver (ok, even grey), as opposed to
(sob) blonde.
It's so...telling.
Also, it's hard to walk nonchalantly around when carrying large black
rubber
fins.
No, that is not true. It is easy to walk nonchalantly with them.
It is hard not to get odd looks.
But that is what makes it fun, right?
November 17, 1997
So, I have decided that I need to get a hat.
A hat....with little bells.
Or, failing that, just a stocking cap.
In my Anth lab today, we lab participants were supposed to try to induce
trances in o
urselves
by assuming various positions and listening to rhythmic music.
uh, sure.
I have been quite enjoying the Flaming Lips CD I bought, "Transmissions
from the Sate
llite
Heart." Though, I have also been enjoying other CDs. What bothers me is
how much th
e
lead singer of the Flaming Lips sounds like J Masics from Dinosaur
Jr....Sigh.
I want a hat, my paycheck, and something to drink. Bah
I was thinking of something else, but have forgotten it. Oh well.
November 14, 1997
(shortly into 11/14)
You know, it's true...the more Xwindows I have open, the more potent I
feel...
Hmmm.....
Ok, going a little more mellow tonight in PGII....
The Flaming Lips, Transmissions from the Satellite Heart
Ani DiFranco, Living in Clip
They Might Be Giants, Then: The Early Years
Well, this is mellower than what I was
listening to.
And Pep-o-Mints rather than Wint-o-Green (at least, I find them more
mellow).
November 13, 1997
My evil plan (ok, well, it wasn't all that evil) to work on my paper
(which, as you may know, was due on 11/11..heh heh) from ~11pm to ~4am
nightly until it was done has failed (yes, already). Last night, I
set my alarm for 11:10 or so, and I guess I turned it off. I did
something, anyway, that made 11:10 show up on the face of the clock.
(And, see, this is relevant, cuz....)
Made for quite a scare this morning when I woke up, knew that it wasn't
11:10 pm (cuz, see, it was light out--kind of), and hoped like hell
it wasn't 11:10 am (cuz then that would mean I had missed Scuba, and
an hour of work, and also, sleeping from 8 pm to 11 am would be, well,
excessive and embarassing).
Luckily, it was only 6:30. am. Whew.
November 12, 1997
(~1 pm)
An interesting article on Starship Troopers (The Movie) by my man,
Stephen Hunte
r. Ok, well, he's not really my man, per se, but...you know what I
mean.
(~3 am--shortly into 11/12, that is)
So, here I am again, early morning in the computer lab in PGII, writing an
essay(or a
t least working on it), using vi, writing it in HTML, and looking at
how it looks (or will look) using Netscape. Listening to a CD on the
Sparcstation's
CD player.
Hopeless. Freaky. Eating Wint-o-green Breath Savers.
Mmmm-mmm.
Though there is no greater joy in writing a midterm than being able to
gratuitously mention Heinrich Schliemann.
I don't think I have misheard anything interesting recently. Dang.
And you just know that I would be really into the idea of coffee right
now.
Hell, I would be into the real thing, not just the idea.
I think I need to learn TEX. Brrr. Scary.
November 11, 1997
(shortly into 11/11, that is)
I entered the computer lab with a small bag of mints.
There will be but one of us leaving.
(My paper is due in 12 hours! Hah. That's pretty funny.)
Random Observations:
PGII smells kinda moldy
I am very not interested in finishing this paper.
I really like using a nice, stable OS
I am kinda tired.
Soon, people in Europe will be going to work for the day.
I am not sure if proof reading this paper would be funny or scary.
November 10, 1997
I squooshed my finger today, trying to make stone tools.
No, no, it is better not to ask.
November 6, 1997
The number of people up and around in my apartment by 6:30 am is kind of
alarming (an
d approaching 100% of occupancy).
Unusual considering I live with and am a college student rather than a
working type.
Though I must admit, going to bed by 9 pm (and eventually to sleep, say, by
11), does
make it a bunch easier to get up before 7.
In happy news, I think my computer has a virus. Wheee!
Grumble grumble.
October 30, 1997
SCUBA was very wacky today.
I dragged myself there in my usual blind daze (having lost my glasses and
being unwil
ling to put in my contacts for the 10-min walk), get assigned a buddy,
spout bitter i
nvectives to said buddy, realize I am being mean without cause and try to
apologize (
I mean, why waste it when you don't mean it?). Today was "TA Fun Day,"
meaning that
the TA's got to play with our equipment and minds. It was kinda fun.
Then, the Evil
TA Cord challenges me to an underwater fencing match. After we started
fencing the
same kind of metaweapon, it was quite enjoyable. (when we started, he
was foil and I
went instinctively to sabre...). Then, I spent the rest of the goof-off
time we had
in class floating upside down (that is, feet toward the surface), which
was just abo
ut the second-coolest thing that has happened this week (and the first
coolest that I
really had control over). Floating upsidedown is pretty dang
relaxing.
A whole truck-load of fun, despite the sinus squeeze over my right eye
which develope
d on Tuesday and is still there, despite having taken decongestants
both days. Egad.
Quite a...distinctive ... sensation. Pain, one might say.
October 28, 1997
It has happened again.
Walking to work today, I caught myself doing it agian.
I ogled stratigraphy at a backhoed construction site on campus.
I have discovered what it is to be an archaeology geek.
I have become Trowel, destroyer of strata. And trees.
October 23, 1997
What I said about that unexamined life stuff?
I would rather be spending less time trapped (trapped, I tell you!)
in my examining o
f life at the moment, thank you.
Ok, well, not really, but a little break might be nice.
October 21, 1997
So.
I'm glad Rolaids have some nutritional value.
Um. That is all.
October 18, 1997
Dammit, they're playing Enya again.
They're playing Enya loud, on repeat, and singing along.
Am I the only person in the world who does not like Enya?
Especially on a perfectly
nice Sunday afternoon?
Ugh.
On the other hand, Robyn Hitchcock is one sick, twisted, and funny
guy.
October 16, 1997
So, what shall I buy to celebrate my first paycheck of the year?
Sneakers to replace the ones I duct taped up tonight, new daily-wear
shoes to replace
the ones I duct taped up tonight (so they wouldn't fall off), or
glasses that I lost
a few weeks ago?
I am a krazy reckless fool when it comes to money, let me tell
you.
October 14, 1997
Who said that an unexamined life is not worth living?
What is an examined life? I think I missed a meeting...
What is examined? Wrongs, faults, successes? Spelling? Not
repeating the same mista
kes?
I think I have some reading to do on the subject.
October 13, 1997
I hate when I leave work to do until the night before it is due,
and then on the nigh
t before it is due, I feel funky (as in ill, not like
dancing).
This is not to say that I hate leaving work until the last minute.
Don't even think
that.
My stuffed banana slug, dubbed Snuggles, is looking at me from
atop my monitor.
October 8, 1997
Quite the odd mood I am in today.
Even though I did get my box from Archie McPhee.
October 7, 1997
I just couldn't take it anymore...
I finally revised my homepage.
I feel so much better now.
October 6, 1997
I think I just went overboard on plucking my eyebrows.
I am kind of afraid to do anything to them other than regular
maintenence, as I have
this feeling I would inevitably end up trying to make them even
and have one sad litt
le eyebrow hair (what they hell are they--eyelashes, but not
really...anyway) over ea
ch eye...
Wacky German eyebrows. It is pretty sad to have unruly eyebrows.
Though at times it
can be fun--stagger out of bed in the morning, and all the little
eyebrows are cowli
cked up and funky...
Is it so wrong to be slightly obsessed with eyebrows?
Aaaah. Too much coffee, not enough hours in the night.
September 28, 1997
Yesterday was Brian and Wayne's housewarming.
Oh, it was warming.
Unfortunately, I drank too much.
Unfortunately, Randy and Chris's last day at fencing, and in
Maryland, for some time
was today. We will miss them. Probably.
We pity the Swiss.
September 24, 1997
My leg hurts.
There are things which may be going badly, but I am afraid to ask
about. Eek.
I need to find someone to drive to Rhode Island with me in
October to visit Greg at s
chool.
On a happy note, I am still pretty happy that I am single.
Proving again, that somet
imes, by accident things do go right. In the end.
I am also quite enjoying this Lemon Zinger tea that my mom sent
me.
September 22, 1997
So, how about those Krazy (that's right, KRAZY) crashing planes?
In the past week (since Sunday, Sept. 14):
- An F-117 Stealth fighter breaks up near my house in
Baltimore
- An F/A-18 Hornet crashes in North Carolina
- An F-16B and an F-16C (or C and D...I forget) collide in
midair; one of the plan
es manages to land, the other ditches into the Atlantic
- A civilian plane "disappears from radar"....hm.
- An F-15 crashes
- A B-1 crashes in Montana
The Air Force declares a "safety day," on which no flights,
unless emergencies, take
place.
Good plan.
September 19, 1997
I twisted my ankle while fencing epee last night.
The saddest part of it is, I didn't get the point.
The other sad part is that Mike got the p
oint, and made it 4-4.
The happy part is that nothing seems to be broken.
My first fencing injury! Wheeeeeeeeee.
September 17,1997
I decided last night, while sick and feeling pretty crummy and
aching, that I need my
own personal masseur/masseuse, on call 24 hours a day. Who
would also bring me choc
olate or bread as needed.
I think I was delerious.
But it still sounds good.
While I am at it, I want someone to give me money, too.
In other news, there is a horticulture lab down the hallway from
where I work which i
s apparently teaching Music Appreciation for Plantlife. Today
was Spanish/Latin Amer
ican music day apparently: I heard "Guantanamera" about 4
times. Peppy! I wonder h
ow the plants would respond to, say, Pink Floyd, or Skinny
Puppy, or White Zombie....
The possibilities are nigh-endless!!
September 16, 1997
Today was Randy and Chris's wedding. Of note:
- 1) Meeting Randy's mom (everything makes so much more sense
now)
- 2) The actual wedding, which took about 10 minutes, much
less time than it took f
or all of us to get through security and meet up again at the
courthouse
- 3) Seeing folks all dressed up. Wackety!!
September 10, 1997
Why I no longer listen to the radio
(I thought of this after listening to the radio for about 20
minutes after Loveline..
.)
- 1) the new wave of bad ska bands/ska band wannabes
- 2) Oasis
- 3) The Sundays. They had one pleasant song, 7 years ago or
something. Now they
are back from whatever place off the planet they went, and sound
exactly the same. T
he words might even be the same to their new song. I don't
freaking know.
- 4) Shitty DJs.
- 5) Alternative Music. Ugh.
- 6) The biggest reason. Ready?
- The horror that 99.1 WHFS in the Baltimore/D.C./NoVa area.
I found WHFS one afte
rnoon when I was cleaning my room in 1988 or so. I was playing
with my crummy clock
radio, trying to find a station that was not static-y. Some
station was relatively o
k, and was playing a weird song that I had never heard before
(turns out it was "The
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." Go figure). So I kept it on.
Then "The Daily Fee
d" come on. I was highly intrigued. This was WHFS, and they
had a DJ named Weasel.
It was swell. There was also a DJ during the day who had been
in some sort of accid
ent or something, and was hard to understand. But he still
worked there. That was c
ool (even though I hated the hell out of his show).
The beginning of the end, of course, was when Alternative
Music became something real
, a real category, rather than just something ... to call
music that was not pop. Th
e beginning of the end, of course, was Pearl Jam. This is
true.
But anyway. The beginning of the end for WHFS was the
beginning of Alternative Music
. The beginning of when I panicked was when that DJ with the
speach problem was fire
d.
I want my fucking radio station back, goddammit! I gave up
all hope last summer, whe
n, going across the country, I could consistantly find a radio
station that sounded <
em>exactly like WHFS (or, as it is called in its currrent
incArnation "HFS") in
every city to the west coast and back. I weep.
I remember WHFS. On Thursdays, they would play concerts.
They had DJs that would pl
ay stuff like "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." As well
as Bob Dylan. As well a
s Laurie Anderson. As well as Thomas Dolby. As well as
Fugazi. As well as comedy s
kits. Back before they had to play "Jeremy" 18 times a day,
or the latest shitty Gol
dfinger song, which is playing now. I liked when I could
listen for an hour and hear
no new music, but music I had never heard before. I liked
the era before they had t
o tell me that The Smiths song that they were going to play
was old.
So, last fall, I would listen to the Morning Show, because
Kathryn Lauren was on then
, and listen no other time. Then, one morning, I turn on the
radio, and no Kathryn.
Only shitty DJs as well as songs I didn't want to hear.
I sorrow. I am without a radio station. Everything is
corporate, and I can't even g
et a cup of coffee without advertising for someone that I
just paid $1.50 for brownis
h water. The irony here is that now I am buying more CDs
than ever. Mostly because
I can't hear anything decent on the radio.
I must leave this country.
September 7, 1997
I have decided that my ears might be my best feature.
I am not sure if this is good or bad. I mean...my
ears???
Sheesh.
...
Things I am currently happy about:
- My earlobes show no sign of infection yet (yaaay!)
- I have gone grocery shopping for the week
- I don't think I am behind on schoolwork yet
- I have a job
Things I am currently not happy about:
- A headache that keeps on going and going and
going...(coming up on 24 hours, here
!)
- Angst, angst, angst, angst, angst. Oh, yes, and
...tension and anxiety and disqu
ietude and being afraid and all that sort of thing
- Being really, really, really, extremely broke
- The (*&^%(**#^ air conditioning vent
- A sore throat
- Other stuff
September 6, 1997
There is a pirate theme.
Last night, after hitting the crummy box wine a little too
hard, I found myself in th
e bathroom, jamming a needle through my earlobe. Of course,
that does tend to sober
one up rather quickly. The multiple attempts to get the
earring through didn't hurt
in that direction, either....
So, finally, Judy helped me out, by put
ting the earring most of the way through, then poking a hole
from the back until the
sucker came all the way around.
It didn't hurt nearly as much as it sounds like it should
have.
So, I guess we see if my ear lobes get infected and fall off
in the near future.
And Jason thinks I need a parrot to go a
long with the look.
September 4, 1997
Maybe I have scurvy.
Aarrrrr. Avast ye maties.
September 3, 1997
School has started again (whee!), and along with it, my
annual back-to-school cold (b
ooooooo!).
I also need to revamp my web page, especially this part of
it, because I did it
backwards (and I said, "That's just fine with me.".....50
points for naming the song!
!! Buddy.)
So, meanwhile, I am really really cold (and wearing a
sweater and jeans and boots), m
ostly because the air conditioning vent for my room is right
over my chair and desk.
I have tried to point it elsewhere. It is futile.
Part of my being cold may well be poor circulation. All I
know is that I am having t
rouble typing, and that my extremities are not doing so
well. Am I really so old? Bi
tch bitch bitch, moan moan moan.
Also, while getting a little bit of blood drawn today to
see if I am eligible t
o participate in a study of a malaria vaccine (news which
quite horrified my mother,
even though there is no chance of getting malaria from the
vaccine (the vaccine being
made of protein coats, as opposed to dead
virus)--something not as
sured in the ads for volunteers to test meningitis or
hepatitus vaccines. Eek!
), I noticed that it took probably longer than it should
have. Freaky.
Even more freaky is, that should I participate in the
study, and should the vaccine b
e effective, it might be worthwhile in the end, given my
probable future
profession and all.
But the thing that made my day was that, should one
produce lots of antibodies
in response to the vaccine, the study folks will ask one
to participate in a later st
udy. In this later study, they will try to give one
malaria.
I love science.
August 20, 1997
I have decided that I am Easily Amused.
And I am not ashamed to have the world know it.
July 6, 1997
Yesterday, I went to Josh and Stacy's wedding. It was
very strange. The service was
mercifully short, yet loaded with Jesus and the priest
kept saying, "Forever and eve
r and ever," which weirded me out. Not the idea that
they will be
married forever or anything like that, but the attitude
he seemed to be possessing wa
s that they didn't know what they were getting into or
some such. That
is not exactly it, but I guess I am still a bit hungover
from the reception.
March 17/18, 1997
So, I can admit it now, I stayed out all night in D.C.
waiting in line to buy tickets
to The Empire Strikes Back. What can I say?
Yes, I was kind of sick. Yes,
I didn't actually stay to buy the tickets the next
morning (I, uh, well...had class,
ok?).
But, well, Empire is pretty much the best of
the three, no? Say I.
And I got to see freaks in line in front of me dress
up as Boba Fett.
Judy and I bought a Cosmo before leaving fo
r D.C., and got many laughs out of it. I mean, Lea
Thompson and Jo
hnathan Silverman, solving problems. Uh, hint, you
two: you have your own prob
lems, like...the crummy sitcoms you are
on!!
Ahem.
Also, it occurred to me, sleeping in my sleeping bag
on the alarmingly yielding
ground, that I was sleeping on the street so I could
be sure to buy a ticket to watch
a movie, while elsewhere in the same city, there were
hundreds of other
prople sleeping on the street because, well, they had
nowhere else to go.
Which has been kind of disturbing to me.
Then, Friday, I nearly wrecked Brian's car on the way
to the movie...
And on Friday, at the Starbuck's next to the movie, I
had a Carmel Macciato, a
very tasty, if overpriced, drink.
And Greg and I had a blast enmeratin
g the number of very dark, moist scary caves there
are in Empire.
And I got to sit in the balcony!!
Wheeeeee!
March 11,1997
I came home from class, walked through the door, went
directly to the kitchen, and ma
de a pot of coffee.
Some days are like that.
shamrock@onastick.net