Thank you for the kind birthday wishes; they are truly appreciated. The day itself was rather uneventful, which is what I wanted. I live too much of a jet-set lifestyle1 as it is, so the downtime was valuable. Also, I should have known that Verticus would be the only person to pick up on the [...]
Sometimes, particularly when I am being excessively cynical, I am asked just what I actually believe in. Since today I am beginning my forty-eighth year among you, this seems an appropriate time as any to indulge in a little introspection and list-making. So allow me to offer my apologies in advance to both Crash Davis [...]
Last Saturday morning two professionally dressed young men knocked on my door. After recoiling in horror at my shirtless, unshaven appearance — or perhaps my coffee breath — they were quite cordial, and gave me a copy of Awake! magazine. They did not, however, waste any time in making good their exit from my porch. [...]
“London is not a battlefield. Those innocents who were murdered on July 7 2005 were not victims of war. And the men who killed them were not, as in their vanity they claimed on their ludicrous videos, ‘soldiers’. They were deluded, narcissistic inadequates. They were criminals. They were fantasists. We need to be very clear [...]
“So long as you write what you wish to write, that is all that matters; and whether it matters for ages or only for hours, nobody can say. But to sacrifice a hair of the head of your vision, a shade of its colour, in deference to some Headmaster with a silver pot in his [...]
What’s on your portable music device? Something from the Gay Bands list, perhaps? Oddly enough, this list is a tool to help young people and their parents avoid music which might inspire them to walk on the wild side. I think it’s serious, not parody, but in the 21st Century it can be so hard [...]
Twice during my morning drive the NPR announcer refered to “secretarian violence” in Iraq. It is a simple mistake, true, but I immediately imagined Maggie Gyllenhaal in a catfight with Miss Hathaway. Yes, I am a sick, sick man. Share/Bookmark
“I admit to a certain fascination with French science-fiction’s tropes: American cars, Egyptian gods, female assassins (and Nixon, although he doesn’t appear in this film).”
At the beginning of the month I said I was going to mention any media I consumed this year, and I have fallen a bit behind. This is in large part due to my unfortunate tendency to excessively analyze and over-explain my interests; the explanations are often needed, though, because so much of what I [...]
It was with no small amount of trepidation that I approached the first airport security checkpoint. Doubly confirmed by the airline or not, I didn’t have a lot of faith that the TSA people would know what to do when faced with someone lacking a photo ID. I handed the smartly-blazered young woman my boarding [...]
If this works, above you should see a film of the snowfall this morning. Yeah, no big deal, really, but it made me surprisingly nostalgic for my midwestern youth. Share/Bookmark
I like cold weather, even when it’s an abrupt change, like leaving Miami and flying to NYC for about 24 hours. The change feels great, really; something hard-wired into my biology is satisfied with the wind’s reminder of seasonal change. Plus it was great seeing snow fall again, even if it was only through an [...]
“I’m on the phone with Delta. They says if you’ve lost your driver’s license you can still go through security but you need other ID.” “Okay, what kind of ID?” “…(hang on, I’m on hold while they check)…” “Oh, this isn’t good. You need a Social Security card…” “Got it.” “…and a Voter Registration card.” [...]
I received spam this morning with the subject line “Freddy Kreuger Wears Rolex.” Well, hell, if that isn’t a noteworthy celebrity endorsement I don’t know what is! That pansy-ass Jason probably wears a Swatch, too. Share/Bookmark
For the last few weeks I have occasionally seen skaters outside my parking garage at night. These guys seem to be having a pretty good time. In the left center portion of the photo you can just make out the dark blur of one of the skaters jumping. The surprise — although I suppose it [...]
“The Fifth Element is one of those genre films I never seemed to find time to watch, even though many friends told me I’d enjoy it.”
I’ve always been fascinated with on-line image generators. This one allows you to make an old style card catalog card for whatever you want. [via Mustang Bobby] Share/Bookmark
Novelist and philosopher Robert Anton Wilson has left for the universe next door, this time for real. RAW was as bizarre and forceful a persona as Hunter S. Thompson, but directing his drive inward toward self-discovery, and then sharing what he learned with the world with his tongue planted firmly in cheek. He was also [...]
I flew to Atlanta today for a meeting. Man, I hate up-back in the same day out of town trips. But I will admit that it was cool using my laptop and EvDo card in a moving car to pull up Google Maps and getting directions from the airport to the meeting place. (No, I [...]
James has asked that people post lists of five personal traits for which they unduly care about the opinions of others. As I have said before, I don’t usually participate in this sort of “blog challenge” rigmarole, but in this case it took me long enough to sort of exactly what he was asking that [...]
A week or so ago I started to notice a fairly high volume of incoming traffic from an unfamiliar URL: http://www.placeblogger.com/placeblog/hidden-city. Being the curious sort I am I followed it back and was surprised to find it is a new kind of aggregator based on location. Somehow Hidden City ended up on the list, not [...]
While shopping at Costco the other day I bought a copy of Thomas Pynchon’s latest novel, Against the Day. It was a good price — a $35 book for $20 — but still, Costco? Laid out on a table next to an enormous stack of those Chicken Soup… books? Time will tell if I am [...]
As a follow-up to the previous post, another thing I found odd about the supposed case made by Margolis was her inability to actually tie this proposed change to a lessening of corruption in the county. Her arguments basically boiled down to this: Other big cities have strong mayors, so we should, too. Carlos Alvarez [...]
Last evening I attended a debate between State Senator Gwen Margolis and Miami-Dade County Commissioner Sally Heyman on the subject of changing the county charter to create a “strong mayor.” The event was held at the American Legion Hall, and was hosted by Nancy Leibman of the Urban Environment League. I walked in the room [...]
$500 later I have a new driver side rear vent window in my car. It’s a damned shame that my insurance company bases their deductibles on a calendar year, but c’est la vie. Many people have asked me when I’m moving out of my neighborhood. Besides the downward lifestyle move relocating would entail, I don’t [...]
See also this post. Same shit, different side of the car. Hell of a way to start the year, ain’t it? Share/Bookmark
If appropriate and interesting, I take a lot of pictures at public events. Acting on the principle that digital photos are essentially free, I fire away until the battery runs dry, and then I pop in the spare. Consequently, I end up with a lot of pictures, most of them* crap. In an attempt to [...]
As part of my resolutionary1 resolve in 2007 I am going to post something about any non-web media I consume during the year. All CDs, DVDs, books, comics, and possibly public presentations (concerts, films, plays, live sex shows, etc.) that pass through my sensory inputs will receive at least a passing mention. Few will get [...]
Against all logic (and in spite of the best efforts of Miami’s maniac pre-dawn drivers) I managed to get out of bed and to the beach in time to watch the sunrise. Once again the effort has paid off in renewed energy; sadly, it isn’t renewed enough to overcome my dragged out of bed at [...]