  amber flickr photos 345 wall, the bitchinville broochtastic noise comissioner coat furnace, the inbetween intermeddler matters of little... melancolin... oh, bitter dicta raefried beans red elephant sherrying worldwide starlets...  07/01/2003 - 07/31/2003 08/01/2003 - 08/31/2003 09/01/2003 - 09/30/2003 10/01/2003 - 10/31/2003 11/01/2003 - 11/30/2003 12/01/2003 - 12/31/2003 01/01/2004 - 01/31/2004 02/01/2004 - 02/29/2004 03/01/2004 - 03/31/2004 04/01/2004 - 04/30/2004 05/01/2004 - 05/31/2004 06/01/2004 - 06/30/2004 07/01/2004 - 07/31/2004 08/01/2004 - 08/31/2004 09/01/2004 - 09/30/2004 10/01/2004 - 10/31/2004 11/01/2004 - 11/30/2004 12/01/2004 - 12/31/2004 01/01/2005 - 01/31/2005 02/01/2005 - 02/28/2005 03/01/2005 - 03/31/2005 04/01/2005 - 04/30/2005 05/01/2005 - 05/31/2005 06/01/2005 - 06/30/2005 07/01/2005 - 07/31/2005 08/01/2005 - 08/31/2005 09/01/2005 - 09/30/2005 |
Thursday, July 31, 2003 like fo' real? the fairy tale is over?!? according to insiders, J. Lo. and Ben Affleck have broken up and apparently this information will be all over the news tomorrow. What stupid things we occupy ourselves with even if I'm just posting this to be funny. Go Shorty Shorty cut my hair today with a straight-edge razor. The sensation and the sound of the razor is really neat and I like the way my hair turned out. He's Rahmin's (and the NY Press's) favorite rockstar barber. He began as a scuptor and later moved onto hair so it's different from any other haircut I've ever had. Not very different from before except more variety of lengths and angles at the ends, etc. crapola When I got home there was a letter from the Dept of Labor saying that I will receive my hearing date soon and an email from a friend/ex-coworker telling me that the company I used to work for received notification about my hearing request. Apparently the accountant over there was giving some of my ex-coworkers a hard time about it (like they have anything to do with it). That accountant is a jerk who has been unreasonable on many occasions. I hope they don't send him to represent the company at the hearing. I was reminded of one time at work when I was signing out early because I had a doctor's appointment and he asked me what type of doctor and I said gynecologist and he asked if the doc is a man or a woman and I said man, he asked if I was attracted to my doctor. Appropriate? Or the time he gave me a hard time because a friend/co-worker of mine who got fired was requesting unemployment insurance. human v. canine Okay, so I've wondered about the following on a few different occasions so I'm putting it out in public to see if anyone has any answers or feedback. This may sound flaky and weird but whatever. Is there anything in the human-world akin to the difference between breeds of dogs? I mean, different races and ethnicities of humans seem a lot less different from one another than different types of dogs, but then again, a 4ft. 8 pale blond girl is actually really different than a 7ft. 6, 350 pound black basketball player but doesn't seem nearly as different as the difference between a Shizu and a Great Dane. Maybe I'll check Google. "you're so pretty when you're unfaithful to me"  So, today (yesterday according to the date here) I decided to fuck it and take a weekday off from he constant bureaucratic stuff and looking for a job stuff that I have been so focused on. Instead I spent the day at IKEA with Amanda and Rusty and then helped Amanda assemble part of her desk. I got some neat houseware-type things, including a big, vinyl kite-like leaf which I hung over the couch in the livingroom (see photo). We ate in the IKEA restaurant which I had never done during previous trips to IKEA. The good was really, really good.  When I got home tonight I had 2 email responses from job ads that I've responded to, both asking me further questions. I hardly get 1 response per week lately (although I'm hanging in a little with freelance stuff, hopes of winning my DOL case and receiving all the back pay, babysitting, etc.) and this is unprecedented. I should fuck it and go out during the weekdays more often.Wednesday, July 30, 2003 late night I just spend several hours working on my website, Renegade Lemonade and I am languidly invigorated. I always do my best work at night and conversely, I am generally not at full creative potential during the day. Too bad, since the cogs and wheels of the world turn much quicker during the day. Tuesday, July 29, 2003 How does your garden grow? I've had these flowers for about a month now and have, for the first time ever, managed to keep such organisms alive and healthy (well, 4/5 of them). They need the dead leaves and flowers trimmed, frequent watering (in this weather usually once per day; the soil gets DRY) and to remain on the outside window ledges where it is most sunny, but overall it's been pretty simple.  As you can see from the photos, all of them look pretty healthy except for the right-most one in the second picture. When I first got it it had beautiful purple flowers but they soon fell off and have never returned. The other ones gain and lose flowers all the time. Also, you can see that some of the leaves have yellowed. If I had a million dollars... I'd pay off my debt, buy a real-time CD burning deck, get some good speakers for my stereo and for my computer, start an IRA, and probably give most of the rest to charity. Rahmin is listening to my favorite Joe Frank episode(?), Jam. I forgot how happy it makes me to listen to Joe Frank and I never before realized that I have most of this one memorized. "Have you ever heard of ORT, Mr. Franks? They are a group of ortodox Jewish women who came here from Israel and infiltrated Louisiana just to bring Mr. Swaggart down" -David Cross a long time coming... I got a digital camera. It's fabulous. I resent my debt because none of it is from of anything at all fun or frivolous yet still, I'm suffering over it. To buy myself something that I really want is divine. Monday, July 28, 2003 Innovation? Is that the name of your weird foreign cousin? It seems that most prospective employers value previous job loyalty and narrowness of skills more than innovation and diversity of skills and knowledge. The message I'm getting is: thinkers, problem solvers and people who are smart enough to figure out things easily without being taught need not apply. It seems like it's more important for these employers to feel secure that their employees of average intelligence and skill will remain with them (likely doing a mediocre job) rather than hire someone who can actually problem-solve and instigate change for the better. Fear. I can be smart and proactive and do a good job AND be a loyal employee. How'd you like to butter your bread with that, possible employer-person. I got fired from the first real job I had when I left college because one of the 2 owners of the company was this architect woman from Jersey of very average intelligence (although she was a very hard-working architect which I couldn't or wouldn't ever be) and she was threatened because I, the office manager, was obviously smarter and more creative than she. The other owner told me that she was right (although it was for that reason that he himself wanted to keep me on... also, this guy liked to talk about how his wife was smarter than him so it seems he had no problem with smart women) and that I should go to art school because that is the only place for creative, thinking people. Ideally, business is a creative thing. Making headway in business involves innovation. Many people instead want safety at a smaller overall cost and potential profit. Usually the formula = little risk yields little gain. statistics can put things in perspective Americans are responsible for generating roughly 20% percent of the garbage in the world. Children laugh about 400 times a day, while adults laugh on average only 15 times a day. The number of births that occur in India each year is higher than the entire population of Australia. The three wealthiest families in the world have more assets than the combined wealth of the forty-eight poorest nations. Life is a mystery Good code is supposed to do what you want it to so how come the universal link style I made for the body of this blog (and checked to make sure I had the syntax totally correct) was working differently on different links? And then, once I messed around with it, they all became the same but not the way I declared they should be. Where did I go wrong?!? My appetite has been fluctuating like total insanity. One day I'm voraciously hungry all the time and the next few I have no desire to eat anything, without repricussions. The menu on the bottom of Homestore Runner (the t-shirts) is one of the most fun things I have ever experienced online. It's so humid. I don't have much else to write right now. Sunday, July 27, 2003 the code of a clown I don't like clowns much but I found this to be interesting: Every clown is unique. Each clown must be registered and in order to register must submit an eggshell painted the way they paint their face. This eggshell is kept on file until the clown's death, at which point it is buried with him(/her). http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/06/20/1055828480763.html Clown ethics: http://www.clownsforhire.com/ethics.html Right now I'm sipping some brandy and it is so delicious... makes me all warm inside (literally). I don't usually buy brandy. I'm totally gonna start. I'm not the only one... For the past 2 or so days we've been keeping the bathroom window mostly shut fearing that if we do not, the squirrel might make it all the way inside next time. Damn squirrel: http://www.pigdog.org/auto/animal_rampage/link/2721.html Amanda suggested that maybe the squirrel is similar to Pepe Le Pew in that perhaps he is lusting after one of my cats. Thursday, July 24, 2003 vigilance should know few boundaries after dealing with so many phone reps it has become more apparent to me than ever before that getting things accomplished correctly takes a lot more energy than it should. Due to other people's mistakes, stupidity and misunderstandings, sometimes I have to follow-up several times. This makes me worry about people like my mother who seem to be deterred by any bureaucracy and also seem to trust the opinions/info of people who are strangers or practically strangers (doctors, phone reps, etc.). The other night we had dinner with a woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer due to her own vigilance just 2 months after her mammogram results came back negative. her nose is painted with peppered sunlight We just saw Janes Addiction perform live on TV. Whoa. They're not as good as they used to be but they still have an affect on me. After seeing it I put on NOTHINGS SHOCKING which I haven't listened to probably in years. The only one I've listened to is XXX or The Untitled album as some refer to it. It is wonderful to listen to this album. I'm 15 again. it's a beach party Vietnam, surfing with the Vietcong Rahmin's got a gig at a beach-themed party on Friday night so we've been looking for appropriate music. I came across this awesome Beach Boys album that I got a long time ago of only the musical parts (no vocals) on an assortment of their songs (good selections). One of the coolest things about collecting things like records is coming across things you forgot you had. At least for me it is. Familiarity + absence breeds happy love. I didn't get to call Animal Control today. Instead the bathroom window remained mostly closed and the window screen in the bedroom is now more bent than before but we did not witness anything this time. It's amazing how much time I've been spending just organizing my life. I have spoken to the state IRS, federal IRS, Verizon, called the Department of Labor in an attempt to speak to a person 12 times (to no avail), NYU financial aid office (among other NYU offices), one of my accountants, prospective employers, a collection agency about one of my medical bills, and probably others too that I can't think of right now. I'm sure this is fascinating to anyone reading this. A councilman and his shooter were shot dead today at City Hall today. I followed the story until there was a decent amount of information available to the public. Although the reasons for the shooting were politically charged, they were politically charged on a smaller scale (corruption of local elections, etc.) than I initially imagined. I sort of hate 9-11 talk but honestly, the events of that day upped the stakes in an undeniable way. I was aware of the threat to our national security (which most people seemed to ignore or deny) since the 1993 World Trade Center bombing (especially since I was just a few blocks away from the WTC at that time), but anytime anything newsworthy yet otherwise fishy happens, my mind jumps to much more severe conclusions than ever before. Tuesday, July 22, 2003  The Squirrel Who is Out To Get Us: squirrley es locoThis began quite a few weeks ago, when it was super-hot outside. the background It started when I put the air-conditioner in the bedroom window but the window is very wide and I had to get a piece of foam and wrap it around a piece of cardboard to seal off the rest of the window. 2 or 3 days later I wake up very early in the morning because Rahmin is at the window, by the foam, banging on it, probably making some other noise too (I was half asleep). He woke because this squirrel was stealing our foam from the outside and disrupting the foam and making noise in the process. He goes away after some banging on the window, etc. the next day (let's call this day 4) The squirrel is at it again, trying to steal the foam, almost pulling it far enough out of the window for him to be practically in our apartment. We bang again. He goes away. We see him running along the fire escape and tree branches playing a chasing game with a friend of his. A little later on that day... again he's going at the foam. Rahmin sorta flips out and finds a water gun and tries to shoot him from the bathroom window (the bathroom and bedroom windows both connect to the fire escape). The water barely makes him flinch. Rahmin puts some hydrogen peroxide in the water gun and shoots him with it. He gets lazily deterred after a little bit. later the same day... he's back. Rahmin flips out and starts shooting him with the water gun (I don't know if it has water or peroxide in it at that point). The squirrel keeps at it. Rahmin looks for something else to shoot at him and settles on WD40. I'm both amused and horrified and start comparing his pursuit of this squirrel to an old Warner Bros. cartoon (he would be playing the role of yosemite sam or elmer fudd chasing bugs bunny or daffy duck). I'm not sure if Rahmin actually hits the squirrel with the WD40 but he somehow gets him to go away and then he climbs out the tiny bathroom window onto the fire escape to survey the damage and figure out some preventative measures. He decides that we have to take the foam out of the window but I argue that we have nothing else suitable to replace it with and so we'd have to sacrifice the use of our air conditioner and if we do that, the squirrel wins. (the bedroom is the best room for the air conditioner by far) a day or two later (day 5 or 6 or 7) It gets significantly cooler outside so we can take the air conditioner inside. approx 2 weeks later (this is perhaps a week ago)... we go into the bedroom to find the window screen somewhat bent out of shape? How did this happen? Soon Rahmin realizes (I think witnesses) that the squirrel has been f#cking with our cats through the screen. I guess they were both pushing and pulling at it and it got bent. At least it still looks allright and is usable. today... I don't smoke anywhere in the apartment except for the bathroom with the window open. It's hot outside. The bathroom window is often open. Today I was here alone, on the phone with my mom and I went into the bathroom to get something and I almost jumped out of my skin when I saw that the squirrel was inside the bathroom on the inside window sill and was not scared away by my presence. I thunp on the floor and the wall and he goes onto the outside window sill but he's still practically in the bathroom. I search around looking for something I can throw to get him to go away: something I don't care about enough to mind throwing it out the window. I settle on a candle that is burned almost all the way down. He leaves. I shut the window. An hour later... I'm still here alone but I got brave enough to open the bathroom window about 2.5-3 inches. I'm in the livingroom, looking at my mail, and I hear a clanking coming from the bathroom. I can see both cats so I know it's not one of them. I grab one of my shoes off the floor and run to the bathroom, trying to get the cats to come with me. They wont come. I enter the bathroom to see you-know-who, once again on the inside window sill, about to run onto the sink or toilet or floor. I chuck my shoe towards the window at him, a perfect shot. The shoe went directly towards him, he ran away, and the shoe got lodged in the center of the window. Tomorrow I call animal control. I'm afraid that he has rabies. I am afraid that he is going to get through the window screen and attack me in my sleep. So, I tried to do some research online about insane and possibly rabid squirrels in the home but I didn't really find anything. What I DID find out, however, was that apparently lots of people have very strong and very strange feelings about squirrels: squirrel prison babes squirrel fishing squirrel hazing one bad squirrel: a picture book Monday, July 21, 2003 did you see Steve Malkmus? Remember the heavy rain on Friday night? We decided to go to the Steve Malkmus show in Prospect Park regardless (actually, I don't think and of us checked the weather forecase and none of had umbrellas with us) but when we got there it was drizzling Rahmin walked off to find shelter and didn't come back. Amanda and I watched the opening act and then we stayed for about 7 songs of Steve Malkmus but by then we had been out from the drizzle through the heavier rain and then the rain got really really heavy and we got totally drenched. I had a plastic bag on my head held on with my sunglasses but there was rain dripping down my legs and into my bra by the time we left,walking back towards Amanda's house and towards the subway I needed I was freezing and the rain wasn't letting up so we went to my parents' house and put our clothes in the dryer and sat around in bathrobes with my parents for awhile. All in all, an adventure (and I never found Rahmin until I got home hours later).
Sunday, July 20, 2003 Waking up to the Rooster, Going to bed at Dawn: Wacky, Lovely Saturday There is a farmers market in my neighborhood which started last Saturday. Today I went. There were only 6-8 farmers but they had great stuff and it's great to have such things so close to home. The most exciting thing I got is some summer squash which looks like a gourd mated with a zucchini. Tonight I made some chicken biryani with an assortment of spices which gives the dish so much texture and complexity of flavor and the spices are combined such that different parts of the dish hold different types of indian spice. Everybody enjoyed it. I made so much that we'll probably have leftovers for a few days. Leftovers take the pressure off because you don't have to cook but still, you know you wont die of starvation. Sometimes I haven't eaten in a long time and I'm starving but I still don't eat because nothing is readily available. Not healthy. Tonight a bunch of people came over. I've been going out a lot on Saturday nights and it was a pleasure to stay in. Last week I was totally sick on Saturday night which doesn't count because it wasn't a choiceful not-going-out. Polly-P now has a friendster account. Her favorite music is Cat Power and Cat Stevens. The other day I renewed my library card for the first time in years. I took out 3 books, one of which is THE CELL, about all of the intelligence-related things that have happened since 9-11-01. The other 2 books I took out are fiction. I need to read a book like the cell is because I'm afraid of the shady stuff going on: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11298-2003Jul18.html and knowledge is power. Sometimes it seems that most conspiracy theories are conspiracy theories themselves but the content of that article is fishy enough to get my attention. Friday, July 18, 2003 Brooklyn Rock to the Planet Rock Don't Stop Last night we went to see The Creature from the Black Lagoon in 3D. $3 at Prospect Park: hard to beat. To make things even better, the original movie sound was muted out and there was a live jazz band playing music over the movie AND in addition, each member of the band played a speaking role in the movie using a modified, modernized script. Very well synched, very entertaining and worthwhile. While we were on line to go into the movie, a woman came by with a petition about same-sex marriage but both Sherry and I initially turned her away because we both thought she said INSECT MARRIAGE. Perhaps this was a premature decision on our parts because although same-sex marriage is all fine and dandy, insect marriage sounds a lot more interesting. Today I checked to see if there is any info online about insect marriage. This is the closest to it: http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=couch_flambeau Before the movie we went to Royale, a new-ish bar opened by the owners of Last Exit. It is a beautiful, lushly decorated, dark, aesthetically almost sexual space with fabulous happy hour specials. I think there needs to be a distinction between Williamsburg/Greenpoint and the rest of Brooklyn. Yes, the Williamsburg region is technically part of Brooklyn but from what see and know, that area stands alone (or with Queens). Different architecture, different subway lines, different people. Hell, most of the time, to get to Williamsburg via public transport, I am forced to go through Manhattan even though my start and end points are both in "Brooklyn". I've felt this way for awhile. People will tell me that they live in Brooklyn or that there's this cool event going on in Brooklyn (especially those who are not Brooklyn natives), and then I get excited thinking about brownstones and other nice architecture and about Prospect Park and about beautiful establishments with lots of history like BAM and about families who live in real diversity rather than in secular little polish, hispanic or religious jewish niches. I don't even really have anything against Williamsburg. It's not aesthetically pleasing and I'm annoyed by many of the people because they are almost all young and white and not from NY and homogenous and don't mind living in a highly toxic area, but I certainly don't mind visiting friends who live there or seeing shows there, etc. And for the record, I have many friends who live there and this rant is not an attack on any of them. This rant is purely about the Brooklyn distinction. Thursday, July 17, 2003 okay, here goes... Prima I am so excited about having a blog but I've been so bad about posting to it because the blog is so ugly in it's current form (although that will probably be resolved by the time anyone reads this). I am almost finished with a new design for it but implementing that design is a different story. All those weird blogger proprietary tags. I require the calm of mind to focus focus focus and get it up. So hard to find the motivation to keep on top of everything day after day after day. Each day I look for jobs but most of the resumes I send obviously end up in a black-hole void because I get exceptionally few responses. Some days are too hot and humid to function to capacity. I want to stay in bed and read or walk around the neighborhood and look at the pretty houses and smell the pretty flowers or cook nice food but always, in the back of my mind I'm thinking "this is nice but what about the bigger picture? what next? where is this all leading?". I constantly try to adopt a take-things-moment-to-moment attitude, relaxed, not so concerned with the future. Maybe someday. Tuesday, July 08, 2003 I despise blogger.com. It is the most counterintuitive thing in the universe. Blog is a 4-letter word. This is the first blog and the most important blog because it is the only blog.
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