1.) If you had only $5 to spend for lunch/dinner in the city you currently reside, where would you go and what would you eat?

I could get a lunch special at the Boba House, which is the new vegetarian place across the street from the record store. But, I'm really one of the rice and lentil no-meat loafs that I can get at Earthfare. They're a hearty meal, but expensive. $4+.

2.) If you had only $5 to purchase a gift for a 10-year old girl or boy (you pick) what would you get and why?

Could I get a book for five bucks? If so, I'd probably do that. Holes, maybe.

3.) If you had $5 in gas money (or in bus transfers) on a lazy day where would you go and what would you do?

If five bucks could get me to Chapel Hill and back I might do that. And just hang out. If it was the summer, I'd drive to the Dan and go tubing.

4.) If you could only spend $5 on a date, where would you take your interest and what would you do to entertain yourselves (CLEAN ANSWERS ONLY)?

A baseball game is my preferred choice, but those dates seem to tank. Movies and shows are under five sometimes. But, those dates tank too. Maybe, I'd spend four dollars on two turns in the photobooth at the store.

5.) And in keeping with my theme, if you had $5 to spend for a gift for a bachlor/bachlorette party (but you can't spend it on exotic dancers or alcoholic drinks) what would you get and why?

Oh shit, I don't know. Chances are I wouldn't be invited to a bachelor party anyway.

Halloween - my favorite holiday cause candy + costumes is approaching. What festivities abound for you guys? I'm carving my pumpkin head tomorrow - I'm thinking about gluing the seeds all over the face to some effect. As for an outfit, this year inspiration hasn't struck. I tried on all my wigs last night (purple, pink, green, black and pale blue) but nothing. I may redo my voodoo doll costume from years past but want to find something around the house that will cause no $$. What about y'all?

1.) If you had only $5 to spend for lunch/dinner in the city you currently reside, where would you go and what would you eat?
black bean or mashed potato tacos or pho or gyros or potstickers are all in range.

2.) If you had only $5 to purchase a gift for a 10-year old girl or boy (you pick) what would you get and why? interesting books from the thrift store and a pack of crayons. we'd cut the books up and repurpose them into a journal/ collage.

3.) If you had $5 in gas money (or in bus transfers) on a lazy day where would you go and what would you do?
go to kubota gardens. it is a couple of transfers away, but it currently my favorite park in the city. i can jump onto one of the rocks in a pond and it is big enough island for comfortable sitting.

4.) If you could only spend $5 on a date, where would you take your interest and what would you do to entertain yourselves (CLEAN ANSWERS ONLY)? browse for library books. take a chocolate milkshake or hot chocolate (seasonal) to read aloud to each other in the park.

5.) And in keeping with my theme, if you had $5 to spend for a gift for a bachlor/bachlorette party (but you can't spend it on exotic dancers or alcoholic drinks) what would you get and why?
batteries.everyone needs batteries.

I'm back. I just spent the last week on a family vacation to Arizona. Grand Canyon, yeah. Red rocks, yeah. Eight days in the car with family, no my friend, not again for a long time. Everyone's great - but that exceeded my limit. It's so nice to be home again. Last night I sang a little song - it went something like this
"hello, my home, so nice to be home again, hello refridgerator, why are you so empty, hello bed, I'm so glad to be home again," (I didn't say it was a good song).
Angel - it gets a big "eh" from me this season. I loved how dark last season got with the Conner storyline - but I stopped liking Spike at the beginning of Season 4 Buffy so I won't be tuning in. Alias is my tv of choice.
So I even watched some baseball this weekend and enjoyed it. I am so not about sports but it was hard not to get caught up.
Now I have a jillion emails and phone messages to get through. Hope everyone is having a nice week.

I ran a red light at full speed on my way to work a few minutes ago. I came very, very close to a serious crash or death. I don't know what I was thinking about. Actually, one thought I do remember was seeing the 18 wheeler pulling into the intersection and thinking, "This guy isn't going to stop and I'm going to have to swerve him." Then another car blows in front of me at like 30 miles an hour and I realize I'm the one who's run the light. It was just like a movie. If the transfer truck had been going any faster, or if the other car had been going any slower, I'd be fucked up right now. Jesus, my muscles are all weak. I'm normally a very safe driver.

Hey, Kainui - It's confirmed.

My IQ score is 133

We also compared your answers with others who have taken the test, and according to the sorts of questions you got correct, we can tell your Intellectual Type is Visual Mathematician.
This means you are gifted at spotting patterns — both in pictures and in numbers. These talents combined with your overall high intelligence make you good at understanding the big picture, which is why people trust your instincts and turn to you for direction — especially in the workplace. And that's just some of what we know about you from your test results.

---

Sad news about Elliott Smith. Check here.

1. Name five things in your refrigerator.
two kinds organic juice, two eggs, one container soy milk, condiments, can't think of anything else, there isn't much in my refrigerator, maybe cheese?

2. Name five things in your freezer.
year old bags of organic blueberries, rat food pellets, baggies of mixed vegetables made for the rats, empty ice cube trays, frozen headache mask

3. Name five things under your kitchen sink.
empty plastic bags, wood polish, dish soap, rat dip, dustpan

4. Name five things around your computer.
list of research topics and library books to check out, glow in the dark caterpillar toy, cds, half empty mug of tea, pictures of family and friends

5. Name five things in your medicine cabinet.
dental floss, deoderant, lotion, perfume, nail clippers

6. Guns N Roses Yea or Nay.
Hell yeah!

Guess which one of the five people who live in my house didn't get laid last night. I'll get you a hint: it was me. Monster Island, I miss you.

Kainui - As if more evidence was needed that you and I were not meant to be together... Top Gun is easily in my top ten favorite movies. I absolutely love it.

I've heard the Fire Theft album once or twice in the store. It sounds good-more like SDRE than the last Sunny Day album, actually-but, I haven't paid close enough attention to pass judgement. Andrew and Mike and Thad (all from the store) tell me its great. I'm not really in a emo-y place right now. I'd rather listen to Steely Dan or Michael Jackson or Talking Heads. There aren't enough conga tracks on the Fire Theft to catch my notice.

That confession site is troubling and addictive at the same time.

Steph - What are your thoughts on the first three episodes of Angel this season? (Have you seen them?) I'm trying to keep an open mind, but I can't help being a little disappointed. It all the least interesting things about Buffy/Angel (Monster of the Week/stock characterizations/bad British slang) without the stuff I like (the great dialog/the mythology/the drama). I'm hoping they can pull it up. After all, there have only been three episodes so far. More Wesley! Less Super-Gunn! More broody Angel! Less comic relief Angel!

Have any of you seen Carnavale? That show is coool. Very freaky-deaky.

If there is any justice left in the world, the Marlins will pimpslap the Yankees in four.

hooray Zach!! thanks for our autumn makeover!

Steph, has the house reabsorbed you into it's womb? how's unpacking going?

Mike/ Zach have you heard Fire Theft? i got a 2 song sampler and i think it is really good.

i'm working on a zine with a woman named Shell. we were talking (on IM) about the state of being overeducated and underemployed and why you would stay that way (either by conscoius choice or circumstance.) both of us happen to have not especially challenging office manager type jobs so i'm thinking about jobs that contribute little to your life except for money, or perhaps the opposite, jobs which contribute a lot ot your life, but not much in the way of money. i'm looking at Mike, Zach, and Kainui here, but any of you are welcome to participate, or if you have friends who fit the bill here and would be interested in contributing please send them to me, or send me to them. the timeline is pretty long (nothing due before early next year), and this project is in it's most preliminary stages so there is a whole lot of leeway to fit in anything that fits the theme. in Shell's words, "Please say yes. Or say maybe and let us persuade you." hooray for overeducated underachieving

Oh my goodness. Look at this.

I hadn't noticed the lack of blogger button. I'll fix that tonight.

Okay, guys serve up some links. i'd rather have links to things that are a part of your lives rather than interests or whatever.

Positive comments will be accepted. Negative comments, Kainui, will be referred to my fat ass.

Big changes in the look of blog coming tonight. Look out!

The 60 hour work week continues. I'm running on E all the time these days, but, you know, its okay. I'm getting things done, making some dough, getting out.

A breakdown:

Carson-Dellosa Publishing - I've been working here for over a month now. I feel very comfortable and I really like both what I'm doing and who I work with. If I was offered a permanent position I'd take it in a minute. I don't know the likelihood of that happening, but I think that I'm well liked and doing a good job. The office is really casual. I'm wearing jeans and my shirt is untucked. They seem to be unconcerned about my unkept hair and busted out shoes. Most of the time I work on books and listen to my walkman. There are two types of work I do. For the more complex proofing and rewriting stuff, I listen to music. But, for the much more mindless correcting work, I can listen to audiobooks. Nothing moves a day along like a task and an audiobook. Today, I've been listening to the audio of Al Franken's Lying Liars book. Its funny.

Gate City Noise - The record shop is a good place to work and hang and stuff. I still really love it there. I can only work twice a week, so I'm not around as much as I was. We've got some fun stuff coming up. The Reading Day sale is going to be 24 hours with bands playing at 5am. I think my band is going to play the opening slot. Then some others from around. We've got a photobooth in there now. i should scan some of the photos to show you guys.

Deep Roots Market - Deep Roots has the hottest staff on the planet. I feel like I'm throwing off the average. All in all, a nice place to work. And I'll be relying on it when Carson-Dellosa kicks me out. I don't know nearly enough about health food to work there though. I'm slowly picking things up, but its hard. Hippies eat some fruity shit.

Dawn Chorus - The band just finished our mixing. I can't remember if I already told you that. The finished stuff is nice. Clay, the guy who mixed it, comes from a reduction school, meaning anything you don't need on the song, you dump. we pulled so much off one song, its sounds like a totally different song. Its great.

1.) When you are upset or angry, what do you do to relieve those feelings?
I try to exercise or write in my journal and talk it out with the person in best case scenario. Worst case, I impersonate a toddler and wail around my room.

2.) Has your relationship with your parents improved or worsened since you moved out of their home? Why so?
I think it's about the same. I'm about to go on a family vacation with them to the Grand Canyon this week - I'll let you know when I get back.

3.) What is your favorite/least vegetable?
I'm a veggie lover. I agree with the it's all in the preparation - and pour cheese on it and I'll like about anything. But if forced to chose, I really like spinach. Least - definately cauliflower.

4.) If you could change your name what would you change it to?
I like my name - but it might be fun to add on even more syllables.

5.) Would/have you ever gone sky diving?
You mean "falling from the sky" - does not appeal.

So I went to my college roommate's wedding this past weekend - I was part photographer/part guest. Oh, it was so nice - very laid back plans - very laid back wedding. I love working with an organized, mellow bride. And it was a college reunion as well. I love how weddings allow me to see so many friends from far away in one place. (people traveled from Puerto Rico, France, Tanzania).

1.) When you are upset or angry, what do you do to relieve those feelings?
umm, various healthy coping methods including: bottle feelings up till explosion, usually at the wrong person. occasionally the direct "talk it out approach." avoid all human contact till extreme loneliness superceded anger/upset. paint. write bad freeform poetry then rip it up before i begin to think it is "good." make loud sounds. play soccer.
2.) Has your relationship with your parents improved or worsened since you moved out of their home? Why so?
in some ways it is better, in some ways it is worse. our relationship is bound by unrealized mutual expectations and disappointment.
3.) What is your favorite/least vegetable?
really bad at picking favorite anythings. i really like edamame. most vegetables can be prepared so that i love or hate them. i'm still learning how to cook vegetables since the method i grew up on was canned and reheated or mixed into an unidentifiable casserole and add meat bits. i'd rather eat vegetables in restaurants. when cooking them myself i usually just lightly steam. i don't like cauliflower or brussel sprouts.
4.) If you could change your name what would you change it to?
as a kid i wanted to change it to anything that didn't rhyme easily, by now i'm ok with my name and don't really want to be called anything else.
5.) Would/have you ever gone sky diving?
haven't ever, probably won't. maybe when i'm really old, or maybe if someone else pays. nah, probably still not even then.

1.) When you are upset or angry, what do you do to relieve those feelings?

I've been known to kick some shit. But, I don't get that kind of angry very often. Mostly, if I'm pissed I just stew in it and listen to some music or something. I'm pretty bad about talking junk, so I'm not above going and finding someone to listen to me talk about what an asshole so and so is.

2.) Has your relationship with your parents improved or worsened since you moved out of their home? Why so?

Hard to say. Its changed a lot. They still have a lot to do with my finacial upkeep, which I think they rightfully resent a little bit, even if they don't realize it. Plus, my parents have a baffling attitude toward our relationship. They are convinced that anything beyond asking, "How are you doing?" when I call them, is an invasion of my privacy. Nothing that I've tried to convince them otherwise has work. That element of things has actually gotten a lot worse over the years to the point now where my parents manage to hurt my feelings fairly regularily with their (seeming) lack of interest in my life. But, they're good people, and they love me and I love them. I miss them. I have had a chance to see my folks in weeks and weeks.

3.) What is your favorite/least vegetable?

Onions = suck. Lately I've been really into string beans.

4.) If you could change your name what would you change it to?

Stinky McCracken.

5.) Would/have you ever gone sky diving?

Would but can't due to fatness. Sore subject.

Last night I had a dream where I was afraid or being chased or something; that part is vague…so I went into the attic of my parents’ house and one of my coworkers (whom I barely know and am slightly intimidated by) was there tending hives of bees. He told me it was good to stay in touch with the demigods (meaning the bees.) The hive was in need of cleaning.
Then I looked into the darkness of the attic behind him. The spaces between the beams which should have been full of pink cotton candy fiberglass insulation were instead mounded with dirt. Tortoises began moving out of the mounds toward me really quickly and began leaping (?) towards me. I was overjoyed to see them because I thought they’d been lost, or died, and instead they were coming back to me.

collected interpretations...

attic
may represent higher consciousness, the mind or intellect, a higher, greater or more holistic perspective and your connection to the higher self, or hidden memories, repressed thoughts that are being revealed, or difficulties in your life that will hinder you from attaining your goals and aspirations until overcoming a long period of struggle. as an upper story it represents lofty aspirations that you will have much difficulty with, but will win out to your goals after an extended period of time. condition of the attic will provide further interpretational clues e.g. a cluttered attic may suggest an area of your life that requires attention or cleansing, if brightly lit, then you will have luck with either love or matrimony. if the attic is chaotic this will be a sign telling you to organize your thoughts for better living..

bees/ beehives
a beehive in your dream, denotes that there are many opportunities for you to get ahead in life and to not let them escape from your grasp. it symbolizes hard work and the importance of teamwork, being industrious, productive, or hard working (busy as a bee)or being obsessed with something, (a bee in your bonnet.) to see an empty beehive, signifies sorrow over love affairs and loss in income. to dream of destroying a beehive, symbolizes losses and temporary poverty.
dreaming of bees, symbolizes good luck, harmony, and bliss or work and industry. dreaming that you are stung by a bee means you are vulnerable, stung or hurt or that an unexpected misfortune is surrounding you with trouble you need to relax, let go, just be. queen bee may symbolize either needing to value yourself more or seeing yourself as being superior to others or may also symbolize the divine feminine in you

tortoise
a tortoise in your dream, suggests that you need to take some chances in order to get ahead in life. opportunities for advancement are opened to you, but you need to take the next step. slow but steady progress ,defensiveness, resilience or a hard outer façade used to protect or disguise a fragile and vulnerable inner core.

We woke up in a world where Arnold Swarzenegger is the chief executive of the world's fifth largest economy. This fucking bastard...

Thank god for Article II, Section 1 of the US Constitution.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.articleii.html#section1

There needs to be a war crimes tribunal called against math teachers. Fractions are a crime against humanity. I'm sitting here adding fractions. No one has ever added fractions past the age of 12. What a worthless skill. What a waste of time.

Mike F - You are stoked. Shit, I'm stoked for you. Now we get to watch them lose to the Yankees.

At the risk of sounding totally juvenile, I'd like to note the amount of female genital awareness in my life of the last few weeks. The life of the modern male geek has little to do with this subject. Perhaps unsurprisingly. But, there it is, over and over, the theme of October. Two of the women I work with are having babies. Actually, one of them delivered on Saturday. The other one has some details, all within the bounds of taste, but all basically about the first lady's pipes. I'm listening to fifteen minutes about a co-worker's vagina. Last night, my periphery involvement with a woman, lead to a periphery involvement in a urinary tract infection conversation. It having nothing whatever to do with me, I tried my best to hold a separate conversation with Tim, not about, you know, our bodies. The two female conversees are two newish friends of mine. Girls I see pretty often and really enjoy being around. They're not really friends with each other, more friends of friends. The first one, the platonic friend, schooled me on my aversion to women's physical concerns about a month ago. I was told that being knowledgable about the current weather conditions of a woman's (or girlfriend's) vagina is not only an obligation and an responsibility, but also something of a honor. The other girl, the slightly less platonic one seemed trying to hold the conversation quietly. Understandable. The night before I described to her a film I had seen on Thursday in which a mother explains to her daughter how babies get both into and out of mommies. The film was made in the sixies and featured some truly bizarre moments of really progressive (very un-60s) sexual education. The scene in question featured a June Cleaver-ish mom and a six year old girl. The mother used hand gestures to convey how the process worked. She used the classic finger and thumb-forefinger circle to show the little girl how the baby got there. Then to show how the baby comes out she made a vagina with her two hands and expanded it. When the hand vagina was dilated enough she took one of her hands and pushed it as a fist out through the half circle of the other. We were dumbstruck. The platonic friend gasped. The sixties, it seemed, had all the same parts we have today.
The expectation, which I sometimes play to to be funny, is that men are either uncaring or grossed out. I am not grossed out, in the least. Honestly, you can talk about it. There is very little about the functioning of the human body that I am uncomfortable with. Nor am I uncaring. For fifteen years I've had recurring kidney troubles. It's not exactly the same, but it does affect my particulars. I'm happy that my co-worker had her baby. I'm sorry that my friend is in pain. It's none of my business, of course, but I would listen.

It's Monday all over. A good thing?

October has been a flood of birthdays.
Unpacking is at 60%.

I think the word "delicious" sucks. I want that word stricken from the English language. Its so corny and slimy. Oh, this snot pudding is delicious!

Do you guys remember how on Friends Chandler has that totally nebulous, sterile office job, and how in order to get a laugh out of that set-up they always refer to some piece of paperwork that has the acronym W.E.N.I.S? So, Chandler gets to say lines like, "I'm looking at the W.E.N.I.S. right now and I am not happy!" I've been giggling everytime someone hands me a folder this morning. The W.E.N.I.S...