April 11th thru the 17th, 2004

Now I am waiting for Easter dinner, typing this up and uploading it thanks to my folk's new wireless router. I am also in a bad mood, but I tell you about it later. I hate being in a bad mood. Who doesn't, right? But I have trouble letting things go. Hooray for me, I get to stew. Suffice it to say: IT'S NONE OF YOU! Anyone who ever has read this blog: it's not you.

So, heck, what do I do to entertain you. I can't even show you any pictures of my latest activities since my camera won't talk to this computer. I hate TV. TV is on right now. I am sitting in my parent's living room, taking full advantage of the new wireless router, waiting for swordfish to be cooked. We watched a few minutes of Mad TV, a few of Walker, Texas Ranger, and now its VH1, some show about Hollywood bad boys turned doting fathers (Colin Farrell is a bad boy because he a)drinks, b)smokes, c)swears, and d)kisses Britney Spears. Do I have to point out what's silly about that). So, I guess, we'll chat about Hollywood.

What ever happened to M. Night Shyamalan? 6th Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, those were all good films. What's he working on now? IMDB says... ooh! The Village is in post-production! There's a website and a trailer too!

How about Guy Ritchie? Lock, Stock, Etc, great! Snatch, great! Swept Away... bombed so bad, it made Dressden look like two kids with half a dozen black cats. But, hey, IMDB says Revolver is in production... but delayed for some reason.

There's that movie Godsend coming up. A cloning movie. But Greg Kinnear and Robert de Niro? And Rebecca Romijn-Stamos is probably a good actress, if they would quite giving her one-dimensional roles. I don't know. Maybe someone will drag me to it

Hey! Anyone want me to review a movie? I'll do it. Challenge me. Give me a weird one.

Okay so I went and hung out with that dude. After the Sharks game we watched "The Swan". Its that show where they pluck homely women out of their little lives, and give them three months of plastic surgery and personal trainers, with nary a mirror in sight. Of two each week, one is picked for the big-time beauty pageant at the end of the season. Hmm... Do I aprove? Is this a bad thing? Maybe I'll bring it up on a Tuesday. Ooh, it turns out the winner from week #1 is from nearby Sammamish, WA.

I forgot to tell you that I started reading The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie. That was April 4th. I finished it April 8th. Yes, I am still reading GEB, I even have it with me here in San Jose. But just now for lunch I picked up The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger and had IN N Out Burger. I just woke up from a nap, have to pick-up a co-worker at the dentist's so we can drive in San Francisco for some barbecue, this cube smells because who ever worked her before had the kind of BO that seeps in to things, and the guy in the cube across from me is talking to his wife, again, about how life sucks for them since they have to take care of some old man (near as I can tell). My brain is feeling all philisophical-- hope I don't bore my co-worker too much. I guess we can talk about work.

Okay so that's done. We went to Memphis Minnie's on Haight. A+ barbecue. The brisket was so tender it was almost soup. They don't cook with the sauce on, you add it yourself, and they had three to choose from, A Texas Red, a Louisiana Mustard and a Red Vinegar. I'm adding it to my "must do when in the Bay Area" list-- along with the visiting friends, the buying of Grandfather's Port, and the looking for Rubber Ducks, of course.

I have said this before, but I am going to say it again: I think I am allergic to San Jose. No, really. I needed a nap cause I was so tired and my eyes were itchy and my daily sneeze turned into a thrice daily sneeze. Oh well.

The show is over; dad did not win. There were 11 comics up that night... wonder if I can remember them, and do they have web sites? It was dad's best set ever, though: he's jokes were killing, he had the rhythma nd the pacing, it was a very proud moment. And the people who won were very funny-- in my opinion 2 of the 3 deserved it, and the third was just okay. But, anyway, dad does have more competitions coming up, so it won't be long before he lands one.

The day progressed. And then Botro and Orbot came over, we went to the Texas barbecuse place, picked up Texas Barbecue and NOT Thai food, brisket and pork and turkey and coleslaw and potatoe salad and cornbread, a 12 of coke at my man Larry's, some television and conversation, and then "The Apprentice." I had never watched it before, but they recapped at the start for me. We sipped port as they annouced the winner. Good for him. I think the next show should be in Utah. Trump marries 16 women, and the last one to survive gets to divorce hime for a huge settlement. Call it "The Allimoniest" or something.

And that was Thursday, my friends, my lovers, my enemies, my others, that, as it were, was it.

I've just spent the last 3 hours finishing The Time Traveller's Wife. It is, in the final analysis, a romance novel. But once again I have learned something that I would not have learned, I have experienced something I would not have experienced, were it not for the wiser minds of my friends overcoming my self-indulgent arrogance. Suffice it to say that I am glad I read it. And the lady who asked me to read it, either she knows how to push my buttons or got lucky, for when it comes to books I will rarely ever take "suggestions" but will often read something if someones asks me to directly. So, enough babble-- time for a synopsis. Clare meets Henry for the first time when she is 6. Henry meets Clare for the first time when she is 20. Yes, I am being clever with direct objects, but I am also being wholly accurate.

Note: I have seen some reviewers comparing Henry to Odysseus. Also, there is a scene which ends with more or less a direct quote from James Joyce's Ulysses. Don't trust the reviewers if you are interested in this book, and friends, never ever trust James Joyce.

What else did I do today? Ate some left over barbecue, some mac and cheese. Drank some Cokes. Abanwith came over for 3 hours and we talked about rule #1 (The Dance Instructor is Always Right) and rule #2 (If the Dance Instructor Screws Up, Refer to Rule #1).

Later I went to the store and captured vittles. And shampoos. And impending visit from a friend of mine meant I wanted to get the guest bathrom stocked with shampoos and lotions. My friends, you see, like to stay clean. Still later I made it to Barnes&Noble, did NOT find the new book by Thomas Berger or the one by Tibor Fischer, but DID find one by Percival Everett: A History of the African-American People (Proposed) by Strom Thurmond, as told to Percival Everett & James Kincaid (A Novel)

Still later I trekked automobilishly to Agua Verde with still yet more friends, and we dined, ladies and gentleman, we dined. Then over to a club called Contour. It was Russian Trance night. Not two steps out of the bathroom after I had arrived and they're playing "Shiny Disco Balls," a song off the X-box DDR. Brilliant.

Thus Spake Saturshia.