Howdy!

Long time no talk! My vacation with various 'hot' female cousins has been going swimmingly so far. Only downside so far: unable to keep up with you, my faithful reader. Oh well: I've been kickin it, old skool, by writing down my thoughts on (gasp!) PAPER, whenever i've had a chance. We may keep this up in the future, depending upon positive response; just let me know if you like this feature, and I'll take it into consideration.

So, what have I been up to? The weekend before Christmas, had a ball at a White Elephant Gift Exchange at K.'s house. She throws a mean party, going to depths that I wouldn't have considered. Homemade eggnog, cheesy Christmas specials from the early 80's (complete with wonderfully TERRIBLE commercials for Sears and Strawberry Shortcake), and a green/red Christmas food motif should give you an idea as to how much thought she puts into these things.

But the real fun arose with the Gift Exchange. We go the "Most Useless Thing Ever" route for our gifts. Last year's highlights were a framed copy of the Declaration of Independence, and my favorite, a picture frame with 4(!) high school photos of the giver. {Hah!} That nearly made me wet myself, let me tell you.

MP3 update: Hey Little Man, Eddie from Ohio.

Anyhoo: this year, I brought two gifts. Number 1: one of those sample of countertop material that you might get when you update your house. Sorta like paint swatches... but a) Formica(Tm), and b) something that you would use if you were a company. Red's friend V. ended up with that, and, interestingly, she both knew the technical name for these thingys, *and* could use them in her job. It was a 'luck of the draw' thing.

The second thing I brought was something that I had ALWAYS wanted to buy at Costco or Sam's. Well, if not always, at least for about 15 years, which is as close to always as I get. Unlike many of the oversized snak packs I've ended up with over the years (such as the 12 pack of Vienna Weiner cans I bought one day while shopping hungry), I could never convince myself in my wildest dreams that I would be able to use it. Therefore, the White Elephant gift exchange was my best friend, *finally* coming up with a reason for purchase. What was this paragon of uselessness, you ask?

A 4 lb can of tuna.

Charley was indeed sorry. {grin}

I then went to Houston, to visit my paternal cousins, many of whom I had only seen 4-5 times in the past decade. I had a great time, and merely wanted to mention a couple of things, to get your interest piqued for future updates.

-Confetti in bellybutton
-Liza "Cutest thing"
-The Handsomes at Christmas
-Missed Whattaburger
-Cuz G. very successful with laydeez
-Narced on T.
-(Chose not to get high, not to get high, not to get high.)
-Holly = Brigid
-Everbabe call = highlight of day
-Uncle - PO'ed at gas station
-Better names lead to better hair?!?
-Finally, I'm now on a quest to find other, more distantly related cousins, reconnect. (Starting with K?)

I mean, seriously... if, after leaving a 9 year relationship isn't the time to reflect and reconnect with your history, I really don't know when is!

That's all for now... I leave you, invisible audience, with the request that you take it easy tonight.... we need you back after the New Year!

Alrighty...

I'm off to Houston, to see that half of the family that I'm a little less close to. Wish my luck, o' invisible audience!

Peace out, and see you in '05!

Man, getting ready to leave town for two weeks sux0r.

On the other hand, I have (re?)discovered how funny it is that Cartman-isms are working their way into "real life."

In the review for a game I saw online, a reviewer described the game as "hella cool."

It's a hella lame blog that doesn't include a definition of hella.

ITunes: Norah Jones, "Don't Know Why."

A few nights ago (12/8) there was a waitress in Middleofnowhere/Southern Illinois, who was the spitting image of Ann, my cheerleader friend from freshman year.

That was a good time for me. There were millions of women, even at Ga Tech. Well, not really... the ratio of men to women was at least 3:1... but somehow, i didn't have to worry about that.

Not because i was any great catch, or anything... in fact, it would be at least a yar before i would start dating anyone seriously. But I had two things going for me in the laydeez category.

1) I spent a lot of time in the GaTech Chorale. As there are usually statistically 2 times the women who want to sing in almost any group, the M/W ratio in Chorale asymptotically approached 1:1. (And, in fact, that's the pool I pulled each of my future long term dating prospects from. Sneaky, Sean.)

2) After my very first night singing in Chorale, I ended up (through a wild and wooly path, to be told later (if you ask nicely) meeting J (now known as Everbabe.) We immediately hit it off (both new freshmen with a love for Robert Heinlien) and, (through ANOTHER bumpy ride... what can I say? We were freshmen...) ended up best of friends.

3) Not dating, mind you. Just friends. (i still have the note to prove it.) {see? *Notes.* *Obviously* a freshman.) But really close friends. Close enough that I started spending the night in her room. A LOT.

4) Which led me to meet quite a few of her neighbors. Segregated dormitories in those days. (ah, the prudish early 90's) One of whom: Ann.

My relationship with Ann (purely platonic, of course) lasted a few years, and we were little more than nodding acquaintances. Ah, but that little more (usually a smile) was all I needed to get that extra little lift in my shoes whenever we bumped into each other. Which is why it was so nice to be reminded of her by this waitress.

It's amazing that something as small as a similar smile can take you back in time over a decade. Back when life was good, and you weren't stuck on a jobsite in Southern Illinois.

Js'kiddin.

OK;

This link is to a story by Sean Kilpatrick.

NOT me. This person, who has written a very strange story, is NOT ME.

But here's the link anyway.

NOT ME
On ITunes Right Now: Phil Collins, Groovy Kind of Love "grivering?"

Couple of interesting links. A client on the phone today, gnashing her teeth about the overly PC nature of America, sent a link to a Vonnegut short story.
Harrison something-or-other. Very quick read, and even more scathing today than when first published over 40 years ago. (!)

Then an nice snarky quote from a Slate reader, continuing the LeGuin thread.

It reminded me of my favorite critical slam against a movie: "The Scarlet Letter is 'freely adapted' from Hawthorne's novel in the same sense that methane is freely adapted from cows."

Heh.

Wowza... I was really excited about Earthsea, on SciFi. They had done a more than reasonable job with Dune, leaving me apprehensive but hopeful for this miniseries dealing with one of my favorite childhood memories.

Watched about 45 minutes last night. Was a little uncomfortable with some of the portayals (protagonist was a hell of a lot more whiny/"UncleOwennnnnnnn" than I remembered, but whatever.) I was going to watch the rest tonight.

Then today, I found a critic who agreed with me. Interestingly, that critic was URSALA K LEGUIN. The AUTHOR of the books was displeased with it.

On Tuesday night, the Sci Fi Channel aired its final installment of Legend of Earthsea, the miniseries based—loosely, as it turns out—on my Earthsea books. The books, A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan, which were published more than 30 years ago, are about two young people finding out what their power, their freedom, and their responsibilities are. I don't know what the film is about.

Heh. Snarky authors. Gotta Love 'em.

Just wanted to throw up a link to the aforementioned one-year-old's webjournal. He's pretty darn hip. Well, for a one-year-old.

hip, indeed

I have a few interesting things.

One: Went to Everbabe's child's first birthday party the other day. Transcript of her email to me.

I was glad to have you here saturday - SeanJr really likes you, and we think you're ok too!

...

We took SeanJr to the doctor, where we were told he is off the charts in height and weight by the nurse. She told us "this means he's bigger than 100 percent of the kids his age."

How about THAT!

Yes, math *is* fun. Speaking of statistics and psychology, that leads into my...

Funlink: A look at the psychology behind investing, at my favorite overall site, Slate.com

Music on iTunes right now: Get Me Outta Here , by Jet

Replaced True Name of Baby w/Nickname

Not only is Rapid City, Iowa, supposed to get some rain... apparently it's in the middle of Lake Michigan....
Posted by Hello

Okay, weird question for you. Have you ever picked up the phone, dialed somebody, and then forgotten exactly what was going on? This just happened to me, and let me tell you: it's just about the biggest way to feel like an idiot without actually causeing property damage. (Example of the previous would have to be the 'Don't Hit Dug's Car' story, which i'll have to tell you later.)

This just happened to me. I was sitting in a Hardee's having lunch (more on that later) and decided i really liked the chicken sandwich. (oh... i guess it must be later already) [that's right] (well.... get on with your story) [alright... if you stop interrupting.] (i'll be quiet as a churchmouse) ANYhoo: Chicken sandwich. Really good. So: I called J. (who I might start calling Everbabe, from the massive way she plays MMOPRG's.) And then I turned down my mp3 player. And then I ate a fry. And then I had other bite of my sandwich, and continued typing up my reports for work. And then she answered. And then I had another fry. And the--- "Ummm.,..... Hello?" Running through MY head: {crap - who is this? why did she just call me? wait... that doesn't sound right... omigod- i called HER... i should probably say SOMETHING..... or, i could just hang up.... but i must have called for SOME reason.... these fries are pretty good.... FOCUS, man! stick with the basics... } ".....Hello." Believe it or not, the conversation went downhill from there. {grin}

Back to my REAL point for this update. Hardee's chicken sandwich: Surprisingly good. I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Burger King Original Chicken Sandwich 4 out of 5
Loses points for excessive mayo – still one of the best, though.

Arby's Chicken Sandwich 4 out of 5
This one has a lot of nostalgia for me, and takes back to my time wasted after school.

Chic-Fil-A Chicken Sandwich 4.5 out of 5
Still at the top of the heap. Peanut oil, i think, gives it it’s special zing.

Hardee's Chicken Sandwich 4.5 out of 5
Very large, very flat, very good.

Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich 8.5 out of 5
The normal doesn’t approach this ‘un.

McDonalds Chicken Sandwich ?? out of 10
I'm not even sure what this tastes like. The crispy chicken, however, is like
what you used to get at middle school lunch.

All night, at J's wedding, we continued to call this the "Woman who forgot to put on her pants."
Posted by Hello