This is the Thread Where I Say Pt 28: My Pimp Hand is Strong

Tina got a big ole butt
I know I told you I'd be true
But Tina got a big ole butt
So I'm leavin' you...

Hi, wow, unsolicited hostility.

Let me respond to your post in a sort-of general way before I tackle a few points individually. To the personal charges of negative attitude and elitism I have little to offer in my defense except for this: I find it useless in any discourse to challenge the speaker’s intention rather than responding to their stated point. If you find my style elite or negative I’m largely unconcerned, but I think that may be the kind of sentiment better kept unexpressed. Electronic media are (obviously) terrible for conveying tone, subtext, and intention and seem to have a way of exacerbating skirmishes into bulge-battles. And if you /do/ already find me a snobby pessimist, I’m sorry, but I’m more concerned with expressing my frustration at this discussion ( which others mentioned on Tuesday’s class) than the tone of my response.

Now, I think I want to go through your suggestions in-line, so I’ll apologize preemptorily for cutting-up your text.

If you do not listen to the people that have already spoken on the discussion board (i.e., read the other posts) and incorporate what they have said in your response, and just speak, that is not a discussion. It is a monolog. [sic]

I totally agree, XXXXXX, and that is why my last three posts have been direct reponses to the questions / points others have raised. I went back to check them, too. I was hoping, in all cases, that the original posters would reply to me, but I’m batting 0 for 3. In each case I’ve quoted the speaker’s original text - doing to a lesser extent what I’m doing here - and responded after ample thought.

Just because you may have to read a paragraph or more, rather than a sentence or two that constitutes a “post” on other discussion boards, and based on the fact that you can not tack on a simple “yeah, I saw that movie too” and call it a “response” as they may do on other boards, does not mean this forum can not work for discussion.

Your snarky quotes around post aside, I think your assessment of all internet movie boards as thoughtless, rapid-fire, and vacuous forums for single-line response is totally baseless. I’ve never once typed-out as facile a response as ‘yeah, I saw that movie too’ and doubt that anybody would in any of the other forums where I work. Beyond the pervasive and uncritical fan culture which has swept-up the popular conception of internet discussion, there are tremendously academic, thoughtful, and articulate discussions which I’d advise you to research before your blanket dismissal.

Second, a post needs to consist of actual substance and have a point of view or stance on some subject. It can not just be random thoughts loosely strung together. These types of post say nothing that another person can agree or disagree with. It leaves nothing for anyone to build on.

As a courtesy to you, XXXX, I read all of your previous posts before responding to this one. I credit you with taking strong and arguable positions every time, and with stating upfront your thesis statement. Nevertheless, I couldn’t help noticing that you despite your insistance that posters refer to previous statements, you never seem to do this yourself. Given the changing role of the board in our class, this is excusable thus far, but it does very little with furthering the discussion. ‘Actual substance’ too, is a problematic charge on a board in which many of the contributions are reconstituted, cut-and-dried, or what-have-you. Posts, for instance, stating that Griffith was a master inventor who contributed much to film lexicon but are culturally idiotic and offensive are themselves lacking in ‘actual substance’ because the points are so utterly obvious.

Finally, I suggest you check your negative attitude, preconceived notions as to what constitutes a discussion board, elitist ideas of how to run a film discussion board, at the door and actually spend as much time concentrating on the technical, social, economic, political and historical impact that silent film has had on cinema history,

Each of my posts previous to the one on this Week 5 discussion has done, I hope, just this. As a matter of fact, this is /exclusively/ what I’ve concerned myself with.

and possibly how these pictures have paved the way for you to have the opportunity to study and create films presently. If you would actually concern yourself with content of the course, rather than the form it may have,

I don’t find these as seperable discussions as you seem to, Dean, and think that the content of a course is largely guided by its form. Wanting to engage in a discussion of pedegogy doesn’t suggest I’m unconcerned with the content at all, but (to my eyes) indicates an attempt to actively engage with it.

you may be surprised at what an organic and inartificial experience this class may create for you and your classmates.

I hope so, XXXX.

...

I don’t find these as seperable discussions as you seem to, [XXXX], and think that the content of a course is largely guided by its form. Wanting to engage in a discussion of pedegogy doesn’t suggest I’m unconcerned with the content at all, but (to my eyes) indicates an attempt to actively engage with it.

Nice.

In other news, Hi everyone! I find my pimp hand is strong, but my pimp spirit is weak.

...Catch my drift?

You're the type of guy that likes to drink Olde English
I'm the type of guy to cold put on a pamper
You're the type of guy to say, "What you talkin bout?"
I'm the type of guy to leave my drawers in your hamper

I'm that type of guy

I am the worst influence on you love...

However, if you are going to cite the brilliant work of documentary filmmaker Brent Owens, this is an important distinction:

Hoe:

http://www.pointshop.com/id-1018//ImgUpload/P_335605_352423.jpg

Ho:

ihttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v304/ashbyman/004-01.jpg

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Blast.

many xposts

Also: People, please tell me if this is a good idea or not.

And Mark, responding to your query re: Wes Wehmiller -- yes, I did hear the news about his passing. It was very sad.

---

It's 8.53pm, CST, and in 2 hours I have to leave for a film shoot. I'll be gaffing for a stupid advertisement from 11:30pm until 8:30am. After that I have 30 minutes to sleep, then at 9:00 I have to leave for class. I'll be the first person on the planet to admit poor judgement/conversation/motor skills on limited sleep, and I'm dreading tomorrow. Fucking dud, ehh? This is the first time since '01 I'll pull an all-nighter without the aid of contraband psychotropics, and I'm a little worried I might go kinda crazy on like 25+ hours w/o sleep. Am I being paranoid, or is this a legitimate concern?

Actually, I'm really hoping on getting some people to join this community and bring to me what it is that I have been so desperately seeking, i.e. a fan-centric place to discuss fan-centric issues in an intelligent yet slightly exuberant and biased manner. It's really not much use trying to elicit that sort of thing from the people who hang out on this forum, so hopefully LJ might provide me with it instead.

And as for what you're going to be doing -- HOLY CRAP, I wish you the best of luck in attempting to get through that kind of day. Holy cow. I hope you'll be able to get some rest after all that.

I wonder if Remy got any sleep last night. Or are you still up?

I keep wanting to ask for opinions in general about company/product naming. I'm trying to come up with a name for my book projects (since I think that just calling it "Sgs's-real-name Books" is boring) and keep hitting on good things that then don't pass a quick google test. The latest possibility is Counterweight. I've picked out a drawing to use as logo thing: http://www.strangehorizons.com/2002/20020819/first.jpg and were "perpetual motion" not already claimed by a similar indie-press initiative, I'd have chosen that.

I keep making lists of cool words that relate tangentially to the little machine design. It reminds me of trying to come up with band names. I have also discovered I have a fondness for silent letters, particularly silent Gs.

I also just achieved a possible low point in my life by cutting my mouth on a spork. For fuck's sake.

Have you tried going back to sleep? It's the only thing that'll make the suffering stop. Unless you can masturbate successfully, that'll help for a few minutes at least.

MORE COFFEE TO THE PORT NACELLE, CAPTAIN!

RED ALERT: INSOMNIAC KLINGONS IN THE ALPHA QUADRANT! PREPARE FOR WARP!

I'm going a bit nutty.

Remy, good luck--can you just take a sick day from class?

Stelfox - Think of the Wombles instead.

In the US, foster homes can often be shady operations, homes where a couple take in children just for the money they get from the state. They have no special training in dealing with kids. It's not rare to hear of kids being abused in foster homes.

xpost

Orbit, just to pre-empt any upset at my posts above - I think it's fantastic that you're concerned about the kid's welfare, and that you're making such an effort to see him alright.

(this isn't pre-empting at all, now you've responded, but the intention remains the same. Thanks for explaining in more detail - and good luck)

Also, there's a great one called Hot Jazz - but I have yet to see them cut, just in gardens.

This is exactly why I always carry a gun.

I stayed up too late last night and am hurting now, but I just woke up. It should go away.

(xpost The line in the goat means he's jumping.)

I am ambivalent about valentine's day. I used to make cards, but once in college made something I thought was really special for someone and didn't get a thank you in the way I'd hoped. I then overreacted, and decided not to make a big effort again. I actually prefer making cards for friends I think. I have to say I really dislike e-cards, even though I know the sentiment in all the ones I've received to be heartfelt, I'd rather get a plain email somehow.

Later, at a party last night, she told one of my friends to 'keep Remy away from me' and alternately 'protect me from Remy' because I was harassing her. Now, I:
(a) Haven't cared for this girl from the first impression
(b) Have made strong efforts to be nice to her since she's not very sociable or mature and I'm in a position of slightly higher social clout.
(c) Know that she drinks before writing class because she's 'scared'
of the instructors.
(d) Has been citing the fact that (two months ago) I added her on friendster.

That's fantastic - I'm going to their Toronto show this coming week!

You do realise you did wrong, right?

So... does anyone have any solutions here? What can I do to make up for this? (Because of a recent illness, I can't really do much in the way of exercise, because my ability to breathe has been affected, and I've become more sensitive to even the slightest hint of being out-of-breath. Just to let you know.)

Evberyone's allowed treats once in a while, especially when they've been as diligent as you have.

It's interesting you mention the length of time involved - you're right, I saw a month of successful dieting as a massively impressive and good thing. I moan about my weight, but mostly when I diet I have atarget of, say, 7-10 pounds; I could, if I worked hard, lose that in a month. But I forget that other people aren't in my position with their aims or, indeed, their metabolism. I hope I didn't seem rude in any way.

I hate myself.

My cat is quite poorly & i am gutted about it, I really don't know how to handle it.

Whats up with kitty?

why is it that when i read luna's post i interpreted "i lo..." as I LOATHE YOU MOTHERFUCKER ETC. oh wait, no, wrong l-word.

...hmmm. but i can relate to that (the almost saying the real l-word then realizing that it's probably not time), i've totally been the same way, especially when sleepy. which is just about always.

though i just got a jokey valentine from someone who i really wished would say something heartfelt today. well, something heartfelt NOT along the lines of "i loathe you". i guess i can be thankful for that, i suppose.

happy valentine's day! i love you all! kisses!

(haha, I think he'd have hung up on me for 'I loathe you' as well. I feel less dumb today as I don't think he noticed).

This will probably come back to bite me in the ass, but DAMN.

Thank you. You may now return to your regularly scheduled ilxing.

So I had this dream last night, and in it Huk was visiting us, and there was some sort of stand-up event going on, and I had agreed to take part in it with him. Not as a comedy team, but I agreed that I would do a bit too. But as I was waiting for showtime I quickly realized I didn't really have any material. Maybe I had one joke and I wasn't remembering it well. All I could remember was Huk's "couldn't hear me not having sex" joke but I couldn't use that because, well, because he was going to go after me.

Anyway it was nearly my turn to go and I went to the bathroom. As I was coming out of the bathroom, one of the waitress, with a smile, threw a glass of urine on me and scampered away. I was livid. I was wearing, like, a blazer, and I took that off, and I went and complained to the manager, who was indifferent, and then my name was called. So I went onstage.

The stage was right near the bar, and there were all these glasses and plates and whatnot. I had a glass of water in my hand, and I introduced myself, and in the middle of my introduction I threw the glass on the floor and it smashed. And then basically the rest of my routine was five minutes of breaking glasses and plates and so forth, while making very small talk.

For whatever reason, the bar didn't stop me from doing this, and it was all very cathartic, and I don't know whether my act was a hit but I felt much better after doing it.

The dream ended before Huk got a chance to perform, though.

Don't get down
Don't waste time on things that you can't ever change
I know we all do

Write a song
All your new ones are the best you've ever sung
Write another one

And all you need to do
Is get away from everything
Quit this sad old scene
Come back when you feel the need
We'll all be here for you

Don't get let down
Don't spend time with people you don't even like
I know we all do

Write a song
All your old ones don't mean a thing if you don't sing
Any new ones

And all you need to do
Is get away from everything
Quit this sad old scene
Come back when you feel the need
We'll all be here for you

And find something that will make you feel
Like everyday's too short
we're only here for a little while
You'd better make your mark

BUT! I remembered this morning, after the deadline has past, that I didn't include my balding joke either. So I've got a little something in my ass-pocket to shock 'em with when I win. For an encore, like.

So valentine's day has been fun here - Sgs and I just bummed around the house, eating, playing GTA:SA (I made it to San Fierro!), reading and watching "Six Feet Under", Arsenal vs Crystal Palace and World Series Poker (which totally made me want to play with Chris V, which I guess is like wanting to spar with Evander Holyfield, but hell). Work tomorrow and I am a bit nervous as I know I left my boss with a couple of tasks that were totally my responsibility. But hey, I'm not going to get fired for them.

So lots of love to you lot as I spend my last hour of V-day tucked up with The American Boy, a novel I have to read for work but am loving. Hasta Manana!

GREAT.

(also: I apologized to W. She said 'Uh, okay, kid.' Kid? I'm older than her by two years! But never mind. I've restored balance to my li'l universe. I'm over it.)

I may be sorting out HG Wells's legal issues, but my heart is in San Fierro.

(good luck sorting the crap, Luna - Martin's right though, it should be fine)

(I am playing online poker! omg I just won $112 pretend dollars!)

I may hurl.

Check out this article:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050215/ap_on_re_us/school_bible_classes

I had to go to bible in 6th grade. I was in rural VA. And you?

Can I be a rockstar if I'm busy pimpin'?

I like fish fingers. Fish finger art. Thw world's longest unbroken line of fish fingers.

On the other hand, there might be more interesting jobs out there than office drone. Like, you could become a massage therapist, or a blackjack dealer.

Kenan, is yr new name based on mishearing a Wire lyric? There's a similar lyric in Ex-Lion Tamer, I think...

Wire
» Ex Lion Tamer

There's great danger
For the lonliest ranger of all
No silver bullets
Tonto's split the scene
Next week will solve your problems
But now, fish fingers all in a line
The milk bottles stand empty
Stay glued to your T. V. set
There's great danger
At hand most caped crusader of all
No cloak of justice
Robin's flown the nest

Nick, if you're lacking in energy then... well, welcome to your late 20s! You get to spend the next few years dealing with that problem, but if you figure it out (diet? exercise? spirituailty? job? internet addiction?) then you get to mostly coast through your 30s, or so I'm told.

I have been in bed since Friday, pretty much, and I was so bored by today that I've come to work. Mistake.

(which is not to say you're a pig, Archel!)

p.s. Archel, you're the funniest person ever :)

(that joke was great!)

Very much.

You are way more qualified. Yeah, you should apply for it.

Yes and no. I've only been at this job for a few months, and no matter how much I hate it sometimes, it's good experience and will look good on a resume. But not after only a few months.

So far money is losing. Which is okay. Not really. I think I'd be better off making a shitload of money and then just fucking right off, but I really, really get depressed about interviewing musicians who bore me and having to lend precious creativity to their cause.

Ha! Academia sucks!

happier I'll buy, but what's productive about skipping class for a beer?

I am leaving feedback for things I've purchased on Amazon recently. At first I was just saying "Excellent!" but now I've started saying things like "I am a better and happier person now!"

I'm in super-procrastaninating-and-still-cold-flu-sick-mode so I thought I'd make my tri-monthly ilx cameo.

I hopes your all doing well. I get to sort of keep up with some of you via MyCrack. :)

On my end:
1. I've resigned. My last day is March 25th.
2. I'll be back in Austin by the beginning of April. Me and my new boyfriend are looking for ahouse. and I'm looking for a job though I'm not as optimistic on that front.
3. My mother had emergency surgery three weeks ago after an ulcer ruptured her stomach. She has a suppressed immune system due to a rare type of rheumtoid arthritis so has been in ICU this whole time. They were going to let her out Sat but then she developed a staph infection in her lower intestine and is now in isolation. :( I've had this stupid flu shit so haven't been allowed to see her in over a week. *sigh*
4. My brother's having his fourth baby on Friday.
5. My sweetie gave me an iPod for V-day. I feel fancy and don't quite know what to do with it. Don't even have enough music to make a dent in it yet!

-Julia, your package is still in my car b/c I suck.
-Dee, are you seeing Duran this coming weekend?

loves you all. hope you're good.

Woo, my friend at work just proposed to his girlfriend. We're like, wedding buddies!

My point being, you should get married right away and start sprogging lady!

pink, you ask!

my new guy and I have been talking about these things. he wants to get hitched and have a kid. path I'd never thought I'd find myself on again. but house and new job first. one step at a time.

Do you think Sam? All of your steps sound exciting for sure, you deserve good things!

Hope your first steps go well, anyway!

This is brilliant. I am shocked this didn't kick off a discussion of the early 90s dance music scene as it was obviously intended to. Deeper Shade of Soul!! Groove is in the Heart!!

I wonder where Urban Dance Squad is now...

Death, eh.

This weekend will bring lots of reading and housework time, I'm hoping. Att the moment, apart froma visit to my grandmother, it's wonderfully free of encumbrance. So I can't wait to get stuck into my Open University course, read a few scripts, feel like I'm doing something useful with maybe a teeny bit of GTA:SA thrown in for diversity.

Last night my sleep schedule was: Sleep from 8pm-1am, then sleep from 6am-10am. Which is actually a pretty good schedule, if I could reliably keep to it.

I've started downloading and watching Rick Mercer's Monday Report. It's OK but it's a bit waif. I wish it was modelled on the Daily Show rather than on SNL's Weekend Update. "Funny captions to newspaper photographs" is super lame. But there's a certain polite affability to it all—let's call it "Canadianness"—which I'm not sure is a good thing or not. Also, he and Daryn Jones both mug to the camera way, way too much during interviews.

There, I think I've said my piece.

La la. Today at work I'm looking up who were the big donors to Oregon's gay marriage ban ballot measure, and thinking of Paul Martin.

Gino -- a male (usually of Mediterranean descent) who dresses in tight clothing (particularly denim), uses hair gel, wears gold chains, and has a macho attitude (this word may be considered a racial slur against Italian men, but many young people associate it exclusively with the Gino/Gina subculture with or without a negative connotation).

Not that I condone the term or anything, but this is madness. Such a man is called a Guido!

Also:

bunnyhug -- a hooded sweatshirt (Saskatchewan)

Is this for real? It's superadorable if it is.

22 Minutes was (is, but it's pretty much a pale imitation of its former self) far more Daily Showish, and I believe it predates the Daily Show. I KNOW it predates the Jon Stewart Daily Show. One of the great things about it is that the small scale of CanPolitics means that they've always had accessibility to the Pols, and following Mercer's hilarious lunch at Hardee's with Jean Chretien, it became a badge of honour, and that, in some ways, led to its downfall. The novelty wore off as politicians started hoping Marg Delahunty, Princess Warrior would show up at their events.

But Monday report just doesn't have strong writing. When Mercer left 22 Minutes he kept saying that it was because he wanted to avoid getting stuck doing the same thing for the rest of his career, and I guess he's succeeding, since the very same things that he does now were FUNNY on 22 Minutes.

On the other hand, it's a relatively painless way to keep up with Canadian headlines. That and ILX.

*date picked at random for "hilarious" effect

Huck:  I am deeply appreciative to you for having little old me pop into your head. I still haven't clicked on the link yet, but I fully intend to.

Re: Valentine's Day Talk:  I got to talk with an ILXor on Valentine's Day, who made that day not suck for me -- not just for that particular instance of the day, but for all instances.

I was originally going to respond on this thread sometime on February 12, but a wave of exhaustion overcame me and it's only been now that I've been able to catch my breath long enough to post something here.

Oh wait. I posted on the 13th??? Damn. I do not remember this. No, wait, I'm slowly starting to remember. Damn. Okay. Well, I've pretty much recovered from the feasting. Just to let you know. I've decided I can treat myself on occasion, but not every day. And I've been pretty good overall, aside from when I ate fried chicken for lunch today (which I was craving for a few days). Still, not like I'm eating like that every day.

Pink:  I also send a hug from me to you in hopes it makes your day brighter.

Archel:  I hope you are feeling better now. If not -- ugh, suckage.

Sam:  (a.) Congrats on finally resigning; (b.) OMG, you're actually going to be closer to me!! (but I've actually found a LOCAL here on this thing, so it's, um, slightly less alluring than it would've been a few months ago *laughs*); (c.) I'm sorry to hear this about your mother; (d.) FOURTH baby???; (e.) wow, cool score from the sweetie!; and (f.) I didn't see Duran in TX, no, but hopefully I'll get to see them in Vegas or Seattle, so I can make it into a sort of mini-vacation. (And thank GOD they're playing the Hard Rock in Vegas, because if they were going to the House of Blues, I would've been blue. If I don't have to see the inside of the Mandalay Bay ever again in my life, I will die happy.)

Mark:  Yay for the good deeds you did!

General overall feelings at this very moment -- my back aches. My ribcage aches. I feel the weighed-down feeling I've had over the past several nights. This makes typing difficult for me, since I also feel it in my lower arms. I'm still congested, though not nearly at the level I was back when this thing was affecting me the most. I just got through taking my entire course of antibiotics, and a couple of days ago finally went through the withdrawal period after abruptly ending my Prednisone (like the doctor said). I feel like the earth's force of gravity is especially strong when it comes to me. I'm still coughing up stuff (which my mom has "amusingly" referred to as "chicklets"), and I can feel it residing within me, thick and difficult to expel, but at least it's not at the level it was at at this thing's worst. I do notice that after I cough one of my especially deep coughs, if it's productive and actually ends up with my coughing up something, I'm able to breathe better. Unfortunately, some of these coughing attacks happen while I'm driving, which means a lot of periods where I'm feeling around the vehicle for something to place the icky sticky stuff on. It does make me feel better, though, having that icky sticky stuff out of my system, and I feel like the more I cough up, the less I'll have within me. Sometimes I'll cough so hard that I end up losing a little bit of urine, so I've taken to wearing a couple of Poise pads (usually for people with bladder incontinence) around, changing them once a day. Soemtimes this leakage would stink, because of how much the antibiotics was affecting my, um, "output" (there's a good reason why I referred to the antibiotics as my "stinky pills"), but thankfully that's no longer the case. I feel generally lethargic, but I've not been able to really let the feeling of being ill wash over me, as every day since before I became ill has been scheduled out for me, dedicated to either the routine of work and school or to some errands or activities I've needed to attend to during the weekend. I won't get to have a break from anything until this coming Saturday. And I'm trying to hold on as best as I can, trying to squeeze in some time at the end of the day to devote to online activities, but there's only so much energy I can manage to eke out of my body at the end of it all, and so I usually end up only being able to keep up with the two or three IMs I've been having on a regular basis, thus shrugging off any/all time on The Forum or on LJ or anywhere else. And every day I spend not being an active participant on The Forum means that much more distancing from the whole of the thing, because it's such a huge behemoth of a thing that it requires almost constant devotion. With LJ, I can pick up on activities quite easily, but perversely, I find it easier to get back to it after being away from it for days. Or maybe not so "perversely"; it's not as MASSIVELY HUGE a thing to try to scale.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, I'm back. But I don't know how temporary this will end up being. I'm eating up valuable sleeping time typing this all out, but I feel like I have to, just so you'll know what's been up with me over the course of the last several days. Or over the course of the past few weeks, to be more accurate. This might end up being a permanent sort of return, with my being able to participate on this thing more often and every day, or this might end up being one of those things where I post on and on and then don't have the opportunity to post again at all for the next several days. Hopefully this will be a longterm thing. But -- I don't know. Hopefully. You know?

Thanks for the update - I'm glad you're still happy to share this kind of stuff with us. Stay around, be yourself, and DON'T YOU DARE APOLOGISE FOR IT. Okay? We all love you, and we love you best when you're able to feel unselfconscious about talking about your woes and your passions.

FUCK ME IT'S SNOWING LIKE A MOTHERFUCKER!

This morning two of my closer colleagues didn't show. I soon learnt that one of them was with his girlfriend at a nearby hospital - she has heart problems - and the other's sister died over the weekend.

I'm still battling on, and I'm not too sure if all this energy is worth it on Forum locales other than this thread series. I don't know. I'm really wondering why the hell I bothered to post anything on ILM in the first place. And, well, hm. Maybe I'm talking nonsense on the other thing I was going to mention but won't because it's just so nonsensical.

Oh, and I did not have the day off. Phooey.

It turns out I did have the day off, but I went to work anyways, just like everyone else in my office. It's OK, I needed the hours really.

Yesterday I made this apple cranberry pie, and not to buff myself too much, but this is God's Own Pie.

I've got the rest of the week off after today for b/day shenanigans, yay me!

Actually, I've just finished spending 30 minutes (yes, 30 minutes) flossing my teeth and reading various threads while listening to some Bloc Party and, well, Bloc Party are AWESOME x1,000 IMHO, my teeth feel LOTS better, and by just relaxing for a brief while, I think I've done myself a little bit of good, even if I'm up WAY past the time when it would be in any way prudent to do so.

Also: Ooh, apple cranberry pie!! Is there any particular recipe you were formulating? Or is it one of those thrown-together things? Congrats on discovering a kick-ass pie of your very own!

Pink, hon, logically I know you're right. So I hope logic can win out. And happy birthday sweetie! *hug hug hug hug*

*shuffles off to bed*

To be part of a community, not only do you need thicker skin (I'm sorry sweetie but you've got to try hard not to take things so personally, especially things in cold, anonymous writing, where the true intent behind a comment is often inpenetrable. Someone disagreeing with you neither makes them nor you a bad person), but you need to be able to weigh up the bad things against the good things and IF THE GOOD THINGS OUTWEIGH the bad things, then it's probably worth persisting. I mean, ILE gets you down all the time, but it's thanks to ILE that you know all us lot! < /ego trip >

Nothing's ever perfect, and neither are you, and that's fine, that's normal, and that's how it's always going to be.

I know it's not easy darlin, I just want you to realise how much we'd miss you if you didn't at least contribute to this thread! Thanks for the b/day wishes too! *big hugglez*

- 4 day weekends are pretty cool;

- the Dell DJ 20 is not cool;

- we've had over 30" of rain this season so far, and I think I may begin construction on an ark, which may or may not be cool, I was never one for woodshop;

- going back to work after a 4 day weekend is most assuredly uncool.

Yeah, Luna... the power went out for like 10 hours last night, and I didn't have a candle and couldn't leave the building cuz my car was on the inside of the (electrically) operated garage. Man, did it suck -- especially when I looked out the window and saw a small flood running past -- replete with:

a flowerpot
fast food wrappers
a couch-cushion
a christmas tree (?)
a foam novelty sombrero.

Call it by its true name dearest, "Whack-ass iPod"

I'm sorry you bought into Michael Dell and all his empty promises, sorrier still that it's all old testament out in LA. If you do decide to build an ark, I think you should salvage your 75-ft pink neon BITCHES sign. That would look sweet hanging off the back.

Ugh, I just burped up part of dinner (stewed cabbage and weiners -- it's actually really good, since I love cabbage). Anyway, so I'm sorta avoiding the completion of homework at the present moment, because I feel like I've got an attack of Crispy Fried Brain. I might actually skip a class tomorrow, too; I think I deserve spending some time languidly lingering over lunch, and I think I just might do that tomorrow. I've been itching to get my nose stuck in a good non-academic read; I've finally wanted to start to want to read novels, six years after all those English and literature classes I took made fiction extremely unpleasant for me.

Anyway. Pink, you have GOT to tell us about your birthday festivities! I hope your boy is spoiling you rotten on your special day. :)

I travelled out to Windsor and stood in the freezing cold last night to watch AFC Wimbledon lose 4-2 to Slough Town. Worse than that, I missed THREE of the goals. Which meant that, when they scored their third, I thought it was their first, and spent the rest of the game thinking we'd managed to scrape a draw. I R dumb.

Oh, and I googled J____, and as far as I can tell, she owns or runs a nouveau cuisine restaurant. So, like, if I had, ten years ago, had the capacity for emotionaly honesty, at the very least I would now have an ex-girlfriend who has her own restaurant.

I am going to a short film festival tomorrow and I really don't fancy it. I will be shy and lonely and have to watch student crap.

Yuck, crap student films.

Interesting about the ex-friend, Huck. Interesting as in "cool". You think that there might come a day someday when you might want to reconnect with her? At least to re-establish the friendship?

luna, I'm really struggling to feel healthy again. I do feel better than I did at the start of this blasted thing, but I also don't feel as good as I did prior to it, and I'm wondering if it's just going to take a long time for me to recover. Which I wouldn't at all be used to. I mean, at least when I used to have the flu, I would only have two days of feeling like crap, so I'm not at all used to this extended period of blah-ness.

One more thing: I'm not at all unashamed of nominating the commercial films I did nominate, but... is there some filter in place on that thread that's preventing people from seeing what I've posted? I keep on seeing a lot of films mentioned by others that I've already mentioned myself, without an acknolwedgement that they're seconding the aforementioned films or anything. It's, like, a total bummer, dude.

Also cue all the Simpsons Halloween Special crawlspace horror stories. Maybe Artie Ziff is up there.

Dee, I don't know. I have this romantic dream that some day in the near future I'll be financially independent and be able to take like three months and just go tour Canada at my leisure and pop in on all the people I've let drop out of my life, and have wild sex with them.

I hate film talk, it always boils down to potato/potahto in the end.

Ack, I'm trying to review poetry magazines and I can't seem to construct sentences properly at all. My editor is going laugh in my face at this rate. I blame ILE *OF COURSE*.

My day at the film festival was great! Most of the short films were really good - ALL of the animated films were very good. I don't know if there are any on the interweb, but anyone who likes animation should totally check out the NFTS site for any links or video clips they might have.

And I like networked omg - I chatted to the best producer and the two best writer/directors! Go Mark!

Huck, you desperately need a new work environment. Think about moving?

Mark, I'm so glad you had a good time at the film festival and that the films exhibited were totally worth your while. And congrats on the networking!! Yay, you CAN do it!

Archel, I wish I could give you some review advice. But the only thing I can say is that I hope you can get out of your writing rut.

Anyway. As far as how I'm faring -- I think I'm pretty much over this thing that's plagued me for almost the whole month. The only thing I'm experiencing now is some minor congested coughing that I'm taking care of with Robitussin. And I'm chugging down some Pepto-Bismol, but for another, it-will-have-to-remain-unmentioned reason. So the fact that I'm at the OTC medication stage is FANTASTIC. Now only if I could have that free weekend to relax. :)

This job opportunity is something I'm only going to let you guys in on: https://www.linkedin.com/jobs?viewJob=&jobId=12488&fromSearch=0&sik=1109218967248

The snow's just stopped - it's been snowing all morning, which is quite a long time for London. Usually if it snows in any quantity it does it overnight. We still won't have more than 2 inches, but I'm glad we got that - there's something depressing about a snowless winter, and I suspect there'll be a lot more of them in future.

Mark, I hope your day ended up fantastic and that you and SGS had an excellent time. (Also, I've never heard a single Belle & Sebastian song before!! I'd never even heard of them until I went onto this forum! Should I try them out?)

Kenan, that indeed is highly amazing. Whoa.

(I did take a short nap earlier, BTW. Yay!)

I've done housework this morning, but I went online for a break and I think my flow is broken. I'm going to try and resurrect it. Toodleoo!

Also, since I'm now onto Israel Kamakawiwo'olesuyjwedt32ufdxw's Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World, I am reassured to have my suspicion that you don't really have to know the words to a song before you're allowed to record it reaaffirmed once again.

Thanks, Iz.

somewhere over the rainbow
way up high
and the dreams that you dream of
once in a lullabye

somewhere over the rainbow
bluebirds fly
and the dreams that you dream of
dreams really do come true...

Also, I'm in the middle of my Lengthy Saturday Adventure, and I unexpectedly bowled today! First time in seven years and I was finally getting the hang of it again when it was time to quit the bowling. (It was for a little cousin's birthday and they had set times for lanes to be open per party.) And now I depart yet again to oversee relatives of mine playing poker (I can't because I have the worst possible face for poker. I giggle -- that's how bad it is.)

Anyway, I'm glad some of you guys are having a relaxing Saturday (*winkwink* y'know, relaxing *winkwink*) and listening to music. I'd love to listen to music right now, but I can't. In the bowling alley, though, the music system played Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" and I was reminded of how much I absolutely ADORE that song. Love it to bits. So, um, I have to acquire it. Fast.

But first -- out the door time.

Martin, thank you ever so for the linkage. I suppose I missed it the first go-'round.

And... I is back. You is here. And this thread series officially has the greatest bunch of people around. I *big heart* you all! (Cliqueish? Maybe. But, hell, it's an OPEN one! And I *big heart* anyone who will post on any future editions of this thread series. Guaranteed.)

How are you all? Is anyone coming down for SXSW?

Hey back at you, Sam!!! It is so awesome to see you 'round these parts again. Unless something incredibly unexpected happens, I don't think I'll be making it to a SXSW anytime in the foreseeable future. :(

Martin, you is so predictable. Ha ha ha. But please don't change!! Anyway, SXSW = South by Southwest, i.e. a big 'do Austin has every March or so, where new and unsigned bands exhibit their talents for music industry insiders and regular music fans alike, hoping to get signed. Upcoming acts also showcase themselves at this music festival; I think it was last year that Franz Ferdinand really caused a frenzy among festival-goers. It really sounds like a lot of fun and I really would like to attend one of these things but I don't see myself being able to anytime soon or soon-ish.

Anyway, I'm INCREDIBLY happy you're happy! Yay for a sunshiney Martin!

Anyway, I'm just biding my time while I wait to go off to Mass. I just came back from running a few errands. I'm kinda bummed that hardly no one wants to sell new VHS videos anymore. I hang onto that format because it's SO easy to record onto, and I usually have a lot of things I want to timer record, and (a.) I can't afford Tivo and (b.) I think DVDs absolutely bite the big one when it comes to recording things, because they retain none of the flexibility of videos. ANYWAY. We also made a run to Sam's Club and made the rounds of samples. And because of that, we got some frozen biscuits! They were delish. So was the salmon, but... too expensive for now, y'know? End-of-the-month monetary doldrums. And since I'm kinda having to pitch in with helping Mom pay her taxes (which was... oh God, I fucking HATE the I.R.S. right now, what with their total disregard for retired people... fuck them all, each and every single one of them), things will be kinda tight for us next month as well.

Yes, I do wonder about my pervy personality here. It has become something of a schtick, and I sometimes tell myself to cut back some, as it does exaggerate that aspect of my personality, but I tend not to resist the temptation anyway.

Mood: still very happy. Some sadness for someone else who had something rotten happen, but I was able to help some, which kind of balances it for me, if you see what I mean.

I'm sorry that whatever happened to that friend (? -- I'm assuming/presuming this person was a friend of yours), happened, but hopefully your assistance has made a difference to them, and hopefully things will turn around for him/her (not being assumptive/presumptive here), and you will have done VERY well.

noncommital fuckwad is in love now? i'm not usually bitter, but huh, with him somehow i am.

i've been so sick this past week. just started feeling better now back to school. bleh. i'm trying my best to hang on for a few more weeks.

But, I am in a good mood.

but, yes, killing with guns. thanks for the offer! but really i just need to forget about that fuxor.

hi sam! good to see you, hon!

i hope that they figure out what's up with your kitty, pink. that must be really worrisome. not to mention expensive, grr indeed.

and hihi everyone. i woke up this morning and it was snowing a bit and all pretty and it just feels like it's going to be a good day somehow...

It's apparently a tribute to Redd Foxx.

If your free community event listing has an inconsequential typo in it, YOU HAVE NO RECOURSE. There is nothing to refund, there is nothing to retract. Also, you can't threaten me. There is no one "higher up" who cares. I'm the only rung on this ladder.

there shall be no jamie foxx hating 'round here please, thx.

*makes wanker gesture*

*checks back*

TITTWIS # 17 was the emo thread - I stand corrected :)

for the record, i thought jamie foxx was amazing in ray, regardless of how he spells his name.

i'm also a fan of bubba sparxxx.

Sask seniors plan to walk province from north to south to promote fitness
SASKATOON (CP) — Five Saskatchewan seniors plan to trek from the province’s northern reaches to the United States border as part of a centennial effort to promote health and fitness.
Organizer Cliff Shockey said the 1,572-kilometre journey from Selwyn Lake to the border just south of Estevan is expected to take about 45 days.
“When you get to be my age, you’ve dealt with so many problems in your life, you’re confident there isn’t anything you can’t deal with,” he said in an interview from his farm near Vanscoy, Sask.
Shockey, 69, plans to begin the journey with four others March 11. They will travel for three days on cross-country skis before continuing on foot. They have hired guides to navigate through the northern wilderness.
“It’s a real challenge because there are no roads for the first 100 miles,” he said.
Bud Ulrick, who will also be participating in the trek, said Shockey is a health nut and wants to promote exercise and good diet.
“He’s had the idea of doing this for about two years, but he never really got started until last spring,” Ulrick said. “He thought it would be a good idea for Saskatchewan 2005.”
The province celebrates its 100th birthday this year.

Anyway, I'm typing something into this thing because for some reason I'm experiencing a bit of an LJ poster's block and can't formulate a proper journal entry to save my life. And because I'm still up, even though I really should be trying to head on out to bed (but I'd rather do the online relaxation thing for awhile first) like any rational individual would. And because I'm sat here by my lonesome, having only chatted with NED throughout the course of this "lovely" night (i.e. note the sarcasm), and I have a shitload of things that are all bothering me, but I don't want to unload all of them on this thread, but I do want to note that that fucking fangirl syndrome struck me again and I fucking SAT THROUGH JIMMY FUCKING KIMMEL'S PROGRAM just so I could see you-know-who. And I really wish I could get some respect for this, but, well, if Duran and their fans are getting loads of respect these days, then "respect" peculiarly looks a hell of a lot like "bandwagon ironic 'loving' followed immediately by smirking derision". And I'm feeling the disconnect thing again from the masses here for reasons that are largely to do with an older thread that was recently unearthed in a newer thread, that has made me feel like I'm a complete dullard compared to most of the intellectal powerhouses here (I don't know -- maybe more people here actually worked hard in high school than what I'm thinking) and it's all so fucking confusing and I'm just sitting here with no one to talk to or chat with or anything and I'm going out of my fucking mind because I have all these things that I really need to get off my chest but I don't have a single way of getting them off my chest because I can't, to my dismay, construct an adequate journal entry and ARGH I just want to kill every single one of the demons that thrive within my brain.

How are you?

Sam, if you did that, I'd probably be inconsolable, that's how sadsack I am. I can hear the chorus of "GET ONE LIFE WILL YOU?", but at the end of the day when I'm yearning for home and the creature comforts therein (a home-cooked dinner, a shower, the computer, the bed), that doesn't seem at all doable or attractive. Anyway. So please do not kill the Brummie supergroup. But thank you. (And I love you too hon! Megahugs.)

pink, what are your kittie's symptoms?
SKIP OVER IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO HEAR ABOUT MY POORLY KITTY,
Well a couple of weeks ago he was fussing a bit too much over the litter tray, so we were keeping a close eye on him & then we discovered blood in his urine. We immediately took him to the vet who thought that it was just cystitis & gave us some antibiotics. She also thought that he may have crystals so she gave us a prescription diet to give him. He didn't really get any better & I wasn't happy waiting 6 weeks for the food to "kick in" so I took him back to the vet, who instructed us to get a urine sample from him!!! We finally managed to do this & raced it down to the vet. They were really shocked by the amount of crystals in it, so they wanted us to take him in again. On my b/day we had to leave him there so they could get a sample directly from his bladder. After they they were also shocked by the amount of blood, but could confirm that the crystals had cleared up & there was no infection, but the x-rays were inconclusive. So today he has gone for an ultrasound to see if they can see more. I am waiting to hear how that has gone & whether he will have to stay in over night & have more done tomorrow.
I cried when we walked into the vets today, I was so embarassed! :-(
Sorry to have gone on so much.

I agree with Pink, Dee, if you want someplace to talk then this is it. I'd say TITTWIS is a good therapy group amongst everything else. But it's not surprising then, that the people here want to tell you you're not "the dumbest, dullest, most cowardly, ugliest, etc., etc., etc", because, well, you're not.

(I have a solution to two of your problems in one! The people who dislike/pretend to like DD must, by definition, be dull, stupid, cowardly etc. - so that makes you better than them!!)

It's a tricky one. Did X seem keen to chat, spend time with you, eye contact etc. after the back rub? Or did she wander off, talk to other blokes, not say goodbye?

We basically hung together with X and her friend the whole evening, until they left (I was quite drunk at that point and had to stay overnight). I also (jokingly) touched X's breasts, twice, after her friend had done the same. That was quite stupid, probably, but she didn't seem to mind.

Pink - so sorry about your cat, what a worry! I'm sure he will be fine though.

Dee - you still rock.

As for me, I took a day off work yesterday to go shopping for wedding clothes in London with my mum and my sister. My it was fun! Although also very tiring, and I almost feel sorry for those rich women who have to pound the pavements all day shopping. I bought a nice outfit which will have to remain SECRET as Matt is not privy to it...

Going to the launch party of the new Brighton library tonight and so geeky am I that this is almost more exciting than wedding shopping...

Yeah, that was what I thought too. The only problem is that I have no idea when I'm going to see her next, we don't move in the same circles. The logical solution would be to ask for X's friend to help, but that would be kinda embarassing, because she's her best friend and knows about everything. Plus the fact that I've had sex with her too.

Oh, and my name is pronounced T - u as in "you" - o as in "Oliver" - mah - s. It seems to be quite hard for foreigners, especially the "uo".

Dude, if it's worth it, and you think she'd be cool with it, ask X's friend for help. Be honest with her, see how she feels about it, and if she's okay, then you've got a great ally. If you think she'll become bitter and devious and sabotage your efforts, keep it to yourself.

It's kinda in between, the u and the o are shorter than in Chew-o-mas but longer than in T-wom-as.

As for the girl, I'll take it slowly and see what happens. It's probably just another crush, nothing too serious. Anyway, this isn't made any easier by the fact that she happens be the physically most stunning person I've met for a long while. She's sorta punkish; she used to have dreadlocks, but now she's cut herself a mohawk, and she looks absolutely hot!

Good luck with your cat, Pink.

Hello, everyone. I like my new job. :-D

(TITTWIsters up for Poker tonight, say 10pm GMT? Say yes?)

apparently, he is free of crystals now (the food has done the trick) but there may still be some kind of blockage in there, so they may have to do a similar treatment.
I just had a phonecall from them & we can go & pick him up in a bit, but they'll talk us through what they've found when we get there.

Dee, it's kind of a feedback loop: The more you say you feel inferior, the more inferior you feel. And the more you say it. Which is why you should stop saying it. Because the trick is to forget it, eventually. And instead you should say other things. A certain other blog has gone unupdated now for weeks.

Tuomas, be careful my friend, X is totally a boy's name.

Qtip rarely if ever has this problem anymore. He has a water fountain to provide plenty of fresh water and I feed him Innova brand cat food. It contains human grade meat and the lowest levels of ash. Those prescription foods are crap and I've discovered that most vets don't know about the best foods as they only recommend what's brought to their office by manufacturers. Research foods available over there and find the best possible quality. It's not cheap, I spend about $1 a day to feed Qtip (not cheap by pet standards but save tons in vet bills). And it's been a couple of years since he had this problem.

A friend of mine with 7 cats has a homeopathic treatment he always gives to his male cat and I'll check with him what it is and post back later.

The mp3 linked from the blog is forty-some megs. Let me know if there are any technical problems; I haven't checked the RSS feed yet to see if that's put together the way it's supposed to be.

Michael -- sorry, click on the March 1 2005 link; I just realized how counterintuitive that is since it could just be taken for the post's date.

For extra protection and future ease, you can go to court and get an official document -- there's no specific name-change form, the judge just declares you're not Hootie McBlowfish -- which cuts through some red tape if you ever need to replace missing ID in the future (which has happened to me). But that isn't required to change your name; it just provides you with a form verifying you've done so.

But like I said, in Canada it's bound to be different in small or large.

Jay

-- Markelby (boyincorduro...), March 2nd, 2005 8:47 AM.

I was born with a different name (I like to think of it as my superhero secret) than I've ever gone by, and there are less than a dozen people on the planet who know it. When I was a baby I was rechristened Jeremy, but went by Jay or J.C. (Jaycee) to my family and friends until I was 10 years old for a stretch of one here and one there. In fifth and sixth grade I was one of three Jays or two Jeremys in my class, so my teacher renamed me Remy, and it stuck. When I switched schools - for middle school I was just 'Jer' and when I worked at the Coffee Shop (ages 13-19) I somehow ended up with the name 'Bean.' The first two years of high school I was Jay (I didn't want to be Jer anymore, it sounded juvenile) but eventually my sister calling me Jeremy prevailed, and I was Jeremy for all of high school, and half of college. Last year, teaching, I was encouraged not to let the kids know my real name - so 'Remy' it became for the first time in a decade, and that's what I'm sticking with. In the process I've basically divorced myself from my birth name and as soon as I turned 18 I changed it to, officially, Jeremy.

The current tally:

(birth name)
Jeremy
Jay
J.C. (Jaycee)
Remy
Bean

seems to be holding steady.

I went thru a phase of using a completely different name in high school. I just started calling myself Jemal Ash, and telling people thats what my name was, and was suprised how often it stuck (not with famiy or at school, but among friends who knew the joke and with new friends I'd meet). This went on for several years.

Then I found out Jemal is a muslim boys name and I dropped it in embarrasment of my lack of smarts.

Actually the sharp eye, perhaps someone like alex in nyc, would guess where I got the name from. Hint: bauhaus and surrounds.

I had a different name (Cas, i.e. the first syllable of my surname) from 14-16, then briefly tried Marco, before realising I sounded like a ponce and became Mark, for good. Or so I thought before BARRY came along.

"Oh, I's best to run then. Lawdy if only I wasn't so fat"

It's surprisingly easy once you get used to stuff and get things set up:

1) Set up a Blogger account (one you won't use for the public) and an Audioblogger.com account linked to it. Call the audioblogger # to do your talky bits -- it posts your phone calls to blogger as mp3s you can download. You can skip this if you have a decent mike or something.

2) Assemble your mp3s. Actually, this should come first, or your talky bits will be like "and now, another song!" -- I forgot to do this for mine, so I made up the playlist as I went along, which was weird.

3) Use Cool Edit or your favorite audio editing software to edit the talky mp3s and the music mp3s together into one big mp3 -- in Cool Edit, you can just drop the files in next to each other and take out the press-pound-when-you're-done beeps from the audioblogs.

4) Upload it to your webspace.

5) On a new blogger account, post a link to the mp3; edit that post to find the feed's url, plug that url into a feedburner.com account, and it'll set up an RSS feed people can use if they have a use for that instead of going to your blog every time.

(Clearer or more detailed explanations here and here.

And yes to collaboration! What'd you have in mind?

1) seifjhwo;/bhfwijen
2) aifwoseufhwue
3) aeoiurdbo'ueh
4) aefouiherouh

I fear for my children & their godawful un-up-to-date mum! :-S

#3 and #5 are easier than they sound, especially #5 -- #3 can take some time depending on your machine, because editing a 40 meg mp3 can eat up a lot of RAM and processing time. It feels fast to me because I've upgraded from my five year old middle of the line computer, but it's still a lot slower than photo editing and things like that.

Totally!

I just realized the only photo of myself I have from that age happens to be from 1991, because it's a passport photo. Oh geez.

Then:
http://www.idea-inc.com/~bill/1991/then.jpg

Now:
http://www.idea-inc.com/~bill/1991/now.jpg

[In 2003 I became tragically sepia-toned.]

1: Icon with the jagged little blue things in it, top left corner under FILE and EDIT -- click that to switch to Multitrack view (apparently F12 does this too). Click it again in the future if you need to switch to a waveform to edit an individual file (to amplify, fade out, cut things out, etc)

2: In lefthand sidebar, click open file icon to open mp3 files.

3: In righthand screen (main area), position cursor where I want the mp3 to be -- the very beginning for the first one, and either right after the first file for the next or overlapping slightly. (Always start with a music file, so that Cool Edit upgrades the mono voice files to match the stereo music files, instead of downgrading the stereo music to mono voice.)

4: Lefthand sidebar: highlight the mp3 I want to insert, and click the third button from the left, with the little arrow over the box.

5: Lather, rinse, repeat for the rest of the files.

6: From multitrack view: Edit -> Mix Down To File -> All Waves. It'll take a couple minutes depending on your machine and the size of the files you're working with.

7: Make sure to save the resulting file (it ought to let you save it as an mp3, not a wav -- you used to need a plugin for that, I think it's standard now). If you want to save the positions of the individual mp3s and stuff to work on later, save the session.

Also I'm not sure what that means, Trayce, but I like it.

My quote was from the Simpsons Spinoff Showcase where the big fat N'Orleans dude Big Daddy kidnaps Ralph. And says that line. I love that episode.

"Quick! He's gradually escaping!"

I'm having a curry tonight, and will spend the day today doing a) playing GTA:SA and b) my astrophysics course. But is there any way I could combine them...?

All day yesterday I had the phrase "kidteractive learnatorium" in my head. Not the smae episode, but it's weird how I'll get a phrase stuck in my head that keeps repeating as if it were a song stuck there.

that was an xpost with mark who may call me out for not working in a sec...

Meet you downstairs for lunch and M*A*S*H in a minute?

Doesn't matter, either way -- the tracks are just there to help you organize, all that matters in the end is where something appears timewise.

-- Chris 'The Nuts' V (cmvenuti200...), March 4th, 2005.

By who? If you mean "#1 Crush" by Garbage, that's A-plus romp music to be sure. Tricky does a remix of "Milk" that's even better.

I love the simpsons spin-off show case, most of all for Troy McClure's "FOX contacted the simpsons to see if they could help fill...a few holes in their prime time schedule (show grid with Simpsons, the X Files, COPS and nothing else)"

Also Smithers in chaps and a cowboy hat singing "whip it"

You know who you are.

"Ah, New Orleans. The Big Easy. Sweet Lady Gumbo. Old ... Swampy"

The case for:

I'm 25 and haven't been in a real relationship for five years.
I've lived in a big new city for eight months and haven't made a single really good friend.
Over the past two years I've found myself progressively more ill-at-ease during social outings.
I'm smoking more and more heavily even as I'm really sincerely trying to quit.
I'm generally seen as overly-critical.

The case against:
I'm a creative person, and all of the above traits are 'idiosyncratic tics of the creative personality.'
I'm pretty happy most of the time.
I've got a lot of energy, ambition, and determination.

But ... I dunno.

I've lived in a big new city for eight months and haven't made a single really good friend.
Really good friendships take longer than 8 months to develop! And finding someone with whom you click almost falls into the above category - you can't just be friends with everyone. Have patience and don't fret.

Over the past two years I've found myself progressively more ill-at-ease during social outings.
This could be because you're self-conscious about any number of things, but lack of friends, partner and a city you know well are all pretty strong reasons you might be feeling this way. Also, in my experience the older you get, the less pleasure random "socialising" provides in any case.

I'm smoking more and more heavily even as I'm really sincerely trying to quit.
Sounds like you're being self-destructive in a small way that you think you can end at any time, but at the moment it's easier to focus on this as a problem than work on some of the more intractable ones.

I'm generally seen as overly-critical.
I don't know anyone who isn't!

I have to say that, though I don't have the experience and knowledge Martin has, you sound a very normal and pretty balanced person. It may be that therapy helps you, but it's hard to see how you might need it.

* I am waiting for my assessment for therapy once again now. NHS, so it might be a long wait.

I am thoroughly enjoying taking the Blue Line to work (trains are a bit of a novelty to this car-hardened LA commuter). I find that even though the commuting time is roughly the same, I feel more civilized, and it lets me get some walking in, which is hard in LA. Coffee has taken on new and revitalized importance.

Arthur we know and we sympathize
Don’t ya know it, don’t ya know it
Arthur we like you and want to help you
Somebody loves you don’t you know it

How is your life and your shangri-la
And your long lost land of hallelujah
And your hope and glory has passed you by
Can’t you see what the world is doing to ya
And now we see your children
Sailing off in the setting sun
To a new horizon
Where there’s plenty for everyone
Arthur, could be
That the world was wrong
Don’t ya know it, don’t ya know it
Arthur, could be
You were right all along
Don’t ya know it, I hope ya know it
Now we know and we sympathize
We’d like to help you and understand you
Don’t ya know it, don’t ya know it
Somebody loves you, don’t ya know it
Don’t ya know it, don’t ya know it

Arthur the world’s gone and passed you by
Don’t ya know it, don’t ya know it
You can cry, cry all night
But it won’t make it right
Don’t ya know it, don’t ya know it
Arthur we read you and understand you
Arthur we like you and want to help you
Oh! we love you and want to help you

When you get caught between the Moon and New York City
I know it's crazy, but it's true
If you get caught between the Moon and New York City
The best that you can do ......
The best that you can do is fall in love

Arthur he does as he pleases
All of his life, he's mastered choice
Deep in his heart, he's just, he's just a boy
Living his life one day at a time
And showing himself a really good time
Laughing about the way they want him to be

When you get caught between the Moon and New York City
I know it's crazy, but it's true
If you get caught between the Moon and New York City
The best that you can do .....
The best that you can do is fall in love

When you get caught between the Moon and New York City
I know it's crazy, but it's true
If you get caught between the Moon and New York City
The best that you can do .....
The best that you can do is fall in love

I'm mostly mad that mlMac stopped working for me.

I also want to say special hellos to some very special girls -- Pink and Archel, if there was such a thing as a male counterpart to you guys, I might very well end up married to him. As it stands now, you two are True Blues totally and completely. Just wanted to state that.

Oh! And I'm so proud about this mix CD I ended up throwing together. It's actually a test mix for a CD I was supposed to send someone a thousand ages ago -- or at least that's what it feels like. Anyway, it's not THE BEST '80s mix CD ever created, but it's lots better than the ones that have been commercially released IMNSHO. Yay!

(Speaking of file-sharing... *ahem*, if any of you have MP3s by The Reels, Scary Thieves, or The Individuals... um... well... y'know... I would love some....)

This morning I had, for the first time ever, a peanutbutter cup. OMG, I am in love. If anyone wants to hook me up with some of that peanutty goodness i will send you some, er well whatever you want!!
mmmmm peanutty goodnessssssssssssssss!

Hey Dee, I'd hope you'd feel comfortable enough on this thread to not have to avoid hanging out here. Think of us as safe and comforting - you don't have to prove yourself here as we all love you already.

I couldn't sleep last night. And for absolutely no obvious reason - I wasn't stressed or worrying, I wasn't too hot, too caffeinated or too drunk. I was sober and content but just couldn't drop off for the life of me. I hope it doesn't knock me out - I have back-to-back meetings with potential clients later today...

I'm not putting up the blog entry for it until the end of the week, because I needed to get caught ahead on this, but the second show is up for any ILXers who want to download it "early": Dave Kendall is a douche. (Right-click and save, that's a link to the ~40mb mp3.)