Two weeks ago I started suffering from a horrible allergy attack that turned into a nasty sinus infection. I was a good boy. I took time off work, slept a lot, drank plenty of fluids...the usual. I started to feel a bit better last week but have still been taking it easy because I am not 100% yet. Yesterday I started to feel crappy again but this time it's different. Now I have this dreaded coughing and a runny nose.
The real pisser is this. I had tickets to see Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers at their CD release party on the 16th. Like a little trooper I waited all day to see if I would get better before I called my friends to cancel. They were disappointed. I was disappointed. Money down the drain. But ultimately I did the right thing and stayed home and drank fluids and got plenty of rest etc.
Tonight I was supposed to see the goofy Brazilian concert pianist in concert.
The real draw is my friend D is doing something in the show. It's top secret and he won't tell me what but he has alluded to the fact that it is embarrassing and he will be making a fool of himself. I, of course, don't want to miss that, but sadly I will have to because the cough medicine, she calls to me.
Now...I have displayed a Job-like patience throughout my suffering. I actually took time off work. (Something I rarely do). I have tried to keep my whining to a minimum. (I said tried.) I have used more Kleenexes in two weeks than I use in a year and have consumed more medications than I care to think about. But my patience is wearing thin.
Tomorrow night is the Ani DiFranco concert and I will not, repeat,
will not miss it. I don't care if I have to lug a box of Kleenex with me into the theater...I will be there. I don't care if I have to suck on Hall's lozenge after Hall's lozenge until the final encore...I will be there. I don't care if I look like Death's ugly stepsister amidst all the righteous babes in their halter tops and bandana head wraps...I will be there. I don't care if my voice is more growly than Tom Waits...I will be there!
February 26, 2002
Overheard
Brian: You look different. What's up?
D: I got some sun this weekend. I went to a lesbian baby shower.
Brian: For a lesbian baby or lesbians having a baby?
D: The latter. The shower was in the park.
Brian: Well of course it was. Where else would you play soft ball?
Then D went on to describe a shower game called "Bobbing For Nipples". Think of the usual bobbing games and substitute baby bottles filled with just enough water that they don't sink but only the nipples are exposed above the water in the tub. (I wonder if Martha knows about this.)
February 25, 2002
Movies and Tunes
I saw Queen of the Damned this weekend. The commercials capitalize on the death of Aaliyah
and make it seem like she is a lead in the film. She's not.
The real lead is Marguerite Moreau, the dullest actress in the entire universe.
Although she is playing the only "living" person in the primary cast, she was the most
unanimated and uninspired of them all. Since I knew it was going to be a bad movie,
I wasn't disappointed and even enjoyed seeing it.
Although I think I am going to run away from anything I see Marguerite Moreau's name attached to.
I also saw In The Bedroom, the feel bad movie of the year.
The actors all gave very good performances, but I really don't understand what all the hype is about.
The story was pretty predictable and at times it drags.
While I thinks it's a good movie, it's not a great movie.
I've been listening to Irving, Texas born singer-songwriter Davíd Garza a lot lately.
At times he sounds like Jeff Buckley. I think his music is
innovative and pioneering like Prince can be.
I bought a couple of his albums on a whim and liked them so
I got his latest, Overdub, a few weeks ago. On Overdub there are bonus
MP3s on the disc. They sound like the demos for the albums' songs which
provides and interesting contrast to the finished product. One of my favorite songs is "Let Me".
It's just a simple and sweet song.
Here's what I don't like.
His liner notes are crappy and hard to read.
One album doesn't even have any, just the packaging.
On his latest album the are all printed in one big run on paragraph. That's not amusing Davíd.
Obsessive audiophiles like myself like reading the liner notes.
Here's the format I like: Title, Lyrics, Performers.
February 21, 2002
A Few Work Email Pet Peeves
Mark
all your emails to be sent priority so they have that annoying little
red exclamation point on them. Am I to believe that everything
you send me is extremely important? Get over it princess.
Use
no spaces in your subject line. There's no limit to the amount of text
that goes in our subject lines. I know this because someone wrote an
entire email to me in the subject line.
Write
your entire email in the subject line. Moron!
Put
"Reply Requested" in they subject of your email. Did you
think I would just ignore you? I probably should.
Forward
me everything you receive in an effort to "share information".
Expect
me to read all your emails after you forward me everything you
receive. I do have work to do you know.
Email
me then call me and ask me if I got your email.
Don't
reply with history and write only "yes." in the body of the email.
Overuse
of exclamation points. Just like jewelry and cologne,
exclamations points should be used sparingly.
February 18, 2002
The Weekend of the Living Dead
I have been suffering from a horrible allergy attack and sinus complication for
about 5 days. I've had allergy problems since I was a kid. I've
never been tested to determine what exactly I am allergic to, but my guess is
anything with scent. However after this weekend I am going to broaden my
definition to include everything.
I am apparently allergic to everything.
My prescription medication usually works pretty well. However,
I think I may have attracted some mutant strain or something.
When I was a kid one of my chores was to mow the yard. I would complain to
my parents that I hated mowing the yard because I couldn't breathe afterwards,
but they didn't seem much to care. My mother told me to take an allergy
pill before I had to mow. Great advice. Let's dope the kid up and
then let him operate heavy machinery.
For a couple years I worked outdoors in a greenhouse. (What can I say, I'm
a masochist.) It wasn't too bad. My mom's pre-dope-up treatment
seemed to work for most of the time. After a while though I think my body
got used to the drugs and they no longer worked.
Before I moved to Arizona, everyone told me how great the dry climate would be
for my sinuses. What they didn't know was that everyone else who moved
here doesn't want to believe they live in a desert, so they brought all their
stinking plants and grasses with them. (Damn Yankees!)
Pollution is another problem I face. No one warned me about that. On
my first day to work after I moved here, I noticed this brownish haze in the
sky. "Is that fog?", I asked myself. It was several months
before I realized there were mountains on the other side of the smog.
While moaning and groaning and singing Hee Haw's "Gloom, Despair and Agony
on Me" this weekend, I had a dream that I was living in a plastic bubble,
free from all contaminants and odors, happy and content in my sterile
environment. With my luck, I'd probably be allergic to the plastic.
February 12, 2002
I've Had a Little Work Done
Inspired by Greta Van Susteren, cheap blue guitar has undergone a face
lift. The doctors say the swelling should go down in a week and after a
few months, you won't even be able to see the scars. (A big tip of the hat
to Dr. Matthew for helping me with a few
problems.)
This weekend, I asked my friend Cynthia if she had looked at cbg. She
told me she had but she didn't understand it. "I saw links and stuff,
but what the hell is it?"
I've had trouble trying to explain it and
weblogs in general to many people. Initially I started cbg out of
curiosity. I saw Jennifer and Matthew's weblog and wanted to see how it
worked. Then it was an exercise in html coding, which although I make my
living writing content and designing a website, I don't really know a lot about
html itself (scary - huh?).
Now it seems like something else. So what is cheap blue guitar?
It's a place where I can: think out loud, rant, bitch, reflect, scrutinize, wonder,
make
jokes, waste
time.
But
ultimately, it's a place where I can share a little bit of myself with my
friends.
February 6, 2002
Presenting...Office Rage Theater
Today's play: "Badge of Dishonor". (The
following play is a compilation of several visits over the last 6 weeks to the
Security desk where I work.)
Me:
My badge is not letting me in anywhere.
Dork
in Security: Which doors?
Me:
So far none.
Dork:
Well...it's been cold and it's affecting the readers.
Me:
It's only forty-two degrees.
Dork:
Yeah...Brrrr. It's been causing some problems with the badge
readers.
Me:
No one else seems to be having a problem.
Dork:
Oh there have been a few people who've had problems.
Me:
Well, the "cold" weather doesn't account for me not being able to
access doors on the inside.
Dork:
Lemme check your badge.
Me:
Thanks. (Dork goes to computer and types on the keyboard. Dork
returns.)
Dork:
Well it works.
Me:
What do you mean?
Dork:
According to the computer, your badge works.
Me:
How does the computer know?
Dork:
It says the badge is activated and will work in all buildings.
Me:
Has the computer tried using the badge?
Dork:
Which way are you running the badge through the reader?
Me::
The correct way.
Dork:
Which way?
Me:
This way. (demonstrates)
Dork: Well, that's the right way.
Me:
Yes, I know.
Dork:
Are you scanning it with the picture side facing you?
Me:
No.
Dork:
Cause you aren't suppose to do that.
Me:
Yes, I know.
Dork:
Well, I don't know what else to tell you. It works.
Me:
But it doesn't work.
Dork:
The computer says it does. It should work better when the weather is
warmer.
Me:
Can I get a new badge?
Dork:
This looks like a new badge.
Me:
It is. I got it a couple weeks ago because my other one was worn out.
Dork:
Well, the badge works.
Me:(looking around) Am I on one of those hidden camera shows?
Dork:
Huh?
Me:
Never mind.
Dork:
Let me see your badge.
Me:
Here.
Dork:
Let's test it on this door.
Me:
Okay. (Dork runs badge through the reader.)
Dork: See! It works.
Me:
That's great. I have no need to go through that door. Can you
get it to work on the doors I do need to go through?
Dork:
Like which doors?
Me:
Like that building.
Dork:
Let's go.
(We
walk to my building. He runs the badge through the reader. It
declines. He does it again. It declines. On the fifth
try, it turns green.)
Dork:
See! It works.
Me:
On the fifth try.
Dork:
Well...some of these things have attitude. You have to keep at it.
