stolen...

no, make that 'lifted' from Dy, who got it from the almighty blog queen herself, Nelle.

1. List five things you'd like to accomplish by the end of the year.
-- Clean the basement.
-- Take a trip somewhere...mebbe Vegas or Tampa.
-- Finish winterizing the house.
-- Sort through my stuff and make a couple boxes for Goodwill.
-- Drop AOL as my ISP and switch over to AT&T.

2. List five people you've lost contact with whom you'd like to hear from again.
-- Robert Nguyen
-- Cecilia Esping
-- Scott Smith
-- Nathan Kimbrough
-- Laurie Neufeld

3. List five things you'd like to learn how to do.
-- Play the drums.
-- Documentary filmmaking.
-- Swim again.
-- Become literate in Chinese and fluent in Cantonese.
-- Blog more often.

4. List five things you'd do if you won the lottery (no limit).
-- Give money to friends and family, making sure that the parents were well pampered...now that they're in the twilight of their lives.
-- Travel to Thailand, New Zealand, all of Latin America, and Indonesia.
-- Buy a house.
-- Buy a new car.
-- I would work in archaeology and the travel industry at my leisure.
-- I'd probably give my fellow bloggers a couple grand to do whatever they wish.

5. List five things you do that help you relax.
-- Listen to music.
-- Go to the bookstore.
-- Start a jigsaw puzzle.
-- Play word games on the computer.
-- Blog...even though I may get worked up about certain topics ;)

I so hate dial-up...

i actually had gotten off my lazy ass and had a pretty good post going when i was disconnected. really, i should hate AOL more. even after reading Nelle's 'Why You Should Cancel Yer AOL' blog, i have been too complacent to leave the bastards. well, no more. if anything, i'm gonna make AT&T my internet provider. sure, i know that there are cheaper ISPs out there, but AT&T Worldnet has a pretty good incentive for American Airlines frequent flyers - 500 miles a month. not great, but i may as well get something back for spending $21.95/mo. for internet service. moreover, it's still better than getting a mile per dollar spent on my credit card. and 6000 miles is still 6000 miles... i could use a few more to get the free ticket to Hawaii or the Caribbean. if i save up my miles, i may have enough for Europe or another trip to South America, this time next year.

anyway, before i was unceremoniously booted off, i was blogging about the dreaded annual xmas shopping season. i know that many people would rather get major dental work than face shopping during the holidays. personally, i abhor the crowds and parking mayhem as well...but i DO love shopping.

what is it about the giddy spending sprees that we embark (on) for our loved ones? is it the feel-good rush of finding that perfect gift for someone? nah. it's the fact that you fought off ten other people for that 75% off windbreaker at the break of dawn on the day after Thanksgiving. never mind that the colors of the windbreaker make yer loved one look like some psychotic Ringling Bros. escapee. by the way, that warm feeling you're experiencing is not from the season spirit either. it's actually coming from that third diet coke you had in the food court, which is ruining yer bladder lining as we speak. buying someone a $40 retail item for $10 reeks of glee, especially when that other $30 can be blissfully spent on yer selfish self.

i have a brother that would do shit like that. it really sucked because not only would he and his wife would scour the after xmas sales and buy HID-E-OUS things for the next christmas, but he is the favorite son as well. talk about a freakin' double whammy...our complaints would always fall on our parents' deaf ears. i distinctly remember getting two clothing items that made me cringe. one was a shirt that may have doubled for a vomit design; a blind person would have picked something nicer. another was a sweater that looked okay...provided that you overlooked the hole in the front and that it was a size too small. family christmases with that brother got to the point where he was complaining about having to buy so many gifts...this coming from a guy that makes a six figure salary - CHEAP ASS. what was even worse was that he and his wife would blow probably a grand or two on his in-laws. one year, we got our usual crap, while he bought his wife's sister and her husband $800 bikes EACH. we were so fucking tired of being treated like second class citizens or xmas afterthoughts.

the solution? we tried to even do the pick names and buy one really nice gift. of course, while everyone was spending a good $100 on the picked sibling, this brother still bought crap...valued between $30-$50. i thought i either had some xmas curse or that the 'game' was rigged when he picked my name two years in a row...WTF!

you know, it's not the money thing either. i really don't care what you spend, as long as you have put some thought into the gift and purchased something appropriate. the years they were buying $10 too small, blemished, vomit sweaters in the basement of May D&F, i would have been much happier with a gift certificate from Wal-Mart or Blockbuster...hell, just gimme the cash!

i guess shopping for the perfect xmas gift is one of my few good attributes ;) about september of every year, i turn on the ears and wait for someone to mention in casual conversation about how "I wish I had this" or "I really need to buy a..." you know, if people just listened a little more or even paid attention a bit to their surroundings, fewer gifts would be returned... and we wouldn't have to worry about beating the shit out of the fellow shopper for a discontinued dish set that's missing a plate and has chips and cracks because you and a fellow shopper dropped it in the massive struggle for control of the box.

so, we have now reached an agreement that they no longer have to buy gifts for anyone...nor will we have to waste our money on them. unfortunately, there's still one small stipulation that we just buy something for the kids. yep...even the childless ones couldn't get out of this one.

that's okay though. i don't mind buying xmas gifts for their children - they're so cute. i just adjust my hearing and buy some 'perfect' gift. what Highlands Ranch nine year-old niece wouldn't like the 25th anniversary edition of 'The Exorcist'? look, it even comes with a lifelike, split pea soup spewing, Linda Blair doll. and for my six year-old nephew, i got a phenomenal book on the Maya culture - in Spanish. so what's the problem? the fuss? i put some good thought into these gifts! hey, i would LOVE to get these for xmas! and besides, at least i paid RETAIL...sheeyit!

really?

now i gotta go out and rent it...


You must like to spank or be spanked, because your
romance is reminiscent of Secretary. A truly
modern love story, it shows that you don't need
to be conventional to be normal. You're
probably the type that owns a whole lot more
leather than what's upholstering your car or
sofa. Yeah, you know what I mean.


What Romance Movie Best Represents Your Love Life?
brought to you by Quizilla

i'm glad 'Identity' wasn't one of the choices. last night, we watched it and the ending really stuck with me. i figured it out about two-thirds through the movie, but didn't want to believe it. if you guys haven't seen it, you should definitely rent it...pretty creepy.

and another thing...

why isn't our volleyball team winning more games? we are a very talented team, individually, but it seems like our chemistry (as a team) does not gel. we are the second worst out of nine teams. we'll kill a team the first game and it just unravels from there...sigh. we almost feel like Charlie Brown and his football...or kite...or the little red haired girl. rats!

argh. trying to come down from the beer and wine that i had tonight. as usual (if we play early matches), we'll head on over to Hemingway's and play the last couple rounds of Trivia Face Off. and...as usual...i'll have a couple of beers.

however, on occasion, i'll hang out with our team captain at her house after the trivia. see, our captain, is also our chauffeur on these nights; we have agreed to all chip in and either buy her beers or a tank of gas since she has been so good to let us carpool and meet at her house. and as an added bonus, we can use the HOV lane and not be bothered with the typical rush hour traffic...

so, tonight, we hung out and shared a large (1.75 liter) bottle of wine that she had out. twas good...smooth. she really prefers Bella Sera wine. Sangiovese was the flavor ;) tonight. whew...good thing that i poured more than drank; she didn't have to drive home like i did.

lots of conversation...four hours passed like that (snap). we mainly talked about our families and how it is being the youngest. it's always a good time when i get to hang out and jab with Barb. too bad i have the day off tomorrow (today) and she'll inevitably have to call in sick HEEHEE!

afterwards, it was off to Taco Hell. i just missed out on getting some chili dogs at the Hamburger Stand - their drive-thru closes at 2AM on weekdays. so, my options are limited to:

coming home and making the effort to cook something (ha, right)
going to Denny's (not sure if i can stay up that long)
the 24-hour Burger King (fries and whoppers get old)
Taco Hell (still go there even though i once broke a tooth on a burrito supreme in '99...at least they paid for all the dental work)

the three tacos, spicy bean burrito, and nachos supreme eventually won out in the end. so here i am, trying to type in between shortened burps and mini farts...greaaat. what the hey though. Taco Hell is better if eaten while listening to Style Council (which is playing in my CD right now)...or any other 80's music. it would even taste good with Culture Club... btw, i scored poorly (i.e., less than 50) on the 80's music quiz that Derbs got us all to do last week. anyway, Taco Hell with Eurythmics...Bananarama...Duran Duran, is still better than a bean burrito eaten to the sounds of Metallica or Slayer. trust me, i know these things ;)

i know...i know

i feel bad that all of you in my immediate circle of bloggers have all done gloriously well in posting over the last few weeks. of course, in bucking the trend, i have failed miserably in keeping up. i guess that i usually have something to say, i just don't always make the time to speak up and put it into words...am i making any sense?

been catching up with everyone and have found out that:

1) Laura and Lois are two of the most animated haters of Thomas Kinkade.
2) Denny works too hard...still
3) Rachel needs to lend us her personal Santa; a printer AND digital camera - where do we sign up?
4) Nelle has some serious morons who sit in the back of the class, disrupting and being general assholes. Well, you have my permission to kick 'em in the balls. Don't want the hassle? Tell me where the class is...I'll do it.

yes...just like "American Beauty"

remember what Kevin Spacey's co-worker says when Annette Bening and her lover pull forward to the drive thru window that they're manning? she says, "You are SO busted."

and that's how i feel about not blogging. of course, i usually only get going when the blog queen herself (aka, Nelle) busts me and either tags me with 'abandoned blog' or 'ZZZZZ.'

so, to the handful of readers who have just about given up on me ever blogging again, here goes...

nothing really new and exciting lately. some potential archaeological work in Virginia that we were hoping would come through...fell through. so, for the past three weeks, i've been helping out at PCL Construction (where Susie and Lois work) - mainly in the mail room and in accounting.

it's been interesting though. before this little temporary stint, i had never worked in a 'traditional' office setting. i was always either in field, a museum, or a restaurant. some of the odd things that go on in this office is full of poison. i tell ya, some people have way too much time on their hands... what i can't figure out is why the lame ones keep their jobs. there are a couple individuals who are just wasting space and should be fired on the spot; it would save SO much money. unfortunately, many are kept on because of their stellar ass-kissing skills. and that is one thing that i abhor, mind games in the workplace (or even in general). i refuse to kiss ass. there is way too much work to do instead of getting caught up in the gossipy personal affairs of other people. HEAD GAMES = TOTAL WASTE OF TIME. 'nuff said.

lemme see here...i think i have some more rants...just a sec

sigh. some of my colleagues are gathering in Chicago next week for the national anthropology meetings. yeah, Chicago is not the best place to gather, especially in November...but the conference is always in November or early December. i just wish that they would opt for a warm locale. the cycle for the last ten years has been:

1994: Atlanta
1995: Washington D.C.
1996: San Francisco
1997: D.C.
1998: Philadelphia
1999: Chicago
2000: San Fran
2001: D.C.
2002: New Orleans
2003: Chicago

these are all great cities...the wide array of gastronomic delights and the cool places to visit are downright amazing...BUT couldn't you have it in Phoenix, Miami, or even Houston? D.C. and Chicago every two or three years keep us one step away from defrosting completely between meetings. i will never forget the '95 meetings. we had just left a snowstorm in Denver...only to have it find us again in D.C., but with heavier snow and bone chilling humidity. we did get lucky in Philly though...the weather was an unseasonal 60's and 70's. unfortunately, i packed wool suits and thick sweaters :(

well, this year, i ain't goin'. i'm gonna miss my best friend, Antonio, who is Curator of Ethnography/Ceramics at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture and my mentor, Ruben Mendoza, who teaches at Cal-State Monterey Bay. yeah, my boss is going too...so he can have some extra drinks for me.

i guess i really wasn't in the mood to buy a ticket to Chicago when fares were less than $200 (around Labor Day), so i blew it off. and even last week, when Delta had me drooling over a $79 (+ tax) fare sale that they had from Denver to Chicago - ROUND TRIP! of course, by the time i found out about it, all those seats were gone. perhaps, i wasn't meant to go this year. ah well. as a consolation, i'll be saving not only a fare, but an additional $600-$800 had i gone. it would be even better if a huge storm were to hit all those hapless anthropologists while the meetings were in full swing HEH.

some good things too...

tonight, as numerous other people, we stopped by our local Cub Foods, whose Going Out Of Business sale has prices slashed by 50%. it was a mad house! the parking lot was simply bulging at the seams. shopping carts were hard to come by. i had to run out and fetch one from the parking lot when we arrived. people were fighting over the greeting cards that are now 3 for $1. somehow, i didn't find 33-cent Passover, Halloween, and any stupid freakin' rhyming cards for all occasions, to be that shrewd of a buy. still, you should have seen the people who were just about pouncing on the half priced frozen turkeys LOL. it was like the entire poultry shortage of the century had culminated in the frozen food section of the Glendale Cub Foods. damn, people! there will be other turkeys to buy...don't you realize that Cub is selling everything at retail? half off is not ALL THAT.

still, we were caught up in the pandemonium. Susie and I were swooping down on the really good buys, like baking goods...ethnic spices...dog food...frozen dinners...and basic junk food. all in all, we nearly killed our poor cart...filled 15 bags past sensible capacity...and lightened our wallets by $133 for our booty. now, i just wanna know how long it's gonna take to eat all the stroganoffcerealpuddingbiscuitmixsoupfruitmeatloafbottledwateretc., especially when we probably didn't have enough space in the fridge or pantry in the first place.

ah well, Lois (and all other Texans) have a saying, " Having a full pantry is like having money in the bank. " too bad i'm only rich in Corned Beef Hash, eh? what does that get me? a bigger coronary? maybe a super sized embolism...

hell yeah...

stopped by Derbs' place and thoroughly enjoyed reading about the wench (with whom she once worked) that recently got busted for mail fraud. too bad she can't be busted for robbing that nursing home patient blind.

yes. i am one spiteful mutha... there are WAY too many people out there who aren't getting their just desserts...most often at the expense of others. it's a great feeling when i find out some jerk has gotten exactly what he deserves.

to quote the great Lowa, "Heh."

better than being afraid of clowns...

What Psych-Ward do you belong to?

would you care...

if i decided to blog a ton and change the date? i really was wanting to blog about all sorts of stories in commemoration of the 'holiday'. after all, what other day do we use for telling stories?

anyway, would it be any different if i put some stuff down today and changed the date to the 31st? of course, for all that to make sense, i would have to also delete this steaming piece o' crap...

in these non-blogging times...

i admit that i am guilty. you did not see me at the post office for most wanted...most non-blogging...but maybe most boring blog.

damn those trick o'treaters! we bought all this candy and not one showed up...braving the cold...in hopes of abscessing that little tooth even further. we were hoping for even a few tough ones, promising to give huge, heaping handfuls of candy.

what now? we have to eat ALL that candy - life sux ;)

still, i don't think that lois' Halloween reputation will ever recover from her giving out pencils one year. i'll never forget the look of horror on one kid's face when he saw what she dropped into his bag. it was even more pained when he called out to his mom, "Awwww mom, she's giving out PENCILS!!!" lois didn't even cackle or bat an eye, she just said (point blank), "Shaddup! That other stuff will just rot yer teeth!" luckily, no one egged or teepeed the house the following week.

so now, we load up on candy that we ultimately have to eat ourselves...and i'm already out of the dark chocolate. guess it's time for a Butterfinger...

if any village is missing their idiot...

tell them that she is working at the local Target.

last night, i went to Target to get three things: a digital tire gauge, a Woolrich down throw (which was on sale AND i was armed with a $10 off coupon), and a small, 18", 15-watt fluorescent bulb for the fish tank.

well, the only thing that i came away with was the fish tank bulb; they were out of the other two items and i grabbed a couple rain check forms. one item in the checkout lane...piece o' cake.

got to checkout and even was let into line by a real nice lady who saw my wee, one item. that's cool. we often let people in ahead of us if we have considerably more than they. funny though...i mentioned to her that no good deed goes unpunished. ha!

our checker was a nice gal...35-40...kinda talkative, but not to the point of annoying. anyway, while she was scanning the last few items of the party in front of me, an adjacent line opened up; i told the nice lady to hurry and be the first in that line.

a-ha! so who got the last good deed in? yep, it would be me...thank you very much. and things all went downhill from there. on the last item (a pumpkin), the checker mentioned to the people that it had a rotting stem and perhaps they may want to get another one. nonplussed, they shrugged it off and said that the pumpkin was going to end up rotting in a few days anyway. end of drama.

so i get up there with my measly item and two rain check forms. well, apparently the poor gal had never been trained in rain check distribution; real tough...you scan the forms and the rain checks are printed...voila! worse, she didn't even know what a rain check was...hmmm...check out all those red flags popping up!

actually got the rain checks...okay. now, it was on to the fluorescent bulb (you know, the long kind). she's putting it in the bag and says to me, "You sure you want this one? it's open."

"Uhhh. It's supposed to be that way."

"Oh, okay. Here's your receipt...oh looook, it's a pretty pink one!"

"You know, that means your register tape is running low. You might want to change it (while I run screaming out of this place). Have a good night (you freak)."

nothing against the poor gal, but really...how the hell did she get a job as a checker? i hope she's good with money because Target is standing to lose a lot of it if she's all-around-clueless.

calling all village idiots...the Super Target in Glendale is now hiring. Kmart has blue-light specials...Target just has dim bulbs. Wal-Mart has falling prices...Target has ever falling IQs ;) or maybe the above only applies to management level - doesn't it always?

ugh...

some tired feet today. new rugs came in recently. had to put down two of the three. not much of a problem...with the exception of one thing...a piano.

nothing like trying to move a 400 lb. piano with bad casters and a bum leg. worried that you're going to break the leg and really have a problem or scratch the shit out of the wooden floor. of course, it doesn't help that the two people trying to move the damn thing have bad knees themselves. it was like a piano moving competition of the crippled olympics. picture that.

low carb...

although i would never go on a low carb diet - i'm too much of a wimp (puh-leeze, telling a chinese guy that he can't eat rice...themz fightin' words), my friend has been forced to go on one after suffering a heart attack and undergoing bypass surgery. not a good thing for a 35 year-old.

anyway, he told me recently that he was losing clumps of hair due to this diet. supposedly, this is a common occurence for many people on low carbs... that doesn't sound good either. then again, i guess it's better than keeping the weight and just waiting for a fatal heart attack, eh?

hope the friend is doing well. we go back about ten years. one day, we got talking in lab (washing pot sherds...whoohoo!) and found out that we had a mutual friend and interests. we became partners in crime and best friends until he moved back to New Mexico a couple years later. yeah, we're still best friends, but it's sometimes hard to be good about staying in touch when miles and busy schedules separate people...

been telling stories lately...i got a great one for Halloween. before then though, i think i will blog about the 'Bonampak Death March.' STAY TUNED

and the bidding continues...

been watching some items on eBay for about a week now. lately, i have been looking at some DVDs and camera equipment. luckily, i haven't been a bidding fool. i would though, like to win a couple of 'em; they're almost too cheap to be true. 'course, i won't tell you guys what i'm bidding on because i KNOW you guys would go there and jack it up in a bidding war ;)

then again, instead of spending a bit of time worrying about bids, i should just save my money and spend it at bookcloseouts...

speeding ticket? i need money for that?

hmmmm...

not much to say, which is often the norm. looks like the warm weather is on its way out. too bad. that week of 80 degrees was a treat for the fall. tomorrow, we'll be getting more long sleeve, typical-for-late-October weather. sigh.

went by Dy's blog and saw that she was Switzerland in a recent quizilla-type survey. wonder what i'll be...

tired...

haven't gotten much sleep the last two nights. and usually, i blog better if i have had enough sleep...don't wanna force anything and be a blogging disaster.

must go eat. looks like there's time for veggin' too. ooh, 50-cent day at the cheapies! too bad there really isn't anything that i want to see...ah well.

not as bad as i thought...

sure, i got busted for speeding in the school zone yesterday...and $80 is still not chump change. however, after seeing my friend, Jen, yesterday, i don't feel so bad. her husband was pulled over for speeding in a school zone and was fined $300 and issued a six-point ticket! now, THAT sucks!!!

funny, i found an alternate route that's a bit out of the way but two to three minutes faster! yay!

argh...

started out to be a nice morning. sun was up...there was little traffic...little white vans were taking pictures of Chinese guys speeding in school zones...kee-raaap!

too bad i have better uses for that $80 that i just threw out the window :(

what will be in store for me on the drive home? hmmm?

fitting...

i'm a June baby.


June


Which month are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

WTF...

sometimes i wonder about how little people really listen. recently, i had been getting calls on my cell for someone named Charles. surprisingly, each time the call has come in, i have not had it on; these people have been getting my voicemail.

wouldn't you think that if you called a number a few times and the voicemail was someone else, you may have the wrong number? i mean, unless Charles is gay and shares a phone with his partner, has a roommate that he didn't inform you (of), or has identity issues...this Spencer guy is not his answering service! the whole fiasco is a bit amusing though. from the messages, i have found out that some gal owes Charles money and that he gets offers of borrowing a van on occasion.

and wouldn't you know it, just days ago the problem was solved in a super long message that was left by two people (an old lady and a man) who were using three way conference calling. did they realize that their whole conversation was recorded on my voicemail? apparently, granny had reversed the last two numbers of Charles' phone and got me instead. damn, lady. to how many people did you pass my number?!?

maybe i should leave a new voicemail:

this is SPEN-CER...NOT Charles...
if you would like to reach Charles, his number ends with 8774...NOT 8747!
SPENCER...the guy with this number...would really appreciate it if you no longer leave granny in charge of phone numbers for the clan. moreover, if this lady is still driving, do everyone a favor and take the keys away - she is not the most lucid of individuals.

ah well, at least the messages had some entertainment value. after all, it coulda been spam. talk about a time waster...

not dead yet...

i will try to keep this blog out of the 'i'm bored enough to read Spencer's' emergency room. maybe Nelle will see it during one of her ambulance joyrides and find the appropriate defibrillator...

of course, i have survived the pissed off black widow too. unfortunately, i haven't found a Lysol shellacked body either. still, i ain't goin' to look for it. hellno. i guess i'm keeping myself alert enough with visions of a crazed spider pouncing on me as i sit, fully incapacitated, on the can. who cares if it was just Lysol. for all i know, that could be the arachnid version of angel dust... oh look, i failed to read the extra fine print at the bottom of the can!

it says, "DO NOT use as a substitute for killing spiders, or you will be in for a long night. you had better leave the state, buddy." great...

the things i do to please you guys...

i had just come down the stairs to blog a masterpiece when i spied a spider that had made its web on a couple drumsticks, hanging out of a box. a possible kill and not an easy one. smashing a spider on a wall just takes a quicker reaction and a helluva big shoe, with a good, flat sole.

however, killing a spider that is hanging in mid-air, not far from other objects takes a little more tact and skill. after all, you don't want to bust up the place trying to get at yer mortal arachnid enemy either. worse, with all that racket, you may inadvertently let it escape; you do not want to do a Porky Pig and shoot up the house, trying in vain to kill a fly that ultimately gets away in classic Looney Tunes fashion.

so, upon further investigation (but without mathematic calculations), i determined that this was not some stupid indoor spider that led the good life. rather, this was a creepy looking, widow type that must've just arrived from outside. GREAT...it's even more imperative that this fucker doesn't get away.

i didn't want to use my sandals, for fear of bumping into something and sabotaging the whole mission altogether. no, i went to look for back up.

upstairs, i couldn't find any bug spray, but i grabbed some Lysol (leftover from those dumpster divers who foolishly tried to rummage through my trash MWUHAHA). my sister, Susie, swears by it as a bug spray substitute. funny, in a house with spiders, you would think that we would have some Raid-type stuff on hand. nah, i prefer to fuckin' squaaash them with the power of the shoe...repent ye sinners or feel the wrath of my Nike!

went back down to face the enemy. sprayed it a few times, watching it fall onto a black (of course) jacket that is now disinfected and linen fresh as well. thinking that it was finished, i went upstairs to get a flashlight so i could spot the body easier and not be surprised if it were still twitching.

got my nubby flashlight that was absolutely fantastic in the jungles of Bolivia. it isn't the best flashlight that i've had (that prize goes to a huge Mag-Lite that i gave to my landlord in Peru), but it's still darn good and it was a heck of a lot cheaper ;)

went back to the spot and GODDAMN... it was gone! with a small bead of sweat on my brow, i carefully shone the light on the immediate area, frantically searching for a sticky, black corpse. nope. no sign. not good.

after a couple seconds of prodding the stuff underneath with one of the drumsticks, i caught a glimpse of some black body...but a very alive one.

it seems that the spider had just landed on the side of a milk crate, just underneath the jacket. argh. a milk crate - not a flat sided box. talk about complicating the whole situation.

wanna know what made everything reeaallyy bad? when i put the light on the spider, it was tapping one of its legs like it was waiting for me to make the next move. talk about a pissed spider... FU-UCK! i am so screwed.

i know that the majority of insects fear humans. after all, we are way bigger than they are...and the confrontation inevitably ends with a quick smack. however, i also know that spiders (and small animals) will bite if cornered or if quarters are tight. i just don't want a vengeful spider. that would not be good.

one of the world's most venemous spiders is the Brazilian wandering spider (Phoneutria nigriventer).

This spider is believed to have the most active neurotoxic venom of any living spider. Its venom is so potent that only 0.006mg (0.00000021oz) is sufficient to kill a mouse. that's 21 millionths of an ounce!!! the minimal chances of survival are compounded by the fact that these spiders like to lurk in shirts and shoes. careless people and (unfortunately) children become fatalities because the spider is aggressive and will bite multiple times.

so, while i know that no Brazilian wandering spiders co-habitate my house, i am not comforted by the thought of an enraged black spider that is gleefully juggling evil machinations of biting the peepee of the chinese guy living upstairs or possibly burrowing in his ear. i am so freaked out right now.

i'm ready though. i'm got my pillow, blanket, coat, hat, and Lysol. i'm gonna go upstairs and SLEEP IN THE CAR. take that you little eight-legged fukker!

just a couple thoughts...

this for all you 'vivor addicts. wanna watch a better reality show with less drama but more blood? try watching those who are running for office in Colombia...

from Yahoo! News...

Suspected leftist guerrillas gunned down two candidates in Colombia's upcoming state and mayoral elections after a campaign meeting in a lawless southwestern province, authorities said.

Police found the bodies of Jairo Gomez, a mayoral contender in the city of Genova, and Julio Cesar Castennanos, who was running for city council, lying in a ditch early Saturday, said Uriel Torres, a police spokesman for the Quindio region.

The two went missing after a campaign stop in a rural area outside Genova late Friday, Torres said. He blamed the attack on Colombia's largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which is bent on undermining the Oct. 26 vote.

At least 23 mayoral candidates have been killed and eight others kidnapped in the run-up to the elections. The FARC has been blamed for most of the attacks.

Nearly 160 candidates have pulled out of the race, a third of them citing death threats, according to the nation's registrar's office.

those people on TV are such wannabes...Ahnold? he's a wimp too. make that doubly wimpy since he's a 'publican :P

AND

there's always a lotta talk surrounding the ever increasing identity theft that is on its way to becoming a plague in the United States. one way to try to deter thieving of personal info is to shred documents, receipts, etc.

it is suggested that we vigilant consumers should invest in a cross-cutting paper shredder. apparently, the regular strip-shredders are not sufficient enough in making things tough for the potential thief; they can often just put the strips back together and voilá, yer credit is now shot.

for those who worry about identity theft...but don't want to take the time in tearing everything up...or can't afford buying a fancy cross-cutting paper shredder, here's my piece of advice:

wanna stop those pesky dumpster divers who want all that personal info? this is all you hafta do... throw all yer perishables into one trash bag and the paper stuff into another - keep 'em separate. however, before you tie up that paper document bag, take a HEAVING SHIT into it. think the dumpster divers will ever want to steal yer identity? hell, they'll send you a case of Lysol and beg for forgiveness...

'course, this is only what i did before i saved up for that cross-cuttin' shredder ;)

one circus has just left town...

and another one's tix go on sale today. sure, you gotta join their free club, but it's all part of the game. now, go get yer tix!!!

sigh...

looks like all nine Cub Foods locations in Colorado are going to be shut down by mid-november. Kroger (King Sooper's parent company) is going to buy four of them and slap the royal name on 'em... in fact, the Cub (on Cherry and Leetsdale) by my house is one of those candidates. thing is, there's another King Sooper's a mile further down Leetsdale...that's gonna be strange.

boo hiss...i don't want another King Sooper's. i liked some of the deals that Cub has. besides, Cub has a better marked down/seasonal/discontinued items area...and bigger too. ah well, the big fish are always gonna eat the smaller fish. too bad that they poop bigger as well...

oh yeah, Cub just installed a great ethnic aisle with super Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and Middle Eastern stuff! i guess this means going to separate stores again...grrr. or that just means i have a month to stock up, eh :)

okay...

as usual, Nelle has busted me for neglecting my blog. sometimes, i get all happy about posting more than once in a day and then go and get too lazy to add more. really though, i had been thinking about blogging all week. getting off my ass to do something about it was just a WHOLE 'nother issue...

so, regardless of the brainfartwritersblockblogfuck, here goes...

finally put the bookcase in place that i let sit around while i pondered its future location. yesterday, i was in a "move everything around because i'm tired of looking at it" mood. unfortunately, that means cleaning up the shit that's there and even more cleaning behind/underneath it because it has sat there for so long.

it wasn't a feng shui thing though. i'm sure that a consultant would have a seizure if he/she saw my new arrangement. who cares if this room says death and impotence, it works for me! now get out...you flake ;)

of course, with another bookcase, that means more room for buying. as usual, i hit the bargains at Barnes & Noble and Tattered. and bookcloseouts.com gets my business a few times a year. i haven't perused the nearby Goodwill and ARC though. hopefully, i'll make a trip out to the Salvation Army that Danelle haunts for books, which is a few blocks from my eldest sister's house. still, at $2 a bag, it sounds like a dangerous prospect - i may lose control if i find some goodies!

funny, you guys think i neglect this blog? sheeyit! you should see the stacks of books that i haven't touched in months!

one book, in particular, that i have been trying to finish is: Gaviotas - A Village to Reinvent the World. i gave it to lois a couple years ago and decided to read it myself. the book recounts how a group of scientists and visionaries turned a small Colombian village, Gaviotas, into a model of self-sustaining efficiency.

the village is located in the llanos, which are the desolate grasslands in eastern Colombia. there's no lushness, no rolling plains...just a lotta sky and depressing flatness. think Nevada with less heat and more rain.

anyway, in Gaviotas, which means seagull in Spanish, they use wind turbines that convert breezes into energy, solar collectors that work in the rain, soil-free systems in raising edible and medicinal crops, and ultra-efficient pumps which tap deep aquifiers. in fact, those pumps are so easy to operate that they're ingeniously powered by children's see saws!!!

it's really a fascinating book. it gives us a look into alternative forms of energy and self-sustanence. granted, this model will probably never make it into communities with well-established infrastructures (i.e., metropolitan areas...megalopoli), but it seems like a good fit for areas that are deemed 'uninhabitable' or marginal. i wonder how feasible this is for the more desolate parts of Colorado and New Mexico...

oh yeah, Gaviotas is not a new concept by any stretch of the imagination. the people did their homework, laid the groundwork, and had it all up and running in 1971. now, that's cool.

wow...a third posting!

well, kind of a cop out...but it still gives you something to read ad nauseum heh

Extroverted (E) 52.86% Introverted (I) 47.14%
Sensing (S) 61.43% Intuitive (N) 38.57%
Thinking (T) 65% Feeling (F) 35%
Perceiving (P) 50% Judging (J) 50%

ESTJ - "Administrator". Much in touch with the external environment. Very responsible. Pillar of strength. 13% of the total population.

Take Free Myers-Briggs Personality Test

but...i must have lied somewhere because i am not the administrative type. ah well.

now the enneagrams are (sadly) more accurate ;)

Conscious self	Overall self

Take Free Enneagram Personality Test

not a good sign...

when you're out with yer friends who have yellow fever. no, i'm not talking about the disease transmitted by mosquitoes either. i'm talkin' about guys who lust over Asian women. kinda like 'jungle fever' but at the other end of the color spectrum.

these three guys were totally in love with our Chinese server. no big deal. she was cute. however, i am not one to tell someone that he/she is utterly HOT unless i know that person...or i'm blitzed (which is rare because i'm way too scared of the consequences of a DUI). and yet, these guys have NO problem whatsoever telling (with lustful drool and spastic adam's apple) a server that she is really beautiful. somehow, that comes across (to me) as being creepy. who knows though, maybe some people like to be openly complimented like that. nevertheless, i know that most men are pigs who ogle luscious desserts, only to find out later that these so-called sweets are loaded with artificial flavoring or ultimately rancid. am i being metaphoric enough? or is it the Bud and hot wings talking?

if you haven't already guessed, we went to Hooters. and yes, i just go there for the wings. really. my eyes are brown for another reason...

all good though...

one of the drinking buddies was my boss, who owed me a few hundred dollars for the two day survey that we conducted at the end of august. he even paid me in cash! yay!

now i'm gonna buy a couple things that i've been cheap about. you ebay buyers ever have that string of 'items to watch' that you really want...but don't need? hell, most of the things on eBay are things that we don't need anyway...

well, i just won a Margaret Cho concert CD that was just released not too long ago. i was outbid, but decided to put out a little extra money for it. really, i was gonna run it up another dollar just to spite the person who outbid me...but it backfired. ah well, i'm still getting it for a coupla dollars less (including shipping) than if i were to get it through Amazon.com; i can't complain. and besides, she's totally worth it. she is one comic who can make my day. some of my other favorites:

George Carlin...Louie Anderson...Rita Rudner...Judy Tenuta...Bill Cosby...Lily Tomlin.

btw, Margaret Cho is still out on her Revolution tour. unfortunately, it already passed through Denver in March. and where was i? out of town...grrr. it was the second tour of hers that i had missed. she was in Denver a couple years ago. again...i was out of town. uncanny. is there a pattern here? oh, wondering when Margaret Cho is passing through town again? well, lemme check MY itinerary. it is rumored that Miz Cho will not tour Denver unless that lunatic chinese guy is out of town...

surprisingly, i did catch her " I'm The One That I Want "tour the two times it hit Denver in '99 and '00. it was one of two tours that have been made available on VHS/DVD. the other was Notorious C.H.O., which wasn't as funny - good material though, even thought provoking.

in addition to the Margaret Cho CD, i've been eyeing some books on bookcloseouts.com too. in fact, i've had about a dozen books in my cart for a couple months now. i just was always talking myself out of buying them, saying that i didn't need more books. true...but such a hard reality to face.

so, as a compromise, i'm going to just get seven of the twelve. it'll save me some bookcase space and maybe $20 that can go towards something else. maybe even something useful...nah.

quite interesting...

got this from Nelle, who is probably just emerging from her nitrous oxide stupor...but with an oh-so-clean dental feeling ;)

The Big Five Personality Test

Extroverted	||||||||||||||||||	72%
Introverted	||||||	28%
Friendly	||||||||||||||||||	80%
Aggressive	||||	20%
Orderly	||||||||||||	50%
Disorderly	||||||||||||	50%
Relaxed	||||||||||||||||	68%
Emotional	||||||||||	32%
Intellectual	||||||||||||||||||||	84%
Practical	||||	16%

Take Free Big 5 Personality Test

and the analysis:

Extroversion results were high which suggests you are very talkative, optimistic, sociable and affectionate but possibly not very reflective.

Friendliness results were high which suggests you are very good natured, trusting, and helpful but possibly too much of a follower

Orderliness results were medium which suggests you are moderately organized, reliable, neat, and ambitious.

Emotional Stabilityresults were high which suggests you are relaxed, calm, secure, unemotional and possibly too unobservant of your feelings.

Intellectualness results were high which suggests you are very creative, original, curious, imaginative but possibly not very practical.

Overall, you scored highest on Intellectualness and lowest on Orderliness.

you never know...

what you'll see in the middle of the night.

started a new v-ball league in Thornton for my friend, Barb, whose teams i have played for (on and off) seven or eight years. we played two matches tonight and only won two out of six games. ah well. it was still an okay result since half the team had never played with one another. next week, we will KICK ASS...right ;)

anyway, the thing that i saw which opened my eyes tonight happened while i was on my way home. i had stopped at the nearby drive-thru for some eeevil chili dogs. as i pulled away from the window and out into the parking lot, i saw butt...a fish belly-white one...like the full moon that will be upon us in a couple days.

there was a gal who was just getting up from a squat, bare-bottomed and all. she was being helped up by a guy standing in front (of her). i guess she REAALLYY had to go. maybe he was just shielding her from the passing cars on the street. too bad he left her exposed to the drive thru customers. who knows, maybe they were drunk. heck, for me to be brave enough to pee near a busy street and in the corner of a well-lit parking lot, i know i would hafta be shitfaced.

i'm not casting stones because i'm sure we've all been in situations like that. there's nothing wrong with having a weak-willed, bursting bladder moment. it just sucks when you discover an uninvited audience ;)

and from the 'thank God no one busted me files'...

lois and i were at Calakmul in 1997. Calakmul is a Maya site in the state of Campeche, Mexico that was at its peak in the seventh century. as many as 50,000 people may have inhabited the city...pretty good for 1300 years ago! only in the last 20 years has major reconstruction been carried out at this huge site. since then, archaeologists have located and mapped over 6000 buildings!!!

anyway, we were climbing Structure XIII...enjoying the view...when my bladder decided to play a cruel joke on me. of course, it started talking to me right when i reached the top! thing is, you can't just run down a 100' pyramid to take care of business. besides, i knew i couldn't make it in time anyway. so...i let 'er rip!

luckily, Calakmul is not a well-known site - even now. six years ago, it might've averaged fewer than 100 visitors a week...nothing compared to hugely popular Mesoamerican sites such as Chichén Itzá or Teotihuacán, which may see a couple thousand visitors every day. so we were in little danger of other people watching the crazed chinese guy take a whiz off a pyramid. and luck had it that the guards weren't in the area and the majority of the workers were busily trying to raise a massive 10' stela in front of Structure II that day. or was everyone just at the chili dog stand at that precise moment...heh

all this talk about teeth...

has me squirmy. i'm not one who fears going to the dentist; i have had my share of dental work done in my life (braces, gum surgery, root canals, crowns). in fact, i had to have all but two of my baby teeth pulled by the dentist because of my extremely long roots. the last root canal i had done, my dentist said that molar root almost ate the drill he was using; he only had about 2 mm. extra to hold (onto).

still, you guys are talking about losing permanent teeth...which scares me to death. i shudder at the thought of having implants or missing teeth. it's not the cosmetic aspect of it, just the potential problems later in life (i.e., tooth shifting, bone loss).

i'm glad that you're all taking care of it though. tooth pain and icky tastes in my mouth due to dental problems are no fun :(

speaking of Ethiopia...

after reading the article about the man in Addis Ababa whose wife crushed his family jewels, i thought of another Ethiopian man...this one a hero though, not a chump.

his name was Abebe Bikila.

in 1960, at the Summer Olympics (in Rome), this humble, Imperial Guard of the Ethiopian Army, was a surprise winner of the Men's Marathon. he was so unknown that he was the underdog of underdogs...

this race made headlines because this soon-to-be national hero:

won the first Olympic gold medal for Ethiopia
broke the world record with his time of 2 hrs. 16 min. 12 sec.
he ran the entire 26.2 miles...BAREFOOT!

he even repeated the victory at the next Olympics, in Tokyo, Japan...but with shoes! i wonder if they slowed him down ;)

not oddly enough...just plain strange

here are a couple headlines that are more interesting than some of the journalistic drivel that we have to contend with on a daily basis...

"Doctoral Student Finds Why Cookie Crumbles"

...that's nice. still, if good research money is going towards something this bizarre, i want to be funded for a study on "why i don't give a rat's ass" or "who the fuck cares?" geez.

"Man Dies After Wife Crushes Testicles"

now, that's a good one. read the story and repeat after me...

"He deserved it. Embarrassed?!? Just go...get treated...and lie through yer teeth ya dumbshit!" So death is less embarassing than a case of twisted hangers, ri-iiight.

what's really scary about this is that they may try to pin something on the wife. howzabout some reverse domestic violence? mebbe the female should get away with something. after all, a lot of males get off scot-free and return to the household to kill his wife/girlfriend... where's the justice in that?

i just hope this doesn't end up like the case of the Nigerian woman, (who was) recently acquitted for having a child out of wedlock. if convicted, she would have been put to death by stoning (not via cannabis either); they would have buried her up to her neck and thrown rocks at her until she gasped her last breath. why is it her fault that she got pregnant? do you think it would have happened if her little boyfriend kept his microscopic pecker in his pants?

damn!

no pork in India...

that's fer sure.

saw that Dy, Mark, and Nelle went to an Indian buffet for dinner. is the Taj Mahal (in Golden) related to the Taj Mahal that was on 17th and Clarkson in the late 90's?

we had Indian too! there's a newish Indian restaurant Grill & Tandoor in SE Denver (just east of the Continental 6 Theatres) that we had visited a couple times. originally, it had started out as an Indian buffet, but i guess the demographics weren't right for this situation; they must have been throwing away a lot of food at closing. so, they now sport a menu that's quite similar to Little India. in fact, one of the Nepalese bussers who worked at Little India has defected to this place (he's a server here though) - surprised that we recognized him ;)

anyway, the food was quite good. the papadums and the accompanying chutneys had very fresh, bright flavors. the kabli naan (our favorite) had some succulent cherries and raisins. the paneer masala i ordered, super tasty. however, i would have liked a bit more sauce...needed to be a bit more 'stewy.' lois ordered chicken vindaloo since they didn't have any Madras dishes, which are usually spicier. not as hot as we like it, but still good with very complex flavors; the ginger and cilantro really stood out. they were chintzy with the potato though. vindaloo should have more than one racquetball-sized potato. come on, if we're paying $10.99 for this dish, they can certainly afford to put another lousy ten-cent spud in there...

ah well, they made up for my idiosyncratic dining mood by not charging us for our chai...ohyeah ;) we'll be back. service (especially refills) was better than Little India AND there's actually sufficient parking at Grill & Tandoori! unless you go on a weekday night, it can be hell finding a parking space at Little India...

other Indian restaurants that Lois and I patronize...

Masalaa...the only strictly vegetarian Indian restaurant in the area! our Nepalese friend, Simrika, swooned over this place. she said that it's truly 'authentic' Indian cuisine.

Royal India is good too. their channa masala is stellar! the prices are a wee bit steep, but the portions are generous. at least they don't nickel and dime you to death (like Little India) when it comes to getting more rice. i just wish the service were better; their servers just plain disappear sometimes.

used to go to Delhi Darbar, now called India House. will have to head downtown...although another Little India has opened on 15th and Champa. AND they have had 2 fer 1 coupons in Westword lately :) maybe India House will have to wait heh.

urk..urk!

just bought a new bookcase at Target...cherry finish...only $28...and FREAKIN' heavy! i was not expecting it to be so heavy!!! after all, it was so cheap... it was almost as heavy as my big bookcase, which cost $150. i'm kinda suspicious...is it a concrete bookcase with a cherry finish? deceiving...

can't wait to put it up in the morning. i've got two smaller bookcases that could easily be consolidated into this one - wotta roomsaver! still, if i wanted to make more room, i could always start by simplifying and throwin' away stuff. hah! right... are those flying pigs perchance? porcine aviators?

yep...that's me

congratulations. you are the kiss my happy ass
bunny. You don't care about anyone or anything.
You must be so proud


which happy bunny are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

grrrr...

went to the airport this morning to pick up my brother, Steve. drive was pretty quick and no problems. a heck of a lot different than yesterday, when i was almost hit by a total asshat in a green, Ford wagon. jerkoff was turning (on a red light - don't think he even stopped) south on the street in which i was headed north. i totally had to swerve to keep from hitting the fool; i am so glad that there were no parked cars or other lanes. that woulda been a mess.

god, will you please make that idiot boy fall down and crack some teeth? i wouldn't mind if he walked straight into a door jamb either...as long as he sustains a shiner the size of...an eggplant or beefsteak tomato. then i won't want to kick his sorry ass so badly. thank you.

where tonight?

kitchen floors, hallway, and breakfast nook floors are being replaced this week, so we're pretty much eating out until saturday. last night, we went to get those awesome ribs at Bull & Bush. yum! for my sides, i got the coleslaw and black beans/rice. funny, the coleslaw was phenomenal last night and the rice wasn't so good...usually, it's the other way around.

ugh. maybe something ethnic or vegetarian tonight. a full rack of ribs sticks to yer own for a couple days...how do the strictly carnivore do it?

kinda right...

but not completely accurate: Which Of The Greek Gods Are You?


Poseidon


?? Which Of The Greek Gods Are You ??
brought to you by Quizilla

i'm not sure about the huge mood swings, but the rest is pretty much correct. so fuck off. no, i mean, PLEASE stay! isn't there a much better blogpile you can read ;)

not abandoned...

but sure as hell neglected. sorry about the lack of blogging...i just didn't get on the computer much the past few days.

went to catch 'Bend It Like Beckham' last friday at the cheapies. it was really good, although a bit long. i think it clocked in at less than two hours but the numerous quick happenings and plot twists made it seem long when everything finally came full circle. has anyone seen it? do you agree/disagree? i guess i would have tried to trim fifteen minutes from it, but the finished product might not have been as good...

anyway, Bend It... is about an Indian gal, named Jess (Jesminder), who longs to play soccer 24/7. she idolizes David Beckham, a star player on the Britain's national team as well as Manchester United, one of the top professional teams in the world. unfortunately, her parents would rather see their daughter go to university and give up soccer for a domestic life, hopefully settling down with a 'good' Indian boy and being able to whip out killer aloo gobi.

however, before she makes repeated attempts to keep her parents happy, she starts playing for a local amateur club team...which only whets her passion for the game; even looking to perhaps making a career of playing soccer.

i'll stop there and make everyone rent it, as it is being released tomorrow on DVD/video. it's very much in the vein of 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding,' but with a little less emphasis on the family and more on the protagonist's life and how she wants to make her parents happy...but also longs to follow her dreams.

hey Derbs, if you haven't seen it, you should definitely rent it for KK...but watch it once before you let her. there's one teeny weeny scene during the wedding celebration that you may not approve. other than that, it's safe for kids ;)

oh reaaally?

From What Kind of Thinker Are You?, which I conveniently 'stole' from Nelle's page...

You are a Logical-Mathematical Thinker
Logical-Mathematical thinkers:
Like to understand patterns and relationships between objects or actions
Try to understand the world in terms of causes and effects
Are good at thinking critically, and solving problems creatively

Like Logical-Mathematical thinkers, Leonardo based his theories on evidence rather than speculation. Other Logical-Mathematical Thinkers include
Isaac Newton, Archimedes, Albert Einstein

Careers which suit Logical-Mathematical thinkers include
Physicist, Chemist, Biologist, Lawyer, Computer programmer, Engineer, Inventor

not all is bleak though...

we went to the Mountain High Casino in Black Hawk last night, on the oldies station's (KOOL 105)dime. last month, i won a prize of free dinner (buffet) for two as well as $25 in cash. so we decided to redeem it before next week's expiration date.

food was okay; they need to put out less food on slower nights, some of it was looking kinda sketchy. service was pretty marginal. our server, a pretty, young Russian gal, seemed more interested in doing her sidework than tending our refills. honey, your sugar shuttles and salt/pepper shakers ain't the ones handing out tips... poor thing, maybe she'll figure it out soon.

aside from the mediocre food and service though, we fared better with the nickel slots! of the $25 in cash, we had spent about $15 of it when we started to hit teeny jackpots. all in all, we came out $50 ahead. not bad considering this trip to Black Hawk cost us just gas and a tip for the lame buffet server...

hmph...

well, lois and i were thinking of getting tix to the Simon & Garfunkel concert, scheduled for the Pepsi Center in late October. prices, although a bit steep - $54-$204, are not that bad considering this is probably the last time the public may see them perform together. guess they wanted to jump on the cash cow like the Stones or KISS (which is on its 3rd or 4th farewell tour). hey, people are nostalgic and what better way to give 'em what they want at inflated prices?

anyway, as i said, we were thinking of getting tix. unfortunately, i checked on the nosebleed seats the day after they went on sale...sold out. so, maybe the $85 seats. bleh. the 'best' ones left are behind the stage...WTF! we are NOT gonna pay that kind of money to see the backs of their heads! going to the symphony and getting the $10 seats are one thing (at least you get to see the conductor and a different view of the musicians), but $170?!? i could think of better uses...

what ever happened to 'affordable' concerts? i wanna see 'so-and-so', but i gotta sell a kidney first. they told me that a liver and cornea will get me fifth row seats...and first row center if i turn down anesthesia. sheesh. oh, you've got some cheap seats left? in what sections? ah...nosebleed, black eye, and teeth kicking. what are these...pro wrestling seats?

nice...

although it is the first day of fall, the outside temp. is 86 degrees. yeah, i love fall and the cooler temps, but i could easily live in a place that had 70-85 degree highs for eight months of the year; only then could i handle two months of rain and two more of snow.

we are lucky though. sure, Colorado gets its share of weird weather - sometimes even opposite of the norm - but it doesn't stay around long. could you imagine living in some of the more extreme climatological zones?

remember my posting on Dallol, Ethiopia? the place that averaged 94 degrees for SIX years? hell no! or make that HELL yes because that's what it must have been...

or what about you rain lovers? do you think you could handle the annual rainfall of Lloro, Colombia? in one 29-year stretch, it averaged 524 inches of rain...every year. i wonder if people invest in submarines there... heck, we cry about averaging 60 inches of snow and a total of 15.4 total inches of precipitation in Denver (when we're not in the middle of a drought). Monte Vista and the valley gets half that...

'course, we know nothing about droughts either. sure, much of Colorado is on a semi-desert plain. and we Coloradans cry about not being able to maintain a 'pretty' lawn due to water restrictions. well, to put it in Denny-ese, 'wahwah...boohoo...cry me a freakin' river.' ever hear of Arica? it's the northernmost city in Chile...and it averages three-hundreths of an inch in precipitation yearly! the Peruvian town that i worked in, Bella Union, gets a tenth of an inch. there are even some places in the Atacama Desert that haven't seen rain in 400 years! Phoenix, Albuquerque, Reno, and Alamosa do NOT know the meaning of arid...

really though, i'm thankful to live here...with our occasionally wild temp. fluctuations. i know that i got it good. Lois spent a year of college in Bogotá, Colombia, where (at an altitude of 8400') the temps are between 40-70 degrees year-round and it always seems humid and cold. did i mention that the house she lived in, only had cold showers? sheeyit. that's one thing i cannot stand. no way. i'd be out there choppin' trees down just to have firewood for boiling a couple cups o' water... tepid showers even make me shudder...argh.

so our freaky weather gives us small talk opportunities and the dry air keeps the lotion industry intact. it also supplies me with lame blog material...heh. go figure...or go read a worthwhile blog ;) scram!

spell vb \'spel\

friday night, we went out to catch a movie downtown, at the Starz Film Center. we saw a phenomenal movie, Spellbound. it's not the 1945 Hitchcock thriller though. this Spellbound is about eight participants of the 1999 National Spelling Bee. it is such a great documentary! the kids that they chronicled come from all different areas: CA...NJ...CT...FL...MO...DC...TX...and PA. some of them come from well-to-do backgrounds, while others hail from more marginal, blue-collar origins.

it is such a cool movie. the first half of the movie familiarizes you with the participants and their families, while the rest is focused on the competition itself...which is really nerve-wracking. some of the words with difficult pronunciations had downright flabbergasting spellings! it brought me back to the 1981 citywide spelling bee (sponsored by the Rocky Mountain News) that i participated in as a fifth grader. the nervousness...the audience...the quizzical looks when they want you to spell a word you have never EVEN heard (of)...the crestfallen looks of those when they hear the bell (*ding*), signifying an incorrect spelling.

the movie captured all of the emotions that are brought out by the pressure put upon these young scholars. some of the looks on the kids' faces were priceless! if you do see it someday, just wait until they show the girl who has to spell 'chateaubriand,' her horrified look will make you howl!

you know, preparation is not the only factor that makes a national spelling bee champion though. it takes level-headedness...a little relaxation...luck...and patience. as for myself, i lacked all of those components (especially the last one) ;) my downfall was the word, 'carburetor.' i knew how to spell it, i just rushed and started...c-r...and knew i was finished; you can't go back and change the spelling midway through a word. ah well, it was better that i was just a big-eared, bowl-haircut, ten year-old who closed his eyes, sighed, and trudged off the stage because had i done that ten years later (or even now), the judges would have heard a very audible 'FUU-UUCK' too :P

Hopelessly Trivial Fact of the Day: Of the past seventy-six national spelling bee champions, seven of them were from Colorado.

kee-rap...

i wonder if i'm developing an allergy to milk now... i just finished a big ol' glass o milk and it has me coughing a bit and stuffed up, just like when i eat white bread. sigh. i think i could get used to avoiding white bread, but i would die if i couldn't drink milk or eat cheese/yogurt. sure, i could do the soy/almond alternatives, but it's just not the same...kee-rap!

the human condition...

lately, i've been wondering about the types of posts that could fill my blog. i know that i always want to put down a signature pièce de résistance, but it certainly isn't possible. i also realize that people may not want to read about all my daily happenings. really, how much more interesting is my taking a crap than someone else's?

as my 10th grade English teacher, Barbara Arkin, would say, "Substance, people. I want substance in your essays." Or was it my European History teacher? anyway, regardless of the quoter...the gist of this small rant is just to give my blogpile some 'oomph.'

I think that I may try to have a theme three times a week in my blog. Perhaps I'll talk about an incidence in my travels, or a quirky person whom I have encountered in my life, or even a hopelessly trivial fact.

the title of this post is called "The Human Condition" because that is one aspect of anthropology that interests me greatly. my formative years were spent meeting some truly neat (weird, sad, you fill in the adjective) individuals who frequented my parents' restaurant. you meet all these people, talk about the weather, TV, Broncos, etc., tell them to come again or that you'll see them soon...and yet, you never really get to know a person; you end up lacking the pertinent facts of their lives. they're just going to come in and order egg rolls, sweet and sour pork, broccoli beef...and they're out the door again.

the person i'm going to talk about today ordered vegetable fried rice for a good eight to ten years at my parents' restaurant. his name was Edwin Golik-Golikov, we called him EGG.

rumor has it that EGG was once a Dartmouth art professor who just lost it one day, left New Hampshire, and made his way to Denver. he used to come in with his large gray sweatshirt, tattered leather bag, and an occasional beige, straw cowboy hat. EGG was a large man. i'm guessing that he was about 6'1" and near 300 lbs. he was in his 50's and had long salt and pepper hair, accompanied by a mustache and beard. he had a smile that could really brighten your day...but he also had an unstable side that could wreck it too.

when i was eleven years old, i started hanging out with EGG whenever he came in. he declared that, in a space of eight months, he had lost 50 lbs. by coming in every day and eating our vegetable fried rice. this was fifteen years before that obnoxious Jared did the Subway diet and the subsequent commercials.

for the next two years, EGG and i would spend a couple hours a day at his table, just shooting the breeze or doodling on pieces of paper. the doodles were usually rapid-fire pieces that we'd hash out by drawing a bit and passing it back and forth, adding to it each time.

EGG always had either a black, fine-tipped, felt pen or a medium point, black rollerball pen. he was a phenomenal artist. he could whip something out that would just blow yer mind. i smile when i think of the exquisite details he could add to my simple, amateurish drawings.

that was 1981 to 1983. from 1984 to 1990 (when my parents closed the restaurant), EGG came around a little less often. we still chatted, but the doodling dwindled considerably. in fact, i don't think we drew anything the last four years.

EGG seemed to be battling a bit of mental illness. sometimes, he'd be 'normal' and other days, he'd be moody and talk about strange things (i.e., conspiracy theory-type). in fact, when the weird stuff popped up, EGG would disappear for a couple months at a time and resurface, back to his old, jolly self. we always wondered if he went through periods of institutionalization.

even after the closing of the restaurant, i did see EGG on occasion. he'd call me and we'd spend some time at the Krameria Cafe. unfortunately, the last time i saw him (1992?), he was a bit belligerent and contrary.

just this past year, i got on a kick about searching for people through US Search or the Nat'l Database of Obituaries. well, i found out that EGG had died in August 2001. i had hoped to see him one last time. i'm sorry that i didn't try harder to keep in touch.

after doing a search online, i also found out that EGG was a well known advocate of mail art and rubber stamp art. i always wondered what circles he traveled, other than Chinese kids who hung out at their parents' restaurants.

a couple weeks ago, i came across a postcard of Jesse Hall, which is the main administrative building at the Univ. of Missouri - Columbia. i had addressed it to EGG, but never finished it. i think i'll make a tribute to him and tag-team doodle on it with someone...R.I.P., my friend.

nothing like a clearance...

i admit it. i am a slut for a clearance sale - anywhere. worse than a blue-light special bimbo, i lurk the aisles of department stores...seeking out the best deals on products that no one wants.

ooh. fish oil capsules...$0.70. what health benefits do they possess? hell if i know, but $0.70 is way cheaper than a sugar bomb soft drink at the drive thru.

lately, i've been scouring the clearances at Target. September is a good time to find shorts and t-shirts for up to 75% off on their racks. got three pairs of shorts and a meadow green t-shirt for $11.50. yeah, i know that thrift stores are cheaper, but sometimes it's nice to know that you're getting a new product. i still have yet to figure out how ARC and Goodwill even have the nerve to sell used undergarments. HELL NO! even more baffling...people who actually buy them. yikes.

i think i did miss one good sale though. i've been looking for a new pair of water socks to replace my super worn out pair that lasted me two seasons of outdoor v-ball. didn't use these until the drought hit the parks last year. i always played barefoot, but could no longer due to the harsh ground conditions. hopefully, things will be better next year and i can go back to shoeless spencer. meanwhile, i'll be on the lookout for some water socks - somewhere.

beepbeep

yep. the sounds of Donna Summer's Greatest Hits. i'm typing to the beat of Bad Girls...toot toot yeah beep beep. we all have some scary CDs that linger in our collections, eh? some even too embarrassing to divulge...

what else is in this stack of CDs...

a couple Swing Out Sister releases
Supergrass
Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66
Beatles
Supertramp
Mamas and Papas
Afro-Cuban All Stars
Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Duran Duran
Wes Montgomery
W.A.S.P.
Ella Fitzgerald

nothing too embarrassing. of course, i did get rid of about five dozen CDs that were just gathering dust last year. really, why have some music if you're only going to play it once a year (aside from those who buy xmas music)...or when you find yourself saying, "Why in Hell do i still have this piece o' shit? I cannot believe that I used to listen to that!"

hmmm...

looks like both Nelle and Dy are both cleaning bloghouse, dropping links and whatnot. i don't know how all of you in the blogsphere have so many reads and links...guess i'm just too distracted. reading seven or eight other blogs every day is plenty for me :) we simpletons can only hash so much info...

alrighty...

i've been trying to think of worthwhile blog topics, but i just keep coming up with those daily mundane happenings. so here goes...

recently went to Discount Tires to get rotated and rebalanced, just the tires though; i already had my own rotation/rebalance episode at Lakeside last weekend. my sister and i have been pretty loyal to Discount since we actually take advantage of the extras that you pay for initially. free flat repair? yep. free rotation and rebalance? check.

those guys were fast! i went to lunch at Kokoro's, expecting it to be about an hour...thinking i would have time to resume reading a book that i had neglected of late. well, for some odd reason, i could not concentrate on reading...so i finished my lunch and strolled back. about two or three minutes after i sat down in the waiting area, the kid drive my car out of the garage bay. wow! it wasn't more than twenty-five minutes! nothing like some good timing...

although i was thrilled with the timeliness of the whole thing, my car was not doing well after the rotation. it was pulling to the right side and making a tiny squeaking noise. it had me worried because i had stopped at a gas station later and noticed that the wheel part (behind the hubcap/rim) was really hot.

needless to say, i went back to Discount the next day and told them of the problems. turns out that one of the belts had broken on the tire and was the cause of the pulling. i was credited and received two new tires to replace the defective one(s). sure, i shelled out the extra $44 to cover the warranty stuff, but it saved me about $140 in tire cost alone...whew!

ick...

some weird worm just dropped from the basement drapes. i think it's only a couple of inches long, but it sure made a loud sound. at first, i thought it was a centipede, which is a pretty rare occurence in this house...thank god.

speaking of ick, i think i have to give up riding amusement park rides that go round-and-round. friday night, lois and i decided to go to Lakeside to get in the last train ride for the season. of course, that also meant eating evil food like ice cream, popcorn, pizza, and cotton candy...and then getting on a few more rides.

one of Lois' mandatory rides is the Tilt-a-Whirl; she can handle all the round-and-round while i prefer the up and down. well, this time we got spun REAL hard on the Tilt, and i was NOT feeling very good. i sat on a bench while she took a fling on the Scrambler. and about ten minutes later, i found a nice, dark, secluded spot to puke my brains out (which doesn't take long, but sure makes a mess).

thought i'd be okay in another ten minutes...i wasn't...so we ended up leaving, but not before spraying the vegetation (twice) on the side of the parking lot with the Sprite and water that i couldn't keep down.

undeterred, we stopped by the King Soopers on 38th and Sheridan to get some Trident, in hopes of eradicating the evil acrid leftover taste from the volcanic spewing :P the flavor helped for another twenty minutes, when i had to get rid of it because the smell was just adding to my nausea. by then, i was losing my mind anyway, clinging to the seat belt like it was the reins of a bucking horse. it was so bad that i had lost feeling in both hands when i got home. in my delirium, i was begging for a pillow and blanket so i could sleep on the floor of the bathroom, just so i could be near the can.

luckily, that was the last of the terror. yeah, i did sleep in the bathroom for about three hours, but made it to bed and slumbered for another five. that was twenty-four hours ago...i'm feeling about 90% better now.

i'm just wondering if i am now relegated to the slow, easy rides for all eternity. until yesterday, i hadn't gotten sick from an amusement park ride since i was a kid (regardless of what or how much i had eaten). i hate to say it, but i think my bout with Labyrinthitis in 1996 has left me more sensitive to equilibrium related things; i must have some swelling that never abated.

so look for me on the Merry-Go-Round. i'll be the guy passed out on the flying pig, with the empty box of Dramamine...

enough

i won't dwell on the last post. however, i'm desperate for another posting, so i'll do Nelle's meme...

How big would your dream home be?
I guess I wouldn't need that much space. After all, the bigger it is, the more cleaning and maintenance it requires. Something between 1800-2500 sq. ft. would be plenty.

Big dogs or little dogs?
I like all dogs, but I would prefer to own little dogs since they cost less to feed and smaller poop to pick up rather than shovel. I don't know what it is, but I have an aversion towards cleaning up dog poop...something must've happened to me when I was young and I don't remember it (or have chosen to block it out). Anyway, I'd consider some terriers (e.g., Yorkies, Silkies, Westies, Bostons) or French Bulldogs. Even a Pug or a Pom...

Would you rather have bigger breasts? Or a bigger bank account?
Um. Should this be altered (or augmented, HA) to bigger penis? Tell me, ever hear of a well endowed Asian porn star? Hell, are there any Asian males that are in the industry? I could be Long Dong Wong... Nah. I'd take the money for sure!

Whose butt is bigger, you or your moms?
Lessee here. My mom weighs about a buck o five...eighty pounds less than me. whaddayathink?

What's the biggest chore you've accomplished this week?
Nothing really major. Went through a stack of papers that I had saved for some unknown reason. Tidied up the cupboards, which were looking pretty disheveled.

Name the biggest thing on the desk you're using right now, besides your monitor and computer.
There are four things of almost equal size: a small lamp...two old Mexico guides that I should probably throw out ;)...and Robert Sharer's, "The Ancient Maya, Fifth Edition" (considered to be one of the best primers on Maya civilization). I think the lamp wins because it's in use - unlike the books, which are just gathering dust.

they say it happens in threes...

was just checking my yahoo page and found out that two entertainers, John Ritter and Johnny Cash, died within hours of each other.

i don't mean to be a ghoul, but if the 'phenomena' of show biz stars dying in threes rings true, i wonder who the third will be...

beware...

went to Hemingway's last night (well, Monday) to play trivia and gorge on their All-You-Can-Eat Fish and Chips. coupla plates and beers...we were good for the night. and if we hadn't have choked by betting 20 pts. on the last question, we would've finished third and won a $15 gift certificate for the next visit. ah well, sometimes ya gotta bite the bullet... twas funny tho'. i went with my brother, Sandy, and a good friend for whom i used to play (v-ball), Barb. Sandy is in his early 50's and has a bum knee that needs some operatin'...Barb is in her mid-40's and has had Achilles problems lately...and you know all about my bad knees and shoulders. anyway, we named our team the 'Triple Cripples.' ya think that would be a good strength for topical muscle rubs? you can buy regular, extra strength, or triple cripple...i gotsta market it...LOL

oh yeah, i put beware for my blog title because i should discourage anyone from eating five fried fish filets (similar to a 6" hand), coleslaw, fries, onion rings, and three pints o' Blue Moon Belgian White...you will get some FUH-REEAKY dreams. in my dream, i was walking w/ Wanda (went to grad school with Lois) in the late afternoon...past numerous turn-of-the-century houses, most of which were having garage sales. we strolled up to a tall, white, narrow Victorian and peeked inside. it was well-lit and had a lot of rattan furniture. in fact, on one of the loveseats was Lois and an unknown female...chatting...laughing. we walked through to the back and ended up talking to Lois' two male roommates(?!?) for a bit when Wanda says to me, "Ya know, I'm in the mood for some homemade cotton candy." I agreed...grabbed a skillet (wotdafuk)...and proceeded to make some strange concoction that resembled a cross between freshly picked cotton and a runny omelet. I can still hear myself saying, "Good. We can burn off the first layer and have a clean batch." It was if I was seasoning a pan with oil...

the last time i had a dream that strange was when Lois and I were in Bolivia. we were taking Lariam, which is the most prescribed anti-malarial medicine for areas with chloroquine-immune mosquitoes. the majority of travelers who go to Africa, South American Amazonia, and SE Asia, will be on this prophylaxis.

while it is so widely prescribed, Lariam also has a list of side effects; the most common one is 'the tendency to have quite lucid dreams.' there are others, such as: feelings of worry or anxiety, depression, feelings of persecution, crying, aggression, restlessness, forgetfulness, agitation, confusion, panic and hallucinations. in fact, the most extreme cases even led to suicide, but i think the numbers were like 1 in 1.5 million. still, i think there have been about a dozen (documented) Lariam-related suicides in the last four or five years...

truly, the worst things I experienced were really odd dreams of people that i hadn't even seen in two or three years. i did have one night of lightheadedness and confusion though. still, I was the lucky one. Lois recalls having horrific dreams that traumatized her enough to dread falling asleep for three nights at a time. she told me about a gruesome nightmare that was so lucid and convincing. it involved a lynching scene that metamorphed into a wild party with strippers who weren't just taking their clothes off, but peeling their faces off as well...revealing maggot-eaten flesh underneath...ugh.

if you want to read a bit more on this, here's an interesting page with personal accounts of Lariam side effects. i posted our experiences on page 32 of the guestbook...

okay...

sorry about the lack of blogging; i truly don't know where the last six days went. i do know (though) that i need to make a more concerted effort to blog. after all, i try to keep up on everyone else's blog on an almost daily basis. and, of course, i am happy to see new posts...gives me sumpin' to read and ponder. i bet there are some quiet 'grrrrs' when you get to my blog and find out that i've been a lazy bum.

i guess i'll start with a quick recap of some days:

Thursday: not much happened. i did (though) talk to an old friend whom i hadn't seen in awhile. he (Chris) and i were best of friends in middle and high school. things sort of dropped off after our sophomore years in college; he dropped out and i graduated. we remain friends though, mainly because of our penchant for certain movies (e.g., HK action flicks, Hitchcock, comedy, wacky horror). the conversation was a bit winded though - two hours. i'm kinda like Nelle in not liking to talk on the phone much...i have preferred e-mail for the last 8-10 years. i can guarantee that i'll get back to you faster via e-mail than cell phone.

Friday: went to lunch with Chris. had a coupon for $5.49 lunches at Sweet Tomatoes. i think i doubled up on most things - soup, full plates of salad, pizza slices, pasta boats, and dessert (jello and a dish of soft serve).

kind of an awkward lunch because he was in one of his contrary moods. i think one of the main reasons why we're not best of friends anymore is because i get irked with his occasional contrary attitude towards many things i have to say. i don't mind lively debates depending on the subject, but i hate it when a person decides to be obnoxious by constantly stating the opposite - so childish.

ah well, some people are better in small and infrequent doses...

friday night was a better. went over (w/ mom, dad, sister and niece) to the Burnsley Hotel to hang out with my brother, Steve, and his wife, Lydia. if you don't recall, this is the brother who is the professional soccer player turned Jungian psychologist. anyway, he retained his Denver office after moving to Albuquerque a couple years ago and comes back once a month for a week to see his clients. on occasion, he'll stay at the Burnsley because it's less than two blocks from his office.

while we were there, we gorged on some food that our mom made and either settled down in front of the TV or played some Mah Jongg. i played for a couple hours, watched the tube, and went back to gang up on our father, who is an awesome player. he's such a character... about ten years ago, he and mom were visiting some friends when they came upon a weekly gathering of old ladies who played for small change. dad was watching intently when one of them asked him if he wanted to play. he politely declined and claimed he didn't know how to play...HA! sheyiit, he's the best player in the house! anyway, the old ladies 'taught' him how to play and he joined in. little did they know they invited a hungry shark to the table because dad proceeded to wipe them out and went home $90 richer.

more stuff soon...I PROMISE

a quickie blog...

don't rush for a cigarette afterwards though. i have yet to reach the Kama Sutra levels of blogging...

i just wanna see how much i can blog in about ten or fifteen minutes. say, isn't that how long it takes most guys for certain things? you know what i mean...

a recap of the last two days:

didn't make the time to go to Taste on monday. went to Home Depot and got some paint stuff (lois has a huge 1926 boiler in her basement that's easier and cheaper to keep than risk asbestos removal), a really pretty dark purple mum, no waste wild bird food, and some other assorted goods that would just have your eyes rolling or drooping.

nothing really exciting though. that night, we made some burgers and veggies. lois was really craving the veggies because the trip to texas was pretty much devoid of the veggie variety that we ingest here. i know i feel clogged sometimes on texas trips ;)

yesterday was good and bad... for the good, i got to hang out with my friend, Cindy (the one with the Tom Hanks story). she showed up in her new Toyota Corolla and let me drive it while we went for lunch, visited a mutual friend, and went grocery shopping.

lunch was at Heidi's Brooklyn Deli, which just opened a fourth location about a half mile from Lolis' house. really high quality deli meat! i had the Ressler's Reuben, which has pastrami instead of the typical corned beef. mmmm. there's nothing like a good pastrami sandwich. well, rare roast beef is a fave of mine too... one small note though, skip the coleslaw and potato salad...not very good...get chips with yer sandwich.

hanging out with cindy was great fun, as usual. unfortunately, the day was shitty too. i had spaced the fact that the street sweeper comes by the first tuesday of every month between April and November. and on lolis' street, you get ticketed if you're parked on the west side on street sweepin' day. so, guess who decided to throw $20 out the window...yep. that's me, the guy banging his head against his steering wheel... it just sucks because on my street, there's no penalty if you're parked when the street sweeper comes by. argh.

well, my ten minutes are up. did you hafta turn the music up really loud? must NOT fall ASLEEP reading this blogpile...

yay!

lolis made it back from Texas last night. i wasn't expecting her until tonight or even tomorrow because she was talking about hanging out a bit longer. the dogs, of course, are thrilled and are causing trouble now. funny, they're so good when she's gone. i guess they're worried that she'll never come back and believe that only by minding their P's and Q's will she reappear ;) anyway, she's pretty exhausted. she left at 5AM and got here around 7PM. ick. i've never liked driving more than 4-500 miles alone. ya gotta have another driver to keep you sane on those long stretches...

after reading Nelle's multiple blogs today, it got me craving food booth hopping at the Taste! i admit that it's a yearly ritual for me as well. although i haven't gone on consecutive days in many years, it's always fun to see what things people are selling...catch a free concert...and grub big time! i'm just wondering how people are sneaking in dogs if they were checking bags last year for contraband water bottles. have they loosened some of the security?

hopefully, we'll be able to go early and see my brother, Sandy. he'll be working at the Mustard's Last Stand food booth. for the past four years, he's been managing the Denver store (near University and Evans). usually, he gets stuck working the whole weekend at the Taste booth and never gets to wander around or catch a music performance. i saw him last wednesday though and he said he lucked out, only having to work monday at Taste.

the festival sure has grown though. i do remember seeing the likes of Three Dog Night, America, and Grand Funk in concert over the past 16 or 17 years i've been attending. i even worked a booth in 1990, when i worked for the Harvest. back then, only about 300,000 people attended over the holiday weekend (now it's like 500K). anyway, i will never forget all those Turkey Cashew Crunch sandwiches, Swiss Granolas, cookies, and Apple Crumb Cakes that we sold...and frying in that hot sun (our booth faced west and some of the trees were much shorter than today).

both the People's Fair and Taste of Colorado are definitely two of the most fun summer gatherings. you can find so many different and cool things all in one place! then again, going to Mile High Flea Market is just about the same ;) i was reading an article on the history of Taste and (apparently) the festival didn't turn a profit the first year. i think it was around $20,000 in the red... still, that's a lot better than the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, which has lost money five years running. one sign of the tapering (no, plummeting) attendance for CCAF is that you didn't have to fight for a parking space in front of Lois' house (which is four blocks away).

ya know, i wonder if Denny and Lowa have considered showing at the People's Fair. a few years ago, one of my friends, Phillip Ginn, rented a booth with his wife and made some good money. he told me that the booth rental for the People's was WAY cheaper than Taste... something to ponder, D&L (is that like S&M?)!

and if there's time tomorrow, maybe we'll head on over to Lakeside to ride the train. yeah, i know that Six Flags is way better, but i'm a nostalgic type-o-guy. my parents used to take us to Lakeside when we were little...to ride the train...feed the catfish...skin our knees in the Fun House (which is gone)...cause brain damage by crashing the shit out of the bumper cars...etc. besides, now that i'm older (and wimpier), $6.95 unlimited ride passes (or $.10 ride tix) on Labor Day weekend are about my speed...once a year for some cheap entertainment and time to admire some of the original architecture. the archaeologist in me appreciates the 'old school' side of the park, which is now 95 years old. today, we only appreciate an amusement park if the rides are downright traumatizing and bladder bursting. you want scary? 60-70 mph roller coasters ain't nuthin'! try riding a ferris wheel in Mexico that runs on a tractor engine...spews sparks and fumes...groans with every pass...turns about 4x faster than the typical american f-wheel...and the freakin' ride lasts 10 minutes (not 3-4). i was scared shitless thinking that the sparks would set the wheel afire the exact same time it would break free and we'd roll down the plaza, stopped only by the massive church wall. puh-leeze! russian roulette is safer!