Monday, July 26, 2004

Good Weekend

I'd planned to do nothing this weekend, but instead ended up quite busy.
 
Saturday, I went to see my new little quasi-nephew, Alex Daniel.  Unlike most newborn babies where the only compliment that honesty permits is: "My, what a healthy-looking baby", Alex D is a cutie.  He slept on my boobies for about 45 minutes - to which I say, I'm glad they're useful for something, as I don't see much purpose for them.  Had lunch with his mom and pop and one of his real aunties, and we checked out an apt for Mom and Pop which they decided to go with - pretty cool joint and excellent price.
 
Then I headed on over to John and Laura's, where I was greeted by John, Laura, and Laura's sis playing ghetto Uno, with John making up definitions for Uno cards.  Then we got yummy Mexican food for dinner, mine was scallops with a mandarin orange chipotle sauce that nearly burnt a hole right through to the back of my head.  But yummy.  We checked out this cool Celtic shop on Armitage, then all these gaymos wanted to go see I, Robot, so I went along for the ride.
 
What took me out of the film was really the first scene, in Will Smith's house, where they pan to a close-up of a JVC stereo.  Ok, let's put aside my suspension of disbelief about the rest of the story, now they want me to believe that a JVC stereo lasted for 30 years.  Nope, sorry, not buying it.  There's also a battle scene between humans and pesky robots where I fully expected Mel Gibson to come riding through calling "THEY MAY TAKE OUR LIVES, BUT THEY'LL NEVER TAKE OUR ROOOBOOOOOOTS!!!!"  Thankfully the battle cries drowned out my hysterical giggling at this scene.  All in all, a movie that should be sliced and served on crackers.  Good special effects though.
 
Then Laura's sis and John helped me out to the car with the hand-me-down desktop PC I have purchased from Johnny.  Once I get it set up I plan to use it to work on my novel, not to play City of Heroes (sorry, John)
 
Sunday I had a relaxing lunch with my p's, and then out to another dinner, this time to celebrate the birthday of a former colleague of mine from Abbott.  We went to Wildfire where I had the tuna steak that had on the side the best invention on earth, wasabi cream sauce.  Yum!
 
I am looking forward to a relatively lowkey week and a ROOFTOP CUBS GAME on Sunday!  whoo hoo!  until later....
 
Cheers,
D

Thursday, July 22, 2004

the Daily Grind

Yes, all's been quiet on the creative front for me this week - work's been summarily kicking my ass the past couple of weeks, plus I spent all last weekend AWAKE as a team captain for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life.  Each team keeps at least one team member on the track from 6pm to 6am.  Luckily we had great weather for the event and our screen tent only blew away twice.   There were a lot of inspiring people and stories.  Plus, our team raised $3000 (pretty good for only 6 people!) and the Gurnee Relay as a whole raised $130,000!  whoohooo!
 
Anyway, I'm mostly here just to remind myself of my goals after a couple of weeks of getting submerged in The Man's goals.  John got his pimped-out new machine early, so I expect to be getting his hand-me-downs in a few weeks and start writing in earnest then.
 
Meanwhile, I leave you with a bit of poetry for the record
 
Aging Dichotomy
One day you're frumpy
The next you're a teenile ho
Must suck to be you


Friday, July 09, 2004

Catalyst

I dedicate this post to my good friend John.

It is so easy for people to become entrenched in a routine. Routine is familiar, routine is safe. The status quo is where it's at, ho. (I just felt like rhyming) People love the security of routine - it's generally hard to get someone to try something new, consider a new opinion, embark on a course to change their life. This of course isn't true of everyone, but you have to admit, change is hard.

Like many others, I am sure, routine has just about numbed me to how unhappy I am with what I do to pay the bills. Sure it's a good gig, and sure it DOES pay the bills. But it ain't me and it never has been. And if I hide behind routine, I will head into the clearing at the end of the path, having never tried to do what I really want to do. (I know that John is reading this now thinking "What she really wants to do is anal sex." Not true.)

My friend John related a very sad and disturbing story the other day. It's a story that I'm glad he got off his chest, and even though it's sad, I'm glad to know of it. He said it was really cathartic for him, and I hope it helps him. The story really spoke to me, and with his permission, I am going to use part of it as a basis for my biggest dream (besides winning the lottery) which is to write a novel and become a bona fide published author. I may not succeed, but I at least have to try. Wish me luck.

Cheers,
D

Tuesday, July 06, 2004

Compromise

It is a fine line between compromise and subjugation of one's self. The weaker your conviction in yourself, the fainter the line is. The stronger your conviction in yourself is, the fainter is your possibility of getting laid on a regular long-term basis.