I just want to point out that I'm really tired of being so errr... tired all the time these days lately.
I usually take a nap after work, and even then if i don't take one or two more I'm ready for bed by 10.
Here it is 10:15 on a Frinight and I'm going to pass out any minute.

Less than 4 miles from my house, horrors are born.

http://www.dailyherald.com/main_story.asp?intid=37650115

Does anyone else remember years and years ago when it was discovered that Mariette Hartly's voice (of Entertainment Tonight fame) caused seizures? And not of the cool search and seizure variety.
I know there was a Seinfeld episode about it, but that's about all I remember.

Well, I think I discovered something about myself the other day while playing Clan Lord. See... there's this location there where all the monsters throw lightning and it makes a hideous noise. Whenever I take my little one inch character there (and no, that's not a metaphor for part of my body), I can't concentrate, I have no idea what I'm doing, and most of my memory of things that happen there is fuzzy at best.
While playing the other day, my first time there since that mind altering "cold" a few weeks back, it was all so much worse than ever. And my memory of it isn't just fuzzy, it's completely gone!
So what I'm thinking is that maybe the sound from that lightning might be causing some really mild kind of seizure. Is that even possible?
Of course, I have the perfect cure for this... turn the volume off. But what if a sound can really give me a seizure? I could be driving down the road and "accidentally" cut someone off and they honk at me, which sends me into fit.
Is there any way to find out if that's what's happening to me? Do doctors know that kind of thing? Maybe the sound just annoy me so much that I can't concentrate at all? The options are endless.....

Well, my computer has been returned to me, free of charge.
I foolishly bought an airport and base so I don't break it again and be forced to pay $700... this way I can only pay $300.84.
I got the cheaper, lesser airport and opted not to go "extreme." It only saved $20... but as Geddy Lee once said, "Ten bucks is ten bucks."

I was amazed I could get to the store and back on my lunch hour, but I did with plenty of time to spare. At least now I know I can get to the greatest mall in the universe, or at least that's what the owners want us to think... claiming it's got more sales space than the Mall of America as if anyone cares, since they're 6 hours apart.
At least I didn't have to drive the six hours to Minneapolis.

Well, I'm hungry now... so I'm done.

All I can say is this: Fucking Apple!
I've owned the laptop for 16 days (13 days when I brought it in for the second time).
I have a message today when I get home from Apple's fabulous repair crew... they want to charge me over $700 to fix it!
So, I'm on hold for 40 minutes with them before they finally get to my call.
Guy: Well, it shows signs of abuse. So it's not covered under the warrenty.
Me: What kind of abuse?
Guy: I'm not sure, I'm just looking at the report.
Me: So you're saying that you're company can't guarantee something for 13 days?
Guy: Just a moment.

So I'm on hold again, right now... I'm listening to bad music. And since I got this call while I was changing into somehting more comfortable, I'm sitting around without any pants on (careful of your dreams tonight, ladies). I suppose I should go put pants on... I'll be right back.

That's better....
On hold still, 4 minutes... bored.

Ok, 6 minutes on hold. Christian came back.
Christian: I checked to see if there's been a history of problems with the ethernet port, and there really isn't.
Me: Your company can't guantee it's products for a month?
Christian: Let me finish...
Me: Ok, sorry.
Christian: blah blah blah... we're going to fix it free of charge, but I can't make any promises about the future... blah blah blah
Me: blah blah blah, thanks so much!

So, it's going to be fixed, I'm not going to pay for it. But... I really don't think that I should be without it for a week, and am still upset about this. The first time it broke, it was my fault, and I'd have had no problem being without it. But this time it's not my fault, it's crappy workmanship!
I'll need to see if I can find a 3rd party airport card and base, because right now I really don't want to give Apple any more money right now.

Today is a fabulous day!
It was time to get all my bills paid... and even in this Christmas bill season, I managed to finish off one of my credit cards. $243.94 will be in the mail first thing tomorrow morning and I'll only get one more statement from that company telling me I don't owe them a thing, then I can cancel that account.

This is cause for celebration!

6-8 days until I'll have my notebook computer back.
Now that I'm well enough to actually use my computer for something useful, I can't. I'd considered getting the airport card and base for all the fabulous wireless uses, and since I wouldn't need an ethernet cable, I wouldn't have this problem again. The new one would only be a total of $300, but damn, that's still a bunch of money I probably shouldn't spend.
I'd planned on playing some Clan Lord this week, but the roommate's gotta use the big machine for homework, so who knows if I'll get the chance to. Sure, I could right now, but... damn, I'm tired.

Broke my computer again... stupid ethernet port!
It wasn't even my fault this time... it just kinda went "snap" and then it didn't work.
*sighs*

Saturday, I fully intended to rest some more... honest I did.
But I was bored, and wanted some company, so I called my friend Big Rob and told him to get over here and bring some movies at 1 o'clock, or else. At 1:20 he called saying, "we're running late, we're about 10 minutes away."
"We?" I asked, "Who's we?"
"Nick's with me."
Now, I have nothing against Gay Nick, but if two people were coming, that would mean that one person could have the comfy chair, and the other would need to use the couch, which means I don't get to lay down and be all pathetic. Well... I'd get by.
They show up and Big Rob says, "we need to make another stop?"
"err... we're going out?"
"We need to go get the movies."
*sigh* I really didn't want to go out, which was why I commanded him to bring the movies. So... out we go.

Where was this other stop? The local game store so they could buy some cards for the game Magic: The Gathering, for those who don't know, it's an addictive and highly evil collectable card game. Avoid it at all costs.
But along the way we stopped at every store that might have sold the cards, none of which did.
Then, Big Rob and Gay Nick asked, "what are we doing about lunch?"
Well, they weren't very happy about the fact that I have a plethora of cold fried chicken in my fridge, so they demanded we go to Baker's Square.
Just being driven around and going into the occasional store really wore me out, and though I only put my head on the table once, I managed to pretend to be awake for the most part. And let me warn you, the tomato soup and grilled cheese at Baker's Square is extremely sub-par.
Then it was off to rent some movies... as much as I hate Blockbuster, it's the closest place so that's where we went.
Four movies... Insomnia, Wet Hot American Summer, Eight Legged Freaks, and The Others.
I wanted to sleep during them all, but I was forced to sit, not lie (I could have gone on the floor, but it's cold down there), so I stayed awake for the first 3 (The Others was for today).
Here's a little review of them.
Insomnia: You've heard of it, it's a good movie, see it!
We, Hot, American Summer: I did not request this movie. It's a spoof of the 80s summer camp movies. I don't know it's really a spoof, but it was pretty good. The funny bits were either not very funny, or roll on the floor laughing funny. Sadly, most of it wasn't funny. Still it was entertaining, so I'd recommend this on if you're home sick and bored on a Saturday.
Eight Legged Freaks: Giant Spiders and David Arquette... you must be thinking this movie can only be bad. But it was pretty good.

All three movies are far better than Mission to Mars, so they are all well worth seeing. This reminds me that someone recently asked me, "what one movie to you wish you'd never seen?" My initial response had been Mission to Mars... but then I realized that if I'd never seen it, I'd never know that every other movie ever made can have some decent qualities about it... Hell, it makes Ed Wood a genius!

Big Rob and Gay Nick didn't leave until Midnight.... I wanted to kick them out earlier, but I didn't have the energy.
This is my last day of rest... after this I vow to be back to my old self.
For now, I'll take a nap and then watch that last movie I got and then take another nap and after that I might do somehting really different and watch TV or something. Yeah... fun, fun, fun.

After sleeping off and on all night, around 12 I decided to strike up Clan Lord again on my iBook. I realize that if I really want to play that on this machine, I'll need to get me a mouse for this. Preferably cordless and very inexpensive..... one I can use effectively on the couch would be perfect, although I'm quite tired of being on the computer while I'm on the couch.
For now, though... I need another nap.

It's Friday. Two and a half days of rest ahead, and I'm going to use them so I can be 100% on Monday.... I hope.
Work sucked... two people in my area called in sick... including Kelly who's the person who got me this job (or at least helped, when I begged her to). Today was her last day too, she'll be moving on up to take over Jacki's position as assisstant to the manager. Why did she call in sick? Well, she claims I gave her my cold, but my cold didn't cause both my eyes to swell shut while I slept, so I accept no responsibility.
Oh, and we won't be replacing her, which means I become a bit more confidant in my job security.

So I was actually quite busy... but I was so worn out all day. It was kinda funny, me and Denise e-mailed each other all day. I don't know why, we sit 15 feet from each other. Yes, she's one of the many fabulous babes I now work with... but she just had a baby and is married or something like that. So the e-mails were clean and filled with how badly I need someone to bring me chicken soop. I think the e-mails were the only way I managed to stay awake...

My plans for this weekend mostly involve me staying on the couch and finding as many ways as possible to entertain me with the TV and internet. I actually had two things to do tonight... a big party with one of our printers for work, and a concert in a bar in Chicago staring an old friend of mine. Both will involve lots of cigarette smoke, and I'm having a hard enough time breathing as it is.

Carlos and I had a bit of a contest today too. Who could keep the Alka-Seltzer Cold tablet in their mouth the longest. And the winner was... Carlos. But I did have a tingly feeling on my tongue for a long time afterwards, so he only had a mild victory.

Well, that's all I for today... I forgot to get some fried chicken on the way home to tide me over for the weekend, which means I have to go out and get it now. I just wish we had a chicken delivery service around here, that would just make my day.

You never know just how you look
Through other peoples eyes

-- Butthole Surfers, Pepper

Well, going by this cough I developed today, I wouldn't be surprised if I have bronchitis.
Of course, the doctor didn't take any xrays, of course if I got it afterwards he wouldn't have seen it anyways.
I'm taking cough suppressants trying to stop the coughing, but they just seem to make things worse... so I'll stop that tomorrow, if I'm still coughing on Friday, back to the doctor I go.

In other news... got a call from the vet today. Marty's thyroid levels are still too high, going to half a pill every day and an additional pill every other day. Hopefully this will stop his puking every 17.6 seconds.
Though he did gain almost a pound, I can't imagine how since everything seems to come right back out. But I'm not going to complain.
He's always seemed the best when we gave him one pill a day, hopefully this 1.5 pills every two days will be just the thing. If not... well there's just a little hope left in me for him.

For those keeping up with my horrible illness, you'll be interested to find out that I was all out of Nyquil last night so I grabbed a handful of expired Excedrin PM, and waited while sleep took over...
I slept better than I had in a week, but as a bonus.... this morning, my head feels absolutely wonderful. I'd say my head's at about 90%. However my throat feels like it was attacked by a nest of hungry badgers, and now I sound like the frog prince.... at least my head's better though, that was the worst.

Now that I'm feeling better, I'd like to thank all you folks who wished me better either here, or through all the emails I recieved, or through ICQ, or even silently. Thanks.

This is an 18.5 meg file, but if you're a fan of old movies or Lord of the Rings, it's worth it.

http://ringil.cis.ksu.edu/Tolkien/Movie/lotr.mov

Still sick, getting better. Feeling all whiney too, as this post will prove.
As I lay here, awaiting the day when I feel like myself again, only one thought fills my mind... my never waning feelings for M.
I dreamt of her last night, a dream filled with mutual love. These dreams are always the hardest to wake from when the cold realization that she�s not a part of my life anymore.

I believe that this is why I�m still sick... because I stupidly threw away the one thing that is the greatest part of me, and nothing else matters. I mean, what�s the point of going on when the single most important person to me is gone? My body just doesn�t feel like fighting it, and would rather let the germs turn me into a puddle of flesh and bones, and for once I agree with my body.

Sure, you can all say, �But Richard, you�ll find someone else!� It�s been said a thousand times to me.
Of course I will, but she won�t be the same... M is the one. How do I know this? Instinct. Also, I have thought about a thousand different scenerios, and if she returned my feelings nothing could take me from her.
The worst possible scenerio that I can tink of is this:
If she were to get into a horrible accident and her mind gone forever, her body paralyzed, and a constant stream of drool pouring out of her mouth... I know I wouldn�t give up. I would spend every day with her, feeding her and bathing her and wiping up that drool. I�d have the TV turned to her favorite shows, or shows I�d think she liked. I�d maker her favorite meals, and get her some pets to keep her company. I�d work 100 jobs to pay for her upkeep. Maybe I�ll find someone else I feel that way about... but I doubt it.
Sure I can say these things... but how do you know I mean them, or that I wouldn�t change my mind if this should ever happen? Well, you don�t. I can�t prove this, there�s no way without putting her in a coma.

I still love her... mind, body and soul. And I always will.
Although I still grow healthier every day, I just don�t care without her waiting for me... *sighs*

Sorry this is probably just the medication talking... I said I was feeling whiney.

(The following conversations are paraphrased to make me look "cool")

Gloria (my supervisor): Get the hell out of here, you sick bastard.
Me: But there's so much to do, and I'm running short of sick days.
Gloria: You're asleep, get out and go to the doctor or your fired.
Me: Then you'll just have to fire me, because I love my job so much.
Gloria: You're fired, now go to the doctor.

---

Doctor: What seems to be the problem.
Me: Well, I have this cold....
Doctor: You came to me for a cold? That's the most assanine thing I've ever heard.
Me: Well, I've got blood pouring out of my nose like a faucet every time I think about sneezing.
Doctor (looking up my nose): Interesting....
Me: And when I woke up today, I shot lumps of red and green goo out like a vulcan machine gun.
And then he stuck the biggest needle in the universe into my arm and took about 8 gallons of blood.
Me: Say... if I'm sick, don't I need as much blood as I can get to help me feel better?
Doctor: Who's the doctor here, stupidhead? Now get out of here and get some rest and drink lots of fluid before I call security.

So, for all you people that have begged me to go to the doctor, I finally did it. Of course I'll be healthy by the time the bloodwork is done... oh well, if it turns out I do have the plague they'll know what killed me.

PS: I'm at about 50% now, I think.

Ok... today I spent with my incredibly young cousins. I've never seen my ferret spend so much times in the hands of anyone, but they just wouldn't let go no matter how he tried.
I planned to keep them here until about 5, but at 3 o'clock, I completely crashed... so I took them home. And came home and slept.

I felt pretty awful this morning, but after taking a heaping dose of DayQuil and a very warm shower I felt pretty good(considering). I had to clean the place, because there's just no sense in getting the roomie to do it. I feel pretty bad right now, but soon I'll take another heaping dose of orange-flavored crap and hopefully I'll feel better.

Feeling better today, I've gone from laying on my back to laying on my side... this makes typing much easier, but my left arm is going numb from leaning on it and I can't move because Inigo is asleep across my legs.
I finally read everyone's blogs, it's been a while.

I'm really pissed at my roommate. Last night when she came home from work I asked her really, really nicely if she could make me some soup. She just gave me a disgusted look, went into the kitchen and eventually came out with a cup of lukewarm chicken noodle soup. And when I asked for seconds, you'd think I'd asked her to cut off her own arm.
Why does this piss me off? Who was it that took a LOT of time off to help take care of her when she had chicken pox? Who was it that drove her to the hospital at 3AM when she had massive stomach pains? Who bailed her out of jail for something stupid?...
As much as I can't stand her, when she needs something, I've always come through for her... I think I'm done doing that for her.

I'm amazed she actually went to the store for me this morning, sure it took her two hours to go... I ran out of Kleenex early yesterday, and had been using toilet paper to blow my nose, and now the little space between my lips and nose is all read and gross. I gave her $40 to buy Kleenex, more medicine, tomato juice and a case of Pepsi (I can't fight the addiction). She ended up spending all $40 somehow.

Tomorrow I promised my two young cousins they can come over and play with Ivanhoe, my ferret. I thought of cancelling this, but I have a weakness with kids. I'll always do what it takes to make kids happy... especially when it involves something they expect. This is why I'd be a horrible father: "Oh, you stapled your brothers head to the washing machine? Let's got get some ice cream."

Bah... not I need to take a nap again. Like I said, I'm feeling better, but I'm nowhere near 100% yet... maybe something like 6 1/2% or so, better than zero like before though.

Well, I braved a full day of work today... good thing too. So many people were out I ended up working the receptionist desk for a full hour. Thankfully, we really have no need for a receptionist for the 25 people that work on this floor.
Around 12:30, I was on lunch and doing some writing at my desk (the whole reason I bought this little computer) and I hit the wall. All that mattered was sleep and getting rid of my head, so I put my head down on my desk... nope that wasn�t comfortable... I leaned on my arm and that wasn�t comfortable either. So I just opened up iTunes and started at the pretty display of colors and designs set to Falco, Dio, and Love and Rockets covering the orignal Pink Floyd.
It didn�t help, and I got a bit of a headache from it.

I actually sneezed so hard today that I shot tears out of my eyes and onto my desk... and my eyes continued to leak. I used that as an opportunity to go talk to my nemesis, Jacki, and give her my goodbyes on her very last day (sure 9AM was a little early, but I do what I must). She thought I was crying for her... ha ha, sucker!
Ok, so... is that, like, weird to have projectiles spew from your eyes during a sneeze? My first thought was to run to a doctor! I thought I broke something.

I�m home now, I must sleep. The drive home was almost impossible. Wake me up when I�m better, please.

No one cares about this, but when I'm lying around bored, I've got nothing better to do than write down the songs I've put on this music marvel....

1) Theme from Angel - Darling Violetta
2) Born Slippy - Underground
3) Clint Eastwood - Gorillaz
4) Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby - Dinah Washington
5) Do You Realize - The Flaming Lips
6) Get a Haircut - George Thorogood & The Destroyers
7) Girls - Beastie Boys
8) How Soon is Now - Love Spit Love
9) Incense & Peppermints - Strawberry Alarm Clock
10) Island in the Sun - Weazer
11) Ladybug Picnic - Sesame Street
12) Last Night - The Strokes
13) Lost Cause - Beck
14) Mahna, Mahna - Muppets
15) Roxanne - The Police
16) Rush - Big Audio Dynamite
17) Teddy Bear Picnic - Anne Murray
18) The People in Your Neighborhood - Sesame Street
19) When I Win the Lottery - Camper Van Beethoven
20) You're the One - Tracy Chapman

If any of these names or bands are wrong, let me know... pulling things off of Limewire is never very reliable.
I'm just sad I coudln't fit Tarzan Boy by Baltimora on the CD... but that's a start for disk 2.

g'night folks!

I currently am going through coughing fits that cause massive headaches for about 15 minutes. Fun.

But the point of this entry (which I may have already entered a while back, but I forget and aren't up to looking).
About 2 weeks ago, I had a little discussion with Carlos, at work. He insisted that CD information is written on the top of the CD, and if you scratch the top, it becomes useless.
In an effort to prove him wrong I grabbed one of my CDs, the soundtrack to A Clockwork Orange, and Carlos's keys...
One big scratch... two big scratches... three big... uh oh. If you ever try to scratch a CD, do NOT hold it in your hand. The CD split in two neatly divided halves, and Carlos was nothing but one big grin.

So tonight I went out to find all the tracks to the CD, but none of them have the names off the CD, and I can't find "I Wanna Marry a Lighthouse Keeper" which is really the only reason for the CD (well, that and "Overture to the Sun," which I can't find either).
So now I beg to my kind, kind readers... if you should have a copy of this soundtrack, please please please please contact me so I can get a copy of it. I've already paid for it once, and it's really not worth buying again, but I will miss it dearly. There's just nothing like Beethoven's 9th played on homemade synthesizers... nothing at all.

Well, I tried to work today, but instead I left at 12:30 to come home and sleep for an hour before the phone rang.
Now I'm lying here, awake with a huge headache, and bored out of my mind again.

I realize I haven't had a major illness like this for about 5 years... back when I worked in the same building, on the same floor, and only about 20 feet from where I work now. Coincidence? Methinks not.

Home sick again...
But of course I couldn't just stay home and rest. I had to go out and get my nephew/godson a birthday present, and wrap it and mail it to him out in Michigan. Nothing exciting happened though. I thought about rewriting the part of the story I'd lost, but my head's just not up to it.
I also went out and actually got medicine, and I've been doped up all day. Oh, juice too. I couldn't decide between apple and tomato, but then I realized that I'd just add vodko to the tomato juice and went with apple juice.
I must be really sick because I couldn't find the apple juice and I actually someone where it was. Me! Asking directions!! Whoda thunk it. Not me.
And now.. 6PM and I'm making chocolate chip cookies. Tomorrow's the big celebration for my nemesis's leaving the company. I figured I oughta make something... I've made sure to cough into the batter to make sure she gets sick... that'll teach her for leaving.

I am sooooooooo bored. Even though I've done all kinds of things, I just feel like I can't do anything. I've chatted with a bunch of people, but it's just not the same as doing stuff. I can't think well enough to put any serious effort into anything, and I keep dozing off anyways.

Did I mention that my mother said I sound like Barry White. I figure she's probably right... if he had throat cancer.
Oh, and I also download a bunch of stuff I lost yesterday... songs from Sesame Street, Trainspotting, and some old music from the 20s make a fine mix.

All right, I'm gonna try to get some sleep now... this was nothing exciting to write about, but I'm bored, so you all get to suffer with me. So there.

I stayed home sick today.... and got almost no rest.

I went from my usual sleeping place to my roommates bed once she got up. Around... I dunno, 9ish, I grabbed my computer and started downloading music. Then I went back on the couch to be in the daylight and downloaded more music. Then my cat started to puke on my sheets... I jumped up, and put my computer down. In the process I stepped on the ethernet cable (because I'm too cheap to buy an Airport).
In one foul swoop, I ripped out the ethernet port. I panicked too much to stop Marty form puking on my sheets... there was much badness.

I tried to call the Apple store I bought my computer at, but the number they gave me is the generic Apple number... after being on hold for 30 minutes, I just asked if the store could fix this. They said if they can't they'll send it out.
Ok, so I'll be without a computer for 2 weeks... I feel like crap, but I can go to the store and be back in 20 minutes tops. I could use some fresh air. So... off I go.

I get to the store, and there's about 7 million people there watching some guy on a big screen talk about all the new apple products. Any other day I would have been excited about it too, but I fought the throng of people and dug a techie out of the crowd.
"Well, let's see if it works..." How could it work, when it's in two parts???
Once he realized that it wasn't a wireless ethernet port, he said they could just replace it since it was so new.
"Well.... can I get all the data transfered?"
"Oh, that'll be 50 bucks."
"Well, I'll just buy a CD and copy all the relevant files."
"pfft, I'll just give you a CD for that."

I've never burned a CD before, it was pretty damed easy. I put all the music I'd downloaded, my writing and a few other things on it.
They had to reinstall the OS (I originally bought a "refreshed" one and would be getting a new "refreshed" iBook, hopefully with a stronger ethernet port).
"How long will it take."
"Oh, just a couple minutes."
So I watched the guy on the big screen talk about all the cool new apple stuff, and I wished I had $3200 to buy that new 17" Powerbook. *drools* But I really just wanted to sit down, I felt feint and miserable.
The show ended, the techie came back and said "just a few more minutes." Damn... I should have gone and gotten something to eat.
A total of two hours later, the new computer was ready. I don't know why, but they gave me $100 back too. What could be better? Maybe I'd know if I could comprehend anything... but my mind was all squishy mush, something like cottage cheese.
I went back to the car, and couldn't find my way out of the upper level parking like connecting to Nordstroms. Well, I wasn't stuck up there that long but I was still agravated and wanted to go home.
I stopped for a couple of hot dogs. And went home.
I spent some time putting pulling off the apps off the other computer (I only copied the files onto the CD).
Then it was time to get the files off the CD... well, it just goes t show that when you've never done something before, you'd better make sure you did it right... the CD was blank.
Informations number for the store was the generic Apple number... I was on hold for another half hour just to get the number for the store. And they'd already sent out any shipments by the time I got to talk to them.
So... it's all gone. The music is no big deal... the "other stuff" was no big deal... but I had writing on there. Not a lot, I'd been pretty blah since getting this (the pre-cold blues, I guess), but enough to feel like I'd lost a lot.

All right, time to go back to sleep, but I couldn't because I was too upset, so I just lay there staring at a blank TV screen. People usually come over on Tuesday's... I told them not too. I just feel like dying.

Ah well, that's it for now, I'm going back to sleep.

I'm so very sick. I realized this last ight when I woke up from a dream where I insisted that Julia Stiles take my car to get to school after she got in an accident with her bike and hurt her leg. Of course then I couldn't get to work.
When I remember my dreams these days, most of the time it means I'm sick. And I don't think I've had a cold for over 2 years... and this one is nasty. I spent 30 minutes this morning clearing my throat, gross.

Of course, dreaming about Ms Stiles meant my meant my mind was on her all day.
I think that out of all the famous people in the world, she'd be the most fun to hang around. At least that's the impression I get from the few interviews I've seen her do. If anyone knows how I can get a date with her, let me know. Never mind that I'm old enough to be her... uhh... older brother. Yeah... that's it.

I just want to say that the text on my blolg looks much better on my brand spanking new computer.
That's all.

I spent the day with my family today. This is my fathers side of the family, the ones that don�t like me. Why would I torment myself like that? It was Gramma�s birthday.
Here�s a little description of these people...

Mom: Legally insane. Everything she told me as a child has been denied by her in recent years. I spent many a day arguing with her (in good humor) about whether the millenium began in 2000 or 2001. In April of 2001 she changed her mind, and told everyone that I was the one who said it began in 2000. She was almost killed that day.

Dad: Grumpy. Likes nothing. Owns more booze than most bars. I was the favorite child, and he let me (and my sister) know it. He was really nice to my sister though, he once told her he wished she was never born. I don�t know what�s better: that, or my mom telling her she was an accident. Believe it or not, I got in a few of fights with my father because he treated me so much better. Hardly the childhood one would wish for.

Gramma: 89 years of old lady. She used to be cool, but then she decided that hearing aids aren�t for her. She can�t hear anything and yells a lot. And lately all she does is bitch. Christmas day, if she complained about her knee one more time I was going to slug her.... as if we could get her a doctors appointment on Christmas day! Give her a hearing aid and I�m sure she�d be the funny lady she used to be.

Aunt Bea: Yes, yes.... I have an Aunt Bea. My family has no Opie. This woman buys enough Christmas gifts for her grandkids that they actually get bored of Christmas... they spend 4+ hours opening presents. She�s related by marrage only, my Uncle Carl died a year ago last November. The last 10 years of her life were spent taking care of my uncle. She�s much more tolerable now... and I realize she�s actually nice.

Dave: Oldest cousin. Brother to Roy. Married to Vicki. Nice guy that I have nothing in commonn with.

Vicki: When she and Dave were dating, she was nice. After they got married, she got stuck up. Sure, she�s perfect. But she acts like it now. When computer mice first came out, I saw her use on to draw a picture. She�d never used it before, and it was a perfect picture of a.... well, I forget what it was. She does that with everything, she can do no wrong.

Roy: Grumpy. He�s just like my father, but he never told my sister she was an accident. When we were younger, Dave and Roy were complete opposites, after Roy got married, they switched personalities, and are both opposites of what they used to be. Weird.

Darlene: Stuck up wife of Roy. So stuck up she won�t talk to me.

Alex: Roy and Darlene�s first kid. He�s crazy, he said the Scooby Doo movie was stupid, just like Spider-Man. He prefers to hang out with the adults. He�s only 10. He cleans his Lego's with Windex (I wish I was joking).

Tommy and Nicholas: Roy and Darlene�s other kids. Too young to comment on. They love to hang on me, all the kids do (except Alex).

Jessica: Dave and Vicki�s youngest. Really nice, but will turn on you in a second. She and her sister get incredibly jealous if I give one more attention than the other

Jennifer: The main reason I�m writing this. She�s the first kid of the cousins. She�s definatlely my favorite. Back when I had long hair I spent my time at family gatherings sitting on the floor so she could braid my long hair a thousand times.
I realized today she has a crush on me (if only she was 20 years older and not related). It had snowed, and I was the last to leave (taking Gramma home). Written on the snow on my car was �Hi Rich� and there was a big heart on the window... I can only assume it was her, and I sure hope it wasn�t Dave.
But I new about the crush before this. She was trying to act all �older� when I was around. And when we were watching Scooby Doo, she was obviously jealous that I let the other 3 kids lay on me (which is quite normal... for them at least).
After the movie, she aked me to follow her to the seclusion of another room to �ask a question.�
Jenny: I was... umm... what... umm... what do you... umm... errr
Me (to myself): Holy shit! She�d better not be asking me something she�d better not be asking me about!
Jenny: What do you think about killing people that kill people?
Me (utterly relieved): You mean capital punishment?
And we ended up having an indepth conversation about it. It was kinda weird talking to someone who�s only 13 about murder, punishment, and taxes.
But I can�t help but think that this was her attempt to further show how �adult� she is. Or maybe I just don't know how adult thirteen year olds are.

I only see these people once a year which is sometimes too much. I admit I think of Jenny often. She�s the kind of a kid I�d want as my own. I don�t khow why I get along with her better than the others. And if I ever have kids, I hope I get along wtih them as well as I do with Jenny, I have this feeling I wouldn�t get along with my kids at all, and they�d all grow up hating me. But what do I know?

The deed is done, and I have a new toy to show for it.
After, 3 years, I finally have a working computer to call my own! A fancy schmancy 14� iBook that seems to way as much as a small child... and in time I�m certain it will become like a child to me.
The fools even gave it to me for $200 off since it was �returned,� even though the box was never opened (so they claim).
Sadly, I was forced to go through Apple�s financing (or start another credit card, which I wasn�t about to do). And that meant that I couldn�t buy it from the place I wanted to with the free printer, memory upgrade, carrying case, and keychain memory, since they don�t accept any kind of financing. And it was pointless for me to go to the other place I was looking at, because I got nothing special.
So I went to the Apple store in the previously mentionied Woodfield Mall.
Supposedly they had a deal were I could have gotten a nice printer for $50, but it�s �while supplies last� and the supplies didn�t last long enough for my taste.
But on the plus side, with the $200 I saved, I found a scanner... but not just any scanner, my friends.... this one has a crappy little attachment so I can scan in slides and negatives.
What does this mean to you fine, fine people?
Well, I can start thinking about showing off my pictures! And I can go back to taking slides, which I prefer to do since they come out better.

As much as I wanted to pay $400 for the airport base and card... I really didn�t see it being worth the money, since for the same freedom, I can spend considerably less for a 50 ft ethernet cable, which I�ll do soon (unless someone gives me the $400 I�d need for the airport... which I�d reaaaaallllly appreciate).

I�ve done a little bit of writing on this thing (including this blog entry), and I see I have a lot of getting used to this keyboard ahead of me. And I don�t think I like that the battery only lasts about 5 hours... that just doesn�t seem long enough to me, but I guess that�s pretty high... perhaps I should shell out the massive price of another battery, just to be safe.

So nyah nyah nyah... I have a new toy, and you don�t.

Well, here it is, the first day of the first month.
And what better time to reminice about the first song I remember?
I'm not talking about Camptown Races, or Blue Tail Fly... I'm talking "real" music from an album, by a professional pop group. So here I go...

It must have been in 1977, that's when the album was released. I was in Woodfield mall with my father, and we stopped in Musicland (the mall had two, and I think we were in the upstairs one). There was a display of some
sale items, and on the floor was a record jacket with a colorful spaceship (something like a Simon game) with a shuttle being pulled inside by grappling hooks.
The center of the spaceship held the letters ELO. I had no idea what it was, who this "Elo" was... but it was a spaceship, and I HAD to have it.
I begged and begged my father to spend the whopping $3.99 for this two record set. And eventualy, I wore him down and he handed me a five and told me to buy anything I wanted. hehe... sucker.
I couldn't wait to get home to hear what spaceship music sounded like.

When we finally did get home (which seemed like an eternity), I raced to my room and ripped open the plastic, the inside of the jacket opened up to see the inside fo the spaceship! It was like living in the future!
I dug out an the portable record player my parents gave me one year for Christmas or my birthday or something. When made sure it was set to 33, and put record one, side one on the spinny thing.
The fabulous sound of synthesized orchestra sounded out of the speaker, Jeff Lynn told me how lonely he was in his blue world, and somehow this turns him to stone.
The words meant nothing to me at the time, but for the first time I had an appreciation for music. I listened to both albums without interuption, and loved every minute of it, but nothing compared to that first song, "Turn to
Stone."

Years later....
I'd all but forgotten about the song, and then as I was listening to the TV news one recent morning, the song "Mr Blue Sky" played over a commercial. I raced to the TV to see who was pawning off there wares to the sound of
Electirc Light Orchestra. In the end, the Volkswagon logo appeared in the corner. Figures, I'd found a lot of good music from VW commercials.
I dug out my "Out of the Blue" CD (I had upgraded as soon as I had a CD player, years ago), and played it on the way to work that morning... and the way home... and the next morning and evening... and the next.
Then a different commercial used the same song, the movie Adaptation uses it. And I started listening to the CD again... although that song is not my favorite, perhaps because it's not the first one I heard, it reminds me of
that time in my childhood when nothing mattered but staring at the inside of that spaceship and trying to figure out what those two giant balls do.

So, for all who wish to hear, here is my first love.
Turn to Stone, by Electric Light Orchestra, Out of the Blue