watching expired appliances align

not running this one thru the spellcheck

yeah. it's all stubble. well, not all of it. just the parts that aren't my goatee and my sideburns. the sideburns are still there and in decent shape. i didn't have any luck finding the tangoes just yet. i guess that means i'll be winging the curves for the foreseeable future. i'm at the point where i'm only shaving two or three times a week. whenever i shave i use copious amounts of warm to hot water. at least a cup of water will end up around the sink, making those items at the front of the basin somewhat damp. i usually towell that area off but i'm sure it produces a lot of headaches for my roommates.

i've been going to bed somewhat early these days and that's meant a lack of late night rambling. of course, all that ever produces is various odes to the brilliance of exfoliating (which i haven't done since friday!). and i'm not going to be so bold as to exclaim i'll have a photo update at the end of this week. i tried that two weeks ago and failed. soon, though. all the baseball photos you can handle!

not even on roller skates

i don't think 'careening' is exactly the right word. it's not an entirely perfect description. i do think it comes close. saturday was one of those days that just lasted a long time and by the end of it, i was ready for a solid sleep. is careening something you can do without a car? specifically, i'm referring to my walk between luxx and the rock star bar. at no point did i actually stretch my arms to the sides and pretend I was an airplane, but in retrospect, it sure feels like that's how i navigated the trip from one part of williamsburg to the next.

i think my ears are still ringing today (or maybe that's the incessant whine of this computer). after seeing the wall of sound that is skywave at luxx, i gathered my wits (disappointed they didn't play one or two more songs). wth my digital camera tucked into my pocket, i whirled out of the bar and headed west. i was on a quest for pizza and in a hurry to get to my next destination.

a left on bedford. no sign of pizza...but there were a few open delis. i stopped in one, thinking it would be the last option for finding food. in my drunk and quite buzzed state i asked for a roast beef sandwich. no bread. i needed food. i hadn't eaten since the fourth or fifth inning of the mets game. thinking perhaps too quickly, i surrendered to my sugar loving interests. i bought a pack of hostess cupcakes (for $.50!) and i was out the door. by the time i got to the rock star bar i was on a sugar high. i think. i must have been. but i honestly can't tell. i've never gotten any sort of sugar high before. processed sugar is like water for me. but i couldn't sit still at the show. the only thing that kept me focused when the spectators finally went on was the picture taking.

yeah. lots of careening and whirling on saturday night.

not over The Creek

I'm not even a full week into being the proud new owner of my blog and I'm already "re-purposing" content. Shame on me. He's a Dawson's Creek episode recap I wrote to a friend of mine earlier today:

Last night's Dawson's Creek episode was strange because neither Jen nor Jack made an appearance. There was no mention of them at all - just a mention of Jen's grandmother being busy with her new boyfriend!

Everyone's favorite 'Twin Peaks' vixen, Sherilyn Fenn, has grown up (recovered from her alcoholism - or should I say recovered from her unwatchable Showtime series) and now she's playing Pacey's new boss at the soon-to-be a Boston chain restaurant, Civilization. She has arrived just in time to create a bit of drama now that Pacey and Audrey have confirmed they're a couple. Wednesday's storyline introduces Fenn who quickly promotes Pacey and fires Audrey. During the final scene in the restaurant Pacey (having stayed late) enters the office of the new boss to ask about re-hiring Audrey. To no one's surprise, she locks lips with him. He backs away. The preview for next week's episode looks positively sizzling!!! Sparks will fly and there should be some great Audrey/Pacey tension.

Dawson and his writer friend are in New York to meet with the agent they blew off last week. The boyish charm of the writer is growing on me and I think he makes a nice addition to the show. After waiting for who knows how long the agent finally meets with them and Dawson's friend won't stop talking. He doesn't let the agent get a word in and manages to say some offensive things about deals the agent's company has packaged. The meeting ends pretty abruptly with no resolution. In the parking lot Dawson and his buddy have a bit of a shouting match and it looks like Dawson will be driving to Boston alone. Ever the wide-eyed innocent, our hero goes back into the building to wait for the agent to leave his office. Instead of being arrested for stalking and thrown out, Dawson (all of 19 years old) manages to convince the agent to give them a chance. To no one's surprise, he does. The preview offered no word as to whether or not the agent will actually be "putting some feelers out."

As always, Joey has no idea what she wants. Her story opens with Audrey walking toward their dorm room and turning away - there's a pink scrunchie on the doorknob. Joey and that no-good Charlie Todd are sharing a bed. She's under the covers. He's not. He's fully clothed and she appears the same way. I can only assume they slept together, but that's all left very vague. Charlie is getting serious about Joey. She thinks she just wants a fling with him. The opportunity for Charlie and his band to go on the road arises, and he tries to convince Joey to join them (as his girlfriend - not as the singer). Later that week as Charlie's band plays their final Boston gig, Audrey tries to start a fight over Pacey, attempting to convince Charlie that Joey still has feelings for Pacey. It's an odd scene with a lot of fake slapping. Charlie and Joey talk - she tells him to go on the road with his band. The next morning Audrey and Joey awake to find Charlie outside their dorm playing guitar trying to woo Joey one last time. A few 'Say Anything' references are exchanged and Joey's outside having a heart to heart with him. Off he goes and it seems Joey has finally had a somewhat successful fling. To no one's real surprise, she ends the night walking to get pizza with Dawson. Ahh, they're such lovable old friends.

Luckily, today is Thursday and there's no television viewing on my horizon.

honestly, i'm almost in the mood to dance

earlier this morning, for the briefest of moments, i thought i was wearing two different types of shoes. i can't explain how it happened. i stepped off the elevator and looked down at my feet. my left shoe had just the right amount of sun glancing off the top and i was certain i'd accidentally slipped an old shiny loafer onto that foot, instead of the four month old boot i knew i was wearing. the boot was definitely on my right foot. it had that worn out look at the top. of course, there was nothing amiss. luckily, that split second thought left me unfazed for the rest of the day.

oddly, i've been thinking about shoes quite a bit.

while walking up the subway stairs this morning i knew i'd made a good decision with the boots now covering my toes. in contrast to the six previous wearings, i somehow managed to do a good job securing the velcro "laces." these boots are definitely staying on my feet. part of saturday was spent at saks fifth avenue making a sandal purchase. the warm weather of the weekdays before had convinced me the time to buy summer sandals was upon us. i'm happy with the pair i found but i haven't been able to wear them at all. i'm not sure if it's gotten above 60degreesF all week long. bigger still, i can't believe i'm ready to confront the new york summer as a sandal wearer.

tv tuesdays

yesterday i purchased a box of Cheerios. i have them as a snack at work. sometimes in the morning. sometimes in the middle of the afternoon. the taste of fresh cheerios reminds me of The Empire Strikes Back. eating dry cereal (because that's how i've always eaten it) is just something better suited to children. i refuse to grow up. i ate dry cereal while watching Love Boat and i ate dry cereal while watching My So Called Life. maybe i'll even have dry cereal tonight as i watch 24.

which brings me to the best thing about Tuesdays during the 2001-2002 television season. the vcr's in my apartment get the chance to work overtime! Undeclared, 24, Gilmore Girls, Smallville, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Roswell - i'd tape and watch all! tuesday is a night of television mayhem. a special night when one can spend hours and hours focusing on boxy escapism. since april isn't a sweeps month (and Undeclared has finished up for the season - maybe even forever?) there are fewer things to tape. it's just one big rerun after the other. of course, there's a new Roswell on tonight. about two months ago i was ready for the series to be over and i was okay with the cancellation... i hope i'm hooked again after tonight's episode. whenever i need a Roswell fix, i visit crashdown.com.

getting serious with the sideburns

so i'm working on these fancy new sideburns. it's now all about the angles. after years of shaving straight across (often parallel with my mouth), i'm shaving my facial hair along a slope - and maybe even a curve. but there's no easy way to get both sideburns exactly the same. i must lack the coordination. or the patience. or the geometric know-how.

with sideburns, it's key to have the left one be the mirror image of the right one. while traveling on the subway this weekend i got to thinking - it's high time i get some sort of plastic device to use as a sideburn template! something that's the right width and follows the right angles. i can just hold it up to my sideburns and shave around it! and then it hit me...tangoes! those little plastic puzzle pieces. surely one of them would be perfect to use as a sideburn template...maybe not the whole sideburn, but enough of it to get the angles to match.

the next time i visit my parents, i think it will be time to retrieve that box of puzzle pieces and finally put them to some good. as a pre-teen i was monumentally frustrated by tangoes. my brain just didn't think in those logical steps. and i had no interest in creating an image of an angular duck! or ship! or frog. and i'm well past the point in my life where i'm taking standardized tests. so tangoes can only be useful for one thing - creating perfect sideburns. if i can just figure out how to attach a little knob like handle (so the template doesn't slip from hand into the semi-full sink), i'll be all set.

my post. my paper. my quote?

enjoyed this bit about the nypost v. the new york sun posted on today's medianews:

http://www.poynter.org/medianews/extra17.htm

so what are you kids up to?

so i guess my 'blog is now officially open. the old entries are from things i've written down in the past - you'll notice they lack any sort of links to other webpages. if i get really really inspired, i'll add a link here and there. i hope to update on a semi-regular basis.

if anyone reading this has comments, there is room for commenting. if you're someone i've linked to and you don't want to be linked, let me know. if you're someone i pal around with and i've mentioned you and you hate that, let me know. and i'll actually do something about that. i'm not above self-censorship. of course, i've got that huge ego i've had for years so everything i write about will be about me. and what i'm thinking. if you're a friend of mind and want to make sure that i never mention that time you and i spent an entire afternoon watching mtv's real world / road rules challenge maration, let me know. the charge is $5 to keep gossip like that out of my blog.

something about ice...and slurpees!

so i'm on a somewhat new sleep schedule. after four or five (or maybe nine)
years of going to bed between one and three a.m., i've decided my life would
be improved by trying to fall asleep by 12:30am. sometimes, if i'm feeling
especially tired i can be asleep by 11:30pm. i am becoming one of the
people whom i found deserving of my laughter and scorn. and i'm not
especially sad about it. i still feel like the a relatively young guy,
inexperienced with many of the ways of the world. i watched a movie earlier
today that i should have found deep and profound. i had very little
reaction at all. i'm young, inexperienced and still brandishing the
callousness of youth. whoo-hoo. i guess. probably not. maybe i should
have a slurpee.

it is one of those extremely hot days that seems to require refreshment in
some form of ice. during the summer of 1995 i had a lot of time to think.
walking around. sitting around. eating lunch. working at the chain
pharmacy. a lot of time to think. one day after returning from 7-11 i
looked at my slurpee cup, found a phone number and made a call. i was ready
to find out if 7-11 had ever published a 'history of the slurpee.' i could
picture this coffee table book - light and frivolous, yet filled with
amazing pictures and novel references to trinkets from my past. i can't
remember if i made it past the automated voice response system. and i
haven't looked on the internet yet for a history of the slurpee, but one of
these days i expect to find myself at the virgin megastore, waiting to meet
a friend and coming upon the slurpee book on the shelf. i'm curious to know
when that domed lid made its first appearance.

like a latex puppet

i'm sweating. in april. while indoors. this makes no sense whatsoever. shouldn't there be an air conditioner up and running? it wasn't until i became an adult that i understood the acronym hvac. it now makes perfect sense and i often wonder if others also know it stands for heating, ventilation, air conditioning. maybe i should track down an ice cube or two and run them across my brow. i was so psyched for the arrival of spring. maybe all this humidity means i'll have to stop wearing cords?

the baby networks

24 - good. UPN and The WB - bad. Why the re-runs? Huh? Can someone explain the need?

It was bad enough when AS IF was cancelled.