ready for the weekend


8pm and Keaton’s in bed so the laptop came out. Or, the laptop came out because Keaton’s in bed. My domain seems to be completely down, so I’m writing in EditPad in the hopes it’ll be up later and I can post. I could go on and put down my standard sentence about how busy work was today, using words like “whirlwind” and “crushing,” because it was – but I wont. Oh, just did. Anyway, I’ve got a glass of nice wine and have already done the dishes, and I’ve got a glass of nice wine. I did? Oh, must be the wine.

Recently, I traded in my Maxim subscription for a Newsweek subscription. This was partly instigated by Sharaun, although I don’t think it was any sort of edict. More of a suggestion, I think. Her logic being that Maxim may not be the right magazine to have around the house for baby Keaton. I’m not so alarmist, but do see the logic. I’d much rather Keaton see her dad perusing a Newsweek instead of a Maxim (actually, in order to see me perusing either, she’d likely have to catch me on the john… and that’s just undesirable all around). I sometimes think it’s silly to think of those kinda things when she’s not even one, but then again right now she’s learning action-for-action and word-for-word from us. So, I suppose sacrificing soft-porn ain’t such a bad idea. I mean, I’ve still got the internet for the real-deal.

Three more Arcade Fire tracks leaked tonight, that makes it just two shy of the entire thing. Thing is, the tracks are of varying quality and source. I’ve never seen anything leak like this, the randomness seems almost deliberate. Makes a guy wonder if it might not be the work of some savvy PR guy with a knowledge of the internets. Maybe leak a track every week or so in passable quality, something like a buffet of free-appetizers that always has a really long line and is only a front to sucker you into buying a full-price dinner at the end of your drawn-out, unsatisfied wait. Whatever, I’m happy to have what I have – I just want a proper!

Also in music news, the rumor mill is abuzz about the iTunes/Beatles deal. Apparently, it will be announced during the Super Bowl that all the original studio albums will be available, and remastered at that. The Beatles catalog finally remastered and available digitally… wow. I can only hope it won’t be some iTunes “exclusive” that’s not released on physical discs – I’d hate to be stuck with M4As.

I want tomorrow to go fast. I want it to be over before I know it. I’m ready for the weekend.

Goodnight.

so, i’m set


Didn’t write yesterday, my normally allotted time was spent supping and drinking with customers. It was good though, lots of that “schmoozing” stuff that business is all about. Work blows. Buuuut, after work there’s home (or, to the overworked, “not work”), and, at home, it’s awesome. I get a few hours to play with my daughter. Tonight, I played with her on the couch – she likes to climb on me and I like to let her.

Speaking of Keaton, it’s been quite a while since I updated her pictures. This not because I’m lazy, I mean, I am, but it’s more because our camera finally completely gave up the ghost. So, Monday I ordered an SD700 IS, and we hope to be flush with pictures again in short order. Look for them. I was a little bummed that the camera came with a puny SD card, but then perked up when I read it could support MMC. A while back, I bought a 1GB MMC card for my cellphone, and I’ve since upgraded phones. So, I’m set. I just wonder if MMC is slower or otherwise suckier than SD somehow.

Sharaun’s got me watching American Idol again. And, once again, I find myself positively confounded by some of the “stinkers” they trot out on these first-pass episodes. I love watching these peoples’ hearts break. Sadistic as it is, I get a warm happy feeling inside when I realize that the person who’s up there singing so badly I think they must just be taking a piss is really and truly giving their all and firmly believe they are God’s gift to singing. To see that moment when it begins to sink in, that the gift they believe they are endowed with is no gift at all. It’s doubly enjoyable if the one taking the berating refuses to believe they are terrible, and decides to continue to live deluded. Seriously, I sit there and pretend not to watch (gotta maintain my “cred” with the wife), all the while rooting for these saps to bust out in tears. I honestly have a hard time believing these people aren’t acting, because they seem so utterly disconnected with reality. I wrote a good paragraph about it three years ago, check it out.

Sharaun’s been off planning Keaton’s first birthday, you’d think it was a coronation. We’ve got invitations, grandparents making the trip into town, and even a theme. I wonder what my first birthday was like? I’ll wager I didn’t napkins that matched the plates that matched the bibs that matched the invitations, I’ll wager there weren’t invitations at all, in fact. Kids are a great excuse to indulge, to join the consumers for the good of the economy. One day though, we’ll be able to show her pictures that prove how much we love her, monetarily, even.

Before I go, I thought I’d pass along this list of “gay bands” which Christians should watch out for. My favorite part is down near the bottom:

In Our effort to keep this list up to date we’d appreciate your help. If you know of a band that is Gay or propagating a Gay message please email us so we can update.

Hahaha! If I know of a band that is gay?! Wait.. John Mayer is gay?! Goodnight.

setting the scene, quoting the players


Another blurringly-busy day at work today. Tonight we again had dinner with the older couple we know from church. We talked of B17s and bombing sorties over Southern Germany; of riding motorcycles around the makeshift hangers on a unassuming US airstrip in England, the hangers covered with brush as camouflage; of French pistols, the spoils of war; of flack from anti-aircraft guns at 30,000ft; of breaking formation to dodge scrambled German props. Unbelievable evening, had a great time. Was still in a writing mood when I got home, so for Friday I’m gonna get a little blue (OK a lot blue). Some scenes I remember, and quotes to go with them.

Scene: Boy in his room, showing a friend’s girlfriend something on his computer. There is a small group of people outside on the back porch, the boyfriend of the girl is one of them. She’s petite, her body tight and and small, making her look younger than she is. The boy perceives a signal, subtle body language – he makes his move, there is no protest. His hand moves under her shirt, along her side, up to her bra. She moves against his touch, providing “go ahead” pressure as his hand trails along her soft skin. No underwire, not much filling the cups but he doesn’t care, he’s dizzy in the moment – so risky, so exciting. Pushing aside the satiny fabric, he traces, pinches, pulls and pets.
Quote: “He’s right outside… No. Don’t stop. I’m so horny. Do you want to go somewhere?” “I can’t. He’s right outside.”

Scene: Boy and girl at work, it’s a Sunday in the mall and trade is light, there is plenty of time to talk and flirt. As the three-person shift progresses, the boy, who is the assistant manager, sends the third employee to the floor. He and the girl are left behind the counter, this is by design. She is younger, not “tight” or “petite” at all, rather healthy and amply bosomed. She has blonde hair, he thinks it may be fake, but he doesn’t care. The small flirtation continues, he’s always considered himself good at this game, and his conceit is confirmed as things seem to be progressing well. This is unusual, as he usually waits until success is all but a sure thing before making a move, this time he’s just forging ahead blindly. At the end of the day, he gets to choose who “closes” with him, he gets to send the other one home. He’ll count the money, note the total in the book, he’ll enclose the comparative running total as compared to last year in <carrot -parentheses>, it’s always negative compared to last year. He’ll put the money in the safe, she’ll be vacuuming the sales floor. Yes that’s his plan, and he’d successfully execute it later, but for now they stand behind the counter. He decides to be bold. His hand touches her leg through her pantyhose, there is no protest. Bolder still, he uses the midriff-high sales counter to his advantage, pushes up her black dress and moves inward on her thigh. There are are customers in the store, but to them the two torsos behind the sales counter are simply standing there. He reaches his goal, bolder than ever now.
Quote: “When are we going to fuck?” “I thought you’d never ask.”

Scene: Boy and girl sit in a car, he in the passenger seat and her in the driver’s. It’s her car. The boys arm stretches across the stickshift, his hand disappearing under unzipped jeans and polka-dotted cottons, working. It’s his first time inside her car, his first time inside her. They are both nervous as hell, their leaned-in kisses awkwardly twisting their bodies across the gulf of the parking break. She pants, but protests.
Quote: “Let’s move to the back seat.” “I can’t, not now.” “Just let me taste you, I just want to taste you.” “I can’t, not here.”

Scene: Boy at girl’s house, her parents are out of town, it’s the Fourth of July. For the longest time, he’s thought things could be “on” between them if he only made a move. He’s deathly afraid, she’s harder to read than any girl he’s previously courted. Boy has been trying to win back an old girlfriend, but it’s not this girl. This girl is small, petite, tight. She’s not the same small, petite, tight girl from the computer chair. All evening, he’s on the edge of making a move, on the edge of making a mistake, on the edge of faithfulness. She’s wearing one of those “at home” outfits that girls, particularly cheerleaders, wear when they want to entice boys: a tight-fitting pink tanktop with thin straps and short, short pants made out of grey cotton. He’s pretty sure he has permission, but he’s got a case of morality. He tries to leave.
Quote: “Please don’t leave, stay the night here tonight with me.” “I can’t.” “Please, I’m scared of the noise, the fireworks, you can stay with me in my room.”

Scene: He’s tutoring her, in math. He lays on his bed, she sits with her back to him, against the bed so he can look over her shoulder and see her book, equation, and work as she writes. He corrects her, gives her helpful hints and little explanations. The parabola opens upward if the slope is positive, she nods. She’s dressed for soccer practice, jersey and white Umbros, he can see through the white Umbros: striped panties, like a rainbow candycane. Her long blonde hair reflects the light in strands, it smells otherworldly as he peers over her shoulder. She gets it right, x=7, he reaches around to put his hand on her chin, he turns her head. Her skin is ghostly pale, he loves it, her legs gleam like alabaster pillars, her thighs like fresh cream. She turns her head, her eyes are already closed, her lips, so thin and pink, are presented and at the ready. They kiss, her tongue is pointier than he’s used to. She’s stunningly beautiful to him, so innocent.
Quote: “Sharaun is my friend.” “I know.”

Scene: Two young kids in the back of a car, clothes completely off. The car is parked in an open field in the woods. A field which, years ago, used to be the “parking” part of a drive-in movie theater. The teenagers grope, fogging up the windows. It’s cold outside, but warm humid in the car. The air smells of perfume and sweat and dried saliva on naked skin, and things are heating up. The girl is a virgin, the boy has two notches on his belt. Things are heating up. The boy knows he’s not getting lucky tonight, not in the strict sense of the term, but he does have a plan. He asks the girl if she wants to see something she’s never seen before, and in her best shy-excited voice she affirms she does. He says it’s nearly time. And that’s how two naked kids found themselves standing outside a car in the freezing darkness, the girl manipulating the boy, working to see something she’d never seen before. Their breath comes fast and ragged, accelerated by the moment, heavy with anticipation. The boy gives one final warning, then rocks up onto his toes as his muscles tense.
Quote: “It’s so warm. Is it always that warm?” “Yeah, always.” “I want to do this again, did I do it right?” “Yes, you did it perfect.”

Enough of this filth, again, and again, and again.

Goodnight.

workforce of me


It’s now about twenty till eight on Tuesday night, and the message boards are once again alive with rumors of a Neon Bible leak before 11pm Eastern (about 40min from now, my time). These days though, with anticipation running higher than Paula Abdul on a Monday morning, everyone’s pulling the old “zOMG it leaked!!!” gag – so I remain cautiously optimistic. Ehhh… the waiting. I should know for sure by the denouement here, so let’s get down to brass tacks (what the hell does that mean?).

In the coming days you may be surprised to see some newish looking content on the Sounds Familiar frontpage. That’s right, I’ve integrated some minimal Google AdSense text-advertisements into the entry loop near the bottom. Hopefully, these won’t detract much from the glory of my writing, or pigeonhole my blog as a simple front to make ducats. I just figured, why not try and make some cash from page impressions… if I’m getting them and all, the ads are pretty non-intrusive to me, and really don’t bother me much (especially if I get a check every month). Pat joked that I’d get a whopping $2.53 a month, and he’s probably right – but I want to at least give a shot and see what happens. So, in short – I’m selling out and I don’t care. Maybe the ads’ll stay, maybe they won’t. But for now, watch for ’em.

Sometimes, at work, I wonder what it would be like if all the people I managed were me. I mean, if they were all clones of me. At first the idea seems sort of good, all moral aspects of cloning aside, because I know and trust myself to do things right. You know what they say, “If you want something done right…” Unfortunately, that’s largely true for me – I really do think I do a good job on most things, so why wouldn’t my me-cloned workforce do just as good? Maybe they would. Often times I catch myself thinking that I could do things faster and better if I just did them myself. This notion is one part asshole, one part bravado, and one part truth. That’s not to say that I’ve been unsatisfied with things I’ve owned at work before, but I knew as I was working on them that I’d ultimately be less-than beaming with pride over them in the end. I also knew I could change that, but deemed the means unjustifiable based on the ends. But, back to the workforce-of-me…

As rosy as the me-workforce may look at first glance, the more I think about it the more I realize how much it would suck. For instance, if I were managing a bunch of mes, there’d be all sorts of limitations: I’d have an entire group working to only about 70% of their potential; I’d have no way to overcome the limitations of the group (like the long ramp-time before they possess enough self-confidence to be truly effective, and their on-again/off-again motivation); and their inherent laziness and favor of flight over fight when things get unpleasant. I’d always wonder if the tasks given to them ended up falling in the 80% “give my all” bucket or the 20% “half-ass it” bucket, and worse always know that division is purely arbitrary. See, I’m an opportunistic procrastinator who’s good at hand-waving and smoke and mirrors. But, maybe, when you get down to it, every workforce is a sometimes-motivated workforce. Hell, there’s even procrastination science, check it:

Desire to Complete Task (U) = Expectation of Success (E) x Value of Completion (V) / Immediacy of Task (I) x Personal Sensitivity to Delay (D), or U=ExV/IxD

Sooo… by that logic, my desire to complete the work I was doing this morning would stackup something like this (I have no idea how to use the equation, so I’m assigning everything a value between 0-10):

Desire to Complete Task (U) = (10 x 10) / (8 x 3) = 4.17

I guess that means I less than half-fully wanted to do the task. Hmmm….

Lot of news around the internet about Sen. Obama’s continuing lean towards casting his lot into the ’08 race, but it’s still just a “strong maybe” as far as I can tell. The hopes of the partisan-disenfranchised moderates are running high though, as Mr. Obama seems to exude some sort of middle-of-the-road intelligent sensibilities and charisma that draws folks in. Personally, my positive feelings for the guy were based pretty much solely on his patriotic, impassioned and eloquent public speaking – but I admittedly know little about his true “stance” on many things (funny how good public speaking can make you just want to “assume” that because he seems like a “nice, logical guy” he’s got sensible positions and ideas – the power of charisma). So, I took to the internets to see what the deal is. One of my favorite sites to visit for a quick idea on where a politician stands on the issues is onthissues.org. While their site design is craptacular, their Obama page is a good point of reference. It’ll be interesting to see if he can keep the warm fuzzy going through to when then herd really starts to thin – what a job for his PR guy(s).

I read this story on off-grid.net the other day (off-grid is a great place to keep up-to-date on the whole, well, off-grid movement – which I’ve fantasized about many times before). How cool would it it be to have a machine that just “makes” water from the air? Now, if I could only figure out how to run that machine hydro-power, and using its own water for the hydro part…hey, I just invented a perpetual motion machine! Please line up to my right for Nobel Prize votes.

Goodnight. (Oh, 11pm now and still no leak. Sharaun says I’m the only one who wakes up every two hours to check… I doubt that… right?…. Want in on the fun? This blog is surprisingly “tied in.” Enjoy.)

leak! leak! leak!


Wrote to paragraphs last night, gave up and never posted them. Here they go.

So everyone thinks my glass-lung dream has to do with smoking, eh? Not a bad interpretation, actually… and now that I think about it maybe it was smoke I was seeing fill the chambers, not “tinted breath” as I described it yesterday. Either way, it was one of those cool dreams that you actually get to remember – so I figured it meant something. Thankfully, and this is something I don’t say often, this work is dragging at work. This week, though, I’m glad it’s dragging… I need all the time I can get to pull everything I need together before Friday. I’m sitting on the couch now in my boxer shorts, and I swear I can smell my own ass… that, or these shorts were dirty when I put them on. That’s gross to me.

Tonight Sharaun and I had dinner with some long-time friends, I mean from-back-in-FL friends. They have a daughter (who I remember being born) who’s now in 2nd grade, and I got to talking about her about what kind of things she’s doing in school. Trying to think back, I remembered things like have to write what time it was on a drawing of an analog clock and counting little drawn quarters, dimes, and nickels to answer things like “how much money?” As we talked, I decided that I’d head into the garage and actually pull down the box of “David’s Old Stuff” my mom had given me a few years back. Sure enough, I found a math test I took in 2nd grade – and lo and behold: clocks and change. What a memory, huh? I love looking through that box, and someday if I get a working scanner I’d like to digitize and write about some of the cool things in there. I’m also glad my folks saved all that seemingly mundane stuff, it’s loads of fun to look at now – I’ll make sure and do the same for Keaton.

Know what I hate about every single iPod case I’ve tried? All the holes are either hard to get to, or, when easily accessible, made only to fit the standard iPod headphones and charger. That’s just dumb. Most decent headphones or 3.5mm jacks have thicker plugs than those skinny white iPod earbuds, so it’s just stupid not to give users a little more wiggle room if they decide, like me, that they hate the pain-inducing standard earbuds. And, “unauthorized” car charges and wall charges for the iPod are available on eBay for pennies on the dollar – and some are, not surprisingly, a little differently-sized than the OEM or licensed ones. Stupid for these case guys not to think about that. I should go into business making iPod cases… I wonder if there’s good money there. Hear that entrepreneurs?, now you know how to set your case apart from the rest – appeal to those with after-market and bootleg plug-ins. Easy as that.

Late today, two more tracks from the new Arcade Fire album leaked to the internets. Along with the three that already leaked, that makes five of eleven – nearly half the album. I swear each leaked track sounds better than the last. Even more exciting, along with the leaks, message boards and scene chatter was filled with rumors that the whole LP will be uploaded before the night’s end. Now, seeing as I’m writing this on Thursday night – I have the smallest hope that I might actually be listening to the new album on the way into work tomorrow. So here I am, alternating between writing the blog and pressing F5 on the three leakiest trackers I know. Write a sentence, F5, write a sentence, F5… c’mon Neon Bible… you can do it!

Goodnight.

my lungs were made of glass


Tuesday and it was another 8am-5pm blitz at work, but I’m home now and four beers better and ready to write a couple stupid paragraphs.

There used to be this commercial on TV where the subject was a guy stuck in traffic, and you could hear his thoughts. He was in a shirt and tie, obviously on his way to some office job with the others of the throng. Headed in the opposite direction, he spied a car with a kayak tethered to the top, going away from the place where all the other “suits” were headed. His thoughts went something like “Wonder where he’s going? Mountains? Ocean?.” The point being that he was questioning the routine, him dressed in a monkey suit headed in to push paper for the man, this other bloke in shorts and t-shirt headed out for a day of recreation.

Today on the way home from lunch I saw a gruff looking man in one of those smallish SUVs that are popular now – his vehicle covered with that ashen stuff that shouts of time spent having fun in the snow. That sheen of snow and salt and dirt that grays up the exterior made me wish that I was headed somewhere better than home for lunch and back to work (although since I’m not a big snowports guy, I imagined a hiking or camping outing instead). And speaking of camping and hiking, I’m getting pretty geared up for our first year of “with baby” outdoors activity. I’m excited to adapt, and get Keaton outside and in tune with the Mother.

Last night I had a dream that my lungs were made of glass. Eight-sided glass “cylinders,” like 3D stop-signs. They were made of square plates of glass, and the joints were made of the thick grey solder you see holding stained glass together. Each lung was an octagonal glass cylinder like this, and inside each one there were “floors” or separate chambers. When I would breathe, I could see the air fill each chamber sequentially, like it was tinted in some way. I have no idea what this means, but I thought it was one of the coolest dreams ever – re-imagining my internal organs as some Tiffany-esque artsy glass contraptions. I woke up and immediately went to the computer to write a note about it (“8-sided glass lung/chambers”) so I could recap it for today. And then…

Goodnight.

bloggin’ ain’t easy


Trying to do a blog every day isn’t easy, in fact it’s sometimes a burden on my mind. If some after-work drinks go long, I might find my mind wandering, subtracting current time from midnight to gauge my closing window of writing time. I sometimes feel like one of those nutty dog people who leave perfectly fun goings-on to race home and let Fido out, getting itchy to head home and come up with something to post. I have actually caught myself thinking something like, “Oh man, another round of beers? Now I’m definitely not going to be able to write tonight.” Usually though, the act of writing is enjoyable, despite the fact that I may have to actually “work” to get it done by taking time out or staying up late. You may have noticed, though, that over the past couple weeks I’ve missed at least one, and sometimes two, days a week.

This is uncharacteristic for me, but I know what’s happening: Work is busy. Now, in and of itself, that’s just another time-based challenge I have to work around. But lately, work is more than just “busy:” work is frustrating. My mood at the office has been one of a hundred loose-ends and not enough hands to tie them all off. I’m sure this is partly due to the fact that I’m looking forward desperately to our coming vacation in Florida, but it’s also because the environment at work lately is filled with a kind of pointless urgency. I kind of “hurry up” feeling that ends with a largely unfulfilling “keep hurrying up” follow-on. Hopefully Christmas will knock me out of this slump…

To close randomly, I don’t know if the FDA does “usability studies” or pre-release tests with products that are pending approval, but I’m about to make a phone call and see if I can get on some kind of list for this thing. O, what a wonderful tool to put in the hands of the hairy consumer.

Goodnight.