2004-12-29 
 

>|<

I used to be the sort of person who would walk into an elevator and start jabbing at the close doors button. Not to shut them in other people's faces, but instead because I constantly thought I wasn't getting around fast enough.

I realized today that I don't do this anymore. Cool.

Labels: dose of mikey

* posted by me at 10:54 PM

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2004-12-28 
 

jerry lewis moment

So I found the BEST Philly Cheesesteak in San Francsico over in North Beach this afternoon. Being adventurous - and a bit skeptical that the sub would taste anything like a true cheesesteak - I ordered it with hots. They were good, but the sub was SO true to what a cheesesteak should taste like, that I pulled 'em all out to better savor the truly authentic taste I found. (If you've ever enjoyed a real Philly Cheesesteak, you'll appreciate my quest for a good facsimile. Seems they get less authentic the further you are from Philadelphia. In a way the same is true for burritos and Mexico...but I digress.)

Here's the Jerry Lewis part. During lunch my glasses started driving me crazy, and I decided to put my contacts in.

Ouch. Don't put in contacts after pulling jalapenos out of a sub. Double ouch. I spent the better part of an hour looking as if I'd been tear gassed. Thankfully it's a very quiet week at work and there weren't many people around to see me looking like a 60's radical who didn't get out of the president's office in time, but did I mention ouch?

Labels: dose of mikey, random review, sharketing

* posted by me at 9:05 PM

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2004-12-27 
 

quest for mp3

Spent much of yesterday looking for mp3s. I'm not too keen on the peer to peer sites since they mostly seem like a good way to open the computer up to attack. (Not to mention the whole copyright issue.) I'm still a bit on the fence about that one. In some ways I feel that it's silly to have to pay for something I've bought in many versions before, but then I've always believed in TANSTAAFL too.

Truth is that I would be happy to pay for the songs, but the little Lie-Pod G got me is a bit finicky. (not as stylish as the actual IPOD, but much more mini and thus even cuter in his own way) LPod and I had some pretty significant disagreements yesterday in our search for songs, but I've already grown quite fond of the little guy and refuse to trade him in just because he won't play nicely in the sandbox with Microsoft. (Truth be told, it's Microsoft who isn't playing nicely in the sandbox with L-Pod, but it amounts to the same thing.) Most WMA files that one can purchase are useless to me because they've been "protected" and are only playable with MS compatible devices.

Thankfully, I've found emusic which offers files from all the artists who want people to hear their music. Their collection is eclectic, but vast and features quite a few tunes that feel good in my ears.

Labels: random review

* posted by me at 7:19 PM

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2004-12-25 
 

happy christmas!

Labels: 1000 words

* posted by me at 9:10 PM

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2004-12-24 
 

turn around

I know it says Friday up there, but it's really still Thursday to me, just very late.

Hugs took us to Asia SF tonight. We dragged our feet getting there but ended up having a really fun time. I'd heard that the food wasn't too great, but it was quite good. (I could post a blog about Genderf*ck here, but I'm really too tired right now, so you'll have to catch it some other time.)

In other news: Work's done until Monday and for that we can be truly thankful.

Labels: dose of mikey

* posted by me at 4:51 AM

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2004-12-18 
 

sometimes

The big bad world presses down around me. Too much to think about, too much to do.

Too much.

An early gift, a happy husband and a Christmas tree suddenly make it all better.

Is that wrong?

I don't think so, but sometimes the shouts of society against us are just loud enough to make me sigh in frustration.

Happy Christmas anyways...and may the spirit of the season buy the closeminded among us a clue.

Labels: dose of mikey, rant

* posted by me at 6:47 PM

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2004-12-16 
 

santa's woods

There could've been several entries tonight. I think I'm facing a bit of a psychic bottleneck due to a lack of time for writing.

the mistaken trick - a tale from my past, but perhaps a bit too ribald for the gentler reader (i do try to put most things through the e filter)

raises in strange places - which sounds ribald, but is actually an odd tale of my workaday world

teleportation troubles - a plea to inventors to finally create one so that i can visit the east coast on a regular basis without boarding a plane

LOST - ooooh addicted as of last night

but now i've lost the urge to type....the mouse elbow is begining to twinge and i've realized just how hungry i am and how late it is

so i'll leave you with some pictures of last weekend to ponder - we chopped down our own tree

Labels: 1000 words, dose of mikey, writing

* posted by me at 10:39 PM

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2004-12-14 
 

losing a dwarf

I feel as if I have been carrying around this psychic load over the past few weeks because of several presentations at work. Two were finished as of last Thursday, but then the same day I gave the second one, my director let me know that I needed to present at another, bigger event next week.

I found out today that I won't have to present after all, because...well, it would be boring to explain, but it involves some office politics in which I came out a winner and I now feel as though Santa came early.

For the first time I truly feel the season instead of fretting over work.

So goodbye grumpy Mikey! (Hopefully all the way into New Year!)

Labels: sharketing

* posted by me at 11:27 PM

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2004-12-09 
 

sage advice

It's been hectic at work this week. I zipped an email to my San Fancisco sister explaining that the proverbial excrement was flying and I felt it was my duty to run around with the fan, keeping it out of the path.

She wrote back that an umbrella would be a better option.

Labels: sharketing

* posted by me at 11:49 PM

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2004-12-04 
 

what would william think?

When I was younger I created a variation of an invisible friend. His name was William, and I met him for the first time on a day I'd stayed home sick from school.

I lay in bed, finally bored of the many puzzles Mommy had brought in to amuse me. My little world of the bedroom had become tiresome since I know that doing anything too noisy will cause a scolding to come my way. Looking at the bookshelf, I can't find anything that hasn't been read at least two or three times already. So I curl up into the bed and pull the blanket over my head.

The realization that I'm a caterpillar in a cocoon hits me suddenly. I feel my body slowly morphing. Little legs are sinking back into my body, while at my back I feel wings sprouting. I can't see them, but I know that they're the most beautiful wings in all of the world! With a sudden burst of energy, I throw off the covers and stand wobbling on the soft mattress. Then another burst of knowledge. I'm not a butterfly at all! I'm William, and I must be having an incredibly odd dream. You see, I'd gone to sleep the night before, laying on a most comfortable pile of hay that I'd pushed into the corner after cleaning out my master's stable and tending to the horses. I remember settling in to the comforting straw and falling asleep giving thanks to the heaven's that they helped me to find such a good master. His given name was Ethan, though I had to call him Sir Gothardt as a sign of respect. I did so gladly. Sir Gothardt was a good master, and I led a good life as his squire.

But the world around me looks nothing like the stable I know so well. What, after all, could that strange object in the corner be? It was tall and looked a bit like the harpsichord I'd seen on a visit to Lord Darkwind's castle, but it was made from a strange purple marble. I remembered Lady Ursula explaining to Sir Gothardt that the harpsichord sounded better than any other in the country because of the fine wood it had been crafted from. This marble object couldn't be a musical instrument, could it?

Glancing down, I can see my feet causing an indent in a bed of some sort. But what a strange bed it is! And how unsteady I feel trying to keep balance on the softest of mattresses! My unsteadiness convinces me that the best course of action would be to sit down. So I do.

I pull the sheets up over my lap and realize that I must be in one of Lord Darkwind's rooms. After all, the material is soft and colored a pale green, I decide that this must be the silk Lady Ursula raves on about. I look behind me and see a pillow wrapped in a patterned field of hundreds of flowers. It's then that I notice the strange device sitting on a short table at the side of the bed. It's black and made from a shiny black substance that is slick to the touch. On the very front is a very small and very odd metal bar. Above the bar someone has written the word "ON" upon it in a very neat hand. A short bit below the bar, I see the word "OFF" in the same writing. I puzzle over this for a bit. What does it mean? As I run my fingers over the bar, it shifts upward.

I jump back as a bright light shines suddenly from the top of the device. Fire! I look around for some water to throw on it, but my panic subsides as I see that the flames are not spreading. In fact, the light is steady and not flickering at all. Cautiously, I reach toward the object. It is much warmer at the top, but not at all hot. The little bar remains cool. I flick it back down, and the light is extinguished. It makes me sad to lose the light, but after a moment, the significance of "ON" and "OFF" comes to me. I push the little bar back upward and the light once again shines on the room around me.

As I switch the magical light on and off joyfully, I know what my mission must be. This isn't Lord Darkwind's castle at all. It's a wondrous new country that I've somehow traveled to in my sleep. It's clear that I've been sent to this place as a scholar, and must detail and catalog everything I see so that I can share them all with the people back in the lands I came from.

I go slowly around the room, discovering any number of other magical items. The craftsmanship of the shelves amazes me, but more wonderful are the small framed paintings. Paintings made with such skill that no brushstokes are visible. Then there's the unending supply of exotic toys! I do feel a bit silly playing with them at first. After all, I'm an old boy now and a squire to boot. Toys are things for small children of 5 or 6...but the discovery that some of them boast the magic of "ON" and "OFF" and can MOVE ON THEIR OWN, convinces me that they fall well within my mission of discovery.

Finally, I'm finished with the shelves, and approach the marble structure in the far corner. I feel it tentatively expecting cold stone, but am surprised to find that it's much softer than that. In fact, it's made from wood after all. Someone has only painted it to resemble marble. When I touch one of the little white planks on the front, it does indeed make a sweet sound, just like the harpsichord back home. This too, must have fine wood underneath the purple and grey paint. But it looks so strange! I hit more of the little planks and marvel at the minds that must have decided to create such a strange object.

Then a voice calls out, "Michael? Was machts du?" It's German! At least I think it must be German. It sounds quite like the language Lady Ursula and her sisters talk when they're telling secrets.

I decide that the best course of action is to crawl back into the bed, pull the covers over my head and return quickly to my own country.

Pulling the soft cotton covers down from over my head, I'm Mike again. But a much happier Mike who is willing to see what a great world we live in.

Since that first time, William's been to visit me many times. He never comes in such a dramatic fashion anymore. In fact sometimes I'll just be pulling on my sock and he'll be there, wondering what marvelous technology created such a comfortable and finely spun garment.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Rereading that, I realize that it might have been clearer to call William an alter ego from the start, but isn't that exactly what invisible friends are?


This entry is dedicated to several people:
Emma, whom I hope finds someone as magical as William in her own life.
Mom and Dad, for never stifling my odd creative bursts
Mark, who asked me to blog something soon.
and Greg, for always reminding me that there's magic in the world

Labels: dose of mikey, memory lane, shout out, spirit

* posted by me at 10:17 PM

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lego

Spent the entire evening getting my computer to work again. It kept refusing to boot up...even in Safe Mode. With the help (and patience) of G, I was able to get everything back to normal. In a nice twist, I didn't lose ANY files. So I'm off to burn some disks of everything I've written/created since June. I really ought to do backups on a monthly basis so I won't suffer through needless angst when the computer goes down again. It's inevitable and every time, I feel as though someone's kidnapped my children.

In other news: Know anyone who can give me some info on Lego. (beyond what you get at their corporate site) I'm interested in how there U.S. In Store Marketing organization works. It suddenly struck me that I would love to work for a truly creative company with a tradition of quality, emphasis on diversity and good overall corporate values. Maybe I'm being Pollyanna here, but they seem to have it. (but that's why I need to suss out someone on the inside)

Did I mention that the main offices seem to be in Enfield, CT? A rather nice perk that would be.

Labels: dose of mikey

* posted by me at 2:17 AM

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