sit and stare

I realized driving today that not only is my life very routine for the most part (which I don't mind terribly), I live the day through a series of screens (or conceptual screens). Wake up, look at my oatmeal cooking through the microwave window. Drive to work viewing the world through my glass window (Driving is almost like watching TV sometimes to me, just kinda going along). Get to work, see the world and, for the most part, my position in life as an employee, through my computer screen. Drive back home, watch the news or more likely Seinfeld at the gym, go home, watch things through the oven, then sit and watch TV. Not to mention every time I check/use my cell phone. Kinda weird if you think about it; always seeing things through something else.

free market!

This is very interesting; I've certainly noticed the "UL" on product labels, but never considered what it meant. What a genius company.

http://www.mises.org/freemarket_detail.asp?control=193

salad daze

The best salad I've ever made (that was also my lunch):
Mesclun greens
fresh blueberries
almonds (toasted a bit)
blue cheese
turkey
olive oil & balsamic vinegar

For some reason I'm not as sure about the dressing... may need some tweaking. Also, must be a bombshell of antioxidants. Yeah!

?!

So, this case against a man who brutally beat and killed dogs (not even PEOPLE; seems to be more outrage about animals most of the time) is already being labeled as a race case. What the hell?! It's not like he could have been framed; he admitted to it, there's a LOT of physical evidence, and even his friends bailed on him.
http://www.cbs46.com/news/13938060/detail.html

This weekend was really, really great. Hope and I did our plans, Sun Studio is very cool. Turns out my grandfather's friend designed the logo...some time ago. Learned some cool stuff. Then we ate Indian food. Blues on the Bluff was cool too, I felt much better than last time and was actually able to help this time (last time I felt like I was pretty much standing around for the most part). Michael and I watched a movie, Delicatessan; VERY weird. Even by my standards. It's post-Apocalyptic France, and in a little suburb separated from the city, a group of people are confined to their apartment building. The rest of the country is resorting to cannibalism, so everyone is terrified of leaving. But, the cruel delicatessan is killing off his weaker tenants and selling their meat (everyone is aware of what's going on). And so on, weird movie.

Sunday we went downtown and drank a lot during the day, which always seems like a good idea. Then we rode the Ducks and got a tour of the city, which was fun even though most of it is pretty everyday for us. Then dinner at my parents', then SUPERBAD, which was very funny. I highly recommend it.

shiny happy people

http://www.mises.org/story/2670 excellent point, as always.

Today is a very slow day. I can't really complain; I plan on working on Atlas Shrugged a bit. ALWAYS great. I can't say enough about that book. Michael and I are trying to go to the gym today (it's tough to go on Fridays), and then we have a dinner date. Rachel has gone to St. Louis to visit Hurricane Harbor; I SO wish I could have gone. Best place to be in this heat.

They'll Need a Crane

I am GOING to have a website. I don't care HOW painful it is, it's about time I conquer this fear of web design and get the fuck over it. I'm not too stupid, I should be able to figure it out, right?

This week has been fairly painless, actually. Kinda nice, time is on my side. At least relatively. It's been rockin' living with Rachel. And-- I think she and my friend are getting along swimmingly, not sure if they're an item though. I love it.

So far I've spent the morning adding music to iTunes. And resisting the urge to buy out Amazon.com's music dept. WHICH I cannot do. This weekend is Hope in Memphis weekend--Sun Studio/India Palace/India Fest '08 and Blues on the Bluff Pt. 2 on Saturday. Sunday is riding the Ducks and going to see SUPERBAD, which should be superAWESOME.

my job

is just like this:

http://www.businessofdesignonline.com/dyer-straits-client-crisis/

I did nothing all weekend. VERY lazy. It was also about 103 degrees Fahrenheit for the last 4 days.

fantastic links!

jenstark.com & cottonmonster.com

a preliminary?

whoa

The show. was. amazing. Not EVEN exaggerating a bit; we met up with Joe and Lloyd and got drinks (big, BIG drinks) and made it there right as the opener was finishing and before it got too packed in. They rocked SO hard, we were all loving it. Good times. Then afterwards, I was convinced (easily) to go out on Beale, which was lethal, but did it anyway. I paid for it last night and so far today! The time is passing very, very slowly, and I feel flattened. Dinner with Michael's family tonight! I hope to impress them with my bloodshot eyes and raspy voice. Although I won't be able to hear them anyway due to the ringing in my ears. ROCK & ROLL!

here's a kittie from Sarah's house.

QotSA

This must be what the inside of my mind looks like at 4pm when I'm desperately ready to leave work. I would've expected much duller colors. Kinda looks like a planet or a Tide ad.
Driving home last night, I got a desperate call from my sister telling me to go to the FedEx forum RIGHT NOW--they were giving away the last pair of tickets to Justin Timberlake. I made it home, skipped the gym, and after a long argument involving my sister dad AND mom made it down there. They did the drawing, picked no less than 4 entries (you had to be there at 7 to accept if you won). All H names; my sister was freaking out. We didn't win, but we stayed home and watched Grandma's Boy and drank lemonade cocktails. By no means a dissappointing night!

And TONIGHT is Queens of the Stone Age. Way psyched. I'm feeling pretty good at work today, so I really hope that this translates into an exploration day into new design tools and tricks.

THIS is infuriating. http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/07/terrorist.surveillance.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

let's just say...

...you are not the destroyer!

I can't believe how much I've slacked on this. Boo for me. Harry Potter was fantastic, I went through it in roughly 18 hours. Beautiful. And now I'm feeling very choked up every time something Harry Potter related comes on TV or interweb. I also found a great band, Harry and the Potters, that is two guys around my agge who are the official founders of Wizard Rock.

My BFF has moved in with me! It's been about a week now, very fun. She's the most considerate person I've ever met, I aspire to be that way towards others. Tomorrow night we will be attending Queens of the Stone Age at the New Daisy. I've been waiting several years to see them, and now I'll have my chance! And then Harlan T Bobo and Daniel Johnston on Thursday. A very sleepless and expensive week. Tonight, Mr. Justin Timberlake is performing at the FedEx Forum, and I'm really, really, VERY sad that I cannot attend. It 'll be spectacular, I'm sure. Very $$$ though. Rachel and I will watch Grandma's Boy and make jewelry instead for consolation.

Work is about the same, I'm terribly unmotivated and fairly dissappointed in myself. I need to branch out. I had a terrible freelance experience this past few weeks with a certain mayoral candidate that ended badly (not her fault, more so on her coordinator). I was hoping that it would be my breakout into Memphis freelance.