It's one of those freaking days. God knows why. I could use something to calm the mind.

Josh is away again, and so what do I do tonight for entertainment? I think the Sabres are on. I could also go shopping for gifts. I'm looking for a good music DVD for my Dad. His tastes are not mainstream and so you cannot find most of what he wants in normal stores. Maybe I'll stop by New World and see what they have.

I don't really think I want anything material. Money is always good, and there are things I suppose I can use (a.k.a. need) but I don't really find myself wanting anything at all. The closest thing is some kind of speaker system where I can plug my iPod and listen at night. Tons of those are available. Even so, I don't really care if I get anything at all.

No, the things I want are intangibles that just aren't on the shelf.

Whatever. I'm rambling.

Now that I've enticed you with the Drudge-esque title, here's a link to the story of a Federal Lawsuit involving Ladies' Night. Some guy is suing because he alleges it is discriminatory to let chicks in for nothing and for their drinks to be practically free:



I have mixed feelings about this.

I don't buy the argument that Ladies' Night benefits guys in "other" ways - it sure as shit isn't a guarantee you are going to go home with a hottie. I hate the fact the bars are trying to disguise their greed. They want to sell drinks, not get guys laid, and who buys drinks? We do.

I also don't think that early bird specials or senior citizen coffee mornings are discriminatory. That's pretty cynical, and what are you going to do, go to Grampa and tell him to pony up the buck for his cup of joe? No, you're not, unless you are the biggest asshole ever.

What motivates a straight man to go to a club? I do think it is mostly to see girls, although nobody is expecting to take one home. That only happens for a small percentage of guys who look and act the part of the cheeseball greaser. Most guys just gawk, although the cheap drinks for the girls will impair their judgment enough to maybe tip the scales in our favor.

MY SOLUTION - Keep Ladies' Night, but force clubs to hand back the entrance fee for guys who don't end up bringing one of the ladies home. You'll still get soaked for drinks, but at least you'll be able to receive your "benefit" both ways. It's less discriminatory, no?

First of all, it was great meeting and re-meeting you at the pot luck. Those of you unfortunate enough to not be there, maybe next time. I'll try to bring (e:Joshua) along next time. Everyone loves Josh - he is by far the favorite Larson, due to his extremely outgoing and chatty nature. It is a skill he learned through being a waiter, and doing the job he's doing now.

In case you want to know, and haven't looked outside already, the snow is starting to come down harder now, and it is the heavy stuff that we all hate to shovel. It's "damn" cold now - the kind of day when you want to go cuddle with that hot neighbor upstairs.

Well, I had a bad dream that woke me up at 8 AM, so here I am. You know, over the past few years I've had a variation on the same bad dream, and I can't tell you how much I wish it would go away. It has me thinking of relationships again, and sort of dampens my mood.

My best buddy I think found a girl he really likes, but circumstances may derail that before it ever takes off. Too bad, she's an awesome chick for the most part. I'm hoping for the best for him.

Another friend of mine is a new father, and I'm really excited for him. I'm sort of the opposite of Jerry - he wants to be married but not have kids - and I would love to be a Dad someday, but marriage frightens me. If I met a girl I thought could be that loyal, I would do anything to keep her.

I don't think I'm as close to my NYC pals as I used to be, and I wonder if it's possible to right that ship. Since an ex and I share mutual friends, I don't really see them anymore. I wonder if that will ever change? They go on vacations together now and stuff. There's a part of me that feels left out as a result of this, wondering if I'm losing my friends, but I also think I need to be a far more reliable communicator. I think I'm just going to pick up the phone.

I think a trip to NYC is in order. Not just to visit them but also some other friends who I haven't seen in a while. I start to get vacation time at the beginning of the year, so hopefully I can plan something and get out there.

Saw the Hatton/Mayweather fight last night, thanks to (e:Joshua) - and I have to say, I was glued to the monitor. What a spectacle. Of course, the Blokes behaved like a bunch of animals, which was a disgrace, but no surprise to anyone who follows English sports (England v. Croatia is only the most recent example).

I was thinking to myself, you know, the NFL is becoming less and less attractive to me. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but there have been times (certain Super Bowls in recent memory) that my faith in the NFL as an honest sports enterprise has waned significantly. I also know that the NFL would love nothing more than for the Bills to leave here and move to Toronto or Los Angeles, strictly for TV revenue, and that doesn't help things.

So I think, well, if I'm supposed to believe in the NFL, I might as well believe that Boxing isn't corrupt or shady, and just enjoy the entertainment as it is - and I have to say I don't give a damn how much of a jerk Floyd Mayweather is - he is an unbelievable boxer. I loved watching the fight.

Thanks (e:Joshua)!

Hehe. Well, not exactly, but the way she speaks about her biological child is a little off:



"I felt so much more for Madd, Zahara and Pax because they were survivors.

"Shiloh seemed so privileged from the moment she was born.

"But I'm conscious that I have to make sure I don't ignore her needs, just because I think the others are more vulnerable."

Brad, the mother of your child is saying that!! Where is your fucking spine? I hope you don't feel that way about your daughter, too.

Maybe Angie really wasn't cut out for biological kids. I know my mother wasn't. I hope this is just the British press being the British press, and none of it is true.

It has been at least a week since I've checked in with you all, and so here I am. Things are fine, but there are some details you should know.

First of all, I noticed over the weekend that I had a nasty back itch. I ran my hands along my upper back to feel for the itch, and I felt GROOVES on my back. I finally took a look, and sure enough, my back is scratched to all hell. Anyone else have a bout with the Ghost Back Scratch phenomenon?

I know what you're thinking, and no it isn't that. It's been a year since a chick tore up my back like that. By the way, why does love hurt so much? I can't tell whether you love me or hate me when you do that, ladies. Gramma worries about me getting hurt, but I don't think she quite has things like that in mind. Suffice it to say, I'm not having that kind of fun lately.

Which reminds me - my best buddy is dating a girl who wants to set me up with a friend of hers, who happens to have a boyfriend already. "We don't like him" - huh? Who is to say that they won't say that about me someday and work behind my back to derail shit? Jerry says the guy is a drug dealer, and pretty much shook his head. That tells me everything I need to know about the situation - if your best bud tells you NO, follow his advice.

God, my back is really itching now. This is distracting.

Okay, I also went clothes shopping, which should surprise some people. I got 3 shirts, a sweater, and a pair of gray slacks. My other gray slacks had the zipper torn off and I've been slacking on replacing them. Why does love have to be so expensive? Actually, I only spent a total of $88 and for me that is pretty good. I'm not a patient shopper. It is not my favorite activity unless we're talking electronics.

Not much else to report, peeps. Work is fine, although I wish the Banking industry were more interested in newer web technologies. I'm going to be doing some very interesting things soon, none of which I am allowed to talk about.

I am going to come to the pot luck dinner, okay, but I am baffled as to what to make. Maybe I will try Ladycroft's zucchini squares. I love them thangs!

Soundtrack for today is Franz Ferdinand, again. Maybe I'll try some internet radio later (Classic rock!) Hey, I really like the song "Fade Together" - I love the guy's voice. The song is a little sad, but I think there is a part of us that likes sad songs too.

I thought it was just happening here! Not so!



Maybe someday I will have a protected status! Probably not. Even when it's not the patriarchy, it will still be the patriarchy, according to the article. Too bad.

You know, if push came to shove, I don't think I would mind being Mr. Mom, just as long as I got a little sports car restoration project to work with on the side.

I might as well chip in.....well....I'm not a noob, but I'm not a man-whore either. I've tended to always have cycles of having a girlfriend, then going through a period of self-pity and self-doubt, overcoming it, then going in for more punishment. We aren't as brilliant a species as we think, really.

I'm not the kind for a random hookup with a stranger. Sorry, just not my thing. Random hookup with someone I know, now that's different. I also am not someone who makes it a goal to see how many vag's I can pound. You will not hear me refer to women as "fresh tail" or something like that. I do not think of women in terms of how many of them I can fuck before I die.

I guess you can attribute part of that to the fact that I'm sort of introverted and standoffish. I don't go out of my way to be sociable and meet new girls. It just doesn't seem important to me, and hasn't for a few years now. I've always had something bigger and more important looming, which makes it tough for me to be bothered. Plus, there's that whole thing of me not being boyfriend material. Go ahead and ask around, none of the ex's are fighting with each other to win me back. There are still things to be accomplished.

Wow, I can tell I'm already talking about things in terms of relationships, instead of who I want to fuck. If I'm going to have a girl around, I want something more than a pincushion. I've done alright for myself, don't get me wrong, but I probably could have done a lot better if I had taken advantage of all my opportunities. Mark it down to not giving a shit one way or another. Is something wrong with me?

First of all, I want to say "You're welcome" to (e:Twisted), and I'm glad you went to see Of Montreal and had a good time. I haven't seen a live show since Band of Horses a couple of months ago.

One thing I didn't get credit for was the phrase "dong count" referenced in Lilho's latest entry.

Of course, "dong count" was used in one of my more satisfying journal entries a couple of years ago concerning types of "Nice Girls" :

If you read the comments in that post, you probably noticed that (e:Twisted) mentions how we should tally up the dong counts instead of our school loans. Things, as they usually do, have come full circle.

I would tell you my number, but I have to pump it through the formula that enhances my studitude first. It is being run through the UB supercomputer right now. I'll get back to you.

Going back to the musical theme - I have been entertained by The Hives lately. SPIN magazine likes them, and this time I think they have decent judgment. Frankly I'm weary of the mopey, effeminate, delicate, sensitive guy type of music that has been so popular lately. I have been starving for a more base, fun style of rock and The Hives deliver in spades. I'm glad I bought Veni Vidi Vicious back in 2000. Of course, the complaint is that many of their songs sound the same, and they do, but at this time it really works for me. I would rattle off the rest of what I'm listening to, but I'll save that for another time.

Music doesn't have to be so damned moody all the time. I need (demand) variety in my intake. If I hear one more pseudo-male hipster singer-songwriter crooning about chicks I think I'll go ape-caca. Women don't really respect pussies anyway, unless they are famous musicians. Plus it is hard for me to believe that The Hives are actually Swedish, and I won't lie, there is a little bit of ethnic pride coming into play. I love how they don't take themselves too seriously. If there is one rock band I would want to see live at this time, it is probably The Hives. We missed them, unfortunately, as they were in Toronto in early October, but will not be back around until February or March.

Even though I've been rather anxious lately, there is always something that comes to your attention that makes you realize your problems aren't that bad after all.

A friend of mine who plays basketball in England is in serious doo-doo. He got into a car accident and he is now unconscious. Signs are good so far, and there is reason for cautious optimism, but it is still troubling. It was only maybe a couple of months ago he was here with us at Faherty's having drinks, me congratulating him over his championship season (btw - don't ever date a girl whose best friend is a bartender at your favorite bar - you lose no matter what).

See, when you think of a pro athlete, many things come to mind, not all of them good. Arrogant. Womanizer. Full of his own shit. Brian is a solid guy, nothing like that, and sometimes I wonder how it could happen to him instead of me. I've been rotten at times. I deserve it a lot more than he does. He's laid up, and I just have certain monetary issues to deal with.

So, if you're faithful, or even if you're not, send out some good vibes to my friend Brian, who is in England right now battling.