07/30/06 10:40 - 73ºF - ID#21195
everything and nothing
(e:chicoschica) and I are gearing up for the big move -- eight days and counting down!! It's starting to feel really weird, we have made a life for ourselves in NJ and now it's time to move on.
We've been too busy to reminisce though -- last two weeks have been a whirlwind. My sister's wedding in Baltimore two weeks ago, last week a really nice going-away party thrown by my buddy Bill and some other good friends, plus a family party the next day...this weekend we had our niece Camille's one-year birthday party (yesterday) and today we have chica's friends coming over for a homemade Indian feast (fortunately, cooked by our friend Sayandip, not by us! haha).
Tuesday or Wednesday I think chica will do an advance trip to B-lo to clean the apartment, which means she'll miss my dissertation defense (Wednesday)...but that's OK, our defenses are kind of boring anyway. So she cleans; I defend, get rip-roaring drunk, then finish packing all our stuff while hung over. :-) But wait! I still have to finish my syllabi and lesson plans for my courses, write my paper for an upcoming conference, revise the dissertation.... aaaaack! Oh, and did I mention that I'm completely broke? *sigh*
Aw hell, it's not as bad as losing $400 and a wallet full of credit cards and ID ( (e:jenks,200) ) but I'm feeling just a little overwhelmed right now. But soon we'll be in Buffalo, and that will make everything better, right? ;-)
Permalink: everything_and_nothing.html
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07/14/06 10:10 - 75ºF - ID#21194
damn proud of my sis
Nonetheless, I'm excited for her, not only because of the wedding, but because she has lost a ton of weight and looks fantastic. She's even featured as a success story on e-diets! Check it out:
I'm so proud of her. :-)
Permalink: damn_proud_of_my_sis.html
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Category: middle east
07/13/06 06:00 - 84ºF - ID#21193
Bad juju
In case you haven't seen the news, the Middle East is on the brink of war, thanks to what many see as an overreaction by Israel to the kidnapping and killing of its soldiers by Hezbollah.
Video of the attack on the airport in Beirut:
I'm intensely interested in this not only because I study war, but because I have a friend who was in Lebanon when the Israelis bombed the Beirut airport. Fortunately she's nobody's fool so she scampered back to Syria, where she is studying Arabic this summer.
Her recent blogs give an interesting first-person take on the crisis from the point of view of an American political scientist in a country hostile to Israel. If I know Emily, she'll keep the news coming. She uses fifty-cent words but she's perceptive and the posts could be really intriguing.
At the moment, we're just hoping that the crisis/war doesn't escalate to include Syria...
Permalink: Bad_juju.html
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07/12/06 06:53 - 74ºF - ID#21192
Sabres 2006-2007 Season
I'm damn disappointed that my beloved NY Islanders will be at HSBC just once this year, and on New Year's Day no less. Oh yeah, that crowd will be REAL interested in getty noisy. Noise is always good medicine for hangovers. Ouch.
Anyway, for those of you nursing wounds from last month and wishing for revenge, there are a few chances to see the Sabres take on the Hurricanes.
I leave you with a funny picture of DP, the Isles' netminder. He looks a little hung over in the photo. Hmm, maybe even still drunk.
keep your eye on the puck
Permalink: Sabres_2006_2007_Season.html
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Category: x-dressing toons
07/10/06 03:05 - 76ºF - ID#21191
Best Graffiti Ever?
I found it scratched into a metal bistro table on Rutgers' College Avenue campus in New Brunswick, NJ. Apparently, from what I can tell, it's the Kool-Aid guy ( ) in drag. Note the fishnet stockings and high heels. Sweet.
I guess the artist almost got caught because the requisite "Ohh YEAHHHHHH" caption is unfinished.
Also, when I emailed the photo to someone, freaky old G-mail suggested some sponsored links, including this interesting one:
Do people really use that stuff? I can't tell if the Kool-Aid guy does or not.
Permalink: Best_Graffiti_Ever_.html
Words: 130
Category: wtf ?!
07/07/06 12:41 - 74ºF - ID#21190
Developers, dead trees, and disbelief
Developer back to cut down foliage
Amherst officials say work appears to be legal
Amherst's foliage is on the chopping block - again.
Chain saws sputtered to life Thursday afternoon, clearing underbrush and felling more than 100 small trees in a Wehrle Drive plot owned by developer William Huntress. But while residents on nearby Bellingham Drive fretted over losing their backyard woodland, town officials assured residents that the developer's men appeared to be within legal bounds.
"We're just taking down all the trees that we are legally able to do," Huntress said.
Hey, why not? They're there, right? Who the fuck needs trees? Useless obstacles to creating a new vacant lot or something. This guy's got some nerve... Oh! But I'm just some sort of wacko environmentalist, right? And this developer is actually just doing what he needs to do to make a living, right? Read on:
Area homeowners were variously incensed and saddened by the renewed clearing.
"This is a spite cut," said Bellingham resident Ann Suchyna. "He [Huntress] will just destroy for the point of destroying."
"If Ann wants a park in her back yard, she should have moved in behind one," Huntress said.
OK, so maybe a little he-said, she-said bickering. They're probably both wrong. But remember the developer's snotty remark, OK? It's important. Now, keep going:
Construction of an office building on the site has long been stalled over a 1983 agreement between the town and the EPA, which forbids wetlands developers from connecting with the town's sewer line. Huntress' company, Acquest Wehrle LLC, which took over the land in 1997, has since sought a waiver from the regulation, but support from the Amherst Town Board has been tough to come by.
"There's no approval to build any kind of building on that property," [Amherst Assistant Building Commissioner F. Robert] Danni emphasized.
So wait... lemme see if I've got this straight... the developer bought the land 14 years AFTER the town's agreement with the EPA to preserve the wetlands area, and NOW he's complaining because the town won't give him a waiver to build an office building in that area? You've got to be kidding me.
I say, hey there asshole, if you wanted to build an office building, you should have bought property that's connectable to the town sewer line!
Ugh. For any of you who is sensitive to foul language or who has a developer in your family, I apologize if I've gone too far. But these bully tactics are total garbage, and no one should level a wooded area just because they're having a temper tantrum because they didn't do their own damn homework!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUGH
Permalink: Developers_dead_trees_and_disbelief.html
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07/05/06 10:50 - 65ºF - ID#21189
Ken Lay, you lucky bastard
For those who don't want to click over to the article, Ken Lay died of a coronary at his VACATION HOME in ASPEN.
Couldn't this prick suffer just a LITTLE for what he did to employees of and investors in Enron, not to mention the poor suckers in California and elsewhere who got to pay for this man's underhanded financial bullcrap?
Goddammit.
Permalink: Ken_Lay_you_lucky_bastard.html
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Category: relationships
06/29/06 02:13 - 72ºF - ID#21188
Picking up after yourself at Sea World
Basically the article is written by a woman who, after getting frustrated with her good husband's annoying habits, decided to take a lesson from the people who train exotic zoo and water park animals. Apparently men can be trained after all...?!
I guess I'm posting the link basically to bait (e:chicoschica) (nice new pic, chica!) into some sort of a reaction, but I also couldn't resist the tangential connection to the marriage discussion revolving around (e:dragonlady7,37) .
I'm tempted to be insulted by the article but I think (like the husband in the article) I'm more amused than irritated. Hell, I even laughed out loud at one point -- an unlikely event when I'm reading the NYTimes. haha
Permalink: Picking_up_after_yourself_at_Sea_World.html
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Category: moving
06/23/06 05:14 - 75ºF - ID#21187
The next big project... (help! part II)
All of the how-to sites about choosing a mover emphasize getting recommendations from people you know, so...once again, beautiful and generous people of (e:strip), help!! Have you done an interstate move (or are you close with someone who has recently done one)? If so, can you recommend a moving company for us to check out? We'd be most grateful for your reco's. We can do all the follow up work (ICC #, AMSA certification, etc.), we're just looking for companies that people have had good experiences with.
Alternatively, I'm thinking PODS ...anyone use them before? Good/bad/ugly?
Thanks (e:peeps)....
Permalink: The_next_big_project_help_part_II_.html
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06/23/06 01:46 - 73ºF - ID#21186
The quiet philanthropist
Waldemar Kaminski, who quietly ran a food stand in Broadway Market for more than 50 years, has been revealed to be a self-made millionaire and philanthropist who anonymously gave millions to Buffalo charities and neighbors in need. He died at home Wednesday night from complications of a long illness. He was 88.
"He didn't want anyone to know him, but I just had to thank him," said Anne Gioia, co-founder of the Roswell Park Alliance Foundation, to which Kaminski donated several million dollars. "Now I think we should shout it from the rooftops."
He lived in a modest flat and didn't really buy much at all. He squirreled away his profits and shared them liberally with people and organizations in Buffalo.
Kaminski gave so much to so many that it's difficult to quantify just how much he's given. He donated millions to Roswell Park - including $1 million for an endowed chair in pediatrics and $1 million to build a two-acre park on the institute's campus.
He gave handsomely to other groups as well, including the Father Baker Home, the Salvation Army, Hilbert College and Camp Good Days and Special Times. He even helped neighboring families with mortgage payments, college tuition and lines of credit at his stand.
"It wasn't a handout. He was supportive and helped them maintain their dignity," said one of his nieces, Marsha Kaminski of Oakland, Calif.
"If they were helping themselves, he wanted to help, too," Eller said.
His gifts were kept quiet both because of his deeply humble nature and for his personal safety. Kaminski had been beaten and robbed several times over the years, and publicly revealing his wealth would only make him a larger target.
But now that he has died, no one who knew him is holding their tongue. The green space he helped create will be named "Kaminski Park" in his honor.
Good show, old man.
Permalink: The_quiet_philanthropist.html
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Hope the move is as stress free as possible!
I hope your dissertation defense goes well, too.