i have to admit, i end up looking at the journal statistics more than i would like. i think it ends up making me consciously not want to post unless i really have something to say, since i don't have computer/ online access problems and can potentially post all the time.. but even if i don't want to look at the numbers i still do it. its stupid kinda some sort of double bind.

i have been reading about other blogs in other cities and how much they get into the shit-talking of the town and border on a real fucked-up set of identity politics. (http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0409/essay.php)

i love the fact that this is made by real people that i know (and that maybe many of you know too). even if i hadn't happened to meet the folks at 567 lafayette, it would still blow my mind that these are people doing this for people in the buffalo area, that its all open source and is not in the game for getting sponsorship and setting people up on dates and such.

design--
i think that many people identify with what type of fonts there are, and with customization options like colors and whatnot. i'm too spoiled by my computer and chat program. but i'm real split; i don't know what to think about estrip customization, it seems like it would get super complicated keeping track of what styles ppls journals used. i think that people would take advantage of it, but at the same time i think the one style keeps you very focused on the words and what ppl have posted instead of their 'look'

im trying to think large scale. how would one take care of this site/ drop down menu when the list of names get too long to view? what kind of distinguishing factors would set this apart from any other site, or any of the journal keepers from each other, for that matter?

and other random things..

maybe the key is the arts community. that is one of the shining proud things about bflo, and there are so many media studies folks involved or keeping journals, and i know that one of pauls intentions was to have ppl post their creative endeavors on the site. i think itd be great to develop that aspect of it. i mean, we can all only get to squeaky wheel or hallwalls or cepa or the other galleries every so often, but it seems like such a great thing to have ppl post their work and have it available for viewing. of course that prolly takes some bandwidth, etc etc. but maybe there is potential in working with community folks to make that available. the local places i just mentioned have their own businesses to run, and itd be amazing to have a diverse group of artists writers etc being able to show their stuff through this.

i love that its not the same type of ppl who are posting either. i mean, many of us might have more left-leaning ideas but theres still debate and more than just political talk, ppl are posting about such a variety of things. i would hate it if everyone talked about the same types of things that i did, and if i wanted that i would visit a message board or something.

other things i d like to see?

i think the main page should be sort of an intro page. i think if ppl stumble onto this, itd take a while for them to figure out whats up with the site. for all a newcomer could know, every single person who keeps a journal could be friends of each other and youd need some delving into every journal and the faq's to figure out what it is and why. i love the idea of the community and open-source, no ads, no ulterior motive qualities of the site, i really think it should be mentioned in a more noticeable place than the faqs. i would put an 'about (e:strip)' or welcome page with all of that info, in case ppl don't look at the faq; and id reserve the faq for the how-to stuff, like basic code, how to post, how to get a star. maybe thats the idea, get ppl to look around and check it out and pique their interest, but if i was new to this i might not bother taking that much
ti
me
.

help.. too much going on at once. every other day, everything slows to a crawl, and then one day everything is expected to happen all at once.

next point of safety is tomorrow night.

getting on this 'last ten updates' list is so much better than the star method. so gratifying.. plus all of the sudden there are all these easter eggs to find.

we are degrassi'd out. this doesn't feel like a sunday, i don't have the usual sunday butterflies feeling of going back to school the next day. not that school has been a factor as of late but.

my friend k wouldnt notice that someone liked him even if they were humping his leg. this is by no means any invitation for you to hump his leg tho.

we re gna stay up all night now. while the rest of you are passed out drunk from today. ours is just beginning.

i am 'working from home' today, whatever that means. lots of breaks and distractions and whatnot.

all we want are just pretty little homes.
our work makes pretty little homes

make sure yours is better: agenda suicide (http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/videos.asp?oid=2044636)

fix yoself girl, you got a cameltoe (http://www.rollingstone.com/videos/playvideo.asp?sid=492361&cf=2046902)

ah, relief

i was suffering all day for lack of lip balm. it was a rough time, 5 hours of withdrawal. it will take months for my lips to learn to rehydrate themselves again, for the year(s) of lip balm addiction theyve gone through.

amy mentioned this monday but i heard today

so howard stern has been cancelled in many a swing state by the parent owner of the stations he's on-- clear channel-- because he made some critical comments about the administration and how bush needs to be removed from office. happens that the ceo of clear channel, lowry mays, is friends of bush sr and bush jr. (http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/2004/03/04/stern/index_np.html) (you need a pass or subscription to read)

clear channel owns everything from radio stations (a lot of them) to concert arenas to promotion companies (bringing the very bands that america loves to your hometown) to billboards. and this besides the deregulation/ monopoly stuff..scary.

last november people showed up in miami for the ftaa gatherings because they believe food should be gmo-free, wage rates should be living wages, health care should not be a money game, and water should not be sold for profit.
they didn't want the race to the bottom that will inevitably come with the ftaa trade agreement.

what they found was thousands of police, (and to me, this is the kicker:) paid for by $8.5 million from the $87 billion Congress approved for spending in Iraq. every single person i know who went to miami came back traumatized by what they saw, a total show of force on the part of the government and the fortune 500 companies supporting the ftaa trade agreement. no one was safe: union folks, senior citizens, students, black bloc kids, journalists. if you were there => you were considered a terrorist.

what is really at stake here? money money money

NOW with Bill Moyers featured what took place in Miami in this segment: Criminalizing Dissent? (http://www.pbs.org/now/thisweek/index_022704.html#)

(the footage of the police shooting at the journalists and media is pretty terrible..)

subtitled: balancing the act between technology and life

nice dream

the other night i had a dream about an ipod. this was right after i was looking at nick's journal before i fell asleep. and then last night ko had a dream about 3 ipods. i don't think his dream was related to nick's post, but it's funny how it reached my subconscious. haha, this is why i need to quit this for a little while..

how much are you like what you say (write)

i am working on a feedback piece, i havent forgotten. what a perfectionist.

i like to ponder how our respective personalities come through in this forum, and how the things we say or don't say say a whole lot about us.

does anyone relate to any of this?

have you ever had a dream somehow entangled with something on this site? i bet paul dreams about the site that one hour of the night that he sleeps ;) i find myself a little bit addicted (ok, maybe it's more like a lot) to this site; are you addicted? do you look more than you write? feel free to make me feel loved and email.

sometimes things don't turn out the way you wish, but its got to happen that way nonetheless.

btw, we all loved robin's video. i hope you feel ok about it in the end. and buffalo does have a shitty public transport system.

one promise from me if everyone can keep a promise of their own. lets not think about yesterday, or tomorrow.
yesterday is too far gone and tomorrow is too far ahead to plan. just be right here right now (no, im not quoting that jesus jones song). in the present. live this moment, none of the past or future is relevant. deal?

when you need to procrastinate a little bit..

everyone needs a break every now and then. or maybe i just have no attention span whatsoever.

just don't get too addicted..(http://www.80smusiclyrics.com/games/#null)

some nocturnal buddies.

sleeping at night is overrated