Hi everybody - I hope that your festive period was a good one!

Easter

To be honest I'm suffering right now - this cold that has been going around has swept 750 into uncontrollable coughing, rough lungs and raw throat. I don't think I've been this sick in many years... its a shame that I don't consider boosting my immune system until after I catch something. I'm taking Zicam, a decongestant and 1000mg of vitamin C besides eating well and drinking lots of my double bergamot earl grey tea.

Needless to say, I couldn't taste my Easter meal.

An event also occurred which I could never have imagined. My father gave my uncle (e:jason)'s digital camera (the one that I broke...) to see if he could fix it. Unfortunately there was a picture on the memory card that my uncle objected to. He's a Mormon, which these days is about as close to being Puritan as one can be. Leaving the memory card in the camera was an oversight, but I have no idea why he decided to snoop into the memory card to begin with. Anyway, he found out that I'm not an angel and I was completely unapologetic about it. I'm 28 (soon to be 29!) and I'm not about to be lectured to by anybody let alone my uncle. I love my uncle but I honestly don't give a damn about what he thinks about my personal habits.

The girl whose last name I cannot pronounce

I missed all the outrage surrounding the inappropriate and clumsy comments made by (e:jenks). There was a comment made by me on the original thread but for the record that was actually (e:jason) - he wrote the comment while my account was signed in and actually informed me later about what she said.

I want to be clear - I'm not exactly slamming (e:jenks) and I'll illustrate why that is. Obviously she was offensive, but she apologized and that should be good enough. Besides that, there is something about her entry that we all agree with! Allow me to speak for the entire region when I say that we're sick and tired of the winter. We got teased with some great weather a week ago (the San Fran expats were stunned), and I think we all believed that we had seen the end of the winter. This is as if it was all a cruel tease.

Allow me to use a crude metaphor - for me its like having that girl you've desired in your room, pants off and she is just about to take her shirt off. You're finally about to get that bit of love you've been craving, specifically from her. You are gently kissing her behind her ear... she's got her arms around you... you are running your index finger along the top line of her panties.... she is breathing heavily.... the green light is definitely on.... if you don't give it to her right here, right now then she just might take it anyway.... then suddenly, BZZZTTT! Yeah - that was your alarm that just went off, its 7:00am on Monday and the weather is incredibly bad. Oh, and by the way - you're definitely alone!

That is how I've felt about the change in weather anyway. Its a letdown of Scott "Norwide" proportions.

Buffalo and *gasp* summer!

One thing that can be said about our city is that we have a vastly underrated sense of humor about our winters and our bad luck in sports. It has to be that way, otherwise Buffalo would soon look like a reincarnation of Jonestown.

One of the things I enjoy the most in warm weather is grilling - I'm the fucking grill master. I really look forward to making my neighborhood smell like barbecue. People always pass by and yell up at us - "gimme some!" Part of our suffering is the cabin fever we all deal with - its nice to be able to be on your porch and entertain outside.

I also look forward to creating our new house drink. The current one - creatively titled the "750" - has lost its luster and we need a new beverage. I have some ideas that I'm going to test and I hope to debut it on my birthday!

Enjoy yourselves -

Josh

Seriously... I really do think I'm going to die of laughter. There is only one other way that I'd rather go if I have to, and let me say that the laughter option is far less sordid.

WGR 550, our local sports talk station, is having a song contest. Basically, people are able to submit a Sabres' related parody - a complete performed song or just the lyrics if you cannot carry a tune. I'm enjoying myself writing some lyrics to songs such as Howard Jones' "Things Can Only Get Better" and Human League's "Don't You Want Me." This is the sort of thing that I dig, so I think when I can find either an instrumental/kareoke track or even a MIDI file of the songs I'm working on, I'm going to create a parody and submit it. Usually I dislike cheesy/campy things, but this is far to amusing for me to ignore.

SF visitors - (e:hodown), (e:paul) and (e:matthew) - drink water and take off your shoes when you fly home. You'll be more comfy, I promise!

I don't know if any of you are into feature animation, have young cousins, etc. or whatever. However, I have to plug this movie as a very good friend of mine that I grew up with is one of the animators! I'm super proud of him. He started out after school designing the stadiums for the Madden EA game series and at this point he is in Burbank working for Disney. He and Mickey are homeboys.

I finally found the copy of On The Road that I wanted - 25th anniversary paperback edition with the original artwork from the 1st edition hardcover.



This is so hard to find - out of nearly 1000 entries on Abebooks there was not ONE match for me. Now that I've finally found the book I am going to conspire to win the auction, at virtually any cost.

One question though - since when does it cost $6.50 for a seller to ship a 300-page paperback book USPS priority mail? Considering the book is cheap its not that big of a deal, but doesn't that seem kind of high for the postage? I wonder if the Post Office recently raised rates significantly.

Anyway, my new drink, which I wholly endorse 1000%, is this -



I've been drinking less soda and more hot and cold teas - I freaking love this one! SPoT also has a hot version that essentially tastes similar, but is less sweet and is not artifically fortified with the vitamin alphabet. Its called Orange Blossom, and at this point I rarely order bean drinks from SPoT anymore... which I'm sure will change since I like iced coffee in warm weather.

FUZE really should be paying me for this - I've been spreading the word far and wide. Even as far as the next room over - (e:jason) likes it too, and he is notorious for being... well... 'nonconformist' when it comes to the food and the drink. I've also tried the Oolong and the Green, and both are acceptable substitutes in the event that the White Tea is not in stock. Give it a try - I believe and hope that at least some of you will like it as much as I do. I'm notorious for drinking too much sugary, carbonated stuff so to have found a healthy drink that I could give up soda for, its a big deal for me.

Nothing else new to report - things are fine and I'm looking forward to the time that I can grill and chill on my porch with a beer and not be freezing cold. The porch and the location are the two best assets for our apartment, and it kind of stinks when you cannot even use one of your favorite things about your abode half of the time.

3 guys got caught with 400 lbs. of pot stashed in an ambulance - I'll never look at Rural Metro the same way again.

Today on the way to work I stopped into Starbucks on Main St. to grab a quick cup of coffee... I even was "good" and got the decaf Breakfast Blend. Typically I never make this trip and go to the Timmy Ho Ho's on Sheridan Drive, and woe be to those who park a car in Williamsville, even if its for five minutes. This was an omen.

I happily left $tarbuck$ with my coffee, got into my car and drove down Main St., listening to Roby Radio on WGR550 while I drive. A copper sticks his lights on - I'm thinking, "did I speed? Oh god, he's going to see my expired inspection sticker!"

So I am pulled over, and before he even looks at the sticker he is talking to me about it. I slowly realize that while I was parked he had to have noticed it, and waited until I moved the car so that he could give me an moving infraction rather than a typical BPD-style ninja ticket job. What the hell is that?

He even almost let me off, but to be honest the inspection sticker is 9 months overdue so I knew my fate. His exact words were, "May is a little long for me."

This is what you get when you do not bother to get work done on your car and delay inspection. Its "our" fault, but nevertheless, I thought that this was an incredibly shady and underhanded method. If the BPD weren't as fucking stupid as they are you'd think that they would have figured this one out. The way to "raise revenue" for the city isn't to ticket parked cars - the way to go is to "mark" the car and wait until morning for the owner to drive it away! My infraction is going to cost between $105 - $155 - Buffalo, you're slipping.

Considering how fucked up, pouty, whiny, assholish, self-protecting, corrupt, "entitled," lazy and soulless the Buffalo Police Department is, you would have thought that the deviants downtown would have hatched this kind of plot a long time ago.

I even asked the cop what he thought about what is going on at BPD with the supposed "sick out"- he could have cared less, lol. He said to me, "well, they haven't called us for help yet." What, take work away from BPD while they are striking? If they actually went through with it, which I don't think they will, they would probably have a problem with that too and allege that the city, by doing so, violated their collective bargaining agreement with the city.

To his credit, the officer that pulled me over was courteous and polite - a gentleman, even! BPD's riff raff could learn a thing or two - please enforce the law, but don't make peoples lives miserable simply because you can.

Its sunny out - I'm tempted to get out of the office just for the sake of getting out.

I wish that our office wasn't in the middle of nowhere - it would be nice to be able to safely walk to a cafe, or at least a convenience store. Instead, we have to get in a car to head towards Transit Rd. and all the splendid suburban commercial outlets.

(e:jason) and I were having a conversation about moving - we think we found a place to go that we could both live with. Granted, both of us have a lot of self-improvement to do before we undertake such a thing, but generally speaking we agree that being couped up indoors 6 months of the year is detrimental to your mental and physical health. I don't know why, but this winter has taken its toll on me - more than ever I've had my fill of this horrible weather. Maybe thats why a 50 degree day with sunshine might as well be an 80 degree day with sunshine. Settling for less is a way of life around here.

At this point its all shit talk, and we know that making a move west completely on our own will take a lot of money and some proper planning. I know that I will be in Buffalo for another two years to save money and get things lined up properly. We all love Buffalo to a degree, but there is nothing wrong with acknowledging that better *everything* can be found somewhere else. If I had my choice I'd pack up and leave now, but there are too many loose ends and too much unfinished business here to leave yet. Its a frustrating thought.

PRC (People's Republic of California) here we come (eventually!). I will be visiting San Diego or San Fransisco within the next two or three months to have some fun and to figure some stuff out.

Every few months or so, I have a dream that completely unsettles me. The dream is not reoccurring, per se, but the central theme is always the same.

Last night I had a dream that my grandfather had died, and our family was having the viewing in my grandmother's house. Actually, to be more specific, in the basement, which is completely unfinished and is essentially a storage area. It was evening, and many people were filing in the house - people my age that I hadn't met and other older people that I also didn't know. I kept walking in and out of the back door, going down my grandmother's driveway to look out into the street. I'm trying to find my then ex-girlfriend, who at the time in the dream had just left me for another guy - she knew my grandfather well and had a great deal of affection for him, and regardless of our "status" I thought that at least she'd want to make a stop at the viewing. After repeatedly going out into the street, going back into the house, having a cocktail (the viewing seemed like more of a party than anything else) and greeting more people, one of whom I actually recognized, trying to contact my ex, rinse and repeat... I finally woke up with the ugliest feeling.

Now, of course, in real life my grandfather actually died 5 years ago, I had rekindled with my now ex-girlfriend shortly thereafter (we were 'high school sweethearts') and his viewing was at a funeral home. The details in the dream always change - the time of year, the place, the details about the status of my relationships, where we are, etc. - but one thing always remains the same. In every version of this dream I'm searching for my girlfriend and I know damn well that she is with another guy, and I can never find her.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have called this girl an "ex-girlfriend" for years - I haven't dated exclusively since and have had a great deal of fun. At the time we broke up it was for another guy that she had previously dated. I was convinced that we were going to be getting married one day, and the experience took its toll on me in ways that I'm not going to describe in a public journal. Lets just say it was the worst experience of my life and I was completely devastated - it was the worst kind of betrayal I've ever dealt with.

I NEVER think of this girl - I don't even remember the last time she crossed my mind. I've "been with" a few other ladies since and there is absolutely no time in the past where she's crossed my mind when I'm with someone else. And to be fair to the other girls, they were fabulous, incredible ladies that gave that completely broken guy some hope - those girls I truly respect and love to this day. However, every couple months, like some twisted, diabolical variation on the worst experience of my life, this dream pops up out of nowhere and leaves me feeling incredibly sullen.

Its time I admitted it - I think my mind is playing tricks on me, and I am beginning to believe that the experience I had with that evil ex has somehow affected my subconscious very deeply. I do not have relationship phobia because of my ex - the girls I met after her, like I said, were incredible and fascinating in their own ways. I am grateful for having experienced a little bit of fun with them, and in some ways they forced me to see myself in different ways that have changed me for the better. The experiences with them made me more optimistic, hopefully in a permanent way. How can I ask for more than that?

But a girl that took away a more innocent side of me, somebody that I don't care about, somebody whose location I don't know, somebody that basically was sinister behind a gorgeous veneer - she can rob me of my good vibes and ruin my day because of what seems to be a deeply rooted problem of my own, caused by what she did to me a few years ago.

(e:jason) just came home for a minute, which is nice because otherwise I'd be left feeling a little helpless, being by myself until 6pm and not knowing what to do. Smoking pot can carry you only so far... I need to find a way to catch a little euphoria, even if its only temporary.

All I can say about it is - I'm tired of this.

I cannot believe that I forgot some of my work stuff at home - I absolutely have to do this today so therefore I have to make the hour roundtrip during the day to go get my homework. How stupid of me! I knew I was going to forget that stuff... seriously, at 7am if I don't literally place the things I need at the foot of the door I will forget them.

On the bright side of things, its sunny. On the duller, less forgiving side of things, its 1 or 2 degrees outside with a supposed high of 10 degrees today.

Operation Chaffeur Mark has been finished - dad has had his lasik surgery and all appears to be fine. It was interesting spending 3 or 4 straight days with him - I haven't done that in at least 6 years. I couldn't believe how busy this doctor was... every day we were up there the office was packed with people either being checked on or those who were about to get surgery. To those considering lasik surgery - its worth it, but just remember - the surgery is painless but you WILL smell your own burning eyeballs.

Having better than 20/20 vision I couldn't relate to how life changing this surgery is for some people until I read the testimonial book in the office. One lady said that for the first time in her life she could read the alarm clock in her bedroom - something small but incredibly significant. Anyway, if one of you decide to pursue lasik surgery I would highly, highly, highly recommend the office my father went to - my father's experience has been fantastic.