Didn't have to be anywhere yesterday, so I wasn't. The weather was so god awful, I didn't feel real guilty about it. Told the former Mrs. Mike that if the laundry facilities in the basement were free, church was going to have to wait. It did. I came, I saw, I laundered. It was good thing, got caught up on some the hard work that my DVR had been doing during the week.

With the local professional football team having me consider becoming a CFL fan with their epic badness, I appreciated the BBC showing a handful of episodes of "Top Gear," easily the most fun car show ever. Between laundry loads, I caught the pilot for "Eastwick" which shows a little promise. The people who used to make "Scrubs" are split between "Cougartown" and something with Patricia Heaton, which was so memorable I dove back into my book pile for save my intellect while the Bills continued to hurt my feelings.

Got two reminders about age this weekend. An attempt to go see Living Color was belayed by the fact that they were playing in a Toronto club and not starting till after 11. Both my potential traveling partner and I realized that neither one of us was 23 anymore. Neither one of us was really keen on tackling the Queen E at 3 in the morning either. Instead, I went with another friend to support her daughter at a bar on Chippewa. The bar's owners are depending on the bartenders to bring in the trade. There's a recipe for long term success (please note sarcasm). She did well, despite an owner giving her cues as to when to this or that. Dude, let the employees do the jobs you hired them for, there is plenty of time to run the bar into the ground. She has the right attitude, get some experience and bolt for better surroundings with time. The bar itself caters to the early drinker crowd, so I felt a little out of place, not nearly as much as the skeevy perv who sat at the bar all night, eyeing the bartenders, but a merry time was had. Made me long for a nice unpretentious old man bar, though.

got a twitter account and some of the followers make sense (including some of you nice folk), others I have no idea who the hell some of them are. That along with the fact that "Follow Friday" is all the rage and I don't know the point of that have left me a little bumfuzzled. If I'm to be collected, there better be something in it for me.

Maybe it was because summer was such a nonstarter, but it seems like comfort food season got here quicker than usual.

I think it is great Rio got the 2016 Olympics. It's good for it to move around as that is the true Olympic spirit. I'm a little confused at the amount of people who rooted for Chicago's failure simply because the President tried to help the cause (like leaders too). I understand, hell I respect, polite disagreement, but this sniveling resentment is a crappy lesson to exhibit. It's a crappy example to set and makes me think Maureen O'dowd had a point a few weeks ago in writing that there is a faction of the population that had just lost its collective shit about the current office holder. Lousy state of affairs.

Where my head is at the moment.

And so it goes.

Still rising to the tasks of being awake...

I took an slightly expanded version of a post from here and fleshed it out a little more on facebook, only to see the Buffalo News do two articles on the same topic in yesterday's "paper." Makes you wonder if a few of the minions there are following estrip for feature ideas. Theirs might have been better but mine was first.

The previously mentioned number one son was falling victim to the hype and was after me to go to Monsters vs Aliens once it opened. We decided to take the plunge Saturday afternoon and truly geek it up by going to the IMAX theater out on Transit Road. Anything worth doing is worth doing the excess, you know. But Regal, seriously, $26 for two tickets, seriously? Fandango now charges $2.00 per ticket for ordering online. That's $30 before I've even filled out my financial aid paperwork at the concession stand. That is officially the end of me booking ahead. I love the semantics of a convenience charge. Who exactly is that convenient for? certainly not this decaying customer. But the kid has been good, so I sucked it up--especially since I was rewarded with the Star Trek preview, which was pretty cool. Movie is silly fun if you are thinking about it.

My lovely middle child goes to the Tapestry High School, which for this year is in the back side of the St. Mary's School for the Deaf building. I say this because she was telling me about the strange looks that she and a friend were getting taking the Main St bus. Both of them had their IPODs on and the site of two girls with ear buds in place walking past the St. Mary's sign. "Shouldn't they be using their hands to talk?" from one bus rider. No argument with Depeche Mode: People are definitely people.

Six day work week beginning today -- no wonder it feels like I don't have a life. Next week our p.r. coordinator is being taken away to celebrate her 30th birthday so I get to wear two hats again.

Taking a little time away from Bikram Yoga -- finances got a little tight and the continuing change of seasons was screwing with my breathing ability. Once we can settle into spring for real (snow, this morning, really?) and all camp & college fees are finished, I'll hope back on board.

I think we are all gizmo junkies here in some fashion or another. The lovely daughter of two paragraphs ago came home from school on Friday upset. I was over at the house dropping off some zoo stuff and she said her Ipod got taken out of her locker. Sucks to start with, but she paid for the bulk of it, so the emotional investment is that much larger. Occasionally, you are powerless. That was one of those times, where all the ex and I could do was listen.

My church puts on a music sunday every spring and yesterday was the third straight year that I've said the hell with it. The music is beautiful, small orchestra and choir really showing its chops, but the crowd is staggeringly rude. One year, I went up to take number one son to his classroom only to come down to see some woman literally sitting on my belongings. Regularly about 300 people come to the services. but the music sundays double that with people from the neighborhood, people too cheap to go to Kleinhans for the 2:00 show, and just assorted assholes who want to hear the music with little regard for the surroundings. The last one I did go to is still burnt into my memory. This woman was sitting with her baby a couple rows ahead of me. The baby was cooing, enjoying her surroundings and charming the pants of all the immediate neighbors except for these two old biddies who thought they were at Radio City. These two crumudgeons (somewhere between 80 and 200) wouldn't shut the fuck up until the woman left in tears with the child. My biggest disappointment was in myself for not speaking to the witches the way they deserved. This was after some jerkass was trying to shush my son when he was asking some questions about the instruments before the service started.

So, the coffee and home made brunch were much more spiritually fulfilling.

Wished I could have made it to Merge last week, Tiny -- plate is a little full. I'm on three boards at the moment and I'm pretty sure one of em has to go.

Have a good Monday, ya'all.

Had a great conversation the other day with a woman close to my own age and for a second or so, I had room for optimism. She's a nurse and told me to check back with her Monday when she got her schedule for the next month. She'd be able to figure out when we could get together for the first time.

I called and got a "have to go" response, which was fairly understandable. Not every employer is cool about that stuff, she might have some actual important thing that needed done. I felt bad because I caught her at a potentially bad time. So, after unnecessarily beating myself up, I wrote an apology for the intrusion.

It's gone unanswered. Left a message, gone unanswered. Got a feeling I should just leave it there. Did I screw that up before it even got off the ground? Or should I just shut up and be patient.

Stuff like that can color your whole day.

There is something about Canal Fest in the Tonawandas that I can't quite put my finger on. I never went until I had to work it when I was still at Adelphia. Now I make a pilgrimage out to spend an hour or two watching people go by, munching on funnel cake and lemonade, listening to some crappy band and thinking the waterbikes look like a nice thing to be doing. It's like watching the parking lot outside the old aud before a concert in the 80s and early 90s where black t shirts and Miller High Life were the height of sophistication, but hell, sometimes a little funnel cake (no actual food in that food) can set you right.


I saw the ride below and thought absolutely no fucking way. I took the picture from my car. You are going round and round on that axis, while spinning on your part of the axis. I suddenly felt ancient as my stomach sent me a message "don't you fucking dare." I reassured my stomach that I don't do rides that are still attached to trailers. That seems wrong

More scenes of semi aquatic merriment.



Sadly delicious and not at all good for you.



Good cheap fun, I would have made it back for (e:Drew) 's movie at the UU church, but the latest Elmwood run, chase, 4k whatever the hell turned a usual 5 minute trip from Forest to my place into a friggin odyessy.

Chillin as best I can this weekend. Manipulated the media to cover the Zoo's elephant return on Thursday and have to do so again this week a couple times. Never dull, gotta love it. Stay cool ya'all.

I was limping down West Ferry yesterday morning to go to church. As I got through whatever Lacrosse themed event that dominates the Ferry Delaware corner, I was just strolling as best I could when the quiet was shattered by what looked like this White Nissan SUV coming to an abrupt stop. I didn't see any car hitting it. With good reason I guess. As I got closer, nobody was in the Nissan, but lying in front of it was a tire still attached to a wheel still attached to about half of an axle. The other half was still attached to a Blazer which had come to spark induced stop at the corner near my church. The driver was definitely having a bad day, curious unitarians aside, and I give him all the credit in the world. He got his car into a space without hurting himself or anybody else. Amazing times.

The limping? first bike accident of the year. Swerved to avoid a car near Anderson Saturday night and wound up bruising my calve. Didn't bother me Saturday night, but Sunday was tylenol time. Won't be wearing shorts for a few days. Suffice to say, I would not have been much fun at Artists and Models

Tis the season, was taking the kids home after dinner last night and a driver and cyclist met rudely at Ashland and Anderson last night. That cyclist wound up going to the hospital.

It's Monday, let's be careful out there.

Not sure what precipatated it, but I've been getting spammed of late with Cialis and Viagara emails. No content just a blank email about "your order." This internet has a strange sense of humor.

Just looked out my window and saw one driveway with a truck removing belonging and the other with a truck unloading. Wonder if anybody is trying to upgrade.

I mentioned in chatter that I came out of work one day and it looked like somebody was trying to get the flap door of my gas tank. Had the would be thief tried to open from the left side instead of the right, they probably would have been set, but not being terribly swift all they did was bend the hinge.

Rode my bike to work one day this week and was relived that I didn't die, despite the dog walkers, door openers that populate Elmwood in the early morning. Had the added thrill of dealing with some little twerp thinking he was cool by pretending to kick at my bike while he rode past. God bless my long reach. "just kiddin, mmmister" Uh-huh.

Reeled in 40,000 dollars for the Zoo in two days last week, but I'm getting little nervous anyway. Want to get somebody nailed down for a sponsorship soon. If your companies are feeling charitable, let me know.

Going to test drive an Elantra on Tuesday, to see how the whole thing feels. If ever there was a driver who could use an extended warranty, it's my sorry self.

Skipped the first Thursday in the Square in favor of beer that I already paid for and Lost. Lost may have confused me thoroughly. I can't decide if it was kind of awesome or downright maddening. But the beer was good.

Thought long and hard, at least a minute or so, about the letter Sam Hoyt sent out about committee positions. While the possibility of seeing the mechanics of local politics could be interesting, I never straight party voted for anything. I registered democrat for the sake of a primary vote, but am rare in that I know plenty of smart republicans and easily bumfuzzled democrats and the best stuff comes when all get together to form a policy. That hardly ever seems to happen anymore.

Despite that, I got to admit I like seeing Governor Paterson come out in favor of the gay marriage legislation. I completely respect that he is interested in leading than running for relection from the get go. I'm sure his in-boxes are filling up with loveletters from Pentacostals, Evangelicals and other fundamentalist party animals, but I respect the fact that he took a position, and a sensible one at that.

On the other side of the coin, Jimmy Griffin reaffrims the rock star notion of death being a great career move. The lionization of Griffin over the past few days amazed me. I was here during his "reign" and not a day went by that he wasn't fighting with somebody. Sure the ballpark is great, but none of the "tributes" mentioned his oft-indicted parks commissioner, how he fixated on a few projects at the expense of everything else in the city or the generally confrontational nature of things. I respected him because he never spun, he just did. (In that respect, he was infinitely better than Masiello). But hell, he wasn't St. Jimmy either.

Used to love the spectacle of Artists and Models, but I'm wondering if I'm getting too old to enjoy. Got a free night and everything.

Wednesday is economic stimulus night at the Bisons (got to love an always thinking promo department) Anybody want to go and buy one, get one.

oh well, off to refill the growler for the weekend. I heart the VBM.

It's been a tough week and this might be what's left of my mind.

Blew up at an account executive. This woman from a local magazine fishing for business came to my office with her rep, who I knew quite well. The Exec decided that being a recent Zoo addition translated into me just starting in marketing work. She reminded me of the actress who plays the all knowing secretary in The American President if only the Exec could have been that interesting. She decided it was okay to lecture to me like I was 14 and I was taking Dad's hot rod out for the first time. One passing comment, I can let go, but after about 10 minutes of being talked at like I was "Special," I caved and voiced my displeasure, reminding her that I have done this work and that I didn't get hired because I look good on casual fridays (I do). By this time, I'm standing and my boss is observing me from across the hallway. Exec: "well, what should I do?" Me: "Walk to your car" Her rep mouthes "I'm sorry" as they leave. My boss told me that shouldn't become a habit, but I was right. Certainly not real high on the professional behavior scale, and I'm not proud of verbally chasing somebody away, but there has to be limits, especially when I'm the friggin client

I hate that kind of shit. I'm not particularly good at it, not relishing conflict and all, but sometimes you got to be ready to tell somebody to shut the fuck up. It messed up my flow for the rest of yesterday, so I went straight from work to go watch Indiana Jones. Yesterday's creative writing had to wait till today when I was just empty creatively. I had two early presentations that messed up any movie going plans on Wednesday.

Feh, ready for the weekend

Anybody else get nervous in traffic when you see a car coming up behind you and the driver is a little too into their phone conversation.

I think I journal here a lot to keep those writing skills easier to come by. Had to crank out a series of ads and my first billboards for the Zoo, a lame pun on how you won't use much gas to get there.

Minor apartment tragedy: One of the most thoughful gifts I received in recent years was at the first estrip secret santa. The lovely (e:ladycroft) set me up with a series of little items that left me very moved. One of the items was a "ONE" bracelet that became part of my daily costume. Yesterday it snapped after 18 months of use. Might have colored my bias against the travesty that was thursday. Left for work strangely upset by that. Maybe the exec paid a little harshly for her crimes, but hell she deserved it.

(e:joshua) is right on the money with Lagniappe's, just came back full of fried crab po'boy. The afterglow is a good feeling.

Still mulling over directions on car purchases. My shaky credit and I got approved for a lease on a Corolla, but I can't help but wonder if a n Intrepid purchase make more sense.

Miss (e:theecarey) 's vision in these pages

Indiana Jones was fun. It ain't Raiders, but what could be. Whatever Harrison Ford and Karen Allen are drinking, I'd like some, please.

A three day weekend couldn't have come at a better time.

Eat, drink and be merry ya'all