I bought a puzzle yesterday, well actually two puzzles. They're both this "Charles Wysocki's Americana" kind which show some pastoral American scene done in a particular cozy style. I used to do them all the time with my aunt, Lovey, when I was younger. Scared me when I realized that was over 10 years ago. While I was doing it I realized that I had actually done this particular puzzle before. I didn't notice until I was doing the first section (after the edges) and remembered doing the exact same thing, in the exact same order. I like to think I'm a much different person now than ten years ago but it points to the fact that there's this certain core you who will always do certain things certain ways. Like washing the left side of your chest first in the shower, or eating the ice cream from the sides in, or putting on both socks and then both shoes (rather than one sock/one shoe, other sock/other shoe). Guess it must be genetic, huh? We're all born either wadders or rollers and there aint a damn thing we can do about it.

Last night:


This morning:


And don't you worry, I'll keep you updated on the progress!

and he's doing pretty good. He had an interview for a new (better) job on Monday, though the job he does now is kinda neat. He makes holographic pictures. I'm still trying to grasp exactly what this means. I know it's a piece of glass that's etched with lasers somehow. I think then that you see the picture embedded therein, kinda like mother mary. I guess it looks really cool when backlit.

I just finished watching Trainspotting so I keep feeling like I'm talking with a Scottish brogue. But of course that's all in my head. God, why must I always be on the heroin? Shite!!!

Anyways, father is doing well. We had a very good conversation, which is not as easy as it seems. You see, both of us are somewhat uncommunicative, especially when it comes to feelings and such. I got it from him, what can I say. So we play this fun game of telephone tag always, where he calls me and I listen to the message and then every day I think about how I should just call him. This was maybe a record cause it only took a little over a week for me to actually do it. My parents just got divorced a couple years ago now, and it is still a bit strange for all of us. It actually made my father want to reach out to me, a positive side effect. He just started calling one day out of the blue and wanted to talk to me. Just talk. Like I said before, growing up we didn't have all that much to say to each other. He told me to do stuff, I told him I needed stuff done. That kind of thing. So when he called me it really touched me (and truthfully kinda freaked me out). Now I have to say that he's the one putting more effort into it, and I definately appreciate what an effort it is.

Thanks dad. For trying to reach out to the child who needs to learn to reach out. You are appreciated.

Basra's new playmate, name as yet undecided, is the teensy-weeniest little cutey-patutey I have ever laid eyes on.

says the MPAA.

They've just shut down another bit-torrent site, Lokitorrent and have put a scary picture and warning there. They say they have the right to shut down peer-to-peer networks because some of the people using the networks are downloading movies. Now downloading movies is not the only use of these types of programs. You can also download porn, music (both commercial and non), TV programs, foreign stuff, home movies, whatever. It doesn't seem right to close down a whole network just because some of the people are abusing it. We don't shut down I-90 when the cops nab a couple speeders. We punish the specific people and punish them for their own abuse of our transportation network. But the MPAA has the muscle (and the lawyers) and the programmers running these networks have virtually nil so the destruction continues.

Real-life drama on the elmwoodstrip.

On my way to the bagel store from the library I passed by Spot and noticed an odd sight. A woman was sitting on the bench apparently unconscious while a man took her pulse and another looked on. No one seemed to be panicking so I thought it must be under control and kept walking to Manhattan Bagel (*). After completing my purchase, I walked back and saw that the woman was now flat on her back on the ground and the guy who had been taking her pulse was on his knees delivering CPR. Next came the sirens and then the firemen, who hooked her up to some oxygen. Soon the ambulance came and they whisked her away. All in a matter of minutes.

As they were loading her up another guy came over and told me, "It was heroin." As I looked askance at him he says, "yeah, guess she did it in the bathroom and overdosed." That's just insanity. First off she didn't "look" like a heroin addict, just your regular looking, late-twenties, slightly overweight, mousy brown hair type of girl. Second off, who the heck does heroin at spot coffee? WTF, mates? The one other point that could've jived with this theory is that the guy with her (not the guy doing anything productive like taking a pulse, who I found out from another woman was a doctor who pulled over in the nick of time to drag her back to life) said to the paramedics that he knew her but that they weren't friends. Maybe the bunk dealer? Maybe we'll here more tonight at 6:00 from the local news.

• didn't want to put this in my dramatic story, but Manhattan bagels is having a buy a dozen get half a dozen free sale today. 19 bagels for $5.99. Pretty good deal, though a lot of bagels.

and never catching up to it. That was yesterday for (e:matthew) and I. Turned into a nice walk though and happy time together. Today it is also (e:matthew)'s year [inlink]soyeon,217[/inlink], so I say, "Cock-a-Doodle-Doo! rooster-boy."

I think (e:paul) has got me sick now.

I made chili yesterday. I have a big ole pot, so come over and get some. Problem is, it's not too tasty. Followed a recipe which apparently sucked. Edible, just not tasty. Lots of hot sauce should do the trick, right?

here are some of the results:


These tasy veggies will mostly likely end up in the soup pot, except for the dandelions, they belong to the beast, Basra.


These yum-yum fruits are about to be liquified by a good pal of mine, the blender. Ho!!! Smoojie time!!!

And, I too was at the butterfly house yesterday in our neighborland, Canada with (e:matthew) [inlink]matthew,499[/inlink] and (e:paul) [inlink]paul,2652[/inlink][inlink]paul,2650[/inlink][inlink]paul,2649[/inlink] It was very nice, humid, and jungly. Word of advice though, don't tell the people at the border you're going there or you just may get harrassed (especially if you're "three guys our age").


Here is me and the butterfly, well butterflies to be exact. You see, I's such a hot man that theys couldn't help but juz get it on, right there, right then, right on my shirt.

(as suggested by your friends at IRS and Toyota)

Since everyone's talking about the hybrids and taxes [inlink]jason,74[/inlink] [inlink]dan,65[/inlink] [inlink]uncutsaniflush,2[/inlink] I thought I'd agree and add a handy link to the instructions on how to claim the credit and which cars are eligible.
(provided by your friendly IRS)



$2,000 bucks. That's a big deal. But buy this year since it decreases to $500 next year and who-the-hell-lknows after that. Though I suppose with Georgie at the helm we just might get $5000 if we wait till next year but buy a hybrid-SUV instead. Got my hybrid Escalade with a whopping 25 mpg in the city, instead of the normal 11 baby!! (Anyone remember the "loop" which let owners of the giantest of SUVs get a break for having cars big enough to be eligible for a credit originally intended for farm equipment?) Tax Code length is getting out of hand with all these spendthrift Republicans throwing credits around like candy.

we got to go skiing today. We vanned on over to Allegany State Park (take 90 to 219 S until Salamanca and follow the signs) for some much needed exercise of the cross country variety. (e:matthew) and I were still debating whether we were going or not when Mr. Dave Doyle himslef appeared with his magic van and said, "get on in, we're a'goin skiing." So ski did we. It was only (e:matthew)'s 2nd attempt and I felt bad getting pretty darn lost at every other bend. You'd think that at a place with so many trails and people (must have been 20-30 cars in the lot) it would be difficult to lose your way, but somehow we ended backtracking twice. Ended up being a good mix of evertything that makes skiing fun, a little exciting downhill, a couple extended up-hills for warmth, a fast jaunt down a paved road, and the perfect idyllic trail wandering around and above beaver dams. The weather was perfect, no wind and blue skies, I didn't even wear a coat. To me X-country is such a good sport because it worls you out all over real good, and, if you can stop staring at your feet for a moment, when you look up and pause you see the beautiful side of winter shimmering and bedazzling. I love when just a little slice of pool or stream manages to break free of encrusting ice; the contrast between white-white snow and darkly moving water is so perfect and somehow serene.

(e:Matthew) should have some pictures before too long, so check his journal.

I took some pictures of the fish tank. They turned out okay considering how small everything is and how poor my photography skill is.

Here are a couple of shots that I stuck all together in a vague approximation of where they are in the tank. Upper-left and right are some mushroom-anemone things with some feather-duster worms. The middle-top shows the "pinkies" as we call them, they're a type of Gorgonia that slowly creeps along and encrusts the rocks with buds that become new polyps. Bottom left is the brain coral which had it's tentacles out, though you can't really tell in the pic. Middle-bottom is a bubble coral that is slowly regaining it's health after nearly dying. Lastly is a blurry pic of the coral-banded shrimp, he's the big boss of the tank, and menaces everything else with his giant claws.



This is a coral thing too. Some kind of tree coral or something. We forgot to look at the name when we bought it and it kinda looks like a couple different varieties. It shrivels to a little-bitty thing every night and slowly becomes erect as the light increases.