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.

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

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.