Personal

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13
Dec 04

Crazy dreams of high school

This morning I had the strangest dream that I had snuck back into high school to masquerade as a student for some unknown purpose. Before I was awoken from my dreams I was in the middle of a class where we had some sort of test and even though I was a new student I had to take the test. It was strange because throughout the dream people kept asking if I was really in high school because obviously there’s no way I could pass for someone that age. I had these big sunglasses that I tried to hide behind. The dream unnerved me.

Maybe my subconscious is churning away due to the automated invitation email I received from a former classmate of mine who is organizing the ten year anniversary of my high school class. The very of idea of this sets my mind to reeling. Has it really been that long? So many things have changed, but in some ways I don’t feel so differently. I think all reunions must feel this way. We are all veterans of our own personal wars, and we return to mark the passage of time. I feel ambivalent about it, but only as ambivalent as I feel about my entire life. There are few people I have kept in contact with from ten years past yet I would hate to miss such a spectacle. I have no idea what to expect… some irony, some sad sentimentality, some gladness for the happiness of others, and maybe some surprise at who has grown and who hasn’t.

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08
Dec 04

Survey fun

During the course of ruining my WordPress layout and messing around with del.icio.us integration I installed one of the survey packages from the Fantastico interface. I wrote up a few quick questions for any users/viewers/readers of the site, so if you have a moment fill it out. It will help me make everything better.

Click here to open up the survey

Take my word for it: Razors

Let’s talk about something easily overlooked… shaving. As upwardly mobile primates, we somehow decided along the way that we needed hair removal to maintain an illusion of youth and smoothness. This has been a hassle ever since.

For the past couple of years, I’ve been a daily shaver with few exceptions. I usually even shave on the weekends to prevent the brown and red stubble that looks like wheat smut coating the lower half of my face. Let’s face it, most men don’t look so hot with facial hair. The special few might, but I’m not one of them.

So, after using the Gillette Mach3 for several years I switched to the Schick Quattro, probably because I figured four blades were better than three. For the last couple of weeks I had to start using the Mach3 again because I ran out of blades for the Quattro. Now, I actually prefer it to the Quattro for a couple of reasons. First of all, I like the way the Mach3 head swivels and the angle of the razor itself. Also, it’s light. I feel more like I’m pulling it lightly across my face whereas the Quattro feels heavy and awkward.

Here’s something that annoys the crap out of me. Why are razorblades so damn expensive? This is not some technology handed down by alien benefactors. It’s 3-4 sharp pieces of metal wedged into a plastic bar. Why does this cost 12$ for 8 blades?

While I’m on the subject I’ve also found a shaving cream I’m very happy with. It’s made by Aveeno. It helps you get a better shave and makes your skin feel nice and smooth. It’s bonus that it gives your face a nice oatmeal smell.

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07
Dec 04

Shooting stars

I’m surprised I forgot to mention this but on Thanksgiving night as I was driving back from my father’s house in the country, Jody and I spotted a meteor streaking across the night sky in front of us. It was so close you could see sparks and fire flying off of it. It must have been bigger and farther away than it seemed because it moved slower than you would expect. I wish I could have seen where it landed. Maybe then I could have found baby Superman. It was strange being out on a country road, in the dark and quiet and seeing something like that happen right in front of you.

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06
Dec 04

Christmas Came Early!

While I was at work today, Mr. Bergstrom came over and brought two plastic containers full of sugar cookies and fudge his wife had made for me. He introduced himself as “Mark Bergstrom” to Jody and told her that he and Mrs. Bergstrom were going out of town for a short while and wanted to drop the cookies off before they left. When I got home I had three of the fudge covered peanut butter balls from the Cool Whip container and boy were they good!

Related entries where I go on about Mr. Bergstrom. Like I’ve said before, he could really teach you a lot about living.

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05
Dec 04

Christmas Chores

My brother came over yesterday and we strung up the Christmas lights around the house. I bought these plastic clips from Wal-Mart to hang the lights with. They worked but just barely. A strong wind could blow them down I suspect.

Of course, my little brother is a physical genius and did not even need the ladder to get onto the roof. He just did a little Jackie Chan maneuver and then he was up there like a cat. In fact, when I was finishing up this evening Sarah the real cat showed me how it was done and jumped on the roof herself. I have no idea why she wanted to get up there unless it was just to show me how easy it was for her. Apparently, no one else seems to find it difficult to just get up on the roof.

I strung some of those icicle lights around the front of the place and used my lights from last year to wrap one of the trees in the front yard. Scott climbed up in the live oak to string the lights but we didn’t realize that part of the strand was out until we finished and plugged it in. As a result, the tree looks rather crappy, but I’m not itching to undo all that wrapping just yet.

Friends / Personal — 2 Comments
02
Dec 04

Oh yeah

Weird. I got a phone call tonight from some market research company who wants to pay me 75$ to come in for an hour for an interview next week. It had to do with retirement plans, so I figured it was at the behest of my current 401k provider. In fact, I asked who they were doing it for and the guy said he didn’t know, but then when he was doing my pre-interview questions he asked my education level, my age, my race, and then… if I was or had ever been an employee of Principal Financial Group so that pretty much told me who they were working for. They also asked if I minded if the interview was videotaped for internal use, which I don’t. It might actually be a fun thing to do, but then I like being interviewed.

Tomorrow Phillip, Courtney, Sab, Jody, and I are supposed to go walk down and check out the Christmas lights at Zilker Park. That reminds me that I need to put our Christmas lights up around the house this weekend. Maybe I can get my brother to come do some male-bonding with me while we do it together. It’s a lot of fun once the house is lit up and I know my landlord / neighbor, Joyce, really likes it too. I’ll have to borrow Mr. Bergstrom’s ladder to do it. He’s the elder neighbor with the pale blue eyes who worked at the university during the 50’s hand-lettering signs, door glass, etc. He’s a very interesting man, and Sarah the cat loves hanging out with him and his wife. He’s 87 years old and could teach you a lot about how to live. If he’s not out in his front yard cutting his own grass once a week then something is wrong. He is always dressed in starched khaki pants with plaid shirts and his hair is always combed. He has a lot of neat stories and is a very kind man, although sometimes I think he doesn’t remember who I am exactly. Every time I talk to him he likes to talk about what a different sort of cat Sarah is, and how she’s so friendly. Apparently, she goes over and hangs out inside with him and Mrs. Bergstrom. Sarah could teach you a lot about how to make friends since she seems to know everyone around here on an intimate basis.

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30
Nov 04

I like lists and bullets

I haven’t been inspired to write long entries and I find little notes to be more helpful lately.

Soundtrack for today:

Pantera – This Love You have to love caveman lyrics like: “You keep this love, fist, scar, break”
Notorious B.I.G – Hypnotize It just came on the radio. Nice sampling.

Christmas wishlist:

XM MyFi
Treadmill (I have a spare tire that needs puncturing especially if I even think about going to my 10 year high school reunion.)
Books by or about Otto Weininger. I’ve always been perversely fascinated with history’s heretics.

Provocative William Blake quotations:

Active Evil is better than Passive Good.
Drive your cart and your plow over the bones of the dead.
The fox provides for himself, but God provides for the lion.

Personal / Software / Internet — 4 Comments
29
Nov 04

Short Jots

The holidays could have been better and it could have been worse, but I’m glad to have it behind me. It was nice to visit with some of the family, and it’s interesting to see what changes from year to year. The food was great and I got to visit with both parents. On a scale of 1 to 5, the whole experience rates a 2.
We got to finally meet Sab’s friend Justin last Wednesday. He came in from San Luis Obispo to visit. We went to Hyde Park Bar & Grill for dinner, which Sab seems to love for some reason. Justin was very cute and funny, and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun. He’s the kind of person who needs to move to Austin because he’s easy to talk to.
I spent about 20 hours this weekend just playing World of Warcraft by Blizzard Entertainment where some of my friends work. It’s super-addictive. Here are just a few things I got to do in game that were really cool:
1. Tamed a mountain lion and named it “Meow”. She fought by my side until level 15 when I ditched her for a Hyena I named “Giggler”. Apparently, I’m damn creative with pet names. (screenshot)
2. I fished for a long time off the docks and banks and pulled up some clams with pearls inside as well as all sorts of fish.
3. Helped get rid of Alliance players (Dwarves, Night Elves, etc.) who invaded our area. PvP is fun! It’s also something EQ2 lacks.

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22
Nov 04

Keep Trying

I had an interview again today for another position here at work. I think I’m up against 2-3 other people, but I won’t know the result until after next week. I feel okay about it. I was prepared and involved and not very nervous. I feel like I made a good effort, but I dislike the self-appraisal that follows. It’s difficult not to meditate on things you did or didn’t say or do, especially in light of the fact that my last few attempts did not result in me getting the jobs in question. If I were to compare my performance this time compared with the other times I would say I did better than I usually do. Big mistakes I have made in the past:
- Getting defensive over fair criticism
- Forgetting the interview and being dressed like a slob as a result (hugely stupid mistake)
I called Bruce Williams about something and was on the air.
We were going to have a contest last week to see if this guy here at work could eat 10 McRib sandwiches. He backed out (Booo!!), but I had a good opportunity to use my mad Photoshop skillz. Before and after. Notice how I used his left arm and made a matching right arm?

Letter Never Sent Tell me when to go.