if all of the results of a prime computation show an unavoidable possibility of someone getting hurt, do you choose to support the course of action which is selfish (anoter or more is hurt not you) or the selfless course (you bear the brunt of the pain, even to the point of sheltering others from it)?

in essence, cake or death? or, in a more profound witticism, ghandi or hitler?

ftr, they have zyr here. drunken philosophy is bad news bears, without the trip to japan.

my brother just got employed at a bar on 42nd street for friday nights.
can you say, 1020 upgrade?!
i thought you could.

in other news, i have not had a smoke since sunday night. i managed to get well liquored up last night, and not only didn’t have one, but kept myself from desiring one.

i’m starting to cough up that black shit though. i hate that.

============================================
Apparently, Bill Maher made a comment on his show regarding the failure of the army to achieve its recruitment goals, to the effect of:”We’ve done picked all the low-lying Lynndie England fruit, and now we need warm bodies”

This statement is indisputably true, if phrased in a less than sensitive manner.

Republican Congressman Spencer Bachus (Ala) had the following
reply:

“I think it borders on treason” … “In treason, one definition
is to undermine the effort or national security of our country



THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST FRIGHTENING THINGS I HAVE
HEARD A POLITICIAN SAY IN MY LIFETIME.

The fact that a member of congress made this statement is outrageous.

Those who know me will attest that I am not prone to hyperbole;
If the suggestion that comments such as Mr. Maher’s are treasonable
even becomes slightly acceptable in the US – it will be worse than
the red scare ; it will be George V.


PLEASE CROSS POST THIS.

============================================

EDIT: While not immidiately available for comment, Phil Spector was visibly upset at this news:

Went to see the Ernst exhibition during lunch today when my usual plans fell through. All I can say is wow. It was a fantastic collection of his work. The chronological progression of his medium and imagery is very apparent as you walk through the gallery space, and the short quasi-biographical pieces add to the understanding of that progression. I never realized what an impact frottage, grattage, and decalcomania had on all his painting, even the works that did not favor these methods. You can see the artist’s sense of color and texture change as he explores these methods. Totally engrossing. I am going to go again when I am not short on time.









The Balanced Ruler
After a detailed analysis, we have gauged that you are 46% Good and 56% Evil.
You’ve been known both for your generosity and your anger. Many of the people who serve you love you. Many also hate you. You try to please everyone and those that are unimpressed with your efforts, well, they die.







My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:













free online dating free online dating
You scored higher than 19% on Good





free online dating free online dating
You scored higher than 80% on Evil

Link: The What Dictator Are You Test written by isthisjustin on Ok Cupid

i spent so much time this weekend in deep thought/emotion/conversation and alcohol, i think i did permanent damage to my psyche. i’ve been questioning so much of everything lately, and having to explain the questions i ask, and frame a defense around them is something that has really stretched the bounds of my reality. i met some cool people. i saw some people i already knew were cool. i had fantastic food, and more than one amazing laugh after another. i had a sleepless day, and a collapse that caused injury because i was so exhausted i didn’t move for six hours. i am no closer to the answers burning me, and, perhaps, even a little more confounded by the patterning.


there is so much flux that has sprung itself on me over the years during the waning weeks of may, and the birthing weeks of june.

everything came apart like an origami pattern friday night. perhaps that is why i was so willing to go along with the flow of a random conversation that was so deep with a group of people i didn’t know – i felt like i saw the last decade of my life unfurl like a banner in the breeze. one of the hallmarks of insanity, so it is described, is the regular occurance of ideas that come from “outside” your own consciousness. i begin to wonder if perhaps expanding one’s consciousness through meticulous self-examination, and engrossing one’s self in the soup that is manhattan might not have a very similar net effect. i try to ride the patterns, do things that are incongruent to my character, then do things incongruent to that. this has extended to the point of even allowing myself to be photographed, despite my disdain for it, simply so that i am not an absolute in any major way. how do you remain the core of a steadfast individual in the wash of the tides of the world around you? i must keep myself rooted, but not too much – sublimate the obstinance, but not surrender it, lest i am swallowed whole.

constant flux within structured order is the only way the pattern is going to be made visible. it is the only way it has become evident before.

i saw , back from california friday night. i hung out with and , soon to be back in california. i was at ‘s place, surrounded by good cheer and people who were all looking to have a good time.

the fragmentary flash points that shape our reality – the liquid chain of temporal nodes that brought me to that time and place – the odds of it crush my consciousness like a cinder block to a grape. i know through a college friend of his, who i worked with at my last job. the anniversary of ben’s death is in a few weeks. i found out about it right after i got back from he annual maine trip i usually go on. i would like to think that i would have ended up better than aquaintences with and the slew of other people i have met through him. i hope i would have. i will not be going to maine this year. my life is haunted by the ghosts of departed friends. i don’t even have it that bad really – what is a little suicide here and there, when there are folks in iraq right now who will never walk again, and everything they know is now a mortar-shell hole in the ground?

if only the awareness was dulled. i wish i could fuzz things out a little, not notice the edges as much. i wonder if that is my blood calling to me – the siren murmurings of my chemically dependent fore bearers. how many times should you forgive life? is seven times seventy matthew’s guide to survival, not salvation? is 490 a significant enough occurance of unexplainable phenomena to have it alter the shuddering path of your life in a direction other than the one it seems to be heading it? i’ve done some of the math btw , the odds make the state lotto look like a pretty funny punchline in a bad monty python skit.

i have known as long as any of the few old-school friends i still associate with. half the people at his party that i knew, i knew through him. and i met through connections here on lj, which i would never have even gotten into if it were not for my ex. ironic that what has perpetuated so many of my life’s connections today was something that helped provide some serious nails for the coffin that was eventually that relationship. my life, socially, was a missed web page away from being an abortion, despite the duration and bonds i have with some of the elder roots which subsume it to this day.

it is all chains of interconnected possibility. one thing different here or there – one missed phone call, or one party skipped. things would be so different. _i_ would be so different. it happens all the time, passive or active. tom’s specter burbles at me now when i try to sleep. despite my anonymous efforts on his behalf, i do not think his son will find solace under his roof. the fact that i even know enough of that story to be bothered by it is insane.

when i stare out across the plains of infinity, and contemplate all the fractional ‘ifs’ that could be, might be, and are, in other temporal pockets of reality, the insignificance of the continuum i am sliding down becomes most depressing. egotistical relativism and super sensory “life in the moment” therapy are just escape hatches. my atheism in the face of all this malarkey is white hot hubris, but i refuse to abandon it.

i look down the long barrel of my reality’s framework (as i picture it in my head) and part of me has screamed itself voiceless at the futility. the other half is constantly locking obstinate horns with the day-to-day, refusing to submit until the last phlegmy rattle slips out.

i need my vacation, like the brain needs blood.

but as once said:
“the brain doesn’t really need blood, it just needs to be kept wet. pass me another beer.”

i just wish i were drinking. that scares me too.

having a three hour subway debate with a couple of college kids crazy enough to take the 7 train all the way out to the end of the line and back again is probably not the best use of time.

so i “beat” the dungeon siege 2 beta last night. that is to say, i took the character i played as far into the plot as the game would let me. the game looks to hold some promise. enough that i will probably buy it and run through it 1p, but not enough that i will do the multi player thing, unless i can talk some other people into it as well. MS definitely improved on many of the things i did not like about the last one, but the linear storyline really pisses me off. i’ve been too spoiled by bioware to take a force-fed rpg plot anymore, even if it is a hack and slash.

ok, so enough geek for the moment.

a week from today, i will be on my way to the airport to head to florida for a long weekend. this is the first _real_ vacation i have taken since 2001. by “real” vacation, i mean that i have no set agenda outside of flights, and nothing but a laptop, a bunch of books, and a budget to play with. no family visits, visits of significant other’s family, traditional 13 hour drives. no weddings, funerals, deadlines, menus or conferences. if i end up sitting on the beach (which is convienently located out the back lobby of my hotel) for three days and doing nothing but drinking frozen drinks, napping, and reading, it will be a wonderful trip. i have reasearched a number of other potential activities (weather dependent, of course), but hopefully i won’t have to fall back on them from in the case that my primary plans (or lack thereof) getting spoiled.

once i return, i go into full blown moving mode. i need to get my shit packed up, repaint and repair a couple spots around the apartment, and nail my landlord’s balls to the wall on what my lease termination terms will be. i paid 2 mos security when i took this place, and i want to get that shit back! i need to set a move date and hire movers. i need to figure out when roommates are relocating so the madness is not all one-on-top-of-the-other.

on top of all that, june is upgrade time around the office, which happens to coincide with “putting together the annual report” time. around here some days, i feel like i’m dueling a samurai, using a dry piece of bamboo, on a disco floor covered in chocolate pudding. and they are playing dancing queen. ugh, i hate that fucking song. except for back when i was drinking in woodlawn and this one guy used to dance and sing… never mind.

i understand the summertime is slower, traditionally, but does everything have to get front loaded into the first month of it? the answer i got to that question was “of course, because after june, people go on vacation”.

oy. i don’t begrudge _anyone_ time away from the grind, but the sense i am getting is that it is pretty much impossible to get things done with all sorts of project leads trying to burn through extra vacation before it evaporates.

this weekend, lots on tap. party at ‘s place, cooking, cleaning, theoretical eating at ‘s place, and somewhere in there wishing a tear-jerking farewell. i am not a left coast person at all, but she and are going to drag me out there as often as they can, i can tell already =P

beyond june, i’m not really planning yet. there are a bunch of “maybes” on the horizon, but nothing i want to put any more energy into, other than the copious mental energies i have already plied. i’m still wheeling around looking at patterns, though i have managed to skirt Tom, and the sense of claustrophobic fate his beat up Lincoln Towncar brings with it.

if i am not slated to see you this weekend, have a good one. if i am, watch the fuck out – i plan on cutting loose a little!

for the first time in my career of midnight star wars debuts, i did not leave the theater disgusted. that is not to say there were not moments i was let down, but the good outweighed the bad. unity in the series was accomplished.



MP3
Lyrics:

coin operated boy
sitting on the shelf he is just a toy
but i turn him on and he comes to life
automatic joy
that is why i want a coin operated boy

made of plastic and elastic
he is rugged and long-lasting
who could ever ever ask for more
love without complications galore
many shapes and weights to choose from
i will never leave my bedroom
i will never cry at night again
wrap my arms around him and pretend….

coin operated boy
all the other real ones that i destroy
cannot hold a candle to my new boy and i’ll
never let him go and i’ll never be alone
not with my coin operated boy……

this bridge was written to make you feel smittener
with my sad picture of girl getting bitterer
can you extract me from my plastic fantasy
i didnt think so but im still convinceable
will you persist even after i bet you
a billion dollars that i’ll never love you
will you persist even after i kiss you
goodbye for the last time
will you keep on trying to prove it?
i’m dying to lose it…
i want it
i want you
i want a coin operated boy.

and if i had a star to wish on
for my life i cant imagine
any flesh and blood could be his match
i can even take him in the bath

coin operated boy
he may not be real experienced with girls
but i know he feels like a boy should feel
isnt that the point that is why i want a
coin operated boy
with his pretty coin operated voice
saying that he loves me that hes thinking of me
straight and to the point
that is why i want
a coin operated boy.

So, as anyone looking at this stupid thing probably knows at this point, I went to the NIN concert last night.

I posted about half my pictures – the Sprint online services thing went down about halfway through. For a complete look, scope the sideshow here.

Over the weekend, there was a conversation about the Rolling Stones, and how they were still touring. I like the Stones as much as the next guy, but part of me wants to say “give it the fuck up guys”. Last night was something of an alteration to that perspective. I felt old, even before things started. There were kids there that were in diapers when NIN cut their first album. I felt like a dinosaur in an ice-age creature park.

Once the tunes started pumping though, I felt like I had 10 years stripped off my life. If a band as young as NIN can do something like that so someone that is still relatively young, I can only imagine what a band like the Stones can do to, say, someone my parents’ age. I don’t know that I will still be doing it then, or that any of the bands I think worthwhile will be, but fuck I hope so. My ears still hurt, and it feels great. I did some wonderful head banging (and didn’t give myself whiplash, like I did last time). I did do plenty of jumping around – the photojournalist in me refuses to let shit go buy unrecorded when I have something to record it with – hence all the pics. Apologies to everyone who didn’t like them =)

I had a fucking awesome time. Not the best NIN show I have ever been to, but pretty far from the worst. I’ve never seen them in a venue that small either, that was pretty goddamn rad. It was great sharing it with , , and . Thanks for the buyout .

When I got out of the concert and pushed through the mob, I checked my voice mail. My new roommate called me in a panic. He is currently planning to press charges against the subletters of his previous apartment, and needed to get whatever stuff he still had in his old apartment out before they got served.

AKA last night.

So, after walking to Zimbabwe and back on Sunday, then being on my feet/jumping around at the concert last night, I got a ride from uptown, and met him to help him move his stuff from the West Side on the 70’s to the guts of Washnington Heights. My blisters have blisters. The centerpiece of this move – a 100+lb big screen tv that HAS to have had some Flintstone tech involved (maybe they used slate for the tubes?). This fucker was so ginormous, I couldn’t get my arms around it and get a grip on each one of the handles. We waited for about 20 minutes to get a van-cab, which, ultimately, we jammed all his shit (and ourselves) into. He is sick, and sounds like he is on the verge of becoming seriously ill. I hope he did what I told him and took some goddamn NyQuil and went to bed.

I got done there and headed south, thinking to go home. Instead, I missed (by about 1 minute) a shooting at 125th street on the west side. The assailant jumped onto the tracks, and was running south. Nobody seemed to have been ‘shot’, but there were about 20 cops after this guy. Of course, no trains.

I decide to fuck the train, and go to 1020. I meet up with , have a few pints of LI iced tea to calm my nerves, watched the Yankees win again, then went to get a bite before I went home. I won 10$ on a ‘Win For Life’, and got home just before 2. It is at that point that I decided to fix the cable, which had been cut off at the source, again.

Got the internet working, then went to bed shortly thereafter. Nothing like clambering around exhausted on a harlem rooftop with 100 feet of coax to cap off a night.

I have been in back-to-back meetings all morning. I have so many things I have to do today, and my head is still rocking to the echoes of a great show. Despite the fact that it was less than 24 hours ago, it feels like it was about 20 years ago right now. I got a charley horse in my left calf this morning that I thought was going to make me grit my teeth so bad they would shatter (a la Kill Bill). I really want to take it easy tonight, but I gotta at least drop off laundry/dry cleaning. After I pick up my shoes – which I have three pairs of being re-soled.

i just updated , which i have been away from for a while, since i wrote myself into a corner. had a good idea to rejuvenate it. this past episode was some of my most frivolous politically incorrect writing ever. if you are offended, you were warned – the humor involved in that writing does not necessarily reflect my personal views on, well, anything. it is for laughs. if you know me, you know how sick my sense of humor is, as well as how thoughtful i can be.

every now and then though, it is good to cut lose and let dr. hyde run the show.

i totally fucked up schedules this weekend. tonight is NIN. the gal at the office who went last night said it was a blast.

happy graduation to and . happy belated housewarming to . sorry i crossed wires on your party man, we’ll do dinner soon to make up for it. happy b-day to !

ok, so apparently, parties are not when i thought they were, concerts were not when i thought they were, and crashing out of exhaustion at 11 is not good for the sleep cycle.


i have been a somewhat vapid poster of late. sometimes i go into great detail about deep shit, other times i am glossing over with pictures or poem snippets. a lot of this has been because i am so busy. big changes in the wind, tons of crap on the day-to-day, and, oftentimes, a complete lack of energy to put it all up on the internet. today’s scheduling mix-up is simply another example of the rapidity which my life is moving these days, and how my attention to detail has suffered as a result.

as they said on the trail of tears – keep moving forward, and you’ll never have to look back.

i am not going to totally ignore this blogging thing – indeed, i really enjoy it quite a bit. i just feel like i need to find a new hook here. i either need to get more serious and less vapid, and not oscillate quite so much between the two, or i need to just start posting memes and silly pictures for all m y content.

or, y’know, not. it is something to think about anyway.

brunch seems so far away when you are starting your day before the sun comes up.

at least i got my phone working again. i fucked it up royally trying to install a pdf reader onto it. this strikes me as something palm would want to make very easy. apparently, amacrodobe disagrees with this premise. my phone spent lots of time since around 1pm in a state of rebooting flux. it is all better now, with some new features and more organization. i have also decided that i am not going to synch my datebook with my home system anymore, but i will back it up on my home system.

i’m gonna go read a couple books.

good morning folks!

lots of running around today. what a clusterfuck.

time warner cable wanted to charge me 55$, and would not be here until thursday.
with some help from , and 25$ worth of radio shack, i successfully overcame the stupidity of my super.
i have teh intarw3b again, and the same ip address even!
haters ball was a blast – i got an honorable mention from the new hoty.

ftr – i strongly suggest you NOT walk from canal street to union square after 3am when you are dog tired, and have had less than 4 hours sleep all week – it makes your legs feel like slinkys.

the sun has gone down, and the moon has gone up…
long ago, somebody left with the cup.

the sun is totally my enemy.

the shittyness of my building has been well documented.
the fucking super decided to patch the roof today.
this means, he had to deal with the rats nest of wires on my roof.
he ripped the fucking head off my cable wire at the junction box, as well as melted the wire nearly in half as he lashed it down to the wrought iron fence on the roof.
time warner can’t be there until tuesday.
this means spending 100-odd dollars this packed weekend, so i can run a new fucking line MYSELF down to the goddamned linkup.
it also means that i don’t have work email, or websites until i fix this.

what makes me want to kill is that when i confronted him about this, i did so very specifically. i asked him what time he started working. it is (by his accounting) approximately 7 minutes before the connection went down.

he then had the audacity to lie, and say he didn’t touch the wires, when you can see the freaking lash work he did with them today was fresh!

it took everything i had not to throw him off the fucking roof.

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