You can have a paragraph of text that says absolutely nothing attributed to your name.
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Nicknames Redux (I love that word)
In keeping with the nickname craze that is sweeping the blogosphere I just remembered one of the best nicknames a friend of mine had in high school. There was this guy, his name was Wally but he was called Chip. Chips wasn’t the cool nickname. Chip was what his family and subsequently the rest of the world called him. We called him Doop Doop. More accurately, my friend Kevin called him Doop Doop. Kevin was our group’s Hawkeye Pierce if Hawkeye was in high school and had a large head. Chip began being addressed as Doop Doop while sitting with me and Kevin in the back row of a history class. Chip was balancing on the back two legs of his chair. It was a trick that I had perfected. He was rocking slightly back and forth on those back two legs, adjusting his set with his dangling legs. He adjusted too far back, almost went over backwards and then caught himself. During the save he exclaimed, “Doop Doop!” Kevin laughed for the next half hour and from then on Wally-known-as-Chip was called Doop Doop. God, I love other people’s nicknames.
In keeping with the nickname craze that is sweeping the blogosphere I just remembered one of the best nicknames a friend of mine had in high school. There was this guy, his name was Wally but he was called Chip. Chips wasn’t the cool nickname. Chip was what his family and subsequently the rest of the world called him. We called him Doop Doop. More accurately, my friend Kevin called him Doop Doop. Kevin was our group’s Hawkeye Pierce if Hawkeye was in high school and had a large head. Chip began being addressed as Doop Doop while sitting with me and Kevin in the back row of a history class. Chip was balancing on the back two legs of his chair. It was a trick that I had perfected. He was rocking slightly back and forth on those back two legs, adjusting his set with his dangling legs. He adjusted too far back, almost went over backwards and then caught himself. During the save he exclaimed, “Doop Doop!” Kevin laughed for the next half hour and from then on Wally-known-as-Chip was called Doop Doop. God, I love other people’s nicknames.
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
Monday, June 07, 2004
Dirt Track Date
I went to the Lancaster Speedway with this group of fellas on Saturday.
Three of them had not been there before and they all had a blast. I just can't say too strongly how much fun it is to go to the dirt track. Again, as I said last summer, an open invitation to all is extended to any who would like to join me for a night of good ole southern fun.
I went to the Lancaster Speedway with this group of fellas on Saturday.
Three of them had not been there before and they all had a blast. I just can't say too strongly how much fun it is to go to the dirt track. Again, as I said last summer, an open invitation to all is extended to any who would like to join me for a night of good ole southern fun.
Lies, Torture and 20,000 dead Iraqis: The George W. Bush Whitehouse
Ah, just got done reading the Wall Street Journal article recommended by Joshua Marshall. It turns out the Pentagon put out a report on how much torture is too much, narrowly defined torture and explained how one might avoid a torture conviction. How in the fuck does Rumsfeld still have a job? Oh, that's right, he's the best secretary of defense ever. I guess then the question is George Bush is not in jail? Oh, that's right, he's the president. He's above the law. He's protecting us from evil-doers. We're in a war, contrived though it may be. Someone pinch my butt, maybe I'm dreaming.
I just find it shocking that people in such positions of power fail to realize that information gathered through such measures is flawed. Tortured prisoners are going to tell you what they know you want to hear. Jesus, are these people mad?
Ah, just got done reading the Wall Street Journal article recommended by Joshua Marshall. It turns out the Pentagon put out a report on how much torture is too much, narrowly defined torture and explained how one might avoid a torture conviction. How in the fuck does Rumsfeld still have a job? Oh, that's right, he's the best secretary of defense ever. I guess then the question is George Bush is not in jail? Oh, that's right, he's the president. He's above the law. He's protecting us from evil-doers. We're in a war, contrived though it may be. Someone pinch my butt, maybe I'm dreaming.
I just find it shocking that people in such positions of power fail to realize that information gathered through such measures is flawed. Tortured prisoners are going to tell you what they know you want to hear. Jesus, are these people mad?
Friday, June 04, 2004
Jinxed by James
Today was my day off for working last Sunday. I usually spend my Fridays sleeping in and then going to Hugo's for breakfast and then running a few errands and then blowing money I shouldn't on a DVD or a CD. I should be buying clothes for work. At the very least another belt but today the season one Rocky and Bullwinkle DVD won out over any practical purchase I should make. Man, that Rocky and Bullwinkle stuff is funny as hell. Like a good Looney Toons short Rocky and Bullwinkle is funny for kids and adults. Hell, I just watched episode two and the leader of the Moon Men was based on Winston Churchill. How can you not love that? Fractured Fairy Tales? Mr. Peabody and his boy Sherman? Dudley Does Right? It's a laugh riot, dahlink.
How was I jinxed by James? He had that post the other day about how he almost got whacked while riding his bike. Today while tooling around town I had about three close calls. Only one was my fault. I was trying to turn left onto Tremont off of South Blvd at 1 in the afternoon. Not a good idea. It's no a curve and if some dickface in a big SUV is in the left lane you can't see the right lane all that well. I found that out the hard way. There wasn't a car there but when I got into the middle of the intersection I realized that before I pulled out a lot of the road was blocked from my view. If there had been a car there...kersplat! It's hard to drive for about 30 seconds after you just pulled a bonehead move while behind the wheel. Then someone pulls out in front of you and you go back into combat mode. Is that what's it's like in combat when a grenade goes off next to you and you somehow survive unharmed? Is there a thirty second period where you count your fingers and touch your forehead and think, "Holy Jesus Humper, I almost bit it." Then you realize there could be another grenade on its way and you get on your belly and crawl for cover. That's right, goddammit, driving in Charlotte is combat. It's mano y mano or, as I know it, Civic y Navigator.
Someone told me about a recent SUV commercial where an SUV driver taunts a sports car into a race. The sports tears off and is then pulled over by a cop that was hidden by the SUV. That's not funny, that's the danger I deal with every day on these streets. Just because trial lawyers have small dicks I gotta dodge Hummer 2's. It ain't right.
Today was my day off for working last Sunday. I usually spend my Fridays sleeping in and then going to Hugo's for breakfast and then running a few errands and then blowing money I shouldn't on a DVD or a CD. I should be buying clothes for work. At the very least another belt but today the season one Rocky and Bullwinkle DVD won out over any practical purchase I should make. Man, that Rocky and Bullwinkle stuff is funny as hell. Like a good Looney Toons short Rocky and Bullwinkle is funny for kids and adults. Hell, I just watched episode two and the leader of the Moon Men was based on Winston Churchill. How can you not love that? Fractured Fairy Tales? Mr. Peabody and his boy Sherman? Dudley Does Right? It's a laugh riot, dahlink.
How was I jinxed by James? He had that post the other day about how he almost got whacked while riding his bike. Today while tooling around town I had about three close calls. Only one was my fault. I was trying to turn left onto Tremont off of South Blvd at 1 in the afternoon. Not a good idea. It's no a curve and if some dickface in a big SUV is in the left lane you can't see the right lane all that well. I found that out the hard way. There wasn't a car there but when I got into the middle of the intersection I realized that before I pulled out a lot of the road was blocked from my view. If there had been a car there...kersplat! It's hard to drive for about 30 seconds after you just pulled a bonehead move while behind the wheel. Then someone pulls out in front of you and you go back into combat mode. Is that what's it's like in combat when a grenade goes off next to you and you somehow survive unharmed? Is there a thirty second period where you count your fingers and touch your forehead and think, "Holy Jesus Humper, I almost bit it." Then you realize there could be another grenade on its way and you get on your belly and crawl for cover. That's right, goddammit, driving in Charlotte is combat. It's mano y mano or, as I know it, Civic y Navigator.
Someone told me about a recent SUV commercial where an SUV driver taunts a sports car into a race. The sports tears off and is then pulled over by a cop that was hidden by the SUV. That's not funny, that's the danger I deal with every day on these streets. Just because trial lawyers have small dicks I gotta dodge Hummer 2's. It ain't right.
Thursday, June 03, 2004
Call it a relief-gasm
Today I delivered the booktalk I described the other day. It went well. I'm pleased with my performance. The only laughter from the crowd came at the correct spots. OK, it was six people but that's a crowd to me.
Since I work without a script and only use notes I didn't cover everything I planned but I let it flow as naturally as I could and that seemed to be the way to go. I did drink a lot of water, it's a good way to collect your thoughts. Plus my mouth gets sandpaper dry when I talk in front of peoples.
Next up this August is a talk about classic science fiction. That should be fun. I am actually looking forward to it, that's a little weird to me.
Today I delivered the booktalk I described the other day. It went well. I'm pleased with my performance. The only laughter from the crowd came at the correct spots. OK, it was six people but that's a crowd to me.
Since I work without a script and only use notes I didn't cover everything I planned but I let it flow as naturally as I could and that seemed to be the way to go. I did drink a lot of water, it's a good way to collect your thoughts. Plus my mouth gets sandpaper dry when I talk in front of peoples.
Next up this August is a talk about classic science fiction. That should be fun. I am actually looking forward to it, that's a little weird to me.
Sad
I remember when I was about a month from getting out of the Marines back in 1990 I had to go to a mandatory recruiting session by the LAPD. Can you imagine me as an LA police officer? Nope, neither could I but it did give me a chuckle for about a week.
I see that we are attempting to bring democracy to the middle east. Maybe we should bring democracy to Los Angeles first.
I remember when I was about a month from getting out of the Marines back in 1990 I had to go to a mandatory recruiting session by the LAPD. Can you imagine me as an LA police officer? Nope, neither could I but it did give me a chuckle for about a week.
I see that we are attempting to bring democracy to the middle east. Maybe we should bring democracy to Los Angeles first.
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
Tired of it and just want to present the dang thing
I have been stressing for the last two weeks on the booktalk I have to deliver on Thursday. My talk consisists of combining the clever entries for the Bulwer-Lytton writing contest with three authors that I think have unique writing styles. The three authors I am going to discuss are Elmore Leonard, Chrisopher Moore, and Michael Chabon.
The contest asks people to write, in the most purplish prose possible, the first sentence of a very bad novel. I came up with the idea because I saw that many of the entries used very imaginative language and I could use that as a springboard to discuss writers I think have a personal style. I guess you could say that all truly good novelists have their own style but I think this'll work.
I chose Elmore Leonard because his writing is the least florid you can find out there. Christopher Moore I chose because his style is similar to some of the writing you see in the better Bulwer-Lytton entries, flowery and absurd but with a nice spark of genius. I chose Chabon because he is a genius and he's fun to talk about and his style is similar to Bulwer-Lytton, it's elaborate and purplish at time but he knows when to reel it in and go on with the story.
So there. I think I'm done preparing. I've gotten to the point where I am sick of my topic and just want to present the talk. I usually do better in a speaking setting when I reach the point I am now. I think that means any more preparation would be superfluous. Oh, I'll still study my notes but research is over, bubba.
I have been stressing for the last two weeks on the booktalk I have to deliver on Thursday. My talk consisists of combining the clever entries for the Bulwer-Lytton writing contest with three authors that I think have unique writing styles. The three authors I am going to discuss are Elmore Leonard, Chrisopher Moore, and Michael Chabon.
The contest asks people to write, in the most purplish prose possible, the first sentence of a very bad novel. I came up with the idea because I saw that many of the entries used very imaginative language and I could use that as a springboard to discuss writers I think have a personal style. I guess you could say that all truly good novelists have their own style but I think this'll work.
I chose Elmore Leonard because his writing is the least florid you can find out there. Christopher Moore I chose because his style is similar to some of the writing you see in the better Bulwer-Lytton entries, flowery and absurd but with a nice spark of genius. I chose Chabon because he is a genius and he's fun to talk about and his style is similar to Bulwer-Lytton, it's elaborate and purplish at time but he knows when to reel it in and go on with the story.
So there. I think I'm done preparing. I've gotten to the point where I am sick of my topic and just want to present the talk. I usually do better in a speaking setting when I reach the point I am now. I think that means any more preparation would be superfluous. Oh, I'll still study my notes but research is over, bubba.
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