it is not dying; it is not dying

I Still Like Him Better Than Steinbrenner
For my Don Draper costume, I had to shave my sideburns off for the first time in at least six years. This took considerable effort, as attacking six years’ growth with a disposable razor will, and left the skin underneath a little raw. But it looks fine [...]

you told me again you preferred handsome men

And Who Are You Supposed To Be?
How good was this past Sunday’s episode of Mad Men (“The Hobo and the Gypsy”)? So good that I don’t know if I want to go as Don Draper for Halloween anymore. That’s how good it was.
I probably will, anyway, as I’ve reached that point in my [...]

there’s someone in my head, but it’s not me

While visiting Chicago, waiting for a bus at Addison with my man Hawver, two street hawkers approached us. “Would you like to try some Laughing Cow light swiss?”
“Sure,” I said, being hungry. One handed me a sample pack of swiss cheese, about the size of my thumb; the other, a pack of crackers [...]

I’ve got that rock and roll; I’ve got that future flow

We’ve Got The Beat That Bounce
Watching the video for “Boom Boom Pow” this weekend – just because, okay? – raised the obvious question: what do the other two guys in the Black Eyed Peas do? Why are they there? You’ve got Will.i.am producing the songs – and as little as I like their [...]

and I’ll try not to sing out of key

After careful consideration, I conclude that there’s no nicer (alcoholic) high than the high you get from red wine. Beer makes you giggly, liquor makes you sloppy, but only red wine – in conjunction with the proper food – can produce that feeling of warm camaraderie. It subdues the running commentary in the [...]

and love, you can’t give it away

Thank you to everyone who made it out for one of my three birthday events in the past week. I deliberately picked times and places that would draw a crowd already – Asgard on Wednesday, Common Ground on Friday, Phoenix Landing on Saturday – to make it easy for people to show up. [...]

what’s this in my drink?

I worked from home on Monday with Internet Inc’s permission. This was about as fun an exercise as struggling with access to a remote intranet, on a Mac, using an earlier generation of Office, can be1. But I didn’t leave the apartment for an entire day – which is a fun exercise but, [...]

hunger hurts, but starving works

“GYAARRGH,” I yelled. “How do they expect people to work under these conditions? It’s stupid! This is insane!”
A slice of Upper Crust pizza appeared in my hand – spinach, mozzarella, feta, garlic, no sauce. I ate it in about two bites. Then I ate another, slowly.
“Huh,” I mumbled through a [...]

and they showed me a world where I could be so dependable

Here’s why I don’t do well at political talk.
I read a pretty interesting article on how America can fix its health care system (c/o hugh_mannity). It brings up a lot of interesting points – Americans spend more per year than any other industrialized country on health care, but American life expectancy and infant mortality [...]

nobody’s right ’till somebody’s wrong

My weekend started properly at about 11:00 AM on Friday. I looked up from some proofing to find the Chief Operations Officer grinning at my desk. “I owe you a game,” I said.
“Yes, you do. Are you free?”
“I’m free right now,” I said, so we went to the break room to play [...]