Almost over
Current mood: relaxed

Well, it's been eventful.  Met Lynne and Linda again this morning after Garrison Keillor.  Met Richard Sweeney of the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Bob Smith of Bob Smith & Associates (a consulting firm for libraries).  A few other people as well - Frank, a pair of librarians from Bulgaria, to bring a few to mind.

Sitting on the stair well, thinking of lunch and a trip to the Capitol, enjoying the air conditioning and the activities going on around me. Thinking of friends I've met again - Dawn, Jennifer, Jesse - those I've made - Jessica, April.  I don't recall many last names or workplaces, and I haven't picked up a lot of cards to keep in touch, but that's the way it goes sometimes.  I really think I should always - or at least start wiritng down what I see and note... like get a business card and write notes on the back of it - older guy, ALAPPER, dancer, girl with blonde hair, etc etc.

At least then my memory would have a somatic trigger, as well as having some contact information.  I wonder how much of this experience will become a memory that gets dulled by time.  Who I'll need reminders on when I see them again.  *shrug*

We'll see.

Currently listening : The Best of KC & the Sunshine Band By KC & the Sunshine Band Release date: 12 June, 1990

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Life, the universe and the ALA conference... so far....
Current mood: contemplative

Let's see....

It's been a while since I posted....  Of course it usually is... I'm late about most things....  *shrug* fuck it, if I'm not late, you should KNOW something's wrong... hehehehe....

Anyway....

It's almost 5am on a Monday morning.... I've just gotten back in a taxi - driven by an Ethiopian named Limon (sp?) who's lived in the country for 20 years.  We talked a good bit about politics on the trip, and I told him that you should always keep an open mind, read the right and the left, draw your own conclusions... NEVER let someone else tell you what to think or how you should think... that's what makes America America.... the simple fact that you can be your own person and not a commodity or a thing that has a specific role and job in life... nothing, not even God has your destiny planned or your life made out for you.. that's what free will and choice are all about...  Yes, our country's activities when dealing with other nations will make them hate or love us (the former for the most part now) but that's due to our government, not our people... for those a-holes to say 'they hate out freedoms' is PURE BULLSH*T and everyone should know it.  Why the hell do you think people still want to become American or move here, even after all the crap?? Because they know what I know, and what every American should know... that we determine our lives.  That is the essence of freedom.  You can be a pauper or a prince or a fool or a billionaire or homeless or a star or a nobody...  YOU, the American, yes, YOU, determine your future.  You make the choices.  You pursue that goal.  You live or deny that dream.  No one imposes that upon you.  Even if the country's going to hell in a handbasket, you still have that fundamental right and privilege as you live and breathe in this country.... Thank God for America... the ideal, not the government... For nothing can ever take that away....

And what else...

The conference so far...

I've been to a few meetings and some demonstrations. I've met coworkers and hung out with my bosses off the clock. I've worked at two-three in the morning. I've gone to a gay bar with friends and walked DC with a homeless man.  I've danced with a lovely girl from Florida.  I've slept in a classroom.  I've argued with a DC cop when the President's motorcade was driving down the street.  I've been awed by the sacrifice of fellow Americans and been inspired by the writings of visionary leaders.  I've watched a movie that had promise but turned into a polemic.  I've danced with a president-elect.  I drank with a director.  I've ridden a subway by myself.  I've been to the Pentagon and museums.  I've slept all day and partied all night.  I've woken up early and faced homeless and misdirections to make it to a meeting because of a promise.  I've debated politics with a taxi driver.  I've opened a beer bottle with a window sill.  I've told my parents and my family I love them more than anything.  I've admitted shortcomings and failures.  I've acknowledged successes and passions.  I've drunk more than I should.  I've helped foreigners with getting stuff taken care of. I've listened to one of the most inspiring speakers of our age.  I've flirted with beautiful women and met people who influence the minds of hundreds or thousands of individuals as they seek to improve their own lives and the lives of others.  I've done things I've never done before and opened my own eyes to things I've failed to acknowledge in the past.

I've learned.  I've listened.  I've experienced. And by God, I hope I've grown.

That's what this conference means to me.  I'm better for the experience.
 
(Now if only the room would slow down a little.)

And I've still a couple of days to go.... 

Currently reading : Neil Gaiman & Charles Vess' Stardust By Neil Gaiman Release date: 05 July, 2007

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Truth

A message I found on my sister's myspace:

Body: Body: Girl facts:

When you catch a girl
glancing at you,
she wants you to look
back and smile

When a girl bumps into your arm
while walking with you
she wants
you to hold her hand

When she wants a hug
she will just stand there

When u break a girls heart
she still feels it even when
you see each other 3 years later

When a girl is quiet,
millions of things are running through her
mind

When a girl is not arguing,
she is thinking deeply

When a girl looks at you with eyes full of
questions,
she is wondering how long you will be
around

When a girl answers, "I'm fine," after a
few seconds,
she is not at all fine

When a girl stares at you,
she is wondering why you are playing games

When a girl lays her head on your chest,
she is wishing for you to be hers forever

When a girl says she can't live
without you,
she has made up her mind that you are
her future

When a girl says, "I miss you,"
no one in this world can miss you more
than that

When a girl is mean to you after a break-up
she wants you back, but shes
scared she'll get hurt and knows
you're gone forever


Guy Facts:

When a guy calls you,
he wants to be with you

When a guy is quiet,
He's listening to you...

When a guy is not arguing,
He realizes he's wrong

When a guy says, "I'm fine." after a few
minutes
he means it

When a guy stares at you,
he wishes you would care about him and
wonders if you do

When your laying your head on a guy's
chest,
he has the world

When a guy calls/texts/comments you everyday,
he is in love

When a (good) guy tells you he loves you,
he means it

When a guy says he can't live without you,
he's with you til your done

When a guy says, "I miss you,"
he misses you more than you could have
ever missed him or anything else

repost this in 10 minutes and your true
love will
call you


someone was in your mind as you read this??

Post this as

IF YOUR A GIRL " When a guy misses you..."
AND

IF YOUR A GUY POST IT AS "When a girl misses you..."

11:04 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

PejoDesigns
Current mood: awake
Category: Jobs, Work, Careers

Well... I talked about it.

Finally did it.

PejoDesigns

Whether it goes anywhere, hell at least I started something finally.

Ordered business cards too.

Currently watching : 16 Blocks (Widescreen Edition) Release date: 13 June, 2006

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Check out this video: Blades of Glory

Blades of Glory



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Check out this video: Pink Floyd Live Comfortably Numb 1980

Pink Floyd Live Comfortably Numb 1980

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Good things.... and bad....
Current mood: sleepy

... there should be a category labeled 'Stuff'....

... good thing....

Jack Daniels Smoothie...

1 x Mango
2 x Kiwi
1 x Banana
1/4 cup ice
3 shots Jack

... blend...

.... Bad things...

Philip may have thrombosis....

... Good things....

Ice Age: The Meltdown... but only b/c of Scrat....
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Age:_The_Meltdown)

... Bad things ....

Living to work....

.... Good things....

Getting a project finished....

... Bad things...

LSU Basketball season ending the way it did...

... Good things...

Crawfish...
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crayfish)

(Crawfish Boil coming up in April... First Coast Tigers website for more...)

... Bad things...

Theme music snippets that play on the menu screen of a DVD...

(Ask my brother if it's music... he can't stand it when I leave it in for a few minutes, just listening to it...)

... Good things...

My brother... my sisters... my family...

Ah, getting sappy.... 11:00 p.m..... time to go beddie-bye....


Quote:  "We do what we do because of who we are.  If we did otherwise, we would not be ourselves..." - Death

Currently watching : The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - Indecision 2004 Release date: 28 June, 2005

7:43 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Testing... testing... 1... 2... 3...
Current mood: mellow

*****BBBBBLLLLLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH****

Sigh....

Watching Real Time with Bill Maher... he's talking to Deepak Chopra, Roseanne (the one and only), a guy from the Washington Post (Dana Milbank, who's been mostly quiet due to the arguments between David Kuo [belief.net] and Roseanne).

Honestly, I think Bush should be impeached due to his lying and conniving to get the War he wanted.  When it came out they were planning on war before the diplomacy took hold (and was proven to be working recently), the crimes in how they've dealt with prisoners (AND SICK VETERANS), the war on the poor, the lying and stealing from workers who were underpaid to help rebuild the Gulf Coast (Bush wanted to prevent workers from receiving normal wages in carpentry and other such skills), organized a scheme to violate the laws regarding the identity of spies, etc etc etc... They impeach Clinton because he lied to a judge.  Bush has circumvented the courts, cowed the Congress and Senate, destroyed the middle class as we know it, sabotaged and more.  Yet he still remains unscathed personally. 

Someone should do something about that.

/political rant

As for non-political thoughts....

Watched Ghost Rider with Cameron and Doug Friday night... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0259324/... The movie was OK, but seriously Cage should not have played Danny Ketch, er Johnny Blaze (the name was Johnny, the appearance and everything else was Ketch).. Honestly, the man is like ten years older than Eva Mendes, and he looks it... they're supposed to be the same age, right?  And what's with the Elvis pose with the finger pointing?

Ghost Rider himself was pretty cool, but the movie was like a video game... Level 1, defeat the earth guy.. Level 2, defeat the air guy... Level 3, defeat the water guy... By the way, wtf is a swamp doing in the middle of the desert in Texas?  It was like a goddamn bayou right next to a desert town... Btw, when you looked down the hill from where Sam Elliot was, THERE WAS NO DAMN SWAMP.... And level 5, defeat Blackheart... Speaking of Sam Elliot, yeah was pretty sweet having the character of Carter Slade (the original Ghost Rider) appear, but just to turn into a Ghost Rider form and then ride off into mist?  What the hell?!?

And Peter Fonda did his best Gary Oldman as Dracula imitation... That was lame....

Plot hole... the cops arrest Johnny Blaze as he was a suspect?  Wouldn't he have been a 'person of interest' who would only be taken in for questioning and released?  Then he turns into GR IN JAIL and walks out?  And only one cop tries to stop him, yet the entire police force shows up minutes later chasing him in the cars that were parked outside the police station? Jeebus... piss poor writing...

Still, the f/x were nice...

Then went out to Outback to eat with the both of them (Cameron and Doug for those who forgot)... was fun.. Doug flirted with the waitress and regaled Cameron with stories...

Today went to see 300 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416449/...

Pretty damn nice flick... Bombastic, pompous, aggressive (even if a bit slow in the beginning)... you could tell they spent the money on what you saw on film instead of some asshole actor's $20 mil / airplane / personal island paycheck... The story plays with history a bit, but as with modern myth-making, or reinterpreting legends, that is to be expected...

Honestly, think about... the Greek gods were myths that developed from legends and reality... the American pantheon itself.. Washington has his myths and legends... Franklin and Jefferson as well... even though they're closer to our modern times... So is it that hard to expect that we take our stories that we grow up with and develop them with little regard to history?  After all that is what movies do, create legends or myths out of facts (or the closest we can get to the facts)... So I'm not worred about the history being played with in 300, as it tells a pretty good story... 

Of course there was the nudity... half the crowd snickered when they saw Gerard Butler's naked body in silhouette or when Lena Headey proved that women without implants can be attractive topless... The Oracle's dance was quite, revealing as well...

Went to Blockbuster and spent $60 on ten flicks to expand my collection... Only three I hadn't seen before - Rest Stop (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0787505/), Feast (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0426459/) and Down in the Valley (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0398027/)...  Watched Feast, and I have to say it's a pretty damn good movie... I love it when movies go for a traditional setup and then turn nearly everything on its head... comedy and horror and gore... It's a lot like Slither (another fave of mine - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0439815/)... I don't know how much steam this particular genre has since it keeps losing to crap like the Scary Movie and its offspring when it comes to popular appeal and the bank it makes...


Oh, btw, I want to give a shout-out to my friends Brent and Adrianna.. their baby - Brendan Michael - was born Thursday... Hale, healthy, and hearty...  Congratulations!!!!!

Currently watching : Tna Wrestling: Bound for Glory 2006 Release date: 30 January, 2007

8:45 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Work
Current mood: tired

Dammit dammit dammit...

Lost typed crap as I accidentally hit a link instead of a tab in Firefox.... sleepy... but I'm still awake.  3:20 am....

Been sorting and weeding mp3s and working on Wikipedia all damn night, except when D told me the latest effort to keep her in-country. 

Watched Flags of Our Fathers (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418689/). Don't give a rat's ass about the former Mr. Witherspoon, but I do like Adam Beach.  Our people (hey, I do claim proudly my Native ancestry even though I don't believe it's enough to be legally part of a tribe - 1/16th or 1/8th I believe) need strong role models to help promote getting out of the endemic poverty that strikes the reservations and mobile homes they tend to live in in these United States.  (Honestly, I abhor the fact that the town I live in is named after a proponent of ethnic cleansing.  Yet, I like the town.  Go figure.)

Listening to til Tuesday.... Don't just kiss me goodbye... it's not what I need... don't watch me leave....

Lost in La Mancha is not an X-BOX friendly DVD.  I might have to buy a new DVD player and if I go that route, I might as well get that projector I've been eyeballing - http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/category.aspx?c=us&category_id=5188&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs
 - and finish expanding my home theater.  (Although my seating is not optimal in the computer/dining room.  Edelves complained that there wasn't a lot of sitting space after I moved the love seat to the living room.)

Oh Aimee Mann....

Here's another good song...

Spanish Guitar by Dionne Warwick (sung by Toni Braxton)...

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/t/toni+braxton/spanish+guitar_20139082.html

I think I will work on learning the guitar this year.  Don't know how good I'll actually get, but I've always wanted to learn at least one song.  "Rooster" by Alice in Chains.  Or the flamenco bit from Bryan Adams'  "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?".  I loved that.

Well, I think I will read myself to sleep... sometimes that works... I really must get some Benadryl tomorrow.  I hear that knocks you out.

Currently listening : Voices Carry By 'Til Tuesday Release date: 25 October, 1990

12:05 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Out
Current mood: awake
Category: Life

Went out Saturday.  Was supposed to go to Tampa to see a friend I hadn't seen in a couple of years, but I was convinced that if I didn't show up for another friend's birthday that she would be mad at me.

*sigh*

So I went to the b-day dinner at Carabba's.  I didn't drive the ex to the party, even though she wanted me to...

Get this... she gets home at 6:30p. Asks if I'm ready.  Tells me we should be there for 8p.  I ask her if she's ready.  She says no.

She then proceeds to go upstairs and _lays down in the bed_ for an hour.  Then when I go up to get ready and go (yes I was late, but I ain't finished yet), she finally decides to _get out of bed_ when I'm walking downstairs and out the door.  (She said I should be nice to her.  I'm like what the fuck for?)

So, I get there about 8:30 thinking "Yes, I'm the man who knows what punctuality means, but doesn't _know_ what punctuality means" was going to be late.  Turns out I was the first one there.  That's right, the FIRST.  And then I met Cathy (got there slightly after me, parking when I was walking up) and we walked in looked around and found out they had cancelled the table when no one showed up. 

Well, we ended up being seated not longer after Edelves and Daniele showed up.  Carlos, Stefi, Gisu, Sida, Michele, and Paola showed up bit by bit. 

Dinner was good.

Went to Lynch's and then the Ritz after.  Talked to a couple of pretty young women there, nearing closing time, then was kicked out by a couple of bouncers at 5 til 2 ('Dude, you know I'm talking to you? We're closing!')

Was fun. 

Hit Krystal's, and have since watched The Departed and The Prestige.  Both very good.

Still trying to figure out what exaactly Borden says when he hangs. 

Here's a puzzler for a memory.  There was a horror/fantasy book published in the 1980s.  Tesla figures into it.  Seems there was a costume party at a fancy house.  Tesla had a machine which warped reality, melding people into their costumed selves - for example a girl with butterfly wings for arms.  (There were others, but I can't remember them all.) They are secluded from the rest of the world (warped out of reality for a few years) and then come back.  Then they are feared as strange and hunted (told from different viewpoints, it's got a very shades-of-grey feel to this aspect).  Can't remember what happened at the end, but I read it around 87-88 or so.  (High school fun).

Anyone have a clue?

Currently watching : The Prestige Release date: 20 February, 2007

4:35 AM - 2 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment