naladahc | tripping along the golden path

I now have a full blown nasty cold. My throat is swollen and irritated. My back hurts from coughing. Grrrr...And of course my lungs...my poor tar and nicotine stained lungs...are trying to recover and thus contributing to much mucous. Mucous. That is about is pretty a word as phlegm.

Well...I seriously doubt that I'll have anything ready for the Victorian Village yard sale tomorrow. I wish I did. But my role as Mr. Self-Procrastinator hasn't helped me get much done this week.

Wasted the entire three day holiday weekend. Didn't clean my room. Didn't straighten up my shit in the basement. Didn't clean my boxes out of the kitchen. Didn't clean out my car.

I did however get the backyard mowed. Since it has rained almost 13 days straight I think...well...you cut it when ya can.

I am currently not enjoying the foulest "tea" that came out of the coffee machine at work. It is very stanky.

11 days until Boston!

This letter from the president was sent out to all OSU faculty and staff:

"A Special Message to Faculty and Staff:

...The dismal budget the legislature has now passed includes essentially no increase in state funding, even though we face sharp increases in health care, utilities, and other mandatory costs. This poses a number of challenges for us, most especially our ability to make meaningful adjustments in faculty and staff compensation. In the short run, there is little we can do about this situation. We will insure that every employee meeting his or her job responsibilities receives at least $395 for next year. This will offset increases in health insurance premiums and parking...

blah blah blah...

Sincerely yours,
William E. Kirwan
President"

So...even though I am not all that happy with the new job...I s'pose it was probably a good idea to get out of OSU...

Ack. I'm still sick.

Went to see Shrek friday night. I highly recommend it. It was the best movie I've seen in ages.

Last night we watched What's New Pussycat? on video. I've consumed massive quantities of over-the-counter cold medicines to no avail.

That has been my weekend. I also watched King Gimp on HBO, a really remarkable film.

Matt, as of 12:54pm, is still AWOL from last night. But, as always, his not being around has at least assisted me in getting my laundry started and the bedroom more or less slightly on the road to cleanliness. I just wish it were sunny out, slightly windy, and not so damn dreary.

One of my favourite writers, Neil Gaiman, has a new book out soon called American Gods. His blog is great and I think I'll read of few of his recommendations.

Ok. So. Bobby "Fucking" Flay beat Morimoto last night in the rematch on Iron Chef. Regular readers of 'dahc.com will remember my true happiness when Morimoto kicked his ass last year in NYC. Grrr...he's still an asshole and Morimoto still rawkz! You can check out some photos here.

---
It looks like we shall not be doing sushi in Boston as planned. Which sucks balls nasty. But well, I eat sushi all the time anyway.

[fire at Used Kids records]
I sit here this morning at work and I stream CD101 as usual. They are saying there was a fire last night at 3am in the building that houses Used Kids Records on High Street across the street from OSU. Kinda sad. I used to frequent Used Kids weekly for my five years on campus and every now and then for the past few years. It is a dive, but fairly cheap.

---
Let's see...I think today I will clean out the car when I get home. I need to get rid of the monitor I've been carting around. S'pose I should call TA.

All the laundry that was in a state of needing cleaned should be done. I really really need to start throwing out old clothes. Kathy and Fred gave me a bunch of old dockers and stuff, but I have no place to put them at all. Time to start dump'n shit.

It is almost 9pm and methinks nala is going to bed. Sick sick sick. Cold. Evil cold. No fool'n around either cuz poodle's gotta study for finals. Snogg'n when one is sick ain't that much fun anyway.

I have a lot of work to do at the ole ACS anyway in the AM. Phone calls to make. Verifications to be done. Oh...and only 5 work days until Boston.

Well, Hensley Der VunderHoont has $200+ worth of vaccines flowing through his veins protecting him from all kinds of evil disease.

And...the best part...the Vet prescribed tranquilizers for when we travel and he goes into his PhReAkEd~0uT |-|ooNt mode. PhReAkEd~0uT |-|ooNt = really annoying hoont.

Argh! I cannot break this cold. Terri, my boss, let me have a half day off so at least I can get some extra sleep...drowned in generi-qyl and generi-flu.

The Kelly writes...

Two new members of a hunting lodge get introduced to its oldest member.

They ask him to tell his favorite hunting story, and he agrees.

"Well, back in 1944 in Africa," the old man starts, "we went big-game hunting. Didn't have much luck at first, but on the third day I was resting by a tree when I heard a noise. Next thing I know the biggest lion I've ever seen jumped out of the bushes at me like this...RO-A-A-R-R-R! Well, I just shit my pants."

The young men are amazed. One of them says, "I don't blame you. I'd crap my pants too if a lion jumped at me like that!"

The old man shakes his head and says, "No, no, not then, just now when I
said roar!"

Hey....I didn't write it...I just pass it along...

The Kelly sends this joke today...

A young boy went up to his father and asked him, "Dad, what is the difference between potentially and realistically?" The father thought for a moment, then answered, "Go ask your mother if she would sleep with Robert Redford for a million dollars. Then ask your sister if she would sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars, and ask your brother if he'd sleep with Tom Cruise for a million dollars. Come back and tell me what you learn from that."

So the boy went to his mother and asked, "Would you sleep with Robert Redford for a million dollars?" The mother replied, "Of course I would! I wouldn't pass up an opportunity like that."

The boy then went to his sister and asked, "Would you sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars?" The girl replied, "Oh my God! I would just love to do that! I would be nuts to pass up that opportunity!"

The boy then went to his brother and asked, "Would you sleep with Tom Cruise for a million dollars?" "Of course," the brother replied. "Do you know how much a million could buy?"

The boy pondered that for a couple of days, then went back to his dad. His father asked him, "Did you find out the difference between potentially and realistically?" The boy replied, "Yes, sir. Potentially, we're sitting on three million dollars; but, realistically, we're living with two sluts and a fag."

Long day. Really really tired. Super mega tiredness.

Getting up early is taking longer to get used to. Of course it doesn't help that I can't go to bed any earlier. Blame TLC, Discovery, and The Hitler Channel for that. Grrrr.

Work was ok. Today was my one month anniversary.

There's just nothing new in my life at the moment and so this commentary is just plain boring.

My life is so boring. I have no plans.

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Lawn mower won't start. I have no place to move the shit that I want to clean to since all I ever do it move shit from one space to another space without said "shit" ever having a proper place to be.

Agh!!!! I am sick of this shit. Fuck!

Ya know. It is all so crazy. So I spend the 12th to the 17th in Boston, then the 22nd through the 24th I've got people staying in the old abode of love for Comfest, then the 26th I fly to Washington, then July 1 to the 4th I am in Las Vegas...insanity. Grrr... And all I really want to do is see the peeps in San Francisco. And I still want to go to Burning Corn 2001 in July.

Well. I have no life so I ended up staying in last night and watching the first episode of HBO's Six Feet Under series. All I can say is that it was one of the best hours I've spend watching non-documentary television in ages. This show is excellent, funny, and all around screwed up. (Then again, it is about a family who are in the mortuary business.) If you have HBO, and you are even remotely into non-traditional drama, this show is a must!

Oh my god!!! There was an emergency 1 hour before I left for work! I actually had something to do!!! YAY!!!

(12:44pm)
Ok. So...I decided to set-up the modem for use with AOHell so I could check email and such whilst in Boston. I set-up Boston, Columbus, Toledo, San Francisco, and New York City dial-ups...for whenever I happen to be in those places...(I really really miss San Francisco...)

I test the ole 'dahc.com on a 56k connection...and I am sorry for all of you who view the site at this speed. I thank you for coming here, but it really is pretty slow...maybe it is just you AOHell users...but I am truly sorry. I hope that broadband access is in all of your futures.

(11:05am)
Email from Ms. Annalisa. She'll be meeting me at Logan after all, which will be great. Matte may not be there, but that's ok. I can meet him some other time over the next few days.

Well...I reserved Hoont Management and Care Facility time with the vet today. It'll be around $80 to board him during my Las Vegas vaca in July. I was gonna have Jaime watch der hoont, but she's got a huge dog and like 5 cats and well, der VunderHoont would probably stess the whole finally tuned Jaime/Pet balance.

(10:30am)
Ok. I leave for Boston tomorrow to go to the conference at MIT. Hopefully Annalisa will meet me at the 'port.

Anybody that needs to get a hold of nala...well...email me at naladahc@yahoo.com. That's the official traveling and spam email address of yours truly. I suppose I should get a hotmail account and force all the spam there since I more or less hate M$...oh well...maybe some other time.

The Harrington stopped by with his fab Target bike yesterday. As always, it is nice to see him and it was even better to share Simpsons with him.

Jay came over and helped Matt paint over the god awful blue-green that was the last painting attempt of the middle bedroom. Nice and white it is now. Much better. Much much better. And...well Jay doesn't owe Matt as much money now.

Episode 2 of Six Feet Under was great. Watch this show if you have HBO!

Ok. The 'puter is set for travel. The ACS stuff is all in order. Now I just have to do laundry, buy 'poo and soap, maybe get some new shoes, and be ready to travel. Yay! (However, I really hate business travel at the same time!)

The Kelly writes...

"this is so funny. a satirical posting on AICN talkback responding to the idea of a movie based on prince namor, the submariner comic from Marvel:

ÒWith some minor tweaking this story could work. Basically, it's just your average fish-out-of-water story, only taken to the *extreme*!

The look for Sub-Mariner is all wrong: it may be fine for comic books, but this Sub-Mariner needs a new look to take him into the new millenium: I'm thinking an all black body suit of some kind.

All in all, Sub-Mariner is too boring. He needs to have gadgets, maybe Atlantian gadgets, because their technology is so superior to ours. Plus, he's *got* to have a sidekick of some kind: I'm thinking along the lines of a talking dolphin or something. You've seen how they computer animate animal lips. They could do that for the dolphin and it'd be cool and believeable. Finally, most of the movie should deal with Sub Mariner trying to fit into "landpeople" society.

Perhaps there could even be a scene where he's in a department store, and Tom Hanks asks him to say his name in his native language, and the high-pitched noise given off by Sub Mariner as he tells him blows out all the TVs.Ó

Double mega Fuck!!!! Ok. So...Whilst on beer #2, all of a sudden I look over my shoulder and they are boarding the fucking plane!!! So I shutdown, pack the old Powerbook in the hoont-proof Powerbook travel unit, run to the phone and call Matt to have him call Annalisa about the change in flight plans (again) and run over the the gate as they are calling final board...ok...it is one of those go down and walk across the tarmac to a small plane flights...as I am walking up the stairs into the plane...this gate attendant comes running up and asking us to "please do not board the plane, but turnaround and return to the gate...there has been some kind of mix-up."

Arrghhhh!!!!!

So...all the way back to the gate, I call Matt to call Annalisa and say "blah blah blah once again blah blah blah!"

I am now back in the bar on beer #3. I had an overpriced hot dog since I haven't eaten since breakfast. I think I shall order beer #4. I will be nice and tanked for the flight as well as the arrival in Boston. My back hurts. The painkillers are in my luggage (which, after this whole mess, will hopefully arrive where it is supposed to go in Boston!) so I cannot take anymore, then again I shouldn't whilst drinking.

(NOTE TO READERS: I PREDICT AN INCREASE IN THE CURSING AND SWEARING AS YOU READ FURTHER INTO TODAY'S JOURNAL!)

(4:47pm) Well...I am stuck in the airport on a delayed plane. Lovely. So...you can read more of my drunken pre-flight adventures at the Boston 2001 pages.

Even though I mentioned to my boss that I wasn't going to be in today (I had tons of stuff to do and well...I won't have a weekend at all) I get this email about attending the Steering Meeting Videoconference this morning. Of course...I got this at around 1pm. Now I made sure that the parties involved had full reports of the progress of everything I am doing. Hopefully I am not in too much trouble. Life goes on though.

Oh...and they arrested someone next door. Hours and hours of in your face police johnny law drama!!!

(2:15pm) Well...I'm not sure what is going on next door (on the "ethnic" side of the house) but there are 3 police cars there, 1 wagon, and 1 stealth 'plain clothes' wagon. The little children are in the back of a patrol car...and there are cops walking all around the house...

I always assumed there was drugs being dealt outta there or something along those lines.

(1:14pm) So...got new shoes at Target...some new luggage...misc new clothes...and some new shades...

I ran into Scott R., Paul S., and then Justin M. who I hadn't seen in ages.

Something that is bothering me...well...I woke up with this numbing feeling in my back molar...I certainly don't want to have tooth problems while out of town...that would just suck really really bad...

Ok...gotta pack...run to the bank...make sure all my paperwork is in order...take some more painkillers (and hopefully the tooth hurts due to gritting my jaws during the night) and then I shall be ready to leave for Boston.

(8:45am) Ok. Lotsa stuff to get ready to go to Boston. Back killing me. Trying to keep general miscellaneous evil outta my soul. I think I need coffee. Target. Then packing and hoont lov'n.

(4:39pm) Fuck!!! Ok. As usual, to expect a flight to actually leave on time is of course a fallacy. I of course will be leaving at 6:10 instead of 5:00! Fuck!!!

So...a call to Annalisa's cell phone saying "hey...you don't have to show up at the airport since I'll be there after 8pm now" leaves me angry and overall pissed...but hey...that's the nalalife!.

So....even though I'm knocked up on Doan's and Naprosen, I'd decided to start drinking Columbus Pale Ale at the CBC - Columbus Brewing Co. across from Gate B8. Hmmm...more alcohol will make me more pleasant.

I won't be mad if Annalisa doesn't show up at Logan. I mean, she's a busy girl. Don't need to be making time for Nala. And she doesn't have a car. So...grrr...I hate airlines when they are late...my last trip to NYC was late and insanely crappy.

Well I went at 7 to get my name badge, adorned with that lame caffeine molecule and of course, good old ancient King of Sparta Leonidas who adorns most of my website...it is lame...but I needed something...

And of course...get this...my name is spelled right all over every single form and folder...so how the hell did they get it wrong on the name badge??? Arghhh!!!

And well...I waited and walked around the reception for over an hour and could not find any of the people I was supposed to meet. If I would have waited any longer I would have just kept drinking the complimentary wine...and hmmm...for someone (myself) who rarely drinks...I have done quite a bit of it today and yesterday...

Anyhow...most of these people appear to be academics...which I can switch into that mode should the need arise but I prefer not to...and most of them are older...or at least appear to be...except this one very hot blond early 20 something boy with what I think is a German accent...and hmmm...he's very special in that sorta "evil dancing boy" kind of way...but that is the dark ages...

I thought I was over my cold...but my throat is so swollen. I have no idea what is wrong with me. It is kinda like last year when I had the throat problems that never were diagnosed after what...er...4 specialists...maybe it is the fact I haven't smoked...I think it is doctor time when I get back...

(5:04pm) Ok. I found a comic shop. Was one helluva walk but I went down to Harvard and found Million Year Picnic, a comic store. So...at least I was able to get my geek on!

On the way home I had lunch at McDonalds...and on the menu...(drum roll) they had "lobster". Now...it was in roll form.....but it was lobster-ish...and there were a lot of people eating them...so...my goal is to take some pictures for all of the peeps in the heartland...and then to eat one of these lobster rolls. This will probably occur Saturday, as I do not want to ruin all of my fun.

I came back to the hotel...and have read comics. Starman #80...the last issue...came out today so of course I could do nothing but seek out a store. And...well...I kinda cried...I laughed...and well...it ended perfectly and with an unexpected turn of events as to who the cosmic rod went to. But in retrospect, it all made perfect sense.

I'll try to do a geek-on review sometime soon. It is worth it. Monarchy #4 was good, Nightwing #58 was typical blah, still need to read Planetary Magazine #13, Lucifer #15 was great...still need to read Swamp Thing #16, JLA: Incarnations was tripe..

I'm gonna get dressed again and head to MIT again at 7. The Harvard area is so much prettier than MIT. Heartland peeps know OSU is rather a conglomeration of horrid architectural styles of the 20th century (with Denny Hall being the most horrendous affront to human dignity ever). Harvard has that "ivy" look that I suppose is what makes it stand out...as well as the fact it is really old. But...well...I guess I'll always have a spot for OSU the school (not necessarily the place of employment).

(1:45pm) So I went back to the hotel after that horrid breakfast and just fell asleep. I mean...I have nothing else to do at all.

I don't recall if I mentioned that I bought new shoes before I left. Mine, though they are the best $19 Target shoes I've ever bought, are on their last leg, or foot as the shoe fits. Er...anyway...

I now have 3 big old blisters on the backs of my heels. I only walked a few blocks, but it was enough to rip the hell out of my feet. They fit and all...but my god...they are almost impossible for me to walk in. So...I got band-aids (the mega super huge 4" x 5" kind) and slapped them to my heels. At least I can walk better, but I am wearing my el cheapo Target sneakers....so we'll see later if the pain comes when I go to register tonight at the conference...(Note to Chris R - I should worn your platform heels to town).

Oh...the one really nice thing about where I am staying is that there is a full-fledged grocery store on the 2nd floor of the building. And it is open 24 hours a day. So...you just walk on over and get your stuff and take it back to the hotel.

COMMENT: We all know that I am not one to write home about, so I feel I am legally able to comment on the local colour, or lack thereof here in Cambridge. I have seen absolutely no drop dead gorgeous girls or boys here. None at all. And there is something else...my 1/2 operational gay dar picks up nothing here. No smell of vermin at all. No sight either!

Ok. I suppose I should tell you I am typing this from the last place I want to type...Starbucks...on the corner of Prospect and Massachusetts. I know. It is totally wrong and evil of me. I hate the coffee here. But so far, I could find no other place.

(8:51am) I'll start out by saying I managed to find this little restaurant where I am typing this and having steak and eggs. I will also start out by saying that check-in time for the conference is at 7pm NOT 7am so I wasted an entire day by traveling here yesterday. I didn't notice it. My boss didn't notice it. The travel department didn't notice it. So...I have 12 hours to find something to do with my life in a city I am not familiar with and really no clothes to spare for jerk'n off.

So...after much plane drama yesterday, I arrived in Boston about an hour and half later than planned. Annalisa met me at the gate with this great www.naladahc.com sign with the famous hoont und tennis ball picture on it. (Well...we kinda did this to her last year when she flew in!) Matte was also there to greet me, this being the first time I've ever met him.

They helped me get in to the hotel. A word on check-in: ACS failed to say that I had to pay for the hotel!!! Me! Nala!. Arghhhh! I'll admit I almost freaked out. No...I did freak out!

Those who know nala know that I spent many years getting out of credit card debt, going so far as to have closed the accounts when I paid them off a few months back. I am not a fan of credit. Misuse of credit destroyed me for many years. Hence, I live only by cash now.

All I can say is thank god I decided to bring my one visa card to charge this room to. And of all things...the room is $199 per night and I am there for 5 damn nights!!! Arghh!!!

Anyway...Annalisa took me to this little place, more of a bar, called The Mystery of Science where I got a cheeseburger and we talked for a couple of hours.

We parted, I crawled into bed to make sure I was up bright and early to register for this conference only to find out when I get there that it isn't until tonight!

So I sit here, and am eating the WORST steak and eggs ever. (NOTE: menu failed to say "green peppers and onions on everything")

Hopefully I can find a comic shop later and geek.

If you are reading this, then I have managed to find a way to connect. The hotel phone charges to place a call are crazy, so there will probably not be many photos since it would take forever to upload.

The night session was excellent!!!! Totally excellent!!!

It was hosted by David Goodstein, who I actually watch quite a bit on Educable 25 back in Columbus. He did this show called "The Mechanical Universe" back in the 80's and it still gets some air time. Great simple animation explaining physics, chemistry, thermodynamics...etc.

The first speaker was Evan Hadingham from WGBH. He works on Nova. He showed some great videos and his whole presentation was about "good use of imagery and bad use of imagery for science on television". The video clip he showed for "bad" was hilarious. It was this BBC production about the Milky Way galaxy and the Andromeda galaxy crashing into each other. Well...imagine way over the top, yet bad, animation with these two galaxies crashing into each other...and then the little bit about Earth spiraling into the black hole at the center. Totally insane. And really really bad science.

Then, Greg Anderson of Sony Imageworks described all of the work that went into Hollow Man. They spent 2 years doing R&D on the body imaging.

Then Ohio State PhD grad and academy award winner Doug Roble from Digital Domain did a great presentation on his work. Let's see...Titanic...Red Planet...Fifth Element...and some I can't remember...great resume...and I am positive I heard him say "air hoont" during his presentation. Positive. Hmm.....

Then John Anderson, former MIT grad and freak from ILM talked about Pearl Harbor, Mission to Mars, and The Perfect Storm.

All in all, a great night. Dinner sucked. I mean, it is nice they are feeding us but the quality and type of food is just really crappy.

Ok. I log on now, upload, then go sleepies. Poodle will be here at 4:30 tomorrow.

I miss my hoont and my meow. Later all.

(5:42pm) Ok. Bad nap. Well...no nap at all.

Shower time and head back to MIT.

(3:47pm) I hadda come back and take a break from the sessions. I've been there since 7am...need to nap and give my back a rest...sitting has gotten uncomfortable...

Well...the sessions consist of mostly speakers and then some questions and answers. Tonight there will be people from Industrial Light & Magic and other special effects companies...so that is a must! Plus...dinner is served at 7.

I ran into Clay, the person from the other department at ACS who is here. He's at another hotel on the other side of Cambridge. I also met Bob, the main man at ACS Pubs...my boss' boss' boss.

Also, as you know I love the fact that here is a grocery store in the building. They have an excellent selection of produce and seafood and just about everything. But...unfortunately the staff of Big Bear in Thurber Village (the much hated George of Linda) seem to also have to manage the register lanes at Star Cross. I hate you George and Linda!!!! I hate you so much!

(5:40am) Ok. Sun is up really early. I'm using that as an alarm. News says it is going to be super mega hot and humid...lovely.

Evil new Skechers shoes shan't be worn...I need my feet.

From the looks of things...most of my meals will be provided by the conference (though I need to get one of those Mickey D lobster rolls sometime later in my trip).

Gonna head down to the Star Cross grocery store and get some cold meds. Yup! I am still sick.

This morning's sessions were ok. Not as good as last night and yesterday's in my opinion.

I ended up reinjuring my back. Ack! S'what I get for arguing with a chemist! The afternoon's session had to be cut short. I was afraid I would have to have them call an emergency vechicle if I couldn't move. I ended up managing to get out of there and slowly back to the hotel and layed down.

Thank god. It helped. And I also took some low-level goof balls.

Matt arrived. And I felt better later so we met Annalissa and Matte at this bar called Flat Top Johnny's for food (and some drink) which made my back feel much much better.

This morning one of the Editor's of one of the ACS journals lead the discussion. It was all about journal publishing, with the EICs of Nature, Science, and another one of our journals there.

All I can say...we at ACS really need to redefine our web identity and really set forth a future plan for web based integration...we suck at this at present!

Later in the afternoon, Matt and I headed to Boston and took a tour of the city via an WWII DUCV (or Duck) amphibious vehicle. I'll have photos later. I forgot my camera and had to use a old-fashioned kind. (Maybe I can con Ann into developing them for free!)

Dinner was had at the best Chinese restaurant I've eaten at in awhile...the Pu Pu Hot Pot!!!

Well...it appears we will have a replay of the Boston arrival with the Boston departure...I should be boarding the plane now, but noooo...it has been delayed until 3:40. Lovely. And the rain has really started pouring too.

I really am not a fan of Logan airport. Matt says that it is just the American West area that sucks...which I agree with. It is a total dump. I can't even get drunk to kill the time. All I can do is pay $2.00 for a .40 bag of chips from a machine, watch the same 6 minute CNN clip replay itself over and over and over...and...well...type this lovely journal entry...(thank god I remembered to charge the battery!)

I called my dad and wished him a Happy Father's Day from the pay phone. What else have I done? Oh...I've watched this sorta kinda cute girl. That's been about it.

(7:21am) Yawn! Pokemon the Movie is on HBO. Matt is off to the 'port for his flight. I have check-out at noon. I think I'll pack, then shower and shave, and maybe find breakfast.

I really want to go home. I miss my hoont. I miss the meow. I however do not miss the hot weather!

My impressions of Boston? Well...

I guess you can say I am totally apathetic. I mean, I only spent 5 days here in Cambridge and 1 of those in Boston, but it isn't my kind of town. With San Francisco being a 10 and Toledo being a 1, I'd have to say Boston is a 4. Columbus is about a 5 for me, but then again it is also my home and I can hide away with all my stuff and der hoont. I can't do that when I am not at home.

The Duck Tour was cool. I'll need to get the photos developed asap. I saw the bar that the tv show Cheers was based on. Oh. And this cute high school boy came up and asked us where Newbury St. was. Matt said he didn't know and at first I thought he said Mercy St. Matt and I both agreed the proper response should have been "Hey. We don't know. But you are really cute! Let's ditch your sister!"

I found a unique store yesterday...coincidentally on Newbury...called Newbury Comics. It is a music store kind of like World Record/Singing Dog but it is also a comic book/toy store. Geek heavan. And they have a great logo and style.

Now the sky is completely dark and it is really pouring and spraying against the glass. Hmmm...I think I will work on getting some of that threeplumreview site done. I hope I downloaded the pickett files.

My impressions of Boston? Well...

I guess you can say I am totally apathetic. I mean, I only spent 5 days here in Cambridge and 1 of those in Boston, but it isn't my kind of town. With San Francisco being a 10 and Toledo being a 1, I'd have to say Boston is a 4. Columbus is about a 5 for me, but then again it is also my home and I can hide away with all my stuff and der hoont. I can't do that when I am not at home.

The Duck Tour was cool. I'll need to get the photos developed asap. I saw the bar that the tv show Cheers was based on. Oh. And this cute high school boy came up and asked us where Newbury St. was. Matt said he didn't know and at first I thought he said Mercy St. Matt and I both agreed the proper response should have been "Hey. We don't know. But you are really cute! Let's ditch your sister!"

I found a unique store yesterday...coincidentally on Newbury...called Newbury Comics. It is a music store kind of like World Record/Singing Dog but it is also a comic book/toy store. Geek heavan. And they have a great logo and style.

Now the sky is completely dark and it is really pouring and spraying against the glass. Hmmm...I think I will work on getting some of that threeplumreview site done. I hope I downloaded the pickett files.

Grrr. I can see planes taking off from this room. There is no reason why they had to cancel the flight! Grrrr!

Well. I had a visitor a little bit ago. A sea gull. I shall name him Seagullhoont! Yes. I shall.

Well. I've now seen "You've Got Mail!" on TNT...a film I never intended on seeing. Chick movies. Yuck!

(7:12pm) This is a much nicer hotel than the University Park at MIT. It is a bit more expensive at $229 a night...but it overall has more in the room. The room is ugly...no doubt about that...but there is a coffee maker here that allows...well it is brewing now...for me to make 8 cups of java...there's tea...and cream...and all kinds of stuff like that...plus the bed is king size. This is a nice snogg'n bed! Alas, no snogg'n tonight.

I just want to go home and see my hoont.

(6:30pm) At 2:00 they delayed the flight until 3:40. At 2:30 they cancelled it.

In all my years of flying I've never had a cancelled flight. Oh, I've had my share of evil annoying delays...but I've never had a cancellation.

So there I am...one of 70 people stranded in Boston. After 90 minutes in line, I'm told that the 5:30 flight is cancelled, the 7:30 is delayed to 9:30 and they already have 14 stand-bys. Lovely. I really needed to be back in Columbus for tomorrow. Grrrrr.....

So...I call the emergency # and they book me into another expensive hotel. This time the Marriot on the harbor.

But...the lovely tropical storm allison was really a mess for the tourists (and from the looks of it Boston in general...and Philadelphia is a mess to from what the news says!)

I look down from my room and I can see the people in summer attire scurrying around with the rain pouring down heavily on that. Fun.

Anyway, I went to the bar and eaten. A nice place overlooking the harbor...with the rain coming down and several ships/boats trying to dock and get to safety.

So David bought an iBook. The new little tiny itty-bitty one. Here's to someone attempting to not use Windows for everything. And...according to his blog...he seems to be enjoying it.

(4:30pm) Home at last! Well...sitting at Basso anyway.

There were no problems with this flight at all. In fact, I got to Columbus a few minutes early. Lovely!

Now I have so much to do. Laundry. Cleaning. The Yard. Etc.

(10:01am) With any luck, I'll be out of this horrid airport in 45minutes.

Ok. So I got up and had a rather decent Steak and Eggs breakfast at the Marriot. (This was the nicest hotel I think I've ever stayed at in terms of comfort...and the bed was great!)

I woke up at 6am...actually thinking I was in Columbus...which was not a good thing...ack. Still stuck in Boston...

Anyway...I arrived 3 hours early to the airport since I didn't have anything to do...and lo and behold...there is a line of 150+ people waiting to checking in. I waited in line for an hour...the time now being 9:45...and with the flight leaving at 10:45 I figured it would be chaos...

At 9:50 someone at the counter announced that all people for our flight could come to this other person...which thankfully was me and I moved ahead of the line of 140 people.

So...I am now just patiently waiting to board...however there are about 70 people already at the gate being rerouted from another flight that was cancelled....they are really pissed of course...I think we can all agree...AVOID AMERICA WEST at all costs (especially if you are in Boston)!

At least last night, though boring, was ok. Since I had HBO I was able to watch Six Feed Under....another great episode. Then nala went sleepies.

Bored.

Stank! Yup. So much meow drama. Some good geekitude. Will review later.

Ok. It is late. All I have to say is...why is it that the only time my father or non-cousin relatives instant message me I always have a "I'm looking to get laid" or "wash'n the coochie, brb" away message up???

June 21, 2001
[rain you cruel evil atmosphere...rain dammit!]

(4:05pm) Ok. About the meow drama. Grrr...evil stank meow. Apparently he decided to sneak out yesterday morning whilst I was pooping the chu. Of course, I locked the door behind me as I went to work.

As the night approached, I says to myself "Where's that stank meow?" and Matt and I procede to go all over the house and outside looking for him. And..'lo and behold...he's under the shed.

A few hose shots later, a filthy meow ran under my futon of evil events.

And that...gentle readers...is all of my meow drama.

Ok...email from Peebs stating he can't come down for Comfest...which in a way is good...since the domicile is in a total horrid state of disarray. We are now living fully like white trash, with shit everywhere and an uncut yard, misc. crap all around.

Still no email from the Cousin though, but I know he has email drama. I really need to get to T town and she what is up with the iMac.

Other than a cookout at the local Indian establishment tomorrow, I think I may actually skip most of Comfest and work on the house. I so badly wish to dispose of the shit that constitutes the physical portions of my life. And with Matt being gone probably out parkies...(and also next weekend)...it will give e high quality cleaning/organization time. Yay me!

My god...The Landover Baptist Church has to be one of the best sites I've seen in ages! I really want this shirt that says "I've Got A Heart On For Jesus!"

Matt from Boston mentioned plugging things into search engines just to see what comes up. Of course, there is only one 'naladahc', but 'nazi' turned up this treat. 'Hoont' pulled up this trippy Korean site. Matt Latham pulls up this old site. Preston Pickett pulled up my favourite shirt. Plum Review pulls up this recipe.

Well...I missed Flipping Hades, my friend Clark's band. But I did get some of my office area cleaned as I wanted to. Matt'll be gone most of the evening to fag things so I can work on the bedroom whilst my new copy of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon plays on the DVD player.

So...Annalisa from Boston and Christine from San Francisco are in town for Comfest. We did sushi at Haiku last night, then Comfest for a bit. Matt stayed out, and Nala, ever the introvert, came home.

Anyway...I snapped some images along the way. (NOTE: Christine is a dirty whore!)

Kelly at the Three Plum Review Booth

"G" checking out literature and stuff

The Pickett smoking

Mary Beth setting up her voluminous stuff to sell

Christine's commentary on Annalisa's new tat!

Christine and Annalisa at Ben's fabulous booth!

(1:48pm) Ok. Some things bought that I wanted to get. I gotta start cleaning up the studio and the bedroom. And the dishes...argh! I still need to try to do this by 5:15 so I can see Flipping Hades at Comfest...

Ok. Sat at the Three Plum booth for a bit. Said hellos to Mary Beth and Ben...now...the cleaning of the bedroom.

(9:19am) Pssst...FYI...the hoont is now pooped.

(6:30am) Matt finally came home this morning after an evening of god knows what. So...my plans to get up early and finish cleaning the bedroom are probably not going to happen. I do think I got all of the dishes. I suppose I should check again. Hmm...I go go out and start pulling all the grass in growing in the patio bricks...hmmm....nahhhh....I think I'll just say it was a wasted day and just go back to bed.

Argh! Methinks this is going to be one of the worst depressions ever. I can feel it slowly taking hold in my soul.

That's the scary part....I can feel the tendrils. My god what have I done!

It is time I admit that leaving OSU, no matter how confusing it could be at times, was a mistake. I had friends there. I was busy.

At times I am very very very unhappy at ACS. It was a bad choice that I made. But, well...it is my fault for leaving OSU. If I make it to the end of July I'll be amazed.

I need to take the vacation next week. And then...look at the money and opportunities...and put my 2 weeks in and apologize but explain that I just can't work there. I'll migrate them over to the color managed scanning, and then move on.

That's the plan. I made a mistake. A huge one.

Why didn't I ask more questions?

Why didn't I realize that I actually had it pretty good at OSU?

I wanted to get a job in a creative field. Even if it was an IT/systems job...I wanted it to be in a creative field. And I let myself down.

I took the job purely...and honestly...only because it paid more! That is what it came down to in the end. It paid $5K more!

I've been kicking myself for weeks over this.

Why can't I just do something I want and get over the ingrained "you have to always strive to make more money and have things"...I have no real needs other than a place to live, a place for the hoont to live, and a high bandwidth connection for my computers.

So...time to start looking and calling around.

And this time...this time I will be true to my heart.

I suppose I should mention that I spent yesterday in Washington DC on business. It was ok. Airline drama. Go fig. Eventually endorsed over to *shudder and drum roll* America West. At least I got home.

The highlight was the sushi bar I found in the airport. The sushi chef was cool and we chatted a bit.

I went to work today and typed up a report of my trip.

As my plane came in I took some photos of lovely Columbus, OH and Victorian Village. Since you non-Ahiya readers always say "what's up with this Basso place" I decided to point it all out to you.

The hoontzone of course is the hoont territories in the village. I've also pointed out the Pickett area as well as the place of employment of the much hated George and Linda who I've mentioned before.

Well. I took Hensley to be boarded. He cannot be too happy. Grrr...neither an I. I wish I didn't have to leave him there. The meow should be ok.

Anway. They'll be a gallery of sorts thrown up of our Las Vegas trip as soon as I get there. Check 'em out. They'll no doubt be boring as hell for a non-nala family person.

Well. Did some shopping. Went to see A.I....bizarre film for Spielburg!