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United States, California, San Francisco, The Mission, English, Spanish, Casey, Male, 31-35.

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Saturday, October 20, 2001

I am the Lighthouse, I am the Sea.

I've finally dug out my copy of Mind Bomb by The The. It's been in my mind since BJ mentioned it and indeed it's terribly timely, since it was released around the time the first Bush was in the Whitehouse having a little war; indeed, Armageddon days are here (again). But that's only half of the album. The second half was a great comfort when an exboyfriend and I stopped seeing each other in 1994.

It's also got a perfect moment on it, one of my two-dollar tales of trancendence: I was standing in the Detour with a Rolling Rock, listening to Michael Cruickshank¹ spin his Sunday Night blend of rock and alternative...Looking at handsome men, feeling potent and confident and masculine (not something that always comes easily), and Gravitate to Me came on. A hush came across the room; the guys cruising stopped for a moment, and I could feel the song affect them all, however briefly.

Through the ether and the mists of the mind
You will come to me to lay by my side,
To stroke my hair, To cuddle my flesh,
And to quell the torrents in my subterranean depths.

We all sang the same song, the silent one now manifest above us: gravitate to me. We were all, in our ways, looking for someone to gravitate to, for someone to gravitate to us. I was again in love, not with anyone in particular, but with those potentials of love and lust. I felt a balance for a moment, however brief. It was hardly extraordinary, but it was perfect in its way.

(1. I think that was his name. Sadly, the DJ passed away that year, and I wasn't able to find anything on the Internet about him. So I have to rely on my failing memory.)

02:25 AM PST (link)

Friday, October 19, 2001

Meow?

What? Where am I? And what possessed me to buy all these cat toys?

(Link via EncoreSwish).

11:45 PM PST (link)

Too Close to Heaven.

Some notes from a great concert the Boyfriend and I saw: The Waterboys at the Fillmore. (They're playing tonight, as well, if you're looking for something to do.)

We were vaguely expecting folky Irish and Scottish music, because that's what the album the Boyfriend has is like. Mike Scott, however, played punk in the late 70's and has lots of experience kicking your ass. Serious ass-kicking. Two and a half hours of ass-kicking. Next time I should probably wear ear plugs.
I have rocked in the past. You just might have missed it.
Some seriously fucked up people at the show. If you're too fucked up to roll a joint, you probably shouldn't be smoking it. And you definitely shouldn't be falling to the ground in a heap chasing the embers from trying to put the thing out. And you? Random women who you grabbed and tried to get to dance with you will laugh when you're in a drunken heap on the floor. You probably shouldn't dance like that to this song, ladies, but if you're gonna, please don't step on me again. Christ, don't you people shut up? I can hear you over the band.
It used to be that the pot smokers hung out with the cigarette smokers for cover. In San Francisco, this is now reversed. I also can't tell you how many times I saw people who were hanging out at the bar come out into the croud to smoke a cigarette during the show, continue their conversation with the friend they pulled along with them, and then go back to the bar when they were done.
Their keyboard player was one of the most expressive people I've seen perform. He was perpetually flipping bangs and banging head, and mouthing along with the sounds he made.
When did I know it was going to be a good show? When the Boyfriend pointed out the Theramin.

02:42 AM PST (link)

Thursday, October 18, 2001

I'll be your Venus on a chocolate clam shell...

"If you've got some sugar for me, Sugar Daddy, bring it home."

The Sugar Daddy pop has made by Tootsie Roll Industries since 1993; it was first created in 1926. Be sure to check out the plans for the Licking Machine (which unfortunately doesn't appear available for either rent or sale, but would also make a good tshirt slogan.)

05:52 PM PST (link)

Tuesday, October 16, 2001

Coffee Can Kill You!

ROME (Reuters) - An Italian man said Monday he had killed his 72-year-old wife after she made him a bad cup of coffee, Italian news agency ANSA reported.
"The coffee was disgusting. I drank a little then I picked up the cup and smashed it on the floor," the 84-year-old told prosecutors in Bari, on Italy's southern heel, the agency said.
A neighbor discovered the wife's body Sunday afternoon and alerted the police. The man was arrested on suspicion of murder. The man later confessed he had hidden the murder weapon -- a hammer -- and blood-sodden clothes he had worn when he killed her, ANSA said.

Yeesh. I promise I'm not that much of a coffee snob.

05:36 PM PST (link)

Checklist for a new office building, Day 7:

Coffeemaker Out of Service: Check.
Hot Water Dispenser Out of Service: Check.
Both unfixable objects making beeping noises: Check.
"Sensor" sinks in bathrooms inoperational: Check
"Sensor" toilets set for maximum thrust and sensitivity: Check
Chairs finally put in conference rooms: Check
Miminum one broken chair per conference room: Check
Masonry Drilling in Progress: Check
During Conference Calls: Check
Air Conditioning nearly fixed: Check
Heatwave over: Check.

Just a few more bugs to iron out; then I can start complaining about work again instead.

02:56 PM PST (link)

Linking deasil and widdershins.

Of course I've been Web surfing, in addition to my hard-drinking (snort!) and book-buying.

Turns out that I'm most like Princess Leia, and if I were a cat I'd be a persian. (Ooh, Redbook Quizzes! I can feel my free time leaking away already!)
Remember the "Magic Eye" book craze? I found these great Parallel SIRDS time wasters...these are pretty good. I can take off my glasses and see the things right away, much to the annoyance of those people who can't see them. ("I don' see no fucking effalunt....")
So it's a perversion of nature...they're cute! Presenting the twin piggies: Pinky and Yellowy!
Because "Kiss Them For Me" came up recently on filepile, I had to do a little research into Jayne Mansfield and Celebrity Deaths related to Automobiles.
It's nice to see the human kindness stories out of the tragedy of Sept. 11: Canadian towns which received diverted planes did their best to be hospitable to the stranded passengers. One such town was Gander, New Foundland, which has gotten so many Thank You notes they've set up a number of Web pages to keep track of them all. Some warm stories there. Hug a Canadian today.

10:21 AM PST (link)

Monday, October 15, 2001

A Danger to myself and VISA.

OK, maybe I don't read enough, but give me a half-hour at A Different Light and I can do some damage to my credit limit. Nothing heavy, just some candy-bon-bon-pleasure reading. Now I have to log off of FilePile and actually read.

10:28 AM PST (link)