Smart little kids make me smile

Seriously, is there anything cuter than a smart little kid having fun? This video made me happy.

Don't let September leave you behind

This past month has been highly entertaining. I will, at some point, finish recounting the events of September 1 and 2. I haven't even touched on my visit to Atlanta. What's even better, I'm mere days away from my first trip to Chicago. Ah, Chicago. Home of really good food, from what I understand. Also home of the Threadless retail store, which makes me feel warm and happy. And even better, this trip will be in the company of some of the coolest people I know, most of whom make up the small readership of this blog. Coincidence? I think not. I anticipate some good eating, and likely some drunken conversations. I predict a lot of laughs and a few good stories. I foresee a new T-shirt in my future.

I have a notoriously bad and somewhat selective memory. However, this month will probably remain fresh for a long time to come. At least, it should.

Shedding some dead weight

After about 2.5 years, today seemed like a good day to get a haircut. I liked my stylist, a bubbly towheaded girl named Jessica. She started out the encounter by asking me about my preferences regarding length, hair products, etc.

She was aghast as she realized that there were no styling products or hair dryers in my possession, and no plans to acquire them for the future. Throughout the encounter, she kept muttering "I would go insane..." To her credit, I'm quite satisfied with her work. It's shorter than it was, she didn't put any weird gels or creams into it, and it's long enough to tie up when necessary.

Of Hobbits and Orangutans, part I

My weekend was fantastic, the result of a strange and wonderful set of random events occuring in the world and a unique set of people that somehow were all in Dallas at the right time.

Let me start with 2 people:

• Alex is one of my oldest friends. A tall, lanky, red-haired fellow who has roots in Argentina, speaks excellent Spanish, and has penned many a hilarious/insightful/bizarre writing in his day. Somehow manages to survive on a diet missing crucial components such as eggs and cheese. Has traveled throughout the world, has fascinating friends (myself included), is quite bright, and will likely be a billionaire someday. Quite the Simpson's fan. An excellent tree climber and hiker extraordinaire.
• Kevin is also among my oldest friends. Sandy haired, lean, with surprisingly long arms for his height. Eschews shoes whenever possible, and is a fount of energy. Difficult to keep him in stasis for longer than a few minutes. Can tackle most physical obstacles with astonishing ease, and clever enough to solve intellectual puzzles as well. Oftentimes difficult to locate given his penchant for disappearing into the wilderness in search of adventure, and a distressing habit of losing his cell phone in rivers, streams, and oceans.

Now for a few interesting natural events.

• The Aurigid meteor shower was predicted to peak shortly before 0637 CST on September 1st here in our part of the country. This particular shower is apparently unpredictable in exact timing and intensity, but has been known to produce blue-green fireballs in the past.
• Some crazy Texas spiders decided to put together a 200 yard long communal web in Lake Tawakoni Park in East Texas (about 45 minutes from Dallas). Not completely unique, but weird and unexpected enough to draw visitors from all over the place and start intellectual squabbles online. Neat!

I'd already been excited about the meteor shower a couple of weeks ago, but little did I know that my friend Alex was going to be coming through Dallas this weekend, and he digs stargazing as well, kick ass! I had also been trying without success to find someone who wasn't arachnophobic to drive out to the lake, and suddenly here he was. I was invited to dine on Friday night at a vegetarian restaurant known as the Cosmic Cafe with a group of his friends (and some of their friends, I met a bunch of cool new people in the last few days, I tell ya) and Kevin was present and accounted for among the number. Excellent. This could only get better.

My friend, Sikandar the Pure

Okay, on a much better note, just spoke to one of my oldest friends on the phone, and he's coming through Dallas next weekend. At last, someone else who gets excited about random astronomical phenomena!

Seriously, this guy is one of the coolest people I know. He is an excellent writer, and has a quirky sense of humor. As an example, check out this short article. I would have paid good money to be there, my friend.

About the only negative thing about him that comes to mind is that he is a vegan. And, come on, that's not even negative, it's just dismaying to my omnivorous instincts.

Nothing but trouble

Disclaimer: The following blog should probably not be read by anyone. I mean, it's entirely whiny and moronic. Here, I'll give you a link to something that will make you happier than reading this: Rubber bands. Innocuous tools of war.

What, still here? Your loss, I tried to warn you.
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Talking never got me anywhere except into trouble. Perhaps an extreme statement, but it certainly feels like the truth when I consider the holes I’ve dug for myself secondary to thoughtless conversations throughout my life. Perhaps being a deaf/mute would have been better for the people around me.

Perhaps my singing is some kind of saving grace. While not exceptional, and perhaps because of that, it seems to make people happy. I don’t know.

At any rate, I digress. This is an exercise in exploring a crucial failure in my character. To my credit, I am eager to perform tasks and favors for my friends, but come on. A paid go-fer can do the same thing, and probably better. I have a complete inability to address things that count without making every issue come back to me (i.e. “It’s my fault”). Sure, even if it’s true, who the hell cares?

Why is it my fault, then? That’s the clincher. Did I not pay attention? Did I say something stupid when I knew better? Did I ignore obvious signs of distress? Did I fail to listen? Why the hell can’t I get to the point where I can actually prevent the “fault” from occurring? I just sit there like a sack of beans with that sad face that says “Boohoo, I suck.” Take, for example, the opening of this rant. “Boohoo, I suck.” Who gives a shit?

How do you gain true empathy? I do a reasonably good job at work, right? I talk to people about life and death on a daily basis without coming off as a heartless bitch, mainly because I’m not a heartless bitch, and I am able to gain trust and confidence from families.

Maybe that’s it. I can be convincing for a few days or hours, but it’s not real. Which means that I'm a hyprocrite. Great. Just what I wanted to be when I grew up.
Random Link: May you live in interesting times.

Caffeinated visions

I feel strange. I can feel my heart beating in my chest and blood coursing through my hands. My field of vision is pulsing. I feel very alone, and edgy. I think I've had too much caffeine.

This sucks. So, let's move on to something else. This blog will be written in pseudo-stream of consciousness mode, so forgive random leaps as they manifest themselves.

I used to write a lot more than I do now, both for work and play. At my best, words just flow, and I'm barely aware where they're coming from. At those times, I feel more like an instrument being wielded by somebody else, and it's effortless.

I like words, particularly unloved, rarely used words. Not necessarily obscure, mind you, but some of them sound archaic when used in most modern day conversations. Marvelous, for example. I try to use it a few times a month.

Growing up, it was hard to get me away from any book that I started. Intense battles occasionally occured because of this... well, more like my brothers would hide them to make me mad, and I would cry until they either gave it up willingly, or got smacked by my parents and returned it by force. My youngest brother and I would come to physical blows on occasion, in which case we'd both be smacked and we would retire to our rooms to sulk and lick our wounds, planning revenge. This would usually last about 5 minutes, and then he would offer me dibs on his GI Joes and return my book, and peace would reign.

That's all.