i like that name. supervixen. the song's by garbage. "come down to my house and stick a stone in your mouth. you can always pull out if you like it too much. make a whole new religion: a falling star that you cannot live without. and i'll feed your obsessions. there will be nothing but this thing that you will never doubt. this thing you'll never doubt." sexual overtones, anyone?

You never listen to a word that I said You only seen me for the clothes that I wear or did the interest go so much deeper it must have been the color of my hair Public image What you wanted was never made clear Behind the image was ignorance and fear you hide behind his public machine still follow same old scheme Public Image Two sides to every story Somebody has to stop me I'm not the same as when I began I will not be treated as property Public Image Public Image you got what you wanted Public Image belongs to me It's me entrance My own creation My grand finale My goodbye -PIL, "Public Image" 1978

I'm tired and don't want to spend the time typing this out, but I really like the song Glycerine by Bush... I don't know but it can be taken in so many ways... Its a damn smooth song... Huh, I wish I could sing.

i wish i could sing and play a wind instrument at the same time... glycerine is good. gavin rossdale dates gwen stefani of no doubt, who sings "dark blue". damn, i wish i had her confidence. i found out that a friend of mine has a full ride scholarship in arizona because she's a jazz singer. her mom and little sister were shoe shopping and i said hello.

Lately i've been in a foul foul mood, In which case I listen to Hardcore or Grinding music like Godflesh, but for the last week all I have been listening to is Slipknot.... "You can't see California without Marlon Brando's Eyes" "Yes I am my fathers son, but hes a promise a whisper and that makes me NOTHING, How many times have you wanted to die, It's too late for me." "I'm hearing voices, and all they do is complain."

heh. One of my friends bodily forced me to Napster some Slipknot a week or two back; so I heard "eyeless," and I'm hooked. been a really cheesed out happyclingy week, and I wish I could stop singing Billy Joel. So here goes the slipknot, and then some Clutch. That'll fix me right up.

You want a cure for Billy Joel eh? Well go to napster and download "Uptown Girl." But not by good ole' Billy J' Get it from a band called... "Me First And The Gimmie Gimmies" Its Punk Music of good ole classics, like fucking john denver done punk... Its kinda cool.

Yeah. just checked it out. It's definitely replacing my old version of uptown girl. *laugh* Now all I need to do is buy that Saturday Morning Cartoon theme songs album and I'm good to go.

You know who really rocks? Gluecifer. Those guys rule.

Yeah Tom, I have the two albums they put out, along with a couple of compilations album with a couple of their songs on it... They really kick ass, they do a good job with "rocket man" too.

I need more professional help. I had a positive jones for Sting's "The Secret Marriage" and it was just not to be found on Napster for several days. I finally got it this morning. I think I'm losing my edge. Time to dig out the old Sonic Youth and get out of this pretty-music rut I'm in.

i've got a cd that includes (among other things) david bowie as a 14-year-old girl. he did a pretty good job. i'm in a semi-hyper seduced music phase.

David Bowie... A 14-year-old girl... Ok.... Actually I think he was better as the Goblin King in Layberinth ( yes I know I can't spell )

He was awesome as the Goblin King in Labyrinth. That movie keeps coming up in my conversations. Wierd.

Remember when that Goblin sang "Kick that Baby, make em PEE!", That ruled.

Goblins DO rule, Skooter Lee Roth.

Mons Goblins Raiders

mmm...labyrinth. :sluuuurp: excuse me while i droooool... eat me! i'm named after food, mr. david bowie, sir!

Heh. Goblin Balloon Brigade.

water balloons? i want to have a big water fight sometime. maybe next year. heads up! :proceeds to throw a water balloon before raising a small super soaker, taking aim: prepare to get drenched!

GOBLIN DIGGING TEAM... GOBLIN GRENADE... GOBLIN WAR DRUMS... GOBLIN KING...

CAPS ARGUEMENT... CAPS DUEL... CAPS FIGHT... CAPS BATTLE... CAPS WAR...

Goblin Warrens! Ha! and Goblin Chirgeon (sp? chirurgeon? too lazy to crack the boxes open) too! *sigh* Fallen Empires was the lamest expansion ever.

Not true man, they did have thrulls and if you hade a Ebon Prator, and A lifeline... Shit, You could do a little ass whompin... Hell throw a pharexian dreghtnot in there too with a kormus bell and a junkdiver... I quit right after the relesed 5th and iceage, but I've started again recently. The whole game has changed man... There are so many sick things you can do, especially if you belive in using UNGLUED expansion set cards...

I only collect unglued for the laugh factor; I LOVE pulling out the Hurloon Wrangler. Damn. Yeah, you're right. The "little critter" aspect of FE was cool. For a while I was all into the thrull/praetor thing; toss in bad moon and a few simalucrums... anyhow. Stopped collecting after 5th, too. weird. I've bought 2 or 3 boosters since then, but for the last year and a half, the boxes have just been sitting in a cabinet. No one here plays, anymore... guess I'm just waiting for them to all be worth millions. Right.

are you talking about magic or something?

Yes, don't know exactly how the thread went in that direction, but it did. Oh wait that was my fault... Tom, I only play with a few unglued cards... I have a deck called "Bane of existence." I never expect to win with it, but it has; "Wrath of God's", Apocolypse, Armageddons, Once more with feeling... Renounce... Just so I can fuck me, and the person i'm playing at the same time... And I found a fucking use for the unglued card "The Cheese Stands alone." I have one in the deck, if I get it and a renounce and have enough land to tap, I win, you lose... Unless you have the famous blue bluff going... COUNTERSPELL BABY!!!

I have no idea what the fuck you guys are talking about.

Don't worry. They're just flaunting...nevermind.

I can read tarot cards,they are kind of magik.

I can read runes, but I don't think it's really magic. I think that my hand picks the rune that makes most sense for the situation and that my interpretation is what's important. I can twist my interpretation to say whatever I want, really.

magic cards...something i don't understand at all, and partly caused me to break up with a previous boyfriend. (please make me stop talking about tsot 'cause i don't want to bore you all). i've found that playing the flute with my eyes closed puts me in a sort of meditative/clairvoyant state. it feels like i'm floating, and occasionally i expirience deja vu. it might just be a lack of air.

Maybe. Interesting, nonetheless.

Magic just occupies my boring fucking life now... Aside from visiting here, thats all I do. Drink coffee, have meaningless conversations, masturbate, and play Magic. Thats Hal's pathetic life, like it?

If you can live with it,who are we to judge?

jeezus. you don't even work? i'm sorry. ooh! ooh! tomorrow's paycheck day! now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Trying to remember the name of the green unglued card that lets all players dig through their deck and put as many non-land(i think) permanents as you want to into play. It's absolutely ridiculous. Ack. I'm losing card names right and left. Anyhow, set that card up with any of the cards that let you hunt through your deck for a p'ticular card, demonic tutor, or any of the blue stuff; be sure to already have concordant crossroads and as many "soul bans" as you can find out so your opponent gets bitchslapped for putting all his critters out. ba-da-boom. I think tarot and runes are both useful psychological tools. I read the tarot pretty frequently; actually need to go buy a new deck. Magic is as magic does; you want to flip over pieces of cardboard looking for messages about the future, and calling it magic: go right ahead. You want to play with your flute of levitation: bully for you. I don't care: I just want to hear a story from Pez about a breakup involving Magic: The Gathering.

later. i have to take my sis to the dentist. she has a cavity.

Ew. I can see a breakup coming out of magic: the gathering. Though, I admit, the time we played in the coffeehouse, that summer long ago, was pretty fun.

Yeah. I remember when there were lots of kids around here who played. ah, well. that's why they call 'em the good old days.

Yup. *nods sagely* Yes, indeedy. Those good old days of wine, irresponsibility, and roses.

how magic led to my breaking up from the longest relationship i ever had. by me i was 15 when i auditioned for the third time for metropolitan youth symphony. that was the first time i made it into symphonic band. there was a really cute bassoonist (or baboonist, weyp) with hair quite a bit longer than mine. as in i had a boycut at the time, he had his hair halfway down his back. he was a senior, and i never talked to him until the final concert. one year went by, and i'd basically written him off as gone. then he showed up at rehersals for the british isles tour, WITH SHORT HAIR and wearing long sleeved shirts. in june. so, we were both on this trip to england. he was friends with my best friend and roommate. the first night they both disappeared while i was playing garbage and chatting with another friend. that was the night he taught her how to play magic. i basically tagged along with erin (that was his name) and his friends (steve and tim) most of the trip. they were mostly my pets and steve had a bit of a crush on me (dialogue btwn me and steve: me: "no i won't make out with you!" steve: "awwww!"). while in edinborough, i began shaking. the only other time i'd shaked that hard before was when i'd collapsed at school and was sent to the hospital. so i went to my room, sitting on my bed and eating yogurt and erin came to check on me. i told him that i liked him. the rest of the trip he was a total pansy. he did everything i asked, and was almost medieval in his manners. as in he called me "my lady" and was overly polite. i even got him to stop playing magic. i was completely enamoured until one day my mom told me to tell him to brush his teeth better. after that i began picking him apart. he'd begun palying magic again. he talked too much about computers. he was too polite. he looked like a wet rat. he had no backbone. etc etc etc. but it was the magic that really urked me. i knew my power was gone. we went to the winter formal at my school. he refused to dance. i claimed i had a headache and we went to my house. there, i made him call his mom right then to pick him up. i went in my room and changed into comfy, non-boy-attracting clothes. mimsi jumped into my lap and demanded to be cuddled. after that, i couldn't be around him. i avoided him at all costs. but at the same time, my best friend (heather) was drawn deeper and deeper into the circle of musical magic players. when i gave finally gave him the boot, i inadvertadly gave my best friend a reason to quit being friends with me. after all, she was dating erin's best friend. i hope they're happy with the magic they make. pah. i'd rather roleplay.

Roleplaying is fun too... The only question I have to ask is... Are you going to bring the whips or do I have to? No kidding, I love roleplaying, wednesdays my friends and I have a Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying Game going, NO NOT THE TABLETOP MINITURES, the roleplaying game. Its fun, we've kinda re-written the rules a little bit, but that makes it more our game then.

making new rules is fun. especially when the other person doesn't know. has anyone ever played mau? i miss that game...

My new being-a-pauper-induced rule: Healthcare should be socialized, DAMNIT! Keep that insane amoutn of witholdings from last year, see if I care, just socialize my damn healthcare so I don't have to drop $60 on a fucking inhaler!

mau? I used to play a card game called mau, if that's what you mean. Whoa. and we're talking about making up rules, so that must be it. Wow. I'd thought that mau was a lost art. I'm so excited right now. Used to play mau with my adopted siblings when we were maybe 16. we'd get all hyped up on (red) licorice and coke (cola, not powder) and play mau. Heh. roleplaying can be good fun; I can't really get into it around here, though. The crowd is wrong... it's a bunch of munchkins and twinks, with three *serious* gamers. I love/hate being a nerd.

i'm in the process of turning myself into a "cool" nerd. i don't wear glasses. i don't wear slutty clothing. i do odd things and write and knit. i've been dubbed "the innocent". and i still read. a lot. so...am i a munchkin or a twink?

It depends on some other factors: Do you only learn "fireball" and "lightning bolt" spells? Have you ever carried a bazooka through downtown? Are your stats maxed out in the categories that give you maximum firepower? Do you *like* "Werewolf: The Apocalypse"? If so, you're a munchkin. Do you have 4 or more rulebooks memorized? Do you argue with your DM/GM/ST and *win* while in the middle of a session? Do you "forget" to fully write out your descriptions and just happen to "remember" that they fulfill whatever function is needed in the game? Do you solve all of the puzzles, even though your Intelligence stat is only 2? Then you're a twink. Pez... I'd call you... a rocker.

God. Caffiene oughta be illegal. Sorry, Pez. "twink" and "munchkin" are terms roleplayers use to describe people who bend the rules of the game, or are only interested in blowing things up. how does one become a "cool" nerd? It's a transformation you can undertake willingly? I always assumed it was sort of out of personal control; usually, it's just the rest of the world catching up with the nerd and going "wow. this person was cool in Junior High, and I was a big dork and I didn't even know it." Or am I busily getting it all wrong, again?

I gotta card game that will knock your socks off. It's actually where my phrase "eat a dick " came from. Nonetheless, it was taught to me and my blokes in college by a hitch hiker. It's called, or so we adopted, 3 CARD. Print this out, guaranteed fun.... its best with two players, but up to 4 can play with one deck. the game can be about speed, especially with 2, but overall the point is to go out, before the others. Deal each player 3 cards, side by, face down....do not look, arrange them directly in front of you. Now deal each player 6 cards, these can be looked at. Each card retains its face value. Suit is not important here. 2s and 10s are wild, and are to be considered high cards, however they are unique. I will explain momentarily. Now look at your 6 cards, determine your 3 highest (although as you learn strategy, highest may not always be best, but for now it is) cards and place them FACE UP on top of the 3 cards face down that were dealt in front of you. After dealing, put deck in center, to be played off of. Now the object is to play a card, if you have multiples, you may play multiples at the same time. When it is your turn you must BEAT or at least MATCH what the previous player played. First person to start is determined by who can place their 3 highest face up, and throw down first, it can get nasty her as everyone races to dump their lowest deadweight shit cards, likes 3s,4s, and 5s. You must ALWAYS maintain at least 3 cards in your hand at all times. If you play one, you draw another. If you play 2, say 2 Queens, you must pick up two cards after your turn. Example, nate starts, he plays a 5, he draws to maintain 3 in his hand, now I have to match or beat it. General strategy play lowest card possible, retain higher cards, for when the prick gives you a king or a queen. If you can't beat what the previous person played, you must EAT A DICK and take the whole discard pile.........you do not draw, and you loose your turn. You do not draw again until you are under 3 cards. There is another thing, you can CLEAR THE DECK, and what that means is take the discard pile out of play so no one will ever EAT THAT DICK, AND you get to go again. There are 2 ways to CLEAR THE DECK.......1) complete a four of a kind. nate plays 2 fives and i have the other 2 fives, I CLEAR THE DECK and (draw if I am under 3 cards) and play again, (don't forget to draw the second time if necessary) 2) 10s CLEAR THE DECK, a 10 can beat ANYTHING, CLEAR THE DECK and allows you to go again as well. Obviously clearing the deck is good, because it eliminates that nasty discard pile that was building up, and remember the object is to go out first. The other wild cards are 2s . 2s are real simple, 2s BEAT ANYTHING, but once played, ANYTHING beats a 2, in other words, it retains its face value once played. You continue in this manner until the draw deck is gone. NOW, here is where it gets exciting,...when the deck is gone and there is nothing left to draw from, you continue playing. When you have exhausted what is in your hands, NOW we go to the cards on the table, the 3 face down and the 3 face up ONTOP of those 3 face down. Obviously everyone can see what you have, so strategy gets a little nutty, you may play anyone you want. Same rules, apply, if you can't beat what is given to you, you EAT A DICK as usual. Once you have moved to the top 3, now you are at the bottom 3 and here is where any and ALL strategy is up to mother luck. When it is your turn, you must not look at the 3 face down, you can either play left to right, meaning, you have to pick up the card on the left, then center next time around and the right the final time or vice versa. the trick is, you have no idea what will be there. The first to get rid of that last 3rd mystery card is the winner. In keeping with tradition, the game must be played with absolute maximum shit talk. Threaten your co players, gang up on the one who is about to go out, if nate, dave and I are playing, in that order and I am about to go out, down to last 2 cards, dave should ask nate to play low, so dave try and prolong the game by making me EAT A DICK , nate plays his lowest 4, dave wallops me with that Jack, i whip out the mystery card # 2 and reveal a 9, DICK EATEN, either one of them still has a chance to win. I know this is winded, feel free to make your local rules, but this is the general game. Everyone i have ever showed this game to is HOOKED...i am confident you could be too.......

Wow. I'll have to try that sometime. I was a cool nerd today by accident. I've been wearing my glasses a lot, and I was talking to Junio and Annie at the dollar store, and suddenly Junio (Junio is the cute nerd boy) started looking at my face realyl intently. "What," I said. "Nothing." "WHAT?!" "Your face is missing something...I can't figure out what it is...you don't look like a nerd today..." I don't wear slutty clothes either. I did find a coin from the I-Ching on the street and I put it on a bracelet I have. I feel suddenly trendy, because I just realize the bracelet is made from thick black beads and with the I-Ching coin it looks like one of those things you see in the aisles or Rite Aid. Whoops. Oh well. Anyway. I like it. I don't feel nerdy or trendy today. I feel sort of mucky, actually. Maybe I'll take a shower and then go out and play.

"Eat a Dick" hmmmm.....I would have guessed that came from your employer....

i always seem to be a few years ahead of the trends. i was wearing an i ching coin on my wrist when i was 14. i've since switched to a turkish glass eye, then to silver bangles. i'm a "rocker" as in...? musician? a person that likes to make waves? throw me a bone here, people. i don't know if the term "cool nerd" is exactly appropriate. i've always been a band nerd and a math nerd and been in writer's guild and hung out in the library. but i've also been made fun of for being hyper. i got contacts, had my braces taken off, figured out how to get someone else in trouble in a "nice" way. i turned myself into an achieving underachiever (as in bad grades, lots of recognition). i have no clue. i think the biggest difference from my "nerdy" days is that i feel better about myself. the last appointment i'll ever have with a psychiatrist was in may. i survived over four years of depression, and for the first time in my life i can succeed. i can be a supervixen, a supergirl, pez, blondamethyst or even lauren. i can be whoever i want. even if i confuse people with the term "cool nerd".

Confuscious said far too fucking much and he probably mentioned this at some stage or another: Self-confidence is a lovely thing, but it's like masturbation...best not displayed too often in public or people will think you a wanker.

Indeed. A rocker--you rock, are cool, etc. Rocker cannot be pinned down, it must merely be understood. I'm kind of shy and not at all self confident in real life. When I'm with people I know, I'm as assholesque and outgoing as the next person, but once a stranger enters my dynamic, I get all quiet and stuff.

Self-confidence is best displayed in public. It helps others be self-confident. It's arrogance (sp?), rudeness, and all the other crap often associated with self-confidence-due-to-ignorance-or-stupidity that make people wankers.

I love that game, Patrick. I friend of mine showed it to me a few years ago.

I've been playing Harn again lately. It's an rpg with a dice-based system, but we play online, so the rolls are strictly up to the GM, and we're pretty much at the mercy of his benevolence. It's got a medieval setting on a different world. The focus of our present characters is on psyonics and magic. Mine is actually a priest, and so he has to remember that his gifts are handed down directly (or petitioned from/invoked) his god. All in all, it's very nerdy. That's what my wife thinks, anyway. Ultima Online is also nerdy, but it's a blast. But there's something very cool about being part of a virtual community. Can one be "cyberpunk" while living in a medieval wasteland? You can give your character a mohawk in UO, so I guess the term still applies.

i like being confident. i'd almost rather be arrogant than shy...i suffered from social anxiety for such a long time, and now i can talk to people again. it's a nice feeling, not having as many problems with my psyche.

Gotcha, Pez. I think the correct term here is: neo-hipster or just hipster if you're feeling up to carrying the legacy that "hipster" entails. ref: HOWL, Allen Ginsberg I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix, angelheaded hispters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night, who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high sat up smoking in the supernatural darkness of cold-water flats floating across the tops of cities contemplating jazz, who bared ther brains to Heaven under the El and saw Mohammedan angels staggering on tenement roofs illuminated, who passed through inversities with radiant cool eyes hallucinating Arkansas and Blake-light tragedy among the scholars of war, who were expelled from the academies for crazy & publishing obscene odes on the windows of the skull... (there's a LOT more) God damn with whipped cream, nuts, and a cherry on top. That is the single most beautiful poem in the world. Ever time I read it, it hits me as hard as it did the first time... It's the first piece that really helped me understand poetry. So deep, yet so accessible at the same time. *wanders off into "Visions! omens! hallucinations! miracles! ecstasies! gone down the American river!...* Real holy laughter in the river! They saw it all! the wild eyees! the holy yells! They bade farewell! They jumped off the roof! to solitude! waving! carrying flowers! down the river! into the street!

Just imagine the beatnick chick in Hairspray while you read that, Pez.

and also remember that he maintains a copy of Howl on his bookshelf, and that was not from rote.

I've found it useful to keep books I like on my bookshelf. I know very few poems "by heart," as they say. only two that I can think of, in fact. "Jabberwocky" and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" oh. and a few bits by Blake. Never been good at the memorization game. At some point, I'd like to memorize "Ode to a nightengale."

I'm terrible at memorization. I also keep books I like on my shelf. Right now, they are, in order: In A Dark Wood Wandering Chopsticks Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World The Divine Comedy The Book of Runes To Kill a Mockingbird The Mists of Avalon The Good Spell Book (pretentious magic with a k crap) Six of One Stranger in a Strange Land Rubyfruit Jungle The War of Dom Emmanuel's Nether Parts Senor Vivo and the Coca Lord The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman Corelli's Mandolin Wild Swans The Faces of Injustice Nationalism, Ethnic Conflict, and Diversity Why Americans Hate Welfare The Stars Discovering the Universe A Bunch of Crap on the Salem Trials in a loose packet because I xeroxed it all A Pocket Guide to Writing in History Fiction A Room With A View A History of the American People HP48G Series User's Guide HP48G Series Quick Start Guide How to Use Your Peak Flow Metre

I'm terrible at memorization. I also keep books I like on my shelf. Right now, they are, in order: In A Dark Wood Wandering Chopsticks Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World The Divine Comedy The Book of Runes To Kill a Mockingbird The Mists of Avalon The Good Spell Book (pretentious magic with a k crap) Six of One Stranger in a Strange Land Rubyfruit Jungle The War of Dom Emmanuel's Nether Parts Senor Vivo and the Coca Lord The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman Corelli's Mandolin Wild Swans The Faces of Injustice Nationalism, Ethnic Conflict, and Diversity Why Americans Hate Welfare The Stars Discovering the Universe A Bunch of Crap on the Salem Trials in a loose packet because I xeroxed it all A Pocket Guide to Writing in History Fiction A Room With A View A History of the American People HP48G Series User's Guide HP48G Series Quick Start Guide How to Use Your Peak Flow Metre

Shit! Fuck! Goddamnit piece of shit fucking computer! Fuck. Sorry about that. Oh well, I wanted to add something anyway. I never memorized poetry in my life. It just didn't interest me. It always felt too much like I was trying to prove something, and I felt silly standing in the bathroom staring at the mirror repeating: "Get thee with child a mandrake root..." So I never did any of that stuff.

sometimes you memorize them by accedent. you just read them so many times that you know them by heart. and it can actually feel good to say them out loud.

IT's true, sometimes you do. It doesn't usually happen to me, though. Generally, I don't really care about poetry, actually. As you will note, I have no books of poetry on my shelf. But sometimes I am unavoidably faced with poetry, and so I read/listen to it, raise my eyebrow/applaud, and then go on my merry way.

i love poetry. i like rimbaud, dickenson, and sappho. like this haiku: shit. i can't find the book. and it's one of my favorites. but i have many many books...i'll list a couple. le morte d'arthur magic explained jurassic park sphere jane eyre the invisible man gulliver's travels les miserables jane eyre the bellmaker david copperfield the "anne of green gables" series and a bunch more. i keep my magik books (including my mythology and faerie books) in a box in my closet b/c my mom was getting scared. she doesn't understand, and she doesn't want to listen to me. i'm trying not to provoke her at this point. she's threatened to kick me out three times since june for minor things like not vacumming. i'm just biding my time and pinching my pennies until i have a good opportunity.

I probably have something like a thousand books by now. At least. I have close to 100 just here at work.

ah. found the book. i forgot that i had most of my study/writing/poetry books downstairs last year. wait. it's basho, not sappho. fleas, lice; my horse pisses, right by my pillow.

*laugh* you have 2 copies of Jane Eyre on your shelf? bold. At home, my major bookshelf is right by the computer, so I won't list all the books. I have the rest piled in my closet. The only poem I've memorized on purpose was "stopping by woods." that was my high school english teacher's fault. Right now, I'm in the back room, where we store books that we've been given at trade shows, or to review. They're almost all awful.

Many books are. It's a pity, really. I wrote a poem over these last two weeks. It took up 8 whole napkin-drafts at the cafe. It's kind of lame, though. Oh well. I tried. I don't really like to write. I escaped it as quickly as possible after high school. Sometimes I'll wake up with a story that wants to be written, and I'll start it, but I never finish, because I can't muster up the will to do it. There are umpteen unfinished stories on my computer. They will never be worth millions, either. I memorized the verse at the front of the Lord of the Rings. That was it, really. I have more books in this house somewhere. I'm not sure where anything is. The housemate keeps moving it. Gods fuck it. I want my own house already.

I have got to stop buying books. Today I bought two. On the weekend I bought one. Last weekend I bought three and read them all before Sunday night. This is bad.

i don't have two copies of jane eyre, unless you count the "reader's digest condensed" version. oops. i've never even read the whole thing. at least you get to keep the books, moonit. i've been notorious for racking up $20 in library fines at a time. then i realize that i should renew, but i can't because i have all these fines and half of them are on hold anyway. the only poem that i have memorized right now is extremely short and written by an eleven-year-old: "i want to be the straw in your cup. i want to touch your lips." i recently found a poster i made when i was seven with a caption. if i ever have an anthology of my poems published, i hope i can name it "i love the cows and i think the cows love me." i should get off. it's nearly midnight and i need to get up at six. fucking french. fucking jim.

has anyone read "i know this much is true", by wally lamb? i can't put the fucking book down.

no. I tried the other wally lamb book (what's it called?) and didn't like it much. ever read "infinite jest?" I found it about 3 years ago, and I go back and read it maybe once every 6 months. incredible book. heh. I'm thinking about moving to Portland in the spring, and the person I will be moving there with tried to tell me all about this great bookstore called Powell's. *sigh* like I could respect myself in the mornings if I didn't know about Powell's. I can't wait for spring.

I read "I Know This Much is True." I'm not really a big Wally Lamb fan, I think. Oh well. Ugh. Stupid day.

the cover of infinite jest looks too much like a webpage/windows startup screen for me. but now that I have a recommendation for the inside of the thing, I might get around to it.

It takes you a while to realize what's going on in the book if you don't know beforehand. I know a lot of folks jsut put it down because it's too big, but trust me, if you get a 1/4 way through it, you'll so engrossed by the characters you'll find it hard to put down. One of the few books I didn't want to end.

i wish that infinite jest and ulysses were one book, then i could just tie it to my back and limp around crying.

i bought that book about a year ago, infitite jest, its sits atop my bookshelf taunting me, literally, it's so intimidating, with its size. i opted to reread sexus first.

powell's. great place to spend a rainy day. great place to drop a wad of cash. i've only been there a couple of times and i'm a native. the only reason why i shop at barnes and noble is because they're the best bookstore within about ten miles of my house. but they treat people like shit. my grandma fell down and broke her arm there and they said that they shouldn't have to give her any money because she was "distracted". well, duh! that's the purpose of a store. to advertise and SELL. i got a list of french tapes, cds and movies i can borrow from the mhcc library. oh man. i'll be in and out of there all the friggin' time. i can feel it.

i wouldn't pay your grandma either.....no offense, but what exactly did B&N have to do with your grandma falling? If old people can't handle "the excitement and distraction" of a bookstore maybe they should ban old folks all together...which your logic lends itself to imply.

I saw David Foster Wallace read from 'A supposedly fun thing I'll never do again'. The thing he read was good but when I got the book I thought a lot of the style of his writing was really pretentious. Sort of 'look at my big words I am so smart' rather than just getting the message across eloquently. Still, that was only a first impression and I never finished reading the book. I got put off easily. Still on my 'to read' list tho.

after i read that book, and the girl with curious hair and interviews with hideous men, i wanted to go make babies with david foster wallace. but i'm like that i guess.....

'drew had a friend who fell off a bus somewhere in the US. The bus driver handed him a card with the insurance details on it. The friend wanted to know why the driver gave him the card. The driver told him 'for insurance purposes, and in case you want to sue'. The friend was shocked. He fell off the bus (tripped I think going down the stairs). How is that the bus company's fault? Its not like that here. You can attempt to sue and we will laugh in your faces. Ha. hahahahaha. I've got to stop having chocolate yoghurt for breakfast. I've read one of those books I bought yesterday already. I have hundreds of books. It scares me. I also have 24.1 days owing of holidays. WOOHOOOOO

*disclaimer: yes, i'm going to get all boring and preachy and passionate. you're warned.* first of all, my grandma's 86 and she's got osteooperosis. she went up some stairs to the main portion of the store and the shelves and tables begin right there. she was going to check out one of the shelves and tripped over the table leg. she was falling forward towards the corner of the shelf and she turned slightly to avoid breaking her glasses. she had a huge gash on her head, a broken arm, and some trouble with her leg too. she was in the hospital for three days. it took about six months for her arm to heal. out of all my relatives i'd say that my grandparents on my mom's side are my favorites. sometimes they almost feel more like my parents than my parents. they understand what i'm good at and what i'm not, and love to encourage me in my writing and crafting, stuff i love. whearas my parents want me to get a degree in something where i can make a bundle of money. i don't care about money. i look at my parents and they're not happy. they both work ten hours a day, six days a week and i hardly see them anymore, since i work at night mostly. sure, computers are good. math is good. but my life would be more fufilling if i could teach and maybe have a book published. even if i have to live in some crummy apartment with a leaky faucet and no yard. i don't care. *end preachy mode* i can tell that my cultural anthropology class is going to be interesting. the teacher loves what he does. it's going to be one of those classes when i make a few smart remarks and ask lots of questions. off to do my homework and iron my work clothes!

nothing you state above has anything to do with Barnes and Noble.....

when i see this mentality, I am troubled....this notion of responsibility...or lack thereof depdnding on which side you are on...It troubles me because this mentality often leads to frivilous court proceedings and ultimatly make a mockery of our justice system. Pez you heard the story about the woman who burned herself with mcdonalds coffee, sued and won millions...right? you agree with the out come of that?

no, i didn't. she fell down, over a table they set up, gashed her head on one of their bookshelves, and then they threaten her by saying "we have witnesses that say that you looked distracted." some of the other customers at the time were very nice about it. they called the ambulence and made sure she was comfortable whan the paramedics came. as i remember, the employees didn't do a damn thing. my mom's an interior designer, and she's always thought that particular b & n has a poor floor plan. it really should be on one level. the problem could easily have been prevented.

well i can tell you that B&N employees were probably instructed to call the ambulance and let her lie, as if they try and help her, and aggrivate the injury, people have been known to sue people who were attempting to help them. Scumbag lawyers. Barnes and Noble could hardly compose a floor plan to accommodate everybody, thats proposterous. What your mom thinks is not of any relavence to Barnes and Noble. if people weren't so sue happy these days....a lot of things would be different, and those employees may have been a lot more helpful. I broke 6 pack of beer one time the grocery store. i felt like an idiot, i tied to help them, the manager, just smiled and practically begged me to leave the scene. They are instructed to do so. If i cut myself or cause further injury, i could probably sue and most likely win, eitherway an expense to the corporation ...so to avoid the problem they tell me to get away and let the management deal with the clean up. Bottom line, your grandma fell, it's hardly B&N's fault. It's unfortunate, these things happen, you are letting emotion for your poor grandma cloud your sense of logic.....young grasshoppa

An interesting scenario from a friend of mine. His father was trying to fix the car, and his mother was in the driver's seat starting the car when he told her to. She misheard him, started the ignition and he lost four fingers to the fan belt thingy or whatever. He was a builder and so the accident severely jeopardised his income. The upshot of the story is that he sued his wife, under her insurance. Now whilst you may disagree with that, if he hadn't sued her, they would be very badly off financially. In that case, I don't see he had much choice and that's what the laws are really there for - to help innocent people adversely affected by accidents.

Girl with curious hair rocks. I lost my copy. I think Wyl Stenberg has it. Isolde, would you attack him and get it back? pleasE? I'll give you $5. arg. Cat, send me your pajamas. Please?

I'll think about it. If you promise to participate in the ultimate make out tape bonanaza...which NO ONE has emailed me about...*glowers*

Re: McDonald's I'm surprised the anti-corporate folk here didn't reply to that one. Or maybe I read the following here and whoever posted it didn't want to go into it again: This is a "successful PR spin by McDonalds" ("" approximate). McDonalds used to keep their coffee at 180 degrees F. You can't drink that. In fact, they knew you couldn't drink that and defended the ridiculously high temperature by claiming that they expected their customers to take the coffee home and drink it there. Anyways, you spill something like that around an area where cloth is going to keep it right next to your skin, and you get fucked up pretty badly. Her injuries wouldn't have been nearly as bad had it been normal 140 degree F coffee. Also, McDonald's had a history of previous lawsuits similar to that one and did nothing about the temperature. Anyways, that's one take on it. But then again, if you're allowed to sell nitric acid and piranhas and ginsu knives, why not one more thing that can really harm you pretty much on contact? If I had a restaurant (or rather a homogenized worldwide grease delivery network), I wouldn't do it, but as a would-be judge, I don't know where exactly to draw the line where a company is responsible for accidents.

i was griping about it for a while and i love my grandparents. maybe i shouldn't have brought it up. check your email, isolde!

a 180 degree cup of coffee isn't a hot beverage. it's a weapon. that woman got third degree burns all over her genitals and will now be scarred for life. yeah, you should expect your coffee to be hot. but there should be no reason to have the expectation that it'll burn your goodies off.

Getting ready for another entirely stressfull and stupid Friday evening at work, talking to dumb ass coaches, getting dumb ass quotes. I just recently rediscovered my love for the Clash. "Go straight to hell boys."