Skip to content

Monthly Archives: March 2003

assorted words of wisdom

Monday, March 31, 2003

“In America, first you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women.”

“Gimme some sugar, baby.”

Eventually I’ll explain. But for right now, I’ll leave it at this: *haaaaaaargle*

Filed in Uncategorized | | Comments Off

the world beyond new york

Friday, March 28, 2003

“And now, here’s a look at the world beyond New York.” Pat Kiernan, morning anchor at NY1. It was very easy to succumb to the New York-centric mentality (New Yorker cover). “There’s a world beyond New York?” After 11 September 2001, even my old friends back in the Midwest knew everything that was going on in the city. The effective world was New York. That soon faded, and I’d talk about various city-related things but I’d remember, oh, I guess the national news is back to being national. These days, I still can’t muster up the interest to read the local papers because I like to believe I still have a vested interest in New York-slanted news.

To a great extent, us Americans are a little too preoccupied with ourselves, even now. Thomas Friedman talks about the reasons for 9/11, and I admit it’s eye-opening for me, even though I like to believe that I’m already aware of such things. But it always comes back to a single statement: “There’s a world beyond New York?,” even though it is plain that I’m surrounded by (hills|mountains) and more greenery than in the NY Botanical Garden, but more to the point, I’m still a Chicagoan at heart.

Fact of the matter is, I prefer illusion to despair, to paraphrase the great Nelson Muntz. The world continues to turn, the old adage “never get involved in a land war in Asia” still resonates, but March Madness reigns supreme. Only now, Pitt fell to Marquette, so there will be no joy in Mudville. That’s one less distraction from “the world beyond New York,” which means it’s back to such middling concerns as the war on Iraq, not to mention signs of the impending collapse of civilization and the inevitable Stand-esque showdown between good and evil. “M-O-O-N. That spells ‘stop this ride, I want to get off!’”

Filed in Musings | | Comments (6)

taking it up with me member o’ pah-luh-ment

Tuesday, March 25, 2003

I remember it being a confusing thing at orientation, and it was confusing today when I got around to tackling it: the WTEX form on the back of Pittsburgh’s income tax return form. Who the hell is my “local tax collector?” “Yeah, I know Harry, he’s a great guy. Harry, come sign this here form for me!” The federal and state returns at least have copious instructions, but there’s almost zero documentation for the PGH-40. I don’t care how self-explanatory something is, good documentation should be provided.

A great way to start the day, as I sought advice from the folks at the rental office. The girl at the desk also moved from New York this year. Mentioned I’d be moving back to Chicago eventually, and she said she’d love to live there if it weren’t so far from her family in Lawngyeland. I can certainly sympathize.

<metasarcasm>and for lunch I had leftover chicken and then consumed a Frappuccino while sitting in the shadow of the Cathedral of Learnding and then popcorn for dinner while watching “24″</metasarcasm>

Filed in Non-Fiction | | Comments Off

newton’s first law

Sunday, March 23, 2003

Gene came by, bearing gifts of Athlon and RAM… behold, my faster Linux box that NEEDS NO SWAP SPACE. @hahahaha.

Pittsburgh street signs make me do a double-take every so often, but it was Gene that pointed out why: “They’re supposed to be green.”

Note to self: pay off credit cards first and terminate them. Then there will be time enough to figure out how to afford a new digicam and a new laptop. (Read: get a better-paying job, jerk!) Number of regular paychecks left can actually be counted on one hand now.

Why do I owe New York money? I’ll give them what for!

New slogan, to help combat the negative vibes from work: “April, May, June.” Though I have to admit that I’m rather given over to laziness… thinking about having to pack all my crap up and move makes me think, “hey, Pittsburgh isn’t so bad… can’t I sit in my Ikea chair and enjoy my comfy apartment just a little bit longer…?”

Bodies at rest tend to stay at rest.

Filed in Non-Fiction | | Comments (1)

only one man can save us now!

Thursday, March 20, 2003

BURGH MAN! (via somethingawful)

and a concoction (not my own) using a couple of my photos.

Filed in Random | | Comments Off

weekend photos

Wednesday, March 19, 2003

Babs

post-weekend update

Monday, March 17, 2003

Friday: “I drove 360 miles for a Yuengling?” “No, you didn’t drive 360 miles for a Yuengling… you drove 360 miles for a CASE of Yuengling!”

Saturday: “You know what the most disappointing thing is? We weren’t able to get a table.”

Sunday: “I stored up the happy times…so I could handle this.”

* * *

A St. Mark’s Burger with a Gene and a Joe and a John and a Keith, two rounds of McSorley’s dark at a very full McSorley’s, BEN AFFLECK IS DAREDEVIL (and don’t forget the Jennifer Garner), a Joey Hart, a pint of Yuengling, two hours to Matte-A-Wan (trip includes easily amused tourists taking pictures of gridlock and a sleeping driver in the midst of traffic), Strong Bad, and Stargate SG-1.

Mass at St. Patrick’s, complete with a very inspirational homily from Cardinal Egan, lunch with Sendhil at Bukhara Grill, a walk in a very lovely, people-rich yet leaf-deprived Central Park, a few more pictures of ra ra, an encounter with a crazy homeless man, a fruitless search for lip gloss at Duane Reade, “damn, there’s a lot of booty!,” “please, Lisa, I thought you looooooved meeeee,” “you look like a friendly face,” “doesn’t he have the CUUUUTEST BABY FACE!!!!!!11\,” a Casey, two Balvenie 10′s, a Laphroaig 10, and a Glendronach 12 + a Greg and Sendhil, a Burmese dinner, the parting of the Babs, and a cheesecake.

The days are just packed.

Filed in Non-Fiction | | Comments (1)

pre-weekend update

Friday, March 14, 2003

McSorley's Dark and LightYet Another Trip To The City commences tomorrow. Plans include beer, beer, beer, burgers, beer, beer, and more beer. Plus some picture-taking– I needs must finish my “ra ra and the city” photo session. The weather seems like it’ll cooperate. Just hope I can find the time.

On the subject of pictures, I’ll be covering this year’s Jessup International Rounds… I’ve been hyped up as a “hotshot freelance photographer,” so I feel this incredible need to live up to it. Can’t disappoint everyone, now can I?

I really think my equipment should complement this image. So my technolust has targeted the Coolpix 5700, if for no other reason than it’s slick, it’s got a mammoth 8x ED lens with decent speed, and it’s more affordable than the D100 or the D1X. Unfortunately, just because it’s more affordable doesn’t mean that I can afford it. But, I can dream of a windfall from last year’s tax return… until I get ahold of my W-2 from Cooper and figure out whether I have anything coming back to me at all, that is…

Anyone out there want to be my sugar mommy?

Filed in Musings | | Comments (4)

dogs and thoughts in the key of Zagat

Monday, March 10, 2003

Dog Run 1
Dog Run 2
Dog Run 3
Dog Run 4

–Tompkins Square Park, 9 March 2003

ra ra’s (F: 25 D: 25 S: 12 C: I)

It’s hard to believe that this previously “jailbait” vixen has “matured so rapidly” in two years; “debonair” yet “disaffected,” she has “adapted well” to the “bourgeois bohemian” climate of the city, but “living
next to a big fucking hole in the ground” and “lack of eye contact”
threaten her “paranoid” “rationality.” Still, “you can’t beat a dollar,”
which buys you “better singing than Barbra Streisand.”

Serafina (F: 20 D: 21 S: 20 C: E)

Sightings of “the beautiful people” were preempted by the “scientific academy” meeting that swelled the dining room to overcrowding; unfortunately, the increase in the “average IQ” of the room did little to improve the food that “doesn’t live up to the hype.” “Be prepared” to spend at least $8 per drink, a price some find “expensive” but others consider a “bargain.” “Excellent” veal and risotto, as well as a gnocchi plate that some say is “the best dish” in the house make you forget that they “dimmed the lights” to “improve the appearance” of your meal.

Filed in Musings | | Comments Off

on the response to Calvin’s frenzied demands

Tuesday, March 4, 2003

On 17 February 2003, the snow in Pittsburgh was a good foot deep. Roads were slushy; many sidewalks were a crapshoot–some homeowners were good at shoveling, some weren’t.

To walk along Fifth Avenue by Mellon Park was an exercise in and of itself. I found myself exchanging understanding grins with the occasional passersby as we each trudged through the drifts. With each step, our ankles contorted until our feet found something stable to rest upon.

I had barely made it from my apartment to the park, a walk that normally takes only 5-10 minutes but on that day was a grueling 20, before deciding it really wasn’t worth it. Plus, I had forgotten to charge the batteries for my camera. suxor!

In any case… I’ve been alternately toying with ideas for the next incarnation of this site and coding the front end for my media database, so I’d forgotten there were a couple of pictures that I wanted to post. So:

New photolog entry.

Filed in Site Updates | | Comments Off