Happy Memorial Day

God Bless America
Land that I love
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above
From the mountains, to the prairies
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home

USA! USA!

On a side note, the highlight of this morning's parade may have been Officer Giles driving in the police bus while grooving to Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing", blasting from the radio.

Leaving for the Weekend

I've been good in terms of updating this daily. I am leaving for Norwalk tonight, and I cannot promise that I will update daily, if at all, though I am hoping to get something in on Memorial Day.

It's going to be a non-stop weekend. I’ll be getting home at about 9:30, and probably have to go straight to bed in order to get up in time for the trip to NYC tomorrow. Even before that, as soon as I get home from work I do last minute packing and I'm out the door to the airport. It will be a miracle if I don't forget anything.

I am excited to go home. I have errands to run, including potentially buying a new computer. This will also be my first Memorial Day parade in about three years. I hope the old men on the little cars are there.

The cicadas are constantly pushing the envelope. Every day I think there are more, and the next day there are even more than that. On the subway this morning I felt something crawling up my neck, and sure enough, it was a cicada. It was the second to the last stop so thankfully I was spared the embarrassment of a bug on my back. They're big suckers, too, if you've never seen one.

Potentially when we get back, the cicadas will be almost gone. Looking back on this whole affair, it wasn't quite the biblical plague some people expected, but the cicadas were plentiful. I would be curious to get out to the suburbs. With all the trees there, the cicada population is expected to be much denser in those areas.

I am confident the human race will survive the cicada invasion of 2004. We're safe....but only for the next seventeen years....

Mwuhahahahahahaha.......

Hook, E. and B. Day

Today is Becca's birthday. I'm trying my best to make sure she has a good day. I always feel the need to make sure everyone has a good day on their birthday. As I've mentioned, it is your day. It's also a good day for me, because she catches up in age a year to me, and so is the normal two years younger vs. slightly-creepy three years younger.

I'm taking her to a Cuban restraunt tonight, at her reccomendation. YUCA, I believe is the name, and I've only heard good things. This will be my first taste of Cuban food. I ignorantly believed it would be something like mexican (or more accurately Tex-Mex), but I've learned that's not the case. I think I'm going to leave the ordering up to her. Actually, at her suggestion I also had my first Thai food, and that turned out pretty good. So, I am probably as eager as she is.

Also, today is unique because I'm playing hooky from work. It's letting me hang out with Becca a bit more than usual, which is cool, and I mean, seriously folks, what better gift could I give than myself? I do feel bangs of guilt, however. Still, this is only my third sick day in a year, and others take much more. I am entitled, after all. Basically, when I leave work, I'll be compensated for all vacation time but not for any sick leave. So, an extra day off isn't so bad. This will likely be the exception and not the rule for me. I have played hooky from school, and also received perfect attendance awards the very next semester. When I go out to dinner tonight I'll still be looking over my shoulder just in case there's a TV sitcom-like coincidence with my boss showing up. Truth me told, though, I think, and KNOW, that noone is missing me today, if even realizing I'm not there. Experience from sitting in a cubicle has taught me that. Still, at the end of the day it's I who lied, but with the best intentions for spending the day with Becca, and preventing the cruelty of boredom and abandoment feelings I'm subjected to each day. I hope I am justified. May God have mercy on my soul.

An Idea

I had a thought the day before yesterday that I'd like to share.

Having spent the the better part of the last five years in Washington, I am soon moving to New York City, for at least a year, if not more.

My thought was that at some point after my time in NY, I should move out of Los Angelos for at least a little while. That way, I can say I've lived in every city that was destroyed in "Independence Day."

When Somebody Loved Me

(Sarah McLachlan sings this in Toy Story 2, which was on last night and the song is in my head. I won't lie, I do get a little choked up when I hear it! Who doesn't?!? You wouldn't be human, otherwise...)

When somebody loved me,
Everything was beautiful
Every hour we spent together lives within my heart
And when she was sad,
I was there to dry her tears
And when she was happy,
So was I
When she loved me

Through the summer and the fall
We had each other, that was all
Just she and I together,
Like it was meant to be

And when she was lonely,
I was there to comfort her
And I knew that she loved me

So the years went by
I stayed the same
But she began to drift away
I was left alone
Still I waited for the day
When she'd say I will always love you

Lonely and forgotten,
I'd never thought she'd look my way
And she smiled at me and held me just like she used to do
Like she loved me
When she loved me

When somebody loved me
Everything was beautiful
Every hour we spent together lives within my heart

When she loved me

The Sunday Routine

Sunday is without a doubt my laziest day of the week. I'd say that my laziness is most due to the fact that I am moping because it's Sunday, and that means tomorrow is Monday, and it's bad to be Monday, the furthest possible point from the next weekend. That even began to spill over into my Saturday nights - tomorrow is Sunday, meaning the next day is Monday, oh no! Thankfully, I've gotten away from that.

So, it's become a mission of mine to give meanings to Sunday. Well, spiritually, I guess, I should keep the Sabbath. If that means not doing work on a Sunday, I am right on track. Going to mass gives me one event in an otherwise uneventful day. Although, that event only gives me something to look forward to during the morning. Getting out at noon leaves me with an empty afternoon left to kill time with.

Sunday afternoon doesn't even work as an errand day. Everything in DC seems to be closed on Sunday with the exception of the grocery store. I've been opting to shop there instead on Saturdays. Freshness at the local Safeway is already slim pickings and often on a Sunday afternoon there's not much left.

Thankfully, TV has become the savior. Sunday night is unquestionably the best night for TV. Sunday night HBO used to make my weeks. Not getting HBO here isn't as painful either, as it seems The Sopranos and Six Feet Under have jumped the shark. There's still 60 Minutes and of course, The Simpsons, both making, as HBO coined it, Mondays that much easier.

I've screamed for...

Ice cream is the cure for the summer heat....and I just got back from picking up my prescription. However, at the risk of sounding like a whiney-brat, my peanut butter cup ice cream was too peanut-buttery.

I should have followed it up with some vanilla to neutralize, though cautiously doing so at the risk of being boring.

MARMAMN

Last night, I had a dream. A vision, really. In my vision, the word was revealed to me. That word, specifically, was "MARMAMN".

OK. Different halves of the brain control dreaming and reading. That's why what you see in a dream is generally gibberish. I do remember that word, and I wanted to find out if it was something...more meaningful. Don't some people dedicate their professional lives to deciphering dreams? I decided to make my own study.

John Lennon, I have heard, from a dream knew to form a band spelled beetles with an “a”....and that turned out pretty good for him. I was giddy this morning and the thought of the infinite joy and power that awaited me as soon as I unraveled the secret of "MARMAMN".

Using the most comprehensive tool at my availability (Google.com), I began my journey into the dark continent of MARMAMN. My trustworthy and faithful guide, Google, told me I was mistaken, and my query was, rather than MARMAMN, spelled MARMAM. Eureka! Salivating to know the splendor that was revealed in the spirit of the prophets of old, I scanned the search results.

MARMAM was an e-mail distribution listing for discussion of marine mammals.

Downer...or was it? Have I been entrusted on a holy mission...that of sea mammals? Has my true calling of a marine biologist been revealed to me? I dunno. Now that I think of it, I'm not all that sure the word was MARMAMN anymore. I hate how you can never remember dreams. Perhaps the true word would have given me insight into a heaven-sent vocation. Unfortunately, I fudged up the message and had to spend yet another day at the Census Bureau.

(Brief) Ancient Story

Every day, the guards searched the thief's wheelbarrel trying to determine if and what he was stealing.

They never discovered the truth: he was stealing wheelbarrels.

Schwarzenegger in "Commando"

"When Arnold has a bad day, everyone has a bad day!"

Caveat Emptor

My computer is going on five years old. For the last -say- three years, it's been making a sort of a grinding noise as it runs. I'm thinking, it's time to put the old girl out to pasture.

I need a new one, and I've been back and forth on what to get. At first I thought I'd replace the desktop, then I thought I should get a notebook. I thought it was brilliant. I could take it when I travel either to Norwalk or DC next year and still be able to do my homework like a good little nerd. It would also be so much smaller, and eliminate a good deal of bulk in the moving process.

Now, I'm thinking I won't be getting as much bang for my buck in the preformance category on a laptop. So, my newest (and maybe dullest) idea is to get a desktop, new, but then buy a laptop on Ebay for cheap.

Are there $10 laptops on Ebay? You betcha? Should I be scared of buying a $10 computer? Ya think?!? However, since I'll likely only be using the laptop for word processing, maybe cheap is the way to go. I feel as though my primary computer would be the desktop, so I'd appreciate as much preformance as I can afford there. I'll talk it over with those who often have more common sense than yours truly, but I just might have something here.

Apple

In today's news it mentioned that actress Gwyneth Paltrow had a new baby daughter, whom she named Apple. Now, I must say the name struck me.

I like apples. The taste, the smell, apple pies, apple sauce, dried apple, apple juice, McIntosh, Washington Delicious, McCoun, Johnny Appleseed should have a frickin' monument (though maybe he does - if so I'll have to make a pilgrimage). "Apple" as a name, now I don't know.

What's up with celebrities naming their children "weird" names? What about John or Harry or Susie? Perfectly good names.

Wielding the vast power that only an employee of the United States Census possesses, this morning I ran a little query into common first names of the last census. Big surprise - Apple didn't show up ("Gwenyth" was ranked #3722, basically the bottom. Go fig.).

That being said, if nothing else the kid will have a useful conversation piece as a name. I hope she grows up to like apples, lest she wallow in bitter irony.

And hey, just any common name wouldn’t always pan out. What if I named my son Chris? Chris Christian? Not so much. Apple Christian? Well, better…

Oh, the places they'll go

“Graduation” is the theme of the weekend. Probably by now, GW’s class of 2004 has entered the “real world”. If anything, it reminded me that a year ago I was in the same position. I began to reflect this morning on where I am now versus a year ago.

I can say that I am more adjusted to the “real world”, if you want to call it that. The first few weeks or months out of school I felt like a fish out of water. I’ve settled into the routine of my life nice, and I do find comfort in that.

Professionally, I’m not all that far along. I spent most of the last year doing literally nothing. I used to think getting paid to do sit around all day would be a good thing, but I forgot to think about the boredom. I’m basically in solitary confinement in my cubicle. I am slowly getting assignments, and I’ll admit my case is more particular; my boss doesn’t have his act together. I did get the assignment of chairing a regularly-scheduled meeting, and those are probably the only skills I can salvage from the wreck of my first job. I’ve decided I can learn from a bad experience: I’ll know what questions to ask during a job interview (my boss very much misled me), and I also know that I don’t want to do what I’m doing now. Upon one year of federal service, there is generally an automatic step grade, so in a couple weeks I’ll be a GS-9. That’s probably the only other thing I can take from the job.

Financially, I’m technically a bit better of but not significantly. I’ve always been able to manage what little money I’ve had, so I didn’t learn anything new there, but I was able to apply that much in the last year. I was able to save 15% a month; that much I’ll grant. However, grad school is still going to leave me in the red. Now that I think of it, even when I pay that off, I’ll probably just be buying a house…will I ever be out of debt? That’s the subject for another post, perhaps.

Academically, I’m worried I’m “out of the loop”. I think I’ve forgotten most of the basics. I’m hoping to fix that the first couple weekends of school, once I get my textbooks. A little review never hurt anyone.

Physically, like my brain, I may be wasting away. I’m about 10 lbs. lighter and per the Census Health Fair a couple weeks ago, a half point under the ideal body fat %. I’m not trying to stay I’m looking good in a swim suit, here. I think I’m starving away. That’s what cooking for yourself will do to you. I should add more butter.

I guess I learn everyday skills…well, everyday….just simple things from figuring out my work benefits to fixing a leaky faucet. I’ll try to keep that up.

I wonder if anyone in today’s graduating class is in for a rude awakening. Actually, I more often wonder about former classmates of my own class, both from Norwalk and college. I wonder what they’re up to, and how certain people could possibly be getting by on their own. The reunion should be interesting.

Is anyone listening?

Quick Update: I did see Troy last night; it did most definitely blow. Hollywood whored-out Homer's epic to make some money. Basically everything was changed was in the movie, not like just one thing. Imagine a "Romeo and Juliet" where Juliet's parents kill Romeo in the finale, but then MacDuff and Laertes show up and kill them.

But moving on...

A tree falling in an empty forest does not make a noise, and noone is going to be reading these posts. Maybe I'll keep it like that for a while, but eventually I'll put a link up to this page in my profile perhaps. I'd like to have some potential to get an audience. Maybe keeping one will be harder.

The Trojan Bore?

I’m going to see “Troy” tonight. The buzz from one critic so far isn’t all that great; supposedly it’s a dumbed-down action epic. If I recall, it was labeled “the Cliffnotes version of Homer’s works”. I don’t think that’s a total surprise, less people are probably into classical Greek epic poetry than are into something a little more “Braveheart”.

Well, fine. I’m not going to sit here and say I don’t like a good battle scene. In fact, I like them very much. Maybe too much. So, I’m all for a good war movie. There are any number of stories of war from antiquity that could have been told, but “Troy” was made, and I think the tragedy will be that it ain’t the mythology you remember from 6th grade.

The gods are left out, and at least some people I know are sad about it. Both the producers and I agree that showing a guy in a toga up there hurling down lighting bolts would be a little corny, but the movie may leave too much missing. Isn’t the ‘judgment of Paris’ myth one of the great stories of that myth cycle? That story was totally dropped. It could have at least been alluded to.

When I studied classics in college, I would often daydream of how this would look as a movie. My vision was to not show the gods but indicate their presence. For instance, as a priest prays to a god, lighting in the distance could begin striking. Maybe that’s corny too, but it’s something. I should have sold my script.

OK, maybe I’m judging before I’ve seen the film. Maybe it will be great. There are certainly possibilities for a sequel, from obviously the Odyssey to the Aeneid to even Electra. The Odyssey will be impossible to be done without the monsters, so maybe I should get working on that script.

I think the movie will have some redeeming qualities. They got the right person to play Helen if nothing else. I’ll have a more defined opinion by the end of the evening. I’ll only hope Homer isn’t rolling over in his grave.

Enter T.J.

I turned 23 today. Or I will, at 6:36, to be precise. Yes, it's the 23rd anniversary of May 13th, 1981, Anno Domini...the 2nd year under the presidency of Ronald Reagan, 2734 years since the founding of Rome...I could go on...

The day is off to a good start. Here at work, noone knows it's my birthday. It's like I'm carrying this happy secret around. Or, it's like a funny little inside joke and noone gets it but me.

My birthday makes the whole month of May good. It makes gives the whole month this freshness. Today, my own special day, for me, is the source of all that goodness.

For some reason, this day seems to be bad luck for other people. One year my brother broke his arm on my birthday. On the day I was born, the pope was shot. Those are just two examples. Still, it always seems to be a good day for me. Even when it falls on a Friday.

Since my birthday is on the 13th, occasionally my birthday will fall on a Friday the 13th. Actually, I turned 13 on Friday the 13th. I did the math and figured out a would a few years before it actually happened, and I was so excited. I love to tell people even now that I turned 13 on Friday the 13th but noone ever seems as excited as I am...what's wrong people, get with it!!!

Turning the year that corresponds with your date of birth is sometimes referred to as your "golden year". E.g., 25 if you're born on the 25th, or 8 on the 8th. I don't remember 13 as a particularly golden year in my life. I'm sure I've had better, actually. Aren't your golden years supposed to be your senior years? No month gets up into the 60s. Maybe that tradition is really old, back when life expectancy only 30-35.

Anyway, my birthday seems to be bad luck for others. Every year I wonder if anything really bad will happen. Watching the news about a month ago, I noticed April 20th also seems to be a day that unfortunate events seem to be drawn to. The Columbine shootings, for instance. Those born on that day get to share a birthday with Adolf Hitler, and also all marijuana smoker's national holiday. I guess if it is your birthday and you're into that kind of thing you'd have a pretty wild party, but if you're not like most people your birthday just has a bit of gloom thrown on it, with that and all else. Actually, I do know someone with that birthday, and while I'm thinking of it now, I forgot to wish her a happy birthday, so if it's not too late (thought it likely is) Happy Belated Birthday!!!

Of all the ages I turned, I think turning 17 was the biggest deal, because then I got to be admitted into rated R movies, something I actually used. Since the law changed in CT, I wasn't able to get my license at 16, so that wasn't a big deal. I don't drink, so turning 21 wasn't a big deal, either. Since I was at the time having a little trouble with an army recruitment officer who was hot on recruiting me, when I turned 18 my birthday card from my mom simply said "Happy Birthday...don't sign ANYTHING!".

There's a statistical problem, where you can calculate the probability of two students in a class of a given size have the same birthday. As "n", the number of students in the class, increases, naturally, the probability of two students in the class having the same birthday increases. The next step is to figure out at what point "n" makes it 50/50. Then, if you know what "n" is in your own class, you can make a bet whether or not there are two (or more) students with the same birthday, depending on what the odds are for either side. I forget what the value of "n" is that makes it 50/50, having solved the problem about three years ago, but I think it's fairly high, and this problem was geared towards a lecture class setting. Now, my senior year English class of high school, in a class of about twenty, there were three of us with birthdays on the same day: me, Mike, and Scott. That was some coincidence, I have no clue what the odds are of that! It makes for a random, off the wall talking point, though.

This is the first year of breaking my rule of always wearing shorts on my birthday (it's a little tougher in Connecticut!). I can't get away with that at work, but I'll change as soon as I get home.

I never expected much from my birthday outside of stuffed shrimp (my traditional birthday dinner) and a Carvel ice cream cake. I had to give those traditions up, too, however, when I went to college and missed being home for the first year. Not a big deal. This year I'm going to try and snag an ice cream cake when I go home for memorial day.

And yes, I'm 23 now. I once used to think 23 was old, but I'm pushing that back to about 30 or 35 now. Now I'm truly deep into my 20s. I don't know how this happened. People in there 50s would probably be telling me to shutup right now. Anyway, it's true, I'm a twenty-something.

Last year was a pretty good birthday. I will be happy with this year as well. Unfortunately unlike last year I'm stuck at work I already got a voice mail from my brother who called at midnight last night, which was nice, and an e-mail and call from Becca. Tonight Becca is taking me to Old Glory in Georgetown, which is supposed to be really great food. It's supposed to be one of those places you to need to go to while you're living in DC at least once. Good American food.

Anyway, it will and always will every year be a good day regardless of what happens, if for no other reason than that it's my birthday.