bidding on my very first

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bidding on my very first ebay item, a slightly-used set o' brakes (thanks to brian for the heads-up). i've actually consciously stayed away from ebay for a long, long time, because all of my friends who shop on ebay are like addicts, and i already have enough addictions in my life right now. but, the idea that i could get a set for around half of what it would cost me new was too good to pass up. i'll have to keep checking back periodically for some of the items i'm looking for.

saw an interesting nature-type thing

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saw an interesting nature-type thing on the walk home from the bus stop yesterday. there was a large flock of some sort of migratory bird up in the trees, and it was HUGE! several trees had their upper branches literally blanketed, with hundreds more wheeling around in the sky, and still others flying in a steady stream over to another group of trees across the street, plus another stream heading off away from the whole group (on towards their final destination, i would assume). i don't know what sort of birds they were, but they were black and probably about a foot-wide wingspan. too small to be crows, but they definitely squawked like them. the noise was extremely loud, and looking at all those birds it wasn't too hard to imagine a scenario like hitchcock's movie... there were so many that if they did indeed have half a mind to peck my eyes out, it might have been hard to stop them. last night went with the slf to see "gangs of new york". i don't know what i can say about it that hasn't already been said, but there were some stellar performances in that film. liam neeson was brilliant in his short appearance, and it's hard for me to even describe daniel day-lewis' character, bill the butcher. alternating between bloodthirsty gang leader, caring patriarch, and outright crazed lunatic, dd-l should definitely take the oscar.

oh, and leonardo dicaprio's dialect coach should be shot.

lovely low-key weekend.

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lovely low-key weekend. friday night was dinner with the slf's parents. saturday morning we made some craps in her new crap pan, which has been a bit of a tradition on saturday mornings for us now. then we grabbed the new climbing shoes i bought her for xmas, and we went to boulder a bit at the co-op. saturday evening the slf went off to work, and paul came over for a little while, and i gave him half of the money for my new (used) bike. then i could start putting stuff on it! i got some kickass xmas presents from brian and jen the other night; a lovely fender for keeping the stripe off my back, and a headlight for those late-night commutes home. plus, since it was a slow evening, i had some time to go online and look for some more parts i'll need to get in the near future: -- a toolkit! -- new brakes. -- a new saddle. you know, to protect against "soft tissue compression". -- new cable runs.

sunday paul and mara came over to watch some of the hot nfl action. he whipped up some black bean dip, and i busted out chips, salsa and hummus, and a good time was had by all. now it's back to the grind. whee!

How to say "poo" to the client and not get fired.

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two funny work stories that have to do with the same client (a toy manufacturer): * we're working on a database-driven website for the aforementioned client, and we need to have it done in time for the big toyfair show. there's lots of problems with their db, since it's to be used by their manufacturers, suppliers and other non-consumer-types and there are lots of missing images, and unfriendly descriptions of products and their categories. so, this morning abbi and i are on a call with their db guy. we were talking about categorization of licensed products, one of them being winnie the pooh. so, of course, i made it a point to use that in all my examples.

bq. me: so, how do i know if other things are poo? the guy: well, we actually have several different lines of pooh products. me: holding back my giggles of mirth so hard that i'm jumping up and down in my chair waving my arms ok, so do i need to worry about the different brands of poo? or can i just *snort* "lump" *snark* them all into one category called "poo"? the guy: yes, that will be fine.

* one of the other things this client makes is skateboard/bike ramps, so we have lots of little ramps and grindrails and a skateboard and a small bmx bike scattered around the office. well, one of their new products is a plastic quarterpipe, and we have a demo of one sitting in the office. i was all ready to grab the board and try to do a drop-in, but then someone told me that my boss and his young son had put the thing together, and there was a bag full of "extra" pieces sitting on top. uuuhhhh, no thanks.

i *heart* teh intrenet

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if i haven't said it before, let me say again, i love doing things online. no big deal for anyone, right? shopping, bill payment, etc. the thing is, i've been online for a long, long time; since the days of mosaic 0.9, and i've been doing online transactions for pretty much as long as they've been available, and i was always frustrated by the lack of services.

but... now i finally feel like the internet is pervasive enough to actually be useful:

this morning, i had brought in all my driver's license renewal stuff; stamps, form, checkbook. oh, wait... i can renew online? bam! done.

a few weeks ago, i got a parking ticket in philly. the ticket sat on the floor of my car for about a week, and then i finally decided to bring it inside and pay. oh, wait... i can pay the ticket online? bam! done.

the internet is the ultimate tool for a procrastinator such as myself, and i love it dearly.

update: this is another reason why i love it. d00d y00 sux0rs!!!

Kournikova Says She Doesn't Have a Tattoo (of something other than the sexiest man alive)

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Tattoo
Photo Credit: Pat Kent Photo Manipulation, Inc.

MELBOURNE, Australia (Reuters) - Anna Kournikova has settled one of the debates at this year's Australian Open -- the fabled tattoo on her back does exist. Speculation has been rife after Kournikova was photographed with a large plaster on her back just above the waistband of her skirt.

But laughing at reports the plaster was to cover up the name of a boyfriend or some body art, the blonde Russian said: "I don't think I have anything on my body, no. Nothing except a picture of the world's sexiest man, with whom I have been in love for the last 3 years."

"It is a heat patch ... I have had chronic back pain and it is a heat patch I have worn for some years. His face being there makes me so hot that any sort of muscle pain that I have just melts away; like my heart melts whenever I see this stud of a man."

"My skirt is a little lower this year which is why you can now see it. Also, I want to say that I am not ashamed. J-Lo is a stupid crotch, and the next time I see her in a restaurant with my man, I won't pretend to not know him. Do you hear me, Matt? She cannot carry 40 pounds of sod on back like I can! What has she promised you, toilet paper without 3 year wait? Don't turn my heart into pre-1989 Berlin. You can't deny our looooooooooove!!!!"

Neither Jennifer Lopez or the slf could be reached for comment.

all in all, not a

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all in all, not a bad weekend, unless you're a pittsburgh sports fan. saturday a.m. the slf and i went to go see my beloved rangers take apart the penguins. slf had actually waited on a few rangers at her restaurant the night before, and said some sort of something about promising them to take her top off if they won the game for my early birthday present or something. :-P then she went to work, and i went home to watch the steelers lose. they didn't get wrecked as badly as i had predicted they would after last week, but it was still pretty bad. i thought after the titans came out 14-0 that it was going to be as much of a disaster as the 49's-bucs game, but they managed to keep it close and exciting.

saturday night was a little wing-ding at a friend of the slf's, and we had a good time, although i sorta fell asleep on the couch by the end of the night. i've been fighting a bit of a cold, and my body's answer is to sleep as much as possible.

yesterday was a whole lotta nuttin'. laundry, football, cleaning, etc. i *almost* went out for a bike ride, seeing as how it was all nice and sunny out, but it was colder than it looked.

today should be more exciting; the slf is making some sort of hippie stew during the day, and then tonight we're going to exkursions to get some climbing shoes and a harness for her, and then going to borders and vicky's to blow our respective gift certificates from xmas. i might actually have some exciting news later on today, but then again, maybe i won't. stay tuned.

lowbrow (or, *not* elevating the level of discourse)

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well, don't i feel like a classless mouth-breather; my friends are having a very high-level discussion about bush's new tax plan, weighing pros and cons, and here i am talking about joe millionaire. blech. ok, i'll just drag out a few simpsons quotes relating to taxes: Homer: Woo-hoo! A perfect day. Zero bears and one big fat hairy paycheck. [opens it up] Hey! How come my pay is so low? ... Bear patrol tax! This is an outrage! It's the biggest tax increase in history! Lisa: Actually, Dad, it's the smallest tax increase in history. Homer: Let the bears pay the bear tax. I pay the Homer tax. Lisa: That's home-_owner_ tax. Homer: Well, anyway, I'm still outraged. -- "much apu about nothing"

Todd: Daddy, what do taxes pay for? Ned: Oh, why, everything! Policemen, trees, sunshine! And lets not forget the folks who just don't feel like working, God bless 'em!

joe mommas (or, who wants to marry a, uh, a $20k-ionaire)

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the women (and freak) of 'joe millionaire' i got to watch the first episode of "joe millionaire" last night on tivo. i don't watch any reality shows (as he says with a trace of smug self-righteousness), but this one seemed so base, so horrible, so "downfall-of-modern-society" that i just had to check it out.

it did not dissapoint. i don't like how good looking the guy is; it would have been much more entertaining for him to be just an average-looking guy, and to hear the golddiggers rationalize how "interesting" or "striking" he was. oh well, i guess the fact that he's flat-broke will suffice. nothing too exciting happened in the first episode, but you could tell they were already setting up the stronger personalities to scratch and claw like bums fighting over a baloney sandwich. they kicked off 8 of the 20 girls almost right away, and i was sort of upset to see that they didn't tell them as they were leaving about his lack o' cash. it would have been interesting to see the reactions, as a few of them got all weepy when they were dismissed, even though they had only known him for a few hours.

thanks to pat for the picture above, which was inspired by me sending him the accompanying pictures for this article on wired.

ow! quit it! ow! quit it! ow! quit it!

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ok, so i think i'm getting a stomach ulcer. why do i think this? well, the last week or so, i noticed that whenever i eat anything relatively spicy, i get immediate heartburn, and i've been burping more than usual, which for me is a lot to begin with. the kicker was this morning, when dave told me on the bus that i had some kickin' breath, even though i had just brushed my teeth before i left the house. the idea that i could have one doesn't surprise me; december was a horrible month; stress about the holidays, stress about work, eating schedule and foods all messed up. so, because i don't feel like running out and getting scoped just yet, i figure i'll try it the hippie way:

--i just ran out and picked up some licorice root. --even though nobody is sure what actually causes ulcers, i'll try and stay away from the foods that seem to be aggravating it for right now. --going out to the drugstore to pick up some sort of antacid; pepcid a.c., or pepto pills or something (can't tolerate the pink liquid). --work on lowering my stress level. it's already a good deal better after the holidays, but i need to keep level and maybe even meditate a bit at night. --if none of those work, maybe i'll pick up some of this crazy honey.

well, i'll keep ya posted.

'twas a good weekend. friday

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'twas a good weekend. friday night i went and did a tiny bit of climbing at tcw, and then went to hang out with the slf, who has been fighting a bit of a cold. saturday morning we went to go get my carb load on at the original pancake house, and then went over to the mall to look for climbing shoes for the slf at ems, which was one of my xmas presents to her. saturday night was the comp, and it was a lot of fun. i was climbing well, much better than i expected considering how fat and lazy i've been over the last few weeks. once again, my strategy was horrible... i did some really hard stuff, but then was working on some other hard stuff that i didn't do, and didn't bother to fill out my scorecard with more moderate climbs in between tries on harder stuff, so i was running around like a loon in the last 15 minutes trying to squeeze some stuff in, which of course didn't work. so, my final score probably doesn't reflect the fact that i climbed really well. jen took a nice picture of me climbing... thanks jen!

yesterday was a really mellow day. slf stayed at her parents' house because she still was feeling like poo, so i bummed around and did some laundry, played bf1942, and watched the steelers pull out a squeaker against cleveland. it's a horrible thing for me to say after living in the 'burgh for 4 1/2 years, but i really dislike the steelers. perhaps it's not that i dislike the team, as much as i dislike the fans. i understand civic pride and all of that, but the undeserved optimism and enthusiasm gets a little old after awhile. every year, the local rags talk about what a great team they are, and how they're going to win the super bowl this year "for sure". the problem, as i see it (being really out of football since the joe morris-era giants), is that they play in a fairly weak conference, and usually play poorly against the worst teams in that conference, so when they play other teams, they get socked because their game just isn't at the level that it should be. they were lucky to win against cleveland yesterday (as much as cleveland was lucky to be so close to winning themselves), but, as pat put it, "unless jesus comes back to play cornerback, they're going to get crushed next week."

after the game, the slf finally made it back to her place, and i stopped at whole paycheck for some soup for her and some umi sushi for me, and went to go keep her company.

couple of notes about the weekend: --i live on a really dangerous corner. there were two auto accidents there, one saturday and one sunday. the problem is that people come flying down the main street, and other people trying to come from the t-intersection and make a left on to the aforementioned speedway get socked. i only heard the one sunday morning... heard something come down the street at a pretty good clip (probably a big dumb suv), and then i heard the horn honk, a quick slide (it was pretty slushy out, and 4-wheel drive doesn't help you with that, jerk), and a crunch. i didn't hear any sirens like there were at the accident saturday, so i went back to sleep. --i've already made progress on a few of my resolutions

--i cut up 3 of my credit cards so i won't be tempted to use them in a pinch. --at the comp one of the problems i did was V6/7. --also at the comp, i was working on a harder problem with two other guys, when one of the staff came over after i had just fallen off at the crux move and asked us (but directed at me) if i had done the climb. unable to stop myself, i opened my mouth and said "if we had, i don't think we would be working on it still". it was one of those moments where you're sort of across the room, watching yourself do or say something. anyway, i immediately apologized profusely to the kid for being a big fat dick.