December 29, 2005

Future posts..

Filed under: Entries — arglor @ 2:55 pm

I’m at work right now. I’m between training sessions, with a quick
moment to speak. I can’t say much about my job, other then it is
interesting.

I am wiped out though. I slept last night like a brick, when I actually
got up for work this morning my calf muscle pinched and tightened like a
brick. Pain was endured. IT hurt. doubling over in pain the cats eyed
me as I gave minor gasps of exasperation. They stared at me with a
concern for survival. not sure they knew what was going on.

tick tock.

December 28, 2005

Holiday gifts given and received.

Filed under: Entries — arglor @ 10:21 pm

I just got back from home. It certainly was interesting.

My parents enjoyed their gifts, and i believe my brother also enjoyed his.

Mary loved her gifts. Here is a summary of one scenario i am particularly proud of, even if the thieving skills necessary may have only been relevant for me. BTW, none of my family noticed the work i put into the gift/wrapping. Gift unwrapping was a bit chaotic this year.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
– I received David Bowie’s Scary Monsters in the mail from Barnes and Nobles gift wrapped.
– I purchased a silver tear necklace from Tiffany’s and co.
– Deftly unwrapping the DBSM cd wrapping paper, removing the cd case from its plastic encasement while maintaining the integrity of the plastic wrap, and maintaining even the security seal on the cd case, I replaced the cd with the necklace.
– Carefully re-wrapping the case as though untouched, I placed the cd under the tree.
– During some minor banter it came to my attention she knew exactly what was “supposed” to be in the wrapping paper – Scary Monsters.
– Christmas morning, Mary opens her present and nods placing the cd case on the table with a smile of satisfaction. I ponder briefly. I instruct her that she should open the case fully. She asks why? I try and skirt it off as though it would be good enough to play now. She cocks an eye brow and opens it up. After opening the box fully she sees the “tiffany’s and co” designer necklace holder. Her look reads complete perplexity and soft disappointment.

I was a mite bit dissappointed. I explained quickly the cd was in the back. She opened the necklace holder and smiled exclaiming that the necklace was beautiful.

Was it worth the effort hiding the necklace? No. Later of course she told me that she was very pleased with it. I’m still dissappointed with the lack of reaction. It is my own fault. I told her i broke the Christmas price limit drastically. I’m spontaneous.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Gifts given:
– The Absolute Watchmen (Trey: Intention: To help begin his library of collections)
– G-Force Video Card (Trey: Intention: to give him access to a relaxing past-time)
– Microwave (Mom and Dad: Intention: Necessity? I know boring, but they did say they needed a microwave.)
– Chinese Checker Board (Mom and Dad: Intention: To help give them access to more family memories. I called them so many times and Mom, Dad, Amanda, and Trey would be playing Chinese Checkers. This is before Rita of course. I hope they can continue it again.)
– Dread Pirate Jup (Mary: Intention: to immortalize the little Fuc**r piece of sh*t cat.)
– Silver Tear Necklace (Mary: Intention: to replace a failure of the past, in marking the woman of my dreams.)

That’s all the big presents i gave. There were a few minor presents i gave to Mary for her stocking stuffer like a DVD of Galaxy Quest and a stuffed kitty, but nothing major.

Gifts I received:
– DVDs all Widescreen and beautifully chosen (Explanation of pleasure: These are going to be the beginning of a much wider collection of favorite films. I hope to have many films one day.)
= Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
= I ♥ Huckabees
= Finding Neverland
= Lost in Translation
– Batman’s first appearance comics in Detective issues. (Explanation: This means a lot to me. Mary and I have argued a great deal about comic art, and its role as a method of human expression, which i call Art. The argument has been heated at times. I take this gift as a token of love and acceptance. She may not like the art-form and she may believe it to not be a valid/worthy/important piece of human expression, but she accepts my enjoyment of it. She understands that i find the art form interesting and worth some attention. Lately she has allowed me to rattle off my beliefs about super-heroes without telling me they are trite, 2-dimensional, and, my favorite, cookie cutter. So hopefully this lasts. I hope to begin my own personal adventure into this territory soon.)
– 2 tickets to spamalot! SPAM SPAM SPAM!
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Guard: What? A swallow carrying a coconut?
Arthur: It could grip it by the husk!
Guard: It’s not a question of where he grips it! It’s a simple question of weight ratios! A five ounce bird could not carry a one pound coconut.
Arthur: Well, it doesn’t matter. Will you go and tell your master that Arthur from the Court of Camelot is here?
Guard: Listen. In order to maintain air-speed velocity, a swallow needs to beat its wings forty-three times every second, right?
Arthur: Please!
Guard: Am I right?

This is just going to be funny as hell.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
– Mysterious sword rack (Explanation: No Clue. I remember saying, ” I do not want a sword rack for christmas…” But apparently that meant, “I do not think i could live without a sword rack for christmas.” I can see where the confusion lies. Explanation B: Mary was sick and tired of seeing my sword gather dust in a corner and so got me a rack. BTW did you know i bought a katana at the rennaisance fair? Not sure i told anyone.)
– Unknown gift from trey. (Explanation: Gift unknown. ETA for knowledge gained: Monday of next week.)
– Trey also gave me a Starcraft Zealot action Figurine. It is kewl.
– Far Side non-sequitur calandar. I hope it keeps me centered at my new job.
– Gift certificate to Barnes and Nobles. Awesome. I hear it is a kewl store.

I may have left some stuff off. I can’t remember exactly at this moment.

December 22, 2005

i’m not sure i can sleep.

Filed under: Entries — arglor @ 12:50 am

I feel tired, but i hate flying. I had a whole year of flight to learn that the experience isn’t enjoyable. It makes me feel physically ill.

I want to get a job where dropping 400 dollars on a round trip ticket doesn’t set me back. I’m tired of trying to find the 100 dollar fairs and building my life around them. Being forced on a three leg trip because it was all i could find on the way back. Buying tickets so far in advance that I have no real say in them.

buying tickets out of a city that has recently had an MTA strike. I’m worried i won’t be able to find a cab. I’m worried i’ll miss the plane. I’m so worried i can’t sleep.

I’ve flown way to much for it to be a novelty anymore. I want to make it less of a sink hole. And so, i vow now in front of everyone reading this that i will not be such a tight ass with my tickets next time. I will shell out the extra hundred dollars to go to newark instead. I will fly at decent times like 9:00 am. I will make it a 2 leg flight or less.

oh well… but thats neither here nor there… because i’m going tomorrow… i may need to catch a wink or so. hope i don’t forget anything… i got fred’s treat.

December 21, 2005

Movies

Filed under: Entries — arglor @ 8:10 pm

I’ve seen some pretty good movies, but one sticks out at this moment.

Donnie Darko.

I recently went to party this weekend and there was much discourse about this movie. It forced me to renew interest in the movie. Trey had told me how awesome the movie was, but he also alluded to how it was a bit thrillerish. I kept thinking of the movie IT and decided not to watch it.

Then i went to www.donniedarko.com and it made me think wtf is this movie. Then i watched it.

Great fucking movie. I told trey what i believe the movie is about and my arguments for why. IT is a good movie. I also love the sound track. Makes me think of my childhood.

December 20, 2005

Ok I’ll do it.

Filed under: Entries — arglor @ 9:40 pm

Just an addendum, read my comment below. I wrote this blog entry incorrectly. I meant to say a lot more then i did, but it ended up just degrading into a discourse about the surplus and it’s effect

I’m stepping into the quagmire that is the MTA strike, and offering my opinion along with hopes and desires.

Today the TWU walked out creating the first strike since 1980. Wow i’ve memorized that date.

None the less
Demands as I know of them:
– 8% raise over next three years (correction i misunderstood this, it is 8% raise per year for three years)
– maintain healthcare coverage
– maintain pension plan

Repurcutions of the strike:
– All public transportation around Manhattan and other burrows shut down completly.
– 1 million dollar fine to the TWU per day strike continues
– For every day absent, 2 days pay will be docked from the worker.

The strike is unreal. I believe it stems from the recently announced 1 billion dollar budget surplus that was horribly mishandled. I think it is strange that a group of city employees that make 45,000-55,000 dollars annually are asking for a raise. Then it hit me. The reason they ask for a raise is becuase the money was there, and they have no real say in how the money was used.

The MTA ruled that they would be “Giving” the money back to the “people” by making it cost only 1.00 for weekend travel using the metro services. This only works for people who purchase pay per ride tickets, and not people who have unlimited tickets. In other words, it helps the tourists and the visitors but not the workers and New Yorkers. So in a roundabout manner they are giving the money to strangers.

What happened when this brilliant move occurs? The TWU says they are not respected and that the new contract is dishonorable to the transit employees as a whole. AND THEN the MTA blames the TWU for striking. I say the MTA shoulders half the blame for not seeing the repurcutions of their actions.

OH well. 45,000 is a lot of f-ing money if you ask me. But is it enough to be in traffic or a tunnel for 50% of my life? I don’t know. oh yeah they have a pension. That sounds nice. I’ve heard of one of those, but dind’t think they were real.

December 19, 2005

trials and tribulations of StryxDomina

Filed under: Entries — morpheus @ 8:43 pm

her tales amaze you, but until it occurs first hand you never know the fury that may be wrought.

I was graced with the prescience of my cousin StryxDomina this weekend. It was a very awesome visitation. We explored many parts of Manhattan I have yet to see as per post before, but today was to be her last half day in NYC. She had plans. Mainly to go to NYC and see wall street during a work day. Apparently her phone had plans also. Those plans didn’t involve being charged up nice and ready for extensive discourse.

-> point of reference, she asked me why she seemed to attract conservative men and I wish I had had presence of mind to alert her to the fact that going to wall street wasn’t the best way to not attract conservative men. Just a post thought.

So we decided the best route would be to get my landlord to buzz her in and leave my apartment door unlocked so she could into the house and retrieve her bags. OH my. Little did we know we have a third party that has equal access to our apartment. He has been recently in a contest for Queen. I forgot he comes into our apartment and washes his clothes. I forgot. I sooooo should have left a note to maintain the unlocked status of the door. But I did not. Stryx’s travel luck is such that the door was locked. I gave her my keys to get into the apartment. So now as we speak she is racing back to my home and grab her belongings, then she is going to race to LGA and hopefully catch her plane that is supposed to be leaving the airport at 5:03.

I’m hopeful, but I’m also on contingency mode.

But of course there is no real way for me to know if she didn’t make it to the plane because she doesn’t have a fully charged cell phone, unless she borrows someone else’s phone to make the call.

I feel bad, had I thought more in advance I’d have remembered to write a note for our next door neighbor. But I did not.

That is a lot of failure’s in a row. Stryx is bad luck when it comes to traveling. Remind me never to plan a trip to Europe with her ;).

December 18, 2005

evening’s festivities…

Filed under: Entries — arglor @ 12:31 am

Michelle came to visit. We spent a majority of today walking. I took her on my aimless catch everything tour. We went to NYC via PATH to 33rd street and walked from there to times square, then to rockefeller center, stopped at some places and did a little last minute shopping, then aimlessly meandered through central park, paying homage to frozen lakes, alice visiting from wonderland, an egyptian obelisk, and other various sights on a path that was destined to bring us to the guggenheim. Then we made our way back.

Most disturbing image: A statue of a woman with the skin of half her head on down to her privates ripped off. She was pregnant so you saw the child in the womb.

Most memorable sight: An obelisk brought all the way from Egypt. one huge chunk of sandy material.

After returning home from this expedition, I ended up getting home in time to go to a friend of our’s holiday party. It was fun. There were a lot of people there i did not know. It was highly enjoyable. After minor political discourse, in which i was sorely able to contribute, We began breaking into our own groups. Mat and I talked about DnD for a bit. He was a bit concerned about my new character and what i’ve been thinking about playing. That talk lasted a bit. I told him my character ideas. He thought up a few quirks himself. But then the fun began. Mat and a few friends began talking about television which caused me to exit the room and i was thrust into a discourse about current day films.

It was great. We were talking about various movies all over the spectrum. Kung fu fighting for some reason was one of the wavelengths of movie type discussed. I didn’t really participate in that portion of the discourse.

We moved from the invariably great films of our modern day like fight club, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, momento, etc into more eclectic movies that are good and new and not necessarily accepted like saddest music in the world, spring summer fall winter and spring, etc.. I’m rambling at this point.

It was a good night. I enjoyed the discussion. Didn’t feel out of place at all. It was awesome. No one pointed out my lack of alcoholic beverage which was nice.

December 13, 2005

robbed from Mealymel’s late night delirium

Filed under: Entries — arglor @ 12:08 am

HASH(0x8cb82c8)
“…”
You are THE LONE WOLF.
Armageddon hasn’t affected you as much as it has
other people. In fact you quite enjoy this dead
new world as there are less people around to
bother you or tell you what to do. Although you
might join a group for a while, your loyalty is
only to yourself and at a whim you’re likely to
take off again. It’s a lonely life but it’s one
that you’re happy with.
Typical skills: Bushcraft, ability to consume
massive amounts of alcohol.
In your free time you: Hone your paranoia.
Chances of survival: Low (you have to sleep
sometime)
Secondary class: THE SCOUT

After The Zombie Apocalypse, Which Role Will You Fit Into? (11 possible results!)
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December 12, 2005

So life, the usual, and everything left.

Filed under: Entries — arglor @ 9:48 pm

On Sunday i commited Seppuko. It is a long story, but suffice it to say there was several other deaths in conjunction to mine. It is just my lord died right before my eyes and i was fluttering around the head of an embecile. What can a man do after your lord is utterly destroyed.

shed your armor and sheath the dagger in it’s home.

Now i need to design a new destiny, but first lets look in a few more windows.

I watched a moving castle a couple days ago, Howl’s to be exact. That was very japanese. The storyline was very well written. Beautiful artwork, like usual. The ideas flowed, but were not neccessarily cohesive. I can honestly say i enjoyed the aspects of the film though.

And a couple minutes ago i finished a beautiful film, the title is mirror mask. Jim Hennson…….. all i have to say is they are my god. Their set design work in that film demonstrates a beauty i’ve not seen in a long time, apparently all they need is an artist with a vision to make it work. Apparenlty if they are given a style, nothing stops them. The concept was designed by Neil Gaimen and Dave McKean. Comic buffs should recognize both of those names. Literary snobs should loathe the first. Dave McKean’s artistic vision is poigniant. I love it.

Ok here i go, Neil Gaimen’s script was not horrible. That is the most i can say about it. It comes down to this, He has a type and sticks with it. He isn’t the best idea creator, but manipulator he is a genius of a sorts, if a genius can be qualified as one who manipulates other ideas?. In the end, the script didn’t fail the movie. It did what it was supposed to do. Sure sure, you say it is the alice in wonderland story retold…. the labrynth story retold… the story of OZ … retold… and i tell you yes…. you are right. He even ressurrects mythology’s riddles and shoves them back to us. The question i have is this, wasn’t a storyteller’s main job to alter the tales of the past to conform to today? If so he is a masterwork storyteller, not a writer, not a literary scholar, just a story-teller. AND his story wasn’t bad, in fact it was good. It succeeded in all the other stories, his translation wasn’t bad at all. not at all.

The film was very artistically done. I want the DVD now, but it doesn’t come out on dvd till february……. right.. feburary.

soooo my new life… i think i’m going to be a gnostic….. yes…. a gnostic… perhaps a seeker… that sounds interesting… focus my life on finding the truth.

December 8, 2005

today has to be the most boring day of my life.

Filed under: Entries — morpheus @ 5:01 pm

My office has been commandeered. I’m residing outside my office. I do not have much work I need to do, because we have gotten very few drafts back from partners. I am just sitting here. Lucky to be sitting I guess, DN left early today so his desk was free. I could be twiddling my fingers standing up. I AM SO BORED!

so let me think of something to do.

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