Horse sense

July 30, 2004 on 5:57 am | In Uncategorized

Sometimes, when my coworkers and I feel like some fresh air, we head out to the basketball courts and shoot a quick came of Horse.

Today, a complete stranger approached and asked if he could join our game. We were about to finish the first game, and said he should join the next game.

He did.

For his first shot, he calmly walked out to half court, aimed, and shot. Nothing but net.

One co-worker said, “I’ll take the letter,” without attempting the shot. I tried and failed.

He proceeded to win, with the three of us all getting out on the same turn. He had no letters.

No Comments - post one!
Possibly related posts:
  • Where will it stop?
  • Remembered
  • March 9th, 2002
  • Horses, Ass
    •

    QE Queued, iBook Booked

    July 29, 2004 on 5:23 am | In Uncategorized

    QE has arrived, as of yesterday.

    It is utter chaos. Dr. Ian Malcolm would be thrilled. I am saving all of my numerous notes, as is Lauren, and at some point I shall share when the NDA police aren’t looking, or are wearing dark shades provided for them by various Queer Eyes.

    My Titanium PowerBook has been shipped to a lucky buyer in Texas.

    How? Yesterday, after Queer Eye madness finally concluded, I went to The Apple Store at The Grove. I found a blue-shirted salesman and said:

    “I would like a 14-inch, 1.2 GHz iBook with an upgrade to 512 MB RAM and the Combo Drive, please.”

    Salesman: “I like a customer who knows what he wants.”

    Lex: “You like me, then.”

    Salesman wasn’t sure he could offer me Lauren’s education discount without Lauren’s presence. Salesman now knows all about Queer Eye. I got the discount. I also got a FireWire cable. I didn’t get a brand new iPod for $99.00 which I could have done with my iBook purchase. Perhaps I should have. Maybe I will go back with my receipt. Decisions, decisions.

    Back at Marnie’s house (since I can’t return to my own), I FireWire’d everything I needed from Ti to i. It was fast.

    I wiped the TiBook. It was a slower process.

    I FedEx’d the TiBook today. From purchase of replacement laptop to shipment of old laptop was 15 hours — tops. (Get it?)

    No Comments - post one!
    Possibly related posts:
  • Two Finger Salute
  • Introvertical
  • Adaptation
  • I am almost an elite hacker.
    •

    Last before-the-fact update

    July 27, 2004 on 3:00 pm | In Uncategorized

    Through my window, I have seen the Queer Eyes… and they are hot. Mostly male, but I’m comfortable enough in my heterosexuality to comment on the fact that those were some fine men I just saw.

    No Comments - post one!
    Possibly related posts:
  • Et Tu, U2?
  • New SNL Season
  • July 8th, 2003
  • April 17th, 2002
    •

    Guess Who’s Coming (Out) to Dinner

    July 27, 2004 on 1:28 pm | In Uncategorized

    Today’s the big day. At 7:30, the location manager for Queer Eye for the Straight Girl, the man responsible for loads of week-long reserved parking on my street, will arrive. We’ll sign one more release (permitting filming in our unit, handing over our keys, relinquishing souls, etc.).

    Then, a gaggle of homosexuals will arrive. I’m here for the meet/greet/home destruction, and then Charlie and I get kicked out while the QEs take over Lauren’s life.

    I’ve now been told by some QE producers that the changes to Lauren’s personage may be so dramatically changed, that I will so positively “flip my lid” (their term) when I see Lauren again, that I can’t share a hotel with her anymore. I must live separate from her to experience the biggest shock upon being reunited.

    So thanks to Marnie for her future hospitality.

    I’ve signed some NDA-ish documents that cover me for the time being. But more details to come when available.

    No Comments - post one!
    Possibly related posts:
  • Guess who’s back?
  • So wait, who’s running again?
  • Dad’s Night In
  • May 19th, 2002
    •

    Introvertical

    July 25, 2004 on 9:56 pm | In Uncategorized

    I need a new computer.

    My 15″ 667 MHz PowerBook G4 is the original Titanium version. It has served me well, and overall, continues to do so.

    But it has a problem.

    A deep gray, opaque bar runs the length of the screen. It’s about 1½ inches wide. And it’s omnipresent.

    It doesn’t seem to be a logicboard issue. Applying varying levels of pressure to the back of the screen enclosure lessens the severity of the bar’s opaqueness. Using a heavy paper clip attached to the top of the screen, I could once attain near 100% transparence on the bar.

    Now, with the paper clip, I can get about 65% transparency, teetering on the edge of translucence.

    A second bar, flush right on the monitor, identical in width, has been slowly worsening.

    Today, we visited The Apple Store at the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica. The Genius at the Genius Bar we spoke with agreed that it didn’t seem like a logicboard issue. He didn’t know if the problem is related to the entire LCD, or to cable attachments inside the casing. The initial cost of repair estimate was $1,000.

    Please see the first sentence of this post.

    The required feature set for the computer I would like to replace this one with includes:

    Runs OS X
    Is new
    At least 512 MB of RAM, preferably a full gig
    Built in Airport card
    Is a laptop

    These days, that limits me to an iBook or a PowerBook.

    Using Lauren’s education discount at store.apple.com, I can get a high-end 14″ iBook for $1500. It can’t burn DVDs, but SFW. That buys me a 1.2 GHz G4 processor, 512 MB of RAM, and a 60 Gig hard drive.

    For the same price, I can get a 12″ PowerBook. That, too, would come with 512 MB of RAM, a 60 Gig hard drive, no DVD-burner, with a slightly juicier 1.33 GHz processor, plus built in Bluetooth support and the ability to add an external monitor later on.

    A 15″ PowerBook would cost about $1900 with the 512 MB of RAM but without the other fancy but useless extras (lit-up keyboard, etc.). The 17″ PowerBook would set me back $2500.

    Questions I must answer:

    Is the considerably smaller monitor on the 12″ PowerBook worth its added power and expandability? Is the nearly-as-powerful, less-expandable iBook a better buy with the extra screen real estate, given the number of hours I spend at the computer?

    Can I afford more computer?

    And most importantly, does anyone out there know better websites I should be looking at to beat these prices for new Apple laptops?

    Sadly, budget is a factor. And I didn’t break the old laptop; the Apple Genius said he had never seen that before, that it hadn’t been caused by me most likely, but sadly since I’m no longer under warranty, I get scrod.

    Oh well.

    No Comments - post one!
    Possibly related posts:
  • No related posts
    •

    White Washed

    July 24, 2004 on 5:28 pm | In Uncategorized

    Craig on the White House Press Corps.

    No Comments - post one!
    Possibly related posts:
  • All is White With the World
  • What American accent do you have?
  • Nine Days Before Christmas
  • October 26th, 2001
    •

    Charlie & The Sock Bit Factory

    July 23, 2004 on 3:27 am | In Uncategorized

    Charlie and I have been playing with his red sock for awhile. You know the game: Charlie grabs the sock in his mouth, we play tug of war, I win, I throw the sock, Charlie grabs the sock in his mouth, we play tug of war… Repeat ad infinitum.

    The tug of war part takes progressively longer as rounds of the game go by. Charlie will put the sock down in front of me, and I will pretend not to notice. I… Ever. So. Slowly… reach for the sock. I’m trying not let Charlie notice that I’m reaching for it.

    He notices. He pounces. He grabs the sock between his paws and his teeth and clenches. We tug. We war. Seasons pass.

    Eventually, after enough deception (”I’m done playing Charlie wink wink wink”), I claim the sock. And throw it.

    Lather, rinse, repeat.

    I’m happy to keep throwing it. After a while, tug gets tiresome.

    Charlie’s on the floor, sock in mouth. He drops it. Woof.

    I don’t want to play tug.

    “Sit,” I command. That’s what I do when I want to claim the toy without threat of any canine grabbing it first.

    Charlie sits.

    As he does so, he firmly positions his front paws on the sock.

    Charlie wonders just how friggin’ dumb I think he is.

    No Comments - post one!
    Possibly related posts:
  • How to take care of Charlie, should you suddenly and inexplicably be tasked with taking care of one of the world’s most medicated dogs.
  • The Rock-Scissors.
  • Reflections on Charlie
  • Charlie & QE
    •

    TiVo Announcement

    July 21, 2004 on 9:06 pm | In Uncategorized

    If you don’t have TiVo, then at these prices you should definitely buy one today.

    No Comments - post one!
    Possibly related posts:
  • Announcement…
  • From the Grab blog: TiVo Goes Cell Phone Style
  • From the Grab blog: The Joy of TiVo
  • I LOVE TiVo!
    •

    TV or not TV

    July 21, 2004 on 3:07 am | In Uncategorized

    Man, The Joe Schmo Show is good.

    And the folks who created this slow-loading but hilarious video starring Bush and Kerry and mocking both pretty equally deserve a show of their own.

    But the best TV of late 2004, or more likely early 2005, is going to be Lauren’s episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Girl. More to come on that.

    No Comments - post one!
    Possibly related posts:
  • No related posts
    •

    The 4400

    July 19, 2004 on 5:40 am | In Uncategorized

    Yes, Lauren and I are addicted to television.

    But trust me.

    If you like drama, mystery, intrigue, sci-fi, intricate plotting, good writing, good acting, good television — you must watch The 4400.

    Wow.

    Watch it on USA, fast, so that you can make sure you see the two-hour Pilot.

    It is an incredible show.

    Since around 1940 or so till as recently as 2001, 4,400 people from all over the world — especially the US — disappeared.

    All at once, they all reappeared when a pseudo-comet got super close to the earth. They’re all the same age as when they “left.” And, as it turns out, each of the 4400 has been given some special power or talent.

    Crazy, yes. Incredibly done though.

    No Comments - post one!
    Possibly related posts:
  • 4400 and Counting
  • From the Grab blog: What’s 4400 times 3?
    •
    Next Page »

    Powered by WordPress with Pool theme design by Borja Fernandez.
    Entries and comments feeds. Valid XHTML and CSS. ^Top^