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September 28, 2004
for uncle bob s.
my uncle, my dad's sister's husband, the father of two of my cousins (one is in her early twenties; one is a senior in high school) died yesterday morning. he had cancer. he was in his early 50s. this is the first time in my life that a relative of mine has died that wasn't a grandparent. this man was my parents' age. he's always been around, and now he's not, and it doesn't make any sense.
i feel so bad for my cousins and for my aunt.
i don't remember the last time i saw him. it must have been at my cousin's wedding in june, but i can't remember. i can't remember, and i feel awful about it.
Posted by me at 11:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
because it's fun
I've taught myself to read biblical hebrew. Note that I did not add "and understand" after "read". I can now look at hebrew text and read it aloud, but I have no idea what the fuck it means. I know, I know.
I know.
The next step is actually learning some syntax and grammar.
This is merely a phase in my plan to make myself the Biggest Dork Loser Ever Who Has a Real Job and is Not a Professor. This project has the potential to get entirely out of hand, now that I've moved on from "reading non-fiction books for fun!" to "teach myself ancient languages!" Next? Maybe "writing scholarly papers no one will ever read for my own edification!"
Posted by me at 11:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 20, 2004
so i lied
obviously, i lied about that daily thing.
i called in sick today.
Posted by me at 11:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 15, 2004
Bush?
Fascism Anyone? Scroll down a bit in the article for the 14 Defining Characteristics of Fascism!
I mean, really, much like the Old Testament messianic prophecies that Christians twist to prove that Jesus is the lamb of god, these 14 characteristics could be stretched to fit anywhere from Cuba to Canada. [And, yes, I chose that metaphor as a nod to the secular humanists I'm linking to.] But, if you throw in the z-axis of degree, it works. If all (or the vast majority) of these characteristics are there in the extreme, you've got a fascist regime!
And the word "fascism" is fun to say.
(It really should be 13--9 and 10 should be one. If you protect the power of corporations, how do you not hurt labor?)
Posted by me at 07:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 14, 2004
paralegal sex
no, it's not what you think.
(by the way, today i reached a new low--i got so stressed that my body started aching. i thought i was getting the flu. the aching went away once the deal closed.)
so today i walk into the other law firm's conference room for the closing and there are two people there: one is a woman, about 30; the other is a man, about 30. both are well dressed. i automatically assume that the woman is the paralegal, the man is the associate.
i was wrong. their roles were the opposite of what i had assumed without even consciously considering it.
so much for being a feminist.
Posted by me at 08:22 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 13, 2004
someone kick me in the nuts, please
someone please kick me in the nuts. i have just recently finished reading "dry", a memoir by augusten burroughs. i cried when he relapsed. worse, it happened while i was reading on the train. i knew it was coming (the relapse), still i cried. also, like a bitch i went to the park and read a few chapters (not the same day, thank god.) please, someone kick me in the nuts and hard.
the only good thing to come out of it is that i now have a goal to drink a liter of dewars in one night.
Posted by oddjob at 10:31 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
fuck
I missed the first episode of the new season of Seventh Heaven. Fuck fuck fuck.
Posted by me at 10:09 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Second Week of September Resolutions
I've been text messaging I-man daily. I started this last week. He never returns my e-mails (well, maybe not never, but hardly ever), and he's never on AIM. He does, however, respond to 2 out of 3 text messages. Basically, I'm harassing him at least once daily. Sometimes 2 or 3 times daily. I'm harassing him into talking to me. When you're as good a friend as I am, you have to bug your friends to speak to you.
I think I will try to do that here, too.
Look forward to daily entries, people. I'm not promising good, but I'm guaranteeing regular.
Posted by me at 10:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 08, 2004
Frances Meets Gotham; or, my 2 hour, 10 minute commute from hell
Frances hit last night, pouring inches (yes, inches!) of rain onto the NYC area. I couldn't sleep because of all the rain hitting the in-window A/C we have and the kittens biting my toes. Pain in my ears, pain in my feet, slept like 15 minutes.
I woke up this morning prepared to be drenched on my way to the subway, but the rain had stopped. I skipped merrily to the subway station and reached the first level of hell. The F train wasn't running. Or the train itself was running, but it was running on the G-line. We were Hoyted (a verb: to be sent to the Hoyt Schermeron stop against your will). It took me 4 F/G's to get on a train, and I get to Hoyt Schemerhorn where we have to get to the otherside to go Manhattan bound on the A or C. It takes literally 10 minutes to get up the stairs with all the people being rerouted and then, wonder of wonders, another 5 minutes to get down the stairs to the next platform. Three A's pass by and I finally get on one, which promptly gets stuck in the tunnel under the fucking East River. It's hot. Some old smelly guy near me keeps adjusting his crotch. We're told there are signal problems. Then we're told that we are being "stopped by a red signal." Then we are told there is flooding on the track. It takes an hour to get to West 4th, where I try to transfer to an F because they announced that the F was running in Manhattan. They were lying. So I get on what claims to be an E because the E stops close to where I work but it turns out this is a Q masquerading as an E. And for some reason this Q is going up 8th Avenue. It takes another 40 minutes to get to 8th and 50th, where I get off the train and walk to work. It is still not raining and the streets are strangely empty. It is 10:50 AM when I walk through the door.
So what have we learned about different sorts of masses of hot air and the MTA? Republican National Convention: not so bad. Hurricane rain: fucking awful.
Posted by me at 04:56 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
September 02, 2004
RNC Days 3 and 4
Nothing. Saw some protestors as I was walking to the subway on my way home from work on Day 3. One guy was repeating "I am a suicide bomber!" which made no fucking sense.
Thus ends my experience with the Republican National Convention.
Year 2000 crisis deja vu? Oh yeah.
Posted by me at 08:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 01, 2004
RNC: Day 2
Nothing happened. Subway is fine and refreshingly empty. Same Peter Pan tour busses circling the hotels on 6th Ave. A bunch of fat southern guys with facial hair wandering around with GW pins and their credentials hanging from their necks. Oh, and the Fuji blimp, which apparently has been commandeered by the NYPD.
Posted by me at 10:36 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack