12/26/2000:
I’m just trying to make it through the workweek. I’ve got to last until Friday and then I get another three-day weekend. Righteous! Right now I’m listening to Neil Young’s Harvest Moon (thanks to my brother) and eating some holiday leftovers (thanks to my mom). I’ve got to concentrate on masticating my food properly. All my life I’ve wolfed down my food, causing me all kinds of digestive discomfort, so I’ve got to do what’s right for my body, but my old eating habit is hard to break. I have to consciously make myself chew every bite of food. If I get distracted, then all is lost and I’ve eaten the whole meal in almost one bite and it’s all sitting down in my stomach the same way it was sitting on the plate. It’s a good thing I’ve got Neil Young to help me get through life’s little trials and tribulations.
12/24/2000:
I'm at my mom's house in San Antonio. I spent about three hours talking about movies with my brother. Sometimes we agree and sometimes we agree to disagree.
Before I left Austin, I finished watching La Grande Illusion. Man, that movie was pretty good, although the copy I had was kind of shitty. The subtitles were hard to read a lot of the time, so I plan to watch it again, so I can pick up on the things I missed.
I'm glad I have a day off work. This is the first time in my life when I haven't had some kind of Christmas break, so all last week I felt like I shouldn't be at work. I couldn't shake it. It made my days seem longer and more boring than they really are. But now I'm free and just chillin' at my mom's, being taken care of, eating good food, shooting the shit with my brother. I'm leading a pretty good life.
12/19/2000:
Guess what...the movie Bring It On is a total piece of shit. You're shocked, I know. I did laugh a few times, but mostly at stuff that wasn't meant to be funny. I hope a seventeen-year-old cheerleader wrote it, 'cause that's the only excuse I'd accept as an explanation for its shittiness. I could go on, but I don't want to spend anymore time thinking about it.
I had a disturbingly violent dream last night. I got ice skates that I could attach to my Converse and so I decided to break 'em in. I was happily skating around the empty rink, when I noticed that Ice Cube (the rapper) was skating after me. I started doing some kung-fu/break-dancing moves in order to defend myself. I knocked him over and then took off one of my skates and slit his throat with it. Then I stuck my finger in his mouth and shot him (?). Somehow I knew that he was only pretending to be dead. Weird...
12/15/2000:
What a crazy couple of days! Last Friday and Saturday I felt really sick. My left lung was hurting and burning…I can’t really describe it, but it was very uncomfortable and every time I coughed or moved it hurt. Luckily with the help of some over-the-counter medicine it was almost gone by the time I got on the plane to Atlanta, Georgia Sunday morning. Somer took me to the Austin airport and everything went smoothly except that there was a chord showing on one of the tires and it took about an hour for the plane to get the ok to take off, but I just read and watched some guys defrost the wings, so it wasn’t too bad. Once the plane took off things proceeded without a hitch. I got to Atlanta around 3 PM, rented a car and drove out to Norcross (just north of Atlanta) and crashed at the lodge for an hour watching recount coverage on the TV. Then I drove around for a while looking for a place to eat. I picked up some Wok and Roll and headed back to the lodge, but got lost, but then I got unlost. I forgot to grab some plasticware, so I had to eat my food with my hands and drink my hot and sour soup. It was kind of fun.
The next day I woke up early and went to OHSA training for 7 hours, which was pretty painless and even a little informative. I went back to the lodge and then toured the Norcross office, which is awesome…lots of tall, barren trees, winding roads and lots of open spaces inside the building. A little later I went to diner with my Norcross contact, the OHSA trainer and some engineers from other offices, plus the head of safety for the company. I ate lasagna and drank a Coke or two and listened to the engineers talk about engineer stuff. To me it sounded like this: "Blah, blah, blah, blah...blah, blah, blah." Oh well, the next day was more of the same, until I went back to the airport and my flight was canceled! I was booked for a flight leaving the next day, but I didn’t know what I was going to do until then. I imagined myself hanging out in the Atlanta airport for over 24 hours, but then I heard my name being paged over the loudspeaker. The information clerk told me to call my Norcross contact. I did and found out what plans the company had made for me, which were to get another rental car and head back to the lodge for the night. I ate more Wok and Roll and then went to bed once the US Supreme Court announced its recount verdict.
I slept in late, went to the airport and made it back to Austin and was greeted by Somer’s smiling face. I took it easy and rented The Green Mile (which sucked, but I knew it would...it’s the list’s fault).
When I walked into the office yesterday, it was a madhouse! The power had gone out the day before and the building had been running on the emergency generator all day Wednesday. Plus the receptionist called in sick and there was all sorts of holiday stuff going on that I had to help with, not to mention catching up with all the work that had piled up on my desk (some of it from before I left—whoops).
I left work with a splitting headache only to turn around and drag Somer to a restaurant my supervisor was taking our group to. We got home and Somer left to study and I finished watching The Green Mile (it still sucked).
Today I came across this website. I especially dig Sinkcharmer.
12/13/2000:
Is it a coincidence that the day I get back to Texas is the day George W. is declared the President? I hope so.
12/08/2000:
I'm feeling better right now, but the symptoms seem to be coming and going. I'm going on a business trip from Sunday until Tuesday and I don’t want to be feeling shitty while I'm traveling—I'm going to be nervous enough as it is. I'm going to Atlanta, Georgia for some training. I haven't been out of Texas in 8 or 9 years! I'm not nervous about the actual plane ride, but I am worried about getting to the airport and renting a car and finding the Atlanta office. I'd rather be at home watching a movie or chillin' with Somer.
Yesterday I managed to draw my first substantial comic in almost a year. It’s a three-panel comic strip about Quetalby. I still need to letter and ink it. I plan to do more and then collect 'em in a mini-comic. I'd also like to do an autobiographical anthology that features my friends' stories and artwork.
I finally broke down and rented a new release last night. I was hoping to wait out all the newer movies on the list, but the store just didn’t have any available older movies (except for Gone with the Wind, which I didn’t feel like tackling last night). Anyhoo, I rented the Straight Story and it was good. It had a nice relaxing pace that I could really get into and enjoy.
Hopefully I'll get in some reading while I’m on my trip, 'cause I’m way behind where I'd like to be on my reading list.
12/05/2000:
I feel like shit. I think I have a cold.
12/03/2000:
Yesterday I went with Somer and the kids she baby-sits to see 102 Dalmatians. I laughed a lot, but it was no Mary Poppins. Today, I started watching Gandhi. It’s pretty good, but a little too sappy. The subject matter is fucking inspiring, though. Damn.
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