static

static, interference, intervention, intervene, get involved so as to alter or hinder an action, white noise, snow, fuzz, fuzzy, Fuzzy, ME

Thursday, September 30, 2004

Presidential Debates

This is going to be pretty short because as you may have noticed if you read this, I was up pretty late last night and didn't get a lot of sleep. Obviously this means I'm pretty tired.

But anyway... I wrapped my cousin's wedding present today and started getting ready to go to Michigan tomorrow. I'm not completely ready but it won't take me long. I'm taking two hours of vacation tomorrow but actually may leave at lunch if I don't have a lot of work going on. My boss won't be around so it won't matter.

I watched the presidential debate tonight and while I thought that Sen. Kerry started slowly, President Bush didn't do any better. Kerry ended up walking away with it without his argument devolving into the insults that Bush kept on trying to hammer home. I had to laugh several times because I thought the statement that the pres made was ridiculous. Hopefully the papers get it right. Admittedly it wasn't a home run, but it was a win for Kerry.

Insomnia

I may have become used to being busy. After two days when I had little to do after work, the time for bed has come and gone and I really can't sleep. I know that I'm really going to regret tomorrow but I have read that if you can't sleep, you should get up and do something because laying in bed tossing and turning is not going to help you sleep. So I sit here writing in my blog. I didn't think that I would write tonight because I spent most of my time watching movies, but since I can't sleep, I'll write.

I had a pretty busy day at work today which I don't actually mind because it helps the time go faster. I spent most of it burning samples, but I also had to ship some equipment back to the owners of it, do some paperwork (or computer work as the case may be), and participated in Safety Day. Where a bunch of stations about the different safety groups were set up and we had to fill out a crossword puzzle in order to get a free lunch. There were also several raffles and since I'm pretty lucky when the prize isn't worth much, I participated in all of them. I will find out tomorrow if I won anything.

After work, I went to Target and then the Hallmark store to get a gift for my cousin Jeff and his fiance' Mo (Maureen). They are getting married on Saturday which I think I may have mentioned already but I'm mentioning again. Hopefully when I go to Detroit to the wedding, I may be able to see some friends from college who live in the area. Time will tell.

I got home and watched Dirty, Pretty Things (a movie about illegal aliens and the black market organ market in London). It was really good. I then ate dinner and started watching The Station Agent. I interrupted that movie at about 9 PM because I wanted to call my friend Sharon and 9 PM is when I usually call. So I called and I actually got a hold of her. We talked for about an hour and I was reassured about some things but a little sorry that the interim job that she was going to go to didn't work out and because of that fact, a friendship may have ended. It was good to hear that she was confident about things, as opposed to when she was working for the record company and truly miserable. I have the greatest confidence in her and hope that everything works out for the best.

I have now been writing for half an hour. I don't feel any more tired than I did but having said that, I think I will try, nonetheless to sleep. Tomorrow, I need to pack for my trip to Detroit and wrap Jeff and Mo's gift.

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Respite

I finally had some down time today. I did have to work but I had nothing going on outside of work. I started watching the movies from Netflix that were finally delivered yesterday. I didn't start watching them yesterday because I was going to my sister's house to play with my nephews and visit with her in-laws. My movies actually should have been delivered on Friday, but because I wasn't home on Friday or Saturday, my mail carrier held on to them. If she wasn't going to deliver them, I wish she would have at least left a card telling me I could pick them up at the Post Office. She told me that she didn't leave a card because she figured that I would want them. It makes no sense to me and really irritated me but that's what she said. I watched The Cooler today. I really liked it but I really could have done without seeing William H. Macy's butt multiple times. I'll probably watch The Station Agent tomorrow and/or Dirty Pretty Things. After watching The Cooler, I made Beef Dijon Stroganoff which is like regular beef stroganoff except that it has dijon mustard and is served over spaghetti squash. It was really good but I made too much. I probably won't have to cook for the rest of the week.

Tomorrow, I plan on shopping for my cousin's wedding present. He's getting married on Saturday and I'm driving to Detroit to attend. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a hold of my friends that live over there when I am there.

I haven't communicated with my friend Sharon in about two weeks. She does have a blog so I could use that to see what/how she's doing but I have a great memory and it annerves her a little. If I read it, I would probably remember it and then say something about something she wrote that would freak her out. I am a little worried about her, so I am tempted but I will hold off until I surely can't get a hold of her.

Monday, September 27, 2004

Sink, Sank, Sunk

I had an eloquent description of Redmoon Theatre's new production which was at Ping Tom Park in Chinatown but Blogger decided to lock up and it was lost. Suffice it to say that I really liked it and I am going to see them again when they put something new on.

My business that I have had to deal with recently doesn't end tomorrow, although I may get at least one day of down time this week before I have to drive to Detroit for my cousin's wedding.

This is very short but after losing my good long post, I don't feel like writing anymore.

Friday, September 24, 2004

Activism

I have been very busy in the last few days. I volunteered last night with the Chicago Bicycle Federation as a bike valet at Nike's Run Hit Wonder. Cathy, the event director of the CBF and my friend, asked those people that she thought would be fun to work with and most of whom were pretty close to her age to help out. She asked the volunteers to dress up in 80's gear but I was the only one that got into it. She (Cathy) said that she was going to put a silver stripe across her eyes but work got in the way. She also heard me talking about gel and mousse to her assistant, Ann because I had hoped to get a spike going in my hair using gel but it wasn't stiff as mousse and all I ended up with was curls. She heard mousse and asked if I had any on me, I didn't. Nike had a band posted at every mile that was a one hit wonder in the 80's. They hired Tone Loc, General Public, Tommy Tutone, Dramarama, The Run Hit Wonder's, a really bad 80's cover band, and Devo, who got the main stage. American Idol's, Randy Jackson was one of the announcers. The bike lot was at the start/finish line and so was (were?) The Run Hit Wonders. I would have been happy to have anyone else and Dramarama would have been great but we had to put up with the Run Hit Wonders. After they were finished, the back track was singles of several of the bands on the route although instead of Dramarama they had Kajagoogoo. We ended up parking 113 bikes and Cathy was a little disappointed because she expected with 10,000 runners, there would be many more bikers. We all had fun though. I pogoed during Devo a few times and Cathy did the dance that they did in The Breakfast Club. I left at about a quarter to 11 and got home at about 12:15 AM. I then couldn't fall asleep immediately so when I got up this morning at 6 AM, I wasn't exactly the most bright and chipper. Work was thankfully pretty slow because thinking was definitely not my strong suit today.

I had every intention today of, and was actually looking forward to, doing Critical Mass. I got home, changed clothes, packed my bag, and got my bag. I then went to my bike and started filling the tires, because with a road bike you always have to fill the tires before riding. I noticed that the rear tire was flat. I was hoping that it was just a slow leak around the patch I had put on it on Saturday night. I filled it up and I was able to reach 110 pounds but I heard a leak after I shut the tube. It was leaking too fast to ride and I didn't have enough time to patch the tire before rush hour when the El is closed to bikes. I did think later that I could have brought my bike with the flat tire and the stuff with which to fix it, I would have had time but I thought about it too late. As I said, my brain is working in slow motion today.

I think my Netflix videos arrived today but my mailman either didn't leave them or they were swiped. I didn't order any incredibly popular blockbusters (The Station Agent, The Cooler, and Dirty Pretty Things) so I would wonder why someone would swipe them. Hopefully I'm wrong and they show up tomorrow.

I have been mulling over why I have chosen some of the activist events that I have chosen and do choose. Specifically, I am referring to those things that may be considered bordering on civil disobedience. Examples of these would be the anti-war protests, Critical Mass, and working as a poll monitor may cause some provocations. I do these things for a few reasons. First, I agree with the causes that I am fighting for and the methods used are ways to draw attention to them. Second, it gives me a feeling of being a part of something bigger than myself. Lastly, because I can. I am single and have no dependents, if something were to happen to me, it wouldn't matter. Its better that I do these things than someone who is depended on.

Tomorrow, I am doing some activism of the less controversial sort. I am volunteering for the Hideout Block Party where I can here some good tunes and help some good causes like Tuesday's Child, P.L.A.Y., and Literacy Works.

And this is where I end this episode...

Wednesday, September 22, 2004

My only free night this week.

I finished the lab portion of that project at work that was totally drying my skin out. I had to compare the attrition of several different samples hydrated to 32% by weight. This involved loading a 30 gram sample into a 20 mesh screen cylinder surrounded by a steel cylinder and shaking it for 30 minutes. I then screened the fines and remaining beads through an 80 mesh screen. Several of these samples produced a lot of dust and as what we manufacture are basically dessicants, after working with the stuff for 8 hours, my hands and lips were so dry they felt like they were going to peel off. I am done with all of the attrition testing itself, now all I have to do is make a spreadsheet of the numbers that I got from the testing I did so they can be compared. This work has taken about a week between sample preparation, shaking, and separation. I'm glad I'm done. Today is going to be my one free day this week, so I decided to just take it easy. I did have to do a little housework and cook and I am going to try to call someone who I consider a friend whose having a bit of a rough time. Admittedly the friendship does seem to be a bit one way at times but I don't do casual friendships. It does take something from the other person in order to start the friendship but if I become friends with someone, I will anything within my moral code for them and I will always be there if they need help. I am nothing if not reliable.


Happy Autumnal Equinox.


National Run Against Bush Day on Saturday. Steve Karlman, the initiator of the Chicago chapter of Bike Against Bush is immediately to my right.

Busy!!!

After a busy day at work, I came to a busy day at home. Actually that isn't completely true, after a busy day at work, I came home, changed clothes, saw that I had been slammed with email, and went biking on a new route that I wanted to try. When I came home after the bike ride was when I got really busy. I drove out to Willow Creek Church on Algonquin Rd. because I saw that there was a trail just south of I-90 and off Barrington Rd. I didn't know if there was any parking down there and I saw by my map that there was a fairly bike friendly route to get there. The ride to the path wasn't bad except when I was trying to cross 90 at Barrington Rd going in both directions. There was road construction and I was trying to cross during rush hour, so things got a little hairy. I decided, when trying to cross going south, to jump int the adjacent parking lot and ended up sitting on a thistle. I have to say, this wasn't a good start. Things did improve though, once I got to the trail. The trail was at Poplar Creek and had expanded since my map was made. My map showed the trail as a wide U but it had been masde a full 9 mile loop with several side trails. I only did part of the route but did notice that there were several parking areas so the next time I do it, and I will do it again, I will park down there. My ride ended up being almost 21 miles. Not a bad distance for a weekday.

I got home in time to shower, microwave my leftovers (chicken chow mein), and call in a poll monitor training conference call. As I have told several of my friends, the right to vote is one of our greatest rights and responsibilities and I decided to do what I can to make sure everyone has that right. There have been too many instances of voter suppression in recent years to let this go. The call lasted about 45 minutes and gave us the bare bones of what we would be doing as poll monitors. During this call, I got three calls from I can only guess telemarketers and one call from my little sister. I know it was my little sister because she called my cell phone after she couldn't reach me at home. So, I received 4 calls in the time that I was actually on the phone and not one before or after. Doesn't it just figure?!

All of this done, it was now time to handle my email. I had 51 emails that I had received today, some of which required replies which generated more email while I was trying to get through it. It took me two hours. But I am now done as is this thought. On to another day...

Monday, September 20, 2004

Its amazing how busy you can become doing nothing...

After the weekend I had and the weekI have planned, I needed a day of down time. I should mention that yesterday went well. The 25 mile route of the North Shore Century was very picturesque but I wish I had had time to do a longer route. I did feel though, that it was important for me, as a veteran, to be at the anti-war protest in Barrington. The protest was very good and the people that were there in the spirit of the demonstration understood that it was supposed to be a memorial service for the fallen soldiers. The Protest Warriors were there with there asinine signs but they stayed off to one side and didn't try to interrupt anything. There was one guy though, who walked through the crowd with several inflammatory signs and looked like he was trying to start something. When the police finally escorted him away, it looked like he was in handcuffs although the Chicago Tribune stated that no one was arrested. The coffin pulled by a wagon followed by processors with lilies and the name of a fallen soldier was quite the stirring sight.

Today, after a very busy day at work, I went through my email (God, I'm glad that my spam filter works well) and sent off a couple of emails, neither of which I respect a reply from but they were somethings that I had to do. After that, I listened to the Des Plaines city council meeting while signing up for Netflix. I put 37 movies in my queue and rated several hundred more. With a shipping point in the Chicago area, there should be a really good turn-around.

Tomorrow, I plan on taking part in a conference call for training to be a poll monitor. It should be pretty interesting.

Saturday, September 18, 2004

Slow Motion

It is amazing how time dilates when something happens to you. I was in an accident on my bike today. The day started out pretty well, I woke up at 6 AM without benefit of an alarm clock. I was getting up this early because I was participating in the AIDS Run/Walk today which was also the event in Chicago for the National Run Against Bush Day and I planned on biking downtown. I got ready and left at shortly after 7 AM. It took me about an hour and a half to get there and the ride was great. Traffic was nil and I was riding at just the right speed to miss most of the red lights. I was going to park at the Millenium Park Bike Station. I was told that it opened at 9 AM. So, I got there and saw that it opened at 10 AM. This was not going to work because the event was starting at 10 AM and I needed to register and find the people I was going to be walking with so I had to find a place to park my bike. I ended up locking it on a sign along the route with a Kryptonite U-Lock. The fact that everyone now knows that U-locks can be opened with the end of a Bic Pen worried me but I used it anyway. I met everyone, we walked close to the starting line and waited. The walk was nice, I had a nice talk with a civil rights attorney named Sarah on the Run Against Bush Team, Connie, an ACLU attorney, and Len, the father of Shannon, the ACLU attorney that started the Chicago Run Against Bush Team.

After the walk, I grabbed my bike, parked it in the Bike Station, took a shower at the Bike Station, and took the El to the Aesthetic Eye Gallery because I thought today was the last day of the show Guy's work is in. Alex, one of the gallery directors (there are two), told me it will be going until October 15th. This is a good thing. I checked out the stuff that was there for a few minutes and then made my way back to Millenium Park. The world music festival is going on at places throughout the city and at the Cloud Gate there was a really cool Bagpipe Marching Band so I watched them for a few minutes and then grabbed my bike and started biking home. The ride started pretty well, but there was significantly more traffic. When I was on Montrose, I had someone pull out in front of me. This is where time slowed down. I saw the guy stopped in the opposite lane. There was a small break in traffic and he started turning. I slammed on my brakes but it didn't matter, I hit him. I felt the back of my bike lift up, I flew over the handlebars and hit the trunk with my head. I rolled off the trunk and hit the pavement with my knee and shoulder. I got up, straightened out my handlebars and got on the road again. A few miles down the road, I got a flat so I ended up walking the rest of the way home. I now really hurt. I ended patching my tire so I can ride the North Shore Century if my body can take it.

Friday, September 17, 2004

The Lake

I first visited Lake Michigan in 1996 when Tricia and I were on the outs. I was pretty depressed and the soothing motion of the waves and the sound of them crashing into the rock wall shoreline calmed me. When I was living in Midland, I went to Lake Huron a few times when I was feeling low, although most of the time I gravitated toward Sanford Lake. I'm not sure what it is every time I head for the water, I am able to find a place where, if I see anyone, they are too far away too study let alone interact with. I can be by myself with nature. The place I like here is actually on the campus of Northwestern. It is on the rocks on the southeast corner of the lakefill. Several of the rocks are graffittied, people declaring their undying love for someone or saying goodbye to Northwestern but the work has already been done so its off my radar screen. Sitting on the rocks in the corner, I am kind of shielded from view from land and I have a good view of the Chicago skyline. Most of the year its a great place to visit but I have to say its not really pleasant when the alewives die. I've been down there once, I think its in late fall and the water is just covered in dead fish. On a late summer evening on the other hand, with the temperature in the upper 60's, a clear sky, a moon 3 days past new, and a light breeze, it was just spectacular. I stayed there for about half an hour watching the waves crash on the rocks and the sailboats move across the lake and let my troubles flow from me.

Tomorrow, I am doing an AIDS walk downtown with my Bike Against Bush T-shirt. I am supposed to meet Sharon's friend Steve on the corner of Randolph and Columbus at 9 AM. I plan on biking down there so I need to leave at about 7 AM. It should be a great ride/walk/ride. I plan on getting back by about 4 PM so I can shower and get ready for church. If I am going to do something that will potentially get me arrested (anti-war protest), I am going to do everything that I can to have everyone on my side.


Chicago skyline from the Northwestern lakeshore.

Thursday, September 16, 2004

Sick!!!

I really feel like hell so I don't think that I'm going to write much tonight. I was at work for all of an hour this morning. I couldn't stay. I hope I feel better tomorrow.

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

Perhaps I should explain...

As much as I would like to deny it, I have not been the easiest person to be around lately. Moody would be a very good description of how I have been. I have had periods where I have been very easy to get along, with but my general worldview has been pretty dark and cynical. Although any one who happens to read this would never be able to pick that up. :D The woman I was going out with dumped me without warning for an old boyfriend. I was stunned but the fact that she did it via email really pissed me off. She didn't have the courtesy to even talk to me about it. I thought I was alright. I said to myself, "Whatever! If she can't even talk to me, why should I talk to her?" and I thought that I went on. About a week later, I put my foot in my mouth in front of a female friend. I could live with that because it isn't that uncommon an occurrence. When I made a fool of myself as detailed in Irony that is when I realized maybe things weren't right, and then I got just plain existential. My idealism usually comes with a healthy dose of optimism. What I am doing actually means something and is making the world at least a little better. Tonight I went to a public meeting with the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation to discuss issues I have as a bicyclist in the Northwest suburbs that bikes in the Cook County Forest Preserves and possible solutions to those issues. They had a possible plan to address those issues. We were asked to review the plan, raise issues, and suggest possible solutions. It was a very productive meeting and I'm glad I went. I'm going to have to go to more public meetings. Having said that, I have been out for the last five nights and it will be really nice to be able to stay home tomorrow night and do nothing.

Existentialism

I woke up this morning feeling very low and I thought that Albert Camus' Existentialist masterpiece, The Stranger was very appropriate. Existialism posits that we, as individuals, are completely free and thus alone. Our experiences are ours alone and the univese is absurd. A more extensive look at this philosophy can be found here. The general feeling is the pointlessness of everything. By the time I finished work, I was feeling a little better. I did laundry when I got home and then went to a bookclub meeting where we discussed The Time Traveller's Wife. From the perspective of the main character Henry, who suffered from the genetic malady Chrono-displacement, a condition that causes him to jump through time unwillingly, especially during times of stress I would guess that he would be a strong proponent of Existentialism. He was unable to change the past, so I imagine he suffered from despair and so the universe as an absurd game. The story was a tragedy in the true Greek sense of the word. Having said all of that, I thought it was a very good book and would recommend it.

Life is absurd but you have to live it and to borrow from another philosopher, Friedrich Nietzche, "That which does not kill you, makes you stronger."

Tuesday, September 14, 2004


Standing on the beach
With a gun in my hand
Staring at the sea
Staring at the sand
Staring down the barrel
At the arab on the ground
I can see his open mouth
But I hear no sound

I'm alive
I'm dead
I'm the stranger
Killing an arab

-The Cure

Monday, September 13, 2004

Ugh!!

I am so stuffed!! I volunteered again tonight through SASC for United Cerebral Palsy. They had a fundraiser in Lisle tonight called Great Chefs and I have to say, thats exactly what it was. Between 20 and 30 restaurants were represented and they were each serving taste sized portions of their cuisine. I helped monitor the silent auction and was able to go out and try different things when things were slow in the auction room. Admittedly the organization was a little disorganized but the people were nice, the food was just excellent, and it was for a very good cause. I would do this again despite the disorganization.

Irony

The Oxford English Dictionary defines irony as a state of affairs that appears perversely contrary to what one might expect. I say this because I am a victim, through my own actions, of irony. How did this state of affairs come to be? I hate being made to look like a fool without giving consent. I have no problem playing the fool and in fact, a lot of my humor is fairly self deprecating, but if made to look foolish, I am vehement in my own self -defense.
The story starts on Saturday. I was volunteering, through SASC, for Sunnybrook, a charity that provides pregnancy counseling for single mothers and assists other people in adoptions both here and abroad. We were doing a teardown after a consignment clothing sale and were sorting items that were going to be going to an African Missionary group. I was bent at the waist sorting through things in a box on the floor. Suddenly, I see a flash go off behind me, my friend Sharon had just taken a picture. I couldn't believe she did it and told her so but she said that she was taking a picture of the entire area. I was relieved and let things pass. Jump now to last night. By 8 PM last night, I can't say I was thinking terribly clearly (after having been up since 2:45 AM and only getting about 3 hours of sleep the previous night.) I went to checked out Sharon's blog and saw that which I was afraid I was going to see, the picture. It was a picture of everyone working but I am in the center with my back to the camera and bent over; almost as if I was trying to moon her with my pants on. This did not sit well with me and sent an email asking if I should be insulted and assuming that I should be. I then went to bed. This morning I checked my email and she said that she was simply trying to take a picture of the group working on the project, the fact that I was bent over hadn't even entered into the picture (so to speak). I had been made a fool of through my overreaction.

Sunday, September 12, 2004

Boulevard Lakefront Tour

I got to do two of my favorite things today, biking and volunteering. Unfortunately, I had to get up at a quarter to three in the morning to do it. The Chicago Bicycle Federation hosted their longest running ride, the Boulevard Lakefront Tour today. It starts in Hyde Park on the University of Chicago campus and the 35 mile route visits several major parks within the city that are connected by Chicago's boulevard system. The ride started at 7 AM but things had to be set up so people could register and such before the ride actually started. I have become friends with Cathy Haibach, the Event Director of the Chicago Bicycle Federation so I decided to help her and everyone else out. I was asked to be there at 4 AM, so in order to do that, I had to get up at 2:45 AM. This was really rough. I was a zombie when I arrived in Hyde Park but I did get there at 4 AM. I then got to run to Dunkin Donuts to get two Buckets of Joe, a cup of Hot Chocolate, and a dozen donuts. While I was at Dunkin Donuts, who should arrive but four police officers. I hate to use the stereotype about cops and donuts but when they feed the stereotype, its really hard to avoid. The sugar and caffeine really helped. After I had my coffee and donut, I helped put signs up, put caution tape up, moved ice, and other things that needed to be done. While I was doing this, I was wearing a BLT T-shirt, but I told (and showed) Cathy that I was going to wear a Bike Against Bush T-shirt while I was riding. Cathy (and I have noticed, many in the biking community) is pretty liberal and she loved it, as did many that saw it on the ride. I did have someone glare at me and it looked like he was going to make an issue of the shirt but just glared.

I really enjoyed the day but it has made me feel pretty strange. By noon, I had been up for over nine hours and I have spent the rest of the day simply trying to stay awake long enough to go to bed at a reasonable time. It is now 7:30 PM and I am beat. I need to stay up for at least another 2 hours. It has been a good day even if it has been really long.


Just me...

The beginning...

Welcome to my blog. Why am I doing this? Why does anyone create a blog?

Vanity

Catharsis

To correct misunderstandings

To keep friends (and anyone else who happens to read this) informed of goings on

To give myself a space to work things out

Any or all of the above


This is a free speech zone any and all comments are welcome.