Month: August 2001 (Page 2 of 8)

Get to know me!

In the movie “Defending Your Life,” it’s how well you faced your fears that determines the true measure of your time on earth. Facing my fears has been a recurring theme in my life for the past six months, and here I am trying to get rid of another one: posting a picture of myself on the site. I’ve given you two choices: grumpy me or happy me with no glasses (and bonus Blogger t-shirt).

[WARNING: DO NOT click on these links if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking any heart or blood pressure medication. If you should experience unusual symptoms, including but not limited to shortness of breath, blurred vision, sudden headaches or hives, please consult a medical professional immediately.]

I realized that I know what most people I read on the web look like, and I should be at least willing to give them some sense of what a hideous beast I am. If that wasn’t enough, you can also see a picture of my lakefront pad. This is from the living room looking into the dining area. Note the strange lodge-like sofa and chair. The new bookcases look nice, though.

OK. Nothing more to see here. Move along.

Lunch conversation:

Me: I got more than 1,000 visits to my weblog last week.
Jason: That’s great….How many of them were yours?

Thanks, buddy. 🙂

Favorite movie dialog, Part II:

Clairee: I was reading this fascinating book about Anne Boleyn. Did you know she had six fingers?
Ouiser (from the other room): What happened to the other four?
Clairee (shouting): She had eleven total!
-Steel Magnolias

I don’t know why this makes me laugh so much, but it does. As usual, I will be seeking treatment as soon as possible.

Favorite movie dialog, a possible series:

Teacher: Of the numbers 1 through 10, how many are divisible by 2?
Fred: All of them.
-Little Man Tate

Yet another project:
A friend of mine is having a photography show on State Street in Madison beginning September 15. I told him I would do a small promotional site for him to accompany the show. The site’s not done yet – the “images” page, arguably the most important, isn’t finished – but you can get an idea of the “bones.” I’m quite pleased with it. Be sure to let Mike (I know way too many Mikes) know if you like his photography – there’s an e-mail link on the front page.

Kevin James’ “The King of Queens” further validates my pop culture rule: comics with good standup tend to do bad shows, and comics with good shows often do bad standup. While I continue to think that “King of Queens” is one of the most consistently funny shows on the networks today, I caught a Kevin James special on Comedy Central recently and was unmoved.

I loved “Seinfeld,” (at least until the last two seasons when the show went wildly off the rails) but couldn’t stand the man himself on stage. In fact, when they dropped those annoying standup segments, I cheered. “Ellen” was a groundbreaking show, but rarely all that funny except in those few brilliant episodes where she came out. She did some great standup, though, including a bit about waiting for the elevator that still makes me laugh when I think about it.

I absolutely love “KofQ.” I realized watching tonight that one of the main reasons I love it is Leah Remini as Doug’s wife. Sitcom wives are a dime a dozen, and often seem to come from the same playbook. But Remini’s Carrie is different – just as funny as her husband while still being a perfect foil. I also enjoy the fact that she seems to be the only gorgeous TV wife who is such a perfect match for her mate, you don’t question why she would be with him. The show is a pleasure.

New mantra:

Calm down.
Breathe.
Relax.
The universe is not about you.

Because Windows was not properly shut down, one or more of your disk drives may have errors on it. To avoid seeing this message in the future, always shut down your computer by selecting Shut Down from the Start menu.

Look, Bill. Let me get this straight. Do you think I yanked the cord out from the wall? Do you think I don’t know how to select “Shut Down” from the Start menu? I’ve seen this message, oh, 4,312 times, and every single one of those times it was the operating system’s fault, not mine. So save the patronizing attitude.

Looks like Windows 98 crashed on you again. We are sorry and humbly beg your forgiveness. We wrote this thing and even we don’t understand it. Would you like a danish?

Now there’s an error message I can get behind.

In a fantastic instance of Internet creative collaboration, Melissa asked me if she could paint a painting based on the photo I took out on the pier. Of course I told her yes, and above you see the results. Beautiful, don’t you agree?

Just added an “AIM me” link to the left column, since thanks to Xkot, I’ve become acquainted with online chatting. If you have AOL Instant Messenger, give me a “call” sometime.

On a related note, to take a page from Miguel and Melissa, I could really use some e-mail today. Feeling extremely twitterpated for various reasons, so some e-mail would really hit the spot. Thanks.