"Don't make me subpoena you, sweet cheeks..."

Ah, Adam Felber, how I never tire of your satirical dialogue. (And for the record...unless you're used to it, "subpoena" is a wicked unnatural word to type.)

Anyway...a pretty slow day today here in Robland. My big deal today was a small breakthrough I made in Chinese takeout food technology. This might be old news to many of you, but to me it was a fresh ray of light. You know those crispy fried noodles that come with soups? I never understood those. Sometimes I'd eat them as a side dish, kind of like chips. That was mostly when I was really hungry, though. Sometimes I'd dump them in the soup like croutons, but I never really dug on that, either. It, like...added crunchiness to the soup, which is something I've never really strived for. I like soft foods. Anyway, today's breakthrough was this: I dumped the noodles into the soup, and just left them there. I tell you, friends, it was amazing. A whole new way to eat Chinese takeout soup. The previously lifeless, dry, and crunchy noodles turned into vibrant, soft, and supple noodles! Fantastic! Plus leaving them in there had two beneficial side-effects: it let the soup cool from burn-your-tongue hot to a nice, manageable temperature, and it also soaked up a bunch of broth, thereby bringing forth the non-broth elements. Goddamn amazing, I tell you. So if anyone is like I used to be and prone to ignoring that packet of crispy noodles, I heartily recommend this new way to enjoy them. And if this is super old news and something everyone in the Chinese takeout soup world already know...well, you know. Kiss my ass. :)

Oh, remember that job I applied for? I'm not normally in the habit of sending in followup messages, but I was really thinking about it today. And when I finally thought that I would do it, I opened up my e-mail client only to find that I'd just gotten a rejection note from them. So, yeah, no job for me. Inf kicked me another opportunity today, but I don't think I'm quite up to the task on this one. So, yeah...the half-assed search continues. I'm not really feeling the pressure yet, so that's good. I'm taking my time and trying to be a little picky. I'd hate to limp back into something soul-sucking if I can help it. Still...once desperation takes hold, then it'll be game on. :)

In my surfings today, I found myself pointed to "A Girl's Guide to Geek Guys." (One link of many.) If you've been on the 'Net for a decent amount of time, you've probably already seen it. If you haven't, it's pretty much only interesting for historical purposes. :) As such, it made me think a bit. Basically it's an article explaining to women that it might be time to go after the geek guys. As near as I can figure, I think this thing was written in like 1995. Really stop and think about that. 1995. What were you doing in 1995? The better question, actually, is: How much time did you spend on the Internet in 1995? My guess is, not a whole hell of a lot. Me, I was getting into the swing of things at college, I guess, and was finding out that the Internet existed. We're talking the stupid-early days of the Web, here, everybody. Back then the Internet to me meant e-mail, IRC, finger, ytalk, USENET and...yes, gopher. 1995! Nearly ten years ago. Think about all the things that have changed since then. The world has been completely remade, what with the Web being what it is today. Don't believe me? How many URLs did you see in commercials in 1995? How many friends did you have that you'd never met? No LiveJournal...the word "blog" didn't even exist! Not as you think of it today, anyway. No eBay, no Amazon, no Google. MP3s were in their infancy. There were no DVDs. Measuring time in today's pace, that was forever ago.

I got a little off track. :) The point is: in 1995, that article was novel. Date a geek? Right...a great article for a laugh, but who would really date a geek? I mean...I'm sure it was done, but it certainly wasn't talked about, not in polite company. Geeks were still the pariahs you might remember from last millenium. But, then...things happened. The Web exploded. Instant messaging was born. Blogging occurred. Tell me now...how many commercials do you see today without a URL attached? The dotcom boom catapulted geeks into stardom. We made the word "dotcom," for Christ's sake! Things went crazy. Now computers are something every home needs. The Internet is ubiquitous. Nowadays it's a little weird not to have a web page or a blog. You don't have an e-mail adress, and people assume you live in a cave. And...geeks date. Geeks are everywhere. Maybe there are more of them, or maybe they've just come out of hiding. But geeks are almost normal now. Reading that article, it seems almost quaint. To think there was a time when it was weird to meet people on the 'Net. A time when it was suggested, "Hey...here's something new. We've never thought of this before...try dating a geek!" The article's still funny, but for a completely different reason.

Anyway, no searing new insights or anything there...it was just a bizarre moment of perspective for me. I guess I shouldn't be that surprised about such changes. I mean...almost ten years. That's a long time. Ten years took us from, what...disco to hair metal? It was just weird to sit and think that this has all gone on not only during my lifetime, but within the bounds of my existence as an adult, really. I used to not be a giant believer in the wisdom of age. Or at least...I thought old people put too much stock in it. :) But thinking back...knowing that I was alive and aware and living my life, and that things were so different..it's mind-boggling. Think about it this way...someone who's 10 now, or 12...they're growing up in a world that's always had Amazon and Google and blogging. They'll never know of a world where it had to be suggested that geeks might be dateable. Times, they are a-changin'.

Heh. Okay, so I'm drained now. I feel old. :)

I'll leave off tonight with a PSA, a real one, this time, and not a sarcastic one. :) Anyone out there a WinAmp user? For the sake of security, it's time to upgrade.

Ah, and fear the new icon, everybody. Fear! As always, crazy mad props to kthrin. :)

Peace, everybody! :)

A day out on the town

Had another "old" moment today. I had a Metallica song stuck in my head. I was racking my brains to remember the title of the song, or even which album it was on. I had the chorus down...some riffs...it was right on the tip of my tongue. Oh...it's not Metallica. It's Pantera. :P What a goof!

So today I actually spent a fair amount of time out of the house, which is novel. My boy Paul is in town, and I went to go hang out with him. This is a guy I worked with years ago, back at Merrill and the Tiger Pit days. That's a blast from the past. He's been out in L.A. for a while, and he was making a little visit back east. I haven't seen him in a long time...maybe like...oh, maybe six years now. It was really nice to catch up. He's good folk, and we had a really nice time. We knocked back a few beers at this bar in Little Italy, and I had my first ever tuna melt there. And...and! We completely radomly met John Lee Hancock. This was much more exciting and relevant to Paul than myself, as he's in the screenwriting gig, so the two of them talked shop and did their thing for a while. It was pretty cool...basically as close as I've gotten to celebrity spotting or whatever. The main event, though, was seeing Paul again, which was a great time. And there's potential for more out-of-towners on my hangout list, too...stay tuned. :)

After our lunch-and-beer adventure, we wandered Chinatown for a bit, and then went on our separate adventures. Paul went to meet up with some friends, and I went to catch dinner with Janie (aplacental) and kthrin at that schmancy new diner. I was pretty late, but I burned through my burger rather quickly. Yes, friends, Flesh of the Land Beast. With avocado. Rare. It was excellent. So here's my day...bagel and coffee and an orange, tuna melt and beer beer beer, rare burger with avocado and pie a la mode for dessert. Health...meter...falling... But oh so tasty. :)

The now traditional post-dinner Duane Reade run happened, which was more brief this time, but still allowed me the chance to face off against the magnifying mirror again. I peeled some dead skin off my nose and further examined that...thing...on my eyelid. Stupid eyelid. Stupid magnifying mirror. I think one day I might invent a smallifying mirror in protest. Also...I have this theory that if you hold the smallifying mirror up to the magnifying mirror, it may create a small rift in the space-time continuum, possibly allowing one access to katanaspace. Further research is necessary...

So I snarfed this interview with Jonathan Carroll from Neil Gaiman's blog today. I like Jonathan Carroll, so I thought I'd spread it around a little, but the interview also contains Carroll's newly coined phrase "a Happy Meal made of paper," which is my new favorite way to talk about writing. :)

I've learned about my disease (snarfed from gavriela and delirium6969)...

Doctor Unheimlich has diagnosed me with Flatvurmosis
Cause:	zombie attack
Symptoms:	extreme toe pain, glowing aura, embarrassing noises, eyelid swelling
Cure:	take two spoons of cough medicine every day before meals
Enter your name, for your own diagnosis:

Zombie attack...sure. Toe pain...okay. Glowing aura...naturally. Embarrassing noises...constantly. EYELID SWELLING?!?! That's so...personal! Clearly the magnifying mirror is more a portal of evil than I had previously thought. Cough syrup, here I come! :)

And this is just a brief shout-out to Kthrin and Janie and anyone else who may mock my tendency toward home surgery. I'm not the only one! Muhahahahaha! ;)

Before I go tonight, a little PSA-slash-pimpin'. Our own aplacental has signed up for the AIDS Walk New York, so if you feel like givin' a little to a worthy cause, go for it!

That's it. Peace out, everybody. :)