funny looking kid

lyrics for the day

Hold An Old Friend's Hand
(Weiss)

Another year and I'm still here
The grass just will not grow on this old hill
Still I just can't let it go
I don't believe it's cause I'm cold
Or partial to the crazy life I'm caught in
Sometimes I feel the hand of time
moving like its body was broke
and it's then I miss your sighs
and the tender words you spoke

Hey, that's okay - come on around and get yourself together
Won't you come on around and hold an old friend's hand
Babe, I promise not to throw you
You don't have to stay, I just want to hold you
Won't you come on around
and hold an old friend's hand

Another year is dead and gone
The sun don't want to shine on this old hill
or anything that's mine
I don't believe it hurts to grow
even when the crop you sow is a failure
Sometimes I wish I had no pride
I'd go off and sell my soul
But how do you say goodbye
To the only truth you've known

Hey, that's okay - come on around and get yourself together
Won't you come on around and hold an old friend's hand
Babe, baby I promise not to throw you
You don't have to stay, I just want to hold you
Won't you come on around
and hold an old friend's hand

Oh babe, honey everybody makes mistakes
We feel a lot of life that way
Don't you think by now I know that?
Look what's brought us both back
Now - while the leaves still dance on the wind
While the moon and the clouds come spinning
Will you whisper my name again?
Again and again and again

Hey, that's okay - come on around and get yourself together
Won't you come on around and hold an old friend's hand
Around and around with you I've been
Flat on the ground an up again
Nobody knows for sure just when everything changes

~ o ~

flk.

I finally got around to watching Giuseppe Tornatore's wonderful Cinema Paradiso
today. Gave it a 10 on IMDB.

flk.

Good article on how Digital Video Recorders work:

http://www.howstuffworks.com/dvr.htm

flk.

>Do you like Starbucks? Why or why not? So you prefer elegant
>coffeehouses (like the one i describe above) or funky Starbucks-like
>places?

I tolerate Starbucks. There's one relatively close by that really
is the best Starbucks I've been to. Lots of tables and comfy chairs,
like the one you described in your post. Are you familiar with the
concept of the "third place"? Not home, not the office, but someplace
else -- to meet, to hang out.

See:
http://user.gru.net/domz/third.htm
http://www.movingideas.org/commonwealth/mooney-c0008.html

Carrie Bradshaw has convinced me: it's like day care for grown-ups.
Austin being the high-tech town it is, I've noticed several "virtual companies" --
ones that have no fixed office -- whose people meet up at "my" Starbucks at least
every other day. (Talk about inexpensive rent: you can have a table near an
802.11b wireless access point for several hours, at what it costs for a couple of
lattes -- wireless access plan not included, of course.) There are also people that go there
to write, to critique each other's poems, to study, and to watch other people as
they meet, write, study and watch other people.

The other thing I've noticed is that there's been a shift at this Starbucks --
although they still mainly serve coffee-based drinks, non-coffee drinks are
making up a larger part of what is selling.

>What's your favourite coffeehouse like? How do you like your coffee
>(mocha, melange, capuccino, espresso, filter, ...)? What's your dream
>coffeehouse like?

These were my favorites in Berkeley:

Cafe Milano:
http://www-personal.si.umich.edu/~ishriles/cafe.proj/cafes/milantitle.html
[architecture article] http://www.dbarchitect.com/www-8506/8506-1.html

Cafe Strada:
http://www-personal.si.umich.edu/~ishriles/cafe.proj/cafes/stradatitle.html

Caffe Mediterraneum:
http://www-personal.si.umich.edu/~ishriles/cafe.proj/cafes/medtitle.html

flk.

lyrics for the day

First Kiss - They Might be Giants

The morning
Alarm rings
I'm asleep but she's talking to me
She's walking 'round wearing all of my clothes
But we decided long ago
We'd build a time machine and go

How 'bout another, first kiss kiss kiss yeah
I want another first kiss

Other women were too sentimental
Always worrying about their hair
Got tired of wasting all my time
now I'm not worrying at all

How 'bout another, first kiss kiss kiss yeah
I want another first kiss kiss kiss yeah
I want another first kiss

The clock [rings],
she's waiting,
I could tell you we belong together
I could tell you you belong with me
But we've run out of things to say
And we'll be happy anyway, so

How 'bout another first kiss kiss kiss yeah
I want another first kiss kiss kiss yeah
I want another first kiss.

~ o ~

flk.

Is it Tuesday already?

Spent some time yesterday catching up on about two years' worth of User Friendly strips, hence the image link :-) We also went to see Signs. I think I'm in the minority but I did like it, just as I liked Unbreakable. I think a lot of people that go in to see Shyamalan's films are expecting another Sixth Sense, and so wind up disappointed. It was good to see Patricia Kalember on-screen again, even if it was only for a minute or so. (She did manage to get her name in the opening credits...)

flk.

I've made the switch. It's my intention to henceforth use Mozilla, unless the situation
absolutely requres the use of That Other Browser. Happy Monday!

In other news... I knew the answer to this one before I took the quiz. Cool, huh?

Which Tori Amos B-Side are you?

This quiz made while Angel was procrastinating her ass off.

A Little Earthquakes B-Side, you are strong-willed, and refuse to conform to anyone's wishes except your own. In the past, you've often tried to please everyone around you, only to compromise your own integrity in the process. Finally, you are being strong, and holding to your own convictions.

"Here I stand with this Sword in my Hand"

~ o ~

flk.

Monday Mission 2.31 (yes, a week late, but what are you going to do about it?)

1. Ever considered just deleting your Blog and not doing it anymore?
What prompted that and what stopped you?

No, but then I haven't been doing this very long. Still having fun doing it.

2. How about a quick review of the last movie you saw?

"Road To Perdition" was pretty good. Quite intense, and we saw the last show
Monday evening, so it was well into Tuesday morning before I was asleep. I
thought the graphic novel was better, or maybe I just found Tom Hanks' mustache
too distracting.

3. What's your favorite gadget? Are you lusting for any new ones? Will you ever be satisified???

Probably my TiVo. I really want a Powerbook -- want to hack code on it as well as run
commercial apps. Beyond that, I have to admit that the whole lack of income thing
has put a crimp in my knowledge of gadgetry, as it's frustrating to see things that
one can't buy. I'm sure you understand...

4. What "table game" do you enjoy playing most with other people? Have you played it lately?

Chez Geek! :-) Unfortunately, haven't had enough people gathered around
a table to play it in... oh a little over a year now.

5. Have you ever been obsessed with something so much that it was close to causing you physical or mental harm? If not, have you known anyone else who has?

No, and no. Thank goodness.

flk.

Someone (thanks for writing!) wrote and asked about the crown. Well, as I mentioned
a few weeks ago, I cracked my tooth eating garlic fish (there was a pebble or
something). Thanks to one of my fellow job-seekers at the Re-Employment center,
I managed to find a good dentist (actually got to talk with him over the phone at
9:30 at night; he told me to take two aspirin and come in to the clinic in the morning)

After much tooth build work they put a temporary crown in. Plastic, wow. It took
a bit of getting used to how it felt, but it worked pretty well. Dr. Craven warned
me not to eat things that might stick to the crown and pull it off, although if it did
come off it wouldn't be that difficult to put back in.

So Thursday morning I go in, and they tell me to get in the chair, lean back and
open wide. I do so, and am about to ask them, "So how do you take the temporary
out?" when the dentist just reaches in my mouth and pops it out. That was easy. :-)

Getting the permanent crown installed was a bit more involved, but it didn't take
as long as I thought it would.

flk.

lyrics for the day

'Release' - Aztec Camera
(Frame)

Silver shone the rooftops, I heard the words 'You will',
And realized that in your eyes, the force of love could kill.
So go and get your wages, get what you deserve,
When hope held out of its hands today, you laughed and turned and fled.

Release, 'cos I wanted the world, and all I could get to
Was a gun or a girl.
Release, now I've thrown them away
I'm here and I'm hungry and I hope I can stay.

The loch is overflowing, the sun has shed its light
And all that's left to warm your breast's the wine we stole tonight.
Bottle merchants both of us, overdosed on Keats, we smashed them all
And watched them fall like magic in the streets.

Release, 'cos I wanted the world, and all I could get to
Was a gun or a girl.
Release, now I've thrown them away
I'm here and I'm hungry and I hope I can stay.

Standing in our new boots, we've lost the urge to hide,
We left it with the souvenirs that forced us to decide.
How we'd storm the palace, meet me at the gates,
There's plenty bread and water here for anyone who waits.

Release, 'cos I wanted the world, and all I could get to
Was a gun or a girl.
Release, now I've thrown them away
I'm here and I'm hungry and I hope I can stay.

But you can't remember where you squandered your hope
A fistful of dollars and a fistful of dope,
With your hands in your hair and your hair in your face,
You'd better summon your soul because we're leaving this place,
With a red, red flag for a souvenir.

~ o ~

flk.

Yesterday I had lunch with C., Richard and Ulrike at Portabla. Good sandwiches.

After lunch we went to the Texas State History Museum downtown.
They have Austin's only IMAX theater. We saw Space Station 3-D, narrated by (ooo...)
Tom Cruise. Those 3-D goggles are a trip! Everything really looked three-dimensional, and
the kids sitting in the row in front of us kept reaching up and trying to touch things
on the space station. There were some breathtaking 3-D views of the earth, too,
as seen from the space shuttle and the space station itself.

And the quizzes for the day:

--

Your magical style is Magus.

What type of Magic do you work?. Take the Magical Style Quiz by Paradox

~ o ~

flk.