I used to instant message with the person sitting next to me at my first job. There wasn't even a wall between us. I commented one day that I thought it was rather asinine that the message went from my computer to a server in Virginia and then back to her computer, seeing as how her machine was less than 5 feet away from mine.

Maggie posted excerpts of Henry's Diary on her blog, so I went and read the whole damn thing. Henry is a four year old boy living in San Francisco. Henry's dad writes the blog. Henry is a kick-ass kid. Reading the stuff Henry's dad Mike posted, it makes me think that maybe not all little kids are screaming spoiled brats and that they can be a lot of fun. If I ever get married and have a kid, I want a kid like Henry.

Excerpts from the blog:

"What do you want for your birthday, Henry?"
"Candles!"
"What do you want the candles on?"
"FIRE!"
Happy Birthday Henry. You're my favorite Pokeman.
----
We went to the Monterey Aquarium today.

Henry was fascinated by the sharks even though he thought they were scary. We touched a sea cucumber and a starfish.

On the way home Henry stated that jellyfish were made of mushrooms on umbrellas.
----
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon we walked up the street to the ice cream store. Sun was out. Birds were singing. Neighbors waving as they swept their stoops. Henry screaming at the top of his lungs.

"No. Sleep. 'Til Broooooklyyyyn!!"

We're impressionable.
----
Pound for pound, Henry might actually be the most powerful entity in the Western United States.

P.S. We are running out of babysitters.
----
The scariest question a four-year-old boy can ask his father:

"Dad, who's Tony Hawk?"

Maggie posted excerpts of Henry's Diary on her blog, so I went and read the whole damn thing. Henry is a four year old boy living in San Francisco. Henry's dad writes the blog. Henry is a kick-ass kid. Reading the stuff Henry's dad Mike posted, it makes me think that maybe not all little kids are screaming spoiled brats and that they can be a lot of fun. If I ever get married and have a kid, I want a kid like Henry.

Excerpts from the blog:

"What do you want for your birthday, Henry?"
"Candles!"
"What do you want the candles on?"
"FIRE!"
Happy Birthday Henry. You're my favorite Pokeman.
----
We went to the Monterey Aquarium today.

Henry was fascinated by the sharks even though he thought they were scary. We touched a sea cucumber and a starfish.

On the way home Henry stated that jellyfish were made of mushrooms on umbrellas.
----
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon we walked up the street to the ice cream store. Sun was out. Birds were singing. Neighbors waving as they swept their stoops. Henry screaming at the top of his lungs.

"No. Sleep. 'Til Broooooklyyyyn!!"

We're impressionable.
----
Pound for pound, Henry might actually be the most powerful entity in the Western United States.

P.S. We are running out of babysitters.
----
The scariest question a four-year-old boy can ask his father:

"Dad, who's Tony Hawk?"

I feel like doing something completely insane and out there in order to shake things up a little and get both me & the general public out of this deep funk we're in. (See, it's times like this when money is a great thing to have. If only I'd invested in Microsoft 15 years ago, I'd be all set!) I thought maybe doing a dress-up parade would be cool, but Halloween was just last week and it needs to be something a little more creative since it was just done.

Right now, I'm thinking that I should get a bunch of people together, rent some rabbit suits and we can all run around together in a mob downtown handing out chocolate eggs. The only thing wrong with that (besides the lack of funding) is that if parents are going to throw out their kids' Halloween candy because they think the neighbors might poison their kids with anthrax, they probably won't take chocolate eggs from a random rabbit in the street either.

But dammit, something's got to be done. In the words of Tim Matheson and John Belushi in Animal House: "I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part... And we're just the guys to do it."

I feel like doing something completely insane and out there in order to shake things up a little and get both me & the general public out of this deep funk we're in. (See, it's times like this when money is a great thing to have. If only I'd invested in Microsoft 15 years ago, I'd be all set!) I thought maybe doing a dress-up parade would be cool, but Halloween was just last week and it needs to be something a little more creative since it was just done.

Right now, I'm thinking that I should get a bunch of people together, rent some rabbit suits and we can all run around together in a mob downtown handing out chocolate eggs. The only thing wrong with that (besides the lack of funding) is that if parents are going to throw out their kids' Halloween candy because they think the neighbors might poison their kids with anthrax, they probably won't take chocolate eggs from a random rabbit in the street either.

But dammit, something's got to be done. In the words of Tim Matheson and John Belushi in Animal House: "I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part... And we're just the guys to do it."

The title of this entry will have nothing to do with the content, but I heard that line on "The Simpsons" a few nights ago and just had to use it.

So, the breakdown. I got my sorry ass out of my apartment this afternoon to go down to Circuit City in Dedham in order to pick up the MP3 player that I have been wanting so badly for the past 3 weeks. They had it in stock so I bought it and brought it home. This thing completely rocks my world! It has all the features that were missing from the first one I got just over a year ago, and some others on top of those that I didn't even think of but still kick ass! I can't wait for the batteries to charge (another really cool feature -- rechargeable batteries, the charger is in the unit so all I have to do is plug it in & it'll recharge itself) to take it out for a spin.

On my way home, I was listening to one of my two all-time favorite DJs (Geoff Charles on 94HJY from Providence) and he was talking about the alert for terrorist attacks that the government put out last week. He basically said that the government knew what day it would be (he said it was supposed to be on Halloween) but that they weren't specific because they were afraid that the terrorists would say "well, they know we're planning on striking on Wednesday, let's wait until Thursday/move it up to Tuesday instead." Also, he said that if the government named a specific day, Americans wouldn't venture out on that day but they'd live life normally during the rest of the week. So it made no sense to scare all of us into staying in bed all day for one day last week. Personally, I think he's got good points, but the fact remains that there's still the stark dichotomy in what our government is saying and doing. If the government doesn't want us to get worried about future attacks, then they just shouldn't say anything about any information. We're already so hypersensitive to anything that could possibly be construed as a terrorist act that telling us to keep our eyes open is just plain redundant. And if they need to explain the whole patrolling the bridges or whatever other actions they take, all they have to say is "As part of our ongoing efforts to fight further possible terrorist attacks on our country, we're taking these and other various preventative measures. So expect to see an increased police and federal law enforcement presence over the next few weeks/months as we attempt to run down whoever is connected with the 9/11 attacks as well as who's been mailing us all anthrax." That's all. End of story. No need to excite the rest of us and make the paranoid people run screaming about more bombings.

Man, 4:35 and it's already dark outside. Plus, it's been cloudy and damn cold all day. Talk about fall just suddenly dropping in on you. It's almost time to break out the hot chocolate and watch the Fireplace Channel on TV.

The title of this entry will have nothing to do with the content, but I heard that line on "The Simpsons" a few nights ago and just had to use it.

So, the breakdown. I got my sorry ass out of my apartment this afternoon to go down to Circuit City in Dedham in order to pick up the MP3 player that I have been wanting so badly for the past 3 weeks. They had it in stock so I bought it and brought it home. This thing completely rocks my world! It has all the features that were missing from the first one I got just over a year ago, and some others on top of those that I didn't even think of but still kick ass! I can't wait for the batteries to charge (another really cool feature -- rechargeable batteries, the charger is in the unit so all I have to do is plug it in & it'll recharge itself) to take it out for a spin.

On my way home, I was listening to one of my two all-time favorite DJs (Geoff Charles on 94HJY from Providence) and he was talking about the alert for terrorist attacks that the government put out last week. He basically said that the government knew what day it would be (he said it was supposed to be on Halloween) but that they weren't specific because they were afraid that the terrorists would say "well, they know we're planning on striking on Wednesday, let's wait until Thursday/move it up to Tuesday instead." Also, he said that if the government named a specific day, Americans wouldn't venture out on that day but they'd live life normally during the rest of the week. So it made no sense to scare all of us into staying in bed all day for one day last week. Personally, I think he's got good points, but the fact remains that there's still the stark dichotomy in what our government is saying and doing. If the government doesn't want us to get worried about future attacks, then they just shouldn't say anything about any information. We're already so hypersensitive to anything that could possibly be construed as a terrorist act that telling us to keep our eyes open is just plain redundant. And if they need to explain the whole patrolling the bridges or whatever other actions they take, all they have to say is "As part of our ongoing efforts to fight further possible terrorist attacks on our country, we're taking these and other various preventative measures. So expect to see an increased police and federal law enforcement presence over the next few weeks/months as we attempt to run down whoever is connected with the 9/11 attacks as well as who's been mailing us all anthrax." That's all. End of story. No need to excite the rest of us and make the paranoid people run screaming about more bombings.

Man, 4:35 and it's already dark outside. Plus, it's been cloudy and damn cold all day. Talk about fall just suddenly dropping in on you. It's almost time to break out the hot chocolate and watch the Fireplace Channel on TV.

The title of this entry will have nothing to do with the content, but I heard that line on "The Simpsons" a few nights ago and just had to use it.

So, the breakdown. I got my sorry ass out of my apartment this afternoon to go down to Circuit City in Dedham in order to pick up the MP3 player that I have been wanting so badly for the past 3 weeks. They had it in stock so I bought it and brought it home. This thing completely rocks my world! It has all the features that were missing from the first one I got just over a year ago, and some others on top of those that I didn't even think of but still kick ass! I can't wait for the batteries to charge (another really cool feature -- rechargeable batteries, the charger is in the unit so all I have to do is plug it in & it'll recharge itself) to take it out for a spin.

On my way home, I was listening to one of my two all-time favorite DJs (Geoff Charles on 94HJY from Providence) and he was talking about the alert for terrorist attacks that the government put out last week. He basically said that the government knew what day it would be (he said it was supposed to be on Halloween) but that they weren't specific because they were afraid that the terrorists would say "well, they know we're planning on striking on Wednesday, let's wait until Thursday/move it up to Tuesday instead." Also, he said that if the government named a specific day, Americans wouldn't venture out on that day but they'd live life normally during the rest of the week. So it made no sense to scare all of us into staying in bed all day for one day last week. Personally, I think he's got good points, but the fact remains that there's still the stark dichotomy in what our government is saying and doing. If the government doesn't want us to get worried about future attacks, then they just shouldn't say anything about any information. We're already so hypersensitive to anything that could possibly be construed as a terrorist act that telling us to keep our eyes open is just plain redundant. And if they need to explain the whole patrolling the bridges or whatever other actions they take, all they have to say is "As part of our ongoing efforts to fight further possible terrorist attacks on our country, we're taking these and other various preventative measures. So expect to see an increased police and federal law enforcement presence over the next few weeks/months as we attempt to run down whoever is connected with the 9/11 attacks as well as who's been mailing us all anthrax." That's all. End of story. No need to excite the rest of us and make the paranoid people run screaming about more bombings.

Man, 4:35 and it's already dark outside. Plus, it's been cloudy and damn cold all day. Talk about fall just suddenly dropping in on you. It's almost time to break out the hot chocolate and watch the Fireplace Channel on TV.

So, correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't we supposed to have another terrorist attack sometime this past week somewhere in the country? And if my eyes don't deceive me, we are into the next week.

As New York Representative Gary Ackerman said, "The only thing they are accomplishing right now is creating a nation of paranoid schizophrenic agoraphobics." He's right, y'know. On the one hand, we've got our Dictator-In-Training, Donald Rumsfeld, telling everyone that we need to watch out for anything suspicious, suspend some civil rights here & there, take shelter from the impending attack which we were warned of by "credible sources" and we've got the media raining gloom, doom, fire & brimstone down from every possible paper and news program. On the other hand, we've got President George W. Moron out playing ball at Yankee Stadium among 40,000 screaming Yankee fans, out in the open and living life as closely to normal as possible.

So with all these conflicting signals, what am I supposed to do? Go out & go shopping, but make sure that the mall has a bomb shelter that I can duck into at a moment's notice while I'm being handed a newspaper screaming about when the next attack is coming yet advertising how I can save 30% in the supersale? Pardon me if I'm not completely sure of what to do next, since my government that I'm supposed to have such faith in hasn't made up its mind yet.

So, correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't we supposed to have another terrorist attack sometime this past week somewhere in the country? And if my eyes don't deceive me, we are into the next week.

As New York Representative Gary Ackerman said, "The only thing they are accomplishing right now is creating a nation of paranoid schizophrenic agoraphobics." He's right, y'know. On the one hand, we've got our Dictator-In-Training, Donald Rumsfeld, telling everyone that we need to watch out for anything suspicious, suspend some civil rights here & there, take shelter from the impending attack which we were warned of by "credible sources" and we've got the media raining gloom, doom, fire & brimstone down from every possible paper and news program. On the other hand, we've got President George W. Moron out playing ball at Yankee Stadium among 40,000 screaming Yankee fans, out in the open and living life as closely to normal as possible.

So with all these conflicting signals, what am I supposed to do? Go out & go shopping, but make sure that the mall has a bomb shelter that I can duck into at a moment's notice while I'm being handed a newspaper screaming about when the next attack is coming yet advertising how I can save 30% in the supersale? Pardon me if I'm not completely sure of what to do next, since my government that I'm supposed to have such faith in hasn't made up its mind yet.

I did end up cleaning the bathroom today, as well as grocery shopping. Cleaning my room will have to wait until Mylo leaves tomorrow and my life goes back to the usual existence I've led for the past few months. While I won't miss him constantly attacking my ankles, I will miss the little fuzzy critter when he goes. I wonder if he'll remember me in some way and miss me even a little.

The conclusion of HBO's "Band of Brothers" tonight has left me in a melancholy mood. While I do agree with Semisonic in that "every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end," I've never been one to deal well with endings, especially emotional ones. I guess I'm a bit of a sap that a TV show could affect me that way, but it was a powerful series.

I think about the kinds of endings that I may experience soon, and I wonder not only if they'll come to pass but also how I'll deal with them. Saying goodbye is never something that's been easy for me. Though right now, I'd welcome the occasion and the changes it brings.

'Cause I remember how we drank time together
And how you used to say that the stars are forever
And daydreamed about how to make your life better
By leaving town, leaving town...
-- Dexter Freebish, "Leaving Town"

I did end up cleaning the bathroom today, as well as grocery shopping. Cleaning my room will have to wait until Mylo leaves tomorrow and my life goes back to the usual existence I've led for the past few months. While I won't miss him constantly attacking my ankles, I will miss the little fuzzy critter when he goes. I wonder if he'll remember me in some way and miss me even a little.

The conclusion of HBO's "Band of Brothers" tonight has left me in a melancholy mood. While I do agree with Semisonic in that "every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end," I've never been one to deal well with endings, especially emotional ones. I guess I'm a bit of a sap that a TV show could affect me that way, but it was a powerful series.

I think about the kinds of endings that I may experience soon, and I wonder not only if they'll come to pass but also how I'll deal with them. Saying goodbye is never something that's been easy for me. Though right now, I'd welcome the occasion and the changes it brings.

'Cause I remember how we drank time together
And how you used to say that the stars are forever
And daydreamed about how to make your life better
By leaving town, leaving town...
-- Dexter Freebish, "Leaving Town"

Based on the fact that my machine appears to be rejecting Netscape, I've begrudgingly begun using Internet Explorer again. I really liked the way Netscape 6.2 looks and functioned (when it was working), I just wish it didn't completely crash my machine all the time. And now access for the Mac version of Audiogalaxy has been shut off due to lack of developer support, so I'm denied my music as well. Why can't people just make a program that works?

I'm putting off cleaning my room completely until tomorrow after Mylo leaves, so I'll have access to the parts of my room that aren't being taken up by his cage and supplies. And then I'll clean the bathroom. My roommate cleaned a bit today and vacuumed the living room yesterday, so I'm feeling appropriately guilty, though he gets the easy end of things since bathroom cleansers literally make me sick -- allergic reaction, I guess. I need to go grocery shopping today, and I promised myself over the weekend I'd climb back on the bandwagon as far as exercise goes though I haven't done that yet.

I'm just all kinds of whiny & lazy today, aren't I?

Based on the fact that my machine appears to be rejecting Netscape, I've begrudgingly begun using Internet Explorer again. I really liked the way Netscape 6.2 looks and functioned (when it was working), I just wish it didn't completely crash my machine all the time. And now access for the Mac version of Audiogalaxy has been shut off due to lack of developer support, so I'm denied my music as well. Why can't people just make a program that works?

I'm putting off cleaning my room completely until tomorrow after Mylo leaves, so I'll have access to the parts of my room that aren't being taken up by his cage and supplies. And then I'll clean the bathroom. My roommate cleaned a bit today and vacuumed the living room yesterday, so I'm feeling appropriately guilty, though he gets the easy end of things since bathroom cleansers literally make me sick -- allergic reaction, I guess. I need to go grocery shopping today, and I promised myself over the weekend I'd climb back on the bandwagon as far as exercise goes though I haven't done that yet.

I'm just all kinds of whiny & lazy today, aren't I?

As I said in my last post (which you will read after this if you're going in order of the page and not chronological order), the events of September 11th didn't really sink in for me until I drove over the Whitestone Bridge yesterday and saw -- for the first time in my entire life -- a New York skyline without the Twin Towers. But even then, the enormity of the entire situation didn't really hit me. It took being back in the city, realizing the essence of New York and the extent to which morale has been hit to fully comprehend what the September 11th attacks mean to New York. And unfortunately, I don't think that the rest of the nation realizes it either.

To begin with a little background, I don't think you really can understand New York unless you live there or unless you visit. The city itself is intoxicating. Its vibrancy, its fast pace of life and busyness, its throbbing and pulsing heart affect you in countless ways and unconsciously, you begin to subscribe to the notion that New York is the greatest place on Earth. Be it through Broadway shows, or the fact that the nation welcomes the new year in Times Square, or countless numbers of well-known media outlets and huge businesses and names who call New York home, or the instantly recognizable skyscrapers, or the fact that at 4AM you can still find any type of food or entertainment you crave, New York makes you believe that it truly is the Center of the Known Universe.

New Yorkers are exposed to this 24/7, and it's manifested through an incredible sense of love and pride for their city, in addition to a feeling on invincibility. In Denis Leary's "No Cure For Cancer" standup special, he fancies an argument between two people in which one person says, "I fought in Vietnam!" The other replies with, "So what? I live in New York!" The first says in an incredulous tone of voice, "Really?" It is with this sense of "we're living on our own terms -- dammit, we're New Yorkers!" kind of feeling that the city awoke on September 11th. And within a few hours of daybreak, that feeling of invincibility was utterly and thoroughly shattered. Not only was the city hit in the heart of its recognizable features by taking out two of the structures that are so closely associated with New York, but also by killing so many people -- and I guarantee you, every single person in the New York metro area knows someone who either was in the Twin Towers when they were hit or died in the collapse, or they know someone who knows someone who was/did.

New York is wounded. Its bleeding is expressed through the tears of the survivors, through the anger flowing from so many mouths, through the nightmares and fears of those who were lucky enough to either survive the impact or not be in the vicinity of the World Trade Center on September 11. The hole in the hearts of New Yorkers is physically represented by the hole in the skyline, their fiery need for answers and accountability by the debris and the acrid smell still permeating lower Manhattan.

Being back in New York this weekend, I was proud to be able to feel ties to the city, having been born there and also having been raised by two native New Yorkers, so my visits to the city were fairly frequent when I was younger. Driving into New York, I once again experienced that feeling that New York is the greatest place on Earth. Looking around, I understood what it felt like to be wounded -- perhaps not physically, but definitely spiritually -- by the terrorist attacks. And I comprehend their firm defiance in the face of this, New York's sharp and resolute reply that this will not stand, it will not happen again -- not on their watch. Their pride in their city will keep them going.

New Yorkers, I offer you my support -- and respect.