All Day at Work

It has come to my attention that there is a nasty rumor 

going around about me, and I want to dispel this 

patently false information before it gains any further 

semblance of authenticity. First, it has been said that I

took the day off of work this Friday, ostensibly to prepare 

for my trip to Wyoming. 

This was the plan as I originally designed it, but was 

not what actually ended up happening. If this 

misinformation was all that was being spread, I wouldn't 

bother to contradict it. It is neither here nor there. I work

hard, and if I need a day off to prepare for my vacation,

then so be it.

But sadly the vicious slander that has reached my ears, and 

probably yours, suggests a second fallacy which is that

I not only stayed home from work, but actually spent the

day home from work playing violent video games... 

specifically, GTA IV. 

This is a complete lie, and I have the photographic 

evidence to prove it. 

See below:

These pictures clearly show that I arrived early that morning

for work, like always, and left after the sun had already set,

again as per usual. That's just how I roll at work... dedicated,

focused, part of the team, present and at 100 percent every

day of the work week to make the Columbia experience the 

best it can possibly be for all of our guests.

I hope this has cleared up any confusion, and destroyed the 

false structure of lies being constructed against me by my 

enemies.

I am not paranoid.

Have a good night.

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day Weekend

A four day weekend for me, that was much needed after the 

full-on insanity that was Commencement Week. Friday I spent

playing GTA IV, and found innumerable pleasures in running 

over pedestrians and stealing cars and bikes from unsuspecting 

residents of Liberty City.

Then Saturday came, and with it, a plethora of friends and options.

Jason and Heather came in from DC, and we went to Tom's Diner 

for a quick and friendly neighborhood brunch. Then we drifted 

down into the Slope and did some shopping, and some drinking. 

Eventually we found ourselves in the backyard of a lesbian bar 

called Ginger's.We were met by Jessica's friends Scott and Danni, 

also from DC.

Sunday we all awoke hungry and hungover. So we took Jason and 

Heather to Le Gamin, which is a personal favorite of Jess and I, and

happily I believe J&H enjoyed it thoroughly as well. Brunch led us to 

the Botanic Gardens, and then to Prospect Park, where Will & 

Christel & Lil Geneva joined us for some Aerobie acrobatics. 

Then Will & Christel went back to meet with Laurel & Matt, and the 

rest of us headed to Bushwick. Snezan, a strict vegan, was 

apparently grilling meat and needed us to come and eat it. 

He had never yet had the pleasure of meeting J&H, and fittingly,

he was drunk and up a 30 foot ladder on the side of 

his building when we first arrived. 

First impressions...

The grilling was fun, if a little over-run by pretensions and pets. 

On Monday morning, we went once more with J&H to Le Gamin. 

I transfered 300 stolen songs from my laptop to theirs, and then

we sent them on their way.

Nothing fancy, nothing worthy of too much note... but I did spend

four days without ever once thinking of work or school. And that 

was a blessing. Thanks to all those who travelled and entertained.

Do I have to put my handcuffs on you momma?

Purity Ball in Colorado Springs

Well, I just read about a popular new trend in Christendom... the Purity Ball. Fathers and their daughters go and eat a nice dinner, pray for each other's sexual purity, and then dance the night away in front of a large wooden cross. 

I am not making this stuff up...

And all I am wondering is why we've given up on the most effective means of sexual purity... handcuffs and chastity belts. 

I must admit that after reading "Discipline and Punish" and "Genealogy of Morals", physical restraints seem a lot less creepy, and a good deal more honest, than spiritual constraints. 

At least the body is an actual physical reality that cannot be denied, as opposed to the metaphysical construct of the soul which it can be argued is an invented concept used to dominate the populace through morality/karma policing.

But no need to get esoteric about this.... lets all remember what George Clinton taught us; sometimes the threat of physical restraint should be enough:

"Do I have to put my handcuffs on you mama,
do I have to keep you under lock and key?
Do I have to put my handcuffs on you mama?
Now we both know that's not how it should be!" - Parliment

No More Margaritas

That's it... I am done with Margaritas. Two times in a row this spring they have knocked me sideways, and left me blacked-out drunk. And on neither occassion did I actually imbibe very many of these delicious blends of tequila, triple sec, and lime juice.

The first time I lost my virtue to this devilish drink was on the opening night of GTA IV at my apartment... all I remember of that night was that the cops and pedestrians were quite a bit more aggressive than in GTA III, and I found myself continually running for my life. Running from mere pedestrians, rather than gleefully destroying them without fear of reprecussions... this Liberty City was going to be a challenege. But very soon I let Will Smallman take full control of the game, becuase I couldn't seem to stay focused enough to even run away succesfully. Keep in mind, I only had 3 or 4 margaritas that night, and that is a fraction of my normal consumption of alcohol. But the proof of the margarita's newly corrosive affects on my mind and body were abundantly clear as I quickly lost control of both mind and body, and both suffered painfully all of the next day.

(This was the day I wrote my final paper for my Literary Theory class... for which I recieved an A, which is wonderful and surprising, and either says a lot about what passes for Literary Theory, or for my ability to write with a hangover.)

Then this Friday night, which was the last night of the regular semester operations, I visited the Heights Bar&Grill near Columbia University, ran into some co-workers and staff, and again lost my mind to margaritas. I also lost my new Razor phone becuase of those nasty South-of-the-Border monsters, and have no idea how I ended up in a cab heading downtown several hours later. Again, I was caught off guard becuse I only had a few... and in between the GTA night and the Heights night I have drank all sorts of different types of drinks on numerous occassions with no problem... but after years of enjoying pitchers of margaritas on warm summer days, they have decided to exact their revenge. Is it the triple sec, the tequila, the lime juice? No matter, I'm done.

So that's it... I'm swearing them off, and will never touch another margarita again.

Now, who wants a mojito?

Austria 2008

Austria 2008

(Warning: Contains a few historical pictures of a disturbing nature. Not meant to offend, merely to provide proper context. )

As with the the Romania pictures, there will be further commentary forthcoming... but better to get this out now, as I am about to go on another trip in June and will then have to sort those pictures and post about them as well. It never ends...

Romania 2008

Romania 2008

It has taken far too long for these pictures to go up... I keep hoping to write a nice commentary to go with them, but that desire keeps stopping me from just getting the damn pictures up... so here we go.

Remembering Why I Do This

You know... I've been busy with school, and so I still haven't even gotten around to posting my Romania/Austria Pictures (which are coming soon)... and I was starting to think about stopping this silly enterprise. I mean, who really needs my ironic bullshit, random story-telling, and pictures of people that only I know?

Then I was scrolling through other blogs, as I do on occassion, and stumbled upon this little gem of a blog that is titled ....

"REDEFINING DOMESTICITY: You Gotta Fake It Till You Make It"

This blog is filled with a variety of pink hues, digitized virtual kitten widgets, and thousands of baby pictures... so I'm not sure exactly what is being redefined, nor what is being faked, but I fear asking too many questions of this blog lest it lash out at me in crazed pastel inanities.

Now I know that this may seem mean-spirited and petty, my teasing this housefrau whom I have never met and seems to mean no one any harm, but the truth is far more complicated that that. Yes, I am at some level critiquing her and her blog, but much more importantly she reminds me why I need to keep writing my blog... because we must have all the voices of a culture represented, and they should not be in their own little cliques, but rather they should be rubbing right up against each other, making heat and energy....

We need integration, conflict, learning, disagreements, friction... and in this spirit I want to publicly thank the Fix's for adding me to their Friends and Family list, which is a great step in allowing different worlds to mingle and mix, and hopefully grow in the process.

So... in conclusion, I also want to thank Jenny, for reminding me why I continue to write this blog.