A few weeks ago I had a dream that I was being let go from my job because I wasn’t a fast enough coder. Also had a dream that my rental house was twice as big and had a secret upstairs level where my landlords and their kids were playing/living occasionally.

I think I was most disappointed that the first one wasn’t true. There’s nothing quite like the panic that unemployment brings. It gives one the opportunity to try new things one would never try from a stable stance. Another chance to take the plunge, run your own business, and most-likely fail at it again. Also gives one the opportunity to experiment with health problems.

When I was in middle school I found out about Navy Showers and partook in them occasionally. Go ahead, imagine away. What on earth is a Navy Shower? Yes … they involve several men in close proximity. Kidding! Check the link. They’ve since been rediscovered, resurrected and incorporated into my mostly daily routine.

Similarly I’ve rediscovered biking, and luckily one of the positive aspects of the job I now have is that it is close enough to bike to. Ten minutes. So I bike at least three days a week out of the four I work. I figured it was damn dumb to hop in the car for 4 minutes rather than biking for 10. Does wonders for my legs too. The roads have hills!

Furthermore, I:

• Recycle every damn thing possible. Even plasticware from restaurants that would otherwise be thrown away.
• Recycle old electronics via Office Depot and local city/county programs
• Compost
• Feel guilty when I have to drive, so I attempt to consolidate trips
• Keep the A/C around 78
• Open windows whenever possible
• Don’t disturb or tease nature like an obnoxious human being would
• Use a reel lawnmower because gas mowers are often overkill and they pollute more than you think

Sounds good to me. Your turn.

Gentle Gentile Genitals

It must be some evolutionarily beneficial curiosity that won’t let me forget words like “succubus”. I don’t care what it means. I don’t care what it is. I’ve been trying to forget it for years and no I never cared to look it up. But now might be the time to give in. Maybe my brain will stop keeping it around if it knows what it means and thus can determine more fully whether it’s something I need to remember or not. Right now the fate of that word is in limbo. It lies in a black box and its future cannot be decided. The worst thing is this isn’t the only word bouncing around in my brain in this fashion.

Finally, someone has managed to soften the image of Christ’s suffering. Could this bring more converts?

(Created by Holly the Terrible of Daubery.)

A Toyota ad showed while I was listening to music through Pandora. It said, “Good news, you have above average taste in music”, and then went on to tell good news about Toyota deals.

I really hope no vain fools clicked the ad.

(I accidentally deleted this post. Here’s a reconstruction)

Wednesdays are magical. Here’s my schedule:

• Rise at 6:30 or 7
• Check my “sites” and email
• Run for 15 minutes or exercise in some capacity
• Shower and eat
• Hop on my bike and head out the door to arrive at a downtown coffee shop just before 9am
• Begin working for my clients
• Lunch with my woman at 11:30
• Continue working until 2 or 3pm
• Then … whatever!

This one day in the middle of the work week is often the best one of all. How could it not be? It’s strategically positioned as a symmetic separator of a work schedule we’re all bored with. It also makes use of the fact that I’m more geared up during the middle of the week. Traditionally, Monday and Tuesday tend to be the most depressing days of my life. Looking ahead and seeing a stretch of 3-4 more 8-hour days is not comforting. And it normally destroys my motivation. No longer. I aim to never work 8 hours, 5 days a week, again.

I think Radiohead’s Kid A album was originally titled “Kinda”. Then they realized some would try to apply the title to the contents of the CD, so they tried a little harder to avoid making too obvious their lack of musical effort. I still think “kinda” is a good answer to a question about how worthwhile Radiohead albums are to buy.

Remember: You can’t sing from your heart with your eyes open. Haven’t you ever been to a charismatic christian church service? Remember all the closed eyes, open mouths and wet faces? … Yeah, it made me uncomfortable too. No, I’m not going back either. To church in general.

New Level of Difficulty: Think of the learning game, “Which of these things doesn’t belong”. It’s the game where you present 4 to 8 items to a kid and have them pick the item that doesn’t share some characteristic with the others. They have to figure out which characteristic works best. Start with that game, but use only two items. Then tell them to “choose wisely.” It’s a weak stretch, but it’s supposed to teach kids about real life … the kind where you don’t know what the hell is going on, and all options have something wrong with them. (And yeah, I don’t really think this is a good idea. I’m just running with the idea that nothing is black and white.)

While trying to shop for shorts, a thought …

A leg, from top to bottom, don’t grow in girth. So why were these shorts that I’m looking at made to accomodate just that?

it’s good to have a way with things
a way that’s fresh
a way that springs
to life the lifeless melody
of everyday
of daily things