May 5, 2000.  Friday.
 
 
 

 
    Freespeech.org's troublesome FTP has been on the fritz for the last few days, leaving me unable to update my page.  Which, I suppose, is just as well, considering I've done very, very little since I last wrote.  I got up around 2pm everyday this week except today, and just dicked around.  I haven't even gotten around to cleaning my room, the one thing I really wanted to accomplish... on Tuesday.  But I was far too tired.  On Monday night, I went to Great Lakes after work with Jen, and eventually Jed and PFC Kathy showed up.  I'm glad Jen went, because Jed and Kathy were rather tardy.  I spoke mostly with Jen anyway.  I was in a celebratory mood, having just finished my semestered, so I figured I'd drink a lot.  A few beers, a few shots, etc.  The first time in months that I've stuck to a plan.  A fun night, and Jen spent the night in Jed's room.  Without Jed, of course, who spent the night in Kathy's room.  With Kathy, of course.

    So since then, I've done zilch.  I'm suffering from a bit of insomnia.  Actually, i think I'm just on a wacked-out sleepin schedule.  I can't seem to fall asleep before 4am, and the night before last I was up till 6AM playing Snood.  The sun was coming up as I fell asleep.  And here I am, at my last day of work, dead tired.  I was flipping through the tv last night, and came across the Flyers-Penguins hockey game, which was in overtime.  I had a passing interest, so I thought I'd just watch till the game ended and then go to bed.  That was around 11:30.  So naturally, the game went to five overtimes, 20 minutes each, and ended around 2:30.  It was the 3rd longest game in NHL history.  I don't know why I stayed up to watch it.  But after a certain point I had invested so much time in it, I felt like I couldn't turn it off.  The Flyers won, if you're interested.

    Continuing the chronlogically aribitray recap, yesterday afternoon I met PFC Caryn in midtown, because we were going to go shopping.  By the way, I visited her at her job at Entertainment Weekly on Wednesday.  That was kind of interesting.  I find that I am completely incapable of being comfortable around strangers, much less talking to them.  Anyway, She wanted to go to Old Navy, which I was hesitant about, and it wound up being bizarringly frightening. I had to get out of there pretty quickly. They've got this weird casual-Asian-chic thing going on. Maybe it's the capri pants influence, because they had this one mannequin with a little rice-paddy hat on, that might look ok with some capris.  By the way, It think capri pants only look good on Asian girls, and should probably be accompanied by said rice-paddy hats, and either a scooter or an AK-47 machine gun, depending on where and when you are.

    I also wanted to get the hell out of there because I had to meet Jed and Jen in the East Village, where we were planning on seeing High Fidelity.  So Caryn and I navigated our way over there. We met up with jed and jen at the theater on 2nd Ave and 12th St., after an inane conversation between jed and myself on his old and my new cell phone. Basically, i thought it was funny to walk up to him while talking on the phone. It wasn't.
    We had some time before the movie started, so we walked around the East Village a bit. I hadn't been in that area in a long while, mostly because no trains really run around there.  I find that perplexing.  On some street, we stopped in front of this store called Callendar's, which is some woman's name.  I'm not sure what she makes, does, or sells, but in the window there was a series of dioramas, framed nicely in a smooth, finished wood instead of a shoebox.  They were all on the subject of love, and some of them were really, really funny.  There was one called "Tender Trap," that was split into two levels. On the top level, there was a man in a tuxedo, standing in a living room, and across the room was a woman in a bridal gown.  The man had a little dialogue balloon that said something like "Boy, you look great," and his arms were outreached and his one leg was forward, suggesting he was walking.  The woman had a little thought balloon, and she was thinking to herself, "Just one more step..."  In front of the man, unbeknownst to him, there was a trap door in the floor, and on the lower level there was likt 18 babies and a few dogs, and chains and shackles.  I found this pretty funny. It pretty much speaks for itself, but in case i did a shitty job explaining, the "Tender Trap" was basically marriage, and the trap part was a big, burdensome  family.  You know, the idea of a beautiful wife, then the burden of mouths to feed.  That probably didn't need explaing at all.
    Most of the other dioramas had similar sardonic takes on love, but to a lesser degree. Some were even kind of touching and completely unironic.  As chance would have it, as we were standing outside the store, Ms. Callendar walked out, at least I'm presuming it was her, since she made the dioramas, and we got to chat with her briefly about her little creations. They weren't for sale, she said, although she's had many offers.  She thought of maybe doing a little book of them, but wondered if the diorama format would translate well into a book.  She thought that with each picture she could include some quotes about love.  I thought that sounded like a bad idea.  but who knows.  She seemed like a friendly woman, and I felt like we had to be overly enthusiastic so as to assure her that we weren't a bunch of loitering hoodlums.  Which weren't.
    Annnnnnnyway, Jen, Jed, and I bade Caryn farewell and headed into the movie.  I have to say, I like John Cusack to begin with, and this was one of the better movies I've seen in a very long time. I wouldn't hesitate to see it again.  I probably will see it at least one more time.  I wanted to read the book first, but i flipped through it once and it kind of annoyed me. I think in movie form, where I'm exposed to it less, and have less freedom of my own interpretation, I can enjoy it a lot more.  I have a habit of letting little annoying things sour things that I'm reading, no matter how good they are.  But the movie, I'm told, stuck pretty close to the book, according to Jed.  I enjoyed it thoroughly.  The cast was uniformly wonderful.  Jack Black, of Tenacious D was in the movie, and even though I like the guy, I found his character really annoying. But maybe that was the point.  Jed thought he was much more a caricature than a character, and I'd have to agree. So in that regard, the book was probably better.  But I'm actually glad I didn't read the book first, because it didn't end like I thought it would.  I'm glad I was surprised.  I suppose you could say I woulda been surprised by the book as well, but I find it more gratifying in a movie. It's more immediate.

    I spoke with Rodzilla for about 30 seconds on Wednesday morning before the connection was cut off.  She's in Rome.  She just called to say hello, and to tell me how happy she was, and that she has to live there someday.  Wonderful.  Although lately, I'd really like to spend some time abroad.  I think I need a different perspective on life.  I'm tired of all the hustle and bustle of New York. Of course, I niether hustle nor bustle, but that atmosphere around me makes that fact all the more painful.  I hear Europe is more laid-back.  Sounds good to me.  They seem to have their priorities straight. So they don't have the US's economy.  I'll trade that for long, leisurely lunches.  Anyway, i can scarcely wait for Rodzilla to return.  She'll be finding out whether or not she gets that teaching job very soon. But she'll be in NY regardless, I reckon. It's kind of tough not being able to speak with her.  Even though she's been in France all year, we've spoken regularly.  But I won't really get to talk to her till she gets back in three weeks. How tough they must have had it in the days of yore.  Like the early 90's before such cheap long-distance was available.

    By the way, I just read that unemployment is at a 30-year low.  So I suppose it's a good time to be looking for a job.  Again, if it were the early 90's, I'd be fucked.
 
 
 

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