Plans to visit Beantown have been sped up by several hours. So if I don't get a chance to update everyone on the wacky crazy lunch I had with Fincher, my apologies.

So I'm walking home tonight, after the fiasco of having my power go off for four hours, and I realize that the temperature of the air is exactly the same as the surface of my skin. Perfection.

Even at the end of a bad day, things can always work out: the moral? Simply put, you have to keep slogging through the mud until you either expire or you're rewarded. I have been rewarded so far. It is a good system.

One thing I'd never want to do is be around a bunch of angry slugs. When I used to work at the USDA, I knew plenty of sluggers who went out every morning and afternoon. It's really the most organic solution to traffic: individuals acting in a manner which benefit everyone. Combine promotion of slugs with HOT lanes and you'll end up with a much better traffic system. Only in Washington, of course, would different interest groups lobby for slug rule changes...

It's worth remembering, that even after the only column McGrory ever wrote that was somewhat pro-war, she recanted with grace and style.

I remember that Powell presentation too...I was on capitol hill, in a restaurant, watching his presentation replayed. I thought at the time that this was it, that showing the charts and the "we know the wmd is here" presentation, while not up to my standards, would convince most people. And so we went in...

Now, what would McGrory say were she still around? We can only wonder, but I suspect it would echo her sentiment here during the Kissinger flap. She remembered the sins of the past, and lived long enough to see them resurrected. A pity she didn't make it to see them knocked down once again. We will all miss her.

So it's Madonna's birthday, and I head over to Kristen's pad to celebrate with her, M and another friend. The fish was divine, the cheesy salad somewhat, with the beans lacking a bit. The vintages were all funky fresh and in the mood, from the light reds to the terrapin love at the beginning. Good company was matched with delightful conversation, an impromptu dance, and the culmination of cake. Madonna isn't a quarter century yet (a true gentleman never asks a ladies age, but she volunteered it, for the record) but she's already grappling with questions I have put off for years.

Principally, the main vein of argument concerns path. I have always believed that I will fall into the correct path through chance alone. History is on my side, and yet when M asked me an important question, my answer was too slow. I am quick on the glib and trite respoonses; those that take longer I actually waste cycles thinking about. Regardless, half my answer was exposed before departures were made, so at least some of it was elucidated.

There was more fun, of course, but one had to be there. Back to your regularly scheduled program. Who are the people above? I have no idea...

I managed to have a great lunch notwithstanding. The particular spot was my regular one, the fresh cut grass still new enough to smell as I approached. At the next bench over, an attractive artist wolfed down a hamburger and then began a charcoal sketch of the nearby buildings. Meanwhile, I enjoyed a tasty half-smoke and then hit Huxley hard, managing to plow through several chapters between a sublime appreciation for the rays hitting me. A good time was had by all. I may not touch Brad's melanin level post-Maui, but at least I won't appear like the Easter apparition I made the acquaintance of over the break.

A few other couples were enjoying the blissful weather as well, work and pleasure mixing in a serene setting. For some reason the green triangle is infrequently visited by people, letting me snag a seat almost every time I visit. So far, the artist girl has been the only regular I've noticed there, so I assume most people eat outside at the same place rarely. As for me, I can't imagine a better place to relax and escape from the pressures of the office. A mere two blocks away and yet it feels like a different world.

Now I'm off to a birthday event for a mutual friend of Kristen and myself. I haven't hung with either of them in awhile, so I'm looking forward to it. A perfect end to a perfect day.

I've got the latest Neal Stephenson book, sitting in my cube. I really need to wait, to give it to my Dad, as a gift. The temptation to pop it out, snag some food and head outside is extremely strong, especially on a blue-skied, sun-warmed, wind-cooled day such as today. The fact that, instead, I'm reading a dry Aldous Huxley book (described as the "The Modern Day Vanity Fair" by The New Republic...in 1928!) whose major thesis I disagree with on a visceral level, makes me all the more tempted. Huxley tests one's ability to know your enemy, yet his writing style is actually enjoyable enough to forgive his flawed logic. Add to that the fact that I scored, for a mere dollar, one of the seminal works I read during middle school, namely, the first two volumes of all the Hugo aware winners and you have an even greater problem. The latter contains several memorable stories, including one of the best ever, by Harlan Ellison, "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" which still affects me. It also contains an incredibly short story, "The Star" by Arthur C Clarke, which contains the best trait of any story: the ability to linger in one's mind for far longer than is healthy.

Instead I must content myself reading the Stephenson interview over a quick minute, only then turning back to the dull, repetitive task that greets me: rebuilding a broken server. It's torture, I tell you.

Super busy right now...but I've thrown up a new page entitled "The Picture Project II". It essentially just pulls a database query of all the photos I've thrown in. Eventually, of course, I plan to only add a picture or two a day, but even so, if you miss one and want to look back, just head to this page to see all the pictures that are currently in the images database.

And if you're wondering, the front image is simply pulled from the latest picture added to the group. The backend is fairly messy so I need to rework it (right now, if you "edit" a picture it deletes it...ugh) but I don't have time at the moment. Just check it out if you want to see the collection grow each day.

And, yes, I know the "latest" section is gone. It took up a bunch of space and with the new, smaller format, I wasn't really sure if it served a purpose other than to remind people that I hadn't done any reviews lately. Which reminds me I need to do the Kill Bill 2 review. Grr. So much to do and so little time to do it in.

Rather than expound on the t-mobile love, I'll merely note that the new css stylesheet is in position.

Tons of things look broken, but the easiest way for me to get to problems the quickest is for you, dear dedicated reader, to throw me a note saying what does or doesn't work on your crappy version of NCSA Mosaic running on OS/2. Or whatever it is you people use.

On a bright note, I managed to score the entire first five seasons of Buffy, courtesy Kevin. There's a longer story that I can go into about this later, but I'm really tired right now. In a few hours I'll be back to normal.

My finger was cut a few hours ago and the damn thing keeps bleeding every time I remove my bandage. Quite annoying...even if I'm able to quickly tell at a glance that my blood is super-oxygenated. Perhaps some time away from typing is in order...the good news is that hopefully I won't have to crimp any more cables once Deborah moves in with the wireless router I...er...told her to buy.

A shame...I really wanted to move the site to the new look tonight. We'll see if I rally.

So I've finally finished coding the image database backend for the site. This took a bit of doing, mainly because I'm lazy, but I'm going to incorporate it in a novel way into the new look of the website which hopefully will go up by the end of the week. The only really difficult part left is to code in a separate "login" page which will let longtime visitors contribute somehow. I still haven't worked that out yet, mainly because I don't want to have comments on the website.

I do, however, want to let certain people contribute some stuff to the site on an ad-hoc basis. If a friend visits a cool restaurant and wants to throw up a review, or sees a movie a month before it opens, it would be nice to allow them access to the backend. So I'm still working on the scheme to allow this, but for now, at least, the login section probably won't be finished by the time everything else goes live.

Of course, suggestions are welcome, both before, during and after the transition to the new look, so drop me a line if you wish to comment on any stylistic or structural change. The only major change on the site will be a great deal more images, with an emphasis towards aesthetics. I've long resisted throwing images up (at least until SVG gets more robust) but I think the time has come to break down. I normally end up taking a few shots a day with my phone, and it would be a crime to let all those pictures of the absurd go to waste. If people demand I revert back to mostly text, I will, but I think the change will be appreciated and will still look clean. Here goes something...

High of 87 today. Damn.

Sometimes good peeps go bad. That's all I can assume from this picture, taken of a manhole cover near my house. I can't imagine why you'd throw out perfectly good peeps onto the ground. My imagination worked overtime for a few minutes and then I focused back on important things like where my next meal was comng from.

It was warm today. Now my skin is quite warm...and somewhat stretched. You know that feeling when merely opening and closing your hands gives you a sensation that's mildly painful? As if you just discovered the muscles in your arm for the first time after having surgery...you're not weak, but you're not totally 100% yet. Regardless, my body is telling me I should be tired and who am I to argue with it? Oh, yeah, I always ignore what my body says. Even if the soles of my feet are blackened from my roof or my reefs.

Hopefully it will be this warm tomorrow, even if, as I predicted spring would be nice to have instead of skipping to summer. If only I didn't have to work!

I saw Kill Bill volume 2 yesterday. Quite good. I'll throw a review up later. This evening I managed to score the best table at La Tomate (I distrust Italian restaurants that use French names, but go figure) along with Deborah. A good time was had by all.

Did I fail to mention it was 80 degrees and sunny yesterday? Mind boggling...as I pointed out earlier Spring has given way to Summer over the course of one day. Scary. At leat I punched up my total melanin count...I may not be able to beat Brad next week when I meet him but I'm sure as hell going to try. The kid has lost to me the last several challenges anyway so he may be due for a comeback, but that's all the more reason for me to smack him around UV style one more time. Stacked up, DC versus Maui, and it's tough odds, but we'll see who prevails