three oh

contract extension

"Reports of this blog's demise have been greatly exaggerated". For the literary puritans out there, kindly forgive the bastardization of Mark Twain's words..

A couple of weeks ago this blog's domain address came up for renewal again. With that came a lot of brow beating and gnashing of teeth.. to renew or not.. to continue or not. Funnily enough, i've always been a man of principle - but wait, i define principle differently. To me, a man of principle is one who does what he decides is best for him, at the time and place he is in, a soldier of fortune if you will. I have never tried to live by some sort of moral code or whatever - circumstances change everything, as do people's goals and ambitions, all i try to do is get around achieving my own without hurting anyone else's around me.

Anyways, since this piece is not about discussing my mental make-up.. we'll go back to the life of this blog. I don't write here regularly any more. It's not all because i've been too busy. A combination of doing too much else and a general lack of inertia have contributed. I still have a lot to say, just am not sure how to put some of my points across. Unfortunately Blogger does not support audio blogging like it once did, i've always found it easier to explain myself vocally.

Having made the commitment though to keep the domain registered, it it upon me now to live up to my word and keep the pages populated..

rear-ended

now those of you who know me well know about my profound, deep-rooted and probably quite irrational preoccupation for the hind quarters of the female of the species. there are various words that can be used to describe the derrière, not half of which begin to convey the beauty and emotion that cause a stirring within me when my eyes come to rest on a curvilicious rear end..

right. that was probably too much info.

the other day, and i don't know how exactly, i read the word 'asphyxiation' somewhere and for some reason i made the connection with the word 'ass-fixation', like millions of men must have before me. upon further contemplation i realised that there could be more middle ground between the two words, especially if you are into face-sitting, smothering, femdom and other related genres of porn.. hehe!

thanks to the wonderful world of google, i will not need to post any links for any of the things i described here.. feel free to go online and find whatever turns you on!

If I were..

.. easy, I'd blog a tag ages after I had stopped writing proper posts. So here I am.

If I were a month I would be: June, carrying the hope of spring and the promise of summer - yeah right!

If I were a day of the week I would be: Saturday night baby!

If I were a time of day I would be: 11pm, the time i'm either fast asleep or at the peak of my creativity.

If I were a planet I would be: Uranus.. lol, that was too easy. Probably Mars, like Earth, but not quite.

If I were an animal I would be: a lion.. lazy as f*ck but when things need to get done they get done.

If I were a direction I would be: going down. Yes.

If I were a liquid I would be: beer. Vatfuls of the stuff.

If I were a flower/plant I would be: barley or hops, going with the beer theme.

If I were a kind of weather I would be: sunny yet breezy, like the Northeast spring.

If I were a musical instrument I would be: a rusty trombone. UrbanDictionary that one up!

If I were an emotion I would be: empathy - i usually look out for the others of the species, but i do NOT "suffer fools gladly" (2 Corinthians 11:19)

If I were a color I would be: Pepsi blue baby, look at what i put up with and yet go back to work every day.

If I were a sound I would be: a fart! hahah!

If I were a car I would be: the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500KR

If I were a song I would be: Mad Season's 'Long Gone Day'

If I were a food I would be: thick-cut steak, grilled medium-rare with mashed potatoes

If I were a taste I would be: see above!

If I were a scent I would be: Old Spice underarm deo.

If I were a word I would be: awesome.

If I were a facial expression I would be: a raised eyebrow.

If I were a number I would be: 665, just a little short of the devil himself.

If I were a cartoon character I would be: Animal from The Muppet Show.

2008 in review

January -
- went down to Florida for the annual office off-site meeting

February -
- the boss quit and i stepped into his role

March -
- Spring Break in New Orleans

April -
- the gf graduated with her second undergrad degree

May -
- blog's third anniversary

June -
- gf left on a 6-month trip

July -
- nothing eminently bloggable

August -
- new boss started, went back to my old position

September -
- started the MS program in Project Management at Boston University

October -
- it's pretty sad if your highlight of the month is the beginning of the hockey/NHL season

November -
- went to Colorado on a work trip

December -
- return to sanity, the gf is back

the last time you..

Injured yourself
nicks, cuts, grazes, bruises and burns are unfortunately a way of life for me at work.. maintenance is not easy. i think i have been lucky enough to avoid serious injury so far though

Were in love
right about now would be one.. have been for the last year plus

Were violent
not since i stopped playing competitive sport, back in undergrad. if it was a contact sport, i always tended to emphasize on the contact part of things, and it wasn't the love-tap kind of contact either, heh

Drank too much
define too much! i would say too much is when you have such a big hangover that it has a small hangover of it's own. that would probably be a few weeks ago, when two beers led to two more, which led to two whiskeys, and led to two more..

Experienced bliss
bliss for me is when i get at least 8 hours uninterrupted sleep, alcohol-and-cough-syrup-induced or otherwise.. unfortunately, in my line of work that is as rare as a smart yet slutty blonde

Did something you shouldn't have
see above entry about 'drank too much'!

Created art
pretty much every time i cook

Surprised someone
my bosses every other day, when they find out how much i know about my job and how well i have things under control

Went somewhere fancy
a few months ago, at the gf's graduation party.. it was a classy steakhouse the kind of which i will never be able to afford - $48 for a porterhouse steak?! luckily her folks were buying ;-)

Bought something expensive
yesterday - it's a gadget, of course.. but i won't say what it is here cos i know the gf is going to be reading this!

Played a practical joke on someone
i'm a prankster, i live for gags.. a couple of days ago one of my colleagues had started his car up to warm up and went back inside.. so i jumped in and parked his car at the other end of the parking lot. he spent a while looking for his car, and was about ready to call the cops before we all burst out laughing..

Felt nervous in someone's company
nahh, i'm not the nervous type.

Felt beautiful
erm?

Felt unattractive
again, erm?

Threw a party
that's been a really really long time. i think the last party i threw was when i was back in Buffalo, our farewell there, almost two years ago!

Were the centre of attention
that has got to be every monday morning at work, cos every effin' person with a radio is hollering at me about some shit or the other. monday mornings are not good at startup, so i always keep my appointment book clear.

Felt betrayed
when my ex-boss crapped all over my annual review. he quit, i'm still here, and even did his job for six months. so guess who won eh?

Lied
all the time. i might be lying now about that too. am i?

Were scared
i don't scare too easy, but i do avoid horror movies with kids in them

Felt glad to be you
all the time. if i made more money and had more time off i'd be even gladder to be me.. but hey, we'll get there!

book-smart

i got this tag off Kfarmer.. name the books that made you..

A book that made you laugh: Anything by P. G. Wodehouse
A book that made you cry: The IITians - Sandipan Deb (only cos it reminded of good ol' college days!)
A book that scared you: Cujo - Stephen King
A book that disgusted you: Godplayer - Robin Cook
A book you loved in elementary school: William - Richmal Crompton
A book you loved in middle school or junior high school: The Hardy Boys - Franklin W. Dixon, closely beating out Alfred Hitchcock & The 3 Investigators - Robert Arthur
A book you loved in high school: Louis L'amour - the Sackett series
A book you loved in college: the Bill Bryson travel series
A book that challenged your identity: The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
A series that you love: The Willard Price animal adventures
Your favorite horror book: Needful Things - Stephen King
Your favorite science fiction book: Prey - Michael Crichton
Your favorite fantasy: The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien (wait, did you mean sexual fantasy?? hmm..)
Your favorite mystery: Alistair Maclean
Your favorite spy thriller: Fist of God - Frederick Forsyth
Your favorite biography: Immediate Action - Andy McNab
Your favorite "coming of age" book: How to Win Friends & Influence People - Dale Carnegie
Your favorite classic: Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain or Treasure Island - R. L. Stevenson
Your favorite romance book: now when you say romance and mean Mills & Boon type thing, then y'know i don't read those.. but the closest in that category i can think of is 'The Godfather' - Mario Puzo.. c'mon, you know you've opened Pg. 27 where Sonny is groping Lucy Mancini at the wedding!!

here's a "huh?!" moment

so your girl gives you a hard time cos you stare at some babe's plump rear end for too long when she's prancing on tv, or cos you spent way too much time with last month's Playboy in the bathroom..

yet with her girlfriends she'll be giggling away about who has a yummy butt and which friend's boyfriend she would just love to make out with?

well, wtf?

meet the parents?

did this happen to you, cos it sure happened to me!

around the bend

i'm not an alcoholic.. alcoholics go to meetings

A to Z

A. Available or taken: taken.. as taken as a KFC drive-thru

B. Best Friend: the Brownie gang

C. Cake or pie: pie pie pie.. apple pie, custard pie, rhubarb pie, bread pudding, coffee mousse, cream pie ;-) all sorts of pie - yum!

D. Drink of choice: beer

E. Essential item: three things - wallet, phone and keys

F. Favorite color: black is good

G. Gummi bears or worms: jelly babies actually

H. Hometown: Nairobi

I. Indulgence: scotch

J. January or February: January.. right in the peak of winter

K. Kids and/or names: none & nope

L. Life is incomplete without: the people and things that are around me

M. Marriage date: in another couple of years, definitely!

N. Number of siblings: none, nada

O. Oranges or apples: apples

P. Phobias/Fears: Kakorrhaphiophobia - Fear of failure or defeat, sounds bizarre eh?!

Q. Quote: "Expectations reduce joy"

R. Reason to smile: lots, you just need to look around for things that make you smile

S. Season: spring is good

T. Tag 3 / 6 people: tag yourselves!

U. Unknown fact about me: i'm lazy - no wait, you knew that. ok, i think too much. my brain is always running in overdrive, on multiple channels, which explains why i rarely sleep well.

V. Vegetable you hate: Turnips! aaargh!

W. Worst habit: being high-handed and sarcastic

X. X-rays: dental mostly

Y. Your favorite food: barbecue.. ribs, steaks, chicken, anything!

Z. Zodiac: capricorn.

Things I've Learned - Pt.6

i've spent a lot of time watching Comedy Central, most of it stand-up shows and blue collar tv.. heh! anyways, the one thing i've learned is that people will laugh at anything.

much as we harp on about political correctness, people will still laugh at retard jokes, blond jokes, racist jokes, fat jokes, everything.. and i agree with that. we gotta have a funny bone, and be able to take things with a chill pill, sit back and laugh at ourselves.

charlie chaplin said that the essence of comedy is pain - how true. someone's pain is always involved for us to have a few laughs. but we must learn to laugh at ourselves first. if anything, it'll only make you less self-conscious about things that bother you.

twenty dollar bill

aka twenty things you probably never knew about me, and will not enrich your life in any which way even after you do. enjoy, heh!

1. Pick out a scar you have and explain how you got it:
this little marvel circled in red here.. when i was ten months old i took a swan dive out of my walker, and headfirst into the gravel driveway. some things in life don't change, still heading headfirst into life.. pun intended.

2. What is on the walls of your bedroom?
absolutely nothing, the room is reserved for action elsewhere.. heh!

3. What does your phone look like?
faithful, chipped, cracked and still going strong, like it's owner

4. What music do you listen to?
rock, mostly grunge. let the picture tell the tale

5. What is your current desktop picture?
let's go Sabres!

6. What do you want more than anything right now?
to get eight hours uninterrupted sleep

7. Do you believe in gay marriages?
yeah yeah.. they'll live together anyways

8. What time were you born?
9.30 pm, when most bars start livening up. no seriously.

9. Are your parents still together?
through the proverbial thick n' thin

10. What are you listening to?
Shinedown - 'Leave A Whisper'

11. Are you afraid of the dark?
nope

12. Last person who made you cry?
the guy singing the Kenyan national anthem after he won the Boston Marathon

13. What is you favourite perfume/cologne?
no real favorites, leaning towards Old Spice though

14. What kind of hair/eye colour do you like in the opposite sex?
blondes might have more fun, but it's the brunettes who really put the 'f' in fuc.. i mean, fun.

15. Do you like painkillers?
only with alcohol. heh, i kid. or not.

16. Are you too shy to ask someone out?
not in the least (see #1 above)

17. Favourite pizza topping?
steak n' cheese

18. If you could eat anything right now, what would that be?
lemon pepper buffalo wings

19. Who's the last person who got mad at you?
the significant other

20. Is anyone in love with you?
at least she says so. then again, see #19 above.

feel free to tag yourselves

blue n' gold

in case i didn't make it abundantly clear in the previous post, this blog's new look is exclusively for the Buffalo Sabres' playoff run. the colors blue and gold have always been the traditional kit of the Sabres, and this year we're aiming for the Stanley Cup.. let's go Buffalo!

wisdom, in hindsight

wisdom is almost always garnered in the most useless way possible, i.e. after the fact.

for example the one thing i have learned about education and the part it plays in our future is that you better work hard in school. study your books, listen to your teachers, pay attention in class, do your homework and go ahead and score good grades. why is all this necessary? so that you can get a good job, cos most of the better employers out there will not even look at your resume unless you have some pretty high grades.

irony eh, me saying all this?! but it's true.. cos i feel like the foolish grasshopper who pranced and danced his way through the summer, and when winter came along he felt pretty silly. so when i get home all bleary-eyed after pulling consecutive 14-hr workdays, in my head i can see all those smart hardworking classmates of mine all well-rested, putting their feet up on their la-z-boys and laughing all the way to the bank.. you bet i feel more than a slight twinge of jealousy!

but hey, i have no regrets about how i did what i did, and how things are shaping up.. after all, it's April Fool's Day.. and the fool in me is talking to the fool in you

i got one too!

seems like everyone's doing it.. so here's me playing copy-cat..

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

and that was 2006..

Happy New Year everyone, and yes, it's annual 'catchup with s!' time again.. so if you've been hiding under a rock all year and haven't been in touch, this is me letting you know how it went.. (previous rehashes here - 2004 & 2005)

January -
- went to Detroit for a short holiday and the Auto Show
- started writing the final draft of the thesis

February -
- quit my student job at the library to focus fulltime on the thesis

March -
- went to Cleveland to watch the UB Bulls in the basketball playoffs
- finally defended my MS thesis and officially graduated

April -
- went hiking in the Allegany Mountains
- went to Boston on a short holiday, and got a job there

May -
- packed up and moved to Boston to start working at Pepsi
- went to a Pearl Jam concert, yet another long-lived dream

June -
- the soccer World Cup started
- cherry-picking season came early this year!

July -
- Italy won the World Cup!

August -
- got my first promotion at work

September -
- football season started - i'd go on to win a few hundred bucks in the office pool
- went to a Tool concert, and yet another long-lived dream

October -
- went back to Buffalo for Sank's bachelor party
- went to an Alice In Chains concert, my third dream-come-true band this year

November -
- finally got digital cable, so that i could watch my beloved Buffalo Sabres
- cooked my first full Thanksgiving dinner, what a lot of food!

December -
- first office Christmas party - acquitted myself quite well, didn't get drunk!

thank you to everyone who dropped by with birthday wishes, the good thoughts are much appreciated.. muchos gracias!

10 20 Things I Hate About You.. generally

i'm in a real mellow mood, chilled out as the week is over. i nicked this tag off Resh, figured i'd make it up to the hordes of eager readers who've been ignored for over a week.. yeah right!

YOUR MOST HATED..

BEVERAGE:
Cherry-flavored drinks. What the fuck is that about? Fresh cherries taste awesome, then why is that cherry-flavor in drinks so fucking awful?!

COLOR:
The dull grey that fills the sky in bleak winter.

TOWN/CITY:
Any place that doesn't have a soul. I need to always have a neighborhood pub around the corner, where you might still be comfortable even when surrounded by strangers. I want a local sandwich shop, where you will always be greeted with a smile and the scent of freshly toasted bread in the air. A liquor store where you can chat with the guy and ask him to recommend a wine. A gas station where you can go buy tinned fruit, whipped cream and a soft, mushy brownie at 4 a.m., and the kid behind the counter gives you a knowing grin. And like i found out yesterday, a knick-knack store a block down where an old lady greets you with a cheery Irish twanged "Top of the mornin' to ya!"

MOVIE:
No one truly makes an ending where the bad guy wins, where the good guy loses, where Average Andy and Everyday Ella end as confused, beaten and struggling as when they began.

ASPECT OF BLOGGER:
Poor grammar. Maybe it's the pedantic streak in me, but it really discourages me from reading on when people start using chat lingo (rmbr, 2mrw, 4get.. gah!!), random use of capital letters (.. "my Favourite dayzz were Then" etc etc), crap grammar (.."and then she was like uh-oh i gotta go yknow what im saying?" You know what i'm saying dumbass?!) And yes, i use the small letter i when i refer to the first person. You can deal with it, yes you can, oh you know you can. And i'm done.

ANIMAL:
Dumb blondes. Heh, just kidding. I don't know, don't particularly hate any animals.

SEASON:
Up here in the Northeast corner of America's shoulder, summer is such a fleeting glimpse. Spring just starts melting the snow, and it's still chilly.. and then summer comes by, you sweat for a few days, and then the wind is biting straight through your spine again.

TALKING ON THE PHONE:
When i talk to someone i'm an eye-contact person, i gesticulate a lot, and it's kinda pointless when i'm on the phone!

WATCHING TV OR MOVIES:
Movies end too quickly when you're watching one in a theater.

EATING IN RESTAURANTS:
For some reason, i always end up thinking to myself "Man i wish i was eating this meal sitting at home.."

SHOWERING:
That first blast of cold water before it gets warm when you flick from bathtup tap to showerhead.. brr! Even writing about it makes me cringe!

DATING:
Everyone is worried about setting an example, putting up some front during a date. No one ever says what they really mean, probably worried they're gonna say the wrong thing and end up not scoring. Of course, this applies to first dates.. if this is happening to you on latter dates then it's time to bail buddy!

THE BEACH:
The lack of space. The sea and the beach are my retreat, and i don't take too kindly to people tramping all over my quiet moment. Alas, i need to purchase my own island in the tropics to truly achieve that.

THE GROCERY STORE:
People who shop like it's a snatch and grab mission. I like taking my time as i shop, there's so many new foods to try, so many things to see, so many recipes to read.

HOUSEHOLD CHORE:
Washing dishes. See post not so long ago.

HABIT IN OTHERS?
More a trait than habit, but arrogance/self-righteousness really pisses me off. Fuck yourselves, go find another planet to live on!

HABIT OF YOURS?
My incessant ability to start talking so fast that all you hear is "We changed the lineoverbutthen thefillewouldn'staupnwadssuesonthepper.. yeah, that's what happened". You know i'm nervous when i do that.

THING ABOUT WOMEN?
How some women expect the fact that they're women will get things done for them.

THING ABOUT MEN?
How some men constantly engage in one-upmanship, even when there are no women present.

WHAT'S ANNOYING YOU TODAY?
20 questions are way too many, it's killing my buzz. Time to wake and bake baby..

dishes gah!

when normal people cook, they think about how the food they make is going to taste etc.. when i cook, i think about the number of utensils are getting used up, cos it means having to wash dishes, many of them. in case you haven't deciphered already, i hate washing dishes. more than any other household chore, nothing invokes my ire and lassitude as much as doing the dishes does.

i always think of getting paper plates and plastic forks and spoons, but usually common sense and other people prevail.. so here i am again, looking at the kitchen sink ruefully, with it full of pots and pans, plates and plenty of cutlery. can't wait for someone to come and do the dishes for me i guess..

NB: don't suggest getting a dishwasher, the gf does not like being called that!

Last..

flicked this off Sassy's blog.. yes i'm lazy, deal with it! :-P

Last Place I Was: a very warm and comfy bed! will be off to work in a bit..
Last Drink I Had: two cans of 211 Steel Reserve - yes it's cheap-ass beer, but helps me get asleep!
Last Movie I Saw: 'Thank You For Smoking' - excellent excellent movie
Last Person I Talked To On The Phone: checked my Voicemail actually
Last Song I Listened to: 'Pain' - Three Days Grace
Last Bubble Bath I Took: LOL.. how about 20-something years ago?!
Last Time I Cried:see above! nahh i lie.. probably 3-4 years ago..
Last T.V. Show I Watched: am watching the Buffalo Sabres thrash the Habs now
Last Book I Read: heck, y'all know i don't read.. but this month's Playboy is a great issue!
Last Time I Laughed: watching DC Benny on Comedy Central in the morning today