I’ve seen a number of sucky movies in the last few months and one good one: Bowling for Columbine which is a documentary on gun control produced by Michael Moore. This movie should be required viewing for everyone. If you’re in Madison, so can see this movie at the Fredric March Play Circle in Memorial Union for cheap.
Archive for February, 2003
Bowling for Columbine
Wednesday, February 26th, 2003Colorado
Saturday, February 15th, 2003In honor of Valentine’s Day, cheap tickets and temperatures above zero, Eric and I went west for the weekend. Despite a very early departure time and a sign of Armageddon while on the airplane, we arrived in Denver, found Jeffo’s car, and even his house in Boulder with the aid of Hot Chick (the voice in jeff’s car’s navigation system). Within a few hours we were seated at The Sink, eating pizza dipped in amber nectar and drinking local beer. The next couple days we toured around Boulder, Eldorado, Denver and Golden with Hot Chick, admiring the scenery and industry (yes, all these photos are of Coors Brewery), saw Jeffo’s work, wandered around Pearl Street, shopped for a new shower curtain without mold on it for JeffO, relaxed, and ate a LOT of good food. The epitome of which was an onslaught of pasta, cheese, pesto and wine at a dinner with eight of Jeff’s friends, almost all of whom are Madison transplants. Between the (usually) sunny skies, warm temps and mountain scenery, I’m having a hard time recalling why I live in Madison again.
Happy heart day
Friday, February 14th, 2003Today is going swimmingly. I slept in my bedroom (with carpet!) for the first time since November, I’ve got a vase full of roses sitting on my desk, Stace just found out she got into NYU Law, and my fav brother du jour just dropped off his car for me at Denver International Airport, where I’m headed in less then 24 hours.
Frames
Saturday, February 8th, 2003I’ve always been anti-frames when it comes to web design, but here’s another reason not to use ‘em. Not that I think it will hold up in court.
Carpet saga continues
Monday, February 3rd, 2003So after a solid month of hopping around on carpet samples, looking at them in every possible light with every fabric, frame, piece of furniture and plant I own sitting on them, I finally decided on a carpet. It is cream. The carpet I tore out was cream. I returned to the store to order it and my sales person, who had aggressively encouraged me to purchase this same carpet two weeks earlier, looked disdainfully at me and the selected sample and proceeded to tell me it wasn’t a very good carpet, it had a bad warranty and it wouldn’t wear well. She also said a number of things which proved to me beyond any doubt that she a) has no memory b) is mentally unbalanced and c) should not interact with the public at large, much less work in sales. So I told her I’d go with something else from somewhere else and left. I then went to a more reputable, non-chain flooring store where the people are nice, honest and have a better selection of carpet. I told them the whole story and they said not only was the sample I had a good quality carpet but they couldn’t come anywhere near the price. So now I’m torn between going with the less expensive carpet which I like but giving the psycho woman the commission or buying a more expensive carpet I like less from nice people. Sadly psycho woman will probably win out, the nice guys will finish last and I’ll wind up resenting my brand new blood-carpet.
Nice guys finish last
Monday, February 3rd, 2003So after a solid month of hopping around on carpet samples, looking at them in every possible light with every fabric, frame, piece of furniture and plant I own sitting on them, I finally decided on a carpet. It is cream. The carpet I tore out was cream. I returned to the store to order it and my sales person, who had aggressively encouraged me to purchase this same carpet two weeks earlier, looked disdainfully at me and the selected sample and proceeded to tell me it wasn’t a very good carpet, it had a bad warranty and it wouldn’t wear well. She also said a number of things which proved to me beyond any doubt that she a) has no memory b) is mentally unbalanced and c) should not interact with the public at large, much less work in sales. So I told her I’d go with something else from somewhere else and left. I then went to a more reputable, non-chain flooring store where the people are nice, honest and have a better selection of carpet. I told them the whole story and they said not only was the sample I had a good quality carpet but they couldn’t come anywhere near the price. So now I’m torn between going with the less expensive carpet which I like but giving the psycho woman the commission or buying a more expensive carpet I like less from nice people. Sadly psycho woman will probably win out, the nice guys will finish last and I’ll wind up resenting my brand new blood-carpet.
Death is Common
Sunday, February 2nd, 2003Returning back from Honduras our plane was delayed for a few hours. We sat in the steamy airport and grumbled about it but eventually took off and landed in Houston, TX, which was strangely silent. The airport was practically empty. We found a bar with a TV and soon learned that the space shuttle Columbia had exploded overhead only a few hours ealier and that our plane had been delayed due to all the debris in the air. Needless to say the rest of the trip was quite somber.
A few days later I read something Dave had to say about the event and I thought he made a good point. Death is common, the astronauts themselves were not.
February 2003 update
Saturday, February 1st, 2003Ok, so we’re one month deep in 2003 and I have accomplished 4.6% of my New Year’s Resolutions already. This is good, I think. This is largely due to my trip to Roatan, Honduras last week which constituted half of goal # 4 of leaving the country twice this year. Had I included sleeping with red ants, being smashed by a boat ladder, or getting repeatedly groped by a Sol Air steward, I’d be way ahead on the resolutions. More on that trip soon.
Otherwise January was rather enjoyable, considering it was January in Wisconsin. I fell victim to watching reality TV this month, a temporary lapse in good judgment caused by crappy outdoor weather and the fact that half of my house is torn apart due to the ongoing hardwood floor/carpet saga, making it unsuitable for entertaining. I’ve got money on Zora and Charlie which makes the whole thing slightly more amusing in a pathetic kind of way. If you don’t know who those people are, good for you. Stay strong.
February should bring about the purchase of a new Mac, new carpet (god willing), and a surprisingly enjoyable celebration of the upcoming holiday which my former roommates and I traditionally referred to as “Black Sunday”. If the great yellow orb doesn’t do its annual disappearing act, February could actually turn out to be a decent month this year.