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Ooooh lookie... after midnight and I didn't turn into a pumpkin! I just got home. The wine was outstanding (not that you care). Jean-Paul was excellent tonight. Normally, at this venue, he plays a lot of tango to fit the atmosphere. When I showed up tonight, things were clearing out and he and I were just going sit and talk over some vin, but some people we knew came in and stared throwing money around to get him to play some concert pieces, so I got to hear him perform a few things I rarely do... Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue for example. He is fucking amazing. If you have any idea what kind of time and talent it takes to master that piece, then you can appreciate what I am saying. Holy shit... just unbelievable. Ok, I am planning on RoShamBo-ing myself to decide on whether or not to take a hot bath before going into a coma. I am so tired. I am turning the phone off. I am turning the alarm clock off. I am disconnecting the door bell. I am locking my cats out of the room since they have this burning desire to knead bread on my chest in the morning (they're so cute!). I am going to sleep as long as I possible can... and then... I am going to sleep some more. Bon nuit.

Excellent salad. I decided that no matter how much I want to be lazy this evening, I can't stomach a night of TV. Programming is such shit these days. There is a nice Argentinean restaurant near my place with an outstanding pianist tonight (who happens to be a very close friend of mine). So, I am going to see Jean-Paul work his ivory magic and get warm and fuzzy on Chataneuf du Pape (I hope they have '97)... a bientot!

Sitting here looking out my window at home... watching the rain and listening to Riviera Paradise (Stevie Ray Vaughan). Joe calls the genre "sleepy blues". I like that. Anyhoo, it's very emotional music. I was just thinking about the first girl I ever loved... Jessica. Maybe it's because of the music, the rain, and the way you roll through different emotions and memories. I think it's because Jessica was Tina Vaughan's (Stevie's niece, Jimmie's daughter) roommate in Austin after we broke up. I think the mind makes memory links and associations like that all the time and we don't even realize it. I was invited to a party tonight. I'm not going. I think I am going to sit home and veg in front of the television... mindlessly channel surfing... consuming reruns of shows that I never watched in the first place. I think there are some new movies coming out tonight. My current mode of transport might inhibit a successful moviegoing experience this evening since there is no end in sight for this drizzle. I think I'll make a salad.

"You're so money and you don't even know it!" - Trent (Swingers)
I tried to Jedi mind trick my boss with the whole Friday off thing. The force is strong in this one... dammit. Anyhoo, yesterday was my court date in Virginia (background). Obviously, if I'm in Houston, I couldn't attend personally... that's why God invented overpriced lawyers. Long story short: I won. The guy has 10 days to appeal before he's gotta roll out and I can get some new tenants in there. I wish I was somewhere else right now. It's a beautiful day outside. I rode my bike in this morning and it was excellent. Actually, if I had to pick a spot to spend the afternoon... to spend my right now, it would be Paris. I love that city. Except for the time I rented the flat for a week, I always stay in the Latin Quarter (6 arrondissement)... always at the same hotel - Hotel du Levant. I think I like the Latin Quarter so much because it's central to everything. I have traveled a lot... Spain: Rota, Cartegena, Palma de Mallorca. Israel: Jerusalem, Haifa, Bethlehem. UAE: Dubai, Jebel Ali. France: Nice, Paris, Cannes. Italy: Livorno, Naples, Pisa, Florence, Rome, Sicily, Vatican City. Germany: Rammstein, Frankfurt. Greece: Corfu (Kikira), Rhodes. Bahrain. the Caribbean: St. Marteen (half Dutch, half French), St. Barthelemy (French). Canada: Montreal, Toronto, Halifax (Nova Scotia). Mexico: various (hey, I'm from TX). Turkey: Antalya. UK: London. I was born in Corpus Christi, TX and moved around Texas growing up... I lived in Florida, New York, and Virginia before moving back to Texas two years ago. I've traveled a lot in the States as well... of all the places I've been and all the things I've seen, Paris is my favorite. I have considered moving to France a few times, but never followed through with it. I am in desperate need of a vacation and am looking for somewhere new to go... I've always wanted to visit Australia, so that's high on my list. Costa Rican rainforest is on there... as well as Switzerland and Africa. I pretty open to visiting anywhere right now... except going back to the Middle East... that may not be a great idea. So far, I have no vacation plans for this year except for Oktoberfest in Munich this fall, but that's only a few days. Any ideas? I'm rambling... is it time to go home yet?

"I can't get a girl because I drink too much. I drink too much because I can't get a girl." - Sam (The Devil's Circle)
I received a new nickname tonight... Tenacious C. I'm truly not worthy, but ya know... when you try to get people to leave something alone, it just eggs them on...

"You know, there's a million fine looking women in the world, dude. But they don't all bring you lasagna at work. Most of 'em just cheat on you." - Silent Bob (Clerks)
Is it Friday yet? One of the true downfalls of the short week is the weekend tease. When I show up after an extended weekend, I'm already in the jonez for the next weekend. It's like a taste of vacation, but not... it's torture. I'm not masochistic enough to shorten a three-day to stay in the working man's groove or anything, but there should be new legislation surrounding the extended weekend. If you have a three day weekend enveloping a Monday, then you should automagically get the next Friday off. Psychologically, this seems so much more stable than following through the full week. It's like walking with your legs out of step with the person next to you and trying to do that half-step skippy thing to get back in sync... it's like trying to stop a sneeze... it's like that moment when your losing your balance off a beam and you are doing that twirly thing with your arms trying to re-center yourself. It's fucking unsettling... that's what it is... The natural thing to do would just be to follow through with a symmetrical three day that encompasses the coming Friday. Close your eyes and think about it... see? isn't that nice? Am I making any sense here at all or am I just being borderline OCD? This working on Friday shit just won't do.

Oh joy! Another meeting! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

"All right ramblers, let's get rambling!" - Joe (Reservoir Dogs)
Greg sent me this link yesterday on lowercase sound. It's a digital movement that focuses on very quiet sounds and the long, empty silences between them. I've alway been interested in new forms of artistic expression and this is definitely a unique approach to expression through electronic music. It's a quick read with some links to MP3's... wear headphones or listen in a quiet environment or you'll be asking yourself, "What the hell is Clayton talking about?" My head is filled with coffee buzz this morning. This is an exquisite and rare experience for yours truly since my tolerance is unfortunately high. The stars must be smiling on me today. Has anyone seen Requiem to a Dream? Any opinions? I used to eat MilkBone dog biscuits when I was a kid. My grandfather was a veterinarian. I visited "PapaDoc" often and would feel bummed that the dogs would eat alone in these tiny little cages, so I'd prepare these little gourmet dinners (dry food softened with hot water or canned food, which the kennel dogs usually don't get) and bring MilkBone treats for desert and climb into these little cages with the dogs. I'd keep them company while they ate and then we'd roll up on some MilkBone goodness for desert. I'd like to think the effort was appreciated. Those things taste like ass... straight up. I really enjoy visiting Kara's site. I have no clue who this is, so there is no personal association there... but, reading her entries is like people watching at the airport (a very nifty pastime). When you're at the airport and you look across the room... observing gestures, facial expressions, subtle communications... or you overhear a snippet of a conversation but never catch the preface or the subject... you can let your mind wander and fill in the blanks. You can make up a new beginning and ending to surround the little piece that you know. You can make it outrageously fictitious or try to lay the new pieces out so that they fit your observance as closely as possible to your version of the facts (if you knew what they actually were). Reading her page is like that... you don't know if she writes about her personal experience in real life or if she is offering a imaginary vignette to consume. It doesn't matter really. It's just a good read... in my opinion, of course.

"Okey dokey doggie daddy." - Alabama (True Romance)
What better way to start your morning than making Buffy talk dirty? I think I could have slept another 8 hours. Blogger (the tool I post to this site with) is having serious issues, so if posting is sporadic, the formatting is whacked and/or the timestamps are all wrong... sorry. I'm sure they'll get their shit straight eventually. I didn't ride in today. I really wanted to... actually, I kinda miss it this morning.

OMG... I am so tired. I made good time on the return trip (from work), but was preeeeetty tired when I got the the house. I planned on going to see The Piano Teacher tonight. The only showing is 9:50 and given the time I have to get up in the morning, I wimped out. I have been dreaming about my bed for hours. I took Eclair (my dog) to a friends house to play with their dogs. She was so excited. I feel bad about working so much and not being able to spend more time with her, so this helps me deal with my guilt and gives her a little mid-week treat of doggy companionship. I would take her to Dirk's to play with King (his four legged raging testosterone beast) if I weren't so concerned about Eclair getting raped. Anyhoo... I'm sure there were some interesting tidbits of my afternoon that are worth sharing, but unfortunately all I can think about is soft, welcoming sheets and wispy lullabies. Bon nuit mes amies.

"Windows [n.] - A thirty-two bit extension and GUI shell to a sixteen bit patch to an eight bit operating system originally coded for a four bit microprocessor and sold by a two-bit company that can't stand one bit of competition."
Obviously, Micro$oft has come a long way since this quote first popped up on Usenet. I mean, XP isn't total shite, right? Pfft! You wanna see something hilarious? Peek in my office now and watch me (a Linux guy) try to talk a friend of mine through using the XP recovery console to repair a damaged file system. I know dick about Window$ XP.

Droubi's for lunch with Ben was nice. He always brings his lunch, so I wasn't expecting the call. I never bring my lunch. It so hard to keep groceries in the house when you cook for just one... I mean, why bother? really? I don't think there would be over 9000 restaurants in the Houston metro area if I were the only person subscribed to this theory.

somewhere i have never travelled (e. e. cummings)
somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond
any experience, your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully, mysteriously) her first rose

or if your wish be to close me, i and
my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility: whose texture
compels me with the colour of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens; only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands
______________

Rain again. Smells like a wet ride home. :-)

There is something inherently wrong with this picture. I am sitting in my office at 7:30-ish and have already finished the 8 mile ride in via bicycle, checked my bottomless inbox, showered and changed at the corporate fitness center, survived checking my ever-so-boring voicemail (no sweepstakes puppets calling me to tell me I won some pirate's booty... ho hum), and even grabbed a cup-a-joe. WTF? I should be sleeping right now (ideally). I usually am just leaving for work. I got a little dirty coming in... not that dirty is bad. Dirty can be good sometimes. There were a lot of joggers on the paved areas of Allen Parkway as I came into downtown, so I ended up doing the off-road thing. Hmmm... grass + dirt + water + clayton + bike = clayton looking like Cruella Devill from all the mud specs covering my body. I come in this morning to discover my company announced "Strategic Repositioning" this morning. These things can sometimes be scary. We'll see what kind of stock roller coaster today's ride will be. I need a new candle for my office. I am a candle freak... not in the pour-hot-wax-on-my-nipples sense (although... nevermind), but in the candles-burning-all-over-the-house sense. I stopped burning so much incense when my smoke alarms and I got into a serious argument. I prefer candles. I am starting to wander here... oh yeah, the bike ride... very cool... the weather was nice this morning and I enjoyed being outside. Traffic wasn't bad at all and I routed through secluded neighborhoods to avoid the main though fairs. I think it'll take a week or so for me to get used to the distance, but that's just because I've been a desk jockey for the last couple of years and have grown accustom to things like "delivery" and "room service". I'm just getting back to the old me. Uh-oh... need more coffee...