this page intentionally left blank

You know... it always amazes me how friends can cheer you up after a day of tedium. I was a little bummed after my toil and trouble that probably won’t amount to much in the long and short of it… but no matter what I went into the evening thinking, my friends pulled me up with a few hands full of smiles and light heartedness. I went over to Kim’s apartment to meet Gil and Audra for some games. We ended up playing Mahjong and drinking vodka tonics until someone (me) got the idea to go out for wine at the Wine Bucket (where we went the other night). Unfortunately, it was closed for the Labor Day holiday, but we didn’t let that beat us down. We ended up drinking way too many down in the village before eating some down home cooking at Taqueria Tapatia. It’s late and I need sleep… I may be tired, but I’m happy and tired.

What a suck ass day. Please forgive the crap status of this blog, but I've been working on WORK all day and haven't had any time to fix the formatting. At least it's up. Oy vey!
I worked for hours on my annual performance review. Yes, we must write them ourselfs and turn them in to our direct reports. Nothing like having your employees toot their own horn to maximize time on the back 9, eh? I wish I would have had more time to work on this site. Maybe I should just feel lucky that the import went well. I lost all the YACCS comments obviously, so hopefully people with be a little more vocal in the future now that they don't have to wait 30 seconds for the comment box to pop up. This was one of about 3 major reasons I switched to anything but Blogger. Blogger itself was another one. It doesn't really matter now. I just need to finish this migration sometime in the next couple of days. As before, don't expect frilly graphics or special hoo-ha... content is king. I hope that if you're here, it's because you're here to read. Ciao.

Last night at cafe Brasil was great. I think I may have had the best turkey sandwich I've ever eaten last night. It was your standard smoked turkey with swiss that you can get anywhere in the domesticated US, but the remainder of the sandwich stood above the masses... sweet and juicy tomatoes, crisp lettuce that was oh so fresh, fresh sliced avocado... all on freshly baked, still hot focaccia bread. They had a jazz band. It was an unexpected change from the usual world music that is played. An upright bass came as a surprise to this guy that expected to see sitars and hand drums. Gil and Ellen left early and Irfan and I made our way back to my house with a few beer stops along the way (Timberwolf, Baker St), but it just didn't sit well upon my taste buds after the tasty bottle of wine at Brasil. I was tired and ready for some sleep. Helios has open mic erotic poetry on Wednesday nights. They bill it as "erotic" to try to spark interest to the otherwise uninterested... it is really just open mic poetry for any style of writing or delivery. I don't think lies can make a blind man see. I watched this thing on television about the life and contributions of Miguel Piñero yesterday and at one point I was really amazed and wrapped up in what I was seeing and I started crying... I sat down and wrote that beat poem before I lost what I was feeling about him at that instant. I have a few friends that have asked me in the past to write something for them to perform at the open mic. I gave this poem to one of them to practice for the next time we go together. I think I'll be out of town on business this week, but maybe next week it'll happen. It feels good to be off today, but I have work to do... the wheel of RealLife™ keeps turning, eh?

"Miguel"
through eyes that swell and tear and leak emotion like that moment that slipped through your fingers and is watched in your minds eye at night like a bad rerun of another life in another place that takes shape and forms a step shy of grace is the moment when I exhale thick smoke that sticks to my cheek and mixes with trails of my pain and my joy to form a layer of grime like a crime I should be committing to find peace for a moment and remember those that should not be forgotten and it is these fragile times of my life when pain and pleasure share in each other the void that is created by the loss of self through eyes that swell and tear and leak emotion
______________

I think Children of Jack is one of my all time favorite songs that Guy sings. I love this song.

"Children of Jack" - Guy Forsyth
At night when I'm out riding
Along the dark highway
I get a feeling inside me
To throw all that I have away
And I'll leave all this behind me
Like that job I had in the day
All the back dressing soul testing lovers and liars
And the speeding tickets I never pay
Do you believe in love at first sight
As a matter of fact I do
Every time I open my eyes
That saying comes true
Cause I see you in the laundry mat
Black Irish washerwoman in a funeral hat
Italian ballerina on an asphalt stage
Bleach blonde poet of a Victorian age
America where goest thou in thy shiny car at night
Children of Jack we will never turn back as we ride away in the light
And if I were to take you by force
And carry you away
Back to my bedroom
Just for music to play
And I'd play you the songs that I've written
And the ones that I can't seem to write
Maybe you'd know what you're missin'
Maybe you'd stay past the night
My father built me this backpack
Just an inch or two big for real
I'll pack my guitar and the smoke from this bar
My songs and one hot meal
And I'll ride to the west chasing sunsets like gold
At dawn I'll ride to the east
I'll find all the friends that I'd lost on the road
Maybe then I will know me some peace
There's so much more to this wonderful world
Than we are sold on TV
So tell me if you are not already dead
That you'll come and live it with me
Leave your college plans to your one night stands
Your business clothes and the rest
There's pleasure enough in your heart and your hand
Blue jeans suit your best
______________

Dinner at Thai Pepper, my favorite Thai in Houston, complimented by a nice bottle of wine started my evening late. On the way to dinner, we passed this place called The Wine Bucket that caught my eye. I had finished a bottle of merlot while watching Sidewalks of New York before leaving, so the taste of wine was still fresh on my lips and my mind. After dinner, we investigated. A bottle of cab later, they were closing. We befriended the guy that was closing shop and he locked us in for after-party yummies. He generously filled our glasses with the $18/glass liquid sex that he had been drinking all night behind the bar. I was happy. We bid him adieu and skipped up the street to Downing Street Pub. The evening switched pace to deep, wet glasses of Gray Goose caressing oversized olives. A few of these "see throughs" later and I thought it best to retire. The sadness of my day had become nothing but a memory I wasn't even sure of having... the night was warm and inviting and the stars winked at me the whole way home... blowing me kisses. I slept in a cave. I was a bear. I just woke up. I need some coffee... bad.