Fuck. It is Monday and a shining example of one to boot. It's raining porcupines and platypuses outside and mother nature can't decide if we're in for hot or cold. It's fall peeking into winter and in my book, that should mean cold, crisp, clear air. Make it so. I left the office on the food hunt early because every Houstonian in the downtown area will be in the tunnels for lunch. Joe and I hit up the new Subway under Bank One and I tried one of those cheesy bread buns. Jared is a lyin' bastard. What do they make that stuff out of? Obviously monkey ass. They should line up folks on Fear Factor and make them eat Subway signature buns for a challenge. It was almost as bad as Quizno's. It was surprised I didn't like it since I'm normally a bread fan.
...pause for a moment...
Breadfan, open up your mind, open up your purse,
Open up your bones, never, never gonna lose it.
Breadfan, take it all away, never give an inch,
Gotta make a mint, gotta make me a million.
Breadfan, you got it wrong, some long time friend's
Gonna lose it in the end, who's a fool.
Seagull, give it all away, stay a bird, stay a man,
Stay a ghost, stay what you wanna be.
Loser, give it all away, never stay with the winner,
With the man with all the filthy money.
Come on, keep it on the side, with a ride on a record,
On the top if you're gonna be a bad boy.
Breadfan, you got it wrong, some long time friend's
Gonna lose it in the end, who's a fool.
Seagull, give it all away, stay a bird, stay a man,
Stay a ghost, stay what you wanna be.
Breadfan, open up your mind, open up your purse,
Open up your bones, never, never gonna lose it.
Breadfan, take it all away, never give an inch,
Gotta make a mint, gotta make me a million.
Breadfan, you got it wrong, some long time friend's
Gonna lose it in the end, who's a fool.
Seagull, give it all away, stay a bird, stay a man,
Stay a ghost, stay what you wanna be.
...ok, back to the regularly scheduled program...
I spend a long stretch of time at Fry's yesterday. Damniny I love that store. I just don't like the crowd. I picked out a few Christmas gifts. I mentally masturbated in front of a dual 2GHz PowerMac G5. Holy fuck. Daddy likes. I had to leave shortly there after to compose myself. Last night, while EL was making some cool gifts for her peops, I was getting a print press ready for an order. It's the first time I've ever tries anything like this, but hey... why not? I am uber-ignorant when it comes to color calibration and working in the colorspace associated with inks. Me dumb. I'm all kinds of hungry for Photoshop CS. In case anyone wanted to splurge on a Christmas gift for lil' ole me... Photoshop CS is the pimp platform of choice. Actually, I have a laundry list of items on my "wish list"... a Gitzo G2227 Explorer tripod legs, a Kirk BH-3 panning ball head, a Sandisk Extreme 1GB compact flash, the Canon Zoom Telephoto EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Autofocus Lens or the Canon Zoom Telephoto EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Autofocus Lens (or about 5 others on my
list), etc. I'd settle for a winning Lotto ticket actually. Oh shit. Is lunch over already?
WHEN in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.
WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness -- That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The History of the present King of Great- Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.
HE has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.
HE has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
HE has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People, unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyrants only.
HE has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.
HE has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.
HE has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of the Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion from without, and the Convulsions within.
HE has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
HE has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
HE has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and the Amount and Payment of their Salaries.
HE has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their Substance.
HE has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our Legislatures.
HE has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
HE has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
FOR quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us;
FOR protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
FOR cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:
FOR imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
FOR depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:
FOR transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:
FOR abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rules into these Colonies:
FOR taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
FOR suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.
HE has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
HE has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People.
HE is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.
HE has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
HE has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes and Conditions.
IN every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.
NOR have we been wanting in Attentions to our British Brethren. We have warned them from Time to Time of Attempts by their Legislature to extend an unwarrantable Jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the Circumstances of our Emigration and Settlement here. We have appealed to their native Justice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the Ties of our common Kindred to disavow these Usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our Connections and Correspondence. They too have been deaf to the Voice of Justice and of Consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the Necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace, Friends.
WE, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in GENERAL CONGRESS, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great-Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
Purple worms are cool.
I got up early and went for some snippety snap. I was doing ok with this foreign feeling cam in hand until I started to get really annoyed at the big gnats with cameras buzzing around. It was like a fucking photo convention. Everywhere I turned was a group of camera snappin' freaks... just like me. I go out early on the weekends to take photographs alone and relax... when it becomes a sporting event, it ceases to be relaxing. The horde of giggling cheerleaders didn't help either... apparently it was group photo day. I need a new venue. I'm struggling with the Christmas gift conundrum. What, where, how, when... oye! I think I'll flip a coin between grocery shopping and nap.
Oh. Before I forget... I saw another monarch this morning. Odd that they are here this late in the year. Odd but cool.
I bought lunch for some good friends at work today. We walked several blocks for a nice lunch away from "the bad place" in the cool air and wrapped in warm sun. The weekend was here already and we couldn't even leave to embrace it. It was just those few minutes over lunch shared by friends... it was a taste of the weekend. My afternoon bad at "the bad place" has been filled with useless meetings the unnoticed productivity snuck between them... a Monday in Friday's clothing. Now, in the witching hour, I fully expect all feces to hit the proverbial fan. Damn the torpedoes and fuck all else... I am leaving in 45 minutes. Period.
Sniffley and stuffy. Lethargic. After having a day off, this morning feels oddly like a Monday. I know that it is not and that helps my mood waking up on this bouncy ass bus ride downtown. The air is crisp this morning. I think the temperature is floating just above 50 degrees Fahrenheit. I’d love to go for a road trip this weekend... maybe go see my grandmother or my sister... time tends to get compressed and slips away these days, so it helps to fill it with things that give the perception of accomplishment. We have to do something with our lives or they simply pass us by. Have an active schedule also helps me keep track of where I’m at... much like a musician can keep better time by subdividing the count in repetitive areas of slow tempo. Of the 40 some odd photos I captured yesterday with EL's Powershot S50, I didn't like but a couple. It was really weird getting back into non-SLR mode. The current flavor of rumored layoffs are supposed to me happening today. If the standard severance packages are offered, I hope I get laid off. It would be the perfect holiday gift for me... some extra cash to leave a job I'm planning on leaving anyway. I don't think it will happen. I'm too "productive" to get the chippity-chop just yet. I'm curious as to where the axe will fall though... time will tell. I was getting dress for work this morning and it dawned on me that I have not been able to wear a non-collared shirt to work for years. I have some cool t-shirts that need some attention. This guy named Pete at my local guitar shop adjusted the neck truss on my acoustic last night and probably cut the action in half. It's like holding a completely different guitar. Amazing. He didn't even charge me for it. He's good people. I successfully plinked my longest drive ever at the driving range this week. It's not saying much for golf, but it felt pretty damn good to me. Clean and connected. It doesn't happen often. Anyhoo, enough randomness... my stop is coming up and the smell of downtown is upon me. Yee fucking haw. Happy Friday.
An American and a Japanese company decided to engage in a boat race. Both teams practiced hard and long to reach their peak performance levels until both teams felt they were ready to demonstrate their prowess.
On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile. The American team was discouraged by the loss. Morale sagged. Corporate management decided that the reason for the crushing defeat had to be found, so a consulting firm was hired to investigate the problem and recommend corrective action.
The consultant's finding: The Japanese team had eight people rowing and one person steering; the American team had one person rowing and eight people steering. After a year of additional study and millions spent analyzing the problem, the consultant firm concluded that too many people were steering and not enough people were rowing on the American team.
So as race day neared again the following year, the American team's management structure was completely reorganized. The new structure: four steering managers, three area steering managers, and a new performance review system for the person rowing the boat to provide work incentive.
Again the big day dawned, the race began, and the Japanese team won by TWO miles.
Humiliated, the American corporation laid off the rower for poor performance and gave the managers a bonus for discovering the problem.
Last night, while the most wonderful woman in the world was preoccupied, I installed
Exhibit Engine on my server. It's very configurable... allows indexing of EXIF data in a MySQL database so you can search on common fields (focal length, aperture, etc.), it allows you to input textual descriptions and associate them with specific images and gear, it allows exhibit browsing by thumbnail or microthumb, detail listing, etc. It's pretty cool. It just requires a lot of configuring to get set up properly. I want to migrate the stuff off 13th Stone onto this frontend, but I've lost so much EXIF data that a lot of it won't be accurate. I'll guess I suppose. Oh well, we'll see. There is a rumor floating around the office that there is another layoff coming on Friday. If severance packages are available, I hope I'm in the cut. This company is a plate full of poison that I feel has an inevitable end. I know how to swim, so I want off this sinking ship. I need the neck on my acoustic guitar adjusted. Any of my buds out there closet guitar mechs? Hit me up asap. The neck is so fux0r'd that the action changes the tonality of the note. I need a new guitar really. I'm just in the planning-for-Christmas-presents/pay-off-bills/selfish-camera-savings/repairing-house mode and a guitar doesn't seem to fit in comfortably. Maybe Sean will buy some phat ass rig and move back to the land of big chickens and I'll bum off him. Umm... yeah.
Halfway through the week. Ugh! I heard some scuttlebutt about a cold front that is supposed to be coming in soon. I welcome it. These ridiculously short days would at least become a little more bearable if it felt like winter outside. Don’t get me wrong... I’ve always been a night person, so the coming of the evening doesn’t bother me. It’s the fact that those precious daylight hours with which to accomplish shit that requires... umm... seeing... yeah, those are all spent at work. It really gives me this miserable feeling in my gut like I’m wasting breath. Get up. Go to work. Come home. Go to sleep. Rinse. Repeat. Next thing ya know, you’re 80 wheeling around with a big fucking question mark above your head because you can’t figure out where your life went. I agree with Michael’s statement about taking half the money to have twice the time off. I’d do it in faster than a methamphetamined hamster brain synapse. I opted for the bus this morning because I’m masochistic like that... crowded as usual. At least today I’m not sitting with someone who is so big I have to split my chair in half to share one of their ass cheeks. I have my weekly engineering staff meeting at 8:30. I think I’m going to try to overdose on caffeine before it starts. It’s doable... even with my tolerance. I believe. Bonzai!
