I'm really into Cherry 7Up lately. I mean, it has real cherry juice inside! It started when I ordered a Shirley Temple while waiting for Chinese food to go a few weeks ago -- those things take me right back to my east coast childhood. Maybe I should buy some maraschino cherries, too. Hey! Who knew you could actually make those things? I thought for sure only big assembly-line factories were capable of such creation.

Posted some new pics to my site for the first time in a while. They suck. Lately, I've been going with the 35mm -- now that Heather has (and doesn't go without) her digital, there seems less of a reason for me to bring ours everywhere. Instead I've been toting around my little Olympus that is usually so reliable. And since Wolf does the photo CDs at no additional cost (with my silly WolfPack membership) it's relatively easy to upload the print stuff -- I hate scanning. Idea is, best of both worlds: website fodder and prints for the albums (yes, I still do that.)

Unfortunately, it's not working out so well. Perhaps it's the pack of 400 speed film I got recently, or my camera is not feeling well, but I think I may have to go back to digital. I mean, look at these from do re mi compared to this set from our holiday trip east. No contest! And the prints aren't much better. I wonder if the 35mm also made my hair look so skanky in this one. Ugh.

Wow, that was really boring.

You know what I'm sick of? People talking about incorrect English that they're sick of, like "irregardless" or "disorientated." That's so, like, 1996.

Wow. That's all I can say about finally escaping the grip of the worst flu I've had since I was a kid. Wednesday night, I sat feverish and shaking on the couch, unable to focus even on the nightly 2-hour Buffy fix, moaning and whining consistently to the point that Bryan no longer was concerned but annoyed. At least his X-Box arrived Thursday to dull the pain.

Since I'm still feeling relatively weak and woozy, I'm spending this Saturday doing fun things like changing the sheets (to rid ourselves of flu germs, of course) and calling the motherships of 392 random catalogs I suddenly receive to request removal from their mailing lists. This is the second weekend in a row I'll be spending 2+ hours on this endeavor. Who on earth has even heard of Boston Proper ("effortless fashion"), Isabella Bird, or Terry ("precision cycling")? And why on earth would they assume I am either effortless or planning to cycle?

Heather and Eugene are at the Olympics this weekend. I've decided to add that to my (nonexistent) list of things to do before I turn 40. Which reminds me: I received one of the best compliments of my life at work on Monday. I was relating the tale of how I executed my first real-life bribe on Saturday night, passing the Bimbo's bouncer a smooth $20 to let us slip in past the hordes and grab a table. (I guess I should've demanded $10 back, since the table part didn't quite pan out.) Regardless, this event was both exhilarating and embarassing... So I'm telling the story, and work guy says, "Wow, I think I need to add that to my list of things to do before I'm 30!" Not sure why that was so flattering, inspiring immorality and all that, but there you go. Plus, he's not even 30 yet, and here I am, talking about 40. For-ty!

Where will it end?

There is something so infinitely depressing about being at work on a day when 99% of the population is sleeping in and playing video games. To console myself, today I've spent way too much time investigating Super Diamond and the most captivating Surreal Neil. My favorite picture is of SN creating his art, and the most ironic piece of news is that he will be performing solo at La Barca -- a Marina bar that our friend Lynn happens to frequent. We went once and didn't like it much.

Which is (very, very mildly) ironic since I am still feeding off my joy from Super Diamond's Saturday show at Bimbo's. As Bryan's birthday event, it couldn't have gone much better. (Well, except for that little torrential rainstorm part.) And, someone somehow related to SD e-mailed me back today and said he'll make up for my horrid oversight by sending me 2 SD t-shirts in the mail! Dreams do come true.

This really gives me the creeps. Runner up: Salon's inclusion of "neglect_death" in the story's URL.

Good evening, little blog. I've updated you to include a permanent sidebar, which describes your lot in life. I've customized your fonts and colors (though I'm having the damndest time adjusting the blog body point size, for some reason) and I've added vanity links, for self-amusement's sake. I've even changed my FTP password to something completely forgettable (how can "Brookfield" be a derivative of the word "Brookfie" for christssake!) Let's see how you work out.

Third blog's a charm?