my god. so, my life was completely disrupted for about a week & a half there. this huge project finally got pulled together enough for development to start, and because of the way things had fallen apart during the planning stages, we were left with only 2 weeks to completely build this 90+ page site. needless to say, i spent about a week pulling 10 – 12 hour shifts including one on a Saturday. but we pulled it off. got shit done, so to speak. the bosses better damn well be happy. and it had better not happen again.

so, i've spent this weekend that we're just coming out of basically doing all i could to avoid the computer. and i slept a good amount. amazing not as much as i do on some weekend days but i also didn't drink as much as i do on some weekends, which is a bit strange in and of itself.

around here, it would seem that spring has finally sprung… straight out the door. maybe i'm just not remembering it correctly, but i recall spring being a time of year where everything was pretty well in balance… temperature, humidity, sunlight/moonlight. and it's been pretty decent temperature wise, but it's been raining like a bitch and humid as hell. pretty much the only thing i dislike about Louisville is the damned humidity… i think we've covered this topic before. i don't mind heat, i don't mind cold, but i can't freaking stand humidity.

anyway, the big project is essentially complete now, so i should have my nights back now. hopefully that'll mean that i'll start doing all sorts of neat stuff that i can write about here.
speaking of doing neat stuff, it would appear that, with the limited votes my task-list received (thanks to those that contributed), the next thing i'm going to have to devote time to is the screenplay. also, it would seem that Lucifigous Prick have a semi-official first-show date–June 4th. so, if you listened to the available demo tracks and were even remotely interested, make plans to come see us at the Rud that night. one way or the other, it'll be a night to remember.

ok. so, my car is fucked right now. apparently the clutch has pissed off the engine and now they're just not communicating. i think they're at the note-passing, or speaking through friends phase, but things aren't looking all rosy in oil & piston land.

anyway, i've got work to do, but i wanted to post an update real quick-like. first off, the assistance that you've given has been invaluable regarding exactly what the hell i should be doing with my time. we've got a winner so far, but i'd love to see some more votes to really drive the point home (yes, of course, i haven't done any work on any of these projects yet, but my computer's been being a bitch lately as well–seems like the things i own always have a bad habit of breaking down at the same times.) anyway, on to the vote:

votes   project
_1__ finish 2nd poetry book
____ finish & submit short story(/stories)
____ write new poems
_3__ write screenplay
_2__ continue working on novel
_1__ redesign coffeemonk.com
____ design separate myfavoritemartyr.com
____ today/tomorrow mixed 2 CD set
____ mixed cover songs CD
____ learn to play bass for Old Man
_1__ put together (personal) media server
_1__ design new bipolar theme
_1__ finish playing computer games i'm in the middle of
____ put unboxed comics in boxes

so, there's that. please feel free to comment on this post to cast your vote as to which project i should work on/attempt to complete first. those of you who have already voted from the first post, you can vote again. just 'cause i'm nice.

we had our band practice last night, got a little bit done, so it looks like our demo should be officially ready this coming sunday. we're crossing our fingers. once that's done and distributed, then you guys can all come and see us play (assuming we can convince any club owners to let us set up a show). but now, the moment at least two of you have been waiting for (which two, i'm not sure, but there's gotta be at least two of ya.)

the first (public) Lucifigous Prick pre-demo mp3 release
The Wrath of Orson (mp3, 10.8MB, 11:26)

enjoy. and feel free to let me know what you think.

well, tonight I went out to the bar (which was a big surprise to brian, since i'd told him about an hour earlier that i wasn't interested) with paul, neil, & lisa, and we met up with brian there and hung out for a bit. at some point, i ordered a large sampler (mmm… sampler platter) only to come back to the table and find that neil & lisa were pretty much already on their way out the door. well, not that that really matters, 'cause between a hungry brian, a semi-hungry me, and a not-really-hungry but unable-to-resist-the-sampler paul, we finished the thing off without much trouble. shortly before the last morsels were yanked by greedy hands from the platter, brad and dave came over to join us. paul offered brad a won-ton, and brad's first reaction was to ask me which of the many sauces went best with them. (of course, the answer is "honey-mustard") brad then proceeded to dub me the "king of condiments," a declaration he even repeated later when his girlfriend joined us. so, apparently, either through pure obsessive behavior or a history of good advice, i am, at least in our little circle, the King of Condiments. thank you. you may rise.

another thing i've realized though, is that i could be in the running for a totally unrelated title. i'm pretty sure i could make a strong showing in a contest for the "king of work avoidance." not that i avoid doing the work i get paid to do, that is, not my actual job job. but my god, when i get home, there are literally 10 to 15 things i could be doing at any given moment. 10 – 15 projects i've started that i really need to finish. and what do i do? well, of course, as i recently explained to paul & brax, i've only got two weekday nights that are really worth anything–personal project-wise. Tuesday is band practice night (band-practice from ~7:30 to 11:00pm). Wednesday is geek night (trip to comics store, dinner at Denny's, then Enterprise at 8:00pm, and DS9 at 10:00pm). Friday is… Friday. That's socialization day. Friday is the day matt comes down from the mountain to carouse with friends and other assorted real living people. Friday is the night (typically–unlike tonight, which was an aberration) where matt goes to the bar to look at the few hot girls and (as noted in another post) not speak to any of them. Saturday is much more open, and should be the day where i get all kinds of shit done, but it is usually the day where i sleep a whole lot, then laze around the house. Sunday's another sleep day, and then also another band practice day, which accounts for at least 14 hours. So, i'm left with Monday & Thursday after work, and whatever hours & can squeeze out of Saturday & Sunday to accommodate all those things that i need to do. Needless to say, not a whole lot is accomplished usually.

I have to say though, that this past week/weekend has been pretty decent so far. on thursday, i went out to the hardware store and picked up this neat toolbox and some other bits & bobs, and constructed (what will be) a nice guitar effects pedalboard. so, i had quite the productive day on Thursday. today, after doing the normal saturday sleeping 'til 4 after a night at the bar thing, and lazing for a couple good hours once i got up, i actually managed to do a few productive things. i got the velcro strips placed on the plywood base for the pedalboard, broke out the guitar for 30 – 45 minutes and played around, then checked email for a little bit. oh, and i also sketched out some ideas that i had for a logo for My Favorite Martyr (no, it's not just you, that site is so horribly out of date, it's almost funny again. BUT! it does have the first mention of Old Man–paul & neil's band–on the web!), and for a flyer design for Old Man (which i was going to try to mock up & post, but i haven't been able to find any appropriate imagery yet). of course, there were several other things i needed to do (as i told brian when he asked about going to the bar), but after about an hour of sitting in front of the computer avoiding them, i realized it was a bit fruitless for the time being.

y'know, perhaps i'd get more done if i spent less time avoiding work and more time doing it. but my biggest problem has always been not so much finding things to do, as deciding between the things that i need to do. so, i'm going to ask for your help on this one. (realizing wholly that the majority of my pleas for public response have brought few in the past–but now that we have the comments system in place, perhaps that'll be different now…)

here's the list:

votes   project
_1__ finish 2nd poetry book
____ finish & submit short story(/stories)
____ write new poems
_3__ write screenplay
_2__ continue working on novel
____ redesign coffeemonk.com
____ design separate myfavoritemartyr.com
____ today/tomorrow mixed 2 CD set
____ mixed cover songs CD
____ learn to play bass for Old Man
_1__ put together (personal) media server
_1__ design new bipolar theme
____ finish playing computer games i'm in the middle of
____ put unboxed comics in boxes

and here's the plea: help! help me figure out which of these things i should attempt to do first. if you wanna go crazy, put the whole list in order of "importance." but at least tell me the one thing you think i should focus on until it's done. this is the struggle i'm presented with every time i enter the door to my house from work or being out on the town or whatever. and i've yet to reach a decision on my own. so, give me a hand. there are no prizes to be awarded, but if it's something that either exists or can be translated to the web-medium, i'll be sure to post it here first.

i've now been getting shit from all sides (er… well, from brian and nathan, anyway) to get off my ass and post. so here goes…

well the french project is done. i got all the lessons digitized, encoded, and burned to a disc, so now i can listen to it at work without having to drag my cassette player with me everywhere. at this point, i've just worked it into a playlist, set it on random and let it go. so i get my favorite music with french language instruction sprinkled in. i'd thought about trying to run two different music players… one for my music and the other for the language, and trying to get music & french at the same time, but i really don't think my poor machine at work can handle it. especially considering the usual heavy load it's working under. ah well, i think the current arrangement works well enough. now i just need to get off my ass and actually do the damned exercises the way they're supposed to be done, i.e. with concentration and determination. the whole "subliminal learning" thing doesn't really seem to have had any major impact on me.

we (that is, the band) have been playing around with our new recorder the last couple practices, and even the very first "practice" recording is 10,000 times better than what we achieved with that crappy old Tascam 4-track. once we get the hang of tracking out and mixing down songs, i think we'll have some damn good results. keep your eyes here, as we get good recordings, i'll probably upload a couple and link 'em so you guys can give me some feedback. in other band news, i think i may have a professional web designer creating a design for the new band site. my co-worker, proprietor of arteye.com, and all-around kick ass graphic designer Jason has offered to create something for us. quite frankly, i'm so excited i could just shit myself… but i'll try not to.

have you been watching enterprise? no? well, you should be. the new Trek is damned good. i'll be the first to admit that Jolene is very hot. but Jolene is only part, and a small part at that, that makes this show watchable. is it Trek? yes. is it good Trek? hell yes. is it good TV? hell fuckin yes. i can't stand 90% of what's on TV right now, and for about the past 3 years or so, i've hardly watched any tv, Trek included. well, this show has given me a new appreciation for the franchise. (and the fact that Paul watches DS9 like it's going out of style doesn't hurt either)
for a first season show, and a new cast of low-profile actors, this show really fuckin rocks. i would have to say this is probably the best, most consistently well-acted and well-written first season of any i've ever watched. these people have come to grips with their characters remarkably quickly, and there have been some great character development episodes that allowed them to do so. the most notable characters (and actors) thus far, in my opinion, are the doctor (dr. phlox), tucker (the engineer), and reed (the armory officer). of course, Scott Bakula is really good, the only reason he's not on my list is primarily because of the occasionally overly dramatic way he plays his character. he's gotten much better since the first episode, he's definitely becoming more comfortable with the character, but still at times his delivery of lines sounds more like he's reading them than speaking them "naturally." it sometimes feels too much like he's acting the part, not that he is that character.
to sum up this little geek fest here… if you're a Trek fan, you have to watch Enterprise–it's vying for the title of best all-around series in the franchise. if you're not a Trek fan, but you are a sci-fi fan, you should watch the show. if you're not a sci-fi fan at all, but you like good stories & characters (90210 watchers need not apply), then you really should check out at least an episode or two. and now's a good time too! there's a huge buzz surrounding next week's episode. all the actors involved are raving about it, fans are giddy with anticipation (mostly because of the actor's comments, i'm sure), and the episode preview did look very promising. (though, now that i'm thinking about it, i really hope this isn't the long rumored "Malcolm Comes Out of the Closet" episode…)

ok. i think that's enough for one post. i really need to get some better blogging habits… anybody out there have any to spare?

since i didn't have a whole hell of a lot to do today at work (besides research & study), i took a few moments to make a couple minor changes to bipolar:

1. i finally figured out why cookies weren't working on the themes page in Netscape 4.x browsers. so that's fixed now. you netscape 4 people can now go to the themes page and set your themes cookie to your heart's content.

2. i added a bunch of DVDs to my new wishlist today, and have replaced the old amazon wishlist in the bipolar link menus with this new one. so everybody out there that would just love to buy me some stuff, get on it. now i just gotta remember to send the link to my dad (ie. someone who'll actually buy me something off of it.)

that's it for now. nothing real exciting happening.

a reader made some interesting comments to one of my past posts the other day, and i've just now had time to catch up on things.

read the comments to that post for a little fun discourse.

(gotta have something to keep you busy 'til i can finish the bloomington stories…)

here's another thing that i thankfully hadn't thought of before today. the possibility that the leaders of our western religious communities are going to use this tragedy as an attempt to "prove" the "superiority" of their religions.

people saying that these people "need Christ" because their religions are "obviously inadequate" and permit or even promote killing innocent people in the name of the cause… it's just ludicrous. in my experience the western religious community is just as capable as any other of close-mindedness, racial intolerance (not to mention the many other examples of intolerance we've seen), and violence against innocent people in the name of their "ideals." Abortion, homosexuality, race, and religion have all been issues that have caused supposedly religious people in our communities to perpetrate acts of violence against others despite the fact that all the religions i'm aware of preach tolerance, brotherhood, understanding, and love.

thankfully there are a few leaders in both the east and west who are teaching according to the true ideals of their faith. if i had one wish for this world, it would be that people would actually understand what it is they learn from the church and from life, and then live according to these principles. and this applies to you atheists as well… there are some ideals that life itself can teach us, if we pay attention, not the least of which is that our world will be a better place if we can learn to love each other for the things that make us different and that make our world interesting.

well, i don't even know where to begin at this point. i barely touched the computer here at home over the past week. usually, i'm on here two hours a night, at the very least, but i've spent most of my time glued to the tv as i imagine most of you have. i attempted to write a post talking about my feelings and opinions of the tragic events that have taken place. of course, about halfway through it, IE decided to get crazy and open a link from one window into my blogger window. now i'm writing this entry in notepad first.

normally, i don't watch much tv at all, and i almost never watch news programs or read the newspaper. this week, of course, was totally different. i just immersed myself in the news reports from new york and washington. for once, it seems, the news media has devoted the bulk of it's efforts into something that actually matters. the sad thing is that, after all the coverage of Clinton's various media-hyped problems, the Elian Gonzales inanity, and the Gary Condit crap, it seems like the coverage of this genuine tragedy has been cheapened somewhat. i seem to recall hearing about a time when the media had some integrity, when they actually did search out the truth and report the facts. nowadays it seems that there is more conjecture and opinion in the mainstream news than actual facts. even during this crisis, i heard certain reporters (dan rather immediately springs to mind) saying time & time again "we don't want to jump to conclusions", while bringing in guests who'd already done so, or asking leading questions to the ones who hadn't. i can't even count the times over the past week that i've heard things like "no one knows for sure, but" afghanistan, taliban, osama bin laden.

and who is it that pays for media that reports the news in this way? i think one of paul's recent posts sums it up pretty well. the racial backlash is completely abhorrent. the people who perpetrate these crimes against innocent people just because they look or dress a certain way are just as bad as the terrorists who orchestrated this horror. if one person kills another, they are just as evil as those who killed thousands.

which brings me back to the points i wanted to make when i attempted this post the first time.

despite the fact that this attack occurred on american soil, and involved innocent american citizens, it is not just an attack against america. it isn't an attack against freedom or democracy, it's not an attack against the flag or any of the other countless things america supposedly stands for. perhaps it was intended to be simply that, but in the end, this is nothing more than an attack against all of humanity, against all the citizens of planet Earth.
in the few days since i first attempted this post, i have heard more voices raised advising caution, and i have to say i'm glad. i was concerned that the only voices we heard were going to be like the grocery store i heard about who put the following words on their sign–"Bomb Afghanistan Tonight!" it is this type of ignorance that feeds the arrogant, self-serving media that i was ranting about earlier. and it is this type of ignorance that makes most all foreign countries look down their noses at us culturally, despite our physical strength.

i have also taken heart in hearing the reports of the leaders and citizens of many foreign countries voicing their horror, sympathy, concern, and support for the people who were affected by this tragedy.

but another thing that we must consider are the ultimate reasons for these attacks. what, aside from insanity, would drive anyone to commit the heinous acts against their fellow humans? we have to consider the fact that our troops have been in their lands for many years now, doubtlessly committing unspeakable crimes of their own. an attack like this doesn't just happen. our government has made enemies. our government has sanctioned actions that have ended the lives of innocent civilians in foreign lands. we are not innocent.

but this does not excuse these actions. this is not justice, just as an indiscriminate attack again afghanistan or another nation would not be justice. i want justice. i want the people who did this to pay. i want to make an example of them to the rest of the world to say that this type of attack against humanity will not be tolerated. but killing innocent people would not be justice, it would be terrorism.

i really needed this. it's been an incredibly relaxing weekend so far, and there's one more whole day to go! hell, maybe i should call in on Tuesday and just make this a mini-vacation… nah. i got too much work to do.

anyway, friday after i (finally) got home from work, i spent a couple hours hanging out on the couch watching t.v. with our kitties. i hardly ever actually just veg. out in front of the tv anymore, and usually only if someone's already watching something interesting that draws me in. i've generally just gotten so fed up with the amount of total crap the networks attempt to pass off as entertainment, that i've just given up on watching tv altogether. but you know, at times it's just like watching a train wreck. you're sitting there, half zoned-out, flipping through channels trying to see if the next channel could even possibly be worse. usually, it is.

what i would love to see would be a group of really good, really challenging directors and writers join forces with a talented group of actors and start their own cable tv network. can you imagine scorcese, david lynch, david fincher, and others of their ilk creating all the programming for a network? sitcoms, drama, soaps, news programs… man, i would pay $50 a month just for that one channel. "screw digital cable, just hook me up with that one channel please. in fact, here's an extra $40 a month if i can get the 'no commercials' version of the channel."

of course, then you'd never get me away from the tv, i'd gain about 300 pounds in two weeks, and i would die from a massive brain hemmorhage from trying to figure out what the fuck was going on in each show.

but anyway, it's been a nice weekend. had our normal sunday band practice, which was interrupted by jim's in-laws coming in with his wife's grandmother in tow. we felt like we had to turn down the volume quite a bit lest we severely offend not only her elderly ears, but her elderly moral sensibilities as well. playing our songs just isn't quite as fun when we can't crank it up. but it was a good evening anyway, paul & neil showed up shortly after jim's in-laws, and we continued to drink and play music until we just couldn't play (or drink, since the beer was all gone) any more. we then moved the mob back to our house, where neil soundly whipped all our asses in a drunken game of trivial pursuit.

tomorrow, i think i'm going to pick up the new printer i've been wanting, buy a laser pointer to drive the cats absolutely insane, and do some more serious relaxing.

in other news… in case you hadn't noticed, something that our man at themes to work properly once again… so, if you already had a themes cookie set, you should now be seeing your chosen theme again (and, would have noticed this like… a week ago), and if you hadn't set a themes cookie, or didn't know about our different themes, you should check out the themes page to see what it's all about.
and, finally, it would seem that my webcam is cooperating again. i was having some weird issues before, but have had it running now for about a day & a half without it breaking, crashing, or otherwise not working. so, check out the cam page to get a glimpse of either my (and brian's as well) lovely visage, or the wall behind my chair.

oh, hey, i've been finding it difficult to think of things to write about considering the general banality of my existence, so if anyone would like to send me a topic to discuss, .

so, like paul mentioned over on puffin-a-go-go a post or two ago, he, brax and i went to see a sneak preview (much like brian did monday night…) of "jay & silent bob strike back," double-billed with "the others." it was altogether a great four hour block of movie watching.

i'd have to say that J&SBSB isn't my favorite of the view askew movies, and at this point (prior to a second viewing) it actually comes in third. nah, wait. i don't want to commit to that, i'll have to watch the other contenders again before i can say that. i'm pretty certain that my favorite of all of them is "chasing amy," which, if you take into account my predilection for falling in love with bi-sexual (or even straight-up lesbian) girls, isn't all that surprising. and i've just got this huge thing for Joey Lauren Adams…. boy oh boy. she's incredibly cute, and her voice (which seems to turn many men off after extended exposure) just adds an extra touch of uniqueness and enhances her overall cuteness in my eyes. joey, if you're reading this, i'm a really great guy… call me!

anyway, back to reality. i liked the movie overall (we're back to j&sbsb now, for those of you trying to keep track). there were some places where they went a bit overboard with the going overboard, and a few places where the comedic bits seemed a bit forced. will ferrell was awesome, as usual, but then, so was everyone else. hm. i don't know what else to say, other than that. i'm at a loss… how 'bout this: "it was good."

the others was also quite good. i'd pretty much figured out what was going on (or going to happen) before the midway point i guess (not in the first five minutes, like paul claims…), and was actually able to allow myself be taken by the story. it was told well enough that it did make me doubt the conclusion i'd reached, and i happily followed the director down the path he wished the audience to go. don't worry though, whether you figure it out or not, you'll enjoy it. i didn't really think it was all that "scary," but there were a few pulse pounding seconds here and there. i do believe that at one point, the entire audience hopped about four inches out of their seats…

earlier that evening, after running to pick up brax from work in the general area of the theatre, and having to rush home to get his glasses (pretty much all the way across town, mind you) and still needing to stop for dinner before the films, we decided to stop at a new place called the "blue moon diner." we figured "hey, it's a diner. and not only that, it's a new diner we've never been to." we thought we'd be able to run into this little place, grab a quick cheap meal, and get to the theatre in plenty of time. a word of warning: the blue moon "diner" is not really a diner at all, it only looks like one. this place was fancy, or certainly fancier than we'd expected. they had cloth napkins! what the hell business do cloth napkins have being in a "diner"? the food was a bit expensive, but really really tasty. and, of course, the service was a bit slower than we'd hoped for, but we did still make it to the theatre on time. i think we definitely want to go back there at some point, so that we can appreciate it for what it really is… a restaurant.

blah. well, i was hoping all that stuff would be better than it seems to have come out, but hey, at least i posted, right?

it's late. i know i've said this a hundred times, and i'll probably say it a hundred more, but i have GOT to start getting to bed at a decent hour.