well, i'm finally closing in on the end of my Paris journals, so, maybe i'll get back to some regular posts before too long. as it is, i've been happily almost totally pre-occupied. things in my life have taken a dramatic turn for the better in the last three weeks or so, with the exception of my car continuing its decent into dilapidation.

i wanted to mention a couple things, so i'll just take this opportunity between Paris entries.

Sneakemail – this is a pretty cool little online tool. You can essentially create "proxy" email addresses whenever you have to give an address to sign up for something or log into something on the web. It'll allow you to track (if you get spam from these proxies) exactly who the bastards were that gave out your address. Plus, the added bonus is, if you do start getting spam to one of these proxies, you can just shut it off and not get any mail from it again, thus keeping your real email address safe(r) from spam.

i added a nifty little item at the bottom of my (most recent) blog entry. (it's also now on my portable webcam page as well.) basically, anytime i'm listening to WinAmp at home or at work, it'll update with the current track that i'm listening to. Plus, the song listed will link to WinAmp's "Now Playing" minibrowser page so that you can see a pretty comprehensive list of information about that artist/album (assuming WinAmp knows what the hell i'm playing). Now we just gotta get Lucifigous Prick, Old Man, and Green Formica Table listed with Muze.

and finally, here are a couple bookmarklets i've created for my own personal use. just drag them up into your "favorites" or "bookmarks" bar, or right click and there should be an option that says something like "add to favorites" or "add to bookmarks" or "bookmark this page" or some such nonsense.

Lookup
Resize 800×600
JS Console

The Dictionary.com one i've listed here before, but thought i'd post it again since i've been using the hell out of it since i made it. It's damned useful.
Those other two are ones i use fairly frequently while doing development work… they're extremely simple, but also extremely useful. The Resize one does just what it says, resizes the browser window to 800×600. The JS Console on only works in Netscape browsers or derivatives (Mozilla, etc.)… if you develop in these browsers and code JavaScript, you'll already know what it does. In fact, i think this one may well be the least complex bookmarklet in existence. If anyone knows of a less complex bookmarklet (that actually does something, mind you), please let me know, i'd be intrigued to see it.

anyway, there ya go.

Didn't wake up today until 1:30pm, which isn't as bad as Day 2, but still set me back a bit. After taking a shower & doing Sara's laundry, it was well into 4:00pm and I was looking forward to a nice leisurely walk around Montmartre. I called Sara in an attempt to see if I could stop by her office to use the internet, but ended up reaching her at Paulo's where she was napping before prepping dinner.

I'd forgotten all about dinner, which was to be at 7:30pm. All I could think was "another day wasted in Paris."

I did find out from her all the details pertinent to dinner, like Paulo's address and the codes to enter his building. She also told me of a little internet shop on Rue de la Pompe where i could get online.

After finishing the laundry, I set out for the shop. I found it with no problems (i'm finally really getting the hang of navigating Paris' streets), and signed on. I attempted to activate international roaming on my phone, wrote a post for my weblog, and checked my email. No email from Katrina (co-worker) yet, so I guess either there's no company news or she's just forgotten to email me.

After fighting with the french keyboard for 20 minutes or so (very difficult for a touch typist to adjust to a completely foreign layout), I got done what i needed to do and set out for the next half of my stroll. Being 5:30pm or so, I decided to just head in the general direction of Paulo's.

I figured i'd stop at a cafe along the way for a croissant & coffee. I made my way somewhat aimlessly, which I enjoyed since i knew i was heading in the right direction. Of course, I did check the map frequently to make sure i was still on track.

Eventually, I found a nice place, and sat down, ordered a cappuccino & croissant, and read for a bit. This was probably one of the my most perfect moments in Paris. I was… unencumbered. No longer ill at ease with not knowing the language, fairly certain of where i was and where i was going (in a physical sense at least, if not in the sense of "in my life" in general), and didn't feel rushed to get there.

You could say that I finally just enjoyed the moment–being an American in Paris, sitting in a cafe surrounded by Parisians, drinking coffee, and chuckling quietly to myself as I read a book by one of my favorite authors.

I sat for a while until the waiter came out and gave me change, then leisurely got up and started on my way again.

I found Av. Mozart (my next "checkpoint") fairly quickly and started down towards Paulo's. Generally, as i've walked around Paris, i've looked at the shops on both sides of the street and occasionally at people as they'd pass.

About halfway to Rue Jasmin, I happened to look across the street to see a man who looked remarkably like my father. I looked back again, and realized that it was my father… and my mother, and my little brother. I hesitated briefly before deciding to cross the street and greet them.

Fate can certainly play strange cards sometimes, or as mom said (to which my dad, surprisingly enough, laughed)…(and i have no idea how to interpret that) "God watches out for us."

Anyway, as it turns out, the family & Kristin & Ryan were–for all intents and purposes–lost. They knew where they were, but they weren't sure where they were supposed to be going. They had bought one phone card that didn't work, then a second phone card that worked but wouldn't allow them to call Sara's cell phone. They were, in a word, stuck. Out of options, they were going to start trying to call peoples' work numbers (at 6:30pm, at shot in the dark at best).

So, here I am and here they are, fortune smiling down upon us. I noticed them, so one must wonder on whom fortune had laid her biggest hand.

In any event, family and friends successfully rescued by Fate, or God, or both; we proceeded to Paulo's without further incident. Dinner went wonderfully, the two families meeting for the first time.

After dinner, my plan was to make up for lost time and to go walk Montmartre. Of course, my little bro is like a lamprey at times and insisted on going with me. So, i went back to Sara's place with the fam., and we waited for Kristin and Ryan to show up with their luggage.

Once it got past 10:45, I realized that it would be much too late to get any decent time at all in Montmartre, since the last metro would be between 12:30 and 1:00 at the latest.

So, plans foiled once again, I got a head start on my journal and map notations.

Hopefully, tomorrow i'll get to walk around Montmartre before the 5 pm train to Deauville. There is still so much of Paris I haven't seen (& it is mostly my own fault, wasting three days), so it's pretty much certain that I will have to return when the days aren't so stressful for my sister, and when I can afford it.

I've also realized that the trip would have been much better with a companion. Someone who could ensure I get up and go to bed at a decent hour.

As much as it's nice to have Paris one-on-one (or one-on-2-million, depending on your point-of-view), it would also be nice to share it with someone.

slow day at work today. i tend to like these days about as much as i dislike them.

i've spent quite a bit of the day fighting with my jabber client (or more correctly, the jabber server i use), and have had little IM love going on. another big chunk of my day has been spent perusing the "Photoshop Phriday" and "Comedy Goldmine" threads over at somethingawful. if you like stuff that's funny… uh… you should go check it out.

my most recent obsession has become… polishing my boots. for about 2 years or so, i've pretty much never taken a polish brush to my combat boots (my only form of footware), so, needless to say, they were looking pretty rough. very little actual black left on them, and huge chunks taken out of the leather all 'round the heel & toes.

so, about three weeks ago, i broke out the ol' polish kit and gave 'em a quick once over. since then, i've been polishing them once or twice a week. today (i've now dubbed Wednesday as boot-polishing day–since i don't usually eat lunch on Wed. i can polish them on my lunch break.) i actually gave them a quick spit-shine. they seem to like it. i'm actually thinking about maybe taking some time tonight to finish the job… yeah, we're definitely getting to the obsession level with this whole polishing thing, i think.

ah well, never did seem to have a problem finding something with which to distract myself.

well now. i am officially back from Vacation (though i never technically went anywhere). sitting here at work, struggling to find things to keep me busy, and since i am currently not being very successful at that endeavor i figured i'd take my lack of success to other ventures–like this weblog.

i hesitate to say that my vacation was "shitty." it really wasn't. but it also wasn't "exciting" either. basically i took a week off from work, sat around the house, stayed up way too late at night (usually 'til dawn) and slept too late in the mornings (usually 'til 3 or 4). i had the grandiose plans for a week of relentless productivity wherin i'd finish several chapters of my novel, whip my 2nd poetry book into a publishable state, make more copies of the LP demos and send them out to all those labels that are just waiting for a band that sounds like us, and probably some other things as well–as i discovered them. what actually happened was that, a few days before i "went" on vacation, a co-worker "let me borrow a copy" of Grand Theft Auto III for the PC. needless to say, despite the fact that i'm not much of a gamer, i quickly became addicted to the game and proceeded to waste almost every second of my vacation playing it. stupid stupid stupid.

now, i did manage to get a few things done despite the new techno-crack. i created and made copies of some handbills for the LP site, took the remaining copies of the show flyer & handbills to different places around town, we had a 4th of July cookout complete with illegal Indiana fireworks and a near disaster that involved a largish bottle rocket (not a tiny firecracker sized bottle rocket) falling over on it's side and shooting directly into the garage where we were all "taking cover." of course, not everyone noticed the fallen rocket, and not everyone got out of the way. it hit my friend directly in the abdomen, caught her shirt on fire (or smolder, really) and singed her "favorite shorts" and her skin in the process. she was alright–no permanent damage done–but she was a little burned, bruised, and understandably shaken.

the band practiced several times over the course of the week, including at the cookout. then finally, Friday rolled around and it was time for the Prick's big 1st show. all i'm going to say right now, is that it went well, and we are grateful to all of our friends that showed up to give us support. i'm going to save the rest of the story for tomorrow. i've really got to find something to do, lest i begin to fear for my continued employment. also, hopefully, in a few days (as i think i've said before) we'll have some pictures from the show that i can hopefully include in a post.

man, animals can be so pitiful when you have doctors do mean nasty things to their bodies.

we finally managed to get our two kittens (not kittens anymore i guess, they're over a year old now…) into the vet on Monday to have their child birthing equipment forcibly removed. a good friend of ours (who happens to work at the vet's office) was kind enough to come pick them up from the house, then to bring them back to us the next day. man, when they got home… they were just pitiful. laying around, barely moving all day. of course, if someone had ripped out *my* uterus (a difficult task, to be sure, seeing how i don't have one in the first place.) i would probably be walking gingerly for a few days, if i bothered to walk at all.
they're starting to get better and better now, moving around a bit more, climbing stairs to hang out with their three dads. they seem to be pretty good about not licking their sutures too much, and they are eating healthily again. as brax has said on multiple occasions, it will be nice to see them back to their old mischievous selves again.

i guess it's been about two weeks ago now, but we recently came into possession of a vintage Galaga arcade machine. how awesome is it to be able to come home, walk into the foyer, and jump right into a game (or six) of Galaga without having to drop quarters into the machine? well, let me tell ya, it's pretty awesome. of course, i completely suck at the game. i've gotten a little better since we got it, but i'm still not breaking the 90,000 point barrier. of course, i've also gotten to the point where if i lose a ship in the first four rounds, i just let myself get killed and start over.

our friend Jess has finally gotten engaged to her longtime beau, and they've now moved to Texas. it seems weird for her to not be around, despite the fact that we haven't really hung out with her much since we all moved out of the old place (brian's current place). when she was still in town, it was always acceptable to not see her, partly because we knew we could call her up if we were doing something, and have her join us. with that no longer being an option… well, i tend to realize more that she's not around.

and with her gone, our "family" now has only one female member remaning. it used to be that i couldn't count the number of girls hanging out with us on a regular basis with two hands. it's a very different existence when you don't have that special female "energy" around. to top that off, we're down to only one female at my workplace as well… the yin energy is slowly being siphoned out of my life. in six months i'll be a truly desperate, depraved charicature of myself if we don't get an influx real soon. it's a good thing i don't have any "whore money" to throw around… it's all gotta go towards rent & bills & silly shit like that.

perhaps i should just try to get out more.

er, well, how 'bout an easy way to look up the meaning of "life"? i've been working on a bookmarklet for dictionary.com word lookups (a bit on Friday, and a little more today), and have finally gotten the kinks worked out. since Microsoft refuses to do things according to established standards, i had a bugger of a time getting this thing to work in IE (had it up & running in Mozilla in about 5 minutes). but, it does work in both browsers now–and Netscape 4.75! oh, and if anyone is willing to test this on a Mac, please let me know how it works.

anyway, on to the thingy.

Lookup

to "install" this, just follow your normal routines for adding a link to your bookmarks/toolbar–either just drag it up there and drop it on your toolbar, or do the right-click "add bookmark" thing.

Now, the beauty of this beast is that you can (on a non-frames-based page–it won't work on bipolar…) use your mouse to select any word (or words) you like, click this bookmark, and voila!–a page pops up with the dictionary.com definition of the selected text.

enjoy!

*update*: of course, silly me did not think to check dictionary.com's site to see if they already had a bookmarklet, so, of course they do. but, on the bright side, mine is much more functional than theirs, so–nyah nyah!

plus, i've gone ahead and incorporated their little "enter a word to lookup" thing into mine, so now, if you don't select any text, you'll get a popup box asking you to input a word (this is great if you need to look up a word from a frames-based page). then, if you still don't enter a word (i.e. you hit "cancel") you won't be directed to the site at all… it'll be as if you never clicked the bookmark in the first place (except that you'll be a few seconds older). if anyone would rather have the option of still getting a dictionary.com window (even if you don't enter a word in the pop-up) let me know and i can fix it to do that as well.

if you grabbed the bookmark between 11:56 and 1:00 PM, be sure to grab it again, so you can enjoy the new functionality.

ok. i've now officially wasted enough time.

well, with all this excitement here around ye olde bipolar, coupled with Nathan's constant whining about my lack of posts, i guess i better jump on this crazy train or be left forever behind.

of course, the big problem with having a weblog is having a consistent stream of interesting tidbits to post about, but since i don't have that in my life currently, i guess i'll just have to post about some really stupid shit until something better comes along or i get some groundbreaking idea that will shake the foundations of our society.

anyway, so, i've finally started playing the game i bought about a month ago, and i've been enjoying it. yet another game that promises to suck away what little life i currently live. yay!

today i finally started pulling together some packaging ideas for our demo (don't wanna go handing out unprofessional demo CDs, now, do we?), and as soon as i get something finalized i'll probably post some images for you all to see.

and since brian's off in rock-star land, i guess i should mention that i enjoyed the show on Friday, and, like Paul, i was happy for brian that he did well.

oh, and the June 4th show may be on again… right now it's tentative, but we're planning on having a show with us, Old Man (the puffin's band), and Telavet. we'll keep you posted.

that's it. that's all i've got. if i think of anything else, especially anything that might be interesting, i'll be sure to let you know.

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, i've been getting pressure again to establish some sort of regular posting pattern, but unfortunately, there's been enough going on to deflect me from posting when i think about it, and not enough going on to really warrant posts of any kind of substance. life seems to be pretty much status quo for me at the moment, no warrants, no arrests. no all-night benders with cheap booze and cheaper girls. such is the luck.

i finally got myself one'a them handheld deevices. Handspring Visor thingamabob. i tell you, that thing is going to steal my soul. I've got bejeweled on it, and SimCity (not to mention the actually useful applications like shopping list programs and address books & whatnot.) between just figuring out what the fuck i'm doing with the thing, and installing all the various software on my work & home machines, and playing those addictive fucking games… i really not sure what's going on any more… it's March, isn't it?

anyway, works fine, life's fine, band's fine, car's fine. uh…

hung out with brian tonight and actually got Paul to come along, that was nice.

damn, it's late, i haven't accomplished much of anything, and i have got to get to bed.

so, what have i been up to the past couple weeks…

well, amazingly enough, i've been planning for a trip to france to visit my sister (who hasn't updated her blog in quite a while…). i've finally managed to drag out the Berlitz "Basic French" cassette learning program i bought on remainder at Hawley-Cooke a couple years ago, and i've been listening to them regularly for the past two weeks or so. the first week, i think i probably heard four times as many words in french than i heard in english. now, my big project is digitizing the four tapes in the program and making MP3s out of them, so i can take them to work and listen without having to drag a cassette player and headphones everywhere i go. of course, i've primarily been just listening and figuring out the sound of french. i haven't gotten into the writing or vocabulary study yet. so, if anyone gets the bright idea to write me an email in french… i'm not quite ready for that yet. but hopefully, by the time July rolls around, i'll have at least a passable knowledge of the language. i may look like a fool in france, but at least i'll look like a fool who's trying to be polite.

i also finally finished the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which i kicked off with "The Hobbit" back during christmas at my grandmother's, and i just cracked open the introduction to "The Iliad."

i've been hanging out with brian quite a bit more recently, which i enjoy. we've actually been throwing around some ideas for a screenplay, since we have a commitment from a friend of ours to "shoot whatever" we write. of course, then we also had a conversation with another person a "playwright" apparently, who was asking us all kinds of questions about sub-stories, and plot-driving stories and all that jazz. this is something i'm rather torn on. i can't say that i've ever consciously tried to write anything using sub-stories, but have relied more on the primary story and the characters themselves to drive the plots… such as they were. anyway, i think we've come up with some good ideas, now we just need to corral them into a story.

my band and i have finally buckled down and gotten a digital recorder–rent-to-own style. after talking with some knowledgeable friends, i'm more satisfied that we made a good choice picking up the one we did (being the only one presented to us and immediately available) and that we'll not regret the (ongoing) purchase. hopefully, it'll allow us to finally make a decent recording and get some demos out to whomever the hell it is that books shows around these parts. also, it's entirely conceivable that i might throw a couple tracks on the site (probably once we get to the permanent server) so that anyone with a healthy masochistic bent can listen to "the prick" all they want. also hopefully, it'll allow us to get some gigs and actually start playing out. if we get really lucky, maybe we'll get Old Man (paul's band) to let us play with them (or vice versa).

ok. y'know what? it's late, and my boss bitched me out this morning for being late, so i'd better close this up and get my irresponsible ass to bed.

au revoir! a bientot!