Monday, December 31, 2001

Rock!

Got the comment link back up with the help of Jill. She rocks. More changes on the way in the next couple of days. But now I have to go put on the tux...
12/31/2001 04:52:00 PM link | talk

Curmudgeon

So last night Allison goes out with this dude she met at a bar a couple of months ago. Being the man of the house, it is, of course, my duty to check him out and find out what his intentions are. He comes in with very shiny shoes and very expensive pants. So he gets points there. He's nice to me...more points. And he buys Allison's drinks and cab rides the whole night. More points.

But he reads Esquire. Esquire sucks. He hates Maxim. What man can hate Maxim?

OK...let me rephrase...what man under 30 can hate Maxim?

Aside from all this, the man is obviously rich. He's 26 and owns his own condo on Lakeshore Drive.

Hello. I can't even afford to walk into the condos on Lakeshore Drive. All of this, incuding the fact that he reads freakin' Esquire, leads Allison and I to believe that he is an old curmudgeon in a 26 year old man's body.

I only feel a little bad for writing about Allison's date. Because if I didn't, I'd have nothing else to write about. I spent the whole night sitting around, waiting for her to get home. Lame.

I'm working the house party in Lake Forest tonight. I'll update when I get home with a total cash count. Send some good money mojo my way!
12/31/2001 02:34:00 PM link | talk (2)

 Saturday, December 29, 2001
Patience

Still working on the new stuff. Really. It's coming soon. I promise. :)
12/29/2001 11:14:00 PM link | talk

Good Times

So yeah. Here we are at the new site. Isn't it fun? Jill's given me the downlow on the comments stuff, but I spent too much time in the airport to be in the mood to make new pages and deal with code and scripts and stuff. So you'll still have to be patient. Ha.

Last night. Went to see Vanilla Sky with Scott from high school. Before the movie, we stopped by Sarah C's house to see her family and our friend Dan's family. They forced us to have drinks (not that we ever have to be forced to drink) and sat us down at the table and asked us about what's going on in our lives. Some particular conversation spawns the fact that Scott has been to Boston, but not visited Sarah and that he has been to Chicago and not visited me. So we're giving him a hard time and Dan's dad (who obviously didn't have to be forced to drink either) leans forward and says, "The important question is 'Did you get laid in these cities?'"

Ha. This, from a Dad. His whole family turned an interesting shade of pink, especially his wife who was sitting across from me. It was funny.

And then we had to leave for the movie. There's no way it would have gotten any better than that. It's best to quit while you're ahead.
12/29/2001 12:17:00 AM link | talk

Friday, December 28, 2001
Vanilla Sky

So Good.
12/28/2001 01:10:00 AM link | talk

Thursday, December 27, 2001
Comments

I'm going to fire up the comments thing again soon, but you'll have to wait until I'm back in Chicago. I'm not in the mood to do it tonight. You've been without it this long, I think you'll last a couple more days.

Besides...Survivor is on in 15 minutes...
12/27/2001 06:43:00 PM link | talk

Yay!

After many hours of hard work and sitting here wondering if I'm doing the right thing, the new site is up! Woo hoo!

Extra special thanks to Jill and Jodi for their help and moral support!
12/27/2001 04:01:00 PM link | talk

Micky's New Website....

Because Earthlink is going away in a few days, I had to find a new place to put the site. So I finally bit the bullet and bought a domain name. I'm not going to write much right now, but since I haven't written in a while (thanks to some hackers who got into blogger's security systems and shut down the whole thing) I thought I'd let you know I was alive...

The new site will be up later today. Be patient. :)

12/27/2001 10:39:00 AM link | talk

Saturday, December 22, 2001
Sleep Part III

I was finally able to get some sleep. After a loooooong time.

The plane ride was uneventful. Just lots of security and stuff. When my dad picked me up, we went back to the office, where I proceeded to spend five hours knocking out a brochure that has been on my to do list for I don't know how long. The whole time I wished that I could just lay my head down on the desk and take a nap.

And there was a big party with lots of food, and I started eating some turkey, but then remembered the sleepiness quality of the food, so I stuck to the Gates barbecue sandwiches.

Then I came home and took a nap. For two hours.

Then we ate, and I wandered around the house, being sleepy, and doing nothing productive until I settled back on the couch in front of the TV where I promptly fell asleep again.

I moved to the bed at 10:30 and woke up at 8:30 to the loud knocking on my door. My mom was proclaiming the vast amounts of shopping that we had to do. And I needed to get up anyway. I didn't come all the way here to sleep. I came to shop. And get presents. And make cookies. And see high school friends. And rest...

Oh right. I'm allowed to rest.
12/22/2001 09:37:00 AM link | talk

Friday, December 21, 2001
Oh Right.

Yeah. I'm in KC now.
12/21/2001 11:57:00 AM link | talk

Sleep Part II

So after two hours of sleep, I continued to run around my apartment, finishing things up. I started the walk to the train, waving away four cab drivers. I can walk.

Halfway there, the shoulder strap on my bag broke. How I wished I had not so capriciously waved away the cabbies. I stumbled to the Paulina stop, missing a train by mere minutes. Darn. I made friends with a girl who had lots of luggage too. She had to go to work first and then fly to Virginia. I'm glad I didn't have to work.

I also wish that I'd booked a 10 am flight. Some more sleep might have been fun.

All that being said, let me say that Vanguard rocks.
12/21/2001 11:56:00 AM link | talk

Sleep

For those of you who keep track of the little numbers at the bottom of these entries, you'll see that it's 1:45 am. For those of you keeping track of what time my flight is tomorrow (today) it's 8:10 am. For those of you who know that you have to get to the airport two hours early, you'll know that I'll be arriving at 6:10 am. For those of you who know that I live in Chicago and will be taking the eL to the airport, you'll know that I have to leave at 5:10 am. For those of you who realize that I don't wake up looking like the object of an old fat leather-wearing bald man's dreams (scroll down...you'll see), you'll know that I'm getting up in about three and a half hours.

And have I finished packing?

Ha.
12/21/2001 01:45:00 AM link | talk

Thursday, December 20, 2001
Water

Oh. And my water has been off all day. I really need a shower...
12/20/2001 05:11:00 PM link | talk

Productivity

I can't believe that I've gotten so much done today. I had a massive list of things I had to do before I left, because once I get back, Allison will be back, so the house has to look good. I can't be in the middle of big projects.

So today. I picked up a Christmas present that I'd been planning on buying (for $10 off AND with a 20% off coupon! Nice!), picked up another present downtown while my car was still at the meter next to the eL, went to the catering office to get the downlow for my New Year's Even job, and to drop off some cookies I'd made, finally picked up the dry cleaning that I needed last Saturday, and went to Menards to pick up some C-brackets to tack up the conduit line in the back room.

That's just what I did while I was out. Once I got home, I tacked up the conduit, tightened the handrail in the main stairwell, cleaned every single room and had some dinner.

The bad thing is that I still have stuff to do, some TV to watch, and I have to go to rehearsal for four hours. And get up at 4 to make it to the airport two hours before my flight leaves. Not cool. Cross your fingers that I get everything done. :)
12/20/2001 05:11:00 PM link | talk

Dawson's Creek

Weird that PartyGirl was feeling the same way yesterday that I was. Must be something in the water. Although I hope, for their sake, that they don't drink water from Lake Michigan all the way in New York.

On to happier subjects. Like how much I love Dawson's Creek. There was a while when I fell by the wayside, but now everything seems back on track. And it makes me think of good times.

Dawson's premiered my sophomore year of college. My friend Kyle loved it as much as I did. So I would tape it on Tuesday nights (back when it was on after Buffy) and on Wednesday, we would go home after Costume Design, stop at the cafeteria (where I would always buy a pretzel) and go back to my room to watch the tape. I remember that I pretty much swooned whenever Katie Holmes was on the screen, because she's so freakin' pretty.

And I love that little thing she does with her mouth.

And Pacey was sleeping with his teacher and that was such scandal, because, hello, they're in Capeside, Massachusetts...someone's bound to find out.

It makes me think of honey mustard packets that I stole from the lunchroom, and the red carpet in my dormroom with the big white stain right by the door from where I spilled detergent, and the white stain that's still on the tile underneath the carpet (I went back and saw it the next year...I'm just assuming it's still there), and staying up all night with Kyle working on costuming renderings until the next morning when they were due, and Blackout Sunday when all of Des Moines was dark and we hung out in the dorms in our pajamas until we decided to see a movie in West Des Moines, and came back just as the lights came on, minutes before the "you own't have class tomorrow" deadline.

It was good times.

And watching Dawson and Joey and everybody talking about how everyone changes but if something is worth holding on to, then it'll still be there when you look for it. It's just that you have to look for it, even though it may look different. So I'll be seeing some more high school friends next week over Christmas break. Some are getting married. Some have babies. But they'll still be the same.

(Ha. Now here's a really cheesy way to end this.)

Just like Dawson's.
12/20/2001 01:33:00 AM link | talk

Tuesday, December 18, 2001
The Body

I usually try to keep things fairly funny here. But you know what? Sometimes things aren't funny. But it's my blog and if I want to write something to make myself feel better, then I will. So there.

Ever since the WTC, I'm consistently on the verge of tears whenever I see pictures, or read articles, or watch commercials about the whole thing. It doesn't even have to be pictures of the buildings, or of people who died or whatever. It can be something as stupid as a picture in Entertainment Weekly of Julia Roberts wearing a T-Shirt with a flag on it. Or listening to Jewel sing the Christmas version of Hands.

But nothing has made me just lose it completely. I just teeter on the edge. I do some major welling, but no tears actually come. Or if a few do actually fall, it's not enough to make me feel better. Someone told me to just cry and get it out of my system, but that just isn't possible.

Trading Spaces makes me well for heaven's sake. When they come in and see their new room and are so happy. Sometimes that's more than I can take. And that's incredibly lame.

Right. Let's pull in the title of the entry. The episode where Buffy's mom died (The Body) was just on. The most emotional part for me wasn't Buffy or her sister crying about their mom. It was Anya, the 1000 year old ex-demon who couldn't understand death and didn't know what to do that did it.

There's nothing I can do about the people that died. I don't have the money to donate anything. I don't want to leave a message for the soldiers who aren't home for Christmas, because I wouldn't know what to say, and I probably wouldn't get through the entire thing. I can't even bring myself to watch Act I in the show I'm doing because it deals with the death of a child in the Holocaust, and it reminds me too much of what's going on. So I read magazines, but then there are articles about Osama Bin Laden as a boy and how Chelsea Clinton felt on 9-11.

I just want to forget about all of it. Just for a little while.

I don't think I will though.
12/18/2001 08:37:00 PM link | talk

Monday, December 17, 2001
3 More Days...

I tried to post earlier today, really I did...but Blogger was down. Oh well.

So I have three more days of the house to myself until Christmas. By the time I come back from KC, Allison will again be in the house. Which may make my recording difficult, if she decides to watch TV while I'm at rehearsal. There may have to be a talking to...

Anyway...I have a to do list a mile long of things to get done before I leave on Friday morning. A lot of it is busy computer work, or sitting down and writing things, but I also have to go downtown...and maybe to Schaumburg...for some other Christmas shopping.

And I have to put away the six loads of laundry that I did today. I don't know how long it's been, but I know that it was before Thanksgiving since I last did laundry. I have 56 pairs of identical white socks. I actually ran out. It cost $10 to do everything, but one whole load was tablecloths and placemats and napkins and a pair of red sheets. It's kind of fun to have an entirely red load of laundry.

I also have to clean out the storage room...I mean, Allison's room...before she gets back. Although why she can't sleep with my bike in her room is beyond me. It's big enough.

So much to do...
12/17/2001 11:50:00 PM link | talk

Sunday, December 16, 2001
The Question One Should Never Ask Micky

Yeah. And it is..."What do you look like without your tux on?" Followed by a suggestive raising of the eyebrows.

I was going to write about how much fun I had yesterday with my friend Mitch (in town from California). We went to Ed Debevic's and then saw Schadenfreude, and I met a Drake alum (Sheila) and had a really good night.

But I'm not going to write about that. Because I just left a party. My only house party of the year. It started with getting ready. I went to the cleaners where my tux lived last night. They were closed. With my tux inside. Obviously, I needed one to wear to work. I kind of made one up with black pants and a white seersucker buttondown shirt. To hide the fact that it was not a tux shirt, nor was it a normal fabric, I added the jacket, even though I only had to wear the vest uniform tonight.

Like it mattered.

The party was on Lake Shore Drive. Which means ritzy high rise apartment. Which also means no parking anywhere. I drove around for 45 minutes looking for a space somewhere in the same zipcode as the party. Eventually, I stopped at a gas station to get change for the honor lot, and when I asked for change she said, "Sure. The answer to everything tonight is Sure." So jokingly, I said, "Can you find me a parking space?"

And she let me park right outside the station. For free. For 6 hours. And she made sure I didn't get a ticket or get towed. Or even worse, the boot. Someone nice. I took a chance on her niceness, and it all worked out. No ticket, no towing, no boot. Who knew?

The party was filled with about 200 middle aged gay men. And two women. The hosts were very nice, as were most of the guests. But about 5 hours into the evening, people started getting drunk....really drunk...and if they'd visited the "pot room" (classy!), a little high too. And the hitting on began. Some fat bald man in a leather vest and pants (and not much else) asked the aforementioned question. There were a couple of variations on the same theme by some other guys. Another guy was very excited by the possiblity that I might have been Irish. Who can blame him for wondering...my nametag says Micky and my hair is now kind of red. Oh well.

Ew. I just blew my nose. This is gross...watch out. I have inhaled so much cigarette smoke that the kleenex is black. Ew.

Anyway...and a couple of other guys came up to me and told me what a good job I was doing, and randomly gave me a hug. I managed to pull away as their hands rapidly descended onto an area that was not so much the shoulder region.

The message I left for Carols (the office) went something like this..."Hi, it's Micky. I just worked six hours. And I'll have some stories for you on Monday. Oh, and next time you're going to send me into an apartment with 200 old gay men, warn me in advance, and I'll try to look less young and cute. Because I look really cute in my tux..."

Not a bad night. Just a weird night. And I walked away with about 90 bucks. Does that make me a whore?
12/16/2001 02:35:00 AM link | talk (1)

 Friday, December 14, 2001
Nice.

Wouldn't it be nice if I would actually go to bed at a normal hour, perhaps even when I'm tired, instead of staying up until the wee hours of the morning? Especially nights when I have to wake up early the next day?

Wouldn't that be great?

This lack of comments due to stupid Snorland isn't putting me in a better mood. Neither is the fact that I missed the first ten minutes of Charmed. I hate that. Neither is the fact that I'm getting up in less than 6 hours. I hate that more.
12/14/2001 01:09:00 AM link | talk

Thursday, December 13, 2001
Hrmph, part 2

And why aren't the comment links working? What is that?!
12/13/2001 12:34:00 AM link | talk

Hrmph.

I've been sitting here trying to figure out some way that today wasn't just a totally crummy day. I'm not coming up with anything. Woke up too early. Had to go to a job with idiots at a place I don't like. Got lost trying to get home. Got stuck in traffic. Missed an episode of Trading Spaces. Sat at rehearsal doing nothing. Came home and realized that even though TV Guide told me otherwise, Dawson's Creek was new. And I didn't tape it. So even the new Felicity didn't put me in a good mood. I have to work tomorrow. And get up early again. And maybe go to the theatre on a night off to work on taping the stupid set. Even though there is lots of good TV. I still haven't seen last week's Survivor. I have to work again on Saturday night. And have rehearsal all weekend. Even though a friend is staying with me. I won't see him pretty much at all. And I have all this work to do. But no money. And I'm tired. But I'm up at 12:33, knowing that I have to get up in less than 8 hours. And my hair is all wonky.

I should just cut my losses and go to bed. I've had too many of these bad days recently. Not cool.
12/13/2001 12:33:00 AM link | talk

Wednesday, December 12, 2001
Hair

So I felt the need to highlight my hair. Of course I don't have the money to have someone else do it. So I did it myself.

And as soon as I rinsed it out, my first thought was "I have seriously jacked my hair."

But then it grew on me. I forgot that I have all this natural red tint, so it kind of looks strawberry blond. Definitely different than it looked before. But good I think. I'll take a picture tomorrow and you can decide for yourselves.

12/12/2001 12:20:00 AM link | talk

Tuesday, December 11, 2001
Sale

So I just had the most surreal dream while I was asleep on the couch. (I can do that...it's my day off.)

The people below me were moving out. (This is true.) And instead of packing everything, they were selling it in a massive garage sale. And somehow people manage to get up to my apartment and start looking around there for thigns to buy too. My apartment was a hybrid of my current place and a house that I lived in probably 8 years ago. Which made my apartment huge. It also gave it a second floor. And a rooftop balcony (which came out of nowhere). But I could not get people to leave.

However...no one was buying anything. The only things I had to take away from people were a plastic Jagermeister dogtag and a few quills from my fake Christmas tree. Does that mean that my stuff's not cool?

For some reason I had to escape and went around the corner. In my car. On a very busy street, which confused me to no end, because everyone seemed to be driving in the wrong direction. It was next door to the tiniest Bally's health club that I've ever seen. It was seriously like a cardboard box.

I made it home and surveyed the damage. People were mad that I wouldn't let them buy my stuff, so they trashed the place. All these country-type knickknacks (which I don't own) were broken. For some reason I was unhappy. Oh no. Not my country art kitsch. Not the quills of my Christmas tree. NOT THE JAGERMEISTER DOGTAGS!

And the whole time...I'm in a red bathrobe. Weird.
12/11/2001 02:07:00 PM link | talk

Woo!

Not only did I go to bed last night before midnight, but I have the whole day off today!

Not that I'm going to be sitting around eating peeled grapes. Last night I made a gigantic list of things to do. Of course, three of those things are 1.) Watch Buffy 2.) Watch Trading Spaces 3.) Watch the second episode of Trading Spaces.

Oh. And I forgot number 4.) Watch the last hour of Walking with Prehistoric Beasts.

I have such a hard life.
12/11/2001 11:16:00 AM link | talk

Monday, December 10, 2001
Robbie Williams

So I was going to go to bed almost an hour ago, but I stated reading blogs, and wound up on Robbie Williams's site, where I've been many times before, especially right before Sing While You're Winning came out. I recall feeling that there was much injustice in the world, because the album was released in Europe months before it was in the US.

I knew that he was working on a new album, Swing While You're Winning, but I really didn't know much about it, except that Nicole Kidman was singing with him on one of the tracks.

Well, now I find out all sorts of things. Including the fact that it's already been released in Europe! I've heard nothing about its release here. It makes me mad. I'm not going to order it from England because it will probably be twice as much and add lots of shipping money, because there does happen to be an ocean in between the CD and me.

Not only that, but the CD seems pretty cool. I listened to a couple of tracks, and they're all covers of old swing songs. I forget who complained about this, saying how disappointed they were in Robbie, but I like the idea. It's not what I thought it would be (and it's not what the magazines were telling me) but there's some good stuff on there. And Nicole sounds good.

So now I'm going to be bitter that I can't have in until who knows when. Last time it was a two month difference. So maybe it will be here in January.

Harsh.
12/10/2001 12:46:00 AM link | talk

Walking with Prehistoric Beasts

So I've just finished watching the first two hours of the Discovery Channel documentary that I've been looking forward to for two weeks. It's pretty freaking cool. In the span of 15 minutes, I watched a prehistoric demon pig kill a cute little turtle (sad), a water elephant escape a whale with legs (happy), a hyenadon (an ancestor of the horse...I don't know either...) defecate on the carcas of a panda-horse (gross), and the largest land mammals ever mating.

It's better than a Stephen Segal movie.

I'm up to the part where humans begin evolving. The monkeys had just started walking upright.

In a related note (well, not really...that's too mean...) Kelly was voted out this week on Survivor. I instinctively removed her from my team, but I have a feeling that Lex's days are numbered after his little tirade. If someone lame like Frank or Theresa win, I'm going to be hardcore bitter.
12/10/2001 12:03:00 AM link | talk

Sunday, December 09, 2001
I rule.

So tonight I totally kicked it on darts. Defeating in a vast capacity Sarah, Jared and Chris.

Ha.
12/09/2001 01:09:00 AM link | talk

Thursday, December 06, 2001
Three Musicians

Apparently I'm actually a Picasso painting...I can't believe there is actually an Art Test. Aren't there enough tests online?

I am colourful and provoking, always looking to break out of the mould and to pioneer new ways of doing things. I have a jaunty outlook and although I am a bit weird, most people have some idea what I'm about.

Which work of art would you be? The Art Test



I didn't realize I was jaunty.
12/06/2001 12:22:00 AM link | talk

Wednesday, December 05, 2001
The Steam Bullet!

"Does cleaning your home feel like you're on the battlefield? Fight back with the Steam Bullet!"

I was working on my schedule in the living room, and I had the TV on from when I was watching Real World. So the TV was on some random channel when I stopped the tape and started working...and then I was introduced to the Steam Bullet! It cleans everything with pressurized steam! Hubcaps! Toilets! Trashcans! Patio Furniture!

And there's more! It steams clothes! Drapes! Freshens upholstery! All with the power of steam!

Since I have moved on (sadly) from the George Foreman Grill, I feel that I need a new product to endorse. I think the Steam Bullet is it! AND if you go to the website, it's ten dollars cheaper than the TV offer! Click the link above!

Other steamers are being sold for up to $400! They're totally ripping us off! But not the Steam Bullet! It's only $49.95!

I really shouldn't be left alone with the TV.
12/05/2001 01:27:00 PM link | talk

Gone

I haven't been blogging very much this week, because all I could do is complain about the heinous amount of work I have to get done, and the very small amount of time I have to do it in. And that's no fun to read.

I had big plans to burn CDs of all the music I had stored in my WinAmp locker, since the lockers went away on December 3. I had 203 songs on there, of all different genres. I started making a list last night. We have the Wallflowers, 3 Doors Down, Bonnie Tyler, Coolio, Destiny's Child, and...Anne Murray (?!) just to name a few.

Unfortunately, do to the aforementioned amount of work, I didn't have the time (or the money to buy CDS) so I didn't get it done. And now my locker is gone. All those songs...gone.

Gone.

Which is perhaps why I've been singing "Gone" by NSync over and over again for the past few days, out of respect for my lost music.

In a related "gone" note, one of my favorite blogs, Analog Cereal, is also gone. It makes me a little sad, but once the dude started school he was writing a lot less anyway, so this way I don't have to keep checking and seeing that it wasn't updated, and being annoyed.

Which is what you probably do when I don't write for a few days. My bad. I feel your pain. Really.
12/05/2001 12:29:00 PM link | talk

Sunday, December 02, 2001
More Party Developments

Heather wants to have a party at her house too. She always gets to have parties. She says that we shouldn't have one since it is the first year we've lived here.

I say :P. What kind of reasoning is that?

Would her party have amaretto pears? I don't think so.
12/02/2001 11:56:00 AM link | talk