Why is the necessary thing to do is the hardest?
Do we accept enormous pain up front, and numb ourselves for the future, potentially causing irrevocable harm?

Or do we take on the hurt a little at a time knowing in the long run it will be, when summed, much more, hoping that eventually we are inoculated. That even though it may be there, it's suppressed enough we don't realize we feel it?

Which is the better path?

Current Mood: depressed

Please keep his family in your prayers. It was a long and difficult fight, but he is no longer in pain. He inspired an Army of love and a movement that I'm sure will roll forward with gaining momentum.

http://www.hedrichcreative.com/Eric.html
http://www.lifegiverproject.org/
http://www.weloveeric.com
http://www.tweet4eric.com
http://twitter.com/VeronicaDLCruz

For Eric De La Cruz, to celebrate his life: http://blip.fm/~9gjqq

... to help my friend Veronica De La Cruz get her brother a heart transplant, but it has pretty much consumed my life outside of work.

Q uick primer: Eric is in a fight for his life at a hospital in LA. He is the victim of a health care nightmare that prevented him from getting the proper medical attention he needed. He is currently trying to recover from emergency surgery so he can be re-listed for a heart transplant. The only reason he needed that emergency surgery is because the doctors say they were two years too late in getting him treatment. Two years that Eric was stuck in bureacratic red tape that prevented a hospital from accepting his case due to a lack of payment options.

Yes, Eric was considered ineligible for a life saving medical procedure because he couldn't pay.
Read about his plight at http://www.weloveeric.com and http://www.lifegiverproject.org and you can follow the original timeline of events of the last month at http://tweet4eric.com and see how we raised a million dollors for eric in less then 30 days thanks to the generosity of people like Trent Reznor and NIN, Jane's Addiciton, Tony Hawk, and thousands upon thousands of generous human beings across the world in a dozen countries.

Today, another great supporter and benefactory of the cause for #Eric posted a blog that literally brought me close to tears. I'm not ashamed to say that a few of them did escape.

On his blog, found here, visual artist David Hoang draws a picture of Veronica De La Cruz and her brother Eric De La Cruz as the Nine Inch Nails song “Hurt” plays.
He says "I had trouble holding it back while making this drawing. At some point, my tears dropped on this drawing. "

Check it out here:

And one more thing before I go.
Be an organ donor. Commit here: http://www.donatelife.net/

Tags: #eric, david hoang, eric de la cruz. lifegiver project, nin, veronica de la cruz
Current Mood: pensive

Trent Reznor of NIN throws his support behind helping my friend Eric De La Cruz get a heart!
From twitter: @trent_reznor We are offering some unique VIP-type opportunities for the remaining NIN/JA shows. Details here: http://store.nin.com/helperic/ REPOST.

Feeling stunned and saddened. My heart aches as the light of the world turns dimmer. My beloved grandmother, matriarch of a large and diverse family has passed. Lola, we owe everything to your warmth and boundless love. You leave a legacy of amazing people to carry forth your love and generosity. A family anyone would be proud of. You will forever be remembered through our love given generously in your name.

Tags: lolcat
Current Mood: irritated

Check out the last 30 seconds of the show's Moment of Zen.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/index.jhtml?episodeId=216546

Bomb goes off in Pamplona, Spain. Benja is ok, though he was close enough to feel and hear the blast.

Get get a call through to Pamplona to find out about the rest of his friends and family, but as soon as I find out more, I'll edit this post.

*** EDIT****
Benja's family is ok.

Tags: nublaii, pamplona, spain
Current Mood: angry

Easiest thing for me to do to remember is cut and paste from my private journal. A lot is of exactly what I was doing, no matter how minor the detail. Here is an excerpt:

( Long post. Lots of text I wrote at close to midnight on 9/11  )

Dear God. Today a terrible thing happened. A terrorist attack on the United States has destroyed both World Trade Center Towers, damaged the Pentagon Building and horrifically woke America’s eyes up to the terrorist threat. Thousands died today. Dear God.

For the next few pages, I am going to paste the reports from the news sites on the web:

*For the next few pages here I had cut and pasted photos and news stories from the day... I will not reiterate them here as you all probably remember them and read them that day*

After the 'posterity' news article saves, it goes something like this:

Me again. I am tired, and need to get some rest. I heard a quote on the news today: "In the aftermath, I don't think America will be as concerned about bringing those responsible to justice as to just sending them to hell..."

Amen.

 I can’t bring to justice my thoughts with any words that I may type… Justice must be swift,sure and with a heavy hand. In one of the longest days in my life, I am surprised at the sheer disregard of human life that any group of people could possibly have. Fanatics abound, and it is sad that such things come to pass. So far, as far as I know, none of my relatives or friends in the NY area are dead or injured. I thank the lord for that. Just so I remember what happened today…that I never forget the tragic moments that have unfolded I will give my chronology of the day as I remember it:

 8:30ish am Iwoke up, checked my email and was partly listening to the radio (The Bert Show on Q100 , 100.5fm in Atlanta),partly watching TV (A rerun of ‘Lois and Clark’ [a Superman show] where mobsters are cloned and brought back to commit crimes in modern day Metropolis).

 8:40ish am I went to the bathroom, weighed myself (152.5lbs) Took a shower.

 9ish am: Got out of the shower, got dressed, went back to my PC to check if there was any new email… turned the radio back on. At this point I was listening and was wondering if somehow my radio had switched up or down the dial a bit… I remember thinking “Did my radio tune to a news channel by accident?” Then Bert from Q100 came on the radio and said something like “If you are just tuning in, we are watching live coverage of  an apparent tragedy at the World Trade Center...” So I’m thinking “What the hell?!?!”

 9:05ish: I turn on the TV to CNN and here them say “We have just confirmed a SECOND airplane has struck the second building of the WTC…” At this point the replay the footage and I sit down thinking “Ohmigod”

 9:10ish Kim calls me (Desi's roommate and somewhat of a romantic interest of mine.) I had called her last night and asked her to dinner on her voicemail. She was returning my call this morning. When I answered the conversation went something like this:

Me:“Hello this is Danny”
Kim:“Hi Danny, this is Kim”
Me:“Hi! Have you been watching the news!?!”
Kim:“No…why?”
Me:“Planes just crashed into the WTC!”
Kim:”Really!?! Ohmigod. My sister is a flight attendant!”
Me:”Is sh…”  Kim cut me off.
Kim:”OK, I’m gonna go call my mom right now and see what’s going on. I’ll call you backlater”
Me:”OK, bye”
Kim:”bye”

 9:11ish I continue to watch the unfolding scene as I instant message Ross and Ryan Connolly (MediaOcean’s director of Finance) “Have you been watching the news?

 9:16am precisely (It’s on my phone’s call log) Kim calls back. Blah, blah… I won’t go into the details here, we just set up dinner around 5ish tonight for a date.

9:16ish while I’m on the phone hanging just outside the door of my apartment (I get a shitty signal inside my apartment) Ross responds to the IM. “No, the servers are all busy”

So I respond:“OK, I’m on my way in, and I’m bringing a TV”

Ross:”Cool”

Ross again:”Bring coax” (meaning bring a cable connection to plug the TV in… which I of course knew, but I’ll forgive that little “DUH” reminder in light of the unfolding events)

 9:20 ish So I grab my TV of my bedroom dresser and haul it out to my car with plug and coax cable still attached, go out to my living room pack up all my stuff for work, and I head out to work.

 9:25ish I get to Georgia 400 southbound on my way into work in midtown Atlanta. Traffic is not that heavy… which isn’t unusual half an hour after rush hour… On my way in I’m listening to the q100 broadcast and hear about the Pentagon.

I call Ross.He’s on the phone with Jenny on the land line, I called his cell… we banter back and forth about what’s going on… but everyone is still confused about all the reports coming in. He asks me if I’m coming in. I say “I’m on my way with aTV in the back” He says “cool” I say “OK, I’ll see you in a bit”

 9:35ish: I call Jason (a good friend of mine, and my Network Architect at work) “Can you meet me downstairs in front of the building like right now?”

Jason:”Yeah boss, I’ll be right there.”

 I pull into the GCATT Building (250 14th Street NW on GA Tech campus), Park the jeep (A White 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 2wd with the Inline 6 Cylinder Engine), hop out and just as Jason walks out the front door he says “Do you believe this shit?!?” I say “Yeah” and open my trunk and ask him to carry the TV upstairs. He says “Yeah I can get it. Do we have a cable feed in our room?”I say “Yeah we do” He says “Can you get the door?” So I open the doors (two sets) by first pushing the handicap button on one, then pushing the handicap button on the other as they open (this holds the doors open for a minute or so before they close behind) and let him in the building. I get back into my Jeep and race up to the 4th floor of the parking deck where I see April Barker (Media Ocean’s Director of QA) getting out of her Purple Jeep Grand Cherokee. As I pull in the parking deck the reports on the news of some guy saying “The building is collapsing, oh my god it’s coming down!”

 I talk to April as I get out of my car.

Me:“Can you believe that?”
April:”I know”
Me:”I just heard that one of the towers collapsed”
April”Yes it did, I just heard it too”
<some conversation I can’t remember as we walked onto the elevator>

9:45ish April and I go into the building where we run into Ryan in the lobby.
Me:”I just had Jason bring in a TV and set it up in my room”
Ryan:”Yeah,they got the auditorium setup”
Me:”Do they? Ok.”

 April and I head upstairs. I go straight to my room to see David Thompson, Jason Day, Karen Short, Jeff Blanchard (my Systems Engineer and UNIX Guru), and Jason Dick all watching the TV. I put my bags down and head downstairs. At this point I have no idea what the times were. I wasn’t paying attention. I go to the auditorium where I see a lot of MO employees watching the news unfold. I spot Ross, and go to sit down near him. Obviously we gravitate towards our friends in times like these, even though I didn’t say a word, nor did we a knowledge each others presence, but we just sat there and watched MSNBC as they covered the news story. After a little bit of it, I turned around and started talking to Ross. Someone (I think it was Kurt Hoyt or Stan Silvert) asked “Should we send some people home?”

At which point Ross agreed, so we went to Ray Heacox (our President, who lives in NYC and his wife was still up there) and Ray said Eric already went up to send an email to everyone to go home. So I went upstairs to tell everyone hanging out in the IT room that they could go home. Here was Eric’s email:

 -----Original Message-----
From:            Hinkle, Eric
Sent:              Tuesday, September 11, 2001 10:32 AM
To:                  .All Employees

 Please feel free to go home and be with family on this horrible day.  Pray for those lost, pray for their families, and pray for our great country.

Eric Hinkle
CEO, MediaOcean
(404) 879-2601

After a little bit I decided to call Rachel and see if she was doing ok. I only got her voicemail so I left her a message. More TV watching and Radio listening during which we; saw the second tower go down live, heard about the plane in Sommerset county PA, heard about all the building evacuations and closings in Atlanta,and decided to go to lunch. Ross rallied people to go to Rocky Mountain Pizza because he knew they had TV’s.

12ish: So we went: Me, Ross, Desi, Obed Fernandez, David Thompson, Jason Dick, and Sabastian High. We ate and watched the unfolding news as Sabastian urged his views on destroying the entire middle eastern stage. Ross and I pretty much ignored him as he voiced his opinions to the rest of the group. At some point Ray, Francisco, Katie Curtis and Mark Beckwith (the last two being employees of NBC in NYC that came to visit us,there flight was scheduled to go home today but now they are stranded) came into the place for lunch, but it was too crowded and they sat elsewhere.

 After we finished lunch, I dropped off Jason and Ross at their cars at GCATT, then followed Desi and Obie to Desi’s place (well actually I passed them, and beat them to it, because I drive like that. yeah I do)…

 1:30ish:  So for much of the day, Desi, Obie, Kim and I watched TV. Donya (Desi’s sister) joined as at some point too.

6ish: At one point we had decided that we were brain tired over the whole ordeal and went out to Buffalo’s to eat… I had chicken fingers,fries and two tanquerey and tonics…

 Then to get our minds off of it for a little bit we went to Obie's and played on his Playstation 2. Gran Turismo 3 and ATV something or other…

 At about 9:15pm. Kim and I deciced it was time to go home. So we left and went to our respective homes. I noticed Joby called my home number. It was nice to know she still cared enough to call and see how I was doing… I am ashamed to say that I don’t think it came to mind for me to call her. I really should have.

9:45ish: I called Joby back. We talked a little bit. She mentioned that her brother was deployed (her brother Mike is a Sonar Operator on board a US Navy Submarine) She thinks probably to the Middle East. I told her that Carlito was put on full alert. (which I had heard from his sister Cyndi at some point earlier that day)

 10ish: I got on the internet, chatted with a few people:

 April Barker:

D Ronsayro (9:55:36 PM): I'm not in tomorrow... are you still going to fly out thur? When do you want to talk about the rack that's in QA?
moceanqa (9:56:29 PM): I didn't remember that I was on. Was somewhat surprised.
D Ronsayro (9:57:01 PM): Sorry
moceanqa (9:57:24 PM): Thursday departure - a tentative yes. We can talk on Thurday if you want to. No big deal.
moceanqa (9:57:36 PM): we still doing lunch?
D Ronsayro (9:57:43 PM): yeah
moceanqa (9:58:00 PM): is all ok with you and the state of the US
D Ronsayro (9:58:50 PM): Yeah... so far... all of my family in NYC has been accounted for... we were worried about a couple of them for a little while.
moceanqa (9:59:49 PM): have you heard from Desi?
moceanqa (10:00:23 PM): you're doing Interop tomorrow, right?
D Ronsayro (10:00:53 PM): I think a statement I heard on the news sums it up best:"In the aftermath, I don't think America will be as concerned about bringing those responsible to justice as to just sending them to hell..."
D Ronsayro (10:01:16 PM): Yeah, I just left Obie's. I spent the day with Desi, Obie and Kim
D Ronsayro (10:01:29 PM): yes, I'm at interop all day tomorrow.
moceanqa (10:01:39 PM): k
moceanqa (10:03:09 PM): it will be interesting to see what tomorrow brings in the office. We're somewhat changing as a company anyway.
D Ronsayro (10:03:32 PM): yeah...

 

Joby:
D Ronsayro (10:05:21 PM): Carlito is on 24 hour alert
JobyR (10:05:36 PM): what?????????
JobyR (10:06:07 PM): how do you know???
D Ronsayro (10:06:22 PM): Cyndi...
JobyR (10:06:53 PM): oh god! Hope all will be okay!
D Ronsayro (10:07:33 PM): yeah me too... did you get any more info out of where your brother was heading?
JobyR (10:08:03 PM): no, he is top secret I am not even supposed to know his normal run area
D Ronsayro (10:08:14 PM): k
JobyR (10:08:53 PM): I will let you know as I find out. Let me know what you find too okay?
D Ronsayro (10:08:58 PM): ok.
JobyR (10:09:20 PM): sorry about everything
D Ronsayro (10:09:35 PM): btw... apparently Rachel is ok... so that accounts for all of our NY employees.
JobyR (10:10:14 PM): Great good to hear that
JobyR (10:10:30 PM): I bet you are heaving a sigh of relief?
D Ronsayro (10:10:49 PM): I think my flight home this weekend is going to be canceled,either officially or just plain simple, I ain't flyin anytime soon!
JobyR (10:11:05 PM): I wouldn't either!!!
D Ronsayro (10:11:06 PM): relief is true, but more anger than anything at the whole situation.
D Ronsayro (10:13:34 PM): no,I'm angry that this happened, I'm angry that it is possible for this to happen,and I'm angry that we haven't blown the fuck out of someone yet...
JobyR (10:16:33 PM): I agree!!!!!!!!!! We need to bomb the damn palistinian who are dancing in the street praising Allah for the bombing ofus!!!!! That really pissed me the hell off
D Ronsayro (10:17:17 PM): oh..I agree too... honestly, I wouldn't be upset if we just turned them into a parking lot right about now.
JobyR (10:17:56 PM): no a plate of glass

Cyndi Flores:
D Ronsayro (9:56:07 PM): Well, I don't think I'm flying out as planned on Thur night.
ceeeflo (9:56:25 PM): oh man! where were you flying to?
D Ronsayro (9:56:31 PM): Home... Philly.
ceeeflo (9:56:38 PM): oh man
D Ronsayro (9:56:39 PM): It's my Lola's birthday
D Ronsayro (9:56:52 PM): guess I'll put that off for a while.
ceeeflo (9:57:05 PM): yea,unless you want to drive it...
D Ronsayro (9:57:22 PM): nope... I'd probably get stuck coming through DC anyway.
ceeeflo (9:57:31 PM): yea most likely
ceeeflo (9:57:38 PM): how are things there?
ceeeflo (9:59:45 PM): we could see the smoke from my building
ceeeflo (10:01:08 PM): my brother called and he is on 24 hr. high alert status
D Ronsayro (10:01:38 PM): wow
D Ronsayro (10:01:44 PM): I figured as much.
ceeeflo (10:01:57 PM): yea larry and i thought that too
D Ronsayro (10:01:58 PM): I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't deployed to the middle east.
ceeeflo (10:02:22 PM): me too
ceeeflo (10:03:29 PM): my dad thinks that he'll stay there to keep his area secure
ceeeflo (10:04:27 PM): but im sure he's itching for some action
D Ronsayro (10:05:04 PM): yeah.I can see that.

Jeff Blanchard:
D Ronsayro (12:36:37 AM): Jesus, they are saying that there are trapped survivors makingcell phone calls... horrid.
FeronDia (12:36:43 AM): uh huh
FeronDia (12:37:09 AM): keeping a pretty close eye on it myself..
D Ronsayro (12:37:23 AM): I just read it on the net, so I decided to turn on the TV in my bedroom... then I remembered...
FeronDia (12:37:25 AM): just waiting for the next occurrance...call me negative or whatever you want
D Ronsayro (12:37:30 AM): It's sitting on Fritz's desk.
FeronDia (12:37:33 AM): heh

 Kim Smith:
D Ronsayro (12:36:49 AM): Jesus, they are saying that there are trapped survivors makingcell phone calls... horrid.
gtkim1313 (12:37:22 AM): that is horrible.. i have detached myself from tv and now surfing the net...
D Ronsayro (12:38:02 AM): pro'ly best for the stress... I'm like a dear in headlights... I just can't keep my eyes off it right now.
gtkim1313 (12:38:14 AM): it is like i want to know, but i don't... so if i am sitting in front of the tv i am watching this stuff...
D Ronsayro (12:38:47 AM): I'm literally detailing every possible moment that I can remember today in my journal, and copying a lot of the news coverage into it as well...
gtkim1313 (12:38:48 AM): yeah i understand... i have tried to find things to keep me busy.. i am sure i will go back to the tv soon..
gtkim1313 (12:40:00 AM): yeah i got emails from the president of Tech so i saved them... it is kind of weird i guess.. wanting to keep that information, but I really do not know how to feel about what has happened.. i have way too many thoughts lingering around my head...
D Ronsayro (12:42:04 AM): yeah, me too... but today seems to me like a day that not only won't you be able to forget, it is something that you'll want to remember as much of it as you can... even the personal stuff... I have a feeling this marks a pretty big change in the world climate, and is going to be a big point in ourtimeline...
D Ronsayro (12:42:30 AM): not to mention it should be remembered in honor of those who lost there lives today... a damn shame.
gtkim1313 (12:42:54 AM): yeah you have a wonderful way of putting things in perspective...
gtkim1313 (12:44:37 AM): all of the things you have mentioned are jumbled inside my brain, but are just not tangible to my communicative side..
D Ronsayro (12:45:31 AM): True... I can understand that, they are jumbled in mine too...  Ijust am the type of person that has to spew my thoughts at others to help sort them out....
D Ronsayro (12:45:53 AM): and you just happen to be online... so I'm spewing at you...
gtkim1313 (12:46:27 AM): yeah.. i tried to talk to donya for a few, but conversation w/ an angry 17 yr. old never goes very far...
gtkim1313 (12:46:43 AM): :-)
D Ronsayro (12:47:07 AM): yeah,I can imagine!:-\
gtkim1313 (12:47:30 AM): she is really concerned about going to hang out w/ nazi-like friends tonight and being mad at Desi for making her come home and Desi not coming home herself...
D Ronsayro (12:48:34 AM): oooh. yeah, I'd be pretty mad at Desi too...
gtkim1313 (12:49:12 AM): yeah drama b/w the sisters...
D Ronsayro (12:50:20 AM): I write a lot in in my journal, and don't hold back a lot... many times it's just to vent.
D Ronsayro (12:50:48 AM): If I published it on the 'net... I could get in a lot of trouble for some of the things I've said.
gtkim1313 (12:51:04 AM): yeah... i should start writing again... but i have this huge mental block from writing in my life right now..
D Ronsayro (12:51:23 AM): Yeah, Desi and Obie publish there's but I wouldn't trust it...tooo many people could see too deep into my life.
gtkim1313 (12:52:08 AM): i have not read there journal b/c there are some things i think i don't want to know about my roommate/friend..
D Ronsayro (12:52:58 AM): I write in my journal... mostly it's a stream of random thoughts... and mostly look back and wonder if I ever took an english class in my life... I am no good at writing stories or poems or anything like that...Desi is actually pretty reserved about her posts.
D Ronsayro (12:53:38 AM): I haven't read one in a while, but she kept people and names out, and mostly she just vented... I don't think there is too much personal stuff in there.
gtkim1313 (12:54:18 AM): oh that is cool.. i contemplated looking at it, b/c she said i should.. but i associate journals w/ very personal things..
D Ronsayro (12:54:20 AM): so I stopped reading them all... you are right... sometimes I just don't want to know.
gtkim1313 (12:54:30 AM): yuck....
gtkim1313 (12:59:18 AM): ok.. i am making myself go to bed... i need to get a regular night of sleep...
D Ronsayro (12:59:41 AM): ok. gnite... I hope you sleep well.
gtkim1313 (12:59:59 AM): have a good day tomorrow.. don't let the bed bugs bite...
gtkim1313 (1:00:11 AM): gnite
gtkim1313signed off at 1:00:21 AM.
 

OK… That’s it for tonight. Off to bed, actually I’m going to surf the web for some news and proly turn on the TV to see if anything new has happened…Signing off,and may god help us all…

*And that was what I wrote on 9/11. I re-read it every year just to make sure I keep the memory of that day very fresh in my mind... and it still crosses my mind every time I head to the airport near this time of year.

Current Mood: thoughtful

http://www.thetenthritual.com/

I'll certainly be there as usual.



I'll buy your first drink...

• 10:24 now has an a$$load of work to catch up on. #
• 14:21 My home town made the top 100 best places to live list: ...com/6l5rml #

• 01:54 why the hell can't I get back to sleep? I was doing soooo well... #
• 12:04 sore throat gone. coughing fits here. wheeeee. are we having fun yet? #
• 16:06 Thinks his love for showtunes belies his heterosexuality #
• 16:55 is finally feeling a little bit better today. #

• 14:01 wants to go to sleep for a week and wake up healthy again #
• 17:36 sleeeeeeeeeeeeep. glorious sleeeeep! #

• 01:03 Marlo's birthday in the Halo-Hizzle! Rare Form on the decks! I'm gonna feel this tomorrow #
• 04:57 That was stupid #
• 18:04 is drained, exhausted, sick, tired, and beat. Hoping for a better week to come. #

http://dearjanesample.wordpress.com/2008/07/09/reasons-why-you-should-use-a-real-translator/

• 15:15 can finally swallow more then soup and is very happy about it #

• 10:02 I'm so sick that I want to rip out my throat and watch myself peecefully blead to death. #
• 10:03 @atlnav Anger is never the proper emotion to follow. #
• 10:05 @agirlcalledbob Heh. If I didn't feel like death warmed over, I would have seen your post and wore my 'talk nerdy' to me t-shirt today :-P #
• 10:21 @atlnav yeah. antibiotics. lots of fluids, etc... strep throat. #
• 10:48 @desi But it's a dry heat ;) #
• 12:48 @Gastro WTF were you doing drinking JD and Coke? Stealing my drink mofo?! Stick to your Amstel's :-P #
• 15:06 chapstick and a coughdrop. Oh what i wouldn't give for a coughdrop right now! #
• 16:46 No no no no! OMFG! i swear i feel a gout attack coming on! i just effin got over one! why why why!? #
• 17:38 @w0lver on the way to ATL. on a plane now boarding. #
• 19:36 just landed in the ATL. Looking forward to my couch, and a bowl of soup. #

• 17:13 has officially slept the entire day away and not gotten out of bed once. Sick sucks. #
• 20:25 Would like to die now. Kill me please. Perhaps just rip out my throught, that would kill 2 birds with 1 stone. #

• 19:23 is coming down with something... yet another sinus infection?! #
• 06:54 is feeling like crap and woke up late this morning. Running too far behind. #
• 09:56 is officially sick. really really sick. #
• 09:58 @agirlcalledbob Thanks. I already sent Chris and Kim an email that I"m pro'ly staying home. I can barely swallow water at this point #
• 10:05 @Jokarius would she be cute, and could you get her to wear a french maids outfit as she spoon feeds me? #
• 10:11 @Jokarius close enough for government work. #
• 12:10 @Gastro Define cheap? #
• 17:08 @agirlcalledbob soar throat got worse as the day went on, a direct result I think of the fact that I can't breath out of my nose now. #
• 17:09 Good news is, I'm past the point of contagion. Bad news is, if you were gonna catch it off me, you already got it. #

• 12:12 Wizard needs food. Badly #
• 13:09 is getting really excited about this upcoming weekend! Peeps, peeps, peeps! I love my peeps! #
• 16:13 @agirlcalledbob I resemble that remark #
• 17:54 apparently today is the day the maid comes in and cleans the apartment. would be nice to have a schedule of that sh!t #
• 08:12 Double upgrades baby! There and back. It seems so easy when ATL is NOT one of your stops. #
• 08:20 @shedmyskin That would be New York City. 'Cause I'm a *cue the Pet Shop Boys* New York City Boy! You'll never have a bored day! #

... coming up this year and early next year to attend...

... all of them out of the country.

I guess I have depleted my supply of US based friends getting married.

Looking forward to Palermo though!

Ok, so in the last three months...
My passenger side car window was smashed in (in front of a police 'outpost' no less)
Stuck in an elevator at Bern's Steakhouse in Tampa, FL
Gout attack
3 canceled Delta flights
Flew into Dulles and bags went to Reagan
moving/staying/moving/staying Wash. DC madness
stuck in an elevator at the Census Bureau and had to have the fire department come and get me out!

and worst of all.... I MISSED OPENING NIGHT OF THE DARK KNIGHT!

.... I musta done something to the karma gods. So... I'm driving for SafeRide this weekend. anyone interested in partnering up with me?

Tags: karma
Current Mood: charitable

Going to Hands on Atlanta orientation on Aug. 16th @10am w/ Sal if any ATL people want to do some volunteer work..

I've been to orientation before, but it's been a few years since I've volunteered with HoA so I might as well refresh on the orientation.

As usual, if anyone wants to drive with me for SafeRide on any weekend I'm in town, hit me up.

[12:28] Parag Karkhanis: are you on the tech svcs call?
[12:32] me: no
[12:32] Parag Karkhanis: oh man
[12:32] Parag Karkhanis: you just missed it
[12:32] Parag Karkhanis: doug hern
[12:32] dronsayro: what i miss?
[12:32] Parag Karkhanis: specially mentioned you
[12:32] me: ?!??
[12:32] Parag Karkhanis: as being singled out for having received "many accolades" from customers this month
[12:33] dronsayro: cool
[12:33] Parag Karkhanis: right on

Current Mood: loved

Happy Birthday teka!

Happy Birthday christkv and obiefernandez!!!!!!!

Tags: birthday

The Empire Magazine "50 Greatest TV Shows" meme via wilsonodk

( I watch too much TV )

Sign the petition damnit.

Seriously, copy and paste the link and sign. I know where you live.

http://www.petitiononline.com/GASB138/petition.html

Dragons of Autumn Twilight...

I just downloaded and watched it... you'd think with such a cast of Keifer Sutherland, Lucy Lawless, Michael Rosenbaum, etc... it would be difficult to make a bad movie....

This animated movie would sent skunks fleeing in terror from the foul and odorous stench.

... and the animation... was on par with She-Ra: Princess of Power... barely.

Such a good book, ruined by poor execution into a movie.

Current Mood: annoyed

... now if Dre will just lose a damn game of Scrabulous, I can stop playing :P

Tags: dorktower, facebook, myspace, scrabulous

I am a self-centered being,
yet my sense of self is tied to you.

I want you to love me,
so I never show you the real me.

I tell you I will be there for you forever,
but make no effort to take care of myself so that I can be.

I open myself up to you,
only so I can distract you from what's really on my mind.

What you really have to watch out for though are my promises.
Because lately that is when you know I am lying.
I don't keep my promises.

I am all about how I can be there for others.
My sense of worth is wrapped up in how I contribute to your lives.
But at the end of the day, I am a liar.
I am selfish.
_______________________________________________________
( It's been a while, so the rest may be a bit long winded... )

Tags: attempted writing, holidays
Current Mood: embarrassed

Went to bed at a little after midnight Tuesday/Wed morn
Woke up at 4am.
caught flight to Cincinnati
caught flight to Philadelphia
cleaned air filter and changed oil
bought beer
loaded up 3 loads of crap from parents house.
drove 13 hours
unloaded everything
parked car
stood up
the world was spinning
26 hours awake... and busy.
lots of red bull.
AND I CAN'T FREAKIN SLEEP!
I hate caffeine.

Current Location: Home
Current Mood: annoyed

OK, This is for those of us who once "worked together, drank together, and slept together (you know who you are)" as singingarrowman put it.

A little update on my life.

I am currently in Bloomingdale,IL for work even though I tell everyone I'm in Chicago.. .just because it's easier.
I'm actively trying to get a job in Australia.
I've been avoiding Atlanta so as to 'keep myself out of trouble' or getting into another set of 'slept together' friends ;-)

If you want more then that, pick up the phone and call me.

I for one have stopped posting so much simply because I don't have the time to keep up with everyone elses as often as I used too, I don't visit LJ as often (pro'ly because a lot of us stopped posting so much).

I have kept up with my own personal offline journal though, mainly because when I find the time to write, i'm not online... At some point maybe I'll try and move some of that online.

I'm lazy though, so ignore the above statement.

... oh and I spent the weekend in Long Beach/LA, so pics of my west coast peeps coming soon.

So how far is our spaniard friend from the good ole ATL?

Go to maps.Google.com
type Atlanta, GA to Pamplona, Spain.
And read line # 21.

I wonder how they estimate that step 21 takes 29 days?

Current Mood: amused

A Melbourne Weekend




Sydney/Blue Mountains/Wildlife Park

Tags: melbourne, sydney, trip, work
Current Location: South Jersey

( Click here to see! )

If you can't see the link, copy and paste the following directly into your browser:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=a13o6b3.7zb09mh7&x=1&y=85nx51

Tags: sydney, trip
Current Location: Sydney, Australia
Current Mood: awake

Lemme explain... no, istoomuch, lemmee sum up:
Supposed to leave friday
Philadelphia snow storms
United Cancells all flights
rebooked on US Air
US Air finally cancells all flights
US Air loses my luggage
US Air finds my luggage 4 hours later
Saturday 1pm flight cancelled
Saturday 6:52on flight on Standbye... yeah right
Leave Sunday to Denver, then to LA, then off to Sydney
1 hour from Sydney, announcement "Syndey airport is closed, we are diverting to Melbourne'
Sit on plane in Melbourne 2 hours
Get off plane and sit in tiny little 'quarantine area' in Melbourne because we can't go through cusoms here
Get on new plane.
"The number 4 engine will not start, we have to go back to the gate"
Get off plane
Get on plane
take off.
Arrive in Sydney 4:30 pm (supposed to have been there at 7am)
All in all, was supposed to be here Sunday at 8am. Got here two and a half days later then supposed too.
Boy did I smell funky when I finally got here.

Tags: air, hell, trip
Current Location: Sydney, Australia
Current Mood: exhausted

I'm leaving the country for the next few weeks starting tomorrow... I'm not sure when I'm coming back yet. I will not be able to get phone calls, text messages or check my voicemail. Best way to get in touch is via email or myspace mail (http://www.myspace.com/samaritan).

Catch up with you all when I get back. :-)

Current Location: Washington Township, NJ
Current Mood: excited