4/3/03 -- Last entry till reinvention...

As only happens about two times a year, we have absolutely perfect, gorgeous weather. Everything has started to be green, which will last only a few weeks more until the early May sun starts baking everything to a light, crisp brown.

In March and October, things just feel perfect. The air has a tiny chill, but the sun's out and Lake Austin shimmers under the bridge near my work.

I've taken to finding any excuse to go outside. I used to mostly eat my lunches in the lunchroom, over a copy of the New York Times or flipping through LCP scripts. (Saddest, yet most frequent bring-to-work lunch: A can of breast of chicken in water and about half a pack of Ritz crackers.) But lately, I'm eating out a lot more, just to get out into that sunlight.

I've never been one to believe that the weather affects my mood. I spend three years in cloudly, drizzly Germany and I remember being extraordinarily happy quite a lot of the time. (That is when I wasn't breaking fingers from skateboarding or running away from this one long-haired, Skid Row-looking bully who told me to "Watch your back" one time. But that's a story for another day.)

The sunlight, though, has brought me out of my funk. I've fucking bloomed, folks. The other day, I left work at around 6 and had an hour to kill. I drove by Lakeshore Boulevard, near the dangerous apartments that I fled (they're probably bullet-ridden crack dens by now). It was bright and a little cool. I took my laptop and a printed out copy of what I have on the novel so far (a paltry 80-some pages, which is exactly how many I had, oh, say, November. Did I mention that's mostly why I'm taking a break soon?), and planted myself on a cement bench right by the water. Ducks quacked. Leaves swayed noisily. Joggers jogged. I used this nifty device I'm testing out that Sprint sent which basically acts as a plug-in cell phone on a PC card. So you can get yo Internet on from pretty much anywhere a cell phone works. I did that and just geeked out right in front of the ducks, the joggers, and passing cars. It was one of my prouder moments.

The other reason I've been in such a good mood is that things have settled at work after a busy season of South by Southwest and Oscars. Now all the folks who cover the war and the NCAA are stressing and the only major thing on the horizon for me is summer movies. I'm gonna watch Donnie Darko and Lost in La Mancha this weekend just to clear the palatte before all the summer crap.

It's also the week leading up to my birthday, which is always a good time. This year is another low-key one. 28. I'm gonna go out to dinner on Saturday, maybe have a few friends over for drinks. Nothing major.

Which reminds me: it's also Pamie's birthday, tomorrow in fact, so you should go write her a very nice e-mail at least and send her fuzzies.

Can I ask you guys something? What is UP with her? First she makes fun of my Amazon wish list, then she lumps me in with all the Lucinda lovers. (So what if I'm gonna be in line to buy her CD next week? That doesn't mean I, you know, LOVE Lucinda. Y'all. Gawsh.)

I think, and this is sad, that Pamie's trying to compete for those wish list birthday dollars so scarce in these tough economic times. Let me fill you in. Pam wants you to think she's this talented, struggling novelist/screenwriter/actress/director/Web designer/comedienne/journaling pioneer/regular girl next door recapper, right? The truth is, yes, maybe she's all of those things, but she really doesn't need your money.

In Hollywood, all you have to do is stand outside a posh restaurant and show your boobs and you get like a five-picture deal. Their entire economy out West is based on that. And lord knows if Pamie showed her boobies, it's not like people wouldn't notice.

It's not like I could go to Hollywood and show off my nuts on the street and be successful. If that were true, I'd be directing Rush Hour 3 right now. Instead, they'd just arrest me or shave me up and put me in porn.

So stop feeling sorry for the birthday girl. She's just a T-shirt lift away from being Naomi Watts. Damn that Pam and her stubborn pride.

My brother did what no one else on the Web has managed to do. Create a fitting tribute to forgettable NBA player Rony Seikaly.

Now would be a good time to say that this site's domain name wasn't really hijacked on Tuesday.

Next week, thing'll change a bit around here. I was serious about going on a break, but that doesn't mean I won't be around. I just don't plan to do full-blown entries for a while. I'll still be doing a little sumpthin' sumpthin', so watch this space.

Big pimpin'

Last week, it looked like I was on Nintendo's payroll or something. Well, it's not my damn fault that when they deliver the goods, they deliver them forthwith and with much vigor. I had a review up of the new Game Boy Advance SP, but by the time you read this, it'll be offline. Rest assured it came highly recommended, even if the new frontlight is kind of a rip for those who shelled out much cash for what was essentially an incomplete product without it. You CAN read a review of the new Zelda game, which is as tasty as it looks.

Also interviewed Margaret Cho for a show she did in town. I will be extremely nice here and say only that the interview went okay and Ms. Cho is a very good performer.

So, the new Radiohead album got leaked. I haven't had it found for me online (thank you, the person who knows who you are) and listened to it. Or burned it to a CD. But if I HAD listened to it I would say that even if it's a rough cut, it's a pretty fucking brilliant rough cut and that I think people in general are going to dig the the final product (called, cheekily, if a little annoyingly, "Hail to the Thief") more than Kid A and Amnesiac. It's like they found the right mix of the old and the new, and remembered how to rock out, but still on their own terms. Not that I know anything about that. I haven't listened to it. Tracks 1 and 3 rule, by the way. So I've heard.

See how much I love you guys? I could have been playing Road to Rome tonight. I'll miss you for the next little while.

4/3/03 Nice weather, nice mood

4/3/03
Nice weather, nice mood