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May 19th, 2004

10:54 pm - Wednesday-Condensation, er...Condescension Looks like I'm gonna be up a while. I came home and fell asleep almost immediately and woke up just in time to catch the last 15 minutes of the Angel series finale. Took a jog, watched the news, and here I am. I suppose I'll flip on the Gamecube and play some Resident Evil Zero. I've played this game way too many times to count, but playing Outbreak put me in the mood to play through all the games again. Even better, they have all been re-released for Gamecube at this point, and even though RE2 is looking a little more dated than the rest, it's still good times. Nerd-tastic! Also very exciting for me is ex-Dubstar singer Sarah Blackwood's newish project Client, which has been around at least a year now, and I had no idea! I knew she was supposed to be working on a solo project of some sort, but I never followed up on looking into it, and now I am one album and several singles behind. Ah, well. That's what I get for never going to the Dubstar website, but who knew it was even still up several years after they disbanded. Can't wait to pop out and get the album, and apparently Client are gearing up for a new one soon. I love little surprises like this. A little less exciting is The Divine Comedy's new album Absent Friends. I don't know what to make of it; it's almost a little too...quiet? I dunno, it's like Neil has gotten all boring now that he has a kid. It's hard to ever re-create the magic that is something like Casanova or even Fin de Siecle, but parts of this album just seem too slow. And I actually liked Regeneration; I dunno why it got so critically panned. But the stand-out songs more than make up for the not-so-stand-out ones, and at least I didn't have to pay $30 for the import as the record company was actually on the ball this time round releasing the domestic version. Current Mood: awake Current Music: Dubstar---Elevator Song

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May 18th, 2004

12:32 am - Seven years is a long time... All I can say is it's worth the long wait. And I'm only on track four. Why did you stick me in self-deprecating bones and skin, Jesus---do you hate me? Current Mood: jubilant Current Music: what the hell do you think?

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May 16th, 2004

10:52 pm - Hi-LAR-ious! Has anyone seen this video? I couldn't stop laughing... I think I like their deadpan, off-key delivery most of all. Current Mood: giggly

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May 13th, 2004

11:46 pm - Comic Geek Alert! I didn't comment on the Friends finale, because it didn't really do anything for me. I didn't love it, but then, I didn't hate it, either. Lisa Kudrow was, of course, brilliant, but I digress. Tonight's Frasier finale was tops! I've always loved this show, through and through, of course, having been a big Cheers fan. I had thought that this show, like Friends, had gotten a little stale this last season (or so...ahem), but tonight's episode kept us laughing start to finish. I always felt this show was at its best when it was like a stage-driven farce, and the finale was no exception. And there was even a nice little twist at the end as well, not so predictable as certain other finales. Bah, I dunno where I was even going with this. Read a good batch of comics tonight! Action Comics See, Michael Turner covers don't make this a good book, Art Adams covers do! All joking aside, this book is looking good with Austen at the helm. Did I just say that? I did! People complain and bitch and piss and moan about this guy, but dammit if he can't hit the nail on the head more often than not. I think he's getting a scripting coach, cos that's always been the main thing I hated about his stuff, but the dialogue and such this issue didn't feel as stilted as some of his other things (Exiles, anyone?) Aquaman Good, quality stuff. I never cared for all the "King Arthur" stuff too much, but then, that was really the only decent treatment the king of Atlantis has ever really been given. But this---THIS is something special and new and good. This book is only selling mediocre numbers, but it is better quality than a lot of the tripe that's been hitting the top 20 lately---stupid Michael Turner covers. Avengers Again, Chuck Austen gets lots of jeers from most everyone I know (I think tygerversionx HATED this issue), but once I actually read it, I didn't think it was so bad. The story is good, the ideas are good, the direction is good, there's just something about the execution that troubles me, like he's trying to shove too much into a panel or something. Hmm, I still can't put my finger on it... Fables Always good, never fails to keep me completely and totally intrigued with where the story is moving. So much suspense, but so subtly played out with very little feeling of melodrama---how does Willingham do it? Green Arrow I thought I was totally off this title, but Winnick has brought back around with this story. Not for everyone, but it's better than anything Michael Turner touches with his stink-ridden fingers (sorry, I figured I needed to throw in another Turner barb). Nightwing This book has always been a bit of a sleeper, but always pretty consistent. It didn't really seem to have a direction the last couple of years, though. As soon as it would start going one way, a new writer or possibly editor, but obviously someone, would jerk it somewhere else. The last six months or so have been a slow and steady build-up, and this issue finally delivered the pay-off. I can't wait to see where it goes next. Pulse It's Bendis, so there's not really much I could say that you haven't heard from me already. I still miss Jessica saying "Fuck!" and "Shit!", but if that was the only draw for you to read Alias, then you really weren't paying attention! One or two of the people who dropped this joked that was what they didn't like about this series---no curse words. I hope they were joking. Marvel Knights:Spider-Man Hmm. I still wanna see where Millar is taking it before I make final judgment. It better not be a damn Spider-Clone! But then, which of Peter's potential adversaries would hang upside-down on the phone? And his hair was even colored the same way, I think. I dunno, I am hoping that maybe Millar is teasing; I'm not too terribly sure why I think that's what this is. Like I said, we'll see. Teen Titans Yeah! This is such a mega-Titans-gasm for fans of the old books. It ties together so many previously unrelated Titans elements and characters (at least I think a lot of this stuff was completely unrelated), Marv Wolfman is peeing himself wishing he'd thought of it. Or maybe not. Anyway, it's good stuff, and I am well-pleased, as I didn't hold much stock with this book because I am just so tired of Johns on team books with long histories. At the end of the day, though, he really knows how to pull it together, and tie up loose ends the reader didn't even know were loose. Okay, you can wake up now! Current Mood: hungry Current Music: Elastica---In The City

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May 11th, 2004

01:51 am - Where does all the time go? I honestly meant to post something this weekend, and at one point it seemed inevitable that I would. Then just as quickly as it began, the weekend was gone, good-bye, farewell, see ya sucker, flap off already! And now it's too too late Monday night Tuesday morning, and I only just got done cruising the internet for...roommates (cheeky), talking to bayliss33 on the phone, and taking a rather late-ish jog up and down lovely Swiss Avenue. And then I ate, and I know, it's far too late to be eating, but dammit! that jog took it out of me, and my stomach, nay, my very soul cried for...oatmeal and bagel?! Ah well, what are ya gonna do... Some very odd goings-on in my dreams recently, which is nothing new at all. But my Friday and Saturday dreams were particularly odd and/or funny to just about no one but me. But that's okay. Thursday's dreams mixed my favorite and not-so-favorite types of random odd dreamscapes and gave me...Zombie High School Dream! Whatthefuck? It started like any other dreaded back-to-school dream I have, being late to class, forgetting to turn in homework, realizing it's only a dream, yet I can't seem to let myself out. As such dreams usually go for me, I just let everything happen, cos it really wasn't worth the trouble, and maybe I knew there was something special about this little high school unreality...and that something special was...zombies! Maybe I have been playing too much Resident Evil? The zombie part was pretty spectacular in that I seemed to be one of the only peopple unaffected by whatever zombie curse had befallen the Dream High School, and it was a merry chase through the halls as I tried my damnedest to escape. Why didn't I just wake up? For one thing, it was just too much fun! At one point, after my initial escape, the Army showed up as thousands of zombie teens poured out of the school, and they proceeded to lead them into these weird escalator contraptions that led directly into these giant wood chipper machines! Wood chippers! It was pretty bloody, and for some reason I decided to re-enter the school, and then...I woke up. And then fell asleep again and had somewhat of a sequel to the first dream, but it's kind of hazy. Friday's dreams provided some amusement for myself, dedadga, and ohberon when I was up at Zeus Saturday afternoon. . And it was definitely one of those things half-remembered that stuck strangely to the back of my mind all day. For those of you who don't know, dedadgda is my boss, and in the dream, I had convinced him to order some kind of paint to redo the store with, or we were gonna start selling art supplies and nothing I had ordered sold---I can't really recall exactly. Not really important, I suppose. What is important to my rambling tale is that when he got on to me for my blunder, we got into a heated argument, and he fired me on the spot and in front of five or six employees (which is funny, seeing as how there's only five of us). So I did what any self-respectin', red-blooded, dreamself would do---I launched myself at him and attacked him, hitting and ounching, and knocking over several fixtures. At this point in the dream, I still don't realize that it is exactly that---a dream! Sometimes my lucid dreaming gets the better of me and I am fully convinced of the reality of the situation. So I realize that attacking Richard in his own store in front of witnesses is not the smartest move, so I run off and go into some kind of temporary hiding. Later that night, I go to a gay bar where some pre-op trannie friend of Richard's is working, and we get into words and I end up smacking her upsid ethe head and loosening her wig. So she sends her butch straight boyfriend after me, and I jump ten foot high fences in single bounds getting away from him. And yes, I am almost done. So I find Richard, who is just hanging out on the rooftop patio of some restaurant somewhere, and we start talking amicably. I apologize for my stupid behavior, which he accepts. I fully expect him at this point to take me back, cos I worked for him for all these years, and we're all cool, we're buds, he can forgive and forget, but apparently Barry's Dream-Richard is not so kind. H etells me that I am going to have to wait for a chance to get re-hired, because there is alist of people waiting to work for him who are equally qualified, and...I attack him again. This time is particularly savage, and I think if I had done him this way in real life....well, I certainly wouldn't be getting rehired this lifetime. I must say, though, it was a pretty cool fight scene. For a dream and all. No really, I am almost done. So of course I run off again, and.. I woke up. Yup, that's all. The really funny part? I was still so convinced of the reality of what had just happened that I was worried about having to go out and look for a new job! No, really, I do this sort of thing a lot. I've had dreams where I win the lottery or find lots of money on the ground, and I wake up and realize I'm still just some poor working class slob. How sad. Sad but true, these dreams were pretty much it as far as interesting goings-on for me this weekend. They're all I really remember, anyway. That really is kinda sad. I think I'm gonna go cry into my pillow. Current Mood: exhausted Current Music: Travis---Why Does It Always Rain On Me?

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March 31st, 2004

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February 25th, 2004

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January 25th, 2004

09:45 pm - Movie Blahg Kinda bored, and subsequently, kinda boring, but oh, well... We've been watching a lot of movies lately, which is nice. Quick (or not so quick) rundown... League of Extraordinary Gentlemen---For the love of God, don't see this movie! If you loved Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neil's "Penny Dreadful Boys' Picture Monthly", heck, even if you just maybe skimmed it at the comic store, there is a pretty good chance you won't like this. It has its good points, some good ideas, and it was even written by another comic writer, James Robinson (who has written some amazing books in his time), but on the whole, it is a bumbling mess. Not half the style of the original, and the technology is just too modern in parts. Granted, the book supposes a jump in technological advances for creative purposes, but everything just looked so...shiny. I wanted gritty, seedy, late 19th century London, I wanted Quartermain as a sad drug addict, I wanted the mystery of Mina to stay just that for a while longer, and I guess I just wanted too much. If you didn't even know it was a comic, or don't care, I still don't see any reason to waste your pennies on this. Sad, really, as I so love the books, and it could have been a brilliant film, but I can't recommend it. Underworld---Not so bad, but then I had even less expectations about this one. So obviously trying to set itself up for a sequel is shameless, really. I thought film makers had gotten over doing that, but there I go again, imagining that most studios have a shred of decency when it comes to such things. Pirates of the Caribbean---Go ahead, laugh if you must, but I really liked this one. Not bad, for a movie based on a ride at Disney World (Land?), probably the only good one in the series of movies Disney plans making based on just this; they already stumbled and fell with "Country Bears" and "Haunted Mansion". What will they think of next? "It's A Small World" starring Mel Gibson? "The Teacup Ride" with Pauly Shore (not bad considering both make me nauseous)? Seriously, though, this is what so-called summer fluff should be: fun and full of adventure, and not too much excessive, realistic violence. And on a side note, Orlando Bloom is much sexier as a dirty buccaneer than a pointy eared, pretty-pretty elf. And everything Johnny Depp does in this movie is perfect; his constant drunken/campy swaying and swishing had me tittering nonstop. Basic---Hear me out on this one. It got really bad reviews, and no one seems to "get" the ending (or they just don't like it). I know the whole twist-at-the-very-end style of storytelling has gotten a bit old, but I like the way this one was presented. And, um, what's to get? It's not straight-forward, but it's not exactly a thinker, either. Without giving away too much, nothing anyone says can be trusted, and the ending assumes almost nothing presented is exactly the truth. Every character's telling of the story is slightly skewed to fit their own purposes, and the real truth is elusive even to the very end. But Gods, it rains a lot in this flick! Being John Malkovich---Interesting. I didn't quite get it at first, especially toward the end, but it makes a certain amount of sense if you think about it, in its own surrealistic way. Kinda arty-farty, but nevertheless enjoyable, if only to see Cameron Diaz look like my Aunt Paula circa 1977. Not as great as it was made out to be, but it is definitely one of those films that makes more sense after a second viewing. The scene where John Malkovich goes into the portal into his own head is one of the funniest things I have seen in a while---"Malkovich? Malkovich, Malkovich, Mal....kovich!" And now we're signed up to Netflix, expect more of my half-assed attempts at "movie reviews." Don't say I didn't warn ya. Current Mood: content

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January 21st, 2004

03:09 am Before I forget and look stupid, Happy Birthday atwood!! Hope it's a good one!

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January 18th, 2004

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January 8th, 2004

07:30 pm - I'm Not Dead Just taking a forced break from the computer. It started acting weird this last weekend, restarting itself over and over until the blue screen of death appeared. So ultraboy is currently looking into the problem, and I am currently using the computer at work to check my email and to see what all my lj pals are doing. Yay me! Hopefully my computer will be up and running properly soon. And that's it. How droll. How boring. How....short. I see you smiling.

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November 3rd, 2003

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October 25th, 2003

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October 20th, 2003

10:24 pm - I'm a slave to work Work, home, sleep. That's pretty much been my life lately. For some reason I have been too lazy to post this last week or so, but then there hasn't really been much to talk about. I have been glued to my tv and PS2 playing Kingdom Hearts again. I am already about half way through it, so you can see what I have been doing with my "computer time." Well, that and repeated listenings of "Dear Catastrophe Waitress" (available now! buy it! love it! live it!). I feel a bit bad that I haven't really made myself available to my friends, one in particular. But what would you think if one of your best friends cheered for you when you thought you were through with your boyfriend once and for all? When I told this particular friend about the "last time", he let out a "hurray! and proceeded to try and high-five me, despite my protestations that I wasn't exactly happy about the situation or the circumstances. He then proceeded to tell me what a "shitty" friend I had been the previous weeks, because I had canceled plans on him 2 or 3 times. Upon trying to apologize and asking him to please understand that I had been going through a lot he stopped me with a rather "queeny attitude" style "uh-uh", hands aloft and all. "I just want you to know that you've been a really shitty friend, that's all." Well, what exactly was I supposed to do? I seriously considered getting up and leaving right there, but I was hungry and our food had yet to arrive. So I did the usual Barry thing and internalized it, thinking to myself I could get over it. A week passed, we went to pick up the new B&S; cd together, I thought I was ok, but it was there that I realized that he is still just a silly boy, very flaky in his own churlish way, very "on the surface". He is such a sweetheart, but so about appearances. When he asks how you are doing he wants to only hear that you are doing well. If you even try to tell him you've not been so well, you get a hearty "anyway" and the subject is closed or otherwise ignored if you try to explain further. Part of me has no problem accepting him as is, cos isn't that we all want? But then there's the other part that can't help but think that he is somehow jealous of my relationship with Shane, because he knows Shane will always come first. May I add that he hasn't had a relationship per se since, oh, 1995, when he was barely 20. So on some level I understand what he does not, that being in a relationship consumes a great deal of your time and energy, and that you can't just throw away 3 years of hard work and time spent. But I think all he sees is that he is in no way the center of my universe. He is probably angry at me as we speak as I have not talked to him since last Tuesday. What can I say? And on top of that, he is supposed to go with us to Austin in a couple weeks. Hopefully I will have said something to him about all this and cleared the air by then. Cross fingers. Did i mention I am playing Kingdom Hearts again? I am such an obsessive geek I have already gotten halfway through it in a few nights' time. And a year later, dedagda is still on one of the first levels. And he is supposedly being hailed as King Dork as we speak. Perhaps this makes me King Geek of a Neighboring County, which is fine as I prefer to be a geek anyway. Shane had to postpone the counseling session this weekend as he was quite sick, and so we will see what is to be seen this coming weekend. Since last week though, I have decided that I am all for it. But like I said, we'll see. Had enough? Current Mood: chipper Current Music: "Dear Catastrophe Waitress" of course!

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September 18th, 2003

12:01 am - Stoopid Computers I hate technology. Maybe it's cos I don't know what to do when something goes wrong/doesn't work, but I hate it nonetheless. And I hate not being able to fix things myself. I have found that I am not the only one with the problems I am experiencing, but all I have seen so far are questions, not answers. All I wanna do is access my hotmail and bank accounts, is that so wrong? Current Mood: frustrated

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August 24th, 2003

10:36 pm - Back at Home... What a fun weekend! Went to Wichita Falls for bleustalking1's birthday party. morrigan716 was there, of course; it wouldn't be a trip to WF without the two of them. Finally got to see Kevin for the first time in 10 years---he really hasn't aged a day. Well, maybe a week or two, but you catch the drift. He's not as quiet as he used to seem; maybe it's cos he's not so scared of us anymore (ha, ha). And of course what evening in a small town would be complete without a little alpha male drama. A friend of Lisa and Siscly's, Wegman, showed up late in the evening, even though he wasn't really supposed to, on account of Kevin being (rightfully, from what I can make of it) angry enough to punch him into next Thursday. But everything was smoothed out, thanks to me! Nah, just kidding. Kevin was a perfect gentleman, and Weggers apologized in his own special way. I'm not sure how that went, cos Siscly and I went on a cigarette run. The important thing is that none of Siscly's mom's furniture got broken. THAT would have really resulted in a massacre! Woke up too too late today, but Siscly and I had a good time dishing old school dirt over coffee and ciggies. It's always fun dishing about people you never talk to and things that happened ten years ago! All fodder for my book, as it was some good stuff that I wasn't around for. Note to self: stop driving 90-100 miles an hour on roadtrips, as your little Mitsubishi car doesn't like it and the air will give out after about an hour. And then the sky got sick. I hate how it looks when a summer storm takes over the sky late in the day while the sun is still trying to shine. That pinkish purplish pukey sky makes my eyes go all wiggy. It's like trying to read a book under failing fluoroscent light. Yuck. Good thing I had driven so fast, as just before I got to I-30 the storm started and traffic came to a halt for a few minutes it was so bad. And now I'm home, writing this. And that's all. Current Mood: tired Current Music: Suede---Coming Up

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August 9th, 2003

06:43 pm - Smoked Too Many Cigarettes... ...and now I feel icky. Luckily I just smoked the last one, so I won't smoke again for awhile. Well, until one of us goes to the store and buys some more that is. Muchos gracias to everyone (you know who you are) for all the great gifts I got last night, even if a couple of them couldn't be there. They missed a great time! And the "after-party" was fun, too. Sitting around looking at pictures of some of my best and worst hairstyles from high school was actually a blast. No one has ever seen a lot of those, as some of them are pretty scary, particularly the ones in which my hairline had been shaved back a little...don't ask! We still haven't gotten to go shopping for our birthday gifts to each other; Shane is outside with his dad trying to figure out what's wrong with his car. Hopefully we'll still have time to go shopping after they finish. Ah, well, I think I'll go watch my new Margaret Cho DVD (Thanks, guys!) Regards... Current Mood: calm Current Music: Dubstar---Goodbye

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August 8th, 2003

05:44 pm - You Must Please Remember... ...nothing ever goes as planned. Today has been hectic, though I finally have the house cleaned, which hasn't been done in...awhile. Excited about tonight; hope Monica's isn't too, too noisy. Dunno why I would worry, I have been in noisy places before and had a fine time. A question, mostly rhetorical in nature: how is it that we pay so much in rent, our leasing office is staffed with about 15-20 people, and the one time I need something or something has gone wrong, the one person, apparently the ONLY person who can help me is out of town? Isn't it natural to have someone else who can assist you if that person is gone? Must everything be put on hold? I feel for the poor sap who has a worse problem than mine. And what are these other people equipped for if no one can handle managerial issues? Do they just sit around all day waiting to show apartments? Are they specifically there to hang out and look cool? To dust and clean? To take out the trash? What use are they?Okay so that was several questions... I just noticed a feature of lj that I was not previously aware of---on the home page you can look at all the most recent public posts. And I thought my journal was boring and stupid.... Current Mood: chipper Current Music: White Stripes---White Blood Cells

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August 6th, 2003

12:59 am - Unhappy Birthday Nahhh, not really. Wow. 29. Thousand. Years. Old. Ha, ha. Umm nothing ot say. Got to talk to all my little chickies tonight. It's weird, cos this is the first time I have actually ever chatted online. At length. With friends. And let's leave it at that, shall we? Heh... Have you ever tried to decide what you're favorite song of all time is? Hard, huh? Try it. It's hard just to get down 5 without tons of other stuff popping up in your mind. So this is what I came up with... 1. The Smiths "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" 2. The Who "My Generation" 3. Echobelly "Scream" 4. Belle and Sebastian "I'm Waking Up To Us" 5. Suede "She's In Fashion" 6. David Bowie "Rock'n'Roll Suicide" And the list could go on, really. I don't know if I could narrow it down much further if I tried. Nothing too surprising, though, eh? There was a Catatonia song in there, too, but Shane says I only like it so much cos she's singing about someone named Barry. Well... And on that note, it's monkey-netting time! I think I can beat Ape Escape 2 tonight, and still get sleep. Yay me. Current Mood: hyper Current Music: BRMC

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August 3rd, 2003

11:20 pm Well, another weekend comes to a close. Today was Shane's birthday, but we're not really doing anything till next weekend---family and friends and shopping and such. Which means mine is mere days away! Woo hoo! Another year, and still no wiser! BTW we finally decided on Monica's Aca y Alla for our dinner Friday night, and everyone in the univers is invited! I kinda wanted Ciudad, but it's A) way expensive and B) right next to Zeus, meaning I really never leave that shopping center! Lisa M's (lesgirly) birthday party was fun. Her friends that I don't know are exactly as I expected (in a good way!); they're as rowdy as I would expect anyone she knows to be! And the friend she's going to India with, PJ, is so cuuute! I f our b-day party can be half as fun, I cannot wait. So glad we are starting to rent movies again; we've missed so many! This weekend we started with Spirited Away ---finally! I feel like a heel, having touted Miyazaki as the best animator ever for oh, say, 10 or so years... Anyway, the movie is simply the best animated film, ever. It's everything I expected and more. All his other films lead here. The looseness of plot, the fantastic and inexplicable, the elegance of the animation itself, at once both simple and involved, it all comes together perfectly. I could lose myself in that movie a hundred times over.I must own it, and at least on DVD it won't be ruined in a few years like my copies of Kiki's Delivery Service and My Neighbor Totoro. And then tonight there was The Salton Sea. Lemme just get something outta the way---Val Kilmer is so hot in this movie! There, I said it. The movie itself is much better than I hoped. I was expecting just a movie about a bunch of tweaker freakers, and it is thankfully so much more. My only complaint is that parts of it are a bit overly arty. The flashbacks, mainly. But that's okay; it still works. Did I mention that Val Kilmer is really hot? sigh Okay then. Time to go kick some monkey butt (still playing Ape Escape 2)!! Current Mood: peaceful Current Music: Elastica - Line Up

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