Last Week

Oy, last week was a busy, stressful week, though it did end very well.

Last Monday I had off work, and Jero wasn't feeling that great, so she took the day off as well. I wanted to be productive, but Jero made sure "productive" wasn't just another day of doing laundry and fucking around on the computer. Jero went with me to the bank, where I discovered my credit has recovered a bit thanks to my efforts to be better about paying everything on time (yay online bill pay!). I opened another savings account, and got a credit card again for the first time in ages. After that we went to Jero's to watch Heroes and MUX. Productive and fun.

Tuesday Jero, Ke and I were planning to go over to Erro's to clean up her apartment after the fire, but they hadn't finished their inspection yet, so we weren't able to get in. Instead, Ke and I hung out at Ke's house, and Ke made dinner. We had a pleasant evening watching Deep Space Nine and snuggling. I tried to get a little journaling done on my laptop, but Ke and Star Trek were pleasantly distracting, so I just took the night to relax and unwind.

Unfortunately, that good mood was ruined Wednesday by a crappy, stressful day at work. By the time I was able to run away, I just wanted to be alone to decompress. I spent the evening by myself in my apartment (which is rare and was rejuvenating), and did a lot of laundry and eventually some journaling (once I escaped the distracting lure of instant messenger). I didn't get as much done as I wanted to, but an evening for just me was good on its own.

I thought I might have Thursday for more solo productivity, but first Ke lured me out for dinner at Jimmy Johns, and then Jero asked me to come over to her house to keep her company after her "off-site meeting" at B-Dubs. I brought my laptop, but again was distracted by a cute woman and a TV show – this time, the season premiere of ER. It's been a long while since I watched ER on any sort of regular basis, but it was a good episode nonetheless.

Friday after work I went to Illinois to meet up with Amsc and go see Weird Al. The show was awesomely entertaining, as always, and I bought a "Weird Al Is My Homeboy" T-shirt, which amuses me at least. Amsc and I celebrated our six-month anniversary, which made the night even better. (Yes, our romantic anniversary plans involved Weird Al. Shut up! *grin*) After the show we went back to Amsc's and hung out with her housemate for a bit before heading to bed.

Alas, I had to work early Saturday morning, so I had to leave Amsc's by six to get back to Indy. Work sucked again, and I was stuck there for an extra half hour catching up on trouble tickets before I could head down to Bloomington to meet Chhu at Jalyru's to belatedly celebrate Chhu's birthday. Jalyru's friend J031 made a fantastic dinner, and then we played Midlife Crisis (happy birthday, Chhu!) and DDRd 'til Chhu and Jalyru's lungs were ready to give out.

Sunday I hung out with Chhu, Jalyru, and J031 some more. J031 had to go to a work meeting, so we dropped him off for an hour or so, then picked him up and had lunch before returning to Jalyru's. I was supposed to head up to Valparaiso to visit Juho, but I wound up hanging out too long in Bloomington and by the time I was ready to leave it was too late to go see her. Juho and I are getting together in two weeks for Eroticon, though, so it's cool for now, and it was worth it to have more time with Chhu and Jalyru.

Yesterday I had off work. Mira came over for lunch, and we snuggled and talked about her date this weekend with Ke. When she had to leave for dinner date with B!1, I went over to Jero's and she made a yummy meal for me before we got onto the MUX. We had a MUX meeting that was very fruitful, and we've jumpstarted a lot of plots that have been dormant or in the works for quite some time. We're having another meeting in two weeks to follow up. Geeky fun!

 

Mal: "You know, you ain't quite right."
River: "It's a popular theory."

• Firefly
  

Week in Review

This week was another one that was somewhat busy and quiet at the same time. On Monday I went over to Jero’s to MUX, and had a good time even though I missed the end of Hawk’s TP. People have been bugging me to end my Headman TP, so I’ll have to pick a day this week to run that with a few of my admin and our players. I plan to be on this Monday, and another day this week.

Tuesday I actually had no plans, which was bizarre, although good because I was still getting over being sick. Though I haven’t been contagious since Monday morning, my allergies have been trying to kill me all week. Since I’ve felt miserable, I just stayed home and got a few things done. I’ve been trying to read the Harry Potter books before I’m completely spoiled, so I read a bit, worked on journaling a bit, and otherwise just rested and drank a lot of tea.

Wednesday after work Jero picked me up and we went over to E{ and Mars’s. E{ and Mars are cleaning out one of their rooms and offered to give me one of their TVs, which I thought might look good in my living room. While we were there we got to play a fun card game that Mars had demo’d at GenCon that Jero and I had been interested in, and discovered it is rather entertaining. It might have to become a stable of future game days.

Thursday morning I got a message from my sister that my mom is manic again, and Chhu had to call emergency psyche services and spend two hours convincing Mom to commit herself. That night Jero offered to feed me if I was interested after work. We met at IHOP and she bought me dinner. I told her I’d just be playing around on the computer again if she wanted to hang out, and so she came over after we finished eating. I had planned on working on the Dungeons & Dragons campaign I’m running for Jobe, Mars, and her, but I started looking for a magazine and we wound up spending all night cleaning.

Friday I was still feeling sickly from allergies and stressed over the situation with my mother. Amsc was planning to come see me, but she wasn’t feeling well, either, so she floated the idea of rescheduling. Still, we mutually decided to get together anyway, and just accept that neither of us was going to be at our best. I ordered pizza online, and it arrived the same time she did. We ate pizza, watched The Ref and snuggled, and overall it was a very pleasant, quiet night. I didn’t sleep well Friday night because of my allergies, but it was good having a cuddly woman in my bed, even if I was feeling too crappy to really enjoy the opportunity.

Saturday Amsc and I got to sleep very late, which was wonderful. We went to Le Peep for breakfast, and then went to see Stardust at the theatre, which I rather enjoyed. Amsc headed back to Illinois around seven so I could get together with Nada, but then Nada cancelled. I wound up with another night to myself, which I mostly squandered relaxing.

Tonight I plan to hang out with Ke. We’d talked about attending the sky concert here in Indy, but then we found out it was Saturday night instead of Sunday, and neither of us felt like venturing out last night. Ke’s not feeling that great, either, so tonight will probably be another low-key night of hanging out and feeling like crap together. Not exactly the ideal four-day-weekend activity, but it’s probably good I didn’t make huge plans if I feel this lousy.

"Comfort the afflicted, afflict the comfortable."
-- H.L. Mencken, newspaper man, 1880-1956

Weekend

I had a very nice night last night in Bloomington with Caro. I went down to see her after work, and helped her truck stuff out to a multi-family garage sale. Caro is moving to Minnesota in a few months (*sob*), and she’s starting the delicate getting-rid-of-crap process now (had to act fast to save the meerkat I’d bought her a while back). After dropping off her stuff and helping set up a bit, we went out to Borders and bought a few DVDs. I picked up the second season of The Venture Bros. for me, and got The Silence of Sleep for her.

We went back to her house and dug some tables out of her storage room for the garage sale, a task that looked daunting but actually wasn’t that bad. We then snuggled and watched The Silence of Sleep while she knitted. Needing to explore the experience of sleep by the time the (very interesting) movie was over, we headed to bed to cuddle and snooze. This morning came far too soon.

Work sucked today, of course, and ruined the excellent mood hanging out with Caro had put me in. Also, looking at my calendar reminded me again that yesterday was A1’s birthday, and although I passed along birthday greetings and heard he had a good time, it’s still weird to no longer be that involved in his life. With luck Jaru and I can get together soon so I can see him. I miss hanging out with them both.

Luckily, Jero came by today and visited me for lunch, which lifted my spirits. The second half of work was a little less frenetic, except, of course, when I tried to get on the phone to make plans with Ra. We finally worked out a plan for a post-Memorial Day visit, and then I found out that since I’m the last person here on Saturday, there’s a bunch of extra crap I’m supposed to do. It’s a big hassle, however, and it’s not working, so I’m giving it another try, and then I’m leaving.

Tonight I’m hanging out with Ke, and starting her birthday weekend celebration. We’re going to the club tonight, and then tomorrow I believe we’re laying around all day being lazy, which sounds very, very nice. Knowing us, we’ll probably watch Star Trek. Ah, geek love. Her actual birthday is Tuesday, but we’re getting started early on a weekend so we can actually sleep in for a chance.

Ah, well. Almost six. I’m outta here. Have a great weekend, all!

“Now, to unleash screaming temporal doom!” -- Invader Zim

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Weekend

My weekend turned out very nice.

Friday I hung out with A13 and Jalyru, which was good, although I hung out way too late talking while Jalyru burned CDs for me. Saturday Jero and I went to a party in Bloomington. We got to hang out with Caro there and meet one of her other boyfriends, G-. Sunday Mira came to visit from Evansville, and after having dinner with Jero and me, spent the night. We stayed up cuddling and watching Beast Wars. So, lots of entertaining snuggling and social activities this past weekend.

And, apparently, there was some kind of football game...? >B^)

Tonight I'm having dinner with Ke, and then going over to Jero's to MUX. Should be geeky fun.

"This was fast. I'm not even sure they had time to have sex."
-- Brian J. Steinberg, family law attorney in Las Vegas, on the whirlwind marriage-to-annulment caper of Britney Spears and Jason Allen Alexander. The marriage lasted 55 hours. (San Jose Mercury News, Jan. 6)

Weekend Plans

Had a pretty productive day yesterday. It was my day off, so I went to the dentist. We talked and decided that I’m going to need that second root canal after all, which sucks. I’m broke, so Jero has been nice enough to offer to lend me cash if I need to pay for the first root canal before I can get the second one – otherwise, I won’t be able to get my second crown installed until probably May at the earliest. Between car maintenance and my teeth, I’m completely broke. Luckily, I got paid this morning, so at least I have pretend money until it all goes out for bills.

Tonight should be fun, though, because I get to see A13 and muppetofthenight. I get off work in half an hour, and then I’m driving down to Bloomington. I have to be back up in Indy for work tomorrow, so I’ll presumably drive back tonight. Then, tomorrow, back down to Bloomington for a party. Then, Sunday, Mira might visit on the way back from Cincinnati. Busy busy, but fun. Have a good weekend, all!


Bill Hicks once told a story about an American friend of his who complained about the USA. When told, "Well, if you don't like it then move somewhere else," the friend's reply would be, "What? And become a victim of our foreign policy?"

Fatboy Slim - Weapon of Choice

I so love Christopher Walken...

Thanksgiving

Spending Thanksgiving with the family. My sister cooked dinner, and it turned out well. I got to hang out with her a little before I went to get my mother, and that was nice, although since I was rather sleepy, I'm not sure how much fun I was to spend time with. *chuckle*

I'm hanging out with my mother now at her house, while my sister was at the parents of her boyfriend. I might go back over to my sister's house later... I'm stuill trying to decide. Tomorrow I'm getting together with C@-0, who is also in Cincinnati visiting her family. I'm giving her a ride back to Bloomington, and then we're going to spend Friday together.

Saturday and Sunday I'd planned to spend with J3R0 and her parents. Unfortunately, J3R0 and I broke up this week, which is an obvious strain on things, but I am going along with my original commitments, because I do want to salvage a friendship with her. This seems to annoy/confuse/mystify my GF S@B@, but J3R0 is still very important to me, and I still want a place for her in my life, even if it's not in a BG/GF capacity. I'm hoping we can work something out that will ultimately make us both happier in the long run.

The Loverboy Random Gentle Love Master (RGLMm) Well-liked. Well-established. I am The Loverboy. Loverboys thrive in committed, steady relationships -- as opposed to, say, Playboys, who want sex without too much attachment. I've had many relationships and nearly all of them have been successful. I'm a nice guy, I know the ropes, and even if I can be a little hasty with decisions, most girls think of me as a total catch. My hastiness comes off as spontaneity most of the time anyhow, making me especially popular in my circle of friends, too. I know not to make the typical Loverboy mistake of choosing someone who appreciates my good humor and popularity, but who offers nothing in return. I belong with someone outgoing, independent, and creative. Otherwise, I'll get bored. And then instead of surprising her with flowers or a practical joke, I'll surprise her by leaving. ALWAYS AVOID: The Nymph CONSIDER: The Window Shopper, The Peach Link: The 32-Type Dating Test by OkCupid - Free Online Dating. My profile name: bzero

Polyamory in the News

Polyamory in the News: "Love Unlimited: The Polyamorists," New Scientist

"The best, most important article about polyamory that I can recall appears in tomorrow's New Scientist (for July 8, 2006). Based in England, New Scientist is a large-circulation magazine for the science-reading public; it claims to be the world's 'leading science and technology weekly.' (Though its coverage of my own field has sometimes been sensationalist and uncritical.)" -- Alan, polyinthemedia

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Wal-Mart, you blew it again

TO:
Lee Scott, President
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
702 Southwest 8th Street
Bentonville, AR 72716
Primary Phone: 1-800-925-6278
Fax: 479-277-2473
E-Mail: Lee Scott, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Dear Mr. Scott,

For years, Wal-Mart has been the poster child for everything wrong with large corporations. One of its few redeeming actions was its recent support of the GLBT community, which was almost enough to me reconsider my personal boycott against your chains. With your recent efforts to reform your image and treat your employees more like humans, plus your support of the gay community, I had just started to think that maybe Wal-Mart wasn’t so bad after all. However, with your announcement that you’re caving to the religious right and dropping your support of GLBT communities, you have ensured that you’ve lost my support as well.

I will be taking his business elsewhere, and encouraging his family and friends to do the same, especially during the upcoming holiday season.

Brian J. Kelly

Going to Evansville

Things are going OK here, but stressful. Monday I have to go to Evansville for a follow-up court date with J@R_. Six months ago I got the child support suspended, and in the meantime J@R_ and Biodad were supposed to get the paternity issue taken care of in Bloomington. Well, they both dragged their feet and didn’t get it resolved in time, and so now J@R_ and I both have to take off work and go back to Evansville, just so that the judge can yell at J@R_ for not getting it taken care of, and with luck suspend my child support for another six months while they do so. Since the Evansville court date was supposed to be cancelled once they got the paternity suit taken care of, I didn’t keep a personal day in reserve, so there was a lot of stress until my manager R0S# granted me an extra excused non-paid day off. So, I’m heading down to Evansville Sunday night, staying with M!M0, and then going to court at 9:30 in the morning. According to M!M0, the Fall Festival starts Monday, so maybe we can go and get some bad food before I head back to Indy. B^)

Blast from the Past:
Letterman's Top 10 --
"George W. Bush Complaints About Fahrenheit 9/11”
10. That actor who played the president was totally unconvincing.
9. It oversimplified the way I stole the election.
8. Too many of them fancy college-boy words
7. If Michael Moore had waited a few months, he could have included the part where I get him deported.
6. Didn't have one of them hilarious monkeys who smoke cigarettes and gives people the finger.
5. Of all Michael Moore's accusations, only 97% are true.
4. Not sure — I passed out after a piece of popcorn lodged in my windpipe.
3. Where the hell was Spiderman?
2. Couldn't hear most of the movie over Cheney's foul mouth.
1. I thought this was supposed to be about dodgeball!"

Alive and Almost Well

Not too much news. My allergies tried to kill me this weekend, and I wound up missing work yesterday, but today I’m back and feeling better. A wonder what the proper medicine can do to make you feel human again.

In spite of my sickliness, I had a nice weekend – I got to see A1 and J@R_, and J@R_’s friend M31@, who was in town as well. Monday J3R0 had a mini-cookout, and while I was feeling too rotten to help, I did enjoy the yummy food and lay around and watched House. Yesterday I went to the doctor and got better allergy medicine, so today I’m back at work. W00t.




"I asked for universal health care, and all I got were these bombs."
- handmade anti-Bush poster

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, A1! Wish I could see you today on your sixth birthday!

-- Not the Daddy

Woohoo!

Woohoo! As of today, I got my first check sans child-support withholding. Financial recovery, here I come!

Biodad apparently marries his new fiancée this weekend, which will understandably suck for J@R_, who’ll be attending the wedding. Luckily for her, my sister is supposed to come down and help the weekend suck less, so, go, sis!

Work was horrible today, so not much else can be said. I’d like to go home and die now, but instead I have to eat, shower, and attend a party. Eep.

The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq. – GOP Logic

Woohoo!

They were still withholding child support payments from my paycheck, even though the payments should have been suspended. J3R0 looked up the numbers for me, and I called during my lunch and talked to the prosecutor’s office, who promised me they’d make sure the note to end my withholding would be sent out *today*. Yay actual no-hassle progress!

Woohoo!

”Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.” – GOP Logic

Child Support

*sigh* They’re still taking child support out of my check. I wonder who I have to bug now to get that taken care of…

Otherwise, my weekend is going OK. Had to work late last night because everyone else took off for Easter Weekend, and this morning I’m at work at 9:30 in the freakin’ morning. Joy.

Tonight I’m supposed to hang out with J3R0. We were going to go to St. Louis to visit her family, but she decided she didn’t want to drive, so now we’ll probably have dinner, go Krogering, and maybe visit a club. We’ll see.

Bush: Employment Record
• 2.4 million – Number of Americans who lost their jobs during the first two and half years of the Bush administration.
• 9 million – Number of workers unemployed as of September 2003.
• #1 – The administration is well on its way to being the first since Herbert Hoover's to preside over an overall loss of jobs during its complete term in office.

Court Date

Court went well yesterday -- for me, anyway. J@R_’s going to actually have to take care of the paternity issue, like I told her she would, which she’s not too happy about. I think she’d prefer to just have A1 as hers alone, but it’s a little too late for that now. At least my child support payments have been suspended, so maybe I can start to crawl slowly out of destitution now.

Dinner with Mom went OK. She’s depressed, which makes her a lot less annoying than when she’s manic, but also makes her kind of sad to hang out with. She didn’t complain when I had to leave to head back to Indy, but I could tell she wasn’t too happy about it, either. *sigh*

Today sucks, as only Fridays in this department can. I even have to work tomorrow, so I don’t even have the end-of-week joy to make it better. Thank Murphy for E-time – I’m leaving two hours early.

Bush: Loves to Travel
• 65 – Approximate number of fund-raisers attended in 2002.
• 0 – Number of trips taken to Afghanistan before waging war against that country.
• 0 – Number of trips taken to Iraq before waging war against that country.
• 0 – Number of funerals or memorials Bush has attended for soldiers killed in Iraq.

Child Support Progress

Yesterday I drove down to Evansville and finally turned in the paperwork to end the paying of child support for A1, since biologically he’s not my son, and financially I can no longer afford to support him and his out-of-work biodad. I was worried about not having the forms filled out properly, but the clerk at the juvenile court was very helpful and sweet, and made sure I had everything filled out correctly and submitted. We even have a court date already – March 30th, my mom’s birthday. That actually works out well, since my mom will be in Evansville that week, so I can go to court, and then take my mom out to celebrate afterwards. Good news for a change. Woohoo!

Bush: The Environment
• 58 million- Number of acres of public lands Bush has opened to road building, logging, and drilling.
• 200 - Number of public-health and environmental laws Bush has worked to downgrade or weaken since taking office.
• #1 - Rank of U.S. worldwide in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.

Break-Up

Well, Biodad and J@{ broke up. I feel bad for her, although I’m not sure how I feel about the situation in general. I’m hoping it doesn’t bode ill for the child support issues, since I’m just about ready to finally send in the paperwork (nine months later…) to end paying for A1, and that last thing I need is last-minute complications. According to her MySpace-mail, it was an amicable breakup, so with luck they won’t have any co-parenting issues, and maybe J@{ will have a little more freedom again to be herself, which seemed a little quashed there for a while. Guess I’ll just wish them the best, and try to get through the appropriate paperwork and court date as soon as possible, before anything else changes.

Bush: "Compassionate" Conservative
• $300 million – Amount cut in December 2002 from the federal program that provides subsidies to poor families so they can heat their homes during the winter.

Blessed Silence

In a stroke of rare mad genius, I changed my mother’s custom ring to Silent. Now, I never have to be bugged by her calling again. She still shows up on the missed call list (6 Missed Calls… wow, wonder who that could be?), but I don’t have to turn my ringer off completely just to avoid her. I should have done this years ago…

"[The] argument... is that the president, as commander in chief, is the law when it comes to the enemy... unchecked by the courts or any other authority.... That's a very dangerous notion for a free country."
—Newsday editorial, "Tormented Truths," June 10