It's now my (counts) sixth night here at 11o1 and it's still unreal to me. Despite the pain that my ankle is (still) causing me the floor was attacked this eve. How so? The E V I L carpet was beat up real good! The floor has been revealed! Well, 1/3 of the floor in the bedroom has been revealed. And? And it is Good.

On another note altogether - The Tick (the animated series) is showing on Toon Disney. WATCH IT if you have the station. Contact Disney via feedback@dvd-videosupport.com and tell then you want The Tick on DVD A.S.A.P. already! This is a must, must, must! Oki. Now I go to tempur land. Heheh. At 11o1. = )

Wow.
- posted by garyploski @ 6/28/2005 12:51:00 AM 0 comments

If you know anything about me you'll recognize that this is out of character...

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! GARY SMASH! I'm so utterly tired of wobbling around like I'm crippled. The limitations to moving around, simply moving around!, are excessively mind bogglingly infuriating. GARY SMASH. If there was anything I could destroy, not break, I'd be in the process of indulging myself at this very moment.

Twisting, rolling, whatevering you ankle twice isn't just bad - it's completely asinine. And yes, I did that while going down a series of steps at my surprise party. I. Am. So. Ridiculously. Fed. Up. With. It.

I'm not thinking clearly, I'm spaced out, can't focus. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! I swear if it gets any worse I don't know what I'm going to do.

Sigh.

Nothing. That's what I'll do. Because I know anything 'more' would just cause more pain for longer. Frus. Tra. Ted!
- posted by garyploski @ 6/27/2005 07:54:00 AM 0 comments

Whooooooo hooooo! Kazi on the phone, monika & jason, J5, brandi, mi mudda, emma, lin, pop, bt, tree, marker, ev & dalton, meg, ken, zack, gram, the bermans, dominique (alex b's g/f) carmen, joanne, donna, jeff, keith, shelly, malakai, florie & joe, mark, tracy, honey, kevin, doug, cortney... Oy! The list goes on and on and the thanks keep going out to everyone!

My fam and close friends threw a wee-lil surprise party for me at Volmar's Grove in Prospect yesterday. It's been months in the making and I know everyone that was involved in the planning is EXTREMELY happy they can breath easier now. Both mi mudda and lin were avoiding me for fear that they'd give something away. They didn't need to worry about that part of the event... A few other people handed me some details. Silly peeps. A co-worker asked me at one point "Aren't you having a party or something?" when asked if he was interested in skydiving on 8/20. Um... no. "Sorry, I can't make it to the party" chimed in Danny-boy to an email asking him about the skydiving event too. "Party?" I asked. "I thought you were having a party afterward or something."

Yea, I had my thoughts that something was going on. 0= ) Yup. I had my thoughts. 0= )

As I arrived a few things gave me the heads up that Meghan's party wasn't Meghan's grad party at all... Lin's BRIGHT blue truck - Huh? Lin doesn't come to this side of the family's gatherings. "He's coming" - He's coming? I'm walking with emma and bt. He's coming... Who is that? And then I saw from a distance J5, Monkia, Brandi.

Let's hear it I shouted! A brief pause and then "Happy Brithday to you..." could be heard from across Volmar's Grove - aka he who shall not be named's grove. = )

I didn't get a chance to thank everyone for coming before a cake was thrust in front of me with the number 3 and 0 burning along side a picture (on the cake) from my 1st birthday. I was so cute then with my very own cake all over my face and in my hands. Ahhh, those were the days.

It was a hot damn good day save one thing... I rolled/twisted my ankle - twice - within 5 seconds! FIVE SECONDS! Not minutes. SECONDS. Sigh. The strangest thing was that it didn't hurt as much as it looked like it did. Talk about a helluva swell. WHOOOO! The thing got big and looked ug'ly!

Now, one week and 2 days later, the swelling has gone done nicely but I have pain now. I'd rather the swelling than the pain I would! I posted a thought on how I felt about it this morning (Over the Edge). I'm posting this on the day I started writing it - 6/19 - versus today 6/27. Just clearing things up a bit.

I'm not going to re-read what I wrote so if I said I am one ridiculously lucky person. My friends, the good friends, are so loyal, trusting, caring, etc that I thank you over and over and over! You've been and are a huge part of what I am. Thank you. It's not often that you have the chance to learn who cares about you. Seeing everyone two Saturday's ago gave me so much 'yea' just because you showed up. Itsumo domo arigato gozaimasu minasama. Hono ni!
- posted by garyploski @ 6/19/2005 10:50:00 PM 0 comments

On my KX2 I received my daily history event at 6:00 pm like always. Little did I know it was such a horrific day in history.

The text message read: V.Hist 1954: President Eisenhower signed the order inserting the words 'under God' into the Pledge of Allegiance. (by THC)

And so it was that we (Americans) were thrust into a state of integration between religion and state. AKA - something that is not supposed to happen.

Should it be there? Well, due to a technicality the Supreme Court decided not to make a decision on a case that would have stripped it from the pledge. And so we wait. In time it will be removed and all will be restored to what it was originally.
- posted by garyploski @ 6/14/2005 09:10:00 PM 0 comments

In (exactly) 30 I'll be (exactly) 30! HA! Bring it on!
- posted by garyploski @ 6/13/2005 10:53:00 AM 0 comments

All I can say is the red carpet is going to look damn fine next Monday at the world premiere. Of this I am certain. Who knew. I'm not sure if there'll be pictures of the event but I'm certain there will be stories. So, until next Monday... Bewitched is just another event in the calendar.

Due to the original packing having taken place about two months ago I SO very happy to know I have only a lil'bit'o packing left. With just under two weeks I'm MORE than confidant everything will be easy as a frozen dinner. I'm not eating the frozen dinner but I do know, thanks Jacek & Mari, it's quick. Virtual dinners are even faster. Voila.

About a month ago something pulled in my chest and caused me an excessive amount of pain. It's been a hit or miss whether I would wake up to it or just happen to feel a tug during the day or at the gym. Well, one heating pad, tossing a football with emma a couple evenings and stretching appear t o have solved the mysterious pain. At first I thought it was a muscle rip. Then it felt like a bruised bone. After all the popping and pain it looks like it was a simple muscle pull right in the middle of my chest! UGH! What an awful place for it! Reaching back to get the seat belt in my car was excruciating! Tomorrow I should know if the heating pad was the cure because I've had it on my chest for about an hour now. It's SO WARM in here! Need. Water. Must. Find. Water. = ) Enh. Sleep is all the better.
- posted by garyploski @ 6/09/2005 12:18:00 AM 0 comments

It's 5:49 AM and the driver just apologized for being late. He pulled into the lot at 5:44 AM vs 5:35 AM... I barely recognized the reality of his arrival. My eyes look like BT's after a flash except there is no flash and I can't remove the red with pshop. All my bags are packed and stored in the back. Hell, I even kept 3 in front. My laptop and both bags under my eyes. They're quite full.

Hrmm. Tired. So, so tired.

What the!? emma just paged me which means she's awake. It's 7:00 AM on a Sunday morning emma. You go back to sleep now! As much as I didn't think I'd want to nap before the flight I think I won't be able to prevent it. I'm not just tired. I'm exhausted. Thank you tech world for waking me up. My KX2 woke me up at 4:45 AM something fierce but my mind decided to ignore it. Happily my iCal reminder was sent to my KX2 and I darted out of REM.

It is now 7:48 AM and I'm sitting at my gate. Flight departure time is 8:30 AM. Status? On-time.

Austin... Yawn. Exclude 6th Street and you've got yourself a... city. Yup, that's what my experience was last night. A safe city, but pretty much just a city. The architecture was less than exciting. One building stood out. It was extremely compelling to look at. At one point on the building the standard flat floor look stopped and the uber coolness began. Imagine 4 glass crystals leaning against each other to stay upright. Then add in more gravity than normal. Scratch that. Add in an excessive amount of gravity annnnnd... pull down just a wee bit extra. What you get is a smattering of angles and great angles of light. 6th Street was a very different experience. Bandanas. Bandanas. Bandanas. My god! They were everywhere! I'm not sure how that's possible. I didn't think there was that much cotton, acrylic, etc. 0= )

This weekend happened to be a biker weekend in Austin. 20,000+ motorcycles invaded the city. 6th Street had a few. Leather, large peeps, and lotsa music. Sadly the music wasn't as available as I thought it would be after all the stories I'd been told. Parents, children, and grandparents were walking the street and every respective group was huddled together among the mass of faces. Goths, bikers, gays, weight lifters, gangsters, etc. One thing I didn't see, which I just thought of, were homeless peeps. I may have missed something, aka lots, in Austin since I was there once but I'm comfortable knowing I was there and I saw what I saw. Next.

Last night, while in Austin, it's HUGE by the way because it grew wide versus up, the 5 of us closed down 2 bars within 30 minutes. The first was, lol, at 930ish and the second, hahaha, you guessed it, was at 1000. Sorry emma, I did go to some bars. The fact that a total of one corona was had the entire evening makes it all the better. We did get to listen to two songs, one by each band that closed up each bar. A bit of Elvis and some Mexican. Ahh. An interesting eve.

8:25 AM. I think I'm done. Battlestar Galactica here I come.

End of line

Just over 12 hours later (8:30 PM)... I'm home and after a quick dip in the pool, solo style, a good ol fashion tempur nap, a great fettuccine dinner thanks to emma, and a fun and witty catch with the Koosh Vortex I'm happy to say... I'm back. It sure is nice resting on the bed knowing that emma is just a steam roller reach away. = ) I'm hella luck I am. Hella!
- posted by garyploski @ 6/05/2005 08:29:00 PM 0 comments

Side note - The drive to austin was 45 min. This is not a long drive. A teacher we met said he drives 100 miles one way to school.

- posted by garyploski @ 6/05/2005 01:18:00 AM 0 comments

Austin... Been there. Didn't buy the t-shirt. Why not? Well, it read "4uck y'all. I'm from texas." No they didn't use the number 4.

- posted by garyploski @ 6/05/2005 01:09:00 AM 0 comments

It's 10:15 AM and I'm sitting pretty at 36,000 feet. Yup, I'm flying... to Texas.

Just before leaving the gate some older dude in row 6 comes over and says hello to the guy next to me. "Good to see ya. Blah, blah, blah." I hardly pain attention to him but he figured it was important to notice me. "There are a bunch of empty seats in the back..." My thought was very different than my response. "Ah, I actually choose this seat because..." He stopped listening at that point and said "I just thought they might like some room to stretch out.

Insert blank confused stare here.

The couple next to me are in their 70's or possibly older. Stretch out? What are they going to do... Yoga? Sigh. 5D, it's an aisle seat and I choose it yesterday when I saw it free and I'm stoked because it's the first row for we non 1st class types which means getting off of the plane is like ordering fries at McDonald's. THWAP. Foods up.

Texas... Ayut. It's been the only way I've reacted to the thought of going. I'm not quite sure what will happen while I'm there - other than Learning about Learning Objects in a workshop - but it is definitely going to be a first for me. Texas. It's just so peculiar that I'm going to Austin. I wish I could elaborate on why. Maybe... Maybe it's the idea of being in a place, in the US, that I've never thought to visit that's got me confused. If I had the chance I wouldn't have chosen Texas. Now if I had to go somewhere I haven't explored in the US yet I'd be interested in Colorado, Washington, or Minnesota. Hell, it'd be fun to go there just for the fun of it. Hmm. 0= )

Nah. I've got another trip planned already and it has nothing to do with the US. Here we go England here we go (clap clap).

Dreams can suck. Last night I dreamt that emma was critiquing my financial planning and wouldn't back down on her position. It sucked (read hurt) and I felt as if there as nowhere to go. I happened to wake up during an attempt to make her realize how judgmental she was being of my personal finances. It was, I think, pitch black, 4:18AM, and she was sound asleep. I don't know why but I actually woke up enough to make sense of everything and so I said "Hello." and reached my arm around her and kissed her on the cheek. Emma responded from her torpor with a "Hello." and dutifully collapsed back into her coma. The dream was over and all was better.

So odd how the brain works. Without even thinking about something it commands pain(s), stress(es), etc. throughout the body. Seeing as how there are less than 21 days till the closing I think my mind and body are moving back into alignment. Having sick time pays off when used effectively.

Tuesday was that day. I got to work and felt sluggish and ragged... The week hadn't started yet - a bad sign. Within one and a half hours (I arrived at 830) I was planning my departure. The weekend, as I wrote earlier, wasn't as relaxing as it could (should) have been. The noise, the physical pain, and all the traveling took me down a notch when it could (should) have been a reset button weekend. That need was filled within less than 6 hours while sitting at 21 with my trusty PB and KX2. I purged some thoughts, contacted a SLEW of people about the skydiving adventure in August, reorganized my Address Book, got some sun, and, AND, found a few moments of peace.

SCORE

It hit me. I felt the excitement of, you're going to laugh, the idea that I had to pack! Excitement! You read that right. Whoohoo! I became so motivated that I cleaned our wonderful corner of 21 later the next night while emma was out with the mers - aka the basement.

I'm ready to start packing again.
I'm ready for 11o1 to happen.
I'm ready for the crazy weekend fun that will take place over the next month or so.
I'm ready, ready, ready hot damn!

10:50AM with 3 hours and 51 minutes left to the battery. Tis time for some more house cleaning - aka Address Book reorganizing.

One last thing... Laces. Jyane.

Update - 12:27PM (11:27 Texas time) DONE! Everything is now updated in the Address Book. Now all I need to do is make sure I've got get addresses and b-days from a buncha peeps. Rock! Just in time too... We're descending. = D

Update #2 - The car service arrived . It was a bit difficult determining if it was my ride I tell ya. Why? Well, without their logo on the side of the van... You get the point. The gent that drove me, David, asked why I'm here. I said for some workshop on Learning Objects. His response was hilarious.

D - What's that? Burning Objects?
G - Learning Objects?
D - Burning Obj...
G - Learning.
D - Oh.
G - Yea.
D - It sounded like some Satanical thing.
G - Yea. Burn! That'd be a fun workshop! Set it on fire. Haha.

He finally heard learning but WOW. He's not Texan. He's originally from Massachusetts and worked in Manhattan for years. He retired here 3 years ago. Insert blank stare here.

End of line.
- posted by garyploski @ 6/02/2005 03:20:00 PM 1 comments