65 mph gusts here in B'more. My poor cat is gonna twist his head off trying to keep an eye on everything flying by his window.

So... is there, like, some kind of sporting event or something going on tonight?

I hope the god of plumbers will continue to have mercy on me, despite my blasphemies this morning as I unclogged a "fixed" slow drain.

"What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite." - Bertrand Russell

My 2 dogs are too light to punch thru the backyard ice crust. Their sliding and skating was comical until I fell. Then we were all pitiful.

"A neurosis is a secret that you don't know you are keeping." -- Kenneth Tynan

"'Blessed is the man who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed' was the ninth beatitude." -- Alexander Pope

"They called me mad, and I called them mad, and damn them, they outvoted me." -- Restoration poet Nathaniel Lee on his stay in Bedlam.

Job- and/or gig-hunting frustrates when calls go un-returned. My own less-than-stellar call-returning habits are biting back at me. Karma.

MS Sharepoint Designer is such a nightmare that successfully doing anything in it qualifies you as an expert.

Am I a bad person for not considering how Republicans and Conservatives might feel today? :)

The most gratifying aspect of the day is seeing much of the world looking positively on the US. That seemed impossible not long ago.

I debated going to DC for the festivities, but my allergy to crowds made me think better of it and 14°F temperature sealed the deal.

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." -- George Bernard Shaw

We do not remember. We rewrite memory much as history. How can one remember thirst?

1. Wall-E 2. Princess Mononoke 3. The Iron Giant 4. Finding Nemo 5. Spirited Away

Sometimes I worry that all the things I've done are only the things I think I've done.

"An economist's guess is liable to be as good as anybody else's." - Will Rogers

When Kafka said, "There is plenty of hope, an infinite amount of hope -- but not for us!" he was anticipating Senator Reid's leadership.

"There are three rules to writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." -- W. Somerset Maugham

I can hypnotize a pancake. I can levitate the Pope... it's all within my scope.

Ah-OOH-gah! Ah-OOH-gah! Enemy deadlines approaching! Periscope DOWN! Dive! DIVE!!

A piece of advice, girls: the best way to a man's heart is six inches of metal between the ribs.

"By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be a boss and work twelve hours a day." - Robert Frost

If you were, where were you 28 years ago tonight, 8 December, 1980? http://ping.fm/Y4CNg

"We are all stupid, just on different subjects." -- Mark Twain

My wife has been watching a lot of Dexter, True Blood, and the Crime & Investigations Channel. I think I shouldn't make her angry.

Frick-a frack-a firecracker, sis boom bah! Bugs Bunny, Bugs Bunny, rah rah rah!

It's not really snowing -- just someone dusting off the clouds.

...burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night...

joining the ranks of unemployed (or independent entrepreneurs) is either not so jarring, or the reality of it hasn't caught up with me yet.

Trees shed leaves to prepare for the harshness of the coming winter. Companies shed people.

A beautiful day in November, temperature around 70F: a perfect moment to be swept away in a corporate layoff...

Subverted by Subversion... the infamous Flash phantom file-locking strikes again!

Wondering if I should take off the thinkBLUE bracelet I've been wearing for the last 4 years. Or is is still an important reminder?

Have a little faith there's magic in the night/ You ain't a beauty, but hey, you're alright...

Have a little faith there's magic in the night/ You ain't a beauty, but hey, you're alright...

Status: states static, statistically...

On the seventh day, God rested, since He hadn't yet invented bad economies and recessions. I'm not that lucky, so I'm working all day.

My wife is away at a friend's, work is shaky and unsettled: I slept 16 hours straight. Recuperative rest? Or depressive hibernation?

An ill wind blew through our company today, carrying off the COO to the land of "Pursuing Other Interests."

Where did I get this tragic outlook that has me look at my lively 9-year old dog and see myself mourning his death and irreplaceability?

I waver between foolish optimism and pragmatic cynicism, because it would be too optimistic to expect cycnicism always to be appropriate.

I know that the hypnotized never lie...

A stopped clock is right twice a day, but a clock that's one minute slow is never right. I need a stopped clock this minute.

In the grey of the morning/ My mind becomes confused/ Between the dead and the sleeping/ And the road that I must choose.

Pre-Halloween weekend: haunted houses, hot cider, and scary movies. Boo!

Fear those prepared to die for the truth, for as a rule they make many others die with them, often before them, at times instead of them.

So go look all around, you can try your luck, brother/ And see what you found/ But I guarantee that it ain't your day/ Chop! chop!

"Acquiescence" and "compromising" are not among my strongest skills.

I can run... I can hide... I can even get vaccinated, but... every year that darn flu manages to find me.

My pets do not accept the law of physics which says that more than one animal cannot occupy the same lap at the same time.

Almost blue/ Flirting with this disaster became me/ It named me as the fool who only aimed to be

It's almost 5pm. Time for my daily where-the-hell-did-the-day-go moment.

My Enterprise 2.0 project just got smacked on the nose by some rolled-up 1.0 documents. Weekend of brooding to ensue.

Wow! One of my Newsvine posts (http://ping.fm/Lspof) was honored by a link from Glenn Greenwald at Salon! (http://ping.fm/nN7Z2)

I'm not sure whether it's indecision or indifference I'm feeling, nor am I certain whether it even matters.

is wondering what the world will do for a source of humor once Governor Palin heads home to her view of Russia...

...and then I wrote about the time I said, "Quoting one's self is the height of bad taste..."

They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom/ For trying to change the system from within/ I'm coming now, I'm coming to reward them...

"You live in a world of illusion/ Where everything's peaches and cream/ We all face a scarlet conclusion..."

No matter my mood, watching my dogs when they are dreaming never fails to start me grinning.

"I've got so much more to think about/ Deadlines and commitments/ What to leave in, what to leave out..."

Dont push me cuz Im close to the edge/Im tryin not 2 lose my head/Its like a jungle sometimes/It makes me wonder/how I keep from goin under

Periscope up. Prepare for surfacing.

Singin' 'Sweet Home Alabama' all day long/ 'cuz the radio woke me up with that damned Kid Rock song.

In the US, "the only respectable socialism is socialism for the rich," said John K Galbraith. Our Congressional comrades evidently agree.

My dogs pwned the North Carolina Rest Area & Welcome Center on I-95! Go Sander & Berry!!

Ah, the ever so lovely mile-marker 141 on I-95 North in South Carolina. Be sure not to miss it!

My biography shall be entitled "I Was a Traveling Dog Bed."

After the packing and farewell-ing, now comes the sitting... And sitting...

Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then.

Sometimes I think life is just a rodeo.

Did you ever try to install XP on a laptop, wash two dogs, and pack for an 18-hour car ride all at the same time? Don't.

A 22 mile drive: 3 dead foxen, 1 dead deer, and 1 dead queen-size mattress.

My father wore one of his dozens of 3-piece suits every work day. I don't own even one suit. For how long can suit & tie businesses exist?

It's like I always say: "When life hands you lemons, it's so you can rub them into your wounds."

In my 47 years, I never uttered the phrase, "I want to own my own home." Of course, I own my own home.

"I prefer silent vice to ostentatious virtue." - Albert Einstein

My job today: copy from Word, paste to XML, copy from Word, paste to XML, copy from Word... My brain needs to think, not rest!

Working from home most of the time makes the utter wastefulness of the morning commute even more obvious when I have to drive to the office.

Are my dogs the only dogs who don't understand that the backyard is a bathroom and NOT a salad bar?

I realized that, so far, my life has been off on a tangent. But, tangential to what?

"Dude, the Chinaman is not the issue here. Also, Dude, 'Chinaman' is not the preferred nomenclature. 'Asian-American', please."

J. Has been sans cigs for 8 days now; I had a migraine for 2 of them and neither of us filed for divorce. True love?

So, after a grand total of 7 hours awake time -- 3 hours of it migraine-free -- it's time for me to go to bed. Ambien take me away.

Came out of the migraine bunker, didn't see my shadow, went back in for another damn day of brain-pounding hell.

Starting the long crawl out from my migraine bunker, hoping it isn't too bright out there.

"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?" - Satchel Paige http://ping.fm/TQXL4

If I was a solipsist, waking up to the realization that the world is still here would be the start of a horrible nightmare.

You can't understand why your world is so dead? ...You're 45 and still your mother makes your bed. And that's too long...

8:30am-10am work. 10am-1pm doctor. 1pm-3pm work. 3pm-5:30pm doctor. 5:30pm-9:30pm work. No time for life, sorry.

Anomie. Tristesse. Weltschmerz. Sturm und Drang. Angst. Saudades. Dukkha. Dysphoria.

Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens.

The most exciting thing I have to look forward to is an 18-hour-each-way drive to see my folks in Florida at the end of the month. Yay.

Withdrawing in disgust is not the same as apathy.

"The Proposition"-Aussie Western, darkly lyrical, epic, bloody, intimate. What you'd expect of a Nick Cave script. http://ping.fm/kUbMD

It's going to be a stormy, stay-inside weekend here. (Other than the "stormy" part, that could describe most weekends this summer.)

Going to the library depresses me, as I always return at least one unread book. Coming home with a pile of new books is an act of optimism.

Corporate people I've explained the concepts to are as eager to implement workplace Social Media as they are to implement Socialism at work.

People breaking windows should always be arrested. People asking questions should never be arrested.

After getting shaky, sweaty, and tunnel-vision, how long would it take an intelligent person to realize he hasn't eaten since 7am?

Little dog is sleeping off the drugs from traumatic nail-cutting. Big dog is happy to have no rival for attention. Lizard is. Cats are.

Even tranquilized, my little dog panics, squeals, cries, bites, and fights for his life -- and we're only cutting his nails!

If you update more than one social network, Ping.fm is now in open beta. VERY useful service. Try it! http://ping.fm

If I believed in UFOs and "lost time", I would at least have some explanation of just where my day disappeared to.

Wife is off somewhere, dogs are sleeping, so why is it that I can't think of anything to do?

No matter how clearly we can see it, we are powerless to stop or slow or interfere with the oncoming natural disaster.

Three weeks of "Weeds" and 2 weeks of "Generation Kill" to catch up on tonight. Politics is on hold for now.

So, what's everyone doing over the long weekend?

If I don't listen to Senator Obama's speech, then I won't have to hear him make promises that Washington won't allow him to keep.

Perhaps if I valued my time more, I'd be more efficient in how I spend it. Same with money. Which explains why I'm always late and broke.

Morning is about spoons: for dog & cat food, coffee, sugar, cereal, yogurt... did I forget anything?

Senator Clinton showed tonight that there's a moral power in being a gracious loser equal to the power accorded the winner.

When I was younger, so much younger than today, I never needed anybody's help in any way. Now these days are gone, I'm not so self assured.

Too bad surfing the web isn't like real surfing. I need some exercise and I haven't been to the ocean in years.

Wondering why I'm here, when I could be having a gas in Denver.

Memo to self: it's "under-promise and over-deliver," not the other way around.

J. surprised me by upgrading the salad in the fridge. I expected a point upgrade to 1.3, but she went a whole version to 2.0!

Is it intolerant of me to be intolerant of those who are intolerant?

The less driving I do, it seems the more agressive I get. I guess it's good I only have a Hyundai.

Cool night, clear skies; perfect for watching the Perseid meteor showers at the state park. Made many good wishes.

Crawled out from under the desk to find it wasn't an earthquake here in Baltimore, just an unbalanced load of laundry.

Sunny August day, I've got all the house windows open and I just had to put on long pants because it's 59F outside!

Before I can shave the yak, does anyone know where I can find a yak-sized can of shaving gel? 3 blades or 4? And: Axe or Old Spice?

wonders: regarding creativity, what is the dividing line between rumination and procrastination?

Reminded of the liver-once-a-week days of mom's 60s era Weight Watchers' days. Bad flashbacks to meals as punishment.

I can never find the crickets whose chirping is driving me crazy. Or... the crickets are in my head because I'm already crazy...

I think that, the more facts I get inside my head, the less room there is for any knowledge. Get stupid to get wisdom?