June 2002

June 03, 2002

It's June

I can't believe it's June already. Where exactly did May go? Anyway, I've been doing a whole lot of nothing this past week. And I've been enjoying it! My site is down right now, but I'm blogging anyway. I've slowly been moving my crap from the downstairs up to my room mostly due to the complaints by my parents. The problem is, I haven't been keeping up with the additional stuff in my room by organizing or putting away things. Oh, well. This week I got the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone DVD (thanks Lisa!), got working on my tan, got a new driver's license (new ones again), caught up on some taped TV, celebrated Paula's birthday (happy birthday!), found out I have a job for the summer (still waiting on a start date), Josh told me we got fined $250 for having too much garbage on the curb at our old house in Rochester (bullshit!), and went to the Sing-A-Long Sound of Music (as a brown paper package tied up with strings; that was a trip-and-a-half).

Today was mostly a lazy Sunday. Got up in time to make 12:00 mass and have a nice breakfast beforehand. There's nothing like a mommy-made breakfast on a Sunday morning. It was a beautiful day but wickedly windy. Thus my allergies were bothering me, even after taking my Claritin. I decided it would be a nice day to go outside to read despite my allergies. But since my site has been out of service for a few days now, I figured I'd do something about that. So I forwarded any page requests to my RIT web space and put a temporary page up there. I wanted to have something up for people to see and to test a slightly different design showcasing, in my opinion, the best picture I ever took--the cloud one, or "the eye of the storm." Meanwhile I was downloading some music. That took longer than expected then I began chatting for a while but with good company, I must say. Didn't mind that. Then I finally made it outside to read for a while. The sun was warm, but in the shade the wind made it a little chilly, prompting me to move inside to read. Bad idea! And I was reading on my bed, no less. I fell asleep for a while. That was nice but then there's the post-nap syndrome that's hard to overcome. Solution: go running with Maria. That definitely helped. I haven't gone running in over three weeks. And since I've been home, I'm sure I put on a few pounds with all the food around and home cookin'. When I had to buy my own food, I bought little junk since I had to pay for it. I bought what I needed. But mom has quite the array of snacks that are simply irresistible. Hopefully now I can get back into a running routine.

Posted by Phil at 01:22 AM | Comments (0)

June 04, 2002

Blog's back

Since the other server is still down, I decided to move my weblog so it's accessible. My updated resume is up, too. I don't start work until next Monday so I have a few more days off to relax. I'm not minding this time off at all.

I watched the season finale of The West Wing (on tape of course). It was quite shocking and very well-done. There was a very good use of parallel editing and music -- perhaps an homage to the baptism/murder sequence in The Godfather -- in the final scene. I've got a good quote I'd like to post from the previous episode, but that'll have to wait until tomorrow. I keep saying I'll get to bed early, but it never happens. Actually, before 2:00 is early for me as of late. Goodnight.

Posted by Phil at 01:35 AM | Comments (0)

Space Pens

On the May 16th episode of The West Wing, "We Killed Yamamoto," the following dialog ensued:

Leo: We spent millions of dollars developing a pen for the astronauts that would work in zero gravity. Know what the Russians did?

Toby: Used a pencil?

Leo: They used a pencil.

Of course they used a pencil and we wasted of millions of taxpayers' dollars. So typical. But also sort of funny... Just a little sound bite from my second favorite show on TV. Damn, I hate re-runs.

Posted by Phil at 06:01 PM | Comments (0)

June 06, 2002

Kirby

Last night at the Kirby I saw Amélie, a hilarious, quirky, and colorful "French art house" film about a girl who loses her mother at a young age and is determined to have an effect on the world by helping the people around her. In doing so, she liberates herself from her introversion and falls in love. I highly recommend it. You won't stop laughing-every second another surprise. And since it is a French film, it is subtitled. I wasn't at all worried about this because I heard it was a really good film. However, on the way there, I began to worry and thought perhaps I should have watched my Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon DVD to warm up to reading subtitles. Bicycle Thief is the only other subtitled movie I remember seeing. I worry that by reading at the bottom of the screen, I'll miss something elsewhere. But as I've discovered, after about ten or fifteen minutes, the reading of dialog comes naturally and you forget you're even reading it. That is, until they through you a curve ball and there's a scene in which there is a clip on the television in English with French subtitles. By the time you switch modes from seeing English and hearing French to doing the opposite, the scene was over and I barely understood a word of the English that was spoken. It could have been poor audio, but it's hard to tell now.

And now for some other thoughts I jotted down last night. Downtown Wilkes-Barre is so dead at night. We wanted to go do something after the movie and everything was closed. Luckily there's a new coffee shop-Café Rouge. It was nice and homey, a very relaxed atmosphere. I had an iced mint mocha and half of a yummy brownie.

Annie has a theory that whenever you say "goodbye" or some form of parting message, such as "later" or "see ya," the other party says the same thing back to you without hesitation. And so far, it seems to have held up in my subsequent interactions. I then began to wonder if that same theory held true for "hello" greetings as well. See what your experience is and feel free to report to me.

It is my theory that you can tell a lot about a city by how much it is to park for a day. We passed a sign in one lot that said "Park All Day for $2.50." What is it in New York City? $20? Whatever! Oh and was it ever hot and humid last night! It seemed like you could lick the water that was stuck in the air. Yuck! Oh, and don't you love when you walk through a spider web and you just feel all gross and want to run home and take a shower! That happened to me.

Posted by Phil at 06:17 PM | Comments (0)

June 07, 2002

Find Me

I finished reading Rosie O'Donnell's Find Me yesterday. She is a wonderful writer. And I'm not just saying this because I'm a fan. Her candid, heartfelt words resonate from the page through your mind and heart. As Rosie says,

Somehow, words seemed to bypass image and get straight to the heart of things. Somehow, words seemed big enough to contain pain, and sentences could pull broken bits together (84).

Her writing style worked-she interleaved memories from her childhood with the story she told about a moving experience and relationship she had with a young girl who she had come in contact with through her adoption agency. The whole story is quite astounding.

She talked about motherhood. The night her first son, Parker, arrived she told him:

How love is not enough, but when given and received with grace, dignity, and respect, anything is possible (160)

True that. Read the book. You will laugh, you will cry, you will be shocked. Yes, Rosie can write, too. Very well.

Posted by Phil at 12:12 PM | Comments (0)

June 17, 2002

Wireless Ad

I never expected to hear wireless phone advertisement when I reached the voicemail of a friend. It was his/her voice and went like this: "Hello. You have reached the Sprint PCS voice-mailbox of (First name) (Last name)." I am kind enough to not disclose the name of said friend. He/she then goes on to say they will "...get back to you if I feel like it." Too funny! If you'd like to hear it for yourself, call (570) ... No, I can't tell you. They would be mad.

As for the lack of updates here, I've been working on a redesign and was away this weekend on a rafting trip in the Adirondecks. I had a wonderful time in the wilderness. It was very fun and serene. The sun made me feel alive. I even enjoyed the rainshower.... So I'm uploading a bunch of files tonight and hopefully mostly everything will work. I hope you like it.

Posted by Phil at 10:50 PM | Comments (0)

June 21, 2002

Lightning Bug

Lightning Bug. Firefly. Glowworm. Pyractomena borealis. Whatever you call it, I saw the first one of the season tonight. It's a clear indication that summer is, well, tomorrow (today now that I finally finished this). The sun will radiate on our backs. The warm, humid air will envelop us. The lightning bugs, as I've always called them, will make the air around us sparkle and glow as twilight sets in and night approaches. I remember, as a child, chasing the poor creatures, putting them in a jar, and making my own natural lantern. It's important to poke holes in the lid to prevent them from suffocating. But the holes mustn't be big enough for them to escape through. You must also perfect a technique for making additions to the jar. I would whack the lid, causing all the bugs to fall to the base of the jar and quickly shove another one in. They must have been quite disoriented when welcoming a new friend. Poor things. It seems like a rough life. Big monsters catching them and, if they don't squish them, holding them against their will in a jar only to forget about them when it's time to go inside to bed. On some occasions I would release them. On others I'd gather some grass and leaves and place them in the jar for food hoping to save my lantern for the next night. I remember that usually they were either dead or they'd lost their glow when I anticipated a bright lantern the second night. But they give us light in the darkness, something to look forward to, something to chase after.

We are all lightning bugs. We crawl up the sides of the jar and get knocked down. We get disoriented. We welcome new people into our lives. Sometimes we get squished or someone sets us free. We can lose our glow but we can get it back. The people in our lives can be a light for us, someone to look forward to seeing again, someone to chase after and hopefully catch. And when we catch them, hopefully we treat them better that we treated the lightning bugs when we were younger.

Now that it is June 21, happy anniversary Mom and Dad.

Posted by Phil at 12:28 AM | Comments (0)

June 22, 2002

Impulsive

I was impulsive today. Good impulsive. This is unusual for me. It felt good. I didn't really realize it until Maria pointed it out. I'm usually indecisive, I think things through, and tend to overanalyze things. Today I went with my gut. I didn't think, I just felt and followed through. I hope I can be like this more often. I felt more free and more alive. It doesn't hurt to have someone to give you that extra push sometimes.

Posted by Phil at 01:35 AM | Comments (0)

June 25, 2002

Vanilla Haze

I had my first taste of the new Vanilla Coke today. It was very refreshing. A nice hint of vanilla in my favorite cola was loved. Not a bad aftertaste either. I found it quite enjoyable from the first sip. I don't know how I'll go back to plain, er not vanilla, Coke. But I must say, I'm all about the coke products: Coca-Cola Classic, Sprite, and even Diet Coke with Lemon (and I hate diet soda!).

As I was leaving the Back Mountain and driving into Wilkes-Barre on my way home from work, I could barely see anything in the Wilkes-Barre skyline. The valley was blanketed in a white (or vanilla) haze. Hazy, hot, and humid -- that's all it's been the past few days, and I don't believe the conditions are expected to change anytime soon. Ugh. Thank God I work in an air conditioned office.

Posted by Phil at 07:48 PM | Comments (0)

June 26, 2002

Dobby

Dobby has come to warn you, Sir. Yes, Dobby from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets graces the teaser poster for the new Harry Potter movie. (I have the three official movie posters from the first movie. I still need to get them framed.) He's completely done in CGI. I just got so excited when I saw the poster I had to share it. Another five months of anticipation until the movie premiers. Hopefully this time I can complete my goal of re-reading the book before I see the movie. Without a doubt, the first book was better than the movie. You don't need to see it on screen to "see" it. The world J.K. Rowling creates on the page is visualized with such brilliance and vibrance in your head. That's the only downfall of the movie, though so many aspects of this world were as I imagined them. It creates the image for you -- it serves it to you on a silver platter and you don't have the joy of cooking and serving it yourself. However, I still loved the movie with all my heart and I think I've protected the images I have in my head for future books. Speaking of which, book five, The Order of the Pheonix has been delayed until at least next summer. Poo! But I trust that Rowling will publish it when she feels it is ready and no sooner.

Posted by Phil at 12:42 AM | Comments (0)

June 27, 2002

Word of the Day

TURK: HOW DO U SPELL GRESOME
pmm: greusome?
pmm: try keyword: dictionary
TURK: OH OK TY
TURK: I WAS BEING LAZY LOL
pmm: hehe
TURK: OK GRUESOME
I CHECKED
pmm: ok

Posted by Phil at 09:37 PM | Comments (0)