Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Man the Bilge Pump

All right. Enough of this... I'm fine, I'm fine... let's get back on the stick and back into quality internet content. You see, it's a continuous battle within me... and outside of me... for content. Against content. For nothing. For something. Here it is.

The heat. Our apartment, as we have found out over the past few days, traps heat. It also traps cold. Lucky for us... it's easing up. We have an air conditioner that could keep a medium-sized warehouse at a cool 45 degrees. All we have to do is plug it in.

Reading any good books... just the same one. Last few weeks. Seen any good movies... "Igby Goes Down" is not a good movie. Was this the same movie as "The Squid and the Whale?" I saw both and I had a hard time... one has academics, the other has debutants. One has Jeff Daniels, the other has Bill Pullman. Both set in New York. Both with teenage, male protagonists. Uh... what else. I'd give my $9 to "Squid" and another 9 and tell them to rewrite the ending.

Is this unreadable? Uh, oh... I've comprimised... you cannot even put the suggestion--the hint--of what could be wrong... in the reader's mind. They are to assume you have full confidence in your work. Never question yourself. Now see... that was useful.

Friday, May 26, 2006

I Paid 15 Bucks for THIS?

All right... not so bad... went home... good. Gone well. Don't worry. Hungry now, but lunch is coming up soon.

Looking forward to Thomas Boswell book. Should be good. 83-87. Hopefully more Earl Weaver stories _ never fails to entertain. Kind of want to... drink beer, watch a ball game. Could happen... need to... first...

All right. Lunchtime. Paying some bills. Has to be done. Will check back.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

All Done

4 p.m. ... it's 4 p.m., and for all the problems we might have with time, it moves, not concerned with anything... and all the spiritual parasites wash away _ drowned in the brackish water. I will step out of the revolving door, in an hour, and it will leave me. My book... I'll read for a few minutes. And then I'll be home. Good night.

(Tomorrow will be different. It will look the same. But it will be mostly different. That's it.)

Monday, May 22, 2006

Forever Time

NYTimes wine writer Eric Asimov is living the Woundup Lifestyle.

The Woundup That Once Was

I have become... well, I am what I once, uh... I have become the thing I... I am now the thing I once thought I would never become. Yes.

Tonight, Erika and I will go see Office at Schubas. And... yes, it's been a slow day, so... I looked at the Schubas Web site. Looked at the types of beer offered, etc.

I once... I would have a little tipple of rum, climb on Ted's undersized bike and ride down Kent to the Rock Star Bar and see four or five very good bands play. I never... researched the show. I had a flier, or I heard about it, word-of-mouth. I knew what time it started. I went. No questions. No planning. I went. I often went to shows 3-4 nights out of the week.

Now... well, I can't remember the last time I saw a band play (my ears are thanking me for it). So, it's a big occasion. I have to... look up the address online (I don't just know it). I have to think about parking (now I have a car). And... the most important... I must check the start time to see if it'll keep me up to late. I used to stay up so late...

This isn't to say I miss it. I like being a... one-concert-a-monther. Fine. I accept... uh... Grant me the... courage... Grant me the courage... to. To. Accept. Uh... Grant me the courage to accept... I've forgotten it.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Has the Proverbial Well Gone Dry?

I don't have writer's block. I might have reviser's block, but that is something entirely different. Uh... How many million bytes of info are wasted yearly in apologetic WeBLoG posts? You could power a spy satellite network on that energy.

The cracker factory has started to slow for the warm weather season. I can put my feet up on the desk and read my Naperville Sun horoscope...

VIRGO
May 16
It's a good time to draw up plans for that wraparound deck. The kids will be out of school soon and that's always a pain in the ass. Bill is re-sodding his backyard, but he's a fruitcake, so you don't have to do that just yet. Not until Mike does his, which he will, because he always copies whatever Bill does. So you have a two-week window here to work on the wraparound deck. You should drink a beer tonight, maybe around 6:30, and work on the blueprint. The Cubs are gonna be on. You should have another beer and think about what color you want. Fruitcake Bill would probably do the blond wood, so you definitely don't want that. They have a dark stain at Menard's. While you're at it, go to the garage and smoke a cigarette. Then you can look at Bill's shed with the little faggoty window. When the sun goes down you should have another beer.

Friday, May 12, 2006

From the Pages-to-Fill Department

Both Chicago papers continue to fawn over Conan O'Brien's brief visit to the nation's third city. Trib editors ordered some poor schmuck to write this front-pager _ a new dimension in dead horse whipping.

Mailing It In vol. 24

Wow. Telander has really hit the skids since WSCR canned his show last year. He appears with less-and-less frequency in the Sun-Times, and when he does it's often an abridged, unfocused mess like the one linked above. Maybe he's writing another book.

I like Telander as a person, at least from what I've gleaned from that radio show and the feeling once put into his columns. But, sadly, I think his nemesis, Jay Mariotti, is the better writer. I've never read a Telander book. Maybe he shines in the long form.

In other sports news. This is pretty funny. The Red Baron just wants to have a good time.

Monday, May 08, 2006

Stringing You Along

New developments...

_ WoundUpKomputer has the popular Power Point program. I thought it'd be funny to make a fake Power Point presentation trumpeting myself. I thought it'd be funny until WoundUpFriend Jonathan told me I could add my name to the long list of smart asses who've already done it. Jonathan moonlights as superhero, The Discourager.

_ WoundUpFone was used last night at the Subterranean as a still/video camera. Saw Diamond Nights, for whom WoundUpBuddy Tim drums, as well as Canadians, Priestess.
Had a few too many Berghoffs and am now Paying the Price(c). At least I can go home in four hours and go to bed.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Future of an Illusion: Is 1 Hour Dry Cleaning Possible?

Bit of a WeBLoG drought lately. I might start whipping the 7-person content team. Remember, uh... "The Business Secrets of Attila the Hun?" That's not exactly the name, but it's close. Very big in the 80's. Is it logical that we have progressed to "Whipping Your Employees to Success?"

You could do it like one of those self-help/advice books with the short, two-page chapters, each headed with a notable quote. For example...

"Whipping... is... God's way... of... telling you... to.... get... back... to... work." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thank you, God, also, for the ellipsis. Man's second greatest invention behind the whip.

PS -- The title of this post is the title of a lecture I'm giving at the Dry Cleaning Institute of the Midwest on June 24. Hey, let's meet up and have a beer after!