5/20
I solicit input from various source for choosing reading material. Because I write so much (two weekly columns, a monthly, and various other efforts for hire) I've found that what I'm reading influences the tone of whatever project I'm working on. One Sagittarius clerk at the bookstore recommended a host of authors, and I must admit I was disappointed with one of the selections — a mystery/thriller with an astrology writer as the protagonist. It wasn't that the plot was bad, and it wasn't that the astrology was bad — the technical aspect of the astrology was solid. The problem was assuming that astrology and psychic readings are the same offended my delicate sensibilities. It's the "apples and oranges" cliché. The other problem was the way that one author used the language itself. It was certainly grammatically correct, but it lacked poetic resonance. It didn't flow. It's did get up and gallop off the page in one direction or another. It wasn't vigorous. Pedestrian, workman–like, and way too formula. Too bad, too, because I like the idea of someone in my shoes (so I'm barefoot right now), someone in my shoes writing about thrilling things which occur. "Wish I had a pencil thin mustache, and I could solve some mysteries, too."

5/19
Some days are just more coherent than others. Having to unpack one suitcase, then load everything back up a second time — nothing this weekend, but El Paso in a few weeks — makes me a little crazy. Disturbs the flow, as it were. By noon, I had fooled around with stupid links, looked at a column deadline and laughed, talked to the AC Repair guy, feed the cat, and not done much else. I took off to do some real work, but the relatively high wind made me think twice so I opted for an overland route instead. Wound up being a lot further of walk than I remembered. Thursday means Tarot on the Fly, my weekly discussion group. We gathered at Magnolia, had a nice Libra to wait on us, and had hours of conversation concerning reading the cards. I was about to bemoan the loss of the old Austin feeling, being replaced by the dot com culture, the live music being supplanted by the recorded sounds of technopop, the old flair which seemed to be missing, when I spied my dinner special. Rejoice, Austin ain't dead yet. Last night, and I had this for real, the dinner special at Magnolia was "Chicken Fried Tofu." Really. Tastes just like chicken. Or rattlesnake.

5/18
PayPal is now available for sending me money for chart reading. I always like this news source, and the consolidation of the rumor is that there is no Apple–Palm (the iPalm?) on its way. I always figured that's what my HandSpring was. The Eye Module for my palm top did arrive, and yes, it seems to be working rather well, for what it is. Pictures are here. Might even start a little gallery. I was just about to log on to Bubba Hour last night, and while I was juggling phone calls, I go the news that the event this coming weekend was definitely postponed indefinitely. Too bad because, I have an unused airline ticket for Midland now, and I've almost got a weekend free. I think I'll make a run for the border, instead. It's either that or finish the home improvements — decisions decisions. The high point of yesterday, due to the wind conditions I wasn't about to launch a little dingy into the lake, but the high point was breakfast — at three in the afternoon — a plate full of eggs, and corn chips, and El Pastor tidbits.

5/17
I was in "Adventures in Crime and Space" bookstore yesterday, and hanging on the wall, along with several other collectible items, there was a package which really caught my eye: Death — the Action Figure. It's a little model of a graphic novel's character, and it's a lot like a Barbie doll, only this version of Death is dressed in a tight corset with a little black leather whip. The Red Headed Cappy came by the trailer with her new "special friend" in tow. And she came bearing a gift: coffee. Texas Coffee Roasters "Texas Triple Roast" — a local variation on Italian Roast. Muy Excellenté. On my way home from the office and downtown, I had my mind set on a sandwich but I found myself wheeling into Threadgill's instead, and I ordered upa plate of vegetables. The second serving of red beans and rice came with a delicious hunk of sausage floating in the stew like mix — ground up animal parts always seems to make vegetables taste better. The local humor columnist had a good point, as I read the paper, if the Gov. Bush is set on giving away free trigger locks for gun owners, those of us who don't own guns, what do we get for free?

5/16
There's a special sense, a pervasive feeling, standing on the south shore of the river, maybe up a little from the river's bank, in one or two particular parking lots, the hot asphalt, the wind stirring up from the Gulf Coast, the Texas sun causing early little heat eddies, and that smell. It's sort of a fried food smell, only — fried seafood. It evokes a strong memory of being on the coast some place, the beach sand grinding a little under the foot's sandal, gulls wheeling overhead in the evening air.... No, I swear, I get this feeling from time to time, in certain places in East Austin.

>Keep on trucking, reply if you want & make me grin.

Made me grin, along with the rest of the note from Australia. Or some place on the other side of the date line. The Cappy girl grabbed me for a lunch at Hut's Hamburgers, famous for its longevity ["God Bless Hut's"], and then I had a chance to finally explore that place which is one source of the aroma of fried oysters, with the fried seafood, after more than five years in the 'hood, I finally wandered into Mariscos at the behest of a Leo. One newsgroups I read had a link which lead to this link. Bizarre down under humor? (warning, adult only graphics). Bad spam news, here.

5/15
Fredlet forwarded this, we can all assume it's a sign of the end of the world. Or Saturn and Jupiter getting up close and personal. Dinner party last night, in honor of some mother's day celebrations, near as I could tell — for all us orphans — although, to be fair, I'm not really an orphan, but Ma Wetzel is conveniently out of the country at the time — saved by the bell. I found it interesting at the dinner last night, I was the only person who wasn't either a Ph.D., or working on my dissertation. All that rarefied academic air, makes me dizzy. I did put in requisite time at the lake, being a Sunday and all. I watched as an energetic group of Hispanic gentlemen worked with a soccer ball, and it almost made me wish I could join in, but being born on North American soil, I'm at a serious genetic disadvantage when it comes to hitting the ball with my feet instead of just picking up and running with it. Or hitting it with a stick. Sundays are always a little strange as the grub worm white office workers get out, too, and that's a strange thing to see, especially in the East Austin neighborhoods. I was up late last night, too, finished reading one book, set in Austin, with certain ecumenical over tones, so when I opened the morning mail bag and found a raft of highly technical astrology questions without a payment enclosed, I got a little grumpy. Coffee — coffee shold always come first.

5/14
There are days, precious few in these uncertain times, when it feels like the universe is in complete alignment, if only for the briefest moment. Saturday was a cool, calm morning. The overcast weather set a somber tone. But seeing as how I was pulling on a coat and tie, nice slacks and real [manly] footwear, it felt like everything was working in a coherent fashion. Cool weather for dressing up. The housework is done therefore, it's time to spool up Wagner's Greatest Hits, a little Mahler, and some Copeland — a distinct change in the play list from the classic rock of the earlier part of the week. There's nothing quite as good as Soul Hat or the Motor City Madman to get the trailer paint and repair juices motivated. Seems like everyone is getting married these days, at least, that's the report on the wires, judging from the way the phone is ringing. Or is it just the message which I get when I answer that phone? Things I saw on my way home last night, still wearing my coat and tie — there's got to be an easier way to do this — I sat down at quarter 'til nine, started reading within five minutes, and didn't get any kind of a break until well past eleven thirty. Then I was out of there at midnight — took the slow, meandering route home, long enough to drop the paycheck off at the bank in the box, too — but back to what I saw.... A long parade of "Nuestro Destino" low riders, easing down the street in parade formation.... Mechanical Bull (stimulated or is that simulated bull riding machine) behind a defunct hip hop Latino club, soon to be something else — the bull must be left over from a previous occupant.... very country guys with cowboy hats and boots, yee–hawing into the night.... a couple arguing [might have a been a discussion for all I know, just very agitated and animated] in Italian [or something similar which isn't Spanish or French].... And the best one of all, in front of a martial arts center for women, the ultimate in mechanical machismo — and stunning display, too — a low rider bouncing three feet in the air.

5/13
I wonder how Elvis on Black Velvet fits in the Fang Sway of trailer living? It was a hot, miserable day, sort of stuck between summer hot and spring time cool weather. A Virgo came by to check out my handiwork, nodding in an appraising way. I had a late lunch with the most bizarre collection of topic to go along with the normal food. I went with a Cancer, Sag, Taurus, another Taurus, and myself. All of the guys had worked, or were currently employed by Magnolia. Topics kept bouncing back to Ice Hockey because one of the guys was originally from Detroit, or someplace like that, way up north, he took it upon him self to answer my apparently inane questions about Ice Hockey (motto: this game has no rules). "Look, they're big guys from shanties in Canada, and all they know how to do is skate and beat people up...." Late last night, right before a storm rolled through, and I was doing laundry as the final act of cleaning, one of the other denizens suggested we could just take our clothes out to the river and beat them with rocks. I just fed the machine another handful of quarters, instead. The magic of the rain was not lost on me, and I stepped out to my make shift patio, intending to have a cigar and watch the lightening — nature's special effects — but the first of the big rain drops were coming down with a stinging velocity at a 45 degree angle. So much for nature's sideshow.

5/12
I am so tired — the home repair project is in a temporarily finished state. In other words, it's as done as it's going to be for while. New white wall, everything is relatively clean, and I got around to throwing out some junk which needed tossing. Bubba Sean cruised by in the middle of the afternoon to see me about something or other, and we hit venerable Austin favorite Sandy's for a lunchtime break. Hamburger, fries and drink, all for less than three bucks. But it was interesting having the computer unplugged for most of the day. I don't know if that name will fly, though, "unplugged at Shady Acres" — worth a try, though. Goes with my quill pen collection. One of the editorial assistants I write for called me, in the midst of my activity. I was wondering what she was thinking. I was out of breath, having just barely snagged the phone as two of them were unplugged. Classic rock was blaring in the background, and I wouldn't directly answer her questions about where else I sell my columns. I'm afraid I'll get turned into something I'm not. Or maybe under sell me? Best "I love you" visual yet.

5/11
I started out to eulogize about my friend who passed over recently ('passed over' is the new age term for passing onto the great beyond), but I ran out of words for her. She's out with her alien friends now, and probably much happier. America On Line had a big slow down last night. I got a frantic call from Bubba Sean about this situation, but I didn't have any problem logging on — but apparently everyone else did have trouble. Such is the nature of the Net. I took the abbreviated course around the lake, sort of like a long walk to the office, or a short hike, something to get me outside long enough to enjoy a portion of the day, and yesterday I saw the nicest Cardinal, male bird, all bright red, and cheeky looking. The day before, it was a water snake (but not a dreaded cotton mouth), and all this nature stuff got me thinking about seeing different vision, similar in creature appearance, down at the other end of the lake, just last year. I know it means something, but just what? Looks like I didn't win the lottery again last night. The copy desk at one publication outlet bounced back my funniest typo so far: "Romeo and Gillette" [a close have, that one].

5/10
Depends on how you do the math, but I guess I'm about three quarters of the way done with the home repair projects. Consider it's spring cleaning on a grand scale. I was doing tedious, detail work all afternoon, and then I've got to do something about all the phone lines I've got hanging about. I was kicking around the idea of getting one of those server lines with the high speed access, but from what I've seen, the bugs ain't out yet, and I'm not eager to be on the bleeding edge. Besides, the price keeps dropping. So I spent an evening trying to remember is the phone line is supposed to be Black, Red, Green, Yellow, or if the wires went some other way. Which made this story funny, because it's just like my confusion over phone lines.

5/9
"You should know that any 'home repair' project takes twice as long as you expect it to," admonished the Red Hair Capricorn, "here, let me help." Most of the bedroom was in front of the trailer, some I carried around the backside, a little was in the kitchen but there was a clear path to the coffee. I made made dash for record time at Home Despot, and gathered up the few remaining supplies I thought I needed, and then I tackled the bedroom. By sundown, I was ready to start assembling the bed again. So much for home repair, I fear I will just let all of this stuff sit for a while. I am so sore this morning, and that does nothing but strengthen my conviction that I am not cut out of a cloth which should work in a construction trade. At all. And it was all about an asbestos scare. I figure this is about a 1972 model trailer, and with the little "texture" on the ceiling, I could 1] sell it "as is" (but that would mean moving), 2] get an expert in to strip it, 3] slap a coat of paint over what might — or might not be — a problem. And it would make this place look a lot better. The red head Cappy was like an angel, helping with carrying some of the stuff in the gathering dark and also fetching food. Next time, I think she'll follow my suggestion, a vegetarian Thundercloud sub with a couple of strips of bacon, for that added flavor. It was good.

5/8
After such a busy Sunday, Monday will have to a be a relief. Wake up and smell the paint (interior flat latex, eggshell white — smells vaguely like something the cat does in her litterbox — only she has scented litter). Then it was off to a Pisces home to sit in the back room and look at Tarot cards for an afternoon. Then it was off to Pecan Street Fair. Then it was off to flip some cards for a Gemini. Then it was home, but only to be confronted with the idea of finishing the paint job. The worst part of all, I splashed a little paint on the ceiling, the textured, awful looking ceiling thing of this place, and it looked so good, I might have to slosh some more paint up there. Beats scrubbing it all. Late yesterday afternoon, I got some news which was a little sad. One of the stalwart promoters, one of the guiding lights in opening up most of Texas to New Age thought (and paving the way for an astrologer called Fishing Guide to the Stars) left this mortal coil. I'll gather my notes, and one, half finished essay about it when I get my thoughts more collected.

5/7
>My lifestyle: go to school and teach in the morning, come home and work on
>the computer in the afternoon, feed the kids and go to bed. I really wish
>my life were as exciting as some people apparently think it is, but sadly,
>it's not.

That note came through yesterday, and it's one I understand a little too well. Back in "the good old days" when I was both young and foolish, I once held a high profile position, well, relatively high profile, and the rumors about what I did certainly defied normal, human comprehension. So be it. My wild weekend was pretty tame, I wanted a clean wall for a decent white balance for the web cam. So I got around to stripping one wall, and painting it white. Next time, though, I'm not going to listen to the Virgo advice line, and I'm not going to strip the wall paper only to discover lame laminate paneling underneath. Nope, next time, I'm just painting over everything: wall paper, tile, paneling, cat.

5/6
Seeing a how it was the big day to party, but my bank was open for business just like a normal business day, I figure, from what little I know about history and local conditions, I figure Cinco de Mayo ought to be a statewide holiday — at least for all the counties in parts of Texas south of, I don't know, maybe everything south of Amarillo. The music was loud last night, but after a really late lunch with Mr. Gemini buddy, I just couldn't bring myself to get out. There was a trailer maintanence project, and it will be unveiled soon. He had this rather tasty business plan, and from what I added to it, I figured he owed me lunch at least. No go. But it was worth a try.

5/5/00
Cinco de Mayo — let's all go out and overthrow our white, European oppressors. Wait, that's me. Reading the Joe R. Lansdale collection, "Four Long Ones," I was disappointed with the opening paragraphs of one story, it was a really familiar piece of writing, one he used in his series of Hap and Leonard novels. But the writing itself is very vigorous. That's something I really like. Random images from yesterday include a girl (young female, rather pretty, from a cursory glance) with her hair died brilliant blue and she was reading Portnoy's Complaint by Phillip Roth. Passing the [federal] courthouse, there was a bicycle messenger sprawled in the shade, snoring. Going down Sixth Street — it's a pretty scary place in the daylight — a woman was watching me from an upstairs window. I was going to suck in my gut, being bare chested and all, but I realized she had been observing me for some time. Ma Wetzel sent me a postcard from New York City: three naked ladies at a bar. And that's a normal afternoon. The cat woke me yesterday morning, alerting me to the fact that her food dish was empty. The cat acting as an alarm clock is nothing unusual. But she was rubbing her head on the top of mine, and that was unusual. She normally sits at the end of the bed and plaintively complains. A little later in the morning, I picked up the phone, "Good morning." "That's nice, why don't you answer the phone like that more often? Hey, you still know that girl over at KLRU? Can you see if she can get Joe Ely tickets for Austin City Limits?" In my client list, I know a few staff members, support folks, camera guy, and even an occasional star — as well as a board member or two. But Austin City Limit tickets? Good luck. The only item harder to get than ACL tickets is real record label contract. The unabated Virgo string continues: I was in Planet K, a local smoke shop, to pick an afternoon cigar. I ran into one of their area mangers: another Virgo.

5/4
Life imitates art, sometimes. I was reading the final pages of a book about Texas History [The Gates of the Alamo by Stephen Harrigan], and there was tumultuous clash of strings and brass in a neighboring trailer — the opera guy had his stereo up way loud. But it all fit, in a weird way. I also came up with a new way to organize these notes I keep, along the lines of the position of the Sun in the various astrological signs — my months as opposed to the standard calendar. Makes a lot more sense to me. I jumped from the Alamo into a rare collection of Joe R. Lansdale stuff, a small press offering of four of his longer short stories, shorter novels, or whatever you want to call them. Pulp fiction, really. And such fun stuff. After the carnage and historical discussions about the Alamo, I needed something a little lighter. Then, when I paused in mid-stride, over on the east side of town, and had myself one of Rosita's "Al Pastor" burritos, I was glancing through the local paper. There was a story about SW Bell and their DSL lines. And halfway through this article, there was really funny quote:

>"We're slow," Sunday said, acknowledging that Bell's program is flawed and
>is "a mess" in some respects. "We're still a telephone company. We are
>trying to figure out how to be on Internet time."

Let me lecture you about "Internet time": My proof reader cut the opening quote from the Monday column I turned in. Monday morning, I caught that, searched my memory, slipped in a quote, and posted it. Change happens fast on the net. Speaking of fast, try the new search engine from AltaVista — I tried keywords "Kramer Astrology Fishing" and it found me first — and it was quick.

5/3
Metallica is suing Napster for copyright infringement. Now, I'm not a musician, but I'm rather attuned to the whole copyright issue. At the bottom of this page is the ubiquitous © or (c) copyright notice. My history is none too good, but if I recall, a similar hue and cry was raised when cassettes were introduced. Then the same question occurred when video cassettes became commonplace. One Gemini had a fine assessment about the whole question, "Sure, some people have the time to sit there and trade the music back and forth, but take someone like me, I'm too lazy to download all the music — I'll just buy the CD." Last Xmas, I knew Sister was going to get a CD Burner, so I carefully selected a collection of music I wanted on a CD. A little of this, a little of that, a fair sampling of my tastes. But after I got it all together, it was really too much trouble to put it all on one CD. The web plays havoc with copyrights. Strictly speaking, it's illegal to copy something from my page on the web, and forward it on — especially without an attribution. But no one is suing Netscape or Microsoft, at least, not that I know. When some unnamed person was incensed at a reading, and copied my photo image off the web, diddled in a bad word and added a mustache, that could have been grounds for a lawsuit. Not worth the time, if you ask me. It's on the web, it's open season. I was at Threadgill's yesterday, long enough to work my way through a vegetable plate, two Virgo's and a reading, then I wandered downtown to deposit the check. From there, it's not much of a stroll, and I discovered that the Post Office had a sale going on stamps, so I squandered what little cash I had left over on a couple of books of stamps. I found this great deal, too: $1 stamps, five for just $5. Got to get Ma Wetzel's Mother's Day gift in the mail.

5/2
I was up early on Monday, getting ready to go to the office. Their office, not mine. And I spent the better part of the day twiddling images, updating software, and giving my lecture about version numbers, and why a copy of an older program won't open a copy of document created with a much newer version of the same program — seems like the name alone doesn't mean that it's always going to work. Near as I can tell, I picked a good day to be indoors. The thunder rumbled through, the rain came down, and the only chance I got was fielding one call from a Cappy, a little distraught about her [romantic interest] situation. There's a little chain of Vietnamese restaurant stretched along the Texas Coast, and up into my neck of the woods. I relented, even after working all day, to step out for a quick meal with the Cap, poor dear, and we shared a quick bite. Fresh basil and peppers adorned the steaming bowl of noodles. She did remind me that it's getting close to a good time for my annual hair cut. "Just a trim, I promise — I know how you are," she suggested, with a roll of her eyes. Late last night, there was the lonely noise of rain beating a steady, almost fevered pitch as it sounded like inch after inch of water fell from the skies. There was the faintest hint of opera music — yes, I live in a weird place as one of my neighbors was listening to heavy set voice bellow in Italian, against the stormy backdrop. I wonder if that had anything to do with the plot of the opera's story?

5/1
It's the big one I've been looking at, hearing about, and discussing for the last few years. It's finally, almost here. What's it been like on the phone? Or in the e-mail in box? A little weird, to say the least. Glad I spent a portion of my weekend doing a little free labor for the Virgo, and I've got two dandy little blisters on one finger to show for my efforts. She carefully bandaged one blister, then I got very explicit instructions on how to bandage the next one. Off for an afternoon of web whacking, going into the office this morning, and I'm certainly thrilled about that. Bubba's Live Bait, Sushi, and Web Page Design. I knew it was sure to happen. Now I've got to get a card with that on it. Strange twist in the weather, too, as it started raining last night, and has continued to be cool and wet — a big change. It's so chilly, I might have to consider long pants.

4/30
Bright and early Saturday morning, I was busy sending an e-mail to the tech support at eye module because the coolest camera just sort of quit working. Which was really too bad, as there's a sign downtown I wanted to take a picture of — no use, though, as the little camera has ceased to take pictures. I would have been upset but it's like I suggested, it feels like it's a beta version, although, when I dropped a note to tech support, I didn't rule out dreaded "user error." I did help finish up the laying of tile for the Virgo friend, "At least you can say you got laid," she quipped. Those Virgo girls sure are scream with the jokes. I must admit, I have the tiniest blister on my right hand from the manual labor, and I'm going to milk this itty bitty blister for as much mileage as I can. It's solid proof that I do occasionally labor.

4/29
Bright and early Friday morning, there was an insistent knock on my trailer's door. Ahead of schedule, and just in time for some fun, the Visor Eye Module arrived. First impression? Extremely good packaging, effective marketing. Second impression? I chased the cat around the living room, trying to get a good picture of her, and that was before I did anything like install software or read the instructions. This thing is great, slap the module in the slot, point and click. The first problem is that there's no Macintosh image translation software — yet. The news reported one of those stories where fact is stranger than fiction — and there's an apt metaphor here, something along the lines of the way things are going. What the perspicacious defenders of freedom did was blow up a package with IPO information in it. And frankly, I don't see what the big deal is about this one.

4/28
The red headed Capricorn rang me up early Thursday morning, "Hey, I missed you Monday. Let's go for a hike. I need to be at work by 1:00." We shot out of the trailer, shot down to hike and bike trail, shot past the Espresso place, and landed back in the trailer in less than an hour. The afternoon evolved from there. I got in an interesting exchange of e-mail's, "Gemini's aren't very patient, are they?" I finally determined that Gemini's are inordinately patient, for about two seconds. Then, they seem to think the rest of us should catch up with them. Now. The monthly news got a bleary eye read through and hit the wires. I think I like the Scorpio message the best. Real event, just the other day. And real way to avoid the Taurus Planet problem.

4/27
It's not bad enough that folks drive and talk on the phone, no it's getting worse. These wireless phones are insidious. I was working out a math problem, remember the old "word" problems we used to get? It goes something like this: Bicyclist A is moving at a velocity of 37 miles per hour. Pedestrian B is moving at a more leisurely pace, 4 miles per hour. Given that both objects are moving in the same direction, westward along a path way, when when bicyclist A encounters pedestrian B's elbow, and is flipped off the bicycle at its current rate of speed, adjusted for the rotational velocity of the planet, just how far will the rude bicycle rider fly before making contact with the gravel on the trail? And show all work. It sounded good at the time. But maniac bicyclist are the least of my worries right now, due to the heat, I had all my hair tucked under a cap yesterday. I got home, and I pulled out a mirror, looking and trying to figure out if I was really getting a red neck, the part of neck which usually rides under my ponytail. In an effort to be more healthy, and to compare vegetable plates, I tried the usually at Threadgill's, then hopped up to Texpresso for an afternoon of listening to mutable signs talk about changes. Can't give it flavor, all the mutables were represented yesterday.

4/26
I was walking out of the trailer, just fixin' to go somewhere when the neighbor Virgo cornered me. "Read my chart." "Sure, I don't mind reading your chart, as long you don't mind 'coed naked astrology'." "What's that?" "Well, look at how I'm dressed." "Kramer, you're always dressed like that." I didn't look too haggard yesterday morning, and I ran the web cam for a little while. When I realized it showed a lot of my flesh, and I looked naked, even though I really did have on walking shorts, I tried for one shot with the cat in hand, but she always wants to bat at the blinking green light, and that was the end of that. Last night, an Aquarius took me to a delightful place called Hoovers. I had the Jamaican Jerked BBQ Ribs. With a side of Jalapeño Spinach. Very Austin, I guess. Actually, it was quite the sumptuous meal. Now, I had dinner with an Aquarius, I got voice mail from two more, and I spent the late evening talking to an Aquarius, picking dates for an event. The moon was at 29 degrees of Capricorn — getting ready to go into Aquarius. Flavor for the day, or the evening, anyway.

4/25
It all started with one of those stupid, "conversational" question, "Where do you stand on the Cuban scene?" "The cigars? I love them. Oh, you mean that kid?" It's a complete [choose your own expletive] Media circus. Or here — they already have half the script written. I don't stand anywhere on this. Leave the kid alone. And I was having such a nice day before those links found me. Motoring around the lake, I was noticing that the shade of a willow tree is always cooler than, say, the shade of a pecan tree. No less inviting, that pecan tree, but the willow is definitely two or five degrees cooler. Just my wondrous observation. I'm sure there's a scientific reason for this fact, but it's an observed phenomenon, now. Took a bit of work, and we're having an unseasonably warm days, almost a 100 the last few days. I spent too much time in the desert, though, as I don't even consider putting on the AC until it gets over 100. Cruising around the web, I found a digital camera for my Visor, and at a low price, too. I sent the almighty "goddess of everything Palm [Über Geek Extrodinaire] fredlet a quick note to talk me out of buying one. Lot of good that did. She conceded that the resolution wasn't THAT good, and it was more of beta version than the real thing, and she was be extremely jealous if I got one. I believe she did offer to save me the trouble of working with it, if I would just have mine shipped to her address. She'll get the bugs out and then I could get it from her. Oh no, but the night got stranger. Last night, I had dinner with Sagittarius client, and we were dining at the old Guero's location, now called Curra's [that means I'm old Austin, if I can remember eating there when it Guero's], and the people watching was pretty amazing. I spent part of our meal trying to figure out what the Perl code on some guy's T-shirt said. {purple hair on that one} Pretty geeky — me, not the shirt. And that was only Monday.

4/24
Gemini. Gemini, Gemini, Gemini, all day long. I started out by picking up some place I'd left off, helping a friend lay down some "press on" tile in a rent house. It used to be a real house, but then, due to the work thing, she left town, so it's a rent house. "Sure, buy me some breakfast, and I'll help..." Bright idea, wrong action. Then it was listening to a Gemini on the phone, doing a reading for one, talking to another, then late at night, "Hey, I just got home, first time in five days, so I said, 'Who can I call?' so then, here's the update..." I got the requisite note from my sister, too, "Why don't you answer your e-mail — it's been three minutes now?" [Gemini]. Got the new picture up on the splash page.

4/23
A Virgo got me out of bed early Saturday morning, "Come on, let's go to the hardware store." Okay, fine, so there I was, pushing her cart around the big warehouse building supplies store, looking for whatever I thought I needed for the trailer, and I saw the coolest thing. There was a little girl, standing in the front of cart, directing the adult pushing the cart, where to go. Communication didn't seem to be to good, as usual, the adult had a different destination in mind, but I stuck my elbow into the Virgo's ribs, "Hey, I want to ride in the cart like that." "I don't THINK so." Adults sure can be a drag when it comes to having a little harmless fun. Besides, commandeering an orange shopping cart looked like a lot of fun. "You do make a trip to the hardware store seem like an adventure."

4/22
It's nice having server which allows for lots of fast bandwidth. I can post significant pictures, like this one. I had lunch with a Gemini buddy yesterday, and he was waxing philosophical on me, "Who was that guy who wrote 'Walden Pond'?" "Thoreau." "Yeah, like Thoreau, you know, he was the original slacker." I took the lunch time conversation to heart, and I took the Hut's Hamburger, too, also to heart. Instead of catching a ride home with my buddy, I took slight, shambling detour around the lake. Little bits of poetry filled my mind, and I tried to recall the last time I had been this way, must have been month's ago. The River Road, as it were. The trees are all green, there was a bunch of folks out in rented canoes, the place was like, alive.

4/21
It's good that it's Friday. I went to bed at 9 last night, trying to read this one book, but all I did was drift off to sleep land. That's something like 10 hours of shut eye, straight through. I would guess then that I'm not cut out for a traditional office job. I spent the better part of yesterday chipping away at one web problem then another. In the time in between, though, there was over a 100 messages from the ACS list. It's an astrology publication service, what used to be one of the most respected names in the business, but judging from the fact that they don't really know how to set up a mailing list, I wonder if it's still that industry leader. It's deadline time again, and with the absolutely perfect weather lately, I've got to work in some Lake Time, for my mental well–being. Which is more important? The publishing deadline? Or time away from the keyboard, amongst the little furry critters in the hinterlands? And I've just got to get the Jackalope pictures up, too.

4/20
I was listening to the radio, working away. There is something to be said for a station which plays Donald Fagan (Steely Dan), old ZZ Top (Tres Hombres), and then John Prine (with Chris DeMint), all back to back. I spent a lot of yesterday looking at astrology charts, and trying to explain what "Seven planets in Taurus on May 3, 2000" means. I'm split on the flavor for yesterday, but there was a fair representation of all the mutable signs Virgo being the most prominent, but by no means, the only mutable sign, as usual, there was fair smattering of them pesky Gemini's around. And Sagittarius, too. Off to the "office" again today. A whole day spent indoors — yuck. Yesterday's coolest Gemini quote? "Of course the 'grass is greener over there' — THEY use fertilizer!" The ultimate irritating aspect about e-mail: when some asks a question and my answer bounces. Thank you Web TV and One World Online servers. "I don't know where I'm a gonna go when the volcano blows...."

Index for this year