Random Thoughts #35 - the "draft" edition

Hello and welcome to a somewhat later-than-usual version of Random Thoughts. I was out all day and just got back in time to share my random thoughts with you, so with that in mind, let's get to it. Enjoy.

 -  I've been enjoying the weather over the past few days...sun and 80's. I even had to put on sunscreen for a friend's cookout I went to today. It's real nice to not have to worry about wearing a jacket out even at night.

 -  I used to make fun of the game Sudoku, but after playing a computer version of it I now understand why it can be so addicting. Doing the easy or even mid-level versions get boring after a while, so I usually looked for the most difficult versions of it because I like to be challenged "just a bit" like I did with Spider Solitaire when I had Windows.

 -  Playoff updates: the Columbus Blue Jackets got swept out of the NHL playoffs while the Cleveland Cavaliers eliminated the Detroit Pistons from the NBA playoffs with a sweep themselves. The brooms are getting some use here in Ohio.

 -  The NFL Draft has come and gone and the Browns had an active one. They traded down from the #5 overall position (which also landed them three other players from the NY Jets as well as a second rounder) and though a couple more trades took center Alex Mack with the #21 pick. They also took a couple of receivers and a defensive tackle/linebacker in the second round. Despite what I have heard from some I know (most on message boards), I believe they did a good job with the draft but ultimately we won't know how well (or bad) until we see how or if the players the Browns received contribute to the next season and beyond. As always, I am hopeful.

 -  Quick question: how come the last two big stories from Akron that hit the national or state media involved something with strippers? Just curious about that...

 -  The club scene has been mixed for me. I've been to both the O.C. and Screaming Wille's in the past couple weeks. Last week I was bored and a bit put off at the O.C. because of some freaky dancing people who scared everybody including me off the floor for most of the night (some of the dancing was just downright blushing-red embarassing) and S.W. had no crowd (though I did hang out with a couple friends there). The week before both places were great and really enjoyable. I just hope that this week is better, if for the fact that we now have warmer weather to enjoy.

 -  I have been using Linux for around three months now and I now feel like I've got a good handle on it for now, or at least what I want or need from it. I'm using Ubuntu Linux and they just released a new version of its operating system a few days ago, and so far the big thing I noticed was the big decrease in boot-up time. It used to take about three to five minutes to load in and now it takes about a minute or less....major improvement IMHO. I'm still looking for various software programs for it, mainly games I might like to play, but I pretty much have everything I need for now, which is nice. Honestly, I tried a beta version of Windows 7 and liked it too, but I'm gonna stick with what I got, especially since it took me so long to get it almost exactly the way I want it.

 -  Every fourth Friday of the month, the city of Westerville has a festival that is called, appropriately, "Westerville Fourth Fridays." From 6 to 9 PM on these nights, they open up some of the businesses past their normal hours (antique shops, restaurants, local stores, etc.) as well as have individuals and groups set up sales tables and displays around downtown Westerville to promote the area and, of course, boost traffic and local business. If you are looking for something to do for a couple hours or so, want to find stuff and knick-knacks, or just walk around by yourself, with your significant other, your friends, your families, or all of the above, this is something to consider for at least one night near the end of each of the next few months until October. I caught the tail end of the one last Friday and might go to one or a few in the near future and thought some of you might be interested in something like this too, if just to have something to do.

 -  Regarding the two unrevealed things I've been alluding to for a while now...I've finally made a breakthrough on that front in a discovery of how they were related to one particular thing I never more than lightly regarded as problematic for me until recently. Current things and activities are not and will not be affected by this (I'm fortunate in that regard), but due to the nature of what I've discovered...it's now just gonna be called "the issue" from now on, for my purposes...I will definitely not be revealing much about it until I've got a damn good handle on it, and I mean a damn good handle. I may put things here about the issue every once in a while, but like I said before I'm putting it here to keep me on track and not necessarily for everybody else. Again, if I need help here (and I might with what I am now facing), I will ask for it but only when I'm ready to do so and I'm comfortable doing so, no sooner than that.

 -  In a sad note, Bea Arthur passed away on Saturday. For those of you familiar with the comic book character Deadpool (one of my two favorites), this guy had a thing for Bea Arthur, seemingly carrying a torch for the comedienne....don't ask me why because Deadpool's not all there in the first place, but she was mentioned several times throughout the character's history. He's probably very sad right now...or he's going ape...or preparing a send-off Deadpool-style...I don't know, he's a fictional character for crying out loud. In any case, she and her comedic stylings will be missed.

 -  Song on repeat: "I'll Still Be Loving You" by Restless Heart. I know, another country song but one on the adult contemporary side of things so more than likely there will be no apocalypse coming because of that. I hadn't heard the song for a long time until recently and is another romantic song I like (I can't help it...I'm a romantic).

 -  SLP of the blog: Jay, Sonya (from Facebook), Holly, Donielle (also from Facebook...I hope things improve and my prayers help), Kevin, Kristin, Griff, Syco, Harry, Shane, Tommy D, Cheryl, Daryl, and James.

I wish I had more to say, but alas I must wait until next time when I have more to say...at least I hope I have more to say. If not, I'll make up something, maybe get creative again. Here's to good things coming, so until next time, folks. Take care and God Bless.

DJ

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Random Thoughts #34 - the "raging inferno" edition

Greetings and welcome to a brand spankin' new set of random thoughts from yours truly. I'm running the equivalent of a gauntlet today with all the sweet goodness and juicy details you've come to expect from me...or not expect, I never know which one most of the time. In any case, enjoy.

 -  There's a personal reason for the name of this edition and it will mean many different things to different people. All I'm gonna say about it is that it covers the good and the not-good over the past week.

 -  Last week I announced that I added a cause to my profile that I believe in, suicide prevention, and teased that I might talk about the story behind it. Honestly, I wasn't sure that I was going to at all because it covers a very serious subject and a dark time, but given that it led to major changes (many of them really good) across the board in my life, my fortunes, and a host of other things, I think it might help in giving some people insight on what I was like at a pivotal time in my life. This will come as a shock to those of you who went to grade school and high school with me, so for those of you in that particular group, bear with me here. During my senior year of high school I made a serious suicide attempt. I downed a bunch of different pills late one night in an effort to just end it all. I'm not saying it was right or that I'm proud that I did something like that, but like I said it led to a host of outcomes I never expected. I guess I should start at the beginning.

As I had talked about in previous blogs, I never felt that I had it easy in my childhood even if things seemed on the outside like they were. I was picked on a lot, verbally abused in many instances. I had issues with my family and others that I couldn't get a handle on and did not know who in this world I could put my faith in outside of three or four particular people (this was a time well before Jesus or many of you came into my life). However, the beginning of this story started around November, 1990. I took a weeklong trip to Washington D.C. as part of some type of Youth Congress program (I don't remember the name of it for the life of me). The treatment I received there, the atmosphere, the people...it felt like the exact opposite of what I had experienced in Tallmadge. In a couple of instances where I had screwed up in some fashion, the other students I hung out with rallied around me and made sure I got back on my feet and got things right, without hesitation. To experience this and the feelings surrounding it for the first time in my life was just absolutely amazing, and it's a feeling I try to experience or bring about every chance I get. When I got back to Tallmadge, however, it was back to the old misery, the old issues, and probably the start of my very first real bout of depression. Some of the verbal abuse got worse, to the point where I just wanted to run and hide all the time. I had trouble trusting people already, but one particular event that occurred stood out involving a teacher. I discovered that the year before this teacher entered me into the senior student council election as a presidential candidate, something I really didn't want to do. I confronted him about it and he got huffy and puffy about it claiming I did enter. That's when I pulled a particular piece of paper showing a half-filled application I filled out to enter as a possible vice presidential candidate but never turned in. The look on his face completely changed in light of what I showed him and he stumbled over his words trying to explain himself. Basically, he was cold busted. Now despite that the teacher in question probably felt he was doing what he felt he needed to, for me it wasn't the right thing, it did me no favors, and it left me with more of an empty feeling that I had before. As a result, my grades started suffering and I even failed a couple of classes. By the time February/March rolled around I was in a complete downward spiral, I had a three-month long headache, and all I wanted at that point was to have the feelings and type of experiences I had on that Washington trip. Since I didn't see any hope at the time, I decided to do the suicide thing and hoped not to have to wake up to my misery ever again. However, I did wake up the next day with a very sore stomach and went to school, and during study hall I went to the counselor's office and told my counselor what I did. He was shocked, to say the least. I went back to him later in the day and after talking about my Washington experience we started looking at colleges, specifically what would take my school credits. Only two schools would take them unconditionally, one of them being Ohio State. Even though I was accepted to the University of Akron, during that meeting I hurredly filled out the application and inquiry stuff for OSU and sent it in that day. The rest, they say, is history. (BTW, my headache went away about two days after the attempt...still don't know what I took, but instead of killing me, it probably helped me...go figure)

Now, even though I made that suicide attempt in the depths of my despair, ultimately the experience led me to some amazing opportunities and opened up my eyes to things I was never open to before. I learned that even though things may get tough, and they are for me even now, that there are better times ahead and there will continue to be if you open your mind and your heart to them. Now, I do want to address the following to some of the high schoolers and grade schoolers and even some of the teachers from my time in Tallmadge. I'm not trying to rain down on people's parades or memories involving me that you may have experienced when talking about this stuff...this is simply my recollection of events and feelings I had at that time. At the same time, many of you at that time never really knew the real me (except for the 3 or 4 I mentioned earlier) and I didn't really know many of you all that well despite the fact we were acquinted throughout that time. I didn't really know myself all that well until I was around 30 or so, so realistically how could any of you? A consequence of this is that because of how I grew up in Tallmadge and the general Akron area (depending on my mood, sometimes I praise it and sometimes I do the opposite of that), regardless of some of the people there including family, and the fact I lived there for an additional five years, it never felt like and probably will never feel like a home for me...an unfortunate thing, but something that can't be helped. However, on a lighter note I am definitely not the same person I was then and to that end I hope to get the opportunities to get to know some of you from high school better and you get the same with me. This is also a major factor in why I feel I can help others in this type of scenario...I've been there, done that, and got through it and learned a lot more about it so that I could help others here. It seems a lifetime ago for me that this all happened, but I have never forgotten it.

 -  Boy that was a long blurb....BUT WAIT! There's more...a lot more.

 -  I don't have any real news on the unrevealed stuff I'm dealing with or made any real progress on that front recently, but I may be onto something that might help me big time here, so pray for me on this.

 -  A change concerning comments posted on my Myspace: even though only my friends can actually read the ones on my profile, since I've got the "require approval" mode on I'm allowing those NOT on my friend's list to be able to add comments also. Since I made the blog public some time ago and that I now have some readers outside of my friends list here, I thought I would give them a shot to share their thoughts. Everybody will be able to see those particular entries in the blog comments section...pending my approval, of course.

 -  The NFL released its football schedule for the upcoming 2009 season. The Browns have a Monday night game and a Thursday night game this year, both against division rivals. Most of their games are scheduled at 1 PM on Sundays. I hope the Westerville Browns Backers find a place to watch them soon, and if any of them are reading this entry, give me a buzz through the Myspace email here and let me know what's going on, because I haven't seen or heard any updates since the season ended.

 -  Thanks to the best record in the NBA, the Cleveland Cavaliers have home court advantage throughout the playoffs. And after an auspicious start to those playoffs, I've got a feeling they are going to need it. Then again, maybe not....

 -  I'm feeling particularly creative this week, so I thought I would repost something I posted a while back, a creative piece called "Loneliness"...enjoy:

LONELINESS

Do you know what it’s like?  Do you know what it’s like to be lonely?  People say it’s our fault that we choose to be lonely.  Nobody chooses to be lonely.  We choose to be alone because we are lonely.  No one to share your quality time with.  No one to joke with.  No one to tell you how much they care about you and vice versa.  It is one of the worst feelings a person could have.  I hate it when people tell me it’s my own fault.  It doesn’t occur to them that maybe they are partially to blame.  I’m not talking about the type of connection you have with a friend or family member.  I’m talking about having a significant other in my life.  It’s even more difficult when you don’t know how to connect in that special way.  I wish there were a book that showed how to do that.  Unfortunately, there is no such thing, or at least one that makes sense.  If I knew what it was like to share my life and my time, it might be different.  Until that time, I shall continue to be alone not of my own accord.

 - You know what?  I'm still feeling creative, so I'm adding something that I found on  You know what? I'm still feeling creative, so I'm adding something that I found on the net and edited for content and language. It's something called "If She Only Knew" and even though I'm not experiencing anything like this right now, other and I have in the past and may again in the future. Again, enjoy:

IF SHE ONLY KNEW

I'm sorry that I bought you roses to tell you that I like you.
I'm sorry that I was raised to not sleep with you when you were drunk.
I'm sorry that my body's not ripped enough to "satisfy" your wants.
I'm sorry that I open your car door and pull out your chair
  like I was raised to do for a lady.
I'm sorry that I'm not cute enough to be "your guy."
I'm sorry that I'm actually nice and not an jerk.
I'm sorry I don't have a huge bank account to buy
  you expensive things.
I'm sorry I like to spend quality nights at home cuddling with you
  instead of being at a club.
I'm sorry I would rather make love to you then just sleep with you
  like some random guy.
I'm sorry that I'm always the one you need to talk to
  but never good enough to date.
I'm sorry that I always held your hair back when you threw up
  and didn't get mad at you for puking in my car,
  but when we went out you wanted to hook up with
  another random guy.
I'm sorry that I'm good enough to be there to pick you up at 4 AM
  when your new man hit you and dropped you off
  in the middle of nowhere, but not good enough to listen to me
  when I need a friend.
I'm sorry if you tell me you want to hang out with me only
  to be tossed aside when a “better-looking” guy comes around.
I'm sorry if I don't answer my phone anymore when you call
  and listen to you cry for hours
  instead of getting a couple hours of sleep before work.
I'm sorry that you can't realize I've been the one all along.
I'm sorry if you read this and know somebody like this but don't care.
But most of all, I'm sorry for not being sorry anymore.
I'm sorry that you can't accept me for who I am.
I'm sorry I can never do anything right
  or good enough to make it in your world.
I'm sorry I caught your man with another girl and told you about it...I
  thought that was what friends were for.
I'm sorry I told you I loved you and actually meant it.
I'm sorry that I talked to you for nine hours on Thanksgiving
  when your boyfriend was threatening you
  instead of spending time with my family.
I'm sorry that I cared.
I'm sorry that I listen to you at night
  talk about how you wish you could have done something different.

Ladies always whine and complain to their friends that there's never
any good guys out there and they always end up with jerks who
mistreat them. Well, ladies...next time you're complaining, maybe
look up to see who you're whining to...maybe that special someone
is right there hanging on your every word as usual, screaming in his
head, "Why won't you give me a chance?"

Because the person you are usually searching for is
  already right by you.

 -  My friend Griff posted a comment this past week on my profile reminiscing about some of the old-school cartoons we used to watch, even posting a video. Now, being the media freak that I am and I fondly remember some of those cartoons (especially G.I. Joe and Transformers), I want to give you all a shot at finding some of those shows many of you grew up with and possibly even watch some of them again. I recommend looking at video sites like Veoh (www.veoh.com), MegaVideo (www.megavideo.com), and Hulu (www.hulu.com) to look for clips and possibly full episodes of some of your favorites from not just back in the day but now. YouTube is good for clips, and a Google search (put the name of the show in quotes so that you can get more specific info) will help you here as well. I've found shows through all these methods and now you can too.

 -  Even though the Akron area is no longer my home, events that do happen there still pique my interest from time to time. One such recent event is the attempt to have a recall of the mayor of Akron, Don Plusquellic. Now, I don't know what many of you who still live there think of the man, but I don't find him to be too good of a person myself. He comes off as arrogant, brash, abrasive, and just not someone I would want running the city I live in (on the other hand, I really like and admire Columbus' mayor, Mike Coleman). When my dad was a deputy fire chief in Akron, he had some run-ins with this guy. My dad is a stand-up guy and was not intimidated by this guy or his power, which probably led to the mayor trying things like pushing changes in the residency laws regarding city employees..just so he could force those such as my dad into some kind of subservience or sacrifice or force him to quit. I really believe Plusquellic was scared of my father. At one point when I met the guy a few years back at a Democratic event and revealed who I was, and more specifically who my dad was, he stuttered a unintelligible response and tried to get away from me as fast as he could...my mom laughed out loud when I told her about the experience. I hope the recall succeed, or at least the guy isn't mayor anymore, because that city needs some major changes in how it's run and a better hope for its future.

 -  One experience I want to have in my life is something I saw in the movie "Joe Versus The Volcano". At one point in the movie, the moon rises over the Pacific Ocean and it looks HUGE. It's probably one of the most potentially romantic settings I can envision and it's something I would like to see with my own two eyes, preferably watching the phenomenon from a boat with the woman I love....that would be ideal.

 -  Song of the moment: "Wouldn't It Be Good" by Nik Kershaw. A staple of the 80's, it was recently featured in VH-1's '100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80's". I like this song.

 -  SLP to the following: Holly, Nick, Griff, Ladonna, Marcus and Jenny (happy birthday to the both of you), Miss FINODI (my condolences for the loss of your mother), Xavier (P.E.A.C.E.), Tommy D, Shane, Syco, Harry, Pastor Cory, Mike (Suburb P...), Andy, Dark Joey, Adrian, and Rahn.

This was a VERY long blog entry and I'm tired just from proofreading it. I'm gonna go get something to eat now, so until next time, folks. Take care and God Bless.

DJ

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Random Thoughts #33 - the "37th birthday" edition

Greetings and salutations. Welcome to another set of Random Thoughts from yours truly. Time for me to get to work here:

 -  Today is Easter, so I want to wish everybody a Happy Easter and hope you're enjoying the bunnies.

 -  As a lot of you know, I had a birthday this past week. I am now 37 years old...that's right, one more year closer to Social Security. Anyway, I have to admit this was the best birthday celebration in a very long time, possibly ever. It started on my actual b-day on Thursday. I did my annual b-day tradition of having a pizza at Pizza Hut for dinner. Later on that evening I went out to Screaming Willie's. It was the first club outside of the O.C. I've been to in a LOOOOONG time. It wasn't even close to crowded, but I still had a wild time, to say the least. I was "volunteered" to be a judge in a 'hot body' contest (even with the small crowd there were actually a lot of entries...I put that on the bad economic picture). My friends and the deejays were on the side or on the floor cracking on me as I had to help 'judge' who was going to win this contest. I did have fun though. Yesterday (Saturday) I had the birthday cookout. It was a bit cool outside but it was sunny. It was a pretty nice size cookout of about twenty people and and plenty of food. My parents and brother even came down from Akron for this. I know some of you had reasons you couldn't make it, but an awful lot of you that could have come missed out on a great time. Later in the night, we continued the celebration at the O.C., where we continued to have a good time. I have to admit, I was somewhat tired from all I had done for my b-day already in the week but I still got down with my bad self and had some fun, even dancing with several females. It was a long but satisfying birthday experience.

 -  I can't thank everybody enough who celebrated with me and especially those who helped out with the b-day events. It meant an awful lot to me, and even though I can't really speak for my compatriot Kevin (I think that's his wife's job), I'm pretty sure it meant a lot to him too. Tentatively I would like to do this type of celebration again next April, weather permitting, and along with the people who were here for this year's events, hopefully more people will join us for the next one.

 -  After everything that's gone on these past few days, I am exhausted. Aside from the stuff I need to take care of, I'm gonna get as much rest as I can over the next few days. Speaking of tiredness and rest, there is one little thing I want to address (some of you already know this...this is for everybody else). On Saturday mornings, please do not call me or wake me up before noon or early afternoon. It's my day to actually sleep in and get some rest before I do stuff later that day and evening (the club, usually). Unless it is an absolute, absolute, ABSOLUTE emergency or mitigating circumstance or you are my girlfriend or wife (of which I have neither at this time), don't try to get me up on Saturday mornings, especially for trivial or already settled matters. I had an issue with somebody yesterday over this even though they were already told by others beforehand not to wake me that early, so I thought I'd better make this clear.

 -  Over the past month I have had hundreds of visitors to my profile, and I don't think it actually had much to do with the birthday stuff. It could be that I'm all about the hotness (yeah...right!), but it is a phenomenon I've noticed recently. Now only if these visitors read my blogs a bit more often...

 -  Speaking of my profile, you've probably noticed I've made some changes in the layout and content on it. I have added an app for a cause I believe in: suicide prevention. There is a personal experience behind it but I will get to that in a future blog entry, maybe even the next one (there's a tease for ya).

 -  Congratulations to the Columbus Blue Jackets on getting into the NHL playoffs. Before this accomplishment, they were the only active team not to get a playoff berth, so this is historic.

 -  Tomorrow night, WWE is holding it's annual draft to shake up its brands and the overall wrestling product. It starts at 8 PM on the USA network, so for you wrestling fans, don't miss it.

 -  Song on repeat: "In Da Club" by 50 Cent. It references birthdays, so I thought this would be appropriate.

 -  SLP of the blog (it's a long one folks): my family; Vanessa, Paula, and cousin Scotty from Facebook; Jay, Kevin, Kristin, Stan, Ernest, Dave and Tabitha, Griff, Cara, Holly, Al & Maggie (Mr. & Miss FINODI), Jack (DJ Legend), Tommy D, DJ Shane, Syco Bill, Cheryl, Daryl, LaDonna (for the aforementioned app on my profile), and the females who either came to the cookout or danced with me at the clubs who for the life of me I can't remember your names (don't be offended....I'm bad with remembering names, so I apologize for that).

I've had a blast of a birthday and now I'm off to some rest and relaxation. I hope everybody is having a good holiday and I will get back with a new blog entry next time. Until then....take care and God Bless.

DJ

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Random Thoughts #32 - the "oh geez" edition

Hello and welcome to yet another set of Random Thoughts. It's been sort of a weird week for me and I've been anxious to blog a bit about it, so let's get to it, shall we:

 -  First things first, I've reposted the bulletin about the cookout and the birthdays. Take a look at your bulletin space for all the details on what's happening later this week. For people not on Myspace (i.e. Facebook, the general Internet, etc.), contact me personally and I'll get you the details.

 -  I'll be honest...last night at the club was weird for me. First off, some guy came up to me trying to set up a bet regarding whether me or this other guy was the "better" dancer. I obviously declined it, since I dance generally for myself and to be social...not to be someone else's monkey or prove something. Also, there must have been something in the air last night because there were several fights at the club last night...two of them took place near the bar and most of them occurred when rock or techno music was playing (meaning it wasn't the fault of the music or the deejay). It's been relatively peaceful there, so I am hoping this was an abberation...I'm having a b-day celebration next week and I don't want it spoiled by something like this. In spite of all that, after a couple weeks of anxiety showing at the club, I actually felt sorta relaxed, almost back to my usual club self (the reason for "almost" being my disdain for the fighting).

 -  The reason for the "oh geez" title for this blog was inspired from the fighting I saw at the club last night. It looked like all these fights started because either somebody accidently bumped someone else or someone "looked at them funny," if you know what I mean. It sounds silly to me and probably a lot of you that these would be actual reasons to start a brawl...shoot, it feels silly just typing it here. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happens in these cases. My theory is that there is a lot of "mind-reading" going on, where someone believes they actually have an idea what someone else is thinking simply from being looked at or bumped. The fact is, people are just not capable of actually knowing what others think no matter how much some insist otherwise...we'd all be telepaths or X-Men if we were capable of that. These people usually try to read others' reactions and ultimately many make mistakes on what they actually read, which then starts the process of stirring up trouble in general. I surmise a lot of this is due to trouble with either personal boundaries, a sense of entitlement, personal ego, insecurity issues, erroneously projecting thoughts onto others, a lot of alcohol, or a combination of any or all of these. My solution would be to sit these people down or pull them aside, tell them they suck at mind-reading and stop being a fool, because that's what they're doing...being foolish (it might be hard to do it when they're drunk...do it when they sober up). It's embarassing to be around people like this because it only ends bad for everybody all around. Unfortunately, it'll probably still happen...oh well.

 -  After a lot of anxiety (especially over auto and financial related stuff) and some depression the past couple of weeks, as of yesterday I am finally starting to relax and feel like myself again. A lot of little things and stuff I couldn't control contributed to this, and now that a lot of it has passed I can start moving on and getting to the things I need to take care of....like myself.

 -  As you can tell by the timing of this entry, I am not watching Wrestlemania this year. I'll get the results later but honestly I was just not up for it this year and with a couple of exceptions the overall card did not inspire me to want to watch it. I did watch the Hall of Fame ceremony yesterday (online and on TV) and that was enjoyable...I was especially loving with the induction of Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, who was a major factor in me becoming hooked on pro wrestling when I was a teenager.

 -  I've done some "online spring cleaning" of my Myspace. If you haven't noticed already, I dropped a significant number of people from my friends list over the weekend. Those I dropped were either people who I really didn't know whatsoever or celebrities or organizations I no longer keep track of. In other words, if I know you, you weren't and won't be dropped. There are some people who "collect friends" for their vanity or egos...I'm not one of 'em. BTW, I've been on Myspace for a couple years now, so it was probably time to do some spring cleaning.

 -  I've upgraded my Linux OS and in doing so finally got my computer to boot up the way I want it too. It took me a while to get that going, but I'm happy I got that taken care of.

 -  A quote I found perusing Myspace: It is better to love people and use things than to love things and use people.

 -  Can you believe it's gonna get cold again? At least it's only for a couple days and then it'll be back to warmer weather, just in time for my birthday :)

 -  Song on repeat: "How Soon Is Now" by Love Spit Love. This is a cover of a song originally produced in the 80's (I don't know who originally did it) and was used as the theme song for the TV show "Charmed". If I had a euphemism to describe this particular song, it would be "hauntingly relaxing"....don't know why, it just seems appropriate.

 -  SLP to the following: Cheryl, Holly & Heather, Kevin, Kristin, Stan, FINODI, Griff, Daryl, Jay, Vanessa and Liz (from Facebook).

Next week is gonna be a big week for me...I'm turning 37 (OMG...I'm getting OLD!!! AUUUUUUUUGH!!!!). I hope my birthday this year is enjoyable...I am crossing my fingers and knocking on wood just in case. Until next time, people. Take care and God Bless.

DJ

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