I shot this photo in North Carolina. Isn't that beautiful? I'll have another story for you tomorrow. Just stare at this for a while. Yeah. 

You may have seen this image on Liz's blog the other day, but I feel she minimized its importance by minimizing it. I would like to showcase Gardner's masterpiece in all of its glory. Here. And if you don't understand any of this, it's okay. You weren't meant to. Just enjoy the art. 

Aggravating Indifference

That Sound You Hear? » What's On My Mind by Gary Allan
Current MP3 Count » 4,800
Big News » Word has it British kids have taken to the streets to slap random people. And photograph the act. Okay. So it's called "happy slapping" and it's incredibly pointless. They use these new video cell phones to capture the shock on people's faces and then post them online. In case you were wondering, yes it's illegal. Gotta love those Brits.

Now, today's story...

Two posts in one day! In your face, people who complained about my previous lack of posts! Ha! Ha.

So the President is presently present on my TV. It's not like I'm missing anything important. We all know how good Joey and The O.C. are. Yeah. Moving on...

Actually, tonight I wanted to write about this morning. As my previous 3 A.M. post explained, my group had our treatment presentation today. This huge project we've been planning and researching for two months. Our client never showed up.

After shepherding this thing down the field for so many weeks, on the one-yard line — nothing. It was infuriating. Although it was just our group's bad luck. We got the client that doesn't care. According to Flanagan, this is common. Lucky us.

We still had to present though, but instead of having a client to focus on, we had a classroom full of people who really could care less. We did a decent job, though clearly the presentation didn't have its intended effect.

I might also point out that about a half hour after we got out of class I received an email from our client — the representative from the chemistry department. She apologized for "forgetting" that the time was changed to 8:15. Even if that were true, she still didn't show up at 8:30 (which is what we had originally told her).

This afternoon, I sent her an email. It containted just one word: "Thanks." Sarcasm gets the point across best.

I'd also like to point out that the other two groups had great clients. They were interested and impressed with the presentations. Both bought the packages. It's incredibly frustrating to be the head of the only group that didn't, especially since we had one of the better presentations. The chemistry people just didn't want a video. They shouldn't have volunteered for the project.

That's all. I'm finished complaining. Just thought you'd like to know. No? Too bad. You could've stopped reading at any prior moment. Yeah, that's right.

More Work: I had Dubya on in the background earlier while I was writing this post. He was talkin' nonsense about how social security is gonna run out by 2041. I can't tell you how excited I am to be able to work until I'm 90. It's great news.

More Icelandic water falling. Ooh. That thing is massive. And check out the rainbow in the foreground. I take the coolest pictures, don't I? What do you know? 

Pre-Dawn Ramblings

That Sound You Hear? » Four-Thirty by Sara Evans
Days Until My 21st Birthday » 40
Big News » A guy in Dayton, Ohio found a piece of skin in his sandwich while lunching at Arby's. Evidently a salad slicer sliced more than salad. He made a slice of his thumb part of the entree. Yum!

Now, today's story...

It's 3 A.M. right now and I'm just writing to keep my brain awake. That huge production project you may or may not have heard me mention before — tomorrow's the big day. Well, today actually. About 5 hours from now we'll be up there presenting our treatment package.

I met with everyone earlier tonight. At 9, to be precise. I missed both Revelations and Alias. Some people, right? We rehearsed and planned for about two hours. We're ready. So ready.

I won't be sleeping tonight. There's a lot of last minute printing that has to be done. We're doing four packets and each packet is nine pages. That's 36 pages total. Multiplication. Even at 3. I still got it.

The other reason I'm staying up is that I don't want to risk not waking up in the morning. This is the most important class of the semester and it would be just my luck to have the power go out (storms have been rolling through) and keep my alarm clock from going off. No, it's too risky.

So here I am. If you want to get a glimpse of what I've been working on, you can visit my group's web site. I designed it, of course. The company is called Cirrus Media. Not to be confused with Sirius Satellite Radio. At all.

The site basically has everything we've been working on for the past several weeks. Almost everything. A lot of things. Some things. Things. You know.

I recently got thing on MySpace.com. I don't know why. Liz and Brett are there. I used my profile to plug away at my blog here. That's kinda funny. I won't use the MySpace blog. I like this one better.

You don't really care, do you? All of this nonsense. You're thinking, geez, this guy is boring. Why doesn't he talk about himself a little more? And now he's telling me what I'm thinking. What an ass.

That about sum it up? Thought it might.

Forgive me, its late. Or early. This hour is open to interpretation in my book. Anyhow, I mentioned MySpace because now that I've typed enough for a blog post, I'm going to go occupy my brain over there.

Disclaimer: Please disregard any nonsensical or disturbing behavior that you may have previously witnessed in the above blog post. I assure you it was the lack of sleep talking. In fact, it could still be talking right here in the disclaimer. Damn. Oh, the song. It's close to 4:30 now. Closer than it was several hours ago. Don't mind me. Have a wonderful day.

Iceland. I will go back there one day. It's such a great place. No post again, I know. I have stories to tell, just no time to write them. My massive project presentation is tomorrow, so I will surely have time to write afterwards. 

Yes, another day without a story for you. Because this damn production project has consumed my life. Pictured is the culprit: the USF chemistry department's newest addition. I never did like chemistry. 

I thought this was a funny sign. I saw it on the Isle of Skye where we boarded the ferry back to Scotland. I wonder how many people have driven their cars into the water to prompt that sign being posted. 

This is Liz. Also known as Tiger Lily. You'd have to ask her about that. I shot this picture in North Carolina. 

iSpite

That Sound You Hear? » Let Go by Frou Frou
Days of NHL Lockout » 220
Big News » If you can't beat them, beat them up? I know, lame. Yet the Rays and Red Sox cleared their benches this afternoon over a little disagreement, livening up, if only for a moment, the most boring game on the planet.

Now, today's story...

It happened again. The universe's spitefulness has kicked me in the throat once again. Yes, the throat.

A couple of weeks ago, I was at my house on a day I suppose when everyone had gotten Subway for lunch before I came over. I guess their fountains weren't working because Jason and my grandma had gotten bottled Pepsi. And it was specially labeled. One in three wins a free song from iTunes.

Both of them won, yet neither of them use iTunes. So my grandma gave her up code and Jason asked me to use his to get a song for him. Then I got greedy. I thought, hey if they got free songs, maybe I could too. I stopped by Subway on the way back to the dorm. "Please try again."

Typical. One in three, my ass. The story continues, however.

Today I went over to Hollywood Video in Valrico to drop off some tapes to Brett. If you must know it was the first 15 episodes of the fourth season of Alias. I got him hooked on the show by way of the first three seasons of DVDs and now he's gonna catch up so he'll be ready for Wednesday's new episode. Everyone should be more like him.

I was surprised at the amount of candy and random snacks they have around the checkout counters. Also by the little girl trying to slip what looked like a PEZ machine into her jeans. I don't think it worked. But I would've liked to have seen her dad bust her.

Anyway, Brett grabbed a Pepsi, which by the way, had the iTunes labels. So I thought I'd give the free music opportunity another stab. Just to spite me, not only did the universe give me another losing cap, but it gave Brett (who, like my grandmother and brother, does not have iTunes) a winner. Is that even fair?

But see it all worked out in the end because Brett gave me his free song. Therefore, my song of the day is in tribute to him. Every person on this planet with a brain loves the Garden State soundtrack. But Brett, you see, has a special love for Frou Frou. Hence today's music.

To sum up: nice friends, mean universe. Say that over and over. And over.

In Memory: On a sad note, Stephane Provost died in a motorcyle accident on Friday. He was 37. Provost was an NHL linesman who worked mostly Lightning games. I used to see his name all the time in the game recaps in the newspaper. He worked for the league for 10 years and officiated nearly 700 games.

Don't you wish you could live there? I know I do. Hey, maybe you do already. Tell me all about it. I'll be waiting. 

A Shining Moment

That Sound You Hear? » Let's Find Out by John Berry
Current MP3 Count » 4,771
Big News » Italian dog owners beware. If you don't walk Fidotini at least three times a day, the man is coming after you. A new city ordinance in Turin requires the walkings under penalty of €500 ($650). No, it's not a joke. Italy's a puppy-lovin' nation, no doubt.

Now, today's story...

It occurs to me that I was incredibly out of it when I posted yesterday. I never explained the thing I initially set out to explain — the U.S. map at the bottom of the sidebar. I kept finding tangents and just rolling with them, never making my way back home. Things will be different today.

First of all, the point of the map is to show where I've had visitors from within the continental United States. It may be self-evident, but I feel I should explain. The states that are colored in (green) are those that I have had visits from. I might also note that if Alaska and Hawaii were part of the map, they would be green also.

Once I get the map completely filled in, I'm gonna do something. I don't know what yet. Something to celebrate. As you can see, I'm more than halfway there now, but we'll see what happens. Maybe you can help me figure out what to do. Comment with some ideas.

Yes, well then. Okay. Yeah, I don't really want to tell this story, but it's just too weird to keep to myself I guess. I was cajoled, tonight, into going back to the grocery store to grumble about $1.49. Yeah, I know.

So this is how it went. This afternoon I ran over to Albertson's while I was in Brandon. (I drop by the house every Saturday because laundry is free.) It should be noted that among other things, I'm not entirely fond of grocery stores. And that's nothing personal, I'm not fond of any stores. They all want to take my hard-earned money. I mean my money.

Still, I went because I have to eat. And because I can't eat out for the rest of my life. No, it's true. I really can't. So off I went to buy things like cereal and chips and frozen dinners and all. And I thought I'd done a bang-up job for someone who loathes such a task.

It was after I got home that I discovered my rookie mistake. I noticed at the bottom of my receipt what read, "You could have saved $1.49." Could have?! Are you kidding?

It turns out that while I personally don't have a "preferred customer" card, my mom does and if the girl at the checkout had asked me, I could have just given her my phone number. Well none of those things happened.

So my mom starts prodding me to return to the store and complain. And, believe it or not, get my money back. Oh, yes. This is something I really want to do. Absolutely.

And then my grandma decides she wants ten scratch-offs, so now I figure I can go without feeling like an idiot, that being trying to get $1.49 back from a massive grocery store chain.

I walked in the store and went to the lotto counter, which fittingly enough also served as the customer service desk. I swiped $10 in tickets and proceeded with my complaint. But I couldn't look the woman in the eye. I pointed out the $1.49 in savings I "could have" had and flashed my grandma's "preferred" card at her, and low and behold that buck-and-a-half was returned safe and sound.

Boy, do I feel better. It was a shining moment. Like, here, I have nothing better to do than gripe about— I'm not saying the amount again. It just makes me sad.

And if you thought that was the end, you're wrong. Just to smite me, the universe had a little fun with me. Remember those 10 scratch-offs? My grandma handed me one. So I scratched it and it was a $25 winner. Come on. I would've said it was all worth it in the end, but it wasn't my $25 to keep. It was my $25 to wave at as it flew away. Now even the universe mocks me.

I have nothing more to say on the subject. Do you detect bitterness? In fact, you do.

Choose The Chosen: Tomorrow is Sunday and you know what that means. Another new chapter of The Chosen will be published. Just for you. Because I know how much you love to read it. Don't try to deny it. I see right through you. Tomorrow's story centers around a character you've never met before: Ava Lang. She's a chemist having a bad day. I hope you enjoy it.

Yet another picture from the UK during my trip. I shot this one around sunset while we were in Fort William. 

Canadians Welcome

That Sound You Hear? » That's What I Believe by One Mile South
Current Hit Count On This Blog » 264
Big News » We had a crazy mother yesterday, got another one today. Reuters is saying that a 40-year-old Myanmarese zoo staffer is breastfeeding two tiger cubs rejected by their mother. As well as her own seven-month-old baby. There must be something in the Indian Ocean these days.

Now, today's story...

It's perceivable that during your visit here today you may have noticed the new map of the United States located at the bottom of the sidebar on the right. Unless you aren't as observant as others. Or you just don't care. Either works.

For those perceptive people like yourself (I assume that if you weren't perceptive you wouldn't have noticed the map and therefore may have found my previous statements to be glib and insulting), I shall explain the map.

Last night I was stunned by the sudden spike in my hit count. My blog had 40 visitors last night, which, as you may or may not know, is unprecedented. And then precedent smacked itself around a little this morning. I had 50 hits before the evening.

The reason I bring it up is that it puzzles me. Liz blogged last night as well around the same time I did yet she failed to encounter any sort of a spike like mine. Nearly 100 hits in two days? I was lucky to have had 150 in two weeks!

And it's not like I'm stupid. I get why. You click that little "Next Blog" button up there at the top of the page and its anyone's guess where you go next. But why is mine so popular? Why do I keep randomly popping up?

Since I put up my counter (roughly three days after I began my blog), I've been visited by folks from 27 states and 14 different countries from around the world, including return visitors in Canada, Portugal and Malaysia. It's awesome, but it's sort of strange, right?

Of course as you can see, none of these people care to comment on what I have to say. I don't know, I might not care to comment either. It's just kind of fascinating is all. My writing has been seen by 15 nations across the planet. That's pretty big. Now whether any of these people are reading or not, who's to say?

Okay. I seem to have written down enough words to merit publication. And by that I mean I've wasted enough space to call it a full-length post. Yes. That I did. I suppose I could go for a few more words. I guess I'm having kind of a strange day. I don't usually like to babble this way.

Almost done. I figure, what? One more paragraph? That just means a couple more sentences from here. A little bit more typing and my job for tonight is finished. Though it's not like anyone's holding a gun to my head. For that kind of action, you could visit my fiction blog, The Chosen. But hardly anyone seems to be interested in that.

I read today on Blogger about a national novel-writing month. Didn't know months could write novels, but that's neither here nor there. The point is they were talking about fiction blogs. They called them NaNoBlogs. National novel... You get it.

All right, that'll do it. I've said my peace for the evening and continued to plug my less popular blog from my more popular blog. Come back tomorrow for a more interesting story. I swear it.

Speaking Of Plugs: I found the web site for this great new band, One Mile South. So I've decided to give them a free plug. It's just good music. I recommend streaming the full version of the 30-second clip I used for today's blog song — That's What I Believe. But really, they're all good. And if for some strange reason you don't care for it, then your opinion is just wrong.

This is the glacier you'll read about if you scroll down a little. That's me in the khaki pants that just flung a snowball. (So clearly I didn't take this picture. But it's the only one I didn't take.) 

Snowballs In August

That Sound You Hear? » Real by Brad Paisley
Days Until My 21st Birthday » 45
Big News » A woman in Bangladesh is selling one of her eyes because her husband left her and now her child is going hungry. Okay. That sounds just about right.

Now, today's story...

No, that title is not a euphemism for something. It's a literal descriptor. At the end of our UK trip in 2000 (which I cleverly dubbed UK2K for the purposes of designing the patches), we spent a few days in Iceland.

I know, it seems out of the way, right? Actually, it was a money-saver, believe it or not. Icelandair was less expensive than flying British Airways. The only catch is you have to stop in Iceland at some point during your trip. Yeah, like we're gonna argue with them.

We landed in Reykjavik (the capital) to change planes on the way to Glasgow, Scotland. Then when we came home from London we stayed for three days in Iceland before heading back to the States. Except my dad and I stayed an extra night because we got bumped off our flight (intentionally). We wanted to stay a little longer and enjoy the country on Icelandair's dime. And we did.

Iceland is one of the most beautiful places on the planet and certainly the most beautiful place I've ever seen myself. And it came right at the end of our trip, after London, when we thought it couldn't possibly get any better. It was around August 2 or 3 and we were doing all the Icelandic tourist stuff.

We rented vans and drove all around the southwestern part of the island. We hit a couple massive waterfalls, the Blue Lagoon, and the border of the American-European tectonic plates. And we drove up on top of a glacier. (Though not before Jeff put a few dents in the hubcaps of our rental vans by driving like he was in a monster truck rally. I wish I had gotten pictures.)

Still, up on that glacier — it's hard to describe. You can look around for miles and just see nothing. Maybe a paved road here and there. But otherwise nothing. It was so beautiful. So naturally we started throwing snowballs at each other — in August. There aren't a lot of places you can do that. For us Floridians, anyway.

We were up there for quite a while too. I remember I gave up the camera for a little while so I could sneak up on some people. I gathered up a pretty good sized snowball and pegged David squarely in the back of the head — by accident. I don't remember what I was aiming for. Of course I took my fair share of hits too.

Anyhow, I believe every person should visit Iceland at least once in your life. It's just a cool place. They have a great travel video here if you're interested (again, not being paid, but should be).

Fictional: Now that you've read the non-fiction, maybe you should head on over to read the fiction. Seriously, it's not a bad story, and it's only updated twice a week. I put Chapter 4 up this morning. Today's chapter is from Brock's point of view. Have a look.

I lived in there for a couple of days while in Scotland. You didn't. 

My Media Mania

That Sound You Hear? » New Slang by The Shins
Current MP3 Count » 4,744
Big News » Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI yesterday after just two days of the cardinals' conclave. They're calling him a 'transitional leader.' Which is not-so-subtle code for we expect him to die soon so we can elect somebody we really want. Yeah.

Now, today's story...

Yes, I know it's been a few days. It's been hard on me too. Do you even read my blog?

First off, I just have to say that at least the good people at Blogger Buzz read it. Last week, I wrote this post about this post they wrote concerning USF's new blog service, which by the way, I have recently joined but done nothing with.

Anyhow, I had made a comment about how they mistakenly used Southern instead of South and they actually read that — and made the correction! That may not sound like much to you, but having someone, anyone really, reading your work and responding to it (even if it's just fixing a spelling error) is pretty cool. To me. So thanks to Eric at Blogger Buzz for noticing — and commenting. Everyone should be more like him.

I mean it. Comment away, folks. I'm getting old over here. Tell me a story. Look at all the stories I've already told you.

That said, I'm moving on. I thought I might run down some of things I've been doing this past week that have kept me from blogging. To begin, my producing class group has settled on a name. We're called Cirrus Media, not to be confused with Sirius Satellite Radio.

So as the "A-liner" at Cirrus Media, my job is to oversee our big projects, namely the treatment package we're working on for the chemistry department. You may remember if you know how to read, I've mentioned it before. The idea is to draw up the plans for a three-minute video they can put on their web site to convince out-of-towners to come here to USF.

Well somewhere along the way, Dr. Flanagan got the impression that we're supposed to be producing a video to be played at orientation for the chemistry graduate students who had already been accepted. This, I must say, is much different from the recruitment video we believed we were making — for grauduates considering which university they should head to.

Ultimately we just decided to listen to our client, since she knows better what she wants than Flanagan does — clearly. Recruitment it is. But that consensus was reached only after we scrapped our first drafts (recruitment) for a few new drafts (orientation). Yeah, we're back to square one.

If you thought that was annoying, join the club. We have hats.

Anyway, Monday night was eaten by my having to write and rewrite that wonderful orientation script that will never see the light of day. Wasteful. I could've been writing wonderful things to you.

Then Tuesday night, I put the final touches on my advertising project. The assignment was to invent a product or service that does not already exist and design and advertising plan for it. That includes creating a couple of spec ads to give an idea of how the marketing campaign will manifest itself visually. If you're so inclined, you can click here to see the print ad I designed.

It wasn't a big stretch for me considering it's been my job for over five years now. Speaking of which, if you're interested, you can also see a couple of ads I designed for James-Rivard Pontiac GMC, a car dealership in the area. In February, we gave it a Teachers of the Year theme. March was all about the return of spring sports. We featured the new Pontiac Solstice in the April ad. And I'm only responsible for some of the May ad, but it has a Memorial Day theme.

Don't Make Me Do It: Liz has gone to some extreme lengths in attempting to get people to comment on her blog, since after all, we KNOW that you are reading it. I don't want to have to do that. Just say a little something. Even a "hi, how are ya" will suffice. I'll be waiting.

Promises, schmomises. Here, look at this Icelandic crater. I have a lot of work to do. But I swear, tomorrow, I'll be here. Writing away. Really. Fine, don't believe me. 

Today seemed like a pretty good day for a mountain picture since I don't really have anything to write about. Don't worry, I'll come up with something tomorrow just for you. This mountain range is on the coast of Iceland. And that there, is a black sand beach, my friend. 

I shot this is Edinburgh, Scotland. It was really an interesting place. 

Smokers In Stereo

That Sound You Hear? » Live This Life by Big & Rich
Current Hit Count On This Blog » 141
Big News » The Indiana House has passed a bill that would require the whole state to observe daylight savings time. As it stands now, half the state doesn't know what time it is in the other half for half of the year. Yeah, that made as much sense as those 77 counties who don't change their clocks with the rest of the world.

Now, today's story...

I told you eventually I'd get around to talking about my fascination with smokers. Today seems like a pretty good day for it.

My production class group has been having trouble getting together all at the same time to meet up outside of class. One time, a couple weeks ago, we had all made plans to meet, but only Brandi, Mike and I showed. I should point out that I spent most of that meeting inhaling toxins courtesy of Brandi's death sticks. I mean her no offense, but I hate smoking with a passion.

So today we set up another meeting, and at first, only Brandi and Ramon had shown up. So, sitting outside the library, the three of us decided to get started with some ideas, a little brainstorming session. Well naturally it turned into the smoking corner when Ramon whipped out a pack of lung killers. At which point Brandi asked for one.

Well how lucky am I? Because I got to sit right in between them. Smokers in stereo. It was a barely living, barely breathing nightmare as I longed for all that fresh air just beyond me.

This nonsense went on for quite some time. Eventually I worked my way out of the situation by suggesting that we all go inside the computer lab to look up some information online. 'Cause you can't smoke in the library. Clever, huh? Well, I don't care. It worked.

Looking at this from a broader perspective, it boggles my mind. How can anyone, especially my age, still smoke? You're in college, so clearly you went to high school. Did they not show you the pictures of the black lungs?

To some extent I can understand an older person smoking. They started early before they knew all the dangers (although come on, inhaling smoke directly into your lungs, really). But if you're 20, you know how stupid you are. You must.

I don't know. Maybe it isn't my place to say what people should or shouldn't do to their bodies. But I think when it comes to the health of others, there should be a common decency, right? If you want to take a gun and shoot yourself in the face, by all means, do it. But don't take that same gun and start waving it around with your finger clamped down on the trigger. And it seems a lot like that's what you nuts are doing.

Here in Tampa, you aren't allowed to smoke in restaurants anymore. Add that to airplanes, gas stations, most office buildings, and a whole host of other places that will soon be added to the list.

You all can kill yourselves if you want. But you won't kill us. We'll breathe fresh air until the day we die — which will be long after the day you die.

With that, I'll step off my metaphorical soap box and leave you alone. So long as you keep that thing far away from me.

Crazy People: By the way, if you wanna read the quotes of some seriously brain-challenged people, read that story I linked to from the St. Pete Times. One guy actually blamed the United States military for his smoking habit. Unreal. Comment if you'd like. I wouldn't mind hearing some opinions.

This is a fountain outside an important building in York, England. Now, maybe one of these days I'll remember to jot down some info about the interesting things I take pictures of. Maybe. 

How To Overpower Monotony

That Sound You Hear? » I Play Chicken With The Train by Cowboy Troy
Next DVD I'm Buying » The West Wing: Season 4
Big News » CNN says Canadians have named a wayward whale that's been frolicking in the Delaware River near Trenton, NJ. They call him Helis, which somehow translates to boat propellor. Don't ask. I'm not sure I want to know either.

Now, today's story...

A few weeks ago, I was in the office on photo day. Every couple of weeks our photographer comes in and kids who have written stories drop by and smile for their mug shot. We always put their pictures next to their stories in the paper.

Well I happened to mention to my boss that I was looking for a second job over the summer since my internship got bumped to the fall (more on that another day). Sue, the photographer, told me about a job with the post office her daughter was looking into. Well as you may or may not know, the USPS (linking everywhere is my new thing) pays extremely well. So naturally I was interested.

She didn't give me much information, just suffice it to say that it's basic data entry — typing, which clearly I have no quarrel with. So anyhow, she gave me the number of a guy, who gave me a web site to go to in order to read about the job.

Well, reading up on it, there were some things that I found pretty funny. In essence, the job is to read illegible address labels on mail and type it into the computer. And by illegible, I mean the machines they have are unable to read it. So it sounds pretty monotonous until I saw the salary: $12.43 per hour. It's $13.45 if you work between 6 P.M. and 6 A.M. I think I can handle the monotony.

Now getting the job is another story. First, you have to fill out a basic application online, at which point, I assume, they ship you a packet of information about taking the exam. This is a written test, as I understand it, quizzing your knowledge on simple math and grammar skills. Basic.

Once you pass that test, you move on to the typing test. You have to type 35 lines of postal information within five minutes. Also not difficult. Only after you've done well on those things do you get an interview. Good way to weed out the losers in the early stages.

Anyway, I'll keep you "posted" on any news I get regarding the job. There's an apartment I'd like to move into in the fall and it isn't going to pay for itself. Well it might. No, probably not.

Oh come on, the "posted" pun. How could I avoid it? I lack the necessary will power.

Come back and visit tomorrow. That and please leave me a message. I'm a guy desperate to know his audience. I know you're out there. I feel you. Talk back. This is your time.

Hick-Hop Radio: I'd like to say that the song choice today was more out of convenience than anything else. What is Cowboy Troy? Country? Rap? He says Hick-Hop. Apparently people can invent genres now. Which I don't have a problem with, it's just I'm pretty sure it's weird. And what the hell, right? Strange music is good every once in a while.

I photographed this sunset in Scotland on one of our first nights in the country. 

The Coincidence Train Is Now Boarding

That Sound You Hear? » King Of The World by BlackHawk
Obligatory Weather Update » 67° and breezy (well, I haven't been outside yet, but that's what TBO.com says)
Big News » MSNBC has been reporting that time is running out to file your tax returns! Is it?! Who knew? Because that April 15th always sneaks up on everybody. Yeah, you have to actually look at a calendar.

Now, today's story...

I started this blog a week ago yesterday when Liz told me she was thinking of starting one. It seemed like a good idea to me, so here I am. It was a novelty, something new I'd never tried before. But since I like to write, it's been a good fit.

Last weekend we got a little more into it, learning how to post pictures and what not. I even created two more blogs to go with it, one fictional, one a collection of quotes.

A couple days later, I got a USF blanket e-mail informing students that a new online service is now available to us. It's called blog@USF. If only we'd waited a couple of days. We wouldn't be here. Good thing we didn't, this is a great site. (No, they aren't paying me. But they should, right?)

Over the weekend at some point, Liz showed me a blog that she liked to read, written by a former Tampa radio DJ. She lives in Boston now but she did a write-up one day about this guy who calls himself Peter Pan. His name is Randy something and he lives here in Tampa. He dresses up as Peter Pan on a daily basis. This is how he goes to the grocery store and the doctor's office, etc. Yes, I agree, he is a freak. But that couldn't matter less to this story.

On Monday I picked up a copy of The Oracle (USF's student newspaper) on the way to my advertising class. And what do you suppose was right there on the front page? Well if my style of storytelling didn't lead you there, then I'll spell it out: Peter Pan. That's pretty weird, right? He was prominently featured on the Features page, now dubbed Montage for reasons passing understanding.

Two days later, right before Comm Law, I grabbed a copy of The Oracle. Maybe you can guess what the cover story was. It talked about how USF is the first university (in which many are likely to follow) to offer personal blogs to students. No lie.

Then the coincidence train made its most recent stop at the Blogger Buzz page this morning when I saw this post. They talk about about the technology in USF's new blog service. And even though they called us the "University of Southern Florida," I'm willing to see past it if for no other reason than they made us famous for a day. Still, it's South, man. University of South Florida.

Northerners: Just wanted to close by sending a shout-out to my returning readers from New York. But I have one question. Why? Are my stories that interesting? Leave me some commments if you've got the time. You know how writers love feedback.

This is what's left of the old castle on the banks of Loch Ness. No, we didn't catch a glimpse of the monster. I know, bummer. 

Ah, you thought I'd forget. I didn't. Finally the first in a series of pictures I plan to publish from my UK trip in 2000. I shot this in Loch Lomond, Scotland. 

102 Years Ago

That Sound You Hear? » Everything's All Right by Jude
Most Recent Stanley Cup Champion » Tampa Bay Lightning
Big News » President Bush threw the ceremonial first pitch of the season for the new Washington Nationals today. You know what he didn't do? Drop the puck in the ceremonial first faceoff of the season for the Washington Capitals. I miss hockey.

Now, today's story...

I was going to use this as my "Big News" story, but I just wanted to write about hockey tonight. Because I miss it. But apparently there's an amateur hockey league in Canada that wants to award the Stanley Cup to its champion this season, what with the NHL being in lockout and all.

First of all, let me just say that I am appalled that anyone could attempt to take the Cup away from my Lightning quite so easily. It may be true that when Lord Stanley first offered the Cup as a championship trophy, it was for an amateur league. But that was a hundred years ago! Literally. Actually, it was more than a hundred years ago. It was 102.

And while the four Canadians who have visited my blog may find my views to be insulting, and well, possibly blasphemous, you should know that I love my Bolts. And who was it that we beat to carry that 30 pounds of sterling silver around our arena? Oh yes, that would be the canadian cowboys.

No offense to Flames fans, but your team just couldn't cut it against a far more superior hockey team from Florida! We really do rock. When I said no offense, I really did mean it. You had a great team, but you won the Cup 20 years ago. For us, it was the first time. Ever.

And for hockey in Tampa, that championship would have been so much bigger this year had it not been for the lockout. Could you imagine the turnout at the games? I don't mind bandwagon fans, as long as they admit to it. What bugs me are the people who went to one game in 1992 when hockey in Florida was a novelty, and haven't been since, then claimed they've been fans since the beginning.

I think I've gotten off track a little. Though I'm not sure I really had anything to focus on in the first place. The point is, if anybody takes our defense of the Stanley Cup away, it better be another NHL team we've been able to play against. None of this I'm-not-good-enough-for-the-pros-but-I-still-think-I-deserve-the-cup crap. None of it.

That said, I look forward to the day in October when we can raise the 2004 Stanley Cup banner to the rafters. I'm sure these guys will resolve everything by then. Oh, and if you think you're getting a comment out of me, you're mistaken. I can see both sides, so I'd rather not say who should have their way. Compromise, boys.

Updates: The second chapter of my version of the apocalypse was posted today if you're interested. My fiction blog is called The Chosen. I've also been updating my third blog on a daily basis. It's called Worth Repeating and it just has funny quotes from a variety of TV shows. I do a random episode from a random show each day.

This is the newspaper office where I work. I took this picture around Halloween, hence the odd decorations. 

Hell Hotel, Part II

That Sound You Hear? » Don't Ask Me How I Know by Bobby Pinson
Days Until My 21st Birthday » 53
Big News » An American medical company shipped about 5,000 samples of an extremely deadly flu virus to labs all around the U.S. and 18 other countries. The World Health Organization called it "unwise." Gee, you think?

Now, today's story...

Continuing last night's story about the road trip hotel fiasco...

We get back from dinner at Friday's with clearer heads and actually find the hotel is worse than we thought. Yeah, by this time it's roughly 8 P.M. We had checked into the first room around 4 that afternoon.

We packed up the Explorer and went back to the front desk to tell them we're not staying and we'd like a refund. Turns out we got the stupidest front desk clerk ever to live. She says that she will have to charge us for the night because it was past the 30-minute grace period. There's a 30-minute grace period?! We're not staying the night! I want my money back!

Okay, but more important than the money to us at this point was getting some rest. It was getting late and we just wanted to sit down, relax and, I don't know, maybe sleep. So we left — $50 poorer. But we had every intention of writing to Days Inn and getting our refund.

We hit the road, homeless and tired. We remembered seeing a couple of nicer places up at the exit where we'd had dinner earlier. So, failing any better ideas, headed that way. Right there was an EconoLodge. We weren't holding out much hope but figured it couldn't be much worse than we'd just experienced.

We walked through the door with a plan. Under no circumstances were we booking a room without first inspecting it ourselves. And we weren't going to listen to anybody's nonsense. No, we'd learned.

I don't think we could've found a nicer or more understanding person behind the front desk that night. He handed us a key and said we could have a look. It was perfect. Absolutely. It smelled wonderful and... wait for it... there were towels! Really.

We checked in, by the way, at $45 a night, so how about that. We unloaded the car and sat down to play Skip-Bo when we realized we hadn't brought the cooler in. And it wasn't in the car. Yes, you know what that means. We left it at that godforsaken Days Inn.

So off we went for Round 2 with the desk clerk from Hell Hotel. But to make a long, annoying story short, we got a key and got the cooler out of the room — and we never had to go back to that damn place ever again. I should also point out that we spent a good part of the night at the EconoLodge writing down everything they did to screw us over. It was a good night.

See? Some stories do have happy endings. But here's your ironic twist. For breakfast the next morning, we drove down the street to a clean, stand-alone Waffle House. You can't make this stuff up. It was one of the best meals of our trip.

And if you're just that curious, no we never did get our fifty bucks back. For that alone I recommend that if you're planning a trip, avoid Days Inn at all costs. Literally. And figuratively.

Apocalypse Tonight: The new series Revelations premieres on NBC tonight. Rest assured it's nothing close to what my fiction blog is about. Not even a little bit. Very different. Still, I'll be watching it tonight and will report back tomorrow. It should be interesting.

This the cabin we stayed in for the week. I helped build it in the summer of 2000. 

Hell Hotel, Part I

That Sound You Hear? » I'm Gone by Alison Krauss & Union Station
What I'm Watching Tonight » Scrubs and The Office; if you miss either, you're crazier than Steve Carell
Big News » In 2007, Crosstown tolls will be jumping 25 to 50 cents. Hmm. And all this time I thought they were trying to get more people to use it. (Sorry, if you don't live in Tampa/St. Pete, you probably won't get it.)

Now, today's story...

Last summer, my cousin and I took a road trip up to North Carolina. Our grandparents own some land up in the mountains. They carry their trailer up there every summer and hang out where it's much, much cooler. I like their thinking. Anyway, Jennifer and I had been talking about the trip for quite some time... finally last summer we made it happen.

We decided to stay up there in the cabin for a week with them. (Why do they bring their fifth-wheel if they have a cabin, you ask? Well, smart ass, it's not really a cabin. It's a 10 by 10 shed that I helped my grandfather build. We outfitted it to house a bathroom, laundry facilities, and a futon. There's also air mattress space in the loft. Smart ass.)

Back to my story (as if you could focus on anything else now, what with all the parentheticality (I know it's not a word.).) One week in the mountains, followed by three days in Atlanta on the way home. That was the plan. Well the grandparents pampered us in North Carolina, and that was great, but we were on our own for Georgia's biggest city.

So before we left, we found a Days Inn for a decent price — $50 a night. So we called and booked a room, only I think the woman was having difficulty comprehending the term "non-smoking." (More on smokers another day. And oh yes, if you are one, odds are I will offend you. Because you suck.)

So the best, most relaxing week of our lives ends and we set forth from the mountains to Atlanta. Our Mapquest (free plug just because) maps led us to our Days Inn. At first glance, looked liked kind of a trashy place. Let me paint you a picture. It was attached to a Waffle House. Enough said? Thought so.

But we're dumb enough to give it a shot. I mean we do realize there's a reason we're paying only $50 a night. We get our keys and in we go. First thing we notice? The utter stench of lingering cigarette smoke. Let's be clear that we asked for and she assured us that it would be a non-smoking room. If she wasn't lying, then some idiot can't read signs written in English. And there are no towels. Also, there is no lock on the bathroom door.

So like the demanding little punks we are, we asked for a new room. Also smoky. And no towels (though we'd picked up some at the front desk by that point). And a broken lock on the bathroom door. And a now the ceiling is caving in. I've had enough and Jennifer's had more than enough of this. We imagine that perhaps we're just being pissy because of the long drive. So we decide to take a breather and grab some much needed grub at a Friday's just a few miles up I-75.

This is kind of a long story and I'm not wild about really long posts, so I'm gonna stop right there and just say to be continued. I'll let you know what happened from there tomorrow. And unfortunately, it wasn't pleasant.

Wrong One: By the way, it turns out that when I went to my house today to pick up the CD that has all of my UK pictures on it, I grabbed the wrong one. And I know, like me, you're absolutely dying to see them. They're coming. (Now I'm worried whether they'll live up to all the hype.)

This is the lovely Atlanta Days Inn you were just reading about. I shot it on our way out. 

This was a waterfall in North Carolina. It's been my wallpaper since last summer. 

Global Dominance

That Sound You Hear? » El Cerrito Place by Charlie Robison
Current MP3 Count » 4,728
Big News » Lord Capulet shot up the Montague family on Sunday night. Wait, no, I'm getting my stories crossed. This idiot from Jacksonville didn't like the guy his daughter was dating so he saw to it that six people were admitted into the hospital... including members of his own family. There's the sign of a brain at work.

Now, today's story...

Last night I thought it would be interesting to install a counter on my blog here. Liz put one on hers to track who was reading what she had to say. She wouldn't stop talking about all the Virginians that dropped in.

I wanted to see if any Virginians were visiting me. Turns out they aren't. On the other hand, I've got Canadians and Costa Ricans and some Mexicans thrown in there. But don't get me wrong, I've got some folks from right here in the states too. There are Texans and Iowans and Californians and Alabamans, even Indianans.

So I just wanted to say to all of you out-of-towners who took the time, and even the ones who came upon me by accident, thank you. Clearly it was time well spent. But yeah, if you never read this again I wouldn't blame you.

Also, since I am obviously pressed for blogging ideas, I should take this time to plug my other blog — my fiction blog. Yep, totally fake. Totally.

It's called The Chosen and it's a completely made up story about another set of prophecies written by John after he wrote Revelations. It was left out of the Bible, yada yada, and now seven people have been chosen to, you know, stave off the end of the world.

Hokey? Maybe. But I think it'll make for some interesting reading. Perhaps even wishful thinking on the part of those people worried they'll be banished to hell at the apocalypse. Personally, I believe in reincarnation and the world's never gonna end. Like a broken record, it'll just keep playing over and over.

I publish new chapters of the story twice a week — every Sunday and Thursday. Each is told from the point of view of one of the seven main characters. It will unfold very slowly. I've got a lot of story ideas, but I want to make it last.

Yeah, so I'm done now. I'll have something more interesting posted tomorrow. Well, don't hold me to that. We'll see how it goes.

Oh, and feel free to comment. Say whatever you want. Just let me know you're out there.

Not Forgotten: I should have those UK pictures up tomorrow. I'll have to go pick up the CD at my house. I don't care if you don't care. I care.

I took this in North Carolina during my road trip last summer. It was rainy and overcast all week long. Still, I do love the mountains. 

Harry Potter And The Irritating BritRail

That Sound You Hear? » Seven Nights In Eire by Reckless Kelly
Days of NHL Lockout » 206
Big News » Yahoo is reporting that John Kerry said voters in last year's election were denied access to polls through trickery and intimidation. Liz said it perfectly: "Let it go, man."

Now, today's story...

First of all, let me just say that contrary to what the title may have you believe, this post has absolutely nothing to do with Harry Potter. I simply thought it would be funny and/or clever. I've made room for the possibility that it's neither.

I got to thinking about my UK trip in 2000 today. It could've been spurred on by the aforementioned Ireland song I keep playing over and over. One never knows.

Five years ago this summer I spent three weeks roaming the British Isles, just taking it all in. I have pictures, however haven't quite been able to locate them. I assure you that when I do you will be among the very first people to see them — whether you want to or not.

So I was thinking about the train rides. We'd ride for hours at a time from one end of the island to another. The view was usually beautiful. But every now and then, we'd have a wrench thrown into things.

Once on the way to Fort William, we were stopped at a station that we had apparently hit ahead of schedule. The driver announced that we had ten minutes before it was time to leave. So Tim and Jeff decided not to wait around. They headed over to a nearby gift shop. No more than three minutes after that, the doors shut and the train starts down the tracks. Yeah, they got left at the store. It was six hours before we saw them again. They showed up at the hostel loaded down with more crap than-- well, you get the idea.

But they actually enjoyed their day. About a week later in Wales, a few of us had gone into town, why I can't remember. Doesn't matter. But it was late at night and the winos were drinking themselves into comas everywhere including our train. This one guy (who may or may not have been dead) was just laying there against the door keeping it from opening once we hit our station. Clearly, he wasn't moving so we ran to the next door at the other end of the car... just as it was closing.

We had to wait for the next station which, by the way, was completely empty. We managed to find one guy on the late night shift who called a taxi for us. It was 2 A.M. and that was the longest and most expensive cab ride of my life. We made it back to the Welsh hostel poorer for our troubles just as the sun was beginning to peek over the Atlantic horizon. How fun for us.

The other train story had to do with a packed Underground subway on a Monday morning in London. Suffice to say that I stood alone on the platform watching everybody I was with slide on down the tracks. I thought it was pretty funny. Can't say everyone else did.

Nightcap: I would just like to send a shout-out to all those red lights out there that turn green the very moment my car comes to a complete stop. Without you, my brakes would never get the workout they so richly deserve.

I shot this yesterday afternoon. 

Ibidfeyasccada

That Sound You Hear? » Hey Daisy by Drew Womack
Current MP3 Count » 4,684
Big News » Charlie and Cammie are now officially hitched. Thank god. I know we can all rest easier now.

Now, today's story...

I was looking forward to a sausage, egg and cheese McGriddle this morning. Every once in a while those things just make you believe in heaven. Unfortunately, it's possible I forgot to set my alarm clock. Yeah, I woke up at 10:20. It eludes me how these people can stuff a heart attack in a Big Mac but can't find it in themselves to serve breakfast past 10:30 in the morning.

That wasn't interesting. But this is. At the office today, my boss was interviewing potential graphic artists. (Still not the interesting part yet.) The paper is in need of someone who can, you know, actually do the job. I won't use her actual name, but let's just say I've-been-in-design-for-18-years-and-still-can't-create-a-decent-ad (we'll call her Ibidfeyasccada) has been "sick" and "out of town" recently. (Semi-interesting part.)

I like the story about how my boss saw her in Chinese restaurant with her husband the day she called in sick. Too sick to work, not sick enough to avoid Chinese food in public... around the corner from the office! (Hopefully the intersting part.) Ibidfeyasccada has also decided that fonts chosen by anyone but her are no good. Neither here nor there.

The interviews, were especially interesting to me, as a part-time graphic artist at the paper. (The office is 25 miles away from my campus dorm making it strikingly difficult to go at it full time.) The first guy had some great work but it was the second interview that I was struck most by.

His name is Josef Mancino and he had a very unusual portfolio. It's a CD in a specially designed cardboard case (that he designed, of course). The CD includes everything that's on his website, which happens to be here. I recommend it even if you have no interest in graphic design. He does great work.

So... nice knowing you Ibidfeyasccada, but it'll be even nicer having someone around who knows what he's doing when creating the look of the newspaper.

Disclaimer: I personally have nothing against Ibidfeyasccada, but it is pretty funny to me that someone who claims to have so much experience could be quite so addle-minded. I suppose it's none of my business. Or yours. Why are you reading this? Stop it. Stop. Seriously, dude. Stop. Now.

This is the cover I designed for 2005 Senior Classic game program.