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Sunday, the 24th of June, 2001

oh god. best party ever, in my entirely too limited experience. i will sleep now. that rocked.

Wednesday, the 20th of June, 2001

Laptop, cell phone, and telecommuting - pure decadence. I'm sitting in bed at work with a mug of coffee. It's enough to make up for the fact that I have to "punch the clock" on Central time rather than Pacific and thus get up two hours earlier than sanity. It's a hard adjustment for a nocturnal club-kid, but rather a small thing to trade away in the larger scheme.

I realized yesterday that even if someone gave me a million bucks tomorrow, I'd probably keep working, just for the hell of it. It's been a long time since a work project held my interest to that degree. It's not that this feels like working on Object Basic again - not at all - but it's a project well matched to my own interests. It's difficult enough that it keeps my mind going, but not to the point of perpetual frustration.

It turns out my outrageous phone bill came from a clerical mistake - when the Smart Wireless people set up my account, they forgot to record my request for the long-distance plan that turns all "airtime minutes" into "long-distance minutes". Since most of my phone usage is long distance, this omission added $95 to the total. A bit of consultation and a trip back down to the Smart Wireless store got it removed. The modified bill is actually $20 lower than my previous landline bill, and that's not bad considering I had to pay a setup fee in addition to the regular monthly rate.

Friday, the 15th of June, 2001

How'd it get to be Friday already? Where did Thursday go?

I discovered that I was living a day off when I looked at the clock and noticed I was half an hour late for the sushi lunch I had promised to attend. I strolled in less than ten minutes later, and nobody even blinked - a reputation for showing up late is a useful thing to cultivate.

Heather and Marc brought their Wave Gotik Treffen photos - rolls upon rolls full of spooky people and beautiful Leipzig buildings. It was mildly interesting, but I suspect you'd have to have been there to really understand what you were looking at.

Pete Overton was a lot quieter than I'd expected him to be. He was friendly and acted pleased to meet me, though I'd be surprised if he had any idea who I was.

Another visit to the military surplus store this afternoon left me carrying around a great silly machete. It's some eighteen inches long, with a saw blade up the back and a generally unpleasant appearance. It should be a nice accent for the sort of gay commando diva monk outfit I plan to wear at Burning Man. I'm making my best attempt at truly outrageous fashion, but I rather expect to discover myself positioned at the drab end of the scale when I arrive.

Wednesday, the 13th of June, 2001

Part of the reason I bought a wireless phone last month was that I was tired of triple-digit phone bills. The wireless plan I chose offered what I thought were plenty of minutes, enough to cover all my normal communicating needs, all included in the monthly fee. Perfect, I figured - it'll cost me less than my landline, and I'll get to carry it around with me too.

Today the first bill arrived - $30 higher than last month's record setting bill. The plan offers plenty of minutes, sure, but apparently I talk too much during weekdays and not enough on weekends. Ouch!

Apparently it's time to upgrade my calling-plan...

Tuesday, the 12th of June, 2001

More shopping - while at Home Depot picking up supplies for my futon-repair project, I bought a big pot and some plants to put in it. I'm going to put my patio chair out on the balcony, stand my tiki torch in the pot behind the foliage, and thereby create a nice little place to enjoy summer evenings.

Couch by day, bed at night, my futon [with a burgundy cover instead of that garish red] has experienced more use than the designer apparently anticipated. Someone stood on it, or sat down hard on it, or had sex on it, or something - I don't remember, but the half of the frame that forms the couch seat has been noticeably bent for at least a year. I'm apparently too much a cheapskate to actually replace the futon, or even just the bent piece, so I've lived with it ever since. The engineer in the back of my head just wouldn't leave it alone, though, and often as I wandered off to sleep (laying on that portion of the mattress which rests on the un-bent frame piece) I'd spin up plans involving reinforcing bars, angle iron, carriage bolts, and socket wrenches. It wasn't until this afternoon that I finally did something about it.

The project went well: an hour and a half of drilling, pounding, and wrenching later, there's a six foot steel beam supporting the frame, the bend is gone, and all that shows is a row of shiny round bolts when you lift up the mattress.

I don't know whether to feel proud of myself for designing and executing a successful solution, or really dumb for waiting so long to do it.

Monday, the 11th of June, 2001

This weekend feels like one long shopping spree. I'm typically somewhat tightfisted, and I haven't actually spent all that much money, but I feel like I've done nothing but buy, buy, buy for the last three days.

Saturday I raided the thrift shop across the street. The theme at the Mercury was a sort of 1890's Paris, Moulin Rouge bohemia thing, and I wanted to dress the part. I picked up a tuxedo shirt, a pair of suspenders, and black slacks with suspender-buttons. A silver-on-one-side, black-on-the-other velvet scarf around the neck, some shiny old pointy buckly-boots, and my double-breasted naval officer's jacket finished it all off. Now I have a pair of less-worn-out, cooler-looking shoes to replace the pair I've been wanting to get rid of for a while, and a good pair of pants.

Sunday: Ikea, looking for an office chair and possibly a dining room chair to replace the one that broke last week. I didn't find either, but I did come home with a fluffy grey blanket, one of those posable artist's figures, and lots of ideas for Burning Man camp supplies.

Today I did my first actual Burning Man shopping. I wander through the military surplus store around the block every now and then, but rarely find anything to my taste. But a week in the desert demands a different aesthetic, and now that I'm making plans, the store overflows with bounty. Returning home from my lunchtime shopping today, I carried a pistol belt, a pair of canteens and insulating covers, and a pair of canvas combat boots. All black, of course - I may be heading for the wilderness this summer, but I'm taking my sense of style with me.

Later this afternoon, I finally bought something I've been wanting since I first got my jeep - new seats! Hawk Suzuki in Medford sells seats from the Esteem station wagon plus an adapter kit to mount them in a Samurai, and I sprung for the set. They're big, plush bucket seats with adjustable headrests. Most of all, they haven't experienced fifteen years of wear.

If I keep plugging away at it, that jeep will eventually become something less than miserable on the long road trips I seem to find myself undertaking every few months.

Friday, the 8th of June, 2001

I ride through the city's backsides / I see the stars come / Out of the sky
Yeah the bright and hollow sky / You know it looks / So good tonight

work going well. life complicated & confusing. mood ok. tonight: out to the vogue with an old friend who, far's I know, has never been to a club. should be interesting.

Wednesday, the 6th of June, 2001

moody today. glad to have a digital cave to hide in.

got jarred out of my writing habit last month and haven't yet worked back in.

Sunday, the 3rd of June, 2001

Moulin Rouge is a visual blast, a spectacular musical rush through a fantasy of bohemia, Paris, love, and the eponymous nightclub.

Modern pop tunes, outrageous dance numbers, lush costuming, and an overwhelming sense of detail serve a plot that piles anachronism onto camp and melodrama, but the force of the director's vision is sufficient: the film holds together and does its damndest to pull you along. If you let go and enjoy the movie for its lurid, beautiful weirdness, it's a treat.

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