LifeBox

I also got an email from my Tai Chi teacher, Sifu Lorens, today that said, “marc, where have you been? get back to class soon!” Oh, the guilt. I’ve been a terrible slacker, and haven’t been to class in almost three weeks now. Tomorrow, for sure.

Holy crap, it’s hot.

We’re getting our air conditioning all redone – new furnace, intakes, ducts, blowers, insulation, whatever the hell they’ve got up there. All of it! It’s pretty expensive, but we’ve been getting electric bills over two hundred dollars lately, and this is a pretty mild summer, from all accounts. Only been over a hundred degrees a couple of times – last year, they say there were forty-odd days like that. So, Austin is pretty cool with the energy stuff, and we’re getting a big old rebate from the city for the work, and it should pay itself off in four or five years, anyway.

But that’s not what I’m here to talk about tonight. What I am here to talk about is this: it’s really fucking hot. They started work this morning, and found a good stopping point around three or four, which means that we spend the evening without air conditioning. It was around 95 this afternoon, and the weather pixies tell me that it’s a bit over 80-something right now. So, hot. We’ve got one small window unit in the back, so we closed off the bedroom/office to create a temporary cool zone, but the rest of the house is pretty hellish. So, we’re huddled back here, with the rest of the house closed off, trying to not melt, and hoping that the computers don’t catch on fire. Tomorrow, though, we’ll have a badass new energy-efficient thingy, and all will be well again.

Aside from staying out of the way of the workers, it’s been a pretty lazy day. I had lunch with my pal Justin out eastways; he just got back from his first trip to New York City, and wanted to share some stories. We had lunch at an awesome little barbecue place, Mueller’s – super tasty brisket, pinto beans and sweet tea. I brought him a laptop case from my giant evil pile, and he lent me some trade paperbacks of The Invisibles, which, by the way, gets a whole hell of a lot better in the second series. We also headed out to the flash mob in the evening – it was pretty small, only a dozen or so people, but spirits ran high as we grouped up and did stuff on the Congress bridge. Fun.

I also ate a whole watermelon. Now it’s time to lay flat.

Shoggoth on the Roof is just terrific. Much better than that fiddler crap.

This is retarded, and makes me furious: EFF co-founder John Gilmore was prevented from flying because he was wearing a button deemed to be in “poor taste” and refused to take it off.

Here is my feeble attempt to capitalize on this sorry situation: Suspected Terrorist Schwag

Flash mob today, yay.

Made myself some pizza, to compliment the other pie. Watched lots of Zatoichi.

I woke up at 4am this morning to drive Bernie to the airport. She’s going to be visiting folks, mostly her mom, back in California for a week or so. Getting up early sucks.

I baked my first apple pie last night, and it turned out pretty well. I’m seeing a lot of eating pie and coffee and ice cream in the near future.

Not a whole lot of excitement here. We had another huge-ass thunderstorm, which was fun, and I got a little phone interview for some flash stuff, but nothing super exciting.

I found some Polish guys using my last name for a group about something. I have no idea what it’s all about, but it looks fascinating to me, probably because it feels like they’re talking about me all the time. And I’m fascinating. If anyone knows what what this is, I’m real curious to find out.

I’ve been doing a bunch of research – that is, playing and reading about space exploring and trading games. Galtrader, Elite, Earth & Beyond, Escape Velocity, and a bunch of other games that don’t start with the letter “E”. Now, time for specs, and then the coding. Watch this space. Unless the movie watching and the HTML hating gets to me first, that is.

We got this stuff from my aunt, Hasta-Grow, or Insta-Grow, or something, for to make the plants all grow like crazy. The packaging and labeling reminds me a lot of the Dr. Bronner’s soap labels. Only, you know, for plants.

Dave and Mel came back from their Hootenanny thing in LA, and told us all their adventure stories. I bet Mel has a bunch of stuff about it over on her site, so, less work for me.

Guys like this are why Texas rules.

I’m not happy to be here, and I’m not happy to see y’all are here. You people I do feel sorry for, to a degree. We should have Tom DeLay and Rick Perry and George W. Bush sitting up at that table! They sent you out here to take their heat; they sent you out here to sell a program that they’re afraid to come and sell. Do you hear me, Mr. Chairman and Ms. Shapiro? Do you hear me, Mr. Everett? Honorable members of this senate, and this committee, I’m in opposition to this proposal that’s being perpetrated upon me. As one of your constituents, one of your consituents, I oppose this proposal. I stand in opposition to a corrupt politician from Washington. Who, in fear of his own political security, has perpetrated this fraud upon us. I stand in opposition to corrupt politicians of any persuasion, who regard their constituents with contempt, with remarks like, “rude and obnoxious people”. I oppose you – your betrayal of your constituents and colleagues are beneath contempt, and your days in office are numbered. Are you listening, Mr. Bush? Are you listening, Mr. DeLay? Mr. Perry, do you hear me? Any corrupt politician, or corrupt official, your days are numbered! You cannot buy my statehouse, nor my white house. My government is not for sale. Yet, you boast about the millions of dollars you raised with two thousand dollar hot dogs. I’ve heard the words of my black brothers and sisters, my brown brothers and sisters – I join with them in the struggle against this corrupt, power-mad administration, and what it represents to my state, and my nation. I’m madder than hell! (standing ovation) You return to Austin, take this message to that corrupt administration in my statehouse, you tell them for me: I’m Bill Walker, constituent, I am your worst nightmare! Your days of illegitimate occupation in my capitol is no longer tolerable with me, and I will expose you, whatever party you are affiliated with. Your days of corrupt betrayal are numbered! You cannot hide from me, I am a voter. Your cowardly effort to divide my state and my nation by this contemptible redistricting plot must be defeated, and I do not thank you for your attention.

Man, there are some unhappy-looking politicians sitting at that there table.

One of the things I hate most about not smoking any more is the lack of readily available fire sources.