FRQNC


Thursday, September 27, 2007 So, after what has been a rather whirlwind 3 hours, I am now leaving for New England a day earlier than expected, which is unquestionably awesome. But it also looks like I will be undertaking this trip by myself, which is not quite so awesome. Luis had a string of vocational responsibilities that prevented him from coming along...an occurrence that, needless to say, sucks with rocks in it. But what is perhaps most mindboggling is that I am unable to come up with anyone who would be both willing and able to drop what they're doing, and fly to Providence over the weekend for both Waterfire and for field box seats at the final Red Sox game of the season (one where they may potentially win the AL Pennant), airfare and lodging paid. And for those of you reading this who are wondering why I didn't ask you to go, it's likely that: a.) You've recently told me that you're tired of traveling b.) I heard you're suffering a financial crunch of late c.) You have zero interest in the Red Sox d.) I simply don't know you well enough or e.) I'm concerned that accompanying me on such a sojourn might drive you completely insane, due to my laissez faire attitude when traveling Sorry. =[ Anyway, I'll talk to you when I can. Take care, j.s.



Wednesday, September 26, 2007 You know, after casting a disparaging light on Jib in that last post, I must tell you that he did redeem himself later that evening. His ears randomly perked up as I was building the fire, and he stared intently into the dark for a minute or so. Then came a small irritated "bwhuf." Finally he got up and stood between me and the shoreline, dragging the full cooler that I'd tethered him to along for the ride. The hair on his back began to rise, and out comes a long, low growl. Now this is the most menacing act that I've *ever* witnessed this ultra-friendly dog perform, so I stop working on the fire and look out into the dark with him. Eventually I hear a pair of voices echoing along the beach, but it's too dark to actually see anyone. Jib gives a worried glance back at me as if to say, "don't move, I got this." then he widens his stance, lowers his head, and growls with everything he has. I hear a voice say, "is that a dog?" come from somewhere in the dark, and whoever they were continued along. (Presumably just a couple going for a late-night stroll along the shore.) After Jib hears them pass, he gives a satisfied "bwhuf" and lays down again. I smile and tell him he's a good boy, and smooth down his raised hackles. So there you go... He has a bit of watchdog in him after all. j.s.



Monday, September 24, 2007 Ahoy there. So there isn't a whole lot to recap on my end. I decided to bail and head to the beach on Saturday, which was loverly thank you very much. Although Señor Jibblés did decide escape his leash at one point, and decided to see how his greyhound phenotype would fare against a sandy surface. I spent a good 10 minutes searching around a dark beach for that little bastard... Anyway, came home Sunday and watched the Texans game. Fell asleep at the kickoff of the Redskins vs. Giants game, and awoke to find a reporter congratulating Michael Strahan on the win. All in all, a Sunday well spent. And now, I'm readying myself for the upcoming trip home for the weekend (yes, Rhode Island is still "home"), and to catch the very last Red Sox game at Fenway this Sunday. Or, more to the point, I'm readying myself for the flight involved in undertaking such an endeavor. I do love traveling, but man do I fucking hate to fly. Anyway, the lure of sitting roughly right here... in what could very well be the game that wins our first pennant in 12 years? Yeah, I'll get on an plane for that. But throw in Waterfire in Providence on Saturday and two nights at our condo in the Newport Bay Club? And that my friends is, in potentia anyway, one awesome weekend. j.s.



Thursday, September 20, 2007 Despite the deafening sucking sound that is the air coming out of the Red Sox season (and despite how badly said suckage has ruined my mood these past few days), I still couldn't help but laugh as a result of this image. Thus, it is obviously magical... j.s.



Wednesday, September 19, 2007 NOOOO.... They be takin' my Lolrus. =[ j.s.



Tuesday, September 18, 2007 j.s.



Monday, September 17, 2007 My poor boat... sigh I suppose they could always bring her down here. I'd be happy to run her again. =[ j.s. p.s. Someone needs to get up there and furl that goddamn topsail...



Thursday, September 13, 2007 It seems I've been in a feature-adding kind of mood lately, and the new "Radio Free Quincy" widget over there is a direct result of such. I've been trying to hone the playlist up there for most of the morning, but if the occasional emo-pop song makes its way to your desktop, please don't hold it against me. I'm very sensitive you see... j.s.



Wednesday, September 12, 2007 So as I was getting ready to crash last night, I noticed something sparkling on my quilt. I pulled it back, and small reflective shards went everywhere, looking to all the world like a mirror had shattered all over my bed. I glance around confused, checking for where a mirror could have possibly broken (I even looked up at my ceiling, just in case someone had installed a reflective device on it while I was at work), but found nothing. Then I notice a small piece of clear plastic on the floor, bent and chewed, that sorta, kinda, resembled the center of a CD. Okay, so the dog ate a CD...but which one? I check the DVDs, they're all there. And I don't leave any CD's laying around for him to destroy. Then it hits me, I burned 5 discs at the office yesterday and brought them home. So I walk back to the kitchen where I'd left them and, sure enough, there are only 4 left. Goddammit... My dog ate my Linux. Later that night, as we both slept, Jib fell off the bed and kicked the hell out of my blinds on the way down. This in turn caused a truly magnificent crashing noise, right next to my head, at 2am. I thought my heart was going to explode out of my chest. And after he'd gained his bearings, he actually had the nerve to stand there and stare up at me as if to say, "Ahem. Yeah, terribly sorry about that... Bad dream about giant toads. Nasty. Now, if you'd be so kind, would you please pick me up and put me back in bed next to you?" I didn't fall back asleep until nearly 3. Rough night at the Shaw residence... j.s.



Tuesday, September 11, 2007 Ahoy! So once again I've escaped the clutches of End-of-Monthiness (I think it's awesome that many of you call it that by the way), and I can get back to my completely sporadic posting habits. So what's been cookin'? Most of my time has been taken up with my mild obsession, fretting over the Red Sox. 5 games up, with 17 left to play. Including 3 against the Yank$ and their corpulent Joba the Hutt this weekend. During which time I fully expect Tavarez to come in for relief and headhunt one of those pricks for that little exchange last time. [Click here if you've no idea what I'm talking about.] So our magic number stands at 14. And, pending my calculations are correct, we can play .500 ball the rest of the year and the Yank$ would have to go 13-6 in order to win the division...or something like that. (Although I concede that math has never been my strongest suit.) Regardless, this weekend will be a huge series for both teams though, lending serious momentum to whoever comes out on top. So, if any of you are looking for me this Friday, Saturday or Sunday, you know where to find me... j.s. For the baseball uninitated (and Kansas City fans), a "Magic Number" is the number needed to win the division. It's derived by taking the number of games left in the regular season plus one, then subtracting the number of games you're ahead of the closest opponent, in our case, the Yankee$. So the Sox need to win 14, the Yank$ need to lose 14, or any combination of those two.



Wednesday, September 05, 2007 I think this is the 2nd most amazing video I've ever seen...just behind the one for Muse's "Knights of Cydonia", which I still believe to be the single greatest thing to ever happen to moving pictures... j.s.



Added permalinks for your convenience. j.s.



Tuesday, September 04, 2007 Hi there. There really isn't a whole lot to report I'm afraid. The post-Flugtag crash came hard this weekend, and I sat around the house feeling like I was supposed to be doing something, but couldn't figure out what it was. As you can see in the comments below, Bryan has related this to post-partum depression, but I think it's more of a "that was so bizarre that I'm not sure how I can possibly top it" feeling. It's only been a week though, perhaps I just need a little time to come up with something else suitably strange. Oh, I did make it to the dog park on Sunday to let Jib run around for a few hours. He was extraordinarily well-behaved, racing around with the other dogs and playing gently with the children at the park. And after looking at everyone elses dogs and their myriad neuroses, it reminded me of just how lucky I am to have ended up with such an easy going and friendly dog. In fact, one little boy at the park (who was about the same height as Jib), patted him on the head and told his mom that "this is the doggy that loves me the most!" Yes, it was adorable... Okay, it's end-of-monthiness so I need to get back to it. Talk to you soon. j.s.