Balls

I wish my balls were as big as the plans that I dream for them.

Oh well, at least they're as smooth.

Jonathan 2/27/2005 11:24:00 PM

 
New York

I haven't mentioned my trip to New York. Damm. I think I might love that city. I don't think I could handle the subdued vitality of the suburbs, and I'm not sure I can afford the vibrant rent of the city. I once wondered if I could live in New Yoirk. Now, I wonder if I can not live in New York.

When I recently commented that I wanted to drink my coming final days away in New York City, G-Giggy suggested Los Angeles as an alternate funeral pyre. I guess I need a guided tour of LA in order to be fair, but I have a hard time believing you can show me a better place to drink your days away than NYC. Hell, all of Manhattan reaks of 100 year old piss - up and down the alley ways, through the bi-ways, sub ways, highways, under-passes, over-passes and bi-passes -- but it is one cool town.

Jonathan 2/27/2005 11:07:00 PM

 
Thoughts on...

the Oscars
...Beyonce should win something.
...Jaime Foxx was pretty classy.

living alone
...Am surprised by the exponential increase in naked dancing.
...dreams of a bachelor's pad.
...need drapes.

bachelor pad
...It starts with a good bar.
...It just might work.
...Need to obsessively create mp3 playlists to potentially account for any social situation.

the new job
...love walking to work.
...weee! corporate orientation.

my sister's place
...nice; good deal.
...get that hot tub running!

Irish Mist
...underrated.
...I am sure that this could be sold to a drinking demographic who posit themselves to enjoy the sweet with the rich, e.g., the Courvosier-Coke-set.
...with a small budget and an open-minded marketing group, I could sell the hell out of it.

Chartreuse
...underrated.
...could be as famous as absinthe with the right author.
...I could be that author.

Jonathan 2/27/2005 10:29:00 PM

 
HST

I guess no one will really be surprised at how Hunter S. Thompson's life came to an end, but that doesn't mean that everyone won't miss him. I knew him more as a Colorado legend than as a writer. I've regularly read his Page 2 column on ESPN.com, but I have yet to read his books or see any of the big screen adaptations. Still, I feel he was a kindred soul. I suspect we enjoyed or food and drink and entertainment in much the same manner even if Ihave yet to experience it to any where near the same degree, intensity, or duration.

If I had to guess, I would bet that HST has known since he was a teenager how his life would end. I'm sure there's an interesting if not fascinating story about how the end game ultimately played out, but I suspect that there has never been any real doubt about how it would end.

So many of us talked about going to Aspen just hoping to run into the guy. He was the kind of approachable legend that we all thought we might eventually brush shoulders with. I'm sorry I didn't make it to Aspen in time.

Jonathan 2/20/2005 10:23:00 PM

 
New York

I'm blogging from Stu's kitchen using his Apple PowerBook G4 and WiFi connection. Last night I surfed the web on my Tungsten C from the guest bedroom thanks to the pervasiveness of the WiFi. Having a laptop and WiFi throughout the house is really cool, and I have to say that I really like the look and especially the feel of the Apple laptop.

We're heading into the city this afternoon to check out Cristof's The Gates and then will have dinner at one of the three places for which we currently have reservations. It's all about the food when you're hanging out with Stu and Mayra - not that I'm complaining.

Jonathan 2/17/2005 11:15:00 AM

 
Welcome New Readers

Everytime I leave a job, there's a whole new batch of people that I can let it on the secret that I'm a bloggergeek.

ASIDE: I suspect this is actually a huge phenomenom, i.e., letting people know of your website only when you won't have to look them in the eye anymore. I'd write more on it but it seems so obvious that someone else must have already written about it by now. I'm just too lazy to spend the time looking for an article that must have been written about something that I know intuitively to be true.

Since Friday was my last day at SnP, I sent out an email to my team inviting them to witness the geekness and drinking skills as described herein. As I check my site stats, I see that at least a couple of folks have been reading or have taken a look. A couple of folks even appear to have been reading through some of the old archives. Has my writing improved since the early days, or is it pretty much the same drivel month after month?

I should probably say goodbye to some old readers too. I just found out that this website has been placed on the blocked sites list for readers from the ml.com domain. Too be honest, I'm surprised they didn't ban me years ago. If I recall, while I was there, the policy was that the internet was for work related issues only and that that policy was farely strictly enforced with an extensive blocked sites list.

I hope you'll read from home, dear friends. The entertainment provided is surely worth the price of admission.

I seem to have miscellaneous new readers as well. Ever since the rollout of MSN Search, my hits from search engines has jumped. But what doesn't make any sense is that it's all from Google. I'm thinking that maybe Google recently indexed either this page or my archive files or something - something that has caused my popularity to increase.

If I have SnP stories to tell, should I tell them here? Comments are right below.

Jonathan 2/14/2005 10:37:00 PM

 
Skiing

I enjoyed five fresh at Keystone with my sister on Saturday. Our first run down Last Alamo was my best run of the season. The snow was to the top of my boots nearly the entire run topped with more than a couple of knee-deep pockets. It was steep and soft.

Tomorrow is a Vail day with my brother. We're still hashing out the exact details, but we will be enjoying the bowls at Vail sooner or later.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the sky at Keystone. Remember that Colorado-blue sky that was filled with those white, Charmin-puffy clouds setting the backdrop for deep green evergreens piled with snow that set glittering crystals of pure, winter happiness alight when the wind blew so sweetly through the trees? Well, Saturday had one of those kinds of skies.

Jonathan 2/14/2005 10:18:00 PM

 
Walking

On Saturday and again today, I practiced walking to work so that I could figure out how much time to give myself each morning. It took me 38 minutes going one route and 45 on another. Add in elevator time and a little cushion, and I'll call it an hour commute.

That's actually twice as long as it took me to get to my last job, but this will still be twice as enjoyable. There are some really amazing views of the city as you walk into downtown from the Highlands. And there is the chance to stop for 30 seconds on the bridge over the gently gurgling South Platte River to gaze yon' past Invesco Field to 'der snow capped peaks afar.

Jonathan 2/14/2005 09:17:00 PM

 
Paris and Lindsey

The appreciation of this animated convesation between Mesdames Hilton and Lohan requires a combination of just the right level of pop-cultural awareness with a sense of humor tinged with depravity. Rollicking!

Pointed there by Tankboy who writes about the Chicago music scene for donewaiting.com which is a pretty great music site.

Jonathan 2/08/2005 06:08:00 PM

 
Questions about Online Dating

If you've been blogging for a couple of years or so and through your blog you essentially tell people most everything they would need to know in order to form at least a basic opinion about the sort of person you are, then is it ok on those dating sites to answer none of the questions and just refer everyone to the blog?

I know that in reality they don't allow hyperlinks nor do they allow you to reveal your real self, but would it be acceptable to answer an ad with, "Here's my website. Let me know if you're still interested."

Probably not the level of assuredness that single ladies are looking for.

I just responded to an online ad with only a bit more than that (actually quite a bit since my aim was as much music sharing as it was dating due to our age difference). I had never looked at Craig's List until Cracker told me I should go take a look. He sent me there for free stuff, but I find that I am fascinated by their personal ads. They are all text and completely free form: write whatever you want, post it, and go on dates. I think that it forces people to think about dating a lot differently than they would for an online site like Yahoo personals or Match.com. I'd love to do some sort of study that looked at how people described themselves on different dating sites. The layout provided by the service obviously drives the nature of at least a portion of the data presented. How much? To what degree? In what direction? If the questions are the same, put the entry portal is different, how do the descriptions vary (for example, if I get there through the free weekly paper as opposed to through The Onion even though it's really the same service)? It would be interesting.

My sister recently met a girl who is an online dating nut. Apparently this girl goes on 3-4 dates a week with guys she meets on Match.com and has been doing so for years. Is it even possible that she can have a conversation on the date about anything other than such dating habits? To me that seems like such strange behavior. Maybe that's the introvert in me.

When do you tell some you're dating that you blog? And god forbid, do you actually have to say, "blog?" It sounds a bit better as a noun than as a verb, but still, it's a little Star Wars-ish or Tolkien-troll-esque, isn't it?

Am I the only one who Googles just about everyone they meet who doesn't have too common a name? Are you ever surprised that everyone you meet has run or walked or biked in some race and had their poor times along with their age and hometown forever enshrined on the internet? Surely most people must Google their dates. Or is this just not such a big deal for people who, you know, actually date?

What do you do if you find out your date has a blog, but she hasn't told you about it?

1) Keep your mouth shut, read it religously from different computers arriving at the site through different links so that she doesn't realize it through analysis of her referral files, all in order that you can gain power to manipulate her or find out what she really thinks about you?

2) Tell her, "Hey, I found your blog. I love the layout. Could you teach me about cascading style sheets so that I can make my blog better? (alternatively, you could ask for help installing MT)"

3) Split the difference, and be honest about finding her blog but don't mention your blog unless asked directly.

4) Are you kidding, if she doesn't blog, I don't date her.

Comment, vote, and comment below in the, err, comments.

Jonathan 2/04/2005 06:31:00 PM

 
Roommate Not Wanted

Tuesday, my little sister, who is also my roommate, placed her first ever bid on a home. She's looking at some nice condos right over by Sloan's Lake but on the other side of Sheridan. They are nice places, and I really hope she gets the one she wants (2 bedroom, 2 bath, garage, nice kitchen,hot tub). Yesterday, the seller came back with a counter-offer, and when I went to bed last night, my sister was still trying to figure out what her counter to that would be. She feels like she is teetering on the very upper edge of what she can afford. If they accept her counter-counter today, she is hoping to be moved into her new place by the end of the month.

With the exception of the few months between when the Hyena moved out and my sister moved in, I have never lived alone. Those couple of months were pretty nice, and now that I have done all of the renovations to my place, I am really looking forward to having it to myself. I'll have to do some rearranging and some cleaning and lots of organinzing, but I'll be pretty psyched to have a place to myself. It's not that I don't get along with my sister, because I do, marvelously. It's just that at my age, I should have my own place if I'm not going to have a wife or a girlfriend or kids or something.

I have this fantasy that goes a little like this: sister moves out; I take a month to get the house good and clean and to throwout lots and lots of clutter; I walk to work downtown; I stop at the bars everynight after work; I start having sex again working the line that I need a ride home and that I have booze and entertainment at my clean residence which, of course, I always do.

It's just a fantasy. Probably, my sister wil move out and the rest will unravel.

Update: She got it! Only thing left is for the inspection to go well on Tuesday.

Jonathan 2/03/2005 10:55:00 AM

 
New Job

I am pretty psyched for my new, new job. I've only been at my current position for a little over three months, but I had an opportunity come along that I don't want to let pass. For the past three months, I've been working as a financial data researcher for Standard and Poors. It's a good job with a good company that allows me to come in, do my work, and listen to my headphones all day long while I read and analyze companies' 10-K reports and other financial documents. I really do like the company and the people that I work with. I even have lots of good things to say about the management team. But I have a better offer.

My new job will have me working somewhere around the 28th floor of a building somewhere around a mile and a half from my house. It's a downhill walk from home to work, and I am really hoping to get in the habit of walking to work in the mornings. In the evenings, I can walk, take a $6 cab (gratuity included), or ride the 32 bus which stops about 3 dozen paces from my front door. With the free ecopass offered through work, I can ride the bus for free. I'm excited to start spending more time downtown again. I'll be up for happy hour at the drop of a hat. Actually, with the minor increase in salary that accompanies the change, I'm hoping to spend more time in the bars anyway.

My new position is a compliance associate in the legal and compliance department of a major, national trust company. I should get to do all sorts of fun stuff from signing off on website content and advertising copy to minimum distribution calculations for retirement accounts to determining whether certain accounts can hold certain types of investments to writing operational procedures and guidelines for different departments to examining the small print. I think financial services compliance is a rapidly changing and growing field. As Elliott Spitzer gains more power out east and nationally, the ripples of his crusade will continue to change the industry. I'm excited to be getting in now and look forward to someday handing you a business card that reads Chief Compliance Officer.

Jonathan 2/03/2005 08:00:00 AM

 
Need to Tell You

I know I have a lot of stories that I need to catch up on. I need to tell you about the magic of skiing under the moon. I need to tell you about getting a new job. I need to tell you about my sister moving out. I need to tell you about getting thrown out of the punk rock show. I need to tell you how I'm pulling 300 songs a day from the Hyena. I need to respond to your comments, and I need to answer your emails. There's other stuff too. Let's see what I can get through during the day.

Jonathan 2/03/2005 07:30:00 AM