Web Journal

Astrology Home Buoy
sun in Pisces

3/19
Designated feedback [or acceptable use policy for astrologers]:
>TalkToKramer: Thanks, K, that's much more user friendly, but I would track
>down your page, no matter how much effort it took!
Last night, I went to have drinks with two Virgo girls, at Guerro's. Then, after dinner, we hooked it out to a movie — Magnolia — good film, but way too long, even for my Iron Butt tastes. After the movie, passing by Amy's at Westgate, I ran into a couple of acquaintances — both Virgo, with their Virgo friend. The guy waiting on us at Amy's was Virgo. Amy is a Virgo, too, for that matter. Now what can be inferred from all this Virgo stuff? Moon was in Virgo, and getting close to full. "Virgo's rule."

3/18
Design ideas: "Young blood doth not obey an old decree." [Love's Labor's Lost IV.iii.216] That's what Old Will said, anyway. I've gotten a lot of free advice, but so far, most of it has been of the variety: "I wished you stayed with the original format." Old formats grow stale. The beauty of the web is its ever shifting format, paradigm and metaphor."Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety." [Antony and Cleopatra II.ii.241] The single design consideration which always seems to be missing is the fact that this mess has to be easy to update from the road. Not like I'm traveling a lot at this point, but I always seem to get called out of town at the last moment. Exciting night last night? I started writing a column which is due in a few days, yesterday. Finished up, after several interruptions, last night, just in time to retire to the couch with a book. It's gotten way too cold to go outside, and besides, between St. Pat's Day, and the miscellaneous crowds, it's just a bit much. I had originally figured on the the free concert in the park, but 40 degree weather is not conducive to me doing ANYTHING outside. It was amazing on Thursday night, how long it took the web media to catch up with the news about the tornado up in Cedar Park and Leander. Looks like the cookie monster moves at the exact same pace as its more established print media brethren. The motto? "Today's news tomorrow."

3/17
There's a local store where I frequently stop to buy a newspaper, or a grab a bottle of water, or even pick up a coke, a place at the corner of Congress and Riverside, just down from my trailer, sort of on my way downtown. The owner, this iteration, is Korean, I think. I know he is usually reading a newspaper filled with characters not a part of my native language. I've endeavored to learn to say hello in his language, but I've failed pretty miserably. He was jovial yesterday as I stepped in from a hot afternoon sun, dressed in sandals and shorts, a Hawaiian shirt trailing along in my grasp, but certainly not adorning my upper torso. It's not like I have a manly physique, but when the sun is beaming down, it's like 80 degrees, it just seems that much clothing at all is really superfluous. But the storekeeper noted that he really doesn't get it. "Suit yesterday, bare today?" It was really two days ago, and the weather was coolish, and I had on jeans and a casual tweed coat — English tailoring, and casual from its double vents as compared to my formal tweed jacket from Italy. Sure, it's all a part of my lifestyle. I was off to see a girl about a chart, and I spent the better part of the afternoon pouring over a chart, getting more and more animated as I poured several shots of Espresso down my throat. It was hot and sunny when I stepped into the coffee shop on Congress Avenue, and it was dark, with an incredible shot of the sky as storm front moved through downtown, just as I was leaving. There was a smattering of rain, a few chunks of hail, talk of a tornado, and I was off to teach a class. Bad idea to try and meet in restaurant. The Rodeo is in town, South By South West, the Rowing Regatta, and some kind of high school athletic event. I teased my client's boyfriend when he showed up, "What, no kiss for me?" He promptly leaned over and kissed me on the top of my head. What will the good folks at that place think about me now? Weirdest ad.

3/16
I'm still stuck with about hundred and one new web ideas swimming around in my head. I'd been toying with graphics, but nothing seemed to fall into place, then, after a few days of workshops, and looking at the sites discussed, I found the next look I wanted. I hate going back to frames, but I'm not sure there's any other way to do this. I kept trying to rig it with a table, but that's just not working quite right. As usual, I took an afternoon break to "think things through" and while I was at the lake, I watched as a guy stripped to his undershorts, slipped out of his Birkenstocks, and stepped into a pair of waders, then — I assume — headed down to the lakefront. The juxtaposition of Birks and waders just made me wonder. I was thinking about one of my former professors — he would reread a novel before teaching it for a class, usually took him one evening. I've got to teach tarot to go tonight — what should I reread? Should I take some of my cards, something from the collection?

3/15
I spent a really long day at South By South West — Interactive. I suppose I owe a debt of gratitude to my unnamed sponsor, first and foremost. The most spirited, most enlightening, probably the most fun, of all the workshops was called "Weblogs." A weblog is like a journal, only the Weblog also contains links with commentary. It's more than suggesting that "fredlet.com" is a cool site, it's like this, "Fredlet ain't updated her page in about a year or two." Since that's about the only link I've ever run in journal entry, it really isn't like I do a web log. But my own, online horoscopes, I've been adding links to them for years — as suitable punctuation. I remember the panel's moderator, "If we try to define weblog, we'll be here all week." But the moderator did have a few other choice quotes, "What I like about the web, ask a stupid question, get a million answers." [Powazek] He also pointed out that, "The dream of the web is a chance to spit back at the media." I liked that. Only, I don't like when the readers of my column write vituperative notes. But the new server has a discussion BBS section for posting back. One funny thing I heard at that workshop was from some young guy, fingernails painted black, "I'm the only engineer at a startup..." and his associate gave him a dirty look, so Black Fingernail Polish retorted, "hey, he only writes JavaScript." Someone else quickly quipped, "That's about 90% of the people in here." Looks strange here, but it brought the house down, to borrow an old cliché. During all the workshops, various web sites were featured. I know I've got to roll up my sleeves and do some homework — that's for sure. I found out what was leading edge in design — this week. One of the other workshops dealt with writing for the web. I liked what one moderator suggested, as she introduced herself, "Like 90% of the people in Austin, I have website I hope to make money on...." Still, at the end of the day, the one comment, the one person who made a lasting impact on my memory was the particularly eloquent rant delivered by the engineer with the black nail polish.

3/14
So Monday wasn't so bad. I was up early and answered a whole bunch of mail. Tons. Then I sauntered off to the big soireé in town — South By South West. I picked up a badge and sack full of swag. Out of the stuff in the bag, about three things caught my eye, a toothbrush, a towel, and and one of the glossy magazines. I had some breakfast at the Avenue Cafe, coffee from Ruta Maya and Texpresso, and I wandered into a workshop about "adult oriented technologies on the internet." The coincidence was sort of remarkable, the "exotic dancer" turned millionaire launched her web site about the same time I launched mine. She's been running in the black [red lights, though] almost ever since. In fact, she's done it without any venture capital, too. I'm one up an her, though, as I don't have to support a staff of 40 people, and I don't have to worry about what to do with all that money. I was looking for some ideas, and I'm afraid I wasn't able to find anything I could easily lift from her talk. The other talk which was interesting was about syndication. Nothing new, though. One speaker answered a question about a Marcel Marceau fan site, noting that it wouldn't need streaming audio, and I kept thinking it would have to be "MIME" format. I took a bunch of notes, but none of it makes a lot of sense now.

3/13
MONDAY THE THIRTEENTH — yes, it should scare you — it scares me. Worse than a Friday the thirteenth, much much worse. Monday and the unlucky number.... Yesterday morning, the Pisces came by to gather me up for work, another hard day at the office, and we stopped off at Jo's to gather up some high powered coffee so we could go to Magnolia for some quick brunch. Stepping out of the truck at the coffee stand, I gave a little shake as I decided I wasn't cut from a cloth which was made for wearing clothes on two consecutive days. Then, I was bragging to the Magnolia staff that I had actually worked a full day of work. The Taurus waiter, took one look at me, and he quipped back, "What'd you do for the other 22 and half hours?" It's always nice to get a vote of confidence. I caught a ride home with a Leo, and we took a long dinner with a fellow Sag. Me and this guy, we had to compare some notes, see, he was helping build race bikes, and it turned out we had similar experiences with similar race tracks, only, to be honest, a there was little difference in time. Convention time, and I hope it goes well. At least, it should be interesting.

3/12
What's a "day at the office" like for a real, working astrologer? There's a song getting a lot of local airplay, "Woke up this morning," by A3. That song and my Saturday morning started out about the same. Strange coincidence about that song, and that group, I have CD, sample given to me by a local DJ, from about two and half years ago. The group played a venue at South By South West, and I had a fondness for them at the time. Seems they finally struck a chord. But to describe a day at work is a little more challenging. Wake up to some strange music on the radio, waiting for the buzzer to tell me it's time to get up. Clean up, feed the cat, skip the coffee, call the Cap, see if she's up, decide to change what I was going to wear because it's a lot cooler than I had anticipated, and get dressed, toss the computer in the bag, and roll out the door. Meet and greet the gang at the show. Blow kisses to the Aura Photography guy, another Capricorn. Struggle through a basketball team from Iowa to get to the breakfast bar, shovel in enough food to keep going. Then it's time to sit down and work. I average three to four readings in an hour, sometimes, given that South by whatever is just starting up, business will be a little slow. Late in the day, as the crowds drop off, I get up and offer to watch the dress booth for a moment while the dress lady does a card reading for one of my clients. I never got much of a chance to look around the room and see who was there. Mac, the Aura guy, winds up trying to tell me that some friend's girlfriend, out in El Paso, was trying to set him up when he observed that I had "gone straight," and I guess that joke is funnier in context. I don't remember individual readings, but I do remember that I was rather busy for more than 8 [eight] hours, all the way through. This is too much like a real job. I don't know if I can handle it all the way through, for days on end. It's pretty intense to look at an astrology chart, in take sneak peek — a snapshot — of a soul, and try to give it some words which fit with the scenario.

3/11
I'm thinking of joining the "I hate windows" support group. I know better than to try to install new software when Mercury is retrograde, but I gave it spin, anyway. So I can now make my Macintosh open up a window which looks just like desktop on 80% of the machines out there. And it refuses to cooperate just as much, too. But I know Mercury is backwards, and I know that software seems to behave better when I wait. I spent several evenings, toying with the installation. Great, I can log onto AOL, and surf the web in an Explorer window.... which did give me some ideas. Of course, I still couldn't get the camera — the real reason for this exercise to begin with — I couldn't ever get the camera to shoot video for more than a minute or two.

3/10
If you believe the hype, a Virgo friend who's leaving town, she has the right idea. Austin is the next silicone valley for high tech. Yawn, heard it all before. My prediction? Two other towns in Texas which will be hot in the future, hot as in a cool place to live: Ft. Worth and San Antonio. But the story about the Virgo, on her way out of town, she had a couple of items to return to the cable company, that little black cable box, and its remote control. She had that and some other things riding around in her truck. I helped her unload, and she also had her VCR in there, "I guess I was just unplugging everything," she said. I grabbed the VCR and and the cable remote, then put the VCR back in the truck — it was her tape machine, right? So we headed into the cable office, I had the remote, and she had the larger black box. Go up to the window, plop the box on the counter, and then she reached for the remote, grabbed it, and swung her arm around towards the counter — with my hand still firmly gripping the remote. It's some sort of innate reaction, "You'll get this remote when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers," I growled. She gave me one of those "I'm too tired for this game" looks, the guy behind the counter chuckled quietly, and I surrendered the remote on the second tug. I was wondering about it, though, she's been leaving town for weeks now, and she had Yet Another, one last set of drinks and hot sauce at Guero's. Seems like this is third or fourth time. In fact, lots of us are wondering if she's really leaving....

3/9
There's a bumper sticker advertising a band, and the bumper sticker got a lot of airplay a few years ago. Seems that it's back. The sticker itself reads "Titty Bingo" and it advertises "A Texas Garage Band." I like living in a university town because there's a raw sense of energy and adventure, not always felt in a more normal place. Some guy had rearranged the letters, omitted one, and came up with a different variation of the band's name. Propriety suggests I don't mention it here. I saw it the other day on the back of a truck. Got laugh out of it. I can't recall the details, but the band made a media splash without performing live — it had something to do with a jail sentence, but I plead ignorance, myself. Mercury is, indeed, still doing its evil little backswing, but I have a sense of humor. I listened to a whole series of Virgo complaints, from car troubles to boyfriend (and girlfriend) troubles, to work place problems. Then I mistakenly tried to install software and a web camera on this lap top. Boy, was that ever a mistake. Finally, in the middle of the install, I grabbed a cigar, and sat by the lake. The hard drive was still trying to launch windows when I got done. No wonder I like Macintosh.

3/8
Although the Austin Music Network's Morning Show was killed off, I still had this thing going in my head, and my handheld Visor (Palm OS) device kept beeping at 6 in the morning, yesterday. By 8:00 AM, the temperature had reached a balmy 70. I was grinding my way through some horoscopes, and I thought about my idea of doing a Thursday update column, one which would be perfect for a weekend section in paper. The problem is I only get this idea, it's not the first time, it only comes to me when Mercury is Retrograde. It's not like it's a new idea, but I'm distributed mostly on the web, and the web's publishing schedule is Monday, the beginning of the work week for most — not Thursday. Then again, I have to remember that I'm already writing two weekly columns, a couple of monthly ones, a couple of yearly ones, and it's not like I have time to add another piece of work to this list. Can't be losing my status as a slacker. It's hard work to maintain a lifestyle of being under–employed. Or maybe it's just under–paid. The roast corn guy was back again, and I had another ear of that stuff, all dressed in condiments which might startle the palate, but seem to work together rather well. At least two Virgo's called last night, and Mercury is still retrograde.

3/7
It was a Capricorn kind of day. It started with a frantic e-mail, a Capricorn wondering if the links were a license to maim, the links in the Cap scope. Then I was joined by a red haired Cap girl, and we did lunch Curra's because she just had to have some of the signature Pecan Salsa Roasted Pecan Hot Sauce. I had fronted her a nickel bag of some Peet's Italian Roast, and she was ecstatic over that. Now, part of Sunday morning, I had been shopping with a Virgo, helping select couches. The Capricorn was looking for a couch, too, and I was ready after that Monday lunch, to stretch out on and sample the couch store's wares, as it were. Two other stops were on the schedule, though, and I never got the nap I wanted, and the sales staff kept glaring at me so I never got chance to try the couches out — not like Sunday morning when I was stretched out on a couch in a store, quietly babbling to myself about the length with my boots hanging off the end. I guess there's something Freudian about just talking when I'm stretched out on a couch. Next was the Amy's Ice Cream on Guadalupe, for a Mexican Vanilla – Espresso shake. Then we swung by the new Texas Coffee Traders warehouse — only they don't have coffee set up for distribution in the new place. But it looks promising, a bigger warehouse, in old East Austin. There's just something about rolls of razor wire which add an eloquent and refined ambiance to a place. See, the coffee at Curra's is the Texas Coffee Trader's Oxacan blend. Awesome stuff. As good as Peet's? I haven't done a side by side taste test yet. Stay tuned.

3/6
My dear, sweet mother has the best of intentions. But I've got to learn to be a little more suspect about the gifts she gives. She saves her old New York Time "Review of Books" and passes them on to me. While I should be grateful for this chance to read what real Eastern Academics and Literary types all think about recent book releases, there was an issue a while back that had several titles — very favorably reviewed — and I picked the books up. At least one author, a former San Antonio native, did write well. I'd even go so far as to suggest the book reviewed, and the ones before it, they all were every bit as good as suggested. Maybe even better. But then there's the one I finished reading last night, and I'm afraid it lacks rhythm. No cadence, merely an ear for local dialect. Not nearly as satisfying. "www.sjmercury.com" is one of my regular stops on the web, almost daily — they've licensed a number of comic strips I like, and then — via cookies — made these available. Now, there's also a discussion I was following on the same site about the advertising companies using cookies to track individual browsing and spending habits. Funny thing was, the columnist railed against using cookies to invade the browser — and during my time spent reading his tirade against these cookies, I refused cookies sent by his server nine times.

3/5
I drove a big, burnt orange truck back from Dallas yesterday morning. I put on the mid-life crisis sunglasses and aimed that sucker right straight down the Tollway to the Interstate, and right on across the River into South Austin. Good to be home again. I fear Ma Wetzel will not be answering any of her e-mail without me there to guide her through what to click. But it was a hopeful few days, anyway. Got to play with Pa Wetzel's digital camera again, I plucked a picture off his machine, the best shot I could find, from Xmas time, last Xmas, of us at the airport in pajamas. I was doing my playboy best,, all black silk. I think the rest of my family, in their flannel outfits, I figure they had it a little easier. I got home and had a not so welcome voice mail about the ill–fated Austin Music Network Morning Show. It is no more. The host called me to let me know that it was a dead deal. Not that I'm too bothered by not having to get up before the sun on Tuesdays, but still. And from the road trip: the Sam's club discount warehouse in Waco (Texas) doesn't carry any kind of champagne — don't ask — I just now know this.

3/4
I was wondering, after spending several hours working to get Ma Wetzel up to speed on e-mail, I was wondering what the archeologists will think about a paper clip, say, 500 years from now? "It's some sort of magic wand, a device which was used to fix bad machines. Its picture-graph is every where." I spent part of yesterday afternoon with the paper clip in hand, fixing the internal alignment on the hand held for Pa Wetzel. And I was just getting Ma Wetzel ramped up to speed on e-mail. Not so much that I would let anyone know she can do it yet, but we were making progress. Enough progress to send her hollering at Pa Wetzel to "hurry and check his damn e–mail" [oh please, they are in different rooms under one roof]. "Don't you think this is easier, dear?" Pa Wetzel asked, "saves from hollering at me." "I prefer to shout," my mother replied, "it's more satisfying."

3/3
The older I get, the more I see how I resemble my parents. On one hand, that's a good thing — I'll live to a ripe old age. On the flip side of that hand, someone please take my car keys away when I start to get a little older. That age when 9:00 PM is late at night. That age when 40 miles an hour is a safe speed on the highway. Yes sir, just shoot me now. No, not yet, I'm only kidding. But there are times when I'm ever so grateful that there's a goodly distance between me and the folks. Like about two hundred miles. Should be a safe distance, leastways, I hope so. My other goal, probably fruitless, but a noble aspiration nonetheless, is to get Ma Wetzel using her lovely little iMac (lime) for e-mail. It's really very easy, and Sister left it in good form, all Ma Wetzel has to do is turn the thing on. Of course, I found a piece of paper tucked under the machine, it was a hasty note to myself — last Xmas — to correct something on my website. From last December to this March, nothing has changed.

3/2
It's taking two tries to get this journal entry done right. But that's what happens when Mercury is retrograde, and as a writer, I should understand the process. In the middle of the afternoon, yesterday — I was on the very eastern edge of the lake, on the hike and bike trail, and there was a stand where a couple of Hispanic gentlemen, hey, maybe the whole family for all I know — they were selling "roasted corn." I went some extra miles because the weather was a little too nice, that perfect temperature, just above freezing cold, but just under searing hot. This afternoon I catch a plane out of town for a quick "Dinner in Dallas" thing. [Right. Like I'm looking forward to that.] So under a hazy sky, alongside the river bottom, there were these guys selling roasted corn. I fished a couple of singles out of my pocket, and asked about the food. "Ever had it?" "No." "You like it spicy?" "Very much." I watched as the guy dressed my ear of corn, a quick squirt of mayonnaise, a little butter, some lemon pepper, squeeze of lime wedge, a little salt and some red pepper. "Spicy?" "Oh, yes." A little extra shake of the red pepper mixture. I think it was a combination of garlic salt, cayenne and chili powder. I was carrying a shirt, so I tossed it over my shoulder and continued on my way, feasting on an ear of roasted sweet corn with all manner of ingredients dripping off it. It was mighty fine. The spring sun chasing the haze, the taste of the corn, my legs and back feeling the sun work the kinks out, the buds of flowers, the ducks making duck noises in the river. It's the life worth living. Just a little slice of heaven. It's not the big things, it's not the giant leaps, it's the little things. Screw Mercury Retrograde. When I finally did make it home, the little laptop had enough messages to remind me that yes, Mercury is backwards and lot of folks were having trouble finding my monthly scopes. But for one brief moment, yesterday everything was all that it could be. Try the roasted corn — it's even better than it sounds.

3/1
Austin Music Network: Gemini camera dude. Breakfast, after the show, at Tamale House #3. Then Bubba Gemini stopped by to pick up a hard drive and printer, and he shared this thought: "You know this one, undeniable fact, son: Mercury is moon walking like Michael Jackson." I was pointing to the Art of Noise CD, and he reminded me that it was sampled on a Prodigy CD. Add that to the list of stuff I should pick up when I have a chance. Like Leap Day. No sooner had Bubba bounced out the door of the trailer when the phone rang again. Looks like I'm in the business of selling hope. From that, it was off to the summer office for a quick reading. By seven last night, I had been at work since before six in the morning. I'm not sure I like this — the money's good, but it's too much like having a real job — more than 12 hours — pretty much straight through. Last night, as I was cruising home, I did detour through downtown Austin. When I finally got home and emptied out my wallet, I found no less than three different "coffee cards" — buy ten, get one free. From three different places, one for Jo's, one for Little City, one [already filled out] for Ruta Maya. It's spring time here, I was coasting along in shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, a subdued print, really, and marveling at the temperate climate, the evening air dancing along my skin. Caffeine singing a sweet tune in my head. Jimmie Dale Gilmore was doing an "in-store" appearance at Waterloo, and the local radio was playing a cut from the latest Ray Wylie Hubbard CD. Goes with that new Prodigy CD. Sort of.

2/23
I don't think I like getting up at an unnatural hour of the day in order to be on TV. And to be honest, with the current disposition of Mercury (retrograde), I didn't have a lot to suggest for the host when she started asking about the various signs. I was hoping we got a good take for a demo tape I had to ship out. But it's Mercury, and its usual tricks. I did one segment with no microphone, another one with a different mike, and that one didn't work, either. Being an astrologer, though, I have a very convenient way to excuse these problems. I laughed it off, "Mercury is retrograde." Sure beats being held liable for one's own actions. Besides, there I was, tape rolling, and for the life of me, I couldn't think of anything to say. It seems to be a particularly trying Mercury time, playing havoc with the mutable signs more than anyone else, and, of course, that would be me. I got my deadline material in the mail — a day ahead of schedule. Naturally, that's caused a few other problems.... I got back from the studio, brought a breakfast taco to the cat, and took nap.

2/22
What a nice number for a day. Add it all up and I get a six. On a scale of one to ten, a six is okay by me. I've discovered that I conceptualize what I want the web program to do, but making it work like I want it to is another story. And rather than spend ANOTHER huge sum of money on some book about the size of a cinderblock, I think I'll let it go. I just need to figure out about two lines of code — that's all. Mercury is starting it's backwards motion, and I've got a pile of details to attend to. Hooked up with a dear Sagittarius last night, long enough to grab a bite at Curras on Oltorf. The evening sky was mottled gray, the clouds radiating a burst of painted orange like a paintball splattered against the heavens, then gradually fading to nothing. We went to an advance screen of some movie. After writing hundreds of movie reviews, unless particular film grabs me, I don't want to write about it. Great movie, especially considering it was free. Excellent film — at that price. Pacing was off a bit, but since the protagonist was a writer, and since the film also had Robert Downy (sp?) Jr., I liked it. It kept my interest, but let's be honest, not everyone has had the near brush with student creative writing seminars, or teachers or the political minefield of the academic world. And to be honest, the closing gambit was a lame ending. But that's just my opinion. And I can't even remember the name of the movie, so I guess that's also not a good sign. Seeing as how I'm largely undiscovered, maybe I should dumb down my material a little. Sure, that'll happen soon.

2/21
I wonder if any DJ Mix Master guys have ever seriously sampled ZZ Top? It's not like it's in my line of stuff that I would listen to, but the question came up when I was in the used CD store yesterday. A friend came by and scooped me up so we could get some Texas Chili Parlor food, the Triple X Chili rates, in the best possible way. After a quick bite, we swung by the used CD store. When she picked me up at the trailer, just as I got in her truck, the radio was playing "Slow Ride" by Foghat. When we walked in the Chili Parlor, same song — different source. It's, it's as if it was a sign from the heavens. But we couldn't find it down at the used music store. I did wind up with some Zappa and some ZZ Top — which got me thinking, because it turns out the ZZ Top disc is scratched, I wonder if anyone has every done a scratch mix with that stuff? About halfway through the disc, it sounds like someone was trying to do some loops of fury. Or maybe they ran over the disc. That's the hazard of used music. That and fractured jewel cases. But the used bin has that price which can't be beat.

2/20
Magnolia Cafe (south) is one of my favorite places to eat. Sure, there's a couple of factors at work here. I know a lead cook. I know several of the waiters. One of the mangers lives in the next trailer over. Another waiter shares my astrology chart — same birthday, same Moon, same Rising signs. And then there's the artwork on the walls. The stuff that was up yesterday included some work from one of the late night cooks. There was a beautiful picture of the Congress Avenue Bridge, the structure which spans from South Austin to North Austin. Called "The Bat Bridge" because it's a seasonal colony to hundreds of thousands Mexican Free Tail bats — Rodents of the sky, as it were. And this one painting, an image from a familiar grassy knoll to me, showed a mouse–like creature with a black hang glider strapped to its back. Great stuff.

2/19
I stayed up way too late Thursday night, trying to learn the cooking with Perl stuff, but all I did was make a terrible mess. However, yesterday morning, I was up before noon, no small feat in itself, and working with the book open, a fresh cup of Peet's coffee, and I was making headway. After only 4 hours, I got the web page to send a note to the list server, to automatically sign somebody up. No snickering from the elitist programmer crowd, either. It was a first Perl Script for me. More to follow now that Mercury is RX. I was like that hawk I saw Thursday afternoon, drifting in a stationary position. It felt like I wasn't making progress, but the air around me was moving quickly.... like the little electronic current in the web. And to be honest, it was more than six hours, plus at least two hours a day for the past several days, working with scripts which didn't work, plus the cost of the book, a whopping $30. I wonder, is it worth it? It's been years since I've done any real programming. PERL Persnickety Extensions Regarding Languages? Sorry, it was the best I could come up with. After breakfast this morning with some friends at Magnolia, both computer guys, I had to endure much snickering from them. "All that work for about four lines of code, right?"