12/20
This morning: Radio station — airport. Talked with Sister yesterday,
and it's official, she will not be making the trip to Dallas for Xmas in
Texas. Just as well, I thought it was supremely strange [note: not ironic
— use that word correctly]: At Thanksgiving, I took a suitcase full
of Xmas gifts and left them — neatly wrapped, with Sister's girlfriend.
Perfect for an Xmas day delivery. What's more Austin than the 37th
Street light show?
The lights on 37th Street, across from Guadeloupe Amy's looked inviting,
but we were hungry — so we got dinner. A fine, Vietnamese cuisine,
served by a Scorpio, with a Cancer and Pisces — that makes all the
water signs in one night. The three of us — all single — talked
about our "space" — both my friends live in old houses that
they've gracefully redone themselves. Secure with job, personality, place
in life, my one Army buddy [Cancer, tons of Leo] is really amusing to be
around, he's half macho bluster, he's one of those "kill you with a
deft, single hand stroke" black–belt–martial–arts kind
of a guy. But he has the heart of a poet. And he's an astute observer of
human behavior. Add the Pisces with her refined and gentle way of looking
at things, and it was an interesting night. Table talk: single, and for
some reason, kind of glad. They are always much more amused by the supposed
peculiarities of my social life than the reality [I live like a monk].
12/19
It was a long and strange night. I finally pulled out of the trailer after
sundown, stopped off at a corner store, and the guy behind the counter asked
me where my guitar was. With my hair down, and wearing a sport coat, I guess
I had that look. "I thought you were that musician." I stepped
into the Taco Palace
for a quick bite before heading over the pedestrian bridge to North Austin.
I wandered North Austin's streets — Slayer
will be playing at La
Zona Rosa in Feb. — and into the Austin
Music Hall, the present home of the Armadillo
Bazaar. $4 cover to wander amongst vendors selling stuff I don't need.
If I didn't live in a small trailer, something like a 2–foot replica
of a fishing lure [$200+] would be appealing. Or a large, art deco rocket
ship night light. The Derailers
were just warming up for their first set. I paused, and after standing at
the back of the crowd, and a sing–a–long version of "Tiger
by the Tail," the band took a break, to allow some politician to work
the crowd so I grabbed a bottle of water and headed into the cool night
air. I bummed a light from a guy, and he was talking about being from Dallas,
to another guy from Dallas, "How's that Joe
Ely song go? 'God was passing out soul and Dallas was at the bank...'?"
They veered off into a sensitive topic: Light Rail. "Yeah, the Dallas
to Ft. Worth line is running now," I added. I'm set to ride on it with
Pa Wetzel later this week, we're going to Ft. Worth to buy him an Xmas present,
a hat [Peter Brother's Hat
Company]. Both of the guys talking were for Light Rail. "Man, I
could live in Ft. Worth, good music scene, good place, but it was too far
to Dallas, no rail, not like a real city," then, looking at me, "are
you a musician?" I just shook my head. I wandered back inside, remembering
to switch my phone's ringer to vibrate. My Aquarius buddy calls me, "Hey,
I'm just coming in now, where are you?" Center stage, in the back.
She called again, "I'm here, but I can't see you...." I wandered
over to where she was. We strolled around and looked at the arts and craft
crap merchandise. As the crowd thinned some, the lead singer called
out, "Hey, Kev, come up here and sing us a song!" Kevin
Fowler, Beer, Bait & Ammo fame. You know, "Kev" can sing
Dwight better than Dwight can, even if Kevin forgot the lyrics to second
verse, Streets
of Bakersfield. "I like this: a family event where they serve
beer," he observed. I watched carefully, Kevin was pushing a stroller,
twin bottles of beer were riding in the handle's cup holder. Before the
Derailer's last set was over, I bought their
new CD. Actually, I bought two copies. One's a gift. Even got the band
to sign it. Now that's cool. "This receipt will get you a free meal
at Juan in a Million,
you know, on Caesar Chavez, East Austin." Even cooler. My Aquarius
friend knows Kevin from "the hippie days," as he said. Kevin's
Taurus, the two kids are Scorpio and Leo. And on the ride back to the trailer,
I was talking to the Aquarius about her most recent romantic adventure,
the whole reason we got together in the first place, I was just getting
out of the truck when her phone rang, "Gotta go," she mouthed
to me, and I wandered in the trailer. 30 seconds later, my cell phone
rang, I was expecting the Aquarius, so I answered, "Hello darling!"
"This is your Sister, and I'm homesick for Texas and Xmas...."
So I spent an hour online, looking at possible ticket combinations, trying
to balance her performance
schedule with a free ticket on Southwest.
They have this one flight — I know, I've been it — the plane starts
in Dallas, changes numbers in Austin, then goes to El Paso — Albuquerque
— Phoenix — San Diego — Oakland. She wouldn't have to worry
about changing planes anywhere.... don't know whether she'll do it or not,
though. And no, I'm not some famous guitar player. Can't carry a tune in
a bucket.
12/18
What a beautiful afternoon yesterday was — I stepped outside with a
full load of laundry, felt the sun's rays warming the afternoon, tossed
the dirty clothes back in the door, and took off for a hike. It turned into
a short hike, not quite five miles, punctuated with Mexican food —
enchiladas were the special, so I added the table's red sauce to the green
sauce for my own version of a hot Xmas meal. I gathered up a check at the
office, moseyed towards the bank, found an incredible purple leaf on the
ground [and left it there], dropped off the deposit [every little bit helps,
you know], bounced into star bucks, one last time [I hope], talked with
the barista, found out the secret to their egg nog latté [1/3 skim
milk, 2/3 egg nog], and wandered home — high as a kite. Matter of fact,
I realized that I committed an unpardonable sin at Star Bucks, letting the
kindly barista know what a gorgeous day it was outside, and just how nice
it was. Even though I was attempting to be polite, that's just rude, "Too
bad you're stuck inside, man, it's great out there...." Feeling the
spirit, feeling good. Life was better than ever. Then the phone rang....
Holiday Depression is back in full–force. Maybe not me, but some folks
really seem to have it bad. Must be the marketing.
12/17
Cleaning out the hard drive, found a picture of the sign for Wink,
Texas. A lot of the online journals I perused Sunday morning had a 50/50
split, but there seemed to be a low–level depression spreading around.
Must be holidays. This is — no doubt — compounded by the overcast
skies, and gray appearance to everything. Unless, I guess, you're hitting
an indoor mall. I wouldn't know, ain't been near a mall all season. But
I did get out and I did shop, if only briefly. My favorite poetess came
by, as she was checking on the availability of parking spaces at Shady Acres,
and all she could say was, "Yes, it's a small trailer you've got."
And the ubiquitous, "That's a fat cat." We strolled up to Amy's
under leaden skies, watched weather blow hither and yon, and meandered back
to Star Bucks. "How can you drink that stuff?" she asked. It's
easy, it tastes yummy. It's full of caffeine. Certain priorities in life
are more important than company policy. It's Xmas season, I get to enjoy
what I want. Even if I regret it later. I just wish they had one of those
extra–large size, you know, about 80 ounces of beverage. A "triple
shot" just doesn't quite get it.
12/16
Feast Day of Saint Valerian, invoked for protection from cold and snow.
Which was perfect, yesterday morning was cold and wet. Gray, cold and wet.
Miserable, gray, cold and wet. It was a couple of years ago, when I first
stumbled on to the REK song, "Xmas." Matter of fact, I'm not sure
what the song's official name is, but as near as I can tell, it's on his
recently re–released "Live
#2" album as well as "Walking
Distance." I got in a panic as it was well past noon and I realized
that I had a phone reading I needed to be prepared for. Never ceases to
amaze me, I can't just answer the phone and talk to these people about their
astrology chart and what their year holds. No, I have to take a shower,
get all cleaned up, and then get dressed for a phone reading. Doesn't make
any sense, but it's the way I work. Must have something to do with a particular
mind set. But I'm not sure. Otherwise, seeing as how it was cold and wet
out, I think I would've passed on all the parties, the fun and so forth,
and not gone anywhere at all. A whole day in flannel pajamas — that
would be a treat. Perfect when it's cold and wet outside.
12/15
You like this purple? Let me know. Scopes,
site index, and the web
journal are all color coordinated now. That only leaves 37 megabytes
left to update. Not likely to happen anytime too soon. But you never can
tell.... I've tried and tried, but I can find no equal to Star Buck's Egg
Nog Latté. Bummer, as my waist will show this for the next few months.
What are the odds of having three meetings with clients, all with the same
first name? In a row? Weird how that happens. The difference between a web
log [blog] and this web journal should be clear, but here's my take, anyway,
from behind the scenes: a Web
Log is updated via web browser, and it might contain only a snarky comment
and a link, a diatribe, longer or shorter entry. The web journal is tantamount
to a daily, miscellaneous rambling wherein I get to to do a small amount,
such as the whim moves me, of expository prose.
12/14
"I need to hit the outlet malls, you up for that?" Sure, why not?
Head south of town on the freeway — New Braunfels was the first stop,
then back towards Austin. I was still trying to unload my Star Bucks coupons,
and we never did find a place to do that. However, on the south east corner
of the town square in San Marcos, there's Valentino's Pizza — bacon
& ranch pizza is the house favorite — bacon and ranch dressing
instead of the usual ingredients. Proof that something truly Texan still
exists. It seems like a place like San Marcos would be ripe as a destination
for many things, good cigar shop, famous record store, historic town square,
excellent coffee shop with a Gemini tending bar, student population, and
home to Bacon & Ranch pizza. Back to the other outlet mall — the
cat got a new mat for her food dish, but that was all I could find; however,
one clerk gave us the hot tip: "The bra shop has a sale going on —
all bras: $1.99...." It's really hard to hang out in a bra shop and
look manly. Seems like I've spent a lot of the the last six months doing
just that, here, overseas, doesn't much matter. "And she's not even
my girlfriend," I told the other guy parked by the front door. "Sure."
Worse yet, it's hard not to appear like pervert or something. Either I look
like a weak–willed male, an insignificant other, or I look like some
kind of a dirty old man. Can't win. But I did hear a better tale than mine,
"I just called my husband — we have three daughters — he
wouldn't sneak into their rooms to find out what bra sizes to get."
"Course not. You know he'd get caught, and try explaining that one."
Oh yes, dad sorting through his daughters' drawers, looking at bras. Rather
a savvy guy by the front door. We both, with good–nature, resigned
our fate to whatever. So much for going Xmas shopping.
12/13
Design considerations: I structured a web site that would allow for unlimited
growth for a whole decade. But six or eight years from now, is "HTML"
still going to be recognized as a publishing medium? Ten years is a long,
long time in the computer world — like the formula used for "dog
years," a decade in computer years is more like a century. Moon was
in Scorpio, headed towards Sagittarius.... I should've been able to tell
when it hit exactly — in Magnolia, almost the entire staff says, "hello,"
from the owner to the dishwasher. Almost everyone had to stop by the table,
too, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Capricorn, Capricorn, Pisces, then a Pisces
friend walks in with her Libra boss — I say "hello" to the
boss, and garner a comment [rather apt, I might add] of "brat."
But it makes it harder and harder to justify Magnolia as a place to do a
really long and relaxed reading, seeing as how I kept getting interrupted
by friendly people. Went with that selfsame Pisces to the big hardware store
so she could get some rocks. Seriously: I saw one bag that said, "Organic
Rocks." I'm rather unsure of that. Then I saw what I really wanted
for Xmas: a genuine, fake Franklin stove. All electric. Looked real, and
it answered a bit of an envy problem I was having: how to make my trailer
as nice as one of the Sagittarius buddies' place. He was bragging [no doubt
to impress one of the girls] that he had a fireplace. All I need is that
little electric stove thing, and I could have a fireplace, too. Even better:
no wood to chop. Anti–Zen?
Don't chop wood, don't carry water?
12/12
I looked
back, and while there are usually a few good days in December, with accommodating
weather, there's also a series of days when it's noon, or the middle of
the afternoon, and there's been no sun, and I'm still in my flannel pajamas,
toiling away at the keyboard, a little bereft of directions. Unlike previous
years, this is the one season I've managed to assiduously and astutely avoid
the shopping malls. So far. My Gemini buddy popped around — apparently
he's out of work until next year, and we grabbed us some BBQ. Just a long,
lingering lunch in the middle of the afternoon. Heard a snippet of an Xmas
choral arrangement on the overhead speakers. Bingo. It's getting here, that
Xmas stuff. I really should enjoy the few laid back days I've got. Keep
the radio off, listen to CD's, pet the cat — I'll be in Dallas, in
the thick of it, in another week or so. Family.
Friends. Flames.
12/11
Spam is up 650%.
Which is one reason the monthly e–mail
newsletter is now officially on sabbitcal. Another one is time and irritation
— it never ceased to amaze me at the number of people who would go
through the necessary steps to get signed up for a free monthly delivery
then complain. Had me some mighty fine Mexican BBQ [barbacoa] at El Sol
y La Luna for lunch. Met with an Aries client. Then, meandering back towards
the trailer park, I stopped at Blackmail on Congress, just a few doors north
of the restaurant. My friendly Cappy had suggested I check out the excellent
collection of vintage [and amazingly affordable] cowboy boots. Then there
was the Pisces diary
entry about the earrings at the store, old typewriter keys.... I resisted
the urge, but I did pick up some "coal" for certain bad girls
— something for the stockings. I had to ask, I mean, the theme of the
place was all black, but the owner was an Aries. "What did you think?"
Scorpio. All that black. "Oh no, I'm not that evil," she joked,
"red really is one of my favorite colors." With a name like "Blackmail,"
and a predominately black theme for everything, you sure could've fooled
me.
12/10
Had me a long, lingering lunch, which was really breakfast, with my
Aries buddy at Magnolia. It was nice to sit there, amid the Sunday morning
hustle, and listen to folks worry about things they couldn't do anything
about. He was doing his best to be the poor, tortured soul of a poet trapped
inside an Aries–model frame, but I'm not sure the image really worked.
It's hard to be tortured when you've got an army of friends around you —
and he didn't seem to be hurting for female attention, unless, of course,
you listened to his sad tale of woe. Makes me wonder, after the last couple
of days, if this is that "holiday epidemic" that seems to happen
every year at this time. I get to see because of my line of work; it's a
combination of holiday lust, marketing hype, and unanswered desires —
all compounded by certain astrological
features. Plus, the days are short. Less sunlight. More night time thoughts,
which can start as early as 5 in the afternoon. Now, my Capricorn friend,
the one with red hair, me and her had dinner at Romeo's. In fact, dinner
fueled me to come home and finally fix a few things on the web page I've
been meaning to get around to. Originally, we'd planned on a movie as well,
last night, but she bailed out. I got stuck trying to give her directions
to something or other, and she inferred that I looked just like the Scarecrow
in the Wizard
of Oz. I had my arms outstretched, then reversed the position, then
untangled it again, trying to explain that it was two miles one way, but
only half a mile, if you took my shortcut.
12/9
"Keep Austin weird," is the bumper sticker. Friday was shorts.
Friday night, on the way home from the party, my ride was complaining because,
"It's the the middle of December," and she was forced to use her
truck's AC. Saturday morning was cold. Fired up the computers, and worked
on the web sites. I tried three different web log software packages. The
last one was seamless and integrated nicely with what's already here, Grey
Matter was the name. My current server uses some funky, extra–secure
thing with I–don't–understand–what protocols, and rather
than worry with stuff that does, or doesn't work, I just kept hunting until
I found something
that worked well, "out of the box," so to speak. But I'm not
sure I'm ready migrate to a live journal for daily updates. It was more
an idea so the next time I'm in a foreign country with only web access,
I can still update. Only happened a two times in the last three years, that
I've missed a day or two. I just imagine it's always going to be possible
to have some kind of a net cafe, where I can pull in and update. It's a
lovely image. I started out last night with big plans. Saturday night is
the slowest time for the server, so I sat myself down, popped a little opera
on the stereo, and planned to do much web maintenance. I managed to clean
up a few minor pages, and it took three times to get the web log to work
right, but after that, I was too disjointed to concentrate on little lines
of text, and doing things like reading the instructions and moving files
back and forth.
12/8
Interesting title, "Are
you as interesting as your web log?" I guess not. Read enough web
logs of students makes me happy I dropped out of grad school years ago —
love the lifestyle, can't abide with the poverty or the work load and its
stress. Top Ramen, and its assorted uses was a one topic last night —
rather diverse crowd at the party. Graduate students, foreigners, high–tech,
low–tech, a little of everything. My Aries buddy, he was having a party
that included a little of everything. One of those broad cross–sections
of typical Austin life. Which all got me off on a train of thought I started
on Tuesday afternoon. When I got in the driver's seat, one of my first actions
was to position my cell phone [PDA] so I could talk and drive. Usually when
I hike around the lake, like I did yesterday afternoon, I carry the phone
but studiously avoid using it, relishing the sanctity of nature, taking
time to be alone at the water's edge. But put me in the driver's seat, and
the first thing I do is start making calls. If any of my friends are DJing,
I try to tune them in, too — while flipping through the phone
book to see whom I can call. This was prompted by my short, energetic
stroll — I spent almost half of the time walking and talking, the little
ear bud in my ear, me waving the the PDA around, setting up appointments,
trouble shooting a computer, and catching up on important industry gossip.
It wasn't until I got towards the end of the talking that I realized, that
little clip for the ear bud? It was swinging in the middle of my chest,
just the right place to be a nipple clamp.
12/7
I joined the "Daily
during December" group because I liked the idea — except that
I post daily anyway — but the idea was great. It's sort of like a limited
time/limited use web ring. I admire that. Had breakfast with Elaine the
Leo after the radio show... funny thing, she was asking a personal question,
and all I could suggest was she follow some of her own advice, "If
you were your client, what would you tell you?" Same thing. Capricorn
day, despite the radio show morning. Capricorn reading, Capricorn waitress,
which, in retrospect, makes it quite easy — "It's my favorite
sign, no really." "We
know." Then another Capricorn for a late evening trip back to the
diner. Broke the mold, though, it was Scorpio waiter, those Scorpio peepers
underneath the bill of that hat. Which, then, started that conversation
about guys with Capricorn eyes. I still find the prettiest eyes on Capricorn's.
12/6 [7:00 AM radio spot]
> "The overhead of accounting and list
> management doesn't outweigh the
> income generated."
> [snip], man.. that's the most cappy thing
> I've ever heard you write.
> there may be hope for you yet..
Or there might not be. I'm still trying to figure out business stuff —
not like I have decent model to go by, either. During my typical writing
session, I typed "2003" for the first time for scopes
— yesterday morning. That's scary. I've been looking for some web
log software. That's something I need for the next
site — or maybe
this site. Took off for a hike yesterday afternoon. Maybe there wasn't any
sun, but it was just too tasty not to walk. Coolish [below 80], cloudy,
and as nice as could be. I had to make one of those decisions, to put my
T–shirt on while it rained a few drops on me — even though the
weather was not shirt–wearing–weather. I did some serious mileage.
Fetched up a few things, too. I dropped off a prescription to be filled,
and since I had to wait, I was tormented between buying an Austin
American Statesman or the National
Enquirer for reading material. While the Enquirer was more
expensive, $2.05 with tax, it was far more entertaining as it didn't promise
to be journalism. While I was looking at who was doing what to who, I realized
that there's a new winner for the "best migas on the east side."
The little place I stopped at had the very best I've had in a while —
"migas servido con huevo, tortilla frita, tomates, cebolla, jalapeño
y queso. Incluye papas y frijoles fritos."
12/5
One my neighbors saw me yesterday afternoon as I was headed out the trailer
park. "Hey, what are you doing for the next two hours?" So I took
a ride to the Temple Airport, about 60 miles north of town, two train stops
from here. Drove the guy's car back and parked it. As I was rolling into
North Austin around 3 in the afternoon, and it took me an hour to get home
from up yonder, due to traffic.... Fortunately, I had no more bookings yesterday
afternoon, and I rather enjoyed the ride. Sort of weird, as the guy was
hoping into his plane, he stopped, and we introduced ourselves. He called
a little later, he got to Norman, Oklahoma about the same time I got home.
> sign: Sagittarius
> TalkToKramer:
I like the idea of $10 for a
> personal answer (paragraph) to a
> question, based on individual chart.
> I'd use that on occasion, when baffled.
> Like now, with Saturn opposite Sun in Sag---
>betwitched,
brothered, and besmirched...
> Do you offer such a service?
Nope. And there's a problem with this business model. The answer might begat
more questions, or might not be clear enough, and $10, that buys about 5
minutes of time. The next point is that a decent horoscope takes at least
20 minutes to write, and that's only if the stars are perfectly aligned,
factoring in "real world experience" and whatever I had for lunch
or if the latest romantic interest [insert sign here] is being nice to me
at the moment. Such problems can greatly lengthen the amount time required
to write something that is read once then tossed away. The link I stumbled
on was priced at $15. Since I'm a "premium" PayPal
customer, that means they get to keep a little slice of everything, too.
Other models I've observed, but that don't seem to work include "subscription"
services and premium sites. I can't find a thing on my site I'd pay a premium
for, or that is really worth a membership fee. I watched as other astrologers
offered newsletters and updates via e–mail for a fee — the subscription
model — and that seems to fail pretty quickly. The overhead of accounting
and list management doesn't outweigh the income generated.
12/4
[St. Barbara's day, patron saint of brewers]
That's what we need around here.
Best comment from Monday morning mail? "Don't eat the brown acid."
Which, if you really have to know, is merely a musical allusion. A few weeks
back, I included the reminder that any home
repair project takes three times as long, and usually costs three time as
much. I had to make three trips to the hardware store to fetch parts for
a slightly leaky sink. Twice, for the same part, in one case. Just a little
30 cent nut. But I was in good humor the whole way — stopped off at
a noodle shop to get some late lunch — Vietnamese restaurant. Mexican
Conjunto music was blaring back in their kitchen — diversity, that's
all. English was the third most common language there. And that repair?
Last time I checked, it was holding water, like it was supposed to. Only
been meaning to fix that leaky sink for about a year now. I guess Mr. Landlord
owes me some money, but I doubt I can collect the full day rate for that
one. Cancer Moon. Yeah, that's why I was fixing stuff at home.
12/3
No fishing in the rain. [I'd planned on fishing Sunday morning, only to
get a call at "Oh–Dark–Thirty," "Hey man, not going
as it's raining and thundering."] Design thoughts — most
of the horoscope sites, matter of fact, everyone I checked, requires a browser/mouse
click to get to the scopes. The news sites I read regularly, like Slashdot,
BBC and MacInTouch,
all the news is on the front page. What's better? Fancy graphics? Or the
information itself? Let's say I want tour information about a certain musician,
and try his/her name for a web site. The splash graphic is a flash clip
that takes minutes to load. Chances are, I skip the introduction —
unless it's really clever — and go straight to the content. I stumbled
onto a journal web site, a link from a link from a link, and I found someone
giving advice for $15 per e–mail. Which got me thinking about $19.95
for single, personal scope for a specific chart. Just thinking in words
here. Or maybe $9.95, via PayPal, for a one paragraph answer, based on a
quick look at a person's chart? More later on that idea. I went to an Austin's
Journal Writers group get–together yesterday afternoon.
> The following domain name(s) have been successfully registered:
> astrowhore.com astrowhore.net astrowhore.org
An idea,
spawned at the meeting.
 |
 |
Austin's
journal writers' group: Abbey
Cat, Music Whore,
Water Lilly,
Jette, GriffJon,
Pineapple.
12/2
So I got up early, laying in the bed, listening to a cowboy sing about something
on a country station, and the phone rang, "I'm on my way over."
"Cool," I answered, "I'm dressed, ready to roll." Small
stretch, but I was about half–dressed and half–awake. Up, out
the door, drive to the airport, drop Miss Red Head Capricorn, drive home,
clean up for the big lunch time party. Bubba begged out at the last minute,
"Dude, I'd ah called earlier, but the porcelain makes a horrible echo
in this phone." Still, I did go to the strip bar. Or topless place.
I like the irony of calling it a "Gentleman's Club." I picked
up our tab for lunch and drinks for the Pisces and me. With a tip, ran about
$40 — not exactly a cheap meal. One Sagittarius girl, the organizer
of the event, kept asking me why I wasn't getting any "dances."
Chicken? No, actually I had the lobster tail and filet, apparently the lunch
special for $9.95. Not bad. Not exactly haute cuisine, but then, I wasn't
expecting that. I was saving what little cash I had to go to Costco and
Sam's, and yes, I did a little extra grocery shopping later. Much more amusing.
The thing about shopping at Sam's and so forth is that I usually wind up
with a few items that I don't really need, like a couple of CD's [impulse
buys]. I wound up with Garth
Brooks and Ozzy
Osbourne. As I was meandering down one row at Sam's, I nudged the Pisces
— here's something I bet you just don't see any place else: a guy was
fondling a BBQ grill. Young fellow, too. He had that dreamy, far away look
in his eyes as he gently ran his fingers over the grill's surface, a certain
longing and lustful mist surrounding him. He lingered at that display grill
for several minutes.
12/1
> Starbucks is E-V-I-L! Stay away from
> the Dark Side my friend. Do Not be
> Lured In by their overpricede Egg Nog
> Lattes that are fabulously delicious!!
I kept getting urged by one local writer to start up my Leander column again
— it appeared as the EroticScopes on Astronet for several years. Paid
well. No one ever got the joke, either, Leander is a little town north of
Austin, although, in one mythology text, he was supposedly a mere mortal
who died for love [while some goddess just watched as the guy drowned. Don't
even start with me.] The most fun I had with that work was pretending
and complaining to the NY editor about what I was supposed to wear in order
to write. I wasn't wearing pumps, I have no desire to dress in women's clothing,
but for the sake of a paycheck and as writing exercise, it's a good way
to flex creative muscles. I was worrying through some that when the phone
rang, "Hey, you still got community service on the weekends?"
"No man, I don't, and I'm off parole, too — besides, she swore
to me that she was 19..." [So my witty ripostes aren't always that
good, I can always think up a good one later.] Kind of a tough call this
morning, go to the airport early — just the wrong time to go fishing
— then off for a another belated birthday party — at the behest
of pair of females — at a place called "Sugars
[uptown cabaret]" — so it looks me and Bubba are off to help
my friends celebrate. As one of the revelers assured me, "No honey,
the food really is good." Yeah, I'm so there for the food.
11/30
The problem I have with Star Bucks is that it's a ubiquitous corporate chain
store. As such, it usurps the place of the cozy, eccentric local places,
eclipsing the Jo's, Texspresso's, Bouldin Creek Coffee Shop, the Little
Cities of the world. Despite these seriously detracting factors, I can think
of two good things about Star Bucks: fredlet
[the Leo] is working at one, as a temp job, and a Gemini sends me a gift
certificate at Xmas time — full of coupons for cups of coffee, or whatever,
which can only mean: Egg Nog Latté. Yesterday morning, there was
a thin film of ice crystals in places, and yet, by mid–afternoon, the
sun was out, and I just had to make a run to the bank to deposit all that
cash I get for writing horoscopes, and that meant stopping off at Buck's
for some holiday cheer, such as it is. Late last night, the former Neighbor
calls me up, harangues me on the phone for a bit, then him and that Scorpio
girl swing by the old trailer to harass me, tell a few lies, and be bothersome.
It was great fun, for about an hour. It almost turned into a road trip,
until I opened the door again. I feel like the cat sometimes, open the door,
and wonder who turned the heater off. At least she's got a fur coat.
11/29
American Express spammed
me. Happened the other night, and it really bothered me. I dropped them
a note, via their web site, just to let them know that I didn't appreciate
the unsolicited e–mail, and that I would not be accepting American
Express cards anytime too soon. Had another birthday dinner last night —
sushi this time — with the dear Pisces. Had to do a little Xmas shopping,
and we passed through a grocery store. My Pisces friend relayed what she
heard in line at the grocery check–out, "He's not from around
here, he knows how to dress for the cold weather." Oh, yes I am from
around here, I just happened to have on my grandfather's overcoat, complete
with a pocket for a whiskey bottle and a label from a department store in
Oklahoma City. Next thing, I got call on the old cell phone, Pa Wetzel was
passing through town with some business associates, and we joined them after
dinner in the hotel bar. Double good news: saw Pa Wetzel, heard good stories
from his business associates, and got them loaded up with Xmas gifts, some
just purchased, saving me big on shipping.
11/28
> sign: Scorpio
> Talk
To Kramer:
> I have a Cap friend who I've printed your
> scope for him for 3 weeks and he's now
> completely convinced I've been paying
> you to write the Capricorn scope.
That was nice to read. Wonder if I should ask for "reprint rights"?
Mr. Nice FedEx driver [he's really nicer than the UPS drivers, but not nearly
as cute — and he was wearing long pants, a rarity] was by yesterday
morning with a big birthday present from Ma Wetzel, who — according
to her — she dipped into retirement funds, pawned some family heirlooms,
sold blood, and bought me a slick new Apple
Computer. The worst part? I had a reading yesterday afternoon, so the
box was opened, but I had no time to play with the new toy before I was
off to work. Sagittarius delivery guy, Sagittarius girl for a reading, but
a Cancer server.
11/27
Had myself another fine B-Day luncheon, in Dallas, at Kathleen's Art Cafe
[personal fave] with The Virgo, also a personal fave. Got the "tuck
and roll, baby" at the airport — then, standing in line at security,
someone had one of those hideous phone rings going — eventually, it
became obvious it was my phone. Sister strikes, again and again — from
2,000 miles away. I missed a call because she jacked with the settings on
my Handspring Visorphone, under the guise of, "I got to get me one
of these things — how does it work?" It was one of those terribly
obnoxious rings — you know the type, some sort of melody. Sister could
be the only culprit. I clocked over 5 hours on the computer, trying to get
unburied from a week's worth of work, and then I had an idea, spurred by
the cat: if I really want attention, what I should do is hide under the
bed and refuse to come out, despite polite entreaties and the offer of food.
I wonder if that would work? Seemed to work for the cat.
11/26
Big Sur, CA — LA, CA — Dallas. Dallas, Texas. Watching families
traveling with children, and that universal prayer, "Dear Lord, PLEASE
make sure they DON'T sit near me, as cute as them kiddies are...."
Overheard in LAX, "Yeah, so we left Austria, connected through London,
then flew to LA, and now we're headed back to Dallas, and I think we'll
drive to Houston tonight....." I'm not complaining about anything,
that's just too much. Layover in Dallas to appease Ma Wetzel and this birthday
thing again.
11/25
Off to the airport. Playing with my family is hard because, "They're
a tough audience." You know what's really bad? I've started sounding
JUST LIKE Pa Wetzel. Fortunately we got the parental units off to the airport
yesterday morning, and it was me and Sister today. "Hey, do these jeans
make my butt look fat?" I asked Sister, turning around and wiggling
my bottom at her. "No Kramer, desserts every meal for the past week
makes it look fat." Family: we're a tough audience.
11/24
Families are wonderful, at times. My immediate family, Sister, the parental
units and so forth, all decided to that T-Day was my B-day, even though
they were off a little bit — like almost a week off. But it was a party,
anyway. Now, Sister has serious "processor envy" because, in her
words, "my hard drive is the biggest in the family." Unrelated,
but nice as ever, Ms. Fredlet correctly [I guess] identified that weird
plant as Fuschia Flower. Which only makes sense, too, judging from the color.
I guess the storm rolled in last night, but I missed everything this morning,
opting to stay huddled under the covers while a magnificent weather system
blew over head, tossing trees around, the rain beating on the door and windows.
It's so gorgeous right at the edge of the world, feeling the elements churn
away.
11/23
I was driving the rent car, "Hey, what kind of car is that?" "Red?"
I answered, "maybe maroon?" I can identify it by its security
device, attached to the key ring. So I was driving this rental down Pacific
One, and huge red coyote darted across the road in front of us. Symbolic?
An animal portent? Surely. Might've just been a big dog–like animal
crossing the highway, too. Might be all it means.