The best birthday of my life. No question. Having David there was a definite plus. The Superfluid boys didn't even kick my ass when I stole the mic to sing along with "I'm the Ocean" in my cracking off-key voice. Many wonderful presents from David and even more from the family on Sunday. Thanks to all the people who've sent birthday wishes.

And a new month begins. Happy birthday today to Mom (yes, my mom was recovering from childbirth on her birthday). July promises some interesting diversion: a 4-day weekend with my betrothed in cooler locales come Thursday. Then we may suffer a few weeks apart as the biz prepares to move to its new expanded facility at the end of the month. But come the last weekend of the month there's yet another Superfluid show, this time in the City, coinciding with the Gilroy Garlic Frestival the same weekend. Then we start preparing for David's own birthday. Much fun shall be had this summer, provided I can avoid heat stroke...

I don't really feel sorry for them, and I don't think the military should, either. If I were patrolling enemy skies and started getting fired on, I wouldn't care whether the bullets were from anti-aircraft guns or revelers at a wedding party. Isn't it kind of indicative of the backwardness of a culture that fires guns into the sky (at wartime - while occupied by a foreign power) as a means of celebration?! Like I said, I don't feel sorry for them. Don't fire your guns at the sky, you morons!

Then there's still this constant rhetoric about "innocent civilians". Newsflash: if you are living in a dictatorship which has declared war on a superpower, you have two choices: side with your dictatorship or make every possible attempt to escape it. Anyone trying to lead a "normal" life in Afghanistan is fooling themselves. They're experiencing a living death. They aren't innocent, they're the enemy.

I must admit to a somewhat love-hate relationship with Martha Stewart. But I also think the recent insider trading scandal is one big stupid witch hunt. Ultimately, they're basically trying to send a message that people shouldn't give, take or research stock tips. The SEC wants, in the end, to turn the stock market into a Vegas-style gambling casino, where you play with your money, rather than research, invest and carefully track it. They are basically telling us that whenever someone gives a good stock tip or some grapevine news of the latest innovation, that its grounds for an SEC investigation. Fuck them. Fuck the grungy housewives who are oozing envy everytime they compare Martha's clean, bright kitchen to their roach-infested one. Fuck the SEC and the FTC and the entire economic regulatory infrastructure of this country.

OK. I feel better.

Mental health day off work. I figure I'm partly excused because of the horrible headache I woke up with, which kept me from being able to get ready in time. This combined with the fact that the place is going to be sloooooooow as hell...

I know, I'm rationalizing. But I think it's pretty good rationalizing...

Turns out the birthday isn't over after all: Daniel just sent me an Amazon care package, featuring Samuel Huntington.I only wish this headache would go away and I could actually get some reading in...

New code for the millenium: the Otherstream Code, broucht to you by David:

M25 Ed5 Oc1 Soc- Ind+ FV Lit12467 PolLb+R+ Rl-- Mus2 Crn+ SxB+ Or- Ag++ Rp+ Sl++ Fet01+2+3+7-8-9 Tec+ Toy1678 Cn+ Int12345

With the writer's block and yearning to be closer to a certain someone getting the better of me this morning, I will leave it to Chuck to provide the Independence Day entry.

For those of you reading this from America, I embrace you as my fellow countrymen, and hope you share the unbending love I possess for the ideas and philosophy upon which this nation was founded. For those of you on the outside, I wish for you and your countrymen the rights and freedoms which Americans enjoy because of the ideas and philosophy upon which our nation was founded. America is still a shining beacon to the world, and if we remain vigilant and strong, we will be an example of what can be achieved when a people choose to dissolve the divine nation and the despot nation, and adopt the nation of law under a legal constitution, with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as its basis and the only end it needs. Enjoy your celebrations today, my fellow Americans, we've earned it!

Nice long weekend. And I even managed to get my walking in. Now if only my back didn't feel like it had a sharpened #2 pencil jabbed in it.

So it seems the Fresno Grizzlies have decided to join the brainless masses pushing anti-secular America today. They have replaced the Star-Spangled Banner with the Pledge at home games now. This adds to the reasons I would rather not go to a game. I dislike the whole Über-Patriotic atmosphere of most sporting events, but at least the SSB is secular. And besides you gotta love a country that bases it's national anthem on an olde tyme drinkin' tune...

Coming tonight, hopefully: one more reason not to shop Macy's.

A few months ago, I had a little rant up about the use (and misuse) of the flag since 11 September. How horrified I was thus when I saw this whilst out for a stroll with David last Saturday. Now how stupid can a business be when it thinks it'll attract patriotic customers by displaying a horribly maimed version of their flag? I understand that the high winds of the skyscraper-laden SF Financial Dist make flying a huge structure-mounted flag a cumbersome undertaking, but I for one, would have preferred Macys not fly the flag at all than fly one which they had so incredibly vandalized by punching dozens of holes all over. My assumption is that their management or marketing sups are just that stupid, but anyone less observant may actually take this to mean Macy's has some problem with their home country. It only reinforces my belief that Macy's sucks cow ass and would rather give a goat a 5-hour rimjob than provide anything I might actually want...

So there's the new rant. Hope the teaser yesterday didn't make you expect more. Not much more going on tonight. It's hot as hell. I'm too busy trying to avoid heatstroke in my own house to do any more updates...

I haven't had much comment on the recent accounting and corporate scandals, and the subsequent reactions to it, but I thought I'd point to Chuck's recent blog on the topic. He makes a point about how jail terms are less likely to improve the self-policing of accounting. Most strange, isn't it? The government threatens you with jail time if you don't obey the hideously complex financial laws of the country/state/county/city/district, but the burden of proof for obedience to the laws still falls with you? So much for innocent until proven guilty...

I guess that only applies to murderers and rapists... after all, they're so much less threatening than MBAs...

Yes, it is going to be hotter tomorrow. Yes, those are clouds. Yes, it is going to get more humid. No, there isn't anything under 100 in the 7-day forecast.

A few power outages around town on top of it. I've been lucky enough to have been spared thus far. I ask everyone else to conserve power so that I can comfortably cool my home whilst watching my satellite and surfing the net with my lights on...

Another birthday present today, this one a few wish list gems from that cutie Mark E.. I will be speaking in a Norwiegian accent for the next few days...

New music of the moment. New Order like, kicks ass and stuff.

So I brought Amy over for movie night - mostly because it was just too darn tootin' hot fer coffee. And sure as heck I wos right - she gee golly thought my new birthday gift was just the most amazin' talkie she'd seen in ages, dontchaknow!

Well, of course, that is after all her favorite girlie movies. I do love my lipstick lesbian friends, youbetcha.

One thing about that talkie - watchin' the prgnant lady eatin' all that darn tasty food in the homey-lookin' cafeteria does sure make me get a bustin' case of the munchies, yah.

Farewell, kitty. We'll miss you!

One thing I really miss about Net Nation was their very nice and comprehensive Statistics tracking. I could log onto my account and not only see how many hits I was getting, but how much of my bandwidth was being taken by which files, and my referrer logue not only showed where people were coming from, but which actual link they were clicking on which web page and when they clicked it. It also showed which exact files were being directly accessed from an off-site address, rather than just a site pointer, like many stats packages seem to do. Pair is good in the service and price areas, but I guess I get what I pay for in terms of actual product. Alas, I can't seem to locate any service which provides such a great statistics package, and I'd kind of started to rely on it always being there with Net Nation... Any references to a good stats tracker would be appreciated. Ideally, one that does all the work on its own, via the web, so that I don't have to store my stats on my computer.

This week isn't being the best it can be. After payroll yesterday, I came to the realization that once again, the bills soaked up 110% of my salary, and I'm still not saving enough for the move which is edging ever closer. The several hundred resumes I've now sent out have resulted in only 1 reply. Retail sales here I come...

For some reason my sleep has not been entirely adequate lately either. It must be catching, since all but three people called in sick at work today. I wouldn't be surprised If I have to get out on the assembly line while answering phones just to be sure we meet some deadlines. After the first 4 months of the year were totally dead around here, things are totally mad since May. We landed several large local accounts, mostly local chains aquiring other local chains and re-IDing themselves in the process.

Then there's the fact that we have to be in court for a small claims suit on the same day we're moving. Ugh. What would be better than anything would be the anticipation of having my boy around in a couple days. But even that will not be happening, alas. Instead, I'll be racing crates and boxes around and packing up all the nonessentials for the move.

Seems a lot of people are taking web sabbaticals this summer. It's understandable, especially considering there ain't many places around the country which aren't burning to a crisp. I'm once again considering a reworking of the site design, but I think this is mainly a back-up plan for any spare time I have this weekend, and need to expunge some nervous energy... There's of course little chance that anything resembling a web design program will be involved in this... Which means The nervous energy may just be quickly converted into nervous rage.

Well, there's four paragraphs of nothing for you. Blah.

Sitting at Avalon last night, sipping a peach cider with Amy, I started reflecting on how lucky I am to have such a sane, rational and beautiful boy in my life. I think I tend to be cynical about my life too often, but then I hear about some of the things other people are going through, and realize I'm doing pretty damn good. I love you, baby.

And it looks like I'll get to see you sooner than I thought...

Have I mentioned lately how much I miss my NetNation account?

I got an email today from a long-lost epal; someone who I honestly regretted losing touch with several years ago in my (previous) Banshee-obsessed heyday (eg. the days of hyaena.org). Sometimes its incredibly fun to reminisce, even if I'm only doing it in private. Catching up is always enjoyable, especially when there's still old mutual grudges festering. I'm easy to get along with when I've got something to nag about.

I just needed to say that it's great to be alive. I've finished my work for the day, I'm well-fed, and tomorrow I get to spend time with the the boy of my dreams. The beige skies are beautiful, the streets are busy and my mind feels well tuned after polishing off yet another book. Not long from now I'll be able to wake up every morning next to that boy I love like no other. I think I've done pretty well.

Another sleepless night. I don't know why, but I've been having incredible trouble sleeping lately. It's not that I don't need the sleep - it usually catches up with me by Thursday or Friday, by which time I'm falling asleep at the wheel on the drive home...

I think it's just all the things on my mind lately. Lots of changes in the near future can always have a profound impact on my subconsious anxiety levels, and usually the first thing to suffer is my sleep. It's not like there are any stresses so profound that I'm unhappy because of them - on the contrary, I think it's more of an anticipation type of anxiousness. Being up at 4 AM and making a useless blog posting because my mind won't shut off isn't necessarily a bad thing...

As I was driving home from David's Sunday, I approached Fresno as wildfires were burning in the mountains. The sky above the city was turned this surreal orange from the setting sun and the huge blankets of smoke in the upper atmosphere. It was an amazingly beautiful sight, if a little eerie. "Mecca" by Omicron began playing on my iPod at the same time, and it added that final touch which gave me the chills. I decided to add the song as my music of the moment. If nothing else, it makes this entry more than the useless ramblings of an insomniac.

Sucky week. I'm not sleeping well, work is hell, dermatologist can't keep her liquid nitrogen off me, etc.

Why do people bother to write me just to complain about my site? I don't even have the motivation to rant about it this week. Ugh.

Since I can't offer any real monologue this week, I figured I'd post my feature on my partner in life.

A small break from the otherwise dreary and unpleasant mood of this week. Seems not too many other people are having much luck with this week either. I will not miss it when it's over this evening...

If that guy wins his lawsuit, I'm leaving the country.