I got quite a bit accomplished this weekend. My to do list is almost 100% completed. Not bad at all. Tomorrow I fly to Chicago. Wasn’t I supposed to work from home more often? Eventually. This evening my parents invited Lisa, Lanke, and me to their house for dinner. My dad made his famous Beer Butt Chicken. My mom made her famous rice pudding which actually came from a recipe I gave her. Right now I am feeling very full. I am sated.

My expenses are done. Most of my laundry is washed. My bathroom is sparkling. My bedroom is almost neat. My bills are paid and my mail is sorted. Life seems very good.

This is interesting stuff. Click on the first image. Once it loads, move your mouse over the image to see what the photo looked like before it was retouched.

Last night Lisa and I attempted to watch Beyond Justice starring Rutger Hauer and Carol Alt. I bought it at CVS a few months ago. It was a 2 for 3.00 deal. I really wanted Cold Sweat starring Charles Bronson and so I grabbed the only other video that struck me as interesting… Beyond Justice. Within the first few minutes I knew we were in for a doozy; the credits were done in Cooper Black typeface. The film must have been made at a time when Rutger had just been outfitted with a new set of dentures because it seemed as if Rutger’s teeth were about to fall out and he was doing his darndest at sucking them back in. It was horrible. Absolutely horrible. I fell asleep during what seemed like an interminable desert battle between Rutger and a horde of Arabic nomads. I don’t think I am going to try to finish it.

Today is the first day of garage sales! Lisa, Mom, Polo, and I are going to see what is out there! I love garage sales! Where else can you get a Herb Albert’s Tijuana Brass, Whipped Cream & Other Delights album for a dime and a bronze (colored) bust of Elvis for $5?

About three weeks ago I watched Ocean’s Twelve. It was a fine movie, reminded me very much of the cool 60’s caper films. The one thing I really liked about the movie was the soundtrack and once the movie ended I checked Napster. They had it and I listened to it regularly. When I switched to Rhapsody, they didn’t yet have it in their library. Yesterday I checked again and sure enough it was there– except certain songs are off limits: L’Appuntamento, L.S.D. Partie , Faust 72, and Ascension To Virginity. I am hoping they win the licensing soon enough. In the meantime I decided to search for the artists of these songs and although most weren’t listed, I did find quite a bit of music and info on Piero Umiliani. He’s the fellow who composed and originally performed the classic song, Mah na mah na; which was popularized by the Muppets. The most amazing thing is that ole Piero originally composed the song for a SWEDISH PORNO!!!! Mah na MAH NA!

We missed seeing John at Delorenzo’s last night. Delorenzo’s has the greatest pizza. We always ordered the sausage and mushroom believing it was the best but the one fellow there recommended the meatball pizza. Last week we finally tried it and let me tell you, it was INCREDIBLE! I don’t know if I could say it was better than the sausage mushroom but it sure as heck came close. In fact, we liked it so much, we ordered it again last night.

Lisa was cleaning out Bobo’s bed and discovered quite the assortment of found objects. Bobo is apparently a little collector. Here are some of the items he collected:
– a single coffee bean
– 4 yuengling bottle caps
– 1 used tissue
– 1 pen
– 1 highlighter
– 3 plastic hooks that socks come on

Lisa also found an ATA ticket stub in which little Bobo placed tiny holes using his needle-sharp teeth. I guess he also has dreams of being a conductor.

This morning I was searching around the Internet trying to find a visualization plugin for Rhapsody. I had no luck but I did find this really cool program: Mp3 My Mp3. It allows you to record streaming audio or anything that is coming out of your computer’s speakers. Basically, if you can hear it, you can record it. I’ve been playing with it and it works great, very easy to use. Oh, and it’s FREE!!!!

I just finished a salad I got at Portillo’s. It was the sweetest salad I have every tasted. Yuck! There’s a party going on just outside my room– it sure is loud. I hope it quiets down before I sleep. Last night I was so cold so I turned on the heat and a few hours later I awoke to an OVEN! Why can’t these hotel rooms come equipped with a thermostat?

I have a feeling spammers wait for me to travel to Chicago and once I am away and not regularly checking in on donnaville BOOM! SPAM ATTACK!!! Are they really that predatorial or is it just my imagination?

I am back in Chicago. The plane ride was bumpy but that’s okay as long as we land safely. At the airport I saw a pilot that looked like Alan Sues from Laugh In. The main difference was he was thinner, had darker hair and his eyes weren’t rolling in different directions.

It wasn’t Indian– she must have been reading donnaville. Whatever it was, it was GREAT! I am FULL!!!

I am frantically packing and trying to get the last bits finished before I take off to Chicago. It is only a day and a half so I don’t have too much to take with me. Lisa is grilling dinner– chicken breasts with some Indian inspired marinade. It smells good. I can hardly wait to consume it.

I woke up this morning, showered, dressed, and shuffled into the kitchen for breakfast. The kitchen smelled like an Indian restaurant. The other day I noticed I smelled like an Indian restaurant the day after Lisa and I had dinner at the place on Street Road. The curry and onion were just oozing from my pores. I love the food but I can’t stand the leftover aroma. Today I will tell Lisa that we should call it quits– no more Indian food experiments in the kitchen and only a visit every now and then to Mauraya Indian Cuisine.