What a nice holiday! Lisa and I spent the afternoon together putzing. At around 5, she left for her evening class, leaving me to puppysit Bo. I watched some episodes of La Femme Nikita as I converted the video I took at Drummer Mike’s 40th Birthday to WMV and added titles. It’s hard for me to figure out the songs– they all sound the same to me. Kansas, Styx, Rush, Triumph, Boston, etc… I wouldn’t be surprised if Rob finds I mismatched a song or two when he watches the DVD that I am making.

It’s time for me to go to sleep. I gotta wake up early. I gotta go to work. I gotta bring home the bacon.

This morning I slept in until 9am. It was nice feeling knowing that today is a holiday and I could do whatever I wanted. I got a couple things accomplished like sorting papers and throwing junk mail away. I then noticed my Paint By Numbers kit I bought a couple months ago at Urban Outfitters. There’s something so kitschy about Paint By Numbers that I had to own it. Plus, Rob has been on my back that I need an artistic outlet. So I opened up the kit and filled in a space ship. I can’t say I feel artistically fulfilled but it was a nice little activity. I used to be quite artistic when I was younger. Erin can vouch for me! In fact, I wanted to be an artist at one time. In my senior year of High School, my father asked what I wanted out of my life. I told him I wanted to be an artist. I remember very clearly his response. He said I had no talent and I should consider another profession. This may seem very cruel but in fact he was absolutely correct. Unfortunately rather than realizing that art could be a hobby, I just killed it from my life completely. What I would like to do is shift some of the time I spend on the Internet to doing something artistic like drawing or painting. Heck, even if it’s paint by numbers it’s at least a step in the right direction.

On the train this morning I was reading “The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio” by William J. Bernstein when I noticed my fingernails are not smooth but actually have vertical ridges. This puzzled me and so when I got to my office, I googled: Ridges in Fingernails and I found the following:

Nail textures: Vertical ridges that appear on the nail can indicate disorders as simple as iron deficiency, poor absorption of vitamins and nutrients, overall poor health or they could indicate something as serious as kidney trouble. (So, you see why consulting your physician is so important.) These vertical ridges, as well as bumpy nails, can also suggest that one is prone to developing arthritis. Ridges running horizontally across the nail can indicate physical or mental stress.

OH MY GOSH!!!!!! I gotta start taking B12!

Islands In The Stream – (with Kenny Rogers) Dolly Parton
Sneakin’ Around – Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds
I Got You Babe – Sonny and Cher
All I Ever Need Is You – (with Sonny Bono) Cher
Dead Ringer For Love – Meat Loaf and Cher
When You’re Gone – Bryan Adams & Spice Girl
Je T’Aime Moi Non Plus – Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin
Somethin’ Stupid – (with Frank Sinatra) Nancy Sinatra
Some Velvet Morning – Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazelwood
Sand – Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazelwood
Jackson – Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazelwood
Stumblin’ In – Chris Norman and Leather Tuscadaro
Candy – Iggy Pop and Kate
What Have I Done To Deserve This? Pet Shop Boys and Dusty
Don’t Go Breaking My Heart Elton John and Kiki
Somethin’ Stupid Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman
That Old Black Magic Louis Prima and Keely Smith
Baby It’s Cold Outside – (with Cerys Matthews Of Catatonia) Tom Jones
Burning Down the House – (with Cardigans) Tom Jones
Hot Legs – Tom Jones and Tina Turner

LISTEN!

Unavailable on Rhapsody:
Paul Westerberg and Joan Jett “Let’s Do It” and Kinky Boots by Honor Blackman and Patrick Macnee and Paul Anka’s You’re Having my Baby.

I put away the tree! It wasn’t so hard. I just had to push up my sleeves and DO IT! I listened to some pretty cool music on Rhapsody as I undecorated the tree. Here, have a listen…

Walter Wanderley’s Talkin’ Verve
The Reverb Syndicate’s Sputnik A-Go-Go
Elsa Cross’s Unavailable

I also listened to some French music that I won’t link to because if you aren’t used to it as I am, you might turn gay.

I got home around 6:30. My dinner consisted of cherry vanilla ice cream and sesame seed candies. I lit a fire in my fireplace and I grabbed a beer from the fridge. My plan is to take the Christmas tree down. Why are such simple tasks so difficult for me?

I had a very realistic dream last night. I was at my parents’ house and I was trying to get ready for school. I was aware I hadn’t been there for a very long time but I simply couldn’t get myself on the ball. Eventually I caught a ride with some kids and found myself at my old High School. Looking around, I started seeing people I recognized from back then and I felt emotional. I found myself in a classroom with two guys that I knew back from elementary school although the one refused to tell me his name although he claimed to have invented podcasting. We weren’t sure what we were doing back at school but I felt it had something to do with an extremely long summer break where I went to college and worked for 11 years. I guess it was more or less a panic dream because I was late getting there and couldn’t find my classes and confusion reigned.

I am completely and totally uninterested in going to work today. My preference would be to stay home and sleep and then clean. Of course, I must got to work if I want to continue living the life to which I have become accustomed. The holidays really threw me off. I got used to not having to hunt for sales and having plenty of time off. Things have changed. I gotta start hounding people again. I gotta work an entire week. Wait, next Monday is a holiday! A day off! That’s cool. All is good!

Rob and I were invited to Mike the drummer’s 40th birthday party. Upon walking into their house, his wife said, “Hello Rob! Hello Mike (the Guitarist), Hello… YOU!” I could tell she didn’t remember my name but I am sure she recognized my physical form since she didn’t ask what I was doing trying to crash her husband’s party. I really feel like we are making huge steps and soon she will be my very best friend.

The party was catered and there were a ton of these little miniature appetizers… tiny hoagies, tiny cheesesteaks, tiny strombolis, etc… I guess it was around 10:00 the guys decided to play some songs and we descended into the basement. In between songs, a man came over to me and asked, “So which band member are you with? All of them?” My jaw practically hit the floor. Luckily I stayed calm, looked him in the eye and said, “Now that’s an inappropriate comment, isn’t it?” The guy then started stammering and sputtering saying something about it being a joke. I enjoyed watching him fall apart. Sometimes it is best to just come straight out and tell a person they are an idiot because education is obviously something they need. He later came back to me (I think to strike back) and said, “I thought you were tall until I saw your shoes.” It’s true; I was wearing heels, as most women do. I just smiled at him but I wanted to say, “Yeah, when I take off my shoes I stand only 5 foot 2.” Really a better response would have been asking if he’d like one of my tall shoes shoved up his ass. Otherwise everyone at the party was delightful; they didn’t say a word to me and left me alone. The guys sounded great and I had a wonderful time listening to them play. In fact, this was the longest they ever played together since their sets at the Whitpain Tavern typically consist of 4 songs. I really wish they would add some Monkees or Elvis to their repertoire.

I am so angry! Last year I bought a HP notebook. I clearly remember the salesman telling me it had Lightscribe technology. I recall seeing it on the specs. The laptop even has Lightscribe software installed on it. You see where I am going with this, don’t you? This morning I went to Staples and bought some Lightscribe disks for 27.00. I burned the DVD, turned it over to do the Lightscribe AND… nothing. It’s telling me it doesn’t have any Lightscribe capable drives.

What the heck is going on?

I have spent two hours on chat with their Indian Techs and they tell me that it’s not that it’s not working, it’s that IT’S NOT THERE. My laptop doesn’t have that type of drive installed. HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED? Bait and switch?

I am so confused. I am so angry.