November 2004

The lack of posting says just as much as if I’d been posting every day.

My existence is pretty dreary right now. I’m not going to the gym, I’m not hanging out with friends except when something has been planned to death or is a regularly scheduled outing. I play Halo 2 more than anything else because either Matt, Rob, Kon, Tim, Dave or some combination of the bunch is online ready for a game. I’m having fun at work at least, though I’m out of practice so it takes all my concentration to be creative and I’m still happy with only about half of the work I churn out. I’m still making my picks for the football pool every week yet keep falling further and further behind in the traditional versions; I’m one of three people who doesn’t hasn’t used his one allowed miss in the Eliminator Strikes Back pool.

The holidays snuck up on me again this year. I’ve been peering ahead at other events like the Eagles game at FedEx Field on Dec. 12 and our Turkey Party the following week. I’m sad I won’t be able to make it to Chris and Lisa’s Festivus party but I understand that they can’t schedule their party around me. (Though it was odd that they not only planned it knowing that more than a few of us would be out of town that weekend, but seemed to design their entire invitation based on that fact.

Patty was in town to pick Tomas up for Thanksgiving in Texas and while she was here we went out to lunch. It was during our meal that I realized how far apart everyone has started to grow. Even an impromptu Quizo outing at the Drafting Room that night didn’t help alleviate my sadness. It’s a shame how distance, work shifts, laziness and difference in hobbies is taking its toll, and the part of me that used to fight against it has all but given up.

Now that Halo 2 is working its way out of my system (though I’ll still be playing a few games every day), my goals are to start re-establishing contact with some of the friends I haven’t seen recently, blog now and then, and revamp the look of this site and really tidy up the code. It’s a disgrace to anyone who considers himself the least bit artistic.

Yep, working only three days a week for three months really took its toll. When I finally found a job it really was a shock not having the free time — even with no commute and the ability to walk home for lunch. Hopefully I’ll still be motivated to get working on these Thanksgiving resolutions in the morning.

Halo 2 came out today, and it’s everything Matt and I expected. The obsession begins in earnest tomorrow (or later today, to be exact).

I woke up this morning at 10:30 a.m. after a great night out at Fells Point in Baltimore. We decided to grab something to eat around 11:30 right as Ian and Tim headed out to walk the dog, so naturally waited them to return before we left. Ian came back fifteen minutes or so later without Tim, who went for a ride on Ian’s motorcycle. Twenty more minutes of waiting. Finally Tim came back only to tell us that he wasn’t hungry anyway; neither was Ian incidentally, since he still wasn’t feeling well from the night before. Having waited over an hour for people who weren’t even hungry, we headed out to eat. Thanks to an apartment fire and a car accident as much as the lunch hour traffic — by this point it was 12:30 p.m. — we sat in traffic for a twenty minutes to eat at a diner five miles away. The seating staff at the Sliver Diner made sure to bump us behind several parties of two to four people before we were finally seated, so we didn’t get back until 2 p.m.

At this point Dia and JT were ready to head back to Philly, but not before I got my parents’ computer squared away. I loaded it and them into the car and made the twenty minute trip to Davidsonville, where I spent the next hour trying to connect to the Internet and get the printer to work. I was hesitant to call Tim since he’d been vocal about what a mess this whole “fixing a ‘perfectly working’ computer” thing had turned out, but eventually broke down and he was able to fix at least the Modem issue. Once it was working I was ready to go, but Pat was my ride and hadn’t arrived yet. No big deal: it was only 4:00 and I thought Gordon Biersch was still many hours away yet. JT and Dia were nice enough to delay their departure to keep me company while I waited, and we played a game of Liar’s Dice to pass the time.

As soon as Pat arrived, I called Tim to find out what time we should meet them for dinner, and I was informed that they were just sitting down now. Even if I was interested in eating only four hours after having breakfast I never got the chance, as Tim hung up on me before I could explain to him what kind of timeline I was on. Of course, I shouldn’t need defensive arguments on the tip of my tongue before I pick up the phone. And how old are these friends of mine, 60? 70? Are they going for the goddamn early-bird special?

So I’m at my parents’ place right now, waiting for everyone to get back to Ian’s so Pat and I can meet up with them, hopefully for a night of drinking and board games. It really hasn’t been a hectic day but it hasn’t been terribly relaxing either. Lunch was fun, and as long as I have it out with Tim about getting all up in my grille tonight will be too.

Fox News is the most irresponsible network on television. Here are what everyone is reporting in terms of electoral votes.

Fox News (and Fox): Bush-210 / Kerry-144
CNN: Bush-197 / Kerry-188
ABC: Bush-237 / Kerry-188
CBS: Bush-246 / Kerry-207
NBC: Bush-210 / Kerry-206

It should be no surprise to me that the most consistently biased network would also be lazy. Sure, the numbers will all read the same in the morning and it might even be a legitimate difference in interpreting the data, but on an average day FNC doesn’t even try to pretend it’s not catering to its largely radical right-wing and evangelical Christian viewers. Though they’re obviously a mouthpiece for the Republican party they should at least make an attempt to avoid the appearance of impropriety.

Of course, the headache and heavy heart could be bringing out the conspiracy theorist in me.

A few words about my new job.

First of all, the commute is better than I could have ever imagined. Even as I heard everyone tell me how jealous they were, it didn’t hit me until my first day how nice it would be working so close to home. While I don’t have the opportunities to make phone calls on my way to work anymore, it’s totally sweet being able to come home for lunch and not have to figure travel time in with the rest of my morning routine — I’ll probably start working out in the mornings again, especially since it’s dark out when I get home from work and King of Prussia seems so far away.

The work itself is great, and I’ve already done more for my portfolio than I had in the past two years. Not only that, though — the people are nice, the environment is extremely casual and I finally feel like I’m using my talents. I can see myself getting tired of designing credit cards eventually, but in the meantime I’m delighted to not be laying out insurance forms or preflighting someone else’s artwork for press. I also see plenty of room to grow once I get back into full swing designing again.

Because of the new work situation I’m generally a happier person. I’m still a little nervous about being creative enough but any lingering jitters are fading with each passing day. I’m still no more orgainized or motivated, though all in good time; eventually I’ll rediscover an interest in completing my long-overdue personal projects and start tackling them again. Until then I’m just having fun at work.

I just saw that Pennsylvania’s electoral votes are going to Kerry. Our state has spoken: the man-child must go.

Watching television and rooting for some percentages to change while hoping that others stay put reminds me of an average week in my football pool. It’s totally unrealistic to that everything will work out to my advantage, and my heart sinks more and more as the night goes on.

I voted my conscience, which only recently told me to cast a realistic ballot for president and an idealistic ballot for most of the other positions. My statistics indicate that 100% of the people I vote for win the presidency, though I only have a 50% turnout over the past two elections. Also, my study has a margin of error of +/- 100%.