Just in case you forgot, my birthday is coming up. Buy me stuff! Or not.

When I got home from work last night, my roommate's girlfriend was watching Annie Hall on TV. At first I thought it was my DVD, but it was on cable. I thought I'd become a bad influence for a second. Boys Don't Cry came on after. I'm surprised I haven't seen it before. There were some really painful moments, but the love story is tender.

Went to see the Passion last night. I know, it's a Mel Gibson ego trip and christian to boot, but it's still kinda cool to watch some hippy get nailed to a piece of wood.

I have a cut on my wrist that I don't remember getting. Don't worry, it's very small, prolly from a bottle cap or something.

Why aren't you here right now?

"Nothing seems right"

I just finished watching an episode of the first Star Trek series, "Miri". It's about a planet of children, with no adults around. I think it plays on the Boomers' fascination with the wild child myth. Of course it winds up being a thinly veiled Dragnet theme, but oh well. The girl Miri interests me, I think it could make a much larger production. I wrote on my whiteboard "and she was" [quoting the Cars] as the episode ended.

Ralph Nader may only be running for ego reasons, but still I salute him for his interview with Meet the Press tonight. Let me quote:

from "NBC NEWS' MEET THE PRESS."

"MR. RUSSERT: Civil rights: Many gay couples believe that they should be allowed to be married. You heard Governor Schwarzenegger say he disagrees with that. Democrat candidates will say they're for civil unions but not gay marriage. Would Ralph Nader support gay marriage?

MR. NADER: I support equal rights for same-sex couples. I think there's an interesting quote by a lesbian leader in The New York Times a few days ago when she said, "It's not a matter of labels, it's a matter of equal rights." However, that can occur by adjusting state laws or having a federal law. That is certainly something that the gay-lesbian community is going to have to work out.

MR. RUSSERT: But gays should be allowed to be married if they so choose, according to you.

MR. NADER: Of course. Love and commitment is not exactly in surplus in this country. The main tragedy, what undermines marriage, is divorce, as Mayor Daley of Chicago just said."

[bold is mine]

"Some people talk in their sleep. Lecturers talk while other people sleep."
-Camus

I forgot to mention something funny that happened at Sanctuary on Wednesday. The owner is this old queen in cowboy drag. He was wandering around the place with a tray full of meatballs, offering them to people. Of course he picked the wrong crowd, I think like two people there eat meat. He came up to the table I was sitting at and held this tray right under my nose! I put my hand over my face and said "no thanks" and then told him that we were all vegetarians. So he said he'd make something non-meat next week for us! Weird old man.

You're Lolita!

by Vladimir Nabokov

Considered by most to be depraved and immoral, you are obsessed with
sex. What really tantalizes you is that which deviates from societal standards in every
way, though you admit that this probably isn't the best and you're not sure what causes
this desire. Nonetheless, you've done some pretty nefarious things in your life, and
probably gotten caught for them. The names have been changed, but the problems are real.
Please stay away from children.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Back at work. Days off never last long enough. Wednesday, of course I went to Sanctuary. I met a woman and she actually came home with me. We didn’t make out or anything, just talked and had a few beers. She’s allergic to cats and I hadn’t vacuumed so she was a little miserable. Thursday, we went to the Hofbräuhaus on Paradise and Harmon. It’s a replica of one in Munich, it just opened about two weeks ago. We got there too late for the regular menu so I wound up getting a salad. The Hofbräu Dunkel (dark) beer was good. They serve it in liter mugs. I wanted to get one, but the gift shop closed just before we left. Maybe next time.

My hausmate got an assload of ramen on his last shopping trip. I was double-checking the packaging to make sure the one I grabbed was vegetarian (he's usually careful about this, but I still like to check.) The Top Ramen Spicy Vegetable flavor has a label on the front that says "no animal meat - no animal fat". I've never seen that before, it's kinda nice.

Fiddler on the Roof is on. I feel so geeky watching this. I don't like musicals, but this one is okay.

A good counter-example to my feelings for what Gavin Newsom is doing with gay marriage in San Francisco is what George Wallace did down south.

Two-thirds of the surface of Los Angeles is used by automobiles parking lots and roads.

The Passion of the Christ is coming out next week. I'm surprised that it's showing on two screens in Las Vegas. We don't get much art house cinema out here, and when we do it only shows way the fuck out on the edge of nowhere. Both theaters showing this are about 5 miles away, along major bus lines. Well of course they are, both theaters are also inside casinos.

"Caroline talks to you softly sometimes
She says 'I love you' and 'Too much'
She doesn't have anything you want to steal
Well, nothing you can touch
She waves
She buttons your shirt
The traffic is waiting outside
She hands you this coat
She gives you her clothes
These cars collide"

In lighter news, San Francisco has started performing marriages for queers. I can't believe that this is even an issue. Marriage is an outdated religious concept that should have no legal foundation. I don’t know why so many queer couples feel that they need to be married in order to legitimize their relationship. I can understand insurance and other issues, of course. Just end this barbaric practice once and for all then socialize medicine and put all the insurance agents against the wall.

"oh it's such a perfect day, I'm glad I spent it with you"

I just reread the greek story of Psyche. They usually called her 'butterfly'. It makes laugh, at my first job there were a few mexicans that called me 'mariposa', which means 'butterfly' in spanish but in the slang means something like 'drag queen' or 'flaming fag' but not as harsh.

Como agua para chocolate is on Bravo! It's subtitled but not widescreen, the fuckers. I remember seeing this in the theater, when I'd just started college. It was during finals week, I had to ride the bus a few miles away (the same route that serves the school, just in the opposite direction.) My test was in the evening and I'd studied enough, so I had time. It was one of the first times I did much of anything on my own with my own money. It might seem a small thing to people with enough pocket change to see a film in the theater from time to time, but it was important to me at the time.

Chuck Palahniuk is speaking at the Clark County library at 7 and I'm stuck at work. Oh well, not like I really read his stuff anyway.

I ordered a sari from Ebay a few days ago, and it came in today. It's 228" by45", big enough to put over my window if I want, or make other things with it.

Someone spraypainted "corporate coffee kills" on the Starbucks across the street from my apartment.

Woot! Got a week off for Coachella. I've gotta make this summer count, it's the last one of my 20s.

Had a lucid dream this afternoon. I woke up a little after noon, saw the time and pulled the blanket back over my head. I went to visit my dad. There were clothes scattered everywhere, some of it mine, but most of it a young girl's. I reached down for a pair of socks that would fit me and found a breast form. It was smaller than mine. This little girl kept running in and out of the room with some friends. There were more breast forms laying on the ground, surrounded by clothing. I realized I was laying sideways on the bed and started to roll over, by the time I'd finished moving the images were gone.

Word of the day: "haruspex - A priest in ancient Rome who practiced divination by the inspection of the entrails of animals."

It's too fucking early. I set my alarm for 09:30 but didn't wake up until 10:30. The pre-sale tix for Coachella went on sale today and I needed 3. When my brain unscrambled enough for me to look at my clock and wonder why I was awake, I realized I was an hour late. For some shows this mean no fucking tickets. I scrambled to the computer, to ticketmaster's site (like I'll fucking give you a link to these headhunters, they aren't worth the html.) Total cost: $494.50. $70 of that goes to ticketmaster. Fuck holes. Fuck it, I'm gonna see the Pixies, Kraftwerk, and the Cure. We're going to camp in Joshua Tree.

Last night, after making a pot of spaghetti, we sat down to watch the Cat People with Nastassja Kinski and Malcolm McDowell. Now this film looks good in theory, but in execution came out a big pile of dog poo. Steamy.

I kinda don't want to go out tonight, but there is supposed to be a photographer from one of the local weekly papers out. Funny, I didn't go out when Insomniac was filming in the Double Down.

Which one shouldn't be there: rape - monopoly - incest ?

Monopoly?

Wrong! Rape, because it's not a family game.

Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff are in 8 films together, all of which are out of print. That's a pisser. Here are the films, if you're interested:

Black Cat, The (1934)
Black Friday (1940)
Body Snatcher, The (1945)
Gift of Gab (1934)
Invisible Ray, The (1936)
Raven, The (1935)
Son of Frankenstein (1939)
You'll Find Out (1940)

I am so friggin stuffed up. I hope I'm not coming down with anything. Maybe the water-damage in the roofs at work caused black mold or something.

I watch an episode of the new AbFab last night, the one where Saffy gives birth. It's much more harsh than the first three seasons.

Nice, slow day. I guess everyone is too busy watching some inane sporting event to do much else.

I saw an invite on Friendster for a kinda friend's birthday party when I got to work. It was by toga only. I managed to leave work a little early to make it. The house was just under two miles away and there is a Wal Mart near, so I caught a ride to the Wal Mart to get a sheet for the shindig. I was worried about being spotted for shoplifting, since I had my backpack with me, but the only problem I had was waiting in line behind some wets with piles of cheap gifts (prolly for some birthday party of their own.) I got a black sheet for about $6. I can always go for more bedding. I walked to the house from the store (less than a mile away.) I'd never been inside, I only knew it since we'd dropped someone off there before. As I walked up to the door, I was nervous. I didn't know if I was party crashing or something, since no one had voiced an invite. I heard loud music and knocked anyway. Someone I didn't know answered the door but said "Nettie's in her room, go ahead!" 5 hours later, I'm rather trashed. Even if my compass is set to California, I'm so happy to find things here in Las Vegas. I only knew a small part of the crowd tonite, but I feel much closer to some of the casual acquaintances that I've been around for some of my desert trial.