Daddy's Day

Hmmm. Yeah, so, don't forget: Father's Day is June 19 this year. Why not get him "Le Male?" For the Dad Who Has Everything...well, maybe not everything he wants. Send him a message in a bottle with Le Male...

And if he likes to get wet, don't rule out Le Male "Scuba..."

This is just such a brazen marketing approach, it cracks me up. Is there a comparable she-perfume out there? Like "Lahore" or something, featuring some buxom woman body perfume bottle?

Da Heat Is On

Wow, it's pretty hot today, indeed. Although there are nice breezes blowing, so that makes it more bearable. I took the boys to the park today, for a little picnic and some Frisbee and playing catch with a football. B1 throws a good spiral. We hung out there for awhile, before the boys got worn out in the heat, and we headed back home to try to cool off.

One gross thing I had to report -- there's an area grocery store that's good; near-vital for local purchases. However, there's one real liability associated with it: they have this beverage area, like sodas-n-such, which is this room you walk into. Now, thankfully, I don't stop in there, but I do have to walk past it to get to the rest of the store. Anyway, some derelict and/or psycho urinates in that room. It's insane. The room's a quiet little nook in the store, so I can see some looney tune making that their port-o-potty and not getting caught. But AUGH! The urine-stink of it is eye-wateringly bad. And it's not somebody being overzealous with ammonia, btw. It's somebody pissing in there, and it somehow not being dealt with and/or caught. It's horrifying. Thankfully, I never go in there for soda, but good lord. The store needs to radically reconfigure that room -- they need to do away with it, restructure it or something, and then tear up the tiles just clean the hell out of that room. I can't fathom how people who do buy soda can possibly stroll in there with that stench radiating outward. WTF? Fortunately, it's only in that one room, in the one corner of the place; the rest of the place is fine. Pisscasso must be caught!

Cool

It's supposed to warm up significantly the next couple of days, although right now, it's nice and cool. We'll see how it goes.

Grateful to have a Monday off. I'll celebrate by doing laundry in a few. Hahah! Exene'll drop the boys off at some point this morning. We'll do something fun, weather permitting. It still looks like it wants to rain, and what's a Memorial Day without rain, right?

I was sketching out the premise for the new piece I'm going to be working on. It's going to be hard to classify, but, if I do it well, should be coolly memorable. I may have to do a fair amount of research on it, to get it right; that's always a tightrope for me, whether to write the story and add in the details in subsequent drafts, or whether to try to anchor the story at the outset in the right details and proceed from there. I'll figure it out.

Typhoon

Lordy, a bit storm blew through the city; I got soaked running errands, but, fortunately, the boys stayed dry, thanks to my adroit planning. But still, I got totally nailed by the cloudburst. Now they boys are with Exene (who also apparently got caught in the storm while she was running); B2 actually conked out ahead of the storm, as he so often does, when a low-pressure front moves through.

The boys were cute last night -- B1 wanted to play an "immune system" game, so I ad-libbed a game of "Lymphocyte & Germs" with him and his brother, using colored blocks. The boys both enjoyed that, which amused me. B1 loves that kinda stuff, and I actually know a lot about it, so I tried to put that to work crafting something they could enjoy.

Now I'm just chilling out (after having dried off) and am cooking up some crab rangoons. NOM NOM NOM!

Overcast

So, Exene dropped the boys off over here at 5 a.m. (!!) because she was running a 10K. I agreed to it, since I always enjoy time with the boys, naturally, but that was damned early. She's training for a triathlon this summer, apparently. Anyway, today's a very drizzly kind of day.

The boys are happy to be with me, as always -- B2 is conking right now, has a little bottle of hand sanitizer in one hand, and his blankie in the other. That amuses me. B1 is telling stories as he plays.

My brain is going a mile a minute and nowhere fast. There's stuff I should do, but I'm not doing it. Something about overcast days, they just sap productivity in some respects. It's supposed to be progressively warmer as the weekend advances. We'll see.

I had an idea for a new story, which I duly jotted down on some paper. I need to get back into my routine, work on that. I've not written squat in several weeks. Not from a lack of ideas; I've just had a lot on my plate. I'll get back into it.

I watched "Kick-Ass" the other day, enjoyed it. It's an amusing movie, although the conception of superheroes in it is decidedly unheroic -- that is, they are more like murderous vigilantes who basically butcher whomever they're going after (except for the feckless, clueless title "hero" -- although, when he truly becomes a superhero, at least by the standards of the movie, he butchers with the best of'em). Anyway, the willingness to kill (and use guns) is one of those lines in the sand with superheroes -- clearly, it's a nod to the realities of such activity, but at the same time, it's so unheroic as to call into question the whole enterprise. It's like when the Joker asks the veteran cop (rhetorically) why he uses knives when he kills, instead of guns. Kind of like that. Anyway, Mark Strong is good as the villain, and the movie is definitely entertaining, although it's nowhere close to a kids' movie, obviously...

Big Daddy clip

One of my favorite clips of the movie, actually. It captures the spirit of it nicely. Cage is great as Big Daddy, and Chloe Moretz is great as Hit-Girl.

Anyway, the movie's pretty damned fun. I'm glad I (finally) saw it.

Blah Blah Blah

Yeah, so let's think about today. I've been boring-blogging for awhile; just a lot in my head, haven't had time to put stuff down, or perhaps worse, I make a mental note to do so, but then forget to do it, and the thing is lost.

Today was lovely-sunny but cold -- the whole week's been frickin' cold, but that's supposed to end (for the moment) this weekend, when temperatures are supposed to leap, and it's going to be frickin' hot. But at the moment, with it being around 45 degrees, it's hard to see that. But it's Chicago, it's May, it happens. Blah blah blah.

I bought some rubber stamps at the MCA today, including one with "BLAH BLAH BLAH" on it that I particularly liked (since I tend to say that, when suitably motivated). It's done like a DRAFT stamp. My favorite detail of it is the tiny "blah" checkbox on it. I love that. The Department of Blah.

Anyway, I love it. I enjoy stamps, and this one just caught my eye. I'd like to send notes to people with that stamped on them, just for fun. Blah blah blah!

One of my favorite lyrics from the Sex Pistols, the tune, "Liar," has Johnny Rotten singing "I don't need you/Don't need your blah blah!" The idiocy of that line always cracked me up, made it memorable. I'd post it, but the Net is being glitchy right now.


I saw somebody who looked like somebody today -- it was uncanny, the resemblance. Even the same anti-smile. Surreal, really. Just weird when one sees something like that, to the extent that you have to do a double-take. The tyranny of geometry.

Looking forward to the long weekend, have to admit. I may take the boys out on a Memorial Day picnic, weather permitting. They'd love that. I may take them grocery-shopping tomorrow, get a bunch of stuff, so we'll be stocked for the weekend, and then a picnic on Monday. That sounds like fun, once thing I do know how to have.

Hmm

I like Campari. I also like Salma Hayek (okay, she's got a reputation as being majorly high-maintenance [putting it politely], but she's very juicy). But somehow, Salma Hayek shilling for Campari is perplexing to me. What does Salma Hayek have to do with Campari? And the ads are kind of odd the way the Burger King "King" ads were odd, too...

For example, the above ad makes me think that Salma actually bludgeoned her Eurotrash lover/boy toy with the Campari bottle (or else she drugged him), and you were walking in with some ice (because you guys were going to have a three-way, of course)...

and she's staring at you, trying to make up some story about how he's just sleeping with his eyes open, that he's not actually dead. All of the ads are willfully off like that. It's the kind of thing where I might be tempted to reach for a bottle of Campari, only to hesitate, with a kind of David Lynch icy jazz soundtrack coming up, some odd stranger appearing, some film noir fugue state intruding on the moment, giving me pause. Because she will kill you...

In fact, she just called you up, so you can join Eurotrash Victim 1 and Glamour Boy 2 (who she's ensuring is dead by gouging him in the eye with her hand).

It can't rain all the time...

It rained all last night. Distant thunder, softly pattering rain. Cool temperatures, so it was good sleeping weather, at least, although I slept fitfully last night, woke around 1 and around 2 for no apparent reason. Lots of odd dreams -- inside a convoluted El station (I think I've dreamed about this train station before, honestly -- this massive, labyrinthine train El station I have to wend my way through); the boys and I in this mall that had this neon-banked walk-through video game that had this neon mummy that would chase you quasi-comically as you ran down the corridors, bouncing and bounding on these barricades to escape. B2 and I were on this one, and he stumbled at one point, and I said to the mummy we had to do it over. The dream had it first that it was a digital neon mummy, but then I saw that it was an actor playing that role, and while he was like "Okay" I could tell he was tired, didn't want to have to run through the corridor again, so I felt sorry for him, doing this thankless gig. And then I dreamed I was at a lackluster party, and I suggested we do improv to liven things up, but I insisted that only people who knew how to improv participate, so a half-dozen of us (including an unaccountably youthful Bill Murray) wrangled this improv performance in the midst of the party, which slyly subverted the languid party and livened things up, although then more people arrived to the party, not realizing that we were doing improv, which made the party more like this massive performance art piece, weirdly enough. Trippy dream(s) last night.

I was a little down last night, but I think it was mostly just me being tired. I usually cheer up when I've had some sleep, although I don't like that my sleep was interrupted last night, for whatever reason.

Krav Maga, etc.

This scene from SIMPSONS never fails to slay me:

"No groin, no Krav Maga!"

*cackle*

Another fog rolled in today, after a morning of storms. My feets are achin' a bit. I blame my wide frickin' feet.

Suede is touring in Europe and Asia; I am really hoping that they hit the States, although, to date, no proper US dates announced. I'm really, really hoping they do a US tour, because they're sounding great.

Psychopaths Among Us

I've known a couple likely psychopaths/sociopaths. They're scary folks! Although I reject the notion of painting psychopaths as crazy; I think psychopathy is a behavioral disorder, versus de facto insanity. It's like how people often use "psychotic" when they mean "psychopathic." Behavior disorders like psychopathy and narcissism are of an entirely different character. For example, while your average crazy is likely to be dysfunctional, psychopaths tend to rise to the top, just because their ruthlessness, lack of shame, and indifference to others greases the wheels for somebody out to claim a piece of the action atop a hierarchical organization.

Windy

I'm a bit worn out; the winds were very strong and contrary today, and it was frickin' cold. That makes the bike ride home a grim exercise in determination, versus the usual sunny sojourn it's supposed to be. A headwind is always a challenge, and at the end of the day, more so. What made it worse was I wasn't prepared, didn't wear a jacket. Whoopsie! It was colder than I expected!

Jack the Bulldog was out savaging one of the pavestone bricks in the park, as he usually does. Love watching that dog go, barking and growling at that brick he uses as a chewtoy. I need to film that dog in action, as it's super cute to watch him go. The boys love Jack.

Tonight I'm just relaxing. Maybe I'll do some reading. I was going to tack on some additional exercise, but decided I'll punt that in the wake of the slog home on my bike.

I really need to work something out to bring my camera with me; haven't quite sussed that out, yet, logistically, since it's a bit much for my bag to carry.

Hell, yeah!

Atheists Have Better Sex Than Believers.


Bahah! I think it's likely because religious folks are likelier to have sexual hangups and/or guilt associated with their sexuality, something that doesn't come into play with atheists, who are more chill about stuff and, correspondingly, more fun. A sure-fire way to have a pile of sexual hangups is to come from some kind of doctrinaire, authoritarian, disciplinarian, old-time religious household!

I've been biking to work, which is nice, since summerish weather is trying to appear again, although I don't know how much life the ole' bike has left in it -- I'm tired of having to get that rear tire realigned every year, get the spokes fixed. I've done that several years in a row, and it's to the point where the fixes are more than the value of the bike. I figure if the sucker finally fails, I'll get a newer, cheaper city bike, something that can negotiate the ample potholes with aplomb! I don't even need something with many gears -- that way, if/when it gets stolen, I won't have to sweat it.

Moz

Happy Birthday to Morrissey. It was a real toss-up for me, which song to pick for a solo Moz birthday tune, so I went with the one on the link.

Great summer weather today -- 80 degrees and sunny and yet not super-humid, yet, which makes it extra-nice.

Nah

I decided to punt the grocery-shopping; I've got a summer cold, and the prospect of trekking around today wears me out. I'm just going to lay low and try to get some rest.

Oh, and did you notice: the world didn't end. Not that it'll deter the loonies from finding a new line in the sand to declare when the world is ending. Can you imagine how much better those people's lives would be if they actually focused on living and enjoying each day, rather than carping endlessly about the end of the world (and, inherent in that hateful ideology is the glee they anticipate at being "saved" and able to look down on the suffering of the rest of the world's people, the damned -- like box seats to the Apocalypse -- that is a key component in that sick Rapture fixation, that sizzling slab of Schadenfreude, as tantalizing a reward as any, apparently, for the blighted souls who believe in it).