The records say...

According to my extreme tracker, a mac user has been visiting the page almost every day. I wonder who that is. Some of the IP addresses are obvious, but this numerical address is untraceable. Hmmm...I'll leave that one to mystery unless they leave some feedback on the page. That's not a hint or anything. The tracker is there just so I can see how many people actually read this shit, but the search terms that people use to find their way to this end of the internet are hilarious. I didn't know "Pictures of Paul Mokeski" was such a common search thread. Ahh, the mysteries of life.

Speaking of records, the Brewers are currently 20-33. Last season at this point, they were 17-36. What a marked improvement. This weekend also features the MLB draft. Most of the other professional sports drafts get a lot of attention. In this league, its just names and stats. No big profile baseball stars come out of high school or college. The Brewers draft history is pretty sad. Only 9 players out of drafts between '94 and '98 are still in the organization. What a waste of a future. As Joel pointed out, this years draft can follow either of the 4 histories:
They will either:

1. Suck (tony williamson)
2. Be good but be injured (noogabauer)
3. Be good and then get traded for shitty prospects (sheffield, vaughn, cirillo)
4. Be average for 5 years, have 1 great season and then leave as free agent (surhoff)

Why do I care so much about this damn team? I can't quite figure that out myself...hmmm....

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Things I did tonight

I did the laundry and timed both the wash and dry cycle with my digital watch. I made it to the basement with a minute or two to spare at the end of each cycle. At the same time I had dinner delivered to my place. Everything was timed perfectly. I used to love tracking the time of a lot of shit when I was a kid...I guess those skills have finally paid off...but I remain a serious geek.

I refilled the automatic fish feeder. I bought the thing for a pretty penny when I travelled to the Philippines for two weeks last year. I eventually never fed the fish. I wonder how much food it actually dropped after a few months of not really paying attention to it? It should be good for the weekend...I hope.

Tha 446 was a good escape for me from the rigors of sitting on the bus in front of a loud cell phone talker. This particular person decided to share with me the problems she had translating things for her typesetter. I didn't really need to know this, but apparently...its supposed to be news.

Life is good when you're George Lopez.

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One of these things...

Stepping into the barber shop, I knew I was in for a long wait. That's okay, I had nothing to do anyway. While reading the paper, they were watching Univision. Unfortunately, they turned the TV down and powered up the radio during the news. No need for that, they can do whatever they want to feel 100% comfortable while doing their job. I felt a tad bit uncomfortable because they had made these accomodations for me. They were probably pissed because I showed up at 6:00...which happens to be the same time Gata Salvaje was on. It was kind of funny...whenever I looked up at the TV I consistently saw the following scenes: two people in a passionate kiss, two people basking in the afterglow, a man dropping rose petals on his female lover, conversations of a courting nature, and more afterglow conversations. Note to self: learn to speak spanish and get a role on one of these soap operas.

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Spring, Summer and the 3 Days Between the Two



The Girl came to town this weekend. We hung out with friends, and had a grand time. She met the rest of the chicago cast, soaked my plants, dragged me out for 3 runs, and made chili, nachos and cut a watermelon for a small gathering...what a nice gal! That's her next to me in the picture.

New toy finally arrived. I got the new camera and the pictures it takes are amazing. It also takes 15 second silent clips. The quality isn't crystal clear, but the results resemble that of a Super 8 camera. I'm going to take random clips a few times a week and see if I can string together some sort of a montage about nothing. The pictures, on the other hand, give me control to frame and toy with things that SLR cameras can do. Images to follow.

Jake and Jon came to town to celebrate the end of the previously mentioned chapter. It was one more time for old time's sake. Jon moves out of Madison, and one more link to the undergrad college world dissolves. We toasted the end of an era and tried to put together "F.G. - We got your cheez"...it didn't quite happen, but it will.

New Fish! I got some friends to replace the 4 friends of the 2 lil' fish that were left in the tank. I got off my ass and scraped out the algae farm, and The Girl was nice enough to scrub the stubborn pond shit off the plastic plants. The aquarium seems like a whole new world, now. As usual, I'll really care about the tank for a few months, then neglect it. Lets hope this doesn't happen for the umpteenth time.

A 4 Day Week? Ha! Its more like a 4 Day weak! heh-heh..I kill me! Except, I don't have to wear ties this time around....

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A Chapter closes. It smells like Oranges.

After two years, 3 guitars, two amps, and a lost summer, me and eight other folks got a bit of closure today. This exact week two years ago, my roommates and I were told that we couldn't live in our apartment anymore. There was no real legal justification for this, so we thought that nothing could happen if nothing was filed with the proper city authorities. Well, it didn't happen that way and we were told that we couldn't enter the apartment. Actually, the simple fact that the entrance stairs were completely removed and the house was put on huge beams and suspended made it impossible for us to get some things back. Being virtually homeless for the two weeks didn't seem that bad. We were told that the house would be put back down within 3 weeks. That didn't happen...so we moved operations to a narrow apartment across the square. When we scaled the beam to get into the house to get some necessary things for the new place, we discovered that things were missing. I lost a bunch of shit...We decided to get more important stuff out of fear that more would get stolen. A wicked tornado-like dust storm while moving shit out topped it all off that night. Anywho, after a lawsuit filing, numerous delays (it took the sheriff’s 3 weeks to serve the guy), and a day being deposed, we can finally call it a day on this chapter. Was it a victory? It just may have been...yep...I think the chapter ended well.

My apartment smells like artificial citrus. That is probably because I purchased those plug-in things. I'm not sure why I want my place to smell like a chemically created scent that tries to be reminiscent of a field of split open oranges, but it’s a nice touch once in a while. It's nice to smell something pleasant rather than that 'me' smell.

The Brewers won today. They've won 5 out of 6...it’s a freakin' hot streak, people. Better line up for the playoff tickets soon! Actually, it’s nice to see the team actually play hard all the time. They don't mail it in if they're down by a few runs late in the game. Could the organization actually be getting their act together?

The water from the Bathtub faucet tastes a lot better than the water from the faucet in the kitchen when filtered through a Brita. It actually tastes good.

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A Dollar for Ed!!

Someone took part in the Dollars for Ed drive...dude gave me a dollar. I'm one dollar closer to doing nothing different. With help from viewers like you, you'll be able to witness such amazing action on blogs like Leftover Chinese continue to maintain quality entertainment....wait, dude who gave me $1 is Nick...it still counts, right?

Philippines gets an 'upgrade' today. They are now a "major non-NATO ally." Aside from the benefits of being a pillar of capitalist democracy in Asia, this means there will be a closer military tie. I wonder what the people of the Philippines think about this. Lets see...hmmmm...the country was a former colony of the US.....sovereignty is the major source of pride in the RP. They spent over 30 years trying to get the US to close their bases before the US finally relented...hmmm...when the President let the military move in to do some 'training' in the south, many, many people were angry...I wonder what the folks will think. Stateside, the US will have a strategic position in Asia should anything escalate with N. Korea or China. It makes you wonder what's on that little grocery list of ours, doesn't it?

A downstairs neighbor is using a hammer at 11:30 p.m. right now...not good for sales, not good for sleep...I guess I'll have to watch that MacGuyver for a while.

I cancelled The Movie Channel and Showtime yesterday. they gave me an introductory rate of $5.95 for five months. I barely watched them. I wasn't a big fan of their rotations anyway...except for the Kingpin rotation....but that's about it. Will I miss the extra soft-core action they occassionally play? I'll let you answer that one.

Camera is on the way. Yay.

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Give me Money. My Camera Sucks, but that's not why I demand money.

For no apparent reason, there appears a button for donations. I'm not asking for anything, but I figure, if people host a blog detailing the adventures of students with down syndrome, then I can offer to take pay-pal donations for any purpose I deem fit. While hosting this website is not that expensive, I still have to pay for costs along the way. Without groceries I could not eat, without bills, I could not live here. Without your help, I'm no better off. With your help, I'm also no better off. C'mon y'all...with just one click, you can donate to my cause: Dollars for Ed. I'll take any donation, no matter how small, or how large.

I helped The Girl run part of a children's track meet. Kids from 4th to 6th grade were given the chance to flash their athletic skills to peers and other parents. All I did was measure the standing broad jump for 4th graders. I think the longest jump was 6' 1". I gave it a jump, but didn't measure. I'm pretty sure I jumped further than the 4th graders. One of the kid's showed up and the child's father explained to me that his child was placed in the boy's roster and should be scratched off and placed on the girl's roster. I looked down at the child and was confused as all hell. The kid looked like a boy from the haircut to the posture, to the clothing. Her father seemed to be the overbearing parent type. I'm not a fan of the types who are always on their child's case to excel at sports...especially in front of other children. I'm especially not a fan of those parents who raise their children like boys because they really wanted a boy at birth. Its quite scary.

I met Ruby this weekend (see below). She's a cutie. She's a very serious and wise soul as well. I was holding her for a few minutes and she was stretching out in my arms just trying to wake up. While trying to shake off the sleep, she opened her mouth looking for food. Being a male and not her mother, I could not provide. When she realized this, she looked at me and gave me an evil glare.

I'm starting to think that babies are born with a lot of knowledge...its just that they lose it all when they learn how to communicate. I liken it to learning a new language as a child while forgetting your native language in the process. Aside from the above example, we were sitting around baby Emma while she was crying. She's a fussy baby and I get the feel she's frustrated with everything. The Girl said: "I bet she's probably trying to tell us something and is frustrated that she can't." I said: "I bet she has the cure for cancer and is upset she can't tell any of us what she knows...and she will soon forget." Right when I said this, she immediately stopped crying and gave me a look that seemed to say: "you're exactly right." Eerie.

I took pictures this weekend and every single one turned out like shit. I'm definitely not a fan of my digital camera and I think its high time to buy a new one. I shopped around for a bit today and noticed that my current camera is overrated by users. The angle is too wide, you have no control over shutter speed, and without flash indoors, your pictures turn out like shit. I can't believe people will pay almost $200 bucks for this (I paid about $150 as a result of K-mart's downfall). I think I'm going to purchase this digital camera in the next 0-24 hours. Let know know what y'all think (if anyone reads this).

Other lessons of the past 72 hours:

- (Asleep at 11pm, awake by 6) + (Asleep at 5am, awake by 10 am) + (Asleep by 11 pm + awake by 5 am) = confused and tired body.
- I shouldn't back off when distance seems to be the request.
- Jacob is going to really enjoy the David Lee Roth video's I'm going to send to him this week.
- It seems like I'm being railroaded past the merger by virtue of the fact I'm being handed more projects and visibility in the office.
- I like to be anonymous at work..and I'd like to keep it like that for a while.
- I know way too much about The Simpsons.
- I'm a Catholic, but I can't seem to figure out that The Girl made a David and Goliath scene out of clay during a game of Cranium.

Too many damn clouds.

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Reloaded

Amid all the hype, I went to see the new Matrix Movie last night. The fight scenes and special effects were, as expected, amazing. When the first movie came out, filmmakers were talked about how they were fans of bad 1970's kung fu. That aspect didn't change. The effects featured more flying around. I'm not sure how else they could have improved that aspect of the first movie, unless they started using Jedi mind tricks...um...yeah. During the movie, there was a scene where Trinity was working her way through a series of computer screens (monochrome dos screens). A bunch of numbers and a box popped up on the screen. A bunch of people behind us laughed really hard at that. They must have been the real nerds and saw some sort of computer humor in that...or somebody farted at the same time and that cracked a bunch of people up. Nonetheless, among groups of nerds...there are nerd-nerds. Awesome.

I'm damn glad that I bring my headphones on the bus with me. This woman in her mid to late 30's was sitting behind me and she made social calls to plan her weekend. I'm not saying that nobody should use cellphones while on public transit, but who calls people up at 8 AM to see what’s going on? So in case you're wondering, she invited what seemed to be her sister or brother to the city with his/her kids so they could go to the field museum tomorrow. Also, her out-of town boyfriend wanted to watch a baseball game and that might happen on Sunday. Why do I need to hear this? Luckily I had the Sea and Cake to drown out the noise.

Speaking of reloaded, I need to step up the frequency of posts to this weblog. Originally, I was hoping to feature about 4 posts a week. I've been behind as of late Therefore, expect more posts on weekdays featuring short anecdotes pointless musings. That's what I set out to do. That's it and that's all.

Weekend with the Girl = yay.

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Ruby. Running. Brewers Suck. MacGuyver.


This being Ruby Grace. She was born 12 May at 5-something. During the Simpsons, nonetheless. When I get to meet her this weekend, I'll take my own picture. This will have to do for now. She looks like her mother and has the eyes of her father. Family genetics are at work here. All of my brother's kids will look starkly different, and I wonder if you will be able to tell that the cousins are related. Hmmm... Now Emma will have someone to play with. Being born about 8 weeks apart, they're going to grow up as twin cousins. This world welcomes you, Ruby, you're finally here!

I figured out my problems when I run. If I lose control of my breath, my mental approach to running sucks. If I can keep it in check, I'll be able to run forever. I need to teach myself how to meditate while I run...that way, long distances will feel like a peaceful and relaxing escape from the world. Right now it feels like I want to feel my body burn for a few minutes at a time. Well, patience is key, for the marathon seems more and more like a decent possibility.

Now that I live in the Windy Cit, I don't get to see the Brewers play that much. So now they're playing the Cubs at home, and they're sucking it all up. What hurts even more is that the park basically becomes Wrigley field North. Its depressing to see. I guess when not caring about Major League Baseball (or the National Baseball League) override's Milwaukee's distaste for Chicagoans taking over their ballpark...they should just close the park now, fold the team, and accept their unwanted distinction of being a big suburb of Chicago.

TV Land airs MacGyver at 11:00 on weeknights. Last night, I saw an episode with a Wizard of Oz type ending. MacGyver was knocked out while saving some lady and wound up in the Middle Ages. It was insane. The classic MacGyver moment happened when he released helium from a bunch of potions to fill a balloon to fly a kite with a knife tied to it. The kite managed to fly out of the dungeon. Conveniently, there was a thunderstorm going on...thus, lightning struck the knife which in turn traveled through some sort of wire to blow out the jail door. After saving the day, he awoke in the present day. Insane. Tonight's episode has an appearance by non-erik estrada guy from CHiPs. Amazing. The classic Macgyver moment features him getting out of a locked liquor storeroom using a beer barrel as a missile. Following a fight scene with Larry Wilcox, he convinces two rival gangs that guns and violence aren't the answer. Wow.

This show may actually be the greatest TV show ever.

My Baseball simulator team is making a run at the league lead...I can't get the song out of my head.

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Madre's Day

Shug came to town this weekend and I was able to kick it with him one last time before he moved back to Cali. It was a dandy of a time, save the fact that my lunch didn't agree with what my stomach's plan. Oh yeah, Van Wilder has its moments...and Joel busted me for laughing. While most of it was stupid, I could appreciate the fact that they tried to make Ryan Reynolds find a delivery that resembles that of Chevy Chase. I'd recommend it if you were sitting around with an hour and a half to kill while possibly having something to do...and the movie happens to be on cable. The stars may have to align with that one.

Last night, I watched Pootie Tang. It was insane. It was worse than Van Wilder, but actually made me crack up. The premise and jokes were a waste of time...but I think I got the humor. I would recommend this if you were sitting around with an hour and a half to kill while having absolutely nothing to do...and it happens to be on cable. This isn't really a step up or down from Van Wilder...more of a step to the left and the few inches backwards.

I ate way too much today. Brunch and a huge home cooked meal left me feeling way too stuffed for most of the day. I used to eat two high school lunches a day back in the day...those days are way long gone...

This spring weather is really fucked up. I like lightning, pelting rain, and tornado threats...but the constant cold shower and wind can eat shit.

I met The Girl's family this weekend and she met mine. I think it went well.

Ray needs to have that baby already.

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Playoff basketball sucks

Its hard to watch playoff basketball when your favorite team mailed it in a few games early. The annoying teams are left, too. I'm sick of the Lakers, Sixers, Kings and Nets....that's half the teams left. My dark horse pick are the Mav's but they're struggling to get off the blocks against the Kings. Then again, I don't really give a fuck who wins...anybody but the Lakers.

Its funny that between the hours of nine and five, I've been quite busy as of late. Considering that the future is in doubt, I have two theories as to why this is. 1) They're railroading me into the next phase of the company game. They could be filling my docket to the point that I'll need to be around when the dust settles; or 2) They're using the hell out of me while I'm still there. Why not? Work me like crazy and get as much done because no one will be around to do the same tasks when its all said and done. I'm not sure which theory is true. Something tells me that it could be a little bit of both.

I saw a Burberry handbag on the bus today and started laughing. It has become an inside joke among friends of mine, but now that I think about it...I have no idea where this started and why its so funny...but it is. Actually, I think the legendary lines are from a Lil Flip song...

"My engine never stalling, so I'm speeding like flash
I changed my name to ATM, cause I've been having cash
I've been blowing hash, I been driving Jags
With Burberry paint, and now I make your gal faint"

Such a funny thing...walking down Michigan Ave. one day, Steve said: "Why does everybody have the same damn scarf?!"...well, I guess it's the burberry.

Thunderstorms from here would look awesome if it weren't so damn foggy.

Don't forget Mother's Day.

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Five Days...adventures abound

Don't worry. I haven't forgotten about you...the faithful readers of this thing called my web log. My world has been fairly busy for the last five days and it’s been a good five days.

In the summer of 2000, I celebrated roughly eight 21st birthdays in 10 days. It wore the hell out of me and was dubbed: "The Summer of Ed." Well, these past 5 days weren't quite close to the summer of Ed (especially on the booze tip), but pretty close (hi-jinks). Here are the top Six adventures from the past five days.

6. Brewers Win Game 1

We sat in the bleachers for this one. The temperature was very comfortable on this fourth night. The wind was blowing out, so we got to see 4 home runs. Now a days, they happen so many times during the season, that you'd think they aren't that exciting anymore. From centerfield, almost every homerun is majestic. It's like watching it on television with a damn wide angle. At the same time, I had to use the golf clap when my team did something right. Two things annoyed me, though: (1) annoying drunken girls who try to be the life of the party. (2) People who don't think. The annoying drunk girl was told to stop her antics a few times. Her choice comeback to the security guy was: "Get a real fuckin' Job!" The rationale behind that immature and elitist statement blows my mind...why do people see others as inconsequential pebbles in the sand? I've always tried to respect the fact that people are, well...people. People who don't think annoy me, too. I won't get into it, but why would one say: "you don't know the meaning of long!" about a foreign baseball player when he hit a homerun during his last at-bat?

5. Brewers Win Game 2

On this fifth and last night of the spree, I was at my second baseball game in two nights. The Brewers were a few runs down heading into the top of the 8th. They managed to tie the game on a 3 run homer, and then take the lead in the 9th plus a few more runs. I scored the game on paper. It is a mess...but a classic. That shit's going on my 'fridge. I'm only a 19 minute walk from the ballpark. I may or may not spontaneously decide to go to the ballpark during night games when I have nothing else to do. Chillin' alone at the ballpark is quite a peaceful thing to do...that may be my choice activity.

4. Three-One-Four Reunion

Jake, Jon and I hung out for a bit during the Second night. It could the last time the three of us will kick it for quite a while. Kickin' it featured the essence of what kept the three of us tight during the 2 years we lived together: laugh riots, hilarious discussions, and feeling at ease with everything that's going on. Those were the days, mayne...

3. Deposed like a hose

As the previously mentioned lawsuit comes to a close, I was able to front my side of the story on the first day in hopes to get this 2 year saga to a close. From the minute the opposing lawyer walked into the room, the game was on. I came into the opposing lawyer's office early to check out Jacob's deposition. As soon as the enemy lawyer walked into the conference room, he tried to separate us. The lawyers disagreed and before I knew it, the judge was on the phone. She agreed that separating us was not possible, and we were set to go. Jacob's deposition went well; I was able to hear his side of the story. However, after the 1.5 hours of questioning, he was drained and took a walk around the block. Would I feel the same pressure? While Jacob took his walk, I was up and chased every ball down. The lawyer was basically trying to find an opening to crack my case and I was solid. However for a 10 minute span, he worked an angle a bit longer than the rest. I noticed it right away and seemed apprehensive about it at first. However the questioning led him to a wall when I explained that things on my end weren't going to happen because the correct judicial process wasn't correctly followed at the time. At this point, the standard questions followed, the pressure was off, and my job was done. Things look a little gravy on this side. It looks like another pepperoni has been tossed on to the pizza.


2. 446 is Back and Live for the first time

The second day was the most hectic. While at one house during the Mifflin street block party getting ready for the rock show, I had some business to attend to. Like a bunch of thugs on a mission, Tha 446 crew swept by to pick me and The Girl up. It was a line of about 15 people walking confidently through the block party. Everyone had a swagger. We show up to the house and after solving the crisis in the form of electronic connections, we were on. About 40-60 people stopped to watch us promote the new album. Most were entertained. I felt a lot of positive energy from the street. Two guests joined us and tossed out a freestyle. I botched my own verses, Jake's verse, read CJ's verse a-okay...but the chorus sing-a-long was amazing. As Steve went on to say...it was the worst and best show in the world. I'm talking about the gargoyles.

1. Room Service Reunites

The same fourth day featured us getting the band back together. It felt good to be on stage once again in front of hordes of drunks. The First set seemed to rigid. We were rusty and the energy wasn't quite there. It felt like we were never on stage in front of people before. Sure, it had been a year since a show, but the rust took too long to shake off. However, we came out and tore into the crowd with the second set of rockers. We had the crowd eating out of our hands by the end of the night and it felt damn good. Unfortunately the crowd seemed a bit younger than I would have liked. I mean, you can tell a lot about a crowd's age then they're not sure if your cover of Styx's "Renegade" is an original or a classic rocker. The Girl came to the show and saw a different side of me. I think she kind of liked it.
PHOTO COLLECTION 1 - here are Tim's pictures.

So there you have it folks, other highlights included running into former characters from this B-Movie that is my life including a formerly close friend from Freshman Year, a girl I dated for a minimal time, an acquaintance from my dorm year who happened to be hanging out with a WWB friend, one of the guys I used to play pool against during my pool playing, unemployed days, and a few random characters from my high school.

All in all, it was an amazing couple of days...I may have a few images about this in a few days.

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