This past weekend I must have thought “I need to remember to blog this” at least ten times. Now I find myself with some spare time and I can’t remember a damn thing. The only thing that sticks in my mind was that dumbass dance I was doing at B-Town for like five hours straight. Why Lauren let me continue I have no idea. I told her she lost the cool contest cause if I remember correctly she was doing too; only sober. Friday night I definitely took the crazy train to bizarro town. Every once in a while I’ll totally lose my mind and start to think that the funny stuff that goes on inside my head is also funny to other people (ergo the B-Town dance … and for those of you not out Friday night, picture the worst rendition of the macarena you’ve ever seen). Oh! and did I mention bizarro town has an official anthem? It’s called Somebody Told Me by The Killers. I’d say that maybe three times a year you’ll have the serendipitous occasion to hear me sing it at the top of my lungs. Man do I love to drunken sing that song. My latest attempt even won me an award. For the rest of the night I proudly wore a sign that read “Tonight I’m Duffy.” Ugh, and I even wore it over to the firehouse. What the hell was I thinking? That’s the crazy thing about bizarro town … the village idiot becomes my hero and I proudly bear his name. But yeah, I had a really good time  :)

Other randomness:
1) Paris Hilton doesn’t change facial expressions
2) I hacked my TiVo last night to expand the recording capacity from 60 hours to 245 hours. What a fracking mess that was. A project that should have taken me two hours ended at 4 AM; which was six hours after I started the whole misadventure. I’ll post more details later, but for anyone considering the same project DO NOT FORGET THIS: a) You cannot use mfstools to do a TiVo backup to an NTFS formatted drive and b) Do not let your cat lick the power supply of your opened TiVo.
3) When it comes technology, nothing is ever easy for me. Its the simplest things that create the biggest roadblocks. Like I’m the guy who is always one outlet short on his power strip because fate loves to torture me. I set out Saturday with one simple goal: Download Pirates of the Caribbean and watch it on my TV. Step 1: burn said pirated movie to DVD. Problem: the movie doesn’t fit on a DVD without a lengthy re-encoding process. Step 2: dig up that old analog video to composite video cable and run the movie off your laptop. Problem: The cat has chewed through the cable. Step 3: dig up that old analog video to S-video cable and run the movie off your laptop. Problem: The cat has chewed through that one too. Step 4: Locate a hacked copy of XBOX Media Center and then FTP the damn video over to your XBOX and play it from there. Five hours later, success. I could have probably done it a little faster but I was hacking my router at the time and was without internet for a while (which makes it really hard to download things like XBOX Media Center)
4) I hacked my router this weekend. Note to others considering this: DO NOT UPGRADE YOUR LINKSYS FIRMWARE VIA FIREFOX. I had to sweat it out for a good five minutes while thinking I bricked my router; but in the end everything worked out. I’ll post more about the process later, but I mainly did it so that I could run a DHCP server and still tie specific IP address to specific MAC addresses. I never want to see the Applications and Gaming screen of my Linksys router again. That and it’s fun to turn your $60 router into a $600 router.
5) Sorry for the haphazard post today. I’m trying to make a 5:00 dart appointment. Maybe I’ll come back later and pepper with some links. Or maybe not. I’ll be lucky if I even spell check this mess.

There’s this great article on inlineplanet.com by Naomi Grigg that discusses the rise of freestyle skating in the U.S. She says:

“I honestly think it’s going to have the same effect on skating in the U.S. as it has every where else. It’s going to grow like a rash, inspiring people into skating that would never have before considered it. It will create a whole new advert for skating in the U.S., combining socially acceptable with cool.’

This is contrary to my belief, but I seriously hope it happens. Cause you can�t really understand the feeling unless you try it. Naomi describes it better than me when she says it’s “like new love to a teenager.” And she’s so right … the first time I did the Crazy (video) it totally felt like that. I never wanted to stop. I’ve settled down a little, but there were nights when I was skating in the parking lot at 1:30 AM with the cops asking what the hell I was doing out on skates at that time of night. (and thank goodness they didn’t notice the open container)
I also really like the intro to her article because I have this conversation at least twice a week with people. (I think half of them still think I’m a skateboarder)

“So what are you into then?”
Me? I’m a skater.
“Oh, cool. I used to skateboard once.”
No. The other kind of skating … with skates.
“Oh! Ice skating! … You know, I think it’s amazing what they can do.”
No. I’m an inline skater.
“A what?”
A rollerblader.
“Oh, cool. So you do tricks?”
Yeah.
“Like rails and stuff?”
I skate ramps, yeah, but … I’m really a freestyler.
“Oh cool … um … what�s that?”
And there it is. I’m stumped. It happens every damned time.

Yeah. Me too.

I couldn’t resist. See this comment thread as to why.

Listen at your own risk whilst intoxicated. It’s not as sad as the live Austin City Limits version, but still a moving song nonetheless. Blondgirl - sorry if I dredged up any childood boob envy memories.

Some random thoughts for the day …

1. Do they teach kids today about portmanteaux? I don’t remember hearing much of it when I was a kid. There was the occasional “smog” or “brunch”, but people like Bennifer, Tomkat, and Jeffric just didn’t exist before a few years ago. You better believe that if I was a middle school English teacher I’d whip out the fifteen minute lesson plan on portmanteaux the first time I heard language that craptacular. DeeKay and Blondgirl, I think you’re already guilty with the use of “whoreanus,” but I’ll just classify it as a neologism cause I’d rather not believe its just a combination of “whore” and “anus.”
2. Favorite moment of this past weekend: When the pizza guy showed up at the door. Man, that was good for a laugh. To S – Let’s order pizza again sometime soon. ;)
3. I got a mention on Dave’s weblog today. Apparently reading mine has inspired him to be a better blogger. I think his rationale is batshit, but hey, whatever works for you. It was interesting though to read his entry about the Atlanta hash group. I was so obsessed with the hash house harriers a few months ago and am secretly so jealous that he did it. I swear I’ve read every entry on wikipedia about the hash but unfortunately I’m drawn more to the drinking/partying aspect than the running part. Thankfully the skating club has filled the void for now.
4. Is my website so reprehensible that commenters have to remain anonymous with names like blondgirl, DeeKay, GBFF, DGK, and E-man? Geez, you’d think that 50’s Hollywood was going to put you on some sort of commie blacklist.
5. I read a semi-satisfying article today on Philosophy Now about the connection between logic and humor. It was sort of personally amusing when the article referenced Monty Python’s Argument Clinic cause I can remember Randy from B-Town reciting this scene word for word. It was an ok article I guess; but nothing too earth-shattering. And am I any funnier after reading it? No. Am I still crazy obsessed over the science of humor? Of course. And is wittiness still one of the most attractive qualities in a girl? Yep.

The end of the world is nigh, and here is my argument as to why: Paris Hilton is now a recording artist and her first single is actually pretty good. Yeah she sounds like Gwen Stefani and yeah her song is reminiscent of Blondie’s The Tide is High, but at least her handlers know what works. My only issue is that the video is a really bad rip-off of the Chris Isaak’s classic Wicked Games. That video was probably one if the biggest boons of my teenage years.

On an unrelated note, I think I’ve pinpointed the reason why people throw things at me as I skate down the street. Here is the photographic evidence:

Later skaterz

A friend just reminded me that today’s the one year anniversary of the passing of one of the funniest guys I’ve ever known. Mike was my happy hour buddy and for every heated argument we had we’d also have a huge laugh. He was that irreverent fatherly figure that was always interested in hearing about my latest escapade. And then he’d return with both the most serious bits of wisdom and the funniest ball busting I’ve ever endured. I can hardly believe its been a year. It’s apropos because I was just thinking of him on Monday. I was mulling over this situation on my mind and said to the guy next to me, “you know, I wish mike casey was here. He’d know exactly what I should do.” When I talked to mike I almost felt like we went through the same experiences, only he’d done it thirty years prior. I looked up to the guy because he gave me hope that one day everything in my life with eventually settle out. I believed it because that’s what happened to him and damn did he love his wife. You never heard him talk about her without intense pride in his voice. He felt like the luckiest guy on earth to be with her, and that’s a feeling I’d love to chase. Rest in peace mike, you’re still missed.

I love this song. Angels & Airwaves - The Adventure. Pretty much sums up my mood lately ;) The album didn’t get very good reviews, but there’s something I like about Tom DeLonge’s vocals. And I’ve liked the three songs of theirs that I’ve heard so far; so maybe I’ll shell out the $1.25 for the album.

Oh and I also really like skating to this song lately … Nikkfurie - The a la Menthe.

Whenever I’m feeling blue, I look at this picture and it makes me smile:

Then I look at these

Works wonders :)

such a great weekend :) Friday Happy Hour, Saturday dinner at RoseLena’s, The Da Vinci Code, video games, the best parallel park of my life, the loveable Sambuca, no traffic on 76, surviving another Sunday City Skate, brunch and beers with some new skater friends at the Standard Tap, shower and a nap, lunch in Rittenhouse Square, Scoop de Ville …

It’s almost unbelievable to look back few months ago and reflect upon how sucky I felt being hung up on something that should have been obvious to me. I knew at the time it was all about perspective and being positive, but with me I often always have trouble finding the forest through the trees. And now I find myself in this exciting new place with the persistent thought that this feels so good, but this also feels too good to be true. I guess all I can do is not get ahead of myself and hope for the best.

Today’s Quote:

“I don’t really play cards, but I’m not going to lie you. It felt really good to take money from Michael … I’m gonna chase that feeling.” - Toby from The Office

Oh. And one more, I can’t resist!

“I’ve never owned a fridge before” - Creed from The Office

Bye

I had an “incident” with my contact lens today at the office so my GBFF was nice enough to make me a therapeutic eye patch.

It was so bad we almost had to call the waaaaaaambulance.

Funniest quote of the day:

gay coworker: “I’m your GBFF”