Bachelor Night Nonsense

• Holy shit, Tavis Smiley and Cornel West have a new radio show. It is the best thing I've heard in ages. Check it out. Dr. West is the most brilliant mind of this generation, and I feel a lot of hope every time I hear/read him.

• I finished the Millennium trilogy, and loved it. Lisbeth Salander might be the new Buffy.

• We had a GREAT week off last week. Lots of together time, lots of projects accomplished, and lots of DVDs watched. Great: Kick Ass, Crazy Heart, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Mystic River; Good: The Runaways, Date Night.

• I am stunned by the general lack of outrage about all the gay teen suicides among my immediate circle of people, except a few wonderful exceptions. This is not my issue - this is a cultural issue that should be affecting all of us. If you are a parent, this should scare the shit out of you. If you are the friend of a parent, this should scare the shit out of you. I am too broken hearted to say much more at this moment, but I think that might change.

I Hate Being Disappointed

Back in the day, when I was a student and very engaged in academia and intellectual pursuits, I really appreciated the work of sexpert/educator Susie Bright. I thought that she brought tons of great stuff to feminist studies, and provided an alternative to all of the anti-sex junk that's out there.

I was really excited to learn that Susie B. was doing a podcast, called "In Bed With Susie Bright." I thought that it would be fun and thoughtful. The podcast is not free, but I had some extra audible credits, so subscribed. What the heck, right?

I was not impressed with the first few episodes. I found them a little dry and boring, but thought it was okay. Then, the third episode I listened to turned me off forever. Susie interviewed a man who wrote a book called (I think - her website wasn't easily navigated, so I couldn't find it) "Everybody Must Get Stoned" about sex & drugs in rock & roll. Sounded like an interesting bio book about the exploits of Iggy Pop, Mick Jagger, etc.

What really turned my stomach was the direction Susie took the interview. She and the author wanted to talk about how fantastic drugs like heroin, crack, and meth are when used as sexual aides. And that we've all been damaged by drug abstinance education in school -- using heroin recreationally does not an addict make. And how Amy Winehouse might look like a burn-out, but she's probably a tiger in the sack because of all the coke.

I can appreciate, in theory, the wild shit we do when we're under the influence. I think it makes for great stories. I can also find a book about the wild shit rock stars do under the influence interesting. What I don't find amusing is the advice like: attend "drug & sex" parties just to try it, and "try heroin" at least once, and "crack really makes you horny - try it."

I'm getting pissed just thinking about it. Unsub, stat.

I Remember Joe

April 1st is the day when a lot of people, me included, remember Joe Murphy. He brought a great deal of light to the world, and for that, I say brilliant. 

Tomorrow, more than most days, I will strive to complain less, to laugh more, and to cherish those I love.

If I was smarter, I would syndicate a wonderful podcast dedicated to Joe here. Alas, I'm not, so instead offer this link which will take you to Tee Morris' website where you can download or stream the show. It's worth a listen.  

And, hey, if you have a few extra bucks to donate to cancer (specifically lyomyosarcoma) research, this would be a good day to do it.

Rootbeers all around.

Gratitude

I woke up with a screaming headache this morning, so decided to follow Sly B's lead and think about a few things for which I am grateful at this moment.

• Sly B rocks.

• Sly B and I slept last night! Slept in! I think we got 9 hours in. It was light outside when we got up!
  

• Today marks 9 years at Evil, Inc., and while I bitch and moan a lot about the company and the bosses there, I feel very fortunate to have this good-paying job. It allows us to, for instance, be able to call someone to come and fix our broken pellet stove tomorrow.

• We have eggs in the fridge, so don't have to go anywhere before breakfast.
  

• I have a brand new Wander Radio episode downloaded on my iPod!
  

Random

• You need to read today's post on Angry Black Woman's blog. Sly B and I received the DVD she mentions last week. I didn't throw mine away because I need to figure out what to do with the hateful piece of garbage.

• My friend Wander Wolf has a great podcast, Wander Radio. I highly recommend that you check it out. He shares music, great comedy, and fiction, among other things. I think you'll enjoy it, so check it out.

• I finished Jack Mangan's Spherical Tomi: A Novel of Despair, which you can get on podiobooks.com for free. It's a great scifi novel, but D'OH! Jack, the cliffhanger is a killer. My favorite part of the book is the unapologetic female protagonist. Tomi kicks ass.
  

• I'm almost caught up on Mad Men. I'm hooked. I am so glad for the generation in which I was born. I am SO glad I didn't have to try to negotiate the world in the 60s as a woman.
  

Now for something more uplifting

Okay, my rant was necessary this morning. Now, I feel good. Here's the good news:

• Sly B and I get a 3-day weekend all to ourselves.

• I am working on my second 14er ESB of the evening. ESB stands for "extra special bitter" and it is teh yum.

• I love Jack Mangan's Deadpan community. Love it.

• I watered the plants, flowers, and roses in the front yard this evening. We are working on a pretty well-established landscape. We're old. It has it's benefits.

• I'm listening to Lord of Chaos, book 6 in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. We got them all off of audible.com and I'm really enjoying them. Sly B is on Book 10, and thinks it's the weakest.
  

• I picked a small bowl full of peas tonight. They are to die for.

• We're going to eat our weekly rice bowls (with fish, asparagus, pinto beans, and hot sauce) while watching another Eureka episode. We really like the show, and recommend it to anyone who likes good scifi and comedy.

• Tomorrow is the last day in a short work week. Best news I've heard all day.
  

This & That

• I wrote earlier here that I loved Twitter. I have lost my love. The social networking site seems to be a place for very minor new media celebrities to talk rudely to their fans, and to "tweet" an endless barrage of masturbatory drivel. Totally uncool. I still pop in occasionally to read what a few friends have to say, and to catch up on Warren Ellis and Wil Wheaton, who are very fun to follow. Now that I think about it, I think maybe I should go in and clear out the list of who I follow to just include that group.

• Evil, Inc. sucks so hard. Today I spent an hour in a meeting with my betters planning for something that will never happen. By salaries, the meeting cost the company approximately $5,000. I answered for the 800th time in that meeting what I "felt" was going to happen with revenue. Honestly douchebags, I "feel" like you don't pay me enough money to answer that question.
  

• Last night, we watched the premier of Weeds, which we enjoy a little in spite of the racism and crappy plastic surgery, and Secret Diary of a Call Girl, which I'm not too sure about yet.

• The gay marriage thing in California is a bummer. On the one hand, I am super happy for queers who want to get married -- go crazy. On the other hand, look at the bigots crawling out of the woodwork now. Please, please Obama, don't say something homophobic. I know you're going to have to take a position on this, but don't go all Bill Clinton in '92 on us. Do ask; DO tell. I found out today that an online buddy thinks that gay marriage is "nonsense." I was disappointed. I did not engage. He said so respectfully, and I respectfully decline to comment.
  

• Tonight, we're going to watch last night's Bones rerun. Love that show. Don't know why we stopped watching it late in season 1. David Boreanaz could investigate my crime scene any day.

• The yummy Avery beer I was too lazy to look into last night is their 14er. It's yummy. 9 out of 10 nipples. Try some if you can find it. It's a nice malty fizzy with a little bit of substance behind it. I call it a good summer beer.

• I just started reading Grave Peril, Book 3 in Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series. These books are addictive. I can see myself in the imperfect Harry, and love him for it.

• Deadpan is the mother fucking way.

• Sly B gave me an early (by 10 days) birthday present tonight. It's a pound of 100% pure Kona coffee. Very decadent. Tomorrow morning, we're gonna breakfast like Brad and Angelina, okay love? Included in the package was a gorgeous coffee mug that I'll try to snap a picture of and post here later on.
  

Tuesday Random

I'm having too much fun to blog tonight! Right now I am:

• Listening to Galactica Watercooler, THE BEST damn BSG podcast out there. Sly B and I agree with Audra: Where's the Statue of Liberty? Don't they have phones?
• Making shrimp fried rice.
• Drinking a lovely AVERY brew, I don't know what because I already threw out the bottle and am too lazy to go look in the fridge.
• Watching Sly B water the garden. Hot mama. Nice yard.
  

*Sigh* Life is good.

Random, AKA Scattered

I'm happy tonight because I'm not going into the Deathstar tomorrow. A nice man is coming to install an attic fan for us so that we don't cook in our sleep in August.

Jack Mangan gave me a few choices for my requested AKA. I'm trying to decide what I like the best. Among his selections were:

• EssBee, AKA Uneasy Bee;
  
• EssBee, AKA Sleazy Bee;
  
• EssBee, AKA Smooth as Buttah (which seems to be a crowd fave);
  
• EssBee, AKA Sacrebleu; and
  
• a Roman historical one that I didn't get and don't remember
  

Any thoughts? I like all of them, actually. Maybe I'll just have 5 AKAs!

Errors and Additions

First, this is post #250. That's gotta count for something.

Second, "Vanamonde", not "Vandamonde". Sorry, Van.

Third, when I said I hoped Sly B and I could have 39 more years together, I meant 999.

Fourth, Deadpan = motherfucking way.

Fifth, I've got one vote for "Deathstar" and zero for "Evil Empire." So far, it's a landslide.

Sixth, how much E&O coverage would a Deathstar need to have to recoup $12M?

Seventh, the douchebag/non-douchebag ratio at work took another dive in the wrong direction this afternoon. Ironicpink will be missed on the job. VBI will be the next big huge thing in treating employees like human beings.

Mini Movie Review plus Random

Last night, Sly B and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary by going out to Sushi Hana, our local joint, and then came home to watch Beowulf. It was enjoyable. I enjoyed the story about one millions times more this time than when I read the poem in the original Old English with massive marginal notes to prep for my grad school comps. It was fun to see the animation and naked CGI Angeline Jolie wasn't torture to watch. I give it 3.5 out of 5 nipples.

I take back my blanket statement in the previous post describing my dislike for Ewan McGregor. My friend Vandamonde pointed out to me that Trainspotting was good, and E.W. was good in it. Agreed. I stand corrected. It still, though, sucks hard when he sings.

I like having 9 years of illegal gay coupling under my belt with Sly B. Here's to 39 more years. Our partnership is an awesome one. Swoon.

My as still unnamed company - elsewhere referred to as "Evil Empire" and "Deathstar" - is so fucked up. I would love to blog about the latest shocking developments, but need my job. Suffice it to say that there are bad men in this world. Thank you, bad men, for teaching me how not to behave when I am responsible for employees of my own some day.

I finished Living Dead in Dallas, Book 2 of the Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris. I LOVED this book, and can't wait to read more in the series. If you're looking for a funny fast read, I recommend it.

Deadpan remains the motherfucking way.

Sunday Quickie

We're tired. Sly B has a sore throat and is crashed out. Her mom just left after visiting for a week. The house is quiet and I'm going through mail & magazines. We watched Southland Tales last night (for an upcoming Deadpanalooza) - I'll write up a review some time this week. Back to laundry.

Feeling Random

• BSG is frakkin' awesome. Last week's episode was dark! I think that everyone should watch this show. I am, unlike everone else on the internet, keeping my theories to myself for now. I don't know who the final Cylon is. I don't know what's up with Starbuck. I'll tell you one thing, though: I can't wait to find out.

• I'm reading Charlaine Harris' second Southern Vampire Series novel, Living Dead in Dallas. These are very fun and very cute books. They're being turned into a HBO series this fall that I'm looking forward to. I'd recommend these books to anyone who doesn't mind a little cheese and a little romance. These books fall into the fairly new paranormal investigation genre.

• I love the fact that friends are asking if I'm okay because I've been laying low lately - wow, thanks for caring, yo. I'm okay, and getting even better by the minute. I didn't even realize it, but I disappeared for awhile. I missed blogging, and stopped going to Twitter. I'm back. I'm good.

• Tomorrow will be a difficult work day. A boss that has been not good, but also close, is leaving.
  

• Deadpan is the motherfucking way.

• We had a very fantastic time with our niece and nephew from Texas over the weekend. Wish they lived closer so we could see them more.

• This weekend - niece Zoe is turning 6. That makes me, let's see . . . carry the one . . . OLD. She got her hair cut so she'd look like Posh Spice.
  

I'm going to get back to posting on a more regular basis. Crazy non-internet time over.

No Infected!

This is me, empty handed, leaving the Longmont, CO Borders shop this morning. Those bastards did not have Infected unpacked and on the shelves. The rude clerk, who didn't like me one bit, told me that she couldn't guarantee that the books would be unpacked "even by tonight" because she was so busy.

We'll see about that. This original junkie is going back to that frackin' store after work, and getting my book. Oh yes, I will have the book today.

Joe Murphy: 1972 - 2007

Tee Morris asked that we record memories of Joe, but I wasn't able to do so. I thought that I could at least post a quick memorial here, and say that Joe introduced me to books and films that I love, and made me really fall in love with podcasts.

I'm EssBee in Longmont, CO, and I remember Joe.

What a Weekend

I have at least six things I want to write about tonight, so I'm going to go with another random list of unconnected thoughts that are coming up for me because of the weekend.

• Sly B and I love This American Life. We download the podcasts, and save them up for long drives to our folks' places. This weekend, we listened to 4 episodes, and there seemed to be a theme, as well as a few episodes that we didn't like at all. The first episode was their Valentine's Day 2008 episode, and seemed to be a long rant about how love doesn't last, and that those of us who are coupled are destined to end up hating our spouses. The next episode was on the topic of Testosterone. Wow, how disappointing it was for us to hear the FtM trans person saying that T made her like science, stare at women's asses, and generally act like an asshole. The other two episodes were pretty good - one focused on Human Resources, and one focused on Childhood.
• Our long trip that allowed us to listen to the backlog of podcasts was to my parents' house for a Easter celebration. My folks are Slovak, and we had a traditional Eastern Orthodox Easter meal. We had ham, kraut and kolbasi, sirak (Easter Cheese), poppy bread, and horseradish that my dad dug up, peeled, and prepared. It was teh yum. I am so white.
  
• Sly B's gramps died yesterday morning. He suffered long, and his passing was a real blessing. We are thinking a lot about family lately, and I am having another bachelor week - this time unexpected - as Sly B spends the week supporting her mom.
• It has been a year since we lost Joe Murphy. He has been sorely missed in the community. There is an awesome tribute show to him posted here. If you have a few minutes, download it and check it out.
  
• BSG season 3 is AWESOME. I cannot believe how frackin' good it is. Season 4 starts Friday and OMG I cannot wait.
• I gave up on Clockers. It just wasn't for me. It's rare that I drop a book mid-read, but I just couldn't stick with this one. I'm now reading So Say We All which is a collection of essays about BSG. It is fantastic, and I <3 Summer Brooks.
  

Full, Free PDF of INFECTED

This is a repost from Scott Sigler's website:

Crown Publishing is letting me give away the PDF of INFECTED from March 27 through March 31, leading up to the hardcover in-store release on April 1. So download it! Feel free to email the link to anyone you know.

Please do not email the PDF, email the LINK. This is so I can prove to Crown the value in giving away content, and if your friends click on the link, that counts on their server stats - emailing the PDF doesn't count on the stats.
THANKS & ENJOY!

Click here to download the free PDF of INFECTED

Random

I love BSG. One week, and Season 4 starts. Yippee!

I'm missing The Wire.

I just subscribed, finally, to Heaven: Season 1 on podiobooks.com.

Torchwood is getting scary! And damn is it good. Ianto is a wedding fairy, and I love him.

I work with some fantastic, kick ass, hardworking people. I also work with some real losers. Why do some people have to be such douchebags? I continue to strive to being a mensch, but damn those fools make it hard for me.

We watched the finale of The L Word. Why does Shane always hurt the ones she loves? How did Jenny end up kinda cool? Does anyone who can see the orange in my font care about Bette and Tina anymore?

The Tudors starts up with Season 2 this Sunday. I'm kinda looking forward to that.

I'm going to pick up the newest Widespread Panic album pretty soon. I listened to Panic all day at work - it's probably what kept me from hollering at aforementioned douchebags. I watched their DVD Panic in the Streets last night and it brought me a lot of great memories. Mostly, stumbling out of Red Rocks with Lil' Toni after the Leftover Salmon/Panic show in around '95. Ain't life grand?

I'm still enjoying Clockers, but it's turning out to be a slow read for me.

I have a really annoying injury to my right ankle. I tore up those tendons playing basketball another lifetime ago and didn't have the surgery I should have. Ever since then I have injured it badly probably a dozen times. I just did it again today, so here I sit with my giant ankle and an ice pack.

OMG, Admiral Adama is everyone's daddy. Kat was an annoying pain in the ass, but "The Passage" was a sweet ass episode. Him sitting with her at the end was super touching. There is still hope for humanity in moments like that.

Podcast Recommendation: UltraCreatives Interview Series

I have been enjoying J.C. Hutchins' UltraCreatives Interview Series Podcast since episode #1. J.C., author of the fantastic 7th Son Podcast Novel Trilogy, interviews movers and shakers from the social media community about their projects, creativity, and life in general. At first, I wasn't sure that it was up my alley, but I really enjoy each episode that comes out. It is an opportunity to listen to successful people who do things that I'm interested in, and learn about what drives them. J.C. is a great interviewer and asks questions that get to interesting answers.

My favorite episode so far was the latest, his interview with Guy Kawasaki. Kawasaki is an inspiring entrepreneur who has great ideas, is super creative, and takes no shit off of anyone. I enjoyed hearing about Kawasaki's past with Apple and his views on business and taking risks. My favorite part of the interview, though, was at the end when J.C. asked him to explain his philosophy on "being a mensch." I found that concept so appealing and so in line with my personal philosophy that I wanted to share the above link and encourage you all to listen to the interview and then visit Kawasaki's blog.

To be a mensch is to be a gentlemen, or the type of person who is kind and generous for the sake of being kind and generous. A mensch is a rich man who is kind to a waiter, or a middle-class dyke who volunteers tons of time at the county safehouse. A mensch is someone who helps another person without expecting return. A mensch is someone who cares about doing the right thing. I love this, and since hearing the interview have found Kawasaki's blog post on the topic (linked above), and am practicing every day. I want to be a mensch.

So, here are the three things I want people to say about me when I die (subject, of course, to change):

1. She was a good daughter.
2. She was a loyal friend and loyal illegal gay spouse.
3. She knew how to laugh and enjoy life when the work was done.

What are your three things?

One of Those Days/ Random Blah

Have you ever had one of those days where people just refuse to be cool? I had that day today. I started the day off with a pissing contest with a woman from another unit who wanted to dominate a situation she barely belonged in, and I could not bring myself to play. I'm not sure who won said pissing contest. That was pretty much the high point of the day.

Tonight, I'm listening to my iPod - hey, did you guys realize you can listen to MUSIC on these things?? - and trying to meditate. Note to self: Learn how to meditate.

Sly B and I just watched Days of Our Li . . . I mean The L Word. Should I be sad that the hottest sex scene so far is between the gay guy and the transgender boi? I'm not sad, but should I be?

I'm about 30 pages from the end of Wild Seed. I'll post a review here when I finish it. If I didn't have this damn headache, I'd be reading now, but damn if 2rays isn't right about the cure. I am abstaining so suffer on.

I love Twitter. I've met some pretty righteous people there. If you're interested, you can click on the link over there ----> and sign up for an account.

My favorite song of the moment: Minority Report - Jay-Z.

Heard an awesome interview with the co-creator of D&D on Slice of SciFi. I aspire to that level of geeky.

We checked out the first episode of New Amsterdam last week. It was kinda like Angel without the good writing. I'm giving it a few more chances, but I believe that Sly B is DONE.

Okay, that's all I've got tonight.