Randoms

Today's horrorscope sez:

The sun is now moving into the area of your chart that governs, among other things, travel and social activities.
You'll feel the wanderlust begin to stir over the next few days, and over the next few weeks, it will take you to some pretty amazing places.

Good thing Im packed, eh.

The future starts here, today, now, this very minute.
It doesn't matter what went before, it doesn't matter how often things went wrong, it doesn't matter how many times you tried and failed, because a year is dawning and with it will come the chance to start again from scratch.
Forget about the past - it's the future that matters.

Good thing Im packed, eh.

Whoa. Deja vu.

Itinerant Itinerary

Im still in Florida, tying up loose ends, planning my itinerary for July...



Things are still in flux, but Ive got a good idea of where I'll be, just not quite when yet.

Ive been telling everyone about some of the deals on Amtrak.

Its gonna cost me 60 bux to go from Chicago to San Francisco. Yes. Seriously.

My long dreamt-of cross-country choo choo ride on the famed California Zephyr will be under 60 bux.
Whoo.
Poo.. there's synchronicity for ya.

Im about to put the order in for a swank (but inexpensive) semi-professional camera to capture some of it.
Hell, I may even add a good pocket camera to the shopping list if there's space left in the budget.

Im still not assuming anything tho....

The future is still cloudy. But thats okay.
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No-one asked, but per LuckyKat's list

BOSS / Mike Royko
Asterix the Legionnaire
Asterix in Helvetica (Switzerland)
Asterix in Britain
Asterix in Corsica - Goscinny and Uderzo
Disappearing Acts / Terry McMillan
Abraham Lincoln / Benjamin Thomas
The Sten Series / Cole and Bunch (Collection)
Taming of the Shrew / Shakespeare
The Gulag Archipelago / Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Good Morning Merry Sunshine / Bob Greene
Holidays in Hell / PJ O'Rourke
Republican Party Animal / PJ O'Rourke
Parliament of Whores / PJ O'Rourke
The Astrologer's Handbook / Debbi Kempton-Smith
Hugo Award Winners 1971
Hero With a Thousand Faces / Joseph Campbell
The Sandman Books / Neil Gaiman (Collection)
The Right Stuff / Tom Wolfe
Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy / Douglas Adams
Where Eagles Dare / Alistair McLean
Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink' / Bill Watterson
Something Under the Bed is Drooling / Bill Watterson
I, Robot / Isaac Asimov

From serious to frivolous (sometimes all but indistinguishable), these all influenced me profoundly.

I would want them all back on my bookshelf.

This, I Firmly Believe

When I started visiting my family in New York back in the mid 80's, the place was a hellhole.

A vibrant eye-opening hellhole.

Even so I talked often of moving there. It took over a decade, and my mother becoming unemployed - before I decided to move there.

One reason is, and this I truly believe:

Everyone should visit New York at least once in their life.
Everyone should LIVE in New York City for at least one year out of their lifetime.

When I started this blog is when I realized that many people around the world do have an intense curiousity about the city and would like to experience it.

However, for whatever reason, most of those same folk think its an unrealistic dream.

Personally, I think most folk are scared to find out if they can. And thats not an unrealistic concern.

In spite of that, I think most folk should check the place out, and if possible, experience it at least once in their lifetime.

I was talking to Judy about that the other night, and was telling her how Tammy took the plunge and moved to New York to do her time there.

JPennant: I was telling a chica in vancouver about you doing your Time in New York
tammy: is the capitalized T intentional?
JPennant: hehehe. absolutely :-)
tammy: okey just checking, go on
JPennant: oh, she was just amazed that you did do it
tammy: oh?
JPennant: most people are too scared to try, even tho most would want to
tammy: yeah
tammy: hehe i'm glad i did it
tammy: no regrets
tammy: though it's not helping the debt situation
JPennant: hey, its a once in a lifetime thing :-) Well worth the expense.
JPennant: although *cough* you CAN live frugally in NYC if you put your mind to it
JPennant: starbux expenses excepted.
JPennant: I dont know of anyone who regretted making the move
JPennant: sun, cyn to name two off the top of my head

(Clarification: I meant as example two people who definitely dont regret going to NYC. Ok, sun? ;-) By the way, Sun is now a Mets fan.... )

tammy: actually, i've been really good about money lately
tammy: surprisingly so
tammy: haha
JPennant: oh yah? how so?
JPennant: <-- genuinely curious
tammy: i haven't really been spending that much money
tammy: i haven't shopped at all
JPennant: cut down on going out?
tammy: when i eat out ... i haven't really been paying.
tammy: other people usually buy my drinks...
tammy: sure i can cut down more
tammy: but i'm saying, it's still better than before.
JPennant: very true :-)
JPennant: remember back when you were not sure you wanted to come to NY, until you went and visited your friend susan?
tammy: ya
JPennant: were ya scared?
tammy: not scared... other than financially.
JPennant: aright
tammy: i've always wanted to move to ny
tammy: and london
tammy: london i'm not so sure about anymore
tammy: seems like a big hassle
JPennant: why not?
tammy: shitty weather and its expensive
tammy: but other than that, yeah.
tammy: haha
JPennant: still. youre doing what most folk in the world only wish they could
JPennant: One of the best excuses I heard was.. "I dont wanna leave the cats"

Although, as Kate will tell ya - its hard to leave the cat.

So she didnt.

Woke. Up. This mornin... gonna get myself...

Cuban Doc: You have a cold?
Me: Hm? No, why?
Doc: You voice is deep and hoarse
Me: Oh. I just woke up.

Thats mah mornin voice.

I absolutely crashed after.. working talking working and talking/working till about 2am.

Now.. Im awake and not hungry. Im not in the mood for donuts.

Ahh, I know what I need. Bagels. New York style.

*sigh* This aint New York and no H&H bagels are gonna magically appear.

Man, I miss that, although to be absolutely honest - the morning coffee was always crappy. But it did the trick from the New York 10 oz cups.

I guess I'll go get Starbux and Einstein bagels.

I wonder what my morning routine will be in SF, land of great food and mediocre (sorry george) newspapers.

At least the coffee will be better, right?

Images copped by folk from the google image search just yesterday...

I wonder how they reference these images, specially since theyre numbered.





The all time favorite. Im not sure how this one pops up on a search for images, but it does.

I wonder if the folk still exercise on the Hoboken Riverfront on sunday mornings....



8 am. Sep 12. Exchange Place, Jersey City Riverfront.

But, What About Me?

A few years ago, as Kate and I walked and talked around the Upper West Side.. I was bemoaning how people were overworking me because of my tech skills.
After some thought, Kate said something that has stuck with me ever since..

Would anyone like you if it werent for your brain?

Whoa. You can see why that stuck with me.

No, she didnt mean it literally. Her question was: If I werent useful, would people still want me around?

Happily, as Ive grown older, I know thats not always the case. But a lot of folk see me that way.
A useful guy to have around.
For whatever reasons.

No, I am much more than that.

Yesterday, I hung around for someone who wanted me to help them with computer stuff at their home. For the fifth time after begging me, she didnt show.
Its funny, that seems to happen a lot.

"PLEASE hang around, because I need you."

Dont get me wrong, I really LIKE being needed. But Im not a tool.

So as I cursed the woman for wasting my fucking time, I vowed not to allocate anymore time for her.
Or for anyone else.

So, what about me?

If Im getting little in return, why should I hang around?

With that in mind, Im headed west for the same reason many people go West.
They want a clean break, a place to start anew. To be.

Literally or metaphorically, the worst thing you can do is to go somewhere to escape yourself.

The best thing to do is to go somewhere to be yourself.
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Today's horrorscope then..

You're coming to the end ... and when the sun moves into your sign on Friday, it will feel as if you've been reborn.

OK, maybe it won't be quite that dramatic, but this is a time of new beginnings, so make a list of all the things that have been worrying you and then burn it.

As it turns to ashes, your new life begins.

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By the way, theyre threatening to shut down Amtrack in July.

Time to book that cross country trip.

Ever since i was a kid, and reading those 50's and 60's era illustrations of the train rides across the United States - I swore I would take the time to do it.

To ride the famed Superliner and see the vistas. See the Rockies close up. Yeah, its a five day trip.

Now is the time.

For many things.