March 2005


Once Upon a Matress

Once Upon a Mattress Dad dropped me off at work early today so he could attend a funeral. There was just a little dictation waiting, which I did. I took a bus downtown around 11 to go to my class at noon. Today’s marketing class overviewed retailing. Ms. Snell went for 45 minutes, late but still early. I had lunch with Ann after class. I took the bus back to work after class and arrived just before two. I think there was just half of a report for me to finish. I was largely unoccupied until Dad and I left the office around five. This being St. Patrick’s Day, Dad wanted to stop by Parasol’s, a seemingly inexplicable popular place to go on this day. There’s always a block party around the place. We had a little trouble parking but managed. We got a drink and our fill of the crowds and left around 6:30 as I had somewhere to be. I attended a school play this evening which Melanie and her mother were heavily involved in. It was an adaptation of the Princess and the Pea entitled Once Upon a Mattress. It was a pretty impressive production, especially considering the cast was formed of middle-school students. I spoke with Melanie for a short while before getting a ride home from my dad, who I introduced to Melanie’s parent’s this evening. Before going to bed, I watched Dazed and Confused.

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Tokyo Cowboys

Dad and I got to the office around 11. There wasn’t much work to do for me today, especially since the clinic was closed. I got some lunch not long after arriving. Dad took me uptown at quarter past one. I had him drop me off at a camera shop on Maple St that I’ve wanted to check out, as I’m still looking for a dependable place to get my film developed. I dropped off a roll and bought some film for grandma’s old camera. They have a collection of used equipment I browsed for a while. I walked to the Boot and remained there for a while until my prints were ready. I left around four and walked back to the camera shop. The black and white film I gave them yielded prints with a substantial blue cast probably due to the older machine. The pictures were of nothing important anyway. The negatives are fine. I browsed the shop for a while longer as I had nothing to do until quarter to six. I left around five. There was a guest speaker in class this evening, Daneeta Saft. She’s a filmmaker and presumably a friend of the professor. She came to talk about filmmaking in general and her most recent project, Tokyo Cowboys. There were also a few presentations and some lecture regarding the movie we watched last week. After class I walked to Turchin to meet Dad who was watching Tulane play Texas Southern. Shortly after we arrived, Tulane was winning 7-3. We left a little while after I got there as it was rather cold. Tulane won with a final of 8-4. Later in the evening I took apart the Mamiyaflex again as the work I did on the shutter wasn’t enough. I think I got it this time. I talked to Melanie online briefly, she canceled our date for Friday, which in itself doesn’t bother me but I thought I deserved at least a phone call to blow off week-old plans. Before bed I watched Dazed and Confused.

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Finger Sandwiches and a Shutter

I got up around nine and had plenty of time this morning before we left the house for the day and watched Battlestar Galactica. I got to the mall at about 10 past eleven so I had plenty of time to browse the news and some message boards before class. Marketing class today pertained to marketing channels and her husbands sudden albeit not entirely surprising unemployment. He was an assistant basketball coach that was let go when head coach Shawn Finney was fired over the weekend. Dad picked me up after class and took me to the office. Before making it there though we picked up some things from Winn Dixie. Today is Dr. Stevenson’s birthday so we got some food for a little ad-hoc celebration during work. The rainy weather kept a lot of patient’s away so there wasn’t too much distraction from the chicken wings, finger sandwiches and birthday cake. I didn’t do anything resembling work while I was at the office. With the food out of the way I just sat with my laptop for a while and listened to music while I continued to catch up with log entries. We left the office a fee minutes past five. Traffic was rather heavy but Dad got me downtown to class with a few minutes to spare. Randy discussed some events during the sixties, most notably the release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club. Class was dismissed around eight. Dad was waiting to pick me up. Later in the evening after I got home, I tried cleaning the shutter on the Mamiyaflex with reasonable success. I also watched some TV and printed some pictures of the clinics for Dad before bed.

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500th Post – "Polished" Movie Review

This is the 500th entry in my daily log, proving that words can flow freely even if you have nothing to say. I had to get up pretty early this morning to get a ride to work with mom as dad was staying home for the day while Larry was back at the house this afternoon patching up some things from Saturday. The beautiful weather from the weekend was gone, it was overcast today. I arrived at work at 7:45. There were a number of reports to do, all of which I finished around two. After some FreeCell and checking a number of bills, I got a cab to school around four. I went to Richardson for a little while before heading to class around 20 past five. During this evening’s review writing class, we went over the ‘polished’ movie reviews we revised from the last couple week’s assignments. We only had time in class to discuss the generic movie review. Mine got reasonable praise. I put it on the website during the class. We also discussed the next assignment, in which we are to interview a previous professor about a class we’ve taken. I called Dad after class and he offered to meet me downtown to take me home. I took the Freret bus to Canal Street, where Dad was waiting for me in front of the Sheraton. I had some of the red beans Dad made for dinner when I got home. Later in the evening I unpacked and tested the photo printer Dad bought over the weekend. Before bed I watched Carnivale and flipped through my scrapbook for a while.

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Triple Play!

After church, Dad and I went straight to Turchin for this afternoon’s Tulane Baseball game, the 3rd and final in the Cal State Fullerton series. We did stop at the Frostop for lunch first. I got a roast beef sandwich. The weather was even warmer than yesterday, but there was a howling wind through the better part of the game that caused havoc with the ball. Even so, this was a pretty enjoyable game. Tulane played considerably better than the previous two games. After coming close yesterday, I doubt they were intimidated by Fullerton anymore. Cal State had a number of home runs during the game, carried by the wind. Tulane scored consistently and stayed on top, but I don’t remember any Tulane balls leaving the park. Tulane got a triple play in the 5th, one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. The game ended with a win for Tulane with a final of 13-9, salvaging the three game series. We went home after the game. Grandma and Andrew made some smothered chicken for dinner. The evening was largely devoid of circumstance. I fooled with the Mamiyaflex for a while. The shutter is going to need a little work. I watched Stargate SG-1 before bed.

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Game 2 – Astral Project

Shortly after I meandered out of bed this morning, Uncle Larry showed up at the house to work on the plumbing. We’ve had a slow leak somewhere that causes a running water sound to mild noise through the house. Dad, Andrew and I went to see Tulane play Cal State again at Zypher Field this afternoon. We left the house around noon. We brought some food and drinks along. We didn’t have all that much time to eat it as it took a while to get in, the place was rather jammed with cars. We took our time with the finger sandwiches though and walked in after the 1st inning. Tulane did a little better today, but not good enough. The game wasn’t much to watch until the 7th inning. Going in the score was 9-3. Tulane rallied however, scoring five runs in the 7th, bringing the score to 9-8. Unfortunately there was no more scoring and Tulane lost by one which at the very least was better than losing by 14. After the game, Dad took me to Mandina’s after stopping by the office for a minute. Although it was pretty crowded, I felt lucky to get a table in just a couple minutes. Melanie arrived about 10 minutes after I got a table. We split a shrimp po-boy, which was more than enough. After dinner we caught a streetcar down Canal St. to go to a show this evening. We walked across the quarter to Frenchman St. after getting off at the end of the line. We went to see Astral Project play at Snug Harbor for nine. We arrived at about 20 past eight. A lot of seats were already taken. There were some cameras there, which the audience was told were filming for a live DVD. The show was alright, although I enjoyed them more the last time we saw them New Year ‘s Eve I think. After the show we walked next door to d.b.a. where Dad said he’d be for an 11 o’clock show. I called him and learned he wasn’t able to leave the house this evening. Melanie said she was tired anyway and wanted to go home. We walked down Decatur a good ways looking for a United Cab so I could use the account. We eventually found one parked on Conti. As it turns out, it was the same driver as the cab I took last night, I figured there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell I’d ever see the same cab driver twice. I rode with Melanie to her house and then went home myself after dropping her off. I was on the computer for a while after I got home and I think I talked to Khadijah on the phone for a little while before going to bed.

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Cold Water

I was going to go to work with dad this morning but I ended up having to stay home. When we got up this morning the hot water heater was off. It turned out that the gas had been shut off as the bill got lost and was not paid. I had to stay home and wait for them to come out and turn the gas back on. Someone came by around noon. He was at the house for a little while as he had to look over the water heater and some other things. Shortly after he left, I left the house myself to go to work. I got real lucky as the bus passed as soon as I got to the stop. Dad was waiting for me on Tulane and Loyola to take me the rest of the way to the office. The office closed just after we arrived. Dad had some things to do but I don’t remember doing any actual work. I think we left a little over an hour after we arrived. We drove uptown to Andrew’s school to pick him up. With him in tow, we drove to somebody’s house to pick up some tickets for this evening’s baseball game. We then went to get something to eat and ended up at Theo’s, a little pizza place on Magazine I’ve been to twice before. We were there for about 45 minutes. We all split a pepperoni pizza. Having eaten, we made our way to Turchin Stadium for this evening’s Tulane baseball game versus Cal State Fullerton, defending College World Series champions. We arrived shortly after 5:30. Dad and Andrew had their tickets and went in. I waited outside the gate for Melanie, who had her parent’s grandstand tickets. I already knew she was going to be a little late but the game was almost a half hour old when she arrived around seven. We hadn’t missed much anyway, and what we did see wasn’t all that great either. Cal State dominated throughout the game. Besides the score, Tulane just didn’t look to be putting up much of a fight. The final score was 15-1. We left in the 8th inning when a Fullerton home run bumped the score to 9-1. We both walked to her house after the game. I brought 2001: A Space Odyssey with me and we watched that. I got a cab home not too long after it was over. Melanie said she had to get up early in the morning. When I got home I found an old camera on my bed, a Mamiyaflex II. It belonged to my late grandfather who purchased it in Japan while he was in the service after the Korean War. Grandma Laughlin had spoken with me about giving me the camera but I wasn’t expecting it. Although I should have just gone to bed when got home around two, I stayed up for an hour researching this particular camera on the net. It took me about a half hour just to figure out exactly what model it is.

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A Little Class, Less Work

I don’t remember having all that much time to spare before this afternoon’s marketing class. We just took an exam today. 20 multiple choice questions and an essay, I think I did reasonably well even though I failed to study. I walked to ‘the Chinese place’ after class to meet Ann for lunch around 12:30. She showed at ten to one. After lunch, I walked back with her to the store, bought something and then walked outside to catch a bus to work. I walked out in time to see one pass by. I didn’t have to wait long for the next one though. While I was waiting, one bus stopped and two men stormed out ready to fist fight. The bus driver deprived those waiting of a show. I got to the office around two. There were some reports waiting but I wasn’t very busy. Dad and I left the office around five. I think he stopped to wash the car on the way home. I don’t remember anything of circumstance taking place in the evening.

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Network

Again, there was no hurry to get to work this morning. I had time to watch Battlestar Galactica before leaving the house for the day. There wasn’t much work waiting. There was a little filing related stuff but that was all. With that finished I got some lunch. Dad took me uptown around 1:30. I went to the library for a while before class with my laptop for company. I walked to Norman Mayer a little after five. I had a chance to test connecting my laptop to the projector for my upcoming presentation. In film class this evening, we watched Network, an interesting look at a possible future of television. Melanie called me during the movie. I had wanted to get a Coke anyway so I stepped out for a minute and called her back. She said she and her family had been sick all day and I wouldn’t be able to come over after class. Although it was a shame they were sick, I was infuriated with heragainas she waited until the last instant to cancel on meagain. Class was dismissed immediately after the movie. I called dad and remembered that he went to the Hornet’s game with Andrew this evening. I just managed to catch the campus shuttle at 8:15 to go downtown and wait for Dad. I walked to the Sheraton to wait for a while with a drink and my computer. Dad showed up just before ten. Later in the evening I watched Silverado before going to bed.

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Tulane Kicks LSU’s Ass

I had time to watch some TV including Stargate SG1 this morning before going to class. Dad had some sort of meeting to go to so he intended to drop me off for a bus but he ended up taking me over the river. Ms. Snell briefly discussed the marketing of services and reviewed the upcoming test, all in about 25 minutes. After class I walked down Poydras and took the Magazine bus to meet Melanie for lunch. We went to Slim Goodies Diner again. I remembered the name of the place this time. After we ate I walked back with her a ways to the school and sat down for a little while before leaving to take the bus back downtown. I was unlucky with that as I just missed one. I didn’t have to wait too long for the next one, but it was pretty crowded and got even more so with all the kids getting out of school. I got back downtown just before four o’clock. I took a seat at the Pelican Bar and remained there until about five. I tried to study a bit for the mid term this evening but I didn’t retain much. I walked to the New Orleans Centre after leaving the Sheraton. I arrived just in time for this evening’s history of rock and roll class. Again, I forgot this class starts at 5:30, not 5:45 like my other evening classes. Lucky for me I like arriving ‘early.’ The exam required a short paragraph definition of 10 of the 15 listed terms, most of them names. I don’t think I did all that great, with only seven decent answers. After finishing the test, after many others had already done so and left, I got my grade for the paper I did a couple weeks back. To my pleasant surprise, I got an A-, the only ‘A’ in the class. I thought my paper sucked. It was 300 words short and I thought it failed to make much of a point. No complaints though. I left class after speaking with ‘Professor Randy’ briefly. Dad picked me up a little while afterwards. Since I failed to recall the actual start time of class, he was a bit late in leaving to get me. The Tulane baseball game versus 5th ranked LSU was already underway, although scoreless, in the 2nd inning when he arrived. We had planned to go out to watch the game on TV since it was only airing on Cox cable. We only have DirecTV at home. We drove uptown to Cooter Brown’s and remained there until the end of the fourth inning, during which time we got something to eat. Tulane had a lead of 3-0 when we left there to go to Bruno’s to watch the rest of the game. LSU scored twice in the 5th on the way. That would be all LSU did of circumstance this evening however. Tulane scored three more runs in the 6th and 8th inning for a final sweet victory of 6-2. A little while after the game was over, we stopped by the Boot briefly for no apparent reason before heading home. Later in the evening I watched Carnivale before going to bed around one.

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Rain on Monday

There were some early patients at the east office this morning, which somehow required me to be at work for eight in the morning. There were just a few reports and I finished most all of my work around noon. That gave me time to work on the movie review that I was too tired to actually work on last night. I remained at the office until almost five, however, after which Dad took me uptown for class this evening. He dropped me off right behind Norman Mayer as it was raining, as it had been most of the day. We went over everyone’s review in class as usual tonight. Dr. Houston must have compiled them late because I e-mailed mine not too long before class and it still showed up. There was no writing workshop in class today to make room for an extended lecture. Dad picked me up after class at around 8:30. Later in the evening I talked to Melanie and later Khadijah on the phone before going to bed around one.

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Out of Time

I was home the rest of the day after church. I decided not to go to the baseball game today since Melanie couldn’t come and I had some things to do anyway. On top of that I was in a lousy mood most of the day anyway. Late in the evening I watched Out of Time. I intended to write a short paper about it after class having finished it but I was tired and didn’t get far.

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Baseball, The Office and A Haircut.

Before going to the baseball game for two this afternoon. Dad took Jeff and I to get haircuts. We waited for a little while. Dad went to get some gas for the car. There was a bit of a wait so we just went home when he came back and decided to come back after the game. Tulane played Marist again this afternoon. This game was a far cry from what I saw yesterday. Tulane dominated this game throughout. Marist made all the mistakes today with unremarkable pitching and a few fielding errors. The final score was 24-2. With the outcome obvious early on, both teams let a lot of their younger players on the field. Jeff and I got our hair cut after the game. Later in the evening I watched The Office series 2 and cleaned my room, just a little bit.

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Tulane vs. Marist

There was no rush to get to work this morning. We got there at 10:30. There was a little work to be done, but not much. Dad and I left the office around three to pick up Andrew from school before heading home. We went back out a couple hours later to see Tulane play Marist. We didn’t leave the house until after six, a lot later than I would have liked, especially considering the 6:30 start time. We arrived a little late around quarter to seven. This evening’s game was one of the more interesting baseball games I’ve seen. Frankly, Tulane didn’t look too great for the better part of the game. Marist on the other hand, looked alright or maybe Tulane was simply playing poorly. Marist scored 2 in the 3rd and 5th. Tulane finally answered in the 6th with 4 runs, tying the game. In the 10th inning, Tulane’s Tommy Manzella hit a grand slam, winning the game with a final of 8-4. After the game, Dad took Melanie and I to her house and Dad took Jeff and Andrew home. We watched a couple movies on TV for a while before dad picked me up just before midnight. Before heading home, Dad wanted to get something to eat and I was a bit hungry myself so we went the Krystal on Bourbon. I went to bed after getting home sometime after one.

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