March 2005


How to Ruin Your Life

Dad and I left the house shortly after nine this morning. I did a couple reports before dad took me to this afternoon’s class. Ms. Snell lectured about advertising and PR for about 50 minutes, longer than the 30 minute classes we’ve grown all too comfortable with. After class I returned the shoes I bought on Monday as they didn’t really fit. I got some lunch at a little seafood place stuck in obscurity from the rest of the food court. As I was walking to the bus stop on Tulane I saw Renee and Murial from the bookstore standing just outside. I stopped into the store for just a minute to say hi to Ann, who I haven’t had lunch with lately. I caught a bus back to work and arrived back at 2:15. I remained at the office until 5:30 when I left and got a cab uptown. Melanie and I went to see Ben Stein Speak at Tulane this evening at McAlister auditorium. We arrived shortly after 6:30, about a half hour before the talk was about to start. A line had formed at the door, which was mildly surprising. That line got a lot longer shortly after we took our place. Ben Stein was introduced about ten past seven. The night’s topic was “How to Ruin Your Life,” also the title of one of his books. He opened with a few lengthy, well-crafted jokes. He then spoke for a while about both how to ruin and how to save your life, remarking about things critical for success. He took questions for over 30 minutes after the speech. His appearance ended after he said “Bueller” by request of s student. Melanie and I walked back to her house after we left. We talked for a while and watched The Incredibles. I got a cab home around two.

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Ghost World

I went to work with Dad this morning for 10:15. We stopped at the west bank office for a while before making our way across the river. I had nothing to do there so I just sat around until we left. When we got to the mid city office we stayed for just a little while, long enough for me to vacuum the floor. Dad took me uptown afterward. I had him drop me off at a camera shop on Maple St. that was closing down in a couple days. I was there for a little while. Someone there gave me a OM mount 2x tele-converter that he had been unable to sell on ebay, which I thought was rather considerate. I bought a camera strap to fit the Mamiyaflex, a micro fiber cloth and a roll of TMAX 3200. I thought it might be interesting to try shooting a much faster film. All that in hand, I got something to eat before walking to the library. I remained there for a few hours, most of which was spent browsing ebay. I walked to class shortly after five. There was one presentation in film class this evening and we watched Ghost World. After class I walked to the library because it was going to take a little while for Dad to arrive to take me home. Later in the evening I was on ebay some more, I did some laundry and talked to Melanie on the phone for a while before bed.

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Back From Break

Today marked the end of Tulane’s spring break not that it was terribly eventful anyway. Of course that’s hardly a bad thing. I went to work earlier that usual this morning. Dad basically dropped me off at the office; he couldn’t stay because he had to take his car in for service. I was at the office between nine and four. I can’t say I remember doing much work, but that would be only because there wasn’t much to be done. I did finish going through the patient files again. It would seem that the database wasn’t in too poor of shape. Dad dropped me off uptown shortly after four o’clock. I sat just outside the library for a while, as the weather was so pleasant today, as it has been off and on all week. I intended to read some handouts from class but I just spent the time browsing ebay. I walked to Norman Mayer about a half hour before this evening’s review writing class started. We discussed the class reviews this evening. I talked to Ami on the phone during the break, she had an small problem with some software I sent. I was surprised that the package I sent out on Saturday arrived in Arizona so soon. After the workshop, Dr. Houston discussed music and reviews on the subject at length. Out next assignment requires us to review a recent album. Dad picked me up shortly after class. I talked to Ami for a while after I got home. Later in the evening I watched The Killing before going to bed at a half decent hour.

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Xbox Live

We were a little late in leaving the house this morning, not that it was of any circumstance. Dad and I arrived at the mall with just a couple minutes to spare before class started this afternoon. Ms. Snell discussed “integrated marketing communications” advertising. Dad waited in the mall at Macy’s for me to finish class. I waited to call him after class so I could pick up some t-shirts. I saw me at the checkout at Macy’s and we left for work shortly thereafter. There were a few things to do at work today but I didn’t feel busy. We left the office sometime before five. Dad dropped me off at the New Orleans Center again for this evening’s class. Randy showed up a number of clips from Woodstock. That made up the better part of the class. He lectured for a short while about the 70’s and gave us our mid-terms. I was surprised to get a ‘B’ as I was more than somewhat disappointed with my knowledge of the material. Class was dismissed earlier than usual at 7:40. I called Dad and he said he’d be around before long to pick me up. I went to a couple of stores in the mean time. I bought a picture frame I didn’t need, contemplated buying a PSP and got some shoes, all-black Converse. Later in the evening after I got home, I activated an Xbox Live trial I had that was about to expire. I only played for a little while but I got all the content downloads for the games I have. I went to bed a while after I finished fooling with that.

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Easter Sunday

Shortly after we got home from church, Grandma Janet came by the house for a couple hours to visit. Sometime after five o’clock, we went to Grandma Laughlin’s house for dinner this evening. As usual, grandma thought the food would be lousy, and as usual, it was excellent. We visited with her for a few hours after dinner. Grandma gave me her old Kodak Bantam f4.5 camera, which is unfortunately no longer viably usable since the 828 film is no longer manufactured. Later in the evening after getting home, I watched the season (series?) finale of Carnivale. I was assuming this would the conclusion of the series, but it seems to have been left somewhat open-ended, so perhaps there will be a 3rd season. In any event, it’s been an amazing show to watch. I cannot articulate all the weird stuff I’ve seen. I went to bed afterward at about 11:30.

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Brownies and Monsters

update to come

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Sci-Fi Friday

I went to work with dad for about 10:30 this morning. I didn’t have much to do when I got there. There was some dictation to do later in the day after doc had been there a couple hours. Dad had planned on us leaving around one but a new patient got called in around 11 but he still hadn’t shown up at 1:30. Dad took my suggestion and we went to lunch at Bangkok Cuisine across Carrollton. After about a half hour lunch we went back to the office for just a minute before leaving to go home. A little while after getting home I washed my car. Mom and Dad went to the Hornet’s game this evening. I had the Sci-Fi channel off for a few hours this evening. I watched Stargate SG-1, Atlantis and Battlestar Galactica in order.

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Flipping Through Files

We had a few stops to make before getting to the office this morning. First, Dad had to stop at the Gretna Courthouse to renew the occupational license for the west bank office. With that in hand we stopped at that office for a few minutes. Dad needed to take some pictures of the clinic. We got to the mid city office at 11:15. There was no dictation but there was plenty of work to do just after lunch. Due to the discrepancies in the patient database, I spend the day going through all the unsettled cases, checking them against the computer. I did that until I left at quarter to sox. I hadn’t quite finished when I left. Jeff came home this evening for spring break. I was in front of the computer for the better part of the evening. I talked to Khadijah on the phone for a while before bed.

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Long Day at Work

This whole Wednesday largely amounted to a long day at work. Dad and I arrived at the office for 10:15. The office was closed today but I had more than enough to keep occupied. There were some damaged ceiling tiles from a leak on the 3rd floor so I tried replacing a few of those with less luck than I would have liked. I cleaned the hydrocollator, more thoroughly than usual, which took about an hour. There was also dictation to do. I finished all seven reports that were waiting. Around four or five I finished all my work but I didn’t leave the office until quarter to seven when Dad got back from the east office to take me home. Later in the evening, I watched 61*. I talked to Khadijah for a while before bed.

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The Merchant of Venice

Dad and I went to the office for 11 this morning. I had some various activities to do but I was hardly busy. The office was busy though, a good number of patients made their way through. I had a date at 6:30 but I was pretty bored by five so I had dad take me down Carrollton to a camera shop that was nearby where Melanie and I were having dinner. Unfortunately there wasn’t a whole lot to look at in the camera shop so I didn’t stay long. I still had over an hour before I was to meet Melanie so I stopped in a couple of the other nearby stores Ace Hardware, the Sprint Store, Blockbuster. I still had lots of time though so I went to an ice cream shop a couple doors down from Venezia where I was to have dinner. I got a cup of ice cream and sat down with a copy of the Gambit for a little while. I moved to a table at Venezia shortly after six. Melanie showed up on time at 6:30. I had the stuffed shells, a small but quite adequate dish. After dinner we took a streetcar towards the river to Canal Place. We went to see the 10 o’clock showing of The Merchant of Venice. We got downtown before eight though so we sat in the Wyndam lobby and talked for a while until the movie started. The movie was quite good. I’m hardly a Shakespeare fan but his play was beautifully rendered on the silver screen. Al Pachino gave an excellent performance. After the movie Melanie and I went back to the lobby for an hour or so to sit around before going home. Shortly after one, we got a cab home. I rode home with Melanie to her house and then went home myself.

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Work

There was a reasonably full day of work today. There were a number of reports to do. There was also a considerable problem with the most recent patient data base, apparently it isn’t so up to date, which I guess poses a significant problem. We left the office around five to go home. I made sloppy joe sandwiches for dinner. I spent a good part of the evening looking at camera on ebay, both digital and seventies era rangefinders. I watched a little TV before getting to bed at a decent hour.

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Another Series Sweep

We went home for a few minutes after church before leaving again to go to this afternoon’s baseball game. Dad, Andrew and I went to see Tulane play East Carolina for the last game of the series. Unlike the easy win yester, this game was a lot more interesting. Going into the eights inning the score was 6-4 East Carolina. I figured Tulane would probably lose but they rallied, scoring four runs. An NCAA rule prohibits starting an inning on Sunday after 4 PM. As a result, no ninth inning was played and Tulane won 8-6. Later that evening, I watched the second to last episode of Carnivale before going to bed.

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Tulane vs. East Carolina

Dad, Andrew and I went out to the baseball game this afternoon. Tulane played East Carolina. Tulane played rather well, outscoring ECU rather handily. Tulane won again, 13-6, not nearly as dramatically as Friday. After dinner, we watched Ray, a well-polished biopic. Before going to bed, I watched Clerks.

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Uneventful Friday

I went to work today, which on a whole was rather uncircumstantial. Dad and I picked up Andrew from school before heading home. We had pizza for dinner before mom and dad went out for the evening. I changed an old toilet seat which was a considerable pain in the ass because the hardware was pretty well rusted. I watched some TV and spoke with Khadijah on the phone before bed. Overall it was a pretty full Friday night, which doesn’t usually bother me but this wasn’t how I’d been planning to spend the evening.

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