January 30, 2004
taxes
Am I strange for really looking forward to doing my taxes this year? I can't wait, mostly because I know I'll be getting money back, but still.
January 29, 2004
little something
Another day at work, though not as busy as days previous. Celebrating 6 years with my girlfrind tomorrow (going out to dinner somewhere nice), then celebrating Joe's birthday on Saturday, then celebrating...food? TV? something while watching the Super Bowl on Sunday. I couldn't give a rat's backside about the teams or game, but I hope to get at least some level of entertainment from the commercials, as well as enjoy some delicious snack foods.
January 28, 2004
quote of the day
Quote of the day:
"The illiteracy level of our children are appalling." George Bush, Washington, D.C., Jan. 23, 2004.
That's funny on several levels.
happy birthday joe and marie
Happy Birthday to Joe and Marie, who turn 31 and 26 today, respectively. Have a great day!
January 26, 2004
bad advice
Warning: Rant ahead.
Women: Read this : it's what you shouldn't do, be or act like in a relationship. Yes, your mate should recognize you, spend time with you, love you, and sacrifice for you. They should not be expected to buy things based on the calendar, spend a certain amount on you, or buy you slave-traded rocks because you've been told to accept it.
The best relationships are those that are open, honest, and loving, and in which roles are defined by those involved, not by the outside influences of culture, media, or family (though family is important). If certain days, created by card companies, or certain rocks, made popular by rock companies, are important you, that's fine. But realize that you will need to find someone for whom these things are also important. Expecting anyone/everyone you may be involved with to care more about tokens than your relationship is both unreasonable and unhealthy.
My point here isn't to knock on what other people do, but to show you that love doesn't have to be diamonds and Valentine's Day, it's everything that person does. And if you disregard everything else because that person isn't as shallow as the people (both the question asker and answerer) in this example article, then you're probably in the wrong relationship.
January 21, 2004
presidental preference
Some interesting results from the SelectSmart.com 2004 Presidential Candidate Selector, which shows, based on some position question, which candidates most closely match what you believe. My results:
1. Your ideal theoretical candidate. (100%)
2. Socialist Candidate (93%)
3. Sharpton, Reverend Al - Democrat (71%)
4. Kucinich, Rep. Dennis, OH - Democrat (68%)
5. Clark, Retired General Wesley K., AR - Democrat (67%)
6. Dean, Gov. Howard, VT - Democrat (66%)
7. Edwards, Senator John, NC - Democrat (53%)
8. Kerry, Senator John, MA - Democrat (52%)
9. LaRouche, Lyndon H. Jr. - Democrat (43%)
10. Libertarian Candidate (33%)
11. Lieberman, Senator Joe, CT - Democrat (32%)
12. Phillips, Howard - Constitution (16%)
13. Bush, President George W. - Republican (1%)
This isn't a big surprise to me, though some other liberal friends didn't even have Bush as low as I do, which is surprising (reflecting more on me than on her). Take the test yourself, see how you compare to me, and how closely match your candidate choices.
January 19, 2004
bol sos #3
"And I said on my program, if, if the Americans go in and overthrow Saddam Hussein and it's clean, he has nothing, I will apologize to the nation, and I will not trust the Bush Administration again."
"...if he has 8,500 liters of anthrax that he's not going to give up, even though the United Nations demanded that he do that, we are doing the right thing. If he doesn't have any weapons, then we are doing the wrong thing."
Do you know who said these things? It was Bill O'Reilly, on March 18, 2003. He said them to Charles Gibson on Good Morning America, right before the official start of the war. Bill is the type of guy who would immediately and harshly call out anyone else who said this and didn't apologize, I've seen him harp on the same subject for months on his show for things people say once in passing; he said these things on National Television, and since he says he doesn't lie, I would expect he meant them.
So, Bill...are you sorry? Or sorry you said that?
poker recap, maggiano's
Had a great weekend - Gary flew down to hang out, we had a poker tournament on Saturday (with my brother taking the top prize), then a trip to Maggiano's for family-style Italian food. Since we haven't gone out much lately, we also had trips to the Gypsy Den and Thai Chili in Orange - If you're local to Orange County, check this place out. The people there are amazingly nice, the food is plentiful and fantastic, and there are ample vegetarian options.
Another week of work ahead, plus the draft for our Strat-o-matic baseball league coming up soon. We've also made some additions and changes to the BASL site, check it out.
Not much politics to report; today is the Iowa Caucus, the first of many primaries to decide who gets the democratic nomination. It'll be interested to see what shakes out of this and New Hampshire's, next week. I've been meaning to post another installment of "Bill O'Reilly is a Lying Sack of Shit"...the dude won't stop calling the ACLU the "most dangerous organization in America". I wonder if the KKK is amused or angry.
Have a fantastic week, more posts coming!
January 13, 2004
fox trot pi
Fox Trot knows how to make pi fun and funny.
Just 2 months till pi day!
January 12, 2004
sports and legos
Hello and happy Monday, once again. The year's off to a good start for Anaheim Angels baseball fans, with the signing this weekend of Vladimir Guerrero, who will give the Angels a big bat and good arm in the outfield. Taken alongside other off-season moves, The Angels are looking very strong going into the 2004 season.
In other sports news, the other Mike Doss and the Indianapolis Colts are one step closer to the Super Bowl with a win over Kansas City on Sunday. I'm not really a Colts (or football) fan, but I've been following their progress since they drafted my favorite player earlier this year.
In non-sports news, Gary will be flying down this weekend to hang out, play poker, go out with us to Maggiano's, and enjoy the beauty of Southern California before having to return to not-as-beautiful Sacramento. Should be a good time.
I've been playing with my legos a lot lately; they've been in the news on Slashdot and other places, and I've been inspired to build again. This weekend I built the following:
It's a "set" for a Star Trek holodeck ("set" because it only has 2 walls), with 2 lego Star Trek men I made (with a little help from a black marker). Playing with them again has shown me that my creative blocks in writing transfer also to toys, and unless I have specific inspiration, I always feel like I don't even want to start any projects. Once I get going, however, I enjoy both the process and the end result. Legos never stop teaching, do they?
January 08, 2004
long live the king
Today is the 69th birthday of Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll.
Today is the 124th deathday of Joshua Norton I, Emperor of the United States.
Long live the king.
January 06, 2004
Entry number 1000
Finally, my base-10 milestone is here - This is Insignifica/Michris entry number 1000, posted 3 days short of 3 years since my first entry. I tried to think of something "special" to post, but I think just linking to a few favorite entries and saying what's on my mind would be plenty.
Thanks to everyone who's read and commented the past 3 years. I love having a space to write where others will hear what I'm saying and provide their own opinion as well. I've wanted a website like this since I got online in 1995; only since early 2001 has it been what I've wanted it to be - easily updatable, automatically archived, and widely read. Thanks for reading, and I hope you're here for entry number 2,000.
Now some of my favorite posts. Enjoy!
Share and enjoy, and thanks for making Insignifica somewhere I love writing.
January 02, 2004
999 - new year
Happy new year! It's 2004, and we still don't have our flying cars or robot maids. Perhaps 2005?
I learned a valuable lesson this New Years: don't drink excessive amounts of alcohol the day after giving blood. With the possible exception of one hangover back in 2000, I've never been this sick due to alcohol. It probably didn't help that I ate a good deal of fatty food at the party. Interestingly, however, was that a night's sleep pretty much got rid of all of my symptoms.
The party was a great time, about 15 people showed (my brother and some other friends didn't make it, but I knew they had other things going on). It offically ends the party season, with the next major event being the Birthday Mikestravaganza in April (probably Saturday, April 17th, the day after my birthday). In keeping with previous years, I'll be providing a dinner and attendees will donate to charity the amount they'd expect to pay for a nice meal out. This year's goal is $2000, and I have some neat ideas up my sleeve.
Since that's still 4+ months away, however, I'll probably throw another large party in late February or March, just because 4 months is too long to go between get-togethers of the Halloween-New Years-Birthday sort.
2004 will be the 3rd anniversary of my weblogs, the 6th of my relationship with my girlfriend, and the 10th of my becoming vegetarian. This is my 999th entry, the next will be number 1000, more likely than not occuring about a week before the January 10th anniversary of this blog. I haven't decided if the post will be retrospective or just ordinary.
That's all for now. Enjoy your new year.
