Friday Night:
Had a nice dinner down at Roger M.’s (the fella who played the voice of Audrey II) with his wife and my Ass. Director and Stage Manager there as well. Good food and drink with some super people. I discovered that Roger has a love a Jazz music and raw biscuit dough, which was really cool as I have a love a Jazz music and raw biscuit dough as well.

Saturday:
Saw “Jarhead” during the afternoon and liked it but wasn’t “wowed” by it. Jake does look quite tasty (as well as Peter Sarsgaard) but there really isn’t any reason for him to parade around in nothing but a Santa hat. Maybe it’s just a ploy to get gay men and women to see the movie. It’s just further proof that this year has been bad for movies. There have been some good films, but none of them have totally “clicked” to make them great films. I still think “The Constant Gardener” has been the best movie so far the year. It clicked.

Went to the birthday party for Mary in the evening. Lots of fun with friends and a videoke machine. Michelle always hosts a nice party. I cut out around 11:00 and, from what I hear, the party went on until 2:00 in the morning. Yow! I think I am getting a little too old to stay up quite that late.

Sunday:
Had some work for the theater to get done in the morning. Then it was off to Sylva for the 5th Anniversary party of the big ole OITM gay group. After that I went to straight to my cousin’s birthday party, which was a little a wee bit stressful as I think all family events have to be. But, the food was good and it’s good to catch up with the relatives.

And now, it’s back to work. Whoo.

In Other News:
Potential Happiness is an Orange Jock Strap.

In Other, Other News:
No. I did not eat any Beggin’ Strips this weekend.~

How exciting! The Roomie’s Woman just called and was beside herself ’cause her new iBook had just arrived. She’s been a grumpy PC user for years and finally decided to become one of the enlightened. Congrats to you, Roomie’s Woman!

Anyone who knows me knows that I love bacon! So, the crazy side of me has been wondering … about Beggin’ Strips. Would they be good for humans as a snack treat? Just look at those flavors they offer … Bacon, Cheese & Bacon, Turkey & Bacon, Beef & Bacon. They also have those Beggin’ Wraps which look pretty sweet as well. Mmmmm, mmmm. So anytime you get the hankerin’ for bacon, just grab a tasty Beggin’ Strip outta the bag. What could be better than having bacon flavored goodness at your fingertips … 24/7?

Yeah … fuck you, Windows Operating System! Never has there ever been a more pain-in-my-ass way to work. You are constanly shutting down my programs claiming they are “Not Responding.” How many times a day do I click the “Send Error Report” button a day? A lot. How prone to viruses and spyware are you? Very. It’s a constant battle to keep this shit off my work computer. So, that means a virus scan then a spyware scan and then the general maintenance scans … ’cause, Lord knows, one of those many .dll will eventually corrupt itself and kill the whole system. Remember when Internet Explorer kinked up and I had to reinstall the entire operating system to get it working again? Yeah. That was fun. And what about those 20 files that you won’t let me delete from my Recycle Bin because you still think they are in use by some program? Will I ever be able to get rid of them? I know that you “supposedly” make my work day more productive, but I would love to know how many hours are wasted by millions of Americans ’cause you suck as an OS. Bring on the Windows Really Good Edition, please.

I thank my lucky stars every day that I have a beautiful Macintosh Powerbook at home.

Yeah. I have been feeling like crap for most of the week. Goodness. It still amazes me that there is such a thing as your mind taking over totally and fucking with you.

In some nicer news, my copy of “The Complete Peanuts: 1957-1958” arrived yesterday and (SHOCKER!!!) the Cute Bookseller was actually there when I went to pick it up. Golly. We chatted for few about books and such. He even mentioned that he’s planning a hike with some other folks sometime soon and he invited me to join them. That made me all smiley.

The weekend is looking like it’s gonna be a busy one (three parties and a movie).

Also, I have shaved all my hair off. Call me “Q-Ball.”

A panic attack is a sudden surge of overwhelming fear that comes without warning and without any obvious reason. It is far more intense than the feeling of being ‘stressed out’ that most people experience. Symptoms of a panic attack include:
* racing heartbeat
* difficulty breathing, feeling as though you ‘can’t get enough air’
* terror that is almost paralyzing
* dizziness, lightheadedness or nausea
* trembling, sweating, shaking
* choking, chest pains
* hot flashes, or sudden chills
* tingling in fingers or toes (‘pins and needles’)
* fear that you’re going to go crazy or are about to die

You probably recognize this as the classic ‘flight or fight’ response that human beings experience when we are in a situation of danger. But during a panic attack, these symptoms seem to rise from out of nowhere. They occur in seemingly harmless situations–they can even happen while you are asleep.

In addition to the above symptoms, a panic attack is marked by the following conditions:
* it occurs suddenly, without any warning and without any way to stop it.
* the level of fear is way out of proportion to the actual situation; often, in fact, it’s completely unrelated.
* it passes in a few minutes; the body cannot sustain the ‘fight or flight’ response for longer than that. However, repeated attacks can continue to recur for hours.
From the American Psychological Association~

And now a few pictures from my Florida trip. Halloween is a fun time to visit Mitch and Jen (and Calvin) as we drink too much beer, eat too much junk food and watch too many horror films. Movies we watched this go ’round included:
“The Fly” (1986)
“Opera”
“Night of the Lepus”
“The Mummy” (1959)
“The Black Cat”
“The Brood”
“War of the Colossal Beast”
“Mystery Science Theater 3000 (The Movie)”
“Madhouse”
“The Wild World of Batwoman” (MST3K Version)
“Near Dark”

I think I have left a few off the list. Yow! You can get some more photos after the jump. Continue reading “Trip It!” →

Yep. I am back in the wilds of North Carolina after a few days with good friends in North Florida. A little worse for wear right now … but still alive.