Jane Goodall on location

The other day at the gym, I had the pleasure of toiling on the eliptical next to one of nature's unfortunates: the emo gorilla. Granted, it's not out of the ordinary to see new faces at the gym every now and again, especially after the new year begins. It tends to bring out the resolution fatties who toil for a week or two before sliding back down the slippery slope of powdered sugar mini-donuts. However, it's not often an emo gorilla graces a family Gym in Cumberland, RI as far as I've been able to tell. I had to investigate further.

She was a stereotypical gorilla, with the glasses and black hair artfully aligned to where I imagine her jaw line would be were it not obscured by plump. Of course there was also the monroe piercing, barely distinguishable from the last desperate strains of her teenage acne. She had pink stretch pants on, with the "juicy" gothic text across the posterior. Who doesn't love that? (Hint: me.)

The best part of her gym attire, outside of the iPod touch with the post punk cranked up to 9, was her shirt. Barely covering her most obvious asset, her black T displayed a fondness for what I imagine to be a Danzig cover band. Just below the skull on the back of the shirt was the following text:

"See your Hell."

"Yeah," I thought to myself as I stepped off of the eliptical. "Pretty much."

The moral of the story is that listening to post punk weakens your resolve to follow a diet of less than 3,000 calories a day.

That's all I got.

Texas

Westlake, Texas has been nice, but I'm ready to go home.

I've been here for 12 nights, with two more to go.

My bags are packed.

I've shipped a box of things home ahead of me.

All I have to do now is sit and wait. Until Sunday. Because my flight on Friday afternoon was canceled, and there were no available flights until Sunday morning.

I'm over Texas and I haven't even gotten out much.

Here are a few pictures from the Saturday evening and Sunday I was out.

Longhorn in Fort Worth.The Sixth floor corner window is where Oswald sat to assassinate Kennedy.The cubes filled with all the stuff we accumulated during the two-week class. If information was water the course was like trying to drink out of an open fire hydrant.In front of the National Scouting Museum.

All in all Texas was nice. But home is nicer.

Take my phone

New Razr on Cingular/Att, 2,000+ rollover minutes, 250Daytime/UnlimitedN&W minutes, Philadelphia area code. That's the deal. I switched to Verizon in October but never canceled my Cingular account (apparently). I was told when I called today I could transfer my account to a new name and address within 59 days and still retain all my built up shite.

If you're looking for a good deal on a cell phone, here it is. The account has a Philadelphia area code, with 250 anytime minutes a month and unlimited nights and weekends. The plan doesn't have texts, but you could get those for an extra $5 a month. All told it's something like $45 a month. No roaming or long distance either so if you're not from Philly and don't care about the 215 area code, it's a good deal.

The best part, though, is that since I am at the end of my contract, the account is eligible for an upgrade to a Motorola Razr, or possibly Slvr (which I have now and enjoy very much, by the way.) On top of that, you get to keep my 2,000+ rollover minutes, which means that you shouldn't get an extra charge on your bill for going over your daytime minutes unless you talk an unholy amount.

So, if you want a new phone with a cheap plan and a ton of rollover minutes with a Philadelphia area code, let me know. Comment, e-mail, call me or whatever.

Oh yeah, I'll just give it to you, I'm not a dick like that.

Someone please take this. I'm going to be pissed if someone doesn't benefit from the 2,000 rollover minutes I've frugally built up.

Have a take, don't suck. Rack it.

Time for some change. Not to the blog (aside from the new banner), but in my opinion.

See, I used to hate Jim Rome. In college, I was obsessive about my ESPN viewing. After classes would finish, the mid-afternoon usually presented a perfect time for uninterrupted sports media consumption before dinner; my only problem was Rome came on right in the middle of that block. I hated his manner of speech mostly; that slow to develop, halting style for which I myself am noted for by Gwen, much to her annoyance. His whole persona really irked me, but I watched anyway because, well, it's sports commentary right?

Something's changed though, and today I think I pinned down what it is. I never listened to his radio show in Philly, so I didn't know that there was something other than the softball questions and insufferable Roger Lodge co-commentary. This summer I listened to the show on and off, and really grew to appreciate it.

The problem I have with a many radio hosts is their attitude. It's easy to verbally beat up on callers and discredit their opinions, especially in an area (New England) where tensions over professional sports run rather high. Dennis and Callahan, the two morning wonk's on WEEI, spend so much time yelling at each other and at the callers that there isn't much in the way of content. Rome is good because there's no co-host to bicker with, and there's a national focus. This keeps the three hour discussion from being solely focused on Johann Santana, Eric Mangini, etc.

Last week I was dropping off flyers to elementary schools in the East Bay area for work. I walked into one of the schools, and was hit with the smell of cafeteria. I knew instantly that it was pasta day, or at least lasagna. It smelled exactly like my middle school cafeteria when the lunch was spaghetti with meat sauce and rolls. Really strange how that sort of thing comes back to you so clearly with no more than a smell to trigger it.

My recent addiction to Battlestar Galactica is all consuming. It's like a soap opera in space. Season three is so damn good, I just can't stop watching I finished already and don't know what to do with myself.

Who the hell is Hannah Montana, and why do I keep hearing about her? Anyone? I thought she was on TV but apparently she does music too. Also Zac Efron seems a bit effeminate. I mean he looks like a bitch.

I detest hate the Converse commercial with the tiny singing broad with the crappy bangs. See it here if you must. I counted a week or so ago, and I believe I saw the commercial 12 times in a single sitting. I sat there for a while, but all the same. It's a bit of overkill. It would definitely be a bit better if the girls voice wasn't so damn annoying. Or if her bands name (her friggin band!) wasn't Care Bears on Fire. Or if, you know, I'd never seen it. I suppose turning off the TV isn't a viable option.

Seth is back in the United States. He said he didn't want to go out for Chinese food. Party pooper.

Doughty on New Years Eve with Gwen and Turco.