Good grief I haven't written a
day log since early
December.
Vacation started and I dropped off the face of the planet. It was really nice to just
vegetate for a couple of weeks though. I managed to get some long postponed reading done and sit still for more than ten minutes at a stretch. I guess that's what
vacation is all about - getting just enough time off to keep you from going
crazy and when you're safely away from the
threshold of
murder suicide throwing you back into the water. I feel rested and collected.
It's been nearly six months since I last held a job. This may sound inconsequential but it is the longest stretch of unemployment I've ever been privileged to live through. I've worked non-stop (mainly at shitty jobs) for the past fifteen years. The need for fiscal reality looms in the near future. Yoon has been supporting me for the past couple of months. I need to find a new place to live in a little over a month. My roommate is moving into some enormous space up in the mountains to be part of some art community or something. Sigh.
On the good news front, it's looking like the old kidneys and pancreas have decided to go back to work at least temporarily. I'm relieved but still very cautious about taking the results too seriously. Diabetes is mysterious and volatile. I am not going to get all optimistic about a situation that may change at any time. I'm still on the list for organ donor recepients. Those who give a shit please keep your fingers crossed for me. I'm not a believer in prayer but...
My band finally managed to track down a drummer. If you play music in any capacity you probably already know how difficult that is. The really strange part is that he's insanely good. He might be the best drummer that I've ever played with. Imagine playing with a drummer who actually counts and has suggestions for structure instead of just complaining. The only down side is that he chews (tobacco) and despite my own disgusting habit of setting tobacco on fire the cups full of brown spit are a little hard to take.
I'm also really curious about the much hyped Macintosh OS X. I know that most people put Macs in the same category as Etch-a-Sketches in regards to their worthiness as real tools. I'm excited because I do a lot of layout work and as cool as Gimp is these days it is not Photoshop. Try doing two page spreads with even the most sophisticated of the commercial Linux software and Microsoft Publisher starts looking pretty slick in comparison. As much as I heart using Linux I seriously wonder if it's the slightest bit practical for my uses. Sometimes the easy way is just so seductive. Maybe I take the rantings of Linux zealots a little too seriously? Anyhow, the article in Open magazine about the new Mac OS really got me thinking about the full range of options again.
My new year's resolution (I know, I know it's already January) is to try to get to know more people in my neighborhood and at school. I realized that I completely avoid interacting with entire groups of people because I assume that we have nothing in common. So I'm on a mission this year to find out exactly what the commonalities and differences are between me and the people I avoid. It's pretty ambitious but I'm going to give it a shot at least until I get my ass kicked or something.