12 June 2004
OK, peeps. I am off to Italy in just over 12 hours. No more bloggery
goodness from me for several weeks. I flipped out a little about
packing--I tend to overpack, and it doesn't help that I have to bring my
own sheets, towels, and pillow. So I just gave up and packed two
suitcases instead of trying to cram all my shit into a suitcase and a
duffel. I nearly professed my love for the nice Frenchman at Air France
who told me the weight limit was 70lbs per bag.
Anywho, I shall post pics when I return. E-mail me or snail-mail me at
Podere Buselli, localita Ghiacci 194, 57024 Donoratico (LI).
Posted at 0021.
11 June 2004
Not having really read the paper or watched a lot of commercial television
since last week, I hadn't been overly annoyed by all the coverage of
Reagan's death of late. But today I stopped by the post office to find
they were observing a national
day
of mourning. Buh. I got in from out of town yesterday evening, am
leaving the country tomorrow, and can't mail a freaking package? So I
took my business to UPS instead. Now that's what I call Reaganomics.
Posted at 1551.
7 June 2004
Vegas is different than it was three years ago. Slot machines no longer
plunk out dozens of quarters when you hit the jackpot. Instead, the
machine prints out a ticket with your winnings. To soften the blow, the
machines have a little clinking-change-noise that they make while they
spit out your ticket. But it just leaves you feeling even cheaper than
you normally would in Vegas.
Bingo is even worse. There's an entire culture built around bingo
talismans (IIRC, there was an episode of
Roseanne
about
bingo
trolls),
colors and shapes of the bingo marker-dauber sticks, and, for the
old-fashioned or eco-conscious, plastic reuseable bingo chips. But now
you give them money, and you get a machine with up to something like 100
different bingo cards programmed into it. It looks vaguely like a
monochromatic Speak-and-Spell and receives information on the last ball
picked, translating that into automagically marking the "cards" for you.
While it's figuring out if you have any B-7's, it actually prints
"DAUBING" on the screen. When you are waiting for one number on a card,
the machine beeps to let you know to pay attention to it. When you win,
fireworks flash on the screen and the machine plays
"We're in
the money."
It's a travesty of gambling, I tell you.
Posted at 1545.
4 June 2004
I stopped by my mom's office while in Charlottesville this week, since I
hadn't seen the doctors and receptionists she works with in years.
Apparently one of the doctors told her that I look a lot like
Ashley
Judd.
I found this amusing in a Wheel of Fortune before-and-after sort of way.
Should I legally change my name to
Ashley Judd
Nelson now?
Posted at 1543.
1 June 2004
Michael Damian stole my IM
icon. You remember him from such great 80s hits as
Was It Nothing
At All, right? Well, at least I don't have
his
hair. Michael, Hercules called. He wants his Nemean lion pelt
back.
Posted at 1706.
