Your Debate Bloggin' Pal

I ♥ John Kerry! How could you not?

Interesting how different the coverage is on different networks: NBC shows the split-screen most of the time so we can see GW looking petulant and licking his lips (and also JFK nodding thoughtfully), but CNN seems to stick to the one-shot.

Secret Signals?

John Kerry: Red Tie
GW: Blue Tie

Oh Joy

When I was driving home just now, I saw a beautiful little boat being towed by a truck. It was tiny and it looked homemade. In hand-painted letters on the back it said "Joy". I was entranced by the whole thing, simplicity, beauty, blah blah blah. As I was thinking about how "Joy" was a great inscription, I saw the tackiest bumper sticker for the religious radio station, and it, too, used the word "Joy" prominently. I was disgusted.

Driving Me Crazy

There's a song I have, and it has a sample from the Mobb Deep song "Shook Ones". The sample is "they keep them shook crews runnin'" (then a break) and "like they supposed to". Yes, those are the real words. But I can't remember what song it is, and the internet is no help. I feel like it's either Fatboy Slim or DJ Shadow, but that doesn't really narrow it down much. Anyone?

Seeing The Game

Yesterday Jane and I met up near Fenway Park. Originally, the plan was to get some scalped tickets and see the game in person. But it became clear early on that tickets would be in the "embarrassingly expensive" range: $200 for two was not out of the question. So instead we went to the almighty Cask -n- Flagon and watched most of the game on their super-huge screen. When we got sick of drunk Red Sox fans (they made up a new chant: "Yankees Still Suck." Way to go, guys) we walked all the way around the park a few times, but here's the highlight, for me: about 15 minutes after the game was over, we just walked in the exit and into the seats. Jane had never seen Fenway Park in person, so it was great for her. It was great for me too: there is something genuinely awe-inspiring about Fenway. Then Johnny Damon came around and gave everyone in the stands a ride home in his brand-new Volvo.

Three States Away, People

Well, now I know how I'd vote in a Connecticut Senate race. Oh wait: Christopher Dodd, your advertising dollars were wasted on me.

Fortune Cookie

Speak Chinese:
November: SHÍYIYÙE
Is the pronunciation supposed to help? Because that isn't very helpful to me.

Call Me Old-Fashioned...

but I don't think commercials for soup should have iPods in them.

Dumb Thought Du Jour

"If there's anything that will take this terrible taste of soda out of my mouth and make me feel more energetic, it's CANDY!"

Flickr is fun!

You can search for photos by "tag", which users can add. So all of these photos I've been uploading were tagged with "wedding", and I decided to see who else got married. Lots and lots of pretty wedding pictures out there!

Speaks For Itself

Speaks For Itself, originally uploaded by theBarge.

I must resist posting any more photos of myself, but this one seemed appropriate. The reason I'm not in my jacket is that I am one of a select few who is busy cleaning up. Which also explains some other things about this picture.

(Photo by Melissa.)

Hey ya!

Hey ya!, originally uploaded by theBarge.

I sure do love closing my eyes, huh?

(Molly and me; photo by Melissa.)

Here's My Suit, Suckahs

Here's My Suit, Suckahs, originally uploaded by theBarge.

From one of the disposable cameras. I'm sure there will be other pictures of me soon, but I don't take a lot of pictures of myself.

A Descriptive Post (at Cedar's Request)

The Ceremony:
First the mothers walked down the aisle and lit some candles (which blew out immediately, I think; a consequence of having an outdoor wedding is that the combined flame of motherhood is easily extinguished). Then I think the bridesmaids and groomsmen came down the aisle. The bridesmaids were Daleila and Cecily, and Liddy's maid of honor was our sister Molly. The groomsmen were Chris's friends: Tyson, Barry Palmer (knew him in 4th grade) and someone else. Next, in a very emotional part, my dad and the bride walked down the aisle. Now, I know my dad didn't want to do that, but of course since Liddy wanted it he did it. Then the officiant started the proceedings, I think. She said some stuff, then it came time for Molly's part in the wedding: she had written some blessings for Liddy, and she read them out loud. She couldn't really get past the first one before she started to cry, but I think everyone in the audience was crying right along with her. I was certainly affected. So, the officiant had more to say. It was all pretty blurry to me as to the step-by-step, but I know that after the Jewish prayer and after the moment of Buddhism-inspired silent meditation, I and the groom's sister Heather (more on her in a later post) had to participate. We had the rings and we went up and gave them to the officiant (an odd little woman). I was nervous about that but it was okay. For some unknown reason, I thought I should give Liddy a goofy thumbs-up while I was up there. It got laughs from my side of the family, at least. Okay, so then I think they put on the rings and kissed and then scooted off down the aisle. It was beautiful: as can be seen from the photos of the ceremony, there were a lot of star lanterns, and the sun and shadows were very interesting on the wedding party. I can't really say how I felt directly after the ceremony: proud of Elizabeth and Chris, of course, and happy that the ceremony went so so well.

Okay, more of this later, I need to get some breakfast.

The Bouquet's Aftermath

The Bouquet's Aftermath, originally uploaded by theBarge.

Heh heh heh.

Melissa and Me

Melissa and Me, originally uploaded by theBarge.

Me, Chris, Liddy, Dad

Me, Chris, Liddy, Dad, originally uploaded by theBarge.

Shoe it Up!

Shoe it Up!, originally uploaded by theBarge.

Pure Liddy.

The Couple

The Couple, originally uploaded by theBarge.

Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids, originally uploaded by theBarge.

AWESOME

This morning I was feeling very sad... I had just been through the emotional marathon of the wedding and its aftermath, and I was exhausted. Then, the day went by; I started to feel better. Liddy opened presents, which was fun (she got a Landmark Forum-related board game, which she will not succumb to the cult of, among other things).

This evening, I went to hang out with Melissa and it turned out that we were going to Poker Night at Elliot's house. So I showed up and expected to quickly lose my $20 stake. Guess what? I won $180! I came in first place! I beat (in order, I think): Che; Colin; Jen; some old dude I didn't know; Elliot; Raj; and finally Josh. Watching poker on TV pays off, I guess. When it was heads-up action, me vs. Josh, I was the chip leader to start, and the lead oscillated back and forth. However, I got two full houses in a row, then folded a crap hand and came back with another full house! Josh was a very worthy opponent: I could, consciously or subconsciously, read things from most of the other players (Elliot most of all, I think) but Josh had quite the literal poker-face. Winning was amazing: I was definitely shaking afterwards from the thrill. Maybe I should follow Josh Norman's lead and become a professional online poker player: in a year, he's made more than I have, he says.

I'm going to spend my winnings on getting the best scalped tickets to Friday's Red Sox-Yankees game that I can!

Whoa.

I am so tired. Elizabeth's wedding to Chris went very well. I behaved poorly afterwards (when lazy motherfuckers wouldn't lift a finger to help clean up) and as you can tell I am stuck on how I reacted poorly to their retarded insensitivity*. However, I need to get past that and remember how the ceremony was beautiful and everything afterwards was great!!!!!! So great! I'll post pictures tomorrow, I promise.

* (yes, that's funny on purpose, thank you)

P.S. First avocadola swear? I think so!

Very Odd

So I'm in Ithaca... my sister's getting married today! But that's not the point of this post.

I changed the sheets on the bed that is in the room formerly known as mine the other day. I couldn't remember where they kept bedding at my mom's house but eventually I found a cache of sheets etc. The fitted sheet was fine and normal, but as I was putting the top sheet on, I noticed it had some writing on it. Someone had written "TEQUILA SUNRISE" in huge marker-drawn letters! Wow! There are so many suspects, I don't know where to start.

More wedding-related avocadola-post programs later.

I Couldn't Agree More

Happy Birthday, Avocadola!

Let's Review

New Exhaust System
New Brakes/Calipers
New A/C
New "Seals"
New Radiator
New Wheel Covers
New Overdrive Relay
Two New Tires
New Lens Cover for Lamp
CD Player, Already Broken (Blaupunkt is so bad... I think I got Punk'd!)
New Speakers
New Plugs and Wires (or was that the Camry?)

What The Heck?

So I'm sitting out here on the porch using the computer. Some guy drives up, parks across the street, gets out of his truck and takes a Polaroid picture of the house, and then gets right back in his truck and drives away.

Now I know what you're thinking: the house must be for sale or something. I guess it's a possibility, but the house is owned by one of the biggest real estate owning families in Portland, as far as I can tell, and this house is allegedly one of their "jewels".

Well, the only conclusion I can come to is that my neighbor is some kind of spy and some counter-espionage Polaroid-takers are on to him.

Maine is Tied?!

According to my favorite website, currently it is a dead heat between Kerry and Bush up here in Maine. Crazy!

Arctic Adventure!

DSC02328.JPG, originally uploaded by theBarge.

Portland's newest resident!

Wow!

A huge amount of concerts avaliable for the listening here. An awful lot of things I don't care about, but still quite a lot of audio.

Something New

I was just at a barbecue way out in the country (Buxton [is boring]) with Megan. As we were leaving, driving down this "driveway" (to call it a dirt road would be a compliment), the car somehow slipped off the "road". I called Rachel, the host of the BBQ, and a bunch of strong guys came to help me push the car out of the ditch it was in. I am used to this protocol, given that i drive a rear-wheel-drive Volvo. However, at the insistence of some dude, instead of pushing the car forward or back, we lifted the rear end of the car and set it back on the road. All I can say to that is, WOW! I want lifting to be the answer in every circumstance now.

Some Kind Of Allegory

I had a dream that I was watching a speech that George W was giving at a school for retarded kids. At first I was watching it on CNN and was amazed at how terrible it was. Then I got up and left , with a dismissive and exasperated wave of my hand and George said, "Goodbye Matt!" I said, "Goodbye... George." Even in the dream he was inarticulate; I wish I could remember what he was "saying", though.

Hardly Seems Fair

If you get a walk and the bases are loaded, that counts as an RBI. But you didn't B, and nobody R. It should be Jog Balled In.

Ya Know

Sometimes I just got nothing to say.

Junk Email

"90% of all people lose money in MLM [Multi-level Marketing]". What? No they don't, don't lie. I must know 100 people and I don't think any ten of them have been taken by any MLM. I'll ask the 100 people who will be at my sister's wedding next week. I bet only two or three will admit it (but they'll be on the groom's side... ZING!)

Wherein My Love Of Fresh Air Comes Back To Haunt Me

Sure, I left all my car windows open, and all the windows in my house open. So what? Remnants of Hurricane what? Torrential downpour who?

Lifetime Supply

I was in Boston yesterday afternoon on a successful mission to get a suit (well, blazer) for my sister's wedding (more on that in a later post). So I went to Newbury Street and walked all the way up and all the way down. And now I've seen enough Euro-trash to last a lifetime. I hope if I ever get the idea to go to Newbury Street ever again, I think again. Because, wow. I didn't even know they made sunglasses THAT mirrored! The number of ridiculous tiny dogs was eclipsed only by the number of ridiculous tiny outfits. Zing!

Why, Matt, Why?

I'm going through all of the fonts on my computer, looking for ones to eliminate. I've discovered that i must have at least a dozen of what I'm calling "pirate fonts": shaky letters, old-timey letters, etc. I'm getting rid of all of them: I see no foreseeable need to make anything pirate-related.

Irrationally Happy

That was a great series of baseball games, eh wot?

Matt's Workout Tips

If you're on the elliptical machine, don't reach down to scratch your ankle. It is impossible.

Wow!

That Stephen Colbert piece that was just on The Daily Show about "George W Bush's Words" is one of the best pieces I've ever seen. I hope that everyone sees it; it really shows how terrible G Dub is. Also Stephen Colbert said a swear. If I find it on the web I'll link it up here.