Alright folks, here’s your heads up!

The Loft
1032 Broadway
Columbus, Georgia
706.596.8141

FUN!! FUN!! FUN!!

Also, check out Haunted Atlanta for more details.

This has been quite a week, no foolin’. Revelation, angst, and resolution.

It started out badly when the decision was made to go ahead and move Maggie’s office to the sitting room adjacent to her bedroom, and my room into the old office. All was well until we tried to get her rickety-assed, mo’-bootleg-than-a-motherfucker desk. First of all, this thing is made of that crappy MFB. Second of all, the people she bought the thing from bootlegged it together with not only the wrong kind of screws, but nails as well. Yes, I said nails. Some of which were driven in at odd angles, the sharp bits sticking out into thin air and the nail head bent over into the MFB. Yeah. I should have just took a match or six to the bastid right then, but nooooooo…

So after the kids are gone to spend the night with Nathan, we’re trying to figure out how to move this thing to the back of the house. It broke apart twice before we even got it out of the room. We managed, finally, to get it out - but not before Maggie yelled at me and I yelled back. Now bear in mind that after 8 years of friendship, we’ve never even so much as scowled at one another, and you’ll understand the levels of stress induced frustration we were experiencing…

Maggie: “You know what, this is just really unneccessary to do it like that.”
Me: “YOU know what? I don’t give a fuck - now help me move this goddamned thing and shut your cake hole, woman.”

Okay, so I really didn’t say that last little bit about the cake hole. The proof is that I still have a pulse. Anywhore, we get all of her office stuff moved and by this time it’s the next day. We spend that entire day trying to get all of her computer/router/phone/printer/fax/scanner crap set up. I was so frustrated from the previous night’s efforts that I only slept for 4 hours. Okay. So we’re doing away with the Linksys router we had been using to network her laptop to my computer and installing the new Netgear wireless router when all hell breaks loose. Let me ’splain. The Netgear router (which I have affectionately named “Fuck Rag”) didn’t come with an installation manual. Oh no, they feel it is a much better idea to pack a CD-Rom full of useless crap instead. Then, adding insult to injury , ::feels bile rising in throat and blood coming to a simmer:: unless you register your product online, you cannot even get Netgear tech support to talk to you. I learned this after I waited on the phone for 20 minutes - only to have it answered by an Indian guy whose accent was not ONLY thicker than frozen peanut butter but spoke faster than Speedy Goddamned Gonzales. NOt that I have a problem with this at all, I can learn to acclimate, but he got a little rude with me before the call’s end. Rude with ME. ME! Near the end of our time together, I was muttering things to myself like “Ya Gatdamned wannabe John Moschitta curry eatin’ bastid…” which promptly made me snap back into reality after he says he can no longer help me until I register the router online as it cannot be done over the phone. I said “Oh, are you presuming that you’ve actually helped me up until this point?” followed by “You know what, I really appreciate your level of customer care there Hadji - I feel MUCH better about the product I’ve purchased from your company now. Thanks ever so much for your time, you continue to have a superior day… to EVERYONE ELSE ON THE GODDAMNED PLANET!!” ::slams phone down, starting an earthquake amongst the rickety-assed bootleg desk::

Then it happens. I turn around, and Maggie is standing on my computer chair with one end of a coax cable around the ceiling fan and the other around her neck, staring blankly at me… I’m telling you, I laughed so hard that I thought I broke a rib! I couldn’t stop laughing for almost 5 full minutes, it was so funny. You know, when you get that frustrated and end up laughing that hard for that long, it is clearly because you needed it. First revelat
ion of this hellish experience - don’t get so wound up in anger that you miss an opportunity to take yourself down a peg with goofyness.

Damien, my sweet, wonderful boyfriend, came over on his lunch hour and got the router working. The three of us had lunch together and he almost killed Maggie and I both by making us laugh hysterically while we were eating by explaining something about a guy at work who was evidently trying to “get his smack on” with another coworker. Presumably he meant “get his MACK on”. Alas, it was funnier than duct tape on a cat’s paws. After lunch I went back to work trying to set up her phone. Maggie has a broadband phone for her office. (I forget what the box it uses is called, so I’ve named it “Fuck Chop”.) You connect it through the tv/internet coax cable. Now bear in mind, we also have the cable modem and router connected to that same cable as well, and it was a nightmare getting everything set up just so. After well over an hour of failed attempts, my frustration and lack of adequate sleep got the best of me and I told her that I was giving up for the time being and walking away. I went to take a nap for an hour or so, but was too frustrated to sleep so I laid there for an hour drifting in and out. When I wake up, I discover that Damien had called to see if we’d made any progress, only to have Maggie tell him how I’d gotten my ass kicked by Fuck Chop. So what does he do, this amazing, thoughtful, sweet man I’ve chosen? He takes off the rest of the day and comes right back to our house to help out. After I dragged my 1/2 dead carcass out of bed and got my bearings, I’m doing stuff in the living room when I heard a dial tone. Maggie and I both go running into her office to a smiling Damien who has successfully gotten everything set up and working properly.

Part 2: Wednesday & Thursday coming later on this afternoon…

On Monday, my baby girl Avery will be 2 years old. We asked her where she wanted to go for her birthday dinner and quickly she told us “Deevie Deevies!!” Translation: Stevi B’s. Mee Mee (Aunt Amy) ordered her cake yesterday, so that’s one less thing to worry about. I think for an actual party we’re going to do something here at the house, but it is undecided as of yet.

Gotta get back to the laundry…

New layout, inspired by a picture I took of Damien.

Tragedy has struck.

After over a year of fighting, America has had its first, true casulty as a result of the Iraqi war.

We’ve lost a football player.

True, we’ve had other losses. But what are the lives of hundreds of young men and women when compared to a single football player?

I ask you all to join me in a moment of silence for our fallen countryman.

In every heart there is a room
A sanctuary safe and strong
To heal the wounds from lovers past
Until a new one comes along

I spoke to you in cautious tones
You answered me with no pretense
And still I feel I said too much
My silence is my self defense

And every time I’ve held a rose
It seems I only felt the thorns
And so it goes, and so it goes
And so will you soon I suppose

But if my silence made you leave
Then that would be my worst mistake
So I will share this room with you
And you can have this heart to break

And this is why my eyes are closed
It’s just as well for all I’ve seen
And so it goes, and so it goes
And you’re the only one who knows

So I would choose to be with you
That’s if the choice were mine to make
But you can make decisions too
And you can have this heart to break

And so it goes, and so it goes
And you’re the only one who knows.

As is customary in my family, they wait until the very last minute to tell me things. Back in December my oldest nephew Josh told me he was getting married in April. My sister in law told me several months later that she would send me an invitation as a reminder, and got my current mailing address. Lo and behold, I had forgotten all about this. Why? Because I never got an invitation and no one bothered to call and remind me, though it really should have been better in my mind in the first place. Yesterday Damien mentioned it, and I’d planned on calling today anyway when my niece calls me to inform me that we’re taking the family pictures at 12:30 this afternoon.

Of course, I’m going. There is no way I would miss his wedding day, even though for some reason my mother and oldest brother are - don’t EVEN get me started on that. Apparently my mother didn’t get an invitation either. It’s a little inconvenient, but whatever - it’s the way my family is. What I’m most interested in is whether or not my brother Todd (Joshua’s father) will show up, and if he does will he dare speak to me. This is the brother that is dead to me, that I want absolutely nothing to do with. I don’t know why he would show up, he’s never been any real or valid part of Josh or Amber’s life before now anyway, and for that matter why Josh would invite him. Either way, I’m going to be there for his big day. It will be nice to see all of my nieces and nephews, even though I am a bit saddened by all of this. I remember vividly the day he was born and I became an uncle for the first time, so watching him as a grown up man taking his wife is going to be very strange and emotional for me.

After that I’m going over to the Lytle’s to get pictures of Tina before her first prom, which is also tonight. Poor Damien has to work, but that’s okay - I’ll get lots and lots of pictures for him to see.

Update:

Todd wasn’t invited as per Josh’s request, which makes me feel a lot better for myself and everyone else involved. Sha told me that she’s dropped hints to him here and there in an effort to try and make right some of the wrong he has done and make amends to Josh, but as to be expected of his sorry ass, he’s done nothing - least of all make contact with his firstborn child and only son. And his treatment/neglect of his children is actually on the bottom of the list of reasons why I hate his fucking guts. At the top of that list is that time he left me for dead on the day that I actually DID die at home for a short time, but that is another story I’m not getting into. I haven’t the time, patience, or energy. All I have time for is ironing my clothes, swallowing my pride and hurt feelings, and putting on a happy face for the sake of my family - who prove more and more to me why I shouldn’t even bother.

Fucking hell.

I finished some of the new image treatments and posted them here in the community.

Attention All Locals!! I have Columbus Pride t-shirts available for sale, each one is $8.00 and this price includes tax. Sizes are Large, Extra Large, and 2 X Large. It’s a plain white Hanes t-shirt with my own custom design on the pocket:

Columbus Pride is going to be held on Saturday, June 19th. I’ll post the location and times/events/details soon. If you want a t-shirt, let me know by replying here and I’ll hook you up.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdgnieg

THE PAOMNNEHAL PWEOR OF THE HMUAN MNID
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Amzanig huh?

I think I’m getting my bearings again after the Savannah trip. I’ve made a few new Photoshop treatments of different scenic things, some of which I may post later - who knows. I also set up a Photoshop action that will render any photograph like an Ansel Adams gallery print, complete with the matting. That one’s definitely a keeper. This weekend will be full of tutorials and tips for , I have been neglecting that disgracefully. Other than that, I’m kind of taking it easy. Not a lot going on at the moment, and I’m really kind of enjoying that as well.