Driving Blind
(21-30 June 2002)

30 June 2002
-Sweet.  Google finally has the whole BP indexed.  Took 'em half a year, but it's here.
-Experience is such a variant thing.

29 June 2002
-Huh.  That's not quite what I was expecting.  So it goes.
-My Dad's concerned that people won't keep checking his 'page frequently, even though there's new content.  So I guess I'm his plug for new content.  I just uploaded a couple more pages of content, so if you are curious about the Tepp System or if you want to know more about Afghanistan, go there!
-Gris is in town, & I'm sure hijinx will ensue from that.  Actually, Drew might meet Lily & then the world would explode for various reasons.  We shall see.

28 June 2002
-Two of the most downright frustrating hours of my life were spent last night en route to picking up Emily at the airport.  A section of road to Logan Airport (Beantown) was condensed to so few lanes that it took 100 minutes to get through a 2-mile stretch.  Maybe even a shorter stretch than that.  I've had some rough drives, but this might just be the worst.  Then, I was (of course) extremely late to get Em.  I hate this state & it's drivers & driving.
-Second time seeing the best movie since "Magnolia" (maybe it's even better... still deciding), which is "13 Conversations About 1 Thing".  Still wow.

27 June 2002
-Positively ridiculous are the number of changes I've made today to web-related things.  I can't promote my Dad's site enough, since I've been working on it all night & it keeps changing.  This page, as you've seen, has gone through changes.  Call me Pat Nichols.
-Since it's all so many people seem to want to talk about, I guess it's time to weigh in on the ol' pledge of allegiance ruling.  To be honest, I've always thought "under God" was the LEAST offensive phrase in the whole saying.  Now I'm all for striking blows at government tradtions, but at least in that brief phrase, people all had to admit that the USA wasn't the almighty, the end all & be all of everything.  It showed a humility the real country never shows anymore.  Now it's going to be gone, but our kids will still be expected to honor a piece of cloth that has stood for death in so many countries & a holocaust in our own, to honor this cloth daily as though it were some body of wisdom.  While reciting the mantra of deception that we all get justice here.  Meanwhile, are people going after the money?  "In God we trust" is a whole lot more pervasive (& difficult to get rid of) than "under God."
-Heck, let's go for 2-for-2... I'm going to make myself extremely unpopular today.  I have some serious reservations about the Supreme Court's ruling on mentally retarded people getting the death penalty.  Here's the deal... I agree that the death penalty is wrong in a big way.  But LOGICALLY speaking (pretend I'm in a debate round here), if we have a death penalty that stands as the law of (certain) lands, why should anyone (except children, who have all sorts of different standards anyway) be exempted from it?  This sets the precedent that the retarded aren't full citizens.  It says that they can never fully understand the law the same way others can, so you can't hold them similarly accountable.  Why on EARTH are mentally retarded rights advocates cheering on this decision?  It could theoretically be the precedent-setter for limiting many many rights for them, & logically stands as just that.  Meanwhile, in a purely practical way, it makes it harder to get public opposition riled against the inhumanity of the whole death penalty.  People, killing mentally retarded people isn't inhuman.  It's killing ANY people that's inhuman!

26 June 2002
-Here's my best explanation of what's been wrong with my site the past week.  It really should be back to perfectly normal.  Now my e-mail address (@BP) is acting up, but that should be relatively easy to fix.  I feel so much better now that it's all back home.
-Happy Birthday Mom!!
-I really am tired of dreams that just involve running from bullets.
-What a blukky day.  I just get in seemingly inextricable funks sometimes.  Every now & then.  But Em's coming in tomorrow night, so all should be much better then.  Sigh.
-At least I was a little bit productive today, in a sorta inconsequential way.  Mostly doing website stuff, so the Exports section has been redesigned in a big way.  See it for yourself...

25 June 2002
-Tirrell/Stevens def. Clayton/Hay 2970-980 (2-0 [2-0, 2-1]) in bridge.  This was ugly, even though we almost got the second rubber with a couple close bids.  It lasted for 15 contracts (they bid for 10 of them) & I only played one of the fifteen.  But Drew's & Luke's place finally got comfortable after being hot all day.
-The webpage is FINALLY back up.  A note about the June Drought (in more detail) will follow soon.

24 June 2002
-Today, trying to exit LAX, I got not one but two "random" searches.  This is what I get for not traveling with wholesome-looking Emily.  The second time, I was just doing all I could to keep from laughing... my long-haired self meets their profile so well.  Additionally, I was in line with only minorities, especially in the first line (the checked baggage search).  What a free country!

23 June 2002
[from San Diego]
-I hate long dark nights of the soul.

22 June 2002
[from San Diego]
-Well, both Jon & Leah of UCSD fame now go by the last name Ziegler.  Crazy stuff.  I also know a fair bit more of what I don't want at my wedding.  No offense to the new happy couple, but I don't want much that's mainstream.  Nevertheless, it was a good time for all & they seem quite happy.
-New light on all sorts of things.  It's amazing how many ways people can change under certain circumstances.  I always feel reinvigorated in my beliefs under such knowledge.
-Some people here, I'll definitely miss hanging out with.
-My webpage appears to be acting up again.  Boo.
-Finally tonight, check out my Dad's webpage!!  Yes, I did all the coding for it, but he's the one whose site it is.  Such a fine site to see.

21 June 2002
[from San Diego]
-I can really eat when I want to.  Maybe that's just cuz I only eat once or twice a day.
-Less than a week till we're together all the time...
-Webpage finally back up.  A note on the "June Drought" appears atop this page.
-CC has almost a third of the album to listen to!

Introspection, My Worst Friend* (Current)
Ye Olde Archive (Past)
The Blue Pyramid (Source)

Tell me this is not the end...*


*-lyrics from an as-yet unreleased song, "The Same Old Frontiers", by SWClayton.