The Weekend

July 19, 1999

Notify List Stuff: Remember, if you want an e-mail every time I update my journal, go here. Plus my notify list might get extra little tidbits from time to time. If you want to get an e-mail every time I upload something Real World related, go here. You can be on both mailing lists, one or the other, or neither. It's all up to you.

So, thanks to all who have sent me tips on quitting smoking! I don't currently have health insurance, so I think the cost of Zyban would be prohibitive, for those who suggested it. The update is: I decided starting Friday to cut down. Prior to that, I was smoking from 10 to 15 cigarettes each day. Since Friday, I've had 4 or 5 each day. So I'm going to try and stick with that for a while, and then cut down to 3, then 2, then 1, then none. One of the people who wrote to me said that worked for her, and it sounds good to me. That way I am learning to break the habit (because I am smoking at different times in different places than usual), while reducing my nicotine dependency. So by the time I finally quit, hopefully I will have gotten rid of both the habit AND the nicotine addiction.

Jim had a really easy time quitting, and he says that makes it all the more tempting to start up again. He thinks, "Quitting was easy. I can do it whenever I want, so why not start up again and then quit later?" I told him if I finally quit and then he starts again, I will kill him. I'm also hoping to clean the house and car so that it all smells good and hopefully that will make me not want to smoke in the house or car and ruin it.

Mary and I watched movies on Friday night: Clockwatchers and Slums of Beverly Hills. Both were kind of so-so. They had interesting and/or funny parts (mostly Parker Posey in the first movie and Natasha Lyonne in the second) but they were both SOOO SLOOOOW. I realize in Clockwatchers, that was part of the point - that office time goes by so slowly. But it just made me want to take a smoke break.

Saturday morning, Molly and Mary and I went garage sale-ing. I always think I'm going to find some sort of hidden treasure, and I always just find a lot of junk. And I can't believe people are willing to pay money for other people's ugly crap. I mean, some of it is useful - there were some dishes, and glasses, and I know when I got my own place for the first time, I totally stocked up at garage sales. And Molly bought a decent end table for $3. But the rest of the stuff was just crap. The thing that made me laugh the most was the people selling Commodore 64 and TRS-80's for like $50. I'm thinking - you should PAY someone $50 to take that thing. The only value it has at this point is nostalgia. Then it started to get beastly hot by about 10:00 a.m. so we cut our trip short.

We ended up going shopping at various other places, because Molly just bought a house and needs some stuff to fill it. That part was fun. We went out to lunch too. Molly is doing the Atkins Diet, so it was interesting to see what she ordered at lunch. She ended up getting a salad with bacon and cheese and ranch dressing. She goes on the Atkins Diet, loses 10 pounds in like a week, goes off it and gains it right back once she starts eating bread again. That can't be healthy. I've told her this, but her husband has a class reunion in 2 weeks and she wants to lose weight before it, which I can understand. My 10 years reunion is coming up next summer, so I better start the diet now, huh?

Then Saturday afternoon, Jim and I went shopping again. Anything to get out of the hot house and into cool air conditioned comfort since the temperature here was about 97. When we left the mall, the time and temp thing said 99 and we don't have AC in the car! I was looking for any excuse to stay at the mall - I kept asking Jim if he wanted to go to a movie or get something to eat even though I wasn't remotely hungry. But he wanted to get home and try out his new game. Plus our friend Eric was in town and I think he wanted to see him. So I cranked up the air conditioner in the bedroom, and hung out in bed, reading the magazines I bought. Yesterday we did nothing but sit around the house going, "It's so hot! We need a friend in Syracuse who has a pool. Next weekend, let's go to a lake somewhere if it's this hot!"

That reminds me, some guy wrote to me and said I need to include more in here about Jim and me, and our relationship. I told him to go elsewhere for porn, because he wasn't going to find it here. He wrote back and said he didn't mean that, he just meant like fights and stuff. Well, sorry to disappoint, but we really don't fight. We have disagreements at times, but they only last about 5 minutes and they're just about always my fault because I'm being unreasonable. Then I see this, and apologize, and everything's fine. Jim is so even tempered that he never gets mad. Sometimes I bait him to try and get him to lose his temper, but it never works. So, there won't be much in here about us fighting because it doesn't happen. Sorry if it's not "juicy" enough! But then again, no one's forcing you to read it.

Warning: clicking on these links will launch a new browser window.

If you want to track the DVDs you own, want, are looking for or anything else, this site might be a good place to start (Thanks to Cam).

So I didn't talk about JFK Jr. et al's disappearance in my entry. I think it's tragic and I feel bad for the families. I don't have a problem with the amount of news coverage this weekend because you know what? I was watching it. I was hoping for a miracle. It didn't happen. I always liked JFK Jr, because he didn't seem to take himself very seriously. I think, given the upbringing that he had, that would be really hard to do.

What happens when people who publish an e-zine about their lack of success become successful?

I'm looking for good furniture websites, preferably where you can see what your selected piece looks like with various coverings. Kind of like this, but then you can buy the furniture. Can anyone help?

The Beastie Boys are going to release a Best Of CD. As this article points out, they really pioneered the whole rap/hard rock thing that led to Kid Rock, Limp Bizkit and others.

Great content, not so great design: NetSlaves.

TV Guide sets the record straight on a bunch of TV related rumors. Most of these, I already knew about, but how did I miss Madonna's breast in the Papa Don't Preach video?

This looks like a good site, but they need to have a clearance or closeout area, because I really can't afford $370 for a pair of shoes.

Some IE5 tips - if they help you out, great!