1. Who is your favorite singer/musician? Why?
My favourite musician is probably Jimmy Page, from Led Zeppelin. An outstanding musician and songwriter, and at his best, just oozing with charisma and style. There will never be another Led Zep.
2. What one singer/musician can you not stand? Why?
Don Fucking McClean. If there have been any worse instances of meaningless babble than "Starry Starry Night" or "The Day the Music Died (American Pie)," I hope I never hear it. I'm astonished that folks somehow convince themselves that the lyrics have some logical coherence.
3. If your favorite singer wasn't in the music business, do you think you would still like him/her as a person?
How the hell could I know?
4. Have you been to any concerts? If yes, who put on the best show?
Yes.
All things considered, the best show was probably the Violent Femmes. They're my favourite band that I've seen, and everyone knew all the songs, and I was right next to the stage, and it was a small club environment (Visage), and a good time was had by all.
5. What are your thoughts on downloading free music online vs. purchasing albums? Do you feel the RIAA is right in its pursuit to stop people from dowloading free music?
Of course they're right, but that doesn't mean I want them to do it. It is their right to do so, I should say. But I download music, have done so for a long time, and will continue to do so as long as I can. I miss Napster terribly, but KaZaa works pretty well also. I can say that no artist or musician has ever lost a sale to me downloading music, because the music I download(ed), I would never have bought before downloading it or instead of downloading it. And on the other hand, if I like something enough, even if I originally downloaded it, I'm not going to be satisfied with MP3s - I'll want the original cover art, liner notes, etc. I'm just obsessive that way.
And in a larger sense, I'm not concerned about either side of the debate - people are free to download if they want, and artists and labels are free to go after them if they want. Doesn't bother me either way, I understand both sides so I don't blame either side.

9/17/2003 Wednesday 2:14 AM
Home from Ty's (more about that later).
As I sit here checking my mail and assorted other quick tasks, I hear it start to rain outside.
If that's not my cue to go to bed, I don't know what is.

9/16/2003 Tuesday 1:31 PM
Ok, I've fleshed out my Picks pages a little bit more. I'm technically making three picks on each game, so I've expanded it to better reflect that. I made my preseason projected picks, and each week, I'm making a straight-up pick and a point-spread pick, using the spreads from our office pool (which are based on a variety of widely-available mainstream media spreads). The list, again, is here.
This week, I went an outstanding 12-4 straight up, and 10-5-1 against the spread. And, more importantly, I won the office pool! I was the only person to pick Indy-3 over Tennessee, and the only person to pick Dallas+7 against New York last night. (Even better, the Greatest Team in History not only covered, but won outright!) And I was one of only a couple to take Carolina and the points against Tampa.
Interestingly enough, though, my projected picks are still doing better than my cumulative weekly picks. I expect that my weekly picks will overtake them, however, next week.

Well, I guess I can finally do the FF, for whatever it's worth at this late date:

1. Is the name you have now the same name that's on your birth certificate? If not, what's changed?
It's the same.
2. If you could change your name (first, middle and/or last), what would it be?
I'm satisfied by it. Like it, in fact.
3. Why were you named what you were? (Is there a story behind it? Who specifically was responsible for naming you?)
I don't think there's anything significant to the name "Robert." I was given a middle 'C' initial, though ("Colin"), because all males in my paternal family have had the middle 'C' for generations. I assume my mother was agreeable to it.
4. Are there any names you really hate or love? What are they and why?
I tend to like classic(al) names.
Male: Alexander, William.
Female: Alexandra, Vanessa, Elizabeth.
For various reasons, I also like some other names: Pablo and Armando, and Maria Luz. For religious reasons, I like Muhammad and Aisha.
There's an old 'Peanuts' cartoon that echoes Macker's comments. Lucy comes running up to Charlie Brown, on his pitcher's mound, and says "Look, I found a list of the players on the other team!" And she reads them: "Clay, Blake, Morgan, Travis, Trent, Hunter, Bailey, Madison, Taylor, and Justin." Charlie Brown says (to himself) "Nobody's named Bill anymore." I think that just about sums up my (and Macker's) dissatisfaction with modern naming trends. Occasionally I'll read through the local pages to see what folks are naming their kids. There's usually several Briannas, definitely a few Ashleys and Nicoles and occasionally an Ashley Nicole or Nicole Ashley or two, a lot of Brittanys and Britneys and Brittenys, some Dakotas and Cheyennes and Madisons, and lots of boys named Austin and Tyler and Zachary. I sometimes wonder what will happen in 5 and 10 years when all these young'uns wind up in the same classes at school. Then there are all the apostrophe'd names, but that's another matter altogether.
5. Is the analysis of your name at kabalarians.com / triggur.org / astroexpert accurate? How or how isn't it?
From Kalabarian's:

"Brief Analysis

Your name of Robert gives you the desire to understand and help others with their problems but, at the same time, you can become too involved in their problems and, as a result, worry too much. This name creates a pleasant, easy-going, yet responsible nature. It gives you a natural ability to express affection to those close to you, without feelings of embarrassment. You tend to avoid issues, however, and put off until tomorrow the things which should be done today. Accordingly, you would find difficulty in achieving success in positions requiring aggressiveness and drive. Also, you prefer to avoid strenuous work of a manual nature. Your natural inclination is to pursue a line of work where you have contact with people, where you carry some responsibility, and where you are engaged in mental rather than physical activity. You are diplomatic in your handling of people and always give others the benefit of the doubt. You appreciate good music and art."

*shrug*
As should be expected, that's a hit-and-miss "analysis." Everybody has some degree of desire to understand and help others with their problems. And, of course, they cover their asses in the same sentence. It's probably accurate about my tendency to delay certain things. The part about positions requiring "aggressiveness and drive" is impossibly vague. Everybody wants jobs with contact with people, everybody wants some (key word) responsibility, and everybody wants to be qualified for mental jobs rather than being limited purely to physical/manual labour. Everybody wants to be diplomatic ("nice"), everybody fancies themselves to be appreciative of good music and art (defined as, that which they like). So on the whole, it's a pretty useless analysis, and one that seems to pander a bit. Of the other sites, one is clearly a joke, and the other offers no real analysis.

9/12/2003 Friday 9:15 AM
I've added some coding for cumulative NFL standings to my Week 1 picks (below). I'll be adding the same coding to each successive week, based not on real-life results, but on my predictions. That is, I've already made my predictions through Week 8, so when I get time (possibly tonight), I'll add the standings code to those weeks, to show what I predict the standings will be after Week 8 (and every week, actually). Obviously, this is a large project, so I'm doing it one step at a time. Bear with me.

Here's a rudimentary index to my weekly picks, up through Week 8, at least. I'll finish the season's picks tonight.

9/11/2003 Thursday 11:57 PM
I don't know how much I'll be blogging here anymore. But just because I promised, here's my Week One football picks. Lousy record.

9/09/2003 Tuesday 4:39 PM
Well, I found the tape measure, and managed to replace the broken window in my bedroom. That will keep the skeeters out, I think. The other night one of them kept changing the channel on the TV, and kept lighting cigarettes even after I told him there's no smoking in my house. Really rude.

In other news, the neighborhood cat-whore dumped five more kittens under the workbench in our garage. Great, just what we needed. Now, including the mama cat, there are nine cats on the property, none of which belong to us, none of which we want. I asked Mariana if I could EBay them, but she said no. So if anybody wants a kitten, IM me. I'll get it in the mail as soon as possible.

9/09/2003 Tuesday 2:13 PM
The two things I can never find in this house when I need them:
a tape measure, you know, those retractable tape-measures, and
one of those small electrical adaptors, to plug a three-pronged electrical plug into an old-fashioned two-pronged outlet.
I could buy a tape-measure for every room in the house, and plug those adaptors into every outlet in the house, and still not be able to find one when I need it.

9/08/2003 Monday 10:13 AM
I guess I should clarify.
I don't think it was Ben Folds who attracted all the lesbians (and homosexuals in general). I'm pretty sure they were mostly there to see Tori Amos. I'm not sure why Amos attracts so many lesbians. I'm not educated enough about the sociology of homosexuality to say why, but I'm sure it has something to do with Amos's style. Maybe she's seen as some combination of femininity and empowerment. Who knows.

Well, Friday was a long day at work. I had arranged with Becca (on her asking) to switch Saturday and Sunday at work, so I was off all day Saturday for the first time in...well, months, I'm sure. So I headed over to Mariana's Friday night. Went for a late (and light) dinner at Bennigan's, halfway out of boredom since neither of us were incredibly hungry. It was raining, from the outer fringes of Tropical Storm Henri (say that with the proper Frenchy inflection: Aww-RHEE) on the Gulf Coast. Pity, Henri never amounted to much over here. I keep waiting for the Big One every year, the one that will scrape across the peninsula like a rusty razor, with torrents of rain and thunder and lightning. Every year when there's the potential of a tropical storm crossing over Central Florida, I get up on the roof in my leather and fur loincloth, chanting and screaming and jumping like a wildman, hoping to do a primeval rain-dance that will draw the storms down upon us. It never works, and the neighbors no longer look me in the eye. Oh well.
Anyway, we went back to her apartment and slept. Saturday morning we crept out to do some shopping. Did a Ceremony of Pants. Went to Florida Mall. Five hours and several transactions later, we collapsed at a California Pizza. I've forgotten what all Mariana reaped in those five hours, and if she was still a blogger, she'd tell us. There was a tube-top that was slightly too big (her fault for being tiny!), a pair of pants, a skirt...I can't remember the exact tally. Came home to rest. There was more, and I can't give too many more details, but the dialogue included:
"...You Puerto Rican slut....Where did you say you were from?"
"Coloombia!"
"Columbian slut."

and

some strange, bird-like coohs, and a toilet flushing in the background

and

"You going to have to get used to it...Shut up. Shut up."

and

"If you don't stop whining, I won't stop (censored)."

I thought I would die laughing.
Other highlights included the girl with the HUGE cast on her arm, the girl who looked like a guy, and eyes hovering in the background in an extraordinarily creepy fashion. Oh my, the fun.
And the night ended.
Sunday I took Mariana home and went on to work. Oh, and footbygodball season started for real. I haven't put the picks up yet, but including the Thursday night game, I went a miserable 8-7 against the spread, pending tonight's game (Philly minus three over Tampa Bay). I will do better.

9/05/2003 Friday 9:40 AM
Hey, I keep my promises.
Last October, I made a vow that Mariana would see Ben Folds at the next opportunity, whenever, wherever. She would see Ben Folds.
She has seen Ben Folds. And, well, so have I. That's where I left off Wednesday evening. We came back to her apartment to rest after her torturous statistics class. Kristen called and arranged to meet us in front of the arena. So naturally, we couldn't find each other. We did find lots of lesbians, though, and I'm pretty sure I was one of only approximately seven heterosexual males in the entire arena complex. We walked around a little while and never did find Kristen and her mate Mike. So we went inside. Mariana bought a blue Ben Folds t-shirt ($35, who needs to sell CDs when you can sell a tee for $35!). Found our seats, which weren't too bad. Before the concert started, though, Mariana finally glimpsed Kristen in the arena. Mike and I mostly stood awkwardly while Babeness and Kristen, the two Ben Folds Fanatics, jumped and squealed. I like Mike, too, he seems very funny and very wry, the sort of person I'd like having sarcastic one-liner contests with. We then returned to our respective seats and the show began.
Now, I'm no great Ben Folds fan. I'd never really heard any of his stuff B.M. But by now there are some songs that I recognize, and songs that I consider catchy and fun. The show itself was good, though; it's clear that he enjoys what he does and he interspersed the songs with some dry, self-deprecating wit and anecdotes. (No, there was no "Orlando, are you ready to ROCK??") He was alone on stage with only his piano. Mariana, of course, instantly recognized the songs from the first few notes, and nudged me a few times when particular songs started. Hopefully, eventually, she'll give you her own take on the concert, with more Ben Foldsish details. She took some furtive pictures with the camera that she had smuggled in. She couldn't use the flash, though, so she had to rely on the stage lights. Some of them looked like they came out, or at least like they could be PaintShopPro'ed to be useful. Half the time she had the camera swaddled in the t-shirt while she was taking the pictures, so the security staff wouldn't see the brightly-lit digital screen. But it was a good show, a fun show, and seeing Mariana enjoying herself made the night for me.
Tori Amos, on the other hand, was unbearable. You're allowed and encouraged to have fun at a Ben Folds concert. But at a Tori Amos concert, fun seems forbidden - you're implicitly encouraged to sit quietly in your seat and listen, which isn't quite the same thing as enjoying yourself or having fun while listening. Now, I must admit for the sake of fairness that I'm not an Amos fan. I don't say that because I DISlike her; the fact is, I couldn't name a Tori Amos song if you put a gun to my head, so I'm completely neutral to her. And I sat there most of the show thinking, "Boys for Pele? Is that what her album was called? Guns for Pele? Pele for Boys? Something like that...hafta look that up later...Oh, look, a piece of tape on the wall...I'm kinda hungry...thank goodness the AC is working in here...my god, is this song still going on? Guns for Boys? I wonder if Mariana wants to leave yet..."
Anyway, it was an awful show, though again, I chalk that up partially to me just not knowing any of the songs. But it was a relentless exercise in tediousness. (I also spent much of the time coming up with nifty phrases to criticize the show with, but I don't remember too many of them.) I couldn't understand too many of the lyrics, and considered it a minor triumph when I could. Mostly the songs all sounded the same, with Tori Amos playing the chanteuse-y breathy sexy torch-singer role all too well. She wore a flowy, Stevie Nicks-ish ensemble, she writhed and stretched at the piano (though less than I expected), and breathed into the microphones more than she actually sang into them. Just a grueling two hours or so.
Afterwards, we met up with Kristen and Mike, then fetched their friend Kyle and went to dinner at Appleby's. Again, Mike and I mostly sat on the periphery while the three of them talked music and chorus. Fortunately I was facing a TV that was on ESPN, but there was a baseball game on, so even that was only a lukewarm refuge. Finally, though, the night ended - it was nearly 1am, and Mariana had an 8am class, so the party broke up and we retired to her apartment.

Yesterday wasn't much. Went and found out more about That Thing at the Bank. Got the mower out of the shop, finally, and cut part of the front lawn, taking a machete to the longer parts while giving fleeting consideration to the possibility of slash-and-burn farming. Worked in the evening. Home. Bed. Talked to Mariana. Back to bed. Awake. Here. Now. Hungry. Breakfast. Bye.

9/04/2003 Thursday 9:37 PM
Happy 9, my Beloved. With respects to Mr. Folds, I am in fact the Luckiest. And I know it.

Well. It's been almost a week since I checked in. That might be the longest blackout I've had since I started this thing (which, if you're scoring at home, and if you are, congratulations (and that's a joke which never gets old) was almost exactly one year ago). I really don't have any excuses, but then, I really don't have any regrets, either. I vowed long ago not to be a slave to this process, and I mean it.

That said, I can attempt some summary of everything you've missed.
Friday wasn't much. Went to work, same as always. Came home. Worked all day Saturday, as usual, and joined Babeness at her apartment after work, as usual. Puttered around and finally went out to CityWalk for some late-ish dinner. Walked around a bit, seeing the sites. Decided to eat at Jimmy Buffett's restaurant. (Well, we had decided that before we left, but you know.) Fending for ourselves, we finally got a table on an outside porch (remember, this is Margaritaville!) where a singer/guitarist-type played the usual mix of soft-rock favourites in a surprisingly entertaining fashion, neither too loud nor too soft, with little egotistical experimentation with the songs that most diners surely recognized. I appreciate that. Mariana got the Buffettized version of a Philly cheesesteak sandwich, and I got my usual, a jerk-chicken meal. We shared an interesting chilled, marinaded crab/lobster dip, served with some basically flavourless nachos. Mostly a decent meal. Also got two (virgin) margaritas - mango and strawberry, I think. Walked around a little more and finally left. Stopped at a Wal-Mart for some late-night items. Watched a little bit of telly when we got home, and the night was mostly over.
Sunday was a relaxing day, too. Mariana slept later than I did; I was puttering around a bit before she finally drifted back to consciousness. Monday was the holiday, of course, so Babeness had no classes, so we enjoyed a Sunday with no deadlines looming over us. Got a pizza in the afternoon, and watched just a few minutes of Virginia Tech kicking the crap out of us, before we could stand no more. Went out for a little while to Best Buy and Barnes/Nobles. Got Myst III (Exile) for the PS2. Got a few odd zen ends at Barnes and Nobles. Came home and played Myst for a while - Babeness doing most of the playing, me doing most of the company-keeping. Finally bedded.
Took Mariana home Monday morning and continued on to work. Did little Monday night. Tuesday was uneventful - some errand-running during the day (including yet another trip to yet another county school board to submit yet another packet of documents) and then work at night.
Wednesday morning I paid $154 for the opportunity to urinate in semi-public.
I went to yet another county school board to submit...well, urine. Waited in the lobby for some of the other folks to show up, those folks who were also drug-testing that day. As I sat in the lobby, my HR contact poked her head around the corner, recognized me, and said hi. I said hi. She said she was glad to see me out there, and to let her know afterwards how everything went. I said, uhhhh.....okay....(What would I say? "Hey, yeah, everything came out fine. Started out just a dribble, but then I got a good stream going. Yeah, the guy taking the sample was really impressed, he said he saw a rainbow. Yeah. Yeah, filled it up. Yeah, he gave me a second cup. Yeah, okay, thanks, see you later.") Actually, she mistakenly thought I was there for an actual interview with somebody. A moment later she realized I was just there for the drug-screening, and said never mind, I don't need to tell her how things went. I was relieved (no pun intended).
Anyway, filled out some paperwork, was escorted over to another building where we went one by one into a restroom to "donate" our samples (as the paperwork termed it). There's not much that's more degrading than this. Filled out more paperwork, and then went home to scrub myself with scalding water and bleach and a wire brush.
Went out to UCF to meet Mariana. Had a lot planned. Walked around in the bookstore for a little while she went to a class. Met up with her afterwards and went out to lunch before returning to campus. Went with her to her statistics class, which clearly must be the most rotten hour that could possibly be devised on a college campus. 'Nuff said about that.
From there, went back to Mariana's apartment to rest for a little while before the night's festivities. I'm so glad she has her own room with a locking door on it. Privacy.
At this point, I'm going to leave off the narrative, because the rest of the night merits a lot more attention and blogging that I frankly don't feel like doing right now, or at all tonight. I'm going to do the FF, though, since I don't know exactly when I'll finally fall asleep.

1. What housekeeping chore(s) do you hate doing the most?
Damn good question. Probably scrubbing and/or mopping the floors. I recently pulled up some old carpeting throughout the house, so I now have more stone-flooring that needs it, but it's still worth it. But it's rather labour-intensive and I tend not to do it nearly as often as I should.
2. Are there any that you like or don't mind doing?
Dishes. Laundry. Gardening and yardwork. Yardwork is also something I don't do nearly as often as I should, though, since I'm just not as concerned about having an aesthestically antiseptic yard the way some people are. I wouldn't want my yard to look carefully sculpted like a golf course.
3. Do you have a routine throughout the week or just clean as it's needed?
As needed, but not necessarily as soon as it's needed. My schedule isn't quite bohemian, but it's not exactly regimented, either, so I don't even try to adhere to a cleaning schedule.
4. Do you have any odd cleaning/housekeeping quirks or rules?
Hmm...can't think of any, although I'm sure I do.
Well, I'm kinda obsessive about recycling, I guess. I even pull bottles and cans out of the garbage, wash or rinse them if necessary, and toss them into the recycling bin, if I notice that my brother has thrown them away. Way I see it, the city makes it easy for us to recycle, and it's free to do so, and there's no good reason NOT to.
5. What was the last thing you cleaned?
Actually, it was some bottles and stuff I pulled out of the garbage. Really.

The third-best blogger I know (behind Babeness and I) declared that Summer died a couple of weeks ago. With respects to the dear girl, I must disagree.
Summer died tonight, at approximately 9:04 EST, when footbygodball season finally began. True, the college season began a week or two ago, but don't those games, and the NFL pre-season games, kinda seem like...well, like pre-season games? Tonight it starts For Real. And I am formally announcing my prediction - the St. Louis Rams will defeat the Buffalo Bills 27-24 in the Super Bowl. I will be plotting out my predictions for the entire season, every game of every week, in the next few days, and I'll post them here in a page unto themselves. (At the very least, I'll make my predictions for this week before Sunday.) Periodically we'll revisit them to see how (in)accurate I was. For the record, it's halftime of tonight's game as I type this, with Washington winning 13-7, and I predicted the Jets to win. (I can't prove this, but I did.)

So Babeness is out right now, I'm in right now, and it's time to go graze in the kitchen. I left some chicken marinading while I was at work, but it's a bit late for a full meal, so I'm not sure what I'll throw together. We'll see.
That's enough for tonight, I suppose. I'm going to try to get up early enough tomorror to finish up the bloggingness of last night. No promises, of course. And like you, I'm waiting for Babeness to finally unveil her new layout, and resume more frequent (or at least more consistent) updates. Not sure when that's going to happen. It seems like she's shifting her focus to LiveJournal, rather than her Geocities site, but maybe not. We'll see what she gives us. I tentatively pulled the plug on my own LiveJournal site, since I never could come up with a reasonable use for it that I couldn't do here or don't already do here. I'm still soliciting suggestions, of course; neither Mariana nor I could come up with anything that struck my fancy, but I haven't ruled anything out. If I think of something, I'll take the lock off the door and turn the lights on in there again. But until then, it'll probably stay closed down.