The Cowboys are in the playoffs at 10-6, which is two games better than my most wildly optimistic hopes going into the season.

12/29/2003 Monday 12:05 AM
I was finished with the night's painting when Ed got home. I hadn't told him I'd be doing it.
Ed: Alright, what are you painting?
Me: The bathroom.
Ed: You're painting the bathroom? Ok, what big project do you have in mind?
Me: ...Painting the bathroom.
Ed: Oh...The kitchen needed it more.

I'm going to bed.

12/27/2003 Saturday 11:26 PM
Today I:

- returned a couple of Christmas gifts;
- successfully beat back the urge to buy a cheesy horror DVD to watch tonight;
- napped;
- did three loads of assorted laundry;
- scrubbed walls, in preparation for painting them;
- watched the Thrilla in Manila on ESPN; and
- did some minor cleanup in my bedroom.

I really need Mariana to come home.

12/26/2003 Friday 10:18 PM
Getting back into the game, courtesy of the FF:

1. What was your biggest accomplishment this year?
Making it through March.
2. What was your biggest disappointment?
Not getting a better job?
3. What do you hope the new year brings?
A better job? A sudden mastery of FCAT politics?
4. Will you be making any New Year's resolutions? If yes, what will they be?
Probably no formal ones. But I'll decide some things that I'll try to be/do a little better at. Getting back into a workout routine, for one. Saving more money, I guess, that's always a good one. Blogging more often? Not playing FreeCell as much?
5. What are your plans for New Year's Eve?
Not sure yet. Fetching Mariana that day, but I'm not sure after that. Originally the plans were that we'd come back up here and figure something out at that point. But there's a possibility (slim, I guess) that we'll spend it down there and come back the next day. Either way, I'll be with her. That's all that counts.

12/26/2003 Friday 10:25 AM
And now, for the most horrible story of the year, and it took place almost in my own backyard (well, about a half-mile from my own back yard).
A few days ago there was a fire down one of the backstreets I use to get to my house (so I don't have to continue through the downtown traffic and stoplight). The police had that street blocked off, and I could see trucks and flashing lights all over the place. The next evening I drove through the area, but couldn't see any obvious signs of fire, no burnt-out houses or anything. I mentioned it at work, and another fellow there, who lives near me, said yeah, somebody called me about that, they were warning people to keep their windows closed. From the smoke, I assumed.
I couldn't possibly do justice to the way the story appeared in the newspaper. So here it is:

Ahem.
"HUMAN WASTE COMBUSTS AT FERTILIZER PLANT
Firefighters extinguished a smoldering pile of human waste on Sunday that spontaneously caught fire at a fertilizer plant, Winter Garden fire officials said.
About 2:30 p.m. firefighters were called to Diamond R Fertilizer {address snipped}, after a passer-by noticed smoke coming from the building. Firefighters found a pile of sludge from New York that had combusted, said Winter Garden fire Capt. Jim Swope. The sludge, used to make organic fertilizer, produces its own heat and can combust when moisture is present, he said.
Neighbors were advised to stay inside because of the smell. Once the fire was under control, front-end loaders removed the smoldering portion of sludge from the 10-to-20-ton pile."

Two comments:
a) We have to import our human waste from New York?
b) 10 to 20 tons of it?!

I'm just appalled. Winter Garden has never been very famous for very much, but now our latest claim to fame is a burning mountain of shit. Somehow, that's something Bruce Springsteen couldn't sing about when he wrote about his hometown.
And now, every time I drive down that little road, I can't help it. I can't avoid it. I have to know, and I study the place as I drive by. It's in there somewhere. But where?

Where is that 20-ton pile of shit?

12/25/2003 Thursday 6:26 PM
I've just cleaned up and updated the KeyWord Search Results. Pretty slim right now.

A couple of days ago I gave the address here to an ex-girlfriend who contacted me for the first time in a couple of years. Was lovely to hear from her. But I gave her this address, even though I rarely update it anymore. Have no idea if she ever stopped by. But maybe knowing that she might will kick my ass in gear to update more often.
Maybe.

Christmas was fun, of course, even though my beloved wasn't hear to spend it with. I swear, NEXT YEAR. Don't particularly feel like an extended entry right now. Perhaps it suffices to say that Christmas was fine, I miss Mariana terribly, it was good to see the sibs again even though it was far too brief, I miss my sister Tracie a great deal and definitely need to spend more time over there, I hate Christmas with the deep and fiery passion reserved for the most inhuman and diabolical of tortures, the dogs are passed out on the floor, and I woke up a little while ago from one of the first good naps I've had time for in weeks. Mariana comes home in six days.
Yeah, that about covers it. Now, go away.

12/05/2003 Friday 9:44 AM
A recap:

Tuesday, November 25th, I saw the combined performances of I Pagliacci and Carmina Burana, that Babeness has been working on for weeks. It was spectacular, and visually stunning. I had trouble finding my seat at first, and found myself ejected by some rather jovial sorts when I inadvertently sat in the wrong section (and therefore, in their seat). Turns out my seat was better anyway, in an upper balcony with a grand view of the entire staging area. Plus, I was up against the wall of the balcony, so I didn't have to arm-wrestle with anybody to my left for the armrest. Pagliacci was much easier to follow than Carmina, which was far more abstract. In fact I wasn't too sure what the overall plot of Carmina was supposed to be; Mariana had said that the director was formulating it as some sort of plot sequel to Pagliacci, but the connection was so abstract, and the staging so overwhelming, that I lost track of what the connection was supposed to be. (Later, Mariana was asking me questions, like, remember when the two characters did such-and-such? I was reduced to saying, uhh, no, I didn't know that was them, and I didn't know what they were doing..) I thought some elements of it were a little gimmicky - the Orlando Magic dancers, for instance, didn't add much that the actual players couldn't have added themselves, and I thought the production was capitalizing on that name recognition a little too much. But, it was an enjoyable evening, even if I couldn't find Mariana onstage because of her mask and costume.
Afterwards, we met up in the parking lot, and I drove her home so she wouldn't have to sit on the bus with the others. We stopped at Appleby's for a late dinner, but neither of us was too hungry, so we mostly just picked at some appetizers and took home the rest.

The next day, Wednesday, was the day I was fetching Mariana for the Thanksgiving holidays. First, though, I had to take my brother to the airport, since he was flying out to Texas to visit a friend for Thanksgiving. So I was doubly thrilled that Mariana would be with me for the holiday and the rest of the week. So from the airport I went to campus to get her, and the rest of the week was ours.
I still had some early cooking to do, and I had to work in the evening for a little while, so Mariana crashed while I did all that. I baked some yams (to reheat with marshmallow topping the next day); made up one batch of stuffing in the oven (a different recipe than the stuffing in the bird); made up the brine and submerged the turkey in it overnight; mixed up the dry ingredients for a little banana-nut bread to bake the next day; and mixed up the pumpkin-pie ingredients to bake the next day. It was close to midnight by the time I finished.
The next day, Thanksgiving morning, I got up around 9am or so to get started. I wanted to have everything mostly done by around 1pm or so. But, first of all, the new roasting pan I'd bought turned out to be too big for our oven (which, unfortunately, is rather small). So I had to scramble around to locate and wash the roasting pan I'd used in previous years. The bird was almost too big for that pan, though, and left no room for veggies and broth the way I usually do. Plus, I knew that drippings might drip out of the pan instead of into it, so I had to line the oven securely with tinfoil. So all of this created some delays. But then my baster broke; I found myself holding the rubber bulb and watching the tube shoot into the oven. So I had to run up to find a baster somewhere. I knew I'd see Thanksgiving supplies in 7-11, but never thought I'd be buying Thanksgiving supplies in a 7-11. And it turns out I didn't. They had stuffing and other food items, but no basters, so I ran next door to Walgreen's. They of course had them. After that the day was mostly seamless. We sat down to eat around 3 or so maybe. I offered a short toast, offering my thanks for having Mariana in my life, and that we could spend Thanksgiving together this year. I've never felt so lucky. It was a good meal - the bird turned out very good, very moist and flavourful; the stuffing in the bird was divine; the yams and veggies and rice and potatoes and cranberry and Mariana's favourite green-bean casserole were all delicious.

12/04/2003 Thursday 10:04 PM
Happy One, my love. And thank you.