Yesterday, I went to the BSO pops concert. The show featured Doo-Wop music. In addition to seeing the concert I was curious to find out who the old guy that I usually sit next to was going out with. It seems as though every time I see a show he’s with a different woman. It now appears that he’s settled on one. This is the second time that he’s taken her to a concert. I wonder if I’ll see them again at the next show or if he’ll be taking out another woman? I swear this guy is like a major geriatric playa.

The concert overall was ok. I was entertained. The only weak spot I saw was the group of 20somethings who had the audacity to call themselves, The Marvelletes. True, the majority of the groups were filled with non original members. But for some reason the fake Marvelletes made me see red. I think it was around the time just before they went into a song and said, “Do any of you remember 1962?” My only thought was that none of them were even born in 1962! They were obvious fakes!

The first act of the evening was The Coaster. They were pretty good. None of the performers on stage as The Coasters looked old enough to be the original members. They did a good job of not reminding me that they were fakes. No one on stage shouted out, “Hey, remember 1959?” The 40something lead singer of The Coasters also served as the emcee of the evening. He did a very good job of keeping things light and upbeat.

The second act of the evening were the fake version ofThe Marvelettes. I believe I’ve already made my feelings clear about those three hacks. They all wore red sequined dresses and none of their shoes matched. Yes, I admit I hated them for being so young. They could have at least hired people in their forties. I feel if someone is in there forties then at least you could have the illusion of the possibility that they might have gotten a face lift and are actually in their 60’s or even 70’s. Those women weren’t woman they were girls. They were probably all born in the 80’s.

The third act of the evening were The Orioles . The Orioles were the only act where I can say that almost all the original members were present. Every last one of them had grey hair, except one. It brought a tear to my eye to see them perform. The Orioles have been together since the late 40’s. I wonder if The Rolling Stones will all be performing together for their 50th Anniversary like The Orioles?

The final act of the night was The Drifters. The Drifters did a very good job. Like the majority of acts that performed tonight they did some of the songs of other groups and singers to stretch out time. A glaring song they did that was not their own was Stand By Me (Ben E. King).

At the end of the show all the groups except the Orioles got on stage and sang a song called Stand Up America. According to the lead singer of the Coasters all the groups got together and recorded it along with The Platters in response to 9-11.

After seeing an evening of faux groups it makes me wonder, what is to prevent someone after I die from going around claiming to be me? I wonder if I can officially sanction someone to pretend to be me after I’m dead?

MORNING COMMUTE: This morning I caught the #2 bus. The driver had his baseball cap pulled jauntily to the side. I don’t know why but I found this unacceptable for an MTA employee. I guess he wanted to look hip and came off at least to me as looking silly, especially at his age. If he were younger and didn’t work for the MTA I wouldn’t have had a problem with it.

WHAT I’M WEARING:Today, I have on a rainbow waffle knit turtle neck, blue jeans, and blue suede shoes

MORNING COMMUTE:

The #2 bus was on time. The driver reminded me of Jeffrey Osbourn. The light rail and the shuttle bus were also on time.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: The Bus Window
On this morning’s shuttle bus I sat behind a crazy man. Well, that’s the way I perceived him to be.

This morning it was brutally cold outside. The first thing he did when he got on the bus was open the window as wide as it could go. I hate when people do this!! I feel that the only reason they do it is to annoy other passengers.

I’ve noticed that people who engage in this behavior tend to look angry and have a defiant look on their face. Their expression seems to say, “Yeah that’s right! I opened the damned window what you gonna do about it!” They have a look to them as if they’re itching for a fight. Of course no one on the bus ever confronts them or asks them to close the window because it’s freezing outside.

MORINING COMMUTE:
This morning I got on the #2 bus. The bus driver looked like Whitman Mayo who played Grady on Sanford and Son. The bus was also moving slower than molasses. I thought that the bus was on the verge of breaking down. Miraculously the bus kept going and going, albeit slow...

GOOD NEWS: Poster up on the web!

I got an email from Scotty today. He got the poster and describes it as being unique. I’m surprised he didn’t tell me it was lost in the mail.

Overall, this was the most ambitious poster that I have ever done. It probably won’t sell for much. It does’nt look very conventional. In fact it looks downright hideous looking. I don’t care. I had fun doing it.

The poster is basically, a giant collage. I usually do smaller collages for the mail art that I send out. I thought it would be fun to try and attempt to do one on a larger scale.

If you are curious about the hideous poster I did, you can slick over to the Soweboarts website. The one I did is naturally labeled, Gail Willis.

Todays, driver of the #1 bus bore a striking resemblance to r&b singer, Eve. The light rail train and it’s corresponding shuttle bus were both on time.

SIGHT OF THE DAY: THE STAR WARS CUBICLE
When I got into work today the first thing I noticed was that supervisor Brian’s desk was decorated with all this Star Wars stuff. It looked as though he was the head of the Star Wars fan club. It looked awesome! Up were several posters and various Star Wars product tie-ins from M&M’s. Then I realized that it must be someone’s idea of a practical joke. He was due in to work today. He had spent the weekend in Indianapolis at the big Star Wars convention. It was doubtful that after leaving the convention he would have immediately headed back to work in the wee hours of the morning to put up all that stuff.

By early mid morning he had taken all of the things down. I was surprised to see that the Lego playset ofDarth Vader and Emperor Palpatine on his throne were gone from off his monitor. They have been there since... well since, a very, very, very, very, very, very, long time. I guess he felt a little too embarrassed to keep them around since earlier in the day his cubicle was turned into Star Wars central.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
I have on a mint green pullover, blue jeans, and blue suede shoes.

MORNING COMMUTE:
This morning the bus I got on was the #2 bus. The driver looked a lot like Bookman from the 70’s hit sitcom, Good Times.

When I transferred to the light rail there were fourteen people aboard train not including me. This is the most people I have encountered on the train since I part of the light rail was discontinued for constructuion. I even saw the woman that I dubbed the makeup monster. I wonder what happened this morning to put so many people on the light rail?

ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE DAY: Sowebo Poster Completed and Returned!!!

First off, I should let you all know that it was very windy outside today. The poster I did was a collage. I was very nervous about the possibility of the things that I glued down blowing away. Sadly, I decided not to bring my gigantic behemoth of a black portfolio case to safely house it in. On second thought I feel that I should have fought my instinct to avoid carrying the large portfolio.

Instead, to protect my artwork against the wind I placed it in two white trash bags. This did no good because three small sections of the diamond like purse strap that was glued to the poster fell off. Luckily, I went out armed with a bottle of glue in case such an emergency should occur on a windy day like today.

I first noticed as I was waiting for the #10 bus that the diamond like studs were missing somewhere inside the two plastic bags. A man named Charles whom I’d never met before that day, saw my predicament and helped me. I thought it was neat that he was humming the theme to Mighty Mouse, (Here, I come to save the day!) as he helped me. He told me that he was on his way to work when he saw me. He was carrying a big lunch pail with him. The only thing he wanted in exchange for helping me were cigarettes. Unfortunately, I don’t smoke. I’m a bit paranoid about engaging in any type of activity that might result in cancer. As I’ve written before, both sets of my grandmothers died of cancer as did all of my aunts on my father’s side of the family.

However, it just so happened that beside me on the bench was a pack of cigarettes. The only question was were they empty or still full? As luck would have it they were full. I gave them to Charles and he gleefully lit up. He even asked for my phone number, unfortunately, neither of us had a pen. It was likekismet I tell you! Then again, maybe I’ve watched one too many romantic comedies.......

The reason why I wanted to turn the poster in a day earlier than it was due is because I get off late in the evening on Tuesdays. There was a Baltimore Songwriters’ Association meeting being held at the Creative Alliance on the evening I dropped the poster off. I was told earlier in the day by a woman I spoke with on the phone that it would be ok to turn it in during the songwriters meeting.

When I made it to the CA I didn’t take much note if anyone was at front desk or not. I simply followed the signs on the outside wall of the building that led to the BSA meeting. Someone from the BSA let me in and I dropped off my poster that was still wet with glue from where I had to replace the three diamond like studs. I hope that they do not fall off on the night...

All in all I feel glad that the poster is off my hands. I hope that Scotty does not run into any trouble photographing it. I also hope that one day I will run into Charles again. Hopefully, the next time I see Charles he would have given up the cancer sticks.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a pink crocheted sweater, blue jeans, and blue suede shoes.

I spent five hours and 56 minutes down loading updates for Jaguar just so that I can give Internet Explorer the boot and use Safari instead.

The version of Jaguar I downloaded 10.2.8 The version I was previously running was 10.2 with no additional extensions.

Throughout the day I had to diligently stay by the computer making sure that the internet connection was never broken.

I’ve noticed that OS X will break connection without giving you a warning that goes beep beep. A silent screen pops up instead.

I wish there was a way to program it so that when a system pop up window comes up you get some kind of an attention sound like you did with previous incarnations of their operating systems.

Then again for all I know there could be way to turn that mechanism on. I just have to find it....

I had a scheduled day off from work. I took it to celebrate Earth Day and to work on my Sowebo Poster. I still have no idea what I’m going to do. Throughout the week I’ve been doing sketches of possible ideas. I suppose I’ll come up with a clearer idea by tomorrow.

All I did today was glue down a border. I wanted to make sure I had a straight border. I noticed that on the poster I made last year the border was anything but straight.

Also I really like the border that came with the poster this year. Who ever did it, did a fantastic job. It wasn’t as busy looking as the ones in previous years. The design was crisp and clean and not too frou frou. In my opinion this is the best border yet! You can actually incorporate the border in your artwork with out it taking over the work.

Morning Commute:
This morning I got on the #2 bus. I didn’t take much notice of the driver. The light rail was on time as was the shuttle bus.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: 4/20
Yesterday, was 4/20. I don’t understand how it has gained significance over the years.

A lot of Morning Shows had 4/20 themes yesterday inviting the guys from High Times and NORMAL to express their views. The only thing I learned was that there are numerous theories about how 4/20 gained significance or derived it’s name.

First off I have to let you know that I’m a square. I’ve never smoked pot. I don’t drink either. Also I’m not a Republican or a Religious Conservative. I’m just a tragically unhip black wall flower.

Even though I’ve never smoked the wacky tobacky, I’m all for legalization of marijuana. I feel pot smokers are basically harmless. I’ve never heard of hard core pot smoker breaking into someones house to get money for there next high. That’s usually the problem you run into with crack or heroin addicts. Crack and heroin are two drugs which I feel should never be legalized.

I’ve seen too many peoples lives destroyed by those two drugs for me to say it’s ok to legalize *all* drugs. Norway has had pot legal for many years and to the best of my knowledge they’ve never run into any serious problems because of it. If anything it would bring in extra revenue for the government. Well, that’s all I have to say about 4/20....

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a mint green pull over, jeans, and beige tennis shoes.

The bus and light rail were both on time this morning. It’s 62’ outside. The weatherman said it’s possible that it will get into the 90’s later today.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: The Creepy Man
Today, is the first appearance of the creepy man. I don’t know his name. He scares me. He’s always sitting on the steps in the same exact outfit reading a book when it gets warm outside. I always see him sitting there when I get home from work.

One day a couple of years ago I came home a little earlier than usual and I saw him rushing to set up his stuff on the steps. This made me think that maybe he’s sitting there watching my every move and wasn’t just out there casually reading a book.

When ever I see him I feel uncomfortable. I feel as though he’s silently stalking me. Then again he could just be innocently reading a book. I don't know for sure. The only thing I know is that this year I’ll set up my security alarm. If the folks downstairs have one set up why can’t I?

WHAT I’M WEARING:
I have on a long sleeve red, pink, and beige waffle knit shirt. I’m also wearing green slacks. For the first time this year I’m wearing my beige canvas tennis shoes.

I got on the 1# bus marked Ft McHenry. The driver said, “Hello!” to me but not to the other passengers. I found this very odd.

INTEREST OF THE DAY: VIRGIN RADIO
I found a new favourite internet radio station, Virgin Radio. It’s based in the UK. It kind of reminds me of HFS in a since because they are constantly running promo’s about a concert they have coming up. You can call in to win tickets.

I think it would be neat if I won tickets for the concert sponsored by Nokia. The only problem would be how to redeem my tickets and make it over to the UK for the concert?

WHAT I’M WEARING: Today, I have on a royal blue short sleeve shirt and a stripped cotton jacket along with blue slacks and blue suede shoes. It’s supposed to get up to 80’ today. I feel dressed for the occasion.

MORNING COMMUTE:
The bus was on time. The driver had a shaved head. He kind of reminded me of Run from Run DMC.

When I was waiting for the light rail train I saw a man casually jogging on the light rail track. I suppose he had a death wish of some sort. He was dressed all in black. He wore a black sweatshirt, pants, gloves, and knit cap. The celebrity he most resembled was Peter Hornsby from 30something who happens to look like tennis legend Bjorn Borg.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a light blue long sleeve pullover and blue jeans, and brown leather lace ups. I was going to put on my blue suede shoes but it was taking too long to put them on.

Wow! Today, I was playing around with iTunes. I bought 6 songs in the iTunes store.

The first song I downloaded was Desmond Dekkars’ The Israelites. The next songs I bought in order were, Gary Glitter’s, Rock N’ Roll Part 2, Joseph Arthur’s, Even Tho, and Los Lobos’, Good Morning Atzalan.

Then I tried to find this old Santana song that I love. The problem was I could’nt remember the title. Throughout the song it sounded like the guy was singing, “I’m waiting.” Thinking I had had found the right song I downloaded, Waiting. I listened in horror as I realized it was the wrong song. Then I found the one I wanted, called, Winning. I quickly found out that in the song the guy was in actuality singing, “I’m winning”, not, “I’m waiting”.

Right now I’m wondering if they have a way you can preview songs on iTunes before you download them. I’d hate to relive another Santana experience.

I suppose I might also get an iPod any day now. The one I think I’ll get is called an iPod Shuffle. I want to get this particular model because it’s more in my price range. The iPod Shuffle runs for about a hundred bucks. The other models are about 200 to 300 bucks. The reason for the price discrepancy is that they have more memory on them. The one I want stores about 250 songs. This doesn’t bother me none. I believe with an iPod you can add or delete songs you become bored with. If not then I guess I’d better look into getting a pricier model.

Also today, I was listening to internet radio on iTunes. I found this really great NY station that plays a large mix of music from the 50’s on to today. Oddly enough, it has a British announcer. I believe it’s called NYPS or the New York Power Station. I also was listening to my all time favorite station , Music from the Blue Light.

OS X rules!!!

I got my copy of Macromedia Flash 5 yesterday! In addition to that I finally got and installed Mac OS X. The version I have isn’t the latest. I have Jaguar or 10.2 And wouldn’t you know Macintosh is coming up with even newer version of OS X. OS X 10.3 or Tiger. No wonder I got this copy so cheap!

After installing it, it took me a while to figure out how to get back on the internet. Just to let you know how long it took me. I started installing everything around 9pm and didn’t finish up until 3am in the morning.

FRIDAY COMMUTE:
I got on the #1 bus. I didn’t take much note of what the driver looked like. This was because as I was getting on the bus a man was rushing towards the driver. Apparently, he saw a man running for the bus and wanted to make sure that the driver stopped for him. The man did eventually get on the bus. When he got on, he was extremely happy and out of breathe.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: Taxes
Today, as every American knows is Tax Day. This is the day that you have to turn in your tax form or file for an extension. This year I did things a little different. I filed my State and Federal taxes online. For the first time ever in my adult life I owed only $1 on my federal taxes. This happened because I finally decided to take deductions on my school loans and charitable contributions.

However, as always I owed on my Maryland taxes. I had to pay about $163. Maryland has the reputation for being amongst the most over taxed states in the union.

All I can say now is that I hope that I don’t get audited for taking deductions on my school loans and charitable contributions. Last year I gave $10 a month to WYPR. I did this because I knew that at the end of year they would mail me a statement. I feel it’s better this way because there’s a written record on both ends of how much money I donated to them. I think I may add WTMD> on to my $10 a month donation club.

I tend to donate money every year to certain organizations but am unsure if they are tax deductible.

In case any one is taking score here are the organizations I give donations to every year; Amnesty International, NOW (National Organization For Women), Planned Parenthood, American Friends Service Committee, American Humanist Association, American Diabetes Association, Center Stage, the BSO, the Sierra Club, Chase Brexton Health Services, GMHC, Broadway Cares, Habitat for Humanity, and the Democratic National Committee.

As you can see from the above list, I’m basically a garden variety bleeding heart liberal...and damned proud of it!

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a lavender top and blue jeans along with brown leather lace up shoes.

MORNING COMMUTE:
This morning I got on the #1 bus. It was being driven by a man who wore glasses. The light rail was on time as was the corresponding shuttle bus.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: The Blue Bracelet
My yearly review went better than expected. I got very high marks and a raise. The one thing ratings wise that stood out was that I got a 5 for job performance. Brian said it was the highest he had ever given to anyone in the group. He told me that he and Mellissa couldn’t recall when I last had work sent back to me. This all sounded pretty good to me. However, I still felt uncomfortable and more than a little freaked out during the review. In fact I felt so freaked out that I did not sit at the long table where he sat, but instead sat on one of the chairs that lined the wall as I clutched on to another chair.

The reason for my discomfort was because of something I noticed he was wearing. He was wearing a blue Cure Autism Now bracelet.

I’m sure he was wearing it in solidarity for his brother in law’s daughter who’s autistic. I recall him telling us about it a couple of years ago when her parents were doing fundraising for a bicycle race or something or other.

Seeing the bracelet prominently on display during the review made me wonder if he knew that I’m autistic. This was a silly thought because I’ve never told anyone at work about my disorder. I don’t feel it’s necessary. They are probably well aware of the fact that I’m a very odd duck. Why compound the issue by giving them a name for the condition I have? Besides the majority of people out there think that autism is a psychiatric disorder and are not aware of the fact that it is a genetic neurological disorder. From what I’ve read on various message boards adults with mild autism who have come out at work about their disorder are often times ostracized and quickly downsized out of a job.

In retrospect I’m sure he was wearing the bracelet because it might have been Autism Awareness Month or Week. I’m not quiet sure which or when those events take place. I don’t keep up on that type of thing.

In all likelihood I’m sure he wasn’t purposely wearing it because he was giving a yearly review to an autistic worker.

However, despite my reasoning, I have to say, that was the most uncomfortable review I ever sat through. Throughout the review I kept wondering does he or does he not know...

WHAT I’M WEARING:
This morning I have on a green plaid shirt along with green slacks and brown leather lace up shoes.

ART UPDATE:
I’ve been working very hard on my art work for potential display in the upcoming months. I’m also working on a design for the SOWEBO poster. It has be to be turned in on the 26th or 27th.

I think I may do a retread of the picture that’s up on the main page of my website. I like the colour scheme idea of black, powder blue, and pink. Then again I may just change my mind all together and do something entirely different...

MORNING COMMUTE:
I got on the #1 bus. It was being driven by a man who wore dread locks. I can not think of a celebrity be resembled. The light rail was also on time.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: My Yearly Job Review and Star Wars
Yesterday, my supervisor Brian informed me that he had completed my yearly work evaluation. This news of course frightened me. Would it be a bad review? Would I have to pack up my stuffed bunnies and Elvis posters? Brian did tell me before hand that it was a good review. This news worries me even more. What exactly qualifies as a good review vs a mediocre review? I suppose I’ll find out tomorrow for sure.

Also just after my supervisor told me he had completed my yearly review, I was taken aback when he noticed the Star Wars Episode III poster I have up. No where on it does it say Star Wars. To give you a better description it; it has Anakin and Obi Wan with crossed swords and there all these flames around them. I assume that this is the battle where Anakin falls into a fiery pit and later becomes Darth Vader.

I felt it was a very stealth poster. No normal personal looking at would say or think I was a Star Wars geek.

All in all it’s a pretty neat poster, it’s holographic and shiny. I got it in the mail from Target.

After he mentioned the poster he told me he was going to the big Star Wars convention in Indianapolis next week. I’m not too surprised by this. He has a couple of Star Wars things around his cubicle. He camps out at Walmart when new Star Wars dvd’s come out. I’m sure he’ll be at the movies on opening day. He’s the most diligent Star Wars fan I’ve ever run across.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a long sleeve white flannel like shirt. It has a pattern of green plaid. I also have on blue slacks.

TUESDAY COMMUTE:
This morning I got on the #2 bus. It was being driven by a man who looked like Darryl Bell, who played Ron, on >A Different World. The light rail and shuttle bus were also both on time.

It’s colder than usual this morning. It’s in the 40’s. The high today is supposed to get into the 60’s. This is a major switch from the summer like weather we had last week and over the weekend. It appears that Spring has finally sprung.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a yellow turtleneck and a stripped black button down sweater. I had intended to give the sweater to David as a Christmas present many moons ago but changed my mind at the last minute. I felt that it would look better on me than him. It’s the only piece of clothing I ever bought that came directly from the men’s store.

MORNING COMMUTE:
I woke up late. Amazingly, I made it to work on time. I caught a light rail train that was three trains after the two I usually take. I did end up not having enough time to eat my breakfast at work. I had to really wolf it down.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: Ms USA Beauty Pageant:
This evening the pageant is being held in downtown Baltimore. Baltimore, is the least glamorous place on earth. What the heck are they thinking?

The only thing I can say is that I hope that the Donald shows up. I would really like to get a picture of him on my digital camera. Also I want to know if his hair looks real and natural in person.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a black sweater and a blue flannel shirt with jeans and brown leather lace up shoes.

MORNING COMMUTE:
This morning I got on a bus that was labeled, Not In Service. I believe it was in actuality a #2. I don’t know for sure, all I know is that there were people on it when I got on. It was being driven by the 1960’s looking Diana Ross driver. The bus smelled a little like urine as did the light rail train. It should be noted that the shuttle bus was on time and no harsh scents emanated from it.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: WILL I GET FLASH 5?

I’ve been trying all this week to win Macromedia Flash 5 on eBay. I’ve always been interested in animation. I currently own Ray Dream Studio 3D. I tried a couple of years ago to use the software to render 3-D animation. I wasn’t too happy with it because it constantly crashed. So as you can imagine I rarely go near it.

After recently running across a web site where Flash was used to animate 20 second synopsis of movies I became re-interested in the possibilities of animation. The name of the web site is called Angry Alien.

I also found it neat that the female animator who’s responsible for the site is around my age and she started at around the same time I did. Also she was never an art major in school.

I see it all as a fresh DIY attitude. You know if you want to do something you have to Do It Yourself.

I know that in all likelihood I will never be hired by an animation studio. They tend to hire young male grads straight out of school. Me? I’m a woman vastly approaching middle age.

In the end I hope to either win it on eBay or find a web site that specializes in older discs for Macintosh computers.

I know, Flash 5 isn’t the latest Flash product, Flash MX is. However, Flash MX costs mucho dineros. So, thus I’ll settle for Flash 5 until the replacement for Flash MX comes along. When that happens I’ll plunck down my ducats for Flash MX.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on blue jeans, a blue sweater, and a black button down sweater. The shoes I have on brown leather lace ups.

MORNING COMMUTE:
In the wee hours of the morning I got on the #1 bus headed to Ft. McHenry. The driver wore a white baseball cap. He looked a little like L.L. Cool J. The light rail train and it’s corresponding shuttle bus were both on time.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: PAINTING FOR NO REASON
Last night I thought that I had up until 5pm tomorrow evening to turn in the painting for MAP’s Out of Order Show. It wasn’t until late in the evening when I went back to the site and noticed with shock and horror that I actually had up until 9am tomorrow morning. I now realized that there was no way I could turn in the completed piece and be on time for work.

Despite the fact that the piece will not be in MAP’s Out of Order Show I’m happy that I completed it. In fact it was kind of nice to paint for no reason. Albeit, that’s what I do almost everyday.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
I have on a royal blue short sleeve shirt, blue jeans, and brown leather lace up shoes I also have on a very colourful stripped cotton jacket. The stripes on it are turquoise, yellow, royal blue, and black.

MORNING COMMUTE:
I got on the #2 bus. It was being driven by a woman who kind of reminded me of a 1960’s circa Diana Ross. The light rail, as well as the shuttle bus, were all on time today.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: Spring Art Projects
Today, it’s supposed to be in the 80’s. However, I will be indoors working on a painting for Maryland Art Place’s, Out of Order Show. I hope to have it in the gallery either this evening or sometime Thursday. The show will be on Friday.

I think I’ll even buck tradition this year and actually go to the Out of Order Show. If my painting doesn’t sell, then who cares?

I also found another art opportunity with Maryland Public Television. This year they will be holding a charity art auction.

Also this year I plan on doing another poster for the SOWEBO Festival. I probably will be submitting some art as I did last year. That is of course if I haven’t been banned or anything...

I haven’t decided if I’m going to participate in Artscape this year. None of the categories that they have up this year really caught my imagination. However, I’d hate not to submit anything. I like to keep my art out there even though no one’s really paying attention to it.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a long sleeve white button down blouse. The blouse has a floral design running down where the buttons are. I also have on a button down red sweater and blue slacks. For the first time this season I’m wearing my spring jacket. Even though it’s supposed to be in the 80’s today I’m wearing a scarf to work. I’m still a bit afraid of catching another cold. I’ll probably be taking off the scarf when the weather heats up. Yes, I’m also wearing brown leather lace up shoes.

MORNING COMMUTE:
I know it will take a while to get used to this daylight savings time switch over. If it wasn’t for the fact that I heard the people who live up stairs walking around I probably would have overslept this morning. All in all I feel much more rested than I did yesterday.

This morning I got on the #2 bus. It was being driven by a dark skinned woman who wore her hair in a pony tail. The light rail and the light rail shuttle bus were all on time.

CONCERN OF THE DAY: Why’s the Mo Better Man On?
This morning I turned on Magic 95 and found that they were simulcasting the WOLB’s Mo Better Man Show. He was talking about how when he was young he used to have 27 women. He also told how one of the 27 women still calls him up once a week just to see if she could break his resistance down.

The Mo Better Man is an old guy that has this late night talk show. I used to listen to him when I couldn’t get to sleep at night. It would be mostly senior citizens who would call in to his show. I always found it very entertaining to listen to.

What made it entertaining was the stories that he told. They were always outlandish to the point where you weren’t entirely sure if he was making it all up.

My concern isn’t over the Mo’ Better Man, it’s over what happened to Magic 95’s overnight DJ. Has he been fired? Will the Mo Better Man now become a permanent fixture on Magic 95’s overnights? Or was this all just the result of a one time radio transmitter mishap?

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today I have a chartreuse long sleeve pink t-shirt. Over the shirt I’m wearing a floral cotton jacket and blue slack. I also have on brown lace up shoes.

DAILY COMMUTE:
This morning I got on the #1 bus. It was being driven by woman who looked like Denise Nicholas from that tv show, In The Heat of the Night. I wonder what ever happened to Ms. Nicholas?

CONCERN OF THE DAY: Spring Forward
Last night I had a hard time falling to sleep. This is normal.

I have a hard time falling to sleep after daylight savings time takes effect. I find myself doing this because I’m afraid that I will oversleep. Also I hate the fact that everything has been moved up an hour. So now I’ll be starting work at what last week was 6:00am this week becomes 7:00am.

I can’t wait for fall to come back so that I can get my extra hour back.

It felt nice when I came into work this morning and looked around at some of my co-workers and noticed that I wasn’t the only person who looked half asleep.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on green slacks, a yellow turtleneck, and a multi-coloured cotton jacket. The multi-colored jacket I have on is dark blue. It has a medallion pattern of red and gold. The shoes I have on today are my usual brown lace up shoes.

I’m feeling a lot better today than I was on Friday morning. My cold is almost gone. My fever is gone. I feel like tap dancing! The only thing now is the phlegm...

Since almost every one with a blog and a healthy dose of paranoia has done it. I have a device on this blog that tells me who has visited, how long they’ve stayed, and the key words that brought them here. None of the keywords have been anything salacious or funny. However, the most frequently keyed in words thus far has been Josh Spiegel. I’m simply surprised by the number of hits this blog gets everyday looking for information about the OTL news guy with the funny voice.

I wonder if I could have t-shirts made up at Cafepress that say,”....and I’m Not Joshing You!”? I could make some serious coin...

The only scary visits are those where I’ve noticed that there were no keywords that brought them here or the ones where I’ve noticed that they’ve been reading entry after entry, page after page, all day long.

Even though I’m not a Catholic I mourn the death of Pope John Paul II. I feel that in the end his legacy will be that of a paradox. He fought against communism yet he was resistent to church reform.

His criticism of such dictators as Augusto Pinochet in Chile and Ferdinand Marcos in the Phillippines encouraged opposition movements that eventually brought down those corrupt governments. The Pope’s support of the Solidarity movement in Poland was key in bringing an end to communism in the region he once called home. He was also the first Pope to visit a synagogue and the first to visit the Memorial at Auschwitz.

All in all, I have no idea who will be named Pope John Paul II’s successor. The only thing I do know is that there are two individuals who are frequently named as possibilities, Cardinal Francis Arinze, a Vatican official from Nigeria and Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, the archbishop of Milan.

If Arinze succeeds he will make history as the first black Pope. I’m not quiet sure how this would go over in Rome or in the Catholic community.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
I’m still sick as a dog. However, my fever has gone down a bit. Right now I have on a purple pajama set along with purple fuzzy slippers.

I didn’t go into work this morning because I’m sick. Sick as a dog. My mother who was from Virginia and would often say colourful things would say, “Sicker than ten dogs.” I have no idea what that means but I can imagine that it means you’re feeling pretty darn sick.

Frankly, I’m surprised by the whole thing. I take massive amounts of vitamin C daily and yet I still get sick.

ANATOMY OF A COLD
It all started on Wednesday at work. I was feeling cold and shivering throughout the day. I was even rubbing my hands together to keep warm. I took the chilliness I was feeling as a possibility that the heat was turned off in the building so I paid no heed to it. As I looked around the office later in the day I noticed that no one else seemed especially cold. I took this as possibly meaning that I was overly sensitive to changes in temperature. Now that I look back on it, I had chills and didn’t realize it! I can’t believe I over rationalized the obvious!

Yesterday, at work my nose was running a lot and felt stuffy. All day I felt as though I was wading through oatmeal. Around 9-10am at work yesterday I knew I ought to be home. I had the distinct feeling that I had a fever. Luckily, at work yesterday, we were given the option to leave early. Since I felt, “Sicker than ten dogs.”, I took it. When I got home yesterday afternoon I checked my temperature it was running at 101!

I would have gone into work this morning if it wasn’t for the fact that I couldn’t get to sleep the night before. My nose was stuffy and I found it hard to get to sleep with my mouth open. In total last night I only got about two to three hours sleep.

All in all I think it was best that I stayed home today rather than suffer two days in a row of below standard work due to working with a fever.

In hindsight I still can’t believe I missed the obvious sign of chills on Wednesday! Here’s hoping that I’ll soon be back on the road to recovery.